Japeth - Tumblr Posts
Screenshots of my TOTSMOV41 Pinterest board. By the time the fic is done, it could be subject to change. Also, it's "read" from the bottom image to the top one. Make of it what you will. Questions are welcome!
Cover reveal for TOTSMOV41. ✨ 🔮 ✒️ 🩸 📖
In TOTSMOV41, I've used the same joke twice, and each time, the punchline is simply "Japeth" deadpanned. I still think it remains funny though.
If you could become one SGE character for a day, who would you want to be?
Instead of answering with a character whose identity I simply like (I have multiple possibilities in mind), I think I'll just go down the one pragmatic route I've thought out: The Lady of the Lake (pre-TCY, of course).
If you'd like to know why, well, I'd love to be a powerful magic-user like Rhian, Rafal, Merlin, or Japeth, but she makes the most sense. Rhian and Rafal are only conditionally immortal and were bound to the Pen, and I wouldn't want to be beholden to that thing. Too much trouble! Japeth and Merlin are decent options, being wizards, but they're mortal, alack! So, that leaves the Lady, who, while I think she may technically be mortal, or perhaps, immortal with the infamous subclause of no romantic partners ever, she's not nearly at as much of a high risk. Thus, I would get virtual, near-immortality (agelessness, at the very least), potent sorcery, and the isolation that comes with my role would make it easy for me to keep my immortality.
However, if it were just for a singular day, and I wasn't threatened by the Pen, I'd pick Rafal, assuming I had full run of both Schools. And, I might do psychological experiments on the students, humane ones though, if anything came to mind. I'm not nearly as bad as him. Or, I'd travel the Woods and fly, or I'd read all the obscure tales lost to time in the silver tower, and take advantage of my newfound sorcerer abilities.
Hmm...what if Sophie was somehow nominated by the Storian as the new School Master? Imagine her friends and everyone's reaction...
I decided to interpret this from a more comedic angle, so hopefully you won't mind.
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Hark and gird your loins, Woods!
Subscribe to follow the ascension of the (in)famous Witch of Woods Beyond, newly appointed School Master by the Pen.
Upon being named, nay, crowned, (She insisted on holding the coronation of the century, with grandeur that would dwell in the minds of the Woods' citizens for an epoch or longer!) the School Master seemed euphoric.
The Royal Rot was said to have gotten wind of a rather candid, positively scandalous moment however. They say: anonymous sources tell us that the lady of the hour hoisted up an urn which apparently held the previous School Master's ashes, and tossed it whole into the Savage Sea, crying out: "Take that, Rafal! I won and I can rule these Schools perfectly well without you!"
Allegedly, an errant bolt of black lightning tore through the clouds and nearly struck the newly crowned School Master where she stood. Whether it should've been taken as an asassination attempt or a warning... no one can say.
Then, she spun on her dyed, glass stilettos, and without acknowledging the masses gathered, she flounced away from shore, numerous skirts and a sand-speckled, ermine-lined, coronation train in tow, claiming that "Rafal would pay for the dry cleaning from his grave," and that her next order of business was to "claim to be his widow and extort riches from his Putsi accounts." So, it's safe to say, she's landed herself a prime spot in Vulture Vale's next issue of Extortionists Extraordinaire, a magazine exclusively marketed toward Nevers.
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Everyone else was flabbergasted by the outburst, however cathartic it seemed to be for her.
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The King and Queen of Camelot are abstaining from commenting at this time, but eyewitnesses say the King was rather shaken, and that Her Majesty was equally bewildered by the news. The head of their staff purports that the two gaped like goldfish and appeared to be at a loss for words.
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Later on, a reporter documented a chance encounter with His Majesty alone:
Tedros swivels his head around to make sure he’s in the clear and away from Agatha.
“Knowing my queen, I’d say that we’re probably bound to visit the Schools in a few days’ time. She—we just need time to... process. And, don’t tell either of the girls I said this, but I think neuroticism runs in the blood... Can’t complain like a git though since Agatha’s saved my life several times over."
"A trip to the Schools is in order, Tedros! Pack before the maids invade our chambers!" Agatha shouts from another room.
Tedros grinned smugly at the reporter. "I told you so. She's predictable, like clockwork by this point."
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The School Master's classmates were especially eager to commentate on her appointment:
Hester: The uniforms had better stay black.
Anadil: Agreed.
Dot: I wouldn't mind a change, actually.
[The other two witches glare at her.]
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If you want to hear any other characters' reactions, feel free to comment below.
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Also, I’m currently in the process of writing a fic called The One True School Master of Vault 41, in which Rafal is resurrected and Sophie is a candidate for his old position, and so, she's a bit like a usurper to him.
The other usurper, Japeth, has also ruffled Rafal's feathers since Rafal's been back because Rafal thinks some Snake isn't worthy of the figurative #1 Villain trophy. Japeth doesn't care about the figurative "trophy" though, so that competition is technically nonexistent.
Wizard Guessing Game
Somebody sent Tedros to the insane asylum (not literally) in TOTSMOV41. Guess who.
I'm sure you've all heard of: "Which witch is which?" Well, this is: Which wizard is this? Feel free to write out your reasoning. I'm curious.
Tedros’ head lolled to the side. “'Tis ungodly, my hears. Ears. Myne eyen hear. 's the Evil wizard, foul, foul." He laughed to himself as if he had witnessed a joke no one else was privy to. His head snapped to the other side sharply, his gaze unfocused. "No—foul fowl!” he burbled in a daze, approaching incoherence.
