#fitz says the fool tells riddles

[smoky-solitude]

This single page contains multitudes for the Fool’s way of thinking:

1. Casual insult to Starling

2. Tell Fitz he’s pretty but try not to make it awkward

3. Whoops made it awkward with accidental Wit burning hyperbole!!

4. Back away and talk about yourself as a different species even though Fitz doesn’t like it. Keep it vague!

5. What feelings and ideas were blossoming in AQ and after?

6. You acted on them?? And retrospectively you’re scandalized?? Is it worse than Galekeep, fool? It sure seems worse

7. Demonstrate your maturity by declaring it, that’ll convince him!

8. Close off by saying you’re not going to act on the feelings and impulses that you feel. After all, you’re mature™️ now.

9. Oh shoot Fitz is panicking now! You told him too much! Back away back away back away!!

I love it so much

[emmalovesfitzloved]

Can you tell me about Fitzloved?

"OH MY GOSH, AM I ABOUT TO INTRODUCE YOU TAYLOR SWIFT?!"

that's what i first meme when i saw your lovely ask! hahahah

Introductions

So its a fandom based on the epic fantasy series that follows for the most part, 2 soulmates, from their childhood all the way to their older years as they grow from friendship, partners to lovers. And I have to admit, the way it's written is almost euphoric. It's utterly lyrical.

So introductions now put aside, 'Fitzloved' is the ship name for "Beloved" (one of his many names) name of the characters and "Fitz". They are the two ongoing protagonists in one of the most respect and wonderful high fantasy series ever created, Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. They are the main couple shall we say that span the 16 book series. I think a lot describe it as the "mona lisa of fantasy series" within the genre. It's aesthetic is very much evermore meets folklore meets Merlin. Its veryyyyy cozy fantasy and perfect for the season but also the Fall/winter.

The big 5 writers of fantasy rn i have been told are: Brandon's, Robin Hobb's, GRRM (Although he's lost a lot of respect in the community because of his insane hiatus!), Steven Erickson's (Malazan series) and Joe Abercrombie. While you will see with the Cosmere, Brandon is very much straight to the point, prioritises fights, magic system building and very cohesive ensamble casts. Unlike her peers, Robin Hobb on the other hand, is a delicacy. A slowly made dessert that has sweet and salty tastes if you will. And another defining feature is that her series does not involve a massive war at the epicentre of the fantasy plot, which ironically is rare in high fantasy now a days.

Of Cats and Closed Doors by @tragediegh

HOWEVER. The WAY in which i was introduced to this series is kind of dumb and silly, i.e. very me lol. i stumbled across a fiction on ao3 under 'in a the cabin era way' tag and stumbled across @tragediegh's soul-binding, amazing wonderful fiction called Of Cats and Closed Doors that is still ongoing and she updates mostly weekly! At first, not joking i thought it was an original work, but only well into crying, loving, reading, laughing, did i realise when i looked better at the tags it was actually based on ROTE lol. I was new to ao3 that's my only defence :P

And what @tragediegh and Hobb are doing probably tell from my handle, is make literally my roman empire. Like I reread chapters everyday before going to sleep. It's fr fr my safe space. and what i love is the maturity in which they both write, as they create stakes in different ways. She creates a very tangible atmosphere, a world you can touch, the foods cooked, how they smell, and what the character's rely on. From banquet halls, to the wood carvings the Fool leaves behind, the well lit fireplaces, mugs of ale and coffee on the table, through jewels adorned, to how the dragons gleaming like jewels in the sky… it's simply amazing. You get me. There is NEVER a moment where you feel like it's a slog or dull moment. Like I did sometimes while reading the Stormlight Archive or Outlander (those books in their defence, are longer individually).

And like I said, the thing I LOVE the most with how they make us and fall in love with Fool (one of the protagonists) through the eyes of naive and a socially sometimes challenged Fitz. Fitz himself, is the most passionate, handsome, humble hero i've ever read. He is a bastard prince who from day 0 was neglected, abused, unwanted, un-named, manipulated, gaslit just all around most traumatised character one could read. Which most people end up overlooking and resenting bc he is riddled with insecurities (despite him being a hotttie hot chiseled smokie pie that everyone wants to cuffff) and developed unhealthy copying mechanisms that can effect the readability of the main series. Which is entirely relatable. I strongly believe the hero of Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson that everybody loves, is heavily inspired by Fitz in ROTE. In fact I think Brandon said it was one of his fav series.

