#kenric's cache

[marshmallowfathdon]

Thought of the day: There's gotta be a subtle (or maybe not) foreshadow in Stellarlune when Sophie and Dex go to Eternalia to see Councillor Oralie about opening Kenric's cache. I don't have the book in front of me so I don't know the page number, but I recall Ro being with them and saying how easy it would be to destroy the entire city of Eternalia because it was defenseless or something. Maybe Shannon was poking at the past event from Everblaze (ahem, Fintan), but who knows. I'm expecting to see Eternalia in flames, crumbling, or wiped from existence if Sophie goes back there.

I just want book 10 at this point, I'm dying to know what happens next.

[sunshinerainbowpeace-blog]

You know, this has been on my mind for a while, but I feel like every KOTLC book after Lodestar has had way too much... fluff? Or just have parts that really need condensing to streamline the plot and story. It's not a HUGE difference, but I feel like starting from Nightfall you can definitely feel that the books were getting more and more bloated.

Dialogue sequences where the characters speak in massive unbroken paragraphs and talk circles around one another, (such as Sophie and Alden's argument at the beginning of Nightfall) and other conversations could have been skipped and summarized in a few sentences. Scenes extending for too long or in too much detail (hello to Flashback's 400 pages of infirmary stay). Being too drawn out can also lessen the impact of them (such as the opening of Kenric's cache in Stellarlune which had too much buildup for its payoff).

Cutting back on some of these would also help to leave room for Sophie to spend time/learn about other characters, as we could get more details on Marella's visits with Fintan, how Biana struggled with her self-image after being scarred and her subsequent acceptance of them, Tam's capture in Legacy, or even exploring Dex building gadgets with Tinker for some worldbuilding. Shorter scenes means more room for exploring different plot points (and KOTLC has a LOT of plot points).

More scenes between characters would also help to deepen the bonds/intricacies between them. There's lots of different friendships that could be explored more of. I'd love to see more of Keefe and Linh! Fitz and Rayni! Dex and Stina! Biana and Maruca! Wylie and Tam! With such a large cast of characters, giving them more interactions between each other would really help to add layers to them.

Don't get me wrong, I ADORE these books, and some of the later ones like Nightfall, Legacy, and Stellarlune are my favorites in the series! But I still believe that there could be a lot done to turn them into stronger and more impactful reads.

[crescentpaws]

kotlc pokémon au!

gonna share some info abt my kotlc pokémon au here for anyone interested :> (i’ve had this in my head for yearsss but @queefsencen has inspired me to share it here now)

(also yes i have lots of drawings but they’re all old and i hate them… so you’re just getting text for now. more drawings coming soon i promiseeee)

anyway. all under cut bc it’s longgg (talking about world building as well as the characters)

(have put more thought into this than i should have)

——————

everyone still has their abilities; most people choose their pokémon based on their ability (ex. fire types for pyrokinetics, water types for hydrokinetics, etc.) but some people choose to ignore typing (and some pick pokemon based on the certain moves they can learn or what their pokédex entries say)

also, since they can light leap all over the world, it’s much easier to find regional variants

- ever since pyrokinesis was banned, it’s illegal to own a fire-type pokémon (with some exceptions) (but they’re still allowed to roam around freely of course. they’re just less common now because no one catches them anymore)

- psionipaths almost always have pokémon that can learn shielding moves (such as protect)

- physicians always have at least one healing pokémon

- lots of kids at foxfire want or have an eevee, because eevees usually evolve according to which ability the kids manifest (jolteons, flareons, and vaporeons evolving with an ability manifestation don’t require evolution stones)

- some ancients have a mythical/legendary pokémon

- vociferators and beguilers almost always have pokémon that can learn moves that are affected by the voice

- pokémon that enter the seat of eminence usually glow with the spotlight color that best matches their typing (sophie’s espeon glows red though—which is unusual because psychic types normally glow blue—because it evolved when sophie inflicted on everyone at the end of book 1)

- when pokémon enter the mysterious place known as elysian, they gain the ability to terrastalize for some reason (wild stellar type tera pokemon can also be found there)

- goblins are machokes (queen is a machamp, younglings are machops)

- dwarves: drilbur -> excadrill

- gnomes are bellossoms

- haven’t thought of the species for ogres or trolls yet tho (if anyone has any suggestions feel free to tell me lmao)

- ^^ it’s considered very immoral to catch and train one of the intelligent species pokémon (+ they can all talk similar to how team rocket’s meowth can)

- (winged) galarian rapidash = the alicorns (occasionally fight when necessary)

- haven’t finalized the gym leaders or elite 4 yet so. i’ll get back to that later. (the nobility = the pokémon league basically. they do other stuff still of course but that’s a big part of their jobs)

——————

characters:

(don’t have set pokémon really, these are just my ideas so far. feel free to give suggestions for any of them!)