A Little, Non-Spoilery Ranking of Who Suffers the Most in TOTSMOV41:
1. Rafal
2. Agatha/Japeth (Not sure yet who has it worse.)
3. Tedros
4. Sophie (Her suffering is… how shall I put it? Less material and more psychological in nature.)
As usual, this may be subject to change as I get further in the writing process. Rhian is not on the list because his guest appearances (more like cameos) are too minor too count. If he were on the list, he'd probably tie with Agatha and Japeth.
MASTERPOST for The One True School Master of Vault 41
This is a continually updating table of contents to help with navigating my posts about TOTSMOV41, my WIP longfic.
The fic's premise: Sophie joins forces with a resurrected, former lover in the midst of trying to get Tedros back onto Camelot's throne, but that's not even half the uphill battle: rogue psyches and distrust abound and threaten to shatter the present state of the Woods as everyone knows it.
or
In which Rafal is resurrected during the events of One True King and things go horribly, disproportionately wrong!
Also, the fic will not be published for a very long time, so don't expect to see it anytime soon. I'm still on draft zero/the outline/script.
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—Table of Contents—[Pre-Publication of Fic]
1. Title reveal and associated music
2. Round I of Excerpts
3. Apparently, the tag "otk" is banned from tumblr.
4. The misleading trope hint
5. Round II Excerpt
6. Visual ref. 1
7. Facts about the fic
8. Reblog #1
9. Aesthetic for one of the first scenes (and flower trivia in the comments)
10. A Peek at My Outline Process
11. Reblog #2, dialogue, and reference to suicide
12. Round III of Excerpts
13. Sketch - Rafal got punched in the face.
14. Screenshots of my Pinterest board for the fic
15. Update, more facts about the fic, and its references to philosophic concepts
16. Round IV Excerpt
17. Cover Reveal
18. Reblog #3
19. Reblog #4
20. Reblog #5
21. Hypothetical Non-Excerpt
22. The Recurring Japeth Punchline
23. Reblog #6
24. Reblog #7
25. Three "Fun" (Incongruous) Facts
26. Thanatos drive reference mentioned
27. Reblog #8
28. Reblog #9
29. Reblog #10
30. Ask containing minor fic trivia
31. Update and Round V of Excerpts
32. Which wizard is this? (a.k.a. The Tedros Insanity Poll)
33. Reblog #11
34. Reblog #12
35. Reblog #13 and Fic Tags
36. Round VI Excerpt
37. The Suffering Scale
38. Word Ask Game
39. Word Ask #1
40. Word Ask #2
41. Word Ask #3
42. Results of the Tedros Poll
43. Round VII of Excerpts
44. Guess the Last Verb/Noun
45. Minor Spoilers
46. Reblog #14
47. Reblog #15
48. Reblog #16
49. Visual ref. 2
50. Reblog #17
51. Slightly Cursed Thought?
52. Aesthetic
53. Round VIII of Excerpts
54. Scrapped Hypothetical Scene
55. Reblog #18
56. Visual ref. 3
57. Reblog #19
58. Reblog #20
59. Deliberate or Not Deliberate?
60. Update and Another Ask Game
61. Page Number Ask #1
62. Page Number Ask #2
63. Visual ref. 4
64. Visual ref. 5
65. Reblog #21
66. Reblog #22
67. Reblog #23
68. Reblog #24
69. Reblog #25
70. Verbing Nouns
71. Reblog #26
72. Reblog #27
73. A Little News
—The Story— [Links TBA after publication.]
Part I: Of Solipsism, Sophistry, and Storians.
Part II: Great Mistake II, Great Mistake III, and Verisimilitude
Part III: Phantoms, Prescience, and the Pen
Deleted Scene
Meta post
Fic Analysis, Commentary & Trivia
Propaganda
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Need-to-Knows (a.k.a How I'm meddling with canon):
This fic will involve Rafal being resurrected, and lead up to an alternate continuity of plot events, all set during One True King. Thus, its title will be: The One True School Master of Vault 41. However, the title may or may not be a bit of a misnomer, so I might just end up subverting your expectations after all.
There will be a form of "psyche travel," or an approximation of time travel, using Dovey's crystal ball like in ACOT, the arson of a certain Wizard Tree to look forward to, and some offbeat, unprecedented action taken by the Storian. Of course, Agatha and Rafal will bicker a lot while Sophie plays the role of mediator. And, oh, Rafal will be tortured, slightly…
Additionally, there's a couple things to note about the premise and the changes I've made to canon, for context:
1. The fic will disregard Fall as canon, yet will acknowledge Rise.
2. There are several canon elements I'm not using. The Rafal is the fic is him from Rise, and also from TLEA. I decided to only acknowledge Rise but not Fall because I didn't want to work with the identity-swap twist. So Rafal is Rafal is Rafal in this case. I will draw from both his Rise characterization and his TLEA characterization.
3. Later in the fic, Rise Rhian only has minor appearances, and is present in Rafal's psyche, but he will not actually be a character until I write a possible sequel, if I ever do reach that point. So, you can assume Rhian was moderately Good to grey on the morality scale, and that Rafal was the one who ultimately committed the fratricide for the purposes of this fic.
4. I've decided not to acknowledge the OTK parentage twist. To clarify, Rafal will have no relation to Japeth, simply because it felt out of character for him to have children with a woman he seemed to loathe, even if it may have been less out of character for the canon Rhian falsely disguised as "Rafal." I personally thought it contradicted Rafal's characterization, so Japeth's placeholder father, who probably won't even be mentioned in the story, will be the Green Knight, to explain his magical prowess as the Snake.