But really, the masterpiece of this world is obviously the Fool. When I look at the other characters, its a bit like watching a glorious puppet show - I can see how the strings are moving and what the puppets are made of…But not so with the Fool, he is an infinite mystery and creating a character like that is something I`ll never be able to get out of my head. he is other worldly. Put Tolkien fae and beautiful faeries to shame with his grace, elegance, mysticism. His story with Fitz (the other main character) with that @tragediegh and Hobb are doing imo is one of the greatest love stories of all time.

Gender Identity

And I think also, Fool (also known as Beloved to a special someone 😉) is a lgbtq+ individual, and their identity and how they chose to present and address themselves daily (and not address it!) plays a massive role in the ROTE/OCACD overall. It extremely realistic, how it's writen, where for the most part some characters are confused, don't know how to navigate the topic. Which isn't helped by how private and mysterious the Fool remains. But for the most part, is heart warming, as the gender fluidity of the Fool is openly accepted by his mate (YES MATE) with open arms as he accepts it, and it's got me CRYINGGGG as i type this fr....! These characters were created pre-2000's, which just goes to show how timeless these gender questions and acceptances really are i think!

Music

CANON FOR ME swiftie songs that are FOR fitzloved to get a feel r:

ur loosing me

my tears ricochet

invisible string

stay don't go

the lakes

mastermind (YASSS beloved go manipulate ur boy fitzieee ily)

dress (as of chapter 48 and beyond hopefully alkdfjalkdjfj)

and Fitz's song for me for ever will be:

i see fire live and in session by ed sherran (i just feel the literal passion that fitz has through this song not to mention the howl XD)

Conclusion

So yeah, I cannot recommend enough this ongoing story and series to you.

TLDR: Fitzloved is a ship i read myself to sleep every night and cry about how amazing they are XD

Feel free to ask any more questions about them or even my favourite artists that do ROTE work bc ngl this post was 2x as long as i included artistic work but it was getting too long so i decided to leave that for a more specific ask :)) As you can tell i can just dedicate entire evenings singing from the top of these crusty english rooftops how amazing and life changing these two silly beans are. I hope this was enough of a good overview of my love for them and why! :)) Hopefully one day you will give it a go, and i swear your life will be changed for ever ! <333

[catboyclarity]

I actually have quite a lot to say about Fitz and The Fools relationship and its inextricably tied to my aromantic identity and the way /I/ perceive my partner and friends but somebody must answer my riddles three before I tell you

[afflatusmiqo]

hgggh

I finished Assassin's Fate last night and I really wish I had someone to talk it over with.

I wish I could remember everything from the last 15 books that might be relevant for interpreting everything.

The circumstances were really horrific. I wonder if the author had to put the Traitor's Death in there just so we would know that it was really, truly, actually the end this time. (At least, the end for Fitz as we knew him.) When the Fool said his death would not be fast, I had a glimmer of hope that he would have more years with Bee.

tbh it was as happy an ending as I could have expected -- everyone who loved Fitz coming to be with him; he and Nighteyes and the Fool becoming complete. (I just wish it could have happened later!)

Like many people, I've been trying to figure out what Bee's last lie was that so impressed the Wolf (who I'm assuming is mostly Nighteyes, but idk there), and which father he is comparing her to.

If the father that the Wolf refers to is Fitz: well, Fitz is best at lying to himself, particularly about whether people really love him. So perhaps she was lying about not wanting the Fool to stay with her as a father figure, or about not wanting Nettle and Riddle to adopt her. Neither of these seem very consistent to me.

(I don't think she's telling the truth when she says that she's fine on her own, though.)

I see several people online saying that they think the lie was that Fitz loved Beloved over everyone else, implying that Beloved needed to be loved "the most" to give himself up for Fitz. I don't think that's something the Wolf would find amusing anyway - it's not a very clever lie.

Yes, I do think Fitz wants the Fool to be with him and Nighteyes forever in the Stone Wolf and the Skill Stream, as one being, which is, a pretty enormous kind of love. I do think he truly wants to be with Bee, too, but he definitely does not want Bee to lose her mortal life or to stop being her own person. As a reader, I think it's a bit mean for that to be a "true" ordering over people Fitz loved, although I totally understand why Bee (and Nettle) would feel that way especially at the time.

(OTOH, there really is no one else Fitz thinks about the way he thinks about the Fool.. honestly, it's just too sad for me to think about Fitz having truly failed Bee.)

Perhaps the lie is that she ever *did* lie about one of the things she said to hurt Beloved. I think she may have lied that she *didn't* have a dream about the black and white rat leaping away from the "thing that used to be a man." The details seem too accurate for her to not have dreamed them. Perhaps she did write down a true dream in the first place, but realized that she could avert that outcome by lying that she dreamed it. Or, maybe the rat didn't jump away, and that's the part she lied about.

