waitingforwinterwinds

[waitingforwinterwinds]

PSA

hot ovens are dangerous, wear mitts.

we will not be talking about it, I am one upset away from taking a vacation from everything.

I might take a vacation anyway. I feel like I never have time for things anymore. When did I last write something for me for fun? Something that wasn't this blog? When did I last watch a new show without watching a clock to make sure I still had time for the chapter review? When was the last time I slept through the night until I was done sleeping?

#notes from the reader

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 30 JON IV (pages 406-413)

Several teams climb the Wall, as Jon watches on, and some of them even make it to the top.

-

Here, thought the top of the Wall loomed eight hundred feet above the forest floor, a good third of that height was earth and stone rather than ice; the slope was too steep for their horses, almost as difficult a scramble as the Fist of the First Men, but still vastly easier to ascend than the sheer vertical face of the Wall itself.

I'm just. imagining half way up the climb, Jon hears something odd, looks over, and there's just a mountain goat licking the ice wall, just, doing that gravity defying bs toehold thing mountain goats do.

Also: insert appropriate joke about horses from Skyrim here.

In the Seven kingdoms it was said it marked the end of the world. That's true for them as well. It was all in where you stood. And where do I stand? Jon did not know.

Ain't that a huge metaphor for so much of this series and fandom. matters of perspective.

Jon's having his own identity stuff, on the heels of Sansa and Arya facing a loss of identity in different ways, here's Jon facing what this undercover mission has done to him, and who he wants to be. It makes me want to bully Robb a little bit, ngl.

... make shift climbing gear!

Jon was watching them inch along when he heard the sound - a sudden crack that seemed to roll along the ice, followed by a shout of alarm. And then the air was full of shards and shrieks and falling men, as a sheet of ice a foot thick and fifty feet square broke off from the Wall and came tumbling, crumbling, rumbling, sweeping all before it. Even down at the foot of the ridge, some chunks came spinning through the trees and rolling down the slope. Jon grabbed Ygritte and pulled her down to shield her, and one of the Thenns was struck in the face by a chunk that broke his nose. And when they looked up Jarl and his team were gone. Men, ropes, stakes, all gone; nothing remained above six hundred feet. There was a wound in the Wall where the climbers had clung half a heartbeat before, the ice withing as smooth and white as polished marble and shining in the sun. Far far below there was a faint red smear where someone had smashed against a frozen pinnace. The Wall defends itself, Jon thought as he pulled Ygritte back to her feet.

Holy shit.

So in the show, Jon, Ygritte and Tormund are all part of the climbing team, and it's blizzard weather. Jon and Ygritte are the bottom two of a four man tether with Tormund up the top when the crack happens and wipes out the NPCs, Jon has to bravely swing to the side to catch the ledge before some dickhead cuts the rope dropping both Jon and Ygritte to their deaths.

The book scene is far more impactful, just imo. D&D really want Jon to be the Big Action Hero, and he's just, he's not? D&D genuine do not understand what genre the books are, or they didn't care and they just wanted to make adventure mans in pseudo magical medieval times.

... also if you want to make this less emotionally tragic: Pinnace, noun (geology): an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. Pinnace, noun: a small boat carried on a large ship, used to carry goods and people from the ship to the shore.

The dead were burning when Grigg the Goat reached the top of the Wall. By the time Errok's four joined them, nothing remained of Jarl and his team but bone and ash. The sun had begun to sink by then, so the climbers wasted little time. They unwound the long coils of hemp they'd had looped around their chests, tied them all together, and tossed down one end. The thought of trying to climb five hundred feet up that rope filled Jon with dread, but Mance had planned better than that. The raiders Jarl had left below uncasked a huge ladder, with rungs of woven hemp as thick as a man's arm, and tied it to the climber's rope. Errok and Grigg and their men grunted and heaved, pulled it up, staked it to the top, then lowered the rope again to haul up a second ladder. There were five altogether.

That's genius, much smarter than having everyone try to climb a single rope or the Wall itself. Also lends itself to impress just how large the raiding party is, versus what D&D gave us. They really tended to do everything smaller except the number of naked women and swear words. and blood pack allowance.

"Can you feel how cold it is?" "It's made of ice," Jon pointed out. "You know nothing, Jon Snow. This wall is made o' blood." ... "Don't be frightened." He tried to put his arm around her. Ygritte slammed the heel of her hand into his chest, so hard it stung, even through the layers of wool, mail, and boiled leather. "I wasn't frightened. You know nothing, Jon Snow."

YKN,JS = 🥛🥛

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #jon snow #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 29 ARYA V (pages 395-405)

Arya and co. continue to chase after Beric Dondarrion. The search lands them in a town where her father and Robert Baratheon fought their war years ago, and are faced with more crimes of the current war before spending the night in a brothel.

-

... It's horrific, but I like how we start with a romanticized retelling of Ned and Bobby B's fight, and then we get smacked in the face with what's going on now and you have to sit there and realise: the horrific shit that's happening now almost certainly happened then, but the nitty-gritty never makes it to the retelling, it's all sanitized propaganda.

... oh that's fucked up. Leaving people in cages to die of thirst. What they did to be put in there wasn't something forgivable, but damn, kill them clean.

Revenge is making monsters out of men and women, out of victims. But what else can they do? If they could fight they would have died fighting already.

Don't leave men like that to linger though, if they deserve death kill them, don't drag it out. Best case scenario is a lingering death, worst case someone gets them out and the call for revenge of their own.

... I am going to mention that it is a little interesting, in terms of Arya's personal arc, that she used/thought valar morghulis like a comment or prayer at their death, but in this instance at least, it's associated with a mercy killing (as well as judicial execution).

... sorry, hang on, should I know who this Mad Huntsman is? Is he one of Beric's crew or... I'll find out at some point, don't worry.

When she looked, she saw more serving wenches than any inn could want, and most of them young and comely.

This is a brothel, isn't it?

The girl did have hair like the old king's, Arya thought; a great thick mop of it, as black as coal. That doesn't mean anything, though. Gendry has the same kind of hair too. lots of people have black hair.

*looks at the camera like we're on The Office*

You know who doesn't have black hair though...

Ha! Gendry just avoided potential accidental incest. Good job buddy!

...I know it's not the most appropriate, but all these bastards of Bobby B's... I'm not sure how the crown got so in debt, cause it sure as shit wasn't from paying child support. ahem. sorry.

For half a heartbeat, she forgot who she was supposed to be. She wasn't any peach, but she couldn't be Arya Stark either, not here with some smelly drunk she didn't know.

oohhh, sense of identity's a it wibbly, and that's probably only partly the alcohol.

Gendry with the save! and the anger about his crush on her because of his inferiority complex that he's taking out on her, no, stahp, you were doing well at being a good man. don't nice guy this shit. deep breath, you'll be okay!

She liked to mix up the order of the names sometimes. It helped her remember who they were and what they'd done.

That's an interesting tidbit and a good memory trick. It might also be so GRRM doesn't have to remember which order he had them down in every time.

actually, that reminds me of a copaganda show I watched once, where the cop tricked a suspect into revealing they were lying by getting them to recite their alibi backwards. just reverse the order of events and start at the end of the night, because real memories are tied together with a flow, cause/effect or something, you can generally go forwards or backwards from one, so remembering real events backwards is not much harder than remembering them forwards, but remembering false events is harder, because they aren't real memories, it's just a list you learn and memories, like how saying the alphabet backwards is really tricky until you actually start learning it backwards.

Arya mixing up the list keeps it from being just a list.

...And the Mad Huntsman arrives. You know, the sheer number of dogs and the savage behaviour from those dogs, I kind of thought "oh shit, it's Ramsay!"

But no, timelines, he wouldn't have made it down from the sacking of Winterfell yet, even if he was heading south in the aftermath instead of dicking about the north or heading back to shitstain manor the Dreadfort.

Who does he have from team Lannister though? (I'll find out.)

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #arya stark #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 28 SANSA III (pages 382-394)

Sansa attends a surprise wedding, hers, and Tyrion makes sure to fill up on some respect women juice before bedtime.

-

She brought a dozen of the queen's favourite scents as well. Sansa chose a sharp sweet fragrance with a hint of lemon in it under the smell of flowers.

lemon = 🥛

- the gown itself was ivory samite and cloth of silver. ... "- The moonstones Joffrey gave her."

You know this is the second ivory dress Cersei has given her. Quick, pretend I said something observant and profound about Sansa being dressed in garments from her abusers representing previous harm and betrayals.

(The dress back then was stained by a blood orange by Arya, but I was thinking more specifically about how Sansa had had to get the dress dyed black to hide the stain and wore it to beg for a mercy which would never come.)

(Also: interesting choice by D&D to make the wedding dress golden, given there are mentions of the colours which are present in Sansa's maiden's cloak being her father's colours, and since I doubt 'white weddings' are much a thing in Westeros, they're fairly recent in global society, I would assume the bride's dress is supposed to reflect her maiden house to some degree.)

