Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-146.135.19.252-20181116034422/@comment-2600:8801:DA00:4590:E163:B97B:35AC:FFF6-20181205161238

Hey guys new to this chat.

LOVING your points and arguments so far. And just to get this out of the way, I am biased for Sophitz.

HOWEVER. I really think/hope that in the end, Sophie doesn't end up with anyone. I agree, Sophitz happened SUSPICIOUSLY fast, and with the amount of story left Shannon says she's planned, it's highly unlikely it'll pull through to the very end. Unless, however, Shannon REALLY spends some time in future books, developing and building their new, more romantic relationship. But, um HELLO, Sophie has to focus on taking down the Neverseen and I think it would be a very awkward juggling act fitting in the two very emotional and deep storylines.

so, taking this from a writer's point of view:

A writer wants to surprise his/her readers. Writers want to avoid cliches and stereotypes and provide something new and fresh. Even though it's awesome when us readers theorize correctly about books, we don't want to be able to predict EVERYTHING, because otherwise, it's boring.

That said, I feel like both Sokeefe and Sophitz (and for now, I'm not factoring in any other Sophie ships because by now, it's too late to introduce any other possible "suitors", for lack of better word) are too predictable. And they have been since the beginning.

Sophitz has been obvious, because Sophie is always swooning over him, and Fitz has been extra nice and sweet to her in the last few books. Frankly, the confession in Flashback was just waiting to happen.

Sokeefe though, is just as trite. It's the same thing everytime for "broken boys" in stories. The "broken boy" is scarred, hurt, has a tragic backstory, hides it with whatever emotion the author chooses (in this case, with playfulness and teasing and lots of smiles), and is always looking for someone who can "fix" him, usually a girl who also serves as his love interest. And that girl is Sophie. Duh. And she's always there for him, rain or shine, with the enemy or not, because he's the "broken boy", and broken boys, no matter how "broken" they may seem, are loved, by at least SOMEONE.

See, the thing for me is, Keefe is too PERFECT of a broken boy. He fits all the criteria perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that sometimes I think Shannon's just trying to give Keefe all these sympathy points, so we can pity him. For Keefe to be a TRUE broken boy, he needs to BE broken and have the whole world against him, including Sophie. Otherwise, Sokeefe is an obviojs ship that's also just waiting to happen.

It's kinda exhausting, really, to see how both of these ships are unfolding. It's a good thing that Sophie is unmatchable, because then both boys can really sit down and think "How much do i really love her?"

Sophie's desire in life is to FIT IN. That's what she's striving for, that is one of her main motivators. "If I can save the world and be the hero, maybe then they'll accept me, the odd, brown-eyed, genetically mutated moonlark that I am." And Sophie being unmatchable is a further sign she'll never fit in. While her friends and peers around her marry, she'll be the odd one out once again.

But I think that's going to be Sophie's character development. She's going to realize that IT'S OKAY TO STAND OUT. She's not going to feel self-conscious about herself, she's not going to be the PERFECT friend for EVERYBODY. She'll learn that she needs to embrace her imperfections.

And if either Fitz or Keefe can still love her, that's great. But I think it would be amazing if the last scene we see of Sophie is her standing alone, a confident look in her eyes, a steady smile on her face, ready to take on problems as the weird one.

Not as Sophie Vacker. Not as Sophie Sencen.

But as Sophie Foster.

-the Doodle Ninja

(wow that was long)