#ethan Benedict Wright the II

[purplesoup-lad-le]

ethan! no more 2023 keeper sexymen amen. 2023 women next! stay tuned i suppose

[nowjumpinthewater]

I love the bits about Ethan and Eleanor <33 I'm so curious what did Gisela want with them

if Eleanor isn't in book ten I'm going to RIOT

[bookwyrminspiration]

The name Wright appears to mean craftsman/machinery maker, and more specifically a woodworker so new question: why did Gisela need a carpenter. new chairs to spice up the neverseen hideouts? side note some interpretations of the name Ethan's meaning are "long-lived" and "safe". so. there's that

[camelspit]

Keeper Sexyman 2025:

Round 1

Tiergan Alenefar vs Grady Ruewen (Feb 11)

Barth the Reaper vs Yuri (Feb 12)

Boobrie Dude vs Mr Snuggles (Feb 13)

Coach Bora vs Councillor Emery (Feb 14)

Bo vs Watson (Feb 15)

Brant [REDACTED] vs Elwin Heslege (Feb 16)

Councillor Bronte vs Mr Forkle (Feb 17)

Cassius Sencen vs Blur (Feb 18)

Durand Redek vs Behnam Aria (Feb 19)

King Dimitar vs Iggy (Feb 20)

King Enki vs Woltzer (Feb 21)

Ethan Benedict Wright II vs Councillor Noland (Feb 22)

Fallon Vacker vs Jurek (Feb 23)

Fintan Pyren vs Gethen Ondsinn (Feb 24)

Councillor Kenric vs Kesler Dizznee (Feb 25)

Mr Sweeney vs Councillor Darek (Feb 26)

Quan Song vs Marty (Feb 27)

Quinlin Sonden vs Alden Vacker (Feb 28)

Ruy Ignis vs Wraith (Mar 1)

Sandor vs Alvar Vacker (Mar 2)

Cadfael vs Churro Guy (Mar 3)

Councillor Terik vs Trix (Mar 4)

Greyfell vs Prentice Endal (Mar 5)

William Foster vs Timkin Heks (Mar 6)

Bullhorn vs Jogger Guy (Mar 7)

Comeback Round (Mar 8)

[the-oracle-at-delphinitely-not]

cus no one else is talking about this, I will

Ethan Benedict Wright II was an astrophysicist, which deals with the sun, moon, and stars. He was working on something about them and their light.

And what are the three key sources in the lost cities? Sunlight, moonlight, and starlight

HELLO????

[alaydabug2]

@myfairkatiecat Ik I said I didn't post on tumblr....BUT I DO NOW

Ok so to go more in depth of the theory about Keefe's mind shattering

Here you can see the different ways people can shatter

"But some turn erratic and reckless."

SHANNON

Who does that sound like to you

Furthermore, Keefe didn't really start becoming reckless until he found out about his mom

Yeah sure he ditched class and was a trouble maker, but he never really did anything to crazy until his mom

In neverseen alone he covered his room in paper scraps, took fathomlethes (which I believe are an elf version of drugs, but that's for another time to deep dive), tried to run off to ravagog on his own, and ran away to the neverseen

That's not even a book finding out about his mother

I also believe that his minds is slowly shattering bit by bit like Alden and has come extremely close several times

Also in neverseen when he had to be sedated for 24 hours because he was in shock and kept replaying the recovered memory over and over, when in legacy his mom got away and he was shaking and yelling

There's probably more too but I can't think of it rn

I also think what will be the last straw

I think he actually killed Ethan Benedict Wright II and his daughter (sorry if the next bit sounds weird this was copy and pasted from my YouTube 😭)

Ok so

Keefe has been going numb in stellarlune

We're all aware of that

He's not acting himself

Going numb

Abilities not working

Just overall worrying behavior

AND Shannon said some major information is going to be unveiled in unraveled

Well Well Well

I've come up with something

What if Keefe DID actually kill Ethan and his daughter

Hear me out

Shannon said that she was going to try and fit the information in unraveled into stellarlune

But it didn't work out

Then in try for book 10

But didnt fit

Well in stellarlune we know the 2 humans WERE actually brought up

Could that have been Shannon trying to write in the information about them but didn't work?