... I wonder what Cersei's motive was for mentioning it then. "Come along now, the septon is waiting. And the wedding guests as well."

Did she think it was a mercy, to tell Sansa then, to let her cry and fear and scream before composing herself for the aisle like Cersei probably did before her wedding? Or did she do it so Sansa would spend the entire trip dreading what was to come? Did she even think about it all?

The king was resplendent in crimson and gold, his crown on his head. "I'm your father today," he announced. "You're not," she flared. "You'll never be." His face darkened.

ohhh, she snapped. Joffrey will remember that. On the one hand: I do not care for Tyrion as Sansa's husband, it has its very glaring and obvious problems, but on the other hand, he does provide her some protection. not enough for her to slap Joffrey in the face in public and get away with it, but a little breathing room at least. (Which will be good because Sansa has been chaffing at the bit more and more as time wears on.)

Tyrion wore a doublet of black velvet covered with golden scroll-work, thigh-high boots that added three inches to his height, a chain of rubies and lions' heads.

Tyrion is wearing platforms, you cannot convince me otherwise.

Rubies = 🥛

Should I tell him he is handsome? He'll think me a fool or a liar.

Sansa stark is garment-sexual confirmed. She doesn't want boys or girls, she wants a life time pass to Fashion Week in every country.

Sorry, the fact that she thinks "he'll think me a fool" not "he'll know me for a fool" or something similar just gives me the vibes that she would have been sincere, and given her preoccupation with clothing aesthetics at times, I think she'd mean he looks handsome in that outfit/that outfit looks handsome on him... yeah, Sansa/Fashion is the OTP right now.

"- Else, I would have come to you sooner, as I wished."

Hmmm, I feel like the change in the show where he did go to her sooner was for "Tyrion's just such a swell guy, see?" brownie points. (But possibly also, because I feel like there was a line that said Sansa embroidered her gown in the show? So she would have needed the time for it, and the reason to embroider a lion head... Character buffing? or an excuse to do their own wardrobe thing? hmmmm...)

As father of the realm, Joffrey took the place of Lord Eddard Stark. Sansa stood stiff as a lance and his hands came over her shoulders to fumble with the clasp of her cloak. One of them brushed her breast and lingered to give it a little squeeze.

*breaks down the sept door, breaks Joffrey's hand with a steel chair, kicks some fools down some stairs and whisks Sansa away to enjoy lemon cakes, fashion weeks and light hearted magical girl shenanigans with respectful love interests of appropriate age.*

The bride's cloak he held was huge and heavy, crimson velvet richly worked with lions and bordered with gold satin and rubies.

rubies = 🥛

She felt another tug on her skirt, more insistent. I won't. Why should I spare his feelings, when no one cares about mine? ... When Sansa turned, the little man was gazing up at her, his mouth tight, his face as red as her cloak. Suddenly, she was ashamed of her stubbornness. She smoothed her skirts and knelt in front of him, so their heads were on the same level.

Sansa has a good point, (almost) no one cares about her or her feelings, so lashing out in the small ways like this is understandable, but that's how victims become the villains, the perpetuation of the cycle of violence. "I was hurt, and no one saved me. Why shouldn't I hurt others, why should I help them?"

This was a small act, and once Sansa saw the damage she did feel bad about it, but this cruelty isn't who she is and she needs to remember that or she'll be as quick to fall off her path as someone else we could mention specifically from the show whose path to ruination has been clearly laid out and seen... it's basically everyone who used cruelty to get what they want, let's not kid ourselves.

Also, and this is important but nitpicky: Sansa wasn't just humiliating Tyrion with that stubbornness. This marriage has bound them together, what reflects on one reflects on the other until they are unbound. (Also he's the one who can decide whether or not to enter for a "not as much of a douchebag as you could have been" award)

... and dropped like yesterday's news by the Tyrells now that they can't use her for their own ends.

... if only Willas wasn't so old, he sounds like a decent enough bloke.

"Lady Tysha." His mouth twisted. "Of House Silverfist. Their arms have one gold coin and a hundred silver, upon a bloody sheet. -"

That's fucked up. Whether true or he's making it up, that's fucked up. And I feel like he'd have to be making it up, House Silverfist, because how would Tysha have a House, even with a single gold and a hundred silver? Can you by Lordships in Westeros? But also Sansa's not a high enough friendship level to unlock that part of the tragic backstory, and that's hardly something she'd need to hear on her own wedding night.

He is as frightened as I am, Sansa realized. Perhaps that should have made her feel more kindly toward him, but it did not. all she felt was pity, and pity was death to desire. He was looking at her, waiting for her to say something, but all her words had withered. She could only stand there trembling.

... *sigh* I'm going to beat Tywin Lannister to death, with his own skull. And if he's (un)lucky, he might even have enough time and breath to scream "this doesn't seem physically possible" before he croaks.

...

I hereby award this medal of "Not As Much of a Douchebag as you Could Have Been" award to Tyrion, for promising to Not Commit Marital Rape, and sticking by that even though he didn't really like that answer.

(Sorry, Tyrion, but it sounded like you had a hard on, so it's kinda hard to judge whether that was a "how dare she reject my kindness" flinch of Dudebro or a "I truly will never be loved" flinch of self-loathing/pity.)

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #sansa stark #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 27 DAENERYS III (pages 367-381)

Dany makes a deal with the slave masters of Astapor before deciding they do not spark joy.

-

Dany sipped tart persimmon wine from a tall silver flute. ... Dany let them argue, sipping the tart persimmon wine and trying to keep her face blank and ignorant.

GRRM needs y'all to know that Dany is sipping the tart persimmon wine. Sorry, I don't know why that's something that jumped out at me, just the specific word repetition I think.

Dany knew what she must do now, though the taste of it was so bitter even the persimmon wine could not cleanse the taste of it from her month. She had considered long and hard and found no other way. It is my only choice. "Give me all," she said, "and you may have a dragon."

Ha! typo, I think GRRM meant "mouth" not "month." But ohhh, persimmon wine coming into play as a gauge, so that's why he needed us to know it was tart.

"The Unsullied will learn your savage tongue quick enough," added Kraznys mo Nakolz, when all the arrangements had been made, "but until such tie you will need a slave to speak to them. Take this one as our gift to you, a token of a bargain well struck." "I shall," said Dany.

Hold up. *toddles off to check the show version of this scene*

Oh. That's interesting.

In the book, Dany's been keeping in mind that she wants all the Unsullied, her internal dialogue even flat out tells us she's prepared to give anything for them from the get go, this is a big important meeting and Dany has all the show ready to go, she's got the fancy titty-out dress, the entourage, she has a plan, no hold bar she's going for it even if she really doesn't want to, she won't be dissuaded, can't risk anyone talking her out of this, possibly because she does still want someone to.

Show Dany... it's a small meeting, feels like a backroom deal rather than something important, and it's not only Barristan but Jorah who tries to talk her out of the dragon plan, more than that Dany is distracted by young slaves who watch from on high and has a moment of seeming connection with one of them before Dany demands Missandei as a token of a deal well struck.

Book Dany already knows what outcome she's after, Missandei is a gift to her, show Dany is being framed as someone who's stubborn but mildly flailing in the moment to find a solution, she's also being presented as having empathy for the slaves around her and I feel like they were trying to frame Dany taking Missandei as attempting to save her.

It's so weird how D&D (the asshats, not the fun tabletop game that just inspired a really fun movie) treat Dany. She has her In Charge moments in the book, and the way D&D try to Girl Boss her, you'd think they would embrace them as they happen, but they don't. They play them down and make up other moments for her which bring a completely different vibe.

"Missandei is no longer a slave. I free you, from this instant. (...) But you may leave my service whenever you choose, if you have a father or mother you would sooner return to." "This one will stay," the girl said. "This one... I... there is no place for me to go. This... I will serve you, gladly."

That does seem to be a common theme in the slaves Dany frees.

"Valar morghulis," said Missandei, in High Valyrian. "All men must die," Dany agreed, "but not for a long while, we may pray."

"But we are not men."

You're also not Éowyn. (Who by the way got her own girlboss upgrade in the Lord of the Rings films, because 'no man can kill a ringwraith' falls into the same prophetic word play as 'no man of woman born' and it helps cover a plot hole, which is that Merry was supposed to have a barrow-blade which was made specifically for fighting dark magical shit.)

Anyway, this falls into that same weird thing D&D do, cause book Dany is again acknowledging that she has limits in a fashion, and saying (metaphorically) that she won't let that stop her until it stops her, and D&D gave it up for cheap girlboss. (Don't get me wrong, the line slaps hard, but in comparison, it just furthers that pileup of weird changes between book Dany and show Dany.)

"- What is it? Why do you care?" "This one does not... I... Your Grace..." "Tell me." The girl lowered her eyes. "Three of them were my brothers once, Your grace."

Oh holy shit. Is that going to be a subplot? could you imagine that subplot??? ... oh no, I've made myself sad. (Also, "fun" fact, show Missandei says "no family living" in the show, these boys are never mentioned.)

