http://bludhavens.livejournal.com/28137.html?thread=35602665
Well, the canon itself seems to go to great lengths to illustrate many depictions, indicating that they have incompatible personality traits and diametrically opposed fundamental value systems incomprehensible to each other.

I actually find future P/I to be degrading to Iris as well. Iris is actually a complex and somewhat broken character, NOT a sweet perfect Mary Sue. But P/I often seems to be founded on the assumption Iris is or will become Mary Sue, the magical perfect Dollie who never actually existed in the first place.

Iris isn't a sweet, innocent girl. She's deliberate and willing accomplice/accessory to murder in 3-4, 3-1 AND 3-5, and she NEVER cooperates with justice to help the innocents accused in those cases, when she could have at least done so anonymously. And since she's basically signing up to suicide in 3-5, she obviously has severe psychological issues which Godot cruelly exploits. Phoenix isn't good with psychology, so isn't going to be able to 'fix' her. When Edgeworth 'chose death' he just felt betrayed and 'wished him dead'. When Maya tried to leave in 1-4, it was the fact Phoenix could show her evidence which fixed things, not his counselling skills.

Future P/I seems to be a misread of the actual setting free of Iris from Dahlia's lie in 3-5. Iris was never 'Dollie', that was just Dahlia's lie. She was never 'Dollie' so of course she failed being her. But Phoenix was 'in love' with the imaginary 'Dollie," NOT Iris. The point of 3-5's P-I scene is that finally Iris can stop living in the shadow of Dahlia, as Phoenix recognised her as a separate person from her. That's just personal validation she's 'not murderer Dahlia', not a sign he's in love with her, or ever was. If she's not Dahlia, she can stop being Dahlia's little interchangeable pawn double and hopefully turn away from a life of dubious crime.

As for future P/I? That's basically trapping Iris (And Phoenix) in DAHLIA'S lie. Because, I'm sorry. Phoenix genuinely seemed to be as much as love with his Dahlia-induced strange fairytale about the bottle and what he thought Dollie would do since they were 'in love'. Iris didn't 'betray' him, but DOLLIE betrayed him. Every time Real Iris asserted herself, by asking for the bottle back every day for 8 months, Phoenix IGNORED HER and dismissed her as 'not meaning it' because it wasn't consistent with 'Dollie'. This is hardly a good precedent.

And what did Phoenix believe about 'Dollie', which seemed to be a major factor in why he was in 'love' with her? He tells us at trial, and Terry has similar attitudes (Dahlia probably used the same story.) Dollie *will* turn up to trial! Dollie won't ever abandon me! Dollie will save me! Dollie will protect and defend me at all costs! Dollie will make sacrifices, even risk her life, to defend me from the murder accusations, and I will do the same for her! All these get betrayed.

And just marking all this up to Phoenix’s unachievable immaturity and he won't desire these kinds of qualities in future P/I is stupid, because we can see that in the present he does have loyal friends who'll put themselves on the line for him, even in the very same case.

Let's look at Phoenix’s desired relationship characteristics and fundamental value systems, and how they are at odds/incompatible with Iris'. Neither are 'wrong', they just are incompatible. They don't get each other and I can't see Phoenix actually ever respecting Iris, nor will Iris do a 360 and 'change' her most fundamental value systems to 'be the same as him'

ABANDONMENT seems to be one of Phoenix’s worst nightmares. When Edgeworth abandoned him and their former mutual values, Phoenix wished him dead, that's intense, he clearly felt very betrayed. When Maya left after 1-4 even when she was coming back, Phoenix MOPED.
Not only did Iris abandon him, but she assumed he WANTED to be abandoned and never even sent a letter or anything.

Ensuring JUSTICE, Uncovering MURDERERS and sending them to jail/execution.
VS Iris' endless covering and obstruction of the truth and protecting and forgiving murderers. Iris isn't going to shift away from this value system post jail, she'll just hopefully stop committing crimes. I mean, she'll even DIE over the truth being exposed and murderers being locked away (and she doesn't 'love Godot.') Iris thinks the truth should be covered if it hurts. Phoenix thinks lies should be exposed. Iris thinks murderers should be forgiven. It's her TWIN and MOTHER, she has empathy! She's not going to shift away from this and the poor thing should be with someone who'd actually respect this. Phoenix SENT THEM TO BE EXECUTED. Yeah, Phoenix killed her mother (I assume she's on death row now.) Will she ever REALLY support his day job in spirit, or, in AJ, his pursuit of Kristoph instead of 'forgiving'? And expecting her to is the most fundamental invalidation. They will never understand each other.

