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raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka · 3 years

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Why Daenerys Should've Stayed Longer in the North Than Attack Cersei Too Soon (Which is a dick move, really) PART 2

This is a continuation from my other post, as promised. Here’s the link to Part 1 here.

ALLIES FROM THE SOUTH

The Stormlands. With Dany recently legitimizing Robert Baratheon’s last living bastard, Gendry (Yay!), and appointed him as the new Lord of Storm’s End, I think he had pledged his loyalty and full support to her.

Now since the Baratheons are the overlords of the Stormlands, it ultimately makes the Stormlands part of Dany’s new rule in Westeros. And if the Stormmen questioned Gendry’s legitimacy, there are two people who can back him up: Ser Davos Seaworth, a landed knight, and Ser Brienne of Tarth, literally the heiress to Evenfall in Tarth Island. Both of whom are from the Stormlands and have served the late Baratheon lords, Stannis,

and Renly, respectively.

TV show-wise, Gendry had taken over Edric Storm’s plotline. Edric Storm was another one of Robert’s many bastards and it was him who Ser Davos saved from being killed by Mellisandre in the books, not Gendry. Gendry himself was grateful to Davos for saving his life and he sort of stepped up as his own parental figure. I also think Gendry reminded Davos of the son he lost during the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

As for Brienne, she and Gendry never shared a conversation in the show, but in the books, he even saved her life. Brienne came from Tarth, an island in the Stormlands, where her father Selwyn Tarth is lord and one of the many bannermen of the Baratheons of Storm’s End. Brienne came across Gendry in the Inn at the Crossroads while she was searching for the Stark girls. When she saw him, she literally thought he was Renly because of his striking resemblance to his uncle. Their exchange went something like this:

Brienne: Oh my god, Lord Renly?!

Gendry: Uh, what? Lord? Lol no, I’m just a smith.

I wished it happened in the show, it would’ve been funny.

Dorne. There isn’t much plot regarding Dorne in the show. (Again, f*ck D&D for ruining a great sub-plot of the story!) But in the books, the Martell heiress, Arianne was the ultimate feminist icon. She supported and fought for Myrcella Baratheon’s claim to the Iron throne over her younger brother, Tommen, and she hoped that the rest of Westeros would follow after Dorne’s right of inheritance regardless of gender and order of birth. But no! They disregarded that seemingly important plot that even George R.R. Martin was disappointed about the changes. (We hear you, George!) Nevertheless, Arianne would’ve supported a queen, yes. But between Daenerys and Cersei, she’d probably go with Dany mainly because of their family ties. In case you forgot, Rhaegar’s late first wife, Elia Martell, was Arianne’s aunt. Also, because of what happened to Elia and Oberyn Martell in King’s Landing, the Martells practically loathed the Lannisters. In the show, Oberyn Martell’s paramour Ellaria Sand, and his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, hated the Lannisters, that’s why they sided with Dany. But with all of them dead and House Martell now extinct, I think the new prince of Dorne would’ve allied himself with a tamer ruler, not one who plays with wildfire. (Note: this is when Dany stayed in the North and did not march south yet.)

Spies. In the Art of War, the use of spies implies gaining knowledge of the enemy, knowing their motive and their next move. With Lord Varys the Spider in Winterfell, who’s still serving under Daenerys, has its advantages. Vary’s networks of spies or as what he called them, his “little birds” are literally scattered across the seven kingdoms.

His little birds are actually children, and appearance-wise, cannot be easily identified as spies. With his intel, they could easily formulate a plan to defeat Cersei.

DEFENSE AT SEA

If Cersei couldn’t do it by land, she’ll go by sea. Which, Daenerys of course, have the appropriate fleets to defend, covering both the Narrow and Sunset Seas. Here's a map:

(Source: pinterest.com)

Enemies to the East. If Cersei will be stupid enough to attack through the Narrow Sea by sea, Daenerys has the fleets to defend. The Northern fleet, a.k.a the Manderly Fleet of White Harbor and the Arryn Fleet in Gulltown in the Vale will join forces.

Enemies to the West. And if they invade through the Sunset Sea, they’d have to pass the Iron Islands, where Yara Greyjoy’s Fleet will intercept them, with the help of the Mallister Fleet in Seagard.

Who would win depends. The only other person that’s probably as good as Euron at sea is his niece, Yara. The rest of Dany’s fleet would have to get lucky or outnumber the number of ships in a fleet.

At this point, you’ll probably be like, oh, what if they steer clear from the fleets and enter the North’s weakly defended areas? Okay, that job falls to the castles nearest to their borders. The northernmost castle is the Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, which is practically already deserted. On the south is Greywater Watch, which has the strongest defense out of all four cardinal directions. On both east and west hold the seat of two branches of House Flint, with Widow’s Watch on the east, and Flint’s Finger on the west (Again, refer to the map above). Once they see Cersei’s fleet, they’ll inform the people in Winterfell.

People tend to forget that Daenerys has the only air support with her dragons. So when she hears about this, she’ll easily burn the enemy fleet with one dracarys away.

That is, if Qyburn hadn’t installed that big-ass crossbow in one of the ships, then she’ll have to be better at dodging them. It gets better if Jon’s willing to help her with Rhaegal, but we’ll never know.

OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED

The map shows the Crownlands and its neighboring kingdoms of the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and the Stormlands. (Source: pinterest.com)

Territories. With Cersei sacrificing Casterly Rock to tighten her grip on the Iron Throne, she technically had also sacrificed the Westerlands, which meant everything north of King’s Landing is Dany’s territory now. With Dany’s army and territories secured, the Crownlands, where King’s Landing is, is technically surrounded by the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and Stormlands. I included the Reach because, well, she roasted the Tarlys and took the remaining men to her cause with a choice, bend the knee or die in a blaze of glory.

Armies. Dany has the combined armies of North, Vale, Riverlands, Westerlands, Reach, Stormlands, and maybe Dorne, plus, the Unsullied; fleets of the North, Vale, Riverlands, and Yara’s fleet from the Iron Islands; and the only air support, her two remaining dragons. Cersei on the other hand, just had the army of the Crownlands, King’s Landing’s City Watch, the queensguard, plus, the Golden Company without elephants; and Euron Greyjoy’s fleet.

I think it’s obvious that Dany outnumbers Cersei’s army, by a lot. And at this point, Dany has enough allies to lay a siege on King’s Landing.

DAENERYS VS. CERSEI

Let’s discuss the difference in the personalities and motives of Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister.

They both have blond hair, are the only girl among three siblings, and are queens in their own right. But that’s where their similarities end.

Cersei currently sits on the iron throne, and she is loving the perks that came with it. Endless Power, which meant she can do whatever she wants and not care about what people think, like sleeping with her brother. With the news of Dany coming back to Westeros, she sees her as a threat and wanted nothing more than for Dany to disappear so she could stay in power.

Daenerys, however, claims that being the queen of the seven kingdoms is her birthright, as it was the Targaryens that reunited the whole continent of Westeros. Of course, it’s still power, but at the same time, she sees it as a responsibility as well. (With great power, comes great responsibility. Wow, I’m quoting Spiderman now.) She believes that as a queen, it’s her job to take care and provide for the needs of her subjects and even makes an effort to hold court as she listened to their demands. She also thinks that slavery is a big no-no, so she freed them.

The key to becoming a great leader is finding the balance between being loved and feared by your subjects. Cersei is more likely feared than loved. She also doesn’t care about her people, a fact that she admitted to her brother, Tyrion once. Daenerys most likely had the scale tips on balance, with her being equally loved and feared by her subjects. She’s loved because she actually takes time to listen to the people’s needs, and feared because she could take you out using her dragons with one word.

If Dany did lay siege on King’s Landing (again, we aren’t counting her major mad queen moment), the only thing Cersei can use against Dany is the people living within the city walls. Cersei might have heard that Dany’s been freeing slaves in the cities surrounding Slaver’s Bay, and figured out that she has a soft spot for the common folk.

In conclusion, if Daenerys had simply waited out and took her time planning and gathering allies and supplies against Cersei, she would’ve been successful in her campaign to retake Westeros. But then again, we aren’t the writers for this show. In the end, they had Jon battling through himself while he chooses to reply with either of his two favorite lines, She’s my queen or I don’t want it. Or that Sansa and Arya doesn’t like Dany at all and think that she’s a power-hungry, dragon-riding bitch. Or that Bran doesn’t give a f*ck about anything. So, yeah. What do you guys think?

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thecaffeinebookwarrior · 5 years

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The Many Faces of the Strong Female Character

The much-requested, positive counterpart to my classic “Female Characters to Avoid in Your Writing” and it’s much-later sequel.

Here, I will discuss some of my favorite fictional ladies and what makes them work so well; given my rapturous love of women, there will probably be a sequel! In the meantime, I talk more about portraying female characters here.

Happy writing, everybody! <3

1.) The Warrior

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When most people hear “strong female character,” they picture the most popular definition of the term: a stony-faced, emotionally shallow, conventionally attractive broad who punches and kicks stuff. She may occasionally shout things like, “I DON’T NEED NO MAN,” while perhaps punching a small baby.

I decided to start with my wife Diana, because she is the perfect antithesis of this trope. She isn’t stony, she’s courageous. She’s unabashed about showing her doubts, hopes, affections, and optimism. Her love interest never steals her spotlight, but she feels no need to shun romance to appear “strong.” She’s beautiful, but not sexualized or objectified.

And while most Strong Female Characters™ are ironically reduced to damsels in distress at some point in their own narratives, Diana consistently takes the lead, totally autonomous over her own story.

You can kick ass AND love babies, people. Joss Whedon, please take notes.

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Other examples: Okoye from Black Panther, Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road, Rey from Star Wars, and Ser Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones.

2.) The Comedian

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If you haven’t watched Chewing Gum on Netflix, stop whatever you’re doing and watch it right now. Its relatively simple premise – a twenty-four-year-old from a fundamentalist Christian household struggles to lose her virginity – is a segway into a hilarious, genuine exploration of human sexuality, relationships, and how we forge our identities.

Brilliantly portrayed by the series’ creator, Michaela Coel, Tracy is essentially that one friend who knows exactly what you’ve been thinking and isn’t afraid to say so. She is never relegated to a single trope or stereotype. She’s stumbling, clumsily but enthusiastically, through the life experiences that shape us. Most importantly, she is allowed to be sexually curious, awkward, aggressive, insecure, and – I can’t stress this enough – hilarious. The dialogue is infinitely quotable, and endlessly relatable.

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Watching shows like Chewing Gum makes me realize how few female characters – and even fe wer Black female characters – are portrayed as truly human. Typically, they��re allowed to be sexy, but not sexual. They’re allowed to be awkward, but only if it’s cute. They can be insecure, but only if that insecurity can easily be solved by the affirmations of a male love interest. And they’re rarely allowed to be the main source of a series’ comedy.

So remember: let your female characters be human. Let them be awkward, funny, sexual philosophers. It’s easier than you think.

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Other examples: Abbi and Ilan from Broad City, Leslie from Parks and Rec, Tina from Bob’s Burgers.

3.) The Drama Queen

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Watching Riverdale is like hurtling along on a structurally unstable rollercoaster. It’s utterly insane, a lot of fun, and once you’re on, you can’t stop.

But amidst the explosions of batshit crazy plot points, killer cults, and the existential perplexity of finding yourself attracted to emo Jughead, there are some real gems. One of these is Cheryl Blossom, and pretty much every plot line surrounding her.

Cheryl is introduced as a fairly one-dimensional, catty mean girl, though the Regina George-esque charisma with which she’s portrayed makes her instantly likable. Initially, we expect her to be a character we’ll love to hate.

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And yet, within the first few episodes, I was impressed by how layered and complex her motivations were. Much of contempt towards others was misdirected rage from an upbringing of extreme emotional abuse, and grief over her dead brother -- all portrayed without a Snape-style condonation of said behavior. By the end of season one, my thoughts were generally, “Oh, crap, I don’t think I can claim to be watching this ‘ironically’ anymore,” and “MORE CHERYL.”

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Season two answered my wish, and then some. Cheryl was saved from an (impressively conscientiously portrayed) attempt at sexual assault by a pack of her female friends, and her attacker got the shit beat out of him in one of the most cathartic moments of modern television.

To the exaltation of my queer heart, she also came out as a lesbian, in a deeply moving story arc that I never would have expected from this show. Without spoiling too much, she and her new love interest kissing in front of anti-gay propaganda footage was legitimately one of the most powerful moments I have ever witnessed.

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Before the season was over, she viciously threatened her abusive, homophobic mother while covered in blood, shot a serial killer with a bow and arrow, and joined a gang. If that’s not gay culture, I don’t know what is.

Oh, how I wish this show was just about her.

Other examples: Alexis from Schitt’s Creek.

4.) The Lovable Bastard

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Ah, The Good Place. I have never experienced such a breath of comedic fresh air. A new philosophical principle each episode, examined and applied in hilarious and thought-provoking ways. A complete absence of harmful stereotypes. Incredibly lovable, three-dimensional, and ever-evolving characters.

I was considering using my queen Tahani for this list, who externally larger-than-life and internally vulnerable after emotional abuse by her parents. Also, she’s hilarious. Everyone and everything in The Good Place is hilarious. And I also thought about talking about Janet, who is the best character in anything ever, but of course:

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Instead, I’ll be talking about bisexual icon Eleanor, who is something very few female characters get to be: the lovable bastard.

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Eleanor, when we first meet her, is not traditionally good in any sense of the word. She turned down a high-paying job because she was expected to be nice to people. She sold placebos to the elderly, and was great at it. She was drunken, slovenly, hedonistic, and selfish. And she’s instantly incredibly likable.

Why and how Eleanor is so enjoyable, even at her very worst, merits an essay all its own. But in a nutshell:

We empathize with her. We are introduced to “The Good Place” completely through her eyes. We are in her shoes.

The stakes are high. When we discover that her entry into the good place was a mistake, we want her to be okay.

We come to understand her, and how her terrible childhood shaped her destructive behavior.

She wants to be a better person, and with time, effort, and character development, we watch her become one.

Not only is this an amazing lesson in how to endear audiences to your character, it is also infinitely refreshing. The most famous lovable bastards are all men -- Han Solo, Dr. House, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Man With No Name, et cetera -- but women are rarely afforded the same moral complexity. If a woman in fiction has done bad things, she’s not usually a lovable bastard. She’s usually a bitch.

Eleanor isn’t just a great character. She conveys an important lesson: women are people. People with the same capacity for mistakes, growth, redemption, and love as anyone else.

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Other examples: Chloe from Don’t Trust the B*tch in Apartment 23

5.) The Cinderella

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Yep. I said it. Cinderella is a strong female character.

My girl not only survived in an abusive household, she persistently stayed positive. She worked each day to make the best of an impossible situation, from which she had no means of escape. That takes an insane amount of courage and tenacity.

But Caff, I hear you scream, she needed help to escape!! Well, my imaginary counterargument, so the fuck what? MOST people need help to escape their abusive situations, and there’s no shame in that. Accepting help from someone you trust is the best thing you can do in a situation such as that, and implying otherwise is horribly damaging to victims of abuse.

But she married the prince, you more feebly protest. Yes! She did! She found love and happiness and a great life in a socially influential position! And that’s an amazing message!

So in the flurry of female warriors, let’s not forget Cinderella, who tells people that their terrible circumstances won’t last forever, to stay hopeful and kind, and that accepting help from a trusted friend can lead to a happy life.

Cinderella is a bad bitch, and she deserves her happily ever after.

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Other examples: For some reason, I’m thinking of Sansa from Game of Thrones. When people try to discredit her as a strong character, they often make similar complaints. But both, quite fittingly, end up as queens.

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alexa-crowe · 4 years

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A 2004 Kid Watches GoT S1E1

That’s me, I just finished watching the very first episode of Game of Thrones. I was live Tweeting, but now I’m going to ruminate using my Tweets before watching episode 2.

First off, there’s a lot of problems with this show. It’s nothing obvious, but I feel like I need to say it because it’s a big problem: there’s a lot of unnecessary nudity of women. Sure, the actresses are consenting, but that doesn’t make it right. Just because a character is nude doesn’t mean the camera needs to show her boobs or naked body for fuck’s sake. Maybe if men were also nude as much it wouldn’t be so bad, but they aren’t. The writers of Game of Thrones sexualized women, which is abhorrent and disgusting. They “had” to age up the characters for nudity and sex scenes that were either unnecessary scenes or could not display nude bodies! It’s, quite frankly, disappointing. I just needed to get all that out.

Onto my actual thoughts of the first episode.

YO WHY TF DID THE NIGHT KING HAVE A HORRIBLE DEATH SEQUENCE WHEN THE WHITE WALKERS WERE LITERALLY THE FIRST PLOT THREAD INTRODUCED & THEREFORE THE MOST IMPORTANT?????? (like seriously, wtf. he’s literally the main villain of the story!!)

(okay but like what is the symbolism for?????)

oh lawd Arya is a feisty one and Bran’s super soft oh fuck I love: them. (YOU HEAR THAT?? I LOVE THEM!)

Jon, bby, ur a real Stark. (but seriously he’s literally a Stark. his mom’s Lyanna he’s legit a Stark lmfao no infidelity here, Cat.)

