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istumpysk · 2 years

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Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: Cersei VI (Chapter 28)

The Winds of Winter is delayed because he convinced himself every chapter needs to be the size of a short novel.

"There are other men as well, I hear. Knights and courtiers. Admirers. Tell me true, my lady. Do you think Margaery is still a maiden?"

"She says she is, Your Grace."

"So she does. What do you say?"

Taena's black eyes sparkled with mischief. "When she wed Lord Renly at Highgarden, I helped disrobe him for the bedding. His lordship was a well-made man, and lusty. I saw the proof when we tumbled him into the wedding bed where his bride awaited him as naked as her name day, blushing prettily beneath the coverlets. Ser Loras had carried her up the steps himself. Margaery may say that the marriage was never consummated, that Lord Renly had drunk too much wine at the wedding feast, but I promise you, the bit between his legs was anything but weary when last I saw it."

"Did you chance to see the marriage bed the morning after?" Cersei asked. "Did she bleed?"

"No sheet was shown, Your Grace."

I'm guessing Loras being present helped with that.

I still don't understand what the long-term plan was with these three. Was there seriously no consummation? Did they never intend to have sex? She was on board with her husband being gay and in love with her brother? What about an heir?

I have so many questions.

+.+.+

A pity. Still, the absence of a bloody sheet meant little, by itself. Common peasant girls bled like pigs upon their wedding nights, she had heard, but that was less true of highborn maids like Margaery Tyrell. A lord's daughter was more like to give her maidenhead to a horse than a husband, it was said, and Margaery had been riding since she was old enough to walk.

I'm sharing because it made me laugh out loud.

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"I understand the little queen has many admirers amongst our household knights. The Redwyne twins, Ser Tallad . . . who else, pray tell?"

Lady Merryweather gave a shrug. "Ser Lambert, the fool who hides a good eye behind a patch. Bayard Norcross. Courtenay Greenhill. The brothers Woodwright, sometimes Portifer and often Lucantine. Oh, and Grand Maester Pycelle is a frequent visitor."

"Pycelle? Truly?" Had that doddering old worm forsaken the lion for the rose? If so, he will regret it. "Who else?"

"The Summer Islander in his feathered cloak. How could I have forgotten him, with his skin as black as ink? Others come to pay court to her cousins. Elinor is promised to the Ambrose boy, but loves to flirt, and Megga has a new suitor every fortnight. Once she kissed a potboy in the kitchen. I have heard talk of her marrying Lady Bulwer's brother, but if Megga were to choose for herself, she would sooner have Mark Mullendore, I am certain."

Highlighting for later.

Pycelle frequently visits Margaery, but it's those flirty cousins and their suitors we should be paying attention to.

+.+.+

When Taena frowned, a tiny crease appeared between her dark eyes. "Every morn and every night he [Loras] visits, unless duty interferes. Her brother is devoted to her, they share everything with . . . oh . . ." For a moment, the Myrish woman looked almost shocked. Then a smile spread across her face. "I have had a most wicked thought, Your Grace."

"Best keep it to yourself. The hill is thick with sparrows, and we all know how sparrows abhor wickedness."

I can only assume her idea is spreading fake news about Loras and Margaery. That's a bold suggestion from someone playing both sides.

+.+.+

"So I suspect. As a rule the Most Devout elevate one of their own, but there have been exceptions." Grand Maester Pycelle had informed her of the history, at tedious length.

Always pay attention to history, Cersei.

+.+.+

"During the reign of King Baelor the Blessed a simple stonemason was chosen as High Septon. He worked stone so beautifully that Baelor decided he was the Smith reborn in mortal flesh. The man could neither read nor write, nor recall the words of the simplest of prayers." Some still claimed that Baelor's Hand had the man poisoned to spare the realm embarrassment.

King Baelor the Blessed sounds like a looney tune. How predictable.

Is that last part about poison relevant?

+.+.+

"After that one died, an eight-year-old boy was elevated, once more at King Baelor's urging. The boy worked miracles, His Grace declared, though even his little healing hands could not save Baelor during his final fast."

Please!!

+.+.+

Lady Merryweather gave a laugh. "Eight years old? Perhaps my son could be High Septon. He is almost seven."

"Does he pray a lot?" the queen asked.

"He prefers to play with swords."

"A real boy, then. Can he name all seven gods?"

"I think so."

"I shall have to take him under consideration." Cersei did not doubt that there were any number of boys who would do more honor to the crystal crown than the wretch on whom the Most Devout had chosen to bestow it.

Yes! A number of boys! Who cares if he doesn't know how to read or use utensils? Not me.

+.+.+

This is what comes of letting fools and cowards rule themselves. Next time, I will choose their master for them. And the next time might not be long in coming, if the new High Septon continued to annoy her. Baelor's Hand had little to teach Cersei Lannister where such matters were concerned.

I believe her.

+.+.+

"You should bring this son of yours to court," Cersei told Lady Merryweather. "Six is not too young. Tommen needs other boys about him. Why not your son?" Joffrey had never had a close friend of his own age, that she recalled. The poor boy was always alone. I had Jaime when I was a child . . . and Melara, until she fell into the well.

Unreliable narrator Cersei Lannister.

Cause, you know.

+.+.+

"Your Grace is kind, but Russell has never known any home but Longtable. I fear he would be lost in this great city."

"Bring my son to court to befriend the king? Nah, we're good, thanks."

Hun, this is not your friend.

+.+.+

We had to have those ships. She could not rely upon the Arbor for her navy; the Redwynes were too close to the Tyrells. She needed her own strength at sea.

The dromonds rising on the river would give her that. Her flagship would dip twice as many oars as King Robert's Hammer. Aurane had asked her leave to name her Lord Tywin, which Cersei had been pleased to grant. She looked forward to hearing men speak of her father as a "she."

rofl.

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Another of the ships would be named Sweet Cersei, and would bear a gilded figurehead carved in her likeness, clad in mail and lion helm, with spear in hand. Brave Joffrey, Lady Joanna, and Lioness would follow her to sea, along with Queen Margaery, Golden Rose, Lord Renly, Lady Olenna, and Princess Myrcella. The queen had made the mistake of telling Tommen he might name the last five. He had actually chosen Moon Boy for one.

Really?

Samwell, please make sure the Renly chapters are accurate.

+.+.+

She wore a white gown slashed with cloth-of-gold, lacy but demure. It had been several years since the last time she had donned it, and the queen found it uncomfortably tight about the middle.

It's unnecessary that I keep highlighting this, yet here I am doing it again.

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The day she wed Robert Baratheon, thousands had turned out to cheer for them. All the women wore their best, and half the men had children on their shoulders. When she had emerged from inside the sept, hand in hand with the young king, the crowd sent up a roar so loud it could be heard in Lannisport. "They like you well, my lady," Robert whispered in her ear. "See, every face is smiling." For that one short moment she had been happy in her marriage . . . until she chanced to glance at Jaime. No, she remembered thinking, not every face, my lord.

Doomed before they even made it out of the sept.

+.+.+

No one was smiling now. The looks the sparrows gave her were dull, sullen, hostile. They made way but reluctantly. If they were truly sparrows, a shout would send them flying. A hundred gold cloaks with staves and swords and maces could clear this rabble quick enough. That was what Lord Tywin would have done. He would have ridden over them instead of walking through.

What else would he do, Cersei?

Lord Tywin would not have bothered with a search. He would have burned that town and every living creature in it. Men and boys, babes at the breast, noble knights and holy septons, pigs and whores, rats and rebels, he would have burned them all. - The Griffin Reborn, ADWD

+.+.+

"We ask no vengeance for our dead," said the one-legged man, "only protection for the living. For the septs and holy places."

"The Iron Throne must defend the Faith," growled a hulking lout with a seven-pointed star painted on his brow. "A king who does not protect his people is no king at all."

This always feels like a Jon shoutout.

+.+.+

But as she made her way through the press to the steps of the sept, a gaggle of armed men stepped out to block the doors. They wore mail and boiled leather, with here and there a bit of dinted plate. Some had spears and some had longswords. More favored axes, and had sewn red stars upon their bleached white surcoats. Two had the insolence to cross their spears and bar her way.

"Is this how you receive your queen?" she demanded of them.

Blocking the Queen Regent from entering. That's pretty outrageous.

Red flag, Cersei. Red flag.

+.+.+

"You are welcome here, but your men must leave their swordbelts. No weapons are allowed within, by command of the High Septon."

"Knights of the Kingsguard do not set aside their swords, not even in the presence of the king."

"In the king's house, the king's word must rule," replied the aged knight, "but this is the house of the gods."

They don't answer to kings, they answer to their gods.

Cersei? 🚩🚩🚩

+.+.+

"I do not see my friend Septon Torbert."

"Septon Torbert has been confined to a penitent's cell on bread and water. It is sinful for any man to be so plump when half the realm is starving."

The flag, Cersei. It's red.

+.+.+

"We have no crown, Your Grace."

Her frown deepened. "My lord father gave your predecessor a crown of rare beauty, wrought in crystal and spun gold."

"And for that gift we honor him in our prayers," the High Septon said, "but the poor need food in their bellies more than we need gold and crystal on our head. That crown has been sold. So have the others in our vaults, and all our rings, and our robes of cloth-of-gold and cloth-of-silver. Wool will keep a man as warm. That is why the Seven gave us sheep."

Haaaaahaha, fuck you Tywin.

+.+.+

He is utterly mad. The Most Devout must have been mad as well, to elevate this creature . . . mad, or terrified of the beggars at their doors. Qyburn's whisperers claimed that Septon Luceon had been nine votes from elevation when those doors had given way, and the sparrows came pouring into the Great Sept with their leader on their shoulders and their axes in their hands.

Cersei, I'm begging you.

+.+.+

Incense sweetened the air, and beside the seven altars candles shone like stars. A thousand twinkled for the Mother and near as many for the Maid, but you could count the Stranger's candles on two hands and still have fingers left.

Since we're in a sept, I'll pray this isn't the Arya foreshadowing I think it is.

+.+.+

At the Mother's altar, a septon was leading a hundred sparrows in prayer, their voices as distant as waves upon the shore. The High Septon led Cersei to where the Crone raised her lantern. When he knelt before the altar, she had no choice but to kneel beside him.

Hahaha, he took her to the Crone instead of the Mother.

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"Night soil can be washed away more easily than blood, Your Grace. If the plaza was befouled, it was befouled by the execution that was done here."

He dares throw Ned Stark in my face? "We all regret that. Joffrey was young, and not as wise as he might have been. Lord Stark should have been beheaded elsewhere, out of respect for Blessed Baelor . . . but the man was a traitor, let us not forget."

"King Baelor forgave those who conspired against him."

CERSEI. PLEASE.

+.+.+

"War is a dreadful thing. These atrocities are the work of the northmen, and of Lord Stannis and his demon-worshipers."

"Some of my sparrows speak of bands of lions who despoiled them . . . and of the Hound, who was your own sworn man. At Saltpans he slew an aged septon and despoiled a girl of twelve, an innocent child promised to the Faith. He wore his armor as he raped her and her tender flesh was torn and crushed by his iron mail. When he was done he gave her to his men, who cut off her nose and nipples."

(I apologize for making you read that.)

CERSEI. LISTEN.

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"As you say. Yet it must be asked—where were the king's knights when these things were being done? Did not Jaehaerys the Conciliator once swear upon the Iron Throne itself that the crown would always protect and defend the Faith?"

Cersei had no idea what Jaehaerys the Conciliator might have sworn. "He did," she agreed

Having no idea is kicking her ass right now.

When Ser Joffrey and Lady Lucinda urged him to undo his uncle Maegor's decrees and reinstate the Swords and Stars, Jaehaerys refused firmly. "The Faith has no need of swords," he declared. "They have my protection. The protection of the Iron Throne." He did, however, rescind the bounties that Maegor had promised for the heads of Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows. "I shall not wage war against my own people," he said, "but neither shall I tolerate treason and rebellion." - Fire & Blood

He swore the crown would always protect and defend the faith so they would remain disarmed.

+.+.+

It is traditional for every new High Septon to give the king his blessing . . . and yet you have refused to bless King Tommen."

"Your Grace is mistaken. We have not refused."

"You have not come."

"The hour is not yet ripe."

Are you a priest or a greengrocer? "And what might I do to make it . . . riper?" If he dares mention gold, I will deal with this one as I did the last and find a pious eight-year-old to wear the crystal crown.

pleasepleaseplease.

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"The realm is full of kings. For the Faith to exalt one above the rest we must be certain. Three hundred years ago, when Aegon the Dragon landed beneath this very hill, the High Septon locked himself within the Starry Sept of Oldtown and prayed for seven days and seven nights, taking no nourishment but bread and water. When he emerged he announced that the Faith would not oppose Aegon and his sisters, for the Crone had lifted up her lamp to show him what lay ahead. If Oldtown took up arms against the Dragon, Oldtown would burn, and the Hightower and the Citadel and the Starry Sept would be cast down and destroyed. Lord Hightower was a godly man. When he heard the prophecy, he kept his strength at home and opened the city gates to Aegon when he came. And His High Holiness anointed the Conqueror with the seven oils. I must do as he did, three hundred years ago. I must pray, and fast."

Is this. . . something?

+.+.+

Cersei itched to slap his solemn, pious face. I could help you fast, she thought. I could shut you up in some tower and see that no one brings you food until the gods have spoken.

You first!

+.+.+

"Give Tommen your blessing, and he shall put an end to these outrages."

"And how shall he do that, Your Grace? Will he send a knight to walk the roads with every begging brother? Will he give us men to guard our septas against the wolves and lions?"

I will pretend you did not mention lions.

Why are you pretending? He mentioned lions! HE MENTIONED LIONS.

+.+.+

"The realm is at war. His Grace has need of every man." Cersei did not intend to squander Tommen's strength playing wet nurse to sparrows, or guarding the wrinkled cunts of a thousand sour septas. Half of them are probably praying for a good raping.

Oof.

+.+.+

"Your sparrows have clubs and axes. Let them defend themselves."

"King Maegor's laws prohibit that, as Your Grace must know. It was by his decree that the Faith laid down its swords."

It's a trap! IT'S A TRAP.

He wants you to think this is your idea! IT'S NOT YOUR IDEA.

+.+.+

"Tommen is king now, not Maegor." What did she care what Maegor the Cruel had decreed three hundred years ago? Instead of taking the swords out of the hands of the faithful, he should have used them for his own ends. She pointed to where the Warrior stood above his altar of red marble. "What is that he holds?"

"A sword."

"Has he forgotten how to use it?"

"Maegor's laws—"

"—could be undone." She let that hang there, waiting for the High Sparrow to rise to the bait.

He did not disappoint her. "The Faith Militant reborn . . . that would be the answer to three hundred years of prayer, Your Grace. The Warrior would lift his shining sword again and cleanse this sinful realm of all its evil. If His Grace were to allow me to restore the ancient blessed orders of the Sword and Star, every godly man in the Seven Kingdoms would know him to be our true and rightful lord."

You're not casting the bait! YOU'RE NOT CASTING THE BAIT.

What did she care what Maegor the Cruel had decreed three hundred years ago?

omg.

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That was sweet to hear, but Cersei took care not to seem too eager. "Your High Holiness spoke of forgiveness earlier. In these troubled times, King Tommen would be most grateful if you could see your way to forgiving the crown's debt. It seems to me we owe the Faith some nine hundred thousand dragons."

He's not forgiving anything! He already knows you never intend to pay! HE ALREADY KNOWS.

+.+.+

The High Septon pondered that a moment. "As you wish. This debt shall be forgiven, and King Tommen will have his blessing. The Warrior's Sons shall escort me to him, shining in the glory of their Faith, whilst my sparrows go forth to defend the meek and humble of the land, reborn as Poor Fellows as of old."

oh no.

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The High Septon made a steeple of his hands and raised his eyes to heaven. "Let the wicked tremble!"

Do you hear that, Lord Stannis? Cersei could not help but smile. Even her lord father could have done no better. At a stroke, she had rid King's Landing of the plague of sparrows, secured Tommen's blessing, and lessened the crown's debt by close to a million dragons. Her heart was soaring as she allowed the High Septon to escort her back to the Hall of Lamps.

But he never said anything about Stannis! THERE WAS NO MENTION OF STANNIS.

Tommen won't even get his blessing! THERE WILL BE NO BLESSING.

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"The Warrior's Sons were an order of knights who gave up their lands and gold and swore their swords to His High Holiness. The Poor Fellows . . . they were humbler, though far more numerous. Begging brothers of a sort, though they carried axes instead of bowls. They wandered the roads, escorting travelers from sept to sept and town to town. Their badge was the seven-pointed star, red on white, so the smallfolk named them Stars. The Warrior's Sons wore rainbow cloaks and inlaid silver armor over hair shirts, and bore star-shaped crystals in the pommels of their longswords. They were the Swords. Holy men, ascetics, fanatics, sorcerers, dragonslayers, demonhunters . . . there were many tales about them. But all agree that they were implacable in their hatred for all enemies of the Holy Faith."

