#a bit of actual evidence there is no proof it is canon. Like the game is vaguing AT BEST. There has never once been a kiss or love

[smartzelda]

"In every game it's clear they're *basically* in love! They're canon and you all have to subscribe to that or you're wrong!"

And it's a ship that feels like the most straightbaited ship of all time

[iamespecter]

I LOVE that FNAF SB art you did with Vanny, Monty, and Roxy capturing Chica!

Please please tell me where I can read your Glamrock Chica analysis! I'm a long-time FNAF fan and I LOOOOOVE hearing people's analyses and theories! 🤩

The connections people make amaze me all the time and I love when someone connects some dots and is tapping the paper going "See?! Look at these! Isn't that odd?!" and I'm on the edge of my seat going "OMG that is so odd! Please tell me more my brainy friend!"

Thanks!! Tbh, I wanna remake these again sometime because these were made back in 2023 and I wanna see how far my skills have gone now lol

Also I would LOVE to give you the link to my Glamrock Chica analysis, but that's on twitter.... and the thought of going back to twitter..... /neg

So instead I will put the google docs version here! Btw, this analysis was done way before Ruin (specifically, this was back in 2022), which means there could be some outdated information in it.

Also, I don't trust word by mouth, and by extension, Ruin. With Scott's history of retconning, and the very obvious lack of regard towards Chica.... yeah. This means this is an analysis that only applies to Security Breach entirely.

WARNING FOR LONG READ!

So, about Chica.

It's been thrown around that she barely has any personality to go with based on in-game when I digress about that fact. I've actually been studying Chica's movements to the best I can, casually looking up every canon footage on yt and going to the wiki for recorded audio proofs. The only thing I wish is that people would dig up a datamine about each animatronic animations so I can see them in clearer light.

But setting aside that for now, let's talk about something Chica audio-related.

So I've been thinking. Chica's speech pattern is definitely peculiar, especially if you compare it to the rest of the Glamrocks. Her speech is definitely reminiscent of that a pre-programmed voiceline, and perhaps, it is at some point. However, going further than that even, what makes Chica stand out amongst the rest is one thing: Her calling out for GREGORY BY NAME.

Freddy knowing Gregory's name is obvious, Gregory introduced himself to him. But why does Chica know, when Gregory has never talked, nor introduced himself to Chica once?

Is it the Fazwatch? Yes, but indirectly.

Did she overhear it? Impossible, her green room is the farthest away from Freddy.

My answer: Vanessa. Or more accurately, Vanny. She knows Gregory's name because of the Fazwatch.

But this.... this doesn't make sense! If Chica says it, how come Roxy and Monty don't? They never call Gregory by his name, not even once! I truly believe that they DON'T KNOW GREGORY'S NAME. You can argue that perhaps, it's just their method of speaking. i.e, "kid" and "little guy", and it's a bit that but I really think otherwise.

Why? it's because they're not under influence like Chica is. More on that later. (elaborated further on "About Roxy and Monty.... and why Chica is odder in terms of hunting methods than the two.")

Something I wanna bring to the table as well: Chica may be selectively mute. Or to be more precise, is going through traumatic mutism.

I've talked about this a bit with my friends on discord, this is something that I've found. We know for a fact that Chica's voice is pretty damn powerful. Enough to make Freddy's voice more gravelly than it is, and to produce high frequencies that disable voice-activated locks. A blessing for players, but a curse for the chicken.

Therefore, what if Chica doesn't want to speak at all outside of the hack?

Some evidences to back this up:

The biggest clue of them all, The duffelbags.

A report about her upgrade shows that her experimental voicebox caused impairment to bot navigations, and a lot of chaos + lawsuits from party attenders. This voicebox was never replaced despite advisement saying (which makes me wonder what the hell happened to her old voicebox-), so I think Glamrock Chica developed a fear of raising her tone, or speaking entirely.

(- MAINT LOG: CHICA - Don't let her sing! Messes with the navigation of the other bots. Horrible results when she sang during live performance. S.T.A.F.F. bots dropping serving trays, chaos, guest injuries, 12 lawsuits. Experimental voice box test failed. Replacement advised. -)

The vents scene. Out of everyone, Glamrock Chica NEVER spoke in the vents section.

We never hear a sound from her, not even a squeak, a grunt, a sigh or a sound of acknowledgement. She just... plays her guitar. We hear Monty raging in his room, Roxy complementing herself, And Freddy, well, being Freddy. In fact, we never get to hear ANYTHING from her verbal-wise, that is until she begins chasing down Gregory. You know, when she's already hacked.

Staying around Chica's vicinity.

After a round or two of her voicelines, Chica starts sobbing. What's weird is that this "crying" is almost silent. Like, she doesn't wanna allow anyone to hear it. She's holding it back but at the same time, she just can't. Here's a yt video that a poster explains how they got this line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK7cQphVgZw

Lastly, her voiceline's tone.

She speaks in a sing-song manner, yet sometimes it sounds almost like a whisper. Reminiscent of Vanny's tone as well. What does help back this last evidence is the fact that Freddy has a scrapped voiceline in the Burntrap fight with the SAME DAMN SING-SONG TONE.

Also, can we please talk about Chica's behavioral pattern?

Not enough people point this out, but like damn. Does she look SO uninterested when chasing you down. Her shoulders are slumped, she's tilting her head lazily, and she slowly jogs towards you. Not to mention, that when she spawns behind you and when she's idle/stops in her patrol route to look around, she will momentarily stop to twitch, making various clicking servos noises as if the programming is glitching back and forth... or she's actively being hacked.

And what's up with her green room while we're on the topic of her behavior?

An easy answer would be that she's of course, a starter antagonist. An enemy designed to introduce you to the game's mechanics, a base foe that's a little bit easier to evade and/or fight than others. (they kinda failed lol)

However, a lore-wise answer would be that she's being forced against her will to do so. She doesn't wanna chase down Gregory and hurt him, but unfortunately Vanny's overriding her programming completely, so she can't do anything but watch as her body does the hunting for her.

Aside from that, I think the glitching out must be a result of Chica's original programming (unsuccessfully) trying to fight off the control, hence the momentary idle when she spawns in after being alerted unlike the two who immediately rushes in to attack.

Most people in the fandom believe that Chica's glitch and twitchiness comes from the fact that her insides are being messed up by her eating trash.

I can see where they're coming from, but I kind of... don't believe this? Mostly because one, Fazbear Entertainment is absolutely aware of Chica's habit to eat, therefore this "eating" thing was never intended to be a glitch but rather a feature (I'm definitely certain it's to promote their food since that's the most obvious answer), which means she definitely has a pouch for the food she eats somewhere in her torso. And two, she throws up the trash she eats (if you watch her closely in the cameras), so it doesn't stay there long enough to mess with her insides.

Chica's mannerisms of eating trash is definitely a result of stress eating, though.

Oh, and before I forget, what about Chica's Green Room? Why is it that compared to others, hers is the messiest (excluding the damage Monty did to his, of course) ? I'm talking pizza boxes scattered everywhere on the floor, desserts, trashbags and junk food all around, like a depression room, almost. My friend Nexus once again, assumes this to be because Chica is programmed to have ADHD to be "relatable", and this much I believe.

Chica is shown in the intro to do "dino arms". Dino/T-Rex arms are a common symptom for neurodivergency (and I tend to do this as well), often done subconsciously. Also, I think it's pretty funny considering Chica is a chicken, and chickens are said to be the closest relative to Dinosaurs.

Her being the easiest to lose once Gregory makes enough distance and goes around enough corners may also be something intentionally programmed into her. Neurodivergent people tend to lose track of things easily, and get distracted by something that piques their interest (something I relate way too well)

It's also possible that dancing may be a way to let extra energy loose for Chica. I think it's safe to assume that Chica can canonically dance, if Mazercise is taken into account for this. People with ADHD have too much energy in them should it be something they love to do, and they need an outlet for these kinds of things.

her "bawking" is possibly verbal stimming, as no other Glamrocks produce animalistic sounds like her when they are hit with the fazerblaster/flashed by the fazcam.

The difficulty of her maintaining her room as clean as the others could also be seen as part of her neurodivergent programming.

I can't help but see these evidences to be a part of a neurodivergent programming, possibly coded to be like this in favor of relatability. Knowing Fazbear Entertainment, coding one of their robots to have ADHD makes absolute sense if it meant raking in more money towards the teens.

Dumpster Diving: Trying to explain why Chica eats trash

Ah, yes. Stress eating. What seems to be a minor problem, but is quite prominent amongst people. Stress eating is a result of finding comfort in putting food in your mouth for temporary relief. Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating.

So, we know Chica is a compulsive eater. It seems that at every opportunity she can, she'd try to stuff her face with garbage. But why specifically garbage?

It's a literal take for "junk food", basically. Unhealthy foods are often called to be garbage food that provides temporary satisfaction, but can definitely mess you up in the long run depending on how much you eat. (thanks to my friend Nexus on this theory)

Her systems may have confused trash for pizza, however this may also be unlikely but I just wanna throw this out there.

This is an unhealthy coping mechanism. With the stress of losing Bonnie as her bandmate, and the addition of her body moving on it's own, I think she's trying to cope by eating the closest thing to food as kitchen supplies are kept away from her, which are leftovers thrown away.

About Roxy and Monty.... and why Chica is odder in terms of hunting methods than the two.

I'm definitely gonna be scrutinized by the community with this, but.... I don't think Roxy and Monty are under control. And I get it, a lot of y'all favor the others over Chica.

I just want you all to hear me out for a second, though. I've been doing my own fair share of researching the other two.

