youngwitchchild

[youngwitchchild]

You know, I've wanted to talk about Taryn for a while because I genuinely think she's such an interesting character (and is SEVERELY underrated my god), so here are a couple of things I sometimes think about in no particular order: (and if I'm mistaken about any of those feel free to tell me!!!)

1) In The Cruel Prince, when Vivi brought Jude and Taryn to a shopping mall in order to cheer them up, Jude noted how Taryn is like a chameleon. That if they had to return to live in the human world, she wouldn't be able to adjust as well while Taryn probably could.

2) Despite people often portraying Taryn as a jealous/envious person (which I believe is partly true of course) that part of her has never seemed that big to me and I'm actually more inclined to say she was often on a fine line between being very driven and very desperate. Just like how Jude wanted to find her place in Elfhame, Taryn wanted to find her own through marriage. (Which, I'd like to add, is a totally valid wish in her situation even if it's not considered to be the more "girlboss" choice to make, out of all the things she has done/chosen to do, I don't think this is one if the things she should be shamed for.)

3) Although she accepted Locke's unfair conditions in order for him to take her as his wife knowing that Jude would inevitably get hurt, I believe she has always felt guilty about it deep down which is ALSO why she was so SO persistent with Jude in TCP. She wanted Jude to stop defying the fae because she didn't want her to get even more hurt than how much she already had (+ knowing that the reason Jude's being targeted in the first place is her fault, which is why she felt so responsible in making her stop her defiance.)

4) I'd also like to acknowledge how humiliating this deal with Locke must've been. People always think about how embarrassing it was for Jude but can you imagine how desperate you must be to let your "boyfriend" date your sister? Taryn saw him as a lifeline, as a way to survive and get some sort of power in Elfhame, and while she definitely didn't do it the right way, let's not pretend that she enjoyed it. Who would enjoy having a man play with you and your sister? This is pure disrespect NOT only towards Jude but also towards Taryn, which I find sad. This "relationship" was abusive and unequal from the very start.

5) Additionally, I think deep down Taryn always knew/understood that Locke doesn't especially care about her. It has been hinted at multiple times in the story that Locke didn't actually care which sister he would find that night he came to look for one of the twins and I don't even believe he properly knew how to differentiate them. Near the beginning of TCP there's a scene where Jude's and Locke's eyes meet (at that point Locke and Taryn are already "together") and he smiles at her, possibly because he might believe she's Taryn, and Taryn seeing that their eyes met, tries to get Jude to forget about it. So she HAS in fact noticed that Locke can't differentiate them at that point yet she keeps "dating" him. Why? Well...

6) The sacrifice line in The Wicked King, when it says Taryn looks more like a sacrifice than a bride. I think this was the "goal" all along. Taryn's whole thing is that she keeps making herself small and pleasant and "fitting into the picture". She is also shown to be more like Oriana than Madoc, Oriana who is known for being very careful and making the most "safe" decisions for her well-being and Oak's (+ always warning Jude and Taryn to not go anywhere during the revels and to not interact with the fae because they're humans and weak, and it would be dangerous for them). Taryn is doing the same with Locke, she wants security and some amount of power like Oriana who chose to be with Madoc for her and Oak's safety. Plus, again, Taryn obviously wants a place where she can belong. So ultimately she is "sacrificing" herself to Locke for that freedom.

7) In the lost sisters, Locke tried to make Taryn take pleasure in cruelty by making her dance with that fae boy then stealing her away and making her see how heartbroken that made the boy feel. And it did work somewhat but I believe the reason why Locke and Taryn didn't work out well together in the end is because Taryn is capable of feeling guilt. Locke and Taryn are shown to be similar in the aspect of "being good at telling stories" except Locke likes to make stories happen around him for his entertainment (Drama, basically). I don't think Taryn has that in her just because of that night in the lost sisters, in fact, that might've not even been the cruelty in itself that gave her pleasure but the power she had and was capable of having over a fae for once, instead of them having power over her.

8) Another reason why Locke and Taryn didn't work well together is because Taryn was unequally putting way more effort in this relationship than Locke was. In TCP when Jude and Locke are "dating", he gives her a tour of his estate and it's all mostly empty because no one gives enough of a shit to renovate any of it. Yet in TQN, when Jude is pretending to be Taryn, we see how his estate has changed for the better. Almost each empty room has been filled with furniture and the wardrobes have beautiful clothes in them. Showing how all of this has obviously been done by Taryn. Plus, why did the servant give "Taryn" (Jude pretending to be Taryn) a fairie fruit for dinner? Is it because Locke has made her eat some in front of his guests and Taryn complied to be seen as the "fun/pleasant" wife who does everything her husband tells her to? So maybe, just like how Jude was poisoning herself to build an immunity against poison, is it possible that Taryn was doing the same with faerie fruit? To build an immunity so she can still be somewhat aware of herself during Locke's maze/garden parties?

