#so he would go out of his way to get things for mikotoba that mikotoba would like

[hechiima]

Ugh thinking about homumiko where Mikotoba misses Japanese cuisine and Sholmes literally uses his brother's connections in the government to get ingredients shipped from Japan.

Herlock rarely asks Mycroft for favors but he just shows up one day and is like "can you get this stuff you owe me for the Greek Interpreter/Bruce Partington Plans" and hands him a list of ingredients. He refuses to explain himself. Mycroft ofc knows what's up and agrees to help (he does owe Herlock and besides he's fond of Mikotoba) but not without giving Herlock a glance that lets him know Mycroft knows exactly what is happening and why Herlock is doing this.

[unluckedtj]

i’ve had an au in mind for a while (quite literally came to me in a dream????), something like a swap au but not quite as your usual tgaa swap au. an au where barok van zieks and herlock sholmes are sent from britain to japan, at the age of 23 and 24 respectively

“ticket swap” au i like to call it

of course, this isn’t just ‘back in time’, there are many things jumbled around such as occupations and ages. and none of this is solid! i’m putting down the ideas i’ve had, and this can very well change overtime.

and of course, a lot of this is going to be me info dumping about this very self indulgent vanlock partners(?) focused au, side of mostly susarei but also asoryuu

ahem! tgaa:tsau cast!

below the line, that is

————————————————

herlock sholmes, (25) who wanted to research in forensic science, follows yujin to his nation to do just that (and preferably solve crime, too)

barok van zieks, (24) who applies to go to japan in hopes of learning more about the laws of other nations (and perhaps, something else) aiming to be a prosecutor like his brother

ryunosuke naruhodo, (33) a writer who had recently gotten into researching true crime. it scares him but he can’t help but think there is something about these crimes that are calling him. isn’t really thinking too much about looking into law (but something might change that…) close friends with kazuma asogi

rei membami, (26) yujin mikotoba’s long time forensics assistant that is working towards becoming a doctor herself. decided to help ryunosuke in his research hobby. (she seems to be interested in this man she sees in the hallways of imperial yumei university while on her way to dr mikotoba’s laboratory) close friends with susato mikotoba

kazuma asogi, (34) a well known prosecutor in japan, it is unknown what changed his decision from becoming a defense lawyer. despite being famous among people in law, there is not much known about him. close friends with ryunosuke naruhodo

susato mikotoba, (26) kazuma asogi’s famed judicial assistant (and as sholmes soon learns, sister). she seems to be taking law classes in yumei university under an alias. a bit of a sholmes fan. close friends with rei membami

yujin mikotoba, (52) sholmes’ friend and partner in (solving) crime of course, but also a mentor, and now that sholmes recently learned, a foster father to kazuma asogi and father of susato mikotoba

genshin asogi, (??) family friend of the van zieks, and relative of the renowned prosecutor asogi. he has gone missing

klint van zieks, (35) well known prosecutor in britain. happily married and has one daughter he loves so dearly, to the point of being a little bit of a helicopter parent in the recent years, but barok can’t quite figure out why. he has kept his daughter a secret from everyone apart from family

iris (wilson?) van zieks, (8) how in the world did she end up in japan?! (i’ll give you the answer; through sholmes’s suitcase, which she mistook for barok’s. there were shenanigans), her parents are in a panic looking for her (barok will get to them asap)

————————————————

i just really wanted something where it’s similar to tgaa 1-1 but younger vanlock without their life altering events (klints death for van zieks and iris adoption for sholmes)

and also just the thought of it and how it would play out; van zieks isn’t even a defense lawyer but was preparing to defend the guy he barely knew on the steamship (who had his niece in his suitcase) that he firmly believes did not commit this murder, but sholmes found out what was at stake (aka van zieks being sent back home for a couple more years if he fails this) and was like “nuh uh i got this im herlock sholmes after all” (he does not got this) (i lied he clutched like he always does)

this is superrrrr self indulgent so i don’t expect this to be perfectly aligned with canon, but i kinda just wanna see if anyone could give me more ideas because i currently cannnnnot talk to my friends about this due to massive spoilers 😔

maybe next time i’ll go more in depth on the group dynamics (specifically ryunosuke, rei, herlock, iris, and barok)

[rekino2114]

Lawyer girls defending you

A/n:I've been in an ace attorney mood these past few days so I decided to write this in between requests

Mia fey

When she found out you were being accused of murder, on the outside, mia seemed calm, collected, and determined to clear your name.

And while she was determined, on the inside she was completely freaking out. Her lover a murderer? They would never do something like that and she intended to prove it.

She tried to calm you down as best as she could before the trial, holding your hands and telling you that she would defend you until the end and that she believed in you with all of her heart.

During the trial, she probably put on the best defense she ever did. It wasn't only a matter of believing in her client anymore, it was about believing in her partner. No matter how dire things got, she never once wavered and always kept a smile on her face. after all the only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over.

She hugged you incredibly tightly when you were declared innocent, she was so happy to see you smile again. She took a week off to spend with you, she needed to relax and spend time with her love after that intense trial.

"I'm so happy, my dear, calm down, everything's fine now. Oh please, I didn't do anything. You were innocent and I simply proved it to everyone"

Athena cykes

The moment athena learned of your incarceration, she immediately went to the detention center to ask you questions. You didn't even have to ask her to take your case she was already going to from the start.

She could hear the voice of your heart. It was full of anguish and sadness, and it was screaming that you didn't do it, she had a flashback to being on the stand for Simon's trial, she couldn't make the same mistake again she was going to prove you innocent no matter what.

Phoenix and Apollo both helped raise her confidence before the trial, and she did the same with you, but she stood alone at the defense bench, she had to do this alone to prove herself.

Of course, she asked blackquill to handle the prosecution. There is no one she trusts more to help her reach the truth from the opposite side, she also asks him to at least tone down the sword slashes for you.

She was a even more of a whirlwind of emotions than usual during the trial, yelling at anyone who calls you a murderer. After the long and hard battle was over, she hugged you with all of her overflowing emotions shown.

"Y-y/n, did you see that? I did it. I showed everyone how wrong they were and how innocent you are, we need to celebrate!"

Susato mikotoba

A/n:she was a lawyer once, so I count her. Also, I just wanted to write something for her.

Her first thought was to ask ryunosuke to defend you, but he was busy with another case, so she panicked. She had no one to defend you, but if you were found guilty, you would get the death penalty, she couldn't let it happen, so she had the idea to dress up as ryutaro again.

She told you her real identity, of course, and you were incredibly worried for her, If she was found out she could have been arrested too, but she reassured you that she had already done this before and that she would do anything to free you.

Sholmes helped her investigate (in his own special way), and Iris made a special blend of tea to help you two relax before the trial, while ryu couldn't be there he reassured you of susato's competence in court earlier.

Her father also helped her, standing at her side during the trial like the first time she had done this, helping her in any way he could. But of course, susato was the one who put in all the effort. She defended the best she could, taking strategies from ryunosuke, and all of it resulted in a non guilty verdict.

She waited until you got home to take off her disguise and celebrate with you, she couldn't be happier she had helped you not only prove your innocence but also avoid the death penalty.

"That was intense, don't you think y/n? And it was only my second trial ever. O-oh? I did amazing? Please, you're just flattering me I just copied what naruhodo-san does"

[prasidice]

i’m replaying tgaa so, so slowly and it’s because every fucking time kazuma speaks i feel the need to write an essay on it. so here’s essay #1 of many — today focusing on the ending of 1-1!! the interplay of faith/hope and cynicism in 1-1 is SO compelling and it’s so easy to miss on your first playthrough. major major tgaa1+2 spoilers ahoy!

i’m gonna start with the assassin exchange. i’ve always been really curious about if kazuma had any idea if jezaille was his assassin counterpart, and now that i’ve replayed 1-1, i’m soooo certain he knew or at least heavily suspected:

kazuma is the one who brings up jezaille’s fate even though he really should be the one most knowledgable on what happens next here. curious in and of itself. and then his silence—as opposed to any sort of outrage, dismay, or disbelief—when the consular court is brought up is SO telling, especially considering how kazuma often shuts down a bit when the assassin exchang is brought up (e.g., turning “grave” when jigoku reminds him of his mission as he pronounces his verdict on ryuu). 

so then i think this next exchange is really curious:

it’s egregiously on the nose, especially the “serious incident of a highly political nature” and “secret agreements” comments. i think this is the most compelling evidence we have that kazuma heavily suspects or is outright certain that jezaille is his assassin counterpart—and it makes sense, especially given that he was just reminded of the assassin exchange and would have it at the forefront of his mind. 

but besides that, i think these comments are interesting in multiple ways—in how kazuma seems to almost be wheedling mikotoba and hosonga for information, but more importantly, in their cynicism. 

