GoT is soooo close

[Alluveal]

It's subtle.

There is the whole thing about Renly marrying Margarie Tyrell and the marriage never being consumated.
I think Robert (or Stannis) makes a joke about Renly ever producing children.

And there is Loras' reaction when Renly, cough, you know....

Hidden Information!

gets offed by the shadow assassin that the red witch shoots out of her cooter

It's subtle and it's expected. Martin is, if anything, a dude writing fantasy. Lots of explicit lesbo sex, but no real guy on guy action.

Since Martin is a producer, I'm assuming this was something that was suspected by readers in the book that he confirmed for the series.

[Ddrak]

From tvrecaps:

Were you wondering if there are gay couples in Westeros? Why yes. Here Ser Loras is shown with his lover, the king's brother, Renly. Some readers of the books will be surprised by this, since the relationship wasn't anywhere near this obvious in the novel, but author George R.R. Martin says he intended them to be gay and there were hints in the text. "All I ever hear is how I'm not tough enough," Renly complains while the Knight of the Flowers shaves his chest.

Dd

[Alluveal]

Holy Cow, 6 and 7 were awesome. (Watch episode 7 on HBO GO).

Viserys getting his crown was splendid.

Oh, Littlefinger, how I loathe you (in a really good way).

[Xican]

Did 6 and 7 both come out this week? That's friggin' awesome!

[Alluveal]

Yeah, 6 on HBO and 7 is a preview on HBO GO.

Actually, you can watch both there if you have a subscription.

[Xican]

I thoroughly enjoyed Viserys' coronation ceremony.

[Alluveal]

Xican, I know. It was . . . shiny and, hot wasn't it.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

So this week is going to give everyone e07 and a preview of e08 or are we just getting e07?

Oh man I missed last Sunday's episode and I won't be home until a week from this Sunday so that's 3 (or 4) episodes I'm going to be behind. This is torture man. Oh well at least I have weed(s) to get me by.

I had very limited expectations going into this series but they've really done the books justice, which doesn't seem to happen very often. And it's gone so mainstream that people like my mother in law (who now lives with us, yay!) are watching it. It's not just a geek thing any more, though they had to spice it up a bit for that. Heh, I read where someone called it "game of porn".

[Xican]

Oh man, that sucks Freecare... Missing Game of Thrones 3 weeks in a row AND having the mother in law move in? Rough month, dude. Jeez, if I had to live with my girlfriend's mother, the first thing I'd do is sign up for a noose tying lesson... Just in case.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Other than her demanding that I build her a bathroom about once a week on Facebook, it's not so bad. She buys me gifts almost daily like expensive tequila and thick steaks and stuff, and there's days where I don't see or hear her, so it's been OK so far. And other than no bathroom she has about 1,350 Sq. Ft. to herself down in the basement and that still leaves us with 2 guest bedrooms up on the top floor. So as long as nobody else moves in then we're good lol. And compared to the stray teenagers we always used to take in, the mother in law has been totally drama free. So lots of booze (she buys me grey goose too), she empties the lint screen, and contributes more toilet paper than she uses...

But yeah, moving your mother in law in with you is some serious shit. That and she brought 2 dogs, 2 turtles and 2 birds with her lol.

[Xican]

Sounds like you hit the jackpot as far as Mothers in Law go, Freecare. Just about the only downside I can see is the birds. I'm a dog lover, so I could live with that, and turtles are easy to maintain and quiet, so no probs there -- but birds I can not stand. They're noisy and stinky and I just have no use for 'em as pets. Haha.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I totally agree. I can't stand birds and I told her they'd have to go, but we live in a rural area with lots of trees and there's already 15 million fucking chirping birds anyway so I don't even hear hers. So they might as well stay, which of course scores me more tequila points.

And yeah, I got a good mother in law but some of that was just good planning marrying a chick whose parents I liked. I think a lot of guys forget when they're dating a chick that when you look at her mother you're seeing pretty much what you'll have in 20 years if you stay with her. I don't think I have any friends where the psycho bitch mother in law was a big surprise.

My son already had two turtles. His iguana didn't make it (none of our vets would touch the thing), so the grand total is 4 turtles, 2 cats (both outdoor), 2 birds, 6 dogs (one pregnant) and a 16 year old who is basically this giant smelly animal that eats his own weight daily (lineman).

Another Sunday without GoT

[Alluveal]

First "review" by Publisher's Weekly (for Dance with Dragons). Not really a full-fledged review, but interesting nonetheless. Using spoiler tags on some things. But, be wary if you don't want to have some things ruined.

