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cadence-talle · 4 years ago

Text

Moonlight Burst Into the Room

Pairing: Marella Redek/Linh Song

Wordcount: 2,203

TW: mentions of transphobia

Notes: For @marellinh-week-2020! Doesn’t totally fit any of the prompts besides First Kiss/Confession so let’s just pretend I posted it then instead of several days late

Taglist: @everyonehasthoughts, @clearlykeefitz, @loverofallthingssmart, @a-lonely-tatertot, @enbies-and-felonies, @molly-sencen, @lemontarto, @appalyneinstitute1, @ruewen-and-rising, @silver-snow, @linhamon-roll, @hyperlollypop, @never-ever-too-many-fandoms, @keeper-of-the-lost-queers, @impostertamsong, @vibing-in-the-void, @yeetersofthelostcities, @mistythegirlfluxmess, @diamond-dreamerr, @we-have-no-bananas-today, @an-absolute-travesty, @callas-starkflower-stew

Linh has never had a nickname.

When she was younger, still living with her parents, names were a point of frustration. Her parents never used pet names, which meant they always referred to her by her given name- the wrong name. Always the wrong name, until Linh had to tell them to stop.

(That conversation was quiet, hushed, like her parents couldn’t quite believe it. They had simply stared at her when she said I’m a girl and then shared a long look.)

Her parents had called her Linh from then on, but it still felt strictly impersonal. As if a wall of water had sprung up between them and drowned any hope of parental affection.

Once they were banished, names were hardly ever used. Elves at Exillium weren’t considered to have names; they were referred to in a group or not at all. So Linh grew accustomed to turning at a simple shout, to only hearing her name spoken by her brother. Lonely? Sure, but at least she didn’t have to hear that disappointed sigh of Linh whenever she messed up.

(The way Tam said her name wasn’t disappointed, not ever. But it was resigned, like he knew he was the only one who would ever say it. Like he had come to terms with the fact that they were going to fade into oblivion.)

Then Sophie turned up and ushered them into her friend group, into warmth and belonging and people talking to Linh. People saying her name.

Sophie’s group didn’t use nicknames much- besides Keefe, of course, who seemed to be in a competition against himself to come up with the most ridiculous titles for Sophie- but just hearing her name said in a way that told Linh people wanted her here was enough.

And then Marella Redek becomes a bigger part of Linh’s life, her fiery temper charging into arguments and her endless vocabulary of pet names filling the air, and Linh doesn’t know what to do with herself.

-/-

“Hey, sweetheart, could you grab me that box?”

Linh turns just in time to see Dex hand Marella the small wooden box in question with a confused look. The blond girl grins at him and opens the box, digging through its contents. “Ooh, a necklace! And… Prattles?”

She holds up the package for all to see. The three of them are the only kids at Havenfield today- the others are all off on various errands. Even Sophie’s out in Atlantis, shopping with Biana. Linh doesn’t mind much, though, even as they embark on the laborious task of sorting through the stuff in Edaline’s cluttered office. She’s still marveling at the fact that she has friends now.

“They’re probably really stale by now,” Dex says. Marella shrugs, ripping off the top and popping a candy into her mouth. She makes a face.

“Oh, ew. Why did you two let me eat that?”

Linh giggles and Marella smiles at her. There’s a strange flush on the other girl’s cheeks, and Linh wonders if you can get sick from eating old Prattles. She hopes not.

“He did warn you,” Linh points out. Marella puts a hand over her heart in mock insult.

“Betrayal! I thought we were friends, sweetie.”

Linh shrugs nonchalantly, trying to hide the warmth she can feel creeping up her neck. Marella does this all the time, she reminds herself, and Linh just needs to get used to it. “Sorry. All’s fair in lov- in war and stale Prattles.”

Dex snorts, shooting Linh a knowing look. Linh blinks and he shakes his head. “We should get back to cleaning. Marella, put the Prattles down.”

Marella, who is apparently a three-year-old in the body of a fifteen-year-old, shoves two more Prattles into her mouth and pockets the drawstring bag that holds the pin. Dex rolls his eyes and turns to a huge green chest. Marella nudges Linh’s ankle with her foot.

