#I have a lot of thoughts about kazuma asogi

[saltyloafy]

the "came back wrong" idea but its how kazuma thinks of himself after he gets his memory back post dgs2-4.

even with his memories back, he can't wash away the dirt and the callouses on his hands from 9 months working at sea as a manual laborer, an experience he never would have lived had he never gone through the tragedy on the ss burya

he can't get the look in ryunosuke and judicial assistant mikotoba's eyes when they first learned of the assassination contract that he willingly participated in out of his head, the look that said that maybe the kazuma they knew, the kazuma they LOVED, did in fact die and stay dead on that boat

kazuma was never truly carefree even as a boy with the shadow of his supposedly serial-murderer father over him but now that the sheet is fully off of the gruesome scene, can he really ever go back to who he was before? will the guilt of the deaths he couldn't stop just move into the hole left in his heart left by the resolution of his life's ambition?

or how about how kazuma wanted to be the one to show ryunosuke the ropes of being a defense lawyer, but by the time he found him again, he had already grown into everything that he hoped that he could be (just without him). now that he was on the side of the prosecution, kazuma could never stand by his side in that way ever again, yet another thing that changed over that year that he was 'dead'. ryunosuke took his perception of kazuma's dream and flew to greater heights than kazuma ever could have(this is kazuma's thoughts talking), all the while while with kazuma's defense band around his arm and karuma at his hip. 'kazuma asogi' was already living on through ryunosuke, so why did kazuma still need to be here? he could no longer do what he had come to England to do, because someone else had already taken up that niche perfectly

if kazuma wasn't the son of a mass-murderer, the defense attorney who changes the judiciary, or ryunosuke's partner, than who was he?

I think kazuma deserves to be a little fucked up by the shit he was forced to go through as a result of the professor case being dragged out into the open and also his amnesia / hong kong adventure. kazuma already has his new goal in life figured out by the end of the resolve of ryunosuke naruhodo?? I disagree. I don't think kazuma would fit as perfectly into the role of a prosecutor as quickly as he did. I don't doubt he would be a very good prosecutor but after the adrenaline of the professor case fades away, there has got to be some growing pains,,, and seeing ryunosuke having adjusted so well to his absence (221B fam :) ) could not have felt great, even if he would've been accepted into that family in milliseconds if iris got a peak at that tortured face but that's besides the point here

the way that kazuma acted all cold to ryunosuke and susato during the van zieks trial, I can't help but think that he tried to distance himself out of fear that they'd see he had changed and not want to be around him anymore. that because he wasn't the same kazuma that had left japan's shores aboard the ss burya that he wasn't worth being a part of their family anymore. obviously he couldn't be more wrong. but let the samurai boy have a bit a brooding time, he deserves it

[randoimago]

Headcanons of what's like to date (Ace Attorney) Phoenix Wright, Klavier Gavin, Asogi Kazuma, and Herlock Sholmes please?

What It's Like To Date Them

Fandom: Ace Attorney

Character(s): Phoenix Wright, Klavier Gavin, Asogi Kazuma, and Herlock Sholmes

Type of Request: Headcanons

Note(s): The amount of patience S/O will need when it comes to these men istg

Asogi

He almost always has a knowing smile on his face. Like he knows something you don't. It really doesn't help if you have anxiety or if you actually are hiding something from him because he just looks like he knows. And if you ask him about it, you just get a cheeky smile and a, "Whatever do you mean?"

Will drop everything to help you with whatever you need. Even if he thinks it's a bit silly, he won't say anything, just offers his help. Of course, if you say you can do it then he won't push.

He keeps to himself mostly, not really sharing his thoughts on things. But he does check up on you quite often, wanting to make sure you're alright. It's like he's noticing things that he doesn't want to say and instead giving you the opportunity to speak up.

Herlock

Be prepared to constantly be interrupted with whatever you're doing because he needs attention. He really is like an overexcited puppy because look at what he just made! Look at this new case he got and how quickly he solved it!

Lots of sleeping alone at nights. Not because he doesn't want to lay next to you and cuddle, but because the man does NOT sleep. He's always pushing himself and working on something. Don't worry, he has strict "Okay if I take 10 minute to rest now then it gives me an extra 20 minutes for his thing--" That is if he even follows through with the resting.

There are times when you come home and he's in his depressed state. He's moping about something failing and you coming home does make him a bit better, but he really needs someone to listen to him and talk to. Even if you don't quite give him a solution, you can definitely give him ideas that help pull him out of it and suddenly he's back to being a happy puppy.

Klavier

Music is constantly playing. Usually the same genre, but now and then he switches it up for inspiration or because you ask nicely. The volume of the music also changes if he's trying to work or if you think it's too loud/soft. But music is always playing.

Likewise, get used to hearing him practicing guitar. Sometimes he's just strumming a tune that got stuck in his head, sometimes he sees you and gives a teasing smile before going into some improv for a super cheesy love song, and sometimes he is tearing his hair out because he cannot figure out how to write a certain song and it's just angry grumbling.

Despite the fact that Klavier tries to seem rather easy-going, there are moments that only you get to see where he needs you to hold him and just be there for him. Between his brother, his band, and the fact that his mentor was killed, well he needs a shoulder to lean on when the thoughts get to be too much.

Phoenix

You can expect quite a few twisted jokes from him. He'll be reading the morning paper and give a hum about someone falling to their death before he retorts, "I would've survived that fall."

Speaking of that, you become a regular at the hospital. They learn your name, give you cheery smiles, and then point you in the direction of Phoenix's room because he is so bad at avoiding being hurt. He promises you that isn't trying to be a mummy with all his bandages, but it's just his luck.

Phoenix really wishes he can have his phone on silent, but with his job that's not possible. So when you two are out on a nice date or relaxing at home, there are many times when it's interrupted by someone needing an attorney. But most of the time the interruptions are from Maya or Athena or one of the people that has pretty much become family. He does his best to be nice with telling them he's busy, but more often than not you get pulled along to whatever shenanigans they've gotten themselves into.

[corxoran]

The masked apprentice is kazuma but with all his previous motivations and identity as the final remaining asogi stripped from him. This is a version of kazuma who isn't weighed down by his duties or discovering the truth, a version of kazuma who's more tame and reasonable, but also a version of kazuma who has nothing. No history, no overbearing weight of responsibility, no achievements, not even his best friend who he began to lean on. What's worse, having an identity that burdens you, reshapes you, and stresses you, or having no identity at all?

This is also why I love to explore the masked apprentice's relationship with ryunosuke because even with his memories hazy, even if he doesn't recall their relationship in any way, I have the feeling he could fall in love with ryunosuke all over again. Except this time, this version of himself has nothing to hide from ryunosuke, nothing bearing down on him and forcing him to keep that distance. This version of him would want to give himself to ryunosuke entirely because he doesn't have much of any idea what else he's to do. This version of him would allow himself to be a little selfish, a little VULNERABLE, because he has no great purpose to be strong for. He is simply a person, not an asogi.

But ryunosuke knows this older version of him (a version who was idolized and so far from the truth), and the masked apprentice would feel such envy. He isn't kazuma, but he wants to be if only so ryunosuke will love him that way. He wants to remember him.

BUT also even if you lose your memories, MUSCLE memory doesn't just disappear because your brain literally changes when you learn and blah blah brain stuff, anyway - imagine the masked apprentice with habits he can't quite explain, or a feeling that things about ryunosuke just feel familiar. Must talk about ryunosuke's side of this because I most often see people talking a lot about kazuma and not so much about ryunosuke - no way this guy just got into his buddy's suitcase if he didn't trust kazuma and keep an equally large space in his heart for him. Yes yes kazuma needed ryunosuke and loved him and wanted to lean on him, but surely ryunosuke wasn't inert in their relationship. He had motivations of his own, and feelings of his own. He trusted kazuma so much, and held him so high up on a pedestal - he thought the world of kazuma. Now, after all that's happened, all that he's discovered, I don't think he'd change his mind. Ryunosuke's not a "just for show" kind of guy, he wasn't just kazuma's friend for the shits and giggles. After learning all of this, he'd come to realize that he never really knew kazuma at all, only what kazuma wanted to show him to stay that strong, perfect person in his eyes. Because HE WANTED RYUNOSUKE'S LOVE AND REVERENCE BUT ANYWAY - ryunosuke would want to know the REAL kazuma. The guy he followed to britain, the guy he wanted to help in whatever journey he was on. The guy he followed despite knowing he wasn't being told everything because that's just how much faith he had in him. All of this makes me think that ryunosuke doesn't have much going for him. There's no way he's got a whole career plan and parents and all this stuff that he just dropped to go to britain and never mentioned any of it. I believe this indirectly shows us that ryunosuke had no strong convictions of his own, and so this journey with kazuma was something he was able to go on without much holding him back. Even his speech for the contest was apparently shallow, and he doesn't seem as serious about many things as kazuma. He didn't even remember the speech story at first, but every detail was ingrained in kazuma's head.

I think ryunosuke was content just being kazuma's friend, even if he didn't know every single thing about him. He probably found it very remarkable that someone as amazing as kazuma kept choosing him over and over again. But ah... don't take my word for it I'm one of those girlies who hasn't much time or motivation - I haven't even finished the games yet 😢

[vikkirosko]

Headcanons of how would (Ace Attorney) Phoenix Wright, (The Great Ace Attorney) Kazuma Asogi, Herlock Sholmes, Barok van Zieks, and Ryunosuke Naruhodo react if their shy crush is shocked that they also wanted to confess their feelings?

Since Phoenix is in this quest and in another one on exactly the same topic, I decided to write it in another request, and leave the characters from The Great Ace Attorney in this request

Headcanons Simultaneous confessed feelings

⚖️ Ryunosuke Naruhodo x Reader 🏹

Ryunosuke was not the kind of person who understood well that he was in love with, but he could understand when he was in love with himself. That's how he knew he was in love with you. You helped him with his work as a lawyer as much as you could, you were a quiet and shy person and he liked you so much. Sometimes Ryunosuke thought how great it would be if you could spend your life together. And one day he decided that he had to tell you about his feelings, if only to stop keeping it a secret

He saw you blushing next to him, but he was sure that it was just a coincidence, and that he wasn't the reason for it. But when Ryunosuke told you that he was in love with you, he saw how much you blushed. It was obvious that you were worried, and that worry only intensified his own. It wasn't so easy to admit your feelings. But all his worries went away when you confusedly told him that his feelings were mutual

When you said you didn't expect this, he looked at you blankly. You blushed more and said that you wanted to confess your feelings to him, but you did not expect that he had the same feelings for you and that he would be the first to tell you about them. From your words, Ryunosuke felt himself blushing more and more

You were both in love, and both were embarrassed about it, some more and some less, but you were together and Ryunosuke never regretted telling you about his feelings. He felt that next to you he was not afraid of what could await him in the dim future

⚖️ Kazuma Asogi x Reader 🗡

Kazuma was one of the most determined people you've ever met. Confident, determined, both at work and in everyday life. You, in turn, were a quiet and shy person who blushed and was easily embarrassed. You were the one Kazuma fell in love with. He wanted to tell you about his feelings and, soon after he realized his feelings, he decided to do it

You saw the determination with which he asked you for a conversation. Kazuma took your palms in his and told you about the feelings he had for you. His eyes were burning with determination and he saw you blush. You looked like you expected anything but his confession. But you squeezed his hands a little and quietly said that you also had feelings for him, even though you didn't expect him to be in love with you and decide to admit it