"I was alone for a long time, Jorah. All alone but for my brother. I was such a small scared thing. Viserys should have protected me, but instead he hurt me and scared me worse. He shouldn't have done that. He wasn't just my brother, her was my king. Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?" "Some kings make themselves. Robert did." "He was no true king," Dany said scornfully. "He did no justice. Justice... that's what kings are for."

Where the hell was this in the show? The trauma, the trauma recovery, the self determination, the idealization? The depth and complexity of character? Buffed off for cheap girlbossing.

and it was cheap.

D&D suck at their job = 🥛

... urgh, Jorah's being gross again.

That night she dreamt she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent.

armoured in ice you say?

vision or emotional/mental buffering = 🥛

I'm just saying, this could be her processing her progress, limited though it is in the moment, manifesting as an idea of her doing what her much lauded oldest brother couldn't, but the fact they're armoured in ice like an Other makes me wonder.

... omg Quiathe used speakerphone, it was very alarming! did she dreamwalk or astral project or is she just a ghost now?

ngl, "to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow." does say "head to Asshai-by-the-shadow" even more when I remember it's where R'hllor's cult lives. You know, Melisandre's boss, the Lord of Light?

If I look back I am lost, Dany told herself the next morning as she entered Astapor through the harbor gates.

iilbial = 🥛

and Dany's dressed to the nines in her warrior regalia, we're being reminded of how the Undying and the Qartheen fucked around and found out in preparation for what's about to go down.

... I feel like it says a lot about Astaporian society that their Plaza of Pride isn't big enough to host the entire Unsullied, by their Plaza of Punishment is.

Dany handed the slaver the end of Drogon's chain. In return he presented her with the whip. The handle was black dragonbone, elaborately carved and inlaid with gold.

dragonbone =🥛

... why twelve? does that include twelve, or nah? why not thirteen? is there some ceremony of manhood at thirteen? ... I hope the Unsullied are better at telling people's ages than I am.

Also just to clarify: does every freeborn man in Astapor own slaves? cause I remember, at the start of this chapter Dany made specific mention that tokar were garments freeborn folk wore but the way she's laying orders here "every man who wears a tokar or holds a whip" makes it sound like tokars are a symbol of slave owners, so does every freeborn man own slaves, or are the few non-slave owners an acceptable sacrifice as far as Dany's concerned.

(also, do women not wear tokar or are lady slave owners exempt?)

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #daenerys targeryan #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

Surprise, not dead!

So here's what's been happening: the day after my last post was a super heavy workload day for me and when I got home, I was kinda busy, and I thought to myself "I'll take a quick five minutes to just jot down some meta on the Ygritte/Jon Snow relationship regarding the sexual abuse, voided consent and the juxtapose of what I think was GRRM's intent versus what he actually wrote" because Rouka's right, that relationship is pretty fucked up in actuality, and that's not something I've been addressing (directly if at all*) in my read throughs for a couple of reasons, but I do kinda want to have a chat about it at some point. ("chat" I mean rambling thought train.)

(*like, to the point I think I've accidentally given an impression that I feel one way rather than another on the matter actually? maybe? That's gonna be awkward if true.)

several distractions, hours and pages later I have an incoherent mess between key points, that clearly needs to be put aside for a few days at the very least and several rounds of editing, so I save it, look over at the clock and think "how the fudge ducking hell is it so far after midnight???"

So naturally I think "it's fiiiiine, I'll do Dany's chapter in the morning and be back on schedule for evening."

More fool me.

The eagle eyed amongst my regulars might be able to tell you I have a weakness against psychic damage.

I'm prone to headaches.

It's actually a little worse than that: I'm genetically predisposed to migraines that send me blind. (Kind of a miracle this hasn't cropped up to this degree before now during the project.)

So I've been working on limited vision the past few days; that's stabilized and I'm back to my normal field of vision, but my brain does still feel incredibly bruised, and like someone's taking a sledgehammer to a pickax lodged in my grey matter if I step too enthusiastically.

I'm hoping to be back to the read through tomorrow, but we'll have to see.

The meta piece, if I end up deciding to go ahead with that one, will probably be a few days after Ygritte dies (omg spoilers) and if it does happen, after speaking with their agents, Steel Chair has agreed to be on hand for a special guest appearance.

And no, the fandom is not allowed to weaponise feminism on this one. (I've been in the female character tags, I know some of y'all will take any excuse whether you actually like a lady or not.)

Anyway, painkillers, hydration, and bed for me.

Goodnight~

#after hours rambles #a song of ice packs and ibuprofen #reader in the margins

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 26 JON III (pages 355-366)

"You know nothing, Jon Snow." - Ygritte, Mother of Memes

Jon and the wildlings prepare to cross the wall, Ygritte finds a cave with secret tunnels galore and lore.

The Reader thinks they should be allowed to take certain 'romantic tropes' away from some authors, and warns drinking game players to switch to non-alcoholics again. I know one thing, Jon Snow: alcohol poisoning is bad for you.

-

... Ygritte reconfirming that Jon basically wildling proposed to her, even accidentally and I spent five minutes staring into space on a mental tangent. Modern AU, the boys are at a pub, and Sam is nervous about proposing to Gilly, and Jon's not being much help, he's a few beers in and his advice is all "just do it." Sam's all "but how???" So Jon gets up, "like this," he says, steps over to a young lady nearby, grabs her attention, drops to his knees and proposes to her. She pauses, then "oh my gosh yes!" And the entire pub breaks into cheers. Someone was filming unrelated tiktok shit and the clip of the "proposal" goes viral. Meanwhile, Ygritte is introducing herself to Jon and joining his table because there's a bloke she's trying to avoid lurking elsewhere in the pub. Shenanigans, misunderstanding, and friendships ensue. Several years later, Jon proposes in the same pub but for realsies. Sam managed to propose to Gilly by accident while he was attempting to explain the Jon/Ygritte proposal that has lead to their fake-dating rom-com.

Sorry, super tired tonight. Focusing, Let's Go!

(Legit though, Book!Ygritte ignoring Jon's clear attempts to shut that shit down in the previous chapter really do colour this relationship in a bad light, unfortunately, between the canon accidental proposal and the sheer number of times I've seen this same/similar set up in someone chasing someone else to the point of stalking and having it framed as romantic by the narrative, especially by male writers who seem to have a secret to desire to be considered that desirable no matter how much of a piece of trash they are or how often they (their character) reject affection it is still offered to them (their character), to (by proxy) live out the fantasy of someone wanting them no matter how they behave because they can't just contextualise being desired in a normal or healthy way... where was I going with this? ... oh right: I've seen this relationship redflag played for laughs so often it's become background noise which is perhaps the most terrifying thing about it as a recurring trope.)

... Focusing for realsies, Let's Go!

I have no choice, he'd told himself the first time, when she slipped beneath his sleeping skins. ... A part, he tried to remind himself afterward. I'm playing a part.

yeah, see, the problem with written word is that there's only so much context regarding tone.

I could honestly read this internal dialogue as either "Jon's trying to cope with being coerced into sex he genuinely didn't want, attempting to justify and rationalise what happened so he doesn't have to face the idea that he was raped" or "Jon's looking for excuses to justify doing it, because he genuinely wanted to, but he didn't want to admit that he had abandoned his oaths so readily when he's spent so much of his life convinced he wouldn't be swayed by sexual interest."

Cause on the one hand: this series doesn't shy away from various form of sexual abuse, but on the other hand, I have way too often seen this type of scenario written in basically the same way, and the author thinking it is genuinely healthy and romantic.

Which one did GRRM mean? I don't know and it bothers me.

... Ah, and there's "you know nothing Jon Snow" back for sex joke meme purposes.

...teenage hormones, the true foe of the Stark household.

... Arson Iceaxe sounds like the online handle of a 12 year old edgelord.

... and meme'd again. Is this the chapter where GRRM subconsciously sensed "you know nothing, Jon Snow" would one day become a meme? should I add it to the drinking game list, do you think? things I add to the list seem to bugger off more quickly once they're on... except for Lemons in that one Arya chapter... (I've collated the list at the bottom of the post.)

"- There are hundreds o' caves in these hills, and deep down they all connect. There's even a way under your wall. Gorne's way."

Oh? And will that be playing a role at a later date, or is this just more flavour text?

"The way under the Wall was lost as well?" "Some have searched for it. The that go too deep find Gendel's children, and Gendel's children are always hungry. (...) There's naught to east in the dark but flesh."

Cave cannibals. awesome. I think I saw that episode of Supernatural. Oh but legit, Cave Cannibals would be so terrifying. Like that movie, The Descent? I think it was called.

🎶Secret Tunnel🎶Secret Tunnel🎶Under the ice Wall🎶secret secret secret secret tunnel!🎶 uhhh, then it goes... uhmmm... oh right 🎶AND DIEEEEEEE🎶

"He's of my village. You know nothing, Jon Snow. A true man steals a woman from afar, t' strengthen the clan. Women who bed brothers or fathers or clan kin offend the gods, and are cursed with weak and sickly children. Even monsters."

