#headcanon || lacuna

[you-have-been-frizzled]

For Josie to be a pyrokinetic maybe when they were making sure Sophie didn't have the genes Josie accidentally got them?

while i can’t remember which book this conversation was in, i do remember Forkle telling Sophie that “they removed all of the pyrotechnics genes from her DNA because it would make her life to difficult, so they made sure it would be impossible to manifest as one” or something like that.

while Josie was an accident she would still have incredibly similar DNA to Sophie because of the Pyrokentic Dna being removed it would also effect Josie. is this an Au and i can do literally whatever i want? yeah! but i’m trying to stick to cannon as much as possible. also i have a more fun idea for her abilities. (and i don’t have much of a choice on the telepath inflictor thing and thing throwing pyrokentics in there two would be difficult to write)

so as i’ve already said her abilities are completely Screwed up. her inflicting being the most effected by her unperfected genes. the thing is it behaves like pyrokensis instead of acting like Sophie’s or Bronte’s where it will target one person, or go out in radius, and they can do some sort of meditation to control it (that wrapping in the emotions in a ball to use later). hers behaves more like a elemental ability and is highly effected by emotions in a way that’s not as easy to control.

more info under the cut im in essay mode so i’m talking like it’s cannon not my personal headcannons (also i’m using my ability short hand because you can only spell pyrokentic wrong so many times)

in my mind elemental abilities are incredibly connected to the elves emotions (Flashers being the least connected and Pyros being the most). when a elemental is feeling stronger emotions, they will lose some control over their ability (ie. a frosters fingers will get covered in frost or a Pyro will create sparks) and the more intense the emotion the less control they will have over their ability.

the similarities that Josie has to Pyro’s specifically (and chargers which are very similar to pyro’s but that’s a different discussion) is the fact that she basically gets charged with whatever emotion she is feeling and if someone touches her while she’s charged like that they will end up getting inflicted on. her emotion are intense like a Pyro’s as well it’s either all or nothing when it comes to both Pyro’s and Josie’s emotions which doesn’t help with the lack of control in either case.

because Josie’s inflicting and emotional state is so unstable (because of her situation and because she’s just like that) she was next to no control over her ability, and is as likely to inflict as a recently manifested Pyro is to start a fire. while Sophie only loses control when her emotions are incredibly intense negative emotions. Josie will lose some control at the slightest emotional change. when she’s out of control it’s not like when Sophie does Josie will send emotional shock waves that move in a radius away from her until it’s stopped by someone or something, while Sophie creates a bubble of intense inflicting that will continue until she gains control again.

i’m done with the eassay now, but i am going to add that i think Josie will be an empath as well and it will also effect her inflicting, it’s just something i’ve decided a few hours ago so it’s not as deatiled as the inflicting is.

[kenobers]

What kind of music do you think the other Batboys listen to? (If you're interested in them ofc)

okay, first of all this is my first ask!! hello!! and it's about music, so extra bonus points to you!! 🌟

second of all, of course i'm interested in the other batboys! i'm working on their spotify wrappeds right now. for anyone’s who interested, here is my spotify!!

these are what i personally think each of them lean towards music wise based on canon and my own headcanons, please don’t stomp on me if you disagree :-)

Dick listens to clown music i really only found one panel of Dick listening to music and it was mostly Original Pilipino Music and mostly ballads, which i love. it also lends itself to Dick being a fan of indie and soft rock, as well very much being a child of the 90s. The Cure and Billy Joel are artists i see him enjoying. i know a lot of people envision him as a pop fan and i think he specifically listens to early rock-pop music from the 70s; think ABBA, the Carpenters, Donna Summer, artists who would mix well with his affection for balladeers. My self indulgent headcanon is that he's a huge Fleetwood Mac and Mavis Staples fan. i think it's a legal obligation to have an appreciation for grunge to be part of the batfam, but i think he sticks with the basics.

Jason canonically likes Slipknot, Lacuna Coil and Poison Idea (which i forgot to include on his spotify wrapped, oops). however, given his background, his continued interest in being connected to the streets of a large east coast city and the fact that we know he loves good writing, he's definitely a 90s east coast hip-hop guy. i really envision him being a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan (as we should all be) and DMX wrote his theme song Where The Hood At. both the metal/punk and hip-hop genres have heavily political roots and the flaws of political systems are a common theme, which is something he’d appreciate. however, i think Jason's criteria for adding a song to his spotify is if it's good. he's not a snob, he just likes his music to be loud and have good lyricism. he likes to be able to relate to it, whereas Dick would be more about the vibe. i love the idea that he's into Jack Johnson when he wants a softer sound. he also gives me major Artic Monkeys vibes.

Tim canonically likes The Clash, Green Day (i think this is another one they all have in common) and i believe Oasis. so one could comfortably deduce that he's into punk rock, early alternative and brit pop (which makes sense, these all tend to go hand-in-hand). i think he would be fond of alternative and indie, like i think he would dig Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean (he's also a bisexual man in his late teens/early twenties who's heavily online, so i feel like it's also a fairly safe bet that he listens to Frank and probably Tyler too). i think he goes through strong phases of certain artists/genres. i think, like Jason, he likes to be able to relate to his music, but he’s also a bit of a music snob.

Steph's most streamed artist is Mucous Membrane. i get strong punk rock, punk pop vibes from her. she likes anything she can scream along to. My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, Pierce The Veil, Hollywood Undead. she definitely had a very strong Panic! At The Disco era. she's got a soft spot for Megadeath too. but i think she’s also more than capable (and willing) to scream along to some bubbly pop music too.

Duke has been seen singing The Man on The Flying Trapeze by Spike Jones. granted, this is a fairly well known song and it had a specific context, but i also kind of love the idea that Duke listens to jazz, like also has a lot of Chet Baker and Billie Holiday saved. that’s his time-to-lock-in music. then i could also see him digging a genre that samples a lot of these artists, like r&b and hip-hop. i see Kendrick Lamar pop up on a lot of Duke playlists and i’m inclined to agree. i’d also add Jay-Z to the mix. a good chunk of his spotify wrapped is stuff he plays to get hyped up, which can vary quite a bit. there’s some Fall Out Boy, Chase Atlantic, Rihanna and some classic rock. i think he also daydreams to Holding Out for A Hero quite a bit as well.

honestly, i feel like Cass pulls the most from everyone else’s playlists. i would say that she’s family spotify stalker, but frankly i feel like she uses youtube music. anyways, her personal tastes would lean more towards the sad girl side; Halsey, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Mazzy Star. maybe Penelope Scott and Grimes - i could see her vibing with the combination of the sad girl feel and a unique sort of sound. thanks to Jason, she also digs System of A Down. for Cass especially music is an emotional outlet, so i think she’d be drawn to more emotional stuff. that said, she’s definitely an ABBA girl.

i see people try to argue that Jason would listen to musicals, but if anyone is the secret theater kid, it’s for sure Damian. he likes the drama and the flair of a megamusical and as such, a couple of songs from The Phantom of The Opera make their way onto his playlist (he secretly relates to certain aspects of the storyline but he won’t say that part out loud). he’s a musician himself so it’s not hard to imagine him enjoying someone as genius as Sondheim, although i imagine he’s very picky about which cast albums/recordings he spins. he listens to a lot of classic music, with a special appreciation for Bach as he’s more or less the violin king. but Beethoven’s got a little more flair. i think he also has a playlist of songs he picked up from his siblings and Superboy

i think they all share an appreciation for Nirvana, The Pixies, The Spice Girls and A Tribe Called Quest.

and i do think The Spice Girls comes strongly from Dick’s influence.

what do y’all think they listen to?

