#so to me it's obvious it's not all alvar. which is why i think we just say aalto. aalto stool. aalto vase.

[saa-na]

whenever the usamerican interior design youtubers talk about artek or alvar aalto or the stool 60 without mentioning aino aalto i get so embarassed for them. like i can't believe they continue upholding the great man myth and ignore aino's contribution to the design house. the aalto sidetable that predeced the stool 60 is very much credited to aino.

[cecebookworm]

I finished Unraveled a few hours ago and here are my intial thoughts. Spoilers obviously:

⚠️⚠️⚠️

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

⚠️⚠️⚠️

- I really loved it. Keefe’s internal monologue was surprisingly not obnoxious (I love him but he can be low key exhausting) and I was impressed by the more overall mature tone of the book.

- The twists were insane in a way that felt like they should have been obvious. I’m not including the Alvar reveal considering we all more or less figured the guy in the cover was either Alvar or Gethen, but the twists involving him were intriguing.

- I feel like Shannon is setting him up to be redeemed in the sense that he’ll die in some heroic death saving Fitz in the final book. He comments so many times in this how much he loves Keefe but hates Fitz and I just don’t believe it.

- I was sick reading this book and the vibes of the book were so immaculately cozy it made me feel better whenever I read it.

- There were TWO QUEER CHARACTERS (a gay man who helps Keefe in London and a sapphic women in Australia who help trick Keefe and Alvar [Good for her]) and apparently that was enough for people to be furious about “liberal propaganda”??????? Bruh, just say your feelings some feelings you don’t want to talk about. 🙄

- Though the notable thing about this is that the way that Keefe and Alvar talk about it implies that homosexuality has not happened publicly in the Lost Cities because of matchmaking (which makes a whole lot of sense because matchmaking is basically eugenics.) I wonder if Shannon will bring this up when the matchmaking system inevitably topples in the final book. (Marelinh 👉👈?)

- The twist with Lord Cassius had me face palming to myself. Tell me why my dumbass heard Cass and my first thought was, “Is Keefe gonna meet an old granny and actually feels some parental love? 🥹” Um no, Shannon Messenger can not let him be happy for two minutes.

- I really loved all the discussions about mental health in this book. The way Keefe had to navigate the complicated feelings about his mother, his life, what has happened to him because he finally HAD the time to deal with it was really well done.

*though I’m unconvinced that Alvar didn’t get a therapy license while in the Forbidden Cities.

- SPEAKING OF ALVAR’S TIME IN THE FORBIDDEN CITIES; I don’t know how, but I guessed he was in Seoul by the way Keefe talked about the library where they met. I thought the description matched a library I’ve seen on Instagram a lot and low and behold when Alvar talked about hotteoks I realized he had in fact been in South Korea! Oh the joys of spending a lot of time obsessing about leaving the country and finding landmarks from it.

- Eleanor’s story is stressing me OUT. WHO showed up at your door after your father’s death?!?!?! (My bet is on Kenric and Prentice. Zero evidence, pure gut feeling) WHAT are you hiding?!?!?! (Please God let it be extra crystals.) WILL YOU BE RETURNING?!?! (Come on girly, we both know you can’t resist getting back at Gisela for being a psycho.)

- Anyway, all of this book explained Keefe’s odd behavior in Stellarlune so I find that interesting. Honestly, after rereading a few of the last chapters I don’t think this was a cash grab. Shannon REALLY couldn’t have conveyed a lot of this from Keefe just telling a story back to Sophie. She did the right thing.

- This book has officially become my emotional crush until May.

[send-up-my-heart-to-you]

sooooo im 75% done w the first book of kotlc, here are some thoughts i had / theories i came up w while reading (the links to my thoughts for 25% and 50% are here and here respectively)

starting off hot, i did not like keefes dad. ik thats like obvious that hes bad, but hes giving lucius malfoy (i can imagine him w the black swan. not theorizing, but saying that i wouldnt be surprised). i swear if i find out hes touched a hair on keefes gorgeous head—

another thing, the pyrokinetics. that book was obviously planted by someone from the black swan, and i think i know who (i say it in one of the next points.) but i wonder what happens if someone is a pyrokinetic ? i think someone mentioned earlier that abilities can form on their own, so what do they do w someone who just like spawns that ability. also wouldnt it be funny if dex or marella was a pyrokinetic.

speaking of dex, can i just say i love him. i feel like hes sidelined by sophie n i know she doesnt mean it n hes her best friend but hes so left out cmon i feel so bad. also the way hes so jealous of fitz "you just like seeing wonderboy. please dont tell me you have some stupid crush on him" JSWJSHSHEHD I CANT

i can also now honestly say that i like sophie as a mc. like. a lot of books have bland mcs but not kotlc, shes a good person, she has a strong moral compass, hates attention cause she gets so much of it (esp sucks since this seems to be a chosen one trope). i wanna see more depth to her character tho cause a lot of this is just surface shit. but then again this is a middle-grade series n im only on the first book, so ill be patient

okay, look. about the black swan. i get that theyre planting information into her head. she knows abt elementine, she knows the word 'suldreen'. but some things i dont get how they planted. its too broad to be planted all at once like. she can understand a whole new language n she doesnt know it ?? she can read a whole new alphabet (the cipher runes) which is extremely rare to be able to read ?? she knows how the eternalia castles look like ?? howd they plant that in her head? might be a plothole but idkkk

the allergy when she was nine HAS GOT TO HAVE SOME SIGNIFICANCE. i mean, it was thrown in n she mentioned that they never discovered what its cause was ??? real suspicious shit im telling you

now, this ones a lil far fetched n it goes off of barely anything except for my writer instinct but bear w me, at first when sophie started getting notes in her locker n they suspected it was someone from the black swan (i suspect the book was also planted by that someone, tho i suppose its kinda obvious), i thought it was a student or teacher who could get easy access. heck, i assumed it might be keefe for a hot sec bc we know he broke into her locker before. but then he said that he found it opened, n alden said it might be a vanisher... and then alvar, a vanisher, showed up during that same conversation. now, i could be wrong, but wouldnt that make for an insane plot twist? esp since sophies gonna move in w the vackers, n itd make for a cool thing to notice if you go for a reread knowing hes the vanisher alden speculated abt. idk, just a thought

thats all i have, the next one is gonna be a post when im 100% done, n ive found a pdf of the second book so imma start reading that prolly immediately after im done w this one. lmk if i should do posts like this for 'exile', too (i wonder why its called that btw?)

tagging: @tastetherainbow290, @that-multi-fandom-hijabi, @aylin-hijabi

[bookwyrminspiration]

What is the neverseens goal? It feels like they all want something different. Fintan and Brant (rip) wanted pyro rights. Who knows what Umber and Trix wanted? Same with Ruy and Gethen. Gisela wants *.ThE cHaNgE.* Alvar joined because of the Vacker Legacy and daddy issues, no clue why glimmer was there, Vespera just vibes with human expirementation... what fommon goal do they have?

honestly good question, nonsie. Because we read the series entirely (or like, 97%) from Sophie’s perspective, we often only get her interpretations of their actions and that can influence how we think about the characters. Which is how it’s supposed to work, but it can lead us to make assumptions about the Neverseen that we just pick up from Sophie that aren’t necessarily accurate

From what we can see, it seems the Neverseen are a group of outcasts, people who have been set aside or unappreciated by elven society. Fintan and Brant are an obvious example, both wanting to be able to practice their ability and be accepted (more or less). Umber worked with dark shadows no one else understood or bothered to appreciate. Ruy was deemed unfit for society, and we don’t know anything about Trix or Glimmer for me to work with. Also I don’t remember Gethen well enough to say anything on him. But, there are exceptions to this. Namely, Gisela and Alvar, who would’ve been perfectly accepted but wanted more/were disgusted with what they got.

So their group are people who either aren’t liked by or don’t like elven society. And they want to change that society to fit them, thinking themselves the most for to do so. There are several quotes where one of them says the lost cities are “stuck in their old ways,” (paraphrased). Reasonably, we can assume they want this society to move forward and include them, if that can indeed be considered forward

However, as this seems like a reasonable enough motive, Shannon needed to give them more negative traits and expressions of themself so they would be solidified as bad people in our minds. For example, kidnapping, coercion, physical violence, torturing, harming children, etc. this also illuminates how they try to achieve their goals, separating them from the main characters.

They appear to be a “wrong thing for the right reason” type of group. The pyrokinetics want their abilities back because it’s unfair and takes away their rights to practice their ability, labeled as dangerous because of something outside of their control (what ability they have, I mean. They can learn to control themselves). And as we can see with Marella, pyrokinetics aren’t predisposed to be dangerous, and labeling them as such can be even more harm for (like with Brant). Lady Gisela is dissatisfied with the way the world works and wants to personally change it and bring forth something new. We don’t know a lot about her motives aside from Sophie always thinking she sounds totally unbelievable and illogical. And Alvar’s whole thing hasn’t come to fruition yet but we do know he doesn’t like his families past/legacy they’re leaving behind and doesn’t want to be associated with it, so he’s “saving” himself from it and trying to fix what he sees as a problem.

TL;DR: I think I got distracted but what I’m trying to get at is that they all work together because while they do definitely have different motives, their enemies are similar enough that combining their efforts helps all of them. There’s strength in numbers here. So their common goal could be to reform elven society. They all want to reform it in a different way but the first step at least is to remove those currently in power, and collaboration is quickest for each of them

[linh-song]

wait why does the fandom seem to hate alden i;m in the middle of book 3

He’s treated as a good guy in the first couple of books, and Sophie somewhat idolizes him/puts him on a pedestal. Except even then he gaslights Sophie and treats her like she’s incapable of understanding anything and like she doesn’t have the right to know any of what’s going on, even though most of what’s happening directly relates to her and her ‘mysterious origins and purpose’. (I believe someone’s written a post before outlining the ways he gaslights Sophie, I’ll see if I can find it)

Plus, he sent Alvar and Fitz out alone into the human world, as children, to look for someone he wasn’t even sure actually existed (Fitz said he started searching for Sophie on his own he was around 6 years old, and while we don’t know when Alvar first started looking for her, we can assume it was around the same age, or even younger). And on top of that, this is all illegal. It was a completely unsanctioned investigation, that would have gotten them into some huge trouble if they were caught like... yikes. And even more so since we know that Fitz/Alvar did this almost every day, and missed school on a regular basis because of it. Like idk man I think ensuring the safety and well-being of your children, and that they’re properly educated and have a normal childhood, is more important than sending them out to do your dirty work.

And then there’s his obvious favoritism for Fitz (which canonically hurt Alvar and led him to... okay no spoilers jakshshjrh but as the books go on you’ll see), his neglectful attitude towards his children (okay, mostly towards Alvar) and how much pressure he puts onto his kids to be perfect (this one is mostly Fitz, since he’s the “golden child” and Alden’s chosen favorite).

There’s about a million other little things that rub me the wrong way, and even more icky stuff that he does as the books go on (make sure to read the Flashback bonus keefe pov short story too, it’s when I first realized just how manipulative and gross he is), not to mention other little details that are VERY suspicious and lead me to believe that he’ll eventually be revealed as a bad guy, but I’ve rambled on long enough jakdjfjjska

tl:dr Alden gaslights Sophie, treats his kids like tools to be used to reach his end means, plays favorites, is a neglectful father, and puts too much pressure on his kids to be perfect.

[sing-swan-spring-swan]

color me colorblind

Based off a prompt that i can’t for the love of me find, which was basically “we’re doing that flame color lab in chem and you’re cheating off me and i’m getting really angry but you beg me not to make a scene because apparently you’re colorblind”. Involving copious amounts of misunderstanding and pre-relationship detz.

Fitz enjoyed chem.

As a sophomore in high school, he rarely enjoyed much of anything, so chem was special, so to speak. He had to have fun where he could get it, even if “where he could get it” happened to be a science lab.

Unfortunately for Fitz, chem was shaping up to be particularly awful today. It had begun alright, as most awful things do. He’d even been excited for the coming lab. And then the lab had actually been handed out, and Fitz knew he was doomed. He glared again at the offending words, printed with deceptive innocence.

You will be studying the color changes in flames when elements are added to them, it said.

It was a fairly normal experiment: Alvar had done it in his sophomore year, and, although it had sent the boy home with his eyebrows singed, it was one of the simpler labs. Light a flame, add a chemical to the flame, write down the color. Easy. Except for one thing: Fitz had protanopia, meaning he couldn’t actually see the colors to write them down. The teacher didn’t know this, since Fitz had never really thought it mattered. It had never prevented him from doing anything before, so he’d never told her. Ms. Galvin hated children with a burning fervor, so Fitz tried to minimize their interactions.

Unfortunately, now he was stuck. If he went up and told her now, she would think he was just trying to get out of the experiment. If he didn’t say anything, he knew he wouldn’t get the right colors, and he’d fail the assignment. The only way he could avoid complete disaster was-

“You will be working with partners,” Ms. Galvin said.

Immediately, a burst of chatter broke out. People gravitated to potential partners, and under his breath, Fitz thanked his lucky stars. Having a partner meant having someone who might be willing to whisper the answers to him, or check his work to make sure he was right. Maybe he actually could-

“Ahem,” Ms. Galvin cleared her throat and started speaking, voice drenched in disdain; some days Fitz wondered why she’d ever become a teacher. “I will be choosing your partners.”

The chatter came to an abrupt halt, and all the energy was sucked out of the room as quickly as it came. Despite everyone else’s dismay, Fitz held out hope. He wasn’t too unpopular, and most of the other kids, while not exactly kind, wouldn’t mind helping him. He just had to avoid getting the one person in class who utterly abhorred him: Dex. For reasons he couldn’t fathom, the redheaded boy with more freckles than there were stars treated Fitz like he was the cause of every problem on earth. They got along like a house on fire, in that Fitz was the house and Dex wanted to set him on fire- which was not actually the correct meaning of the idiom, but it described their situation accurately.

Still, Dex was one person in a class of about 25 people or so. There was a less than 4% chance that they would actually end up being partnered. Fitz would be fine. Still, he kept his fingers crossed as Ms. Galvin chose their partners.

“Fitzroy Vacker and Dexter Dizznee, lab station one,” she said.

Oh, the world really hated him today, didn’t it?

Fitz dropped his binder at the lab station. Dex glared at him, and he wanted to scream. Instead, Fitz ducked his head and started turning on the Bunsen burner. Still, he couldn’t help trying to understand. Why did the boy hate him? What had he ever done to Dex? Fitz certainly didn't know. What made it worse was that Fitz needed his partner to be helpful, and Dex certainly wouldn't be. 

First of all, Dex hated him, and second of all, Dex was a genius. He was smart as a whip; anyone good enough to get into Foxfire Prep on scholarship had to be. Most days, Fitz thought that was amazing- that Dex was amazing. On days like these, though, he resented it. Dex’s genius meant he couldn’t ever ask Dex for help. He didn’t want to look stupid.

This wasn't to say that Dex wasn't helpful ever. He was wonderful when around others. He was sweet, and kind, and nice, and- he had the cutest smile on top of it all. But none of that mattered, because when it came to Fitz, Dex acted like he carried the black plague with him. They rarely spoke, and when they did acknowledge the other’s existence, it was always clipped, short, and an awful experience all around.

The most interaction Fitz had ever had with Dex had been in ninth grade, when their English teacher Mr. Leto had noticed Fitz looking at Dex (he tried to be subtle about it, really, but apparently it was very obvious). They had spent every English project paired up after that, and while Fitz couldn’t really complain, it didn’t change anything. Dex still hated him, and he certainly wouldn’t be any help here, even if Fitz desperately needed it.

The gas was flowing now. Dex took the spark lighter and leaned over Fitz to light the fire. They were now inches apart, and Fitz made a concentrated effort not to notice, or at least to act like he hadn’t.  If his breathing went shallow and his body became incredibly still, well, no one needed to know.

It took what felt like ages for a spark to finally catch. In reality, it was only a few seconds until the flame flared up and Dex pulled away. Once they were out of close proximity, Fitz managed to calm his pounding heart and speak, like a normal person.

"So, which chemical are we using first?" he said, doing decently at keeping his voice controlled.

"Calcium," Dex replied, somehow managing to convey his utter disdain for Fitz and his disbelief that Fitz doesn't already know what chemical they're using in a single word.

Fitz obligingly dipped a popsicle stick into water and then the powdered calcium. When he moved it through the flame, he caught flashes of dark yellow in the blue. He and Dex watched it for a few seconds, before Dex scribbled something down. Unfortunately, Fitz still couldn't tell what color it was. To him, it appeared dark yellow, but strawberries also appeared dark yellow, so really it could be anything from red to yellow. He was stuck.

And then he glanced over.

Dex was off getting more popsicle sticks, since for some reason, their lab station had only had one. Currently, the other boy was almost arguing with Ms. Galvin, because, as always, she refused to agree with any student.

Dex’s paper was completely exposed.

Fitz knew he shouldn't take Dex's answers. This was a graded lab. Even when Ms. Galvin said "partner work," everyone knew that she meant "do the actual experiment together, but write down your own answers or you will get a zero and I will send you to detention." So Fitz knew that looking off Dex's lab was a bad idea.

But it was either that or a guaranteed F on the lab. It wasn't much of a choice. He glanced over to see the first short answer already filled in.

Orange-red.

Fitz scribbled it down, and, despite himself, sighed in relief.

Dex hated chem.

He didn’t hate chemistry. He thought science was awesome. But he hated the class. Most of the kids were jerks who wouldn’t stop teasing him about his background. So what if his parents weren’t rich snobs like the rest of them? He was smart enough to get into the school, he deserved to be here. That was fair. Not that the other kids cared. On top of that, their chem teacher looked and acted like she’d bitten into a lemon. Constantly.

And worst of all, he was stuck with Fitz as a partner.

Dex had spent his life being less. Not as rich, not as polished, not as handsome, not as smart- the list went on. He’d thought- he’d hoped that when he got into Foxfire, it would be enough. Foxfire Prep was the most prestigious school in the state. But it wasn’t enough, and it never would be. He was still lesser than all the other students. Most of all Fitz.

Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Fitz was born with a whole silverware set. The Vacker family was incredibly rich and, as if that wasn’t enough, Fitz had every good trait known to man. He was honest, charismatic, charming, smart, handsome and- Dex would die before he said it out loud, but Fitz was kinda cute. But the so called “golden boy” was also everything Dex wasn’t, and he felt constantly compared. He wasn’t as rich as Fitz, or as smart as Fitz, or as good as Fitz.

Part of him would have given his right hand to be friends with Fitz. The boy was nice, and sweet, and- well, he seemed like a good person, that’s all! But a bigger part couldn’t get over the fact that he’d never be good enough for Fitz. When you live your life being lesser, it’s hard to imagine being equal. If they had been equals, things might have been different. He might not have had a grudge against Fitz. They might have been friends (or, whispered a little voice, something more).

But things weren’t different. Dex liked the multiverse theory, but in this world, he was still less than Fitz. Nothing would change that.

So here he was, stuck in a stupid science experiment with his better-in-every-way counterpart. And he'd had to fight with his terrible teacher for at least five minutes just to get popsicle sticks. Dex didn't know why Ms. Galvin was so protective of her popsicle sticks, but apparently they were like gold to her. Or something.

When he got back with his precious popsicle sticks, something had changed with Fitz. He seemed relieved, at ease. Dex hadn't noticed the tension in his shoulders until it was gone. Still, it was none of his business. What Fitz was or wasn’t stressed about didn’t matter to him. He just had to focus, finish the lab, and get out of science class. Focus, finish the lab and get out of science class. Dex could do that; it was what he’d been doing all year.

He glanced at his paper for the next element: potassium. Take a popsicle stick, dip it in water, dip it in potassium, run through flame. The bright blue flame flashed a light purple a couple of times, enough for Dex to see again. He wrote down the color and tossed the popsicle stick into the trash. Some days he wished he could control chemistry class; he’d make it actually interesting, unlike their teacher. But nope, he was in for another mind-numbing day of repetitiveness.

That was, until he looked back. He’d had to look away to throw the popsicle stick away. This had apparently left Fitz with enough time to steal his answers. Because when Dex looked back, he caught Fitz turning his head away, as if the other boy had just been looking at his paper.

Fitz was cheating off him.

Dex was furious.

Fitz, wonderboy Fitz, straight-A student Fitz, was trying to cheat off him.

If it were anyone else, he’d probably have given them the answers. It was just a lab, and not even a complicated one at that. But this was Mr. Perfect, future valedictorian, the Wonderboy, trying to take his answers. How many times had his teachers told him, why can’t you be more like Fitz? Imagine what they would say if they found out Fitz was just a cheater.

“What are you doing?” Dex whispered, low and wary.

“Uh . . . the lab?” Fitz whispered back.

Dex didn’t believe him at all, but he had no real evidence to prove Fitz was cheating. If he honestly wanted to call Fitz out on it, Dex had to catch Fitz in the act. From what he’d seen, Fitz was really bad at cheating, so it probably wouldn’t be too hard. He just had to keep watching.

So he did. He watched Fitz as he took yet another stick, while he dipped in in water and then boron, while he ran it through the flame (he had to look away for a bit here, but he hadn’t written anything, so Dex thought it was okay), and while he threw the stick away. That’s when he saw it.

Fitz was leaning over, looking at his paper, and very obviously cheating. Dex was fuming.

“Stop it,” he hissed.

“I’m not doing anything,” Fitz said, and Dex glared in disbelief.

“You’re cheating off me, I caught you cheating.” He dropped his voice so Ms. Galvin wouldn’t hear, but part of Dex wanted to yell it to the whole world.

“ . . . What are you talking about?”

Was Fitz being serious? He’d seen Fitz copying his answers!

“If you don’t stop, I’ll go to Ms. Galvin, and you know she’ll fail you.”

Fitz said nothing.

Dex grabbed his paper and got off his stool, heading for Ms. Galvin. Suddenly, Fitz reached out and grabbed his sleeve, stopping Dex.

“Please don’t go to Ms. Galvin, she’ll give me a zero, you know that.” “And why shouldn’t I?” Just because you’re the Chosen One at this school doesn’t mean you can escape consequences, Dex thought.

“I was cheating, and I’m sorry, but I can’t see the colors!” Fitz whispered back.

Dex was boiling with anger now. Did Fitz think, just because he’d been born with everything meant he could take anything from anyone. It wasn’t fair.

“What do you mean you can’t see the colors, the flame’s right there! You aren’t blind!”

“I am colorblind!”

. . . Oh.

Shame rushed through Dex, hot and burning. Of course. Of course Fitz hadn’t just been cheating off him. Of course Fitz had actually needed his answers. Of course Fitz had a perfectly good reason to be cheating. He should have known. Maybe they didn’t get along, but Dex still knew Fitz, and Fitz was a good person. He’d seen Fitz interact with other people, and he was kind. Fitz wasn’t the kind to cheat unless he had to. In this case, Fitz had to.

And Dex had been unforgivably rude. What had he done? He’d be lucky if Fitz would even talk to him after this.

“I have red-green colorblindness. The only reason I even know you have red hair is because I hear people teasing you about it,” the other boy continued.

Dex ducked his head. He couldn’t meet Fitz’s eyes. He’d been completely horrible.

“Why didn’t you just- ask me for help?” Dex mumbled.

Fitz laughed sharply, as if the idea was completely insane.

“I couldn’t ask you for help.” He paused, and then, slowly “I- didn’t want to look stupid in front of you. You’re a genius, and I-”

“Wait.” Was he hearing Fitz right? “You think I’m smart?”

“Well, of course. You got in on scholarship, didn’t you? Anyone smart enough to do that must be a genius.”

Dex didn’t know what to say. He’d always thought that getting in on scholarship made him poor, made him not as good as everyone else. But Fitz didn’t see it that way. Maybe that was just because Fitz was rich, but Dex wanted to believe him. There was a pause, and then Dex spoke.

“I- I’m sorry for misjudging you, earlier,” he said, “and, uh, thank you.”

Fitz smiled, and it shone.

“You’re welcome.”

(When they reached for the next popsicle stick, their hands bumped each other.)

They went through the rest of the lab relatively quickly. Whenever Dex wrote down a color, he would whisper the answer to Fitz, who would scribble it in.

It was- nicer than Fitz had expected it to be. Dex was nicer than Fitz had expected him to be. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe Dex was just in a good mood. But Fitz wouldn’t question it. Besides, the bell was going to ring in five minutes, meaning he’d survived chem class without failing. Fitz wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak.

At the front of the class, Ms. Galvin cleared her throat to assign homework. Fitz was barely paying attention; he couldn’t wait to get out of class. Besides, he already knew what she was going to say: turn in labs, homework on website, etc. etc. And then he heard her.

“On the website, you’ll find pictures of flames. Write down which elements are burning by next class.”

Oh, perfect.

Fitz did not want to do this. He could probably ask his parents for help, but he’d really rather the assignment not exist at all. Unfortunately, it did, and there was nothing else he could do. At least the bell was ringing, which meant class was finally over. Things would be better tomorrow. Hopefully.

He scooped his stuff up, headed for the door, and bumped into Dex along the way. Fitz didn’t think much of it, but when he got to his next class, he found a sticky note on the bottom of his binder. Written on it, in what was very obviously Dex’s handwriting, was the address of the nearby bagel shop and the words After school, for the hw. Below that were the words I’ll be there.

Fitz smiled.

[bookwyrminspiration]

thoughts on relationships between the neverseen?? maybe?? this is a really generic ask sorry lol but i’m really curious

nothing to apologize for! I love generic asks--they give me a little more creative freedom in terms of where my thoughts go, so it's a nice balance with some of the more specific ones I get! (not that either is better than the other, though)

so, recently I've been thinking specifically about Alvar and Ruy and their relationship to the authority figures in the Neverseen, like Fintan and Vespera and all that. The shitpost I made about that the other day (linked here) was actually inspired by that!

They seem so desperate for approval and validation from these people to the point that they have become dependent on them, no longer their own people. Which is interesting as they're both younger/joined when they were school aged. It's like they've never been without someone above them (moving from parents to school to the Neverseen) and don't know what to do without that validation, creating this strange dynamic between them.

I specifically want to point out one detail from Lodestar, where Keefe mentions that Ruy was upset he got demoted in one of Fintan's plans (meaning he was given a different, lesser responsibility after a failure of some kind). This interests me for two reasons: one, I doubt Keefe was able to touch Ruy to read his emotions, so this was something visible and obvious/unconcealed; two, it shows how Ruy thinks of Fintan, at least partly. He wanted a bigger role. He wanted to be trusted and to have that responsibility. I think Fintan is someone to please to him, someone whose approval means something, which is why he was so upset when he lost it. And the fact that it was visible...while this is my own theorizing and unconfirmed, it would mean that he truly is younger than we think him to be--at least in terms of his actions. he joined the Neverseen when he was in exillium, but I don't think he ever grew up. I don't think he learned to process his emotions and manage disappointment, as he never had a chance to. So he doesn't conceal what he feels and he's bitter and he lashes out and he wants approval and doesn't know what to do when he doesn't get it.

and then there's Alvar, who also joined when he was young, so I think instead of seeing Fintan and Gisela and those above him as simple authority figures, I think he views them like...the teacher you want to impress? if that makes sense. if you've ever had that teacher who you liked enough that you wanted them to be impressed with your work and compliment you and tell you you're doing a good job, that's the kind of energy I get from Alvar. Having joined as a kid, he probably still sees them as authority not just in power, but in age as well. They're still the adults and he's still the kid and he wants to be accepted as part of a group. oh! that's it! okay, better way to explain: have you ever been the youngest in a group by a few years and you're just trying to be casual about it but really you're trying to get them to like you and let you in to the group without seeming like you want to hang out with them? that's a very specific experience but I think it matches.

Alvar wants to be part of that authority group, to be on an equal level as them, and that makes him easier to take advantage of because he's less willing to consider consequences and only looks at the possible benefits. His actions are to prove his worth to the Neverseen, to show that he's dedicated and that he can be a crucial asset. He lost a lot of his appeal when he was revealed because he no longer had access to the Vacker estate or its secrets, so he's trying to win it back and prove that he's more than his name.

and then there's said authority figures. I've mentioned this before but I think its relevant again: the Neverseen really aren't a family in canon. They don't care about each other or get along in the slightest, constantly working to undermine each other and take advantage of each other to achieve their personal goals (note: just had a thought about how strange it is we interact with Fintan and Gisela and Vespera personally, but that's a different topic). So I think Fintan, Gisela, and Vespera see these younger members and see them as pawns, see them as people to do their dirty work they don't want to bother with. They're resources in terms of labor and energy that they can discard when they're done with. Have you ever seen the movie, What We Do in the Shadows? If you have, I think it's similar to Jackie and Deacon's relationship, how he keeps her stuck with him and doing all his chores (cleaning and finding victims) with the promise that eventually he'll turn her into a vampire, but no intention to actually do it. As long as there is the promise that maybe one day they'll be considered important, that they'll earn their place, they can keep using them.

The Neverseen are so dysfunctional in terms of trust in each other and it's absolutely fascinating. There is no cohesion, no camaraderie, the only reason they're all together is that there's strength in numbers and there's no where else for them to find others. And this isn't everyone in the group, but I do think there's some similarities with Glimmer--she was in the process of being taken advantage of by Gisela in the way Ruy was of Fintan and Alvar was of Vespera and Fintan.