December Open Post/Catch All/Overflow

[winebar]

Who: Van Zieks and whoever
What: General catch all for bingos and other effects
When: December
Where: Various
Warnings: TBA

Something has gone terribly wrong? (December 9th)
[You are just minding your own business, walking on the beach, or through the wood, when you hear what is certainly an unfamiliar laugh. If you look around, you'll soon attach it to... van Zieks? No, this can't be him. He's smiling. He's barefoot and covered in dirt. His hair isn't immaculately combed back and he's simply wearing a loose cotton shirt with his tight lawyer pants, though he does have a sword now hanging at his waist, which is new. This cannot be van Zieks. Even the cadence of his voice is lacking his normal ominous grit, but the voice is certainly his otherwise.]

Oh, come here! I have something to show you.
[Seriously who the hell is this and what did he do with the real van Zieks???]

Nevermind, Uncle has the Depression Again (December 10th)
[The following day, van Zieks is back in his austere best, looking more glowery and somber than ever before, like he's making up for the time he lost yesterday. You may find him at his usual haunt in the darkest corner of the winery, OR if you're wandering around in the woods, you might find him surveying the plot of land on his farm, or rather, the chaos that the him of the day before wreaked, which is to say, something was done to the plots, but it's hard to tell if it was anything constructive because they're upturned earth everywhere. Van Zieks is leaning heavily on the shovel he's holding, looking tired.]

Let me know if you have something specific in mind for bingo
[Hit me up on discord or on plurk agentmaine]

Comments

[winebar]

[Van Zieks blinks like that surprises him.]

Thirty-three. Now, do we count your response as a second question or do they have to be twenty unique questions? If the goddess wants us to do these things she should define her terms more clearly.

[Spoken like a true lawyer.]

[unsync]

Oh, uhm.

[ I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW and neither would Ryuki, and since he has no wifi, he can't just Google the rules in his head. Also I may have gotten this EXTREMELY wrong and that 20 Questions is actually 'I'm thinking of a thing and you have twenty questions to guess what', but it's too late.......... we will simply be asking each other about our personal tastes instead. ]

I don't know, actually -- but if we want to ask different things just to cover base, then -- how long have you been a prosecutor?

[winebar]

[Oh I knew that I just thought this would be more fun so I deliberately went along with you and your wrongness.]

Officially speaking, roughly ten years. Though, I stood at the bench as a legal assistant before receiving my official certification.

[Wow what a boring but thorough answer.]
Question number three: Which area of the island were you assigned to?

[unsync]

[ You Bully Me? ]

Wow, that's really impressive...

[ He does not seem to mind the mundaneness whatsoever. ]

I'm down on the rural area. Probably pretty convenient, I wouldn't know how to do anything advanced like the mountains or, er, the beach.

[ The forest might be okay. ]

What's your favourite animal, if you have one?

[winebar]

[I bully you like the football. Van Zieks lets out the softest huff that might be a pleased response to the compliment or a derisive noise at it not being that big a deal!!! Who knows with him.

In any case, it's not something he'd really given much thought. Really, if he'd been asked it a few months prior, he'd have said he doesn't have one. But now, the question brings to mind the trinket Iris had given him for his birthday, the small handmade cat, dressed to look like him.]

... Cats.
[No further explanation given.]

Question number five; What's the furthest you've traveled from where you were born?
[Possibly the most interesting question he's come up with so far.]

[unsync]

[ Cats... he thinks he can imagine it. In his head, a second voice agrees. If Tama had the power, she would put cat ear filters on van Zieks right now in Ryuki's field of vision.

I really just assigned Ryuki a 'never left Tokyo' kind of guy, because I don't have lore about this. ]

Uhm... well, Atami is pretty nice. I don't like planes, though, so not outside of Japan.

Are you a d... are you a morning person?

[ He was going to ask 'day or night' but if the answer isn't night person then it just feels wrong. ]

[winebar]

[Hasn't van Zieks' dignity suffered enough already, Tama? Anyway, van Zieks has war flashbacks to Ryuki trying to explain what a plane is. He still doesn't really fully understand what it is. Some sort of flying transportation that clearly has superseded what they have in his time.

Also shut up Ryuki's internal monologue, don't government assign him vampire.]

I suppose so. I prefer to wake early so that I have plenty of time for morning tea, reading the papers, and going over the files of whatever case I am working on that day.
[HE IS SO BORING, RYUKI I'M BEGGING YOU TO ASK HIM SOMETHING WEIRD.]

Question number seven... [Hm.] Are... names that begin with "Ryu" common in Japan?
[A bit of a diversion but don't observe him.]