...Not as much as I did with Chica, but just enough to know that they're not hacked like she is.

it could be:

Monty is doing this hunting thing all on his own, full-stop. He didn't need to get Aftoned, since he and Vanny could have established a deal with each other. Vanny gets kids to gather remnant from, and Monty is promised the lead role. Something that we know he DESPERATELY WANTS, if you've seen the Monty Golf Arcade stage. (Which I think gives us something new to think about why Freddy isn't hacked in the first place)

Roxy is not hacked, but she's not doing this hunting thing out of free will either. I think she was peer pressured (or coerced even), manipulated to hunt down children for remnant experiments. She's pretty easy to break as seen by how she's immediately crying, convincing herself that she's not a loser, which implies Vanessa called her one when she went through the wolf's room. Perhaps she too, was promised an audience that would adore her if she did it successfully.

Chica is absolutely hacked. Aside from Moon, she's definitely under the influence of Afton/Vanny. She doesn't seem to be ego-driven like the two, therefore she drives a hard bargain. I believe she wasn't swayed with Vanny's manipulation, and this costed her her free will. A rather unfortunate trade.

It's really weird how people seem to dismiss the fact that Roxy and Monty walks and talks normally, chases Gregory like this hunt is all part of the gig, when Chica doesn't. Because I'm over here thinking that's a huge indication that, yeah, Chica might be hacked, and the other two aren't. (or at least, not to the extent that Chica is)

And about the scrapped possessed Freddy voicelines, too. I swear, Chica's voiceline tones and his match way too close for comfort, and I think that's the biggest clue for Chica being hacked yet.

I do think that Chica was also hacked with the intention of manipulating Gregory to trust and follow her like that one "nice" stranger, since she's basically like Freddy normally (if it's Roxy and Monty that's cool and ego-driven for audiences, then it'd make sense for Freddy and Chica to be the "Papa Bear" and "Mother Hen" to kids attending the pizzaplex). She definitely gives off bubbly girl vibes if we just... ignore Valley Chica and push her to the side.

I don't think I'll be making a Mazercise analysis because jesus christ Chica I love you but goddamn does your venue suck so much ass

Vanessa and Chica: Parallels between a bunny-costumed killer, and a guitarist animatronic performer

Now this is something I've never seen nor heard to be talked about with in the community other than my friend who's really good at observations and theories, and that's the parallel between the white woman jumpscare and the funny haha trash eater --and I'm not sure if that's because Chica is obscure compared to others, or not enough people like Chica to the point of theorizing about this.

Or I just live under a rock, that's all.

But, I think there's some lines to draw with Vanessa and Chica. How they're both under the influence of a higher being, reluctantly following. Taken over, even. A human and an psuedo-sentient AI, going through the same horrible thing.

Where one has submitted herself to the control, while the other is actively fighting back against it and refuses (although fails). Unfortunately there's not much to say here yet due to the fact that we don't have all the details just yet, but this is where the Ruin DLC kicks down my door and punches me square in the stomach then proceeds to spit on my face as I lay on the floor sobbing. (Future me saying yes it has done this to me but it made me go "WHAT THE FUCK MAN." in a /neg way)

I do hope that Steel Wool explores this concept even further, and maybe even a showdown between the two. That'd be pretty badass. Will an AI win against a force where a human couldn't?

Time will tell.

So, what's the summary for Chica?

I think it's really tragic that all this speculation gives out the idea that Chica is dealing with a lot of stress caused by keeping to herself, and even a depression state.

An experimental voicebox going haywire, causing trauma to her evolving psuedo-sentience code and refraining her from speaking most of the time. The start of an unhealthy food obsession as coping mechanism. And then after that, mourning the sudden loss of someone called a friend, coupled by a virus corrupting her systems, further strengthening the desire of emotional consumption. A robot programmed to be quirky and relatable, going through so much, and what makes this even worse is the fact that I don't think ANYONE in the Glamrocks ever know about what she's dealing with.

She only eats trash when she's alone and separated from the rest of the hunters, and weeps silently, keeping her sobs of grief to herself only. A kind-hearted figure, ruined by serial killer's doing. She cares SO MUCH as evidenced by the intro, yet the care she receives back is little to none.

A character thrown to the side all because her story isn't out there, like Freddy acting as a father-figure fill-in for a homeless orphan, Roxy with her low self-esteem hidden underneath a fragile sense of narcissism, or even Monty with his strong desire to be the one underneath the spotlight and willing to do whatever it takes just to make that come true. Hell, there's more Bonnie fans than Chica and the guy doesn't even make a single appearance.

Instead, she's disregarded by the community to be the bland one all because of misunderstandings and lack of evidences presented onto the table.

I think, out of all of them, she deserved her brutal fate THE LEAST if not at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading if you've reached this far! I believe I wrote this analysis with some passive aggressiveness because I was so frustrated that I could barely get my voice out to talk to the fandom about Chica, but I tried my best to make it more... polite lol

Hopefully, tumblr is nicer than twitter when it comes to theories.

Also, I actually wanted to make my own version of Chica's venue! Please someone ask me about it please please please please please Mazercise physically hurts me to the core

[rampagingfanfictioner14]

relativity falls, but... (Part 3)

And then we come to the crux of the matter. What happens next?

Well, Bill makes good on his promise and talks to Candy and Soos. He'd like to limit the number of people involved in this project, but he needs Soos's hands and Candy's brain to make this whole thing work, so he's just going to have to put up with it.

Candy excitedly accepts the proposal, not even thinking twice. Sure, Mason sounds a bit weird, but maybe he's just caught a cold or something. She's a curious person at heart, and a brilliant one too. After college, she'd moved away from Gravity Falls to somewhere in California, selling some junk like personal computers and whatnot. Still, at "Mason's" insistence, she drops everything and moves back to her hometown anyway, already thinking about all the discoveries they could make through such an ambitious project.

Soos... doesn't. He apologizes, but he's got family to take care of now, and he can't dedicate himself to the project like asked. Bill is angry by the refusal and almost starts shouting at him, but eventually settles on slamming the phone down and forcing himself to think that it's better this way anyway. That fat oaf wasn't good for much other than his strength. He'd make do somehow.

The main task was drafting the equations for the portal. The thinking. It required brains, not brawn.

The actual portal construction was a problem for later, he decides. This Candy better be as smart as Mason had made her sound.

...And yep, she definitely is. Her relationship with the anxiety-ridden Mason is... similar to Ford and Fiddleford, but not quite. Mason's adventurous, very much so --- but whenever she tags along he's quieter than usual, almost always worrying over something or the other, unable to focus (a side-effect of Mabel leaving; his anxiety roams unchecked and his social awkwardness is worse than ever without her to be his rock).

---Unless he sees something cool. Then he's bolting off towards it with that journal of his, and leaving Candy in the dust.

As they work, they form a close friendship. It's always been there since their college days, really, but... Candy likes Mason, for all his quirks. Maybe likes him a little too much.

But Mason is far too distracted by Bill. Maybe in some other time, if they'd done this a year or so ago, they could've been something more. It's too late now. He's not always even there. He tries to keep up with Candy, but his main concern is the portal, and besides, Mason doesn't like social interactions much anyway.

He scrawls his notes in his journals to keep records of his findings, and spends all of his free time either with Bill, drawing up equations, or with Candy, poring over paradigm theory and other complicated jargon. Sometimes he drifts off and unconsciously allows Bill to take over, waking up to fully completed drawings and a new couple of stacks of equations to check.

His obsession with that portal eventually gets quite tiring to deal with, honestly. It's like their college days all over again. The one thing that Candy doesn't appreciate is having to constantly nag at the man to eat or drink something. Did he not feel his body shutting down? At this rate, he was going to waste away.

It's a pretty nice life, though, ignoring Mason's occasional, inexplicable "personality switches" (she can't think of anything else that would make him act so strange and off-putting; she'd searched the whole house for any evidence of drugs but never found any. Either Mason's upped his hiding game, or he's gone and developed some mental illness, but she doesn't have enough evidence for that and she's not going to confront him while having no proof).

She doesn't understand in time. The time comes to test the portal, and everything goes wrong.

Brief summary, 'cuz I can't be bothered writing it all out:

Candy gets chucked through the portal (whether that be because of canon reasons or some other universe-specific one is up for grabs).

Mason manages to pull her back, but she's knocked completely off-kilter; shellshocked and terrified; stuttering, spewing gibberish, before abruptly running away from the house and quitting on the spot.

Mason's... confused. He realizes that he was being insensitive by demanding to know what she'd seen through the portal, but surely it wasn't anything too bad, right? Bill told him so. He reaches out to her after a few days of radio silence, but she brushes him off, almost seeming to have forgotten the whole thing entirely. This makes him kinda angry. Why was she being so dismissive when it was clear she'd something terrible? Why wouldn't she tell him? He goes to the only friend he has left, Bill, for answers.

Bill convinces Mason that Candy's just another betrayer, like Mabel, taking advantage of him. Still, Mason can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Bill tells him to focus on the portal. It was his only priority.

Final tweaks to the portal are made. Mason realizes that Candy's starting some sort of cult, having disregarded his advice to get rid of her memory gun, running around town and erasing the memories of everyone who'd seen something strange.

That does it. He knows something's wrong. Candy never acted like this. There was something terrible behind that portal and he needed to have a very serious chat with Bill.

And whatdya know, surprise surprise, Bill's a professional backstabber in disguise. Womp womp, Mason, his monsters are gonna invade your dimension, and it's all because of you! Because you trusted the wrong person... again.

Mason goes full panic-mode. Like Ford, but worse, because he's Mason, and when he gets paranoid, he gets paranoid. He locks the doors and buys like fifty different deadbolts. He locks the windows and the skylight and even the entrance to the roof, and spends his nights in the basement still, huddled up in the darkest, most hidden corner with only a lamp to keep him company. Every shadow makes him flinch, every sound as loud as a gunshot in the silence. Every time he accidentally drifts off he wakes with like a dozen serious injuries and angry, bloody scratches and scribbles on the walls from Bill's unsuccessful attempts to break into the retinal-scanner protected portal room.

Mason's not in a good place. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

---

My brainworms have taken a break for now so I'll have to sum up the next plot points:

Mabel receives a postcard from Mason, agonizes over it for a minute or so before promptly dropping everything and rushing to Gravity Falls.

