Historical figures that have served as inspiration for the women in ASOIAF - George R.R. Martin interview
Interviewer: What women through history have inspired and helped you on your way to creating these female characters that we love?
George: There are some very interesting queens in both English and French history who have, at least partially, inspired the characters in Game of Thrones. Many people have observed that Game of Thrones is based, in part, on the Wars of the Roses and that is certainly true, although I don't do a one-for-one translation. If you go and say “This character is based on that character” you're gonna be partly right, but also partly wrong, because I like to mix and match and throw a few twists, making the characters my own.
Certainly, the wife of Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, was one of the most interesting queens in English history. She was the mother of the princes in the tower and married secretly. She was a Lancastrian, but she married the Yorkist claimant secretly and that produced all sorts of trouble, and she was in the middle of all that stuff with Richard III. She was fascinating!
On the other side, the Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou: she was pretty amazing and definitely hardcore! She was married to the idiot king, Henry VI, and she basically had to command her side after some of the leading Lancastrian supporters were killed in the early parts of the war.
If you go back a hundred years before, Isabella, the wife of king Edward II, the She-Wolf of France, she was a pretty amazing one too. She basically got rid of her husband, imprisoned him, and allegedly had him killed by having a hot poker thrust up his ass while he was in captivity and then she and her lover took over and ran the kingdom until her son Edward III rose up against his own mother and imprisoned her.
All of this stuff, I play with it, but I can't claim to really have invented any of it. There are some things in history that are just as violent and twisted and bizarre and amazing as anything in my books.
I’m reading Twilight for the first time, and in chapter two, page 31, Bella’s inner monologue says “It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone the strongly. It was impossible.”
And I think that is the most Martin K. Blackwood line ever
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Media and it's effect on me (positive) -- how I read words
Russian Roulette = Lady Gaga in Poker Face.
Wyd = Isabella, Phineas and Ferb. No explanation needed.
That guy gets it = That Studio C episode, "Disneyland Lincoln Ride Gets Scary". Just watch it.
Omg/Oh, my god = Christine when Stephen runs into the hospital with the Ancient One. Just. The way Rachel McAdams says it scratches my brain in a way I can't possibly explain. Just trust me.
Not really = Whenever John says "Not really" in BBC Sherlock. I can't remember when it was said, but just that. I also can't explain why.
LA CHIMERA seemed a bit meh. Without the 1980s Italy countryside backdrop this wd hv been pretty boring. The girl in the opening shot says, "Have you noticed, the sun keeps following us", so naturally you get shots of a sun tattoo, sunflowers, sun flares, sun coins etc throughout the movie. On the one hand I felt the movie was insulting the audience's intelligence by being a bit too heavy handed with the symbolism but, on the other hand, I am too dumb to have picked up on whatever made this movie get a 7.3 IMDb and 94% RT rating 🤷. So yeah... wdnt recommend.
Edited to add: Have read up a bit and people see parallels to the story about Orpheus travelling to the underworld to retrieve Eurydice. But as the main character has another love interest other than his girlfriend I feel people are being waaaay too generous to talk about the whole romantic search for your loved one. I think people who see the film as magical etc are bringing the romance to the film in themselves. It's not in the movie itself. Honest.
Fog Swept Islands: Faroe Islands Culture Days in New York
During the month of April 2024, Faroe Islands held cultural events in New York City for a program called “Fog Swept Islands: Faroe Islands Culture Days in New York.” The program began on Tuesday, April 9th with a reception and live musical performances by Faroese artists Eli Tausen á Lava and Eivør (who won the 2021 Nordic Council Music Prize).
I created images for the Faroe Music Export Office & The Government of The Faroe Islands, and photos covering four of the Cultural Days events can be found in the above gallery. You can read more about the other programs that were held in New York City here, and view videos about the six Faroese brands that presented at the Faroese Design, Wool & Knitting panel on The Wool Islands website here.
The “Fog Swept Cargo — Art from the Faroe Islands” exhibition will be on view at Scandinavia House through July 6th.