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stargirl-evie · 1 year

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“Are you staying or leaving”Keefe x reader

um hello, im Evie and I’m not an experienced writer, but I like imagining scenarios with the characters and stories I like, so I figured I’d try to share them, so maybe you could enjoy them too!

I typically imagine myself in these scenarios so I apologize if the reader presents feminine or is described in any way that might exclude another reader… uh, anyways, basically this is a short one shot/ head cannon/ prompt…? (I’m honestly not sure) about Keefe Sencen meeting and sort of falling for (human) reader while in the forbidden cites. It didn’t really follow the plot or timeline of stellerloon, it’s implied that he’s in the forbidden cities much longer than in the book and that he struggles way more with adapting and it’s probably very ooc…anyways I love Sokeefe but I just though the idea was interesting :]

oh this also isn’t proofread and it’s probably really cringy but yeah, there isn’t enough x reader fics in the Kotlc fandom so I figured I’d try, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged :))

…

⭒ …

To put things simply, he was lost, hungry, confused, and currently short on cash. Turns out walking around with the money from his mothers jewelry in his pockets…wasn’t the safest plan. He’d lost a good amount of it, and probably been scammed out of most of it. He’d considered sneaking back to the lost cites to steal borrow some more of mommy-dearest’s stuff, but the idea of getting caught and possibly facing his friends caused him to quickly scratch that plan. Besides, if he could get away with it the fist time, then it would probably be even easier to take some things from one of the fancier human houses he had paced by in his travels.

So here he was, standing outside the biggest house he had seen in the neighborhood, if you could call it that- all the houses were so far apart that of you tried to walk from the first one to the last one, you might need to stop and camp before continuing to the end.

He had planned it all out-making sure to use the weird human invention called a phone- to look up the owners, make sure they weren’t very good people, or that they’d be home that particular night. He could easily levitate to one of the higher windows since no one would be around. The (l/n) family would be in their vacation home, far from here, and no grounds workers or servants would be back until the owners were ready to return.

It would be easy, slip in, grab a few valuable things, maybe some food too, then slip out and continue on his way to London. What he didn’t have a plan for, was you.

His plan had been going smoothly, he was inside and sifting through your mother’s jewelry box, when you walked in.

For a moment you both stared at each other. You, at the seemingly your age and incredibly handsome boy in black jeans and a Batman hoodie that was currently holding a pair of your mothers diamond earrings- and him at a girl, probably a little younger than him, standing in a soft pink nightgown, and holding a metal baseball bat in both hands.

That seemed to snap him out of his initial shock, and quickly throw his hands up so you wouldn’t hit him with it.

Braking your own trance, you pulled the bat back, and demanded, “Who are you? Why are you in my house? How did you even get in? Wha-”

He was quick to back up a bit before interrupting your questions, “I’m Keefe, I swear I’m not here to hurt you, I just needed to make some money real quick,I thought your family was away, I wouldn’t have come if I’d know you’d be home!” He internally smacked himself for his stupid mistake.

“Oh yeah ‘cause that makes it so much better” you said while rolling your eyes and lowering your arms and ignoring the strange feeling you got about him not wanting to be there while you were, even though it made no sense for you to be upset by that. You decided to blame it on the fact that it was 2:47 am and he just happens to have really nice hair.

You pitched your voice lower to mimic his before adding, “I swear I’d only steal from you if I didn’t think you’d be home to catch me (y/n) sorry ‘bout that.” and then swung the bat around to place the head on the floor and lean your weight against it while smirking at him.

His eyebrows shot up, surprised that you were almost joking with him right now, instead of clobbering his head with the bat, like he thought you were about to. He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just-actually I don’t know what I was trying to achieve with that..” He brought his arms down to wrap them around himself, before deciding that he probably looked stupid standing in front of you like that. Especially since you seemed so calm.

“Um, I should go,, I don’t, this was a mistake, sorry, I-I should probably go now-God I sound like an idiot right now. No wonder you aren’t scared of me. Not that i wanted you to be, of course i didn’t. Who would want a pretty girl with a weapon to be scared of them? Not that I think you’re pretty. I mean you’re not, not, pretty im just-“

It was time for your to cut him off, “hey! Relax ok, im honestly not sure what your rambling about right now, but you look like you haven’t eaten in days, and im going to ignore the fact that you called me ugly and pretty just now and offer you some food so you stop trying to steal from me.”

He took a step closer to you, confused as to why he was being so unlike himself right and even more confused as to why you were now offering him kindness. He focused on the emotions coming from you, trying to figure out if you were only helping him out of pity, but only finding empathy and a few more frantic vibes.

You shifted under his suddenly intense-and very close (seriously when had he backs you up against your mothers vanity chair)-gaze, the moonlight steaming through the open window highlighted his eyes and you could see in your proximity the striking ice blue and the darker flecks of azure, cobalt, and royal blue. but you shook your head and forced yourself to ignore his stunning eyes to push him back and question why he had gotten so quite and intense.

He apologized and stepped even further back. “ I guess I was trying to see why you were being so nice to me.”

“And you thought the best way was to push the limits of stranger danger and stare into my soul all intensely with your snowstorm eyes?”

You had meant to be teasing him, but the words came out quieter then you meant them to be, and he seemed to pick up on the later half more than the first.

“So… you were staring at my eyes?” There he was, flirty and teasing and giving you a smirk that had your insides doing weird flippy-floppy things they didn’t usually do.

You felt your face get warm, and you prayed to whatever higher powers there might be that your face wasn’t nearly as red as it felt.

Not that it mattered of course.

He gave you another smirk before letting out a laugh that would have the best choir angels embarrassed by their singing abilities. And that had your betraying face warm even more.

“C’mon, let’s get you something to eat before you push me into this mirror” you quickly turned to the door to lead him towards your own room.

He followed you down the long hallway while teasing you about the pink hue that still refused to let up, particularly due do his continued torture.

You grabbed a coat from your closet and pocketed some cash before leading him out the front door.

“So where are we going (n/n)? I didn’t see anything down this way to eat while I was stalki-er, uh, looking up this place.” He cringed at himself for reminding you about the circumstances of your meeting.

You ignored the word slip and the little nickname in favor of describing a little town with plenty of back alley restaurants that you often snuck out to eat at when your parents were actually home.

He caught the shift in your mood when you mentioned your parents and decided to risk asking about it, besides, how much weirder could this first meeting get?

“Sooo…. I’m kinda confused about something.” “Yeah? What’s up?” You slowed slightly to look at him while he spoke, noticing his slight shift in tone.

“Well, you don’t have to answer or anything, since you don’t really know me-”

“Oh wow, uh sorry to interrupt, but it feels like I do, given how easy it is to talk to you, strange that we only meet what? An hour ago?”

He stoped walking completely to stare at you. “Really? Only an hour? Huh it does feel like we’ve know each other longer…”

The both of you fell quite for a moment before walking again, this time with your destination in sight.

“Uh anyways, why are you here, if your parents and staff are away?” He focused on you emotions to make sure he hadn’t seriously overstepped.

“Oh, well, we don’t really agree about much, or anything really. They’re jerks that only care about money and showing off to other people about how perfect they are. My mom is always taking about how young men approach her about leaving her husband because shes so ‘naturally’ beautiful and my dad is always bragging about how incredibly smart he is and how good he is at handling his business. They like to talk about how well they raised me, even though they never spent time with me or did any of the parenting stuff, and they like to parade around like they’re better than everyone when really, they’re miserable together and they’re always doing shady shit behind the scenes of their business. When they said they wanted to go on a cruise around one of their vacation homes I refused to go with them because they’d just ignore me and force me to play along with their stupid charade.”

By now you were standing in front of a tiny Italian restaurant with low lights and tall booths, very warm and inviting, the perfect safe space that just so happened to smell amazing. And Keefe was more than ready to eat whatever smelled so good. Even if it meant more of the god-awful human water.

But he couldn’t help but stop to watch you for a minute. It was insane how easy it felt to be around you, and safe. He had been in the forbidden cities for months and this was the safest he’d felt in a very long time. Everything about you felt like a complement to him. Even your shitty social status obsessed parents were another way you were similar.

You looked at him, and for a moment he wondered if the weird emotional flurry around you meant you felt the same way. “Keefe? We should head inside, and you can tell me about whatever led to you breaking into my house.”

You giggled at him, it was soft and sweet and he absolutely believed that you could bribe any of the councilors to do your bidding if you wanted to with that laugh.

The rest of the night (or rather, incredibly early morning) was spent sharing every detail about both his and your lives, even when he confessed that he was an elf you barely bat an eye, and he could tell that you genuinely didn’t mind that his mom had done all kinds of weird shit to his head.

You shared your own secrets as well, and you marveled at how accepting he was. Everyone and everything faded away, and for a few hours you were simply two teens that could really understand each other, and it was you best either of you had felt in a very long time.

As the sun came up you took him to the roof of a flower shop that had yet to open for the day. Together you sat and shared the desert from the restaurant while you described your passion for drawing, and he described his. Everything just seem perfect and both you and him wished it could last forever.

Of course things could never be that easy, after all, he explained why he was in the forbidden cities, and you understood that he would probably return to his world eventually, but that did nothing to stop the overwhelming desire to kiss him and run away together.

Even as he explained how his empathy worked and you tried to get your emotions in check so he wouldn’t think you were insane for developing such strong feelings in the span of a few hours, nothing could shadow them.

And when he looked at you, even more intensely than that first time he read you in your mothers bedroom, you couldn’t help but feel like he felt the same way.

He leaned forward slightly and you met him halfway, there was a hairs space between you, and you could feel his warm breath, see all the different blues in his eyes, and smell his soft skin…

“Wait Keefe.”

He froze and his eyes opened so wide you almost worried they would crack like real ice.

“Yes (y/n)? Is something wrong? Did I say something or-”

You cut him off before could spiral, trying to make your emotions clear so he wouldn’t worry so much.

“ I have to ask, after everything you’ve said, are you staying or leaving?”

He paused before pulling back and letting out a deeply emotional sigh. “I have to go, there’s still so much I don’t know or understand, and I still haven’t made it to London to look for those people and, wait! What if, and I know this might sound crazy but…”

He trailed off looking afraid to continue. You could feel your heart beating faster than ever before, and you tried to not get your hopes up. Gently, you urged him to continue, especially since these next words could change everything for you.

He said your name in a way that made your soul tingle and your stomach knot, “Would you be willing, to leave with me?”

You stared at each other for a moment, before you closed your eyes and quickly but softly pressed your lips to his. For a moment, your were scared, for a moment, you considered pulling back, for a moment, you thought you read all his teasing and flirting wrong and completely ruined the best night of your life, and then? He was kissing you back. He was wrapping an arm around your waist and cupping his hand around your face. He was blushing and nervous and probably feeling everything you were feeling.But he was kissing you back. And everything felt perfect.

Slowly you pulled apart and he reseted his forehead against yours while closing his eyes.

The two of you sat there, on the roof of the flower shop, bathed in soft light of the rising sun, practically glowing in each other’s arms.

It would be risky, but leaving everything behind for him seemed worth it, not that there was anything really keeping you here. Maybe you were crazy, but leaving with him felt like the best idea you had ever had, and you were not going to give that up.

He could only hope that none of this would put you in to much danger, but he’d do anything to protect you now, and keep you by his side. Maybe he was crazy, or maybe his mom had truly screwed his head on wrong after she messed him up, but this was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he was not about to give that up.

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amandayetagain · 7 months

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oblivious - FedEx week day 6 oneshot

Fitz is walking with a purpose towards the door frame. He is walking, and walking, and walking with a purpose, and so when he stops with a purpose, it is rather abrupt.

“Good morning.”

Unleashing a string of near-unintelligible curses, Dex flails for the nearest thing he can throw, which is, frankly, stupid, because there are plenty of fragile looking prototype things there, he could just channel an intruders body, and any normal throw would pale in comparison to one with telekinesis.

Thankfully(?), he throws his circlet instead of an invention, chucking it directly at Fitz’s chest. He catches it, of course, but he’s a bit irked by the fact he had to.

“How does it feel to have a higher title than me?” Fitz jokes, only a tad bitterly. He was trying for easy, cool humor, but it probably didn’t come through, judging by the fleeting look of surprise on Dex’s face.

“Pretty great, actually.”

Okay, Dex’s smirk is fanning the flames of Fitz’s jealousy. Among other things. Sublime.

“And people are . . . treating you well?”

“When have they not,” he deadpans.

“Ah, um-”

“Fitz, please don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you asking questions you don’t want answers to? Seriously.”

Flustered, Fitz clears his throat in a sad attempt for time to think of an appropriate answer.

“That’s not- I do want to know. It just happened to be, ah, a question I was using to ease conversation before I brought up the true subject.”

“The true subject, huh?”

This is so stressful. He’s grinning and showing off his stupidly cute dimple, and he’s making a significant amount of eye contact. Why can’t he just let Fitz warm up to the subject? Get used to the conversation? He’d had exactly one real, beyond surface-level conversation with Dex before, and it had been about him almost dying. He didn’t exactly have a foundation here.

“Yes.”

“Care to share, Wonderboy?”

“You don’t need a moment to wake up?”

Dex shakes his head, smoothing out the crumpled blueprint that had been acting as a pillow. He gives Fitz a sleepy, half-lidded smile, which pretty much acts as a shot to the heart.

“Will you show me around Mysterium? We could, um, check out the food stalls, and vendor carts, and get gifts for the midterms party?”

“So, go on errands together?”

Together, yes. Errands? Not the most accurate description of what Fitz was getting at.

“More like a date?”

“Stars, finally!”

“Finally?”

“I’ve been dropping hints for weeks! Biana told me to just wait it out, because you're flirted with so often that you don’t take it seriously anymore, and it would eventually sink in.”

“It’s the Keefe effect,” Fitz grumbles.

“Right. This happens on one condition.”

Fitz stiffens.

“We avoid Slurp and Burps, okay? We don’t need my dad or siblings scaring you away.”

Cracking a smile, Fitz agrees.

His mind circled back to what Dex had said about dropping hints.

Had he really? How did Fitz not notice?

#Amanda writes again #fedex week 2023 #Don’t judge ok I wrote this in an hour after not writing kotlc in like a year

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occasionally-good-authoring · 1 year

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The Library’s Keepers

@indigothemuse behold what happens when my one-braincell ass takes the librarians and smashes kotlc into that universe.

Fitz Vacker is the Librarian, sole protector of the world from magic. Wylie Endal is his Guardian, who would like it if Fitz would stop calling himself the sole protector of the world from magic. Dex is a hacker with a ticking time bomb in his head and a list of people who don’t deserve what they got. Xe’s a Librarian. Keefe is a man made of lies, a grifter and a thief with a past he’d rather not talk about, not until that past drags him into a world of magic. He’s a Librarian. Sophie Foster is a genius, math, science, literaure, you name it, he’s probably got it under her belt. She’s stuck in Oklahoma to no one’s fault but his own. She’s a Librarian.

It was the usual job. Catch a murderer that the cops didn’t feel like investigating, much better than the cheating cases Wylie usually got hired to do. The pay wasn’t too good for this one, but twenty dollars an hour would add up. Eventually.

Especially since he’s on hour seventy three. It would pay half the rent, so all he would need was another job.

Alice Cartoff was a Class A asshole who was keen on carrying around this stupid pendant. It looked like a gold coin, probably antique. Wylie might be able to pawn it for a nice amount if it wasn’t important to the case, which it didn’t look like it was. It was supposed to be a casual thing, get her to confess to him while being recorded and hand her over. What he didn’t account for was a floral-clad housewife to have a handgun.

