#this is heavy speculation

[hylianchampion17]

silly little headcannon please let me get my thoughts down:

so in Botw, Clavia gives Link a quest in Hateno Called “Secret of the Cedars”,

located on Madorna mountain; directly north of the village. Clavia sets up the quest by saying she found a letter in an old book in her house about a legend involving the mountain.

still with me? great.

if you go into any house in the village you’ll find these sugar/flour jars. the jars are Hateno’s signature blue and white colours with a logo of a three-peaked mountain range. it’s kinda hard to see, but it’s there. i think those jars are part of Hateno’s agricultural business.

it would make sense to associate the village with the mountain cedars because of its proximity and uniqueness. the odd placement of the trees is noteworthy. so noteworthy in fact, that hylians were writing folklore about it (evidence being Clavia’s letter). but that’s not all…

the tree-mountain motif isn’t just on jars; it’s design is literally EVERYWHERE in the village. painted on sheds, houses, furniture, crates, gates, pots, bowls, clothing, books, HELL EVEN THE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER HAS THE LOGO ON IT.

safe to say, Hateno Village itself is associated with the Madorna mountain cedars. my guess is that this connection was made the very day that Hateno was created. the tree/mountain symbol is woven into Hateno’s very foundation which probably extended to their farming business, which is why the design on the jars is so interesting. i actually made my own Hateno jar! the hylian translates to “Secret Cedars Imports” :)

thanks for listening!

[dailystrangerthings]

StrangerNews11: First (season 5) Trailer on Stranger Things day (Nov 6th).

[catghoststories]

Frank, Eddie, and the Tell-Tale Heart

So, I know the main focus of this update was Poppy, which I was happy to see (though I'm not happy to see what happened to her).  I do have a theory cooking about her, Sally, and the Commedia Dell'arte, but Frank n' Eddie are my favorite pair, and I've been stewing over this particular theory since the July '23 update.  This tiny line from the Looky-Loo storybook is what cinched it for me.

Source: Merchandise Page, Looky-Loo Storybook

This line isn't read out loud, but we can see it at around the 9 minute in the video, above Eddie, looking so polite.  It reads,

"Villains!" I shrieked, "I can deny it no longer! I admit the deed!—tear up my flower bed!—here, here!—it is the ticking of my beloved alarm clock!"

This isn't the actual line from The Tell-Tale Heart.  The original line reads "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!"

Source: The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart is about someone murdering their roommate, cutting him into pieces, and hiding the evidence under the floorboards of their house. 

And I think this is what Frank is going to do to Eddie, in an attempt to protect him in a perverse, misguided way.

This rewritten lines seems very specific to Frank and Eddie.  We know Frank loves his garden.  And who's the only character in the Neighborhood who owns a clock?  Eddie.

At the end of the Homewarming video, Frank sees how distressed Eddie is.  As many have theorized, Frank seems to be somewhat aware of what's happening, although we don't know to what extent.  But he sees that Eddie is now in the line of fire of The Powers That Be, and he becomes worried for him.  

I think Frank will dismantle Eddie and hide him in his garden until he deems it 'safe' for Eddie to come back, once the 'eyes' are off him.  (Kind of reminds me of the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings).  An unintentional—or perhaps intentional—side effect of being dismantled and put back together, with new parts, is that Eddie doesn't remember things well. 

Including, possibly, his and Frank's relationship.

This goes along with the theme we've seen several times in WH now, including this new Halloween update.  The puppets unintentionally—yet seriously—harm their loved ones in order to protect them from something they deem far worse—whatever that may be.

As these posts by kykudos, oniongrass, and nikkiiiscute discuss, there is an image from one of the hidden bug clips of Frank's garden with 9 clothespins—one buried in the dirt.

Source: Welcome Home Hidden Audio ('til it's back on the official site :3)

And there's the references to burial in Bug-a-Bye and Goodnight, too.  This post by the-nosy-neighbor goes quite a lot into this song very well, especially how it might indicate Frank could put Eddie into a suspended state!

Source: Transcript Page, Bug-a-Bye and Goodnight

Now I have been thinking about this dismantling/reassembling thing for a long time, especially since the last Halloween update.  Eddie is one of the puppets with a new costume, and he is Frank(enstein)'s monster.  And he has a big yellow band-aid on the back—Frank's color.  If Eddie is taken apart, Frank will patch him up again.

Source: Clown's Tumblr

(Also, I'm curious about the blue hand and face in Eddie's costume design. That's Barnaby's color. Does Frank use Barnaby's spare parts to put Eddie back together?! 😳 Especially since I feel like Barnaby's time on Mister Bone's Wild Ride is fast approaching—but that's yet another post 😅)

But based on the Tell-Tale Heart line, Frank may have been the one to do the dismantling in the first place, which is quite dark.  Based on the below picture from the former staff member page—clearer image here from Clown's Tumblr—Frank may be aware they're puppets and made up of various parts.

