#she was abandoned by her birth parents in front of Aperture and was taken in to be a ward of Aperture

[non-cannon]

Spent a while going absolutely crazy trying to manage the double think needed to simultaneously ship ChellDOS and be going absolutely feral over the angsty implications of Caroline being Chell's mom. (no incest here, these are separate interpretations of the relationship, they do not cross exist, even if I keep flipping back and forth)

As I examined what fan content I need/am almost contemplating making from from mother theory, vs the content I've been consuming for ChellDOS (I have found countless ChellDOS fics which I have reading most of of, and 2 mother fics, which I read, the first of which being the one to introduce me to the theory, and it left me hanging and rabid for more).

What I want/have been getting from ChellDOS fics is canon/post canon them having feels and acting on them. Nothing I feel that needs to change canon, or necessarily happen during the game(s) except maybe introspection. Also nothing I feel an urge to write about, partially because I don't write romance.

What I want/was left hanging for in the mother therory fics, is the angsty in game implications. Both of the 2 fics I've thus far found end before the games start. And I need to see how this affects things in the games, damn it. Like an AU.

So, I've squared away the double think with ChellDOS is canon, and the mother theory is a fun angsty AU, where Chell is older than her bring your daughter to work day project existing in modern/new Aperture would tell us.

They are different universes/timelines. This is how I have my cake and eat it too. (unlike Chell, for whom the cake is a lie).