#honestly I quite liked the asoiaf books I read

[aethersea]

another thing fantasy writers should keep track of is how much of their worldbuilding is aesthetic-based. it's not unlike the sci-fi hardness scale, which measures how closely a story holds to known, real principles of science. The Martian is extremely hard sci-fi, with nearly every detail being grounded in realistic fact as we know it; Star Trek is extremely soft sci-fi, with a vaguely plausible "space travel and no resource scarcity" premise used as a foundation for the wildest ideas the writers' room could come up with. and much as Star Trek fuckin rules, there's nothing wrong with aesthetic-based fantasy worldbuilding!

(sidenote we're not calling this 'soft fantasy' bc there's already a hard/soft divide in fantasy: hard magic follows consistent rules, like "earthbenders can always and only bend earth", and soft magic follows vague rules that often just ~feel right~, like the Force. this frankly kinda maps, but I'm not talking about just the magic, I'm talking about the worldbuilding as a whole.

actually for the purposes of this post we're calling it grounded vs airy fantasy, bc that's succinct and sounds cool.)

a great example of grounded fantasy is Dungeon Meshi: the dungeon ecosystem is meticulously thought out, the plot is driven by the very realistic need to eat well while adventuring, the story touches on both social and psychological effects of the whole 'no one dies forever down here' situation, the list goes on. the worldbuilding wants to be engaged with on a mechanical level and it rewards that engagement.

deliberately airy fantasy is less common, because in a funny way it's much harder to do. people tend to like explanations. it takes skill to pull off "the world is this way because I said so." Narnia manages: these kids fall into a magic world through the back of a wardrobe, befriend talking beavers who drink tea, get weapons from Santa Claus, dance with Bacchus and his maenads, and sail to the edge of the world, without ever breaking suspension of disbelief. it works because every new thing that happens fits the vibes. it's all just vibes! engaging with the worldbuilding on a mechanical level wouldn't just be futile, it'd be missing the point entirely.

the reason I started off calling this aesthetic-based is that an airy story will usually lean hard on an existing aesthetic, ideally one that's widely known by the target audience. Lewis was drawing on fables, fairy tales, myths, children's stories, and the vague idea of ~medieval europe~ that is to this day our most generic fantasy setting. when a prince falls in love with a fallen star, when there are giants who welcome lost children warmly and fatten them up for the feast, it all fits because these are things we'd expect to find in this story. none of this jars against what we've already seen.

and the point of it is to be wondrous and whimsical, to set the tone for the story Lewis wants to tell. and it does a great job! the airy worldbuilding serves the purposes of the story, and it's no less elegant than Ryōko Kui's elaborately grounded dungeon. neither kind of worldbuilding is better than the other.

however.

you do have to know which one you're doing.

the whole reason I'm writing this is that I saw yet another long, entertaining post dragging GRRM for absolute filth. asoiaf is a fun one because on some axes it's pretty grounded (political fuck-around-and-find-out, rumors spread farther than fact, fastest way to lose a war is to let your people starve, etc), but on others it's entirely airy (some people have magic Just Cause, the various peoples are each based on an aesthetic/stereotype/cliché with no real thought to how they influence each other as neighbors, the super-long seasons have no effect on ecology, etc).

and again! none of this is actually bad! (well ok some of those stereotypes are quite bigoted. but other than that this isn't bad.) there's nothing wrong with the season thing being there to highlight how the nobles are focused on short-sighted wars for power instead of storing up resources for the extremely dangerous and inevitable winter, that's a nice allegory, and the looming threat of many harsh years set the narrative tone. and you can always mix and match airy and grounded worldbuilding – everyone does it, frankly it's a necessity, because sooner or later the answer to every worldbuilding question is "because the author wanted it to be that way." the only completely grounded writing is nonfiction.

the problem is when you pretend that your entirely airy worldbuilding is actually super duper grounded. like, for instance, claiming that your vibes-based depiction of Medieval Europe (Gritty Edition) is completely historical, and then never even showing anyone spinning. or sniffing dismissively at Tolkien for not detailing Aragorn's tax policy, and then never addressing how a pre-industrial grain-based agricultural society is going years without harvesting any crops. (stored grain goes bad! you can't even mouse-proof your silos, how are you going to deal with mold?) and the list goes on.

the man went up on national television and invited us to engage with his worldbuilding mechanically, and then if you actually do that, it shatters like spun sugar under the pressure. doesn't he realize that's not the part of the story that's load-bearing! he should've directed our focus to the political machinations and extensive trope deconstruction, not the handwavey bit.

point is, as a fantasy writer there will always be some amount of your worldbuilding that boils down to 'because I said so,' and there's nothing wrong with that. nor is there anything wrong with making that your whole thing – airy worldbuilding can be beautiful and inspiring. but you have to be aware of what you're doing, because if you ask your readers to engage with the worldbuilding in gritty mechanical detail, you had better have some actual mechanics to show them.

[aerithisms]

re: the alectopause i wonder if the presumed lack of one central point of view character has made it more difficult/challenging to write compared to the other books in the series. like we've all assumed alecto won't be the primary pov this time despite being the title character because her pov would be challenging to maintain, tiring to read and unsatisfying as a conclusion for the other characters, and that it'll therefore be more of an ensemble pov vibe. but perhaps that's a difficult mode for tamsyn to switch to since it's so much to juggle? especially given i think having a really strong narrative voice for each book is one of the things the series most excels at and now she's kind of lost that

[biichama]

Can't get back to sleep so I'm thinking about how Brienne of Tarth can be related to both Duncan the Tall and the Targaryens. Because, like, the first is confirmed by word of George and the second comes from TWOIAF, right? Well, 'recent ties' to House Targaryen anyway, which I assume are ties of blood but who knows. Whatever the ties are, it does mean that they're something that people in ASOIAF know about, since TWOIAF like F&B is written as if it's an actual book from the setting.