Mason doesn't open the door, too paranoid to move from his spot in the basement. Using a secret code from their childhood, he'd encoded the instructions on how to get to him, hoping that Mabel would remember (and besides, the man's running on about ten shots of caffeine and hasn't slept in over a month; cut him some slack --- he's definitely not thinking clearly).

Thankfully, the universe aligns properly and Mabel does remember the code, hurrying down to the basement and instantly tripping an alarm, about three traps, and injures her wrist.

Mason's wild eyes meet hers. The estranged twins exchange a brief moment of absolute, utter shock: Mason not having expected Mabel to actually turn up, and Mabel not having expected her brother to look like a dead man walking.

Same stuff as canon basically happens: Mabel and Mason haven't learned to communicate well due to their less than ideal childhood, and both of them are tired, traumatized, and tactless with their words. A fight happens: although with a lot more hair-pulling, slapping, and shouting than punches.

Mason doesn't believe he's better than Mabel, so there's no talk about doing "the first worthwhile thing" in her life and whatnot. But still, there are some pretty damn hurtful words thrown about. Mabel gets branded by the symbol next to the control panel. Mason almost dies from sheer exhaustion.

It doesn't really matter, though. In the end, the results are the same. Mason is still thrown through the portal and his first journal still ends up in Mabel's hands, the constellation shimmering on the cover almost tauntingly; the only real thing she had left of her brother.

At first, she almost doesn't believe it. She waits for him to return, frozen, her shoulder burning as the brand sizzled on her skin. Then reality sinks in, and she's horrified. Had... Had she just killed her twin?

Then that famous determination sparks. Mabel vows to bring Mason back home, even if it's the last thing she does. Even if what's left is only a few specks of dust, even if he hates her for it. She's a terrible person, she knows, and Mason's got every right to despise her. But the thought of him asking her to just leave, like she couldn't care less about him... Well. Frankly, the mere idea pissed her off.

She stays at Mason's house, unwilling to leave until she finishes her mission. And over time, she begins to recollect more details that she'd missed in her blind anger. She remembers Mason's distraught face, the dark liquid (blood?) trailing down his right eye, his pale skin. Something terrible had happened to her brother, she thinks with a rough swallow, looking down at the crimson staining the bathroom, red constellations etched almost mockingly in the unkept place. Something absolutely terrible. Horrible. Unspeakable.

She knows she needs food to continue her mission. Restarting the house's water and electricity would be nice too. And someone needed to pay off the mortgage. So she does what she does best: puts on a show.

The Dream House (this universe's Mystery Shack) begins as a simple Sparkle Hut. Something nice, something pretty, something that would catch the eye of wandering tourists or townspeople. But mere glitter isn't enough. She starts flipping through her brother's journal and complies a mismatched assortment of various creatures, creating a sleepy, almost hypnotic atmosphere to the shack--- and what better name for it than the Dream House?

>>>And that's it, peeps. My version of relativity falls is over (at least, the backstory part). I've speedran this whole thing over an hour, so some details are still rough --- but tell me what you think! It's funny that this whole thing was sparked by a lil conversation between me and my friend.

In short, Mabel and Dipper are not perfect twins. I think people underestimate just how much their decisions and experiences and attitudes was shaped by their summer in Gravity Falls. Remember, Stan and Ford were thick as thieves until they became like, 15 or something. A lot can change after you enter high school, especially when you've got your parents arguing 24/7 and terrible communication skills. Mabel and Dipper are not going to hug and be nice to each other after thirty years apart --- thirty years to stew in anger and regret and pain and sadness. They're not going to be as close as they were as kids, and that's okay. Don't be afraid to give them flaws in this au. It's absolutely wonderful to explore :)

---Thank you for reading.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 2.5(prev)

[autisticsupervillain]

Could the Wright Anything Agency catch Agent 47?

Assumptions

I'm analyzing this under the pretext that Agent 47 has killed someone and sticks around under the same cover to scope out another target in the same area. The person 47 was disguised as at the time gets framed for the murder and the WAA take the case, looking into this "Tobias Rieper" guy when it starts to seem like he might be involved.

Neither has any prior information on the other going in.

Pre-Disbarment Phoenix

Given the Timelines of both franchises, this is Phoenix going up against World of Assassination Era 47. That is.... not good.

Basically, 47 is at his prime both in his abilities as an assassin and his resources with the ICA and he's going up against Nick back when he still needed Mia's advice from time to time.

Okay, that is unfair. Phoenix has taken down some very tough cookies. Damon Gant, Manfred Von Karma, Matt Engarde, and so on. All of whom were either very connected, very intelligent, or both. 47 is very much both.

I do genuinely think 47 can talk his way around the Magatama. 47 at this point has a particular habit of speaking when undercover, where he'll tell technical truths as a little private joke to himself. Lies of omission. Much like how Matt Engarde got around it by technicality, I do think 47 could as well.

Example: "Hey, doc, what's in that shot you're giving me?" "Floral extracts. Mostly belladonna." "Uh, isn't that poisonous? Shouldn't I be worried?" "I'm not. Just sit back, it'll all be over soon." Etc.

Not straight up lies, just not giving an entirely upfront answer.

That said, the name "Tobias Rieper" mosy definitely would cause a ding, because 47 himself doesn't consider himself as having one. That'll probably be what prompts Nick into poking around.

47 takes care to avoid getting recorded or photographed, and takes time to destroy such evidence when he has to, so Nick's gonna have to rely on witness testimony to prove 47's disguise didn't match his client. His basic Pressing techniques should be enough on that front, getting them to mention 47's completely hairless physique, tall stature, monotone voice, etc by pressing for more detail.

That said, I don't think Nick can genuinely catch 47 out with anything. He was genetically engineered to not leave a trace behind, so he can't grow hair and might not even have fingerprints. He prides himself on the bodies either not being found until hours after he's gone or spinning his kills as elaborate accidents. Nick can definitely bluff and theorize his way into working out how 47 did it, but without any proof, all he can do is prove it couldn't have been his client.

Also, First Game Nick dies here. Dude almost got himself assassinated by the mafia and 47 won't hesitate with that fiber wire.

That said, 47 does play into Nick's hand a little bit. He's been known to concoct overly elaborate kills that only he could ever possibly pull off just to make things interesting and if there's one talent Nick has its untangling convoluted murder plots through logical leaps no one else is willing to make.

47 also canonically has an "aura of death" that psychics can sense because of how many people he's killed. Don't know if the Magatama or Maya can pick up on that, as that's not really in their wheelhouse, but it's there if you want to argue it.

Similarly, 47 has met ghosts before, so he's liable to put his guard up if Mia tries to interject. Hell, he's met actual Santa too.

Also, if Phoenix does get his man, he'll have incurred the wrath of the entire ICA so... lose-lose really.

Ultimately, I think Nick can get his client off the hook, but he won't be able to corner a man as slippery as 47. 47 covers his tracks too carefully. 5/10, would solve case, would not catch killer.

Post-Disbarment Phoenix

A lot of Nick's advantages from before still carry over, but with a few extra notes.

First off, timeline wise, this is Freelancer Era 47. 47 no longer has an entire international assassination agency backing him up and now relies on his contacts in the black market and Diana Burnwood to get around. He also has a home he can be traced back to while previously he moved around constantly.

This time, Phoenix is the one with higher resources, as he has connections to Interpol through Edgeworth and connections to Khura'in through Apollo. He has the means to organize an international manhunt if he has to.

Nick is also a lot more willing and able to play the long game. Take his seven year plan against Kristoph or his collaboration with Edgeworth to catch The Phantom, for instance. Nick won't stoop to the lows he did against Kristoph again, as that came about from him being at the lowest point in his life, but his plan there proves he's absolutely able to play the long term Chessmaster when silly bluffing lawyer man won't cut it.

Again, Nick won't be able to catch 47 on their first run in. He just runs too tight a ship. Unlike previously, Nick will have the means to conduct follow up investigation and won't have to do so with a massive target on his back because the ICA doesn't exist anymore.

That said, a 47 whose at the top of his game is still a bit more than the Interpol of Ace Attorney can handle. It will take a lot of planning to create a trao that 47 can't just shoot his way out of. Most likely by going after Diana, but it'll take awhile for him to figure out she even exists. Diana's a force to be reckoned with on her own.

In brief, he can, but he'd have to dedicate a significant chunk of his life to it, pulling every string he has through connections and friendships. 9/10

Apollo Justice

Gonna be blunt, perceive is not gonna work. Like, flat out.

47 doesn't have body ticks. He's unnaturally stiff at all times, even while relaxing and having fun. He doesn’t emote or react or change his tone of voice in a situation. There wouldn't be a microexpression to give away the lie because 47 barely has expressions.

That said, he's just as good at the classic approach as Phoenix is, so a lot of what I said there applies here. Press for more testimony and point out the physical discrepancies that come from that.

Of note, if the crime takes place in Khura'in, then the Divination Seance may screw 47 over. He's had entire conversations with targets before killing them, after all, so it could catch him right there if he's not more careful than usual.

That said, Khura'in by itself doesn't have nearly the presence or resources to catch 47 on the follow through unless he stays relatively close by geographically, so even with all of Khura'in's investigative abilities focusing him, 47 should escape afterwards just fine.

Unless you count Apollo bringing in Phoenix to bring in Edgeworth and Interpol, Apollo just doesn't have the right deck to play with 47. 7/10 because Divination Seance and death aura might get 47 in Khura'in though.

Athena Cykes

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Athena basically hard counters 47.

A seemingly emotionless assassin whose a master of disguise. Think I've heard that one before....

That said, 47 isn't just Phantom 2. He does actually have emotions. He just buries them deeeeeeeep in there.

Honestly, 47 is a massive trauma magnet with a lot of damage upstairs. He was genetically designed to be an assassin from the ground up, waa abused all his childhood in an attempt to purge all emotion and empathy from him, had to witness the first family he ever had he shot and killed in front of him to "teach him a lesson", was drugged into believing he killed his best friend and brother for years, and now has to live with the fact that he killed the parents of the one person left in the world that he cares about. Just... that's rough buddy.

