#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.

[anonymous-kotlc-thoughts]

does anyone else love abilities like aaaa j need to see more of them in use like we've never seen Sophie's reaction to a phaser going through a wall I think

.

[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

[ohmygoly]

Okay I have this whole philosophy thing on the elements. You have the six, which are Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Light, and Shadow. These get split into two categories I call Celestial and Terrestial. Fire, Light, and Shadow are Celestial Elements. Fire belongs to the sun, Shadow to the moon, and Light to the stars. Terrestial elements belong to specific domains. Water belongs to the Sea, Earth belongs to the land, and Air belongs to the sky. I haven't thought about what the opposing forces must be in this system yet, if there are any. Light and Shadow seem intuitive but then the star and the moon would be opposites. Or, as I have also seen light and dark as the two sides of the moon, two sides of the same coin, thats what light and shadow could be in this framework.

It's actually kinda hard to say any triangle has an opposite, so what would their Terrestial opposites be instead? I consider that Shadow is the opposite of Water considering the push and pull of the moon and sea. That's pretty easy. I'm starting to think the sun should be Light (so that the daylight and the Earth can come together and symbolize land growth) and that the stars should be Fire (to symbolize the need for flame in dark, cold nights as well as to contrast the plasmic flame with lightning, or sky). This bothers me though because sun is so clearly fire to me and the rainbow-esque nature of light lends itself well to the broad range of stars. Anyways, this had something to do with KotLC, naturally.

I will say this again WHY ISN'T THERE AN EARTH ELEMENTAL ABILITY? I have been thinking up an OC that could potentially have more gnomish blood (still an elf) with some sort of Earthsong ability, like the tunneling thing a lot of the other species do or plant polyglot, or some sort of crystalline ability. The problem is, its incorporated into so many of the other species' abilities (gnomes sing to plants, dwarves mine crystals and stones, ogres are experts in biochemistry) that I'm sure its just repetitive and boring to have an elf ability as such but the asymmetry lowkey annoys me. And something interesting could be the case like literally growing things, or something with metal, or transmitting through crystals whether it be communication or travel or harnessing power.

I have considered gnomes are more closely related to elves than other species because of this earth thing. They are basically humanoid plants. Dwarves could be the second runner up of this. This could work if we follow evolutionary theory (which is already wack in this universe) but ALSO the source theory that says that all of their abilities are sourced from the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Maybe gnomes are the balance to elves, maybe the interconnectedness of their peoples as of right now is also symbolic of their biological closeness. Idk, I just want an earth element recognized. Why would elves even think of earth as an element if it's not even recognized? Remember the Greek Gods split the underworld, sky, and sea but kept the land everyone's domain, so this Earth could be less given to the elves as everybody wields this power. Idek.

Technopathy was something I potentially considered because technological inventions of the elves, especially in these primitive yet weirdly sci fi inventions, are closely tied to earthen materials like stone, wood, and metal (a little chinese element action ig lol). Linh reads the water and discovers it in the air. Marella reads the flame. Its heat, its color, its wildness. A technopath reads the materials of the world around them and creates something out of them. Earth is the element that best symbolizes growth, life, and creation in such an obvious way. What better ability to symbolize Earth than one that reads the earth and creates something out of its parts?

What even is this void thing? Before Sophie's teleportation there were conjurers, which have a connection to the void and the strings that connect the universe. I have put them in my own little category named "subelemental" alongside frosters, phasers (matter), vanishers (light-ish), psionipaths (plasma/light?), and chargers, but I think they could be important to Elysian. This whole void thing essentially lays this weird greater connection between everything that Elysian also kinda hints at being. Goodness, Elysian is so vague. They need to stop making seventh elements in fantasy. It's too much. Alas, there is and we must figure out what it is. I think it is closely related to whatever the heck is going on with conjurers and Sophie's teleportation but I'm also kinda making this up.

Each element kind of has an extreme. Flashers have the ability to control quintessence, which is light in its purest form, right? Shades can control shadowflux, a physical shadow that destroys. Pyrokinetics have everblaze, the purest embodiment of the wild and living flame. I figured "Bottles of Youth" are an example of the purest, most life-giving water but that it is simply more commonly used because its beneficial rather than destructive (like the Celestial elements are). So in that vain, what would be the beneficial, purest forms of Air, that Gusters could control, and Earth, which gnomes, dwarves, or technopaths could control, depending on which theory we're running with here? Is there no tainted form of Elysian or is the Elysian that Sophie meets the purest form? Is this "void" tainted or pure? Maybe Elysian is the general, tainted element and Void is the pure form of it.

