you know you've fucked up when nicholas is attacking you publicly and drawing attention to it. ended that man's whole career

let's talk about the fish/water/christ symbolism in the game of kings. with spoilers

fish (as ιχθυς) is an acronym for christ, and it's the first food jesus eats after being resurrected, right? it symbolizes rebirth, life, and christ himself. i personally think fish are slippery and cold-blooded too, but that's neither here nor there.

now look at how the game of kings starts: "lymond is back". we immediately know this book is about returning, it's about rebirth. in fact, the first thing we see is the man himself submerged in a body of water and coming out on the other side, after a baptism of sorts, as the character he will play for most of the book: lymond the outlaw, lymond the traitor.

the first words out of his mouth are "i am a narwhal": he identifies himself as a fish right away, and not just any fish but the unicorn fish; the unicorn of course being scotland's national animal. in perspective, he tells us everything we need to know about him: his status as a christ figure, his destiny to be reborn, his complicated relationship with his country.

the next time he's in a body of water, it's the second chapter and he's dying from a head injury in a bog. he's washed clean, this time, too: from his own identity. he's free to inhabit another character from the lymond constellation. it's also pretty funny that he's found by sym while he's going fishing ("you’ve hooked a twenty-pounder this time, my lad"), and he's nursed back to health by someone named Christian. not subtle.

lymond seems to be pretty into this whole fish and rebirth thing, does he not? he wouldn't lie to us. he wouldn't pretend to embrace life while actively seeking death, right? anyway, no relation at all, when the baby queen mary tries feeding him a fish he pretends to eat it and secretly throws it away. the fish is described as struggling and barely alive, which again i am sure is a coincidence.

then some stuff happens, and the next time lymond is offered fish he doesn't have it in him to keep pretending. he doesn't want the damn fish. newsflash, asshole (richard): he really, really wants to die. this is my favorite scene for many reasons, and one of them is the perfect juxtaposition of its literal and symbolic meanings: richard says he wants to see lymond hanged, but what he does is to drag him away from the tomb-like dovecote and towards running water, makes him eat the damn fish again and again until the miracle is complete. he's holding on to his brother with both hands and teeth before he even realizes he's doing it.

when it comes to an end the fish is off the hook, christ is off the cross and for once he's not sacrificed for the sins of others, and we close on him in his mother's arms in a beautiful literary pietà.

there's so much stuff i purposefully didn't mention and probably didn't notice, this is just a tiny example of the gorgeous figurative and thematic cohesion in this novel. i love it. thank you dorothy dunnett.

peter in have his carcase calling harriet sherlock but also watson: non-exhaustive compilation

I hope this isn’t weird to say and this may well be on purpose but without the concept of Niccolo when I finally read your header my brain instantly interpreted “date stones” as relationship advice for lesbians…

LMAO this is really funny considering who he's saying that to 😭 very much not on purpose, the date stones stuff is incomprehensible out of context but in context it's one of my absolute favourite things in the series!

this part is so fun and it reminds me so much of dorothy sayers's style

we are, as kids say these days, so fucking back

Richard’s voice, too, was soft. “And the love of young boys, of course: you must miss that. Someone to relax with, in a gracious way, to twist and indoctrinate and shatter with the wild, delightful mutability of your moods. You must miss Will Scott. And your women.”

The Countess attached herself to her husband's arm. "Lead on, love. Vorkosigans Victorious."

Vorkosigans Convalescent, was more like it, Miles reflected, following. But you should see what the other guys look like.

—Mirror Dance, Lois McMaster Bujold

on an emotional payoff level, the game of kings is more powerful than heroin

Lymond Chronicles Nine Truths and a Lie: Round 2

ship dynamic: unstoppable bastard meets immovable bitch

scales of gold reread is Close i can feel it in my bones. freak4freak enjoyers ur time is coming. bad romance on repeat. nicholas? sexy and throwing people down the stairs. gelis? insane(ly iconic) and throwing people off boats. ending that makes you want to burn the book. an EXPERIENCE

I LOVE YOU THEMES I LOVE YOU PARALLELS

analysing the lymond/niccolò family tree to finally understand the line "all six children have been born who are to take care of your line in the future" that the greek tells nicholas in caprice and rondo

In response to a request, I’ve uploaded the Lymond/Niccolo Family trees that I got from the Marzipan yahoo group (that I encourage everyone to join), to my box.com account:

Lymond/Niccolo Family Tree

Lymond/Niccolo Family Tree with additions from DD’s notes in orange

These are spoilery additions, so I recommend holding off until you finish both Lymond and Niccolo before viewing these pdf’s.  Please let me know if they work and as always, your feedback is appreciated both by myself and the entire tiny fandom.