Yeah, Athena would hear nothing when 47 talks about the murder and hear a biiiiiiiig blip when someone says the name Diana or Lucas and that's a big give away.

Could Athena talk him into giving up his career? That's a big if. 47's been kicking the can around in his head for awhile and he always comes back to "killing bad people is the one thing I enjoy in life" so... I'm not optimistic.

She also has no way of actually apprehending him, with none of Apollo's or Phoenix's resources (beyond having them in speed dial, at least).

That said, she'd shake him to his core in the way the other two could never. He'd come out respecting Apollo and Nick but shaken by Athena and that's a big win.

All of them:

Combine all those advantages and what do ya get?

That's a conviction several years in the making, my friend.

[white-fatalis]

Here's my meta on why the interpretation of "Grimm is an evil asshole who enslaves and/or mind controls the troupe" is literally my beloathed!

This was originally written for a hot takes meme on my rp blog, but I ended up liking the analysis enough to want to post it in the public tag. Had to edit my salt out a bit because I was venting over people in the past coming into an rp server I mod for and insisting Grimm is canonically some abusive slave driver LOL

There is canonical evidence to the contrary. Imo, it feels like taking the game's propaganda from the townsfolk and WL and not looking past surface level. And a lot of the game's plot has "things aren't what they seem on the surface and what is stated is often false" (like 'guys fr the valiant knight saved the kingdom').

Most people get this take from Brumm's dialogue. However, this interpretation is directly contradicted by Brumm's actions and Nymm's dialogue. The entire banishment ending is about Brumm questioning Grimm and the troupe. Mind controlled people... obviously... don't have the capacity to do that. Sure, you could say "well, maybe Grimm trusts Brumm enough to let him be free, the rest of them aren't" but - what, Grimm isn't smart enough to keep all of his "slaves" on a leash? He wouldn't see Brumm's general self changing on a downward path and feel a need to do something about it lest it threaten his plans? This would require Grimm to be making classic generic movie villain errors, and also be not very observant, which he does not come across as at all. I don’t buy that.

Furthermore, Brumm is not an impartial voice here. He's an old and tired mortal trapped in a cycle of immortality led by what's essentially a fae-like deity, who has been doing and seeing the same things for probably centuries. He is sufficiently Done at this point in his life. He's depressed. Mortals were never meant to live that long, even in lives that they may have previously enjoyed. He did not always feel this way, and there's proof, which I read as a mix of that and Grimm's power essentially carving his passion for life out:

He's seen this play out over and over, over and over, endlessly to his eyes. He begins to feel like it's enslavement.

However, even despite these feelings? He still highly respects Grimm and is concerned for his well being.

In his thoughts, he's questioning whether Grimm is a slave. He doesn't know, which implies to me that Grimm has never shared specifics. (Also, Grimm's dream nail dialogue contradicts the idea of Grimm being a slave.) These are all the opinion statements of a depressed mortal, and while he has every right to feel the way he does, that doesn't make his words necessarily fact - especially if information was hidden from him. And then, if you do choose to banish the troupe... We see Brumm again, as his original self Nymm, who gives what I feel is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the troupe not being slaves. He gives you his old mask in the form of a charm, and he states:

If Brumm was truly a slave, if the game wanted you to take the troupe members as actual slaves, this is not how it would be described. I do not think "Stockholm syndrome" is what they were going for here, which is the only explanation for this if they were supposed to be read as slaves. You don't long for and have nostalgia for being a slave (mind controlled or not).

Not just that, but the charm is literally called Carefree Melody, and its ability spawns a flame that occasionally protects its wearer from taking damage. The fear cast by the nightmare magic is still there, yes, but the charm is essentially Grimm's protection left over. If the troupe members were being held against their will by some evil overlord, this symbol would not be such a sweet memento. The charm's very name evokes the image of carefree days where he enjoyed playing music with the troupe.

As far as Grimm being a complete domineering asshole that some interpret him to be, I feel like there's a decent amount of evidence that he isn't, even though we don't get to see how he interacts with his followers. Everyone in the troupe seems to respect and adore him. Brumm being concerned for him, saying that it's painful of all things to defy him, and this is how he thinks at his absolute lowest opinion of the troupe. Divine stays to do her own thing if you don't complete her quest before the Ritual, which Grimm is apparently cool with because she was just allowed to do that. She's also eager to follow him when her business is done. One of the Grimmsteeds, in thought, says that Grimm's light is guiding. Grimm himself doesn't force you as the player to partake in the Ritual or fight him. The troupe related charm, of all effects it could have, is one of protection.

I don't think any of them would feel this way if he was just, you know, a controlling dick.

Now Grimm being manipulative - yeah, I think he is. The point of this post isn't to say Grimm is a saint, he definitely isn't. That's an entire other post. But he 100% isn't the "blatantly evil mind controlling jerk" type. He's morally gray. And I firmly believe he's meant to be a foil to the Radiance;

The Radiance is Light, normally seen as a good and positive force in media. But she is smothering, forces others into her unity, and reduces bugs to instinct. She sends everyone in her thrall out for blood. Grimm is still a light, but nightmares are associated with darkness and seen as evil and negative. Yet his light is not blinding, but guiding to those under him. He clearly possesses mind altering magic when it comes to personality changes and memory stealing, but he doesn't use it to steal the free will of his followers - Brumm successfully leaves because he wanted to, and he isn't left scarred and broken when that power is vacated from him. Again, Grimm doesn't force you to do the Ritual or even battle him. That's your choice to put on the Grimmchild charm. He simply urges you to do so. He's a vulture who feeds off of the natural life cycle of civilizations, not a violent kingdom toppler like the Radiance is.

These two are the only ones in the entire game to have pre-battle title cards. Even the Pure Vessel, who is higher than Grimm in the boss pantheon, doesn't get one. Only them.

So like. Yeah, you can make an AU where Grimm is evil, but it feels like... I don't know... missing the point of the character? It wipes out all of the nuance that I feel makes him interesting and endearing.

[true-blue-sonic]

Do we know if Silver is left or right handed?

This is a question that has been plaguing my mind for literally years now, haha. Time to find an actual answer! I'll dive into various evidences, from artworks, Sonic Channel, and the mainline games wherein he is featured most prominent (Sonic '06, Rivals 1 and 2, Generations, and Forces).

Artwork from games and Sonic Channel

For proof around which hand is Silver's dominant one in this section, I'm looking at hands he's doing actual actions with in the still image. So, just balling a fist or holding a hand out is not enough: he needs to do something with either. That gives me the following:

Right-handed proof:

Silver throws the ball and the wood, holds the knife, and telekinetically lifts the presents with his right hand. We do see him use his left hand in a way that implies he's stabilising the presents or lifting up the plate, though, and he holds out a gift as well with it. However, perhaps most importantly, he's got his list and a pen in his right hand in the picture where he's dressed up as a post deliverer. Though you can do things like eat with your non-dominant hand as well (that is why I did not include the picture of him holding the candy apple from Sonic Channel in this analysis), writing is something many people need to actively train their non-dominant hand for.

Left-handed proof:

Both of these examples have him actively use his PK with one hand, which (as we see in '06) is necessary to move things. Specifically, he's holding out his left hand in a "stop" motion in the second picture; in the Sonic Channel story, Sonic gets swooped right off his feet by Silver's powers, thus stopped in his motions. I therefore figure that is controlled most by his left hand.

Drawbacks of this method: this utilises artwork from multiple media, some of which might not be canon to the games (e.g. the Mario and Sonic series). Also, there are various actions you can do with both your hands with only little more stability in your dominant one, like eating and holding up something and stuff. We also do not know how Silver's PK works entirely, but more on that at the end.

Screenshots from the games:

Sonic 06:

Right-handed proof:

Silver freezes Sonic and the newly-born Iblis with his right hand, and he grasps the Chaos Emeralds with his right hand (almost) all times. Also in the gameplay itself, he uses his right hand for his powers and to press it on the PK marks on the ground and such.

Left-handed proof

Silver why did you grasp that Emerald with your left hand right after I wrote you always grabbed them with your RIGHT HAND SILVER-

Sonic Rivals 1 and 2:

These games are a bit difficult to get information out of, but Silver seems to use both hands for almost all things: e.g. when balancing on a beam he stretches out both hands for stabilisation, when launching himself off an obstacle he pushes himself with both hands, he uses both to push obstacles as well, he stretches them both out when activating his Psychic Control (and it seems he flings both hands forward afterwards, but it is difficult to see in all the glowing cyan sparkles and stuff), etc. He does however use only his left hand to hang onto a handle that hangs onto a thin rail:

However, I would not argue that that is something obligatory for your dominant hand, so these games do not really provide evidence towards either hand being his dominant one, I would say.

Sonic Generations:

Right-handed proof:

He grasps his head with his right hand and shakes it when he gets up from scraping over the asphalt for a hundred meters; I've never truly seen that before but aw <3 My own instinct here is that I use my dominant hand, at least!

When he makes the battering ram with the cars, he uses his right hand to "call" them up from the ground below and "push" them forward. When sending down the first object of the three he tries to crush Sonic with, he uses his right hand for it, and then both hand for the other two items.

Left-handed proof:

Silver lifts the car with his left hand, and to fling it he flings his left hand down. For the Psychic Knife, he balls his left hand and sends his left hand out to shoot it at Sonic.

Sonic Forces:

Also here not that much conclusive: he utilises his left and right hands alike for gestures (e.g. balling his fist), and when Sonic comes to his rescue before the first fight with Infinite, he uses his right hand to push himself up. He does seem to use his right hand more than his left, though, for example in the ending scene: he gestures with right extensively there.

In the final battle, he "initiates" with his right hand and turns his body right to get into position, but uses both hands to freeze the illusions in their tracks.

