#yes I am a dork

[always-coffee]

On Being a Dork

This morning, I’ve been thinking about grasping for joy. How important it is, especially with the *gestures at the world* everything.

I tend to be an effusive human. Part of that is simply who I am. And part of it is that I know we need to hear the good things more often than we usually do. So, I’m shouty and vocal, and I’m good with that.

Because what we have, in this mad world, is each other. And if we are holding back because of how it might look or a litany of other fears, then we’ll gain exactly nothing. But if we do the opposite and offer that joy, out loud, to the universe—we gain everything.

I fully and entirely believe in being a wholehearted dork. There was a time where I was less out loud about it, because…of reasons. Namely, someone made me very bad about how much I cared. It took me a long time to work through that particular gift of darkness and put it aside as not mine.

There are times where I still wonder if I am too much. But when looking at a situation or a moment or a truth and trying to decide what I say or don’t say, I’m never going to play it cool. If I like you, I like you. If I just had the best taco of my life, I’m gonna do tap dance of joy. If I think you’re attractive, I’m gonna let you know it. Or try to. I’m still mildly awkward on occasion.

Point is, life is short and weird. Do you like something or someone? Don’t do it quietly.

Because too often, we badly need to hear that kind of thing. We need to know that someone likes us just as we are (shoutout to Bridget Jones) or that there was a cool sunset or fireflies or random cat. Connection and shared joy don’t eradicate the bad things. But they ease the ache and the dark of it. And I swear to java, the time to play it cool is never.

There are people in this world who think I am too much. Those are not my people. I am always going to get over my own insecurity and do and say the thing. Because what if it matters? There’s always only one way to find out.

So, that’s my lesson for today: grasp for joy, even now. Maybe especially now.

[redwingedwolves]

I'm gonna do it. XP

Would either of you still love me if I was a worm?

@chickenwingexpert & @definitelynotdabi

[beyond-the-beast]

I am a dork almost all the time. But this is me. I ca. Be a BEAST when I need to be in all aspects of my life.

[peopleareaproblem]

Colourblind Fiyero

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this idea but I thought of this literally half-asleep at 1 AM and bolted up to note it down.

Anyway what if movie!Fiyero is red/green colourblind and when he and Feldspar almost run over Elphaba, he doesn't see the Elphaba on the left, but the one on the right? reblog if u think the girl on the left is j-

And the reason he looks like this when he sees her face:

... is not because he is realising it's too late to stop himself from saying the words "blended in with the foliage" to the green girl, but because he has two eyes and a heart and just saw Cynthia Erivo in the woods. (And Feldspar sure as shit doesn't notice anything either because horses cannot see red and he is used to people looking kinda green.)

Fiyero arrives at Shiz well after everyone sings a song about how green and annyoing Elphaba is, and the day after he arrives Galinda has taken her under her wing and made her popular, causing people to stop talking shit. So, what if Fiyero just does not find out Elphaba is green until like 2/3rds through the movie? He just straight up misses it, does not know she is an outcast, and just thinks she isn't into him for some bizarre reason. And only when he finds out she has green skin does he realise that he said the foliage thing, which she would definitely have taken as a jab, and actually he was incredibly rude to her. ... Oh no.

LOOK. Obviously I love that Fiyero just is not Fantasy Racist™ and doesn't think there's anything wrong with Elphaba being green. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be funny if-

[djosephqueery]

Steve's pouting in a corner somewhere because he wants kisses :(

__________

as always shoutout to my co-conspirator @corrodedcoughin

Hope everyone's had a good week, and cheers to a good weekend <3

[agnerd-bot]

For those curious, the team currently stands at:

Wheeler the Skeledirge

Anko the Clodsire

Grimm the Mabosstiff

Roshi the Drednaw

Maki the Vespiquen

Toki the Dolliv

Reze the Bombirdier

Denji the Lokix

Ruri the Gabite

Kaido the Pupitar

Baccarat the Gimmighoul

Harribel the Veluza

Hibana the Charcadet

Chinchiro the Lilligant

Zangya the Primeape

Midnight the Grimer

Tsuna the Larvesta

Me Before Playing Scarlet: Alright I have four-fiveish team members planned but I have no idea how to finish my last few slots... Oh well, not like it'll be that hard. Usually I have the opposite problem!

Me Now Playing Scarlet: *has over a dozen Pokemon and is desperately trying to balance them all because I love them* Well, shit.

[muiromem]

Needed to make a version of this that encapsulated My Whole Deal

[kneelbeforezod]

This gif plays in my head, every time I lay eyes on you.

[sunsetsandsunshine]

~ 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝…? ~

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝟷𝟷: 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙼𝙰𝚁𝙴˚*• ̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*＊·̩̩̥͙

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚝/𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 (𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 💗)

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 𝟷,𝟽𝟿𝟻

𝙻𝚎𝚎: 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚢 🐢🧡

𝙻𝚎𝚛: 𝙳𝚘��𝚗𝚒𝚎 🐢💜

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢….𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚖𝚎 *𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚗𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎*

(𝙰/𝙽: 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢! 𝚃*𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚔/𝙽𝚂𝙵𝚆 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝙳𝙽𝙸!!!)

