You asked for it, and now you got it. Today is the day the oft-requested Winter-Is-Coming.net Merchandise site officially launches! We hope to one day stock it full of awesome tees, polos, hoodies and whatever else you guys might request. But we are starting off small with only one shirt, but it is one many of you have been waiting for… the official Always Support the Bottom t-shirt!
The shirt is now available for pre-order. We will be shipping them out in late September. Pre-order now to be one of the first to receive this tee! (Note: We plan to have a limited number of tees for sale at TitanCon. If you are headed there and would like to pickup your pre-ordered shirt at the convention instead of having it shipped, just shoot us an email after ordering to let us know.)
The AStB tee was designed by We Do Not Sow, our new viewer recapper. In addition to being a huge Game of Thrones fan, he is also a graphic designer and will be launching his own t-shirt line, Monstros, in November. Big thanks to him for all his help and hard work!
And for those who may be wondering what Always Support the Bottom means, head past the jump and I will educate you…
Always Support the Bottom. You may have seen this phrase, or variations of it, in some of our posts and comments and wondered what the hell it means and where it comes from. Well gather around, dear readers, as I will tell you the tale…
Before Game of Thrones was the huge hit it is today, HBO saw fit to build some buzz for their new show and contracted a marketing company called Campfire to concoct an elaborate marketing scheme. Campfire came up with something called The Maester’s Path and it entailed a set of weekly challenges based around one of the five senses that, when completed, would unlock a new video snippet from the show. The campaign kicked off when HBO and Campfire sent out dozens of “scent boxes” which contained vials of different scents, along with numerous scrolls and a map of Westeros. I was one of those lucky enough to receive one of the boxes. Now at the time we weren’t entirely sure what The Maester’s Path entailed; so after checking out the scents and reading the scrolls, I went about searching the box for some hidden clues. It seemed there was more to it than meets the eye.
After hours of searching the text of the scrolls and checking the box for any hidden compartments, I was about to give up when my eyes happened to land on a small part of the back of the map. On it I saw some very faint, but very distinct, lettering. It was impossible to make out exactly what it said with the naked eye. I tried everything I could to make it appear, using a black light, and even a bit of lemon juice in the hopes it was some sort of “invisible ink”. But nothing worked. I took a hi-res photo of the lettering and posted it on the site, with the hope one of our readers could figure it out. It didn’t take long before someone ran the photo through some Photoshop filters and we were able to make out what the letters spelled… ALWAYS SUPPORT THE BOTTOM.
This set-off some wild speculation into what this clue could mean. Did the box have a secret compartment in the bottom? No. Was there something on the bottom of the map or scrolls or vials that was a further clue? Nope. Maybe the clue would direct us to some website? Nada. Finally Steve Coulson, marketing director of Campfire, stepped in and put our crazy speculation to rest. Always Support the Bottom didn’t mean anything. My map was the only one to contain the mysterious lettering. It was just some sort of cosmetic error. No one knows for sure exactly how the lettering got on there, but we have a guess. Whatever liquid was used to give the parchment an aged look was stored in one of these containers. Notice the lettering on the bottom? The common theory is that my map was on the bottom of the pile of maps placed into this container to soak and because of that the raised lettering on the bottom of the pan lightly transferred onto the back of my map.
But the story doesn’t stop there. All of our readers found this quite comical, as you can imagine. Our obsession had reached new heights and when our “big discovery” turned out to be nothing but a manufacturing defect, we all had a good laugh at ourselves. Somebody suggested that “Always Support the Bottom” should become our house motto, as a symbol of our undying fanaticism for this show. The catchphrase quickly caught on. We even adopted Gatewatch as our house name. (“Gates” being our name for any sort of controversy about the show that gets blown way out of proportion by our passionate readers, i.e. Chairgate, Fake-snowgate, Costumegate, Nosegate, Ghost-barkedgate, etc. The “-gate” suffix comes from the Watergate scandal that forced President Nixon to resign and is used nowadays by US mainstream media to denote any sort of on-going controversy.) Our castle was Castle Wyknett and I was declared Lord Winter, Warden of the Web.
