The kotlc "elves can't handle violence! Guilt or smth!" thing is really pmo because. No. There's no way they're that fragile
I believe that its simple because of how they're raised. Most elves live without a hint of exposure to violence in their lives, and so they aren't accustomed to bloodshed and gore and stuff. I doubt they even consume vaguely violent media aside from history books (?). Their whole lives are spent under the idea that violence is impossible in their perfect shining world
Now, humans. They have extremely short lives as compared to elves. Death is always a constant. Theyre raised knowing they could die anytime. Murder and violence and death frequents the media they consume. They build up a tolerance and acceptance to death
Tl;dr elves just aren't used to violence imo, they defo have the capacity for brutality
i really hope something happens in elysian that absolutely breaks lord cassius completely and really hits him with the guilt he should be feeling at its full capacity. he could really use it
he already knows he’s an awful father and an awful guy. he definitely feels some sort guilt and it seems like he is (very subtly) trying to change. it’s just that there’s some sort of barrier that separates him from his own emotions (hence his apathetic attitude towards the pain he’s caused), which is so ironic because he’s an empath. i don’t think his narcissism is the only reason he isn’t in touch with his feelings. we know very well that he is a narcissist without question. he probably knows it too. narcissist are formed from deep, deep insecurity - and we know that he was never not insecure. in trying to prove the people who hurt him wrong, he developed a superiority complex that, it seems, is starting to fall apart a bit. but aside from the narcissism, there’s another piece to why he lacks any connection to his emotions, probably because he has some pretty serious trauma that he refuses to address.
it’s not really a secret anymore that he’s traumatized. i think that if you’re having resurfaced memories in the form of nightmares about what your wife did to you and what she hid from you, and you’re spending hours and hours and hours going through each and every one of your memories of her and erasing her face from said memories, it’s pretty likely you have some trauma. but he represses everything that doesn’t support his mindset of being the greatest.
it seems to be like he’s been putting on the act of having a superiority complex for the past few books. it’s like he wants himself to believe that he thinks he’s some god-like being so he doesn’t have to address the horrific pain that he absolutely will suffer from regardless once he comes to terms with how miserable he is, how much he was abused, but most importantly how truly awful he’s been, and how bad the suffering he really inflicted upon the people around him - upon his own son, who he really does love - how bad it all was. it’ll be devastating, which i think he probably knows by now. either way, he’s not saving himself from anything. he deserves to understand the depth to which he is hurting and the depth to which the one constant in his life, keefe, has suffered because of him. and when he’s finally pushed over the edge and he does experience that, which he will, the world as he knows it will collapse and it will destroy him. so in the meantime, he’s clinging onto the only sense of identity that he has left before it disappears completely. he could change, but he won’t, because being anything other than what he pretends to be is outside of his comfort zone.
it’s kind of sad. we’re watching him become less and less stable. i think the scene in stellarlune where sophie sees just how literally unstable his mind is becoming as he’s regaining memories of what gisela was doing to him is the biggest giveaway.
i really think just about anything could push him over the edge by now. gisela dying (finally) is one of them, but one i keep thinking about is if keefe’s mind breaks. keefe would be saved, obviously (because shannon can’t kill off everyone’s favorite white boy), but in a way i think that would probably kill him. maybe in more than one way. but he’s not coming back however it happens. his entire character will come undone and he’ll have nothing left to hold onto. he will never be the same.
i realize that my thoughts are very jumbled, and i apologize, so i will conclude my argument with this: yes i love him, yes he is my favorite character. but i hate him with every bone in my body just the same and i wish upon him the immense suffering he has earned for himself by being a terrible being.
Hi! Although I love Kotlc, I have some things I'd love to know is anyone else feels kinda icky about. These are unpopular opinions, I know, but here is my lengthy list (that is slightly out of order chronologically). Also, no hate to Shannon Messenger, I love the series, this is just my fun little rant.
There will be three parts, some rants about the way Sophie behaves in the plot, some stuff about her character and personality, and other misc. rants.
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
In the book series' plot--Sophie:
She should have told everybody about Alden's " mind break" in Exile. Yes, she's new to the elven world in book 2, but when someone FAINTS with a HEADACHE in a world where the mind is a fragile and important thing, SHE SHOULD HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO TELL SOMEBODY. Even in the human world, when someone faints, we tell people and worry for them.
