RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hello everyone! So, we’re heading into a really interesting period. FIre & Blood Volume I is almost upon us – my plan is to do an extended bullet-point chapter-by-chapter analysis, and then probably a new Hollow Crowns followup essay like I did after WOIAF came out – and then I’ve got the last part of Hour of the Wolf, and I’m writing outlines for ASOS with the aim of getting to the mid-point of the book.

But in the mean-time, let’s look at some Tumblrs:

ASOIAF:

• The Hornwoods as power players in the North.
• More discussion of the Renly/Margaery/Robert plot:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• The right of pit and gallows.
• Great House vs. vassal marriages.
• What if Tywin dies?
• What does a confessor in Westeros do?
• The relative democraticness of the Roman Republic.
• Where will Red Wedding 2.0 happen?
• A long discussion on medieval currency for worldbuilding purposes.

Non-ASOIAF:

• D&D character creation shenanigans.
• Advice for would-be historians.

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The Hour of the Wolf, Part II

credit to Titch-IX

The next hour passed in a blur of judgement. The men in chains were led before the bench one-by-one, and kneeling next to the headless bodies, fell to their knees and begged to take the black. Most were lesser men, Bollings and Horpes and Musgoods who had been left beached when Borros Baratheon’s tide had suddenly receded on the Kingsroad, but Munkun noted with interest when Ser Perkin the Flea stepped forwards. The swindler who gulled an entire city with promises of a world turned upside down collared at last, the golden voice that swayed entire garrisons of loyal men to treason, reduced to stammering pleas for mercy, he mused, and rushed to jot down the line in the margins of the trial records lest he forget before he returned to his manuscript.

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup

Hey, folks! Part II of Hour of the Wolf is done and dusted and ready to go up Monday morning. But to tide you over until then, here’s some Tumblrs:

• Why the Tyrells’ plan wasn’t so crazy.
• Why did Renly wait?
• Medieval options for birth control.
• Why didn’t monarchs in the Wars of the Roses write their enemies out of the lists of monarchs? (They did.)
• Did medieval soldiers wear livery cloaks?
• Does Jaime have feelings for Brienne?
• Some thoughts on the Battle of the Bastards:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Domestic impacts of the Crusades.
• Why did the Freys send so many North?
• Roose’s marriage to Walda.

The Hour of the Wolf, Part I

credit to Titch-IX

Even with the shutters firmly bolted against the howling winter wind, an insistent draft pushed its way through and set the candles to guttering. Munkun snatched up the fresh vellum sheet from his desk to spare the creamy white expanse from spatters of wax, and once again resented the fact that the pressures of office had forced him to confine his writing to the dark hours of the night. At this rate, I’ll be as blind as poor Tyland, he thought, my eyes burned out by over-much squinting. Granted, he rarely slept more than an hour or two a night these days, but writing by candle-light put unnecessary strain on his eyes and he would have much preferred to work by the light of day.

Unfortunately, Munkun’s days were entirely consumed with trying to hold Westeros together with parchment and ink, while the lords of the realm – the ones who are still currently breathing, he amended – busied themselves with the next civil war. The job of the Grand Maester of the Citadel ought to be dispense learned advice to the King of Westeros, but in the absence of anyone who cared, the stewards, cooks, pursers, and reeves had turned to him for help, and soon he found himself sending ravens to Highgarden begging for grain shipments and answering the petitions of knight’s widows and not having an hour of daylight left for the great work he was eager to begin.

Eying the candles warily, he dipped his quill in the ink jar, stirring it around a bit to stop the ink from sludging up from the cold, and began to write:

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup, Part II

Hey folks! With logistics for my book event out of the way, I can now spend a bit more time writing. And in an attempt to motivate myself out of my block on Druon Part II, I’ve decided to try my hand at an honest-to-gods fanfic, a short one-shot describing the Hour of the Wolf from the POV of Grand Maester Munkun. So look for that in a bit.