Oh shit NED U BETTER NOT—YOU BETTER BE THE “winter is coming that means white walkers” TYPE OR I WILL RESCIND MY MISPLACED DEVOTION TO YOU.

Omg direwolves i’m OMG JON’S A SMART ONE! HA! WHOULDA THUNK?

Lol Jon’s a real Stark fuck off Theon

If I have to watch Cersei and Jaime be romantic or sexual istg i’m gonna throw up a little in my mouth.

Please don’t hit me w twincest in the first episode prayers as I take a bathroom break (they hit me with the twincest 😭)

Also, King’s Landing is soooo beautiful!

*squeals in Jaime-gasm*

ah...ahaha... He’s so hot i’m STOP LOOKING AT CERSEI JUST STOP STOP STOP IF HE MAKES ANY SORT OF LOOK OF LOVE AT HER I’M GONNA LOSE MY APPETITE.

Oomf me ser why is he so hot my GOD BRIENNE IS SO LUCKY 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵 KBDJDVSIBSJDBDKDBDKDNKDBDKDNDKNDKDBDJDBKDBDNDBDNDBDJD

Okay but in all seriousness, who died? *Opens character guide* ohhh ok idc abt him lol

I was about to press play but...I just wanna appreciate Jaime for a moment. You know? Just...the outfit is...damn.

Also idk if i’m ready for this conversation between Jaime and Cersei. PLAY—

HE LOOKED AT HER WITH KINDA HEART EYES AND LOVING SMIRK (VER. ONE) I’M—

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I had to pause. Idk if i’m ready to proceed. Props to Nik tho bcs damn he knows how to do heart eyes. That’s not easy.

Ok ok ok I just need to get this over with and watch it.

OHHHHHHHHHH THEY THOUGHT JON ARRYN MIGHT’VE LEARNED ABT THEM FU—FUCK—FUCKING!

Issa raven~

Cat! ❤️❤️

Oop is this actually the episode where Bran gets pushed out of a tower? I hope not cuz oof that would suuuuuuuuuck

But also foreshadowing~~~~~~ hot damn if he hadn’t climbed a lotta shit wouldn’t have gone down... Woah.......... Holy crap...

Heyyyyyyy Joffrey!

Oh shit Sansa’s got a crush on the wrong guy.

Skksks Arya turned into Aya sk

Hot damn helmet hair is too sexy. Maybe i’ll just...leave it pause...right here...

No one should be allowed to be this sexy. No one.

Teehee I made a reaction pic lol

Jaime, sister-fucker: Tyrion, I’m disappointed in you for having sex with a whore even though you’re not related.

Tyrion: -_- right. Okay. Fuck off. I love you.

lmao their relationship is really cool

My mom came in the room to talk to me and she was like, “He [Jaime] looks like a shithead.” AND THEN I MENTIONED SHREK’S PRINCE CHARMING AND SHE WAS LIKE

I REMEMBER HIM AND THEY TOTALLY LOOK SIMILAR MAYBE THAT’S WHY I THINK HE’S A SHITHEAD

BSKBDODHDJ I’M DEAD DECEASED GONE LMFAO

This Jaime is peak shithead energy lmao

BWHAHAHA that wasn’t what I expected at all didhjdhd Jaime is kind but he’s closed himself off to everyone but Tyrion 🥺🥺 poor baby 🥺🥺 even Cersei doesn’t know his true self...

God I love this show already WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE RUINED WTF

i have since rescinded my previous statement FUCK why do i care so much...

Lyanna 🥺💕💕

Dany! She’s so pretty! *Bisexual mode activated*

Unnecessary boobage And why is there MORE incest vibes?????? WTF????? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Oh, Dany i’m sorry for everything that’s happened and will happen... 😔

Wait—wait lol Sansa’s only thirteen? I THOUGHT SHE WAS LIKE MY AGE AT LEAST HOLY COW WHY’S EVERONE SO FUCKIN’ YOUNG????

I feel old now lmfao

Lol they really did make Joffrey seem nice, didn’t they?

Oomf me ser UM—right, Jaime’s back, just as hot as always—I mean...

Ned Stark with the great comeback! Jaime Lannister with the sexiest smile of the century!

HAJSHKEBE Arya and Sansa are legit me and my sister. I’m Sansa and my sister’s Arya ksksbdkdb

OH SHIT! OH SHIT LYSA KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED OH SHIT oh ohhh ohhhhhh not good

Oh no Ned...

On another topic, I did this bdjndkdjdjdn

I’m tempted to rewind to Jaime & Ned’s convo just to make another reaction picture... I don’t wanna forget so imma do it now skskks

Here’s the pic:

Wait fuck he was already making heart eyes why did I cover them up

Oh, Dany... I’m so so so so so so sorry. But now she has the dragon eggs, at least.

Bye bye Ned :’(

OMG BRAN’S CLIMBING THE TOWER EYE—I WANT TO VOMIT GOD I’M SUPPOSED TO EAT DINNER RN BUT I CAN’T BECAUSE THAT’S VILE AND DISGUSTING AND ABHORRENT AND—

Ok but the fact that they don’t sound into it makes it a bit better. Only a bit. I don’t think I can eat my Mac n Cheese for a while tho. And I love Mac n Cheese :’(

Bran’s too young for this!

Idk if I can play it...no idk I just no no no no Jaime......... 😔☹️😨😰😖😵🤢🤮🤒

OH MY GOD JAIME YOU ARROGANT, SISTER-FUCKING, KING-SLAYING, BRIENNE-MOCKING, BRIENNE-HURTING, BOY-CRIPPLING, MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD-ASS PSYCHO HOW COULD YOU TRICK HIM LIKE THAT YOU FUCKING MONSTER!

Sorry, Ser Dad, but idk if i’ll be able to look at you for an hour or so

These can go in the trash. Bye. I WANT SEASON 2+ JAIME CUZ THIS ONE SUCKS ASS

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orangeflavoryawp · 5 years

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Jonsa - “A Violence Done Most Kindly”, Part 1

Alright, it’s here. I’m fucking doing it. This is my Jonsa tour de force, my magnum opus. My ultimate fix-it fic.

This is going to be a Season 7/8 AU. To summarize the major plot points up until now, this 'verse branches out roughly post Battle of the Bastards in canon, the mass murder of the Freys by Arya still stands, Cersei has been killed but her murderer hasn't been determined yet, Daenerys has only just landed in Westeros, the occupation/battle over Riverrun never happened as the Freys were slaughtered beforehand, and both Edmure and Brynden Tully are still alive, Bran found his way to Winterfell while Jon and Sansa dealt with ruling the North and preparing for a war with the dead, as well as the shifting power dynamics in Westeros now that Cersei has died. This story also assumes established Jonsa. Soft E. Dark. Politics and magic and murder and sex. That's essentially the gist of it.

I HIGHLY recommend that you read 'Bruises' before getting into this. It serves as a prequel of sorts, and it's only a one-shot so it reads pretty quickly. 'Bruises' really helps to set up the tone of where Jonsa is at the start of this fic.

“A Violence Done Most Kindly”

Chapter One: Hunger

"There is an old sort of magic to sacrifice, after all." - Jon and Sansa. Stark is a house of many winters.

Read it on Ao3 here.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 fin

* * *

It would be a lie to say that Sansa understands Cersei now – here at the end.

Here where she warms her brother’s bed.

Sansa imagines Cersei looked at Ser Jamie like this once, watching him in his sleep beside her. Or perhaps not. Perhaps theirs was always a quick, furtive fuck. A blinding instant of lust and need, smothered in dark alcoves and behind garish tapestries, a secret, silent thing – clawing at them from the inside.

Perhaps they’ve never slept the night through beside each other.

Perhaps she regretted it – gurgling out his name while she choked on her own blood.

Sansa reaches up to trace a hand down the side of Jon’s face, trailing past his jaw, along the cords of muscle flexing in his throat beneath her touch, whispering down his chest as he groans to wakefulness. She slips her hand to his growing hardness with a surety that might have been foreign to the little dove Cersei once knew.

But then, maybe that is also a lie.

“Sansa,” he groans, head thrown back along the pillow, voice rough with sleep and desire.

She braces her lips to his neck, imagines the rush of blood just beneath her mouth – pulls him from slumber with a selfish, desperate yearning she does not regret. “I need you,” she breathes into his skin, teeth sinking down.

Jon growls his answer, grabbing her by the hair, yanking her head back and kissing her hungrily. He turns her easily, bracing her back along the bed as he covers her with his weight, already hard and ready in her hand.

Some small part of her wishes Cersei had been her kill. A different, equally intense part of her, is relieved beyond words that she isn’t – that she would never be, now.

But more than that – more than a vengeful wrath she’s spent too long feeding to ever be free of hunger, to ever be satisfied with a mere raven scroll and the somber, even way Bran announces the news – more than that –

She just needs Jon.

“Come back to me,” she whispers against his mouth, moving with him in the dark.

No, she doesn’t think she’ll ever understand Cersei.

But as she feels Jon slip inside her, as she cradles his groan in the hollow of her throat, as she catches her lips at his temple – she thinks she doesn’t need to.

It’s a different hunger she feeds now, after all.

* * *

Sansa recognizes the sound of Baelish’s footsteps well before he’s made it to her side. He slinks like shadow easily enough across stone and wood and dirt, but here in the godswood, trudging through snow in the womb of winter, his steps are almost awkward, clunky.

He does not belong here. She knows this now with a certainty she hasn’t felt in years.

“My lady, I had hoped to find you here.”

Sansa only sighs, glancing away from the red weirwood leaves to meet his gaze over her shoulder. She offers a silent nod in greeting.

Baelish makes his way toward her, smoothing his hands over his robe when he settles beside her. “You have not forgotten what we spoke of when last I found you here, I should hope.”

Sansa tugs her furs tighter around her shoulders, eyes drifting back to the weirwood branches. “How could one forget?”

“Yes,” he murmurs, eyes drifting down her face and trailing the length of her throat.

She tries not to swallow, not to give notice of her discomfort. He takes a step closer. She resolutely does not take one back.

“This is a very crucial time for us, Sansa, you must know that.”

“Cersei is dead,” she says in answer, and she thinks maybe it should feel different along her tongue. Lighter, perhaps. Sweeter. Instead, it’s nothing but a stringent tartness.

“Yes, and by whose hand? None of my people seem to know the answer to that, except for whispers of faceless girls. Dead end gossip.” He looks at her out of the corner of his eye, appraising.

Sansa gives him nothing to appraise. “Is that what matters right now?”

He stays quiet a moment, and then, “It is, until we can ascertain whose side her murderer is on.”

Another silence. Sansa stretches a gloved hand out to catch the faint flecks of snow falling from the branches.

“We can’t let this opportunity pass us by. Cersei’s death has lead to infighting amongst the houses. King’s Landing is in near shambles with no discernible sovereign. Qyburn has fled without the support of his queen. The Mountain hasn’t been seen since reports of Cersei’s death. Citizens are fleeing to the other kingdoms as we speak, and even Daenerys Targaryen has seen the uselessness in conquering King’s Landing at this point.”

She knows this. She knows this already and she’s tired of hearing it. It only ever ends one way.

Baelish reaches for her, grasping her arms and turning her to face him, his gentleness forced and rushed – a falsity. Sansa blinks up at him.

“We have to consolidate power. If we wait too long, this chaos will be of no help to us.”

“Then go.”

Baelish furrows his brow at her answer, his fingers flexing along her elbows.

She swallows tightly, face a blank visage. “Go to King’s Landing then. Consolidate.” She lifts her chin. “Go.”

His throat flexes, poison tongue pressing back behind pursed lips.

“You can’t, can you?” she asks, not unkindly. “Because your power lies here. With me. And with the Vale. You can’t abandon either of us without giving yourself a disadvantage.”

“Sansa.” It’s almost a warning. As much a warning as Baelish ever gives – all smooth tones and invaded intimacy. His head inclines toward hers.

“Jon won’t go South. Not for that.” She extracts herself from his hold slowly, gently, without offense.

Baelish smacks his lips, a minute flicker of irritation crossing his eyes, but it’s all he will allow her to see of his disturbance. “The King can be persuaded.”

“Not in this. The dead occupy him on all sides. He won’t play the game.”

“Not even for you?”

Sansa doesn’t think too long on the way his eyes flick to her lips for a fraction of a second. “You overestimate my influence.”

“Oh, I think not,” he says lowly, a curl to his lip that reminds her of purple-faced boy-kings and hound-fed bastards.

No, he does not belong here. Not in the white and cold and wind of home. Not here where her mother used to brush her hair and her father used to beg her hand to dance and her brothers played their knightly parts in her tales dutifully. Not here where she had wanted to bury Lady those many years ago.

Wanted, and never could.

Sansa realizes suddenly, that Winterfell is not yet free.

And neither is she.

* * *

In the wake of Cersei’s death, the ensuing vacuum of power nearly cripples the kingdoms, with the remainder of the Lannister forces rallying behind a mourning, vengeful Ser Jaime, intent on securing the Reach and the Stormlands. Dorne wastes no time to declare its independence from the Seven Kingdoms entirely, and shortly after the suspicious slaughter of the Freys by unseen Northern hands both the Riverlands and the Vale swear to the North under the threat of a coming dragon queen.

Jon has no time for such politics.

Sansa rails against him openly in the Hall of Lords, demanding his attention to the ensuing fight for the crown, but the dead take precedence in everything he brings to court, and it’s not long before ravens are sent to all corners of Westeros begging aid in the coming fight.

Bran watches placidly, neither arguing for or against either of them. Sansa would call him not unlike a piece of furniture if she hadn’t better manners, and most days her pleads for his council lands on deaf ears. She ends most gatherings of the lords rife with frustration and nearly frothing at the mouth.

She doesn’t need to glance at Baelish to know the look he gives her.

“You think just because Cersei is dead that we are free from the South? That they will not land their hooks into every inch of the North until we are chained to them once more?” Sansa seethes, shutting her door once Jon is through it.

Jon heaves an unsteady breath, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. “That’s not what I think, and you know it,” he grits out, sending a dark look her way. “Stop twisting my words.”

“Then stop ignoring mine.”

“I’m not!” He stalks toward her, stops before he can do anything else. His hands itch at his sides. “Sansa, we can’t keep this up – this back-and-forth. We can’t afford such a divide, not now.”

Sansa takes a purposeful breath, hands folding before her. “I’m with you, Jon, I am but – ”

“Are you? Sometimes I wonder.” He can’t help the scoff that leaves him. He stares at her, keeps her gaze a moment longer, and then he’s turning to the far window, a hand raking over his face. He’s just so tired, suddenly.

Sansa is deadly still. So still he can’t even hear the rustle of her skirts on the cold stone at their feet – can’t pick up the scrape of air she pulls through anger-fused lungs.

“And how is your show of the dead going with the other kingdoms, hmm?” she bites out.

Jon snaps his head to her, his eyes narrowing so quickly she might have missed it.

Sansa takes a step toward him. “Are they simply jumping to aid us? Are they gathering the entire might of their forces, marching the sum of their armies North, all on your word?” Something sharp glints in her gaze and Jon swallows his reply back instantly. She scoffs, head thrown back. And then her eyes are eerily blue on his – instantly staggering him. “And have I ever demanded evidence? Have I ever once denounced your claims of the rising dead before the lords?”

Jon has no answer. None that would satisfy, at least.

Something in her softens at his silence, another step taken toward him. “I’ve never asked you to prove anything to me, Jon.”

Jon, she calls him – always.

(There was never anything to prove between them, after all.)

Jon closes his eyes, takes a long, deep breath, exhales just as evenly. When he opens his eyes, she’s still there. Still copper-crowned and winter-poised. Still every inch his sister.

And every inch not.

He thinks maybe it’s a sickness – this craving of his.

Jon steps into her, the stiff silence descending upon them like a cloak. He’s so close. He’s so unbearably close, and even though he has yet to touch her, the heat suffuses him – a stifled winter, a burrowing need.

He can see the way her chest heaves at the sudden proximity.

(She’s always been his, even when she won’t admit to it.)

Jon thrums a tentative hand along her side, fingers grazing the line of her hip.

Her tongue darts out to wet her lips.

It’s a lost cause, he knows. Since the moment she opened her door to him, this was only ever going to end one way.

“I know you’re with me,” he tells her on an exhale, roiled in heat.

She arches a single, fine brow. “Do you? Sometimes I wonder.” She almost smacks her lips with self-satisfaction.

A low snarl eases from his lips, his hand bunching in her dress, dragging her to him. She lets him, hands alighting on his chest. He leans into her, nuzzling his temple to hers, breath ragged already.

She makes it so easy.

He’s already panting for her.

(She makes it so hard.)

“Sansa,” he groans out, fingers trembling as they reach for her laces.

She takes his face in her hands, pulls him back until his eyes are locked with hers. He doesn’t still his unlacing of her. He couldn’t even if he tried.

So unbearably close.

(He just needs to touch her.)

“You lose one war, you lose them all,” she tells him, arching against him.

She’s right, he knows. She’s right, and yet –

She comes undone so easily in his hands – they need to stop ending their arguments this way.

Because this – the splendid way she hisses beneath his tongue and the subtle way she arches into his hands and the ragged pant of his name (his name) along her bruising lips – is a war they can’t afford to lose.

(This is a war they haven’t even begun to fight, not truly – not by the light of day.)

