#Fitz does tags
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the-way-astray · 3 months ago
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hate it when people act like fitz talks about being cognates with sophie a ridiculous amount. i could probably count on one hand the amount of times he says something to the effect of "but we're cognates" in the entire series
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castleofravens · 8 months ago
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unpopular opinion but you're allowed to say that characters such as fitz or keefe or sophie exhibit toxic behaviors.
teenagers can be manipulative. teenagers can be cruel. teenagers can be jerks sometimes because they are still learning how to be people.
and saying they exhibit toxic behaviors isn't calling them toxic, just as saying a kid did something naughty (drawing on the walls, breaking something, etc.) doesn't make them a bad kid, you aren't defined by your behaviors because those are things you can change.
however it is still a perfectly valid thing to say "hey this behavior isn't healthy and they should be held accountable for this" because that's... something that is applicable to real life as well?
i'm a little older than a lot of the main keeper crew but still a teenager and i've dated people my age who were manipulative/toxic. you can absolutely have those behaviors as a teenager, and a shitty home life or mental health issues are explanations but they should never be excuses for that behavior.
topics such as this especially when they deal with trauma, mental illness, abuse, and interpersonal relationships should be looked at with way more nuance than a lot of people give it.
because yes, keefe (just as an example) does have textual evidence of toxic behaviors regarding his relationships (particularly with fitz and sophie), however that does not make him a toxic person. he does care about his friends and girlfriend (i don't remember if they made that official or not), he's just... inexperienced with relationships? and doesn't have much healthy examples from older figures to go off of for how he should act (just as fitz doesn't have healthy examples from older figures for how he should manage his emotions). (i would love to write an essay on cassius and gisela's relationship and how that affects keefe's relationships) (or the vackers' attitudes towards image and how that affects fitz - and biana's - self image)
i think a lot of keefe hate just stems from frustration that he doesn't really get held accountable a lot the same way other characters do, and i get that, but that still isn't an excuse to claim he's some horrible unredeemable person. he is a realistic and flawed character, you can't fit him in any "keefe good" "keefe evil" box, he simply is.. keefe? he definitely has shit he needs to work through but he's not... forever doomed to be some monstrous villain or whatever, a lot of people need a little (or big) nudge in the right direction to self awareness. people change, that is the nature of... i would say humanity but they're elves but i think the point would end up the same
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autism-swagger · 4 months ago
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"Max was this just an excuse to draw more Hive!Daisy." Whaaaat? *kicks my plethora of Hive!Daisy drawings under the rug* Noooooo.
Reblogging is better than just liking.
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sillygreenrat · 7 months ago
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now that an image of him is in circulation tho i can finally ask
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO HIM
WHAT DID CAM DO TO HIM??!??!?!?!?
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MY BOY FRANCOIS IVE ONLY HAD YOU FOR TWO DAYS PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE BE OK
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queeremogurl · 28 days ago
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Huh... (minor spoilers for good girl, bad blood)
You know that dating profile Pip made for Ravi for the Layla thing...
You know... I don't remember it ever being deleted
BECAUSE IF RAVI IS ON A DATING WEBSITE OVER THERE- SIGN. ME. TF. UP.
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camelspit · 1 year ago
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Oooh why are you a Lava Cake hater? I’m so curious
😔😔😔 ive been discovered /j
I'm not even really a hater I'm just strongly. disinterested in it. It doesn't do anything for me, and I'm struggling to see how it got so popular (no hate to the shippers though lmao have fun!!!)
maybe this is gods revenge for the garvar era. punishing me for my crackship with another one. 😔
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aphelea · 4 months ago
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somehow i feel like reading this book as someone who is very very far from being a keefe fan made it easier
#unraveled spoilers#i didn't expect to care about this book at all tbh#and there were many times in this book in which i felt keefe was making the absolute worst decision/having the most nonsense thoughts#but that somehow made him more likeable to me?#idk we see him usually through sophie's pov where she's usually pretty positive about whatever he says/does (even when she shouldn't be)#and i think that's what irked me the most before. this idea that we're supposed to love keefe bc he's way more perfect than fitz#idk i think keefe is a super unreliable narrator and i don't necessarily blame shannon for there being a lot of fitz negativity#i say this as a fitz fan. keefe has a very messed up perspective on a lot of things rn and unraveled made that pretty clear#however. it does make me stand by my thinking that chapter 42 came too early#even if sophie had reached a calm point of sorts in her emotional journey keefe was still deep in whatever he's going through#anyway i know i tend to have a very optimistic view of new keeper books#but this is the first book for a while that i genuinely don't think the intention is to kick sophie and fitz's relationship while it's down#it's simply that alvar and keefe are just...not big fans of him rn? although i do think alvar went a bit hard on the fitz hating#anyway to connect this back to my og post. not liking keefe made it way easier to me to like the book bc i just treated it like a book-#-where i'm supposed to think the protagonist is super fucking wrong#ok long tags over. damn that was a lot
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ameekat4 · 2 years ago
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I love Fitz, I do, but people have really got to stop saying his traumas are the most overlooked in the show. His traumas aren't even the most overlooked in his relationship
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mellowthorn · 2 years ago
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thecryptidcottage · 2 years ago
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 ↳ continued from here.
