#brandon king headers | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

amuelia · 4 years ago

Note

How do you think Roose will meet his demise? Or will he survive? What's your best Roose end game predictions?

Thank you for the question! This will be a long post under the readmore, going into my thoughts on the show ending and exploring what the books may have set up in regards to themes and characterization, as well as a bit of general analysis of Roose' story arc in a Dance with Dragons (and some speculation about Ramsay as well).

If you click on the readmore i will have divided the post into sections with bolded Headers, if you want to only read my specific endgame ideas you can skip ahead to the "His Endgame?" section.

In The Show

The show had him get killed by Ramsay in s6, which informs a lot of the fandom speculation about this storyline.

I am not a fan of the show's scenario as it was both similar to tywin and tyrion as well as a mirror of robb's death; it would also be offscreen in the books since neither of the characters are PoVs and Ramsay would need to do the act in secret. This would ultimately undercut Roose' role and impact, being a death scene that is not very unique and also isn't shown to the reader directly. Since no PoV is even in Winterfell currently, we would just hear of it from afar and not witness the consequences.

The show also has a different dynamic in the Bolton storyline, emphasizing Ramsay as the "main character" of this arc, and elevating him to the main villain for s5-6 to fill Joffrey's shoes as an evil character played by a very charismatic actor. Ramsay's show writing is informed by the needs of a TV setting that wants shocking moments and capitalizes on "fan favourite" actors; his rising importance in the show thus is not necessarily an indicator of his book importance. The show was also missing many central characters like the northern lords and the Frey men in Winterfell.

The show had a tendency to kill off characters early when they wanted to cull storylines or had no plans to adapt more of the character's story (like Stannis, Barristan, possibly the Tyrells...); In Mance Rayder we have the most obvious example, where they killed him off for real in a scene that in the book was a misdirection. We also have characters like Jorah where it appears the showrunners had their own choice of how they want his storyline to end, even if Grrm has his own ending in mind.

"For a long time we wanted Ser Jorah to be there at The Wall in the end," writer Dave Hill says. "The three coming out of the tunnel would be Jon and Jorah and Tormund. But [...] Jorah should have the noble death he craves defending the woman he loves." - Dave Hill for Entertainment Weekly

So a death in the show does not need to be an indicator that the books will feature an equivalent scene, even if it gives a hint as to what may happen. By s5 the show has become its own beast, and the butterfly effects from radical changes they made as well as the different characterizations results in the show having to cater to its own needs in many cases when it gets to resolving a plotline.

"We reconceived the role to make it worthy of the actor's talents." - Benioff and Weiss for the s5 DVD commentary, on Indira Varma's casting as Ellaria

In The Books

(Since this post was getting out of hand in length a lot of these arguments are a little shortened/not as in-depth as i'd like! Feel free to inquire more via ask if something is unclear or you disagree)

In the books i find it hard to make a concrete guess as to how it will end. Occam's razor would be to assume the show sort of got it right and that it will vaguely end the same, which could very well happen and i will not discount the possibility; Ramsay is cruel, desires the Dreadfort rule, and is a suspected kinslayer and has no qualms to commit immoral violence.

"Ramsay killed [his brother]. A sickness of the bowels, Maester Uthor says, but I say poison." - Reek III, aDwD

Reek saw the way Ramsay's mouth twisted, the spittle glistening between his lips. He feared he might leap the table with his dagger in his hand [to attack his father]. - Reek III, aDwD

Arguments against this or for a different endgame come down to interpretations of the themes in the story arc and opinions on dramatic structure/grrm's writing, and are thus very subjective.

The way the story currently is going, Ramsay killing Roose treats Roose almost as a plot device; his death brings no change or development to Ramsay's character as we already know his motivations and cruelty align with such an act, and we can assume that he would feel no remorse about it either. The results of such a scene would be firmly on a story level, as it brings political changes and moves the plot along into a specific direction. Roose himself cannot have any relevant character development about it as he does not have a PoV and we would not be able to witness his reaction from the outside.

“The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.” - William Faulkner, often quoted by Grrm

Further, killing his father is very difficult to pull off in secret (Roose is frequently described as very cautious, and employs many guardsmen). And even if Ramsay pulls it off (people often interpret Ramsay as Roose' blind spot, assuming he might be caught by surprise, not expecting Ramsay would bite the hand that feeds him), Roose is the one that holds his entire alliance together; The Freys would be alienated by Ramsay who would antagonize Walda and her son as his rivals, The Ryswell bloc appears to dislike Ramsay (especially Barbrey), and the other northmen are implied to not even like Roose himself. Killing Roose would quickly combust the entire northern faction, and hinder Ramsay's further plans (another reason why I am not convinced of a book version of the "Battle of Bastards"). Though this might of course, if we look at it from the other side, be grrm's plan to quickly dissolve this plot and move the northern story forwards.

