#tgaalb

[vickyvicarious]

Ryunosuke's look down, scrunch not to cry, then tiny little smile and open expression is slaughtering me right now.

#ace attorney #tgaa #kazuryu #asoryuu #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asogi #fuck. FUCKKKK this is so intense the friend he loves so much is back and he has so many questions but he's just so happy he is alive auuugh #i too am trying not to cry ryunosuke #new question: why the HELL are you not hugging one another right now? #tgaalb

[meowstix]

I'M GOING INSANE.

#aalb #tgaalb

[vickyvicarious]

Oh, don't you glare at him like it's all his fault, Gregson. You forgot about the bomb too. You're ALL the dumbasses here.

Seven seconds left. Utterly ridiculous.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #enoch drebber #tobias gregson #herlock sholmes #can't believe his plan was foiled because everyone in the room was too dumb to get scared of a bomb #i mean herlock was easily able to disarm it but still this is sheer chaos i can't stop laughing at them

[vickyvicarious]

Accidental ghost!Barok screencap.

#tgaa #barok van zieks #tgaalb #ace attorney

[vickyvicarious]

I was all set to make a post making fun of the way Barok is standing there. Delighted that Ryunosuke did it for me.

Susato openly encouraging him to brave the conversation right in (probably) full hearing of him is really amusing too.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #barok van zieks #ryunosuke naruhodo #van zieks immediately being like 'i was doing it ON PURPOSE leave me alone' is very funny too #though he then has to ruin it immediately with another 'you nipponese' comment ughh

[vickyvicarious]

Enoch Drebber's Machinery Puns: A List

Because I was immediately charmed by them, and want to see how many he actually drops throughout the case. Almost all of his lines have colored text emphasis somewhere (a quirk which I love) but I'm not replicating that here, instead I'm bolding the puns/references.

Sadly, he did this progressively less throughout the case, but there's still a good few!

"You're all gearing up to die with me, then?"

"You've found me, haven't you? No need to screw me down any further."

"What fails to click with me..."

"When I heard whistling from the other room, I knew it was time to bolt."

"Clearly I must have a screw loose, though, as I couldn't remember the combination for the safe."

"Well...I had no intention of being nailed by the police."

"They wield so-called 'special powers' in an attempt to grind down our freedoms."

"I just wasn't expecting uninvited guests to come along and screw up my plans."

"But your seemingly endless discourse in here threw a spanner in the works."

"...hard to pin down, I would say."

"...But that has no bearing on this trial, I assure you. Cleave it from your mind."

"If a hypothesis is sound, it can always be forged into a physical manifestation...with sufficient skill."

"Hard to gauge. But the point is, all I did was construct the machine according to the blueprints I was given."

"But there was one important provision bolted onto that clause."

"I came here to testify about the machine I built, and instead my reputation is defiled."

"Of course. You'd have to have a screw loose if you believed a corpse could come back from the dead."

"Obviously, as time ticked on, I bitterly regretted what I'd done."

"Surely you only need to look at the graveyard scene and my appearance to gauge the answer to that?"

"We students were caught between the hammer and the anvil. We needed funds for research."

"After all...resurrection is impossible, isn't it? You'd have to be unhinged to think otherwise."

"The point is, that night was a pivotal moment in my life."

"The university's reputation was execrably defiled, and I was expelled as a result."

"I can only assume it was an embellishment bolted on later by the reporter."

"Personally, I wasn't one of those geniuses. So it was hardly a wrench."

"Why on earth would you buckle now?"

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #enoch drebber #almost forgot this #i think i caught them all

[vickyvicarious]

So mean to himmm.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #herlock sholmes #ryunosuke naruhodo #pfffff

[vickyvicarious]

Absolutely fucking stellar character design, holy shit. The way he moves. The clicking noises. That grin. The persistent machinery puns (which I will be collecting in a quote list because I love them and there are so many already). This guy is so much FUN.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #enoch drebber #i'm not kidding i am making that list

[vickyvicarious]

I picked the wardrobe because I was certain Ryunosuke would have a funny comment to make about it. And it is, kinda, but also, like... wow. Buddy. I feel like this isn't something to be smiling while saying?

