#kotlc things i constantly forget

[siennamakeschaos]

Not that long ago (actually a while ago now-) I made a post with some of my hc's about the kotlc adults!

(spoiler alert for...uh... books. I can't remember which ones. after legacy I think??)

In the elwin part there was mentions of a mystery child that I refused to share the name of.

here's the name :)

ORALIE.

okay okay lemme explain-

don't leave yet please-

Amarelle is the oldest by 19/20-ish years. She moved out just before Cassius, the second oldest was born. I'm a hardcore Elwin-bio-dad believer, so this ALMOST couldn't work out. Since Oralie is one of Sophie's bio parents and in my hc Elwin is her cousin, it wouldn't work-

SO.

Oralie and Cassius share the same mother. BUT they have different fathers. (not many people know this: not even cassius and oralie themselves) Elwin is related via the father's side, SO he isn't related by blood to Oralie.

A-hem anyways.

Oralie and Cassius share the same ability and colour of hair. Due to the different fathers bit, they don't look entirely alike, explaining their eye colour differences.

They had a two year age gap, and Cassius was the most overprotective little guy you could ever meet.

Oralie was so damn sweet- she couldn't hurt a fly if she tried. She was full of energy and simply the sweetest little girl you could ever meet. She was precious <3

Cassius and Oralie had this huge fallout when they were adults. It started with Oralie complaining about how Cassius was too overprotective of her- it had been over ten years since she had graduated from Elite Levels by this point.

The argument turned into more (their father was dead by this point. cassius' at least. idk how, might plan that later.)

Oralie and Cassius began to drift away. They didn't talk to each other.

Oralie didn't talk to anybody, much. Except when she had to for her position as Regent. Then her position as an Emissiary.

She was still grieving, especially when she learnt that her mother had been injured and some limbs had been paralyzed.

Oralie had now drifted away from both Cassius, Amarelle and Elwin. She didn't have any close family anymore, since her mother was constantly 'busy'.

That was when she ran into Kenric.

The two of them had been best friends all throughout Foxfire, but when they had graduated, Oralie had cut herself off. That was when her father died and she became a mopey mess for a couple months.

Then she got herself together, got a job, actually socialised, but then after her fallout with Cassius, she cut herself off from everybody except Kenric and her work colleagues (as well as the Council).

Oralie fell in love with Kenric, but she never confessed.

Kenric was in love with her from the moment they had met in Level One. Elwin gave him romantic advice :D

Oralie got elected to the Council years and years later. Then way after that, Kenric got elected as well :D

Cassius didn't speak to Oralie much unless it was for official work things

Even for official work things they tried to avoid each other and try and forget the other exists

this like does not support sokeefe

since keefe and sophie would be cousins which i love tbh (not a sokeefe shipper but don't hate it either!)

So yeah :D

[an-ungraceful-swan]

Fintan/Vespera for ship thing

Ok so honestly I forget the question but!! I’m gonna give my opinions bc I’m in a Kotlc mood.

See I don’t personally ship them they just don’t relate to each other in my head I honestly forgot they worked for the same people. If they were to ever interact I’d say they fucking hate each other’s guts and pull petty pranks constantly

[gay-otlc]

ello.

I am considering making a kotlc rp account.

What do I need to know cause you seem like a responsible person to ask

Preferably a neverseen member- not taken? Thanks- <3

Hi!

Things to keep in mind

Sideblogs are so hard to manage. You are going to reblog things to the wrong blog constantly. Be warned.

A lot of the kotlc rp blogs aren't that active (I completely forget about the Quinlin blog until it gets notes), so if you aren't getting much engagement, that's why. Don't take it personally

Swan (@/an-ungraceful-swan) has a list of what kotlc characters are already taken for rp blogs? But it might be hard to find and I'm not sure how up-to-date it is. You can always just type something into the search bar to check if there's another account with that name

[myfairkatiecat]

I have my suspicions as to who anon is for sure… but all of that aside.

Wow yeah okay. I’m very self-aware about the fact that my writing sounds like Shannon. For me it’s not even a strictly KOTLC thing—I’ve been writing for a really long time in a lot of genres, and I became obsessed with kotlc for the first time when I was eleven which was only a few years after I started, so I was consuming a TON of kotlc content while I was practicing creative writing and developing my own stylistic voice. KOTLC was also my introduction to fandom, so even when I ran out of books and had to wait for the next one, I was always consuming more and more KOTLC. So for YEARS in my early explorations of creative writing, I was CONSTANTLY taking in Shannon Messenger writing, and it SHOWS. (I read let the sky fall as well.)