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if he expects her to jump in surprise when he comes up behind her, fitz is surprised himself to find that she doesn't. he knows it's probably boastful of him to think, but it's almost as if she was expecting him. ( hoping for him ? ) maybe it's just wishful thinking. he isn't disappointed, though, not by her teasing and least of all not in how she twists and turns to nearly drape herself against him. he's got both hands on her hips now, fingers curled tight to soft skin as she leans in. and fuck, he wonders if she knows she's got him wrapped around her finger ? fitz has found dozens ― no, hundreds ― of people attractive in his past, but never has he found himself quite so hung up on anyone as isobel sawyer. the fact that he even remembers her name ― her full government name ― should make as much abundantly clear. fitz doesn't do feelings. so why is it that his heart races when she gets in close, removing any minute distance lingering between them ? why is it that he finds himself seeking her out ? thinking about her ? leaving the bar if he shows up to find she's not there ? fuck. ❝ behave ? ❞ fitz repeats, incredulous, his laughter tumbling out just inches from her smile. ❝ you gonna come up on me like this, lookin' the way you do right now and lookin' at me the way you are, and ask me to behave ? ❞ he shakes his head, tongue darting across his lower lip as he glances around before leaning in real close to her ear once more. ❝ only if you promise i don't have to later. ❞ and then he bites down on her earlobe gently, just for a second, before suddenly stepping back and pulling his hands from her hips. ❝ i can do that, you know, ❞ he tells her, because if he's got to behave himself, he'll do it best with a distraction. and then, because he wants to make it clear he's changing the subject, fitz waves toward the performers a few meters away. ❝ i can do one better actually. you see that lamp post right there ? ❞ he leans in then, swift as he is mischievous, and steals a kiss from her before taking off in a sprint toward it. ❝ watch this ! ❞ @urbnlgnds
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fitzfunnymoments · 1 year ago
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If you need to know how I'm doing mentally I'm literally sitting here making a script for myself so I can get myself out of this isolation for even just a day because I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing
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jirsungs · 8 months ago
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NO IDEA ☆ l.dh
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pairing: loser!donghyuck x fem!reader
no idea synopsis: a story where both you and lee donghyuck seem to get what you want. he's the perfect pawn in making your ex-boyfriend jealous and the smarty pants tutor helping you pass your math class. donghyuck has it easy too, he's finally able to seek out and experience the world of dating through you, his long-devoted crush and surprisingly enthusiastic tutoring student. but then again, when meaningless tutoring sessions soon evolve into reciprocated feelings, is it really that easy?
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genre: college au, nonidol au, fake dating au, social media au (includes written chapters), classmates to friends to lovers, he's a nerd & she's a popular cheerleader (you see where this is going), he fell first but she fell harder trope, kinda based off to all the boys i've loved before, fluff, crack/humor, angst, one-sided pining that turns into mutual pining
warnings: explicit language, unrealistic college partying, talks about family issues (this does NOT reflect any of the idol's families!), yuqi has an ex gf, some alcohol consumption, kys and sexual humor, bullying, hyuck and his buds are mistreated ☹️, hyunjin is a bad bf!!!, cheesy af, unrequited love, bad insults that sound like they're from the 2000s, HELLA miscommunication
no idea playlist: btr's no idea, taylor swift's you belong with me, the vamps + demi lovato's somebody to you, james arthur's can i be him, ariana grande's daydreamin, fitz & the tantrums' out of my league, shawn mendes' treat you better, bruno mars' just the way you are, lonely god's marlboro nights, the 1975's i'm in love with you, sam smith's like i can, arctic monkeys' wanna be yours
author's note: FIRST HYUCK SMAUU! how we feeling 😏 i needed to get this idea out of my system! plus, i love this type of trope, and haechan just fits the nerdy role 😭 I HAD TO! but happy reading :D <3
comment if you wish to be tagged for the story's updates!