When he asked did you really not see at all that he was in love with you, you shook your head in embarrassment and honestly told him that you planned to tell him about your feelings and mentally prepared for rejection, but you could not even think that he was not only in love with you, but also confesses to you the first in feelings

For him, your feelings were a jewel that he was going to keep and cherish. Kazuma was even ready to fight if there was any threat to your relationship or to you in particular

⚖️ Barok van Zieks x Reader 🍷

Barok devoted a lot of time to his work. You helped him many times, and he was grateful to you, even if you just made him tea or brought him a snack, knowing that Barok could devote too much time to work. You were a kind, quiet and shy person who he liked so much and whom he tried his best not to scare

He was thinking about his confession to you, trying to find the right words. When he was ready for such an important step, he asked you to stay and soon told you how he felt about you. Barok saw a blush bloom on your cheeks and your eyes widened in shock. He wasn't sure what exactly he should have expected, but when you confusedly mumbled that you were in love with him too

What was more unexpected was that you told him that you didn't expect him to confess to you. You honestly told him that you wanted to confess to him for a long time, but did not dare, but you could not even think that he was also in love with you. It came as a huge surprise to you

Barok knew that you were someone he could always trust. He sincerely loved you and hoped that your lives would be connected further. Next to you, he remembered the days when his brother was still alive and he was friendly and sociable again, but only with you, with the person he loved and trusted

🔎Herlock Sholmes x Reader 🎻

Herlock was someone who could not immediately trust others, but you were someone who became more than just a friend for him. He fell in love with you and always tried to be sincere with you, to make you smile, although more often than not, your smile was accompanied by an embarrassed blush. It seemed sweet to him, and his feelings for you only grew stronger until he decided to tell you about them

He asked you to stay for dinner, knowing that it would be difficult for you to refuse, and while you helped him with the cooking, he told you how he felt about you. Out of surprise, you dropped the wooden spatula with which you were stirring the cooking food. Herlock saw how much you were embarrassed and at the same time shocked by his words, but instead of refusing, he heard your timid, reciprocal confession

It was only after your dinner that you told him that you had been trying for a long time to find the courage to tell him about your feelings. You were sure that he did not have romantic feelings for you, and because of this it was difficult for you to decide to confess, but not only was he in love with you, he also confessed first. It was shocking to you, but you were genuinely happy about it

Herlock hoped that one day you would become part of his family, and then there would already be three of you there, you, him and Iris. He would be happy if you were with him for as long as your lives would allow both of you

[kobitoshiningneedle]

For the fandom hot take thing I've got two: The Death Penalty isn't really on the table for a great majority of AA cases, that's only really reserved for people who murdered at least three people (ie Dahlia) Due to the time period and drama and period typical sexism and such forth, Yujin was definitely priming for Susato and Kazuma to possibly get married in the future-- especially since he knows that the world isn't fair to girls like Susato (especially since there's a lot of opportunities that are kept from her SOLELY because she's a woman), and since there's no male Mikotoba heir, the next best thing would be to make sure she's set up for life with someone that is trustworthy and also respects HER as a person....... and Susato DEFINITELY had a baby crush on Kazuma that she was not subtle about due to being 6/7 XD

Hii! So, for the first one:

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

So Ace Attorney first and foremost references Japanese justice system, and there is (as much as I know) death penalthy being practiced all way through (probably not for one murder, more likely serial killers will be punished too, afaik, murdering three people warrants the highest form of punishment).

But honestly? There are two things that make me lean towards considering death penalty as the most likely solution if someone's condemned. First of all, Ace Attorney's world is a caricature and it doesn't really have to perfectly mirror the real one. The second thing comes from that as AA is a very dramamtic series, and Phoenix being all dedicated to "save" people he defends in court is really in line with consideration that most of times this is a life or death situations. Aside from Dahlia the other examples that more vaguely imply: Adrian Andrew's situation in 2-4 being compared to Maya's deadly peril, so her situation is on more or less similar level of grave - if Phoenix indicts her as guilty, her life would be wasted. In 3-4 Terry Fawles was on a death row for supposedly killing Dahlia (well, he did some other bad things too like kidnapping etc). The other one is implications that at some point Morgan met Pearl for the last time in Japanese script, and Morgan even never killed anyone directly.

But what stops me to completely side with "Guilty verdict means death" opinion is how sometimes there is implied hope for the imprisoned? It was shown clearly in I2-2 with how Japanifornian prison, with all its faults, tries to rehabilitate people as members of society, inviting performers like Regina or assigning them to groom pets. This is a really positive aspect, and, adding to the fact that there are many sympathetic culprits in the series, you would want to think that there's some hope for them. So overall, there are some arguments in favor and against that, so I dunno

Now onto the Kazuma/Susato one

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

Okay, this is a really controversial topic that probably may be repulsing from the modern Western perspective, but Mikotoba imagining Kazuma as a potential husband for Susato could really be the case. For a few reasons

There really was a Japanese tradition for sonless men from respectable families (Mikotobas were well off) to take in orphaned boys, adopt them (even giving them their family name!) and marry their daughters off to them to secure their lineage. Not 100% the situation with Yujin and Kazuma (it's unimaginable that Kazuma would change his name, he's tightly holding onto Asogi's legacy), but it's not unprecedented that basically adoptive siblings were expected to marry in some circumstances

About the sibling part: I do sincerely think that Kazuma and Susato's relationship are resembling of some sort of sibling bond (especialy post 2-5 when they all reconcile in the end) - cue the Japanese DLC case - but here's the nuance. Probably neither of them thought about their relationship in that way. They are not Miles and Franziska. Kazuma and Susato dynamic is a vast and deep topic and I have many thoughts about it, but now I wanna on;y say that 1) Kazuma, as much as he appreciated Susato's help and devotion, wasn't... fair to her, I think? In their relationship he probably always was a receiving party, and really really often he kinda subconciously dismissed her, preferring to be more open with his university friend whom he knew for a year instead. Adding the fact he was kinda distancing himself from Mikotobas already and didn't really view them as a family, he probably wouldn't call Susato his sister, and 2) Susato could view him as her honorary brother, but this does negate the "puppy crush" part as you said. It's probably more of a historical fiction thing, but really often "you're like a brother/sister to me" meant "i want to be with you forever". So the romantic feelings and appreciating someone as sibling really could intertwine, contrary to modern POV. Either way, the way Susato was dedicated to Kazuma's dream, shaping her profession and career path around him probably speaks in favor of her affection, whatever it could be - especially taking a risk of having a job in the sexist sociaty required really strong feelings from her. Maybe it could be the other way around and at some point Yujin saw Susato being that way to Kazuma and began to make wedding plans

Also Yujin would be really glad if his family and the family of his good friend were united

I don't actively ship Asosusa, but I think the implications that Kazuma and Susato were at some moment imagined to be a bride and groom has potential for angst. Especially considering they ended up crushing on the same boy

[drbtinglecannon]

for the character ask: genshin asogi? 👀

Everything during canon happened because of the professor case... Heh, could say London really felt Genshin's Impact 🥁

How I feel about this character

Sorry Kazuma I have a lot of unholy thoughts about your dad

Haha but really I have a lot of conflicting hcs for him, like I imagine he was very serious and focused, but I also like imagining he was snarky and comedically strict about his opinions like Kazuma is (like why he wore the hackimaki in the first place or the over the top manner he talks about Karuma, etc). It's bittersweet when a character is soooo bare bones in canon, because sure I can imagine anything and it'll never be contradicted in canon! But also I want information!!! Tell me about them!!!!!

Anyway regardless of other traits I'm munching over, I always stick with he and Klint were genuinely extremely close, like Herlock&Yujin level, and they shared a joking mean humor in private like calling each other a twat over any little inconvenience

All the people I ship romantically with this character

His own wife haha, Klint, and Klint & Lady B

Kazuma has enough issues so his parents not really caring about each other doesn't do it for me. Legit tho it isn't compelling to me to think they were a loveless marriage, the only point to it I can remember being was she wasn't mentioned in his final letter, but there's bittersweetness to explaining that away as out of a sense of paranoia that it would be wishing ill on them so he had to stay quiet until he made his escape, which..we know how that went. I think them having a loving marriage also kinda ties up the original study students, with Genshin having a wife and child he's leaving, Yujin losing his wife but gaining a newborn he has to leave behind, and Jigoku not having a spouse or kids, and it mirroring each Londoner they attached to (Klint has a wife and a baby on the way by the end but loses both, Herlock loses Yujin but gains a newborn, and Stronghart never takes a family). Genshin can almost relate to Yujin too, their wives are no longer around and they have young kids back home, but he still was expected to be able to return to her one day, and his fate is so similar to Klint's, they both lose their wives and their kids end up losing their connection to the family & being taken in by someone else (iirc Kazuma is kind of cut off from the Asougi clan after they learn his dad died and was outted as "a killer"), those parallels work better if Genshin and his wife were mutual love.

Genklint had an insane unhinged yaoi ending like the homoeroticism of a duel to the death for the honor of your friend that fell so far but you still cared about him too much to leave him like that... when it would've been way smarter for them to team up and kill Stronghart then Genshin tell Klint "no more killing or istfg >:(" and that's that. I also love the mutual suffering that is Barok & Kazuma going back to the prosecutor's office after 2-5 and just staring into the room with the deepest eyebags and deadest expressions like "they definitely fucked in here"

Genklintville is just the ultimate version of genklint haha. It makes it all so much hotter AND tragic! And what more could we ask for from their canon endings

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Genshin & Yujin is a fun relationship I think about a lot. I wonder if they were both jealous of their respective British bestie for being able to get so much closer than they ever were with each other? Was Genshin the shoulder Yujin cried on during the boat trip to London and during the time before he met Herlock? Yujin went above and beyond to help Genshin when he was arrested, and maybe if Genshin listened to him on getting extradited he would've survived, but also Yujin cared so much for him to not only go to Lady B at his request but take Kazuma in once all the dust settled. Idk, I'm not sure I'd call them an OTP but they're a favorite non romantic dynamic for both characters

My unpopular opinion about this character

Ok so there was a post from a blog I love that used pixels from the games to determine character heights and deemed that Genshin was 6' tall based on that information, and I've seen a number of fics describe Genshin as very tall, and I vehemently disagree. Genshin was at most 5'10, taller than average and a tiny bit taller than Kazuma, but still noticeably shorter than Klint & Barok. I will die on this hill

One thing I wish would happen/ had happened with this character in canon

Lived haha but really I can't think of anything that wouldn't drastically change canon (him living, them killing Stronghart, him actually escaping, etc) that like is actually impactful for his role in the story. Not that I don't love AUs but I like leaving this all as my sandbox and not canon. I guess I wanna know his height so I can be correct that it's not 6' tall haha!

[commentaryvorg]

The Great Ace Attorney Final Trial Commentary: Day 2, Part 1

This is an ongoing mini-commentary covering the final trial of The Great Ace Attorney (Resolve) in line-by-line detail. It’s written from a perspective of already knowing the full truth of things, so there will be spoilers for facts that only get revealed later on in the trial. This is not a commentary to read along with one’s first playthrough!

(The commentary will update on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Check this blog to find any other parts currently posted, and if it’s not yet finished, follow to catch future updates!)

Now that we’re below the readmore, I can add that this isn’t quite a commentary for everything going on in the final trial. It’s focused specifically on Kazuma and what’s going on in his head, only covering things which are relevant to him in some way (for the most part). I already had a lot to say about him in a big analysis post over on my main blog – but I have even more to say about him during the trial in even more detail, so here we are!