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝙲𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚢𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚊.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙰 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚂𝙾 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙻𝙸𝚃 𝙾𝙼𝙶‼️‼️‼️˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

Dreams were one thing. 

Mikey loved dreams. 

He adored dreams in fact. 

It was…his escape from reality; sort of like drawing in a sense. Except, when he dreamt…he didn’t have to do a single thing.

He could do anything he wanted…whenever he wanted without having to get the 'a-okay' from anyone.

And plus, the best part about dreams was that if there was an ice cream cat barfing up sprinkles…Mikey wouldn’t question it oneeeeee bit. 

That was the magical part about dreams. 

But…there were always two sides to a coin.

…Nightmares…were the opposite of dreams…

…And they were a whole other thing.

They could turn your most happiest memories and moments into horrid and scary ones.

It could turn the most greenest of valleys into nothing but dry ash, blowing away in the wind and fluttering and intoxicating the air. 

Or…perhaps…maybe nightmares were just…lonely. 

Perhaps…it was just lonely to be alone, watching you sit in your room as you break into cold sweat, the darkness weighing you down like a ton of bricks. 

And maybe the nightmares wanted you to be there with it…so it wouldn’t have to be alone…

'I could be lonely with you' as Beach Bunny would say…

But back to the initial topic, Michelangelo always hated having nightmares.

But what he hated more was not even remembering what said nightmares was about. 

It was terrifying for sure— I mean— he woke up from it so it must’ve been really…bad…right?

The box turtle sighed loudly, running a tired and shaky hand down his face.

…He should probably get some water while he’s awake; his mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert.

Or, better yet, Mikey could go find his brothers.

Well…one of them. Or at least see if anyone was awake.

The light scarlet eyed mutant hopped down from his bed, hugging himself with one of his blankets as he made his way towards the hallway, the darkness almost consuming him in the process. 

Even as a little kid, the box turtle was never fond of the dark. 

…You could never see beyond it. 

It was cold and…just, well, dark in general if that makes sense. 

Michelangelo never understood the appeal some people had to it.

The only time he did welcome darkness, though, was when there was light occumpining it. 

Like the moon. 

Or the stars. 

Or even car lights! 

It was Mikey’s small reminder that no matter where he was, there was always some glow or gleam with him…

So relitavley speaking, he should head to where the nearest light was…which was his immiediate older brother’s room. 

The smallest turtle opened Leo’s car door ever so slightly, peeking inside to see a very sound sleeping slider. 

The youngest buried down his disappointment as he quietly closed the door, going back into the darkness once more.

Leo barely got any sleep as is…

…And besides…the chance of accidentally waking him up was waaaay too high. 

It was fine, anyway. Mikey could try going to Raph’s! 

Michelangelo dragged his orange blanket with him, putting it around his shoulders as he tip-toed to Raphael’s room…surely he was awake, right? 

“Raph…?” The youngest called out quietly, looking into his older brother’s room. The smallest mutant wasn’t greeted with a small grunt of acknowlgemnt nor a kind Raph greeting.

What the light scarlet eyed teen was greeted with, though, was a loud, ear pierecing snore from the snapping turtle. 

Mikey snickered softly at his brother’s loud noises, going into the room and giving him his favorite Squishmello that was on the floor.

The alligator snapping turtle smiled in his sleep, squishing the plushie to his chest and his tail wagged slightly. The smaller turtle giggled at the action, walking out and closing the car door.

Alright…so the odd’s on Donnie being up…were…rather…slim but it was fine! 

Quite very much fine.

If the softshell was asleep, the light scarlet eyed mutant would just hed back to his room…alone; in complete darkness. 

…But it would be fine…!

Probably.

The box turtle quickly and quietly shimmied to his purple loving brother’s room buuut not before tripping over his own feet and stumbling in front of Donnie’s train car door.

And Mikey was supposed to be a ninja…pfft, yeah right. 

The youngest turtle got up on his feet, brushing off his knees and shoulders as he grabbed his blanket from the floor. 

Maybe if he just stood perfectly still until the crack of dawn…Donnie wouldn’t wake up…!

Besides, it’s not like the softshell heard him or anything.

“I can hear you trying to be quiet over there, Mikes.” The second oldest deadpanned, turning around of his bed so him and his little brother shared eye contact.

Well shit…

The youngest’s stomach twisted and turned with guilt, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned on the doorway nervously, “Oh! H-Hey, Dee…sorry…did I wake you up…?” Michelangelo asked guiltily. 

“Eh, kinda. But it’s alright.” Donatello yawned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up on his bed, reaching for his desk as he put on his glasses. 

“…Are you going to come into my very humble abode or are you just going to continue to stand there?” The taller turtle asked, squinting into the darkness where the youngest was almost being consumed by.

Mikey shook his head ever so slightly, closing the door and hopping into Donnie’s bed with his blanket. The elder hugged the smaller turtle tight, rubbing his shell gently as Michelangelo melted into the embrace. 

The box turtle buried his face in his older brother’s chest as the other rested his chin at the top of the smallest turtle’s head, “Mhmmmm…your warm as fuck…”

Donnie bit back a loud laugh, instead, smiling faintly as he rolled his eyes fondly. 