On a more general level, Phoenix is a fan of the uncovering lies, exposing the truth EVEN IF IT HURTS (Edgeworth shares this even more obsessively.) Iris is a fan of 'little grey lies' and 'concealing the truth if it hurts'. Is he ever going to respect this? In AJ, Phoenix becomes more deviant but just shifts further away from Iris' values into 'exposing murderers at all costs'. In 3-5, Edgeworth knows right away Phoenix NEEDS the turth for closure. Iris is just shocked at this, she assumed he didn't WANT the truth.

And of course MUTUAL LOYALTY and TRUST is a big one of Phoenix's values. There's no getting around Iris was in the end more loyal to protecting Dahlia and concealing the truth, even if it meant Phoenix's death, even after Dahlia was dead, even in 3-5. Will he ever trust her? CAN he ever trust her? This person is so obsessive about not having concealed lies he goes around with a MAGATAMA and I don't think Iris wants daily psyche-lock breaking sessions.

There's nothing 'wrong' with Iris' basic value system (when used in the right contexts) but she needs to be with people WHO RESPECT IT and Phoenix never will.

And we get graphic depictions of how these incompatible value systems go wrong when together throughout the game! Even in 3-5, Iris just hinders Phoenix’s pursuit of the truth and obstructs his attempts to save her, they're incapable of working together productively when 'reality' throws up problems on the fantasy. The Iris story is a case highlighting Phoenix’s traits misfiring also. Sure he was correct in his belief Iris wasn't a murderer, but his belief (and other delusions) ALMOST GOT HIM KILLED.

And we can look at Phoenix’s actual canonic positive relationships. (Edgeworth. Maya.) Why does Phoenix appreciate these people and find them mutually beneficial relationships that WORK productively? They share some of his most basic desired relationship values and value systems. Edgeworth shares his old expose the truth, lock up real murderers and defeat lies value system, as well as being a loyal friend who'll make sacrifices he help him (Like in 3-5 flying in in the middle of the night and risking himself by playing defense attorney, or helping him in 2-4.) and Phoenix and Maya have the trust-loyalty-make sacrifices to defend each other thing going on, a sort of Bottle Story Lite, and is only dedicated to exposing lies and murderers. BOTH characters make significant risks and sacrifices for Phoenix. How does Iris complement him? Physical attraction is fine for a fairytale date each weekend, but once people say, get married, there has to be a little more to it. And when their most basic need/value systems are at incomprehensible odds, it's going to come into conflict or obliviousness to meeting needs or come crashing down. As it did.

Oh, but Iris will get magically 'fixed' in jail now she's 'saved'? No.

Compare to Edgeworth. Edgeworth was NOT magically 'redeemed' to his justice/truth spewing 4th grade self by his saving in 1-4. First Edgeworth had to go off and redeem HIMSELF after metaphoric 'death', and PROVE his redemption in court before Phoenix stopped wishing him dead. This was the subject of an entire separate GAME. But as for 3-5, it's THE HAPPY END. And GS4 is NOT a story about Iris' Magic Redemption. Also, Edgeworth really did hold the values of Phoenix's Truth/Justice Obsession back in 4th grade. But Iris herself *never* held all the crazy loyalty values Feenie imagined around Dollie and their Bottle Story (Terry had a similar delusion over it.) So she's not going to magically revert back to holding them, Edgeworth-style.

The Dollie Story is an IRONIC spin on the Edgeworth story, but it's not the same nor does it have the same outcome. Observe reversal. The Murderer was a lie in Edgeworth story and Childhood Friend/Justice Story was true. In Dollie story the Murderer was real and the Childhood Dollie Fantasy was fake.

FAKE > Edgeworth the 'Murderer'
Game 1 [real] > Edgeworth the Demon Prosecutor: obstructs justice, conceals lies, protects murderers
Real, Post Redemption [after metaphoric 'death'] > Edgeworth the Childhood Truth/Justice Partner

Real > Dahlia the Murderer
Real > Iris [the 'Demon Prosecutor']: obstructs justice, conceals lies, protects murderers
FAKE > Dollie the Magic Loyal Partner in youth's Bottle Fairytale

Phoenix and Iris don't work in REALITY, and once Iris has been rewritten into something which WILL work with Phoenix, well, she's not Iris anymore, and if Phoenix respects what makes her tick, he's not Phoenix. (Unless she shuts up and is a doll and denies her most basic value systems.) And I think Phoenix has moved beyond wanting a silent, omelette serving love doll. I mean, he 'imagined' other properties that *Iris* couldn't fill even in 3-1!

Oiled-up, glisening Phoenix... I laughed so hard at that.

I confess, the first time I saw Trucy (as a little kid in Phoenix's locket, I thought, "NO...WAY..." But then she appeared as a sixteen year old to Apollo in the court lobby to give him the bloody ace, I thought, "Nope. No way."