#theaceofwands

[craigmaherart]

Where does the vampire's eternal vigor originate? Where does the first spark come from? The Ace of Wands - Tarot of the Vampires - Llewellyn Worldwide Writer - Charles Harrington Artist - Craig Maher

[thepatchworkcrow]

More art form my #tarot project: #TheAceofWands , #TheKnightofWands , and #TheHierophant. #tarotart #tarotreadersofinstagram #witchesofinstagram #artistsofinstagram #druidsofinstagram 
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTlZq_DL_xN/?utm_medium=tumblr

[classichorrorblog]

Hi! I've seen you post a couple gifs from a movie with a lady walking in the street in a nightgown on all fours with her head turned backwards. Do you know what movie it is in talking about?

It sounds like you are talking about In The Mouth Of Madness directed by John Carpenter.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

I just read your response and I'm heartbroken that so many people skip Brienne. I love her SO much! Like her arc is all about the meaning of a true knight which is one of the central most themes of the books!

I know, I know. Brienne is so important. But like I said in that post, many readers skip “boring” things, they skip themes, they want witty jokes and shocking violence. It’s a mistake to think that’s exclusive to shownly fans; my (unhappy) experience on w.org years before the show was made told me otherwise. (Though FWIW they’re the kind of people who haunt the WotW comment sections sucking up to every change the show made because it got rid of the “boring” AFFC/ADWD storylines.) But I’ve even seen it occasionally in people liveblogging their reads in the tumblr tags. It just makes me sad.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hey Mindset! Hope you've been well 😊 I've got a question! What do you think rose from the ruins of Winterfell? Do you think that we will learn what it was in the next books? Or do you think GRRM is done explaining whatever that was?

Sorry, I’m sure that it was only smoke and fire from Winterfell being sacked, from a wolf’s-eye view. Look at the context.

The ashes fell like a soft grey snow.He padded over dry needles and brown leaves, to the edge of the wood where the pines grew thin. Beyond the open fields he could see the great piles of man-rock stark against the swirling flames. The wind blew hot and rich with the smell of blood and burnt meat, so strong he began to slaver.Yet as one smell drew them onward, others warned them back. He sniffed at the drifting smoke. Men, many men, many horses, and fire, fire, fire. No smell was more dangerous, not even the hard cold smell of iron, the stuff of man-claws and hardskin. The smoke and ash clouded his eyes, and in the sky he saw a great winged snake whose roar was a river of flame. He bared his teeth, but then the snake was gone. Behind the cliffs tall fires were eating up the stars.All through the night the fires crackled, and once there was a great roar and a crash that made the earth jump under his feet. Dogs barked and whined and horses screamed in terror. Howls shuddered through the night; the howls of the man-pack, wails of fear and wild shouts, laughter and screams. No beast was as noisy as man. He pricked up his ears and listened, and his brother growled at every sound. They prowled under the trees as a piney wind blew ashes and embers through the sky. In time the flames began to dwindle, and then they were gone. The sun rose grey and smoky that morning.

–ACOK, Bran VII

There was a big airburst, a plume of flame and smoke, when one of the buildings collapsed, possibly the roof of the Great Hall, maybe the stables. The other big roar and crash probably came when the wall of the First Keep came down, or maybe the bridge.

Besides, if it were an actual dragon, someone would have noticed it by now. Because, y’know, dragons have to eat, and missing cows and sheep would certainly be remarked upon. That’s always something that’s made me roll my eyes about the whole underground dragon heating the hot springs of Winterfell legend – what is this supposed dragon eating? How does it even live? No, sorry, it’s just geothermal energy.

And the “winged snake” was just smoke and fire. That’s the thing about GRRM’s Chekhov’s guns… if they’re important, they keep getting mentioned. Nymeria’s been referenced constantly, Dany often worries about the HotU prophecies, even Tyrek’s disappearance was thought about in ASOS and AFFC… but this wolf dream’s supposed winged snake has never been brought up again, not in Bran’s chapters, not by anyone in the north or anywhere in Westeros. So yeah, I think GRRM’s done explaining. If there were anything more to explain there would have been something said already, anything at all.

Hope that helps!

