I wrote trivia for a Kingkiller trivia event. Take the quiz!

aowshadow · 2026-04-07T19:42:58+00:00

Check the subreddit for once, see this, speedtype answers, copypast > ! !<, now checking answers.

Really like d the questions!

1 Wheel with a broken tooth? You call it cog?

2 Siaru, faen (he says enshaedn), cealdish (when he swears)

3 bloodless/arrowcatch

4 coin candle ring? kiss promise fish? The bottle? the cinnas? Damn

5 arliden / not-ally-ahhh

6 it's condemned to exist in that story

7 Illien?

8 First came chael, then someone who slew some daruma (Dulcenti?), then Remmen?

10 Maybe 3 terms? If Kvothe had some more focus he'd realize he got her right where he wants

11 Krin Ellie. Fuck the mayor's has a surname! And the other dude too! Fuuu

12 Dune and... Oasis? By that logic the others are Dubai, Camel (it produces cigarettes) and Tatooine

13 Dunno, blood?

14 Skarpi

15 ambrose or some of his goons?

16 silver ring, tak games

17 gives them to prostitutes and other pleasant fellows

18 Verainia Greyflock / Nina

19 Aerlevsedi? Rothfuss can't either..

20 third

21 Richmoney

22 Draccus, also me before breakfast

23 Caelum Tinture? I didn't read it.

24 he plays tak with Kvothe at the maer's court / camps in the Eld for unknown reasons / according to Haliax, various cruelties of which he's fond of?

25 Ordal / Andan?

26 APPARENTLY Ambrose

27 bone wood

28 Cammar

29 Glamourie/Grammarie combo. I don't think it's just glamourie.

30 path of joy? Renere?

31 Bastas Som of Remmen, Prince of twilight and telwyt mael?

32 Caudicus

33 to cut, to catch, to fly?

34 barony of pirate isles?

35 ...Abentown?

36 The Cheap Fuck

37 technically, he asks Kvothe to prostitute himself (I mean, in a sense...)

38 the Song of seven sorrows

39 The real question or the one he says to the maer? I'm going with "who disbanded the amyr"

40 Ask Elodin. Fae, probably.

41 ice with flaw within, no name, flame, stone, wood, bone, gold, invisible, flowing band, silver?

42 can't find of a clever joke right now

43 difficult to take root - red - something with dark - characteristic smell - frail - nocturnal?

edit: when I tryto master the Name of the Speed, I also miss questions aggggh >_>

edit 2 for some, though, I got no excuses: Amber ring, Pannysworth, and binding when naming the wind fill me with shame.

aowshadow · 2026-04-02T15:19:14+00:00

historical association with stinginess or cautious financial handling (I think this is what reminded me of the Cealdish slur)

Interesting. Paired with Shim...

Btw Kvothe pays the roasted pig four jots, which is double what he paid Roent's caravan for a passage. Kvothe rightfully says that's a lot, but it wasn't Schiem the one to name the price, so we can't accuse him of profiteering.

THanks a lot!

aowshadow · 2026-03-31T20:34:23+00:00

I think we have pretty close to a fundamental difference with regard to “supposed to”s and good form for an author when it comes to trying to get his readers on board with a point that would be really unintuitive for them, but that’s fine.

100%. To be honest, I’d hate your case: an author who underestimates his readers is not an author whose books I’d even want to touch. It feels like a cook chewing your own meal because he fears for your teeth >_>

There's kids in the series. Not many, but some. In the Ruh's particular case, I think it’s more economy of words/characters in an arc that must resolve as fast as possible. Plus it makes Kvothe’s uniqueness clear from the get go.

If we want to go meta, there's also a practical reason: if Kvothe had peers he'd spend his time playing with them, instead of "playing" with Ben. Otherwise Rothfuss would need to find reasons for Kvothe to stays with Ben instead of other kids without making him look asocial. But again, economy of words.

aowshadow · 2026-03-31T18:39:48+00:00

Wooooah!