We’re starting day 2 here, aka the first trial day of case 2-5.

Writing the commentary for this day of the trial is going to feel a little odd for me, because I’ve essentially already done it before – just in character as Ryunosuke, instead of as myself. This was a chapter in my AU fic in which this trial day goes off the rails towards the end and Kazuma gets arrested for Gregson’s murder, because he should have been and I am forever salty that it didn’t happen in canon. The purpose of the chapter in the fic, even though it was 90% retreading canon events, was to utilise all the existing buildup the game had that made it seem like things were headed in that direction, so that my AU could actually deliver the payoff it deserved to have. There are so many really good bits that would be so delightful if they were foreshadowing what was going to happen to Kazuma, except for the fact that they aren’t. I am going to be compelled to point all of these out and grumble about them here.

Here's one to get us started, just as Ryunosuke heads into the courtroom.

Ryunosuke:  (Today I battle with another in pursuit of the truth. My best friend, Kazuma Asogi, who I trust more than anyone else in the world.)

Like, yes, this is adorable in and of itself, that Ryunosuke still trusts Kazuma that much even after the way he’s been acting since he came back. But! Imagine how much juicier this line would be if it was followed by Ryunosuke getting Kazuma arrested for murder! That is absolutely what I thought it existed to foreshadow on my first playthrough and asghjkghjdghjdfs.

Stronghart:  “Yesterday’s proceedings brought to light a shocking and disturbing fact: There was a side to the victim, Inspector Tobias Gregson, that was unknown to his superiors at Scotland Yard.” Kazuma:  “Yes, he was carrying out operations in secret, which Scotland Yard knew nothing about.” Stronghart:  “And in those clandestine operations, he had an accomplice.” Kazuma:  “Mr Daley Vigil, who would be given the inspector’s identification…”

During what is supposed to be Kazuma’s opening statement, Stronghart is having just as much if not more of a part in it, and they’re both practically finishing each other’s sentences. (Here is just one example of their tandem speech extremely coming across this way.) Clearly Stronghart, who is determined to keep Kazuma in line after his shenanigans with Vigil yesterday, firmly instructed him on what he was supposed to talk about, and apparently they may have even spent a while rehearsing this speech together. No wonder Kazuma wasn’t surprised to see Stronghart here at the judge’s bench today.

Stronghart:  “Which brings us to the crucial issue of the victim’s time of death. The defence yesterday proposed a suggestion that the victim may have been killed one day earlier. This was based largely on the discovery that the victim’s pocket watch had not been wound.”

Not really! It was also based equally if not more so on the scorch marks on the candle, which have still not been explained as anything other than evidence that a gun was never fired there at all. But nah, Stronghart is just as happy to draw attention away from that as Kazuma is.

(Since he knows the full truth of the murder, Stronghart is also the only person who may be aware of the even more damning evidence that proves a gun could not possibly have been fired in the Fresno Street room. But he’s especially not going to draw any attention to that.)

Kazuma:  “The prosecution has something to report on that subject, My Lord.” Stronghart:  “Really? Go ahead, Prosecutor Asogi.”

Geez, look at him acting like he wasn’t expecting Kazuma to bring this (the autopsy report) up at all and this definitely wasn’t all rehearsed and planned out.

Stronghart:  “But the official opinion of the investigation team was made clear yesterday. That the time of death was 5 p.m. on 1st November.” Kazuma:  “There are indications of an attempt to disguise the real time of death, however. It seems that the natural decaying process of the victim’s body may have been slowed by keeping it chilled.” Stronghart:  “That’s out of the question.”

Stronghart apparently also elected to put himself on the “nope it’s definitely impossible” side of this little scripted exchange. In reality, the entire first testimony we’re about to have is to examine the possibility that Gregson was killed the day before, and that testimony was very obviously Stronghart’s idea, so he was perfectly okay with this avenue being explored! (because he intends it to end either with nothing substantial or with apparent proof that van Zieks did it anyway.)

Kazuma:  “It’s conceivable that he was killed in the course of his secret activities.” Stronghart:  “Do I sense that the prosecution has some information regarding those activities?”

Gasp, look at Stronghart’s amazing sixth sense to pick up on this, and not at all that he blatantly knew Kazuma was about to bring this up because he told him to, nope, nothing suspicious here.

Honestly, this is all remarkably brazen, but I guess since Stronghart has a licence to do whatever the heck he wants, he doesn’t care how obvious it looks because nobody’s going to call him out for it anyway.

(Also, look at Kazuma acting like he’s entertaining the idea that Gregson was killed during his secret outing on the 31st, when really he hasn’t entertained that at all because it was definitely van Zieks, okay.)

Kazuma:  “Scotland Yard put an enormous effort into investigating that precise matter yesterday. I think we should begin by presenting the results of that investigation work.”

Once again, note Kazuma’s avoidance of giving a direct answer to Stronghart’s question. He sure does have some first-hand information about Gregson’s real secret activities that day, but he phrases his response in a way that shifts the focus onto something he knows full well is a red herring. Again, he is so good at doing this without actively lying.

--- Testimony 1 ---

Ryunosuke:  “Smuggled goods?!”

Ryunosuke is quite surprised to hear this brought up out of nowhere – as he should be. It seems he can already tell on some level that this is a complete wild goose chase that has nothing to do with the actual case.

Spare a thought for Kazuma, who gives us a summary of the smuggling case and must have spent some time researching this information to recite it in court, while knowing this is irrelevant and fully intending to throw it all out the first chance he gets.

Kazuma:  “There’s no question: the accused, Barok van Zieks, was present.” […] Kazuma:  “In short, Lord van Zieks had ample opportunity to murder the victim.”

Kazuma looks very smug about suggesting that van Zieks could easily have murdered Gregson at the gentleman’s club… even though he knows for a fact that couldn’t have happened. Granted, he’s intending to throw all this out by revealing what Gregson was really doing that day, but the fact that he’s looking so smug about the idea that this irrelevant point throws even more suspicion onto van Zieks is a bit much. Kazuma, please.

(This is one of the very rare instances of Kazuma referring to him as “Lord van Zieks”, incidentally! I… can’t think of any specific reason why this one might be an exception, alas. Guess he just ever-so-occasionally slips up and falls back into habits from his amnesiac days.)

Ryunosuke:  “But I was hoping to find out the name of the club.” Kazuma:  “That won’t be necessary.” Ryunosuke:  “What?” Kazuma:  “It’s conceivable that the club might be used again by the smugglers in future. Therefore… the prosecution has been asked not to reveal the name in these proceedings.”

Note Kazuma’s wording here – he has been asked not to reveal the name of the club. It’s not actually his decision, and he doesn’t actually want to hide that information. He’s just putting up a token amount of resistance here, presumably because Stronghart instructed him to, but he’s bound to be trusting that Ryunosuke will keep pushing. And when he does…

Stronghart:  “The prosecution is rightfully exercising caution, I imagine.” Kazuma:  “……… No, My Lord. The prosecution has no objection.” Stronghart:  “…!” Ryunosuke:  “Kazuma?”

Too bad, Stronghart – turns out, as the lead prosecutor on the case, Kazuma gets the final say whether you like it or not.

Ryunosuke also has an interesting little reaction there, like he’s surprised at Kazuma suddenly changing his tune, or perhaps relieved to see an indication of his friend acting on his own terms and not what he’s been ordered to do.

Kazuma:  “There’s no question that Inspector Gregson was looking into these black market dealings. However… it’s not yet been established that he was on that particular trail on the day in question.”

And here he goes, opening up the possibility that Gregson wasn’t there that day at all, to allow Ryunosuke room to prove it, despite what Stronghart wants.

One incidental thing to note here is that Ryunosuke is now addressing Kazuma with his given name in court, and will continue to do so for the rest of the trial, even though he was calling him “Prosecutor Asogi” in the trial yesterday. Perhaps it’s got something to do with the conversation they had in Kazuma’s office yesterday afternoon, the first thing even vaguely close to a proper conversation between friends that they’ve had since Kazuma’s return. It seems like that closed the distance between them just slightly, enough for Ryunosuke to internalise that this is still Kazuma, albeit a Kazuma with a lot of unexpected emotional baggage, and start instinctively defaulting to calling him by the more familiar name again even in court. (Although this must be on a pretty subconscious level, since we still had Ryunosuke in that scene outwardly telling Kazuma that he’s changed.)

Ryunosuke:  “The Grouse? What sort of a club is that?” […] Kazuma:  “They’re not places where a foreign student like you would be readily admitted.” Ryunosuke:  “Have you looked into the mirror recently?”

I love the way Kazuma tries to project his foreign student status onto Ryunosuke alone. Kazuma is above that, right? He’ll definitely be taken more seriously by the British judiciary and not be written off because he’s “just a foreign student”, won’t he…?

Ryunosuke:  “As I understand it, they’re places where well-to-do gentlemen socialise with friends and colleagues.” Kazuma:  “Don’t imagine for a second that a foreign student like you would be admitted.” Ryunosuke:  (Seriously, is your mirror cracked or something?)

And he does it again, just a few lines later. His particular hypocritical insistence on this just really delights me, which led to me figuring out what it’s implying about his feelings on his own foreign-student status.

Stronghart:  “If it wasn’t a gentleman’s club… then what was it?” Ryunosuke:  “…A steamship.” Kazuma:  “You think… it’s a ship…?”

There’s a subtle screen-shake on Kazuma’s line there, which I like, as it implies an undercurrent of something more going on in his head. He knows it was a ship, and on the one hand he must be glad and proud that Ryunosuke’s zeroing in on the real truth… and yet also perhaps a little worried what that might end up revealing about him.

(After all, Kazuma may well not have been expecting Ryunosuke to prove this much, since this isn’t just proving it wasn’t at the club, but also proving where it really was. He can’t have imagined Ryunosuke would randomly have Mikotoba’s steamship ticket on him in order to cross-reference the ship’s name.)

Kazuma goes on to argue that it couldn’t have been the SS Grouse because it hadn’t docked in Britain yet on the day in question. He has to feel kind of torn about putting up resistance to this, too – on the one hand he wants Ryunosuke to prove the smuggling irrelevant so that he can reveal what Gregson was really up to and is just saying this to make Ryunosuke’s argument stronger, but on the other hand, perhaps a part of him doesn’t want Ryunosuke to prove how Gregson got onto that ship in Dunkirk (and that he brought someone else with him…)

Kazuma:  “Then show your evidence for that assertion!” Ryunosuke:  “…Very well.” Kazuma:  “…!”

Kazuma has an interesting little reaction here as Ryunosuke unflinchingly announces he’ll present his evidence. He’s got to have been expecting Ryunosuke to have something and not just be making things up, but perhaps he’s a little worried about exactly what he has and how damning for him it might end up being.

If you’re playing this part of the trial from chapter-select mode (like I’m doing right now for this commentary), the Court Record will assume you haven’t yet examined Gregson’s trunk to find the passport inside it. Which then makes the fact that I have to do so right now to be able to present the passport kind of awkward, because it will be a vital plot point very soon that Kazuma shouldn’t know that the passport was inside the trunk. So uh. Let’s just have Ryunosuke hide behind his bench to sneakily look at the trunk and take the passport out, Kazuma totally won’t see that, it’s fine.

(Of course, we can assume that canonically Ryunosuke took the passport out of the trunk at some point yesterday so that this isn’t an issue.)

