How so? The basis of the game is to prove to the Judge that your client is innocent and it was the other guy who did it. Now you just have to prove it to a Judge and jury. It would still be about presenting the right evidence to explain the truth of the crime.

In fact, it could make things a lot more open in terms of the stories, in that Phoenix/Apollo have to find other ways to solve the case other than present the one 'decisive' bit of evidence to incriminate the bad guy every time..

---

The jury watches from another room via TV sets in the system Phoenix introduced. It was used in the last case and changed nothing about the gameplay.

---

Um... what are these?


I replayed the first game [not 1-5] to take a closer look at their early relationship and it's a big 'up to the player to choose' thing. GS1 is a lot more a 'choose your own adventure' primitive interaction thing. There are several points where the player themselves can choose if Phoenix is going to be more or less appreciative of Maya herself, not just the bullet scene.

It's partly the player choosing if Phoenix sees her as more than a means to channel Mia [yes, player choice here does seem to be canon to some extent, but NOT in GS2 haha]

But I think the train station scene was most critical from MAYA'S end re: Phoenix. The bullet presentation and her, not Mia, being valuable to him really seemed to mean a *lot* to her. [Then we get the whole 2-2 thing and emergence of Pearl's shipping LOL] NOT getting this scene, regardless of Phoenix's motivation for the 'mistake' would have a huge impact on her.

I think 2-2 is the most important case for this pairing, actually, and the P-M bond in general, even though 3-5 is better in terms of actual shipping [and 2-4 is pretty extreme from Maya's end].


See? In the 'bad end' Maya just says she'll be back one day when she can be useful aka channel [maybe in a variant of 2-3?] and Phoenix says nothing much.
In the 'good end' she'll be back 'soon' and Phoenix will 'be waiting'

Even just not having the extra motivation to complete her training, would mean Maya isn't ready yet when Dr Grey's wanting the channelling, so no 2-2 and no murder etc. The GS4 Easter Eggs only ref the filler cases [2-1, 2-3, maybe 3-3] so 3-5 didn't necessarily happen at all.

1-5 is in both timelines, partly because everything refs it copiously, even though plotwise the GBA vers could be a separate 'timeline' but it makes no sense with games like GK.



We all know this. Edgeworth, too. The fact we're just supposed to imagine this 'behind the scenes' without any proper on-screen plot evidence is ridiculous. At least Maya gets the DVD scene of association... You can say this a million times. Maya and Edgeworth 'abandoning' him is simply out of character given what we see in the canon. Even 7 years later. GK makes it worse from Edgeworth's POV.
Now I think someone at Capcom/GS franchise realises this was an error, hence the going overboard on cameos and fanservice in GK as overcompensation, but it still doesn't fix the main game/s and not sure the main games producers/writers realise this either.. The fact is, GS4 was written with no attempt at continuity to GS3 and it's characterisation, and the whole controversy over the future of the series is whether this should be rectified or not and to what extent continuity to GS3 should be made/ret-conned/forgotten



Yes. I hate her! She just abandons Apollo, and never contacts him again even when her life is supposedly better enough to have Trucy and be a super-rich CELEBRITY? Not even send money for big screen TVs? And she willingly married ZAK? I'm hoping that if GS5 is made she will be justifiably jailed for murder or something but I don't hold out serious hope.




The formula never works as well for the millionth time, 'cause 1st time it wasn't a 'formula'. But making them canon siblings who don't know was interesting in terms of P/M, I felt. Given that a lot of GS4 was 'superficial opposites', I can only think this *supports* P/M more than anything. NOT Siblings who don't know, that you Pearl...

I felt like Trucy was babysitting Apollo on Phoenix's behalf,personally, especially in 4-2.Well I still hope they'll be kind enough to let Ema retake the Science Exam, but she didn't even get a credits hint.