Honestly, the first time I was encouraged to think about it was on the fandom wiki. I was twelve. I wrote a fanfic and posted it on the wiki (I forget how that was possible, but it was). I got a lot of the comments saying “omg you must be Shannon Messenger, we’re onto you Shannon” and I didn’t think anything of it because a ton of good fanfics got that same comment. It was just a compliment. But some nerd (affectionate) came in with some conspiracy that I was Shannon Messenger testing out ideas for future books and seeing how the fandom responded to them. Their evidence was to COMPARE PASSAGES OF MY FIC TO THE CANON KOTLC WRITING STYLE. This was where I became aware of my Shannon punctuation, as well as commonly used Shannon phrases. I was like oh. Guys I really am just a 13 year old who reads too much kotlc but thanks????

So yeah. Me sounding like Shannon is… a thing. It bleeds into my original works too, and the funny thing is, most of the compliments I get from teachers and professors is about my “unique voice and style—it’s quite charming and really draws the reader in!” And I just stand there like 🧍‍♀️yeah quite original. Glad you like it. You might like this one series—

aw you thought my fic could have been written by Shannon herself? Thanks!! (Shh I know you don’t like her writing style but if I’m getting compared to a published and successful author I’ll take what I can get)

Anyway. Anon. You are 100% right about my writing style and Shannon’s. But it is also the case that if someone were to attempt to emulate the style of KOTLC, they’d probably end up sounding like me. Because I sound like Shannon. I really do.

Shoot, I just reread this reblog and it has Shannon’s shadow on on some of it. I have been FORMED by this series, guys. FORMED.

Fascinating analysis anon. Fascinating response, stria. What I have to say to both of you is: maybe I’m the author, maybe I’m not! But you’re totally right. This fic sounds like me.

Alright. I'm on anon so Katie can't call me a traitor for calling her out, but here's some things I noticed that make that a CLEARLY Katie fic. (Sorry Katie. Love your fics.)

Stria buried her head in her pillow, wishing she could take back the way she’d handled quite possibly the worst social interaction of her entire life.

"Quite possibly" is a phrase Katie uses all the time. Usually in the form, "quite possibly the (superlative) (noun) of all time." I'm not sure if it makes a lot of appearance in her fanfiction, but I talk to her a lot, and I've heard her use this phrase frequently.

“You told enough people.” There was a semblance of the smirk she hated, just like everything else about him. “Things get back to me, you know. I hear all the rumors. I just… I don’t know you, Stria.”

"Semblance of the smirk." This is a classic Katie movie, and it gets me every time. For some reason, in a scene, noticeably, his smirk is missing, and then it comes back for a moment, but in a small way. It makes me kick my feet and giggle, and I'll admit, while she does do it frequently enough that I've noticed, it's somehow written differently every time to the point where it doesn't feel like it's becoming a cliche. I definitely saw the phrase, though, and went, That's my favorite KOTLC author! (Sorry Shannon... her Keefe is better *dodges rocks*)

“You needed a reminder, huh?”

“Hardly.”

This doesn't even count as proof. I can't point to any one thing. But Katie wrote that.

Okay, now we get into Katie AND Shannon's favorite overused punctuation! (It's really not that bad, actually, when I'm reading it, but when I look for it it's like, wow. That's a thing.)

"I just… I don’t know you, Stria.”

Ellipsis spotted

and now he was… what, flirting with her?

Ellipsis spotted

She should have just verbally listed a few random things he did that she just liked—perhaps his ridiculous jokes.

Em-dash spotted

And now she had her head buried in her pillow, because… why had she done that?!

Ellipsis spotted

She was being hailed by… the one person she wanted most to not be hailed by.

Ellipsis spotted

"I mean, half of it is just you being mad that I have a personality, and the other half is…” Keefe winced.

Ellipsis spotted

"These conversations… who told you about them?”

Ellipsis spotted

“Uh… it’s hard to explain. I kind of walked through the fourth wall to get here, so…”

Ellipsis x2 spotted

“You don’t care about me… but you keep a comprehensive list of all the reasons you don’t like me.”

Ellipsis spotted

“I… what?”

Ellipsis spotted AND it was "I... what?"

“I don’t even want to know. Listen…”

Ellipsis spotted

“Do you want to, you know, meet up for—”

“No.”

“—smoothies—”

“Nope.”

“—in Atlantis?”

“I said no.”

Em-dash x4 spotted, AND it was interrupted dialogue

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t entirely apathetic, but she didn’t like him. She would never like him. And that would certainly never change.