Stronghart:  “What’s this? A passport for travel issued to the victim?” Kazuma:  “………”

Kazuma keeps himself poker-faced as the passport is presented. But as Ryunosuke shows that he’s very much figured out what it means…

Ryunosuke:  “…there’s a distinct possibility he wasn’t even in the country!” Kazuma:  “…!”

…he flinches back in shock. It’s a little bit of an odd delayed reaction, but I do think he’s realising here that Ryunosuke having seen that passport is a Bad Sign for him being able to keep his own dodgy actions hidden.

(And maybe he also remembers where Gregson was keeping the passport, so the fact that Ryunosuke has seen it means he’s also found a certain metal trunk that a very damning piece of evidence was left in…)

Kazuma:  “……… Ha ha ha ha ha hah! I’m impressed, Ryunosuke Naruhodo! I certainly didn’t expect you to get your hands on that passport.”

But Kazuma regains his composure pretty quickly, of course. He’s fine! He’s definitely fine and proud of his friend for figuring things out and just wasn’t expecting him to have seen the passport, hmmmm, nope, nothing suspicious about that specific point.

Ryunosuke:  “What? You mean… you knew about this?”

Meanwhile Ryunosuke is several steps behind those of us in the commentary who know everything Kazuma knows, and is only just catching onto the fact that Kazuma was aware of at least some of this all along. He seems pretty shocked here, presumably at realising that his friend was hiding information from him. He never openly picked up on any of the earlier hints at this – of which there were a lot – perhaps because he doesn’t want to think about how underhanded Kazuma’s capable of being.

Kazuma:  “The prosecution’s strategy for this trial has been laid down by the Crown prosecution office:”

Instead of directly answering this question, and also diverting the conversation entirely away from the matter of the passport before he gives too much away, Kazuma goes on to explain that this whole angle about smuggling was something he was ordered to do. He says it was from the Prosecutor’s Office, and I guess on a technical level it was, but let’s be real – it was Stronghart. Kazuma probably even knows this, given their blatantly rehearsed opening statement… but it seems like directly calling out Stronghart for this is not a risk he’s willing to take when there isn’t much reward for it.

Kazuma:  “I think the Prosecutor’s Office is trying to hide something.” Ryunosuke:  “What?!” Kazuma:  “And now that you’ve expertly disproven their assertion… I intend to reveal what I believe that something to be.” Stronghart:  “What are you playing at, Prosecutor Asogi?”

Stronghart is glaring at Kazuma, clearly Not Happy at him going against orders like this. Again: those orders were so obviously from him, especially since it was all to hide Gregson’s role as the Reaper’s tactician, which Stronghart in particular would quite like to keep hidden, thanks.

Kazuma:  “A courtroom is a forum for the truth, My Lord. Which is why it’s my duty to present all the facts, without exception.”

Kazuma’s entire speech here, and particularly these lines, really give the sense that he cares a lot about doing things honourably and without corruption in order to uncover the whole truth. Which, in principle, he does!

And yet. All the facts, without exception? He hasn’t exactly been keeping to the word of that, now, has he – and he still isn’t planning to.

Stronghart:  “Let me guess… This was your intention from the outset, wasn’t it?”

Of course it was; of course Kazuma wanted to reveal Gregson working for the Reaper, just to paint an even bigger picture of how completely terrible van Zieks is. It doesn’t take much for Stronghart to figure that Kazuma planned this all along, either. There was a bit in Stronghart’s office during yesterday’s investigation, in which Kazuma was being told off for going off the rails with Vigil in that day’s trial. Stronghart ordered him to stay in line next time, and he mentioned to Ryunosuke that if Kazuma continued not to, “I will be forced to take steps”. Apparently those steps amounted to “script his approach to the trial and oversee it as the judge to make sure he stays in line”. And of course he still didn’t, because Kazuma is stubborn and doesn’t bow to authority for the heck of it.

But like… surely Stronghart would have known there’d be a good chance Kazuma wasn’t going to behave, even being directly overseen like this? What further steps was he planning to take if (when) Kazuma inevitably didn’t?

…Apparently, the answer to this is “nothing at all (other than some displeased glares)”. So that whole mini plotline about this amounted to barely anything. I guess it gives Stronghart an excuse to be the judge for the final trial days, but honestly I wouldn’t have batted an eye at him doing that anyway, minor powerplay with Kazuma or no.

I’d thought, on my first playthrough, that Kazuma’s defiance here was going to lead to Stronghart realising he can’t control Kazuma and that he needs to get rid of him, therefore causing Stronghart to deliberately nudge things towards getting Kazuma arrested once the assassin thing is revealed a little later in the trial. It would have made perfect sense! Kazuma ought to be just as much if not more of a threat that Stronghart would want to get rid of than van Zieks is, given that he’s just proven himself uncontrollable and has a lot more reason to seek the truth about the Professor case than van Zieks does. But somehow, canonically, Stronghart just shrugs and decides, nah, getting rid of van Zieks is totally still the greater priority, for some reason, let’s just let things continue like this.

Grumble grumble Kazuma should have been arrested, look at how much sense it would have made.

(It isn’t even made at all clear why Stronghart is so determined to get rid of van Zieks in the first place. I’ve seen it suggested elsewhere that it’s because, what with him vying for promotion, he wants to put an end to the Reaper at last and pin it all on the poor convenient scapegoat so that none of it can be traced back to him. I guess that’s the most reasonable explanation, but it'd be nice if there was some proper indication of it somewhere in-story.)

Anyway yes, Kazuma dramatically announces that Gregson was on a mission for the Reaper that day.

Kazuma:  “The prosecution made an assertion in court yesterday:” Kazuma: [yesterday] “Inspector Gregson was investigating the identity of the Reaper. When he discovered the location of the man’s secret hideout… he was killed. As I’m sure everyone can imagine… by the Reaper’s hand!” Kazuma:  “But in reality… the truth is the opposite of that.”

He makes sure to clear up any confusion caused by his previous argument by citing it and pointing out it was incorrect. But conveniently, he doesn’t mention the fact that he already knew it was incorrect when he made it yesterday, because unlike the rest of the police force, he did not learn about Gregson working for the Reaper only yesterday afternoon.

Kazuma:  “Barok van Zieks never carried out any of the actual killings. Whenever the Reaper’s victims lost their lives, he always had a cast-iron alibi. Which tells us… that he must have had an accomplice.”

Sure, Kazuma, it definitely tells us that, because Barok van Zieks must definitely be the Reaper, no other possibility. This couldn’t possibly tell us that maybe van Zieks just isn’t actually the Reaper at all.

(Granted, he is thinking along the right lines, since the real Reaper mastermind also does not carry out the killings himself. He also just knows that to be a fact, since he’s had Gregson approach him as merely the Reaper’s tactician. But his logic for arguing this here is based entirely on his tunnel-visioned “van Zieks is definitely the Reaper” premise and not anything rational.)

Susato:  “We also arrived at the same conclusion, didn’t we? That Inspector Gregson was operating as the Reaper.”

You and Ryunosuke didn’t exactly “arrive at that conclusion”, though, Susato. Van Zieks told you that he’d figured it out during his investigations, and you believed his judgement, that’s all.

Ryunosuke:  “Barok van Zieks is not the Reaper!” Kazuma:  “A predictable response… from someone who’s advocating for the man.”

Nice mental deflection there, Kazuma. Ryunosuke’s totally only insisting this because it’s his job to as a lawyer, definitely not at all because he genuinely believes in van Zieks and he might be right to or anything, nope, no need to think about that possibility.

Ryunosuke argues that Gregson couldn’t have been acting as the Reaper on the Grouse because nobody was killed there.

Kazuma:  “…Pfft!” Ryunosuke:  “What’s so funny?” Kazuma:  “You’re right, of course. No suspicious deaths were reported on board that ship. But I think perhaps you’ve missed the point. That’s precisely why Inspector Gregson lost his life!”

It’s kind of painful how Kazuma seems to think this is amusing. Van Zieks murdering Gregson for the oh-so-terrible slight of not killing his target this one time is so obvious in Kazuma’s head that he snickers at the thought that Ryunosuke stumbled into helping him argue that.

Ryunosuke:  “What?!”

Understandably, Ryunosuke has no idea why Kazuma seems to think that makes sense, because it doesn’t.

Kazuma:  “There’s no question that Tobias Gregson was heavily involved in the Reaper’s activities. You may just be an apprentice, but if you’ve spent any time at Scotland Yard, you must have heard rumours…”

Rumours aren’t evidence, Kazuma! Granted, he also cited just a moment ago that Gregson’s secret notebook contains details of the assassination plots, which is actually evidence, but it is something that he tries to bring the rumours into it too. Perhaps it’s that he knows for a fact Gregson was part of the Reaper for reasons he can’t reveal without incriminating himself, so it’s frustrating him that he still can’t quite treat it as fact in court, leading to him trying to back it up in flimsy ways as well as solid ones. Alas, how much easier Kazuma’s job in this trial would be if he was just willing to incriminate himself.

--- Testimony 2 ---

Ryunosuke:  “I know Judge Jigoku! And I saw him the day before yesterday! Here in London! So I know for a fact that the man hasn’t been assassinated!” Kazuma:  “As I said… the Reaper failed.” Ryunosuke:  “Oh…” Kazuma:  “Gregson missed his chance to kill his mark and returned to British shores.”

One thing the narrative never properly discusses about Gregson’s mission here is… was he even supposed to kill his mark in the first place? Gregson was the tactician, not the actual assassin. It’s his job to investigate the marks and figure out the best opportunities to kill them, and then to pass that information onto the assassin who will do the actual deed. If Gregson goes on a trip to investigate a mark with an assassin in tow, surely that’s just an information-gathering mission? Surely Gregson himself would usually try not to be present during the actual killings?

Granted, that’s all moot in this instance since this was never a real Reaper mission, and actually Kazuma was sent along so that he would, in theory, kill Gregson, but still. I guess the narrative just never discusses this because it would unnecessarily complicate things. And clearly we cannot be bringing up any possible flaws in Kazuma’s very sensible logic here, right.

Kazuma:  “But the Reaper wouldn’t tolerate the mistake. So he killed the inspector… personally. The Reaper of course being the accused… Barok van Zieks!” Stronghart:  “It’s… an undeniably logical argument.”

It really isn’t!!!!! There are so many things wrong with this argument that it’s honestly kind of hilarious.

It’s ridiculous that the Reaper would get so mad at Gregson failing to kill the mark when he’s not even supposed to be the assassin – as I said, this was surely just an information-gathering mission if Gregson was there. Even if it wasn’t, the killing itself is still not Gregson’s job. The Reaper should be getting mad at Kazuma for failing, if anyone.

It’s also just ridiculous that the Reaper would go so far as to kill any henchman of his for one small mistake that didn’t actually have any negative consequences. Gregson can still try again, surely? Sometimes unexpected things come up that make assassinations not safe to go for without getting caught! If he killed his men for every tiny thing like this, he’d run out of men very quickly.

It's also ridiculous that the Reaper, a very careful serial killer who has kept himself hidden for ten whole years, would apparently carry out this retribution by shooting Gregson in a house in a populated street, thus immediately getting himself caught red-handed like the most bumbling criminal imaginable.

And of course, this entire argument hinges on the assumed premise that Barok van Zieks is the Reaper, something Kazuma has still not shown any proof for whatsoever.

And, even if we somehow take everything about this argument as solid, it still only “proves” a potential motive for van Zieks committing the crime! It does not prove that he did it!

