No Blood. No Bone. No Ash.

Fandoms, fandoms all around. But mostly ROTE.

[luciefzeven]

Hello, I’m very busy with my illustration work right now and I haven’t had time to post. But Astre Rouge is coming back soon and I hope you’re all looking forward to it. In the meantime here is a fanart made in August from the novel Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb.

To see the video of the realization on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@luciefzeven/video/6998490476290526470?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id6908677316559095301

[facelessfrey]

Fitz and Bee - from chapter 11 of Fool’s Assassin (before everything goes wrong)

[ramblesandstuff]

I love that moment in Fool’s Fate when Fitz is talking to Web about Swift’s dangerous parading of his Wit, because Fitz goes like

“One should always repress it (the wit) and live his life hiding it (The Wit). He should also refrain from parading it (The Wit) and live his life in the closet (FOR THE WIT).”

and Web just stares at him like Holy Fucking Shit

[risoria]

the fool and beloved with cats….

[somepeoplejugglegeese]

I know the Fitz and Fool quarrel is sad, but its also hilarious. Fitz starts the whole thing just hoping to hear ‘no homo’, is completely outclassed the entire argument, and then ends up offended because the Fool implies he’s bad at sex (which is my favorite part). Its just like:

The Fool: You probably couldn’t satisfy me anyway!

Fitz: *gasps dramatically*

[fitzandfooltrash]

Happy Pride month to Fitz "what do you mean you're in love with me, those kisses were platonic" Farseer, and to Beloved, who has to put up with him

[sinni-ok-sessi]

This was the scene that broke me and one day, when I’m feeling emotionally ready, I might go back and reread the whole RotE series in the light of that line, ‘His love was things he did.’

[somepeoplejugglegeese]

This exchange is so funny because I don’t feel like Beloved is trying to be mysterious so much as just waiting for Fitz to connect the dots because not only is Beloved a fricking prophet but they just finished talking about the fact that he can feel Fitz through their skill bond. And yet Fitz is just like ‘I guess I’ll never know.’ I used to get frustrated by moments like this, but honestly i think Fitz’s constant denial or downplaying of supernatural elements (despite their omnipresence in the series) is one of the reasons that these books feel almost down-to-Earth even though they are objectively and completely wack-a-doo. 

[nientary-1832]

Small Fitz and the Fool playing with small dogges ❤ Inspired by “Prophet’s threads” (what a wonderful fic!).

Those dogges were excruciating to draw! I was like “Hmm, I’ve never drawn dogs before… I want seven of them in one picture! Gonna be easy-peasy!” That was in late december 🤡🤡🤡 Well, I’ve been working on lots of other stuff too, so this was on and off, but still 🤡🤡🤡 But in the end everything turned out better than I expected.

[sevendutchies]

crying in the club rn

Ok so as much as I love Fitz and the Fool’s relationship for everything it is, I am of the firm belief that authors are trying to tell us something with their work. Robin Hobb didn’t sit down and go “I’m going to write sixteen novels and 10,000+ words over the course of twenty years about this couple because I think it would be cute.” There’s something she’s trying to say with these characters that I think is very deliberate. And I’ve been thinking about it ever since I first read these books. I haven’t seen any posts talking about this, and so I wanted to make one myself. 

We’re all aware that Fitz and the Fool are clearly two sides of the same coin: King’s jester/assassin, comedy/tragedy, prophet/catalyst, mind/matter, white/black, etc., and that they make each other “whole,” and I really think that it actually goes a step further.

I think Fitz/the Fool’s relationship is a metaphor for Fitz’s relationship with himself, and in a thematic sense, a metaphor for your relationship with yourself. 

Fitz’s entire emotional storyline revolves around the fact that he is never capable of showing others his true self. Most of the time of course it is because there is a life/death risk for Fitz if people know who he really is. He can’t let people know about his heritage, his job, his magic, and these become parts of himself that he hates; he wants nothing more than to just let all of it go and live a normal easy life. It becomes impossible for him to form genuine connections with others because every relationship is based on lies on lies on lies. 

The only person throughout his 70 odd years of life who truly knows everything about him is the Fool. The Fool knows everything about Fitz and loves him for it. And this is terrifying for Fitz. Because if Fitz were to embrace the Fool’s feelings for him, that would mean embracing all of the things he hates about himself and has been trying to run away from his entire life. 

This is also shown narratively by the Fool’s presence/absence in Fitz’s life. With the Fool gone, Fitz has faked his death and lived alone as a hermit in the mountains for 15 years, running from his problems. Then the Fool returns, and Fitz’s story continues. The Fool leaves Fitz, and for 30 more years Fitz is left living a stagnant, superficial life in Withywoods. And then the Fool returns to him again, and finally their story gets its conclusion. 

And as support/some honorable mentions, you can see this dynamic mirrored in almost every other character. Althea, Wintrow, Malta, Sedric, Alise, Bee…all of their stories center on the idea of self discovery and coming to terms with their existence. And of course the greatest story of self discovery would be told through the two main characters, when Fitz and the Fool are finally reunited, and immortalized as a Whole being in the stone. 

