What would you ask the GRRM??? UPDATED

[norwaywolf123]

Are there any stonings or witch/wizard burings in Westeros.

Will there be a religous war between the Faith and the Drowned God/Old Gods/Red God? Chase the heathen!

A+J True or False

will there be any prequels?

 

[John Doe]

But seriously, I'd ask what Littlefinger's end game is. It's one of the greatest mysteries of the series. He can't seriously hope to win the crown for himself, and it doesn't seem like he wants to settle for less. 

[Joan Jett]

On February 27, 2016 at 5:44 PM, ShadowCat Rivers said:

Wow! If you have a chance, can you ask if Brandon ever said anything else than the infamous "come out and die"? (And what might that be?) Because it seems this line is regarded a lot as Brandon's "Hodor".

I did it!!!! Right after he finished reading the Aeron chapter he took questions and I asked this one. He responded "Probably. But it wouldn't have been a highlight. Maybe 'Wow, that was a long ride.' or 'Anything to eat?'" LOL.

 

The Aeron chapter was fantastic though.

[Joey Crows]

I think I'd ask him less about the story itself, as he likely wouldn't reveal anything earth shattering, and more about his process. I'd love to know if he puts himself in the mind of POV characters as he's writing and really writes as though he IS that character. Or, if he feels more like an omniscient puppet master, pulling each character's strings to take the story where it needs to go.

[The Fattest Leech]

  

I asked what I could. I had a purple index card with me at the dinner and George took it and looked over a few questions but only answered me about my Targaryen first born theory and then a few days later at the Coffee Talk he started to answer me about my Bran/Pinocchio theory (then someone cut him off ) I typed this up in Word first, then had to copy/paste or type in quotes from handwritten notes, so sorry about the formatting differences.

The Donation Dinner on Thursday, May 26, 2016: *quick note: anything that I “quote” means it was a direct quote from George as he said it. His words, not mine.

Preston Jacobs was there, but I didn’t know it at the time.  I knew another poster here was going to attend the dinner, so we agreed ahead of time to meet in person. Through the rest of the convention, she and I attended most panels and readings and such together. I will only name her if she agrees to it and as of this writing I haven’t had a chance to ask her yet.

1.    He name is Mark and he and I are getting along famously!   I was at table 5, which the way it fit in the small room sat me right next to table 1 as well! Of the other five at my table, only 1 has read the books, two are an older couple there to support Balticon, and the other is there and he is the MC of the event and the one to do the official GRRM interview on Saturday.

2.    GRRM described himself as a “sex positive feminist”.

3.    GRRM just sat with my friend and he is talking about SpiderMan  and Greenwich Village.

4.    My friend asked him about Gendry and Arya meeting back up and when will Arya get her moonblood to which GRRM answered “soon”… and GRRM had an interesting response to Arya and Gendry meeting back up. I will let her tell you the answer. But I do know he said of Arya and Gendry that, “I’ll visit them again.”

a.     A note from my friend about something that happened at her table: “Also the guy sitting next to me brought up the Hodor elevator story to him. He said he didn't remember it, but everyone at the table still had a good laugh about it.”

b.    GRRM talked about Dorne! He wasn't exactly dissing the show, but he didn't have anything good to say about it. One guy talked asked if season 6 would spoil the books for him. Something like "Don't think what happens in the show will happen in the books, the show is completely different. The books will be nothing like that." You could really feel the dislike he had for it. 

5.    George’s assistant Joanna (Jo) sat with us and explained and few things about George and stuff… but then she and I got to talking about lots of other stuff and I grew to love her very quickly. Lenore cam ea round and sat with George during the dinner. Parris was feeling ill.

6.    me in my silver wolfhead necklace pendant. The conversation started with his work at the wolf sanctuary that is something he is very passionate about. That was the one time his tone changed and became very serious. He went on about the sanctuary and how sometimes humans can be irresponsible with what they think is "cool" by having wolf-dog hybrids and how that is worse for these poor animals. There was passion there.  complimentingGeorge just sat right next to me. He was crazy nice and shook my hand … but not before noticing and

7.   