[bonsoir-tyrelliot]

So I’ve read like most of the Tyrelliot on AO3 at this point (minus the high school and college AUs because that stuff isn’t my jam) and I wanted to post my recs! I have tagged authors wherever I’m aware of them. Keep in mind this is my personal taste, which tends toward the soft. In no particular order:

1. Last Request (series) - This author’s instincts for romance are better than 95% of the published romance market. It’s unfinished but by the time you get to where it stops you’ll believe in Tyrelliot’s love so hard you’ll believe they can get through their final obstacle. AU.

2. Lend me your heart, I swear I won’t break it - Does anyone else get a literal physical response from sweetness in fic? I do, and I spent all 27,000 words of this in that tingly state. There’s angst but it’s so worth it for how sweet they are to each other. The ending is either happy or sad depending on your personal headcanons.

3. Beside the white chickens - A cute, longer oneshot where Tyrell comforts Elliot. I got the tingles from this entire thing too.

4. Lacunae - As I think the name implies, this fic gives us scenes from in between canon scenes. It also gives new takes on some canon scenes. WIP. Some of the best writing I have ever seen, no exaggeration. You have to read it to believe it. @auntarctica

5. the two-body problem - Elliot saves Tyrell after 404 and plays grumpy nurse. Both are incredibly in character. Tyrell high on morphine is cute but heartbreaking. Excellent writing. @cainightfics

6. This world will always be here - Technically this is Tyrobot, but it’s too good not to include, and it’s all Elliot anyway right? Incredibly sweet, incredibly well written. The softest Tyrell you'll ever meet. @the-fossilized-writer

7. In the dread of night and it’s sequel Sleeping at last - Two one shots that fix Tyrell’s death. I never knew I wanted Tyrell to be good with a wrench but it turns out I did want that.

8. Reboot to Recovery - A oneshot inside Elliot Alderson’s mind. Very cute and sweet and satisfying.

9. On your side, always - This is the most straightforward post-canon Tyrelliot get-together I’ve come across. Almost no angst, some pretty good smut.

10. I, Robot - A oneshot where Mr. Robot gets to relax for a minute with Tyrell. Very in character and adorable. Tyrobot.

11. Know you by heart - Tyrobot scenes from the basement in season 3. Expands on Mr. Robot's character in very cool ways. @zeiskyte

—Bonus-three recs that are PWPish.

1. Tender are the hands of god - Robot-Elliot strangles Tyrell during sex to celebrate the successful hack. Also, weirdly, this is some of the best prose I have ever seen on AO3.

2. World full of uptight gentlemen - Elliot makes Tyrell wear a vibrating butt plug during an E Corp meeting.

3. The evolution of Elliot Alderson - Elliot as power bottom. Sex in a limo. @deviantdarkbelle

[ghostradiodylan]

What type of music would the counselors listen to?

I know some of my mutuals have answered this question before and I'm sure my headcanons will be influenced by theirs, AND I'm also significantly older than the counselors so they're probably listening to gen z stuff my late millennial ass doesn't even know about but here goes nothing!

Laura So much SIØBHAN! Just kidding. Laura feels like two completely different characters in the game so I have a hard time deciding what I think spunky but straight-laced, ‘this is my first cop,’ over-achieving pre-vet student Laura Kearney would listen to vs badass avenging murder spree Laura Kearney (but maybe she always had that inside her). Part of me wants to say, like, 80’s pop (Prince, Blondie, Tiffany, Michael Jackson, Pat Benetar, etc.) and part of me wants to put her in the hard rock/metal zone with Ryan. Maybe she’s a bit of both.

Max I believe it was Addie (@insertlovelyperson) who said Max would listen to country music where women murder their cheating or abusive husbands. That tracks to me. Maybe it's the use of Alma Cogan's version of 'Fly Me to the Moon' in the game, but I also tend to associate him with crooner type singers of the 40's and 50's (Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, etc), which is what I said he'd choose for karaoke. And because of this fanart I have no choice but to HC him as a major Ariana Grande fan, he's probably the one who chose the music for the drive to camp. So. Max has range.

Abi is the K-Pop/J-Pop stan to me but I know so little about that music beyond the crossover bands like BTS that I can't speak to it a whole lot. I think she'd also like some emo, pop-punk and moodier alt/pop. Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Melanie Martinez, Florence and the Machine, Metric, Lorde, Halsey, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers/boygenius, etc. I feel like she's really into female fronted bands for some reason.

Jacob likes pretty much whatever is on the radio. He's a top 40 guy and has no shame about his enjoyment of Ed Sheeran and Justin Beiber, or about ugly crying to Taylor Swift and Coldplay. He rarely listens closely to the actual lyrics (and often gets them humorously wrong), he just goes on vibes. He discovers half the music he listens to via TikTok (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Emma is a theater kid through and through and loves broadway musicals. She goes through phases with each popular one. She's had a Waitress phase, a Mamma Mia phase, a Wicked phase, and a Hamilton phase, of course, and now she's into Mean Girls, Heathers, and Hadestown. Beyond that, I think she'd be a dedicated Swiftie, big Adele fan, and a lover of Britney Spears's entire body of work from the 90's through today.

Nick probably listens to stoner bro music. Like jam bands and psychedelic rock and stuff. He probably likes Dave Matthews Band and the Grateful Dead/Dark Star Orchestra, Sublime, Widespread Panic, Tame Impala, and O.A.R. Googling jam bands to remind myself which ones exist led me to the knowledge that there's an Australian psychedelic rock band called King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and that name is so bonkers that I've decided without listening to more than a few bars that it has to be Nick's favorite band.

Ryan is a little bit emo and a little bit goth and a little bit old school punk. He needs music that's loud and moody to help sort out his feelings about life and drown out all the excess noise inside his head. He's into metal, the harder side of emo/screamo, goth rock, hard rock, punk, and post-punk. He definitely listens to Nightwish, GOJIRA, Mastodon, Lacuna Coil, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Thursday, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, AFI, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Minor Threat, The Misfits, Ramones, etc. He doesn't hate more accessible pop and rock music, but the closest he gets to choosing it for himself is probably something like The Cure or The Smashing Pumpkins or Depeche Mode, maybe some of the creepier Weeknd songs and Muse tracks too heavy to go on the Twilight soundtracks. He and Abi listen to Babymetal together.

Kaitlyn classic rock and 90's alternative. This girl likes the Stones more than the Beatles, though she'll listen to both. Led Zeppelin, Joan Jett, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Black Sabbath, the occasional hair band. She especially loves the 90's girl rockers like Alanis Morisette, Garbage, Hole, Veruca Salt, and No Doubt (Kaitlyn can't believe Gwen Stefani is married to pop-country dork Blake Shelton who sings that song about being your honey bee, because Gwen used to be so cool [I'm definitely not projecting]). I feel like she'd also love Bikini Kill and Sleater Kinney, Le Tigre, and The Donnas.

Dylan is the Music Guy ™ (and my personal bias/url namesake), so I've admittedly thought about his musical tastes more than most of the others'. The official Quarry website mentions his 'deep musical knowledge' and I imagine he has pretty broad views on what constitutes good music. He's got kind of a vintage vibe to him, maybe it's the reproduction band shirt from 1988, or the fact that he's into analog technology, or both, but I've noticed he's often depicted playing Queen or Bowie or something of that era in fics, which I think is realistic. This kid goes to the used record store and just buys whatever looks cool.