Otherwise, for the most part, this fic is alternate continuity "canon," and diverges at some point during OTK.
I've tried to set the stage, eradicate confusion, and mediate potential disappointment as best as I could above, but if anyone would like me to demystify anything about the fic, my writing process, or ask anything else at all, feel free to send questions to me! Yet, I might not be able to answer everything, for various reasons, including limiting excessive spoilers, so please keep that in mind.
This is for your word game for TOTSMOV41! My word is "Snake".
An arrow whizzed by, and tore through the hem of her dress, causing it to fragment into dead, red butterflies that were crushed underfoot.
“That Snake!” Sophie screeched, puffing from the exertion of running in heels. “If he keeps this up, I won't have much of a dress left!”
Both Agatha and Rafal reddened for vastly different reasons.
And the answer is:
RAFAL
If you selected "Japeth" or "Multiple of them," you receive partial credit!
Japeth causes blood loss that sends Tedros into a not-quite-lucid state, and Rafal is specifically responsible for the provocation that sets Tedros off.
Also, I was surprised by the spread of the responses. Did most people see "fowl" and immediately think "Rafal?"
If anyone wants to sate my curiosity, what was your reasoning for other choices/your thought process in general? I also had Tedros' head turn to be intentionally misleading, as if he were addressing two people instead of one—did anyone latch onto that?
Wizard Guessing Game
Somebody sent Tedros to the insane asylum (not literally) in TOTSMOV41. Guess who.
I'm sure you've all heard of: "Which witch is which?" Well, this is: Which wizard is this? Feel free to write out your reasoning. I'm curious.
Tedros’ head lolled to the side. “'Tis ungodly, my hears. Ears. Myne eyen hear. 's the Evil wizard, foul, foul." He laughed to himself as if he had witnessed a joke no one else was privy to. His head snapped to the other side sharply, his gaze unfocused. "No—foul fowl!” he burbled in a daze, approaching incoherence.
To amuse myself, I made another aesthetic based on TOTSMOV41, and I'll even drop a "fun" line because why not!
If all else failed, he would call down one of his own Stymphs to end him quickly.
There may two biers in this, but the fic will only have one. Corpse not included.
@discjude I think this is right, but may need peer review. Reminded me of your F+B textual analysis. I loved your point that Rafal is at fault for creating the "Snake" and that "Japeth" is distinct from that identity. And I'm with you in that I hope the distinction reoccurs.
SGE Characters as Literary Things
(Not all of these are actual literary or rhetorical devices; some are just writing techniques, forms, genres, mediums, etc.)
This is a bit abstract, so I’m curious about how subjective these might be. Does anyone agree or disagree? And feel free to make additions if you think I left anything out, or request another character that isn’t here.
Hopefully this makes (intuitive?) sense. As always, I'm willing to explain my thought process behind any of the things I've listed.
Also, anyone can treat this like a “Tag Yourself” meme, if you want. Whose list do you most relate to, use, or encounter?
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LANCELOT (I know—how odd that I’m starting with a minor character and not Rafal, but wait. There’s a method to my madness. Also, watch out for overlap!):
Metonymy, synecdoche (no, literally, to me, these are him.)
Zeugma
Analogy
Figures of speech
Slang, argot
Colloquialisms
Idioms
TEDROS:
Simile
Metaphor
Rhyming couplets
Rhyme schemes
Sonnets
Commercial fiction
Coming-of-age genre
Line enjambment
Overuse of commas
Cadence, prose speech
Waxing poetic, verse (not prose)
Alliteration
Kinesthetic imagery
Phallic imagery/sword sexual innuendos (sorry)
The chivalric romance genre
AGATHA:
Anaphora, repetition
Semicolon, periods
Line breaks
Terse, dry prose
Semantics (not syntax)
Elegy
Resonance
Consonance, alliteration
Pseudonym
Narrative parallels
Realism
Satire
SOPHIE:
Sophistry (yes, there is a word for it!)
Imagery
Italics, emphasis
Em dash
Aphrodisiac imagery
Unreliable narrator, bias
Rashomon effect
Syntax (not semantics)
Diction
Chiasmus (think: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”)
Rhetorical purpose
Provocation, calls to action
Voice, writing style
Rhetorical modes: pathos, logos, ethos
Metaphor
Hyperbole, exaggeration
Sensationalism, journalism
Surrealism
Verisimilitude
Egocentrism
Callbacks (but not foreshadowing or call-forwards)
Narrative parallels
Paralepsis, occultatio, apophasis, denial
Hypothetical dialogue
Monologue
JAPETH:
Sibilance
Lacuna
Villanelle (an obsessive, repetitive form of poetry)
Soliloquy
ARIC:
Sentence fragments
RHIAN (TCY):
Unreliable narrator
Setup, payoff
Chekhov’s gun
Epistolary novel
RHIAN (prequels):
Multiple povs
Perspective
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Chiaroscuro (in imagery)
Endpapers
Frontispiece
Deckled edges
Narrative parallels
Foreshadowing
Call-forwards
Foil
Death of the author
RAFAL:
Omniscient narrator
Perspective
Surrealism
Etymology
Word families or 'linguistic ecosystems'
Latin
Verbal irony
Gallows humor
Narrative parallels
Call-forwards
Circular endings
Parallel sentences or balanced sentence structure
Narrative parallels
Foil
Juxtaposition
Authorial intent (“return of the author”)
HESTER:
Protagonist
Allusions
Gothic imagery
ANADIL:
Defamiliarization
Deuteragonist (second most important character in relation to the protagonist)
Psychic distance
Sterile prose
Forewords, prologues
Works cited pages
DOT:
Tone
Gustatory imagery
Tritagonist (third most important character in relation to the protagonist)
KIKO:
Sidekick
Falling action
Dedications, author's notes, epigraph, acknowledgements
Epitaph (Tristan)
BEATRIX:
Pacing
Rising Action
Climax
HORT:
Unrequited love
Falling resolution
Anticlimax
Malapropism
Innuendo
Asides
Brackets, parentheses
Cliché
EVELYN SADER:
Synesthetic imagery
Villanelle
Foreshadowing
AUGUST SADER:
Stream of consciousness style
Imagery
Foreshadowing
Coming-of-age genre
Elegy
Omniscience
Rhetorical questions
Time skips, non-linear narratives
Epilogues
MARIALENA:
Diabolus ex machina
Malapropism
Malaphors, mixed metaphors
Slant rhyme
Caveat
Parentheses
Footnotes
MERLIN:
Deus ex machina
Iambic pentameter
Filler words
BETTINA:
Screenwriting
Shock value
@discjude Thank you! I'm glad it could turn out to be helpful to you! If you keep track, I'd love to know how many you manage to use—that's a cool idea.