 

8.    GRRM is describing the maesters and how he wanted them to have a lot of flower knowledge and to be very clean. 

9.    Then someone at my table told him I like his story Meathouse Man and he turned to me and told me I was a freak!!! And laughed and then told me how he came about writing Meathouse Man and it was cool.  I am also a writer and could appreciate the writing process down to the editor and publisher.

10. And he said fuck or fucking about 50 times 

11. At The dinner, his assistant Joanna told me his other assistant who does the artwork for some of the graphic novels said she was working on something "super secret". And then when George was at my table a little later, he told me that he was working on more stories that included Bloodraven in them. I was first excited for the possibility of She-wolves of Winterfell in the D&E stories, but then I was like duh, it's probably Winds and his art assistant was working on something else. 

12. My first “big” question I asked was, “who had a better chance of getting together and that there is no right or wrong answer to this (hahahaha), Jon and Val or me and Bloodraven.”

a.     That is when he laughed and said I was weird and then said, "Bloodraven is half a tree," to which I replied, "So? I’m a gardener and the wood jokes write themselves."

b.    Then he paused, took a minute to think, and told me he is writing more with Bloodraven in it (to which I died )

c.     Then he paused again and said "Jon and Val, huh? That would make a good fit" 

13. I had dessert with George and 5 other people at my table. GRRM sat directly next to me on the right. I had the “Reach Pear Tart” and GRRM had the lemon cake.

14. GRRM was at my table and we started  talking a little about Targaryen history and GRRM mentioned he uses Elio to help with the details he can't remember (something we all know) but then GRRM mentioned that Elio has a guy he knows that lives in Scotland that helps with "other" things.

15. .“big” question to him was about my Targ/Non-Targ theoryMy other

a.     ". you know alot", then told me, "interestingCuriously enough, when I asked him at the Thursday dinner about my Targ/Non-Targ first born babies, he replied "

b.    ." Regarding my Targ theory. This may be a way he avoids answering questions that could be spoilers.go back and look at his notesGRRM then started to diverge the conversation in to the Blood&Fire book, and that he would have to "

c.     This is where he mentions using Elio to help him remember and link details… to which I responded, “interesting as well.” He laughed.

GRRM/ John Picacio interview Saturday, May 28, 2016:

 

1.    the interview ended a few minutes ago and GRRM did make mention at how when you see actors at other cons, which are considered shows as opposed to fan conventions, that the guests and show actors are there because they are paid (does that equal employee?) There were a few other subtle tidbits in there as well and if this convention gets a video of the interview up, then it will be towards the end.

2.    and GRRM answered that he was working on a Cersei chapter when he left home the other day and he still has a ways to go.   George just answered the Picacio question, “What part of Kong are you working on right now?’,

3.    He is probably closer than he thinks because when he wrote Game, he thought 1200-1500 pages wasn’t enough and it was his editor that told him to scale it back to the now finished size. However, GRRM did add, “I still have a ways to go. I shouldn’t be here right now…”

4.    GRRM and Picacio both made the joke about "you need to pay the artist" and such regarding general fan fiction. And then GRRM said he has issued some sub-licenses to things like art and games, etc. GRRM also mentioned that HBO owns the rights to the exact likenesses of the tv version of the story, meaning, no art can be made where Dany looks like Emilia. He was very careful in avoiding a real link in feeling between him and HBO even though he was asked about it twice. Then GRRM mentioned, and Picacio joined in, how GRRM knew the show would overtake the books. Not too much new. 

5.    GRRM did say how he hates when movies stray too far from the books. 

6.    An audience member asked GRRM, “As the Game of Thrones TV series moves farther away from the book, has this changed or done anything to your views on fan fiction?

a.     GRRM’s Reply: “No. I continue to be opposed to fan fiction because it’s copyright infringement. HBO, of course, gets around this by paying me large dump trucks full of money. So, if you would like to arrive in front of my house with a large dump truck full of money, I may consider allowing you to do some fan fiction. But I won’t consider it fan fiction then. I would consider it a sub-license. I make many sub-licenses to people who do games and card games and coins, etcetera. But Harlan Ellison always had this rule that he has been very vocal about over the years. You can find his diatribe about it on YouTube. And I think John also feels (one must) pay the artist, because this is how we make our living.”

