#so if japeth prequel happens i mean i will be there. i will be there

[discjude]

(From Soman's substack)

ignoring the fact that uh. three years away. i would like to present my two theories as to What This Is

its the Grown Up SGE thing he talked about a while ago. This makes so much sense: it's decently far enough into the future that he can be sure the audience that grew up with SGE is old enough to read a more mature take on the series, and it'll have a nice wide appeal to anyone who likes the books. Solid option

2. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ARBED PREQUEL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[liketwoswansinbalance]

@discjude Ohh, so that's where that point came from, the book itself! Also, there’s a few things here I don’t remember, and when I started to draft this response, I didn't have my books with me, so I don't exactly have that good of an answer to everything right now. What was his talk with Sophie about?

Arpeth sounds far better! Don't know why the common name ended up being Jaric. "Warpath" evokes "path to war," which certainly describes Japeth's becoming the Snake well, so I've no notes and you get a standing ovation for the pun, even if it was unintentional.

Do you mean "happy," as in reunited with Aric's soul, by death? Or being freed of the burden of the throne? And could the Storian have fated Japeth to die because it was the easiest way out for him? Versus, a potentially lesser chance at a happy life?

Again, I don't remember the specifics of the F+B dialogue. What did Tedros-as-Aric say?

Against my better judgment, I think it'd be nice if the Storian had pitied him, but it feels unlikely.

Now, I wonder if the Pen specifically likes the blood of Mistrals because it impales the OG prequel Rafal twice, and has acquired a "taste" for it?

Random point: I think the irony of Agatha becoming Camelot's queen and Sophie not getting what she wanted was a great ending. The TSY ending fit practically all the characters (or at least Sophie) much better than did TCY ones. Sophie getting a supposed True Love in Hort went against all the earlier messaging, even if they could probably also qualify as Evil's love. (Honestly, I don't like Hort, but Aladdin is still the worse of the two, and sometimes, Hort has sympathetic moments.)

I think I've seen the flanderization, yeah. It seems to happen to a lot of love interests in general, even Tedros, who isn't actually an absolute idiot.

Which plot point? The reason why I hate Aladdin is because he caused the first quarrel between Rhian and Rafal (his removal from the plot = no conflict—at the same time, I want conflict, so it's a double-bind, having him or not), and his narration/thought process/actions just struck me as annoying. Also, yes! I was expecting some kind of ending for him, where he becomes the Sultan, probably an awful one, just because of the set-up about Pasha Dunes and Reena his granddaughter, but I wonder if this Aladdin is only an Aladdin with the same name as the main series one, like James Hook versus TLEA undead Hook?

Ooh, a Sader brother could've been interesting!

Yes! Thank you for the validation of "Evil can love"! (I intentionally decided to use Sophie and Agatha, platonically, because I think they're the example that would've been met with the least resistance since Sophie and Rafal could've had potentially insincere love, depending on interpretation, and Hester and Anadil were not exactly canon for a while.)

Yes, I thought it was either close to being canon or I've heard it often enough, that Aric was grappling with That Internalized Trait. (And even Tedros did, in resisting his attraction to Filip, so I think you're right. It must be common in their world.)

I think I can guess what the Rhian II theory is. Would you mind if I asked about it?

That's funny because the inverse happened to me with you! I saw Japeth as the Snake Guy from TCY, who's just another Evil sorcerer and Rafal's "copycat," but they're both nuanced characters in their own right. So, I can't complain. I was just delusional because I believed in Sophie and Agatha's povs thinking Japeth was Rafal when he was first introduced, and got a bit miffed that he wasn't. But I can't fairly or reasonably blame him for the imaginary "sin" of: Not Being Rafal. That'd be insane, haha. Also, I still love the QFG near-hanging scene inexplicably. That was one of Japeth's best moments, I thought, even if it later turned out to be staged for Rhian's good PR.

Oh. Good point. I do see it as sweet, from his side, if not Aric's. Happy Pride Month to you!

Oof, poor Japeth, if that's the case around the things to be "cured," in either sense. But, it's interesting nonetheless—the next time I read TCY, I'll have to look out for that belief in Rhian II. It could possibly explain his distancing himself from Kei, aside from the betrayal and Sophie's involvement.

I am really curious to see your take on Aric and Japeth's relationship. I mean, the beloved author and creator of the series have addressed this issue with 'in their own sick wicked way they had loved' so yeah it's cannon cool. But I feel like the further implications of this? We saw evil 'unable to love'/ 'only ever have true love'. From what I remember Japeth mentioned Aric more than once, how they would write letters to each other how Aric 'begged' for Japeth to come to him but Japeth never did so and then bro spent the last of his life trying to bring Aric back to life. There are so many implications, the dynamics, the context, everything, but I love how you theorise and explore all sorts of ideas so I can't help but wonder how you view all of this :D.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and have a great day/afternoon/evening/night!

Sorry to disappoint, but I should probably start off with the fact that I don't ship Japeth and Aric. While I like Japeth, partly in thanks to @discjude winning me over, and further recognizing the tragedy surrounding him, his relationship to Aric never canonically does him any favors. And, with Aric, I think I'm apathetic enough towards him that I don't actively hate him; I just don't care about him. In truth, if not for Aladdin's pitiful existence actively hammering on my nerves, Aric would probably be my least favorite character.

The first thing I want to address is that Evil being "unable to love" or "only Evers have True Love" is actually false, despite the many times the series puts forth this claim. Yes, we are explicitly told this "fact" in book 1, but the book's point was to subvert/deconstruct the myth.