Fun Fact: According to the datamine, the chapters originally had literary or musical quotes at the beginning of each, and Chapter 5: White Noise (the radio hut chapter) was originally headed by the opening lyrics from Queen's 'Radio Ga Ga':

He's also the only character we see play music in canon, so we know he likes... songs from random compilation albums with inexpensive royalties. XD Just kidding, but these are the diegetic (in-universe) songs we get to hear from Dylan's playlist at the bonfire party:

All pop music of varying subtypes, so we know he appreciates a well-crafted pop song. I honestly am a fan of all of these. I think Dylan genuinely listens to everything but he seems like the type to especially like alt and indie pop, classic rock, garage rock, a bit of the more melodic side of punk, emo, and pop-punk, new wave, synth pop, electronic, and a little bit of hip hop that’s sufficiently nerdy white boy friendly (probably Beastie Boys, Run the Jewels, Post Malone, emo rap like Blackbear, etc). I also tend to gravitate towards early-mid aughts indie for him, like MGMT, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, OK Go, LCD Soundsystem, etc. Just seems to match his vibe. I think he'd really like BØRNS, Hozier, COIN, Mitski, and K.Flay and probably have a fair amount of overlap with Ryan's more melodic picks (MCR, Muse, The Cure, etc). Dylan probably hates Morrissey but begrudgingly loves The Smiths and definitely cranks up The Killers in his car. He’s also listening to bands right now that you’ve never heard of but will be huge in a couple years. He can probably tell you the difference between subgenres like chillwave, dream pop, and shoegaze but don’t ask me about it because I have no fucking clue.

Since we’re on the subject, here’s my absurdly long and ever-growing Rylan/Radioheads playlist because I have a problem.

And my Sweet Summer Jams playlist, that’s just a bunch of random songs I think would be clean enough to play at a summer camp as long as the kids/your boss don’t ask too many questions.

[badass-at-fandoming]

Do you have any headcanons for Beckett? Specifically about his life as a mortal? It sucks that we know so little about his past, other than the fact that Beckett "wasn't the name he was born with," and that he was embraced in the early 1700s in England. I find it strange that we know so little about him despite the fact he's practically a mascot for VTM.

Hi Nonny! I'm so used that World of Darkness' lacuna that it doesn't seem strange to me anymore, but it is quite a cold-water shock, huh? The game designers leave blanks on purpose so we can fill them in. I remember this one interview with Justin Achilli where the interviewer said the Book of Nod was (forcibly) published in 1993 (same as irl). He corrected her and said, "No, no, you have to say it was published in the early 1990s, so any Storyteller can fit it into their '90s chronicle, like if they want to do an adventure to prevent or pursue its publication." His answer stuck with me. As a fan I was like "...why does it matter, let us have this fixed date" but as a writer/baby game dev I was like "OH, that is CLEVER." It leaves room for creativity! Any adventure can follow the meta-canon! That's such a good game design trick! As a fan I find it frustrating!

This game design principle sticks even to the mascot. I've seen stuff that Beckett was a pirate, a privateer, an Oxford scholar, and/or an attractive dying waif. @chinesegal was kind enough to ask me various Beckett backstory questions, that you can find here: bathing practice, opinions on creationism, trans experience. I'd also point you to @vampire-the-askerade for their delightful Beckett writings.

My only like, firm headcanon for Beckett is that he has to be kind enough to warn the fledgling in VtMB. If someone's interpretation of his character doesn't allow for that, my interest tanks. I'm not even totally married to the backstory in my fanfic and idle-thoughts-before-falling-asleep scenario. Those were all convenient pretexts for me to write cuddles and snuggles, haha. I'd love more kudos and comments on my fanfic if you read those stories, but below the cut is the bullet point version.

A Kinder Universe series drops hints of a possible backstory, especially "A Monastery Hides More Than Bones," "It Pleased the Lord," and "Forbidden by God and King."

Birth name is Matthew Lowell.

"Matthew" after the Christian Apostle. The Matthew of the Catholic Bible was a tax collector and therefore a pariah in society (just like Beckett is kinda like an outsider to Kindred Society). He was called to join Jesus out of a crowd (like Aristotle called Beckett out of the wild, or how Caine singles out Beckett during Gehenna). After Jesus's Ascension, Matthew wrote a Gospel, which translates to "good news," and spread it around, (like Beckett spreads his theories like "Good news, everyone! Gehenna is fake!). Matthew's Gospel is focused on how Jesus fulfills Hebrew prophecy and begins with a long genealogy connecting Jesus to King David (Beckett is obsessed with the genealogy of the Kindred race and studies/fulfills/collects prophecies).

"Lowell" is the Anglicized surname of Norman French "lou," which translates to "wolf." Beckett's dark brown, straight hair and white skin is a common coloring with French people. We don't know his original eye color, but blue would clinch the deal. There's a long history of migration between France and England, both of people and culture. It's in the realm of possibility he's of French descent, at least partially.

Born in Oxford. One of many siblings. Mother died in childbirth. Kid during the Great Plague of London in 1665-1666. Good father.

Attended one of the Oxford universities and got his doctorate in some sort of proto-anthropology.

I think I've talked about it before, but I have an Embrace fic idea an Embrace scenario I've thought about real hard before falling asleep.

Beckett has the same tombstone data as above. He teaches at his Oxford university, but is not very popular among his department peers. He's too into evidence and the scientific method, and he's constantly quarreling with his colleagues.

Aristotle and Anatole visit Oxford to set up a satellite library. Possibly they needed a break from Paris for some Kindred political reason.

Kindred brothel owner owes them a favor and lets them stay in the brothel while the duo sets up the library haven

Beckett visits this same brothel to let off steam, and he's gifted to Anatole as a blood doll for the night. Except Beckett is like, "Can I rant to you about how stupid my colleagues are?" and this leads to a genuine discussion of scholarship and, later, friendship

Beckett becomes Anatole's regular client, and Anatole proposes to Aristotle that Aristotle Embraces Beckett

Aristotle approaches the Prince of Oxford and something something Kindred politics and Cassandra Darby kill steals Beckett and dumps him in the forest

The two Noddists learn that Beckett has been Embraced, and they try to find him. Anatole is so distraught that he is Not Helping the search at all, so Aristotle sends him back to Paris. Aristotle keeps up the search and eventually finds and adopts a feral Beckett baby

Aristotle and Beckett rejoin Anatole in Paris. Anatole has regained his equilibrium and takes over Beckett's Kindred education.

Yeah! I hope that answered your question, Nonny. Thank you for the ask!

[bestangelofall]

...tell me about ur Jason music headcanons please?

Sure!! I have so many, so I'll just drop a few here. If not directly about music, they are music related.

As it will become clear below, I think he's a metalhead (which is only half a headcanon, because he canonically likes rock, punk and metal. In addition to the posters I reference below, there also the Poison Idea poster from Batman #408 (I think??))

His favorite band is Lacuna Coil. Now, that one is based on the fact that he had a poster of Lacuna Coil's album Shallow Life on the wall of his room in the Nightwing Annual 2021:

I can't prove it's his favorite band, but he liked it enough to have a poster. Also yeah there's a Slipknot poster too but that was just a phase for him .

His favorite Lacuna Coil song is The House of Shame, but he can't always listen to it, because the lyrics hit too close to home :( He also always tries to go their concerts when they tour in the US.

He likes dramatic af music. I don't mean Evanescence dramatic (though he probably had an Evanescence phase lol). I mean stuff more like this and this. Theatrical bands. He once got into an argument with someone who said that a band he likes "had to stop being so dramatic on the stage".

Super specific, but the first band I linked above has three concept albums (and a fourth one that's also sort of related) telling the story of a character who sort of died and came back to life after drinking water of life, and couldn't go back to who she was before. So. hm, he'd be into that. He'd also be into the kind of aesthetic they have going on.

Rob Halford and Doro Pesch were his bisexual awakening.

Every year he plans to go to Wacken Open Air, but every time something freaky happens in Gotham near the date and he has to cancel :/

If/when he decides to stop with vigilantism, he's going to let his hair grow super long to headbang properly :)

Has a sad songs™ playlist and it's all the most mournful doom metal and soul-crushing power ballads he could find.

