#I NEED to be able to talk to someone about how Kennit is one of my favorite villains EVER in fiction

[spending-life-pretending]

Ok I’m gonna need some more people to read The Liveship Traders. This is insane. I know we all love the Gay Adventures Of Dumbass And Long-Suffering Soulmate but I need to talk about how good Liveship Traders is more

[matthewmoorwood]

On the last hundred pages of Ship Of Destiny FUCKING FUCK

I'm going so insane over how Kennit ALMOST became an average citizen and then he went fucking full nutter butters and now no one believes Althea was raped. FREE ME FROM THIS TORMENT RAAAAH

Same with Wintrow like I FUCKING THOUGHT for a moment that these male characters might not be utter shitheads but noooooooooo RAAAAH. Despising everything about Wintrow wanting to suck on his faux step mums tits and be an alpha male cause of his horrific inability to have an identity outside of parental figures. DAYUM.

I don't think I'll ever really get over Paragon either. the Paragon & Amber dynamic is something very precious to me.

Not a single of of Robin Hobbs characters are ever what I think they are, or even who they think they are. Yet they all act perfectly in line with their characters and what we know of them. Freaking out.

If I'm reading a Robin Hobb book and a male pov doesn't make me physically nauseous, am I even reading a Robin Hobb book? No.

Thinking about Malta, thinking about the Malta and Vivacia/Bolt parallels, thinking about how both of them are forced to give up their souls for men so that they might have a chance at freedom because the alternative is to die by those same men's brutality. Oh I am ILL

"There were, she suddenly saw, many ways to be raped." Oh I am ILL

The way Wintrow only sees Malta as her place as a Bingtown Trader and as a woman as a 'good negotiator' and sees nothing of the fucking eons of abuse she's endured. FOUL.

They're all trauma dumping to each other in the hold as Jamilla ships fuck around these guys.

I hate everyone who sees that they have power and wrangles it just for pleasure of causing harm and gaining a scrap more control at the cost of someone else's existence.

Plz i'm going to shit out my lungs. Malta who has endured so fucking much, is so terrified of having Reyn see her because he is her last hope to be loved by someone outside of the vesrit family. She's already been hurt so badly by men and had for years valued herself entirely on her usefulness as a 'pretty woman' and now here she is. Her very survival has devalued her own perception of herself to the one person she thinks can truly understand her.

Begging on hands and knees that Kennit doesn't keep the cycle of abuse going. PLEASE allow someone some peace from him.

Both Reyn and Malta have put so much weight on how they look. And both are terrified that the other will put even a quarter of that same weight on them. I'm not okaaaay about this. plz.

Alrighty I just want a dragon to come and fuck shit up. Serpent, liveship, whatever form just need some unbridled rage bc I am FEELING shrimp emotions.

Hmmm... The ghosts of Kennits past coming to kill him... Hmmm... The fact that trying to repress those memories is what caused all of this... hmm... All the people he tried to bury in order to allow his own ignorance coming together to exist in their own narrative... I am thinking.....

Hold on im losing it. Hold on im going insane. Malta kissing Reyn properly and he wakes up?? true loves kiss type shit because in the end Malta and Reyn are still a fairytale despite the shit they've been through.

"If you'll have me as I am." SHUT UP RIGHT NOW

Fucking fuck. Althea being scared to talk to Brashen about her rape because in the end he is still a man and Althea knows that on some level Brashen will always view her as a possession.

Y'know what. Kennit being killed (hopefully permanently) by someone who does not give a single Fuck about him is so good. His whole life he wanted to be something other than what he was, be respected and recognized and yet he dies at the hand of someone who thinks of him as nothing other than a shitty pirate.

Ugh. He's not dead.

Oh man. Oh dude. Paragon. Fucking fuck. ing fuck. ouch.

I am hurtinedg :C

Robin Hobb why

I actually swear to God if Kennit is still able to torment Paragon via the memories thing I'm gonna scream.

OH IM SICK.

Vivacia who is not vivacia letting go of Althea despite everything. Aughr fuck. How this means that both of them are going to begin to have their own sense of self outside of their co-dependence. awrg,

Oh for fucks sake. If Kennit in Paragon is still trying to touch Althea I'm going to bite through my desk.

Althea oh my darling. She doesn't want to hurt Kennits mum over her own anger at how Kennit abused her. I am ill.

"Neither woman could escape what he had done to them" Oh I am sick.

"We've got to survive this, I've a life to live." SOBBING

Oh thank god Kyle is dead now too. YIPPEE

I have too many feelings I fear I must throw up to process them properly.

Either that or have some cheese.

