aoibheann04

[aoibheann04]

Just wanted to say that when Aang was struck by lightning he was letting go of his attachment to Katara and when Zuko was struck by lightning he was literally saving Katara’s life.

I suppose the argument could be made that by unblocking that last chakra and gaining control over the avatar state, Aang was trying to save Katara from everyone that was attacking them but Aang was in that room too. He was saving himself just as much as he was saving Katara, he didn’t know Azula was going to hit him with lightning. Also, the world needs its avatar.

Zuko, on the other hand, knowingly risked his life solely for Katara. He made the decision to be struck by lightning to save her. He knew that Katara had used up all her spirit water to heal Aang after he was hit by lightning and he still jumped in front of Katara. He knew that he could have died.

Like wtf happened? How does a show fuck up the romance this badly? Everything else played out so beautifully.

[aoibheann04]

I enjoyed the ACOTAR books when I read them and love a lot of the characters but I definitely see where people are coming from with their criticisms.

I would say TOG is better though it comes with its own set of problems. And I was kind of enjoying the CC series until the ACOTAR crossover.

I think the main difference, for me anyway, is that TOG and CC felt like they had a lot more meaningful sacrifices. SJM wasn’t afraid of killing off characters.

But who died in ACOTAR? Feyre’s unnamed mother, Clare Beddor, and two unnamed fae. And in ACOMAF? A few unnamed citizens in Velaris, and a mortal queen.

And ACOWAR is perhaps the worst offender with thousands of unnamed civilians and soldiers of Prythian, the bone carver and the weaver who were literally introduced as antagonists, Brennan and Dagda who were also antagonists, three unnamed children of the blessed, Feyre’s unnamed father, the King of Hybern (is he unnamed or is his name literally Hybern?), and the Suriel (the only death that elicited any sort of emotional response from me).

[I’m on a train and don’t have my books to refer back to so forgive me if I got any names wrong, mixed up the books, or missed a death or two.]

Compare this to losing characters like Sam, Nehemia, Gavriel, the thirteen, even Ren (especially Ren) the impact just isn’t the same. And of course a lot of unnamed soldiers and civilians died too, so it just makes sense that with all the battles and bloodshed in all of SJM’s series that we would lose a main character or two, but in ACOTAR we didn’t. Also there’s characters that were already dead before the events of the prequel took place, specifically Aelin’s parents, that we still kind of feel a sense of loss over just because it affects some of the main characters so much and the events of the series as a whole so much.

And in CC there’s Danika, Connor and the rest of their pack, Lehabah, even Hunt’s friends Justinian and Victoria. I don’t recall any deaths in the second one except Cormac and Sophie but that’s where I lost hope for the series anyway, with the ACOTAR crossover.

But I would say my least favourite thing SJM does is try to convince me that her characters “sacrificed” their mortality. Aelin, Feyre, Nesta, Elain, Bryce. I understand that they didn’t necessarily want to be fae but I don’t think becoming one is much of a sacrifice because they were written as so ridiculously superior to humans in every way.

And Amren’s sacrifice could have been a beautifully heartbreaking moment in ACOWAR but was ruined by immediately bringing her back to life. And it also kind of ruined how Feysand came full circle, from Rhys convincing the High Lords to revive Feyre in book one to Feyre doing the same for Rhys in book three, to have another character also come back to life, it just felt overdone. (And of course Feyre died again in ACOSF and so did Nyx but I’m not going anywhere near that god awful book, it was so disappointing). I don’t think SJM even knows what to do with Amren’s character anymore, like oh god you’re slightly less immortal you’ve sacrificed so much for us 🙄.

So yeah, ultimately for me it comes down to how much a book can make me feel something, and TOG achieved this far better than ACOTAR ever could. But even with all that said I still like ACOTAR, I just think TOG is better in terms of what I want from a book.

[aoibheann04]

I think the Princess that gave Wolfric the Tree of Souls had a thing for Honora, not Wolfric.

Because if you’re willing to sacrifice someone you love to gain immortality do you really love them?

I think the Princess knew this and was hoping the tree would get rid of Wolfric so she could swoop in and get with Honora.

And Wolfric thinks she liked him because he’s just so full of himself. Evangeline kind of noticed this after he “apologised” to her. He wasn’t really sorry because he believed he was right. He’s got an inflated ego.

