#as canon compliant as possible

[giselles-dumping-hat]

Doodle of the little guy ever as this game takes over my waking thought

[vintage-fuzz]

Some McGucket Family/Emma-May & Fiddleford Headcanons!

- I do personally believe that Emma-May is also from Tennessee & that she probably grew up near Fiddleford & his family’s farm. This is primarily based on her name (with Dixon being a common surname throughout the US & Emma-May being an incredibly folksy sounding name) & the fact that she & Fiddleford seem to have gotten married very soon after Fidds graduated/left BMU, implying a preexisting relationship between them.

- I also like to think that perhaps she & Fiddleford attended school together, not university but grade/high school (if Fiddleford had an actual education prior to attending college) & that part of the reason she & Fidds are (presumably) so quick to marry is because he made a promise to marry her/got engaged to her before he left the state for BMU.

- This is more of a Fiddleford specific headcanon/thought but I think that he may have decided to attend BMU specifically because of a few factors. One of which being its affordability, possibly offering him a full-ride scholarship based on his grades/academic intelligence & another being its location. If Ford & Fidds are attending their first year of uni in the late 60s to early 70s & if BMU is located in the northeastern US, then it’s entirely possible that Fidds wanted to spend his young adulthood in a more socially/politically liberal area, especially if he’s a queer man, in order to explore his identity/not live in fear of being outed (this also works if you hc him as being a bit of a hippie too, finding himself through his newfound freedom away from home basically).

- As for the actual relationship & marriage between Emma-May & Fidds, I think it started off somewhat decently, at the very least, there was the impression of mutual love & attraction between them initially. I do think that, ultimately, Fiddleford saw her more as a friend at best, or, at worst, a means to an end (his beard). I think that Emma-May might have gradually realized that he wasn’t actually interested in her in the way that she had thought he was, potentially having to come to terms with her husband being a queer man. I do think that Fiddleford’s sexuality/ lack of attraction to her was one of the defining factors in their marriage souring prior to him losing his sanity (possibly coinciding with his general absence & his failure to provide a reliable source of income through his freelance computer business). (It is also entirely possible that there was a kind of lavender-marriage arrangement going on but there’s really no definite answer.)

- Regarding Tate, I personally believe that he was either an unintentional pregnancy or the result of Fiddleford & Emma-May feeling pressured into adhering to social conventions surrounding marriage, especially during the 70s with both of their families likely encouraging them to have children. I also like to think that Tate was conceived out of wedlock, forcing Fidds & Emma-May into a holding a shotgun wedding.

- Adding to their actual wedding, I like the idea of Ford having been present in some capacity & Emma-May having met him to some extent. Also, Fiddleford probably wanted for Ford to be his best man, to which, Ford likely would’ve accepted (unless his academics/research intervened).

- I do think that despite his less-than-ideal circumstances, Fiddleford genuinely wanted to be a good father to Tate. I also think that he never intended to hurt Emma-May the way he did, with him at least trying to make their relationship work while compromising his actual feelings. I feel like Fiddleford took to fatherhood well & was very supportive & affectionate towards Tate, hence why Tate stays with & cares for his father despite his extended absence throughout most of his life.

- When Fiddleford leaves for Gravity Falls, I think that he probably tries to call/keep in contact with his family, especially Tate, semi-regularly. After he creates the memory gun, however, his calls become less frequent & more brief until he simply stops calling completely once he abandons the project & dedicates himself to his cult. This extended absence culminates in Emma-May setting out to Gravity Falls in order to find him after potential months to years of silence.

- Also, when Fiddleford is away in Gravity Falls with Ford, I don’t think that he ever actually cheats on Emma-May. If Ford & Fidds ever did have anything, it was most likely during their time at BMU together. At this point, they’re at different places in their lives & have a professional relationship & friendship (although they may both harbor some lingering feelings, which they do not act upon). Also, I feel like Ford would be extremely hesitant to pursue such a relationship w/ Fidds knowing that he’s married & a father & because Ford is primarily focused on completing his portal project & continuing his research. Fidds also doesn’t strike me as someone who would go out of his way to commit infidelity, he may be willing to be near Ford but he wouldn’t go as far as to betray his wife’s trust like that.