I'm thrilled the Japeth one got to you! (When I came up with his list, I specifically thought: "I wonder if Jude would have anything to say about it?")
Kei is kind of a hard one, to me. Off the top of my head, I'd assign him: turning point, in medias res, and third person limited pov, which is just another way of saying he's a little unknowable, and/or I don't know him well enough as a character aside from the role he played in forwarding the plot. And, I'm referencing his sudden appearance and relevance.
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I should have assigned symbolism to someone, so that goes to Sophie, Guinevere, and the Storian.
Arthur (and the kingdom of Camelot itself) get magical realism/fabulism, and haunting the narrative. And a less modern way of defining Lancelot could've been "the vernacular." Also, Merlin gets puns.
And, I came up with overlap for Rhian I and Rhian II: oxymoron, paradox, and passive voice (especially when used to displace blame onto another, or to leave out a designated, clear subject performing the deed).
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Latin is a roundabout way of saying: “Rafal is old.”
(In One True King, I'm pretty sure Sophie freaks out and derides him, calling him "Father Evil.")
The more elaborate explanation is that he does not and will never suffer from "belatedness." (Except, in the context of Soman drawing inspiration from elsewhere.)
Rafal is the “first,” in a sense, which lends to him the special, rare advantage of not feeling self-conscious of his work. He was likely the "innovator" of Evil, to an extent, we could speculate, and I doubt he was predated by too many exceptional villains, especially considering how he's held up by those at The Black Rabbit as some kind of exemplar, the Master of Evil, who gets a free pass in on some basis of his actual prodigiousness, something other than his just being a feared authority figure.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but: every other villain or antagonist, major or minor, in the entire series (not counting the Storian) exists after him in time, or exists because of him and the influence he exerts, the hostility he elicits, the violence he incites. He's the proverbial "giant," and others stand on his shoulders.
Here, I briefly trawled the internet:
"Quick Reference. In Harold Bloom's theory of literary history (see anxiety of influence), the predicament of the poet who feels that previous poets have already said all that there is to say, leaving no room for new creativity. From: belatedness in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms » Subjects: Literature."
"Belatedness definition: The state or quality of being belated or of being too late."
In addition, while Latin is mostly a reference to Rafal’s age and his lack of suffering from belatedness, it's also the provenance of lots of words from the English language. (I know the Greeks as epic poets came first, but Latin works better for these comparative purposes.) That's why I tied the concept of the etymological roots of words into his list.
If Rafal were a modern scholar, I'm tempted to say he'd pursue the study of philology because it works well for him, as a symbol:
"A theory of language development which traces the ‘family tree’ of modern natural languages like English, French, and German back to their historical origins. The central point of interest of such research is to show the common ancestry of words dispersed across several languages."
Or the common ancestry of all Evil. Horrible, isn't it?
Plus, we might have a sliver of evidence for this so-called "great inheritance" in Fall. Whatever he said to the demimagus in its language or in the language of sorcery (or if we take into account the spells and incantations of SGE in general) they all seem to be derived from Latin, as is common practice among authors.
Thus, he's old—despite being part of an archetype greater than himself anyway. Because, actually, sorry to break it to you: he’s an “Archimago” figure!
(Well, by my interpretation, at least. And besides that, other literary characters I don't know probably predate Edmund Spenser's Archimago as well.)
Thusly, we have:
Lecherous, Bad "Catholic" Rafal -> Making Good Holy Knights Doubt Their True Love, Truth, and Faith & Posing As An Ancient Hermit Since 1590.
I promise I'm not insane. If anyone would like some reference:
SGE Characters as Literary Things
(Not all of these are actual literary or rhetorical devices; some are just writing techniques, forms, genres, mediums, etc.)
This is a bit abstract, so I’m curious about how subjective these might be. Does anyone agree or disagree? And feel free to make additions if you think I left anything out, or request another character that isn’t here.
Hopefully this makes (intuitive?) sense. As always, I'm willing to explain my thought process behind any of the things I've listed.
Also, anyone can treat this like a “Tag Yourself” meme, if you want. Whose list do you most relate to, use, or encounter?
⸻
LANCELOT (I know—how odd that I’m starting with a minor character and not Rafal, but wait. There’s a method to my madness. Also, watch out for overlap!):
Metonymy, synecdoche (no, literally, to me, these are him.)