This might be my most ridiculous theory yet but I love it!

[aoibheann04]

This might be wrong but I interpreted “not-quite-human” as Jacks being not-quite human in the same way Legend is no longer quite human.

Like how they both look way younger than they are and maybe still have a bit of magic left just not quite to the level they had before giving up their immortality for love.

And Evangeline didn’t die after Jacks kissed her because of true love which also made Jacks mortal. So maybe his kiss being deadly was somehow connected to his immortality? And sacrificing his immortality for love made his kiss not deadly?

Maybe that’s the loophole to Jacks’ curse? I believe it was Chaos that said “every curse has a back door” or something along those lines.

Not to be mean or anything but a lot of the stuff people are complaining about not being properly explained are easily figured out once you use your own brain. Not necessarily what I discussed above but it’s annoying to see people complaining for no reason. I’m not saying ACFTL was flawless but try to think things through.

Just because the OUABH series is over doesn’t mean we have to stop theorising about it. Stephanie Garber is most likely going to expand on this universe, she just probably can’t outright say what she’s working on for legal reasons or something.

Sorry if this offended anyone, it’s not an attack on anyone in particular or even an attack at all. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and this is just mine. Feel free to disagree.

[aoibheann04]

I think that Stephanie Garber might be sort of merging her different series now. It would be very very difficult not to if her next books are set in the same universe as Caraval and OUABH. At the moment, her series can be read separately. You don’t have to read one to understand the other.

It seems that ACFTL might be setting up a possible future story about Castor, LaLa and the Valors. And it will be hard to write a story involving the Valors that doesn’t mention the fact that they were trapped in the Valory Arch for years. Which would be a huge spoiler for OUABH and most of TBONA.

So if this is indeed the case, and the next series by Stephanie Garber will require the previous ones to be read first, then ACFTL is not the end of our evajacks moments. They could appear together in future series! Similarly so could Scarlett and Julian and Tella and Legend.

But really more than anything I just want to see my baby boy Luc again. I just love him so much. He deserves the world and should be reinstated as King of the North.

[aoibheann04]

Evangeline’s parents knew about the Key prophecy theory

Evangeline’s parent’s are so suspicious and I don’t think it’s brought up enough. Her dad had a SECRET SHOP? (OUABH page 49) And her mom knew the language of the Valors. People who were supposed to have died CENTURIES ago. Something else that’s always confused me is why her mom would ever leave the North since it’s so magical. It doesn’t make sense except when you think about the prophecy. “Conceived in the north and born in the south” She would have had to birth her in the south so that’s why she left. Evangeline also says that her parents always act like her birth was some huge mystery.

There’s not much actual evidence behind this but there are some things that make me think this is possible!

[aoibheann04]

I think the Valors created the story curse after Chaos attacked Slaughterwood (and it was said that he was “a monster created to avenge Castor’s death”)

If I got anything wrong in this someone please correct me I haven’t re-read TBONA yet this is all based on my OUABH re-read

The Valors were said to be able to combine their powers. I have seen theories that Evangeline will open the main arch (that you’re not supposed to talk while entering the North) and it will break the story curse. This is highly likely. The one set of twins, Tempest and Romulus, created the magical arches throughout the North. There are theories that Aurora was skilled at curses. Lysander had a gift involving memories. What if Aurora and Lysander worked together to create a curse that would affect people’s memories of the stories and infused it to the arch and the arch is like a beacon for the curse?

My theory as to why they would do this is that after Vengeance Slaughterwood attacks Merrywood and Castor dies, no one knows Honora brings him back to life. So when a monster (Chaos) attacks Slaughterwood, everyone thinks he was created by the Valors because of Castor’s death. (Page _ of TBONA) This has to absolutely ruin their reputation that was already not great after Aurora ran away from her wedding to Vengeance. I feel that the Valors creating a curse to try and make everyone forget isn’t so far fetched. The curse either didn’t work or didn’t work the way they’d wanted. The people didn’t forget everything, they just forgot the ends of stuff.

I think Evangeline may be able to break the story curse if it’s linked to the arches since she’s the Key. If she can open the other arches it makes sense for her to be able to open the main one and break the curse.