“You know, hon, this stuff really isn’t bad. You wanna try?” She holds out the box.

Linh shakes her head and Marella puts the package away. Linh’s thoughts, though, can’t be dislodged so easily, and the word hon echoes in her mind for the rest of the day.

-/-

The transition from Exillium to Foxfire was a hurried one, a few busy days of reading schedules and getting used to being around normal people again. It felt almost too fast in the moment, too quick for even the little they were leaving behind.

Linh has left a lot of things behind in her life. She doesn’t miss them most of the time, but on days like this- days where it’s quiet and cool and the winds whipping past her sound eerily like the whispers in her head- it’s hard not to remember.

She wanders outside of Solreef, settling down under a tree where she won’t be directly visible from the house. The grass around her is still slightly damp with dew, and Linh tugs a few blades out of the ground to fiddle with.

Tiergan’s house is very different from anywhere she’s ever lived. The rooms are large and sprawling but still cozy, perhaps made so by the various pillows and classified scrolls that are scattered across nearly every surface. It’s not the rugged landscape of Wildwood nor the smoothed edges of Choralmere, and Linh is glad. Things are calm here, but not so calm she’s afraid to walk on anything but tiptoe.

She broke a vase, once. One of her mother’s heirlooms. Tam had been chasing her through the house and Linh hadn’t had a chance to slow down in time. Quan had shouted louder than she had ever heard, too angry to even call Linh by the right name.

It’s been years since that event, but the disappointment still presses on Linh’s skin. Covers her like a heavy blanket woven from sad sighs and ignorant comments and constant dissatisfied looks. The idea that Linh would never be enough.

Will never be enough, no matter what she does.

(There have been too many conversations for her to ever disprove that.)

“Linh?”

Abruptly, Linh realizes she hasn’t been breathing. She breaks away from the fixed point she’s been staring at and pastes a smile on her face.

“Marella! Hey, sorry, I must have forgotten you were coming today.”

“You didn’t,” the blond girl responds, sinking down next to Linh. “I wanted to surprise you. Are you okay?”

“What? I’m fine. Why?”

Marella gives her an utterly unimpressed look.

“Hon. You looked about five seconds away from crying when I showed up. And that’s not a bad thing,” she hurries to add when Linh opens her mouth to apologize. “I just want to help, if I can.”

“I-” Linh trails off, staring at the ground. “I was just thinking. About… stuff. Names. Memories.”

“Huh.” Marella doesn’t press, which Linh is thankful for. “Names can be weird sometimes,” she says carefully, turning to face Linh. “My mom- on her better days, she calls me Ella.”

Linh blinks. “I thought you didn’t like being called Ella.” Marella had almost taken Keefe’s head off when he had called her that once. Marella shrugs.

“I don’t know. It’s different when Mom does it. It tells me… she’s there, I guess. She’s there and she loves me.” Marella worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s hard to see, sometimes. What she’s going to do. What I’m supposed to do when she gets frantic or starts crying.”

“I get that. Well. Not the ‘frantic and crying’ part, but I get not knowing what to do.”

Marella smiles, a tiny, crooked thing. “I thought you would, sweetie.”

Linh turns back to the landscape, staring out at it. Next to her, Marella shifts so she’s facing the same direction. Her eyes are still fixed on Linh, though. Maybe it’s that, or maybe it’s the sweetie, but Linh speaks up a few moments later.

“My parents… didn’t always remember to call me Linh.” She says, testing the waters. Marella’s head inclines a tiny bit, encouraging her to go on.

So Linh does. She tells the whole story, all those lonely years in Choralmere and then the too-free years in Wildwood. She’s never had to tell anyone that before- Tam has always known, and neither of them needed to say it out loud.

When she finishes, Marella is silent. Linh worries she’s made a huge mistake.

