#Kotlc abilities

[eternal-everblaze]

imagine if you were both a pyrokinetic and a froster, the urge to do either temperature would be fighting each other. How would you satisfy both of them?

How my intrusive thoughts be on a daily basis

[blerpywatermelon]

"Omg if telepaths are so rare them why do we see so many telepaths in the book"

Sophie *is* a telepath. I'm sure if it was from Keefe's point of view, we'd see more Empaths, and if it was from Dex's point of view, we'd see more technopaths.

And none of the telepaths that Sophie interacts with are just random telepaths that she happens to stumble upon, either. All of the telepaths found her, not the other way around. In fact, almost all of the telepaths she knows are Vackers, or Black Swan and Neverseen members. And of course two Councillors were telepaths (Emery and Kenric), all of the Council members have rare abilities and/or can do something unique with their abilities.

There are probably at least millions of elves in the Lost Cities, right? So out of all of the telepaths Sophie's met, there are definitely more in the world, probability wise, there has to be. Even if there were 10 million elves in the Lost Cities, and 0.1% of them were telepaths, then there would have to be at least 1,000 telepaths in the world. That's a lot of telepaths!! But probability wise, it would still be considered a rare ability, and Sophie has met less than twenty of them.

[ohmygoly]

It is curious that for every other element there is an ability for it...water, fire, air, light, and shadows. But, there is no apparent elvin ability for Earth. I wonder why that is. Could technopathy be considered the ability to read and control physical matter, or Earth? Maybe it'd be better written that elves don't even view Earth as an element, it is just not something they believe culturally. Maybe they should believe Earth is the only true element because they don't have the ability to create it. Maybe they recognize that it is an element that was given to the gnomes by the sun, moon, and stars in the form of plants as the elves already have an immense amount of power. OR, what if the elves and gnomes are more closely related species than anyone originally thought?

[winwin17]

What if Jensi manifests as a Beguiler and his moment of climactic glory is beguiling all the villains to their own deaths?

[bookwyrminspiration]

i don’t know if you take them, but headcanons for mesmers in kotlc? because I feel like they’re not the most developed

I'm not very experienced with headcanons, but I can certainly try! This may just end up an assortment of details I would've included myself if it were my story. Some are already in line with canon, but not explicitly stated, so I'm saying them here

When mesmerising someone, one's mind is vulnerable and more susceptible to all other kinds of influence (beguilers, telepathic invasion, other mesmers, etc)

The more involved and intense the actions another is being mesmerized into doing, the more vulnerable the mind

(e.g., making someone slap themself once vs prolonged holding your hand in fire. also affected by number of people under control)

There is a finite amount of power one has, which can either be concentrated in one person's complex task, or spread out across multiple people as simpler tasks

This varies from person to person, and with practice you can increase your capability

There's a passive side effect to the ability that makes mesmers inherently more persuasive

This creates notable distrust in some, who constantly question their own conclusions and subtle actions in the presence of a mesmer (this is just canon but more relevant here)

More powerful mesmers can, with practice, utilize others' abilities effectively via mesmerising them

For example, mesmerizing a hydrokinetic and being able to use their hydrokinesis vicariously (this could be argued as existing in canon, but I'm making a distinction for no particular reason)

The more one practices with another's ability, the more skilled they become and the more they can use it (the benefits in one area also seep into all areas, making them more adaptable and skilled overall). This leads some to try and practice via trusted people repeatedly

However, the more time one spends mesmerizing one person, the more accustomed their mind becomes to it, and the harder it is to separate and break away

The adaptability and skill one gains in all regards of their personhood can come at the cost of the mental security of others, which can deter many from trying

I few of these are more canon than others, but I am very canon oriented so it's to be expected. I hope this is sufficient for your request, at least for now! I'm sure there's much more that could be explored or added, but these are the ideas I thought of first :)

[rayniscatstatue]

My friends have declared that I would be a Froster because of how cold my hands are. I have determined that they are all Pyrokentics with their warm hands being criminals

[art-isnt-arting]

WDYM FROSTER IS NOT AN ELEMENTAL ABILITY ??!?

MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE JULINE DIZZNEE ANGST NOW

hope the 7th element is ice/snow-

[unch4rtedwxters]

hey ny! if you could have a kotlc ability, what would you choose?

hey nova!

uhhhhhhhhh i can't choose between telepath and technopath.

they're both so cool and i'd love to have either one

[you-have-been-frizzled]

juline reminds me so much of pepa madrigal with her powers & the need of bury her emotions because of them-

where do you think i got the idea for Juline being so heavily emotionally connected to her ability from?

after i watched Encanto i was like “oooooh hehehe i can make Juline like Pepa” it also is canon as seen in Linh’s short story and Tam making the shadows larger when he’s mad so it’s fun to play around with

i also just thought it was neat, Mirabel and Bruno are my favorites though, i just liked Pepa’s gift

to me some elementals are more emotionally connected than others, having lower limits to how much they can hold in and how strong their emotions play into their control of their ability

[moonlarked]

Skill and abilities are objectively just as useful and powerful as each other but because abilities are only granted to some people skills are now “common” and abilities are used to fuel discrimination and elitism and form an unfair class system under the guise of “optimal genetics”

[ohmygoly]

This is how I think the elven abilities would be sorted into caste systems.

Note: There are other reasons for one's caste that would include education, banishment, government, loyalty, match status, other talents, etc etc. But if we base it all solely on abilities then this is from top caste to bottom caste:

The Rulers: Telepaths. They are the most utilized and most studied ability, simply because they are useful in so many ways. The most important families (like the Vackers) and the most important positions (like Head Councillors) are telepaths. The Council claims to have put restrictions on telepathy but in truth, the only telepaths that have to abide by those laws are the ones that aren't useful to the councillors. Everybody working in the administration gets let off the hook. I mean, to probe, wash, and break elf minds you can't be arrested for your criminal activity.

Noble Abilities: These are the abilities that are rarer and more powerful, and while some of that might be because elves are so strict about who everyone's allowed to marry and procreate with, the council doesn't want these abilities able to spread to common elves. They are best when controlled. Those abilities are: Inflictors, Mesmers, Beguilers, Vociferators, Descryers, and Chargers.

Elemental Abilities: These are the equivalent of upper middle class to lower upper class. They are like the barons and earls of the nobility. They're noble, but they aren't as important. They can be placed in higher positions of power though. And they are highly regulated, especially after the pyrokinesis ban, and they're very mistrusted. Naturally, these are: Hydrokinetics, Gusters, Shades, and Flashers.

Note: Any elves or elven families equivalent to human celebrities are in this caste as well, but for different reasons. The Song family and their music, sports teams, dancers, writers/researchers, etc.

Working Class: Technically, working class or "middle class" (it's obviously different because the elven system doesn't work the same but think of it that way). I say technically because this caste has the most mobility. They have useful abilities that can be paid money for but since their identity is less dependent on their ability, they're less restricted, and they can still come from noble families or make it into noble schools, they have the ability to range from just above the elven scum to political elites. Since there's so many though, the majority of them stay in the middle range, just outside of the nobility, or even get jobs that don't apply to their abilities. These abilities are: Psionipaths, Conjurers, Frosters, Phasers, Polyglots, Empaths, Enhancers, Technopaths, and Vanishers.

Note on Technopaths: Technopathy is the most common elven ability, and is the least valued. Even among common elves it is looked down upon and unless you are remarkably above average or invent something that benefits the society/council (lightleapers, registry pendants, caches, *ability restrictors*) you are invisible. The equivalent of having a surplus of teenagers looking to sell their mediocre art and naturally making nothing off of it, and they aren't as modern as humans and find less need for a bunch of techies to run a bunch of machines.

Slaves: Gnomes are basically slaves. They aren't paid, are forced to live with and serve the elves, and do nothing else. They are technically not an ability but they are part of society and higher than the Elven Scum caste so I put them here.

Elven Scum: Pyrokinetics and Talentless. They live in crowded cities, like Mysterium, and they only work for the poor. They have no chance of joining any sort of noble school or climbing the ranks because even if they were smart enough to get in, they have no ability in the eyes of the law and that makes them useless. They have nothing and live their lives getting dirty. This is the elven world so they still get things such as fountain of youth or whatever its called and other survival needs but otherwise they can barely live in furnished homes.

[inkcovens]

something that rlly annoys me is shannon being both aware of the fate of the "tech guy" character and then proceeding to do exactly that to dex lmao. like he LITERALLY says he doesn't want to be a technopath because he's going to be excluded from the action. how he's afraid he'll only be relevant when he's useful. and then!! thats exactly what happens in the plot!!

[rayniscatstatue]

hi ! headcannon wise I firmly believe (want) brant to be a Vacker. I also think it would be interesting if the formless were related to tam and linh given twins can like run in families genetically. If you could have any elven ability what would it be?

Brant could honestly be a Vacker, we don’t know. He could also be a Redek from Marella also being a Pyrokentic. But I believe that Shannon won’t tell us in the end. It just seems like a Shannon thing to do and not tell us Brant’s last name. None of his backstory or anything, just left the series getting to speculate. Possibly adding a spin off book with Brant and that is how we find out.

Twins running in families genetically could also hit Mai and Quan to shame. One of them must have a set of twins down the line. We just don’t know who. I would like to think it’s Quan because he seems so much more controlling. His family would hide that. It’s clear that if they did have another set of twin’s in the Song family it would be on Quan’s side.

I would want to either be a Froster or a Conjurer. My friends are convinced I would be a Froster because my hands are always so cold. I also think it would be cool to have my Elsa arc somewhere. Then Conjuring is just so helpful. Need a snack? Click your fingers. Need a bottle of youth? Click your fingers. Helpful.

Thank you for the ask!

[the-way-astray]

yeah, i never liked the fact that all of sophie's friends are abnormally powerful. besides the obvious ones (the main five), we have marella, who is above average in terms of showing restraint, linh, who maintains excellent control and flooded a whole city and saved another one, tam, who can control shadowflux, which only a small handful of shades can do, and maruca, who's able to create a more powerful kind of shield within just a few months of manifesting. wylie's the only one in the group who isn't weirdly above average for his age, though this could be because he's the only actual adult in the group.

i hate the fact that all of sophie's friends are so powerful. it really sucks, because it takes away chances for the characters to rely on their wits instead of their abilities all the time. or their skills! anything but their abilities. aren't elves supposed to be smart??? how come nobody ever uses that? why do they all have to be so ridiculously powerful? it's so annoying.

why is dex so powerful anyways? He's way too powerful for a technopath who just manifested a couple years or so ago and has had such little training and practice.

Most of Sophie's friends are too powerful, tbh. Biana figures out how to vanish from gnomes. Fitz is more powerful than almost any telepath. Even the more recent additions to their group are pretty powerful.

Perhaps Keefe's presence is affecting their abilities somehow.

[camelspit]

if i was dex i wouldntve forgiven the council the shit they did to him and sophie was RANCID

[unch4rtedwxters]

Heyyyy ny!!!

name ur top 3 dragon tribes, your favorite five KOTLC abilities, and your 5 favorite characters ever :)

hiya kate!

uhm

dragon tribes: silkwing, leafwing, rainwing. they're all just so pretty and cool and ack

kotlc abilities: telepath, empath, charger, shade, and pyrokinetic. i don't have anything to justify why i picked them. i really like them :D

5 favorite characters: why must you hurt me in this way (not in any particular order) commander percival (high class homos), keefe sencen (kotlc), emmett harrison (gifted clans), rocky (project hail mary), andddddd.................. charlie spring (osemanverse)

wow that was painful