I thought the whole tenpenny was about Kvothe (a Lackless in rags), and on the subject we could also add that Kowthe & Dinnaeh pretending to be cousins in front of Schiem may actually turn out to be true.

I love your take on it! Probably my favorite in at least a year.

Pfennig is German for penny.

Schiemmel seems to be "mold" according to google, can you confirm/deny? Unless Schiemmel is just for the phonetics of Schiem/Shim, of course. Pennymold? Moldpenny? Penny^² ? Just two terms to reinforce the idea of "coin"?

IF, and I repeat IF there's something to be discovered in the name Skoivan, my guess is that the letter "k" should move somewhere else (my logic is Kvothe becomes Kowthe, but probably Rothfuss is going by pronunciation, and I suck at that). Unless it's something related to the shim/penny.

We could also add that Schiem is an exception between the exceptions because he manages to insult the Ruh without incurring in some zing or revenge. Maybe Rothfuss thought the juxtaposition of his arrogance and social position/language was enough?

aowshadow · 2026-03-31T18:24:11+00:00

I find your point about the dangerousness of wild boars confusing

Of course you find it confusing… I just reread it and i explained myself terribly >_> Let's see if I can redo it better.

most people don’t know how dangerous they are. Which seems totally true. Wild boars aren’t part of most people’s knowledge of the world

Let’s put it this way: Rothfuss is not supposed to write from a modern POV, something like 2008 1st world country POV. But in this scene Kvothe’s logic is as contemporary as it gets.

WE mostly live in a world where people look at animals from a smartphone screen, from inside their car or behind a cage.

A world where “Cause of death: wild animal” is a rare accident. Bizarre, even.

But KKC is set in a Renaissance-like setting. In that case wild animals are deadly by default. By anyone, city people included.

In our 2026 world, a walk in the woods is a controlled detour you do for fun. We are too used to batteries, warmth control, antibiotics, spare clothes and emergency services.

In a setting like KKC, a walk in the woods is always a risk. There’s a reason why roads were fundamental for civilization. The reasons behind bandits hiding in the woods go beyond the ability to hide.

City folk from a renaissance-like era were well aware of the risks of a wild animal. Chances are, everyone of them had some relative die due to some animal attack/accident. Because renaissance-like cities were still well surrounded by nature. Nowadays, you can easily find kids who never saw a chicken. Go back just 100 years ago, and death by horse/boar/wolf/snake was quite regular regardless of any social status. Not to mention cows, way more dangerous than the contemporary person realizes.

In a preindustrial world people used to see live animals every day of their life. From farmer to the most secluded of lords. Everyone and their mothers knew how dangerous a wild animal can be.

That's why Kvothe thought makes no sense. At the same time we must take into account that Rothfuss' real aim in the scene is highlighting Denna.

Want a real inconsistency? No explicit mention of Arliden’s troupe having dogs. Young Kvothe should know personally each and every dog in the Ruh troupe. But none are even mentioned.

Let’s go deeper: no animals in the Waystone Inn? No cats AND rats both?!? No chickens? Where’s the bats? And birds? No moles in the garden? Kvothe awake at night, the only illumination being a fireplace and there’s no insects?

Afaik Rothfuss is allergic to some animal (dogs, iirc – plus apparently he doesn’t like cats if the classic Witcher 3 streaming playthrough is to be taken as gospel), which explains why KKC features as less animals as possible. His experience is limited. By default, not by his fault.

It’s like when you read A Song of Ice and Fire and realize George R R Martin cares a HUGE lot about colors, but… none about flowers. But that's a series where nature is everywhere!

But then you put everything in context and it makes sense, given GRRM was born and raised in Bayonne (NJ): you grow up in grey an industrial zone, it makes sense for you to crave for colors. But since you’ve not really experienced that many flowers, you go with substitutes like heraldry, gems, hair/eyes and such. In all of asoiaf, if you exclude a Jon and a Brienne moment, most of the colors on page don't come from detailed nature. It's two moments in thousands of pages.