And know how to use it. She hadn’t fired it yet—thank god, he knew who the cops would arrest—but had it pressed against his back. If he could turn around fast enough, he could knock it out of her hand. Or maybe a kick to her knee would work. He could throw an elbow back into her shoulder, that might even get her to drop the gun.

“It was flawless. There was no way anyone could figure it out, the only witness was Arthur!”

“Dead men tell tales if you listen long enough, sweetheart.” The gun digs deeper into Wylie’s back, not a good thing to say, apparently.

“And you’ve got a good ear, right? How’d you find out, Wylie. How’d you find out.” That’s a good enough confession for Wylie.

She’s expecting trouble from him and is looking for an excuse to shoot him. One bruise of her and she’s getting off scot free for another murder. He’ll have to talk his way out of this one. God he should’ve taken more lessons from that grifter in Boston, they could’ve gotten out of this in a snap.

“It was simple. Everyone had motive to kill Arthur, but no one skilled enough to leave no trace would kill him if they had a visible motive. According to everyone, you and Arthur got along swimmingly,” Wylie says. “You committed the perfect crime a bit too perfectly.”

She laughs. A door opens beside them. Wylie looks over to see something he definitely didn’t expect out of this. A young man in a green sweater vest, yellowing white button up, and black dress pants.

“What on earth are you doing here? Who are you,” Alice yells. Wylie almost flinches away from the sound, but figures any movement will end with him getting shot, and manages to stay still.

“I’m the Librarian,” he says with a crooked smile and a British accent. Something clouds over Alice’s face and Wylie takes his chance. He throws his elbow into her shoulder. The gun falls to the floor; Wylie kicks it away from her.

“Damn it!”

Wylie turns around quickly, ready to knock her out and be done with it. He’s greeting with a fist to his face—for a housewife, she’s got a good left.

“That looked like it hurt,” the Librarians winces.

“Because it did,” Wylie grumbles. He tries to throw another punch to Alice’s jaw, which she blocks. She is unnaturally good at this for someone who looks like she’d cry if she got tapped too hard. She kicks Wylie’s gut. He gets thrown back into a table—ow.

The Librarian winces again. His eyes catch something and light up. Wylie tries to sweep Alice’s feet out. She jumps over them and knees Wylie’s chin. A flash of white goes over his vision—not good. Wylie scrambles back before Alice can land another kick.

“Please keep her busy for me, restrained if you can!” The Librarian shouts.

“What do you think I’m trying to do, kid!”

“Keep it up then!” Wylie swings a fist towards her neck, a punch he’s thrown many times before. It lands, Alice stumbles back, gasping for breath.

“You dick,” Alice breathes. Wylie grabs a vase from the table he was thrown into and lunges for Alice. She tries to get away but he manages to hit her over the head with it. Alice crumbles to the floor. He reaches into his pocket at pulls out the tape recorder and turns it off.

“Well that would do it.”

Wylie had forgotten he was there, if he’s being honest. The Librarian finally leaves the doorframe he was standing in. He walks like one of the show choir kids Wylie went to school with, all bouncy like he’s got music playing in his head. Jolie was always like that. He plucks the gold coin from her neck.

“Thank you for your help—Wylie, isn’t it?”

“Hey, give me that coin, I have rent to play, kid.” The Librarian jumps back before Wylie can reach out for the coin. That thing must be worth at least a thousand, no need for another case.

“Afraid I can’t do that, Wylie. This thing is too powerful for anyone to have, let alone be pawned off to pay rent.”

“It’s a gold coin, kid.”

“I’m twenty-one, stop calling me kid. Gold is a good conductor, and gold this old? It’s a miracle there’s only one murder.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Wylie grabs his phone from his pocket. He texts Technopath—the hacker from Portland—to send people to come get Alice. “If you don’t want me calling you kid, what’s your name?”

“Call me the Librarian. Though, seeing as I have to go, you won’t be addressing me after now.” The Librarian shoves the coin in his pocket. Wylie could still grab it, the thief from Georgia taught him well enough to pickpocket the kid. “I best be going now, see you never!”

“Hey wait—”

He waves goodbye before running out the door. Wylie sighs. He’d better leave before whoever Technopath called comes—its lead to a few too many awkward conversations when he hasn’t left in time.

He ties Alice up with a blanket before heading to his car.

…

“Getting weak, Cal!” Fitz calls to Excalibur. Excalibur responds by knocking the sword out of his hand with a move Fitz really should’ve seen coming. “Okay, don’t mock the magic sword, lesson learned.”

Excalibur shakes in a way Fitz has learned that’s laughter.

“Fitz, good to see you practicing,” Livvy says. “We have a guest.”

“What? A guest? You let someone in? That’s—oh it’s you.” Fitz sets his sword against the bookshelves. The PI from Caligula’s Coin is standing awkwardly next to Livvy. “What are you doing here? Livvy, what’s he doing here?”

“Mr Endal here is your Guardian, Fitz.”

Fitz laughs before realizing ce’s serious. “I don’t need a Guardian, send him home. I have something to work on and I don’t need a distraction, most certainly not a fool who almost got himself mixed in with magic! He tried to pawn Caligula’s Coin, Livvy! How is he invited to the Library? Impossible. Send him home.”

Fitz turns and heads for the Annex. Mrs Chebota’s murder won’t solve itself and Fitz cannot for the life of him figure out what that painting means. Or why she had it in the first place. Or how she got stabbed. Or why her ghost can’t communicate.

“Magic isn’t real!” Wylie calls. “And that coin had to cost thousands of dollars.”

“How is that what you’re focusing on? Go home, Wylie. You’re of no use to me, and as the Librarian, you’re of no use to the Library.”

“We both know that’s not how it works, Fitz,” Elwin says. Wylie—who seemed not to have noticed the fact there was a man in the mirror—pulls out a pocket knife. He almost drops it when he sees Elwin.

“Excuse me but what the fuck.”

“Hello, Guardian. I’m Elwin.” They smile warmly, Wylie walks up to the mirror and flips it to the back. “I do know this is a bit surprising, but please keep me upright. I get dizzy.” Wylie puts the mirror back.

“Sorry?” He stands there for a second, Fitz decides to ignore Wylie until he goes away and pulls the white board out from between bookshelves. “So magic is real? Like, you’re not pulling my leg here?”

Fitz sighs. “Yes, magic is real. Now will you go home?”

“I know Ms Sonden told me my job, but what is it again? This barely makes any sense to me. And what’s your name? If you have one.”

“My name is Elwin. As a Guardian, you will accompany the Librarian and keep him safe. No matter how much Fitz here thinks he doesn’t need help.”

Wylie turns around, a comeback on his tongue when he sees the whiteboard. Something makes him stop. He walks up to the whiteboard and takes Maruca’s photo off of it.

“Don’t touch that!”

“How did you get this photo? Have you been following me? What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything. Someone killed her on our front steps. Why?”

“She’s—she’s my cousin. I don’t—how? How did she die? Was it fast?” Fitz softens.

“She was stabbed, she died quickly. But her ghost is here, she’s not completely gone.”

“I need to see her.”

“She can’t communicate with you.”

“Like hell she can’t. Take me to her.”

…

When she sees Wylie, Maruca panics. What is he doing here? This place is dangerous, he can’t be here. For gods sake, this place got her killed. Even if Wylie’s older, it’s not by enough. Immortals from the beginning of time aren't old enough to be safe in this place.

She tries to tell him that, but her mouth won’t move. Whatever that man did to her before she died, it was enough to keep her silent.

“Why can’t she talk, is that a ghost thing? We both know ASL, why can’t she use that?”

She notices Fitz in the room now. God, if she wasn’t friends with Biana, she’d strangle him for bringing Wylie here.

It was a spell. Fitan. Arthur’s Crown.

But neither of them know any of that.

…

“I don’t know how she knew about this place.” Fitz says. “She shouldn’t have, and she most definitely shouldn’t have known my name. There’s a spell that’s keeping her from communicating, but I can’t figure out which one it is and until I do, I can’t undo it.”

Wylie rifles through his pockets and pulls out a letter with gold script. One he thought was familiar, and for a good reason as it turns out.

“She got a letter. Three years ago, she got a letter just like this one. She told me how weird it was and that she wasn’t going to go all the way to New York for a letter. Maruca was going to work here.”

That’s when a strings finally connect. At least, theoretical strings for a very plausible theory. Fitz rushes up the stairs of the Annex, Wylie following behind him. Fitz rifles through bookshelf after bookshelf, only realizing once he grabs the Record Book he could’ve used the card catalog.

He flips until he sees his name.

“Search these names. Kenric Fathdon.”

“Died in a fire.”

“Calla, no recorded last name but a biologist.”

“Dead.”

“Ethan Benedict Wright II.”

“Dead.”

“Leto Kerlof.”

“Dead. What’s this about?”

“Someone’s killing Librarian candidates. Three years ago, the Library sent out hundreds of letters. It looks like only the top ten candidates.”

Wylie types in the last few names on the list.

“Three of them are still alive, at least to my knowledge. We have to go and get them. We’ll bring them back, they’ll be protected here, won’t they?”

“They will. I’ll take Sophie Foster, you get Dex Dizznee. We’ll get Keefe Sencen together. I’ve been needing to talk to him for a long while anyway.”

“Okay. It looks like Sophie lives at Havenfield Sanctuary. Can you handle finding Dex? I can find xem if you can’t.”

“Of course I can, I’m the Librarian. Now go, if I’m right, they don’t have long.”

…

Dex wasn’t a good thief. Xe had no idea why Biana thought xe was, or why ae had xem try and pickpocket the mark, but ae did. And now xe’s testing out xyr—horrible—grifting abilities. That was always Keefe’s job.

“I’m sorry sir, I thought you were a friend.” Xe really wished the mark would let go of xyr wrist.

“Do you pickpocket your friends?”

“Yes. It’s an inside joke.” Xe had no idea why Keefe wasn’t helping over comms. He was the only real grifter they had, and without a hitter, if xe couldn’t talk xemself out of this, a jail cell was likely. Dex hated jail cells. They were always so cold.

“An odd joke, boy. Care to explain it to me?” Shit. Dex was never the best liar, much to Biana and Keefe’s dismay. They could never teach xem how to cover xyr tells.

“Well—”

“Dex! There you are!” yells a person Dex has never met in xyr life. “Oh god, did you mistake someone for Carter again? I’m sorry sir, I keep trying to tell xem not to do it unless xe’s sure, but xe never listens.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Librarian.”

For some reason, that makes the mark falter long enough for Dex to get xyr wrist back. Xe tries to rub away the grubby feeling that man’s fingers left. Xe knows it’s going to bruise. Something xe’s not excited for.

“It’s best we go now, Dizznee. A bluff that bad won’t last long.”

“How the hell do you know my name?” Dex works hard to keep xyr name a mystery. Keefe and Biana only know his first name, everyone else just gets Technopath. An awfully bad name, but the triplets begged him to use it.

“For the same reason someone’s after you. Come with me or you’re going to die, Dizznee.”

“Tell them to get in line, they’re not special. I have a job to do.” The stranger is probably right though, xe should really leave before the mark thinks too hard about xyr lie. To xyr dismay, the stranger follows him into the street. God, xe’s going to have to shake him. Xe’s not exactly good at shaking a tail, not when xe’s failed every athletics check Biana’s given xem.

The stranger grabs Dex’s wrist. He lets Dex pull it back but his eyes tell Dex he won’t let xem the next time he has to chase after Dex.

“My name is Fitz Vacker. If you do not come with me, you are going to die. I can only protect you if you let me, so let me.”

Xe knows that name. But it can’t be. The chances are so low that they couldn’t even be calculated. Though, he does look a bit like Biana. Same blue eyes and same warm brown skin. It’s impossible, but xe knows that name.

Dex takes xyr comm out. “What is this about?”

“Three years ago you got a letter to join the Library. Someone is after you because of that letter, let me help you.”

“Gold lettering. It was slipped under my door, I thought it was a trap.”

“Will you come with me?”

“How good are the people coming after me?”

“Good enough to have killed seven other people. Skilled people. They can get you wherever you go unless you come with me.”

Dex crushes the comm under xyr feet. It can be tracked if someone tried hard enough and if these people are as good as Fitz says, they’ll try. Xe can come back for Keefe and Biana later, when xe has enough information to keep them safe along with xem.

“Only until they’re gone. Then I’m leaving.”

Fitz nods. “Is there any way anyone can track you with anything you have now.”

“Only by my comm—” xe motions to the crushed earpiece on the ground— “but I dealt with that. Let’s go. How are we getting out of here?”

Fitz pauses. “I’ll figure that out as we go.”

Dex pulls out his phone. “Where do we need to go?”

“New York.”

“Great, we have a plane to catch.”

…

“Come on Verdi, take it easy. I can’t feed ya until you calm down,” Sophie says. Edaline’s in town buying groceries and Grady’s at the school, so Sophie’s stuck trying to give Verdi her medicine. It’s like giving a cat medicine but worse. “Darlin’ please, this’ll clear you right up.”

Verdi neighs and backs up. Sophie takes that as permission to enter Verdi’s stall. The medicine was poured in the sugar cubes in Sophie’s hand. It’ll be easy to trick the horse into eating them, so long as Verdi doesn’t smell them before eating.

He holds out his hand to Verdi. For what has to be the first time, Verdi sniffs something before she eats it. And refuse to eat the sugar cubes.

“Fine, have a cold.”

“Let me try, Soph.” Sophie turns around quickly. Edaline and Grady shouldn’t be home anytime soon, and they aren’t. Instead, Wylie’s standing in the open barn door with a soft smile. Sophie would run to hug him if Verdi wouldn’t do the same. Never good to surprise a horse if she’s learned anything over the years.

“Wylie! When did you get in?”

“About an hour ago. Kind of last minute and I’ll have to leave again soon.” He takes the sugar cubes from Sophie and holds them out for Verdi. The traitor of a horse eats them. Sophie waves Wylie out of the stall and closes it behind them both. She leans against it, hands in her jeans front pockets.

“Why? What’s up?”

“Well, I have two plane tickets out of here and one hour until I gotta be at the airport. Two, you need to come with me.” Sophie pushes off the stall with his foot and walks out the barn door, Wylie following him out and closing the door behind him.

“I can’t leave here, Wylie, and I don’t know what you’d want me to leave for. If you need my help on a case, you shoulda just called.” Sophie pulls off her riding gloves. She’d planned to take Silveny out after Verdi, but if Wylie’s here, she’ll wait until he’s gone.

“Sophie, it's important. It’s—three years ago you got a letter.”

“You think I remember what was goin’ on three years ago?”

“Shut up and listen, Sophie. It had gold writing and it was slipped on your door. It was from the New York Public Library inviting you to work with them.” Sophie stops walking.

“How do you know about that?”

“I got the same letter. Now. Someone’s coming after you because of that letter. You’re not safe here, Sophie. You gotta come with me, now.”

“That’s ridiculous, Wylie. There ain't anything about me that anyone’d want me for. I can’t even get Verdi to take her medicine.”

“You’ve got to trust me here, Sophie. They already—”

A car pulling up the gravel driveway cuts Wylie off. Sophie sees him stiffen, trying to wave Sophie behind him. It’s ridiculous. Sophie can wrangle a bull with one pair of gloves and a rope, she can handle someone who’s probably just lost. Sophie starts to walk to the car. It looks pretty new.

Wylie grabs his wrist.