“Sorry,” she says quietly. “You don’t have to- I mean, I know this changes-”

“Hey, darling.” Marella shifts to sit on her knees in front of Linh, leaning forward and grabbing her hands. “This doesn’t change anything, okay. I mean, obviously it does,” she says thoughtfully, “but you’re still Linh, okay? You’re still Linh and you’re still beautiful. And I totally understand if you don’t want me to make a big deal out of this, but if you do, I happen to throw legendary parties.”

Linh laughs, a half-choked sound of relief. Marella settles back against the tree with a grin and they stare at the horizon again.

“Thanks,” Linh says after a moment. Marella gives her a thumbs-up.

“What are friends for, right?”

“Yeah.” Yeah, Linh reminds herself. Friends.

-/-

“Whoa. Hon, look at this.” Marella pulls a tiny marble out of a box, glittering pale yellow and about the size of her thumbnail. Linh would almost mistake it for a Councillor’s cache if it weren’t for the absence of tiny jewels inside.

They’re back in Edaline’s office, digging through piles of junk, but this time it’s just the two of them. Linh is halfway sure that’s intentional, actually- even Grady and Edaline suddenly decided to take an impromptu trip to Mysterium today. They have Havenfield all to themselves.

(That sentence seems to fill Linh’s stomach with the mechanical butterflies they accidentally unleashed earlier. She doesn’t think about that too hard.)

(If she does, she knows she’ll find out something very odd about why she always feels warm when Marella calls her a pet name.)

“What is it?” She asks Marella. The other girl lifts one shoulder.

“I don’t know, but it’s pretty. Let’s see...”

She taps the marble with two fingers and the lights cut out. They come back a few seconds later, Marella grinning sheepishly.

“Whoops. Sorry, sweetheart-”

“Stop calling me that.”

The words are out before Linh can stop them, and she flounders. “I mean- I just-” She shakes her head. “I can’t. Not when I know…” You don’t mean them, she finishes mentally. It hurts too much to hear you throw them out that easily.

Marella’s expression shutters and she looks away. “Right,” she says, sounding oddly defeated. “Of course.”

She turns around, muttering “of course you would have figured it out” under her breath. Linh frowns and, since her mouth and her brain seem to be operating on different planes of existence today, says,

“What? Figured out what?” Her tone is almost challenging, but even Linh isn’t entirely sure why. Marella turns back around, arms crossed defensively.

“Really. You’re really gonna make me say it?”

“Say what?”

Marella throws up her hands. “Fine. I like you, okay? Is that what you wanted?” Her voice drops lower, less frustrated and more finished. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be weird. I’ll get over it.”

“You. You like me?”

Marella doesn’t respond, already sorting through another pile. Linh takes a deep breath and uses what’s left of her courage.

“I didn’t know that. I wanted you to stop calling me pet names because I thought they didn’t mean anything to you.”

Marella pauses. Straightens up.

“They did,” she says, so softly it’s almost imperceptible. “They all did.”

“They meant something to me too.”

Edaline’s office is quiet. Linh doesn’t move, doesn’t blink, tries not to even think until Marella turns her head.

“I hear there’s a really good restaurant in downtown Atlantis,” she says. It’s a question, an outstretched hand. Linh smiles and takes it.

“That sounds amazing,” she responds. “Honey.”

The marble slips from Marella’s fingers and the lights turn off again. Marella’s smile, though, is enough to brighten the room.

-/-

When she was little, Linh never had a nickname.

They were too frivolous for her parents, too unnecessary for the people who sometimes forgot to even call her Linh. Nicknames weren’t needed for someone who barely had a name at all.

Nicknames are never really needed, but they’re used here.

“Mare,” she calls across their small kitchen, “we need to go.”

“I’m here! I’m ready,” Marella responds breathlessly, pecking Linh on the cheek as she rushes to pull her coat on.

“Bi is going skin us alive if we’re late to Sophie’s party.”

“Good thing we’re not late then, sweetie.” Marella grins at her and moves out of the door. They are late, actually, but neither of them really care.

It hits Linh sometimes, how very different her life is now. She has friends, and family, and a wonderful wife who deserves the world.

(The ring on her finger seems to shine. That conversation was feather-light and delighted, a gasped yes and cheers from all their friends.)

“Hon, come on!”

She has a nickname now. Dozens, in fact. But she also has a name.

Linh Redek steps out the door.

#kotlc #marellinh #marellinh week 2020 #marella redek #dex dizznee #linh song #my writing #lynn rambles

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anaccidentwaitingtohappen · 4 years ago

Text

Fireworks and Sunny Afternoons

Fitz Vacker was all of eleven years old when he made a new friend. His name was Keefe, and he was funny.

Fitz’s dad had told him to make friends. Fitz didn’t know why, because who would want to make friends with someone who wasn’t a regular student at school, but Fitz asked Keefe whether he wanted to come over after school to play Base Quest.

Keefe didn’t know what Base Quest was, which was odd, because who didn’t know base quest? But Biana helped him explain the game, and they spent many a happy afternoon after school running through the trees, trying to find each other.

When Alvar would come home, Keefe would ask him about the pranks he pulled when he was at school, and he and Fitz would try to recreate them at Everglen.

Fitz was thirteen when they played the truth or dare game where Biana dared Keefe to kiss her. We all know about that, so there’s no need to go through that. What we will go through is what came after...

...They played spin the bottle, which is always a bad idea.

The bottle landed on Keefe when Fitz spun it, and he blinked. Blushing a little, they leaned forward, just a little peck on the lips, and they refused to look at each other for the rest of the night.

For weeks after, Biana would start giggling crazily whenever she saw the two of them.

Fitz was fifteen when he found Sophie. She had brown eyes, which was pretty unique... oh, who are we kidding? It was never seen before. Fitz could tell she was special.

After Sophie was taken to Havenfield, Fitz hailed Keefe and told him about the mysterious new girl.

“She’s got brown eyes, and she grew up with humans! That’s so cool, Keefe!”

Turns out, Fitz was right. Sophie was special. Special enough to get kidnapped and tortured by- the Black Swan? Fitz didn’t know. He’d gone to her planting, and Dex’s planting too, and then there was a loud Fitz! echoing through his mind, and then there was Sophie and Dex at the Four Seasons Tree- they were fine. Faded and hurt, but fine.

Fitz was sixteen when he was impaled by a giant bug. Keefe had come over to his bed while he was recovering, and told him, “A giant bug, Fitzy? Really? Come on, I know you can do better.”

He’d laughed when Fitz had weakly swiped at him, but his expression soon became serious and he said, “Fitz, I know I joke a lot, but... get well soon, yeah? I need my partner in crime back again.”

He’d run his hands through Fitz’s hair and Fitz leaned into the touch, hugging Mr Snuggles closer. Keefe had left after that.

Keefe was breaking. Fitz knew he was. They’d been through so much together, from Keefe joining the Neverseen to being slashed by Dimitar to Tam joining the Neverseen, and so much in between. But it was the fateful London trip that we all know about that finally tipped Keefe over the breaking point.

“Keefe? Can I look through your memories in case there’s something we’ve missed?”

Keefe let him, and as Fitz looked through the memories, he realized that there were some with cracks through them. Specifically, memories with his mother in them. Fitz’s breath hitched, and he stared at the cracks. And stared. And stared. Keefe was breaking.

Hold on, Keefe. I’m going to try something.

What are you-

Fitz tuned out the rest of Keefe’s sentence, focusing on the emotional center of his brain. Without Sophie, he wasn’t good at this, but he could try. He channelled all his happy memories with Keefe and Biana, before Sophie and Gisela and Alvar and the Black Swan and the Neverseen. He heard Keefe gasp, but he concentrated on the bliss he found in the afternoons and slumber parties.

He slowly opened his eyes, and found ice blue eyes staring right back. “Wow,” both of them whispered, and that was what set them off. They laughed loudly and freely, like they used to, before the Neverseen took over the normal lives they once led.

