brushie's art nonsense

mega man says happy pride month! 😊🏳️‍🌈

Thinkin of transmasc / sapphic Zero and Iris as a ship and getting to know one another, but it's a case of as they're opening to the idea of dating, Zero just has to admit he is masc stealth presenting and just feeling so conflicted and confused over his feelings towards Iris and his own gender, given he lacks the terminology

And Iris just lets him ramble on and on without judgements, bc she's aware Zero is so deep in the closet and confused / conflicted, especially as he's so used to seeing heteronormative romance and really has no outlet for nblw thoughts, and just wants to be " normal " to justify being lw/lnb, and explore his own sense of self ( failing to realize he's defs stone )

So the ship basis forming on Zero being allowed to feel more open with his identity being sapphic and vulnerability in private, without the pressures of passing off as an openly queer couple and being bombarded with constant questions — as most tend to assume Zero is a very masc / male aligned reploid already ( especially given complex feelings towards X, so two openly masc reploids together just is too much attention for him to handle while he's figuring himself out ) . So publicly, they just seem like a cishet couple, but privately, they're both allowed to be — even if it hurts both in the end by hiding themselves, but they're young, stupid, and this is their first romance ( on top of it being queer ) . So Iris' big heart does ultimately hurt her bc holding this secret feels like a betrayal as she starts to establish her own identity at a pace Zero can't keep up with, and it builds to the occasional instance of conflict — but she's passive enough to where it doesn't click, until Iris' last stand through her death ( with her wanting to create a world for reploids as a soft admittance as a means of thinking of both her and Zero to exist as themselves — but also pursuing the better or all ) .

I think if it weren't for her death, they'd still be very deep and loving friends towards one another, realizing as they matured from teens to young adults, they just — weren't compatible, and that's ok. Yet, she died so young and by Zero's hands, that he never had a moment to really come to that conclusion himself, so it's just the entire self blame and grief, especially hearing those words that cut deep like a knife.

So a scene like this becomes :

Zero: Iris, there's no world just for Reploids. It's only a fantasy.

Iris: Yes . . . I know . . . But I wanted to believe it . . . I wanted to live in a world where only Reploids exist . . . with you.

. . .

Zero: Nooo ! This isn't happening ! There's no reason for me to go on ! What . . . WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR ?!

An outcry for the fact he could never come to his own thoughts and feelings, and unfortunately dragging someone else into his glass coffin, but she's permanently gone now, and he has no closure to a relationship that should have never ended so abruptly. They're both still so young, still struggling to grapple the idea of a world that could fit even reploids like them