#maybe what burrich???

[mellowthorn]

feeling entirely normal about burrich and chivalry rn

[cicide76536]

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

[femmefaggot]

do we continue mbmbam or take the rote gamble w the fool

[annot8]

Top 20 RotE Moments

(Would love to know what everyone else’s favourite moments are! 20 is probs a little bit overkill but there are so many!)

Spoilers for all of RotE under the cut

20. Chade tells Fitz to go after the Servants - Fool's Quest

- Chade infuriates me to no end. But I can’t bring myself to hate him. This moment, where he only has sparing of lucidity, he subtly tells Fitz to go after Bee, even if the King doesn’t allow it. It’s a really lovely moment of two old assassins planning to deceive everyone one last time :)

19. The Quarrel - Golden Fool

- What a scene. This was crazy. Fitz’s rampant denial and homophobia was building up the whole book, and everything came to a boil here. Fitz was ready to give the Fool a piece of his mind, and the Fool completely destroyed him. Deserved. The bit that breaks my heart tho is that the Fool thought the flowers were from Fitz - I can’t with these two.

17. The night in Aslevjal - Fool's Fate

- I was dreading Fitz and the Fool’s reunion after Fitz left him behind, but I was pleasantly surprised by how warmly they greeted each other. After the Golden Fool Divorce, I was so relieved to see them get along. And who doesn’t love a ‘stay with me’ moment?

16. Alise and Cedric reject Hest together in Kelsingra - Blood of Dragons

- Hest kinda went through it in this book and I was worried we were heading down a redemption route. Thank god we got this instead. This was such a satisfying moment.

18. Fitz and Ketrricken mourn Nighteyes - Golden fool

What a lovely moment. I had been waiting for Fitz to fall apart from Nighteyes’ death, and this was probably the healthiest way to deal with it. God, I love Kettricken. I always loved her friendship with Nighteyes and I’m glad she was allowed to mourn as well.

15. The Traders come together to clean the concourse - Ship of Destiny

- Such a small but impactful moment. The traders had really rejected the Vestrits (mostly due to Davad Restart bulldozing their reputation along with his own). And in this moment, they returned to their ruined hall, and they see a lone old woman - whose family is missing and maybe dead - sweeping and continuing their traditions. And slowly, one by one, they all join in and help. No matter what else divides them, they are all Traders.

14. Fitz 'steals' Shrewd's knife and stabs it into Chade’s fireplace - Assassin's Apprentice

- My baby’s first proper act of defiance. I was very proud of my boy. And while Chade can be quite a cold character (the events that led up to this moment are proof of that),, the fact that he never moved the knife also says something about his feeling for Fitz. God, Chade makes me feel so many things.

13. Molly gives birth to Nettle - Assassin's Quest

- “and as prefect as she is, what would she have to cry about?” Why don’t you shoot in the face? This scene broke me. Molly being pregnant was admittedly the most obvious plot twist of all time but the payoff was beautiful. Burrich acted exactly the way I thought he would. And what can I say, I love Molly.

12. Fitz shows Patience his drawing of the dog - Assassin's Apprentice

- I think (it was over a year ago) but I think this was maybe the first time I cried at this series. Fitz is so desperate to do something Patience will be proud of, then he suddenly feels foolish, holding his little piece of paper with a dog on it. And then Patience sees it, asks who drew it, and is so proud of him when he says he did. You should have been mind! Ahh, kill me!

11. Fitz and the Fool reunite - Fool's Errand + Fitz and the fool reunite in Jhaampe - Assassin's Quest

- I had to put these together. They’re both so good, and both are followed by these warm times of relative peace. In AQ, the Fool doesn’t realise it’s Fitz, and in FE, Fitz doesn’t realise it’s the Fool. These bits parallel each other so beautifully and in both, their peaceful time together is broken by a calling from the Farseer crown.

10. Malta negotiates independence for Bingtown - Ship of destiny

- SHE IS THAT GIRL. Malta’s arc was so unbelievably satisfying and I was proud of her here. She had released Tintaglia, saved the satrap and his companion, learned from Kekki, held her own on that ship, and stood up for Bingtown before Kennit and the Satrap. Love Love Love.

9. Bee burns down the scroll library of clerres - Assassin’s Fate

- Ahhhhh!!!!! That’s my baby!!!!! My destroyer!!!! Bee goes through so much for someone so young, and she’s the only one wise enough to know that they must let go of the past. She begins the dragon’s vengeance and brings about the destruction of Clerres. Good for her.

8. You're not dead son - Royal Assassin

- Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!! I cannot do this!!!! The days as the wolf were so well written and this was such an emotional conclusion. Burrich, the man that you are. To see him momentarily set aside his absolute hatred of the Wit to save his boy just showed how much he loved Fitz. It’s the devastating culmination of Burrich’s parenting skills and it broke me in a way that no other scene in this entire series has broken me!