[unsync]

[ No. Tama's literal self-chosen projection image is a dominatrix. She will gladly embarrass van Zieks forever, although granted, she does it in Ryuki's vision so he's really the one who's suffering. ]

Uhm... well, Ryuki is actually my surname. My given name is Kuruto [ like, Kuruuto, not Kuruto, the romanisation of this game drives me insane ] but everyone calls me Ryuki so much, and it can be a given name, too. I wouldn't call them super common, but I wouldn't call them rare, either...

[ WE CAN WORK UP TO WEIRD OKAY. ]

Did you become a lord, or is that an inherited title?

[winebar]

[And unlike Date he doesn't deserve to suffer, probably. Ah well.]

... I see. Pray forgive the odd question, it just occurred, as you're the second Ni-[WAIT STOP DON'T BE RACIST ANYMORE.] Japanese person I've met whose name started that way.
[Anyway enough about his boyfriend.]

Both, really. I wasn't born a lord, since my father held the title at the time. [Said with something of a condescending "duh" sort of tone.] After he passed, the title went to my brother. [He stops there, but the next part of the thought is obvious.]

Question number nine; As a detective, which of the people here do you perceive as the largest threat?

[unsync]

[ Help he's learning how to be modern day acceptable... ]

Oh, that's a funny coincidence.

[ And it so happens they're both 'ryu' as in 'dragon' as well, even the same character. And also they both start the game as 23-year olds. And both are black-haired, and insane. It's fine.

He frowns, though, at the notion of 'threat'. If he had met Owen he would have immediately answered that one but I haven't, so. ]

Threat...? Well, no one here seems outright that way so far, but... I guess I'd have to answer the Harvest Goddess, just on the basis of how much absolute power she holds. Even if it's on our side, it can get pretty scary.

[ Just look at Boss and her blackmail power. And also, he figures van Zieks would agree with how much he seems to openly dislike her.

Hmm. ]

What's the most interesting case you've ever resided over as prosecutor?

[winebar]

[IN WHAT WAY IS RYUNOSUKE INSANE??? But yeah, thought he's a little disappointed because he already knows that threat. He wanted new things to worry about!!!

Anyway, this is an interesting question because he frankly doesn't think about his cases in terms of being interesting or not, given what's at stake. But...]

I wouldn't particularly speak of any of them as such, but I suppose given the location and the elements involved, Albert's trial might be it. Given that a man seemingly was murdered in front of a crowd of onlookers at the Great Exhibition, through an apparently functional teleportation machine, if one were to measure it by how much the popular media reported on it, certainly it would be that one.

[Anyway he's moving right along.]

Question number nine; Do you think of your own cases in such frivolous terms as being interesting when the fate of the guilty and victims hang in the balance?

[unsync]

[ Ryuunosuke is the brand of insane that is inherent to any and all Ace Attorney protagonists, is the kind of insanity I mean.

ALSO STOP WE DON'T NEED MORE THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT. ]

Oh -- huh.

[ Teleportation machine??? What kind of wack shit is that? But he sours when van Zieks puts it like that. ]

I didn't mean 'interesting' as in 'haha, funny' -- I meant it as in interesting. There's obviously a difference between a open and shut public intoxication or petty theft case, and something more complicated. I didn't know you prosecuted homicides specifically.

You didn't need to take it so negatively. So no, I guess not.

[winebar]

[Hm. He could apologize, but he shant.]

I don't specifically prosecute homicides. Just more high profile cases in general. Like my brother before me, I focused on trying to bring to justice those that thought themselves above the law.

[Which... doesn't describe this case.]

There were... other extenuating factors that led me to take that case. But that's irrelevant. It's your turn to ask a question, detective.

[unsync]

[ Teleportation machines feel like something that'd land above the jurisdiction of law in a weird way. However, the idea of it seems to revive a vague thought in the back of Ryuki's head. ]

Do you believe it's real? Time travel, and Teleportation...

[winebar]

No. I only argued that the machine worked because I knew it was what Albert wanted. Certainly, if it had, I would have been happy for him, and it's not that I doubt his skill as a scientist, but... Such a thing strikes me as beyond our current capabilities.
[Van Zieks talking about this guy like he knows him personally.]

Then again, I'm not a scientist. Perhaps it's more feasible than I can conceive of.

Question number 11... Are those odd eyes of yours a family trait? I've never seen someone display such localized albinism.
[Since that's... his explanation for a red eye.]

[unsync]

[ Whyd my phone capitalise teleportation... I guess that's fine.

