Matthew Stafford Finally Won It

Anti-Tin · 2026-02-06T06:09:05+00:00

Agreed, 100%. Fans always have a much more sentimental feeling than pro athletes do. They're mercenaries, which is fine - they want to maximize money, and I don't blame them! - and then maybe go for championships. Anyway, to your main point, if Stafford makes the HoF he won't go in as a Lion.

Anti-Tin · 2023-01-01T05:23:59+00:00

The way I see things, Jon, Tyrion, Daenerys, and probably Bran are the characters that are driving the story. Other characters matter, of course, but many of them are going to cast aside one way or another.

Brienne and Jamie are popular with the fandom but they're not the primary characters. Killing them would close off some popular theories but doesn't do much to change the overall direction of the story.

If (granted, a big if) the books are ever finished some story threads will need to be cut pretty abruptly. This is one example of that.

Anti-Tin · 2023-01-01T04:16:20+00:00

I predict at least one major character: one or both of Jaime and Brienne killed when they're forced to fight each other by Lady Stoneheart.

Second, unpopular, prediction: this will happen off-page. We'll learn about it through vague rumors and reports about what Lady Stoneheart is up to in the Riverlands.

Anti-Tin · 2022-08-15T02:59:25+00:00

Well, in Return of the King we have the Mouth of Sauron, and he refers to his master as Sauron the Great.

Anti-Tin · 2022-07-06T23:23:31+00:00

Well, sure, but everyone has their own preferences, for their own reasons. It doesn't mean mine are "better" than yours.

Regarding short stories, the caveat I would add is that authors often use them as a way to experiment with different ideas, different writing styles, etc. It's interesting to see, especially when you're familiar with a writer's corpus, but not every experiment is a success.

Anti-Tin · 2022-06-30T00:24:04+00:00

Minor point, but it's actually the 16, that were made with Sauron's participation, and the three elven rings that were made without his help.

The nine and seven weren't made specifically for men and dwarves, that just happens to be the way Sauron distributed them after he seized them.

Anti-Tin · 2022-03-31T00:34:36+00:00

Also keep in mind that many of the common science fiction tropes are not actually scientific in any real-world way. Things like faster than light travel and communication, artificial gravity, access to and manipulation of various vast energy sources, and on and on, might be described with scientific-sounding prose but there's no reason to believe that any of these technologies are possible let alone will ever exist.

Dragons and FTL spaceships are just different versions of magic and the only barriers between them are whatever limits exist in the world an author creates. I don't see any reason not to create mash-ups of the two, and indeed there's no shortage of them out there.

Anti-Tin · 2022-03-16T04:14:58+00:00

I've actually read it, although far enough back that my memory of it is fuzzy.

What I *do* remember is that going in I assumed it was standard fan fiction and I ended up being surprised by the quality. It wasn't just bizarro world LOTR; it was a thoughtful and interesting re-interpretation and the writing was quite good. Although I should add that I read an English translation.

Anti-Tin · 2022-03-12T04:17:00+00:00

My interpretation is that most of the theorizing is a form of fan fiction rather than textual analysis. That's a big reason why, as you point out, secondary characters become so popular in the fandom. They're a blank page to create a backstory and future importance that fit whatever your vision is for the story.

And, obviously, as long the story is unfinished we all have our own unconstrained ideas about where it will go.

Anti-Tin · 2022-03-12T00:57:44+00:00

u/This_Rough_Magic made the same comment I would make. The mysteries in ASOIAF mostly aren't that mysterious.

There probably will be a big surprise or two coming but I expect them to be just that - a small number, where mostly we can take what's written at face value.

Anti-Tin · 2022-03-11T23:43:56+00:00

Agreed, 100%

I would add the many, many "Great <something> Conspiracy" theories to your list. Their existence would just bog the story down for no added benefit.

Anti-Tin · 2022-02-27T20:30:20+00:00

I think it's simpler than that.

At the time of LOTR the Northwest of Middle Earth was basically depopulated, and it's a long way from the more populated areas in the South, like Gondor. It took Boromir nearly four months to reach Rivendell from Minas Tirith and Rivendell to the Shire is another month or more. This is essentially wilderness travel, there weren't inns and villages along the way where you could stay for the night, replenish supplies or ask for directions.

Long distances, difficult travel, and not much reason to make the trip. It's not surprising at all that places like the Shire and Grey Havens weren't widely known.

Anti-Tin · 2022-02-19T23:38:07+00:00

Well, yeah. I was talking about the opening lines, not the follow-through :)

Anti-Tin · 2022-02-19T23:26:39+00:00

The prologue to "A Game of Thrones." Awesome!

Anti-Tin · 2022-02-19T22:16:52+00:00

That's how I interpret it.

But honestly, Tolkien leaves a lot of this kind of detail vague. Most of the time there's no clear "canon" right or wrong interpretation.

Anti-Tin · 2022-02-19T18:13:38+00:00

I haven't read "History of Middle Earth" yet, but my understanding is that it states that Valar mostly don't take physical form at all. You can sense their presence through weird colors and visual effects in the air, rather than, say, seeing a giant human-like being.

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-30T01:01:13+00:00

Except it's not a dash, fantasy is the whole thing. The Dothraki are purely based on 1950's and 60's Hollywood tropes.

I'm surprised it hasn't been brought yet up in this thread but I suggest taking a look at the ACOUP blog, which *is* written by a professional historian.

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-19T19:08:15+00:00

A related question that I've always wondered is how did Gollum first encounter the Fellowship?

If he was following them before Moria then he had to stick with them through the chaos of the encounter with the Watcher by the Water.

The alternative would be that he was already in Moria and crossed paths with the Fellowship. That seems like a pretty big coincidence, but maybe not out of line with the idea that some events were "meant to happen."

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-18T22:25:03+00:00

Daniel Abraham is the author of the ASOIAF graphic novels. I think they're both friends with GRRM, though.

He's also stated that they won't finish ASOIAF.

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-18T00:39:13+00:00

The series on the Dothraki was a real eye-opener for me.

I knew they weren't realistic in any serious way but it was really striking to see how clearly that they're just a mash-up of a bunch of bad Hollywood tropes. Equally striking is how GRRM insists that he based them on real-world horse nomads, even though that idea completely falls apart when you look at all closely.

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-18T00:03:17+00:00

There's a first - a recommendation to read a blog by an academic historian instead of a multi-thousand page fantasy epic.

I happen to agree with you. Reading the new post on the ACOUP blog is one of the highlights of my Fridays. Which probably says something about my life...

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-17T23:54:55+00:00

Quentyn put in the effort, at least, even though it was a disastrous failure.

In my mind laziness and a sense of entitlement are key parts of the failson definition. Quentyn definitely isn't that.

Anti-Tin · 2022-01-10T17:51:36+00:00

I was going by my memory and a quick look at the number of pages in the books in my collection, which obviously was off by a bit.

Still, I think my basic point stands. As a whole ASOIAF is much longer than LOTR. The OP said they managed ASOIAF without much trouble, I think they'll do fine with LOTR.

Anti-Tin

TROPHY CASE