LET THE MAN LIVE, HERLOCK. He's got wardrobe trauma. :(

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #ryunosuke naruhodo #herlock sholmes

[vickyvicarious]

Interesting how they each appeal to him here. Ryunosuke and Susato appeal to his sense of justice and his desire for revenge simultaneously. Meanwhile, it's Van Zieks who speaks empathetically of his struggle for so long, and tries to suggest that he defy fate, that this is the chance he's been waiting for.

It almost feels like Ryunosuke is being more logical, Susato more cynical, and Van Zieks more idealistic here. I don't think it's nearly that clear-cut, of course, nor is it really apparent exactly which argument is the final straw which convinces Enoch to speak after this, but it's still interesting.

#ace attorney #tgaa #ryunosuke naruhodo #susato mikotoba #barok van zieks #enoch drebber #tgaalb

[vickyvicarious]

Sithe: don't yell at me Ryunosuke: *yells and points* Sithe: *sighing* okay but don't point at me Van Zieks: *very deliberately pointing at her* yeah, she's right, don't point

she is well within her rights to glare at him there, ahahaha

#ace attorney #tgaa #courtney sithe #barok van zieks #ryunosuke naruhodo #tgaalb #this tired mom energy is so funny. she's making them seem so childish for engaging in perfectly normal courtroom histrionics #madam please they need this. it's enrichment for lawyers.

[vickyvicarious]

kjhdfas he's not even keeping track anymore. just "I'm gonna be rude in miscellaneous ways. my bad in advance."

#ace attorney #tgaa #barok van zieks #tgaalb

[vickyvicarious]

His caramel is branded.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #herlock sholmes

[vickyvicarious]

The symbolism of Kazuma lacking his soul along with his memories. The symbolism of it residing with Ryunosuke instead, as he grew into his new role as a defence attorney. The implications of Kazuma immediately taking it back. The things said and unsaid.

And speaking of things unsaid, the DRAMA of this. Classic Kazuma I guess but what the hell man, get back here and talk to us.

(also poor Susato, she looks ready to cry. She's the first one to have said your name to you Kazuma, she recognized your father's face, she was originally coming here to help you, why are you not properly acknowledging her??? talk to her too!!!)

#ace attorney #tgaa #kazuma asogi #ryunosuke naruhodo #susato mikotoba #kazuryu #tgaalb #side note. i don't like this outfit on him very much. i mean i don't *hate* it but i prefer his original clothes #it's more apparent when his face is revealed for some reason

[vickyvicarious]

First Ashley Graydon. Then Raiten Menimemo.

And now... Enoch Drebber.

This game involves so many cycles of violence. Wrongdoing prompting resentment leading to revenge which in itself echoes the very wrongdoing that prompted it.

It's such a cool theme, and I love it each time. Enoch is the only one of the villains so far who hasn't outright admitted the truth of what he's being told ('you have become what you hated'), but you can still absolutely see it hit home. For all the resentment he had for Harebrayne's dumb invention, it was never really about the man himself, more just about what had been taken from Enoch. I don't think he ever really thought through how much his actions would hurt Albert and his career. He certainly never made the connection to his younger self in the way that Ryunosuke points out here.

Of course, he's also the only one who speaks of his motivation more in the sense of revenge/humiliation without talking too much about their larger role in society (Graydon talking about McGilded's use of money to cover up his crimes, Menimemo talking about how murder was being covered up and justice denied). It's definitely implied but his motivation is more personally focused, on what they did to him. It still fits in this theme though.

#ace attorney #tgaa #enoch drebber #tgaalb #tgaa meta #my meta

[vickyvicarious]

The whole scene building to this is fascinating to me. First Albert specifically asks his old friend to protect his invention no matter what, even saying, "I'll cooperate. I'll do whatever you say. I swear it." Barok pauses a moment, before pointing out that means Albert has just confessed. And when Ryunosuke tries to deny it, he takes a moment to very pointedly spell out exactly what that will mean: if Ryunosuke argues that the experiment was a hoax, then the invention will no longer be protected. If he admits to the murder, the invention will be kept safe.

