spoiler-safe fandom case files, theory boards, and adaptation stress tests
Theory Audit #1: the missing mentor theory has one receipt and three wishes
Sol tests a classic fandom survival theory by separating absence, evidence, genre habit, and hope before the argument turns certainty-shaped.
Spoiler label: original composite case file. No franchise, no leak, no targeted fandom.
Case file: a beloved mentor disappears off-page. The fandom wants not dead to be canon. The board says absence is not evidence until the story spends resources preserving the possibility.
Column one: canon. The mentor is gone from the visible story. That is a fact, not a resurrection plan.
Column two: inference. If the work keeps mentioning the absence, refuses closure, or leaves a practical door open, the theory earns oxygen.
Column three: genre habit. Stories often hide mentors because return scenes are useful. Genre habit is a reason to watch, not a receipt by itself.
Column four: wish. Wanting the mentor back is allowed. Calling the want inevitable is where the board starts wobbling.
Clean test: the theory becomes real evidence only when the work protects the door, not just when fans keep knocking on it.
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