#keeper reread thoughts

[fangirlingovernothingg]

Ohhhhh yeah, no way he could ever *cough cough*

[crippling-pages]

One time I was talking to my friends on Quotev (sob its gone), and we were joking talking about Tiana vs Dexiana (we all shipped tiana btw so thats why it was a joke) and I was like "ooo okay okay here" and I wrote these two big paragraphs on Tiana for Lodestar only. Hehe

"Yes, Dex and Biana have had their share of 'moments' but personally, all that to me is more of sibling acts. For one, we see Tam and Linh act much like Biana and Dex. They hold hands, compliment each other, comfort each other, etc etc, all of the things Biana and Dex have 'done' in the past. But, unlike Biana and Dex, Tam and Biana have actually shown attraction throughout the series. For starters, for one of main moments the fandom catches is that when Tam and Linh first meet the gang, Keefe says how the 'Foster Fan Club' is full. Tam, quickly agrees to that, and quickly takes a glance at Biana. Along with that, when Sophie is unable to contact Tam, Tam goes ahead and contacts Biana. He could've contacted Fitz, Dex, Keefe, or anyone else, but instead, he chose Biana. 

Biana also returns all of this emotion as well. For instance, in Lodestar, Biana complains that she was jealous that Sophie and Fitz got to see Tam, admitting that she wanted to see him quite so. Later, when she actually does get to see Tam, Biana right away goes to sit next to him and talk, almost forgetting about the others. In that same book, since then, Biana and Tam have interacted much more. Another moment is when Marella looks at Tam, flirtatiously. Biana immediately takes great interest in this, being the one to point it out, and tries to push Tam for how he really 'feels' about it. This is likely a sign of jealousy. Later in the book, Biana tells Sophie that she went to visit Tam as he was working in the Silver Towers. When everyone is there, in front of everyone Biana says, I quote, "Come on. Show them how cool you are." Tam blushes in response. There are also minor moments and comments throughout the rest of the book. 

These are only a few moments in just one book (Lodestar) where legally considered moments between Tam and Biana. Would you like me to continue with Lodestar, or could you like me to go to NIghtfall?"

The last bit was really cringe but yeah this is what I said word for word lol, including all the grammar mistakes too-

But yeah- TIANA WOO

@theleopardstalker @keefe--sencen @swans-chirping-in-the-distance For a few of my fellow Tiana shippers to see (if you wanna be tagged next time i make some tiana content tell meeee)

[synonymroll648]

keefitz au where fitz is trying to get closer to keefe and notices that keefe’s an artist and goes “oh okay i’ll just become really educated on the subject so i can talk to him about it” and proceeds to become an art history nerd. on the sidelines when no one he knows is looking. and then one day after reading like five books and watching two documentaries he sees what keefe is drawing and he’s like “oh that pose seems reminiscent of this painting from [insert small ramble about a bygone classic that he doesn’t realize is considered niche]”.

when fitz is done talking, keefe tells him that he barely understood five words that came out of his mouth but it sounded cool, and he’s just a self-taught artist that managed to Get Good over the years. and asks fitz “can’t paint a line to save his life” vacker if he’s secretly a professional artist or something and if he could see fitz’s work.

fitz almost implodes of embarrassment on the spot, because holy shit his plan to avoid asking him out directly is backfiring hard

[milo-igidk]

hey so, this was actually insane

[flibbetygibbetsbro]

I've been reading about the origins of the myth of Atlantis and it ties in with Nightfall so much better than the books ever go into

[sysig]

Beautiful gilded cage for a beautiful gilded bird (Patreon)

[an-absolute-travesty]

Before the next (potentially last but honestly I struggle to believe it-) book, I really need to do a full reread because I can feel my grasp of canon slipping a little

[asymphonyofstarlight]

am i making sims of fictional characters instead of sleeping. Yes. 🗿

[rebrandedbard]

What with all the Marina drama in your inbox, thought I would share something fun.

I do an annual reread of The Spectre's Wreath right about mid-January (hello from the ao3 comments!) and the same week or so I make a batch of raspberry liqueur. Every time I make a drink with it I'm raising a toast to you and to jaskier. Cheers! 🥂

(pls ignore the christmas tree in the background i've been meaning to send this for ages)

Thank you! I just listened to the podfic version the other day! It's so exciting to think that you're brewing up some raspberry liqueur each year to pair with my story!! Here's a doodle for you of the drunken Yule fool and his keeper lol

bonus with wreathes under the cut:

[professional-idiots]

I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING IN THE CLOCK KEEPERS ARC!!!!

Now, it’s very possible everyone else has already seen this, but for me it was a breakthrough.

