I JUSY READ YOUR HEADCANON POST ON ESPRESSOWHY DOES HE HATE LIGHT MAGIC CUPCAKE PLEASE IM LOSING MY MIND
I have a LOT to say about this so putting it under the cut it is
Also I know we already talked about this on the google doc (for the people new around here, Sour and i have a google doc on Espresso Cookie, yes we are normal about him, keep scrolling) but i wanted to answer this anyway
I have seen many takes on why Espresso dislikes light magic and elaborations on it but I have not seen anyone really have the same take on it as I do. Im not saying that what I think is canon or even corret by any means by the way
I have no good guess what exactly the Divine is but I am pretty sure we are all still mainly guessing for now. We know its some higher entity/power that grants people the ability to heal and protect.
I am tired of seeing people say Espresso hates Light Magic because its not Coffee Magic. Eapresso disliking Any other type of magic just because its Not Coffee Magic would be the most out of character stuff for him. This man who had to fight with blood, sweat and tears to get where he is would respect other types of magic and knowledge unless he had a good reason not to which brings me to my point.
So we know Espresso grew up in the Republic, specifically the lower parts of it. The Republic that praises the Divine and has all these mighty paladins, all blessed by it.
Now, the Republic is/seems very religious. They preach about the Divine and light and light magic, act like it will fix and protect everything.
Espresso who grew up in poverty, likely having to watch his friends and family suffer daily and be told by these rich adults that the light will help them all, they just need to pray a little more, believe a little more likely didn't appreciate that quite a lot. He likely started hating light magic and the Divine after a while since refusing to believe in it would just be denial. It clearly exist, look at Madeleine and all the others blessed by it, so why does it refuse to help them? You can't look a starving child in the eyes and tell them that the reason his friends and family are dying is because he doesn't believe in the Divine enough, but by what we see in Odyssey that is likely what happened.
My dear friend Fish (amphibifish) has a really good fanfic that plays into my headcanon where Seaweed, Pastry and Espresso are all childhood friends. It's not the point of the fic so I won't be linking it unless Fish says it's alright, plus I know it may be a bit too personal for that, but I felt like it was worth a mention.
I may edit this later since I feel like I am forgetting some stuff but for now this is all thank you for coming to my rant