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hi Mindset! I've got a question about LOTR. Why is it that when people in the story besides the Fellowship seem to think that Lothlorien a dangerous place? When it's brought up, there's always sometimes an implication that you'd be lucky to leave if you were ever there, and they're always talking about being ensnared in Galadriel's web. What's up with that?

This is pretty much Tolkien playing with the concepts of Fairyland, of the Fair Folk who steal away children or entrance handsome singers and return them a hundred years later to a world that’s left them behind. La Belle Dame Sans Merci, “we daren’t go a-hunting for fear of little men”, the Queen of Elfland in Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin, all that sort of thing. But the point is that the Men who believe such things are wrong, that the lies of Sauron have made them afraid of the true goodness of the elves and Galadriel, etc.

On the other hand, there are certain elements of truth to these rumors. (Not actual truth mind you, just elements of it.) With Galadriel’s use of her elven-ring, she was able to create a haven in Lothlorien, a forest of light and music, with immense magical golden trees from Valinor, beautiful and ageless for thousands of years. Men might hear tales of this forest of wonder, ruled by a glorious golden queen (and silver king), but they could never see it for themselves. The Galadhrim were very protective of their land, and while they might only slay orcs that tried to invade, any innocent men wandering nearby might find themselves lost and confused, turned around by magic or by careful hindering by the guardians, unable to enter the forest and not knowing how or why. (Old tales of the Girdle of Melian, which magically protected Doriath in the First Age, also might apply here.) And that, plus any sights of orcs or Sauron’s men entering but never leaving, would add to the eerie impression that “nobody ever goes in… nobody ever comes out”.

Still, again, the point is that these rumors are wrong, that there is no malice to the mystery. Nevertheless, while those that relate these tales in LOTR (like Eomer) will learn the truth, as the ages pass and the elves fade from Middle Earth, the stories will remain, and (per Tolkien) lead to the misconceptions of elves among mankind for centuries to come.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

@theaceofwands replied to your post “Hi Mindset! I have a question. I’m confused… Because last time I…”

Thank you Mindset! What do you think? That’s he’s the gravedigger? Dead? I thought that we were supposed to be under the impression that Sandor bled so much that even if he is alive and is the gravedigger, that he wouldn’t be the same person anymore from the blood loss probably causing brain damage.

As I said in that post and in the gravedigger theory post I linked in that post (just linked it again), this is one of those theories that I believe to be so true that I don’t even consider any alternate option. Every single post that I have written about Sandor and his potential future in the books has the thesis that he is still alive, that he’s the novice gravedigger on the Quiet Isle. (Just like every single post I have written about Jon is with the understanding he is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son, just like every post I’ve written about the last greenseer notes that he’s Bloodraven, just like every post I’ve written about Alleras contains the fact that “he” is Sarella Sand, just like every post I’ve written about the mean old black tomcat in the Red Keep mentions that he’s Princess Rhaenys’s kitten Balerion. Some things aren’t theories. They’re facts, whether the books have revealed them straight up yet or not.) Hell, I had Rory McCann sign my copy of AFFC on the page with the gravedigger, even.

Sandor’s major problem wasn’t blood loss. Yes, the cuts on his ear and neck bled a lot, but head wounds often do. It wasn’t enough to kill him, just weaken him. Very badly, but certainly not enough to cause brain damage, my god, you have to lose more than 3 pints of blood (which is a lot) for brain-damaging hypoxia, you’ve got to go into a coma at the very least. Sandor only fainted for a bit when Arya cauterized his wounds, because of the pain and his fire PTSD. The real problem was gangrene in his leg, and the fever from the infection:

Long before noon, Sandor Clegane was reeling. There were hours of daylight still remaining when he called a halt. “I need to rest,” was all he said. This time when he dismounted he did fall. Instead of trying to get back up he crawled weakly under a tree, and leaned up against the trunk. “Bloody hell,” he cursed. “Bloody hell.” When he saw Arya staring at him, he said, “I’d skin you alive for a cup of wine, girl.” She brought him water instead. He drank a little of it, complained that it tasted of mud, and slid into a noisy fevered sleep. When she touched him, his skin was burning up. Arya sniffed at his bandages the way Maester Luwin had done sometimes when treating her cut or scrape. His face had bled the worst, but it was the wound on his thigh that smelled funny to her.