When in concerts, he goes to mosh-pits and wall of deaths. Once he got into a fight in one of them because some guy wasn't respecting the mosh pit etiquette and almost hurt someone else.

HATES Meshuggah (and djent in general), would say something like "no melody, not one emotion in the music, just mechanical and edgy for the sake of edgy" about them lol.

Just in general, he likes emotional music because it's a way for him to express many of the things he feels without being judged for it.

These are the ones I think about the most! Thank you for asking :)

[verynormalaboutkinnporsche]

E12 Scene 7 - Back Home

Porsche and Chay are back at their own house--and so is Kinn. One of the wildest lacunae in this entire narrative, that he just up and moved out with Porsche and we didn't get any kind of scene about how that happened. (I know why, obviously; the whole thing lasted a minute and a half, so it would have wasted screen time. But I want to know.)

Porsche is wondering if Chay isn't going to ask him what happened? Nope; he doesn't need to know everything, right? (That was savage, kid, well done!) He just wants Porsche to be happy.

Porsche still lacks confidence in himself as boyfriend material, despite Kinn's insistence that as long as he has Porsche everything is fine.

I love you. You are dumb sometimes.

The menaces return! Everyone is making dinner, sort of. (No Chay in this scene, though.) Tay has claimed Porsche as his friend and makes a reference to their first meeting, highlighting how much everyone has changed since the early season. Again we've got Porsche's theme of connection--it's not just about his direct relationship with Kinn, but with everyone in the vicinity.

This scene is overall light in mood and doesn't move the plot, but it's illuminating. We don't have to take Kinn's word for it that he's happy and committed to this relationship; his best friend points it out for us. Porsche believes it, but he's not used to this. (No one else here is used to cooking.)

There is that note when Porsche comments that Time seems to love Tay very much as well: "Not really. It's not like that. It's hard to stay in this business. You two, just hold each other's hands very tightly." And thus a thousand headcanons about the Tay/Time relationship were born. Existential distress seems to be rife among the younger Mafia set.

This scene calls back to the E4 lunch; there's a group meal that has a high degree of happy community feeling, and then someone of markedly higher status arrives and ruins everything. In this case, it's Korn. Tay and Time make themselves scarce from whatever shitshow is about to go down; Kinn and Porsche go outside to meet him. Korn gives them a photo of the man he says caused the car accident, and his address, by way of apology to Porsche, who can do as he likes with the information.

[sauntervaguelydown]

Okay here’s my Lupin lineage concept: we almost never hear about Lupin Junior, which is an interesting lacuna—based on the time frame of part one, Lupin was born somewhere around 1940, which means in the MIDDLE of WWii. It’s a pretty popular headcanon that his mother was Japanese. His father would have been French as well, which suggests a very interesting war time love affair—I think it would be appropriately melodramatic if his mother was a Japanese spy for the allied forces, who had to escape to Europe, where much dashing French resistance was done eventually leading to the heroic but untimely death of the young father Lupin ii

[legionaberrations]

Got any Julie headcanons to spare? From general stuff (like appearance) to more... Specific stuff (like gender identity and voice). I would love to read them mun. Plus your art is wonderful and very cute to look at (I truly mean that)

(I have quite a few Julie headcanons! As the universe of DBD is functionally a multiverse where characters can have small differences between iterations of themselves it's fun to play with those kinds of alternatives and differences.

For my Julie's appearance I draw heavily on greasy 90s aesthetics and in particular Billy Loomis - the Legion is at its core a Scream reference and I personally thought making Frank "the Billy" is a little too obvious, too easy. That's why you'll see I often draw her with short greasy brown hair lol.

Gender-wise the version of her seen on this blog is a trans woman (and Frank in parallel as a trans man). I think a lot of the "horror" in suburban horror comes from feelings of isolation or even persecution in your community and as a trans person who was once an edgy and angry teenager I think it's fun to explore the Legion from that angle.

I'd never really thought about her voice! I think the female Legion voice in the game sounds a lot more like Susie to me than Julie, though. For me I'd really look to female vocalists from the 90s like Courtney Love or Donita Sparks.

I do imagine Julie's parents would be relatively supportive if ignorant (since it Was the 90s) and that acceptance would be a bright spot in an otherwise very distant relationship. Julie hides a lot of herself from her parents, as seen in the comics, trying hard to make them think she's just a normal girl. But smothering those parts of herself is obviously very painful and isolating for her too.

I think Julie projects a strong air of confidence but actually has a lot of negative views of herself. Not in being traditionally self-hating but I think in a truly teenage way she thinks there's something wrong with her, that she's evil by nature. Obviously she's just a troubled kid who needed her emotional needs acknowledged instead of being ignored, but that's something she was never mature enough to realize (and never will be, now! It's very sad).

At the time of being in the Entity I think she strongly believes that without her push and her influence, the other members of Legion probably never would've killed anybody, but that she was always going to end up here. It's kind of a moot point because she also realizes they were all too enmeshed and were never going to split up and she was always going to corrupt them (and I think this is an anxiety she shares with Frank, who probably sees himself as a violent rot that tainted all his friends).

Other smaller headcanons: I like to imagine that Julie has an older brother, but there's a large gap between them so he was already out of the house by the time she was in elementary school. He's a successful and well-adjusted man which just makes her feel more fucked by comparison.

Her family isn't rich or anything but is relatively well-off. She has a car (in some canons?) and unlike Joey didn't need to work to buy it for herself. She gets a reasonable allowance and is kinda the "friend who rents movies" and "the friend who buys dinner" when other people don't have the money to do it.

She likes gothic metal, favoring bands like Tiamat, Type O Negative, Lacuna Coil, etc.

Thank you for the compliment!! I appreciate that you like the blog. I should probably post more haha but I've been burnt out of late. Asks like this are very encouraging!)

[ginneke]

for the fanfic end of the year asks, number 3!

(Fanfic end of the year asks available here: link)

Oh, thank you for the ask! And there’s really one passage that stands out to me as a favourite of 2023, which hails from Corrigendum – the self-indulgent, entirely unnecessary third part of my series Keepsakes.

But first, as single lines go, it has to be this:

"Why," says Revali, his voice lifting in shrill distress, "do you never pay the slightest bit of attention to me?"

(from A Study In Patience. Part 2 coming soon!)

(…What, did you think it would be that line from the end of A Seed of Song chapter 4? While that is certainly a favourite line, it was technically my favourite line of 2022 – it was already written all the way back in Feb ‘22, even though it was another 16 months before you would see it.)

—

Anyway. Corrigendum. Chosen passage and a brief recap/rationale below, under a cut for length and for varying degrees of spoilers for, somehow, all three of Keepsakes, Pinesong, and Moonlight:

Keepsakes was originally a two-part meditation on the piece of cloth Revali tied to the Great Eagle Bow, which always remains on it no matter how many times you break it and have it rebuilt, and the following line of Harth’s in the first Keepsakes story, Memento: “Where things are kept, what they are kept with, that has a meaning.”

Memento and Lacuna were both set within the boundaries of canon, focusing on Link’s possession of the Great Eagle Bow and more than a small dose of headcanon about the Paraglider; Corrigendum, meanwhile, played on the famous amnesia plotline of @ghirahimbo’s Pinesong, with a little of my and @heleentje’s answer to the Alive!Champions scenario in our Moonlight series baked in: if there were stasis chambers in the Divine Beasts, just like how the Shrine of Resurrection was revealed to be part of a Divine Beast in the Champions’ Ballad DLC, then was it not possible that the revived Champions might suffer a similar level of memory loss as Link did: i.e., total?

That’s the context with which the following scene between Revali and Zelda needs to be read. (A small section relating to Zelda’s personal feelings of guilt and regret has been cut for length.)