"Ramsay will kill [Walda's children], of course. [...] [She] will grieve to see them die, though." - Reek III, aDwD

"How many of our grudging friends do you imagine we'd retain if the truth were known? Only Lady Barbrey, whom you would turn into a pair of boots … inferior boots." - Reek III, aDwD

"Fear is what keeps a man alive in this world of treachery and deceit. Even here in Barrowton the crows are circling, waiting to feast upon our flesh. The Cerwyns and the Tallharts are not to be relied on, my fat friend Lord Wyman plots betrayal, and Whoresbane … the Umbers may seem simple, but they are not without a certain low cunning. Ramsay should fear them all, as I do." - Reek III, aDwD

Roose' death at Ramsay's hand also removes him thematically from the Red Wedding, as we can assume such a death might have happened regardless of his participation in the event (seeing as Ramsay is getting provoked by Roose constantly in normal dialogue, and has a general violent disposition). Roose already took Ramsay in before aGoT started, and married Walda very early in the war, which is already most of the buildup that the show's scenario had. It also has little to do with the The North Remembers plot except set dressing, since the northmen are presumably neither collaborating with/egging on Ramsay nor would they appreciate the development.

Themes: Ned Stark and the rule over the North

Roose is treated as a foil to Eddard; They are often contrasted in morals and ruling styles, while also having many superficial similarities that further connect them (they are seen as cold by people, grey eyed, patriarchs of rivalling northern houses, etc...).

Pale as morning mist, his eyes concealed more than they told. Jaime misliked those eyes. They reminded him of the day at King's Landing when Ned Stark had found him seated on the Iron Throne. - Jaime IV, aSoS

They both have a "bastard son" that they handle very differently; Roose treating Ramsay in the way that is seen as common in their society. Ramsay and Jon as a comparison are meant to show that Catelyn had a reason to see a bastard as a threat (since Domeric was antagonized by his bastard brother), but also shows that her suggested plan for Jon would not have stopped any danger either (as Ramsay being raised away from the castle didn't help).

And if his seed quickened, she expected he would see to the child's needs. He did more than that. The Starks were not like other men. Ned brought his bastard home with him, and called him "son" for all the north to see. - Catelyn II, aGoT

"Each year I sent the woman some piglets and chickens and a bag of stars, on the understanding that she was never to tell the boy who had fathered him. A peaceful land, a quiet people, that has always been my rule." - Reek III, aDwD

It appears to me that Roose' story functions in some ways as an inversion to Ned. He makes an attempt to grab a power he was not destined to (becoming warden of the north), where Ned did not want the responsiblity thrust upon him ("It was all meant for Brandon. [...] I never asked for this cup to pass to me." - Cat II, aGoT). Where Ned rules successfully and his northmen honor his legacy ("What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl." - The Turncloak, aDwD), the Boltons are largely hated and there are several plots conspiring against them ("Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die." - The King's Prize, aDwD).

It seems possible to me that in terms of their family and legacy, Roose might also live through an inverted version of Ned's story; where Ned died first, leaving his family behind, Roose already lived to see the death of his wives and trueborn heir, and might thus also live to see Ramsay's death. Ned leaves behind well raised children and a North who still respects his name, and even though he dies it will presumably all be "in good hands" in the end (in broad strokes, obviously this is all much more morally complex). Roose however built up a bad and toxic legacy, and also built his way of life around evading consequences; it makes sense to me that he would be forced by the story to finally endure all the consequences of his actions and witness the fall of his house firsthand. After all we already have Tywin who fulfils the purpose of dying before his children while his legacy falls to ruins, and a Feast for Crows explores this aspect thoroughly.

Roose' arc in A Dance With Dragons

The story repeatedly builds up the situation unravelling around Roose, and him slowly losing a grip on it and becoming more stressed and anxious.

Reek wondered if Roose Bolton ever cried. If so, do the tears feel cold upon his cheeks? - Reek II, aDwD

Roose Bolton said nothing at all. But Theon Greyjoy saw a look in his pale eyes that he had never seen before—an uneasiness, even a hint of fear. [...] That night the new stable collapsed beneath the weight of the snow that had buried it. - a Ghost in Winterfell, aDwD

Lady Walda gave a shriek and clutched at her lord husband's arm. "Stop," Roose Bolton shouted. "Stop this madness." His own men rushed forward as the Manderlys vaulted over the benches to get at the Freys. - Theon I, aDwD

It also directly presents him as a parallel to Theon's rule in aCoK, who similarly experienced a very unpopular rule and his subjects slowly turning against him. Presumably, the point of this comparison will not just be "Ramsay comes in at the end and unexpectedly whacks them on the head". Both Theon and Roose invited Ramsay into their lives, giving him more power than he deserves, and causing Ramsay to make choices that increasingly alienate others from them (the death of the miller's boys for example has repercussions for both Theon and Roose). Grrm is likely steering this towards a difference in how they will deal with this situation.