Source: Welcome Home Wiki until it's back on the official site :3

There is also an intense piece on Clown's Ko-Fi here (please support Clown if you can!) that shows butterflies doing SOMETHING to Eddie. Are they putting him together? Or taking him apart to join them in their hibernation? 🤔

Frank also likes gelatin. As he tells Poppy in their hidden audio, 'it holds perfectly sliced fruit beautifully'.  Perfectly sliced, cut up fruit, eh?  Gelatin is a preservative that we also see in the cookbook recipe, and we all know Eddie has an unholy encounter with his single pea.  So yet another symbol of suspended animation that is related to Frank and Eddie.

Source: Merchandise Page, Cookbook

So it seems like Frank has some experience in preservation, hibernation, etc. and knows how to use it, if it comes to it.

The next big update will likely be spring-themed.  A long time ago, Clown posted that Frank has a holiday in spring. Of course this isn't canon until it's on the website, but either way, I think Frank will have an important role in the spring update, which I believe will also focus on Julie.  We may see him wake up Julie from hibernation...and Eddie from his dirt nap.  

Source: Clown's Tumblr

(I've been so curious about that shadow behind the flower.  At first I thought 'OMG, it's Eddie's hand!', but I don't think so. 😅 I dunno what it is, but it doesn't quite seem flower like to me...🤔)

This Ko-Fi post (again, please support Clown if you have the means!) was posted around Easter this year and had a bunny/Easter theme.  Clown says "What is there to say though... Well! We know what the next holiday is in our Home Sweet Home, I'd say."  A huge theme of Easter/Spring are Rebirth and Resurrection.

As this post by serene-hatterene so beautifully details, Frank may feel pressured to kiss Julie to wake her up to prove his heteronormativity.  Maybe to further protect Eddie, too, to prove they aren't a thing.  Seems like Julie's family may show up this update, too, and we know family can cause a lot of pressure for couples during holidays. 😬

My last item isn't that strong, but I have been thinking of since the July '23 update.  In Eddie's Big Lift, Frank says the following line:

Source: Transcript Page, Eddie's Big Lift

The tense of "You always did work too hard" always bothered me.  Why doesn't Frank just say, "You always work too hard!"  And Eddie doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. Frank sounds almost wistful here.  It's like he's talking about his ex—a former version of Eddie, pre-dismantling, perhaps?

(Also, 'Enjoy the ground, Mr. Dear'? Dude, if this theory is right, that line is even more screwed up than it already was. 😳)

Here is my order of how I feel these events actually happened:

Secret Bug Audios (Eddie and Frank flirting) -> 1st Halloween Audio (Eddie still seems like his chipper, knowledgeable self) -> Homewarming -> Springtime (and Eddie's Resurrection)? -> Eddie's Big Lift

Not quite sure where this last Halloween update lands, but I feel like it's later.  Eddie seems ignorant of the potential adverse effects The Brickening (TM) could have on Poppy.  I feel like he's been more sensitive to Poppy and others in the past (but maybe I'm wrong, I'm biased towards him, heh).  Perhaps after his Reconstruction, his memory has now been reset, and he has "fallen into line" with the other Neighbors and their weird, pile-onto-one-person ways.

Anyway, what do you all think? 😬😬 I do hope I'm wrong, since Frank is my favorite, and this would make me feel very differently about him. 😬😬😬 Please tell me your own WH theories, too! I find them so interesting!

[zarla-s]

I found this fascinating post about Russian short names a long time ago and NOW I CAN FINALLY DO SOMETHING WITH IT basically Russian names can take different forms depending on how close you are to who you’re talking to. Heavy’s name is Mikhail (we don’t know his last name), and this is how Spy refers to him in the comics, while Heavy’s short name is Misha, which is used by his family. But the name forms can get even fluffier or more tender than that! I asked some Russian speakers on Twitter for options and they gave me a wide variety, so I just threw a bunch in here. |D Other options could be Mishutka, Mishula...

I’d imagine anything fluffier than Misha would be embarrassing for him, but Heavy appreciates the effort anyway. <3

(follow-up)

[patreon]

[mischiefbuckley]

I just had a thought… Eddie doesn’t know that Buck was clawing his way through wet mud to get to him right??? So what if that’s one of the confessions learned while on the call like how they told Eddie he couldn’t get down the well this time around in the preview for episode 6 we saw at the end of the episode like again the show itself is drawing the parallel between this well call and the well call from the “Eddie Begins” episode like when he did last time go down a well to rescue a kid that was trapped and what if someone mentions that Buck was clawing his way through wet mud trying to get to Eddie once he was trapped underneath in the well and Eddie learns again just how insane Buck reacts whenever he gets injured on calls

[giulliadella]

Speculative Biology of Euclydians (and Bill Cipher) part 1

Part 2

We're doing this, babies!

This analysis is based on two assumptions:

Before Bill Cipher became a demigod, he was a biological, living organism and so were the rest of his species.

Even after Bill Cipher became a demigod, he still retained some physical characteristics of his biological form.

I will clearly specify which of his abilities are innate abilities of his species, which ones are definitely his divine abilities and which ones could be both.

This is part one. This analysis became VERY long, so I'll separate it into FIVE parts:

Part 1: What is Euclydia and what are Euclydians?

Part 2: How Euclydians function as animals? (This is where I explain how are they built, what their organs do, how they feed, move, speak etc.)