JURIES
I haven't really thought too much about the 'Jury System' beyond seeing it's a problem [characterisation is an even more important issue than gameplay!] but um, real juries are essentially a marketing exercise. Which changes the role of defense attorney in the game world significantly. I guess a range of factors could lead to a critical mass... maybe a 'critical evidence' will 'sway the jury' more. It won't be the same, of course. But they can just say the powers-that-be decided NOT to implement juries after the corrupt trial and resign Phoenix to another game of Hobo-dom and maybe jail...

PLEASE NO.



Which opens the door to dubious corruption like the 'MASON SYSTEM'. People regard that as Phoenix cheating. Of course rigging the jury didn't really help.


Um, it did. The player CHOSE the verdict, and Kristoph broke down over this, not anything Apollo did.
But I think the characterisation and continuity issues are the main problems with GS5 rather than the jurist mechanic.

---

I kinda doubt Juries would be that much of an issue in the actual gameplay. Remember that Ace Attorney is essentially about Whodunnit mysteries. It's all about putting the pieces of the puzzle together to reveal the truth of the crime. Wile you could implement the Jury's reactions into the equation with some clever plotting, ultimately they could just be there to have context as to who you're explaining this crime to.



How exactly was the Jury rigged? Granted, having Lamiroir on board could mean she would vote in Apollo's favour, but she was still presented with the same facts as the other unseen jurors. She would have voted for 'guilty' if the facts indicated as such.



I think the 'choose the verdict' moment was merely a little easter egg, just to give the player a little insight in what it must feel to make that choice yourself.
But it's still from Lamiroir's POV, so it's her making the choice. And honestly, a 'not guilty' verdict is pretty much a no-brainer at this point. There's really no reason to choose otherwise except to see an imaginary 'bad ending'.

---

Finally the 23rd march.
Perhaps there will be no much contribution this day, but at least I wanted to do something for today.


Currently I'm unable to work digitally, so there is no inked and colored version of this sketch.
But that doesn't mean that there won't be one. So happy 23rd March.

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Aww isn't that great! I assume Phoenix and Maya have reproduced? Or else some kind of time travel-continuity rift has copies of their child selves making an appearance...

Well I said I'd post the 1st chapter of my fanfic, but I never got round to merging things here into 2 or less threads like you're supposed to, (had to have exactly 3) so we'll have to wait. Damn it's the 24th now here


Juries are supposed to be impartial and random, and NEVER people so closely connected to the case. We all know it wasn't really about Vera but about '7 years ago' anyway. I thought rigging the jury was far worse than the 'card trick' people freak out over, conversely....

Now imagine it was, say, Kristoph manning the jury and he similarly rigged it to serve his own ends? Phoenix knew exactly who she was and her connection to the players in the case. Since Lamiroir was supposedly the deciding vote it makes it all pretty questionable... didn't do a good job on selling us on the jurist system as better either, when we're shown from day 1 how easy to manipulate it is.

The game mechanic of 'decisive evidence' at least kept the defense attorneys honest in-game [unless they forged].

The verdict at the end was obviously so the player can self insert on being a jurist, but I think the deeper meaning of the game was actually the player playing jurist on Phoenix Wright.

But this is off-topic.

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If you meant by "reproducing" that they've got children, then yeah. They reproduced.

---

Ugh...today I was planning on posting some sketches I found while moving some stuff but sadly I don't have the computer nor scanner to do it with. It wont't be until tomorrow. Curse the business days deposit transfers.

Completely agree. I just can't see Maya or Edgeworth, or even Larry, out of all people just abandoning him like that. They'd be the very ones who'd stay with him and support him, not just run off and leave him when he needs them the most. And I got angry when I saw how Edgeworth reacted to Phoenix in AAI, he didn't really seem to care about him at all. In saying that, I've only actually played the first case in that game, but still. XD




But we don't know why she abandoned Apollo in the first place. And she'd lost her memory after having Trucy, so that's why she didn't get in touch with them when she was famous. We better find out more about her in GS5, because I'm in two minds about her. If it turns out that she did just abandon her kids, or won't speak to them anymore even though she has her memory back, I'll end up hating her. That's why I hate Misty and Zak. I'm hoping that it was all Zak's fault she left Apollo. XD She should have picked Valant over Zak. I like him more.