- When or if Emma-May heads to Gravity Falls in search of her husband, I’d like to think that she encountered Stanley, who, at this point has assumed Ford’s identity. She would most likely approach him first, at the shack, knowing that Fiddleford was working with Ford & that Ford was likely the last person to see him. Stan somehow has to diffuse this situation while pretending to be Ford & facing the brunt of her ire. (Not entirely sure how he’d pull that off…)

- Eventually, Emma-May does find Fiddleford (whether Tate is present is unclear) & it’s when he’s at his absolute worst. I imagine that he’s either well within the throes of his role as a cult leader & has visibly changed, becoming seriously unstable, possibly lashing out at her, & even going as far as attempting to erase her memory. The alternative is that he’s just left/been ousted from the cult & is mentally beyond repair & either living at a cheap motel or at the dump. Whichever the case, Emma-May seeing him so unwell ultimately culminates in her decision to file for divorce.

- After the divorce, which escalates to Fiddleford’s attempt to enact vengeance on his ex-wife through building a giant, homicidal robot to harass her, I think that she returns to Palo Alto & tries to move on in her life, resuming caring for Tate & possibly getting a job to support him & herself. Meanwhile, she keeps her distance from Fiddleford, not speaking to him for years.

- When Tate gets older he makes the decision to head to Gravity Falls in order to find his father, hoping for closure & generally worrying for his health/safety. Perhaps Emma-May & Tate are somewhat emotionally distant/ have a strained relationship which could’ve prompted him to reach out to his father (side note but I also have a small headcanon that Tate could be a queer man himself & his decision to stay with Fiddleford stemming from him being the only person in his family that would be accepting towards/ understand him or Tate having an idea that his father may have been queer himself).

- After the events of the series, perhaps Tate reaches out to his mother (with the assumption that she’d still be alive & that Tate would still have a relationship with her) to inform her about his father’s improved condition, newfound success & Ford’s sudden reemergence, perhaps he tries to mediate between his parents while encouraging them to, at the very minimum, open up to each other & allow for his father & Ford to properly apologize to Emma-May for the grief they’ve caused her over the past few decades. Perhaps Emma-May has completely moved on in her life, maybe she’s remarried & has her own successful career, perhaps she’s moved away from Palo Alto. Whatever the case, she’s should at least be afforded closure & honesty from her ex & the man that inadvertently destroyed their marriage.

[kiapet2]

For all the Sidlink fans upset about Sidon getting a fiance in TotK, I have an easy explanation/solution:

It’s a political marriage.

Sidon is royalty. He’s being crowned King. Royalty usually don’t get the privilege to marry for love, but rather need to do so in order to build political alliances and secure heirs. Mipha was able to consider proposing to Link officially because having the Champion of Hyrule as her consort would both strengthen their connections to what was the biggest political power in the area and be a great boon to Zora’s Domain in general, plus if they turned out to be biologically incompatible there was always Sidon for continuing the royal line.

Now, Sidon is the last in his line and trying to give his people a sense of stability while taking the throne amidst another huge upheaval. The kingdom of Hyrule is a shadow of what it once was, and Link himself was gone with no way of knowing if/when he’d return, as well as needing to spend his time/attention on all of Hyrule rather than the Zora specifically.

Meanwhile, Lady Yona is Zora royalty herself making her a good political match, she has qualities and skills that are well-suited to helping the people of Zora’s Domain, and she’s an old friend of Sidon’s which means they’ll probably get along pretty well. Marrying her as a political choice makes perfect sense. And Yona is a small enough character that we honestly aren’t given many indications that there’s more to their relationship than that- old friends who are marrying now to strengthen Sidon’s new reign.