It all seemed so familiar, like a mummer show that he had seen before. Only the mummers had changed. Roose Bolton was playing the part that Theon had played the last time round, and the dead men were playing the parts of Aggar, Gynir Rednose, and Gelmarr the Grim. Reek was there too, he remembered, but he was a different Reek, a Reek with bloody hands and lies dripping from his lips, sweet as honey. - a Ghost in Winterfell, aDwD

"Stark's little wolflings are dead," said Ramsay, sloshing some more ale into his cup, "and they'll stay dead. Let them show their ugly faces, and my girls will rip those wolves of theirs to pieces. The sooner they turn up, the sooner I kill them again." - The elder Bolton sighed. "Again? Surely you misspeak. You never slew Lord Eddard's sons, those two sweet boys we loved so well. That was Theon Turncloak's work, remember? How many of our grudging friends do you imagine we'd retain if the truth were known?" - Reek III, aDwD

Roose' arc is deeply connected to the relations he shares to the other northern lords, which has been heavily impacted by the Red Wedding. It stands to reason that they are going to be an important part of his downfall, and we see many hints of them plotting to betray him.

The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home." - Davos IV, aDwD

Themes: Stannis and kinslaying

The books set up Roose and Stannis as foils as well; Both lack charisma and have trouble winnning the people's support, Stannis and Roose both parallel and contrast Ned, Stannis appears as a "lesser Robert" where Roose is a "lesser Ned", Stannis represents the fire where Roose represents the ice, both struggle over dominion in a land that doesnt particularly want either of them, etc... What i find interesting is how they are contrasted over kinslaying:

"Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach." - Davos II, aCoK

"I should've had the mother whipped and thrown her child down a well … but the babe did have my eyes." [...] "Now [Domeric's] bones lie beneath the Dreadfort with the bones of his brothers, who died still in the cradle, and I am left with Ramsay. Tell me, my lord … if the kinslayer is accursed, what is a father to do when one son slays another?" - Reek III, aCoK

Stannis is set up as someone who is very thorough and strict in following his own code and his "duty", even if he does not like what it forces him to do.

Stannis ground his teeth again. "I never asked for this crown. Gold is cold and heavy on the head, but so long as I am the king, I have a duty . . . If I must sacrifice one child to the flames to save a million from the dark . . . Sacrifice . . . is never easy, Davos. Or it is no true sacrifice. Tell him, my lady." - Davos IV, aSoS

The armorer considered that a moment. "Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends." - Jon I, aCoK

Roose however is frequently characterized as someone who tries to get as much as he can while avoiding negative consequences, and who does not have a consistent moral code and instead bends rules to his benefit to be the most comfortable to him.

It is often theorized that Stannis will end up burning his daughter Shireen; the Ramsay issue might then serve to contrast the two men. If Grrm intends it to be compared by the reader, I can see it going two ways: Either Roose will be forced to finally act in a drastic way after avoiding his responsibility in regards to Ramsay and he will be forced to get rid of his son, making him break the only moral hurdle he has presented adhering to during the story (though analyzing his character, the kinslaying taboo is probably less a sign of moral fortitude and more him using the guise of morals to explain a selfish motivation). Or he might not act against Ramsay and suffer the consequences, presenting an interesting moral situation where some readers might consider his action "better" or more relatable than Stannis', breaking up the otherwise very black and white moral comparison between the two men. It serves as an interesting conflict of the morality of kinslaying compared to what readers might see as a moral obligation of getting rid of a monster such as Ramsay; contrasting Shireen whose death would not be seen as worth it by most. Ramsay as a bastard (who was almost killed at birth if he hadnt been able to prove his paternity) also makes for an interesting verbal parallel with the bastard Edric Storm, and might be used for a look at the utilitarian principle of killing a child (baby ramsay/edric) to save countless people from suffering that underpinned Edric's story.

"As Faulkner says, all of us have the capacity in us for great good and for great evil, for love but also for hate. I wanted to write those kinds of complex character in a fantasy, and not just have all the good people get together to fight the bad guy." - Grrm

"Robert, I ask you, what did we rise against Aerys Targaryen for, if not to put an end to the murder of children?" - Eddard VIII, aGoT

"If Joffrey should die . . . what is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?" - "Everything," said Davos, softly. - Davos V, aSoS

However Grrm decides to present these conflicts or which actions the characters will take in the end, it will result in interesting discussion and analysis for the readers.

His Endgame?

Looking at the trends of the past books, it is probably going to be hard to predict any specific outcome; every book introduces new characters and plot elements that were impossible to predict from the last book even if their thematic importance or setup was aptly foreshadowed.

Roose has a lot of plot importance and characterization that has, in my opinion, not yet been properly resolved in a way that would be unique and poignant to the specific purpose his character appears to fulfil. However I also have a bias in that i did not like the show's writing of that scene which makes me averse to see a version of it in the books, and i really like Roose as a character and want to see him have more scenes in the next book(s). This leads me to discount plot speculation that cuts his character arc short offscreen early. Roose is only a side character; however, i have trust in grrm's writing abilities and that he would give him a proper sendoff that feels satisfying to a fan of the character.

