auste, you haven't even finished the game!!! (a sebastian debeste open post)

[ineptitudes]

[OKAY I HAVEN'T PUT MORE ICONS IN YET but if you want to help me voice test this doofus, go for it! I have prompts but if you have any more ideas, chuck them at me and let's do this thing!

I've been spoiled on a few things about the last case, which is where I am, but nnnno more spoilers for now, please. I've finished up to Beginning, Part 2 of AAI2-5 and I'll be very slow in finishing because ew law school hahaha.

NEVER MIND I'M DONE WITH THE GAME.]

PROMPT A: 

[Sebastian is hanging out near one of the courthouse vending machines, pointing to various items for sale on the display with his baton. He squints...really hard...at the prices.]

Six dollars for two Swiss rolls? Maybe...maybe they're the best Swiss rolls, that's why they're expensive!

[He starts digging in his pockets for cash. Hopefully he didn't forget his wallet at home. Hopefully. But from the way he's frantically rooting around in every pocket he has - those in his pants, even those in his special red jacket - one can tell that there's really no hope. Sebastian has even started to mumble to himself.]

Mmmnnn...

PROMPT B:

[Or you might find him on a crime scene. There has been a break-in at the nearest jewelry store, and Sebastian has been placed in charge of the case. He crouches down to look at the shattered glass on the sidewalk, which has some ripped pieces of cloth with a green swirling cloud pattern on them mixed in. Police are milling about, the media are hungry for a scoop (uh-oh) and the whole place is a bustling hub of activity. Sebastian is animatedly talking about the case (probably with you, or with the officers who have subjected themselves to his conversation) but he may get some of his words wrong, as always.]

This is a case of wrecking and bantering - um, I mean...

[Breaking and entering, Sebastian.]

PROMPT C:

[If you want to be the best, you have to study like the rest. Sebastian is at the law section of the library, piling up book after book in his arms with a strange, dogged determination. Law books, however, happen to be very thick and heavy things, so he is beginning to teeter as he tries to maintain his balance. Nonetheless, he continues walking on, pulling out more volumes with only cursory looks at their spines]

Unnhhh...aaah...

[Sebastian staggers out of the shelves, waddling like a duck until he trips and falls, scattering books everywhere.]

Oh no!

[That "oh no" is loud enough to make the entire library (including you?) shush him soundly. Ohhh, the humiliation. His face is turning red as he scrambles to pick everything up again.]

WILDCARD!

[Throw me a prompt and let's see what we can do! Unfortunately I'm not interested in shipping, and this child is underage.]

Comments

[truthsnomiracle]

Even if you're allowed to check out this many books at once, you'll undoubtedly have to renew several of them if you wish to avoid late fees. (Quite frankly, he seems the sort to forget about library books for months on end if not actively reminded.)

[ineptitudes]

Renew? [He quickly nods. It's hard to tell if it had slipped his mind...although that's not an impossibility with Sebastian.] I know, I know. They don't have to worry, their books are in good hands!

[And because he isn't one to miss an opportunity:]

Debeste hands!

[truthsnomiracle]

[That, Sebastian Debeste, was an eyeroll and a sigh.]

The point of a library is to allow books to be available to everyone. On that note, do you have a plan concerning how you intend to go about reading this many books in as short a timeframe as possible while having time for such basic necessities as eating, sleeping, and bathing?

[ineptitudes]

I'll read while eating! I do that all the time.

[And you're still like this, Sebastian? Something is not right.]

[truthsnomiracle]

W-with library books?!

[Sorry, Sebastian, you've given Edgeworth a horrific mental image of you dripping condiments out the far end of a sandwich and onto the pages of a book.]

[ineptitudes]

I told you, the books are in Debeste hands!

[Okay, he's left a few food stains in SOME books but he's tried to clean them up! Keyword being "tried".]

[truthsnomiracle]

OBJECTION!

[Several other patrons shush Edgeworth from a distance, but this only prompts him to wince briefly and say the rest in a lower voice:]

Were that the case, you would not take the risk of eating near the books to begin with! Not only is there the risk that stains might mar the text itself, but even crumbs within the spine carry the risk of providing a fine home for rot that would spread!

[ineptitudes]

[He flinches at being lectured...publicly, even...and bends his baton. Sebastian answers in a low voice as well, an almost frustrated tone.]

I'm sorry! How could I think about that while I studied so hard?! [To impress his father, is what he could add, but he doesn't.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth shakes his head.]

I'm beginning to suspect that in the short term, if you wish to become a better prosecutor, you might well be better-served studying things not obviously related to law rather than simply studying law harder.

[ineptitudes]

What kinds of things?

[Better uses for his baton?]

[truthsnomiracle]

Matters such as the physical sciences and honing your English skills, for example. As a prosecutor, it's important to be capable of understanding cause and effect, both of past events and of potential future ones. Furthermore, it's crucial to be able to express oneself clearly and understand what others are saying.

[ineptitudes]

I do impress myself clearly!

[Sebastian...that's not helping.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[It really, really isn't. Unless you count helping Edgeworth get a headache, anyway.]

Your listening skills also clearly need work. At the very least, I presume you already know the difference between "to express" and "to impress".

[ineptitudes]

Of course I do! Everyone knows that.

[Uh-huh.]

[truthsnomiracle]

Then prove it to me by explaining that difference.

[Even as he says this, Edgeworth's gaze wanders, trying to pick up some sign of where the nearest dictionary is. He just might need to present one as evidence in short order...]

[ineptitudes]

[...!]

What? Right now? What is this, an English pop quiz?

[truthsnomiracle]

A prosecutor must always be ready to be questioned. After all, on a large scale, a trial involves precisely that.

[ineptitudes]

Expressing is talking about your ideas! Impressing is when I show that my ideas are the best!

[Take that!]

[truthsnomiracle]

(The particular way in which he is wrong here is surprisingly tragic. It would seem that the biases with which he has been raised have tainted even his vocabulary...)

[Edgeworth begins to open his mouth, then closes it, not sure off the top of his head how to correct Sebastian without hurting his feelings. After all, he doesn't have much practice with phrasing things tactfully; it's rare for him to even recognize any need to. As such, the look in the more senior prosecutor's eyes serves as the only immediate clue that something is amiss.]

[ineptitudes]

[Sebastian stares at Edgeworth so intently that he could bore a hole into the older prosecutor's cravat.]

What? Is this the part where you press me for more details?

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth takes a breath, having mulled over how to proceed by now.]

Your first definition is essentially correct, assuming you were using the general "you". The second... puts certain biases you've been led toward on display, and explains your misuse of the word "impress" earlier.

[ineptitudes]

[Slow down, Edgeworth, because Sebastian looks confused and is silent at first as he tries to digest all of that.]

So...I'm wrong about "impress"? [He starts bending his baton. Oh no, making a mistake like this in front of Prosecutor Edgeworth...]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth, it seems, is countering Sebastian's upset with calm. Is this an attempt on his part to be soothing?]

You were just shy of correct, yes. Proving yourself right and impressing someone are not quite the same thing, even if they may often correlate.

[ineptitudes]

Then I was close?

...

I'll...I'll get it right next time!

[truthsnomiracle]

(I hope that he is in fact right on that point.)

Indeed. It is possible to inspire someone to look upon you more favorably even if you happen to be on the wrong side of a case, so long as your arguments are sound and strongly presented. After all, part of what doing our job well entails is pushing the defense to a higher standard in their own work, and the converse holds true as well. While it is also part of our duty to make every attempt to indict the correct person to begin with, to fail at that does not preclude doing our best and potentially being respected despite our mistakes.

[Is he thinking of a certain someone? Yes, he is.]