#various kotlc thoughts

[softmoonlightmelody]

Foxfire and Exillium can't be the only schools in the Lost Cities, so I'm making up my own, a secret third option, Gildstern.

Gildstern is a school for non-banished elves who do not pass the entrace exam or midterms or finals for Foxfire, talentless elves, and non-noble elves.. If a noble elf is talentless, the elf goes to Gildstern instead for what would traditionally be the Elite Levels.

School starts at nine o'clock am sharp, and ends at 4:30 pm.

Gildstern focuses on non-ability-based things. In the Foxfire curriculum, those are noted as the following:

Agriculture - this is taught by gnomes! It is to be noted that some Gildstern graduates tend to go into the agricultural field, and work with gnomes. The Council uses that as an excuse - 'we're doing agriculture too!' and safely ignores the fact that Gildstern graduates are, by virtue of their position, not exactly happy with the Council.

Alchemy & Elementalism - a popular pastime and career, alchemy is some Gildstern students' favourite class. Like agriculture, alchemy is a very common career choice for Gildstern graduates. Instead of being two independent courses, Gildstern has chosen to combine them. Slang is often used, as this is called 'AlchEm'.

History - it's very important to learn history. All history is taught, only the censors guarding things, including human history. The year is divided into halves, and then one half is divided into six quadrants. One half of the year is spent teaching about Elvin history, and the other six are about all other intelligent species and humans.

Physical Education & Skills - the skill teaching in Exillium and the physical education in Foxfire, combined! Called just Physical Education.

Metaphysics & the Universe - exactly like in Foxfire, again combined. As slang, Gildstern students call this class 'The Works'.

Talents/Linguistics - this is its own thing, where elves who have manifested take classes together with those who also manifested. If the students are talentless and in the last two years of Gildstern, they replace this class with Linguistics, where they learn languages. Those languages are not taught to manifested students, although if the students really want to, they are allowed to take Linguistics in a different way. Talents and Linguistics replace what was previously Ability Detecting for the previous five years.

Okay, that's the curriculum. There are tests, but there is no need to score perfectly on them. Instead, those tests are used to determine which group the students fall into. Smarter students are in class together, while less smart students are together too. It varies subject by subject, and the Gildstern staff just says it's because of schedule mixing.

Students have five days of school, two of which have half their classes, two of which have the other half, and one of which comprises entirely of study hall and visiting hours. If the student is taking talents, they have a period where they can take Linguistics. If students are not taking talents, they can sign up for any of the clubs which happen, or they can spend time in the music program. If you're not taking music or linguistics, you can just simply have a study period. at that time, you don't even need to be at school.

Things to do on study hall days are listed as thus:

Linguistics - if you are taking talents, here is your two-hour period for Linguistics! 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

Music - have an interest in music? Take this class to learn music theory, compose music, and make music. Happens at 11:05 am to 12:05 pm.

Lunch - you're required to be at lunch, because announcements and attendance is recorded here, as it is in the rest of the days. 12:10 pm to 1:10 pm.

Hobby Clubs - these are clubs for things like reading, writing, animals, games, and design. 1:15 pm to 1:45 pm.

Drama - technically a class. This lasts for one and a half hours. 1:50 pm to 3:20 pm.

Subject Clubs/Tutoring - each last thirty minutes, and run twice. If you're interested in a particular subject, get there for one of the sessions, or sign up for tutoring! Help each other and have fun! 3:25 pm to 3:55 pm OR 4:00 pm to 4:30 pm.

Of all schools, Gildstern in the closest to high school and middle school formats in the human world.

Students who are talentless enjoy study hall days because they do not have to arrive at school until 12:00 pm, or, if they take music, until 11:00 am. Sometimes, if a student has no classes on a study hall day, they only come for lunch and then leave. After all, lunches are quality and worth it, and leaping is easy.

An student's schedule on regular days may look like this:

9:00 am to 10:00 am - The Works

10:05 am to 11:05 pm - History

11:10 pm to 12:10 pm - AlchEm

12:15 pm to 1:15 pm - Lunch

1:20 pm to 2:20 pm - Agriculture

2:25 pm to 3:25 pm - Physical Education & Skills

3:30 pm to 4:30 pm - Astrakinesis

The same student's schedule on a study hall day might look like this:

9:00 am to 11:00 am - Linguistics

11:05 am to 12:05 pm - Study Hall

12:10 pm to 1:10 pm - Lunch

1:15 pm to 1:45 pm - Architecture Club

1:50 pm to 3:20 pm - Study Hall

3:25 pm to 3:55 pm - Linguistics Club

Gildstern is a manor donated by a talentless Vacker who realized with anger that there is no option for continued education. To this day, there has always been a talentless principal. The manor is large, and contains multiple wings. Fortunately, the secret passageways now function as actual things, and people will often take them to get places easier. The manor is shaped like Versailles, and is around half the size of Versailles. One wing is entirely devoted to apartments, for the teachers and principles, in case if necessary.

Wraith is the Vanishing teacher.

(Also - let me know if I forgot anything, because I am going through this)

[lucyshypemaster]

no bc dex is actually a menace like, bro was out bombing everyone in neverseen?? 😭😭

[when-wax-wings-melt]

Y'all wanted the presentation? Here's the presentation. Image descriptions are below the cut!

(technically this wasnt part of the assignment, which was "write an essay and read at least one full page to the class" so the reason why there's those huge blocks of text is because that is taken directly from the essay. i can condense things if I WANT to condense them)

[ID: 15 screenshots of a powerpoint presentation. The text is either white or gray, and the theme is various shades of purple, typically with bubbles of dark/light purple and images.

Slide one: Title reading "Keeper of the Lost Cities: A Love-Hate-Love Relationship, And What It Can Do To Your Psyche" with three images on the side. The first image is a meme of two stick figures, the first saying "kotlc lore is second nature to us rabid fans so it's easy to forget that the average person only knows the average special ability count and one or two vackers", the second figure saying "and valin, of course," and the first saying "of course." with text at the bottom reading "Even when they're trying to compensate for it, experts in anything wildly overcompensate the average person's familiarity with their field." The other two images are of Shannon Messenger, a white woman with blonde hair. The images are captioned "The dastardly mastermind behind it all" and "meet Shannon Messenger".

Slide Two: Title reading "Background" with a block of text and two images. The text reads "In total, the Keeper of The Lost Cities (KOTLC) series has over 7000 pages, split between nine and a half books (Book 8.5 was, uselessly, a novella) with a planned tenth coming in late 2024, and a graphic novel dropping in November. It’s the kind of series that hooks you the same way a fisherman hooks a fish: with a promise of a treat that goes very, very unfulfilled." The top image is the cover of the first keeper of the lost cities book, captioned with "book one of what will soon consume my entire brain for years and years and years" and the bottom image is a fish staring at the top image as if it is a tasty treat, captioned "Poor, innocent little 6th grade me".

Slide Three: A block of text reading "This is to say: KOTLC is a good series, at least at first. It’s certainly been my core obsession for a good (or bad) five years. It’s a hook because you can’t escape once you’ve begun. It’s my own personal brand of heroine, as Edward Cullen might say if Bella were a too-long book series that doesn’t resolve any plotlines or character arcs and instead piles more information on top of worldbuilding until contradictions are more plentiful than the packed main cast." An image of Edward Cullen from twilight is captioned "Me, apparently".

Slide Four: A small caption at the top reads "If the series ever ends you can call me Brant when Jolie asked him to leave the Neverseen the way I will burn down my house and kill everyone I love (haha just a joke to get us going)​" with an image of a huge explosion below it. Text reads, "Basically, KOTLC is a good series, but the idea of recommending it feels like I’d be violating several articles of the Geneva Conventions. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. The thought of it ending is an impossibility on the scale of the apocalypse and I hope (I'd rather) the world ends before this series does."

Slide Five: Titled "Queer-Coding in the Lost Cities" with the image of Sophie Foster and Fitz Vacker on the side. Text reads, "The queer-coding doesn't just stem from Sophie’s dedicated denial of both her worth as a human being and her desire to kiss her pretty girl friends. A connection called a “Cognate Bond” is often referred to in the text as the closest two elves can become, emotionally and mentally. Cognates exist when two Telepaths (such as Sophie) have such a deep and unbreakable trust bond that they become more skilled together than they were apart. In creating and maintaining this bond, they have to complete trust exercises and not hold back secrets keeping them from total confidentiality. Sophie’s cognate is her friend (and love interest, and, debatably, ex-boyfriend) Fitz, whose romantic relationship was in a large part focused on their cognate one. Their trust exercises involve staring into each other’s eyes, holding hands, having matching rings, and Fitz telling Sophie that she’s the only person he can truly trust. Fitz also asks his father at one point if cognates are allowed to date each other— his father affirms the statement."