7. Burrich and Swift defeat the stone dragon - Fool's Fate

- if Burrich is gonna do one thing, it’s accept the Wit in order to save a son. This display of strength and love was so beautiful! And I was happy to see Swift have his moment!

6. Kettricken's Speech before the Forge Hunt - Royal Assassin

- Such an underrated scene. Kettricken really comes into her own here. She really becomes the Queen-in-Waiting of the Six Duchies in this moment. She impresses everyone - even Chade. I think this is where Verity falls in love with her, and of course, we get to see Verity slap Regal.

5. Prince FitzChivalry Farseer is welcomed home - Fool's quest

- I WEPT. I could not believe what I was reading. We get Starling’s song - which was such a brilliant moment of payoff for her character. And then, of all people, it’s Chade to walk over to Fitz. A man who is obsessed with secrets is the one to tell Fitz it’s time to do away with disguises and secrets. Oh my godddddd.

4. Nighteyes' last hunt - fool's errand

- I had to reread this scene because I had not at all processed what had happened. I was in public! I was on a train, sat next to a stranger, and there were silent tears running down my face. I love Nighteyes and I knew it was coming eventually, but I was not expecting it in this book. His ‘I was sure you would want to come with me,’ is one of the saddest lines in the whole thing.

3. Fitz, Beloved, and Nighteyes become go into the stone wolf and become one being - Assassin’s Fate

- what am I supposed to do with this? This was perfect and devastating. It was where they were always heading towards. Love without limits.

2. Fitz brings the fool back from the dead - Fool's Fate

- Imagine merging souls and calling him by your own name and calling him your dream, believing you can’t go on without him, and uprooting fate with love and passion and bringing him back to life. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

1. The Stone Dragons awake / Fitzloved kiss - Assassin's Quest

- The moment the first trilogy built up to. This moment seared these books onto my heart. From Verity’s sacrifice, Kettle’s redemption, Starling getting the story for her song, Kettricken fully becoming Sacrifice and getting pregnant, the Fool seeing his prophecy become fulfilled and kissing Fitz, and Fitz using the Wit to awake the stone dragons and saving the Six Duchies from the Red Ship Raiders!!!!!!! A perfect ending!

[heaartshaped]

I don’t know what about this is so heartwarming

maybe the fact that even after all this time fitz is still remembered and well loved by the people who knew him. Whether it be the old guards or lady patience or burrich or chade. He is so loved. And he never lets himself believe it

[wizardnaturalist]

the way aging is treated in rote is also strange to me. fitz complaining about how he feels at the end of his life while in his 30s in tawny man I can sort of understand, as he is disabled and suffered great physical trauma and has never had a healthy self image, but other characters seem to be treated much the same way? burrich especially is treated as though he's in his twilight years, only just managing to keep going, no longer able to proficiently complete his daily tasks, handing over the horse rearing and ranch work to his sons, etc. when he's only what? in his 50s, Maybe early 60s? I can understand some stiffening, some slowing, some vision loss, but it's hard to believe that "doddering old man" is what the readers are supposed to expect of that age.

Patience also was treated as an Old Woman from the moment of her inception. part of that is likely fitz's narration, being a kid and assigning Oldness to anyone over 25, but it pretty much persists. plus, fitz isnt writing this diary until years after assassins quest, when he's well into his 20s and therefore far less likely to view a 40 year old woman as Agéd.

[flintism]

the thing about royal assassin and fool’s fate having the same narrative structure is that they’re both built upon a very simple dilemma which is: fitz has to choose between duty & love. in royal assassin fitz’s duty is to serve the king/verity/being the king’s man whereas molly symbolizes love. the dilemma is made very obvious at the beginning of the book when fitz has a conversation with patience about why molly has come to be in buckkeep & patience tells him the infamous “one horse cannot bear two saddles” burrich adage. and RA is so well constructed as a book because you can see how being torn between those two things, those two aspects of his life is tearing fitz apart until, of course, molly decides to leave him. in RA duty wins and even later, if AQ, when fitz finds out that molly was pregnant and tries to go to her he can’t because his duty has literally been engraved in his brain with the skill & verity’s “come to me”. 

now in fool’s fate we have the basic same structure, fitz has to choose between his loyalty to the farseer line, here mostly embodied by chade and to as lesser extent by dutiful,  and his loyalty (love) to the fool. obviously things are different in fool’s fate, fitz is older, isn’t trying to get the permission to marry the fool & isn’t in the same position toward the crown as he used to be when he was a teenager and not officially dead. but still, it’s the same idea: fitz is torn between two sides of his life and has to choose one of them. interestingly, here duty to the crown doesn’t win but, by doing what he thinks is right & accomplishing the fool’s vision, fitz still suffers a terrible personal loss. by choosing the fool he loses the fool. & i don’t only mean because the fool dies but also because after fitz brought him back the fool chooses to abide by the future he foresaw for fitz and to let him go back to molly (even though no one has asked molly what she wants ahem). it’s interesting that in both cases, no matter what he chooses, fitz loses his love. that the fool & molly make similar decisions and that those decisions entail leaving fitz. they both had their reasons i’m not really trying to discuss the rightness or wrongness of what they did here, just point out that they basically do the same thing.