Even in their names…..everyone has their faults and hates themselves in some way, but the self is also something that is indescribably precious. Sometimes you’re an idiot who makes mistakes, but you’re still something to cherish: the beloved. And that’s what’s so important to me about this metaphor. We find out that the Fool’s real name is Beloved at the exact half-way point in the series. For Fitz, this is a journey from self hatred to self preservation and acceptance, and it’s why he struggles so much with defining his feelings for the Fool.

And in the quotes with the two of them, just imagine for a moment that this is a letter that you are reading to yourself:

“Beloved, 

Was a time when I knew peace in your presence. Though, to be truthful with myself, there were as many times when your presence plunged me into deadliest danger. Or pain. Or fear. But the peace is what I remember and long for.”

How incredibly tender is that? It is such a powerful message of self love. To fear living as yourself, but cherishing it all the same. This is what it has always been for Fitz.

And again, when Fitz uses the Fool’s name for the first time. It is only after three entire books of Fitz/the Fool literally masquerading as other people (pretending you’re something you’re not) and going through the stress of never being able to drop their pretenses. Just like…..appreciate the tenderness and what it would feel like to say this to yourself

“‘You said once that I might call you Beloved, if I no longer wished to call you Fool.’ I took a breath. ‘Beloved, I have missed your company.’”

im soft………

[song-of-amethyst]

I love this so much. I think it’s a very apt way of describing the essence of their relationship, and seeing it as a metaphor for the relationship one can have with oneself adds very beautiful interpretations to words they say to each other. 

“Goodbye, FitzChivalry Farseer.” 

I’m sad.

Also, for some reason, I was reminded of this.

‘All down the years,’ he said, his voice going golden as his skin, ‘you have been with me, as close as the tips of my fingers, even when we were years and seas apart. Your being was like the hum of a plucked string at the edge of my hearing, or a scent carried on a breeze. Did not you feel it so?’

I took a breath, fearing my words would hurt him. ‘No,’ I said quietly. ‘I wish it had been so. Too often I felt myself completely alone save for Nighteyes. Too often I’ve sat at the cliff’s edge, reaching out to touch anyone, anywhere, yet never sensing that anyone reached back to me.’

He shook his head at that. ‘Had I possessed the Skill in truth, you would have known I was there. At your very fingertips, but mute.’

I felt an odd easing in my heart at his words, for no reason I could name.

The fact that the Fool senses Fitz but not the way around somehow, I feel, illustrates what it is to be connected (or disconnected in Fitz’s case) from one’s own self. How the Fool’s loneliness was eased by the knowledge, and even the feeling of their connection, while Fitz was desperately reaching out, never quite sensing what is inside.

But even more important, I feel, is the ease that Fitz feels at being told that the Fool had been there all along. When you think you don’t know who you are, or think that whoever you are, you “were lost a long time ago”, it can be such a relief to know that there is still more to you than the face you’re wearing or the endless roles you’re playing. In a sense, your relationship with yourself starts with the knowledge that there is a self for you to connect with, right there, waiting for you to reach out.

[sevendutchies]

Wow you’re the second person to mention the name thing and I totally forgot about that?!! (how)

But yeah these parts in Fool’s Fate:

“I doubt you know the custom of the people he came from; how they exchange names to denote the lifelong bonds they form? Did you ever call him by your name, to show him that he was as dear to you as your own life? Did you? Or were you too much of a coward to let him know?”

“"Oh, Beloved,” I said. I bent and kissed his brow in farewell. And then, grasping the rightness of that foreign tradition, I named him as myself. For when I burned him, I knew I would be ending myself, as well. The man I had been would not survive this loss. “Good-bye, FitzChivalry Farseer .”“

[blackandwhitemotley]

‘His hands came up between us and I feared he would push me away. Instead, he clutched the front of my shirt and clung tightly to me. All that night, I cradled him in my arms, as closely as if he were my child or my lover. As closely as if he were my self, wounded and alone.’

[vvrgo]

Tellator taking over Rapskal is utterly heartbreaking every time I read it

[vvrgo]

Leftrin falling in love at first sight of Alise gives me warm fuzzy feelings

[vvrgo]

Sylve and Mercor were always so sweet, he always felt a like a mentor to her rather than a normal dragon

[risoria]

Drew another Fitz in that one cloak, but i changed it a bit

[somepeoplejugglegeese]

The Fool: Burrich was so pissed at Galen for hurting you that he dragged him out of the castle and beat him up in front of everyone

Fitz: But Burrich doesn’t even like me

The Fool: …I’m in love with an idiot

Fitz: Oh, really? Who?

[foolinandfitzin]

Fitz on his way to Tradeford to kill Regal, thinking about how nobody will expect his attack

[foolinandfitzin]

Fitz has now mentioned about five different times how delicate the Fool’s bone structure is. I’m beginning to think the boy might be a tad obsessed.

[foolinandfitzin]

All of Fitz’s thoughts about the Fool’s appearance so far could be condensed to: 

“When other people look at the Fool they’re scared by his paleness, but not me. I look at him and constantly think about how delicate/fragile he looks, how gracefully he moves and how much he needs to be protected. You know, normal friends stuff" 

 and 

“His face looks like an egg." 

There’s no in-between.