There was one person she hadn't mentioned, of course. Revali wondered whether she would comment on it of her own accord, but she seemed willing to speak only of others. If he had to pry the words from her, so be it. "I cannot help but notice someone missing from your account, pri- Zelda," he said, correcting himself at the last second. It felt strange to address her without titles: a hundred years and his memory removed from such formality, and yet it still seemed like an overstep. Next to him, Zelda went very tense. "What do you mean?" Honestly. Must he spell it out for her? "You," he said, as though it should be obvious. To him it was: it seemed its own sort of hellishness, to have so many memories that nobody else shared. "How are you faring?" Her look of surprise – had he truly shown so little concern for her in the past, that she was taken aback by his questioning now? – faded into something more sombre. "I... cannot complain," she said at last, which seemed to be all she was willing to say on the subject. [...] Zelda inhaled a steadying breath. "...About Li–" Her words lodged like ice. Revali cut her off: "Don't." He couldn't bear to speak of Link. Not now. Perhaps not ever. Certainly not while he was so incapable of reconciling the words in his diary with the roiling confusion left in their wake. Even thinking of that knight brought a wave of weariness over him. Though Zelda had done nothing wrong, Revali no longer had any wish to continue the conversation.

Revali and Zelda come into this conversation from incredibly disparate positions, and they're on completely different pages. Firstly, Zelda has the advantage of memory, but in some ways Revali has a clearer view of what their relationship from 100 years ago was actually like, thanks to his diary (the contents of which are alluded to or outright paraphrased in the opening part of this scene). Secondly, Zelda has full knowledge of what happened to Link -- at least up until he disappeared after the thought of re-boarding Vah Ruta (as Zelda wanted to do in the 'true ending' of BOTW) proved too much for the Keepsakes version of Link. (Yes, Link’s disappearing act is another small nod to Pinesong.) 

But Revali does not.

From Zelda’s point of view, Revali’s comment about ‘some[body] missing from [her] account’ sounds like a not-so-subtle dig at the missing Link. I actually tried to thread this idea through even in his narration: 'she seemed willing to speak only of others', is meant to tread that thin boundary line of which person he's actually talking about, Zelda or Link. 

Her reaction is therefore wary: she wonders how much Revali now remembers, and how much of his comment is a continuation of his century-old dislike of Link. — After all, she wasn’t privy to the scene in Lacuna’s flashback; and despite that interlude, Revali and Link’s relationship didn’t change all as much as they might have hoped. (Or as much as Link wants to believe, by the end of Memento/Lacuna—the true backstory there was one of might-have-beens instead of let’s-do-betters.)

She’s surprised, then, by Revali’s question being not about Link, but about herself. And this is something that I would have loved to delve into a little, but the nature of the story kept me bound tightly to Revali’s perspective: Zelda is doing well only in that she’s throwing herself into distractions, trying to adjust to the circumstances of being a hundred years displaced from the world she’s familiar with.

(Sidenote: I toyed with that dichotomy of the post-Calamity world being utterly uncanny to her – at once familiar and yet also somehow alien – in another story I wrote this year, catharsis, which had Zelda finally reuniting with Impa after a century.)

And she has ample distractions with the other Champions, who – as her recounting of events implies – she’s spent rather a lot of time around, and considerably more time than she has with Revali. She wouldn’t even be at Rito Village now if it wasn’t the home of Kass, the only person she thought might be able to find Link. 

Perhaps, if she had taken a little more care to visit him, Zelda would be aware of the narrative Revali has been constructing, piece by piece, while he’s been left to fend for himself…

To an extent, Revali's own diary was held against him. His words are taken as a primary source of insight into his character, rather than at least part of his writing being a continuation of his attempts to define and shape his future legacy (his 'legend', as the diary's forepage none-too-subtly declares). 

Yes, Harth did come to the conclusion of something existing between the Rito and Hylian Champions of a century ago (incidentally, that's why he makes the offer of showing Revali the same sheaf of papers he shared with Link in Memento – providing an alternative source of information), but Teba has a different focus. Harth is interested in the truth of the story; Teba is protective of the people involved, and with only circumstantial evidence to suggest that Champion Revali had at least some positive feeling towards that knight, and significantly more evidence to suggest Revali didn't care at all for Link, he deflects and puts it off for now. 

Nobody expected Link to be AWOL for months.

And that brings us back to this passage, the first real opportunity for the truth to come out; and so Zelda takes the initiative, trying to bring up Link. 'If you want to know how we're all doing,' she's thinking, 'then I should tell you about him as well.'

But Revali is of the belief – entirely logically, based on the facts he knows! – that Link is long dead. Whether 100 years ago, or at some point in the decades since. Hylian lifespans just aren't long enough for him to still be around. We only need to look at the oldest Hylians living in Hateno, who weren't born until after the Calamity during the Era of Burning Fields, to know that 80-90 seems to be the Hylian limit.

—

Here's another thing: In the time since writing Corrigendum, I saw a post here on tumblr suggest that grief is a topic that's fairly impossible to write about, because grief doesn't end as long as you remember it, and it's the sort of thing that hits you, over and over, in often mundane ways that look bizarre to the outsider. Yet -- not to put too high a declaration of quality on my writing, but I honestly do believe that I achieved that in Corrigendum, while staying true to the character in question. 

Yes, it was deliberately under-written, circled around instead of facing it head-on -- even the early use of the word 'grief' was shied away from, declaring it only 'something like grief'. That felt far more 'Revali' than giving in to sentiment. So far, most of this emotion has been in the gaps where he's confronted with knowledge of the past, of something missing, of something more to Link; he's seeing Link better in this patchwork recollection, able at last to look beyond '[the] sword that drew the eye and distracted from the man that bore it'. And it's in these moments that his true feelings linger, even if he can't (or won't) give voice to them.

—

Link has always been a touchy subject. Once, they might have been on a similar page regarding that (their mutual complicated feelings about a boy around their age to whom things seemed to come so easily).

In reality, they still are — and it's a different page to the one they shared before, of resentment and frustration and trying to figure out their own place. Link has long become a person to them—Zelda openly, as seen throughout the original game; Revali less obviously, but still apparent through his post-Blight dialogue and particularly in the DLC content, as well as the additional background and memory/ies I created for Memento/Lacuna.

But this Revali – a Revali who still has only a partial sense of his own identity, who doesn't necessarily like the person he'd been even if he can't figure out who else he could be – this version of Revali can't yet acknowledge or confront the truth of what he's experiencing.

What I wanted was to challenge Revali to say it out loud and admit to it — "I am grieving." This, here, is the closest Revali can currently get... Ice. Roiling confusion. Something unbearable. Weariness. Within his narration, the raw, aching wound of grief is clear, but aloud, the only thing he can think to do is to cut Zelda off and prevent her from saying what he cannot yet confront. 

"Don't." Don't bring him up. Don't make me hear this. Don't make it real. 

Characters frantically back-scrabbling away from open and frank communication, in the interests of protecting their own fragile hearts, is something that can be so delightful.

—

Zelda, who isn't privy to the struggle Revali is going through, can only hear this rejection at face-value and back off, assuming that things are as they were 100 years ago. This is something that can only be repaired by finding Link himself – and so she'll continue with her original plan, enlisting Kass to help track the wayward swordsman down.

(And Revali will finally give voice to what he's been feeling… when a certain someone arrives in Rito Village :3 )

[you-have-been-frizzled]

Counselor Alina aesthetic

look at that woman and tell me she doesn’t have mommy issues

[corpsebrigadier]

A lot of people have pointed out that fictional characters are not wholly enfleshed, multi-dimensional entities, but vehicles to move narratives along and make stories work, and I think what's really beautiful about that in fandom is how diverse a bounty of possibilities there are for transformative works and headcanon.