i also think that, in both books, there’s a third element, a third option which is: what does it mean to be true to yourself? in RA this third element is embodied by nighteyes who presents an alternative to both duty and the traditional form of love symbolized by molly. fitz spends a good part of the book fighting against bonding with nighteyes, against “what he was born to be” as nighteyes puts it. he does end up bonding with nighteyes and, for a while, living as one with him but we all know how that ends. fitz goes back to being human & to having a king but he never quite recovers from the experience of being free from it all. from being who he was born to be. in fool’s fate it’s a bit more complicated because nighteyes is dead but i think that this alternative of being “true to oneself” is presented when fitz suggests to the fool that he might go with him in commitments. the fools explicitly compares himself to nighteyes in that chapter but to discourage fitz from coming with him: he thinks that he is to fitz what fitz was to nighteyes & that it would cost fitz too much to leave with him. i think that the comparison with RA allows us to see it in a different way: by following the fool, fitz would find the kind of freedom he had during his days as a wolf at the end of RA, but that would, indeed, cost him all his other “human” links & maybe even his human sense of self if we want to push the comparison that far. so the fool goes away & fitz goes back to molly but there is always something missing as we see very clearly in FA. i think it’s really interesting that fitz brings back the infamous “a horse cannot wear two saddles” phrase at the very end of fool’s fate and that what was first used to describe the impossibility of making duty & love cohabit in RA is used to describe the impossibility of making two kinds of love cohabit at the end of FF. 

to go back to the love/duty dilemma it’s a typical cornelian dilemma: no matter what fitz ends up choosing there is no real good option & i think that thats what makes RA & FF the two most tragic (in the classical sense) books in the entire series & why, personally, those two endings are the ones that affect me the most. 

[regulargoose]

Ok I'm like 150 pages into Fool's fate, here are my thoughts/feelings/predictions etc.

The fool's gotta come back, right? Like he's gonna show up when the dragon's island or smth? There's absolutely no way they just successfully left him at buckkeep and that he's just gonna wait there,,, I don't think the fool's gonna die, at least not in this book (there's too many books left in the series for that to happen lol... right??) But I am scared for him still. I'm nervously but eagerly anticipating the confrontation that's gonna happen when him and Fitz see eachother again

That scene with with Fitz and dutiful and verity and chivalry's swords...😢😢 something about these boys growing up without their fathers and dutifuls immediate reaction to Fitz giving him veritys sword was to run and get chivalrys sword for fitz😢 I am feeling so normal about this

Burrich knows!!! This is not a drill!!! He knows!!! I cannot wait for them to see eachother when Fitz gets back from the out islands

I honestly do not really care what happens with Molly,, I am very indifferent to her as a character.

I want to see patience again!! Please!! Dutiful keeps mentioning her and I want to see her again!!

Getting weird vibes from Web... but maybe that's just because the books said like 4 times that he's trying to train Fitz like he's an unruly animal lmao

I want to learn more about nettle and to have the rest of the coterie interact with her

I've got a bad feeling about Chade... like I think he's gonna make some sort of mistake (potentially with the skill, or just with overstepping and assuming that he knows best for everyone) that will have potentially disastrous consequences for The Squad,,, I feel like Kettriken and Dutiful have both reprimanded him to remind him whose in charge recently,, and he seems to not rlly be listening to fitzs warnings about the skill,,, and idk im just getting bad vibes from him

I've got no idea whats going on with the narcheska and the dragons and stuff lol

Ok I think that's enough for now,, it's basically finals season so I don't think I'm gonna be able to read the rest as quickly as I would like,, but I'm very excited to see where the story goes from here

[4th-make-quail]

Was going to put it for the ship bingo, but I'm actually more curious about your own opinion. Thoughts on Fitz and Molly? (personally, big fan of them in their youth, not a fan of the second rendition, their "getting together again" and happy ever after didn't convince me and felt forced, but I'm curious how you see it)

Oh nonny, what a fun question!! As much as I am a huge Fitz/Fool truther, holy shit I really really like Fitz/Molly! I loved their whirlwind youth, even with Fitz being a complete idiot. I love love love Molly as a character in general, she's so fierce and ballsy, she knows what she wants and what she deserves and honestly I think she's too good for Fitz at times lol.

I also adore their ending too. I'm glad that Fitz got to experience some damn peace in his life for once (albeit admittedly a short amount of time), and I think they were just so damn cute as a couple. When people described them as being so in love that it was obvious, it just gives me so many feelings!! Her death devastated me, and makes me hurt for Fitz so badly!! And for poor Bee as well 😭😭😭

I didn't find it particularly forced either, idk to me it always felt inevitable? Maybe I'm controversial because I ALSO really love Molly/Burrich lmao, but I was glad that she got to be happy with Fitz after so long. It felt like they could finally be together in the eve of their lives, like a reward well deserved after so many years. Idk idk I find it hard to articulate. I just adored the Withywoods sections of the last trilogy where they were together and so so happy, even though it also filled me with dread to read for the first time because it's Robin Hobb, u know? There ain't any chance that was ending happily!!!

