motherofcavy

[motherofcavy]

rote moments/details that destroy me:

(Spoilers obv)

When Burrich comes all the way to Aslevjal to find out Fitz "died" in the ice a few days earlier

And when Fitz comes back Dutiful's eyes are red because he's been crying, and he can't process it

Burrich names each animal in the stables with so much thought and care, and just calls Fitz "the fitz" and that names sticks

The letter from Burrich to Chivalry about the "colt" that has temperament issues due to "being weaned from his mother too soon"

Fitz and Burrich both get white streaks in their hair

Mere!

Fitz and Chade are natural healers, but are forced to kill

Molly ended up marrying a drunk like her father

Fitz gives all of himself away, even Verity's sword and Burrich's earring (I don't think Burrich wanted to give it to Swift)

Nighteyes dies and Fitz gets no support from the Old Blood community, he's left to mourn alone

And Kettricken doesn't see Nighteyes before he dies

The posies and nosegays Fool thinks Fitz is giving to him are a reference to Molly (her name is Nosegay and her mom calls her a posy)

Fitz thinks about naming Bee Lacey!

The metaphors in the names: Patience is what finally wins Fitz over, Verity has no place in war, Chivalry is dead. Verity is what wins Fitz's loyalty, Patience is an outcast.

And when the characters betray their names? Shrewd was blind to his son's treachery. Verity deceives Fitz. Chivalry falls off his horse. (Chivalry also refers to armed soldiers on horses). Blade sends Fitz to his death, all unknowingly. Dutiful runs away. Chade emerges from the walls when he believes Fitz dead.

Hap playing matchmaker with Fitz and Jinna lmao (calling her pretty, inviting her over, etc.) I think it's because he's worried about Fitz being alone when he leaves for his apprenticeship

When Fool dies and Chade comes over to Fitz, and he assumes Chade has a task for him and is shocked when he offers condolences

What little we learn about Thick's mom is so heartbreaking! She uses her son as a cutpurse, and once tries to abandon him and changes her mind :,(

Blade feels guilty about Fitz until he dies

Hands :(

Patience keeps a lock of Fitz's hair in a locket

Fitz takes on the persona Tom the Shepard, taking bits of both is mothers with him into his fake life. Patience's name for him, and his mother's profession he helped with as a boy

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The Fool doesn't "bet on losing dogs" why would you say something like that

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Thinking about how Fitz gets along easiest with people who mock him: Fool, Nighteyes, even Hap. He's so filled with self-loathing but teasing just disarms that, and allows him to laugh at himself if he can't laugh at anything else. "Mocking always makes you feel better,"

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My pet peeve is everyone blaming Fitz for everything bad that has happened to Molly.

Everyone says Fitz lied so much to Molly, but I don't even really think that's fair. Like a lot of the "lies" are assumptions on Molly's part. He had some egregious lies of omission, but I find those to be very understandable. Of course he isn't going to tell Molly he's the infamous Fitz. She apparently thought they were courting but all those years and she never had any curiosity about Fitz's real name or background? And didn't lie about being drunk, she assumed the worst. (Although, it looks bad.) Fitz never tells Molly about being Witted, but he it seems like that was smart, because Fitz was literally executed for it! Fitz "lies" to Molly about marrying her and going to the king for permission, but he doesn't actually lie, does he? He does everything he says he will. He's more honest with Molly than he is with most people. But when Fitz's best intentions are thwarted, Molly blames Fitz. She assumes he never meant it, and he was a duplicitous and untrustworthy person the whole time. And let's be honest, a lot of this was her mind being poisoned by Regal and the other people of the Keep. Fitz literally tells her he's an assassin and she just chooses not to believe him.

Molly is the same as Fitz, which is why their relationship was doomed from the start. Molly was abused from a young age and assumes the worst about other people. She tests them, and pushes them away. Fitz is similar, the difference being his bone deep self loathing. They are a match made in hell.