Slightly off-topic, but I think Fitz was much more justified in being angry at Sophie than the fandom gives him credit for. His father basically died, and the one person who knew and could have warned his family beforehand hid it from them.
Sophie, please girlie, tell people about your headaches. Going into potentially dangerous scenarios that you don't know much about while thinking you may be hurt is not a good idea.
I do understand that the miscommunication may be residue from not telling anyone about her Telepathy when she lived in the Forbidden Cities, but I still think she needs to learn to give the elves/her friends more information about her.
The kiss with Keefe made no sense. Now, before any SoKeefe shippers come and burn me in the comments--I think the ship is fine. It did have promise for the first 3-ish books for me. But Shannon (bless her heart she's so cool) really pushed the Sofitz thing for an extremely long time, it took up pretty much all of the series that Sophie only likes Fitz. Then, Sofitz is canon! They start dating! And Sophie is still head-over-heels in love with Fitz. However, as we know, their relationship is rocky because they cannot trust each other. Fitz requires honesty in relationships and Sophie can't give that to him-she needs her secrets (justifiably). So, they break up. Sophie was sad, like any other teenage girl would be. BUT THEN, KEEFE COMES BACK AND SHE SUDDENLY THINKS, "I LIKE HIM NOW" WITH NO BUILDUP??? AND SHE'S NO LONGER SAD ABOUT FITZ??? HUH?
I feel like exploring the relationship of a former golden boy and a secretive newbie who's infinitely better at him is really dope. There's lots of space for cool paradoxes about Fitz loving her but being jealous, and Sophie loving him but wanting to keep him safe and out of her way. But when the toxicity of canon Sofitz is shown and Keefe, an already introduced love interest is there, it feels like Shannon just took a pivot to avoid fixing it.
Sokeefe could work. However, if Keefe randomly confesses one day (in a letter, no less) after a breakup, Sophie realistically should take some time being by herself, understanding how to juggle her feelings along with the stress of her parents (cough, cough Oralie) and the Neverseen. Sokeefe has a base. Sophie wants someone who doesn't care about titles or the matching systems, someone who doesn't need to know her secrets. Keefe has always loved Sophie. It could work, but it needed time just like Sofitz's buildup.
Sofitz and sokeefe is kinda a play on Sophie trying to choose what would make sense (the golden boy + the golden girl) or the love that wouldn't (troublemaker + golden girl). Her choosing Keefe is almost a metaphor for Sophie breaking away from what people said made sense and who she should love (Fitz) or the wildcard "what she actually wanted" (Keefe). Thing is, Sophie wanted Fitz. It was just a weird switch to emphasize Sofitz's toxicness.
I think these shipping things come strongly from the fandom and most people's general hatred towards Fitz.
kissing your ex's best friend DIRECTLY after you broke up is not cool, Sophie. That's a low, mean blow. especially if ya'll didn't even kiss yet.
woo, okay. That's that section done.
Sophie's character:
She's a Mary-Sue. Need I even explain? She can do anything, has a crapton of abilities, and is always trying to do the right thing, even if she isn't, and then immediately forgiven. Her only "flaw" is her being clumsy, which conveniently goes away when she's fighting.
Her clumsiness, if anything, is an "uwu girl haha oopsie" plot device for romance. Nothing wrong with that! but she does need a few more flaws.
Granted, when she burned down the Neverseen storehouse, that was quite reckless and could have hurt her friends. HOWEVER, that was seen as a strong empowering move for her by most people.
She needs to work on her friendships. She's kinda abandoned Dex and Marella, who often really needed it. Dex has also gone through a lot with the kidnapping and his family's bad match status, and I feel like that's been glossed over by not only Sophie, but the fandom too. Marella has also suffered (her mom, Pyrokinesis, etc.). Granted, these two don't have it as bad as Sophie. But somebody having more trauma doesn't mean that other characters' pain is null and void.
Other random rants:
SO MANY CHARACTERS. I think part of the reason that characters like Linh, Tam, Dex, and Marella are getting forgotten is because there's too many main characters! They were used as plot devices and then faded into the background.
It is extremely hard to keep up with this many people. Shannon has made it wayyyy too hard on herself.
Worldbuilding. I just want more history lmao. It's not a super big thing, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
And with that, this rant comes to an end. Thank ya'll so much for listening. No hate to Shannon Messenger, she's my goat and I love the series.
Dude got tortured for the kids and the Black Swan, like, full-on tortured, not like Sophie, who had to be kept alive « just in case » or Dex, who they just left to rot on a chair, unmoving, for days.
No, Wylie got assaulted in his room, his own very room, which he’ll never feel safe in again, and by AT LEAST 3-4 people, including pyrokinesists and a telepath, AT THE SAME TIME, FOR HOURS.
The same damn telepath that killed his OWN MOTHER LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!!
Wylie does not share the same trauma as Sophie, but in the entire group, he’s the only one who comes close to her level.
And I mean it. Wylie lost both his parents, who loved him dearly, unlike Keefe, Tam or Linh, who had already emotionally detached themselves from an unloving family.
He lost his parents like Sophie did, he got tortured like Dex, got bullied for years like Marella and Jensi, and ridiculed and hated by the entire elvin society for a choice his father made, like the Song twins.
And whatever you do, do NOT think about the guilt he himself carries, and especially do NOT think about how when he manifested as a flasher, an event that is for most the elves the best of their immortal lives, little Wylie must have only had one thought in his mind :
« Had I manifested sooner, I could have saved my mom. »
Now let that sink in.
Wylie is one of the strongest characters in the series, and is criminaly underrated.
i wish sophie’s friends would engage with her way more about her human life. i feel like they mostly just know the fact that she was raised by humans, but dont really fully understand that sophie was a whole person before fitz found her? like we know she liked lord of the rings and the hobbit and such, she references it many times. i want to know more about her, what her interests were, what hobbies she had as a human, what shows and music she liked. i want her friends to ask her about what it was like BEING a human, instead of poking fun at her whenever she relates something human to whatever the elves have built. i think there is such potential for keefe and dex both to do engage with this part of her and i want it so badly!!! let the girl gush about humans!!! i could talk about this for hours 😭
best friend i hate when people try to criminalize fitz to make other characters the victim in every situation. it’s so annoying. like he’s such a good character and barely anybody actually sees what a complex person he is. we think there’s nothing wrong going on in the vacker family? seriously? i mean if biana felt invisible and ignored her entire life and alvar joined the fucking neverseen there must have been something that was happening. you cant tell me they were just like that. the plot twist of alvars betrayal was actually so shocking because, like, you would have had no fucking idea. he must have been a good person, but he could have just snapped. biana wants to create her own legacy. she wants to break rules. she wants to tear away from the norms. idk where this is going i’m just rambling about random stuff at this point. but BIANA FEELING INVISIBLE HER WHOLE LIFE THEN MANIFESTING AS A VANISHER IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME. alvar and biana escaped. for better or for worse. fitz cant. and omg i fucking hate when people get mad at fitz for ending things with sophie after the matchmaking thing. he literally said and i quote, “i would never hear the end of it. my parents and sister would never hear the end of it. and i don’t think i could deal with that.” FUCKING GOD. GOD FORBID A TRAUMATIZED TEENAGE BOY DOESNT WANT TO DISAPPOINT HIS ENTIRE FAMILY. FUCKING HELL. fitz cant escape from whatever fucking legacy he’s in. he’s stuck there. he always has been and he always will be. he’s the perfect child. the golden child. the favorite child. i swear i should start counting how many times he’s been called perfect. he’s been put on a pedestal his entire fucking life and the second he tries dipping a toe in the water below he gets attacked. there’s nothing he can do but stay. he’s not allowed to be anything but perfect. he can’t stray from that. he’s been at it his entire life. HES NOT ALLOWED TO BE ANYTHING BUT PERFECT. and now here’s the part where i get talk about keefe. don’t worry guys he’s a cool guy i just don’t rlly like him😔 keefe is allowed to be imperfect. he’s allowed to be messy. fitz isn’t. i know it hurts him whenever someone(mostly keefe) makes a comment on him or his family being perfect, when they’re anything but. but he tries and tries and tries. he can’t be imperfect, but he can’t be too perfect. there’s nothing he can do. he’s put under all this pressure at a very young age and he’s expected to succeed at everything. and it makes me mad that keefe is so ignorant about it. he makes jokes and i know that he knows it hurts fitz. he’s literally an empath. bye i’m not taking any criticism 🙏
(i found this in my notes and i genuinely can’t remember when i wrote this help)
