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Inside the mind of GRRM.


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Hi everybody.

I have been a fan since the show came into existence, even though I took up the reading of the books not too long ago (wow). When I was merely a fan of the show, it absolutely blew my mind that a man could come up with such an unbelievably sophisticated plot. Absolutely everything from the various characters all the way to the house sigils and much more.

So I was wondering, are there any podcasts or particular videos where GRRM has his brain picked about The World of Ice and Fire, and how it all came into existence? He must have a fascinating story.

My apologies if this particular thread is not posted in the right location. Still getting my head around this forum.

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I read once that as a kid he had pet turtles and a love of history, and named his turtles after the houses of York and Lancaster. Not sure if that's true though.



He definitely has had this in his mind for a very long time, and the initial inspiration was partly from the Wars of the Roses. Have you looked through the SSM's on the site? There have been a ton of interviews over the years and I'm sure some of what you're looking for can be found through So Spake Martin entries. It may take a long time to wade through them, but there is gold to be found in there. :D


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I read once that as a kid he had pet turtles and a love of history, and named his turtles after the houses of York and Lancaster. Not sure if that's true though.

Oh yeah, I remember that story: Martin kept his turtles in a plastic castle, and they kept dying. He didn't know why they were dying, so he pretended they were getting killed off as part of "sinister plots".

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Oh yeah, I remember that story: Martin kept his turtles in a plastic castle, and they kept dying. He didn't know why they were dying, so he pretended they were getting killed off as part of "sinister plots".

Also the turtles fucked sometimes and he practiced descriptive writing on those events. Later his mother cooked the poor turtles and he wrote about that too.

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Both great videos. Most interviewers are not very good, and ask very shallow questions that he's answered so many times that he has stock answers. The first interviewer does a great job just by letting GRRM talk past the end of his stock answer. The second one actually asks some good questions nobody else ever asks. I wish there were more like this.



For example, everyone asks him, "You've said the War of the Roses was a major inspiration for the Starks and Lannisters, but did you borrow anything else from history?" and gets his stock quip about not having to work as hard when the best ideas are already written for you and his stock example of the Red Wedding being based on the Black Dinner and the Glencoe Massacre. Why not instead ask him about the Valyrian salting of Ghis vs. the Roman salting of Carthage and the Dance of the Dragons vs. the Anarchy in England, and see if he gives a different answer?


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Also the turtles fucked sometimes and he practiced descriptive writing on those events. Later his mother cooked the poor turtles and he wrote about that too.

What a creep, jacking off to a bunch of turtles. Hey... do you think he mentioned that to anyone at HBO? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSGmGbX9BA

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What a creep, jacking off to a bunch of turtles. Hey... do you think he mentioned that to anyone at HBO? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSGmGbX9BA

What the hell? I didn't know the show included stories of Tyrion's mischief and ejaculating into turtle stew!

I might just start watching it.

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Also the turtles fucked sometimes and he practiced descriptive writing on those events. Later his mother cooked the poor turtles and he wrote about that too.

Oh so that's where the Jaime/Cersei relationship came from. Cute little bro and sis turtles made little incest turtles.

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I'd actually recommend reading some of his other books. It really gives you an idea of his range, and perspective into what he's willing to do with his characters.



Not to give away any spoilers, but books like Fevre dream show that George doesn't believe in having Mary Sues.


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