#botch their character development. so there is a good version of knox and tess both that lives in my brain

[tornadodyke]

okay knox and tess were really only introduced in dragonwatch to be ripoffs of seth and kendra and i usually skip their chapters entirely because they add nothing of value and i see no reason to read them but when i DO read them it’s so funny to me how they get parented by. literally everyone. like in fablehaven people were protective of seth and kendra sure but no one ever tried to like. PARENT them parent them. yknow. but with knox and tess.......people are just looking at them and thinking “well SOMEONE’S gotta play parent to these two” and then not waiting for an answer. case in point

“Are you all right?” Warren asked, taking hold of Knox by the shoulders and looking him up and down.

“I’m fine,” Knox said. “I didn’t get punched in the face.”

“What about you?” Vanessa asked Tess, gripping her hands.

“I’m a little scared,” Tess said. “But we’re safe, right?”

like warren and vanessa NEVER did that with seth and kendra even though they’ve known them longer. and by “that” i mean warren taking hold of one by the shoulders or vanessa holding the other’s hands. and this isn’t even mentioning how newel and doren absolutely act more like babysitters with them than they do with seth and kendra, which is kind of funny considering seth and knox are the same age and seth is their best friend. i think part of it is definitely that knox and tess are still new to the magical world and also that they’re. younger? like tess is ten (by this book) which is the youngest of them all (kendra being fifteen, seth and knox being thirteen) but also they have a younger DEMEANOR because they haven’t gone through the amount of harrowing experiences that seth and kendra have. they still talk pretty childishly even because they ARE children and when you compare it to seth and kendra it’s REALLY obvious. for example even back in the final book of fablehaven you had seth’s threatening words to the entity on the lady luck—

“Enough nonsense," Seth commanded, resisting the eager pull of his sword. "I've been through too much to argue with a thousand-year-old child. My friends and I go to our deaths. You are merely the ride. I summoned you politely. You will provide us with safe passage, or your existence will end as I carve your ship into matchsticks and your crew into fish bait.”

—or kendra’s infamous “slink back to your hole, worm!” tirade from the first book of dragonwatch to the king of dragons himself (there are probably better instances of kendra speaking more formally, most notably in day-to-day speech instead of any sort of grand proclamation, but this was the first that came to mind)

“I feel the same way about you!” she shouted. “You tore down the Perch like a vandal! You keep attacking your fellow caretakers! I denounce you! You are a fake! You are a joke! You can’t even stop two children from taking what you want! I demand you return your scepter! If any of your subjects had the courage of a little girl, they would take your crown! Slink back to your hole, worm! We’re trying to relax!”

my POINT is that just from being around adults and ancient beings all the time and from so so so much trauma seth and kendra have kind of. integrated themselves into the Grown-Up Gang. despite the fact that they aren’t adults and despite the fact that so much of fablehaven revolved around trying to keep kendra and seth OUT of all the fighting. it didn’t work and obviously there were consequences to that. but knox and tess still very much act their age because they’ve been through less and they don’t have any sort of magical powers that would REQUIRE them to be dragged to the front lines (they just kind of insist on tagging along and then get dragged into. the whole mess). so really it kind of. makes sense? that people are treating them more like the kids they are. because at this point kendra and seth HAVE to do their own thing because they’re at war but knox and tess don’t have any of that responsibility placed on their shoulders. and it shows!