#I could totally see him being related to brienne | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rise-my-angel · 8 months

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Sorry if I'm spouting stuff unwanted in your ask box. But I had a deep brain thinky moment and I thought "at least with reader inserts we admit we're inserting ourselves into the story". A lot of "shippers" seem to ship because they've projected onto a certain character, and they themselves want to be with another character (who often gets watered down to a very attractive slab of meat with little to no will and/or personality of their own). So of course, prime example is Jon with his choose your own poison girlboss, but I've seen it in some other areas. Of course there are some genuine attempts at investigating chemistry between characters out there, but it's often the most viciously toxic ships/shipping communities that I notice this sort of self insertion. Of course I could be assuming things and/or judgemental but it's just a theory I built up after years of observing.

No, you are right on the money. (Rest under a read more because gods be good have my opinions on shipping and shippers in fandom gotten me some anon hate before)

It's why certain shippers tend to be very aggressive in their defences, because they have seen so much of themselves in a character they feel like you are judging them for a real relationship they are in. Refusing to see character flaws as a fundemantal aspect of who that person is, beacuse they don't want to relate to someone like that, so they invent a vision of this person that they have to defend beacuse they won't admit they related to a bad person.

It's a slippery slope to project so heavily onto a character in a ship you like. Beacuse you end up refusing to see them as dynamic people who are more complicated then their relationship and that relationship ends updefining them as a character. Example, I ship Brienne and Jaime but I also don't look at either of them as someone I relate to on a personal level. I'm also fascinated with both of their separate stories and greatly and think those separate journeys are what makes their intertwining moments so intriguing. But if I were projecting myself onto Brienne, then I would end up acting as if she was always perfect and her entire story revolves around a starry eyed Jaime who only lives for that relationship now.

Jon has such a bad treatment by his shippers, beacuse so often he winds up being that slab of meat for the other party. I know some people have joked "well about time its a mans turn" but the point is no one should be given the arm candy treatment by fans. Man or woman. Jon is such a footnote in Jonerys dialouge beacuse ultimetly he serves her at her beck and call with little agency. Because Dany is the one they see themselves as and thus molding Jon into their perfect partner means serving the worst aspects of a girlboss character, meaning stripping the complex agency of their romantic male interests. Same with Ygritte, people see her aggresiveness and sass and think oh my god shes me, and totally ignore the actual text on the page/proof on screen that Jon's time with her isn't happy or romantic. But they want to see themeslves in Ygritte's spitfire personality so badly that they refuse to see Jon as anything but a willing puppet for her enjoyment, beacuse they want the advantage of being her and having him.

Honestly most Jon ships have this problem, and it's partially why I don't ship him with anyone, and i actually ship very few characters with anyone. My time in the Pedro fandom I was infamous for disliking popular ships and a lot of it then too was seeing people projecting onto the female to a point where their interpretation of the character was just not what was on screen.

Casually shipping is fine, again I love a good analysis post about Jaime and Brienne, but like you said. At least with reader inserts, I'm telling you it's you. I'm telling you it's me. You know the reader acts that way beacuse it's who they are and it's not forcing them to be something their not just to force that character to be relatable to you in particular.

Jonsa, Jonerys, Jonrya and Jongritte suffer from this problem greatly, and during my time in the pedro fandom Mando and Omera, and Joel and Tess also were major sufferers of this problem. The male becomes meat for the superior female character beacuse you want it to be you and it being you forces you to turn this person into someone they aren't and this it strips the other party of their agency.

The males now only exist to be relatable arm candy, as opposed to reader inserts which do the work to find a way to make the reader fit into the existing world around them organically.

At least I'm being honest. I write Jon Snow x Reader fics cus I want to fuck Jon Snow, I'm not pretending like I just really like Dany and thats why I ship it. No, they're a terrible couple, but at least I'm honest about my self shipping. I don't have to lie about my intentions.

#shipping is fine #but blind defensive shipping for certain characters turns very toxic #i got a lot of hate during tlou airing for critizing tess as a love interest for joel and its was always people who wanted to relate to her #so they got mad at me for critizing the on screen dynamic beacuse it felt now like i was attacking you as a person #your not tess im not critizing you so shut the hell up and let me speak my opinion #jon is just such a slab of meat in every ship of his #i literally think tormund is the only character hes shipped with where he still gets to remain as a unqiue individual #cus no one who wishes they were a bad ass bitch girlboss relates to the wild drunk lumberjack vibes of tormund #game of thrones #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #jon snow #anti daenerys targaryen #anti ygritte #anti jonerys #anti jonsa #anti jonrya #anti jongritte #anti sansa stark #anti targ stans #i love when i have to do 800 anti tags otherwise every jon shippers gonna send me to the gallows

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esther-dot · 3 years

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The Warrior and Maiden could also be interpreted as Jaime Brienne . Cersei isn't a maid .

(in response to this ask)

Absolutely! Jaime (warrior) did rescue Brienne (maiden). My point was, these characters revolve through different roles depending on where we are in the story or even who is perceiving them. So, Brienne is a maid (literal), she is certainly a version of the maiden for Jaime (the role), but she is also a warrior. One doesn’t detract from the other, she’s multifaceted. I was going to talk about duality in another ask, but I’ll mention it here. One explanation of it is this:

Martin really likes this. The series title has one “A Song of Ice and Fire,” but he writes duality into the story over and over. Cersei and Dany are mothers (life) and also the stranger (death). I truly think Martin looked at these contrasts (that are standard in fiction) and decided to take a much more complex view of them. I didn’t mean Cersei isn’t who she is, just that Jaime’s “I know who she is and I am a victim” view isn’t something we’re meant to totally adopt, and I don’t think it’s the final verdict on how Jaime sees Cersei either.

IMO, Jaime is the warrior, but he’s also the stranger just as Cersei is. His big moments were attempting to kill Bran and pre-canon killing Aerys. Think about that. The Bran attempted murder was evil. But then we learn that killing Aerys saved the lives of the people in KL, so murder, being death, is another means to preserve life.

And of course, we have Dany "give birth" or bring dragons to life, and we know, actually what she did was bring death into the world and we see that in a much more explicit way with Melisandre. Martin just likes to complicate things and prevent seemingly opposite ideas from being distinct, so taking an absolutist interpretation of a character as this one thing and only that doesn't quite feel right to me. I think he is consciously moving his characters through these roles/evolving them, and wants our perspective to change or at least...develop along with his revelations.

So, for Cersei and Jaime, I didn't mean Cersei is his "maiden" as in virgin, I meant, I think she may once again occupy that role in relation to him. He rejects her/refuses to, but my previous anon was talking about the end of GoT, and I didn't think it was wrong to see that warrior/maiden idea play out there because it did. None of us know exactly how their ending will go in the books, but I think their relationship needs a resolution because he wasn't able to protect her from Robert, didn't go back to her when she asked, so it wouldn't surprise me if the end of their relationship involves him assuming the role he thought he had before but actually never truly occupied in relation to her.

I'm not a Jaime/Cersei shipper, and I do think Jaime/Brienne is romantic, but that's where I'm at right now. Thanks for the message, anon!

#ask dot #duality in asoiaf

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 3 years

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How can S7 be your favorite?? Like ok fine its better than S8 but I literally tear my hair out during the conflict between Arya and Sansa. Tyrion develops a brain tumor, characters teleport across the world, and we get to watch Daenerys flirt with her own damn nephew and even though they have zero chemistry he still bangs her at the end?

I shall gladly share my counterarguments, anon!

Among other things, Season 7 made me actually care about the Night King. I got invested in the Army of the Dead, when I had always considered that to be more of a “B” plot behind all of the politics and scheming. Even though I’m pretty sure the show itself wanted me to to feel the opposite. The characters certainly did. And in Season 7, they finally brought that conflict to the forefront and the season finale being all about arranging a ceasefire was kind of awesome. And no, I don’t care that it was all for nothing, or even that Viserion died for nothing. They still had to try, and I dunno, it may have been bleak but that’s just the kind of show that Game of Thrones is. It didn’t feel pointless to me. Cersei’s final betrayal led to Jaime leaving her at long last. I have no complaints about that whole truce storyline.

I agree that the Sansa vs Arya storyline could have been handled better. Rewatching Sansa sentence Littlefinger to his death gives me so much satisfaction every time, but honestly he’s the main problem in that plot for me: His evil is too on the nose for a character that always worked with subtlety. I could have lived without the shot of him looking on with a nefarious grin as Arya discovered Sansa’s old letter. That was just too much. Like most people, I think it’s ridiculous to hold Sansa accountable for a letter that she was coerced to write as a child, but I guess they wanted to give the old Arya/Sansa rivalry some resolution and give them something to do other than wait around in Winterfell. I definitely prefer this over just omitting them from the season. (Looking at you, Bran.)

Ah, speaking of that sweet summer child, this was the season that killed Bran. And then everyone in the show and the fandom proceeded to forget it happened. Seriously, it’s genuinely uncomfortable for me in the last two seasons to see everyone just explaining away the Three-Eyed Raven as “Bran is weird now.” when both he and Meera have already flat out confirmed that Bran is effectively dead. In short, I don’t mind this being the end of his story. I just kind of wish the show didn’t act like he was the same person anymore, because he’s not. He is The Three-Eyed Raven, speaking through a body that once belonged to Brandon Stark. That’s about it.

I truly don’t agree that Tyrion lost his intelligence. I know that’s a common complaint, and I could write essays about why it’s not what really happened, and misses the point of his character arc. It all comes down to one particular line “Faith makes fools of people.” Tyrion expressed this as the reason he never subscribed to faith. Until he met Daenerys. He took a chance on her, he lost his cynicism. He also underestimated Cersei, because he was analyzing her with the mindset of what she was like in Season 4, before she totally went off the deep end. S4 Cersei? Would have kept her word to Jon Snow. If only for the sake of her kids, or because Tywin would have made her. But that’s all over now. Tyrion makes stupid decisions in the final seasons because he’s not the heartless pragmatist he was earlier on,

Jon and Dany lacking chemistry is another complaint I see a lot, and sure, that’s kind of subjective...but all I have to say is, did you see the boat scene? (No, not the sex scene, the other one.) Dany holding his hand? Seeing his scars for the first time? Pledging that they will fight together? Jon bending the knee was a major fuck-up for his character, but damn if it didn’t melt my heart for these two. That’s not even getting into the scene where Drogon and Jon meet for the first time. You just know Dany is thinking “He’s good with kids, too?” Sorry, I’m Jonerys trash. I don’t really care that they’re related either. This is Game of Thrones, they’re Targaryens, and they didn’t grow up together. They only found out after it happened. It’s far more harmless than Jaime and Cersei, that’s all I’m saying.

I guess Season 7 just got me really excited for the rest of the show. It was quick-paced compared to the others, it really would have benefited from three more episodes...and the constant fast-travel does get frustrating once you notice it. But seeing Sandor, Gendry, Tormund, and Jon all traveling together...stuff like that, just makes it worth it. The combinations of characters that hadn’t really interacted before, and the emotions they wrought. Theon’s reunion with Jon, Brienne’s reunion with Sandor. The return of Jorah. Viserion’s death. Jaime finally leaving Cersei. Every moment that Davos is onscreen. I appreciate the greater scope story, but also the smaller details. I giggled as much as Missandei during the “Many things…?” scene, I squealed like everyone else when Gendry finally came back from rowing. Season 7’s finale isn’t my favorite in the show (Season 6’s finale is just so hard to top) but every moment was incredible. I still get chills during “He’s never been a bastard…”

#Game of Thrones #Game of Thrones Season 7 #Jon Snow #Daenerys Targaryen #Arya Stark #Sansa Stark #Petyr Baelish #Tyrion Lannister #Brandon Stark #The Three-Eyed Raven #Jonerys

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makerkenzie · 3 years

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Another peek at the golden shrouds: “take all you hold dear.”

So, last post I argued that when Maggy said “gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds,” she was foretelling the twincest. She was also foretelling Cersei’s lack of investment in the Baratheon regime.

Whereas, Cersei’s belief that her children will all die young...now that’s one of Cersei’s many, many mistakes in how she’s interpreted the prophecy.

(As I’ve argued in an earlier post on the subject, Cersei may believe all her children have died. Totally possible that she’ll have been notified of Myrcella’s death. But we also have a handy stunt double for Myrcella hanging around for some reason.)

That said, I can see how Maggy put that idea in Cersei’s head. For instance, she goes straight from “and gold their shrouds...” to “...and when your tears have drowned you...” and so forth. I can understand how wee Cersei would add that up to outliving her children.

In addition, there’s an earlier section of the prophecy setting up her expectations:

“Queen you shall be … until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear.”

Once again, Maggy doesn’t actually say there’ll be another, younger and more beautiful queen coming along to cast Cersei down. However. the “cast you down” part is phrased in relation to her being queen, and so it’s understandable for Cersei to believe the YMB is there to take Cersei’s place as queen.

And...maybe she does so...if we first suppose that Maggy’s idea of “queen” isn’t quite as literal as Cersei believes.

As a Baratheon queen, Cersei is a poor fit at best. She holds as much power as she does in Robert’s regime mainly because her father has lent tons of gold to the crown. She arranges an early death for Robert, knowing it’ll pave the way for her family to take over the regime.