i think so much about how kazuma had to agree to be an assassin to get to england at all—to say nothing of the confirmation bias of it (in that genshin is seen as a murderer and now kazuma is seemingly following in his footsteps), just… the moral weight of it, the feeling of being a pawn, and how it ruins the idea of justice/morality existing in england or japan. to see that this is how the exchange plays out—that it could’ve effectively ruined not just an innocent person’s life, but ryunosuke’s life, can only intensify his moral injury. and, what, when the truth is found out, it’s not even used properly?

so then let me take you to the heart of this essay:

it makes sense, with all this going through kazuma’s head, that he doesn’t think he has the makings of a lawyer anymore. or that he should be one to begin with! because with all that he’s been through wrt genshin’s death and the letter and then the assassin exchange and now this, kazuma’s been conditioned to see the ugly side of things, always. to never give the benefit of the doubt. he’s only able to believe in ryunosuke because ryunosuke is his best friend, not because he has any actual ability to believe in or trust others. 

and even then, his demonstration of trust isn’t that wholehearted, at least to others—as can be seen with the whole affair of smuggling ryunosuke onto the burya without telling susato and how he is completely unable to tell ryunosuke or susato about the assassin exchange. and i think he desperately wants to, but completely lacks the ability to—like a muscle that’s atrophied away. he’s never been able to trust anyone, so he can’t now. which is why i think he gets so stuck on ryunosuke believing in him despite everything—it’s utterly foreign to him, and still ryunosuke does it, like it’s Just That Easy. 

i especially want to draw attention to “like you believed in me when you said i didn’t do it” / “i’m human, just like you.” “being able to remain faithful… that’s not something everyone can do.” i don’t think kazuma ever thought that ryunosuke Did It, but this exchange is so raw to me in that i think kazuma has such an innate suspicion of everyone around him that he probably was constantly on the lookout for something to sneak up on him—for something to prove that, no, ryunosuke is just like everyone else. and then—look—ryunosuke isn’t like everyone else. and imagine how that must feel for kazuma, to have that suspicion turned right back around and thrown in his face—yet another layer of shame for him. 

i’m really rambling at this point but i also think these passages are so poignant:

i know. i know. it’s a true level of insanity when you’re analyzing the “get you off” quote. but i do think it’s really interesting how every time ryunosuke’s faith in kazuma is brought up, it’s first and foremost about ryunosuke’s faith in kazuma’s ability as a lawyer, not anything about their relationship. “as a lawyer,” first, then “as a friend,” and “faith” that kazuma can “get him off.” the distance put between them here by kazuma, intentionally or unintentionally, again points to how kazuma just can’t trust others—can’t even trust in that others believe in him or hold him in any regard. like he’s internalized all the shame and ick of the law/politics that he’s been steeped in for so long. like he thinks of himself as nothing more than a product of it—a tool of it.

this is all to say that i think 1-1 frames faith/cynicism so beautifully and it is such an artful depiction of kazuma’s mental state at the time as well as how he and ryunosuke are foils to one another.  kazuma’s inability to believe in himself or others comes across so well and it illustrates how/why his relationship with ryunosuke really is that important. i think also it speaks to the degree to which kazuma has fashioned himself into a tool to avenge his father and nothing more—to the point that he can’t see himself as anything beyond it, and once the integrity of it is called into question, well, then what? 

i hope you enjoyed this silly little brainrot… i had so much fun typing it up :’) 

[skyedancer-rae]

Mind sharing some of your TGAA headcanons?

I've had this sitting in my inbox for a bit because when I first saw it, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything lol. Full disclosure: I feel like I don't have very many concrete headcanons. A lot of the time, if there isn't much canon evidence to support a headcanon, I tend to be more flexible and may change how I depict things depending on what suits my drawing/comic/story.

But I did think of a few to share, so here we go!

While Mrs. Hudson probably provided a lot of the meals for Sholmes & Iris before Iris got older and discovered a love for cooking, I believe that Sholmes CAN cook. He just has to make sure that he sets timers and follows the recipe to the letter. Because as soon as he gets distracted or turns the recipe into an experiment, it becomes inedible.

Because he did help uncover the truth about all of Stronghart's conspiracies and he ultimately did not kill anyone nor intend to go through with the assassination exchange, Kazuma is given a royal pardon after the game, allowing him to continue his study tour in Britain. However, that pardon also comes with a strict warning of "We'll be watching you and if you do something like this again, there will be consequences." I also believe there would still be a long probationary period where he can only help with Barok's cases at first. Then he can only lead the prosecution with Barok supervising his work before he finally earns the right to lead a case by himself.

Oddly enough, I have very strong headcanons for Rei's parents. I feel like they're both pretty chill and liberal. When their daughter came home one day like "I want to study dead bodies like Susato's dad," they were just like "Unconventional career choice, but we'll figure out a way to make it happen."

I guess I also tend to headcanon that Rei and Susato are childhood friends and that Rei fell in love with medicine/forensic science from listening to Mikotoba's stories.

Genshin does not particularly like Sholmes. He is grateful that Sholmes has been such a good friend to Mikotoba and helped to pull him out of his spiral of grief, and he appreciates Sholmes' commitment to the truth and justice. But every time they interact, he is constantly fighting the urge to throw Sholmes out the nearest window and/or into the Thames.

Since it is my understanding that traditional Japanese cuisine does not use a lot of (if any) dairy, I wonder how many of the Japanese cast would be lactose intolerant. I headcanon that Ryunosuke, at least, can eat dairy with no issues. Because he apparently has an iron gut.

Regarding Susato's all-knowing British encyclopedia she carries around, my thoughts are that either (1) she made that book herself, carefully copying down any piece of information she thought might be relevant, (2) her kimonos sleeves are the gateway to a pocket dimension where she can access her entire library, or (3) she has photographic memory and just has all these facts memorizes. But because of her super-humility (which she needs to work on because she's awesome and she should own her talents and abilities), she pretends that she's just looking it up in her book.

Susato and Kazuma lost a fight to a frog when they were younger, and they are both still mortified by that memory to this day.

On Gina and Kazuma's first case together post-game, Sholmes showed up to offer his assistance. They allowed him to stay because it annoyed Barok.

They have kicked Sholmes out of every single crime scene since then.

[yakool-foolio]

I shall not let my accursed allergies get in the way of continuing this case! Though that means Kazuma is gonna have to speak in whispers for the time being, so the vc gets to deal with some ASMR.

And just as all seems right with the world, Kazuma wedges in an objection! I didn't consider we still needed to identify the Reaper's identity (as being one or more persons) AND if Genshin really is innocent, don't we also need to figure out who the Professor might actually be as well? Perhaps we could knock out two birds with one stone, hmhm...

Klint's autopsy report will get the ball rolling! And Kazuma has his own evidence to boot! Oh shit... he threatened Gregson with Karuma for answers, fueled by rage, and damaged his soul... The only one he harmed was himself. This whole thing of fabricating evidence to put a serial killer in jail reminds me of Rise From The Ashes, except this time this supposed serial killer might not have slain a single life.

HAHA I KNEW STRONGHART WAS NOT TO BE TRUSTED! MY INSTINCTUAL BAD VIBES TURNED OUT TO BE CORRECT! YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH GET HIS ASS VAN ZIEKS! C'MON SOMEBODY SPEAK UP! WHERE'S A FEY WHEN YA NEED ONE?!

MIKOTOBA GET IN HERE!

"You would appear to be possessed by your late homicidal father" GOD DAMN DUDE SHUT UP DON'T TALK TO KAZUMA LIKE THAT

SHOLMES TO THE RESCUE YIPPEE! HE'S GOT THE WHOLE COURT SINGING IN UNISON!

Aww the look of hope in Kazuma's eyes ;w; he'll finally have his chance to pin down the truth and put an end to this decade of silent suffering. He shall make his father proud!

And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

(To Whom It May Concern - @raymondshields)

[pyritewitch]

Drabble 2 of many Swap TGAA AU posts

Now, for a more coherent outline/ timeline of the au events. Major Spoilers Ahead

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Case1-1

Nothing much would really change. So I will instead use this section to sort of outline the theme/ focus of this au would be. With our new main character being Kazuma, it would probably focus more on his short comings and insecurities and how he lets them rule his actions. It's been a while since I've finished the game, but I recall Kazuma stating he received a letter (probably from a grieving Van Zieks) cursing his family when he was young.

This would be what I imagine the inciting incident that gave Kazuma a perfectionist complex. Determined to prove his father innocent and that his family is not cursed. Sadly, with each mistake he makes and misfortunes he endures, he fears that those words may have been right all along. Can't help but feel guilty that on the day he invites Naruhodo out to dine and celebrate his trip to England that he is arrested for murder. Though it doesn't even compare to the agony he feels when...