Final conclusions:

Based on the above information, I figure that Silver is right-handed when it comes to utilising his actual hand (e.g. for writing, cutting, and grabbing items physically), however he is ambidextrous when it comes to his powers. Though artwork and games consistently show him using his right hand for manipulation of objects with his actual hand, I would say there is appropriate proof even within the same game (e.g. Generations) wherein he uses either his left or right hand or both simultaneously for his psychic powers. This is also the case in '06: at times he uses both hands to lift things up, or send them flying. He does not seem to struggle with making things psychokinetically happen with either hand, and he appears to have an equal level of control over the objects in his psychic hold no matter which hand he uses to manipulate them.

Overall drawbacks of this research: My initial general mindset when gathering this evidence was that I assumed Silver utilises his PK with his dominant hand, the same way we would write or cut things in the real world. However, as far as I know this is never explicitly stated. It also does not match what I found in the end, namely that both hands seem to have an equal level of control within his psychokinesis. I also did not watch extensive playthroughs and such for this, so it is very well possible I missed things. Lastly, I think we need to keep in mind that this is probably not something Sega is actively keeping an eye on and enforcing, meaning there could be inconsistencies between games and other media.

If you've got more evidence or things that I missed, let me know!

Tl;dr: evidence from the games and artwork seem to suggest that Silver is right-handed when it comes to actions and gestures around his actual right hand, and ambidextrous when it comes to psychokinetically manipulating objects.

[jakowskis]

💖💙💜 owen harper bisexuality masterpost 💖💙💜

i've had this in my drafts for a minute but i figured i'd finish it up and post it today for bisexual visibility day :D

it hasn't cropped up recently, but i've seen a lot of people who've questioned owen's bisexuality over the years and i thought i'd compile all the 'evidence' (although it completely baffles me that we got a show with five canonical bisexual characters and people want to write two of them off as straight / "heterflexible" ?? there shouldn't have to be 'proof' of owen being bi, RTD said torchwood is about five bisexuals fighting aliens in cardiff which means they're all bi, full stop. also, bisexuals should never have to 'prove' they're bi, and in regards to fictional characters, i'm sick of people nit-picking who 'deserves' to be counted as rep and refusing to 'claim' certain characters if they're morally grey or if the fandom simply doesn't Like them as much-)

but i digress.

so without further ado, here's everything i've found that supports owen's status as a bicon :-)

explicit canon instances

➤➤ obviously, we have to start with his gay kiss in the first episode of the show. there's a lot to be said about that kiss, i'm not gonna get into all that here, but i've seen a lot of people say it's not proof of owen being attracted to men, and i wholeheartedly disagree. you can literally catch him smiling very happily after the kiss (and one of owen's few genuine smiles of the series, too). i don't think a straight man (or even a "heteroflexible" man) would beam at another guy who's just informed him that he wants to fuck him. a fair amount of people have also said they interpreted owen calling the taxi as him intending to get away from the couple, but i don't understand how they're getting that impression, because that smile makes it seem very much apparent to me that running away is the last thing he wants to do.

it's also, notably, the first time we see bisexuality IN the bisexual show, which i don't think should be discounted. like, we see owen do something gay before jack does, for fuck's sake. is it a good first impression of how torchwood portrays bisexuality? no. is setting owen up as a more sex-driven, opportunistic bisexual nicely contrasted against ianto & tosh's more romance-oriented brand of demisexual bi/pansexuality? in my opinion, yes. i love that the torchwood bisexuals all practice their bisexuality in different ways. that's very special to me. 'cause it's realistic! real bisexuals all experience bisexuality differently! obviously it'd be a different story if he was the only bi rep, because lord knows we've seen enough of that already, but torchwood makes an effort to show us five different brands of bisexuality, and five different bi stories that largely only exist in the subtext, that aren't the focus of the show, and it's fantastic. it's all i could ever want out of bi rep, honestly, even if it is a bit dated now.

➤➤ the other explicit moment in the show: asking tosh and ianto for an end-of-the-world threesome in sleeper (s2ep2). i've actually never seen owen bi-deniers (fhdskjf it's a conspiracy) even mention this scene. owen literally asks ianto if they can have sex with each other to his face, and he's dead serious when he asks it. that's... i mean you can't mistake that as anything else. like fhdsjkf??

➤➤ next we jump to some of the, i suppose, extended universe content. whether the books are canon or not is debated, but the novel 'another life' features owen playing an online simulation game, and it makes a point to depict owen flirting with someone with a male avatar + wondering to himself if the guy would be down for cyber-sex. [someone posted part of that scene here. for context, owen's also got a VR headset on during that bit.]

➤➤ another instance is on the website, which some also don't regard as canon, but, i mean, i don't know who worked on the things we see on that site, but obviously they got their information from somewhere. they probably consulted with the writers on the show, or at the very least got notes on what things to touch on. anyway, there's a portion of the site where you can find a 'background check' on owen, and it's just a collection of messages from some ex-lovers of his. one of them is a man.

again, some people disregard the canon validity of the website, but the way i see it, the information on this site was released while the show was airing for fans to look at and to gain further insight on the characters. one of the things they felt a need to tell us about owen, important enough to be featured in his background (wayyy before the katie plot was developed), was that he wasn't just interested in women. personally, i regard that as canon. you can find this here. and even if you wanna say fragments jossed this background, it doesn't joss his, like... identity.

next we have things said by russell t. davies himself + by burn gorman (owen's actor)

➤➤ again, RTD (who's torchwood's creator, but i'm assuming everyone reading this knows that) explicitly described torchwood as "a bunch of bisexuals living under cardiff and fighting aliens". that's not ambiguous. [i don't have a direct source for this quote, it was apparently said on the dvd extras.]

burn's comments on owen's sexuality include...

➤➤ (when asked who owen fancies) "Owen's pretty cocky, he'll try it on with whoever comes along." [x] and yes, this is vague, but vagueness is often interpreted as proof of bisexuality. (for example, in the pacific rim dvd features, newt's bio stating he was interested in "whoever will take him" was widely interpreted by the fandom as him being bi.)

➤➤ (in regards to owen's "let's all have sex" line) "I don't think he [...] thinks about the implications, or whether it's with a man or a woman." [x]

(ok i have to admit, although i absolutely adore burn, i'm not super fond of the way his 2006-08 self would talk about how torchwood handled sexuality*. however! he kind of hit the nail on the head in saying that, even if it's in the context of owen wanting end-of-the-world sex, because my take on how owen sees his own sexuality has always essentially boiled down to thinking he'd be like, "well, why wouldn't men also be an option?" (well, with sexual attraction anyway; i think owen's relationship with romantic attraction is far more complex.) i think he resembles jack in that way; anyone's a prospective sexual partner, if they're attractive and interesting and he decides he wants them, and he's also impulsive as hell, so he doesn't think too hard about gender in the moment if he decides he's into someone. there's not really any hang-ups.)

➤➤ and ofc...

(out of context this could look like he's just jokingly calling owen an alien-fucker, although owen makes his thoughts on alien-fucking pretty clear in countrycide lol, but it was said in the context of owen/andy as a ship [x].)

*if you're wondering what i'm referring to, it's a comment here [x] about how the torchwood team's bisexuality is a result of being in a pressure cooker environment and having a 'wartime mentality', and they just kind of 'take what they can get'. the implication that bisexuality is out of desperation/accessibility rather than attraction is pretty damn icky, BUT i love him lots and he generally seems to be pretty woke these days (+ otherwise has always seemed to grasp why torchwood's rep was so unique and groundbreaking and important) so i'll go ahead and hope that was just, y'know, simple 'being a straight guy in 2008' ignorance. fifteen years is a long time and i have faith his opinions have evolved by now, esp considering he used the word 'pansexual' at a 2016 con [x]. (actually, ok, you caught me, that last bit wasn't super relevant and i didn't need to bring it up, but i just wanted to gush about him doing it because how often do you hear that word out of celebs, especially older and presumably straight ones. and in 2016, too. kinda slay of him, ngl)

aaand finally, some random, non-explicit little things that i think support him being a bisexy king (several of these are goofy and half-serious)

➤➤ in episode 2, they make a point to cut to owen smiling after jack's line about "you people and your quaint little labels". one might argue he's smiling at gwen & carys on the screen, but cutting to him immediately after jack says it very much implies he's reacting to jack's words, and i think it's particularly poignant after, again, we saw him kiss a man the episode prior. (which, another thing - owen's literal introduction features him kissing a man, like that's gotta count for something. if the literal third thing i ever see a male character do ever is kiss a guy, that means something.)

➤➤ and of course, in the same episode, we get "period military is not the dress code of a straight man" .... owen's the only one of them with working gaydar. also what a fruity thing to say

➤➤ speaking of fruity things to say, in s2e10 when they're all watching the old film, owen goes "look at the state of them 💅" and he says it SO cunty for no reason it always kills me fhsdkjfd

➤➤ combat.

➤➤ no, really.

➤➤ bonus: in the combat commentary, it's mentioned that when RTD saw the above scene between mark & owen, he said it was "the gayest thing he'd ever seen".

➤➤ in the three monkeys, a big finish audio featuring owen & andy, owen flirts with andy repeatedly. even if he just does it to be annoying, it's still pretty damn gay. also the pet names... (he calls him sweetheart, sunshine, and tiger. it's half-mocking, sure, especially because it's owen, but there's also a domesticity to it.)

➤➤ and then there's the hope's "you're alive again and you want crisps?!" "be glad that's all i'm asking for" (owen was like 'i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use th') these are the only two audios i've heard with this duo, i'm sure there's more examples in the other two. i know gooseberry literally has owen sabotaging andy's relationship with his gf and that is... woohoohoo.... i'll update this once i get through those.

➤➤ …. this is my personal opinion but i lowkey think he kinda wants john hart a bit when they all first meet him in kkbb hdskjfds. gwen & tosh both seem very charmed by him and they're meant to, it's supposed to be like 'oh, look at jack's ex waltzing in and charming the pants off everyone (ha), and only ianto and jack see through him' - owen isn't given a flirty line of dialogue or even a close-up shot of him eyeing john like the girls get, but if you watch him closely he certainly looks… intrigued by him. i think owen's more of a bi disaster than he lets on.