That doesn’t mean Sidon is straight, or that he isn’t still in love with Link. And it doesn’t mean he can’t eventually pursue a relationship with Link, once things have settled down a bit. That sort of thing was pretty common with royalty historically (or at least for men- stupid patriarchy). In this case, Sidon and Yona could have arranged to have an open marriage, with both of them free to pursue matters of the heart outside of their political duties. Or at least, that’s how I’d write it if I was writing canon-compliant Sidlink. 

So yeah, Sidlink as a ship is definitely not sunk, even if you do stay completely with canon. It just might look a little different. And I, for one, would love to see shippers play around with this new dynamic.

[thevelaryons]

ADDAM VELARYON & BENJICOT BLACKWOOD, IF ONLY WE HAD MORE TIME

Fire & Blood, George R. R. Martin // unknown // The Raven and the Mouse, Susan Pace-Koch (illustrated by Emily Stepp) // @slugspoon (Alivia Horsley) // Contradictions: Tracking Poems, Adrienne Rich // Happiness, Raymond Carver // Addam & Ben at Raventree Hall by OrionHakuryu // @wormbus-art // They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera // The Issa Valley, Czesław Miłosz // unknown // Poem, Langston Hughes // Addam & Ben at Tumbleton by OrionHakuryu // gentle.earth by Mia // Burial at Raventree Hall by asoiafattherite // The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket

[imekitty]

I'm kind of the odd one out in the Danny Phantom fandom because I don't hate canon, and in fact, I very much try to be a canon-compliant writer as much as possible. However, there are a few canon things that I ignore in my fics, so I figured I'd share what they are! :)

The Christmas Truce

In my headcanon, ghosts cannot go against their ghostly obsessions for any reason, even if it's Christmas. Therefore, the Christmas truce from The Fright Before Christmas does not exist in any of my fics.

Valerie's Ninth-Degree Black Belt

Danny says that Valerie has a ninth-degree black belt in Flirting With Disaster. Though he does not say which martial art she has the belt in, it apparently takes an average of thirty to forty years to get a ninth-degree black belt in anything. I let it slide for Maddie because she's old enough that maaaaaaybe it's possible, but while Valerie probably does have a black belt, I doubt she was able to get a ninth-degree black belt at her age. I headcanon Danny just said it was a ninth-degree black belt because he got confused with what his mom has.

Danny Struggling in PE

I very much enjoy Micro Management but I don't get how they expect us to believe that Danny is this out of shape when he's been fighting ghosts at least several times a week for months at this point. So in my fics, he excels in PE and any poor grades are due to tardies or absences, not because he can't meet the fitness requirements.

Paulina’s Mom

We see Paulina's mom just once in Pirate Radio, but I prefer to say that's a woman her dad is currently dating but not her mother, especially since we do not see this woman at Paulina's quinceañera in Memory Blank. This woman also looks nothing like Paulina and I like to headcanon that Paulina and her mother look similar.

If I think of more, I'll add them! But I really do always try my best to flesh out and expand on canon in my fics rather than just ignoring what I don't like. I enjoy the challenge!

[justsumtransdude2000]

And what if I wrote ATYD but for the Skittles? Huh? What if I write half a million words about Barty Crouch Jr. pinning over his bsf (and maybe Regulus' brother - hear me out!)?? Huh?? What if I write Regulus dying and Barty having to watch and it finally pushing him over the edge because Reggie was all he had left and he thought he was being careful??? What then??

[ghostwaffleheimer]

Sanji's just trying to make sure Law's taken care of

[monarchetype]

TLOVM: squanders A Bard's Lament and quite possibly kills off the chance of adapting the Tary arc

Also TLOVM: Ripley convinces Thordak to send his young to attack Whitestone, all just to send Percy a message to get him to chase after her

Perfectly balanced trade...

[ferryfoam]

Does anyone have any good tos spirk fics they can recommend? I don't really want to trudge through ao3 trying to find some I can tolerate haha

Preferably under 100k words ! Any rating is fine but I'm looking for something more around 20-50k words rather than a oneshot

[crownedwille]

.