ASOIAF fan talk and (separate thing) ASOIAF trivia:

 

7.    My friend and I attended both. We were busy!!!

 

8.    The trivia was awesome and she and I were killing against the other groups of four or more. Woo-hooo to us!

9.    The fan conversation was boring. Sorry. Too much whining about things that are barely ASOIAF related.

Gender/Sexism in GoT Panel Saturday, May 28, 2016:

 

1.    It was up and down I guess. The first thing they talked about was Loras and Renly acting like gay stereotypes, they got that right.

2.    There was one guy who talked about the Sansa v. Jeyne thing, really ripping into the show for not having the northern lords and no one caring that Sansa was being raped. That was a highlight.

3.    And then a female panel leader claims that no one in the book universe or even the readers care that Jeyne Poole was tortured and raped… she was not important to anyone and readers have no sympathy for her.  I just found my quoted notes… the panel lady sayd, “"no one cared for Jeyne (Poole)" I just found a pic of the panelist https://twitter.com/hannahetoile/status/736681991534465024

a.     I will admit that I lost my willpower and shouted “NO” and then went on to explain the motivations Mr. Benioff and Mr.Weiss used to get Sansa in with Ramsay and so on. I actually had people come up to me after this panel ended and thanked me for speaking up. I was shocked, yet happy with that.

b.    The guy on the end in the panel was telling the crowd how empowered Sansa was after her rape.

c.     One audience guy made a point to say in the books everyone around fArya/Jeyne knew who she was and even heard her crying and such.

4.    And then there were other guys asking why no one cares that the males are mutilated, etc. 

5.    Honestly, one hour does not do that topic justice. This panel did not "kill it" because the girl on the end only hopped in last minute because they were asking for panelist. The focus went all over the place but rape was a focus.  

6.    That said, it was nice to see a crowded room with that many people thinking and talking about it. 

 

 

 

Saturday evening at a bar:

 

7.    Me and another poster here got to meet and hang out with Preston Jacobs for a while over a few beers. He was super nice, about 6”6” tall!

8.    I don’t know many of his theories at all, but we talked about some, to which I agreed to some and disagreed to others. However, he was kind enough to also listen to my theories and we had great, civil discussions on both.

9.    at the after party bar where we met Preston Jacobs and a few other really nice book fans, just before we left, a guy recognized us from the gender/sexism panel and praised our argument/statements we made. I guess he wasn't impressed with the main three panel players either?

Liars Panel Sunday, May 29, 2016:

 

1.    The Liars panel is hilarious. GRRM just admitted he once received a nipple piercing gift certificate as a gift and that he knows all the words to Petticoat junction and he just sang a bit 

Book signing Sunday, May 29, 2016:

 

2.    Since I was at the donation dinner I had a very low number to get my book signed. I was #6.

3.    When I approached GRRM he remembered me right away from the donation dinner. We talked for a minute and he really liked my Bloodraven “fan” t-shirt I have printed up special for the signing. He once again told me I was, “weird,” and, "nobody likes Bloodraven." 

4.    book !!!!one signatures in twoI had GRRM sign the one art page in Knight of Seven Kingdoms book that shows Bloodraven (notice the theme of my personal favorite here?). He also signed the inside cover of my book =

 

 

 

 

Marin reads Damphair! Sunday, May 29, 2016:

 

1.    Not much to add here that you have not already seen online by now.

2.    The a/c was cranked in the room. I was cold L

3.    My con friend and I were also second row back, three to the right from center. Great Seats!!!

4.    I’ve never been much of an Iron Islands type fan, but holy shit, this was awesome and renews my respect for GRRM’s work.

