#it’s a very character driven fantasy series I love fitz and the fool so much

[medievalthymes]

i beg of you..... what is rote and how do i read it

realm of the elderlings series by Robin Hobb and yes please read it I’m in the middle of the series and I have such deep brainrot from it it’s not even funny.

[queeranarchist]

Dear Creator

General Likes: Trans characters, queer themes, queer solidarity, character development, strong gen. relationships and interactions with characters outside of a relationship, dialogue-driven story, non-linear narrative, animals, angst, hurt/comfort, character introspection

DNW: underage, a/b/o, past S10 for SPN

Realm of the Elderlings

Well if this reads as though I haven't finished the books it's because I haven't, but I will have by reveals so don't worry about spoilers.

Fitz/Fool

1. Set in the Golden Fool Trilogy before the Fool being Amber and him being in love with Fitz is revealed they have the head out on a sea voyage for whatever reason. They come across the Paragon, Fitz freaks because why does that ship have my face and also it's ALIVE? The Fool has to then awkwardly explain what happened.

2. At the end of the Golden Fool Trilogy they venture back to the Fool's homeland together.

3. After the Red Ships are vanquished Fool seeks out Fitz. They travel the world together with Night Eyes.

Brashen/Althea

1. I would love a bit more detail about their life after their series! We see them with a kid in the Dragon series so I would adore a look into that family.

2. I would love to see how these guys relationship works with their families, does Brashen ever really speak to his family again? Does Malta have the Trell's over and Brashen and his family awkwardly sit at the table together.

3. Generic ship adventure! I would love to see these guys travelling around with the Paragon and what they get up to.

Supernatural

DNW: Anything past Season 10

Likes: boy king arc, Sam centric fic, queer Sam (I literally head canon him as anything with whatever pronouns), Bobby, trans Dean, religious iconography/themes, Sam being a lore nerd

Dislikes: Sidelining Sam 

Sam/Ruby

1. Ruby lives, I’d love to see how this plays out in Season Five. Whether she sticks with Lucifer or chooses Sam.

2. Sam goes dark side after freeing Lucifer

3. Earlier on Sam starts trusting her and fulfilling his role as the boy king. If this stops Dean from going to hell, changes the way the demons work etc

Sam/Jess or Sam/Jess & Dean

1. Jess lives au! My personal head canon is that Jess is pre-med and being very intent on saving people. When she finds out about hunting, she realises that she can’t just go back to being “normal” knowing people are dying. Maybe Sam decides to go back to law school and they have a semi long-distance relationship where she asks him for advice, maybe they hunt together every now and again. Maybe she joins Dean and Sam and they become a hunting trio.

2. Jess gets brought back to life – place this in any season you want! Go wild.

Dean & Sam

1. Dean keeps in touch with Sam during Stanford! Maybe from the get-go, maybe after a couple of years, maybe seeing each other, maybe just through postcards

2. I’d love to see them during S4 where their relationship starts to fall apart, but like also see them still loving each other

3. John gets a year to live instead of instantly going to hell AU – how do they react? Do they try to save him? Does John tell them?

4. I’d love a sort of non-linear story of them (especially Sam because it’s been so long) trying to integrate John into his adult life also looking at his life as a child/teen. You know the general angst about how he’d done it, he’d gotten away and he’s right back at square one. Also, Dean starting to realise that he isn’t a kid anymore, and he’s got his own thoughts etc

Sam

1. Licherally anything in the boy king arc! I’d love to see him fulfilling his role as the boy king. This stops Dean from going to hell, changes the way the demons work etc

2. His time at Stanford! I’d love to see him adjusting to his new life.

3. I would love to see a bit more of him in Season Four! How he feels about Dean being chosen by the angels, how this affects his view on religion, how he feels about himself and the demon. Blood etc

4. Just some introspection anytime in the series tbh, love to see this boy struggle with wanting to be good, with wanting to be normal, and then um not being those things

5. I’d love a sort of non-linear story of Sam trying to integrate John into his adult life also looking at his life as a child/teen. You know the general angst about how he’d done it, he’d gotten away and he’s right back at square one.

Final Fantasy XV

Likes: fics that include the whole gang, trans Gladio, anything with Prompto, angst about destiny, angst about royal linage, character introspection

Noctis/Prompto

1. I really like angsty fics about destiny with this lot - I would love to see how the way in which they’ve been raised effects their relationship, be it being groomed to be king or shield or advisor. I would love a getting together fic, with whichever ship you wish to write, with a lot of internal angst.

2. I would also love a post cannon fic where Noctis is alive (magic, never died, skip over it entirely it’s up to you) where they all settle down, maybe Noctis lets the world think he has died so he can live a peaceful life?