Wildlings and old gods not into incest, and understand the correlation between inbreeding and the genetic degradation caused by inbreeding.

Yet more people smarter than Cersei and Jaime.

His guilt came back afterward, but weaker than before. If this is so wrong, he wondered, why did the gods make it feel so good?

I have a sinking feeling, I know which interpretation GRRM was going for.

*casually kicks GRRM out a window onto a safety net below* You live only because we still await the Winds of Winter.

Well, at least Jon feels some shame over breaking his oaths. Unlike Robb.

Drinking Meme Game:

"-There now, there now, yes, sweet, sweet. You know nothing, Jon Snow, but I can show you. -" ... "A dead end?" "You know nothing, Jon Snow, It went on and on and on. -" ... "- He died as well." "You know nothing, Jon Snow. Gendel did not die. -" ... "You're older than me." "Aye, and wiser. You know nothing, Jon Snow." ... "If you want to look, you have to show. You know nothing, Jon Snow." ... "You know nothing, Jon Snow. Noth-oh. Oh. OHHH." ... "He's of my village. You know nothing, Jon Snow. A true man steals a woman from afar, t' strengthen the clan. -" ... "- I thought you'd know to pluck me then for certain, but you didn't. You know nothing, Jon Snow." She gave him a shy smile. "You might be learning some, though."

You know nothing, Jon Snow = 8 x 🧋

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #jon snow #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 25 DAVOS III (pages 343-354)

Davos recovers in the prison cells of Dragonstone, has a concerning chat with Melisandre, and then gets some gossip from Stannis's newly fired Hand.

-

The cell was warmer than any cell had a right to be.

??? Oh shit, right, Davos got arrested (his) last chapter. The downside of a chapter a day reading, you kinda forget stuff... but then again, some folks forget stuff between chapters even when they devour a 500 page book in like two hours.

But Davos could not complain of chill. The smooth stony passages beneath the great mass of Dragonstone were always warm, and Davos had often heard it grew warmer the further down one went.

That makes sense if there's still active magma zones under Dragonstone. Given the presence of obsidian the area was volcanic, rather than purely tectonic, in origin.

Underground gets pretty warm if you dig far enough, deepest artificial point (deepest hole humans have dug) is like, 12 Km deep, but they had to tap out because the heat was turning the ground basically liquid, any further and they might as well have been digging magma. There's one site, iirc, where humans were digging by hand, not remote machinery, and they had to abandon the site because the heat was so intense. Might have even been the same site pre-machinery, idk.

I will not linger long, he remembered thinking. I will die soon, here in the dark.

There's some kind of irony, I think, in Davos going from surviving horrible condition in the ocean, no protection from the sky, to underground and roasting. Water&Air > Fire&Earth

... nicest prison stay anyone has had in the series thus far... are we sure he's under arrest and not under house arrest so the heat can drive the chill from his bones? Oh, right, the cell is rat infested an kinda nasty, so he's definitely under-arrest arrest.

Oh hi Melisandre.

"The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. -"

TNiDaFoT = 🥛

"- Against him stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoke, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, God of Night and Terror. -"

So legit the Night King? Or is the Night King just his Champion?

The great ruby at her throat seemed to pulse with its own radiance.

ruby = 🥛

... So she might have been able to firebend wild fire? Cool Beans. Unfortunate she wasn't there, but politics.

... And Davos is back to questioning gods, and tired of it all. I do like that GRRM purposefully leaves it vague on what is an isn't real with the gods. are they gods or just something powerful, are they real or just built from faith and coincidence. It makes the world feel more real in a lowkey magic way, cause yes there's magic and dragons, but the Big Questions are still something people can only answer for themselves.

"- the red woman burnt Lord Sunglass, and Lord Bar Emmon is fifteen, -"

I just misread that as "and Lord Lemonbar is fifteen." I might be in need of snacks...

... Lord Alester Florent is not that bright, is he?

"He has no choice." "You are wrong, my lord. He can choose to die a king." "And us with him? Is that what you desire, Onion Knight?" "No. But I am the king's man, and I will make no peace without his leave." Lord Alester stared at him helplessly for a long moment, and then began to weep.

Davos. Is just. the most Ride Or Die person in the entirety of Westeros, and Stannis doesn't deserve him.

poor Alester. But Davos is right, Alester really stepped over the line. Unfortunate truth or not, the Hand of the King is a glorifies secretary, not the king themselves, something as big as surrender during war times? that's a King's Choice Only kinda deal, and Stannis... well, Stannis is Stannis.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #davos seaworth #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 24 BRAN II (pages 331-343)

Bran's northern roadtrip team walks and walks and walks, shares a cave with a kindly stranger to get out of the rain, and Meera retells the story of how their dads met.

The Reader has a brain fail and experiences an entirely new level of Crack.

-

Bran made a face at her. "But you just said you hated them." "Why can't it be both?" Meera reached up to pinch his nose. "Because they're different," he insisted. "Like night and day, or ice and fire." "If ice can burn," said Jojen in his solemn voice, "then love and hate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land is one." "One," his sister agreed, "but over wrinkled."

Meera understands how tectonics > mountains.

Oh my gosh they sound tired-drunk. You know, when you go hiking and or on long roadtrips, or you just stay up all night for sleep overs, and you hit that point where you're just so tired you might as well be drunk? yeah, that.

"-or ice and fire." "If ice can burn," oh hey sentences that sound strangely like foreshadowing.

Some days it rained, some days were windy, and once they were caught in a sleet storm so fierce that even Hodor bellowed in dismay. On the clear days, it often seemed as if they were the only living things in all the world.

The north is Australia confirmed. There were mentions in the early GoT chapters, the north is as big as the other six kingdoms combined, but with a much smaller populace. All the talk of isolation, but it's never really enough to prepare the mind for the sheer emptiness of it all.

You go on a roadtrip here, and five minutes out of a city you might not see another car for hours, between the cities and the blink-and-miss-it-towns and the farmlands it's just. The apocalypse could have happened and you wouldn't know the difference.

His father's mother's mother had been a Flint of the mountains. Old Nan once said that it was her blood in him that made Bran such a fool for climbing before his fall. She had died years and years and years before he was born, though, even before his father had been born.

I misread that, and skipped the doubling at 'mother's mother' so I thought she was Bran's grandmother for a second and... "Ned's mother died before he was born? that's a feat. ...!!! the Prophecy!!!!"

(The prophecy in this train of thought was the fun old "no man born of woman" that gets easily circumvented by C-sections and gender shenanigans and such.)

"Some nights I dream of me mother that I buried nine years past," the man said, "but when I wake, she's not come back to us." "There are dreams and dreams, my lord." "Hodor," said Hodor.

... why in the hells did I read that Hodor narration in the voice of the guy who narrated Noddy? ...omg. OMG!!! An audio book, with the full voice cast, not just one person reading the book, but a full audio drama BUT all the narration is read by someone who thinks they're narrating for a kids show. the tonal whiplash alone could kill a man. Oh no. Oh no. I can hear it in my head. 😂🤣 the crack is over nine-thousand. it's so beautiful.

...

...

...

okay, I think I'm okay now. Sorry for that.

"You could tell one," said Bran. "While we walked. Hodor likes stories about knights. I do, too." "There are no knights in the Neck," said Jojen. "Above the water," his sister corrected. "The bogs are full of dead ones, thought."

Ha. hmmm... I think I might be in a bit of a tired-drunk silly state myself actually. (it was still funny though.)

"- Sometimes Old Nan would tell the same story she'd told before, but we never minded if it was good story. Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time."

That's a good philosophy.

...that's also what I'm kinda doing now, revisiting the ASOIAF universe, but from a new angle. It's good to reread stuff, I think, even if it's from the same source and not book versus show, because knowing where it ends can change the context of the journey.

and you get to play 'spot the foreshadowing.'

"Did he have green dreams like Jojen?" "No, (...) but he could breath mud and run on leaves, and change earth to water and water to earth with no more than a whispered word.He could talk to trees and weave words and make castles appear and disappear."

Holy crap! there's a Hidden Ninja Village in the Neck!!!

"- But then he heard a roar. 'That's my father you're kicking,' howled the she-wolf." "A wolf on four legs, or two?" "Two," said Meera. "The she-wolf laid into the squires with a tourney sword, scattering them all. The crannogman was bruised and bloodied, so she took him back to her lair to clean his cuts and bind them up with linen. There he met her pack brothers: the wild wolf who led them, the quiet wolf beside him, and the pup who was the youngest of the four."

Ahhh, so this is the story of how Meera's dad met Lyanna and Ned?

Also I love how they just had to clarify "two legs or four" but it was done so quickly like that's a common enough thing to need clarification.

"-The crannogman saw a maid with laughing purple eyes dance with a white sword, a red snake, and the lord of griffins, and lastly with the quiet wolf... -"

Ashara Dayne!?

