／(≧ x ≦)＼

We can all agree that the canon handling of Sophitz was terrible, right? I'm as close as you can be to a shipper without being a shipper, and I hated the treatment of it.

Fitz doesn't crush on Sophie.

This was the best option. I mean, let puppy love be puppy love! Does the crush always have to be requited? Have Sophie get the bravery to confess to Fitz, then have gayboy awkwardly reject her. Seriously, when I read FB and learnt that Fitz was crushing on Sophie, I was so mad. Does this love triangle nonsense always have to happen? (Yeah, I'm oblivious, during that Lodestar almost kiss I was like "Fitz is acting weird here, what does he mean by his odd actions"? And I never realized his crush until the iwitby scene.)

If Fitz crushes on Sophie, Sophie grows out her crush on Fitz.

Aww... unrequited Sophitz from Fitz's side! That would be such an amazing twist! Sophie finally grows outta her puppy crush, and starts realising her feelings for Keefe! Meanwhile, Fitz begins crushing on her, iwitby happens, and Sophie doesn't feel ...anything. That would be awesome.

Fitzphie Fail isn't only Fitzy's fault.

It starts in Elementalism.

Keefe had never been good at capturing the elements, preferring to instead let the tornado run rampant throughout the room and see where it took them. But he thought that Sir Conley might actually flunk him if he didn’t start putting in some effort, so he begrudgingly set off after the wind gust, bottle in hand.

What he had not accounted for was to be knocked embarrassingly off his feet and flung across the room, bumping his back against a stiff shoulder. Fitz’s shoulder.

Things had been tense between them for a while after Sophie had delicately jumped ship from his matchmaking obsession and resigned herself as single for roughly two seconds before she and Keefe had kissed in The Grove. To make matters worse, he and Fitz had barely spoken since the whole incident, leaving them at an awkward stalemate.

He would have been glad to straighten himself out and call it a day if it weren’t for the strong wave of sticky lovesickness rolling off of his former best friend's shoulder. And Keefe has never been known for his tact.

“Woah, dude,” he started, fanning the air between them theatrically. “Your pining might actually make me fall over.”

Fitz quickly shoved him away and stuffed something in his pocket, a note of some sort, before shooting back, “Nah, you do a good enough job of that by yourself.”

Grateful for the banter, Keefe laughed and snatched his wrist, squinting his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Sure. Try to cover it up all you want, but I know what I felt, Vacker.”

He hadn’t realized how much he had missed laughing with Fitz until this moment. It felt like things had been strained ever since Sophie ran through their lives like a windstorm, and Keefe didn’t know how they were ever going to repair what they’d lost. Talking to him again felt like an olive branch.

“Whatever, man. Empaths are freaky.”

To his surprise, and immense delight, he could see genuine blush rising in his friend's face, painting his cheeks rosy as he avoided Keefe’s eyes.

“Says the guy who can read people's minds! Come on, who is she? Is she in this class?” He scanned the room for familiar faces but came up short, incapable of deciphering which girl Fitz might actually be into. Was he really into blondes or was that just a phase?

The brunette ducked his head and looked away, rolling his eyes at Keefe’s antics. “No. There’s nobody, just drop it.”

And that was that.

But Keefe couldn’t drop it. For the following weeks, he kept an extra close eye on Fitz. His facial expressions, who he was talking to, what he was talking to them about. He couldn’t quite place it, but he felt as though there was something big he was hiding. Not just some throwaway crush, but a real emotional weight he had picked up within the last months alone.

His face seemed gaunt and hollowed, as if he’d given up eating as a concept entirely. The dark circles around his eyes indicated an ongoing insomnia and he hadn’t been laughing as much as he used to.

Keefe became prone to sneaking up on him while he would be talking to girls and grabbing him to get a read on his emotions, but he caught on pretty fast and developed the habit of looking over his shoulder at every interaction.

He cornered him one day after lunch as they were all walking to classes.