-> sophie

partner - espeon (psychic) — given to her as an eevee by alden so nobody at foxfire would suspect that she already had an ability; evolved when sophie inflicted for the “first” time at the end of book 1 (the red gem on its forehead represents the red light that shoots out of sophie’s forehead when she inflicts now)

altaria (dragon-flying) — this is the pokemon species that is supposed to represent moonlarks (given to her by mr. forkle). can mega evolve (which she learned how to do after she had her abilities reset in legacy)

phanpy (ground) — caught this pokemon because it looked like her plushie ella (she even named it after her)

raichu (alolan form) (electric-psychic) — used to be kenric’s pokemon; given to her by oralie at the same time she was given kenric’s cache at the beginning of book 4

grafaiai (poison-normal) — iggy (caught by her but rarely used in battle)

possibly could get a deoxys? since of course the black swan would have access to a mythical pokemon smh. and it’s literally the dna pokemon and it’s a psychic type and it shoots lasers out of its chest AND it can learn teleport and psychic. and it’s red.

-> fitz

partner - meowstic (psychic) — male form. good friends with sophie’s espeon

gallade (psychic-fighting)

girafarig (normal-psychic)

slowbro (water-psychic)

-> keefe

partner - thievul (dark) — mischievous fox pokémon for his fox bff in unraveled :> though i think he would have already had this pokémon (he caught it as a nickit, and it evolved when he was with the neverseen) his parents don’t like this pokémon because of all the trouble it causes, and because of the fact that empaths usually work with fairy type pokémon more often

klefki (steel-fairy) — he calls his klefki “klef-keefe” because he thinks he’s hilarious. this pokemon is where most of the credit for all the break-ins into dame alina’s office should go to

granbull (fairy)

morgrem (dark-fairy) — has the prankster ability

-> biana

partner - oricorio (ghost-flying) — had since before she manifested, since her mom is a ghost type trainer and gave her the purple nectar needed to change its form

mimikyu (ghost-fairy) — shiny (because of course biana would have a shiny pokémon. i think she probably used to shiny hunt a lot when she had more free time as a kid)

gothitelle (psychic)

tsareena (grass) — shiny

would probably also have one of those special cosplay pikachus from or/as. she’d be a fan of the heart pattern on its tail & she’d love dressing it up in cute outfits <3

-> dex

partner - goodra (dragon) — given to him as a goomy by kesler when he started helping him out at slurps & burps

togedemaru (electric-steel)

klinklang (steel)

porygon2 (normal) — created as a porygon by dex himself (made during his time in alluveterre)

rotom (electric-ghost) — takes on lots of different forms depending on the situation; helps him hack machines

-> linh

partner - vaporeon (water) — quan and mai refused to give both twins an eevee, so tam let linh have the only one they were willing to give. went with her to exillium and helped her gain control of her ability

corsola (water-rock) — linh wasn’t able to catch this pokemon until much later, since she and tam didn’t have access to pokéballs until they met the black swan

lumineon (water)

probably gets a milotic later (or maybe a dragonair)

-> tam

partner - zoroark (dark) — tam was given a single empty pokéball by quan and mai after he let linh have the eevee. when he and linh left, he was able to catch a zorua in one of the forests in the neutral territories

umbreon (dark) — used to be umber’s partner, was given to him by gisela after umber died and he was forced to join the neverseen. since escaping, he’s refused to use this pokémon in battle or even take it out of its pokéball

-> marella

partner - flareon (fire) — an eevee she had before she manifested (obviously became a flareon). lied to the council and said that the flareon evolved by accidentally touching a fire stone (but she wasn’t permitted to take it out of its pokéball again until they approved her training)

charmeleon (fire) — gifted as a charmander by forkle when the council approved her training

vulpix (fire) — fintan has a ninetails so this is an interesting parallel

pansear (fire)

-> wylie

partner - raichu (electric) — kanto form

heliolisk (electric-normal)

ampharos (electric) — cyrah’s old pokémon (was a flaaffy when she died)

boltund (electric)

-> stina

partner - sylveon (fairy) — yeah, stina was another foxfire kid who had an eevee that evolved alongside her

bruxish (water-psychic)

rapidash (galarian form) (psychic-fairy) — a normal rapidash obviously, not winged

mudsdale (ground)

-> maruca

partner - cinccino (normal) — knows protect; maruca dyed a strand of this pokémon’s hair blue to match her own

azumarill (water-fairy) — knows protect

pelipper (water-flying) — knows protect

sunflora (grass) — knows protect

-> rayni

partner - liepard (dark) — shiny (this is her “sparkly cat” she’s always talking about)

morpeko (electric/dark)

heliolisk (electric-normal) — shiny (for some reason, flashers have an easier time finding shiny pokémon than people with other abilities do. something about the perception of light or whatever)

pawmot (electric-fighting)

whismur (normal) — bc it’s silly. & rayni reminds me of zinnia from or/as a bit (she keeps it unevolved tho bc loudred is so ugly….)