--ASOS, Arya III

Sandor was alive and conscious when Arya left him, he was alive and conscious when the Elder Brother found him and started treating his wounds. When the Elder Brother says that “the Hound” died in his arms, that should be understood to mean the same thing as when the Elder Brother says he himself died when he drowned in the Trident, and was reborn when he washed up on the Quiet Isle. (Note, 3 characters who have drowned enough to go unconscious: the Elder Brother, Tyrion, and Davos; none of which show any signs of brain damage. Tyrion wasn’t brain damaged from his injuries at the Blackwater either.) There’s nothing about the gravedigger that shows brain-damage-type personality changes, only a leg injury:

On the upper slopes they saw three boys driving sheep, and higher still they passed a lichyard where a brother bigger than Brienne was struggling to dig a grave. From the way he moved, it was plain to see that he was lame. As he flung a spadeful of the stony soil over one shoulder, some chanced to spatter against their feet. “Be more watchful there,” chided Brother Narbert. “Septon Meribald might have gotten a mouthful of dirt.” The gravedigger lowered his head. When Dog went to sniff him he dropped his spade and scratched his ear. […] By the time the readings were completed, the last of the food had been cleared away by the novices whose task it was to serve. Most were boys near Podrick’s age, or younger, but there were grown men as well, amongst them the big gravedigger they had encountered on the hill,  who walked with the awkward lurching gait of one half-crippled.

--AFFC, Brienne VI

Now, granted, Sandor might have some personality changes if/when he shows up again. But if so, they’ll be due to the kindnesses of the Elder Brother and his talk therapy, and the “death” of the Hound persona, as well as any difficulties he may have getting back into fighting shape and warrior mindset due to the damage to his leg. (See Jaime and his hand.) But not because of brain damage, ffs. And as to whether Sandor will be “the same person” anymore, well, just look at his horse:

Way down at the far end, well away from the other animals, a huge black stallion trumpeted at the sound of their voices and kicked at the door of his stall. Ser Hyle gave the big horse an admiring look as he was handing his reins to Brother Gillam. “A handsome beast.” Brother Narbert sighed. “The Seven send us blessings, and the Seven send us trials. Handsome he may be, but Driftwood was surely whelped in hell. When we sought to harness him to a plow he kicked Brother Rawney and broke his shinbone in two places. We had hoped gelding might improve the beast’s ill temper, but... Brother Gillam, will you show them?” Brother Gillam lowered his cowl. Underneath he had a mop of blond hair, a tonsured scalp, and a bloodstained bandage where he should have had an ear.

[...] “You may have seen a big black stallion in our stables. That was his warhorse, Stranger. A blasphemous name. We prefer to call him Driftwood, as he was found beside the river. I fear he has his former master’s nature.” The horse. She had seen the stallion, had heard it kicking, but she had not understood. Destriers were trained to kick and bite. In war they were a weapon, like the men who rode them. Like the Hound.

--AFFC, Brienne VI

Just like the brothers of the Quiet Isle couldn’t turn Stranger, a warhorse, into a plowhorse, they’re not going to be able to make Sandor into a penitent brother, living a lifetime of silent prayer. The Hound might be dead, but what’s left is Sandor Clegane -- whoever that might be. Hope that helps!

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

So to follow up on my question... the Uruk-Hai are different from the orcs because they're larger right? Are they made the same way as conventional orcs, and just fed "man flesh" like Ugluk said? Moreover, by "man flesh", did he mean that Saruman was feeding them human flesh or did he mean that he was feeding them like beef and pork?

The exact origins of the Uruk-hai are a mystery. Most orcs can’t stand the sun and become weakened in daylight, but Uruk-hai could travel during the day without any problems. (They still don’t like the sun very much, though.) They’re bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter than typical orcs. The Uruk-hai of Saruman may or may not be the same as the big and strong uruks that Sauron had developed some 600 years earlier; it’s possible that Saruman had improved on Sauron’s own changes to the race. What exactly they did to make those changes, though – some suspect that Orcs had been blended with Men somehow, a great evil. Again, it’s stuff I honestly would prefer not to think about.

The “man’s-flesh” that Saruman feeds the Uruk-hai is people, yes. Like, did you think it was Old Folks Country Sausage? ;)