3. I would like to see a fic of Prompto integrating himself into Noctis’ life, Gladio and Ignis have been around his entire life, so how does Prompto feel about them? How do they feel about him? Honestly I’m 100% here for awkward insecure bby Prompto

4. Set between game cannon and Brotherhood, I‘d be down to see what these guys got up to in the years between high school and the road trip. Did Prompto and Noctis study after high school? Do they travel?

5. Less of a prompt and more a vague feeling but like *slaps prompto* this bad boy can fit so much angst in it. Honestly, he’s childhood is depressing af, with the lack of parents and friends combined with a shit body image/relationship with food I wld rlly love some emotional hurt/comfort with him and the squad

Naruto

Likes: the summons, Rock Lee, the squads and how they operate, Naruto getting to eat the ramen he deserves, Sakura being an actual bad arse fleshed out character, trans Naruto

Sasuke/Naruto

1. Naruto leaves and joins Sasuke on his mission to destroy to Leaf, talks him out of y’know murdering everyone but agrees that the Shinobi system is deeply fucked and needs to be fixed

2. I’d like a fic of Sasuke thinking about Naruto while doing all his plotting, be it set when he’s with Orochimaru or the Akatsuki, it would be nice to see him thinking about Naruto, wanting to stop doing so, wondering how strong he could have been if he had managed to kill him and gain the mangekyou earlier

Gai/Kakashi

1. I’d like a fic set just before Kakashi gets his genin, really love to see Gai trying to talk up how cool having a squad is! Dragging Kakashi to see his kids and being like aren’t my team great! And then Team Gai getting into some crazy hijinks that make Kakashi a lil scared about the future but also maybe a bit endeared towards them

2. a fic of Gai watching Kakashi slowly lose himself while in ANBU, of him trying to make things right and not being able to and then eventually asking him to be removed from the forces

[kholinoscopy]

