Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-43818200-20190914014325/@comment-216.139.22.227-20191016230405

I ship Keefoster/Sokeefe/Keephie so hard. Like, SO hard! But before I get into that I just want to get a few things down:

Okay, so I like Fitz. I really do. I completely understand why Fitzphie/Sophitz is a thing, and I was an avid shipper of those two for a while. But I'm definitely team Keefoster now, and I feel like all you Fitzphie shippers who honestly just can't fathom why on Earth we would do that deserve a thorough explanation.

Also, please note that this is all based on personal opinion, and what I think is in ideal ship. I can't speak for the rest of you, so please, if I make a generalization that offends you, I didn't mean to! :')

'''DISCLAIMER! I have not read Flashback! My evaluation is based on the information given up till Nightfall! '''I hope you'll read anyway, lol.

Okay, I have so much to say here I'm not even sure where to begin, but lets just start (eek imma be jumping all over the place I can already feel it lol).

1) I really shipped Fitzphie in the beginning. But a small part of why Keefoster took the prize is because Fitzphie doesn't go anywhere. Let me explain what I mean by that. I do not mean that it doesn't look like Fitzphie is going to be canon, because I definitely don't think that, lol. What I mean is, Sophie and Fitz's relationship hasn't really progressed or changed at all since the first book. They've gotten to know each other a little more, yes. They've become Cognates, obviously. But when Sophie looks at Fitz, she feels a fluttery feeling in her heart, feels captivated by his very, very teal gaze, and feels like she's gonna implode every time he flashes a movie star smile. And that's cute- really, it is. It's a great starting point for a ship. But thing, is it never got past that starting point. Fitz is still this model of perfection in Sophie's mind, and though I think it's sweet how much she appreciates his 'Captain Perfect'ness, it frustrates me that they haven't reached a deeper understanding. Fitzphie, for me, is a little too sweet and simple, and while those are great, ideal things to have in an in-real-life relationship, I also feel like for a book, it's too... well... boring. Not to offend anyone.

Keefoster was nothing like that. Upon first meeting, Sophie thought Keefe was a slightly annoying mischief-maker who didn't take anything seriously. Over the course of the books, there relationship developes, something that was very lacking in Fitzphie's execution. Sokeefe (I'm just gonna switch between ship names if that's fine with y'all) progressed and changed an incredible amount, with Keefe slowly revealing his broken, scared, darker side. Underneath all Keefe's quips and jokes is a scarred, hurt boy, and Sophie comes to realize that. In the beginning, when she looked at Keefe she just saw his trademark smirk and styled hair, rolled her eyes, and begrudgingly accepted his presence. Now when she looks at him she sees every little bit of hurt he's hiding behind that carefree smirk. Sees everything he's afraid of showing in his eyes. She values him and wants to protect him. Keefoster just feels so real. While Fitzphie feels like this pure, fairy-tale-esque story that's almost too good to be true. (I know that's why a lot of people ship it, but to me it feels almost forced. Again, just my opinion.)

2) Keefe just feels so much more complex, to be honest. Fitz is sweet. He's Captain Perfect. Wonderboy. We like him (or... most of us do). But Fitz seems to lack depth. On the surface, he's the model of perfection. Dig a little deeper, and you see that he's pressured by his family's status. He's worried about disappointing them. He wants to go through the Elite Levels at Foxfire and make his family proud, but is still selfless enough to throw that all away for Sophie's sake. Dig even further and you see that he's got anger issues. He's not really perfect. He gets mad- violent even- and does things he regrets. But that's really all there is to it. (That I've seen. Once again, haven't read Flashback.) Keefe, however, is this intricate, complicated, fatally flawed person, which makes him so much more relatable. On the surface he's a rebel. A classic bad-boy who skips school and teases mercilessly. But he's also scared. He's struggling to understand how he fits in the world- struggling to separate the grays that make up his world into blacks and whites- struggling to find out where the 'hard lines' he won't cross are- struggling with his love and hate for his parents. He's afraid that he'll never live up to what people want him to be, but at the same time he doesn't want to conform to expectations, and wants to be him- whoever he really is. Throughout it all, he makes so many mistakes, and he'll continue to make them- and through it all, he's terrified that Sophie will hate him.

"Just...promise you won't hate me..."

"I'll never hate you, Keefe..."

~Keefe Sencen and Sophie Foster, Neverseen.