So like from what I've seen from, like, reading meta is that the prevailing theory is that Dunk got one of Egg's sisters pregnant and she got married to the Lord of Tarth to cover it up, so both ancestries are by way of one of Selwyn Tarth's parents. And that more or less fits? It's a Targaryen connection that people would know about, plus a Dunk connection that they might not. Too bad for the Tarths that their lord got cuckolded but maybe Selwyn's other parent was an actual Tarth by ancestry somehow, who knows?

But like that's not the only way it could have happened? So I wanted to get down my thoughts now on like some various other alternate options.

Option 1: Selwyn has one Targaryen-related parent and one parent fathered by Dunk. Both ancestries come from him.

Basically what it says on the tin. A Targaryen daughter (likely Egg's sister) married the Lord of Tarth, had his kid, and then that kid married Dunk's kid with whoever. It gives you a known Targaryen connection with options for known and unknown Dunk connections.

Option 2: Selwyn has a Targaryen-related mother and his biological father (whether or not he knows it) secretly is Dunk. Both ancestries come from him.

So I checked some dates on the wiki to see if we had a canon age for Selwyn and it turns out that he's actually in his mid-fifties, giving him a birthdate in the 240s, after Dunk joined the Kingsguard but before the tragedy of Summerhall. So like it's possible that he could have been secretly fathered by Dunk somehow, though I don't know how likely it is. But it's not like we haven't had Kingsguards fathering kids outside their vows before, coughcoughJaimecough.

Option 3: Selwyn is descended from Targaryens, Brienne's mother is descended from Dunk.

It's a pretty basic theory, honestly. A Targaryen woman, likely Egg's sister, marries into the Tarths and then Selwyn marries Dunk's probably granddaughter (or secret daughter???) Nobody said the Dunk genes were from Selwyn.

Option 4: Selwyn is (somehow) descended from Dunk, Brienne's mother is descended from Targaryens.

So yeah, Dunk's DNA gets into House Tarth in whatever fashion, then Selwyn marries a woman who's related to House Targaryen somehow. Probably via a previous Targaryen woman (possibly Egg's sister?) marrying out of the dynasty, though I do like the sub-option where she's the daughter of Prince Duncan the Small and Jenny of Oldstones quite a lot.

It does beg the question of why Aerys wouldn't have considered Brienne's mother as a possible bride for Rhaegar if she's the Targaryen connection, but idk maybe she had smallfolk cooties if she was Jenny's daughter or she was already married to Selwyn with Galladon on the way before Aerys gave up on Rhaella having a daughter to marry to Rhaegar, even if she wasn't. Checking the the wiki shows that Galladon would have already been born before the Baratheons left for Volantis.

Options 5+: Both Brienne's Dunk and Targaryen ancestry is through her mother, however it happened.

Maybe the Dunk Knocked Up Egg's Sister theorists are right, but the cover-up marriage was to someone else other than the Lord of Tarth. Or some version of Option 1 or 2 happened, but substitute Brienne's mother for Selwyn. They all still fit the basic idea of known 'recent ties' between the Tarths and the Targaryens.

Option ???: The 'recent ties' to House Targaryen are not ties of blood.

Which is legit, but then what are the ties??? Like if they're ties of blood that at least fits in with Brienne's pale blondness. TELL US YOUR SECRETS, GEORGE!!!

[yannisdesk]

I am simultaneously reading The Iliad and The Song of Achilles. It is quite a wild trip, though I am thoroughly enjoying both; but, I want to say something...

I feel like a lot the debate surrounding TSoA is the result of people misunderstanding it's intentions.

I would understand some of the opinions towards TSoA in regards to Iliad accuracy if Madeline Miller did the thing that a lot of Greek Mythology retelling/reworking authors did back in the day, and pretended as if her version of the story was more "accurate" or the "true" version of the myth. But (as far as I can tell) that isn't the case. She's pretty upfront about the fact that this is just another version of Achilles' story using her creative license as an author to create a different take on the narrative using the knowledge she obtained while pursuing her classics degree.

I absolutely do think it's a problem when members of the TSoA fandom try to claim that is the end-all-be-all of Achilles' story, because it isn't. For example, TSoA portrays Achilles as being monogamous-leaning and pretty straightforwardly homosexual (using modern terms here for convenience, I know this is not how Ancient Greeks actually thought about sexuality.) While in mythology, Achilles is more along the lines of bisexual and non-monogamous. Though, the nature of mythology, especially Greek Mythology, is that there is no absolute canon and everything is up for interpretation, so again, that doesn't make TSoA bad by default.

I tend to look at TSoA primarily as a love story before anything else. Honestly, it's a love story about Achilles x Patroclus before it's even an Iliad retelling, half of the book takes place before the war even starts. The tropes and logic of romance novels are going to be present over others that would be expected of an Iliad narrative. I've seen a lot of criticism pointed towards TSoA because it focuses "too much" on Patrochilles and not enough on other characters, but that should be expected, because it's ultimately about the love shared between Achilles and Patroclus. It's kind of like the difference between reading a romance that takes place during medieval Europe, and reading A Song of Ice & Fire. War may happen in the romance, and ASOIAF may have elements of romance in it, but at the end of the day, you're reading them for very different reasons.

Now one thing that can and should be criticized is its treatment of female characters. Thetis and Deidamia are done so fucking dirty and its honestly infuriating. I hear Circe is done better in this regard and I hope so.

