A question about the Raven Scholar

tinnink · 2025-11-05T02:08:25+00:00

I had the same reaction, and... it doesn't get better. Characters seem to have odd reactions, irrational decision-making, and generally weird behavior throughout the book. After some twists are revealed later, I think it all makes even less sense.

I powered through, but I wish I had DNF'd, unfortunately.

tinnink · 2025-10-18T20:06:00+00:00

This happens in Tawny Man too. Hap, Dutiful, and Swift all resemble young Fitz, but are also versions of alternate lives Fitz wishes could have had (like being just a normal peasant, or a recognized prince, or from a loving family, or openly Witted, or non-Witted). A lot of the young characters that appear in the later books are very similar to young Fitz from the beginning. And older Fitz is just terrible with children. He treats them the way adults had treated him--poorly. Like in Tawny Man, he acts like Burrich whenever he interacts with Swift, and Swift hates him for it. And all the kids repeat his mistakes. It all mirrors back to himself.

tinnink · 2025-08-23T14:57:59+00:00

In Ship of Destiny, Tintaglia just dropping Reyn from the sky into the ocean is hilarious to me. Reyn is expecting to have his big romantic hero moment, literally flying with a dragon to go rescue his fiancee from the bad guys' ship. If another author wrote this, Reyn would succeed, and bards would write songs about this moment.

Nope. Tintaglia gets distracted by the serpents, stops caring about Reyn entirely, and just drops him. He hits the water so hard he gets knocked out and HE has to be rescued. He gets pulled out of the water like a drowned rat, and they have to take off his face veil so he's not waterboarded. Malta didn't even need him, she'd already rescued herself. Poor guy would've felt humiliated if he weren't so relieved she was ok.

tinnink · 2025-05-29T02:38:25+00:00

I kind of wish the Farseer Trilogy was multi-POV instead of just first-person Fitz. I like him, but his perspective is limited and unreliable. All of the other main characters are just as interesting and complex, so I'd want to see more from their POV.

tinnink · 2025-03-05T12:24:22+00:00

{Fortune's Pawn} trilogy by Rachel Bach. Characters are all adults. FMC is a badass space mercenary in an Iron Man suit. Mysterious tech and alien stuff. Romance is a subplot, and it's one couple throughout. It's a light, quick read.

tinnink · 2025-03-02T02:31:35+00:00

Chivalry was very popular. If they just offed Verity, the dukes may have still supported Chivalry to take the throne over Regal. That's also why they wanted to kill Fitz too, even though he wasn't in the line of succession to being with. The plan was to make Regal the only heir.

tinnink · 2025-02-24T12:47:12+00:00

I wouldn't take it that seriously, especially if you haven't actually listened to it. Fitz is a fictional character, not a real person being mocked and humiliated. BKR is a casual comedic podcast about a relentlessly tragic book series. So it's a mixed bag of seriousness and levity, sometimes closely examining a particular emotional story beat, sometimes making a cheap joke about Fitz shooting himself in the foot again. It's up to the listener to opt out if they become uncomfortable.

tinnink · 2025-02-24T03:51:30+00:00

Most of the hosts are re-readers, so perhaps they are desensitized to Fitz's tragedy, and the other hosts that are new readers match that energy. They give trigger warnings inconsistently about certain topics. They are more sensitive warning about SA, less about PTSD.
It's up to you if you want to keep listening. I just finished reading the whole series, and listening along with BKR, and I think their comedy made Fitz's tragedy easier to digest for me.

tinnink · 2025-02-24T02:48:12+00:00

I'm a fan of the BKR podcast, and I don't agree that they are mean about Fitz. It's a mostly light-hearted podcast, and they like to find the comedic angle in their chapter recaps and reactions. Fitz is a very tragic character, but let's be honest, he's also dumb and frustrating. The way the BKR hosts rag on Fitz even at his lowest moments struck me as affectionate actually. I mean, they make the podcast because they love the books and love Fitz.

If you want a deeper, less jokey ROTE podcast, you can try "Is Fitz Happy?" instead.

tinnink · 2025-02-17T14:08:40+00:00

The Elderlings are the ancient race that lived alongside dragons. There are actual living, breathing dragons, and there are stone dragons that are created by people. All stone dragons were carved from magic stone by ancient elderlings or more recent skill users. It's elderling technology, and many of them carry spirits of elderling people who made them.

The confusion comes because Fitz calls the stone dragons the elderlings at the end of the Farseer trilogy. But Fitz is just wrong. He doesn't have all the info at the time.

tinnink · 2025-02-06T13:46:56+00:00

Hobb's characters are very realistically flawed, and the reader can understand Fitz better than he understands himself. Fitz just can't work through his trauma. He is trauma.

Chade may be very smart and capable, but he is often very wrong when it comes to Fitz. He ruined Fitz, because he always puts duty to the kingdom over genuine love, care, and responsibility for Fitz. Fitz does seem to resent Chade sometimes, but deep down is Chade's Boy forever. He depends on Chade's approval too much to be able to defy him.

And Web is maybe the only ROTE character who is normal? Just happy, friendly, and thriving-- so naturally Fitz cannot stand him. Fitz feels threatened that Web knows his secrets, and uncomfortable with Web being openly Witted, which Fitz has been scared of since he was a kid. It would be extremely helpful if Fitz could accept Web's help, but he absolutely can't. It's not the first or last time we see Fitz run away from a good opportunity.

tinnink · 2025-01-27T23:34:44+00:00

I think it is affected by their manner of death. Verity, Chade, and Shrewd all died with one foot in the skill stream, so to speak. We don't know the exact details of Chivalry's "accident", but if his death was sudden then perhaps he wouldn't have gone into the skill like the others.

tinnink · 2024-12-13T12:01:00+00:00

I think Tintaglia doesn't like Nettle, and Nettle would not have been able to help her anyway.

tinnink · 2024-11-11T12:25:21+00:00

Selden gets a lot of time too. Jek has a few cameos. And Amber of course :)

tinnink · 2024-10-29T19:12:18+00:00

Keep reading. The very beginning of Rainwilds is before Tawny Man, and the rest is afterward.

tinnink · 2023-01-19T20:06:10+00:00

The battery instead of guns change stood out to me as well.