“I’m with you,” she whispers against his mouth, and he knows.

He knows, he knows, he knows.

And even still –

Some wars aren’t about who’s right. They’re only about who’s left.

* * *

Arya returns to Winterfell in the dead of night. Ghost clambers to wakefulness at the foot of Jon’s bed, the sharp rap on his door jolting him from sleep.

It’s Davos at his door. “In the hall, Your Grace,” he says, and nothing more.

Jon rushes from the room, following his Hand and the faint shadows Davos’ torch casts along the walls. When he turns the next corridor, he sees Sansa emerging from her own chambers, Brienne at her side. Her sworn shield tugs the fallen slip of Sansa’s robe over her lady’s bared shoulder at Jon’s presence, and the motion does not go unnoticed.

“What is it?” Sansa hisses in the night.

He shakes his head, throat parched.

It happens moments later.

It happens when they breach the shadowed hall. It happens when Arya turns from her appraisal of the room, eyes a slate grey that should be comforting, familiar – but are only haunting. She is perfectly still in the filtering moonlight through the tall windows. She is perfectly winter-poised (an eerie reflection of the sister beside him, and distantly, he wonders if either of them knew they’d ever grow to be thus).

It’s a crack, a fissure – a lung-scraping quake that sunders through the silent hall.

Ghost is the first to break the stillness, trotting up to Arya with an ease that staggers Jon’s heart in his chest. But Arya smiles – smiles – and it’s a faint curl of her lips, before she’s bending like reeds in the wind, reaching for the direwolf’s great maw and threading her fingers through his thick fur, hands gliding over Ghost’s face and ears and neck. Something of sorrow and fondness sweeps over her face then. “Hey, boy. You’ve been keeping watch for me?”

Jon is breaking toward her then, something splintering inside him he hasn’t a name for, and then she’s in his arms, and he’s lifting her up, up, and up, her feet off the ground, her arms around his neck, his broken gasp of her name smothered in her hair, and he’s trembling, absolutely shaking against her, absolutely shattered – here, to be here – with his little sister in his arms. He holds her for an immeasurable amount of time, for eons and epochs and yet he’d hold her still, if only he could. It never seems enough.

Jon dips her back to the floor, breathless, glancing back at Sansa, and he stills suddenly at the way she stares at them.

Arya keeps a hand at Jon’s elbow, her smile receding. A soft, keen quiet overtakes her. Her eyes shine with tears. “Hello, Sansa.”

Sansa takes a step, hand outreaching, and then stops herself. She takes a sudden breath, and Jon is too overcome to think much of it, so he braces a hand at the small of Sansa’s back, urging her toward their sister.

He doesn’t catch the way Arya’s eyes trail the intimate motion of his hand.

“Arya.” Sansa’s voice catches, and then she’s stumbling into her, arms wide, drawing her little sister to her chest.

Arya’s eyes shutter closed for a moment, breathing something of relief against Sansa’s breast, her hands fisting in her robe at her back, but then she’s blinking those grey, haunting eyes open to Jon.

He feels cracked open. Bloody and bare. Jon swallows the trepidation back.

Their sister is returned.

His hand burns beneath the memory of Sansa’s heat at his fingertips.

* * *

Arya knows.

She knows, Sansa thinks when she catches the derision in her little sister’s eyes from across the courtyard. Somehow, she knows.

Sansa steps purposely away from Jon as they walk together below the ramparts.

He furrows his brows at the motion, a hand going to her elbow. “Sansa,” he begins.

She huffs her frustration, staying his hand.

He’s always been terrible at pretenses.

“Our sister is watching,” she mutters beneath her breath pointedly, and she can see the way his spine straightens, the way his shoulders stiffen.

She is Sansa Stark. And he is Jon Snow. And not for the first time has she lamented this – though perhaps not so much as now.

Now when he is close enough to touch and yet the chasm widens ever farther.

This chasm called honor.

(But there is nothing honorable about the ways in which he touches her in the dark of night.)

Jon is silent for long moments, before he comes to an abrupt halt at the edge of the courtyard. Sansa turns to find him staring at his boots, brows furrowed. He heaves a sigh, a calloused hand wiping down his face, and then he’s turning swiftly, walking back the way they came. Sansa watches him go, something constricting in her chest not unlike grief. She looks back across the courtyard to see Arya still watching her. Her jaw locks, her barred teeth caught behind perfectly poised lips.

There are some things Arya will never know, she reminds herself.

She will never know the way Jon’s eyes grow dark by candlelight, or the way his throat flexes beneath the press of her tongue, or the tremble that racks through him when she slips to her knees at the edge of his bed, bracketed by his thighs.

And perhaps there is something secret and selfish still living in her. Perhaps there is a part of her that revels in the knowledge that while she may not be the favorite sister, she is the only sister who can drag such whines from his throat, who can reduce him to pleading, who can have him panting and desperate as he throws his head back, hand curling in her copper tresses as he pushes her mouth down on his length, hips thrusting shallowing up to meet her.

No, Sansa reminds herself. Arya will never know the dark visage of Jon when the last of his control snaps, when he’s pouring filth from his mouth too base even for brothels, when he’s rutting into her mouth like something feral, spilling hot and frenzied down her throat as he growls her name through clenched teeth, over and over and over again.

No. Arya will never know the way he looks at her in the aftermath, the way he curls a quaking hand along the curve of her jaw, thumb brushing over her mouth in something perhaps too feverish to be called tender, but just as searing.

She thinks this when she departs from the courtyard.

She thinks this when she feels Arya’s gaze following along her back.

She thinks this when she closes the latch behind her to Jon’s door that night.

* * *

“You’re our brother,” Arya says like a demand. “You’re her brother.” It comes out slightly searing this time.

Jon grips at the mantle over the hearth, his back to her. “I still am.”

“How could you be?” Her scoff is lined with something faintly like disgust.

Jon closes his eyes at the sound. He draws a deep breath in, lets it to air.

Arya shifts somewhere behind him. “Robb would never have touched her so.”

“Aye, and Robb isn’t the brother she begs for at night, is he?” he spits just as harshly, whirling on her. He realizes what he says a moment before he catches the look that passes over her face.

It’s not a look she’s ever directed at him before.

Jon swallows thickly, the words dying in his throat.

Arya looks away, lips pursed tight. She’s so utterly still. This whole while, her entire time at Winterfell, she’s been nothing but stillness.

Jon wants to shake her suddenly, just to know she’s still there. Just to know he isn’t the only one missing what they used to be.

He has to tear his gaze from her – has to focus on the lick of flames in the hearth, the flare of copper too familiar to cool this rancid heat in him. “But I’m not Robb, am I?” he whispers, almost like regret, almost like penitence.

(Almost, but not quite.)

“No,” Arya answers, so low he might have imagined it. “No, you’re not.”

He isn’t sure what it is he hears in her voice, and he doesn’t have the heart to turn to her then, to see for himself, to know the damning censure of her gaze, even when her voice is indiscernible.

She leaves him then, the heavy door of his solar sliding shut with a nauseating finality.

She doesn’t even leave a shadow.

(But he thinks he should have expected this. He thinks he should have expected a lot of things.)

* * *

Jon has known the permanence of betrayal, the way it sinks into your marrow until you are rife with it, until the sharp tang of it has festered long and sour beneath your tongue, until it is behind every look over the shoulder and every false greeting.

Jon sneaks a glance at Sansa beside him, catches the upturn of her chin while she listens to Lord Glover in the Hall of Lords, the resolute crispness of her blue gaze as she sits regally at the head table.

His hand strays to the ends of her furs hanging over the arm rest. He catches the material between his thumb and forefinger, a small comfort. An anchor in the storm.

He glances back out across the hall. All eyes are on Sansa. All but a lone, accusing pair.

Jon catches Arya’s glare from across the hall, nearly missing her lithe frame amidst the shrouding shadows of the Stark banners. The flicker of torchlight is not enough to obscure her frown.

His hand slips from the edge of Sansa’s furs beneath the table, his throat dry with an apprehension he’s never felt before.

They sit staring at each other for long moments – everything and nothing passing between them – the lords airing their complaints and their needs like a fog around him.

“Do you agree, Your Grace?”

Sansa’s voice comes to him like a gale.

Jon snaps his gaze to her, blinking rapidly.

He suddenly remembers.

He remembers that Sansa has seen the evidence of betrayal marring his skin. She’s seen the gashes along his chest and not withheld her touch. She’s smothered his sobs of recollection to her breast when he’s recounted the nooses – the way their feet swayed in the wind like a condemnation.

Sansa has never been party to his betrayal.

Sansa will never be his betrayal.

His fingers search for the ends of her furs once more, gripping tightly beneath the cover of the table – no longer an anchor, but the thing that drowns him.

“Aye,” he agrees, never needing to know what he agrees to.

Sansa eyes him with something of sharpness.

Jon looks back across the hall. Arya is gone.

He does not relinquish his hold.

* * *

{“Why did you bring her here?”

Bran looks up at Sansa’s question. It is a face she used to know once – but not anymore. She holds tight to this image of her brother like sand sifting through her fingers. She wonders if it is not perhaps easier to simply let him fall.

She looks away finally, her hands gripping at her skirts.

The hearth spits another log to cinders before them, and she thinks he means to keep this damn silence always, until, “Because she is needed.”}

#jonsa #jon snow #sansa stark #jon x sansa #jon and sansa #arya stark #bran stark #starklings #house stark #game of thrones #got fanfic #my writing #a violence done most kindly

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theredwolfinthenorth · 4 years

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The assassin isn’t as skilled as Cassana thought her mother would send after her, but the damage is done and she holds her slightly swollen belly as the bath water slowly turns red. The maester had said the bleeding wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon, and yet she cannot bring herself to get out of the water and she cannot cry.

She wants to. She wants some outlet to the wrenching agony over loosing her child in her womb. But no matter how much she wants to or how great the pain is she can’t bring herself to cry. She feels that tears would only make it real.

Catelyn comes in carrying fresh linens and a heartbreaking attempt at a smile. It isn’t the smile she’d had when she’d watched her oldest marry, or when Cassana had told her she was with child. It’s the smile she’d tried to send Bran when news had come of Neds imprisonment and Arya’s loss and Cassana doesn’t feel anything other than the cramping of her gut and the horrid feeling of loosing her child with the blood that seeps from her body.

“Are you ready to get out?” Distantly Cassana is grateful that Lady Catelyn hasn’t asked if she’s alright. She isn’t she doesn’t think she will be for some time.

Nodding for speaking is beyond her at the moment Cassana tried to brace herself and stand only to gasp as the renewed throbbing of her right wrist reminds her of the broken bones, and it’s this small reminder of the violence of her encounter that breaks through the dam over her emotions.

She cradled her wrist to her chest as tears well and she whispers to her good mother “I lost my baby”. She sobs brokenly when the words truly register because as much as she’s known she was loosing the babe it hadn’t really hit her that the little one in her belly was no longer there. Her little wolf her son is dead before she ever felt him quicken.

Catelyn drops the linens and gathers her into her arms heedless of the water soaking her gown and drenching the floor. “No, sweet girl. You didn’t loose this babe. He was taken from you.” It’s with one last sob that she lifts her head and looks into her eyes, she has to see it to see if the blame she feels she deserves is in Lady Starks eyes.

There’s nothing but kindness and understanding looking back at her from the Tully blue depths. “It will take time for you to truly feel that you aren’t to blame, I will help, Robb will help.”

It’s with this that Catelyn finally manages to get Cassana out of the tub and into a new gown her small clothes padded heavily, and already sticky with blood.

Jamie knocks at the door and then strides through, ignoring lady Starks scolding until he is less than a foot from Cassana. His hands still covered in the assassin’s blood from what ever brutal torture he and Jon have inflicted to get information come to hold her cheeks. She leans her face into her uncles hands and breaks just a little further. Jamie looks so much like her mother that sometimes it hurts to see the care he has for her, the stark difference in the way Jamie clearly adores her and Cercie loathes her.

“My sweet lion cub, I’m so sorry.” And the thing is he does sound sorry for what Cercie has done, for the way his face hurts her to look at, for her loss she’s sure. “I never thought she’d do this.” Cassana had known from the moment the assassin had stepped into her rooms who had sent the bastard but to hear Jamie confirm it verbally it knocks the last bit of grief from her and sends her straight into rage.

Cercie had always wanted Cassana to be more like a lion. Then she’d sold her to the wolves so that her precious Joffrey wouldn’t have to wed Sansa. Cercie wasn’t going to get a Lion coming to call no she was going to get the Wolves and the entire north with it.

Sterling herself and pulling away from Jamie she looks to Catelyn. Lady stark has always been beautiful but here she looks wan and weary from worry and her own grief. They have both lost children now. It is a pain only another who has felt it can ever understand.

“Are the lords still gathered?” Robb had been sequestered with the other lords of the North while they debated and talked about what they were to do with the situation with Ned. But now with this declaration of war from her mother Cassana plans to take the battle to Cercie.

“My father has declared my siblings to be bastards of my mother and her cousin, my uncles refuse to declare for a girl and yet I am the only true born heir to the throne,” here she looks Jamie in the eye the green so like her littlest siblings, innocent children about to be plunged into the deep waters of war and yet her uncle looks ready, he is braced for what she is going to say next because he knows. Cassana May have always looked like her father and may have preferred riding to stitching and adventures to dancing but she is her mother’s daughter.

“If it is a war the queen wants then it is a war she will get. Take me to my husband. It is time we put an end to this.” Catelyn looks as if Cassana has gut punched her and Jamie looks fiercely proud.

The walk to the great hall is short and no one stops her for which she is grateful. She knows exactly what she will say and she knows that any who dispute her claim or tries to talk her down will be met with the brutal truth.

Lord Stark is as lost to them as Arya, she is sorry to think it, but it will need to be said. She has lost the heir to the North with her mother’s actions though if Jon hadn’t stood guard she would be dead and the North would already be at war. She has much to do, but it all starts with convincing the stubborn pigheaded Northern Lords to follow her.

She never thought herself one for dramatics but she bursts through the doors between her and Robb her eyes sweeping the gathered lords. The lady Mormont catches her eye and Cassana draws strength from the lady bear, the North is no stranger to strong women. To Ladies who fight tooth and claw for their homes.

Robb grimaces when he sees her his face wrenching in pain even as it softens in love. Oh how lucky she was to have a wolf for a mate. Striding to him she tilts her head a subtle ask for the floor and he bows his head and ghosts a kiss to her cheek his lips coming away red from the blood still drying on her face. She had forgotten that Jamie had held her cheeks with his red soaked hands. It’s too late to wipe it away and she thinks it will help set the tone for this meeting. The lords are either for her or they will be against her.

Without turning she addresses the crowd her words strong and sure “lord Stark is lost to us. My half brother is a bastard who sits a throne not his own and my uncles plot to plunge the realm into a three way tug of war.” Turning now and twisting her hands behind her to hide her nerves Cassana looks each lord in the eye. Lord Glover looks like he wants to bundle her up in furs, lady Mormont is clearly pissed the hells off. The Greatjon looks angry but she can’t tell if it’s a different anger to his normal or not and the rest of the lords look torn between asking why a woman is speaking and wanting to tell her to sit down.

“I am my fathers only true born heir. My mother sent an assassin to kill me today and failed. She has succeeded only in killing my babe and inciting my wrath. I care not for some throne that was never supposed to be mine, I care not for southern politics but I loved my son and I love my people. My mother will burn whoever opposes her, she will destroy The Northern houses loyal to house stark and put some glorified traitor in winterfell.” Taking a deep breath Cassana can see the lords are all interested now “the Queen miscalculated. She thought she was still dealing with a lion cub but what Cercie has failed to realize is that she is poking a wolf and when you arouse the anger of one you awaken the pack. I will kill Cercie for what she has done this night, and I will take the throne from the pretenders and I will bring justice for her actions against house Stark. I will be Queen what I’m asking you is will you follow me? Will you swear yourself to house Stark?”

Her uncle looks torn for this will mean the deaths of his twin and his father, but Cercie has made her opinion of Jamie and Cassana clear when she sent someone to kill her and frame him for it. And he is proud he wears it like a cloak the pride he has for her.

Lady Mormont stares her brows knotted, she bangs her cup against the table once drawing the murmurs to a close as everyone turns to her. “You say your mother expected a lion cub and got a wolf instead. You have asked us to declare for house Stark are you renouncing you’re tied to houses Lannister and Baratheon?” She doesn’t sound accusing merely curious.

Cassana knows how she would answer the question if some southern lord or lady asked it, but looking at Maege Mormont she knows the only answer she can give is the honest one. “I have never been loyal to house Lannister except to my uncles who have supported me and loved me since my first breath. Stannis and Renly have both declared their own intentions for the throne, they do not believe a woman can rule.” Lady Mormont snorts at that and it is obvious what her own opinion is based on that alone. “I married the heir to Winterfell, I carried his son within me before my mother’s assassin killed the babe. House Stark has stood with me and loved me and taken me in as one of their own, I would have loved to live my life as Lady Stark here in winterfell with my children, but that was taken from me. I still bleed from the loss of my child whatever loyalty I once had to my birth family ended when his life did.”

Mormont looks satisfied at this, her head bowing and with a smirk she asks, “and Robb? Will he sit a throne beside you, or will he be your attack dog?”

