#in-universe explanation for her work outfit TEEHEE

[vani-candy]

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hello hello! trying to get back in the swing of making comics (and arting in general lol) with a short lil bridge between Painful Memory and the next chapter! im exploding with ideas and still trying to figure out the best way to do them without destroying my brain, but i hope you all will enjoy this little piece for now!

[shadamyheadcanons]

I hope this reply doesn’t come across as aggressive or anything! The intent is more along the lines of “I love obsessing over fictional hedgehogs and their hypothetical powers.”

@killingthecringe​ (Love that username!)

I can’t speak to any other powers Amy could have, but the bracelets don’t hinder her future sight. If you count the IDW comics, she still possesses the same tarot card skills she’s always had, bracelets or not:

I haven’t read enough of IDW to know the details, but that’s not the look of someone who doesn’t know what she’s doing. That’s real panic. Our girl’s still got it.

(Side note - when the cards told Amy where to meet Sonic in Sonic CD, they never mentioned romance, they just said that it was a “destined encounter.” I love that even Amy herself doesn’t say anything about love here. Huge thanks to this issue’s writer, Evan Stanley, for allowing us to draw our own conclusions about it. It’s so much better when writers leave a little wiggle room like this, intentional or not.)

I can absolutely understand why Sega would want to limit her gamebreaking powers--hell, I said as much in a recent ask--but that only works as an out-of-universe explanation, doesn’t it? It doesn’t provide an in-universe reason. Why would Amy want to limit her own powers? She and her friends face very real danger on a daily basis. Surely she’d want any advantage she could get to protect her loved ones.

@shadowxamyweek​​

Thing is, when people talk about Amy needing her bracelets for her hammer, they mean it one of two ways. Some say it’s to summon it out of thin air, but that’s not the case, as this adorable gif from Sonic Mania part 6 proves:

Teehee.

Right out of thin air, no bracelets needed.

Even if one believes she needs them strictly to lift her new hammer or perform other feats of strength, Classic Amy proves that wrong, too. She’s already absurdly strong even at age 8. Through a combination of dedication and physics, mmm-asbestos made a fantastic post about her strength. It is well worth the read, seriously, but suffice it to say that this right here...

...is incredible. So she physically has the strength already, and we also know wielding the hammer isn’t something that requires Amy’s magic specifically because Shadow can wield it, too:

Yeah, he has bracelets, but they’ve only ever held back his powers. They don’t amplify them or grant him new abilities. They do the opposite.

So, as far as I can tell, there’s nothing connecting Amy’s bracelets to her hammer, neither through magic nor strength. I could be missing something, but I just don’t see it.

I’ve yet to see anything that contradicts the training weight theory. There’s nothing else on her arms that she and Cream could have been referring to. They do hold her back, but the whole point of training weights is ultimately to make one stronger. They’re not just for control. The concept suits Amy’s desire to get stronger, fits into the lore, and isn’t really a stretch. Training weights come in a variety of colors, too, so matching her outfit would be easy.

This does give me an idea for a headcanon, though...

Oh, and as for the screenshots? Haha, it depends on what you mean by “canon.” They do look that way in the cutscenes. Silver does have the little cyan stripe on his bracelets like always; it’s just more apparent in later games, maybe to make them look a little less like Shadow and Amy’s. The dialogue, though? I completely made it up for comedic effect, lmao. These are the real shots:

Amy: “As soon as I find Sonic, I’ll help you find who you’re looking for, Silver.”

Silver: “...”

Gotta say, I’m super proud of myself for making it that convincing!

I've read headcanons where Amy's bracelet rings are actually inhibitors like Shadow's, which is reasonable given her range of abilities (future prediction, equivalents to Shadow's powers in multiplayer modes, strength in general, etc). I think it would be neat if Shadow and Amy bonded over their inhibitors, or if their future kid(s) also had to wear inhibitors because of their inherited abilities. What are your thoughts, though?

To my knowledge, Sega has never commented on this, but it’s been a debate ever since Shadow showed up. Fans have suggested multiple explanations for their presence, most of which fall under four categories:

1. They’re basic accessories. This pairs well with Amy’s love of fashion. However, it doesn’t match the consistent theme of Amy having hidden powers. It’s also very boring.

2. They’re tied to her ability to summon her hammer. They match and could hold the power to help her perform the feat. This wouldn’t a bad idea if Classic Amy weren’t constantly debunking it:

She didn’t need them to summon it as a kid, so it shouldn’t be any different now.

3. They’re exactly like Shadow’s. A fun idea, but it doesn’t quite work. Sonic has powers like Shadow’s, too--Chaos Control and Sonic Wind, his own Chaos Spear equivalent--but he doesn’t wear inhibitors or explode with Chaos energy.

Instead, let me introduce you to my personal favorite, the one that I think makes the most sense in canon:

4. They’re training weights that keep her physical strength in check. The proof is in Sonic Battle:

I googled “yellow wrist weights,” and these came up immediately:

With a few tweaks, they’d look just like her bracelets and gloves. We don’t see them on her legs, but her boots are high enough to hide them. Amy’s bracelets are literally the only items on her arms. What else could she and Cream possibly be referring to? Sure, they still show on her model after she’s taken them off, but that can be chalked up to Sonic Battle’s sprite limitations. She can still summon her hammer, and she doesn’t explode with energy like Shadow does when he takes off his limiters, but she is tougher the second time around. The only explanation is that they hold her back physically and can be taken off in a pinch, which is why she didn’t wear them when she was a kid. She's stronger than she used to be.

I’d love to see her bond with Shadow over them. I made a headcanon about that a while back. I adore the idea of their kids wearing them, too. If only there were a character who’s a possible descendant of theirs from the future who also wears them to lend credence to the idea!

...

...Wait a minute...