#robert faraday

[sleazyjanet]

do you think robert and the rest of the french team wonder why danielle isn't in the same flash sideways as them and why she's only moving on with some weird evil dude* later

*my theory is ben choosing not to move on with the losties results in him becoming a sort of intermediate person like desmond, helping alex, danielle and some others, like miles, daniel, charlotte, maybe even charles? (listen, there's so much to be said about THAT) etc, remember at their own pace (obviously, alex is his priority, and danielle comes with alex, but i think he helps the others, too)

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Oh, I forgot my favorite thing about Dr. Faraday! How foolish of me!

Dr. Faraday is the least ambiguous of a concept that I think permeates the entire game, but is not understood by people who think there are "rules of narrative fiction" that say you have to take everything at face value unless it's contradicted otherwise.

She is a contextual villain.

This is an idea that exists in lots of other media, but I saw it explained most memorably in one of Kieron Gillen's BTS essays for Phonogram: Singles Club. It's in the back of Laura's issue, right after you've watched the girl who you thought was Penny's mysterious and aloof ride-or-die bestie turn out to be her bitter, overshadowed plus-one.

In Arthur's act, Faraday is presented to you as a victim of her own utility to Wellington Wells, imprisoned in her own lab and conscripted to make security devices against her will. You are made to sympathize with her desire not to contribute any further to the subjugation of the populace and assist with her escape plan (although you are admittedly more motivated by the need for her to fix the Plassey Bridge for you). Her stated wishes are altruistic and ethical in this context.

In They Came From Below, however, she is the main antagonist and you find that her lack of emotional intelligence prevents her from seeing what Roger readily can: that the robots she's discovered are sentient and have feelings. Consequently, she's out here committing atrocities and shit. Not very sympathetic now! Although, to her thinking at the time, her motivations were still altruistic and ethical: the people of Wellington Wells had stopped farming so she meant to reprogram the robots to do it for them. If the robots had been exactly as they appeared, this would not have been a problem.

It is for this reason that in my story, her change of heart is actually not emotional, but logical. She's been convinced that the robots have their feelings, but she must reconcile that if forcing them to feel ways convenient for civic use was wrong, then it also wrong to do so to the people of Wellington Wells.

But consider that Roger, after all this, remains loyal to her. It's not just the job or the security she's provided either; after she's gone, he's reluctant to hand over his bee cannon to Ollie because "she made it for me". Roger's seen her at her worst and he's seen her at her best too. He's weighed all her actions together and made his decision about her.

It's rather special what They Came From Below does as well, in making her an antagonist. It poses a question: are you sure about your impression of this character? Do you have the full picture? In Arthur's and Sally's Acts, Faraday is witty and even a bit charming for someone so devoid of empathy.

Dr. Verloc is described the same way, you know.

But let us imagine they gave us a Verloc DLC. Do you think he'd be a villain in it? No, 'cause he'd be the protagonist. A Byng DLC? Same thing. You'd be forced to reconcile their world view with those you'd already been shown. Might they still wash out to be villains overall? Maybe. Probably, even.

The only reason why these guys are so thoroughly vilified is because we never get to see them on their own terms or from any perspective other than that of their enemies (particularly each other actually, which is pretty funny!) But they are surely as dimensional as anyone else in this world.

And this goes the other way too. You play as Arthur and immediately you meet a character who knows him: Danny Defoe. And Danny does not like him! Now granted, this is because when they worked at the O' Courant together, he copied one of Arthur's articles word for word and submitted it as his own, Arthur told on him, and he got fired. Which reflects poorly on Danny, but we also know by this point that Clive Birtwhistle isn't exactly Arthur's biggest fan either. And maybe Clive's not as diligent a worker as Arthur, but he also thinks Arthur's a kiss-ass and we learn from the Ploughboys later that this may not be an unsubstantiated opinion. 0-2 for coworker relations. When you find Prudence's diary in the Maidenholm hatch, we learn she didn't like him much either. Paints a picture. I mean, Arthur's the only constant in this equation.

And Sally. Lordy, for someone so popular and friendly, she sure does have a lot of people not particularly pleased with her.

Ollie at least understands he's a miserable prick and how that informs his relationships with everyone else. But Arthur, Sally, and even Victoria speak of him fondly so we know he's actually being more critical of himself than they are (without yet knowing he has his buried reasons to see himself that way).

We were given all this, and yet a lot of people were still asking why Arthur and Sally's versions of events are so different and who was "right".

In being so obviously and unambiguously shown in a controverting light from her established impression, Dr. Faraday is the game's invitation to question your perception of every character.

RSVP.

[neutrallyobsessed]

Tom DuBois: Ace Attorney

as promised

and R-Kelly's lawyer, who doesn't have a name..... all of this is very confusing I know

and then there's Huey, the young assisstant... I didn't know who could fit best, so I did the three lol

Soooo if Riley is the opposing side i guess??

Oh, here's something that makes sense: daughter character has daughter sprites!

._.xd^^

OK GUYS I HAD THE FUNNIEST IDEA

and they look similar enough to me ngl lol

[haljeexyee]

do you have any art of Goddard? Btw, love your art!! ❤️

AAH thank you so much! 🫶

And a few, yes! He is also such an interesting character and I enjoy drawing the design I made for him! I have a few scythe memes I would like to draw including him so I hope to get those done some time in the near future ✨💙

[pedroam-bang]

Gangster Squad (2013)

[ufonaut]

I lived my whole life over seven times, making the same mistakes each time, before my emergency chute opened. By that time I was close enough to the water to see my reflection in it...