But I guess it felt less forced to me and more... Inevitable? As much as Fitz is quite evidently in love with the Fool, he also never spends long without thinking about Molly. She was always his endgame, even if he thought he could never have her.

[mellowthorn]

Realm of the Elderlings Ask Meme Thing

Created by @hermitknut. I spotted this while browsing tags the other day and figured it might be fun to bring it back.

Favourite RotE Book: Assassin's Quest

Why: It's difficult to pick a single favorite, but I tend to go with AQ because it is where I truly fell in love with the series. The depiction of Fitz's loneliness speaks to me on a very personal level, and Fitz's character arc is overall just masterfully written. The way all the misfortune, abuse and heartbreak leads him to putting his feelings into the dragon and ultimately isolating himself from everyone he loves, is incredibly tragic, but the built-up is done so well that I really couldn't imagine the book ending any other way.

Additionally, AQ is where we finally begin to get information about the Elderlings and are introduced to other mysterious lore elements, like the memory stone, Silver, and the rooster crown. These little hints completely hooked me in and made it impossible to put the series down.

Also it's where the Fool barged in and stole not just the narrative but also my heart.

Top Three Favourite Characters: Beloved, Fitz, Burrich (Paragon and Bee come close though)

Top Three Least Favourite Characters: Tats, Lant, Reyn

Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon

Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): Fitzloved, Burrich/Chivalry, Patience/Lacey

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: Witted

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: Probably a dog, simply because dogs are the animal that I most often interact with. But ignoring practicalities, maybe some kind of a bird? An owl?

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: Kelsingra! I have a really strong fondness for Kelsingra. It's both exciting and oddly cozy, and I'd love to explore it for myself.

How were you introduced to the books? I was looking for a fantasy book with good characters, and the Farseer Trilogy was the first series that I came across. A booktuber I watch had mentioned Hobb before, so I decided to give it a try.

Share a quote you love: This is one of my favorites from Amber, from chapter 16 of The Mad Ship.

‘Half the evil in this world occurs while decent people stand by and do nothing wrong. It’s not enough to refrain from evil, Trell. People have to attempt to do right, even if they believe they cannot succeed.’ ‘Even when it’s stupid to try?’ he asked with savage sarcasm. ‘Especially then,’ she replied sweetly. ‘That’s how it’s done, Trell. You break your heart against this stony world. You fling yourself at it, on the side of good, and you do not ask the cost. That’s how you do it.’

Tagging: I'm going to start with @tragediegh, @spectrum-color, @gwenllian-in-the-abbey, @thenightisland and @everywaythatmatters. No pressure of course! And I'd also love to see even more people do this, so as far as I'm concerned, everyone in the RotE fandom is tagged :)

[feathersandblue]

Dear Beloved,

I hereby name you FitzIdiot Dumbass because that's who I am.

I don't like the ending of Fool's Fate. It's badly paced. Comes the climax and then pages and pages of letdown and repetitive conversations. Suspending Fitz in time in the skill-pillar is a lazy excuse to save him from having to explain himself to both Nettle and Molly.

The pacing makes Fool's Fate the weakest part of the trilogy for me, both the beginning and the ending should have been more condensed. As much as I love Thick, at some point, describing in detail the loving and nurturing carework necessary to get him through the Out Islands gets fairly boring. Yes, he's important, but we don't really need to know what he had for breakfast each day.

There's too much Skill speech dialogue all around. The brewing conflict between Chade and Fitz, the hints that Chade might be losing control of his skill, ultimately amount to nothing but Chade sure is annoying. There's no development in this final part, too many hints without a follow-through.

And the ending ... after the dramatic and amazing scenes with the Pale Woman and the healing of the Fool, the rest of the book turns into an endless epilogue.

The introduction of the Burrich's family at the end feels like losing the thread. The trilogy is named after the Fool, and Fitz's and the Fool's relationship is explored in great depths, and then, after its dramatic culmination - the Fool's sacrifice and resurrection - the narrative shifts and turns into a lukewarm soap opera that is more tell than show.

It's astonishing, because as well-written as the books are, as skillfull Hobb as wields the unreliable narrator tool, as insightful as she is when it comes to teenage psychology, as good as she is in crafting strong-willed and independent female characters, Fitz ends up the epitome of a man who seeks out a woman not because he's drawn to her as a human being but because she fulfills his need for sex and domesticity, he's drawn to what she embodies for him, not for who she actually is.

The distinction is very clear and sharp-edged. It comes down to this: if Molly wasn't a woman he's attracted to, he wouldn't have any reason to stay with her. He's not interested in her political views. He doesn't admire her for her candle-making. He doesn't truly confide in her. If he didn't desire her sexually, he'd send her a monthly paycheck to help her take care of her offspring and be on his merry way.