Part 3: Reproduction NSFW (this one I separated because it's NSFW. It'll be nothing explicit, but I doubt your boss would be thrilled if he found out that you're reading about how triangles fuck in your office)

Part 4: Growth and development (here I will also talk about Bill's deformity and Euclydean society)

Part 5: How Bill Cipher destroyed Euclydia and got his god like powers?

SO, without further ado:

What is Euclydia and what are Euclydians?

I'm gonna drop a bomb first.

Euclydia IS NOT a flat two dimensional plane. Before you load your shotguns, let me explain!

There are many proofs both in the Gravity Falls show and The Book of Bill that Euclydia isn't a flat plane like the imaginary two dimensional world from Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot.

The first one is actually Bill himself. Bill's species has complex camera lens type of eyes. Such eyes are possible in 2D world, but not on the front, like Bill has. He was born like that, so that is proof that Euclydia isn't 2D.

Next, when Bill is talking about his home in Weirdmageddon part 3, he shows an image of his home planet:

This planet has RINGS. That is COMPLETELY impossible in 2D. Even if the planet was completely flat, the rings would go through it. They would never be able to actually encircle this planet. So, if Euclydia was two dimensional, Bill's home planet would not be able to exist.

In the Book of Bill, we see image of Bill as a baby. In that image he's standing on some kind of field with grass and you can clearly see that there's grass in front of him and behind him, and that's impossible in 2D:

(also sorry for the shit quality of this pic)

But the best proof is that image from thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com that you get when you type VALLIS CINERIS in the computer. It shows Bill Cipher as a child with his parents. The parents are holding him in a manner that is completely impossible in 2D:

The image quality sucks, but you can clearly see that his parent's hands are IN FRONT OF him and he is also IN FRONT OF his parents. The position of "in front of" isn't possible in two dimensions and yet on this image the overlap happens many times. (I circled his parents' hands in red where they overlap with Bill and I circled him in blue where he overlaps with his parents. Bill's bow tie is also in front of him.).

With all that being said, what is Euclydia?

Well, just like Bill said, it's a flat world. Not two dimensional, but flat. The third dimension of Euclydia is limited somehow. Basically, in 3D, creatures are defined by 3 axis:

x axis is left and right (width)

y axis is up and down (height)

z axis is towards and away from (depth)

All three dimensional objects have both width, height and depth. Two dimensional objects have just width and height, so just x and y axis. And Bill has depth. It's a very limited depth, but it is depth nonetheless. So he's not really a triangle, more like a very thin pyramid. This is his side profile lmao:

So Euclydeans have some depth, but for whatever reason, they can't move on z axis. They can only move left, right, up and down. They also can't turn around.

This is how thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com explains Euclydian movements:

Two dimension to and fro, you always know which way to go. If you're lost, don't be afraid, in Euclydia you've got it made. Run too far right to right of frame, you'll appear on left again. Jump too high don’t cry or fret, pop up from the ground I bet. In this place, there is no fear, loved ones will be ever near. Roles and rules always flea/clear. Euclydia, we hold you dear.

So, if they move too far left, they'll come from the other side. This is actually something that in possible ONLY in non-euclidean geometry, which means that Euclydia, ironically, is a non-euclidean place. It's actually a sphere (or a similar elliptical body).

In non-euclidean geometry of the sphere, there exists something that sounds paradoxical: a straight line is actually a circle. But it's actually very easy to understand with this example:

Imagine that you're flying a plane in a straight line. You feel like you're going in a straight line, but your plane is actually following the curvature of the Earth. If you manage to fly around the entire Earth, you will appear on the same spot where you started flying. You were flying in a straight line, but because Earth is a non-euclidean sphere, you were actually flying in a circle. And both of those are true!

The plane is very very small compared to the size of the Earth. So, to the plane, Earth's curvature is so negligent that we could say that in a small radius around it the Earth is actually a flat plane. So, for example, houses, neighborhoods, even cities are built relying only on euclidean geometry (the geometry of a flat plane) because the Earth is so goddamn big.

And Euclydia is actually a whole fucking dimension. Let's say that our dimension is our universe. Our universe is approximately 93 billion light-years wide. So let's say that that's the size of Euclydia. How tiny is Earth compared to the Universe? That's why planets and everything else in Euclydia can be treated as a flat plane: every object is so small compared to the size of this giant sphere that the curvature could be completely omitted from the equation.

Now this is my theory, but I imagine that Euclydia looks like a giant soap bubble. Soap bubbles are made when two thin layers of soap molecules trap a thin layer of water:

Euclydia is the water - that thin layer is where all the planets, stars and living beings on them are located. That's why movement on z axis is so limited. The soap molecules are membranes that separate Euclydia from the other dimensions, one inside the bubble and one outside.

Since Euclydians can't move across z axis, they have eyes on their sides that can see only left and right. Their vision is limited to one dimension. But Bill's eye is located in a spot that allows him to see both left and right, but also up and down. He can see two dimensions, just like us! Here's a diagram I made, so you can understand better:

(there are stars outside too, but I didn't want to clutter this image more)

So, now that I've spent SO MUCH TIME explaining what is Euclydia, let me tell you what are Euclydeans.

Euclideans are animals (or their equivalent in their dimension). Animals are defined as multicellular heterotrophic organisms with an internal digestive tract. This basically means multicellular organisms that eat.