[first-of-her-nxme]

Hello there. I've been following your blog for awhile now and quite enjoy them since I too am a Arya & Jaqen fan, as a pair and as individuals. I find Jaqen fascinating but underappreciated (i blame grrm lol not really but yes). However my pressing question to you is, where do you stand on rhaegar-elia-lyanna-robert? I'm sensing you are a shipper/supporter of rhaegar x lyanna? If so (or if not), how do you feel (perceive) about Rhaegar? About lyanna, elia & robert too, if you may. If you've written some metas or posts about this before, I'd be happy to read them if you could show me where. Thank you :)

Hello Anon!

I'm so happy you have enjoyed my content. I also blame GRRM for leaving the books unfinished. A girl can only wait this long!

Honestly, I can't remember how much I have written about the characters you've mentioned. I usually mention them in relation to what is happening to Arya and Jaqen. Unless someone asks a specific question about them and sometimes people do. Please, use tags with their names to search through my blog. Or the "asoiaf meta" tag. I haven't been active here for a while so there might not be that much to read. I will be writing more this summer though.

I acknowledge Rhaegar and Lyanna as a canon ship. I like both characters and I think their story and Robert's Rebellion would make a great Game of Thrones prequel. If done right it might be even more popular than Game of Thrones.

I believe Rhaegar was exactly how people remember him: an honorable young man, a king-to-be who cared about the realm and the people regardless of their social standing, a man who wanted to reform the kingdom, a romantic stuck in a loveless marriage. Someone who wouldn't abandon Elia and the children but rather tried to secure their rights before marrying Lyanna. Also, someone who would be mad at the rebels for what they have done to his family. Someone capable of exacting a severe punishment, especially for the crimes done to Elia and their children. A very well written character that is hardly on page.

Lyanna is the original Arya so obviously I love her. I forgive her falling for the married man. I think they both were the victims of the system.

I adore Elia. I think she is one of the most respectable women in Westeros. A wonderful, caring mother. Elia is kind and protective even towards other people's children. I believe she was the only person in the books who showed love and tenderness to baby Tyrion. Though I also think she had spirit and she might have fought for her husband like she fought for the lives of her children. I wish she had a safe way out of the marriage to Rhaegar.

As for Robert, he is the least deserving of the bunch. Actually I think he is one of the least deserving characters in the story. He had been drinking and whoring his way through Westeros long before he was betrothed to Lyanna. Yet, he had the audacity to rage when she chose someone else. He has some redeeming qualities like his sense of humor and his respect for Ned. I also like the fact that he admitted to his crimes on his deathbed. Still, he hurt too many people, including his own children, to be a respectable man.

Thank you for the question.

[gellavonhamster]

asoiaf for the ship thing too?

oh you're not going to like my answers judging by your answers, lol

otp: I'm not really passionate about any ASOIAF ship at the moment, and I don't think I was back when reading the books and watching the show either (which was quite a long time ago, I'm really racking my brain here), but there used to be some ships I found interesting - Sansa/Margaery, despite the latter kind of (if I remember correctly) manipulating the former (but then again, who in King's Landing wasn't manipulating someone else), and Sandor/Sansa - no actual relationship, no getting together when she's older or anything, just two people romanticizing/fixating on the interactions they had to the point of persuading themselves it was something more (like when Sansa ended up believing he kissed her while he actually didn't). I found that fascinating. Also, Jaime/Brienne has always made a lot of sense to me, their relationship seems like an important thing for the development of both characters.

favourite canon pairing: I remember really liking Jon/Ygritte when reading the books/watching the show and crying when she died (must've been the only time I cried while reading ASOIAF). I also remember liking to imagine how the arranged marriage of Alys Karstark and Sigorn might turn out to be actually okay based on what little of them we saw in the books. Oh, and Sam/Gilly, they're cute.

worst pairing ever: honestly, at this point I do not have ASOIAF on my mind enough to actively dislike any ship. I've heard that show!Jon/Daenerys turned out to be a disaster, but I had long stopped watching the show by that point, so I don't really have an informed opinion on that.

guilty pleasure pairing: don't have any in the sense of feeling bad for shipping it, but perhaps Davos/Stannis fits the bill a little bit - while there's certainly a lot to be said regarding their relationship in canon/in the platonic sense, in the romantic sense I don't really take it seriously, but still kind of enjoy it for shits and giggles. Literally the only ASOIAF fic I've read that has stayed with me enough to revisit it years later is an extremely funny retelling of the classic Soviet comedy Office Romance (1977) with Stavos as the main couple

a pairing you want to see more: perhaps Sigorn/Alys as well? In general, it's not the ships I want to see more of - just give me the damn next book and let me find out what happens to all these characters.

that pairing everyone likes but you’re like “lol no”: Rhaegar/Lyanna, I guess. It had an objectively big and important impact on the plot, but the relationship itself isn't interesting to me. I'm not sure the "everyone likes" part is still applicable, but I remember it being quite a popular ship in the past.  

favorite non-romantic pair: Sansa and Arya (as well as all Stark kids with each other in general), Jon and Sam, Jaime and Tyrion, the Sand Snakes and Arianne

[agentrouka-blog]

I know you said you don't watch hotd but I had to bring up how funny the general audience and the media is when they talk about anything concerning asoiaf. I've seen quite a few different news articles in the past talk about the show when season one first came out and honestly sometimes I feel like the media seriously forgets (or for some reason doesn't know) the shows are based on books. And those books are already out. /1

/2 Like some of those articles giving a recap about what happened in season one makes me laugh because they will say things like, "it's now a complete mystery what will happen in season 2" or "it's fun seeing theories of what might happen and for us fans to speculate". And it's like, um.... if y'all actually read F&B vol. 1, then you would know exactly what happens next in the dance of dragons. The whole event is laid out! We ALREADY know what the coming storylines will be! There is no mystery!