“Stop being stupid, Wylie.” She grabs her wrist back and walks to the drivers side of the car. He knocks on the window, the driver rolls it down. It’s a young man, black baseball cap with an eye on it pulled to cover most of his face. Wylie shifts, ready to move forward. Sophie throws him a look, telling him he better stay put.

“Are you Sophie Foster?”

“Sophie, step away—”

The young man smiles, Wylie’s panic saying very clearly, that this is Sophie Foster. The car door slams into Sophie’s gut. The young man springs out of the car and towards Sophie. Wylie tackles him to the ground.

“Sophie go! Get to the airport, I’ll meet you there.” Baseball Cap knees Wylie’s gut, pushing him off.

“Like hell I’m leaving you.”

She grabs a rope and ties a loop at the end. Wylie gets on his feet, Baseball Cap following him after. Wylie throws a kick that Baseball Cap dodges. Baseball Cap throws a kick that throws Wylie into the open front seat of the car. Baseball Cap drags him out by his feet, Wylie’s head hitting the car.

Sophie finishes the knot and twirls the rope over her head. He throws it forward, the loop wrapping around Baseball Caps waist. She yanks on it as hard as she can, sending Baseball Cap to the ground. Wylie’s up on his feet—swaying a bit—when Sophie gets over. He pulls the rope tight around Baseball Cap.

He kicks his legs around trying to get free from the rope. Wylie kicks his head hard enough to knock Baseball Cap out.

“How’d you do that?” Wylie pants. Sophie wraps Wylie’s arm over her shoulder, he puts his weight on her. He’ll be a bit wonky from that knock to the head for a while now. She leads Wylie to the other side of the car.

“Horses are ‘bout nine hundred pounds give or take. He was a walk in the park, Wyles.” She opens the door and deposits him in the passengers seat.

“Why am I in his car? Are you stealing his car?”

“Think of it as karma.”

Baseball Cap left his keys in the ignition. Apparently, even a skilled fighter can be stupid enough to make it so easy.

She peels out of the driveway as fast as the gravel will allow.

“So. You weren’t lyin’ when you said people would be after me, were ya, Wyles.” Sophie says. The panic started to set in. There are people after Sophie. People who were willing to come to the middle of bum-fuck Oklahoma to get her.

“I wasn’t. We need to get to the airport in town. It’s the small one. If you think you’re in the wrong place, you’re at the right place. I got a guy there.”

“You have a guy everywhere.”

“Part of the gig.”

“I’ll never understand your job.”

…

By the time the plane lands in New York, Wylie’s head has stopped swimming. He knows it’s going to take more to deal with a concussion, but that’s not something he has to worry about right now.

“So, where are we going?” Sophie asks. “I have to get back as soon as this is over, Grady and Edaline will be worried. I texted to tell them I was goin’ to be out of town for a while but still. I don’t want them worryin’.”

“The Library.”

“Do you know how little that narrows it down? I don’t know much about New York but I’ll bet it’s got more than one library.”

“The letter was inviting you to the New York Public Library, yeah?”

“What’s that got to do with this? And who was that? What the hell is going on and how did you get involved? How did I get involved? Photographic memory ain’t worth that much.”

“Because of what’s under that library. There’s another library under it, that’s the Library. It’s a place that holds magical artifacts.”

“That’s bullshit, Wylie, you knocked your head a bit too hard.”

“You’ll believe me when you see it.”

“Sure I will, Wyles.”

They’re silent until the plane lands, Sophie helping Wylie up and Wylie saying he doesn’t need her help. They’ve just gotten the door down the Fitz and someone Wylie assumes is Dex are running towards the plane.

“Move over! We have to go. Now!” He yells and he runs.

“Get the plane started again,” Wylie yells to the pilot. The engines start up, Sophie and Wylie getting back into their seats. Fitz and Dex make it onto the plane in just enough time, as it starts moving as soon as the plane starts up.

Something smacks the side of the plane. Hard. Everyone jumps except for Fitz.

“Well. Go to see you’ve got Sophie,” Fitz says, panting as his slips into his seat. He nods his head to Dex at his side. “I’ve got Dex.”

“I can see. Could you stop yelling?”

“Oh dear, you’ve gotten into another fight, haven’t you? You’ve got to stop doing that, Endal.”

“Pretty sure it’s my job, Librarian. Seriously, stop yelling, I’ve already got a headache.”

Fitz pulls something from his pocket. A glass vial of some green liquid. “You’re not a Guardian, Endal, it’s a mistake. Didn’t think the Library could make those, but here we are.” He hands Wylie the vial. “Drink that.”

Wylie raises his eyebrow. “…what is it? If that coin was bad too and magic, this can’t be much better.”

“Bathsheba’s Healing Oil. Only affects you if you drink too much, and that’s only if you call immortality a downside. I would, so do restrain yourself, Endal.” He turns to Sophie and holds out a hand. “Fitz Vacker, the Librarian. Nice to meet you, I’ll be keeping you alive for the next however long. Probably a few days. Maybe more. Always a bit iffy with this sort of thing though I don’t have much expirence with this sort of thing.”

Wylie downs the vial, his headache going away instantly along with the other bruises and aches he’s had since Alice Cartoff. He’ll have to keep this stuff on hand.

“That’s real reassuring, darlin’,” Sophie says, not at all reassured.

“I second that,” Dex chimes in. Xe turns to Wylie, who xe’s apparently deemed more reliable. “Does he have any actual way of protecting us, or did I come here on a bluff. Because if so, I’d very much like to head back to Portland. I was kind of doing something.”

“Oh, I do have to tell the pilot we’re headed to Portland. Be right back.”

“Then why’d we even come here!”

“The spell I used to track Mr Sencen only just worked once we got to New York.”

“Wait, say that again for me.”

But Fitz has already bounced to the pilots cabin to tell him. Wylie sighs. He can tell this is going to be a pattern with him.

“You know, he says that name like he knows it. Do ya think he knows this Sencen, Wyles?” Sophie shifts in his seat.

“Yeah, I do. I also think he isn’t the only one. Dex?”

Dex looks uncomfortable. Xe looks like xe’s going over how to answer this, a look Wylie’s seen a fair amount of times. Like xe’s weighing how bad a lie would end up for xem. Wylie almost thinks to tell xem he’d rather not deal with a lie right now.

“He’s an associate. We’ve, er, worked together before.” If possible, Dex looks even more uncomfortable. Wylie decides to try and ease that, if only for a little bit.

“So, what do you do for a living, Dex?”

Xe gains a wary look. “I work in technology. What about the both of you? I mean, I could find out but small talk, you know? Figured it’s better to ask and I should stop talking.”

“I work at an animal sanctuary, especially with the horses. Wylie here is a private eye.”

“Oh thank fuck,” Dex breathes. Xe visibly deflates into a more comfortable posture. “It was either that or a cop.”

“Why would you be worried about that?”

“Yeah, so, the technology I deal in is of the ‘defraud the rich and please god don’t tell the cops’ variant. I mean, I can get out of a jail cell but I am not good at it. I’m no thief. Well, I’m a thief but not that type of thief. Not my job.”

“The day I turn in an honest thief is the day I turn in one of my best helping hands.” Wylie laughs. “Technopath is the one keeping my business afloat. Was. I guess. Do I still work as a PI if I’m with the Library?”

“Yes, because you don’t work with the Library, Endal,” Fitz says, sitting next to Wylie. “Could I have the Oil, please?” Wylie hands it over. “Thank you.”

“Fitz, when we get Keefe, let me take the lead,” Dex says. “Even if he won’t follow you—which honestly, he probably will—he’ll listen to me.”

“And why is that, Dizznee? Sencen is my problem to deal with, not yours.”

“And Keefe’s my friend.” Dex falters before the word friend.

“I’m the Librarian, Dizznee, it’d be best to listen to me. I don’t need to protect you. I’ve done this by choice, and it’s a choice I can take back.”

“I’m fucking Technopath, Wonderboy, I don’t need your protection. I can get someone else just fine. I’d even bet Wylie here would rather go with me than you, seeing as I’m the one keeping his damn business afloat. Show some respect. I got the letter, same as you, you’re just lucky I didn’t show up, Librarian.”

Wylie can see Fitz’s temper—which must be short as all hell—start to flare.

“Dex is right, Fitz. If they work together, xe’s probably our best bet at getting Keefe to safety. And yes, we do have to protect these three, because as much as you hate it, I’m your Guardian. You don’t have a choice. If you have a problem with that, I really don’t care.”

“It’s not my job—”

“Like hell it isn’t! Your job is to protect people from artifacts or people using them, these people need protection. If you don’t do your job, I’ll do it for you.”

Fitz doesn’t calm down, but restrains himself.

“Fine. Dex, you take the lead with Sencen. I’m going to sit with the pilot.”

Wylie nods. Once Fitz is gone, Wylie turns to Dex with a smile.

“So, you’re Technopath?” Dex laughs nervously and scratches xyr neck. Sophie leans forward.

“What the hell are y’all talkin’ about?”

…

The last thing Fitz expected when Dex got Keefe on the plane, was for Keefe to throw Fitz a smile like nothing was wrong. Like they were just the stupid seventeen year olds drunk on summer nights and playing truth or dare. Fitz remembers that night like it was a thousand years ago, the next morning like it was yesterday.

Biana had been gone. Keefe didn’t pick up his phone when Fitz called. He spent a year panicking, waiting for them to come home. The next, his letter had come. Gold script that wrote itself as he read, inviting him to New York Public Library. To, as Elwin put it, a life of danger and glory. A life of happiness and heartbreak and protecting the world.

Fitz hasn’t been sure on spending his life for others, but he hadn’t wanted to go home.

“What’s going on here anyway. I get we’re in danger, but from what? People to scared to tell me they’re after me. The chase is no fun if you don’t know you’re running, yeah, Dex?” Keefe laughs, tossing an arm around xyr shoulders. Xe rolls xyr eyes but doesn’t pull away. Fitz pointedly ignores it. Keefe still sounds the same, narcissistic air to his voice, though Fitz knows half the time it’s faked. Same Australian accent he’s had since he moved in second grade.

He never wanted to learn an American one, neither did Fitz. Biana would always laugh about how stupid they both sounded.

“You and I have very different ideas of fun, Keefe.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t like the thrill of the chase. The danger of getting caught is what makes it fun. If it’s easy, it’s boring.”

“Not when they might actually getcha,” Sophie chimes in.

“They’re called the Neverseen,” Fitz says. He ignores Wylie’s scoff. “They want to use the magic of the Library for themselves.”

“Magic? I think you’ve lost your mind, Fitzy,” Keefe laughs. Fitz doesn’t have time for his jokes. He pulls the penknife from his jacket pocket and slices open the palm of his hand. Everyone yells some form of “oh my god, what the fuck”. Fitz doesn’t bother listening to their outrage, he just uncorks the vial of Bathsheba’s Healing Oil and swig. His hand heals instantly, holding it up for everyone on the plane to see.

Wylie’s face reads of “oh yeah, he has that” and “oh thank god, he has that”.

Everyone else is going rapidly through the five stages of grief, never really landing on acceptance. Fitz sighs.

“I know I sound bonkers, I thought this all was crazy when I first got my letter. But a script that color of gold doesn’t write itself, trust me, I checked. Magic is real, and I’m not crazy.”

“At least not in that respect, right?” Keefe says. Fitz pushes down the anger bubbling up. It’s going to be fine, they’ll all be gone as soon as he’s dealt with the Neverseen.

“Trust me. Follow me to the Library and I can show you a world full of misery and joy. Magic and reality intersecting in the weirdest, most beautiful ways. I can’t promise you a long time. I’m offering protection until what you need protecting from is gone and dealt with. Believe me or don’t, trust me, or don’t. But follow me, and learn to.”

They’re all quiet for a while then.

“Sounds like one hell of a deal,” Sophie says.

“Oh, believe me, Foster, it’s the best deal you’ll ever get.”

#monkey brain won my friends #librarians #kotlc #keefex #keefitz (eventually)#keefe x dex x fitz (eventually)#sophie foster with a southern accent >>>#(writing this made me realize how close i was to having a southern accent)#sophie foster #biana vacker #wylie endal #maruca chebota #god i can’t wait to put fitz in a time loop #*me creating this*#*cherry picks all my favorite episodes. hell to order*

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aphelea · 2 years

Text

balancing on breaking branches

Summary: Dex shows up to help Keefe in the Forbidden Cities. Grady is a Dad™ (It's vaguely Keefex but can be read as platonic)

Taglist: Uh. I genuinely can't remember who was on here so sound off if you want to be on it I guess

Ao3

The moon had only barely risen when Keefe stepped into the hotel lobby, a bag of freshly bought clothes and essentials on his shoulder. The receptionist offered him a curious look– it was rather strange, he supposed, for a sixteen-year-old to be alone in a city as large as this. But people in the streets of the Forbidden Cities hardly spared him a glance, so maybe the receptionist was just wary of him.

He didn’t blame her. After all, he’d arrived wearing a cape yesterday, and based on what Foster had told him, capes weren’t exactly normal attire for a human teenager. Neither were any of the clothes he was used to wearing, though, which was why he was forced to grab his treasury cube and venture out into the streets of the city. Perhaps the only useful application of his new Polyglot skills now was his ability to speak the language of the humans– unfortunately, without Foster, he couldn’t be sure exactly what language they were speaking, which meant he had no idea where in the Forbidden Cities he was.

Not that a location would have helped. No amount of Polyglot skills could help him understand the strange way humans divided themselves up.

Keefe was spurred out of his thoughts by a tall, muscular man in sunglasses glaring at him from across the lobby. Or, Keefe assumed he was glaring at him. It was rather hard to tell. Either way, Keefe offered a quick smile – which probably made him seem more suspicious – and hurried over to the elevators, which were thankfully empty.

It was a rather fancy hotel, or at least fancier than Keefe had expected for a human building. He’d paid for three nights yesterday– though he could probably afford more, seeing as his birth fund seemed to equal billions of the currency here, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to stay in the same place for so long. Though he had made precautions long ago to make sure neither the Black Swan nor the Council were able to access his registry feed without a specific password, it couldn’t hurt to be careful.

The next few minutes were filled with what Keefe assumed was human music. He had heard Foster talk about it a few times before, though he himself couldn’t see the appeal of it. Whatever was playing currently made him want to rip his hair out, with how repetitive it was. Had he been stuck in the elevator any longer, he probably would have kicked the wall, or done something equally stupid. It was a miracle that no humans were inside, because Keefe wasn’t sure he’d be able to control his ability now.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Keefe bolted into the hallway, grabbing his key from his bag and stopping at room 221. Quickly, however, he realized that his sigh of his relief was much too hasty, for there was a tall figure examining his lamp. For a moment, he was scared he had entered the wrong room, but as the figure stepped into the dim light of the hotel room it was impossible to mistake the strawberry blonde hair for anyone else. What was disconcerting, however, was the lack of the usual smile on his face – instead, a steely glare took its place.

“Keefe,” Dex said, lips pressed into a thin line. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Keefe stared at him incredulously and grabbed the hotel notepad off the table. This is my hotel room.

Dex sighed. “Right, of course. That was stupid.”

In fact, Keefe added, raising an eyebrow, you’re the one who shouldn’t be here. Go home, Dex.

“I’m not going home ‘til you agree to come home with me.” Dex crossed his arms, probably attempting to look menacing but only succeeding in looking like an angry toddler.

Keefe sighed, shaking his head. I can’t. It’s not safe. I’m not safe. He hesitated a moment, then added, How did you even find me?

At that, Dex smirked. “That was the easy part, actually. Your registry pendant.”

Keefe raised his eyebrows. What? How did you–

Dex cut him off with a laugh. “I helped you set up that password, Keefe. Of course I know how to break through it.”