In the mean-time, let’s burn off the last of the Tumblr backlog:

ASOIAF:

• Squire Dalbridge’s backstory.
• Westerosi punishments for lèse-majesté.
• Why timing matters, re: Sansa revealing her identity to Bronze Yohn. 
• Clearing up some points re: Renly absolutely knowing about the incest.
  • Part II
• How did Renly figure it out?
• Brienne as Don Quixote.
• Thoughts on marketing yourself as a maester, how the Citadel charges fees, etc.:
  • Part I
  • Part II
  • Part III
• Do the entire families of a Hand move to King’s Landing?
• What if Jaime had competed at Harrenhal?
• Dornish arms and armor.
• Would Robert have set Margaery aside after bedding her?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Venture Bros Podcast, Season 7 Episode 9.
• Godscast, Episode 7.
• Godscast, Episode 8.
• Which ASOIAF characters would the Justice League stan for?

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly(ish) Roundup, Part I

Hey folks! With Jaime IV done, I’m a bit at loose ends – I need to do Druon Part II, but I’m not really feeling it, so I might go ahead with Dunk & Egg Part I or more ASOS chapters – but in the mean-time, we’ve gone some tumblrs:

ASOIAF:

• Why are the Arryns considered to be “of pure Andal stock”? 
• Did Randyll Tarly have the right to disinherit his oldest son? 
• Would Stannis sacrifice Shireen for Winterfell? No.
• Edward of Lancaster and Joffrey.
• Did Jorah Mormont sell slaves more than once?
• When did paganism end in Western Europe?
• Do the Royces follow the Old Gods?
• What if Cersei was infertile?
• Why didn’t Robb send ravens to tell the North to recapture Moat Cailin?
  • Part II
• How often did commoners move from place to place in the Middle Ages?
  • Part II
• How important are wills in succession fights?
• Abduction as a trope of chivalric romance.

Non-ASOIAF:

• Thoughts on the Punisher:
  • Part I
  • Part II
  • Part III
• Venture Brothers Podcast, Season 7 Episode 8
• Thoughts on Morbius, the Living Vampire. 

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Jaime IV, ASOS

“They took my sword hand. Was that all I was, a sword hand?”

Synopsis: Jaime tries to die, but decides to live instead.

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.

Quick Analysis of Fire and Blood Excerpt

Big news for fans of ASOIAF lore: GRRM has released an excerpt from the upcoming Fire & Blood Volume I, which covers Queen Alysanne’s visit to the North.

There’s some really interesting new material here, which I think bodes well for Fire & Blood as a valuable addition to the broader corpus of lore about the world of ice and fire.

RFTIT Tumblr Weeklyish Roundup

Hey everyone! Now that Jon IV is done, time to catch up on some Tumblr stuff:

ASOIAF:

• Why didn’t Varys and Pycelle know about the wildfire plot?
  •  Part II
• Why didn’t anyone know about Littlefinger’s conspiracy?
• Why did Asha want the Stoney Shore?
• Where did the Yunkish army come from?
• How the Versailles strategy worked.
  • Part II
  • Part III
• A long discussion about the six kings of Dorne.
• How do we think about historical crises?
• Why were coffee houses scandalous?
• Can women inherit landed knightship?
• Why I put canals in Economic Development plans.
• Would the Iron Bank invest in slavery?
• Why did R’hllor invest Thoros with power?
• Where did the word “Westeros” come from?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Best Victor Von Doom moments.
  • Part II
• Venture Brothers Podcast, Season 7 Episode 4.
• Venture Brothers Podcast, Season 7 Episode 5.
• Venture Brothers Podcast, Season 7 Episode 6.
• Venture Brothers Podcast, Season 7 Episode 7.
• Godscast, Episode 4.
• Thoughts on the Captain Marvel trailer.
• Thoughts on J. Jonah Jameson.
• Thoughts on Spider-Gwen. 

 

 

 

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Jon IV, ASOS

“In the Seven Kingdoms it was said that the Wall marked the end of the world. That is true for them as well. It was all in where you stood.”

Synopsis: Jon Snow and Ygritte climb the Wall.

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.