#thinking of chade telling fitz that hes the son he never had and fitz saying that he would always be 'chades boy'

[mistninja]

Thinking about how loved fitz is and how deeply he loves in return. Feeling very normal about it yeah. Fitz issue isnt a lack of love its that hes loved in ways he cant and sometimes doesn't want to understand. That hes loved but the people around him have just as much trouble as him in expressing that love

[the-perfunctorily]

While on the subject of Farseer, my hottest take is that, though it seems to be pretty popular to joke about how, despite being called the royal assassin and most of the books about him being titled ‘Assassin’s [...]’, Fitz is actually a pretty garbage assassin, I would argue that it’s not a mistake, a mischaracterization, or a lame attempt to make Fitz seem cooler than he is. I don’t think Hobb set out to write a cool, competent, badass assassin, and failed. I think it’s pretty clear that in a watsonian sense, Chade and King Shrewd failed badly at making an effective assassin.

Honestly, I think Chade was a bad mentor. I think Fitz was never set up to be a good assassin, and never really had a chance at being one.

I think Chade, Shrewd, Verity, all the people who knew about his assassin’s training told themselves and each other that they had to make a new Chade, but none of them ever actually wanted one. They all wanted Chivalry back, and tried to have both, resulting in getting neither in Fitz.

Shrewd said he wanted a loyal pawn, but really, seemed to want the obedient son he could never have in stubborn Chivalry. Chade said he wanted a protege, but really seemed to want his own son, something he could never have by virtue of his bastardy and position as Royal Assassin. And Verity, he wanted his beloved brother back, a relationship he could never have with Regal. And the saddest part is that none of them could have either the assassin or the family member, because they all raised Fitz to think of himself as disposable in their eyes, and then could never actually treat him as the disposable tool they would have had him believe himself to be. At every turn, they told him to be their tool, and then treated him as, expected him to act as their family member.

This isnt even to start on how Burrich and Patience both saw Fitz as the child they could never have with Chivalry. If Chade and Shrewd had actually wanted an effective assassin, they would have cut Fitz off from Burrich, they would never have let Patience become involved. Both of them were emotional attachments that prevented Fitz from being the kind of tool they professed to want. Furthermore they would have sent Molly away at the first sign of a relationship between the two, and above all else, made it clear to Verity that this wasn’t his baby nephew, but a weapon of the crown that was to be used and discarded as the need arose. These were all things well within their power, which they didn’t do, and then got mad at Fitz for.

In Assassin’s Quest, Chade berates Fitz for acting selfishly

“When did you not (do what you wanted)?” Chade demanded just as heatedly. “That’s all you’ve done since you came back from the Mountains. You went to Verity to say you’d had enough of being an assassin just when quiet work was needed. Patience tried to warn you clear of Molly, but you had your way there as well. It made her a target. You pulled Patience into plots that exposed her to danger. You bonded to the wolf, despite all Burrich said to you. You questioned my every decision about King Shrewd’s health. And your next-to-last stupid act at Buckkeep was to volunteer to be part of an uprising against the crown. You brought us as close to a civil war as we’ve been in a hundred years.

These are almost all things he could have just told Fitz not to do, Chade was his boss, Fitz was sworn to take orders from him. He could have told Verity not to indulge Fitz by letting him galavant off on a boat, could have told Fitz that he was needed to quietly kill of forged ones, could have sent Molly away or ordered Fitz not to see her, could have told Fitz not to associate as closely with Patience or not to involve her. Could have listened to Fitz’s correct assessment of the situation with Shrewd and Wallace, or at least explained better what his own understanding was. Could have not betrothed fitz to Duke Brawndy’s daughter, and then not gotten surprised when he then assumed that meant Fitz was in his corner against Regal. Everything Chade is mad at Fitz about were things that he could have easily prevented, or simply ordered him away from. The only actual thing Chade couldnt have easily prevented him from doing in this list is bonding with Nighteyes, something that saved his life in the end anyway. Chade is always telling Fitz not to act the prince, not to make decisions on his own, and then leaving him in situations where he has to act as a prince would and make his own decisions.

This does not an effective assassin make. It’s not FItz’s fault, and its no accident on Hobb’s part.

[sophygurl]

"give me a character and i’ll answer" I cannot NOT ask you about RotE, that's like postbaiting. I give yoooou... Kettricken, Althea and Alise! (also curious about what you would say about Beloved)

woot yay! and lol postbaiting. 