But Kazuma realises none of this ridiculousness. No, of course van Zieks is so petty and vindictive as to murder his henchmen for one tiny mistake that isn’t really even part of their job, and of course he’s stupid and bumbling enough to get himself caught for it, and of course he is definitely the Reaper, because he is The Worst Person Ever.

Stronghart agreeing that this argument is logical is laughable – but then, Stronghart is apparently (for some unclear reason) still on the Let’s Get Van Zieks Convicted train, so he’s happy to agree with anything that’ll let him do that so long as nobody questions it.

Ryunosuke:  (Kazuma… You planned for the trial to go this way all along, didn’t you?)

Which even Ryunosuke isn’t doing! He’s only marvelling at Kazuma having planned this – if anything, the way he’s thinking this reads as if he feels cornered. He’s not at all considering that this is a terrible argument actually. I would side-eye his response to this the most, since he doesn’t have such a good excuse for being wrong as Kazuma or Stronghart, but… I suppose this just speaks to how much Ryunosuke idolises his best friend. It doesn’t occur to him to ever expect Kazuma’s arguments to be flawed, because Kazuma’s the best at what he does, right?

I love the sheer audacity of van Zieks striding up to the witness stand during his own trial and slamming his leg on it to express his displeasure at the bullshit going on. It’s so very him. And I really can’t blame him right now.

Kazuma:  “The accused has no right to speak uninvited in court. You will return to the dock.”

Kazuma is Not Happy. He may have been fine with calling van Zieks to testify unnecessarily yesterday, but in that instance, he was in control and was doing so to prove van Zieks to be a terrible liar. Can’t have van Zieks speaking out of turn and saying things that might make people think he’s not a horrible person.

Also, one little detail I enjoy during this bit is that the angle of Kazuma’s eyeline in his poses while he’s addressing van Zieks is just slightly lower than normal. It gives the subtle sense that he’s not looking van Zieks in the eye. Of course he wouldn’t want to do that.

Van Zieks:  “That girl is no detective.” […] Van Zieks:  “Repeating rumours heard around the Yard… Reading entries from a notebook of unconfirmed origin… That’s not testimony. It’s practically a script. No doubt the rest of this trial will go exactly as you’ve clearly planned.”

Van Zieks is essentially accusing Kazuma of being corrupt, of having rigged the entire trial to get him convicted unfairly. And it’s not that Kazuma isn’t being kind of corrupt right now, what with his very terrible argument that Stronghart is conveniently choosing to agree with… but it’s not really in the way that van Zieks is suggesting here.

The first testimony we had today, about the smuggling, really was practically a script. That whole line of argument was bullshitted by the Prosecutor’s Office (aka: Stronghart) to come up with something to hide the truth about Gregson acting for the Reaper. And Gina, a very inexperienced detective who doesn’t know much of what’s going on and is the most willing to accept anything that doesn’t involve Gregson working for the Reaper, was called to give the testimony, even though all she was really doing was reciting what she’d been told to say about the smuggling. And Kazuma didn’t like that he had to script that part of the trial, and was happy when Ryunosuke managed to disprove it for him!

This second testimony of Gina’s is a lot less scripted, though. She’s stating actual facts about what’s written in Gregson’s secret notebook (the notebook she found, so she’s a relevant person to testify about it), and the purpose of the testimony is to prove that Gregson was indeed working for the Reaper. This is something that van Zieks knows to be true thanks to his own investigations, some of which involved that very notebook! And Gina is the one person who’s actually trying to argue against this angle on Gregson in her testimony, by adding an unwarranted personal-opinion line at the end about how surely he was really just investigating the Reaper. So she’s hardly a witness who’s biased towards Kazuma’s case.

The actual problem here is that Kazuma is taking the true and backed-up facts that Gregson was working for the Reaper and went on a Reaper mission that day, and using those to spin a thoroughly flawed argument about how this means that van Zieks, who is totally the Reaper, totally killed him. Van Zieks… doesn’t quite seem able to see that. His own hatred of Kazuma is twisting his judgement just a little out of whack on this matter, too.

(It’s pretty amusing that van Zieks’s mistake here is that he’s assuming Kazuma is being corrupt in a more competent way than how he is actually being corrupt. Everybody is overestimating Kazuma’s ability to form a coherent argument here. Which is fair, because Kazuma really is so much better than this the rest of the time!)

Kazuma:  “………”

Kazuma’s response to van Zieks insinuating that he’s rigged this testimony is nothing but a silent glare. Maybe he feels somewhat secure here, because at least he knows that he hasn’t really rigged the testimony at all.

(He was trying to bring the rumours into it, though. Van Zieks isn’t wrong to call him out on that bit.)

Van Zieks:  “In your mind, I’m sure I am the Reaper… who sent your father to the gallows all those years ago.” Kazuma:  “…!”

Kazuma remains in the same pose, but his text box implies a slightly more intense reaction to van Zieks bringing up his father, because of course. I really like how van Zieks is able to empathise with Kazuma to some extent and understand how he must feel about the death of his father, even though van Zieks believes that Genshin deserved it!

Van Zieks:  “But you’re in danger of becoming a far more sinister Reaper yourself… by attempting to have me condemned with this feeble excuse for testimony.” Kazuma:  “What did you say?”

This is the only part of van Zieks’s words that gets a verbal rise out of Kazuma. Of course he’s especially not pleased at the insinuation that he’s being worse than van Zieks himself in the way he’s approaching this. And, hey, while van Zieks is off about the precise ways in which Kazuma’s being corrupt right now, he’s not wrong to suggest that at all! Kazuma, please take a step back and look at yourself before you become the very kind of demon that you’re trying to fight.

This delightful little exchange gets interrupted by Susato and Ryunosuke, as the latter appeals for van Zieks to remain in the stand for the cross-examination, since he might know important information. It’s almost like he’s the one who actually has proper information on the testimony’s topic of Gregson being part of the Reaper, because he literally agrees with what the testimony’s arguing! Not such a corrupt testimony, really, is it, van Zieks?

(This trial day is short enough that it isn’t split apart with a save point, but I have so much to say about it that I’m splitting it into two anyway! So I’m stopping here, just before we start the actual cross-examination.)

[sevarix-blogs]

If you'd like to share, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Genshin (Asogi)!

gladly! :D

i dont have many coherent thoughts, but idk i just like to think about him. i like to think about how kazuma thinks about him too. how he looked up to him so much, even when he was across the world for all those years. i also think about how they probably sent each other letters. they would have had to. i wonder sometimes what kind of letters they were. i like to think that kazuma would tell him all sorts of things about what was going on in his life, and then genshin would reply to every single little thing. he probably wouldn't have gone into details about his work much. but he probably mentioned enough to keep kazuma satisfied.

i do wonder about his age too. was he the same age as yujin and seishiro? if so, that means he was quite young when kazuma was born. like 19. and if that's the case, then he probably got married very young too, probably around the same age. which is interesting! another interesting thing to think about

i also like to think about how he and barok got along. i believe at one point barok refers to him as one of his greatest friends or something like that. and we know that barok was v different back then ofc. i also like to think about what barok thought of him. like it's clear he respected him, but maybe he looked up to him too.

i also love to explore post game kazuma eventually asking barok to tell him about his father. bc although i imagine kzm sent letters to him and stuff, barok was actually spending a lot of time with him in person. i feel like it could be a bonding moment between kzm and barok too. a way to help them become friends themselves.

and i will refrain from going on about bvz and kzm becoming friends bc that is a different topic and one that i could go on about forever (and have written many fics about as you know lol)

but anyway.

[alynnl]

Over the past few days, I started The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles case 2-4 and wrapped up the first investigation phase last night.

At first it was all fun and games. I saw the obvious reference to the Red Headed League from the original Sherlock Holmes stories and Herlock's dyed hair was so over the top for him. But Sholmes will do anything to solve the greatest dilemma (where the rent is coming from.)

But it quickly became serious and dramatic when Ryunosuke and Susato went asking about the missing prison warder, Daley Vigil. The guy was fired from his job and it happened ten years ago! And apparently his wife Evie didn't know. (But she might be lying.)

Mr. Vigil was involved in the Professor case. He was the one who was supposed to walk The Professor to the gallows.

And who else was involved?

Inspector Gregson!

And before we could find out anything else about the case of the missing warder, we hear from a very tear-eyed Gina that Gregson was shot and killed. And Barok van Zieks has been arrested for his murder.

(Gina is not the only one grieving Gregson either, all the other officers on scene are also mourning him and speaking highly of him. He was as much of a legend as Herlock Sholmes.)

But if I look at the facts, it looks like a lot of people involved in the case ten years ago are disappearing one way or another...

Dr. Courtney Sithe - Arrested and awaiting a separate murder trial after she failed to frame Professor Harebrayne for her crime.

Enoch Drebber - Arrested for being an accomplice to murder.

Odie Asman - Murdered during the Great Exhibition by Sithe and Drebber.

Daley Vigil - Missing and not found yet. He apparently tried to help a convict escape (likely Genshin Asogi) and was fired for it.

Genshin Asogi - Sentenced to death ten years ago and apparently shot after he "rose from the grave."

Considering what happened to Gregson and Van Zieks just now, I think it's safe to assume that there's a massive cover-up taking place, and a gag order isn't enough. Someone wants people permanently silenced. And Lord Stronghart has a big hand in a lot of these deaths, arrests and disappearances.

He's behind it all. I know he is.

And it's even worse when you consider that he has a pattern of bringing a prosecutor against a defendant with whom they have an axe to grind: First Barok van Zieks against Genshin Asogi and then Kazuma Asogi against Barok van Zieks, respectfully.

I feel like the Lord Chief Justice is not only pulling the strings, but happily making new ones and getting everyone to dance to his tune.

But it's hard to know why Kazuma agreed to prosecute this trial.

I thought Kazuma wanted revenge on Van Zieks for his father's execution, but if he really wanted it that badly, he could have just faced a hopeless public defender or even went forward with Van Zieks having no legal defense at all! But he doesn't do that. Instead he tells Ryunosuke what little he knows about the man he was an apprentice to, and hands him a photograph of Barok in the good old days before this decade old tragedy.

This photograph is enough for Van Zieks to finally let down his walls and accept Ryunosuke's legal counsel.

Kazuma wants to face Ryunosuke in court for...what?

The honor of a fair trial his father never got?

Playing the long game in exposing the cover up (and only trusting Ryunosuke to do it?)

For amusement??

I suppose I'll see when I get to the first part of the trial. I've never been so eager to start up a game again!

[rosehippiefield]

For the ship ask game:

Thoughts on Homumiko, susahao, asoryuu, and susagina?

YTTD ships what do you think about Ryoko/Sara/Joe, Keishin, Maiple, and Safamaple?