Slide Six: Titled "Queer-Coding: Qualden, Tiertice, and such other 🤨🏳️‍🌈 moments​" with the text, "Notably, Alden has the authority to do so since he himself was a cognate, only undergoing a nasty breakup— sorry, only losing the bond after his cognate, Quinlin, kept too many secrets. It’s implied that two other characters were once almost Cognates, only to grow too far apart when one of them, Prentice, has his sanity forcibly shattered and is locked in prison, leaving his (gay lover) best friend, Tiergan (code name Granite), to raise his son. The choice to parallel Fitz/Sophie, Alden/Quinlin, and Tiergan/Prentice was possibly not a conscious one, since Messenger has never attempted to hint at the existence of homosexuality before, but it still resonates with hundreds of queer teen readers who look at the portrayal of utter devotion and trust between two men and think, wow. this is what i see in myself.​" The image is a quote from Neverseen, reading "'What did you give him?' Granite asked, cradling Prentice like a baby. Prentice's head lolled to the side, his body limp and pale." / "Granite held Prentice tighter, whispering, 'It's going to be okay.'"

Slide Seven: Titled "Honorary Errol "I have five identities and they're all the true me" Forkle Mention​". Smaller text below reads "Strut it Magnate "I inspired Loki but don’t even ask about the horse thing" Leto!​" A picture of Mr. Forkle is next to a tumble post by me about Forkle being trans based on the Loki thing. The slide is decorated with several trans flags.

Slide Eight: Titled "Beauty Standards" with text reading "Speaking of things Shannon Messenger did subconsciously, it’s so painfully clear that this series was written by a white American woman that it makes me break out in hives. Messenger establishes very early on in the series that all elves, no matter who they are, are gorgeous in comparison to humans. For some reason that I’m sure has no correlation to Sophie and therefore Messenger’s personal biases (aka Western hetero/cisnormativity and gender roles), every single elven character is slim with clear skin and no glasses. For some reason, beards seem to be impossible for elves to grow naturally, since the only time facial hair ever appears on anyone’s face is when they take an elixir to change their appearance." An image of Sophie with her human family is captioned "Sophie with her ugly nasty disgusting human family apparently​".

Slide Nine: Text reading "Valin is a member of “the drooly boys” who, had they been “human, would’ve been skinny, with acne and braces. Since they were elves, they were fairly good-looking—or they could’ve been if they hadn’t slicked their hair into greasy ponytails” (Messenger KOTLC 170). It seems elves have evolved past the need for brown eyes, acne, crooked teeth, facial hair beyond eyebrows, and variations in body fat—not to mention most other features that make people unique. ​There is indeed a single elf who is fat and even has wrinkles (elves also don’t physically age past 30, fun fact). He alters his appearance with berries that swell his skin, making him the only unique body type besides Sophie’s human family, who are consistently thrown in terrible comparison to her new, movie-star-looking adoptive parents. The berries also make him smell, interestingly enough.​" Images of Councillors Zarina, Terik, and Clarette line the right side of the slide.

Slide Ten: Text reading: "By portraying the elves as the standard for beauty and then removing any pimple, stretch mark, fat roll, body hair, crooked tooth, big nose, or any of the thousands of features that add depth to faces and bodies, Messenger tells us that perfection lies in eliminating all “flaws.” She tells her young readers that they are desirable if they look like Sophie, or Biana, or Keefe—not Stina with her curly hair, or Dex’s too-skinny arms, or Forkle’s large stomach, or my human body.​" The family portrait of the Vackers is also there.

Slide Eleven: Text reading: "Mostly, what defines KOTLC is how it’s interpreted rather than the content itself. I look at Sophie Foster and see parts of myself, but that does not make her me. These characters always feel so painfully real, desperately relatable, as if Messenger cobbled together a main cast from bits of my life, but they are not. In the end, they are just characters. ​In the end, it’s just a series made for middle schoolers, in the same way the sun is just the sun, and the stars are just there to twinkle merrily and not to be explored.​" Sophie on the cover of Exile is also there.

Slide Twelve: Text reading "Literally the day after I finished this presentation a new Marella short story came out in the paperback version of Stellarlune (book 9). This is a quote in the short story:​" with a picture of the short story of Marella being gay about Linh. Also on the slide is "🚨🚨🚨Alert Alert!🚨🚨🚨​" "🤨🤨🤨🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️​" and "Everyone is excited about Marellinh canon but I think she will simply never acknowledge it again.​"

Slide Thirteen: Just the text "Oh, By The Way, This Series Is Off The Walls Insane​"

Slide Fourteen: Text reading "Things that happen in this series: Alicorns have sex and then there is a graphic birth scene (but the Forkle as Loki thing is going too far 🤨)​, Love Interest confesses his feelings by telling Sophie he wants her to be assigned to marry him by the government​, An ogre bodyguard plays matchmaker with her charge and his crush (successfully)​, There's a guy who can sense "potential" except is definitely lying about this​, Villains die so disappointingly. So far we have "hit on head with rock" "smushed by door opened too quickly" "exploded" "fell into evil birthing sauce" (this last one was cool though)​, and A school principal becomes president​" Three tumblr screenshots and memes detailing other things that happen in the book are also there.

Slide Fifteen: THE END. A screenshot captioned with "Credits for the fake book 7 cover go to @/aphelea on tumblr​" shows a canva/booktok style fake cover for Flashback, with a dancing couple, a horse, and the words "he was a boy. she was a horse. could I make it any more obvious?"

/end id]

[multi-fandom-lunatic]

Representation in Keeper of the Lost Cities: A Critical Analysis

NOTE: This essay was written was originally a rant on the KotLC fanbase Discord. I copy-pasted my points into Chat-GPT and asked to make this into essay format. This is an AI assisted piece. Please don't think, however, that my points are any less valid. NOTE: This is also on the Keeper of the Lost Cities reddit.

Please add your thoughts!

Introduction

In discussing representation within Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities (KOTLC) series, it's imperative to address the nuances and complexities of how various groups are portrayed. While the series enjoys widespread popularity, it also reveals significant shortcomings in the representation of People of Color (POC), LGBTQ+ individuals, and other marginalized groups. This essay explores these issues, highlighting both the problematic aspects and potential areas for improvement.

Representation of People of Color (POC)

One of the most glaring issues in KOTLC is the limited and stereotypical portrayal of POC characters. The primary POC characters in the series—Tam, Linh, Wylie, and Maruca—are few, especially considering the statistical likelihood of a more diverse population. Even more concerning is how these characters are represented. For instance, upon their introduction, Tam and Linh are compared to anime characters and K-pop idols in Sophie's mind. This reinforces harmful generalizations and stereotypes about East Asians, which is both insensitive and problematic.

Moreover, despite elves in KOTLC not having countries or distinct cultures beyond "elven culture," which is portrayed in a predominantly European manner, there are inconsistencies in how racial representation is handled. For example, official artwork by Laura Hollingsworth depicts the Song family in front of an Asian temple, despite the series' premise that elves do not adhere to human cultural practices. This selective representation is problematic and reflects a lack of cultural sensitivity.

Stereotyping and Racism

Tam and Linh's characters fall into several Asian stereotypes. They have strict parents, a common trope for East Asian characters, and Linh is depicted as a bubbly, sweet girl without much depth, until her sudden, seemingly random outburst in "Stellarlune." These characterizations do not allow for the full depth and complexity that POC characters deserve.

The portrayal of gnomes in the series is even more troubling. Described as brown-skinned, unpaid workers who do manual labor for the elves, this depiction carries disturbing parallels to historical and contemporary issues of racial exploitation. The gnomes are presented as happy to serve their white, elf masters, which echoes deeply racist narratives. Despite being able to leave, the gnomes have no viable alternatives, essentially forcing them into servitude.

If Shannon Messenger chose not to include queer characters, it wouldn't necessarily be harmful, just lacking positive representation. However, employing Laura Hollingsworth (LH), known for her homophobic views, exacerbates the issue. LH, a conservative Christian, has openly opposed queer identities and followed white supremacist accounts. Her biases are evident in her work. By continuing to collaborate with LH, Messenger not only excludes queer representation but also tacitly supports an artist who opposes it. She has even addressed this. This perpetuates homophobia, and Messenger should be held accountable for her choices in supporting such a figure within the KOTLC series.

LGBTQ+ Representation

As an LGBTQ+ individual, the lack of queer representation in KOTLC is particularly disappointing. While it is not inherently homophobic to exclude queer characters, in a series as character-focused as KOTLC, it becomes a notable omission. Early books could have integrated queer characters naturally, but introducing one now might feel forced and tokenistic.

Characters like Linh and Marella have been perceived as queer-coded by some fans, but there is little textual evidence to support this. Queer audiences should not have to read subtext to find representation. Additionally, the series employs an artist, Laura Hollingsworth, who has expressed homophobic views. Shannon Messenger's response to concerns about Hollingsworth's involvement was minimal and failed to address the deeper issues.

Body Image and Ableism

KOTLC also perpetuates harmful beauty standards. The elves are depicted as perfect, which often translates to being slender, muscular, and fitting Western beauty ideals. This can negatively impact young readers who already struggle with body image. Additionally, the series lacks representation of disabled characters, implicitly suggesting that physical perfection is an elven trait, thereby excluding those who do not fit this mold.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities series falls short in its representation of POC, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other marginalized groups. The series reinforces stereotypes, perpetuates harmful beauty standards, and fails to include diverse identities in meaningful ways. Addressing these issues requires a commitment to sensitivity and inclusion, such as hiring sensitivity readers and reconsidering collaborations with problematic artists. By doing so, Messenger could create a more inclusive and representative world that resonates with all readers.

[periwinkle-the-11th]

Intro post!

i'm Peri!

I spend my time writing, reading, crocheting, embroidering, drawing, sewing, procrastinating my school work, and complaining about everything under the sun.

Heres my pronoun page!

I post all my writing and various creations over on @pericreatesstuff and my ao3 is Peri_Writes

Sidenote: Guess who's officially a college student!!!!

my writing blog is mostly unedited snippets, and my ao3 is either fully plotted and finished beta'd works... or smth i thought up at 3am wrote in one sitting and only proofread once.

I'm in way way way to many fandoms so heres an incomplete list:

Keep It Steady Podcast

Juno Steel (i just started season 4 no spoilers PLS )

pjo/hoo (I haven't read toa yet but its on my list)

kotlc

Kaleidotrope Podcast

Voltron (ik, i'm judging me too.)

bridge to terabithea

Atla

Daylight Shooting Star (if you know dss I am begging you to be my friend I have literally never met anyone else who's read it)

Marauders

Sk8 the infinity

Ohshc

The Sky Fall Trilogy by shannon messenger (once again if you've read it (and liked it) I am begging you to be my friend its so so underrated)

The Lost Books: Scroll of Kings (SO SO SO UNDERRATED)

I listen to way to much music way to often, heres some artists/bands i like: Set it off, pierce the veil, taylor swift, Fin (steffan argus), conan gray, PEGGY, olivia rodrigo, alec benjamin, one direction, Natalie jane, sadie jean, my chemical romance, fall out boy, NF, MARINA, Maren Morris, girl in red, melanie martinez, Avril Lavigne, Madonna, Ke$ha, little mix, Queen, Billy joel, Zara Larsson, Maisie Peters, Lauren spencer smith, ABBA, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Sam Hunt, and literally so many more

and my tags:

#peri personal - just about everything not fandom related/interactions w people/my life

#peri complains - self explanatory really

#music rambles - rambling about music, mostly when new songs/albums come out

#allis adventures - various stuff about my sourdough! her full name is Allison Breadorthy and she is ALIVE

#baking Breadorthy - actually baking her ^

#peri crafts - self explanatory

#my memes - crappy memes i make, mostly reblogged from my writing blog

#writing related - self explanatory but its mostly me complaining about my fics, plot holes i find, and polls bc i'm indecisive

#friends <3 - my actual conversation style interaction with my mutuals

#lena and tim - my self indulgent au where Lena Luthor adopts Tim Drake after his parents die, the fic is being plotted currently. THE FIC IS CANCELED!!! LEX IS LENA'S BROTHER! LENA IS KON'S AUNT!! THE PLANNED TIMKON IS LEGAL INCEST! (why does this keep happening??? TvT)

#bravery points game - I've started playing a points game with my anxiety, where every time I do something that scares me/my anxiety told me would end in disaster I get a point! It's stupid but it's motivating, I'm being brave! (Even tho it's terrifying) I don't really have a points goal but I wanna try to get to 100 before the end of the year!

Thats all for now!! I'll probably update this once i realize i forgot smth tho

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

What classic children’s books (like the magic tree house, box car children, babysitters club; etc) would the ss characters have grown up reading in modern day?

This is solely based on ones that I'm familiar with, and my mom didn't let me read a lot of very normal things for odd reasons. (Not bad reasons just odd. It's a long story.) So. Disclaimer. Also some of these are a little older this has mostly just become books that they would have read in elementary/middle school and liked.

Juliette: Not a book but she either hated Gnomeo and Juliet and said that Juliet stole her name or she loved it and was obsessed with it. As for books? Nancy Drew.

Roma: Wanted to read Rainbow Magic Fairies so bad but his dad wouldn't let him because his dad is a dick. Land of Stories maybe? Series of Unfortunate Events.

Benedikt: Spiderwick Chronicles. Frog and Toad.

Marshall: Animorphs. Also definitely a Percy Jackson kid. Goosebumps. Geronimo Stilton. Read Twilight at 11 or something and was traumatized.

Rosalind: Dork Diaries, Rainbow Magic Fairies. Sisters Grimm.

Celia: Horse girl books because I thought about it for some reason idk and I think she would have had a horse girl phase. Also the idea of her being able to read Melissa or something like that makes me very happy.

Alisa: Series of Unfortunate Events. City of Ember. Warrior Cats. I Survived. Artemis Fowl. Elatsoe.

Orion: Rainbow Magic Fairies, Fugde. Also anything Oliver read because he looked up to Oliver a lot. He read Magisterium in middle school and 100% thought Cal and Aaron were gay for each other.

Oliver: The One and Only Ivan (and various other horrible sad middle grade books that are really really good and make you cry). Also Alan Gratz books. Carl Hiaasen books maybe?

Phoebe: Deeply unfortunate KOTLC phase and was definitely a Linhella shipper. She and Silas were both weirdly obsessed with The Spider and the Fly when they were little and it freaked Orion out. She read Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World in middle school and was a sobbing mess.

Silas: I'm claiming him as a Magic Treehouse kid. Also Mr. Lemoncello's Library. Ivy and Bean. The Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus books made him irrationally angry. Also you cannot tell me that 7 year old Silas did not sit there meticulously searching through Where's Waldo books for hours. Series of Unfortunate Events.

[sophitz]

Hey!

So I need to get this out somewhere

I have theory that Kenric is still alive! I mean, they never found his body! Maybe he escaped somewhere or he's imprisoned...?

I don't know😭 I just really want Oralie x Kenric to be a thing!

Like, I know Oralie and Sophie have this thing going on (Mother-Daughter drama going on) Causing some people (Like my friend) To hate Oralie, but I really don't!

Please tell your thoughts to my "Kenric is still alive" theory! I need some opinions😭

I’ve been to multiple KOTLC events where people have asked Shannon in various forms whether Kenric and/or Jolie are still alive. She confirmed in no uncertain terms that they are truly dead. Word of god, and she could be lying, but I believe it.

Also, we already had one person presumed dead from the Everblaze debacle that surprised us all by making it out alive: Fintan. It would be a cheap shot to pull it again six books later with Kenric.

And honestly, Koralie is more interesting to me as a tragedy. Forbidden situationship that ends in death? Delicious.

[bookwyrminspiration]

(all these tags are taken from various reblogs of this post)

#SORRY QUIL SINCE WHEN WERE YOU FAMOUS??#HOW WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS (via @even-if-in-another-time)

#MUTUAL ON THE DASH?!!?!?! QUIL I THOUGHT YOU JUST POSTED STUNNING KOTLC STUFF#AND TWILIFHR!!!!!!!! imagine being tumblr famous (via @an-ungraceful-swan)

#QUIL???? (via @song-tam)

#Quil why do u have so many hit posts (via @queersofthelostcities)

#omg quil on dash!!!#hi quil how's life being famous#hope you feel the cheese showering over you <;33 (via @xanadaus)

#ooo this is famous now#good job quil#what is it with you and random posts blowing up (via @that-glasses-dog)

[ID in alt]

quil famous arc round three here we go!! i don't know why this keeps happening

[official-kenralie-fanbase]

Oralie for character ask game?

Anon you have no idea of the beast you have just unleashed

My honest opinion of them: Just like with Kenric, Oralie didn't really stand out to me when I first started reading KOTLC. I think the first point I really realized that there was more to her than met the eye was at the beginning of Neverseen, when she gave Sophie Kenric's cache. Even then, I wasn't super invested in her character at first. I thought she was a neat character, but not terribly interesting. Until I read Legacy. I'd figured out that she was Sophie's mom, but still, nothing will come close to the way reading that scene for the first time felt. That was when I began to realize the intricacies of her character. She was someone who everyone claimed couldn't lie, yet had kept a major secret from the world for years. And again, like with Kenric, her role in Unlocked broke me. The way she was trying so hard to help Sophie, even after everything that had happened between them... why must you break my heart like this, Shannon :( :( :( But in addition to that, I don't like her because I think she's a perfect character. Far, far from it. She's made a lot of mistakes, and she is a Councillor. But I love her depth of character (which I will be going into further on my project for Roison's Reading Rumble) and how she's so much deeper than she originally seems.

Who (if anyone) I ship with them: Once again, do I even need to answer this question

And what I think will happen with them in the next book(s): So much. So, so much. If I went into full detail about everything I think/hope is going to happen, you would probably be here until at least mid-April. So I'll just make some brief comments on various things that might happen. I think the chances of her making it to the end of the series without anyone realizing her secret are very slim. I have several ways I think this might happen: She has to reveal it herself to save Sophie, someone else reveals it to compromise the Council, or the Council finds out and kicks her off. There's probably going to be a huge tribunal scene, and I absolutely cannot wait to read that. I'm guessing she'll get removed from the Council mid-book (if there's only one book left) and spend the rest of the book(s) helping the Black Swan. I went into detail on this in my Characters Who Might Die ask, but I definitely think there's a major possibility that she dies. I also think that she's going to be revealed to be a super awesome fighter, and probably have an epic battle with Fintan (especially if I'm right and Fintan's Sophie's father.) She's also probably going to help discover more about how Kenric was involved in everything, and hopefully, her relationship with Sophie will improve as they work together (about which I have a current ask, coming soon). I could go into further detail, but this post is already way too long, so in summary: I think she's going to be very important.

Send me any KOTLC character for the ask game!

[frizzle-mcshizzle]

!!! i haven't seen your posts on my dash for ages. how are you doing?

im doing great!! i started collage so im less active on tumblr fandom because i don't have as much time to actually make headcannons and write fics. i spent the last year using up all the ones that have been in my head for a while (could probably repost them but i haven't gotten to that) but ill admit kotlc isn't my every waking thought like it used to be (which is more healthy if im honest) but i definitely still think about it quite a bit. (its just mainly my au that i want to write but idk i ever will) (please ask me about it) (i can talk about it for like 3 years)

im still around and stuff ive just been using my main or (mainly) on discord in various severs.

im hoping to do a reread of kotlc in like marchish?? (some time in the spring) ive got eye surgery later this month that should hopefully make it so i can read easier and im doing the reread sometime after my eyes recover from that. share ky thoughts, make a list of random details that everyone forgets about for fic writers (mainly me)

[softmoonlightmelody]

Elvin Fashion Pt. II

So, we've looked at fabrics and designs of Elvin fashion, but what about silhouettes?

First off, let's return to the Vackers.

So I hate Biana's dress in this for several reasons.

First off, there's a high waist, right? Actually, I have no idea. Because based on the dress's shape, I'm thinking that, like Della's dress, Biana's dress has its waist at the actual waist. For womenswear as a whole, as far as I can see, puffy shoulders are cool (and Biana's shoulders make no sense). Della's puffy shoulders are not as puffy due to the little decoration on them.

For the menswear, we can definitely see a more column-like silhouette, with straight shoulders, and I believe there's an overcoat - although both overcoat and under-layer are high-collared, giving a more flowing silhouette.

Next up, following previous order, the Songs.

I hate this family portrait so much, for a) bad Asian clothing, and b) absolutely terrible coherence with the other portraits.

Anyway, we can see the slender, form-fitting silhouette usually exhibited by womenswear, and the column silhouette (plus overcoat + under layer) for menswear. There's nothing super special about this, like how there's nothing super special about the Song family.

(also, personal headcanon time - the Songs' last name comes from Mai and not Quan)

(Mai and Quan look like the Straight straight people)

Okay, yeah, now let's look at the central family - the Ruewens!

The Ruewens once again exhibit the puffy sleeves for women and, as far as I can tell, column-like silhouette for the men.

This also exhibits hair - women like their hair down and minimally styled.

From where Edaline's dress looks to be, she also seems to be sporting a waist-length waist. Like, the dress's waist is on her waist.

And last but certainly not least (the Songs' is the least), we have the Endals.

Nothing much to say but that it checks out.

For the portraits, it's really hard to see literally anything of value.

In conclusion, womenswear involves a more waist-y silhouette, with the waist at an actual waist, while the menswear prefers a more flowing, columnistic silhouette.

(can you tell I did this in ten minutes while absolutely frustrated at the stupid clothing ajdklfjaksjgoahd because this entire thing is like the most hashed together clothing possible. give me more varied, and better, clothing!!!)

[the-way-astray]

KATIE UNIRONICALLY CALLED A KEEFE HATER???????????????? never thought i'd see the day . . . how is this happening . . .

anon, i think you may be a bit new to kotlc tumblr. most keefe lovers here acknowledge that keefe makes some atrocious decisions actually. understanding that doesn't mean you can't love him . . . what in the world is this take . . .

also implying that there's a "proper" way to love a character is very gatekeep-y and makes you out to be a bit pompous. just letting you know. implying you're somehow superior to keefe lovers that acknowledge he sucks because you love keefe in a more stereotypical "omg this character is so sweet and cool and funny heart emoji heart emoji heart emoji heart emoji" way doesn't mean that's the only way to love keefe. or any character, for that matter

i truly think you don't understand the difference between loving a character and loving a fictional person. that's okay, i'll explain it. loving a character (which is the way katie loves keefe, at least in my understanding) is where you are obsessed with the way they're written/narratively constructed/analyzing their background/motivations/actions/generally trying to dissect them and pick them apart (here is an example of katie doing that). now, i don't doubt that katie also loves keefe as a fictional person (here is a post where she says she would date him under some circumstances), which is where you love them in the way you would if they were a real person. so, things like "they're so sweet/cool/funny/awesome/kind/great person to be around". both of these go for disliking someone as a character/person as well. saying that as someone who dislikes keefe not only as a character but also as a person, by the way. there's also characters i like as people but not as characters, and characters i think are fine as characters but would never dream of liking as people. and so on

now, you clearly like keefe as a fictional person, anon. katie likes him as both. that means she does acknowledge the ways his background affects his shitty actions, and if you don't like that, then i mean. i don't know what to tell you. maybe stay away from her blog? this is goofy behavior, and also somewhat talk-down-y

if you want to stick around kotlc tumblr, i don't know how you'll survive if you don't understand this distinction. a significant portion of this fandom considers fintan to be their favorite character, or at least a character they enjoy. are you going to go to their inboxes and tell them they're secretly fintan haters because they obsess over him while still acknowledging that he's a arsonistic murderer that tried to commit genocide? somehow i doubt it

"insulting to people who actually love keefe" i don't know bro . . . i think the definition of "people who actually love keefe" are people that . . . say they actually love keefe. i really don't think it's that deep lmfao what am i even reading. and as katie said, this is hella insulting to me, an actual keefe hater, and katie, an actual keefe lover. how dare you equate us. and i'm cracking up at the idea that katie has this master plan to get people that like keefe to dislike keefe. this is so funny. truly hilarious. like, anon, this is a fictional story . . . imagine spending time seriously trying to convert people back and forth between various opinions about a fictional story so much so that you form an entire master plan for this sole purpose . . . that literally sounds so exhausting

Girl how do you get away with saying Keefe is your favorite character when your actual posts about him say way otherwise. You’ll be like “yeah he sucks and makes tons of bad decisions but I love him”

rlly you come across to me as trying to spread your Keefe hate to the other Keefe lovers in a more palatable way because you know theyll reject hate but maybe they’ll accept it if it’s disguised as love, like hiding the dog’s pill in the peanut butter

like you can get away with making your “fellow” Keefe lovers agree with your hatred of him by saying “these are the reasons I love him” and surprisingly it looks like it’s worked with at least a few people?

anyway you can just- Be a character hater. You know that right. You don’t have to sneakily pretend you actually like him and quite frankly it’s insulting to those of us who actually love keefe so 👍 yeah

…

……….

……………..

Ok I really wish I could say with certainty that this ask was satire but here we go.

1. How dare you call me a Keefe hater. I am OFFENDED. That’s my pookie 🥺 but seriously I LOVE that guy. He’s so interesting (to me)

2. Loving a character doesn’t mean being an apologist for everything they ever did???? People aren’t perfect okay? Keefe in particular has been through a lot and has a ton of trauma and is receiving zero professional help of any kind! He’s in a bad mental space and he acts like it. We even get into his head in unlocked and see that yes he is really messed up. I feel bad for Keefe for a lot of reasons, but I’m also incredibly intrigued by the CLEAR connections between what trauma he has and what poor choices he consistently makes. But I truthfully and unconditionally love this guy. He is hands down my favorite character. He’s charming to me as a character archetype (I am a teenage girl bookworm sue me) but also a gut-wrenchingly intriguing mess with problems and guys he’s FASCINATING—

3. My favorite Star Wars character is Anakin Skywalker. You gonna tell me the fact that I disagree with child murder means I can’t love him and the tragedy of his story and the delicious character depth he has? Huh?

4. This is an insult to the real keefe haters. @the-way-astray come collect your title, it has been improperly pinned onto me and I don’t want it

[ravs6709]

Won't You Shine With Me (Oh Distant Star Of Mine)- Hekster, Kam, Marelliana, Fedex

Act 1 (here). Act 2. Act 3. Act 4. Act 5. Act 6.

Or read on ao3 here!

Word count: 3.6k words

Okay so! A few weeks ago I watched an anime called Revue Starlight, which is basically a magical girl anime about theatre lesbians swordfighting each other with lots of feels. Me, having feels decided I needed to make an au for kotlc

No knowledge of the anime needed at all! I highly recommend (so good!!!) watching it on general though, it's only 12 episodes, and there's extra stuff i don't even deal with in here

I... know very little of theatre, which is a huge part of this fic, so pls disregard/correct things that don't make sense. (Also pls pretend they're all the same age so they can be in the same class)

There's lyrics! Written "with italics and quotation marks"! "Bold" means that everyone involved is singing, and "outside bracket (inside)" means one party sings the part outside, while the other sings the inside. Lyrics written by me except there's no actual song so they're just mildly incohesive lines but i worked hard!

Warnings: censored swearing

•~•~•~•~•~•

ACT 1

SCENE 1

Keeper Of The Lost Cities. A play about a Telepath and an Empath. The Telepath's arrival in the Lost Cities was a harbinger for struggle and change. Various threats tried to demolish the system that the people lived by—though it wasn't like the system was necessarily as good as the people had believed it to be.

So the Telepath and the Empath ventured to the Point of Purity so they could seek out the best way to save their world. They'd already had the power of sunlight and moonlight, all they needed now was the light of the stars. Once the star and its light was obtained, they would have the power and wisdom required to make their choice.

The Empath turned to the Telepath with a relieved smile, relieved that they had both made it here. However, instead of feeling relief from the Telepath, the Empath could only sense dread.

Before the Empath could voice out those concerns, the Telepath pushed the Empath off the platform they were both standing on.

No one ever saw the Telepath again, nor what the Telepath had done with the light of the stars.

 

SCENE 2

Keeper of the Lost Cities again? Stina thought.

"Each year, the classes perform two plays. One of them is an original that the playwrights will create, and the other is the play that you've performed last year. By performing it each year in your high school years, you'll all be able to see just how much you've improved."

Mr. Forkle droned on and on about what was going to happen, how the playwrights had already started on their revised script and the auditions for Keeper of the List Cities would start soon.

It wasn't like they'd never done this before. As Mr. Forkle himself had said, they'd performed it last year.

Stina knew that she should pay more attention, that she should care more, she had every reason to care, but honestly, she was having second thoughts about whether coming to Foxfire Music Academy was even worth it.

Was it worth trying to build her entire future based on what she'd decided ten years ago, when she was five years old? What did five year old Stina even know? She was too naive, clung too easily to false promises.

"It's time for practice," Linh said quietly, gently easing Stina from her thoughts.

The class went to have their warm-up stretches before there was any actual dance practice.

"Hey Wonderboy, help me out," Dex said, and Fitz quipped a reply before holding Dex's leg to tilt it upward, while Dex wrapped his arms around Fitz to stay balanced.

Neither of them looked like they enjoyed it, but this usually happened every day.

"Hey, go lower," Biana told Marella.

"Alright, alright," Marella said, bending down even further.

"On three," Tam said to Keefe. "One, two, three."

The two of them started squatting down to a chair pose, arms linked and their backs touching for balance.

"Hey, easy, Bangs Boy!"

"If you couldn't even do that, I'll get the lead role for sure."

With stretches finished, Mr. Forkle had them each take turns practicing some of the dance moves. Those who weren't dancing were singing.

Fitz and Biana went first, completely in sync with each other, because of course, those two Vacker siblings were the best at everything. Dex and Marella were the next duo, not as in sync but they made up for it in flair, incorporating more advanced movements to make themselves look better.

Show-offs, Stina thought.

It wasn't really about them being skilled. They were just upset about how bright the Vacker siblings shined, and they both wanted to prove that they were just as good, if not better. She wasn't sure if it was even worth the effort. Probably not.

Stina went through her own movements on autopilot, and she could tell when Tam dipped her that he wasn't really impressed. Whatever. It wasn't like she was doing this for him.

 

SCENE 3

"Today, we have a new student who has transferred here," Mr. Forkle said.

Stina, who had only been half paying attention sat up straight. A new student? That was odd.

A short student walked into the classroom. The student was pale with golden-flecked brown eyes and blonde hair was adorned with a clip of a moonlark. Stina's own alicorn hair clip that she used to keep her hair out of her face felt heavy on her head.

"Hi," the student began, "I'm—"

"Sophie Foster."

The student froze at the interruption, and it was only when everyone turned towards Stina with inquisitive stares that she realized that the voice had come out of her own mouth.

Sophie stared at her with wide eyes, looking just as shocked as Stina felt. This couldn't be real, how could Sophie be here in her school? Something like that wasn't possible, because she was supposed to be in an entirely different continent.

"Do you know Sophie, Stina?" Mr. Forkle asked.

"I knew her," she replied, looking at a wall.

The temptation to stare at Sophie was strong, but she also knew that if she did, she wouldn't stop staring, her eyes would seek out all the ways Sophie had changed and the ways that Sophie had stayed the same after so long.

(She couldn't bring herself to look at Sophie and have hope.)

"That's good news. The desk in front of you is empty, and it would be good for Sophie to be able to sit with someone that she is familiar with."

Stina could hardly process those words until her sight was flooded with blonde hair.

This couldn't be real. She probably fell asleep in class again and was now dreaming of Sophie Foster.

Stina pinched herself. Sophie Foster was in Foxfire, was really sitting in front of her.

Mr. Forkle's words as he explained what was going on went in one ear and right out of the other, her body moving on autopilot to the dance room. Her brain felt like a train had run into it.

When Sophie was asked to show what she was capable of, Stina realized that she really shone so brightly. Sure, she fumbled at first—classic Sophie—but once she got going, she was smooth and elegant and it was as if she were glimmering.

So this was Sophie Foster now. She couldn't say she was surprised, because she'd always known that this was going to happen, but actually seeing it happen in front of her was completely different.

When lunch came, Stina thought that Sophie would have sought her out, that they would have gravitated towards each other like friends always did. They hadn't seen each other in ten years, shouldn't they talk?

Stina got tired of waiting for Sophie to come to her, and got up so she could just find her on her own and they eat their lunch together. When she eventually found Sophie, she was holding her lunch with one hand, using her phone with the other, talking to Dex excitedly.

Stina turned around and walked away.

So what? So what? Five year olds were young and stupid and Stina was stupid for thinking that they could continue from where they'd left off ten years ago. Why did she even think Sophie would remember? Ten years was a long time. Whatever.

She walked back to the lunchroom and sat down at the table her friends sat at. Well, they weren't quite her friends, but she didn't hate them either. Fitz and Biana were kind of stuck up, like the privileged rich kids they were, but Dex and Marella made snarky comments that made them seem like normal people. Keefe and Tam bickered all the time, always claiming to want to surpass the other, but it could be entertaining to watch from the sidelines. Linh was gentle, but in a purposeful way that was to never be underestimated, and was probably also the reason why Stina hadn't been driven mad from being around this group.

"So," Keefe began, "you know Foster?"

"Foster?" she asked dryly. Since when did those two know each other enough that he'd use a nickname for her?

"Yeah, Foster," he repeated, "C'mon, answer the question! How do you know the Mysterious Miss F, our transfer student?"

"She was a friend from when I was younger," Stina replied.

Linh hummed, then gave her a knowing smile. "Oh, is she Sophie?"