Typical Mikey…

The second oldest wrapped his younger brother tighter in the hug, “Your literally using me as a blanket right now. I’m not your own personal heater, y'know.” 

“Ehhhh…you kinda are to be honest.” The other snickered. 

“Oh? You're just using me for my body heat, huh? And here I thought you loved me for me…” Donatello sniffled theatrically, wiping away a fake tear for dramatic effect.

“I do! But I also love you for your body heat.” The younger turtle giggled snarkily. 

Donnie scoffed, shaking his head slightly as he smiled; he couldn’t help but chuckle faintly.

"You're such a dunderhead, y'know that?” The older said as he scribbled at the youngest’s sides, grinning as Mikey almost immediatley squealed with laughter. 

“Here I am, pouring my heart out to you, being all sentimental and caring...and all you care about is my toasty body heat.” Donatello fake seethed, scribbling where the younger’s plastron met his shell. 

Michelangelo screeched loudly at his brothers squiggly and wriggly fingers, hugging his middles before turning around so his shell faced the young scientist. 

The light scarlet eyed turtle squealed, kicking his legs from under the bed sheets as his brother continued to tickle him, “N-NohoHAH! D-Deehee cahahome ohon dohon’t doohoo thihihis!” He squeaked, pulling on Donatello’s arms. 

“And where do you think you’re going, little brother?” The taller turtle asked, wrapping one arm around Mikey’s chest so his arms were at his sides. “You’re not going anywhere~!” Donnie grinned before scribbling his free hand all long the younger’s stomach. 

“OHO FAHAAAHACK! DEEHEE NOHO STAHAP!! THAHAT’S SOHO SOHO BAHAHAD!!!” Michelangelo screeched whilst laughing loudly and hysterically, kicking his legs so much that the blankets soared high in the air and fell on the floor. 

'And she was a fairy' ahh moment…

“I’m going to tickle you foreveeeeer! Eeheevihil lahahaugh!” The purple hoodie wearing mutant announced as he nibbled the crook of his baby brother’s neck.

Donnie laughed along with the other, his mind flashing back to times when they were very little…

…When they would lay together in the dark with fairy lights hung around the ceiling, infodumping about shows and movies as he would hold his younger brother close to him to keep him warm…

…It was just like when they were little kids.

Well, almost like when they were little kids. 

In their early childhood years there was definetly less hyena cackling…that was for sure.

“GAHAHAD DAHA— squeal NOOOHOHOHO!” The younger mutant squealed, shaking his head as a faint blush spread to his cheeks.

“Yeeeeeeees~!” Donatello playfully cooed, “And stop your loud Tom-foolery! You’re going to wake up the entire lair!”

“THEHEN STAH— squeal!! GOHOD— squeak SCREHEHEW YAHA— YOHOU! STOHOHAP TIHICKLING squeak MEEHEEHEE!” Mikey yelled through his laughs. 

“But you looooove it~!” The other smugly countered. 

“DEEEEEHEEHEE! PLAHAHEASE! YOHOUR GOHOHONNA KILL MEEHEE!!”

“Kill yohou?” The elder mutant asked in awe, pausing the tickling for a split second before mercilessly prodding where the other’s ribs would be.

The reaction was almost immediate as Michelangelo let out a loud, genuine scream before descending into hysterical fits of laughter. 

Mikey thrashed and squealed helplessly, throwing his head back on his older brother’s shoulder. “DOHOHAHA— squeak DOHOHAHANNIE!!”

“You are conversing with Donatello; yes?” 

“PLAHAHAHEASE!”

“Please what~? Pleeeeease keep tickling you~? Pleeeeease tickle tickle your oh-so ticklish ribs~?” 

“N-NAHAH! THAHAT IHIS NOHOT WHAHA— squeal IHI DIDN’T MEEEHEAN THAHAAAT!”

The softshell chuckled lowly, holding his baby brother’s wrists above his head as he lightly nibbled his ribs. 

The box turtle squeezed his eyes shut, throwing his head back once more as he could do nothing but happily laugh. 

“D'awww~! Are Mikey’s wittle wibs tickwish~?” Donnie teased, using his free hand to flutter along the orange cladded turtle’s neck.

“AAAAAHAHAHAH— SQUEAK!! NONONOHOHO! DEEHEE DEEHEE NOHO— SQUEAK SQUEAK— NAHAHA— SQUEAL— NOHO MOHOHORE!!!”

“No more~? Are you sure~?”

“YEHAHAHAH! YEHEHES YEHE— SQUEAL YEHEHES!!” 

Donnie gave his brother one last poke at the rib before stopping and hugging him from behind, resuming the gentle shell rubs. “I guess I really am nothing more than your own personal heater, hm? Just a walking furnace at your command…”

The box turtle mutant groaned loudly, flicking the taller turtle’s forehead slightly, “Deeeehee yohou knohow damn wehell thahahat’s nohot true.” Mikey pouted, snuggling in the embarce. 