Zeugma
Analogy
Figures of speech
Slang, argot
Colloquialisms
Idioms
TEDROS:
Simile
Metaphor
Rhyming couplets
Rhyme schemes
Sonnets
Commercial fiction
Coming-of-age genre
Line enjambment
Overuse of commas
Cadence, prose speech
Waxing poetic, verse (not prose)
Alliteration
Kinesthetic imagery
Phallic imagery/sword sexual innuendos (sorry)
The chivalric romance genre
AGATHA:
Anaphora, repetition
Semicolon, periods
Line breaks
Terse, dry prose
Semantics (not syntax)
Elegy
Resonance
Consonance, alliteration
Pseudonym
Narrative parallels
Realism
Satire
SOPHIE:
Sophistry (yes, there is a word for it!)
Imagery
Italics, emphasis
Em dash
Aphrodisiac imagery
Unreliable narrator, bias
Rashomon effect
Syntax (not semantics)
Diction
Chiasmus (think: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”)
Rhetorical purpose
Provocation, calls to action
Voice, writing style
Rhetorical modes: pathos, logos, ethos
Metaphor
Hyperbole, exaggeration
Sensationalism, journalism
Surrealism
Verisimilitude
Egocentrism
Callbacks (but not foreshadowing or call-forwards)
Narrative parallels
Paralepsis, occultatio, apophasis, denial
Hypothetical dialogue
Monologue
JAPETH:
Sibilance
Lacuna
Villanelle (an obsessive, repetitive form of poetry)
Soliloquy
ARIC:
Sentence fragments
RHIAN (TCY):
Unreliable narrator
Setup, payoff
Chekhov’s gun
Epistolary novel
RHIAN (prequels):
Multiple povs
Perspective
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Chiaroscuro (in imagery)
Endpapers
Frontispiece
Deckled edges
Narrative parallels
Foreshadowing
Call-forwards
Foil
Death of the author
RAFAL:
Omniscient narrator
Perspective
Surrealism
Etymology
Word families or 'linguistic ecosystems'
Latin
Verbal irony
Gallows humor
Narrative parallels
Call-forwards
Circular endings
Parallel sentences or balanced sentence structure
Narrative parallels
Foil
Juxtaposition
Authorial intent (“return of the author”)
HESTER:
Protagonist
Allusions
Gothic imagery
ANADIL:
Defamiliarization
Deuteragonist (second most important character in relation to the protagonist)
Psychic distance
Sterile prose
Forewords, prologues
Works cited pages
DOT:
Tone
Gustatory imagery
Tritagonist (third most important character in relation to the protagonist)
KIKO:
Sidekick
Falling action
Dedications, author's notes, epigraph, acknowledgements
Epitaph (Tristan)
BEATRIX:
Pacing
Rising Action
Climax
HORT:
Unrequited love
Falling resolution
Anticlimax
Malapropism
Innuendo
Asides
Brackets, parentheses
Cliché
EVELYN SADER:
Synesthetic imagery
Villanelle
Foreshadowing
AUGUST SADER:
Stream of consciousness style
Imagery
Foreshadowing
Coming-of-age genre
Elegy
Omniscience
Rhetorical questions
Time skips, non-linear narratives
Epilogues
MARIALENA:
Diabolus ex machina
Malapropism
Malaphors, mixed metaphors
Slant rhyme
Caveat
Parentheses
Footnotes
MERLIN:
Deus ex machina
Iambic pentameter
Filler words
BETTINA:
Screenwriting
Shock value
@discjude Yes! I'm so glad you agree with the Rafal-Latin interpretation. In my mind, Evil follows him around like a toxic contagion, like a contaminant, visible fog that everyone breathes and goes insane over. Meanwhile, Rhian's Evil is more insidious. I don't think it would be airborne in that same sense. Rhian's Evil, while dormant, would probably just mark him as a "carrier" of the symbolic disease. And, of course, Rafal (or Rhian) poisoned the entire bloodline.
Also, the Latin-relevance-to-modern-English thought sort of made me think: what if it were forcibly relevant, like at times when it wouldn't occur "naturally"? That could relate to the spirit of Rafal being beaten alive again and again and it never becoming irrelevant to the plot at any point, like you said, ingrained in everything. At some point, after the plot's undergone various cycles of the same after the same, it could probably seem like it's beating a dead horse.
And yet, Rafal himself would probably demand to be brought up again and again anyway, given his ego, so the plot thread never dies since it's not allowed to, in a kind of willful, conscious way possibly? Because, of course, he always has to be relevant. I can just picture him thinking, stubbornly deciding: fine, if I must be dead, I'll do it my way, on my terms, and still remain in the shadows, puppeteering everyone from beyond the grave. End of story, except it's not. The story is still mine. It always was. No matter how far the story gets from me, there's no getting rid of me.
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If you're interested, here's a second Rafal connection. Disclaimer: I barely know anything about this since I just heard about it the other week and most of my sources are Wikipedia:
There is a particular school of thought in literary theory called the "hermeneutics of suspicion," which is actually just a way of saying appearances belie reality, as usual.
hermeneutic (adj.) = "Of, relating to, or concerning interpretation or theories of interpretation."
"The hermeneutics of suspicion is a style of literary interpretation in which texts are read with skepticism in order to expose their purported repressed or hidden meanings. [...]"
"[...] a similar view of consciousness as false. [...] This school is defined by a belief that the straightforward appearances of texts are deceptive or self-deceptive and that explicit content hides deeper meanings or implications."
