#isla lightlark

1) If I can give Aster any credit is that she comissioned an amazing artist for the series. I don't know who they are, but my god the art is beautiful.

I mean, look at this. And the slipcase, covering their faces??? It feels a little loaded, with the roses on the side of the book and all, but its really pretty.

2) The book is dual sided, which honestly isn't doing Aster any favors in making me think that these two are actually in love with Isla and NOT with one another. Like, come on, the eclipse? Light and shadow? Moon and sun? GRIM ISN'T EVEN THE KING OF THE MOON, HE's THE KING OF SHADOWS, THE MOTIF HAS NO OTHER PURPOSE THAN TO PARALLEL THEM TO ONE ANOTHER, ASTER IF THIS SERIES DOESNT END IN A POLYCULE IM GONNA RIOT.

3) I want you to take a look at these pictures and tell me which of them spells "endgame" to you.

Contender 1: Wedding-esque setting, flowers and shadow, very Hades and Persephone.

Contender 2: The one where one of them has a fucking arrow through her chest and the other can do nothing but watch from afar because he will die if he steps out from the shadow to save her. Like it's not even a competition atp, Aster isnt even trying to make it a secret who Isla will end up with. Which is a shame because between shitty (in silver) or shitty (in gold), I prefer the latter. It feels like when I read The Prince and The Guard by Kiera Kass without knowing anything about The Selection series, and even I noticed that Maxon was going to be endgame. The only difference is that I liked Maxon's immediate swooning over America's picture (her smiling in extreme happiness) and the fact that, at least from what little I remember, he actually tried to be respectful and caring towards her, unlike Aspen who treats her like shit.

I dont have any expectations for this series, I literally refuse to read or listen to Nightshade or Skyshade and will base my rewrite solely on the first book, but I will always perk up when I hear about Oro and Grim parallels/ship moments. They are few and far between, but my god they'd make a better couple than Grim and Isla, she deserves so much better.

The centennial is presented to us as a battle royale of monarchs/kingdom representatives to see which kingdom loses and which one wins.

But it isn't like a world cup where the loser just goes "sucks to suck" or whatever.

Loosing implicates the COMPLETE ERASURE of their people. It is stated that when a king dies their subjects die with them because they depend of the magic flowing trough their royal blood to survive (which, weird concept, but ok).

So like... am I the only one weirded out by this alone?

Yes, it was a curse. Yes, it SUPPOSEDLY comes from a prophecy.

Only joined can the curses be undone Only after one of six has won, When the original offense Has been committed again And a ruling line has come to an end Only then can history amend

But the fact that they IMMEDIATELY jump into "lets murder each other until we find who the prophecy is referring to" is questionable AT BEST, and at worst it's stupid and reprehensible.

And let me be clear here: the centennial, to me, is a great source of conflict. The fact that, because of a millenary tradition these six rulers have to battle against one another in order to keep their kingdoms safe, while also having to forsake another kingdom to demise, is tragic and horrific, and a great idea for a story (even if Aster didn't develop the concept AT ALL in actuality).

It just sucks that it was only used as a marketing device for the book, by stating that it was "inspired by the Hunger Games", when THAT series at least makes a point to note how FUCKED UP the situation is, while in Lightlark its just not implemented. All that matters is that Isla fucks, and that's it.

Which, is a shame. Im not saying that I want Lightlark to include

Deep Social Commentary

or anything of the sort. But to take the tropes it uses seriously.

At least it has Oro trying to find a way to break the curses, but he's doing it so that he doesn't die. Which, yeah, is natural, but why not have him do it because he actually doesn't want the Centennial to happen AT ALL.

Isla does it so that she doesn't have to flirt with Oro.

Celeste is a villain, and Grim just goes along with it so that his girlfriend doesn't have to flirt with Oro either.

If any of yall have any ideas, please comment them (TT_TT)

For now, I will share my ideas for powers and curses for each of the characters, ranging them from most similar to their canon counterparts to least similar.

For context: The regents have their communities elemental powers, as well as specific powers connected to their bloodline

Oro: Midas Touch and Fire Manipulation, cursed to burn under the light of the sun

Celeste: Astrological Divination and Light Manipulation, Cursed to die at 25.

Grimm: Shadow Mimicry (turn himself into shadows) and Shadow Manipulation, Cursed to meld with the shadows if he uses his powers for too long

Cleo: Hypnos (put people to sleep) and Water Manipulation, Cursed to drown during the next full moon

Isla: Strong Understanding of Nature (which may represent itself as animal languages, potionology or magical botany, depends on the individual) and Plant Manipulation, Cursed to become a heart eating beast if she feels too many emotions