Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-37530514-20181213020428/@comment-38180789-20190115181510

So, I typed this up for the Fitz page, but here goes O_O :

Hello! I want to say a few things in defense of Fitz, I've been watching all of the recent hate and I feel he doesn't deserve it. Naturally, there will be spoilers and this will be long, so scroll past if either of those bother you. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but I won't be talking badly about any characters, only explaining why I think Fitz deserves better. Also, there will be a lot of personal opinions I will be explaining and I'm sorry if that bothers you.

I cannot and will not deny that Fitz is a jerk when he gets angry. That is absolutely true, but I feel like that is an important flaw for him. Do you see how many people say he is "too perfect" already? Imagine if he didn't have those anger issues. People would keep thrashing Fitz even more. I think it just shows how "human" Fitz is (Yes, I know he isn't human, but I'm using the expression, take it as you will).

Also if you notice in Exile, Fitz lashes at Sophie and blames her. Horrible, right? I'm not defending that, only explaining how in spite of that, he's still my favorite character. Fitz was raised being told he was "perfect" and he tried to fit those standards. They are big shoes to fill. The center of this perfect world? Alden. Alden gets hurt? Fitz loses his perfect world. Fitz realized he wasn't so perfect and tried to place the blame somewhere. He placed it on the wrong person. He didn't realize that until right before Alden was healed.

Fitz decided to move on from the perfect world where he was "better" than everyone then. It can be noticed that after Exile, Fitz is much more withdrawn and kind of a "goody two shoes". I think this is him hiding his darker side and shoving it inward. He just didn't want more people to be hurt. Then, Alvar happened.

The world Fitz decided to protect instead of hurt? Dashed away in his anger and frustration. Still, Fitz didn't react too overly emotionally until Flashback about Alvar. Why is that? Alvar was the same amount a traitor then as he was before. It's because he was close. Close to his world. Close to Biana and close to Sophie. He couldn't bear them getting hurt. So, he resorted to anger and began to lose his faith in the people around him.

A couple of years ago, I began to think morally through all of Fitz's actions, facing friends who hated him. I realized he thought his world was perfect, but then it wasn't. He saw a light that helped him to not wallow in that darkness forever after Exile. That light? Sophie lived among humans, who are far from perfect. Sophie was kidnapped by elves, who were clearly not perfect. Fitz was horrible to Sophie, acting far from perfect. And Sophie? Acted kind and did nothing cruel to anyone involved. He saw this and realized not being perfect was okay.

When Fitz lost his trust in those he cared about, he continued to trust one person. The light that led him out of darkness. Sophie.

Now, I've seen a lot of people saying how horrible Fitz is and how he doesn't love Sophie, but that is far from true. Sophie is all Fitz thought he had. Now, onto the "Sophie doesn't actually love him" argument.

Sophie too was alone. She had noone there for her. I think it's in the beginning of Neverseen, but Sophie and Fitz glance at each other at one point, in mutual understanding of all Sophie lost and all Sophie gained. Keefe can't possibly understand how hard it was for Sophie. Fitz sat and let her cry on his shoulder. Fitz carried her vomitting to the health office. Fitz cared for her deeply before anyone else could.

Fitz lashed out at her. Fitz felt bad and tried to reconcile with her. You know what happened then? Sophie and Fitz became cognates. They grew closer to each other because of this.

Now, quitte frankly I have nothing against Keefe. He is one of my favorite characters and I want everyone to know I am speaking from Fitz's angle for these next few lines. Sophie has anxiety, which is not good for someone to be abandoned with.

Keefe left her (Don't get mad at me for this!  He did!), yes he was trying to help her, but he left her pretty alone. This is when Sophie really started to trust Fitz. He was there when she needed it. Just like when he let her cry on his shoulder. I feel like this is most important. It isn't just his looks, but his being there for her.

It's never good to be alone and Sophie wasn't because of Fitz. THAT more than anything is why Fitz matters so much.

One final thing to defend, Flashback. The simple fact of the matter was this book was fueled by character and heart. You know what this book was about? Development. The past year, fans have been complaining about lacking development for Fitz. We got it and what happens? Everyone hates on it. For that simple reason, I loved Flashback. It had everything this series needed at this point. It's actually my favorite book in the series for many reasons (And it's not just me shipping Sophitz, I loved Nightfall and it was my favorite until Flashback released). So, please stop hating on Flashback, it had what we asked for and on top of that, it was very raw. That is amazing to find in a book. And stop hating on Fitz please, I feel like everyone should be appreciated for what their character brought to the table.