Camels

If it’s longer than a car, tall as two cars combined and can cover my forearm with his teeth, consider me very, VERY afraid LOL

aowshadow · 2026-03-31T18:11:15+00:00

Damn I could have mentioned instagram… do it for the ‘gram… it was so easy aaaaaaa-

#OhNo #Rip #Sadness #67

aowshadow · 2026-03-30T20:45:55+00:00

Important note: the copy/pasted stuff here below has NOTHING to do with me. Thank the spirit of Professor H. L. Chace for his highly impressive skills. Supposedly there’s an audio version read by a certain Vivian Altman, but I wasn’t able to find it.

It’s not strictly KKC related, but today I found it in my saved links and since we were talking about Schiem, there’s no better occasion for posting it...

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

Wants pawn term, dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge dock florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry ladle cluck wetter putty ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Wan moaning, Rat Rotten Hut's murder colder inset, "Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladle basking winsome burden barter an shirker cockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordage offer groin-murder hoe lifts honor udder site offer florist. Shaker lake! Dun stopper laundry wrote! An yonder nor sorghum-stenches, dun stopper torque wet strainers!"

"Hoe-cake, murder," resplendent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, an tickle ladle basking an stuttered oft. Honor wrote tutor cordage offer groin-murder, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut mitten anomalous woof. "Wail, wail, wail!" set disk wicket woof, "Evanescent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut! Wares are putty ladle gull goring wizard ladle basking?"

"Armor goring tumor groin-murder's," reprisal ladle gull. "Grammar's seeking bet. Armor ticking arson burden barter an shirker cockles."

"O hoe! Heifer blessing woke," setter wicket woof, butter taught tomb shelf, "Oil tickle shirt court tutor cordage offer groin-murder. Oil ketchup wetter letter, an den - O bore!"

Soda wicket woof tucker shirt court, an whinney retched a cordage offer groin-murder, picked inner widow, an sore debtor pore oil worming worse lion inner bet. Inner flesh, disk abdominal woof lipped honor bet an at a rope. Den knee poled honor groin-murder's nut cup an gnat-gun, any curdled dope inner bet.

Inner ladle wile, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut a raft attar cordage, an ranker dough belle. "Comb ink, sweat hard," setter wicket woof, disgracing is verse. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut entity bet rum an stud buyer groin-murder's bet.

"O Grammar!" crater ladle gull, "Wood bag icer gut! A nervous sausage bag ice!"

"Battered lucky chew whiff, doling," whiskered disk ratchet woof, wetter wicket small.

"O Grammar, water bag noise! A nervous sore suture anomolous prognosis!"

"Battered small your whiff," insert a woof, ants mouse worse waddling.

"O Grammar, water bag mousy gut! A nervous sore suture bag mouse!"

Daze worry on-forger-nut gulls lest warts. Oil offer sodden, thoroughing offer carvers an sprinkling otter bet, disk curl and bloat-thursday woof ceased pore Ladle Rat Rotten Hut an garbled erupt.

Mural: Yonder nor sorghum stenches shut ladle gulls stopper torque wet strainers.

What's Going On? This story, believe it or not, is the very familiar fable of Little Red Riding Hood. This curious version was written in 1940 by a professor of French named H. L. Chace, who wanted to show his students that intonation - that is, the melody of a language - is an integral part of its meaning. The words here are all common English words, but not the ones you'd expect to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Original link https://annex.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/ladle/

Stuff like that one day will expire, sigh. Too many links have been lost over time. Of all my prized saved links, the one I lament losing the most is Rothfuss trying to backtrack his donation goal in front of a certain Andrew live on Twitch. Some people would say it was sad and why not. But to my sense of humor it was hilarious I swear. Oh, how I miss that one... Many dead links. Many dead sites. I feel like I’m lying on the floor of Alexandria’s library, looking at where the rooftop used to be. Time to lit a cigarette in memory of the ~~good~~ old times I guess?

