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bookwyrminspiration · 8 months

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What if when Sophie came to the lost cities the black swan had been overthrown, and their leaders arrested. So by the time she arrived, she doesn’t have that same support. I think it’d take the story in a crazy, but fun new direction.

oh that would be very interesting--not only would she have significantly less guidance at the start of the series, but depending on how the Black Swan were handled, the attitude towards Sophie could be quite different; she'd be the product of known convicted criminals, not just the odd human girl.

She was observed when she first arrived, but I imagine that would've been much more intense in this situation. I wonder when she would've arrived, actually. Because Alden didn't find Sophie by his own work, Mr. Forkle led him to her. So without him, when on earth would Sophie have been brought to their world? Would they have discovered that sort of information through a mind break and located her around the same time, or would years pass?

I'm imagining the Mr. Forkle who posed as her neighbor might've escaped being arrest, which would create an interesting dynamic with her having one singular influence and resource.

But that aside, without the rest of the Black Swan able to work masterfully behind the scenes, there'd be no notes, no clues to prompt hidden memories. It would require a lot more work on Sophie's part to figure things out--which, depending on when she was brought to the lost cities and how (agreeing it was the best decision vs council forcing her, for example), she may or may not be capable of.

I'm also curious how that would impact her morals and sense of right; we see her learning from and guided by the Black Swan for most of the series before she branches out, following their methodology and beliefs on the limits. If they were never there, what's stopping her from going a step further much sooner? Especially if she's being more heavily monitored/judged and in order to make any impact she has to push harder--side note: I feel like in that case she might become similar to Tam in her disdain, she didn't do anything but exist and need help and this is what they did?

Would she be allowed to attend Foxfire with a significant association with a serious criminal organization? Even if she hasn't done anything yet, she might. And if she doesn't go to Foxfire (or is too old when brought), her friend group would be entirely different. She might not even have a friend group and it would instead be her against the world, perhaps a few misfits gathered along the way. Fitz might still be around because he found her, but Biana might stay bratty. She wouldn't meet Marella or Jensi, and she wouldn't have been adopted by the Ruewens (because confirmed huge Black Swan association when he thinks they killed Jolie? no way) so no meeting Dex. If she doesn't go to Foxfire, I could see them sending her to Exillium, in which case she might keep Tam and Linh as friends--but with a very different dynamic, since I think Sophie would be incredibly bitter.

Actually now that I'm thinking about this maybe she'd be picked up by the Neverseen. At least temporarily and in the same way that Rayni was--not that she's for their atrocities, but because they extended a hand when no one else did. Which!! Could then be an interesting exploration on how she wasn't a criminal, but via seeing her as one/as dangerous they limited her options and made her into one. She wouldn't have joined the Neverseen if they'd treated her properly, but they didn't, so now she did. Except they don't see it as their fault, as a consequence of their boxing her in, but instead as confirmation of what they always feared.

indeed, Nonsie, there is a lot of potential for a very different but fascinating story here. I've barely scratched the surface of all the implications and everything you could do with it!

#kotlc #kotlc ua #quil's queries #nonsie #(ua as in universe alteration. instead of au)#personally i'm rooting for sophie gets found when the black swan is arrested and they have their minds broken #and so she's brought about the same time. and is then sent to exillium because she's too dangerous to send to foxfire #and its just her in this new world all alone #except for the forkle who was in the human world. the immense secrecy of what he was doing left him the sole surviving core member of #the organization. who's now increasingly bitter #and does what he can to help her and her friends the song twins who have also just been grievously wronged and have #found each other through that #they teach her how the elven world works but without the pretense #and their outrage and outbursts (primarily tam and sophie. as linh's struggling with herself instead of her world atm)#catch the attention of the neverseen #and despite his efforts. the remaining forkle. maybe doesn't have it in him to dissuade them anymore #throw in a vindictive wylie who just lost his second father??#group of 4 horribly wronged by the system and FURIOUS #yeah. that could be quite interesting

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an-ungraceful-swan · 2 years

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Official Kotlc Ship Tier Ranking!

Do your own here

No thoughts. Just Them

Fitz and Keefe - in love with Sophie? Nah. In love with each other. One of my favorite dynamics tbh

Sophie and Biana - an old favorite, my first queer ship that i kept. Absolutely adorable. I thought you liked my brother? Nope? <3

Sophie and Stina - should be my personality. Hekster is the best ship actually

Marella and Linh - fire water dynamic? The best. Powers you’re afraid of? “Additional training”? Mwah

Marella and Biana - they dated precanon no one can convince me otherwise

Sophie, Keefe, and Fitz - love triangle solved. Sophie has two hands. They are in love your honor

Sophie and Glimmer - I have a fic about this. It worked it’s way into my heart

Tiergan and Prentice - I thank @gay-otlc for this one. <2

I am your average enjoyer

Grady and Edaline - two words. Domestic fluff. (Also angst)

Maruca and Biana - I saw this ship as little miss perfect and was never normal again

Quinlin and Alden - and they were cognates

Cyrah, Prentice, and Tiergan - honestly a flex by Wylie to have three parents

Della and Livvy - qualden and dellivvy is mlm wlw solidarity

Stina, Maruca, Marella, and Linh - four horse girls of the apocalypse is iconic tbh

I could be intrigued

Keefe and Dex - I almost wrote something for this. It has to be done well or I don’t like it though

Fitz and Dex - Fitz sees it as friends to lovers Dex sees it as enemies to lovers and they are in love. It’s great.

Sophie and Keefe - I see the appeal, and I could be convinced it’s just.., meh

Fitz, Keefe, and Dex - interesting in theory. They all take dex’s last name

Maruca and Stina - nothing wrong with it, would love to draw it.

Marella and Stina - I would call them friends but I wrote about it and now it’s stuck in my head. Redheks for life

Tiergan and Alden - exes 100%

Cyrah and Prentice - the angst potential

Keefe and Tam - I dunno. I can appreciate it but it doesn’t hit the spot.

Fintan and Bronte - not my cup of tea but the dynamic tho. Never being able to be together, and being feared, lovers to enemies.

Kenric and Oralie - adorable. Wish we could see more

Fintan and Dimitar - an interesting ship. That’s all I’ll say.

Tam and Fitz - heheh titz

Linh and Glimmer - linh is salty because of glimmer taking her brother? No. She’s in love with glimmer and is jealous

Better off friends

Sophie and Fitz - I have an essay on this I promise. They really are ough

Dex and Linh - guys. Guys come one. They are friends

Bo and Ro - I have 0 feelings toward this and I want it to stay that way.

Marella and Tam - this feels like jamming two Barbie dolls together but worse.

Della and Alden - I would get front row seats to their divorce

Sophie and Linh - I don’t see it. Interesting in theory, in execution they should be friends.

Sophie and Tam - I am manifesting their friendship in stellarlune

Marella and Keefe - they are gay in opposite directions trust me Shannon said so

Why tho? You did this for what?

Sophie and Dex - one word. Cousins.

Keefe and Biana - this feels like a crime

Tam and Biana - this has been done well once, otherwise it just feels pointless

Marella and Jensi - like a two year old mixing cake and ketchup

Tam and Glimmer - this will happen and it makes my blood boil

I will fight these shippers in a dennys parking lot

Fitz and Linh - I don’t know why but this will be the death of me

Wylie and Linh - *singing* wylie is an adult. Wylie is an adult.

Stina and Fitz - I have seen this once and I immediately realized this person hated both of them.

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rayniscatstatue · 1 year

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“Kisses Before Parttles”

Word count: 732

Prompts: 17. “Gah! You have cold hands!”

30. “Did you just kiss me and run?”

63. “Somebody’s in love!”

Character relationships: Marella Redek and Linh Song (romantic), Marella Redek and Keefe Sencen (platonic)

Description: Linh kisses Marella in the school cafeteria as their first kiss then she races away. Marella is stunned as Keefe helps her figure things out.