“Come on, just tell me. For the sake of my sanity. I need to know.”

“There’s nothing to tell, Keefe! I don’t know how many times I have to say this: there is no mystery girl.”

“Yes there is.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Yes! I’ll prove it to you. Do you know how I know you’re lying?” Quicker than the lightning in their elementalism class, he snatched his wrist to feel for the telltale sign of a lie. Expecting some nervousness, a skip of a pulse, he felt through the tunic for the lovesick jitters he had read all those days ago in elementalism.

What he felt instead was heavier than he was expecting. Dark, swirling shame was beating off of his friend's skin in a dizzying wave.

Fitz wretched his arm back like he’d been burned and shoved past him, muttering, “I need to get to class.”

“Hey, wait, what’s wrong?”

Keefe stopped him in his tracks, gently holding him back by the shoulder to keep talking. He hadn’t been there for him after all of the Sophie drama, but he was determined to be there for him now.

“Look, is there really nothing I can do to convince you there isn’t some girl?” he asked.

Keefe quirked an eyebrow in amusement and Fitz’s whole body sagged, deflating under some invisible weight.

“I don’t understand,” Keefe questioned, rubbing his hand to the back of his neck. “You could get basically anyone you wanted. Why is this bothering you so much?”

Fitz looked into his eyes earnestly, teal and stiff, almost unnerving. “It’s… um. It would be a bad match.”

“Dude,” Keefe breathed out, sagging his shoulders in exasperation. “I thought you were done with that.”

The “after Sophie” goes unsaid but stands between them awkwardly before Fitz responds, dejected.

“I can’t be. Not really. There are… I mean, my family expects certain things from me. A good match is just… I mean, it’s the least of my duties, really.”

The words sound sour and awkward in his mouth and Keefe has half a mind to dismiss them but there’s something so familiar about the scene that he’s left with a dizzying sense of deja vu. This is how they even became friends in the first place, he realizes. The only two kids totally isolated in their grade, struggling to meet their families expectations and acting as their only solace to each other.

Fitz was still going.

“It’s just not– it’s not even heard of, you know, for a Vacker to have a bad match. And there’s the continuation of my family line to think about, I mean, what if Biana doesn’t even want kids? I need to be prepared to continue the Vacker lineage.”

He seems panicked now, tripping over his words and picking up his pace again to start walking to class. The late bell had rung five minutes ago.

Keefe follows after him in silence until they reach his class and go their separate ways. The silence of all he should have said, but didn’t, hangs heavy over him for the rest of the week.

He lays off after that. No more surprise attacks of emotional scans, no more interrogations. But he doesn’t stop wondering about it, or worrying about whether or not Fitz was under too much pressure. He had long since lost the fantasy of being in the Vacker family ever since Alvar had run off to live in the Lost Cities and Fitz had been given the role of preparing to take his place in nobility. He had never considered the toll that simply carrying the family name had taken on him had any serious impacts, not until that day in the hallway.

He was willing to let sleeping dogs lie until he stumbled into the Level 6 locker corridor to get his leaping crystal and found Fitz standing there alone, holding some sort of vial and reading a note. His cheeks had that same rose-like flush to them and he was wearing the dopiest grin Keefe had ever seen on his face.

Before he could control himself, and before Fitz had the chance to see him, Keefe lunged forward and swiped the note out of his hands.

Repeating it out loud with a dramatic flourish, Keefe reads, “Just in case you ever wanted to clear your mind. Smiley face. From, D. Awww. Seriously, who is this?”

Fitz yanks it back, cheeks burning red. “It was just– it’s a gift. From a friend. Just lay off, okay?”

Keefe nodded knowledgeably. “Yes, of course. The gifts that friends give each other for no specific occasion with nice flirty notes. I know all about those.”

Fitz rolled his eyes and shoved past him, annoyance and embarrassment transmitting off of him in pulses as they made contact.

From, D. D. He had an initial but was no closer to this mystery infatuation before. D. D.