But you're probably wondering how this means Keefe killed them

Stick with me

Almost there

Keefes memory of him delivering the letter was SHATTERED

Not washed

Shattered

That was the only memory (as of known so far) to be shattered

The rest got washed

Why go out of your way to shatter THAT specific memory when the others were washed

Like the one with Gisela was on the roof with Alvar

That wasn't anything he needed to remember later

But why treat it different

Also

Gisela was talking like Keefe had something to do with their death

(Could've been manipulation tactic and it probably was but still)

Keefe had also visited their graves and asked about them

Confirmed stuff about them WILL be in unraveled

He wasn't acting himself in stellarlune

Yes he wasn't acting himself in unlocked either

And also yes he's been going numb and that absolutely will contribute to that

But idk

It just seems like there's more to it than JUST that

And THAT would definitely mess someone up

AND I'm already pretty sure his mind will shatter in book ten

So that could be the tipping point for it to do so

AND Shannon said this is game changing news

That definitely would be COMPLETELY plot changing and everything

And it would make sense why we'd need to see this revelation through his pov rather than in Sophie's just being told

Even if Keefe didn't kill them himself

But more so he had a more direct role in their murders than previously thought

So what do yall think of this

[isolde-illustrates]

The Sencens and the Motif of Light

I think it's cool how Gisela and Cassius are both in awe of light. Cassius wants to capture its essence while Gisela wants to find potential in the energy of starlight. While a photographic memory is not from the stars, it is cool that Keefe has a memory that can store the idea of what light looked like, capturing its essence while Gisela has quite literally done that with various lights and put that inside of him.

Light is such an interesting motif that Shannon Messenger uses throughout the books, and she likes to contrast the "darkness is bad" claim with the counter that light destroys everything it touches, changing whatever it grasps. The family that is seen as villainous is surrounded with the motif of light. That's super cool to me as it directly contrasts the view of light in The Lord of the Rings, which is confirmed inspiration for the series. She shows us what we expect, then reveal through imagery and character development that the opposite is reality.

This style in her writing follows the entire premise of the first book. Humans learned the wrong way; the opposite is true. That concept is highlighted by the idea that light is bad and darkness is good. Tam mentions that darkness exists without light but that light only redirects darkness through its cast shadows.

The scene where Team Regent and the Council visit the Point of Purity shows the prime sources as sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. The first two are like regular light and not my focus. Starlight is a small light able to be drawn upon. That sounds similar to Sophie's various pools of energy. What if the basis of the elves' powers, as well as the other species' skills, was light from the prime sources? This could be something that is already mentioned in the books that I just glossed over, but every one of their abilties could be from those pools of energy.

Most come from either sunlight or moonlight. Only Ancients have ever learned about the pool of starlight energy, but it was considered dangerous, so the Ancients destroyed the maps of the stars, keeping the Unmappable stars in the hands of the Council only. Oralie would be the only way that Forkle could ever learn the locations of these stars. Fintan was a Councillor. That's how Gisela would have gotten the locations, if not through her husband's work before destroying his memory of the event. With the knowledge of these stars, Forkle taught Sophie's mind how to find that pool, but she could only tap into a small part of it, having access to less starlight. With Keefe having gotten light inside him, he became more susceptible to small fluctuations and subconsciously learned how to find the large pool of starlight energy.

Sophie consciously found the energy like Ancients did, but Keefe found it without trying because the light became embedded in him. In Unraveled, Keefe learns that Ethan Benedict Wright II had access to the list of Unmapped stars (correct me if I'm wrong). Gisela could have been trying to get everything in order for the events of Stellarlune to occur much earlier, before Sophie even showed up. Ethan's refusal set her back a few years, leaving her to deal with a teenage boy instead of a child who would lean on his mother as he did when his father got mad at him.

Gisela lost the leverage of a child following his mother, causing a change in her plans, but her end goal is likely to use that power on herself. Keefe is a safe test subject, and because she helped create the child, she does not see that as a problem of consent since she is his mother and that goes beyond consent in her mind. My theory is that she will likely go through a similar process herself once she knows that the experiment was successful enough in Keefe.

That last part is mainly just my speculation, but I think the idea with the prime sources is pretty accurate based off what has been confirmed in the books and is realistic for Shannon Messenger to include in her book series.

I could write an entire essay on his family crest alone, but basically, the candle in the middle reflects the light inside of him and the hands are like each of his parents, trying to mold his potential into what they want.

[myfairkatiecat]

Oh I was reading Unraveled and my brain took the weirdest tangent at one of Keefe’s early research about Ethan Wright Benedict II.

It went into a spiral wondering what was Mr Benedict first name into TMBS. And despite trying to get it to think something else, it won’t stop till I have an answer

OH MY GOSH

it's ethan benedict wright II

but literally what if

literally what if he was dr curtain or something BECAUSE LIKE HE'S A SCIENTIST AND EVERYTHING IT CHECKS OUT

[probeofthelostcities]

I'm starting reread #6 of kotlc tomorrow! Here's a list of the things I'm going to keep an eye out for and takes notes on. Hopefully i'll be able to figure out why prentice called swansong, what the lodestar initiative is, what Elysian is, and/or what phase 3 of stellarlune is. If anyone has anything else they think I should look out for, please tell me.