Euclydeans have to be multicellular because they have extremely complex structures such as: camera lens eyes, teeth, fingerprints, exoskeleton and so on. These traits cannot be achieved by a unicellular organism. And they definitely eat their food, we've seen Bill do it. So they are (their dimension's equivalent of) animals.

And how they function? What type of animal are they? Well, see you at part two, if this didn't bore you to death already!

Thank you to @forseenconsequences @extremereader and @ok1237 for asking me to do this. Hope you like it, guys!

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Made a template for Temeraire universe dragon breed standards for a hypothetical dragon encyclopedia I might manage to make one day

Feel free to use for your own art, Temeraire or not, I only ask for credit/link to this post if you do

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

Dudebros in the GA wondering where all the violence is if this is supposed to be TV-MA but then Mike and Will take their shirts off

[colleybri]

Possible solution to the mystery of the “complicated” canoodling in the leaked Andor Star Wars Celebration ‘23 trailer ?

Back in the summer of 2023, the lucky attendees of the SW Celebration in London were treated to a short sizzle reel of footage from season 2 of Andor, which featured this shot of Cassian and Bix apparently being intimate. Adria Arjona was immediately asked about in an interview, and while being unable to spill anything said that “even that beautiful shot” was “more complicated” than it appeared. Online, there’s since been considerable debate about this comment. There have been suggestions that the shot might be a flashback, a reunion or a goodbye. But the bottom line is that it’s definitely not going to be a simple seduction scene or anything like that. Why not ? Apart from what Adria says, because Tony Gilroy is not going to waste precious storytelling time on that sort of thing. There’s going to be something else going on. Think of how complicated the story behind the Bix - Timm scenes were in S1.

I think I might have the answer, and it’s to do with the clarity of the new still released about a month ago….

Notice that Cassian is wearing a coat and Bix is wearing a tank top. The location is the apartment (in what looks very much like Coruscant) that we’ve now seen a few times in the leaked teasers, and for the first time clearly in a few new official stills including this one of Cass and Bix eating dinner…

The micro trailer also featured this shot of Cassian, blaster in one hand and something unknown in the other, standing in the doorway of this apartment as it slides open. He’s wearing a coat.

This shot is giving me the vibe of somebody who is not in a panic, but who is definitely starting to get a bit concerned. Perhaps he was expecting Bix to open the door, but she didn’t answer.

Why might she not have answered? Perhaps because something is wrong…?! Did someone get to her?? Has someone betrayed their location??? Is this safe house no longer safe???

Or perhaps… she was just asleep. Or in the shower.

So with all these clues, I think this “complicated canoodling” is a moment of relief. She’s ok!! No need to panic. This time. He’s wearing a coat because he’s just come in. (And I’ve joked before about him bringing home some takeout, but the new shot showing them eating even suggests it might be exactly that that he was carrying in his other hand). 

I think Tony Gilroy is going to be playing with us for however long Cassian and Bix are together in season 2. For very obvious reasons, it’s not going to last. I have a feeling that Gilroy the Sadist is going to have us share Cassian’s extreme concern that he could lose those last few precious loved ones at any time. So much dramatic power in this series comes from knowing the outcome. We know that there will be a “goodbye [to Bix] coming”, as Diego Luna put it in one interview. Not if, but when and how become the big questions. Just like watching a tragedy in the old sense. 

As Cassian unwittingly said to Maarva back in Season 1 , as they part ways: “ I’ll be worried about you all the time.” Her answer, of course: “That’s just love. Nothing you can do about that.”

And as Vel and Cinta are already learning: worry is a constant feature of love at a time of war. The price to pay also when commitment to the cause has to come first. “We take what’s left”. It’s why I think that Bix, just like Cassian, will be fighting to the end and prepared to give up a chance of personal happiness for the greater good.

[youngdutchishot]

Something about a fifteen year old running away from home isn't out of the ordinary. But, it truly does conjure the question as to why he had and never even came back either. He could've returned to his mother at any moment, but must've chose not to.

And another thought I've had. Was he alone for all those years until he reached his mid twenties and had met Hosea? Did he run with minor gangs or was he a "lone wolf", and kept to himself?

If he was by himself all that time then hell, that's nearly 9 years. And even if he "ran" with other people, he probably never grew an actual connection like he had with Hosea, and was still most likely extremely alone and lonely.

AND. Back to his relationship with Greta. Usually there's a reason children / teens run away from home. And, shocker, that reason's usually never the greatest. Kids will be reckless, they'll disobey sure, but to never go back? Well, now. That's a different story. Not much is exactly said of his mother, expect his quotes in The New South mission. Sure, his gravestone indicates she was a very loving mother, but with how he spoke of her I do think otherwise. Maybe I've read into his tone too much, but he feels slightly distasteful from the thought of it.

Before this "I left home at fifteen and didn't see her again." brief pause~ "She and I didn't always[pause] see eye to eye.." another pause~ "I wasn't always a very obedient child." Said certainly? Said bitterly, as if he's been told that by her before- huh what who said that? Seriously, before that there hadn't been many pauses, he spoke coherent. Wasn't hesitant.