"Yeah, yeah…I know, I know. You supposedly love me for more than just my body heat.”Donatello said as he let out a huff of laughter and rolled his eyes. 

The elder wrapped his arms tighter around his brother, resting his chin on the orange cladded teen’s head once more. 

The smaller turtle giggled at the action before yawning, snuggling into the other’s plastron, “Lohove yohou, dorkwad…”

“Pfft— dorkwad? Is that the best you can do? Really?” The softshell snickered. 

“Is ahass faced Atomic Lahass fuhucker good enohough fohor you?” The box turtle asked snarkily. 

“I’ll stick with dorkwad, thanks.” The older giggled. 

“That’s whahat I thohought.” Mikey grinned as he yawned, resting on his face on his brother’s chest, “Lohove you, Dee.”

“I love you too, Angelo.” 

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙵𝙸𝙽˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙ 

(𝙿.𝚂.: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐!!!)

[aubreality]

I loved him so much, I got a pillow!

I got an incredible commission from @k1pperd1p on Twitter! This is my OC Ravis and he's a huge comfort character for me, so you can imagine the happy tears when I saw him so wonderfully immortalized! His entire personality is captured so well and I couldn't be more happy! Thank you so so much Kip!

[always-coffee]

A little wisdom for your day

Best advice I can tell you is this: love people out loud. Don't worry if you look cool. Sincerity and kindness are hot. (The hottest thing a man can do is be a good person with a kind heart who throws down when need be, in my opinion.)

Move toward those who love you out loud too. (There are so many small ways to do this. Little gestures matter. I am forever a penguin bringing those I love shiny rocks. Sometimes, I use all the exclamation marks. I regret nothing.)

Fling a compliment. Confess a truth. Share something meaningful. (Connect. It’s what helps us find softness in the dark and beauty in the light.)

Yes, it can be scary. But all the good things start that way.

[lordoflucky]

That Albert Harebrayne Analysis I said I was gonna do months ago

So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on my very unexpected favorite Great Ace Attorney character, Albert Harebrayne. To which I think I’ve found why this character in particular has managed to worm his way into my Top 3 Ace Attorney Characters alongside fan favorites Sebastian Debeste Eustace Winner and Miles Edgeworth. That being, he’s an absolute masterclass in making a supporting character. (This is about 30% analysis of Albert and Barok’s dynamic, 45% analysis of Albert himself, and 25% a secret third thing if you want some expectations.)

Warning: This gets long, I’m talking nearly 5k words long (4.8k. I’m pedantic). For the sake of your dash I recommend opening this in separate tab.

Albert’s Narrative Purpose

If I had to guess at Albert’s primary purpose in the narrative it would be that he exists to support Barok’s arc. Through his presence we see a kinder side to Barok, making him both more sympathetic to the audience, and adding believability to his eventual redemption arc.

However, the exact way Albert does this, while also having his own arc entirely separate from his connection to Barok, is what really makes his character. Albert exists to contrast Barok down to the simplest detail- from character design, to mannerisms, to their core traits and ideals.

Starting at the most superficial, in his key art Albert is drawn with flatter shading and cartoonier proportions compared to Barok’s dramatic shading and more realistic proportions. Albert is made up almost entirely of warm tones and light colors: blond hair, bright white lab coat, pink vest, tan slacks. Barok is in turn drawn primarily with dark colors and cool tones, made up of blacks, greys, and navy. There is also bonus of his purple-ish, blue-ish, grey-ish hair being complimentary, or in other words opposite, to Albert’s yellow blond. From the onset, without knowing anything about Albert’s character or that he has any connection to Barok, it’s clear that the two are inversions of one another.

Moving onto the character himself, Albert has a very distinctive way of speaking. He stutters, repeats himself, and goes off on rambling tangents near constantly. Comparatively, Barok speaks much more precisely. His frequent use of ellipses imply that he’s pausing to choose his words carefully. When he does falter it’s used sparingly- primarily for drama, and occasionally for comedic effect.

This characterization, Albert as flighty and Barok as controlled, continues in their animations. Albert can hardly stay still, and nearly every one of his animations includes constant movement. Either more subtly such as in his angry animation where he occasionally vibrates with fury, or overtly such as in his desperate pleading and excited mad scientist animations. Even in his neutral animation there’s the visual gag of him constantly pushing up his glasses as they fall down after every sentence. All this movement is punctuated by a shuffling sound effect that plays every time he changes poses, presumably trying to draw as much attention to it as possible. While Barok is no stranger to dramatic animations, what crushing glass chalices in his hands and drop kicking the prosecutor’s bench, the majority of Barok’s animations are more subtle. Outside of the courtroom he primarily closes his eyes, crosses his arms, turns his head, opens his eyes, lifts his chin, uncrosses his arms- you get the picture. His animations are extremely contained. Even taking into account his more dramatic courtroom animations, they’re all done with the same nonchalance, slow and flowing. The text box disappears, the story itself is brought to a halt, while it waits for Barok to finish his animations. A harsh contrast to Albert often switching animations multiple times during a single sentence.