[way2gosuperrstarr]

on one hand, im hvaing soooo much fun, on the other hand, THERE IS NO WAY FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT WOULD PUT THIS MUCH EFFORT INTO COSTUME DESIGN FOR ANY OF THEIR ANIMATRONICS 😭😭😭😭 IM TORNNNNN

[mechazushi]

After the Fall {AN ACTUAL SHORT STORY THIS TIME} [Kaiju No. 8] (Could be considered as possible Ep11 spoilers; interpreted artistically)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Kafka Hibino." Captain Mina Ashiro started, "No. Kaiju Number Eight. I am taking you into custody." She leveled her gun to him. Her voice as steady as her hands, taking care not to let an ounce of sadness that had filled her soul melt her outward resolve. The companies were distraught and heavily wounded. Most of the infrastructure in the training area had been reduced to ash. An arched border line had been etched into the pavement around them. One side was mostly intact with spider cracks in various locations. The other side was a pale, dusty mess. No surface from the border and beyond was traversable with all of it being splintered, jutting, and uneven.

At the peak of the arch stood a half dissolved monster, melting back into a man. When the flecks peeled off and drifted into the remnants of the wind, a face began to emerge. Kafka Hibino, the former member of the Third Division had ousted himself as the elusive Kaiju Number Eight. He stood stone still, letting fragments of his alter form slough off as he never took his eyes off his captor. He wanted to think he knew what she was thinking, that this is just protocol, that there was no place in her heart that harbored ill will or intent. Mina wouldn't use her gun against him, right? They could still be friends, that he could still fight for his spot at her side.

He couldn't tell. Mina was unreadable as ever and Kafka couldn't blame her. He had been reprimanded enough times to know that this was just how she had to be in front of others in the Division. Her place wasn't a position where she was afforded the leeway to be physically emotional. Emotion was considered weakness, and she had to be strong for the others. To the officers, she was being seen as a strong captain, standing against a Daikaiju threat. It didn't matter that this was Kafka, that everyone had seen that it was Kafka who made a harrowing choice to save the lives of thousands. All they saw now was a monster, no matter how human and familiar its face was.

"Hoshina. I need you to cuff him." Captain Ashiro commanded. Hoshina heard, but was refusing to act. He couldn't bring himself to look at the situation in front of him. A man he trusted, a man he had considered as a friend and compatriot, was confirmed to be a threat to the world. Hoshina wasn't sure at the beginning what Kafka's circumstances were. He knew that things were off, but he chose to ignore them. The whole reason for letting Kafka join as a cadet was so Hoshina could investigate him, and he failed to do even that. All because he couldn't look past his smile. How could a man with a smile so bright and genuine ever be a threat to others. He didn't believe it, refused to believe it. He wasn't going to slap cuffs on a man that didn't have a threatening bone in his body.

But was he a man? Everyone saw Kafka gain impossible speed. They all saw Kafka, as a kaiju, blast into the sky and launched the bomb to a safer distance. Was Kafka a kaiju now because he was strong and dangerous? Or was he still a man because he understood sacrifice? Kaijus didn't need to deal with pesky feelings. They didn't have to worry about what others thought of them. All there was in kaiju minds was to eat and destroy. Kafka could express emotion, and has expressed desire outside of destruction. If Kafka knew that others would turn and run in fear if they knew what he was and what he could do, why did he do it anyway?

"Hoshina." Captain Ashiro commanded again, dislodging her Vice Captain from his thoughts. He still didn't want to do this, still choosing to believe in the man behind the monster's mask, but it wasn't a good idea to make the Captain repeat herself. Reaching into his side pouch, he dug up one of the plastic handcuffs that most officers are issued with. They were issued with the intent that defense members might encounter people taking the opportunity for ransacking during invasions and could preform arrests until the offender could be picked up by proper authorities. Hoshina walked up to Kafka and held the industrial zip-tie in his hands. Every neuron in his skull felt like it was screaming in retaliation, making his hands hesitate in the action of placing Kafka under physical arrest. He almost wanted to laugh. Did anyone here actually think that these meager restraints could hold back a person with a registered fortitude rating? Kafka slowly held out his wrists in front of him, looking like a toddler that was expecting a ruler to come down on them in punishment.

