What absolutely random stuff did you learn while researching ASOIAF?

[Tradecraft]

-Blue eyes aren't physically blue. It's how they absorb light. It's basically a trick or the light. 

-I could bore you to tears about the Bronze Age and Fertility goddess worship. 

-I learned about Crannogs. they normally have secret entrances (stones steps hidden under the water line) or a secret tunnel for escaping (blocked with something heavy to prevent being attacked from this exit). 

-found a lot of food authors; Moorcock, Le guin, Jack Vance, etc. 

[The Bard of Banefort]

Glendon Ball holding his cup over a bowl of water is apparently a reference to the Jacobites, and their “king across the water” in France. Glendon supports the Blackfyres, who are the equivalent of the Jacobites in ASOIAF. I learned this from an Alt Shift X video lol.

[Targaryeninkingslanding]

I got really into Celtic myth. the other are heavily influenced by the Aos si, faeries and elves. Lyanna stark herself is probably named after Leanan Sidhe: Faery lovers - female aos si that take human lovers who have brief, yet highly inspired lives

[BlackLightning]

• The history and mythology of pagan Christmas. Basically, I found that rabbit hole by really reading and watching videos about King Bran, King Robert and the importance/symbolism of the two and how it pertained to the ancient European pagan kings and their First Men "counterparts" in the North and the Stormlands.
• Rickon was supposed to be a POV character after the 5 year gap

[Castellan]

I learnt a bit about medieval cookery including that recipes from that time often include spices in what we would consider huge quantities but this may be because they couldn't keep and transport them airtight so they were probably weakly flavoured by the time they were used.

I don't know if 'learned' is correct. more like 'heard' as it may not be true.

[Nevets]

I remember once having a discussion about sex or potential sex involving some of the younger characters, so I decided to see what the rules and regulations were, historical and current.  So I now know far more about Age of Consent laws, modern and historical, than I ever thought possible.  

[Craving Peaches]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:47 AM, The Bard of Banefort said:

Glendon supports the Blackfyres, who are the equivalent of the Jacobites in ASOIAF.

Blackfyres are just bastard pretenders, the Jacobites are the TRUE KINGS of Scotland and I eagerly await their return. 

 

[Sandy Clegg]

17 minutes ago, Craving Peaches said:

Blackfyres are just bastard pretenders, the Jacobites are the TRUE KINGS of Scotland and I eagerly await their return. 

Jacobites ... the guys who make the crackers? They rule 

Love the new pic @Craving Peaches !

[Craving Peaches]

5 minutes ago, Sandy Clegg said:

Jacobites ... the guys who make the crackers? They rule 

Favourite? I love the salt and black pepper ones, great with cheese... Mhmm.... 

6 minutes ago, Sandy Clegg said:

Love the new pic @Craving Peaches !

Thank you! I was inspired by others who had a range of avatars with the same theme, so I thought I would make some more.

[The Bard of Banefort]

4 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

Blackfyres are just bastard pretenders, the Jacobites are the TRUE KINGS of Scotland and I eagerly await their return. 

 

It’s kind of ironic that most (some?) of Scotland was so supportive of the Jacobites since, based on what I’ve read, they were more aggressively Protestant at the time than England.