Well, that was a rather idiotic thing for him to forget.

“You’re also an idiot for thinking we wouldn’t notice you disappeared,” Dex continued.

Keefe’s gaze snapped up. What? he scribbled.

Dex paused. “...You didn’t tell anyone that you were leaving.”

I told Foster, Keefe replied, dread filling his mind. Had Foster not read his letter for some reason? Were the Ruewens alright? Had he really made a mistake by leaving?

Is she alright? he added, hoping Dex couldn’t tell how anxious he was about the answer.

Thankfully, Dex seemed to take it as a general check-up question. “She’s fine… or at least, I’m assuming she is. I haven’t seen her.” For a moment, his mouth was twisted in a frown, but it was gone as soon as Keefe noticed it. “But, Keefe… everybody still thinks you’re with Elwin. Hell, Elwin thought you were with him, until I had to take the unfortunate task of explaining to him and your ogre bodyguard that you literally knocked them unconscious so you could run away.”

Keefe winced. Coming from Dex’s mouth, his escape sounded a lot less reasonable. He didn’t regret leaving, at least any more than he usually did, but there was a part of him that longed to return and explain to Elwin and Ro - two of the few people who truly cared about him - that he’d left for a reason, and he hadn’t betrayed them. They were the only family he had left; he couldn’t bear to disappoint them.

Focus, he told himself. Remember why you’re here. He may be disappointing them by staying in the Forbidden Cities, but he would be putting them in danger if he stayed with them. It was better for everyone to hate him than for everyone to be dead.

I’m sorry, Keefe finally wrote, meeting Dex’s gaze. But I can’t go back.

Dex sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I thought you’d say that. But if you’re not going back, I’m not going back either.”

Had Keefe been drinking water, he probably would have spit it out all over the fancy rug.

WHAT?! he wrote, shaking his head. You’re kidding, right?

“No,” Dex replied, voice dead serious. “I’m staying, because I know you and you’re going to get yourself into a big mess otherwise.”

Hey! Keefe replied defensively. I’ve been doing just fine on my own.

Dex raised an eyebrow, casting him a skeptical look. “I have a feeling this is the first actual conversation you’ve had here.”

Keefe rolled his eyes. I wouldn’t exactly call this a conversation.

“Still,” Dex said, “you’re not going to get very far here without speaking. And, let me guess, you haven’t made any progress on your ability.”

There isn’t any progress to make, Keefe replied. It’s too dangerous.

“And that’s exactly why I’m staying. I can help you, Keefe.”

Like you did with Sophie? Keefe wanted to remark, but he stopped himself. Just because Dex was being an idiot didn’t mean Keefe had to be rude.

You seem to have this all planned out pretty well, he wrote instead, smirking as Dex blushed, embarrassed.

“I… may have expected you to say no,” Dex said sheepishly. “My siblings think I’m on a mission for the Black Swan.”

Keefe smirked. Where does the Black Swan think you are?

“...They think I’m with Elwin. And Elwin thinks I’m with you, he just doesn’t know where you are.”

Keefe grinned. Wow, Dizznee, I didn’t think you had it in you, he scribbled, and Dex rolled his eyes.

“You’re not the only person who’s good at pranking.”

Keefe was about to respond when the shrill sound of his Imparter ringing interrupted them both.

Dex shot him a confused look, and Keefe sighed. He put a finger against his lips, hoping Dex understood what he meant: Be quiet.

Keefe clicked “Answer” on the call, sighing as Grady’s face appeared on the hologram screen.

“I told you I would check in with you,” Grady said, crossing his arms. Unlike Dex, Grady actually looked intimidating. “So here I am.”

Keefe nodded, glancing over at Dex, who looked extremely confused.

“Sophie… isn’t happy with you, to say the least,” Grady continued, sadness clouding his voice. “She’s not talking to us– or anyone, really. I want to say you should come back, but…” he trailed off, his gaze shifting to something in the distance.

Dex cast him a sympathetic glance, but all Keefe could do was stare at the floor, chin trembling. He had expected this kind of reaction from Foster– but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

He blinked back tears, hoping Grady hadn’t noticed them.

“I’m sorry, Keefe,” Grady said, and for the first time, Keefe noticed a hint of caring in his voice. Grady cared about him.

Keefe nodded, and it occurred to him then that Grady had yet to realize that Keefe wasn’t speaking. He hoped it would continue that way – after all, if Grady noticed, then he would know there was someone in the room with him. And being an Empath made Keefe a terrible liar.

The thought that Mother Dearest had specifically created him specifically to be unable to lie to her had crossed his mind on many occasions, and made him feel sicker each time he thought about it.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. No thinking about Mum, he reminded himself.

“Have you made any progress on your ability?” Grady asked, and Keefe winced. It was a rather similar question to the one Dex had asked earlier, but Keefe wasn’t about to give Grady a sarcastic answer. He also couldn’t, not without risking Dex’s safety.

Keefe settled for shaking his head – but apparently that wasn’t subtle enough for Grady, who narrowed his eyes.

“You aren’t speaking,” he pointed out.

Keefe attempted to appear innocent. Grady didn’t buy it.

“Dex is there with you, isn’t he,” Grady said with a sigh, holding his face in his hands.

His first move was to lie. But with the way Grady was looking at him, it was clear he wasn’t going to budge.

Keefe sighed, gesturing for Dex to come into view. The Technopath slinked sheepishly toward him, wincing at his uncle’s sharp glare.

“Dexter Alvin Dizznee, do you realize how reckless you are?” Grady hissed.

“Yes, I do,” Dex said, “but do you realize how stressed I was when I showed up at Elwin’s house, only to find both him and Ro unconscious on the floor, and Keefe’s bed empty? So of course I hacked into his registry feed, only to find him in the human world of all places. And now, it turns out, my best friend and my uncle knew the whole time and didn’t tell me?”

Keefe raised an eyebrow. He’d only rarely seen Dex get angry– he was usually the voice of calm or reason in their group. It was even stranger knowing that Dex was so angry over him.

Grady sighed. “You’re right.”

Dex blinked. “I am?”

“Sophie - or I - should have told you,” Grady replied. “But Dex, do you realize what would happen if the Black Swan were to find out where he was? Or worse, the Council? Keefe, I hate to say it, but they’ll both immediately count you as for the Neverseen. So if Juline found out, or Alden, or even Tiergan, then Keefe would either get thrown into Exile or banished. Ro and Elwin are stretching it, too– but I suppose you haven’t told them either?”

Dex shook his head, and Grady sighed once again.

“You both are far too reckless for your own good,” he said, then shook his head. “Listen, Dex, your mother already called asking me to check up on you at Elwin’s. That’s how I knew you were with Keefe. If you’re planning to stay there, I’m going to need a better excuse.”

Dex looked at Keefe expectantly, and Keefe suddenly realized he was expecting him to come up with an excuse. Keefe sighed, scribbling a vague plan on the notepad and ripping the page out.

“Wait, that might actually work,” Dex commented, and Keefe raised his eyebrows. “Keefe wrote: ‘If you tell Elwin, you can always say that Elwin sent you on a mission. Maybe to like help me or something.’” he read aloud.

Grady cast him an impressed look, and Keefe, despite himself, found himself smiling under the fatherly gaze. “I don’t think the Council will believe that, but if Elwin knows you’re in the Forbidden Cities, that’s one other person who can keep you out of harm’s way. If I had it my way, you two would be back in Havenfield right now, but I recognize that this may be the only way to keep you safe, Keefe. God knows you’ve hurt my daughter one too many times already, what’s one more?” He met Keefe’s gaze, and Keefe understood another, unspoken, sentence. I know how you feel. Because Grady, as strange as it was, was possibly the only person in the world who could understand what he was going through.

Grady then turned to Dex. “Your aunt would kill me if she knew what I was letting you do, but once again, I’m going to let you do it. After all, she did the same thing for me back when I was struggling with my ability.” Grady cast them a cryptic look, one that Keefe wasn’t able to nor inclined to decipher. “Even if it wasn't exactly the same situation. But Dex, Keefe– I have three rules if you’re going to stay: one, you will check in with me, Elwin, or Ro everyday. Two: if you even catch a glimpse of the Neverseen, you are leaping right back home. No exceptions. Three: Stick together and help one another. Okay?” Both boys nodded.

Grady sighed. “Alright. Remember, what you’re doing is extremely illegal, so when it comes to anything elven, you have to be careful. If anyone sees you doing anything remotely elf-like, the Council will send emissaries to search for you. When you’re working on your ability – which I know you will – you need to stay undercover. That’s why the daily check-ins with me are important; I can alert you if the Council has any suspicions of your whereabouts.” Keefe nodded again, and Grady continued. “Okay. Don’t forget your daily check-ins, boys, or I’ll take it as a sign that you’re in danger and send Sophie to find you.” He eyed both of them warily. “And I highly doubt that would end well.”

On that lovely note, Grady clicked off the call, and Keefe and Dex were left standing alone in their hotel room, an awkward silence hanging in the air.

Sophie hates me, Keefe scribbled on his notepad.

“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you,” Dex offered, possibly in an attempt at consolation. “She probably needs time.”

I don’t think so, Keefe wrote. This isn’t the first time I’ve betrayed her trust like this. I’m not a good person, Dex, I don’t know why you’re here.

Dex frowned. “You left because you cared too much to hurt us. You make decisions out of selflessness, Keefe, and don’t get me wrong – I don’t like this, and I thought you were crazy in the Neverseen, but you are not a bad person. Sophie knows that, and I’m sure she still lo- believes in you. She always has.”

What about Fitz? Keefe wrote, shaking his head. Sophie isn’t the only one I betrayed. He’s my best friend, and he doesn’t even know I’m gone. I don’t even want to know what’ll happen when he finds out.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, he probably won’t find out,” Dex said with a shrug. “But he’s your friend – your best friend. I know you guys have had your differences, but he cares about you, you know that?” He lowered his voice to a murmur, but Keefe still caught the words. “I care about you, Keefe. I always have.”

Keefe was about to respond, but was cut off by his own yawn.

“Woah, when was the last time you slept?” Dex asked, raising an eyebrow. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, you need sleep, now. I’ll take the couch.”

The couch didn’t exactly look comfy, but if Dex was willing to sleep on it, Keefe wasn’t going to complain.

It’s barely eight o’clock, Keefe wrote out, and Dex rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but you look tired as hell, and it’s midnight back home, so.” He shrugged. “Good night.”

Good night, Keefe scribbled in reply. Dex smiled at him, and for a moment, he reminded Keefe so much of Foster that his heart clenched.

Keefe nodded in return and watched as Dex curled himself up onto a pillow. Quickly, however, he noticed the other boy was shivering – as was to be expecting with the blasting cold winds and Dex’s thin shirt.

Keefe sighed and threw a coaster from his bedside table at the sleeping figure.

“What?” Dex said, shooting up immediately.

Keefe gestured to the empty space on the bed next to him. Sleep here, he wanted to say, but of course he couldn’t.

Dex, thankfully, being as smart as he was, understood quickly. He glanced warily at the small space and raised an eyebrow at Keefe, but slid underneath the blankets nonetheless. As Keefe moved to turn off the lamp, Dex smiled at him, and for a moment, he reminded Keefe so much of his brother that his heart clenched.

It wasn’t fair that Rex Dizznee, talented, brave, and smart, was condemned to a life of nothing in Mysterium because of something he couldn’t change. It wasn’t. And it wasn’t fair that Keefe had the power to do that, to ruin the lives of the hundreds of young children at Foxfire with dreams of becoming nobles, or Councillors, or Emissaries.

And at that moment, he swore to himself that he would never let that happen to anyone. Even if he had to lie to anyone who asked. No-one, present company excluded, could know about the other side of his new ability.

Not even Foster.

#disclaimer: i wrote this in 2020 so i don't understand half the things that happen here #also yeah time travel y'all get to see what august from two years ago wrote like #also. im bad with canon logic but idek if the whole writing on a notepad thing even works with keefe's ability #i should reread unlocked #kotlc #august's writing!#been a hot minute since i used that tag #keefex

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jobiedog · 2 years

Text

Worth Waiting For

Sokeefe oneshot . When Fitz was telling Keefe about that scene in flashback. And I kinda went off on my own at the ending.

"We were seconds away from kissing but Silveny called for her and well you know." Fitz fell back onto his bed and sighed. Keefe was sitting uncomfortably in a chair in Fitz's room.

Fitz laughed " When she stumbled back I thought she didn't like me" and he giggled. Giggled. Yeah, that's right, Fitz had been smiling and laughing the whole time Keefe had come over.

Keefe cleared his throat and hoped the lump there wouldn't give him away. "You sure she just was repelled by the amount of perfume you were wearing?" And smirked.

Ro snorted on the other side of the bedroom door. She had left as soon as Fitz had started telling him his aMaZiNg story about him and Sophie and their little fun adventures in fantasy land, muttering something about “Mr. Smiley mc giggles”. Although Keefe didn’t disagree with Ro, he had to show some support to Fitz. They hadn’t been able to hang out like this, just the two of them, since Fitz had started liking Sophie.

“Hey!, first of all its cologne. “ Fitz stated matter of factly with his finger up in the air like he just doesn't care. Or like a frowning mentor wagging his finger no. “Although I wouldn’t expect you to know what it is. Since you take no effort in controlling how you smell. ” Fitz ended with a playful grin.

Usually Keefe would have put his hand on his heart and pretended to faint but right now he was just tired and just wanted to lay down on the ground, cry, and wither away. So Keefe coughed to get the lump out of his throat and said the only thing he could think of as an excuse.

“I would absolutely love to sit here and gossip and giggle about girls with you but my dad said he needed me home to have some stupid bonding time,” Keefe said, rolling his eyes when he really just wanted to be running away from his crappy life sobbing his heart out.

Fitz snorted and continued to say “ Since when do you listen to the rules your dad makes?” Smiling. Since when do you start kissing Sophie?

“Ahh well, I didn't get any sleep last night and I'm really tired so…” Keefe trailed off.

“Oh, why didn’t you say so? Anyways sorry to bore you, get some sleep tonight, K?” Fitz answered with concern in his eyes. Sometimes with all the anger issues and all the fights it’s easy to forget that Fitz is actually a caring person.

“K,” Keefe answered quietly. He got up and opened the door which Ro was leaning on. But she caught herself before she fell and said “Finally I thought you too were kidnapped in there you took so long.” She rolled her eyes and asked if we were leaving.

Everything was kind of a blur after that. Or maybe that was the tears in his eyes. He didn’t remember running out of Everglen. He didn’t remember seeing Biana worried glance or pulling out his home crystal. He didn’t remember his dad yelling and Ro shouting about kicking lover boy's ass. But he did remember running through his bedroom into his bathrooms and locking the door. He remembered the pain and the ache. He remembered curling up on the bathroom tile and laying there. Shaking, crying, and cold. He deserved it. And Sophie deserved better. She deserves someone who's whole, who doesn't need her.

***

“Come on, Funky Hair. You gotta get out of there sometime soon. I’m getting bored out here.” Ro said from outside the bathroom door. Keefe hadn’t realized a few hours had passed. Well you know what they say! Time flies when you wanna die!

“No I don’t,” Keefe mumbled. “Go away.” He croaked. All he wanted was to be left alone.

“Damn, sorry for checking up on you. Blondie’s waiting downstairs but I'll just tell her to go I guess..” She trailed off.

“Shit.” He whispered and jumped up and immediately fell back down. Laying down curling up on tile did not do good for your bones. “Umm tell her I'll be out in a few minutes.” He half-shouted. Ro snorted and he knew she could hear the nervousness in his voice.