[aoibheann04]

Holy Shit! This matches my theory…

Here is a thought I’ve had about the archer and the fox (This might not make any sense because I’ve literally written this with no sleep):

So we all know that Jacks is the archer, right? The question is, how did his kiss kill the fox if he wasn’t a fate back then?

Possible answer no. 1 -> He turned into a fate to save the fox

I know if may not make sense buuut, what if in order to break the archers curse he turned into a fate? You know how fates are incapable of love, so maybe in order to break the curse he became a fate, only to kill her with his kiss.

Possible answer no. 2

This is what I originally belived but then decided against for some reason.

You know how he was forced to hunt the fox? What if he belived that he had succesfully fought the curse but he didn’t. What if because he was destined to kill the fox the curse decided to be an a**hole and when he kissed the fox (or when the fox kissed him) he killed her. Just think:

He is supposed to hunt the fox

He tries to fight the curse

He kisses the fox

The curse wants him to kill the fox (not kiss her)

His kiss kills her

After he realized that he killed her he decides to become a fate (because fates aren’t supposed to be able to love) and then he is cursed to kill everyone who he kisses except for his true love

Does that make sense? Its a bit farfetched but I don’t care

[aoibheann04]

Whoa! The bit about Jacks beating the Archer’s curse and that turning him into a fate matches one of my theories. The first one I ever posted actually. I love it when this happens, it makes me feel more confident in my own theories when someone else’s lines up.

Theory of the First Fox

Here is my theory on the First Fox from the Broken Heart trilogy by Stephanie Garber.

Jacks had said that he doesn't remember if he loved the first fox or if he was just obsessed with her because that is part of the Archer's curse. Aurora Valor was obsessed/in love with Jacks.

What if the First Fox was Aurora Valor and Jacks didn't love her romantically even though she loved him? So he beat the Archer's curse with Aurora as the Fox because the Valors welcomed him as a family friend even if he was of lower birth. So he beat the curse because even though he did not love Aurora, he still cared about her. But beating the Archer's curse turned him into a fate. And maybe when he beat the curse, he kissed Aurora on the cheek or she kissed him, and that was the fatal kiss that killed her. Because what if Jacks never beat the curse but it transferred from his archery to his kiss? Maybe he didn't shoot her with an arrow to the heart but he still broke her heart because he did not love her the way she loved him. And maybe he was her true love but she was not his.

So that is Jacks' curse. To spend eternity looking for his true love, breaking the hearts of others as he broke Aurora's, and named a fate in mocking: an honorary prince, who killed a princess and welcomed into the home of the royal family that he ruined.

Note: if you come across this comment thread on TikTok, yes that's me. It's on the account "rereading ouabh" with a question mark in a box at the end. The TikTok has Jacks and Eva in the sled in the first picture and you scroll to an image of just Eva, and the video talks about Eva resembling a princess of the North. My username is Reader.Writer.Nerd on TikTok. As of the moment of this typing, the TikTok has about 2K likes.

[aoibheann04]

Why did Petra Youngblood want to kill Evangeline? Beyond keeping the Youth Stone, what was her reason?

She had been in hiding for years. Why didn’t she keep doing that? Of course she would have heard about a new Pink-haired Peasant turned Princess if she reads the Scandal Sheets but why put herself at risk like that?

If she lost just the Youth Stone and not her life would all those years catch up with her? Or would she simply just, start aging normally again?

If it’s the former and she would have died either way, I can see why she tried to kill Evangeline.

But let’s say it’s the latter. Why risk her own life like that? I know the stone got to her head and she was desperate to keep her youth but you can’t keep your youth if you’re not alive.

Her last words strike me as odd too. “I used to be just like you. But now you’re just like me” (might not be 100% accurate but it was something along these lines). Is Keys killing Keys a common occurrence? For Petra, was it kill or be killed?

Or maybe all Keys are doomed to die tragically. Petra died defending her youth, but as far as we know there’s no one left to mourn her. And Evangeline did die the first time the Arch was opened (and then Jacks saved her but she did still technically die). This plays into the theory of the First Fox being a Key. As Jacks killed her with his kiss after breaking the Archer’s curse.

Maybe it’s both. Keys are doomed to die tragically but somewhere along the line, for some reason, that turned into Keys killing Keys?