King Faraday in Danger Trail (1950) #2

(Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino)

[abnormalacademy]

Okay, I'm just gonna post all the Abnormal Academy characters in here I currently have references of!

Malcolm Wittenberg (he/him) might be a wizard in training, but he isn’t really training hard to be one. It isn’t that he doesn’t like to learn, and magic might really be kind of interesting, but Malcolm’s mother is so pressuring that he stopped caring.

Nora Newdawn (she/her) truly isn’t average, but compared to the students at Abnormal Academy, she’s painfully normal. Her normality is so stark that her nickname quickly became “the normal kid”. Nora has an unwavering sense of enthusiasm which radiates from her like an aura, affecting Jesse's disillusionment and Malcolm’s carelessness positively. She always tries to help anyone with their problems!

Jesse Tenacity (he/him) is the embodiment of bad luck. It has gotten so bad that he doesn’t even try to fight it anymore, it’s routine at this point. How he got his bad luck, no-one knows, but Jesse is disillusioned about ever accomplishing anything.

Hugo Samson (he/him) is a super-powered kid but also a bit of a super-jerk. Not only can he fly, but he possesses super strength and to an extent controls the elements as well. Hugo is very egotistical and loves to flaunt his powers, but in truth, he isn’t very popular with the public. His scholarship was government mandated due to a flying kid being difficult to manage in a normal classroom.

Clover Lachance (she/her) is the luckiest girl in the world, and what luck can’t give her will be provided by her extremely rich parents. While she seems happy enough with her idyllic life, Clover is extremely insecure and she projects these feelings on anyone who looks the wrong way at her. She is also strangely jealous of Jesse, because even the boy with the worst luck in the world can make more friends than her. Clover is quite competitive, and because her parents pay little attention to her, school is everything to her.

Due to an unfortunate accident in a burning building Niamh O'Tine (she/her) is now constantly on fire: a condition which sounds more painful than it is, but still isn’t pleasant. Niamh can control and create fire, which would be cool if she wasn’t deathly afraid of it. Her father might be a firefighter, but this isn’t really anything he can fight. Her sister Aoife will fight anyone who might harm her though.

Name a martial art and this girl has learned it. Aoife O'Tine (she/her) has completely mastered her own body, and can subdue foes twice her size and thrice her weight. She feels a strong need to protect her little sister Niamh from anything that might bring her harm.

Ali Al-Athnan (he/him) is an above average student and a bit of a goody-two-shoes. Although he always tries his best to get good grades and keep the teachers happy, his alter ego Sharir has other plans. When Abnormal Academy is inhabited by darkness, Sharir plays the most elaborate pranks on the school and his fellow students, much to their disdain. But while they suffer from pranks, Ali suffers from sleep deprivation.

Harry Faraday (he/him) got his nickname (Hairy Harry) from his curse: he is a werewolf. Although many call it a curse, he doesn’t mind being one, and he can change into a werewolf at will, assuming the form more often than his human form, especially at Abnormal Academy. Harry’s hobbies include late-night walks and music. He likes listening to all sorts of genres but enjoys making metal music the most.

Morty Dececci (he/him) is one of the younger students of Abnormal Academy due to his urgency to get in. He is an orphan, but his family very much affects his day-to-day life. Only he can see them, however, as his power is the ability to see ghosts. Not many would call it useful, and he calls it downright annoying. Due to his family constantly pressuring and pestering him, he’s not only on edge all the time, but also extremely paranoid.

Robert Svoboda (he/him) is the first sentient robot. He is the masterpiece of Adam Svoboda, who considers him his son. While Robert is a very real person with his own emotions, his father finds it important to “document” everything he’s doing with a surveillance drone: a literal helicopter parent, if you will. Robert is prone to aggression, ironically bad at math, but loves reading and watching movies, especially sci-fi. He also likes just relaxing in silence for once.

Apparently watching too much TV doesn’t make your eyes square, but it does turn you grayscale. Kitty Fleischer (she/her) has channeled her love for early 20th-century cartoons into the powers of slapstick, which makes her survive the most wacky injuries. Summoning anvils or banana peels is also in her repertoire. Though Kitty’s powers are very amusing to watch from afar, her powers also affect anyone close-by, which makes fellow students hesitant to befriend her. When Kitty really likes someone the concentration it requires to keep her powers in check makes her very nervous, and she’s already socially awkward.

Lucy Blackell (she/her) is a woman of ambitions, which she channels mostly through her son Malcolm. Being her kin she knows that he has magical affinity, and so she urged her husband Faust to enroll him in Abnormal Academy. While Lucy might seem like an average enough woman, she has ulterior motives for Malcolm’s magical education, relating to her own heritage.

Polyver Monolith (1) (he/they) came from the future together with their sister Chronys, and even for that wondrous place he has a strange abnormality: he clones himself and in the process splits parts of their personality so that he can hide them better. He doesn't do this on purpose, and they can fuse with his clones or "siblings" anytime to become the real Polyver again. Usually they're with 3, which even have names of their own, but when he loses control of his emotions he can split into dozens of clones. Polyver is an energetic kid who never backs down from an argument and is fiercely protective of his older sister, although he often annoys her.

Multimer (2) (he/they) is Polyver's creativity mixed with their more devious side.

