Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-37719459-20181204231525/@comment-34026531-20190103225537

'''….ahem *taps mic* So… one of the most talked about arguments for Fitzphie, is none other, than cognates. “Fitz and Sophie are cognates, they obviously have the connection” or “isn’t it gonna be weird if Sophie’s in a relationship with another guy while she has to share all her deep dark secrets with Fitz?” I personally don’t think cognatedom has anything to do with romantic relationships. Cognatedom is a tricky thing to think about because it does involve having some kind of good relationship with the other or some kind of “connection” with the other and being able to help the other to achieve better things and to be a better person in general. I’m pretty sure that’s what Tiergan was talking about in Neverseen when they first learned they could achieve cognatedom. Addressing the points I mentioned earlier, I believe it’d only affect Sophie’s cognate relationship with Fitz if the core foundations they had originally built up before any of this stuff, broke. I believe that as long as the foundations and the connection to each other that they’ve built up is strong enough to survive Fitz’s possible crush on Sophie being rejected, then it should be all good for cognatedom and if it does break, wouldn’t that just confirm that their “connection” to each other wasn’t strong enough in the first place which would disprove any assumption towards that topic for their romantic relationship. One of my favourite quotes which goes in favour to Keefe, stated by Mr. Forkle is'''

'''“That’s why you and Mr. Sencen work so well together. You both push each other to believe in yourselves” - p. 621, Lodestar. That’s one of the quotes which sums up one of the most important “traits” I think a healthy relationship should have. '''

'''Another argument that seems to come up a lot is Keefe’s personality. That he’s too “joking” or “teasing” or “too light” or “too dark” or “too fun”. All I can say to that is what in the world is going on. It’s basically one big contradiction. Ro does point out that Sophie is in a very confusing place right now and him teasing to not show his real feelings isn’t the best option and I think he’s taking that advice... BUT before that, imo Keefe is not too teasing or too joking, and light and dark, it’s been mentioned before but I’m sure most of us know that this is probably a mask for all the things he’s been through. This mask is a product of verbal abuse, neglect, his mother being quite a big antagonist, his father constantly putting him down. '''

'''This leads me into a different section. All this is also a product of Keefe’s nature which is sacrificing himself and naturally feeling like he should protect his friends and his loved ones from the people who have hurt him and since it ties so closely to Keefe with his mother being one of the villains. Everything that readers have looked down on him for - stealing the scroll, mercadir, running away and joining the Neverseen, ignoring everything Sophie’s told him not to do - all has one thing in common, it’s all to protect his friends and try to fix the mess that his family has made. It can be noticed as unbelievably sweet, though it doesn’t mean I agree with it, it’s just his nature. This argument can be used for defending Fitz as well, as it’s part of Fitz’s nature (for some reason, I don’t really know myself) to get angry whenever something bad happens. An example of this is one of SoKeefe shippers favourite arguments (though it I don’t agree with it), “Fitz got angry at Sophie and said a bunch of mean stuff” or “Fitz had no excuse for what he said in Exile”. I disagree with this because trauma can change people in different ways. Your mind gets cloudy and blurry and you make impulsive, bad decisions. Fitz’s father nearly died guys, of course he would react in this way. Keefe’s mum is planning to do horrible things, of course Keefe would react in a way which didn’t seem right. '''

'''A completely different topic, something which I believe that ties into “Keefe is too light” is a Sophitz argument which says “Keefe loves himself, how attractive he is, and basically how he has a bunch of girls chasing after him.” Keefe and Fitz have both gotten their fair share of crush cuffs, but have they ever accepted them, NO. Keefe’s loyalty is quite a delicate subject, but I believe that he is one of the most loyal friends and allies Sophie could have, even though again and again, he may have broken that trust, he still sticks by her and will always try to be there for her. Examples are shown in Lodestar, when he waited in the freezing cold out Lumenaria(?) for Sophie just to make sure she got out of the peace summit safe and sound. Also during his bed rest in Nightfall, he still wanted to be next to Sophie even though he had gotten very injured. I’m sure this is quite an important trait to have in a relationship, especially a relationship which should be able to last. Adding on - “Keefe’s personality is too light and joking and omgee he’s like always teasing Sophie and stuff”. I can assure you that Keefe is definitely not too light or too dark. He has equal amounts of light and dark as he should have, the dark may have controlled for a bit during Neverseen and Lodestar but he has enough light to combat that. Keefe states in Lodestar that he is always serious even when people (*hint hint Sophie*) think he’s teasing.'''

'''Now onto the next topic. Communication. Secrets, shady stuff, trust. This is one of the hardest arguments for me personally, I mean, I kinda suck at doing arguments but here I am. Sophie and Keefe’s trust has not been handled very well throughout the series. It has been *broken* quite a few times but each time they’ve managed to work through it and their bond is stronger than ever. I believe that in order for a relationship to first work, you need to understand that you are going to fight and the second part of the relationship is to be able to move on and forgive. People do say that Sophie forgives Keefe a lot even if he has done a lot of bad things. Sure, that might be true but everyone make mistakes and Sophie knows that what he’s doing is because his family has changed him and he’s gonna keep sacrificing himself and trying to protect everyone and she knows, she understands. Sophie’s been there for him through and through and Keefe has done the same. Who was there when Sophie was confused about the Black Swan? Keefe. Who sat on the back of an alicorn through a cold night to make sure Sophie arrived safely? Keefe. Who’s stuck by her and gotten injured for her? Everyone but that includes Keefe too. Who promised to keep her safe forever and to take care of her? Keefe.'''