After he heard the click of the bedroom door being shut, he hurried up from the floor. The person who he saw in the mirror was nothing like the put-together, amazingly handsome, flirty person, he usually is and looks like. His hair was flat and droopy. His face was stained with tears and his eyes were red and puffy. First he changed his clothes so they weren’t so wrinkly and wet. Then he washed his face and tried to give some life back to his hair. He was *attempting to* clean his room when a blast of emotion made him stumble back. Crap. He could feel the playful, happy energy. He rushed around and shoved random clothes, drawings, and pencils under his bed. He felt the slap of emotion before Sophie knocked and opened the door.

“Keefe?” Sophie poked her head around the door. She smiled when she saw him and Keefe felt a fragment of happiness but then he remembered that smile wasn’t there because of him. It was there because of Fitz. Her smile fell from her face when she saw the state he was in. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Never been better. Why?” Keefe flopped down in his bed and tried to cover his eyes which showed that he clearly was crying.

“Well…” Sophie sat down next to him and put his head in her lap. He hoped he wasn’t blushing as much as he felt he was. “You've definitely been crying and you look like a mess.”

“hmPH, You don’t look your best either.” He said and turned his head so she couldn’t stare into his soul. But it wasn’t a lie. Even though she looked extremely happy she still had dark circles under her eyes.

Her beautiful wonderful eyes that he could stare at for hours.

The eyes that he could draw every day for the rest of his life and never get tired or bored of.

She laughed her laugh of hers that angels would get jealous of. “Well, I could go for a nap and some cuddling?” She said with a fake thoughtful expression on her face.

“I’m free for the rest of the day” Keefe threw his arms up as if he was in surprise. There weren’t many days left anyways. In fact, it had already started to sunset by the time Sophie and Keefe had gotten comfy.

Keefe sitting, leaning against his headboard with his arm around Sophie. Who was half laying half-sitting curled up against Keefe. She was already dozing off with the light fading away from the sky in the background.

He liked them being like this.

Where he could protect her from everyone and everything that wanted to hurt her.

Even though she didn’t love him.

He loved her.

But he would wait for her.

Because she was worth waiting for.

#kotlc #kotlc fanfic #sokeefe #sokeefe fanfic #sokeefe oneshots #sokeefe oneshot #sad keefe

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sunset-telepath · 3 years

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Why I hate Ro

So, I was asked to explain why I hate Ro. And I’ve been compilating several arguments that I’ve heard and written myself. And I’d like to put a disclaimer here - it’s not because she’s this “sokeefe idol.” It’ just... her character and what she does in support of sokeefe.

Disclaimer: I’m condensing several conversations that I, JaxTheShade, and [Redacted due to them not wanting to be credited] had on the wiki about a month ago. Around 40% of these ideas are mine, 40% are Jax’s, and 20% are [Redacted]’s.

Right off the bat, she’s a misandrist. She quite literally calls boys as stupid as amoeba in Legacy. You can say that that was a joke, but it’s not funny. It’s not okay to blatantly call anyone or generalize any group stupid. It’s not ok. It’s the exact same thing as saying that women belong in the kitchen or that blacks are criminals. It’s not ok. It’s disgusting, despicable, and repugnant behavior.

In the Flashback Short Story, she objectifies Sophie as a prize for Fitz and Keefe to fight over. What the actual f***. That is not acceptable behavior under any circumstances. It’s repugnant, disgusting, detestable, and f****** evil. Treating any person as a prize to fight over is textbook objectification and it is blatantly evil. It is not ok. And it’s disgusting that this narrative has leaked into some of the fanfics that I’ve read. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS NOT EXCUSABLE. IT IS EVIL.

She flat out bullies Fitz. She alludes to him being a nasty microbe in Legacy. She ridicules his desire to perfect himself. There is nothing wrong with being or trying to be perfect. Don’t push yourself too hard trying to be perfect, but if you should always strive to be better (and if you’re naturally talented like Fitz is, achieve your dreams. Fulfill your potential. Ignore the haters). She mocks and bullies him, calling him names and ridiculing his desire to be perfect. Newsflash: There’s nothing wrong with trying to be perfect. Who the hell is Ro to decide how perfect someone can be? Who the hell does Ro think she is? As a perfectionist myself, I despise Ro and her adversity to perfection. It’s not her place to decide how perfect a person can be. I admire Fitz simply shrugging her off and not letting her flat-out abuse get to him. It’s the proper way to deal with people like her.

Her entire character can be summed up as a chronic-complainer who ships Sokeefe. Shannon basically turned the Instagram Fandom into a character and made it Keefe’s Bodyguard. She never confesses to making mistakes and she’s never humbled or knocked down a peg. 30% of her dialogue can be attributed to complaining about sparkles or “elf-land,” 20% of it can be attributed to her flat-out bulling Fitz, and 50% of it can be attributed to her pushing Sophie and Keefe together. None of the characters like her. The other bodyguards detest her, Bo wants to kill her, Fitz thinks that she’s awful, Sophie is embarrassed by her, and Keefe wants her to shut her mouth.

She’s blunt, she’s rude, and she’s just awful. She interferes with a relationship that is none of her business. She has no regard for the emotional abuse that she inflicts. Ro and Keefe are very similar, and clash often. Ro always wins, however, either because she’s stronger than him or because she can emotionally manipulate him. (These sound like big claims now, but they’re backed up later)

Ro dismisses Sophie by saying that “blondie doesn’t know what she feels.” And it’s disgusting. She’s objectified by “blondie” - a term focused on Sophie’s appearance rather than by her personality. She’s Sophie Elizabeth Foster, not “blondie.” She dismisses Sophie as naïve and disregards her feelings by saying that Sophie’s doesn’t know what Sophie feels.

~The Following Section was directly quoted from JaxTheShade because he summarized it so well~

Well...no, Ro. She does have an idea of what she feels. In fact, she was ecstatic and perfectly fine with dating and eventually sorting out her issues with Fitz until you started "hinting" about Keefe. Sophie does understand her feelings - and those feelings led her to Fitz. And even if she does have some underlying issue about who she likes (which has admittedly been hinted at), it's up to her to figure it out. Not a brash ogre bodyguard who scoffs at the notion of the Elvin culture and thinks she has a right to intrude in a teenage relationship she isn't apart of.

And Fitz...well, I'm sure Ro doesn't hate him. But she's pretty close to--that's not hard to deduce. Because Ro has ever bothered to pay attention to and sympathize with Keefe ( and yet she still finds a way to neglect his feelings ), she hasn't the slightest inclination of who Fitz is. So, like most people, she decides to consider him "the opposing candidate" in the love triangle and never look past the surface of Fitz, just calling him "Captain Perfect" and thinking that he could never be right for Sophie because he's competing against Keefe.

Sometimes I wish someone, anyone, would call Ro out for amount of sheer insults she layers on Fitz, whether he's there or not. Although most of the time it's done behind his back--what a surprise.

I mean, look at this:

She slyly calls him a 'nasty microbe'. And while some have argued that she wasn't calling Fitz this, she was very clearly expressing her disdain for Sophie's favourite colour being teal--and, by proxy, calls teal things 'nasty'.

“[...] But I thought it was only right to save your imp from being sparkle-fied—and I was going to be nice and turn him your favorite color. But apparently your favorite color is teal—and yeah, yeah, we all know why. But, um, do you realize how many of the nastiest little microbes are that color?” She shuddered. “I couldn’t do that to you—or the little dude. [...]”

Ro also calls him "Captain Perfectpants" and openly admits that Fitz would have problems with all the time Sophie is spending with Keefe. Essentially admitted but disregarding how upset Fitz would be--because who cares about Fitz's feelings when Keefe is having emotional turmoil? And as a little bonus, she also pulls her classic, "I can't take this anymore! I simply have to intervene in this situation of which I'm not apart of!

"Ro snorted. “Of course he would! He’d be super, super jealous!”

“Don’t,” Keefe told her.

“No—I can’t take it anymore!” Ro stalked toward Sophie and tapped her on the nose with a calloused fingertip. “I repeat: Yes, your Captain Perfectpants would be jealous! He scraped together the courage to get all share-y about his feelings, and now you’re ignoring him, and being all mysterious about why, and telling everyone who asks that you’re not dating him. And I’m not saying that’s a bad call. Trust your instincts! Hopefully they’ll lead you out of the oblivion. But in the meantime, count on your teal-eyed Wonderboy feeling a little insecure, particularly if he finds out you’re spending lots of quality time with other dudes. And you know what? That’s good for him. We all know that boy could use a little help in the humility department. So make him sweat a little. And you”—she spun back toward Keefe—“need to stop being so afraid.”

And those are just two instances, of which I can search for plenty more.

Ro is not a good person. She's a rebellious princess who ultimately works for her own gain. She thinks she's got it all figured out with Keefe, and decides that, since he shared his story of liking Sophie, she'll take it upon herself to get them together no matter what.

And I mean 'no matter what'. She has put down Sophie for liking Fitz, interrupted conversations so she can drop hints about Keefe's feelings against his will, and made fun of Sophie for being oblivious--even going to the extent of getting fed up with and blaming Sophie for her oblivion "becoming less and less cute".

She's also tried to actively break up Sophitz and push together Sophie and Keefe. She's insulted Fitz and holds a very hostile disposition towards him simply because he's "perfect boy" who's against the Saint Also Known As Keefe. Ro tries to subtly force Sophie's feelings for Fitz out of her while dropping in some "isn't Hunkyhair so great?". I wouldn't for a second put it past her to succeed in shutting down as many Sophitz moments as possible all so she can continue to ignore the pleas to stop and the embarrassed faces surrounding her.

And her excuse?

"It's the only fun she gets to have here in Elf Land".

She isn't apart of this relationship. She isn't affected by this relationship. She's only seen one side of this relationship, and uses that to base her opinions of the other two. Which is a terrible idea considering that leads to opinions like "Okay, well that other boy is awful because he's the competitor, and that girl must like the boy because the boy likes her, and sometimes she acts shy around him, and that's totally how relationships work".

Ro has absolutely no excuse for the amount of hurt she's inflicted on all three of these teenagers.

And yet she's regarded as a saint amongst all, while people like...say, Alden ( who made mistakes, but ultimately went about it in a calmer, gentler, and more well meaning way--as well as having much more justification and reasoning behind his actions ) are seen as evil and deserving of death. So what's the difference? Is it just because Ro is all for Sokeefe and Alden is really pushing for Sophitz? Have we really sunk low enough to the point where we can adore one character and hate another--despite performing the same actions--simply because of shipping preferences?

Everyone has decided to hate Alden because he showed up to speak with Keefe, ended up getting sidetracked and talking about relationships ( because of Ro, go figure ), sympathized with Keefe and shared meaningful advice from personal identical experiences, and then making sure Keefe knew that he considered him apart of the family.

That was what Alden did. And we have absolutely no reason to believe that Alden was anything but genuine when he stated that he "long considered him part of the family".

And yet Ro is the one who starts ranting about how "he didn't mean it" ( and saying something like that to a teenage boy who never felt loved by his father means a lot--but Ro has to ruin it and say that Alden's words were "a stinking load of garbage" ). Ro is the one whose objectification of the triangle by saying that Keefe being there for his friends is "sabotage" is what sparks Keefe to tell her that Sophie's feelings do matter. Ro is the one who interrupts every conversation by either stating her obnoxious opinion that nobody asked for, or calling a time out so she can bash on Fitz again. Ro is the one who has spent every waking moment since she arrived in the series either making Keefe's desire to be happy for his friends feel invalid, insulting Sophie because she's her own person with her own feelings for someone else, and coming up with every insult under the sun to throw at Fitz. Ro is the one who has no justification for her actions, seeing as she a) is not apart of this triangle, and b) has minimal relationship experience considering both her boyfriends hate her, and one was an arranged marriage.

But...Ro is also the loved and appreciated one.” - JaxTheShade (I’ve been paraphrasing some of the things that he’s said all ready, but I’m directly quoting him for this. His statement is direct and gets to the point)

~End of direct Quote~

I'd like to make one thing clear though - the point of selfishness. There's a stigma to the word that I'd like to clear up, because there are two types of selfishness, rational self-interest, and sacrificing others for yourself.

Fitz is the first type - he has a rational self-interest, he's looking out for himself and his own long-term happiness first. There is nothing wrong with that, if you won't look out for yourself, who will? It's why I completely supported Fitz yelling and breaking up with Sophie - if a relationship is making you unhappy long-term, it is in your best interest to break up with them. It's why Fitz was so adamant about finding Sophie's biological parents, he wanted to avoid future stigma, gossiping, and heckling. Fitz knows how horrible these things are to experience, and so sought to avoid them in the future. This is why Fitz is my favorite character - the others are reactive, Fitz seems to be the only proactive one. (One of the few characters in any literature to be proactive, in fact). While Sophie and the others look at the now and the immediate future, Fitz is concerned with the long-term future, a trait I share with him and one that I rarely see in literature whatsoever, to my vast disappointment.

Ro isn't selfish at all. She's much, much worse - she doesn't meddle in other's affairs for her own happiness, she just does because she can. She has no respect for other's privacy, and throws out insults towards Fitz and Sophie because she just does. She has no motive, impetus, or drive, she just does, and it sickens me.

The second type of selfishness is similar to a bully bullying others because they're miserable and it makes them feel good about themselves. It's horrible and malicious, and I'm not condoning it in any way, but its far more innocent (if bullying can be called innocent) then what Ro does.

Ro is malevolent, she doesn't do it because it makes her feel good, she just does it, with no regard with the relationships and lives she destroys in the process. She's a toxic radioactive waste dump of a person. A toxic waste dump doesn't make people sick and die for their own gain - it just does. That's how Ro is as a person.

Another reason is that she has no regard for what she says or does. She constantly tears Fitz down just because she can (I want Alden to be there next time she tries that. I want Alden to step in and tell her that what she is doing is not okay, because no other character has recognized this so far). I want Alden to be there next time she calls his son a nasty little microbe. I'd like to finally see Ro get some comeuppance for her terrible behavior.

Let's be honest with ourselves - Ro hates Fitz. She hates and complains and whines about how perfect he is. Since when has perfection been a crime? Since when is it up to her to decide the maximum amount of talent a person can have? As a perfectionist myself, I strive for perfection just as Fitz does. There is nothing wrong with striving to perfect yourself - there is if you are actively hurting yourself, but if you're naturally gifted like Fitz is, and you want to be the best you can possibly be, go ahead! Make the most of your innate talent and use it to seek your happiest future. Build & write your own happy ending.

She isn't a part of this relationship. She isn't affected by this relationship. She's actively impeding their ability to seek their own happiness, and not even for her own happiness (which is still horrid), she just does because she's "bored". Her repugnant behavior sickens me.

Ro is a textbook abuser. Let's go over a list of things an abuser does, and see to which characters she applies them to:

Name-Calling: The abuser will blatantly call the abused derogatory adjectives, like stupid or oblivious

We know she does this to Sophie, calling her oblivious. She also twists being perfect into a derogatory adjective, throwing it at Fitz. She also called Fitz a horrible little microbe, along with calling him & Keefe as stupid as amoeba.

Character Assassination: The abuser will use the word "always". You're always oblivious, stupid, late, wrong, etc.

She does this to Sophie, and also somewhat Fitz.

Patronizing: The abuser will be patronizing towards the abused

She does this to Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe.

Belittling: The abuser will belittle the abused

I'm pretty sure she does this to Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe.

Pushing Buttons: Once the abuser finds out what annoys the abused, they will do it nonstop.