His tone softens as he says the next "Still.. I loved her[brief pause] in my own way[pause], and she me in hers." Then he makes this joke "Somehow, even from the grave, she managed to have the last laugh." Like a "well she is my mother I can't just not love her how ungrateful would I be to ignore her love" if that makes any sense. I don't think she was the spawn of satan, but, I do not think she was the greatest mom either. And it probably left him feeling not-so-good(to put it politely ) as he grew up without much guidance, if any at all.

AND- AND, final thought lol. If he didn't properly grieve Hosea, he most definitely did not properly grieve his father's death. He was, If I had to guess, near 9-10 of age? Could be younger, I might be incorrect. But that's still quite young to lose a parent, and you could rightfully assume he didn't know how to deal with that properly( proper for himself) because he was a child. That's where resentment builds. Towards not only the southerners, but his father, too. Maybe not as vast as those whom murdered his father, but a stem of resentment for leaving him alone. Not being there.

[ittybittyremy]

Ok but why did Leeta specifically say hi to Dorian? This has been stuck in my head for weeks.

The most obvious answer would be that she met him while EXU trio were in Zephrah. The reason I’m not sure about this is because she’s never had much (or any) reaction to Fearne (or the other way around). Though, it’s possible that her and Dorian had a private talk during the Zephrah visit.

It’s also possible the she specifically said hi to him because she saw him in passing during the Zephrah visit but didn’t see him when Bells Hells were there.

Or Leeta picked up on Orym’s crush and was doing some big sister teasing.

But here’s the thing: I don’t believe in simple answers. I have crazy thought…

What if Leeta met Dorian before he left the Silken Squall?

Timeline wise, it would make sense. Leeta became the Master of Defence six years ago. Dorian had already been away from home for a year before meeting the Crown Keepers. So there would be a 4-5 year timeframe where they could’ve met each other.

It’s possible that at one point in time, the Voice went to the Silken Squall to have a meeting with their rulers. Naturally, her right hand would be there as well. Maybe sometime during the visit, they talked.

This is a huge stretch but the odds of this being the case are not a 0.

[hylianchampion17]

this is one of my favourite pieces of speculation on my blog. if you guys want i can go make a more detailed full-length post about this since i’m really passionate about it. even if no one asks, i might do it anyways lol.

**also lmk in the comments or through dms what specific part of this topic you’d like me to cover in detail. i’ll credit/tag you if you wish! **

[stagefoureddiediaz]

If Tim doesn’t have Eddie take up painting as part of his self discovery and joy so he can make use of another of Ryan’s talents what are we even doing here??

[tangerinesayswhat]

thinking about the presumed deaddie theory (inspired by the fic “leave the light on”)

like imagine all of season 8a we get eddie on this big (gay) growth arc but christopher is still in texas. in the fall finale we get a scene where either eddie is prepping to come out/confess to buck or they’re just on a call and something happens to eddie that makes him legally missing or presumed dead. enter chekov’s will and social workers bring chris back to LA. Then season 8b deals with chris, buck, and the 118’s grief and the guilt of there being no reconciliation between chris and eddie. meanwhile we get a silly b plot of wherever eddie is and whatever he’s doing. we get a couple episodes of this (or a whole half season) and then we get the awkward aftermath (chris is still mad at his dad/wants buck to stay so they all live together now) and the eventual buddie canon and chris and eddie reconcile.

or i’m going INSANE

[putschki1969]

A Fine Line: Truth vs. Speculation

Due to popular demand, I will be taking a closer look at the infamous “FictionJunction & Kalafina Behind the Scenes” essay which is posted in three separate parts on a Livedoor Blog

UPDATE 24/10/10: As of October 8, the blog seems to have been deleted. Further proof of the author's questionable intentions if you ask me. But hey, nothing is ever truly gone on the internet so I will be using internet archives for my analysis.

UPDATE 24/10/17: Yuki Kajiura has addressed the blog in her most recent FC radio broadcast. She has read through it and wants us to know that all the “facts” are pure fabrications, especially the conspiracy theories regarding Sony wanting to control her and trying to slowly get rid of her involvement in Kalafina.

A few days ago, I provided some context and background info on the author so be sure to check out THAT POST before you read this one. While working my way through the individual sections, I will try my best to highlight the speculative parts for you so you know what you are dealing with.

Disclaimer: I will do this to the best of my knowledge and ability but please remember to remain critical at all times. You should always take these things with a grain of salt. While I would usually not hesitate to call myself somewhat of an expert on all things Kalafina, the same is not true when it comes to Yuki Kajiura. So even if my opinions and thoughts are well-founded, this should definitely not serve as a be-all and end-all source for you.

Parameters: I will highlight anything as "speculation" that doesn't qualify as cold, hard fact. This will entail straight-up lies, half-truths, conclusions with no causal links and full-on delusions of course but also more subtle things like exaggerations, embellishments, headcanons or projections of personal feelings.