Even in very complex narratives, every character is still a bunch of broad brush strokes, and there are an infinitude of different details the mind can fill in to complete the picture. Every gap and lacuna is a possibility. Everything unspoken or not shown is beyond the scope of "canon."

And that's great, because it gives you permission to embroider and embellish another's art. Whether you think the picture looks better finished in gold leaf or in crayon, the blank portion of the canvas is yours.

[eoieopda]

Literally tempted to send you every emoji on that list 😈😈😈

Instead, I'm going to put some randomly selected emojis here and you can answer any questions they relate to. If I send one that isn't in that list, feel free to make up your own question/free bingo space to do what you want. (There is a very good chance this is a terrible and stupid idea but, what do you know, I am terrible and stupid! 😜)

Also tell me your favourite perfume.

⚽🌕🚞🧲🐓🧝😪🤗💜💝🤲💃🐩🍛💥

asdfghjkl mostly none of these are on there (which is hilarious and i love you) so i’m gonna fill in ones that are that look like them?? or something? who knows 🤪

my favorite perfume, which i’ve worn daily for years, is sí by giorgio armani. 10/10, would recommend to a friend.

the rest of this is under the cut because it’s long!!

⚽ looks close enough to 🤡, so: what's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

from foresight: “How did you —” He paused to moan into your mouth when your teeth gently claimed his bottom lip. “Find a place with — oh, fuck, you taste like spearmint – original crown-molding in this —” The back of his knees bumped into the edge of your mattress and suddenly, he was sitting. “Neighborhood?”

🌕 looks more like a cheese ball than anything, but uhhh maybe enough like 🌞: do you have a preferred time of day to write?

i like writing in the morning best! that’s when my adderall kicks in, lol.

🚞 has near enough to 🛒 vibes: what are some common things you incorporate in your fics? themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

oooh. i think i invoke a lot of space imagery, though it’s not always intentional. always a slut for space. also, everything i touch is drenched in unspeakable yearning?? it’s kind of unbearable to long this much, lmao.

🧲 ummm 🏆 is metal, so: what's your most popular fic?

if we’re basing this off literal notes, it’s darksided (or the jk couch drabble, if drabbles count.) the one people talk to me about the most (or recommend the most) seems to be lacuna.

🐓 terrify me beyond reason, therefore 😬: which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

UM!! darksided and/or blindsided. which one of my sisters read in the brief sabbatical she was on tumblr 😵‍💫

🧝 is green and so is ✅: what's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

i have written a jungkook who mentions ghosts in three different fics, without meaning to. i guess i have some headcanon where jk is really into the paranormal, lmao.

😪 is my face after thinking. 🧐: do you spend much time researching for your stories?

i spend too much time focusing on shit i don’t think anyone else notices or cares about, lmao. some examples:

a huge part of why redamancy took so long to post was because i spent actual weeks trying to find a word for the title. went through so many different sources and languages because nothing fit the exact sentiment i wanted.

with aphelion, i spent hours looking up comets (not meteors) that would have been visible in seoul and what date(s) that would have been, researching paintings, etc. the fic is planned to the minute, which is…. so unnecessary.

for the lee know drabble, i had an actual map up to pick locations that the goose chase goes down.

and lastly, for the namjoon “anywhere” drabble, i literally planned a 30-day european trip and what transportation would be best to get from city to city and how long to stay in each place, lol.

i think i’m insane???

🤗: what advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

don’t let the prospect of notes dictate your decisions. people are going to latch onto stuff you won’t expect them to, and it will be some thing you tossed together — not necessarily what you’re proudest of — so just write what you want, the way you want to write it.

💜 looks kinda like 🍆 : do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

i do indeed write the spicy stuffs. most popular is definitely darksided, which is still wild to me because i thought of it and posted it within two hours. no thoughts, just horny, right when i started this blog. it brought a lot of people here, which was both entirely unexpected and really fucking cool.

💝 i have shitty eyesight and thought that was 💖: what made you start writing?

i don’t even know, lol. i started doing creative writing when i was elementary school and then started fanfic when i was 11-12? so, a love of writing for sure and then being a simp, i suppose!

🤲 hands! ✍: do you have a beta reader?

i’d never used a beta reader until i started aphelion and had to cry out to @here2bbtstrash and @jihopesjoint! i am way too close to that story so i had to recruit friends to tell me if i was being insane.

💃 looks like 💔 if you squint: is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

see above, lol. it shall hurt worse than lacuna did, which also broke my heart. and the “what sarah said” drabble someone requested for the darksided couple because fuck!!

🐩 uhhh white and round in parts, so 👀: tell me about an up and coming wip please!

meet me at the bar is my inaugural kim seokjin smut/main fic and it is going to be a graduation gift for my law baby @yoongiphoria! it’s about law school study buddies preparing for the bar exam, which is a nightmare, lol.

🍛 the carrots here kinda has the graph, i guess!📈: how many fics do you have?

thirteen full-length fics and upwards of 50 drabbles 🤪 it has been a busy five months over here.

💥 how do you feel about criticism?

if it’s actually constructive and solicited, good! if not, bad!

[krasivydevora]

hc + 🌇 for a headcanon about morning- or evening rituals

Antes dos acontecimentos recentes, as manhãs da Devora variavam um pouco. A ordem sempre era:

1 - Quando dividia o quarto com @maximeloi, ao acordar, Devora sempre ia para a cama do irmão, quando ele estava no quarto, ficando uns minutinhos com ele ali, abraçada ao Elói e com preguiça de se desenroscar das cobertas. Quando estava acompanhada, fosse no próprio quarto ou em outro chalé, faz a mesma coisa: Devora precisa de contato humano de manhã. E agora que estava sozinha, só levantava e tentava se alongar um pouco antes do próximo passo;

2 - Separar as roupas que vai usar no dia, pegar seus itens de banho/higiene e ir até os banheiros femininos;

3 - Banho de trinta minutos;

4 - Odiar todo mundo ao redor enquanto se troca;

5 - Skincare da manhã, com produtos que valem mais do que deus sabe o quê: gel de limpeza facial, sérum manipulado com o sangue dela (sim!), hidratante facial e corporal, protetor solar; banho de perfume ou colônia, dependendo do clima do dia;

6 - Ir para o café. Esse passo aqui normalmente era com o @svmmcrrxin, que costumava esperá-la na frente da saída dos banheiros, mas agora essa lacuna tá aberta na rotina dela.

[bestangelofall]

I can't believe people are mad that people think that Jason wouldn't like Swift. We know: Poison Idea; Slipknot; Lacuna Coil and maybe Cheap Trick. (And of course the fictional Eric Peters (real Eric Peters wasn't active this point) and Rebel Kind). Now, could a rock/metal guy enjoy Taylor? Sure. But I don't think that guy is Jason. I could see maybe Adia Victoria or someone like that in terms of country Jason might like. Jason just doesn't seem like much of a pop guy (and I am saying this as a person who like metal and some pop - not Swift - although of Jason's bands I'm only a Slipknot fan)

People... Are mad at that?

Sometimes the character™️ wouldn't listen to the artist you like, you know, and that's okay.

Not Jason and one of my favorite bands (Lacuna Coil), though 😎. The squeal I gave when I saw that Nightwing panel!!!!

I think people also might confuse thinking a song has a vibe that matches the character and what the character would reasonably listen to.

But anyway... I think people should headcanon whatever, it's just that any given headcanon may be more or less closely "grounded" on canon, and that's okay.