Needless to say, Fitz hadn’t heard the end of this “D” enigma.

“Diane?”

“No.”

“Desdemona?”

“No.”

“Darcy?”

“No.”

“Come on, you’ve got to give me something here. The intrigue… it’s killing me…” He placed a hand dramatically to his forehead and slumped back. They were lounging in the commons after school, waiting for Dex and Sophie to get out of their last classes of the day. It was a hot day, nearing the end of the school year, and his tunic was beginning to stick to his back from the humidity.

“Look, it’s–”

Just then, voices came echoing down the corridor as Dex and Sophie rushed in, faces flushed from being outside for PE in the sun. Sophie's hair was frizzing around her face in the way it always did on days when it was too hot, framing her in a halo of soft golden curls. Her eyes were glinting from the sun rays and they brightened as she saw him, lounging on the soft common room chairs and smiling at her lazily. He could feel her leisure satisfaction floating across the room like smoke from a flame.

They reached the chairs and Keefe yanked her down to his level as she laughed, putting his arms around her before pausing. Would Fitz be offended by the clear act of affection dangled in front of his face?

He looked over wearily just to find that Fitz was too occupied himself to be paying him and Sophie any mind. Dex was talking to him about some kind of gadget animatedly, using his hands and speaking breathlessly to emphasize his point. And Fitz had never looked more smitten. Looking up at him like he hung the stars, his cheeks were bright and his eyes gleamed as he listened, fully engaged, to Dex’s nonsensical ramblings. He smiled shyly, like it was for himself, like it was a secret only he knew.

Keefe didn’t need to brush elbows or grab a wrist this time. He knew, without a doubt, that this was the object of Fitz’s infatuation. And the puzzle pieces fell into place from there.

D. A “bad match”. The shame rippling off of his skin. The worry about the family line. “There is no mystery girl”. Huh. He guessed there really was no mystery girl after all. He feels foolish now, having gone on some wild goose chase for some girl he would never find. The full gravity of the situation hits him then full on, square in the chest.

Fitz is in love. With a boy. The ultimate bad match. He had heard, of course, of some elves who ran off with someone of the same gender and eloped. He had seen the sneers and heard the judgements and disdain. Choosing happiness over duty in the elven world, it seemed, was the ultimate disgrace. He looks at his friend, dark hair and gleaming teal eyes and charming smile, and feels like he’s seeing him fresh for the first time entirely. He feels like he’s seeing every emotional read on him, every forced laugh, every awkward interaction with girls, for the very first time and he has never felt like he has known him more than at this very moment.

Fitz might never carry on the Vacker name. He might have never even loved Sophie or cared about all of those stupid Winnowing Galas. He might never tell anybody. He might never find anybody.

At that moment, Fitz looks back at him. Smiling lazily, he shoots a grin his way. Keefe shoots it back. For now, all is good.

They walk out of the stuffy common room and into the beating sun.

It’s another month before Fitz tells him himself. It’s a Tuesday night when Keefe shows up at his door, nothing but a tired smile and the clothes on his back. He tells him he wanted to spend quality bonding time with his good friend Fitz and leaves out mentioning the cutting edge to his fathers voice that echoed around the tower until it drove him out of the house. Fitz gives him a gentle smile and lets him in.

The Vacker mansion is cold, and ginormous, but they immediately go up to Fitz’s warm room. It’s smaller than most would guess, almost humble in a way. Knowing that there are rooms the size of craters in this house and still choosing an average one. It almost makes Keefe well up. That, or the stress of it all.

They’re lying there, trying to fall asleep, dim lighting and leaves rustling outside, breaking the stillness. It's another minute of stagnance before Keefe speaks,

“Tell me something nice.”

“What do you mean?” Fitz’s voice is groggy and his accent is thicker than during the daytime and Keefe would worry about waking him if he weren’t so melancholic.

“Y’know, like. Tell me something nice. Something spirit-raising.”