Honestly this entire section feels like the kind of repeating variations of a theme vibes that mark visions. Li eyes this is a retelling of their dads meeting, but it could also be a reflection of things to come.

"That was a good story. But it should have been the three nights who hurt him, not their squires. Then the little crannogman could have killed them all. The part about the ransom was stupid. And the mystery knight should win the tourney, defeating every challenger, and name the wolf maid queen of love and beauty."

Bran. No. That's not the object lesson you were supposed to take away from this.

The object lesson is that your aunt is a baddass. (I'm aware of the theory that Lyanna is the knight of the Laughing Tree. Although depending on how old Benjen was, could have been him also. with his little 'pup' height.)

To be fair, it hasn't clicked for Bran that this is a real event and not just a story Meera's heard or made up, and in stories we want maximum catharsis, but irl, ransoming the horses and armour for the knights to publicly chastise their squires for wrong doing was a master stroke, because it gets the job done in a way that's basically a win for everyone but the squires.

... Jojen and Meera can't believe Ned never told his kids how he met Howland Reed. SMH Ned.

-

while thinking of an oversimplified summary of the chapter and my brain suggested: 🎶Hodor will walk five hundred miles🎶 🎶and Hodor will walk five hundred more🎶 🎶just to be the man who walked a thousand miles🎶 🎶to Hold The goddamned DooOOoor🎶 which was honestly pretty rude of it.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #bran stark #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 23 DAENERYS II (pages 311-330)

Missandei has her special guest cameo as Dany inspects the slave army Unsullied while being insulted by a man who doesn't know she speaks the language. Jorah pushes for her to go ahead and buy the army.

-

- and in the center of the fountain a monstrous harpy made of hammered bronze. Twenty feet tall she reared. She had a woman's face, with gilded hair, ivory eyes, and pointed ivory teeth. Water gushed yellow from her heavy breasts.

this sounds really cool, but also makes me horrifically curious about GRRM's porn viewing habits for reasons I can't explain.

🎶49 times we fought that beast🎶your old man an me🎶it had a chicken head with duck feet🎶and a woman's face too🎶 ...sorry, where was I?

... psh, slaver bastard's taking advantage of the perceived language barrier to be a complete rude piece of trash.

"The Good Master Kraznys asks, are they not magnificent?" The girl spoke the Common tongue well, for one who had never been to Westeros. No older than ten, she had the round flat face, dusky skin, and golden eyes of Naath. The Peaceful People, her folk were called.

Missandei!!! She's only ten? wow, D&D went hard with the age up. Like I knew she was a lot younger in the books, but show Missandei has to be, what? 18 at the youngest? early twenties? ... brb googling. ... yeah that's what I thought, her actress was about 22-23 when she first played Missandei.

... wow, just look how quickly these human rights violations are stacking up. It's like, GRRM is really determined to drive home how horrible these slave owners are, like we couldn't tell they were trash human beings just from them being slave owners.

The Unsullied need to Unionise.

This chapter is so fucking gross.

"- Tell her they are like Valyrian steel, folded over and over and hammered for years on end until they are stronger than any metal on earth."

Valyrian steel = 🍷

"Better to come a beggar than a slaver," Arstan said. "There speaks one who has been neither," Dany's nostrils flared, "Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I... my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid? ... "Only lies offend me, never honest counsel. (...) I have a dragon's temper, that's all.You must not let it frighten you."

It will be interesting to see if there's hints of that further in, her fear vs her temper, and whether there's a slide of the scales from one to the other.

She had taken care never to be alone with Ser Jorah after that, keeping her handmaidens with her aboard ship, and sometimes her bloodriders.

good thinking. throw him over board if need be!

... Irri/Dany has a major power imbalance, yet is still somehow healthier than the rest of her ships thus far.

"- I saw these sons of the harpy today, all their proud highborn warriors. They dress in linen skirts, and the fiercest thing about them was their hair. -"

local cops just rich sons in world's trashiest LARP cosplay, confirmed.

"There was no higher honor than to receive your knighthood from the Prince of Dragonstone." "Tell me, then - when he touched a man on the shoulder with his sword, what did he say? 'Go forth and kill the weak'? Or 'Go forth and defend them'? (...) did they give their lives because they believed in Rhaegar's cause, or because they had been bought and paid for?" (...) "My queen, (...) all you say is true. But Rhaegar lost on the Trident. (...) Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died."

You know, for all it hung over parts of the show, I feel like Rhaegar and Lyanna just didn't haunt the story of the show enough. They're a tragic backstory that gets trotted out for special occasions but mostly gathers dust on the mantle.

Not so, here in the books, where they remain characters even though they've both been dead for over a decade.

Here, we see Jorah using Rhaegar to jostle Dany down the slippery slope of compromise. Dany wants to do the right thing, the good and just and clearly morally correct thing, and she's going to try to find a moral solution she can live with, but there's Jorah at her side reminding her that being a good person* is what got Rhaegar killed. Suggesting the slave army and then continuing to steer her to partake in mass slavery, he just keeps "it's for the greater good"ing this. And if this is acceptable in the name of Dany's greater good, then what else is. If this much is okay, then surely just a bit more is okay, and a bit more is okay, and a bit more until you're miles from where you started and you aren't really sure how you got there but you're in too deep to get out.

*Rhaegar's goodness is debatable and subject to personal perspective. I'd taze him.

"- His blood swirled down the river with the rubies from his breastplate, and Robert the Usurper rode over his corpse t steal the Iron Throne. -"

ruby | rubies = 🍷

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #daenerys targeryan #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 22 ARYA IV (pages 298-310)

Arya and her party go looking for Beric and Thoros in several places before stopping by Lady Smallwood's to catch up on the recent gossip and get a lead that's not colder than the Wall.

-

The sounds had scarcely died away when rope ladders unrolled from the limbs of trees. (...) They climbed to a hidden village in the upper branches, a maze of rope walkways and little moss-covered houses concealed behind walls of red and gold, and were taken to the Lady of the Leaves a stick-thin white-haired woman dressed in roughspun.

I love a good tree village, this one sounds hella cool. roughspun = 🥛

"Whose work was this?" said Lem Lemoncloak. "Mummers?"

lemon(cloak) = 🥛

"I'm not a squirrel," she said. "I'll almost be a woman soo. I'll be one-and-ten." "Best watch out I don't marry you, then!" He tried to tickle her under the chin, but Arya slapped his stupid hand away.

... "men of Westeros stop being gross to children" challenge 2023

Suddenly, a loose stone from the vaults ceiling dropped on Greenbeard's head, killing him instantly.

Kinghts were captured and ransomed all the time, and sometimes women too. But what if Robb won't pay their price? She wasn't a famous knight, and kings were supposed to put the realm before their sisters. And her lady mother, what would she say? Would she still want her back, after all the things she'd done? Arya chewed her lip and wondered.

Ironically, while Robb wasn't willing to pay the price when he thought Arya and Sansa were hostages of the Lannisters, now that Arya's the ransom for some outlaws, he actually might pay it out, call it a reward for her rescue rather than a price for her freedom, but still, a higher chance... if they ever got there.

"The old gods stir and will not let me sleep," she heard the woman say. "I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more. Do you have gifts for me, to pay me for my dreams?"

*rubs hands* okay, lets see how I go. shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag: Stannis' first shadow demon baby killing Renly faceless man on a bridge with an undead crow: hmmm, I'mma say Euron Greyjoy though. iirc in the show his first screentime was killing his brother on the bridge at Pyke. Faceless man did make me think of the faceless men, but the undead seaweed crow is making me think it's Euron. Does he have some eldritch thing going on that would explain the face thing? (I mean I know he has some eldritch thing going on, but does he have one that would explicitly explain the face thing?) fish woman dead in the river: the Catelyn>Stoneheart pipeline. (I'm a little bit excited for that, I don't want Cat to die, but they cut Lady Stoneheart from the show, so I've only ever heard of her second hand.)

"Dreams," grumbled Lem Lemoncloak, "what good are dreams? -"

Lemon(cloak) = 🥛

"- What do you like to do?" She scuffed her toe amongst the rushes. "Needlework." "Very restful, isn't it?" "Well," said Arya, "not the way I do it."

Ha!

"Aye, and shear them too," chuckled Lem Lemoncloak.

lemon(cloak) = 🥛

... you know, for all the time they spent chasing Dondarrion and Thoros, Arya could have been at Riverrun by now.

... awww, Gendry and Arya are bonding again~ ... Gendry!!! the audacity!

Harwin took one look at them and burst out laughing, and Anguy smiled one of his stupid freckly smiles and said, "Are we certain this one is a highborn lady?" But Lem Lemoncloak gave Gendry a clout alongside the head. "You want to fight, fight with me! She's a girl, and half your age! You keep your hands off o' her, you hear me?"

Lemon(cloak) = 🥛

wait... when he says "half your age" does he mean Gendry is like, 20? legit? I though older teens, 16, 18 at most. Have i been picture Gendry as way too baby this entire time? Why did I think he was that young? Or is Lem exaggerating the age gap for effect?