I imagine their job is not to do literary analysis or serious media analysis but to stir up some excitement for the upcoming season, especially for casual fans who have no intention of reading the books, either to avoid spoilers or because GRRM's idea of a fake biased multi-"source" fictional history book is a bit of an acquired taste. I mean, also speculation is fun!

And then there's the horrifying certainty that they will deviate from known book canon, as they have in the past. Potentially in worse ways. So... you never know!

Don't take it too seriously, it's just entertainment. :)

[alsethwisson]

what are your top 5 and bottom 5 ASOIAF characters?

Top 5:

Sansa. Like, she's the best, m'kay? It's hard not to like the sweetest, most compassionate and caring person in this whole mess.

Cat. Clever, badass in her own right, passionate and unrelenting, tragic to the core.

Robert. Yeah, I know. Problematic fave. But still he's the best of the Baratheon brothers, the most human of them. He had a lot of promise and a lot of faults and he's interesting to imagine in his youth.

Jon. Again, hard not to like him, though honestly he was kinda grating in the beginning with his grudge against his station in life. Which I can get, but others have it so much worse, but then Jon is disgruntled exactly because he has everything-but-not-quite.

Theon. I have something of a sweet spot for people who destroy themselves with their idiocy, I guess, but I liked his dynamic with Robb and loved his post-Reek resurrection.

Honorable mentions: Vissy3, Aegon2, Baelor the Blessed, Daemon B and other guys who are barely characters, but have my heart.

Bottom 5

Cersei. It's easy because she's so perfectly hateful, isn't she? But that's why she starts this list. She's a villain, and plays her part well, but that doesn't mean I somehow hate her, she's just too perfect for her role.

Daenerys. Again, a villainous character, honestly quite an engaging one, and I have nothing against villains per se. Most of my dislike is motivated by her big and active fandom, I guess?

Arya. I just...don't like her? Don't like the tropes she represents? Both? When I think about her, she's just not that interesting. When I read her POVs, I want to discipline her. She is really not well-written, to boot; I hardly can imagine a noble child so lacking any idea of social norms and customs and her behaviour is one of a modern moody teen isekai'ed into a nine years old from semi-medieval world.

Tyrion. He's just the worst. I hate him with a passion and his chapters make me cringe hard and his ego is the size of the Death Star. But then I remember that he's a villain and feel better!

Arianne. Absolute bottom of my list because she's just. So. Grating. The shallowest, most self-absorbed character in the book where Dany and Tyrion exist. Delusional like Cersei, as badly fitting into the world as Arya and has a touch of authorial racism/misogyny as a cherry on top.

Dishonorable mentions for Jorah the Slaver and Bran the Sexually Precocious.

[hamliet]

Hi, do you have any literary suggestions similar to asoiaf? I want the complex characters, themes, drama etc.

Honestly, ASOIAF is in some ways unparalleled in terms of complexity. I also assume you want something with a fantasy bent? If you want elsewise let me know.

That said... MXTX's three novels, which get shoved off as danmei, are pretty on par with ASOIAF in terms of complex characters, themes, and intricate writing. I genuinely think those novels are the closest. Mo Dao Zu Shi, Heaven Official's Blessing, and The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System.

Qiang Jin Jiu is another danmei that is tonally similar to ASOIAF. RWBY has the large cast and symbolism part down, even if the characters and tone are far less dark than in ASOIAF. The Witcher (the books) is its own type of fantasy deconstruction with great characters.

Elsewise, I've heard people recommend Wheel of Time, in particular alongside ASOIAF, but I've not read it so I can't say. Brandon Sanderson's works have complex worldbuilding and strong themes, but the characters aren't quite as complex as ASOIAF (though they aren't bad either!) The Poppy War is another series you might like.

[nedstarkfortnite]

Mikey reads ASOIAF: Arya III AGOT

Short summary: Arya gets lost in the bowels of the Red Keep during her cat hunting and overhears a frightening conversation. She encounters the skulls of the Targaryen dragons and finds a secret passageway leading out of the castle, all the way down to the slums. Unfortunately no one believes her because she’s 9.

So honestly? What I like the most about this chapter is the visual, vivid imagery of Arya running around all scratched up and dirty and disheveled chasing cats around the Keep. Imagining her carrying these confused kitties back to Syrio is adorable. Feel a bit sorry for the cats since you really shouldn’t be chasing them around irl, but even if I got a hold of the books as a teen I doubt children are reading them so maybe it’s fine. The rest of us know this already (I presume). Just a reminder to not chase and corner cats unless you absolutely have to, it’s needless stress for them!

Anyway Myrcella and Tommen drop by with their septa, and all three of them mistake Arya for a boy. She really must have been avoiding them, huh? Arya’s been described as having a rather distinct face shape after all. 

I do wonder how the septa thing affects children. Most of the time they would be taken care of by the septa, right? You still see your mother sometimes, but I get the feeling Cersei only sits down to have supper with them (unless there’s some instances showing her interacting with them outside designated dinner time, if so please do ignore me). A bit strange and confusing for them, I imagine. Who is the true mother?

Arya dashes off and knocks Tommen to the ground and he makes a small “oof” noise. Bless him. In practice I’m not very fond of children due to sensory stuff (yelling in particular), but I’ll admit he’s a sweet lad.