Robb grunts affronted at being classified as her hound or at the notion of him as king she does not know. But she smiles unbroken hand reaches for Robb blindly behind her, he grabs it and placed a kiss to her knuckles before simply holding it. “Robb is my husband, my equal as it is supposed to be, he became a prince when we wed and now he will be a king.”

They kneel to her, to them and she knows there is much to be done before she can sit down and think of all she’s lost, of the family she is condemning to die, but it is the beginning.

#future jonsa #game of thrones #GOT #Robb Stark #AU

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katlyn1948 · 5 years

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You Know Something, Jon Snow

Summary:

Jon finds out about Arya and Gendry

Notes:

FUCK PLOT! If D and D can throw plot out the window, then fuck it, so can I! Let's pretend that A. They did kill the night king B. Arya killed him. C. Jamie is the only one to ride south and kill Cersei, ending the war. D. The dragon doesn't die; battle of kings landing never happens, Dany is alive with Jon and they live in the North where Sansa rules. Tyrion is the king (becuase why the hell not) and Jamie is his hand. Oh and Sansa and Dany are buddy buddy and ACTUALLY LIKE EACH OTHER! Did I miss anything? Good, now that we have the covered, Gendry stayed in the North with Arya and Davos is in SE, seeing things through. A lot has changed for the sake of this ONE SHOT and I stand by my decisions! Happy Reading! Also, this story was based off a tumblr post so...

It had been nearly three moons since the Battle of Winterfell and Jon was still amazed that they managed to survive. There had been several casualties, including those of Lady Lyanna Mormont and Ser Jorah Mormont, but they would mourn the dead and move on from that frightful night. Dany was still heartbroken over losing her most dear and trusted friend, but Jon noticed that she found solace in the company around her.

He was surprised at how much Dany and Sansa had bonded over the last several weeks and took comfort in knowing that there was no longer bad blood between them. He knew the hard decision Dany had to make after the slaying of Cersei Lannister. Jamie had given her the opportunity to take the Iron Throne, but she respectfully refused. Dany came to the realization that the bonds and family she had made during her time in Winterfell were more important than the stress of the Iron Throne. She gave it up to a person she believed would rule well.

Tyrion Lannister was made King of the Seven Kingdoms and as his first order as king, he gave the North its independence. Sansa had been elated. When the time came to select a ruler in the North, Jon had insisted that it go to Sansa. He was tired of ruling over people and wanted a simple life in the north with the woman he loved.

It was obvious that he loved Daenerys and despite their relation to one another, their loved was greater. The mere thought of living the rest of his life without her was frightening. A week after Tyrion Lannister took the throne; he and Dany were married under the Weirwood tree and joined as husband and wife. After their nuptials, they had a decision to make, either stay in Winterfell or go back to Dany’s ancestral home of Dragonstone.

The decision was an easy one.

With Sansa as the Queen in The North, she would need a proper hand that new politics and Dany was the perfect subject. Together, they would be able to bring back the prosperity that the North once had.

They had fallen into a daily routine since then. Every morning, before the rest of the castle would wake, Dany and Jon would ride their dragons to the waterfall he had shown her on her very first day in Winterfell. They would spend several hours just admiring that waterfall before it was time to head back to the castle. However, there was one particular morning where Dany had fallen ill to her stomach, leaving Jon to brood and wonder on his own. He thought about taking Rhaegal out to the waterfall, but decided against it. Instead, he concluded to seek out his younger sister for much-needed sibling bonding time.

He hardly had any time to see her. He was busy keeping peace with the villagers in Winter Town, while she was preoccupied with training new recruits for their scarce army. Every time they tried to make time for each other, there was always something pulling their attention elsewhere.

He made his way to the training grounds, hoping to find his sister sparing with whatever poor unfortunate soul that were paired with her. Instead, he saw Ser Podrick Payne and Ser Brienne of Tarth participating in a very tense sparring session. As usual, Pod became distracted, giving Brienne the advantage she needed to knock him on his arse. She lifted Pod from the ground and turned to face Jon.

“Lord Snow, to what do we owe the pleasure?” She asked, slightly out of breath.

“Have either of you seen Arya? I thought she would be here in the training grounds.” He asked.

Ser Brienne shook her head, “She was here earlier but ran off not too long ago. I’ve no idea where she went.”

Jon gave a nod of thanks and stalked off towards the archery pit. Instead of short brown haired lass, Jon was greeted with a tall red headed wilding. Tormund had been practicing his shooting; as if he needed the practice.

“Ah, Crow! Come to lose against me?” He teased.

“No, Tormund, I came to see if Arya would be here.”

“The she wolf? Have not seen her since she stabbed the bloody night king! She is a wild, that one.” Tormund grinned.

“Aye, Tormund. She is.” Jon gave a soft pat on the wildling’s back before making his way to the Great Hall.

There were a few people bustling about the hall. It was midday, so most were seated eating whatever leftovers from the supper before. He noticed The Hound seated at a far table, away from any other gatherers; his face deep into a whole chicken. Jon was sure that he would know where Arya was hiding. He strode to where the Hound was sitting and placed himself directly across from him.

“What the fuck do you want, Lord Snow?” The Hound said in between chews.

“Do you know where Arya is? I haven’t seen her all morning.” Jon asked.

“Aye, I saw her.” He took another chunk from the chicken.

Jon waited for him to continue but became slightly impatient as he continued to eat the chicken.

“And?” Jon urged.

“You asked if I saw the bitch. I did, so there you have it. Now with all due respect, fuck off.” The Hound downed his goblet of ale and bit off another piece of chicken.

Jon grumbled in frustration and lifted from his seat. He exited the Great Hall and decided to go to the forge. He could remember Arya lingering around the forge from time to time and hoped that she would be there demanding poor Gendry for some type of weapon.

Jon always liked the forge. It was one of the warmest places in Winterfell and the heat of the hearth was always comforting. He half-expected Arya to be admiring the young blacksmith when he reached the forge, but to his dismay, neither of them were there.

“Oi!” Jon yelled to a nearby apprentice. The boy turned to Jon and dropped whatever he was working on.

“Yes, milord?” He asked sheepishly.

“Where is you master, Gendry?”

The boy shrugs, “I don’t know, milord. Last, I saw of master Waters, he was headed around back to the storage room with Lady Stark.

“Which Lady Stark?” He asked the boy.

“The short one with brown hair.”

Jon nodded and instructed the boy to continue his work. He turned from the forge and made his way to the storage room behind the forge. There were two entrances; one through the forge and the other around the back. Jon opted to take the entrance around the back. The storage room was commonly used to house extra grain or old weaponry, but here of late it house the majority of the blacksmiths. The only blacksmith that did not have a cot in the storage room was Gendry. He was given his own chambers in the castle as soon as their party had reached Winterfell all those moons ago.

As Jon moved closer to the storage room, he began to hear giggles and moans escape from inside. His instincts were telling him to stop in his track and turn in the opposite direction but his dumb head kept telling him to move forwards. He rounded the corner and pushed the storage door open. He immediately regretted it.

Pushed up against the opposite wall, with a large burley man holding her there, was his baby sister. Her hair was a mess and her breeches were around her ankles. Her jerkin was open, exposing her perked nipples. Her arms were wrapped around the man’s shoulders, holding onto him as he plowed into her.

It took him a moment to realize who the man was that was fucking his sister, but the soot covered skin and the blacksmith’s apron had been a dead giveaway.

“What is the seven fucking hells is going on!” He yelled.

The distracted couple quickly realized their romp had been discovered. Gendry quickly slid out of Arya and pulled his trousers over his still visibly hard cock. Arya fastened her jerkin and shuffled her breeches over her hips, tying them secure around her waist.

“Jon! What are you doing here!” Arya asked, breathlessly.

“I was looking for you! Then I was looking for him! Then I found both of you!” Jon was exasperated. The sight he had just witnessed was truly scarring and he was certain that he would never be able to see his sister the same way again.

“Well, you found us.” Arya said flatly.

Jon threw his hands in the air, “How long has this been going on?”

“Hmmm, since the night of the battle.” Arya confessed.

Jon’s eyes nearly bucked out of his head.

“Three moons! You’ve been fucking my sister for three moons?” The question was aimed at Gendry and he slowly backed away from the fuming man.

“Jon-” Arya tried to reason with him, but he would let her.

“No, I’m going to kill him.” Jon stalked over to Gendry, but was quickly intercepted by Arya.

“You will do no such thing! Jon, I am woman grown of ten and nine. I can fuck who ever I want to fuck. Besides, we are to be married.” She firmly stated.

Gendry and Jon looked at Arya in utter surprise, “We are?”

“You are?”

“Yes, we are. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some unfinished business to attend to.” Arya pulled Gendry by the wrist and exited the storage room.

However, before they could make it out the door Jon yell, “I don’t like this, but, for the love of Gods, please don’t do it public! I could hear you two from right outside the forge!”

Two weeks later, he found them on the forge table and Jon nearly strangled Gendry were all could see.

#jon snow #Arya Stark #Gendry Waters #arya/gendry #jon does not kill dany #jon x dany #daenerys targaryen #Sansa Stark #Tyrion Lannister #Jamie Lannister #jon finds out about arya/gendry #humor #fluff

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zeroconnectionn · 5 years

Text

alternate music video for Sucker by Jonas Brothers feat. jaime and brienne in fancy clothes chase-dancing each other through a museum. I’m keeping it under the cut because it’s super long (it’s just text... in bullet points again bc i can’t write unless it looks like lists... mayhaps there is a drawing at the end...)

so pretend this is one of those music videos with an obnoxiously long introductory scene where the music starts late in the video. We see doors being pushed open and Brienne storming out of it with tears in her eyes, Jaime following closely behind her, calling out to her.

When he catches up, he starts apologizing for something that happened inside (he’s not at fault). Maybe they bumped into nasty Lannister relatives at the function or maybe the press was annoying them with questions about their relationship, either way it soured her mood and she just wants to go home.

(btw Jaime’s looking sharp in a fancy suit and Brienne is in a tailored dress that fits her perfectly because obvs Jaime got the measurements right!)

We see them walking briskly down the street, Brienne assuring him she’s fine (she’s not) and stops to hail a cab. Jaime doesn’t want the night to end yet, not like this at least, so he looks around to find a place they can be together a little longer, away from people. He spots a museum across the street and grins, tugging her arm and walking them there. Brienne groans and shakes her head all the way there. Jaime tells her ‘Trust me, it’ll be fun’. They approach the man at the counter who tells them they have 30 minutes before the museum closes. Jaime pays for the tickets, thanks the man, and ushers Brienne into the first exhibit. To their relief, they seem to be the only ones there.

Jaime starts cracking jokes at everything he sees, animatedly gesturing at things as an attempt to cheer her up and distract her. Brienne offers him an appreciative smile but stays mostly quiet and crosses her arms, distant and still feeling insecure from earlier events. Jaime sees this and sighs. He doesn’t want her to think that he’s uncomfortable with being seen in public with her, like he’s ashamed to call her his girlfriend. Like he doesn’t enjoy her company. He plots a way to save their night (and possibly their relationship).

At the second exhibit, he tells Brienne he has to go the men’s restroom but actually goes to see the man behind the counter for a favour. When he comes back, they walk around the exhibit in silence, examining things separately. Brienne sighs, a little frustrated and turns to him, "Can we please go now?". Jaime stays silent but holds a finger up, motioning her to wait. Brienne looks at him confused but before she can ask, pop music starts playing from the speakers. Jaime grins at her. And Oh, she Knows that look too well, he's planning something. Brienne watches him closely, one eyebrow raised.

Jaime, still grinning, walks a few paces away from her, then turns around and does a dramatic popping arm wave and passes it to her. He raises an eyebrow at her, encouraging her to accept the wave. Brienne scoffs at him, bewildered but secretly amused. She turns her back to him and walks away. For a second, Jaime’s worried he's pushing things too far tonight with the sudden dance, afraid she’ll leave. As his arm lowers, Brienne rolls her (BEAUTIFUL MUSCULAR BARE) shoulders and cracks her neck. A pause. And she tentatively extends her arm, bends it 90 degrees and does a robot wave, passing it back to him. Sucker starts playing, ‘We go together’. Jaime's face immediately lights up, captivated by her and her trust in him. Brienne looks at him embarrassed but determined, wanting to give this a try.

And they dance. Brienne totally does that Pick Up Gown/Skirt And Sway It Left And Right like Emma Stone did in La La Land. There are also disco moves, attempted hip hop moves, a little waltz here and there (Jaime leading and dipping her effortlessly, sometimes Brienne twirls him), looking at each other while doing the side shuffle from The Breakfast Club

When the chorus hits, ‘I'm a sucker for you, you say the word and I'll go anywhere blindly’, they’re running around exhibits, touching things they're not supposed to, Jaime twirling her, Brienne teasing him, Jaime chasing after her, Jaime doing the splits and failing (and Brienne laughing at him)

Everything is magical and playful, bokeh lights everywhere. In one of the hallways, they do the back and forth shimmy towards each other. In another exhibit, they sit on a bench and do something like the tap dance scene in La La Land

Also like.. the best thing about brienne's dance moves is that it's based off her longsword training. The way she spins her body and arms? Her wrist and feet? She's channeling her training, but it’s a little different from Arya’s water dancing. Brienne’s movements are more masculine and powerful but it makes her feel so good because it's what she's familiar with. And Jaime loves it, heart eyes and admiration 24/7. But Brienne also dares to step out of her comfort zone and try more feminine movements, because she Wants to and Jaime + empty museum is giving her a safe space to explore that side of her. "And you're making typical me break my typical rules" <3

For our viewing pleasure (lmao), their movements start having more finesse and we watch as they transform into skilled contemporary dancers. We see Brienne grabbing his tie and pulling him towards her, pressing her palms onto his chest to push him away, Jaime’s hands running down her sides before she slips out of his hold, Jaime picking her up and pressing her close against him, LOTS of almost-kisses, and the finale... Jaime on his knees crawling towards Brienne as she grips his tie tightly in one hand and a high heel on his shoulder WITH LEG PEEKING THROUGH THE DRESS AAA

This dance is totally trying to parallel their fight in the books.... it’s just.... sex guys....

Eventually, they stumble into the lobby and Jaime is tryna steal a kiss but the song abruptly stops. We see a security guard staring at them with a flashlight. He tells them the museum closed 10 minutes ago and they need to go now. Brienne and Jaime awkwardly apologize and leave in silence, Brienne covering her face in embarrassment... but once they're outside, they burst out laughing uncontrollably, sides hurting. Jaime wipes a tear from his eye and fishes out his phone to book them an Uber. We see Brienne touch his wrist and shake her head, "I have a better idea”. She smirks and juts her chin towards a building down the street. Jaime gives her his famous s7 “fuck loyalty?” confused look

In the next scene, the song continues with the chorus “I’m a sucker for you” but this time they're in some downtown club, wearing the same clothes, pressed closely to one another, beaming and bopping to the music. Time seemingly slows down, we see Brienne and Jaime doing shots and letting loose, having so much fun on the dance floor. And even though it’s packed, their eyes are only on each other.

As the music fades out, the scene transitions to the next morning, we see Brienne drooling and sleeping naked under the covers, hair disheveled, their clothes scattered on the floor. Jaime, equally disheveled, rises up quietly and presses a kiss to her temple. He walks to the kitchen to make them coffee and as he’s waiting for the water to boil, we hear a shit ton of notification sounds from his phone. He unlocks it and it's from.... everyone. He opens his chat with Tyrion first. "Had fun last night??? Father is gonna be so pissed. Proud of you two". Confused, Jaime scrolls down and opens a link Tyrion shared. It's an article about him and Brienne's night at the club from the night before. The title is something like "Lion of Lannister parties hard with Mysterious Tarth Girl". Whoever wrote it (in my head it was Ellaria Sand hehe) said very interesting but glowing things about Brienne, which amuses him. He’s not at all surprised by how fast the media works by now but he’s grateful for the pleasant change in the way the media is reporting their relationship today.

He scrolls through the gallery of pictures attached to the article and stops at a somewhat blurry but candid picture of Brienne, looking confident and free. He stares at the picture for a solid minute, drinking in every detail. Her arms thrown up, legs bent, eyes wild, toothy smile. Brienne living in the moment. Brienne being herself. Brienne happy. Jaime doesn’t think twice before saving that picture and making it his lock screen picture. As he switches back to the messaging app to reply Tyrion, there's a loud crash and scream coming from the bedroom. "They said WHAT about me!?" Jaime shakes his head as he laughs, pours them both a mug of coffee and walks off screen with their mugs. The music video ends.

I have no life so I also drew this!!!!!!!!!

Also for whatever reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about music related AU’s like:

Music and Lyrics AU: Jaime, the former 80′s pop music heartthrob and Brienne, his neighbour who’s looking for more jobs to pay her rent. Imagine them writing and singing Way Back Into love again

Pitch Perfect AU: Brienne, the new Barden Bellas recruit and Jaime, the leader of the Treblemakers. Everyone knows they’re in love except them.

The Office’s Jim & Pam Wedding March but it’s Jaime and Brienne and Sansa + Tyrion (together or not together, up to you) planning it

Lip Sync Battle. Who wins? What are the two songs they perform? How extra were they?