Quantin (3) (he/they) is a piece of Polyver the other clones would rather hide, and they often partake in bullying him. Quantin is timid and quiet, and is scared of this new time and space.

[annoying--moth]

Do you think non-Arc of a Scythe people ever see posts about it and wonder shit like "Damn why are these people hating on Robert Goddard" or "Why are people shipping Michael Faraday and Marie Curie"

[i-lost-my-last-blog]

I have taken it upon myself to judge all the ace attorneys and legal professionals ( and then some !) in terms of how they would be as a partner . 1 sentence explanations only

(Warning this is stupid and long also play ghost trick )

legal disclaimer this is a joke

Blaze Debeste - The fact that the prevailing fan theory is that he murdered his wife is probably not a good sign

Kristoph Gavin- He WOULD gaslight you people stop simping , that man is a MENACE

Sebastian Debeste- That is a teenage boy

Godot- He would make you do all the fucking work and then be so condecending too don't even lie

Simon Blackquill- Simon would not want to be in a relationship with you tbh and who are you to force him

Miles Edgeworth - He is already a taken man

The Judge - That man is too senile but he seems like a loving grandpa :(

Fransiska Von Karma- unreasolved anger issues do not bode well but if nothing else she is devoted , cute lesbians may have a chance

Nayuta Sahdmandhi- Not a single day of peace without him arguing with you in circles I fear

Phoenix Wright -Phoenix has two hands and they were already taken years ago

Apollo Justice - If I had a lame ass boyfriend-

Klavier Gavin - Probably a good boyfriend but his fanbase gives me possessive kpop fandom vibes

Athena Cykes - Asks hella intrusive questions but generally supportive??

Mia Fey - Woman sexy AND nice ?

Callisto Yue - If you are into bullying and humiliation she would provide plenty

Robin Newman - Probably needs to figure out the disphoria situation first but if loudness doesn't bother you the deal doesn't seem bad

Aristotle Means - Take it from me you don't want to date a Greek statue much less if his slogan tries to justify murder

Manfred Von Karma - Canonically a wife guy???

Raymond Shields - He is giving cringy dad energy but I just KNOW he gets petty as hell during fights

Phoenix Wrong (Furio Tigre) - He does not love you don't fall for it he just wants the insurance

Judge Courtney - She is OUT of your league

Robert Hammond - There is no way you would find him alive to romance , there is LITERAL cosmic intervention

Professor Courte- Apparently the only sane person in that entire academy so points to her I guess

Dhurke Sahdmandhi - Also canonically a wife guy but becoming his automatically makes you an enemy of the state AND a tragic widow

Hugh O'Connor - Do you count his lying about his age as catfishing ?

The Kurain Judge - ??? I don't think a single person thought of him when the prompt was datable ace attorney characters and I'm already reaching with half of these people

Lana Skye - She loves you but goddamn is she good at making you think otherwise

Juniper Woods - Sweet girl , precious girl would make a great girlfriend if you can handle eating only organic foods

Gregory Edgeworth - Husband and father shaped

Queen Ga'ran - Not only is she a dictator but also a spouse killer

Byrne Faraday- He is not cheating on you he is just out doing his vigilante shit

Winston Payne - He says he is a wife guy , we don't know if she has settled

Gaspen Payne - Professional hater

Ryunosuke Naruhodou - If I had a lame ass boyfriend- pt2

Kazuma Asogi - He would love you but the ghosts of his past cling to him still can you handle that?

Barok Van Zieks - Polite and protective but your political views cannot be progressive

Mael Strongheart - He would feed you to a dog if it came down to it

Auchi Taketsuchi - Probably not the worst husband but he is a conservative in a conservative country in the 1800s so…

Ryutaru Naruhodou - That is a teenager pt2 No relations to Susato Mikotoba

Klint Van Zieks - Husband and father material but his dog is dripping human blood

Judge Jigoku - Yes he is a silver fox but he is also mafia coded

Judge Santa Claus - Is probably already in a committed relationship at the North Pole

Bonus :

Dick Gumshoe : Already taken but either way it's already been established that Gumshoe is peak male performance I'm sorry

Ema Skye - food and forensic prints sharing as a love language <3

Shi Long Lang - look you HAVE to accept that you are getting initiated in a wolf pack of 100 men , yes they are all commited to the bit , no it's non negotiable so if that's not a deal breaker then …. by all means live your omegaverse fantasy

Tyrell Badd - if manpain needed a textbook definition

Bobby Fulbright ( prime ) - I'd describe him as if a golden retriever was prone to moral panic and constant lectures on exaggerated moral superiority and justice

Bobby Fulbright ( lite) - He WILL kill you and steal your identity maybe you don't believe me but it's not my problem if you get replaced

Tobias Gregson - If you are fine losing a husband to heart disease in his early 50s then maybe

Herlock Sholmes - Unless you have nerves and patience of steel it's recommended that you stay as far away from that man as possible for your own sanity and safety, he is hazardous and yes it is contageous

Genshin Asogi - Honestly if I were Mrs Asogi I too would fall gravely ill if I lost such a chad, and she had him in the bag too fully devoted

Lynne Ghost Trick - Needs a partner as well as a babysitter as she does appear prone to stumbling onto life threatening situations

Jowd Ghost Trick - if manpain was a word pt2 but he is actually worst

Cabanella Ghost Trick - Tee hees too close to the sun and is kind of a bitch sometimes but at least you can leave him alone without him having either died or sacrificed himself within the span of 2 minutes

