#witch hat theory

[kobitoshiningneedle]

One of major plot points in Witch Hats - the way Coco would be able to "unpetrify" her mother - is that she must reach the Tower of Tomes and find the exact book she copied the magic glyphs from.

The fact that there are exact copies of every book, every knowledge of the WHA world duplicated in this place seems kinda too good to be true, especially after we all came to know about the magic's limitations

Which made me remember something similar.

In Chapter 15 Qifrey in pursuit of the Brimhats realizes that they used so-called medallions to "fuel" Coco's ink bottle with some other, more dangerous substance. These medallions are a type of forbidden magic used by medics in older times (and now magical knowledge is forbidden for them!) so it was considered lost

I suspect that this Tower of Tomes's unique feature may be conditioned from a similar form of magic. The fact that this is essentially a forbidden magic being used here is a big problem, but it's kinda compensated by several circumstances.

Tower of Tomes is a pretty old place, so the copying ability may have been there long before the Day of Conspiracy. Secondly, it's not like the usage of forbidden magic is unprecedented in Zozah at all (gestures at Knights Morales), but this fact still suggests that there should be trusted and dependable people in charge of the Tower so nothing gets out of control.

And we are told that this is exactly the case - the Librarians are usually descents of powerful and ancient families like Arkromes who are connected to Three Sages. Priviledged people are more likely to preserve status quo, so no wonder the hierarchy and competition Agott had to suffer from is so tough here. It's possible that Tower of Tomes, the place so coveted by Coco, may hide some secret which, upon being revealed, may play into questioning the foundations of the Witch Hat world even more.

[queenangst]

one of the things i love about wha is how clearly the magic and ideas the girls learn and have build on top of each other over time. the continuing theme of magic as solutions, and your own spells can be made by adapting what you know into something new.

in one of her first uses of magic, coco uses fabric to sail through the air at the dagda mountains; she later creates the mantle of flight. the air twisting seal she learns to use to pick fruit becomes part of a spell to create rain underneath the sea. agott uses a bird of light to distract people at the river; later, we learn her love for the decorative seals, and her knowledge comes in use to bring people joy, and to help with the curtain leech. every person has their own magic, and everyone's magic connects together to create new things.

no magic is useless; no magic is too small or too basic. no magic is unloved.

[niinnyu]

What a funky little poltergeist like antagonist. I love him btw.

[moonpie2405]

I just noticed something...

Such a cute little spread right?? Just baby Oru trying to help baby Qifrey, nothing foreboding about it at all... (side eyeing chapter 40 but that's not what this is about)

But wait...

...Not foreboding at all

That certainly sounds familiar-

(spoilers for chapter 77 under the cut)

... Not foreboding ... at all

Of course this was translated online, so I can't say it's 100% accurate, but that's an interesting time to freeze up, isn't it? Not quite coincidental if you ask me

What the fuck happened to this man I need to know

[labarch]

Threshold of Humanity: so about those demons huh?

Today, I conclude that the way Qifrey stands in doorways is the strongest proof we’ve had so far that Qifrey is, in fact, not human, but an artificial being born of forbidden magic. Or, as the witch society seems to name them, a “demon”.

Lots of images and spoilers up to chapter 69 under the cut!

On the outside looking in

Let’s start by saying that in this chapter, Qifrey is back to his old habit of looking as suspicious as humanely possible. The first page is the only one where we briefly see his eye, with a look I want to describe as sorrowful, bitter and knowing. For the rest of the scene his face will stay partially hidden, and he never looks full on at the castle guard he is speaking to. His demeanor is distant, in contrast to the guard’s confusion and panic. In fact, it is a little funny how dodgy he is acting, given that he does nothing but noble deeds this entire chapter – bringing an escaped criminal back into custody, taking his apprentice to safety, safeguarding the medical tower against further attacks with a layer of salt.