Oh boy, does she do this to Keefe and Sophie. (Fitz just gets out of his way to ignore her and avoid her. It's why she's irritated by him, he hasn't opened himself to her and doesn't show flaws allowing her to find ways to sink her nasty manipulating fingers into him)

These are only a few signs of someone being an abuser, and yet Ro manages to hit pretty much all of them.

She gaslights Keefe into believing that Alden is only looking out for himself and his children - something we know to be completely wrong. She's driving a wedge between Keefe and Alden, one of the few other people Keefe respects and thinks looks out for him. The only other parental individual in Keefe's life, in fact, giving Ro total access to Keefe's psyche and making herself the only "true" source of information Keefe can trust. She is a horrible, horrible abuser.

Ro doesn't have benign intentions at heart. She doesn't even have selfish intentions at heart. She just meddles just because she can.

Ro isn’t selfish. She’s just a bad person - for a lack of a better term that would describe her repulsive behavior.

She constantly complains about the elves. Yes, elven culture is a little weird, but you don’t have to complain about it constantly and in-front of the elves.

Ro is also clearly not afraid to gaslight. She forces Keefe to believe that her opinions are the only valid ones. How does she do this? She says that "Blondie doesn't know what she feels," making Keefe think that any emotions he picks up from her are wrong. She says that Fitz is just "Captain Perfect" who doesn't really care about Sophie - that Keefe "deserves" her. She says that Alden's advice is just made up, and that he doesn't really care about him. She’s established herself as the only source of information that Keefe can trust. She’s removed Alden (the one other parental figure Keefe had) and established herself as the only person Keefe can trust. And that is very dangerous and highly abusive.

She even invalidates Keefe's emotions. Every time Keefe stands up to her and says something like "I'm just being a good friend," Ro responds (like any of this is her business) with something snarky. Or, she tells him to "stop being so afraid." And that forces Keefe to believe that his desire to help his friends isn't valid enough. That he isn't valid enough. So he comes crawling back to Ro.

She’s a terrible bodyguard. She threatens to not protect Keefe in Legacy if Sophie doesn’t share her secret with her. THAT IS NOT OK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. SOPHIE DID NOT TRUST KEEFE WITH HER SECRET OF BEING UNMATCHABLE. RO EXTORTED IT OUT OF HER, USING KEEFE AS A LIE DETECTOR. THAT IS NOT OK; IT IS EVIL.

If you re-read the portion in Legacy where she does this, it reveals some truly horrible behavior.

Here’s another direct quote from JaxTheShade explaining why this part is so disgusting:

“Essentially, Ro is blackmailing Sophie.

Sophie just found out that if Keefe goes anywhere near the Neverseen, he will probably die. ( Because at this point, they just thought the legacy thing would kill him ). So she's desperately trying to get Keefe to make a promise and stay away from Gisela. Keefe, in typical fashion, adamantly states that he's not going to be locked up.

This is where Ro steps in.

She says that she will be the one to protect him and make sure he doesn't run off. ( Since she is his bodyguard ). But instead of just...doing her job...she decides that she can exploit the situation. She can get something out of this.

She figured out that Sophie is hiding something. And from the way she hasn't told anyone yet, Ro can assume that she's trying to keep it a secret. But she also knows that Keefe's safety is important to all of them.

So she threatens Keefe's life--yes, threatens--unless Sophie spills her secret. The situation becomes, "I have all the power here, so unless you tell me a confidential secret, I'll let my charge run off into danger, which you can't have. So I know that I've put you into a corner. I know that I've won here."

If this doesn't scream "manipulative abuser", then I don't know what does.

It's disgusting, really. Ro's behaviour is despicable.

And while her blatant blackmail is clearly the worst offense, she also sprinkled in several other "I'm a bad person" actions.

1) She said that the reason Keefe gets away with things is because she "doesn't care enough to fight him" on them. Well, if you don't care, then why don't you just go back to Ravagog? Because Keefe is the second most threatened person their group, and he needs an actual bodyguard, not a manipulative princess who makes him feel even worse about himself. If Keefe gets hurt when he runs off, did he get hurt because you "didn't care enough to bother"?

2) Ro says that she doesn't care that much about him. Well, thanks, Ro. I'm sure that really makes Keefe sleep soundly at night, knowing that you don't really care about him.

3) And why does she not really care about him? Because she only bothers with Keefe as long as he doesn't make her "look bad". She says that the reason she's stopping him this time is because it'll damage her reputation if he dies. You know, instead of being worried about his life.

4) She says "I enjoy meddling". And that's her excuse for blackmailing Sophie into spilling a confidential secret. And yet she has the audacity to accuse Alden of "meddling" while here she sits, admitting it to everyone and acting like it's not a big deal.

5) Her very last line in the quote just further proves that she's just doing this to get Sokeefe to happen. Instead of feeling remorse for Sophie, who is trying not to look at them and clearly uncomfortable, she just brushes off the secret that she just forced out of her by saying that "it should do the trick". The trick being 'getting Fitz to break up with her'.

This is probably Ro's most egregious act yet.

And yet nobody ever seems to call her out for it or even think that...it's a little weird that she would do this.

But I guess it really isn't weird at all, seeing as we've have evidence in the past that proves she would stoop to this level.” - JaxTheShade

That part in Unlocked where Shannon said that (deeeeeeeeeeeep down) Ro cares about Keefe? Well, it’s ooc. Look what Ro says in Legacy: "I may not care that much about what happens to you, but if you get yourself killed on my watch, it makes me look bad—especially if I had advance notice. So, I can’t have that."

Re-read that portion in Legacy. Alarm bells should be going off in your head.

She reminds me of the villain Ellsworth Monkton Toohey from The Fountainhead. Do you know what he did? He turned people into slaves by establishing psychological power over them and making them miserable. By killing their wants, needs, desires, and happiness, he turned people into miserable slaves who would obey his every order. And the scary part? Ro uses the exact. same. tactics. that he does (not going to list them here, that would take far too long) on Fitz, Sophie, and Keefe. And Keefe almost perfectly resembles the characters who fall for his manipulations and tactics, while Sophie and Fitz resemble the characters who ignored him and went about their business. It’s really unnerving.

Everyone is entitled to seek their own happiness - as long as their actions don't impede others from seeking their own happiness.

Ro actively impedes Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe's pursuit of their own happiness, doing it for no other reason than the fact that she's bored. It sickens me.

And the fact that Fitz is basically demonized and hated by the fandom while praising Ro is what sickens me the most.

Ro manipulates, gaslights, and abuses Sophie, Keefe, and Fitz for her own fun. She doesn't have any long term goal, just destroying their psyche and impeding their ability to find their own happiness for short term amusement. She mocks Fitz for being trying to be perfect (since when has that been a crime?), she gaslights and Objectifies Sophie, mocks Keefe and openly abuses him, and interferes with their relationships because she finds it funny. She's also a misandrist. She calls Fitz a nasty little microbe (I want Alden and Della there next time she does that). She objectifies Sophie as a trophy for Fitz and Sophie to fight over. She constantly tears down Fitz and Sophie, and uses a number of tactics abusers use in real life on Fitz, Sophie, and Keefe. She is a radioactive toxic waste-dump of a person, ruining their lives and psyches not even for her own gain, but just for her own amusement. Her further abuse of Keefe is repugnant, her objectification of Sophie is disgusting, and her mocking and bullying of Fitz makes me want to puke. She's a terrible, terrible person.

And that is why I hate Ro.

#kotlc #kotlc ro #ugh I hate Ro #Ro Hate #kotlc discourse

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bookwyrminspiration · 4 years

Note

Do you think the cliffhanger changed anything in terms of Grady and Keefe's relationship?

Oo this is an interesting one, Nonsie!

Based on what I read, I think instead of changing their relationship, the ending to Unlocked illuminated how their relationship had already changed, they just hadn’t had the chance to interact since it had.

Keefe and Grady why did I almost write gravy didn’t have any interaction in the novella aside from the ending, so there wasn’t actually a chance for them to form any bond or change the one they had, meaning it had already been like this, but because of the lack of meaningful interaction between them in the past few books, we didn’t get to see it.

So we need to go back to when they last spent a long amount of time together, not necessarily interacting, just observing each other. And I think that would be Nightfall, specifically, that one scene in the library when Grady sees how Keefe interacts with Sophie. (Pages 574-577!!) and I think that’s when their relationship really shifted. Grady now sees how Keefe treats Sophie, and he understands Keefe better because of it. This is like the first time Grady actually sees him when he’s trying to be serious, instead of the way Keefe portrays himself to everyone else.

And that new knowledge of him wasn’t put into play or relevant until now, at the end of Unlocked, because there hasn’t been any time when the two of them interacted seriously. Grady now knows a bit of what’s behind Keefe, so he understood why Keefe was making the decision he did. well, not why, but he understood Keefe wasn’t just an idiot doing whatever, he knows he’s smart and wouldn’t do it just for shits and giggles.

And he knew he couldn’t dissuade Keefe, so he took the next best option. Establish a way for easy communication, but respect what Keefe decided and how he needed space. He couldn’t stop Keefe entirely, but he could make the situation a little bit better—both for Sophie (although she doesn’t know it) and for Keefe. Not only can Grady now reach out to Keefe, Keefe could reach out to Grady if he needed to. That’s better than what the situation originally was.

Yes, Grady said it was for Sophie, but I genuinely believe he also cares about Keefe. He may disagree with him and find his decisions stupid a lot, but Keefe is a kid and Grady is a parent at heart, he’s taking care of Keefe the best he could with only moments to do so.

And I, for one, think it’s incredible 🥺

#wow I’m soft for them #Grady out here being a dad #wow I love them both #this is so entertaining #damn I love character analysis #Keefe sencen #Grady ruewen #kotlc #unlocked #unlocked spoilers #kotlc character analysis #asks #my asks #ask quil anything #nonsie #anonymous

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turquoise-skyyyy · 3 years

Text

I love biana(yes this is the title don’t question it)

Note: i am too uncreative to come up with a title, how are you today-

lil rewrite of that one scene in flashback where biana actually existed. if you don’t know/remember that scene, first of all, same, second of all, enjoy biana actually having center stage for once and block out the original from your memory :D

Word count: i have no idea why i have this when i can never be bothered to check the word count

There was a ringing sound. It was dull, and it seemed to echo in her head as she swam through the murky darkness. The black was growing lighter, but the ringing louder. She was sure Vespera was coming for her again, back to finish the job, and she would be all alone, drowning in a pool of her own red misery again.

She had heard the same ringing in her ears when Vespera had struck the first blow, and suddenly her skin was prickling with the shards embedded in her skin and warm blood was dripping down her sides and the ringing was so, so loud- Biana shot up in bed, looking around wildly with her arms held up to shield the blows, but the ringing had softened to a tinny alarm and the only sticky wet dripping down was cold sweat. Biana groaned and reached out for the imparter on her jewel-encrusted bedside table, clicking the button without checking who had disturbed her from sleep. “Biana?” Dex’s voice filled the room, and he sounded a little out of breath. “What?” she snapped. She was so not in the mood to be his weird technopathy experiment buddy. “What is it?” “Sophie’s awake.” Biana’s eyes widened and she brought the imparter close to her face, uncaring of her wild bedhead for once. She could see the top part of Dex’s face and the side of Tam’s face and bangs. The view was shaky, most likely due to Dex’s other arm being out of commission. “Really? Fitz too?” “...no, but Elwin says he’s fine!” Dex said hurriedly. “Just sedated.” “Oh.” Biana slumped back in bed, tossing the imparter onto the other side of the sprawling comforter. “Well, thanks for the update.” “Are you gonna come over here and visit?” Biana rolled over so that her voice was muffled by the pillow. The tiny crystals embedded into the pale purple pillowcase dug into her skin, but she pressed her face in harder. “Yeah, probably.” “Okay... see you then?” “Maybe.”

Dex clicked off, and the room fell silent.

Biana sighed and rolled over, running a finger over the light imprints the tiny jewels had left on her face. She avoided the scars.

A selfish thought crossed her mind. What if she just didn’t visit them?

After all, they didn’t come to see her when she was stuck in the healing center. They didn’t even bother to check up on her when she was finally released to go home. They left her alone, every single time...

And yet she was still slipping on glittering shoes and brushing her hair and covering her scars with brightly colored fabric for them.

“Hey, Dad, can I come with you to Foxfire?”

-ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ-

Biana almost left the room without saying anything. Besides the fact that it would be weird to pop up after having witnessed at least part of Sophie and Keefe’s... moment, it really hurt to see Sophie talking to Keefe so gently. Sophie cared about him, which was more than she had ever done for Biana.

Biana tried not to resent her for it too much. She’s the moonlark! She has important things to do! She’s supposed to save us all! She doesn’t have time for friends!

Well, that was, unless they were Fitz or Keefe.

Sophie would move mountains just to give them her time.

Nobody even bothered to check on Biana when she was in healing center, but Sophie ends up here and the entire gang plus the adults decide to drop everything to be with her. Biana nearly died, and sometimes she wondered how much would really change if she had.

But then Fitz woke up, and his eyes were clear and his words were determined and Biana couldn’t just stand there in silence. She couldn’t stay invisible when her brother was surely going to do something stupid the second she turned a blind eye. Even if he didn’t care about her anymore, she would never stop caring about him.

Sophie’s eyes widened at his outburst, stunned to see him awake. “You don’t think I’m losing my mind?

His jaw set at Sophie’s question, and Biana could see the stupid resolve sparkling in the eyes they shared.

“No, I think you’re angry, and I’m right there with you.”

Biana rolled her eyes and appeared in the dark corner she’d been hiding in. “So am I.”

“Vanishers,” Keefe grumbled. Biana flashed a sweet smile in return. “How long have you been there?”

“Not that long.” Long enough to see my friends have enough time for each other but never enough for me. “I snuck off with my dad when he went with Sandor and Grady to talk to Magnate Leto. But I stayed for this, because I wanted to make sure you guys didn’t decide something without me, since you’ve been super overprotective lately.”

“We have?” Sophie asked.

“Not you.” You don’t even care about me when I’m dying. “But Fitz refused to let me go to Grizel’s training sessions. And Woltzer won’t teach me either.”

“That’s because Woltzer doesn’t like you,” Fitz informed in that annoying, I know more than you because I’m older and perfect and everyone loves me voice. “You’re always sneaking off and getting him in trouble for losing his charge. Like right now.”

Biana plastered a grin on her face painfully. “It’s not my fault he can’t keep up with me. And all I’m saying is, I’m sick of being treated like I’m some broken doll because of what Vespera did- and you know that’s what you’ve been doing.”

“We found you passed out in a puddle of your own blood!” Fitz argued.

Yeah, and yet the second Sophie comes in I no longer matter. I can tell you guys care so much about me, Biana wanted to scream.

“You don’t have to remind me!” she snapped back. She rolled up one of the sleeves she had wrapped herself in earlier, showing off the scars she tried so hard to keep hidden.

Biana couldn’t believe Fitz wanted to talk to her about her own experiences when he always put them below his stupid pointless feelings about his stupid perfect Sophie.

Everyone was so perfect and Biana was so tired of trying to keep up when every part of her just wasn’t.

“The next time I take on Vespera, I want to win,” Biana said, tracing an arm down the huge scar on her bicep. It was the ugliest, but strangely, the one that bothered her the least. She was almost proud of it. Even if nobody else cared, she cared that she had survived and she had the mark to prove it.

“And I’m sure Tam, Dex, and Linh will want to get in on this,” she added. “Probably Marella too. Maybe even Wylie. We should ask them.” Because I haven’t forgotten them like you have. I haven’t thrown them aside for boys like you have, Moonlark.

