I Bet You Really Confuse Both Of The Political Parties Lol

I bet you really confuse both of the political parties lol

I just want to find literally anyone who places the same value on life that I do😭

Oh okay, I see. I didn't even think of that ngl. I like the color though, I guess I wish it didnt have those implications and stuff because I'm already attached to it lol. Although I also would think it cool if, like, Marella also put some colored beads or strands in her hair. Maybe swirling pink, orange, and blue strands of dyed hair woven into all her tiny braids she has.

genuinely don't believe they will get that far, but if they do, i hope the kotlc moviemakers don't do the thing with tam and linh's hair. and maruca's

One of my favorite parts of any fantasy, including Keeper of the Lost Cities, is the inclusion of multiple races. My Roman Empire (one of six, anyways, lol) is the idea that humans could've been alive when other "homo-" species and Neanderthals and stuff existed and the fact that they would've had to interact. It's the same with the question, "What would happen if aliens came to Earth?" There's this weird knowledge that they are also intelligent and have these similar processes to us but they have fundamental differences to us, because they're different species.

Maybe it's because they're slightly less developed ("perfected"), such as Neanderthals to humans or us to some weird scifi aliens. Maybe it's because they have longer life spans (Fae, elves, vampires, y'know) or they live in completely different places with maybe different magic systems or something (mermaids who live in the OCEAN with more storm powers and powers of seduction versus fairies who typically live in more natural areas than humans with weird druggy shiz and mischievous abilities or sometimes nature powers/godlike ones).

Either way, there's a deep dive into completely different habitats and biological patterns and in a good one it might even have to look at what makes humanity what it is. Why is this species different from humans? What fundamental traits do humans have that they maybe don't, or have a more evolved form of? That's also why I am happy to see Shannon at least mention that cultural progress and innovation is so slow in the Lost Cities versus in the human world because she takes this idea of mortality rushing humans to do things faster versus immortality kind of allowing elves to be more sluggish.

Sophie coming to the Lost Cities, and even being born in the first place, ushers in a weird sense of urgency to the elven world that they hadn't had before. More death, more reform, more modernistic ideals slamming into their society before they can fully comprehend it as a human raised girl and two organizations who have studied humans extensively all try to change the world.

Gnomes are pretty cool for this reason too since they're so different in their plantiness and alternative powers and different diseases. They are so clearly different from other species and I think its interesting they seem to care a little less about the fact that they were literally uprooted from their home than they should be. As plant humans, they also probably care more about their own survival and sticking around than the reforms that other species might start which is why once they root themselves in the backyards of elvin homes they're content remaining there.

As a human I don't always like reminding myself that Alden was at least 100 when his future wife was being born but I try to move past that. And also, why is it so common to focus on match packets at 15 if elves live forever and can find matches hundreds of years younger than them? Like, imagine you get all five before you're 200 and then when you're 1900 or something some perfect elf shows up that could've been a good match but you squandered all your match lists already.

Elvin age gaps should work like human age gaps.

Five years is a big deal when you’re 12 and 17, but they don’t really matter once you’re 20 and 25, and they matter even less once you’re 35 and 40.

So like for elves it would be like, a 50 year age gap is huge when you’re 20 and 70, but not a big deal when you’re 250 and 300.

A 100 year age gap is a lot when you’re 40 and 140, but doesn’t even matter once you’re 310 and 410.

A 1000 year age gap is INSANE when you’re 200 and 1,200, but if you’re 2,500 and 3,500, nobody cares.

I feel like it shouldn’t just be “once they’re adults all gaps just kinda cease to exist” like ear pointiness being a thing does show that as people get very old there are visual reminders that the person is your elder and it feels like it doesn’t mean nothing

I cant believe Septimus Heap art is on my feed

Jenna Heap redraws!! I’m falling back into the obsession…

okay so shannon giving us a keefe pov seems actually lowkey important and what i would do in the story rn but I'm not convinced she's going to use it to do the things I feel like we need her to do.

let me explain.

Shannon set Sophie up as a character who behaves certain ways. A lot of those ways are very good, and she's certainly a hero, but she also has character flaws that get worked through. For example, she can be a little reckless (personally I would have made all the same choices) (I know we think of Keefe as the reckless one but he's a different type of reckless) she can prioritize the wrong things, she can be disorganized, etc (all things that are super valid and understandable and make her relatable btw. I am a sophie foster defender)

and BECAUSE sophie is the protagonist, we see all of this develop. She has certain qualities that are a little stagnant sometimes, at least if you look from the outside, but there's actually a ton of development going on. She hears others' opinions on her actions, good and bad, and the reader sees how this impacts her and how she grows and changes, even if that change is nonlinear or in many ways she stays the same and just grows more mature.

Here's the thing about Keefe. he wandered out of side character territory and into second main character territory starting at the end of everblaze and peaking in legacy. And Shannon has been INTENTIONALLY writing him with consistent character flaws since the beginning, explainable by his past circumstances in fascinating ways. But we aren't there to see a lot of the falling out for that stuff.

A lot of people complain that keefe never faced consequences for stealing the caches or never had the black swan or adults yelling at him or mistrusting him or his friends avoiding him. And like... we do not know that. It could simply be that that was just not Sophie's problem at the time. Sophie also may have simply not been one of the people giving him a difficult time about it. In fact, we know she wasn't, but boy oh boy Fitz certainly didn't bounce back in less than five seconds. And we don't know what the Council and/or black swan did with him that sophie just wasn't involved in--and bc it didn't become relevant to the plot from sophie's perspective, sophie being the actual MC, it just seems unimportant.

Another thing is that Keefe has a lot of the same character flaws throughout the series, but they do shift somewhat with his experiences, and that's without us even seeing in his head, you know? So here's the thing.

Shannon went and started developing Keefe like a second protagonist (who is interestingly also an anti hero in some ways) and even if you aren't a person who thinks he's the most developed character on the paper (disagree but see where you're coming from) he's DEFINITELY most developed in shannon's brain, and that bleeds through. But then we ONLY see Sophie's perspective BECAUSE THIS IS SOPHIE'S STORY, and everything revolves around what is relevant to the plot from her perspective, and then keefe is just in the background being extremely important and relevant and having all these extra issues that we ONLY ever see from sophie's perspective.

Unlocked was... well, it was half a book, and only half of it was keefe. I actually do think his perspective was enlightening in some ways, but a full keefe book at this point kind of seems necessary to me. Because... he's taken on the role of another main character in this story, but we don't see any of that development happening, and for a lot of people i can see that getting taxing. Now I get that those same people also wish keefe would just. step back from the plot. and i get that! but I think with the way he's involved in the plot NOW, seeing his perspective is important, because sophie's POV (especially with her unreliable narration) doesn't give us enough of a window into the complexity that is keefe's worldview right now, especially with all the ways he keeps impacting things. it's just a really important perspective to have at this point.

Shannon, if unraveled is just keefe trying different human foods and giggling like a kotlc react on wattpad, I will probably enjoy it bc i love your work always, but i will also be shaking you by the shoulders because we need this book and you better spend it doing the things we need