"I'm sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty." "Yes, child. And so are you. be brave."

Finally, someone telling Arya she's pretty without being a creep about it. MVP Lady Smallwood!

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #arya stark #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 21 JAIME III (pages 285-297)

The BROadtrip takes an unfortunate turn as circumstances trade BROtrip member Cleos for the Bloody Mummers Brave Companions in the BROadtrip lineup. Neither Brienne nor Jaime have a good time.

They get to have a cool fight scene though.

-

The pool from which the town took its name, where legend said that Florian the Fool had first glimpse Jonquil bathing with her sisters, was so choked with rotting corpses that the water had turned into a murky grey-green soup.

This feels like commentary on the effects of war spoiling the childhood dreams and stories of romance and hope.

"- And there may be other enemies hiding in the rubble..." "Hers or ours? They are not the same, coz. I have a yen to see if the wench can use that sword she wears."

Yen, noun: a basic monetary unit of Japan Yen, noun: strong longing or yearning

Guess which one I interpreted that as. "You're making a bet? With a currency you shouldn't even know exists?! ... wait, there's... that's the wrong..."

Jaime had decided that he would return Sansa, and the younger girl as well if she could be found. It was not like to win him back his lost honor, but the notion of keeping faith when they all expected betrayal amused him more than he could say.

mmmm, F to doubt buddy. Oh sure, it might be amusing, but given how often "you think of me as a monster? then I'll be a monster" crops up, I think part of you wants to be the good and honorable man yet. because somewhere way deep down there is some good in you, and maybe because you think Cersei deserves a good and honorable man. (Hell knows where that goodness was when he pushed Bran out the window though.)

... RIP Cleos. we all knew you were on a timer. At least I didn't get attached to this one?

... This fight scene is way more dynamic than the show, good use of terrain as a character.

She looks as if they caught us fucking instead of fighting.

fuck(ing) = 🥛

"Then we'll have your cunt," said the noseless man.

cunt = 🥛

Oh, hi Rorge. Not dead yet? that's unfortunate.

"Why did you tell him Tarth was the Sapphire Isle? (...) He's like to think my father's rich in gemstones..." "You best pray he does."

I wonder if this was because Jaime's reached a minimum threshold for human decency, his efforts to be the good and honorable man paying off in that he has to try at the very least to protect Brienne, or because part of him will never be over not being able to save Cersei from that same fate at Robert's hands.

Or a mix of both.

... hang on a second... *finds the scene on youtube* yeah, that's what I thought. That's interesting, Jaime actually spells it out in the show, here in the books he just says "Tarth is called the Sapphire Isle, a maiden told me once." and let's Urswyck make his own incorrect conclusion.

I wonder if it's because D&D didn't trust the viewers to make the leap that Urswyck makes all on his own with out spelling out what Jaime was implying in real time even though Brienne does it later in the same scene. Well, book version anyway, I swear she said it in the show, but later but I can't remember when, and the show was too busy making Jaime talk like someone who isn't as smart or smooth as he thinks he is so they could get straight to the hand chopping while he's still smarmy enough that we might not feel 100% bad about him losing his hand.

"Thith ith a thweet day," Vargo Hoat said. Around his neck hung a chain of linked coins, coins of every shape and size, cast and hammered, bearing likenesses of kings, wizards, gods and demons, and all manner of fanciful beasts. Coins from every land where he has fought, Jaime remembered.

That's a cool world building costume detail sadly missing from the show. Like his lisp.

They mean to scare me. (...) no sellsword would make him scream. Sunlight ran silver along the edge of the arakh as it came shivering down, almost too fast to see. And Jaime screamed.

I love "You will never make me do the think" scene transition to them doing the thing as a comedic effect, but damn if it doesn't do good for the horror elements as well.

I think it was better for Jaime to believe they were just trying to scare him right up until it happened, because that let him be brave where he might not have been able to otherwise, but it did cost him last second bartering time, though I doubt that would have helped him any.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #jaime lannister #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

REST DAY

Half way through Steel and Snow pit stop.

#cheat day pit stop

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 20 CATELYN III (pages 273-284)

Robb puts an ally to the chopping block when said ally kills two team Lannister hostages in revenge for his own dead sons, the Stark/Tully fam try to keep a hold of the situation, and Jeyne asks Cat for advice on helping her husband.

-

Only the fact that some had spears and others empty scabbards served to set them apart. All were clad in mail hauberks or shirts of sewn rings, with heavy boots and thick cloaks, some of wool and some of fur. The north is hard and cold, and has no mercy, Ned had told her when she first came to Winterfell a thousand years ago.

I feel like there's something of a metaphor in there, in that ally and enemy look the same, and which is which doesn't make a difference to their fallen foes, or those left to pick up the pieces.

...Karstark makes an unfortunate point. In absolving his mother in order to absolve himself of his broken oath instead of even a symbolic punishment, Robb has said the treatment of prisoners outside of his orders is not treason no matter what is done to them even against his orders.

Robb has effectively traded his own forgiveness for the "sanctity" of the law. (all of which is made worse by the fact Robb is an oathbreaker now, and why should men keep oaths to him when he does not keep his own.)

Her son wanted comfort, Catelyn realized; he wanted to hear that it would be all right. But her king needed truth.

I don't really have a comment here, just that this line hits hard, damn it's raw. The internal conflicts it contains.

"Th Others can take her, then," Robb cursed, in a fury of despair. "Bloody Rickard Karstark as well. (...) and all the rest of them. Gods be good, why would any man ever want to be king? (...) I told myself... swore to myself... that I would be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal to my friends and brave when I faced my enemies... now I can't even tell one from the other. How did it all get so confused? -"

D&D suck at their job = 🥛

I'm sorry, but show!Robb felt whinier, like he wasn't having much internal conflict beyond "this sucks but I gotta", (or maybe I'm remembering wrong because it's Been A While) Book!Robb is fully cracking under this pressure and you can feel it. It's not just "oh no, things are going wrong" it's the falling dominoes of consequences out pacing him before he can see they're there, and it weighs on him.

(also I'm thirsty and I wanted to excuse to drink... I think I'm coming down with something...)

... why were the boys naked? just sleeping nude? is that a thing? they don't have PJs and won't sleep in their clothes?

"Old gods or new, it makes no matter," Lord Rickard told her son, "no man is so accursed as the kinslayer."

I just had a mental image of Ardyn Izunia tearing this book apart for coming for him like that.

... damn this execution is a heavy scene, it feels like there are moments in it where Robb could turn back here and avoid his fate, but it's a lie. They've locked themselves into course with their actions, and at this point there is no turning back, no avoiding this execution or its fall out. The fallout would be devastating either way.

"It's a hard thing, to take a man's life." "I know. I told him, he should use a headsman. When Lord Tywin sends a man to die, all he does is give the command. It's easier that way, don't you think." "Yes," said Catelyn, "but my lord husband taught his sons that killing should never be easy."

... you know what? D&D suck at their job = 🥛

Because I really don't think they got this. It's a central theme, responsibility and the value of life, and it seems to have just flown over their heads in favour of cool sword fights and sexposition. But it's so present in the books? all the characters who have killed people, you can see how it weighs differently to them, the people and circumstances and justifications and reasoning and the trauma. and D&D just ask "how many packets of fake blood can we buy with this season's budget?"

"Jeyne, child, you have wed the north, as I did... and in the north, the winters come." She tried to smile. "Be patient. Be understanding. He loves you and he needs you, and he will come back to you soon enough. -"

This feels both like a poetic way to talk about culture shock between the south and north, but also like Cat's saying "you've married into a family with a history of mental health issues." Because yeah, there are vibes in the Starks; depression, anxiety, lowkey autism. And that is good advice for living with people who do have mental health stuff going on: be patient, be understanding. Most importantly be aware that it's a long haul, whether there's meds that can make things "better" or not, some mental health stuff is a 'for life' thing.

The girl did seem to have a good heart, just as Robb had said. And good hips, which might be more important.

Ehehehehe

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #catelyn stark #catelyn tully #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 19 TYRION III (pages 254-272)

Tyrion gets new job as Master of Coin while the Council divides their new lands, then Tywin vies for Westeros' Biggest Pile of Trash Disguised as a Father award, while Cersei and Tyrion learn of his plans to marry them off.

-

Tyrion had claimed Pycelle's old place by the foot, propped up by cushions so he could see. (...)The Grand Maester was a shambling skeleton, leaning heavily on a twisted cane and shaking as he walked, a few white hairs sprouting from his long chicken's neck in place of his once-luxuriant white beard. Tyrion gazed at him without remorse.

Good. Now push him down some stairs. A stolen chair is not enough.

Mace Tyrell spoke up. "Is there anything more pointless as a king without a kingdom? No, it's plain, the boy must abandon the riverlands, join his forces to Roose Bolton's once more, and throw all his strength against Moat Cailin. That's what I would do."

yes, well... we have (not so) conflicting reports on your intelligence, so excuse us if we don't rush.