"…even the [characters] who are complete bastards, nasty, twisted, deeply flawed human beings with serious psychological problems… When I get inside their skin and look out through their eyes, I have to feel a certain — if not sympathy, certainly empathy for them. I have to try to perceive the world as they do, and that creates a certain amount of affection." — George Martin

Considering my earlier analyis, there is a case to be made for Roose killing Ramsay; however it appears grrm might have a different endgame in mind for Ramsay, foreshadowed in Chett's prologue:

There'd be no lord's life for the leechman's son, no keep to call his own, no wives nor crowns. Only a wildling's sword in his belly, and then an unmarked grave. The snow's taken it all from me . . . the bloody snow . . . - Chett, aSoS

I tend to think something might happen to Roose/the Bolton bloc later in the book that would cause Ramsay to attempt to flee the scene again like he did back in aCoK fleeing Rodrik's justice; perhaps Ramsay is sent out to battle but then flees it like a coward, or he sees his cause as lost. This time, the fleeing and potentially disguised Ramsay would not make it out to safety though, and get killed without being recognized as Ramsay, dying forgotten. This would serve as dramatic irony since Ramsay so strongly desired to be recognized and respected as a Lord of Bolton, without being too on the nose.

As for Roose, i could see him getting captured and somehow brought to justice (either when someone takes Winterfell or in some sort of battle). I see it unlikely that he will be backstabbed like Robb was, because it seems very "eye for an eye" and ultimately doesn't teach much of a lesson except "he had it coming"; But the various people conspiring against him could lead to his capture by betraying him (giving a payoff to the northern conspiracies and the red wedding). I would find a scene of him standing trial interesting since i believe we didn't have one of these for a true non-pov villain yet, and it would be an interesting confrontation that he cannot escape from (he also loves to talk so it would be a good read to see him make a case for himself).

I assume Roose will be out of the picture when the Other plot finally properly kicks into gear (whether dead or "in prison"). With Stannis as a false Azor Ahai and Roose as a false Other (with his pale, cold features), their struggle in the north seems to be a representation of the false "Game of Thrones" that distracts people from the "real threat" of the Others.

As always this is just my opinion, and it could all go very differently in the books! There could always be something that completely uproots my analysis and goes into a direction i did not expect from the material we had; But i have fate that Grrm as a writer will deliver and give me something i can be satisfied with.

#asks #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #roose bolton #valyrianscrolls #a song of ice and fire #not art #anonymous

121 notes · View notes

ode-to-fury · 4 years ago

Text

I Have Some Merch Ideas!!!

So I was going through etsy the pther day cause I was bored and I was discouraged by the amount of merch there was for harry potter and lack of merch for my other fantasy fandoms so I came up with these, and I hope this reaches the niche group of people it needs to.

Cosmere Merch:

A shirt showing your favourite Shard: “Team Honor” “Team Ruin” “Team Autonomy”

In the same vein: “Straight Outta Elendel” “Straight Outta Kholinar” “Straight Offa Nalthis”

Various metal symbols/allomancy symbols

A bowler hat + 2 crossed sterrions beneath

Highprincedom colour + glyphs

Nightblood... just Nightblood

Tiny glyph of a Radiant order on the left shoulder

OR all ten glyphs running down the left sleeve

All of Vasher’s different names but in the style of those band shirts where its all the members’ first names with “and” in between, you know the ones?

Pathian earring

Survivorist merch but like in the christian youth group style

“Kelsier’s plan:

Step 1: Cheat Death

Step 2: Punch God

Kelsier vs Hoid but like in the style of wrestling mach merch

A little figure of Adolin holding Maya in Shardblade form on the left breast like really tiny

“I simp for Kaladin Stormblessed”

A little figure of Vin holding a Koloss sword in the same style as the Adolin one

Any of the chapter header images in Stormlight Archive

“There’s always another secret” but really tiny

“Where’s Hoid?” And every shirt has a different planetary system on it

Anything in Spooks dialect

Single? Taken? Enough emotional trauma to bond a spren✔️

Tourist shirt for Shadesmar, the Honorspren stronghold, the Reacher boats

Actually just tourist shirts for all locations, Kholinar, Thaylen City, Hearthstone, Urithiru, Elendel, The Roughs, Nalthis honestly I just need more tourist shirts for fictional places

“Swordy Fellow” “Spearish Chap” “Axalascious Bloke”

A little stormcloud + rain + “Kaladin Stormblessed” underneath on the left breast

OR a little sun in the same place with Adolin Kholin under it

Little straw man/Squirrel with “my Life to yours, my Breath become yours”

“Wit is an Asshole”

“Whitespine Uncaged” like a movie shirt or wrestling match shirt

“Brandon Sanderson recovery group member”

“Steris Harms fanclub president”

The Gentlemen Bastards

A shirt with a little bird on the left breast and “Nice bird asshole” under it

Christian youth group style shirts for the order of Perellandro

“I only steal [insert absurd reason here]” and then “LIAR!” or “BASTARD!” on the back

“The Wicked Sisters” with two hatchetts tiny or big

“Teeth Show” commemorative merch

“Straight Outta Camorr”

“Gentleman Bastard” and then underneath “Richer and cleverer than everyone else”

“The lies of Locke Lamoron”

Kings of the Wyld

“Clay ‘slowhand’ Cooper” with a shield

“Golden Gabe” with a sword

“Arcandius Moog” with a crystal ball

“Matrick Skulldrummer” with two knives and a crown

“Ganelon” with an axe

Clay+Gabe+Moog+Matrick+Ganelon you know those shirts?