➤➤ in episode 10, diane notes that owen has "beauty products" in his bathroom. obviously this shouldn't be indicative of sexuality, but how many Straight Men in 2006 were moisturizing lmao. hell, how many do nowadays 😭

➤➤ gwen & owen's dynamic settles into a lovely little friendship in s2 and owen lowkey gives gbf vibes <3 them making fun of the movie in s2e10 together + the cheek-kissing at the end of s2e9… bi besties!!

➤➤ the peace sign he throws up in meat when he meets rhys fdsjk i don't even believe in some of the silly internet jokes abt bi culture but c'mon

➤➤ have you seen his taste in women. diane is soo butch and gwen's a total tomboy in s1. that's bi culture babey!!!! i too like girls when they're boys

➤➤ i already talked about it but the aforementioned scene where he asks tosh and ianto for a threesome... he asks them, like, immediately after they team up and bully him for not comprehending that there's "no phones. phones all broken. anyone there? no, 'cause the phones aren't working." that was suuuch a disaster bi owen moment for me. i too would get a little revved up if tosh and ianto both bullied me at once <3

aaand finally... the biggest Evidence of all....

➤➤ he's a leather jacket bisexual. need i say more

and that's all! thanks for reading!

[credit for the dividers used in this. didn't tumblr used to have built-in dividers? i miss that.]

[mad-bird-writes]

Here we have evidence of the ever-lovely @dominaarts giving me bad, bad ideas...

This week: I'm heavily focused on my New Vegas character ('cause RPGs where you make your own character feel like the most appropriate OC-driven fanfic fuel), and might post a *thing* for her either today or tomorrow depending on how fast I type. (it's basically a canon scene from the game in prose format, but given I have so little actual proof of my writing ability on this blog, I'll take whatever I can get...)

With regards to Better To Reign In Hell, the character profiles are stumping the heck out of me, so I might just work on the scenes I have drafted for that and let the remaining characters speak for themselves, though I will add brief descriptors to the eventual masterpost

Revival's gone a bit dormant on me, and we won't even mention Pallid Mask :D

[latealzalost]

A post on Reddit from some time ago suggested a theory that Eldes is actually Michael's father and the reason why he is so insistent on Michael consider his actions at MT. Battle is because he doesn't want him to go down a similar path. Nobody told Michael the identity of his father out of fear he might be doubtful about taking down Cipher because that would make Greevil his grandfather. Out of all the theories this sounds the most plausible given the genetics of hair and some dynamics. Thinking about it...Eldes is calm and collected, considerate of others, somewhat like Michael and he has Red hair, he also uses a Salamance, the Pokémon that Michael uses on the first simulation. Ardos is impulsive and a firecracker despite appearing loyal, willing to do anything to the point of appearing near chaotic kinda like Jovi? Maybe too many assumptions but they make a bit of sense.

Disclaimer: The following screens are from the mod XG: NeXt Gen, where the dialogue is unchanged but the characters names are no longer in all caps:

These screenshots are all the mentions of Michael's dad and his lore. All notion of the Verich Brothers or some other Cipher admin being Michael's father is vastly out-gunned by the game's heavily implied notion of the contrary. There is no evidence to suggest Eldes, nor any other known Cipher Admin, is Michael's dad. His father passed away long ago and Michael canonically suffered depression to an extent as a result. By the looks of it, his dad was a scientist, a friend of Krane, Lily's chosen lover, a skilled battler, and a real family guy. He even gave Michael his first Pokemon, Eevee.

But don't take my word for it, you can take the game's. People often miss these details about Michael's dad in their playthroughs. Details like these that give Orre that extra dimension, proof of a certain kind of love not found in modern Pokémon games. If you need to disprove someone's theory on Michael's dad, a theory akin to that infamous "Wally being related to N cause of hair color" image, feel free to link them to this master post or use this as a reference point for future theories.

[2ndstar-ontheright]

Autistic Jeremy Headcanons!

🎮He canonically has trouble being social with others and understanding social cues. For example, he doesn’t initiate his conversations with the popular people (Chloe and Brooke) and didn’t really understand the whole “tall ass” thing. (“I’m not even that tall..”)

🎮Has trouble making friends/close relationships with others. Micheal was the only friend he had before he got the Squip, so…

🎮He stutters around people he doesn’t know very well and in unfamiliar situations. He’s fine around the people he knows, but when he’s around Christine and in the mall, that’s pretty much out the window.

🎮Scripting! If we’re going by the original Two-River production and the Book. He writes the letter to Christine to help him explain how he feels (but flushes it) and he uses the Humiliation Sheets when navigating school.

🎮Very socially awkward. Do I need to explain this one? Lol

🎮Gets confused easily and asks a lot of questions.

🎮Doesn’t always catch or read sarcasm. (“Is this where you meet for the play?” “No, this is where you meet for the swim team.”)

🎮Desperately wants to fit in and be seen as “normal.” The main reason he even got the Squip was so he could talk to Christine and be seen as “normal”.

🎮Gets overwhelmed/overstimulated easily. (I personally saw the whole scene in the mall & Upgrade as him having sensory overload.)

🎮Occasionally has a “one track” mind. Like when he was becoming more popular and he didn’t notice how it affected the people around him.

🎮Has a strong sense of justice, when it’s needed. Like when he was trying to stop the Squip from basically taking over the school/world and getting away from Chloe. (Technically, he was forced to stay by the Squip, but he tried to do the right thing at first.) It is still a bit skewed however, considering he okay with doing the more problematic things the Squip told him to.

🎮Feels isolated from his peers and his best friend. Where Micheal’s content with being a “loser”, Jeremy isn’t and doesn’t know how to explain it to him. He’s tired of being someone’s “player two”, y’know?

🎮Basically the entirety of “Loser, Geek, or Whatever. (Seriously. Go listen to that song and then tell me that boy is not autistic.) It helps get my point across much better than I can xD.

🎮Canonically has and hears voices in his head and has trouble managing them.

🎮Has a fixation on old Nintendo games and other “retro” stuff. Like Pac-Man and AOTD.

And yeah! This is all that I have so far where. when comes to canon evidence, but I have a lot more stuff that’s just headcanons. I just wanted to actually use proof before someone comes and says “OmG nOt eVeRyThInG is AuTiStIc wHy dO yOu hAvE tO RuIn tHe CoNtEnT aNd ChArAcTeRs bY MaKiNg tHeM tHaT wAy? NoT eVerYtHiNg hAs tO HaVe aN AgEnDa So LeAvE tHe ChArAcTeRs aLoNe. TheY wErE wRiTTen tO Be tHaT waY, nOt aUtIsTic.” And look, I know it’s a mixed bag when it comes to having headcanons about being disabled. I know it looks kinda sus and pandering when like a nuerotypcal person is doing that, but please know, I’m autistic too. And I highly doubt it that my tiny corner of the internet and my personal interpretation of a fictional character is going to ruin it for the rest of the fandom. I’m not trying to force anyone to agree! This is just me! Anyway, just wanted to preface that before people got upset or sm :3.

[kitkatt0430]

8, 12, 22?

8.) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Luke Skywalker is gay has become a super popular fandom opinion these days. And I'm sorry guys, but he's not. He's aromantic.

In Legends canon, Luke's love life is abysmal. Because he keeps phoning it in - he wants companionship, but he's been raised to think it has to happen through a romantic lens. But every time he goes that route? It never really turns out to be what he's really looking for. Until, finally, he and Mara Jade reconnect on a mission together and they just click. There's nothing romantic about their connection, but they just realize that this is it for them both. This is the relationship they want, the companionship they've been looking for.

Luke and Mara's marriage is more QPR than romance and I think that's why I always liked it so much.

Now, in non-legends land, all we really see of Luke is that he... has no romantic relationships. No attachments. The fandom ship of Din/Luke is cute and I love the idea of them co-parenting together or even having a QPR too, but... evidence is still pointing towards aromantic Luke Skywalker for me.

12.) the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Julian Albert. He was there for the worst season of the first half of the Flash and he is kinda an asshole for the first half of that season. And he doesn't really seem to get for the second half of the season that Caitlin doesn't reciprocate his feelings for her. So I do get why he's not popular. But...

He's an asshole for the first half of the season because he's grieving and scared. His sister died and then his friends at the dig site died and he can't remember how that last one happened. The dig site event killed his career in archaeology and he went into forensics, maybe because he was afraid he did it because of the black outs. Black outs that keep happening. He shoves Barry away not because he doesn't want to be friends with this friendly guy that everyone keeps talking about being a really good person to spend time with, but because he doesn't want Barry to be the next person who gets hurt.

And when the problem of Alchemy is solved and Julian's safe from getting possessed again? He immediately wants to connect, to have friends. Even when he knows that the person who put him through all that fear was an alt version of Barry, he doesn't lash out or blame Barry for any of it. He just wants people he can connect with so much. He's sarcastic and sweet and I do think that if Caitlin had just straight up said she was only interested in being friends that he'd have been a bit sad but otherwise okay with that.

Honestly, Barry needed a work friend and for there to be proof he was not the only CSI for the entire CCPD, so losing Julian was a shame.

22.) your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I don't see a whole lot done about Ralph's Book (or Books) of Ralph in fandom, but I really adore those. They're ridiculous and hard to take serious, but they represent how lonely Ralph's been all his life. So him sharing those with Cisco and Caitlin were a sign of how much he'd come to trust and care about them that he was sharing the parts of himself that desperately needed companionship. The parts that he'd un-buried because of the two of them and Barry, Iris, Joe, Cecile, and Harry during season 4.

So I do love the fact that Cisco often goes along with Ralph's advice (except for the hair cut) in S5 even though it puts him outside his comfort zone. Because he does see that Ralph's trying to help in his own way and he appreciates how much Ralph cares.