Case 1-2

Ryuunosuke dies. Again not much would really change. I imagine if I were to ever write the fic, small changes would have to take place like Ryuu and Kazuma sharing the chicken meal and wat not. Probably also have Kazuma spill the beans that Hasunaga is on the ship as his bodyguard. With these events happening it would give probably cause for the ballet dancer (can't remember her name now) to feel threatened and hurt Ryuunosuke. Probably because Ryuunosuke unfortunately mumbles to himself about expecting the inspector to come by.

(for those who don't know, in an extra chapter that wasn't released overseas, its revealed that the reason everyone is able to read Ryuu so well is that half the time he mumbles his thoughts out loud, watch it if u get the chance it's very funny and VERY gay)

Kazuma is suspected of murder of course, and most events don't change. During this chapter, I would say that Sherlock Holmes is probably insistent at first for Kazuma to head back to Japan to bury his friend, mainly in an effort to protect him. Remember, at this time, Sherlock knew about the letter but assumed it was a hit list at first and that Kazuma was going to be killed in England. Sherlock's initial plan, being that on his way back to Japan his friend would wake up (and they'd all have a happy little reunion), but it would be too late to go back, thus giving him enough time to hopefully weed out the horrific threat. Unfortunately, two unexpected things happen when they arrive at the Sheghai port,

1.) Sherlock gets an emergency telegram from Mikotoba explaining what happened to Watson

2.) Ryuunosuke's body has disappeared

Paranoia sets in, and Sherlock realizes his has to improvise. Japan is no longer as safe as he thought, so now he thinks about what he can do to make sure Mikotoba's, his husband's partner's kids, are safe. So, like his moods, he completely shifts gears and starts to insist that Kazuma goes to England in dedication to his friend. He figures rather than risk his safety on a ship that could be ambushed. He takes on the task of looking after the kids himself. Kazuma is completely distraught over Ryuu's "death," a voice in his head telling him that his is a curse to all who know him. But after some discussion, he decides to continue on with his journey and takes Ryuu's arm guards as a momento.

More drabbles are coming soon...

[rivalsforlife]

Okay! Finally getting around to that Musical 4 Speculation Post I said I'd do a while ago. Now that we have the cast list and I think this is the most information there'll be until the musical is actually shown in a little over three weeks, I'm going to put down my "final" guesses as to what the plot is going to be like and what the characters will likely do. This is all complete speculation and is just for fun and I will probably be horrifically wrong.

Obviously since this is based on the great ace attorney chronicles I will be discussing spoilers for that game. And I am very aware that few people actually care about this so I'll put all my speculating underneath a cut.

Okay let's start off with:

CHARACTER SPECULATIONS

I'll also be linking to the takarazuka wiki pages for the actresses, so you can look into them a bit more, their appearance, and their previous roles. Not sure how helpful it would be for what to expect from them, but more information can't hurt. The full cast list is here. And here is the takarazuka wiki page for the musical overall.

Ryunosuke Naruhodo:

Played by Hikaru Rukaze

I don't honestly expect them to deviate too much from his canonical role here. He's still the protagonist and will probably be doing protagonist-y things. We know from the summary the basics are the same (college student going to great britain to learn more about the judicial system here) and there's really nothing standing out to me that they're going to do something too extreme.

Susato Mikotoba:

Played by Hibari Yamabuki

I'm going to be worried about Susato forever because takarazuka apparently enjoys adding in random romances, and she's the lead female character. If they don't do a romance this might actually keep her character relatively close -- unlike, say, Maya, who was purely comedic relief.

There's nothing yet that indicates that there's going to be a romantic subplot for Susato (thankfully) -- with musical 1, at least, it was pretty obvious from the start that Leona was going to take over everything, and the musical summary mentioned that she was Phoenix's ex, but Susato is only mentioned in her canonical role as judicial assistant. At the same time, Alison (the love interest for musical 3) was not obviously marketed as a romantic interest from the start from what I can tell, so... we might not be totally out of the woods. I would be cautiously optimistic at most because I have been let down before.

(S)Herlock (S)Holmes:

Played by Chiaki Takato

He's in the same role previously occupied by Edgeworth (x2) and Edgeworth Sr (x1) so I'm thinking he's going to be in a role that's like... not necessarily antagonistic but definitely going to be getting in the way of things until joining the protagonist's side at the eleventh hour. He'll probably be critical to solving the mystery in one way or another.

With the lead female role being Susato (and not the defendant) and Sholmes being in the major male character role (as opposed to, say, van Zieks) it makes me think that this musical might have more of an emphasis on the investigation parts. At the very least, if I don't get at least one dance of deduction, this musical will be an even greater waste of time than any of the other three :/ like you can't have a musical and then NOT add in a dance of deduction musical number.

Sholmes is still a candidate for Six Dancing Sholmes(es) for this reason.

Barok van Zieks:

Played by Shion Yuuki

Is obviously going to be the prosecutor. I doubt they're going to do anything about his backstory aside from, like, giving a monologue about how he was betrayed by a Japanese person in the past and that's why he's making all these racist comments or something. There's far too much to cover with canon DGS so I'm expecting them to stick to an original case, and since Sholmes is in the deuteragonist role, I'm not expecting BvZ to have much of a significant role aside from being the prosecutor, racism, and vague allusions to his backstory stuff. More significant than Payne in musical 3 (who was basically nothing) but less significant than Edgeworth in 1 and 2 is my guess. He might not even get a song.

I watched takarazuka's casino royale livestream earlier today in order to try and pick out the actresses that will be in this play. I'm pretty sure the actress who will play BvZ did some very impressive kicks in a dance number, and that's probably the most important trait, so good casting. Hopefully there will be at least one leg slam. I'm not sure how they'll be able to reasonably handle the chalice/bottle throwing.

Kazuma Asougi:

Played by Hyuuga Kazeiro

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE MADE IT IN <3 but I'm pretty sure he's not making it in alive. Since this is explicitly taking part in Great Britain he is probably "dead", unless they're really messing with the timeline and, like, killing him off in Britain? There's no reason for Ryuu to be the protagonist if Kazuma is here, so. And like I said before I really doubt they'll go into the later DGS2 plot, so having him come back as masked disciple will severely derail everything too close to canonicity for takarazuka. It would require far too much focus on the Ryunosuke-Asougi relationship than takarazuka has historically given me any reason to believe they'll give a shit about.

But he still made it in, and my main guess is that he'll show up in sort of flashback-type scenes. This might mean they'll actually talk about Ryuu wanting to live up to his ideals and be a lawyer in his stead which is more canonical motivation than I'd expected, and is a very good thing. I don't think they'll talk about the real reason Kazuma came to Britain because, again, that's too close to a decent adaptation. There will probably be at least one song about how cool and inspiring and incapable of wrongdoing Kazuma was. A very slim possibility of six dancing kazumas, and if that happens I will forgive takarazuka for everything.

Iris Watson/Wilson:

Played by Hanna Misei

ANOTHER PERSON I DIDN'T EXPECT TO MAKE IT IN and so far like half my bingo card has been invalidated. I don't think her role is going to be particularly notable, though. She might just be Sholmes's Cute Sidekick. Maybe a witness if we're lucky? I don't know how much care they'll be putting into the murder plot this time around.

It will be interesting seeing how they make her look ten years old in comparison to the other characters? They showed Baby Edgeworth in the third musical, but that was obviously a very short role, and only shown next to Gregory (who was a much taller actress) - there's not much of a height difference between, say, Susato's actress (164 cm) and Iris's (158 cm), who I would expect to be in the same scene at times. That was the main reason I thought they might cut her out.

There is a very slim possibility they could now do Iris Watson As Ditzy As They Come, which would be extremely stupid and mischaracterizing (though they've done it before), and not even six dancing kazumas could spare takarazuka from my wrath (angry posting on the internet).

Tobias Gregson:

Played by Noan Houjou

I'm even more convinced he's going to be comic relief. On the website they listed the cast generally in order of how experienced each of the actresses are, and Gregson's actress is the least experienced of the named roles, so I'm not expecting Gregson to have a major role in this. There might be some comedic duo stuff with Gregson and Iris like in the games.

Hilariously, in the same troupe's 2021 production of Sherlock Holmes, this actress also played Tobias Gregson (in the "shinjin kouen" production, which to my understanding is a run for less experienced actresses). I haven't seen that so I can't say how Gregson was handled in it, but I don't think that was a huge role.

Hart Vortex / Mael Stronghart:

Played by Rui Akina

This could go multiple ways. He could be the culprit, but considering I doubt they're going to go into the later DGS2 plots, it's probably going to feel like a waste in comparison to that game's ending. He'll probably be like he was in earlier DGS cases where he's just an intimidating background figure.

Soseki Natsume:

Played by Runo Oumi

I DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO SHOW UP AT ALL. He could be a Wacky Witness. He could be the defendant. I'll elaborate more on theories when I start speculating about the plot. No matter what, though, I'm expecting him to be somewhat comedic, and if it's anything close to canonical he's going to be having a terrible time.