Sophie is the one constant in his life. Fitz is his only other real friend, but he can't tell Fitz about the real him- the Vackers are his escape. His paradise away from the mess that is his life. If he allowed the darkness to spill over into happy-Vacker-land, it would stop being that for him. He would have nowhere to go that the dark side of his life doesn't influence, and he can't- can't- let that happen.

"I used to wish I was a Vacker. I'd be over at their house, dreading the moment I had to go home. But nope. I'm a Sencen. And it just keeps getting worse and worse." ~Keefe, Neverseen.

That's where Sophie comes in. Sophie is this incredible enigma, who, even though she knows how 'messed up' Keefe is, she doesn't leave him. She doesn't judge him. She still cares for him and protects him, and it's something he can't really fathom. Why hasn't she left yet? Honestly, why hasn't she run screaming to the hills? But she doesn't. She stays by his side like an angel on his shoulder or a guiding light. One that he desperately needs. And that's not it- you can just keep diving and diving and diving through the layers that make Keefe Sencen. They're practically endless.

3) Keefe is a positive influence on Sophie, too, weird as that sounds considering that we just went through and listed all the things that make him flawed, lol. I've heard a lot of people say that Fitz has a good impact on Sophie's self-esteem, but honestly, I just think... that's... not... true? To be completely honest, Sophie seems more nervous about her flaws when she's around Fitz. And if you won't take my word for it, take Shannon Messenger's. When Keefe says that Sophie is nervous about sharing her secrets with Fitz, Sophie's response is as follows:

"Well... yeah. But, have you met you? You're like, Captain Perfect! And I'm..."

Fitz doesn't mean to make Sophie self-conscious, and I can't really fault him for being a great guy. But nevertheless, Sophie does feel more relaxed around Keefe. The secrets she was too nervous to share with Fitz were ones she'd already told Keefe (or ones he'd figured out, both by being an Empath and by knowing her so well). Being with Keefe is safe and relaxed, because they both know each other well enough that they understand that the other will accept them for who they are, flaws and all. It makes their relationship so sweet, and I think that's something that relates to real life, too. You're probably never going to find a Fitz. Learn to accept a Keefe, and trust that they'll accept you too. You can see how relaxed Keefe and Sophie are with each other with every playful remark, quick quip, and teasing elbow. They've both cried in front of each other, messed up in front of the other, and betrayed the other, but have always managed to come back stronger for it. (Whereas, when Sophie and Fitz went through a hard time in Exile, things went back to exactly how they'd been afterwards, minus the friend-zoning/little-sister-zoning from Fitz.) Keefe helps Sophie learn not to fret so much, threatening tickle-wars when she gets too serious, and calming her down when she's overwhelmed. He lets her rant at him, and always forgives her when she hurts him, just like she does for him. (Am I the only one whose heart hurt when this happened?: "If you can't give the specifics, everything you're doing is worthless." The words hit him harder than she'd expected. But she wasn't taking them back. "...I'm doing the best I can," He told her. ~Sophie and Keefe, Neverseen.) I just feel like Sokeefe's relationship is so much more meaningful, while Fitzphie feels like, let's face it, a cute crush.

4) I like Keefoster better in part because of how Fitzphie and Keefoster react to each other, if you know what I mean. When Keefe is presented with the possibility of Fitzphie, he offers a half-hearted tease, or a sad smile, or a downcast gaze. Or even, in some cases, tells Sophie that he approves (Unless he's having a really awful time, like in Neverseen, when he became very snarkastic (snarky/sarcastic). And I gotta say, Keefe is so good at being snarkastic I can't even be mad at him for it, lol). In the beginning, when Fitz was around Keefe would tease or flirt with Sophie, but the more Keefe actually started falling in love with her, the more he slowly backed off and let Fitz have the field. Seems counterintuitive, I know, but I think that the more he loved Sophie, the more he just wanted her to be happy. And if Fitz was what made Sophie happy... he would let her go. Even if it crushed him. On the inside, he probably thinks that Sophie deserves better than he can give, and while I'm over here screaming at him to realize that's not true, I also love Sokeefe all the more for it.

She knew he really meant 'I'm not worth it'.

She hated that most of all.'

"Someday, I'm going to make you see how wrong you are."

"I'm just glad you're not shoving me away."

"You really thought I would?"

"Sometimes I think you'd be better off."

" ... I'll only be better off when you come home and I know you're safe..."

~Sophie and Keefe, Lodestar.

Another thing is, Keefe is an Empath, and he can feel every moment of Fitz's heart-fluttery effect on Sophie (another thing that makes me hurt for him). He can also feel every second of her roiling emotions when she's around him himself, and if him removing himself from the equation will make Sophie feel better, that's what he'll do- even though I think Sophie would be far worse off without him.

"...I don't want you feeling sorry for me..."

"I can't help it. But it's not pity. It's... I don't know what the word for it is. I'm too conflicted."

"...You always are when it comes to me."

~Keefe and Sophie, Lodestar.

Fitz, on the other hand, reacts differently. When Keefe makes an off-hand remark about knowing Sophie really well, Fitz will instantly rise to the challenge ("Pretty soon, she won't be hiding anything from me either." ~Fitz, Neverseen.) On occasion, in Neverseen in particular, Keefe would intentionally spark Fitz's ire out of his own frustration, and while that's not cool, I do feel like Fitz took the bait too easily. Furthermore, in Nightfall, when Sophie was giving Keefe a strangle-hug for the pictures he'd given her (ohmygosh that hug *squeals and hops up and down, fanning face*) when Fitz comes in, he 'stares at where Keefe's arms were wrapped around Sophie's waist' immediately making her let go and blush, even though she was perfectly content to koala-hug Keefe with Grady, Dex, etc. there, which ties into her feeling self-conscious around Fitz. Fitz also has a tendency to be jealous about every second he's not spending with Sophie (#bUtWe'ReCoGnAtEs), and while some people may think that it's cute and/or an affirmation of his affection for her, possessiveness is a hUgE mEGa uLTrA 'TURN OFF FOR ME WHEN READING RELATIONSHIPS UGGGHHH!!!! 'DUDE. You DON'T OWN HER. She can ''TAKE TWO STEPS WITHOUT HER COGNATE OMG. ''Okay, whew, sorry for that mini-rant. It's just that's Fitz's most glaringly unattractive personality trait for me tbh and I just can't stand it even though I love Fitzy otherwise. The 'But we're Cognates!' thing, while humorous, is very, very unappealing to me. Keefe, on the other hand, has been incredibly patient for someone whose always been second place, and the fact that he gives Sophie her space when she needs it (while also pestering her when she really needs to get something off her chest) is something I really love about him. I adore that little muffin.

5) Okay, so everyone seems to think that Keefe is the only one in Keefoster that made any mistakes. But that's not really true. Sophie and Keefe both did things they shouldn't have- but usually for each other. For instance, when Sophie hid that note for Keefe from Lady Gisela, she did that to protect him. When she didn't tell Keefe that Lord Cassius wanted to join the Black Swan, she did it to protect him. When Sophie lashed out and hurt Keefe (emotionally) during their telepathic conversation while he was in the Neverseen, she did it because she was frustrated that she couldn't protect him! Plus other reasons, but still. We noticing a trend here? The same goes for Keefe. When he joined the Neverseen, he did it to make up for Lady Gisela's awfulness (HATE HER with ALL MY HEART btw), and to help Sophie. When he took on King Dimitar, he did it to keep Sophie out of harm's way. And so on and so forth. They're both a couple well-meaning idiots, lol. But every time their relationship went through a rocky stretch, then came out closer than ever. Aside from the one little hiccup in Exile, Fitzphie has been riding on a wave of relative ease, with no meaningful development. By mid-Neverseen, Sophie and Keefe know each other incredibly well- to the point that Sophie could predict that he was going to try to sneak off to the ogre capital and wait to intercept him, and Keefe's 'you can't hide things from an Empath' line becomes more of a 'you can't hide things from me after everything we've been through' kind of a thing when you look at the subtext. Even though Sophie and Fitz had to share their secrets during their Cognate training, it just doesn't feel the same as the confidence she and Keefe have put in each other- by choice. No matter how much Keefe pestered her with his Empath-i-ness, Sophie could have chosen not to tell him anything. But she did anyway. To me, that says a lot about their relationship.'''