But yeah, I don't hate her just yet, since I think there's still a good few reasons why she could have acted how she did, besides being a bitch. XD

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You've lost me, when does Edgeworth 'react' to Phoenix in that case? Because I'm sure he doesn't. The only time Phoenix gets a small mention is when Edgeworth makes and objection and he thinks "I'm starting to sound like he does.."

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We interrupt our bitching about Phoenix in AJ to bring you this important message!

Some bad enough dude has set up an incredible index of every single prompt found in the Phoenix Wright Kink Meme. Even better, you can now easily search for any prompts/fills that you missed.

http://www.sea-lily.net/meme/index.php

But this place needs our help. Most of the prompts have no tags on them, which means they won't turn up in the search engine. But every prompt can be edited to include tags, and it's ridiculously easy to do. Just find a prompt on the list, click EDIT, and tick the appropiate boxes.

It would be great if all the Phoenix/Maya stories and prompts could be easily found, so if you've got some time, peruse the untagged prompts and drop a few tags.

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Just in time for P/M Whatever Reunion Day. It's chapter one of my new fanfic:

ON BROKEN WINGS

2-4 BAD END AU

LOL Tactless given the 2-4 reunion is being celebrated.

Never fear, P/M Fans! You know I live for these two being together, so "I never saw her again" is NOT final!

I think this is more touching than the real 2-4 personally

PLEASE READ!

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I made a mistake, I thought Phoenix got disbarred before AAI. I just checked the timeline though, and Phoenix got disbarred after AAI. So the thing that annoyed me was the way Edgeworth DIDN'T mention Phoenix in the case. I mean, if my childhood friend ended up in that much trouble, I'd at least feel bad for him, not completely forget about him while I go off solving more cases on my own. It just seemed very out-of-character for Edgeworth, imo.
But yeah, there's not as much of a problem for me anymore, now that I know AAI came first, since it means Phoenix hasn't lost his job yet. I don't think I'm making much sense.


I love your signature, btw. <3

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HAPPY MAYA X NICK DAY! (With a little delay)
BlackWiddow posted a pictures of a Maya X Nick cosplay of us about a month ago, and now there are new pictures that I'll post as a tribute for the Nick X Maya day (:

That's adorable, but she ain't hot enough to be Maya!!!

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^
Gee, thanks. [=
Na, I'm kidding, don't worry. I know I'm not hot.
---------------
Both of the fics I wanted to write for PxM day sucked hard, so I decided not to post them. But I did start to write a fic in AJ's time.( Part 1 is finished, but I wrote it on my sis' comp, and well... it died too... Ha. How ironic.) It's based on an idea from "How I Met Your Mother", but I took it a little more far.
So, in the meanwhile, the pictures is the MayaXNick celebration day thing from both me and Haik. ( I still can't believe you posted the cookie. ><")
(Ha, how ironic, it's already the 25th in here.)

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LOL it's a bit difficult to look anime/video game character perfect. Such a small group of people really have that type of look. I sure ain't one of 'em, so don't take it personally. It doesn't seem like you are, so that's good.

Someone can be hot and still not be totally right for cosplay.

---

Never mind that, they don't exist.

And your story is amazing so far! I feel so sorry for Maya...but at least I can find assurance knowing that it's you who's writing it.

_______________________________________________

Anyways, I think my favorite sort of Phoenix/Maya fics are the disgraced Phoenix sort, like icer's and anything after the disbarring. The whole dynamic found between hobo!phoenix or ex!hobo!phoenix and master!maya (where did "!" come from, out of curiosity?) adds a lot to the level of emotion. Especially considering the laws of Phoenix/Maya...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, you mean how Maya 'disappeared' in game 4? No, she simply ceased to exist in the plot, which is different to betrayal/abandonment and Phoenix's obvious belief 'Dollie' would turn up to save him...
We can make a long list of reasons why, but I'm not preaching to the converted...