No one is going to read this, I almost guarantee it, but idk maybe I'll update this myself with my own ideas or something. Figured I'd post it anyways and see what happens.

[crippling-pages]

in unraveled I’m hoping we get lots of flashbacks. Some from Keefe’s past sure but I NEED some of a few moments with the keeper crew that we saw from Sophie’s pov, and now in Keefe’s. Or some we never saw, a few wholesome moments that are portrayed at distant memories to Keefe. Maybe we’ll get his thoughts on everyone like Fitz or Marella or Tam.

really hoping to get some bittersweet stuff with Keefe and the crew

[bookwyrminspiration]

Unraveled: B&N Virtual Event Summary

There are no unraveled spoilers; since we're re-covering a period of time we've already seen, there are references to specific events in Stellarlune

Shannon Messenger was accompanied by B.B. Alston, author of Amari and the Night Brothers, who asked the questions

Enjoy! (Quil note: this might be one of the best ones, lads 👀)

Shannon has pre-release jitters. Even though she's done this so many times, she'll never not be nervous

It's a different book with a different POV. She's just as excited as she is panicked. "I contain multitudes!"

Why is this 9.5 instead of 10? Why a Keefe book? Is this part of a bigger story or just a fun bonus? It's a little of both. Keefe fans are gonna love a whole book about him, but Shannon never would have taken attention away from the main story if it wasn't essential for the series, since everyone's anxious for book 10.

Be patient! She's never written a 10 book series before. She's "trying to build a bridge while crossing it."

Keefe wasn't just eating human food having fun, though Shannon would've written 800 pages of snacking if she could.

What he got up to Shannon planned/outlined that it would all come out in book 9 when he was back, but, "No, Keefe is not ready to share these secrets. There's reasons why he's gonna keep this hidden."

"That's a problem for future Shannon!"

But then everything future Shannon tried with book 10 didn't quite work. This is Keefe's story, and KOTLC is limited to Sophie.

In order for Sophie to know, Keefe would have to sit down and talk it out with everyone, and he wasn't quite ready to do that when Shannon needed him to.

So, special 9.5! So we can live that time with Keefe, see what he does, where he goes, who he meets, what he uncovers.

This way readers will be much more familiar with it when we get to all that in book 10--for the first time ever, readers will actually know more than Sophie!

Shannon confirms we're getting Keefe's middle name--she debated with herself, thought about keeping that secret forever, but she wants there to be big pay-offs in Unraveled. And what book could be more perfect for this?

Was it hard to write from Keefe's POV? Usually his voice comes super easily, so Shannon was expecting it to be word-vomit. But throughout the book and especially at the beginning, he's not himself. Everything he's been through has changed him, made him afraid of himself, more quiet and reserved. How does she balance making this interesting when her jokester character won't talk!

It was interesting diving into his head to see where he's at and why he's acting different. And it was interesting flipping it--Sophie's a fish out of water in the Lost Cities, but this time Keefe's the fish!

She had to keep reminding herself all this stuff familiar to her is new to him. "Flaming Hot Cheetos??? Is that food...????"

How has Keefe changed the most since book 1? In some ways he's lost his confidence. He's discovered a lot that's made him question if he's good, if he's causing problems, if he's putting people at risk. In his head he's not nearly as much the casual, lighthearted guy he seems.

He's also matured. He really had to step up and say, "Okay, it's time to take action. I can't just goof around. I've got the fate of the world on my shoulders in some way too." He's also trying to protect his friends and feels very personally responsible. His burden is a lot heavier than it used to be.

What's his favorite part of the human world? He definitely enjoys the human pop culture. Seeing how humans depict elves, certain (not all) human foods.

Lot of fun for Shannon as a snacker, but he's vegetarian, which makes it harder. He can't have fried chicken--but not every scene is about food.