In all honesty, if I had read that ending when the books had come out, not knowing there would be another trilogy picking up the pieces, I'd be horriby frustrated because as it stands, the ending of the Tawny Man trilogy seems weirdly regressive both in terms of queer reading and in terms of character development.

It would have been better, imho, if Fitz had been re-introduced to Patience earlier in the series, and if Fitz reconnecting with Molly had been handled differently with less telling, less answering of questions no one actually asked. It could easily have been more open to interpretation - if Hobb had ended it with the prospect of the two of them getting back together, and maybe an acknowledgement on Fitz's part of what the Fool had to sacrifice in order to make that possible. As it is, I find the ending pretty weak.

And all of that is completely disregarding the tragedy of the Fool.

Let's not even start.

[agilneanrose]

Uldum - World Faire Camp

Ramkahen, capital city of the desert wonder that is Uldum. Once upon a time, the city had been locked away from the rest of the world - a single purpose kept it sheltered and unknown but when the ancient protections broke an entire desert and all of its wonders were gifted to the rest of the world. Over a decade later, the once kingdom begrudgingly welcomes to its city the World faire - an event bringing thousands of people daily into the sandstone markets 

“Momma, I was thinking..” Hope skipped through the camp located just outside of the capital’s main buildings. Easily the clump of war tents stood out, stark against the brilliant sky and muted sands. Though positioned near others who could not find lodgings within the desert city, the dark fabrics burdened with house symbols kept the others from creeping too close. By the third day of the faire, the gaggle of Sunshield women had abandoned their kingdom-appropriate attire and donned clothing better suited for the heat and sun.  “Papa wouldn’t say no if we brought home a camel or three. Three would be reeeeeeeeally nice.”

“What a novel idea, Hope. But I suspect the poor things would grow bored in the fields of Westfall, do you not think?”  Rosemarri perched upon a sandstone hunk, and like the others, her stiff clothing and bulky skirts had been abandoned in favor of a different kind of layers to protect her skin and to keep her from overheating. Trinkets from the faire hung from her wrists and clutched her ankles, tinkling merrily with each movement that she made. Before her, Harmony settled in the sand, legs crossed and bare toes buried as her mother carefully parted heavy curls and attempted to twist them into a braid. 

“But.. they could also live outside of the desert. Maybe our plains would be interesting to them and they might like having water.”  As Hope sat she leaned forward to collect a small camel figurine from next to the stone her mother had made her seat. What an odd little forgotten thing! As she turned it over in her hand, the old figure crumbled, turning to dust and sand before spilling through her fingers. 

“What about four camels?” She spoke again after a moment.

“HOPE!” Harmony laughed. “That is more than three!” 

Rosemarri glanced up from her work, surveying the tents and the people within it. Lyric and Varson spoke near the main tent, the mage’s animated hands, and the knight's laugh tattled the conversation a casual one.  Onward, her gaze shifted inside the tent to see two dark heads leading toward each other.  Just near them, Yelena sat, eating a taco and watching the game intently.

“What are Haven and Tristan doing?” She asked, tilting her body a bit so as to get a better look. Since her hands were in her youngest daughter’s hair, the girl leaned as well just in case she needed to spare her own head.

“Oh! They are playing chess, she is explaining to him the use of knights and rogues on the board. I bet he thinks she is a cheater.” Hope laughed, twisting in place to give the pair they were discussing her attention as well. “He is nice, mommy. He will be a good uncle - kinda stuffy like Varsen was when he first came to us… but we have - what is Burrich doing?” She paused, her attention focused on the huntsman who appeared to be talking to a trio of camels on the far side of camp.  “OH! Oh! he is waiting for me.” She scrambled to her feet, sand splattering over the seated pair behind her. “I was just supposed to… COMING BURRICH.” And she was off.

Alone once more the youngest Sunshield twisted about to stare up at her mother. Rosemarri watched Hope rejoin Burrich before darting her attention to Haven and Tristan. A slow exhale was an attempt to relieve some of the pressure that had been building in her chest. The girls were surrounded by strength, titan’s forgive any after their hearts. Her head dipped, her stare darting to the watchful girl and she dropped a loud kiss to her sun-kissed forehead. 

“What is behind your eyes, Harmony?” She whispered, leaning back slightly to peer at the girl’s lovely face. It was her father’s eyes that peered back, and a faint frown tugged to life. Was it? No.. his eyes had not been green.

“You have been here before. You traveled all over Uldum without a guard..” She ventured, noting the frown that hinted.

“I have, I came here with your father..” One hand lifted to dust the dirt away from the girl’s temple.

“Alone?”

“That is what married couples do.”

“But with no guards?” She pressed.

Oh. Understanding dawned and Rosemarri left her seat to squish close to her teenager. Once settled in the sand, the stone at her back she curled her delicate arms around the girl. At 13 and the youngest of the trio - her life had not started off the greatest. Dark and horror-filled had been her existence for the first few years, only to be quickly surrounded by a veil-trapped father and the squish of Sunshield guardians. Harmony’s co-dependence on her father’s strength had loosened as she aged but the need was still solid.