(advance warning: I am Very mean today. I have a headache. get so many, at this point you could call me Rita Repulsa... pfff. Reader Repulsa XD)

... Mace Tyrell and Littelfinger, Shuttheduckup Challenge 2023.

"A Lannister?"Tyrion had a bad feeling about this.

*gasp* we're in a Star Wars!

"- Why should we pay for what he has given us for free? The best thing to do about our lord of Pyke is nothing, in my view. Granted enough time, a better option may well present itself. One that does not require the king to give up half his kingdom." Tyrion watched his father closely. There something he's not saying. He remembered those important letters Lord Tywin had been writing the night Tyrion had demanded Casterly Rock. What was it he said? Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens... He wondered who the "better option" was, and what sort of price he was demanding.

I hate Tywin. I think it might be worse that he's clever enough to shuffle plans like this.

The enmity had waned a bit after Dorne became part of the Seven Kingdoms... until the Dornish prince they called the Red Viper had crippled the young heir of Highgarden in a tourney.

"red viper"? isn't that the Mandalorian one... Oberyn? The one coming for the Seat? Ohhhhhh. >:3c I sense Drama.

The eunuch drew a parchment from his sleeve. "A kraken has been seen off the Fingers. (...) Not a Greyjoy, mind you, a true kraken. (...) Sailors from the Jade Sea report a three-headed dragon has hatched in Qarth, and is the wonder of the city-"

So the three-headed dragon is actually Dany's triplets, obviously, but are we sure 'true kraken' mean an actual tentacle waving, cephalopodal kraken and not, say, Euron. ... !!! Oh no! terrible thought: Euron with a pet kraken.

... Tyrion all like "let's not mutilate men, and send them to the penal colony instead because the folks there aren't completely awful and I said I'd send men," Tywin all like "No, they hurt my feelings, so now they will rue the day."

Tywin's death was so justified.

... Ah, so Petyr told the Lannisters about the Sansa/Willas plot. Do you think he knew that it would start the Sansa/Tyrion ship line? or did he just think they'd flat shut the Tyrells down on that one and keep Sansa nice and toasty for Petyr's convenience? (I just feel like it's a hidden theme, characters like Sam and Sansa being smarter than they give themselves credit for, while men like Petyr and Renly are less clever than they think they are.)

"So long as you remain unwed, you allow Stannis to spread his disgusting slander," Lord Tywin told his daughter. "You must have a new husband in your bed, to father children on you." "Three children is quite sufficient. I am Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, not a brood mare! I am Queen Regent!" "You are my daughter, and will do as I command."

Look. Cersei is a horrible person, but on this one... *Slams the steel chair into Tywin's head so hard his skull cracks like an egg with calcium deficiency.*

Urrgh! That's just like, the Whole Thing, though, isn't it? Cersei is the most powerful woman in the Seven Kingdoms (team Lannister edition) and it's still worthless next to Tywin. It's still not enough for her to be in control of her own life and choices. Cersei is Not a Good Person, but I can see so clearly how she got here, and I feel so sorry for her.

"His Grace the royal pustule has made Sansa's life a misery since the day her father died, and now that she is finally rid of Joffrey you propose to marry her to me. That seems singularly cruel. Even for you, Father." ... "She is no more than a child."

It's nice that you're aware. But I've heard that might not last very long, so I'll savour it while it's here.

Tywin: I keep trying to marry you off, but it turns out every lord in the Seven Kingdoms is as ableist as I am, so forced child bride who has no ability to refuse it is. She even comes with a castle of her own, sort of, so I don't have to give you mine.

"Tywin Lannister." That's a strange way to spell "abusive crapwad." This man is trash. complete trash, and not even the classy kind you're supposed to recycle.

... *bops Tyrion with the steel chair for his reaction about Lollys*

"- And the grandmother was some woman he'd brought back from the east. (...) no one could pronounce her name. -"

Because they were racist and didn't bother trying? Or because their accents garbled the pronunciation so bad she told them to stop trying?

(I actually read a story about a young woman in... a student exchange program I think it was, and she was in... America? One of the English (as the primary language) speaking countries and she took on a localised nickname right away, because she was aware they couldn't pronounce her name correctly, that they'd have trouble with the pronunciation. Except for this one boy, who was convinced he and he alone could pronounce her name correctly, so he harassed her until she told him what her birth name was, and then he confidently proceeded to call her by that instead of the nickname she asked to be called for months. And yes, he was saying her name wrong the entire time, refusing to listen when she said he wasn't and wanted him to use her nickname instead. And like, I know that doesn't sound like it should be all that annoying, people say words with accents all the time and it's either funny or sexy, but it is annoying, trust me. Having your name mispronounced repeatedly and confidently like it's no issue is so freaking frustrating. My irl name isn't even uncommon, I'm from Australia, so you can imagine how bland my name is, it's a generic western name, but I had this teacher once, who was from America, and she had the heaviest twang in her accent, and she would always, always, always stress the first vowel of my name as a hard vowel when it's a lazy vowel. And technically she was using my name, but that is not how you pronounce it and therefore that is not my name!! Stahp!!!)

"- Maegi they called her. (...) Half of Lannisport used to go to her for cures and love potions and the like."

Wonderful, bring even more doubt and concern into the Robb/Jeyne relationship. (Like I have no doubt Robb could have been seduced easily in his medicated and emotionally compromised state and then had his sense of honour drive him to marriage, but I guarantee this line has had a small handful of people go "it was love potions 100%, no other way such a Good Boy like Robb could have done something so silly." Despite the fact the series is all about people making dumb choices with the best intentions.)

... oh right, Tywin committed genocide against entire families and is the reason we had The Rains of Castamere.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #tyrion lannister #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 18 SAMWELL I (pages 236-253)

Sam struggles to keep up with the other survivors while he experiences flashbacks of what happened at the Fist. At the very end of his strength, he is forced to confront an Other and performs a desperate miracle.

The Reader basically fangirls their way through the chapter.

-

Sobbing, Sam took another step. This is the last one, the very last, I can't go on, I can't. But his feet moved again. One and then the other.

SAM!!! Keep going! You're doing great!!!

Oh, but poor Sam, he has such self-doubt, but he has greater strength than he recognizes. He's so tired, but he's still going. Somewhere deep down he's too stubborn to sop, somewhere in him he's still determined to live for as long as he can.

He did have two knives; the dragonglass dagger Jon had given him and the steel one he cut his meat with.

dragonglass = 🥛

All that weight dragged heavy, and his belly was so big and round that if he forgot to tug the belt slipped right off and tangled around his ankles, no matter how tight he cinched it. He had tried belting it above his belly once, but then it came to his armpits.

Sam needs braces|suspenders. Or those belt/suspender combos, like the SOLDIERs have in FFVII.

... oh my gosh, Sam is not having a good time, not just physically but mentally. So many days without sleep... and on the run, constantly moving, probably little to no food or water, this is not sustainable.

But the alternative is death by Other|Wight.

All the survivors are doing amazing, but especially Sam who has such low physical fitness and a predisposition to melancholy.

Fat and weak and useless, even my wits are freezing now.

mmmm, it's concerning though because at this point, it would be impossible to tell the difference between the "brain freeze" that comes with the Others, and normal sleep deprived mental lag.

Is it because the Others are closer? or because he's so exhausted?

At least he would not have the Old Bear hunting him through hell though. I got the birds off. I did that right, at least. he had written out the messages ahead of time, short messages and simple, telling of an attack on the Fist of the First Men, and then he had tucked them away safe in his parchment pouch, hoping he would never need to send them.

That was some good thinking, having messages prepared ahead of time, no need to waste time he might not have during an attack. And it was some good level-headedness as well. Keeping focus enough to remember to send the birds, and the messages he'd already prepared. Facing down an attack, never mind one from the Others and their Wights, it would have been so easy to lose his head entirely, especially once the birds started freaking out on him.

Sam does not give himself enough credit.

Then he found his pack and stuffed all his things inside, spare smallclothes and dry socks, the dragonglass arrowheads and spearhead Job had given him and the old horn too, his parchments, inks and quills, the maps he'd been drawing, and a rock-hard garlic sausage he'd been saving since the Wall.

dragonglass = 🥛

...Oh gods. Sam. Writing all those notes, hoping for a victory and slowly losing hope as he prepares the notes just in case and then... and then realising that they are losing, that there's no chance of victory, no winning, just running and surviving.

Although, quick note, I adore what GRRM is doing with the narrative voice here. using the exhaustion as an excuse to give disjointed flashbacks, but also using the disjointed flashbacks to drive home just how exhausted Sam is, how close he is to falling apart, running on fumes for far too long.

It also helps break up the action and the "boring plodding along" allowing him to keep focus where it's relevant and skim the duller in between moments so the sense of 'things are happening' doesn't flag.

I thought Grenn was my friend. You shouldn't kick your friends. Why won't they let me be? I just need to rest, that's all, to rest and sleep some, and maybe die a little.

"and maybe die a little." Ha. XD Come on sweetie, up you pop.

