“OH!” KATE GRUNTED as she sat down behind her desk.“My side is killing me. I’m ovulating, I think. That sucker must be huge.”“Must we discuss?” Jon asked.“Man up, weenie boy,” Kate said.“You man up, Venus Williams,” Jon replied. “I’m a gay home-ec teacher. I never have to man up. I never will man up. As God is my witness, I’ll never man up again.”

“I never know what I’m going to want to curl up in bed with.” I shrug.“How about a man?” she retorts.”

“You’re looking for a man who can fix you?”“No! I don’t expect a man to fix me! I’m not an idiot. I just want a man I can hide behind.”Chase’s eyebrows flew high. His mouth twitched up, and Jane felt her mouth twitch, too.“Jane, I’m no Dr. Phil, but I’m pretty sure you’re certifiably fucked-up.”“Shut up!”“It’s true. Man, if I wasn’t already in love with you, I’d be out of here.”

“But I look up high to see only the light, And never look down to see my shadow. This is wisdom which man must learn.- Song Of The Flower XXIII”

“Allow me to give my lord one last piece of counsel," the old man had said, "the same counsel I once gave my brother when we parted for the last time. He was three-and-thirty when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born." The old man felt Jon's face. "You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.”

“Oh, good grief! I’ve never had a man pick me up before and not grunt like he’s dying. I’m in heaven. Marry me, Ash, please! (Pam)I would say yes, but I come with more baggage than even Samsonite can cover. (Acheron)”