These animations are used accentuate their respective main avenues for comedy. Albert as comically expressive, and Barok as comically serious. Most of Albert’s comedy is derived from how he approaches nearly ever situation at the same maximum emotional state. He recounts accidentally forgetting to return spare change to a waiter with the same level of regretful anguish, as he responds to being accused of murder. He even goes as far to say that he deserves to be hanged for that same murder as retribution for... forgetting to return the spare change. He gets so caught up in his own delight at the mere notion that his hypothesis was correct that he gladly incriminates himself on the witness stand. Barok, conversely, typically keeps at the same cynical indifference throughout any given trial. He slowly and deliberately tosses a wine bottle into the gallery behind himself only to claim that his hand slipped, enters the courtroom with his cloak drawn up like Dracula, harbors bats in his own office, and he does all of this without a hint of irony. Both use the same joke of having their emotional reactions be disproportionate to the situation, but reach that result from opposite directions.

This tone often transfers outside of their comedic moments, with Albert’s most common state being high-strung and emotional, while Barok’s is disinterest and apathy, with anger as really the only emotion he openly expresses for the majority of the games. Of course, both break from these states occasionally in order to signal relevant tonal shifts. Moments before Albert confesses to murder he’s resolutely calm and expressionless, warning the audience of what’s to come. The rare moments of Barok showing genuine sincerity, such as his overt gratitude towards Ryunosuke upon Albert’s acquittal, are used to represent major turning points for his character. For both, these “Out of Character” moments further ground them as three-dimensional, while still adhering to Ace Attorney’s exaggerated style of characterization.

Finally, their core traits and ideals. I find the most vital part of understanding Albert is his overwhelming kindness and optimism. Albert fully believes that Asman shares his dream in developing Instantaneous Kinesis, and protects the project not just for his own ego, but because he believes it’s what Asman would have wanted. He clearly states the respect he holds for Drebber as a scientist even after everyone’s assertion that he’s little more than a con-artist; even after it’s established that Drebber planned to frame him from the start. When Ryunosuke implores Albert to trust him and accept his defense, Albert responds by not only empathizing with him as someone who also spent time studying abroad, but by stating he believes a person’s origin has no effect on their ability- a sentiment Ryunosuke has scarcely heard for all his time in London. And of course, there is his fervent belief that Barok is working towards his best interests, despite the doubt voiced by Ryunosuke and Susato, and Barok’s seemingly contradictory behavior.

Personally, I find there is one scene in particular, and it’s follow-up, that best showcases Albert’s kindness. It starts during an intermission in the Defendant’s Lobby, before Albert’s invention has been officially declared a fraud but after Ryunosuke’s arguments have started leaning in that direction. Albert starts by accusing Ryunosuke of undermining him and attempting to discredit his hypothesis. Ryunosuke argues he promised to fight for Albert’s innocence above all else. He reminds Albert that, regardless of the validity of his hypothesis, a man died as consequence- that is what matters. Albert pauses for a moment, taking time to register Ryunosuke’s words, before urgently apologizing for blaming his failures on Ryunosuke. I find this scene best exemplifies Albert’s kindness as it’s not that he is a perfect sweetheart of a person all the time, but rather in the moments when he does mess up- in this case taking out his stress and frustration on an innocent party- he owns up to it the moment he realizes what he’s doing. Not only that, but he follows through on his apology. During the second investigation segment, which takes place the same day, Ryunosuke attempts to apologize for not protecting his invention. Albert refuses the apology instantly, reiterating that it’s his own fault, and that Ryunosuke shoulders no blame.

All of this stands in direct opposition to Barok. There is of course his prejudice, often manifested as his racism towards Ryunosuke, Susato, and Natsume, which also crosses into classism taking into account his treatment of Gina during 1-5. Even outside of that, Barok is wholly defined by his pessimism and distrust of others- his primary character flaw.

Going through this point by point is meant to illustrate that for every trait that Albert embodies, from the most superficial to the most intrinsic parts of his character, the inverse can be found in Barok. Albert exists to humanize Barok, but it’s not as simple as “Barok is kind towards someone, which was a previously unseen side of him,” it is specifically who he is kind to. The fact that Barok sees this person in direct opposition to himself, most importantly in the ways that they approach the world, and declares that person to be laudable, gives hope that Barok has the ability to change for the better. Albert could not have accomplished his role nearly as well had he simply been “Barok’s friend.” By existing in opposition to Barok from a characterization stand point this strengthens his support of Barok’s arc, further establishes the themes of trust integral to Great Ace Attorney’s greater narrative, and allows Albert to be a fully developed character in his own right.

Albert’s Character Arc

After discussing how Albert supports Barok’s arc, now I find it the best time to dissect his own. In between the chaos of 2-3, which is already packed to the brim with plot set-ups, ramifications, and character moments, Albert manages to have his own arc entirely separate from his connection to Barok.

Albert’s arc is centered around the revelation that the dream he was clinging to was ultimately a lie. The people who he trusted were planning to betray him from the start. The moment that was meant to be his dream coming to fruition literally blows up in his face, and what scarce success he finds to hold onto is revealed to be little more than stage magic.

There are two primary factors that lead to Albert’s actions and reactions throughout the case.