#jaime x brienne #The Umbrella Academy had a very corny dance scene that I loved a lot!!#I couldn’t stop thinking about Jaime and Brienne having their own impromptu dance scene in a modern AU so this happened #braime

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laboratorioautoral · 5 years

Note

Lol i got hit me with your best shot stuck in my head now, so how about a chance meeting at a club with it playing? Preferably with missing each other and not instantly realizing who they are dancing with?

I guess I got a bit too excited about this plot and things got…Hotter than I expected. So…This is M rated for security reasons. Not sure if that’s what you wanted, but I hope you’ll enjoy it nonny.

Itwas claustrophobic inside the club, but she wasn’t going home thatnight without being completely wasted. Arya grabbed a shot of tequilabefore she could try to reach the stage and listen to whatever bandwas playing.

Ithad been Myrcella’s idea and it was surely a bad one. Cella’sbreaking up with Trystan wasn’t even something unusual, but she haddecided she would have a girls’ night and picked the lamest club intown.

Thesongs were old rock’n roll. Something nostalgic and loud, all aboutrebellious youth and booze. It reminded Arya of one of those musicalsSansa was so fond of. Rock of Ages or something…Well, at least TomCruise was worthy of her time and patience, and the music was dope,but Arya honestly wished Cella had a better sense of fun than a GunsN’ Roses cover, or something just as bad.

Tequilawould have to help Arya to get through the night. Maybe she couldfind a cute boy and have some fun. Preferably forget what Robb hadtold her earlier that day. This is not the time nor the place foryou to think about him! Her mindscreamed over the noise in the room.

Jonwas back in town. That was no big deal. He was just a guy. One ofRobb’s mates and surely not better than Theon…Just another guy,except that he wasn’t. Not for her.

Somecrushes are embarrassing, but that in particular should have turnedto smoke a long time ago. It was ok for them to be friends. When Jonleft town Arya was probably too young for him to think about her asanything but Robb’s little sister. She was probably in the friendzone – if such a thing existed – or maybe in an even morefrustrating position. Arya was probably placed in an altar among anydeities he might worship. Some genderless being.

Thatwas probably why they kept talking along the years. It was harmlessand Jon missed home. They had always been close and they talked abouteverything, until they didn’t talk anymore. Since he found anotherto date. A real woman for sure and a red head to make it worst. Thatwas too much for Arya to bare and she had been the one avoidingcommunication for most of the time.

Ithad been a good decision and she was fine with it. She even datedsome guys along those years. IfJon appeared right in front of her, Arya wouldn’t even recognizehim at that point. She was incollege now and she was way more confident than she had been in thepast. Nothing could possibly make her lose her cool, or so shethought until that morning when Robb told her that Jon was in townand had asked about her.

Shewas a mess ever since and at least Cella, the loud music and thebooze would keep her away from doing something stupid…As long asher cellphone was out of herreach.

Afterthe second shot Arya decided that she would need more than alcohol tokeep her entertained. She need a guy. Someone to flirt with and havesome kisses. Casual sex was also a possibility but she doubted thatshe would be in the mood since the only thing inside her head inbright neon lights was Jon’s name.

Aryalooked around and tried to find someone worthy of a second glance.Like a she-wolf sniffing the air looking for a prey, Arya tried todistinguish between the shadowy figures all around. A dark and smokyroom surely didn’t make it easy and the alcohol seemed to improveeveryone’s looks around her.

HitMe With Your Best Shot wasplaying and at least that song spoke to her soul in a very particularway. Arya couldn’t help moving her hips a bit as she walked aroundthe club and leaving Myrcella behind. It was a discreet attempt atdancing, but she wouldn’t give away her talents so easily andcertainly not in that place full of guys dressed in black leather.

“Hey!”Someone shouted behind her, trying to call her attention, but Aryacouldn’t hear until the guy touched her shoulder. “Hey, you!”

Aryaturned to face whoever it was. Maybe something had fallen from herpockets and the guy was trying to return it to her.

Ohmy gods! It was the only thingher brain managed to process about the stranger standing in front ofher. Dark curly long hair,a full and well cut beard,lithe and elegant even all wrapped up inside black jeans and leatherjacket. Oh baby…You had to be exactly my type, hadn’tyou? I think we could be friends tonight.Her mind at this point was roaming among all of her wildestfantasies.

“Hi!”Arya answered simply. “Can I help you?”

“Maybeyou can.” He said before flashing a sly smile at her. One of thosemeant to start that game she liked so much. Small talk, sensuousmoves, slow hands and clothes falling all around if she was luckyenough. The guy offered her his hand. “Will you dance with me,Miss?”

“Idon’t dance!” Arya shouted so he could hear her over the loudmusic.

“Ithink you do!” He replied insistently. “C’mon! Just a dance.”

Wellyou’re a real tough cookie with a long historyOfbreaking little hearts like the one in meThat’sokay, let’s see how you do itPutup you dukes, let’s get down to it

It was just a dance. It couldn’thurt and he was handsome like the devil. She had a thing for a shortaffairs with tall dark strangers and that guy was surely her type oftrouble.

Arya accepted his hand and theystarted to dance in the middle of the club. Nothing too complicated,only some random moves dictated by the alcohol and the lust. He was aterrible dancer, but she could overlook that as long as he made it upfor her with a mind blowing kiss.

Hitme with your best shotWhydon’t you hit me with your best shotHitme with your best shotFireaway

Aryaspin around and turn her back at him. That certainly felt like aninvitation for him to come and chase her and at least the guy got thehint. His arm held her by the waist and pulled her body closer tohis. Arya swayed her hips in the rhythm of the music, just to teasehim a bit.

Heburied his nose in the curve of her neck. His beard tickling hersensitive skin and making her shiver in anticipation for a kiss thatdidn’t come for a while. His hips tried to follow hers and hesmelled of cigarettes, bear and post shave cologne. Something in thatsmell was inviting and familiar, but Arya couldn’t tell why.

Youcome on with it, come onYou don’t fight fairThat’s okay,see if I careKnock me down, it’s all in vainI get rightback on my feet again

Thatguy was a gentleman through and through. He teased, he provoked, butnever once tried to cross a few lines, like kissing her neck orsliding his hand under her pants. He was waiting for her to make upher mind and go down that road with him. She had the wheel, she wasin control and the gods knew she loved it.

Aryaturned around again and looked directly at him. His hand restedagainst the small of her back and pulled her closer once more. Theyforeheads touching and their breath entwined as they flirted with thepossibility of making of that dance a one night stand.

FuckJon! I already have company tonight!Her mind finally decided and Arya threw her arms around his neck andkissed him hard. That guy wasn’t much of a dancer, but with a kisslike that she couldn’t care less.

Hishands got bold and grabbed her ass covered by her tight jeans. Thatwas a kiss you only get to experience once in a life time, when youeither think you are gonna die or when you are so high that the worldaround you might be ending.

“Wannago somewhere quiet?” He asked in a low voice close to her ear.

“Can’tgo for long. My friend is waiting for me to take her home.” Aryaanswered lazily. Why did she agree to give Cella a ride?!

“Wecan be quick.” He replied sensuously. “Or she can take an Ubberback home.”

“I’ma good friend, ya know?” Arya grinned at him. “You’ll have togive me one good reason to leave Cella behind.” The guy smiled ather as if he was the catthat just ate the fucking canary.

“Iwant to suck you until your toes curl.” Oh gosh! If that wasn’t areason good enough for her to tell Cella to find another ride backhome, than Arya had no idea of what it was.

“FuckCella! You lead the way.” Arya answered.

Theywalked out of the club and got inside an old black Camaro that wasparked outside. He pressed her back against the car and Arya closedher eyes to receive another kiss. His hand unzipped her jeans andslid under her pants to rub her clit.

Hewas good. He was verygood.

Herbreath became labored as his fingers played with her body. He kissedher neck as Arya got half way to paradise. If that was just theforeplay, she could barely wait for the real deal. It was only fairthat she would repay his gesture and to feel him hard, thick and hotin her hands made her feel the most powerful creature on earth. For amoment his fingers stopped as he gasped for air.

Heheld her wrist after a few strokes, making her stop completely.

“I’mnot doing this in a parking lot.” He said with difficulty. “I’mstaying at a hotel a couple of blocks from here. Not fancy, but ithas a nice bed.”

“Ifwe are doing it tonight, you should at least tell me your name,stranger.” Arya grinned at him.

“Ladiesfirst.” He insisted before getting his hand out of her jeans andtry to recompose himself.

“It’sArya.” She said lazily.

Fora second there was utter silence between them as they stood in a darkparking lot. Arya sensed a change in the air. Something between shockand panic.

“AryaStark?” He asked breathlessly.

Hitme with your best shotWhy don’t you hit me with your bestshotHit me with your best shotFire away

Thatwasn’t what she had expected to hear. Yes, there was somethingfamiliar about him, but Arya was pretty sure she had never seen thatguy before. Long hair, full beard, leather jacket…He looked likemost of the guys inside the club, exceptfor the white wolf emblem on his chest.

“Jon?”Her eyes were suddenly wide open and she thank the gods for thatfucking parking lot being too dark for him to see her bright redface.

“I…Ican’t believe it.” Jon was clearly in panic at that point. “How…?You are a kid! How did you get inside this place?!”

OHGREAT! After getting his hand under her panties now he wanted to giveher drive license a look! Arya was pretty sure that some deity up inthe sky was having a great laugh at her expenses.

“I’m21.” She said as a matter of fact and pretty annoyed by his suddendistress. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a grown woman.”

“No!You are Arya!” He insisted in the middle of his panic attack. Thatcouldn’t get any worst, could it? “You are Robb’s little sisterand I should…I should probably take you back home before eitherRobb or Ned come for my head.”

“Gosh!I forgot how dramatic you can be at times!” She rolled her eyes asshe tried to straighten her shirt and fix her hair. “It has beenwhat? Seven years? I wouldn’t stay frozen in time waiting for youtocome back and mess up with my hair.”

“Arya…Idon’t…I don’t know what to say!” Jon answered exasperated.“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Well,guess what?” Arya looked directly at him and this time the tequilaand the sheer need for him took the best of her. Sometimes all thatyou need is five seconds of insane courage. “I’m not and I’mstill waiting for you to suck me until we both forget our names andI’ll not pretend that I haven’t dreamed of this for most of myteens so…You either get your shit together so we can continue withwhat promises to be a hell of a ride, or you go joying the church andembrace celibate, but if you turn your back on me you’ll have tolive with your conscience and all the “what ifs” inside your headforever.”

“Whatthe fuck, Arya?” He looked at her scandalized for a second.

“Youwere with your hand inside my jeans to not say something moreintimate, so…We are going to hell anyway.” Arya said as a matterof fact. “It’s up to you to decided if you are going to enjoy theride or not. Robb doesn’t have to know what we do in dark parkinglots.”

“Fuckit!” Jon growled and Arya prepared her spirit to turn around andpretend that night never happened. She just wanted the ground to openand swallowed her whole so she wouldn’t have to look at his faceever again. “Get inside the car.” Jon commanded angrily andkissed her one more time before the night got wild.

#jon and arya #jon x arya #jon/arya #jonarya #suppleassin #needleheart

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sunchosens · 5 years

Text

the lessons you have taught

fandom: game of thrones (tv version) characters: sansa stark, cersei lannister, petyr baelish word count: 2114 bonus: written for @girlwithouthands as a very belated @gotsecretsanta gift (i apologize!) read on ao3!

Sansa was just a girl when she first meets Joffrey. She liked to think she wasn’t, of course, she was a lady, nothing like her little kid sister Arya. Sansa didn’t play in the mud and Sansa didn’t want to learn archery and Sansa never snuck off to listen to gown up conversations. No, Sansa did what Septa Mordane told her, was a good little lady, worthy to be a King’s bride one day. She excelled at her sewing and mastered embroidery and dreamed of Joffrey, a golden prince from a golden land who would make her queen. Who would take her away from the cold of the North and show her the beauty of King’s Landing, at her side every step of the way.

No, Sansa was just a girl when he and his whole family and house staff came trotting into Winterfell, like they owned the place. But her father had sworn fealty to King Robert long ago, so their land was a part of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa delighted at Queen Cersei’s approval, blushed when Arya embarrassed them, couldn’t keep her eyes away from Jaime Lannister, golden lion preening on his chest plate.

Sansa loved the Lannisters. They were golden and bright and full of life and power, filling Winterfell’s halls with light and laughter and parties. She resented her family, her father for his cold, traditional ways. Father had never renounced the old gods, still went to the godswood to pray, even though their mother had brought the Seven with her when she came to Winterfell. She fingered her hair with envy, eyes drinking in the Queen’s elaborate hairstyle and gilded dresses, and she tugged at her own cloth dress, a far cry from the South’s luxury.

Sansa watched Joffrey, compared him to her brother Robb, and finds nothing but superiority. She said nothing to Robb, too scared of what his reaction might be, but she appreciated Joffrey’s fine weapon hanging at his hip and the way his hair shone like spun gold, even in the weak sun of the North.

Sansa squealed with joy when her father told her she would head South with him, even though part of her crumbles at the thought of going with Arya. Arya who ruins everything, who doesn’t take their position seriously. Sansa knew if Arya settled down, she would find a lord of her own someday. Not higher than Sansa’s own betrothed, she knew this with a vicious glee, but someone who would bring honor to House Stark. Someone respectable.

But Sansa was just a girl then. She treasured her future and herself above family. She couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth when confronted with the Lannisters. Strong and beautiful, Sansa thought. She had been so horrified at the river, so powerless. Arya had power, she thought sullenly. Arya could make things happen, even if they were horrible and awful and embarrassing. At least she didn’t stand by the sidelines, screaming like a baby.

Things had been going so well with Joffrey and Arya had ruined them. Under the gaze of the Queen and her father and the King and Joffrey and all their men, Sansa can’t stutter out the truth or a lie. She couldn’t bear the disappointment of her father but she can’t stop thinking of the way the Queen would be so disappointed in her for blaming her betrothed, Joffrey. What if she decided another girl would be better? One who wouldn’t betray her future King and future husband.

So Sansa said nothing, stood with her head bowed, sided with the Lannisters over her family, over her blood. Sansa might have had wolf’s blood running through her veins, but she craved the warmth of the sun. She wanted out from her heavy furs, from the snows of the North and into the blaze of the South. Liar Arya hollered at her, thrashing in their father’s arms. Arya, dirty and dress covered in thorns, unafraid to the last.

Sansa hated her.

Hated her even more when Lady was the one sentenced for Arya’s crime. Sansa begged and pleaded and cried but the Queen was not swayed and Sansa learned her first lesson from the Lannisters.

Someone would always pay the price, even the innocent. Sansa would not realize, not for a long time, the price she would pay the Lannisters. She was too caught up in her dreams of becoming Queen, of wearing her hair braided in the style of the South, of finally being able to banish her sister far away. Sansa didn’t want to think about the cruelty festering in Joffrey or the disregard the Queen held for her.

Sansa was just a girl.

Her second lesson with the Lannisters would not be as trifling as the head of a wolf.

Oh, Sansa loved King’s Landing. She loved the heat of the sun against her skin, the luxuriousness of society. She reveled in the tournaments and in the food and in the other girls’ company. Sansa couldn’t wait to become Queen, to marry Joffrey and carry his children, to follow in the footsteps of Queen Cersei.

She watched as her father became more haggard with the responsibility of being the Hand of the King. She watched as he started to wither under the pressure. Father was never made for the South, Sansa thought one day, watching the way he was constantly pushing his hair back from his forehead, the heat too much to bear. She thought, when she was Queen, she would send her father back North. Where he belonged. Sansa hated Winterfell, resented it for making her seem so unrefined, but she knew that Winterfell was home to the Starks. She knew her father would love her for her actions.

But then the King dies and Sansa sobbed when she heard her father had committed treason against Joffrey. She couldn’t believe it. That he would ever intentionally betray the King of the Seven Kingdoms. She didn’t understand what happened, not until too late.

Sansa did everything they asked of her. She wrote home to Robb, pleaded for him to swear fealty to Joffrey. Her hand shook as she wrote and Sansa questions for the first time whose side she’s actually on. Her father was rotting away in a dungeon cell, deep under the Red Keep and Arya had disappeared and here Sansa was, writing a letter to her brother begging him to submit to the very people responsible.

Sansa was starting to wear at the edges. She didn’t feel like a girl anymore, but she wrote to her brother, praying it would keep her father alive.

Sansa was a fool when she learned her second lesson from the Lannisters.

She was forced to watch her father meet his end, standing there smiling and nodding like everything was going to be okay, like her father was going to live and journey back to the North to be with her mother once more. Sansa was a fool. Her betrothed calls for her father’s head and Sansa heard herself scream, felt herself fall to the ground, her entire world coming apart at the seams. She was a fool.

Sansa’s second lesson from the Lannisters was to guard her heart, to take nothing for granted. Sansa lost Lady to her pride and she lost her father to her naivety. She swore to herself she would never forget. She would make them all pay, if it was the last thing she did.

Sansa heard what they whispered about her brother in the streets. The Young Wolf they whisper when they think no one can hear. Joffrey has her father’s head on a spike, and he forced Sansa to her knees, forced her to relive the worst moment of her life. Maybe he’ll bring me yours she spits, a fire more consuming than anything she’s ever felt filling her veins. It’s worth it, she thinks, to see the look on Joffrey’s face.