Thanks for the ask :)

[afterthegreatunknown]

Randomity: Handkerchief, Story-Telling, and Bootleg Turn: Not In that Order

To copy-paste most of what I wrote in my author note of Chapter 13 on AO3: This chapter has implied racism, implied period-typical racism (late 1970s/early 1980s period because I headcanon it so), and bullying (which is related to the former two). No slurs are said, but are alluded too. It's in the final section of the chapter, as Widdershins recalls his childhood, Pre-VFD.

“I think we should just go on ahead with the plan,” says Hector, tapping his finger on the hood of Rocher’s Madden impatiently. “Not only are Bernstein and your stepson running late for whatever reason, but Ella Jane is as well. She been running late for an hour and a half. The former I can understand. They must have gotten into a run-in with Alps. But not Ella Jane.”

“I think you should have more faith in Ella Jane, Hector,” says Widdershins, putting the last of the two suitcases inside the trunk. “Isn’t that right, Rocher?”

“Oh, yes,” answers Rocher softly, gripping the metal briefcase in her right hand. “The reason for Ella Jane’s delay is due to what she, Bernstein, and I discussed beforehand.”

Hector says nothing as he stops his tapping, narrowing his eyes at the metal briefcase. No doubt he’s wondering what’s the content inside. Even Widdershins has to admit he’s curious of its contents. Rocher has been carrying it tightly since nearly everyone left the row house; Ella Jane stayed behind for unknown reasons as mentioned by Rocher.

“Are you sure you don’t want to put that in the trunk?” asks Widdershins to Rocher, hands on the trunk door, ready to shut it close at any given time.

Rocher shakes her head. “If you’re thinking it’s holding something suspicious, it’s not. Well, nothing suspicious that would get us all arrested. I would rather have it within my sight. What’s inside the briefcase is important.”

“How important it is to you that you’ll not rather have it in the trunk?” asks Hector.

“Important to where she shouldn’t answer that question,” answers a familiar voice; her voice overpowers the sound of a running engine. “At least not now.”

Widdershins slams the trunk door close, and turns towards the direction of the voice. There in the distance is Ella Jane, exiting the front passenger seat of Bernstein’s retro van. Ella Jane looks similar to Rocher in appearance now. Except for the green bag hanging on Ella Jane’s shoulder, both women of same height are wearing the same orange cardigans, grey V-neck shirts, and red and black plaid pants. Ella Jane even dyed her black hair to match Rocher’s.

As Ella Jane approaches them, the differences make themselves known. Ella Jane has slightly shaper jawline and cheekbones than Rocher’s. And Rocher’s eyes are brown, while Ella Jane’s are green. Most importantly, Ella Jane’s very curvy eyebrows are still in its natural color of black. It’s curvy eyebrows that has Widdershins thinking much of childhood today.

“That explains the hold-up,” says Hector. “The plan is to mislead Alps. You’re the red herring in Bernstein’s van, while Heng drives the real Rocher in the Madden.”

“Correct, except for one detail,” answers Ella Jane. She then places a hand on Widdershins’ shoulder. “I’m going to be the red herring in the Madden.”

“You’re what.” Hector says it outright, not as a question.

“You heard me.” Ella Jane turns her attention to Widdershins now. “Bernstein will be the one driving Rocher —as well as Jules and you— in his van until we reach the abandoned Lacuna Hotel. There you’ll take over as discussed in our barter, while Bernstein drives me back so I can return with the mini-van, the triplets, and your stepdaughter.”

“I don’t like this plan,” says Hector. “What if Alps chases after you and my associate in Rocher’s Madden, instead of Bernstein’s van? I don’t want to sound rude, but—”

“Bernstein’s tin can van doesn’t look like it can withhold a car chase?” interrupts Fernald, sticking his head from back passenger seat window. “That’s the point!”

 “V never allows people drive her Madden without her in it, but she made the sole exception for Heng,” calls out Bernstein from the driver seat. “And don’t call my van a tin can, Jules.”

“Despite the fact that it is?” asks Fernald.

“Yes.”

“Alps knows I hate riding in my friend’s van,” says Rocher, walking towards Hector. “Elle Jane figured there’s a higher chance of Alps chasing my Madden, and took the risk of disguising herself as me to make that chance greater.”

“Well…” Hector briefly bites his thumb, and stares at Widdershins. “Are you okay with this?”

“Aye,” answers Widdershins. “No need to think this over. You know my philosophy, after all.”

---

“I didn’t think Alps would be chasing the Madden like a mad man!” shouts Widdershins. “Aye! I guess that’s what happens when one drives an automatic, while one drives a manual car!”

Widdershins presses down on the clutch, and moves the shift stick to a higher gear. As he makes a rather sharp right turn, Widdershins does a side glance at Ella Jane. Ella Jane is holding her right hand on the grab handle, while some of her long, dyed brownish-red hair flying out from the front passenger seat of the Madden. Ella Jane is burrowing her eyebrows.

“I didn’t think about the possibility Alps would drive his automatic,” says Ella Jane bitterly. “It may lack the speed at times, but control is much easier.”

After making the sharp right turn, Widdershins once again presses down on the clutch, and shifts to the last highest gear the Madden can provide. For a short time, this change allows the Madden to get some distance away from Alps. However, Alps eventually starts to catch up.

“Shit.” Ella Jane grips on the grab handle tighter. “At this rate, the only way we can avoid Alps is if we ignore the Lacuna completely, and find an alternate route after turning left.”

Widdershins keeps quiet as he watches a group of construction workers pouring out onto the sidewalk. They’re discussing something—probably whatever inside the nearby giant warehouse.

Widdershins continues to drive as fast as he could on the highest gear. From the corner of his eyes, he sees what’s inside the giant warehouse: a decently size semi-trailer truck. Decently size to be able to fit inside the warehouse, as well as to block up the road. In fact, the group of construction works went to their own truck, and start pulling out bright orange signs.

“I think we can avoid that option, Ella Jane! Aye! Keep your grip on the grab handle!”

“What do you mean by that?”

Widdershins passes by the construction workers. From the both the rearview mirror and driver side mirror, he sees they’re trying to figure out the placement of the signs. Also from both mirrors, is Alps gaining speed, getting yell at by the workers. One of them even flip the bird.

“Heng, you got to start preparing to change gears to make a left!”

Widdershins does as Ella Jane says. He presses down on the clutch once again, and goes to a lower gear. However, he doesn’t prepare to make a left turn. Instead, he repeats the process as fast as he could, going to another low gear, still driving straight down the lane they’re in.

“Heng! What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to make us crash!?”

From the mirrors, the bright orange signs are now almost properly in place. Widdershins once more puts his foot down on the clutch, and goes one more down, to second gear.

“Trust me on this.”

Widdershins soon quickly turns the Madden, right into the opposite lane. In a very control skid, the Madden enters the opposite lane, completely turn around, and enters a complete stop.

“Did you just do a—”

“Bootleg turn? Aye.”

Widdershins quickly sets his foot on the gas pedal, and drives back as fast as possible on second gear. From the both mirrors, he can see Alps being force to make that complete left turn, and disappears from view. Widdershins focuses back to what’s in front of him; the last orange sign being place to warn people of the semi-trailer truck.

Widdershins goes from second gear to third gear to fourth gear in succession, and prepares to make a right turn to the Lacuna. Once more, he looks at the mirrors; Alps is following again, but the semi-trailer truck is already exiting the warehouse.

When Widdershins makes that right turn, the semi-trailer truck is blocking the road completely.

“No! No way!” Ella Jane’s voice rises in excitement. She sticks her head out fully out the front passenger window to look back. “You actually delayed the bastard with that move of yours!”

“Well—,” answers Widdershins, but stops. In his incoming view, is a dangerous amount of greenery and shrubbery of the Lacuna Hotel.

---

“I guess I should have warned you about that particular detail,” says Ella Jane, looking at all her belongings laying out on the edges of the empty Lacuna Hotel Fountain.