We travel down into the depths of the Red Keep, encountering a dark room filled with dragon skulls. Unlike the show their bones are described to be dark, almost black. I do wonder if that matters at all to the plot, or if Martin’s just making them distinct animals scorched by their own fire. In any case it’s really cool. Arya repeats the chants she’s been taught to stay calm, and the poor thing still cannot quite settle down. I know it’s easy to laugh at her as an adult here, but I will say I’d be scared shitless if that were me at the age of 9 so she’s a tough girl! Still could use a hug though 🫂

Descending deeper she begins to hear voices in the dark…

“Arya peered over the edge and felt the cold black breath on her face. Far below, she saw the light of a single torch, small as the flame of a candle. Two men, she made out. Their shadows writhed against the sides of the well, tall as giants. She could hear their voices, echoing up the shaft.

"...found one bastard," one said. "The rest will come soon. A day, two days, a fortnight..."

"And when he learns the truth, what will he do?" a second voice asked in the liquid accents of the Free Cities.

"The gods alone know," the first voice said. Arya could see a wisp of grey smoke drifting up off the torch, writhing like a snake as it rose. "The fools tried to kill his son, and what's worse, they made a mummer's farce of it. He's not a man to put that aside. I warn you, the wolf and lion will soon be at each other's throats, whether we will it or no."

"Too soon, too soon," the voice with the accent complained. "What good is war now? We are not ready. Delay."

"As well bid me stop time. Do you take me for a wizard?"

The other chuckled, "No less." Flames licked at the cold air. The tall shadows were almost on top of her. An instant later the man holding the torch climbed into her sight, his companion beside him. Arya crept back away from the well, dropped to her stomach, and flattened herself against the wall. She held her breath as the men reached the top of the steps.

"What would you have me do?" asked the torchbearer, a stout man in a leather half cape. Even in heavy boots, his feet seemed to glide soundlessly over the ground. A round scarred face and a stubble of dark beard showed under his steel cap, and he wore mail over boiled leather and a dirk and shortsword at his belt. It seemed to Arya there was something oddly familiar about him.

"If one Hand can die, why not a second?" replied the man with the accent and the forked yellow beard. "You have danced the dance before, my friend." He was no one Arya had ever seen before, she was certain of it. Grossly fat, yet he seemed to walk lightly, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet as a water dancer might. His rings glimmered in the torchlight, red-gold and pale silver, crusted with rubies, sapphires, slitted yellow tiger eyes. Every finger wore a ring, some had two.

"Before is not now, and this Hand is not the other," the scarred man said as they stepped out into the hall. Still as stone, Arya told herself, quiet as a shadow. Blinded by the blaze of their own torch, they did not see her pressed flat against the stone, only a few feet away.

"Perhaps so," the forked beard replied, pausing to catch his breath after the long climb. "Nonetheless, we must have time. The princess is with child. The khal will not bestir himself until his son is born. You know how they are, these savages."

The man with the torch pushed at something. Arya heard a deep rumbling. A huge slab of rock, red in the torchlight, slid down out of the ceiling with a resounding crash that almost made her cry out. Where the entry to the well had been was nothing but stone, solid and unbroken.

"If he does not bestir himself soon, it may be too late," the stout man in the steel cap said. "This is no longer a game for two players, if ever it was. Stannis Baratheon and Lysa Arryn have fled beyond my reach, and the whispers say they are gathering swords around them. The Knight of Flowers writes Highgarden, urging his lord father to send his sister to court. The girl is a maid of fourteen, sweet and beautiful and tractable, and Lord Renly and Ser Loras intend that Robert should bed her, wed her, and make a new queen. Littlefinger... the gods only know what game Littlefinger is playing. Yet Lord Stark's the one who troubles my sleep. He has the bastard, he has the book, and soon enough he'll have the truth. And now his wife has abducted Tyrion Lannister, thanks to Littlefinger's meddling. Lord Tywin will take that for an outrage, and Jaime has a queer affection for the Imp. If the Lannisters move north, that will bring the Tullys in as well. Delay, you say. Make haste, I reply. Even the finest of jugglers cannot keep a hundred balls in the air forever."

"You are more than a juggler, old friend. You are a true sorcerer. All I ask is that you work your magic awhile longer." They started down the hall in the direction Arya had come, past the room with the monsters.

"What I can do, I will," the one with the torch said softly. "I must have gold, and another fifty birds."

She let them get a long way ahead, then went creeping after them. Quiet as a shadow.

"So many?" The voices were fainter as the light dwindled ahead of her. "The ones you need are hard to find... so young, to know their letters... perhaps older... not die so easy..."

"No. The younger are safer... treat them gently..."

"... if they kept their tongues..."

"... the risk..."

A really long quote, I know (essentially the whole conversation), but it contains quite a lot of information.

We can infer from the character descriptions that this is Varys and Illyrio conspiring to put the Targaryens back on the Throne. I don’t believe we’ve learned why they are doing this, what they hope to aspire to by replacing the regent etc. Are they simply Targ loyalists? I feel like Varys in particular is very puzzling, I don’t see why he would be betting his horses on either a weak and incompetent Viserys or a 14 year old child who is about to go through labour. So much could (and does) go wrong along the way. 

I don’t know. Varys doesn’t strike me as someone who just blindly submits to old throne successions or pledges allegiance to any particular House. Beware the perfumed seneschal…I really look forward to seeing him and Daenerys and/or FAegon interact, see whether we will get to learn more about his motives. As for Illyrio I honestly have no fucking clue lol. We barely see him, and he just seems shady in general. 