So far, this looks like Qifrey’s classic brand of guilt-ridden self-sabotage, but the framing of the scene provides extra context. The threshold to Ezrest’s castle acts as a physical barrier separating Qifrey from the other man. During those three pages, they are both often shown framed by that doorway: the guard safe within the walls, contrasting Qifrey the outsider. The first page has a gust of wind pushing his robes around him, like an invisible force keeping him back. And we do know, because Qifrey emphasises this again for us, that this castle does indeed possess a natural repulsive force that keeps out monsters.

We are told in chapter 47 that, not only drawing magic within Ezrest castle won’t function, but that the castle’s walls repels all magical artefacts. It is because of that property that, when Coco notices that the leeches have not approached the castles’ walls, Qifrey immediately concludes that their current monstrous form is the result of a magical experiment.

Of course, “demons” are not the only beings who would be unable to enter the castle: any active spell should be repelled, meaning that Olruggio, for instance, can’t enter with his beautifying mask. Coco, with the bracelet stuck around her wrist, technically shouldn’t be able to enter at all, and the same goes for the characters with active magic drawn directy on their skin, like Coustas, Dagda and Eunie. In fact, even if he were perfectly human, it would be only natural for Qifrey to not step inside, since he couldn’t go in without taking off his glasses, which contain spells both to hide his scar and to protect him from harsh light.

And yet. I can’t help but see a very pointed parallel between Qifrey’s confidence that the castle will repel monsters, and the way the castle’s entrance seems to subtly repel him. In particular because it adds on to a long series of scenes featuring Qifrey’s anxieties around unnatural, magically created beings. This is at least the third time Qifrey brings up the creation of monsters in the days before the pact, which he calls “terrifying” and “a disgusting form of magic”. If the illustrations for those scenes are a glimpse into his mind, then it’s a mind full of nightmares. During their fight, the rogue Sage Engendil also lampshades how curiously familiar Qifrey seems to be with demons. Qifrey furthermore muses that he knows demons haven’t gone extinct, and in fact are still being created by witches to this day.

The demon in human skin

In short, my opinion is that chapters 68 and 69 together strongly hint at us that Qifrey is, or perceives himself as a demon. Now the question is: what new information would this reveal give us about him, his quest, and the way he has behaved so far?

First, we need to try and actually define what does and doesn’t count as a demon in that universe. Qifrey’s first halting description is “a monster, created with magic and by the hands of a witch”. A distinction is also made between magically altered animals that have adapted to their ecosystems and are useful or at least harmless to humans, and ferocious, uncontrollable beasts. So a demon is a new lifeform, artificially created through magic, that is inherently dangerous. The petty criminal from chapter 49 that got turned into a mindless and violent mass of giant leeches ticks all those boxes. Going by that logic, Coustas and Eunie wouldn’t fall into that category despite not being able to enter the Ezrest castle: modifying some of your body parts, or being turned into an existing animal wouldn’t count. Even Sasaran from the second test doesn’t seem to count as a demon: despite being hybridized with an animal, his consciousness hasn’t been affected and so he can’t be described as an “uncontrollable beast”, just a very heavily modified human.

One other interesting tidbit: “demon” is actually name dropped in chapter 59, a while before Qifrey’s fight with Engendil, when Beldaruit muses that a king who could use magic to gain power over life and death would become a “demon king”, someone capable of creating new lifeforms at will. This ties in the concept of demons to the other themes of the recent volumes, the dilemna of healing magic and resurection magic. What this could imply is that bringing someone back from certain death through magic carries the risk of altering them to the point where they would basically become a new lifeform, which has worrying implications for Dagda.  

Going back to Qifrey though, there are three things we know for sure about him: 1) he has been experimented on with a type of magic never attempted before; 2) he looks and acts perfectly human, and 3) despite this, he is convinced that this new magic is dangerous, and must not only be destroyed but also kept secret at all costs. Finally, we know that those experiments left no visible trace on his body, because the Knights Moralis would have inspected him when they rescued him from the Brimhats (and would have soundly kicked him out of the Great Hall had they found anything). Barring other special characteristics we might not know about, what makes him unique as a demon is that he is undistinguishable from a normal human.

