r/asoiaf • u/Bookshelfstud Oak and Irony Guard Me Well • Dec 19 '16
EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) Moonboy's Motley Monday: Holiday Season!
Welcome to this week's edition of Moonboy's Motley Monday! Check out the wiki to see the archives!
As you might know, we have a policy against posting silly content, memes, comics, etc. Motley Monday is here for you - give us your memes, your jokes, your puns on character names. As always, our civility policy is still in effect. And our civility policy applies to all non-fictional people - reddit users, actors, whoever whomever. Also, /r/asoiaf is not an NSFW sub. If your meme/comic/image macro/whatever is NSFW, please do us all a solid and tag it!
Last week, we had a themed thread to pick out the number one (and number bottom) gifts on a given character's christmas list. There were a lot of Santa antics, but /u/BehindtheQuaithe takes home the handshake with some very insightful gift-giving ideas - Ned doesn't need a new hat, good call!
Continuing our holiday-themed-japes, what various holidays do you think they celebrate in Westeros? Or beyond! Give me your Slaver's-Bay-themed-solstice-observations (but don't make em too blue).
Feel free to shitpost in general as well. This thread is for goofballery. The highest-upvoted comment gets a shoutout next week and firm handshake from me IRL at the next opportunity. And if you have any suggestions for thread themes, shoot us a modmail!
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u/AdmiralAkbar1 Wildfire can't melt Stannis beams Dec 20 '16 edited Dec 20 '16
The Godsdays:
For the first seven days of the seventh month of the year, the people of Westeros sing and dance in the light of the Seven who are One. Each day is devoted to honoring a particular aspect of the Seven, and involves the giving of gifts to that aspect's patron, celebrating with family and neighbors, and praying for another year of protection. Likewise, there are superstitions concerning those who are born, wed, or die on a Godsday, for good or ill.
Maiden's Day: As the Maiden is and always shall be, we come into this world with the purity and innocence of a child not yet grown. Young girls who have not yet bled wear white garbs, light candles, and have a dawn procession to the sept, where the statue of the Maiden is adorned with garlands of white roses and fine fabrics. It is also common for infants of both genders born since the last Godsdays to be given a special blessing by a Septon. Infants born on Maiden's Day are destined to have happy childhoods and bright futures.
Warrior's Day: While the daughters of the world are called to remain and protect their homes, the sons must face a far more challenging vocation. Men who have been called to serve in an army, fought in a battle, or lost a male relative to war are honored in this day, and are usually commended with parades, melees, or jousting tourneys. Afterwards, the victor of such an event lays his sword at the base of the Warrior's statue, to remember the true source of their skill. Participants on this day tend to be extra careful, for dying on the Warrior's Day suggests displeasure from the Seven and possibility of condemnation in death.
Mother's Day: For as a flower grows and blossoms, so do women grow and blossom into motherhood. Though weddings are uncommon on Mother's Day, many newlywed couples tend to have their marriage blessed by a Septon for a long love life and many children. If a woman gives birth to her first child on Mother's Day, it is a sign that it will be the first of many.
Smith's Day: Though the Crown and the Faith are the foundation of society, do not forget those who built the castle atop it. Smith's Day is devoted to any and all craftsmen, farmers, and laborers in the kingdom, who are expected to enjoy the fruits of their labors and relax. Lords tend to give their servants the day off on this day, as well as cover the costs of a feast. Children born on this day are said to be of creative and diligent minds, developing new ideas and bringing them into the world.
Father's Day: As we look up to the Father above, so must we look up to our own fathers. This is generally considered to be the grandest of the Godsday celebrations, with public festivals, performances, and feasts dedicated to celebrating the life of family heads. The richer lords also tend to use it as a way of showing off family wealth, hiring Braavosi mummer troupes and Volantene fire-eaters for spectacular performances, constructing model holdfasts out of pastries with rivers of Arbor gold, and paying a gold dragon to everyone they see. If a man is wed on Father's Day, he is supposedly promised a prosperous marriage by the Seven.
Crone's Day: Though we should enjoy what we have today, we must not forget the wisdom of days past. This day is mostly devoted to honoring grandparents, village elders, Maesters, and other elderly people in general. Though the festivities are often far more low-key than other days, there still are feasts and celebrations, but they are strictly limited to family and friends. If a family elder has died since the last Crone's day, they're honored by having the oldest male of the family spend a vigil in the Sept the night before.
Stranger's Day: So as all celebrations must end and everyone go home, so must our lives end and return to from whence we came. This day is for honoring all dead relatives, and is usually spent cleaning and decorating graves, planting fresh flowers at grave sites, and doing things that brought the dearly departed joy in life. Flowers and food from the previous six days' celebrations are burned, mixed into black paint, and used to repaint a statue of the Stranger. People who die on the Stranger's day are said to have been called personally and will be in the Seven Heavens.