Kettricken

do I like them: Oh I love her so very very much. 

5 good qualities: This is a woman who raised her son to understand that leadership is about sacrificing yourself for those under your rule instead of about privilege and power over them, goddamn! She’s also incredibly sweet even when she has to be firm with someone, has amazing reserves of mental and emotional strength, respects all life including animals and those people who are usually discriminated against and hated, and understands keenly the importance of cultures retaining their own traditions even as they join together. 

3 bad qualities: Does she have any? IDK. I can’t think of a one. Especially as seen through Fitz’s eyes, who ADORES her. 

favourite episode/etc: I think in Royal Assassin when she leads the hunt for the Forged and inspires everyone to be brave but also take it seriously, and then cleans and prepares all the bodies and a whole unit of soldiers take on her colors afterward and songs are sung of the Vixen Queen - that showed a lot of her character, especially since she was really on the outs with everyone at the time. 

otp: I mean obviously her and Verity, but you know I have my secret otp of her and Fitz too. ;)

brotp: her and Nighteyes. *tears up*

ot3: I mean, I guess sort of her and Fitz and Beloved? Though it would be more platonic on her part mostly, and especially between her and Beloved.

notp: her and Regal. *shudder*

best quote: Oh gods, probably the part at the end of Assassin's Fate when Fitz makes a comment about not seeing her there, and she kind of sadly says he never does and kisses his head and walks away like. OOOF in the feels!

head canon: She’d have happily joined Fitz and Nighteyes and Beloved in the stone wolf if she hadn’t both her own grandkids and Fitz’s daughter to take care of. But she’s a sacrifice to her people, and so even had she been asked, she’d have said no. *crying*

Althea

do I like them: Ooohhh, I love her so much!

5 good qualities: She stands up for herself and those she cares for against even impossible odds, she chooses what she believes is right for those she loves even if it goes against what she wants for herself, she tells her truths even when it’s incredibly uncomfortable to do so, she’s a fantastic captain, and she’s a great friend once she’s chosen to be one to someone.

3 bad qualities: Her over-confidence/need to prove herself does sometimes get her into dangerous trouble, it takes her awhile to realize she loves someone, and oooooo she has a temper!

favourite episode/etc: Gosh, I’m having trouble picking a favorite part, but probably when she and the others are working on getting Paragon sea-worthy and she realizes she has to let Brashen be the captain because if they get Vivacia back she’ll need to go and be her captain, so even though she stubbornly believes she’d be just as good if not better at it than him, she backs down and acts appropriately as his second - even to the extent of covering the feelings she finally realizes she has for him.

otp: with Brashen, obvi.

brotp: with Amber, or possibly Ophelia. 

ot3: none.

notp: with Kennit - blech!

best quote: Probably the one where she talks about how she wants both romance and to captain a ship in her life, and how anyone she would partner with would have to be okay with that. 

head canon: The two dragons that were once Paragon, especially Karrigvestrit, come to visit her and Brashen and Boy-O sometimes. They are favored by many of the dragons, especially the ones who were once liveships, for their part in freeing them and for the care they gave them as ships. This helps their families survive the community’s difficult transition to the new economy. 

Alise:

do I like them: I do! She annoys me on occasion, but I do like her.

5 good qualities: She’s brave as heck, she has compassion for days especially for dragons even when they have none back for her, she doesn’t care much about social class even though she comes from the richer Bingtown stock, she’s optimistic as whoa, and she cares deeply for the history of her home even though such academic pursuits are looked down on in her social and familial circles. 

3 bad qualities: She’s so so so naive, she has trouble standing up for herself, and she sometimes gets so wrapped up in studying the past that she loses track of what’s happening right in front of her. 

favourite episode/etc: When she and Sedric realize they’ve both been used by Hest and that their friendship to one another means more to them than any hurts they’re carrying - but she still makes it known that she’s angry with Sedric for how he betrayed her and that it will take her some time to get over that. She’s so strong and true to herself and her own value in that moment and I love it. 

otp: with Leftrin of course.

brotp: with Thymara. Adore their friendship. 

ot3: noooone, but. the part of me that kind of digs dysfunctional love/hate stuff would be interested in a much less abusive Hest/Sedric/Alise something something??? idk, probably not. maybe just a little.

notp: with Hest or anyone else who would abuse her trust and open heart and not see her with the same adoring eyes as Leftrin does.

best quote: Can’t think of a specific one - wish I had those books! (I got some in the series for Xmas, so that only leaves ummm 11 to go? holy crap this series...)

head canon: She eventually finds out what happened to Hest because even Kalo took pity on her and Sedric’s constant worry about when he’d come back out of the woodwork to hurt them again. She doesn’t approve of what the dragon did, but she’s also quite relieved. She has trouble reconciling the two things and Leftrin has to assure her that she’s not a bad person for being glad that her ex is dead.