Use of Auto Translate: Since my main goal is to reveal the speculative parts of the essay for casual fans, I want to save some time by simply putting the website through the automatic Chrome translation tool. It's not ideal and won't always make perfect sense (especially regarding the use of pronouns) but for now, it's the most convenient option. If there are any outlandish translations, I'll try my best to clarify them. For the purpose of this analysis, the translation should be fine though. I also blurred out all the photo descriptions in the screenshots because they were distracting, I've not removed any of the relevant text parts. ╭────────────.★..─╮ LET'S GO〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ ╰─..★.────────────╯

Intro & Addendum ① The truth behind Kajiura Yuki’s departure from the agency ② The truth behind Kalafina’s split and hiatus ③ The activities of the members and Kajiura after Kalafina’s hiatus ④ The circumstances that led to Kalafina’s reunion and the truth behind Kajiura’s anger ⑤ Rights related to Kalafina

~Intro~ & Addendum

For clarification, the phrase "former member of the group" is a clunky translation of the part where the author refers to themselves as an “industry insider”, someone who has “formerly been affiliated” with Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina. Obviously, I believe this to be a total fabrication of the author who is aiming for attention and clout. I've already discussed this quite thoroughly in MY POST HERE so I won't go into detail again. Suffice it to say, I believe this person is an imposter pretending to have exclusive insider knowledge. As for the claim that these blog posts are "only focusing on facts", well, I beg to differ. While facts surely make up the basic framework of the essay, it is also filled with lots of unsubstantiated statements. Additionally, I am not buying into the whole "no intention of criticising anyone" thing because quite frankly, there's a lot of criticising and accusing going on here regarding Space Craft and Sony. Plus, this entire essay reflects super badly on Wakana. It's nothing obvious of course but there are subtle patterns that run like a red thread through the whole text (I'll highlight them once we get to the sections in question).

The addendum is basically a reiteration of the intro, serving to protect the author against any possible accusations of deception/fraud. However, they are doing a very bad job at trying to convince us of their credibility. What do you mean by "merely facts that you have seen and heard and that don't necessarily align with the facts of someone else"???!! Maybe this person struggles with the definition of the word "fact" but what makes a fact is solid evidence and not some random hearsay. It's also in the nature of facts to be true for everyone and not just for individual people. Oh well, what can you expect?

① The truth behind Kajiura Yuki’s departure from the agency

I have no issue with the names mentioned here. Those people have all indeed been part of Space Craft at one point or are still associated with the agency. You can find their names in Kalafina's credit booklets so that's undisputed. However, I do take issue with the strong focus on interpersonal relationships and soap opera drama. None of this has ever been officially confirmed (it's only ever been reported in tabloid papers). It's true that management positions at Space Craft have changed very frequently. You can see in the credit booklets that positions were switched up on a regular basis (with special titles changing just as often) which indicates that Space Craft has undergone a lot of restructuring throughout the years. Changes on management level are of course a very common practice in many companies. It's natural that some people will benefit from this and others will feel slighted. Obviously, these changes are not always triggered by professional reasons, there's a high possibility of private reasons being involved as well. However, there is no way of knowing whether Onishi was "obsessed" with anyone or if certain people were "being favoured" while others were "abused" and "demoted", these are merely speculations. At any rate, the fact that Inokuma has left the agency as well would suggest that the supposed special treatment wasn't so special after all. Mori may or may not have had his personal sensibilities offended which prompted his departure from Space Craft but the exact reasons behind it all have not been disclosed. "Often had disagreements over the direction due to Inokuma not understanding the process": Creative differences have been cited a few times as one of the reasons for YK's departure but that's the extent of our knowledge. We are not aware of any details as to who she's had those differences with or what exactly they couldn't agree on. There's also no way for us to judge Inokuma's skills as director/manager (or really anyone's for that matter). Not sure if Yuki has ever "negotiated her rights with a lawyer", I've personally not heard/read about that. Then we have Yuki's current status. Her partnership/association with Highway Star would suggest that she is not actually a "freelancer" in the strict sense of the word. In credit booklets, the agency is always listed as "artist management" alongside Yuki's own company FictionJunctionMusic so her status is a bit ambivalent if you ask me. But to be fair, that's neither here nor there, not really relevant for this analysis anyway. Claiming that YK is now able to "pursue her musical career more freely" seems a bit weird to me since Yuki has gone on record several times saying that she's never had more creative freedom than when she was working on Kalafina's music. There's no doubt that she is now doing a lot more soundtracks and live shows again but that's obviously because she has more free time to focus on that instead of new releases for Kalafina. Also, the main difference between then and now is that the huge success of Demon Slayer has afforded her the financial means to considerably expand her live activities. She's clearly enjoying the emphasis on concerts and events but we've no idea how happy she is about providing all those songs/scores to different shows/artists compared to how she felt when she was working on music for Kalafina...I'd argue it's not as fulfilling or fun. After all, she has been writing songs for all sorts of stuff during the Kalafina days and long before that too so nothing has changed about that.