 

 

Episode 6 viewing Sunday evening:

 

1.    George never showed, but the other authors. Guests of honor did and they sat in the back row.

2.    One thing I have noticed tonight is that while the opening "look back" scene was on, and then the opening credits, people gave little woo-hoo's and claps to their favorite actors. I decided I would clap and give a little woo-hoo to GRRM's name when it went up in the opening credits (I mean , he IS Guest of Honor at this convention). I gave a respectable woo-hoo and a few people joined in... but when D&D's name came on screen, lots of people shouted big WOO's and waved their hands around like crazy even though the same ones were silent for George.

3.    Reactions after the episode

a.     People were confused about Sam taking Heartsbane. It seemed out of character for him to do so.

b.    Amanda Peet was talked about (Benioff’s actress wife) and apparently, people do not like her. Typecast for being a b*tch.

c.     Dany on Drogon seemed random and a repeat of previous seasons.

d.    Others loved Dany on Drogon.

e.     People praised Sam for sticking up against his father.

f.      Where is George?

Kaffeeklatsch (Coffee Talk) Monday, May 30, 2016:

 

My con friend and I attended a kaffeeklatsch (coffee talk) with George and about 8 other people. It lasted about an hour and a half in a very small, private room that overlooked Baltimore's inner harbor (interpret that as you will). The first half of the talk was boring because some woman bombarded the conversation with her tales of living in China and golf and how golf pays her bills and China and golf. The rest of us realized we would have to just cut her off if we were going to talk about anything else. And so we did. I do have a recording of the talk, but can't get the file small enough to share easily. I did start to take written notes as he said certain things as to not forget the specific phrasing.

The funny stuff:

The two tables were pulled close together and GRRM sat in the middle of the two with me on his right, and Con Friend in front of him. We almost did not make it in because the sign-up was limited and there was zero information to be found on how and where to sign up. We had a leprechaun on our side that morning.

At one point during a book recommendation, George started talking about sword fighting and how Hollywood gets it wrong. At this point he was physically demonstrating how to hold and wield a sword or shield. He then held both of his hands up and pretended he had two swords. This was all during his talking points about how Hollywood is very inaccurate at sword fighting. Well, during his physical demonstration at how clumsy holding two swords would be, he accidentally bumped my foot and and uncrossed my legs for a brief second. He never said "two swords looks awful", but it was odd and curious how he decided to pretend he had two swords to demonstrate his point. (I am never washing my foot again!!! )

The books or authors he recommended were The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (that may just be the show name based on the books), and the book Aspects of the Novel.

The serious stuff:

My con friend asked about the Jon/Arya relationship again and brought her (impressive) Game book that had all of her references marked out with little flags. She brought up the Ygritte connections to Arya that Jon saw in her. George did not directly answer yes or no if there would be anything romantic between the two.

He did say, despite what readers see as clues to a romantic relationship between Jon/Arya in the books themselves, he did not confirm this so easily but inferred that what Jon saw in Ygritte was a "comfort" level of femininity (not his exact words, just the jist).

1.    Instead, George said he was "pissed" that the outline was posted in the office building and that someone took photos and shared them. He said it was a letter for him and the publisher only. He was very firm when telling this and it showed on his face.

2.    He then said that he is not good with writing outlines, making book deadlines, and that often in outlines he was "making shit up", and "characters changed along the way". Side note: I know he said other things in past interviews, so interpret this as you will. * “quoted” words are his words exactly.

I asked him about my Bran/Wood dancers/Pinocchio theory. I pointed out the seemingly heavy influence Pinocchio has in the Bran storyline and he replied, "Interesting."  He asked if I saw the Disney movie because that is his "favorite" Disney movie and how "dark and disturbing" it is.

1.    He asked if I ever read the book. I answered "yes, as a kid and I love the movie too." He said he never read the original story... but then two or three sentences later he talked about the differences in the book to movie and gave quotes and examples from the book story?!?!

2.    George mentioned how Pinocchio at the time, did not want a conscience and smashed the cricket for trying to give him one.  He started to relate Bran to Pinocchio when someone cut in.