Beloved (aka The Fool, Amber, etc.):

do I like them: I very very much do. 

5 good qualities: Genderfluid (as well as classfluid and just kind of identityfluid), wonderfully playful trickster type, lives with constant awareness of how every action they take could set important historical events on or off course and yet finds ways to be joyful and have fun despite the seriousness of their life, brave - oh so brave - charging into battle even as a pacifist with no fighting skills to speak of, able to befriend kings and slaves and everyone in between alike as well as animals and dragons and liveships - basically can empathize with and get along with just about anyone. 

3 bad qualities: Really really doesn’t like to talk about themselves even when doing so would help someone out a great deal, allowing this trait to turn from a mysterious sort of wiliness to outright deceit at times, can be cruel even to those they love if they believe it will help fulfill their spiritual purpose in life.  

favourite episode/etc: Probably how much fun they had playing the role of Lord Golden and treating Fitz like their servant and hobnobbing with the rich and famous of the Duchies. 

otp: with Fitz, the only person they ever loved in a romantic way, IIRC.

brotp: also with Fitz, since their relationship was primarily platonic. 

ot3: I mean kinda with Fitz and Nighteyes not in a romantic/sexual way but as a 3-soul soulmate kinda way. (Add in Kettricken to plz?)

notp: Pale Woman? IDK, I could see some fans shipping them but I wouldn’t like to see that personally. 

best quote: So many, especially all of his fool-like quips and puzzlers. But probably the best is where he tricks Fitz into calling him Beloved. hee

head canon: As part of the Wolf of the West, they check in on Bee and Kettricken and Nettle and Hap and everyone else as often as they can. They also visit with the spirits of Chade and Verity and Shrewd in the skill-river. *tearing up*

[redscullyrevival]

Fool’s Quest: Fitz and the Fool Rundown

And now we wait together @sonnetscrewdriver!

Plot/Setting/Narrative

I’m so embarrassed for my son Rap-a-taskal. 

Getting ahead of myself here but take a chill pill kid. 

Calm your Tellator tits. 

Actually, screw it! lets start at “the end”:

I’m officially caught up now and I’ve been digging around the internet lurking on forums trying to soak up art/discussions/opinions I’ve been avoiding for months.

And the most interesting fannish thing I’ve uncovered is how lots of people are treating Tellator and Rap as two different people - I’ve read several discussions and threads where Tellator was being thought of and referred to as almost like a parasite or something.

I personally didn’t get that vibe when reading Rain Wilds. 

I don’t view Rapskal as an innocent bystander taken over by an insidious and other entity, but I can totally see how folks can see it that way so power to them I suppose.

Time and Parenting really come to a point at the end of this book, bounded tight within the thrill of having these two Realm of the Elderlings character axis’ finally meeting!: 

And we the reader are, now, FAR more knowledgeable about the magics and histories of the Realm than any one character present! Funny how time and managing our narrative children will do that, huh? ;D

I’m of the personal opinion that the Elderlings are going to be too thankful and indebted to Fitz to really head the level of retribution Rapskal will demand - but that doesn’t mean Fitz won’t make matters worse with his paranoia and how he expects to be treated (Fitz’s “I-deserve-to-suffer” self loathing really reeks in this book and I have no doubt it will harm more than help in the early stages of Assassin’s Fate) 

But oh! I can’t wait to see my Elderling darlings and Six Duchies nerds mingle more! 

And yes, I do think Rapskal will continue to be an asshole. 

I’m invested in Rapskal though and I can’t wait to see what his deal is and how he’ll affect the story. 

I don’t know about y’all but I feel Rap is being set up to have some big part to play - but I’ve no clue if it’ll be direct or indirect lol. TIME WILL TELL!