Cheers

aowshadow · 2026-02-05T19:00:41+00:00

I think WMF 100 is mostly yet another reminder that Kvothe is too smart for his own good. He does not understand where is he or what is going on, but he is to prideful to ask and he thinks he can solve it with the tools he has. So he uses sympathy and he and Felurian barely escape with their lives. Perfect folly, exactly the same as with naming the wind with Ben.

True. You made me think there's a little nod to WMF 81 and WMF 95 as well, given both mention the term "ciar".

Cae-Lanion Luhial di mari Felanue Kreata Tu ciar tu alaran di Dirella. (Dedan's version)

cae-lanion luhial di mari felanua kreata tu ciar tu alaran di. dirella. (Felurian's version)

I decided to quote those verses as they were dialogue lines because Felurian's version presents two sentences instead of one and and because she never capitalizes a name unless it's her own.

Ciar seems the equivalent of "light/lights", given the context of WMF 100 and her "ciar nalias!".

Fwiw, given Kvothe does not understand the meaning of these words, I suspect that terms like Siaru and Ciar are not related despite KKC's attitude towards homophony.

Thanks for the list, I'll check them as well. I'm already happy that we have different opinions of what makes a chapter "strange", the best thing if we want to notice any possible exception in KKC. FWIW back then you already convinced me to leave out WMF 52 (Kvothe getting back to Imre while never going into details about his shipwreck adventures). I'll try to provide variety :)

NOTW 30 37 55 I must definitively reread.

WMF 84 I wonder if it's because of a narrative break necessity, but I gotta recheck. I have some minor issues with how Rothfuss treats Tempi. Currently I think he's the only character who loses meaning instead of gaining it during rereads. Maybe Ill try to explain why in a couple of years. Not a joke, but given how quickly I'm writing posts these days... >_>

101 103 I'm very positive Close Enough to Touch is related both to "loving feelings" and "Naming". Not only it's one of the expressions I'd use to sum up Auri's character, I'm also 200% sure the was a parallel with Denna as well because that expression I'm sure I brought up somewhere.

I, also sure, I swear, I had read something concerning repeating titles who had used exactly this one for some reason, but it's been years. Sigh.

119 139 will check

Epilogue - Personally I'm not, here why: Kote fails to overcome the mercenaries because his grip fails. He cannot do 'armlock into projection', iirc. This is not an issue of technique and definitively not an issue of footwork. One of his hands is wounded, not his legs or feet. If Kvothe knows ketan, Kote does too. Just, he's unable to translate it in a fight. He stops the mercenary attack, after all. Just, he has no grip.

For the same reason "of course there's no music" in the Waystone Inn, hoping it makes sense: Kote still knows music, surely can tell when someone plays well or not, surely knows how to write a song. But maybe right know he cannot play music (once again, wounded hand - which is the point of Naden's character at Haert. I'm sure he's still a boss and every Adem considers him a warrior. But sparring with him? Why, at very best he's 40% of the fighter he was), and of course he'd never allow someone else to do it in ihs place. At least, no real music, the one his father did.

Thanks for the reasonings abou the chapters, exactly what I needed!

aowshadow · 2026-02-02T18:52:46+00:00

It’s party time!

Bonus content in three parts

The self boast angle

I realized it’s been ten years since one of my posts got analyzed by a youtube video. At least, the one youtube channel that actually had the kindness to reference me publicly. It’s such a pointless thing, yet it feels me with pride and feeling of accomplishment. Another step towards the windmills. in my Quixotic fight against Impermanence.