Holy shit, Lancel is going to kill Drogon.

No but really, is this important? I've spent all my research time looking for red flag gifs.

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"We have been picking autumn flowers in the kingswood," she told them.

[...]

Wherever she went, the smallfolk fawned on her, and Lady Margaery did all she could to fan their ardor. She was forever giving alms to beggars, buying hot pies off bakers' carts, and reining up to speak to common tradesmen.

Had it been up to her, she would have had Tommen doing all these things as well.

[...]

But the king was deaf to sense, thanks to his little queen. "If we mingle with the commons, they will love us better."

I can't believe this kid is smarter than the whole god damn family.

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Every day in every way she tries to steal him from me. Joffrey would have seen through her schemer's smile and let her know her place, but Tommen was more gullible. She knew Joff was too strong for her, Cersei thought, remembering the gold coin Qyburn had found. For House Tyrell to hope to rule, he had to be removed.

A broken clock, yada yada yada.

+.+.+

It came back to her that Margaery and her hideous grandmother had once plotted to marry Sansa Stark to the little queen's crippled brother Willas. Lord Tywin had forestalled that by stealing a march on them and wedding Sansa to Tyrion, but the link had been there. They are all in it together, she realized with a start. The Tyrells bribed the gaolers to free Tyrion, and whisked him down the roseroad to join his vile bride. By now the both of them are safe in Highgarden, hidden away behind a wall of roses.

What are you talking about? The Tyrells pushed hardest for Sansa and Tyrion to be executed.

So close, yet so far.

+.+.+

In the early years of their marriage, Robert was forever imploring her to hunt with him, but Cersei had always begged off. His hunting trips allowed her time with Jaime.

Nice try author, but you're not going to convince me Robert was a decent husband.

+.+.+

Margaery smiled at Ser Loras; a sweet sisterly smile, full of fondness. "Your Grace is kind to fear for me, but my brother keeps me well protected."

Go and hunt, Cersei had urged Robert, half a hundred times. My brother keeps me well protected. She recalled what Taena had told her earlier, and a laugh came bursting from her lips.

"Your Grace laughs so prettily." Lady Margaery gave her a quizzical smile. "Might we share the jest?"

"You will," the queen said. "I promise you, you will."

Doesn't she abandon the Loras x Margaery fake news plans? Similar to the Jon Snow thing, it feels like this fizzled out.

Final thoughts:

Maybe arming extremists won't be a disaster? I can't wait to find out.

Hey, did you know, like, 28% of the fandom believes the High Sparrow is Howland Reed?

Is that the least surprising thing you've ever heard?

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#operation stumpy re-read #affc #cersei vi

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greenbloods · 9 months

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a lot of people dont know this but we already have all the hints for the future of house lannister. see it all has to do with the legacy of the house. when lann the clever connived his way into casterly rock that set a shadow from which house lannister never escaped. the targaryens were defined by aegon the conqueror and daenys the dreamer and the doom of valyria setting forth a 400 year long bloodcurse that forever entwined that house with the violence of the oppressor and conqueror and dreamer in that system. arryn honor and stark wolfsblood--ancient founders have ancient legacies.

but house stark was remade under ned starks image after his father and brother and sister died. and house lannister was remade under tywin lannisters image after tytos died. there some of that cleverness in tyrion and tywin, but the lannister name now is synonymous with the envy and lust and low cunning that tywin sought desparately to hide. house lannister is all brass and no gold; it needs a fresh start. jaime and cersei and tyrion are all stuck under tywins shadow; whether they try to be him or his opposite they are doomed to be defined by him. the hope for house lannister, then is in the youth who have not had a chance to be tormented by the psychosexual humiliation and power mentality of the dead lion.

but what is a lion a symbol of? kingship and power and sharp teeth. if sharp claws and pride are not enough then what is enough for the future of the house?

maybe a horse.

“Has there been no word of our Lord Tyrek?” her castellan asked as a course of trout was served. “None.” Tyrek Lannister had vanished during the riots in King’s Landing whilst Jaime himself was still captive at Riverrun. The boy would be fourteen by now, assuming he was still alive. “I led a search myself, at Lord Tywin’s command,” offered Addam Marbrand as he boned his fish, “but I found no more than Bywater had before me. The boy was last seen ahorse, when the press of the mob broke the line of gold cloaks. " -AFFC Jaime III

they say that tyrek lannister was last seen ahorse during the bread riots of kings landing. but these riots dont seem to be without instigator, and many have pointed to varys intentionally capturing tyrek to be groomed into a heir, much like young griff was groomed for kingship. it's later in feast that we get this exchange:

“Your word of honor?” Ser Brynden raised an eyebrow. “Do you even know what honor is?” A horse. -AFFC Jaime VI

so we know that tyrek = horse and honor = horse. by the transitive property it must be then that tyrek is the embodiment of the conception of honor, and has been captured by varys in the bread riots to create a new future for house lannister in order for westeros to escape from the shadow of tywin lannister

#is this a shitpost? yes #do i also believe it? absolutely #tyrek lannister #house lannister #asoiaf #my posts

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crazy-dane-art · 11 months

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Joff had been fond of the Hound, to be sure, but that was not friendship. He was looking for the father he never found in Robert. - AFfC, Cersei VI

The girl never wept. Young as she was, Myrcella Baratheon was a princess born. And a Lannister, despite her name, Tyrion reminded himself, as much Jaime's blood as Cersei's. - ACoK, Tyrion IX

"Prince Tommen is hale and happy, my lord. He has adopted a fawn some of my men brought home from a hunt." - ACoK, Tyrion XI

Original

#ASoIaF #asoiaf fanart #valyrianscrolls #Sandor The Hound Clegane #Joffrey Baratheon #Jaime Lannister #Myrcella Baratheon #Robert Baratheon #Tommen Baratheon

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deathless--aphrodite · 7 days

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Jaime and Brienne + water

Jaime I, ASOS / Judith Taylor, The Water / Edmund Dulac, The Little Mermaid / Jaime I, ASOS / Arya III, AGOT / Clayton Anderson, Misty Morning - Smugglers Cove / Jaime III, ASOS / Gwen Benaway, day/break / Emile Martin Charles Schwabe, Fleurs-du-mal spleen et ideal / Jaime V, ASOS / H. L. Davis, In This Wet Orchard / Christian Birmingham, The Little Mermaid / Jaime VI, ASOS / Hakushu Kitahara, The Water Surface / Julia Tar, The Druids / Brienne II, AFFC / Nate Pritts, Mist Everywhere / Alexander Rothaug, Female Faun by the Water / Jaime IV, AFFC / William Fargarson, Elegy with Steam / Gennady Spirin, The Little Mermaid / Cersei III, AFFC / Mitski, Sqaure / John Longstaff, The Sirens

#asoiaf #brienne of tarth #jaime lannister #valyrianscrolls #web weaving #how much art from the little mermaid can i fit in this post? a lot #jaime x brienne #cersei lannister

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arte072 · 1 year

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None of which stopped Arya, of course. One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. - AGoT Sansa I

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than "Arya Horseface." - AGoT Arya II

I know where you were, the queen thought. Her informers were very good about keeping her apprised of Margaery's movements. Such a restless girl, our little queen. She seldom let more than three days pass without going off for a ride. Some days they would ride along the Rosby road to hunt for shells and eat beside the sea. Other times she would take her entourage across the river for an afternoon of hawking. The little queen was fond of going out on boats as well, sailing up and down the Blackwater Rush to no particular purpose. When she was feeling pious she would leave the castle to pray at Baelor's Sept. She gave her custom to a dozen different seamstresses, was well-known amongst the city's goldsmiths, and had even been known to visit the fish market by the Mud Gate for a look at the day's catch. Wherever she went, the smallfolk fawned on her, and Lady Margaery did all she could to fan their ardor. She was forever giving alms to beggars, buying hot pies off bakers' carts, and reining up to speak to common tradesmen. - AFfC Cersei VI

I just think Arya and Margaery are neat and would really get along ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So here they are getting some street food together~

#Arya Stark #house stark #margaery tyrell #house tyrell #ASoIaF #A Song of Ice and Fire #artists on tumblr #digital art #asoiaf fanart #my art

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turtle-paced · 4 months

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Why did littlefinger love cateyln and not lysa, do you think?