Earlier in the book, just before she tells Beloved about her father's letter excoriating him, the narration says "An omission is as good as a lie". I'm not sure if the omission is hers (something about the letter) or Beloved's. As in: if he won't reveal anything to her about himself, she'll give him a lie in exchange, because she's a very hurt child. I do think it's entirely possible that Fitz wrote a letter somewhat like the one she describes. We saw a few examples of heartbroken love letters from Fitz to Fool back in Fool's Assassin. In particular, I'm remembering one where he says he's not going to give up on his daughter to go off on a wild goose chase for the Fool's son (oops). Bee's lie may have been (1) to omit all of the *other* letters he wrote (his love letters), (2) that he didn't burn it (there's a chapter intro near the end of AF referring to a burned letter), (3) something else in the letter.

Tangentially, I've also been wondering about how related the White Prophets are to dragons. When trying to explain to Bee how he could be her father, Beloved drew an analogy with Heeby and Rapskal. Beloved's haughtiness really does resemble the dragons that we've met in some ways, but his love is more like a human love, I think. (iirc he was the one who said that the Liveships would be a new kind of dragon because they also had the memories of humans)

[somepeoplejugglegeese]

Every instance of ‘fitzy’ in the farseer books

Fitz: What does all that fitzy-ficeys stuff mean? Are you making fun of me? (AA)

The Fool: Riddles, dear Fitzy-fitz are supposed to make folk think. To find new truths in old saws. But be that as it may...Your brain eludes me. (RA)

The Fool: I live in danger, Fitzy-fitz. As do you. We are all in danger. (RA)

The Fool: You are certain you wish to know, Fitzy-fitz? (RA)

The Fool: It is not dislike, dear Fitzy. On my part it is disinterest. (AQ)

The Fool: Only that we do it together Fitzy-fitz. Only that we do it together. (AQ)

The Fool: Oh, Fitzy-fitz, I would explain it if I could. It is not the I wish to keep secrets, but these secrets defy telling in mere words. (AQ)

The Fool: I suppose if you were going to have an appropriate name for me, it would still be Fool. So let us leave it at that, Fitzy. To you, I am the Fool. (GF)

The Fool: Can’t die? No, Fitzy, I can’t live. Would that I could, but I can’t. (FA)

My favorite part of doing this was realizing that Fitz actually says it first and then the Fool proceeds to use it to mock him

[werenotacoupleyesyouare]

So I was meaning to post updates for my Farseer Trilogy liveblogging because y’all seemed to really like the last one but one thing lead to another and I finished the book before I could even pick up my phone. SO- here are my thoughts at the end of book 1! (Contains spoilers)

- I’ll try to go chronologically so bear w me

- Look I love chade okay? He’s funny and mysterious but how on EARTH does the whole court think it a good idea to have a child deal with their political issues eye-

- like “oh, boggers! We have found a breach in our enemy’s defence after a war of interests that has lasted decades! Now we only need to gruesomely murder this well known politician, but whoever could be up to the task? Ah yes, this eleven year old warrior cats enthusiast will do”

- Yes I will refer to the Wit only as being a warrior cats stannie bc y’all know that if he was in the real world Fitz would have absolutely lost his mind over that saga. No I will not be accepting criticism.

- I LOVED CHADE’S RICHSONA lady time was funky

- every chapter I read I grow more worried about Fitz’s self preservation skills. He wakes up for the second time during the night, he is told to immediately go check on the royal he is serving because she’s sick, only to find out she’s just Chade in a ballgown, who tells him “there’s no time to explain, now follow me to check out this very dangerous hostage situation 2 days of travel from here” and he’s just like “ok sure” BABY!! NO??

- Forging is gonna throwin a nice angst trope eventually, I’m here for it

- my wlw heart is torn between Molly and Lady Patience... good thing I have two hands!

- Fitz please,,,,, Chade asks him “wait, does the Fool talk to you??” And Fitz is like “oh yeah :) I like when he hangs with me! He barges in, insults me and then tells me my clothes are ugly :)” BABY THAT’S CALLED BULLYING

- okay I know y’all have been waiting for this one so here it comes: FOOL RANT! I don’t know who this funky mean child is but I would do ANYTHING to keep him safe and happy. (And this time I’m not worried he’s gonna die bc there are like another 3 trilogies w his name on the title, so at least I don’t have to worry for a while) he speaks in riddles!!! I love that!! Also he tries to keep Fitz safe so we like him (more to come abt the fool, I ain’t done yet)

- MOLLY AND FITZ ARE SO FUCKING FUNNY SOMEHOW THEY BOTH MANAGED TO BE THE USELESS LESBIAN STEREOTYPE WHEN IT COMES TO FLIRTING I WAS LOOSING MY MIND LAUGHING