"According to literary theorist Rita Felski, hermeneutics of suspicion is 'a distinctively modern style of interpretation that circumvents obvious or self-evident meanings in order to draw out less visible and less flattering truths.'"
"Felski also notes that the 'hermeneutics of suspicion' is the name usually bestowed on [a] technique of reading texts against the grain and between the lines, of cataloging their omissions and laying bare their contradictions, of rubbing in what they fail to know and cannot represent."
In contrast, we have:
"[...] a hermeneutics of faith, which aims to restore meaning to a text, [...]"
And then, when it's applied to things like religion or philosophy, not just literature:
"It contends that a hermeneutic of doubt reduces religious experiences (and the believers committed to them) to something distant and 'other,' while a hermeneutic of trust enables scholars to reconstruct religious worldviews."
It vaguely echoes Rafal versus Pen. Or rather, Rafal's literary 'man versus society,' 'man versus self,' and 'man versus fate' conflicts.
"Sometimes a hermeneutic of suspicion may be important for more negative reasons, as when we suspect that texts are not telling us the whole truth."
This negative side to the concept can also somehow extend to fit typically skeptical Evil Rafal and repressed "Good" Rafal. (Sorry. After all this time, I refuse to call him strictly Good because his actions negate his soul's supposed Good status. I would love it if both brothers could each just consciously acknowledge their own capacity for Evil. Messy greyness like that would've been nice to see. But no! Rafal is/has to be "Good." [sigh.])
It's as if all this applied skepticism, this belief that there is something beneath the surface even when something/someone presents itself as trustworthy, (and probably, to some degree, it's also projecting your own untrustworthiness onto others as potential "traitors") is simply characteristic of Rafal. By my subjective interpretation, he probably mentally says: what reason have you given me to trust you? Or, vice versa: what reason have I given you to trust me? Or, at least, I tend to view him as paranoid, which could very well be exaggerating canon.
"The expression 'hermeneutic of suspicion' is a tautological way of saying what thoughtful people have always known, that words may not always mean what they seem to mean. Some forms of expression, such as allegory and irony, depend on this fact."
I do wonder if it's only because of sequential order that Rhian and Japeth feel more, idk, allegorical or "representational" (aside from just the Lion and the Snake roles, Japeth's mimicry of the first fratricide, and so forth) than Rhian and Rafal do? I think, partly, it could be because we get less page time of them overall, and partly because they're not quite "whole" entities, as in, the tale still technically belongs to Tedros and company. And the narrative doesn't always pin its focus on them.
And then, there's the argument against this school of thought:
"In sum, it is sometimes useful to 'see through' things, and suspicion has its place. If we insist, however, on 'seeing through' everything, we end up seeing nothing."
Ergo, Rafal's lack of self-awareness (and moments of misusing trust, like how he never reveals himself as the perceived threat of Fala) are probably part of his very own version of "seeing nothing" as he actively searches for "something" to find fault with (usually Rhian, let's face it) or it could be a case of seeing nothing wrong with his actions.
He starts to distance himself from Evil and turn to Good, doing too little, too late, while also being blind to Rhian's earlier losses and point of view. He thinks he himself is entirely deserving of what's coming to him, and at his most extreme, he's blind or rather, is caught in a sort of one-track mind, self-contained feedback loop? As if he has tunnel vision but in an upwards-ambition direction, that he reinforces with the total excess of pride embedded in the self-image he started out with.
And, this state of mind comes over him every single time he's sought out power above all and/or control over his immediate surroundings, without fail.
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I had a Rhian and Rafal thought since I thought of a way to elaborate on something old. (Not sure if this one can apply to the second set of twins because I've no examples for it currently, but if you've got any thoughts, go right ahead!)
Originally, I assigned Rhian death of the author due to how he interferes with or foils the Storian's will (as the "author") in Fall by murdering Rafal so abruptly. Because, Rhian, especially in TLEA, in trying to rewrite the past and reshape the world, decides to interpret the texts of his world apart from the "author's" intention, imposing his own interpretations onto the texts (tales).
For comparison, return of the author or authorial intent could be seen as Rafal ceding to the Storian in the end, or considering the author as inseparable from his work, and seeing works in the original contexts they once inhabited, as products of their time.
Plus, Rafal would've been the Storian's intent, the One. And, the Storian had been drawing him, not Rhian, initially—well, assuming it had decided on Rafal and wasn't in on the twist, until the eye color change in the illustration, which seemingly could've signaled it knew the One was Rhian all along. Depends on how we interpret the scene, I suppose.
Or, perhaps, less sinisterly than the Pen just knowing and being complicit in the twist Rhian chose for the tale in taking Rafal's face and identity, the Pen could have conceded to Rhian's "interpretation," as a sort of "reader" of its tales over itself as the prime "author." Because, well, Rhian is called the "author of his own misfortune" by the narrative. Maybe, the Pen was handing over the authorship to him, in complying with what Rhian wanted, in that moment, so Rhian could bend the story to his own designs and ends.
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I could see chivalry theory happening in the Endless Woods—that's an interesting one! Though, does Evelyn actually get a lenient sentence? She does die, and the "no longer useful" judgment Rafal barely passes over her is harsh.
Enjambment and caesura fit TCY twins well. If the plot and his plan didn't force him to be conscious of what he said, could Rhian have been as sociable as Sophie was? Do we ever see a side of him like that, like in the Beauty and the Feast chapter of QFG, for instance?