————————————————————————

I tap my foot on the marble flooring as I wait in the incredibly long lunch line. I hate how many people go to this school sometimes. Like can teh council calm down on how many people the admit here.

Linh is waiting beside me, honestly the girl looks like she is about to dump water on my head.

“Hey, Linh.” I elbow her arm to get her attention. Her black a silver hair flying as she turns her head towards me.

“Yeah?” The girl asks.

Oh, I forget to mention that I have secretly had a crush on her since I knew her. I mean who can blame me? She flooded a city, she saved another, she is absolutely stunning and kind.

“Whatcha panning on getting?” I smirk at her.

“I don’t know, probably some parttles.” She shrugs.

“Ooo, share some with me then! I was planning on getting a mooncake and some lushberry juice.”

“Yeah, sure!” She smiles. I am praying that a blush isn’t rising up on my cheeks. We step forward in the lunch line, finally.

I can see Sophie, Tam, Biana and Jensi already seated. Maruca and Stina are before us in the line. While Keefe, Fitz and Dex are after us.

Honestly who knows how the four of them got through so quickly. I mean they snagged our usual table.

“Thanks!” I twist a braid around my finger. “I hate this line.”

“I mean, don’t we all?” Linh asks.

“Yeah I guess so.” I notice that the girl has taken a step closer to me. Something is about to happen.

I have always wondered if she liked me back. Then the next thing I know she presses her lips to mine.

My eyes fling shut as she runs off a second later, towards our usual table.

What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened?

“Did you just kiss me and run?!” I shout out after her as I see her sitting down next to her brother in the distance.

“Damn, Redek is pulling people.” I turn my head to see the person of the voice.

Keefe Sencen fucking skipped the line.

“I-I don’t know what happened!” I wave my arms around in disbelief as we take another few steps forward.

“Oh snap, your stuttering.” He laughs as Fitz and Dex don’t notice his disappearance. “Somebody’s in love!”

“Shut up!” A red flush crawls up my neck.

“Lies.” Keefe rolls his eyes. “Are you going to go after your girl or what?”

“I’ll get her some prattles first.” I shrug. “And myself a mooncake and lushberry juice.

Another few steps forward. We are slowly getting to the front of the line. Stina and Maruca have gone to sit down at this point.

“Good point, bribe the answers out of her with prattles.”

“Keefe, you suck.”

“I am so offended!” He fakes gasps are we take some more steps forward. One more person then me.

“Are you though.” I elbow him in the rib cage. Turning back to the lunch lady.

“What would you like dear?” She asks.

“A box of prattles, one mooncake and a lushberry juice please.” I request as she conjures everything up on a tray. I grab the tray as I wait for Keefe. Standing next to him.

“You dear?” She asks him.

“Uhmm, Sweetberry swirls and some cinnacreme.” He grabs the tray as it appears. “Appealed to see you waiting for me Redek.”

“I am actually being kind, now shut up.” I start fast walking away from him towards the table.

What will I say to Linh? She just kissed me.

“Hey!” I take a seat between Linh and Jensi.

“H-hi.” Linh stutters, her face red.

“You two, figure out that kiss we all saw.” Keefe comes up behind me.

“I’m sorry-“ Linh starts to apologise.

“No need to apologise, I like you too.” I grab her hands. “Gah, your hands are cold!” I flinch.

“Really?” Linh asks in disbelief as I start to wram up her hands.

“Yes, really.” I take one hand away as I cup her cheek. Pulling the taller girl into a kiss.

I bet you everyone in the cafeteria is staring at us but I couldn’t care less.

“I like you too.” Linh pulls back.

“Prattles.” I slide the box over from my tray towards her.

“You didn’t have to.” She looks at me, a lovely look.

“I did.”

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Ps. Ooo, a bold Linh I see!

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fanfic #kotlc fic #marelinh #marella redek #linh song

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dizzythegreat · 1 year

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KOTLC Reread: Book 1

obviously spoilers for book 1, a few spoilers for future books below

IM FALLING BACK INTO THE FANDOM

haven’t read the books in over a year but they never get any less good

thats a lie. it was slightly less good than when i first read it, probably because im older now and noticing the little things that i dont like, but its still bringing back all my childhood happiness from reading the series and its still amazing

first of all. i dont know how i didnt notice this until now but prentice and tiergan for sure had something going on

they def had some side fling happening (if its confirmed they didn’t in later books and i just forgot, dont tell me)

like tiergan is so bitter over him being broken?? he hates everyone who played even a small role in prentice’s exile?? come ON this is not a regular bromance-type relationship

i wish the kidnapping scene was more... realistic? idk i really loved how the drug hazes were described and a lot of it was super good but i felt like it was kind of short and the kidnappers really didn’t... do much?

like they kinda just threatened to kill dex and half-heartedly questioned sophie for only like 2 pages

also why would they not just kill dex immediately they have 0 use for him

but anyways

sophie truly is a mary sue but somehow she’s not insufferable?

the obliviousness hasn’t fully set in yet but oh boy will it

the good old days when dexphie was the most popular ship and no one shipped keephie

and when biana was a bitch for half the book

and fitz was actually tolerable

alvar is just a little bit suspicious in this book (just the tiniest touch of foreshadowing)

grady and edaline really named their daughter the french word for “pretty” huh

jensi and marella 😭 i dont remember if jensi plays a larger role in the future but i hope he does

stina is such a cliché “mean girl” lmfao like she really bumped sophie into a locker and called her a loser

some of the abilities are so much more op than others tbh. like imagine other people are literally teleporting whatever they need to them at any time, reading minds, inflicting pain on others, and you’re. elsa.

grady and edaline un-adopting sophie was a dick move. like i guess i get the reasoning but come on.

iggy sounds like a terrible pet im sorry

smells like shit 100% of the time and just causes havoc

the worldbuilding is so 😍

i remember i had a huge crush on keefe when i was reading these when i was younger. he is 12 or 13 in this book so i will not get into that until later lol

this book i mostly remembered but i dont remember a thing from book 2 so that will be interesting

overall it brought back so many childhood memories, i loved it and im so excited to start book 2 and SO EXCITED FOR STELLARLUNE AHHHHHH

also excited for more character development bc we love trauma 🥰

again, please no spoilers for future books (even though ive already read them lol) (but forgot most of it) and no stellarlune spoilers/asks until i post that i’ve read it!

#keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #stellarlune #shannon messenger #books

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maerambles · 2 years

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Chapters 17, 18 and 19

Keeper of the Lost Cities - Shannon Messenger (October 2, 2012)

Chugging along!

Sophie was still trying to figure out which of the strange gadgets from Della were school supplies when the chimes rang. (Ch. 17, p. 156)

What did Della giver her? I know that Shannon maybe didn’t want to info dump useless information but I would love to know!

Foxfire is the only noble school - meaning you have to go there in order to be in the nobility - so we wear half capes to demonstrate that.” (Ch. 17, p. 157)

Wow, in a world that is supposedly so “equal” they sure do throw it in the “talentless” faces that they aren’t noble by not allowing them to get good education and having them dress different.

“At least next year we get rid of the wimpy halcyon,” He pulled on the blue, jeweled bird that clasped the cap against his neck. “We’ll be mastodons.” (Ch. 17, p. 157)

Halcyon’s are also Greek mythology! And mastodons were dinosaurs! Some fun facts that I personally didn’t know.

My parents aren’t nobility, so they’re only authorized to have 250 - it’s missing a ton of cool places.” (Ch. 17, p. 160)

Again, what’s the point?

Combined with extensive fields of purple grass, the place seemed more like a small city than a school, and Sophie tried not to imagine how hopelessly lost she would be. (Ch. 17, p. 160)

THE GRASS IS PURPLE??? Why did I not remember this in my first read through??