3.    I do believe this was some sort of diversionary tactic because I may have been on to something. And then as he paused and was thinking of the next part of his answer, some other woman cut in to ask about how Shakespeare influenced him. (By the way, this Shakespeare question was asked at least two other times at public discussion panels already )

Oh, and the woman who went on and on about China and golf and golf in China also asked him WHEN WILL WINDS BE OUT????  George did not like that question, gave the standard answer and the meeting soon wrapped up after that. Every person who went to Balticon was made aware either in email, other print or verbally to NOT ask this question.

He went straight from talking about the references in the actual books, to the "differences" in the outline from then to now. He did say that he still knows who sits the iron throne and the end game of the main 5, but also included Sansa, but did not give any details (for obvious reasons).

 

 

After the Coffee Talk just outside the room:

 

1.    My friend asked about Arya and Jon again. This time GRRM gave some very pointed replies:

a.     Friend: Ok, if you foreshadowed something in the first book, like, really cleverly hidden, would you then follow through on that hint? For sure?.. GRRM: Well, this goes with what I said before, the story changes and expands as I write. I wish I was able to go back and make revised drafts, but that's not giong to happen. (He said way more than this, but this summarizes it. )

2.    She asks about the hints for Jon/Arya in the second and third book, the comparing Ygritte and Arya, which wouldn't be there if GRRM had made up the romance for the outline.

a.     "You know, I don't think it's a reference for that [for romance]. It's a reference to a certain physical type, and  a certain indication of what Jon finds admirable. It's like someone who reminds you of, you know... Other people might be put off by this, you know, hair that looks like small rodents have been living in there."

b.    GRRM finished (in the hallway now) by saying that he "wished some past things weren't such strong foreshadowing," and that he "wished some new things had stronger foreshadowing then." 

 

 

Overall, I had the most amazing weekend. I was tired as hells come Tuesday which is part of my reason for the delay in writing this up.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

  

[The Fattest Leech]

My list of questions to George, which he looked at but chose to avoid, included:

Would Rhaegar have been the great king Barristan said?

Would Ned have told Jon about his mother?

How much Dayne blood is required to be Sword of the Morning?

Marillion alive?

Complete religious tolerance in Westeros, or left up to local lords?

How old is the young weirwood tree at Riverrun?

Was the tunnel under Chataya's for Tywin?

Where is Darksister?

 

[Meera of Tarth]

54 minutes ago, The Fattest Leech said:

My list of questions to George, which he looked at, included:

Would Rhaegar have been the great king Barristan said?

Would Ned have told Jon about his mother?

How much Dayne blood is required to be Sword of the Morning?

Marillion alive?

Complete religious tolerance in Westeros, or left up to local lords?

How old is the young weirwood tree at Riverrun?

Was the tunnel under Chataya's for Tywin?

Where is Darksister?

 

Did he answer about Dayne blood and the young weirwood tree?

[The Fattest Leech]

3 minutes ago, Meera of Tarth said:

Did he answer about Dayne blood and the young weirwood tree?

Nope. He clearly wanted to avoid those juicy questions. DAMN IT

[Kal-L]

4 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

 Snip

Thank you ! That was really interesting although it seems it didn't go the way your friend wished...

[The Fattest Leech]

4 minutes ago, Kal-L said:

Thank you ! That was really interesting although it seems it didn't go the way your friend wished...

No problem. 

Yeah, it didn't go so well for her, something I still feel really bad about. But, she still has faith! 

[The Great and Mighty Poo]

5 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

My list of questions to George, which he looked at but chose to avoid, included:

Would Rhaegar have been the great king Barristan said?

Would Ned have told Jon about his mother?

How much Dayne blood is required to be Sword of the Morning?

Marillion alive?

Complete religious tolerance in Westeros, or left up to local lords?

How old is the young weirwood tree at Riverrun?

Was the tunnel under Chataya's for Tywin?

Where is Darksister?

 

Damn, those are some good questions. I'd give a body part to have Darksister and Federal vrs slState Religious laws... I guess you'd have to be Ameri... who am I kidding what American knows anything about anything.