Ooh, the self-fulfilling prophecy and Becker's labeling theory remind me of the Pygmalion Effect (expectations shape behavior and self-image/people return what you invest in them) in psychology. I wonder if they're, by any chance, directly related, with one on a larger societal scale and the other on a smaller individual scale? Though, the Pygmalion Effect is more psychology than sociology, so maybe it wouldn't apply on a wider level? I don't know much at all about sociology, so thank you for the terms though!
The labeling happens to remind me of the concept of our subconscious "thin-slicing" stimuli, when we intuitively parse out new situations in split-second, snap judgments, with how the phenomenon is explained in a book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. It's not a terminology heavy book though, so maybe some things described in it were more colloquial than truly sociological.
Also, I love the term folk devil! It fits so well and it's in line with the Gavaldon assumptions! In fact, it fits Rafal even better than "scapegoat" ever could, or general moral panics/witch hunts/persecution, so thank you!!! I didn't really call him a "scapegoat" before because it sounded too "innocent" for him, and to be fair, in his case, he is more guilty/disruptive, and wasn't persecuted without reason, honestly. And, he can, unlike other actual victims, be compared to a literal demon beyond just how he's viewed.
Also, I think Japeth at certain points deserves to go into that same media circus kind of category too, considering how Rhian's plan initially forced him to take the blame for all the terrorism publicly as the Snake.
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Ooh, you're absolutely right about the edgework angle being a part of the series, I'd say, and I think I might know how to fit it in!
It could apply to nontraditional villainy, to those who deliberately seek out a type of personal, "selfish" freedom from societal/structural constraints, like the Never kingdom of Akgul's entire philosophy to live by does, iirc, with its endless hedonism.
Of course, this kind of villainy would be the kind that Rafal sometimes appreciates and sometimes looks down on. For instance, he doesn't see as much Evil value/potential in the communal piracy or more social tendencies of the pirates, unlike true villains who work alone, while, at the same time, he does see the point to the revelry at The Black Rabbit—that's the thrill-seeking side of "Evil." (It's also a bit present in the 'No Ball.')
And, the Nevers in the main series are sort of known for their intrepidness, their recklessness, their raucousness. It's actually just their general "culture" of not allowing for cowardice, to the extreme, even at the expense of personal safety, all for the sake of reputation, even when "cowardice" is the smarter option. So, naturally, they have got a lot of grandstanding and brashness. They're all about putting on bravado! (And they also seem to be a dark mirror of the Everboys, in my opinion. They just take things further. Though, I guess they owe it to Rafal's deprivation early on, which must've reinforced the idea that they could do without a lot of the time because they're better than the "namby-pamby" Evers could ever be.)
Lastly, the best in-narrative example I think we have of this type of behavior is probably the cost of entry to The Black Rabbit: reporting sins, and how that practice is likely perpetuated by the very drinks they serve there, so the attendees can party all night long and do Storian knows what that's probably worse!
The Snake Venom drinks contain literal, real-world psychoactive ingredients (i.e., kola nuts and nutmeg/mace(?)). And these hallucinogens really do alter a person's state of mind. So, it's no wonder the Nevers are collectively predisposed to doing crime—just look at what they're being glutted with at mass public events! It's all built into a societal level other than soul.
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By the way, if anyone had wanted to know about the updates to this post above and in all the reblogs, I'll tag everyone who seems to have shown interest:
@ciieli @horizonsandbeginnings @books-and-tears @loverofbooksandhistory @joeykeehl256
@heya-there-friends @2xraequalstorara @arcanaisarcana
@wisteriaum
SGE Characters as Literary Things
(Not all of these are actual literary or rhetorical devices; some are just writing techniques, forms, genres, mediums, etc.)
This is a bit abstract, so I’m curious about how subjective these might be. Does anyone agree or disagree? And feel free to make additions if you think I left anything out, or request another character that isn’t here.
Hopefully this makes (intuitive?) sense. As always, I'm willing to explain my thought process behind any of the things I've listed.
Also, anyone can treat this like a “Tag Yourself” meme, if you want. Whose list do you most relate to, use, or encounter?
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LANCELOT (I know—how odd that I’m starting with a minor character and not Rafal, but wait. There’s a method to my madness. Also, watch out for overlap!):
Metonymy, synecdoche (no, literally, to me, these are him.)
Zeugma
Analogy
Figures of speech
Slang, argot
Colloquialisms
Idioms
TEDROS:
Simile
Metaphor
Rhyming couplets
Rhyme schemes
Sonnets
Commercial fiction
Coming-of-age genre
Line enjambment
Overuse of commas
Cadence, prose speech
Waxing poetic, verse (not prose)
Alliteration
Kinesthetic imagery
Phallic imagery/sword sexual innuendos (sorry)
The chivalric romance genre
AGATHA:
Anaphora, repetition
Semicolon, periods
Line breaks
Terse, dry prose
Semantics (not syntax)
Elegy
Resonance
Consonance, alliteration
Pseudonym
Narrative parallels
Realism
Satire
SOPHIE:
Sophistry (yes, there is a word for it!)