Keefe wasn’t waking up. His mom had sent him into a coma under the impression that it would give him a new ability. Fitz sighed, his hand in Keefe’s. He’d managed to finally get Sophie to get a bath and some sleep by telling her Biana was going to stop by later. Everybody knew the two girls liked each other except the two girls in question.

Anyway.

Fitz was sick of it. He wanted to go back to normal, simply playing in the trees and having midnight feasts. He shut his eyes and transmitted, Keefe. I miss you so, so much. Please come back. I’m waiting. We’re waiting. Come back. I miss you. I- I think I love you; you know that? I think I’ve loved you for years now, starting with a tiny little crush when you kissed me. You’re-

Fitz felt a subtle shift in Keefe’s mind. He opened his eyes to find Keefe staring back. “Me too,” he whispered.

The kiss felt like fireworks and sunny afternoons.

Fitz was twenty-two and he was staring at the love of his life coming down the aisle. Elwin was with him, and he smiled at Fitz as Keefe stood in front of him, a suit making him look all proper. Magnate Leto was officiating the ceremony.

“Do you, Fitz Vacker, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Keefe Heslege, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” His smile was brighter than the sun.

“Then you may kiss the groom.”

During the bouquet toss, Keefe threw the flowers up and they landed square between Sophie and Biana’s linked hands. They blushed and there were cheers and wolf-whistling, the latter probably from Marella.

One night, you peek into their bedroom. There’s no one there, what’s the harm? You see a painting of a sunny clearing in a- grove, perhaps? hanging above the bed. There’re two boys sitting in the clearing, and in the painting’s corner, you can see a tiny note saying ‘Marry me? We can have all the sunny afternoons and nighttime fireworks in eternity together’. And you will hear voices and laughter ringing out from the trees nearby, and it makes you smile.

Fireworks explode in the starry sky.

~~~

my practically non-existent taglist (please, someone ask to be added):

@lemontarto and no one else >:[]

#keefitz #fanfic #by me #kotlc #unlocked spoilers? idk #yeah #unlocked spoilers #sam says stuff

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bookwyrminspiration · 2 years ago

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What's your MBTI type? And can you give the KOTLC characters MBTI types?

Okay so I don't have an intimate knowledge of MBTI, more of a passing familiarity, so take everything I say with a grain of salt! Also just took the test for the first time in a while and I am now apparently an INFJ-T (Advocate), so that's a new one!

Sophie: Maybe INFP (Mediator)? Because of how strange and isolated she's always felt from everyone combined with her strong desire to help others, it seems to fit. She can't pretend to be someone she isn't and her purpose is (in part) to help others. Open-minded as she is, she can sometimes fall prey to self-criticism and isolation

Fitz: ESFJ (Consul). Its description mentions the belief of a clear right thing to do in every situation, which reminds me of how firm he was in his thoughts at Alvar's trial. The part about holding families and communities together helps, too. There's also the loyalty and worry about social status, so! Consul!

Keefe: I'm not 100% on this one but ESTP (Entrepreneur)? Though I could completely understand an argument for ESFP (Entertainer). Loves being the center of attention? Risky behavior? Rules were made to be broken? Sensitive to changes in others and points them out? Seizes the moment when they shouldn't? yeah that sounds like him

Biana: ENFJ (Protagonist). A born leader, unafraid to speak up, always tries to do what's right, trying to solve problems and always getting involved when she can. She's undaunted by whatever she faces and faces things admirably, setting an example for everyone around her. But she can overextend herself.

Dex: I'm thinking ISTP (Virtuoso). Natural makers? Loves getting their hands dirty and pulling things apart to put them back together better than before? Explores through creation, trial and error? Explosive impulsive energy? Defies the rules? Can be stubborn and risky? It feels rather Dex in this establishment tonight

Linh: Perhaps ISFJ (Defender)? A deep sense of responsibility and a wealth of talent match her hydrokinesis. She doesn't need praise or recognition and is someone who can always be relied on for support and what's right. But she can be generous to a fault, giving away more of herself than is wise (like holding back the flood in Ravagog).

Tam: ISTJ (Logistician), methinks. Tam is a blunt person; he says what he means and does what he says, no nonsense. He's more pessimistic and doesn't let emotion get in his way. But he can end up taking on responsibilities that aren't his own (to go to Exillium) and judging harshly. But his commitment and responsibility aren't to be forgotten

Marella: She stumped me so I took the test from her pov and the site gave me ESTP (Entrepreneur), and I can understand that. She's a very sociable person and often at the center of things always knows the gossip), and the rule breaking I think can be easily linked to her pyrokinesis. She can also forget to look after herself with everything going on and emotional situations can be awkward for her.

Stina: How do we feel about ENTJ (Commander). Confidence, ruthlessness, and leadership are Stina's middle names. She has a lot of them. She's always looking to prove herself and do greater things, sometimes stepping on others in the process. Emotional expression isn't really her thing, but she has an invaluable presence.

Maruca: Perhaps ESFJ (Consul) as well? With the strong loyalty, it reminds me of her devotion to getting to see Wylie after his kidnapping. That combined with the strong sense of duty, her care for those around her, and the way she'd very easily give too much of herself, Consul is what I settled on.

Wylie: out of the options, I think INTJ (Architect) may fit best. Its description discusses independence, an ability to see through hypocrisy, skepticism/pessimism, little patience for frivolity, little care for popularity, and a sarcastic sense of humor I believe suits him.

Again, I'm not well-versed in the personality types so this was all based on the Intro/Strengths & Weakness pages of info available on the site! So I'm entirely open to hearing arguments to the contrary and for other mbti types, but this is what I associated them with :)

Thanks for the ask! I love sorting and categorizing things and people

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #the kotlcrew #quil's queries #nonsie #there may be other info about each type that contradicts how I described them but I would not know #for the sake of time I only looked at the intro/strengths/weaknesses #but I think I've got solid arguments/bases of arguments for them?#also congrats to the people who have multiple characters associated with their type #and sorry to those that got excluded :/#long post

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bookwyrminspiration · 3 years ago

Note

How do you think Sophie's family/friends would react to female to male Sophie Foster? Like if it were while she was in the Lost Cities.

oo that's an interesting one! trans sophie, specifically in the lost cities (i'm assuming in the canon timeline with all the other worldbuilding still intact). I don't know if they have the concept in the Lost Cities--I mean I think it's entirely safe to assume that queer elves exist whether or not Shannon writes about them, you just can't erase us.

(note: I will be referring to Sophie with that name and =they/they pronouns for this post simply because name and pronouns are a whole other deal)

I think their immediate family and friends would be supportive, if a little confused, but understand that whatever they're talking about with gender means a lot to them. The elven world follows so many traditional stereotypes when it comes to gender--like hair length, dresses, etc.--and all apparently at will, as Della (i think it was her, might've been Edaline) said that Sophie didn't need to wear dresses if they wanted to wear pants instead, as it was actually the capes that signified nobility and not the dresses. This leads me to believe that there has been at least one other person who has rebelled against the dresses and prefers pants, hence that answer came so easily to Della; it wasn't her first time thinking about it. However, as it never went into practice for Sophie (another thing about her wardrobe that I'll mention in another post. to the person who sent me an ask about it: I saw it! I'll get to it!), it does make me think there would be a little bit of a rocky transition into wearing more traditionally masculine clothing.

it's worth noting that just because they may be ftm, they don't need to change their wardrobe and throw away all their dresses, I'm just including this because we've seen mentions of Sophie disliking the more poofy/obviously feminine clothing throughout the series, so they seem like they might be someone who would want to change their presentation a little.

to get a little more into specifics: I don't think any of their friends or family would be hostile towards them, maybe unintentionally a little dense, but well-meaning. Edaline would be very open and welcome to their transition, whatever that entailed (if anything), and mostly grateful Sophie was comfortable sharing that with her. I think Grady would be protective, the kind of person to question them just a little bit to make sure this was something they really wanted (not because he didn't believe them, just because he'd recognize the difficulties and wouldn't want them to go through it without due cause). I don't think Sandor would particularly care, mainly concerned with keeping them safe and only thinking about it so far as to make sure they feel safe emotionally with him. He'd recognize it as not his place to question or judge, and he doesn't need to know how their gender works in order to respect and protect them.

onto the friends! I think Biana and Dex would be the most supportive upfront and ask the fewest questions. Biana might even take this as a chance to help figure out how Sophie wants to look and figure that out with them. it's right up her alley, as she loves doing others up, and it's a bonding opportunity too, a chance to let Sophie reintroduce themself to her. And maybe she'd take the opportunity to take all those lovely gowns off Sophie's hands...you know, out of support, not at all because she wants them for herself (insert knowing wink here). And then Dex is already used to living outside the norms of society, so seeing Sophie decide to do what they wanted and to stop trying to fit in to a feminine role would just make his ecstatic. Because he knows what that's like and he'd enjoy seeing one of his close friends stick it to the system--and he'd also be very supportive of their journey. I imagine he'd help with whatever technical aspects of transitioning Sophie would want, helping them access resources and all that.

i think Keefe would be a little caught off guard, but once Sophie explains how they feel and he can feel their emotions on the subject, I think he'd be very enthusiastic about them doing what they wanted. he might berate himself for not putting the pieces together sooner, as he could literally feel their discomfort with themselves throughout the years and yet he just brushed it off. I kind of get the vibe he'd help Biana with assisting Sophie in finding their style, but focus more of the appearance aspect over the clothes. Teaching them how to actually wear the clothes together and style their hair and all that. he also feels like he'd start being a little rougher with them, playing around with them and teasing them the way he usually does with Fitz as he works to unlearn the way he perceived them before. Speaking of Fitz, he feels like the kind of friend who would be like "why would you do that?" but only because he doesn't fully understand what they're talking about. Not that he wouldn't be supportive, he'd just need a little more guidance and assistance understanding what they want. he's had a very traditional mindset for a lot of the series, but I think his love and respect for Sophie would be more than enough to challenge his understanding of gender so he could support them. if they had already dated at this point in time, he might want to talk to them privately about that just to understand if that's why things didn't work out or if he'd done something wrong, but that's another conversation.

then there are the other, more sidelined friends, all of whom I think would generally react the same. I think Linh would just go with it and not ask questions, but be pleased that Sophie feels more themselves, perhaps sharing a story of her own about coming into herself and her power and accepting herself as she was. i don't imagine Tam would have much of an outward reaction, being like "why are you telling me this, I don't care" but internally reworking how he thought about them. And I imagine he'd be a little protective, seeing Sophie go outside the norms of society even more. He was scorned by society for years, so that's a subject close to his heart, so while he might not think much of it or how it will affect their relationship, I think he'd be more protective of them, just like from the background. Then Marella would probably take it in stride and say something like "I always knew there was something off about you" but not in an insulting way, just being like ah. that's what it was. you were always a little different and I couldn't figure out why you acted the way you did, but this makes sense. It might answer a question about Sophie she didn't even know she had. Maruca probably wouldn't think much of it, instead focused on the Black Swan and fighting. I imagine something similar with Wylie, both of them going okay that's not my problem, happy for you but also there's some things we need to work on. They'd use their name and pronouns and support them emotionally, but I don't think they're close enough to them to have more of a reaction. it's just...not a priority to them.

this is getting long so I'll stop there for now, but there's also the thoughts of how the black swan, neverseen, council, and elven society as a whole would react to their gender things. I think Sophie would have an excellent support system built up, they're friends and family loving them more than any confusion that might get in their way.

this was a very interesting ask!! so thank you for the opportunity! got a lot longer than I expected it to, but I enjoyed it!

#this is talking less about how sophie would actually behave if they were trans #and focusing specifically on the reactions #they have a lot of people who love them unconditionally #it just might take some explaining or time for some of them to really figure out what's going on and how to support them #but I can't imagine any of her friends or family being rude or unaccepting about it #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #sophie foster #trans!sophie #quil's queries #bluecookiesarebetter #long post

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