[vonlipvig]

Causes of death in the Ace Attorney franchise

Because I'm bored, and what do we do when we get bored? We MAKE LISTS! I went through every character dead character in the canon game universe (so AA1-6, AAI1-2, and TGAA1-2, sorry PWvsPL) and jotted it all down below, so let's see what the most common (specified) cause of death in Ace Attorney is:

Stabbed (x15)

Shot (x15)

Hit by a blunt object (x14)

Impaled (x5)

Poisoned (x4)

Fell to their death (x3)

Hanged (x3)

Car crash (x2)

Strangled (x1)

Electrocuted (x1)

Crushed (x1)

Suffocated (x1)

Asphyxiated (x1)

Heart Failure (x1)

Burned (x1)

Full list with character names all color-coded by game and more specific data below! (Beware of SPOILERS for the whole series!)

COLOR CODE: OG Trilogy - AJ - DD & SOJ - AAI1 - AA12 - TGAA 1 & 2

(AAI gets two different colors since a lot of people probably haven't played AAI2 yet. Sorry, DD and SoJ, you have to share. 'Why don't you do one color for the whole Apollo Trilo-' No <3)

---

Stabbed (x15)

(Bruce Goodman, Misty Fey, Rex Kyubi, Constance Courte, Clay Terran, Metis Cykes, Inga Karkhuul Khura'in, Byrne Faraday, Manny Coachen, Horace Knightley, Di-Jun Huang, Mason Milverton, Jezaille Brettª, Odie Asman, Klint van Zieks)

Shot (x15)

(Gregory Edgeworth, Robert Hammond, Turner Grey, Pal Meraktis, Romein LeTouse, Magnifi Gramarye¨, Dhurke Sahdmadhi, Buddy Faith, Oliver Deacon, Deid Mann, Mack Rell, Ethan Rooke, Pop Windibank, Genshin Asogi, Tobias Gregson)

Hit by a blunt object (x14)

(Cindy Stone, Mia Fey, Russell Berry, Kane Bullard, Zak Gramarye, Candice Arme, Paht Rohl, Archie Buff, Jove Justice, Dumas Gloomsbury, Ka-Shi Nou, Isaac Dover, Jill Crane, Jack Cameron)

Impaled (x5)

(Jack Hammer, Neil Marshall, Manov Mistree, Puhray Zeh'lot, Tahrust Inmee¨)

Poisoned (x4)

(Glen Elg, Terry Fawles¨, Drew Misham, John H. Wilson)

Fell to their death (x3)

(Dustin Prince, Jack Shipley*, Akbey Hicks)

Hanged (x3)

(Joe Darke°, Celeste Inpax¨, Dahlia Hawthorne°)

Car crash (x2)

(Ini Miney*, Selena Sprocket*)

Strangled (x1)

(Juan Corrida)

Electrocuted (x1)

(Doug Swallow)

Crushed (x1)

('Di-Jun Huang')

Suffocated (x1)

(Taifu Toneido)

Asphyxiated (x1)

(Duncan Ross)

Heart Failure (x1)

(Azura Summers^)

Burned (x1)

(Magnus McGilded)

---

ª: She was stabbed, right? Like, she was poisoned first, but she died from the stab wound first, if I'm correct. Do tell if I'm wrong, lmao.

*: Accidental deaths

^: Natural death

¨: Deaths by suicide

°: Executed (Joe Darke's method of execution isn't mentioned, but if we assume Japanifornia goes by Japan laws, then hanging is the only method of execution used. Probably a higher number of deaths by hanging then, whether you believe some people got executed or not. Also, a lot of the killers in TGAA probably got executed, too? I just jotted down the confirmed cases, but yeah.)

(Also, von Karma died of 'Something'. Who knows. Of being too ashamed, maybe. Sucks to be him).

I probably missed some characters/omitted them, because who knows, it's my list I guess. If I forgot someone important do let me know!

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

The Defense is not ready, your Honour...

🌙🪶Our main: @panged-lin

A sideblog for all the Ace Attorney discussion & fanart I happen to think of and like, respectively.

Our court record contains the following evidence:

Analysis on things that have stuck in my brain like corn kernels

Random ramblings I found amusing enough to put into words

JUSTICE!

Fanart. A lot of it. There's too much I can't not reblog...

An unusual amount of Dual Destinies-related posts. Athena and Simon have overwritten my neurological functions, to my chagrin.

Court Proceedings:

Posts that deconstruct canon & ones that discuss fanon/headcanons will be clearly denoted. Keep discussions neat and cleanly defined in the pursuit of the truth!

Reblogged ship art will always be tagged for those who wish to block/find the respective pair tags.

Parrots are permitted on the witness stand to provide testimony under extreme circumstances.

Anon asks are enabled. Any assassins that wish to give testimony may do so with complete anonymity and safety.

The Investigation games and other spinoffs are unfamiliar territory for this page. Bare that in mind!

Orcas are permitted on the witness stand under the same conditions as for a parrot to be brought to the stand.

Old personal tags:

#order in the court! - Any old nonsense. If it would get me yelled at by a judge it's going here.

#witness testimony - Reblogs from other sources

#cross examining the witness - Replies via reblog

#evidence approval - General fanart tag

#the court record has been updated - Follow-ups from posts made here

#turn your thinking around! - Story analysis. Headcanons are kept to a minimum.

#this is baseless conjecture! - Headcanons and similar musings. Ranges from educated to pure nonsense.