- like “Molly!! You deserve to be with someone who wouldn’t treat you like a piece of jewelry! You’re smart, brave and talented, not to mention beautiful, you need someone who could understand you!!” “Oh really?? Like who?” “Oh idk lol” KIDS I-

- also idk who this Jade is but I have a feeling he’s like a relative of Molly and Fitz is just being dramatic

- as you may know I’m listening to the audiobook, and I misheard Pocked Man as Pot Man, which lead to this very funny exchange:

Fitz: are you really... the Pot Man? 🥺

Chade 420-blaze-it Fallstar: not the one you’re thinking of

- I love how almost all of the characters are stoners, I feel like it’s something all fantasy sagas should consider implementing lol

- GUYS! are Lady Patience and Lacey,,, you know,,, 👀

- Lacey 🤝 Burrich: in love with one part of the royal couple while being their man/woman

- OKAY NOW BURRICH. I LOVE THIS MAN GUYS. HE IS A DECENT DAD AND HE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT FITZ IT MAKES MY HEART SWELL. But MAN what bitch with the Wit hurt him like damn

- aside point, Burrich has the Wit right? He was made to feel ashamed about it but he’s another warrior cats enthusiast

- also probs not intended but the Wit especially now feels like a metaphor and my queer ass was PROJECTING I was HURT when Burrich didn’t accept Fitz bc of it

- GALEN FARSEER? STUPID IDIOT MOTHERFUCKING GALEN FARSEER GODDAMN FOOL SKILL TEACHING CHILD ABUSING RAT OLD BASTARD SHITHEAD IDIOT BASTARD SON OF SHREWD. BIGGEST CLOWN IN THE CIRCUS LAUGHED OUT OF TOWN COWBOY MOTHERFUCKING GALEN FARSEER-

- okay no really this man is an absolute asshole how can he abuse those kids like that? Fitz almost killed himself damn like imagine being 60-smth and feeling threatened by a fucking 11 year old like get a life bastard boy

- also about that part I loved the Fitz Protection Squad™️

Fitz, at his worst, contemplating s*icide, convinced he isn’t worth shit:

Smithy, The Fool and Burrich: okay! It’s time for murder.

And they did! Well almost but verity finished the job anyway

- how sweet is the fool actually tho?? On the outside he is a bit mean, but then his room is covered in flowers, handmade dolls and swirls of colors. He avoids everyone, lives in the most remote part of the castle but as soon as he makes one friend he absolutely melts and tries his best to protect him. He acts so smug and uncaring but then gets scared when his friend avoids him, and starts going on about how he Doesn’t Actually Care About Him, The Court Just Needs Him, like sure baby. All I’m saying is please protect this kid he deserves the world.

- Verity is my only king, his wife is a kickass cool lady and I can already tell they’re gonna Fuck Shit Up together and I love it.

- yes that whole arc??? Incredible. I kept yelling at Fitz because GODDAMNIT but he did his best, he is only 14 after all (HOW DO THEY THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE HIM SUCH RESPONSIBILITIES AAAAA)

- lol tho I loved how the Fool was like “yeah so Fitz maybe don’t eat everything they give you ‘cause I’m pretty sure they want to poison you” and then Kettricken is like “hey do you want to try these weird leaves I got from my sketchy garden?” and Fitz is like “oh boy would I”

- earring! Chivalry’s earring! We like that

- Yay so Nosy was alive! Cool again I don’t usually get emotional over dogs jfhdhufjdj I’m sorry I’m a disgrace (I’m confident this will change but for now eh)

- something that will positively destroy me is when Burrich will die eventually (and I know it happens cuz my dad SPOILED it for me) I don’t think I’ll be able to stand that

-okay so yes in general this book has completely made me fall in love and I’m definetly in for the whole saga lol. I was thinking of reading the three Fitz trilogies first and then go back and read the dragons and the other one

- I’ll probably make 2+ posts like this every book, so you can find them on the “#greta reads” in my acc :) anyways tagging a few people who enjoyed the last one @wellamarke @violetiris-ak @wolfofmars thank youuu

[elderling-magic]

“I perceived there was a blueness to them, very pale, as if a single drop of pale blue wax had fallen onto a white platter. The whiteness of his skin was an illusion also, for out here in the dappling sunlight I could see a pinkness suffused him from within. Blood, I realized with a sudden quailing. Red blood showing through layers of skin. The Fool took no notice of my whispered comment. Instead, a finger was held aloft, as if to pause not only my thoughts but the very day around us. But I could not have focused my attention more completely on anything.”

