NOTE: I wrote this before Darkness of Dragons had come out. Please stop pointing out the inaccuracies.

Three moons, I have been dying to talk about this somewhere.

Awhile ago someone commented on one of my ship fics that I could be happy because Turtlejou was canon... which, of course, made me think.

First things first, it's already been established that Turtle has a crush on Kinkajou. A little predictable, but still pretty cute. Frankly, I'm just glad he doesn't have a crush on Moon to complicate the love triangle.

What really cut me short was Kinkajou.

So, we all know she's a bit ditzy. In Moon Rising, she was shown frequently thinking about romance, and seemed to have quite a wide range of crushes. The most notable of these would be Qibli and Winter. Ironically, the only dragon she was never shown having romantic thoughts about was Turtle - aside from a comment she made at the beginning of the book about how excited she was to meet a SeaWing, she's never really shown interest in him.

Anemone's spell in Talons of Power turned things upside-down. She essentially pulled a Darkstalker on us - except a much less violent, much more positively-intended one. By enchanting Kinkajou to love Turtle, Anemone overrode any of her other feelings - including Jou's romantic feelings for Winter, Qibli or any other dragon. Kinkajou herself wasn't the one to decide to fall in love with Turtle; those feelings aren't hers.

Turtle was aware of this; in fact, he even refuses to reciprocate them for this reason. As far as I can tell, all he's feeling is uncomfortable. I don't think he'd ever take advantage of Kinkajou - which is heartbreakingly chivalrous, and an excellent indicator of his character.

So, no. I personally do not believe that Turtlejou is canon. Enchanted love is not true love.

Even if she persisted in loving him, it's highly unlikely that he'd ever allow things to progress much further. It would take a lot of persuasion from her, and even then, he'd probably be plagued with guilt for the rest of his life.

However, there is a possibility that these two could one day become canon. Anemone could reverse her spell entirely, for instance, and allow Kinkajou the chance to fall in love with Turtle all on her own. But - and it's a big but - this would also entitle putting Kinkajou back into a coma.

Simply removing her love for Turtle via enchantment won't quite cut it. Assume Anemone speaks the following spell: "Enchant Kinkajou to stop loving Turtle.". Yes, she's removed Kinkajou's love, but she's also erased any future chance of her loving him; animus spells are difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. While she may not have said, "Enchant Kinkajou to never love Turtle again,", the simple instruction of STOP will remain ingrained in Kinkajou's mind. It'd take a miracle for her to fall in love with Turtle again.

Additionally, as far as I'm aware, "Enchant only PART of this spell to go away" rarely works. She'd have to word the enchantment so carefully - and even then, there's almost always room for holes.

(Trust me. I'm a philosophy student. Constructing an argument or instruction without loopholes is fiddly).

So, casting a spell is an option.

I'd be more likely to focus on the spell itself, and finding a loophole in that.

When Anemone enchanted Kinkajou to fall in love with Turtle, her exact words were, "I also enchant this rock to make Kinkajou love Turtle just as much as he loves her.".

Just as much as he loves her.

Just as much as he loves her.

Anemone may not have realised it, but the spell she placed on Kinkajou is not constant. Animus magic is very particular with words - we saw that with Turtle. He intended to tell that shell to give him diamond-hard scales, but when he didn't say shell, the enchantment went directly to his scales. So, it's highly likely that Anemone hasn't guaranteed Turtle forever love; rather, what she's given him is reciprocal love.

Kinkajou loves Turtle just as much as Turtle loves Kinkajou, but only as much as he loves her. So, if he truly wanted to allow her the freedom to make her own decisions and fall in love with whoever she wished, Turtle could always back away and stop loving Kinkajou.

He could deliberately go. He could pick up and leave and forget her, and, over time, stop loving her. He could even ask Anemone to erase his memories of Kinkajou entirely.

He wouldn't love her. And as a result, Kinkajou would love Turtle just as much as he loved her:

Not at all.

Which would be heartbreaking. And also a very good fanfiction idea. Which you may feel free to use, provided you perhaps give me a bit of credit for the idea. Whatever floats your boat.

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So, in short, while it's very much canon that they love each other, I personally don't think it's quite safe to call Turtlejou canon. Her love for him isn't real and I don't think he'd manipulate it to his advantage.

Also, on a final note, I feel like I should thank everyone who's already voted on this and added it to their shelves. I truly appreciate the trust you have in me. This chapter was supposed to get out on the same day as this book was published, but me being me and all, I forgot. And scheduled a date. And went on an impromptu sleepover with a friend. As one does.

And yeah. Comment your thoughts, I guess.