Thread:Backyard Windchimes/@comment-38480398-20191024010230

I think you said you were interested in my Sophie rant as well, didn't you?

I actually really liked Sophie in books one and two... I admire that she could alst so long in the human world as a telepath. I admire the strength it took for her to leave her family and start a whole new way of life with literally no warning, especially with her being so special and powerful. She was brave and determined while she fought against her new world, but also the Black Swan (well, sort of), trying the whole time to 'fit in', rebuild her life. And she grew as a character, finding another family- Edaline and Grady can never be her parents, she can never be Jolie- but they're still a family. In Exile, her mind was cracking. She was scared and overwhelmed and still did her best to fix things and protect the people she cared about. She let Forkle inject her with a substance that triggers a deadly allergy so she could save Alden. She's afraid and does things despite it, because she believes that she's doing what is right. That's what I'd call a strong character. I would have loved to watch this Sophie grow and develop, with her natural strength pushing her through tough times.

And then Everblaze happened. And it's like Shannon started undoing Sophie. She breaks a law, nearly gets carried off by Dimitar and gets punished for it. So she tries to stay sedated as long as she possibly can. She sulks and whines and no, it's not the low self-esteem that bothers me. I'm not even sure if I'd consider it low self-esteem. She's not worried she's worthless, she's upset that she's no longer important and special. That's a pretty selfish thing to be sulking about, don't you think? Sorry, Sophie, but your world might be in danger, you family and friends certainly are- we don't have time for you to throw yourself a pity party because you're no longer the special snowflake. I'm not saying she shouldn't be upset. She should. But she wallows. She sulks and pities herself and becomes effectively useless. She does it in Flashback too. My friends are training without me while I'm stuck here! *sulks* Without me! *pouts* That wasn't very nice, nor put very well, but it's possibly the best way for me to sum up what I feel Sophie was like for the hospital scene. Instead of training, doing her best to speed up her recovery, and doing something useful while she's stuck, she throws herself another pity party. Why, Sophie, why? You were such a strong character. Be upset- it's natural. Push through anyway! There's more at stake than your comfort or status as number one most important weapon of the Black Swan.

Or what about Nightfall? I'm not going to go into this in too much detail, because this rant is too long already, but seriously? If my parents were in danger, I know I would fall apart, so I don't blame Sophie for that. I do blame her for letting it take over, especially when she was her own best chance at rescuing them. Stop wallowing. Deal with things. Don't sulk, or wallow, or numb yourself. Deal with them, find ways to fix them. Don't give in, let others do the work and turn yourself into a robot while you do it. Sophie handles things terribly and I hate it.

As for her boy-craziness... again, Sophie, the world does not revolve around you. Set aside the drama, because having a boyfriend won't help you when the Neverseen start destroying everything.

To sum it, our strong, brave, determined girl, who would always fight for what she thinks is right, has become a self-pitying, self-centered, sulky, boy-obsessed girl who can't handle anything difficult anymore, because, for all her amazing powers, she's mentally weak. Characters should grow, not digress. 