They loredump some about Jon Arryn and what Ned might discover, and even consider assassinating him just to prevent the outbreak of war. Who could have thought the secret twincest was the glue holding the realm together? I’m here for the Littlefinger slander though lol

I feel like people are quick to forget those last few dialogue lines where it is strongly implied (if not outright confirmed) that the children spying for Varys have had their tongues cut out. He’s far more sinister than he lets on. Maybe it’s the show that erased his more evil deeds, because he feels a lot different in the books and like they just refused to make him interesting. Tyrion suffered the same fate. RIP to an interesting character study. 

Anyway Arya finds her way into Flea Bottom, gets back to the castle somehow and is scolded for running away. Ned believes her story is about some mummers, which is still kind of suspicious even if true. Why would they be talking about murdering the Hand? Thus far nothing has leaked out to the public about Jon Arryn’s death, and only the players know about the plot to stop Ned Stark. I don’t know Ned…Maybe you should ponder this one for a bit and see if it doesn’t seem a bit strange? 

I’d like to believe he’s keeping up appearances in front of his daughter here in order not to scare her, but still dude. His pursuit of the truth is NOT worth this much trouble

Yoren shows up to tell Ned about Tyrion’s abduction. To be continued…

[abcdosaka]

Did I ever write out my New Year’s resolutions? I don’t think I really did. My resolutions are always really simple that I end up completing or at least partially completing a few of them. This time around I want to make some goals and plan them out instead of type B-ing my way through it.

1. Exercise. Gym. Pool. My body misses moving around so bad. This is definitely the worst part of the suburbs. Thinking about signing up for a city community centre membership since there’s a bunch of discounts for me and there’s one real close to my new place. The women only gyms here don’t have pools either so I’m just gonna have to accept working out with men there 🤢. I think Im at a point where idgaf anymore though like i can do it.

2. Start learning a new language. I’m thinking Chinese and/or (my family’s native language). lol given current political situations in the US but I was thinking about this even before the TikTok ban. And yet those yanks still got a head start on me. I just feel like both of these would be useful career wise. I should really brush up on my French as well it’d be useful for government work. (I’m extremely corporate pilled atm)

3. Read more books. I made a good reads this year to track my reading. I think last year all I got through was the asoiaf books lol. I’ve added a ton to my list though, especially non fiction. Non fiction might be my new thing. There’s a library close to my new place so I hope they have a good selection.

4. Furnish and decorate my new place. I still don’t have a couch or even a proper dresser lmao I mean no wonder I don’t like my current place. I knew I wouldn’t renew my lease when I signed it a year ago but i honestly do wish I furnished it more. I want a tv and a tv stand. And a coffee table. I want to take care of plants.

5. Buy a new computer and a better wfh set up. My current desk is kinda shit but the real problem is my laptop. I want a nice chair with back support and something to convert my workstation to a standing desk.

6. Learn about car maintenance. Apparently quite a few ppl actually learned through mechanic simulator or whatever that game is called. I feel like this is probably worth knowing. But also if I don’t really have a space to work on a car this might have to be put off.

7. Try to meet new people somehow. This isn’t very difficult but I’m trying to be discerning. I realized the reason I hate relationships is because I’ve almost always had my most important and close relationships end poorly or turn toxic or distant. (Distant being the most common bc of literal distance). Partly bc of me and partly not. I’m tired of wasting time and not valuing myself enough though like I’m not bothering with anymore flip floppy bitches.

I do think I need to go at it like fb marketplace instead of taking everything personal though. But instead of selling a product like I am the product. Oh wait that’s not great either. Hmm. In any case I need a better support network here like rn it kinda sucks and if I have an emergency I’m a little screwed. And I want to split rent with someone lol.

8. Learn personal finances. This one I absolutely want to get done and I think is the most feasible.

I do have pretty high hopes for this year bc i just don’t wanna be as sad as I was for the past 2 and now I feel like I am actually currently in control of a lot more than I was before so I think it’s possible I can be a happy work in progress.

By the way, writing this post took 20% of my phone battery. Resolution 8a. Get a new phone

[panzertorte]

My media Year in Review - 2024

MOVIES

Not much to report movie-wise, I somehow only watched two movies the entire year.... Dune part 2 (brilliant, of course) and La La Land (I was honestly shocked by how much I actually ended up enjoying it, but the opening number was dire!).

BOOKS

Book-wise, spent most of the year making my way through a couple of series that has been on my tbr for ages.

Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy was nothing at all what I expected, but enjoyable nonetheless.

The Shadow of the Torturerer last year was a slog, but I forced myself to continue with the rest of the "Book of the New Sun" series since I knew it was a classic. The more I read, the more I started to get it, and I'd actually be quite keen to reread book 1 now.

I'll have to be honest though, my most enjoyable read of the year was "Barrayar", a prequel to the Vorkosigan Saga. Haven't gotten around to the actual saga yet, but I'm definitely planning on continuing :)

Goodreads: My Year in Books

FANDOM

My main fandom this year has once again been Formula 1. Not much have changed there, though I guess I've finally started to appreciate Russell and Leclerc more.

My second main has been House of the Dragon and to a lesser extent ASoIaF in general. I enjoyed most of season 2 quite a lot, but honestly not looking forward to people starting to incorporate it more into their fics. Like in the HP-fandom, I live for the redos/fix-its, so it shouldn't pose to much of a problem though!

Quite randomly thought about The Hunger Games again at some point this autumn and made a short and sweet dive back into some old favourites.

I also recently saw Les Mis again for the first time in years and it triggered a short fandom resurgence! My niche in this new fandom landscape is Reincarnated Amis, but I fear I've already exhausted the well of the good ones. The fact that the fandom exploded is still so weird; I remember the days when we waybackmachined outself back to lightly edited RP-logs and were delighted when it actually worked!