A moment goes by. Then two. Fitz sits up, shuffles for a second, lies back down. Keefe wonders if he’s not going to respond until:

“If I tell you something,” his voice is hoarse and whispering, “would you promise not to tell anyone else?”

That wakes Keefe up. He looks up at him, trying to muster all his sincerity into his face. “Yeah, man. Always.”

Another stretch goes by before quietly, gently, Fitz says. “It was Dex. The, um. The mystery girl. Was Dex.”

Keefe sits up and Fitz does too. Their knees bump together and Keefe can feel every nerve, every deep well of shame, every ounce of hopelessness oozing out from his pores.

He looks him in the eye and places his hand gently on his shoulder. He feels the pressure in his chest, the panic pumping through his veins, the despair leaking from his gut. He tries to take it all from him, in that moment, but he can’t. That’s not the way it works. So he nods wordlessly and smiles.

Fitz smiles too, heartbreakingly. Like he can’t bear to, but he has to. His eyes well up briefly and he rubs at them quickly, breathing deeply, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s going to be okay,” Keefe says, because really, what can he say? “This doesn’t change anything. Seriously. It’s going to be okay.”

Fitz nods and smiles a little more genuinely and they go to bed and wake up with the sun beaming through the window and their legs all mixed up under the sheets. Keefe wakes up feeling like a weight has been lifted. Or maybe that's Fitz.

Weeks pass, months, and nothing changes really. They grow close again, they laugh again, they eat lunch together and crack jokes and play base quests when it's warm.

Slowly, bit by bit, Keefe starts to notice subtle changes. The way Fitz’s gaze lingers on Dex and Dex’s lingers back. The way they walk together in the halls. He comes over for another impromptu night and finds Dex already there, sleeping peacefully under the covers. And they never talk about it. And it never gets confirmed. But, yeah.

I was Sophitz posting so I was like, why not Sokeefe post too?

Just for starters, I get why people ship them. They have a really nice vibe, some good banter, and honestly, a bunch their scenes are pretty cute. At one point I was as close to being a Sokeefe shipper as you can be without actually being a shipper. But I still don't like the ship.

Mostly because, the foundation is all wrong. Keefe thought nobody cares about him (ppl did, but he never payed attention to that), saw a pretty girl who cared about him, and began crushing on her. Sophie wasn't awkward about his family situation, just heartbroken for him. And he loved that about her, loved how much she cared, how she never judged.

And let me straight up say that this is a horrible foundation for a ship.

See, you simply cannot have a healthy relationship with such a foundation. If Sokeefe was founded on being a safe harbour for Keefe's trauma, there will obviously be obsession and pedestalization following. Trust me, I was in a situation where I had no friends, and believed nobody, not even my family, cared about me, and met this girl who was the first person who seemed to care (she didn't, it was a pity friendship). My crush on her was very similar to Keefe's crush on Sophie. Sophie becomes Keefe's emotional harbour, and more often than not, this leads to codependency. And let me just say that Sokeefe just has a lot of codependent vibes.

Actually this is kinda crazy. Number one, I wasn’t talking about you nor was this directed towards anyone who already responded or interacted with my post. If you read my post originally it said “MOST” people. I did not say ALL.

Number two, to give context of my post because CLEARLY everyone and their mother wants to make it seem like I came out to get them. I do not like Keefe haters who hate him for no reason. “What is no reason?” You ask. That’s a great question. I don’t like people who hate on character and unable to express and explain why.

I have read your post and feelings about Keefe. Do I agree with them? Hell no. But I respect you and respect that even tho we disagree, you have evidence to support / defend your feelings. I actually admire you for that because you’re very outspoken about it. Again I don’t agree with it but my post wasn’t about whether or not I agree with it.

It was about people who just call him names and accuse him of stuff and when asked about it, they’re silent. They’re just hating for no reason. In my head if you dislike someone strongly you have a reason why. But if you don’t have a reason it kinda comes off as weird to me. I am very educated on here when it comes to anti Keefe people. I do genounely read your post and take notes on it.