Albert genuinely trusted Asman and respected Drebber. He continues to respect Drebber even after the truth is revealed.

Albert cannot personally accept that the dream he spent so much time working towards might’ve been a failure.

The first point I alluded to while discussing Albert’s ideals. Repeatedly throughout the first half of the case he shows great admiration for Asman- he equates Asman visiting his lab to read his a paper to a visit from an angel. He states repeatedly that he must protect the invention that they made together for Asman’s sake. As far as Albert is concerned, Asman genuinely believed in him, and wanted to work alongside him to make Instantaneous Kinesis a reality. He devotes himself entirely to repaying Asman for his generosity; Asman’s ulterior motives, unbeknownst to him.

As for Drebber, the first showcase of Albert’s respect for him comes from the second investigation segment. The previous courtroom segment ended with Ryunosuke declaring that it’s very likely that Asman and/or Drebber were attempting to frame Albert, and two separate members of the jury discoursing on Drebber’s status as a swindler. What follows is Ryunosuke asking Albert if he really had no idea that Drebber was “Just an illusionist”. Albert refutes this by stating that Drebber isn’t just an illusionist. He clearly has a brilliant scientific mind, Albert is certain of that after only one conversation. Ryunosuke makes a comment on Drebber's abilities, which could be called disparaging in only the most harsh interpretation, and Albert still feels the need to correct it. Giving due respect to a man he currently believes is attempting to frame him for murder, as Susato reminds him. And Albert is correct in his assessment of Drebber. In fact, Drebber’s intelligence is a key factor in the case, but Albert would be more than justified in being a bit unkind to Drebber, considering the situation. Yet, he refuses to.

This point, his trust for Asman and Drebber, influences Albert’s action’s somewhat, but the second is the ultimate driving factor. At the end of the first pair of trial segments, following the reveal of Drebber’s true nature, Albert reflects on the recent events. He freely admits it was his own ego and fear that drove him to try to protect the invention. During the turning point when Albert confesses to murder, he considers that punishment preferable to the alternative. Because the alternative, is that he failed.

One line in particular I want to draw attention to he says towards the end of his monologue:

“I never questioned anything. I, I didn't want to question it.”

I feel this line re-contextualizes many of his actions during the trial. He insists, against his own innocence, that the experiment was a success. It was not simply foolish ignorance that led him to defend his hypothesis beyond logic itself; it was instinctive denial- conscious or otherwise.

Now in most Ace Attorney games, Great Ace Attorney included, The Truth is near sacred. many character arcs are centered around the pursuit and acceptance of the truth, never hiding from its uglier sides. It’s better to know the truth than live a lie. Albert is no different. He spends the first half of the case in denial because the truth is too harrowing for him to accept, until he reaches a point where he is forced to confront and accept it for the sake of his own life. By all means, with this revelation, his arc is over. The next step is for him to move forward, always push on despite the hardships, and pursue the glorious truth above all else.

But this is not the end of Albert’s arc. You see, that scene never addresses the root of his insecurity. Why was Albert so opposed to accepting the truth? Why did he go as far as falsely admitting to murder, which at this point is thoroughly established to be punished by death, over accepting the much simpler fact that his hypothesis was flawed and his experiment was sabotaged? He says it himself during his monologue: “I knew that if it was found to be nothing more than a trick […] my whole life would be over!”

The root is that Albert entirely conflates his own person-hood and worth with his success as a scientist. If his hypothesis is a success, then that means he, as a person, is a success. If his hypothesis is a failure, that means he, as a person, is a failure.

This is built up throughout the entirety of the case. When Ryunosuke first introduces himself as a lawyer, Albert launches to ask if he’s here to defend his hypothesis. On the surface, it’s just a simple introductory gag. This is the audience’s first encounter with Albert aside from his appearance in the opening cutscene, and the first interaction with him as an actual character. His whimsically goofy theme kicks in, his glasses fall down to reveal his unintimidating face. How silly, the absent-minded scientist assumes the defense attorney is here to defend his hypothesis and not himself. It’s the obvious joke to make, and it quickly establishes exactly what archetype Albert is meant to embody. But then it keeps happening.

When he pleads with Ryunosuke to trust him, that he would never murder someone, he says: “Do you believe me? Do you believe in my hypothesis?” While berating himself for unfairly taking his frustrations out on Ryunosuke, he says “I'm a disaster! Not just as a scientist, but as a human being!” When he gives his insight on Barok’s behavior, he says: “He believed in me this morning, you know. Barok did. He believed in my hypothesis.”

Nearly every time Albert references himself a mention of his hypothesis and career is not far behind, and vice-versa. As far as he is concerned, believing in him is believing in his hypothesis. Believing in his hypothesis is believing in him. They are inseparable. The line about Barok comes in the investigation segment after Albert accepts his experiment was a failure proving that, despite accepting the truth, he hasn’t worked through the insecurity that made him so terrified in the first place. He has accepted that his experiment was a failure, but he still believes his person-hood is connected to the success of his hypothesis.

All this comes to a head at the end of the case. Drebber admits to his crimes, and takes his opportunity to rebuke the “Addle-brained mock scientists” who “Don’t recognise the fact that they don’t have talent” and “end up chasing impossible dreams.”