[aingeal98]

At this point it's safe to say the hotd watchers are split into teams but it's not two teams green vs black it's 4 teams. We've got:

The Normies: Mostly here for cool dragon fights. Mostly haven't read the book and aren't planning on it. Team Black but not in a fanatical way just in a fuck sexism go Rhaenyra kind of way.

The Fire and Blood Enthusiasts: Really, really into Targaryens. Fanatical team black. Daemyra stans. Furious that they're not getting the book adapted with no deviations and every line, no matter how ridiculous, thrown in. Despite complaining about how different the show and book are they also try really really hard to make show Alicent into book Alicent so they can hate her like she's s1 Cersei. Hate this show but also won't stop watching and trying to fit the square peg that is the show characters into the round hole that is the book characters.

The Succession Fans: The ones who say they're team green because the greens are more compelling and the blacks are boring because they. Have healthier love for each other I guess idk (daemon not included). Here mainly for the targtowers and how messed up they are. Did not like that Alicent tried to break the cycle by choosing Rhaenyra and Helaena over her evil sons. Honestly I think some of them would be happier rewatching succession.

The Rhaenicent Fans: Can carry traits from literally any of the three groups above but what sets them apart is that their priority is the gay love story between Rhaenyra and Alicent. The ones who predicted both characters arcs successfully since the start of S2. Also the only ones having a ball because they and the writers are on the same page regarding narrative priorities and no one expected this from a game of thrones spinoff prequel.

I was tempted to make a fifth category for asoiaf book readers but I think they're mostly part of team lesbians or team succession fans. Some f&b targ enthusiasts too, but they're not quite distinct enough when it comes to the Discourse to deserve a fifth category. Because if I divide the fan teams any further I'll eventually up with a team that's just the one fan shipping Helaena and Alys and dreaming about a modern au where they fall in love on tumblr instead of communicating via future vision powers.

[navree]

Some people are very convinced that George will have Euron wipe out the Hightowers in Winds of Winter. What do you think about this? I personally don't really like it because as a House they have persevered for Thousands of years and survived literally all the fucking conquests. It makes no sense to me (and also I just don't like it because I feel like it is already a qidely misunderstood and undervalued House that will only give fire to team black stans lmao)

I don't think that Euron is going to wipe out the Hightowers. From a Watsonian perspective, I'll admit to not being a bit ASOIAF theorizer or someone who has a lot of insight into Euron as a character, but that doesn't seem to be what he's going for. Euron wants to sack Oldtown, yes, and probably gain some power in the act, given Oldtown's ties with magic. But the thing is, Euron's not actually chaotically crazy. The show did him a huge disservice by making him this lunatic pirate caricature, but in the books Euron is very calculated in what he does. And his main plans appear to be some version of "summon up eldritch apocalypse" with a dash of "it'll make me super powerful", so completing annihilating the Hightowers isn't going to be in service to those plans. There's also the fact that not all of the Hightowers are in Oldtown (Alerie Hightower for instance is either in King's Landing or Highgarden, and she's just one of probably a lot of Hightowers) and Euron would probably have to go well out of his way, for no reason, just to wipe them out.

From a Doylist perspective, George isn't going to do that because it doesn't make any sense. This might be another show thing, or at least a fandom thing, but people are under the impression that most of ASOIAF's kills are just for shock value. That is not the case. One of the things that makes this series genuinely good and that has allowed it to stay so popular is that, while the deaths are shocking and heartwrenching, if you track it back, it's not actually surprising. Ned's death is surprising yes, because it's in the first book and we're not expecting the story to go that way due to preconceived notions on storytelling conventions, but it's very possible to see how we got from point A to point B if you read AGOT again with that knowledge in mind. So even if you ignore that completing wiping a Great House off the map would be an astonishing feat, it would honestly serve no purpose other than just being a shocking watercooler moment. And despite what a good chunk of casual watchers and also D&D seem to think, that's not the kind of story George is telling. The deaths are shocking, and they are watercooler moments, but they happen with purpose, they're planned out, and honestly if you know to look for them you can see them coming, like with the Red Wedding in ASOS. There's also the fact that, quite honestly, by the time of the main series, House Hightower aren't really important. They're incredibly periphery and their strongest connection to the story, besides just being the House in charge of the city Euron wants to attack, is that a member is Margaery's mother. George may not be the most economical of writers, but decimating House Hightower would require a lot of care devoted to it if he wanted to make it any sense, and that's time and care that's taken away from, like, the actual main story and the actual characters of these books. For the sake of an unimportant periphery House in the main story? Sorry, but no.

House Hightower at least surviving Euron's attack isn't even about House Hightower itself, it's about Euron's motivations and who he is as a character, and what George as a writer values and prioritizes and the direction of the story itself. And it's also just straight up not gonna happen.

[derangedthots]

I was so surprised to read on here and the notes left on your fics that you have yet to read Fire and Blood because your characterization of Jacaerys is so book canon rather than show canon (which is very insulting to Jacaerys, we are all very lucky that Harry is stunning).