Widdershins recognizes Ella Jane’s cellphone and her sunglasses. He also sees two water bottles, a box of fruit-grain bars, a brown wallet, a green personal diary with a black pen, and what Widdershins suspect is a crumple, folded-up photograph.

“And of course, I didn’t bring a packet of napkins.” Ella Jane gives a heavy sigh, and touches her forehead. She then looks at her fingertips, which is slightly bloody. “Then again, I didn’t expect to get hit by a branch and leaves today.”

Widdershins keeps quiet as he quickly digs into his coat pockets. He doesn’t like to keep much on him, only things that can fit in his pockets. Widdershins is glad he has one such important thing currently on him. He thinks it will be useful for Ella Jane’s predicament.

As he grabs ahold of the soft fabric in his right pocket, Widdershins feels a cold breeze on him. It’s a breeze that soon has Ella Jane screaming.

“No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

Widdershins looks up at Ella Jane —green bag back on, everything that she currently has back inside— and sees the woman running after the now confirm photograph, floating and flying in the air. Every time it seems she is able to grab it, the photograph flies just slightly out of her reach. He couldn’t tell from the distance if Ella Jane is ready to cry her eyes out of anger, or out of grief. Maybe both.

“Don’t worry! Aye! I got it!”

Widdershins watches the photograph flying toward him now. He too, gives chase, and bends his knees. He then leaps up into the air, and grabs the photograph. He lands back on the ground on his two feet, though he slightly stumbles, barely landing straight.

Widdershins couldn’t help but look down and stare at the photograph. Despite it being faded with age and crumpled and folded so many times —the person in the photograph looks like he could be wearing a mask— Widdershins can make out some details. The photograph is of a man in his late-thirties or very early forties. The man is smiling a smile that has one meaning, kindness. The man also shares features belonging to Ella Jane herself: black hair, green eyes, and curvy eyebrows.

He is taken back when Ella Jane quickly snatches the photograph away, narrowing her eyes at him. The blood on her forehead is starting to trickle down.

“Sorry,” says Widdershins, once again digging into his right coat pocket. “I didn’t mean to look.”

“Apology accepted,” replies Ella Jane briskly, her tone clearly not really that apologetic. “Why are digging into your pocket for, Heng? You have a small first-aid kit in there?”

“No. I just have this old thing.” Widdershins pulls out a dull white handkerchief with ‘A.F.’ stitch onto it in a dark green thread. It gently moves from the still ongoing breeze. It doesn’t fly away, because he’s keeping a good hold on it.

Ella Jane, still narrowing her eyes, focus her glaze intensely on the handkerchief. She slowly folds up the photograph, and carefully places it into her plaid pants.

“That handkerchief… Why do you—” and here Ella Jane stops herself. She tucks back a strand of her long, dyed brownish-red hair behind her right ear, and continues. “What’s with the initials embroidered on it? That can’t possibly be yours.”

“Not initially,” answers Widdershins softly. “I got this as a kid. It’s a gift in fact, aye. But I doubt you want to hear the full story. Most people I told it to don’t find it very interesting.”

“Well, I find it interesting.” Ella Jane stops narrowing her eyes at him. She stares at him with somewhat wide eyes. “If you got it as a child, and held onto it since…well, I can say that it’s a story that has me wanting to hear more about. If that’s alright with you.”

Widdershins stays quiet as he stares at the handkerchief, and then back at Ella Jane. “Let’s go back to the fountain. Aye, I’m a bit tired from all this standing around.”

Upon their return to the Lacuna Hotel Fountain, the two of them sits down at the fountain edges. Widdershins stares inside the empty fountain. He sees the dead brown leaves and coins inside, all forgotten. He then clears his throat and asks, ““Have you ever heard of Killdeer Fields?”

“I’m familiar with it,” answers Ella Jane, almost coldly. “It was a poor town that got flooded on orders of the second CEO of Ink Inc. —Ignatius Knight —to save his livelihood and the place he once called home. Hundreds of people and animals lost their lives and their home to it.”

“Well,” continues Widdershins, turning his attention to Ella Jane now, “my story takes place before that. Aye, Killdeer Fields was one of the several places to become home to overseas war refugees from the Southeast Asia region. Mainly war refugees from Vietnam, Laos—”

“And Cambodia,” says Ella Jane.

“Aye,” says Widdershins. He then curls the end of his mustache with his right hand. “To live in these places, you have to be on a sponsorship. My ma and I were two of the lucky ones to get them. Our sponsorship landed us in Killdeer Fields, aye. Ma got a job at Killdeer Textile Factory, and I got an education at Killdeer Elementary School.”

Widdershins looks back down at the handkerchief in his other hand. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not the most likable person. I get insulted to my face or behind my back, for all the right reasons. Some insult me with a nickname once used for someone else. But back then? It was for all the wrong reasons. A good chunk of the kids at Killdeer Elementary insulted me in ways I never want to hear again. And the school staff turned a blind eye to it, because it wasn’t physical. I wasn’t hurt in their perspective. But one day…”

Ella Jane leans forward, and frowns. “It got physical.”

Widdershins stops curling his mustache. “Bruise eye, bloody nose. It was after school hours too. If someone in the staff actually wanted to do something about it, they couldn’t. I ran to one of the bathrooms to clean up. As I was running, someone saw me. Not a classmate, because we didn’t share a class. We only saw each other at lunch time. The student was a girl. She had black hair in two braids, greens eyes, and curvy eyebrows. Eyebrows that look similar to yours.”

Ella Jane stays quiet. The blood is still continuing to trickle down her face.

“Anyway, she somehow got inside the bathroom. No idea how. Maybe she teleported inside, or came from the bathroom window,” chuckles Widdershins. He carefully gives Ella Jane the handkerchief, his hands touching hers. Her hands unlike his, are warm.

“She gave this to me so I can clean my bloody nose,” he continues. “I thought it too pretty, and tried to give it back. The girl then told me it’s mine to keep. She said her father talked to my ma a few times, and that I can think of the handkerchief as a late-welcoming gift. Then she left.”

Widdershins quickly pulls his hands away from Ella Jane, and then stands up. He then readjusts his coat, and clears his throat once again. “Regarding the initials, I think the handkerchief was her father’s! Aye! It makes sense! No doubt he gave something for his daughter in case she needs it! Aye! And she gave it to a person who needed it more than her! Aye! Didn’t think it would be me! I don’t deserve it, in my opinion! Aye! But I’m grateful for her kind gesture! Aye! Kept it on me since that day! Aye! Until now! Because I’m giving it to you! Er…”

He slowly turns back to Ella Jane, who now has a small smile forming on her face. Widdershins hunches back a bit, and sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “If that’s alright with you?”

“Oh, yes,” answers Ella Jane, her small smile becomes bigger. It’s a smile that Widdershins likes very much. Despite being warned of certain smiles by associates, Widdershins thinks Ella Jane’s smile isn’t one to be wary of. “Thank you, Heng. Not just for the handkerchief, but for the story as well. I needed to hear your story after what happened today.”

“You’re welcome.” Widdershins stops his hunching, and stands straight. He then sticks both hands into his coat pockets. “If you don’t mind, it is okay for me to leave you alone, and explore the area a bit? I heard the Lacuna back in its prime had a wonderful aquarium. I would love to see it, even if it empty and in ruins.”

“It’s fine. I need to clean myself up, anyway,” says Ella Jane, pointing to the blood stream trickling down to her cheek now. “Just come back soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

Widdershins turns on his heels, and soon walks to the abandoned Lacuna Hotel. As he pushes the glass doors, he’s glad to know that Ella Jane feels better. No doubt that his former classmate would appreciate that her kindness made another person’s day.