Imagery
Italics, emphasis
Em dash
Aphrodisiac imagery
Unreliable narrator, bias
Rashomon effect
Syntax (not semantics)
Diction
Chiasmus (think: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”)
Rhetorical purpose
Provocation, calls to action
Voice, writing style
Rhetorical modes: pathos, logos, ethos
Metaphor
Hyperbole, exaggeration
Sensationalism, journalism
Surrealism
Verisimilitude
Egocentrism
Callbacks (but not foreshadowing or call-forwards)
Narrative parallels
Paralepsis, occultatio, apophasis, denial
Hypothetical dialogue
Monologue
JAPETH:
Sibilance
Lacuna
Villanelle (an obsessive, repetitive form of poetry)
Soliloquy
ARIC:
Sentence fragments
RHIAN (TCY):
Unreliable narrator
Setup, payoff
Chekhov’s gun
Epistolary novel
RHIAN (prequels):
Multiple povs
Perspective
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Chiaroscuro (in imagery)
Endpapers
Frontispiece
Deckled edges
Narrative parallels
Foreshadowing
Call-forwards
Foil
Death of the author
RAFAL:
Omniscient narrator
Perspective
Surrealism
Etymology
Word families or 'linguistic ecosystems'
Latin
Verbal irony
Gallows humor
Narrative parallels
Call-forwards
Circular endings
Parallel sentences or balanced sentence structure
Narrative parallels
Foil
Juxtaposition
Authorial intent (“return of the author”)
HESTER:
Protagonist
Allusions
Gothic imagery
ANADIL:
Defamiliarization
Deuteragonist (second most important character in relation to the protagonist)
Psychic distance
Sterile prose
Forewords, prologues
Works cited pages
DOT:
Tone
Gustatory imagery
Tritagonist (third most important character in relation to the protagonist)
KIKO:
Sidekick
Falling action
Dedications, author's notes, epigraph, acknowledgements
Epitaph (Tristan)
BEATRIX:
Pacing
Rising Action
Climax
HORT:
Unrequited love
Falling resolution
Anticlimax
Malapropism
Innuendo
Asides
Brackets, parentheses
Cliché
EVELYN SADER:
Synesthetic imagery
Villanelle
Foreshadowing
AUGUST SADER:
Stream of consciousness style
Imagery
Foreshadowing
Coming-of-age genre
Elegy
Omniscience
Rhetorical questions
Time skips, non-linear narratives
Epilogues
MARIALENA:
Diabolus ex machina
Malapropism
Malaphors, mixed metaphors
Slant rhyme
Caveat
Parentheses
Footnotes
MERLIN:
Deus ex machina
Iambic pentameter
Filler words
BETTINA:
Screenwriting
Shock value
Absolutely fabulous observations, OP! What a gut punch!
Despite Rhian being both Evelyn and Rafal’s favorite, Japeth is actually the one who’s most like them.
He killed his brother and then stole his identity, all to raise his lover from the dead, a lover who never loved him at all.
They loved Rhian because he was what they wanted to be. Good.
They hated Japeth because he was what they were. Evil.
hi, do you have any takes/opinions or analysis of japeth? sorry if you've already posted something and i've missed it, i'm just eagerly hunting for japeth content 🫡🫡
I haven’t really done any substantial #japethposting, or anything exactly full-scale, but he has been a part of certain sections of some of the analyses I've done. You can find some of them by typing "#japeth" into the search bar of my blog. Or, if anyone wants me to, I could look for the links and send them to you. And, this overall precedent doesn’t mean I won’t possibly post about him in the future, potentially if/when I start my reread of The Camelot Years.
Generally speaking, I don't think I've paid enough attention to him to be able to analyze him in great depth. That said, I will redirect you to @discjude as she/they is/(are?) the Japeth expert, and her/their analyses are phenomenal! (Please tell me if I've gotten your pronouns wrong and sorry in advance if anything is wrong, Jude.)
Though, I will leave you with one meager headcanon: it seems unlikely, but if Japeth were musically-inclined, I think he’d play atypical instruments, like the serpent and the ophicleide because of course he would. Music could be his opportunity to rebel, defy what's expected of him, while also referencing his snake symbolism.
Here, you can listen to some orchestral performances involving these instruments. If you start the first of the videos around the timestamp 3:38 and listen to the end, you can hear the deeper, foreboding, lower-pitched parts and some tense, stringent parts that sound higher, like his Scims whirling, to my mind. There's a very obviously sinister "march" of sorts, with ghastly, winding, serpentine "movements," twists, and turns.
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 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!
Thanks for the additional context! Every time you elaborate this much, the appeal of a Japeth prequel increases in my eyes! That could genuinely have a lot of material to it, for Soman to unpack.
In my opinion, Aladdin somehow was able to have a distinct voice, in his narration, and yet, I have to agree—his "personality" seemed to just revolve around: "get the girl." (After Rise, he follows Kyma and Hook, and the three sail to Neverland, illustrating their end of The Rule of Three with that whole cannibal subplot.)
Is the theory that Rhian II is homophobic? It definitely sounds like that.
"I choose... love." hits hard. And interestingly, to me, it parallels Sophie herself, considering how her verbal manipulation tactics, especially in TLEA with Agatha and the position of queen, often involve reframing things, pitching them in a new light. So, it seems like Japeth did the same, and almost said, "secret third option," which I think is not only sincere of him but clever.
I think Rhian thought Kei betrayed him because Kei let out a secret, or more likely, a rumor, to the public, so he could be the one to break the news/sow doubt in the people's minds (something around Rhian's parentage or Arthur's affair, was it?) to Rhian instead of an enemy, as if being betrayed by a friend would've been any better than being outed by a enemy. Of course, it wasn't a softer blow, being doubted by the only person you thought believed in you from the start, being seen as delusional or unlikely to win in the end. Also, Sophie may've had some involvement, casting Kei in a poorer light, and I think Rhian believed Kei had some romantic involvement with her, viewing it as yet another stab in the back? That's what I vaguely remember, at least.
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!