I'm of the thought he could have and probably would have if you pushed the question replied, "Keep reading" to 2-4

[The Fattest Leech]

52 minutes ago, The Great and Mighty Poo said:

Damn, those are some good questions. I'd give a body part to have Darksister and Federal vrs slState Religious laws... I guess you'd have to be Ameri... who am I kidding what American knows anything about anything.

I'm of the thought he could have and probably would have if you pushed the question replied, "Keep reading" to 2-4

Thanks. Most of those questions are from the good grumpkins in this thread. It was harder than expected to pick just a few questions. But yeah, I knew I would get "keep reading" 

[Maia]

7 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

Thanks. Most of those questions are from the good grumpkins in this thread. It was harder than expected to pick just a few questions. But yeah, I knew I would get "keep reading" 

Thanks for the report! I am so glad that GRRM is writing a lot about Bloodraven - whether it is for novellas or TWoW isn't that important for me.

If the former - well, I am absolutely dying for a look at Aerys I' court, Shiera Seastar, who I really hope did more with her life than merely being a femme fatale, and of course BR,  and how he really interacted with his king. Then there is the burning question of how Brynden and Maekar stopped butting heads and learned to work together to such an extent that Rivers continued or returned as Hand. Novella about the 3rd Blackfyre rebellion, which sounds utterly fascinating from the info in TWoIAF, could cover this. And, naturally, the death of  Maekar, the Great Council and the fall of Bloodraven would be drama gold.  

Alternatively, Bloodraven being in a lot of TWoW chapters is also good, because I'd hate it if  "death of the mentor" trope rears it's ugly head in Bran's plot-line, we are treated to yet another tedious and even more implausible trek through icy wastes, and Bran's instinctive fumbling somehow proves to be enough to fulfill whatever important role he is intended for during the Long Night. Bran is a young kid - he is about 10. It would be farcical to write him as capable of farsight, discerment and detachment that would make his role as a wise wizard working behind the scenes psychologically believable. Bran working together with and under direction of BR, would fit  very well, though. That's not to say that Bran would need to be merely a tool of Bloodraven - IMHO there is a lot of potential for fascinating give-and-take in that relationship.

Oh, and did GRRM really think that nobody likes Bloodraven? I love him. An utterly intriguing character.

[Lord Varys]

6 minutes ago, Maia said:

Thanks for the report! I am so glad that GRRM is writing a lot about Bloodraven - whether it is for novellas or TWoW isn't that important for me.

If the former - well, I am absolutely dying for a look at Aerys I' court, Shiera Seastar, who I really hope did more with her life than merely being a femme fatale, and of course BR,  and how he really interacted with his king.

That would certainly be interesting. I also hope Dunk and Egg get back in time to KL to meet a still living Rhaegel. They have four years until he chokes to death.

We certainly will see Aerys I, of that I'm sure. The man seems to be intricately connected to the whole promised prince prophecy thing if Egg's throwaway line about his uncle having read about the return of the dragons in some prophecy is genuine. Not to mention that Egg interacting/hanging out with his uncle could also plant the first major seeds of him believing that he would be the guy to bring the dragons back.

The promised prince prophecy must be a fixed thing in the Targaryen mindset by the time of Aegon V or else Prince Jaehaerys would never have forced his own children to marry just because some dwarf woman told him so.

6 minutes ago, Maia said:

Then there is the burning question of how Brynden and Maekar stopped butting heads and learned to work together to such an extent that Rivers continued or returned as Hand. Novella about the 3rd Blackfyre rebellion, which sounds utterly fascinating from the info in TWoIAF, could cover this. And, naturally, the death of  Maekar, the Great Council and the fall of Bloodraven would be drama gold.

I'm actually not sure whether Maekar and Brynden need some big event to work together. Maekar is suffering from the Stannis syndrome - he wanted to be Hand himself, and we actually never knew whether he blamed Bloodraven for anything or whether he was just pissed about his brother choosing their bastard uncle over him.