#psyche-lock cracking - Character analysis.

#perceiving secrets - Visual analysis.

#let your heart be heard - Asks, either requesting or answering.

#herman crab approved - marker for strictly non-romantic readings of plot or pairings. Those without this are open to interpretation going forward!

#the cykes brigade is totally cyked! - Athena Cykes.

#auticykes - niche tag for Autistic Athena Cykes posts

#arothena/#arothena agenda - niche tags for Aromantic Athena Cykes posts

#hi widget! - erm, Widget. Duh.

#prosecutor birdman - Simon Blackquill.

#psych siblings - Athena & Simon duo posts. Mis-written frequently, my bad.

#twin-horned devil - Aura Blackquill.

#quillblings - Simon & Aura duo posts.

#rare moon of hope - Metis Cykes.

#dear bosom buzzard - Taka.

#in robert we trust! - Bobby Fulbright.

#blade of JUSTICE - Simon and Bobby's pair tag. Non-romantic variations included.

#fey appreciation posts - Mia, Maya, and Pearl-oriented posts. Other Fey clan-related chicanery is also included.

#maya apprecition/#mia appreciation/#pearl appreciation - See above, but more specific.

#mr fine - Apollo Justice.

#what's faith without doubt? - Apollo and Athena's shared tag. Do as you will, I just really like these two and their arc.

#apollo's girlfriend - Mikeko.

#the wright man for the job - Phoenix Wright (PW1-3, DD/SoJ).

#you've come to the wright place! - Trucy Wright.

#the perceptive pair - Duo tag for Apollo and Trucy. Non-negotiably platonic/sibling.

#the king of prosecutors - Miles Edgeworth.

#beanix - Phoenix Wright (AJ:AA).

#piano man - Klavier Gavin.

#for skyentific purposes - Ema Skye.

#gone swimming - Damon Gant.

#foolishly foolish fools! - Franziska von Karma.

#call them karmic justice - Egdeworth/Franziska's shared tag. Non-negotiably silbing/sibling-esque.

#man freed from karma - Manfred von Karma.

#dirt earthman - Clay Terran.

#judge junie - Juniper Woods.

#an orange for strength - Thena and Junie's shared tag.

#17 cups of coffee - Godot/Diego Armando.

#moon's haunted - ???/"The phantom".

#hang loose baby! - Roger Retinz.

#a sad monk - Nahyuta Sahdmadhi.

#udgey - The Judge.

#this isn't texas dude - Jake Marshall.

#DISMANTLE DISMANTLE DISMANTLE- - Ted Tonate.

#a covetous crow - Kay Faraday.

#fresh as a spring breeze - Matt Engarde.

#splendiferous! - Redd White.

#i want to protect you! - Blue Badger. Yes I'm serious.

#emotional noise - Old version of #order in the court!

#updating the mood matrix - Old version of #the court record has been updated

#dual destinies analysis - dedicated tag for DD analysis posts, defunct

#dual destinies watchthrough - officially retired

#thena thoughts/#a thena - Athena Cykes text and fanart respectively, defunct

#simon soliloquys/#art of the twisted samurai - Simon Blackquill text and fanart respectively, defunct

#case 6 2 watchthrough - officially retired

[the-commonplace-book]

For the ship chart maybe you could do Victoria/Prudence or maybe Arthur/ Sally? Honestly love the level of analysis you put into these asks

Send me a ship for the ship bingo chart: Arthur Hastings / Sally Boyle ( We Happy Few )

Arthur and Sally you say? >:) Oh do I have Thoughts™ about Arthur and Sally (anon I’d like to give you a kiss on the mouth for sending them in) 

I’ve talked about Arthur and Sally before and this will come as no surprise to folks who were around last year when I was still in the throws of my first We Happy Few kick: I don’t ship Arthur and Sally and I think it’s good that they parted ways. I’ll talk about the one exception context in which I do ship them later, but for now let me elaborate on why in most scenarios Sally and Arthur absolutely do NOT work together. 

There’s a lot of appeal in the childhood friends, reunited and falling in love, trope at a first glance with Arthur and Sally, but in many ways their past and their respective unwillingness to let go of it is their downfall. Their arc plays perfectly into the narrative themes of We Happy Few. Their perceptions of each other are based on how they thought of each other as teenagers, not who they are as adults - or even who they really were as teenagers. 

Let’s look first at Sally. 

when we're together we're unstoppable. arthur and sally. sir galahad and the lady of the lake. the two musketeers  (Sally Note: Arthur!) i wanted to much to say, help, i've got a bloody baby. but he was so awful all i could get out was sorry sorry i'm sorry, and i want to help you and who even knows if he heard any of it. (Sally Note: Arthur!)

She is desperate for his approval because she respects his opinion, which makes it hurt so much more when he fails to give it. She imagines he’s right, whatever he says about her, because of course he is. She continues to bat her eyes and ask him for things because she knows he can’t say no, but she also continues to take shit from him because she really believes he has the best intentions. She thinks of him as kind and reliable, someone she can trust no matter what, and she does genuinely take advantage of that at times. Moreover, she struggles to accept that he has nuance beyond that and that he honestly had a nasty side that doesn’t line up with her image of him

When Verloc, or Byng, or any other man belittles her she blames patriarchy. When Arthur belittles her, she blames herself. She sees Arthur as smart, kind, and willing to help her with all her needs at the drop of a hat. But is he? Is he really? 

