Which canon is your default?

[Down]

• I ignore the anime's UxC scenes, with complete bias, unless I'm feeling the need to write some one-sided love Angst!scot. Or ZxA.

But what do you do about the ones in the manga? XD

• There is always a tea party.
• Caldina and Ascot are totally brotp. They just didn't bond until after their encounters with the knights.

There should always be a tea party! I may adopt this as new fic guideline. At least for long fic. ALL THE TEA. And YES at Caldina and Ascot

• Ascot's bird-man friend is named Yaris. Thank you, Down, because that creature gets way too much screen/page time to lack a name.

And thus my brother's car is immortalised! Or, um, something. (It's a good car! XD)

[Mokonalord]

• I ignore the anime's UxC scenes, with complete bias, unless I'm feeling the need to write some one-sided love Angst!scot. Or ZxA.

But what do you do about the ones in the manga? XD

*shit-eating grin* What ones in the manga?

Just kidding. Honestly, I just think most of their manga interactions can just as easily be interpreted platonically as romantically. Also, having Umi see Ascot during that night time sequence wouldn't be advisable, as Ascot's probably still reeling too much from the shock of 'UMI'S BACK AND SHE TALKED TO ME!' to be coherent. Actually, my headcanon is that Ascot was hanging out with Caldina and Lafarga during that time just completely flipping out and overanalyzing their earlier interaction, like, "Was I okay? I didn't say anything stupid, did I? Did I look all right? Be honest, I looked like a complete dork, didn't I?"

[Somariel]

In terms of anime vs. manga in headcanon, I've recently come to the decision that Sierra exists in my manga headcanon, we just never have a reason to meet her. For some reason, my muse has really latched onto the idea that Presea has a twin sister and just wouldn't leave me alone until I allowed Sierra into my headcanon.

Of course, my muse then took that as permission to start shoving Presea & Sierra fic ideas at me.

[VKiera]

Personally I draw mostly from the manga, but I will pull ideas from the anime I like/and or find useful.

Presea does not die.
Eagle does not die.
Eagle loves sweets (anime plucked headcannon there)
Alcyone did not survive to season two.
The Knights can come and go to Cephiro as they please.

Debonair did not happen, EVER, or Nova, that plot peeved me so much in the anime. I mean the whole first season pretty much is a deconstruction of 'there is only good, or only evil' and you always know which is which.  And the season two of the anime...makes a thing that is wholly evil/not a person, therefore does not receive pity and can be killed/destroyed without regret. ugh, and the only way I put up with Nova existing is if the other two knights also create similar shadows. That fic I might read.

Personal headcanon though? Mine mostly relates to Autozam and that it went though a huge nasty civil war/ revolution not too far in the past where it went from a royal line/dictatorship to something akin the united states with a congress or parliament per say. It was not an easy transition either, the war that followed being a large contribution to the world's pollution and destabilization, though it was already doing that before the war, and may also being a some or the reasoning behind the start of the war. I could go on for days about Autozam's political state, haha.

[Mokonalord]

I've been sorta developing my own alternate anime canon. It keeps a lot of the newly introduced characters/concepts but also includes a lot of the good manga elements that were needlessly cut, as well as some things that the anime could've improved/expanded upon but didn't. Some examples:

• Debonair doesn't exist, but Nova and Innouva do. In fact, Innouva barely survives the first season and is actually the main villain in the second
• Presea does die, but Sierra does not pretend to be her. Instead, she comes to the castle looking for answers about how her sister died, but doesn't get the complete story until Alcyone tells her
• The orchard scene is there, but occurs before Umi and Fuu get kidnapped by Chizeta and Fahren.
• What happened in the shrines mostly follows the manga, retaining the original challenges and villains and villain character moments that happened there
• There are actual flashbacks to some of the stuff that happened during the season gap. Notably development of Caldina/Lafarga and other things mentioned only briefly in the manga like Clef teaching Ascot magic or Lafarga and Ferio going on scouting missions together.

[Down]

This probably isn't the place to point it out but - the ONLY entirely-anime-based 'verse I have is the one in which there are TWO FIC - the angst-ful Lantis one in which he goes back to Autozam with Geo and Zazu to do what he can because Eagle's dead...

...........and the fic in which Clef ends up pregnant with Ferio's kid.

I just. REALLY BRAIN? THOSE TWO SHARE A UNIVERSE? (Not only do they share a universe, but it is actually integral to the plot of the crack fic! REALLY?)

[milady]

The anime has too contradictions and the manga story is superior imo The only better part of the anime is somewhat superior is more worldbuilding

I was introduced to the series through the anime as I was a kid though

[suzanami]

it's just so frustrating how the anime took one of the most important Themes of the manga story and slapped it in the face.  the rejection of self-sacrifice and Hikaru promising to herself that there will be no more meaningless deaths...  then they off Eagle to simplify the love triangle and for cheap emotional pull.  they could've easily had Eagle decide to back off Hikaru and Lantis romantically, that could be so moving if done well, but the writing in the anime is a bit clunky in general IMHO.

Hikaru was not willing to step over Eagle's body in order to assume the position of Pillar, she was ready to die with him first.  and she would've done that for anyone, and that is so important to her character, and how Umi and Fuu are the only reason she survived?  god the whole "friendship is magic" theme of the series comes to a head there.