“Saga” but like a band shirt

Owlbear... just an owlbear

Terry Pratchett/Discworld merch

A little Luggage embroidery on the chest

A turtle on the chest with “The Turtle moves” underneath

“Sodomy non Sapiens”

A tiny Granny Weatherwax hat

A tiny Watch badge, with or without Lilac

A dragon sanctuary shirt

Unseen University hoodies

A juggling Vetenari

“Corporal Nobbs defense squad”

“Reg Shoe support squad”

Any Bernie/Trump shirt but with Vetenari

A little turtle +any of Ohm’s curses

Pterry’s hat (:()

A wanted poster of Greebo

“Republic of Treacle Mine Rd”

CMOT Dibbler’s pies shirt

“The mortifying Ordeal of being Rincewind” with a little running Rincewind

Lotr

“Boromir defense squad captain/support squad captain”

JR^2T

61 notes · View notes

hiloedits · 8 months ago

Text

— nikobran headers

like or reblog if you use/save.

#book headers #book header #romance headers #romance header #legacy of gods header #legacy of gods headers #god of fury header #god of fury headers #nikolai sokolov header #nikolai sokolov headers #brandon king header #brandon king headers #nikobran header #nikobran headers

13 notes · View notes

mrsjadecurtiss · 4 years ago

Note

The thing that we won’t have a roose chapter it’s kinda sad. Like we will never know if doing certain things (like the red wedding) didn’t minimally affect him or otherwise. Like we can’t forget that he doesn’t EXPRESS his feelings not that he hasn’t any. I know Brabrey said this specifically but as wise she is she can’t read others mind. I’m not justifying any action I’m only saying it would be interesting finding out he actually “gives shit” about things he did. And I know the probabilities of this being true are very low, but as a person myself who has difficulties to express my emotions and seems apathic to others while I feel emotions with the same intensity as everyone I was curious.

Oooh now that you sent your second ask the original one appeared! My reply got a little long; I will use quotes from your ask as “chapter headers” for the different topics so it is easier to understand.

“We will never know if doing certain things (like the red wedding) didn’t minimally affect him or otherwise. [...] I’m not justifying any action I’m only saying it would be interesting finding out he actually “gives shit” about things he did.”

I don't think Roose feels *bad* about the red wedding - he didn’t have to do it after all, it's not like he was under coercion or threat of his life; arguably the entire thing wouldnt have worked without having a strong northern traitor. While Robb's cause was a losing one and this influenced Roose to turn cloak after weighing the alternatives, Roose was not in danger under Robb and his betrayal appears to have been about both minimizing his waste of resources in a losing cause as well as the advantages he can get from this new alliance and what Tywin offers.

Roose appears to fundamentally be a selfish man, who decides his actions after what will give him the most benefit at the smallest risk to his own person. Any regrets i imagine he might feel (this could be what you meant in your ask) would be not on a moral level, but rather about mistakes he made that led him into a position that might not end well for him, and the danger he has gotten himself into.

Roose Bolton said nothing at all. But Theon Greyjoy saw a look in his pale eyes that he had never seen before—an uneasiness, even a hint of fear. - aDwD

Roose to me represents the worst of feudalism, and the epitome of how someone turns out who is raised at the top of this society and with an unchallenged privilege. He has no respect for the autonomy of the people below him in hierarchy, and sees politics and the power at his hand as a tool to benefit himself first and foremost.

“We can’t forget that he doesn’t EXPRESS his feelings not that he hasn’t any.”

Agreed - for all that he is evil and callous i believe it is shown that he has feelings and emotions, which he generally hides under a mask.

Roose Bolton's own face was a pale grey mask, with two chips of dirty ice where his eyes should be. - aDwD

We know he feels fear about his crumbling political situation, he feels fondness for Walda, he appears to talk about Domeric with affection, he is amused enough by Arya not to punish her, he refuses to break the taboo of kinslaying, and something drives him to keep Ramsay around even though it is not advantageous rationally. He has his wants and needs, he has societal expectations he adheres to (like the expectation to continue his family line), he has a distaste for being disrespected...

As an example of him showing emotion, in the Red Wedding itself i believe grrm intentionally contrasts his behaviour with the prior Jaime chapter: where in his dialogue with Jaime he seems relaxed, talks a lot and is shown enjoying his food, in the Red Wedding he is quiet and doesn’t eat much while exchanging subtle threats with Lord Walder. This appears to show that he was indeed stressed in this high-stakes situation and aware of the danger he was in. Note that the quote from aDwD about him showing fear also explicitly points out that he says "nothing at all" in a time of stress, paralleling his lack of dialogue during the RW chapter. (Catelyn is depressed and so probably not talkative, but he also doesnt engage in dialogue with his wife despite her “chatter”).

I wont expand on it too much in this post for length's sake, but i think it is also likely that Roose shares traits with Ramsay in terms of emotionality (which he then hides under his “mask”, as opposed to his openly emotional son); For example his behaviour of not tolerating disrespect and taking what is "his" in the event with the miller's wife. Some i also briefly touched upon in this meta.

“I know Brabrey said this specifically but as wise she is she can’t read others mind.”

In “The Prince of Winterfell”, Barbrey has a long paragraph about her opinion on Roose. As this is her first longer scene, it is my opinion that her entire long dialogue scene with Theon is meant not only to show insight into some of the characters she talks about, but also about her own character; since the way someone talks about people shows how they think.

