Thereās always another way. Somewhere ā written in some forgotten language, in a city likely lost in lava ā lies buried the secret to having everything I want all at once. But I wonāt find it today, and today is all I have.
Maybe it is because of my ADHD, but I am honestly also just as clueless as an unreliable narrator.
I mean, I also realised that Annabeth had a crush on Percy when Percy realised it. I also did not think much about his exploding a mountain or when he went head to head with several gods and goddess like Ares and Akhlys (misery). Magnus Chase had to straight up call out how whack it was that a pigeon was talking to him for me to realise how whack it was for a pigeon to be talking to him.
The hunger games (haven't read it yet, only watched all the movies, but I'm considering) is starting to creep into my feed with all the talk about how OP Katniss was to everyone except herself and how the world knew that she was in love with Peeta except herself, and I feel like, if she is going to be clueless about her crush on Peeta, then I am probably going to be clueless about her crush on Peeta too.
I mean, I knew about Percabeth before I started PJO and was still clueless about Percabeth until Percy realised.
My future boyfriend is going to have a hard time getting that title because if the dude keeps dropping hints and doesn't out right tell me that he is into me, everything meteorite is going to sail right pass my head while I continue to think that they're shooting stars.
Unreliable narrators are my kryptonite because, for all the literary analyses and theory crumbs I pick up in a story, I take everything as fact, and can't distinguish when people are lying or just not seeing things correctly.
I'll sell mine to you for the low cost of the mirror of infinite endings prologue and Evangelineās letter (I'm not from the US, or EU) and the Ballad of the Archer and the Fox that Stephanie mentioned that is inside the collector's edition.
Please? I beg.
*This bargain is not extended to the fae or any other non-human creatures
I did a poll on Theo and Philip a while ago, and that was where I found out that Creloise is an actual real ship. Idk, I never actually thought of them as a romantic ship, only a friend ship. But now I am curious:
Who should Eloise Bridgerton end up with? (cus we know that Sir Philip Crane is not it, and that no one is gonna remain single in a romance series)
So we are getting Francesca next season. But let's not talk about that right now. I have a burning question and I need to know where most people lean on it.
Who do you think Eloise Bridgerton should end up with during her season?
I was at the HTTYD concert 2 weeks ago where there was a live orchestra while the movie was playing and I- chills.
I NEED MORE
Test drive and forbidden friendship live? Literally chills. Just take my money now. I'm sad that I went for the last showing in my country cus if I had went for the first show, I probably would have gone to all the shows tbh.
When they did all the test drive reprises? chef's kiss.
Can we please have a HTTYD marathon concert? Where they play all 3 movies and the live orchestra plays?
Also, the dancing and the dreaming sung live? Just take my soul right now.
This is my official request to John Powell or DreamWorks or whoever to please just give me a HTTYD orchestra marathon concert.
I feel like her book idea that she first mentions could be the Caraval crew going to the Magnificent North and meeting Eva and Jacks for the spring kissing festival that was teased in the Spectacular novella.
Guys, I am so unbelievably excited right now, I have been listening to this video on repeat.
I have so many theories on how Tella is gonna react when she realises that Eva is with Jacks right now. I head is bursting.
If this spring kissing festival is not the book idea that SG mentioned, then I bet it is the Evajacks novella, but either way, I am putting real money that we are gonna have Evajacks at the spring kissing festival, and to say that I am hyped is an understatement.
Another book-idea-that-is-set-in-the-OUABH-universe theory is that it is something about Chaos and Lala and Dane? Maybe also with Aurora and that soul tree prince? Could be interesting, but I am really hoping that Evajacks appears a lot, and are not just spirited away in the Hollow -- although they do deserve their HEA.
My last theory is that it has something to do with my boi Luc and that one ending where he got kidnapped. Idk why but I got pirate vibes from it, so that could be fun too. But with the seafaring energy, idk if we will get much of Evajacks that way.
Anyway, I am just SO UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED for any Evajacks content and I will happily sell my soul for SG to HURRY UP AND START WRITING HER BOOK/NOVELLA.
I might come back and write another post on all my theories on the spring kissing festival if my thoughts overwhelm me, but idk.
So I just finished Oro's POV from the new Duelling Crowns book, and I have thoughts -- actually, rants -- about how Oro is not the main love interest, because this man is literally a walking green flag.
You don't understand -- I literally picked up this series when in my shadow-daddy era, ready to be a Grim girly with all the publicity this series got that I got absolutely whiplashed when I found out that Oro was not only not the main love interest, but he is also not the favoured love interest. (I did not know the names of the love interests, only brief outlines of the plot; and idk that there were 2 LIs, I just thought that the second ship was with some kind of secondary character that people preferred over the main. I do not like spoilers)
Anyway, to right this injustice of Oro being constantly sidelined (dude was in like 20% of book 3 and somehow still carried the whole plot. Insanity -- even coming from an Oro stan), I have decided to compile an argument on why I believe, undoubtedly, that Oro is the better love interest:
Spoilers below, obviously.