Is Arthur kind? No. Maybe he had more kindness in him as a teen, but Arthur is self-serving and avoids taking blame by painting himself as a victim of circumstance. He always has. Will Arthur help her no matter what? In the end, no. Because helping her came in conflict with point A about his own self-preservation. 

Speaking of Arthur, let’s take a look at how he thinks of Sally. 

She was being all lovely and slipped-the-surly-bonds-of-Earth Sally, only even more so, and then she said she was mates with Sir Robert B, or more than mates I suppose, and from then on all I could think about was that horrible night. (Arthur Note: And Then There Was Sally) The thing is, I don't trust her. She was always so wonderful when she was there, but a girl like Sally always has so many better places to be, and better people to be with, or worse people that she prefers anyway for some reason. And sometimes she'd just hide in Percy's old room in the attic and not come down. Who knows what's going on with her now? (Arthur Note: And Then There Was Sally) I should have said, "How have you been all these years, Sally? You ran off into the night with nothing, and now you're some sort of brilliant chemist. How did you survive? I wish I could have helped you. It would be nice to be friends again." Instead of all those dreadful things. (Arthur Line during The Faraday Cage) What if she is utterly sincere? What if she honestly does want me, and love me,  and need me? Do I have utterly no faith left in anyone? And she'd survive and I'd get killed. A girl like her shipwrecks, and the next day she's drinking margaritas under palm leaves. Yours truly is shark bait. (Arthur Note: I Am An Awful Person, But)

Arthur views Sally as being confident, flirtatious, always in control. While there is some truth to the notion that she uses men for her own gain, Arthur doesn’t ever take the time to examine why or understand the nuance of her choices. Instead he slut shames her for it. He gets upset at her for her “relationship” with Gen. Byng despite them having not spoken in fourteen years and despite the two of them having never had a relationship. As if he expected her to stay celibate for years just because he had a crush (he’d never say that, but it’s how he acts towards her) Arthur has always liked Sally, but Sally only finally decides she likes him when he can do something for her. Of course, Arthur being Arthur with his inability to accept blame without a caveat that shifts it elsewhere, doesn’t truly acknowledge that he is doing the exact same thing. He only seeks Sally out for help with the Letter of Transit. Everything comes back around to that. 

Then there’s the elephant in the room: What happened with Sally and Mr. Hastings

Arthur, in some capacity, blames Sally for what happened, even if he intellectually understands it wasn’t her fault. Sally, similarly, understands to a degree that it wasn’t her fault, but she still blames herself for it. 

what was i supposed to tell his dad, "no, you're practically my stepfather"? that would have gone over brillo. (Sally Note: Arthur!)

It doesn’t matter that her being sixteen made it legal. The fact is that Sally was young, barely of legal age, and staying with the Hastings after her entire family died. She had nowhere else to go. Mr. Hastings might not have been physically forceful, but it was coercion and he was absolutely 100% at fault. Sally has internal conflict about the whole incident and it makes sense. If she blames herself then it means she was in control, and Sally feels most secure when she’s in control.

Arthur has his own internal conflict about it. On some level he understands it wasn’t her fault (“I don't hate you, in the strangest way you're completely innocent.”) but he still yells at her about it when they reunite. He still lets it color his perception of her. His mum had died and he found his best friend (who he had a crush on) in his mum’s old bed with his dad. That had to have done a number on his psyche. 

I always used to wonder, if I'd run out the door after her, that day, what would have happened to us. Would we still be friends? Or was the magic all in my head? Who am I kidding? 16-year-old-me would never have had the courage to leave home!   (Arthur Note: I Am An Awful Person, But)

We don’t know whether this is something Arthur actually used to wonder, or if he’s just saying that now, but regardless there is an acknowledgement that at sixteen, he chose to stay with his dad. He didn’t run after Sally. And thanks to Joy, he never took the time to actually process what happened. Not until the events of the game. So he yells at her, he asks her why, despite knowing (to a degree) that she isn’t the person he should be asking that. But his dad is dead, and Sally’s here in front of him apologizing. So isn’t it easier to blame her? 

But what if…?

There’s this longing between them for their friendship to be renewed, but without accepting that they’ve both grown and changed as people (perhaps for the worse) and without acknowledging the past, there’s no hope for a future between them. Those barriers have to be broken down first. Sally was willing to try. Arthur wasn’t. Arthur believes that she chose her own convenience over leaving with him. Sally believes that Arthur left despite knowing she had a baby. 

Did Arthur hear her and just choose not to remember? Or did he really not hear her? We don’t know.

 Each character is an unreliable narrator in their act. Though I personally think he really didn’t hear her, I can’t imagine it changing anything. We know from Arthur’s act that he thought of Sally as surely having been less of a ‘loose woman’ in the past decade  (the “I haven't had sex with anyone in ten years! And if I did, it wouldn't be with that man.” line about Byng that we only get in Act I). He was faced with the reality of Sally and Verloc’s relationship in Haworth Labs via old notes, but it’s much harder to ignore a baby. A tangible result of her having had sex with someone. Arthur has an image he wants so desperate for Sally to fit, and she keeps contradicting it, but he just keeps hoping and trying. I could very easily see him responding to this news with a snarky comment about how she should ask her baby’s father for help or her good friend the General, if they’re not one in the same. (Gwen is very much Verloc’s baby is but Arthur doesn’t know that).