-> mr forkle

(both of them have the same pokémon)

partner - reuniclus (psychic)

ditto (normal)

beheeyem (psychic)

+ sir astin has a solrock (rock-psychic) and magnate leto has a starmie (water-psychic)

-> juline (squall)

partner - ninetails (alolan form) (ice-fairy)

glaceon (ice) — yes, juline was an eevee kid too

froslass (ice-ghost)

sawsbuck (normal-grass) — winter form

-> elwin

partner - linoone (normal) — bullhorn (has the strange death-sensing abilities that bullhorn has, as well)

solosis (psychic) — shining certain light through this pokémon has the same sort of effect that elwin’s special glasses do (though he still prefers to use the glasses for convenience. but this pokémon is always a good backup) also it’s the cell pokémon so

bellibolt (electric) — silly glowy frog guy. seems pretty elwin-esque to me (also could act as some sort of defibrillator if needed)

-> livvy

masquerain (bug-flying)

comfey (fairy) — its aroma has healing qualities, which is extremely helpful with livvy’s physician work

vivillon (bug-flying) — elegant form

(not sure what her partner pokémon should be though…)

-> jolie

partner - swanna (water-flying) — when sophie enters prentice’s broken mind, he takes the form of jolie’s pokémon instead of jolie herself. this pokémon also perished in the fire

-> oralie

partner - gardevoir (psychic-fairy)

blissey (normal)

hatterene (psychic-fairy)

alcremie (fairy) — ruby swirl + love sweet form

polteageist (ghost)

-> bronte

partner - persian (normal) — i chose this pokémon partly because the red gem on its forehead would match sophie’s espeon (which it sort of mentors now), and also it’s a pokémon that like. usually doesn’t like other people. so it’s fitting. also she was bffs with fintan’s victini (they were gfs. pokemon doomed yuri). also coincidentally has a curly tail which is so funny to me

hydreigon (dark-dragon)

marshadow (fighting-ghost) — mythical pokémon

also has an alolan persian (dark type) that he uses in official pokémon battles (bc i think the elite 4 = the four most powerful councillors. and he would definitely be a dark type trainer so. i think this persian would be like the cousin of the other one or something lmao)

will add kenric later bc i can’t think of anything for him rn… (other than the raichu)

-> alina

partner - meloetta (normal) — mythical pokémon. her having this rare & powerful pokémon (it was passed down through her family over generations) was one of the main reasons she was elected to the council

primarina (water-fairy) — “its singing voice is its chief weapon in battle” (pokédex entry)

milotic (water)

wigglytuff (normal-fairy) — used to be a jigglypuff that would lull people to sleep with its singing

-> alden

partner - slowking (water-psychic) — related to fitz’s slowbro

alakazam (psychic)

unown (psychic) haven’t thought of which specific form though… probably a v for vacker or something. helps him with deciphering ancient runes & stuff

-> della

partner - froslass (ice-ghost)

sneasel (hisuian form) (fighting-poison)

chandelure (ghost-fire) — caught after she joined the black swan because she’s already joining an illegal rebellion, why not have an illegal fire type pokémon as well? also i think it’s funny having a vacker have a chandelier pokémon.

sinistcha (grass-ghost)

jellicent (water-ghost) — female form

-> grady

(despite being a mesmer, he doesn’t enjoy using psychic types that much)

hypno (psychic) — he doesn’t like using it in battle often, but it helps him calm down rowdy animals in the pastures at havenfield

tyrantrum (rock-dragon) — verdi! she’s shiny, but for some reason appears more green than blue. a pokémon that doesn’t obey very often

raticate (alolan form) (dark-normal) — the verminion

(winged) gouging fire (fire-dragon) — the gorgodon; created by the neverseen. grady was the one to officially catch this pokémon, but it rarely listens to him so he almost never uses it in battle (plus it’s a fire type so it’s heavily monitored. he’s only allowed to have it because he’s the one attempting to rehabilitate it)

-> edaline

partner - meganium (grass) — flower dinosaur pokémon! which i think is fitting

kangaskhan (normal) — “parent pokémon”

aurorus (rock-ice) — raised from an amaura with the help of her sister (who is an expert in ice types)

leafeon (grass)

lilligant (hisuian form) (grass-fighting) — this is the pokémon that fights for her the most often

-> kesler

muk (alolan form) (poison-dark) — helps out at slurps & burps (‘helps’ in the loosest sense…)

ditto (normal) — uses elixirs to change its color often, so sometimes people will think it’s a shiny. don’t be fooled! it is not!!! kesler is just being silly

weezing (poison)

-> rex

partner - stufful (normal-fighting)

tangela (grass)

teddiursa (normal) — was caught around the same time as his siblings manifested, since he was jealous that they were catching new pokémon and he wasn’t

-> bex

partner - skitty (normal)

-> lex

vanillite (ice) — a fairly new pokemon, was caught (with help from his mom) after he manifested as a froster

-> fintan

partner - victini (psychic-fire) — mythical pokémon, played a part in the everblaze incident and the pyrokinesis ban. however, fintan refused to keep it in its pokéball after fire types were banned, since he thought it was unfair to punish a pokémon for something that was mostly his own fault. though victini was still severely traumatized by the death of its fellow fire-type pokémon friends

ninetails (fire) — shiny

delphox (fire-psychic)

centiskorch (fire-bug) — can gigantamax. also shiny. i think as a councillor he would have been very fond of shiny pokémon.

-> vespera

partner - diancie (rock-fairy) — mythical pokémon; transformed from a carbink (with the help of her scientific meddling)

hatterene (psychic-fairy) — way more aggressive than oralie’s (to show the difference in their empath abilities)

serperior (grass) — old partner, caught snivy as a starter pokémon when she was a kid (before she manifested)

dracovish (water-dragon) — shiny; mismatched fossil pokémon that was the result of an experiment

cursola (ghost)

all of these pokémon were confiscated when she was arrested, but she was able to get them back when lumenaria fell

-> gisela

partner - weavile (dark-ice)

froslass (ice-ghost) (i am not immune to giving pretty women this pokemon)

glimmora (rock-poison) — “glimmora's petals are made of crystallized poison energy” (pokédex entry); caught while she was collecting those special explosive crystals from elysian (was revealed to the main squad during their battle there)

-> brant

partner - typhlosion (fire) — given to him as a cyndaquil by fintan when he started training him; kept secret from the council until he was outed as a neverseen member. when brant and jolie got into their fight, he challenged her to a pokémon battle, and this was the pokémon that sparked the flames that killed her

turtonator (fire-dragon)

marowak (alolan form) (fire-ghost) — its ultra moon pokédex entry is “when it beats opponents with its bone, the cursed flames spread to them. no amount of water will stop those flames from burning.” which sounds very everblaze-y to me

-> alvar

partner - sableye (dark-ghost)

trevenant (ghost-grass)

runerigus (ground-ghost) — kept secret from his family until he was discovered to be a neverseen member

-> gethen

slowking (galarian form) (poison-psychic) — knows amnesia and confusion; helps wash memories

golduck (water)

aegislash (steel-ghost) — stole from lumenaria (the sword)

-> umber

partner - umbreon (dark) — this pokémon is what she decided to name herself after. was later given to tam by gisela after umber died

zoroark (hisuian form) (normal-ghost) — another parallel to tam

absol (dark)

[alaydabug2]

I already know it's been mentioned in conversation now and then in the fandom

And I am proud to say that I came up with thjs theory before seeing g the posts saying it (Although I was sad cause I thought I was the only one to come up with it 😔)

BUT

I have seen people before complain that the title of the series makes no sense

And I would agree with you

Except there was that moment in stellarlune. (I have the pages tabbed but I'm too lazy to grab my book rn so I'll reblog this with the pages later)

In book one it was mentioned about keepers and them storing information in their brain for people

That was really all was mentioned about them

And yeah Sophie is technically a keeper for the black swan but thats not really significant enough to merit for the title

BUT

In book one Quinlin said she would likely be the greatest keeper ever known

Then it was never really mentioned again

UNTIL STELLARLUNE

Sophie was saying she'd have to go through all the councilors caches and maybe even Fintan and Fallon and other previous councilors

And people were telling her it was dangerous but she didn't care

And forkle said something along the lines of "are you sure you want to be the keeper of the lost cities"

(Not exact but I'll get the pages later)

So Sophie would be THE keeper of the lost cities

And it's in line with other things in the series that's been leading up to

Prentice possibly being Kenrics keeper (that's a whole separate thing I've got a theory about)

And kenric wanting to be rid of the caches as each councilor gets a keeper

But with Sophie doing that and her mind being impenetrable she would knock that all out in one go

[camelspit]

Note! Definition of a sexywoman:

According to the sexywomanpedia, a sexywoman is "a character who shows the 'lanky suitman villain' tropes, is popular with wlw, and/or is highly divisive." Some factors to consider are morality (or lack thereof), overall mysteriousness, and strength (physical or abilitywise.)

Propaganda:

Livvy Sonden:

"shes a mad scientist. she joined the revolution but she thinks secret identities are stupid. she has fabulous fashion sense. what cant she do" @necromycologist

Mai Song:

"She hides.

She hides so much, she hides behind her clear, unbreakable face of utter nonchalance, of pure ice and purer anger, even when all she can do is care. She cares about her kids, despite what's she done and what she'd do all over again. She cares about her husband, and her friends, and the world (she supposes, she's not put much thought into it).

But the thing is, she cares, most of all, about herself. It's hard and it hurts, but she knows that she'd do whatever it takes to survive: she'd hurt and push and claw her way to the top; she's forced her way there before. It's where she belongs, it's where she'll end up when everything is said and done. She doesn't like it. But it's who she is, what she is.

But then it hits her again . . . she cares. Angrily, regrettably, she cares, not just about herself, as much as she'd like to claim. About everyone, and most of all about her family.

Does caring for all of them, combined, equal the total amount of which she cares for herself? Can she fix what she's done and what she will do because even though she values herself most she also values everyone else? Does that count for something?

Will it ever?" @wow-youre-so-pretty

Councillor Zarina:

"idk man she's pretty cool and could electrocute me at will if she wanted" @corruption-exe

Lady Fayina:

"she mysteriously vanished one day and is presumed dead. her body is never found. her memory is buried in kenrics cache. shes so mysterous guys i love her." @camelspit

Grizel the Goblin: None

Councillor Ramira: None

Master Cadence:

"she’s a linguist. she’s a woman in stem. she’s tired of everyone’s bullshit. she’s fruity as hell. her house is cool as fuck (a howls moving castle style boat-thing made of metal that she built herself because she didn’t want to live in the elven cities???? come on). she’s a MASTER. what more could you want." @let-them-sing-of-others

"she’s an academic. shes smarter than u. she hates on the council and she’s RIGHT. she hates sophie actually you know what she has a hater complex but in a hot way. i love her yr honour." @necromycologist

"she spent YEARS researching on ogres and their culture. idk about you, but i would try keeping her in my good graces because she KNOWS ABOUT DEADLY POISON. WHY ARE PEOPLE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS. I WOULD SHIT MYSELF IF I CAME ACROSS HER IN REAL LIFE EVEN IF IT WAS IN A GROCERY STORE ON A RANDOM TUESDAY AND SHE WAS BUYING OREOS. FOR ALL WE KNOW, SHE COULD HAVE LOADS OF THAT IN HER HOUSE/ON HER PERSON!!" @corruption-exe

"ok not to be a lesbian or horny on main (<- ace) but HOLY SHIT i want her to step on me. this lady has intensified my sexuality crisis" (anonymous)

Want to submit propaganda? Do so here and it will be added in the next round!

[when-wax-wings-melt]

that fucking cache. they don't open that shit for like 5 more books and then it doesn't even tell us anything beyond kenric making a move on prentice. just throw it off a cliff see if that opens it

[flamingozymandias]

couldn't kenric be useful and leave some context in these caches 🙄🙄

[synonymroll648]

Listen here, if Fintan isn't dead, then Kenric isn't dead. I am in a constant state of denial

Theories

- Kenric was "protected" by the Neverseen and is now probably a pale, beaten thing on the floor

- Kenric was brainwashed by the neverseen and Oralie's true loves kiss saves him or something cute like that

- Kenric did light leap out of there, he never went back to the council because he decided that the council is Bad™️

whaddup i am over a month late to answer this :D anyway. i am not necessarily in denial about kenric being dead but i am sure as hell in denial about a lot of other things in life so. i get that. let us vibe in elf hell mostly under the cut because i know myself and my response is going to be long. warnings for mentions of immolation, torture, etc that tend to come with talking about kenric!

response to theory one:

there are a lot of fascinating potential implications with the use of quotations around protected. obviously, the implications are most likely under the umbrella of 'taken by the neverseen and isolated from the public and its knowledge'. but there's a lot of different ways you could do that! my first thought is that fitnan somehow managed to get kenric out of the fire before he burned to a complete crisp.

and then kenric was taken as a hostage. maybe they told him that if he told them council secrets, he could go free. he probably didn't give in, and that's why he's a pale, beaten thing on the floor. but who knows, maybe he did - sooner or later, your pick - and they kept him beaten and pale on the floor anyway. sounds like something they'd do. sure would hurt as a reader :')

response to theory two:

kenric being brainwashed by the neverseen is another interesting concept!! interesting and o w on the emotional scale. i'd like to think that gethen's the one that does it. so it's a character we already know and we can have connections to crescent bite marks and frostbitten ridden nails and other things associated with gethen that could contrast with kenric as we used to know him and/or who he is now. it'd also be nice to come back to kenric in person, someone who was a huge comfort - almost father-like - figure to sophie before everblaze and what went down at oblivimyre, but twisted. well, not nice, it'd hurt like hell, but that's the fun part! taking a beloved character that's become more relevant through the opening of his cache in stellarlune (and legacy? i don't think so. but i can't really remember) and seeing him again would make me go :O (/pos or /neg depending on execution, but i'm leaning toward /pos)

as for the part about oralie - first thought, incredibly cheesy but i love cheesy. plus, considering the series we're talking about, i can see it working and being in-character and lore-compliant. kenric and oralie weren't ever together, but they are like. undeniably canon. and important to canon, because the nature of their dynamic was ultimately the catalyst for a lot of aspects of the series. i mean, like, sophie probably wouldn't exist biologically in the way we know her today if it weren't for her being close enough to kenric for him to consider her as a moonlark dna donor and for her to trust him with something like that.