A spotlight focused on Sophie. (Ch. 17, p. 162)

NIGHTMARE FUEL. One of my worst middle school nightmares is for this to happen while the whole schools watches.

Why did she have to be the exception to everything? (Ch. 17, p. 162)

Chosen One Tax.

“Lick it. The lock uses your DNA.” [Dex]

“That’s gross.” [Sophie] (Ch. 17, p. 163)

Why is this even a thing lol.

“She put a muskog in my locker!” he screamed. [Dex] (Ch. 17, p. 164)

Muskrog, an original creature! I’ve noticed that Shannon does a good job of mixing other mythical creatures and original mythical creatures.

“You just walked through a wall,” was all Sophie could think to say.

“Phasers do that sometimes” [Lady Alexine] (Ch. 17, p. 165)

A new type of ability!! I wonder what else they can do.

Sir Conley stopped the lightning from hitting her, catching it in a tiny fluted vial at the last possible second. (Ch. 18, p. 168)

“Mastering all the elements is one of the steps toward entering the nobility.” [Dex] (Ch. 18, p. 169)

I kind of wish we got to expiernce Sophie’s first class. How many elements are there? Four? Or More? It seems that right now we are more focused on Sophie’s social relationships rather than the new experience she’s experiencing. Sorry for sounding like Kendall Jenner lol.

She’d eaten lunch alone her whole life - what was one more day? (Ch. 18, p. 169)

Aw, this is so sad. It must be so extremely different for her to go from having absolutely no friends to having people fighting for your attention to be your friend.

If Jensi’s friends were human, they would’ve been skinny, with acne and braces. Since they were elves, they were fairly good looking - or they could’ve been if they hadn’t slicked their hair into greasy ponytails. (Ch. 18, p. 170)

Is she implying that elve’s don’t get acne and that it’s considered unattractive? That’s weird thing to place in your Middle Grade series. I feel like the beauty standard in the elven world is too close to being problematic for my liking.

“My name’s Marella. Not Mare. Not Ella. No nicknames.” (Ch. 18, p. 172)

I have no idea why but I LOVED Marella when I first read the book. She’s just one of those character’s where I went, “Wow - she’s Me coded!”

“Sometimes I let boys sit with me, but I’m not a fan of girls. Girls are annoying.” [Marella] (Ch. 18, p. 173)

Why is there so much weird Misogyny in this book? She’s the third different character to dig on girls.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know how it is in the Forbidden Cities, but here we have our kids one at a time. So to have three is weird. My mom says it’s because his parents were a bad match.” (Ch. 18, p. 173)

“A [Bad Match] couple that was ruled genetically incompatible. Usually means their kids will be inferior - and if you’d met the triplets, you’d believe me. No way those kids will be normal.” (Ch. 17, p. 174)

Where did this idea come from? “Genetically incompatible”? That scarily sounds like eugenics. What does it mean to have “inferior” kids? Why would a child be seen as inferior? I feel like Shannon specifically wrote this to sound bad, so I wonder how in the future she deals with this situation. The whole couple matching thing almost sounds like arranged marriage, but hey, you have a list of potential partners!

Also, if good matches are all about having “superior” children, what about LGTB+ couples who can’t have kids or those elves that can’t get pregnant? Can they still get matched, despite that the whole purpose of the matching system is for having superior children?

“My grandma died when I was eight, and my mom cried for weeks.” (Ch. 18, p. 173)

Aw, poor Sophie. Eight years old and already dealing with the trauma of losing a loved one.

“What’s Exillium? [Sophie]

“The school where they send the hopeless cases.” [Marella] (Ch. 18, p. 175)

Oh wow, I wonder how the students there must feel. Also, is there only two schools?? That’s no fun, no competition for Foxfire.

But Sir Astin - a pale blond elf with a soft, whispery voice - said she was a natural. Apparently, he’d never taught a prodigy with a photographic memory strong enough to remember the complex star maps he projected across the walls of the dark planetarium. (Ch. 18, p. 175)

Would love for Sophie to be normal at a class instead of “exceptionally good” or “exceptionally bad” at a class. I get it, she’s literally and biologically built different from other elves, but I’d like to see some room for improvement in some of the abilities she already has. I do think this is a very cool class, though!

“What is up with you?” she whispered. [Sophie] (Ch. 18, p. 177)

He literally called Dex Deck lol. Dex has a right to be a little bitter.

Dex rolled his eyes. “Girls.” (Ch. 18, p. 178)

Was this necessary, Shannon? I trusted Dex!

As soon as she set foot through the door, hundreds of girls stopped talking to stare at her. (Ch. 19, p. 179)

First of all, NIGHTMARE FUEL. Second of all, HUNDREDS of girls?? I guess if it’s the whole entire girl population of the school it would make sense, but I feel like there can’t be that many people?

Instead, the door led to a personal changing area, complete with shower and vanity. (Ch. 19, p. 180)

Middle School me dreamed of this.

“Of course you. You’re the new girl with the mysterious past who probably has all these weird powers. I mean, just look at your eyes. [Marella] (Ch. 19, p. 181)

Holy cow Marella, what a way to be direct. I do prefer this over the “you’re so very special” thing everyone else says. This seems more realistic, even without the whole brown eyes thing.

Sophie was supposed to channel the strength of her mind to different parts of her body: jumping to super heights, running at super speeds, crushing things at super strength. (Ch. 19, p. 182)

Elves can do all of this???

Too embarrassed to face the cafeteria after PE - she’d lost her appetite anyway - Sophie used her lunch break to find her next session. (Ch. 19, p. 182)

Aw, Sophie, pls don’t skip lunch :(.

“If you weren’t so obviously alive, I would assume I was probing a dead mind.” (Ch. 19, p. 184)

This line goes HARD.

“Giving the meganeura some exercise.” (Ch. 19, p. 185)

Just looked these up, and they are SCARY. And they used to be existing with us on earth???

And that was the weirdest part: Telepaths are in high demand. (Ch. 19, p. 186)

How is this weird? I think it makes logical sense that the council would want more telepaths.

If a prodigy hadn’t manifest by Level Four, they might be expelled - and even if they stayed at Foxfire, they couldn’t take the elite levels, which meant they’d never be nobility. (Ch. 19, p. 187)

The classism in the series is so weird. I hope it’s discussed more in a negative light, but since I’m pretty sure all the kids manifested abilities, there really is no plot point or away for this to be discussed properly.

Ok! These books are HUGE, I’m not even halfway done yet lol.

#Keeper of the Lost Cities #KOTLC #Reviews #Book Reviews

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thetoadlessfriendisback · 2 years

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Stupid quotes from my life as KOTLC characters

"Don't tell your parents I let you have drugs at school" - Leto

"Now your ear won't die because I watered it" - Linh

"We're talking about beans" - Jensi

"Cause Im dating (Sophie) now" - fitz "Aren't we all?" - Keefe

"Pheew, almost admitted I was smart there for a second" - Keefe "That tie you're wearing is awful" - Biana "Im a vice principal, everything about my life is awful" - Leto

"Don't you hate it when you're playing the piano and it turns into a whale" - Dex (Idk why, just the vibe)

"I dont trust anything without knee caps" - Tam

"They had a stabbing party, then we had drinks" - Gisela

"You sound like a goose thats running out of batteries" - Sophie

"I am an old man" - Forkle and/or Bronte

"How old are you man?" - The Council "182..." - Sophie "So what are you doing with alcohol Everblaze/Quintessence/An Alicorn/The Black Swan/LITERALLY EVERYTHING?" "Drinking Holding it?"