Despite how much they care about each other, and despite how much they may mutually wonder how things could have gone differently, even if they had an opportunity to sit down and have a proper conversation later, it would take a lot of time to be in a place where they could rebuild their friendship, and a romantic relationship would be toxic as hell if they weren’t intentional about making it healthy. Arthur doesn’t trust Sally as far as he can throw her and Sally isn’t exactly trustworthy. They’re both incredibly self-serving and both of them are incapable of acknowledging fault in any meaningful way. Arthur is awful to Sally and Sally takes it to heart, resulting in a horrid amount of negative self-talk about things she shouldn’t be blaming herself for, while she continues to ignore the problems she does have.

Arthur’s distrust, Sally’s fear of being trapped by a man, the mutual fear of the other person walking away, etc. etc. As much as I like the idea of them being in a healthy relationship down the line, it’s highly unlikely under most circumstances because they’re a wreck. It’s good that Arthur and Sally parted ways in We Happy Few. They both needed to let go of the past, and letting go of each other was a crucial step in that process.

The one exception in which I do ship them:

If it’s not clear yet, I’m in no way an Arthur apologist or a Sally apologist. I think they’re both messed up people who have a lot of growing to do, but I do have one context in which I ship them.

First of all, they would need a lot of time, a lot of personal growth, and a lot of intentional rebuilding of trust. They would have to learn to let go of their assumptions about each other and accept each other as they truly are. 

However, if they were able to take those steps, I could see them getting together a few years down the road once they’ve sorted themselves out as individuals and set new, healthier foundations for their relationship platonically. There may be room for a touch of romance after a decade or so.

Under the conditions that they’ve reached this healthier place in their lives, I think they would actually work well together. Arthur is the epitome of a male-wife and Sally is a working woman. He’s always admired her brilliance and finds it admirable how well she’s done for herself. He would support her in her career and she would support him in his, whatever that might be.

I think they balance each other out really well, too. Arthur is so caught up in what’s right and wrong. He sees people as either “good” or “bad” in most cases, where Sally sees everyone as being in that grey space between. This can cause conflict, but it can also cause growth if they take the time to listen to each other. Arthur needs someone to help him question that worldview. 

Sally sees people as tools for the most part. Most people (not all, but most) are means to an end in her eyes, and I think Arthur could help her challenge that in herself and try to be a better person simply for the sake of human decency. 

They have a shared love of literature and fashion, and admire each other in so many ways. Arthur admires her determination, intellect, and cleverness. Sally admires his wit, kindness, and ingenuity. While in the game they hold these things up as impossible ideals that don’t leave room for flaw, these opinions aren’t entire unfounded, and I think given time, trust, and honesty they could really help each other to be better versions of themselves. 

Also Arthur helping take care of Gwen is just soft. 

They wouldn't have an explosive romance. It would instead be the slowest of slow burns with a lot of hiccups along the way. It would begin with reconciliation and would take years of rebuilding trust and friendship. I could see them growing closer again over the years until one day they realize that Arthur comes over for dinner every night. He sleeps over on the couch more often than not. He’s practically living here already, so why not just move in? So the spare bedroom becomes Arthur’s room. Gwen’s a tween by now and is at that age where she’s meddling in other people’s love lives and thinks she knows what’s best for everyone. She’s thrilled at the idea of Uncle Arthur moving in. By her reckoning he and her mum are already a couple. It’s a while before Arthur and Sally acknowledge that that’s what they’ve become.

They’ve been walking side-by-side through life for years now and one day realize they’ve been holding hands along the way. 

For the art, I decided to draw them about 30 years down the line in the 90s ♥

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk :)  I’ll make a separate (shorter certainly) post for Prudence and Victoria. (edit: here it is!)

[skylarynns-silverado]

Character Source List

Sources [usually films or television shows - anything else will have notation] will be in bold. Characters will be formatted with their in-universe name, followed by the original character in italics. Name formatting will be [First Name] [Middle Name] ["Nick Name"] [Maiden Name/Original Surname] [Married Name/Taken Surname] as applicable. I will probably also be adding links to everything, but later.

Wanted: Dead or Alive 1958-1961 Joshua Everett "Josh" Randall - Josh Randall

Rawhide 1959-1965 Randolph Jacob "Rowdy" Yates - Rowdy Yates

The Magnificent Seven 1960 Franklin Vaughn "Frank" Randall - Vin Giovanni Vittorio "Gio" Auditore - Bernardo O'Reilly Brittony "Britt" Calvin - Britt Byron Allen Lee III - Lee Carlos "Chico" Hernandez - Chico

The Dollars Trilogy 1964-1966 Jonas Blake "Joey" Yates - The Man With No Name / Joe/Manco/Blondie

Hang 'Em High 1968 Jeremy Cooper "Jed" Yates - Jed Cooper Rachel Warren - Rachel Warren

Once Upon a Time in the West 1969 Emilio "Harmonica" Arman - Harmonica Jorge Gutierrez - Cheyenne

Rustlers' Rhapsody 1985 Revelin "Rex" O'Houlihan - Rex O'Herlihan Peter Twist - Peter

Silverado 1985 [to be honest I'm taking almost all the characters, but main characters/love interests:] Emmett Martell - Emmett Paden Cassidy - Paden Tyree Ransom Ekker - Tyree Hannah Kincaid Weslan [Cobb] - Hannah Weslan Malachi "Mal" Johnson - Malachi "Mal" Johnson Jacob "Rattlesnake Jake" Martell - Jake Stella Bonneville - Stella Rae Johnson - Rae Johnson Phoebe Hartshorne - Phoebe