Thanks for the ask :3 And I'm terribly sorry that I'm answering this late

(I may misremember a lot about great ace attorney because I wasn't involved in this game for a while)

Homumiko: it definitely makes sense, they were partners in the past and their attitude toward each other barely changed. They know each other like no one else does, having solved countless mysteries and opened up about personal struggles (thus 10/10). And I kinda like it (7/10), but I'm not the biggest fan of Cholmes so that influenced my opinion a bit (yeah, I'm a bit weird about that)

Susahao: 10/10 both sensibility and compelling. There's admiration, mutual understanding and support, they know each other for a long time so I don't see any drawbacks

Asoryuu: it does make sense for sure, two guys helping each other in time of need: Asogi supporting Ryuu during first trial and then the latter dispelling Kazuma's dark shadow of vengeance when it mattered the most. The trust between them is amazing. But I do have a little problem with Kazuma's motivation, because he didn't tell Ryuu about his mission and his plans in Great Britain. Like there could be a lot of trouble (and there were but for different reasons). So I'll give it 9/10 in making sense. And personally it compels me a bit, but something stops me from loving it. I can't really explain it, maybe it's Kazuma's dark side or him staying in Britain while Ryuu returns to Japan... On the other hand, Ryuu is probably the best person to help Asogi. I just want to give everybody a break for reflection on the past before starting (or rather continuing) relationship. Thus maybe around 8/10

Susagina: sadly, I don't remember their interactions, but they are of same age. I'd say they are compatible as Susato is calm and knowledgeable while Gina is more energetic as far as I remember. Both can be huge dorks. So sensibility is probably 6/10 (once again, I forgot huge chunks of game, so there could be a lot more to them). But I ship Susahao more. Moreover, my own weird experience: at the beginning I thought Gina was around 13-14 years old. I know she's not but still this misconception remains in my brain. So I give it 5/10

Ryoko/Sara/Joe: they have a meaningful relationship in canon, though there are some peculiarities in Sara's attitude towards Joe (judging by Sara's episode, though it's more of her reflecting on the past). Plus, in the beginning, before kidnapping Sara didn't really show too much affection toward Joe (I actually thought she was a bit rude, even in her dialogue options). So probably 7/10. For me Sara's relationship with Joe is purely platonic, so I'd rather ship Ryoko with Joe and Sara is their mutual friend who's as important to them as they are to each other. Thus maybe around 7/10 as well

Keishin: for me it both makes total sense and makes no sense at all. Both are traumatised people that witnessed suffering of each other (and having similar experiences), thus being able to understand each other. But I don't know if they have forgiven the past deeds completely: Keiji did say he hated Shin, albeit without knowing everything; Shin vowed to kill everyone who voted for Kanna, including Keiji. Some time has passed since then, but I don't know if they can bond afterwards. So around 7/10. As for my personal attitude, I want the best for both of them and I think that their relationship is going to be unhealthy. Like, no one in this pair can be the supporter figure, both need to be majorly fixed at the same time. Plus they had serious grudges against each other. Maybe around 6/10, I can see the appeal but not my cup of tea for now. But who knows, maybe I'm being pessimistic and they could pull it off.

Maiple: it makes sense, Mai is the type of person, cheerful and kind, who can help Maple to discover her true feelings. Which she actually tried to do. So sensibility is 10/10. I like this ship overall, but my only complaint is that Maple is phycologically not adult. She's simplified and childishly naive, despite her wanting be in relationship she's not exactly ready for it yet. But after some time yeah, why not? Thus compatibility 8/10.

Safamaple: to be honest, I never thought about it before. But they both are Asunaro members that don't display same cruelty as other floormasters. They totally could communicate outside of death game (or even during it). Right now I'd say 6/10. And my previous remark about Maple's lack of maturity applies here as well. Plus, Safalin is the type of person to use said immaturity (judging by game over with Sara using hallucination device for the third time). Moreover, Maple never was a living creature, only an experimental AI. If we remember Ranger's "Realiser" fate, Safalin can be too cruel, using emotions to her own satisfaction. So no for me, the lowest 3/10. Maple deserves better

[tero-ga]

Aaaaanother TGAA SwapAU stuff and it is my wonderful boy Albert as the prosecutor!!

I've changed some of the designs in this one like the jacket color to white to make a resemblance of a lab coat and reflecting of Kazuma white school uniform, as well trying to bring more Frankenstein's Monster vibe too hehe (aaand make him look more miserable too). He is also have a locket that have a painting of him and his two brothers, it was given by Andrew during his wedding!

I also made bunch of character that related to Swap!Albert's life from 10 years ago, like Andrew(Klint's roleswap) and his other brother Michael, university Barok and Albert, etc. more info about the are there down below 👇👇

First of I wanted to say I'm sorry I can't do full render of everyone here, do that with all of them would be death sentence for me so I couldn't do it 😭😭 Anyway without further ado, I'm going right into it! Start from left to right!

This first one Ryunosuke father replacing as Genshin Asogi. At first while brainstorming I was thinking of maybe do three switch around with Genshin, Jigoku, and Yujin but the it somehow felt weird for me. Then the thought of maybe involving Auchi in this too (like, imagine him being swap with Jigoku wouldn't that be funny and terrifying thought), but discarded that idea out because of Menimemo would have no one to swap with (i have to i'm sorry). Sooo I ended just design him from scratch, he is quite easy to figure out since Genshin doesn't really have much going on with him, but since we don't have any idea of original Ryunosuke's parents at all I have to take idea from something else, and that is his daruma doll for his eyes (he is half blind!! :D) and Phoenix DD/SOJ design (droopy hair and light vest) and everything else is from Genshin. His name is Ryuuki Naruhodo since Ryunosuke is another name for Ryuichi so I want to keep the train going!!

Andrew the screwdriver, oh I missed him- Anyway, I redesign his outfit because tbh his previous outfit is ridiculous 😭 it's funny and fun but I do want to take him seriously now. I'm tried to keep the A shape still but it's less subtle now, I think it turned out okay!! (Oh yeah, his cane is supposed to be a hidden sword but i forgot to put that in the drawing 😭). I was supposed to make his bowtie red like the hair tie but then I realized it will getting rid of the purpose of the hair tie (it referencing the blood on the tip of the screwdriver) so I ended up making it color silver.

The Lady Baskerville, I gave her similar design to Sunny(Herlock!Swap) with the bowtie, color palette to his mascot, and hair on her. I'm not really quite fond with her design, maybe I'll do redesign her again if I got a idea pop up like crazy but in the meantime this is her design.

Guess who is this?? Another one of Albert's tool is here finally!! Michael the crosshead screwdriver! Since we never see Michael anywhere and only mentioned once in the game he is, I'm just draw simple design for him (I wished I could put M shape in the design but I have no idea WHERE to put it 😭 so I tried used the bowtie for it). I also thought it would be nice to make him a defense attorney so I made the design for the badge too. Since he is sadly not going to be mentioned a lot in this AU since I'm trying to make the storyline same as the original, so I made a backstory of what happened in the fun fact tags. There was supposed to be more tool to be added but my god that would be taxing to design, so I have to make only Andrew and Michael as his only siblings.

The doggie Balmung replacement, Bolt, He is a Irish Setter! Beforehand he was supposed to be Borzoi but then research the background of the breed I don't how difficult it is to actually get one in that era so I have to changed breed :((

Albert and Barok in university days!! I just keep same as before like previous design!! There's a tiny change like the hair and the neckties.

There is going to be more content of them soon because I have a lot of ideas for them sooo stay tuned ;)

Here's the concept designs!!

[myfairstarlight]

A Joyous Fair

AO3 Link.

Rating: G

Pairings: Susato Mikotoba/Haori Murasame (Rei Membami). Side Kazuma Asogi/Ryunosuke Naruhodo + mentioned Gina Lestrade/Maria Gorey

Written for Susahao Week 2022. Day 3: AU/Modern Day

Word count: 3k

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Susato finds herself almost longing for the time when Kazuma was not very fond of parties or outings, too focused on his studies and her to even care about making friends. Then he went to college and started his internship at Wright Anything Agency where he met the boss’ younger cousin who, Susato has to assume, developed an instant crush and kept inviting Kazuma to various outings over the months.

Her brother is, like always, completely oblivious to the whole ordeal and Susato almost feels bad for Ryunosuke. But she mostly feels bad for herself because she finds herself to be the one person the guy decides to confide his unsuccessful attempts at dates to.

“I’ve tried every trick in the books!” Ryunosuke complains that day, once again, while Susato is trying to do her homework on the stairs leading towards the Asogi residence, waiting for Kazuma to show up. After starting university, Kazuma moved out to move into his parents’ old house that he still owned as per Genshin Asogi’s will, since the house was closer to Ivy University but also his internship and he wanted some independence, Susato supposes, even if he’s close enough that she and their father can visit often.

The Mikotoba house sure is much quieter now that Kazuma isn’t there every day, though.

“Crazy idea but have you considered telling him you’re taking him on dates?”

"You can give me lessons when you finally figure out what’s going on with you and Haori, alright?” Ryunosuke replies.

Susato’s pen slips, creating a hard line across a complicated equation she just figured out in her head and now everything has vanished from her mind. Haori may be her one weakness. She met the girl only at the beginning of the year since their lockers were next to each other, and Haori single-handedly put a dent in Susato’s study-focused mind with a simple smile and a gentle “hi”. Before she could understand it, Susato found herself drawn to her and slowly, but surely, she found her way into the friend group Haori already had, befriending Gina and then Gina’s girlfriend Maria with relative ease.

It took a few weeks and a lot of teasing from her family to realise that what she was feeling was a crush. She can’t be blamed, she thought she’d never meet anyone who could elicit the passionate feelings she reads in novels.

“That’s completely different!” she objects. “Pretty sure she’s straight anyway. My brother is not and he does not hide it.”

“Uh uh,” Ryunosuke says, thoroughly unconvinced.

Susato sighs. “Listen, there’s a fair next weekend. Go to the haunted house with him or the Ferris Wheel!”

“Susato, I am terrified of both.”

“Even more perfect, you’ll have an excuse to cling to him!” Susato counters and to her merit, Ryunosuke actually considers the option. “Or you can try to win him one of those giant stuffed animals, he loves those. Don’t tell him I told you that though.”

“They’re rigged though.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that. It’s the effort that counts though?”

Ryunosuke doesn’t get to reply because Kazuma suddenly appears, his shadow looming over them as he looks over Susato’s homework.

“Your second answer is wrong,” her brother says and she promptly closes her notebook. One thing she didn’t miss is Kazuma monitoring her work, she has enough to catch up to when she intends on pursuing the same career as him, already.

“Took you long enough, Kazuma,” Ryunosuke says as he stands up.

“Lost my binder somewhere and all my other ones were in the wash,” Kazuma replies with a shrug. “So, what were you talking about?”

“The fair next weekend,” Susato promptly answers. “I was telling Ryunosuke it would be a nice break. It’s after your exams too, isn’t it? And it would be the beginning of my break.”

Kazuma hums. “You think I can manage to drag Barok to it? Dude really needs to loosen up but he’s allergic to parties.”

Susato catches Ryunosuke pouting at the mention of the TA in Kazuma’s criminal justice course. The man is a social recluse and yet apparently Kazuma has bothered him enough to become some sort of friends. From what Susato understands, Kazuma’s late father and Barok’s late brother used to know each other. Susato met him one afternoon as she visited Kazuma and Barok was there, helping her brother with an assignment. Never mind that the assignment was not about criminal justice whatsoever but she didn’t exactly dare make a remark under the intimidating gaze of the British man.

They’re not dating, as far as Susato is aware, and Barok seems too emotionally constipated for that anyway. She is rooting for Ryunosuke, but she struggles to understand if her brother is even interested in either of them.

“Should we invite Herlock too then?” Ryunosuke says, the TA in his English Literature class.

“No way! Then dad will want to come, I love him but I don’t need him over my shoulder the whole day,” Susato protests. “I can bring Gina, Maria and Haori though.”

“Wait no, we need to invite Herlock, so Iris will be there and she can convince Barok to come!” Kazuma counters. “He’d never miss the opportunity to see his niece.”