"It's okay. I know." Kafka whispered imperceptibly to him. His head was bowed solemnly, but he looked at Hoshina as his face remained ever reassuring. He almost felt like slapping the look off of him. How dare he act like this. How dare he try to be apologetic and caring for others in this situation. Why couldn't he be an asshole and run, fight, do anything to save himself. For god's sake, why can't he be selfish. Having to deal with a daikaiju on the loose would have been less gut wrenching than having to send a fellow soldier to an uncertain fate.

"Captain Ashiro, I can explain-" Reno Ichikawa was shouting as he came barreling over the fallen debris as nimbly as possible. Following behind at a much slower pace was Kikoru Shinomiya.

"Save it Officer Ichikawa!" Ashiro barked at him, "Telling by your outburst at this time of all places, tells me you have some knowledge on this as well." she holstered her side arm now that Kafka had been successfully restrained.

"You too, Shinomiya. Hoshina told me about his suspicions about how you managed to neutralize the honju at the acceptance trials earlier this year and with you showing up behind Ichikawa here, I can assume that you're in on this too." She began to wordlessly direct those around her and made moves to stand behind Kafka and Hoshina.

"Okonogi, send several vehicles over to the training area. We have multiple wounded and a lot of tired soldiers that I think would rather drive than walk back to barracks. Leader Ebina, gather some of your people and start marking a path through the rubble so we can transport the wounded."

"Roger that, Captain. Do you want me to send an armored vehicle for Kaiju Number Eight?" replied Okonogi. Captain Ashiro looked hard at Kafka, now back to appearing completely human and in the plastic cuffs. Hoshina was looking right at the captain. Blood had stopped dripping down his face minutes ago, but it was still clear that he wasn't in any shape to fight anything more powerful than a mouse right now. She took in the fact that his hands were placed gently on top of Kafka's limply curled fists, a sight that Kafka couldn't pull his eyes away from.

"No. Leave the armored vehicle for now. We might need it to be fueled and stocked for whatever happens tomorrow." Ashiro replied back after serious consideration. With most of the Division looking the way it did, and the person most capable of going head to head with a daikaiju of small size looking like death warmed over, she acknowledged the fact that Kafka; or Kaiju Number Eight, she hadn't stopped her brain from fluctuating between the two, hadn't taken the opportunity to bolt for the hills. She figured if he was going to try anything, he would have as soon as she leveled her sidearm at him. In the bright moonlight over head, she could see the person she once considered a friend chuckle noticeably.

"Thanks for that, Captain Ashiro. Those trucks don't have the best air condi-"

"Save it. I don't want to hear another word from you tonight." Captain Ashiro commanded. She could clearly see the word's effect on him as he visibly flinched at her sharp tone. As the officers around her got into position and steadied their hands on their rifles, she pointed her finger off over Hoshina's shoulder, indicating that they should start moving. Kafka's feet regretfully began to shuffle around to face the direction he was supposed to go in, but when he tried to take an actual step he hissed loudly and nearly collapsed to his knees onto the pavement. Hoshina didn't think for a second as he rushed forward to catch him before he landed, propping himself under Kafka's broad chest and grabbing his shoulder to keep him balanced. The chorus of six safety switches all clicking off in unison could be heard behind the two of them.

"Shit- Sorry, sorry! Knees were locked." Kafka said, glancing over his and Hoshina's connected bodies.

"Sorry." He added, seemingly addressed to no one in particular.