Judge:

Played by Shin Arashino

he's the judge

Queen Victoria:

Played by Sayo Koharuno

LITERALLY WHY IS SHE HERE. This is the only thing that could possibly mean they try to resolve dgs2's ending plot without actually talking about any of the things that make dgs2's ending plot interesting. and this would probably be miserable for me to watch.

My joke theory is that there's going to be a Queen Victoria / Sholmes side romance. I don't think it's especially likely and I have no justification for this other than that it popped into my head and would not leave.

As for the original characters:

Brad Menickson (your romanization may vary):

Played by Rei Natori

This role is being played by a senior member specially showing up for this play, so I'm not expecting it to be a minor one. My automatic guess is that he's going to be the killer. Since the actress is older (having been in takarazuka since 1972!!!) I'm expecting her character will be older as well, possibly some sort of aristocrat.

Nina Jones:

Played by Mineri Amairo

ALSO an original role, but played by one of the troupe's more experienced actresses, so I'm again not expecting this to be a minor role. My automatic guess is that she'll be the defendant of the original case. This may mean she gets Leona'd into being Ryuu's love interest, which I'd certainly prefer compared to Susato, but again that's me assuming takarazuka's going to force another romance on me.

Even if she's not Ryuu's love interest specifically she could end up being a forced one for Sholmes. or something like that. can you tell I don't trust takarazuka.

My only other speculation regarding her is that the name "Nina" reminds me a bit of "Gina", who doesn't have a role in this play. It could be a "Leona totally isn't Lana" situation where she plays a Gina-like role, and I'll get more into that later.

I'll discuss the jurors and the unnamed secretary more when talking about the plot, because obviously there's very little we know about them.

PLOT THEORIES

I have several theories for how the actual murder cases could go.

In general: we know from the summary that this is taking place in Great Britain. The summary also mentions that the world exposition is "just around the corner", which may mean that comes up in the plot. Assuming jurors are going to be playing a role in the case -- I'm guessing here they might fit in "witness" roles -- I think we could probably speculate somewhat from their roles. There's a spirit medium (which will be interesting in itself), a noblewoman, an ordinary citizen, a clown, and a "hotel man". Some of these, like the mentions of hotels and clowns and spirit mediums, does suggest some kind of exposition-y event to me.

I think there's a non-zero chance the spirit medium juror will attempt to channel the victim. This will probably mock spirit mediums so that this musical will spit on Maya's character a hundred years before she's even born.

One major question I have is who the victim is going to be. As I said before, with Brad Menickson and Nina Jones as presumably major roles, I doubt either of them will be the victim. It's possible the victim isn't a named role (I don't believe musical 2's victim was) but it's something to keep in mind going forward.

Also of note is that the summary says that Ryunosuke is involved in "one difficult case after another". I'm going to operate under the assumption that this will be two linked cases. All the other musicals have had two investigation days and two trial days, with musical 2 covering two related cases, so I'll expect something similar here. Since there are only five jurors, I'm expecting them to recycle them for the second case, assuming there is one.

This case will probably mostly be original, but previous musicals have referenced other cases (the first being an obvious RFTA attempt, the second case of musical 2 being loosely related to 2-4, though musical 3 was wholly original.) Since there's not nearly enough information to predict what they're going to do, I have a few theories for inspirations:

Theory 1: a 1-3/1-5 - style case

These are two related cases from the games that they can draw from, mostly inspired by, like I mentioned previously, the name "Nina" having some similarities to "Gina".

In this kind of scenario, Nina would be our "totally not Gina" role, starting as a manipulated witness in the first case and then as the defendant in the second case. Brad Menickson would presumably be the "McGilded", so possibly defendant in the first case, and then victim of the second. The problems here come down to a lack of named roles, like who the true killer would be in the second part, and who the victim would be in the first. There is the unnamed secretary, but again, they'd probably have listed her with a name if they expected her to do anything. (I'm assuming she's either Stronghart's or Menickson's secretary, and will be showing up extremely briefly in their office to welcome Ryuu and do nothing else.)

Since we have Soseki in the picture, he could possibly be the defendant for the first case, with Menickson as the true culprit for both cases, which would be fitting. Again, they could possibly have Stronghart as the culprit, but I really feel like that would be a massive waste to DGS's plot.

Theory 2: a 1-4/2-2 - style case

This is an option because of Soseki's existence. Soseki would be the defendant for both, possibly with Nina as the "Olive Green" role, being the victim of attempted murder in the first case and then significantly involved with, if not the culprit, of the second -- but again, that's about all they'd be drawing from this, since, well, they don't have obvious Garrideb-like candidates for the first case, or an obvious Shamspeare. They might not even be separate cases, just two days of the same trial about Nina, where she wakes up for the second blaming Soseki...? Again expecting Menickson to be the ultimate culprit either way.

Theory 3: They Actually Try Wrapping Up DGS2 But Badly

Here's where Stronghart would be the ultimate culprit. Either Nina or Menickson or Soseki could be the defendant of any of the cases. Ultimately no matter what happens, first case is setup, second is "everything is corrupt!", sholmes calls in queen victoria who is here for some reason to put everything to rest as Stronghart has an incredibly underwhelming breakdown.

They don't have time or characters for a proper Professor plotline, I don't think, and again I don't think they have enough time or motivation to bring back Asougi in a role that would do him justice, and even if they COULD you can't condense the back half of DGS2 into a two hour musical, so this would be a very lackluster adaptation overall. It would have to focus around the characters of Brad Menickson and Nina Jones, so it could never live up to the original.

Overall though I have no idea how significant the role of Queen Victoria is going to be, and that's the main thing that's throwing me off here. She could come in, no matter which of these theories comes close to the truth, to basically say "hey Stronghart your system is corrupt stop it" and they all have a speech about truth or whatever. I honestly don't expect or want Stronghart to be the ultimate culprit, because it's pretty clear this will mostly be an original case, and based on the other musicals, their murder plots kinda suck and will not get nearly enough devotion for it to work.

Theory 4: 2-3 But Asougi Isn't There

This is solely based on the idea of there being a world exposition coming up. I don't think they'd take any more than that, though? Like I said I doubt Asougi would be around, and much of the plot related to Sithe is connected to setup that they won't be able to pay off later, AND I don't expect van Zieks to have a significant enough role where he'd have any connection to the defendant. (... van Zieks / Nina romance might be possible and incredibly cursed.) But it could take similar ideas to the main plot being connected to some sort of exhibit at the world exposition gone wrong, which is where multiple jurors have some sort of connection to the case.

Ultimately, the main things that I am curious about that could influence this are how major some of these roles are going to be. As I said before, with Ryuu Susato and Sholmes being the main characters, I'd expect a little less focus on the original characters in comparison to other musicals... but who knows for sure. I'm curious (and terrified) mostly of how they're going to handle Susato in here. A lot comes down to what Nina's role is going to be -- it probably wouldn't overshadow Susato, which could be interesting, since in the other three musicals the lead female character had a personal connection to the actual murder plot, and that doesn't seem to be the case this time. It's possible the murder plot is going to be even less significant than usual, and more will be put on Susato's arc (assuming they'll even let her have one).

Soseki is another one that could influence how this goes depending on if he's closely tied to the murder plot or is just another wacky witness who is there for mainly comedic relief. And of course whatever the hell Queen Victoria is doing.

In summary, as far as plot is related, my guesses are:

Nina: defendant or (later) victim or sympathetic culprit. I just don't get the vibe they go for totally evil women often.

Brad Menickson: culprit (evil) or defendant (only in the case of Stronghart being the true culprit). Either way we will probably know in like five minutes because takarazuka is really bad at hiding their killers.

Soseki: defendant or witness with no significance to the plot.

Stronghart: small chance of being culprit, most likely intimidating figure in the background.

Music Guesses

If they don't have "the truth reborn" as the main theme song again I'm going to be so disappointed. I have it basically memorized at this point. Ryuu and Sholmes will be singing it, I'm like 99% certain.

I'm now hoping for a Kazuma Asougi song, which will be Ryuu singing mournfully about how he can't live up to his expectations, or Asougi singing for a little bit about his totally noble and totally honest intentions for going to Great Britain that don't involve murder or revenge at all.

And, obviously, I want a dance of deduction song, whether that's Sholmes on his own or a Sholmes-Ryuu duet.

I hope Susato is able to sing a solo or a duet and I hope it's not as part of any sort of romantic plotline.

If they do a romance plot, whoever it may be with, there's going to be a love song somewhere in here. In the casino royale show I watched, their love song had lyrics that were, literally, this:

Do you know that dolphins are intellectual beings? They send soundwaves to communicate and save a child from drowning. They protect people. They serve the gods in the Greek myth. Now, they're higher organisms that protect people. There would be no war if we love each other like dolphins love people.