After Robert dies: that’s when Cersei really comes into her own as queen. She holds more decision-making power as Queen Regent than she did as consort. She is the literal mother to the actual king and, as long as he’s a juvenile with no wife and kids, her being Tommen and Myrcella’s mother makes her even more important. The king and the next two in line are all hers. She is the true queen of the Lannister regime.

Joffrey dies, and Cersei becomes more important still because Tommen is so much more pleasant and obedient. And then, that makes Myrcella next in line for the throne.

(In this context...yeah, Margaery Tyrell does appear to be the most immediate threat to Cersei’s power. Yep.)

Now there’s a setback when the Faith get hold of her and she has to do the Walk of Shame. Uncle Kevan takes charge and for a moment, it looks like Cersei has been effectively disarmed.

However. As of the end of ADWD, Uncle Kevan is dead. So from here, we’ll have to speculate.

We know Uncle Kevan and Grand Maester Pycelle have been killed by Varys, so that reopens some space for the Queen Mother to muscle her way back into the Small Council.

At some point in the near future...Tommen will probably die. It’s not the prophecy per se that foreshadows his death; it’s that the realm is going into a fresh round of war and Tommen is much too small and soft to be king.

At that point...I’m not quite sure what else will remain of the Small Council, but I suspect that after Tommen dies, that will be the true height of Cersei’s power. Which is when Euron comes along to make her his useful idiot. This isn’t about Euron, though! Point is, after Tommen dies, Cersei is still Myrcella’s mother. One could even predict that Myrcella will be recognized as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Cersei will be ruling in her name.

As queen of the Lannister regime, Cersei likes having Jaime at her service. By AFFC she doesn’t exactly trust him anymore, but she still takes for granted that he is a faithful Lord Commander. As the natural father of her children, Jaime also holds a certain role in relation to Cersei’s position as queen.

By the time she sends Jaime to the Riverlands, I’d say Jaime isn’t dear to Cersei as he used to be. I’d say Cersei never really loved Jaime the way he once thought she did, but up to a point, she held some affection for him. By AFFC, that affection is greatly diminished, but she still holds dear the idea of Jaime being hers. She loves the idea of him coming back to fight and die for her.

So again, from here we’ll have to speculate: at some point, Cersei will accept that Jaime isn’t coming back to her. She will see that he really has abandoned her for “such a creature” as Brienne.

...a much younger woman who is ironically called the Beauty.

Remember when wee Cersei said “if she tries I’ll have my brother kill her”? Nope; not gonna happen.

She never intended to do so, but in her capacity as queen of Jaime’s heart, Brienne has already cast Cersei down.

If Myrcella dies in childhood, that takes power away from Cersei. Doesn’t give power to anyone else. Based on the events in Arianne’s chapters in AFFC, however, I’m thinking Myrcella doesn’t die.

If Myrcella stays alive, and if Jaime and Brienne get her in their care, then Brienne has really taken all that Cersei holds dear. Doesn’t need to be intentional on her part. Hell, Cersei doesn’t even need to be aware of it. If Cersei thinks Myrcella is dead, when really she’s traveling with Jaime and Brienne’s little posse, then it’s done. Even if Cersei doesn’t know what’s happening, it’s done. Brienne has become the partner Jaime always needed and has effectively become Myrcella’s new mother. Cersei has been cast down from her role as Lannister Queen and Brienne has taken all she holds dear. There’s our YMB.

#asoiaf meta #maggy's prophecy #cersei lannister #younger more beautiful #golden crowns and golden shrouds #jaime/brienne #house lannister #myrcella survives #brienne as YMB

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brynnmck · 4 years

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Tagged by @dame-lazarus, @pretty--thief, and @kiraziwrites, thank you!

AO3 name: brynnmck

Fandoms: Currently just Jaime/Brienne, pretty much, though I do have a Birds of Prey Harley/Dinah fic I want to finish at some point. Previous fandoms I wrote more than one fic for: Dark Angel, BtVS (those two mostly lost to the wilds of ff.net), Alias, Firefly, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, due South and Canada six degrees, and a few different flavors of band-related fic (this is where I lose all of you who have strong anti-RPF feelings; if it makes you feel any better, RPF in GoT fandom is not in my plans!). And then I have one-offs for Friday Night Lights (kind of; it’s a not!fic SDW and I played around with over email one day), Castle, Newsies, SNL RPF, Hart of Dixie, The OC, X-Men movieverse, baseball RPF, and a tiny Star Wars (ANH) ficlet. That’s waaaaay more info than y’all needed, isn’t it? 😆

Tropes: Friends-to-lovers, road trips, found/chosen family, partners

Number of fics: 90 on AO3. Which is an oddly round number! Only 4 for Jaime/Brienne, which is a little crazy to me because it feels like surely I’ve written WAY more, but I can only figure that’s because I beta a lot and also because Pilot Light was so long (by my standards), heh.

Fic I spent the most time on: Pilot Light, which was almost three times as long as my next-longest fic I’d ever written. It took about five months of steady work, I think? Not counting rewrites while I was posting it.

Fic I spent the least time on: Probably my little Star Wars ficlet. I used to be able to churn out a story in a day, though. I don’t know where that went! To be fair, those fics were generally significantly shorter, but still.

Longest Fic: Pilot Light

Shortest Fic: The aforementioned Star Wars ficlet, which I now really wish I had titled 😂

Most kudos: Overall my most kudosed/bookmarked fic on AO3 is my Newsies one, which honestly speaks to the dearth of good Newsies fic on that site as much as anything else (also this was where I discovered that sometimes the more kudos you get, the more kudos you get, since people sort by kudos and see yours first!). Most kudos for J/B is I settled in slowly to this house that you call home, which makes me happy because I super enjoyed writing that fic.

Most comment threads: Pilot Light. People who commented on multiple chapters of that: YOU ARE MY HEROES. (I mean obviously I love everyone who commented on that story or any other one, but multiple-chapter commenting is a lot of work and I appreciate it especially!)

Most bookmarks: I settled in slowly

Total word count: As of my last story, I just passed 500K, actually: 500,986. Though that is over 17 years, to be fair!

Favorite fic I wrote: Hmmmmm, for J/B, idk. Pilot Light is my most ambitious story in terms of the scope/plot (which I realize is not saying much relative to a lot of fic in this fandom, but I very often go more for emotional plotlines than external ones, and that one had both), so it was cool to prove to myself that I could actually finish it. I just wrote my first canon-based fic and getting to play around in that style was really fun. “I settled in slowly” let me satisfy all my snarky best-friends-y filth-with-feelings impulses. Idk! Me while writing, every time lately: “THIS IS TERRIBLE EVERY WORD IS A SLOG WHY DO I DO THIS MY BRAIN IS BROKEN.” Me, very sincerely, in the comments later: “I had so much fun writing this!” It’s like what they say about childbirth, y’all.

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: Usually by the time I post something I feel like it’s pretty much done (and even with longer things, I like to have them written before I post because I have a deathly fear of realizing I should go back and change something and not being able to). But I do want to do a little tag for “I settled in slowly,” based on a suggestion from the comments.

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: The aforementioned tag is going to involve Jaime and Brienne going out to dinner and him making her come while they’re sitting at the table, per one of the fantasies he mentions in the original story. There may also be bathroom sex afterward. Something short and porny feels attainable right now! I also just got a plot bunny the other day for a college theater AU where Jaime is starring as Orsino in Twelfth Night and Brienne is on the stage crew and he has to stay late after rehearsal one night and they start talking and Things Happen from there. Which will be a good excuse to dredge up some of my theater major experiences! I’ve also had this fic idea for a while where Brienne is a ghost, but that doesn’t feel like a good summer fic, so I’m back-burnering it for now.

I’m not tagging anyone for this one because I think it’s basically made the rounds but if you haven’t done it and you want to, please do!! I would love to see what you have to say!

#meme me

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ellaoftarth · 5 years

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j/b mash up trope prompt: florist and prison au?

Hi! Thank you so much for asking! This was a really tough one to come up with, but I ended up really liking the idea and wrote a little fic for it. It’s kinda rough and a little bit unrealistic, but I wanted to write it out. Let me know what you think! :)

Brienne always enjoyed flowers; the way a bouquet could send a detailed message when enough thought went into it; the flowers, the colors- it all told a story. She supposed that most people who came into her shop didn’t really care that much, didn’t think about that message when they picked an arrangement. But Brienne always did. Growing up she’d imagine receiving flowers from someone. She daydreamed of figuring out what the flowers symbolized, realizing how much she’d meant to someone. But that day never came, and so she wanted to at least be a part of that for someone else.

One morning, Brienne was arranging a bouquet she’d planned to take home. Though there wasn’t anyone else at home to enjoy them, Brienne liked having flowers around; they brought life to her lonely apartment. Plus, arranging them for herself gave her a chance to explore making new arrangements without worrying about if they’d sell. This particular arrangement was full of her favorite flowers; white chrysanthemums, purple hydrangeas, red peonies, and queen anne’s lace.

When the bell at the door chimed, Brienne looked up from the arrangement. An obscenely well-put together woman in a small pencil skirt and flowing white blouse stalked towards her, her blonde waves flowing around her face as she moved. Immediately, Brienne was acutely aware of her uniform; a dark green apron over a pair of simple black slacks and a dark grey shirt.

Without any form of greeting, the woman got straight to the point, “I need an arrangement. I really couldn’t care less what it is. What you’re working on there it- well,” she looked at the arrangement in front of Brienne, tilting her head judgmentally, “it’ll do. You do deliveries, yes?”

Brienne was at a loss for words. She didn’t quite want this conversation to go on longer than it needed to, so she didn’t bother telling the woman that this bouquet was not for sale. “Um, yes- yes we do. If you give us the address, one of our employees can deliver it.” Well, her only other employee would deliver it- Podrick was her only employee, but she didn’t mind. He was a good worker and always commented on how lovely her arrangements were.

The woman barely looked Brienne in the eyes, instead she took a piece of paper out of her purse and set it on the counter. “There’s the address. You do customized messages, right? If not this has been a waste of my time.”

“Yes, we have cards to put with the arrangements. Would you like to write it or do you want it typed?” Brienne asked.

The woman rolled her eyes, “I’ll write it, thanks.” Brienne quickly handed her a card and envelope with a pen, and the woman hastily scribbled out a message, as if this whole endeavor was a complete inconvenience to her. She put the card in the envelope and addressed it, then handed it back to Brienne, stepping over to the cash register to suggest that she was ready to check out.

Brienne only briefly looked at the name on the card- Jaime- before following the woman to the cash register. The woman barely looked at the total on the register, clearly wealthy enough to not have to even think about the price for a moment. After signing the bill, the woman simply said, “I need it delivered by tomorrow at the latest.” Then, she turned on her heel and stalked back out.

Brienne was still processing the whole encounter as she picked up the paper with the address written on it. She looked away and then did a double take; apparently Jaime was in prison.

…

While Brienne was weary about sending Pod to the prison to deliver the flowers later that afternoon, but Pod insisted that he would be able to, since they had just received an order for a wedding bouquet that Brienne needed to work on. So, Brienne sent him on his way with the bouquet that she had arranged for herself, the card stuck on a clear holder in the middle of the arrangement.

An hour later, Pod arrived back at the shop, flowers still in hand.

“What happened?” Brienne asked.

Pod shrugged, “They said flowers weren’t allowed to be given to inmates. They did allow me to leave the card though, so I guess that’s something.”

Brienne groaned; now she had to call back the woman, whom she learned was named Cersei, and notify her. Brienne looked at the number Cersei provided when she payed and sighed, dialing the number.

“Hello?” Cersei asked, already bored of the conversation.

“Hello, um, this is Brienne Tarth from Sapphire Isle Arrangements. I just wanted to notify you that we attempted to deliver your order, but we weren’t able to.” Brienne said hesitantly.

Cersei’s tone darkened, “What does that mean, you were unable to?”

“Well, apparently you can’t leave flowers for- for inmates, so we were only able to leave the card there, and our employee had to take back the arrangement.”

Cersei cut in, “But the card was delivered?”

“Yes,” Brienne answered, then repeated, “But the arrangement couldn’t be. We are already processing your reimbursement for the arrangement, but unfortunately, the delivery fee cannot be refunded-“

“Whatever, that’s fine.” Cersei cut Brienne off, then hung up.

Brienne stared at the phone, confused. While it was still in her hand, it started ringing again. Brienne answered and was met with an automated voice, “An inmate at the Westerosi Prison is attempting to call you, will you accept this call?”

Brienne answered slowly, “Yes?” This ought to be interesting.

There was a pause, then a voice came through the received, “Hello, is this Sapphire Isle Arrangements?” It was a man’s voice, and sounded quite pleasant and cheerful. A stark contrast to Cersei’s.

“Yes, it is.” Brienne paused, “Who is this?”

“Hi, this is Jaime Lannister. Who am I speaking to?”

Should she give her name out? Brienne debated it in her head for a moment before answering “Brienne.”

“Hi, Brienne,” Jaime greeted her again. “I was just calling to ask you a favor.”

“A favor?” Brienne repeated.

“Yes, if my sister, um, the unpleasant woman who probably came into your shop today, tries to send another arrangement or card or something through your shop to me, can you deny the request?”