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profiles: "ncu freaks" + jeno 🤔 | gal pals & two men
intro. #manifestationiskey 🩷
ep 1. but a FAILING?
ep 2. i guess i'm her tutor
ep 3. WHY IS HE ATTRACTIVE
ep 4. COUGH y/n bag him COUGH
ep 5. i know i can treat youuu bettterr
ep 6. YNHYUCK PLOT IS FINALLY SAILING!
ep 7. bro texts with his 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 𝓪𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓪 mode on 🐺👅
ep 8. bro fumbled HARD 🤦‍♂️
ep 9. LET THE BOY LIVE!! HES IN LOVE!!
ep 10. THE HARD LAUNCH GOES CRAZY
ep 11. lemme guess, fake boyfriend responsibilities? (written)
ep 12. jeno got me up... plotting
ep 13. AMAZING fake boyfriend
ep 14. meeting the ncu freaks? (written)
ep 15.
ep 16.
ep 17.
ep 18.
more to come. . .!
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started: 09/06/24 finished:
© JIRSUNGS. ANY TRANSLATIONS/REPOSTS/PUBLISHES OF MY WORKS ON ANY PLATFORM ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED! ALL COMMENTS, REBLOGS, LIKES, & FEEDBACK ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU, MWA! <3
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leithillustration · 8 days ago
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Happy Wednesday, friends. Thank you for the tags @that-disabled-princess and @youarenevertooold ✨
May I offer you a smattering of things for your viewing pleasure?
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I've been working on this piece to make into a new print for London MCM Comic Con in May. Still a way to go with it, but hoping to have it done by the end of this week.
Below the cut is some TRC and ROTE nonsense
Once again I'm shamelessly combining fandoms, but hopefully its not a stretch to assume a lot of people who love the Simon Snow trilogy also enjoyed The Raven Cycle, right?
I started a reread of TRC last week, and this morning this silly idea popped into my head. The premise is basically after The Dreamer Trilogy, how does Ronan cope with Adam having a work partner in his mysterious government job? I may flesh it out into a short fic, but I have other fics I really need to spend time on so for now this is it:
Ronan: who the fuck is Steve? Adam: my new partner R: your— what?! A: my work partner R: are you saying we don’t work together?? A: asshole R: God says Adam and Ronan, not Adam and Steve A: And who is god in this scenario? R: …me A: I figured as much --- R: so what’s he like? A: who? R: Steve A: whip smart, devastatingly handsome, kind of a rebel R:  A: R: asshole, quit fucking with me A: I don’t know, Ronan, he’s not you, if that’s what you’re asking. Declan said you’d be pissy about this. R: I am not fucking pissy. You told Declan before me?? A: No, he already knows Steve. They used to work together.  --- R: Do you have a picture of him? A: Why the hell would I have a photo of the guy I work with? R: Don’t say Hell. --- R: He looks like Gansey.  A: Yup R: An even speckier Gansey. A: uh huh R: and he talks like Declan  A: he does R: I’m sorry A: what was that? I didn’t hear? R: I said fuck you. Tamquam. A: Asshole. Alter idem.
Not sure if that's technically a WIP, but this next one is, so lets complete the fandom cocktail by adding a dash of Fitz and the Fool (cropped so the tumblr gods don't yell at me like last time):
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I promise I'll put this in a separate post when it's actually finished. Happy (late) Fool's Day to all who celebrate. I'm super excited about making more rote art for @springfest-rote this spring!
Helloos and pressure free invitations to you all if you'd like to share a wip of your own (: have a great rest of your week!
@youarenevertooold @iamamythologicalcreature @alexalexinii  @cattocavo @that-disabled-princess @orange-peony @cutestkilla @rimeswithpurple @larkral @best--dress @scribble-tier @theimpossibledemon @artsyunderstudy @raenestee @thewholelemon @nightimedreamersworld @itriednottothinkaboutit @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @angelsfalling16 @the-beard-of-edward-teach @monbons @katatsumuli @fiend-for-culture @aristocratic-otter @argumentativeantitheticalg @lovelyladzzzz @nausikaaa @blackberrysummerblog @tragediegh @willowjh
If you'd like to be tagged in my posts, let me know in the comments ✌️
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post-punk-revival · 6 days ago
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The only other song that appears on all 3 playlists is Oh No! by Marina. Not sure what that means either but it's probably autistic
Playlists are a good way to note interesting trends in your writing. For example I've realized that all 3 of my wips have one "Robot Boy by Linkin Park" character. I'm not sure what exactly this means about the kinds of stories I write but it's definitely something Jewish
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natequarter · 5 months ago
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just one last timeblr thing and then i swear
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💣 commiedyke Follow
just watched the president of gallifrey down a bottle of ibuprofen citing 'what's the worst it can do, kill me?' mum come pick me up i'm scared
💣 commiedyke Follow
ok so apparenly time lords are immune to ibuprofen. why did the professor not just tell me this when i asked
#ace speaks #literally he stood in front of me whilst i was watching all of this and said. nothing. #i was thinking romana might DIE and he said NOTHING #duuuude i hate this shitass plsnet
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👑 fred Follow
watching some 90s earth show with ace let's see how this goes
👑 fred Follow
oh no she's hot
#shut up romana #might have to use that as my next face... #also who thinks buffy and spike should kiss #btvs #<- new tag!