I don’t know. Petra is really all we have to go off of regarding the Keys. Like in a science experiment, Evangeline is the test and Petra is the control.

And now I’m imagining Chaos in a lab coat measuring little pink potions. But whatever he did differently with Evangeline worked as she did find the stones and open the Arch. But maybe that’s just down to the difference in Evangeline and Petra’s personalities. Or maybe it’s because Jacks got involved this time. Or because Evangeline had a personal stake in it with Apollo and the Archer’s curse. There’s so much to consider.

I didn’t expect this to be so long but if you’ve made it to the end here, have a cookie 🍪.

[aoibheann04]

That’s interesting because in order to be able to die, a fate must fall in love.

What if that’s how they got on the Fallen Star’s bad side. They gave up the immortality he bestowed upon them for love, and this angered him.

And maybe the reason this angered him so much is because he wanted to do the same for Paloma/Paradise but didn’t.

Thank you for bringing this up. I love it when a theory starts to fall into place.

I have a short theory that’s more of a series of questions than an actual solid theory.

Evangeline hears voices whenever she walks past an Arch. I always found that peculiar.

What if a Key was sacrificed to make each individual Arch? Or not even necessarily a Key but someone magical. What if that’s who she is hearing?

Also, if Jacks’ powers don’t work on other immortals, does that make Evangeline immortal? Or maybe she’s more like Scarlett and Legend, she could have the capacity to be immortal but chooses not to because of love. And then Jacks makes that same the decision and they all live happily ever after.

[aoibheann04]

I like this idea. The Fated objects do seem to have human like qualities, like Scarlett’s dress as well for example.

One of my previous theories talks about how the Greater and Lesser Fates were made. This makes me think that maybe the Fated objects were once people. Perhaps people that got on the Fallen Star’s bad side, or even people that just wronged any of the other Fates.

Even if none of this is explained in ACFTL, there is a possibility that it could be important in any future series that Stephanie Garber is working on.

I have a short theory that’s more of a series of questions than an actual solid theory.

Evangeline hears voices whenever she walks past an Arch. I always found that peculiar.

What if a Key was sacrificed to make each individual Arch? Or not even necessarily a Key but someone magical. What if that’s who she is hearing?

Also, if Jacks’ powers don’t work on other immortals, does that make Evangeline immortal? Or maybe she’s more like Scarlett and Legend, she could have the capacity to be immortal but chooses not to because of love. And then Jacks makes that same the decision and they all live happily ever after.

[aoibheann04]

I have a short theory that’s more of a series of questions than an actual solid theory.

Evangeline hears voices whenever she walks past an Arch. I always found that peculiar.

What if a Key was sacrificed to make each individual Arch? Or not even necessarily a Key but someone magical. What if that’s who she is hearing?

Also, if Jacks’ powers don’t work on other immortals, does that make Evangeline immortal? Or maybe she’s more like Scarlett and Legend, she could have the capacity to be immortal but chooses not to because of love. And then Jacks makes that same the decision and they all live happily ever after.

[aoibheann04]

Apollo and Evangeline Jacks are reincarnation. Apollo is none other than lysander theory behind it

I read the book, there was a chapter when eva was looking in the books and she found one of the honora's son lysander has a power of doing something with memory. And as we saw at last when actually honora returned only then apollo was able to erase eva's memories. So I think with the return of honora valor all the powers of the other valors are returned again. Or it could be possible that apollo is the reincarnation of lysander.

Again in many occasions we have seen that jacks mentioned apollo isn't someone eva thinks he is. I think jacks knows that apollo is a dirty person. Even jacks said apollo was his friend and it didn't clear that when their friendship begun. I think apollo either is reincarnation of lysander or he himself wasn't death all this years. This is also a question that why valors asked the archer to kill the fox so desperately that they actually cursed a spell on the archer.

It could be possible that lysendar was in love with the fox too but that fox wasn't in love with him so the valors wanted the fox to die. But the fox fell for archer instead. It could be possible that eva is the reincarnation of the fox. It was mentioned that eva was conceived in the north so it's not some kind of coincidence that her last name was fox too. She used to listen the archer story from her mother it's possible that her mother knew who eva was and wanted to make her know the story. If eva is the reincarnation of the fox and apollo is lysander and jacks is the archer then the love triangle seems to fit so nicely that the history is repeating itself and this time love will win and this time jacks will get his fox. His one true love is to be his this time.