So I'm hoping for something at least as hilarious as that.

At the VERY LEAST, there should be at least one ocean reference in every song. it would actually be appropriate this time.

IN CONCLUSION

I am not dreading this as much as I thought I would be at this point, which either means it might actually be a fun and interesting adaptation of TGAA, or they have been hiding everything terrible from me in hopes of blindsiding me with something awful after I pay an absurd amount of money to get a DVD to watch this.

I would love to talk about more speculations over this if anyone is interested. The musical itself has its first showing on July 19th and I will try to find reviews or previews or anything to learn more about it until they come out with a performance DVD and then eventually someone who knows more Japanese than me translates it, which could be relatively soon, or could be like... ten years. Until then I'm hoping for the best.

[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-

[buttclench-ryugazaki]

tgaa 1 + 2 final rambling notes

the neutral/negative:

did not like some of the solutions in the cross examination phase because i could easily predict what the prosecution's damning rebuttal would be, meaning the contradiction felt weak even as i presented it. and that will happen in every single aa game without fail, i just felt like it happened too frequently to me, personally. it works for 1-3 where defending an obviously guilty client is supposed to feel shitty and like you're going insane that he isn't being caught, but not so much when you wanna feel smart and triumphant (before immediately getting knocked down again) y'know

dance of deduction phases are stylistically very cool but far, far too easy. i never failed one once because all it is is playing i-spy with 360 degree camera movement and a limited number of possible answers. i enjoy sholmes being insane, but it gets pretty tiresome after a while because there is no challenge whatsoever

cross examining multiple witnesses and pressing ones based on how they react to others: a mechanic that apparently rolled over from PL vs PW. i thought there would be more of a challenge here. the sound cue is VERY OBVIOUS. i assumed their reactions would be more subtle and you would actively have to search for them (case 1-5 with gregson and milverton whispering amongst themselves is what i'd had in mind), but nope. i also think that not every reaction press should have been moment of plot advancement, as 100% of them are. throw in some red herrings for the player to make them think they've found something important at first and burst their bubble. but DON'T penalize because that would be too frustrating, reward them with funny dialogue at least

jury summation phase: i thought i didn't mind doing them until 2-4/5 came around and i found myself relieved that i didn't have to contend with the jury, which is intentionally supposed to be exasperating in how thoughtless its decision-making is (aside from 2-3 with the magician and scientist jurors who actually have some valuable insight). probably the best of the new gameplay phases mechanically, but i don't think i care for the execution. ryunosuke knows, the prosecution knows, you the player know that you're just stalling for time by making the whole trial go on a tangent. i applaud the way reinforces how desperate it feels to flimsily grasp at straws ("we can't trust shamspeare's testimony because he's stealing gas from his cheapskate landlord and thus a liar") but it does annoy me the player to not directly be working towards getting a greater picture of the mystery

examining evidence is required to advance the plot more frequently than in prior games. before, the player would get some flavor text to give them hints about how the evidence should be presented, but it doesn't necessarily trigger anything in the game's code. it doesn't bother me because because i like to poke and prod, thus i examine (mostly) everything. but for others this could be really frustrating if you know why the evidence is contradictory, without examining. a happy medium would be that examining still updates the description but the evidence itself is viable even if you hadn't examined it (for certain pieces, not all) 5a. at the end of 2-5 when you're supposed to present klint's last will and testament, i presented the asogi sword instead because it told me the will was inside. i forgot to examine it and get the note out first. in classic aa, i think my answer would have been the correct one. that's an example of when i think i should have been given some leeway

they give me "gallery" feature in "extra contents" but it does not lead to a menu of CGs and animated cutscenes? why? dual destinies has that feature. it's a must by the standards any modern visual novel game

positives:

the twists, they're good. not all of them are foreshadowed that well or at all, but i enjoy them regardless. things like professor mikotoba turning out to be sholmes' actual partner and kazuma dad being the professor, because we don't even really learn about kazuma's father until the very moment it's revealed. (i predicted that klint was iris's birth father but not because of any informed reasoning; we didn't know he was married until 2-5 and it's not like both her being born and him dying 10 years ago necessitates a relation). these things can still be set up as future plot points without necessarily foreshadowing who is involved

they don't try to catch you off-guard with plot events like, defending van zieks. it's not just a rehash of turnabout goodbyes. you knew it was going to happen eventually; the reaper of the bailey's reputation as a possible murderer constantly comes up, and you know he must be innocent. it's still a decent twist and a good way to conclude the plot line they introduced so early, but the vibe i get is that they didn't try to act like what they were doing was crazy and unprecedented, because a plot line doesn't have to be for it to be good

they really made the world of this game so much bigger, by setting it in two countries, involving international british-japanese relations and politics, the assassination conspiracy and deeper, given the talk of xenophobia, industrialization, classism, crime, life in the city, corruption within the police and the courts, god there's so much. intentionally or unintentionally, ace attorney has always been about the law itself and how it should be utilized to protect the innocent/find the truth, and how it frequently fails to do just that. aa-verse 1900s britain isn't affected by the dystopian, 99% conviction rate and expedited 3-day trials like 2016 japanifornia, but it does have its own legal issues to contend with and i like how they manifested

pacing the hugeness of this plot over the course of two full games was a good call. we know it's possible to do a full arc in 4 to 5 cases but they said, nah. we're going bigger. and not doing THAT THING!!!! aa games are so aggravating for where they don't reference past games directly, only through vague allusion. game 2 does not dare pretend that it's not a sequel; who would be the poor idiot playing Resolve without having played Adventures? (i did comment about how Resolve still gave me a mostly unskippable tutorial, which is just plain silly) but anyway i do understand why japanese fans were so incensed over game 1 ending on a cliffhanger with no official word of a sequel. the game is feels incomplete without Resolve. they shouldn't have reviewbombed it, because it was a good game, but i understand. it's a duology through and through

the characters. i don't think there's a single one i actively dislike, and if i did i've forgotten them. i was very charmed playing as ryunosuke; he's a mess and master of deadpan like his descendant but perhaps... cuter? more deliberately written as naive and ignorant, naturally because he's not actually a law student. and he's afraid of ghosts and aliens. i enjoy that he's more willing to crack jokes to contrast susato playing the straight man, who is the most serious and informed of all the teen girl assistants. she might even be my favorite, now! aa is such a big franchise with too many characters to count, so it's difficult not to view these characters in comparison to their predecessors. but i think they do a good job making the dna of these characters apparent (kazuma and van zieks both having shades of edgeworth, for example) without making me feel like i'm getting the same archetype and the same guy over and over again

[ryutarotakedown]

i don't think he had a concrete plan for her exactly but i also don't think he would have forgotten about her. ryuunosuke says that kazuma called her a close friend, and he absolutely did consider her in the equation when he smuggled ryuunosuke onboard, it's just that his solution was to Not Tell Her because it would have put her in danger

(the rest of this is under the cut because i blacked out and started rambling. also disclaimer that i haven't played 2-4 and 2-5 in forever)

and so i think that's probably what he planned to do for the study tour in general as well. like it's important to remember that kazuma never actually intended to go through with killing gregson - he only said yes to jigoku's offer because it was the only way he could ever get to go to britain, and the reason why he actually ends up drawing his sword on gregson is because he was infuriated that gregson wouldn't tell him the full truth about his father. it was very much an impulse thing

so like, what is kazuma's plan? all he's really planning to do is figure out the truth about his father, a process probably involving several death threats but zero actual murders, and (since he's convinced barok is the one behind it already) somehow maneuver barok behind bars while doing so. he wasn't planning to do anything "illegal," unless you count the destruction of property re: cutting his dad's wax head off, although even that probably wasn't part of the plan because how could he have known his dad had his own wax exhibition. so—

so there really isn't much he has to tell susato, in his view? like ideally he would choose barok to go against (not very difficult since barok would immediately come out of retirement to face a japanese exchange student anyway), he'd get his client off (ha), his client would die afterwards mysteriously, and he'd choose to take on whoever was framed for the death as his new client* and expose barok in the process. it would be beautiful and glorious and right

*if no human person was framed and the death was, like, a cliff collapse or something, he'd probably try to investigate it himself. rope the police into it. if gregson's involved he might panic and assign a fall guy anyway and then kazuma can go back to the original plan. and if not, well, kazuma's a defense attorney. all he has to do is keep taking cases

and all susato has to do in that is be his judicial assistant as she's always been, right? so he doesn't have to tell her anything. in fact it would probably be safest if he didn't, because susato studied to be a judicial assistant for his sake and it would be unfair if he repaid her by dragging her into all of this. it's his past, he's dealing with it himself, and he can admit that he needs her and ryuunosuke by his side for emotional support, but he's never telling them the truth if he has the choice.