Katie LOVES to end chapters with ironic unreliable narration. Actually, the unreliable narration in this, both from you and from Keefe, OOZES Katie's style. She's not the only one to ever write an unreliable narrator, naturally. But I just know. Again, I've read all her fics, including the ones she wrote with Isa. I've even read her fics outside of the KOTLC fandom! (It's funny because they're super well written, in my opinion, but they're also written like KOTLC. It's like Shannon Messenger writing Star Wars fanfiction. It's very funny. You should try reading it sometime.)

Again, I'm anonymous so Katie can't pin me as a traitor. Katie, if you're reading this, I swear I love you and your fics, and I love it when you uses overuse ellipses and em-dashes! Never change! I'm onto you though. You love to have mystery identities, but I know your writing when I see it.

anon, this is fascinating as shit, and i've definitely noticed shannon's excessive use of ellipses, em dashes, and italics myself. katie has admitted to me several times that her writing style emulates shannon's (and i've noticed it myself, shannon herself could've written that cheating fic). shannon also loves keefe's smirk for sure, and the "quite possibly" thing is definitely something i've seen pop up in kotlc at least a few times. as for that one quote ("you needed a reminder, huh?" "hardly") that you said you couldn't really pin down what felt so shannon/katie about it for, i think i got that one. it's the "huh". shannon loves the word "huh", both as a casual "huh" in response to something, as well as an end to a question like in this case. so i can definitely see where the katie allegations are coming from for this one. she was my first suspect as well.

however. i'd also like for you to see the new evidence that has popped up in my inbox, from the never change author themself (this is from the notes at the end of chapter two, which they have sent me) (i'll post it soon):

basically the argument is that katie got her writing style from shannon, and this anon also appears to have gone down that same route of kind of emulating shannon as well as katie herself. so maybe the fact that katie and shannon write in such a particular way is evidence against katie, not for, since shannon has such a voice that it rubs off on a lot of people when they read canon kotlc or katie's works.

or maybe this anon is lying and they are purposefully trying to emulate katie to throw us all off. who even knows.

i would read katie's star wars fics but i unfortunately would not understand shit. i haven't watched even a single movie and i have no idea what the plot is about besides something something outer space something something lightsaber something something "luke, i am your father". so. yeah.

@myfairkatiecat tagging you because. why not. also you wanted to know what this anon's resume is so here you are.

[crymeariveronceagain]

more random kotlc things i constantly forget

caches

the actual conflict of the series

Ruy

Silveny

Gethen's talent and general appearance

Keefe Sencen's full name probably isn't actually Cassius Keefe Sencen

Tiergan might not ;-; adopt ;-; everyone ;-;

Linh's Murcat, Princess Purryfins.

Alicorns but this time it's silveny's family whose names i don't remember besides Grayfell

Mr Forkle is kinda a jerk, he's not just cryptic and overly unconcerned about children dying

The Neverseen are probably not very nice to each other

Alicorns, but this time it's where the heck they live and why they're still an issue that we care about at this point

Alvar is not necessarily a traumatized baby with daddy issues(i mean he is but not in the way i mean)

[bookwyrminspiration]

Listen, Tam Song has adhd. No, no I don’t have evidence for this. I just know it in my soul- trust me he does.

I trust your soul, nonsie. I am putting all my faith in you and following you blindly into this headcanon/theory/whatever you'd like to call it.

but also I never shut up so you'll be subjected to my thoughts the entire time you're leading me down this path.

I'm feeling he's more inattentive in his presentation of adhd, even though I do often talk about how he's very aware (they're different in a way). He feels like the kind of person to either know exactly where things are at all times or he couldn't tell you where he put something crucial like his imparter.

but he'd fidget quietly all the time. constantly. His leg will not stop bouncing and he's messing with his fingers and the hems of his clothes and rolling his neck and he has so much energy all the time that he never knows what to do with

let me tell you the executive dysfunction he has is off the charts. he cannot start a task to save his life. When he was young I imagine his parents would see him doing "nothing" (read: internally panicking because he can't get himself to do anything but outwardly chilling) and tell him off for being lazy and he'd just be sitting there like!! I physically!! cannot do anything right now and i am Stuck Here waiting and I hate it.

he still does it, but now he hides it under indifference and distrusts, pretending he doesn't complete tasks like homework and cleaning because he doesn't care about school and doesn't want to; he won't admit he doesn't know how to start them and often can't until that deadline comes up. and if the thing doesn't have a deadline? well he's fucked, then

Losing things. all the time, I swear he has to loose things. maybe no one noticed some of his struggles when he was younger/at exillium because he didn't have a lot of possessions to lose. But now that he's back in the lost cities and actually owns things he can never find them. That candle he was holding in his hand five seconds ago? He set it down and it takes ten minutes before he figures out where.