My brain is too mushy for these negotiations I'm just gonna trust that things work out (they won't)

JEK queen go get laid I respect it.

Amber, my sweet Lady Amber :C

Raise your hand if you too are tired of the Althea/Brashen miscommunication GUYS I KNOW YOU'RE STRAIGHT BUT PLEASE JUST FUCKING TALK TO EACH OTHER

Awug Serilla.

I am feeling things.

Amber plz. my soul cannot take you refrencing fitz any longer

Oh lol Paragon showing them where evil mc fuckface left all his sick pirate loot.

Oh my fucking god I hate this got dam book fucking fuck,

:C

Amber I really hope you get your happy ending. Or a least a happy moment before the ending.

OH MY FUCKING GOD

Paragon.

Althea.

I am a broken husk of a person.

No one speak to me until I have drunk this hot choccy.

[reallyawesomecostumes]

My complete review of Assassin’s Fate, in random points

I’d been putting off reading this book. I have the physical copy, I’ve had it for years, I just wasn’t ready, until one day I read a bunch of Amber quotes from Liveship Traders, and suddenly I was ready.

Fitz’s daughters are definitely sisters - they each “you’re not my real dad!” at someone they’re clearly related to at the end of a trilogy. I’m left thinking that maybe, in a decade, Bee could have come to love and respect her 3rd (2nd coolest, after Wolf Father) dad.

Wolf Father’s the best. End of story. Love that he’s super helpful in a forest environment, but admits he doesn’t know how to operate in cities. Love that he can jump back and forth between Bee and Fitz for plot convenience.

Paragon’s use of sexual violence (he kissed Vivacia’s boob! and threw rape memories at Fitz!) is kind of intriguing/feels earned - it’s definitely something he would have learned from Kennit and Igrot. I really liked that Paragon was jealous of Fitz (and Fitz was jealous of Paragon, lol), and really enjoyed that he got to be dragons :)

Love that Fitz and Amber are a terrible couple. And the crew of the Paragon thinks Fitz is a shitty boyfriend because he keeps calling his girlfriend “fool”. Nice.

Some of this felt like wish fulfillment - Fitz and Paragon, Amber visiting all her old friends with her long lost true love on her arm (he’s a handsome prince!), FITZ AND THE FOOL HAVE A DAUGHTER (still not over it). And the rest was just distilled suffering. Loved that part too: I read these books knowing I will cry.

Yeah obviously the whole Vestrit house scene was a big screw up on writing and editing.

Loved that Fitz called in more Skill users to help the Elderlings, and that Kelsingra and Buckkeep are allies once again. It’s only been, what, a thousand years?

Speaking of a thousand years, loved that Prilkop came back, and that he had purposefully separated Fitz and the Fool to prevent Bee from existing. Which, lol, cockblocked by Prilkop.

Speaking of which, I loved that learning more about the folk at Clerres just made Beloved’s assigned sex at birth more confusing. Because they clearly expected Beloved to be able to reproduce, and to be related to Bee, but people couldn’t agree how they were related to Bee. So that was very good for me. And Bee just rolls with it because, hey, Hap was adopted and Nettle was raised by a man who wasn’t her biological father. That was cool.

My favorite chapter in the whole thing was Furnich - we’ve seen how Elderlings imprinted areas with feelings, and I love that we get this despair-filled town that was made that way by the memory of the destruction of the Elderlings. 

I needed an entire book about the sad adventures of Lord Chance. We can agree he probably got to hold Hope, so Fitz will get to share that memory in their stone wolf.

Which, I love that the end of the series is fairly predictable from book 3. Glad she stuck with that. The way we got there was kind of depressing, and weirdly throw-self-on-husbands-funeral-pyre, but I’m glad she stuck with it. It made an ending. And that’s what I wanted.

Love that Kettricken showed up at the end and dropped a casual “we are going to have another grandchild”. She’s totally chill about Fitz being involved in fathering Dutiful, as she has always been.

Love that this whole “leaving” mess goes back to my favorite part of this whole trilogy: the scene where Nettle finally asks her father about his relationship with Lord Golden. And we knew (in Liveship Traders) that the first time the Fool leaves Fitz, it’s because he has work to do and Fitz wants to go be a hermit. The second time he leaves, it’s because Prilkop’s trying to keep them apart to prevent the Destroyer’s existence. So I don’t really think the hate-on for Beloved for leaving Fitz is really justified? But I understand that people have feelings. I just hope Nettle got a chance (lol) to talk to Beloved about what happened. 

Love that we got more Hap!

Glad I read it, definitely will be reading again.

Edit: I forgot, loved that Fitz died like the dog-boy he’s always been! Nice!

[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*