-------------

A few images recur in the enormously complex fifth installment of Martin's massively multicharacter epic: the chess-like game cyvasse, small rivers flowing into larger ones, ships and armies battered by terrible storms. These themes suggest that readers should think strategically, be patient as the story grows, and brace for a beating. Martin's fans, however, are hungry for more action and purpose, their appetites whetted by a six-year wait and the recent HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Dance was originally the second half of 2005's A Feast for Crows, sometimes criticized for shifting from battles and intrigue to slow trudges through war-torn, corpse-littered Westeros. The new volume has a similar feel to Feast and takes place over a similar time frame; Martin keeps it fresh by focusing on popular characters

Hidden Information!

Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and Jon Snow, all notably absent from the previous book. These three are generally thought the most plausible riders of the titular dragons, but plots within plots abound, and two strong new candidates for those scaly saddles emerge as a powerful enemy threatens Daenerys's captured city of Meereen, Tyrion is kidnapped by slavers, and treachery undermines Jon's command of the undead-battling Night's Watch

. More characters are revived than killed off and more peace accords signed than wars declared, but the heart-hammering conclusion hints that the next installment will see a return to the fiery battles and icy terror that earned the series its fanatic following. Even ostensibly disillusioned fans will be caught up in the interweaving stories, especially when Martin drops little hints around long-debated questions such as Jon's parentage. Author tour. (July)

[Ddrak]

Actually, that highlights one of my only complaints about Martin - I prefer an author to have in their mind a well defined story arc even if it is anticipated to take a dozen books. Martin seems to really not know how things are going to resolve and almost revels in that chaos.

Dd

[Ddrak]

Loving this as well: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... IceAndFire

Dd

[Alluveal]

Actually, that highlights one of my only complaints about Martin - I prefer an author to have in their mind a well defined story arc even if it is anticipated to take a dozen books. Martin seems to really not know how things are going to resolve and almost revels in that chaos.

Dd

Haha. I've heard that he has it allllll planned out. Like many authors, though, sometimes the journey meanders, even from a tight outline. I think, from what I have read, his issue is more timing and maneuvering the huge amounts of POVs that develop along the way. I read something from when he was writing ADWD that he was having major issues due to the fact that he kept some POVs out of A Feast for Crows, moved them to Dance with Dragons and and found that he had the whole "time" issue to contend with.

But, going back to his master plan. At least JMS of B5 fame had things written on notecards, Martin, however, does not (or if he has notes, he has hidden them well). I've heard fans discuss the fact that this dude is not getting any younger and they're afraid he'll pull a Jordan, only w/o the ability to relay his story plan to another writer.

He has, according to news reports, filled in the HBO producers on certain mysteries and endings of character arcs. So, there is that at least.

[Ddrak]

I'd be more inclined to believe he had it all planned out, but his characters took on a life of their own and now he's just playing Xanatos Speed Chess with them, just to keep up.



Dd

[Xican]

I finally got around to finishing Feast, but it was a touch tedious for my liking. The series really lost it's flare for me with this book, I have to admit. I didn't even want to finish it that much. I'm inclined to think if Dance is similar, I'm gonna have a tough time making it through. Admittedly, that could also be because I didn't particularly enjoy half the character perspectives in Feast. I imagine the likes of Tyrion and Jon coming back to the forefront will be more readable for me.

Given that HBO seems to be taking it a season per book, I'm kinda curious how Feast will look if they get a 4th season. I can't imagine a dozen hour long episodes of watching Cersei rant like a bitch, while the other characters walk endlessly. Hell, it seems like 2/3 of Feast's length was due to descriptions of muddy roads, lemon cakes and bad smells. This book could've been 300 pages, instead of 900-something and still gotten all the points across.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this book was very m'eh.

[Alluveal]

Yeah, AFFC became a bit long-winded for me. Brienne wanders around. Blah blah. The highlights were Jaime and I did like parts of Cersei's POVs because I got to see how borderline nutso she was.

I didn't get into the whole Iron Islands stuff.

They're thinking of breaking book 3 into two season. Since books 4 and 5 occur (at least somewhat) simultaneously, they'll have to figure their way around that, I'm sure. Probably split those into two seasons as well. (Provided they get that far.)

I'd be happy with a season 3. Enough to see some Kingslayer awesomeness.

[Alluveal]

Last
episode
fuckin'
rocked

Shit

2 more left.

Sadness!

Feels like I'm writing some kind of poetry here.....

Harlowe, how far in are ya now? You on book 3 yet?

(pokes everyone else, too)