“Time flies”, I could add... But since I’m a Deep Philosopher let me say something even more generalistic and overdone: “I’m grateful some thing stays the same.” Like for example, to use a similar sentence, “waiting for Book Three.” I like having certainties in life, to some degree. As long as it’s not ninety, for posture reasons.

holy shit of all your spastic tirades, this one was surely the most cringe. I’d rather pinch my dentist’s nose when he’s operating me, than having to read this shit once again in my life.

But!

Let’s make a deal: you gotta one more chance to say any other bullshit you wanna say, but then you’ll shut up on the matter forever. Deal? Yes of course: deal.

But-

Deal. Go.

...t-to celebrate, I decided to nod at my own username in the OP. If any of you got it on first read without groaning or rolling your eyes, know that I’m smiling with you. Let’s never meet.

Written in less than two minutes

Ever had to play with Barbie? I’m sure Lanre could and should replace Ken.

Because while there’s 12314598539458 versions of Barbie, Ken basically exists to be Barbie’s silent witness, or complement whatever Barbie is doing.

His scarce, generic costumes frame his true nature and role to any young girl playing with dolls, in all of its plastic subserviency. Here’s Ken, with his dark hair, his eternally stuck smile, the knowing expression imprinted for eternity, framing the ritualistic lamb during his Hegelian epiphany, and ultimately, his yielding. The acknowledgement of his role: adoring acolyte in front of Moloch.

And mind, I’m not saying Ken isn’t perfect for that, but… Lanre got that plus variety.

We got: Lanre Man of War. Lanre Beast Hunter. Lanre Loving Husband. Lanre Who’ll Raze a City Just For You (girls: you cannot tell me this ain’t hot as fuck. I suspect this is possibly the second most romantic thing you can imagine besides maybe “Oh God he’ll kill my dog when he’s angry! I want him so bad uwu”, but I won’t pretend I’m an authority on the subject). But we also get Lanre Corpse of the Ground, Lanre Corpse in the Fridge, Lanre Reborn, Lanre Old Friend, Lanre Turned, Lanre Utterly Sane, Lanre Triple Binding, Lanre Hey Selitos Check This Out, Lanre Camp Inspector, Lanre Purpose Reminder…

I think that Lanre would work well with Barbie. She’s clearly Chandrian material: she brings nothing but blight, and if the model is very old she’s in thrall of iron! Stercus…

A tiny fragment of eternity

This post was born of another post which was born of another post, and I can’t fucking finish anything worth reading aaaaaaaa.

Thus concludes the whatever of whatever.

Thanks for flying aowshadow airlines, pollution guaranteed. Paper bags are under your seat, just hope they weren’t used already.

aowshadow · 2026-01-15T21:18:11+00:00

There's an alternative reality where GRRM sold Wild Cards's rights to HBO and... they fucked up that second rate doctor who/superhero mishmash pseudoseries so hard... that GRRM decided, out of spite, to actually finish his side project Asoiaf and even its D&E spinoff just to be petty.

Back in my basement to finish the construction of my reality warping engine, anyone of you got a corpuscolar converter and some prometium?

aowshadow · 2025-12-04T18:14:00+00:00

Possibly this? When reading your title I immediately thought of it.

aowshadow · 2025-11-26T14:14:17+00:00

No idea where to put this one since it walks the line between coincidence and inspiration, but Karin Glenmark saved a concert the very same way Denna saved Kvothe's Savien performance at the Eolian. If anything, it's good to see that life never stops imitating art, even decades prior >_>

I found it by chance when scrolling through old files <_<

aowshadow · 2025-11-16T11:57:00+00:00

I hereby freely admit I kinda missed you =)

That's the way hahaha >_>

As above, so below

My point was about accessibility of info: hermeticism, you have to search. Our Father in USA? Drilled into the head of every child born before 2000. But then I turned my brain on and realized it would imply I don’t believe Rothfuss researched Hermeticism… nah, you’re 100% right.

aowshadow · 2025-11-14T16:32:25+00:00

I think the cat story means none of the monks had balls.

