it all goes back and back

I fucking escaped The Narrative but it’s nothing but developer textures out here and the level looks like shit from outside so I’m starting to wonder if I can clip back in somewhere. Plz advise

i live in the hightower in the center of oldtown, on the 132nd floor. my name is ormund hightower. i’m 37 years old. i believe in taking care of myself, in a balanced diet, and a rigorous perfuming routine. in the morning if my stomach is a little riotous, i’ll light some scented candles while filling my pomander. i can fit fifteen grams of dried herbs in it now. after i put out the candles, i have a tub drawn. in the bath, i use a rose and lavender soap. then a honey oak scrub for smoothing the skin, and on the face, a soothing almond oil. then i apply a rosemary lemongrass facial paste, which i leave on for ten minutes while my squire daeron prepares the rest of my routine. i always use an after-shave cream with little or no witch hazel, because witch hazel dries your face out and makes you look older. then a rosewater infused cream, then an anti aging eye balm followed by a final lilac scented protective cream. there is an idea of an ormund hightower, some kind of great lord. but there is no real me, only a new kingmaker, something better than criston cole. and though i can hide my sensitivity to odors and you can drink my wine and taste the same delicate aromas, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable once i give you driftmark, i simply am not there.

also there’s this common misconception that reading is primarily about the book or the subject: this is incorrect. ‘Reading’ is an activity wherein you constantly evaluate your own self worth in increasingly cruel ways against some culturally sanctioned object that is better than you

no thoughts just the progression of Theon not even trying to help the captain's daughter (whose name he won't even think) → Theon trying and failing to escape with Kyra → Theon successfully escaping with Jeyne??? and all the women are victims of sexual exploitation (the first two by Theon himself)??? and he only succeeds in escaping once he starts identifying himself with whoredom. a triumph of solidarity. the arc of all time.

thank god george rr martin did not have a twitter when he write game of thrones. all writers after 2006 should have been put in a cabin in the woods henry david thoreau style

i dont like the term hopepunk in the slightest but i cant tell if i merely aesthetically disagree with it because it's cringe, or if i have an actual Problem with it

grimdark and hopepunk and noblebright seem like such nothingburger genre categorizations. all books from now on should be sorted into thingbad and thinggood based on how much i personally like them

why is this greek tragedy ending in doom and gloom? oedipus rex must be a grimdark story