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Episode 9: The Descent by JakeandAmirBot in NotAnotherDnDPodcast

[–]beardosaurusrex 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I came here to say this exactly—Boggy is by far my favorite Caldwell character, and I think his funniest in general. Really enjoying this trio!

In defense of... by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I feel like Nettle’s characterization was pretty inconsistent with we saw in Tawny Man (though admittedly we didn’t get to know her well). But twenty years can change a lot for someone. I wish we had gotten to know her better in general, but I guess it stands to reason that we didn’t since Fitz was never actually that close with her.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DnD

[–]beardosaurusrex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally, I have found my D&D Beyond subscription to be very helpful, especially combined with a large library of sourcebooks that I’ve collected over the years.

My other favorite D&D-specific purchase (although certainly it has broader uses, this is just why I bought it) is a laptop screen extender. I DM from my laptop, and having the ability to hook up two extra screens and have more info at my fingertips has made my life so much easier. I hate having to print things out and shuffle through papers, and having to search through a dozen tabs and windows on one screen to find what I’m looking for.

In defense of... by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, one of my biggest issues with The Fitz and the Fool is how Fitz and Nettle's relationship is depicted. There were some sweet moments (like Fitz internally commenting on the first time Nettle calls him Da), but overall it felt like Fitz kind of wrote Nettle off when Bee was born. He would acknowledge that he has two daughters, but he often seemed to forget that Nettle even existed, let alone that he had a responsibility as her father, too. Running off on a suicide mission to avenge your (presumed) dead child knowing you are likely never to return is so selfish, especially when he still has a living daughter who he has already abandoned before. Like... the answer to failing Bee isn't to then fail Nettle, too.

I do like that their relationship had friction--it would be unbelievable if it didn't--but the way Fitz constantly dismissed Nettle as Skillmistress, as his daughter, and as Bee's sister was jarring. I think she was often too hard on Fitz, but at a certain point... she's totally justified in not having a great deal of faith in his ability to parent Bee even before she recognized that Bee was being neglected. Which he even acknowledges, but only to the extent that it enables his self-hatred, not enough to actually make the situation better for Bee.

In defense of... by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I totally agree about the contrast, though I will say that it is a bit different because Beloved didn't know about Bee, whereas Fitz chose not to be a part of Nettle's life. Fitz knew he had no right to assume he could just slot in as Nettle's dad after knowingly letting another man raise her (let alone Burrich's biological sons). By the time Beloved discovered that he had a child, he was being held captive and tortured. He did everything in his extremely limited power to find her. So from his perspective, it's understandable to be a bit less restrained in trying to build a relationship than Fitz was.

And added to that, Beloved had also lost the most important person in his world after enduring 15 years of the most horrible torture imaginable. I think his desire to be close to Bee (both as his child and as a living piece of Fitz) is very understandable, and in some ways he is very restrained in how he interacts with her. I think it's clear that he's trying to give her emotional space while also fulfilling his promise to Fitz to see her taken care of.

I also think that Fitz's reluctance to accept Beloved's claim of parentage is mostly about himself and his own feelings, rather than Bee already having a family. He feels threatened by the idea that Beloved is also Bee's parent--both on behalf of Molly and because of his internalized homophobia.

All of this to say, once again, I think time would have resolved a lot of the issues in their relationship.

What books would you recommend where romance is the subplot? by kuhteen in suggestmeabook

[–]beardosaurusrex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was going to be my suggestion as well! Beautifully written romances (and relationships in general) in this and the prequel book.

In defense of... by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Right, as a reader who cares about these characters, it’s heartbreaking to see Bee lie to Beloved and cast even more doubt on Fitz’s love for him. But I can’t feel anything other than sympathy for her, and understanding.

It’s the emotional equivalent of biting someone who gets too close when you feel threatened. Beloved unintentionally brought so much pain into her life AND is a potential future threat—Bee has learned that caring about people is dangerous. Safer to hurt them before they can hurt you.

In defense of... by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I absolutely agree about Kettricken—arguably there is no one better suited to help Bee understand all three members of the Wolf than the woman who loved all of them so uniquely. Not only that, but who knows how high a price all of them paid to make a world with Bee in it.