The slowburn is real. There are so many parallels, so many connections and build-up in Oro and Isla's story. a) Her shooting and flicking his crown only for him to give it to her at the end of Book 1. b) Him saving her when she fell of her balcony and healing her head, then her saving him when he got exhausted and fell, dragging him into a lake so that he can heal himself. c) Him saving her from the vines and refusing to leave her to deal with the thorns alone, then her saving him when he was injured and bringing him into a cave and staying with him until the sun went down. d) Him hating his gilding powers then her getting him to use it on her dress, and then having their symbol be a gilded golden rose. e) Her looking at her wedding gown's gloves and immediately thinking about when she was shooting at Oro during one of their early encounters. The whole build-up in Book 1, when they slowly learned to trust one another and work together, and then them being so domestic in Book 2, was just pure endgame energy. You can really see the journey these 2 people took, from skeptical enemies to actual lovers. Meanwhile, Grim was just so handsy and touchy the entire time. I mean, I get that they were together for a whole year prior, but they aren't anymore (wholy his fault) so why does he keep trying to grab her whenever he is an arm's length from her? Also, everytime I try to read Isla's flashbacks in Book 2, it is just overrun with scenes of kissing and touching. Like, that scene in the hot air balloon could've been sweet, but then BAM, his hands are on her and they are in his room again. Everytime Grim begs Isla to "remember our love", I have to squint HARD at the pages because where is the love? I can't find it. *picks up megaphone* will the love please identify yourself in this room? Is it in the room with us? All I see are his hands and lips on her. That's not love, babe, that's lust in a trenchcoat waving candy at your horny ass. I read someone mention before that Isla was basically a lonely, touch-starved barely-adult when she left her room and "fell in love" with the first hot guy she saw and there really is no disputing that claim. But, please, dear Grim-stan reader, try.
Boundaries exist. In all my years of reading, there are few fictional men with Oro's levels of boundaries. I mean, Isla literally threw herself at him several times, but he never faltered, never gave in to his pants, and always took care of her. Remember when Isla wanted to sleep with Oro because she was plagued by dreams of Grim? She was down to her underwear, ready to replace the thoughts of Grim with thoughts of Oro instead. Yet Oro took a step back. He knew that this should not be the way their sex goes, that it should not be a blanket to cover something, that she was hurting and desperate, so he got on his knees and asked her what was wrong. Then he gave her his room because Grim has never been there, and she would not think of him when she was there. Oro could've just taken off his pants and went with her plan -- I bet Grim would've done that -- but Oro would not take advantage of her when she was down. Instead, he went to find out what was really the problem and solved it. He really went "let's unpack your crisis, not your clothes". Another example is when Oro and Isla were in that cave in the desert during the sand storm. Again, Isla got naked in front of him and tried to advance on him. Yet Oro used his limited powers to use Moonling magic to cool her down and get her to sleep, preserve her strength. His morals are literally through the roof and he would never give in to either of their desires when he knows that it is not right, not how their story should go.
He knows her. As mentioned, he was in like 20% of Book 3. He flew across the world to check on her in the middle of the book, then he was let in on the plan and action in the last few chapters. He was waiting with Grim for Isla to appear with Lark, but it was taking too long, and he suggested to go to her. Grim disagreed and told him Isla's plan. And. He. Was. Like. Wtf? Ain't. No. Way. In the 4 pages that is his POV, dude heard the plan, and immediately went "that's the plan?? That's a horrible plan. She must have another plan." And he was right. I cannot stress enough that Oro literally figured Isla's actual plan in seconds after he heard the BS that Isla fed Grim. I mean, Grim was literally around the entire time when Isla was concocting her plan and he did not think anything was amiss. Bro thought that he was so important that he did not realise that Isla already had everything she needed (with Oro's power) to open a portal elsewhere. Grim can spend a whole year and then some learning about Isla's favourite foods and whatnot, but it takes true connection to immediately hear something and know what she was actually thinking. Grim knows facts about Isla, but Oro knows Isla.