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💣 commiedyke Follow
hey why did the professor die and turn into a prettyboy
#ace speaks #like wtf not even a warning? #unwarranted #imagine if your dad turned into a cute edwardian one day and then he lost his memory #yeah i know my struggles are unique
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💣 commiedyke Follow
watching buffy with the lads (<- a couple of loser time lords + leela) let's see how badly this goes lol
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UPDATE: romana just said the vampire lady was hot shit (not in those exact words but you get me) and tbh she's not wrong
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her exact words were "i'd die to be her" btw
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UPDATE 2: she did die to be her
🎻 the--adventurer8 Follow
yeah this has happened before :p
💣 commiedyke Follow
w. what do you mean. before. professor what do you mean before. professor????/
#ace speaks #he can't keep getting away with this
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⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow
Just regenerated. Thoughts?
💣 commiedyke Follow
WHAT THE FUCK DUDE
⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow
I'll take that as a no then
#Harsh
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🪨 vislorturlough Follow
guys i solved it. it's maff boy
✈️ donewiththisshit573 Follow
Can you fucking STOP
#he'll never know if he was right and you keep MOCKING HIM???
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💣 commiedyke Follow
leela just told me she doesn't have periods????? never mind 'other mammals don't do this' apparently other HUMANS don't do this? we can evolve that shit out??? brb killing myself
#ace speaks #more like ace SCREAMS amirite lads
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🚬 fitz-crier Follow
ineed hium ttothrow me intotthe hesrrt of acnucelar reactor. ansd causeeworld war rthee.
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⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow
Does anyone else on this website ship Scully and Mulder or is it just me
💣 commiedyke Follow
i regret getting you into 90s scifi so much
#you have no idea
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🐧 coordinatorsupreme Follow
What is "Friends"?
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posts that are funnier without context
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the-way-astray · 3 months ago
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WAIT PLZ ELABORATE ABT THE ALDEN IS BETTER THAN GRADY? IM SO CURIOUS /gen
alright, anon, and everyone else i’m tagging. originally, this was going to be a "this is why alden is a better father than grady" rant, since it was supposed to include an argument defending some of alden's most controversial parenting choices and also point out grady's worst parenting choices. but i dropped the grady portion, so now this is just an alden defense rant containing two sections ("the forbidden cities" and "keefe's flashback short story breakdown"). so that's this entire post. i'll probably do the grady thing some other time, and it won't be as in-depth as this. probably, it will just be a bullet point list of some weird shit he does, and that's it.
taglist: @absolutely-existing @multi-fandom-lunatic @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1 @worldsunlikemyown @icantrememberwhoiwaslastdecember @lucentstarss
section one: the forbidden cities
the main gripe most people have with alden is probably the sending fitz and alvar into the forbidden cities thing. let’s talk about why this was decidedly not a shitty thing for alden to do.
part one: were fitz and alvar in any danger in the forbidden cities?
a lot of people try to make the argument that fitz and alvar, especially fitz, could've run into danger while in the forbidden cities. while there was no way to make it truly risk-free, i do think that these arguments are blown out of proportion. here's a quote:
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(keeper, chapter 2)
fitz explicitly says that he was actually only sent to check alden’s guesses. he was not sent to wander around the forbidden cities looking for random girls. he was sent to confirm or deny alden’s theories, which alden came up himself (we can extrapolate and assume the same of alvar). which brings up an interesting point: many people claim alden should’ve done the search himself, instead of sending his six-year-old out to do it. to which i say, he . . . did? the only part of the search fitz was involved with was the confirmation. the rest was done entirely by alden and quinlin:
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(keeper, chapter 10)
this, i think, was a necessary evil. first of all, alden is a grown man. he’s been looking for sophie since basically birth, and i think we can all understand why that’s not a fantastic look. sending someone closer to her age makes fitz more approachable (in theory, of course. in reality, not so much, sophie still ran from fitz). also, fitz can light leap. if he was ever in danger, it would’ve only ever been the work of a moment for him to safely get away. and like i said, it really seems like fitz and alvar were only there for as long as they needed to be to confirm the girl was or was not an elf. alvar flat out admits to this:
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(neverseen, chapter 65)
as for fitz, notice the second part there. he agrees with alvar. he says he almost didn’t look past sophie’s eye color. and if you read the very first chapter, you can see that he wasn’t there for long at all. it’s very likely that when sophie first sees him with the newspaper, he just leaped in a few minutes ago, and he was planning on leaving as soon as he finished talking to sophie:
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(keeper, chapter 1)
so we can conclude that each excursion that fitz or alvar took was probably not longer than ten to fifteen minutes. they never spent significant chunks of time in the forbidden cities. fitz likely took maybe a couple extra seconds to grab a random thing and leave, but that’s about it. not long enough for either of them to have run into any significant danger.