Number three, I don’t just hate on yall cuz yall don’t agree with me LMFAO. Once again this post wasn’t about you. If I wanted to make a post about you I would have tagged you. I have never been ashamed of stating my feelings and or opinions on this app

“Actually this is kinda crazy. Number one, I wasn’t talking about you nor was this directed towards anyone who already responded or interacted with my post. If you read my post originally it said “MOST” people. I did not say ALL.”

idk what post you are referring to. i haven’t interacted with it, most likely. because i’m pretty sure i have never interacted with you before. also it really doesn’t matter if you are talking about me specifically and i don’t believe you were. i referenced myself in the tags as hyperbole. your issue here is that you said “most” keefe haters here. most keefe haters here are extremely chill and do not have this opinion, i know because i interact with them frequently. therefore by saying “most keefe haters” you are straight up making blatantly false statements. do better. you did not say all, agreed, and that is irrelevant. like i said. most keefe haters do not think this. you are literally making stuff up because you may have seen one post that ticked you off. i will repeat myself. most keefe haters do not think this. you said most keefe haters do. therefore you are making stuff up

“Number two, to give context of my post because CLEARLY everyone and their mother wants to make it seem like I came out to get them.”

don’t blow this out of proportion it was just me. lol

“I do not like Keefe haters who hate him for no reason. “What is no reason?” You ask. That’s a great question. I don’t like people who hate on character and unable to express and explain why.”

cool. then say that. make a post that says that. do not attack the vague “most keefe haters” while making false statements and then act shocked when it annoys people. i will again say most keefe haters do not think this. your original post is blatant falsehood. attack the argument, or at least say “some” keefe haters, instead of “most keefe haters”, because now you make it sound like being a keefe hater means holding these beliefs with a few exceptions. you are making keefe hating sound irrational, with a few rational exceptions

“I have read your post and feelings about Keefe. Do I agree with them? Hell no. But I respect you and respect that even tho we disagree, you have evidence to support / defend your feelings. I actually admire you for that because you’re very outspoken about it. Again I don’t agree with it but my post wasn’t about whether or not I agree with it.”

i did not believe you were attacking me specifically. i am just saying you are not in good faith representing “most keefe haters”

“It was about people who just call him names and accuse him of stuff and when asked about it, they’re silent. They’re just hating for no reason. In my head if you dislike someone strongly you have a reason why. But if you don’t have a reason it kinda comes off as weird to me. I am very educated on here when it comes to anti Keefe people. I do genounely read your post and take notes on it.”

then say that! say that! i would not have a problem if you would just say “i don’t like those people that say keefe needs to die or call him evil” like this is not my issue. when you attack “most” keefe haters, you are unfairly representing the majority opinion we hold and framing the main anti keefe argument as something only a few anti keefe hold, when it’s the opposite. some random person ticked you off and you are claiming a significant portion of anti keefe people think that. that is false, hence why i said you lied. harsh, but i wasn’t incorrect

“Number three, I don’t just hate on yall cuz yall don’t agree with me LMFAO. Once again this post wasn’t about you. If I wanted to make a post about you I would have tagged you. I have never been ashamed of stating my feelings and or opinions on this app”

i hate the way you keep implying my issue with your post is that i disagree with you about keefe. no. my issue is you claiming most keefe haters hold an opinion most keefe haters do not hold

“I apologize if you felt attacked or anyone felt attacked for this post. But as I said before, the people that interacted already aren’t the people I was referring too. But I can understand your frustration and understand why you would get defensive.”

“Don’t blow this out of proportion it was just me” is actually blasphemy to my eyes because you’re not the one getting back to back notification rn. I have a longline of notifications to prove that if you would like to see it. I don’t like being called a liar which I’m sure you can empathized with as you yourself don’t like being seen as a liar based on your responses.