[tzeentchian-parapet]

Rant below because I'm so sick of "haha Estinien dummy". Nothing I say will change it, the damage was done come Endwalker and is just being driven into the ground like a bad joke.

The continued stupefying of a character who was never once characterized as -stupid- or dense in the beginning. Estinien is sharp as a tack, he -has- to be to hold the position he does and attain wins against creatures well beyond anything that's ever lived in the canon. He was literally the first one to step up when it came to the conflict between himself and Ysayle regarding standing up for the conviction of her side of things, insist on -proving- him wrong because this was war, if she couldn't convince him, how did she hope to convince fuckin' -dragons- to change their ways and heel turn at the last minute. He knew exactly the timing on how to watch over the Scions in-city and recognize we're up to some major shit, and we'll need all the help we can get. His end goal is undeniably selfish, but he's still at heart getting his and still protecting Ishgard as a whole, while effectively getting around the tyrannical Orthodoxy of the time.

Is he a bit of a -prick-? Definitely! Does he push someone's buttons the moment they show a vulnerability? Yeah! His own trainers did that with him, by his own word in 3.3, "teachers to console and admonish me". Let's not forget his own words observing the real ass truth that if every person in Ishgard could know the thoughts of all others, the city would fall within the hour. He survived Ishgard, an -Orthodoxy- with an actual ass -Inquisition- constantly on the hunt for anyone that endangered their political rhetoric, and he knows how to navigate around and evade them. What part of that isn't -reading the room- by having the social intelligence to immediately find the weaknesses in the people around him and know how to push, pull, or get out of the way to get what he wants.

Estinien is an -ass-, yes. Not a -fool- whose incapable of the basics we've literally seen shown in the game come his fleshing out in HW. (Yes, granted, ARR Estinien is single-minded, this is because DRG 30-50 is copy pasted from 1.0 and that era's writing is very weak.)

Take a good look at HW Estinien and -insist- he's incapable, how does anyone do it? When everyone collectively decided "he dummy/ he stoopid", was anybody actually looking at him, did anybody pay any fucking attention?

Stop making fools of perfectly capable characters, who show ON SCREEN with real canon evidence they are better than Fandom, for whatever reason, choses to drag them down to, fuck.

Yoshi P said this because it's the popular fucking opinion, for some reason. The editor has it correct. Estinien doesn't -diminish- or mask himself for others, you get him as he is, unfiltered (unless it's a true and real danger, in which case he generally doesn't speak and he knows when not to do that, see; Surviving Ishgard). He knows who he is, he's proud of it, and there's zero way someone who -survived what he has-, did it, by being clueless and incapable of taking in the fine details around him.

Being a brusque introvert with the Tism does not make you into what Estinien has been made into by EW. I can't believe how many Estinien stans firmly stand on the point he's a fool when there is clear proof to the contrary. There's nothing he's experienced since then that proves he's suddenly lost what -experience- taught him. EW sat here trying to say Estinien gets swindled easy, then drove that into the ground by making it a running gag, as if he didn't make it through -Kugane- on his own -just fine-, like it somehow doesn't have swindlers and cheats and Thavnair does??? He was self sufficient from the moment he left Ishgard in 3.3, but suddenly nah, he's a fool now in EW, because Fandom decided, Haha funnee stinkman doesn't take a bath haha.

I get that we like to project ourselves onto characters as much as we like to take personality traits from them, but what does it say when someone completely -replaces- the actual nature of a character with just themselves. Did you -ever- actually like the -character-...?

It is a failure to misread a character at his beginnings so completely that as writers got shuffled around and new people came on board, they chose to reinforce that belief because it's popular. It felt like only ONE writer was resisting this in EW and more often than not, it was on side, non-voiced dialogue that gets missed or just ignored.

That the writers on hand -now- insist on keeping up this farce is even worse. It's not representative to make Estinien like this and try to use the "relatable" banner as another ND status character we decide on retroactively, by the way. -How- is it not actively demeaning to declare that about a character and then look at what he was at the start and then see that the writers are -going along- with "Ah yes, actually he Can't." when he actively can and does. That's -saying- Neurodivergence -is- an inability to read people (which in some cases yes! However!)- when Masking is literally the very essence of -reading the room- to -survive the room-. Masking makes us so good at taking in the details it becomes difficulty to have an identity -outside- of reading people effectively to survive. We're BRILLIANT- exhausted, but brilliant! We shouldn't let writers spin the narrative like we're not because we willingly decide "Oh yeah, that's me actually." and get a laugh out of not just erasing who a -beloved- character -is-, but in turn use that relatability to declare -boldly- that we also don't know how to do things we do, every day, because NTs expect it of us.

And we pat Yoshi P on the back for "setting that straight", -really-?

The respect is gone, if some people ever had it, and that's tragic for a character who has made it as far as Estinien has and genuinely healed from some of the worst shit, who realistically healed from it -with the assistance of others-, a group that accepts him for who he is completely, which is a good depiction of mending from horrendous trauma. I would think with that representation that all us traumatized people would -appreciate- that and celebrate Estinien without having to demean him and turn him into Post EW Estinien, who is 90% somewhere between turned into a fool torn down and laughed off when he's speaking straight facts or just being sexualized on screen like everyone else now because sex sells. x.x

im glad yoshi-p set the record straight

[krizaland]

🎞️ and 🏷️ for the F/O ask game?

🎞️: What ‘canon’ scenes would the fandom point to as evidence for the validity of your ship?

For Zim and Stella:

Probably scenes of him trying to be nice to Stella or ranting to her about his plans

Arguments that get a bit touchy also are in the mix.

And a scene where Zim saves her from one of his botched schemes and/or Dib.

For Mao Mao and Kiyomi:

Basically anytime Kiyomi sees Mao Mao. She is a huge fucking simp so there’d be truckloads of shipping fuel.

Of course for proof that Mao Mao reciprocates would be scenes where he comforts her, accepts her gifts and compliments.

And of course Mao Mao blushing when Kiyomi’s name is mentioned.

For Wukong and Bao Li (LMK):

Mostly the scenes where Wukong would be trying to flirt with Bao Li.

Also scenes of him saving her and Bao Li slowly starting to like him again.

And of course, arguments that get too heated.

There’s a bit of a strained history between the two in LMK. So their relationship is a bit rocky.

Note:

Now I’m actually working on my story of Sun Wukong and Bao Li that has nothing to do with to LMK.

So in my story technically their ship IS cannon.

Their dynamic is just different than LMK

Feel free to ask about my story though

🏷️: What is you and your f/o’s ship name?

Zim and Stella:

ZASTR (Zim and Stella romance)

Mao Mao and Kiyomi:

Kiyomao

Wukong and Bao Li (LMK):

Royalpeach

[warden-melli]

Why don't you like Melli x Ingo? Not trying to be rude, just curious. You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable.

I’ve been asked this question before, and I’ve been a bit hesitant to answer because it’s a complicated, and likely a much longer answer than you’d probably expect. I also know that a lot of people are likely to disagree with me/my interpretation, and I’m really not interested in conflict, or arguing with anyone. I also don’t really see much value in spending time on things I don’t enjoy, or that make me uncomfortable.

I also want to make it clear that I’m fine with people who do like the ship, I just want to avoid it.

I guess the biggest thing for me is a perceived age gap, and that makes me very uncomfortable.

I know this is up for interpretation, but I see the Ingo that appears in PLA as being much older than he was in the Black and White games. Despite many assuming that Ingo came to Hisui at a similar time/method that you (the player character) did, there is no canon proof/information that confirms this. There’s also many hints that this is likely not the case, with quite a lot of evidence that he may have lived in the Hisui region for quite some time (at the point you first encounter him during the events of the main story)

His slouched posture, facial lines, and receded hairline (all of which he didn’t have in previous games) are visible signs of aging, and indicate that quite some time has passed between his first appearance (BW), and his most recent appearance in PLA.

The offical guide book also hints that he has likely been in the Hisui region for quite some time. As seen below, there is an illustration of Ingo being discovered by a member of the Pearl Clan with the caption “XX years ago”. It can be assumed that the “XX” (X being a widely accepted method of marking a document in lieu of an actual signature/name/information) is being used in place of/to obscure the actual numbers as to preserve the mystery of how long Ingo has been in the Hisui region, yet the two marks would indicate that it was at least a decade ago. It could also be interpreted as being Roman numerals, which in that case would indicate that ingo was discovered 20 years ago. At the very least the word “years” confirms more than one, making it very unlikely that he came to Hisui at the same time as the player character.

Also, his title as Warden within the Pearl Clan (who like all clans in Hisui are notoriously suspicious/slow to warm up to outsiders) also points towards Ingo being in the Hisui region for a long time, as it would have taken him time not only to earn the position, but to have gained acceptance as a member of the clan in the first place.

His outfit (which as we can see in the above illustration) looks mostly intact upon his discovery, yet is very tattered, and even rusted by the time you encounter him in game. This implies years of wear and tear (maybe sneasel assisted?) between the first illustration (when he first came to the Hisui region), and his current design.

Melli on the other hand, despite his size, is actually one of the youngest members of the Diamond Clan. Mai confirms this during the events of the daybreak update when she informs us that he is younger than Adaman.

This would, as far as my interpretation goes, put a significant age gap between the two characters, and this makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

There’s also a few other factors as to why I don’t like the ship ranging from minor things like it being completely out of character, and conflicting head canons, all the way down to more serious issues/conversations around consent (due to Ingo’s memory loss), but the age gap (perceived or otherwise) is a big ick to me, and I’d rather avoid it at all costs

(Again, this is my interpretation and I’m not claiming anything above to be “correct”. Nor is my intention to judge, create any conflict, or to generate any discussion regarding the above topic in any way. I’m also not interested in anyone else’s interpretation, or counter arguments in any way shape of form. If someone gains any perspective, or finds any value in what I’ve written, then that’s great!, but I have no wish to ever address, or engage in discussion about the topic further)

[megumixtsumiki]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who ship them 😫 I think Megumi likes Tsumiki. What do you think?