6) Another reason people have said that Keefoster shouldn't be is because Sophie's not in love with Keefe. That would be a very good reason- except that I'm not sure it's completely true, and even if it is, Sophie is clearly on the road to thinking of him as more than a friend. I think she just doesn't realize it yet. She's had a crush on Fitz for a long time, and because of that, she never really considered anyone else a real option. But over the course of the books, Keefe has proven himself just as capable of switching Sophie's heart into hummingbird mode as Fitz, and we've had some serious romantic tension in the scenes between them- remember in Nightfall, I think it was, when Sophie was freaking out because she found out her emotions were overwhelming to Keefe, so she tried to stay on the opposite side of the room? That was hilarious, and also make the shipper in me screech its head off. Plus, Sophie has slowly grown more protective and affectionate towards Keefe, and seems to have developed a tendency to strangle-hug him, and get very Inflictor-rage-y whenever anyone so much as touches Keefe, or says something cruel to him (Gethen totally would've had it coming, if Forkle hadn't stopped her. Dimitar had it coming, too, and Keefe had to literally, forcibly stop her that time). And how many times now has she wanted to crawl through that Impater and throttle Lady Gisela? Or what about that time she declared she wanted to break into an ogre prison just to punch her in the face for hurting Keefe? Or when she glared bloody murder at Lord Cassius and reeeaaaally wished she had her Sucker Punch with her. (Oh wow, I just realized our dear Sophie has a violent streak. XD Good think Keefe has his magical-blue-breezes to keep her chill.) My point is, I think Sophie does love Keefe- maybe platonically for now, but that's changing. And I know Keefe has had feelings for her since near the beginning. If you need more evidence, does anyone remember Sophie's 'odd disappointment' when she found out Keefe 'only' flirts with her to get the message across to Biana that he doesn't like her like that? (As a side-note, sorry Biana.) I... think I've made my point, lol.

7) I think that Sophie and Keefe need each other a whole lot more than Sophie and Fitz do. Yeah, I get it, the whole Cognate thing would be ruined (or at least awkward) if Fitzphie didn't happen, but honestly, I wouldn't be that heartbroken (again this is completely personal opinion, so if you disagree I totally get it). But on another note, Fitz has other people he can turn to. Alvar may have betrayed them, and that definitely hurt Fitz a lot, but he still has a pretty awesome little sister and two of the best parents to ever exist. Sophie never really went to Fitz with her problems much anyway, unless her Cognate training compelled her to, and Keefe... well... Keefe's mom is an evil psycho who sliced open his hand and probably had to do with murdering Jolie and betrayed him and his dad and pitted Keefe against an ogre king (which nearly killed him) and then said she did it all 'for him,' which dropped a bucketload of guilt on his shoulders. Keefe's dad is a cold, distant, emotionally abusive and controlling father who took Keefe's spirit and ripped it to shreds (as well as ruined all his drawings and blamed him for every bad thing that's like, ever happened). His best friend, Fitz, would be kind of hard to be around if Fitzphie did sail, which kind of cuts Alden, Della, and Biana out of the picture too. His hero (Alvar) betrayed everyone and went over to the dark side, trying to take Keefe with him, and Dex isn't really that close to him. Just another potential partner in crime. Honestly, Sophie is all he has anymore. And she's proven that she needs him on an emotional level, too. I'm not saying that Fitz wouldn't be crushed if Sophie rejected him, I'm just saying that in the long run I think he'd be... fine.

And those are my points. That, plus I think Sokeefe is stinkin' adorable. Their back-and-forths are so ridiculously cute, and I love his smirk. So much. Plus I love how he calls her Foster. It's unique and funny, and then when he does call her Sophie you know he's dead serious. Sophie and Keefe have just built up way more of their own rhetoric than Fitzphie. Also, what is the Great Gulon Incident?! It's driving me crazy! And how many times has Keefe had to remind Sophie to 'Breathe' now? I've lost count. But it's so ship-worthy I could literally die. And the fact that animals love Keefe is just so adorable. I can't- I can't even- UGH. Also Keefe is Batman. "I'm wearing this shirt forever, guys." Just. So. Stinkin'. CUTE! Also- just a note, the fact that Sophie's heart goes all fluttery when she looks into Fitz's eyes isn't proof that her heart doesn't love Keefe. Heart-fluttering is a biological reaction to attraction, so it doesn't debunk the whole 'loves Fitz with her head and Keefe with her heart' theory, but I've decided not to take a stance on that. Either way, Keefe is a little cinnamon roll that I just wanna hide in my pocket so no one can hurt him anymore.

Once again, I do like Fitz, and I respect Fitzphie shippers.

...But my life will still be complete when Keefe gets Fitz a hoodie that says across the front: "But We're COGNATES."

Oh yes I did.

To all those who have read this far! Have a custard burst for your dedication. And thanks!

~ Just another Keefoster shipper.

(Note: I think it did weird things to the bold when I posted this)