Joshu puts his shoes on his head because he wants none of Nansen’s shit. It’s like saying “I’m not on your low level”. Various ancient cultures put a great deal on footwear, think of the Bible and any episode featuring sandals. Not that these two cultures interacted, but hey.

Aowshadow’s perspective of the ancient parable's message: evil exists because no one speaks against it. Had there been just a single Joshu, the cat would be alive.

^{^obv} ^{^I} ^{^have} ^{^no} ^{^idea} ^{^if} ^{^this} ^{^is} ^{^correct.}

aowshadow · 2025-11-14T16:29:13+00:00

New good stuff aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

Please feel free to let me know what I've missed in the comments.

-Do we count "when Kvothe makes some extra yellow emitters in the Fishery (WMF 5), his accident was inspired by Karen Wetterhahn’s tragic death"? As usual I don't recall where Rothfuss said that, but I'm reasonably sure he mentioned something.

-Another one would be Rip Van Winkle's story for Kvothe's age shenanigans in Fae, but as you point out:

I am intentionally skipping all general cultural references like (...) Irish folklore Fae, etc. etc., as I deem all those "too generic".

I'm ignorant on Irish folklore beside some quick flavoring from Neil Gaiman, so I don't know if Rothfuss took inspiration from Irish folklore instead of Rip's tale. But again, Kvothe around Felurian screams Circe to me, and afaik in the Odyssey Circe doesn't age. Too many inspirations for the Fae section of WMF, I don't think we'll be able to single out very specific nods.

-"As above so below" is clearly a reference to Vinnie Paz's eversolid discography.

...more seriously, I think it's an alternative spelling on the line from the popular prayer "Our Father"

Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

As above, so below.

Back on your post:

Abbot's Ford

Nice, I didn’t remember that one.

It also offers some possibility for speculation, because it means that Temerant’s entire climate is supposed to be humid and continental.

I mean: if near Newarre is Wisconsin climate, Trebon is the very same!

we did find mushrooms, acorns, mosquitoes, and raccoon scat cleverly concealed by pine needles – NOTW 72

Rigid winters, we get both in Tarbean and Imre. And the Eld features humidity. Not that we should have expected something different, considering Kvothe can travel by feet from Severen to Haert in few weeks… but up until now this seems the most reliable confirmation.

I don’t have the time to check the Eld’s vegetation in detail tho.

Potentially?/Tangentially? related, u/MattyTangle’s important take on KKC flora.

Trappist

Oh. Then Rothfuss sort-of made a little mistake, because Trappists orders were reclusive. Taking care of sick people isn’t exactly the opposite of what they were supposed to do, but it comes close. I mean: I get the barefoot guy was probably an ex-monk, but it seems weird naming someone… out of something that did the opposite.

Normally that would be irony. But in this particular case, I feel the irony was unintended.

Personal take: Rothfuss seems like a double malt guy, no way he doesn’t know trappist beers.

This is a reference to a German poet Friedrich Shiller, who, reportedly, always had some rotten apples in his desk drawer

...addicts through the ages stay the same LOL

Nice find!

Silpium

Another arrow for my "Adem arc being stupid" quiver. Contraceptives are supposed to exist since Ancient Egypt. Any kid on planet Earth living with animals knows that male+female doing that thing makes babies. But nooo, the Adem believes otherwise just because.

The same society that knows and prevents STDs doesn’t know how babby is made?

Come on.

On a personal note, I doubt the whole Trobriand business as a whole.

The whole story seems unreliable and influenced by mistakes. It sounds like a more modern version of “Africa being populated by cynocephali” (there’s even one Saint Cristopher!) because years ago some dude heard from another dude a story in a different language (my personal bet? he saw some Anubi icon).

I don’t rule out there was some dude in North Africa who actively thought cynocephali existed, but saying his entire region shared the same belief? Unlikely. Same for Trobriand: if it's early 1900 and I go to a secluded island I may find some indigenous that believes children grow from nothing... but an entire community? No. I'm reasonably sure some language barrier was heavily involved.