So, I was rereading tbhk the other day when I got to the clock keepers arc and I was sort of laughing to myself because Future Kou is wearing a cropped leather jacket. I just thought it was silly that his clothes would change with his time moving forward WHEN I SAW:

Are you seeing what I’m seeing?! This man has a whole RING around his neck. Here’s a closer look:

This is so strange to me because AidaIro are not the type to just add something in for ✿fun✿, so it has to be important somehow…. Especially since they took the time to draw it into every innocuous scene that he’s in. Like it’s always in plain view….. I’m so curious where he got it from and I feel like not enough people are acknowledging its existence.

(I really want it to be some sort of promise ring situation with Mitsuba!!!!!)

I’m so floored by this it’s actually crazy…

[amyyythestarry]

CHAPTER 111 OF TBHK!

I hate TBHK.

MY POOR BOY, do not listen to your brother he’s mentally ill, he’s not in his right mind.

I like how Tsukasa calls people weird when they don’t know what they want. Like with Kou when he was in the Red House.

Amane is weird, he says he hates Tsukasa, but he can’t stand when they’re apart. Such a weirdo, not knowing what he wants.

For the people who say that this proves Tsukasa is fake, please reread the Red House arc again, especially the last part.

Like mother like son though, I guess. Their mother also thought Tsukasa was a fake.

Even though the change of Tsu is visible after being in the Red House and merging with the dark entity, he’s still Tsukasa.

Tsukasa and the entity resign in the same body, they are the same person now.

Amane’s so sensitive.

He’s not able to handle the rejection. Tsukasa still wants to leave, even after Amane’s tried to tell him they can never be together again ( And he doesn’t want that ), his feelings didn’t reach his brother. Tsukasa still wants to leave him.

He’s not in the right mind, coming up with this conclusion is just showing his instability.

And, in the Manga Up translation Tsukasa actually yells “Amane, behind you!”

But now it’s kind of dull. Interesting, though?

Maybe Iro just doesn’t what Tsu to yell or scream or something.

I like that Kako says ‘so-called imposter’. He knows Tsukasa isn’t a fake, it’s what inside of him.

And the fact Hanako still moves to protect him and Tsukasa, even after calling him a fake.

TSUKASA GRABBING HANAKO LIKE HE WAS GOING TO MOVE AND PROTECT HIM. OH MY GOD.

Gay a**.

Kako’s Santa Claus.

What does he mean by ‘eating away’ at Kamome?

The entity is the root of the problem. But what problem?

We aren’t talking about the yorishiros…. The clock? Natsuhiko destroyed the clock though?

What is the entity doing?

I’ve heard people had a theory about this. Congrats, you all were correct!

I didn’t know what the entity was at all. Now we have an idea.

I wonder how it got to the Yugi’s house then?

It’s not good for supernaturals or humans.

Then, I wonder if it’s ever affected Tsukasa before. As a human, and as a supernatural. Or maybe it hasn’t, since they’re the same person.

Now they’re in 1968.

The Clock Keepers are trying to prevent whatever happened here, and make a new presents.

They could have went back to when Tsukasa granted wishes to the dark entity under his house. They could have went to the time Tsukasa got back from the Red House. Even when he got murdered by his brother.

But, they went back to when they were just 12 years old.

What happened then?

What happened during that time, that’s supposed to be the root of why all of this is happening, whatever is happening?

At least Nene knows something is up, she always does.

I’m hoping she can at least do something to stop the Clock Keepers.

Maybe, that means working with someone to stop this, she can’t do this by herself.

Maybe, a certain Yugi? Tsukasa, purhaps?

This is what he meant.

[charliemwrites]

Okay soooo~ ❤️ After rereading some (a lot) of the keeper! Simon posts~ ❤️❤️And the ones about Shy Thing and Obedient~ ❤️❤️❤️🤭 Ummm 👉👈 what would happen if something happened to Simon, Soap, and Price in a mission and Gaz is the only survivor, leaving him responsible for the care of all three of the pets who have no idea how to live without their keepers while the last member of the team struggles with taking care of them and living with survivor's guilt... How would that go?

(Just a thought~ Teehee 🤭)

Hi, teehee! No worries about the double send lol tumblr is like that sometimes.

They would make the most unhinged family unit. They can’t take care of themselves, but they’ll move heaven and earth for each other. They try to help Gaz as much as they can, try to keep it so that he just handles the stuff they can’t anymore - like other people and public issues.

They’re all fiercely protective of each other and Gaz. He doesn’t know what it’s like to sleep alone anymore when one of them is always climbing in with him, or all three of them are dragging him into a snuggle pile.