The negative way she talks about Roose ( “Roose has no feelings, you see.”) seems to be informed by several things:

- Obviously, his callous and selfish personality and lack of morals

- The fact that Barbrey and Roose clearly have history. Considering that Roose now has Ramsay as his heir, and Barbrey loathes Ramsay for what she believes is his fault in Domeric's death, Barbrey likely harbors some resentment against Roose for this move. This likely boosts her opinion that he is completely emotionless and only "plays with [people]" without caring for them. Her line "He does not love, he does not hate, he does not grieve" seems to contain a certain bitterness, and i believe it at least partially refers to their personal history (one could try to continue her words: he does not love [Barbrey], he does not hate [Ramsay], he does not grieve [Domeric].).

- Barbrey calls Theon's heart "craven and cringing", she calls Wyman Manderly "craven to the bone, that one", and she holds a grudge against Eddard for what he did to her without presenting much understanding for his side of the story. I believe she has a tendency to have a slightly superficial view of people or at least to talk badly about these superficial aspects, informed among other things by their appearance (Ned and Roose are plain, Theon and Wyman have physical deficiencies) and presentation (the colder Roose/Ned vs the outgoing wolf-blooded Brandon), and by the slights she perceived they did to her. She also has a tendency to scapegoat people to cope with grief, like hating on Rickard’s maester for Brandon's marriage.

So while she is right about Roose' callousness and moral bankruptcy and has some correct statements, as a fallible character (as opposed to the all-knowing author) she likely somewhat designs her view of him to fit her own narrative and worldview. So while she is an enticing source since she is close to him, her view on him should be taken with a grain of salt the same way she is not 100% correct about people like Ned or Wyman. Some things she says can be argued with through character analysis, and some things we have concrete quotes we can contrast: For example while she says "I think [Roose] would be pleased if the fat man attempted some betrayal", we know that Roose is in fact worried and bothered by the prospect, and in his dialogue to Ramsay it reads like he describes the unfaithfulness of his allies as threatening instead of an amusement. She also theorizes Roose wants to be king in the north, which seems like an impossible plan in his current political situation and nothing we had any hints towards so far in his scenes (I sometimes like to muse it might have been a reference to grrm's plans for the five year gap).

So basically what i would love a Roose PoV for is turning all the "apparently"s and "maybe"s from my metas into either confident statements or to deconfirm them... Showing some more of his view on the world, some more of his past, how he really feels about people without filtering it through dialogue and political goals... His worries, his anger, his happiness, raw and unfiltered... His long scene with Theon in Reek III practically doubles as half a PoV chapter because of the insane amounts of exposition in his dialogue (Theon barely talks or thinks for pages while Roose talks), but it is still filtered through Theon's impression of him and the agenda Roose might have behind his spoken words to present himself in a certain way.

I like to analyze his character from his lines in the book, and what few quotes I find by grrm in the So Spake Martin collection round out my impression of him well, but I would love to have a view inside his head to really get to the meat of it, and get a view of his true personality without the help of assumptions and implications.

#asoiaf #roose bolton #asoiaf meta #asks #Anonymous #i also relate to what you said about a difficulty expressing emotions and appearing closed off to others #its why i think people shouldnt see roose' closedness and coldness as his entire personality... seems a very onedimensional way to view him #people who are really just 100% unfeeling and aloof usually pretend they arent

97 notes · View notes

maddiesflame · 1 year ago

Text

Jasnah Kholin headers

like/reblog if saved © maddiesflame

#headers #jasnah kholin #the stormlight archive #brandon sanderson #book header #jasnah kholin header #the way of kings #words of radiance #book headers #header #stormlight archive #header books

29 notes · View notes

warriorowan · 2 years ago

Text

stormlight archive series headers

please like/reblog if you save

#book header #book headers #book tumblr #booktt #booktwt #books #book layout #stormlight archive #stormlight archive headers #oathbringer #brandon sanderson #the way of kings #words of radiance #rhythm of war #oathbringer headers #the way of kings headers #brandon sanderson headers

19 notes · View notes

leafsbabe · 5 years ago

Text

penguins vibe check

with loving help from a pens expert

Anthony Angello he’s new i think 7/10

Zach Aston-Reese i love his puppy but i have a deep personal problem with the name Carl and now he’s making me like yet another Carl it’s not fair, very talented tho 10/10

Nick Bjugstad aww he seems really nice 8/10

Teddy Blueger fucking supreme you funky little latvian 9/10

Sidney Crosby 🍑 10/10

Jake Guentzel the future of the penguins? 9/10

Patric Hornqvist his nickname is horny 10/10

Sam Lafferty looks like he likes to repair stuff... which is good because he definitely broke something on accident while trying hockey trick indoors 7/10

Evgeni Malkin he just seems like a good dude and his story always makes me emotional 10/10

Patrick Marleau i miss you dad 10/10

Jared McCann also seems nice 8/10

Evan Rodrigues kinda looks like he’s a fun guy to be around 7/10

Bryan Rust in Rust we trust is cute 9/10

Conor Sheary short king anthem by tmg 8/10

Dominik Simon also looks sweet 8/10

Brandon Tanev “does not carry the brain cell”... you know what i respect that 8/10

