RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks! So Dany IV is now in the can, and I’m planning to move ahead with both Arya VIII (which is outlined and just needs the quotes plugged in before I can move foreward) and the next Dunk & Egg essay, since I have more time on my hands than is usual.

In the meantime, I have some good stuff on the Tumblrs…

ASOIAF:

• How much time passed between the Tourney at Harrenhal and Lyanna’s disappearance?
• Did Aerys find out that Lyanna was the Knight of the Laughing Tree?
• Premodern cultural adaptations to high infant mortality rates.
• More ragging on Daario’s clothing.
• An extended discussion of why it’s difficult for artists to depict Daario’s outfit accurately.
  • Part II
• On historical hair dye.
• Hedge knights and travel costs.
• How did people become mercenaries?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Book recommendations for Tudor England.
• Book recommendations for medieval France.

Patreon:

• What do you think is the inspiration for the race of giants in ASOIF and what role are they going to play in the story?
• I have more than a sneaking suspicion that GRRM is something of a Bigfoot enthusiast, because the giants of ASOIAF resemble popular depictions of the American cryptid way more than the kind of giants you’d see in your Monster Manual. As for what role…they seem to be mostly thematic, a symbol of man’s negative impact on nature.
• What are Shagga, Son of Dolf, and the Stone Crows doing in the King’s Wood? Do you think, they will play a relevant part again?
• Being bandits, apparently. They might be a roadbump for the Golden Company, but I don’t think more than that.
• In the last Arya-Chapter, you mentioned Gendry’s social advancement. This gave me a crazy idea. Could it be, that Martin plans for Gendry to be King at the end of ASOIF, sort as a “Gendry Baratheon, the Even-More-Unlikely-than-Egg-Wow-totally-Did-not-see-that-coming, First of his Name”, or am I just tripping right now?
• I doubt it. Unlike in the show, Gendry’s social advancement has gone in a very different direction, what with him having his own smithy. Also, the books have Edric Storm, who’s better positioned for that role.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Daenerys IV, ASOS

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“I am only a young girl, and do not understand the ways of war…”

Synopsis: Dany holds peace talks and wins a battle.

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks! With Hour of the Wolf Part III in the rearview mirror and work on Dany IV well underway (up to 4,300 words but there’s some distance to go yet), it’s time for another Tumblr Roundup!

ASOIAF:

• Barristan’s views on Arys Oakheart.
• “Special” houses.
• Are the Lannisters an “asshole House”?
• Castle-building and fortress-building, not the same thing.
• The three Matters and medieval attitudes on Roman antiquity.
• What if Anne Boleyn gave birth to a boy?
• Craster as a comment on moral compromise.
  • Part II.
• Tourneys as modern sports.
• Thoughts on King John the Only.
• Medieval terminology on feudal land tenure is confusing.
• Policy analysis of the “dwarf’s penny.”
• What if Theon had learned to captain a ship at White Harbor?
• Robert’s views on Targaryens of the past.
• Thoughts on Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
• Worldbuilding thoughts on House Plumm.
• An argument with Dr. E. Michael Jones over the Reformation and Catholic Church property.
• Henry VI and inherited mental illness.
• Dunk as an atypical portrait of hedge knights and class mobility.
• Why do the Oakhearts have a problem with the Dornish?
• Why did monarchs allow foreign pensions in their courts?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Why Bloomberg won three terms as mayor of NYC.
• Would Krakoa be a good way to introduce mutants in the MCU?
• Thoughts on Klaus Wulfenbach.
• Public policy thoughts on COVID-19 responses.
• Best comic runs to read while social distancing.

Patron Questions:

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Guest Appearance on Boiled Leather Audio Hour

Hey folks! While we’re all stuck indoors for a good while, you know what’s a good way to pass the time? Listening to some podcasts.

So here’s a good long conversation I had with Stefan Sasse about the Iron Bank and medieval finance, and whether Marxist theory is applicable to Westeros.

Have a listen!