I will admit I did not feel like I had to explain myself in my post. Why? Because that statement I made wasn’t anything new to my account. If you follow me or interact with me before you would know that. I’ve said that statement MULTIPLE times for months and even had paragraphs explaining why. That is why I’m frustrated and irritated because people are assuming instead of clarifying. Had anyone asked a question I would have answered and explained it as I’ve done in the past. But instead I have people sending me non stop paragraphs of assumptions.

You saying you’ve never interacted with me before adds to my frustration because YOU don’t know me. You assumed based on ONE post. I do understand your frustration and I already apologized but if it’ll help I’ll apologize again. I apologize that my wording wasn’t better and made you feel as if you and ur community was under attack. That was not my intention. But I will not apologize for is my opinion I originally made and explained MULTIPLE times. You getting irritated that I made a post based on one post that upset me and generalized it and then YOU doing the same thing is INSANITY and hypocritical. You generalized what I was expressing instead of clarifying or asking questions which is the entire issue with tumblr and the keepbler community.

And yes I have been told because of the system you probably haven’t seen my other post and that’s fine. I can admit my wording wasn’t the best and could have been seen as directive and could have been seen as accusatory but your quick thinking to assumptions was even crazier. Yes you’re right I could have worded it better but you could have asked or checked my account instead of attacking off the bat. This entire issue escalated not just on my error of communication but yours as well. So how about YOU do better instead of trying to clock me like this is reality tv.

Actually this is kinda crazy. Number one, I wasn’t talking about you nor was this directed towards anyone who already responded or interacted with my post. If you read my post originally it said “MOST” people. I did not say ALL.

Number two, to give context of my post because CLEARLY everyone and their mother wants to make it seem like I came out to get them. I do not like Keefe haters who hate him for no reason. “What is no reason?” You ask. That’s a great question. I don’t like people who hate on character and unable to express and explain why.

I have read your post and feelings about Keefe. Do I agree with them? Hell no. But I respect you and respect that even tho we disagree, you have evidence to support / defend your feelings. I actually admire you for that because you’re very outspoken about it. Again I don’t agree with it but my post wasn’t about whether or not I agree with it.

It was about people who just call him names and accuse him of stuff and when asked about it, they’re silent. They’re just hating for no reason. In my head if you dislike someone strongly you have a reason why. But if you don’t have a reason it kinda comes off as weird to me. I am very educated on here when it comes to anti Keefe people. I do genounely read your post and take notes on it.

Number three, I don’t just hate on yall cuz yall don’t agree with me LMFAO. Once again this post wasn’t about you. If I wanted to make a post about you I would have tagged you. I have never been ashamed of stating my feelings and or opinions on this app

Actually this is kinda crazy. Number one, I wasn’t talking about you nor was this directed towards anyone who already responded or interacted with my post. If you read my post originally it said “MOST” people. I did not say ALL.

Number two, to give context of my post because CLEARLY everyone and their mother wants to make it seem like I came out to get them. I do not like Keefe haters who hate him for no reason. “What is no reason?” You ask. That’s a great question. I don’t like people who hate on character and unable to express and explain why.

I have read your post and feelings about Keefe. Do I agree with them? Hell no. But I respect you and respect that even tho we disagree, you have evidence to support / defend your feelings. I actually admire you for that because you’re very outspoken about it. Again I don’t agree with it but my post wasn’t about whether or not I agree with it.

It was about people who just call him names and accuse him of stuff and when asked about it, they’re silent. They’re just hating for no reason. In my head if you dislike someone strongly you have a reason why. But if you don’t have a reason it kinda comes off as weird to me. I am very educated on here when it comes to anti Keefe people. I do genounely read your post and take notes on it.

Number three, I don’t just hate on yall cuz yall don’t agree with me LMFAO. Once again this post wasn’t about you. If I wanted to make a post about you I would have tagged you. I have never been ashamed of stating my feelings and or opinions on this app