“But dad will embarrass us!” Susato does not whine. “And why are you so hellbent on bringing Barok anyway?”

“Have you seen him? He looks like a vampire, I want to drag him to the haunted house and see if he’d scare them. Or if anything fazes him. Really, I just want to get a reaction out of him outside of annoyance.”

“I— You know what, I’m curious too now.”

Ryunosuke sends her a betrayed look.

“I know! We must do this. Oh, and I’ve heard there will be a love tunnel this year…” Kazuma trails off suggestively. “I know who to trap in there.”

“You can’t really force people on rides though…” Ryunosuke comments. “Also Barok would kill you.”

“Who said he’s the one I wanna trap there?” Kazuma grins like the Cheshire Cat. “Come on partner, your deductions are usually better than that.”

“Um…”

Susato tunes them out for the rest of the way to the library as she texts Haori the plan for next weekend.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

In the end, Kazuma drags both Barok and Ryunosuke to the haunted house first — he’s holding their hands for god’s sake — and Susato watches them with a bemused smile on her lips. It seems her brother’s obliviousness has reached such an absurd level, he isn’t even aware of how his actions look to the outsider and how both Ryunosuke and Barok follow him like docile puppies.

“Should we go to the haunted house too?” Susato asks Haori who stiffens. She chuckles. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“I’d hate to accidentally hurt an actor, you know my first instinct is to punch when I’m scared…” Haori says and yeah, Susato knows, she does that while watching scary movies too. She just punches the air before hiding behind her sleeves, which is greatly endearing. “And— wait, where are Gina and Maria?”

A look around gives them the answer. Maria is dragging a reluctant Gina towards the haunted house as well. Maria might as well have stars in her eyes as she stares up at the attraction before going in, Gina’s arm firmly in her hands.

“Guess everyone went in,” Susato comments and now she actually is curious to know if it is worth the hype. She hardly ever is scared herself.

“Your dad, Iris and Herlock decided on the Ferris Wheel instead, I’d rather go there.”

Susato looks at her sceptically. She knows Haori handles heights as much as Ryunosuke, which means not at all.

“Let’s go try to win some prizes,” Susato decides instead.

Haori frowns. “But they’re rigged.” Wow, she and Ryunosuke really would get on well if they spent more time together.

“And I’m determined.”

“Susato… don’t,” her friend sighs.

“Now I’m taking it as a challenge.”

Haori smiles, fond and exasperated. “In those moments I realise how much alike you and your brother are.”

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

So they go through every stand, Haori convincing Susato to only try each game once so they don’t waste too much money. Susato manages to win multiple small plushies from claw machines, a bubble-making thingy from the ring tosser game that Susato suspects won’t last more than a week, nothing from the basketball one — Haori had to physically drag her away — and by the time they reach the shooting range game, Kazuma and Ryunosuke have exited the haunted house and joined them.

“Where’s Barok?” Susato asks, deciding to ignore how pale Ryunosuke looks and how he’s clinging to Kazuma’s headband as if his life depended on it.

“With Iris. She and I may have pushed dad and Herlock into the queue for the love tunnel, so,” Kazuma answers, oh so that’s who he wanted to trap there. “I had promised her and Barok to find a way to get them out of the way for a bit.”

“Ryunosuke, are you okay…?” Haori eventually asks.

Ryunosuke shakily nods. “F-Fine.”

“He accidentally punched an actor in an attempt to protect me and he still feels bad about it,” Kazuma says, looking fond. “But anyway, have you managed to win anything interesting? I’ve been eyeing that huge teddy bear over there…”

“Hah! No way, I will be winning that one for Haori!” Susato exclaims.

Before Haori or Kazuma could respond to that, Ryunosuke suddenly seems to regain his senses and steps forward, facing Susato head-on. “Absolutely not, I will.”

“What?” Both Haori and Kazuma ask, thoroughly confused.

“This is a shooting range, Ryunosuke,” she reminds him. “We both know who has the advantage here with a gun.”

“But I have a better aim than you as an archer.”

“Guns and bows are very different weapons though,” Kazuma points out but Ryunosuke cuts him off with a hand on his mouth.

“Shush partner, I’m doing this for you.”

And Susato is momentarily distracted when she sees her brother falter and blush. She chances a glance at Haori who is equally stunned at the sight. Her eyes meet her friend’s and a silent conversation ensues.

You don’t mind if I let him win right?

Absolutely not.

I’ll win you another teddy bear later.

Oh, Susato you don’t need to.

I insist!

Ryunosuke clears his throat, handing her a rifle. “So?”

Susato smiles. “You’re on.”

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

“You think he noticed you purposely missed the targets?” Haori inquires later, now carrying a medium-sized teddy bear Susato ended up winning instead of the giant one.

Susato huffs as she tries to rearrange her hair without a mirror. A few rogue strands had fallen off during her friendly competition with Ryunosuke at the shooting range. Sure, she let him win but purposely missing targets was surprisingly difficult, ok?

“Probably not. Kazuma did, though.”

“Hey, let me…” Haori starts, handing her the teddy bear before standing behind her. Susato frowns, about to ask her what she is doing, when she feels careful fingers tread through her hair, undoing the knots and taking away her hair ties.

Soon enough, long bangs fall over her eyes and she blows on them to regain some kind of vision.

“I constantly forget your hair is longer than mine,” Haori muses.

“I probably should get a haircut soon…” Susato replies. Or ask Kazuma when he has the time.

“Are you ever gonna cut it short?”

Mm. Susato thought about it but she likes being able to try so many different hairstyles. “Don’t think so,” she settles for saying.

She feels a pin being secured at the back of her head as Haori continues to carefully comb her hair with idle fingers.

“Watching Ryunosuke and Kazuma… it made me wonder…” Susato starts tentatively, earning an inquisitive hum from her friend. “Have you ever thought of dating?”

The fingers pause in her hair. “Have you? You’ve always been so focused on school…”

“That’s not answering my question.”

A beat passes before Haori resumes putting Susato’s hair up, another pin being secured on the side of her head, carefully removing one big strand that was obscuring Susato’s view.

“I have,” Haori answers eventually. Yeah, Susato suspected as much, out of the two of them, Haori has always been the most vocal about the crushes she gets. “But it wouldn’t amount to anything.”

“How can you be sure?”

Haori doesn’t reply for a while, opting to focus instead on finishing Susato’s hair in silence. Susato indulges her, instinctively clutching the teddy bear in her arms a bit more strongly than needed. In the distance, she can still see their friends go about around the fair. The sun is starting to set and yet, no one seems preoccupied with it, or tired from a whole day running around.

Susato hasn’t felt this much bliss in a long time since Kazuma moved out.

Finally, the last pin is secured and Haori walks back in front of her, prying the teddy bear away from her arms with gentle, if not a little trembling hands. Susato takes a steady breath as she lifts her eyes to meet the grey of her friend’s.

“So… who is it?” Susato asks then.

Haori falters, smile a bit more uncertain as her cheeks turn pink. “Susato…” Susato nods and waits. A beat passes. Haori sighs. “… You’re as oblivious as your brother.”

“I—!”

“That was my answer, it’s you,” Haori confesses. “But, ah, I know it made you uncomfortable that one time I actually tried to be more straightforward and flirt with you so. Honestly, I’m just happy to be your friend.” Susato stares, the words not computing in her mind, apparently. “Uh… I broke you. I’m just gonna—”

“Wait!” Susato panics, grabbing Haori’s hand before she could walk away. “I just— needed to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. When was that?”

Haori frowns, now holding the teddy bear in one arm. “Uh, I don’t know, sometime last month? Oh! It was after our English class while we were reading from Romeo and Juliet.”

“Wait, really?” She remembers that day, she had decided to dress more masculine as an experiment after Kazuma had encouraged her and lent her some of his clothes that surprisingly fit — which made her feel giddy. It just happened that that day they also had to study Romeo and Juliet in class and she volunteered to read as Romeo while Haori joyfully volunteered for Juliet.

And she does remember Haori being a little more flirty after the class but she had wrongfully assumed it was because she decided to be more masculine that day and she was staying somewhat in character—

Haori clears her throat. “Listen I’m embarrassed enough—”

“Can I kiss you?” Susato blurts out.

Silence. They stare at each other, the two of them breathless, somehow, and Susato feels like her heart is about to burst.

“Alright I feel like we jumped a hundred steps here,” Haori chuckles, looking away and half-hiding behind the teddy bear.

She gotta stop being so cute.

“I’d like to think of it as catching up,” Susato counters, tightening her hold on her friend’s hand. “I thought you only liked guys.”

“Wow, you’ve really been oblivious, huh.”

“Hey!”

Haori laughs, this time more from a genuine feeling of joy than out of nervousness. “I guess I can’t fault you, I only talked about my silly boy crushes with you but every time I was actually talking about you. I thought you would have connected the dots eventually, but turns out that’s one subject where you don’t excel.”

There’s this guy… always has his nose in a book. We don’t share a lot of classes but he always makes sure to greet me and ask me if I’ve done all the work.

Oh, this other guy always holds the door for me and he bows when I thank him! I mean it’s a little much but it’s cute.

This boy is so smart but he never makes me feel like I’m dumb either, you know? He helps me with homework and stuff and it’s nice.

Maria and Gina are getting so tired of hearing me talk about this boy, but I can’t help it! He just has the sweetest smile and is always so confident, God, I wonder what it must feel like, to have his undivided attention. I’d feel like the luckiest girl on earth!

Haori was talking about her all these times?

“You could have told me…” she whispers, full of wonder and relief.

Haori smiles. “Well, you never showed any interest in any of this romance stuff and I didn’t want to impose, I don’t know. I did ask Kazuma for advice once and he just sighed. Like!” She huffs. “One question and he looked like he wanted to die from exasperation! Rude. Your brother is rude.”

“Yeah, that’s probably my fault,” Susato groans, fighting the urge to hide behind her hands now. “I’ve bothered him about my crush on you ever since I met you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

A pause. Susato suddenly laughs. “We’re kind of idiots.”

Haori smiles, her hand turning in Susato’s so their fingers interlock. “I guess we are.”

“So… what now?”

“I’ve never seen you so unsure of yourself, it’s almost refreshing,” Haori teases gently. “Well now, let me thank you for today and all the gifts you won for me.”

And perhaps it is always meant to be this simple, Susato thinks idly, as she lets herself be pulled forward and gentle lips meet her own in a chaste kiss. Haori’s floral scent envelops her senses, wrapping around her heart like a luring spell. Susato smiles against her lips, bringing her free hand to the other girl’s cheek, cradling her face closer.

“Does this count as our first date, then?” Haori asks eventually when they pull away.

“If it is I definitely need to win you a real giant teddy bear now!” she replies.

“Susato…”

But Susato only grins, leading the both of them back to the shooting range stand.

