Roasting "Apple Black Origins: The Spectrum and the Spectre" Chapters 12-13 (THE FINALE)

GIDEON/REAGUS IS CANON!!!!!!

once this is over I can finally go back to watching stock footage of the ocean

Chapter 12: Incarnate

Opening line:

Within the ancient temple, the very stones themselves seemed to tremble, their timeworn foundations caught in the relentless vortex of tension and unrestrained power.

Arodihs is pretty cheesed off that Uzoh and Gideon were playing slapdick with his magic wands. So he outright kills Uzoh. And although Gideon wasn’t gideong along with Uzoh, they still have that deep bromantic history. So he tries to fight Arodihs. Which is a bad idea since this guy is so powerful.

Things are looking bad, so Willow goes super saiyan. Her skin glitters and glows— mercifully, there is no mention of it turning into that gaudy tribal tattoo pattern, so we can continue to headcanon that illustration as Whyt being a dipshit and slotting an unrelated, non-canonical picture of a different character into this book. But now that her skin is glittery, she sees it for how beautiful it is and feels over her self-consciousness.

I don’t think this is how you get over a lifetime of body image issues, but you know what, I’ll take it. We’re nearing the end of the book. I’m glad to have some sort of closure for this ongoing issue. I feared that her vitiligo would be “cured” in this story, so it’s nice she can go on having it and feel okay with it. 

Remember all the times Willow gave the bullies a big ol’ scowl to make ‘em scram? Well…

Arodihs, visibly shaken by Willow’s astonishing show of power and bravery, found himself grappling with a sense of unease. The intensity of her transformation caught him off-guard, compelling him to raise a hand to obscure his face from her steadfast gaze. “Stop looking at me,” he pleaded, his voice betraying a hint of disquiet. However, Willow’s gaze remained fixed, unyielding, as a relentless surge of energy continued to emanate from her, further unsettling Arodihs.

I was doing the biggest end zone victory dance when I read this. Scowling is actually her secret superpower, strong enough to stop Ikemen Dr. Manhatten cold in his tracks, holy shit!!! Holy fucking shit!!! I’ve joked and memed that Opal and Willow’s power is scowling down the camera (because Whyt just loves drawing ~strong female characters~ because he thinks ~strong female characters~ means drawing them with an expression that’s somewhere between the Dreamworks smarmbrow and an anger that can only come from chronic constipation). I had no idea my snarky comments were, actually, completely, right!!!

So Arodihs says him and Willow are now “connected.” He promises that someday he’s going to come back for another fight to take Willow’s golden wand (and Opal’s wand too, don’t forget about Opal).

Chapter 13: The New Rebellion

Opening Line:

In a room dimly lit by the warm glow of a single lamp, where the air was thick with the scent of ancient leather and the mystert of long-forgotten lore, Gideon sat alone at a small, rustic wooden table.

It’s the last chapter, everypony!

Gideon is trimming a bonsai tree and reflects on his adventure so far. Like it’s a straight up summary of the entire book, as if the anime ran out of budget in the last episode so half the thing is a clip show.

Black Maria enters the room for a meeting, Gideon says he met Arodihs, they agree to a truce. Side note, I thought the 13 ghosts were like a mafia gang but it turns out they’re a bigger deal than that. Arodihs is their “true” leader and there’s all kinds of spiritual/metaphysical implications here. 

But the bigger story-while Gideon is reflecting on his journey, we get this!!

Gideon considered very few friends, but Reagus had proven to be that and more.

And more? AND MORE????

Old Man Yaoi: CONFIRMED!!!!

GIDEON/REAGUS IS CANON!!!!!!

FUCK!!!

YES!!!

Okay remember when Willow was like “I think I can trust Gideon since he’s such good friends with Reagus” That’s what was going on!! New theory: Willow’s a fujoshi and she knew if she stuck to Gideon and Reagus, she can be their plus-one to their G-rated yaoi adventures: going to fancy cafes, butler cosplays, basically all of the charmingly dapper activities that Raymond from animal crossing does in his spare time (he’s that cat with heterochromia (look if you don’t know animal crossing just imagine a yaoi character but he’s a cat))

Okay now that we’ve popped the biggest champaign bottle over Gideon/Reagus (also disclaimer idk if they’re canon-canon since Reagus has his wife, either way I’m gonna headcanon the poly solution), the next event in the book is a bit of a downer. Willow and Gideon bury Uzoh’s corpse, it’s a somber moment, Willow wishes things could’ve turned out different. We cut back to Harlem, who’s still worried sick about Willow and still not doing a goddamn thing about it. She gets a letter from Willow reassuring her that everything’s daijoubu and she doesn’t have to worry.

No mention that Uzoh is dead though, so uh, maybe she can send that letter next time.

Willow’s only sending this letter now because she recently learned how to teleport - so she drops the letter off and then zaps out. Not sure why Gideon couldn’t do that sooner (he also has teleportation powers) but whatever man, this makes as much sense as everything else here.

And if you’re wondering where’s Opal, I am too! And not just to keep the bit going. Opal just kind of clings to her mom the whole scene and they hug and it’s all sugary sweet. But I’m still grossly curious about Opal suddenly having vitilgo/white hair when she clearly doesn’t in the manga. I kept wondering if this would get addressed in this book, and it isn’t. So that sucks.

We also don’t learn Gideon’s “reasons shrouded in his own complex web of motivations and secrets,” that line from chapter 6 that made me rage so hard I turned this review around. So, called it. Also, also, we don’t see Jino the Bully or Master Linux (aka Dumbledore) again, and I get it, but man. Makes all of that character introduction feel like a waste of time!

So Willow’s teleported back home (she has her own room at Gideon’s place now) and she reflects on her political goals: “Their mission was clear and ambitious— to dismantle the slaver’s chains and unite the fragmented rebel factions scattered across across the Eden continent.”

Yes that’s a typo but I’m more concerned with the fact that “abolish slavery” is an upcoming arc. Hopefully they get a few sensitivity readers when they tackle that subject, because woof did this book need it and for an issue that’s way more straightforward.

Willow now assumes the title of Princess Spectrum, and I will kindly ask that you please keep all jokes about autism to yourself. Jupiter the Alicorn shows up again, and the Adventure Trio of Willow, Gideon, and Jupiter are ready to go kick ass and fight racism.

Final line:

With Jupiter by her side and Gideon as her unwavering ally, Princess Spectrum was more than just a name; it promised a brighter tomorrow.

Fuck yes. What a banger of an ending, this slaps, I can hear the season 1 anime OP playing over this closing scene.

---

This book was definitely an experience. Huge lows, moderate highs, a great ending, Opal is here, and a baffling mixed messages about body acceptance in between. But I’m keeping my Goodreads review focused on the important issue.

one star!! Thats right, you heard me!!!

Here’s my review in its entirety:

This book is shockingly insensitive about vitiligo.

Do not read if you’re looking for vitiligo representation.

Spoiler and body shaming warning: The protagonist, who has a condition similar to vitiligo, has this condition because she was cursed by her father. Later in the book, an illustration shows that her “vitiligo” transforms into sleeker design, reminiscent of “tribal-style” tattoos from the early 2000’s.

Vitiligo isn’t a curse and can’t turn into a tattoo design.

We also learn that Opal Wantmore (a character that’s featured more prominently in the mainline Apple Black series) has the same condition. Does her "vitiligo" disappear when the mainline series begins?

It’s disappointing seeing this misstep from a publisher that’s supposed to be all about diversity.

I generally keep an “observe and report” policy. But if you dig, you’ll find that I’ve commented on Whyt’s stuff in the past (so nobody post these screenshots as a gotcha!! This is a gotcha free zone here!!!!). Thing is, ever since I’ve started writing about my bizarro parasocial relationship, I’ve stopped these casual interactions. It feels awkward now, because I know my attitude about it all is weird and pathetic and I need to get over myself.

I’m also not sure what I’d get out of any interactions with Whyt since his reactions are so fucking boring. I’m not even talking about his reaction channel EXnOver (RIP btw) but like, one time some fan jokingly commented some threats (“I’ll tie you up and make you keep drawing! if you stop drawing I’ll cut your hands off!” stuff like that) and Whyt just drooled into the camera like he’s recently lobotomized. Still didn’t stop Whyt from tweeting about that interaction nonstop like oh man it’s soooo crazy this happened isn’t this crazy wow this is Crazy (if it’s so crazy how can you give worse commentary than sniperwolf).

And btw, just checked on his Twitter and he recently retweeted that racist Clock Stricker recolor. Again. Buddy it was two years ago, maybe it’s time to move on, but me saying it’s time to move on makes me cognizant that it’s time for me to move on.

See what I said about being weird and pathetic?

But I still wanted to leave a Goodreads review pointing out the bizarro vitiligo stuff, since the only people talking about this book are Saturday AM ballwashers. I want to throw my warning about this book into the ether, but I know this is probably, technically, cowtipping. There’s definitely someone more “qualified” than me to point this out, and I know I’m going to be dismissed since I’m a lil hater (Which is true! I am! it’s Fun!!!).

Regardless, I know WhytManga keeps pretty close tabs on his Goodreads page. If he leaves a reply, I’ll edit this post so he can have the last word.