part two: how did this affect fitz and alvar's school lives?
okay, you say, the forbidden cities thing might be all well and good, but what about this quote? fitz describes how alden’s search affected his school life:
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(everblaze, chapter 21)
now, it is unfortunate that fitz missed a lot of school because of the search. but he doesn’t seem too torn up about it (this entire exchange with sophie here reads as very light-hearted), which i feel is relevant. this passage mostly talks about fitz's social life, and how people didn't want to hang out with him because he was disappearing all the time. though the fact remains that i genuinely don't think fitz cared all that much about this at all. he seems to be a bit of a loner at heart, not really having many friends besides keefe, biana, and biana's friend(s), like maruca. this continues even after he and keefe become "cool", so while the search clearly took a toll on his social life, it really doesn't seem to bother him that much. and i really think alden would’ve left the choice of whether or not to participate in the search up to his kids, not forcing them if they absolutely didn't want to participate. so in the case that fitz did decide he didn't want to skip so much school, i think alden would've been fine with booting him from the search. here’s a quote from alvar:
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(neverseen, chapter 65)
he specifically states that the reasons he did the search were to keep his dad happy and to sneak away to the forbidden cities. also, the fact that sophie even asked this question and got a serious answer back already implies that fitz and alvar had "reasons" of their own for wanting to do the search, like the ones alvar states here. as in, their reason was not "my dad made me do it". (we're going to ignore the fact that alvar's reason likely had way more to do with helping the neverseen find sophie than anything.)
so okay, maybe alvar's just saying that, maybe he doesn't actually feel like that. to that i say, let’s look at this quote, a quote after alvar’s true colors have been revealed:
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(flashback, chapter 49)
even though he is literally ranting about his parents here, nowhere, not even once, does he mention or even imply that alden forced, manipulated, or otherwise pressured him to do the search. if alvar truly held any ill will toward alden for sending him on the search, now would be the perfect time to express that. yet he doesn’t. we can extrapolate and assume the same of fitz: that alden didn’t in any way try to manipulate or trick fitz into going. i honestly believe that the second either of them had expressed that they didn’t want to do the search anymore, alden would’ve found another way. and i do think fitz would’ve expressed that if he wanted out. once again, when he tells sophie the story i quoted above (everblaze, chapter 21), it’s done very light-heartedly, with no malice toward alden that sophie can detect.
let’s talk about fitz’s academic life now. he missed a lot of school. obviously that takes a toll. but look at this quote:
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(flashback, chapter 21)
fitz ranked, and probably continues to rank, number one in his entire level. he did just fine in school. alden’s search clearly didn’t impact his ability to perform well. back when i was an alden hater, i actually used this against alden, saying that if fitz ranked so high and did better than anyone else (including keefe who literally has a photographic memory), then he must’ve had to work incredibly hard on top of the work he already had to put into alden’s search, and we don’t know how that affected him behind the scenes. and i don’t agree with that take anymore. i think fitz would’ve told alden if it became too much for him, and even more than that, i think alden would’ve checked in with fitz proactively to make sure the combination of the search and school wasn't getting to him. there’s no evidence to confirm or deny, but i think it’s safe to assume. look no further than the reason alden even sent fitz out at six years old in the first place:
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(neverseen, chapter 1)
he clearly prioritized his children's education, and when the situation called for it, he found another way. he understood that alvar wouldn't be able to sneak out of the towers anymore, and he was not willing to put alvar's education at risk. when it came to it, he always put his children before his search. he was never willing to truly sacrifice what truly mattered for his search.
also just throwing this in here, but alvar, just like fitz, did exceptionally well during his basic level years. we have no evidence that the search affected his academic life in any real way, but rather the opposite (that he did just fine):
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(nightfall, chapter 16)
section two: keefe's flashback short story breakdown
(note: i will be using this transcription by @/kotlc-deleted-scenes for quotes. in case you weren't aware, there's a blog entirely dedicated to transcribing exclusive scenes, deleted quotes, and other not-widely-known extra kotlc material. check it out if you haven't read all the short stories. okay, advertising over.)
