KOTLC Conspiracy Theories + tags

Sophie, Keefe, and Mental Health Representation

**I need to say again that this is only my opinion and ofc you can disagree respectfully in the comments! share ur opinions, just try keep it chill:)

Sophie is a literal piece of white bread (in my friend's words). She's extremely shallow and self-centered.

Sophie's character:

I just don't like how her character is crafted at all. She's pretty bad from a writing standpoint, but I also wouldn't enjoy meeting her in person. Her only acknowledged flaws are clumsiness and worry. I'll talk about the anxiety further down, but on the clumsiness, it just doesn't do it for me. She also hasn't evolved pretty much at all since the beginning of the series. For example, when she has these like- realizations, I guess(?), it's so cringy to watch her slowly figure things out. Her brain is most definitely still developing, and she still has that child-y naiveness (although everyone grows out of that at different speeds).

Keefe and Sokeefe:

Unlike Sophie, Keefe was very well written, especially in contrast to the other characters. He has an AMAZING development and independent plot that I could go on about for hours, and he's just... so good lol. He definitely has his flaws, but that makes him even better. Like I could imagine someone acting for him in a movie, but most of the other characters just aren't well crafted enough for me to picture it. He's also very relatable to many younger readers. I love sokeefe because-

1) Keefe deserves anyone he wants lol, even tho I don't think that Sophie deserves someone as good as Keefe.

2) They're adorable. Period.

Mental Health Representation in kotlc:

Gods, I have a lot to say about this. I'm not going to be able to say everything, but stay with me here. First off, I think that Shannon tried to make it seem as though Sophie had anxiety, which sorta failed. 

Sophie would be relatable to someone going through your average young people problems (like someone maybe from ages 9-12), but the representation of mental health is actually pretty bad, in my opinion. It's like, really really failed surface-level anxiety. I personally have severe GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, I'm diagnosed by a medical professional), but I can't speak for everyone. 

The most common argument that I've heard to defend Sophie's character is that she's been through a lot. And yes, she's been kidnapped and drugged and has a kinda bad life. BUT, this is where the error is in the writing. She doesn't act as though she's been through these hard things, but she doesn't act like someone who is still processing the trauma either. Sophie has this whole anxiety thing going on but to be honest, it isn't really enough to be a mental illness. She's going through a healthy amount for a 12-14 year old girl, and I don't like how the books make it out to be this big thing. If I'm being honest, it's a little frustrating and invalidating to have this going through the entire series. What's your opinion?

One part where there is a little more accurate representation is in Flashback, when Sophie and Fitz (ew, ritz cracker) are stuck in Elwin's office with their severe injuries. It shows both how infuriating it is to be stuck in bed with an injury (this can take a very serious toll on mental health if you're in athlete especially), and show a glimpse of PTSD or similar mental illnesses. I want to be clear that I do not have PTSD. I do have clinically diagnosable OCD, panic disorder, and anxiety, however, so I can speak about that part. The thought spiraling that Sophie experienced after a triggering thought or when she saw the Shadowflux was actually a decently accurate, small-scale reaction. So on those scenes... good job Shannon! 👏

The last thing I'll say about this topic in this chapter is Empaths. There is a not very well known and very rare disorder called hyper empathy (not diagnosable) that I happen to have lol. Less than 2% of the population is predicted to have it. I don't think it was on purpose, but Shannon displayed almost exactly what hyper empathy feels like when she wrote about Empaths. When Keefe talked about the downsides of being an Empath, I related with it so much. He explained that it's hard to compartmentalize your emotions vs others, and so much more than I could talk about for wayyy too long lol. 

Anyways, that's all for this chapter! Bye!

**Btw, I didn't explain the mental illnesses I talked about here very thoroughly here. Pls do not take this is a cue to self diagnose yourself, or google these to see if it applies to you. The internet is a terrible place to find information on mental health, please please please talk to someone irl who can help you if you need it. People out there are here for you, I promise.