I believe your characterization of Aemond is show only right ? probably a good think, cause to be honest there’s nothing worth ish in book canon Aemond, except for: delusions, misogyny (his obsession with Rhaenyra’s vagina is ugh get a job) and cruelty.

f&b is high on my reading list bc honestly as good of a summarizing job the wiki does, it's not the same as having the whole thing for reference, but i wanna wait until i have a print copy of it just bc i feel like trying to read it online would give me a headache/make me feel like i'm reading another thing for uni (which means i'd end up zoning out on principle).

i'm glad my characterization of jace seems so in line with his book version tho!! i do adore harry's portrayal, it's not as good as what george's written of course but that's on the fault of the show writers/directors than harry himself, and i try to blend show!jace into my characterization as well. that being said, since we're still only on s1 of hotd and even that has given us confusing/contradicting/downright illogical writing choices, it just makes more sense to lean more towards how jace is described in the book. also just, book!jace is so endlessly compelling?? his clear love for his family, his devotion to rhaenyra and their cause, his ability to lead, his cunning+dutiful nature, but also his fierceness and fire (him calling vhagar a hoary old bitch is so personal to me LMAO), his relationship with the dragonseeds, the ultimate tragedy of his life fjsks i could go on and on. the fact that george gives him so many admirable traits while leaving a lot open for interpretation (since f&b isn't written with their povs like asoiaf) also just makes my job as a writer even more fun bc there's so much room to play.

anyway onto the part of your ask that's harder for me to respond to (tbh can it still be called an ask if it's not even really a question? idkidk it's in my askbox so i'm gonna refer to it as such lol)

aemond's characterization is a more complicated affair for me bc while i am heavily leaning into his show characterization (like harry, ewan offers such a stunning portrayal), i also?? don't wanna run the risk of defanging him? from what i've seen of book!aemond, like you mention he def reads as creepy+dirtbaggy (his incredibly gendered fixation on rhaenyra truly makes me want to yak) and while ctf!aemond isn't quite so unbearable, he's also not too saintlike either. bc FMF and CTF are both written from jace's pov, there's a lot that isn't being shown in general but especially with what's going on inside aemond's head and well... let's just say aemond's thought processes aren't all that pretty. in a way, bc of how FMF and CTF are told through jace's eyes and jace already has a lot on his plate to deal with, there's a lot of things he isn't noticing and certain assumptions he makes that aren't as reliable as he thinks.

still, there's a very clear line btwn aegon and aemond in my head while i'm writing (i thought i'd clear this up bc i don't wanna worry anybody and make CTF!aemond seem unlikeable and therefore uninteresting as the male lead). it's just that one of aemond's big appeals to me is how dangerous he is and how, unlike daemon, it's much easier for him to fall on the dark side of the spectrum rather than true gray. he's wrestling with a lot of demons, some he'll win against and some he'll lose, but i believe it was @everythingstucky who once aptly likened my writing of CTF jacemond as jace saying "i can fix him but i won't, if he knows better he'll do it himself and aemond knows better" and to this day, i stick by this description. ultimately, for all his flaws, my characterization of him is steeped in hope for more.

there's a lot of growing aemond's doing offscreen, and a lot of growing he'll be doing with jace, so even though i might not end up writing him as charitably as some people want, i love his character bc he has such a generous capacity for both light and dark. him canonically being kind of a loser for me just means that when he finally does learn, and things do go his way, it feels all the more earned and you can get a sense of pride abt how far he's come/improved

this was all very long and rambly of me but i hope my message came through anyway. and if it didn't, i'm always happy to clarify (barring of course, any spoilers😉)💕💕

[asilverspring]

17, 1, 2, and follow me on goodreads if u have 1

1. book you’ve reread the most times? already did this one but i remembered some more so: gone girl, sharp objects, where’d you go bernadette, me talk pretty one day, this is where i leave you.

2. top 5 books of all time? in no particular order:

1. sharp objects. i read this when i was 14 and at least once a year since and i adore it every time. i love everything about this, the creepy southern gothic atmosphere, the fucked up relationships, the narrator’s voice. my favorite genre of anything is insane dysfunctional family and this is like the pinnacle of that. amma crellin i love you.

2. when you are engulfed in flames. i’ve read all of david sedaris’s books and love all of them but this is probably my favorite, i’ve always loved the long essay about quitting smoking at the end. his books and 30 rock are honestly the basis for my sense of humor.

3. a feast for crows. it really should be the entirety of asoiaf, but i’m being literal. i don’t know if this book in and of itself is in my top five, but asoiaf has to be and this is the best of the series. it’s the jaime/brienne/cersei book, it’s the gender treatise, it’s no chance and no choice. i just love it.

4. master of the senate. this might be a little recency bias but this really is once of the best books i’ve ever read. the insanity of starting the third volume of the johnson series with 100 pages of the history of the senate in which johnson is never mentioned! it gave me a better understanding of the workings of the senate than any class i’ve ever taken and for a 1000 page book about the inner workings of the senate it’s incredibly engrossing and readable.

5. the story of a new name. again this is a stand-in for the whole series but this one is my favorite by a hair. it’s still a of a coming of age but more mature and a bit darker than the first book. and i loved the centerpiece of the soap operatic trip to ischia, something about the change in setting adds to the drama, though it’s still grounded in the neighborhood culture that makes the series.

17. top 5 children’s books?

1. mrs piggle-wiggle. never met anyone else who’s read these books but they are so special to me. it’s so important to teach your kids that if they don’t behave you will secretly give them unlicensed drugs from the lady down the street to make them behave. i think about the crybaby who nearly drowned in her own tears all the time. also all the kids have names like pergola wingsproggle which is fun.

2. the half magic books. my favorite was the first one where the kids find a coin that grants wishes but only by half so like they wish to go to a desert island and end up in the desert or wish to disappear and end up like half there, sort of incorporeal. i don’t fully remember the plot but i loved it.

3. little house on the prairie. technically not really children’s books but my mom and i read them together when i was 5 so i’m counting it. just really lovely books, taught me that bismarck was the capital of north dakota.

4. percy jackson. the original series not the spin-offs. i read it when i was 7 and that’s what got me really into mythology. it’s fun!

5. from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler. this book is so fun and charming and forever made me want to live in a museum.

and i don’t have a goodreads but i do have a storygraph, idk if you do but mine is silverspringsmp3