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so i don't like ro. that's a subject for another time, but my hatred for her particularly manifests in this scene, because i think a lot of people see her interpretation of what alden is saying, and then take it as some gospel truth. but the only perspectives we're seeing here, actually, are keefe's (because it's his pov) and ro's (because she can't keep her mouth shut). we don't know what alden's thinking or what he means when he says what he's saying. all we get is keefe and ro's almost-certainly skewed views on this scene. so just keep that in mind as you read this entire short story.
i feel like there's a good chunk of people out there that genuinely think alden went there that day with the intention to tell keefe to stay away from sophie and let sophie be with fitz and stop trying to mess with sophie and fitz's relationship and back off, keefe. this is blatantly false. he came there with the intention to invite keefe to the tribunal, and because of ro he ended up needing to justify his decision to ask keefe and sophie to be there. which is fine! it's not like keefe didn't deserve an explanation. but then you can't get mad when he explains his reason, which is perfectly valid.
so let's talk about why ro's outburst is, in my opinion, not grounded in any sort of reality. first of all, alden says fitz doesn't exactly excel at controlling his temper (true). he then asks keefe (an empath, and also fitz's "best friend") to help calm fitz down. honestly, i shouldn't have to explain this, since alden says this all himself.
ro's comment seems to imply she thinks that alden's nefarious little plan here is to let fitz take his anger out on keefe for no reason. but that's clearly not what's going on? he invited sophie because he thinks fitz needs her, and invited keefe because he doesn't want fitz to take his anger out on sophie. he doesn't want fitz to take it out on keefe, either. he just thinks keefe is better able to stop fitz from doing something he'll regret than sophie is. he doesn't want to see either keefe or sophie be the target of fitz's temper, and just thinks keefe is better equipped to handle it than sophie is.
whether or not alden is correct with this line of reasoning, i think, is a different discussion entirely (the fact that he later implies sophie and fitz will inevitably end up together, while also not being confident they can handle their own problems without a third-party friend intervening is . . . contradictory, to say the least). but he was speaking his mind, and while he might have been wrong, he was not being manipulative, which seems to be the argument here.
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so alden thinks fitz "needs" sophie. i'd once again argue that he's wrong, but i would not argue that he's being manipulative. he then, and this is important, seems nervous and tentative as his eyes shift to keefe, because he knows that keefe has a crush on sophie. now, before i tackle that whole thing, i’d like to once again emphasize that alden did not come to the shores of solace with the intention of telling keefe to let fitz have sophie or whatever. they shouldn’t even be having this conversation right now, honestly, but since ro is so fucking annoying, they are. alden’s intention with this visit was to request keefe go to the tribunal. that’s literally it. that’s all. this fitz-and-sophie tangent is a side quest.
okay, back to the main point. here’s what alden sees: two teenagers that have a crush on each other, and a third that has unreciprocated feelings for one of them. all three of the teenagers are friends. he is trying to preserve all three friendships, and i'd argue that he's especially trying to prevent keefe from heartbreak. again, is alden right about the whole sophie-fitz-keefe love triangle situation? no. but that doesn't make him manipulative. not only does he know that keefe has unreciprocated feelings for someone who has reciprocated feelings for someone else, but he's aware that keefe knows this, too. (side note: when i say keefe has unreciprocated feelings for sophie, who has reciprocated feelings for fitz, i mean that it was known she had a crush on fitz, and if you want to argue she had hidden feelings for keefe, you at least have to admit that she wasn't aware of them at this point in time. keefe's reaction to alden's words ("he was always trying hard not to think about it, because it made him want to punch things") only makes it clearer to me that keefe himself is also aware that sophie has known feelings for fitz.) once again, reading alden's body language clearly reveals how gently he's trying to communicate this, and i'd even argue that he doesn't want to even be saying any of this at all. but once again, we can blame ro for all our problems.
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will ro keep her goddamned mouth shut. anyway. i'm not going to talk about how weird it is to imply that sophie doesn't know her own feelings, because that's not what this is about. but even if sophie doesn't know her own feelings, it's still incredibly insensitive to disregard the fact that she likes fitz here and now.
alden goes on to say that sophie doesn't know what she feels because fitz hasn't confessed his feelings yet, which may seem like he doesn't care about sophie (or keefe) as much as he does fitz, but again. he seems super convinced that sophie and fitz like each other (which they do, at this point). he wants them to be happy together. there's some cognitive dissonance about the true nature of their relationship, but his heart is in the right place. and once again, he is not telling this to keefe because he sees keefe as competition for fitz over sophie. he's telling this to keefe because he doesn't want him to do something that would endanger his relationship with either fitz or sophie.
and keefe knows this, too. he literally states in that last part that he's well aware sophie and fitz like each other, and that at one point he's going to have to deal with that even though he has a crush on sophie. so you can't even argue that alden's line of reasoning is illogical. it's wrong, but it's a logical conclusion to come to.