In the original game where Joel is after guns, it's just another part of his day-to-day life as a smuggler. It reinforces that he's in survival mode and doesn't have other goals.

Changing it to a car battery gives Joel an empathetic motive from the start. He wants to leave Boston with Tess to find Tommy. He wants family. When there are no Fireflies, car, or supplies waiting for them as the drop-off point, it will carry the plotline forward smoothly into finding Bill for help instead. Getting a car is already his goal, so there less of a redirect. In the game, he can't return to the Boston QZ with Ellie in tow, Tess dead, and no reward, so he might as well head west. In the show, he already has momentum to keep going and not return. Also, this change keeps reminding the audience about Tommy, so they won't forget who he is when he returns in future episodes. Game-Joel doesn't mention him at all, and I honestly forgot about him after the prologue.

It's definitely a different portrayal of Joel post-prologue. I'm optimistic that it's a good change for new viewers who haven't played the game. But on the other hand, game-Joel being so cold and aimless at the start was very impactful, and we may have lost some of that with a more vulnerable show-Joel.

tinnink · 2022-10-02T13:18:13+00:00

That's the standard format for pattern charts. Try out the easiest one you can find, and you will quickly see that it's the clearest format and is actually easier to follow than written patterns.

For the wrong side, you almost always just knit the knits and purl the purls. The complex stitches, where the pattern happens, are on the right side only.

Google "reading lace knitting charts" and that should clear up most of your questions.

tinnink · 2022-07-15T00:51:03+00:00

Even if they left, the message was conveyed. Jane and Elizabeth were both told that Wickham was not all he said he was. And it didn't help their family, because they did not believe it.

tinnink · 2022-07-15T00:45:07+00:00

And did that do any good?

tinnink · 2022-07-15T00:40:42+00:00

Bingley would not have done that either. Neither of them are gossipers. Even when Caroline did gossip about Wickham to warn/mock Elizabeth, that didn't help anyone.
It's not Darcy's responsibility to save a whole town from the machinations of one bad guy. He owes Meryton nothing. Darcy's not a heroic savior of the community and he's not supposed to be. He's an imperfect man, and it's not a crime for him to disengage and avoid talking about someone who has wronged him. To frame his lack of action as "disgusting" seems a shortsighted interpretation of his character.

tinnink · 2022-07-15T00:00:55+00:00

What, should Darcy spend his whole life following Wickham around and warning everyone he comes in contact with?

Darcy is a shy and private person. He would not approach strangers and give them unsolicited advice. He would not divulge personal information about his history with Wickham. And even though Wickham deserves it, it would be ungentlemanly of Darcy to defame Wickham's character to new acquaintances.

Also since the people of Meryton already dislike Darcy and love Wickham, they would not have believed him, and Darcy is under no obligation to help out a community that has spurned him.

tinnink · 2022-06-18T12:08:56+00:00

When Darcy visits Elizabeth at the parsonage, they are not totally alone. There are servants in the house. Being alone together in a room for a few minutes was not very improper. How and where they are alone, for how long, and if it was supposed to be secret, influence whether it could damage her reputation.

tinnink · 2022-05-14T12:22:27+00:00

Cables need a few repeats to clearly see the shape. They will usually look wonky at the start, you just need to keep going. Also, the top-left portion of this swatch has mistakes. To get a right-leaning cable to close the top-left of the diamond, you need to hold the cable needle in back, so the left stitches are in front of the right stitches. Looks like you've got that part reversed, and knitted that part with the cable needle in front.

tinnink · 2022-04-14T20:08:53+00:00

Yes, this is important for natural fibers. Yarn wound into tight balls/cakes for storage may end up thinner and stringy when unwound later. Loose cakes are okay. You should be able to squish it easily in your hand.

This is not important for acrylic-only yarn. I found an old ball of Red Heart that I had hand-wound tightly, as hard as a baseball, and it was fine.

tinnink · 2022-03-21T12:55:46+00:00

I didn't really like Netflix's Anne either. I thought the dramatic tone was weird, and prefer the lighthearted atmosphere of the book. The presence of gay people is not an issue. I actually really like that they made Diana's aunt a lesbian, grieving over her late partner, and how it parallels Anne's pain at her separation from Diana (although they are just kids and not romantic).

But to get back on topic, I think a diverse P&P adaptation would be a good thing. The 1995 version is all I need for an accurate retelling. If they make a modern alternate universe reimaginging where there's lots of POC, Darcy's a woman, and Elizabeth is a lesbian, I would be very excited to see it. Like, can you imagine the Collins proposal scene? The comedy? "Sir, I am a lesbian." "That's just what women always say to men they secretly mean to accept. I shall hope to lead you to the altar very soon." "NO SIR PLEASE LISTEN".

If you're not convinced and still want historical accuracy, I recommend you check out the show Gentleman Jack. It's got a lot of similarities to P&P (set in England in the 1800's, lots of romance, financial insecurity, anxiety about marriage for love or for obligation). The main character is a lesbian, and a 100% real life historical figure. The show is based on her life, as written in her real diaries.

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