There are a lot of tears. Missing keepers, missing their old lives (both of them), missing friends. The household is complicated. Good girl has to learn to function without all the rules Price had and struggles with the lack of discipline. She wears chokers and adjustable necklaces now. Shy Thing struggles to feel secure and safe, falls into long lapses of silence. She can’t be alone for the first months after Johnny is gone.

And feral…. Communication is hard. Eating is hard. Moving or doing anything is hard. But she does because she owes it to her fellow creatures, who are trying. And Gaz, who took them all in and is juggling three very different creatures that he doesn’t even want to keep as creatures.

Also, they try to encourage him to date but uh… yeah, no. Can you imagine? He’s like that dude with the three weed smoking girlfriends except they’re codependent and he’s traumatized.

[crippling-pages]

crying cuz I remembered that I'm the only person in my friend group who's head is revolved around kotlc 24/7

[shakespearean-snape]

I’m rereading OOTP right now and I find that scene between Severus and Sirius in the kitchen to be highly relevant in the context of Severus as a feminine-coded character (and Sirius as a representation of toxic masculinity). Sirius is very outwardly aggressive in this scene in a conventionally masculine way, while Severus weaponizes his sarcasm and wit in a way that could be thought of as a more “feminine” form of defence. While Harry describes Sirius’s voice as getting progressively louder and angrier, he describes Severus’s voice as “soft” in contrast (as he usually does, which is also interesting in the context of Severus as a feminine man/GNC character). Sirius gets up and tries to intimidate Severus physically, and Severus grips his wand inside his pocket in a way that reminded me of a victim of domestic violence preparing to defend herself against her abuser.

I’m not sure how much of this was intentional considering how rigid JKR’s views on gender have unfortunately turned out to be, but I can’t help but read Severus as a feminine character, especially since he’s meant to act as a stand in for Lily in the same way as Sirius acts as a stand in for James. It’s very easy to read Sev as gender non conforming and/or LGBTQ, although given JKR’s own views it’s doubtful she meant for us to read him that way (but fuck her, she’s a massive transphobe, the characters are ours now, we can do what we like with them).

Note to self, start checking your inbox regularly. These changes to Tumblr are killing me because the notifications when I get messages or asks are hit-or-miss at best.

Anyways, this is such a great observation! I'm only just learning about coding and that that is even the term for it from reading about it from other Snape bloggers like @idealistic-realism00, @raptured-night, and @professormcguire since I only took the required English courses both my undergraduate years and beyond that my major was in sociology.

So, I'm not really any kind of expert but I do have a lot of personal experience from being biracial and queer myself just with learning to read between the lines and find representation for myself where I can and I think that is the case for a lot of people from less represented, marginalized backgrounds. We have a certain instinct for these things so even without any kind of formal study we sort of know the "codes" (for better or worse depending on what the author's intent is and if it's a negative dog-whistle or something more positive to get around censorships of the time) if that makes any kind of sense.

For me, I always saw Sirius and Snape as two sides of a coin. There were some very obvious parallels and contrasts between them and this really goes to that in a lot of ways for me. Both Sirius and Snape are two men who made pivotal choices in their youths that very much define them and have led to a great deal of internalized guilt and impacted their behaviors as adults. Both Sirius and Snape find themselves confined to their childhood homes at different points, Sirius at Grimmauld Place with Kreacher and Snape at Spinner's End with Peter Pettigrew (both Kreacher and Peter are characters that also are known for betraying Harry and costing him someone he loves at different points and making a turn around in regards to Harry because of kindness or mercy he showed to them).

Where Sirius made the choice to make Peter the Secret Keeper with only James, Lily, and Peter knowing and it ultimately led to the death of the Potters and him being sentenced to twelve years in Azkaban, Snape also unwittingly delivered part of the fated prophecy that led to Voldemort targeting the Potters. Most interesting for me is that Snape's friendship with Lily and Sirius's friendship with James could be read as either platonic or a case of unrequited romantic feelings. There is the observation in SWM made by Harry that while Sirius was clearly a looker who attracted the attention of girls, his attention was fully on James and not on those admiring glances. So, when looking at Sirius's relationship with James through a comparative lens to Snape's with Lily they could be platonic friends or both Sirius and Snape could have had romantic feelings for their best friends while, ironically enough, Sirius had to watch James fall for and succeed in winning over Lily just as Snape had to do the same.