Oh thanks... there's a lot more where that's come from. Haha, no I don't write fanfic to depress myself...
I'm actually liking this scenario better than the 'good' one, if we're considering the disbarring idiocies *sigh*.
Have Chapter 2!



Well, yeah, I would've preferred 3-5 as their ending, but in terms of fanfic, GS4 was productive for the pairing. Since we are basically forced to write fanfic to get resolution. 3-5 would have been closure, so less room to work with on the P/M, it just would be a fairly closed scenario like Quizer's Ultra Course. This pairing is actually cute enough to compensate for all the angst and interesting issues are raised etc etc etc.


Oh, don't just abandon them! Rework or edit or reinvent or something.... And I liked the 'cookie'.

---

ITOLDYOUITOLDYOUITOLDYOUHAIK!
Cookie FTW.
About my fics- Umm... I'm trying to think of a way to combine these two together. I have a little idea for now... but it's not going anywhere.
Icer's fic- great job with it. It's defenitly diffirent then mine. Mine is already hobo Nick, lol.
"LOL it's a bit difficult to look anime/video game character perfect. Such a small group of people really have that type of look. I sure ain't one of 'em, so don't take it personally. It doesn't seem like you are, so that's good.

Someone can be hot and still not be totally right for cosplay. "(Cus I'm too lazy to go to the regular replay.)

Don't worry, I didn't. I was kidding. xD
Umm, now MY computer is okay and my little sister's is not. How ironic.

---

Wait a second.... I just want to get things straight.
Isn't September 5 the official Nick and Maya Day?
Just confused.. Cos everyone else seems to be celebrating it this March





BTW. I'm new at this thing, so how do I put the "Maya kissing Nick on the cheek" smiley?

But Phoenix/Maya Day is still September 5. Fake holidays yay.

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4900 posts on this thread... what a good cause to contribute too :)

OOOOH. I see! 8D
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to explain these things for me xD
Gawd I'm so happy to find a NaruMayo forum!!!! 8D Dream come true
I suck at drawing though
BTW! I LOVED YOUR EVIDENCE LIST!!!! You know, the evidence list that proves Nick and Maya's LOVE for each other is present in the game and it's not just Pearl who's having these delusions! In fact, I printed the entire thing! WAHAHA
So thank you so so so much for making my dreams come true! HAHA
AND I READ ALL YOUR FANFICS!!!! SO AMAZING

Hope you write more!!!!

I got this image in my head of Maya in this pretty wedding dress...so I did a quick sketch. And then I had to draw Phoenix as the groom (well, of course :3) and Edgey as the best man and Mia giving the bride away and Pearly as the flower girl and Franzy and Iris as bridesmaids...<3
..Anyway, all the faces are crap because I used a blunt purple pencil. Colour pencils are terrible for fine detail...I need to practice faces la~
I could go on at length about how this could be much better...but I won't...because this isn't deviantART xD



Another thing: Read this fic, 'Precious Maya'. It's angsty and the Phoenix/Maya is angsty and there's a lot of trauma and depression and stuff. Therefore it is made of win and I hereby recommend it. :3
And angry!Phoenix makes an appearance - several actually. Oh, loving the Phoenix self-doubt.

Icer's evidence list is win <3 I've converted a bunch of my friends just by linking them to it! The evidence is irrefutable! Also if you have time check out the 'Partnerships in GS3' 'essay'. It's long but worth it. :3

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Oh wow! O_O That drawing's so pretty!!!!
Anyway, the faces aren't crap!!! T_T
And I've read your fanfic as well, and I can say that I really enjoyed reading it!!!
And HELL YES icer's evidence list is EPIC. I'm sending it to a bunch of friends that are also NaruMayo supporters!!
LOLZ I'm craving for more Phoenix Wright games that I'm repeating Bridge to the Turnabout (the one with Iris) just so that I can see Phoenix break down all over again for Maya I just really LOVE it when Phoenix would do stupid, idiotic things to save Maya. Oh well. THEY SO EFFIN BELONG TOGETHER!!!!!!