Molly goes through a lot because of her relationship with Fitz, but he doesn't actually deceive her in the way she claims. And moreover, I think the fact that she never told Fitz she was pregnant is way worse than any of Fitz's lies. Because she doesn't truly want Fitz out of her life, she is just testing his loyalty. She is as childish as Fitz is! Which is understandable, because of everything they've gone through! But everyone blames Fitz for all of it, because he blames himself, because he is an unreliable narrator. I'm not saying Fitz was a good boyfriend or anything, just that they share responsibility for the failures of their relationship.

And don't ever say to me that Fitz "abandoned" Molly, Burrich or Nettle. Molly made the choice to kick Fitz out of Nettle's life. I think they did seriously cross a boundary. Burrich is clearly meant to parallel Molly's father, with his age and drinking habits. Molly seems to need a father more than a husband, but she thinks a man who isn't cruel to her would be a good husband. And from what little we see of their marriage, they seem very dysfunctional. I just cannot understand when people chalk Fitz's feelings about them to be petty jealousy. It's not that he's jealous of Burrich, Burrich seems way more possessive of Molly than Fitz ever was. All he wanted was a family, and they forgot him so easily, and blamed him for things he didn't do.

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Fitz constantly has moments of affection/attraction towards Kettricken in rote, and always attributes that to his Skill link with Verity. But honestly, I think he does have some real romantic feelings for her, if not as pronounced as his feelings for Molly or Fool. For one, he has those moments even after Verity goes into his dragon. For two, Fitz is a super unreliable narrator and so unemotionally intelligent. He might be suppressing or denying those feelings reflexively out of loyalty to Verity.

It makes Kettricken's unrequited love for Fitz even more tragic. Already, there is no potential relationship for them. Even though of course Kettricken would fall for Fitz! He was her first friend in a foreign court, he saved her life, they endured so much and shared so much in common (Mountain heritage/philosophy, Wit, austere and practical, in tune with nature, Sacrifice, similar in age). But she was married to Verity. Verity: who came to love her, but first saw her as a child and a burden. Verity: who spent less time with her than Fitz. Verity: who didn't understand what it meant to be an outcast at Buckkeep. Fitz and Kettricken both come to love and practically worship Verity and he hangs over their every interaction. And isn't that a pun, that "truth and honesty" defines their relationship? Kettricken is much more emotionally intelligent than Fitz and probably recognizes her feelings for him, and knows it can never be.

And, if Fitz does have some romantic love for his queen, how does that reflect in their respective relationships with Dutiful? Fitz treats Dutiful like he treats Kettricken. Respectfully, and formal to distance himself from them. Dutiful is able to vocalize how that hurts him, but Kettricken doesn't truly try to close the gap between them again. She probably is just as hurt by his distance, but accepts it as a sacrifice. Fitz has to compartmentalize his feelings for Kettricken and Dutiful, because he cannot be Dutiful's father, and he can't be Kettricken's friend. They are his kin, but not family.

Kettricken also treats Dutiful like she treated Fitz. "Accept, and endure,". Obsessed with sacrifice and imposing that suffering on Fitz and their son like a gift. Holding them to impossible standards. Praising them for their ability to endure. But, she is able to give Dutiful what Fitz never had. He had the privileges afforded to royalty, yes, but more than that. She protected him, and loved him unconditionally. Like how she was never able to protect or love Fitz.

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rote is basically "your Found Family can be as dysfunctional as your biological family"

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So tragic and funny that Chade obviously thinks of Fitz as his son but Fitz has never ever thought of that, even though he's related to Chade and not Burrich

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Teen Fitz (Royal Assassin Era) and the tattoo scene

I'm so rusty at drawing and my anatomy is not there bleh

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throwback to that one chpater in royal assassin where everyone fitz is close too goes!! whoa... do u realize that u are suicidal??

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Baby Fitz= dog

Obedient, needs validation, working pack (pack is working for humans in subservience), tamed/domesticated wolf, passive

Teen/Adult Fitz= wolf

Pack of equals, predator, stays away from humans, independent, prideful, active

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Do you think Kettricken ever explained Dutiful's parentage to him after Fitz went into the wolf? I feel like there had to be some record somewhere like in the Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince

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"No it's bad to destroy the sacred grove of the Specks! We have to stop this!"