Even though it was another slow-moving affair which ended with another major cliffhanger, I enjoyed almost everything about Robin Hobb's Fool's Quest. In my review, I warned readers who hadn't read The Liveship Traders trilogy and The Rain Wilds Chronicles to do so before they continued reading The Fitz and the Fool trilogy. The storylines from all these series, with the addition of The Tawny Man trilogy, officially merged at the end of Fool's Quest. As a result, to prevent the feeling of being left out of the loop and for the ending to make any sort of sense, one needed to have read Hobb's other series. The events featured in the second installment were brought to a close in a way that appeared to indicate that the final volume would be a tapestry woven of various threads from all those book sequences. Which is why I urged readers who had yet to do so to read The Liveship Traders and The Rain Wilds Chronicles before continuing on with this series. And now that I'm done reading Assassin's Fate, I can vouch for the fact that this third volume is not only the final book in The Fitz and the Fool trilogy. It's much more than that. It's the culmination of the Farseer, the Liveship Traders, the Tawny Man, the Rain Wilds Chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool series, tying up all the storylines together for one grand finale that will leave no one indifferent. And although the novel marks new beginnings and new directions for these characters and their world, there is no denying that Assassin's Fate also marks the end of several protagonists and plotlines. And though it hurts, Assassin's Fate is everything one would want the "end" to be. Here's the blurb: More than twenty years ago, the first epic fantasy novel featuring FitzChivalry Farseer and his mysterious, often maddening friend the Fool struck like a bolt of brilliant lightning. Now New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb brings to a momentous close the third trilogy featuring these beloved characters in a novel of unsurpassed artistry that is sure to endure as one of the great masterworks of the genre. Fitz’s young daughter, Bee, has been kidnapped by the Servants, a secret society whose members not only dream of possible futures but use their prophecies to add to their wealth and influence. Bee plays a crucial part in these dreams—but just what part remains uncertain. As Bee is dragged by her sadistic captors across half the world, Fitz and the Fool, believing her dead, embark on a mission of revenge that will take them to the distant island where the Servants reside—a place the Fool once called home and later called prison. It was a hell the Fool escaped, maimed and blinded, swearing never to return. For all his injuries, however, the Fool is not as helpless as he seems. He is a dreamer too, able to shape the future. And though Fitz is no longer the peerless assassin of his youth, he remains a man to be reckoned with—deadly with blades and poison, and adept in Farseer magic. And their goal is simple: to make sure not a single Servant survives their scourge. The bulk of this novel is comprised of two extremely long journeys. That of Bee, as a captive taken to Clerres, and that of Fitz, the Fool, and their companions, on their way to destroy the Servants. And though their destination is the same, both parties will follow vastly different paths to get there. One of my favorite aspects of Assassin's Fate was that these two journeys take us all over Hobb's universe. The Rain Wilds, Chalced, Bingtown and Trader Bay, the Pirate Islands, the Spice Islands, and, of course, the mysterious island of Clerres, just off the mainland of Mercenia. We discover new locales and revisit places we haven't seen in years. Revelations hint at countless new things to come and raise yet more questions. Still, for all that these journeys can be fascinating, the pace often remains an issue throughout the better part of this book. Having said that, slowly but surely you can see the storylines coming together in unexpected ways and how they join other unconnected plotlines to elevate this tale to another level. And though the rhythm has been an issue in all three installments, it's obvious that Hobb needed time to lay down the groundwork for all these storylines to come together in a way that made sense and that would blow readers' minds. This latest trilogy required more patience and focus from readers to truly appreciate how special it truly is, more so than in any other Robin Hobb works. And yet, the amazing payoff at the end of Assassin's Fate was worth every single moment. And then some! Mourning what he believes is his daughter's death, Flitz continues to be afflicted by self-doubt. Once more, I really enjoyed how Hobb portrayed him as a heartbroken man who gradually climbs out of the pit of his self-pity. Planning his revenge, he is aware that he will likely die avenging his child. The same goes for the Fool. Blinded and vulnerable as he was in Fool's Fate, as he heals the Fool will prove to be as crafty and driven as he used to be in the past. Many of their scenes are very emotional and add yet more layers to their long story. The closer they get to Clerres, the more fractured their relationship becomes. It was at times painful to see how at odds these two had become, and the guilt and terrible sadness they both feel will drive them apart even more. Though they share the same objective, at times it felt as though these two had never been as far apart as they were in Assassin's Fate. Often the hapless victim in the first two volumes, Bee shows a lot of character growth in this final installment. Encouraged by Wolf-Father, she tries to fight back and make her captors fear her. As a matter of course, Fitz and Bee are the only two POV protagonists. And as much as their perspectives are interesting, it's the supporting cast which makes Assassin's Fate such an unforgettable read. In the past, familiar faces made a few cameo appearances in other novels, but they never really played an important role in the resolution of the tale. Believe you me, it's not the case in this book. I wasn't lying when I said that Assassin's Fate was the culmination of the Farseer, the Liveship Traders, the Tawny Man, the Rain Wilds Chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool, and understandably characters from all of these series show up and play an active role. Long-time Hobb fans like me will be pleasantly surprised to get reacquainted with Reyn, Malta, Thymara, Rapskal, Tintaglia, Icefyre, Prilkop, Leftrin, Alise, Paragon, Brashen, Althea, Vivacia, Boy-O, Kennitsson, the pirate queen Etta, Wintrow, Sorcor, and many, many more. I never expected that many characters to make appearances and it was awesome to see them again. Moreover, to discover just how Hobb wove all these storylines together and how it affected the greater scheme of things was truly remarkable. Robin Hobb has a knack for creating genuine and three-dimensional protagonists that you can't help but root for or hate with a passion, and God knows she has created a lot of them over the years. To see all of these men/women/boys/girls return unexpectedly was quite a treat for someone like me who's been there since Day 1. In my humble opinion, no other SFF author writing today possesses Hobb's deft human touch. As I've often said, she can make you laugh and cry at will, often in the same chapter. There are some powerful scenes featuring Fitz and the Fool in Assassin's Fate. And there are also emotionally charged ones between many other characters. Some of these scenes are big and far-reaching, while many are small and intimate, but no less important and/or gut-wrenching. Robin Hobb is a veritable a master at this sort of thing and she pulls on readers' heartstrings whenever the mood strikes. Assassin's Fate  can be quite painful at times. Hobb made my eyes water on more occasions in this one than in any other of her works. It's impossible to discuss the endgame and the grand finale without using spoilers, so I will refrain from doing so. Suffice to say that Hobb found a way to bring all the plotlines full circle in a way that is poignant and powerful. Things will never be the same in the Farseer/Elderlings universe. It will be interesting to see where Hobb decides to go next, but it appears that the liveships might be at the heart of her next project. There are a lot of casualties among the main characters, which seems to hint that the author wanted a relatively clean slate for whatever she has in store for future related installments/series. When it finally comes, the end cuts like a knife. Everything comes full circle so beautifully, yet so painfully. So bittersweet. So heartbreaking. And yet so perfect. I read Assassin's Apprentice when it came out in 1995. Little did I know back then that I would embark on such a long and marvelous journey. With Assassin's Fate, Robin Hobb brought this journey to an end for many of the characters that I have come to love over the years. It's not the end, for this one marks the beginning of what will doubtless be numerous quality tales that will fill Hobb fans with wonder. Nevertheless, it is the final chapter in what should definitely be considered one of the best, if not the best, fantasy sagas ever written. Look no further. Assassin's Fate is the 2017 fantasy novel of the year. The final verdict: 10/10

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