'Maybe that was addressed to all of us.' Hoshina thought as he helped Kafka readjust to his feet. Once he felt okay enough to walk, he began to move forward at a sluggish pace. It was clear to Hoshina that he wasn't walking slow on purpose, and that it really must have taken a lot out of him to propel himself into the air and sucker punch a twenty kiloton yoju bomb into the lower stratosphere. Hoshina kept a hand on Kafka's upper back as he gently guided him through the path Ebina's team had marked earlier. With the moment they were in being as quiet as possible, save for the occasional echoing crash of broken rubble hitting the ground all around them, Hoshina took a second to think.

'I mean, when you think about it, that should be enough to knock the wind out of anyone capable of doing that in that sort of situation.' He stunned himself with the words in his head. How could he even try and logic out what a man with the power of turning into a Kaiju was even qualified to accomplish? This whole situation was absurd and he hated it. He hated everything in that moment. He hated Kafka for putting himself in danger, he hated Captain Ashiro knowing she was only doing her job, he hated himself because he was the one who told Kafka not to get attached to others on the job because God only knows what could happen and here he was, feeling attached knowing damn well that he was going to feel like shit because he was basically loosing the best damn thing this Division had going for it!

Hoshina couldn't writhe in his personal hell for much longer as the group had made it to the busted doors of the training grounds. The remnants of his fight with Kaiju Number Ten as well as debris from the explosion had all been pushed to the sides as best as possible. A few tents had been erected to preform triage and separate the barely scratched from the mortally wounded and treat them appropriately. A rotating convoy of open air trucks and military jeeps were set up at the far end of the street carrying the tired and lightly wounded to somewhere else on base for rest, if it was available for most. All activity seemed to slow, almost stopping in some areas as Kafka led his paltry parade showcasing his imprisonment through the masses. It almost felt like a display of a man being condemned. Okonogi pulled ahead of the line in her own commandeered jeep and pulled it to a stop in front of Kafka and Ashiro. The captain told the six behind her to grab a vehicle for themselves and follow close behind, before wordlessly hopping into the passenger seat of the car. As Hoshina hopped in the exposed backseat, he could hear Kafka groan and hiss as he settled into the spot on the bench next to him.

"Hssssss, haaaa, hoooo. Wow, sitting down. A novel idea. Who knew?" Kafka talked exhaustedly as he fumbled with the lap belt using his restrained hands.

"Miss Okonogi, not to presumptuously assume your driving skills, but you mind being careful and avoiding potholes and barricades on the way to my cell. I'm gonna take a nap." Kafka's head slumped unceremoniously against the metal bar framing the back of the jeep and immediately started to breath heavily, almost as if he was asleep already. His closed eyes meant he didn't get to see Mina's irritated glare she sent his way before she took the clipboard that Okonogi brought with her. Hoshina rested his elbow against the car's sidewall and placed his face in his hand, staring at an unaware Kafka.

'He's asleep. This no good, dirty, rotten, lying, mutant Kaiju bastard is asleep?' Hoshina thought angrily. As he felt the car move forward and tuned out Captain Ashiro and Okonogi's conversation, he realized all he could think about in that moment was him.

'A man saves an entire base and this is how we thank him.' Hoshina's inner monologue continued. He knew he wasn't the only one here who felt like this, and when the news got out in the morning he was sure lots of others were going to have mixed feelings on this as well. Arresting him was for the best, he knew that as well. Good intentions or no, human or no, it didn't change the fact that Kafka can become a kaiju. The whole purpose of the Divisions was to eliminate kaijus. The fact that Kafka was allowed to breathe, let alone sitting in the back of a car with the two most powerful people on base at rock bottom of their best, spoke volumes about how crazy and fucked up these circumstances were. Protocol was kill on sight, and Kafka knows this. Yet here he was, sleeping the rest of his freedom away.

'It wouldn't be hard, either.' Hoshina thoughts continued, 'I may not be able to put up a good fight at the moment, but we can assume he's mostly human right now. He's asleep and tired, which means he's vulnerable' He played with the tip of the handle connected to his sword. 'I could end it all for him right now and he wouldn't be wiser.'

