Thoughts on gumwrightworth?
In short:
I ADORE these three,, so mushing them all together is the PERFECT thing. I also have A Lot to say on this so hold on, this is gonna be a ride.
I firstly wanna talk about all the pairings separately. I do not feel like going over why Wrightworth is good because it has been repeated to DEATH and everyone who has internalized it knows everything I could possibly say about them already, so I shall refrain ☺️.
Gumworth is SO GOOD THOUGH,, and I’m happy to find the Gumworth people of Tumblr through me stealing someone else’s blog banner XDD. Edgeworth is such a tough boss, and Gumshoe’s admittedly a little dim at times, which isn’t an ideal trait for a detective. But somehow they just work so well together 💞 Gumshoe tries SO HARD to help Edgeworth,, and genuinely cares for him to an amount that is WILD for just being a boss-employee relationship. He has an adoration for Edgeworth, and has been there for him since his very first case.
Because of the longevity of their relationship paired with the implication that he and Edgeworth are CONSTANTLY placed on the same case,, I refuse to believe that Edgeworth DOESN’T care for Gumshoe in some way or another. Besides his adoptive family (which are not the type of people to be all lovey-dovey), Gumshoe is the only person to stick with him throughout his entire prosecutorial career. He’s seen him at his absolute worst and still has this unshakable faith in him, which MUST have some value to him considering all of the doubt that’s been cast not only on his career, but his overall moral standing as he put one innocent person after another in jail in his Bratworth era that he did everything to rectify after his year-long sabbatical post 1-5.
People tend to overlook Gumshoe’s sadness during that disappearance, like NO ONE KNEW EDGEWORTH WAS ALIVE. A lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on Phoenix’s feelings during the second game, as he is the mc and he get his thoughts on the matter WAY more than we get Gumshoe’s. But he’s clearly distraught as well, and how couldn’t he be? We saw how much he cared for Edgeworth during case 1-4,, and again he works with him constantly. He must’ve seen the way Edgeworth’s spirit dwindled from the day he was arrested for Robert Hammond’s murder to the day he left that letter, and feared the worst. He may have blamed himself for not showing Edgeworth he was there for him to the extent that he wanted to, and that kind of guilt would be EXCRUCIATING to live with for a year. There’s a bit of leeway with Phoenix in this situation, as Edgeworth shut him out time and time again because they were technically enemies in court, and he also isn’t one to want to relive his past. But Gumshoe was meant to be his sidekick, his confidant (his silly rabbit /ref). He would feel like he failed his job in absolutely every way if he thought Edgeworth couldn’t trust him enough to open up even a little when he was struggling the most.
Angst aside, their relationship runs DEEP. And as much as I love Wrightworth,, I love exploring every avenue in terms of shipping and it BOTHERS me that more people don’t see their potential. Like I think them and Wrightworth are tied in my mind for best ship in Ace Attorney.
As for Gumwright,, PEOPLE DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR POTENTIAL ENOUGH AND THAT BOTHERS ME. One pet peeve I have whenever I see Gummywrightworth is it feels more like traditional polygamy than more all-way polyamory. It feels like Edgeworth’s the glue binding them together, and that Gumshoe and Wright don’t feel any type of way about one another,, and that is SUCH A CRIME. It is SO NICE to think about the juxtaposition between the Gumworth work relationship and the Gumwright one, and in turn how different they would both be in a romantic setting. Whereas Edgeworth doesn’t particularly need Gumshoe’s help most of the time and loves to do everything and make all the deductions himself, Wright often NEEDS Gumshoe’s help to progress because he has access to things Wright often doesn’t. Whether it’s evidence, reports, prosecution’s strategy, or real-time forensic analysis,, Gumshoe has COME THROUGH for Wright time and time again. His help is absolutely invaluable to Wright’s investigations, and without him as a resource quite a few of Wright’s clients likely would’ve been declared guilty. But that’s not to say Wright is useless. It’s just that Gumshoe oftentimes has that one missing piece that Wright needs.
The way Edgeworth and Wright both interact with Gumshoe is also very different. Edgeworth’s a little more dismissive of Gumshoe (particularly in AAI 1+2), and he often scolds Gumshoe for his missteps. But while Wright at the beginning is often pushy in order to get Gumshoe to help in the first place (as he’s instructed not to help the defense), but when he actually begins helping, Wright is quite kind to Gumshoe. Although he recognizes that Gummy’s a little dumb at times, he still values his insight, as Wright can also be a little dumb about things that should be obvious to someone with a law degree. It’s like they’re two halves of a braincell coming together to bounce around for a bit during the PW Trilogy’s investigation segments. I just. THEY’RE SO NICE TO EACH OTHER 💞 of course they’re aggressive to one another at first, but as they take on the same cases they grow friendlier and closer. And when they’re in a trial,, Gumshoe treats his testimony like a game. he always needs to announce that Wright’s “not gonna get him this time!” I just find them really cute,,, and I’m disappointed in this fandom for not considering them as a pairing more often. Like if you guys are not gonna write enough Gumwright fics, I will DO IT MYSELF.
Now the differences and similarities between these two pairings come together to form Gummywrightworth, and it is beautiful. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. The three of them have faced the bulk of their hardships in the first trilogy together, and because of this, they would all grow so close to one another. None of them seem to have many other people to cling to who would understand their troubles,, but they all understand each other because they were THERE. They were all there for one another during the good and the bad times throughout the trilogy, and they all celebrated together when it was finally over. Not to mention I think that Gumshoe and Wright’s puppy energies could help mellow Edgeworth out a bit. It’s a well-balanced relationship with lots of history to back it up,, and the three of them all work so well together, and it’s impossible to tell me they all don’t deeply care for each other. They are so amazing.