Soon the phrase started popping up around the web, in web comics and Tumblr gifs. Campfire took things one step further when they incorporated the phrase “always support the bottom” into one of the later Maester’s Path puzzles, as a nod to our site. At that point, the legend of “Always Support the Bottom” was cemented.
Today you are most likely to see the phrase used as a verb. “Supporting the bottom” has come to denote anyone who does something to assist the fandom (getting set photos, asking Martin a burning question at a book signing, etc.). Our loyal readers may be called “bottom supporters”. And some commenters still like to end their posts with an AStB or Always Support the Bottom! signature.
So Always Support the Bottom is here to stay. And we have made it even more official with the release of our AStB t-shirt!
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83 Comments
Just refreshed the site.
As Larry would say: OH SHIT! THIS IS AAAAAWESOME!
The RabbitQuote Reply
LOLOL I LOVE IT
OhWhoCaresQuote Reply
Love it! And I really enjoyed reading your story about how the phrase came to be. It feels like simultaneously so long ago and just yesterday that we were doing the Maester’s Path and dying for the show to premiere!
LinaQuote Reply
Awesome!
Are you shipping to Europe as well?
Chris77Quote Reply
A phrase used in all styles of music “supporting the bottom” is supporting that all important Bass Line.
Lou KlozikQuote Reply
* Clap clap clap * :)
Good one, Bunny ;)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
LOL hilarious, love it!
Will you be having similar items w/ the wic.net addy on it as well?
sweetonsigmafilmsQuote Reply
with this my bottom is very supported
CharlesQuote Reply
Cool T-shirt, though I still think that particular phrase belongs on shorts :p
Any plans to add womens’ sizes? (Or failing that, at least an extra-small option?).
ShinyteapotQuote Reply
Yes! We’ll ship worldwide. :)
We may do a basic shirt with the main WiCnet logo on it at some point, yeah.
We hope to have women’s sizes sometime in the future. Unfortunately the smallest these particular shirts come in is a small, so no extra-small option. :(
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
YES.
What somehow makes it even better is that no one you run into is EVER going to know what it means and we will all be running around in these t-shirts no one gets. XD
I can’t wait to get mine.
Also, I guess this makes our house colours black and white?
Steve Hugh WestenraQuote Reply
Love it! :D
MartaQuote Reply
Ooooooooh pretty. Me like. Also, me broke, or else I’d be ordering it right NOW. In a month or so, I will.
Steve the PirateQuote Reply
My god, what monster have we created :)
Steve CoulsonQuote Reply
Steve Coulson, hahaha! Who woulda thought a tiny manufacturing defect would lead to this? ;)
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Heh. And this is why I like getting paid on Fridays. Already ordered. I’ll be ready to wear my House Gatewatch t-shirt with pride.
sndwurksQuote Reply
Oh My Rhllor… Im gonna have so much fun wearing this shirt lol
PacoQuote Reply
This looks suspiciously a lot like my tshirt I was selling at Bennie’s burritoes in NYC last winter:
t-shirt
Can’t have too many t-shirts though!
Epic The BallsQuote Reply
Thank you for the history lesson! I appreciate the in-joke. :D
ConnieQuote Reply
i love GoT, but i’m wearing this shirt to next year’s gay pride here in LA. i mean, you do realize that every gay guy is going to think this means something completely different, right? i hope you like getting hit on by tops.
AnthonyQuote Reply
Anthony,
I do lol
Winter Is Coming,
I have a question, will the tshirt at least have the website url in the back? I mean… I think that just having the ‘support the bottom’ in the front is kind of wasting a pretty good advertisement opportunity, dont you think?
PacoQuote Reply
That’s an excellent idea – need the url on the back of the shirt or the sleeve or something, so people can find the site, and buy more t-shirts! This will be the coolest t-shirt around, soon.
purplejillyQuote Reply
I’m not really worried about advertising. We do pretty good traffic as it is, so these shirts are just for fun, for our dedicated readers. And for gay guys apparently. ;)
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
I still think there should be sweatpants with the slogan across the back.
Ros would wear ‘em.
LinaQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
dual purpose! that’s hawt.