First, by the end, with her self-sacrifice, Sophie proved Evil's capacity to love, meaning: Evil being unable to love is just a commonly-held belief in the Woods, not the absolute, be-all, end-all truth.

(And the belief could've been perpetuated by "Rafal's"/Rafal's way of running his institution that literally shapes the Wood's perceptions and the future. Alongside this claim about love, consider the existence of the Doom Room, created to punish a singular mutinous class of first-years, based on a now-revised philosophy about Nevers' learning from harsh treatment and (probably) disproportionate retribution that an excessively stubborn dead man already too entrenched in his old ways never had the chance to change because he died—and this is all aside from the fact proven by the display at the very first Circus of Talents, that Rafal's students did indeed learn better when he finally listened to them and mentored them as an equal in their position (as Fala). In addition, the statement: "Nevers learn from deprivation" similarly reveals how the Woods really do generalize about Nevers—until Sophie, the "exception" and iconoclast, comes along.)

Second, Sophie's non-romantic True Love at some point was said to be Agatha, and I think this established fact is consistently maintained throughout the series, even if other elements overshadow it, so not only Evers can have True Love.

My take on Japeth and Aric is that Japeth's love for Aric, however twisted or sincere it was, drove him to become the Snake, follow along with Rhian's Camelot ambitions and initial staging-terrorism-and-hostage-scenarios plot, and commit all his other, duplicitous, villainous acts throughout TCY, later by his own will, which is a motive I find fascinating (and contradictory about the nature of the Woods' Good and Evil souls, whenever Japeth is set next to the rather grey Rhian).

So, while Japeth's devotion to Aric could be viewed as romantic, it's just not appealing to me, personally, due to the relationship's ambiguous one-sidedness in particular. And, I think I once may've read something about Japeth as a Never fighting for True Love (or his perception of "True Love") and Rhian as an Ever fighting for power (the Nevers' ideal fairy-tale ending) being ironic or inverted in some way. That's also some world-building fodder to consider, or even just another point that could overturn the Rules as we know them, yet again. I'm not surprised by that subversion honestly. Japeth is very much like his parents. Nearly every SGE villain Soman has ever written has been motivated by the pursuit of love, or by the overwhelming force of their own (often obsessive) infatuations (with the exception of somewhat flatter, less-developed, secondary villains, like Aric, Vulcan, Marialena, and Peter Pan).

Also, thanks for the compliment!

[discjude]

Oh boy oh boy its the discjude official COVEN bingo card!!! not many are about the coven themselves because i uh uh don't know too much about them but yeah. I've put a brief explanation of each of these under the cut (because a few are vague) (WARNING its a lot):

Lady Lesso mentioned: this one sort of coincides with "hester true evil speech". I reckon she's important enough to the witches to warrant a mention. Also. I think all of the Lessos might be relevant but I talk about that in my predictions

Obligatory Sophie cameo: she's Soman's favourite. She's showing up

Political commentary: based off of his substack, I don't think Soman will go too overt with it, but I think there'll be a more roundabout one. I'd love to see him address the fact that he wrote in that homophobia is a thing in SGE. Soman if you can hear me

Drag race reference: He's done this a lot before, in QFG mostly, and I think he'll do it again

TCY acknowledged: this could be like a "haha yeah you remember how the storian almost got destroyed? that was kinda crazy aha". I have a horrible feeling that he's going to completely skip over that part of canon

Hester gives a speech about "true evil": i mean come ooonnnnnnn. I also think this'll include something about evil love that contradicts the canon about it

No blatant fatphobia regarding dot: Soman phased this out in TCY I think he'll have stuck with it

Rats are, somehow, back. Not explained: Japeth killed at least one of those things and I genuinely think Soman will have forgotten it

Events of R+F acknowledged: ties into my predictions a bit, but I reckon the setup regarding neverland and the other stuff in Fall might come up

I'm right about my predictions: I think the entire thing looks very aquatic themed, and there's a lot regarding evil water stuff, so a) the mermaids are relevant b) the saders are (still) relevant c) the lessos are relevant. that's the big three in my opinion. I can't wait to be horrifically wrong

Storian still at fault: i mean. name one book where it isn't. and you cant say OTK that doesnt COUNT

Symbolic ending of the series thing: I want the storian dead. thats what this one means

Obligatory tagatha: come onnnnnnnnn

There is at least one twink: yeah. not much to say here

Vaguely pub-style setting: this one also includes "why is everything british" because i said so

None Japeth: Japeth is mentioned by name exactly no times. I'd love to have faith but I really don't

Tennis reference: I fucking CAUGHT Botic being a tennis player's surname in the prequels. he's GOING to try it again

Colour/lighting symbolism: have a draft rn about colour symbolism in SGE and I think Soman might lean into it

At least one snake: please i want to feel something

hestadil real: come ON he's doing this every tiktok post about coven has had the hestadil tag he's doing this

Aric is referenced: goes with my predictions and lady lesso being mentioned. I hate to say it I think he's far more likely to be referenced than Japeth

Big unanswered question gets answered: the BIG!! one is the Aric Dad Reveal. I want to know for parallel reasons and I think it could happen. maybe

no wait! We'll use the power of friendship: speaks for itself. something like this happens

major character death: goodbye dot. im being fr I think she's dying in coven

Thank you dearly to @liketwoswansinbalance for some of these entries I really struggled to think of some. Also no I'm not convinced of my predictions. But it'd be nice. right