*****

“I know the Fool is strange. But I like it when he comes to talk to me. He speaks in riddles, and he insults me, and makes fun of me, and gives himself leave to tell me things he thinks I should do, like wash my hair, or not wear yellow. But…” “Yes?” Chade prodded as if what I were saying was very important. “I like him,” I said lamely. “He mocks me, but from him, it seems a kindness. He makes me feel, well, important. That he could choose me to talk to.”

*****

He reached and took both of my hands in his. His grip was oddly cool. A shiver passed over me at his touch. ���Would you continue, if I asked it of you? As a friend?’ The word sounded so odd from his lips. He spoke it without mockery, carefully, as if the saying of it aloud could shatter the meaning. His colourless eyes held mine. I found I could not say no. So I nodded.”

*****

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” I tried to make my tone light and bantering. I missed the Fool’s usual wry faces and mockeries from this conversation.”

*****

“In my dream, the Fool stood by my bed. He looked down at me and shook his head. “Why cannot I speak clearly? Because you make it all a muddle. I see a crossroads through the fog, and who always stands within it? You. Do you think I keep you alive because I am so entranced with you? No.”

*****

“[Kettricken’s] door was decorated with hummingbirds and honeysuckle. I thought how much the Fool would have liked it. (...)

Her long white night robe accented her fairness, so that she seemed as pale as the Fool. “Did you need something?” she asked sleepily. “Only the answer to a question.” The smoke still twined through my thoughts. I wanted to smile, to be witty and clever before her. Pale beauty, I thought. I pushed the impulse aside.”

- “Assassin’s Apprentice” (Farseer #1) by Robin Hobb

I’m not saying Fitz is obsessed with the Fool... but he totally is. It is more obvious on a reread. The obsession started very early on. I don’t know how I missed it.

Fitz even compares the paleness of Kettricken to the Fool and then says he wanted to smile and be witty and clever before her (because that’s how he speaks with the Fool). THEN Fitz thinks “pale beauty”. You know who he describes as pale all the time? Yeah, that’s right. I can’t deal with this...

[reallyawesomecostumes]

There’s this part in Assassin’s Apprentice 

“Chade, I know the Fool is strange. But I like it when he comes to talk to me. He speaks in riddles, and he insults me, and makes fun of me, and gives himself leave to tell me things he thinks I should do, like wash my hair, or not wear yellow. But ...” “Yes?” Chade prodded as if what I were saying was very important. “I like him, I said lamely. He mocks me, but from him, it- seems a kindness. He makes me feel, well, important. That he could choose me to talk to.” Chade leaned back. He put his hand up to his mouth to cover a smile, but it was a joke I didn't understand. “Trust your instincts, he told me succinctly. And keep any counsel the Fool gives you. And, as you have, keep it private that he comes and speaks to you. Some could take it amiss.”

and this bit in Fool’s Fate

I set the empty brandy glass down on the table. Without asking, Chade refilled it for me. “When I told him we hadn’t seen you, he looked stricken. I told him how thoroughly we’d searched, and that my private premise had been that you’d gone off with him. He asked if we’d used the Skill; I told him that of course we had, but that it had yielded no trace of you. He gave me the name of an inn where he’d be staying for a week, and asked me to send a runner immediately if any news of you came in. At the end of the week, he came back to me again. He looked as if he had aged a decade. He told me he had made inquiries of his own about you, with no positive results. Then he said he had to depart, but that he wished to leave something with me for you. Neither of us expected you’d return to claim it.”

And Chade may not like the Fool, and Chade may be intrigued by the Fool’s ability to see the future, but he never doubt’s Fitz’s personal loyalty to the Fool, and he fully accepts that there might be something romantic there and doesn’t get judgmental about it. And I appreciate that.

[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.”

[elderling-magic]

"Chade, I know the Fool is strange. But I like it when he comes to talk to me. He speaks in riddles, and he insults me, and makes fun of me, and gives himself leave to tell me things he thinks I should do, like wash my hair, or not wear yellow. But..."

"Yes?" Chade prodded as if what I were saying was very important.

"I like him," I said lamely. "He mocks me, but from him, it seems a kindness. He makes me feel, well, important. That he could choose me to talk to."

- "Assassin's Apprentice" (Farseer #1) by Robin Hobb

I can't believe I almost teared up because of this. My heart! How much Fitz values and craves for the Fool's company right from the start. I know it's also because Fitz feels very lonely but the fact that the Fool is the one person he says makes him feel important... even though their meetings are brief and don't happen that often. I'm in tears now. And this is the first time Fitz mentions the Fool again after their first meeting.