Time alone could easily heal that wound. Or the shared grief over Rhaegel's death in 215 AC. Not to mention all three of them and their children featuring in the Third Blackfyre Rebellion.

I'm not sure if one novella would do the Third Blackfyre Rebellion justice, though. If that was a major war then there should be 2-3 novellas about that, say, one about the outbreak, another about a crucial battle the Targaryens actually lose, and then a concluding novella featuring the capture and murder of Haegon Blackfyre, the second duel between Bittersteel and Bloodraven, and Aerys I deciding to send his uncle to the Wall. I'd not be surprised if Egg/Dunk counseled him to be merciful, especially if it turned out that Dunk and Egg spend some time with the Golden Company during their time in Essos and owe their lives to Bittersteel or something similar (without the guy ever realizing who they then were, of course).

6 minutes ago, Maia said:

Alternatively, Bloodraven being in a lot of TWoW chapters is also good, because I'd hate it if  "death of the mentor" trope rears it's ugly head in Bran's plot-line, we are treated to yet another tedious and even more implausible trek through icy wastes, and Bran's instinctive fumbling somehow proves to be enough to fulfill whatever important role he is intended for during the Long Night. Bran is a young kid - he is about 10. It would be farcical to write him as capable of farsight, discerment and detachment that would make his role as a wise wizard working behind the scenes psychologically believable. Bran working together with and under direction of BR, would fit  very well, though. That's not to say that Bran would need to be merely a tool of Bloodraven - IMHO there is a lot of potential for fascinating give-and-take in that relationship.

I think there is little chance of that happening. Bran cannot leave the cave for another walk in the snow, not now that winter has come. Not to mention that there should be no place where the hell he would be safe. Bloodraven might still eventually die considering that he is already very old and apparently pretty spent, but I don't expect that to happen very soon. And even if he is 'dead', he would never be completely gone, or would he? Those other rotting greenseers are also still there.

Oh, and it is interesting to see that Cersei seems to be still around if he is writing. And I guess we can take the talk about Arya and Jon as very good and conclusive confirmation that there won't be a Jon-Arya romance. Especially the stuff about Ygritte-Arya is interesting because, you know, just because some guy likes his sister and looks for traits of hers in other women doesn't necessarily mean he wants or will ever fuck his sister. Men are also supposed to look for traits of their mothers in their girlfriends - if so, then this also doesn't really want to fuck their mothers. I never remember any such conscious desire at least ;-).

The original outline there clearly was from a very early time in the writing process and the idea that Jon-Arya would be a thing should have died with the moment it came out that the characters wouldn't age as quickly as they did, and when it was decided that Winterfell would be destroyed by Theon/Ramsay not Tyrion. Not to mention that it was also a deliberate decision of George's to not get Arya up to the Wall where this whole relationship would then have developed, including the love triangle between Arya, Jon, and Tyrion.

[The Fattest Leech]

4 hours ago, Maia said:

Thanks for the report! I am so glad that GRRM is writing a lot about Bloodraven - whether it is for novellas or TWoW isn't that important for me.

If the former - well, I am absolutely dying for a look at Aerys I' court, Shiera Seastar, who I really hope did more with her life than merely being a femme fatale, and of course BR,  and how he really interacted with his king. Then there is the burning question of how Brynden and Maekar stopped butting heads and learned to work together to such an extent that Rivers continued or returned as Hand. Novella about the 3rd Blackfyre rebellion, which sounds utterly fascinating from the info in TWoIAF, could cover this. And, naturally, the death of  Maekar, the Great Council and the fall of Bloodraven would be drama gold.  

Alternatively, Bloodraven being in a lot of TWoW chapters is also good, because I'd hate it if  "death of the mentor" trope rears it's ugly head in Bran's plot-line, we are treated to yet another tedious and even more implausible trek through icy wastes, and Bran's instinctive fumbling somehow proves to be enough to fulfill whatever important role he is intended for during the Long Night. Bran is a young kid - he is about 10. It would be farcical to write him as capable of farsight, discerment and detachment that would make his role as a wise wizard working behind the scenes psychologically believable. Bran working together with and under direction of BR, would fit  very well, though. That's not to say that Bran would need to be merely a tool of Bloodraven - IMHO there is a lot of potential for fascinating give-and-take in that relationship.