also it is important to note that kazuma always chooses to interact with susato on Professional Terms, not just calling her "judicial assistant mikotoba" but also framing his greeting to her in 2-3 by thanking her for guiding ryuunosuke and in 2-5 freeing her from her duty to him so she can go with ryuunosuke back to japan. i think that dynamic is a sort of dance they developed over time, because susato does refer to kazuma very familarly (first-name terms) but she also says he's always talking to her about how he wants to reform the judicial system in japan, and she tears up and says it was an honor to help ryuunosuke in 2-3 - this is ymmv but imo it's a mutual thing they've agreed on (edit: not like, out loud, they're not emotionally open enough for that, but i think they settled into the pattern), to talk to each other in terms of duties and obligations despite the fact that they are genuinely very close. and in that case, it's not susato's job to help kazuma sort out all of this, is it? so at the time of setting out from japan, at least, kazuma's main connection between susato and the professor incident is to keep her out of it

(obviously once we step out of Kazuma Asougi's Very Unbiased Mind there is a very different picture going on where after they arrive in britain susato and ryuunosuke are scrambling to figure out why the hell kazuma is acting so angry and distant and strange, what do you mean he killed your father? susato asks. i thought your father died of illness? and kazuma is naturally completely unprepared for all of this. he wants susato by his side, of course, as someone to bounce ideas with and who can keep him in check, but he'd never wanted her to be entangled with all of this)

(is this why you wanted me here, kazuma-sama? so i could see you like this?)

anyway tl;dr i somewhat agree with the people in the notes saying that he probably didn't think about it all that much, but not because he doesn't care about her, but rather the opposite: he loves her too much to want her to ever get caught up in this whole thing, and he's confident enough to believe that he can keep her and ryuunosuke away from it, even if that idea falls apart under more than five seconds of scrutiny

wait if kazuma hadnt hit his head and his plan actually worked what did he think susato would do. what was the plan for her . what was the plan for susato please kazuma

[azumasoroshi]

i didnt know i needed sholmes and kazuma to interact holy shit

baffled kazuma is my favorite flavor of kazuma

where the fuck did ryuunosuke go did he plaster himself to the roof like spiderman

or is sholmes just playing dumb like "oh he has a boyfriend in his closet?? as a fellow homosexual i can't possibly out him, that's against the bro code" while ryuunosuke stared at sholmes wide eyed like "whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhattHEFUCK"

SHOLMES HOW DID Y O U FIT IN THE WARDROBE

kris is kazuma queen is sholmes noelle is ryuunosuke and berdly is strogenov

i know it's not what happened but itd be really funny especially since you would definitely see sholmes and ryuunosuke in there no matter how high up they were

ryuunosuke is just devoted to his bestie <3 or sholmes just has the adhd with the hyperactivity and ryuunosuke has adhd without hyperactivity

i immediately thought of the danganronpa ON THE MEAT BONE meme help

OH SHOLMES IS THE THIEF ISNT HE

HASUHSUDHAUHGSDUHSD

my guy ate three steaks while running away from the crime scene what the hell

it would be really funny if the criminal was kazuma though. he needs to get steak for his bf and the bones are in the wardrobe because he fed them to ryuu lmfaoooo

i love threatening cheeky sholmes he WAS covering for his fellow gays what a bro

why was ryuunosuke under the bed though lmfao

WHY DOES NOCTURNE PLAY WHEN KAZUMA CALLS HIM A GREAT DETECTIVE AHSKDGSHDJGJH

nocturne makes you cry in 1-2 and then it's used for the stupidest shit like 2-1 and whatever this is

and then it makes you cry again in 2-3 lmfao the duality of nocturne getchoself a song with this mad range

IT'S SO WEIRD TO SEE RYUUNOSUKE'S MODEL OUTSIDE OF COURT especially with that facial expression

i do like actually seeing ryuunosuke in different environments though lmfao his archery arm guard thing is cool

also i love how proud he is of this as though sholmes didnt notice him anyway

WAIT WAS IT RYUUNOSUKE WHAT THE FUCK

am i becoming a ryuunosuke simp why did my heart skip a beat when he looked at the camera lmAOOO

it must be the kazuma pov since he's the ultimate ryuunosuke simp

oh so sholmes DID steal the other two steaks i KNEW it

also new ryuunosuke pose!!! the fact that we cant see these in game normally is absolutely tragic we should have a whole game from kazuma's pov with him simping for ryuunosuke

the entirety of case 2 is just figuring out who was really the other's pet lmfao

like. are you sure about that kazuma. i know what you are

OH MY GOD!!! THEIR MODELS ARE ON SCREEN AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!

they couldnt resist not showing kazuma's titties which is very understandable

great mischief-maker. undoubtably

it would be so fucking funny if kazuma was a fan of herlock in the way susato was oh my godddddd

i can just imagine them doing dances of deduction as kids and mikotoba is like no no that's all wrong and starts busting out moves and they were like holy SHIT

ryuunosuke looking at kazuma like hey what is that face. im still your babygirl right. right kazuma

why do all the japanese people default to german im

what was the joke in japanese since he's referred to as sherlock there im so curious

if anyone knows tell me

(source: x)

[herlocksherlock]

Herlock Sholmes Has ADHD

I believe Herlock Sholmes from “The Great Ace Attorney” has undiagnosed Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. I know this is a pretty popular fanon theory/headcanon, but I’ve never seen anyone lay out evidence for it. Spoilers below the read more.

Forgetfulness and Losing Things

Herlock Sholmes has some established memory issues directly connected to his interest in said information. This is pretty typical for someone with ADHD, though sometimes Herlock takes it to a bit of an extreme.

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing Iris Wilson telling Susato Mikotoba “He forgets everything. As soon as he’s solved a case, it all but vanishes from his mind.” End Image Description.]

When I say it’s connected to his “interest” in the information, I'm referring to personal relevancy more than subjective preference. In other words, even if a case was very interesting to him on a subjective level, once he’s done, it’s no longer especially relevant to him. The longer something goes without being directly relevant to him on a day-to-day basis, the more likely he is to forget it. He pushes case details from his memory about as fast as many of us push class details out of mind following the final exam, but for Herlock it goes deeper than that. 

He’s forgotten things about people close to him too when hasn’t seen them for a while, including how many years it had been since he last saw Yuujin Mikotoba. He even seemed to forget who Ryunosuke and Susato were after not seeing them for a little over a month (though to be fair, he’d only known them a few days before that month). 

Another very common symptom of ADHD in adults is continuously losing or misplacing things and generally having poor organizational skills. 

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing  Herlock Sholmes saying “And it’s troubling to me that you expect me to know where it is! Somewhere thereabouts on the floor, one presumes.” End Image Description.]

This is defintely a problem with Herlock, to the point that I believe he even gave up on finding a missing book at one point and just opted to buy a new one. The fact that he thought it would be easier to invest in a new copy of the book than to try and locate it is pretty significant when you take into account the fact that he does not really have any disposable income to speak of. In fact, he sometimes seems to have trouble just paying rent.

Rapid-Fire Thinking

Herlock’s mind goes too fast for him sometimes, a trait that leads to some deductions that are very close (and yet so very far) from being accurate. I have heard the argument that these deductions were merely a farce to test Ryunosuke, and while I think there might be some truth to that, I don’t think that explains it in full. For example, why would Herlock go out of his way to test Ryunosuke when there was a time bomb in the middle of the room? Even if ADHD has a risk-taking element to it, I don’t think Herlock would go that far.

I think at least some of the faulty deductions Herlock makes in-game were genuine, and resulted from him connecting the dots a little too fast. Having your thoughts race by you at such a speed that you yourself have trouble keeping up with them is a common experience for many people with ADHD. So Herlock, brilliant though he is, was probably distracted by these avid trains of thought mid-deduction. For example, imagine he follows a person’s gaze to the wrong item, one that doesn’t really make sense in context. Instead of stopping, reflecting, and moving backwards to re-evaluate his assumption, he gets distracted by the entire story his mind is already half-way done putting together about what he initially thought the person was looking at.

This isn’t just speculation either; Herlock himself openly admits that he often feels overwhelmed by all the stimuli he’s getting at any given moment.

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing  Herlock Sholmes saying “I am frequently assailed by information that I neither care for, nor wish to retain.” End Image Description.]

Hyperfocus

Hyperfocusing is extremely common for those with ADHD, especially when it comes to one’s hyperfixations. You can think of a hyperfixation sort of like a “special interest”; it’s something a person with ADHD thinks about more than an average amount (sometimes to the exclusion of more pressing matters) and often gets a large amount of satisfaction from talking about. 

When he is on a case, Herlock hyperfocuses big time, so you could argume those might serve as hyperfixations for him. 

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing Iris Wilson saying “I do apologise. When he gets like this, he’s completely oblivious to everything.” End Image Description.]