But he wouldn't. Hoshina couldn't lay any hand on him with deadly and harmful intent behind it, now and forever. Monster or Human, it didn't matter anymore. Nothing could ever change the fact that Hoshina had one percent of trust in this man right now. And he wondered if Kafka could feel that too, because why else could he be so blissfully asleep right now.

'He's not going to be like that for long.' Hoshina thought bitterly. The protocol was kill on sight for honju and yoju, yes, but that stopped at daikaiju. they were killed like any other threat, but whatever that was left of the body after the fight was sent off for research. Research and experimentation. Hoshina knew that it was a snowball's chance in hell that the leaders of the Defense Force were just going to let them keep Kafka on base, but were they going to let Kafka stay alive and intact? Hoshina could feel his heart be poisoned and start to cramp up at the thought. He had to look away for a moment , lest tears started to mix with the blood and stain his cheeks even more. It took several sharp breaths and a solid minute of mental filing to help his chest feels normal again.

Hoshina tried to take another look at the mystery that was his fellow soldier. A face as still as a forest pond, covered in already healed scratches. Light from the moon created soft shadows on his eyelids and neck. flickering and shifting in tandem with the shakes and jolts coming from the moving jeep. His worker's tan looking more pronounced than it usually did. Kafka looked stoic and peaceful, which created a stark contrast to the unearthly and demonic visage Hoshina has associated with Kaiju Number Eight. It was an awful situation Hoshina found himself in.

On one hand, he wanted to come across the bench and hold him. Whisper calmly in his ear that everything was going to be okay. That he won't have to worry about whatever that's going to come for him in the morning. On the other hand, he wanted to be the one that was being held. To have all those sweet and empty promises whispered back at him, to be told that things would be fine for him too. Kafka won't have to leave the base, that this whole kaiju transformation business was just the concussion talking, and the base will be back to operational in no time at all.

None of those things were going to happen. The base reconstruction was going to take forever, Kafka was going to have to leave, and nothing was going to be fine. Hoshina turned away again, feeling the chest tightening again and wanted to keep his tears to himself for the time being. He couldn't cry now because there was a superior officer present and didn't also want to wake Kafka. He couldn't cry in the morning because he needed to be strong in the face of whatever decision that was to come down on his officer's head. As the first shifts of color indicative of the approaching dawn began to brighten the night sky, Hoshina tamped down every bit of emotion he had to let out later into the first few minutes of however much sleep he was going to get in those twilight hours.

This was going to be a rough few months, wasn't it?

[descendant-of-truth]

*grips Klug by the shoulders* what is going on with you in this game

I really thought I had it all figured out in my last post, where I determined that Klug is still very much aware of the demon in his book, and that it has some sort of connection to Sig. I even thought it was safe to assume that he still remembered being possessed by it back in Fever 2, because it was the only time it happened where he wasn't confused afterwards.

But then that scene in Schezo's story happened and I have so many more questions. Because this really sounds like someone who doesn't even know that there's anything IN that book?? Which he very obviously does???

I'm not even talking about previous games at this point, because there's been weirder cases of amnesia in this series before; Klug repressing the knowledge he has of his book isn't a farfetched idea. But the problem with it is that this is the only scene (so far) where he's this clueless, and it happens later in the timeline than this one in Risukuma's story (if I've been tracking it right):

Klug's reactions here when Risukuma seems to be on the trail of What's Weird About the Book are absolutely about him wanting to keep Ayashii (whatever he remembers about it) a secret. I mean, would he really be that nervous if all he thought he was going to say was "it's got powerful magic inside of it"? He never really tries to hide that part, seeing as he casts spells with it.

It's even less obvious where in the timeline Accord's conversation with him happens, but he directly references "the tome" being ill at ease, once again suggesting that he at least sort of knows what its deal is. Plus, he says this to his teacher, so the idea that his book has feelings isn't even something he's concerned about keeping a secret.