9) I think in the end, Taryn is more similar to the Ghost which is why they ended up hitting it off. Both of their thing is "being in the shadows/fitting in". Moreover, the Ghost does feel guilt for killing Oak's mother seeing how uncomfortable he got when Jude uncovered that. Plus he's half-human, so that will be easier to bear for Taryn instead of that bullshit Locke was telling her about "fae loving in a different way" to make her comply with his real-life sized drama club.

Overall, I like how layered all of this is if you look for it BUT I wouldn't say any of those conclusions/assomptions are especially difficult to reach if you're careful. I'm just kind of tired of female characters being seen as one-dimensional compared to their male counterparts who will get "understood" much more easily. My very hot take about TFOTA has always been that the truly gray character/problematic female character of the story is in fact Taryn and not Jude. Since Jude is the protagonist and we're always seeing her pov it's not hard for us to understand or be compassionate with her. Despite her actions being "morally gray" in-story, from the readers' pov, I believe the truly problematic female character here is Taryn since we can't actually see the inside of her head. All we get is pieces of information we have to put together.

[youngwitchchild]

Silco when he threatenes people with their kids:

Silco when he's threatened with his kid:

[youngwitchchild]

"Taryn never got a punishment for what she has done!"

Taryn was in a very horrible marriage because of her actions and mistakes. Her marriage with Locke was her punishment.Her being lonely and forgotten was her punishment.People forget that Taryn had everyday faerie fruit, and we see how that affected Jude. In an annotated copy of The Cruel Prince, Holly says that Cardan assumed that if Jude went with Locke in that state, he would take advantage of that, so we can assume that the faerie fruit wasn't there because Taryn really wanted to eat the thing that she was warned against most of her life, and I bet the reasons why she was doing that weren't good. Taryn became dependent on Locke like a drug, only for her to kill him, the man she sacrificed her relationships!!!while being PREGNANT with his child.

All of this were her punishment and mind you Madoc has a much big free pass for all the shit he had done

[youngwitchchild]

me explaining how taryn is actually remorseful for what she has done to jude and her last line in the lost sisters is about how even herself is disgusted by her actions and cannot forgive herself (she's still self centered and a bad sister but atleast if you hate her admit she's not happy with her actions toward jude and she is the only character who actually says the word sorry )

"And I am going to keep standing here and practicing it in the mirror until you stop looking at me that way when I finish."

[youngwitchchild]

What if I say that most booktok boyfriends give gacha life bad boy vibes😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

[youngwitchchild]

And people say oak is ungrateful!!!Be so for real now

The newest Watch me sneak peek - RANT

(If you're excited that Juliette and Warner got to have James as their first child: I'm happy for you, but don't read this post. Because I'm a Debbie downer.)

Could someone wake me up? I don’t like whatever fever dream this is.

What do you mean James, the ten-year-old (or, eleven now, apparently), walked up to Warner and asked him to adopt him? What do you mean “The man practically raised me” ?! What do you mean Juliette and Warner “took him in”?!

“This man practically raised me.” NO, JAMES, ADAM DID. – You ungrateful little-- and Adam did everything in his power to keep James safe.

He hid James from Anderson.

He lied about his age to join the military to take care of James.

He refused to let James join the fighting because he was, you know, a child.

He kicks out Juliette, to make sure James’ safety isn’t risked.

In the second trilogy he chooses to try being pardoned by the RE, to keep James safe.

He let the RE use his powers, to keep James safe.

“Juliette and Warner took me into their home without hesitation.”

They whaatttt

Okay, let me just start with how inconvenient that would be.

We all know that Juliette was trash garbage at ruling North America in Restore me. Two months later, in Believe me, she undoubtedly still is trash garbage. + She has a whole ass house she wants to renovate now apparently. And you're telling me you want to add a ten-year-old into the mix?

James thinks Adam was barely around to look after him. Well, I have news for you, kid, your new parents are either going to be busy a) trying to rule the world, b) having sex around the clock because if the state of the world peace didn’t bother them before, a child sure as hell isn’t. (My expectations of them as parents are so low.)

Second, have they no regard at all for Adam?

This thing that Mafi has made James, Warner and Juliette do, would literally break Adam.

Allow me to quote Fracture me for you:

“James, to me, in many ways, feels like my own kid. I raised him. Took care of him. Protected him. Fed him and clothed him. Taught him most everything he knows. He’s my only hope in all this devastation – The only thing I’ve always lived for, always fought for. I’d be lost without him.