If I had to guess right now (and I’m going to because why not) I’d guess that at the moment Rapskal probably struggles, that he is antagonistic, because he is outside of the narrative’s “Reflection & Parenting as Change” theme and may never fold into that current because of his choice to skip adolescence via-memory stones. 

Rapskal doesn’t have a lot to reflect back on, or maybe the issue is he has too much memory or doesn’t reflect at all and only looks forward forward forward. And we know he isn’t a parent as Nortel told us.

Frankly I hope Rapskal can learn from Fitz and/or Amber, I’d like to see him fold back into the narrative flow rather than swim decidedly against it (not that he isn’t uninteresting for doing so, quite the opposite really).

Maybe Rapskal will find something to reflect back on? Maybe he’ll refuse? 

But enough about Rapskal! 

THYMARA’S WINGS ARE SO BIG NOW. *gasp* I love her. 

Do you think when our Six Duchies party leaves Kelsingra they’ll ride down the Rain Wilds River on Tarman?! 

*muffled screeching*

Okay okay okay I’m sorry, back into a Fitz and the Fool Rundown not Kristie has deep love for Rain Wilders Giggling.

Fitz

This dummy. 

Don’t get me wrong; temperament wise this older Fitz is still my favorite but he’s also so full of grief and self loathing he’s practically useless mid-book.

And that’s fine, Hobb as always does a great job with making me understand Fitz.

But still - OH MY GOD.

You’ve done a lot wackier and intensely strange stuff than admit your daughter is the result of your BFF, your wolf-brother, and yourself’s souls mingling Fitz! 

You even come to terms with that fact, even if simply choosing to ignore it for the most part that still means you’ve acknowledged it - you’re willing to painstakingly mine information from any and everyone but you don’t tell Beloved about your daughter’s dream journal?

Um??? WHAT???

Wake up dude. 

Just poor decisions left and right. 

Needless to say I was very frustrated with Fitz for a while but we worked through it. 

Oh my god I friggin’ cried when Starling sung her Epic and Fitz was recognized by the court though, oh man that was so satisfying and mystifying and wondrous. 

I’m glad Fitz has for the most part gotten over his issues with Amber and the Fool’s various identities and seems very accepting of Ash and Spark. 

Bee

Nooooo!

I mean, “No” to Bee still being on her own but mostly “No” about Bee slowly being blocked out of the narrative perspective! 

NOOOO

I’d be fascinated to find out how long she was in the Pillar. Based on the narrative we read and assume she’s wandering about around the same time Fitz and company are but we’ve been given nothing in evidence of that. 

INTERESTING

Stay safe my little piglet! 

The Fool

Yes.

YES.

I’m very intrigued to learn more about Beloved’s dragon blood transformation and what knowledge will come with it.

What will happen if the dragon is truly dead, who will guide their transformation? 

ME THINKS FITZ

But, uh, yeah.

While it was uncomfortable I was rather happy that Fool got angry at Fitz and had no trouble telling him to step off. 

I wasn’t very pleased with Fitz myself at the time, I was a bit smug about him getting a tray full of food plopped in his lap.  

Well done.

I really hope to witness more of Ash and Spark and The Fool’s bond! 

Beloved has been alone for so long, has had the opposite later life to Fitz and his massive family. 

And what better than taking in and giving shelter to a son and a daughter? 

Good stuff. 

Shun AKA Shine

CALLED IT.

Oh Shine, you poor dear. 

Shine will become an asset to Nettle, I imagine, and I desperately hope she heals and that Kettricken can guide her well and that court does Shine good. 

I’m livid and just overall done with Chade, I’m serious.

I feel as though I’ve given Chade benefit of the doubt over and over again and it isn’t like he is an evil person or claims to be something he isn’t - but uuugh what the hell?

If you’re mister cloak and dagger spider web master maybe reel in some goddamn self control and think ahead on the consequences of your personal actions instead of just those of your King and various eyes within the kingdom, come the fuck on dude.

What an idiot sending both his children to a grieving Fitz and for not following up with any information for his children OR for Fitz.

I’d be so upset if I were Shine, I would’t be surprised if she drugs him.

It’d be poetic in a twisted away. 

Why did Chade hide Shine from others as well as from herself? What was he thinking, that she’d have to become less shallow, vain, and self-centered before he’d bestow upon her the depths of her lineage? 