② The truth behind Kalafina’s split and hiatus

For some reason, the author seems to be convinced that the higher ups at Sony were on an evil mission to "gradually get rid of Yuki Kajiura's involvement" so according to this essay, every change that happened throughout the years was just one step further into that direction. This is completely baseless and honestly makes no sense. There's zero evidence that either Sony or Space Craft ever wanted to remove YK from the project "Kalafina" before that whole falling-out thing happened. Quite the contrary actually, Yuki was always in charge of the music production and the higher-ups would never have given her so much free rein if Yuki's unconditional involvement wasn't exactly what they wanted. Did they involve more staff members when Kalafina became more popular and mainstream? Of course. It takes a lot of people and talent to handle activities on a larger scale. And since Yuki was busy working on new music almost all the time, there was no way she could have possibly handled all those things by herself. Apart from that, it was clearly necessary to bring in people with new ideas who knew how to adjust Kalafina's activities and marketing to better match their growing popularity and entry into mainstream territory. Many fans have bemoaned the fact that Kalafina had become too mainstream and idol-like in their later years but the truth is, if it hadn't been for these changes, Kalafina might never have gotten this far in terms of reach and success. The rather lackluster reactions to Kalafina's 10th Anniversary Live production are proof enough that a majority of fans actually preferred the more elaborate stage productions with dramatic elements, choreography and fan-service from the previous years. This is where people like "Minami Sasuga" come in, she is the one responsible for many of Kalafina's more engaging and epic live performances. For Yuki, the focus was always on singing so she never thought much of elaborate live productions but she obviously knew it was the price to pay for success. To conclude, no one was brought in to replace or drive away YK, they were merely invited to fill gaps that were in dire need of filling. The suggestion that a few "TV appearances and a collaboration with Shinji Tanimura" were failed attempts by Sony/Space Craft to "distance Kalafina from Yuki Kajiura" is once again utterly baseless. We have no evidence of that. How do those things even correlate to each other? Doing one thing doesn't exclude the other. If anything, these were attempts to broaden Kalafina's reach among different audiences. That part about "Sony intervening with Yuki's work/activities" also seems quite fishy. I have no details on this but what reasons would Sony have for those sort of restrictions all of a sudden if they had been fine with the situation all those years before? Not to mention that Sony (SACRA MUSIC to be more specific) is currently collaborating with Yuki again and there seem to be no issues about her performing all the old Victor stuff. All the things about Kalafina's cancelled activities in 2018 ("world tour, singles, albums, etc") are pure speculations taken from tabloid articles. Nothing has ever been confirmed. Might be true, might be a fabrication, we'll probably never know for sure. While it's certainly true that Keiko had been suffering from a "chronic illness" at that time (that sometimes made it impossible for her to do her job), the phrasing here makes it seem as if she was purposefully denied breaks and forced to perform when she was physically incapable. The truth is more nuanced. We do know that she got to take breaks if she needed them and whenever we actually saw her performing, there was never a point where she wasn't able to deliver solid vocals. It's easy to demonise the agency by saying they had poor Keiko slave away while suffering but based on what we know of Keiko's character, it was always her decision to keep working, she's the type to push through because she's not willing to let anyone down.

③ The activities of the members and Kajiura after Kalafina's hiatus

Keiko

Not for one second do I doubt "Keiko's strong respect" for Yuki Kajiura but I don't like the way this is framed. Somehow the girls are implicitly judged based on their level of respect for YK. And while Keiko is put on a pedestal here with her hero worship and unconditional loyalty, Wakana is the clear loser of this evaluation according to the author (see the section below). Also, why feel the need to include Keiko's little anecdote about her "low-voice complex"? Does anyone really believe that all the love and respect between Yuki and Keiko is based on something trivial like this? Yes, Keiko likes to tell the story about her low voice and she was obviously happy to get some positive feedback but this is in no way, shape or form the foundation of their relationship. We actually don't know anything about Keiko's motivation for that "trademark registration". She's never talked about it. She may have had plans as described above but to state it as fact is quite bold. YK has mentioned in interviews that she felt a little sad about the girls not getting to explore their own interests for a whole decade but I don't recall her saying that she was ever trying to "actively distance herself from them". Any perceived distance was caused by the rift between Space Craft, Yuki and Mori. Keiko, just like the other two members, did not "focus on Kalafina songs in the beginning" because she had nothing else to sing, it was more of a matter of wanting to please the fans who were obviously coming in with certain expectations. All three of them realised very quickly though that it was best to mostly/completely stay away from Kalafina covers for a number of reasons. I'd argue though that people "harshly criticising their covers" is very low on their list of reasons to avoid them.

Hikaru

We don't know what exactly caused the changes in Hikaru's voice and whether or not she "wanted to take a break to recover". This theory is unlikely though since there haven't really been any real "improvements" to her condition. She simply adapted to the state of her voice and sometimes it works for songs, other times it doesn't. The author refers to stipulations in the Space Craft contract that keep clients "from signing with another agency for a year after departure". This theory has been floating around forever and I've always found it to be quite plausible but once again, the author is stating it as fact here which I find problematic.