Any places Shannon knew she had to send Keefe? She prefers to write places she's been if possible; in fantasy, if you can get the real accurate, it makes the fantastical that much more believable. So she started with places she's been, but she hasn't been nearly enough to cover all this. So she included places she'd like to, places she knows other people have been so she can get details from them.

(itty bitty seriously small spoiler from Shannon) Keefe starts looking for libraries, so Shannon googled cool libraries and went down that rabbit hole.

Keefe's been crushing on Sophie since the moment they met. What's does he like the most about her? (Lot of hearts in chat). "Keefe appreciates that Sophie is such a different perspective. He really sees that she doesn’t necessarily see herself accurately, but he understands her. He can see why she’s harder on herself with her upbringing, the bad thoughts she heard. He realized she doesn’t always understand herself."

He’s also really impressed by how brave and strong she is, and how she’s willing to risk her life and do the thing when everyone's like Sophie don't do the thing! And she’s like I must do the thing! Keefe thinks, “Wow can’t stop her from doing the thing!" It'd be great if she stopped ending up in the healing center, but he appreciates her for doing it despite the consequences. Admires her for it. He really wants to be worthy of how amazing he thinks she is. (More hearts in chat)

Can we confirm Keefe's POV of the kiss? Yes! Shannon almost wasn't able to do it. Unraveled was supposed to release November 12, but then her kids, "caught every possible virus they could possibly catch." Plus, publishing takes time, so they had to move it back. Those extra days allowed her to squeeze in the bonus story and she had a lot of fun writing it.

She knew she couldn't continue the book past when he leaves the human world, but she knew readers would really want it. She understands if you skip to the end to read it first--and there shouldn't be too many spoilers if you do, but she still recommends going from the beginning.

Why did it take Sophie and Keefe so long to get to the kiss? Did you know it would be in Stellarlune or did it happen naturally? Shannon tries not to pre-plan emotional things because it makes it feel forces. As the author she's in charge of the plot, not the emotions. Every time Sophie almost dies, that's her, but how Sophie feels about almost dying is all Sophie.

So anything emotional like this, Shannon's checking in with Sophie, and, "She really wasn't ready to see this was an option for her--she really was in the Great Foster Oblivion. She had no idea that Keefe liked her, and she wasn't the type to start developing feelings without having that piece of the puzzle. She genuinely thought Keefe was just teasing and was a flirt with everything. She didn't think it was something to take seriously."

She also had her eye on someone else for quite some time, so the story had to wait until Sophie was ready to take that step. Shannon discussed it with her editor a lot

Every week they have a zoom meeting to talk through the plot. They thought Stellarlune was probably the book for the kiss, but Shannon didn't know for sure until she got to that chapter. She's very proud of Sophie for being brave enough to take that step and bring the walls down.

The fact it took so long and tortured readers wasn't on purpose--"Torturing my readers is fun, but I wouldn't do it unnecessarily!"

It was interesting going back to write the kiss from Keefe's POV. She was worried as she did that though Sophie was ready for it now, what if Keefe wasn't? But, "then it was like oh, no, nope he’s on the same page." Keefe was screaming "FINALLY!!!" in his head.

How different is KOTLC now from how you first imagined it? The problem they're dealing with is fundamentally built into their world--it's not just an evil villain who decided to take over. "Multiple rebellions are going on because there are some fundamental injustices that have been ignored and ignored and ignored. And two groups have said enough is enough."

She always knew they'd have to reckon with this--in some ways they have, but there's more to come. But she also always leaves room for ideas to grow. Her first ideas aren't her best; they're too obvious. Now she's had a lot of time to think Keeper through.

Even still, she worries about doing it justice and, even with a plan, never knows for sure what will happen until she sits down to write it.

Shannon returned the question to B.B. He said the same thing--at a certain point as the story grows, you can really do so many more things, you have so many more villains. It builts the characters and relationships.

Shannon takes a moment to recommend B.B.'s series, Amari and the Night Brothers. She can't sing it's praise enough. "After you race through Unraveled, race through this!" There are 3 books out with 2 more to come. Maybe more.

10 books is a lot--how does Shannon do it? This is part of why she has those weekly zoom chats. But she's constantly going back to look things up, making lists of unanswered questions, listening to the audiobooks. It's all daunting. "It's all chaotic. Wonderful, glorious chaos. That's what I'm telling myself."

Readers are anxious to get back to Keefe and Fitz. How awkward would a conversation be now? Oh yeah. They've had to be around each other since all of that, but that haven't had to openly acknowledge it. But Shannon can feel the scene on the horizon and can't avoid it forever--though Keefe would love to. "Peace out!" Given Fitz's temper, Shannon fully expects there to be yelling, but sometimes he surprised her. We'll see once she gets there.

When Shannon gets too specific in outline, it sucks the life out of her story. She needs to know the rough order of the plot--this threat, then this thing, this this reveal. But the little emotional beats are more up to the characters. Talks this through with her editor too.

Can you tell us anything about book 10? Would love to be like it exists and it's coming out tomorrow! Sadly, still writing it and doesn't know the exact release date. She promises she'll get it to us as soon as she can. Obviously we left Stellarlune on a huge cliffhanger and Unraveled answers some questions but doesn't deal with it at all.

"Keefe's secrets...secrets do have a way of coming out." He can't hide them forever and it'll take something big to motivate him to come clean. "Wow, that's the most non-answer. I swear answers are coming!"

Is there any news on the movie? Earlier this year they announced Warner Brothers got the rights and Emma Watts is the producer. Currently Emma is working hard to get everything behind the scenes in a row to give the movie the best possible chance it has to get greenlit and made since it'll be so expensive.

Shannon thinks this team is one of their best shots at it happening. There's still a bit of finger crossing, but it anyone can make it work, it's Emma Watts.

Shannon is NOT writing the screen play. She's got book 10 to write, plus she doesn't think she can be objective about the changes that'd need to be made to adapt it. She's too attached. She wants to give input and suggestions, but wants something with more screenwriting expertise and distance from the story.

B.B. doesn't want to write his screenplay either--it's a totally different skill.

What's your best advice for new writers? Ooh, okay. 9 times out of 10 when a young writers asks for advice, Shannon asks "Have you written your book yet?" And the answer is no. They're just thinking about writing a book. So her advice: focus on writing! Finish that book! You can't be a writer unless you write! Then revise and revise and revise. "The work is not done when you get to the end."

When you have the best book you could possibly have, then think about next steps and publishing. But for now...write!

Shannon returned the question to B.B., who says to read widely. Read as much as you can to build up your story skills. Find what you like. As KOTLC readers, we've seen in the story how to develop characters and plots and arcs.

He also says don't put pressure on yourself. Write for the fun of writing, so even if it never goes anywhere, you still have something you're proud of.

"Once it's a job it's a job. It's different."

Shannon doesn't find books on writing helpful for her; they're procrastination. Instead she reads and asks herself what's working and why--why am I enjoying this so much?

She learned the most from books she didn't like. She asked herself why she wasn't into it--which doesn't mean there was anything wrong with it. It was personal preference, which helped her find her writing voice. She likes a lot of dialogue, a lot of humor, cliffhangers, etc.

School may ask you to read things you don't like; as a writer, take it as an opportunity to pick it apart and find out why.

How do you come up with character names? Baby name books. By the time she had to name her own kids, she was already an expert. She likes names to match the character.

Sophie was going to be named Alexandra because it means helped and defender of mankind, but it was too on the nose. She wasn't an Alex, or Alexis, or even an Alexandra

Sophie means wisdom, which is what she gives to her world. "No pressure, right?"

Fitz is from Fitzroy, which means son of the king, and his family is almost like royalty.

"Keefe means handsome. *shrugs* So. Obvious there." The book she got it from said "good-looking one" specifically.

It's the same for B.B. He likes to look at the year the character was born and what was popular, too. Amari means inner strength, and a big part of her story is learning she's more than where she's from and to believe in herself

How does it feel to write from a new POV? Would we maybe get a Fitz book? Shannon's learned to never say never. The story could throw her another curve ball, she might do a short story in his POV. If the story dictates she needs to step into anyone else's shoes, she will. "I've gotten this far by trusting the story."

Who was Shannon's favorite author/book when she was 12? Shannon grew up before the big children's media boom, she she didn't have a lot of options. She did like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

"You have no idea how lucky you are there's so many great stories out there. Different POVs, more characters that look like more people--though still need more work on that front."

For B.B., he was a huge fan of Charlie and the Chocolate factory--but he also didn't have much to pick from.

When Shannon was around 12, she also fell out of love with reading. She had a 7th grade teacher who was very strict about reading "at your level." And she decided Shannon was at college level, so kept giving her older books like Crime and Punishment, Little Women, etc.

While Shannon appreciates the classics, they weren't what she wanted to read, and it turned it into a chore. She went from a kid who took stacks home from the library to someone who only read if it was an assignment. (Shocked faces in chat).

Shannon firmly believes in letting your kids read what they want. That doesn't mean don't encourage them to broaden their horizons, but don't take away things they love. That's how you kill someone's love of reading.

B.B. gives props to Shannon for the female main character; it's one of the reasons Amari can exists--"well Shannon did it and it worked."

Shannon's very glad Amari exists. Keeper got a lot of rejections with coded wording that made it very clear female main characters were not as marketable as boy heroes. And she wasn't an instant success--it took about 5 books to gain momentum, and a lot of that was teachers, librarians, book sellers, and the kids themselves telling their friends to read it.

Any info on the graphic novel? Part 2 is definitely coming and in the works, it just takes time. She's seen some tentative cover sketches, might see more soon, and is very excited.

Team Fitz or Team Keefe? Even though Shannon's written a whole book from Keefe's POV *she holds it up backwards, then upside down, then gets it right* and has a Keefe cutout in the corner *moves the camera so we can see him--he was gonna be in the background but it looked creepy*, she truly is Team Sophie. If she ever got a tattoo, it's say Team Sophie. But she's terrified of needles so never will.

People think they kissed so it's settled, right? "Well, the series isn't done yet. Sophie could change her mind." This goes back to what Shannon talked about with letting the characters dictate the emotions.

What first inspired Keeper? A lot of things. Hilariously, it started as a short story. Epic fail--she's what, 8,000 pages into her short story? She was working on a different book and got stuck, so decided to get to know a side character.

The side character she chose was Fitz. For some reason, she doesn't know why, the plot was he'd meet a little girl and realize she was an elf.

But "Guess what, you're an elf!" was a terrible ending and she couldn't stop thinking about it. What happened to that little girl? How could she not know she was an elf? Why would they hide her?

A few weeks later she knew "yeah, I gotta switch books." She couldn't get it out of her head, but it was daunting because she knew it would be a massive project. But that little girl would not go away.

What was the inspiration for Amari? Doing pre-med stuff is long and boring, so he was looking for something fun. He thought about Men in Black and what if there were supernatural creatures living amongst us. He was working on the world and one day Amari popped into existence.

Has Shannon ever made the Keeper recipes and what's her family's favorite? Shannon actually developed the recipes herself, which wasn't something she ever thought she'd have to do. It took a lot of baking fails, but her favorite is anything mallowmelt--but she always warns people it's SO sweet. Good, but a few bites is enough sugar for a week.

Planning any non-Keeper series? Shannon doesn't know what she'll do once she's done with KOTLC. She'll definitely keep writing because she loves telling stories, but she's so immersed in Keeper all her other ideas are on the back burner.

B.B. thanks Shannon for being so inspirational with her work and how she interacts with her fans--he learned a lot from her. Shannon says B.B.'s always one of the top people she loves to do events with.

Once again, she is begging everyone to read Amari and the Night Brothers. "Please, please, please read them! Oh and I guess read Unraveled too. *accidentally holds it upside down again*"

“Tomorrow it's out in the world. Thank you for your faith in me and I can't wait for you to learn all of Keefe's secrets. It's gonna be an adventure.”

[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.

[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!

[lotusishere]

I will never understand how elves don’t use their powers. How are you grant the opportunity to have an ability and be given natural abilities as well…and you’re ass? It’s diabolical. For example, why does nobody actually test out the true capacity or abilities? Why is everyone so focused on what specific way instead of testing it out to see if they could do other things? They train their telekinesis yet I never see them use it. Bronte’s old ass didn’t even know he could inflict positive emotions and he’s so old that his nonexistent wrinkles have wrinkles on wrinkles. He’s like a walking bald cat. For elves to claim they’re superior in their ways and understanding. I’m not seeing a lot of understanding.