In the end, this whole outing was kind of a quadruple date. Next time, I want us to be alone though.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

[milesdadworth]

no one told me judge jigoku is an absolute daddy in an English suit HELLO????????

also why do more people not also ship mikotoba and jigoku they seem like a top tier dilf ship

ANYWAY so like no one knows shit about kazuma.....for real.....

you're telling me lord stronghart found an amnesiac asian stowaway and he thought that was a good idea to just gift him to van zieks as an apprentice that is such absolute bullshit especially after this whole rigamarole about the professor being a japanese man and all the espionage that has been happening. you think we're going to buy that, sir. BULLSHIT STRONGHART KNOWS SO MUCH MORE THAN HE LETS ON I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE HE'S TRYING TO CONVINCE US OF THAT--HE HAS TO KNOW KAZUMA AND THAT KAZUMA IS RELATED TO THE PROFESSOR

also sholmes NEEDS to give us more information about his involvement it sounds like he wasn't very involved outside of 'well shit he's comatose not dead whatever drop him off in hong kong who cares' LIKE..........no I'm not buying that either you had a mikotoba and an asogi there you're saying sholmes had no idea who kazuma or susato were come on COME ON........I KNOW YOU WERE FUCKING SUSATOS DAD MR SHOLMES I KNOW YOU WERE YOU KNOW THESE KIDS YOU DO I KNOW YOU DO.

anyway i'm having a lot of fun getting worked up over this it's very good

legit SO impressed and surprised how tgaa is handling thing with regards to [redacted] like?!?!?

(under a keep reading to try to avoid posting spoilers too hard lol)

LIKE going into these games we knew kazuma 'dies' but is 'resurrected' in the last half of the story but with the way ace attorney usually is or hell even how dense they make ryuu with some of the evidence/plot points I was expecting kazuma's whole revival to go largely unnoticed by ryuu and susato until some big reveal where kazuma removes his mask and cloak and they're like WHOA HOW CAN THIS BE?!!?!? YOU WERE DEAD!!!!!

and theyre not???? like BOTH susato and ryunosuke immediately clock him as kazuma despite the cloak and mask?? SUSATO LITERALLY YELLING 'KAZUMA-SAMA' AT HIM IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN FRONT OF VAN ZIEKS?!?

it's like a really pleasant surprise and twist to something I thought I had a good handle on how the story was gonna go

maybe it really shocked me cause of how godot/diego was handled in the original series where it was kind of a last minute reveal even though us as an audience kind of already know so it was like 'ah another masked dead loved one coming back from the dead that no one's going to piece together until our hand is forced'

good ol' ace attorney spoilers alway panning out a little differently than I expect - god bless this series

i'm really excited now to see how this pans out especially with sholmes being in on it in someway and definitely making me think of some juicy angst/hurt ryulock where ryuu has confided in sholmes all about the grief of losing his first love and then ryuu finding out later that sholmes knew all along that kazuma wasn't really dead.....and the trust issues that come with that oh man, oh man, oh man. I can't wait!!!!!

[vickyvicarious]

Got a feeling I'll want to talk about this later.

[worldformula]

You don't think Kazuma and Susato thought of each other as siblings? That's interesting, I definitely do myself but I'm curious why you don't?

This isn't meant as argumentative and I hope it doesn't come off as such! Just given what I know of the culture at the time and their individual chars I know why they weren't allowed to act close in public but maybe still did in private, but I wanna hear your take if you wish to share

Either way your art is lovely and heart-wrenching per usual!

Don’t worry, I don’t see it as argumentative! I know the popular headcanon is that they are siblings and I’m not entirely against it but I think their relationship is just more interesting and more accurate to the vision I have of their characters if they don’t actively consider themselves brother and sister.

I love to talk so my rambling under a read more. Spoilers for DGS2. And thank you so much for enjoying my work!

On Kazuma’s side of things, I think the Mikotobas were very open and accommodating to him and the idea of him being part of their family but I think Kazuma himself refused them on the basis that his identity is largely centered around being an Asogi. I’m not Japanese and certainly wasn’t Japanese during the Meiji era but the general cultural concepts surrounding family and filial duty are pretty similar to my own culture (Korean), so I get the sense that Kazuma would refuse being part of the Mikotobas because to him, it would mean giving up being an Asogi. Family trees and lines of succession etc etc are a huge deal in East Asia (particularly back then) so I think Kazuma would understand that he can’t have it both ways. He can’t be both a Mikotoba and an Asogi. (Slightly unrelated, Kazuma as a character really has the unfortunate tragedy of being someone who is socially progressive but also culturally and metaphorically stuck in the past. So I think that while he’ll follow social rules for the sake of others, he’s definitely mad about it the entire time if they’re unfair. But for reasons I’ll explain, he’s not particularly mad about following this specific social rule.) So the idea of becoming Susato’s brother in a more literal sense than just a general unassuming “nii-san” honorific behind closed doors might not appeal to him. I don’t think he’d ever outwardly say so, because East Asians looooveee to operate on the unspoken, but I think the Mikotobas would get the hint. Also I think he’s just the kind of person to keep a lot to himself even if he doesn’t seem the type at first glance, so it’s just another way of keeping the Mikotobas at an arms distance.

This isn’t to say he isn’t grateful for their care though. It’s also an act of consideration; they took care of him, so he couldn’t impose on them further by trying to integrate as an actual family member. Even if the Mikotobas are okay with the idea that others may look poorly on their family for taking in someone not of their blood (which sounds crazy but again, adoption was a big yikes back then and still has a stigma surrounding it today), Kazuma would hate to ruin the reputation of the people who took care of him. Also, he looks bad to outsiders as “an orphan who lived on the generosity of another family and is now selfishly demanding even more of that generous family by forcing himself in”. So it’s an act of love to not be “Mikotoba’s son” or “Susato’s brother”. It just works out for him better to be respectful and keep his distance while also maintaining his identity.

On the other hand, Susato. She was much younger than him when Kazuma first came to stay with them and I think she probably wanted him to be her big brother SO much. She’s not old enough to really understand how dire the circumstances are for Kazuma and she luckily learns by example (Yujin) that he’s not someone to be pitied for his lack of parents, but Kazuma is unfortunately old enough to understand all the nuance that she can’t. And he’s also too old to really want to play with her; he’s lost in the aftermath of losing both parents and he’s at the age where he needs to study hard. I do think she does call him “nii-san” when she’s little, not as an active attempt at convincing him to be her brother, but just because he’s an older boy who lives with her and she likes him. It’s not to say he never played with her or never hung out with her but they interacted more like distant cousins maybe? (There is a distinct sense of “we’re family but not really and we’re both really aware of that” that applies I think.) But between him actually just being busy and his personality being what it is (as in, I think he’s way more honest more often to Ryunosuke than he is to the Mikotobas because he doesn’t owe Ryunosuke the way he does to them), they just never got a chance to connect that deeply.

And Susato’s a smart girl who can read the room; by the time the events of DGS roll around, I think she and Kazuma are on the same page of where their relationship is, hence the way they’re formal and polite around each other, particularly in public. Though between the two of them, I think she’s the one who wishes they were closer. But she’s also just as considerate; she wouldn’t dare impose that sort of role on him and risk being a burden, particularly not when she’s always trying to help him (going so far as to become his legal assistant). She doesn’t pity Kazuma but she does recognize that weird fury/sadness about him that registers to her as his passion for justice (which isn’t incorrect, but not exactly what it seems either) and also knows that as a younger girl, she can do very little to persuade him into relying on her or their family more often. So being his legal assistant is kind of the closest thing she can do to be closer to him. Hence why her decision to leave with Ryunosuke at the end of DGS2 read to me as a way to mark the end of her always trying for him — the ball is now in his court and Kazuma has to be the one to make the effort to maintain their relationship. It’s not terribly sad, just deeply unfortunate in a way that can’t be helped. I think Kazuma never asked for her help in the first place and so she can’t TECHNICALLY, LOGISTICALLY, in ALL BUT NAME blame him for disappointing her the way Ryunosuke could. But the end result is still the same. She’s kind of done enough for him. It’s his turn. And Kazuma understands that this is just another one of the many things he’s fucked up in the past two years and accepts her decision gracefully, which is a step in the right direction.

TL;DR I think they both might’ve seen each other as siblings in another life but Kazuma was comfortable with the distance while Susato wanted a closer relationship but would never walk past the line Kazuma himself drew, out of respect for him. And at this point, it’s a bit too late for the two of them to see each other as such. I don’t think that their relationship has weakened in any sense by accepting this reality, but is now a matter of Kazuma having the power to either let it sit and weaken or strengthen it. And as much as it kind of sucks for Susato (and I certainly don’t think she’s ecstatic about the unfortunate circumstances) she can mostly get over it whichever way it goes because she now has a future to look forward to outside of him.

[requiem626k]

Yes exactly! Compared to an average AA game the stuff that happened was much... heavier and I felt like keeping everything in mind was much harder, but I agree that it all got connected way too smoothly 😳

That is the question I am scared of... *head in hands*

Barok... he has my whole heart at this point. I literally can't stop thinking about him, the way he never cares about the verdict and only pursues the truth and even defies the orders that come from "up high" in order to reach the bottom of things, the way he doesn't view the defence's theories as things that hurt his ego/reputation but as things that must be discussed until they are verified/disproved, it is all just so precious to me. I don't think I've seen a prosecutor as passionate for the truth as him, maybe apart from Miles? But I loved that this time they didn't go the same way as they did with Miles, the "I-have-rotten-morals-untilthatdefenseattorneyarrivesuwu" kind of thing, no, Barok always kept his moral compass and passion as straight as ever, before and after Klint's incident.

I also absolutely adored witnessing glimpses of his unassuming and kind self throughout the game, even though they were sometimes quite subtle they made me go *aww*, such as frequently checking up on Natsume, Gina and Albert's well-beings, not having Roly dismissed from his job, behaving really nice and in a flustered manner to a little girl (Iris) etc. I think the producers really outdid themselves in terms of building a character who just feels... real 🥹

As for Kazuma... I really don't know, thinking about him hurts my heart because I feel so let down in a way. You know my absolute weakness for characters who have a strong moral compass and a passion for being as righteous as possible, and I had such a strong image for him in my mind until he reappeared that what I found instead in "real" him really hurt me, seeing how deep of a deceit he had plunged himself into was so painful. I seriously don't know how Ryunosuke and Susato took it that well, I really wouldn't have been able to. Even though I am aware that he is not so different from Barok at all, as he silently conceded to "being" an assassin just like how Barok did with "being" the Reaper, I still can't understand why only his side hurt me like that? lol

I would be totally lying if I said his dedication and passion in proving his father's innocence didn't touch me 😞. He had such a deserving cause and he fought for it, by fair means or foul, and I respect that a lot but... the values that I cherished in Defence Attorney Kazuma were shown to have gone too extreme in Prosecutor Asogi, I think that is the main problem I had with him. I… really miss the black uniformed Kazuma 😞.

All this being said, I still can't help but hold him dear in my heart 🥹 and his prosecution theme is most definitely in my top 3, so passionate, so beautiful oh my goodness. I loved the way they took his original theme, fierce-ified it and added harpsichord (the main element in Barok's theme alongside the church organ...) in the background as a way of emphasising that he was under his stern tutelage alright.

ANYWAYS this was long? HAHA I'm sorry but please do share your own thoughts too I’m really curious <3

I… I finished the games…

Oh my God. I think that was the best final I’ve ever played in this series. The way everything came together, every person got tied one to another, the truth unfolded, I won’t even mention the gorgeous soundtracks that got introduced in the last case… I played the last chapter with napkins in my hand, it was so heavy and passionate at times, nearly every character had the consideration and depth they deserved, it was just — so so good 🥹

I have mixed feelings about literally everyone, I need to take some time for them to calm down HAHA omg

EYYYYY I'm so glad you enjoyed it! There are a lot of stuff that happened but imo I like how it all tied up... it's pretty clean imo.

And so... what are your thoughts on Barok and Kazuma? Very curious hehe

(and ofc u saw the Balmung part hehe v cursed comment on my part lol)