Talk:Sophie and Fitz/@comment-216.139.2.247-20200116133809

Hey there! Just Another Keefoster Shipper here, and I wanted to bring up some points for why I think Sokeefe will be endgame, just to see what your guys responses are. (Quick note- I won't be talking about why I think Sokeefe is 'better,' or why I don't like Fitz, just the reasons that I honestly, objectively believe that Shannon Messenger will make them end game.)

Okie doke, so, I think that before you start, you guys should probably all know that I've been analyzing books and writing strategies for 8+ years. Not kidding. I've analyzed books by Rick Riordan, Gail Carson Levine, Tui T. Sutherland, Cinda Williams Chema, and more. So I have a basis for what I'm talking about. XDD I noticed a lot of people making arguments with no real experience on the topic, so I wanted to assure you guys that I have that.

Feel free to argue with my points! I'm interested to see what you guys come up with. :3 And I am in no way saying that you should abandon your ship just because it might not be endgame. You guys are free to ship who you ship.

'''Okay, point one! 'This is a really big one, so I decided to start out with it- oftentimes a big indicator of who will be the endgame love interest is not how the character interacts with the main character (in this case, Sophie), it's often how they interact with the people around'' the main. I know, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the ship itself, but authors have time and time again used this technique to imply their ship preference before making the ship endgame.

So the question here is, who has more interesting relationships with the people around Sophie, Fitz or Keefe? I've thought pretty long about it, and my difinitive answer is Keefe. His relationship with Sandor has developed into a mutual begrudging affection that's fun to watch, whereas Fitz and Sandor's relationship is practically nonexistent. The same goes for Sophie's parents- Fitz is the Vacker Boy That Sophie Likes, whereas Keefe has developed more unique relationships with both of them, with Edaline having taken a fondness to him out of sympathy for the fact that his parents sucked, and Grady... well, we all know what Grady and Keefe's relationships is, lol. Keefe's relationship with Ro is very developed, whereas Fitz's relationship with his bodyguard, Grizel, isn't very notable. Fitz and Tam don't really seem to think much of each other, whereas Keefe and Tam have a very entertaining dynamic.

Now, granted, there are some relationships Fitz has outside of Sophie that are really interesting- his relationship with Biana, for one. His relationship with his dad (his mom not so much) is interesting, and his relationship with Dex is probably more interesting than Keefe's.

But for a lot of those people, Keefe has interesting relationships to as well- Biana had a crush on him at one point, and that's created an interesting relationship between the two. Keefe and Alden's relationship never ceases to fascinate me, and his relationship with Dex isn't quiiiiite nonexistent. Keefe, however, has little to no relationship with Linh, whereas Fitz does, but overall, he has more complex interactions with the people around Sophie. He even has a few notable relationships with Councillors- Bronte thinks he's annoying, Terik thinks his potential is fascinating, etc.

Another tell when it comes to this is that Keefe has a relationship with Fitz's parents, while Fitz has no relationship with Keefe's. (For which he should be grateful, lol.) The fact that Shannon Messenger took pains to introduce Keefe to so many of the other characters and develop unique dynamics between them is a huge tell in whether or not she plans to have Keefe end up with Sophie, even though it doesn't have much to do with Sophie herself. Trust me, I've seen it in a million other books.

Now keep in mind, I'm not saying that Keefe is better than Fitz because of this. I'm saying that Shannon Messenger made a conscious choice to set up the character dynamics this way, and it's something I've seen in other series.

2. The Animals. Okay, I don't have a whole lot to say about this one- just that the fact that SM made animals like Keefe is a HUGE HUGE tell in whether or not he'll end up with Sophie. I can't explain it, it's just something authors do. Silveny LOVES him, Greyfell likes him well enough, and when he first met Iggy, Sophie remarked on how quickly the imp had taken to him.

3. The 'Lost Boy' Trope. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about here. Keefe fits almost perfectly into the classic Lost Boy Trope, which is a heavy indicator that they'll end up with the main character. Fitz has certain Lost Boy traits, but because he has other supportive people around him (Alden, Della, Biana) and Keefe's family is awful, Keefe fits into the trope a lot better. It adheres to the idea that the character is fatally flawed (and has been hurt by other people) and needs the main character to 'heal' or 'fix' him. Now, I'm not saying that this makes Keefe better in any way than Fitz, but because Fitz has other supportive figures in his life, and Sophie is considered the only one capable of providing the healing Keefe 'needs', it indicates that Shannon Messenger will put them together in the end.

4. Underdog Syndrome. This is one of the biggest indicators that an author can put in their book. If one of the characters in the love triangle has been a consistent romantic underdog, it usually means that they'll win in the end. It's a storytelling strategy that goes back forever. Fact is, people have been waiting so long to see the underdog's story come to a victorious conclusion that if the author doesn't add it in, the readers might feel betrayed, robbed of their catharsis, or like they got false advertisement. Now there are two kinds of underdogs- the loyal puppo, and the sulky doggo. Loyal puppos have dedicated so much patient time and energy and optimism into their goals that they are often rooted for, and the author feels an obligation to give them their reward. The sulky doggo often complains about what the other person is getting that they want, or complain, or give off other somewhat unattractive traits that sends them towards an inevitable loss. Shannon Messenger gave us one of each. Dex was a sulky doggo "Oh great, you're spending MORE time with Wonderboy?" And his goal to end up with Sophie crashed and burned, true to the age-old writing strategy. Keefe is the loyal puppo "to be the friend she needed, until she was ready for something more" and this HEAVILY implies that he'll get to be with Sophie in the end. Yes, he has his sulky doggo moments, but they're few enough and far enough between that they don't disrupt the Underdog Symdrome pattern. Because Fitz has been Top Dog since book one, there is no catharsis or surprise factor, or "FINALLY!" when they get what they want. Because of that, the author rarely has the Top Dog be the endgame ship, because they want their books to end with a bang or twist, or burst of catharsis. (If you guys don't what what catharsis is, you might wanna look it up, because I'm awful at explaining it, lol.)

Well, I would add more, but I don't want this to be TOO long. So lemme all know what you think! I'm not trying to stop you from shipping your ship, I just wanna know what you guys think.

~ JAKS