And that’s already more than enough to explain why he is freaking out so much.

What I like about this demon framework is that it can apply to several of the existing theories around Qifrey’s origin: whether he is a rescucitated corpse from Slistas, a silvertree turned human (I am still firmly standing behind that one), or a homonculus created from nothing by the Brimhats. In all three cases, whatever weird symptoms or powers he might have as a result of his creation, the very fact that he cannot be told apart from a human is what makes him truly dangerous. Because it shakes the very foundation of magical society.

We remember the central law of the Pointed Hats: the integrity of the human body is sacred, and therefore magic cast on the human body is taboo. A demon with a human appearance is a mockery of that principle, and a walking dilemna for the Pointed Hats. Demons used to be killed by heroes, and forbidden magical artefacts must be destroyed, but what do you do when that magical artefact is a living, breathing person?

(Speaking of, I have been wondering for a while what the Knights Moralis even do with people who have had spells tattooed on them, and especially those whose bodies have been altered. They can’t let them wander around, even with their memories gone, their very appearance would give the secret away. Do they keep them hidden in some prison or on an island, like the brainwashed witches? Asking for Eunie and Coustas, I’m worried about these kids)

From that perspective, Qifrey’s secrecy makes complete sense. The existence of demons with human faces not only raises all kinds of existential questions, but in the short term it risks making witch society even more repressive than it currently is. The Knights Moralis are already merciless to anyone seen with a tattooed spell or other evidence of having been involved with forbidden magic. Can you imagine how paranoid they would become if they literally couldn’t tell apart a demon from a human? Anyone could be a demon, pretty much.

In particular, this scenario explains why Qifrey is keeping the truth from those who might be tempted to help or protect him. After all, where would it leave Olruggio if he sided with a demon against his own society? Where would it leave Qifrey, if the only solution to erase that dangerous new magic were to destroy himself, but Olruggio wouldn’t let him? It also gives context to his line in chapter 40 “You want me to stay as Professor Qifrey? I would also like that, if it were possible”, and his description of his life at the atelier as something almost like a dream. Professor Qifrey doesn’t exist, and he has no right to live that peaceful life.

Anger and hope

A final bit of character musing I want to add to this: this theory of Qifrey as a demon, and the way he wrestles with that knowledge, also sheds some light on his more erratic actions and mood swings so far. What makes his motivations difficult to follow is that he always seems tugged between two extremes: destructive anger and fervent hope. Both are actually coping strategies that he tries to use to protect himself against paralysing guilt.  

His anger at the Brimhats allows him to redirect his self-disgust towards those who made him. The true demons are those who willingly create monsters, he tells Engendil during their fight. These moments where he faces the Brimhats bring out a very different side of him, one that is confident, indignant and spiteful. Then, rather than being blinded by anger into chasing senseless revenge, he is calling on that anger to steel his resolve. He is using that indignation as a motivator to right a wrong done against both himself and witch society as a whole, even if he has to destroy himself in order to do so.

On the other hand, he seems to hold onto some hope that he might, somehow, erase the magic that created him but still miraculously keep himself alive. That is the side of him that fervently believes in the miracles of magic and in the power of creativity, inspired in him by Beldaruit, and passed along to Coco. His stance seems to be that he needs to dive into the ugly core of those experiments, and that maybe, just maybe, a way to save himself will occur to him just in the nick of time. It’s an interesting coincidence, by the way, that he is staring down the maws of water-dwelling demons while having those thoughts.

And on that note, hold on to indignation and hope when the going gets tough (but don’t brainwash your friends), and thank you for reading!

[astraechoes]

[mondglocke]

I finally finished Dungeon Meshi and i love how the new Era of Fantasy in Anime/Manga brought me back to an old passion.

i havent bought a Manga in 15 years and here i am with my Frieren, Dungeon Meshi and Witch Hat Atelier Volumes getting excited to buy a new one, being involved in fandom culture and searching for fanart and cosplays.

i missed it. i missed me.