Jason Zucker Zucker means sugar in german and let me tell you this man sounds like the absolute sweetest 10/10

Brian Dumoulin apparently the team frat boy... interesting 8/10

Jack Johnson people don’t like him all that much and i lowkey feel bad 7/10

Kris Letang his son is an angel and he’s the teams wine uncle 9/10

John Marino he’s adorable 9/10

Marcus Pettersson his header image on the roster has Nolan in it too so i’ll give him points for that 8/10

Juuso Riikola his last name is funny 8/10

Chad Ruhwedel his name is so confusing to me because Chad is aggressively american but Ruhwedel is highkey german also he’s bald so... 7/10

Justin Schultz ‘rescued’ from Edmonton... 8/10

Tristan Jarry apparently he owns a farm? we need to stan 9/10

Matt Murray Beckham and Leo are just so freaking cute so Matt gets all my hype for them 9/10

48 notes · View notes

campfiretechnology · 4 years ago

Text

A Practical Guide to Actually Writing Your Rough Draft

So you want to write a book.

Welcome to the club. In this guide, I’m going to do my best to define a concrete, executable plan to actually write a fiction novel. If you follow this guide to the T, you will produce an 80,000- to 100,000-word rough draft in 4 months.

If that sounds appealing to you, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get started.

Phase 1: Get Organized (1 Week)

Writing a book is not an easy task. You’re looking at 80,000 to 100,000 words – for simplicity let’s assume 80,000. If you write 1,000 words per day, that’s an 80-day undertaking. And that doesn’t allocate any time for planning.

What all this actually means is that if you’re serious about producing a novel efficiently, you need to get organized. Specifically, you need to organize your story information – characters, plot outlines, worldbuilding notes, etc – and your manuscript – the actual document that contains your novel.

You should spend your first week getting comfortable with a system to organize this information.

Story Information

You may be tempted to dive right into the writing part. This a bad idea unless you really know what you’re doing. To start, you’ll want to establish a system of keeping track of little bits of information about your story. This can be everything from character traits and backstories to extensive lore about the story’s setting.

Luckily, there are a variety of tools available to help you with this sort of organization, both free and paid. Here are a few, sorted from least structured to most structured:

A Plain Old Document – This could be in the form of a Google Doc, Microsoft Word document, etc. If you go this route, I’d suggest organizing it under the following headers: characters, world, and plot. However, this method isn’t quite as organized as the options below, so read on.

Spreadsheets – This involves using Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or smarter spreadsheets like AirTable to store information. This method is a little more structured. For example, you could have a spreadsheet for your characters, with each row corresponding to one character, and each column corresponding to an attribute like “eye color”, “height”, or “backstory”. Then, whenever you need one of those details, you can just search for the character in the spreadsheet and navigate to the correct column.

Story Planning Software – There are software programs designed specifically for keeping track of story information. We suggest Campfire Pro, the writing software that we make here at Campfire Technology. It’s certainly not necessary to follow along with this guide and write your first book, but it’s worth checking out if you want to get organized!

Campfire Pro’s Timeline View

The particular system you choose isn’t all that important – what matters is that you find one that works for you and you stick to it throughout the writing process. You’ll want to continually update it as you write so it’s always there as an aid when you get stuck or forget a key detail.

Manuscript

You’ll need somewhere to actually write your manuscript. There are a lot of options in this area as well, also ranging from free to paid.

For the simplest free manuscript editor, check out Google Docs. It has everything you need to write your novel, though people do say it can struggle a bit on slower computers with really long documents. For a more robust solution, check out Microsoft Word. Both of these options include a sidebar in the document that can show all your chapter titles so you can easily navigate between them.

Scrivener’s manuscript editor

Finally, I’d be remiss to ignore Scrivener, a desktop application for writing books that offers the ability to reorganize entire chapters by just dragging and dropping – something that neither Word nor Google Docs can do. It’s a very common choice for organizing manuscripts.

Once you’ve chosen your system of organizing the story information and manuscript, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Phase 2: Plan (1-3 Weeks)

Writers differ immensely in how much they plan before sitting down to actually write the manuscript. Some, like Stephen King, prefer to do very little planning. These folks are affectionately referred to as Pantsers – they like to fly by the seat of their pants with their writing. Others, like Brandon Sanderson, are architects who plan out in great detail how the story will unfold. These writers are called Plotters.

There have been brilliant writers of both kinds. However, we strongly recommend that every writer do at least a little bit of planning. Specifically, you should develop the story seed.

The story seed consists of three elements: a character, a place, and a predicament.

The character is the main character of your story. You don’t need a ton of detail here, but you should aim to have a rough idea of who your main character is. If you’re stuck, try to establish some backstory, a few personality traits, and some physical attributes.

The place is where your story takes place (or for Pantsers, where it begins). Again, aim for at a minimum a rough understanding of the setting – is it the modern United States, a medieval village, a galaxy far far away, or somewhere else entirely?