James gives my life purpose.”

And James has the f*cking nerve to say that Adam was barely around ahajhkdjviduvnlav WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS, JAMES?! He was working to pay the bills, JAMES.

The nerve of all these people, I swear.

I actually wanted to buy the book on release day for old time’s sake, but now I’m not so sure.  

Welp, at least I have an answer to how James learned how to fight though. Adam had no say in it at all, because I guess eleven-year-olds are allowed to just transfer guardianship.  

@effei-s Girl, you and I would have a field day picking this apart.

[youngwitchchild]

your fave is a rapist, deal with it (part 2: destroy me)

The tale about three arguments.

tw: mention of sexual assault, victim blaming, rape apologism.

cw: people and their opinions, undermining of sexual assault, rapist POV (because we need to hear his side of the story, aren’t we?).

Keep reading

[youngwitchchild]

your fave is a rapist, deal with it (part 1).

I wanted to talk about the way mafi handles sensitive topics (sexual assault and violence against women in general) for a very long time. But I had some doubts about it. Do I really need to do this? Is this even be useful or would I just waste my time shouting into the void? Because I tried to start this conversation on twitter about a year ago and… it didn’t go well. So I decided to focus on something more positive, like shitposting and writing fanfiction and creating headcanons and blah-blah-blah. But today all hell broke lose and I saw 20 threads on twitter explaining how sexual assault was actually juliette’s fault. Treads and tweets that were getting 500+ likes each and god knows how many comments under them agreeing with this line of thinking.

And as a cherry on top: the girl who tweeted the original tweet (when she apparently said that it was a sexual assault) got bullied by the fandom so bad, she needed to go private.

So let’s reread THAT scene in shatter me, and parts of destroy me and unravel me that touch this topic, to see who’s right. Maybe this girl was actually wrong and maybe she just misjudged the whole situation and she deserved to be bullied for spreading this awful misinformation about our king AARON aka the man who invented feminism itself WARNER (minor spoilers: she wasn’t and she didn’t).

Keep reading

[youngwitchchild]

I wish the book community would care more about the love interest being well written and having a character arc on its own without being codependent on the FL. I'm sorry, but if he is not his own character, I will not care about the romance.

[youngwitchchild]

It's still terrifying to me that it wasn't enough for people that Palestinians were human beings. That - for many - the only way we could get people to take action and care about our genocide is if we relayed to you how some of us are similar to you in some ways. Look! Some of us are trans, queer, disabled, autistic, etc... everything under the sun that we managed to find that could make you care about us.

It wasn't enough that there was a group of human beings rounded up and locked in an open air prison behind massive impenetrable walls while being starved, bombed, and sniped 24/7. This is an atrocity the likes of which is not happening anywhere else in the world. And yet instead of people's horror at something atrocious happening to human beings we had to market ourselves to you for maximum palatibility and relatability for some of you to take action. It makes me sick to think about for too long. It feels violating and degrading and dehumanizing. Genuinely for me there is no bigger indictment of liberal identity politics than this.

If 'leftists' can't find it in themselves to care about the most simultaneously persecuted, surveilled, and heavily bombed population on the planet unless enough of them identify with labels appealing enough to a Western 'leftist' audience, it is a demonstration of how much Western 'leftism' amounts to nothing but self-serving feel-good, vibes-based politics.

This isn't 'solidarity'.

[youngwitchchild]

Taryn Duarte they could never make me hate you

[youngwitchchild]

As someone who liked the stolen heir I found the prisoner's throne lacking a lot when it comes with it's themes and plot and the final character arcs. The way I could feel the Fandom influence on the author through the pages made me very uncomfortable (Taryn's *cough*retribution). Look, I'm not the biggest fan, and I'm far from calling it a masterpiece of a book, given the typical YA writing and the way the author beats you in the head with some things like you are a toddler, and the horrible pacing of the first book, but I found most of the characters complex and likeable and the world enjoyable (I do think that the fae sometimes felt a little too human for my taste; that's why even though I love Cardan, I never liked the whole he's a faerie; of course he's cruel argument because I never felt the fae-alien-like vibe from him), but TPT was a nightmare of a book and a great example of what happens when you want to please everyone and lose the story.

[youngwitchchild]

Arcane using oppression for cutesy background for the romance reaminds me of when disney made pocahontas bc they wanted to write a romeo and juliet love story

[youngwitchchild]

At least Aaron Warner is fun to hate despite him having the emotional depth of a rock, but Kai Azer is just plain boring 😴. Also, what is the trend of having hypocritical FLs while the narrative pretends they are in the right?