Origins of nightfall

Criterion

Architype

History of Vespera

History of the neverseen

Plans in each book

Differing goals of Vespera, Fintan, Gisella, Brant

The elements

Quintessence

Shadowflux

Prime sources

Stellalune

Magsideon

Ethertine

What is the lodestar initiative

Connection to the lodestar symbol?

Why did prentice call swan song

Kenric

Elysian

Information about the original council

Vackar legacy

Ethan Benedict Wright II

Caprice Redek

[squishmallow36]

It's kind of funny that Ethan Benedict Wright II has a green door because that's the colour of death and well. He dead.

[geneticallymodifiedidiot]

I feel like parallels could be drawn between Phillip McCaffrey from TOA and Ethan Benedict Wright II from KotLC

will elaborate when I’m home

[fintan-pyren]

Found the post. Lacking some info, unfortunately. We've also learned:

Keefe is a polyglot, and has an ability that allows him to a) detect and likely trigger people's abilities and b) control people with his voice, which he can't control when he gets overwhelmed or upset. This causes him to run away to the Forbidden Cities.

Sophie and her friends find him because Umber left traces of shadowflux in his heart so the Neverseen could track him. This causes a "ripple" that can be detected by a modified spyball twice a day, at 11am and 11pm.

Stellarlune has a third step that has not occurred yet. This is believed to be connected to Elysian.

Elysian is a person/being, and the name of an island surrounded by rivers, which Gisela is trying to find. They find a map of Elysian in Kenric's cache, which the Black Swan also has a copy of, which they found in an old Neverseen hideout. Kenric found the place by following a string of clues including "whispering rapids" and "butterflies kissed with red".

Gisela believes that the Ancient Council prevented elves from accessing some of the most potent sources of power—Elysian, the Unmapped Stars, ethertine, magsidian, and a secret seventh element. She believes that these power sources can be used to unlock someone's full potential, which is the aim of Stellarlune.

Elysian, the island, contains a type of rock that can be used to harness the power of the seventh element.

This stone seems to be able to function as an explosive device.

The seventh element can be accessed at Elysian when the Unmapped stars align, which is called Nightfall. This is represented by the symbol on the letter that Keefe delivered to Ethan Benedict Wright II.

Elysian can be accessed by starstones. Gisela commissioned a starstone from Cyrah that leads to Elysian, but Cyrah hid it in a hair comb and sold it to Alden and Biana, seemingly wanting specifically for it to end up in the hands of a Vacker.

Elysian is hidden by an illusion created by Vespera. Dropping this illusion reveals the strange rocks. There is a second illusion that can be revealed by burning noxflares with colored flames in a specific order, including a blue flame extracted from the strange rocks (which is what Fintan seems to be referring to when he burns the noxflares and repeats "something's missing"). This reveals curved walls made of stained glass panels surrounding Elysian.

Elysian, the person, has the power to shut down other people's abilities.

They suspect that Cadfael is planning to overthrow King Dimitar, but also speculate about the possibility that he's searching for Elysian, as he mentions a river. Ro leaves early in Stellarlune to hunt down Cadfael, and is not heard from for the remainder of the book.

A summary of what we know about Stellarlune:

It's the treatment Gisela used to give Keefe his ability

She started the project involving Stellarlune before she joined the Neverseen

It uses the elements to bring out someone's full potential

Before conceiving Keefe, Gisela and Cassius drank what is believed to be quintessence from the five unmapped stars.

There are also two bottles of shadowflux involved, but it's unknown whether they've drunk these already

Gisela places Keefe on a throne of magsidian (stone made from shadowflux) with a crown of ethertine (stone made from quintessence), which she has Tam and Glimmer dissolve with bolts of light and shadowflux

This causes the stone to melt into sludge and coat Keefe, exposing him to large amounts of shadows and light and causing him to manifest his new ability

The ability that this gave Keefe is the foundation of Gisela's entire plan

We do not know what this plan is yet

Kenric was investigating Stellarlune sometime before Sophie was discovered

The memory in Oralie's cache reveals that Kenric had Oralie ask Fintan what he knew about Stellarlune, but Fintan didn't know anything about it.

Stellarlune is connected to something called Elysian.

We don't know what Elysian is, but we know that Kenric felt a lot of fear about it

It's been suggested that Vespera and Gethen may have intentionally tried to sabotage this plan and let Gisela be captured

[stellar-lune]

this seems kinda random, but here’s my theory on why marella looks very sleep deprived on the stellarlune cover:

i know there are theories that her dad, durand is trix from the neverseen since they’re the only canon male gusters, and i’m starting to believe it now! here’s why:

-caprise fell off a balcony “from drinking too much fizzleberry wine” and got what is presumably brain damage? from it, her emotions may have been the thing affected most from the fall since she might be an empath (i swore that was canon, but it’s no longer in her wiki?)

-durand is a guster, meaning he controls the wind. if he was trix, he reasonably could have used the wind to push her off the balcony. but why would he do that, you may ask?

-the answer: because she saw cyrah get killed, and probably knew too much about the neverseen (maybe even finding out that he’s a member)

-and to add to this, with the assumption that trix and umber are close that keefe made during his time with the neverseen, he may have had an affair with umber (though i’m not sure shannon would include that sort of thing in keeper)

-for reference, i have a personal theory that glimmer is umber’s daughter, umber and gisela worked on project lodestar together, and ethan benedict wright ii was a human geneticist whom the neverseen sought help from. in turn, he took in “eleanor wright”, aka glimmer.

-in the bus “accident” where he and eleanor died, trix was the one who made the bus hit them (or appear to hit both of them, in glimmer’s case) using the wind again.

-finding out a lot of overwhelming neverseen and family related information seems like a reasonable reason for not being able to sleep, and it’s likely that caprise was able to somehow tell them some of this info, keeping marella up.

[camelspit]

Keeper Sexymen 2025: Artist Portrait Signups

The Sexyman Contest is back for its 3rd year! Each year, artists sign up to make portraits of all of the men for the Keeper Sexymen Contest. This form will be open from Nov 21 - Nov 29, and I'll release the portrait assignments on the 30th. You will have until Feb 9 to complete the portraits and turn them in!

(alphabetized) List of men + Info about portrait submissions and rules below the cut! If you have any questions, feel free to message me :).

Alden Vacker

Alvar Vacker

Barth the Reaper

Behnam Aria

Blur

Boobrie Dude

Coach Bora

Bo

Brant [REDACTED]

Councillor Bronte

Bullhorn

Cadfael

Cassius Sencen

Councillor Darek

King Dimitar

Durand Redek

Elwin Heslege

Councillor Emery

King Enki

Ethan Benedict Wright II

Fallon Vacker

Fintan Pyren

Gethen Ondsinn

Grady Ruewen

Greyfell

Iggy

Jurek

Councillor Kenric

Kesler Dizznee

Marty

Mr Forkle

Mr Snuggles

Mr Sweeney

Councillor Noland

Prentice Endal

Quan Song

Quinlin Sonden

Ruy Ignis

Sandor

Councillor Terik

Tiergan Alenefar

Timkin Heks

Trix

Watson

William Foster

Woltzer

Wraith

Yuri

When you finish your portraits, you can post them and tag me in them and/or message them directly to me! The choice is yours <3 as long as I get them sometime before or on Feb 9. If you think your submission might be late or you need to drop out, please message me as soon as possible!

RULES:

I dont care how big it is but please use a SQUARE canvas. This makes the posts a lot easier to format <3

Portrait is a broad term- you can draw however much of the man you want in whatever post you want, whether it be full body or just the head

It does not have to be entirely canon accurate! You can add your own hcs (ex. poc vackers), it just has to be identifiable as the character

Have fun!!!

[theunmappedstar]

the Neverseen could recruit any human they want...

and they chose Ethan Benedict Wright II

[camelspit]

Keeper Sexymen 2025 - Portrait Pairings

Ty to everyone who signed up!! I couldnt do this without all of you <3 reminder that you have to send me the portraits (either privately message them to me or post them and @ me) by Feb 9

@ambersongkotlcbean - Blur

@aurenflare - Alvar Vacker, Grady Ruewen, Councillor Darek

@bookwyrminspiration - Mr Snuggles, Watson, Prentice Endal, Yuri

@chaosboyincarnate - Ethan Benedict Wright II, King Enki, Barth the Reaper, Bo, Churro Guy, William Foster, Woltzer

@crescentpaws - Fintan Pyren

@darkrezhim - Fallon Vacker, Cassius Sencen

@eternal-everblaze - Councillor Kenric

@fintan-pyren - Iggy

@flori-doodles - Tiergan Alenefar

@friendlyneihborhoodpercussionist - Elwin Heslege

@hydroflxwers - Coach Bora, Wraith

@isolde-illustrates - Councillor Bronte, Jurek

@lemontarto - Gethen Ondsinn

@let-them-sing-of-others - Quinlin Sonden, Marty

@potatus-et-molassus - Kesler Dizznee, Mr Sweeney

@purplesoup-lad-le - Trix, Quan Song, Timkin Heks, King Dimitar, Sandor

@radishearts - Councillor Terik, Behnam Aria

@rattypants - Mr Forkle

@thefoxysnake - Cadfael, Ruy Ignis

@tw-5 - Brant [REDACTED], Councillor Emery, Councillor Noland

@theupsidedownguy - Alden Vacker, Greyfell

@yourloveisacurse - Boobrie Dude, Bullhorn

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN DOING A PORTRAIT, the list of men still available is below the cut! Just message me and lmk that you're interested! Information about the portraits is here

Durand Redek

William Foster

Woltzer