He would give up the world for her. One line that stood out to me from Oro's POV in Duelling Crowns is when the castle was in peril and he knew that Isla could not be the one responsible for it as she would never (willingly) do something that hurt innocent people. (I'm looking at you, Grim, person who started an entire war for Isla when she was just living happily in Lightlark. Jealous bitch. It wasn't as if she was kidnapped against her will when she stayed at Lightlark; but one can argue that she went against her will with Grim at the end of Book 2 just so that he would stop the whole stupid-ass war.) Yet, Oro was willing to give it all up for Isla when he refused to kill Grim to save his land, even when Isla was screaming at him to do it, because he chose her life over Lightlark's. I mean, they were this close to winning, this close to ending the war, this close to killing Grim -- but he could not do it, because killing Grim would mean killing Isla (literally the only romantic thing that Grim has done). Another -- less dramatic -- example is when Oro lets Isla take the heart of Lightlark. I mean, he literally entrusted the life of his island and his people to her. He thought that the Heart was what first spun the curses and he trusted her to use it's power for good. He put his island's fate into her hands.
He never lied to her. Do I even need to bring up how Grim a) stole Isla's memories against her will. b) betrayed her by working with Aurora/Celeste. c) kept secret of all that he knew about her past and father. d) gave her a forever binding marriage necklace without even telling her what it was. e) kept her guardians in his castle without telling her, even when he knew that they basically kidnapped and silenced her since young -- something he can definitely relate to as his own father was the same, just a lot more homicidal. f) (again) started a whole war to claim her back, killing thousands when he knew she would never want that. Meanwhile, Oro's only offence was not telling her about Lark -- but I would argue that this is also Grim's offence, and he kept it from her longer since he knew her longer. Oro has been nothing but truthful to her, telling her his plans and his secrets.
He protects her. One scene that gets me was when Isla went to Wild Isle, and used her emotions to fuel her powers to grow the plants there to trap Nightshade soldiers during the war. You know, the ability that would slowly kill her the more that she used it? The ability that Grim taught her? When Oro first found out that Isla was draining herself, he immediately forbade it and told her that losing her was not worth it, that they would find another way. But she was desperate, so she went back, and did it again. And what did Oro do? He found her, carried her back to the castle, and healed her. He didnāt scold her when she was down. He didn't berate her with I-told-you-sos when she became so drained that she was wavering between life and death. Oro had every right to be pissed and disappointed in her, yet he never lashed out, and just gently healed and took care of her, held her when she cried, when she realised her own mistake in using such power.
Their powers, together, are whole. Oro has Sunling, Moonling, Skyling, and Starling powers. Isla has Wildling and Nightshade -- and newly acquired Starling -- powers. Those are literally all the powers that exist (that we know of, at least as of book 3). When Isla was saying that she, Oro, and Grim needed to work together to open the portal, I was literally screaming "No, you don't!". Isla and Oro are enough. They have everything they need when together. They complete each other. Periodt.
She hates the cold. There was this scene in Book 3 when Grim takes Isla to somewhere after their wedding, and she was shocked that she never knew that the place existed. And his response? "I thought we've established that you hate the cold." (This might not be verbatim, but the idea is there) Like. Bruh. That is not an excuse to just not show her things??? Meanwhile Oro, Sunling, is always warm. She will never be cold when she is with him. She will also not overheat with him too, like (again) when they went to that desert on sun isle and he used his limited strength to Moonling ice her to cool down. He literally warms her inside and out.
Sidenote, their metaphor is cooler and tangible. "We are infinite"??? What is that?? That's so vague. What does that even mean? Meanwhile, Oro compares them to the Forever Flame. You know, the fire that has been burning since the creation of Lightlark and will remain burning forevermore? The very real flame that has burned through disasters and withstood wars, just like Oro and Isla in Books 1 and 2? Alexa, play "Burn for you" from the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical by Barlow and Bear.
Lynx likes Oro, too, and dislikes Grim.
Need I go on? Oro is clearly the only choice here. As mentioned, I really did try to like Grim, and I literally went into the series ready to fall for Grim. But it did not happen that way. And that should say something in and of itself.
I need someone who knows how to make video edits to help me to make a video edit with the Epic the musical: Love in Paradise soundtrack when Calypso goes "tell me though who's Penelope~" but Lark or someone is asking the question. Then Grim will answer "She's my wife". And everything will be radio silent and Oro will just be there raising an eyebrow super judgemental like. Then Oro will go "Anyway I've got..." and dismissing Grim with a wave of his hand.
Can you guys see the vision? Can someone do me a solid and make this?
It's so heartbreaking to know that some people don't like Jacks cus they judge him based on human logic when it's not his fault that he runs on Fate logics.
I mean, he had the ability to go back in time to be with who he thought was his one true love. His ENTIRE story and life and motivation was to finally find a girl that his kiss wouldn't kill. And he did. And he could've gone to her. But then Evangeline died and he decided to use his one chance at happiness, to forgo the one thing he has spent a millennia chasing, just so Evangeline can live.
Like, he has kissed and killed countless ladies before. Death is not anything new or special to him. But Evangelineās death was. He, without any hesitation whatsoever, decided to 100% let go of his happily ever after for Evangeline.
And he doesn't ask for anything back.