-continues playing PW:AA:T&T

AHHH I EFFIN LOVE THIS GAME.

Thank you

Yes.


THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED. This pic makes me happy <3



Oh yes. I'm still hoping for some nice kind of positive resolution for them.


The other notable P/M fic on there at the moment is Our Secret Mission. Hobo/Maya is such an angst trip, it seems. I think Chap 7 was the best chapter thus far.

Though it's hard to suspend my disbelief on the

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I stopped reading "Our Secret Mission."
Seriously, chapter 6 really annoyed me. Even though it's an awesome fic.
PRECIOUS MAYA HAS CHAPTER 5 AND 6?!
*RUNS TO READ*
By the way Hikari, great art. *right click save as*

My first time doing that smiley. YAY.


Icer-
( A little spoiler to my new fic, which I'm going to post soon. I hope.)

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Hahaha, this thread sounds kind of...weird now it's called the Potatix and Trucy fan club. Like we're all shipping Phoenix and Trucy together.

Edit-Oh my god, the Potatix and Trucy spud club, that's brilliant!

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I'm personally getting a bit tired of all the uber-angsty Hobo!Phoenix/Maya fics that are around lately. Not that I don't mind a bit of angst and drama, but a little goes a long way, and many of these stories seem to pile it on just for the sake of it. There are fics where Phoenix and Maya are so unhappy about their long distance relationship, you wonder why the hell they even bother staying together.

How come no one focuses on the positives about a supposed relationship after T&T? Where are the fics about Phoenix and Maya having fun in their secret relationship withing having to worry about their responsibilities? Where's Maya actually helping Phoenix in his investigation/putting the Jurist System together? (She could use her clout as the Master to gain information or something) Phoenix helping Maya out in Kurain (and earning the trust of those pesky Elders) with his newfound free time? Phoenix, Maya, Trucy and Pearl hanging out and bonding together as a family?

I'm just saying, it doesn't all have to be "We have to be apart all the time, we are in despair!!" all the time. There are more avenues to their relationship to explore than just angst.

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Speaking of family...it's a little late but I finally got a scanner! Now a little something for a belate PxM Celebration Day!



Last edited by Ben Credable (PI) on Thu Apr 01, 2010 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Y'all pedophiliac shippers disgust me. Trucy's 15 years old.

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Yes, that would have been gross....30 minutes ago. Now things are back to normal....but I still miss the spuds. *sniff*

Anyway, back to Phoenix and Maya lovin!

I'll try to get more pictures scan tomorrow.

Yes, I hate all those angst-ridden P h o e n i x/T r u c y stories too! It's disturbing! It's April 2 here already!
EDIT: Yeah, wrote this earlier but didn't get time to hit 'post'

As for P/M:

I think some of them go overboard. And don't get me started on 'we never saw each other for 7 years for some inexplicable reason'. But

Well, a secret relationship where they're NOT together isn't exactly positive, if it's been going on for about 7 years or something. WHY IS IT SECRET? The obvious reasons are all angst-inducting ones. I didn't invent AJ. End of story.



The problem is that the fics have to write this to not conflict with the games. Which certainly doesn't suggest something as negative as, well, Our Secret Mission Chap 8, but anyway... The fact that Trucy doesn't mention Maya to Apollo means that she knows the relationship should be under wraps, to him at least, which gets in the way of 'hanging out as a family'. Of course, her demand to 'find her a mother' could be taken as a jab to hurry up and marry Maya already, where Phoenix responds 'it's not so easy' or whatever it was. = Canon Problems.

I don't think he'd cover the whole poker 'job' from her like in OSM, but he might try to leave her out of the 'card trick' fiasco, which would be divisive when she finds out. Not to that extent though...

The people at Kurain all liking him? Then why isn't he living at Kurain with Maya? We have to account for this problem in fic.

If it's all too cute and happy, it's inexplicable why they're not TOGETHER 24/7, married , whatever, and it contradicts the AJ game too severely, so you can't believe it could ever actually happen except in some delusional AU.


Well, this is also true. Oh I should repeat, I hate all those stories where they 'haven't seen each other for 7 years'. It makes no sense! Though many of those are not P/M...

Because we like P/M. They were meant to be together!
But them only meeting once a year like in OSM is so... depressing ;_; They could do this more often....

BTW, I wouldn't keep reading 'Precious Maya' if you're not into angst because it seems

Haven't been too many Phoenix/Maya fluff fics for a while, have there? C'est la vie


I love Maya's expression.
Apollo: Mr Wright? About your daughter...
Phoenix: Which one? OOPS! *poker face*
Apollo: *assumes Phoenix is messing with him with a 'joke'*
I think she's too old for that scenario, though.

---

Loved the family picture. It's so adorable. <3

ANYWAY...
My new fic is here! Yay. AJ timeline(and involve little kids.) Argh, what's wrong with me?

present-testimony/blackwiddow-fanfics-t17527.html#p1068279

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and make an awesome team

There's still ways around it. Trucy and Phoenix might not have mentioned Maya to Apollo because they felt they weren't close enough in terms of friendship to consider telling him. And Apollo certainly doesn't want to know about Phoenix's friends from out of town during that time. (He's already got enough weirdos thrust upon him, no sense in looking for more.)

And I was thinking of Phoenix, Maya, Trucy and Pearl family time in the seven year gap. Perfect oppertunity for them to get together.



Wasn't the whole 'card trick' trial an unplanned event though? Phoenix had no idea Shadi Smith would show up and get murdered, he had to act fast to find the clues and set up Kristoph, and probably wouldn't have found time to call her.
Afterwards though... I can see a scenario Maya storming into the office and telling him off for being so reckless, before he apologizes and they make up.

I think a problem regarding the poker 'job' is that writers make it sound more dark and sinister than it actually is. Unless we've been told otherwise, all Phoenix is doing is playing poker for no money (and occasionally cheating) against people who want to test his 'invincible' skill. There's nothing all that dodgy about it.



Perhaps he feels it would be easier living in the city. He's able to quickly find clues for the investigation/Jusrist Trial stuff, and Trucy is able to go to school and work easier.

I think writers need to give Kurain a bit more depth in the way they regard Phoenix. (Hell, they need to give that place more depth in general. Everyone seems to think the only people who live there are Maya, Pearl, Morgan and a bunch of stuffy old crones who run the place)
I can see the village people being distrustful of him after the disbarring (and because he's a man), but everyone seems to forget that not only did Phoenix save the life of their channelling master FOUR times, he also uncovered the truth about Misty Fey's botched channelling and helped restore their good name after the Hazakura case. I would think they would be a bit more forgiving toward him after all that.



Indeed. A good story has a fine balance between angst and fluff/normal story stuff. Too much of one and the whole thing becomes unbelievable. Just because it's good to hurt a character and see them grow from the experience, doesn't mean you should have it happen to them all the time.



My problem with that story wasn't the 'once a year thing' (The reasons for it made a fair bit of sense) What annoyed me was that eventually, they were unable to be truly happy on these days, and had to force smiles to each other because they were still thinking about problems back home. Not to mention all the fights bacause they hadn't mentioned important facts to each other, stuff they could have easily talked about over the phone.

If you think about it, Phoenix and Maya have a lot more freedom to see each other than most people assume. Kristoph isn't keeping major tabs on Phoenix outside of their weekly chats, the Elders probably wouldn't have much authority to keep Maya seeing people outside the village, there's little reason they couldn't have a low-key relationship under everyone's radar.