[midnight-in-town]

Witch Hat Atelier ch57 vs ch66

I wonder who’s really calling the shots and deciding what witches can/cannot learn and same for normal folks then? ‘Cause there’s been enough callout in the whole arc, on top of King Dean (the king of life and death) being sought after by the Brim Hats.

The heated discussion between King Dean and Beldarut in ch59 actually makes so much more sense and makes me think that the 3 Sages are involved in making and upholding these very strict laws. 

Just like I think that King Dean broke the fourth wall in ch59 and directly addressed the readers when he said "it’s useless to tell me not to hope for it. Don’t you agree?”, because most of the fandom at this point indeed agrees that The Secret as it exists now creates a lot of unfair situations, as we saw with Coustas, Dagda, Eunie, Galga, Coco’s mom, etc.

The Knights Moralis’ reactions in ch57 when Atuarto asks for a chance to bring Galga’s memories back and when Tetia offers to help in ch66 are also pretty telling...

...just like the previous Sage of Friendship knew and revealed why exactly magic and medicine are forbidden to interact (ch63)...

because they can create unexpected magic such as the “demon” we encountered in this arc.

The Sages aside, I also wonder how much the old Witch families (like the Arkromes) who first created the pact so long ago and thus the gap between “witches” (who know The Secret) and normal folks (who don’t know The Secret) weigh into these decisions...?

After all, Agathe’s mom was invited to watch the festival with the Sages next to the monarchs and the king’s family, so I figure the first families or first houses might be pretty important (aside from her being head librarian) and have more knowledge they hide, which they pass on to their apprentice only, to keep the legacy going. 

TL;DR can’t wait to see Coco and all the kids from this series defecting to the Brim Hats’ side any time now lmao (just kidding, the Brim Hats probably only care about chaos and aren’t the real solution, but most Witches should be able to strive and create a good alternative, using ideas from both side of the magic community).

[merchantarthurn]

Okay so chapter 63 spoilers because I’ve been chatting with Sean about the fucked up implications of the new concrete details we have now and urm. I think? I’ve cracked why I kept fixating on twin theory in addition to treefrey, Silstas, Iguin, tree-people, the Brimhats plans.

So... in parts:

Why Coco?

Chapter 1 - Iguin was selling his magic books to unknowing children in the guise of a Brimhat, which is a pretty major risk when he could have appeared as a Pointed Hat. Multiple books were made.

Chapter 1 (Reproduction Selection) - the place where Iguin was selling this book was Adan Castle, the feudal lord of the area that Coco’s Village is in. And possibly Qifrey’s atelier.

Chapter 1 -  It’s unclear how many local witches there are, but Coco’s excitement at seeing a winged carriage, let alone a witch in person (which she notes is rare) indicates there’s not many. Possibly, Qifrey is the nearest one - since Kahln (with a witch outpost) is on the other side of a mountain range.

Chapter 3 - Based on Alaira and Qifrey’s conversation, there hasn’t been Brimhat activity in 4 years. 

Summary & theory - Iguin was attempting to sell multiple books to Unknowning children (?) in a region where Qifrey was a notable witch. He’s got at least three, and his coin bowl indicates he might have sold more. It’s very possible some of the forbidden magic incidents were related to these books/pens being out in the populace - perhaps people who failed to escape the magic they cast? With later theory in mind, Qifrey and Coco running into each other - when he’s a trial of new forbidden magic, and Coco is some “saviour” - it doesn’t seem like that can be a coincidence. Selling books in this area ups the chance that Qifrey would cross paths with whoever this Unknowning was - and as someone who’s been burnt by memory loss, would be unlikely to hand them over. And with the dangerous magic in the book, the likelihood that a survivor would have hurt a loved one in the process of discovering magic? Very high, and very tempting to try more forbidden magic, even with Pointed Hat guidance. Especially if your teacher is already in proximity to forbidden magic.

And what is Coco meant to do?