Hour of the Wolf, Part III

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credit to Titch-IX

(For Part I, see here; for Part II, see here)

Munkun woke from a restless sleep to the sound of shouting from outside the doors, and in the half-light of reason, his first thought was that some sort of counter-coup was underway. Not the Greens again, he thought out of habit as he lifted his head from the desk. Belatedly realizing that a stray sheet of vellum was stuck to his cheek with drool, he hurriedly scrubbed at his face. The motion helped to clear his senses somewhat, so that for the first time he realized that the raised voices were female.

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks! I have a fair few irons in the fire – I’ve written close to 700 words more of Hour of the Wolf Part III, which is kind of crazy to say because Part II came out almost a year and a half ago; at the same time, I’ve outlined Dany IV and Arya VIII – but nothing’s quite ready to come out right now. Luckily, I’ve got some great stuff in the Tumblrs for you!

ASOIAF:

• Robert’s Rebellion isn’t Romeo and Juliet.
• Ryswell involvement in the War of Five Kings.
• Linguistic extremism and nation-building.
• Specialization in medieval universities.
• What would a permanent Great Council look like?
• Potatoes vs. turnips/parsnips.
• Popular culture in Westeros?
• LSH and Robb’s crown.
• The Grand Weirwood Conspiracy.
• Myr and Genoa.
• Westerosi heraldry is pretty basic:
  • Part I
  • Part II

Non-ASOIAF:

• How to depict fictional bureaucracy.

 

Livestream with History of Westeros!

https://youtu.be/87sA6stczkQ

Hey folks! In about a half hour, I’m going to do a livestream with the History of Westeros folks, finishing up our discussion of the War of Ninepenny Kings.

So if you’re around, hop on and chat with us.

Non-ASOIAF Content: People’s History of the Marvel Universe Primary Special – Krakoan Economics

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(This is wildly out-of-order, but if you follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, you’ll know that these ideas are running around in my brain, and the only way to get them to stop is to write them up.)

There have been many x-cellent analyses of House of X/Powers of X and Dawn of X from many different perspectives – from nationalism and nation-states to queer and disability theory and the politics of “safe spaces” – but one relatively unexplored dimension is economics and economic policy. As Spencer Ackerman points out, while Jonathan Hickman may be familiar to many Marvel fans as the writer of Fantastic Four and Avengers, he’s also the author of Black Monday Murders, which presented economic theory and high finance as black magick. (Wait, wrong Image series.)

Is Hickman et al’s interest in economic topics just style and symbolism, or is there content to Krakoan economics? Do we have a mutant economic policy to go along with our mutant language for a mutant culture and a mutant nation-state?

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey folks! It feels really good to have Dunk Egg, Part I in the can. As to where I could go from here…I think the next project is either Hour of the Wolf Part III or Dany IV, depending on where the flow takes me.

In the mean-time, got some good stuff on the Tumblrs.

ASOIAF:

• Varys’ plan during Robert’s Rebellion.
• What Varys and LF want to do with power?
• Varys’ plans for Young Grift’s kids.
• Young Grift’s reaction to Varys.
• A potential solution to the Hornwood Crisis.
• How to burn castles: slighting and you!
• Encirclement and leaving escape corridors open.
• Sailing for pleasure.
• Some bits and pieces on the Tyrells:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Robert, Margaery, and Lyanna.
  • Part II
  • Part III
• If Renly got Margaery with child…
• Why Tywin gave Darry to Lancel not Kevan.
• Demons in Valyria.
• Openhandedness and charitable donations.
• An increasingly exasperated discussion of Valyrian dragon-boinking:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• What if Euron killed Balon earlier?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Nothing this week, but I might be working next on a PHOMU, so there will be more comics stuff to come.

 

Dunk and Egg, Essay 1: “What Worth a Hedge Knight?”

Introduction:

At long last, we come to the much-promised, frequently-delayed essay series on the Dunk & Egg series, as a window on the (let me check the wording on the Kickstarter for a second) “history of House Targaryen and the Blackfyre Rebellion.” In this essay series, I will cover one novella at a time – which means initially the three stories collected in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but I will be more than happy to re-open the series on that happy day when “Village Hero” or “She-Wolves of Winterfell” or any other Dunk and Egg story are released.

So let’s see what we can mine from our memories, shall we?