so having oralie, someone who was incredibly important to him before he supposedly got roasted at oblivimyre for many years, kiss him? something he wanted for so very long but never got in canon iirc? that might snap him out of mind control. not just 'cause he's like head over heels in love with her but also because he has so many memories that are important to him tied to her, whether it's like. romantic or council shit or something else. considering the lore in kotlc surrounding the idea of triggering memories and/or resurfacing a form of someone's consciousness through things that are deeply tied to their past, big or small, this seems like a solid solution. and some fluff and/or hurt/comfort that shannon would probably lean into. also the consequences of a current councillor kissing a former councillor would be fucking DELICIOUS. probably angsty. still very scrumptious

response to theory three:

oooooh i'd never considered that! i'd always thought of kenric as the kind of guy that wasn't necessarily loyal to the council first and foremost - considering how much he cared about sophie and oralie and possibly/probably the black swan or at least certain members of its organization - but cared too much about the elvin population to abandon his post as councillor willingly. though i do suppose there's always been an element of longing for a different life with his character, isn't there?

this is largely expressed through his love for oralie, but i'm sure there's more layers to it than that if you look close. i never really fixated on kenric, so i can't think of concrete evidence from the books off the top of my head that doesn't involve oralie, but you could probably pull from moments between him and sophie. she literally asks - forkle, i think? - if he's her father. and, y'know, she's wrong (unless shannon decides that was a lie), but. to stand up for a kid enough that she asks if you're her dad? definitely can be read as wanting a family at one point. which isn't a stretch, considering how oralie literally tells sophie that she gave the black swan her dna for project moonlark because she'd always wanted a kid but she couldn't as a councillor, and that was her one compromise available. and kenric is, as previously mentioned, infatuated with oralie. them secretly wanting a family together makes sense.

also, like, the entire series makes a point of him being a lot more mysterious than he looks on a surface level. some parts of the mystery of his character compelling him to leave the council behind when he gets the chance? understandable. heartbreaking, to know that he left sophie and everyone else he swore he'd protect behind instead of coming back, and unknowingly leaving them all to deal with the menace (/neg) that is alina as a councillor, but alas. it could work. i'd want reasons, though. lore as to why, lore as to where he went once he disappeared, what he's done with his new life.

random side note: it's an interesting thought to muse about whether or not kenric saw keefe while he was hiding in the forbidden cities. if he decided to get closer or further. if it was closer, it was probably in disguise. but chances are, he probably walked off as soon as he could.

if you read through to the end i'm proud of you holy shit

[insert-clever-username-1133]

sophie meeting with dex and oralie to open kenric's cache* and is just barely keeping herself from monologuing about not liking oralie the whole time because dex can't know why she doesn't like oralie

*not to derail my own post but I spelled it CASH. LIKE MONEY. HOW

[svtellify]

One relationship I find greatly underrated is Kenric and Oralie. Yeah at first their relationship seemed like a footnote in the story but I love how Shannon develops their relationship in the later books, especially Stellarlune.

(Spoilers Ahead)

When we finally open Kenric's cache we see him go through the different stages of his life and his relationship with Oralie.

It wasn't love at first sight for them, quite the opposite. Neither of them got along with each other. Both had valid reasons, Kenric pointing out Oralie's personal ambition getting in the way of doing the right decisions. (A trait we still see in her today) And Oralie angry at how he underestimates her and prevents her from doing her job.

I don't know if it's just me but their argument seemed to have mirrored a lover's quarrel. There's a tinge of attraction between them.

Eventually they come to respect one another. Both realizing that their loathing was a way to cope with the attraction they had for one another. Which was totally plausible because the council forbids it's members from falling in love or having children. A romantic connection towards anyone could risk their position. So it's better to avoid them.

But once they become friends, once that lavender haze begins to creep through it's impossible for them to avoid their feelings. It's inevitable for them to make the choice. love or duty.

Kenric had served for many years in the council already. He's seen all and is disillusioned by it. He's ready to settle down, but not without the woman he loves.

Oralie wants to be with him but project moonlark prevented her from fulfilling that dream. Sophie needed allies if she were going to survive. Say what you want about Oralie but she sacrificed alot for Black Swan, for Sophie.

So their hopes for a relationship is crushed. The story constantly makes us think of what could have been if they chose each other. They were both each other's number one match. What if they got married? What if they started a family? Because it's all we have left; the "what if's"

Because that chance is gone. Kenric is gone. All Oralie has right now are memories.

I think that's greatly depressing.

Closing thoughts: I think they're a foil of Keefe and Sophie. Both couples balanced each other out. And both have solid reasons for them not to be together.

Thanks for reading my ted talk if you haven't skimmed to the end.

oh my god yes. yes yes yes.

sophie and keefe are probably the most painful relationship oralie witnesses because it's literally kenric and oralie - if things had gone right. i do have my little theories about keefe spending time as a councillor in the future, and those are even stronger if sophitz were the endgame, but i fully believe oralie would talk them out of it if it meant not being together. not because i believe she regrets her time with kenric, but the way events unraveled.

you said it perfectly - it's not love at first sight. we see a little more affection from kenric because he sees that ambition in oralie and he's coming from a place of experience when he talks to her - this isn't identical for sokeefe, but it's similar in the sense that sophie is more drawn to duty and keefe to instinct. i'd argue that yeah, sophitz and sokeefe are the head and the heart theory, but also sophie and keefe are the head and the heart. and in stellarlune, we see that kind of switch, with keefe taking huge steps back and sophie running forward.

which, i assume, is what oralie would do if she had a second chance with kenric. it's even harder for her because for all she sacrificed for project moonlark and the council, she doesn't really get to reap the benefits from it.

(part of me also wonders if shannon's going to somehow make kenric sophie's dad, just so oralie can have a kid with the man she loved somehow - idk if that would hurt more or less, but there's no other alternative for her dad that i can think of other than alden and that's wrong on so many levels, so.)

"all oralie has are memories." no bc this hurts. it's true and it hurts, and it should, because it's clearly a glaring warning for all the kids - treasure your time. it's a little ominous too, and it makes me wonder if we're going to see another major character death soon. or some kind of actual betrayal by choice and not like with keefe and tam.

(my money's on fitz killing someone because alvar's words keep sticking with me and there is something terrifying about knowing that he stopped pressing buttons and was ready for and wanted his brother to die. but i could be wrong.)

i agree that both couples have reasons to not be together, but i'd almost argue that those are the very reasons they should be together. almost as an extreme example - like, if they can beat all the odds, then so can anyone else. but inversely; if they can't beat the odds, then what chance do any of us have? i am biased bc i love keefe so much, but i do agree that i don't think they should be together - not yet.

but with the state of affairs, if not now, then when?

[bookwyrminspiration]

odd question maybe but I've been SURE (for like. ages) that Oralie was both an Empath and a Conjurer, but apparently (according to what I checked of Unlocked, Stellarlune and also the wiki) she isn't? my life may be a lie so just asking to confirm: is Oralie a Conjurer, or not? (also any speculations as to why someone might theorise this?)

Oralie is not a conjurer--as far as we know, no one can have a second ability if they're not a polyglot. Except spiders georg sophie

There's a few reasons you may have gotten mixed, but I'm going to guess you interpreted Oralie snapping to "conjure" Kenric's cache in Neverseen (p. 21) as her being a conjurer. This is later explained to instead be a connection like the one Edaline built for Sophie (p. 333).

Hope that helps!

[marshmallowfathdon]

Thought of the day (long rant): This isn't me proving Fintan is superior, but this is me proving Fintan is superior and is the main villain of KotLC.

At some point, it's mentioned Fintan was a Councillor, and his ability was banned sometime when the Ancient Council was around. This means he and Fallon Vacker may have worked together on the Ancient Council before he stepped down.

His cache (which I just KNOW he opened one if not more secrets) contained the forgotten secret of Vespera, so why not have Elysian in there as well. After all, the Ancient Council is the one who locked her away.

Kenric's death wasn't accidental--Kenric knew he was in Fintan's way of finding Elysian and had gotten too close to exposing the Lost Cities' biggest secret. Why else was a map of Elysian in Kenric's cache?

Fintan kept saying something was missing when he was using the noxflares, and Marella figured it out and opened the "portal" to Elysian. The only way I can think Fintan would know that is he was on the Council at the time they locked Elysian up.

My point is: Fintan is the overarching villain. He knew all along who Elysian is and what she can do BECAUSE he opened his cache, and he was trying to either find her himself or get someone else to find her for him.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any information!

[official-kenralie-fanbase]

Headcannons about the councils relationship with each other?

Anon I literally think about this all the time so you came to the right person

For the most part, they have decent professional relationships. For the most part, they aren't "friends" per se (though there are exceptions) but get along relatively well. They're the type of people who normally don't despise each other's presence but won't seek to spend time with one another outside of their duties.

Some of them have tried to initiate get-to-know-each-other activities (literally every single Councillors-have-a-game-night fanfiction or something like that is PURE GOLD)

They try to keep their political arguments out of their relationships with each other, but that's naturally difficult for people in such close contact with one another and they'll tend to group up with others who think the same thing.

They'll do trust exercises and deliberately try to get along with one another and trust each other, but there is still conflict, obviously.

One thing I find fascinating is the whole "try to keep up a unified front" thing. In the modern world of technology, it's so easy to see when politicians or public figures dislike each other. But the Councillors try to present a unified front, which is probably because they all run a government together.

They don't want people to know that they argue- which leads to another element of the Lost Cities that seems perfect on the outside but is anything but. These are (supposedly though we all know that's not true) the twelve most intelligent, skilled people who all have different strengths and weaknesses. Of course they're going to argue sometimes. And acting like they don't is dismantling trust in the Council.

However, they really do have strained relationships, especially with the recent events.

Councillors backstabbing each other hasn't ever really happened. The closest it came was with Fintan and the pyrokinesis incident, but they blamed that on him losing control of his fire and solved it by banning pyrokinesis and removing him from the Council. No harm done (so they say).

So when Oralie turned on the Council to give Sophie the cache, the others felt really betrayed. Not just by her, but by Bronte and Terik, who helped her.

Ever since then, they've mistrusted one another to no end

Every action has ulterior motives. Everyone is keeping secrets.

Now, this group of people who used to be just coworkers has become a group that mistrusts and lies to each other constantly. The lack of stability in the Council contributes to the lack of stability in their world.

And in the final book(s) of Keeper, I really hope we see more division in the Council. We know that Bronte, Oralie, and Terik (supposedly though I'm beginning to mistrust him) are on Sophie's side and Alina is against her. But what about the others? What do Ramira and Zarina think about the fact that she burned the Neverseen storehouse? Do Noland and Darek have an opinion about the meeting with Trix?

And the division in the Council is probably what's going to lead to the Neverseen being able to take over

Oooh! And something that's really interesting- obviously the whole rule that Councillors can't get married or have children is flawed. But the reason is so they won't put their spouse/romantic interest or child in front of their job

And... that's literally what Oralie did

She threatened the stability of the Council and thus the world by betraying the others to give something from Kenric, the man she obviously loved, to Sophie, her illegal daughter

And I find that absolutely fascinating because obviously her giving Sophie Kenric's cache is viewed as a good thing, but that's what could, in the end, lead to the Neverseen being able to take over

[crescentpaws]

the fact that bronte only ever mentioned needing a password for fintan’s cache in book 6 and didn’t say anything about also needing a separate access sequence involving dna implies that back in the day™ the caches DID only need just a password which means that literally EVERYTHING fintan did to access his cache in the marella short story at the end of stellarlune was unnecessary. which is so funny to me

(unless he had the neverseen’s technopath add extra security later which is also funny. he is such a pain in the ass i love him.)

(also we’re NOT going to talk about how oralie said she literally chose her own password even after the whole paragraph in book 6 about how the passwords are generated by the cache itself. and we’re also not going to talk about the fact that she chose her password to be kenric’s last name even after bronte said that a name would be too generic to be a password because they should be more significant and instinctive to the owner)

[alaydabug2]

Ok ok ok

So in AV class I sit next to this 11th grader who has long red hair in a ponytail (important context for this story)

Well at some point down the line when I was reading the hunger games we started talking to each other cause he read the series too

Well we become yapping buddies cause we're both nerdy like that

Today when I was doing my weekly kotlc yap session I got to talking about Kenric and Oralie

But then I just pause and I get this really evil grin on my face and start snickering

I say

"In the cache in stellarlune it says that kenric had a ponytail before Oralie bullied him to cut it off..... he also has red hair"

He squints at me and goes "what are you saying ..... Alayda.... what are you trying to tell me"

I just looking him dead in the eyes trying to not laugh

"Alayda......"

I don't respond 🤣

[camelspit]

Lady Fayina by @thefoxysnake

Note! Definition of a sexywoman:

According to the sexywomanpedia, a sexywoman is "a character who shows the 'lanky suitman villain' tropes, is popular with wlw, and/or is highly divisive." Some factors to consider are morality (or lack thereof), overall mysteriousness, and strength (physical or abilitywise.)

Propaganda:

Esha Aria:

"shes sooo funny guys. she fucked with the system to get some dick and almost got away with it. she chose that dick over her daughter. she may be exiled but at least she has her man. morals and consequences mean nothing!!!" @camelspit

Lady Fayina:

"she mysteriously vanished one day and is presumed dead. her body is never found. her memory is buried in kenrics cache. shes so mysterous guys i love her." @camelspit

Want to submit propaganda? Do so here and it will be added in the next round!