Chade moans about being denied learning to Skill because he was a bastard but zip! he seals up his bastard daughter’s power because ??? 

????!!!!!

ANYWAY 

I’m glad Shine is safe and that she and Bee came to a functioning relationship even if not one ripe with mutual meaning and growth.  

Lant

Chade-light 2.0 and I aren’t hitting it off so well but I’m trying to keep a level head about this sassy lost child.

His biggest sin is that he is boring. 

Or, well, I think my real issue with Lant is that he’s young. 

So young. 

Oddly young.

Older than Per or Ash or Spark yes but younger than them somehow; he doesn’t see, he doesn’t listen, he doesn’t seem to even think for himself.

Rolling about in his self pity that he can’t bang his sister doesn’t help endure him to me either but you know, I’ll take Riddle’s advice and let time and space do it’s thing so maybe by the time the third book comes out I’ll have cooled on Lant. 

Ash/Spark

OH SHIT.

I love themmmmmm.

Oh my god.

I’m really really really hoping that Ash, Spark, Per, and Bee are going to be Gen 2 of Elderling mayhem and stories. 

That’d be golden.

Smart as a whip and willing to make their own choices, that’s Ash and Spark. 

Brilliant.

Perseverance

Talk about stickin’ to your name!

Per is a sweetie and I really need to stop but I can’t help but see him as my son Charlie. 

Which is amazing - but gutting at the same time lol.

What have I done?!

Per is perfection and I really hope Fitz does right by him and of everyone traveling now I feel like Per will help Fitz the most as far as his inner space goes. 

Per has a understanding and relationship with Bee outside of Fitz’s understanding of his daughter and I think Fitz’ll need to hear about that and mine Per’s perseverance as their quest wears on. 

Highlighted Passages

I smiled as the royal family passed, tears of pride stinging my eyes. Our doing, the Fool’s and mine.

“Vengeance?” I asked quietly. “It’s a poor motive for doing anything. Vengeance doesn’t undo what they did. Doesn’t restore whatever they destroyed.”

“Sometimes thanking someone is more important to the person giving the thanks than the one who receives it.”

“I thought you had come here in fury over what I did to you as we passed through the Skill-pillars.” He stepped back from me. “Oh, I’ll leave that to Nettle. If she hasn’t blasted the skin from your flesh with her words yet, you’ve that to look forward to.

I could not think about it at the moment. I tried so hard, but there was just not enough time or enough of me. And trying was not doing.

Safe. As if “safe” were more important than anything else.

With the instincts of all bullies, they knew that eventually she would have to emerge. Then, in the way of their kind, they would peck her to death for being different.

“Ah, Fitz. I can always trust you to have some sort of bizarre problem that breaks my ennui.”

She breathed as if she had run over nine hills. I stared at her. She had been a stranger, a lover, a nemesis, and a betrayer to me. And now she was my historian.

“Why does understanding come so late to us?”

War and hardship had hardened them; I understood that, but it did not mean that I wished to see my own folk mocked or disdained that they were not likewise hardened.

But all fires, of wood or grief, burn down to ashes eventually.

“Doing something stupid and reckless is not a better proof of your love than doing something measured and powerful.”

“Keeping a child from harm is not the same as rearing one.”

“Steady, I’m pregnant, not ill.”

Both logic and love anchored me where I was and doomed me to the suffocation of waiting.

“Every one of them has witnessed what the Servants have done to their fellows. And each has chosen to serve them rather than defy them. Every one of them is more treacherous than you can imagine.”

Once one knows what heartless people can do, it cannot be entirely forgotten. It always remains among the possible things that can befall you.

“Put it behind you, and think about it again in twenty years. Whatever it was, you can’t change it. So stop clinging to it, and let time and distance do their work.”

“I always fail the people I love the most.” “Say rather that you judge yourself more harshly than anyone else ever has.”

“No soup! Anything I can bite and chew. Or crunch! Is there anything crunchy?”

 “That I guessed,” Malta said knowingly. “When first I saw him, I felt as if I already knew him.” She smiled at me as if we shared a jest. I smiled back, without understanding.

“Worrying doesn’t solve anything. I know that. In one way I know it but in another it seems wrong. It seems that if I don’t think about all the things that hurt, all the things I’ve done wrong, then I don’t really care.”