Biana drowned out the rest of the conversation. It was just them dragging on and being upset and being friends and Biana wasn’t exactly keen on watching. But still, still, Biana couldn’t help but care when Sophie tried to insist that she was fine.

“I think you need to rest first, though,” Biana said, forcing herself to jump in. The room was growing more suffocating by the second. “Let the medicine do its job. You guys need to get better, okay?”

For the world’s sake, if not for Biana’s.

They gave her promises to rest and get better, Biana promised to get everyone else on board, and she almost made it out the door with Keefe. But Sophie never made things easy.

“Wait,” Sophie called. “Keefe still hasn’t said if he’s with us.”

Keefe’s returning smile was so sweet, his lingering hand as he took Sophie’s so plainly affectionate, that Biana had to turn away. Seeing them speak in those soft tones just poured an aggressive amount of salt into the open wound that they never stopped ripping open. They never even gave it enough time to scab.

She was out of the room before she could hear the words that spilled from Keefe’s lips, certain that if she stayed a second longer, they would have pushed her over the edge.

She darted into an empty classroom, pulling her sleeve down to cover her scars with clumsy, trembling fingers and pulling out her imparter. She hailed Dex, hoping the shaking wouldn’t be obvious on screen. He picked up, but she was speaking before he could say a word.

“Hey, Dex, got any science experiments you need help with?” Biana asked, unable to keep her mouth from quirking up into a soft smile when he let out a little shriek of pure joy. “I need a distraction.”

#i did a thing again #in other words #justice for biana #kotlc rewrite #biana vacker #skyyyy'swriting

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gay-otlc · 3 years

Text

Jealousy: Sokeefitz oneshot

So... uh... I posted about the Sokeefitz oneshot I was writing a while ago? Well, now it’s finished. Unedited because I’m lazy.

Even as an Empath, jealousy was a difficult emotion for Keefe to describe. Maybe even more difficult than love. Love was easy to describe; the feeling of huddling around a campfire after nearly freezing, a laugh that you wish you could listen to forever, being unable to tear your eyes away from their smile because it's brighter and more beautiful than anything you've ever seen. Love was being in someone's arms and knowing you're safe, it was feeling like you're separated by inches when really you're oceans apart. It was the knowledge that, when you're with them, there's nowhere else you'd rather be.

Love was a feeling Keefe knew well. It was what felt like sunlight every time he sees their faces, and what the canvas showed every time he went to paint with them in mind. It's what kept him going through the days when Lord Cassius called him worthless and he agreed. More than anything, he wished it was what they felt in return.

And that's where jealousy came in.

Jealousy was fire, but not with the comfortable warmth love had. It was hotter than everblaze and just as unpleasant, ready to consume Keefe and burn him until nothing remained, just a pile of ashes that still wished for love he was never going to get. Beyond the concept of fire, Keefe had no words to describe jealousy, though it's a feeling he was well acquainted with. Keefe was no stranger to jealousy, and tonight, sipping lushberry juice at Fitz's Winnowing Gala and watching him twirl Sophie around as they talked and laughed too softly for Keefe to hear and looked utterly, beautifully, sickeningly in love, as they had been for at least the last hour, jealousy was especially prominent.

It was the only thing he could feel. Keefe wasn't even entirely convinced he was an elf anymore. Maybe he was just an entity consisting entirely of envy.

He'd been so happy when he received the invitation to Fitz's Winnowing Gala, so stupidly happy. He must have looked like a fool, holding that piece of paper like it contained all the secrets to the universe, like it was the most valuable thing he'd ever received. The moment was something he now looked back on with something between a smile and a grimace. A smile, because his sheer euphoria in that moment was nearly contagious, dancing around his room and nearly crying with joy because he was on Fitz's match list, he was on Fitz's match list, and because Fitz wanted him there, at the gala. Fitz was willing to consider choosing Keefe as a match, willing to consider spending the rest of his life with Keefe. It was a small chance, but more of a chance than he'd ever dreamed he might have, and that was enough to celebrate.

And of course, he cringed looking back on that happiness as well. Because he really did look like a fool. And besides, it was idiotic to think that chance really meant something, that a fleeting moment of hope, of maybe, could ever turn into something real. Of course it couldn't. Fitz loved Sophie, it was obvious from halfway across Everglen's massive ballroom, they were so in love.

Even being on Fitz's match list, being on a boy's match list, was more than Keefe ever thought he'd get. Same sex matches were only allowed recently, after Della came out and dumped Alden for Livvy, and her popularity throughout the Lost Cities convinced enough people to support this ridiculous notion that love is love. It was really incredible that Keefe's bisexual disaster of a self could even be matched with both boys and girls, and what was he thinking, hoping for more? Pushing his luck?

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Didn't he already know he was stupid, when it came to the belief that maybe, possibly, he could have a chance with someone he loved? When he thought maybe, maybe he might have a chance with Sophie, despite knowing she would never be interested in him? Not instead of Fitz, not in addition to Fitz, never. No matter how much he flirted, all the times he tried to impress her, everything he did to try to prove he was worth her time, it never worked. She would never feel the same way, with that warmth and sunlight and happiness he felt for her. Never.

Angrily, Keefe shoved a custard burst into his mouth, trying to be polite and nod along and smile as Biana stood to the side with him and talked about how happy she was with Marella. He tried to be happier for her, he did, but it was so hard. It was so hard to be happy with her love life when his own was such a disaster. As she talked, Keefe's eyes couldn't stop drifting over to Sophie and Fitz, who were still twirling slowly, orbiting each other, because they were the center of each other's universes and nothing else matter, not when they were so enamored, leaning in closer, and closer, and closer... he couldn't watch, but he couldn't not watch. It hurt to watch, but he couldn't tear his eyes away as Fitz gently tucked a strand of hair behind Sophie's ear, leaving his hand to cup her face...

"Keefe?" said Biana, concern in her tone. "Are you okay?"

Both of them. He was in love with both of them, so much it hurt.

"I need to get some fresh air," he choked out, turning around and rushing to the doors. Unable to resist sneaking one last glance towards Sophie and Fitz, he found them kissing, kissing each other and not him, and blinked back tears as he stepped outside. It was cold, enough for Keefe to distantly wish he'd brought a jacket. He barely noticed the frigid air, though, not when the flames of jealousy kept him nice and warm.

It was unclear how much time passed, as he leaned against the wall and wished things were different, hated that they weren't, and let jealousy wash over him every time he remembered Fitz and Sophie kissing. Which was often. A photographic memory was very annoying. Eventually, Keefe realized he was shivering and leaped back to his house. It fixed the cold. It didn't fix the jealousy. Nothing could. Eventually, he fell asleep, but even dreams couldn't get the image out of his head, even sleep couldn't extinguish the fire of jealousy that just burned and burned and burned.

The next day, he wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and wish Sophie loved him back, or Fitz loved him back, or ideally, both loved him back, but no. They still weren't interested, Keefe was still jealous, and he still had to go to Foxfire. After a morning of trying his best to avoid the new happy couple (couple, meaning two), they finally cornered him after lunch.

Keefe smiled, pretending he was okay, better than okay, he was happy, because they were happy. So incredibly, disgustingly, stupidly, painfully happy together. "Hey, guys," he said, keeping his voice as cheerful as physically possible. "Congratulations on finally making Fitzphie official. Or is it Sophitz? Who knows. Anyway, yeah. Congratulations." He took a deep breath as Sophie smiled, squeezing Fitz's hand. She was wearing her cognate ring. They were both wearing their cognate rings, and it practically looked like engagement rings. Or wedding rings. Keefe clenched his jaw, wondering how he would survive the next five minutes of having to endure this, let alone the rest of his life.

"You left really abruptly last night, I never got the chance to thank you for coming to my Winnowing Gala... you okay?" Fitz asked.

No, not really, he wanted to say, but Keefe forced himself to grit his teeth, swallow, and lie. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wasn't feeling too well after all those custard bursts I ate." He laughed, but it sounded fake even to his own ears; tears stung his eyes and he fought them back. "I'm... I'm happy for you." As he said the words, his heart broke- no, it wasn't breaking. It was burning, being slowly destroyed by jealousy's flames. His heart burned and he forced himself to ignore the pain. Be happy for Sophie and Fitz, he ordered himself. They're happy, and if you really love them, you'll be happy that they're happy.

No matter what he told himself, it was impossible to really muster up that happiness, when his own heart was burning.

"Are you sure?" Sophie said, voice soft. "I may not be an Empath, but it's obvious you're really upset."

"No, I'm fine," Keefe argued, very badly.

With the hand that wasn't currently holding Sophie's, Fitz gently nudged Keefe. "Hey. If you want to talk about it, you can talk to us. We're your friends."

Friends. It was meant to be a good thing, Keefe knew, a reassurance, a word of support. Friends wasn't meant to be an insult. A taunt. That wasn't how Fitz meant it, and yet, it didn't take long for that to be all Keefe could hear, the word friends echoing over and over in a nearly mocking tone as jealousy brewed and bubbled beneath Keefe, burning in his chest and building like lava until he threatened to explode. Before Keefe could take the time to carefully construct a facade and plan his response, the walls around him collapsed and he did. He exploded.

"Exactly! Friends! You're my friends, you're both my friends, but that's the only thing we'll ever be. Neither of you will ever want to be anything other than my friend, but that's what I want more than anything. I'm so in love with you, both of you, but you're happy together and the only thing I am to you is a friend. I just..." All the anger seeped out of him, leaving him with nothing more than a sort of resigned sadness. Nearly worse than jealousy. "...I'm sorry. I love you both, but you're in love with one another, and that's okay. It's okay. I'm... I'm happy for you." Keefe took a step back, then another, ready to run and hide and eat unholy amounts of ice cream and drown in jealousy. This was stupid. He was so stupid. All of this was stupid.

Sophie and Fitz, both of whom had been briefly still with shock at his outburst, came alive again. "Keefe, wait!" Sophie called, brushing her fingers against the edge of Keefe's cape as she reached out. Against his better judgement, he obliged.

"We definitely love each other," said Fitz, gesturing to himself and Sophie. Keefe clenched his teeth and nodded. "But... Sophie's not the only person I'm in love with. And I'm not the only person Sophie's in love with. Keefe, we were actually talking about it earlier, and wanted to ask if you'd be willing to form a sort of... triad with us."

Even as an Empath, Keefe couldn't quite find the words to describe the feeling rising in him right now. It was impossible to keep the smile off his face as he nodded and ran into a group hug.

Jealousy didn't completely go away, not quite. It sometimes made a faint reappearance, like when Sophie and Fitz danced or did their Cognate exercises, or when Keefe couldn't entirely shake the feeling that both Fitz and Sophie wished they were together without him. And even as an Empath, Keefe never did come up with any words beyond fire to describe jealousy, but due to its increasing rarity, that didn't seem necessary anymore.

The emotion he still felt he had to describe was love, but love was easy.

Love was the feeling of huddling around a campfire after nearly freezing, a laugh that you wish you could listen to forever, being unable to tear your eyes away from their smile because it was brighter and more beautiful than anything you've ever seen. Love was being in someone's arms and knowing you're safe, it was feeling like you're separated by inches when really you're oceans apart. It was the knowledge that, when you're with them, there's nowhere else you'd rather be. Love felt like sunlight every time he saw their faces, and what the canvas showed every time he went to paint with them in mind. It's what kept him going through the days when Lord Cassius calls him worthless and he agrees. More than anything, love is what Keefe is absolutely elated that they feel in return.

#sokeefitz #i think i did okay writing polyamory lamo #*lmao #i can't type #please lmk if you liked it #i wrote this at like 2am so probably not though #oh well #shai's writing

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saintheartwing · 3 years

Photo

I've decided to put this up for reference and to help not only myself remember who's who, but clear a few things up for you, dear reader. All part of my “Breaking Dawn” Invader Zim story! From left to right, starting at the top...