Wakana

This entire section somehow seems to imply that Wakana never cared about Kalafina or Yuki Kajiura and if you know anything about me, then you will not be surprised that I'm taking full offense at such claims. Portraying Wakana as the only one "who wanted nothing to do with Kalafina in favour of pursuing a solo career" is just wild. As far as we know, Wakana never had such a strong desire to be a solo artist (she actually often voiced her insecurities about performing alone) but still, this author makes it sound as if she was more invested in that dream than even Hikaru and willing to just abandon the Kalafina project. Completely untrue. For a while back in the early days, Kalafina was in a very fragile state with no concrete plans for the future. Members were not intended to be regular and everything happened on a tentative basis so of course, this would make everyone involved feel a little uncertain. No promises had been made to them, they had nothing to rely on so they would naturally have needed to look at other work options but obviously, none of them committed to anything else since they ended up becoming regular members of Kalafina. Again with this idea of Wakana "pining for her long-held dream of a solo career and being forced to sing YK's music" . Where does this person get their info? Hikaru has always been the only one among the three of them with the confidence and desire to stand alone on stage. Wakana is a lot more similar to Keiko in that regard, meaning that she prefers the comfort of having someone else on stage with her. That's not to say that she didn't have dreams of exploring her own music one day (and she has obviously been having fun throughout her solo career) but she certainly never minded being guided by Yuki and her fellow group members. Just like the other girls, she holds YK in high regard and treasures the music she has written for them. Wakana "chose stability over performing with Keiko, Hikaru and YK". The way this is phrased irks me so much because it is so clearly making Wakana out to be the bad guy in the situation. The person just named all the reasons why it was beneficial for Wakana to stay and in contrast, they also described the fate that would have awaited her if she had left as well. So yeah, Wakana chose relative stability over certain instability (as seen with Hikaru's circumstances). Not being able to perform with Keiko, Hikaru and YK was unfortunately one of the prices that had to be paid due to strict rules but to suggest she pretty much dropped them all like a hot potato for the sake of a bit of comfort is simply slanderous. And now the author is trying to convince us that there has never actually been any ban for Wakana, that "it has always been largely at her own discretion", that she is simply choosing to not collaborate with anyone for shits and giggles. Why would you say that? Just because we've examples of other Space Craft clients being able to work together with YK? That's completely irrelevant and has zero significance for Wakana's situation. Do we know what's in her contract? No. Do we know if it's the same contract as Yuuka Nanri's or Kaori's or anyone else's for that matter? No. So why make those conclusions?! We don't know anything about that. I find it rude to even suggest that Wakana and YK would willingly avoid working with each other again because even if this author might not believe it, there's certainly a huge amount of mutual respect between them.

④ The circumstances that led to Kalafina's reunion and the truth behind Kajiura's anger

Hm, is it "Space Craft's pride" alone that's stopping a proper reconciliation? Or Yuki's pride? Or Mori's pride? Or everyone's pride? I always hesitate to point the finger at just one involved party with disputes like this. It usually takes more than one party for a falling-out on such a large scale. I think there is a lot of hurt pride involved in this debacle. Yuki's official statement on the reunion live is a prime example of hurt pride. Of course she has every right to feel slighted but this was not a professional reaction. Say what you will about Space Craft treating the girls horribly but they are not always the sole perpetrator. I mean, yeah, the agency was their usual petty self by purposefully excluding YK and making the girls sign confidentiality agreements which surely caused them to feel uncomfortable but who was it that lashed out irrationally in public, essentially threw the Kalafina members under the bus and stirred up hatred against them? All I'm saying is that it is not as black-and-white as this person would have you believe. Everything else in this section is just pure speculation about future Kalafina projects. It's too early for that and I really see no point in coming up with all these prophecies of doom. It's funny though that according to the author, "Sony would suddenly not be interested in Kalafina without Yuki's involvement when they previously were so adamant about getting rid of her..." There's really no proof that Sony had no faith in Yuki's work prior to her success with Aimer and LiSA.

⑤ Rights related to Kalafina

I have no real qualms with the following sections. This part seems pretty well-researched and checks-out. While I'm not 100% familiar with all the legal aspects, this is information that can be looked up online. What I've found during my own research on music rights in Japan more or less aligns with what is stated here. So feel free to go through this without worrying too much about speculations.

I'm very glad the author puts emphasis on the fact that the girls are not the kind of people to be disloyal. Kudos to them!

We actually don't know yet what the "front band members" will do. Maybe they'll refuse to appear at the live out of loyalty to Yuki? Or maybe they will decide to support this reunion because the girls also mean a lot to them? None of them are bound by any rules, confidentiality agreements or stipulations so they can basically do whatever they want.

Regarding "Space Craft treating Kalafina too roughly", other people might feel differently but I still have faith in the girls. As far as I am concerned, they knew what they were getting into when they signed a deal with Space Craft. I mean, surely no one was holding a weapon to their head when they decided to do this so they must have collectively agreed that it was a good idea (at least in the beginning phase). I am not denying that this is currently a shit-show and that things are being handled in a very poor manner. It's the typical M.O. for Space Craft and they do deserve some of the backlash for that but let's be real here, so far, the roughest treatment has definitely not come from the agency. It has come from the fans themselves who've been hurling insults and accusations at the girls almost non-stop so maybe the fandom should first and foremost look inward instead of blaming Space Craft for everything.

»»———-THE END———-««

All right, that's it. A cookie for everyone who managed to read through all of this. Sorry for all the typos. I wanted to get this out last night but I should have done a little proof-reading first. Will edit the post whenever I have a little free-time.

[mischiefbuckley]

If we get the conversation between Eddie and Buck during “Confessions” being a conversation about Eddie’s will and Eddie telling Buck he remembers hearing Buck’s voice as he was down stuck in the well and plus the whole shooting and he remembers what actually happened and that no matter what at the end of the day Buck will always be an important person not only to him, but to Christopher as well I will need to be institutionalized