That being said, he looks at van Zieks a little weirdly -- it's an expression of uncertainty he fixes the other with, in regards to time travel and the like not being real. At least until the next question rolls around, and he blinks. His red eye actually seems to flicker a bit, the pupil tightening marginally, looking almost right through Ziekies... but barely enough, that you could potentially question if it's just a trick of the light.

Fortunately, Ryuki's answer may provide some insight. ]

Oh, uhm, no. Heterochromia is rare as it is, less so in Japan.

It's a... [ Hm. The fact that the AI-Balls are technically a government secret aside, literally nobody in the series ever questions the heterochromia anyway so this is a first. And also, he's learned that if he just says that, it would fly over van Zieks's head. ] ...prosthetic. But an advanced, working one, meaning I can see you through it. Better than my normal eye, even.

Twelve... Is Mr. Albert an acquaintance?

[ He'd maybe say friend, but he isn't sure about that. But seems like a wild thing for Mr. Uptight Lawyer to actively lean into conspiracies he doesn't believe in, acting prosecutor or not. ]

[winebar]

[I didn't even notice it eas capitalized tbh. Ryuki's eye explanation is thankfully dumbed down enough for van Zieks to not question it, though he Will Remember This.

Anyway, van Zieks shakes his head.]

No, he is my friend. We met during university. That said, he has in recent years been abroad in Germany so I had not seen him in quite some time.
[And then he apparently tried to convict him of murder? Normal friend things.]

Thirteen, you mentioned drinking whiskey previously. I am curious to know which distillery you favor.

[unsync]

[ Friend...

Ryuki is totally imagining some wacky Jekyll and Hyde type scenario, because van Zieks is so cartoonish, he can only assume Albert is as well. He's just wrong on what type of cartoonish.

Also ftr they go out of the way to show you a bottle of what Ryuki likes and tell you he favours whiskey but like, the bottle just says WHISKEY and has no distillery label and I can't physically drink and therefore have no Advanced Whiskey Knowledge myself but here we go. ]

Startory [ Suntory but Game-fied ] is Japan's biggest distributor, so that one. There's a distillery in Saitama I like.

This is a pretty base one, but I just want to know anyway. Which type of wine person are you?

[ Inside his head, he's betting with Tama on red, obviously. But surprise him with the sparkling rosé. ]

[winebar]

Type? Red, if that's what you mean. If you mean what particular variety I favor, a dry Pinot Noir, Burgundy in particular.

[Van Zieks would probably be a Cabernet guy but I'm in charge so it's Pinot bc no one can stop me.]

Fifteen, assuming we're stuck here for a while, what do you intend to do with your talents, given there is no crime for you to observe as far as we are aware?

[unsync]

[ You said my wine knowledge trumps van Zieks. ]

I... don't really know, actually. [ He has actually been struggling pretty badly with that. ] Since the whole theme, is... well, farming, I figured I should at least try it. Got some books from the library and everything, but it's pretty difficult.

[ Please give him crime, it's so much easier for him. ]

But, I mean -- I could say the same for you, right? There's nothing to prosecute either, so what about you?

[winebar]

I suppose farming as well... though frankly, I've mostly been thinking, first of how to find another way out, and then... other concerns.

[All his Recent Revelations from Canon]

It feels terrible to say, but it almost makes me wish someone would commit a crime so I have something to occupy myself with. Do you know what I mean?

[unsync]

...

[ Well, he would never outright say so, and really, there's no part of him that does actually want to say the same -- but van Zieks seems like a man dedicated, so Ryuki thinks he can understand.

Sometimes, only certain things can take your mind off of... well, other certain things. ]

I think I do. That being said, it doesn't really look like there's a real legal system in this place anyway. The closest thing is the Harvest Goddess, and what she says seems pretty absolute... er. [ Right, questions... ] It's... eighteen, now? What's the first thing you'd like to do when you get to leave?

[winebar]

........
[It's clear his pause is not out of searching for an answer, but out of reluctance to speak it aloud.]

Have tea with my niece.

[ANYWAY. Divert!!! Last question!!!]

Who are you sharing your residence with?

[unsync]

[ Oh...

What a nice answer. His expression kind of shifts and it's probably the most normal he's ever looked here by far -- distracted by the cute domesticity of the response, forgetting about the stress and havoc that comes with his whole baggage on top of the farming thing. ]

Huh? Oh -- uhm, it's Adelis.

[ He wonders if he should say more, but he figures maybe van Zieks has met him already. He won't insult the man's intelligence by suggesting he doesn't know who that is before he's asked. ]

...I'm the last question, huh? Uhm, let's see...

What do you like to do for fun? Like... real fun.

[winebar]

.......



If my previously stated hobby does not count, then nothing.
[Yikes.]