And lest we forget, he even gets in an argument with it off-screen. What's up with this "how can a book be fussy" nonsense?? He's not even saying it to cover up Ayashii's existence to other people, he's saying it to himself.

What changed? Is this just some accidental inconsistency, or should we be expecting a scene in a future update to explain it?? I'm losing my marbles over here

[pridoo]

All comics -30% this week! Use code MANDOFINALE on Gumroad! All info about my dinluke comics on my pinned post ✨ Featured page is from Terra Obscura 2!

Etsy

Gumroad

(Next sale is coming up in a month for the celebration of my bday and the release of a new comic!!)

[hirazuki]

The Lieutenant of Angband and the Lord of Himring.

Idk who managed to tick them both off or how, but congrats, I hope they are running XD

From a fanfic idea that I've been mulling over in my head. Usually I'm more of a missing scene or canon scene reinterpretation type of person, but I do enjoy some good old canon divergency now and then ^^ I just want them to interact more freely, without the constraint of chains and cliffsides, you know?

[camgoloud]

one small detail that stood out to me about this latest episode that i haven’t seen anyone else talking about yet is that when the commentators are calling colin “inspiring” and the “man of the match,” they are celebrating him not for actually scoring the goals himself, but for providing the crucial assists to make both of them happen. and i really love that because for me it’s the absolute perfect wrap to his character arc across all three seasons!

like, we know that colin’s job on this team has never been to score goals. in fact i’m pretty sure we’ve never heard about a single goal that he has scored. colin is and always has been a team player, not a star—and we’ve seen that crop up over and over. notably, we’ve seen the fact that he’s not entirely at peace with that crop up over and over: see the way he was affected by nate’s entire holidy-inn-painting monologue, being benched to make room for zava, etc.—like, this is the thing he’s sensitive about! this is where all of his insecurities come from!

but at the SAME TIME it’s also tied very intimately with all his struggles re: hiding his sexuality— “colin’s a chameleon,” etc. it’s fascinating because there’s SO much tension there between colin 1. feeling bad about the fact that he never stands out on the pitch the way some of his teammates do, because of who he is on the team, and 2. feeling like he CAN’T stand out, ever, because of Who He Is As A Person. etc. it’s like. he’s filling this role in the background. he’s afraid he’s not doing it well enough. he’s afraid that what and who he is isn’t good enough and isn’t worthy of recognition. he wishes he were someone different. trying to be someone different in the locker room is clearly making him so unhappy and stressed out. it is All Connected and my thoughts have been doing laps around it at an ever-increasing rate since i watched episode 2.07 ‘headspace’ if not before!

and all of this is why it’s so incredible to me that in the end, colin’s big moment comes from making assists and not goals! because on the one hand i understand the fandom desire for the colin post-coming out glowup that we all knew was coming—to see him, like, ~prove everybody wrong about him~ and inspire people by suddenly becoming a standout player and scoring goals left and right, even though that never used to be his role on the team before. and don’t get me wrong, i was 100% on board that train, and would have loved it for him if that was how it went down in the end, also. i think he should get to score here and there! as a treat! especially now that richmond are playing total football and there’s been so much emphasis placed on how it’s not just jamie/dani/occasionally sam who are making all the goals anymore!

but i don’t know! especially after the events of the last few episodes, there’s something very special to me about getting to see a colin who, rather than becoming someone entirely new in the moments right after coming out, just feels free to become, and be at peace with, the best version of the same self he’s always been. he’s still a team player first and foremost, but now that he’s not as weighed down by the need to chameleon/hide/pretend to be someone he’s not, he’s so much better at it. and everyone sees this! he gets to be celebrated for his contributions within the role he’s always played! he (and everybody else!) finally recognizes the value that he adds to the team just by being himself—fully himself! it resolves all the tension and insecurity that we’ve seen him struggling with this whole time, on every level. and so this moment was genuinely the perfect ending for his journey in my opinion—i’m so so happy that we were tall enough to join him on the ride here, and so excited to see what he does going forward these last few episodes now that some of that pressure is off him <3