#and edaline

[iggydancebreak]

i hate cassius but i need a whole book on this man he is too interesting

[lesson-in-ruthlessness]

ive said this once and i will say it again, grady is the most nuanced character in KOTLC. Purely from just how he is written in canon- there is so much we can draw from his character with little inference.

On the one hand, you have a walking tragedy: he manifested one of the rarest and most dangerous abilities in the lost cities at a young age, he lost his daughter to her fiance, (if we're talking theory, he may have been in the neverseen), you can't help but feel sympathy for him.

But then- you realize something terrifying.

Gisela and Vespera are right.

Grady is the most ruthless elf in the lost cities.

But he's also one of the kindest.

Despite the danger it poses, he and Edaline adopt the Moonlark, they put themselves at risk. Despite everything been through, they willingly give their love to a girl who needs it. That is one of the kindest acts someone can pull off.

However, as alluded to earlier, there's another side to him. Despite how concerned, kind, and thoughtful he is; he is also vengeful, impulsive, and distrusting.

Let's look at Everblaze again. Partially because it's the best example of his darker nature, partially because I have it on hand right now, partially because it is my favorite book in the series.

In Everblaze, Grady's vengeance and impulse is seen in full. Take King DImitar, for an example. Sophie was going to be taken away; and Grady jumped in. He believed it to be the right thing to do; and believe me it was, but there is a dark tone to it. A feeling of impulse; that he wasn't truly thinking at the moment. And he almost violated the treaty, if it wasn't for the Councillors coming to his defense.

This scene serves as subtle foreshadowing for later and sets up something very important about Grady:

He could kill someone if he wanted to. And he knows that.

But what could push him that far? Well, there is an answer to that, an answer we later find out:

Jolie's death.

When he finds out the true circumstances to Jolie's untimely demise, his sheer ruthlessness is demonstrated. There's a deeper level to this however, it is his underlying fear of being taken advantage of showing to its surface.

Brant took advantage of Grady and Edaline, and that is the biggest injustice to Grady. Because it's what he has been fearing, it's why he had closed himself off to the world.

That fear causes the sheer level of terror that is caused in Grady. Terror that builds into his impulses, which causes him to go out to find Brant, with intent to kill.

That's why he doesn't want Sophie to come with, he doesn't want his daughter to see the monster he was about to become.

The monster he believes himself to be.

It's not just Everblaze, but a feeling that permeates his character and his choices.

His distrust of Keefe stems from two things:

The similarities he sees between himself and Keefe (the sense of humor, the blond hair, and later in the books; the ability of control).

How that, in a way, is all Grady has ever known.

Elves manifest young. Meaning that he has spent a majority of his life being distrusted by his peers, as well as distrusting the world and fearing someone would take advantage of him.

So when there's a talented but terrified young kid that needs his helps; whether through adoption or through training, he obligies.

Why?

Because he sees himself so much in that situation. Because of that deep feeling of kinship, he feels a need to take care of people in that situation.

Grady's empathy trumps his distrust.

And that's why he starts helping Keefe. That's why he adopts Sophie.

tl;dr: grady's character absolutely FUCKS why does no one talk about this???

also he is hotter than hell and i will fight people on this

[crescentpaws]

it would be wizard of you to draw edaline she doesnt have enough fanart

edaline ruewen the woman that you are

[telugu-girl-13]

dear sophie haters and that one stupid anonymous confession post:

[alwaysakookie]

I finally finished the kotlc poll drawing!!!! I love these guys so so much💗

I even learn rendering for it (At least I tried)

Ignore how I drew the hands mkay 🫣

[timelessdoodling]

I am a simple woman. I see a pretty dress on Pinterest, and I draw Edaline Ruewen on it.

[castleofravens]

grady and edaline are probably terrified at the idea of sophie dating because their other daughter was killed by her partner, like yeah they know all of sophie’s friends but they thought they knew brant too

[art-isnt-arting]

Sophie is the gun.

They both reached for the gun.

The Black Swan and the Neverseen.

The Vackers and the Ruewens.

Mr. Forkle and Lady Gisela.

Fitz and Keefe.

Jolie and Amy.

Edaline and Oralie.

Foxfire and Exillium.

The Collective and the Council.

The Lost Cities and the Forbidden Cities.

They all reached for the gun.

[mallowmelt-down]

I really wish that Sophie was a pyrokinetic because the plot has SO much potential.