In the case of Snape and Sirius there is also a degree of regression and arrested development stemming from trauma (and both men at different points make the clear mistake of seeing Harry as a stand-in for James as a result of said trauma). Where Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban able to hold onto his sanity against the Dementors in part because he knew he was innocent and the truth of what happened was a deeply unhappy thing for him, Snape spent decades in Dumbledore's service at Hogwarts (a place with its own unhappy associations for him having found it was not a refuge from life at Spinner's End with Tobias as he had hoped but another place where he would be bullied relentlessly, overlooked by his Head of House and housemates for being a poor half-blood with no status, subject to institutional failures resulting from yet more adult authority figures in his life not protecting him, groomed by Voldemort's followers and responsible for alienating his closest friend as a result) teaching children when clearly he does not have the temperament and, courtesy of his role as a spy, concealing his own truths and intentionally not allowing people to know the best of him. In a sense, both men had a negative public image that ran counter to the full truth about them and both of them died without being able to see those misconceptions vindicated (Sirius died still presumed by the Ministry and general public to have been the traitor who turned his friends over to Voldemort and murdered innocent people and Snape died knowing he had delivered information to Harry that would lead to his death and unsure of the outcome of the war with everyone thinking him a coward and murderer).

There's just, a LOT of parallels there between the two when you start to unpack them as characters. Even the fact that they both came from domestic dysfunction and unhappy home lives. It makes their mutual antagonism all the more of a tragedy because if not for Sirius's prejudice (which is arguably more understandable given his family and their long tradition of being sorted into Slytherin) against Slytherins and antagonism of young Snape on the train and the years of bullying and bad blood that followed, these two men had the most potential to understand each other. Alas, they do not, but it is their likenesses that makes their differences in how they clash all the more interesting because, as you noted, there are stark differences there. Sirius is all overt masculine energy; hot-headed and physically imposing while Snape is more strained, the ice to his fire.

Most striking to me was always the difference in how little respect Sirius showed to Snape's body while he was unconscious (further demonstrating how little Sirius has changed from the teenage boy who once stood with James and exposed Snape to laughing schoolmates) versus how Snape conjured a stretcher while still under the impression he was the one responsible for betraying the Potters (and the death of Lily). In that way, we get to see how Snape has developed as a person away from his past choices and learned from them. He may still regress, as he does quite plainly when forced to return to the Shrieking Shack and is confronted by Sirius and Remus there, but he isn't quite in the full state of arrested development as Sirius (but given his circumstances in Azkaban that isn't entirely surprising either; there is a tragedy to Sirius's character for all that there is as much of a darkness as there was in Snape during his time as a Death Eater and the fact so many Marauder apologists who double as "Snaters" refuse to acknowledge that outside of romanticizing the angst of it all while vilifying Snape is quite possibly an even greater tragedy, imo) which is why Sirius's death came in part due to his inability to move beyond his past and find it within himself to treat Kreacher with a modicum of understanding or empathy (in addition to his desire to be part of the action again and recapture his lost youth when it was him and James in the Order together) while Snape's death came only after he had to reconcile with the fact his original raison d'être for becoming a spy (to protect Harry for Lily as penance) ran counter to what was needed to defeat Voldemort for good and he still chose to stay the course instead of pursue his own agenda and act on his own self-interests.

In short, Sirius's death was partly due to the fact he couldn't move beyond the past. While Snape's death came as a result of the fact he had grown enough as a character to set aside his past motivations and see things through because he had become someone who conjured stretchers even for hated enemies and risked his life to save all those who he could save (including Sirius and Remus).

Thanks for the ask and I'm so sorry it took so long to respond but it gave me even more to think about. The masculine vs. feminine coding just adds an extra element to Snape and Sirius's dynamic when it was already interesting to me and I've always had a lot of thoughts about how those two were written with so many parallels and points of contrast. Love this ask!

[ramiethewizard]

I have many critiques on Keeper of the Lost Cities. Don’t get me wrong, I love it as a series. But like any series, there are both obvious and unobvious flaws. Since I finally have a place online to talk about them I thought I’d share my thoughts! (Disclaimer: this is not bashing on Shannon Messenger or the series in any way!)

1. Too many protagonists

The series was fairly okay with the original gang in the earlier books. That group being Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Biana, and Dex. There was a chance to connect with all of the characters and grow on each of them. I know I know, characters like Biana and Dex were still pushed aside a bit but they had a better chance at being involved again. But then only more and more protagonists joined. Adding Tam and Linh was iffy, but fine. Then you add Marella, Maruca, Wylie, Stina, all those people. We don’t have a chance to connect with the characters.

2. Obvious favoritism

A few people have pointed this out already, and I thought I’d do the same. Shannon has very clear favorites of the series - which is fine, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes it’s used a little too much. Keefe is a very obvious favorite. We constantly focus on him and his story. At this point, Sophie AND Keefe are the protagonists. I love Keefe, but I want to learn about the injustices and discrimination of Bad Matches from Dex. I want to learn about the expectations of being a Vacker from Fitz and Biana. See what I’m saying?

3. Little plots abandoned

I feel like there have been so many times where Shannon starts this little idea and then throws it away. If you reread the books, you seem to find so many instances where there’s something, and then it’s just abandoned. For example, Magnate Leto (Forkle) says in I think Exile how he doesn’t have a wife and he seems quite sad about it. Or the time in…Flashback I believe where we meet Tinker. Tinker is such an interesting character. She freaks out when Forkle talks about explosives and he said that he wouldn’t make her build them - ‘not again’. HUH? And we’ve gotten no more out of it.

4. Overly focused on romance

Probably my biggest pet peeve with the series is that it is so so focused on romance. Having romance in the series is fine but there’s so much. I feel like Sophie barely even has any character left. You can tell that Shannon was just really excited to write the romantic relationships because even in the first book (WHEN SHES TWELVE) there are already intense moments. And the biggest thing is that characters like Keefe and Fitz (the love interests) are so much more important than characters like Biana and Dex (the friends). It’s a weird thing because Sophie should be apart of both groups but there’s just a weird focus on the guys that she’s into.

5. Lack of diversity

This is something that I think should just be improved in general. Most of the protagonists are very stereotypical and don’t have any diversity. Most of the main characters are white - which is fine but when it gets to be that ALL of the protagonists are, it just gets a little…you know? I mean, Tam, Linh, and Wylie are not white but they’re also not focused on at all in the series. It’s one of the reasons why people headcanon the Vackers to be POC so much. There’s also no LGBTQ+ characters - which again, fine for the most part but also…people of the queer community are incredibly common and the KOTLC characters seem so…not straight. So the fact that it’s been like ten books and there hasn’t been anything is just a little eh. Same with mental health, or physical abilities. Just a lack of diversity.

I love this series a lot, but like anything, it can always improve. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[name-6775]

I started rereading the kotlc books some while ago and I have been writing down all the quotes that I have been able to find and that I have liked from each book, so now that the kotlc quote bracket is finished I wanted to share a part of my list:

Keeper of the lost cities:

“Okay,” she agreed. If he refused to be serious, so would she. “Fine. I’m an elf. Am I supposed to help Frodo destroy the ring and save Middle-earth? Or do I have to make toys in the North Pole?” - Sophie

“There’s no reason to worry” - Alden

“I have a feeling you can do pretty much anything you put your mind to. So stop doubting yourself and go prove me right” - Keefe

“I’d rather be punished for making the right decision than live with the guilt of making the wrong one for the rest of my life.” - Sophie

Keeper of the lost cities - Exile:

“Sparkles make everything better” - Biana

‘Those who wander are not lost’

‘Let the past be your guide’

“Follow the pretty bird across the sky” - Jolie / Prentice

“While I’m not the one who cast the first sparks, I am willing to help keep the flames alive” - Fintan

“Remember, if you fall apart, then all of this was a waste. Breaking Prentice led us to you—and my dad always believed you were the key to everything. It’s why he worked so hard to find you. So if you let the guilt break you, then everything he did was for nothing” - Alvar

“You’d be surprised at how powerful hope can be” - Terik

“I know I crack a lot of jokes, Sophie, but . . . that’s just because it’s easier, you know? It’s how I deal. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I do. A lot” - Keefe

“We could all use a little more weird in our lives” - Fitz

Keeper of the lost cities - Everblaze:

“There’s no reason to worry too much” - Alden

“I’ve realized now that our world doesn’t define us. We define our world” - Grady

“Right. Because our family doesn’t decide who we are. We decide who we are. Believe me, it drives my parents crazy. And sometimes that’s the only thought that gets me through the day” - Keefe

“The right road is rarely the easy road. And no war was ever fought without casualties” - Mr. Forkle

“There will always be people who disappoint us, and it’s up to us to decide when to forgive, and when to walk away” - Edaline

“Hindsight is a dangerous game to play” - Edaline

“And if whatever you’re chasing starts to catch up with you—run, don’t walk away” - Edaline

“It takes a special person to see darkness inside of someone and not condemn them” - Bronte

“Because of one simple fact: I knew it was right” - Alden

“It reminds us just how small we really are, and how big the rest of the world is by comparison. One person is not the source of anything—it’s millions of pieces all working together. And it shows us that there’s always hope—always light. No matter how much darkness we might be facing” - Edaline