“Of course not..” She let one finger dust at the girl’s hairline as she searched the fog of her memories for something, anything. “I loved to travel and your father honored me. I remember the sand in my toes, the feel of the stones, and the freedom the air gives to you - some mix of ocean and desert that I wish I could bottle up.  At the temples the stones glitter with titan magic, you can touch it with your fingers and he took me to touch it – there is something you should know about your Grandfather - he trusts very few with his loved ones. But your father? Your father is wise and clever, and your grandfather trusted him with his people and me.  There was no monster who could stop him, no darkness that could take him, and no mortal that could best him in fighting OR in cleverness. "

“If I asked, do you think he would bring me to touch titan symbols? J-just me?”

“Yes.” She spoke instantly. “Yes, I think he would and you would be safe.” She knew that, even if she could not recall the color of his eyes, she knew that. Another kiss and she glanced Lyric’s way. Lyric took the girls back and forth between the two houses, perhaps word should be sent that the youngest Sunshield wished to adventure. 

“Are you ready to go see the booths?”

“In a moment, I like it right here.”

“Me too.” 

@sunsandwolves

@theoldlord @swordandsayage @burrichgreer

Mentions^

[soggypotatoes]

nobody tagged me but i'm doing it anyway

Favorite RotE book: fool's fate, like everyone else said, because it's GOOD.. the pacing, the tying together of the last two trilogies.. also, i really like glaciers. i first read this 10 years ago, before the series was finished, and this book stuck in my head the most. i have bad memory for media retention so tbh the main thing i remember was all the descriptions of their hike across the glacier and the outislands, but i just really liked that!! you never see that kind of biome, really, much less in fantasy. it's a very clever, heart-wrenching, addictive book to read, and the one i'd most like to reread. also, the resolution from The Quarrel, which upsets me.

Top three favorite characters: I literally have a tattoo of the Fool lmao. so obvs he's my fave. I reeeeally really like Bee, I relate to her a lot. I'm not counting Fitz here bc he's obviously fave because I've lived in his head so much. My other favourite... maybe Paragon, actually. Paragon is very special to me.

Top Three Least Favorite Characters: TATS, god I hated Tats. I haven't actually finished the series yet, still in Fool's Quest, but Lant really upsets me - I had teachers exactly like that, who treated me like shit for no reason. Maybe he'll get better, idk. I'm not sure about others - obviously there are dirtbags, but I like reading about them, as awful as they are. They're interesting!!! Maybe Regal, because he upset me more than the other villains lol

Favorite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon obvs

Top Three Favorite Ships (of the people kind): If fitz/fool doesn't count.. uhhh... Chivalry/Burrich? even tho we obvs don't see them interact at all. i like the vibe

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled? witted, is this even a question, the skill sounds like a nightmare

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with? that is soooo hard... either a snake (specifically a woma python) or a great white shark. bonding to a shark would be hard, especially a fuckoff big one like that, but scuba diving is my favourite activity so. and, i've had a recurring dream since childhood about having a great white shark best friend who i get to hug. they're so huggable!!! it'd make me sad being bonded to one though because they'd be off swimming around the world, and i like to be comfortable in one place. we'd have a special kind of relationship, i think.

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, The Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, The Pirate Isles, or the Fool's Homeland? rain wilds might be the worst option here but. rain wilds. it's the place i felt the most jealousy at the thought of living in, because god... big trees, man... we don't really have them in australia so i've never seen a Big Tree irl. i like the idea of climbing up and down the trees, gently swinging treehouses... ugh. the people, though... so much prejudice and politics. i'm not there for the people :/

How were you introduced to the books? my ex lol, and two friends who were into it. this was like 10 years ago. i also met robin hobb, before i'd read any of them. i got her to sign page 69 of the book i was reading then (one of the witcher books) cause i'm an idiot.

Share a quote you love: my brain is short circuiting. i don't have access to it right now, but my friend wrote the paragraph where fitz holds the fool at the end of fool's fate on the top of my window, which i found much later and had a breakdown over. the 'i have never felt less of a man that i did so' quote. fuck that

[annot8]

Realm of the elderlings ask meme thing

There's nothing I love more than ranking my favourite things! (I have not finished Assassin's Fate yet so things could maybe change)

Favourite Rote book: Royal Assassin

Why: This is the one that took me the longest to read. It paints Buckkeep so vividly, I felt like I was walking down its corridors alongside Fitz. Assassin's Apprentice serves to set up the story, and then by Assassin's Quest, everything has changed. And then, even when we get back to Buckkeep in Tawny Man, nothing is the same. Royal Assassin feels the most like home.

You've got Fitz bonding with Nighteyes, you've got Kettricken as Queen-in-Waiting alongside Verity, you've got an ailing King Shrewd, you've got peak sneaky old man Chade, you've got Patience and Lacey, you've got Fitz and the Fool becoming friends, you've got Burrich being a questionable but earnest parental figure, you've got the messiest teenage relationships, you've got political intrigue, and fun witted shenanigans, and all the things I love most about this series.

