There’s Absolutely Zero Reason For It And I Have Not Gotten To The Later Chapters Yet But I Think Merula

crying in i missed the candela obscura e2 stream and i’m broke and it’s not on youtube—

no, because if you kick every white traditional Christian out of the country, then who is going to ship k@taang bryke? 

continuing from this post, i think i’ve figured out why i ship talisto and i blame it all on holly black: jude duarte and cardan greenbriar are talia and mephisto coded.

lemme try to explain the dynamics.

Jude & Talia

What’s there to say? They’re both badass strategists and natural-born leaders. They will make themselves heard and will not take nor tolerate bullshit. They are both clever with their plans and also don’t trust easily. Their guards are up constantly and they don’t tell their allies/friends everything (ie Jude’s coup and the whole Princess Brenda thing). They have also adapted to the rapid and traumatic changes in their lives — Jude with the murder of her parents and Talia with the fall of Xeris — and of course the adapting to a new world.

Sure, Jude takes things to an extreme by pursuing murder on occasion, but you can’t tell me that Talia wouldn’t do the same in her shoes (albeit with some hesitancy, but none the less will do so as a last resort). These two girls are a force to be reckoned with, and do all the research necessary to make sure they know all the facts and know all the plays to win.

Cardan & Mephisto

I don’t need to explain this. It’s so obvious that Holly went so far as to basically make Mephisto Cardan’s faceclaim.

Cardan and Mephisto are both younger siblings, so they are familiar with the shadow of their older — and better, in the eyes of their father figures or something — siblings. They also both have no shame in being the villain of their stories while also being sorta carefree and charismatic I MEAN LOOK AT THEM!! But they also, deep in the core of their soul, have goodness and love inside, and a strong urge to protect and sacrifice everything for those closest to them (Jude and Praxina respectively). They grow over the duration of their screentime/booktime into lovable and openly more caring characters.

Seriously guys the parallels between them are right fucking there.

Jurdan & Talisto

What else can I say? Enemies-to-lovers is the superior trope and if the Jurdan dynamic — while slightly questionable bc ✨bully romance✨ and just general canonical confusion — doesn’t give you tingles, imagine the applied to Talisto’s already current dynamic. I can already see Talia’s fuming face ready to absolutely destroy Mephisto and his obnoxious, degrading laughter as he walks away in Faerieland during their lessons. I can also see how the turns have tabled with Talia holding a knife to Mephisto’s neck and Talia’s grinning face as she pulls of the greatest coup in history…

I guess what I’m saying is that I would not be opposed to a Talisto Cruel Prince AU because it just makes sense.

brilliant analysis! i’m taking notes for when i get to them in my rewrite because i really wanna do all of w.i.t.c.h. justice

Orube and Cedric is the "i can fix him" trope done right, and that's why this is one of the best romances I've ever seen in media.

The point is, that actually, Orube never intended to fix Cedric. She did it by knowing her truth and living it, even if that meant going against the one she fell in love with.

Orube showed a great trust and intuition when she turned to a person with a dark reputation loathed by her friends. That was quite a reckless thing, but intuitive things like that fit her somewhat feral nature. Throughout her character arc she had learnt how to be patient and resilient, had learnt the struggles of being a stranger in a foreign world and of staying true to herself no matter the circumstances. And the results of her growth have shown greatly in the Book arc.

But!!! As soon as Cedric showed the slightest suspicious signs, her mercy was over and she would never let her guard down after that. Orube wasn't trying to force anything towards Cedric, wasn't trying to be kinder and softer to him hoping to melt his rotten heart. As soon as he crossed a certain line, she knew she couldn't trust him anymore, although she had been ready to give him a chance. And this was a marvelous writing. After all, how often do we see a female character prioritizing her own values over a man? How often do we see a girl giving up on "fixing" someone who is clearly not ready for that yet?

And Cedric, as one of the main villains of the ceries, was also done justice here. He didn't have a face-heel turn and didn' really become 'good'. Yes, he couldn't think of hurting Orube and even aknowledged his feelings towards her, but this was a possessive and immature kind of feeling. All he wanted was just to have her by his side, without even taking her feelings and values into conscideration. His suggestion to join him in a fight against the Guardians was the PEAK of emotional blindness, and this basically sums up the nature of his feelings and his own character.

And the final change tbat Cedric has aknowledged at his deathbed didn't happen because of Orube's love and devotion to him. It was her resilience, honor and truthness that moved him. Unlike him, she knew exacly who she was and what she was fighting for, and she taught Cedric by example, not by becoming his allforgiving ally.

Conscidering all said above I don't know how to feel about fan versions about their romance rebound after Cedric miraculously survived. Is he really capable of getting over his power-seeking and villain-serving behavior? Would simple life on earth without superpowers and world-conquering ambitions satisfy him? And most importantly, would Orube, who knows her moral code and follows it religiously be able to forgive him? These are the questions left unanswered. And although I would love to believe in a happily ever after for these two, my outlook on their perspective as a healthy couple is not that positive.

Is this a healthy ship? Nope. Is it a good writing and character development? Absolutely! Is happy ending for these two even possible? This is a question I can't answer. It would be nice to see them as a power couple, but that would mean one of them completely abandon their old ways. Would any of them be able to do that? It's really hard for me to tell.

However, despite all above, these two have the sickest chemistry in the entire series without a single kiss. I've been obsessed with them for 10 years and can't get enough.

Someone please tell me why whenever I imagine Cardan Greenbriar, all I can see is Mephisto from LoliRock.

i am not okay—

In the dark, the stars show their faces. Season 6 of The Dragon Prince arrives in 2024 only on Netflix. #GeekedWeek #thedragonprince

it should not have taken me three watches and several years to realize that Voltron is just very gay Power Rangers 

i will live and die on the hill that is mattel switching up mariposa’s design and va for the mariposa and the fairy princess movie because if we had 2007 design and chiara zanni in that film, the gayness would have EXPONENTIALLY increased.

they already had a close call with diamond castle they were not about to risk it.

one thing that just kinda bugs me about the whole stealing/losing voice things magical-wise is that it’s basically removing the ability for your vocal chords to vibrate and allow you to speak using your voice from my understanding.

so guys just fucking whisper??

the vocal chords don’t need to vibrate in order to whisper so while it may not be loud or anything YOU CAN STILL SPEAK??

of course there may be other factors at play but i’m personally tired of the same old story regarding losing one’s voice when they can technically still communicate.

i wanna put gaming and yoimiya in a room together and see what chaos ensues.