N.B: The Art is taken from the instagram @brookestar4art

[aoibheann04]

I have yet another theory based on parallels between OUABH and Caraval. Although if there’s too many parallels then it’s basically the exact same series just with different characters so I can admit that most of my theories are probably dead wrong. But I had fun coming up with them so I can’t complain.

Jacks can be very cruel towards Evangeline, almost defensively cruel (and of course very tender but unfortunately that’s not what I’m discussing right now lol).

In the bonus chapter for OUABH with what I assume is a conversation between Jacks and Chaos, Jacks seems to really not care at all about Evangeline. Like excessively so.

It makes me wonder about his history with the Keys. Evangeline and Petra are the only named ones so far but what if the original Fox was also a Key- she was a peasant which checks one box for the prophecy. She was alive before the Valory Arch was made but maybe the original Fox was also the original Key and Jacks killed her after the Arch was made?

It would explain his guilt because on top of killing someone he thought he loved, he also ruined Castor’s chance at getting his family back and his helm removed. And maybe that’s why he helped with bringing Evangeline to the North- beyond getting the stones for himself (so maybe he wasn’t planning on helping Evangeline so much but he felt the same pull she did).

There is a possibility that the Keys are related (though probably not directly) and this is where the Caraval parallel comes in. Because if the original Fox is Evangeline’s ancestor, and Jacks had a relationship with her, that reflects Legend’s relationship with Tella’s Grandmother (which btw is bonkers to think about lol).

So Jacks’ cruelty towards Evangeline could be a result of his guilt regarding the original Fox and a refusal to admit that he’s fallen for another Pink-haired Key. It’s a deflection, sort of like when he says “This is getting tedious”.

Sorry this is so long, and probably wrong. I was just looking for a reason for Jacks’ extreme mood swings because lmao it’s definitely not his period.

[aoibheann04]

I have a theory. I’ve gone mad with theories. And this one is off the walls crazy.

I think we are going to discover more about Evangeline’s family in the North. Perhaps even meet them.

Her father fell in love with her mother, Liana, as he heard her singing in her family well (I wonder if this is a talent she passed on to Evangeline. Imagine her serenading Jacks lol).

I have scoured the maps and the closest resemblance to a well that I could find was in Merrywood Village on The Ballad of Never After map. I don’t have the keenest eyes though, so there might be another one somewhere else.

Okay, it gets crazy now…

What if Liana was already married and pregnant with Evangeline when she met Maximilian, Evangeline’s father.

As the prophecy states Evangeline was “conceived in the North, born in the South”. A scandalously quick pregnancy by this fantasy world’s standards. As it sounds like her parents had a bit of a whirlwind romance.

Similar to Paloma/Paradise getting pregnant with Scarlett immediately after marrying Marcello. And we know Scarlett is actually the daughter of the Fallen Star. It would be another parallel between the OUABH and Caraval series.

Furthermore Maximilian liked to joke about Evangeline being shipped in a box to his Curiosity Shop (that sort of rhymes lol). And whenever he said something like this, her mother would wink. Maybe it’s not all jokes?

This would also draw a parallel between Evangeline and her mother. With both of them finding their real “true love” after marrying someone else. It ended happily for Liana. Will it for Evangeline? It better!

Again, this theory is a little crazy but it would explain why Evangeline knows so much about the Magnificent North, yet so little about her family that lives there.

[aoibheann04]

I’ve been churning out theories like there’s no tomorrow. Idk my brain is just braining this week.

Anyway I have a theory that’s not really a theory just more of an observation but it’s about evajacks so I want to share it.

Evangeline needs someone that will fight for her. Luc couldn’t fight the love spell. Apollo couldn’t fight the Archer’s curse. And from Evangeline’s perspective, Jacks wouldn’t fight his own curse and was choosing to go back to Tella. But he didn’t, and she doesn’t even realise.

And now her memories are gone. Jacks is going to have to fight like hell to win her back and she will finally have the kind of love she deserves.

Also evajacks so far has been more of a slow burn. But now that she doesn’t know who Jacks is, she might get that “love at first” that her parents had and that she was always hoping for too.

I literally cannot wait any longer, I need to read A Curse for True Love right now.