"WHAT IF I BELIEVE IN STRANGLING TAM" - Keefe

"You people and your self deprivation!" - Biana

"Ive grown more gay" - Alden

“I’m a pretty butterfly, butterfly" - Biana

"FIGHT ME ON DANCE TILES 3 LIKE A REAL MAN" - Dex

"How many souls can I destroy?" - Gisela

“Im not here to be a good person, I’m here to make the other person cry.” - Fintan

"Women think men want a girl who is skinny, blonde, blue eyes, ect. But what men really want IS TO FIND POSEIDON'S LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS!!!!!" - Keefe

“new plan. We just set the world on fire.” - Brant “no” - Jolie “Coward” - Brant

“Life’s uncertain, eat dessert first” - Elwin

“Going behind your back works better when your not facing me.” - Keefe

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a murderous lord” - Alvar

“A cabbage for your thoughts?”- Flori

“Leafs be leafs. Picking up leafs be smelling like leafs” - Calla

“Yeah that makes sense why my DANG SHOES RAN AWAY” - Dex

“Eat your fries or I’ll snuff your soul” - Marella

"Im home but never alone because Singing jesus is with me"

"ive seen gay parades straighter than the sky." - Keefe in the sanctuary

“You need to become fish” - Linh

#keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #sophie foster #keefe sencen #fitz vacker #biana vacker #tam song #linh song #dex dizznee #fintan pyren #kotlc forkle #gisela sencen #alden vacker #alvar vacker

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squishmallow36 · 2 years

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Keeper of the Lost Prepositions - Four

Word count: 1.2k

Tw: none

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added / removed): @stellar-lune @ichor-on-my-hands @kamikothe1and0lny @nyxpixels @snowflakewolves @poppinspop @crystallinewalker @uni-seahorse-572 @tiergan-andrin-alenefar @books-over-boys @florida-llama-46 @when-wax-wings-melt @k00laidcrush @bowlcut-boyfriends @good-old-fashioned-lover-boy7 @dexter-dizznee

On Ao3 or below the cut! Other chapters can be found here

It’s Sophie’s first day of Foxfire, and it’s going fairly well. She met a few of the nicer people at school, Jensi and Marella, but she did run into, thankfully not literally, Stina. She put muskog in my locker. I mean seriously. Just because I’m one of the only people that dares to stand up to her, she thinks she’s allowed to make my life a thousand times more annoying.

I already have those stupid, perfect Vackers to infuriate me on an almost daily basis.

Sophie hasn’t gotten too lost as of yet, so that’s good. Jensi had to save her though. She was going the wrong way to her first class, and at lunch, I had detention because of Stina.

Sophie plops down into a seat I had saved for her in Study Hall and I say, “You survived.”

“So far,” she replies, digging out her Universe homework. I already have my Elvin History homework out so it looks like I’m being productive, but I’m avoiding working on it because I don’t want to do it and Alchemy homework isn’t the kind of thing you can do in Study Hall most of the time. Or at least that’s how it is for me.

“There you are,” Wonderboy says, approaching our table, “Why didn’t you sit with us at lunch?”

That’s obviously meant for Sophie, so I look at my Elvin History homework in an attempt to make it not as awkward.

She answers, “Jensi invited me to sit with him, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“Ah. Well, maybe tomorrow then. Oh, and” he hands her a folded slip of paper, “my Dad asked me to give you this.”

I can’t see the note, but I can see from her relieved smile out of the corner of my eye that it’s good news.

Suddenly, a wave of bitterness breaks free from deep inside me. A tickle rises up in my throat, and I clear it. I realise that it was a little rude after the fact.

“Oh, sorry. Do you guys know each other?” Sophie asks, stuffing the note in her satchel.

I say, “Yes,” at the same time Wonderboy says, “No.” A few weeks ago, I would have brushed it off with, “They’re Vackers. They all think they’re better than everyone else,” but today it bothers me more than it should have.

“Well,” she says, trying to fill the silence. “This is Dex.” I made it awkward. Great. I thought I was getting better at not doing exactly that.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Right,” I snort. Like I haven’t introduced myself at least three different times, and seen each other at school whenever he decided to dignify the mentors by actually showing up.

“What?”

“Nothing, apparently.” If you want to ignore me like I’m a waste of a birth fund, that’s your decision.

Wonderboy frowns. I glare back. Sophie watches us, trying to make sense of it all.

“I should get started on my homework,” Wonderboy says after a second. He flashes his movie star smile and somehow it made me angrier. His focus had shifted back to Sophie. “I just wanted to check on you. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, and uh, nice to meet you, Deck,” he adds with a hasty nod as he walks away. Really? My name is Dex. Three letters shouldn’t be that hard to remember, and now he’s gotten it wrong twice. Well, Biana was the one to call me Lex, but he didn’t bother correcting it.

“It’s Dex,” I growl.

“What is up with you?” she whispers.

“Me? ‘Nice to meet you, Deck,’” I repeat in an uncanny impersonation of Wonderboy’s precise accent. I learned to mimic when I was bored over the summer.

She looks like she fought off a smile. “I’m sure that was an innocent mistake.”

“Please. I see him all the time—not that his royal highness bothers remembering.”

Three introductions! Most days at school! Plus a whole bunch of other Slurps and Burps visits while Keefe was banned over the summer.

“But he remembers you. Why is that, by the way—and why did he give you a note from his Dad?”

“I stayed with his family my first night here, and Alden promised to get back to me about something. It’s about my old life. I’m not supposed to talk about it.” But you’ll tell Wonderboy about it.

“Figures.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I just hate that family. Everyone thinks they’re so cool and talented. But they’re totally overrated. ‘Deck,’” I mutter.

“Maybe Fitz just heard me wrong.” I doubt that.

“Yeah, right. Listen to you defending him. You’re just like all the other girls, you know that? I saw what you did when he smiled at you. You lit up.”

“I did not!”

“Yes, you did. You were beaming.”

“I wasn’t beaming,” she argues. You wouldn’t be arguing if you had a mirror.

I roll my eyes. “Girls.”

Just wait until she meets Keefe. She’ll never be able to resist the Hair if Wonderboy’s stupid smile got her to beam that brightly.

Late that night, I’m staring at my bedroom ceiling, too lazy to do anything, but not tired enough to go to sleep. At least, I finally figure out why Wonderboy was bothering me so much today. I think I like Sophie. Like like like Sophie. And I’m jealous of him because she very obviously likes him.

I mean, seriously, does she think she’s even trying to hide it?

How has Wonderboy not figured it out yet? I took how long? Ten, maybe fifteen, minutes of actual thinking?

Maybe Fitzroy, I pause to mentally snort because how on Earth could you pick that as your kid’s name, “Golden Boy” Vacker isn’t as perfect as he wants us to believe. Maybe he’s just as pathetic as the rest of us peasants.

You would think that would make me hate him less, but to no avail. If he’s really just a peasant at heart, why does his royal majesty and his entire family act like they’re better than everyone else?

Not wanting to think about stupid Fitzipoo any longer, I turn on Sophie’s iPod and have it start playing pink noise.

I’ve already fixed it, and I’m planning to give it to her soon, just after I make another one. Human tech is weird. It follows the same basic principles as Elf tech but it works in a completely different system.

I found out that my room has an almost completely perfect sound transmission system because of the triplets, which it just a fancy way to say that I can hear everything they do. Thus, I only listen through Sophie’s ear thingies, whatever they’re called. My favourite of Sophie’s playlists is slightly over eight and a half hours from start to finish, but pink noise is my favourite when I’m trying to sleep.

It’s like white noise but slightly different. It has different intensities of frequencies, and it makes it sound more natural, like a flowing river or rustling trees. It’s a nice mix of weird human ideas, like white noise, and elvin ideas, like all of our ‘music’ that’s just basically wind chimes with some gnomes humming in the background.

That’s my last thought before I slip into a deep, dreamless sleep, far enough to oversleep past my alarm enough to almost be late for school the next day.

