(left to right) Quinlin Sonden, Sandor the Goblin, Timkin Heks, Jurek, Grady Ruewen, William Foster, Durand Redek, Cadfael the Orge, Barth the Reaper (gnome)
Terik age 15: i can't be talentless, i gotta think of something-i-um can sense people’s potential, yeah, that's what i can do
elven Society: that sounds completely believable, you can totally go the elite levels.
Terik proceeded to gaslight his way though nobility, and ended up on the council because of a lie he made up at 15, and he’s still bullshitting it to this day
the heks as a family are so interesting to me especially when you compare them to the dizznees (under a read more bc it got long lmao).
for example, timkin and vika are aware of the unfairness of the matchmaking system, but rather than fighting the system that keeps them apart, they instead make it seem like they follow the system, rigging it in their favor and then maintaining the status quo. this is especially interesting when you look at vika’s treatment of kesler in the first book. despite being ready to marry a talentless man, she still sees kesler as below her. in fact, she even calls dex a bad match in the first book even though stina would not be that much different from dex if not for timkin having a brother in law at the matchmaking offices.
stina is also interesting in this regard, because she has never had her worldview challenged in the series. despite her own parents literally bribing the system to marry, stina constantly holds the status of dex’s parents above his head. and throughout the series, she never challenges her views on the match system. she never apologizes to dex for being actively bigoted to him. she just. stops being mean to that group specifically. when she and dex begin to work for the council, she just stops being mean to him. when she works with sophie, she does not face any of her views on the elven world, she just cooperates with the group. in fact, in the ninth book, she shows distaste for rayni’s parents rigging the system in their favor, despite her own parents literally doing the same thing. she knows her father is coiffe and expresses to sophie that she wants sophie to save the gnomes, but outside of that, she does not ever tackle her flawed views.
in conclusion: what do the heks stand for? what does the status quo hold for them?
I was going to make a post saying something like "rip to timkin but I'd simply lie better and never get caught if I was faking an ability" but then I got to thinking about the fact they literally sent him to exillium. they created a system that prioritized abilities so much he felt his best option was to lie about having one and then punished him for the situation they placed him in. and then Timkin managed to come back? to re-enter society semi-respected having worked hard enough to come back from Exillium? sure he's grumpy sometimes, but Timkin knows what's up. so sorry they caught you king but I believe in you. except for that weird alicorn thing that one time that was rude but otherwise you're ahead of your time <3