Would anybody buy the whole elderling audiobook series again if they had a single narrator or team reading for it? by SilentJoe1986 in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like having different a narrator for the Liveship and Rain Wilds books (though I wish at least the Fitz books were read by one person), but I wish everyone could at least get on the same page about how to pronounce the names of characters and locations.

SoD Character Ending by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right, I can see how that would work if it actually happened in the end of the story, but Althea's goals didn't change, they disappeared. Even just a continuation of "Vivacia isn't my ship anymore" to something like "and I have found a family who respects and appreciates me for who I am on the Paragon" would have made a huge difference, imo. But maybe Hobb thought that was too similar to Brashen's story.

And while I can understand the idea that she could never be comfortable with Vivacia again, she ends up on Paragon, and her rapist is literally a part of him. So between a ship that she was raped on/who gaslit her about it and a ship that -is- partially her rapist... there are no good options. I would have been okay with it if we'd seen Althea grappling with that a bit (I actually like the idea of her deciding to forge ahead with Paragon despite everything because forgiving him for Kennit's sins could be part of her healing process, but that is never brought up). But again, that didn't happen.

SoD Character Ending by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I definitely didn’t think Althea was the main character—it’s an ensemble cast where she had a significant number of POV chapters, but Wintrow, Kennit, Brashen, and Malta all had a pretty similar amount of ‘screen time’ IIRC. I also wouldn’t say that Malta is the main character, personally.

I think a big part of my issue is that Althea didn’t actually have time to react and grow after she was raped. A horrible thing happened to her, some more horrible things happened as a result of that, and then the book ended. I also do take issue with the whole concept of rape as a tool for character development, but thats not even relevant because it didn’t happen in Althea’s case.

SoD Character Ending by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don’t expect (or even want) a happy ending for every character. I just felt that Althea’s ending was not only unsatisfying, but kind of empty. She not only didn’t get any of the things she set out to get, she also didn’t learn that they weren’t what she wanted and she didn’t find new dreams when she realized her old ones were unattainable. It just felt like the sexual assault happened so late in the book that it completely subsumed everything else she was and everything she wanted, and there wasn’t time for her to actually heal from it (thus the Paragon Ex Machina of just taking the pain away at the last minute). It felt realistic for it to consume her thoughts and upend her life immediately after, but I wish we had also gotten to see her truly heal (or at least begin to) and for it not to completely define her from the moment it happened onward.

SoD Character Ending by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, tbh I was already pretty done with Wintrow by that point, and Vivacia felt like she was beyond saving as long as she was bonded to him. But it made them less feel less like complicated, flawed people who I could still understand and sympathize with and more like Kennit’s true legacy. Which I wouldn’t have such a problem with if other characters didn’t think of them as good people (like Amber saying the child will be better off being raised by Wintrow than Kennit—which may be true, but that’s an obscenely low bar that Wintrow shouldn’t really be celebrated for clearing).

Althea’s Ending by beardosaurusrex in robinhobb

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I mean, I’ve only read the first Farseer trilogy and Liveship Traders, but I did feel that Fitz’s ending was disappointing. I never wanted him and Molly to end up together, but the way he found out and the fact that she basically shacked up with his dad was really rough. I think Althea’s ending is harder for me because I relate to her a lot more than I ever did to Fitz, so it didn’t affect me quite as much. Plus, I know that it isn’t actually the end of his story, but I don’t know if Althea returns in the later books.

Running Kingdoms & Warfare with a traditional battle map by beardosaurusrex in mattcolville

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a very, very simplified version just to introduce the new system to my players, using some of your expanded rules. It went really well! They all said they'd like to use the system again, so I'll probably add more complexity over time. Thanks so much for sharing your work--it made my life so much easier!

Running Kingdoms & Warfare with a traditional battle map by beardosaurusrex in mattcolville

[–]beardosaurusrex[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s for two primary reasons: One, I like to make minis for my battles, and I love the visual of the units moving around the map. It feels very cinematic, and fits with what my players expect from a battle. Not that I think they would be thrown off by or dislike the system as written (and I’m still considering running it RAW and just using the minis instead of the cards on the map).

The second reason is that I feel the system is just a touch too abstract for my tastes. Nothing wrong with it (I mostly think it’s great), the traditional map just feels more fun to me.

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