#im so sleep deprived so this is v wordy and messy

[milkbreadtoast]

+more rambling (these are my thoughts as someone who's only read early twsb(up to ch 92) so if u know any later spoilers that contradict any of this dont tell me👁️👁️)

+ also I think about this constantly but... I think since the original QPB novel was narrated from Ga-in's perspective (as a transmigrator who knew nothing abt the world she woke up in, just like yeseo...or even less)... there would have been so much, like, latent settings of the world and characters that would've just never been touched upon in QPB? Stuff that existed in the bg, but were never brought to light bc they weren't relevant to the het romance narrative and/or Ga-in was never aware of them... From what I know, none of the 3 original leads had powers, and QPB was just a normal romantic fantasy novel, centering around the love triangle of the FL, ML, and SML... Cedric and Christelle's eye colors were different, evidence of their lack of ether... Cedric's red eyes proof that his powers were already gone, & he successfully suppressed them🥲... So I'm thinking it's likely that she never knew he had fire powers to begin with? Because the fact that he had them was a tightly guarded secret to begin with, and his "problem" would have been "solved" when he got the water treasure (and again we can assume it was successful bc of his eyes)... As far as Christelle & QPB readers know, he's just a normal(jerk) male lead with red eyes...

So accordingly, I'm guessing QPB didn't say anything about Cedric's condition of chronic ether depletion and turning into a child?? This would have a "hidden/latent setting" of the world & cedric's chara that never came to light bc it wasnt relevant to the narrative... But came to light in TWSB's narrative due to the chain reaction caused by Yeseo gaining ether and the specific choices he makes (like taking confessions --> fated encounter with Sadie)... And I strongly suspect this is the case just because of how strongly Eunseo hates Cedric, and the fact that she never mentions anything like this... I feel like if she knew about Cedric's tragic backstory & "curse" which turns him into an adorable little child she might feel more sympathetic toward him?? Or at the very least, wouldve definitely mentioned it in her ramblings, and since it's news to Yeseo we know she didn't... And we know QPB likely didn't mention anything about cute divine beasts like Demi either... Like there were so many hidden settings about the QPB universe that were very much still there but just never touched upon in the og novel... And I really really love this concept. It's so good... I can't stop thinking about QPB vs TWSB...

(edit:) + I get so sad thinking about how the original Cedric didn't have yeseo to take care of him... How he was suffering alone as Sadie and no one else knew the secret... he never got to hear yeseo's words about how he was never cursed... his "problem" was "solved" thru suppression in QPB but was that really the best option... his unresolved trauma... circling back to this but IM. SO HAPPY. TWSB PRESENTED A NEW ROUTE FOR HIM T__T cedric i diagnose u with UR GAY🫵🏳️‍🌈❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥🔥🔥🔥

im rereading the twsb novel from the beginning and its so so good... and every single minute detail of cedric's slowburn developing crush on prince jesse(yeseo) makes me feel like im lit on fire...... also its even better on 2nd read im catching more details and that i missed/forgot and AAAAAH

ALSO I MADE THIS CONNECTION AND... HNNGFHHH... I LOVE TWSB... thank u for resetting the timeline... 🥹😭 AAAAH THE LGBTNESS OF IT ALL. IM IN FLAMES

also: 🫠🫠🫠🔥🔥🔥 (not posting excerpts but this is all from ch 15)