Quigley Down Under 1990 Matthew Quigley - Matthew Quigley

Maverick 1994 Bret Maverick [Jr.] - Bret Maverick Annabelle Bransford - Annabelle Bransford

The Marshal 1995 Veronica "Ronnie" Davis - Veronica Cole

The Quick and the Dead 1995 Jessamy "Jessie" MacIntyre - The Lady / Ellen Cameron "Cam" McPhee - The Kid / Fee Herod Cortney "Cort" Cobb - Cort

The Magnificent Seven 1998-2000 [much like Silverado I'm taking almost all the characters, but main characters/love interests:] Christian "Chris" Larabee - Chris Larabee Vincent Ulysses "Vin" Tanner - Vin Tanner Nathan Jackson - Nathan Jackson John Daniel "J.D." Dunne - J.D. Dunne Buck Wilmington - Buck Wilmington Ezra Phineas Standish - Ezra Standish Mary Travis - Mary Travis Casey Welles - Casey Welles Inez Recillos - Inez Recillos

Firefly 2002 Robert Malcolm "Bobby" Reynolds - Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds Zoe Martinez - Zoe Alleyne Washbourne Jayne Cobb - Jayne Cobb Eleena Vasquez - Inara Serra Simon Morgan - Simon Tam River Morgan - River Tam Kaylee Frye - Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye Sheppard Book - Derrial Book

Supernatural 2005-2020 John Winchester - John Winchester Dean Winchester - Dean Winchester Samuel "Sam" Winchester - Samuel "Sam" Winchester

3:10 to Yuma 2007 Daniel "Dan" Evans - Daniel "Dan" Evans William "Will" Evans - William Evans Benjamin "Ben" Wade - Ben Wade Charles "Charlie" Prince - Charlie Prince

Six of Crows 2015 Caspian/Casimir "Caz" Zima Winters - Kaz Brekker Haruko - Inej Ghafa Christophe "Kit Benny" Benoit - Jesper Fahey Wyatt Vanderbilt - Wylan Van Eck Hannah "Nan" Gallagher - Nina Zenik

The Magnificent Seven 2016 Samuel "Sam" Chisolm - Sam Chisolm Joshua "Josh" Faraday - Josh Faraday Manuel Vasquez - Vasquez Goodnight "Goody" Robicheaux - Goodnight "Goody" Robicheaux Billy Rocks - Billy Rocks Red Harvest - Red Harvest Emma Cullen - Emma Cullen

The Hunters 2020 [a series I am currently working on writing] Elias Hawkins - Elias Walker Hawkins Lucas "Luke" Hearne - Faolan Lucas "Luke" MacTiernan Auryon "Aury" Hearne - Auryon "Aury" Hearne-MacTiernan Hawkins Sebastian "Owl Eyes" St. James Cheyenne - Sylvain Alistair Abigale "Abby" McKenzie - Kindra Arden

Jessta James Music Videos 2021-2022 [specifically Hell's Coming With Me, Loaded Gun, and War Cry] Josiah "Josey" James - Jessta James

Original Characters 2023+ [that I've made for the project] Melissa "Missy" Ekker - Tyree's mother Bethany "Beth" Skinner - a love interest

[alfalfasalads]

Ooops, new Fallout OC dropped Dwight A. Faraday, Ph.D, is a brain suspended in a canister of biogel who hijacked a Gen.2. Synth. He’s absconded the Institute, winding up in the Mojave wasteland. He has a bone to pick with a certain Robert House. He’s Totally Normal about it.

[air-of-the-waterfall]

Arc of a Scythe characters as Princess Bride quotes

Citra:

 “Move? You’re alive. If you want, I can fly.”

 “I wasn’t nervous. Maybe I was a little bit concerned, but that’s not the same thing.”

Rowan:

“Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

 “You use different moves when you’re fighting half a dozen people.”

Greyson:

“The name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Wesley.”

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Jeri:

“I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a king in Patagonia.”

Thunderhead:

“As you wish.”

“Unless I am wrong, and I am never wrong.”

“It won’t be easy, sir.” “Try ruling the world sometime.”

“There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.”

Cirrus:

“Have you ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons.”

“Yes, you’re very smart. Shut up.”

Faraday:

“You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.”

“I’m not saying I’d like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.”

Curie:

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.”

“I did that on purpose. I didn’t have to miss.”

Goddard: 

“I’ve hired you to help me start a war. It’s a prestigious line of work with a long and glorious tradition.”

“I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Gildar to frame for it. I’m swamped!”

“Do you hear that, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh.”

Rand:

“Good night, Wesley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”

Astrid:

“No more rhyming, now I mean it!” “Anybody wanna peanut?”

Munira:

“In studying, you must have learned that man is mortal.”

Loriana: 

“Unemployed in Greenland?!”

Morrison:

“Oh, you mean this gate key!”

Constantine:

“She’s alive. Or was an hour ago. If she is otherwise when I find her, I shall be very put out.”

“He can track a falcon on a cloudy day; he can find you.”

Mendoza:

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

Tyger:

“I wonder if he’s using the same wind we are using.”

[ufonaut]

Crossing 42nd street during rush hour isn’t any more dangerous than fighting a crocodile with a paper bag. But I made it, disappointing a couple of hackies who whizzed by me so closely I could have lit a match on their fenders...

King Faraday in Danger Trail (1950) #1

(Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino)