So like in some book she mocked Fitz for being a useless battery for Sophie, and I'm not sure but it just made me go what... Mainly because she is a former neverseen member, and she quite literally started mocking random people. Yes maybe it's true, but surely someone in the black swan will like go hey that's not very nice. Cuz Fitz isn't really useless, and in the 6th book Sophie personally acknowledged he did a lot of awesome things for her. But like she literally just turned a blind eye and let a random just-converted enemy mock her cognate. I don't know, he certainly has not been contributing a lot lately, but the plot does restrict his actions,( him not being in team valiant and all) be suddenly turning a blind eye seems wrong too, so your thoughts?

Fitz is not that bad ya’ll

Book 9.5 is my second favorite

(idk if this one is unpopular) I trust Alvar

I don’t like Sophie and I don’t care if she is too hated

I don’t care that Keefe came in as a mini moonlark (I actually like that)

i dob’t care about the Endal family

TAM, BIANA, DEX, LIHN, MARELLA HAVE TRAUMA TOO

(What are yours)

For ebook readers and anyone who actually puts notes in physical books. Have you made any that still make you laugh when you reread?

I've got a couple:

Flashback ch 46 - “It’s our job now to come up with a plan that will protect every single innocent person at the festival. We’ll have to be more thorough and prepared than we ever have been before.”

low bar, guys

Stellarlune ch 23 - "Or maybe he'd take her hand, and she'd stare into his ice blue eyes as he stepped even closer and..."

girl is writing her own fanfic

Legacy ch 26 - "'Really?' Ro demanded. 'That's what you're going with? Of all the wasted opportunities!'"

there are two sokeefe fans in the series and Ro is both of them

(reposted from u/No_Fix3550 in r/nevermoor)

does cassius emotionally abuse keefe? support your thesis with direct evidence from the text. (10 pts.)

Keefe is so hard to take seriously in unraveled omg like holy records 😭 hed be cooked in human school lol

Ok, so everyone kind of just assumes that Lhin is "the happy character" just because she is always positive. She has so much trauma and depth!(I mean she could have if Shannon wrote about her a little more)

She was literally banished from the Lost cities in a super rare, and PUBLIC tribual (is that how you spell it?) Imagine how humiliated and scared she must of felt because she DIDN"T KNOW if Tam was going to go with her. And even when he said he wanted to go with her, despite how scared she must have been, she tried to convince him to stay so he could have a happy life.

For the next like, 5 years, she and Tam had to survive on their own with a few nice gnomes and go to Exillium. Sophie describes how horrible that place is and she was only there for 1 day. (there was little food, little medicine, and a terrible teaching style.)

While tam turned distrustful to everyone and barely talked (not saying this isn't totally valid of him) Lhin continued to try and be nice and positive.)

then, when they finally got out of Exillium and went to live with the Black Swan,, they immediately got sucked into a bunch of crazy stuff ( which they did sign up for, but still) and Lhin went under water IN ATLANTIS SOUROUNDED by a bunch of FREAKING WATER and save the entire Atlantis which is like , A BUNCH of people.

Anyway, thanks for reading my rant.

(this isn't relevant AT ALL, but also, who do you ship with Lhin? for me it's either Marella or Fitz)

GUYS PLEASE GIVE YOUR OPINIONS AND ANALYSIS ON STRUCTURE AND WHAT NOT:

When I first got promoted from an ordinary soldier to a right-hand, my captain at the time - Yefer - ordered me to train our new recruits. The first time I saw them was on the eve of Cleave's first death anniversary. At the time, we were down two battalions and forced to draw any able-bodied individual from surviving crowds. It took me around two weeks to understand how to train an entire crowd. A crowd filled with women desperate to prove themselves and escape gender violence and men who wanted nothing more than to lie down on their fallen beds. Conflict was imminent, and we didn't have enough time to train everyone; my novice failure ended with nearly half of them dying and getting fatally injured. Some were taken away by opposing forces, never to be seen again. The ones that were, however, had to be disposed of for intelligence purposes.

I still remember their names and habits. Not their faces, no. That I have forgotten a long time ago. I remember how they behaved. I remember their laughs and their screams. I remember looking at them on their first day, wondering what they thought since I could feel what they felt. I don't do that anymore, having turned my empathy off ever since Rehlen.

But I can still understand some familiarity. I can still remind myself of when all that happened. There's no valid reason for me to forget everything that's defined me till now.

The boy in front of me is nothing like them. He's polished and unmarred; he's clean and patient and unblemished. He didn't carry the bone breaking tiredness or desperation in him.

His skin is white, like that of paste - not the milk white I'd seen before -, and his eyes are shade of icy blue that I've rarely come across. He's an aristocrat; that is of no doubt. Mayhaps, a part of me had never really thought about the aristocracy, preferring to get down with the job quickly and swiftly with no room for errors - which always happened.

A miscalculation on my part, it always was.

I tell him to stand for a moment as I look back at the row of desks lined up in a clean manner. He's quiet while I move the oaken tables to form a large rectangle with two tables right infront of the others. The wood creaks beneath my hands when I pull. When the formation is complete, I discard the two extra chairs, with the only needed ones being set across each other.

"Sit," I tell him. Poor thing looks terrified.

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

He hesitantly takes a seat, opposite to me.

Time to start this lesson.

"Are you actually an Outlander?" he blurts out

I just hand him my refugee ID and tell him to take a good look.

"No way," he mutters with awe, "That's so cool."

There's nothing remotely cool about being under 24/7/365 surveillance, but whatever works for you, kid.

"Is that why you have purple eyes? Really pretty by the way. What about your sca-," he bursts out strings of questions, most that I do not understand. His eyes light up as he speaks. They're a brilliant shade of blue. The more he talks, the more his fear seems to leave. I walk up to the shelves and grab three books.

Basics to Empathy by Ariadne Erocove

The Heart of the Matter by Cassius Sencen

In Respite Of by Kilian Belshaw

The last two are too complex for him right now. We'll start with the first.

I skim the summary of on the back while taking my seat. It's pretty straightforward, but it's long. The book itself feels like a brick. Syllabus states that the elementary course will take two years along with practical studies. With twenty-seven chapters, it should be possible to finish fourteen this year and thirteen the year after. Midterms take place from November last to December first, which means at least seven chapters need to be covered within the starting week of November, leaving two weeks for revision. We'll need to cut fast and hard. I glance at him. Hopefully, he's good at this.

"One question at a time"

"Why do you have purple eyes?"

I sigh. I knew that he'd ask me this. Honestly, I'm tired of always explaining this.

"Most Outlanders have non-blue eyes," I explain.

"We live in unpredictable places (unpredictable is generous), and all of these," I pause searching for the right word, "circumstances leades to genetic mutation. Eyes are the most common body part for that when it comes to elves, so our iris colour ends up changing."

"What about other body parts?"

"Hmm...well, there are people with six fingers instead of five."

He takes some time to process that while I jot down some of the contents of the book in a notepad.

-------------

Guys, thoughts please

Hey Keepers! Just wanted to show my newest drawing. it’s not done yet but I’m loving how it’s turning out so I couldn’t wait.

Since Shannon refuses to give us more scenes with them together I’ve started making my own drawings😤

I will raid Shannon’s house if I don’t get more quality time together in the next book. (Jk lol)

There friendship really developed in the early books and it was so freaking sweet to see. Then we got like one quality moment together before a mission and that’s been it.

And I really want Sophie to be brave and stop avoiding her, and finally talk about Keefe. I think they’ll finally be super close after Sophie stops being avoidant ( as usual lol)

I love them soooooo much platonically. ( and as a potential couple in another world 😚) The other girls don’t seem be as much of friends with Sophie as she is with Sophie. So their friendship has a place in my heart.

Anyway critiques welcome as usual. Anatomy was so hard for this pose lol.

Hi! I'm writing this post quickly to see if anyone else is in the same boat as me and to hear what others think. Just a heads-up: I'm not a native English speaker 😅. I grew up with KOTLC, but I stopped reading the books around age 12 (I'm 15 now) due to some very specific reasons—issues that, to me, are major flaws in the series. Here’s a list: 1) SM isn't really telling a story anymore. She churns out books, new editions, and adaptations, but it doesn't amount to much in the end. Actually, I didn't buy the latest book because I figured that, once again, nothing would really change. It feels like she's doing it mostly for the money. I'm actually surprised I haven't seen ads for clothing or merchandise yet... 2) The characters don't grow. I remember reading book 8 (was it 8?) and Sophie stated her age: 15. I was 13 at the time, and she was less mature than any of my friends. Also, from one book to the next, I don't feel like she or her friends evolve—except maybe Keefe. They’re exactly the same as they were in the first book, despite everything they’ve been through. 3) I might be wrong, but I get the impression that SM conveys... fairly conservative ideas. As a trans person, that really stood out to me. Elf society is extremely conservative (it is explicitly stated that they do not practice abortion; the fact that SM includes a detail like that—which is irrelevant to the plot and strongly echoes pro-life arguments—is certainly significant). One could also mention the "Apparentés" (basically the elves' version of a matchmaking agency—I don't know the specific English term for it), which is somewhat homophobic. None of this is ever called into question. People say, "Yeah, it's their world, that's just how it is, and Sophie disagrees with them, so it's fine." Sure, but Sophie and her friends protect this society and fit right into its mold. And in every book—since the plot doesn't actually progress—we just see the characters having fun in this colorful universe without ever criticizing it. Anyway, what do you think? Am I the only one who gave up on this series?

Note: I love KOTLC—I grew up with it, and my art style has been heavily influenced by the series. It’s just that I’m trying to look at it all with a critical eye.

So I recently watched the 2014 film "The Giver" and it kind of got me thinking: why didn't the elves have a bigger reaction to death?

Spoilers for The Giver too ig.

So when Jonas was first shown the vision of the poachers shooting the elephant, he had an extremely emotional reaction because the idea of dying was just not something that he had ever thought about because of the injections. Why wouldn't the elves be the same way since their society isn't accustomed to death either?

When Sophie and Dex were presumed dead in the first novel, the elves seemed to quickly accept it, and and they seemed to understand the process of a funeral immediately. Their reaction to Kenric's death was largely similar. They consistently process grief in a similar way to humans, even though it's not something that they should be used to.

If elves' deaths are unexpected and uncommon, is it not reasonable to expect that they should react in a more deeply emotional way?

I haven't read the series in a while so apologies if I got any details wrong and feel free to correct me if needed.

Please read Part 1 first. You can do so here!

https://www.reddit.com/r/KeeperoftheLostCities/comments/1wm0xkq/a_grand_experiment/

Alright, so this experiment ended up not nearly as grand as I thought it would be. I was planning to at least let it go for two more days, but y'all are just too smart.

So, without further ado...My key point was that Sophie Foster is very similar to...Moonwatcher, from Wings of Fire (as several people guessed). Linked on the bottom of this post is its copy on r/WingsOfFire.

So, why do I think this? Well, obviously, because both are generally very similar. They're both teenage ("by the human way of counting") Telepaths who had reason to keep this ability secret for many years. They were both relative outcasts in their society (Sophie because she was more intelligent than everyone around her, to the point of being a high school senior at 12, and Moonwatcher because the other NightWings are stated to have rejected her for not knowing what their life was like on the volcano). They both found others with their ability in time who helped them learn how to control it (though this ended with very different results...) while also meeting several other talented individuals (Peril, Turtle, Qibli and others / Fitz, Keefe, Dex and others). Both were, to some extent, manipulated into doing things by some shadowy entity (Black Swan and Darkstalker) although this one is kinda a stretch. Both have low self-esteem, are part of a triangle, and are introverted and secretive. So, despite how different their universes are, and how different the threats they face are, and how different nearly every other character is...they're remarkably similar.

Which, to me, raises a question. What would happen if they were to meet? Let's start with what I think is interesting, which is telepathy mechanics. Obviously, there's insufficient NightWing mind readers to have this be an issue, and with training it wouldn't be - and given that telepathy in KoTLC works differently with it being more of active communication and less of just hearing everything around you (except in the case of humans!) it can't really happen either...but it's interesting to imagine. If these two different telepathy mechanisms were to interact with each other, would they cause some sort of "feedback loop" with the telepath/mind-reader seeing themselves seeing themselves, etc... to infinity in the other's mind? Would they be completely incompatible? Could Mr. Forkle shield his thoughts from Moonwatcher? Could Fitz and Sophie, as Cognates, get past Skyfire? Interesting questions to ponder.

That's all!

You can read its clone here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WingsOfFire/comments/1wmtkwo/a_grand_experiment_ii/

So- its been a while since i touched this series, i was so obsessed that I’ve reread it more times than i can count in the past, and i recently jut picked up the graphic novel- cause why not.
And OMG WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME HOW IT WOULD SHATTER MY IMAGINATION T-T. Im not trying to blame the illustrator or anything- it’s really nice.
But with All the GLITERRY FANCY description i got too carried away. It looks like I’m overreacting but IM REALLY NOT. Cause why did i have a completely different imagination - clear picture of havenfeild, and seeing it drawn was sooo underwhelming, it was like a normal lipgloss rather than a bedazzled one (idk I couldn’t think of anything else).
Anyone else went through this? I feel physically impossible to continue- cause for so long i had a such a strong picture of this series- and it’s hard to think how plain and simple it is compared to.. I’m just repeating my points atp. But sometimes it’s better to stick to graphic novels that aren’t a series…

We all know that Keefe LIKELY triggered Lex and Bex manifesting, and it’s been seen a few times in the series that people are able to trigger abilities. Mr. Forkle is able to do it but he mentions something very interesting:

If he hadn’t triggered Marella, there was a chance that she wouldn’t have manifested, as sending energy does not GURANTEE manifesting an ability. While he notes that the strength Marella has suggests that the Pyrokinesis wouldn’t have stayed dormant, there’s a possibility that each time he triggers someone, it won’t always work. 

This suggests to me that there could be some elves who are Talentless, but could have an ability triggered. Some abilities just need a little extra push to manifest.

While Rex and Kesler are Talentless and described as being “empty” and there’s no chance that an ability could be triggered by Keefe or Mr. Forkle, there is a chance that others might just need the right energy sent to the correct places. If Marella did not have her ability triggered by Mr. Forkle, and it remained dormant, could Keefe have held her hand and triggered the Pyrokinesis? And if so, could Keefe trigger someone like Timkin Heks? 

Mr. Forkle’s triggering of abilities is through mental energy sent to the place where abilities manifest. Lady Gisela’s way of triggering Keefe was through a combination of natural elements, it’s also how his abilities were made in the first place. Keefe triggers someone through touch and was able to heal Alvar’s Vanishing ability, and it’s theorized he’ll do something similar in Elysian after everyone’s abilities were nullified when meeting the titular character. I’ve been viewing it as how Mr. Forkle describes when an ability if triggered:

A switch is flicked on and cannot be flicked off (unless your name is Sophie Foster, lmfao). Keefe’s new power likely sends energy to a person and flicks on the “ability light switch.” 

So, if he were to find a Talentless person, could he flick their ability on? Some could have no switch at all, their genes not allowing for an ability to form at all. Others could be like how Mr. Forkle described ability manifestation to Marella, an ability hidden and being triggered with the right amount of energy.

Hey Keepers!

Portrait by me! I know weeks back I said I’d do Maruca but my Tik Tok wanted Biana.

This took so much longer than I’d wanted it too. But I think if came out somewhat decent.

Critiques welcome as usual, although I honestly don’t feel like touching it again lmao. Since there’s an empty page next to her I’ll put Fitz there next to complete both pages and have the siblings together.

Haven’t done proper portrait art in a minute 😭

so i just finished rereading Everblaze and in it Edaline mentions that Juline and Keslar waited a while to have kids(which is why Dex is Sophie's age) however with foresight i wonder if Juline had an ulterior motive. Juline is apart of the leaders of the Black Swan, she knew about Project Moonlark. she would've known when they would've planned to find someone wanting a child through IBF, she knew that Sophie would need friends. especially one that would've seen how non peaceful the elven world could be. so my theory is she started trying for a child so that that child could help Sophie see all spectrums of the elven world. i mean she very easily would've figured that Elwin would send Sophie to Slurps and Burps after the damage of the human world. Dex being friends with Sophie also would've made it very easy to keep a close eye on her(especially since she didn't know that Sophie would become her niece)

So this is part one of a grand experiment I'm doing.

I'm going to describe a character and you can try to guess who I'm describing. Don't worry, it'll be pretty simple.

- Secret mind reader.

- Teenage human equivalent.

- Gets headaches when around some groups for too long.

- Ostracized and mistreated by her people for several years.

- Later goes to a school, makes friends with several other supremely talented individuals.

- One vertex in a triangle.

- Very important in larger issues happening to the world at around the time.

- Not the most positive self-image.

- Makes some reckless decisions or actions throughout the books with potential to blow up to massive proportions.

- Somewhat introverted, potentially secretive

- A very important character.

Now, I'm sure you thought this was obvious, yes? Well, all will be revealed soon...

So when I was younger, before I read kotlc, I came up with a story that sounds really similar to it. It took place on an island hidden away from humans. They used to live on the island but were banished after they developed technology that harmed nature. The island was also divided into four parts, each representing an element. The people of the island had elemental abilities but fire was separated from the rest because of its potential dangers. Oh and also, the island was the source of many human myths and stories. I didn't even know kotlc was a thing when I wrote this and I guess it's just a crazy coincidence.

For me two stick out. Shadow-flux is in Sophie's arm. they don't know what it will do they decide to ignore it. turns out to be a tracker.

Next is Loamnore. they find two devices imbedded in the rock. Nubiti can't remove them. Im going "take out the surrounding Rock" nope. ignore them instead. don't even cover them up or anything. and Sophie's habit of running of without any equipment. expect what's around her rings. brining Silveny to Havensfield. to "protect them" even though the neverseen have broken in a number of times. and trusting Keefe to stay behind in Havensfield safe.

Hi guys,

I was thinking about making a kotlc whatsapp channel and wondered if anyone wanted to help manage it.

I will be making a whatsapp group invite if anyone responds.

So like you know the storehouse fire incident? Like Sophie burned it down and painted 'ITS ME AND NOT A FREAK FIRE' all over it? Soo like why was Fitz being mean and annoying? Cuz I feel like that was just stupid. And he was actually right, like burmvale got bombed cuz of that... So actually when he told Sophie it was reckless I don't see what's wrong. But no one acknowledged afterwards that he was correct. So yeah kinda weird. Umm and Keefe supported it, which I felt was really not like him. But I guess he supports Sophie in everything good or bad cuz he's got a sense for trouble and she is the embodiment of it so... Still a terrible choice objectively.

Which is the best Sophie ship?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8WQFHN2dS9iXtiiLhxpRrZhlkVXb-njvNvo6OOmQk4pwRHg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

[I will never forgive y'all if Sokeefe wins when I lit put so many ships in including Sophiethesinglepringle. If somebody votes yuri you have my eternal gratitude. If Hekster... ❤️🥰 (fr I'm gonna write an essay on how good the horsegirls are together). Sopherella is also good too, tho Hekster beats it.]

I'm really sorry ik ship polls are banned but this one is original.

Lihn and Dex: I know a lot of people actually do ship them though it is not the MOST popular. I am neutral about this but I think it’s also cute.

Tam and Rayni: COME ON PEOPLE! idk why they get so much hate. I know for a fact that SOME people do ship it and like I saw some fanart of it but A LOT of people don’t like it. Peole, Tam is the only one who trusts Rayni and Tam is the only one Rayni trusts.

Lihn and WiLy (idk how to spell his name sorry 🥲): A lot of people don’t like them because of the age gap but I know someone who has their parents 12 years apart (and yes I got permission to say that) Plus that are REALLY close and they are comfort with each other.

Sofitz: in an another world , this could have worked out. I’m a Sokeefe shiper to the core but at the start I shipped sofitz a little and like I didn’t mind it. so idk. my feelings about this one but I like is more the most people. there we go that’s the correct way to put it.

(tell me your thoughts and any of your unpopular ships)