#kotlc #detz #oh dex i project on to you so much

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loverofallthingssmart · 3 years

Text

so i’ve been lacking kotlc content and my brain is empty so have the headcanons i came up with for gray’s college au (minus stina and wylie because i didn’t think of them so sorry monarchs maybe next time) like a few months ago (love you babe <3)

FITZ

mom friend

works at the same coffee shop as a baker as marella and that’s how she knows him

is a baker and tries to help jensi by promising a baked treat for every good grade

(It backfired and now he just provides the snacks every session)

best friends with keefe

older brother of biana by one year (DUH)

on a scholarship (for what i don’t know)

uber rich like super rich, the vackers are actually minor european royalty

has glasses but wears contacts to protect his “popular boy” image (we all know he’s a dork like come on)

BIANA

is a tutor (tutors jensi at math)

basically is the most vocal kam and marellinh shipper of them all

she does varsity volleyball and is on an athletic scholarship

majors in law???maybe??

best friends with sophie and is linh’s first real friend at the new school (like how dex was sophie’s in canon)

low key matchmaker and claims kam or marellalinh happened because of her

the one who suggests going to the coffee shop for tutoring sessions (mainly to bother her brother)

again, just like fitz, super rich because the vackers are actually minor european royalty

she’s the one keefe goes to for relationship advice and they're the brotp

the distinguished lesbian (or bisexual)

one of the only people in the gang to actually process stress healthily (get my babes some therapy please)

DEX

techno whiz (DUH)

basically in charge of the wi-fi and all the electronics and internet and such at the coffee shop

majoring in cyber security or something like that (minoring in data analysis for business to help with the coffee shop??)

his dad runs the coffee shop (elwin is in nursing school and owns the record store and harasses sophie for fun)

marella and dex are brotp because they like the same music and are the chaotic dumbasses of the group (we stan a bunch of dumb geniuses)

the one that’s not technically in your business but is a sucker for gossip

(amazing with kids and helps keefe with his child studies work)

Has ADHD which is why he focuses on tinkering and has a fidget cube

SOPHIE

the “perfect” friend (we all have that one friend who’s good at everything)

majoring in neuroscience (with a variety of minors and stuff) but not really sure what she wants to do when she’s done with college

everyone babies her and linh

youngest but makes up for it by exuding the rebellious older sister vibes since she and keefe are the ones suggesting and doing all these crazy ideas

has never backed down from a dare (and that’s how she earns marella’s respect)

tam’s first friend (like how dex is sophie’s in canon)

the one matchmaker who remains neutral in arguments (so the sneaky and sly matchmaker to biana’s loud and vocal one)

works at the record store by organizing the records and doing the displays and crunching the numbers (she’s too anxious to work at the register)

the record store is her second home (get it like elwin’s office in canon cuz she’s in there all the time)

lets elwin test his nursing knowledge on her and helps him study along with keefe (photographic memory buddies)

grady and edaline are her adopted parents

disaster child: she is quite literally a mess when she is hyper focused; no sleep, barely eats, stress (there’s a VERY good reason why she’s babied)

KEEFE

the clyde to sophie’s bonnie (the ultimate partner in crime duo)

best friends (turned boyfriends) with tam and thought thinking your friend was so super attractive was normal (biana and sophie helped him figure it out that “no keefe you do not want to kiss your bro platonically”)

was the one who helped tam and linh dye their hair silver

super protective of linh (even though he knows literally everyone in the group can hold their own he can’t help his older brother tendencies)

him and tam are the mushy gushy couple but also the married couple (don’t ask me how they can be both they just are)

majoring in psychology or child studies (used to major in business before he said a big fuck you to his parents and did what he want with the help from his friends)

lives with tiergan (who is the gang’s father along with grady and elwin and maybe alden)

does inventory at the record store

the local prankster at the college (his pranks are legendary and he’s never been caught, thanks to fitz, dex, and sophie helping him)

“can” drive (thinks he can but is that one driver that everyone is scared for their life with him behind the wheel) and do math

TAM

he is short like 5’3 and full of RAGE

literally saw keefe and his brain went 404 error (had a crush on keefe the whole time but thought it was unrequited and didn’t want to ruin their friendship)

works at the record store and actually does the inventory while keefe slacks around and flirts with him

has a damn good poker face BUT

blushes very easily (keefe thinks this is adorable and will always try to rile tam up...it works every time)and because of that gets teased by the gang a lot (all in good fun)

him and sophie are complete gossip buddies and paint each others nails and such

one time tam wore braids in his hair because of sophie (or marella!) and keefe would NOT stop drooling over it...now he puts braids in his hair whenever he wants to mess with keefe

majoring in family law so he can help with child custody and stuff like that

can’t drive OR do math (so he really didn’t get luck in any department)

super protective of linh especially from their parents

a gay disaster but thinks he’s low key about it

LINH

tall like maybe 5’7, 5’8 but still gives off little sister vibes

has a pet lemur named Rocco because she wanted an exotic animal and tam can’t say no to her

majoring in education (wants to be a kindergarten teacher maybe??)

bad at driving but good at math (neither of the song siblings can drive how sad)

an oblivious cinnamon roll (she can’t tell when people are being flirtatious which leads to more protective tam and keefe)

functional (that’s like pushing it) lesbian

loves heeled boots (her and biana go on shopping trips together….sometimes with a very reluctant sophie and an enthusiastic keefe)

studied dance and martial arts when she was like super young but quit because she felt overwhelmed

MARELLA

our favorite disaster lesbian

maybe 5’4 and adores her very tall gf

since her mom was sick and in and out of hospitals and on meds and such, she learned how to control her emotions and has a hard time opening up (but with the gang she’s comfortable and doesn’t really have that issue because she instinctively trusts them and feels safe with them)

keeps braids in her hair because her mother used to braid her hair and learned how to braid in her memory (she’s not dead but it helps with the pain)

her (and fitz surprisingly) are the designated hair braiders (biana is in charge of makeup and linh and keefe are in charge of outfits) for sleepover makeovers

surprisingly good at driving (you would think she’s a reckless driver but she’s not) but bad at math

the one sarcastic, done with everything waitress at the coffee shop

wanted to major in neuroscience because of her mom but then fell in love with gender studies and civil rights and stuff

GROUP HEADCANONS

fitz and biana are the best drivers and drive everyone around in Sophie’s sparkly white minivan named Silveny

PLATONIC CUDDLES FOR LIFE!!! everyone loves their cuddles and sometimes they just pile on top of each other in someone’s room and fall asleep like that

jensi is technically the honorary member of the gang so he’s included but not included included

when they're in the coffee shop trying to tutor jensi…..it's a mess there’s yelling, they’re getting sidetracked and they're getting side-eyes and annoyed glances thrown at them but it doesn’t matter because “no keefe a +b is not supposed to be 34” “fitz i don’t care if you got an A in calculus, i’m the tutor and this is college level algebra” “hey, stop getting crumbs all over the paper!” “this is fitz’s fault why does he always have to bake such good treats” “is this jelly on my goddamn notes”

whenever one of them is feeling down they all have this whole ritual of them like going to get ice cream and then going to a park and screaming at the sky….it's very cathartic and really helps the person who’s feeling shitty

EVERYONE has been adopted by ALL of the good parents (namely grady and edaline, della and alden, tiergan, elwin, and kesler and juline)

they each have their own designated spots in each ones’ house and the triplets (dex’s siblings..rex, bex and lex) know them and count them as family

they're a found family ok (in a modern au whatever still a found family)

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stellarune · 4 years

Text

kotlc yt au hc bc i want to write but cant *actually* write so its the next best thing

biana makes historical versions of famous costumes (disney, barbie, you name it) shes basically the cosplay queen. she did a lot of stitching by hand before her accident which cost her her arm, so now she mostly does it with a machine (look, amputee!biana is in every single on of my human aus). her videos are very chaotic bc shes mostly just making it up as she goes, but in the end, she gives a proofed step by step how to for the dress/coat/wtv. since shes so rich, all of her paterns are free as well. she has around 3m subscribers. she does charity streams.