Phew... Phoenix/Maya is serious business.

---

Well, if you mean how in OSM they've invented progressively more angst-extreme scenarios to occur every year/chapter which are outside the realm of what AJ would directly suggest, you have a point. But hey, it's gotten them a million eager readers for every update...

I thought A Little Push was the better fic of theirs, there's a lot of angst, but it's more directly suggestible by the AJ events, and is nicely resolved in a far shorter timeframe instead of a 7 year agony. They mentioned they might edit it so it goes in the OSM continuity, but I hope they don't.


We just don't know on that one. If Phoenix is conducting shady surveillance 24/7, who knows what a paranoid psycho murderer is doing. I don't think Kristoph is dumb enough to really assume Phoenix is his 'friend'. Kristoph is too elegant to associate with dirty disbarred hobos without a different motive....


This one is more true though. I think worries about damaging her reputation in/out of Kurain by seeing him would have to come from Phoenix's end, Maya wouldn't care what some 'elders' thought. That problem only works for limiting Phoenix's time in Kurain.

Yes.

Actually I think the worst mistake fanon makes is the idea that Maya is stuck in Kurain permanently as Master, when it contradicts everything we're actually told about the Master thing in the games (the credits themselves say she IS going to be both Master and Asst. Mngr of Wright and Co.). And Maya doesn't even return to Kurain at all between 2-2 and at least 3-2 (they discuss it in a scene in 3-2) so she's evidently living in the city, and could do so again. They also equate the Master's job with the boring things Morgan was doing in 2-2 [like running the actual training] but if Morgan had already taken on Misty's job in absence, why is she so desperate to puppet Pearl as Master? No, Morgan was obviously stuck with all the nasty jobs left over...


IF the forging thing hadn't happened, yes. After it, no. Misty II. If Phoenix was the one who restored the Kurain rep in court, that restored reputation (3-5 especially, the 2-2 channelling was proven fake so didn't restore it) risked being immediately negated and seen as a fraud like the flashback trial. I don't think 1-4 really restored Misty's reputation, it just provided a little more insight.

Oh, Oh!Cult magazine said that Maya was 'receiving shady training' with Phoenix in 3-2 or so, which I suppose people have also extrapolated to what those people think of him.



The way I saw it, the poker job was very dodgy, but all the benefits [money, illegal bets, visitors] went to Phoenix's employer, not Phoenix himself. I don't think Maya would care that he cheats, though...


I think there were a few days till the trial. But not wanting to tie her to his 'defense attorney' Kristoph would be reason enough not to contact her. Maya not somehow finding out is a little harder to swallow, given all the people both know in the justice/prosecution field, but for all we know she's off forging cards with Trucy... but I'm not sure she'd let him do something so dangerous in mutual cooperation.... she wouldn't.
We at least have valid reasons why he wouldn't want her helpfully channelling Zak in court to 'prove his innocence' though.


Might? I believe this is factual.

Problem: Maya is conspicuously absent from AJ. The angst-linked scenarios are plausible ones to explain this. The non-angst ridden one is that their relationship inexplicably degenerated to something inconsistent with game 3.... You can see why the fics tend to the angst explanations. It's better to swallow as plausible than 'Maya just 'happened' to take a world channelling trip for the duration of AJ' though that's probably the type of retcon we'll get if they're made to bring back Maya for GS5.

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Totally.

You think so?
What would be if her family threaten her? Telling her she has to decide between her family and Phoenix.
Could she really just choose Phoenix over her own family? It's very likely that they were the one who took care of her after her mother's dissappearance.
Or what if they were to threaten her to take Pearl away from her?
In my point of view all those "elders" would be the one who have much more authority and power (if we were too assume that the Fey family are somehow "political") than Maya, who is just you know .
And since the case 3-5 we know that the Fey family has some ties with politicians. Why then not also some ties with some shady organisation to threaten her even more?

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