u/No-Damage7758

Okay, so I've been in this fandom a while, and lately nearly every post seems to hate Sophie. And I 100% respect people's opinions- I just wanted to put my two cents out there. Especially since I used to be a Sophie hater myself but now, as someone who's struggled with mental illness since and also a wannabe psychologist.

Pls don't hate. I'd love to hear your views, but pls be polite. If you're disrespectful I will just block and report.

So, some of the main reasons a lot of people hate Sophie are:

"She complains constantly but never does anything"

I really get why it feels that way, especially since when I'd read "Sophie felt like a terrible friend" for the tenth time and feel like shouting "WELL DON'T JUST MOPE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! INCLUDE YOUR FRIENDS!" and I suspect a lot of others feel the same way.

I espect this will be harder to understand for people who have never experienced mental illnesses (no hate at all guys, I'm super grateful for you that you haven't gone through that) but I'll try and put it this way:

Have you ever had a homework assignment you were doing on Sunday evening, due the next morning? That you were filling in frantically at midnight when you were tired and getting all the answers wrong? And thought "omg why didn't I do this before?! Next week imma finish ALL my hw early in the week so I can chill on Sunday." But when the next week comes, you reach hope after school and you're soooooo tired. You've had a long day, your brain is absolutely fried from that calculus problem that everyone else in the class got but you, your mom is mad at you for not unloading the dishwasher, and your best friend suddenly ghosted you. The very very last thing on your mind is homework- it doesn't even occur to you. Until maybe you catch sight of your textbook and remember the promise you made yourself and you think "I can't."

That's essentially what it is for Sophie. Except, obviously adjusting the scales from everyday struggles to end-of-the-world struggles

And I know a common argument is "Well, her friends go through similar crap and they don't mope as much as she does!" But remember, it just seems this way because we're ALWAYS in Sophie's head. A lot of the time it just seems like her friends are more efficient is because they only appear when they're relevant. And from the little we have seen, there are hints of them not coping amazingly either. Fitz and Keefe are obvious, but even the others. Tam won't even talk to anyone before literally security scanning them- which, probably makes many uncomfortable, and not to mention literally joined the bad guys (however unwillingly). Linh's not much beter in Stellarune, consistently mad at Tam and Glimmer and refusing to listen to other points of view. Marella, girl literally ignored Sophie for weeks and then went "WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE ME ON A SUPER SECRET SENSITIVE MISSION WITH YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS" (and don't get me started on literally blackmailing Forkle 😭) and Wylie was overprotective and willing to put Maruca's safety over the good of the world, not to mention previosuly flat-out blamed Sophie for Prentice's state which she literally had no control over.

Point is, none of them are perfect. I'm moving on before this progresses onto a whole-ass ramble...

"She's a hypocrite- she lies to her friends but gets so mad when people lie to her"

This one used to REALLYYYYYY annoy me. Sophie does tend to lash out really hard when people keep secrets from her... but that is because of her upbringing.

Guys, from the age of FIVE, Sophie... could never be lied to. She knew it all. Good, bad, happy, traumatic, unfair, nasty- she heard it all. Did she like it? Of course not. But it became a part of her. It became routine and... normal. Have you ever met anyone who grew up in the heart of the city, and constantly complained about traffic, noise, and pollution- but if they'd suddenly move to the dead of the country with not a soul in sight, they'd be scared witless? Because whether or not it was always fun, the city was THEIR LIFE. And this was thoughts with Sophie.

My point is, Sophie had NO experience with surprises at all. In the way all of us have, whether we realise it or not. Sophie never had to worry that her parents lied about what was in her food to get her to eat veggies. Or that her sister had stolen something of hers and wouldn't tell her where it was. Or that the people glaring at her were planning a nasty prank with her. The little stuff that most people don't note but builds them as a person- none for her.

Until, she CAN be lied to. And what's the first secret ever kept from her? That she has to abandon her family and live with strangers. And that she's a genetic experiment who a bunch of evil guys want to kidnap.

That's why the idea of secrets TERRIFIES her. Conciously or not, her brain associates "people keeping secrets from her" as unnatural, dangerous and scary, causing her to lash out.

"She never faces consequences for her actions"

Most people who say this actually mean "she never faces consequences for her actions from a person who isn't villainised" eg. the Council, Stina, on occasion Fitz, which makes it feel like Sophie can essentially never be wrong, and any fight must be the other person's fault, so a lot of people call her a Mary Sue.

But what a lot of people forget is that the story is from Sophie's point of view. It's not that anyone who calls her out is automatically evil; it's that that's how they seem to us as readers because that's how they start seeming to Sophie.

And I suspect a lot of people are going to say:

"Well that's so stuck-up of her, to automatically perceive any criticism as evil! She needs to grow up and have some nuance!"

And I get that, but, going back to her childhood again- nothing ever actually had nuance for her. There were no filters.

An example would be:

A small, oversmart kid reading an advanced book. Their mom says "Honey, I'm so proud you're reading, but don't you think you'll get bored of that if you do it all day? Maybe go any play with those kids in the park?"

A regular kid, at this point, would hear exactly that: Mom's proud of me but is casually suggesting I do something I might enjoy more. They would then learn and process that it's normal to be able to enjoy one thing, and their parent to be proud of them for it, and at the same time make suggestions for other activities. No biggie.

Sophie, though? She heard "My daughter is reading and not playing because she's abnormal and stands out from other kids her age. I'm worried she'll always be an outcast and be bullied if this keeps up."

You get the gist. Sophie never had the privilege of receiving the langauge we use to help kids grow, or even just basic societal diplomacy. She only got the very raw this; only extremes.

That's why she gets so triggered- the smallest suggestion is actually a mass judgement of her and/or an attack, and that translates to anyone who ever says anything negative about her being a hater.

Well, that's all for now, though maybe I'll do a part 2.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear points of view (though again pls be polite XD)

where is this Fitz hate I keep hearing about

In Defense of Sophie