Talk:Book 7: Flashback/@comment-24.100.95.102-20181123165953/@comment-35320625-20181123191159

Those are a few examples, but there are examples where the first choice works out. Also, is SWM known for doing the expected? If the "first choice not working out" is the expected, then that's definitely not what Shannon will do.

Some examples of love triangles where the first choices DO work out:

In the Great Gatsby, Daisy loved Jay Gatsby first, but married the rich Tom Buchanan second. When Jay comes back, Daisy falls in love again. The Princess Bride- Buttercup meets Westley first, falls and love, and then Westley goes away, and she is betrothed to the Prince Humperdinck. Westley comes back and saves her. In Star Wars, Leia is drawn to Han, but Luke has a major crush on her. When Leia chooses Han, that works out, because Luke finds out he's Leia's brother. I can keep going. The point is, it could go either way.

Second. There is no way that Sophie's crush is childish, especially if it has lasted SEVEN books. There isn't anything normal or childish about their crushes, especially Fitz's. Fitz finally realized he liked Sophie after the Arthropleura almost killed him (Flashback, short story). It's said that it taught him never to take anything for granted. And I guess we could apply this to real life, too. It's hard to grasp our mortality sometimes, to realize that every day on this planet is a gift. And if Fitz realized his love for Sophie on the brink of being gone forever, his crush on Sophie is very special. In the end Flashback, Sophie says something similar in narration. "Or.... maybe that was why she was more tempted [to try matchmaking] than she'd been before. Maybe what was going on with Tam was also a reminder of how quickly the game could change and something super important coud be taken away. And maybe it was better to make sure there could never be something she'd look back at and think, If only I hadn't been so afraid." This is why their crushes- and now their relationship- are special. Because they savor every moment they have, and live every day like it is their last. That's why I ship Fitzphie. Because they truly understand the meaning of life.

Also, Keefe has issues, too. He's incredibly jealous of Fitz and Sophie's relationship, plus he doesn't trust Sophie and is always trying to protect her. Fitz has proclaimed many times that Sophie is the world's most powerful elf, and though he does protect her, he respects that Sophie is a powerful woman and can take of herself. As much as I love Keefe, his behavior reminds me a little bit of the sexist pattern men take of "protect the weak women while us strong men take care of problem." Before you get mad at me, let me say that I don't think Keefe was doing this intentionally. I think we can agree now that both Keefe and Fitz have equal flaws. If they didn't have flaws, the relationships would be too perfect.

Maybe she was crying because it was more impactful for her to hear it from Fitz than from Keefe. She can never tell when Keefe is joking or not, so that's why she never cries when he tells her she's beautiful. Also, Keefe has always said that in a friendly way, whereas Fitz was saying that romantically. I agree that Fitzphie might go through some tough times in book eight, but they will only emerge stronger and closer than ever.