"Spink's family stole the sacred springs of the Plainspeople and monetized it as a plague cure, and prohibit Plainspeople from accessing it. They're rich now and That's Good"

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A detail about the Quarrel that destroys me is the flowers. They appear many times in the first 2 books, and are always a "nosegay" or a "posy". Basically a little bunch of flowers.

The flower misunderstanding represents Fitz's continued feelings for Molly, or at least what she represents to him. When Fitz reads that tablet to her, it begins something like "On this day was born my Molly Nosegay, the sweetest bunch of posies any mother could wish for..." Not an exact quote but nosegay and posy both appear in the tablet. So when Fool keeps getting nosegays, it's like he unwittingly tries to appropriate the role of Molly Nosegay.

This is when Fool resigns himself to the belief that he will always be second to Molly in Fitz's heart.

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rote spoilers>>>

Need more aus about Burrich surviving! He dies offscreen? Molly discovers Fitz offscreen too? There are so many ways a Skill healing could happen naturally bc his death is somewhat contrived. Nettle convinces Tintaglia to cure him before she leaves. Fitz accidentally finds the key to break his Skill lock while talking to Swift about his life. (In Fool's Fate we learn Fitz naturally imbues all his words with Skill). Thick brute force destroys the lock. Maybe when he's healed his vision and leg are fixed. I think it would be so interesting to explore how Burrich's survival would impact Fitz/Molly, and Fitz/Beloved. Would Fitz still want to go back to Molly? What would Burrich tell Molly and Nettle? I want a proper reunion between Fitz and Molly! The emotional impact! If Fitz saved Burrich, would Molly and Nettle forgive him? Imagine Patience and Burrich reuniting, with Fitz. Would Fool's prophecy account for Burrich living? Would that be another way Fitz breaks the future? And I think if you wanted to make a Fix-It Fool's Fate AU that would be a natural way to prevent Fitz and Fool from separating.

Also, nitpicky, but I think Burrich didn't want to give Swift the earring, and I think Fitz should have gotten the wizardwood arrow for Swift as a trophy.

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Mixed feelings about Soldier's Son Trilogy (Robin Hobb). The last book was really slow, and very uninteresting. To avoid spoilers, imagine a Liveship Trader's book that's just from Kennit's wizardwood charm. It about as engaging as you would think. Still, I ended up liking the ending and the main romance. I don't think I'll reread this series.

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I only finished Shaman's Crossing (book one of the Soldier's Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb), and from what I've seen from reviews and synopses of the next book, I know Nevare is going to have a sort of redemption arc. However, I just don't think he will ever hold a candle to Fitz.

The traits that make Fitz so much more real to be are his strong moral character, and his proactive nature. I know Nevare will undergo major moral changes, but he seems so utterly passive to me to be grating. Comparing him to even the most deplorable characters in Realm of the Elderlings, like Malta (at first), Kennit, Dwalia, etc, Nevare seems almost worse to me. Kennot and Dwalia are so evil but they are also profoundly human. And Kennit is a monster but his POVs are also just fund to read, at least in the beginning. Nevare just allows events to happen around him and I almost find that more offensive than if he were to actively harm others. Like, the character I find him most alike from ROTE is Prilkop. And that's an issue because I hate Prilkop.

I know that this will probably be the theme of the books, that inaction in the face of injustice is complicity, but Nevare is just such an empty character. I think every character needs to have an internal conflict that drives their decision making, but ironically, Nevare has the most literal internal conflict and it renders him powerless. He is utterly uncurious about the world around him and his place in it, he has no real motivations, and no desire to take agency over his own life. I think I'll stick this series out until the end but I miss Fitz already.

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I hate Burrich so much i don't understand how anyone could like him. Physically abusive, groomer, bigot, coward. Fitz loves him in the same way Molly loved her dad.