He opens a drawer and finds something he put in there two months ago and its not until he sees it that he remembers it exists.

Piles!! he does the piles thing with his clothes because putting them away is too many steps and he'll forget about them if they're in the closet. So things end up in heaps in random places around his room until Tiergan notices and gets him baskets so that at the very least they're not on the floor. But the whole object permanence thing really went out the window there.

perception of the passage of time? nope! he doesn't have it! three months ago was actually just last week to him. three days in the future is the same as next year. He's here for the right now and his brain refuses to process anything else.

He's going through life struggling with no idea what's causing it. I imagine there's a lot of frustration and confusion that he channels outwards, trying to hide all of these issues because he doesn't understand them.

these were just a few of the first thoughts I had when you said adhd Tam but there is so much potential in this!! I love the concept so if you (or anyone else) had any thoughts/projections I'd love to hear them. Making kotlc neurodiverse is sexy and something we should do more often, actually (the sexy part is a joke but the rest is serious)

[stardustanddaffodils]

Names

Hello! So uh, this is the first fanfic I’m posting here! Fandom is kotlc, this is very Fitz-centric, pairings are Sophitz and background Dexiana, it’s about 1100 words, and I don’t think there are any warnings! If there’s anything I should’ve done that I didn’t do, let me know. Uh, yeah! :)

Fitz had always thought that when he got married, he’d keep his last name. His family had a powerful legacy, after all, and he was expected to continue that. And he had found some solace in that knowledge, in knowing that he was a Vacker and that his name meant something; he had privilege and he could use that to better the world and make his mark. But most of the time, although he tried to ignore it, his family’s name just felt suffocating. Some days, the affirmation that his status in the world could be used to do something good felt invigorating, like a sweet breeze of hope. Other days, the reminder that he could spend his entire life trying to live up to the expectations that came with being a Vacker and would still never be good enough made him want to scream and cry and hide until the world ended. (But, of course, he couldn’t do that because he was a Vacker, and screaming and crying would not help him pretend to be perfect.)

Fitz didn’t like admitting that to himself, though, so he kept reminding himself of all of the good things that came with his family name, and all of the things that it meant. And somehow, he swore he would be good enough to meet and maybe even surpass their expectations—even if he just had to fake it til he made it. Because Fitz would always be a Vacker, and Fitz had never once had any delusions of what that meant for his future. Somewhere along the way, he managed to convince himself that it was true: that being a Vacker and living up to the family’s legacy was good and freeing, and that he wasn’t a prisoner to the family name.

Then Sophie Foster whirled into his life like a hurricane, taking his world by storm. Fitz didn’t think that he could ever forget the first time their minds melded. Sophie’s energy flooded in, mixing with his, and for the first time Fitz felt his barriers fall away. He was no longer Fitz Vacker, needing to live up to expectations and constantly maintain a facade of perfection. He was just Fitz and, family name or not, he was powerful. Sophie made him feel unstoppable. When he was with her, he had a purpose. He had something to fight for. Being with her was like he had been living in the dark his whole life, and Sophie finally managed to give him a bit of light and clarity. When their energy pooled together, minds meeting and hearts full, working together seamlessly, Fitz finally realized what it felt like to be himself.

The match had been a hiccup. Fitz still regretted the words he’d snapped out and the hurt he’d caused, but Sophie assured him that all was forgiven. Still, he hadn’t fully come to his senses until Biana had announced her relationship with Dex (and their collective decision not to register). After an eye-opening conversation with his sister, Fitz had realized a few things. Firstly, Biana wasn’t going to be the perfect Vacker everyone wanted, and he would have to either follow in her footsteps or be twice as perfect to make up for it. Secondly, your match status would determine your future—whether you were eligible for the nobility, how your children would be treated, whether you’d be revered or scorned—but some people were worth it. Thirdly, Sophie was very much worth it. And finally, Fitz had messed up. Big time.

When Fitz picked up his match lists, he and Linh had a nice laugh about how the Hydrokinetic was, apparently, the fourth best elf for him. Then he pulled Sophie into a kiss, making a decision.

When Sophie finally proposed, Fitz didn’t hesitate.

(Biana swore that she had permanent hearing loss from the shrill shriek that Fitz let out when his girlfriend, kneeling on one knee and smiling nervously, pulled out a ring.)

Fitz had spent his life being told that he would always have to live up to the Vacker name. Sometimes, the fact that he was a Vacker was the only concrete thing he knew about himself. Throughout his youth, Fitz had relied on his family name for reassurance, almost using the pressure as a crutch to force himself to do better, to be better, to constantly push himself well beyond his limits, because if he wasn’t perfect and couldn’t live up to his family’s expectations, who was he?

Sophie gave him the answer. He was Fitz, proud owner of Mr. Snuggles, a Telepath, a baker, a mentor at Foxfire, member of the Black Swan, friend to Keefe and Linh and so many others, brother to Biana, cognate and fiance to Sophie. He was a son, a brother, a friend, a fighter, a lover, and even without his name and the prestige it carried, he was still Fitz.

The Vacker legacy had defined his youth. But staring into his fiancee’s eyes as he stood to give a speech at his sister’s wedding, Fitz knew that it didn’t have to. Fitz didn’t want it to, anyway. Not anymore.

The Vacker name held a lot of power. It had a legacy, and too many strings attached.

The Vacker name died with Fitz and Biana, and in a way, so did its legacy.

The Foster name also had a lot of power. All of the enlightened species knew it. But the Foster name didn’t have a legacy, not yet. Instead, it held a promise of hope and a reminder that there was something worth fighting for.

Fitz’s wedding wasn’t the extravagant affair that he had grown up expecting. Almost none of his extended family had shown face—his status as a bad match had been a dealbreaker. Instead, it was a small ceremony, just his and Sophie’s immediate family and friends. But as Fitz looked at the people around him, he found that he didn’t really have any regrets.

Fitz had spent his entire life trying to live up to someone else’s expectations, trying to carry on a legacy when he wasn’t even sure what the legacy was. He’d spent his whole life trying to be the person that others expected him to be. When a pair of brown eyes entered his life and rocked his world, he finally figured out what it meant to truly be himself. Along the way, somewhere in between telepathy exercises and late-night baking sessions and laughing with his friends, Fitz had seen that the Vacker name didn’t define him—with or without it, he was still worth something. With or without it, he could still make a difference.

Now, Fitz Foster was ready to create his own legacy.

[svtellify]

KOTLC: Flashback Review [WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD]

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Flashback by Shannon Messenger ★★☆☆☆

That little blurb/intro in the beginning? Hmmm, intense. Like, way more directly and upfront intense than the rest of the series has been, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing.

Alvar’s sentencing was a really interesting choice, but I feel like bringing in all the Vackers was a little unnecessary. There were just too many opinions to follow, and it did make Fallon Vacker a little less of the interesting enigma that he previously was.

Fitz’s outburst wasn’t totally uncalled for, but he could have definitely dialed it back. I mean, he wasn’t as close to Alvar as Biana was, and his younger sister wasn’t reacting as explosively. This does show that Fitz is consistent (his outburst in Exile), but it did feel a little repetitive when he kept yelling out about how much he hated Alvar. We get it dude, Alvar sucks. But so do Lady Gisela, Quan Song, and Mai Song. And let’s not forget that Wylie’s just scarred, after what happened to Prentice and his mom.

Whom the heck is Luzia Vacker? Why bring in another Vacker only to make them relevant for a little bit and then take them out again? We, as a fandom, already went through that with Kenric, and trust be we’re all still sobbing about that. Not to forget Marella, who is suddenly relevant again?

Dex’s technopathic skills. Goodbye everyone else’s abilities, Dex is a genius who is finally, getting some sort of credit, even if it’s from the council, and not his friends, I am desperate and will take it, at this point.

Speaking of Dex, it was nice to see him standing up for himself against Alvar.

And Fitz is mad again, and yelling at Dex and then Keefe, and then Sophie, quiznak, dude, anger management and a therapist will do you wonders.

Also, why didn’t Sophie stand up for Dex? She did *technically* side with Alvar’s sentencing, she spoke with Keefe and Ro about it. Besides, Dex is her best friend, who was there for her when Fitz and Biana definitely were not. Dex was also her first friend and they’ve been through a lot together.

This would’ve also helped with fixing their relationship a little after the events of Nightfall, and would’ve been a stronger argument for women and men being friends without having to make things romantic. (This can *technically* be said for Fitz or Keefe, but they’ve both been hinted as the possible end games.)

“‘Don’t even get me started on Dex,’ Fitz muttered.

‘I know,’ Biana said quietly. ‘I can’t believe he knew for a week and didn’t tell us.’

Sophie opened her mouth to defend Dex but swallowed back the words. She could tell Fitz and Biana weren’t ready to hear them.

Fitz must’ve noticed, though, because he reeled toward her. ‘Don’t tell me you’re okay with this.’”(Shannon Messenger, Flashback).

This just disappointed me so much, because Biana had finally come so far in getting to know Dex and so had Fitz, but they just couldn’t see any other perspectives.