However, one can hyperfocus on more than just hyperfixations when you have ADHD. Sometimes it’s a topic you saw on wikipedia that you ended up accidentally spending three hours following links for, sometimes it’s reading an article, sometimes it’s writing a post about why Herlock Sholmes has ADHD. Regardless of the source, hyperfocus is something that is not always voluntary; you often can’t choose what you hyperfocus on when you have ADHD, though sometimes you can direct it toward a desired task or topic with practice.

Mood Swings

Mood swings and general irritability are lesser known symptoms of ADHD, but they are defintely a part of it. These can be mood drops connected to understimulation or simply extreme responses to normal stimuli as a result of emotional dysregulation.

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing a very glum-looking Herlock Sholmes saying “A good morning to die perhaps...” End Image Description.]

Impulse Control

Herlock has a somewhat notable lack of impulse control, and not just because he followed through on a whim to taste soap for the sake of curiosity.  He laughs very loud at sometimes very inappropriate times (which also relates to volume control, which is another common form of impulse control with ADHD). 

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing Herlock Sholmes laughing very hard. End Image Description.]

The impulse control aspect of ADHD also helps explain his less-than-prefect social skills. Difficulty keeping quiet and speaking out of turn are two common symptoms of ADHD in adults. People with ADHD can also have a harder time picking up on social cues, which further hurts social skills. 

Other Evidence 

Finally, I wanted to discuss a few things that serve as weak evidence on their own, but are (in my opinion) pretty interesting when put alongside everything I’ve presented so far. 

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing Herlock Sholmes talking to Susato Mikotoba, saying  “...’Tomorrow for once I shall not oversleep! I rise early and be present in court to support my companions!” End Image Description.]

Herlock has issues getting out of bed, to the point that he missed the start of a court case multiple times. And the one time he did make it there promptly, it was only with considerably help from Iris. Trouble getting up and getting somewhere is very common for adults with ADHD, though the causes may very. It could be due to poor sleep quality making you tired, poor executive function making it difficult to actually get ready in a timely manner, or some combination thereof. Either way, I suspect this ongoing struggle for Herlock has a lot to do with his ADHD.

This next one is really a stretch, and is honestly pretty headcanon-based, but you remember this bit right here?

[Image Description: Screenshot from The Great Ace Attorney showing Herlock Sholmes with his back turned to the camera. He’s saying “...Whilst, as you shrewdly observed, gnawing on the only friend I have left: this seven per cent solution of caramel.” On the side is an image of a candy bar with a wrapping reading “Sholmes’ Caramel.” End Image Description.]

Now, obviously this was a reference to the seven percent solution of cocaine the original Sherlock Holmes injected himself with to keep his brain stimulated between cases. However, since he talks about eating this caramel bar multiple times in the games, I’m going to take the reference as literally as possible: a candy bar that is only partially made up of actual caramel. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to assume there is chocolate in this bar too, based on the color and how the flavor would pair with caramel. If chocolate was the other main ingredient, and perhaps the predominant one, you know what that candy bar would contain a decent amount of? Caffeine. You know what many people with ADHD self-medicate with if formal drugs aren’t available to them? Caffeine. 

Alternatively, let’s say that wrapper isn’t just for show; maybe this caramel bar is mostly caramel, but it’s Sholmes’ own special blend that truly has some cocaine in it. While it’s defintely not an advisable means of self-medication, cocaine was pretty popular in Victorian era England since they didn’t know about all the negative side effects yet. And cocaine is a stimulant.

[boypussydilf]

i know u asked for sherlock and iris for the character relationshjips ask game SO if someone else hasnt sent them yet do them but i want to hear you ramble abotu homumiko also. [holding you at gunpoint]

as you know i got a homumiko ask already but everyone look at it again “basil its long and incomprehensible and most of your followers dont even really know who these guys are” LOOK AT THEM. THEYRE KINDA WEIRD

ANYWAY !!!!!!! YAYYAYAYAYA IRIS AND SHERLOCK YAAAAAAAY. this post is probably gonna get long too so heres my eyecatch so people who dont wanna read all that are still forced to see them

describe their canon relationship/dynamic

describe their canon relationship/dynamic

tumblr is being buggy with this post.

God…. how do i…. they have so much going on …. lets start with the basics hes her dad. Obviously. thats her dad. he was handed a baby and just went Ok!!!!!!!! and took care of her forever. thats her dad. Iris’ main, initial frame of reference for The World and Being A Person is This Fucking Guy.

There is also the fact that thru most of the games she is not Calling Him her dad </3 consequences of. him telling her hes not her dad ansbJSHJSNSJSNSJSNWJS. even still as ryuu & susato say they have a parent child relationship … for the jokes abt iris being more lkke the parent of course which Is True and a Straightforward Joke But Still Really Funny. but he still is. like. The Dad Equivalent. Her Guardian. even when not actually Her Dad. they have a mutual duty of care. Sherlock makes sure they have money to buy food & Iris actually Makes Edible Food and thats about it you know.

they have the funniest fucking dynamic. Ever,. they treat each other like Equals. they talk to each other like Colleagues. They literally try to steal money from each other. iris bullies him all of the time and he also sort of bullies her back. Iris walks around loudly announcing embarrassing facts about him in public and Sherlock yells at her about it and no one feels bad and they love each other. and she kicks him. theyre so funny

Basically just. thats her dad. they are also best friends being each others constant companions for ten years (Because he raised her from birth). they steadfastly look out and care for each other. and every morning they wake up and try to invent new ways to be mean to each other

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy?

in terms of Their Relationship Dynamic there is no way to improve upon it. there is nothing to change. theyre perfect. this is the best relationship ever. but i still of course have lots of headcanons about them. where do i even begin

for one thing as is probably already clear i thimk every day abt what capcom refuses to give us answers on: Iris’ Early Childhood and The Process Of Sherlock Raising Her. please i wanna know what that was like. And continues to be like tbh its just not something we see much bc its not relevant to ryuus side of things…… First of all: he has undeniably tried his best to take care of her and done an overall good job. look at her. Mikotoba would not have trusted sherlock with an entire fucking baby if he was not confident the man could like. Handle It. Successfully keep another human alive and make sure she comes out overall well adjusted and all that. But hes still. Sherlock Holmes (Ace Attorney Character). He. again. does not seem to have any perspective on what to prioritize. I just think he went “okay time to teach iris The Basics” and then jumped straight from “heres how to write your name” to giving her lectures on something he learned the other day about aerodynamics and skipped over a bunch of stuff in between and didn’t really realize until she, like, saw an owl and went UNAUTHORIZED FUCKING BEAST? because she was like 5 and had still never heard of an owl.

Also im glad everyone in the world independently got up and thought “he definitely took that baby to crime scenes” because he definitely took that baby to crime scenes. Like. As everyone has said 200 times. What the hell else is he gonna do? He has to take cases or he DIES. There is no one he is close enough to for him to go Hey take my baby for a while. He’s broke as fuck permanently he cant PAY someone to watch her. Come on 8 month old child who’s still figuring out how to, like, Exist, let’s go Solve A Mystery. I don’t think she’s ever, like, seen a dead body, though. It’s all in my head, you understand, I have the whole escalation of it in my mind - when shes a Really Tiny Baby he has to just focus on Watching Her and can only take the kind of cases that can be solved sitting in the living room (he is going insane), then when he gets past the “what if i stop paying attention to her for ONE SECOND and she EXPLODES” phase he can do stuff that actually requires Investigation, then the second she’s able to Talk he goes Yeah that probably means she can Help with investigations now. and shes iris so hes right. I think 1-5 is prrrrrrobably her first Murder Investigation though. shes a little girl! you don’t take a little girl to a murder scene! Except under special circumstances!

This veered in … some slightly different direction than just Their Relationship i guess but fuck dude it was fun. Like. I like them. I think about them. i think sherlock went oh god oh fuck i dont know what children are like whats good for children *thinks about him as a child* I WAS WEIRD WASNT I THAT WONT WORK *iris turns out to be Just Like Him* Oh thank god here 4 year old child take this chemistry set and scrap metal. Go wild.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you?

I swear to god ive probably said this on 80% of these ask game responses: I like family. They family. all ace attorney games kind of have a Found Family cast in the end, but they dont generally refer to characters who dont have clear cut straightforward straight up family relationships As Family, except DGS, which has ryuu explicitly call them His Family, and, and, I don’t know that the themes of The Importance Of Family & Family Being Something You Can Choose play a huge role in the story of dgs itself in most places, esp the Chosen Family bit, but its THERE, in ryuu calling the gang his wonderful family & iris adopting him and susato as her siblings & mikotoba caring for asougi like his son and Most Prominently, Iris Calling Sherlock Her Dad. which i will elaborate on the importance of in a minute but anyway i just think theyre really cute and really funny

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships?

YOU REMEMBER THAT THING I SAID BRIEFLY IN THE HOMUMIKO ASK ABT MEETING SOMEONE RIGHT WHEN U REALLY NEED IT. *pulls out yet another pepe silvia style conspiracy board* Here i actually made a chart.