Chapter 27 (above)  - Coco is described by Brimhats as their “saviour”... but notably, only those working directly with Iguin. The factions within Brimhat circles isn’t yet understood, she is not called this by Restis’ crew, for example.

Various chapters (45 below) - it’s been referenced by multiple Brimhat factions that reviving the “ways of old” is their goal. And that the current, pointed hat way is not true magic.

Chapter 29 - Iguin notes that the only magic that can save Eunie is magic that was “outlawed long ago” i.e. before the Pact. But Iguin himself knows this magic and uses it - which is ultimately what saves Eunie. Iguin has knowledge of magic from before the Pact.

Summary - Coco is instrumental, to Iguin specifically, in restoring magic to how it was before the Pact. This is a shared goal of the Brimhats we’ve seen so far, but not all of them are looking to use Coco as a specific saviour (Restis does not want her to draw forbidden magic, only to get contact with the King). Notably, we see in Chapter 63 and from Sasaran’s comment about how Eunie’s cloak interfered with the spell that not every Brimhat fully understands forbidden magic and its effects, yet Iguin is able to undo Eunie’s spell despite it technically failing.

What magic was lost, anyway?

This is where Chapter 63′s more solid reveals come into play - note, these are machine translated so I’m going broad rather than specific. Put simply - forbidden magic isn’t just arbitrarily magic drawn on the body. The long, three-pronged symbols here are the same as from the memory glyph and are notably unusual - stretching far outside of the active circles and branching across the body in anatomically informed ways. 

It’s concretely revealed here that the combination of ink and human blood creates enormous magical runaway - such as what we’d seen Iguin use previously, but we weren’t sure if it was his blood that was special or not. 

We know from this chapter that hiding medical knowledge from witches is very much tied to this kind of magic - with “nails” (probably not a good word for it) instead of keystones that require knowledge of anatomy to fully utilise. There also seems to be an issue of blood - mixing medicine and magic unwisely can cause spells to spiral out of control. 

Theory - the specific knowledge of how to prevent such runaways was lost to the Pact, along with a lot of necessary anatomical knowledge. Hence why the King - a descendant of medical witches with a great amount of medical knowledge - is such an interesting target.... for Restis. Not for Iguin.

So what’s Iguin’s deal? And what about the tree’s?

A lot of this is couched in repeated symbolism and the specificity of what Iguin says (in contrast to other Brimhats). For the moment - let’s drop this cute cover page here with the eye-covered tree in the background and simmer for a moment.

First it’s important to establish - what do we know about Silver Trees?

We know they “choose where they want to live... like a human would”, we know their “blood” has magical and poisonous properties (to humans and to themselves). We know their “blood” mixes with human blood to create explosive results. We also know a little of their mythology and history, namely;

A fairytale of a star falling in love with a “maiden of the silverleaf tree” who caught a star in her branches, and giving her magic. She then gave this magic to the world.  This is likely the magic of the body referred to in Chapter 63 - it’s not just “the gift of magic” through drawn spells, it’s in the human body.  In addition, a history of a great forest of Silvertrees transformed by forbidden magic in attempts to revive the dead (before the Pact).

So we’ve got some pieces here - a tale about Silvertrees bringing the first magic to the world, bringing about mankind; a witch of old using the Silvertrees to revive the dead and leaving a forest in ruin; and the knowledge that Silvertrees grow in places that people find peaceful, that they choose their home. Notably, we’ve only seen a few Silvertrees but all of them have seemed old - especially those outside of Silstas. Why did Silstas’ experiments corrupt the trees? Why was this the location that Brimhats were experimenting on Qifrey?

It’s easier to lead with the theory than build to it - there’s people in those trees, and they’ve been around since before the Pact.

Iguin is the first to return - the trial run... which leads us to--

Alright bucko where’s this coming from

I posit that Silstas was not altogether unsuccessful - the Silvertrees were an important medium between the dead and the living, but he never succeeded in the second stage: bringing the dead back from the trees. 

Before magic was changed forever, witches with knowledge of this time were “resurrected” into Silvertrees, in places they held dear, unknowingly saving their knowledge from the Day of the Pact in their boughs. The woodcour so needed for magic is poisonous to tree and human alike because they are alike - and human blood intensifies the magic of the tree’s for the same reason. Human blood in itself has power, stronger power than the trees, for they are no longer living humans. 

Chapter 40 - this handy little image has bothered me for a while for a number of reasons - the eye and the inclusion of a Brimhat in the background in particular. Chapter 63′s confirmation re: blood and ink made it click for me though - what the strange tangling roots could be abstracting into, why there’s an eye in the trunk. I’ve labelled the panel for assistance of what I think happened here.

1) Qifrey’s eye is taken from him, it is used as a blueprint for the Tree (hence the eye in the trunk). Without the knowledge of medical witches past, a person is needed to assist the spell - in this case, Qifrey. 

2) The mix of blood and ink is powerful enough to resurrect a person contained within the tree - the dripping lines and the transformation of the roots show this formation of a mysterious, solitary Brimhat. 

3) My theory that this is Iguin - armed with knowledge of how magic was before the Pact. In addition to the spell that saves Eunie, he also knows twin vessel magic - which Qifrey notes was magic lost to the Pact. He speaks as if he witnessed it himself, is highly associated with Eyes.

So... he hides his face, we established, and I think this is for good reason - magic done on the body needs to be highly specific, less it lead to runaway reactions or unforeseen outcomes, so the resurrection of a person who’s been dead for god knows how long isn’t gonna result in that person looking... well like they used to look. We’ve seen parts of his face and they seem rather normal so... how’d that end up happening? 

Well....

Yes, maybe that’s silly - but especially in the early style of the comic, Qifrey’s lips and jawline are reasonable distinct. They also share a room in a chapter about twin vessels - and whilst I’ve got a pet headcanon about their life-force being tied in a similar way to the liquid in twin vessels, that’s still more a fun idea than anything with much weight. Unless he’s talking about more than just his eye here - it would explain why he’s slowly decaying if he was a vessel for giving life to another though, wouldn’t it? Getting back his eye at this point is part of his plan to stop whatever plan the Brimhats have - if I’m right, that might be mass resurrection of Brimhats with knowledge from before the Pact. Maybe with the use of people like him - his eye and the person brought back with it are a proof of concept. 

But again, why Coco?

Coco specifically I’m not sure was ever special, she only became a “saviour” for the trapped Brimhats when she became a witch. “The seed has sprouted”, as Iguin says - another sacrifice? Is her Brimhat “version” less an alternate path and more another twin? But that seems to small scale, doesn’t it? In truth, the specificity of her involvement in this is still rather unclear - she certainly thinks differently to those raised as Pointed Hats, and her ties to Qifrey mean she’s also tied to what happened to him (and is continuing to happen to him). 

After all, it’s clear that Qifrey’s experiment wasn’t quite perfect. He was a trial - and whilst it was possibly successful, if it was perfect then why not just keep going? They cared little enough for his life, so why would anyone else’s be a concern. More to that - why let Coco study under him at all, if the aim is to make her use forbidden magic in the end? Why be so indirect - plant a seed, let it choose to study as a pointed hat, let it choose its own path? 

There’s a lot of questions that I could posit very loose answers for without much backing but I think her ties to Qifrey and his ties to the experiments aren’t a coincidence - perfecting them is a must, and maybe perfecting them would save her professor. Honestly, this calls into question Beldaruit’s motivations to me too - he was very keen to get Coco away from him for his proximity to Brimhats and her own... the Sages know more than we do, that’s for sure - and with his desire to interrogate the ex-Sage who just unleashed a monster, I have a feeling he’s more than aware that taking Qifrey in might well have halted some plans (even if it was retroactive). Hell, we only have his account of the incident in Silstas to go off... just look at that glyph right under the line about the sages, after all. 