DIB Occupation: Student Power: Willpower Further Notes: Dilbert Membrane, little "Dibbun". He's both antagonist and protagonist like Zim in the television series "Invader Zim", and grew up with both a strong interest in the paranormal and the strange, and with a deep desire to protect the people of Earth. Even as a toddler he seemed to have a calling within him to protect the planet and those within it. He is capable of overcoming great fear, and with his strong resolution and imagination, he makes for an excellent green lantern. This brave-hearted youth grew up on "IZ-Prime", the "Base" planet of the Invader Zim youth, the Earth where all other Invader Zim universes are born from. His primary job is usually keeping Zim from experimenting on other people or unleashing some highly strange, oddly stupid and yet fiendishly clever doomsday weapon on the populace. Eventually Dib hit on an idea: Zim had managed to make himself a "friend" in Keef, who had done everything with him...and where was Batman without a Robin? He took in a charge, and recruited that slightly slow, but friendly and impressionable kid Nick whom Zim had stuck a probe in some time back. The two became an excellent team for a time until "The Incident" in which Zim crossed the line...and did something to Nick Dib would never forget...and possibly never forgive. Eventually the years went on and Zim slightly mellowed out, meaning that Dib could relax somewhat...until, that is, all of reality began to fall apart... GAZ Occupation: Student Power: Rage Further Notes: Gazeline Membrane blamed almost everybody when her mother Peggy died in a tragic lab accident. All of it was unfair blame, but she didn't care. She shut herself up in selfish desires and caprice, her rage slowly boiling underneath her like a volcano set to blow at the slightest notice. Interestingly, she began to warm up to Zim. The two had a surprising amount of things in common...the two even went to the dance together. She admits in private he "cleaned up alright". She was blushing heavily as she said this. She didn't, however, approve of what Zim did to Nick, because whilst she doesn't mind the exploitation of the stupid, the outright abuse he leveled was horrifying even to her. She tried to be nice to Nick in the hospital, giving him something of a crush on her. Being a being of revenge, private loss and fury, it's not surprising she bonded with the power of Rage, which had, at one point, been the might of Passion. Heck, she's ALL passion! ZIM Occupation: "Invader", Service Drone/Student Power: Avarice Further Notes: Zerinim, Zimmy-Wimmy, Zimri, etc, etc. You all know him. He's that short, tiny little thing who's determined to take over and/or destroy the Earth. You have to give him points for persistence, he keeps a-tryin', but his level of commitment and competence is "Team Rocket" level. Since he was little, he's been pretty much destroying everything he touches, but this isn't totally his fault. His PAK is defective, his mental processes aren't right. He's slow in some areas of development, but very bright in others, similar to that of an autistic child...obsessive and slightly anti-social behavior included. He's also never admit his deep concern for his beloved companions, mostly because he desperately clings to the inane idea that an Invader needs no one, even though he often relies on others for the "final touch" in his plan. The "incident" that happened with Nick actually struck him with so much guilt...it almost struck as hard as Dib did with that lead pipe after he snuck inside Zim's house and put Zim in a body cast for half a year. Zim's plans became less lethal and more annoying, and he began to appreciate his "friends" a bit more. He views Dib as something of an equal, and in a way, perhaps...more than that. And then...there's Gaz... GIR Occupation: Robot Power: Fear Further Notes: GIR. He's a GARBAGE-INFESTED-ROBOT! Useless as far as most robotic companions go because he's not usually taking things seriously, his head always in the clouds. And the few times he DOES focus don't last long at all. However, with the power of "Fear" flowing through him, the potential to inspire terror and impose HIS kind of order on the world brings out the dark, foul and pitiless cruelty he holds within. GIR has the potential to be even worse than Zim, and the ring focuses his inner psychopathic tendencies. GIR is very childlike...he doesn't always 'get' what he's supposed to do, or understand why things are the way they are. Yet he is also more intelligent and wise than people give him credit for, having access to fundamental truths about the universe he lives in. He understands what kind of world he's in, and has accepted that, and his role as the on-again off-again goofy sociopath. If your really are worried about him, give him something shiny. Or a lollipop. SKOODGE Occupation: Invader Power: Hope Further Notes: Invader Skoodge. No matter what terrible things happened in his life, he's always faced the future. He's remained cheery, helpful, friendly and optimistic, and therefore, it befits him to wear the robes of the Blue, wielder of the light that Hope brings. Skoodge and Zim go way back, and Skoodge considers Zim a dear friend, one of the few people who didn't treat him like a fat, useless lump. As such, he's willing to do almost anything for him, or anybody who treats him with respect and decency. He treats the revelation about the world he lives in with stoic acceptance, and doesn't raise a stink about it. Skoodge is too cool for school, baby. NOTHIN' rattles him. Plus I like this outfit the most. It's so stylish! GRETCHEN Occupation: Student Power: Love Further Notes: Gretchen has always had a huuuuge crush on Dib, admiring him and his work from afar. She eventually figured out the truth about Zim, which helped make Dib open up to her, but nobody really listened to HER either. Mostly because her braces weren't fixed yet...kids can be so cruel. But when wielding the light of Love, she's able to bring out her strongest potential, and become the brave defender that she always was inside, the sort of take-charge, admirable alien-busting girl that Dib would find his ideal. Plus, more importantly, the outfit she's wearing does NOT make her look half-naked. You're welcome. TAK Occupation: Former Invader/Current Patron of Emotion Power: Willpower Further Notes: Tessirak, or Tak, was at one point, a promising Irken training to be an Invader. She rose quickly through the ranks, impressing all of her superior officers (Red especially, he "loves that girl!")...and tragically getting trapped on her training planet when Zim caused a huge power outage in his desire to get a snack. Typical Zim. Tak got a LITTLE bit insane from that and from being forced to be a janitor for several years. She went to Earth to get her revenge and actually befriended Dib somewhat, but ultimately she lost against Zim and his "friends", and was sent out into space. Her old comrade who still had a great gentlemanly (and slightly romantic) concern for her, Darth, had a fellow comrade go pick her up upon hearing of her plight, and she was almost dead...if not for the fact that her Will was keeping her alive, beyond even her PAK, beyond anything else. This strong Will was what transformed her into the Patron of Willpower, and she bonded to Jayd when he arrived to aid her. Tak is very resolute and intelligent, and always follows through on her plans. She's clever as can be, and over time, developed a dear fondness for Dib and her host, Jayd, who views himself as a Knight, with her as his queen to protect. I like the way her design came out quite a lot, truth be told. She's so streamlined and stylish! I was tempted to give her a cape, truth be told. But like the movie "The Incredibles" said...no capes! JAYD Occupation: Medic Power: Willpower Patron: Tak Further Notes: Jayd was and always has been a lucky, lucky guy. He, like the others in Senior's care, found something fascinating about Earth Culture. Unlike the others though, this fascination came from comics. Ideals like justice and morality hit home with him, and he became fascinated by the tales in comics like "Superman", "X-Men" and, his personal favorite...Green Lantern. It could be the result of his programming: after all, he WAS encoded as a medic, helping the sick and injured and helpless is in his "blood". So was it the entity of Willpower, heroism and courage embodied, that he picked..or did it pick HIM? Either explanation makes sense, and that's what I'm leaving it at. Jayd is the heroic Irken that strives to be courageous and noble, the honorable warrior, a flame of chivalry that can't be blown out. The power of Will requires a living being to manifest, and it's representative is always changing based around who has the mightiest will in its presence. It was Tak that gained it, having the ability to overcome great fear, and she, in turn, bonded to Jayd after he was sent to rescue her courtesy of her dear old comrade, Darithil. With her indomitable will and his deep moral code, the two are a good fit. And I really like the wreathe he wears atop his head. It's a nice touch. MAHT Occupation: Service Drone Power: Compassion Patron: Fiyvr Further Notes: Maht's always been used all his life. Be he a tool of a general, being forced to sweep floors at a diner or being stuck bussing drinks, he's never had his own will. But he doesn't totally care. What he DOES care about is being able to be of some help or use to others. He accepts his lot in life because, for the most part, he feels he can do the most good in whatever position he happens to be in. Gaining the sympathetic light of Compassion and becoming wielder of the Indigo Light enabled him to be of even greater assistance to others. Maht, like the others, found a deep liking of Earthling ways. He finds the different races and cultures fascinating, and has a deep personal enjoyment of food from the small blue planet, especially if it's deep fried or contains cheese. Fiyvr, his patron, is from the world of Wahshyd Dawhn, and was a renowned prophet and seer. He's always happy to lend a hand in solving somebody's problems, and to be a shoulder to cry on...even if he's physically short on both accounts. Curse his lack of opposable thumbs! Still, Maht might be pretty much a rug for others to walk all over on, but he's a very HELPFUL rug, and a reliable type...and he'll still try and give the best hug he can when somebody's feelin' down. DITE Occupation: Elite Invader Power: Passion/Rage Patron: Chulainn Further Notes: Dite likes to be seen as strong. She handles fights like a man, handles anger like a man, and fights dirty like a man. All of her inner anger though, stems from personal loss. She loved someone once, many, many years ago, and gave her all for him. But the Empire let him rot. For that...she would never forgive them. And she adopted a gung-ho attitude similar to her beloved's personality. It is grief that fuels the greatest rage, and so Chulainn, who endured great pain in HIS life, naturally bonded to her and others who felt great suffering. He originated on Earth like Psyche and Jourmungdr, and his appearance changed to better fit his new nature. Dite has a deep love of the kind of "gritty and dark" action stories that Earth has. I'm talkin' "Bloodgun" or "Punisher" type stories. She really, REALLY likes making sure people get what they deserve. And get. And get some more. So yeah...she's a bloodthirsty vigilante with a tragic past. Never seen THOSE before! :roll" MIYUKI Occupation: Former Tallest, Current Resisty Leader and Television Personality Power: Hope Patron: Psyche Further Notes: Psyche comes from Earth like Chulainn and Joumungdr, and when Chulainn stood for passion, the two were very close. If one has hope and faith in the future, one should live passionately, living life to its fullest, unafraid. Furthermore, she likes poetry. His poetry. Yeah, weird relationship. Miyuki has had several weird relationships in HER life too. Darithil considers her a mother figure, to Senior, she was the "big sister" type boss, as dear as family, and to Spork she was an annoying wife that he felt he always had to drag around, like she was a nagging ball and chain and he was a prisoner on a chain gang. Of course, his biggest concern was usually whether the camera was getting his good side, whilst she cared more about, y'know, food shortages, the fate of physical defectives and whether or not the Meekrob would nuke her people. She lost almost all hope when Zim's creation, the Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob ate her, and was forced to maintain her consciousness and what little was left of her body by consuming living beings along with Spork. However, she held onto the idea that one day she could return, and bring her people out of darkness. She represents living hope...the hope that one day, the Irken people could be good and noble, if only they had the right person to show them the way...and she sure knows how to dress, woo! Her outfit is my favorite out of all the girls. It's so regal and dignified! FEYR Occupation: Consular (Interrogator) Power: Love Patron: Jourmungdr Further Notes: Most would be surprised that the power of Love is exemplified by a patron that's a giant snake which used to be a Norse monster, and represented by cannibalistic Irkens dressed in vaguely transsexual armor. Well the thing is, their love almost borders on obsession. Love is deep and complicated, and though usually innocent in intent, it has a bad tendency of not realizing that it's lost sight of the rest of the world...and lost its grip on logic. Consulars are all psychics, and their power has been manipulating Irk for generations. They seek to save Irk from "itself", feeling that the idea that "invaders need no one" is inane. If they didn't need anybody or anything, the Tallest wouldn't give them SIRs. Wouldn't give them PAKs. They love their planet and love other alien races, and not merely for dinner, either. They just have a tendency to get...carried away. Feyr is no exception. He wines and dines all he interrogates, and views shrinking and swallowing them as a high honor, keeping them safe forever, embedded in the crystals he generates with his power, safe until the day Irk is ready to accept love, and by extension, the right of other races to live freely. He's charming and sweet, but also very manipulative and cold-hearted when he wants to be. But what else could you expect from a slightly sociopathic cannibal? XEIL Occupation: Communications Officer Power: Intelligence/Fear Patron: Nollij (aka Panyck), co-bonded with Spork Further Notes: Xeil's problem isn't that she's an egotistical, proud, narcissistic bitch. The problem is that it's a front. The problem is that she could be better, and WAS better. She had a personality her own, which befits her station. Most communication officers are good at listening, can "hear beyond". She was no exception... But Xeil lost herself in her job too easily, and forgot how to feel. She was hearing what others said...but she stopped listening. She lost the zest she had for her job. Panyck is much the same. At one point, he was Knowledge made manifest, the pride and joy of his home planet, but he lost himself in HIS job, and became a fascist, a dictator who worshipped fear. He views it as the best way to establish real order, and that not knowing fear is utter insanity. Admittedly, he might have a point. SOME fear is necessary, some caution is always needed in life...but inflicting fear on others needlessly is something he began to enjoy, when once before he sought to instruct others on what was to be feared rather than being the thing feared. However a piece of his true self remains, brought out by Spork, who has had a long time to think about his own rule, and Xeil, who will, with time, remember HER true self...and why she chose to be a communications officer in the first place. PEECH Occupation: Guard Power: Diligence/Avarice Patron: Pyrsist Further Notes: Pyrsist didn't take a new name, but she focused more on getting stuff than getting stuff DONE. Peech's love of Earth culture is centered around things that can best be summed up in a single word...shiny. Shiny shiny shiny! A brand new shiny thing, that's her favorite object in all the world! She keeps most hidden in her backpack/jetpack, but usually you can hear it all jingling. She likes stealing things out of people's pockets and purses and the like, being something of a kleptomaniac. Peech believes in looking regal and elegant and beautiful, and that more jewels equal more happiness. In short, she's a petty, selfish little brat...she and Pyrsist deserve each other. At one point, Pyrsist was a hard-working citizen of Avianos, but that went out the window when she became Mistress of the Orange Light. Peech is also a huge fan of Earth fashion and likes imitating what's "in" on the planet. Were she a guy, she'd have no problem wearing things like dark biker jackets or cowboy hats. She believes full-heartedly in the right to choice, she sees nothing wrong with letting Irkens be free to dress how they want, and is witty enough to debate her point of view well. To Peech, Wiyn was more than a friend growing up. But when Peech tried to give her the love she felt...Wiyn couldn't give it back. Wouldn't give it back. So she sought to fill the void with junk. She went from being a deep, poem-writing romantic to a shallow valley girl. She didn't have to be that way... NICK. E. ODEON Occupation: Student Power: Death Patron: Himself Further Notes: He's a tragedy. He was eager-to-please. He wanted to satisfy the people who showed him attention and support. He wanted to make others happy and bonded instantly to somebody who he felt was "in need of a friend". But then Zim did the unspeakable, and he went from being childlike in heart to being childlike in mind and interests as well. He has problem getting dressed...tying his shoes. That's not his real hair. It's actually a wig. His old hair kinda...rotted off after... ...erm...well, at one point, he was Dib's comrade and friend. His solider. But Dib couldn't help him...and Dib didn't avenge him. He put Zim in a body cast for six months...but "Nick" never was the same. Ultimately, it's sort of unsurpriisng that he ended up being the Black Entity. He doesn't just blame Invader Zim for his pain. He blames the universe he's in for creating Invader Zim the way he is. He blames the people that made Zim ZIM. And he's gonna make them pay for making so flawed a universe. He views Zim and the universe of Invader Zim irredeemably flawed and better off dead because of all the immorality, cruelty and terrible tragedies that it and its alternate universes spawn. The problem is that he fails to see the good that can be found within, because he refuses to see any other part of IZ. In choosing to focus on one part, albeit a large one, of the realm, he ignores all the rest of it and doesn't get a clear enough view. He doesn't fully"get" Zim, even though he says he does. And yes. He is every bit as representative of you-know-what as you think he is. But it's not his fault. He just doesn't know any better. He's just trying to do what he thinks is best. WIYN Occupation: Elite Grunt Power: None, unless you count being a bitch. Patron: None, unless maybe Satan is her secret benefactor... Further Notes: Wiyn is every horrible, cruel, sadistic, by-the-book bitchy jackass that we've met. She will always stick to the rules but only if she thinks they fit her standards. She forces everyone to fit her standards and will blast anybody that doesn't, and instead of reasonable discussion, she prefers cruel words and violence. Wiyn was, at one point, a dearly beloved comrade of Xeil, and then some. But Wiyn refused to open her heart. Instead, it shriveled up. Don't set her up with a boyfriend. She's married to her work! She's proud, narcissistic, vain, ignorant of others feelings and apathetic to the suffering of innocents. In a word, she's evil. She's a constant whiner about what is or isn't "right" for an Irken to do because she looked into the Untempered Schism, seeing all the truths of her universe. As such, she considers herself a "true Irken" and anybody remotely different from her mold, even if they just have an unusual eye color or like wearing, say, a striped outfit, MUST DIE! She's a good representative of the part of the fandom that I hate...the ones that obsess over what's truly "canon" and what's not, and who have no tolerance or compassion for anybody or anything that stretches outside their boundaries. They've got little tolerance for the fandom and refuse to recognize what it brings to Invader Zim. I have no respect for Wiyn or what she represents. I yearn for the day when she will be turned into an AVOCADO. For those of you who get this inside joke...you know who you are. You rock. SENIOR, aka Nick Grey

Occupation: Senior Communications Officer Power: Life Patron: Sude Further Notes: Nick's Irken Form, now given a true name, "Senior". He's the oldest and most experienced communications officer on the Massive, and considers himself the "Safety Net" to those on the ship. He's there for its crew, to lend a helping hand, a pair of arms to lift them up, a shoulder to cry on. He's always been kind-hearted and harmonious, with a deep love of Earth music. It's no surprise the Entity of Life, Sude of the Planet Allforce, bonded to him. Sude's story is much like Senior's. He was happy with his life. He was upstandingly moral, kindhearted and believed in doing good...and he loved, LOVED music, always having a song in his heart. But in refusing to listen to the Force of Fate, he learned that whilst such forces might not dictate what it is we are destined to do, it's not a good idea to not just disregard the words of a force of nature. Sude's devoted to protecting and supporting life, and will spend the rest of his existence forever making up for his failure. Just like Senior, Sude will always be fighting. But Senior is less of an "immortal". He's been saving the many universes in the I-Z realm for years now, and he feels he was never truly given a choice, given an unfair deal. Ultimately though, his desire to do the right thing made him chose to keep up the fight, realizing that one should never put selfish desires above doing good, no matter how seemingly innocent those desires might be. Senior's come a long way, but at last, his true form is revealed. He is a superhero, meant to embody an ideal, an ideal of humanity brought to Irk, a blessed gift that other Irkens can learn from. I guess he was always going to become a superhero one way or another...he was just such a perfect fit. Plus, I really, REALLY like the new outfit he's got now. It looks damn good on him. Now he'll be fighting injustice and cruelty through the IZ-Realm and in style! White goes well with EVERYTHING.

#invader zim #Zim #Gaz #Dib #Senior #Irkens #irken #comic #cartoon #crossover #Tallest Miyuki #Miyuki #Tak #Skoodge #GIR

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