dex is a maker. he does reproductions of weapons he likes from video game, movies, animes you name it. he has an ongoing series called “will i finally manage to make a lightsaber this year ?” it comes out every year in july, and is one of hs most viewed videos. he also works to make his own patinas and experiment with different kinds of finnish for his pieces. he took a year off off youtube at one point to learn how to make jewellery, and now hes back with a store, and some custom rings ! he has around 1.5m subs, but some of his videos can get as many as 10m views. he never monetizes his videos.

fitz is a baking youtuber, in theory. the first few years on his channels were basically just baking tutorials without voiceover. but he did one live strem for 100k and the fans were absolutely shook at his voice and face, and he just never could go back to anonimity. how did he get that many subs ? well, all of his videos had the fuck ups included, and step by step guides on how to fix these mistakes. also the editing job was flawless. now he does baking experiments, and some cakes on request. he has a few monetized videos, but only with small companies that really need advertizing, or ridiculous products. (hes been known for doing a video sponsored by chin workout equipent) he has around 3m subscribers as well.

keefe is the random guy. he does art challenges, and trends, and just videos that seem pulled out of nowhere (”i set up a fake shower in the middle of the street lol”) he takes part in drama, as in he watches from the sidelines, then makes a shitty edit summarising the whole thing. hes never pretended to eb serious, and the people watching him know hes not. hes released one song on spotify that is just a compilation of everytime katherin bennett said urinoirs in That Video. hes fairly unproblematic though, and everytime he sets up soemthing crazy like the bathroom stall, he finds a way (legal or not) to let anyone that might need it use it. he has arund 6m subs, and definitely does big charity dnations

linh and marella are gamers. they dont have the same channel, but their content is fairly similar, even though their approch to it is wildly different. marella always tries to follow the rules so much she creates chaos, and linh generally gets distracted by side quests for a whole episode. theyre mostly known for their extremely different DBH gameplays, with marella ending up with the bad ending somehow, even though she mostly followed the good storyline, and linh killing way too many people unnessessarily by panicking. they both have around 5m subs

tam and sophie both are editors. theyre the ones that make the videos. sophie works with biana keefe and fitz while tam works with linha and dex. marella has jensi. theyre the ones that get the crew together.

linh and marella decide to do a collab, but jensi cant edit marellas half, since he has to leave for college or wtv, so sophie, who watches a lot of tams side videos (conspiracy theories) sends him an email being like “hi, i heard you needed an editor, and i dont sleep ever and editing keeps my mind off things i dont wanna think ab, so im here if you need me. oh and btw, links to the channels im the editor of”

since sophie is a vv good editor, tam answers like “oh yeah thatd be great heres my number !” and now theyre chatting, both for work and just as friends.

then comes the actual collab

its nothing special, ut its a fan fave, both linah and arella win a ton of subs from it

then fitz, one night, is like “oh, btw, do you know anyone who lives near **** bc im looking for a roommate” and sophie is like “yeah i gotchu, y cous dex lives nearby, and hed appreciate a bit of help for the rent so ill hook u up”

anyways, theres a small “wait youre THAT sophie ????” from tam, but it doesnt matter, fitz and dex move in together.

soph and biana are long suffering parents looking at their children who have a crush on each other, without realizing they also are the children who have a crush on each other.

marella and linh get together quite easily, comparing to the rest

they simply did a qna; and one of the questions was like “are you dating ???” and marella is like “nah, i wish” and linhs like “id be down”. and thats it.

dex and fitz egt together after an accidental kiss

sophie and biana are tipical oblivious wlws, and start dating after a kiss to piss off homophobes (its in character dont @ me)

no one knows wtf keefe and tam are. they dont know if they are dating, or hate eachother, or have the bromance of the century. its confusing to everyone and they like it that way.

does anyone want a part 2 ??

#kotlc #keefe sencen #dex diznee #fitz vacker #biana vacker #sophie foster #linh song #tam song #marella redeck #headcanons #youtube au #detz #fedex #kam #sobiana #marelinh #gay kotlc #lgbt kotlc

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ravenaboutfandom · 3 years

Note

PART2PART2MOREKEEFITZOPHIEPLEASE

p.s.a. the three dummies are not together yet in askblog canon (they’re still in the idiot stage)

also this is kind of long so i’ll put a read more

- keefe confessed his crush on fitz to biana in, like, middle school, then fitz confessed his crush on keefe to biana, then then sophie moved in and confessed her crush on fitz, then keefe, then keefe and fitz confessed their crushes on sophie to biana, separately, of course, and it was very stressful for her not to tell anybody. she did manage to help get them together, in the end. they’re oblivious idiots and we love/hate them for it

- fitz had his bi realization in theatre one day when keefe was in an improv scene with someone (idk maybe like jensi) and he was being ridiculous and fitz was like well. s***.

- fitz had to try really, really hard not to give himself away and little does he realize that keefe has been trying really, really hard not to give himself away for like. at least three years now. oh my gosh are they idiots. are we sure we still love them?

- sophie arrives and oh my gosh fitz is so cute and oh my gosh why is everyone at this school hot except me and oh my gosh i hate this school keefe’s puppy dog eyes are killing me and basically she’s helpless (*insert hamilton people cheering*)

- don’t get me wrong the three are like platonically inseparable but the pining is very intense

- fintan is the theatre teacher and he’s also aware of the boys’ pining and he likes to pair them together to make keefe squirm

- hooray keefe for having more guts than the other two! he pulls sophie and fitz away during study hall and says “i’ve got tickets to (theme park) are you busy this saturday?” and he’s so fidgety and fitz is like why are you asking her out with me here? and then sophie, whose brain is working a little faster, is like “wait... like... a date? with... both of us?” and keefe gulps and nods and fitz finishes computing and is also a total dork so he gives them both a bear hug and there’s much blushing and they’re so glad they weren’t the only ones.

- who’s the first person they tell? biana, of course! she explodes at them with “i told you so”s and “oh my gosh”s and “do you have any idea what you’ve put me through”s and she squeals and jumps up and down and <3

- when saturday comes, after sophie facetimes with biana for outfit help and biana forces outfit help on fitz and dex facetimes sophie for some hardcore teasing, keefe picks them up on his motorcycle (”i don’t think we can all fit on here, keefe”) (”shut up foster i don’t have my car”) (“did you guys pack sunscreen it’s going to be hot”) (“fitzy you know i’m too hot to get sunburned”) (h*** yeah you are) (etc.)

- keefe wears a cropped grey batman shirt and ripped skinny jeans and black converse high tops

- fitz wears his varsity jacket and a plain white t and khaki shorts. he wears red vans.

- sophie wears light wash overall shorts, doc martens, and a collared red crop top

- sophie is very nervous in line for those rollercoasters, and she tries not to let them see but keefe ruffles her hair and fitz squeezes her hand and she’s okay.

- she definitely screams and is wobbly after, and they think it’s so cute.

- they ride all day, and have burgers and milkshakes for lunch. keefe buys them churros and cotton candy.

- keefe is the one getting scared in the haunted house ride, and sophie leans her head on his shoulder and fitz wraps his arm around him.

- as it gets later, sophie gets cold and fitz offers her his jacket. oh, it’s so warm, and it smells so good-

- sophie buys a caramel apple for them to share, plus coffee, and suddenly it’s almost eleven and they have to get her home before midnight or else grady will murder them, so they’re back on the motorcycle and fitz wraps his arms more tightly around sophie and kisses her cheek, whispering “pass it on,” and she blushes bright red and pecks keefe’s jaw, which was very distracting and almost made him crash, foster, and she had no right to surprise him like that-

- (he gets her back on the porch. on the lips. serves her right.)

- fitz is unhooking his leg from the motorcycle when he realizes that sophie still has his jacket, but oh well. he lifts the helmet off of him (it had passed when sophie left) and gives keefe a smooch before running inside.