Well, I don't think Littlefinger ever genuinely loved Catelyn, for starters. Even as a teenager I think that was puppy love that turned very sour when the reality of Catelyn being a real person who exists within the constraints of a society began to bite.

But as for why Littlefinger always wanted Catelyn more...

"I ought to know better than to argue with a Tully," [Ned] said with a rueful smile. Catelyn I, AGoT

"A woman can rule as wisely as a man," Catelyn said. "The right woman can," her uncle said with a sideways glance. "Make no mistake, Cat. Lysa is not you." Catelyn VI, AGoT

Renly grinned. "Go softly, Lord Randyll, I fear you're overmatched." Catelyn II, ACoK

"You may not think so to see me now, but on the day we wed I was so lovely I put your mother to shame." Lysa to Sansa, Sansa VI, ASoS

"Oh, Lysa was not so fearsome as all that." She had been a pretty girl, in truth; dimpled and delicate, with long auburn hair. Timid, though. Prone to tongue-tied silences and fits of giggles, with none of Cersei's fire. Her older sister had seemed more interesting... Jaime V, AFFC

Again and again and again, that's people acknowledging that Catelyn's clever and interesting and tough and also good-looking. Attraction varies, but it's not that hard to see why Littlefinger would find clever, argumentative Catelyn more interesting than Lysa.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #littlefinger #petyr baelish #catelyn stark #lysa arryn

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rewildling · 1 month

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Reading the Blackwater Scene as a Symbolic Wedding

Because that’s what it is.

Il bacio by Francesco Hayez

Let’s start by establishing the common features of wedding ceremonies in Westeros.

Cloaks feature prominently in the wedding rituals of the Faith of the Seven, the old gods, and the Lord of Light. In all three cases, the maiden’s cloak represents the protection of the bride’s father, while the bride’s cloak represents the protection of her new husband. During the ceremony, the maiden’s cloak is exchanged for the bride’s cloak.

Though the words differ, each faith’s marriage ceremony involves an exchange of vows that are sealed with a kiss. After the ceremony and feast, the marriage is consummated with a bedding.

Sansa’s farce of a wedding to Tyrion provides a good example:

As father of the realm, Joffrey took the place of Lord Eddard Stark. ... Joff swept her maiden’s cloak away with a kingly flourish and a grin. ... And so it was that her lord husband cloaked her in the colors of House Lannister whilst standing on the back of a fool. … She smoothed her skirts and knelt in front of him, so their heads were on the same level. “With this kiss I pledge my love, and take you for my lord and husband.” “With this kiss I pledge my love,” the dwarf replied hoarsely, “and take you for my lady and wife.” He leaned forward, and their lips touched briefly. … For after the feast would come the bedding. Sansa III, ASOS

Meanwhile, marriage among the free folk involves the custom of wife stealing. This tradition prevents inbreeding and allows a man to prove to his bride that he is worthy of her:

"He'd have t' be quick and cunning and brave t' steal me. So his sons would be strong and smart as well. Why would I hate such a man as that?" Ygritte, Jon V, ASOS

"Amongst the free folk, when a man desires a woman, he steals her, and thus proves his strength, his cunning, and his courage. The suitor risks a savage beating if he is caught by the woman's kin, and worse than that if she herself finds him unworthy." Jon Snow, Jon XIII, ADWD

To sum up: wedding ceremonies in Westeros involve cloaks, vows, kisses, beddings, and, in the case of the free folk, wife stealing. Now, let’s put it all together in the context of the Blackwater, starting with Sandor’s Kingsguard cloak:

Sansa heard cloth ripping, followed by the softer sound of retreating footsteps. When she crawled out of bed, long moments later, she was alone. She found his cloak on the floor, twisted up tight, the white wool stained by blood and fire. The sky outside was darker by then, with only a few pale green ghosts dancing against the stars. A chill wind was blowing, banging the shutters. Sansa was cold. She shook out the torn cloak and huddled beneath it on the floor, shivering. Sansa VII, ACOK

And this isn’t the first time she’s worn his cloak:

Sandor Clegane unfastened his cloak and tossed it at her. Sansa clutched it against her chest, fists bunched hard in the white wool. The coarse weave was scratchy against her skin, but no velvet had ever felt so fine. Sansa III, ACOK

The imagery of Sansa wearing Sandor’s cloak in these two scenes evokes the tradition of the groom cloaking the bride during a wedding ceremony. But there’s another aspect of the cloak’s marriage symbolism at play in the Blackwater scene: it’s an allusion to a bloody sheet.

Women sometimes bleed when they have penetrative sex for the first time. In the medieval period, white sheets stained with blood were sometimes used as proof that a marriage was consummated and that the bride was a virgin on her wedding night. This custom also appears in ASOIAF:

“Did you chance to see the marriage bed the morning after?” Cersei asked. “Did she bleed?” “No sheet was shown, Your Grace.” A pity. Still, the absence of a bloody sheet meant little, by itself. Cersei VI, AFFC

As they climbed, Damon Dance-for-Me whistled, whilst Skinner boasted that Lord Ramsay had promised him a piece of the bloody sheet as a mark of special favor. The bedchamber had been well prepared for the consummation. The Prince of Winterfell, ADWD

With this in mind, let’s examine sexual subtext in the Blackwater scene:

He gave her arm a hard wrench, pulling her around and shoving her down onto the bed. "I'll have that song. Florian and Jonquil, you said." His dagger was out, poised at her throat. "Sing, little bird. Sing for your little life." … She had forgotten the other verses. When her voice trailed off, she feared he might kill her, but after a moment the Hound took the blade from her throat, never speaking. Some instinct made her lift her hand and cup his cheek with her fingers. The room was too dark for her to see him, but she could feel the stickiness of the blood, and a wetness that was not blood. “Little bird,” he said once more, his voice raw and harsh as steel on stone. Then he rose from the bed. Sansa heard cloth ripping, followed by the softer sound of retreating footsteps. When she crawled out of bed, long moments later, she was alone. She found his cloak on the floor, twisted up tight, the white wool stained by blood and fire. Sansa VII, ACOK

The eroticism in this scene is fairly obvious. Sandor pushes Sansa onto a bed and lies on top of her. The phrase “his dagger was out” is phallic imagery. She "sings" for him — a common euphemism for feminine sexual pleasure. The phrase “she could feel the stickiness of the blood, and a wetness that was not blood” is evocative of bodily fluids. He leaves her with white fabric stained with blood. GRRM even separates the cloak from the fabric in the last line: “She found his cloak on the floor… the white wool stained by blood.” Essentially, this part of the Blackwater is an allusion to a bedding and a bloody sheet.

The custom of wife stealing is also evoked in this scene. Consider Ygritte's explanation of the act:

“A true man steals a woman from afar, t' strengthen the clan. Women who bed brothers or fathers or clan kin offend the gods, and are cursed with weak and sickly children. Even monsters." Ygritte, Jon III, ASOS

“I'd sooner be stolen by a strong man than be given t' some weakling by my father." Ygritte, Jon V, ASOS

Sansa is betrothed by her father to Joffrey Baratheon — a product of incest and a monster.

We can also draw a comparison between Sandor’s threatening Sansa during the Blackwater and the element of coercion involved in wife stealing:

“I’ll have that song. Florian and Jonquil, you said.” His dagger was out, poised at her throat. “Sing, little bird. Sing for your little life.” Sansa VII, ACOK

“Like the night you stole me. The Thief was bright that night.” “I never meant to steal you,” he said. “I never knew you were a girl until my knife was at your throat.” Jon III, ASOS

During the Blackwater, Sandor offers to steal Sansa away from King’s Landing and take her home:

“Where will you go?” “Away from here. Away from the fires. Go out the Iron Gate, I suppose. North somewhere, anywhere.” Sandor Clegane, Sansa VII, ACOK

This offer is integrated with Sandor’s vow to protect her, which is immediately followed by a near kiss.

“I could keep you safe,” he rasped. “They’re all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I’d kill them.” He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her. Sansa VII, ACOK

So, in the Blackwater scene we have a cloak, a vow of protection followed by a near kiss (which Sansa later misremembers as having actually happened), a symbolic bedding/bloody sheet, and an attempt at wife stealing. All the features of a Westerosi wedding are present — Southron, Northern, and free folk.