Albert then takes the stand to accept his acquittal. He goes on to echo Drebber’s words, calling himself a selfish and self-centered fool for “believing that [he] could do whatever [he] set [his] mind to, despite [his] lack of talent.”

Despite it being proven many times over that Drebber only wanted to use him, despite Drebber’s disdain being entirely fueled by bitter spite, and despite Ryunosuke proclaiming that Albert’s only “crime” was his passion for his hypothesis and that he was entirely undeserving of Drebber’s ire, Albert still takes Drebber’s words to heart. Even after his betrayal, Albert still holds Drebber’s opinion as a scientist in high regard. Albert’s opinion of himself was already left in tatters due to his association of his worth with his success, but hearing scathing critique from a fellow scientist that he holds personal respect for was the last push he needed.

Following this, Barok refutes both Albert’s and Drebber’s words. He reassures Albert that he is not at all to blame for the events that unfolded, and applauds Albert’s passion and dedication to always pursuing his dreams.

Ultimately, Albert’s arc is centered around his own internal conflict of accepting his failures, and divorcing those failures from his worth. Alongside that, he continues to act as a support character to Barok’s arc. By allowing Barok to be the one to step in, and pick Albert back up when he’s at his lowest the audience sees a near unprecedented level of kindness from Barok. Which, of course, supports his redemption.

A few more points I’d like to make: Aside from Barok’s involvement in the final step of Albert’s arc, the rest of it is entirely devoid of his presence. While their friendship and dynamic is an extremely important aspect of Albert's character, having his arc focus on his own personal struggles allows him to exist as a character outside of his relationship to Barok. This strengthens his personality as an individual person, which ironically strengthens his relationship with Barok.

Furthermore, while his arc is entirely separate from their dynamic, it still manages to continue the theme of Albert existing in contrast to Barok.

When Albert finds himself betrayed by those he believed he could trust, his instinct is to blame himself. He was too foolish to see the signs that his dream was a failure from the start, and he was the one to naively hold onto the hope that anyone could ever honestly believe in him. If he had just given up from the start none of this would have happened. In Barok’s own backstory he was similarly betrayed by someone that he trusted. Barok’s response was to lash out, to claw for revenge and someone to blame. He continued by isolating himself in his grief, growing more distrustful each day, and going as far as to treat anyone who barely resembled the man that betrayed him with equal resentment.

Albert’s response to betrayal was too lose trust in himself; Barok’s response to betrayal was to lose trust in those around him. With this taken into account, it becomes clear why Barok must be the one to reassure Albert of his innocence. However, he does not suggest that Albert should be bitter and vengeful in response to betrayal, but rather only that he should not lose trust in himself- finding a middle ground between their two extremes. This serves to highlight the character growth Barok has gone through up to this point.

This, all of this, is what I meant by Albert being a masterclass of a supporting character. Every individual facet of him ties back into that all-encompassing narrative goal of acting as support for Barok’s arc, while also existing as an individual character in his own right. Despite existing to support another character, his own identity is not lost in that goal.

Arguably, Albert would have been fine without his arc. He would have been fine if his entire character centered around his dynamic with Barok. Again, if his role is to be a supporting character he could have been decently serviceable as simply Barok’s old friend who got himself in a bad situation, and who acts as an optimistic voice insisting that Barok really does care about him deep down. This would be proven by Barok’s actions before, during, and after the trial, Barok would seem just as sympathetic since he would still be going out of his way to help another person, and the end result would be nearly the same, if not slightly less interesting. And that’s the crux of it, Albert is a more interesting character than he would have been if he was only “Barok’s friend”. He doesn’t need to be, but he is, and by putting that extra care and time into his character the relatively simple story beat of “Antagonistic character shows kindness towards another person helping to spur their redemption arc,” becomes something that gives much greater insight to both characters involved.

Before breaking down Albert’s character like this I had less appreciation for Barok. I still enjoyed him greatly, he was a low-A on a bad day, but I did not enjoy him as much as the other main cast. After ruminating on this as extensively as I have, my opinion of Barok has soared. Breaking down Albert’s character and role on a narrative level directly led to me liking Barok more, and if that’s not fulfilling his role as a supporting character I don’t know what is.

My Thoughts and a Conclusion

You can consider this work finished. I’ve said many words and made my overall point: Albert is a well constructed character on a technical level. He is tightly written, with exactly the amount of screen time he needs to accomplish everything his character is used to do, and he accomplishes it exceedingly well, in my opinion.

However, there’s one last point I haven’t covered. I opened this piece declaring that Albert is my overall second favorite Ace Attorney character. In a franchise spanning over two decades with mountains of characters that’s high praise, so why him? There are countless other characters in Great Ace Attorney 2 alone that are written just as well if not better, and have an even stronger connection to the overall plot and themes. There are many characters that I respect from a writing stand point, and yet they still don’t reach my top ten, twenty, thirty, beyond. I could go on for hours combing through line by line, word by word pointing why I like this bit, or how I interpret this interaction, and it will never reach the real reason as to why I enjoy Albert, or any character for that matter, as much as I do.