She thinks she’s learning to play this game, a game where every smile is a calculated step and every bow of her head and every concession to the Lannisters is another day lived. She is living day by day, living on the scraps of gossip she hears murmured about Robb, tearing his way south.

She doesn’t sleep anymore, just thinks about her brother, how he is coming to free her from this hell the Lannisters seem to have crafted just for her. Robb, Robb, Robb, she thinks, in tune with the pounding of her blood and the beat of her heart. Sometimes Sansa thinks of Arya too, a strange longing in her chest to be wherever her sister is.

She envies Arya, for the first time in her life. Wishes she could have escaped Kings Landing too, instead of standing witness to the murder of her father.

Sansa screams silently into her pillow when she learns of her brother’s massacre. Her mother, gone as well. She knows they watch her, knows they are tracking her movements waiting for any sign of disloyalty.

She wears her smile like armor, carries her head high. She will make her mother proud.

Sansa’s third lesson comes from Petyr Baelish.

She thinks she may have trusted Petyr, once upon a time, like her father before her. After all, he loved her mother and Sansa is nothing but an image of Catelyn, now long gone. So she follows him out of King’s Landing to the Eyrie and back to Winterfell.

In fact, Sansa thinks, Petyr Baelish taught her the most valuable lesson yet. Sure, he may have sold her to the Boltons, delivered her wrapped like a gift for Ramsay to break each passing day. What they don’t know is Sansa is already broken. Broken from years of abuse at the hands of the Lannisters. Broken from seeing her father murdered in front of her. Broken from the death of her brother and mother, killed in cold blood under the banner of peace.

She’s learned to guard her heart, learned to recognize the consequences. She’s hard as steel and even as Ramsay further breaks her apart, Sansa glues the pieces of her heart back together. She plots revenge, dreams of the day she’ll make Ramsay suffer the way she has suffered. She already does the same with Cersei, dreams of watching her choke on her own blood, the way her mother did at Roose Bolton’s hands.

But she learns something from Littlefinger’s betrayal. She learns no one will look after her out of the good of their own hearts. She trusted Petyr Baelish to keep her safe, to help her, and he used her in order to secure his own position in King’s Landing and at the Vale. Now Sansa knows if she ever wants to be safe, she’ll have to look out for herself.

Ramsay’s death is sweet and Sansa thinks the sounds of his screaming are some of the sweetest she’s experienced in a long while.

We know no king but the king in the North whose name is Stark the Northern lords rally around Jon and Sansa waits to the side, biding her time. She will support Jon, for now, although he is no Stark and does not carry their family name. She knows the North must be a united front and has no desire to cause conflict after their recent victory.

So she sits by, lets Jon Snow be named King in the North, like their brother before him, and thinks about what she is to do with Petyr Baelish, always watching from the shadows. He’s a constant presence in her ear, murmuring all sort of manipulations in her ear.

Sansa knows he wants her to seize power from Jon, declare herself Queen in the North. Sansa would be lying if she said the idea didn’t intrigue her. But Jon leaves to meet with Daenerys Targaryen, a move Sansa warns him against. She is left behind with the North, left to prepare Winterfell for the winter that is coming.

Littlefinger still murmurs in her ear, still tries to manipulate her to his whims. Arya returns and his whispers only increase. But Sansa still remembers the lesson he taught her, about looking out for herself first and foremost. She and Arya are not so different, now.

Sansa thinks the look on his face as he chokes on his own blood might be worth the pain he caused her and her family over the years.

As she looks forward, south, towards Cersei, Sansa watches the list of people who have wronged her family grow shorter.

She thinks she rather enjoys the sound of Queen in the North. Maybe that will be her next goal.

#gotfic #sansa stark fic #got secret santa #girlwithouthands #sansa stark #game of thrones #*mw #i honestly hate this a lot but i hope you like it!#sorry its so late!!!#text

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arcadianambivalence · 6 years

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Moon Tea

I was inspired by this post for mentions of mints in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I think I stumbled onto something that will be important later on:

"I've always loved you. I've proved it, haven't I?" Tears ran down her aunt's puffy red face. "I gave you my maiden's gift. I would have given you a son too, but they murdered him with moon tea, with tansy and mint and wormwood, a spoon of honey and a drop of pennyroyal. It wasn't me, I never knew, I only drank what Father gave me . . ."

"That's past and done, Lysa. Lord Hoster's dead, and his old maester as well." Littlefinger moved closer. "Have you been at the wine again? You ought not to talk so much. We don't want Alayne to know more than she should, do we?"

-Lysa & Petyr in Sansa VII, A Storm of Swords

This conversation happens while Lysa is trying to push Sansa out the Moon Door and Baelish is trying to stop her. To convince Baelish that she can love him more than anyone, Lysa lets out all of her secrets right for Sansa (and Marillion) to hear.

I think it’s interesting that GRRM did not have Lysa stop at the mention of moon tea but instead had her list the ingredients: tansy, mint, wormwood, honey, and pennyroyal.

So let’s break this recipe down and consider its significance.

Tansy

"It is a monstrous cruel thing to lose a child," she whispered softly, more to herself than to her father.

Lord Hoster's eyes opened. "Tansy," he husked in a voice thick with pain.

He does not know me. Catelyn had grown accustomed to him taking her for her mother or her sister Lysa, but Tansy was a name strange to her. "It's Catelyn," she said. "It's Cat, Father."

"Forgive me . . . the blood . . . oh, please . . . Tansy . . ."

[...] Lord Hoster groaned. "Dead." His hand groped for hers. "You'll have others . . . sweet babes, and trueborn."

Others? Catelyn thought. Has he forgotten that Ned is gone? Is he still talking to Tansy, or is it me now, or Lysa, or Mother?

-Catelyn I, A Storm of Swords

This is one of the first passages to hint at tansy’s use as an abortive. As Hoster Tully dies, he begs forgiveness and mentions tansy and blood. Catelyn first thinks that Hoster has mistaken her for her mother or Lysa, then believes that “tansy” is the name of a woman.

Later in this chapter, Catelyn wonders if Tansy was a nickname for Lysa who “had miscarried five times, twice in the Eyrie, thrice at King's Landing . . . but never at Riverrun, where Lord Hoster would have been at hand to comfort her. Never, unless . . . unless she was with child, that first time . . .”

In his final moments, Hoster reflects on his greatest crime: he poisoned his daughter who was pregnant out of wedlock.

She would have been pregnant after Jaime announced his plans to join the kingsguard (ending hopes of a Lysa-Jaime marriage) and before a marriage to Jon Arryn became necessary. Baelish was likely removed from Riverrun by this point, barring the possibility of a marriage to cover up the indiscretion.

Unable to hastily marry Lysa to a suitor and pass the baby off as trueborn (if premature), Hoster and others ( “they murdered him with moon tea”) gave the unsuspecting Lysa moon tea, not realizing just how it would impact her ( “forgive me...the blood”).

Tansy, the character, does make an appearance later on in Arya V. While Tansy does have red hair like many Tully children, I believe this is a red herring (and a play on words). She owns the Peach brothel, so Tansy (something I’d imagine is commonly kept in Westerosi brothels) is likely an alias.

The connection between tansy and moon tea is so ubiquitous that moon tea is actually referred to as “tansy tea” in Arya IV. But tansy must have other medicinal uses, because it is among the herbs carried out of Craster’s Keep:

When they'd left Castle Black, Brown Bernarr had been carrying bags of Myrish fire, mustard salve, ground garlic, tansy, poppy, kingscopper, and other healing herbs. Even sweetsleep, which gave the gift of painless death. But Brown Bernarr had died on the Fist and no one had thought to search for Maester Aemon's medicines.

-Samwell II, A Storm of Swords

(Note the inclusion of sweetsleep. This is the drug used for Robert Arryn’s seizures in A Feast for Crows).

Tansy must be significant if men of the watch take it with more of “Maester Aemon’s medicines.” What would an elderly (and chaste) man need of tansy?

Which leads me to believe moon tea requires the combination of the next few ingredients in Lysa’s list...

Mint

Of the thousands of characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, I can think of only one who is repeatedly associated with mints: Petyr Baelish.

“Your mother was my queen of beauty once," the man said quietly. His breath smelled of mint. "You have her hair.”

-Petyr to Sansa, Sansa II in A Game of Thrones

Mints can act as a nice garnish for food or to give something a fresh flavor (toothpaste, mint tea, etc.), but it also covers up other odors. Like Varys and his perfumes, Baelish’s proclivity for mints indicates something fishy.

Wormwood, Honey, and Pennyroyal

I’ve used asearchoficeandfire but could not find any mention of wormwood or pennyroyal before or after Sansa VII. Pennyroyal has historically been used as a treatment for various illnesses and as an abortive.

(And here we come to the disclaimer: please do not ever try to use pennyroyal like this. It is toxic and can seriously harm you!)

Wormwood has historically been used medically and more recently in absinthe. However, wormwood has a bitter taste, which is probably why the moon tea ingredients are tied together with honey to make the concoction bearable.

Prediction Time

It’s an unhappy prediction, but I think the inclusion of the moon tea ingredients is supposed to prepare readers for a main character using moon tea at a pivotal moment.

I mentioned earlier how sweetsleep (“which gave the gift of painless death”) is an important element of the Vale storyline, but so much attention has been given to sweetsleep in the Sansa/Alayne chapters that I wonder if Martin is actually setting things up for the (re)appearance of the Strangler or for moon tea to be added to the mix.

From an in-universe perspective, Sansa now knows what goes into moon tea, so she could try to administer it to Mya Stone or Myranda Royce, if need be. On a more pessimistic note, if her arc in The Winds of Winter resembles her Game of Thrones arc, she may need to use this recipe for herself...or Baelish will try to trick her into drinking it.

However, GRRM has a pattern of setting up knowledge in one character’s chapters to create dramatic irony for another character’s chapters, so I wouldn’t rule out this recipe coming in handy during Margaery’s trial or Asha’s march to Winterfell.

What do you think? Will a future plot twist involve moon tea? Was Lysa’s confession foreshadowing for something else or just a rant to keep Baelish’s attention? Is Tansy a secret Tully? Reblog and comment!

#tw miscarriage #tw abortion #lysa arryn #lysa tully #asoiaf meta

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choupetit · 7 years

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GOT Recap: The Queen’s Justice

Airdate: 7/30/17

Season 7, Episode 3

Hell hath no fury like Cersei on the warpath and this week she was certainly on a ROLL! Lots of great stuff happened in the latest episode, including a much-anticipated meeting between two of my favorite characters. And we even had some rare moments of comedic relief. Game of Thrones is picking up some major speed, so let’s hop right onto the crazy train and get this recap of “The Queen’s Justice” started!

So, um…I’m Kind of a Big Deal

Huzzah! Rather than make us all wait for the big Daenerys/Jon Snow meet-up, we start right off the bat with the good stuff: Jon Snow arrives at Dragonstone along with his trusty advisor, Ser Davos, and they are greeted at the shore by Missandei and Tyrion. Jon and Tyrion give each other a good-natured hello along the lines of “Hey, Bastard! lol” -”Yo, Dwarf. rofl”. [Side note: I was really hoping for one of those pregnant pauses where they just look at each other seriously and then say “C’mere, you!!” and embrace in a big, friendly bro hug. This didn’t happen. Color me disappointed.] Missandei kindly asks them to surrender all their weapons, because even though they’ve heard how cool Jon is, one can never be too careful when returning from exile to dethrone the current monarch. Foreign Invader Strategies 101, y’all.

On the long,meandering walk up to the castle (which, it must be said, is really quite scenic), Tyrion notes that Jon made a bold move showing up at Dragonstone to meet with Queen Dany, especially since Stark men haven’t fared too well with Targaryens in the past - to which Jon replies he’s not a Stark - oh if only he KNEW!!! As if on cue, one of Dany’s enormous dragons appears out of nowhere and swoops over them, flying off into the distance. It startles the bejesus out of Jon and Davos as they stop, drop, and cover. For their sake, I really hope they get to put on a change of clothes before meeting Dany.

Much higher up the path, we see Melisandre looking down at Jon Snow, when Varys creeps up. He questions why she was so keen to have Jon visit, and yet, is hiding away. Mel keeps things vague and only lets on that mistakes were made on her part and she’s ready to head back to Volantis. Varys tells her to stay there, but she tells him she must return one day with the cryptic phrase “I must die in this strange country, just like you.” They both share a meaningful look. Wait, what? What is going on here?! Do these two have some kind of history together, or just lots of intel on each other? It’s all very mysterious and now I’m intrigued.

On to Dany’s throne room! Missandei introduces Daenerys to her visitors, rattling off the long list of titles Dany has. When it’s time for Jon’s intro, Ser Davos is all “This is Jon Snow.” Jon looks at him like “Duuuuuude! Come ooooooon, I’m trying to make an impression here!” Davos adds “He’s the king in the North”. It’s a strained meeting to say the least - Right out the gate, Dany comes on strong with her claim to the throne, citing there is no “King in the North”, seeing how the North is one of the kingdoms that belongs to the ruler on the Iron Throne. She demands that Jon swear his loyalty to her, citing that time when an ancient Stark ancestor made a fealty agreement with a Targaryen that spans forever ever (forever, ever?! Yeah. Forever ever). Jon is like “Nah, I’m good, let’s talk about snow zombies”…which really goes over well. Dany gets all puffed up saying that Jon will be in open rebellion to her if he won’t bend the knee. In Jon’s defense, they are all running out of time and he can’t be fighting a war for Dany. But Tyrion points out, that the fight for the throne has already begun and they can’t just channel their inner Zack Morris and call a time out while they clear up the pesky Night King/Army of Dead situation. Also, they kinda don’t believe him. Davos goes into total hype man mode and starts to rattle off Jon’s resume and all the things he’s done for the North and how he got stabbed in the heart and Jon gives him a look that screams “Ix-nay on the resurrection alk-tay, man! They already don’t believe this whole Whitewalker stuff!”

The meeting is cut short when Varys arrives with some important news. Jon and Davos are sent to their rooms for some R&R and Dany lets them know their current status is “esteemed guests who are not yet prisoners.”

Varys breaks the news to Dany on the Euron Greyjoy ambush. Ugh. Well there goes the Greyjoy and Martell support. When Dany asks if there were any survivors on her side, we get a very brief cut to Theon being fished out of the water by one of the Good Greyjoy ships that survived the ambush of the Bad Greyjoys. Needless to say, Theon can’t get no respect from the crew.

Killer Queen

While we’re on the subject of Greyjoys…Euron has returned to King’s Landing with the gift he promised Cersei: Ellaria Sand and her daughter, Tyene aka the ones who sneakily murdered Cersei and Jaime’s daughter, Myrcella. Well, well, well, isn’t payback a biatch? After parading through town with his prisoners -who get a proper public-shaming from the good people of King’s Landing - Euron delivers the duo to Cersei with much bravado. Cersei is extremely pleased and tells Euron he’ll get what he wants (her hand in marriage) once the war against Daenerys is won. In the meantime, she appoints him as her naval commander and then moves on to the most important business of the day: Revenge.

In one of the dungeons of the Red Keep, Cersei along with Qyburn and Frankenmountain pay Ellaria and her daughter a visit. The prisoners are chained and gagged and Cersei launches into a blistering, taunting, calculated monologue about how she’s been planning for this day, deciding how she would punish Ellaria. She lays out various gruesome scenarios and finally, Queen C plants a big ol’ kiss on Tyene’s lips and mother and daughter immediately realize that she’s been given the kiss of death with the same poison that was used to kill Cersei's own daughter. Poetic justice. In true Cersei fashion before sauntering off, she lets Ellaria know that she’ll have the pleasure of watching her daughter die and decompose in front of her as she lives out the rest of her days in this cell, contemplating her poor choices in life.

Next, Cersei joins Jaime in his chambers to jump his bones, cause revenge just makes her super horny. Naturally.

The next morning, Cersei has a visitor. It’s a representative of the Iron Bank of Braavos, and they want their two dollars…and then some. The bank is concerned about the impending war between Cersei and Daenerys and the outstanding mountain of debt the Lannisters still owe the bank. The rep hints the bank is considering funding Queen Dany since they aren’t about to loan Cersei any more money until she pays back the current loan. Cersei assures the banker that Lannisters always pay their debts and if he can hold off for just one more day, the debt will be paid in full. Oooh, what’s up her sleeve this time?

Whattaya Want From Meh?!

Back at Dragonstone, Jon is getting some fresh air and brooding as only he can. Tyrion joins him and makes a few attempts at humor, but Jon is, like, totally super bummed out, man, ‘cause he really needs to save his people from the damn ice zombies that nobody else believes in and it’s just so freakin’ frustrating, uuuuugh! Tyrion tells Jon his request would be a tall order for anybody during a first-time meeting. He points out that Dany and Jon have quite a bit in common in that they both care about helping and saving others and that Jon should give things some time for Dany to come around once she gets a clearer feel for who Jon is. But ain’t nobody got time for that! Jon and the North are running out of time and he needs help now, so Tyrion asks him if Jon has any other, doable, requests. Hmm. Well, ya know…there just happens to be all that dragon glass which Jon came for…

Cut to Dany and Tyrion in the war room as Tyrion talks Dany into allowing Jon to mine the dragon glass as a show of good faith to help win Jon Snow as an ally. It’s a great scene peppered with a handful of funny moments.