- keefe sits there for a minute, then drives off with the hugest grin on his face.

#raven's headcanons #sokeefitz #raven's aus #kotlc foxfire high au #keefe sencen #sophie foster #fitz vacker

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girlofmanyfandoms · 4 years

Text

Advocates

A/n: So, I feel bad for not posting lately, here’s my AU where I take a slightly different take on the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. A few changes that I’m trying to make: more friendship-based, no love triangle, probably more gay, more racially diverse cast (without any harmful stereotypes). I’ll try to stay true to each character’s personality!

I’ll also take this time to say there’s stuff I haven’t released yet, so tell me if you want me to release those!

Disclaimer: This is in no way hating on Shannon’s series, I just wanna see where the story would go if we took a slightly different approach!

Warnings: I didn’t edit this at all-

Word count: 2868

Tag list: @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @bookwyrminspiration @holesinmyfalseconfidence @percabetn @an-absolute-travesty @linhammon-roll-bromance101 @linhamon-roll @holesinmyfalseconfidence @linhamon2 @a-lonely-tatertot @loverofallthingssmart

Let me know if you want to be added or if I forgot to tag you!

“Uh, no boys, she’s sitting with me.”

Jensi raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with her sitting here, Marella?”

“Nothing! I just need to pull her to the side for some girl talk.” Marella pulled Sophie’s sleeve, navigating across the cafeteria to an empty booth in the corner. Sitting down and adjusting herself, she extended a hand. “Marella Redek. No nicknames. I know the ins and outs of everything around here.”

“Sophie Foster,” Sophie introduced, shaking her hand, though her response came out as a murmur. She brushed her hair out of her face, trying to shrink as small as possible. “But I’m sure you knew that.”

Marella nodded. “You must’ve caused the Council a lot of trouble if you’ve gotten your way into Level Two right after being with humans. What was it like, by the way?”

“Pretty normal, I guess. Well, not for me, I was a highschool senior at 12, and my parents wanted me to attend community college instead of an Ivy League. Even the newspapers were talking about it, and that ticked my parents off big time.”

“What?”

“I know, crazy, right?” Sophie started digging into her lunch. “Why would the news choose a story about a child over actual breaking news?”

“No, I meant those words you used. A high school, college, a new paper? What do they mean?”

“Oh, that’s right! Those are more human terms, sorry,” Sophie apologized. “There are levels of human school: Preschool, which is usually ages 1 to 4, elementary school is from ages 5 to 10, middle school is ages 11 to 13, high school is ages 14 to 17, and college is at least four years, and gives you the certification you need to get a good paying job. Newspapers are just mini books made completely of paper that tell you what’s going on in the world.”

“Oh,” Marella said, looking off into the distance. “I guess I never really thought that human school would be so different from Foxfire. We just have these levels, and then the elite levels. What was your human family like?”

Sophie tugged out an eyelash, which didn’t go unnoticed on Marella’s end. “U-um-“

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be pushing you so much on your first day. I should be helping you adjust.” She toyed with her food. “So, how’s our world been for you so far?”

“A little overwhelming,” Sophie admitted. “I don’t feel half as glamorous as anything around me. We don’t exactly have crystal houses and fancy ball gowns in San Diego.”

“You don’t?” Marella shook her head vigorously. “Right. Sorry. Let’s get back on track. Anything you think you’ll need to know that I can help you with?”

Sophie clutched her knees, now rolled up into a ball. This Marella girl was a bit intense at first, but maybe she wasn’t so bad. After all, she had saved her from sitting with some yes-boys. The declared leader of them seemed friendly, but a little too hyper. No, she decided, Marella wasn’t half bad. “I don’t know. Anything really, you know best.”

“Alright, then. This place is sort of a maze, try to find someone with a similar schedule to you so you can walk together until you know your way around. You know Stina Heks?”

Sophie shivered and nodded, thinking back to seeing her raging through the halls screaming about someone making her bald. She could’ve sworn she heard her say “Disney,” too.

“Stay away from her. Stereotypical bully, not afraid of fighting dirty. The Vackers, Keefe Sencen, and their little bubble are all the buzz. They’re pretty nice, and Sencen’s a bit of a flirt, but if you don’t like attention, maybe steer clear from them.”

Sophie let out a bitter laugh. “Easier said than done. The Vackers are the ones who found me. Fitz brought me here, Alden sent him out to find me, and Della helped me get ready for Foxfire.” Sophie paused to pull out another eyelash. “I don’t think Biana likes me much.

Marella’s eyes widened in shock as she leaned back and blew out a breath.

“Is that bad?” Sophie was panicking a bit now. What had she screwed up now?

“Well, it’s not good for your social status, that’s for sure.” Marella started slicing her food, which resembled Jello. “If you’re on her bad side, you’ll want to stay away from Maruca, too. They’re best friends.”

“Great,” Sophie sighed. One day in and she already had a long list of people to avoid. “Anything else I should know about?”

“Oh, yeah, but I’ll stick to school stuff. Your most difficult subjects are gonna be Elementalism and Alchemy.”

“I can help with that,” a boy called, sliding next to Sophie in the booth and placing his tray down. “Dex Dizznee, by the way.”

“Sophie Foster.” She grinned a bit. Edaline had gone without her to the apothecary and mentioned the “Disneys.” This must’ve been who Stina was shouting at. “I saw what you did to Stina earlier. Wicked move.”

“Finally, someone understands the genius! She deserved it, too, after what a pain she was last year. That’s where the alchemy comes in handy.”

Marella rolled her eyes, and Dex leaned back casually. “Don’t act like you don’t think she deserved it Marella. You know she did.”

“Ok, it was kind of satisfying seeing her run around like that-“

“Yes!”

“-but don’t take it as a sign that I’ll join in. I have a reputation to protect.”

Dex snorted. “Yeah, as the gossip girl.”

“I don’t gossip, I have connections,” she corrected.

“Whatever you say madam,” Dex relented jokingly. “What about you, Soph? Got anything you could build a reputation for?”

“Not really,” she expressed. “I don’t want the spotlight. I just want to make it by here.”

Marella took a bite of her lunch and scoffed. “Good luck with that.”

“Tell you what, my next class is Multispecesial Studies, I can walk you to Alchemy,” Dex offered.

“Really? That would be great, thank you!”

“No problem. It’s hard making it by for people like us.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marella chugged down her lushberry juice.

“We’re different, special.”

“So, outcasts?” Sophie rested her head in her hand and stirred her drink nonchalantly, taking in the view of the cafeteria. It was remarkably pristine and clean, its white walls with blue accents not showing a hint of grime. With the barstools at tables all around the center and the booths to the side, it looked like every diner’s dream.

“No, not outcasts. Think more sideline supporters.”

“So, advocates,” Sophie helped. “I don’t really see that, but maybe one day. Right now I just want to pass.”

“Well you can’t do that on an empty stomach,” Marella chided playfully. “Eat up. Lady Galvin is a stickler for accuracy.”

————

Fantastic. Sophie had only been there one day and she had already ruined her Alchemy teacher’s favorite cloak. Marella was right, Alchemy was tough. She’d have to take Dex up on his offer. She wandered through the halls, trying to find the way to her next class, P.E. She strolled like this for a few more minutes before a snobby voice called to her from down the hall.

“Lost, new kid?”

Sophie winced. Great. The number one person on her People To Avoid list had already found a way into her world. She attempted to speed walk, but the clacking of leveled boots followed quickly, and she was spun around with a harsh push.

Stina laughed, and for a 12 year old elven child, it sounded quite maniacal. “Why so frightened? I don’t bite. Much.”

Somehow Sophie sincerely doubted that. There had to be some fangs behind that evil smirk. But maybe she could play it cool with this demon in disguise.

“I’m not frightened, just lost. Do you think you could point me to P.E.? I don’t want to be late on my first day.” Sophie held her breath, hoping she came off as casual.

“My pleasure,” Stina grinned a sickeningly sweet smile. “In fact, I’ll walk you there. Wouldn’t want our newest prodigy to miss class because of some weak instructions, now would we?”

“No, of course not.”

Stina linked their arms, acting as if they were old pals going on a walk in the park to catch up. It was silent except for the shuffling of their shoes, so Sophie made sure she was hyper aware of her surroundings, trying to memorize the numbers on each locker and how they connected to the twisting, winding paths of the school.

At this point, she was sure Stina planned to do something crazy to her, like stuff her in a locker or hide her body, so she had to think fast. Luckily, this was her specialty.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” Sophie began, stopping abruptly. Stina stumbled a bit, but regained her composure in seconds. “I forgot something at my locker! Oh, I’m so sorry, but Edaline told me I’d need what was in my locker. You go ahead, I shouldn’t keep you from your class! Don’t worry, I’ll find my way to Phys Ed.”

Sophie speed walked away, leaving Stina in the dust. Once she rounded the corner, she took off, speeding through corridors and halls until she ran out of breath. Giving up, she rested her head against the wall, trying to clear her head when she was forced to her feet and slammed into a locker. There was a click, and through the slits, Sophie could see Stina’s eyes crinkled in smugness and satisfaction. Yet through all of this, the only thing Sophie was thinking of was, That was pretty lame on a scale of bullying-ness.

“Good luck getting out of there, Foster,” she remarked. “Now, you get comfortable, I have some business to attend to.”

“Gonna go sharpen your claws?” Sophie snapped.

“No, newbie, I’m going to put the princess of Everglen in her place. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated!”

And with that, Stina clacked away, her footsteps receding and the silence finding its way to creep back in.

________

Sophie had no way of telling time. This she had learned when she realized she had in fact left something in her locker: her Imparter and the Ruewen crest. She let out an audible groan of frustration, and tried to occupy herself with her temporary home. There were books about unicorn breeding on the shelf above her, to which Sophie wrinkled her nose. Next, there was a box of animal pins, glittering and shiny, and she was very tempted to stuff a few in her pocket, but she restrained herself. She took to examining the pictures on the door with what little light she had and realized, to her disdain, that this was Stina’s locker.

Sophie shivered in disgust and tried patting herself out and getting the Stina vibes off of her.

“Well, if I’m going to be stuck here, I might as well take advantage of it,” she decided. Sophie put all of her energy into memorizing the photo album beside her, and wound up with some lovely photos of baby Stina, along with some other cherished memories. She was scanning through Stina’s diary and chuckling to herself at her inevitable revenge when yelling came from around the corner. Sophie dropped the journal and shuffled forward a bit, peering through the slits. This could be her saving.

“MESS WITH BIANA ONE MORE TIME-” Maruca had her pinned to the wall and looked ready to murder her, but Stina remained unfazed.

“Relax, duchess, you might be the heir soon,” Stina responded coolly.

That was the breaking point. Maruca opened her locker, which was, unfortunately, next to the one Sophie was trapped in, and slammed it shut.

“Maruca!” Sophie yelled, but Stina rattled in her locker, and shouted curses over her, both to insult Maruca and to put an end to Sophie’s escape plan.

Maruca was quick to exit, and soon enough it was just Stina and Sophie, trapped in their lockers, trying to determine the other person’s next move.

“Do you happen to know how to break down locker doors?” Stina commented dryly.

“Would I still be here if I did?”

“Fair.”

“You got a hairpin?” Sophie asked. “Or some thin piece of metal you can slide in between the crack of our lockers? I might be able to break out of mine by picking the lock.”

“And what about me? Gonna leave me here to rot while you run free?” She harrumphed. “I don’t think so. If I’m suffering you suffer with me.”

“I’ll get you out too, just answer the question and slide the metal through the crack.”

Stina huffed, but Sophie heard the sound of metal on metal scratch as something hit her foot. “My family crest. Do not scratch it.”

“You got it.” Sophie used her fingernails to get a little bit of extra room before sliding the crest through the door. She maneuvered it a bit, and the door let out a click as it swung open. Sophie fell forward face first, but sat up and whooped in victory.

Stina cleared her throat. “I’m still here.”

“Oh, I know,” Sophie poked smugly. “But if I’m going to break you outta there, you’re going to owe me a favor.”

“I do NOT-“

“Fine, then stay there. And spend all day, heck, maybe even until tomorrow, stuck in that cramped locker with no food or water whatsoever.” Sophie began to stroll away slowly, biding for time just in case Stina changed her mind about the offer.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Just get me out.”

Sophie cheered to herself silently and crouched down in front of the locker and got to work. Stina was peering through the slits in the locker, and for a moment they felt each other’s breath on their faces and they met eyes before glaring at each other and backing up a bit. The door swung open, and Stina came crashing down onto Sophie.

Stina pushed herself off of her quickly, seeming very flustered. She reached out a hand to Sophie, which she took. Stina shook Sophie’s hand off of hers.

“I need my family crest,” she said, looking off to the side uncomfortably.

“Oh,” Sophie frowned, unsure why she felt a little disappointed. Probably because my back hurts and I was just refused the little she could have given as thanks, she thought. “Right. Take it.”

Stina’s fingers brushed against Sophie’s as she took it back and pinned it onto her cloak once more. “Well.” Stina lifted her nose upon in the air, regaining her haughty facade. “Until we meet again, Foster.”

“Yeah, Sophie nodded, getting back to her feet. Once Stina was out of earshot, she muttered, “Hopefully that’s never.”

Sophie dusted herself off, finally registering her circumstances. She was late for class, and she looked disheveled. Stina had just walked off, leaving her lost, confused, and just waiting for a punishment of her lifetime. Sighing, she walked along the edges of a pyramid.

“Ms. Foster,” a cold voice crowed from behind her.

Sophie recognized that voice. Dame Alina. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Is there a particular reason that you’re not in class right now?”

“Uh-“

“Incoming!” a boy screamed from the top of his lungs, a bunch of verminions on his tail. Alina shrieked and ran into a neighboring hall for shelter. Sophie took this as an opportunity to find her way out of this maze and escape Alina’s grasp. She followed the boy until they reached the Healing Center, where he hid until the verminions passed by. Sophie stopped. She could go in and ask whatever medic was present for directions, but the thought of going anywhere near a doctor made her sick to the stomach.

“Can I help you, new girl?”

Sophie jumped. The boy she had been following was right in front of her, and she instinctively slunk back.

“Chill, I won’t hurt you. The name’s Keefe, but you can call me-“

“Sorry Keefe, but I’m really late for class, do you know where P.E. Is?”

He furrowed his eyebrows and massaged his neck, looking a bit hurt. “Uh, yeah, take a left after the next three halls.”

“Thank you!” Sophie bolted to class and arrived there out of breath.

“Sophie! Just in time for us to start splotching,” Dex waved her over. “It’s easy, you just use your telekinesis to move this marble into the other person. If you succeed, it bursts and you get a paint splotch on you.”

“Great,” she muttered. “You won’t believe what I’ve just gone through.”

“Tell me at the end of class. We’re gonna need all of our focus for this.”

“Alright,” she sighed. She couldn’t be upset, seeing Dex that excited lifted her mood just a bit. And that was just the boost she needed.

________

This was it. It was down to her and Fitz for the Splotching Champion title. Sophie gathered her concentration. She could not mess this up.

The splotcher was thrown in between them, and Sophie gave it her all. The marble exploded with a loud boom, and they were both thrown into opposite sides of the room. Sophie saw nothing but the green paint, and then darkness.

#hopefully you liked it 🥺#it was really fun to write so I’ll continue if you want it #lemme know #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fanfic #sophie foster #dex dizznee #marella redek #jensi babblos #stina heks #maruca endal

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