u/landturtl13

I stopped watching around Season 13 because I couldn’t take the Lucille and Matthew Aylward storylines, and just thought they weren’t handling character departures well in general. But now that there’s a new season I’ve been thinking about giving it another go.

Do you think the later seasons are worth a watch or is the show past its prime?

I just finished Realm of the Elderlings and right before that I read the Cosmere, so I’m wondering if anyone has any recs for stand alone or duologies that would be good palette cleansers after reading two such large worlds?

I eventually plan to read Malazon and Wheel of Time but I need a break from giant series after the marathon of Sanderson and Hobb.

I love high fantasy and am not into grimdark, but other than that I’m open to anything!

Do people like the challenge based shows like global showdown and last one standing or would anyone else be interested in a show based on who could actually survive the longest with minimal supplies? No hides, bows, etc given only back how it used to be when they each picked one survival item like knife, fire starter etc. If you have to call a medic you’re out. No sharing or sabotaging. The show doesn’t have a day time limit and continues until everyone but one team has tapped or a tie is declared if it seems like multiple partners could go on indefinitely, then maybe a challenge based tie breaker. I think it would be more fun to see the survivalists like Matt and Jeff actually try and outlast each other rather than all these challenge based things that I feel like don’t actually show who would really survive, as we have survivalists like Jeff who have survived more days than anyone go out early because they’re not good at bushcraft

I’m curious how other readers interpreted the scene where the Fool/Amber tells the people on Paragon that Bee is his and Fitz’s child, without mentioning Molly. Fitz’s internal narration makes it clear that he’s uncomfortable with the situation, but he doesn’t publicly correct it, even after the tense situation with the ship is resolved.

I found that moment frustrating, partly because I wasn’t sure what the author intended me to take away from it. Did you see it as Fitz choosing not to create conflict in the moment, or as another example of his tendency to stay silent when he disagrees with someone? Molly was such a huge part of life that him not standing up for her is extremely painful. If he didn’t want to completely embarrass the Fool he could’ve said something like “Bee is my child with my late wife, but Amber loved her so much she sometimes calls her her own. Amber and I have never had a relationship in that way.”

More broadly, I’m interested in how people view the dynamic between Fitz and the Fool in the final trilogy. There were several moments where I expected Fitz to push back more strongly than he did, but often his objections remain internal rather than being expressed aloud.

For example, I was surprised that the Fool never warned Fitz about Paragon having his face, despite having opportunities to do so before they boarded. I also found the situation involving Bee’s journals uncomfortable. At the same time, Fitz rarely seems to confront the Fool directly about these things, and often lets things go while the Fool continues to always have his way.

How do other readers interpret that pattern? Do you see it as a believable continuation of their relationship, a deliberate character flaw on Fitz’s part, or something else? I’m especially interested in hearing perspectives from people who read those scenes differently than I did. Maybe I’m just too honest of a person who could never be comfortable with the kinds of deception that the Fool spins.

My favorite candle of all time is from a candle shop from Provincetown, MA that went out of business during COVID, so I can never buy a new one. I hardly ever light it now, only on special occasions. Are there any businesses that could do something like take a sample of the candle and replicate its scent?

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I never emotionally connected with the Fool the way so much of the fandom seems to, and I’m curious how other readers interpreted his role and relationship with Fitz.

For context, I’ve just finished Fool’s Assassin.

I can absolutely appreciate what Robin Hobb was trying to do with the Fool thematically. I understand why many readers see him as tragic, self-sacrificing, lonely, and deeply devoted to Fitz. I also think he’s a very intentionally written character whose secrecy and ambiguity are central to the story’s themes about prophecy, fate, sacrifice, and identity.

At the same time, I personally struggled to connect with him emotionally because so much of his relationship with Fitz felt indirect to me. In the Farseer trilogy especially, they don’t actually spend a huge amount of sustained time together on-page, and many of their interactions involve the Fool being cryptic, withholding information, disappearing for long stretches, or trying to influence Fitz without fully explaining himself.

Because of that, when later books frame their relationship as one of the deepest and most defining bonds in the series, I found myself understanding it intellectually more than emotionally. I could see what the narrative was aiming for, but I didn’t always feel the emotional progression as strongly as other readers seem to.

I also noticed that my interpretation of the Fool was heavily shaped by how often his presence coincided with upheaval in Fitz’s life. I know many readers interpret that as part of the tragedy of his role as a prophet ,that he’s tied to painful change and sacrifice , but as a reader I sometimes found myself associating him more with instability and emotional exhaustion than comfort or connection.

I think what’s interesting is that the Fool seems to inspire two very different readings. Some readers see his secrecy as the burden of prophecy and his devotion to Fitz as profoundly moving, while others experience him as emotionally evasive or manipulative. Both interpretations seem genuinely supported by the text, which probably explains why reactions to him can be so polarized.