The wedding imagery in Sansa and Sandor’s relationship arc is most obvious in this scene, but it appears in other places throughout ASOIAF. Think back to their very first interaction of the entire series:

Strong hands grasped her by the shoulders, and for a moment Sansa thought it was her father, but when she turned, it was the burned face of Sandor Clegane looking down at her. Sansa I, AGOT

In Westerosi wedding ceremonies, the role of the bride’s protector is transferred from her father to her new husband. The imagery in this scene is absolutely evocative of that tradition, which makes sense because it’s Sandor who takes up the role of Sansa’s protector in King’s Landing after her father’s murder. Consider the following in the context of the previous passage:

She had dreamed of her wedding a thousand times, and always she had pictured how her betrothed would stand behind her tall and strong, sweep the cloak of his protection over her shoulders. Sansa III, ASOS

The parallels are obvious — but it doesn’t end there. Sansa keeps Sandor’s Kingsguard cloak in what is essentially a hope chest, which is meant to store clothing for future married life:

I wish the Hound were here. The night of the battle, Sandor Clegane had come to her chambers to take her from the city, but Sansa had refused. Sometimes she lay awake at night, wondering if she'd been wise. She had his stained white cloak hidden in a cedar chest beneath her summer silks. She could not say why she'd kept it. Sansa I, ASOS

When the Tyrells are planning to wed Sansa to Willas, she imagines what it would be like to be married to him:

What did it matter about his leg? Willas would be Lord of Highgarden and she would be his lady. Sansa II, ASOS

Sansa very quickly accepts the idea of a husband with a bad leg. Who else has this disability?

On the upper slopes they saw three boys driving sheep, and higher still they passed a lichyard where a brother bigger than Brienne was struggling to dig a grave. From the way he moved, it was plain to see that he was lame. Brienne VI, AFFC

There’s also her dream about Sandor the night of Petyr and Lysa’s wedding:

It was Lothor Brune's voice, she realized. Not the Hound's, no, how could it be? Of course it had to be Lothor... That night Sansa scarcely slept at all, but tossed and turned just as she had aboard the Merling King. She dreamt of Joffrey dying, but as he clawed at his throat and the blood ran down across his fingers she saw with horror that it was her brother Robb. And she dreamed of her wedding night too, of Tyrion's eyes devouring her as she undressed. Only then he was bigger than Tyrion had any right to be, and when he climbed into the bed his face was scarred only on one side. "I'll have a song from you," he rasped, and Sansa woke and found the old blind dog beside her once again. Sansa VI, ASOS

Then there’s Sansa’s response when she’s asked if she knows what happens in a marriage bed:

She thought of Tyrion, and of the Hound and how he’d kissed her, and gave a nod. Alayne II, AFFC

It makes sense for Sansa to think of Tyrion here, but why is she thinking about Sandor in the context of a marriage bed? Unlike Sandor, Littlefinger has actually kissed her, and before Tyrion, she was betrothed to Joffrey. Of the handful of men Sansa has been romantically linked to, Sandor is the only one she actually wants to share a marriage bed with. This line is an echo of her dream the night of Petyr and Lysa’s wedding. Whenever Sansa thinks about wedding nights or marriage beds, Tyrion is the first man she thinks of, but her thoughts always quickly turn to Sandor.

The marriage motif in Sansa and Sandor’s relationship arc is most palpable during the Blackwater, but it’s subtly woven into the entire series — both before and after. It's also significant that the symbolic wedding in the Blackwater scene is incomplete. Sandor doesn’t actually kiss Sansa, and he leaves King’s Landing without her. His attempt at wife stealing fails because she isn’t ready, and he isn’t worthy of her — yet. Both characters have undergone a great deal of growth since the Blackwater, so will Sandor get a second chance?

He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak. It made no matter. That day was done, and so was Sansa. Alayne II, AFFC

By Sansa’s own (inadvertent) admission, the day of the Blackwater isn’t finished. Sandor might get another shot at wife stealing in TWOW — and maybe their symbolic union will someday become a literal one.

#sansan saturdays #get her a dog #sansan meta #sansan #asoiaf meta #asoiaf #sansa stark #sandor clegane

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diamondperfumes · 9 months

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“The puppet lions grow greedy and arrogant as this treasonous tale proceeds, until they begin to devour their own subjects. When the noble stag makes objection, the lions devour him as well, and roar that it is their right as the mightiest of beasts.” “And is that the end of it?” Cersei asked, amused. Looked at in the right light, it could be seen as a salutary lesson. “No, Your Grace. At the end a dragon hatches from an egg and devours all of the lions.” –AFFC Cersei V

This passage is meaningful, yes, but it's a little irritating to see that GRRM’s hint that Daenerys is being set up to save Westeros from the destruction the Lannisters are wreaking is turned into a more generic “the smallfolk want a Targaryen restoration.” At this moment in the series (AFFC Cersei V), no one in Westeros knows that Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. No one knows that there is a boy being fashioned as Aegon VI Targaryen, allegedly the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell. Thus, this play is not a reference to Jon or Young Griff together with Dany, or Jon and Young Griff at all. It's exclusively a reference to Daenerys (and her dragons, and people).

Especially because Daenerys is the only one who actually successfully hatches dragons from their eggs. Jon and Young Griff will never do that. This play is based on the reputation Daenerys has made for herself as queen, conqueror, khal, mother, and dragon, in Essos. It means that the smallfolk specifically see Dany as their savior, not just any random Targaryen who can take her place.

It's important that people know this because far too many ASOIAF fans are content to take Dany's achievements away from her and reward male Targaryens in her place just because they're men. It's also hypocritical because Dany is usually the centerpiece for both the in-universe stigma against Targaryens (e.g. Robert, Mace Tyrell) and the fandom's centerpiece for anti-Targaryen analysis.

Moreover, as GRRM has pointed out, Feast and Dance are meant to parallel and contrast Cersei and Dany, as the only two ruling queen viewpoints. It's not Jon and Young Griff being contrasted with Cersei; only Dany is. The only Targaryens the smallfolk of Westeros, the acolytes of the Citadel, Davos and the men he meets at the inn, are speaking of as heralding a potential Targaryen Restoration, prior to the epilogue of ADWD when Young Griff has invaded, is Daenerys Stormborn. Jon and Young Griff don't automatically get "Targaryen points" with the smallfolk just because of their (potential) parentage. Dany gets this place in the narrative not for her name but for the things she has accomplished, and that is a critical theme GRRM has laid out through her arc and through the viewpoints of the characters who comment on her or hear about her.

(By the way, this isn't a post in line with those "Dany is the anti-Targaryen" types either. Dany is very much the emblem and zenith of her house, which is my point. Jon and Young Griff shouldn't get any credit for reviving the house when they haven't done anything for it.)

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #my discourse

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sanikori · 6 months

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She sat upon a simple ebony bench, it served. - Daenerys VI, ASOS

She dreamt she sat on the Iron Throne, high above them all. - Cersei I, AFFC

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #asoiafedit #daenerys targaryen #cersei lannister #house targaryen #house lannister #asos #a storm of swords #affc #a feast for crows

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thelustybraavosimaid · 5 months

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Margaery hailed them when the two columns met and fell in beside the queen's litter. Her cheeks were flushed, her brown ringlets tumbling loosely about her shoulders, stirred by every puff of wind. "We have been picking autumn flowers in the kingswood," she told them. I know where you were, the queen thought. Her informers were very good about keeping her apprised of Margaery's movements. Such a restless girl, our little queen. She seldom let more than three days pass without going off for a ride. Some days they would ride along the Rosby road to hunt for shells and eat beside the sea. Other times she would take her entourage across the river for an afternoon of hawking. The little queen was fond of going out on boats as well, sailing up and down the Blackwater Rush to no particular purpose. When she was feeling pious she would leave the castle to pray at Baelor's Sept. She gave her custom to a dozen different seamstresses, was well-known amongst the city's goldsmiths, and had even been known to visit the fish market by the Mud Gate for a look at the day's catch. Wherever she went, the smallfolk fawned on her, and Lady Margaery did all she could to fan their ardor. She was forever giving alms to beggars, buying hot pies off bakers' carts, and reining up to speak to common tradesmen. (Cersei VI, AFfC)

"You're not supposed to leave the column," Sansa reminded her. "Father said so."

Arya shrugged. "I didn't go far. Anyway, Nymeria was with me the whole time. I don't always go off, either. Sometimes it's fun just to ride along with the wagons and talk to people."

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers. (Sansa I, AGoT)

#things i think about a lot #asoiaf

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stheresya · 9 months

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Sansa being insecure about people's perception of her wits:

"Joffrey laughed. “He’s my mother’s dog, in truth. She has set him to guard me, and so he does.” “You mean the Hound,” she said. She wanted to hit herself for being so slow. Her prince would never love her if she seemed stupid.[…] (Sansa I, AGOT) …... “Your Grace,” he said sharply. “You truly are a stupid girl, aren’t you? My mother says so.” “She does?” After all that had happened, his words should have lost their power to hurt her, yet somehow they had not. The queen had always been so kind to her. (Sansa VI, AGOT) ...... […]I killed a man last night who was bigger than your father. They came to the gate shouting my name and calling for bread like I was some baker, but I taught them better. I shot the loudest one right through the throat.” “And he died?” With the ugly iron head of the quarrel staring her in the face, it was hard to think what else to say. (Sansa III, ACOK) …... “[…]The Queen of Thorns, she’s called. Isn’t that right?” “It is.” Ser Loras laughed. He has the warmest laugh, she thought as he went on, “You’d best not use that name in her presence, though, or you’re like to get pricked.” Sansa reddened. Any fool would have realized that no woman would be happy about being called “the Queen of Thorns.” Maybe I truly am as stupid as Cersei Lannister says. Desperately she tried to think of something clever and charming to say to him, but her wits had deserted her." (Sansa I, ASOS) …... "[…] Oh, why did I have to mention Ser Robar? Sansa thought. I’ve ruined everything. [Ser Loras] is angry with me now. She tried to think of something she might say to make amends, but all the words that came to her were lame and weak. Be quiet, or you will only make it worse, she told herself. (Sansa I, ASOS) …... “You are very beautiful, Sansa,” [Tyrion] told her. “It is good of you to say so, my lord.” She did not know what else to say. Should I tell him he is handsome? He’ll think me a fool or a liar. She lowered her gaze and held her tongue. (Sansa III, ASOS) …... “Harry the Heir?” “Lady Waynwood’s ward. Harrold Hardyng. I suppose we must call him Ser Harry now. Bronze Yohn knighted him.” “Oh.” Alayne was confused. Why should Lady Waynwood’s ward be her heir? She had sons of her own blood. One was the Knight of the Bloody Gate, Ser Donnel. She did not want to look stupid, though, so all she said was, “I pray he proves a worthy knight.” (Alayne III, AFFC)

there's a general consensus that Sansa is a charming girl with great social skills. and that is true to some extent like she's not shy and she's capable of striking up a conversation with anyone. but we can see here that she's not very confident of herself when interacting with people, that she's often overthinking her words in fear of being perceived as stupid or callous. because she wants to be a graceful lady but one cannot be graceful if they're seen as non-clever. i dare say that Sansa's fervent adherence to courtesies is a way for her to deal with her social insecurities through the use of formulaic conversational phrases that she thinks will provide her with positive social interactions.

#girl cannot put up a fight in the idgaf wars 😔#sansa stark #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls

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agentrouka-blog · 9 months

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Hi! if jon really falls for sansa, what do you think his course of action is? I’m not a big fan of him trying to suppress those feelings, he may just want to ignore them or feign confusion. In sansa’s case, she probably thinks it’s something cersei did to her but yea idk

(Nah, they won't wallow in endless repression, and Sansa isn't the #1 Aemon and Naerys shipper for nothing. No need to blame Cersei there, she'll just suddenly feel genre-aware.)

Jon Snow dealing with his feelings, according to me, a 7-Step-Guide as illustrated by selected quotes:

Step 1: These hearteyes are Totally Normal!

They look as though they belong together. [...] Her breath was white as well … but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely. (ADWD, Jon XI)

Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey's pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell's Great Hall. (AGOT, Jon I)

Step 2: Oh no.

Jon walked away as confused as he was angry. Sam's heart was as big as the rest of him, but for all his reading he could be as thick as Grenn at times. It was impossible, and dishonorable besides. So why do I feel so ashamed? (ACOK, Jon III)

He sat on the bench and buried his head in his hands. Why am I so angry? he asked himself, but it was a stupid question. (ASOS, Jon XII)

He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. (ASOS, Jon XII)

Step 3: I am fortune's fool.

A deserter and a wildling could expect no welcome anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms. (ASOS, Jon IV)

Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous. Once Jon had meant to prove them wrong, to show his lord father that he could be as good and true a son as Robb. I made a botch of that. (ASOS, Jon X)

Step 4: Aemon and Naerys - Northern Edition

Tyrion Lannister had claimed that most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, but Jon was done with denials. (AGOT, Jon IX)

If this is so wrong, he wondered, why did the gods make it feel so good? (ASOS, Jon III)

Old Nan used to tell stories about knights and their ladies who would sleep in a single bed with a blade between them for honor's sake, but he thought this must be the first time where a direwolf took the place of the sword. (ASOS, Jon II)

"More than any of the others." When Taena frowned, a tiny crease appeared between her dark eyes. "Every morn and every night he visits, unless duty interferes. Her brother is devoted to her, they share everything with . . . oh . . ." For a moment, the Myrish woman looked almost shocked. Then a smile spread across her face. "I have had a most wicked thought, Your Grace." (AFFC, Cersei VI)

Step 5: A Miracle of Technicalities

Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? He had never truly been a Stark, only Lord Eddard's motherless bastard, with no more place at Winterfell than Theon Greyjoy. And even that he'd lost. (ASOS, Jon III)

She punched him. "That's vile. Would you bed your sister?" "Longspear's not your brother." (ASOS, Jon III)

They had spoken their vows in Winterfell’s own godswood before a heart tree, and only then had she given herself to him, wrapped in furs amidst the snows as the old gods looked on. (Fire and Blood - The Dying Of The Dragons - A Son For A Son)

If I could show her Winterfell . . . give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us. ( ASOS, Jon V)

Wed to Ser Loras, oh . . . Sansa's breath caught in her throat. She remembered Ser Loras in his sparkling sapphire armor, tossing her a rose. Ser Loras in white silk, so pure, innocent, beautiful. The dimples at the corner of his mouth when he smiled. The sweetness of his laugh, the warmth of his hand. She could only imagine what it would be like to pull up his tunic and caress the smooth skin underneath, to stand on her toes and kiss him, to run her fingers through those thick brown curls and drown in his deep brown eyes. A flush crept up her neck. (ASOS, Sansa I)

"And the Dragonknight?" She flung the bedclothes aside and swung her legs to the floor. "The noblest knight who ever lived, you said, and he took his queen to bed and got her with child." (AFFC, The Soiled Knight)

Step 6: Trials and Tribulations In Apocalypse Times

His words were like an icy draft through her heart. "No," she said, suddenly afraid. Was this to be her punishment? Never to see his face again, nor to feel his arms around her? (AGOT, Catelyn II)

When he woke, there was nothing to do but think, and his waking thoughts were worse than nightmares. The thought of Cat was as painful as a bed of nettles. He wondered where she was, what she was doing. He wondered whether he would ever see her again. (AGOT, Eddard X)

Step 7: Due to Reasons of Convenience, These Cousins Must Totally Wed Now

His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. The plan would have required the Watch to yield back a large part of the Gift, but his uncle Benjen believed the Lord Commander could be won around, so long as the new lordlings paid taxes to Castle Black rather than Winterfell. "It is a dream for spring, though," Lord Eddard had said. "Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on." If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father's name. (ASOS, Jon V)

"To be sure. It would not have been fitting for a daughter of Riverrun to marry one so far below her." Littlefinger spread his hands. "Now, though . . . a match between the Lady of the Eyrie and the Lord of Harrenhal is not so unthinkable, is it?" [...] Tyrion studied the slender man with the pointed beard and irreverent grey-green eyes. Lord of Harrenhal an empty honor? Bugger that, Father. Even if he never sets foot in the castle, the title makes this match possible, as he's known all along. (ASOS, Tyrion III)

And there was one woman, sitting almost at the foot of the third table on the left . . . the wife of one of the Fossoways, he thought, and heavy with his child. Her delicate beauty was in no way diminished by her belly, nor was her pleasure in the food and frolics. Tyrion watched as her husband fed her morsels off his plate. They drank from the same cup, and would kiss often and unpredictably. Whenever they did, his hand would gently rest upon her stomach, a tender and protective gesture. (ASOS, Tyrion VIII)

Commence lots of laundry and taxes and baby Starklings.

#jonsa #silly

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baelontargaryen · 1 year

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Sansa quailed. Now, she told herself, I must do it now. Gods give me courage. She took one step, then another. Lords and knights stepped aside silently to let her pass, and she felt the weight of their eyes on her. I must be as strong as my lady mother. “Your Grace,” she called out in a soft, tremulous voice. — Sansa V, AGOT

—

Dany kissed him lightly on the cheek. It heartened her to see him smile. I must be strong for him as well, she thought grimly. A knight he may be, but I am the blood of the dragon. — Daenerys I, ACOK

—

That faith must be protected, at all costs. I must be stronger, she told herself. I must be strong for Robb. If I despair, my grief will consume me. Everything would turn on this marriage. — Catelyn V, ASOS

—

She could almost feel them buzzing round her belly. I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears. — Daenerys VI, ASOS

—

The climb up the dark stone steps from the black cells left Cersei feeling breathless. I must rest. Getting to the truth was wearisome work, and she dreaded what must follow. I must be strong. What I must do I do for Tommen and the realm. It was a pity that Maggy the Frog was dead. Piss on your prophecy, old woman. The little queen may be younger than I, but she has never been more beautiful, and soon she will be dead. — Cersei IX, AFFC

#daenerys targaryen #sansa stark #catelyn stark #cersei lannister #asoiaf #asoiaf parallels

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istumpysk · 8 months

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OPERATION ICEBERG: THE TIER LIST

THEORY:

Tysha is the Sailor's Wife

TIER:

Strong Contender: These theories have a lot of textual support, but there are still some elements of uncertainty.

[Tier list overview]

EVIDENCE:

First, who is Tysha?

Tysha was a crofter's daughter from the westerlands.

According to Tyrion, she had blue eyes, dark hair, and she was slender and beautiful.

They met when Tyrion and his brother Jaime rescued Tysha from outlaws; Jaime chased the men away while Tyrion cared for Tysha.

They quickly fell in love, married, and lived in a little cottage by the sunset sea, where they constantly made love to each other for a fortnight.

When Tywin discovered the marriage, he had Jaime deceive Tyrion by telling him that Tysha was a sex worker hired to make him a man.

Tywin then had his guards gang-rape Tysha, each giving her a silver coin afterwards.

Tywin then forced Tyrion to rape her last, and give her a gold coin, signifying that Lannisters are worth more.

The marriage was undone, and Tysha was never seen again.

Eventually, Tyrion learned that Jaime lied to him about Tysha, and he now spends every moment of the story wondering where she went.

Second, who is the Sailor's Wife?

The Sailor's Wife is a sex worker who works at the Happy Port brothel in Braavos.

Her real name is unknown.

We have no description of what she looks like.

What we know about her backstory will be covered below.

So, could they be the same person? Let's find out!

Born in 273 AC, Tyrion married Tysha when he was 13 years old (in or around the year 286 AC). If they had a child, that child would now be 14 years old.

The Sailor's Wife has a 14-year-old daughter named Lanna, who also works at the Happy Port.

Lanna was always begging the singer to play her stupid love songs. She was the youngest of the whores, only ten-and-four. Merry asked three times as much for her as for any of the other girls, Cat knew. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

Did you catch that name? Lanna. The Sailor's Wife named her child Lanna.

In the same book that introduces the Sailor's Wife and Lanna, a pregnant woman asks Cersei for permission to name her child Lanna to honor House Lannister.

Lady Graceford, who was large with child, asked the queen's leave to name it Tywin if it were a boy, or Lanna if it were a girl. - Cersei II, AFFC

And guess what? Lanna has long golden hair. Not blonde hair, no, golden hair.

Yna was there too, braiding Lanna's fine long golden hair. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

The Sailor's Wife lost her husband when she was 14.

Tysha was 14 when she met, married, and was separated from Tyrion.

The other whores said that the Sailor's Wife visited the Isle of the Gods on the days when her flower was in bloom, and knew all the gods who lived there, even the ones that Braavos had forgotten. They said she went to pray for her first husband, her true husband, who had been lost at sea when she was a girl no older than Lanna. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

I was only thirteen, and the wine went to my head, I fear. - Tyrion VI, AGOT

"[...] My brother unsheathed his sword and went after them, while I dismounted to protect the girl. She was scarcely a year older than I was [...]." - Tyrion VI, AGOT

Arya finds there's something sad about the Sailor's Wife.

Tysha had a face that would break your heart.

She was good that way, and quick to laugh as well, but Cat thought there was something sad about her too. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

She was scarcely a year older than I was, dark-haired, slender, with a face that would break your heart. - Tyrion VI, AGOT

The Sailor's Wife can speak the Common Tongue of Westeros.

Tysha was an orphaned daughter of a crofter from the westerlands of Westeros.

"He sings a pretty song," she murmured softly, in the Common Tongue of Westeros. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

She was a crofter's child, orphaned when her father died of fever, on her way to … well, nowhere, really. - Tyrion VI, AGOT

The Sailor's Wife and Lanna both seem to have a fondness for singers and love songs.

Tyrion often recalls Tysha singing "Seasons of Love" to him with affection.

When Cat slipped inside the brothel, though, she found Merry sitting in the common room with her eyes shut, listening to Dareon play his woodharp. Yna was there too, braiding Lanna's fine long golden hair. Another stupid love song. Lanna was always begging the singer to play her stupid love songs. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

Cat was thinking about the fat boy, remembering how she had saved him from Terro and Orbelo, when the Sailor's Wife appeared beside her. "He sings a pretty song," she murmured softly, in the Common Tongue of Westeros. "The gods must have loved him to give him such a voice, and that fair face as well." - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

It was pleasant to think that men still sang, even in the midst of butchery and famine. Remembered notes filled his head, and for a moment he could almost hear Tysha as she'd sung to him half a lifetime ago. - Tyrion VII, ACOK

The Sailor's Wife only beds men who marry her; the rites are typically performed by a wine-soaked red priest or a septon at the Sept-Beyond-the-Sea.

Tyrion and Tysha were married by a drunken septon.

The Happy Port sometimes had three or four weddings a night. Often the cheerful wine-soaked red priest Ezzelyno performed the rites. Elsewise it was Eustace, who had once been a septon at the Sept-Beyond-the-Sea. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

"A Lannister of Casterly Rock wed to a crofter's daughter," Bronn said. "How did you manage that?" Oh, you'd be astonished at what a boy can make of a few lies, fifty pieces of silver, and a drunken septon. - Tyrion VI, AGOT

Tyrion obsessively asks himself, "Where do whores go?" whenever thinking about his father or Tysha. He seems convinced she is in a brothel somewhere.

At one point, he wonders if she's at a port; another time, he mentions the term "courtesan," a word strongly associated with Braavos.

And the whores were out. River or sea, a port was a port, and wherever you found sailors, you'd find whores. Is that what my father meant? Is that where whores go, to the sea? - Tyrion VI, ADWD

"Do you know where whores go?" When they did not respond, he repeated the question in High Valyrian, though he had to say courtesan in place of whore. - Tyrion I, ADWD

"Have you ever visited the pleasure houses of Lys?" the dwarf inquired. "Might that be where whores go?" - Tyrion I, ADWD

Selhorys may be where whores go. Tysha might be in there even now, with tears tattooed upon her cheek. "I almost drowned. A man needs a woman after that. [...]" - Tyrion VI, ADWD

"Do you know a woman by the name of Tysha?" he asked, as he watched his seed dribble out of her onto the bed. The whore did not respond. "Do you know where whores go?" - Tyrion VI, ADWD

The Sailor's Wife claims that her first husband was lost at sea when she was 14, and often prays for him to return to her.

The author repeatedly writes scenarios in which Tyrion almost drowns.

Was that why he reeled backward, or did he see the sword after all? He would never know. The point slashed just beneath his eyes, and he felt its cold hard touch and then a blaze of pain. His head spun around as if he'd been slapped. The shock of the cold water was a second slap more jolting than the first. He flailed for something to grab on to, knowing that once he went down he was not like to come back up. Somehow his hand found the splintered end of a broken oar. Clutching it tight as a desperate lover, he shinnied up foot by foot. His eyes were full of water, his mouth was full of blood, and his head throbbed horribly. Gods give me strength to reach the deck . . . There was nothing else, only the oar, the water, the deck. – Tyrion XIV, ACOK

The sudden cold hit Tyrion like a hammer. As he sank he felt a stone hand fumbling at his face. Another closed around his arm, dragging him down into darkness. Blind, his nose full of river, choking, sinking, he kicked and twisted and fought to pry the clutching fingers off his arm, but the stone fingers were unyielding. Air bubbled from his lips. The world was black and growing blacker. He could not breathe. There are worse ways to die than drowning. – Tyrion V, ADWD

He looked about for his wine cup, but when he found it all the rum had spilled. Drowning is bad enough, he reflected sourly, but drowning sad and sober, that's too cruel. In the end, they did not drown … though there were times when the prospect of a nice, peaceful drowning had a certain appeal. The storm raged for the rest of that day and well into the night. – Tyrion IX, ADWD

Furthermore, the theme of drowning is heavily present in much of Tyrion's arc, to the point where it's becoming kind of weird.

(There's always potential for karma when someone has a man thrown off a ship en route to the Wall or uses wildfire to bury an army at the bottom of Blackwater Bay.)

Once Janos Slynt realized he was not to be summarily executed, color returned to his face. He thrust his jaw out. "We will see about this, Imp. Dwarf. Perhaps it will be you on that ship, what do you think of that? Perhaps it will be you on the Wall." He gave a bark of anxious laughter. "You and your threats, well, we will see. I am the king's friend, you know. We shall hear what Joffrey has to say about this. And Littlefinger and the queen, oh, yes. Janos Slynt has a good many friends. We will see who goes sailing, I promise you. Indeed we will." - Tyrion II, ACOK

He retched the wine up and lay in it a while, wondering if the ship would sink. Is this your vengeance, Father? Has the Father Above made you his Hand? "Such are the wages of the kinslayer," he said as the wind howled outside. It did not seem fair to drown the cabin boy and the captain and all the rest for something he had done, but when had the gods ever been fair? And around about then, the darkness gulped him down. - Tyrion I, ADWD

Ser Rolly grabbed Tyrion by the collar. "Let us see how dwarfs swim," he said, chucking him headlong into the Rhoyne. The dwarf laughed last; he could paddle passably well, and did … until his legs began to cramp. Young Griff extended him a pole. "You are not the first to try and drown me," he told Duck, as he was pouring river water from his boot. "My father threw me down a well the day I was born, but I was so ugly that the water witch who lived down there spat me back." He pulled off the other boot, then did a cartwheel along the deck, spraying all of them. - Tyrion IV, ADWD

And the sight of me can only be salt in her [Penny] wound. They hacked off her brother's head in the hope that it was mine, yet here I sit like some bloody gargoyle, offering empty consolations. If I were her, I'd want nothing more than to shove me into the sea. - Tyrion VIII, ADWD

Tyrion found himself musing on how easy it would be to slip over the gunwale and drop down into that darkness. One very small splash, and the pathetic little tale that was his life would soon be done. - Tyrion VIII, ADWD

Yna, another sex worker at the Happy Port and a maegi, tasted the Sailor's Wife's blood. She claims her lover is dead and hopes he never returns, as he would be a corpse. That's a really strange thing to say, no? You always have to read between the lines with a maegi.

If you asked Tyrion, he would tell you he's been dead for a long time.

"She thinks that if she finds the right god, maybe he will send the winds and blow her old love back to her," said one-eyed Yna, who had known her longest, "but I pray it never happens. Her love is dead, I could taste that in her blood. If he ever should come back to her, it will be a corpse." - Cat of the Canalds, ADWD

There are worse ways to die than drowning. And if truth be told, he had perished long ago, back in King's Landing. It was only his revenant who remained, the small vengeful ghost who throttled Shae and put a crossbow bolt through the great Lord Tywin's bowels. No man would mourn the thing that he'd become. I'll haunt the Seven Kingdoms, he thought, sinking deeper. They would not love me living, so let them dread me dead. - Tyrion V, ADWD

Other things to consider:

Neither Samwell nor Arya provide a physical description of the Sailor's Wife, which many, especially myself, find highly suspicious. It's remarkably uncharacteristic of George R. R. Martin, given how much attention he devotes to this character.

On that note, why is it that among all the sex workers we encounter in the series, we learn so much about this particular one? (But again, not what she actually looks like.)

I feel super gross typing this, but one could argue that there's a twisted rationale to Tysha wanting to marry her customers after the sexual assault she experienced.

COUNTER-EVIDENCE:

Let's start with the obvious: Tyrion's not a sailor, and Tysha didn't lose him because he was lost at sea. (I'd argue it's fairly clear why she wouldn't share the real story.)

The whole point was that Tywin and Jaime lied, and Tysha wasn't actually a prostitute. Making both her and her daughter sex workers after what she experienced would be unnecessary, distasteful, and kind of offensive. (That said, I wouldn't put it past George to do it.)

What are the odds that Arya Stark runs into the Tysha in Braavos? (Roughly the same as Jorah Mormont and Tyrion Lannister bumping into each other at the other end of the world.)

After what happened to her, would Tysha really pray for Tyrion to return to her? Would she name her child Lanna? (Don't look at me, I don't know.)

The Gerion Lannister Consideration:

Gerion Lannister was Tywin Lannister's youngest and most reckless brother. It appears he was a sailor, given that he had a ship called the Laughing Lion and enjoyed the occasional adventure.

Circa 291 AC, Gerion went on a quest to find House Lannister's ancestral Valyrian steel greatsword, Brightroar, along with any other treasure that might have survived the Doom of Valyria.

Gerion was never seen again.

Almost a decade had passed since the Laughing Lion headed out from Lannisport, and Gerion had never returned. The men Lord Tywin sent to seek after him had traced his course as far as Volantis, where half his crew had deserted him and he had bought slaves to replace them. No free man would willingly sign aboard a ship whose captain spoke openly of his intent to sail into the Smoking Sea. - Tyrion VIII, ADWD

It's not unreasonable to speculate that it's actually Gerion Lannister who married the Sailor's Wife, and fathered Lanna.

But there are some issues.

For starters, the Sailor's Wife lost her husband at sea when she was 14 years old (in or around 286 AC). Gerion disappeared in 291 AC.

Gerion was in Westeros for Robert's Rebellion (282-283 AC), and Robert's marriage to Cersei Lannister (284 AC).

"[...] If you have need of a dagger, take one from the armory. Robert left a hundred when he died. Gerion gave him a gilded dagger with an ivory grip and a sapphire pommel for a wedding gift, and half the envoys who came to court tried to curry favor by presenting His Grace with jewel-encrusted knives and silver inlay swords. - Tyrion IV, ASOS

In 288 AC, Gerion had a daughter named Joy Hill, with a commoner from the westerlands named Briony.

"Joy is my late uncle Gerion's natural daughter. A betrothal can be arranged, if that is your wish, but any marriage will need to wait. Joy was nine or ten when last I saw her." - Jaime VII, ASOS

Remember, Lanna was born in or around 286 AC.

What are the odds that between Robert and Cersei's marriage and the conception of Joy Hill, 31-year-old Gerion Lannister sailed to Braavos—assuming that's where he met the Sailor's Wife—legitimately married a 14-year-old who wasn't yet a sex worker, conceived Lanna with her, left her there for reasons unknown, traveled home, never returned, and never mentioned any of this to anyone?

Let's say they met in the westerlands. Why didn't he acknowledge his wife and legitimate child like he did his illegitimate daughter Joy Hill? Why is the Sailor's Wife hiding the fact that Gerion Lannister was her husband?

Why aren't we getting the Sailor's Wife's name and description? Such information wouldn't need to be safeguarded, would it?

Why the emphasis on the specific ages of Lanna and how old the Sailor's Wife was when she lost her husband? None of this matters if Gerion is the husband. Lanna could be any age, the Sailor's Wife could be older than 14 when she met 31-year-old Gerion, and their encounter could be placed at a more logical time in history.

Why am I being told so much about the Sailor's Wife? The marriages to her customers, the drunken priest, the singing, the sadness, Yna's fear of his corpsy return—none of this is relevant to Gerion Lannister.

Most importantly, what is the point of all this? Calling Gerion Lannister a minor character in the series would be generous. He's merely a footnote in history. This is too much.

I think what's happening here is that George wants to trick you into believing her husband was Gerion, when it's actually Tyrion.

STUMPY'S THOUGHTS:

Please don't overlook that Lanna is older than Sansa.

This one theory is better than all the secret Howland Reed theories combined. For the record, if it is Tysha, I don't think anything will come of this. I would be stunned if Tyrion ever came face-to-face with Tysha again.

VOTE:

I welcome discussions. Feel free to reblog, respond, or challenge my perspective—I won't be offended by any of it.

Please note, if "no" is the eventual winner, or if it's competitive, a second poll will be conducted to determine the proper location.

NEXT THEORY:

Olyvar Frey is Rosby's ward

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#operation iceberg #asoiaf theory tier list #theory 7 #tysha is the sailor's wife

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