"If you take the torch, I can take the fat boy." Suddenly he was jerked up into the cold air, away from his sweet soft snow; he was floating. There was an arm under his knees, and another under his back. (...) Paul. Small Paul.

Grenn and Small Paul: chapter MVPs!

... Oh No! Sam forgot to send the "Shit It's the Others and their Wights and We're Borked!" notes! The boys at the Wall won't know to prepare for frost zombies!

It's okay Sam! You did your best! That you had the presence of mind to release the remaining ravens was still good.

... Sam having memory gaps. yeah, understandable, high tension, high trauma, the brain does that. He keeps recalling horrible stuff, but I would not be surprised to learn the stuff he doesn't remember was worse.

That torch will burn out soon, he thought, and we are all alone, without food or friends or fire. But that was wrong. They weren't alone at all. The lower branches of the great green sentinel tree shed their burden of snow with a soft wet plop. Grenn spun, thrusting out his torch. "Who goes there?" A horse's head emerged from the darkness. Sam felt a moment's relief, until he saw the horse. Hoarfrost covered it like a sheen of sweat, and a nest of stiff black entrails dragged from its open belly. On its back was a rider pale as ice.

oh shit. oh shit oh shit ohshitohshitohshit

Wait, is this the moment where Sam kills an Other? I feel like it was later in the show, and possibly with Gilly, but if there's an Other so close to him now, is this it?

... PAUL!!! NOOOO!!!

- Sam heard Paul say, "Oh," as he lost the axe.

Oh I think that's the most devastating part about that, that he had the time and mind to realise.

Do it, Sam. Was that Jon, now? Jon was dead. You can do it, you can, just do it.

Awww, the voice of Sam's inner strength, bravery and determination is Jon. The Power of Friendship is Strong and Undefeatable!!!

He heard a crack, like the sound ice makes when is breaks beneath a man's foot, and then a screech so shrill and sharp that he went staggering backward with his hands over his muffled ears, and fell hard on his arse. When he opened his eyes the Other's armor was running down its legs in rivulets as pale blue blood hissed and steamed around the black dragonglass dagger in its throat. It reached down with two bone-white hands to pull out the knife, but where its fingers touched the obsidian they smoked.

YAAAAAASSSS!!!!! GO SAM!!!!!!!! FIRST MAN TO KILL AN OTHER SINCE THE PREVIOUS LONGNIGHT!!!! ARCTIC NECROMANCERS GET WRECKED!!!!!

Dragonglass = 🥛

also, I'm going to be gross for a second, I apologise.

"the Other's armor was running down its legs in rivulets" Yeah, that's right you asshat! it's your turn to piss yourself!! (I know he's not really pissing himself, his ice armour has lost cohesion, (which, that's interesting that it needs focus to be maintained,) but the imagery and the repetition of Chett in the prologue and Sam at least twice in this chapter, there's some equivalence.)

In twenty heartbeats its flesh was gone, swirling away in a fine white mist. Beneath were bones like milkglass, pale and shiny, and they were melting too. Finally, only the dragonglass dagger remained, wreathed in steam as if it were alive and sweating. Grenn bent to scoop it up and flung it down at once. "Mother, that's cold." "Obsidian." Sam struggled to his knees. "Dragonglass, they call it. Dragonglass. Dragon glass."

Dragonglass = 🥛🥛🥛🥛 Yeah, gonna count each one, gonna bring us up to... seven? still not as bad as the lemon chapter.

Others are basically enchanted ice all the way down? OOoohhhh, that is interesting.

And dawn has arrived!!! Ain't that just some good metaphor right there. They are enlightened, and they see things clearer now, and hope has risen against the threat of the Longnight 2.0

I love Sam. (little iffy on his actor, but that's about Moonfall) I think it's because I'm so familiar with that internal voice he has "you will never be good enough. you're not just Worth Less, but Worthless." And that he keeps going despite that, that he has people who are with him who help him find that strength to keep going and push beyond what he thinks he's capable of, that is so... !!!!!!! you know? (there's an onomatopoeia that goes there, but I have no idea how to write it down, I hope the string of exclamation points translates the vibe a little.)

I just love his relationship with Jon and the other boys, and, I feel like it is so important to the themes of the book that of all the people who could have killed an Other first, not just a Wight but an Other, it was Samwell Tarly.

Samwell Tarly who was scared and desperate and giving it his all, who was only alive to try because others helped him out of the snow, out of the mud, out of his own despair and self defeat. He's not the lone warrior, or the brilliant leader, he's a part of a community and that culminates through him into the victory.

Or I could once again be reading too deep into things. Who can say. ... well GRRM could, but he won't.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #samwell tarly #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 17 ARYA III (pages 227-235)

Arya experiences a betrayal on the road to (not) Riverrun.

-

On the morning of the third day, Arya noticed that the moss was growing mostly on the wrong side of the trees. "We're going the wrong way," she said to Gendry, as they rode past an especially mossy elm. "We're going south. See how the moss is growing on the trunk?"

Y'all need a compass. I mean, I assume a compass would work in Westeros. From what I understand, there is a 'curtain of light' or something further north of the Wall, deep in the Lands Of Always Winter, which I'm pretty sure is an aurora.

Auroras Borealis and Australis are formed when sun particles get dragged by the Earth's magnet poles into clusters and interact with stuff in the atmosphere, which suggests that there is a magnetic pole to the north of the Wall, so a compass should work. If they have the tech, which they shouuuu... how old are magnetic compasses? Google says the Chinese circa 206 BCE, so magnetic compasses are roughly 2200 years old. Cool Beans. But also if Yi Ti is Generic Fantasy Ancient Asia, then even if the Maesters didn't steal the tech, it should be around. ... who wants to tell me there's been at least one mention of a compass in the books thus far and I've just forgotten?

Telling Harwin would be almost like telling her father and there were some things that she could not bear having her father know.

Oh that came for my feels. ... now the question is: will Harwin live long enough to pass the information of Arya's survival on at a critical time?

...Harwin catching Arya up like. That's for giving us backstory, I appreciate it, but also don't add to Arya's trauma? Did you need the details about the arm chopping? I suppose it's kind of bonding, for them to swap stories, reconnect, what connection there is.

Arya was sucking the last bit of meat off a wing when one of the villagers turned to Lem Lemoncloak and said, "There were men through here not two days past, looking for the Kingslayer."

Lemon(cloak) = 🥛

She dreamt of home; not Riverrun, but Winterfell. It was not a good dream, though. She was alone outside the castle, up to her knees in mud. She could see the grey walls ahead of her, but when she tried to reach the gates every step seemed harder than the one before, and the castle faded before her, until it looked more like smoke tan granite. And there were wolves as well, gaunt grey shapes stalking through the trees all around her, their eyes shining. Whenever she looked at them, she remembered the taste of blood.

working through stuff, or visions = 🥛

I am going to count this one, just because, even knowing that it works as a vision because I know Arya's path doesn't lie towards Winterfell (yet), it also works as an expression of her anxiety and frustration over the fact that no matter how far she travels, she never seems to get closer to home or safety, like something is dragging her back every struggling step of the way. There's always something that stops her from making measurable, sustained progress. You really could interpret this one either way. It's been a bit since we've had a dream that's so on the fence about whether it's one or the other.

... The Betrayal!!!

... Run Arya, Run!!!

She knew the fight was done. "You ride like a northman, milady," Harwin said when he'd drawn them to a halt. "Your aunt was the same. Lady Lyanna. But my father was master of horse, remember." The look she gave him was full of hurt. "I thought you were my father's man." "Lord Eddard's dead, milady. I belong to the lightning lord now, and to my brothers."

Poor Arya. Jon and Sansa both had a thing going on with allies (temporary and false) which I think I commented was a theme running through those few chapters with Arya and Dany as well, but those were newly met. I did remember from the show where Arya's path was going (in the more immediate) but I didn't think it would come directly from Harwin. The betrayal.

"- He has an army all his own, and many lords bend the knee. The smallfolk only have us."

Urgh, this series! Let me be angry at some one for a change! let it be simple and uncomplicated "this person did a shitty thing and is Bad." But noooo, GRRM is all about the complexity. More layers than an onion. Nuance and motivations.

No, no, I get it. Sadly, even though he's betraying Arya's trust here, he's one of the few still fighting for the smallfolk. Goodness knows the kings and their armies have stopped giving a shit... if they gave one to begin with.

She had been better off as Squab. No one would take Squab captive, or Nan, or Weasel, or Arry the orphan boy. I was a wolf, she thought, but now I'm just a stupid little lady again.

I mean, they were all captives, that was a pretty significant thing that happened. Mmm, more identity stuffs for Arya. comparing her freedom in false identities to the fact that it's her core identity which has her in trouble in the first place, add that shake up with her core identity from a few chapters back, I'm not going to be surprised if she attempts to - ah right, House of Black and White and "becoming No-one." No surprise about it, she literally does attempt to reject her core identity at a future point.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #arya stark #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf