#both Elyon and will are leaders in different ways
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Sooooo ever since I last made an image from the collaboration with @artsofmetamoor and Dante in particular, I remember it was the image in which the poor boy is exhausted and sleeps peacefully while Cassim Pavana watches him sleep
www.deviantart.com/katerinaaqu…
Prince Dante Escanor of Meridian and 300th Crown Prince(ess) Aliya Hassan Lela Johar of Naagaraja finally together.
A Little Background Information on the Image:
Dante and Aliya by mutual agreement of the two rulers (Elyon Escanor Queen of Meridian and Empress Nydra of Naagaraja) would get married between the kingdom of Meridian and the Naga realm, to the Independant Fingers of Zophra to show mutual understanding of each kingdom's social status and sovereignity as rulers of equal respectability and power and so either side would feel like the one is trying to overpower the other. The wedding would be held combining both customs at the same time.
The wedding ceremony itself would have elements from both Naga and Meridian customs and the vows of the wedding would be performed before both rulers who both have directly (Nydra) and indirectly (Elyon) spiritual power for their people. The wedding itself would be performed in a Meridian style pavillion while the honeymoon would be performed according to Naga standards
The groom and the bride would wear their culture's respectful attires but they could add details if they so pleased. The people invited would be of both kingdoms and bring wedding gifts to both parties.
Since Aliya is Military Royalty she is proven she has no thoughts of invading Naga power and authority to the Meridian court while Dante who is the Heir to the Throne would continue his legacy to Meridian
After mutual agreement the bride would move with her husband to his palace to become his Royal Consort in Meridian; the maritable partner to the sovereign ruler (regent) with lesser political power but of equal status of nobility.
The arrangements lead to Aliya being the first non-Meridian political leader in the Castle of Meridian but also the first female Consort ever since the time of Escanor the Brave while Dante were still to be the first mamel Heir and King ever since the same time.
ROYAL MERIDIAN AND NAGA WEDDING CUSTOMS
The two nations seem to have various similarities but also considerable differences in their wedding ceremonies since Meridian customs and Naga customs resemble old Agglo-Saxon and Germanic as well as Ancient Egyptian and ancient Indian customs respectfully when compared to earthern results.
Both events are extremely important to both cultures and they are considered bonds of love understanding but above all political power for their leaders. Both Nagas and Meridian royalty use wedding ceremonies and marriage as a way to establish or strengthen political power. As expected for both cultures a wedding is a public event that require several witnesses.
Both cultures require for the people invited to bring gifts to the couple and wish them prosperity. Usually the gifts can be perfectly usable objects like clothing, cloth for making them, bedsheets, furniture, weapons or jewelry or ornamental gifts like paintings, decorations, carpets or jewelry. Cosmetics can also be given to the couple. As a general rule neither culture believes to be a good choice to give the royal couple money for their wedding but gold in rough form might be acceptable.
Usually in Meridian the Consort (traditionally the male) receives gifts that are related to his duties alongside with the wedding gifts like weapons (military training) writing supplies (official duties) or books (diplomacy duties). With Nagas who do not have one difinitive sex or gender their gifts are more general but since makeup and cosmetics are a big part of their culture, cremes oils and ointnments are frequent gifts
As taken from above, Meridian marriages are traditionally heterosexual. Although Meridian doesn't have any law that truly forbids homosexual marriage, it rarely ever are practiced (if any at all). Usually Meridian weddings, much more royal ones, involve a king and a queen regardless. Naga do not have a difinitive gender or sex apart from their prefered or more "natural one" in the essence they feel more comfortable in so it is not unusual to see two men or two women standing in the isle. Thanks to their shapeshifting abilities, they can also make slight changes to their appearances for the wedding although it rarely happens in actuality as more Nagas prefer their natural look or the look in which they came to the world to use.
Nagas and Escanors prepare themselves and occasionally wear cosmetics or makeup. For the Nagas temporary tattoos made by henna might be added to their appearance mainly to their arms, hands and feet and in rarer occasions the face.
Usually Nagas marry in their human form for convenience and space rather than aesthetics and rules. Meridian royalty has only one form (even if their powers might allow them to change their form) so there is not a real question about it. However for Meridian weddings is also customary the people who would perform the union, if possible take "human form" when they perform to be in the same form scheme as their king and queen (or Escanor nobility)
The ceremony is simple in both cases. In Meridian weddings the couple's arms are bound with a velvet ribon (symbol of prosperity and union) and a vine (symbol for fruitful marriage with healthy children) as the couple is renounced married and speak of a vow of loyalty to the marriage. Nagas usually have the ceremony in which a vase is broken between the feet of the couple to toll the beginning of a new unified life. Both partners take a step over the pieces to seal the bond. In both of these ceremonies the two of them are considred married already and it all melts down to whether the ceremonies want to include something more unique to them.