Well that’s odd. “I’m not sure I can refuse a customer without reason. But I doubt she’d come in again since the flowers couldn’t be delivered anyways.”

“Oh, but she got her card to me and that was enough. You see, I’ve been ignoring all of her letters and her visits so I’m guessing this was her next idea to try and contact me.” Jaime explained.

“Oh,” was all Brienne could say.

“Yes, well, she’s persistent. But I am, too. And I will not be contacting her any time soon. You’ve met her, so I assume you can understand at least partly why.”

“Yes,” Brienne answered immediately, then blushed, realizing she shouldn’t have admitted that about a customer. She heard Jaime laugh. He had a nice laugh.

“Try being related to her.” Jaime sighed, though his voice still held his laughter. “On second thought, don’t- she’s the one who put me in here.”

“What do you mean?” Brienne couldn’t help asking. Then she backtracked, “I- um, Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. I should go.”

“No, wait!” Jaime said hurriedly. After a pause he added, “You still there, Brienne?”

“Yes,” Brienne answered, trying not to think about the way her name sounded from his voice.

“Good,” Jaime’s voice was light, “I only have a certain number of calls I can make a week.” He continued, “It’s a long story, how I got here. But my family, our company, has been involved in a number of… shady business deals, and when it came to placing blame, they chose me. My sister was the one in particular that threw me under the bus. I’m not saying I’m innocent, but it wasn’t just me, wasn’t my choice, what all happened. My time would be a lot less in here if I were only paying for my crimes.”

“How long are you in there?” Brienne couldn’t help but ask. She wondered why Jaime was willing to tell her as much as he already had.

“A year.” Jaime answered. “I suppose that’s not that long, all things considered.”

“I’m sorry,” Brienne felt bad for Jaime, though she wasn’t sure why.

Jaime’s voice seemed more worn when he answered, “It is what it is.”

“Thanks for telling me,” Brienne said, not wanting to hear the sadness in his voice. She continued, “It was a bit strange, interacting with your sister today. I suppose this gives me some clarity on it all.”

Jaime’s voice was warmer, “Thanks for not hanging up, and for listening.” The two stayed on the line for half a minute or so longer, though neither of them said anything. Eventually, Brienne cleared her throat, and Jaime sighed. “Well, I suppose I better go.”

“Alright,” Brienne said, slightly dazed by it all. “Bye, Jaime.”

“Bye, Brienne.”

Brienne wondered after that day and into the next week if Cersei would come back, trying to send another arrangement just to get another message to Jaime. But she never came back. Brienne still wondered about it all, though she tried to stop herself form thinking about it as much as she could. One night she caved, and googled Jaime and Cersei Lanniste. She found that everything he said was true; Jaime Lannister was being indicted for embezzelment. While the whole company was initially under investigation, an anonymous,employee presumably Cersei, tipped the detectives off that it was all caused by Jaime. There was speculation about the other members of the family in various articles Brienne read, but the investigation seemed to have stopped once Jaime was arrested.

One morning, as Brienne was watering that same arrangement that Pod had brought back, which now resided on the windowsill of the shop window, Brienne got a call. “Sapphire Isle Arrangements, this is Brienne speaking.”

“An inmate at the Westerosi Prison is attempting to call you, will you accept this call?”

“Yes.” Brienne answered, sucking in a breath. The line clicked over and she said, “Hello?”

“Hello,” Jaime’s voice responded, “is this Sapphire Isle Arrangements?” His tone was playful.

Brienne bit back a smile, “Yes, it is. What can we do for you?”

“Well, I’d like to send some flowers to someone.”

Brienne’s heart dropped. Suddenly realizing that he wasn’t calling for her specifically. she felt ridiculous for even thinking that for a moment. “Ok,” she responded.

“Great, well, they’re for a woman who works at your shop named Brienne, maybe you can help me figure out what kind of flowers to get her?”

Brienne couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips, “I suppose. Did you have something in mind? You have to be careful, though, flowers can have lots of hidden meanings.”

“I’d love to hear about them,” Jaime answered, “It has to be the perfect arrangement.” And by the end of the call, for the first time in her life, Brienne had learned just what flowers someone intended to send her, and the meanings that went along with them.

…

Well that’s that! I hope it was alright!

Please feel free to request trope mashups for me to write, or even just random prompts :) I really enjoyed developing and writing this story.

#braime

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gascon-en-exil · 4 years

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Joining the Game Late: S8E3 “The Long Night”

Synopsis

The two dozen or so named characters get about that many tracking shots so we know where they are. Melisandre randomly shows up with +fire damage enchants, then sets up the end of the battle. The Dothraki are swallowed up by the budget-saving fog of war, then the zombies break out of the fog and it’s dragon breath vs. a blizzard. Arya sends Sansa down into the crypts. Edd’s dead, and everyone else retreats inside while the Unsullied provide cover like the good generic soldiers they are. Again with Melisandre’s fire magic, which the Night King has his forces put out with their corpses. Sansa is cynical about being holed up with the women and children again, and still doesn’t like Dany. Bran comforts Theon and spies on the Night King in a not at all helpful way. Sandor is triggered, but Beric snaps him out of it to go after Arya who’s trapped in a horror movie sequence. Sam is wearing his strongest plot armor and survives dying three times; Lyanna Mormont isn’t so lucky, but she kills a giant on her way out. The dragons come down from the clouds, and Dany meets the one being she can’t burninate. Beric dies protecting Sandor and Arya, Theon dies protecting Bran, and Jorah dies saving Dany - it’s kind of a thing. As Jon looks on everyone realizes that hiding out in the crypts was a stupid idea as the Night King builds up a new army. Sansa and Tyrion have a moment that leads to nothing, Jon yells at a zombie dragon, while only Arya is doing something useful as she OHKOs the Night King and his whole army with him. A dozen or so prophecies fulfilled, Melisandre takes off her collar and collapses into dust, mercifully without nudity.

Commentary

Let’s talk about Arya, because when it comes down to it this is really her episode.

Solely in the context of her own story this is a fantastic conclusion to Arya’s arc. Revenge motivations notwithstanding, ever since Season 1 (which Melisandre calls back to here) death has been positioned as Arya’s greatest antagonist, and as suddenly as it comes everything in her journey and in her actions in this episode specifically build to the moment where she stabs the Night King using the Valyrian steel dagger she received from Bran - a sort of twisted family heirloom that ties this action back to the political conflict upon which most of GoT’s non-zombie-related storylines hinge. She gets to break out the specialized spear Gendry made for her to whack zombies using the skills she honed with the Waif before being overpowered and forced into a monster movie segment where she has to stealth her way around a wight-infested library and get rescued by curmudgeonly father figure Sandor. Beric uses his last life to save her because prophecy, another of Melisandre’s prophecies tell her what she has to do, and then the episode forgets about her right until the last pivotal moment where she uses the technique from her sparring practice with Brienne to surprise the Night King and one-shot him. There’s likely a bit of Eowyn’s killing of the Witch King from The Lord of the Rings in here too, with a young woman who’s chafed against the restrictions of femininity all her life taking to the battlefield and unexpectedly defeating one of the greatest forces of evil in her world. It’s perfectly staged and backed by one of those excellent piano scores that GoT only breaks out in its biggest moments and, in short, epic. Punctuated by the melancholy of Melisandre’s end it ends a really tense and brutal episode on about the best note it could have possibly managed.

Now, I say that because in order to make this battle the culmination of Arya’s story the writers had to throw just about every other A-lister under the bus, with disappointing and at times hilariously bad results. I say A-lister so as not to discount the deaths of Theon and Jorah, which were telegraphed, satisfactory ends to their respective journeys. No, it’s the main cast who suffer the most. Daenerys grounds the Night King and learns that he’s immune to dragon fire, but after that she lets zombies swarm Drogon in the process of saving Jon and has to be rescued in turn by Jorah. Sansa and Tyrion look like they’re going to go out and stab zombies in the crypt together, but then nothing comes of it. Jaime might as well have not even been there for as little as he does this episode, which does track with his not being the fighter he used to be - but he’s still alive! Sam almost dies three times but survives purely because authors (and the showrunners adapting their work?) are kind to their self-inserts. Bran does nothing more with his incredible supernatural powers than provide a cutaway to the Night King’s whereabouts and absolve Theon of his crushing guilt so he can run off to die. And Jon, poor Jon...I’m not going to pretend that I ever cared much about the guy, but could the writers really think of nothing better for him to do at the end than have a screaming match with a zombie dragon? For all the setup of a personal antagonism between him and the Night King Jon was shockingly useless in this fight.

I get it, I really do. This was the inevitable consequence of developing a dozen or so fairly disconnected storylines across the show’s run and then trying to compress them all together into a single finale. Some characters still have their big swan songs to come in the back half of the season, true, and honestly I’m much more interested in seeing those both because they concern conflicts more relevant to my interests than ice zombies and because I hear that they contain the greatest concentration of inexcusable crap in the series. For the time being however I consider this episode’s extreme focus on Arya to be both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Yeah, weaker than the bad lighting which was more of an aesthetic choice (literal fog of war!) and was also a problem in the series’s earlier nighttime battle episodes; weaker than Daenerys’s non-white followers making up most of the first casualties, because the show made that white savior bed back in the Slaver’s Bay arc and now has to lie in it; weaker even than the decision to hole up the people who can’t fight in the crypts, because of these characters only Jon (and Tormund and Edd? I forget) has seen how the Night King’s reanimation powers work firsthand and it’s not like they had a better option anyway. Those are all issues I can excuse, or that at least were problems much earlier in the show’s run that couldn’t well be fixed at this late stage. It’s the characterization issue that bites the most, particularly knowing as I do that some of those shafted this episode will get solid resolutions in the last three.

(This is the last big battle episode, right? I can’t stand writing about these, totally out of my element. All that meticulous choreography and CGI work and I’m just glad I can mostly make out what’s going on.)

#Game of Thrones #GoT

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wackygoofball · 5 years

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Moodboard: Jaime x Brienne - Erin Brockovich AU

To send this ahead... I know that Brienne’s character is much different from that of Erin in the movie, but by giving some over to Jaime and twisting and shredding things, I found it a very intriguing plot bunny! :D

Brienne doesn’t have it easy lately. Just recently she had to move into a new, shabby house on the outer outskirt of King’s Landing. She can no longer afford her old apartment in King’s Landing after she was fired from her secretary job because she had to take off to take care for her foster children Arya and Sansa and the boss showed little understanding for a single parent taking care of two traumatized girls. And now she stands there with bills to pay and no one willing to hire her.

Sometimes she really wished Catelyn had chosen any other person to take care of her girls in case of her demise, but as things stand, there was no other way. Bran and Rickon are with Osha and Luwin whereas Jon could not possibly take care of his siblings as he was drafted for service at the Wall. Brienne wants to honor that vow since Cat helped her a great deal in the past, but she feels all the more like failing as she cannot provide for the girls what they would deserve after the losses they had to suffer: their parents, oldest brother, his wife, and their home in Winterfell.

However, Brienne won’t let this stop her, so she goes through advertisements and calls any office offering jobs in the hope to find something new. She applies for a job as a secretary in Tyrion Lannister’s law firm, a small thing that mostly runs itself as far as she can judge. Brienne is little impressed when she meets the boss, because Tyrion Lannister does not strike her as a passionate lawyer. Instead, he spends his time looking after women to check them out and drink from his flask hidden under the table.

Brienne applies not as “Brienne of Tarth” but “Brienne of Morne,” her mother’s maiden name. She would rather not, but whenever she applied for jobs she was linked to her father’s ruined company and her failure to ever become a top lawyer due to personal choices she made in the past. She applied for jobs in law firms as a lawyer again and again because she went to the best schools, had excellent grades, but her past continues to haunt her. She is either overqualified, they tell her, or she doesn't have enough courtroom experience, or they think she is a failure because her father's firm went downhill without her being able to stop it. Thus, she writes applications below her profile, leaves out most of her personal past and just hopes to finally get a steady job to provide for Sansa and Arya. She is desperate.

Tyrion is hesitant at first, arguing that he normally looks for "prettier" secretaries, but he has to give in eventually because Brienne won't budge and proves that she can do the job better than any of the other applicants. Sansa and Arya give her trouble too, Arya gets into fights at school whereas Sansa won’t stick to Brienne’s rules, stay out late and leave her guessing to where the girl is headed.

So no, things are not easy on Brienne, but she won’t let that wear her down as she, at the very least, finally got a job at the law firm to cover the costs. She works her ass off at the office until she stumbles over what seems to be a small case involving selling property to a big chemical industry called The Alchemists' Guild, a business that focused on wildfire and its derivatives. They want to buy properties close to their plant on the outskirt of King's Landing, in a very poor area not that different from the one where Brienne now lives with her girls.

Brienne asks Tyrion if she can look into the case, after all, she can tell something is odd with the numbers due to her experiences she did not list for her application. He handwaves her proposal, much more concerned with his pretty new “intern” Shae.

Fueled by her wish to finally do something close to her past in the law, Brienne heads down the dusty roads to meet the people The Alchemists' Guild wants to purchase the properties from. While most won’t speak to her at first as Brienne doesn't think she has it in her to make people listen to her, the young woman is surprised when people start to tell their stories. Sooner rather than later, they trust her because she listens to them and gives them the facts rather than what they call “lawyer talk”. Brienne continues to gather information, doing what she is accustomed to as a former lawyer: she talks to experts, puts together evidence, and essentially starts to build a case she has any intention to present to Tyrion once she made certain that she is onto something.

Back home, things don't look as bright, however. Her nanny quits on a whim, leaving Brienne with no one to pick up the girls, make them dinner and the like until she gets home. It gets so bad that one day, the woman she hired to look after Sansa and Arya just doesn't show up and leaves the girls to walk home all by themselves. She is in a panic until she finds them with the recently moved-in and to her mind totally annoying one-handed biker-wannabe Jaime. He has barbecue with them and particularly Arya seems to like the guy who insists on only being referred to by his first name. Ever since he said he took fencing lessons in his youth and would have no trouble teaching her the basics, the girl is sold on the wannabe-biker. Jaime and she thus suggest to Brienne that she should hire him as the new nanny.

Brienne doesn’t know what to do with all this because a man looking like this, acting like this, making lewd comments all the while supposedly being good with teenage girls? How does that fit? The two eventually agree that he gets a shot at taking care of the girls in exchange for a bit of extra money. Jaime says he can use it because with just one hand, working on the construction sites became difficult and the gigs are scarcer around this season.

And so, a truce is born.

Brienne continues her investigation and puts in all of her efforts as she grows increasingly aware of the sheer importance this case has to the people involved. She starts to piece together that the The Alchemists' Guild tries to cover up literal dirty business, relating to people around the area getting sick in large numbers and their usage of wildfire. Brienne suspects a pattern behind this and figures that there must be a connection between the water supply for the town and the plant.

Thus, Brienne wants to request the records to obtain copies. However, the lady sitting at the front desk of the archive won’t let her in. Brienne suspects that she is in cahoots together with The Alchemists' Guild. Brienne fails to charm her way into the archives, that’s never been her strong suit, which is why she heads back to the house feeling like an utter failure.

Back home, she sees that Sansa and Arya really take a liking to Jaime, who runs the house just fine, if a bit unconventionally. When Jaime sees Brienne drag herself into the house, looking like someone just took her favorite medieval sword fighting film away, he wants to know what's wrong with her. She won’t admit at first, after all, Brienne hates to show weakness, but Jaime won’t budge and continues to poke her for information until she gives in and admits that she failed today.

“The downsides of being as ugly as a mare: I can't charm my way into the archive,” Brienne sighs.

“You can be charming in your own way if you try.”

“Shut up. And anyway, it's a lady.”

“Doesn't mean you could not put on a flirty face. Maybe she's looking for a bit of an adventure after all. I don’t judge.”

She rolls her eyes. “I never should have told you.”

“Fine, fine, I stop. I stop,” he laughs. “But I may have a solution.”

“Which is?”

Jaime points at himself with a smug grin. “Me.”

“You are the solution how? No offense, but you don't inspire... confidence in your legal status, shall I say?” Brienne scoffs.

“You said it. It's about flirting. And I am really good at that.”

“Are you? I did not notice.”

“Because I have no intention of flirting with you. I am your employee after all. If you properly compensate me, though, I can do expand my services, only just for you, wench.”

“Compensate you.”

“Well, you will have to give me a bit of a starter to set things up. For that, you get all the copies you want so desperately.”

“You are supposed to take care of Sansa and Arya. That’s what the truce is about, remember?”

“And they will be gone for a whole week for that school trip, remember?”

“... I forgot.” Brienne grimaces. It rubs her in the wrong way that Jaime already handles things so well that she finds herself forgetting things she wouldn’t have, but the job consumes so much of her time that she doesn’t know what to do with herself.

“Thought so,” Jaime chuckles. “So I got nothing to do anyway. Give me fifty stags and I will get you those copies tomorrow after we dropped the girls off. Deal?”

“... What's the worst that can happen, huh?”

Brienne is to find out the next day, remaining rather irritated by Jaime’s cryptic messages who says he will meet her outside the archive and that she is supposed to wait for the “big show.” She doesn't know what to expect until a very suave looking Jaime walks up to her, dressed in nice clothes, his hair in a neat bun, beard trimmed, stump securely hidden away in his fancy jacket, looking nothing like the biker she got to know and yelled at the first time she met him.

Jaime is having his dear fun at Brienne’s ogling at him before proceeding inside and charming the lady into giving him access to the archives. Jaime pretends to be an “intern” working for some “nasty lady” who only ever treats him badly.

“She yells at me and only ever bosses me around. Can you imagine?”

“Oh, trust me, I can.”

Brienne is bound to wait until Jaime re-emerges with the promised copies, looking like he just won the lottery. Brienne almost feels tempted to hug him, but just almost. Jaime is feeling pretty ecstatic at her blushing and evidently checking him out. He tells Brienne she can request his services again any time she needs it.

“Though next time, you may have to take me out for dinner afterwards.”

“… We’ll have to see about that.”

Brienne finally feels a bit vindication when she comes to the office, ready to present her findings to Tyrion, but that hope is instantly crushed when she finds her desk cleaned, stuffed into a box, and the other employees looking at her with nothing but misgiving. When she demands to know what is going on, Tyrion calls her to his office to inform her that he can’t keep a secretary who doesn’t come to work, seemingly having forgotten that she told him she wanted to investigate this case, and to top it all, he does not appreciate that she lied about her identity. He reveals to her that he did some research on his own and figured out that she is actually the “infamous” Brienne of Tarth.

Brienne is enraged because he dug through her past without her consent, looking at what she tried to bury, all of that pain that cost her so very much, not just the family company, not just her reputation as a lawyer, but also her father who died shortly after he had to file for bankruptcy due to business partners making bad investments on his behalf. She storms out of the building, furious but also desperate because she just lost her source of income.

Back home, Jaime is fixing things around the house to the best of his abilities. Brienne loses her cool a last because she can't afford to pay him anymore, she can't do anything right.

“Everything I touch, it just breaks apart.”

She confesses to Jaime at last what went on in her past, tells him all about her father’s failing business, how her father didn’t involve her in the business until it was too late because he wanted to give her the freedom to follow her personal mission of defending those people in court who couldn’t defend themselves. She tells Jaime all about her father’s death, and how that left her with massive debts to pay, but despite her experience and education, she was forced into taking small jobs, hide herself, because she never made more out of herself when she still could.

“And now I am not just failing myself, I am failing Sansa and Arya. Seven Hells, I am even failing you. I am failing everyone!”

To her great shock, she finds herself in the arms of the man she has a truce with. Jaime comforts her and holds her close when her world is on the verge of falling apart. And for the first time in a long time, she simply lets go, allows herself to accept that comfort, to let someone else hold her when she is so used to keeping it together for others.

Jaime trusts her with some of his past at last, something she never demanded of him to know, how he lost his hand during his time in the military and returned a war veteran with trauma but no family to support him when it mattered. His father just wanted him to join the family company and his sister could not care less about him as she was too absorbed into her own affairs. Even his little brother, who used to look up to him, wasn’t there for him when it mattered. Jaime only ever found joy in riding his motorbike and eventually he was so fed up with the family that he could not take it anymore and simply started to drive, never looking back.

One thing leads to another and the two fall into each other’s arms and into the bed. And for a time, things seem fine again, however broken, because Jaime is all the things Brienne wouldn’t have thought him to be when they first met. He is soft and caring as well as witty and snarky. And Jaime finds that with Brienne, he can finally talk to someone who understands, who bothers to listen, who doesn’t look at him as a lesser man for the choices he made, for the hand he lost and the lifestyle he chose for himself. For the first time in a long time, neither one feels alone in this world.

Sometime later, Jaime takes the girls out for something fun to do so that Brienne has the house to herself and can make some phone calls to find a new job. Brienne is surprised when shortly thereafter, Tyrion winds up on her doorsteps. He says he read her report and finally understood that he was being “kind of a cock” for thinking she was taking time off without telling him and was indeed working this whole time as she had insisted.

“I just thought you were lying,” he admits.

“I don't, not when it comes to those things.”

“You lied about your name.”

“I put in my mother's name because whenever I applied with my own, no one would give me a chance. And I find that kind of unfair, wouldn’t you agree?”

“It is... So, can I come inside?”

“Under the condition that I will throw you out the moment on I am fed up.”

“I suppose I will have to agree to those terms, Miss Tarth.”

Tyrion and she sit down for a long overdue conversation about the case. Tyrion lets her know that he is now convinced that she is onto something big. He wants to work the case, with her, and have a look at the research she gathered but did not include in the report she left at the office before storming out.

Brienne, remembering Jaime's words about how she has to see more worth in herself, demands not just her job back, but to be accepted as who she is and what she is, lawyer Brienne of Tarth. And a raise. Tyrion likes the change of tone and agrees, telling her that he found a replacement anyway, in Shae.

“She does not know how to file reports, but she is good at making coffee.”

“I suppose that's not the only thing you see as being of merit.”

“Far from it.”

“Be it as it may... I have one more condition.”

“Which is?” he wants to know.

“If we go to court with this, if we really work this case, you will cut down on your alcohol consumption. I won't have a partner in on this case who sleeps under the office desk. The people I talked to, they matter to me, their lives depend on our success, and I won’t let someone in on the case who isn’t a hundred percent committed to the cause.”

“I am a very highly functioning alcoholic.”

“Cut it down or cut me out. Your choice.”

“You learn fast.”

“I may have a good teacher, though he still has to prove himself.”

Tyrion asks her to have another look at the archives because there must be more to what she currently has. Brienne says that she will have to ask her “friend” to do that, letting him know that she had no luck whereas her friend did. Tyrion is amused by the arrangement and jokes about how that sounds more like this “friend” is to her what Shae is to him. Tyrion suggests to her that he should meet that guy as well, to instruct him on what to look for. He has a greater knowledge regarding those matters than Brienne happens to have because he worked similar cases before. Brienne agrees to the arrangement.

That is the moment Jaime returns with the girls. Brienne tells him about the good news, only for him to go completely blank when he sees Tyrion and Tyrion sees him. Brienne doesn't know what's happening until both drop the bombshell that Jaime is Jaime Lannister and that this is his brother. Brienne never mentioned the name of the law firm to Jaime because he said he did not care.

As it turns out that the brothers were estranged after Tyrion took off to Essos to work for Daenerys Targaryen as a legal advisor when Jaime would have needed him most after the loss of his hand. When he made the cut away from Cersei and Tywin, Jaime thought Tyrion would stand by his side, but he did not. Instead, Tyrion rather kept out of the affairs and hid away in Essos. Jaime never forgave him that and broke with him the same way he did with the rest of the Lannister clan.

Jaime leaves the house in a hurry, unable to deal with his brother and his past catching up to him. Brienne goes after him and comforts him, to “return the favor.” While she won't ask him to go back to the archive and thus help his brother, Jaime says he will do it because he's seen what wildfire can do in the warzone under Aerys in particular, and he could not live with himself if he let people get away with using it.

“Just don't expect me to make peace with my brother.”

“I don't.”

“Then the truce remains intact.”

The work continues and the three work on their parts of the case. Brienne keeps gathering evidence and interviews to connect the dots, Tyrion preps up the battle tactic alongside her and gets back into his old game as the stellar figure he used to be in court despite his height, and Jaime ventures through the archives and on occasion charms his way into the hearts of the locals they have to interview when Brienne can't seem to get through to them.

However, big trouble is on the way and one set-back hunts the next. Running out of money, subtleties from the team of lawyers they are up against, files disappearing, threats, and unknown phone calls are only some of the problems they are facing.

The investigation starts to take its toll on Jaime’s and Brienne’s burgeoning relationship. Jaime doesn’t know whether he can commit to this kind of life he slipped into, after he embraced a life without strings attached for so very long. Brienne, for her part, can’t slow down and dedicates almost all of her time to he work. She would love to spend more time with Arya and Sansa, but she has a responsibility towards those people, she made a promise and has to keep it, has to, has to, has to. However, she also struggles with her feelings for Jaime because she doesn’t want to hold him back, well aware that he is still coming to terms with his PTSD he suffered in the war. She doesn’t want to burden him and doesn’t feel like she can make him stay. After all, she is not flirty, is not charming, and bad luck just keeps sticking to her flat heels.

And all of that happens in the midst of a legal war about to begin between The Alchemists' Guild and Brienne and her team.

But will they win?

Will justice win?

And what may be the costs of that battle?

Only time will show.

Additional Image Source: Erin Brockovich (2000).

#jaime x brienne #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #game of thrones #got moodboard #got aesthetic #moodboard #aestheic #wacky tries gimp #fanfic #in smol #wacky writes fanfic #erin is evidently very much unlike Brienne in character #but I found the story totally intriguing #and with a bit of a change-up we can actually make it work I believe #at least I like it

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nightqueendany · 5 years

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Leaks, Fleaks, and the Fucking Ending of Game of Thrones

I will be discussing Friki leaks in this post and other potential “leaks” as seen on Free Folk Reddit so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read! I will also be discussing THAT ONE theory/leak I freaked out about several weeks ago and refused to talk about except to a few people who private messaged me about it.

I will be theorizing heavily in this post in an attempt to put all the “leaks” together so take this all with a grain of salt. I am not a primary source or even a secondary source for this information, so what I say here could very well be 100% wrong.

“Leakers” I am pulling from in this post:

Frikidoctor

BoatSexBaby

ThrowItAway / DeathWisher

TyrionKillsEveryone

Please keep in mind, I am not a member of the Reddit community (well, have an account, almost never use it), so I am unfamiliar with certain users on the site, what has been discussed at length between all users, what’s been refuted if it’s not on the front page of Free Folk, and what comments any of these users have made if they’re more than a few weeks old. Please also note I am not a native Spanish speaker so I have to read Friki’s stuff from translations so if the translations are incorrect, I will be. If anyone has any additional input, please feel free to reblog to correct any misinformation I may include in this.

First off, Friki.

As we’ve seen from Friki’s Season 7 leaks and his incredibly detailed leaks about 8x01, Friki is legit. There really is no arguing with this so I believe it is pointless to do so. However, we must keep in mind Friki is not someone who is on set, his sources are not on set all the time (I believe), and for this season, he has not seen an final scripts. So we likewise must take what Friki says with a grain of salt. Friki was also off by two weeks when it came to when the New York premiere would be, so it’s possible he could be wrong about things or his source doesn’t give him full information or gives him incorrect information.

BoatSexBaby

Again, sorry, I am not familiar with the reputations of people on Reddit FreeFolk so I don’t know if this person is seen as a legitimate leaker or fleaker. However, regardless of whether they have correct information, BSB seems to be a total savant when it comes to putting filming information together! It’s kind of astounding. I had attempted to do this once, but it was completely overwhelming but BSB has done it. It seems BSB’s info so far as what happens in the season is more based on assumptions based on filming info than actual leaks. But the information is still incredibly helpful.

ThrowItAway/DeathWisher

I don’t believe this is the same person but DeathWisher recently linked back to ThrowItAway’s old POST from a few months ago so I’m crediting both of them here. ThrowItAway claims to be related to someone who worked on the Belfast set and had second hand information of what would happen during the Battle for Winterfell in 8x03. Info that was correct: 1) Arya would jump down from somewhere (a tree?) to kill the NK 2) Theon would charge NK and die 3) Lyanna Mormont would become a wight. That has all been proven true and these leaks were from 4 months ago. So the information TIA’s brother gave them about future episodes may be true as well. Though, TIA admits that their brother did not work on sets aside from the Belfast one and so heard the leaks about the other episodes from other crew members - meaning the brother is a secondary source for this info, not a primary one. Also, TIA seems pretty adamant that it’s highly possible multiple endings were filmed.

TyrionKillsEveryone

Now, anyone who knows of TKE from FreeFolk and Friki is probably wondering why the fuck I’m bringing him up right now because apparently everything he said would happen in the first couple episodes has turned out to be complete bullshit (though for some reason, I can’t find those posts/comments, so have to rely on people talking about “leaks” TKE claimed for Eps 1&2). However, out of all the theories I’ve read on the ending to GOT and now with this info from ThrowItAway, I more inclined than ever to believe such an ending so that’s why I’ve included them in this post.

So, what do the “leakers” have to offer us?

Friki:

Friki claims that THE big moment in this final season will be Tyrion’s trial in the Dragonpit and Tyrion’s death. He refutes a previous theory of his that Tyrion and Sansa would betray the Starks and says Sansa will not betray them, Tyrion will (unclear if Dany is included in this - as either Team Stark or on Tyrion’s side...but as Dany is on the side of the Starks now, it appears Tyrion would betray her too...?). Friki says an important scene will take place with five key characters: Jon, Sansa, Arya, Daenerys, and Tyrion. Friki was told this big scene took five days to film (hinting at it being all conflict). The most shocking moment of the season/series should be Tyrion’s death. Friki admits he doesn’t know how Tyrion will die, or why he will betray Team Jon/Dany but just knows that he will. He notes Emilia Clarke never filmed anything in Seville, she was never there. He says Kit Harington was in Seville but did not film a single scene there.

I know people might take this as “fake news” and believe Kit actually did film in Seville but lots of GOT actors were in Seville who I can’t really believe were filming there - most notably, Tom Wlaschiha who played Jaqen H'ghar, Faye Marsay who played the Waif, and Vladimír Furdík who played the Night King.

So, unless Arya never killed the Waif or the Night King in a permanent way, it’s clear HBO just flew in lots of GOT actors to throw people off...OR may have flown them in, along with their body doubles, for the GOT Documentary which will air right after the series finale. More on this in a moment.

BoatSexBaby:

Alright, first off, I’ll start with what BSB may have gotten wrong...unless the NK isn’t completely dead and he somehow has to be defeated again. BSB claimed HERE that 1) Dance of Dragons between NK/Viserion and Dany/Drogon would happen in Episode 6 in King’s Landing and Jon/Rhaegal may be involved - untrue, kind of, this happened in Ep3 2) Golden Company attack Winterfell - TOTALLY FALSE. And preview for next weeks seems to see everyone headed down south to attack Cersei instead (though BSB did say survivors retreat south so maybe this is the true part of people going south) 3) NK has real motivations that tie all WW scenes together from 1x01 - maybe. We certainly didn’t see this prior but it could be revealed in future. The way the NK was defeated just felt way too clean to me. If he’s really gone and was a red herring, that’s one elaborate 8000 year old red herring. FFS.

What BSB does actually have to offer, is her dedication to documenting filming news. According to BSB, we know: 1) the green dragon mount was moved prior to filming King’s Landing battle scenes hinting at it being used in those scenes - however, the only actor available for filming such scenes was allegedly Vladimír Furdík, as Kit and Emilia were not in Belfast at the time. 2) Body doubles in Seville who may have been filming or may have been part of the GOT documentary were doubles for: Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Brienne, Grey Worm, and Robin Arryn. BSB is also of the belief that Kit actually did film in Seville but filmed night scenes? And that there were CGI/VFX sequences for the Dragonpit scene or Tyrion’s trial. Friki said the Dragonpit scene included no CGI so it’s unclear which is correct.

ThrowItAway/DeathWisher

As stated, ThrowItAway gave leaks for 8x03 several months ago that ended up panning out so, it could be possible their other statements about future episodes could be true too. TIA posted some things and also messaged DW some spoilers for the ending. Some key points, but certainly not ALL: 1) Varys betrays Dany because he believes Jon would make a better ruler (something TKE also speculated) and Dany has him executed 2) Dany attacks King’s Landing 3) Tyrion convinces Jon that Dany is a danger to him and the Starks and Jon kills Dany 4) Prior to her death, Sansa and Tyrion appear to plot against Dany/try to separate her and Jon 5) Sansa has made some sort of promise to Tyrion that she and him will rule together but she betrays him in the end 6) Jon has two possible endings: Death or reforming the Night’s Watch (unclear how he would die).

This is a lot to unpack here and it should be noted that TIA has stated these “leaks” are to be taken with a grain of salt because a) their brother did not work on these episodes and heard this from other crew members who did work on them and b) they seem highly convinced that multiple endings were filmed and Emilia Clarke has talked about filming fake scenes.

TyrionKillsEveryone

I haven’t been able to see TKEs old posts on the early episodes and have only read their “leaks” from other commenters who have gleefully bragged about how incorrect TKE was. I think one of the major TKE fleaks was that Dany would find out she was pregnant in 8x01 and that Varys would try to kill her with poison (because he believes she’s becoming like Aerys and Jon would be a better King) but Arya would save her. This clearly did not happen in 8x01 so it’s easy to write off TKE for just this alone.

However, TKEs points about the later episodes just STRUCK me and affected me deeply which is why I’m going to include them. TKE says that yes, Tyrion will have a trial, as Friki said, and Tyrion will be on trial for betraying Jon and Daenerys and killing Jon - how does Tyrion kill Jon? He stabs him in the back in the black cells of the Red Keep after taking him down to see Dany - who is Cersei’s captive - where she is bleeding to death either from being stabbed by Bronn or complications with childbirth. I think both were mentioned, Unclear which TKE was leaning more toward.

At Tyrion’s trial, TKE says Tyrion will have an epic speech like he did in his trial for killing Joffrey, and will name everyone present as guilty as him. That their petty wars and fights all caused harm to the smallfolk, damaged the country, something like this. And at the end of Tyrion’s speech, Bronn will ignite the wildfire under the Dragonpit like he did on the Blackwater, and blow everyone up - killing every single major character - Arya, Sansa, Davos, Tyrion...anyone else who is present in the Dragonpit. They’ll all die.

TKE claims the last shots of the series are the smallfolk rebuilding Westeros, living their lives in peace, because they have no lords preying on them, telling them to fight their wars, etc. And that is the “Dream of Spring.”

What does it all mean?

It’s pretty difficult to tell at this point because the Night King is defeated (or so we think) and the living are somewhat intact - at least many of our major characters - Jaime, Brienne, Grey Worm, Jon, Sansa, Dany, Arya, Tyrion, Varys, Pod, Tormund, Sam, Gilly, the Hound...they all got out of the Battle with barely scratches on them. It’s incredibly disconcerting. As if luring us into this false sense of security.

But this false sense of security is exactly the kind of thing GOT would do before really bringing down the sledgehammer to our hearts. So, what does it all mean?

1) Three of the leakers save TIA have specifically talked about Tyrion’s trial. To me, this seems highly likely to happen.

2) BSB has some amazing evidence for why there will be CGI/VFX during Tyrion’s trial but I think her assumption about what this could mean is wrong - it won’t be a dragon fight (though there will be dragons in King’s Landing at some point). The VFX for Tyrion’s trial could be for the wildfire explosion that TKE talks about.

3) If TIA is correct about Sansa leading Tyrion on only to betray him in the end and take power for herself, then it makes Sansa a villain too. And this was the last piece of info I was really waiting for because...

It is KEY to believing TKE’s ending.

Because with everyone plotting against everyone and fighting for power, it means they learned nothing from having to band together to defeat the Night King and are all still fighting their petty wars and as Tyrion will (maybe) say in his trial, they’re all guilty.

TKE said something about Sansa inviting all the Lords/Ladies of the realm come to Tyrion’s trial so they can simultaneously swear her their allegiance. This would support why Robin Arryn is at Tyrion’s trial. Because without this, it seems odd that he would be there at all. We haven’t seen him since Season 6, though his armies have been present in S7 and S8.

While I am not sure which to believe out of TIA and TKE’s endings for Jon and Dany - Jon-kills-Dany or Jon-and-Dany-die-together - I am pretty convinced of this theory that Tyrion, does in fact, kill everyone with wildfire in the Dragonpit. You guys might think I’m crazy, might hate me for pointing this out, but I just feel this ending in my bones and have for several weeks. I was kind of hoping for a Jon-Dany-house-with-a-red-door ending - they get resurrected or don’t die and live in hiding or amongst the small-folk and get a somewhat happy ending. But I am not holding my breath.

And for those who want a little bit more further proof of a TKE-like ending, for those saying things like “What’s the point?” “Who would rule?” “So it’s just anarchy?” “Is this some weird eat the rich bullshit?” - I have one more piece of evidence for you.

D&D said the ending to GOT was hidden in their Spotify playlist. And one of the songs on the playlist was Black Sabbath’s War Pigs. The lyrics of which are:

Gen'rals gathered in their masses, Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction, Sorcerer of death's construction In the fields the bodies burning, As the war machine keeps turning Death and hatred to mankind, Poisoning their brainwashed minds Oh Lord yeah

Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role for the poor, yeah

Time will tell on their power minds, Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess, Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah

Now in darkness world stops turning, Ashes where the bodies burning No more War Pigs have the power, Hand of God has struck the hour Day of judgement, God is calling On their knees the war pigs crawling, Begging mercies for their sins Satan, laughing, spreads his wings Oh Lord yeah

This is why, weeks ago, I posted this Jorah quote:

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In the books, it’s a bit better: “The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends," Ser Jorah told her. "It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace....They never are."

And it’s why around the same time, I also posted this:

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“Animals are true to their nature. And we had betrayed ours.” All the living, despite fighting together against the dead, have still betrayed their nature, fighting against each other, fighting for power. When they should be working together and feel lucky they’re all alive.

In the books, Brienne V in AFFC, there is a great speech commonly called by the fandom, “The Broken Man Speech” - which, coincidentally, the episode above is called. Not for no reason, I believe.

Some significant quotes from the book version of the Broken Man speech:

“Broken men are more deserving of our pity, though they may be just as dangerous. Almost all are common-born, simple folk who had never been more than a mile from the house where they were born until the day some lord came round to take them off to war. Poorly shod and poorly clad, they march away beneath his banners, ofttimes with no better arms than a sickle or a sharpened hoe.”

“They see the lord who led them there cut down, and some other lord shouts that they are his now."

“...before long they are stealing from the living too, from the smallfolk whose lands they’re fighting in, men very like the men they used to be.”