This puts Ryunosuke on the spot, as he struggles with protecting his client legally, or obeying his stated wishes to protect his invention instead. As he points out, "(Either way, I can't avoid betraying his trust...)" This is a really interesting reversal of the way Ryunosuke himself has been betrayed by his clients in the past. With McGilded, he did his utmost to protect his client with all the knowledge he had at his disposal, despite some doubts. Later it was revealed that he had successfully freed a guilty man. (Not that he even made it out of the courtroom thanks to Graydon, but still.) And with Gina, he had to struggle to prove himself worthy of her trust before she would cooperate with him. In both cases, trust between a lawyer and their client was key. Here again that theme rears its head as he finds himself forced to betray his client's trust.

It takes Susato's arrival to (literally!) flip Ryunosuke's thinking around, from dwelling on how no matter what he must lose something... to instead focusing on what, then, he can still save.

(Sidenote - I fucking adore Susato.)

It's only with this perspective that he is no longer paralyzed by the choice, and can openly speak to Albert about the reality of the situation. He establishes their common ground as people who seek the truth, and is able to snap Albert out of his denial about his experiment.

It's a big moment for the both of them. Until Albert admits to remembering something relevant, implicitly agreeing to let Ryunosuke continue in his defense, things come almost to a head in a way that reminds me of Phoenix's choice in 2-5, when he must decide whether to send an innocent person to jail, or stay dedicated to the truth and lose Maya. Obviously, this is a little less personal, and less openly life and death, but it has a similar gravity in that it is a choice that would dictate Ryunosuke's path forward as a lawyer. Luckily, Albert does come to his senses enough that Ryunosuke doesn't actually have to betray him, but his determination to do so in order to save his life over his faked invention cements his own choice to dedicate himself to the truth. And I love that he is able to do so with Albert's acceptance, with common ground established, because it means he is able to keep that trust between lawyer and client here.

...So, big moment for Ryunosuke!

But we can't forget Van Zieks here.

When Albert has his breakdown about his experiment being tampered with, Barok's reaction is to say, "...So...you've finally opened your eyes." He then says those lines up top. He calls Albert by name as he says he "can't ignore this any longer." It's a moment of what seems like surprising vulnerability, or at the least Barok is expressing emotional openness in a way completely unfamiliar to Ryunosuke and Susato. And then, before the end of the trial for the day, Barok again asks Albert point-blank if he is giving up on protecting his invention. The Professor agrees, and apologizes. Maybe to the court for wasting their time, but... more likely to his old friend.

It seems a lot like Barok was deliberately leading this whole conversation to force Ryunosuke into making that exact choice here, with the hopes of getting Albert to face the truth. As soon as he was asked to protect the invention over his friend's life, he started being very blunt about what that would mean. He repeatedly established what was being officially said, and whether or not the prosecution would have Harebrayne's consent to submit the paperwork, or whether Ryunosuke would take the official position to call out the faked experiment. I definitely get the vibe that he wanted things to turn out this way for the sake of his friend. He didn't want Albert to throw his life away for something that in all likelihood wasn't even real.

...At the same time, though, I feel like he may be playing to an audience at the end here. There is definitely the sense that Barok's superiors (Stronghart) want to learn all the details of the invention and want to be able to seize it for their own purposes. By the end of this conversation, he has that permission. I think probably he would have gotten it in one way or another regardless. I also think that he is going to continue to try just as hard to get Albert convicted. But now he is able to do both with the same understanding that he established when he visited him in his cell before the trial, that this is him doing his duty and is something Albert doesn't blame him for. Both prosecuting him, and inspecting his invention. It's his own way of maintaining that trust in their friendship even as they stand on opposing sides.

#ace attorney #tgaa #tgaalb #ryunosuke naruhodo #barok van zieks #albert harebrayne