Marella was next to react. "Oh, that's her?"

"Wait, who?" Keefe asked.

"Ohh," Biana said next.

"Were you snooping in my room?" Stina asked.

Marella closed her eyes. "It's Linh's room too, you know. And if you have the picture on your nightstand it doesn't count as snooping."

Okay, she had to give her that one. Still, it was one thing for Linh to know, because Linh was her roommate, and another for the other girls to know too.

"Yeah, it's her."

"Are you excited?" Linh asked.

"Even if I was, it's not like it matters," she replied, leaning back, letting her legs against the bench seat keep her up. "Things change in ten years."

She revisited the thought that had been in her mind for the past few weeks. Maybe even longer. When Sophie walked into the lunchroom, Dex beside her, Stina thought that it was a good time to voice it.

"I think I want to switch to the stage production group."

The mild chatter from the others ceased, all heads turning to her.

"You want to do what?"

"You know I'm not one for self-deprecation, so I'm fully aware that my acting skills aren't that good. And maybe I do have "potential" or whatever crap Forkle would say when I eventually tell him I want to switch. But does potential even matter if going into acting doesn't feel like it's worth it anymore?"

Everyone at the table looked genuinely concerned. Sophie looked at her with wide eyes, as if feeling betrayed. Stina would be lying if she didn't feel any satisfaction from seeing that expression on Sophie's face.

What reason did she have to feel betrayed, anyway? A promise made ten years ago was never likely to come true.

She could feel Sophie's gaze on her as she ate, searing as if it were a brand. Stina simply ignored her. Even throughout their next classes, singing and theory, she could tell that Sophie was staring.

If she wanted to say something, she should just say it.

After all the classes were over for the day, Stina began making her way to her room, when she was stopped by Sophie.

"Stina," she began, and Stina felt hope surge within her. "Could you... lead me to where the rooms are?"

"The girls rooms are this way, follow me," she said, stamping out the hope. She really was an idiot, huh? "What's your room number?"

Sophie looked confused. "Foxfire hasn't given me one?"

Stina sighed. "How are you supposed to stay in a room if you don't know which room you're staying in?"

Silence. The two kept walking. When Sophie didn't say anything, Stina's mind started running full-force, coming up with an idea that was bound to be awful. Before she could stop herself, she blurted: "You should sleep in m—

"Can you lead me to the office?" Sophie asked. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Nothing." She needed to get a grip on herself before she tried to say anything else that was stupid.

Sophie stared at her, unconvinced. "Okay, I won't press on that." Then her face fell. "About earlier, what you said..."

Stina knew exactly what she was talking about, she was referring to when Stina said that she didn't want to act anymore. But Stina didn't want to talk about that.

"See that door over there?" She pointed to one of the academy's buildings, a blue door that had foxfire mushrooms glowing faintly around it. "In there, first door on your right."

Sophie began walking.

"You can just leave your luggage with me for now, you don't have to drag it everywhere," Stina told her. "My room's number 204, you can get it there."

Sophie nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Sophie dragged the suitcase so she could give the handle to Stina. Their fingers brushed, and all at once, various memories flooded her: the feeling of Sophie's hands in hers as they ran and played; the wide, genuine, cheek-hurting smiles that adorned their faces; the breathless giggling; the heartfelt promises—

Sophie left, and Stina dragged the suitcase to her room, her heart pounding.

"You're finally here," Linh greeted. "And what's that?"

"Sophie's luggage. She needs to go find out which room she's staying in."

Linh nodded, then went to take a shower. Stina sat on her bed and looked out the window. To her surprise, she saw Sophie running.

That is the opposite direction to where I told her to go, where is she going?

Before she could decide otherwise, Stina put back on her shoes and began running after her. She was a fast runner and knew her way around, she was able to not lose track of Sophie, though only barely.

Why's she going back into the school?

Stina kept running and caught a flash of blonde hair going into one of the classrooms. When she got to the door, she realized that it wasn't a classroom. It was an elevator.

Since when did Foxfire have an elevator over here? And it leads to the basement?

She stepped inside the open elevator and pressed the down arrow. It began falling without any warning. She screamed, and was she going to die???

She was launched out of the elevator and landed on a soft, red seat.

"Holy sh*t," she breathed. "What the f*ck."

Once she finally regained her composure, she looked around. In front of her was a large stage, and she was sitting up in the audience's seat. Two large spotlights from opposite sides of the stage. Two people stood in the centre: a girl in red and a boy in black. While the colours and finer details of the outfit were different, they both wore a jacket and a skirt that went down to their mid-thighs. They both wore a pelisse jacket over one of their shoulders, held on to a white sash by a golden aiguillette and golden button.

What? Are they—

"The light of the stars ignites our burning hearts."

The two people sang, facing each other and lifting a hand elegantly. They spun away from each other in a series of chainé turns.

"We've made a vow to become the Top Star."

Those two actors weren't just ordinary people.

What are you two doing here?

Those two dancers were Sophie Foster and Tam Song.

"I'll use this rage of mine to tear the night apart!" Sophie sang, unsheathing a sword that gleamed in the light.

Tam sang next, unsheathing his own sword, "I don't intend to lose here, I call for the dark!"

All the lights turned off, the stage turning black save for the faint light that shone on Sophie, and a series of letters that briefly glowed way above it all.

☆ REVUE OF BEGINNINGS ☆

Then even those letters faded into the darkness.

"Revues..? What is this place?" Stina murmured.

Tam continued singing, but no spotlight shone on him, but she could see him appear in brief glimpses as he charged at Sophie, a ghost in the darkness, swinging his sword. Sophie, who struggled to see, could only barely parry his attacks.

"You're going to f*cking kill her!" Stina yelled.

Not having seen Sophie in ten years, Stina couldn't say much about her, but in the little bit that she knew Tam, she knew that he wasn't so reckless, wouldn't get himself in whatever swordfighting event this was. He was a serious, responsible person. So what the hell was he doing?

"Interesting!" A voice said from beside her.

Stina whirled around and saw a horse. No—not a horse. An alicorn.

"Revue!" The alicorn said cheerfully.

There were swordfighting duels in Foxfire's basement, and there was an alicorn watching it (since when did alicorns exist???).

What the hell.

"Song! Dance! Compete! Shine! Brightest light! Become Top Star!"

"You're telling me that they need to compete in duels to become the 'Top Star?'" she asked.

"Knock off! Jacket! Win!"

The constant pauses between words and the relatively monosyllabic way the alicorn spoke confused her, but she was starting to understand what they meant. As she looked closer at the revue, she could see that Tam wasn't blindly swinging, nor was he aiming for below the shoulders. Each swing was meant for that golden aiguillette that held the blue jacket Sophie wore to her shoulder. The swings grew increasingly precise, Sophie spinning around and around as she tried to guess where Tam would attack from next. She'd grow dizzy at that rate, and that was probably what Tam was intending on. 

"She's going to lose!"

"Stina audience! No disrupt! No compete! Only actor compete! You give up acting!"

That was right. Stina had told the others that she was going to give up on acting. Her passion, her desire to act came from a childhood dream that seemed to be long gone.

She's going to lose.

Tam kept singing, his voice growing louder, and now multiple spotlights were shining on him. His swordfighting on the offensive, his singing the loudest, his movements the flashiest; Tam owned the stage, he was the brightest of the two.

Sophie had fulfilled part of her promise, she had promised to come back to Stina. Didn't that mean that Stina had fulfil some of hers too?

She stood up and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come next. She made her way to the aisle, then took a few steps back. She ran and jumped off the balcony, the promise singing throughout every part of her body.

Sophie and I will become stars together!

As she landed, she slammed her weapon on Tam's, preventing him from making the cutting blow. She wore her own purple outfit akin to the other two. 

"On this colourful stage of light and dark,

I shine like a shooting star!

Reborn, I am Foxfire student, Stina Heks!

A dazzling night sky will be created!"

Her entrance speech was overdramatic and cheesy, but Stina Heks was on the stage now, so she would fall into the role that she needed to play. All the spotlights were on her now.

"You shouldn't..." Sophie murmured, but Stina ignored her.

Instead, she focused on Tam.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

I can ask you the same thing.

"You have the blaze of your own hopes and dreams,

My passion to act, embers that burn so low."

She swung her axe with a surprising amount of grace, considering that she'd never used  weapon like this before. Tam leaped back, for once, on the defensive. The stage lit up, all traces of the shadows that Tam had used as his surprise weapon gone.

Their weapons clashed, again and again.

"Yet in this fight, I refuse to concede,

For I have a promise to uphold!"

She poured more of her strength into her next swing, knocking him slightly off balance. It was all she needed to go in and cut off the aiguillette, his red jacket falling to the floor. She grabbed him by the arm and dipped him, a mirror to their dance practice class yesterday.

He looked shocked and annoyed, wrenching himself from her grip.

Stina twirled to the centre of the stage, looking right up at the alicorn as she slammed the axe on to the stage, the bit piercing the 'T' symbol on the ground.

"Position Zero!" she declared, "I am Stina Heks!"

By putting herself in position zero, she was casting herself as a prominent role—the lead role.

Giant red curtains closed, blocking the view of the audience's seats.

"Audition one! Over!" The alicorn announced. "Stina win! Stina actor! Stina compete revue!"

Stina looked down at Sophie who was hunched down on the ground, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"I saved you, Foster."

Sophie closed her eyes. "You shouldn't have come here."

"Why not? I just saved your *ss, didn't I?"

"I would've won. You shouldn't have come here."

Stina huffed, putting a hand to her hip. "I see why Keefe calls you the Mysterious Miss F. You've got to tell me what's going on, because that alicorn—"

"Her name's Silveny."

"Silveny won't give too many answers, I think. Not in the way I want them at least."

Sophie kept quiet.

"Fine. Just... you don't have to bother going to the office, just sleep in my room."

Sophie's eyes widened. "But there's only two beds—"

"Sleep in mine," she blurted, "it's big enough for two."

"Are you sure?"

Today was a day that Stina kept saying things that would surely turn out bad for her, but she found that she didn't want to actually take back those words. She couldn't even make the excuse that they'd shared a bed when they were younger, because they hadn't.

"Do I make half-hearted promises, Foster?" she asked, then immediately winced and turned away, too afraid to look at her reaction. "Never mind."

She finally gathered the courage to look at Sophie again, only to see that she was gone. "Sophie?"

"Revues secret!" Silveny said. "Reveal secret punishment!"

"Punishment?"

Stina woke up in her bed.

☆ LEADERBOARD ☆

1. — Fitz Vacker

2. — Biana Vacker

3. — Keefe Sencen

4. — Tam Song

5. — Linh Song

6. — Marella Redek

7. — Dex Dizznee

8. — Sophie Foster

...

...

...

9. (NEW) Stina Heks

☆                               ☆

•~•~•~•~•~•

Kotlc taglist: @keefeinnit @my-swan-song @impostertamsong @subrosasteath

Want to be added/removed from the kotlc taglist? Just let me know!

[archived-and-moving]

Dhfghf hi I’m the kotlc architecture anon and

1, holy shit you’re so right I try to just enjoy it at surface level but the way elves and elven society is portrayed makes them just sorta read as the villains with how detached and lifeless their cities are

2, I didn’t include this in my og ask because it was kinda irrelevant but I have the general idea that elven homes and cities are sorta like human civilizations taken way too far? idk if they’ve ever mentioned the exact time period humans and elves went their separate ways but I imagine it was around the late 1600s, so I’m imagining that elves took inspiration from things like cathedrals and theaters and slowly altered the base ideas to fit their lifestyles, like extremely detailed wood carving and crown molding and intricate carving on stone bricks. Like elves live to be several thousand years old so they have decades upon decades to perfect craftsmanship, and with how their economy supposedly works, it makes more sense that craftsmanship is a bigger indicator of wealth than materials. And this is half baked by bear with me, I love the concept that different cities and walks of life were influenced by different human cultures, like reading descriptions of gardens and where food comes from, my ancestors (I’m Native American) way of life a pre colonization native agriculture came to mind. so I imagine that agricultural areas are influenced by Native American culture and their ideas of opulence turned up to nine thousand, and that being true for various other cities and walks of life.

this is super rambly but I’m an early stage art and creative lit student and kotlc inspires me

Hello, it's nice talking to you once more!

And yeah, I usually try to let it go, but the lack of well. Things just sort of bothers me. I've had it on my mind for a while and I find it irking, so I just sort of released some of it in that ask. (I hope you don't mind, I love keeper. Some of it is tough love though, since while I'm still a child at heart, my brain has unfortunately grown out of the age range.)

For you're second point, oh holy shit I cannot tell you how much I love that. It never really came across like that to me before, but that is such and interesting take on how they'd evolved. Because you're completely right! The elves are immortals, and would most definitely have a lot more time to improve upon and redo some human culture.

I'd be interested to see what an elf thought of modern buildings, how we've really expanded on abstract art and architecture as well. (Now I'm just imagining someone like Tiergan walking around in amazement at large cities and skyscrapers, and more modern works of art.)

But Shannon has also inspired some of the elves' buildings off more modern stuff, like The Louvre Pyramid being inspiration for Foxfire's campus!

So this would definitely make sense! I kind of hope that's what Shannon was going for in the series. But I think the reason why that idea didn't work out is because well.

The architecture of the elvin world doesn't feel elvin. That's because it isn't. It's human, modified to elvin standards. And that could have been so cool!! If Shannon played it out like you said up in your ask. But... it still wouldn't feel right if you know what I mean.

Because just as I said in the last part, the elvin world is perfect... to human standards. But these guys are immortals. And immortals have different standards then humans, and that caused some flaws in the series that we could have worked with!

Like if we take the series and put more cultures in more blatantly (like yours) that would be. So much better. Because right now elvin culture is a muddle of European culture. (Which causes a lot of problems, but if we go with what you were saying, how the elves broke away from the humans in the 1600's, makes a lot of sense. Actually--disturbingly a lot of sense. I'm not educated enough to get into it and have a good ground, but it would explain a lot of the unintentional issues in the Lost Cities.)

But if we were able to have broken away from that muddled European culture, and gone into different ones around the world, it really would have been able to spice up the elves as we know them. Like we have the US with their school system, and we've fixed capitalism, but what if in different territories, we went in with different cultures? Again, not very educated on this territory, but it'd be so interesting to see more cultures be prevalent.

Like Foxfire could take on some more African or Somali culture, Eternalia could have more to do with the Shangri-La myth, diving into some Tibetan culture. If we had the series right now and changed it, it would have been so much more interesting than boring crystal towers. We could have had temples and clothing and foods.

This would have made the series... a lot better. Especially if we could combine all of these myths to make a new elvin. A new culture that could be so much better than a lot of what we see in media.

So much of our culture has been defined on European and now Western culture, which when compared to a lot of other places which are much older and much more diligent, are (in my opinion) much better.

Like some I haven't even mentioned, ancient civilizations like the Mayans and the Aztecs in Central America! What if the elves living in those parts of the world built different homes inspired by the land that hadn't yet been taken over by Spanish conquistadors!

It's just! We had so much potential for culture. Then we didn't use it! It was used I suppose, just not to the best of it's ability. Anyway, please don't apologize for rambling, as you can tell by how much I've been talking, I also do that sometimes! Your second point is quite interesting, and I'll probably be overthinking this for a while (/pos)

Thank you so much for the incredible interaction, I love reading in-between the lines and considering the culture and architectural elements of Keeper.

[gay-ghosts-committing-crimes]

Two Best Friends Going to the Thrift Store!! (They Don’t Kiss)

AO3 link is here

Summary: Bobby and Flynn decide that watching people get their nails painted isn't fun, so they figure that shopping is the only answer.

Warnings: swearing and a sickening amount of platonic friendship

Words: 1,472

taglist, just ask to be added or removed: @barrel-of-cat-mituna @completekeefitztrash @tiergan-andrin-alenefar @lemontarto @hershis-kotlc @genesiscaveat @everything-else-and-mars @juline-dizznee @chaotic-basics @an-absolute-travesty @classyfunnyquotesmuffin7 @iamstealingyourgenderaswespeak @itstiger720 @introvertedscarecrow @sunset-telepath @an-idiot-in-a-trenchcoat @cowboypossume @anaccidentwaitingtohappen @sofia-not-sophie @fire-sapphics @dr-alan-grant-blog-blog @real-smooth @juline-dizznee @it-tastes-like-lizard

Flynn groaned from where she lay sprawled out on Julie's bed.

"I'm bored," They complained, idly picking at the covers, "I'm too gay and adhd for this."

Bobby agreed from his spot on a beanbag. "Don't get me wrong, I love the vibes, and if anyone can pull off red nail polish, it's Reg, but watching nails get done? Not my version of a hot girl summer."

Julie rolled her eyes at them and continued painstakingly painting Reggie's thumbnail, making sure it was completely even before responding.

"First of all Flynn, don't pick at the blankets, your nails are still drying, second of all, Bobbin, you are literally nonbinary. You don't get a hot girl summer."

Bobby clutched dramatically at their  chest, purposefully deepening his voice and pouting.

"Jules! The pain- who knew you were the gatekeeping girlboss of the Molina family? That's so transphobic." They paused, clearly waiting for someone to stand up for him. No one did.

"Fine, I see how it is. It's because I'm amab, isn't it? If Luke and Alex were here, they would let me have a hot girl summer."

Reggie piped up, "They probably wouldn't. Luke would be on Julie's side, and Alex would either agree with Willie, or if they weren't here, say something sarcastic about how you haven't earned a hot girl summer."

Bobby huffed, flipping over on the bean bag so he was basically upside down, and made a face at Reggie, who only smiled and shrugged, his cheeks lightly pink.

Flynn laughed but didn't disagree, and Bobby glared at them before flipping them off and haughtily crossing their arms. She only cackled more and he gave up, scoffing under his breath.

Julie hummed quietly under her breath as she worked, and Flynn made various noises to stim in an effort to not ruin her nails, but otherwise the small group fell quiet.

Finally Bobby couldn't handle the silence and pushed themself up, stretching and ruffling Reggie's hair before grabbing Flynn around the waist and lifting them up onto his shoulder, ignoring her protests about being careful of her nails, and heading for the door.

"Flynn and I will be back, we've got hot he/they and she/they shit to do." Flynn grumbled from where they were thrown over his shoulder, complaining about how they treated her like a rag doll, but didn't put up a fight to leaving. After all, she had been bored too.

"Alright half-pint, where to?" Bobby gingerly set her down once they made it outside, this time noticeably more careful about their nails, and she gave a nod of thanks.

"I'd pinch you for calling me that, but my nails are still drying," She glared disapprovingly at him, but they only gave a cheeky smile and started walking, leaving her to follow. 

"I think there's a new thrift store we could check out; I've been meaning to get some nice platform shoes."

Bobby nodded in understanding and plucked at their black shirt, which they had cropped himself "I've been wanting a new crop top or two," They replied.

Flynn checked out their outfit and raised her eyebrows approvingly. Bobby was sporting his black crop top, a pair of red high-waisted cut-off shorts, and black combat boots with rainbow laces. Their hair was loose, and he had black winged eyeliner to finish off the look.

"You can't really go wrong with a crop top," She agreed, and he grinned in response.

"Thanks half-pint." They went to rub his knuckles on her head, but laughed and pulled away when they threatened him with being called a CisHet™.

"Hey hey!" He gestured placatingly as he laughed, "No need to be harsh!"

She rolled their eyes, but gave a soft smile and bumped their shoulders together.

They slung their arm over her shoulder and started walking again.

~~

The thrift shop was mostly empty of people when the friends got there, but the selection was good and they both enjoyed searching the racks and showing off the random treasures they found tucked away, like a pair of boots that would have been a near perfect match of the combat boots Bobby was wearing, except for the fact that they were a beautiful floral pattern, and an adorable button up with sunflowers and bees that Flynn found between an atrocious neon orange jean jacket, and cute quarter-zip jacket with handmade embroidery on it.

Bobby paused their search for the Perfect Crop Top to hold a teal dress against his chest, and raised an eyebrow at Flynn.

"Well, what do you think? Figure this would convince Julie that I deserve my very own hot girl summer?"

Flynn snorted and shook her head, grabbing a garish purple dress with more frills than square inches, and handed it to him.

"Try this," They smirked, "You'd have the hottest girl summer of us all. Might even catch yourself a man in that outfit."

He stopped as if considering, and then regretfully shook their head, "I couldn't. There's only one person I'd want to catch, and I wouldn't want to make anyone feel bad by being the hottest in the group." He winked and bit his lip to make the fuck-boy face, to which Flynn responded by slugging them in the arm.

"Never, and I mean never, do that at me again, and also? I literally exist. I'm the hottest of the friend group. We all know this." She posed for a second and then turned back to the dresses, eyeing them up and down and smiled to themself.

"'Only one person'," They teased, partially pulling out a sequined pink dress and wrinkling their nose before glancing back at Bobby, "Please, you are head over HEELS for him. I'm surprised you haven't made a move yet honestly."

She grabbed a lavender sundress and held it up for his approval.

"Cute, I like it for you. And it's not "surprising" that I haven't made a move. I'm just... being patient. Besides little miss disaster lesbian, you haven't stopped pining over Carrie in years, and you haven't even asked her out once!! at least I've done more than that."

Flynn spun on him, "What?! You didn't tell me?!?!?"

"Wait wait wait, it wasn't anything big!" Bobby held up their hands and took a step back, "We were all up until like, four in the morning, and high on lack of sleep and all that, and I said we should all go on a double date. Luke pouted because he didn't want to go without Julie, and Alex was already asleep, so it was just me and Reggie.

"I guess now that I think about it, it was kind of a date? But like, a platonic one." They shrugged and turned back to searching the racks of clothes, but Flynn wouldn't let go of it so easily.

"So you're telling me you went on a date, with your crush, alone, and you think he doesn't like you back?! Are you fucking kidding me?? Oooh, pretty!"

They paused their rant momentarily when a cute pair of pants caught her eye, and she held them up to see how they looked. Flynn put them back and shook her head.

"Anyways, he's as much in love with you as you are with him. And. I'm getting these sunglasses because fuck you, that's why." 

Bobby rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to tell you not to, but aight. And he might like me back. It's not like-" They waved their hands vaguely, "- like Luke and Jules." 

They were practically made for each other, and it was never a question about whether or not they liked each other back. They just. Did. 

"With Reggie it's different. He's been through a lot Flynn, and I'd die alone a thousand times before hurting him. I just don't know if he feels the same about me."

They were both quiet for a bit, flipping through hangers and assorted shoes. It wasn't an awkward silence, just a thoughtful one, and Bobby was grateful that Flynn was able to tease and annoy, but ultimately listen and offer advice too. They were a good friend, and Bobby wouldn't trade it for the world.

After a while they went to check out, the cashier offering them a smile and polite goodbye when Flynn pushed open the door, warm air flowing around them as they began the walk back to Julie's house. 

"Hey Bobbers?"

"Yeah half-pint?"

"I don't think the boys, or you, would ever let you come close to hurting Reggie. And by the way? He tooootally likes you back."

"Yeah?" He gave a grateful smile.

"Yeah."

"Thanks half-pint." They laughed when she flicked them, and pulled her into a hug before linking their arms and singing a song under his breath.

It was a good day to have friends like his.

[runninguplenorahills]

name suggestions

There’s no pressure at all to actually use one of these!!!!

Though I hope you find one you actually like. I wrote a little description about the names/thoughts behind the names because knowing what the thought process was might help with liking the name more. I did look if any of those names are taken already and it seems like they’re all free to use! (though I recommend checking again).

rougeronance

You said you like the color pink and pink is generally considered to be a tint of red, and “Red” is of course the name of one of Taylor Swifts albums. To make it sound a little nicer and softer I used the French name for red which is “rouge” and since various shades of red and pink are associated with love and romance I followed it up with “ronance” since that’s of course a romantic pairing but also sounds almost exactly like the word “romance”.

getawaycardigan

This is just a mix out of two Taylor Swift songs: “getaway car” and “cardigan”. It’s simple and nice and therefore it doesn’t set this expectation what your blog is “supposed to be” about, while still of course hinting at your love for the artist.

elmarald

This almost sounds like it could be the name of an ancient wizard in some fantasy book hahahha. But it’s actually simply the words “elmax” and “emerald” morphed together. Since you said you like the color green I thought it might be fitting.

maxnightrain

You said you like both elmax and elumax so I assume you probably like Max which is why this name is just a combination of Max and Taylor Swift’s song “Midnight Rain”.

elvenderhaze

This is the same concept as the last one since El is also included in both elmax and elumax which is why I assume you like El very much as well. So here is a mix of El and Taylor Swift’s song “Lavender Haze”, which also sounds like it could be the name of some magical meadow or something hahah.

bylerthanthewholesky

This is once again the same concept as “maxnightrain” and “elvanderhaze”. Though this time it’s a mix out of byler and Taylor Swift’s song “bigger than the whole sky”.

kampagne

I’m not familiar with kotlc so I’m sorry for the lack of name suggestions with those ships and characters. But this for once is a combination of Kam which seems to be a ship name (?) and champagne which is also the name of a shade of pink and also ties in Taylor Swift’s song “Champagne problems”. Furthermore it sounds like campaign which then again kinda brings in the stranger things element due to the association to dnd.

help me

i think i wanna change my user, i'm not really feeling bylerlve anymore :(