Hey anon! Welcome to this little abandoned corner in the internet.

Noooo you’re not the only one. There’s actually way more than you think quite honestly. 

But I think we hide in the closet because a lot of people in the jjk fandom can’t stomach the idea of Megumi having a crush on the person he calls his sister. Not to mention that the popular ship is itafushi and we basically run the risk of being labeled as homophobic for having a different opinion. 

It’s kind of fascinating, really. can you tell I’ve been reading takes from other fans on the matter and am a bit bitter about it?  So much gate-keeping.

My thoughts are very much fanon but I personally think Megumi may have repressed his attraction for Tsumiki. I like to think that once the hormones started raging, he may have realized the way he saw her had changed--aka he realized he was attracted to her beyond their platonic relationship as “siblings”.

Anyways, more below the cut because I have many thoughts on the subject.

When I say they are not related by blood, it’s not to minimize or deny the “platonic sibling” bond they share. Actually, I think that makes the ship even more beautiful--the fact that they can have a sibling-like trust in each other means they truly chose each other to care about. 

I think that Megumi is fully aware that they are not technically “family” (blood-relatives), and so Megumi says she chose him to care about because she chose him as family.

What strikes me is that he doesn’t appear to realize he’s chosen her too. All of his actions during the Culling Game are proof of just how much she means to him.

This goes back to my fanon idea that Megumi may have realized he sees her as more than a “sister” but either doesn’t realize it or rejected his feelings for her because she’s supposed to be his “sister.” 

But I feel like this realization of how much he does care for Tsumiki came after he had lost her to the curse--hence why he might regret both rejecting her and being mean to her. I swear the way he talks about her, Megumi sounds like a scorned boyfriend who got broken up with lol.

Side note: Go watch Zetsuen no Tempest. Similar set up. 

When it comes to why I think he likes her... well, for me, the obvious answer is that he thinks of her when asked about his type.

Megumi thinking of Tsumiki when asked about his type is just such a strange thing because, literally, very very few people will think of their sister/brother when asked about their type. It’s not a poor interpretation to take that panel at face value. 

I also know the kanji Megumi uses in his answer is similar to the kanji in Yuji’s name and I also know that Gege is very playful and intentional with his use of kanji. 

I don’t intend to deny that Gege created ambiguity in his relationship to Yuji, unlike people who deny that Megumi, literally thinking of Tsumiki, is proof that she is his type. 

I love subtext, but how much more canon can you get other than Megumi thinking of her when asked about his type?

Honestly, mental gymnastics discrediting Megumi’s type = Tsumiki are baffling to me. It’s not just about how she represents what he finds attractive in others (unwavering human) and that’s why he thinks of her, it’s also about the fact that people don’t think about their siblings when answering that question.

Does that mean Megumi might have a thing for Yuji too? I don’t see why not. But I personally think it’s platonic. Beautiful nonetheless--itafushi is a beautiful dynamic and I often wonder why I like megumiki better considering I like BL and yaoi, and we have little to go by in terms of the megumiki dynamic.

Personal preference I guess.

Another thing that is evidence that he likes her is how fierce he is about protecting her and how far he is willing to go for her. Maybe my brother sucks lol, but he would not act like that about me.

Also, I know Megumi wants to get Gojo out of the prison realm but... I have to say it looks to me more like he’s doing all of this for Tsumiki’s sake.

Anyways, I think Gege set up a nice paradox with Megumi and Tsumiki. Almost like he wants fans to be taken aback by the fact that they are step-siblings and may be attracted to each other.

GASP! The nerve! 

Of course, we’ve never seen Tsumiki from her own pov, or Megumi from Tsumiki’s pov, so we don’t know how she feels about him. 

Anyways, those are my thoughts. 

Ah damn. I ended up ranting a bit. 

Thanks for the ask! I had not brain rotted about these two in a while. Maybe I’ll go looking for more art to post here for us closeted degenerate pervs.

Shipping is sacred! Enjoy the ship.

[maythevoidnotscreamback]

I assure you there are people who are of the same opinion as you. Hell, as it is, I'm of the opinion they don't like the ZeLink ship is because of the whole 'SoulMate' thing. You know, where it could be implied that they actually have no choice but to be together (as Cia from HW: DE is all up in arms about) because of 'Fate' instead of 'Destiny' (because I'm also of the opinion that the two are intrinsic/intertwined but still roughly separate things), hard-work and understanding. Kinda like how some people really hate UsaMamo from SailorMoon just the same for the same reason, if with different 'evidence' in regards to proof-positive/canon reincarnation and the whole Future Arc/Crystal Tokyo and Chibi-Usa shtick.

My thoughts regarding ZeLink, and the whole reincarnation idea, of which I also love to bits and pieces, also include the idea of 'our last life wasn't enough to let me love you so it's gonna continue into this one and each one after until I feel satisfied. And I might very well never feel that way so long as I know you feel the same, and even if you don't feel the same, my feelings won't change. I wont force them on you however, that wouldn't be right. So tell me now if you'd rather I leave you to live my life elsewhere; to let you live your life in peace. Just know that, unless my death prevents it, I will come should you ever call for my aid.'

One could say it's (↑) too intense for any of their relationships, or at least some of them, but it's all a matter of perspective. There's an 'after-game' once said game is wrapped (sp?), so who's to say they just stop interacting once everything is over? Not to mention the whole, 'oh, but he loves so-and-so!' in regards to Midna or Malon for their specific canoninity, as though Link loving one person stops him from forming feelings for another. As it is, I'm of the HC opinion that the reason he got with Malon in OoT is that, never being known as the Hero left him unable to form any deeper relationship other than 'friendship' (they both might have wanted more between them but circumstances kept that from happening) with Zelda, him being an unknown orphan from the forest and her being the Princess, and being lonely in his older years he formed feelings for the only other girl who could at least let him love her as much as he could when his first love is out of his reach. To which could be the same for TP, Midna was out of reach, not to mention the whole 'didn't consult with him before unilaterally making The Decision that decided the relationship's end', and it could go that the horrors of what they went through during gameplay caused them to bond in the 'after-game' and feelings naturally formed and deepened that way.

Another of my HCs regard LA, in that Link was out on that raft because something had happened to Zelda - an eternal sleep curse or something of the like - and he'd gone to find her a cure once everything else had been exhausted and he couldn't stay idle any longer. She's just an ordinary girl named Marin while dreaming, Koholint acting as an island version of her Royal Responsibilities, the monsters wanting to off her meant to be a kinda Freddy Krueger situation and when the Windfish wakes is when she does too. As it is, I fully believe that if the Odyssey was a True Historical Thing and not just a written oral story, most especially the Musical as made by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, it could very well apply to ZeLink too. ^_^

All said, these are only HCs, no one else has to like or even agree with them. Just thought to let you, OP, know my own thoughts about what you've wrote about. That you're not alone in your thinking that ZeLink can work for every game, at least most of them, (LOZ is the only exception for me because of my HC that the sleeping one of AoL is the True Zelda, while the other is just a descendant of her brother and thus not the Princess of Destiny) if one gives some thought to make it work while not being a shoe-horn situation. :D Hope you liked my HCs. Sorry if you don't. -_-'

Im not hating on other Zelda ships when I say this, but i truly do not understand the appeal of pairing Zelda or Link with most other side characters. There are some exceptions, as in more understand then others(midna, ruto, medli, groose) but when I see link being paired with someone like malon or ilia, I just can't see it(and yes I'm ignoring the the theory that link ended up with malon). Because the appeal of shipping link and zelda with each other, or certain characters, is that they are the only ones to truly understand what they went through. To me, having them end up with someone normal, having them live a normal life with a normal spouse who could never begin to understand them, is boring. It's not narratively satisfying.

Now look I get it, a lot of people don't like to ship most versions of zelink because they see it as "main boy ends up with main girl" or "hero ends up with princess he saves" and I get that. Normally I hate those sort of ships too, because they're usually so meaningless. They have no chemistry and are just a reward for the hero. But the reason I think it works for zelink is because that's not the point. The point isn't that link gets the girl, in fact the only time he ever "gets the girl" is in the last few seconds of Zelda 2, where it's implied that Zelda kisses him behind the curtain. The point of this game, of their relationship, is that they are forced to be the heros. It was destiny, chosen before they were even born. They were going to be the holders of the triforce, and they were going to save the world together. They had no choice.

Ive talked about it before, how tragic their story is. To forever be doomed to this tale of hyrules saviors, to never have that choice. They are the only two to understand this, the only two to be forced by destiny, by hylia, by demise, to be chosen. They will never have that choice.

And they are the only ones who could ever actually understand that about each other.

Again, no hate to other ships, but the idea that zelink move on with their lives, marrying people who have no idea what they went through? Thats boring, that's even more tragic to me. I understand the whole wanting a normal life thing, the whole "i don't understand what you went through, but I will love you fiercely anyway" thing, but it just doesn't feel satisfying.

In these ships, link settles down and lives a happy life. Zelda marries some random royal and continues their line. But there's something tragic there to me, a love that could never be, or just the idea that their partners would never understand why they get awoken by vivid nightmares or dreams, why they work so diligently to defend their homes, why they always seem to look over their shoulders like their waiting for the next threat.

Yes, they can understand to the best of their abilities, but I've always been more inclined to fall for ships who hold shared trauma, who could wake up next to the other having a nightmare and understand completely, who can comfort them in a way nobody else could.

It just feels frustrating to have this idea of characters we follow so closely, see their journey and pain and trauma, who we watch meet a myriad of interesting characters, end up with the ones who i personally feel would understand them the least out of anyone.

Anyway this isn't meant to crap on any ships, I've seen the fanart, I've read the fics, they're adorable. This is just me being a zelink truther and talking about how I PERSONALLY don't understand the appeal.

So uhhhh where are my fellow lovers of trauma bonded zelink?