I don’t remember almost anything abt the mainline AA series, only remember this bc I’ve seen it mentioned so much, and don’t even remember it clearly enough to know for sure if it’s Dialogue From The Game or just Conclusions People Reached but you know that shit about, Phoenix gets disbarred and its A Bad Time For Him but its Less Bad Than It Could Have Been because at the same time he gets Trucy and now he has Trucy. Like. Same concept. “Accidental Child Acquisition leading to Better Ability To Cope With The Shit That Just Happened In Your Life” is more common than you might think apparently. Inspiring! Every Day This Man Holds Off Emotional Breakdown Until AFTER His Baby Is Fed

If i was ever going to say more about his side of things thanjudt. All That. i forgor. shes dotter. incontext the “i raised you well!!” line is just , a joke abt him being proud of her for something He Very Much Does Not Ever Do Himself but still like WAH . proud of dotter.

Anyway originally i was like, what the hell can I say about iris? That’s her dad and that’s about it. And then I went Simon are you fucking STUPID? THATS HER DAD. THATS THE POINT. God… oh my god …….

Basically!! Returning to the point about Choosing Who Your Family Is and how Sherlock & Iris and specifically Iris calling him her dad for the first time (since we met her) is the most prominent example in the game!!!

Iris’s Whole Deal™️ is she got her World Changed by finding out sherlock wasn’t her “real” dad and her dad was Some Guy She’s Never Met and now she goes then who the fuck IS my dad? Where do I come from? Who Am I? and her Search For Her Dad, Desire To Meet Him, & Attempt To Feel Closer To Him By Reading His Notes And Putting Herself In His Shoes is like. a big part of her identity. For like maybe almost half her life up to this point too!! And …… then she gets closer & farther away & closer & farther away and she decides Susie & Ryuu r her Siblings and somewhere in all of this. decides it doesnt matter quite That much who her “Real” Dad is because shes not defined by her biological father and she already. Has a dad. cries. And. And. And because of the time she spent Not Thinking Of Sherlock As Her Dad it means hes her dad ultimately because She Decided It . not bc he or anyone else said it should be like that but bc she decided he is her dad.

So like . you know. starts sobbing in the streets. anyway they r just both very very important to each other

favorite interaction they have in canon

First prize goes to the off-screen interaction Iris mentions in the credits where she gave him a note that just said like “thank you for everything daddy!” and he read it and started crying. Its like. The ONE thing about dgs2 i remembered with Clarity. in the years between my first & second times watching dgs i thought about it often and i still do.

Second prize goes to her going “oh its just a wax figure see *KICKS HIM AS HARD AS SHE CAN*” itsso fucking funny. that was not necessary. at all. she just wanted to kick him huh

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in

FUCK UMMM. UHHHHH. i already kind of talked about it but even though i dont think its really even IMPLIED? that sherlock has ever taken her to Investigate A Case? she just stays at home generally? In my heart she goes with him and helps out somet8mes. i want to see it.

what else. obvious and not really the kind of thing id put in this category generally but like Iris finds out her dad was klimt when. hey fuckos!! When r u going to tell her !!!

alsgo i have a weakness for Older Iris content like ough my god 🥺🥺 ou my goed 🥺🥺😭 She growed. one day she will not be the most powerful 10 year old in the world she will be the most powerful 20 year old in the world. show me !! show me !! I want to see!! she is going to do so fuckinf much its unreal!!

Finally, i thought of this ages ago for reasons now forgotten to me and just remembered it today. sherlock & iris & date & mizuki hangout. tehyre *checks notes* girls who do violence on their dads sometimes and that’s about it but its funny right

In conclusion: kiss on top of iris little baby head. appreciate her

[masked-disciple]

Oh, Ryunosuke...

Hey. Two things. Firstly, you're still our very best guy. Graduating or not doesn't change that. A lot of people got to live when otherwise they wouldn't, because of you. One of the biggest, most complicated legal systems in the world is a lot healthier, because of you. Kazuma would have died in England as a murderer if it weren't for the fact you were there and you were going to fix things or die trying - and you did fix things.

So you're gonna mourn the fact that your parents can't see the son they have, and that's gonna hurt and it won't be easy, and you're gonna remember that you're still loved, and that your worth has nothing to do with them, and if they don't like the person you are, then it sucks to be them, because I know none of us would trade you for the world. What would the world give, anyway? Not you, so that's not a trade worth doing.

And secondly... I'm sure if you got in contact with Professor Mikotoba, and Lord van Zieks, and whoever they put in Stronghart's office to replace him - because that guy owes his position to you - I'm sure the university of Cambridge would be perfectly happy to bestow upon you an honourary doctorate of law. Or you could ask Iris to ask the Queen, and you'd get knighted probably, because again, services to the crown.

You're allowed to be angry and sad and grieving and stuff - sometimes I feel the same way, because my parents don't want me either - but you're not allowed to think you're less than you are, because you're not. What you are is our very best guy, and who you are is criminal defense attorney Ryunosuke-goddamn-Naruhodo. You kicked van Zieks' butt several times, and he has a law degree and a decade of experience, and you started destroying him in court on forty days' of law knowledge.

You don't need a degree, because to be quite honest, what could they even teach you that you don't already know? And if your parents can't see that, maybe they out to go get a degree in appreciating their son. If they won't, well, their loss. Your actions in one year abroad are going to have positive shockwave effects across the world for decades. A century from now, they'll be studying your cases and trying to figure out the secret to how one unassuming guy in his twenties became one of the most talented and influential lawyers of the 20th century in less than a year.

Don't you sell yourself short, and don't you let anyone else do it to you, either. You deserve better than that, and if you don't believe me, I'll tell you so as many times as it takes to stick.

I'm back from my trip early. To keep it simple, it was not a good trip. Hope you all had a good weekend and go on to have a great week.

[ask-the-reaper-conspiracy]

Ayo, idk if Tumblr is still being screwy, but another question for OP. Who is your favorite character and why?

sadly it is but imma make it work

as to your question, I love all of these characters but Stronghart is the one who compelled me to make an actual blog for this group. not to knock the others dfkgkdsfks stronghart's just got a toxic relationship with near every character and that kind of makes him the glue that holds this conspiracy together!

I just dfkgkdgkfdkg I love everything about him. His character design and animations are very intimidating and dignified, with his clock motif kind of capitalizing on the "clock punk" aesthetic that a lot of people associate with the victorian era. and his breakdown animation is freaking dope. I also love that he's one of the few characters in the game whose appearance changes, specifically over the course of the final trial, where his hair loses its unicorn 'do to become the "vortex" of his original namesake.

In terms of personality I find him utterly fascinating. he's cruel and sadistic, megalomaniacal, and clearly has no regard for human life. he unashamedly admits in an escapade that he gave Gregson an impossible task with severe consequences for failure just for fun and called it his "vulgar mischievous spirit". he has an apparent hatred for criminals and believes that justifies the extreme methods he uses against them---a hatred that is not, apparently, class-based since he targets nobles and rich career criminals in both his conspiracies. he will keep a straight face even as he needles Ryunosuke on his discomfort in his presence and intentionally (as I see it) intimidates him in most of their meetings.

he uses people in the most insidious of ways by seizing on opportunities as they happen, pushing someone until they're under his power and he can make them do whatever he wants. I fully believe he was trying to take steps to do that to Ryunosuke in his 3rd case appearance in both games. (by that token I don't think he's very good at planning his evil farther in advance. his short-term "shoot Genshin" idea didn't take into account what would happen if Genshin didn't have the will that he had been long-term trying to wring out of him.)

but he's also very level-headed in most of his appearances and can even appear reasonable and competent as a Lord Chief Justice. he gives you cases when you ask for them, he strives for more effective forensic techniques (which is something the audience would be expected to want as well), and he can have perfectly reasonable conversations with the main cast. he arranged for Susato to go home immediately when he received word her father was ill. in yet another escapade, we learn that he cared enough about one of his birds that he lent her to Gregson for a period of time (which I think it indicative less of him having a soft spot for animals in particular as it is him being appreciative of animals he can use.)

like, none of this makes him a good person by any stretch but it's fascinating to me that he is both obviously evil and does so many irresponsible things on a whim yet also had so much potential to be just the eccentric sort-of-ally you had in the game.

Also his straight-faced seriousness makes it all the more fun when his mask slips at the very end of the game. Even his first evil laugh during the trial like, signals how stressed out he was getting when he realized Mikotoba was there at the autopsy and he never knew.

Finally, it's very interesting to me that of all that he's one of the only Ace Attorney culprits to never kill someone. Likely purely because he sees it as beneath him, but how would it affect him to take a life himself? Even remorseless killers irl can report feeling scarred by the incident on a purely physiological level so it's interesting to think about.