The little Ro and Keefe bet was super cute. It was nice to see Keefe goofing around again, and Ro’s personality is just so fun.

Alden and Della wanting to get to know their son again? Valid, they are completely valid for that, except for the fact that they seem a little too interested in getting to know Alvar and a little less in oh he was a murdered and he kidnapped my son’s girlfriend and her best friend and tortured them, but he doesn’t even remember now, so that’s okay.

Keefe defending Sophie was cute, as always, but what was that whole thing with “Especially Foster” and the look he and Alden shared? I’m calling shenanigans. Let’s break it down:

Theory: Keefe knows about Fitz’s crush on Sophie and doesn’t want him to hurt her. ( See Exile. )

Easily possible, so easily possible. And this is aside from Keefe just generally defending Sophie regularly.

Theory: Fitz knows about Keefe’s crush on Sophie and he knows that Keefe knows about his crush on Sophie.

Also not that far fetched, they’re best friends and probably talked before Keefe joined the Neverseen.

Theory: Alden asked Keefe to back off.

It would explain the whole look thing but Alden’s never really showed particular interest in that kind of thing. My shipper heart wants to agree with this, but realistically? Probably not true.

Theory: Alden and Keefe are both remembering the events of Exile.

This is probably more likely, considering that Fitz threw a huge tantrum there too and both Alden and Keefe tried to calm him down. This is my best bet about what that whole looking thing was.

Quiznak, who actually believed Alvar when he was whining about being innocent? I have to give it to Fitz, he had a good point about Alvar’s acting being intense. As it turned out, Alvar wasn’t acting, but he did join the Neverseen again. No surprise there.

This was a pretty polarizing event. If you ask me, it didn’t make sense for them to capture Alvar and not gain anything from it or for him to claim innocence for an entire book only to regain his memories and rejoin the villains. The two actions cancelled each other out and left it so that it was as if they’d never captured him in the first place.

Weapons? Uh, quick question, what the heck? Sophie’s spent this entire time ( like six books worth of time ) wanting to be different from the Neverseen, Vespera, and Lady Gisela. She’s even concerned, at one point, that Project Moonlark made her a natural killer, but she just throws all of that out the window and starts up an initiative to fight back?

This seemed really out of character. I don’t know what else to say, especially since elves’ minds can’t handle violence? And Sophie proposed an initiative centered around violence?

What was that entire fight scene? Sophie inflicts, but whoops, there go Fitz, Grizelle and Sandor? Sophie’s outnumbered, so she calls Dex and Wylie? I’m sorry, did we miss something? Wylie wasn’t really a main character prior to Flashback, which is fine, but how is hanging out with Dex all of a sudden?

Side note, Wylie was great, he kicked some Neverseen butt and gave it to them, it was probably one of the better moments in the book.

I feel like we had more of Sophie getting all hot and bothered over Fitz rather than actual plot.

The death of Umber was very anticlimactic, but I have a theory that she’s actually Lady Zillah, Tam’s Shade Mentor. Call it a hunch, Shannon Messenger hasn’t introduced characters to Sophie and/or Mr. Forkle and more of the gang unless they’re important to the plot.

Lady Gisela, Marella, Brant, Magnate Leto, Tiergan, Quentin, Physic/Livy, Amy, Vika, Stina, Luzia, Tarina, Cladfael, Wylie, need I go on?

BUT the majority of the book was just Sophie and Fitz flirting while on bed rest. They spent way too long recovering, and I preferred Nightfall’s way of handling an injury in one half of the love triangle, even if  Keefe’s my favorite character. Nothing happened while they were lying there, which is so unreasonable, because when Keefe was out of the picture, they went to Nightfall, but when Fitz got injured, Sophie insisted on being bedside the entire time?

There was also the matter of Fitz choosing Sophie over his family which, yeah, was kind messed up. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Biana was hurting too. Alden and Della were hurting too. Honestly, Sophie was probably the least affected here, especially considering that she pitied Alvar and believed that he shouldn’t be punished for things he didn’t remember doing.

How was Sophie more injured than Fitz when he needed to be on bed rest and sedated constantly? I know she’s the main character and all, but it’s okay to let the other characters develop too. In that sense, Fitz has had the least development, while Biana was injured and got over it, Keefe lost who he was and is still trying to find himself, Linh got over her fear of her powers, Dex acknowledged his crush on Sophie and got over it, and now Tam is starting to get over his hesitance when it comes to using his powers. Even Stina’s getting over her prejudices, but no such development from Fitz.

He’s still focused on being cognates and solely that, but he has so much more potential! He might not be my favorite character, but I know there’s more to him than “I’m in love with Sophie now,” and “I want to be Cognates” and “I hate Alvar, ra-ra, now I’m mad.”

I was hoping to see more development especially since the book seemed to focus on Fitz so much, but I guess not.

Sophie has a bodyguard from every single intelligent species? There was a tumblr post that seemed to describe this perfectly, about how by the end of the series the entire Keeper crew will have at least 98127354392 bodyguards.

Not going to lie, that’s a bit extreme. Five bodyguards? One from each species?

It’s also definitely not helping the idea that all of the species are equal, it makes the elves seem far more superior, and that’s not in Sophie or the Black Swan’s favor. In my opinion, that was unnecessary. ( Especially Bo, but that’s only because he was a huge jerk. )

Whenever Keefe was there, it seemed like everyone was hating on him or he was moping. There’s more to his character than the screw-up troublemaker, hasn’t he proved himself yet?

The monocle pendant was a mistake, and I’ll say that for the people in the back. He didn’t give it to her so they could track her on purpose. The poor boy’s smitten with her, he would never do that. He just didn’t think it through, and it resulted in this.

“...and then I wasn’t even there to help you fight, because I promised Alden . . .’

‘Promised Alden what?’ Sophie asked, glancing between the two of them.

Keefe shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter’”(Shannon Messenger, Flashback).

Guys, I have no idea what’s going on here, but I really don’t like it. They shouldn’t be sidelining the one person who worked with the Neverseen.

Shadowflux. The seemingly unnecessary introduction to an already complex plot. Thoughts:

Unnecessary. The plot was already complex enough, and it didn’t even touch on the Lodesar Initiative that two books spent worrying about. Not to mention it didn’t help connect the title to the plot in any way either.

Not to mention the fact it focused on the echoes way more than the rest of the plot, which has been built up for so long now.

There were barely any interactions with the whole gang, or really any other characters other than Fitz. We didn’t even get much time with Edaline and Grady, who bonded with Sophie in Nightfall and every book prior to Flashback.

“‘Cool. Now how about you try that again with the truth?’”(Shannon Messenger, Flashback). This was really cute, and honestly, I was so glad that they brought Keefe back in. He (and Dex) have a really great way of reducing the stress and tension and just grounding these larger than life characters. I would’ve loved more Dex and Keefe time, but I’m not writing the series so…

“‘Did you let Fitz win?’

‘Psh, like I’d ever do that!’

‘I don’t know . . . ,’ Ro told him—and he sent her a death glare.

‘That’s different,’ he insisted.

‘Not really,’ she grumbled. ‘But it’s your call.”(Shannon Messenger, Flashback). What could this possible mean? ( could you hear the sarcasm? ) I really don’t like the idea of Fitz or Keefe just giving up like that, with zero communication. They were supposed to be best friends, but instead, Keefe’s avoiding Fitz and Fitz is blaming Keefe and just being a total jerk about his mom. Get your act together!

I was disappointed that Silveny asked for Fitz before Keefe, considering that she knew about Keefe first.

Theory: Silveny can pick up on Sophie’s feelings, and with Fitzphie canon now, she probably sensed Sophie’s feelings for Ftiz and responded.

“Keefe flashed the smuggest of smiles. ‘It’s because I make everything better.’

‘Like giving Sophie the pendant that helped the Neverseen find her?’ Fitz snapped back”(Shannon Messenger, Flashback). So no best friend bonding then?

Ro standing up for Keefe slayed me. It was so nice to see her taking Sophie’s place as moral support and being there for him whenever Fitzphie go too intense or Lord Pretentious started acting up.

Not to mention Tinker, who was brought up once and then never really mentioned again, with the exception of the null. I hope she’ll be back, otherwise that entire section/chapter would be unnecessary.

Okay, this is the end of part 1! Wow, that’s a lot longer than I’d planned, guess I just had a lot to say. Let me know what y’all think in the comments below! And remember, there is more to come, this is definitely not over. Also, feel free to tag be in any Flashback posts, I’ll definitely check them out!

-K

[bookwyrminspiration]

sometimes i get overwhelmed by the amount of hate kotlc gets BY ITS OWN FANS. I know it has flaws, but what book/series/movie doesn't?

I think a lot of people forget Shannon built a whole ass world parallel to humans' and made it work (mostly, but that's technically the point of the series...that it's a flawed world).

Also, is it just me, or are many people actively searching for things to be mad at her/the series about? It's like they take the most basic thing and pull out some crap about it being offensive, when it truly has nothing to do with that.

I love this fandom, if you stay on the right side you'll be fine, but the unfortunate times I've stumble upon that other side, it has just made me roll my eyes.

And I'm not saying KOTLC is a perfect series, because it's not, and I cannot stress that enough. I know there's underlying racism and homophobia (which haven't actually been outright said and people have only been assuming [except for the racism against other races apart from elves]), but people seem to focus solely on that and the good things about it they ignore.

Sorry I went on a rant here, but I needed to get it off my chest.

you make a fair point, nonsie! Don't worry about the rant thing; you're free to rant to me whenever you'd like, and everything you said in your rant makes a lot of sense.

I think in a fandom space--especially one leaning on the younger side--it's really easy to overdo things. One person makes a critique, so another person does because the topic has been raised and it seems like what you're "supposed" to do and then it just spreads and spreads and goes from a valuable critique to just complaining about everything you don't like. And while it's perfectly fine to analyze media even if it's to determine what you like, when we're all bashing every element of the story constantly we can forget the entire reason we're all here to complain about it in the first place.

Because we liked the story! At some point in time, this series meant enough to each of us that we actively sought out others who enjoyed it or content they'd made. I point out flaws or things that don't make complete sense from time to time, but I don't expect the series to be perfect at all!

You're correct: Shannon built an entire world for this story--arguably the hardest way she could! Personally, I think it's easiest to write a story in the real world (because everything already exists), then to make a completely new world (because it's easier to shove the weird parts under the rug), and then hardest to make a new world that interacts with the real world. There's so much that goes into that! Both the research from the first one and the creativity from the second combined in a way that needs such a strict balance no one can fully achieve it. And Shannon is doing an excellent job! And even if there are details that we don't know about--like we don't hear about time zones--they're not critical to the story. Them being missing doesn't affect Sophie's plot, so pointing it out is more of a "oo look haha no time zones" and not a legitimately complaint about lack of care to the story (for me, at least).

It's entirely possibly that people search for things! Or we over exaggerate points because they bring us a certain sense of humor. I've certainly done that a lot--that entire series of me making a post like I was talking to Shannon after I'd broken into her house to ask her a really minor detail was basically my way of sharing "haha look at this detail that doesn't make sense. Isn't it kinda funny !!" but I don't expect or need Shannon to ever give an explanation. It brought me joy and sparked a bit of thought for a few people to engage with worldbuilding.

And going back to my comment about hearing a critique and giving your own, maybe some of us are reaching for things to complain about because seeing complaints makes us embarrassed about loving the series, so we preface it by showing that "oh no I also think things could be better lol I'm aware of that and think it's bad before I love it." Which kinda sucks that we feel the need to do that sometimes. The series is cool! I love kotlc! I've read it so many times that every time I open the first book it flips to the exact same page because I've broken the spine. I talk about the characters and the series and the world because I love them.

That could be where part of the intense critique comes from. Because as you said, kotlc does have its flaws. The treatment of poc characters and the heteronormative society is something a lot of us don't associate with a "perfect world" and these don't seem to be critiques on society the way some of the other things--like the treatment of the talentless--are and are more just a consequence of the publishing market when it came out and Shannon's own experience as who she is. So seeing the possibilities this world could've become prompts frustration and critique because we do love it. We love it so much we want it to be better, if that makes sense. it's easy to see a story with problems like these are just dismiss it and move on to another, but there is something that holds us here that we love, all the potential this world has that we think could be lived up to better. And that's where some of the critique comes from: we mean to it because we love it.

But! You are entirely right that a lot of the fandom leans towards taking canon and ignoring it. I think a lot of us have taken the people we met through the series and held onto that instead--not that making friends like that is a bad thing! And then when it comes to canon its just whatever we want to see. Headcanons and complaints and changing characters around and messing with it all. It's fun for a lot of us, but it can come alongside harsh and sometimes unwarranted critiques.

It's overwhelming sometimes. I can forget just how much I love the series when I'm voicing some of my personal complaints. Kotlc has a fascinating take on perfect fantasy worlds and so many different complex characters with different things to offer. There's so many things going on in the story and I love it!! There's elven foods that literally have recipes so we can make them. There's so much art and there is so much to love about the series.

thank you for sharing this!! Fandom spaces can be really difficult at times, so I really appreciate you sending this because I value everything you've said. The hate can be exhausting, so it's nice to remember to love the series <33

(Note: while this is a critique of the critique, please don’t let this stop you from doing so. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, yes, but there are things that absolutely deserve to be brought to everyone’s attention. There are serious observation we have, so please continue to be critical of the series— critical, not hateful—and posting about it. If you find something offensive, let’s talk about. That’s how we learn.

a lot of my response is focusing on the minor critiques we have with the world, so please don’t confuse this with my opinion on critique of the major and offensive issues with the series!!)