Finally, the predicament is what happens to the character in the place. If you’re a Pantser, then this predicament should probably occur at the beginning of the book – what happens to the character that kicks off the action? If you’re a Plotter, it should be the more overarching conflict that the entire book is about.

Here’s an example of a story seed for a Pantser:

A 10-year-old orphan in London discovers that he is a wizard.

Here’s the same story seed but for a Plotter:

A 10-year-old orphan in London must stop the return of the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time.

You should be able to develop this story seed in one week. Then, if you’re a hardcore Panster and you’re about to explode because of how much you hate planning, you can move on to Phase Three. That basic story seed is all you need to get started. If you’re a Plotter like me, you might want to spend as much as another two weeks planning. Read on.

Detailed Plotting

For a Plotter, the story seed does not represent a snapshot of the beginning of the story, but rather a summary of the story as a whole. As such, your predicament should refer to the major conflict that your character overcomes in the story. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the predicament is Lord Voldemort’s attempted return to power.

Once you have that predicament, you have a lot of plot to fill in. There are a few different structures you can use to help with this. The three-act structure provides a set of scenes or “story beats” that should occur on the way to the final conflict. The Hero’s Journey and Save the Cat provide similar frameworks. Learn about these, and then either choose one, merge them into your own framework, or ignore them all!

The Hero’s Journey in Campfire Pro

With any luck, the characters, plot, and world of your story will develop in parallel as you plan. For example, a decision about a character trait should influence what that character does (the plot). Similarly, a decision about the world could inspire part of a character’s backstory. If you feel stuck, just pick one aspect of the story and start adding detail – the rest will flow from there. Just make sure you’re keeping track of all the decisions you make using your organizational system. Fill in those spreadsheets!

As a Plotter, the end goal of all this planning is a book outline. If you’re writing an 80,000-word book, that means you need perhaps 10-25 chapters with word counts varying from 3,000 to 8,000 words. How you decide to break it up will depend on your writing style and your story – but you should aim to have an outline containing what happens in each chapter and an estimated word count.

Now, Pantsers and Plotters, is the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Phase 3: Write (12-14 Weeks)

Finally, you think to yourself. I can finally do what I’ve been wanting to do all along. Pat yourself on the back, and start writing. But make sure you stick to a schedule and stay organized.

Stick to a Schedule

Create a schedule and stick to it. Google Sheets can help with this!

Perhaps the most important thing to do if you want to actually finish your book is establishing a schedule and keeping to it. Set a minimum daily word count and number of days per week that you plan to write. It’s best to start low here – say, 500 words per day, 5 days per week – and then increase these amounts over time as writing becomes a habit.

If you like using Google Sheets, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a writing schedule template where you input the total target word count, the number of weeks you want to spend writing, the number of days per week you expect to write, and the date you start writing. The template computes your daily target word counts and will show you a progress bar as you get closer and closer to finishing the book! Just make sure you’re signed in with a Google account, and you can use File -> Make a Copy to copy the template to your own account and start making edits.

If you’re dedicated to getting your book done within the 4 month timeframe defined in this guide, make sure your daily goal eventually gets high enough. For example, if your target word count is 80,000 words and you have 12 weeks to write, you need to produce just over 6,650 words per week. With a five-day workweek, that’s 1,330 words per day on average. If you start at a lower goal than that, you’ll eventually need to compensate by going over if you want to reach your goal.

Your mileage may vary. Find a daily word count that works for you!

Just make sure you never go more than three days without working on your book, even if you only write a few hundred words. You’ll find that the story fades in your mind quite quickly if you don’t work on it for days on end. Keep the momentum going, and write as often as you can.

We have a lot more tips and tricks about this in our blog post Start Writing Strategically.

Stay Organized

Remember the organizational system we said you should make sure to have? Make sure you keep it up to date as you write. For Pantsers, you’ll thank yourself later when you’re writing chapter 38 and don’t have to sift through pages and pages just to find a character’s last name. Plotters, though you may have a lot of that information already nicely organized, your manuscript will almost certainly change course at least a little bit from the original plan. When it does, update your plan, or you’ll find yourself having the same issue of losing track of all those little details.

Keep your manuscript organized as you write.

When it comes to your manuscript, make sure you use headings or sections to break up the document into its chapters. That will allow for easy navigation between the different chapters, and will keep you grounded. Never get lost in your own book!

Conclusion

Hopefully this post has done its job, and you’re now a confident writer with a concrete plan to write a book from scratch. You’re about to open a new tab in your browser and search for the organizational system that’s right for you. Then you’ll pick the right manuscript editor and develop your story seed. If you’re a Plotter, you’ll add more detail to your characters, plot, and world until the story is broken up neatly into chapters, with each one moving the story along.

Finally, you’ll write the darn thing, and with some luck – publish it.

See you in four months.

Weekly TL;DR: Get organized, plan, and write your rough draft in four months using this practical guide. Don’t forget to use our writing schedule template.

If you have any questions or comments, join the discussion on our Discord!

#writing #writeblr #writingtips #writingadvice #writers #writblr #CampfireTechnology #campfirepro #campfireblaze #writingcommunity #howtowrite #writeabook #nanowrimo

3 notes · View notes