For readers who love the Fool/Fitz relationship, what moments or aspects of their dynamic made it emotionally convincing for you? I’m genuinely interested, because I feel like I may be engaging with that part of the series differently than a lot of the fando

When trying to check in for my flight the other day I got an error message saying that the name on the reservation did not match the name in the travel documents. I had no idea how that could be the case since I had gone through the name change process months earlier, and flown Delta several times since doing so with no issue. I had even flown the first half of my trip the week before with no issue. The Delta agent on the phone had no idea why my old last name was suddenly showing up in their secure system again, and said she didn’t know how I had been able to check in for previous flights. She told me the agent at the airport would just override things.

I went to the airport and explained the situation, the agent was very rude to me and suggested several times that I had mistakenly entered the wrong name when booking before finally calling a supervisor who said the issue was because my old passport information hadn’t been deleted from Delta’s system. This was a domestic trip also, by the way. No explanation was given as to why it only became an issue on that flight and not any flight before, but I wanted to let everyone know that this can happen and if you change your name make sure to remove your old passport information even if flying domestically!

For Navy EOD, if your mobile unit is a San Diego based unit do they charge your travel days from when you travel there for tactical training? Or do you get more travel days to officially PCS? I am a spouse and my husband and I were under the impression that he would get PCS travel days after he finished tactical training to officially move to SD from our house at Eglin but now it seems like he might not. Asking here and not in a military spouse group to see if anyone who is Navy EOD knows the answer.

My husband and I have been together for six years and married for two. We both love each other more anything but I’m getting to the point where I’m not sure love is going to be enough. We first met the summer after I graduated high school and he had just finished his freshman year of college. He was always up front that his plan was to join the military and of course as a naive 18 year old I thought that was cool and romantic so I was okay with it and as lots of young people do I wasn’t really thinking super far into the future and thought about how that was three years away and anything could happen in three years.

Well the three years passed and he enlisted. He was originally going to commission since he graduated college and had his degree, but due to his recruiter missing the deadline to submit his paper work for the officer selection course he was trying to get admitted he decided to enlist (against my advice, but I was just a girlfriend so what could I do?) rather than wait another year for there to be another round of the selection course for officers (I know this sounds weird but it’s a special operations thing so they do it differently I suppose). So he goes to boot camp and while I have a really hard time we make it through and then a couple months later he proposes. We end up getting married much quicker than we had originally planned because as we all know things change quick in the military and the situation ended up being it would be a lot easier for us to be married.

Now that I’ve been living the reality of being a military spouse for over two years I’m having an extremely hard time. I don’t cope well with him having to frequently leave for schools and trainings, we got orders to a place I have previously lived and don’t like and now have to move back to, he has so far not been able to go to OCS to transition into being an officer and doesn’t know when he will be able to. We fight constantly and make each other miserable since we are both so unhappy. I have had so many mental health struggles and even a hospitalization as a result of my anxiety and loneliness, and my mental well being is in shreds. It’s hard for him to hurt me over and over but he won’t compromise on the military and says it was always a nonnegotiable and he is unwilling to consider finishing his current contract and then getting out, and I don’t know if I can continue living like this. I resent him (however unfair it is) for choosing a job that makes him be away so much and causes me so much pain. Everything has gone wrong for us or not gone how we expected since he joined, and things just continue piling up.

I’m starting to feel like staying in this relationship isn’t fair to either of us, but we both love each other too much to want to let it go. He says I signed up for this and my reactions are unreasonable and over the top and I should just learn to make the best of things, but I feel like I “signed up” before I understood the reality and we had been together so long I didn’t want to picture life without him in it and maybe wasn’t making the most clear headed decisions. I don’t think it’s possible to understand what this life will be like and be prepared in advance for it, and I don’t feel like he takes my emotions about it seriously and just thinks I’m trying to punish him for having to leave. We can’t go to any type of counseling because he would lose his security clearance if they found out he was speaking to a therapist. I just really don’t know what to do since neither of us will come around to the other point of view and we are both extremely unhappy.

Sorry this was so long I just needed it off my chest.

I have Tricare Select in the East Region and I’m wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. My Tricare authorized provider sent me to Quest Diagnostics to get labs done, and I fully believed since I was being referred by my Tricare authorized physician they would be referring me to a lab Tricare works with. I also went on the Quest Diagnostics website to double check and it said that Tricare should be in network with them. They even link to Quest’s website in the Tricare app for lab appointments. However I just got my EOB for my denied claim back and it says “THE PROVIDER OF SERVICES IS NOT AUTHORIZED IN THE TRICARE PROGRAM.”. I don’t know how that would be possible. Why would my provider refer me to them then? Why would they link to Quest’s website? It says it’s “non appealable” but should I try calling them anyways?

Any advice is appreciated.

I have Tricare East Select and my primary care provider (that I have had no problems with Tricare accepting) sent me to get some labs done at Quest Diagnostics. I assumed that since my provider accepted my insurance that the lab place they sent me to would as well, but I honestly admit I didn’t verify that before hand, but on the website it says Tricare is in network with them. However, Tricare has denied the claim and the labs cost $900.

Does anyone know why the claim would be denied? I have never had a claim denied by Tricare before and I’m not sure why they would.