Paco,
werk gurl! hahaha
AnthonyQuote Reply
Ahhh the Maester’s Path…. Good old times :D
So.. Can I conclude out of this that there won’t be a shirt that keeps in mind that we have a woman’s body (meaning: waisted)
LiesieQuote Reply
Totally unrelated to the post, but you guys HAVE to see this. Game of Thrones Theme with lyrics, the way it should have been…
http://www.dorkly.com/embed/21635/game-of-thrones-theme-with-lyrics
DekarQuote Reply
Eventually, yes. But we had to start somewhere and most guys aren’t going to fit in a women’s shirt. ;)
Although, the more requests we get for women’s shirts, the sooner we will likely be able to add them.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Is it something wrong with me if I put the male T-shirt on my she-rabbit body?
The RabbitQuote Reply
Just wanted to say, A BIG Thank You to WiC and thanks to the rest of the crew who keep this site fueled with great interviews and GoT info. To everyone that posts and keeps the WiC crew on their toes, Thank You!, you guys and gals are awesome. Hoping this is the first of many great items for the readers, new viewers, website lurkers and even those who want to take a different meaning to the shirts!
We Do Not SewQuote Reply
The Rabbit,
Yes, women should be topless like the Dothraki.
Epic the AnarchistQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
Thanks, good to know. I’ll wait until the womens’ ones become available, much nicer if it fits :)
ShinyteapotQuote Reply
I don’t think so. These shirts are slim fit, so I think a men’s small would look good on most women’s bodies. Maybe not skin-tight, but certainly not the “walking around in a tent” look.
We Do Not Sow has a few of the shirts laying around his place and he may even have an average-sized woman nearby to try them on for us and report back her findings. :)
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
I’d also like a women’s t-shirt option, but this will do for now :). Great work guys!
like it needs to be said but
“Always Support the Bottom”
Phoenix_TornQuote Reply
YES! :D
And WiC – Thank you so much! This is seriously awesome. Love it! :)
The Winter RoseQuote Reply
Alright, now lets see if paypal works…
Phoenix_TornQuote Reply
Maester’s Path – that brings me back to decyphering the final puzzle and finding “Always Support the Bottom” in it. And there was nobody around to explain why I started laughing so hard.
T-shirt looks great, I’ll buy one as soon as I get a job again to show my support to the bottoms :D
Ivan PopićQuote Reply
I will have to get one of the “Always Support the Bottom” T-shirts in memory of the frantic speculation of the scent box days. And in so doing I will be supporting the bottom. True, most people won’t have any idea what it means, but think how interesting it will be to wear it in airports when traveling. How many House Gatewatch members will we run into?
AStB
OldGranQuote Reply
Thank you so much for the link…………Bravo Karliene ,Bravo…Encore. Love this….the uilliann pipes always bring a tear to my eye ( being from the Emerald Isle ). Your lyrics are clever and memorable, your musical arrangement hauntingly beautiful. I think this tops the heavy metal version of the theme (just) to be my favorite so far.
Lord Two FeathersQuote Reply
It’s perfect and being gay and a top it’s even better
Jim CrossQuote Reply
That’s a great story, I seriously just thought that those were the words of some smaller house; supporting the bottom meaning helping the poor. I started coming to this site around January of ’11, so I missed that.
Also, there gonna be a vote today?
Connor NelsonQuote Reply
this post made me laugh because I was listening to an old episode of APIOAF this morning, with Winter as the guest host, where you talked about Winter is Coming merchandise. Come on here in the afternoon and there is a post about it !!
If you ever do another moot everyone should wear this T-shirt. I wonder what people would think.
This is also making me miss the Maester’s Path. :(
Jessica C.Quote Reply
Connor Nelson,
Vote post ready, coming later :)
Steve Coulson,
Such a great story, Steve! Thanks for everything. Great to have you around.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
I didn’ see montenegro in the shipping country list.Is there a way that you add montenegro to the list?I’d really like to oreder the shirt.
Fedja PejovicQuote Reply
Wic, i LOVED the way you explained the whole story – you made that sound like an epic story.. or like one of Old Nan’s tales ;)
Can i get the shirt if i live outside the US?
PS:God, i *need* a new gate, like, NOW :D
Winter Is Coming,
tiny manufactury defect, and obsessive fan madness :D
EDIT: okay, i read it. It looks like i can get the tee :)
anyway, are those measures in the table inches or cm? I have troubles with the american sizes – they’re always larger then i expect, lol
Elena AmiciQuote Reply
worldwide is woooooorldwide? even to the bottom of the South Pole? It´ll have a double meaning here too.
andreaQuote Reply
Montenegero should be on the list… yup, just checked, it’s there. :)
Pretty sure they’re in inches.
Hahaha, true! A Winter Is Coming shirt would also be quite funny to wear down there. :)
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Sounds like some homosexual code. :D
Luke PalladinoQuote Reply
Elena Amici,
I will try and set up alternative measurements and a pic of a girl wearing the shirt in a few hours. thanks
We Do Not SewQuote Reply
Wonderful recap! It has everything in there a newbie would need to know.
Oh, those heady days before the show started…
Always Support the Bottom!
Er, can we get a Brotherhood without Previews shirt?
HollyoakQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
okay, thanks!
I have a serious choice to made – order the shirt like, now or wait till a waisted tee will be available.
I think I’m not going to wait, lol. As ginia would say, i can’t expect a woman shirt because fantasy is for boys.
Hey, talking about Ginia. What do you guys think about writing a “WWGS – What Would Ginia Say?” recap for season 2?
You know, like the new-viewers recaps, for women.
You colud write about the amount of sex in the episode the (few) reasosn why women could try to watch it and the (many) reasons why GoT viewers are all misogynous. Lol
EDIT: I’m not completely joking. Now that i think about it, i’d love to read something like that, lol.
EDIT:
We Do Not Sew,
okaaay. Thank you very much! :)
Elena AmiciQuote Reply
OMG, I did not even realize it! now I want both!
andreaQuote Reply
Waiting for more!
I’d also like to have WICnet logo on the shirt.
The line is one thing, the logo’s the other. Same thing as with GoT shirts – we can wear different banners, but we all are GoT team after all, proud of wearing its logo. Aren’t we?
GrzebykKQuote Reply
Enlightening read—I knew about the history of Always Support the Bottom, though I didn’t realize that phrase is imprinted in some kind of baking dish (?). And I’ve been wondering what “Gate” meant for a long time. Brilliant!
The t-shirt looks great. I’ll need to get me one of them!
DreamlifeQuote Reply
Great, now I can’t wait to see an official “House Gatewatch” t-shirt.
This made me remember the first time I read that story – I’d been away on a trip and then came home to reads hundreds of posts that made me laugh out loud. It was such an obscure sentence to obsess over, but it turned into a great story :)
Johan SporreQuote Reply
What? WHAT?! Are you freaking kidding me?
I had no interest in any of the GoT merchandise but I’ve already got my pre-order in for this awesomeness!
Adam WingQuote Reply
Ha, fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. I’m gonna wait till the women’s tee’s are in, so please hurry!
Ah, the Maester’s Path, such memories. I was one of the lazy ones who decided to wait till some genius figured it out and posted the link to the “prize”. But in my defence, I was also studying for exams at the time so…
BroQuote Reply
Picture of Size Small Shirt
We picked this shirt because of it’s soft feel and slim cut, so that it will look good on both men and women. Here is a picture of my wife (about 5’5″ tall) wearing the same style shirt in small.
Size Chart
We Do Not SowQuote Reply
There is absolutely no reason I would buy and wear such a non-sequitor T-shirt; its far too much of an in-joke.
The Dragon DemandsQuote Reply
Hey guys!
It’s been a while…glad to be back…i’m tossing a little idea for those who want a woman size tee:
idea
Jéssica De Freitas MacielQuote Reply
Jéssica De Freitas Maciel,
I will be unable to dress that shirt … not for me, I’ll be tangled and probably I´ll hang myself with those strips.
andreaQuote Reply
Meh, my design was infinitely better :)
KGQuote Reply
super awesome!
HildaQuote Reply
KG,
was it the one with the chair?
Elena AmiciQuote Reply
It would be great if you guys could put the logo of your website behind the shirt!
oracle86Quote Reply
The first few times I saw it used in comments, it was in reference to the eventual DVD release, so I thought it meant “Always Support [HBO's] Bottomline“; not as cool, but also important.
WhiskeyjackQuote Reply
Love it! Thanks for the story. I came a little late to the site, and missed some of that stuff when it was happening. Proud to be part of the Bottom!!
Here Be DragonsQuote Reply
If someone designs a t-shirt that says “Feels Good to Be a Lannister”, I will be the first one in line to buy it. Especially if it features Tywin, Jaime, Cersei and Tyrion in their best “Yeah I know I’m awesome” poses. (I guess the use of those faces would have to be cleared with the producers, right?)
KevinQuote Reply
Ordered my t-shirt. I figured it’s the least I could do to support this site (and the bottom).
furreverQuote Reply
What’s next?
“House Gatewatch – We Go Below And Beyond”
Take the Schwartz. Also.
Nagga’s KinQuote Reply
Cool shirt, I’ll probably get one. But I liked it better when it was just “support the bottom”, which I think is what the original Maester’s Path message said. “Always” was added later.
David ScottonQuote Reply
Jéssica De Freitas Maciel,
Well that would be great if you had no boobs……backless clothes are for flat-chested women – seeing bra-straps is rather off-putting!
silverjaimeQuote Reply
Anthony,
Exactly what I thought, mate. :)
Ian M. WalkerQuote Reply
Jéssica De Freitas Maciel,
I like, I like a lot. But I prob wouldn’t get away with wearing it unless there was a bra built into it or something. Cool idea though.
BroQuote Reply
Thanks for linking to my image Winter. Most days it doesn’t recieve any pageviews, but the past two days it was looked at 322 and 203 times respectively :-)
I don’t normally wear t-shirts with ‘messages’, but I should order this one, or I won’t be able to say Allways Support the Bottom ever again…
Tar KidhoQuote Reply
cool story bro
Ser PounceQuote Reply
When I first heard AStB, it was actually right after it happened and I had just missed it. xD I first spotted it on a post about Joe and always assumed it meant support the bottom, like the bottom of the show… hierarchy? Like we were just readers and fans, and by doing things like get Joe on the show, they were supporting us fans.
When I found out, I laughed, but my meaning still sticks for me. :)
Always support the bottom! ^_^
The InstrumentalistQuote Reply
Awesome lots of great feedback! what else to do want to see on a WiC limited edition tee?
We Do Not SowQuote Reply
Jéssica De Freitas Maciel,
No, a womans tee should ofc leave one breast bare…
Qarth FTW!
SidQuote Reply
LOL you guy are totally cool making that kind of a T-shirt…. this is one more reason to get an international credit card….. or know someone who does….;-)
VeredQuote Reply
WIC,
Nice shirts.
Sort of off topic, but in getting my sister to read the books, and me telling her about the GoT Food Truck promo last year, she gave me a great idea…
A season 2 promo GoT themed tournament at Medieval Times…
-There are 6 Medieval locations around North America.
- HBO would have to sponsor the event(s), and maybe provide some props, heraldry items, and maybe a trailer or preview reel for season 2.
-Medieval Times, would love the extra business, I’m told. (if you haven’t been; Google it)
-Maybe GRRM can preside over the ceremonies, or castmembers.
-WIC, BWB, & Westeroes, would get the word out, provide organization, networking, etc.
-Maybe the Inn at the Crossroads blog can offer easier Martin-esque menu suggestions. Lemoncakes?
And we’d finally have a place to show off our snazzy new shirts, and home made outfits. (short of an entire GoT themed convention: Westeros-Con, of course)
Its just an idea; but it beats standing in the food truck lines. Again. Well, there were the lemoncakes, so…
With all that WIC and the fans have accomplished in the past year; I think getting this done is a piece of lemoncake!
…Always Support the Bottom!!!
LanLanLurkerQuote Reply
I look forward to the release of women’s sizes as well :)
KieriynQuote Reply
We need a fangirl shirt with all the ladies on it please. Have it read “Fear us more than them!” love the site.love all you do.Thank you :)
I am no oneQuote Reply
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