The Ruewens would have to get over their fear of fire and anger towards pyrokinetics (imagine them finding Sophie asleep while engulfed in flames and all they can think of is Jolie). Sophie would need to get over her own trauma with fire because of her kidnapping and seek training from the Neverseen with Brant and Fintan (pre-Lodestar). Dex would need to face his own trauma as well because he wants to be there for his best friend. Fitz would have to face the fact that Sophie was a bad match for him and they might lose the ability to be cognates. If she got the ability later, the Council might have kicked her off of Team Valiant or reconsidered the ability restricter. Oralie would have to address her anger towards pyrokinetics and trauma from Kenric’s death while trying to support her daughter. Sophie would also gain an interesting perspective from having the most hated ability and possibly start to understand the Neverseen, especially Fintan given his backstory, a little better (which would terrify her.) Bonus points if the ability was an accident and the Black Swan didn’t plan for it.

The pure angst of it all would have been so cool to read.

[daydream-draws]

ok more yuri mirror angst coming right up i say to a room of nobody

[clarissaweasley-10]

Alright so l saw a few people on the internet saying that Sophie Foster is a pick me because she doesn't like make up ,gowns,or anything figuratively feminine.STOPP.I am on full fledged mamma bear mode.Because,pick me is a term used to describe someone,a girl in most cases (i think)who puts down other girls or claims that she is different, to get more attention(from guys.)And Sophie Foster is nothing like that.Sure she doesn't like to wear gowns because she doesn't feel comfortable in them.And come on if you have to wear a 3-5kg gown everyday,every hour of the day,then you would be uncomfortable too.The other elves in the series don't mind it that much because they have always lived like that,and those who feel uncomfortable switch to tunics like Sophie did,and there is nothing wrong with that.You should wear what you are comfortable in.About accessories and makeup,it's clearly stated that Sophie hates make up and fancy accessories(dramatic pause) because she doesn't want to stand out.Sophie has always been uncomfortable with attention (till the last two books)and just wants to blend in with the crowd.She doesn't like the attention that comes with dressing up, because she doesn't want to stand out.And another thing,Sophie never criticised other girls for dressing up.She never put them down to get attention.Like she doesn't think it's WRONG to dress up or attract the crowd.For example,Sophie has always admired Biana for her fashion sense and beauty tho they both have very different styles.Sophie respects Biana's fashion and doesn't judge her for being girly nor does she EVER compare herself to other girls in a narcissistic manner to prove how different she is from "other girls."She is NOT a pick me and DOES NOT give "l'm not like these other girls at all" vibes.Thank you.

[fintan-pyren]

You flit up from the caves, search for the older elves. You screech, circle around their heads, nip at their hands. Follow me, you want to tell them, but they only look at you in confusion, gently bat you away.

When they finally understand and follow you to the cave where the black-cloaked ones took her, a wave of horror rushes through you. It's destroyed, all evidence of her fate swept away by the waves.

You are the only one left who knows what happened to her.

They mourn her. Go to her room and pluck a hair from her brush. Plant a wanderling for her. You bite and screech, trying to make them understand, but they only shake their heads sadly. He doesn't realize she's gone, one of them says. He doesn't understand what's happened. He's looking for her.

She's still alive, you want to tell them, but you don't know the words. You don't know how to make them realize what's happened. You don't know how to make them understand that she needs their help.

Only you can save her, and you don't know how.

Her scent is already fading from her pillow.

[lesson-in-ruthlessness]

thinking about jolie being a conjurer like her mom, thinking about the relief in the family when she inherited her mother's ability. thinking about how grady sees his ability as a curse and was probably happy it wasnt a family curse. thinking about the ruewens.

[theunmappedstar]

Edaline: Are you getting enough sleep?

Sophie: Sometimes when I sneeze my eyes close.

[lotusishere]

Man I need someone to write a fanfiction of Sophie and her gang of delinquents to go back in time (somehow) and have them all meet their parents. I need to see Cassius be EXACTLY like Keefe and I need to read how he changes during the fanfiction because of the bullying he got from home and at school. Please and thank you.

[eli-urfav]

"Yk what ticks me off??? when I come home to my house and I look in the counter and see cinnamon buns that my daughter made last night with a note 'don't eat' ARE YOU KIDDING ME WHY CANT I EAT!?? this my house, this is my kitchen counter, these are my cinnamon buns, that's my seran wrap that you used to cover the cinnamon, that's my mamo pad that you used to make the note, that's my pen that used to write 'don't eat'!

IT GETS BETTER.

You open the refrigerator and they got their names on different foods 'this is Sophie's' 'this is keefe's' 'Grady do not eat this!!!' What am I? an animal!?? This is my house I can eat whatever I want , anything under this roof is mine.

YOU GOT THAT!?? When you get your own house ima come to your house, ima eat everything in sight and leave little post its 'LOOK WHAT GRADY ATE'"

-Grady