And guess who else was there with Beldaruit? Those freckles look familiar, don’t they?

Gosh, I’m struggling to wrangle my thoughts here in a convenient way so sorry for the dump of thoughts but I guess my TLDR is like this:

The experiment done on Qifrey was new magic - designed to finally resurrect Brimhats from before the Pact trapped in Silvertrees. This brought back Iguin, and has resulted in Qifrey’s own body deteriorating - possibly through some link between them. The Brimhats aim is to revive the magic from before the Pact - specifically the knowledge of medical magic, the lack of which prevents the use of blood magic due to the scale of the magic it can cause being unpredictable. Iguin wishes to do this by reviving the witches of old - other factions seek to rediscover it in the present. 

I believe it just has to be resurrection of some kind - there’s far, far too many references to it and the Pact for it to be nothing. And the confirmation of human blood and the human body having it’s own magic? A game changer. I almost wonder if the Silvertrees didn’t come first - their blood isn’t as powerful because living human blood is the root of magic. 

[jewish-culture-is]

jewish culture is having to remind people that most if not all conspiracy theories can somehow be traced back to something antisemitic

[meks4011]

So I have a theory that the Brimmed Caps in WHA are going to try to overthrow the government (obvious). But I also feel like to do this they are recruiting regular people and some might be put into the actual Brimmed Caps society and others are just on standby waiting until it’s time to strike. I mainly think this because too suddenly tell the world that you tampered with history and kinda sorta used them for monetary and societal gain. So if you slowly introduce magic to people and show yourself as a savior it makes things easier and you have additional people to fight with.

Also side theory that someone is def looking into the future (time spells seem to be a thing seeing Castas dad) and why they call Coco a savior.

[beldaroot]

jwilliambyers >>> beldaroot

hello my lovely followers, after almost 6 years i've finally changed my url lol

[niinnyu]

The Lidless Eye

[lunarharp]

various witch stuff of the day or whatever the heck

[lokh]

i want qifrey to suffer <- actually likes him as a character

[seased]

alright there are gonna be slashes in this post because i shant want it found by those who dont already know my madness…

while i am now an aroace ded truther (i think it pairs with thier character in an interesting way; singularly focused eccentric genius, trouble w expressing their feelings, isolationist, etc), if we suppose a world where we have to ship d/edf1sh, i dont think id pick c/allie

the more we get to know d/edf1sh’s personality AND the further away we get from splat2 sadstuck c/allie, the less sense c/alf1sh makes to me… if i had to guess, a lot of newer fans just consider it a fandom default now, they dont really get that the original appeal was the pair being post-mind control angst/recovery fic about it. usually ppl cast agent 3 on this shit now. (tangent but that really dates c/alf1sh as something we invented like between ded’s announcement and OE actually coming out lmao). we’ve got a whole games worth of content of c/allie between then and now and girls just not troubled like that anymore because nintendo hates status quo change. beyond that, we have a ded that is dry and sarcastic, or criminally subdued. more of a hater than previously reckoned.

my thesis statement is thus: perhaps it should be m/arie. marf1sh. depending on the translation she is also dryly sarcastic or criminally subdued. if we’re just sticking c/allie and ded together bc theyre both “single” isn’t m/arie single too? her most popular ship is m/4rie which is considered taboo by like half the fandom, so shes obviously not doing too hot lmao. plus, green and green. and, goths.

my own counter thesis is: harmony. because ded and harmony are the same character. girl dj weird personality hat oversized t shirt. they could sit in the same room and have incredibly loud color palettes together… in fact i bet you could lean harmony to CMY to match ded’s RGB and it would be horrible. plus, i think there’s some qpp-type specific potential here

ya know and a tangential primary thesis: if we have marf1sh, what about calmony? harmony’s brand new personality is very similar to fandom ded; empty headed music freak, with a manic pixie dream girl and/or tsundere bend. and theyre both pink. if the person callie dates is only to be used as a sponge for her emotions, i think the truly empty head is a better fit now that ded has shit in there.