He does not tell anyone that he did what he did. He does not expect Evangeline to give him anything in return. He still protects her and keeps his distance because he still believed that, since his kiss already did not kill one Donatella, Evangeline was not his endgame and that his kiss would kill her.
This has to be romantic in the most heartbreaking way, even by human standards.
And then he sacrifices his heart to get cuffs for Evangeline so that she can remain safe? He straight up pulled a Catherine Pinkerton from Heartless by trying to get rid of his metaphorical heart so that Evangeline can get the safety cuffs cus he believed that his being near her was a danger to her and that his heart was useless anyway since he already had no chance with his supposed one true love.
I mean, come on. MY heart hurts for him. He may not be perfect, and he may believe that he is the villain in his own story, but the dude is trying SO HARD. You just got to fall in love with him.
You know, if disney really wanted to show inclusivity, they could've just gotten an Asian Snow White; it would solve the fair skin issue.
Also, Rachel Zegler is a great singer, no doubt, but her vocals are too wide (or fat in singing terms) to be Snow White.
Snow White is supposed to be soft and gentle. Why can't disney just let her be that? We love a girl boss but not everyone has to be strong to be... strong. You know?
There is strength in being gentle too and I think that girls (and boys) should learn that they don't always have to be a Merida or Moana or Mulan to be strong.
My head cannon is that Paris Anderson (and Max and Evie) stole some of Juliette/Ella's power and put it inside of Aaron's mom. (Shatter me spoilers below btw)
Doesn't it make sense tho?
1) Leila Warner's powers are similar to Ella's but opposite. Ella can project her pain energy, but does not feel it herself, when she touches people. In contrast, Leila feels pain whenever she touches people because the Energy is on her skin - like with Ella - and since she is not immune to the power, she feels the pain when she touches her own skin or when others touch her
2) Delalieu is so sure that Paris did something to his daughter, but doesn't know what, and we all know that this is the kind of messed up shit that Paris would do to his wife. But this just shows that Leila's condition must've been a more recent one for him to never have suspected anything before
3) There must've been a time when Leila didn't have this power since she was able to have Aaron. I mean, sax-ophone with someone else and birth is a lot of skin contact. Plus, Aaron is older than Ella so it would make sense that she already conceived Aaron before getting injected with Ella's powers. Also, relating to the second point, if this was a condition that Leila had the entire time, how could Delalieu have never known about it? Imagine trying to hug your child everytime and she breaks down in hysterical tears from pain. Are you telling me that Delalieu and his wife never suspected anything medically wrong with her everytime someone just lightly brushes her and she is in pain?
4) We all know that the supreme commanders have been trying to extract powers to put them in other people (like with Sara and Sonya, and Adam) so it would make sense that they would have tried to put this very important power into someone within the inner circle cus we wouldn't want a secret like that getting leaked. Also, as mentioned, Ella's power is super important. They would want to try and imbue elsewhere to keep it, wouldn't they? I'm pretty sure that they failed this experiment with Leila and found out that the power can only be transferred to someone of similar blood or something which is why only Ella can take over Emmaline. (Aaron saying "Take me instead" lives rent free in my head)
What do yall think? Anything I missed out?
5) Side note, I think it would make more sense if Paris Anderson is the one with powers. I mean, 3 of his sons have powers that are all somewhat similar so it would make sense that it came from him - being the common denominator. Like, Aaron can absorb Energy, Adam can nullify Energy, and James can heal, which I think is like another form of using/coercing the Energy? Idk how to explain this part but I think you know what I mean - that the 3 brothers' powers are all pretty dang similar for them to have come from 2 different mothers. It's true that we know basically nothing about Adam and James' mom (other than she died - but hey, if Paris can fake his death, who is to say that their mom didn't either) but it can't be that much of a coincidence that the 2 women Paris chooses just so happens to be able to give his sons similar powers, can it? Also, you can't really argue that Paris specifically chose the 2 women to breed with since the reestablishment only found out about the powers from Emmaline and though I can't remember if Emmaline is older than Aaron, I'm pretty sure that they could not have been born that far apart for Paris (and Evie and Max) to be able to track down people with the specific powers that they want more of. But even if they could develop this technology that fast, we know that Emmaline and Juliette had some sort of childhood when they were young so it stands to reason that their powers only manifested when they got a little older - old enough for Aaron and Adam (at least) to be born.
Did you know that in Greek Mythology, when a man tosses an apple to a lady, it is an act of proposing to her. And when the lady catches said apple, it means that she accepts his proposal.
Sort of ACFTL Spoiler but it isn't important so I would think that it is safe for yall to see... if you want to
Argos is the name of Hera, the Greek Goddess's, bird (peacock). And I am pretty sure that we all know that the name Apollo is also from Greek Mythology. I see that Stephanie has a theme sort of going on...