And the backdrop of the RedShip War is so compelling. It does what Piebalds don't do quite as well in Tawny Man. The threat lingers so heavily and is intertwined in everything that happens.

And it has one of the most well written endings I've ever read. The way everything comes together is insane. From Shrewd dying to Fitz being resurrected. His time in nighteyes' body is a masterpiece and an achievement of writing.

Top three favourite characters: Fitz, Beloved, Nighteyes (It feels wrong to not also mention Kettricken and Burrich here because I love them SO MUCH)

Top three least favourite characters: Dwalia, Ellik, Greft

Favourite ship of the floating kind: Paragon or Vivacia - I can't decide! You can't make me!

Top 3 ships of the people kind: Fitzloved, Alise x Leftrin, and Burrich x Chivalry x Patience - though also have a soft spot for Molly and Burrich.

Would you rather be witted or skilled: Being Skilled would probably be so much more practical, but Witted.

If you were witted, what animal would you bond with: a lazy little cat

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six duchies, Bingtown, the Rain wilds, Kelsingra, Jamailia, the Pirate isles or Mercenia/Fool's homeland?: This feels like the wrong answer, but its the Six Duchies for me. The descriptions of Buck remind me so much of where I grew up in the cold by the sea. it feels familiar.

How were you introduced to the books: My mum!

Share a quote you love:

'Come, hunt with me, the invitation whispers in my heart. Leave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own.

Wolves have no Kings.

-Royal Assassin, Epilogue

I think I've seen most of my mutuals do this. If you haven't, consider this me tagging you! and anyone else who wants to do it! xx

[naurielrochnur]

Realm of the Elderlings Ask Meme Thing

Thanks for the tag @tragediegh

Favorite Rote Book: Its a tie between Assassin's Quest and Fool's Fate

Why: Assassin's Quest because I became very invested in Fitz's recovery/lack thereof after his torture and death. The end of Royal Assassin felt like the end of a chapter in his life, and it was equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking to see the how Fitz grew as a character, and yet fell victim to himself in very familiar ways. Assassin's Quest is the first time that Fitz is not wholly tied to Buckkeep (at least for the first half of the book), so I really enjoyed watching him make decisions for himself. I am also a HUGE fan of characters that soldier on despite hardship, and that describes Fitz in this book very well.

Fools Fate because OH BOY is that book an emotional wrecking ball and I love to hurt my own feelings. Fitz grows a lot as a person throughout Tawny Man, but he really develops in Fools Fate. The progression of his relationship with Beloved is incredibly satisfying and heartbreaking. I also enjoyed how Fitz finally learned that he can both love Burrich and admit that he was harmed by Burrich's strict governing of the Wit during his childhood. I love the lore and word building of this book (who doesn't love dragons?)

Top Three Favorite Characters: Fitz, Web, and Beloved.

Top Three Least Favorite Characters: Keffria, Sintara, Tats

Favorite Ship (of the floating kind): Tarman without a doubt.

Top Three Favorite Ships (of the people kind): I'm very much so not a romantic shipper, so this is hard. I guess I'll say Fitz and Beloved, but in a queer platonic, messy, and confusing sort of way, Amber and Jek, and Patience and Lacey

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled? Witted

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with? Some sort of cat, or maybe a ferret? Or perhaps a kestrel. Also, a fox would be cool, as would a corvid. I've thought way too hard about animals I would like to be bonded with and its only made me more unsure.

How were you introduced to the books? I was looking for some books to read in the summer of 2023, and I remembered that I read the three Fitz centric trilogies back in 2018 and really enjoyed them. I was not at my most mentally healthy at that stage of my life, and so could remember next to nothing of what happened, but one thing I DID remember was that while reading those books, I was able to fully fall into them and concentrate on the story. I wasn't able to fully lose myself like that with any other book at that point in my life, so I decided they were worth a reread when I could more fully appreciate them.

Share a quote you love:

"Men do not grieve as dogs do, buy they grieve for many years." -Assassin's Apprentice

That passage never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

“Not being able to think of a reply is not the same thing as accepting another's words.” -Assassin's Quest

Its so silly but this quote makes me cry. I often have trouble replying to people, particularly when I don't agree with them, and so it can be distressing to know I have something to say and yet not be able to form the words. Its extremely comforting to see that sentiment actually acknowledged.

It was a long journey, in the cold and the dark. Somewhere I could hear a whimpering, and I despised myself for that, too. But as I scraped myself along, it grew, as a spark in the distance becomes a fire as one approaches. It refused to be ignored. It grew louder in my mind, a whining against my fate, a tiny voice of resistance that forbade that I should die, that denied my failure. It was warmth and light, too, and it grew stronger and stronger as I tried to find its source.

I stopped.

I lay still.