“They don’t know where they are or how to get back home and the lord they’re fighting for does not know their names, yet here he comes, shouting for them to form up, to make a line with their spears and scythes and sharpened hoes, to stand their ground. And the knights come down on them, faceless men clad all in steel, and the iron thunder of their charge seems to fill the world … “And the man breaks. “He turns and runs, or crawls off afterward over the corpses of the slain, or steals away in the black of night, and he finds someplace to hide. All thought of home is gone by then, and kings and lords and gods mean less to him than a haunch of spoiled meat that will let him live another day, or a skin of bad wine that might drown his fear for a few hours. The broken man lives from day to day, from meal to meal, more beast than man. Lady Brienne is not wrong. In times like these, the traveler must beware of broken men, and fear them … but he should pity them as well.”

And for those saying this can’t possibly be GRRM’s message....well, it just might be:

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Now, how well have D&D executed such an ending if this is, indeed, the ending?

I would say, pretty shittily. It’s not an A or an A+. Because unlike Breaking Bad, we’re still rooting for these characters with only 3 episodes to go. In Breaking Bad, you get that Walter is a villain, he’s “The one who knocks.” He’s the bad guy and he deserves what’s coming to him. Jesse was a prisoner in the end so we’re glad he gets out and gets free.

But with GOT, if everyone ends up being a villain and dying for their sins, it’s shitty. I have faith GRRM would do much better with such an ending. Give us other characters, the smallfolk, to care about to ease the pain of losing our other faves, the mains. But with only 240 minutes to go, there’s no way D&D could make us hate the current characters in a way that makes us also not hate the writers too and the entire series. It’s like...well fuck, why did I ever care in the first place?

Especially as a Dany fan because her whole story has been about what GRRM talks about in the video above. Yes, she has to have this war to take power against Cersei, but she’s the ONLY character who wants to change, make real change that will make a difference to the common man. She wants to “break the wheel that has rolled over rich and poor to the benefit of no one but the Cersei Lannister’s of the world.” She wants to do that!

So if this is the GOT ending, I’m pissed. Because it’s as if Dany’s purpose is just...forgotten. Or not worthy because she wants to take power and get revenge for her family at the same time. Perhaps it’s because of this, I still am holding out one last sliver of hope that Dany and Jon survive, because out of everyone, their motives most closely align to this ideal.

But again, not holding my breath.

And if you guys don’t hate me after reading this, let me know what you think!

#game of thrones #got spoilers #friki leaks #frikidoctor #got speculation

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janiedean · 5 years

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gwenspiration self-recs

I was tagged by @jaimebrienneonline for this thank you!

sooo, the challenge was:

Taking the idea from the amazing Gwendoline Christie, we should be promoting ourselves and not acting like our creative endeavors are worthless. In that vein, I challenge everyone to blog their favorite of their own works, art, fic, meta, manip, doll story, whatever it may be.

aaand okay so I’m usually really bad at self-reccing so I’ll just go ahead and do a top five fics and a few meta links - this is not necessarily my most read stuff or whatever but if I have to choose in between my own children I will ;) also sticking to asoiaf/jb-centric stuff or it turns into a problem lmao [also I’m not putting some flowers bloom dead on this because I don’t wanna rec stuff I haven’t finished]

in the darkness on the edge of town: (jb, hooker au, explicit content) okay I don’t even know how to put this without sounding ridiculous but I honestly think it’s some of the best writing I put out period and I ended up putting an amount of blood sweat and tears I hadn’t anticipated into it but I loved doing it overall (because I also went and put in it everything I like writing about ngl and yes I have a thing for hooker au and I apparently succeeded in making it feel like a springsteen song so I’m proud of myself thank you) and I’m really happy with how it turned out. also, I gave myself confirmation that if springsteen’s involved my productivity arises.

I'm not a pretty girl, that's not what I do: (jb, brienne-centric with focus on her issues with her looks and femininity) long story short, I didn’t say it in the a/n when I posted this for the spitefic series because I wanted to check the reactions to it but now that it’s been months I can say it: this is the most personal thing I’ve ever put to fic in my entire life including specifically recycling my own childhood experiences into brienne’s and tackling directly 80% of the issues me and her have in common. and I think it came out pretty damn good and I also was flattered with the response I got to it because a lot of people commented about how relatable those issues were and just, this damned fic means a lot to me so have it ;)

conventions and inconveniences of the stage series (theon/robb, jaime/brienne, jonc/brynden tully for now, opera singers au series): okay this is a series so I’m cheating BUT I’m just really attached to all of the fics in it because a) I love opera and I was delighted that people actually read them and liked it regardless of the obscure subjects, b) they gave me the chance to branch out a lot, c) for now I had fics for two ships I dearly love (throbb and jb) and that have meant a lot to me in this fandom AND then the crackship I cultivated with a lot of love and care to which I gave one of my favorite operas in existence and I loved writing each single one of these fics and I think I’ve done a pretty good job with them and sorry but I picked the perfect operas for all of them and I’m dying on that hill. don carlo is 100% the throbb opera and fidelio is 10000% the jb opera you won’t take that from me. ;)

all knights are gallant and all maids are beautiful (jb, side-jc, genderbend): admittedly I wrote this thing out of spite because I hate that people refuse to see that jc is, in fact, a darned abusive dynamic but they wouldn’t say that if the genders were reversed so I went and genderbent all three of them just to prove the damned point of it and other than being very satisfied at how it turned out it was a fairly cathartic exercise to write it because that issue is really sitting badly on my stomach and has been for ages. so yeah I’ll put this one on the list also because ngl I liked writing male!brienne way more than I thought I would and overall I did have a pretty interesting time figuring out how to keep them IC while switching genders and it was in general a very good writing exercise for a lot of things and I think it came out pretty well.

and give all the love that you have in your soul (jb, jonc/omc, jonc/rhaegar, time travel): I thought about reccing something less widely read for the last spot but fuck it I’m going to put this one fic for a lot of reasons as in: a) I actually brewed on it for two years before writing it is2g it was a labor of love, b) I’m extremely proud of myself for having written time travel without losing my shit over the technicalities (I hate writing time travel) and the planning and the likes and I also think it didn’t have plot holes so score for me, c) this is where I admit that I 100% purposefully put jon connington as co-protagonist in here because I love him and I don’t think he gets enough fandom exposure and while I write him more than about anyone else I think until this fic I hadn’t managed to find a large audience for fic where he was a lead, so yes I totally did it because I knew a fic with a jb main pairing would mean more exposure and I was delighted to see that at the end of it people cared about his half of the storyline as much as they cared about the jb half of it. also I think brienne and jonc would be absolutely good potential friends if they met so I really was excited to explore that dynamic and yeah tldr this damned thing was a bitch to write but I loved doing it and I loved the feedback it had so that’s going to be this one.

there, that’s the fic. as far as the meta goes, a lot more quickly (of the meta I have on ao3 because I’m still on dash only) :

Brienne of Tarth and her importance as a literary character & Brienne and Jaime’s relationship: a textual analysis of their journey: I put together these two darned novels of analysis in a single piece that I gave to gwendoline christie at a con once because I felt like I should go there with something that would make clear how much brienne means to me as a character and then I threw in the jb stuff as well because I could. the first piece isn’t as in-depth but again as brienne is the only character I related to as much as I do for those reasons I really felt strongly about that meta subject. the second piece is basically me going through 90% of the relevant moments of jb history in the books and analyzing the shit out of it and not to brag but I like to think it was pretty good text analysis so here you go.

Why a Jaime/Brienne Endgame in the Books Makes More Sense Than One Might Think, Based on Previous Works of GRRM's: one of the things that irks me more about nihilistic/fatalistic readings of these two/of asoiaf is that most people who write them and dismiss jb as not important or not important enough to have overall plot relevance have not actually read grrm’s other books. since I happen to have read most of them and to have seen that he has patterns that are not nihilistic at all, I took the liberty to rant about it.

An Analysis of Jaime's Dream in ASOS: this was when I dissected jaime’s asos dream line by line and while I don’t think it’s particularly groundbreaking information it’s pretty much encompassing 90% of the arguments I use while theorizing about these two/jaime’s issues specifically and I think I worded it well enough, so here we go, that’s the third.

... wow, selling yourself is hard. thanks jbo for the tag!!

aaand as I should tag other people, idk who’s done it already buut I’m gonna tag also not-jb peeps and go for @lordhellebore, @trulilyy @randomingoftherandomness and @lodessa if they want to :)

#gwenspiration #jaime x brienne #otp: i dreamed of you #oh god self reccing is hard #but it was An Exercise xD #anti-lannincest #only slightly less toxic than chernobyl's ruins

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dreadwulf · 5 years

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gwenspiration

@ofaclassicalmind tagged me for this meme started by @jaimebrienneonline: “Taking the idea from the amazing Gwendoline Christie, we should be promoting ourselves and not acting like our creative endeavors are worthless. In that vein, I challenge everyone to blog their favorite of their own works, art, fic, meta, manip, doll story, whatever it may be. Not someone else’s.

I feel like I’m already promoting myself way too much, but because I was tagged for it...

First I want to mention something from my old fandom, Dragon Age: Midnight in a Perfect World and its sequel, Visitations. I mostly shipped a side-companions pairing (Fenris/Isabela) that was not popular and both of these fics, although they are among my favorite things I’ve ever written, to this day have a grand total of 22 kudos each. I don’t think these fics are any worse than what I’m doing now, but I think my style and shipping preferences weren’t a great fit for that fandom.

I also want to mention the Jaime/Brienne WIP I have shamefully neglected, Terrible Love, which is a Brienne POV book!canon fic that tries to recreate the red tent scene from the show using the book characterizations and after the Lady Stoneheart situation has been resolved. I’m pretty happy with the characterizations for both Jaime and Brienne, and I gave them a pretty intense confrontation where Jaime gives a love confession in a very Jaime way and Brienne does not take it well at. all. It was a little tough to write because there’s a lot of personal stuff in there, particularly when Brienne is having an emotional meltdown. The only reason it stops at chapter 3 is because originally, that was going to be the end of the story. Then once I put up chapter 3 I decided it was too soon to resolve Brienne’s conflict completely, and I would need two more chapters to get her there. And then I started AMFAS and have been writing that ever since. But the standing 3 chapters I actually think are pretty good in themselves. I’ll come back and add more someday.

For an excerpt I think I pretty much have to put up my massive, 170k word and counting J/B fic A Man for All Seasons, but if I was going to pick out a part, I think I was happiest with Chapter 9: Annhilation. This chapter had several scenes in it that I had been planning since I started the damn thing back in 2017.

The entire fic is in a lot of ways building to this chapter, but I think you could probably read it on its own, if you wanted to. Jaime has been in Winterfell for months preparing for a Siege by the impending Army of the Dead. Cersei is dead, Tyrion is gone, and Jaime has to start over entirely on his own with no allies while struggling with grief and regret. He’s kept himself pretty much in denial about all the things he’s been through and all the mistakes he’s made, but here he gets hit with absolutely everything at once on one awful day and self-destructs. Brienne, after keeping her distance from him for plot-related reasons, is there to pick him up when he falls. She takes him back to his room and puts him in a bed and essentially takes his confession.

(excerpt behind the cut)

[Jaime] doesn’t know what he’s going to say until he can hear himself saying it. He lets it happen, lets himself float a little way away from his body. It’s like there’s two of him: the one talking to her and another one listening curiously to his own voice saying things he doesn’t know he knows.

“I think I’m falling apart. Something’s terribly wrong with me. I feel ill all of the time and I can’t pay attention to what I’m doing. I look up and I’m somewhere else, or it’s hours later and I’m still in the very same spot and I don’t know what I was doing during all that time. What’s worse is I think it’s been like this all along and I just didn’t notice. Gods, I think years went by like that, very much like that. There were all these things I couldn’t stand to think of, so I just didn’t think of them. I would just be somewhere else inside my head. But now I have to think about those things. I can’t stop thinking about them, unless I stop thinking completely.”

He has to catch his breath. His body has gone slack, arms fallen to his sides. Fortunate that he was already sitting down. There’s more to say and it’s going to hurt, it will be like lancing a wound and letting the poison out. It should be a relief to let it out, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels as though it will keep coming and coming, that perhaps he is all poison, that he is nothing but wounds loosely sewn together and when all of his pain comes out there might be nothing left of him.

Jaime goes on anyway, in a low, dead voice. “My father was right. I spent all those years in King’s Landing as - what did he call it? 'A glorified bodyguard'. Not even that, practically a doorstop. When I was young I had so many dreams and ambitions and so much I wanted to do and somehow I forgot it all. All my dreams of knighthood and once I had it I was just marking time. I didn't think past the next day, the next night, the next morning. I had no plans for the future, no desire but whatever stolen moments I could take with Cersei. I thought of nothing but what pleasure I could get from her. If I ever wanted anything more it only registered as this vague unhappiness that I blamed on everyone but us. I never asked for more. I didn’t care who we hurt. And now she’s dead, and our children are dead, and it should have been us who died first, they should have outlived us both. Tommen and Marcella anyway. They were good. They were so good. I don’t know who they got it from.”

“Jaime.” Her tone is so gentle that it pains him to hear it. It puts him back in his body where every nerve ending is afire. He is light-headed, his breathing fast and shallow and this is going to be too much, he’s on the verge of going away completely and right in front of Brienne, and he does not want her to see that again. But he’s still talking. He can’t stop.

“I think I’ve wasted my life, Brienne.”

“You’ve mucked it up a fair bit,” she says steadily, not quite letting him off the hook. “But it’s not over yet.”

“I can’t stand it. I keep going away so I can not think about it, but when I come back it’s worse. I’ve done everything wrong. All of this is my fault, all of it. The war. It wouldn’t have happened if not for me. Cersei died because of me. But so did Ned Stark, and Catelyn, and all of the other people who died in the War of the Five Kings. Because of me.”

She is smiling up at him. “You are so incredibly vain,” she says fondly.

That shakes him. “What in the hells do you mean?”

Brienne shakes her head slowly. “I should have known you would jump immediately from total irresponsibility to blaming yourself for absolutely everything. You, all on your own, started a war between five Kings? Did you kill Jon Arryn? Or Baelon Greyjoy? Did you murder Renly with the red god’s magic? Were you at the battle of the trident? Are you to blame for years of misrule? A thousand years of Targaryen history? No single person did all of that. Many people did that together.”

She takes his hand. “You played your part, you and many others. And you are atoning for it. You’re defending Winterfell and the North from an enemy that has nothing to do with you, who stands to annihilate all of Westeros. You’re doing the right thing. You’re becoming the honorable man you were always meant to be. Not because anyone told you to do it or because you expected any reward. Because you wanted to, because it was right.”

Her kindness, as it often does, fills him with a kind of dismay. It’s a mistake. She has mistaken him for someone he's not.

“You don’t understand. I've done terrible things,” he admits, with a sensation like sinking into the floor. “I'm a terrible person.”

“Ramsay Bolton was a terrible person. You aren't nearly his equal. Nor Littlefinger's - and if any single person is responsible for the mess we're in now, he is. As a villain you wouldn't even make the Bloody Mummers.”

Being made fun of, even gently, he does not take kindly to. He shakes his head frowning. “But Tyrion was right. It doesn't matter that I didn’t participate or that I disapproved of the Red Wedding, or Ned's death, or all the things Cersei did. I let it happen. I looked the other way. I never tried to stop them.”

“Neither did he,” she points out, with tender stubbornness. “And you did work against them, in a lot of ways. You sent me after Sansa, when Cersei wanted her dead. You set Tyrion free. I’d wager you’ve done even more than I know about. I would not be surprised to find you've been quietly resisting them your whole life.”

This he has never understood, where she has found this faith she has in him. He must have fooled her somehow, but damned if he can figure out how. He must look bewildered, because she goes on to explain.

“The man who drowned entire houses for power has a son who rejects power at every turn. Imagine that -- Tywin Lannister's son, of all people. Ever since you were a boy, you were dreaming of being a true knight, protecting the weak, and righting wrongs. Where did that come from? That wasn't your father’s idea. Swearing yourself to the Kingsguard definitely wasn’t his idea.”

No, it was Cersei's, he tries to say, but before he can say it, she's rushing ahead.

“Giving up your inheritance and the family name, refusing positions of authority, avoiding responsibility - do you know what that sounds like to me?” She doesn’t wait for his answer. “It sounds very much like a man who desperately doesn't want to be his father.”

That… is something that has never occurred to him. It feels important. But he isn't going to be able to sort through that now. It’s too big, he can’t get his head around it.

“We did awful things. My father did, and Cersei did, and I helped them.”

“You did,” she says steadily.

“The truth is...” he looks at his feet. “I still miss them. I miss all of them.”

His vision blurs, and he has to close his eyes and clench his jaw tightly to keep himself in hand. He has never quite gotten around to grieving for any of his family, not his father nor his three children, not Uncle Kevan and Cousin Lancel who died at Baelor, not for his brother’s betrayal or his terrible defeat at Highgarden and the men he watched burning to death there. He had to be strong for Cersei, her pain had always taken precedence over his. He had no right to mourn or be comforted. And then she was gone too, and he is left utterly alone, untwinned, orphaned, widowed.

After so long repressing his grief he thought it had faded on its own, but he had only concealed it. Now it’s all flooding in at once. Suddenly it just hurts, it hurts beyond his ability to hold it all. It’s just going to crush him.

Then Brienne is putting her arms around him, around his neck, and pulling him close. “Of course you miss them. Of course.”

The only thing bigger and stronger than this agony is Brienne. She is as powerful and steady as a castle wall and she can hold him together. She takes all his weight onto her and holds onto him until he finally relents and puts his head on her shoulder and lets it all go, begins to weep quietly into her neck. All of the losses in the last few years that he has never been able to mourn, he feels them all at once, in a terrible flood of despair and defeat.

He holds on to her tightly, shaking with painful, wrenching sobs. He's having years of emotions all at once. It feels like it will tear him apart. Brienne does not recoil from his tears, not the way Cersei or his father or even Tyrion would. She puts her hand on the back of his head and runs her fingers through his hair and shows no impatience with his weakness.

Whatever it is that holds Brienne back from the world, keeps her tightly controlled and contained, she’s broken through it now. She’s right here with him, touching him, trying to get through. Because he needs her. That’s what it takes to bring down her walls, it turns out. If he needs her, she will take them down herself.

“You haven’t lost everyone,” she whispers in his ear. “You haven’t. I’m not much but… you have me. You will always have me.”

#I'm cheating a little by posting at midnight when nobody is on ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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endgameinthenorth · 5 years

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Rant

Hey guys. Remember the good old days when something as "simple" as Varys conspiring with political intrigue and such and then being executed might span a whole season? And be done well. Well now it's just 5 minutes. 👍

Like why did Tyrion even tell Varys if he didn't have his own insecurities? Why is Tyrion so bloody dumb this season. What did Varys hear in the flames? Guess no one cares any longer.

Daenerys burns them all. I was looking forward to Dark!Dany unfolding. This wasn't how I wanted it. It was poorly executed. The price to pay in getting it was too steep. Even in the number of episodes we got this season they could have worked on it to happen in a more logical way. Honestly. The bells made her do it will be the takeaway message for a lot of viewers. 🔔

Why is Jon so pointless. Does he love Daenerys but can't be with her because they're related? The Inside the Episode didn't go as far as confirm that he doesn't love her at all. Is he really just a total lap dog rendered useless because he doesn't wish to rule himself? Bound to this woman because he pledged himself to her? Where has Jon gone. Why are there no decent Stark family scenes? Anything emotional with them is cut. True identity reveal? Cut it. Say goodbye before facing death? Nope. Say goodbye before departing Winterfell (and in Arya's case planning to never return)... You guessed it. No one needs to say goodbye or have any real Stark family feels. At this rate when Jon kills Daenerys for his family/Sansa it'll be so shocking because I'll have forgotten that he actually has a family or any sort of feelings at all. No better than Jaime really. I can't stand him atm.

Speaking of Jaime. Like who the f*ck thought this would be the character arc for him? Or a good one at that? All this build up to redemption, including his lovely unfolding romance with Brienne over most of the series, subsequently sleping with her just to cruelly leave THE VERY SAME EPISODE... because he's suddenly come to realise he is who he is and that he loves his sister. His sister Cersei, who didn't even die by getting properly one upped by anyone -- the epitome of an unfufilling ending. What was even the point. In anything. In all of it.

All of the characters are dead to me. I hardly even care for Sansa at this point because if Jon does not reciprocate her feelings or her feelings are not explicitly stated in the next episode, then what was the point of her whole character this season besides being shown as illogically jealous and conspiring behind Jon's back. Again. Why can't they learn to communicate?

Why can't anyone learn from their mistakes? Is the message of this series only boiling down to: humanity is screwed unless we get an all-seeing ruler to make logical decisions for us? All hail King Bran? Which by the way, a Three Eyed Raven doesn't exist in reality... so we're screwed.

I am just so drained. This series was what I considered the best series on television -- actually the best thing in film... ever. Every scene was gripping. There was decline around season four or five but I could look past it. This? This is inexcusable.

WHAT A DISASTROUS ENDING.

#game of thrones spoilers #got spoilers #its so bad #dark daenerys #dark!dany #idek anymore #jonsa

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winterisfinallyhere · 5 years

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Game of Thrones 8x02 review

So second re-watch and a little bit of calming down I have slightly better feels for the episode.

We got some really amazing Bramie moments, Gendry is officially canon!, Dany in a sort of weird way confirmed Political Jon for us and the whole episode kind of showcased everyone connecting with people, with their family. Well everyone but Dany. The Theon + Sansa reunion was super sweet and while I did a momentary freak-out that dxd were going to go for that, I really don’t see why on the second watch. Sansa and Theon are war buddies of sort. Of course they’re gonna be happy to see each other.

And as it turned out the title was not The Rightful Queen but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - which I love!

That’s actually what I’m going to talk about first this time around! All the things I loved best. Because I feel what I actually enjoyed got kind of lost in my initial thoughts share because I just got so super frustrated by the last-ish scene with DanyxJon.

So the Amazing bits!

First was, of course, the whole Jamie x Brienne interaction from the first one when she defends him in the great hall, him watching her instead of listening to Tyrion and then him asking to fight with her. Then when he knights her. It’s really the best and it’s super amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.

It’s so beautiful and almost better than a freaking wedding and just the more of my babies I see, the more I want them! GIMME GIMME! Seriously, please, let this have a Disney HEA ending! I want Saphire lion cubs running around on Tarth.

Even with these happy dreams in my heart, I got the terrible feeling that Brienne is going to die. No one gets to be truly happy in GoT without paying a price. Then again, usually that happiness comes at the expense of someone else, which this do not. So a bit of hope there...

The Sansa + Dany (+ Theon) scene

Ohh goodness, this was hands down my favorite none Bramie scene.

Dany x Sansa chat one-on-one was something on my special wishlist I kind of didn’t even think we’d get. But here we did! And boy was it amaze balls! Dany gets straight to the point with the fact that it’s Jon is a big part of why they’re not BFFs (which they could never be, but moving on) and Sansa twists that around so Dany actually kind of point out it’s her that’s change and done for Jon, not the other way around. Which totally changes Sansa’s tune and we even get a sort of apology.

Then she asks the big question

and we see Dany’s reaction (not good)

(also that D’s had time to paint her nails. very nice.)

Then we get this scene

Theon comes in, knees for Dany, tells them why he’s there and then asks to fight for Sansa. Because he’s here for her, for the Starks, not for Dany.

And it shows on D’s face that she’s not pleased. Not only that, but she’s a little bit jealous and also confused. Because of this history, this bond, is something she totally lacks. She has no connections, no true family. She has followers for sure. She has Jorah who has been with her for so long. But even he has always been her subject. Sansa and Theon love each other as equals because of their shared past and trauma. And he wants to fight for her and the Starks because of that. Because of love and family. That is what Dany lacks. Always have. It’s really very sad when you think about it.

Now on to the Dislike(s)

If any of you caught my first thoughts review, you’ll remember it was basically me bashing Jon Snow for being an idiot for telling Dany who he “really” is. Which I still stand-by. No matter if you’re indifferent to ships, a Jonsa or a Jonerys fan this sucked as a reveal.

Really! Don’t believe me?

If you’re indifferent you’ll be pissed because he just kind of tells her. No drama, no build up, no her overhearing or anything. We don’t get enough time for either one of their emotions to properly show (because we freaking keep getting interrupted every time Dany is talking to someone).

If you’re a Jonsa, this sucked because he told her at all. It’s a real stupid move even if there is another motive. It also sucked because he’s telling Dany rather than Sansa.

If your heart beats for Jon x Dany, this sucked as reveal because this was not the time! They’re about to possibly die. All over people have been telling their loved one that they should go and be safe in the crypt (even though why they think the crypts full of old dead people would be safe, I do not know). But there is none of that. Instead, we get a reveal D & J are related and the first thing she does is suggest it’s not true and then point out he’s the last male heir and got a claim to the iron throne.

I think the only people that liked this is the anti-Jonery and anti-Jonsa folks who also don’t care about Jon being in character. Or anything making sense. So no one?

Basically, this scene sucked and makes very little sense.

Unless you’re going for Max Drama. Which I guess dxd are doing. So I’m just going to go with it and see where it takes us. It’s pretty clear Dany and Jon are worried about different things and it’s going to be interesting to see it play out. I’m assuming it’s all leading us towards Targbowl / Dance of Dragons 0.2 and as long as that happens, I guess I can forgive the weirdness of this actually going down.

Overall...

this episode flowed better than the last one. It was still a little bit too much of “reunions, talking and being broody while waiting for the army of the dead to show up”. Seriously not sure we needed two episodes of that but just like with the Jon + Dany crypt scene I’m gonna try to just trust that dxd put them in there for a freaking reason.

My wish for next weeks episode is that they just get rid of the Night King fast. I don’t want 1 h 20 minutes of battle. I want them to just kill him, all the wights fall down and die (again?) and it’s like “wow, that was easier than expected” and for like two minutes it's all smiling until the real politics of WTF happens now start. Especially with Dany knowing who Jon really is!

That’s really all I care about, not the stupid WW war.

At this point, I don’t even care what they want. I just want them gone so we can get on with actual interesting plotlines. Like who sits on the iron throne, how do we feed everyone, how do we get Cersei her elephants, how do we deal with the dragons, northern independence and who is telling Sam his family was roasted alive Those questions are the questions I actually want answers to.

#game of thrones 8x02 review #jonsa #we better get dance of dragons 0.2 #Bramie #Brienne x Jamie #anti daenerys #anti targaryen restoration #Anti-Jonerys

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kallypsowrites · 5 years

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Okay, I’ve processed the Game of thrones leaks and it’s time for KALLYPSO’S OPINION. Things are tagged and there’s more stuff under the cut.

So, just to start, I take these leaks with a grain of salt. A huge grain of salt. The leaking scandal was too big last year for HBO to not be keeping a huge eye on Friki. He’s well known at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if Friki is just speculating (since most of what he said would be pretty easy to predict). I don’t know why someone working on the show would risk their job. Also, HBO often makes sure the crew doesn’t totally know everything that is going on when they shoot it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have multiple subtitlers working on one episode to make sure no body knows everything. Bottom line, just because Friki was accurate during the leak scandal doesn’t make him accurate now.

WITH THAT SAID, let’s pretend the leaks are totally, one hundred percent real. What’s the good and the bad?

The Good:

1. Gendarya!!! I would really love to see banter between them in the first episode and the asking him to make a spear out of a dragon glass dagger would explain those trailer clips (though it also means it would be easy to speculate).

2. Arya and Jon reunion! Thank you god! And it seems positive. I keep psyching myself out and worrying it would go badly but it seems they are back to being close and I’m happy.

3. Having the Loot train battle actually mean something and not just be a pointless diversion. Like... look guys, if Sam didn’t react to his family being burned, the loot train battle didn’t mean anything or effect the plot. It didn’t even get rid of Cersei’s gold or kill Bronn. All they did was kill these two minor characters and unless it effected Sam (or created a food shortage) the loot cart battle was just an overblown set piece. So I’m glad Sam is hearing about it and seems upset about the whole thing (particularly his brother). Not sure why so many people thought Sam wouldn’t have an emotional reaction.

4. Realistic Sansa drama. Look, I don’t mind drama between women, especially when it makes sense. The Sansa and Arya conflict, while it could have made sense, was terribly written and very bad. But thus far, Sansa’s conflict with Dany seems to make sense. She doesn’t know this woman, she doesn’t know her intentions, she knows the northern lords will be pissed and Jon has put her in a difficult posistion, and Jon really did not consult any of the north about the whole bending the knee buisness. I know he’s ‘king’ and doesn’t have to be, but he was also democratically elected. Like, sure, it’s drama, but for the right reasons.

5. Dany not being immediately accepted. That would just be unrealistic, honestly. All the north is suddenly chill with dragons and a Targaryen who is the daughter of the king they helped to overthrow? She’s going to have to prove herself in the first battle to really win their respect. Good. I don’t want everyone immediately being chummy with one another, because that brushes aside a very complex political situation.

6. White walker related stuff. Seems like Tormund, Berric and Edd discover some markings that could be useful. Good that they’ll be dropping hints on how to defeat the white walkers.

7. parentage reveal at the end of the episode. Makes sense. I predicted it would be there. Good place to drop the bomb.

8. The Hound and ARya reuniting. Love their duo. Excited about that.

9. Tyrion and Sansa conversation. I like that Sansa rightly says “Cersei can’t be trusted” and she’s about to be proved VERY RIGHT when Jaime shows up. Sansa ain’t fooled by Cersei.

10. Jon and Bran reunion is cute.

THE BAD

1. Jon asks Arya for help getting Sansa to like Dany, but there was no sign of Arya interacting with Dany? How does Arya feel about Dany? Have we heard? Do we know anything. If anything, I would think Arya would be suspicious because she’s a naturally suspicious person, though it makes since she would trust Jon. Still, that seems out of the blue.

2. The pre parentage dragon riding. Some people say this is speculation and other say it happens later but if it happens here it is SO SO SO SO DUMB. Riding a dragon isn’t that easy, and frankly its a little insulting if it took Dany five seasons to bond enough with Drogon to ride him and Jon pets a dragon once (who is not Rhaegal) and can suddenly just jump on his back. Stupid, rushed, fanicky, I hate it.

3. Euron x Cersei. I can see him blackmailing her and I’ve predicted him blackmailing her by making himself the one in control of the Golden Company so that she needs him to use them. But I just don’t want to see Euron gaining sexual control over Cersei. Please no. No more of that. Gross.

4. Theon rescuing Yara. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see it, but this seems pretty early in the show and rushed. Also Euron’s line about not killing family? Bitch you killed your brother? What are you TALKING about?

5. A lot of emphasis on Jon bending the knee for love. Look, I’m not a Jonerys shipper. I actually don’t have a bone in either of the ships in the race. One of the reasons I don’t ship Jonerys is because thus far it has not been that well written in my eyes and there’s not that much chemistry (particularly on Kit’s side. Kid what are you doing with your face. If you’re in love, can you smile every once and awhile). The fact that friki says their love is obvious and love is in the air makes me wonder because is my boy Jon going to show affection? Still seems pretty grim in the trailer. I’m just wondering if they are going to be able to sell me on this romance this season and I have my doubts.

THE MISSING

1. Where the FUCK is Jaime????? You’d think he’d at least have a brief scene in this episode. Makes me skeptical considering he’s supposed to be in all six episodes (I know it said four at one point, but it was corrected later in the doc to say six).

2. Where is Brienne? Does she have a reaction to any of this? Give me my Braime reunion scene!!

3. Ghost. Give me Ghost you fucks. It’s the last season. I know you can afford a few shots of Ghost

4. The actor for Edmuere Tully is credited as being in episode one as well and he’s nowhere to be scene. is he with jaime. Did Jaime stop by the Riverlands to grab Lannister soldiers like I predicted?

5. In generaly, there are several credited characters missing from the roster. Which makes me skepitcal of leaks.

All and all, there’s nothing shocking in these leaks, except for the very dumb dragon riding thing. It’s likely he could have speculated wildly based on trailers and a few bits of information because it wouldn’t take a genius to write this. It doesn’t seem like there’s enough happening in this episode either. He probably skipped over several small interactions.

Whatever the case, I’ll believe the leaks when I see them in the episode. We shall see!

#got spoilers #game of thrones spoilers #game of thrones #got leaks #game of thrones leaks #Sansa Stark #Arya Stark #jon snow #tyrion lannister #cersei lannister #daenerys targaryen #bran stark #Samwell Tarly

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rhetorical-ink · 5 years

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Rhetorical Ink: Game of Thrones Series Finale Review

** FANFIC FODDER SPOILERS BELOW **

So, it has all come down to this -- finally, the series finale to Game of Thrones -- a series I started watching right as the infamous “Red Wedding” was happening, and have watched alongside friends and family for the last five years (since that was in year 3 when I got into it). How does it end? Well, here are

My Top Ten Thoughts on Game of Thrones, season 8, episode 6:

10. Tyrion finding his brother and sister was hard to watch -- not only because Peter Dinklage is such a good actor in that moment, but also because one, it means he’s going to have “nothing to lose” when he confronts Dany again (which makes me UBER nervous) and second, because...it was really easy for him to find Jaime and Cersei. Like, the memes weren’t far off in how shallow that brick grave was, y’all.

9. I won’t lie -- the moment the dragon wings framed Dany, I was okay with this scene -- it’s honestly how I pictured this moment, her addressing her troops and the victorious Dothraki -- of course, then Dany’s like, “We’re going to cleanse EVERYWHERE like we have King’s Landing. Breaking the wheel ain’t easy, y’all. In any case, Tyrion gives up his title as hand and Dany holds him accountable for his treason. We all know where this is headed, sadly.

8. I’m super happy Dany didn’t just burn Tyrion the first chance she got, since they’ve been through so much together -- but that speech to Jon Snow in the holding room. It’s necessary to build up Jon’s decision to kill Dany, and Tyrion points out all of these moments that show Dany’s madness buidling -- buuuuuut, it’s a little contradictory and almost seems like the writers putting that in as a way to justify Dany’s heel turn. If Tyrion knew all these markers in the first place, surely he would have acted differently leading up to this or have made more effort, knowing she’s going mad, to prevent the eventual burning of King’s Landing...but you know...I do like that Tyrion is finally like, “I’m going to play the family card” and shoves in Jon’s face that Dany is very much going to kill his sisters if he doesn’t stop her. Yep, that pretty much does it and seals Dany’s fate.

7. The vision of the undying is fulfilled, as we see Dany actually touch the throne, reaching her goal. It’s actually a little heartbreaking when Dany reverts back to her more “normal” self, smiling at the realization that she’s reached her goal and won. And then, of course, Jon has to march in.

Now, when he first got to the throne room and the dragon shifted all the ash/snow off, that was a cool shot (no pun intended)!

Jon confronts Dany and calls her out and quickly realizes there’s no compromise with Dany -- and as he kisses her, stabs her. I could see it coming a mile away, but it didn’t make it any less painful to watch. An unfortunate necessity and really, a shame. There’s so much they could have done with Dany, and it ends just like that.

6. What I AM happy for is that Drogon doesn’t die! He comes in, MELTS the Iron Throne in a fit once he sees Dany’s dead, and carries her away into the air, not to be seen again in the episode. At least HE made it out alive! And Bran even mentions “tracking down” Drogon later, so does that mean he’ll warg into him? Why didn’t we get to see THAT? Also, for a split second, I thought Drogon was going to try and roast Jon Snow and we’d be given some naked Kit Harrington fan service. But noooo, nothing like that sadly.

5. So, in an effort to try and restore peace amid the death of two Queens -- Tyrion and Greyworm meet among the council of the most powerful minds in Westeros to discuss what to do now.

I actually laughed out loud when everyone rejected Sam’s idea of a democracy -- clearly, we’ve spent 8 seasons knowing the general population of Westeros is garbage, so having them VOTE on a new ruler seems a bit toooo modern for the medieval world.

I really wanted them to just make a large council out of everyone there at the meeting and bring all the leaders together -- sort of like an EU situation. Justice League. Something -- but they pick a King nonetheless, just one that is a “one term” king? So, they just keep electing new rulers that aren’t related? Okay...still, of ALL people to pick.....

....it’s Bran.

Bran’s the King of Westeros.

To those that picked him as the one to sit on the Iron Throne. Ya did it.

Y’all did it.

I realized as Tyrion was talking that he was seriously about to make Westeros’s version of Internet Explorer the King and was taken slightly aback.

Granted, Edmure Tulley sure wasn’t getting the title, and Tyrion did not want it...but...Bran? Bran clearly is just a figurehead and with no real authority, other than being an omniscient being. Can three-eyed ravens be Kings? Clearly, they can in this finale!

4. I get a little at a loss as to what all “changed” or what “wheel” was broken by the end of the series, other than the North regaining its independence. I mean, Tyrion is still Hand of the King (as a “punishment” -- okay -- King Bran the Broken -- at least his title matches his power). The council is still there with the same titles, just with people we actually LIKE in the places of total pricks. But it’s still the same set up -- the same order -- maybe we’re supposed to believe things will take a turn for the better.

I can’t help but feel haunted by Jon’s words, though, in wondering if what he did was right. I suppose that emptiness IS supposed to resonate with us -- that our choices have a lasting consequence.

STILL, I would have liked the council idea better -- with Sansa refraining and claiming the North as its own land. How does that song go again, though? You can’t always get what you want...

3. Thank goodness Brienne gets to go back and write Jaime a happy ending! I did like that part -- Sam, though, didn’t have to hit us over the head with his Frodo moment of “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Eye roll.

I DO, though, if I had to pick anything, LOVE the endings for Arya and Sansa -- yeah, we don’t get any Gendry or Tyrion ship moments, but instead get a really fitting ending for both women. Arya gets to sail into the unknown West of Westeros (can we do a spinoff? Not sure Maisie’s up to it, especially since her character gets out mostly unscathed) and Sansa becomes the fierce Queen of the North, just as she should.

Y’all -- the fashion on Sansa’s dress? Can we get a winter cosplay up in this?

2. Jon Snow “takes the black, again,” though do we really have a Night’s Watch now? It seems more like he goes to the North and reunites with the Wildlings and Ghost -- at LEAST he gets to see Ghost again and give him a proper petting! Seriously, I just knew in my stomach it wouldn’t be the last time we saw that Direwolf! And in the end, Jon heads north of the wall with Tormund and the Wildlings, and we see a small smile -- like it was meant to be and he was finally happy.

The. End.

1. So...I didn’t HATE this ending -- I’ve seen a lot of series endings that I loathed and this isn’t one of them. BUT, there was so much that was left unsaid or that I wanted to see more answers to:

* Where Drogon ended up or what he’s doing

* Where Nymeria’s pack is or that they are unused

* What happened to Gendry at Storm’s End

* What happened to the Vale and to the Iron Born

Lots of unanswered questions and characters thrown to the wayside, but overall, that episode salvaged what it could. I was disappointed with the season as a whole, but it could have been worse. I suppose.

Will it deter me from loving the series as a whole? No.

Will I probably check out the prequel series. Yep.

Is Game of Thrones still a series worth the watching? OF COURSE.

Now, though, I’m going to start reading the actual books, to see what is different, and to prep for the eventual releases of the final books.

And so my watch begins.

#Game of Thrones #GOT #GOT spoilers #spoilers #Game of Thrones spoilers #season 8 #a song of ice and fire #series finale #season finale

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