My friend sent this to me, she found it on pinterest and it made me so happy because I’ve literally been saying this for years. And I think it’s REALLY worth reading. This doesn’t mean he is a perfect person by any means, but he is a flawed character, who is actually one of the most realistic.
“in defense of Fitz Vacker.
you say you want more complex characters, but you cant even handle him.
he was raised to the ideals of perfection, and then every belief he ever held and everything he was ever taught about the world was lipped upside down and churned into a grinder. his Father s mind broke, sanity shattered, with no known cure for that, would you expect a teenage boy to cope perfectly with that?
his older brother, whom he hero-worshipped, betrayed everyone at enormous cost and maybe even lives. would you expect a teenage boy to cope pertectly with that! he had always been the golden boy, and no matter how much you try to tell me you’d be utterly humble in that situation everybody has pride and conceit, then a girl who knew nothing about everything came along and stole the whole limelight. would you expect a teenage boy to not be even a tiny bit Jealous, no matter how hard he tries to be supportive, no matter how much he like-likes her? and he was supportive.
he was among the very first to be on her side, and he remained loyal, hell, he Threw everything to hell and followed her to the mountain and Alluveterre afterwards. he like-liked her, you cant accuse him of not matching your ideals just because he wasnt an absolute dope for her from the very start, because she didnt have his level of feelings returned. feelings are complex. you cant turn emotions on and off.
As for his surface-level involvement with Linh hes gentlemanly, he helps a girl out. he's a teenage boy of course he likes a pretty girl, for gods sake, and not even like-like, remember. he wasnt sworn to sophie then, hadnt even started flirting. for the matchmaking business, dont tell me social constructs hold absolutely no sway over you, would your want to hear about it Forever from everyone, and have your family dragged through it too? because elves live Forever. he wasnt being an asshole. he was being practical, his approach is flawed, yes-because he's a teenage boy who doesnt know how to handle relationships, how to handle trauma, how to handle his entire world being ripped apart.
is sophie jealous of him having a family? absolutely. is his best friend really his best friend when he went and felt up and kissed his ex of literally a few days? tell me that, and then —is he really the asshole for wanting clarity when his life is murky everywhere?”