Dany goes out to join Jon on the mountain top, and they watch her dragons flying in the distance. She tells him how people thought dragons didn’t exist anymore, and indicates that perhaps she can be a bit more openminded about other things that sounds impossible. She lets him know his wish for the dragon glass is granted and that she’ll even provide the necessary resources to mine it. When Jon asks if this means she believes him in regard to the Whitewalkers, Dany simply tells him he’d better hop to it. Nice dodge, Dany.

Meanwhile at Winterfell, Sansa is totally killing it in the upper management department and is in total doomsday prep mode, making sure they have enough food for the long winter, and the proper armor to fight the army of dead. She has a moment alone with Littlefinger who gives her some unsolicited advice, and we get a peek into the inner workings of his mind. He tells her that if the North happens to defeat the Whitewalkers and humanity as they know it is saved and intact, she needs to be prepared for what happens afterwards. He suggests a fabulous pastime that involves imagining every possible scenario that can ever happen at any time, based on whether a person is a friend or an enemy - that way nothing will ever come as a surprise, because she’ll already have lived and seen it in her mind’s eye. Considering they don’t have Facebook in this world, it sounds like a pretty effective way to stay busy and keep the mind sharp. So what if it probably makes you paranoid and one of the side effects is that you’ll start making scheme-y faces all the time? And on the plus side, once Sansa is done plotting out every single possible scenario she can think of, she can start writing GOT fan fiction and possibly pitch a spin-off to HBO. Wink, wink.

Littlefinger’s advice session is cut off when they hear a commotion in the courtyard and Sansa is called over. It’s Bran! Our little baby’s all grownsed up! Sansa runs over to her bro and hugs him. It’s a sweet moment and not unlike the reunion with Jon at Castle Black. I do love a good Stark sibling reunion!

Sansa and Bran have a private chit chat at the Godswood tree. Sansa says she wishes Jon was here for the reunion and Bran throws out as an aside, “Yeah, me too, I have something to tell him”…like what, Bran? Like who his real parents are??? Can somebody please send a raven to Dragonstone, stat, cause it could really help clear things up for Jon during his visit with Auntie Dany right now. Ok, I digress. Sansa points out that Bran’s the oldest living Stark son, and the rightful Lord of Winterfell. But her little bro tells her how he’s not the lord of anything, seeing how he is now the Three-Eyed-Raven and she’s like “Wtf does that mean?” Bran tells Sansa he can see everything that has ever happened and also things that are happening now, though only in flashes, and that he’s working on getting better at this ability so he can make sense of things. When he mentions her wedding night, it freaks Sansa out and she excuses herself to go back inside. Bran is eerily calm and dreamy in his demeanor the whole scene and you really start to feel that with all the stuff he’s seen while warging, he seems to be losing a part of his humanity - or at the very least, his own sense of self.

Rebel, Rebel

At the Citadel, Archmaester Marwyn is examining Ser Jorah’s skin, noting a seemingly remarkable recovery. Marwyn lets on that he knows exactly what happened, but Jorah is sticking with the story that he just took a nap and started to feel better. Boom, living proof that naps are good for you! Marwyn confirms that Jorah is fully healed and is good to go on his merry way. But he tells Sam to visit him in his office later. Ruh roh, Samwell Tarly, you got some ‘splaining to do! Ser Jorah thanks Sam and tells him he’s going to head back to his Khaleesi.

Later in Marwyn’s office, Sam gets a slap on the hand for disobeying the archmaester. He asks Sam how he managed to heal Jorah when so many archmaesters who have tried the procedure in the past have failed. It’s simple really, Sam read and followed the instructions. In my head, I’m cutting to Gilly saying “You’re like…a wizard!”. The archmaester gives Sam a verbal pat on the back for saving Jorah’s life, and then it’s back to the usual grind: some scrolls need to be copied and Sam is the lucky guy who gets to be a human Xerox machine. Marwyn tells him that if he was expecting a reward for his good deed with Jorah it’s that he isn’t being expelled. Aw, man, Sam can’t get a break. Very fun scene though.

War Games

Back at Dragonstone, Dany is in the war room with her advisors. She wants to hop on a dragon, find Euron’s fleet and torch it to the bottom of the sea, but everybody talks her out of it. Even if her dragons are strong and nearly invincible, Dany would endanger herself while riding on Drogon, as anybody could try to shoot her down, and it’s a risk she can’t take. Tyrion reminds her they need to keep their eye on the prize: the siege of Casterly Rock.

Misandei - who clearly has Grey Worm on the brain after her last steamy encounter with him - asks what’s in store for the Unsullied and so we get a cool action sequence of the invasion while Tyrion narrates what will happen, noting that Casterly Rock has a sewer system that allows access into the impenetrable walls of Tyrion’s childhood home - he designed it himself to sneak whores in, back in his younger days. We see the Unsullied army fight their way past the gates while a group led by Grey Worm sneaks in via the sewer system. The Unsullied have soon defeated the Lannister army, but it’s all too easy and there aren’t nearly as many men as they expected. Grey Worm asks a fallen Lannister soldier where everybody else is, and when he looks up, he sees the Unsullied ships have all been set ablaze. Well, crap. That’s twice now that Dany’s plans have been foiled. Maybe she needs better advisors.

And where, indeed, have all the Lannister soldiers gone? We see the giant army advancing to High Garden, home of the Tyrell family - also the richest family in Westeros. And leading them are Jaime Lannister along with Randyll Tarly and his son, Dickon. Ugh, sell-outs! Lady Olenna watches from her room as her home is besieged. She knows what comes next. And Cersei has indeed fulfilled her promise to the Iron Bank as her army seizes all that Tyrell gold.

Once the battle is over, Jaime is in Lady Olenna’s room. The old lady is seated at a table, resigned to her fate. She asks how she’ll be killed and Jaime tells her he talked Cersei out of the more violent options she had entertained, and that it’ll be a painless death by poison. He pours a vial into her glass, and Lady Olenna swigs it down like a champ. As soon as she has ingested the poison she reveals that it was she who poisoned King Joffrey at his wedding. Jaime’s face is aghast and Lady Olenna tells him she wants Cersei to know it was her. Ya gotta hand it to Olenna, sticking it to Cersei one last time.

Day-um! And there we have it. Nearly halfway through the season and sh*t be going down! I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Pretty disapointed for Dany that her advisors couldn’t have thought that Cersei would anticipate the Casterly Rock attack and send the majority of her men to fight the Tyrells. But it certainly raises the stakes, now that things aren’t looking so easy for Dany and she’s on her own again. She’d better start making new friends quickly. Seeing how things turned out for the Martells and Tyrells, however, my guess is that not too many houses will want to cross the reigning queen

Ok, time for a little chit chat and some theories. There are so many questions I have: Will Jon find out about his true heritage while he’s still at Dragonstone? If so, where does that put him in the line of succession? Does the bastard son of Rhaegar outrank the legitimate daughter as heir to the throne? Not that Jon would want to be king… Is Arya going to make it to Winterfell? I really want to see her wind up killing Cersei while wearing a Jaime face. When will The Hound and his co-horts meet up with the rest of the players in the North? Surely having some Lord of Light believers will help their cause, but what are they gonna do - pray the snow away? Will Cersei ever get tired of winning so much? I figure her next move has gotta be to hit Dragonstone whilst ambushing the Unsullied army on their way back from Casterly Rock…oh the possibilities! I hope Jon and Dany can come to an agreement on an alliance swiftly. And will Cersei ever be asked to join the fight against the Whitewalkers? It certainly would be in her best interest, though I’m sure any help she offers will be the kind that puts her in aprime position to continue ruling the seven kingdoms once/if the army of dead is defeated.

I definitely want more Bran visions. I have a half-baked theory that the old three-eyed-raven who lived in the tree is an older version of Bran and he is caught in some crazy time loop. And there are rumors flying around the interwebs that Tyrion is actually also a Targaryen (some believe the Mad King had the hots for Tyrion’s mom, so maybe he raped her? It would explain why Tywin hated him so much). If so, perhaps we’ll end up seeing Dany, Jon and Tyrion each mounting a dragon and laying waste to the Whitewalkers. Who knows, maybe Cersei will even throw in some dragon fire for their cause - I’m sure she held onto a few barrels.

Ok, that’s enough with my musings for now. Until next week, my dears. And if you happen to see the new Qyburn lipstick collection at your local department store beauty counter, may I suggest the new “Drop Dead Gorgeous” shade? I hear it’s to die for.

#GOTrecaps #the queen's justice #Game of Thrones #GameOfThrones #Season7 #Tyrell #Lannister #Littlefinger #Dragonstone #Danerys #Targaryen #Jorah

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i-just-like-commenting · 7 years

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Yes, the books were adaptable, part 3: Season 5 rewrite

So your first question might be, given that I’m imagining an alternative scenario, why adapt the remainder of books 4 and 5 in a single season when I could do it in two? Well, one thing the show is correct about is that seasons need conclusions of a kind, finales, turning points, something to make the audience want to tune in nine months later. And only going halfway through the arcs in aFfC and aDwD leaves you...halfway through arcs. With no real sense of resolution, completion, or full development. You could do what the books did and split it into two seasons based on location, but that barely worked in the books, and besides, I’d like to have the opportunity to, say, have Cersei and Dany be clear foils as they both try to unravel a prophecy of doom, or making Quentyn contiguous with the rest of the Dorn arc, things lost by the book split.

The difficulty with season 5 then becomes, unfortunately, too much plot, and thus I am going to cut or combine a bunch of characters and plotlines. This includes: Quentyn (merged with Trystane), Jon Connington and the rest of Griff’s motley band, Lady Falyse, the Blue Bard, Hyle Hunt, Moqorro, Ronnet Connington, the Widow of the Docks (merged with Talisa), Arys Oakheart (Bronn is in his role), Darkheart (now Obara), the grotesquerie, and many others. Some of them might be squeezed in as more minor figures, but even then they won’t be as prominent. That doesn’t mean that I think they’re inconsequential in the books or uninteresting. In fact a lot of them I adore and will miss (Lady Lemore~~). But we’re trying to fit this into ten episodes and keep the cast within a budget, which means making some cuts.

Because there is so much to fit in this season, I’ve also given myself the challenge of cutting each plot into chunks and describing what happens in each hypothetical episode. Spoilers for books 4 and 5 (and oh so many words) below the jump (also, apologies for my weak attempt at episode titles):

Episode 1: A Feast for Crows

King’s Landing: Tywin’s funeral, as Jaime stands vigil, Cersei doesn’t know how to handle Tommen’s grieving, and Kevan and Lancel making their departure. Cersei reluctantly agrees to go along with Tommen’s wedding to Margaery in exchange for Olenna leaving afterwards.

Riverlands: Brienne is on the road, asking extras if they’ve seen Sansa. She suspects someone is following her. It is Pod; he tells her his sob story and she feels bad and makes him her squire.

The Wall: Stannis and Melisandre let wildlings across in exchange for converting to Rh’llor-ism (Davos does not approve) and executing Mance (yeah I know, character who isn’t dead in the books, but he may be soon, so let’s simplify). Jon then has to remind Stannis that he can’t betray the Watch to go recapture Winterfell, and suggests getting the aid of the Mormonts and mountain clans who won’t want to support the Boltons.

Moat Caitlin: Roose uses Theon to betray the Iron Born and retake the castle. He lets one iron born escape, letting us see Theon is still inside there somewhere. Jeyne arrives as “Arya” and Theon immediately sees through the ruse, but Roose doesn’t care.

Braavos: Arya sails into Braavos, with some cool effects shots and arrives at the House of Black and White. Gets accepted by the Friendly Man.

Road to Meereen: Tyrion is bitter, mean, and drunk as he’s unloaded by Illyrio Maptois and sent packing in a cart with Varys on his way to the river. He asks where they’re going, and Varys has said that they’re going to join Dany. “Didn’t you help Robert try to assassinate her once?” “That was before she had dragons.”

Meereen: Dany holds council; the Harpies have been killing overnight, HIzdahr proposes marriage and reopening the pits, and someone presents a corpse killed by Drogon. Dany hears advice on each of them, and the episode ends with her locking her dragons in the vault.

Episode 2: Fathers and Daughters, Mothers and Sons

Dorne: Arianne, Bronn, and Ellaria arrive at Sunspear with Oberyn’s bones. They meet up with Tyene, Nym, and Obara (mention that Sarella is off somewhere) and confront Doran. He and Ellaria both refuse to start a war of revenge, but Arianne and the Sand Snakes aren’t happy. We end with Arianne watching Myrcella and Trystane (who should be about 15 and 17 respectively) playing cyvasse. Myrcella says she’s going to miss Tyrstane after he leaves; he jokes that that’s only because she always wins against him.

King’s Landing: Flashback to Maggy, followed by Tommen and Margaery’s wedding, left unconsummated until his coming into majority. This will emphasize that Cersei is still regent and also be less creepy. Cersei is upset with how chummy Jaime and Loras are being. He is upset that she blows up the tower of the Hand and declares she won’t be appointing a new Hand (she considered it in the book, it saves us a character, and demonstrates her incompetency). Cersei starts trying to lure away two of Margaery’s retainers, Taena and Oswald.

The Wall: Stannis departs with his men, leaving his family, Melisandre, and Davos behind. Jon sends off Sam with Aemon, Gilly, and her baby to Oldtown to keep them all safe and to get a new maester. Sam expresses fear because his dad never wanted him to be a measter.

Riverlands: Brienne meets Sam’s dad. He is an asshole to her. She gets a lead on Sansa and heads off to hunt it down.

The Eyrie: Sansa is still posing as Alayne and dealing with Robin’s fits and strangeness. She learns from the maester that the drug Littlefinger is giving him could be lethal and puts two-and-two together.

Shield Islands: Victarion and Euron raid a town, and talk about how Euron learned magic in Valyria. Euron entrusts Victarion with bringing Dany back using his dragon horn.

Road to Meereen: Tyrion and Varys board a boat and meet “Griff,” an arrogant boy with obviously-dyed hair who Varys says will accompany them to meet Dany. Tyrion starts trying to figure out who Griff really is while being sullen and mean.

Meereen: Grey Worm finds one of his friends dead and it is sad. She starts to reconsider Hizdahr’s proposal. Barristan is against it because she needs to marry in Westeros, and meanwhile she and Daario are getting all sexy.

Episode 3: Descent

King’s Landing: Cersei switches Qyburn to be on the council. We have a scene of a dwarf head being delivered to her, implying there have been many others. She and Jaime get into a heated argument complete with wine-throwing over his recommending Tommen squire for Loras and Jaime implying he suspects about Lancel.

The Eyrie: The high castle must be abandoned for the winter. Sansa figures out how to keep Robin calm going down the harsh path without drugging him by telling him his knightly stories.

Dorne: Arianne and Bronn are naked in bed, talking about how she suspects her father is going to place her brother Trystane on the throne instead of her, and that his trip is secretly a cover to win allies. They discuss Dornish inheritance law, and Bronn jokes that if Westeros followed that, Myrcella would be queen. Arianne gets an “I have an idea!” look.

Riverlands: Brienne chases down her lead, and it’s the last of the sellswords from last season setting a trap. She almost loses defeating them, and questions whether she’s cut out for this. She tells Pod the story of the bet made by Renlt’s men as they take heads back to Tarly.

Beyond the Wall: Bran’s training is underway as he is skinchanging into crows and flying around to see the wights outside. Jojen still isn’t doing so hot.

Braavos: Arya is doing her routine of chores, watching activities in the temple, and practicing lying. We get a basic intro to their religious beliefs about death. They tell her that if she wants to move on with her training, she must abandon her old self. She throws away her things except for Needle, which she hides (a montage of Needle scenes here would be nice).

The Wall: Jon meets and becomes friends with Val, a wildling leader, and with Davos. They agree how White Walkers are a bigger issue. Jon has a wolf dream, and Melisandre reveals that she knows of his powers and says that sex magic could enhance them. He turns her down.

The North: Yara and her men are hiking across country to try to reach Dreadfort by land when they are caught by Stannis and his men. Meanwhile Theon and Jeyne arrive at Winterfell, and he discourages her from letting Ramsay know she’s not Arya, or else he will hurt her.

Road to Meereen: Tyrion beats Griff at cyvasse and wins out his secret, that he is supposedly Rhaegar’s long-lost son. Tyrion is skeptical, and challenges Varys, who says it doesn’t matter because Griff has been raised to be king. They coast into Volantis.

Meereen: Dany gets news that Astapor has fallen back into slaver hands, and their army is marching towards Yunkai. A wave of refugees come in ahead of them that Dany welcomes. She tells Hizdahr she will marry him if he can figure out how to stop the Harpies.

Episode 4: Separation

Kings Landing: Having had it up to here with Jaime, Cersei sends him off to the Riverlands to be useful and cool his head. As he heads out on the road with Ilyn Payne, he passes the sparrows coming into King’s Landing. Qyburn asks Cersei for permission to gather paupers to experiment on and she grants it.

Dorne: Arianne and Bronn meet with the Sand Snakes to hatch a plot to place Myrcella on the throne. We can include the threesome with Tyene that Arys turned down, because you know Bronn wouldn’t and it would give the show its obligatory extra sex.