The Honeymoon is massively different in the two cultures. Meridian honeymoon pretty much responds to the same customs as royalty in many medieal kingdoms. The couple is led by the entire court to their bed and the court waits outside the doors to make sure the wedding is completed. Although there isn't law of virginity, many Escanors followed the practice especially those who were married at a very young age (between 16 and 20) therefore the consumation of the marriage is essential. Nagas on the other hand do the exact opposite. Since sexuality plays a huge role in their society plus polygamy and concubiance therefore the need for an immediate confirmation of the consumation is not necessary. In fact more often whatnot apart from political agreements, just co-living and signing a contract is enough for people to be considered a couple.
Gold is a very important color for Nagas in weddings for it symbolizes luck, wealth and prosperity therefore wedding beds have golden curtains. For the Escanors there isn't really a preference although lime or red are preferred. Lime because it is the colors of Escanor crest and red for its rich color. Crimson too for it is linked with royalty
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Ironically Diego (Dante's father) is a redhead that got in love with a fair haired woman. His son is a fair haired man who fell for a redhead woman!
Forgive me for the terrible quality because I had to use correction liquid while inking Aliya's face and it turned out a monstrosity!
~~~
PLEASE DO NOT USE ANY PART OF THIS STORY AS YOUR OWN OR STEAL IT. YOU CAN USE IDEAS OR CREATE FROM HERE ONLY IF YOU HAVE OUR PERMISSION AND MENTION US TO YOUR WORK! THANK YOU VERY MUCH
W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney and Jetix
Dante and Aliya belong to @artsofmetamoor and @katerinaaqu
Base by CrimsonSnows ( www.deviantart.com/crimsonsnow… )
#w.i.t.c.h.#collab with artsofmetamoor#w.i.t.c.h fanart#meridian#metamoor#w.i.t.c.h#dante#aliya#naga#lore#worldbuilding
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Attempt number two at adding my thoughts on Cedric to the theories:
He appears to have some sort of love for Meridian and its people, as seen in the fact that he seems fairly accepted in the city (one merchant feels comfortable clinging to his coat, and his response is merely a very blase insult - no punishment, no violence or threats; also, he can waltz up to a throng of rebels and pick up Elyon while a few seconds ago, there was a full on rampage against the guards going on), which makes me think he did at least try to conserve some type of order in the city. Also, he gets severely homesick while on earth, this even being seeming more relevant to him at some points than the body dysphoria brought on by being trapped in human form.
This is important for two reasons: it throws up the question why he then goes along with Phobos' destructive rage and it makes me believe that however he got to the castle, there's no love lost between him and his people.
Now, there also seems to be little prejudice against his people. Not that there is none, but I feel if his people were truly despised and he worked for Phobos, he would encounter much more hatred.
I also feel pretty comfortable assuming that Cedric can't be older, or at least more than one to two years older, than Phobos. Now why I also feel he looks like it, I am aware that they aren't the same species, so that's not what lead to this assessment. Rather I feel like both his temper tantrums and his extreme dependence on Phobos mark him as younger. Phobos doesn't seem to have had much contact with Cedric for years, so the moment they bonded must have been when Phobos was pretty young. Now Cedric seems to be both rather intelligent and rather aware of his intelligence (read: insufferable know-it-all), so if they'd met as children, where age differences are more prominent, and Phobos had been significantly younger, he would have likely kept him in mind as a younger sibling or a protégé rather than looking up to him. He would have still been overly attached, but I feel in a very different kind of way, like the mother of a problematic child who keeps telling the principal her son is just misunderstood and surely was acting on the best intentions when he set fire to the gym hall.
Now, up to this point, I feel comfortable starting a friendly debate on things. However, I am well aware that the rest of what I made of that is purely a matter of personal story telling taste and there are countless other possibilities just as good if not better. Here goes anyway:
I believe that Cedrics people, let's just call them serpentine for now cause that's what little ninjago-fan me called them, were, indeed, subject to colonial mistreatment by the Escanor. I will not go into further detail than needed for my theory here as I am too uninformed and scared of accidentally being hurtful, and please inform me if I do say something wrong.
I think that this mistreatment started when the Escanor first came to Meridian. In the centuries since, they slowly realized their mistake to an extend, but the damage was done, and they had driven the serpentine to neat extinction, with only a few tribes surviving in sanctuaries granted to them or places uninhabitable by Galhot/Escanor.
By the time Elyons mother Weira came around, the people had started a few amends, but the relationship was tense and still not equal, so she decided to take a stand and arrange a marriage to officially show her support of the serpentine. Since she could hardly marry off her cursed son of doom to them, she had the heir of their leader - or the closest the scrambled populations had to a leader - named fiancé to her daughter.
Hence, Cedric was brought to the palace to be raised and taught in the ways of a future king. Since he was very young at this point, he didn't see it this way, though, and rather felt his mother had abandoned him. Adding to it that he now lived in a world of faux niceties and gossip, and was likely met with at least some prejudice, he probably developed trust issues, including losing the trust in himself as people kept telling him that HE was the problem, or at least insinuating it. Therefore, when he met the prince, who was in a similar situation, and who understood him, and maybe as a toddler was not yet above proclaiming what an awesome monster form his new friend had, he was in head over heels.
However, as we know, Elyon was kidnapped. Which likely didn't sit too well with the serpentine, who might have started to think that the motive wasn't Phobos, but rather the attempt of "rescuing" her from Cedric. They withdrew even further and in turn fueled Cedrics resentment toward them for abandoning him even more.
The reason I believe him and Elyon were meant to be married is mainly the way they interact - like, they both know they don't love each other, he even knows she has a crush, yet they somehow both seem to try to be in a romantic relationship. And why would Cedric do this as a ruse if, y'know, Elyon had a crush, and on Wills love interest nonetheless? Wouldn't that be a much more worthwhile pursuit? Nah. Everyone in the palace knew they had to get married, and so Cedric couldn't not tell her.
It also explains the extreme reaction Cedric has when Elyon compares her life to a fairy tale. His job is to placate her, and keep her naive, yet when she just throws away this line he snaps? Twice? She tells him to stop, and he goes on. Maybe his mother used to tell him tales of true lovers finding each other, only to then dump him off to marry someone?
And last but not least - wouldn't it explain why Phobos happens to let Cedric into his gardens just when Elyon returns? Wanting him away from her? Maybe fearing Cedric might, after all, decide to switch sides for one reason or another?
As I said, this is all pure speculation now. Thanks, as always, for reading to the end, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I am planning on ending this little mini series with a few canon-divergent scenarios I have set in this theories' universe, and maybe a list of headcanons. Feel free to tell me if you feel that would be spam, I won't hold it against you.
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30 days of WITCHversary
Day 4: favourite pairing/ship
Cornelia & Caleb
Okay, with this I mean show version only. They were one of the first couples, that not annoyed me. I needed a long time to endure romantic relationships and couples kissing in TV but that's another story. Both weren't this lovey-dovey perfect dream couple, there was tension as much as passion. Like, in the beginning it was already very obvious that they were into each other, even though neither of them did admit it. It took a very long time for both to accept their feelings and I think it had a lot to do with insecurity - Cornelia was a guardian who had to protect earth and was about to save Elyon and Meridian, while Caleb was the leader of the rebellion. No time for love in that kind of situation. There was already big pressure on both of them because of this. Maybe they also did not allow themselves to live their romantic feelings - or even beeing afraid that the other person may be more focused on the mission and therefore seeing a relationship impossible by that time. So, we got a lot of struggle and a lot eye porn contact in s1, till they finally came to the point: 'I love you, it's okay, we get our mission anyway.'
In s2 they were finally a couple but no easy one. First up they lived in different worlds, which made things difficult. Secondly, both were stubborn and prissy af. They are a kind of couple that turns a spark in a wildfire in less than 5 seconds. Again, I think it has to do with insecurity with both feeling kinda responsible that the relationship isn't always harmonic (Cornelia thinking she should maybe move to Meridian but doesn't want to give up her earth live, Caleb the other way round). However this kinda passionate disputations always come to a good end (if they were older and the show wasn't for kids, it would be the typical scenery in which the argument ends in hot sex lmao). So okay, that was what the relationship makes so catchy for me. Of course they can relay on each other (even when they had an argument before) and cared for each other and showed jealousy in some cases - but thats standard in most relationships.
What I like about them is the fire in the relationship, that already caught me as a child when there was nothing more embarassing than kisses. But when those 2 made out I was always like YES.
#30daysofwitchversay#w.i.t.c.h.#30 days of witchversary#caleb x cornelia#cornelia x caleb#cornelia hale#w.i.t.c.h. cornelia#w.i.t.c.h. caleb#tbh it's a long time ago but it feels like I also did ship comic!Elyon with comic!Cedric when I was younger#idk there have to be some scenes in the comics in which Elyon was blushing towards him? is that true? maybe I remember it wrong#but still it would be cute#actually show!Cedric seems to be more than a father figure to Elyon but in the comics..idk I see potential xD#at least more potential than phobos x will which seems to be very popular and I am always like ??? what? why? where from? what did I miss?#I really don't get this one maybe I just overread something? xD but noooo at least to me it's a certain NO xD#even if Will was older I don't think she was phobo's type of women though --\_(´o´)_/--#but that's just my opinion^^
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The Restored Name King James Version
Torah of Yahuah ( The Eternal Covenant)
And Elohim said I AM YAHUAH YOUR ELOHIM
The name of the Almighty written in Hebrew. It seems to be an accepted fact that the correct pronunciation of His name is “Yahweh”. This is apparently so because “most scholars” say that this pronunciation is correct. But what are the facts?
HEBREW TRANSLATION. Some have tried to translate the Bible in what they call a literal translation, but the Hebrew language cannot be literally translated into a classical language. Hebrew is an idiomatic language, and one Hebrew word may have from three to ten different meanings depending on the context. Sometimes it has opposing meanings. In the Bible whole thoughts, not words, must therefore be translated.
THE SET APART NAMES. Another common error among most of the translators is their elimination of heaven's revealed Name of the Most High, (YHWH), and the Name of His Son, (Yahushua) the Messiah, and substituting the names of the local deities of the nations among whom they dwelt (Psalms 96:5), expressly transgressing the commandments of (YHWH) as given in Exodus 20:7 and 23:13.
For (YHWH) they have substituted Baal, the Babylonian deity, and Adonay, the Canaanite deity of the Phoenicians, both corresponding to the English word Lord.
The characteristic appellation of the Most High, Elohim, has been substituted by the Assyrian deity Gawd, or God in English, and is repudiated by in Isaiah 65:11 which reads as follows, "But ye are they that forsake , that forget My holy mountain, and furnish a table for God, and furnish a drink offering to Meni". No wonder the people of Scotland and some parts of northern England celebrate their Hogmanay, which in Hebrew means the feast of the god Meni, on New Year's Eve with a fellowship drink for good luck!
Isaiah truly expresses what (YHWH) thinks of Christian worship...
Isaiah 65:11 - But ye are they that forsake , that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
The substitution of the Names of (YHWH) and (Yahushua) by the names of the pagan deities of the nations has brought immeasurable harm. Such names as Lord, God, Jesus, and Christ in no way represent the meaning of the Name revealed by the Most High to Moses and the ancient Hebrew leaders. By employing these names the people unknowingly turn the worship of into that of idols and actually ascribe the benevolent characteristics of the Mighty One of Israel to the pagan deities (Hosea 2:8).
The set apart name of the Creator, or its short form, (Yah), is the one and only Name by which He is known in the entire Scriptures.
"That men may know that Thou, whose Name alone is , art the Most High over all the earth". Psalm 83:18
While has many titles such as Eloah, El-Elyon, and Elohim, and while He is characterized as nissi, rapha, ra-ah, tsidkenu, shalom, sabaoth, and yireh, the Name in each case is , coupled with a distinctive characteristic. The Scriptures are specific and leave no doubt about the importance of His Name and our responsibilities concerning it.
"I am , that is My Name, and My glory will I not give to another (name) neither My praise to graven images." Isaiah 42:8
"Oh , Thy Name abideth for ages; Oh , Thy memorial is to generation after generation." Psalm 135:13
"If be Elohim, follow Him; And if Baal (the Lord) then follow Him." 1Kings 18:21 (Hebrew: Baal = Lord)
"How long shall it be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause My people to forget My Name - as their fathers have forgotten My Name for Baal." Jeremiah 23:26-27
"I will take the names of the Baalim (Lords) out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembered by their name." Hosea 2:17 (Baalim is the plural for Baal = Lords)
"I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto Thee." Hebrews 2:12 and Psalm 23:22
"And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of shall be saved." Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32
"And they that know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee." Psalm 9:10
"Thus saith , the maker thereof, that formed it, is the Name; Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and hidden things which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3
"I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world." John 17:6
"And I have declared unto them Thy Name and will declare it." John 17:26
"Hallowed be Thy Name." Matthew 6:9
The set apart name of the Messiah, (Yahushua), is the Name by which He was known to His disciples, though He has several titles such as Rabbi, Son of Man, Saviour, Anointed, and King of Kings.
"What is His name and what is His Son's Name, if thou canst tell?" Proverbs 30:4
The name of the Messiah, (Yahushua), literally means " is salvation".
"I am come in My Father's Name and ye receive Me not..." John 5:43
"Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of ." John 12:13
"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My Name I will do it." John 14:13-14
"...for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12
"And I looked and Lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand having His Name and His Father's Name written on their foreheads." Revelation 14:1 revised version
The combined result of the four reasons mentioned in the foregoing has brought into the New Testament many pagan elements of varying degrees, so that the original prophetic and apostolic teachings on the Holy Scriptures have reverted to the apostate Baalism of Jezebel (Revelation 2:20). No wonder then the Scriptures call this system Babylon.
Misleading ideas and beliefs were implanted during the process of carrying the Hebrew ideas and ideals into the context of a pagan Greek and Roman world. The Hellenizing of the original books of the Bible brought about distortions which still plague earnest Scripture students. An illustration of this occurs in the use of the Greek word hades (with all its mythological connotations as a place of endless torture to which the Greek gods relegated those who displeased them), as a purported equivalent of the Hebrew sheol and gehenna, neither of which conveyed any such notion. The doctrine that the Messiah "descended into hell" was thus an outgrowth of adopting the Greek context of hades in place of the Hebrew connotation of sheol (the tomb).
Many of the errors of literal translation which crept into the New Testament after the first century have been kept alive and intact because of the belief by numerous excellent scholars that the New Testament originals were written in, nay inspired in, the Greek language. Such a state of mind made it seem sacrilegious to question the authenticity of the Greek text even though portions of it seemed unintelligible. In recent years, however, much light has been shed on this hitherto taboo subject. The eminent Dr. Charles Cutler Torrey, Professor of Semitic Languages at Yale University, states in Our Translated Gospels,
"At the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis in New York City in December 1934, I challenged my New Testament colleagues to designate even one passage, from any of the Four Gospels, giving clear evidence of a date later than 50 A.D., or of origin outside Palestine. The challenge was not met, nor will it be, for there is no such passage."
Dr. Torrey then proceeds to cite hundreds of instances of Greek mistranslation from the Aramaic, which the Christian community has rather indiscriminately accepted as gospel.
The process of substitution continued in various lands and languages, so that much of the original meaning of the New Testament has been obscured. Consider the distortion involved in changing the names of the prophets, the Messiah, and the Creator. Hosea became "Osee"; Elisha became "Eliseus"; Isaiah became "Esaias"; Miriam became "Mary";became "Jesus" and became "Lord", "God", "Gott", "dios", "Manitou" or whatever happened to be the name of the local idol.
Now you may inquire why these distortions are so vitally important to us. They are of utmost importance because they introduce seeming contradictions which in turn raise conscious or subconscious doubts in the minds of sincere individuals: The pagan elements today found in Christianity have made it appear falsely similar to other religions and have thus cast stumbling blocks before those who recognize this heathenism for what it is. By correcting the known distortions and purging the pseudo-Christian beliefs which have resulted, doctrinal integrity and consistency can be restored, thus making possible the wholeheartedness which the first-century brethren demonstrated but which is so sadly lacking among so-called Christians today.
Lack of wholeheartedness in belief and conduct is taken for granted by our society. Ours is an era of "lip service," notorious for the hiatus between avowed ideals and sordid performance. Its symptoms are found in all walks of life, from interpersonal relationships to international diplomacy. Socially-minded writers, including members of the clergy, frequently deplore this condition but seem unable to recognize that it is a symptom of the underlying conceptual malaise: the theological neurosis of modern Christianity so pointedly described in Revelation...
"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth, because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:15-17
This ailment is lamented by our contemporaries as "secularism," "illness of the spirit," and "death of the heart"; but whatever it is labeled, the condition is caused by failure to integrate that which professed believers do with that which they profess to believe. It amounts to an unconscious outward manifestation of a mass of unresolved internal conflicts and a kind of unconscious rebellion against further self-deception and confusion of values.
Since church hierarchies so unanimously complain about the symptoms of the disease, why have they not long ago taken the steps essential to removing its cause? Why do they in fact display such astonishing ingenuity in avoiding recognition of their own share in the ideological confusion? Perhaps the answer may be found in the well-known phenomenon of neurosis wherein its professor blinds himself to its very existence and resists any efforts to effect a cure. This explanation appears to be borne out by the verses quoted above, and by verse 18 which counsels the application of "eye salve." Is this not strikingly reminiscent of the condition described in Isaiah 6:9-10:
"...lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and change and be healed"?
What, then, may twentieth century believers do to become more open-eyed and wholehearted in their belief - genuine doers of the Word? How can they attain deep and enduring faith comparable to that of the first century brethren? One prerequisite is a degree of doctrinal coherence comparable to that of the first century; another is recognition of unsubstantiated scientific dogma as such.
The popular a priori theories concerning the origin and antiquity of man and of the universe are examples of such generally-accepted assumptions about which there remain extremely large gaps in scientific knowledge. Our immediate objective concerns the first of these essentials: the elimination of doctrinal incoherence supported by the common versions.
The Holy Name Bible is a comprehensive effort to bring to twentieth century believers that integrity of concept which was present in the Hebrew and Aramaic originals - to make possible in the twentieth century the wholehearted integration of doctrine, belief, and conduct characteristic of the congregation of from its inception in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) through the apostolic phase of the first century. The congregation of the Old Testament cannot be separated from that of the New, except that the former looked forward by faith to the offering of . The victorious congregation is the one which adheres to all of the eternal truths of ; it sings the song of Moses and the Lamb (Revelation 15:3).
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quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week One
So I’ve been way too swamped as of late to keep up with this challenge day-by-day, even with only written answers (because guys, I write long answers, even when I cut myself short). As a solution (at least to start), I’m going to lump my answers for days falling within the same week together. Here’s Days 1 through 7!
Day 1: Favorite Guardian
Well, glancing up at my username and icon, I think it’d be remiss not to say Will Vandom, at least in some respect.
Will was my favorite from the beginning, back when I only had the chapter books with comic inserts. I can’t quite put my finger on why I gravitated to her, though I get the feeling that my love of energy/electricity-based powers had something to do with it. Plus, she got the cool transformation trinket! I’m sure there are many, many more reasons why she became my favorite, but this was also a good 15 years ago and even my obscure-detail-focused memory is having a hard time tracing back.
I’m not as passionate about comics Will as an adult, just in terms of how they loaded the poor girl up with so much drama that it’s just overwhelmingly exhausting, and she has some pretty immature reactions to her problems with her mom and Matt (pre-relationship). But animated Will is still my girl, with her awkwardness and quipping (of a different sort than Irma’s) and the way she grows as a leader, to the point where she’s basically set up a long con on even the viewers as a battle strategy in the latter quarter of season 2. This was the Will I grew to love as an adult rewatching the series after many years.
Since I’ve always been a Will Girl in some form, this has to be my official answer, but very honorable mentions to Irma and Hay Lin across both media.
Day 2: Favorite Villain
Alright, if we’re talking the animated series and you aren’t new around these parts, we all know it’s Shagon. Listen, this arc is 90% of the reason why I love the cartoon as much as I do, because they took a character from the comics with a nebulous backstory and a spooky, badass design who was relatively underused even with being Nerissa’s strongest/preferred minion, and decided to pull out all the stops. They gave a recurring character (who, okay, I already loved) with very strong ties to the girls - and who’d already evolved out of his role in the comics at the time - his own challenge/story arc about literally facing his inner demon; they gave the Guardians a deadly enemy to face off against (distract them) while Nerissa is off plucking up ex-Guardians one by one; they gave Will and Matt some brutal emotional turmoil that’s actually new and refreshing for the two of them (let’s send the repeated comics jealousy plotlines back to the kitchen, yeah?). And, uh, they made an already spooky, badass character design EVEN SPOOKIER AND MORE BADASS.
(The darker colors all around? The brilliant gold mask? The dark angel wings? I have been in love with this design since I was 12, alright?)
But! If we’re talking comics, then I’m going with Yua. I’ve talked about this at length before in a different ask game, but I think I gravitate to Yua because a) I’m largely not about full-on villains in any media and b) she’s a beautifully complex character in the context of the third arc’s narrative.
I’m not going to reiterate everything I said before and just redirect to that post, but I just find it fascinating that the banshee - whose species we’re repeatedly told are eeeeeevil by nature - shows more humanity than the actual human antagonists in this arc. She never wanted harm to come to Maqi, taking him away the second she’s freed as both revenge on her oppressor and a means of keeping this little boy safe from his father’s single-minded crusade. Yua even directly expresses this sentiment when Maqi falls, horror-struck and swearing that it was always about hurting Ari and never Maqi. And even when Maqi is... eurgh, “healed” (yeah, there are a lot of problems with the resolution to this arc), Yua has the opportunity to strike Ari at his happiest and complete her vengeance, but seeing Maqi so delighted makes her retreat, at least for now.
So yeah. More humanity than Ari and his blind rage in his quest to “cure” his son, and more humanity than Riddle & Co. in abducting an innocent teenage girl on the mere suspicion that she has powers with the intention of putting her through human experimentation. Yua takes Best Villain in my heart because she’s not a villain, not really.
Day 3: Favorite Love Interest
Again, unless you’re new here, it’s no shock that - if we’re talking animated series - it’s Matthew “I’m Arguing With a Housepet” Olsen.
As wildly different as it is from the comics, I do so adore his character design, with his dark hair (which, uh, may have been the first indication that I have a Type when it comes to my favorite male characters) and purple hoodie. His personality is so endearing too, because he’s not just the idolized older boy we initially see him as in the comics, but like... a legitimate dork. He’s sweet and plays guitar and generally exudes Cool, but you get to know him and it’s easy to see that he and Will are like souls. Not the best about expressing their feelings to the person they like, but always ready to step up and fight.
That’s another quality I love about cartoon Matt. Even before the Shagon arc, very shortly after even learning of the Guardian secret, Matt wants in on the action. It’s not in a “living out his action hero dreams” way, or even really a matter of impressing/protecting Will: it’s more about not being the guy who sits safe on the sidelines while everyone else is risking their lives, and trying to prove (largely to himself, in the end) that he’s worthy to be Will’s boyfriend when she’s a honest-to-Kandrakar warrior and he’s just “Funny Matt.”
I’m going to skip the Shagon arc for now because I assure you I could probably talk for ages about cartoon Matt, and we don’t have that kind of time now.
As for comics, I definitely have to go with Eric Lyndon and - technically a pseudo-love interest - Joel Wright. Oh, and Peter Cook!! Basically, all the sweet guys who don’t get quite as much attention with the comics and whose romantic relationships developed a bit later.
Day 4: Favorite Ship
Surprise, surprise: it’s animated Will/Matt. I’ve blubbered about them before, I will blubber about them again (please give me reasons to do so?), so I’m going to spare you all this time around. Just know that they’re my longest-held major OTP, and that it normally takes a hell of a lot to get me to full-on ship something.
(Real quick though: mutually pining dorks? Matt’s insecurity about being enough for his badass electricity-flinging girlfriend? Will’s drive to just blast shit down to find and save Matt? “If this all goes south, I’m gonna be beside you”??? Please ignore my choked sobbing.)
Anyhoo, there are a couple different comics ships I’d say qualify, though I might not be as passionate about them as I am cartoon WxM. Hay Lin and Eric are positively adorable, and I love how their relationship was slow but not agonizingly so. Hay was the only one not to get a love interest of sorts from the very start, taking us all the way to issue 18 before a guy makes her giggly. And I really appreciate that it wasn’t just a superficial crush, that while Eric was cute, it was his kindness and the time he spent with Hay that made her go, You know, I think I like this guy. It was a refreshing change of pace, they’re both adorable, and we ignore the fact that Eric was mysteriously written out and Hay has that one issue in the Dark Times late in the series where she falls head-over-heels for this rockstar-ish guy for no real reason and changes her style to try to impress him.
Honorable mentions go to Irma and Joel, who had excellent potential and should have still been kept as friends even if they decided to give Irma a different SO (we ignore the later issue where Joel just wistfully looks at Irma with his “We used to be friends” thought bubble and no actual explanation for why they aren’t anymore); and Cornelia and Peter, who I don’t give enough credit and definitely need to reread.
Day 5: Favorite Friendship
This is a tough one - can I say all of the W.i.t.c.h. girls together? Because outside of the first arc, there isn’t really a whole lot of focus on the smaller group friendships.
Cornelia and Elyon is a good one, though, literally spanning worlds because Cornelia is dead-set on saving her friend. I’ll toss Orube and Will into the mix as well, because Will was crucial to Orube’s initial character development and they seemed to have the closest relationship moving forward.
Day 6: Favorite Cover/Pinup/Promotional Art
Oof, giving me the hard questions, are we? I have a few favorites, but one of the first that came to mind was this one of Will. It’s the cover of the 21st chapter book, which I think is actually the pinup for issue 21. They must have changed it up for the US release in order to keep it more in-line with the actual plot.
Day 7: Favorite Episode/Issue
Hrm. Let’s change it up and start with the comics on this one. Off the top of my head, I have a soft spot for issue 32. It’s the zenith of the Sylla sub-arc, so the stakes are high, the girls get cute semi-formal clothes when they go to the opera to spring and hopefully evade Riddle’s trap, Sylla double-crosses Riddle and teams up with Medina and McTiennan (and I still think there’s a missed opportunity here with wiping that particular team’s memories of the girls), and we get the most iconic page in this entire comic with Orube beating up Riddle’s goon while brushing off a suitor and then coyly asking him to be her arm candy.
Issue 50 is another one I like, though largely because I enjoy the futures presented for each of the girls (I particularly love the concept of park ranger Cornelia and writer Will). And as a lingering vestige of my young, comic-Will/Matt-shipping heart, issue 40 is another nostalgic choice.
As for the animated series, I routinely consider my favorites on the chance that Greg Weisman still sells scripts at cons and I get the chance to buy that of a favorite episode. But true to form, basically all of my favorites are heavy Will/Matt episodes...
“D is for Dangerous” is fun because it’s the first time Will gains her quintessence lightning (yay!), the running gag with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mr. Huggles is amusing, Elyon’s deadpan “Barehanded folding. My one talent” still kills me, and Matt and Caleb’s epic failures of training montages are great. “M is for Mercy” is brutal, with Shagon at his absolute deadliest and taunting Will with Matt’s disappearance, the utter hatred Will has for this demon who’s taken on the form of the boy she loves (and, unbeknownst to her, is legitimately a twisted reflection of Matt), and the sight of Shagon at his lowest while at Will’s mercy and her offer to teach him just that. “S is for Self” has not one but two musical numbers for Matt, and we finally get the resolution to the Shagon arc, so of course it’s a favorite.
But what the hell: I’m going with “T is for Trauma” as my favorite. I watched this episode three times the day it aired, and I still love it to this day. We get the introduction of rejuvenated C.h.y.k.n. (who wipe the floor with the W.i.t.c.h. girls at first), the Egyptian-themed costumes for no actual reason (“Could someone tell me how that man could look at me and think camel???”), Matt getting to fight as the badass normal for the first and last time since “L is for Loser,” etc. But most of all, this is Hay Lin’s episode, and it is absolutely soul-destroying but with a magnificent payoff at the end. It hurts to see the naturally lighthearted, high hopes member of the crew with her spirit absolutely shattered by her grandmother’s apparent betrayal, Eric’s brainwashing, and Nerissa’s general existence, and it’s just as painful that this was the way they gave her character development, but I have to commend this episode for one of the heaviest lines ever: “That’s how you survive the trauma - not by knowing it will be alright, but by having no other choice. ...I don’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.”
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W.i.t.c.h Chapter 4 Doubles
We start with the girls stressing out over their shiny new Taranee. As is becoming customary, Will is unhappy. This is both because Cornelia partly blames her for the capture of the real Taranee and also because monitoring the fake one gives her a look into a happy family life that she lacks. Still she has her promise and the girls begin to make plans to return to Meridian to rescue their friend.
After some preparations and a bit of foreshadowing for the future the girls find a portal. Before they set out they decide to make astral drops for everyone so as to not be missed. Will botches her drop, due to her fear of it replacing her, and produces instead a being who lacks almost all her memories and has to give her a list of instructions. The double seems confused as she leaves and Will is not optimistic.
They make their way into Meridian this time thinking to bring rather cool Jedi robes as a disguise. After an encounter with a fishbowl, a crab and a slight size issue they make it onto the streets of Meridian. Hay Lin comments on how much less scary Meridian seems now she feels like less of an outsider. It is a very nice scene in which the artwork and Hay Lin’s reaction work together to give us a new point of view of Meridian. This has been suggested before but it is in this episode that we will first get a good look at Meridian as a place rather than a threatening discussed source of danger. It is rather well done especially in this initial scene.
But right know it is still a place of danger for some. Among these are our captive Taranee who is being kept in a bubble and taunted by Elyon who wishes to persuade her to come over to her side. Elyon is not a good host. In fact, she is positively rude showing her visions of her double in the real world and telling her that her friends have simply replaced her. Cedric is worried by this telling Elyon that the bubble is created primarily by Taranee’s own mind and not to irritate her lest she manage to break free. It is clear that Elyon is at least somewhat respected and important in Meridian but why is not yet shown.
The girls find their maths teacher. They get on better this time and she offers them some info dumping about Meridian. Apparently, it has been taken over by darkness and shadow.
This is interesting but it isn’t getting them any closer to a rescue. They decide to surrender in the hopes that wherever they are bought is likely to be close to where Taranee is being kept. It works and Elyon and Caleb start demanding The Heart of Kandrakar. The girls refuse and in an attempt to intimidate them Elyon shows them Taranee who has been so confused by all the visions of her friends that Elyon has been showing her that she refuses believe that they are real. Elyon says they will become like her if they don’t give in. Rather dark. But Will manages to persuade Taranee she is real and she melts her wat out of the bubble and frees the other girls. They escape and the issue ends with Will reconciling to a degree with her Mum and having a nice Mother daughter meal.
The sub plot throughout all this is the short and tragic life of poor Astral Drop Will. I feel for this character certainly more than the author intended. She leaves Will in quite a pickle after first kissing and then slapping Matt due to misunderstanding her instructions. Will absorbs her and gets her memories after the adventure which means she gets the memory of kissing her crush. But poor Astral Drop Will gets zapped out of existence after one days service.
Score. Excellent. Despite my comments above the scenes with astral Will are funny and the story is very strong.
Best Part. Probably the first glimpse of a new side to Meridian
Worst Part. Taken on its own I can’t really name anything. However, the behaviour of Elyon is very cruel which I don’t know how I feel about given future events. I’ll discuss this more later.
Other. Taranee’s favourite subject is Math. I wouldn’t really have guessed.
Cornelia explicitly states that Will is the leader because she holds the Heart of Kandrakar. That’s interesting to know but I’m not sure why that would be a rule.
Irma’s Astral drop agrees to go on a date, horrifying Irma. This is interesting as it confirms that the drops being different from their originals isn’t solely true of Will’s botched job. They are all, to an extent, unique individuals and seem to be capable of emotion and desires. The ethical implications of this are still startling.
Finally, Elyon behaves, I think, the worst she ever does in this episode. I will discuss that later when this arc is over.
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