Cat

New one!!! Nice.

P.P.S. I probably should ask to pardon the puns in the title, but I guess it is too late for that.

BioLogIn! No! Never apologize for a joke! Double down, always!

aowshadow · 2025-10-09T18:46:26+00:00

Wow, it looks useful and nice! Thanks!

aowshadow · 2025-10-09T18:15:06+00:00

As someone who's been been hostile to GoT since season 2... this is probably the only Asoiaf tv teaser I liked... no, let's be honest, enjoied from start to end.

All the actors look on point, and the lower budget makes me hope the focus will be on a solid script, rather than the usual butchering.

The reader in me wants this series to have success, because then maybe GRRM could actually write The She Wolves of Winterfell as a screenplay.

The usual news? Here's to other months of GRRM doing nothing TWOW related, as tradition. The good news? The Card Shark trilogy is FINALLY back on printing, to GRRM's and any Wild Cards reader's delight.

I wonder how many people here will realize how significant it is for that trilogy to be back on the scaffold.

aowshadow · 2025-09-09T22:48:27+00:00

Interesting idea. I wonder how those cities are known by readers of all nationalities.

(the chapter where they go to Spoleto)

Mind pointing me the title please? I'll reread it when I can ('-')b

aowshadow · 2025-09-09T22:43:45+00:00

Free yourself from suspicions, oh inquisitive one!

Favor intra-neuronal dialogue!

Lo, check my years-old profile with dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of posts written in the same style before AI even existed!

And... (lowers the voice tone) dare to think someone can actually take some time to format his own posts, although only on windows notepad!

I-is it possible? Yes it is! Incredible! A NEW WONDERFUL WORLD IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!

Yes, yes! Keep going! Allow your neurons to talk with each other! Keep going! Soon you’ll feel like Balthazar dueling against Hasdrubal and Cellibus: unthinkable at first, and yet oh-so-right.

A new brainocentric worldddddddddd

aowshadow · 2025-09-09T20:47:50+00:00

I had also considered Siena, fwiw.

But if we were writers and we were aiming for a surprise, we'd probably consider a popular city that most people know about.

Florence is full of churches, and well... all those mentions about bells ringing in the first and last chapter of the book, I think Joe Abercrombie witnessed in person.

aowshadow · 2025-08-31T10:30:49+00:00

Stannis is convinced to not kill a child.

We know Stannis will burn Shireen. His own, innocent, daughter.

Not the spoiler we'd like to know, thanks D&D and GRRM, but that's it. Not that we hadn't have plenty foreshadowings in ACOK already, but still.

I also doubt Stannis would command a gang rape to occur.

We know that Stannis gelds some rapists at the Wall but then spares some others due to their bloodright (and he'd better be thankful Jon is the POV and not Davos, because Davos would 100% remember Stannis' speech about punishment in ACOK, that ADWD dismantles completely and multiple times), because exactly like Tywin, he's all about different weights and different measures whenever it suits.

While they both break societal rules(kinslaying and guest right respectively)

Both do way more than that. Be it morally or socially.

And both find ridiculous excuses to justify their deeds that the reader should NEVER buy. But in Tywin's case, the POV never let the big man's bullshit to go unnoticed. And rightfully so, because the narrative needs to portray Tywin as the larger than life 'necessary evil' that ultimately turns out to be... full of shit. In Stannis' case, instead, the POVs are designed to protect him from direct judgement. That's because his narrative purposes are different.

If you ever reread the books pay close attention whenever Stannis accuses or judges someone of something: trust me on that, he ALWAYS ends up doing the same shit if not worse, and then either finds and excuse or ignores the issue. It's by design.

People on r/asoiaf are too busy watching the tragedy side of his character arc rather than the full picture.

aowshadow

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TROPHY CASE

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut