#i want keefe to fail

[cavennmalore]

over the course of the series so many other characters give keefe a plot net/armor to catch him when his plans fail that i’m so excited for that not to exist in unraveled. let him make mistakes!! let him fail!! let him actually be smart enough to get himself out of those situations himself!!

[lucyshypemaster]

it actually hurts me to know that keefe will never be the same person he was in book 1

[synonymroll648]

committing. war crimes. against keefe rn LMAOOO I wrote a full chapter and it's all about him being like, really sad and then learning reasons to be sadder

(hint: it's his letter to cassius)

to reference your poll: STOP STOP HE'S ALREADY DEAD

[kale-of-the-forbidden-cities]

Just thinking about Fitz and Keefe. They're both so jealous of each other. It spiraled into more and more talking about fitz and vacker imperfections and stuff, enjoy :>

(I rambled out the draft on discord, but I did change a few things and add on a bit at the end, so if you feel like rereading it might make more sense now)

tw: breif mentions of ed, suicidal thoughts, and implied sh, but they're all like very brief and not descriptive just want to put a warning

Remember in Flashback when Sophie and Fitz were going all Fitzphie on Keefe's mind, and they found the memory of Alden telling Keefe he was proud?

Imagine it hurt so bad for Fitz when he watched that. Because Alden never says that to Fitz even when he came out on top, no matter how perfect he was, so why did Keefe get that kind of praise?

Keefe may have come out second to Fitz with Foxfire grades, but Fitz has always felt second to Keefe in everything. No matter how perfect he tries to be or how much of a people pleaser he is, it seems inevitable that everyone likes Keefe better anyway.

And how could they not? He's funny, he's messy, he's imperfect.

Fitz could never be like keefe. His family would hate him. But they still like Keefe better.

Alvar always liked Keefe better than his actual little brother. Even though Fitz looked up to Alvar more than anyone! He admitted that in Neverseen!

Alden told Keefe he was proud of him?? for coming in second? Even after all the studying and work Fitz put into being first, being top, being perfect, people always choose keefe, Which is one of the reasons Fitz was so insecure about Sophie spending a lot of time with Keefe while she and Fitz were dating, he was scared she was going to leave him for Keefe, like people always do, because he's just better. he's nicer, he doesn't lash out at people, he doesn't have as much pressure on him because he never cared about pleasing his parents.

AND SHE DID! Sophie did leave him for Keefe. Even though Fitz promised to take things at her pace. Even though he said he'd wait. But it was the match lists that ended up breaking them apart. But what was Fitz supposed to do?? Not care about the match? There had never been a Vacker bad match, and Fitz beign the first one, after everything Alvar did and how much all the Vackers already hate these five in particular, it would bring a whole new level of shame on the family. Not just him, but Biana and Alden and Della too.

Keefe is allowed to not care about this stuff, because he's not perfect. Fitz is so, so, so jealous of Keefe because he GETS TO BE IMPERFECT. HE'S ALLOWED TO MAKE MISTAKES. He's allowed to feel things.

Keefe's parents are awful, Fitz's parents are fine. Anytime Fitz dares to think "hey maybe my parents are manipulating or using me or putting unrealistic expectations on me" he also remembers that he has it GOOD. He's so lucky compared to everyone else. So he has no right to be upset about anything.

In Flashback, Fitz actually says something like this to Sophie: Sophie had to grow up with humans, Keefe has his whole thing with his parents, Dex was bullied for being the son of a bad match, Tam and Linh were banished… so he's had it easy! He has no right to feel sad when his life is just. so. perfect.

And the thing is, everyone thinks his life is perfect. Especially Keefe! Keefe is always talking about how the Vackers are perfect and lucky and he wishes he was one, when inside, Fitz would secretly rather be Keefe. Even with the whole everything with his parents, at least he doesnt have to be perfect! At least he's allowed to disappoint his parents, because theyre bad parents! And people always like him more. Without fail, Fitz has always felt second to Keefe. Every time he thinks he did good, people go to keefe for being imperfect.

Why did keefe get Alden's praise when he came out second in the level? Fitz barely slept to make sure he came out on top! If Fitz had gotten 98/100, he wouldn't be yelled at, but he'd get a disappointed talk. Why is it different with Keefe, who isnt even Alden's son, why does Alden like him more?

So Fitz ends up spiraling and obsessing more and more.

He can't be imperfect like Keefe, he wouldnt dare. So he does what he can to be as perfect as possible. Maybe he just needs to get a hold on his temper. Wait till he's behind closed doors to do anything but smile. Maybe he needs to eat less, get a perfect number on the scale. Maybe then he'll be good enough.

But he's never good enough.

Nothing he does will ever be good enough.

Keefe is reckless, imperfect, and messy. but even though Fitz does his best to not step a toe out of line, he does everything he can to be perfect...... They keep picking Keefe. without fail, no matter what.

Fitz knows he shohld accept defeat, accept that he'll never be good enough for anyone because of everything he's done to try to be perfect, but he can't stop trying.

He'll keep pushing himself, he'll stay up for hours studying, looking for clues about the Neverseen, going through Alvar's old room, he'll do ANYTHING for someone to say theyre proud of him. For someone to tell him that he did good, for once in his life, but they never notice.

It's never "Wow, you've been working so hard, good job!" or "You look good, did you lose weight?" or "Thanks for helping out, thanks for at least trying"

EVEN THOUGH HE DOES NOTHING BUT TRY. HE'S TRYING SO HARD

Instead, people are saying things like "You look awful, you've got bags under your eyes" (maybe he should put on some makeup to hide that) or "You never join us for dinner, it's like you hate us" (he does. he secretly hates his family so much) or "You've gotten so distant that you're ruining all your relationships with your friends and family" (what else is he supposed to do? they dont like him anyway)

He's driving himself insane over being perfect, only to have people like Sophie say that he's "too perfect." HE JUST CANT WIN!

He's not allowed to make mistakes, but maybe the worst mistake he made was being too perfect!

But how does he stop?

He can't. he trapped himself here. He's convinced he brought this on himself, but he cant get out of this cycle,

And nobody else will get him out,

Because he's not perfect enough.

If they havent noticed his struggling, maybe they dont care enough. But Fitz has gotten so good at hiding it. Nobody will notice until he passes out in the hall or just fucking kills himself because it's too much.

Fitz thinks, why is it that Keefe's allowed to be open about hating himself, and yet as soon as he makes the slightest self deprecating comment, he's suddenly "being dramatic" or "looking for attention"?

And we're back to talking about Keefe again.

None of this is Keefe's fault but he will still feel so so guilty. He felt Fitz's jealousy and hurt when they watched the memory of Alden saying he's proud of him.

Keefe and Fitz are constantly comparing themselves to each other, but by the end of the story, Keefe will be getting the help and support he needs to move on from it. Fitz never showed it and wouldnt dare admit it. So he does not.

Alden and Cassius both seem to prefer the other's son.

Even with Fitz and Biana. There's still a bit of jealousy there, because Biana is starting to seperate herself from her family, and start her own "Vacker Legacy," whatever that means.

After Nightfall, biana has grown more comfortable with herself, she is challenging what it means to be a Vacker, realizing that their family isn't all it's claimed to be. She has no shame in being her fun confident self, and crying when she needs to, and showing off her scars, while if Fitz showed his scars, he'd probably end up in a psych ward or something (or at the very least getting yelled at).

Fitz is jealous of Biana almost as much as he's jealous of keefe. She's never been quite perfect either, but it's always in a good way, isn't it? she's managed to keep her friends (not including the earlier books) and she used to be a bit of a jerk to people, so people can look back and see how far she's come.

Fitz has only gotten worse over the years, and he knows it. he hears what people say in the halls. their whispers hardly hide it. He's presented himself the way he wanted to be - perfect. But it gets harder and harder to hide his imperfections, and people only notice the bad things, don't they? They don't worry, they only judge.

Biana's probably dealing with her own issues, as everyone in the Vacker family does, but she can be more honest about it. She's starting to break the habit of plastering on a smile and saying everything's fine. She's working on her relationship with people. She's like reverse Fitz.

Fitz fears he's going down a similar path of destruction to Alvar, but he counters those fears by being Alden's perfect golden boy like he was always supposed to be. Alden has such a hold on Fitz, he'd do anything for him if Alden worded it right. Ever since he was a kid he always knew he'd do anything to please his parents, even if it was potentially dangerous. But nobody has seemed to even bat an eye when they hear how young Fitz was when he went to the Forbidden Cities. So he must be overreacting, right? Because how could Fitz's childhood be anything less than perfect?

See, when Sophie started learning a little bit about Fitz's past and how things were actually not perfect in the Vacker house, she started to ignore him more and more. She had her other reasons, but to Fitz, it seemed like she was seeing how imperfect he really was, and he's not everything she hoped for. So he panics, and does his best to prove to her that he is the perfect boyfriend she wanted, but it didn't matter anyway because... she. liked. Keefe. better.

And Fitz hates himself so much for wishing he was keefe because Keefe has it so bad with the legacy thing, he hates how he wishes his parents were worse so he didn't feel so guilty every time he made a mistake that would disappoint them.

Not one person in Fitz's life has ever chosen him first. With everyone. There's always someone they love more.

Della loves Biana more, Biana chooses her friends, Sophie chose Keefe, Keefe chose Sophie.

Alden seemed to favor Keefe, or his work, or even just the ways he uses Fitz instead of loving him as his son or as a person. Maybe that's why Fitz is so desperate to listen to Alden, to please him, because he's the only person who seems to even care, even if he only cares when he's doing good or being perfect.

Alvar would choose Biana or Keefe over Fitz any day, even before the betrayal. Fitz still looked up to him, despite his vague dislike for Fitz. He likes Biana better because he thinks she'd understand better what the Vacker legacy is, Because FITZ IS PART OF IT. HE'S ADDING ONTO IT, WHATEVER IT IS!

Yep that's all I have, feel free to add your own ideas :3

tags:

@fitz-avery-vacker @autistic-daydreamer

[saintmuses]

❝𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨❞

Pairing:

Jackson Rippner x Reader

Summary:

She had thought about calling him pathetic, but something shifted inside of her mind, and the word dissolved from her tongue. A little butterfly effect that changed their ending.

Warning(s): SMUT. Slightly dub-con at first. Teeth markings. Praise kink. Fingering. P in V. Enemies to lovers. Slight possessive!Jackson. Minors, dni! Note: this was inspired by the scene where Jackson held Lisa against the wall before throwing her down the stairs. Plus I have a thing for Jackson’s biting kink 🌝.

Word Count: 1.8k

Jackson was behind her, too close, and he pressed her up against the wall in the hallway with both of his hands, both on the wall. Her face turned to the side against the white painted wall, and she could feel his chest rising and falling against her back.

"I don’t want you to touch me." Y/N hissed, exhaling against the cool wall.

She had hoped she would wake up from her nightmares when the sweet person she had met in the line turned into a blackmailing psychotic man who only crossed paths with her for an assignment that she knew he’d failed.

It was real.

"I'm afraid, sweetheart, I don't believe you," he murmured, his voice steady and calm before running his nose along her hair, and she felt an involuntary shiver roll up her spine at the deep tone in his voice.

"Why can’t you leave me alone since I did what you forced me to do?" she questioned vehemently with a little lie slipping through her lips since she had called Cynthia to get Senator Keefe out prior arriving to her house.

Glaring down the hallway as she felt him exhaling a soft chuckle into her hair. He then moved her hair to the side, nuzzling at the curve of her neck.

"Because it is my job to ensure the mission is completed, then I can leave you alone. The question is should I really leave you alone?" He asked huskily as he reached around to her front, and she could feel his fingers gripping her abdomen. She couldn't do anything but to let him guide her back into his body.

She attempted to pull away from him, pressing her fingers against her wall.

Without thinking of any consequences, she leaned forward enough to raise her lips to expose her teeth, and his sleeve were pushed back along with the blazer as he had laid it against the wall when she sunk her teeth into his forearm that was resting against the wall.

He made a noise almost like a grunt, and she could feel him exhaling harshly against the back of her neck. "You like to play dirty, don't you?" He chuckled; the sound rumbled in his chest which vibrated on her skin. "My girl," he said affectionately. "Don't you realize I fight dirty too." He hissed; a hint of dark promise crept into his voice.

She dug her teeth into his arm a little more, tightening her jaw when his hand slowly grazed her skin between her thighs. She was wearing black skirt which granted him easy access, but he had other ideas, he reached down with his unoccupied hand as it grazed the curve of her ass and gripped the elastic fabric around her waist to draw the material away from her body. She gasped when she felt the article of clothing sliding down her legs, leaving her in panties.

"So, you don’t want me?" Slowly, very gently, his hand rose further up into the juncture of her thighs and began to stroke her folds through the thin fabric that had her tightening her jaw even more. "Fucking you with my fingers?" A ragged sound made its way to her ear as he exhaled roughly. "Christ, Y/N. I could never get enough of you."

She felt like she could agree, nearly echoing the sentiment. Her knees shook when his fingers stroke over her skin, igniting a slow burning warmth that washed over her, and she leaned further into the wall.

She swallowed hard, biting down on his arm a little more firmly even as he stroked her, his fingers insistent against her folds, and she tasted slight rustic blood touching her tongue. She realized she had split his skin, and she felt somewhat smug because he inflicted the same to her before when he bashed his head against hers to knock her out in the airplane.

It was only fair.

She could feel a slight rumble against her back as he chuckled, "my girl." He appraised her.

His touch slipped in the panties, to finger further between her folds, finding moisture and spreading it almost lazily. He was breathing deeply in her ear, and she swore she could feel his heart hammering against her back. She was breathing heavily, too, her nostrils flaring as her mouth clamped tightly around the muscle of his arm.

Something between them had changed, which had him pressing her harder into the wall, and his hand wasn't gentle anymore, but she didn't care. Her body craved his touch, craved the heat and the coiling tightness in her belly, the way her knees were shaking and every nerve ending in her body seemed to shut down when his fingers flickered over her clit making her back arched into his chest.

She gasped, releasing the muscle of his arm to see the imprints of her teeth on his skin, reddening slightly. His arm disappeared from her vision, and she jumped slightly when she felt his fingers gripping the sides of her hips. 

She then flinched when she felt a sting around her thighs and hips, realizing he had ripped the fabric off her body.

He then pulled her hips backwards, allowing her to feel his hardened cock in the confines of his dress pants, and she shivered in anticipation.

She could hear the metal grating against metal, and she realized he was undoing his zipper. She shivered as her breathing came into tiny huffs of air to slow down her heart. 

He then shifted, moving her legs apart slightly with his. She felt his thick cock nudging between her thighs, and she could feel him breathing heavily at the sensation her increasingly wetness provided.

"Jackson," she whispered, not at all sure whether she was telling him to stop or begging to continue.

"Say my name again, Y/N." He growled against her neck; a low moan of his name torn from her lungs as the pleasure rippled throughout her body when he thrusted into her.

"Good girl," he said softly before pulling back slightly, his voice slithered across her skin, close to her ear. Something inside her quivered, though she tried to ignore the sensation.

She gasped against the wood when he thrusted back into her gently. His thick cock stretching her that she knew she wouldn't be able to find anyone to compare to.

She pushed her head into the plaster slightly when he shifted his angle, and she could feel his cock brushing against the cervix that had her gasping more in pleasure and a twinge with pain.

He then pushed her off of his cock, and she immediately protested due to the loss of being filled. 

He turned her around and lifted her up by her waist before carrying her over to the bedroom nearby. Luckily, it was a bedroom assigned for guests.

He dumped her unceremoniously on the bed, making the bed springs squeaking slightly. He removed his blazer, throwing it somewhere in the room before unbuttoning his dress shirt. Once that ended up on the floor as well, he reached behind his head to grab the fabric of his shirt to pull it off, and he allowed his dress pants to fall to the floor before kicking them to the side after removing his shoes. She looked at him, analyzing his body before he got on top of her, his knees were on both sides of her hips, and he leaned back on her thighs.

He reached for the hem of her dress shirt, pulling upward to reveal her white laced bra cupping her breasts, and he sat on her thighs once again after she was free from the confines of her shirt. He then slid his palms up her bare sides of her abdomen before reaching for her bra.

She released a shaky breath as she arched into his touch as he pushed her bra up and over her breasts, his hands cupped her breasts, gripping them in a possessive grasp. "Mine." He rasped before leaning down to capture a nipple in his mouth.

Arching her back after feeling his tongue swirling around her nipple, and she inhaled sharply when he sucked the skin into his mouth long enough to form a discolored spot. The torture was delicious, slow but deliberate when he continued to mark her skin with discolored spots.

A trace of a smirk hovered at the corners of his lips as he moved away from her thighs to the side of her leg after withdrawing his mouth from the swell of her breasts.

He pushed her legs upward until it was enough for him to nestle between her thighs, draping her thighs on top of his as he sat back on his knees. She gasped lightly when his fingers tangled in her strands, gripping it slightly with curled fingers, tilting her head forward by his urge, putting her elbows on the mattress, then she moved slightly, and she could see his cock pulsing slightly. 

She felt the heat of tendrils curling at the base of her spine, curling all around her as she bit down on her lips when he gripped the base of his cock with a curl of his fist. 

She could see him staring at her with a heavy amount of lust in his depths. "You're so beautiful," he shuddered before moving forward.

She inhaled sharply when he pushed his cock against her clit, the feeling burned her from the inside out. Before she could exhale, the air caught in her throat when he leaned down to smash his lips on hers with intensified raw passion. His grip in her hair tightened when he thrusted forward, and she released a loud gasp that edged on a moan when she felt him filling her up in every way.

Her neck arched when he pulled her head back after releasing her lips as he trailed his lips down to her jaw, revealing her neck to his hungry gaze. "God, I'm never going to let you go." He groaned slightly as her walls clenched around his thick cock. She shuddered when he withdrew from her momentarily before shoving his cock back into her with a brutal strength.

No one was able to make her feel like this. 

So hot, and dangerous. 

She cried out in pleasure and pain when she felt his teeth making its way in the spot of her neck, and she gripped his back with her fingers, digging in slightly when he tightened his jaw as he thrusted back into her.

His thrusts were so powerful that she knew she'd be sore for days and nights. 

She slid her fingers down his slightly damp skin of his spine, slowing down as she reached for his ass to pull him deeper into her.

She could not get enough. 

"Why me?" She gasped when he withdrew from her neck, she could see a little speck of blood -her blood- brimming around his lips before he leaned down to kiss her.

He exhaled into her mouth, sharing air with her as he slammed his hips into her. 

"Because you're mine."

[ahoyimlosingmymind]

we can argue day and night whether or not Alden and Della were emotionally abusive, if the Vacker kid's lives really were perfect, if Fitz was just born with the coping mechanisms he has, or if they were created etc...

But here's the thing. When you take into consideration WHAT is valued in the lost cities, what is expected of imperfect people, all of the boundaries and barbed wire around what makes someone 'good'- nobody, and I mean NOBODY is coming out of that world emotionally unscathed.

Lord Cassius is not the only elf in the lost cities who cares about the status of himself and his children, and keeping up appearances. We know he has a warped view of his desire for Keefe to succeed being a form of love. We know how he has pathologized his self-absorbed need to keep his ego intact. He's a piece of shit. But part of the reason is that he values what his world has taught him to value. Prestige, sophistication, power etc...

There's a reason Mr. Forkle had to keep his twin a secret his whole life. A reason the Song Twins were rejected. Why Stina was raised to bite before assessing the danger. Because they were born 'imperfect' to their 'perfect' world's standards. They were born with the short stick. The scorn built in. There's a reason the school, Exullium, exists. For rejects, for people who don't meet the standard. Bad matches, being talentless etc... because their world rejects people who are 'chips' in the facade.

which means, that regardless of what you value, your world will punish you for anything that doesn't meet their quota. Sure, there's elves who choose their values over expectations (Dex's parents) but there's still a lifelong social punishment that comes with it.

Which means the threat of this punishment hangs over every elf's head. Which means that there are undoubtedly elves who adhere to values they don't agree with, solely out of fear of the consequences of choosing what they actually care about. This is their world. This is their lot in life.

And good luck trying to kill out this way of thinking and running the world, when elves live forever, and the people in power are the oldest elves in the world.

Now- imagine you're the Vacker's. You are the spitting image of what perfection is thought to be. You are renowned, watched- YOU ARE THE STANDARD. But even the Vacker's know they aren't perfect. Which means that regardless of how they feel about any of it, if they want to avoid scorn- they have to meet impossible requirements.

And to some parents, loving their kids means 'saving them' from that scorn. Which means heaping the expectations of the world onto their kids tenfold.

standards that are inherently abusive.

I don't think the Vacker's could come out the other side anything but emotionally abused. because the standards of their world. Because the standards they are held to, are so unrealistic, and the punishment for not meeting them is so heavy, the only way to meet them is to die a million deaths and not let anyone see that you are a corpse. You either become exactly what the world wants, or you fall, and everyone watches when you hit the pavement, and then they remark how ugly you look, and how you failed to even be appealing in death.

But guess what- that is your fate. Because it is impossible. And this type of pressure doesn't make diamonds, it creates kids like Fitz Vacker, who's fall from grace was inevitable. Because the standards were always impossible. No soul could meet them.

You can't come out of a world like that without some measure of emotional damage. It's a cycle.

Some elves choose to fight the power, but that resistance is futile when the power is literally ancient, with a relative scale for justice, and an 'objective' scale for judgement.

it just so happens that the Vacker's response was to melt their gold exactly into the shapes asked of them, regardless of how wrong it felt, and how much it hurt.

[gfbillpotts]

One thing I'm obsessed about with Kelvin and Keefe is that they falsely look like the "delusional x indifferent" trope. You know, those ships or dynamics where one is constantly worshipping the other and the other is constantly belittling them.

Yes, sometimes Kelvin can be a little dismissive of Keefe. But he's also so affirming for so much of the time, in surprising ways?? When Keefe said he wanted to bring his swords for Cousin's Night, I thought "Kelvin is gonna be embarassed of him and tell him to cool down." But not only does he encorage Keefe, but cheers him on during the performance AND tells him it was the best part of the night!!

In S2 when Keefe gets caged for not carrying the cross, he tells Kelvin he failed him. Again, I thought "Kelvin is gonna agree as a way of deflecting from his own shortcomings" but Kelvin was perplexed Keefe would even think that and promptly told him HE was the one to fail. He even desperately tells the men to take the cross off Keefe's back bc he's so worried about him he doesn't even care about the bet.

Kelvin constantly owns up to his shortcomings with Keefe, sometimes later than sooner, but always. And he always voices how proud he is of him, how important he is to him, what a great job he's doing.

And Keefe on the other end provides Kelvin with encouragement. He's someone who knows Kelvin personally and yet doesn't see him like a desaster baby like the rest of his family. He is there to pick up the pieces everytime Kelvin is down and to make him believe he can do it.

I just love ships where you can clearly see love, respect and admiration being shown from both sides. It's actually so rare and I hope we get to see even more of it next season.

[bookwyrminspiration]

in-depth opinions on keefe (trying to return you to your roots: getting asks about kotlc characters)?

I may be putting several additional feet in several additional fandoms but I promise y'all have me prisoner and can send me as many keeper asks as you want <3

I will say these are my personal, subjective opinions! Which do include a bit of bias (TLDR at bottom)

For years I was perfectly fine with Keefe; he's never been my favorite, but he had some funny lines and an engaging presence. Never failed to liven things up. This changed around end of Legacy/Stellarlune.

It's not because I don't ship sokeefe, but because I felt sokeefe's execution was rushed and overshadowing the rest of the story. Wasn't even a full book since Sophie broke up with Fitz and said she wasn't ready for a relationship, yet there they are. I think they, and we, deserved more time. (and yes, Keefe exists beyond shipping, but given how HUGE of a role it plays in his in-text and fandom presence, i find it relevant)

Of course that's not Keefe's fault, but seeing all the adoration for what I found lackluster kinda pavloved me into a general distaste. Especially when done at the expense at Fitz, one of my favorites. Which is unfair, but I did say there's bias. That's not to say I'm mid on Keefe because I love Fitz or that you can't love both, just that personally I'm a Fitz fan, and seeing Keefe used as a direct comparison to shoot him down doesn't endear him to me (and no, not everybody does this, but I've seen it enough to be impacted)

As for Keefe independently, he's following the path of Ro. Too many traits are staying stagnant and becoming repetitive, which is adulterating what I used to enjoy. The way he steamrolls everything--forcing hands to go to Ravagog in Neverseen, running away in Lodestar and refusing to listen, the mercadir incident in Nightfall, the going behind everyone's back thing in Legacy, the running away again, etc. At first it was annoying but interesting, but at this point it's like...we're still doing this?

The amount of time and effort Sophie has to expend managing Keefe is ridiculous. if we could just knock him out for like 2 months I think she could fix everything. it's gone from a facet of the plot's challenges to straight up nuisance like get tf out of her way !!

Others have mentioned this, but the privacy invasion and making others uncomfortable is another thing that I didn't mind at first but became annoying. A joke or overstep here or there is fine; no one's perfect, and if it moves the story forward, sure. But he's constantly pushing and isn't sorry. And the more it happens, the less I can stand the earlier instances. I do my pagethroughs and just get annoyed where I used to laugh

Is there an understandable explanation for several of these points? yes. how the hell would he know how to have healthy relationships and boundaries when he's been set such bad examples? However, he's also being consistently corrected and ignoring that advice. He's given pep talk after pep talk, has fight after fight, and yet nothing's changed.

Do I think he's beyond saving? No. I've spoken with a few people about this, but I think a key thing holding him back is Sophie's "I could never hate you" promise she keeps making. Because Sophie is the main (if not only) thing that matters to him, he's got a built in safety net for whatever stupid shit he pulls, and never faces the consequences he's really afraid of.

If we took that net away, if he faced her genuine distrust and anger and upset and her exclusion and her hatred--without the "but not really just give me some time" vibe. I think that'd do wonders and we'd actually get somewhere. And also it'd be vindicating to see; the nightfall healing center fight is one of my favorite scenes

TL;DR: In summary, I don't hate Keefe. He has potential and I've enjoyed him in the past. But currently the combination of him being used against Fitz, the lackluster execution of sokeefe (imo), the privacy invasion, and stagnation don't do it for me. His kind of character already isn't my niche, and that doesn't help. Does he have potential to become less annoying? yes! i hope he does for everyone's sakes. until then, mild distaste for him.

i will be taking Fitz, Tam, Cadence, and Luzia and playing in the corner, thanks <3

(this is in no way against Keefe fans. kudos to y'all! i'm simply not one of you atm)

[the-witch-of-woods-beyond]

okay, so i already said i don't like keefe, but i want to expand on the fact that him getting all these books of development and NOT developing is so annoying when amazing characters like linh, tam, biana, marella and fitz are all sidelined is so annoying.

his whole family drama was focused on in neverseen and then could have been drawn out in lodestar when he runs away, and then in flashback, we get the vackers, but in sooo much more depth because they're so intricate, and then we get more of the diznees because two chapters in book six was not enough and linh and tam talk about how they're dealing with all that happened in nightfall with their parents, and marella's storyline with her family is expanded.

but instead all this falls to the background and we get constant repetition of sophie worrying about keefe when all these characters have minor lines about all this every now and then.

like, stop focusing on him!!! give me fitz and biana explaining how it was to grow up in a family that expected perfection and always feeling like they were failing only to have their brother betray them all instead of just hinting at it every now and then and moving on, give me linh and tam working through the fact that they were abandoned by their parents and society for something out of their control and continue on from what started in nightfall, give me marella discussing the stress of how everyone views her family. even dex has been sidelined, the boy sophie calls her best friend, and his family are so tragic and interesting. why weren't they given more time to develop???

[thebestbookshelf]

Keefitz fluff/happy/comfort headcanons? :D

Fitz is the token baker, Keefe is the token artists. While Fitz bakes Keefe draws him except he gets very distracted very fast from the fact the Fitz is moving at lightning speed putting all the ingredients into the bowl.

Keefe always wants to pour the ingredients (not measure he learned very quickly when Fitz was teaching him that he was terrible at that) but Fitz has a strict no disaster blondes in the kitchen when he is baking rule (this includes Sophie) and it’s posted on a sign on the door which Keefe pretends he can’t read.

So of course Keefe tries to sneak in and pour the ingredients in secret. He fails every time. Fitz protects the bowl with his life and takes baking very seriously. He considers asking Ro to guard the door from Keefe.

One time Keefe insisted Fitz let him draw and made him stand still while the cake was baking. They were focusing so hard (for once I totally headcannon Keefe as ADHD) that they didn’t notice the timer go off and the cake started to burn and make a mess in the oven. This in turn started the smoke alarm which freaked them out so bad. (Sophie is very proud she had no involvement in the disaster)

Since that incident Fitz paces next to the oven while the cake bakes and Keefe uses that time to info dump about whatever he’s hyperfixated on and it’s nice bonding time. Fitz just listens to Keefe ramble on and on about the most random things and he likes hearing new facts.

Before they know it the cake is made and Fitz as always lets Keefe choose the slice he wants first. Then as they eat they decide which of their friends get which slice. It’s very important discussion. (You know how in primary school you would give the dirtiest whiteboard to the person you didn’t like, it’s basically that but with the ugliest slice of cake)

I feel like I went completely off topic from the ask idk sorry about that

[the-way-astray]

Fitz is headcanoned with either Autism, OCD, BPD, or NPD (or 2).... Which one do you choose, or Do you agree with these headcanons

OCD FITZ OCD FITZ OCD FITZ OCD FITZ OCD FITZ-

i actually have an oc that's based on ocd fitz (who has harm and moral ocd). not a kotlc oc but. he has horrible fashion and is bi and fights with a rapier. and that's all you're getting out of me about him, lol.

anyway, back to fitz. fitz definitely has moral and harm ocd.

harm ocd: he believes he's going to end up like alvar because he has such violent intrusive thoughts. he can't get them out, and they terrify him, and that's why his compulsions are so . . . explosive (think him trashing his room after alden's mind broke). he internalizes this and another compulsion is this need he feels to go after alvar, because if he brings alvar to justice he can prove that he won't end up like alvar, actually, and that he's better than him and his intrusive thoughts are freaking him out so much and he doesn't know how long it'll be until he caves. his violent thoughts manifest against the people he loves most, and he thinks about harming sophie, keefe, biana, his parents, and others and it freaks him out so much. he wonder if this is how alvar started, and if this is why he finally joined the neverseen. how could he be so creepy? he tries to force the thoughts out during grizel's training, then when that fails he tries to at least change his ocd thoughts to harming someone who at least deserves it, like the neverseen. but he still gets those intrusive thoughts and it causes him to pull away from his loved ones because he's so scared of hurting them.

moral ocd: he has such high standards for morals for himself because of this. that's the other reason he's so desperate to bring alvar to justice. he wants so badly to prove to himself that he's a good person, who'll defeat the evil, that it drives him to do anything to bring alvar down and blinds him to other possibilities. also, that's why he's so mad at sophie because of the storehouse fire, because that's categorized as "bad" by his ocd, and he can't get it out of his head, and it terrifies him. maybe if he tells sophie, it'll leave? so that's what he's compelled to do. he thought he was just giving good advice but it backfires, hard. and his obsession with being a vacker, because elvin society sees being a vacker as the ultimate goodness. fitz wants so badly to cling to that pure image of himself so he can forget his darker side. he wants so badly to believe that he'll do the right thing, all the time, just because he's a vacker. because the other option is that he could possibly be in the wrong and that thought could lead to an obsession cycle where he's then compelled to do something even more "moral" to stop it.

also the fact that he's a telepath, an ability where you read others' minds, adds to his fear. he's seen so many "normal" people's minds, including sophie's and keefe's, and they don't have these sorts of thoughts the way he does??? does that mean he's destined to be bad? so he fights it even harder, but it just gets worse and worse. his moral and harm ocd also build up on each other, as his violent intrusive thoughts (harm ocd) causes him to have more thoughts about how morally impure he is (moral ocd) and it all just builds and builds.

anyway. i'm normal about ocd fitz. as you can see.

personally, i don't really see fitz with autism or npd. as for bpd, i think it has some merit, but i honestly haven't thought about it all that much. so, i guess my final answer is probably fitz with moral and harm ocd, and possibly bpd.

[deathbyexhile]

Retribution. ( prologue ) — jackson rippner x reader

Summary: Jackson Rippner is back from his failed mission and no one is happy about it. Pairing: Jackson Rippner x Reader Content: Light smut, just a little tease. More to come later Word Count: 701

The first words Jackson Rippner hears when he wakes up are, “You’re lucky that you looked so pathetic in that hospital bed.” You’re standing over him, holding the supplies to change his bandages. After the failed assassination attempt, the rest of the crew wanted to leave Jackson behind and let homeland security deal with him. He wouldn’t snitch, we’d be able to get to him if he did.

Jackson looks up at you, his eyes are trying to adjust to the darkness of the cargo ship cabin you’re currently in. “The others wanted to leave you behind,” You cup his cheek and rub your thumb against his grown-out stubble. “But when I saw you there, hooked up to the machine, recovering from a vocal cord surgery that they only gave you so that they could question you and have you testify. I just felt such pity.” You pull your hand away, “You looked like a wounded little animal.”

Ever the fighter, Jackson tried to move, but both hands were cuffed to the bed. He tried to talk but it came out scratchy and unintelligible. “I wouldn’t talk if were you.” You roll my eyes, life just couldn’t keep him down. “When I working as your nurse at the hospital, they said you’d need to rest your vocal cords for a week. You’ve got a few more days to go.” His eyes go wide with anger and you laugh. Normally, an angry Jackson would be something to worry about, but right now he was like a neutered dog in a cone. Just wondering what the hell was going on and where his balls were. “That right there might just kill you.” He had always been a talker. Even getting stabbed in the throat by Lisa didn’t stop him.

While you clean his other wounds from the fight, you catch him up on what’s happened since he passed out on the floor of the Reisert house. “Clearly you and the plan to assassinate Keefe failed. Really it was doomed from the start if you ask me. A rocket launcher? I would have just gone with poison or a car accident, but you boys just had to go big.” You laugh again and look over at him. He’s got that usual displeased look about him. His head titled down, slightly furrowed brow, and pouty lips. “And I told you that Lisa wouldn’t be a good target. You told you she’d fight back, but no…you followed her for weeks.” Mocking his deep voice, “I know her. She’s a naive girl who drinks Seabreezes and calls her dad every day.” He pouts even more. “But she stabbed you and now your face is all over the news.”

Upon hearing the word news, Jackson’s eyes go wide, like he suddenly remembered he’s a wanted man. “Don’t worry. We’re on some old cargo ship heading far away from the United States. When things cool down we’ll get you a new identity and bring you back.” Not to Miami or Texas, but there were other states. He couldn’t be trusted to talk to any hostages. “You’ll be relegated to research and planning with me.” He moved his mouth to talk but then remembered he couldn’t. “Yes even with all your looks and charm, you’ll be stuck behind the scenes with me.” He hated not being the center of attention. Jackson Rippner needed to be the one calling the shots.

When you're finished changing his bandages, you say, “Just one more question, Jack. Did you fuck her?” His blue eyes had that wild look in them. Strapped the bed, bandages around his neck and chest, stubble now a week grown out, he looked like a madman. A smile, delighting in his frustration. “No, but you wanted to fuck her, right? Was your cock the reason we failed?” you reach down and stroke him through his pants. His eyes roll back and he lets out a scratchy pathic groan.

When he opens his eyes, You're on the other side of the room. You knock on a heavy metal door, it swings open and Jackson can see two armed guards. You look back at him and say, “You owe me big time.”

[candies-and-sparkles]

will u adopt keefe

if Keefe wants to be adopted, I would love to! He's a nice guy and i feel bad that he has such failed parents, and he seems like a guy who'd vibe to my human music, and to me, these people are like my kids anyway, so why not make it official?

[synonymroll648]

Do you have anything that is consuming your brain more than normal that you want to info dump or talk about?

Also hi

hi :)

YOOOOOO INFODUMP INVITE LETS GOOOOOOO

okay so i don’t really talk about this au a lot but i think about it a lot- gisela mandating keefe get a bodyguard pre-foxfire-age because she leaves the lost cities to make sure keefe has little to no anti-neverseen influence and wants to take up the role of lodestar. and the bodyguard, of course, being ro.

like hello can you imagine-

keefe being like 9 and genuinely calling ro “aunt ro” because she was like no i’m not your second mom but I’m like emotionally your wine aunt or something. after he’s forced to stop calling her “wine aunt ro”

piggyback rides in ravagog. like he’s been walking for too long and he’s like “aunt ro i want uppies :(” which later turns into “rooooooo will you carry meeeeeee”

keefe accidentally becoming a microbiology nerd because ro showed him a weird amoeba once when he was bored and he wanted to know about more weird colorful blobs and she’s eventually told him everything he knows by the time he’s a teen

him trying to draw his family but it’s just him holding his mom’s hand and ro’s hand and maybe alvar’s there in a neverseen cloak

snowball fights outside his mom’s nightfall facility. after ro’s bandaged his thumb and made a silent note to self to go “hey man are we sure cutting a child is the best way to open a door, gisela”

ro holding him on a kid’s harness or something while he’s fawning over the gorgodons and trying to insist they’re his best friends and they’d never hurt him. ro trying her best to not crush his dreams and blatantly tell him they’d kill him if they could but also trying to keep him safe

literally the stupidest games of truth or dare ever that would destroy ro’s dignity and reputation if her kingdom found out. “no dad i didn’t get stuck in a tree upside down hanging by one leg to make a kid from sparkle town smile that’s a RUMOR”

even stupider bets. of course

ro drawing ogreish runes on him in marker to make him feel like he fits in more. or to make him feel better about himself. like drawing things that mean “brave” or “important”. on days when the childhood depression sure is depressioning (mostly after things his mom does that are Fucked Up but he thinks it’s normal but he feels down about it anyway)

keefe manually learning ogreish through ro. cannot growl for the life of him without losing the sound of the word he was going for and she thinks it’s the funniest thing on the planet. unfortunately for her keefe gets the hang of it after a few years

he wants to be a mercadir so bad dude. starts training earlier than his mom planned because of it. super tough for an elf (esp one as young as him) but when he’s like fifteen or sixteen he has a major whiplash moment where ro’s like yeah i had you doing the regiment for our ogre children that are up to 2yrs old. do you wanna try the elementary track now instead of the pre-elementary track? and then puts him through the most brutal workout known to elvin kind

she gives him all kinds of ogre treats after workouts. slowly teaches him how to make them over time. he reaches a point where he hears her dad is visiting his mom for a status update on a neverseen project he’s collaborating with them on and he makes the weird green tea thing cadence had in book 6 without anyone asking. ro tries and fails not to grin

they go back and forth about making up the stupidest stories possible for different constellations. after his mom teaches him how the neverseen hideout star map works and they’re on similar knowledge levels of astronomy

they do each other’s nails. she got him sharp acrylics before a mission once so he could pretend he had claws too

nobody told her that elves can hold their breath for an absurdly long time if they want to so keefe went swimming once and was like “i’m gonna see how many fish i can find” and she was like sure buddy why not (thinking he’d resurface after a minute or two) and then it’s like ten to fifteen minutes later when he finally comes back up after she’s panicked and used multiple devices to figure out where he either got attacked or hit his head on a rock or got caught in the undertow he shouldn’t be able to reach. and he’s completely oblivious to how badly he’s freaked her out and he’s like “[gasp] i found [bigger gasp] 42 FISH :D [gasp] [coughing fit]” and tries to infodump about how he somehow found a nesting ground in the mouth of a cave system 12ft deep but he’s like waaaayyyy too exhausted and she’s dragging him out and throwing him over his shoulders anyway. he still has the dumbest looking pair of goggles ro could find on btw

anyway swimming is a coping mechanism for him. he can’t outrun anyone when he’s upset and he can’t outfight them either but he wins for What the Fuck Are You Secretly A Fish among all the species he’s met so far. ro doesn’t let him go below the surface though because she’s like um you are too mentally ill to be allowed to go underwater during a depressive episode. feel free to do five laps across a lake though <3

keefe learns how to mimic right before he hits his angsty-strictly-because-puberty phase and arguments with him become the most infuriating experience ever because he’ll quote her in her voice to prove a point. or just make shit up in her voice which is even worse

they rough house a lot. but ro never lets him win easily and is always pulling some anatomy/combat info into her taunting. so when keefe rough houses with other elves they’re like what the fuck why do you know which nerve to press on to make someone’s arm go numb you’re literally 12

somewhere there is definitely a height chart that’s keefe’s height at different ages scrawled into the wall. of course it’s always ro-given nicknames instead of his name after the first mark

everyone calls keefe something along the lines of tiny in ravagog. no it doesn’t matter that he’s tall for his age he’s gonna be a foot shorter than every full grown ogre at best. tiny scrawny boy

i could go on about how they consume me but yeah. fucked up found family <3

[lotusishere]

I’m going to talk about Fitz Vacker in this post because I’m shocked I haven’t shared my feelings about him yet. So here we go. I don’t think it should be a shocker to literally anyone but I actually don’t like Fitz. But I don’t hate him for no reason and I don’t hate him for just his aggression. I just don’t like him as a person but I appreciate his character. He’s a middle child and a golden child at that. He’s was born to live up to highest expectations compared to his brother. Not to mention the legacy itself is tough to keep in good spotlight. I know having his title would make it hard for him to find real friends, as everyone would want to be friends with him because of his family name. He’s smart, attractive, snarky. But as he has good traits he has bad ones too. He’s occasionally aggressive and frustrated (and frustrating). But let’s talk about it.

Before Sophie he seemed to be living in bliss. His family’s name wasn’t in ruin. He was in the highest place he could be. He might have been struggling to find good connection and felt the pressure of trying to hold his families name; but it definitely wasn’t like the stress he has now. His brother is literally a terrorist. His great great (a couple greats) grandmother used to experiment on humans and cause trouble. Right now everyone is looking at their family and it’s messing up the Vacker Legacy. Something that he not only has pride in but something that he worships and holds in his heart. I feel like because he was raised (and kinda forced) to be in a big spot light all the time it made him feel like if he wasn’t he wasn’t good enough or failing his name. He was raised to be perfect. He was perfect but I feel like all that perfection caused cracks he didn’t see.

Fitz is a beautifully flawed character. He has passions, beliefs, BIG flaws but most importantly he has feelings. We see it throughout the entire book. He’s emotional and wears what he’s feeling on his sleeve. When he’s angry you’re gonna know. When he’s sad you’re gonna know. He was raised for his family name not tough situations that are in light now because Sophie is in the elf world. He wasn’t raised or prepared for the betrayal of his brother. He wasn’t ready for the breaking of his father. He wasn’t ready for the emotional drain of his mother not being able to let go and move on. He reacts because well because he’s a teenager. I feel like a lot of people forget that he’s also a kid. He might be older but it doesn’t mean he’s any less of a child. He’s hormonal, emotional and going through a lot of stressors in his life. I bet his life is entirely different from what he planned or imagined and he’s trying to hold everything he can to keep it from changing more but is failing. To go from Mr popular to everyone gossiping about his family in a negative way is a big change. I feel like the social pressures of having to be a Vacker gets to him a lot. He wants to rebuild the name they had. He wants to live up to his family title. He doesn’t want to wear it down more than what certain family members has done.

Can you imagine living your entire life based on being perfection for a perfect title only to have both taken away? I know his ass is going through an identity crisis. And it’s sad because I wish people gave him recognition that he’s more than a Vacker. He’s Fitz. He’s his own person. He’s not just Sophie cognate. He’s not just Sophie’s bf or Sophie’s ex. He’s not just Alvar’s little brother. He’s not just Biana’s older brother. He’s not just Keefe’s “best friend”. He’s not just a Vacker. He’s Fitzroy Avery Vacker. He is temperamental, caring, occasionally a good friend. He is selfish but he’s also compassionate. He may not understand things and might be ignorant to a lot but he tries with what he is given. Do I feel like he has acted inappropriately at times? Oh absolutely. Book 2, Exile, with how he treated Sophie. Calling her “broken” absolutely unacceptable. I’m also upset because I feel like they don’t really hold Fitz accountable to just how much what he says or does hurts people’s feelings. He has constantly hurt Sophie’s feelings by saying the wildest stuff to her. She legit began to be afraid to even share her emotions or things with Fitz because she was scared of him being angry at her.

Which is crazy. Especially because they were dating. I feel like because Fitz was drawn out to be Sophie’s love interest it took out what made Fitz in the book couple of books Fitz. Do I like how he treated other characters? No I did not. His relationship with Keefe is something I hold deeply to my heart. Because (not sure if anyone agrees but) Keefe and Fitz were never best friends. At least not real ones. They were best friends by situation. It is said AND shown multiple times that they actually don’t know anything about one another. Or at least it’s one sided. I feel like Fitz was so focused on himself that he couldn’t see Keefe struggling. Which is crazy cuz his ass is abused as hell and for him to know literally nothing to how his parents treat him or what he’s been through is crazy. What’s crazier is that the second Keefe joined Neverseen the switch up Fitz had was crazy. That’s your so called best friend. But at the same time his reaction was slightly justified because his brother betrayed him too. So he has a right to be on edge and to be upset.

It’s just heartbreaking because I feel like Fitz could have been so much more if he was flushed more as a character. I wished he interacted with characters (positively) more. For example I wished Keefe and Fitz were able to develop an actual and genuine friendship ON their OWN terms instead of being friends by situation. I wished i could have seen a mutual respect for Dex and Fitz. Especially after that moment they shared where Dex almost accidentally killed Fitz. I feel like he’s been so condensed to this angry teenager who is hormonal and jealous that it has replaced the good qualities he has. He has a right to be jealous because he’s never had anything of his own before. Sophie sees him for more than just his title. He’s never had anyone like him genuinely like that before. And I know he feels jealous because he wants to be like Keefe while Keefe wants to be like Fitz. But to make that majority of his character and flush him out and make him a douche bag? Do I believe match making papers are important to fitz. Yes I do.

Do I believe he would have made it a big deal causing emotionally turmoil on Sophie? No. Idk some people might disagree but I feel like he wouldn’t have done that. I feel like as much as he WOULD want her to it wouldn’t be pressure. Him getting angry and causing scenes like come on. He’s better than that and I know that. I know he wants to better his family image but book one Fitz would have never said or treated Sophie half of the way he did in the lastest 2 books. I believe the second he would have realized it wouldn’t have worked he would have talked to her and put up with an agreement to pull back. Or at least wait until everything is over to start a relationship. I see the good in Fitz. I do. I know he has it in his heart to be caring even if he doesn’t agree with people. I know he has his own judgements and beliefs and that’s fine. But I don’t think it’s in his character to shame everyone else’s ideas because of it. If it was he would have shamed Dex a LONG time ago but he didn’t. He keeps his opinions to himself (majority of the time). He gets a little quirky during the day sometimes.

But these are just some of my feelings about Fitz. There are more but this post is already long lmfao. Tell me how yall feel? Hate him? Love him? Neutral feelings? Again I don’t love him but I don’t hate him. He’s a good (kinda) neutral character. He’s just not the character for me.

[silentwillowwhisperer]

Day 23-HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEEF

It’s Keith’s birthday!!! Have the happiest of all happy birthdays my dear sweet traumatized child!

I only have 30 minutes till today is over, yay me!

I have never gone paragliding before, nor do I feel like researching so yeah.

—————————

Paragliding.

When Lance told Keith they would do anything he wanted for his birthday, he had expected something like ‘going to a party’ or ‘going for a hike’ or even just an eye roll.

But no.

Keith wants to jump out of a foreign aircraft on some random (but admittedly very pretty) planet with nothing but a flimsy little piece of fabric stopping him from falling to his death about a gazillion feet below him.

Now, Lance is not about to risk his life like this for no reason.

But Keith has his chin resting on Lance’s knee and is staring up at the blue paladin with wide, content eyes, and Lance cannot possibly say no to his precious bundle of boyfriend.

And that brings us to now, where Lance is fidgeting with the straps on his bulky harness. Their guide is a bulky man, towering at least a foot above them both. He hacks away at purple foliage blocking their way on the winding path that will deliver them to the top of a mountain.

Keith has a stupidly wild grin on his face. His eyes glow like fire and his hair is sticking out in every direction thanks to this planet’s rapidly fluctuating humidity. Lance is sure his own hair can’t be doing much better.

Keith is strangely chatty as he walks. A couple days before this, he had insisted that Lance just ignore his birthday, but it’s obvious that he’s enjoying every second of this. Their hands are clasped together between them both and swing back in forth as they hike. Both of their palms are sweating rivers by now. Lance squeezes tighter with every step.

Keith giggles softly. “You scared, McClain?” He nudges Lance’s shoulder with his own and his face is curved with a teasing smile.

Lance scoffs indignantly and mimes flipping a nonexistent ponytail over his shoulder.

“ I could out-fall you any day, Kogane.”

Keith snickers but gives no response. He goes back to pointing out every new thing they see with quiet joy. Lance can almost the sparkles flowing out of Keith.

He gets so caught up watching his partner that he doesn’t notice they’ve made it to the top till it’s too late.

There’s a blur of buckles and snappy instructions given to them by their guide and now Lance and Keith are strapped into their parachute for two.

Keith sends him a radiant grin. His eyes have fiery challenge swirled in. He drapes his arms over Lance’s shoulders and leans in close. “You ready?” he whispers.

Lance gulps and nods shallowly. He feels a trickle of sweat run down his temple.

“Here we go!”

And now they’re falling. He fails for a moments before throwing his arms around Keith’s back. All he can hear is the wind whipping around them and Keith’s faint jingle-laughs.

He has his eyes squeezed shut tight, but feels dumb after a moment and cracks one open just enough to see in front of him.

Keith is watching him carefully. His lips quiver, Lance can tell the other boy is laughing at him.

By now, the fabric has caught the wind, and they float gracefully through the air. Light shines through their paraglider and creates a splash of vibrant colors across their faces.

Keith throws his head back to cackle again. His hair looks terrible, black locks poking into his eyes and whipping around with the wind. His eyes are shut tight with amusement and Lance has the urge to trace the crinkles around his eyes. His skin is painted over with a mix of red and blue from their paraglider.

He’s a mess.

And he looks absolutely radiant.

If they weren’t already flying through the sky, Lance would say that his heart was carrying his straight up into the cosmos.

They make it back to the ground eventually, and Lance find himself missing the decent. They begin an awkward shuffle to untangle themselves from the mess that is their harnesses and scout out the area.

They’ve landed on a hill overlooking a sprawling market, and dammit if Lance isn’t going shopping, he just went through a life-threatening experience.

Keith is dragged around from stall to stall as Lance gets distracted by anything and everything that catches his eye.

He zones out for a while, occasionally lifting his arms or hair to let Lance try various accessories out on him.

He comes back to reality when Lance pats his head and looks down at his chest.

Dangling there is a red pendant. It’s a uncut stone almost like a ruby, but deeper with layers of pink and orange that remind Keith of a sunset. The best part is, the charm is naturally shaped so that it almost looks like a strawberry.

Lance’s smile overflows with affection. “I found that on some planet a while ago and thought of you. One of these merchants helped me put it on a string and you didn’t even notice because you zoned out so hard. Do you like it?”

There’s no words to describe the buzzing in Keith’s stomach correctly, so he just crashes his body against Lance, and they embrace so close they might’ve melted together.

Later, they’ll go back to the castle and Hunk will present a pretty cake to him. They’ll all have a movie night and a big dinner of almost-pizza (it’s actually soup but alienified to taste like bread, saude, and cheese) and Keith will spend the night pressed up against his boyfriend. Eventually they’ll be forced to go to bed and Keith will lay in Lance’s arms, turning the new necklace back and forth in his fingers endlessly.

And the whole time, a glow too big to possibly fit inside him will rush through his veins as he drowns in a happiness entirely surreal to him.

——————————————-

Yes, yep, it is totally still the 23rd, shush it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING BABY BOY! You deserve the moon, the stars, and all the worlds above <3