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that top paragraph there once again reveals why alden is doing any of this at all. he just wants keefe to get out of this situation without any heartbreak because he knows keefe has an unreciprocated crush on sophie. keefe, being sixteen, vehemently denies this. and you can see that alden is not being particularly nosy here, actually. he corrects keefe when keefe lies, but he doesn't pressure keefe to talk about it, and doesn't ask any further questions. he's just letting keefe know that he is aware of the entire situation.
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maybe if ro wasn't here to skew everyone's view of what's going on here, people wouldn't fall for the alden-is-evil-and-trying-to-manipulate-keefe propaganda so readily because every. single. word. of that sentiment in this story comes from ro. alden is not meddling. if anyone's meddling, it's ro. in fact, ro has gone and continues to go way past meddling in future books, but. that's besides the point.
and yes, this is the definition of caring. once again want to remind everyone that alden did not come here with the intention of telling keefe to let sophitz happen. the conversation took an unexpected twist and now they're here. and as i've already said, alden's body language suggests anything from trying his best to prod gently and let keefe down easy all the way to being uncomfortable that this conversation is even happening at all. but every piece of advice he's given keefe up until this point is valid.
and i know the alden antis know this well because every time keefe starts monologuing (in an incredibly forced manner) about how he's not going to sabotage sophitz's relationship and how he's going to wait until sophie's ready and how he'd never listen to ro about shooting his shot and how he's ready to support sophitz even though he has a crush on sophie, everyone acts like he's some brave martyr that's willing to be in all this pain as long as sophie's happy and talks about how amazing and angelic and kind and perfect he is as a love interest for her. but when alden says virtually the same thing, the only difference being that he's a third party character, people immediately paint him as the devil incarnate. so keefe deciding that he's not going to wreck sophitz's relationship by staying out of it is selfless and sweet, but alden giving keefe advice to do that same exact thing is somehow cruel or manipulative?
and i have no idea why people have such a problem with alden pointing out that he sees keefe as a son. like. point out the part in that sentence where alden is manipulating keefe. i would like to see it. he's just stating a fact. sorry him stating a fact pissed you all off so bad. there's literally an actual-book flashback scene where alden is the first person in keefe's entire life to tell him that he's proud of him. have we missed the fact that keefe has seen alden as a father figure, too? the fact that this is not made-up, not just being stated out of the blue, but rather just an assurance of something both of them already know?
alright then . . . now let's talk about the part where this entire story is told from keefe's perspective (and ro's, because again, she cannot keep her mouth shut). he feels hurt, and i'm not saying he doesn't have the right to. being told your crush doesn't like you out loud probably hurts. so yes, he doesn't feel good. but that doesn't mean that alden is in the wrong here for what he told keefe. it just means keefe has a crush that seems to be unrequited right now, and that having an unrequited crush hurts.
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we are going to ignore the fact that this is my favorite part . . . anyway. ahem. this is very important, so listen up, folks. alden sees himself in keefe. this entire scene, i guarantee you, what's running through his head is the fact that (he thinks) he was in keefe's exact position at one point. he understands keefe's position, and he wants keefe to know this. this is why he tells keefe this story. because he doesn't want keefe to misinterpret what he's saying as malicious or a personal attack on keefe (the way ro is). he's saying this because he's trying to spare keefe the heartbreak that he went through.
keefe then appears to be in denial. sixteen year old boy. i think the most important thing here is that alden bypasses lecturing keefe on how one day he'll find his true match. this implies two things to me: one, alden is just as uncomfortable with this conversation as keefe is and is trying to end it quickly and painlessly for them both, and two, alden can sense that keefe is uncomfortable and doesn't want to draw this out for him. both things show that alden understands keefe's position and also once again nails in the fact that alden never wanted or intended to have this conversation at all.
okay. now to what is probably the most controversial thing alden says: "let them be happy". alright . . . this is not an inherently bad thing to say. like please explain to me why this is a shitty thing for alden to say. remember: alden sees three friends, two with reciprocated feelings for one another and a third with unreciprocated feelings for one of the pair. and it's once again also something keefe himself thinks . . . so much of his pov in unlocked and unraveled is just him wallowing in the fact that he has a crush on sophie who likes fitz and how he'd never even think about shoving his way in between them or whatever. it gets hella tiring to read and is clearly just shannon attempting to make up for the possessive wreck she made keefe in neverseen through nightfall . . . anyway. back to the point. this is apparently all fine and dandy for keefe to think, but when alden tells a teenager not to interfere with an assumedly reciprocal relationship between two other teenagers (and out of concern that the first teenager's heart will be broken, no less), it makes him the scourge of the earth. seriously, what is so wrong with telling keefe to let sophie and fitz be happy together. once again, alden is wrong in assuming sophie and fitz are or would be happy together but that does not make him manipulative.
again, this story is told from the perspective of a sixteen year old boy with unrequited feelings. he does not feel good upon hearing these words. that doesn't mean the person who said them is in the wrong or manipulating him somehow.
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important part!!!! alden once again references something that gives us a peek into his thought process: he lost both of the friendships that he had because of his feelings. he doesn't want keefe to also lose his friendships with fitz and sophie over his feelings!!!! keefe is not in the same situation that alden was in, but alden doesn't know that. he's once again wrong, not manipulative. he is trying to preserve keefe's relationships with sophie and fitz . . . what part of this is manipulative.
as for "there's only one way this ends", that was decidedly untrue and pretty shitty. but notice how after ro's comment (her only valid comment about this entire situation), he realizes he was wrong and says as much out loud. he literally admits that "only time will tell", negating his earlier statement and acknowledging that ro is right (this one time). once again, his perspective on the situation is incredibly skewed. this is why he's so insistent that there will be only one way this will end. but then, after he realizes that what he said is wrong and that actually, things can change and he is in fact talking about a group of teenagers, he concedes ro's point.
i'm going to say that again: unlike ro, alden actually concedes this point!!!! he actually admits that he was wrong and immediately walks it back. he does not "ship sophitz". he does not prioritize his son over keefe. he actually wants what's best for three teenagers he sees as his own children!!!! this is why he concedes the point to ro, that sophie (and keefe and fitz) is a teenager and may not know what she actually wants in life yet. because he cares what sophie wants. this is something i'd argue ro doesn't care about, but again. this is an alden defense rant, not a ro hate rant.
and he's right that it doesn't change where they are today and the situation they're currently in, which is still that sophie and fitz have reciprocated feelings for one another and keefe does not. any good friend would step back and not interfere in this situation. alden is literally just telling keefe to be a good friend, and from personal experience, too. what exactly is so wrong with this. please do enlighten me.
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alden then leaves, having said his part. he really does not want to stretch this out, either for keefe's benefit or his own discomfort with the conversation he was lowkey backed into by ro. it's also important to note that alden does leave the choice of whether or not keefe actually wants to come to the trial up to keefe himself. keefe is sad and emotional because his crush on sophie is the size of the sun. but that doesn't take away the validity of alden's statements (given his perspective). and he does it as gently as he can. it wasn't what keefe wanted to hear, and it made him uncomfortable, but in alden's defense he never intended to have this conversation in the first place. start yelling at ro instead of alden if you're annoyed by the fact that alden would want to have this conversation with a teenager. he actually did not.
. . . and the rest of this story is just ro trying to misinterpret everything alden said in the worst way possible. if i were to try to debunk everything she said, i'd just be repeating everything i already said over and over. i've already repeated myself a lot in this section. so we aren't going to do that. hopefully looking at the things alden actually said and breaking down why they are not shitty or manipulative, even unintentionally, will be enough. once again: alden is wrong about the reality of what's going on between sophie, keefe, and fitz, but given his perspective, it is not manipulative or invalid or even illogical for him to say any of the the things he said to keefe.
and the final thing i'll say is: ro is, to put it very bluntly, what you would get if you took a sokeefe pinterest fan and dropped them into the series, allowing them to interact with the characters themselves. one of the main things we know about her is that she is the sokeefe shipper. this is obviously going to tint how she sees anyone even suggesting sokeefe aren't perfect happy couple material. in this case, everything she says implies alden is the devil incarnate for telling keefe to not interfere with his friends' relationship, and out of personal experience, too. ro's otp is then (sort of, temporarily) ruined, and she deals with this by trying to manipulate keefe into thinking alden doesn't have his best interests in mind, because alden is getting in the way of her ship. thank you, ro. you've also managed to brainwash half this fandom into thinking the same, somehow. it's not true, but somehow that's the spin that's put on it.
i urge people to try to read this short story while blocking out everything ro says, and see if that changes your opinion on what alden is saying. because i genuinely feel that ro's presence in this story is a major contributing factor to why people are so eager to turn on alden. again, everything ro says is an opinion. everything alden says is just. what he says. so just try to listen to the words he actually says and leave ro the fuck out. it may actually improve your opinion of him.
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