It was inside me. The more I sought it, the stronger it grew. It loved me. Loved me even if I couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t love myself. Loved me even if I hated it. It set its tiny teeth in my soul and braced and held so that I couldn’t crawl any farther. And when I tried, a howl of despair burst from it, searing me, forbidding me to break so sacred a trust.

It was Smithy. He cried with my pains, physical and mental. And when I stopped struggling toward the wall, he went into a paroxysm of joy, a celebration of triumph for us. And all I could do to reward him was to lie still and no longer attempt to destroy myself. And he assured me it was enough, it was a plenitude, it was a joy. I closed my eyes. -Assassin's Apprentice

This quote resonates with me in ways I find hard to describe. Even when I was at the my worst mentally, suffering from a severe eating disorder that cascaded into severe depression, there was always at least teeny part of me that wanted me to live. It was the small, basal lizard brain that cared only for biological survival, but it was there. Eventually, after a long time and a lot of therapy, I learned to listen to that voice. I learned that the voice in my head driving me crazy over thoughts of food--the voice that I hated just as much as I hated myself--was only there because it wanted me to stop killing myself. I learned to appreciate the part of my brain that cared enough about me to sink its teeth into my mind and never let go. Through that appreciation I learned to love that voice. Through love for that voice, I learned how to start loving myself the way it loved me; fiercely, protectively, and wholly accepting. A part of me cared SO much about my survival, thought I was worth an immense effort to keep alive, and all that was within me. This quote puts to words that struggle that I felt. I had a Smithy within me all along, and that little creature saved my life.

[thenightisland]

tagged by the lovely @mellowthorn for a rote Q&A thingy under the cut bc it's long

Favourite RotE Book: assassin's quest and fool's fate are constantly vying for the number one slot and the answer changes day by day

Why: on aq days it's bc that's the book that took this series from "wow i really like this" to "oh i'm going to be obsessed with these for the rest of my life huh." it has, i think, the best ending. it has my favorite chapter (ch 20 jhaampe my beloved). parts of it hit very close to home. on ff days it's bc well ff is insane. no book has ever gotten the reaction out of me that that one did. i do not cry at books; it made me cry seven times. it has such excellent payoff for stuff that was set up in the earliest books (rh queen of playing the long game). most heartwrenchingly beautiful moments on earth just chapter after chapter of them.

Top Three Favourite Characters: i think i am one of the few people whose favorite character genuinely is fitz lol. beloved obv number two. after that the answer also changes every day but i'm very partial to web and kettricken.

Top Three Least Favourite Characters: this may be biased due to me being neck deep in ship of destiny at the moment, but 98% of the men in lst need to be set on fire

Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): paragon

Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): (keeping our venn diagram overlap answers) Fitzloved, Burrich/Chivalry, Patience/Lacey

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: skilled. it seems so handy with the healing and prolonging your life. and i get traumatized enough by animal death as it is without introducing the wit to that equation.

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: some kind of bird

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: practicality says bingtown bc i like being relatively warm and by the ocean and not get fantasy radiation poisoning from where i live but...but kelsingra is so fucking neat

How were you introduced to the books? a friend of mine on here always posted about them and our tastes overlapped so much that despite the fact that at the time i said i didn't like fantasy and wouldn't read it, i figured if this friend of mine liked these books there must be a reason. i read the left hand of darkness bc she posted about it too and when i mentioned reading it to her she was like "lol yeah it's hard for me to separate it from fool's fate" so i thought "maybe it's time to read those books then"

Share a quote you love: somewhat abridged for length's sake, from RA, and was one of those bits i count as early warning sign of my impending obsession lol:

“ ‘Not all men are destined for greatness,’ I reminded him

‘Are you sure, Fitz? Are you sure? What good is a life lived as if it made no difference at all to the great life of the world? A sadder thing I cannot imagine. Why should not a mother say to herself, if I raise this child aright, if I love and care for her, she shall live a life that brings joy to those about her, and thus I have changed the world? Why should not the farmer that plants a seed say to his neighbor, this seed I plant today will feed someone, and that is how I change the world today?’

‘This is philosophy, Fool. I have never had time to study such things.’

‘No, Fitz, this is life. And no one has time not to think of such things. Each creature in the world should consider this thing, every moment of the heart’s beating. Otherwise, what is the point of arising each day?…You create possibilities….I have seen the end of the world, Fitz. Seen it woven as plainly as I’ve seen my birth. Oh, not in your lifetime, nor even mine. But shall we be happy, to say that we live in the dusk rather than the full night? Shall we rejoice that we shall only suffer, while your offspring will be the ones to know the torments of the damned? Shall this be why we do not act?’ ”

also and underrated one from FA:

“Oh, the things we discover and the things we learn, much too late. Worse are the secrets that are not secrets, the sorrows we live with but do not admit to one another.”

i have also thought about "every nuance of his grace as familiar to me as the drawing of breath" literally every day but that's a given if there's a sappy line you can be sure i am thinking about it nonstop without a moment's peace