Just Yappin’

Apollo’s life has not been for the weak like:

-Biological father is murdered

-He is barely saved from a fire as an infant

-He’s separated from his mother with no way to find her and no connection but a bracelet

-Grows up loved but actively hunted down by a cruel regime that forces him and his adoptive family into hiding

-Nearly drowns alongside his adoptive brother

-Forced to leave his home at age 9 all by himself, completely separated from everyone and everything that he’s ever known

-Presumably miserable for years (“I’m Apollo Justice and I’m FINE” yeah sure kid) until he finally makes a true friend (😬)

-His idol, a defense attorney like his father, is disbarred for forged evidence, but even still he moves to become a full-fledged defense attorney

-Oops he found out his boss was a murderer

-Then he was tricked into using fake evidence by his idol and his idol’s daughter

-New boss honestly doesn’t treat him with respect at all and doesn’t for a While

-Has to get a mob boss’s son off of a murder charge

-Dealt with Wesley Stickler.

-Watched a man die right in front of him

-Almost watched a girl die later to poison

-His old boss is back for a round 2 murder trial

-His new boss used him as a pawn to his game

-Lost his best friend

-Was seriously injured due to a bomb

-Was later assaulted via rock to the head and had his own assault used as forged evidence

-Isolated himself due to suspecting his coworker and had to impede his own abilities to keep sane, later invokes the image of his evil old boss in the process whoops

-His close friend (and secret half-sister) is kidnapped and held hostage by someone he has ties to through his Dead Best Friend

-Re-traumatized by past abandonment issues coming out full force by new boss’s sudden vacation to the country he’s a refugee from and the sudden appearance of his adoptive brother

-Nearly lost their workplace and his secret half sister

-Nearly drowned horrifically all alone just after reuniting with his adoptive father who kinda abandoned him a little (for his own good)

-Humiliated via sudden strip search

-Nearly executed

-Father he thought completely abandoned him and returned was actually dead all along aw man

-Has to go and win a near impossible trial anyway even with this knowledge and guns trained on him

-Forced to pick between his old home and his new one (for now at least)

-Chooses old one, has to build entire legal system back up from basically nothing

-Constantly works 24/7 for everyone with anything for nothing, needs a vacation DESPERATELY

Trucy making the effort to ensure Apollo and Dhurke spend time together during the first part of Turnabout Revolution was a cute little goofy Trucy moment at the time but upon reflection it ends up being a little sad in context.

This is a girl whose father abandoned her for years, and that same father dies before they can meet again. Is it any wonder that Trucy sees Apollo and Dhurke’s situation and pushes for it to go better for them?

In that case, Trucy stages a “kidnapping” by using Mr. Hat to distract the court, and when Apollo rushes out into the lobby and sees her safe and sound…

He cries.

He’s so overcome with worry and relief that he cries for a girl he barely knows. A girl who, for all intents and purposes, almost cost him the badge he worked so hard to gain. A girl who focused most of the time they did know each other teasing him and not taking him seriously.

And yet, he cries for her anyway. He sobs, even.

It’s a throwaway moment, likely done for comedic effect, but it really hit me, and Trucy’s immediate earnest response telling Apollo not to cry and then him doubling down with protective rage on her behalf hit it home harder, y’know?

Apollo Justice, at his core, cares. Despite his surly attitude a lot of the time, this is nonetheless a defining trait of his. He cares, so much, and so easily, and we see it firsthand right there as he cries for a near stranger.

A headcanon I have about Apollo is that, as a baby and as a child he has his signature “antenna”, but as an adult he needs to gel his hair to get it to look like that.

It got me thinking - what if, more than just a preference for styling his hair in this certain way, there was a bigger reason behind doing his hair like this?

Think about it. His hair is one of his most identifying features, right? More than anything else it is the first thing that people see when they meet Apollo. His hair is a way to spot him in a crowd.

So, imagine a younger Apollo Justice, going through his life struggling through the foster system, connecting to no one but one other kid all the while. Imagine little Apollo, who claims to have given up hope on his adoptive father ever coming back for him, suddenly realizing that a trait of his that directly ties to his past appearance is changing. Maybe his “antenna” stopped defying gravity, maybe they start falling over his forehead in a similar style to his late biological father he knows nothing about, but either way his hair was changing.

I can see why a younger Apollo, a bit more jaded but not completely lacking in hope yet, would then start purposefully styling his hair to keep it looking as its always looked. And he hasn’t stopped since.

Even if he doesn’t realize it (or want to think about it), maybe he wants to be seen. To be recognized.

(cw: grooming | referenced underage relationships | death )

Thinking about Regina Berry and being a sixteen year old girl who grew up essentially isolated from any peers in her age group and infantilized by everyone around her. Thinking about this sixteen year old girl who still at her age didn’t quite grasp the horror of death and how it affects people. Thinking about how despite her infantilization and age, she is nonetheless sexualized and preyed upon by the men around her. Thinking about how no one sees this as wrong.

And then seeing her later on, about a year later, post finally coming to terms with what death really means and how someone she cared for wanted her dead for a near fatal accident she nevertheless did cause. And this Regina, post these revelations, is still bubbly and ditzy, yes, but she’s accepted more responsibility, including being in charge of a whole subsection of her beloved circus now (her being the Head of the Animal Taming Department). And she’s great at it, and she cares deeply for those working under her, animal or no. She’s more mature now, and I think that maturity is subtle but clear as day when she speaks up as her employee - her friend - lies to everyone’s faces right in front of her.

This is a girl - because she’s a child still - who has been constantly let down and/or taken advantage of by those around her in all sorts of ways. She’s grown through these experiences, even if it’s a subtle seeming growth. She’s still the same Regina, but she’s no longer quite so lost in the clouds.