It’s not something I can write into an analytical essay with textual sources to support my point, because it’s not analytical. I like Albert as a character not for any of the reasons I covered in the 3.5k words above, but because his character emotionally resonated with me. I did not do this analysis and suddenly realize I liked his character. I adored his character, and how I show appreciation for the media I love is breaking it down bit by bit to uncover all the moving parts.

The message of Albert’s arc amounts to “Failure does not define your worth as a person.” and that “Even if you try your hardest and fail that was not effort or time wasted, because trying at all is respectable in of itself,” and this is a message that deeply resonates with me. The next section will require me to get vaguely personal, so to put it simply I am a perfectionist. This manifests itself in nearly every facet of my life, but to give a lighter and more relevant example: This essay itself. I mentioned nearly seven months ago that I was working on an Albert Harebrayne Character Analysis. I have not been working on this essay for seven months. Instead, those seven months I’ve spent procrastinating; coming up with any excuse I could to not write this. My grasp on the character is not good enough. My analysis will be surface-level and shallow. I’ll just be rambling on about something that only matters to me, and is an annoyance to everyone else. I finally worked up the nerve to open a word document and just start typing only after it became undeniably clear that my mind wouldn’t rest until this was made. It all stems from the fear that whatever I make will be less than perfect. That whatever I do won’t be done to the quality it deserves. There’s more I could say, but with that alone I’m sure you can piece together why the message that your failures do not impact your worth as a person is one that I connect to.

However, it goes even further than that. Albert is not the only character or story with a message of that vein in Ace Attorney. There is a second aspect at play, which are the assumptions I made in regards to Albert’s character throughout the case- Assumptions born from my own insecurities. From the start, I assumed he was going to be wholly a joke character, pure comedic relief. That’s not to say I disregarded him, not at all. Absent-minded professors and mad scientists are some of my favorite archetypes, so at the very least I assumed I would enjoy his presence. I did not expect him to become my second favorite Ace Attorney character that is for certain.

My prediction for the direction the narrative would take Albert all came from that central idea: He was ultimately a joke. Obviously teleportation is impossible, and it seems like we’ll have to prove that in order to prove his innocence. Albert, meanwhile, is extremely invested in his experiment being declared a success. Alright, so that means we will inevitably prove the failures of his hypothesis, he’ll have a tragically comedic (emphasis on comedic) breakdown as is tradition, and that will be the end of his relevance. Point and laugh, and move on. Judging by the many words I’ve written previously we both know things did not go as I predicted.

I do think Albert’s arc is meant to subvert the audience’s expectations to some degree. He starts as a primarily comedic character. His introduction to the audience is a cutscene in which he’s voiced and animated like a Looney Tunes character. Most of the self-deprecation he voices is treated like just another quirk. With that said, I do not think my personal level of surprise was necessarily intended. It was arguably obliviousness on my part how long it took me to realize that Albert was being treated seriously, or at the very least, as a sympathetic character.

It was not the moment when Albert describes how the presentation at the exhibition was the finest moment of his career, and the resulting terror he felt at the prospect of it being ripped away- which is treated as purely tragic. It was not the moment when the culprit, the villain, claims that Albert is a fool and a fraud too talent-less to ever achieve anything. I’m honestly a bit ashamed to admit, but it was the last possible moment I could have realized: The exact second that Barok says that he is Laudable not Laughable. More bluntly, the exact second a character and the story itself looked me in the eye and said that he was not a joke. In retrospect, it became clear that the story was building towards that from the start.

Everyone, the storyteller themselves and each individual audience member, comes to a work of fiction with their own biases, with those biases effecting how they experience the story and their own individual interpretations. Due to my own insecurities I unconsciously projected my own fears onto the story, and expected those fears to be validated. And then they weren’t. Those fears were not only not validated, but outright rebuked by the story itself. Not only was I wrong in my belief- belief based on subconscious insecurity- that failure deserved derision, but the story states it deserves the opposite. Kindness. Sympathy.

That is what connected me to Albert’s character to the level of some major characters. An extremely personal set of circumstances leading the story to resonate with me in a way entirely unique. This is not a statement on the quality of Albert’s character, but rather a statement of quality on Ace Attorney as a franchise for putting so much effort and care into every character, no matter how minor.

I am certain that not every person holds Albert in as high regard as I do; As I am certain that they have their own personal favorites that they connect with to a similar degree; As I am certain that to me those favorites may be totally unremarkable. There is a beauty in that, I think.

To anyone who read this in its entirety, I hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, closing statement: Albert Harebrayne sure is one of the characters of all time, and instead of writing five thousand words about a random side character I managed to get too emotionally attached to, I could have simply summarized all my feelings with this image:

[chiricat]

yoimiya + vocaloid haitham

[freddie-77-ao3]

okay yall i know i just came back but uh my best friend is having a minor emergency so. no promises. sorry yall.

[greensaplinggrace]

also i can't believe riley was scoffing at dating buffy whilst watching her at peak weirdo girlfailure. what an incredible lack of taste

[koskela-knights]

Behind The Scenes