Oh, and did GRRM really think that nobody likes Bloodraven? I love him. An utterly intriguing character.

Me too!!! I gushed a little more about BR when I was speaking to him at the dinner. He wouldn't tell me where the more BR would be, but I figured it's either more in Winds, more in the upcoming Blood & Fire Targ history book or the next D&E novella She Wolves of Winterfell. 

The Fire & Blood chapter was one of the options for him to read that Sunday, but the crowd overwhelmingly chose Aeron. I was torn because I was hoping the Fire & Blood chapter would have Bloodraven, but I also cheered for Aeron. 

Yeah, GRRM seemed genuinely surprised that anyone likes Bloodraven which made me think he has been trying to write him as unsympathetic... But we all know that ain't working  

[Winter's Cold]

4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

And I guess we can take the talk about Arya and Jon as very good and conclusive confirmation that there won't be a Jon-Arya romance. 

The original outline there clearly was from a very early time in the writing process and the idea that Jon-Arya would be a thing should have died with the moment it came out that the characters wouldn't age as quickly as they did, and when it was decided that Winterfell would be destroyed by Theon/Ramsay not Tyrion. Not to mention that it was also a deliberate decision of George's to not get Arya up to the Wall where this whole relationship would then have developed, including the love triangle between Arya, Jon, and Tyrion.

If there was no Arya/Jon romance then he would outright state that like he did when saying that Arya and Gendry have different futures.

There are also lines like this in ADWD that make it clear that Jon and Arya are still each other's most important person.

Quote

What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?

Arya did not go to the Wall because she would have become a secondary character in Jon's plotline. Instead GRRM sends her to Braavos where she can learn useful skills from the Faceless Men. In the outline, she apparently battles the White Walkers in combat. However, it's clear that this is probably not something that she would be able to do at her current age. That's why she learns assassination skills instead.

The books are different from the outlines but that there are still hints that an Arya/Jon romance is possible. 

[norwaywolf123]

I would ask if he is into bondage? Of different stripes?

[The Fattest Leech]

2 minutes ago, norwaywolf123 said:

I would ask if he is into bondage? Of different stripes?

Well, my time with him has passed and he did make note at the beginning of the year that he cut waaay back on his convention outings to make room for more writing, so some other brave soul will have to ask him this. I will say, I do believe he would answer this question in someway, truthful or not, he wouldn't shy away 

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, Winter's Cold said:

If there was no Arya/Jon romance then he would outright state that like he did when saying that Arya and Gendry have different futures.

There are also lines like this in ADWD that make it clear that Jon and Arya are still each other's most important person.

So what? My brother is also very dear to me but that doesn't mean I'll marry him. If Arya ended up becoming romantically involved with Jon she would just become his sidekick in any scenario, wouldn't she?

He made it clear that he was making shit up in outlines and that the characters grew. The possibility of a real romance between an ten/eleven-year-old and fifteen-year-old isn't exactly great story potential.

 

[The Great and Mighty Poo]

14 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

So what? My brother is also very dear to me but that doesn't mean I'll marry him. If Arya ended up becoming romantically involved with Jon she would just become his sidekick in any scenario, wouldn't she?

He made it clear that he was making shit up in outlines and that the characters grew. The possibility of a real romance between an ten/eleven-year-old and fifteen-year-old isn't exactly great story potential.

 

Exactly, it's been done before Romeo and Juliette. And in 1998 when ideas(many ideas) are somewhat fresh and tropes are just getting thrown on their head IE- When reading Memory Sorrow Thorn, the whole time I kept thinking "Don't get the Girl; Don't get the Girl".. Well he gets the girl. 

 

Anyway long story short(and you add in the fact he may have been bsing alot or some of his outline it makes perfect sense that he scraped it. Also note First drafts are always called the Throw away Draft.