The Wall: Jon sends Val across the Wall to send word to other wildlings that they will be offered safety. Selyse and other Watch members question how friendly he is with the wildlings. One of them accuses him of being a beastling for how close he is to Ghost.

Braavos: Arya gets her first task, to pose as an oyster seller in the canals and bring information. She does so, and one day meets Sam when his crew stops at Braavos to resupply. She learns that her brother has become Lord Commander, and her tone of voice when she shares this information lets them know she’s still attached. She drinks a potion and wakes up blind.

Beyond the Wall: We have some scenes of Val riding off that are witnessed by Bran’s ravens. Three Eyes tells him it’s time to take the next step, and he drinks a potion and has his first set of visions, garbled at first, but we end with a scene of Ned and Cat in the godswood from season 1.

The North: Yara is Stannis’ unhappy prisoner, but finds a friend in Alys Mormont. Jeyne is shown as “Arya” to the gathered Northern lords, and we can tell they are not convinced and hate the Boltons, and that Ramsay doesn’t like his father having power over him.

Road to Meereen: Varys, Tyrion, and Griff meet with one of Varys’ contacts, Talisa (see why I kept her around?) who has become involved with a planned slave uprising. She gives them the rundown on the situation and begs them to convince Dany to come help her in Volantis. Tyrion, though, goes and gets drunk and buy a prostitute without thinking about whether she’s a slave. He gets caught by Jorah who is also in the brothel, and Jorah kidnaps him.

Meereen: None of Dany’s advisors (Barristan, Daario, Rakharo, and Missandei) are happy with her idea about marrying Hizdahr, but she doesn’t have much choice, because the killings are decreasing. They get word about a plague among the refugees. Dany goes down to see it; it’s greyscale (ties to Shireen) and while Rakharo suggests driving all the refugees out because greyscale is a curse, Dany quarantines the ones showing symptoms and starts setting up help.

Episode 5: Deals and Designs

King’s Landing: Cersei is having a ride with Taena, plying her for secrets on Margaery, when they run into a crowd of sparrows surrounding the Sept. A riot almost erupts, which Cersei stops. She meets with the High Sparrow, who has just deposed the former High Septon. Cersei bargains with him to repeal some of their debts in exchange for letting them be armed to defend the countryside.

Riverlands: Jaime and Brienne are both travelling through devastated countryside. She follows a lead to Quiet Isle, he stops at Harrenhal. We get an abbreviated broken man speech from Brother Meribald as he asks why Brienne doesn’t just go home, and she gives her “confession,” sometimes as voice over as Jaime wanders around Harrenhal at the places she’s describing.

The Wall: Jon takes inventory of food and begins worrying whether he can feed all the wildlings he’s bringing across. He tells Satin, who is assisting him, that his father had always planned to repopulate the Gift, and he may have to as well. The wildlings make noise about Shireen being cursed with greyscale. Some of the Watch make homophobic remarks about Satin.

Beyond the Wall: Bran goes on his first official vision quest, to the tourney at Harrenhal. Three-Eyes has chosen it because the greenseers interfered in history there, but Bran is distracted by seeing Jaime made a member of the kingsguard, remembering how much he wanted to be a knight and how Jaime pushing him out the window ruined that forever. He’s too upset to continue and they pause for the day.

The Eyrie: At the base of the mountain, Sansa and Littlefinger meet the other lords of the Eyrie and as in the books Sansa gets an up-close lesson on people manipulation.

The North: Stannis approaches Winterfell, while things between Yara and Alys are turning flirty (because I have no problem making Yara gay). Alys is worried that Stannis is keeping Yara for her “king’s blood” in case something goes wrong. Then it starts snowing. Inside Winterfell, Ramsay and Jeyne marry, and we try to make it a little less awful than in the books, please?

Road to Meereen: Now aboard a ship with Jorah, he and Tyrion hate each other. Also on board the ship is a little dwarf girl named Penny who recognizes Tyrion’s name and attacks him; her brother was killed by people who mistook him as Tyrion. Tyrion feels guilt and promises to make amends to her somehow. Meanwhile Varys says that if they plan to invade Westeros they need sellswords, and promises Griff that if it’s really what he wants he’ll find them.

Meereen: The pressure is on Dany to marry Hizdahr as the killings have now stopped, the plague is spreading, and the Astapor army is at their door. She finally gives him a yes after her sellswords betray Daario and switch sides. Dany and Daario sleep together in spite of their pending engagement.

Episode 6: The Lost and the Blind

King’s Landing: Taena delivers information to Margaery about how Cersei belittles Tommen that Margaery uses to get Tommen to speak out against his mother. Cersei decides she needs to take away Margaery’s support after this and sends Loras off to take Dragonstone in Stannis’ absence.

Riverlands: Brienne is generally being despondent on the road, and Pod tries to cheer her up. Jaime meets Lancel either at Harrenhal or not far from it, and gets confirmation of Cersei’s cheating. He tells Ilyn about how he would have taken Arya’s hand after the Nymeria incident.

The Wall: Val returns with more wildlings and news of even more at Hardhome. Jon’s secret agreement with the wildlings is revealed and it causes uproar in the Watch. He argues in favor of the agreement, but a few are still unhappy. Jon then organizes a group of wildlings led by Tormund to go save Hardhome, wishing he could go with them but he can’t.

Dorne: The conspirators secret Myrcella off in the middle of the night and ride into the desert, filling the princess in on their plan to make her queen, with Trystane as her consort. Arianne regales Myrcella with stories of Dornish history until they reach the boat they’re going to head to King’s Landing on. Out pops Areo, who beheads Bronn (shocking death!), and they realize they’ve been betrayed. Obara goes berserk and tries to kill Myrcella, badly injuring her. Obara is slain, and Arianne and the other Sand Snakes are captured.

Braavos: Blind Arya is doing her chores and also learning to fend off attacks. It isn’t going so well, but we see her feeding and petting cats that mill around the temple.

The North: After the wedding night, Jeyne is scared and broken and begging Theon to rescue her, but he’s too frightened to help her. We get a parallel to Sansa’s moment at the end of season 1 where he thinks about pushing Ramsay over the edge, but he can’t go through with it.

Beyond the Wall: More of the tourney at Harrenhal. Bran witnesses how Howland Reed met his father and aunt, and talks about him with Meera and Jojen.

At Sea: Our first check-up with Victarion, as he reaches the stepstones and raids a bit. He reveals to his men that he doesn’t plan to let the “godless” Euron take Dany, that he’ll marry her himself. Elsewhere Aemon is falling sick on board while Gilly and Sam try to care for him.

Road to Meereen: Penny and Tyrion are warming up to each other as she explains her life as an entertainer and he starts to realize she has no shame over being a dwarf. Then there ship is attacked by a slaving vessel and all three are captures.

Meereen: Dany meets with Astapor delegates, who offer to leave the city alone if she will let them resume slaving. Hizdahr is in favor of the idea as they plan the wedding, which will involve re-opening the fighting pits. Daario is in danger of giving away their relationship, so Dany sends him to go try to turn his sellswords back to her side.

Episode 7: A Fair Bargain

Dragonstone: the very opening scene is Loras attacking and being injured. We cut away before we see his ultimate fate, but news is delivered to Cersei that he’s dying (this should sound a little suspicious, to leave a window for Loras not in fact dying which I don’t think he will).

King’s Landing: with Loras out of the way, Cersei sets her next plan in motion. She offers to sleep with Oswald if he can convince Margaery to commit some adultery. We see him try and Margaery cleverly shutting him down. Cersei decides he can just lie about it, and he insists she pay up her side of the bargain, which she does, reluctantly.

Dorne: Arianne is on a hunger strike in her tower room, until her father agrees to see her. We pretty much follow the book to a “T” here, only we’re giving Trystane Quentyn’s role. Cut to him hiding in one of the Astapori’s guards as they enter the city for Dany’s wedding.

Riverlands: Jaime has a dream of hurting Cersei that wakes him up, unnerved. He arrives at Riverrun, and assesses the situation, including witnessing Edmure’s fake hanging. He has an unsuccessful negotiation with the Blackfish.

Beyond the Wall: Tormund and his band reach Hardhome and try to convince the other wildlings of Jon’s good intentions. This will end on a cliffhanger as the wights and white walkers attack. Meanwhile Bran will return to the tourney and witness Howland seeks out the greenseers’ help. Bran wonders why any of this is important. Three-Eyes will tell him this is more important than he thinks to the fate of the world.

The Wall: Jon is settling arguments between free folk and kneelers, and Melisandre tells him she sees knives in the dark all around him. We see her try to look into her fires to see where Stannis is, but only can see Jon’s face. Our escape iron born from way back in episode 1 makes it to the Wall and lets them know what is happening – and reveals that he saw Osha and Rickon heading to Karhold way back in season 3. Davos volunteers to go get him because a Stark heir will help his king’s cause.

The North: Stannis is trapped in a blizzard, and burns some men who committed cannibalism hoping to remove the storm. Yara and Alys are closer than ever. Inside Winterfell, Theon talks Jeyne out of an ill-planned escape attempt. Some of Roose’s men die overnight, and he’s not sure who did it, the Northern lords or Ramsay.

The Vale: We have a scene of Littlefinger, Sansa, and Robin travelling, with Littlefinger drugging him as Sansa tries to teach him to be a better king.

At Sea: Aemon dies, it is sad, and while mourning him Sam and Gilly sleep together. Elsewhere at sea, Griff and Varys are on a ship full of sellsword extras, with Griff anxiously excited to reach Westeros.

Meereen: Dany agrees to the Astapori bargain, and watches as they bring slaves in off a ship. She oversees the removal of bodies dying of greyscale and is generally under a lot of stress, which she relieves by sleeping with Daario some more after he comes back empty handed.

Episode 8: Hardhome

King’s Landing: Oswald confesses to the High Sparrow, Margaery is arrested, and Cersei gets a moment of relief thinking she’s beaten the prophecy. Then after visiting Margaery to gloat, it’s revealed that Oswald turned on her, and she is arrested as well.

Riverlands: At a disastrous war council, one of the Freys observes to Jaime that his father would have handled this better. So Jaime thinks it over and gives his infamous trebuchet speech to Edmure, ending it with a snide remark about “is this what my father would have done?” A shaken Edmure enters Riverrun and turns it over. Meanwhile Brienne follows a rumor about young children gathered at an inn, and instead of Sansa finds Gendry. The inn is attacked by brigands, and Brienne is badly injured fighting them singe-handedly. Gendry says he’ll get help.

Beyond the Wall: shorter version of the battle at Hardhome that everyone loved, where most of the wildlings are wiped out. Tormund starts the survivors on forced run back to the Wall as fast as they can. Meanwhile Bran is growing frustrated with history lessons and casts about wildly. He sees Theon at the godswood and tries to speak to him…

The North: Ramsay and Roose have an argument when Ramsay realizes Roose’s new wife is pregnant. Theon goes to the godswood and hears the tree call him by name as he’s praying for guidance as to what to do.

At Sea: Victarion is sailing past Valyria, and makes ominous noises about evil things in Valyria that destroyed the empire of dragons, man my brother must be evil too.

Outside of Meereen: Tyrion, Jorah, and Penny are on the market block and about to be sold off to be brute labor when Tyrion volunteers that Jorah is a skilled fighter and he and Penny can perform mock battles for amusement. They get purchased, and are told they are headed to the fighting pits, which will open tomorrow.

Meereen: Dany refuses her “examination” before her wedding night. Trystane reappears basically just in time to be a guest at the wedding. He tries to talk her out of it, but it’s too late. The wedding itself is miserable, with Daario glaring daggers at Hizdahr, Hizdahr making nice with slavers, and Missandei being very disappointed. Dany and Hizdahr’s wedding night sucks too.

Episode 9: Fire and Blood

King’s Landing: Cersei is in prison suffering from sleep deprivation. Kevan comes to the city with Randyll Tarly and meets with the High Sparrow to learn of Cersei’s “crimes.” He proposes a walk of shame to cover most of them rather than death. Qyburn goes to Cersei to give her the news, and she has him send a letter to Jaime asking for help.

Riverlands: Jaime learns that Blackfish escaped and is pissed, but also feeling like a heel for his actions. He lets the garrison go, and when someone says that isn’t what his father would have done, he says he’d rather die in the saddle than on the privy. When Cersei’s letter arrives, along with the first snow of the season, he burns it without giving a reply. Meanwhile Brienne is brought to the Brotherhood and set before Lady Stoneheart, who threatens Pod until Brienne agrees to bring them Jaime.

The Wall: the survivors of Hardhome arrive, and Jon lets them in. Melisandre is more convinced than ever that Jon needs to develop his wolf powers to stop this supernatural foe, but he refuses.

The North: some of Stannis’ men are arguing for him to burn Yara because she has king’s blood and is a traitor. Alys argues against it. Stannis says he wishes he had news about what was going on in side Winterfell. Emboldened by Bran’s voice, when Jeyne asks Theon to help her, this time he tells her they need to come up with an escape plan. They do, but it goes awry, and they jump off the wall together, deciding it would be better to die than to go back to Ramsay.

Braavos: Arya struggles blind until she’s stroking a cat and freezes. Her eyes do the same thing Bran’s do, and she jumps, startled. But then she tries again. She’s able to tell the Friendly Man later than she knows he’s who is attacking her, and we realize it’s because she was watching through the cats. She gets her eyesight back.

Mereen: it’s the big day of the opening of the fighting pit, and Dany is miserable. Trystane is there, feeling miserable that he failed. Then Jorah, Tyrion, and Penny are brought out, and a lion is sent at them. She doesn’t recognize any of them, but enough is enough and she throws off her robe and rushes into the pit to stop it. When she’s injured, Drogon appears. Dany tames him and flies away.

Episode 10: Knives in the Dark

King’s Landing: Cersei is subjected to her walk of shame. At the end of it, Qyburn greets her with her new champion in any more trials she should face (FrankenGregor).

Riverlands: Jaime is on his way back to King’s Landing, wondering to Ilyn what he’s going to do about Cersei, when Brienne rides up and tells him she’s found Sansa. (cliffhanger!)

The Wall: We open with Jon getting a letter, reading it, and needing to go off for a think. He then gathers the wildlings and the Watch together for an important announcement. They start airing all their various complaints against him. He reads them the pink letter (which should confuse audiences, because Stannis sure isn’t dead yet) and says he’s leaving the Watch with the wildlings. Chaos erupts, Jon gets stabbity-stabbed, and his last words are “Ghost…”

The North: Alys is preparing to help Yara escape her imminent burning when they find Theon and Jeyne fleeing in the snow. They bring them back to the camp and they tell Stannis what they know from inside. Stannis gets an “I have a plan!” look and sends Jeyne off and imprisons Theon. As Theon is preparing himself for the worst, a raven lands nearby and says his name…

Beyond the Wall: and using the power of jump-cuts we see Bran back in the cave, having just spoken to Theon. He argues to Three-Eyes that he spoke to Theon through the trees as well, but Three-Eyes says that’s impossible.

South of King’s Landing: Griff and Varys land, and they meet a group of lords who Varys contact who are sick of Cersei and the Lannisters and ready to join their cause.

Braavos: Arya is given her first mission and her first new face as a creepy teaser for next season.

The Vale: Now at their winter residence, Sansa proposes a tourney as a way to calm Robin down rather than drugs, and Littlefinger, at first shocked, has to agree and starts arranging things. Later, as people are arriving, Harry shows up and is a jerk to Sansa. She asks Littlefinger who he is and he explains how he’s Robin’s heir. “What do you plan to do to him?” “Why, marry him to you, of course.”

Meereen: The slavers are demanding extra concessions in Dany’s absence, and Hizdahr is too eager to roll over. Barristan arrests him on suspicion of being the Harpy. Trystane decides that he could win Dany over to his side if he could tame a dragon too. He gets roasted alive for his efforst, and the dragons escape. As the city panics, Barristan calls Grey Worm and says they need to start preparing for a battle. Outside the walls, Tyrion and his companions see the dragons. They overhear a sellsword leader leaving their owner’s tent, muttering in Westerosi about how they aren’t paid enough to deal with dragons. Tyrion gets a look, and says, “Excuse me, but have you ever heard of the gold of Casterly Rock…?”

Dothraki Sea: Dany is recovering from her injury in the pit with Drogon, ruminating over her prophecy and where she went wrong. Drogon refuses to let her fly back to Meereen, so she starts to walk by herself. Dothraki riders appear and start to surround her, but Dany only smiles and says “To go forward, I must go back,” and a shadow sails over them, and Drogon lands behind her. End of season.

So there you have it. I’m not a professional screenwriter so I can’t guess exactly how long each scene will have to be. It’s possible that some of these episodes might be much too long as I’ve scripted them here. Events may have to be moved around from the very broad outline I’ve written here, some less necessary bits like the tourney flashbacks or Hardhome might have to get tossed. Ideally we’d have had 15 episodes to cover all of this but alas.

Nonetheless. while I’ve dramatically reduced the cast from what it is in the book, changed a large number of details, amped up the sex and combat violence where I could, and I’m sure some of my fellow book snobs will still be unsatisfied, it is at least recognizably the plot from the books.

This could have been adapted. They chose not to.

#asoiaf meta #a song of ice and fire #game of thrones #the books were adaptable

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