#if it makes you feel better jeyne lives and has a son

[asherbakugou]

The Deal of Gods and Humans

Prince Laenor of House Velaryon sat in a plush velvet chair within his wife's small study, sipping sour Arbor Gold from a golden chalice in silence as he watched Crown Princess Rhaenyra of House Targaryen stare out the window of her study. The light highlighted the features of her youth, reminding him of the heavy burden that had been placed upon his shoulders and was now shared between them. She was a little girl, still, with the weight of a Kingdom upon her shoulders and yet she stood with the strength of a dragon against the lit towers aiming to bring her crashing down.

"I'm sorry," Laenor murmured, tearing his wife from her thoughts. "If only the Gods had not made like this. If only they had made me like my father or Prince Daemon then maybe–"

"Stay your tongue!" Rhaenyra ordered, sharply. She whirled around, pale grey skirts swirling along her legs as she stalked towards him. "Had the Gods not made you this way then I would never have agreed to this marriage, no matter that my inheritance would be stripped away. I agreed to take you as my husband because I can trust you within this nest of vipers my home has become. You are my husband and my future King Consort, the man who shall aid my rule and support me."

Laenor gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, "I am the husband that cannot give his wife heirs. The man that cannot see a woman for the beauty she is, and feels no lust for the pleasures others speak of."

"We shall figure something out. It will just take time."

"What if you took a paramour? He could give you children that I could claim as mine. They would be mine in name and that is all that matters."

"And if they resembled any but me? Or you? They would be called bastards even if they were an exact copy of Rodrick Arryn or Jocelyn Baratheon as long as they did not have the Valyrian coloring. The Queen and her supporters would make our lives a living hell if she even had an inkling that they were bastards. Even now, she seeks to undermine me."

"I thought the wedding was her only move," Laenor stated, sitting up. Worry shone in his grey-purple eyes. They might not be in love as other matches were but they were partners.

"No. Every day she gathers the Ladies of the Keep for tea and speaks behind my back, spreading rumors of my virtue, of your taste in men, of how I am a heathen whore unfit to be the Heir to the Iron Throne," Rhaenyra sneered, sitting down in the weirwood chair behind her desk. A present from Lady Jeyne Arryn and Lady Amanda Arryn for her wedding.

"She dares speak ill of the Crown Princess? And none stop her or bring her words to the King or you, yourself?"

"Why would they? Each of them come from the Reach or Westerlands, supporters of her son as Heir and future King."

"Then we must dispel the rumors," Laenor stated, reaching into his doublet. He pulled out a letter, setting it on the desk between them. "My dear Laena has sent us a letter. She reminds me of the tales my father used to tell us before bed. Of Sea Serpents, Giants, Gods . . . and Demigods."

"Demigods?" Rhaenyra whispered, remembering the tales Daemon had once told her. "Children of both God and Man. What do those tales have to do with our problems?"

"For years we have hid how we worship the Fourteen Flames, let those of the Seven deem our culture as heathenistic and disrespectful. I believe she means for us to seek out our true Gods and ask for their help."

"They are Gods, Laenor. What could we possibly give them in return for three children?"

"Anything they wish. Rhaenyra if you wish to be Queen this might be our only option. We need trueborn heirs and who better than the Gods that shaped us and gave us dragons?"

"The same Gods who allowed hundreds of thousands of people be wiped by the Doom. The ones who allow us to be ridiculed and shamed even as Kings, Queens, and Heirs of Valyrian Houses. The only ones left of Old Valyria, might I add," Rhaenyra snapped, glaring.

Laenor did not let her flames deter him. "And what other option do we have? Let Prince Aegon be named Heir because you have no children to rule after you?"

Rhaenyra snarled, teeth baring as Syrax sang within her soul, black teeth bared as flamed gathered in her chest. "Watch yourself husband. I could take that as treason."

"But I speak the truth," Laenor stated, Seasmoke humming in the back of his mind, tail swishing across the dusty ground of his cave. "You said we would need trueborn children and I have given you a suggestion. It is either this, your give birth to bastards after taking a paranour, or remain childless and have your titles taken. Take your pick, wife."

Charged silence fell within the study as the two dragons stared each other down. Eventually, Rhaenyra acquiesced.

"Fine. In two days time we travel to Dragonstone. We will call it a honeymoon of sorts, as if we seek alone time for . . . things. The Temple of the Fourteen will hear our prayers and we shall see if the Gods will answer."

"Then it is decided."

—Temple of the Fourteen—

The Temple of the Fourteen was almost hidden behind Castle Dragonstone, even with how large it was. The rotunda had 14 stained glass windows, each displaying the symbol of one of the 14 Gods or Godesses sitting above the corrosponding statue. Made entirely out of black dragonglass with runes carved in and filled with Valyrian steel, the Temple was truly of Valyrian make and ancestry.

Over the two days planning their week long trip to the Isle of Dragonstone, they had argued over which statue to pray too, eventually agreeing upon the Goddess Meleys. She ruled over fertility, love, sexuality, mothers, and childbirth, so they had come to the realization that she would be a better fit than Arrax or Aegerax.

"It's beautiful," Laenor murmured, High Valyrian rolling of his tongue with an Essosi lilt that Lord Corlys and his sister both had. It brought a heat to Rhaenyra whenever she heard it even if she preffered how it sounded when Daemon spoke.

"It is." Rhaenyra and Laenor came to a stop before the white dragonglass statue of Meleys. Stood in a patch of dirt, a large myrtle tree had grown alongside her, manipulated to lean over her seemingly sheltering the Goddess who wore a floor length dress with long slits up the side leaving her most of her legs and bare feet exposed.

Held in her left hand was a mirror, as pearls draped across the exposed cut of her shoulders while long sleeves fell around her forearms. Perched upon her shoulder was a dove while a peacock stood at her side, long beautifull feathers carved and painted in detail.

"Do you remember the prayer?" Laenor asked as they both stared up into the gentle features carved into the statue.

"I have not had the time to forget it," Rhaenyra murmured dryly, unsure of if she should speak normally. Together they kneeled, bowing before the Goddess' statue.

"O' Meleys, O' Queen of the Gods, Goddess of Love, Goddess of Fertility, Goddess of Motherhood, Goddess of Childbirth, we seek your aid. As Heir to the Iron Throne and Heir to Driftmark, we ask you to provide us with heirs and a spare. To allow us to further our bloodlines, O' Queen of the Gods. Name a price and we shall pay it for three children borne of our blood."

The pyre that stood to her right suddenly lit with pale pink-whire fire, startling both of them. So focused they were, neither saw the statue move until she spoke, voice soft but firm, loving and kind.

"Greetings, Princess Rhaenyra, Chosen Heir. Greetings, Prince Laenor, Chosen Guardian. I have been awaiting your call for many moons."

Neither could find it within themselves to speak, staring at the talking statue with awe and fear in equal parts.

"Be not afraid. Your call has been anticipated and awaited eagerly." Her soft look melted to something sharp and protective. "The Promised Heir shall come from your blood, Rhaenyra, but due to your father's folly, in one line of fate they fall and the world is taken in the Long Night. No one is left, no dragons, no people, no wildlings. Only wights. To make sure this never comes to pass We, the Fourteen Flames, the Seven-Who-Are-One, and the Elder Gods have decided to intervene. We have decided to interfere with fate itself to make sure our favored survive and fight back the Long Night."

"Us? But my father said– when he told me of the prophecy . . ."

"Tessarion gave the prophecy to Aegon in the hopes that he would unite Westeros to prepare them for the Long Night. But after making them kneel he in turn kneeled for the Seven-Who-Are-One who have no control over any family of Valyrian Blood. We are not the only the ones that have been disrespected or forgotten.

"The supposed followers of the Seven have perverted and twisted the words of the Seven-Who-Are-One to fit their agendas, destroying the faith that once was. The Elder Gods are slowly being forgotten as we are, and with fewer and fewer worshipping us, we are dying."

"Dying?" Laenor asked, horrified. Every story ever told spoke of how a God could not be killed.

"Not in the way you understand but yes. Magic is being forcibly taken from your world, one of the few weapons that would secure your future. But we believe we have a way for this world to survive. Do you accept the responsibility, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Laenor Velaryon?"

They both hesitated, but looking upon her face, one that looked similar to Aemma's in Rhaenyra's eyes and one that looked sinilar to Rhaenys' for Laenor and they made their decision.

"We accept this responsibility, My Queen."

She smiled softly.

"From us you will be given 14 children, born of each of us with our favor to save the Targaryen, Velaryon, Celtigar, and Stark lines. The Seven-Who-Are-One and the Elder Gods have decided that their gifts will be given in secret to aid you. But I have another gift to offer you." Meleys' smile grew wider. "Would you like to hear the names of your children and who they are the child of?"

"Yes! Please, My Queen," Rhaenyra added, blushing fiercly at the outburst. While afraid to have so many children, a part of her was curious to know her future.

"The First. Son of Arrax, King of the Gods, Jacaerys Targaryen."

"The Second. Daughter of Tyraxes, Goddess of Peace. Alyssa Velaryon."

"The Third. Son of Caraxes, God of the Seas. Lucerys Velaryon."

"The Fourth. Son of Vhagar, Goddess of War. Maegor Velaryon."

"The Fifth. Daughter of Vermax, God of Travel. Visenya Velaryon."

"The Sixth. Son of Aegerax, God of Creation. Aerion Velaryon."

"The Seventh. Daughter of Tessarion, Goddess of Dreams. Daenys Velaryon."

"The Eighth. Daughter of myself, Goddess of Love. Aemma Velaryon."

"The Ninth. Son of Syrax, Goddess of Chaos. Saeryn Velaryon."

"The Tenth. Daughter of Meraxes, Goddess of the Sky. Rhaella Velaryon."

"The Eleventh. Son of Gaelithox, God of the Sun. Aegon Velaryon."

"The Twelfth. Son of Vermithor, God of Smiths. Aemon Velaryon."

"The Thirteenth. Daughter of Shrykos, Goddess of Beginnings. Valaena Velaryon."

"The Fourteenth. Son of Balerion, God of the Underworld. Baelon Velaryon."

"Tonight Tessarion shall visit you to give you the instructions on how to allow us to give you children. Be ready. Good luck."

The statue straightened back into her precious position and fell still, allowing complete silence to fall within the Temple.

"Well," Laenor began, mumbling. "I believe we should head to the Keep, should we not? A drink or two might help."

"I agree." With that the two retreated back to the castle to talk about what had just happened, and drink enough wine to help settle their nerves before Tessarion came to visit.

#house of the dragon #old valyria #valyrian gods #the fourteen flames #demigods of valyria #demigods #rhaenyra targaryen #laenor velaryon #jacaerys velaryon #lucerys velaryon #original character #dragonstone #syrax #seasmoke #daemon targeryan #laena velaryon #aemma arryn #princess rhaenys targaryen #queen alicent #the blacks #the greens #the seven who are one #the elder gods

[atopvisenyashill]

What Rhaena the black bride had twin boys instead of girls?

Fully depends on Maegor tbh. My own reading of Maegor’s relationship with Rhaena is that he views her as “his” and she just needs time to see that “truth.” I think his marriages to Jeyne Westerling and Elinor Costayne are more born of his realization that the ~problem~ is him - HE is the one who can’t have children, not any of his wives, so he’s choosing non Valyrian brides in the hopes that it will help his infertility problems as a backup, but I really do believe that had he lived longer he would have considered Rhaena the “main” Queen, possibly would have done some stuff to win her over - that’s part of why I think he names Aerea his heir over one of Aenys’ boys; he wants to say “see i acknowledge your place in the succession and your right to rule, see how kind i am to your daughter.”

HOWEVER. A boy is a whole different problem because you can’t make the same arguments about putting aside a boys claim as you can a girls. Notable that Maegor kills young Viserys probably for that exact reason that under every law in Westeros, Viserys comes before Maegor because he is the former king’s son. Rhaena’s twin sons could be in a lot of danger for that reason so what happens to them depends on how erratic Maegor is feeling.

Rhaena will not forgive him if he kills her sons, period, and Maegor is not stupid enough to think that Rhaena will stop fighting him if he has murdered her sons. I think early on, he would be hesitant to kill them for that reason, the same way he doesn’t kill Elinor Costayne’s children, and in a similar vein that Daemon doesn’t try anything with the Velaryon boys (he knows Rhaenyra would absolutely just kill him if he did, regardless of how she feels about him or what losing a second husband would do to her reputation). But does he continue to spare them? Or does he start getting erratic about a boy that has a better claim than him? Does he take it out on Rhaena? I think that's likely as time goes on.

Beyond that - Jaehaerys simply cannot take the throne if Aegon had sons. That on its own causes such a massive succession issue, because if Rhaena can hide her boys from Maegor, and a rebel fation builds up around him and not Jaehaerys, it completely changes the history of the Targaryens. The precedent of younger male relatives usurping older female relatives gets put off, and if Rhaena is the one acting as regent and not Alyssa, there's a lot that changes there as well. Not to mention - I mean do they force Rhaena to remarry because she's Queen Regent? Does she marry Jaehaerys? It's a lot of changes, and it's going to come down to who can win that bloody battle. While my money is on Rhaena coming out alive, that doesn't mean she comes out on top! Very likely Maegor kills at least one of her sons and that is going to spark a lot of violence in Rhaena.

#valyrianscrolls #rhaena the black bride #maegor targaryen #canon divergent au #asks

[jackoshadows]

When I first read ASoIaF, I viewed Jon’s outburst at Benjen as a frustrated teenager venting and taking out his emotions on his concerned and caring uncle.

On rereads however, I end up side-eyeing Benjen and understanding where Jon was coming from in his response.

The starting sentence of Jon I is genius in how as we keep reading the chapter, there’s a realization that what he is actually feeling is the very opposite of what is stated:

There were times—not many, but a few—when Jon Snow was glad he was a bastard  - Jon I, AGoT

This is similar to Arya saying that she didn’t care about not being pretty. She did care, that’s why she has such low self-esteem and is hurt when mocked as being horse-faced and ugly. The truth is that it’s times like the feast when Jon Snow is reminded that he is a bastard - and those times are not happy times.

Jon I, AGoT starts with Jon seated among the squires at a bench, starkly reminded of the difference between him and his half siblings. He sees Robb escort the princess and Theon ignore him on his way to the dais. His commentary bubbles with envy and bitterness. He describes Myrcella as ‘insipid’ because Robb gets to accompany a princess. He tries to make himself feel better by getting drunk and counting that as an advantage over his siblings. Life is unfair and, at that moment, Jon feels strongly how unfair it is.

So this a low point for Jon Snow and he is getting drunk to numb the pain of being a bastard, and here comes Benjen telling him to sire some bastards!

Benjen Stark stood up. “More’s the pity.” He put a hand on Jon’s shoulder.

“Come back to me after you’ve fathered a few bastards of your own, and we’ll see how you feel.”

Jon trembled. “I will never father a bastard,” he said carefully. “Never!” He spat it out like venom. - Jon, AGoT

There’s so much emotion here. The words used - ‘trembled’, ‘Never’, ‘Spat’, ‘Venom’ - encapsulates the absolute disgust Jon has for Benjen’s suggestion. And at that moment, with Jon looking at his siblings seated across him on the dais, I can totally understand his reaction to Benjen.

And it’s an ongoing theme in Jon’s relationship with Ygritte. Robb and Theon, who grew up with Jon, don’t have the same hang ups that Jon does in regards to their sexual partners. Well, Robb did to a certain extend in terms of marrying Jeyne Westerling so that he wouldn’t be responsible for a bastard who would have to grow up as Jon did or worse.

But since we have Jon’s POV, we get to read how he feels ashamed and almost disgusted by sex in AGoT and ACoK. And it’s not just because of his vows of celibacy either. He cheapens the act as being between ‘a pair of rutting dogs’

"You are a free man now, and Ygritte is a free woman. What dishonor if you lay together?"

"I might get her with child."

"Aye, I'd hope so. A strong son or a lively laughing girl kissed by fire, and where's the harm in that?"

Words failed him for a moment. "The boy . . . the child would be a bastard."

“Are bastards weaker than other children? More sickly, more like to fail?”

“No, but—”

“You’re bastard-born yourself. And if Ygritte does not want a child, she will go to some woods witch and drink a cup o’ moon tea. You do not come into it, once the seed is planted.”

“I will not father a bastard.”  - Jon, ASoS

The proving had been so sweet, though, and Ygritte had gone to sleep beside him with her head against his chest, and that was sweet as well, dangerously sweet. He thought of the weirwoods again, and the words he'd said before them. It was only once, and it had to be. Even my father stumbled once, when he forgot his marriage vows and sired a bastard. Jon vowed to himself that it would be the same with him. It will never happen again. - Jon, ASoS

Remember in AGoT when Jon repeats Maester’s Luwin’s ignorant bigotry about bastards growing up faster?

Uncle Benjen studied his face carefully. “The Wall is a hard place for a boy, Jon.”

“I am almost a man grown,” Jon protested. “I will turn fifteen on my next name day, and Maester Luwin says bastards grow up faster than other children.” - Jon, AGoT

As bastards they are brought up hearing how they are treacherous (Once a man had said the words his blood was black. Black as a bastard's heart ) or lusty.

Everyone knew that bastards were wanton and treacherous by nature, having been born of lust and deceit. - Jon, ASoS

That’s why Jon’s thoughts on marrying Val and having children are different to what he had with Ygritte. What Stannis offers him is the choice to have legitimate children.

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. - Jon, ASoS

The Jon at the end of ADwD is also more grown up and mature, someone who takes his bastardy in stride. And yet still understands the weight of societal prejudice - he sees it in how the brothers treat Satin and the Freefolk and the spearwives. It will be interesting to see if his emotional trauma with respect to his bastardy will continue to be a part of resurrected Jon’s story arc and whether it will be explored and dealt with before he knows the truth about his parentage.

#Jon Snow #asoiaf

[tartheanmaid]

Can I ask why you ship Jon and Sansa? (I'm assuming that's what the Jonsa means in your bio) Not attacking you or anything just curious. They are half siblings and while Jon was a bit separated due to him being the bastard they still were raised together and he's much older. Ik incest and weird relationships is normal in GOT but still

i’m not much involved in the show fandom anymore, but going by medieval and asoiaf/book lore, jonsa isn’t incest. i can direct you to much more lovely people who could explain this way better if you like, but they aren’t half-siblings. ned is not jon’s father, rhaegar is. jon is lyanna’s son (ned’s sister).

westeros is very culturally against incest in all forms, but their definition of it is quite different from the modern world’s. i’m the kind of person who, when i engage in a piece of media, i try to do it through the lens of someone who would actually live there. that is why i don’t consider jonsa incest, because in westeros cousin marriage is not only accepted but extremely common. lysa, sansa’s aunt, wished to marry sansa to her cousin/lysa’s son sweetrobin. additionally, ned, lyanna, brandon, and benjen’s parents (the starklings paternal grandparents), were first cousins.

the only kinds of incest westeros and essos condemn are sibling/sibling, aunt/nephew, mother/son, and father/daughter.

i believe george intentionally didn’t make them interact at all in the chapters where they’re both in the same location. i also believe it is sansa, not arya or jeyne poole or alys karstark who is the girl in grey.

why do i ship them in a general sense? 1. i believe they are compatible and would work well together as a couple based on their own internal wants and feelings about love and marriage.* 2. if sansa is to hold some sort of northern leadership, she must marry a man who is willing to give up all of his titles + name for her so that they may continue house stark. jon is the perfect fit for that in my opinion ( @istumpysk has a great meta on this titled “find sansa’s husband”).

* “Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon's vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister's hair and his mother's deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey's pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell's Great Hall.” - JON I, AGOT

as for the age gap, that part does make me sort of uneasy, but i do believe george feels the same way about that. which i think is why he tried so hard to make the 5 year gap work (if you’re not familiar, the 5 year gap was a scrapped time jump that was to happen in between ADWD and TWOW). if the 5 year gap had ended up working out, sansa would be around 17/18, and jon around 20/21. their age gap may seem like a lot because of how young they are, but when you age them up just a bit it starts to make a little more sense.

hope this helps! /gen

#blogs like agentrouka istumpysk kellyvela and many more can and have said this much better than me #jonsa #anon #ask

[weirwoodking]

i'm just saying you don't have to kill robb off in the wwii au and give us all more emotional trauma (im in my robb stark feels rn sorry)

I’m so sorry... he has to go. It’s too important to the plot

#i hate killing robb #when grrm said that killing robb was like killing one of his own children... yeah #if it makes you feel better jeyne lives and has a son #ask #anon #ww2 au

[amuelia]

do you think the red wedding outcome would happen in a universe where domeric bolton lived & fought in the WOTFK? would he have remained loyal to the starks, or have been included in roose's plans?

This is an interesting ask, but unfortunately also one with a lot of unknown variables... I will divide this long reply into chapters:

Characterization of Domeric

We only know little about Domeric’s personality. We know that he was a “quiet boy”, very talented with a diverse array of hobbies. We also know that he was friends with Lord Redfort’s sons, implying that his quiet personality doesn’t translate to him being a loner and that he has a social streak to him - he also later wants a brother by his side, so it seems he was lonely in the Dreadfort and craved company.

In the Vale, Domeric had enjoyed the company of Redfort's sons. He wanted a brother by his side, so he rode up the Weeping Water to seek my bastard out.

We know nothing about Domeric’s feelings about the Starks. He was born and raised a Bolton, who historically do not have the best relationship with the Starks; despite Boltons bending the knee to House Stark, we do not have a recorded marriage between the two houses. However, Domeric spent 4 years as Lady Dustin’s page and 3 years at the Redfort, opening up the possibility that his values might not have been entirely influenced by Roose (similar to how Ned got an education in honorable values through Jon Arryn). Barbrey is known to despise the Starks, but was also Brandon’s lover and is shown in aDwD to still have fondness for him, so it is unsure which values she might have imparted on Domeric.

Domeric is said to have been a good jouster, and enjoyed the company of his friends. He might have liked being part of Robb’s honor guard, which has at least several characters that seem to be around his age (i got the impression it’s all young people, like a squad for Robb).

While we never hear about Domeric being cruel or unlikable, we also have to take into account that most of his descriptions come from his own father talking about him, who has reason to concentrate on the positive aspects. Barbrey seems to have loved him, but she is also his aunt, and since her positon as Lady of Barrowton forces her into being an eternal widow, she might have seen Domeric as a son of sorts, so she would have been biased. We also know he was good friends with the Redforts, so he probably does have charme to his personality and does not present himself in an unlikable way. However I do not think this necessarily has to translate into him being a good person or a “cinnamon roll”; there’s plenty of characters in the books that are well liked and charming but still commit war crimes and other cruelties.

Relationship to Roose

Roose never makes a direct statement about his relationship to Domeric. We know he took care to give him a good education (music, histories, and fighting are mentioned), and he sent him to House Dustin and House Redfort to be fostered which is a great opportunity for a young Lordling to forge connections. 

I believe Roose expresses fondness for Domeric in the way he talks about him; He mentions him and then launches into a long reminiscence without much of a reason (thought granted that is pretty much the theme of that chapter), he proudly mentions all his talents and how gifted he was, and seems to talk with a certain sadness/bitterness:

Now his bones lie beneath the Dreadfort with the bones of his brothers, who died still in the cradle, and I am left with Ramsay.

Horses … the boy was mad for horses, Lady Dustin will tell you. Not even Lord Rickard's daughter could outrace him, and that one was half a horse herself. 

Unfortunately that doesn’t necessarily need to translate back into Domeric being fond of his father - We can compare this to Roose’ relationship to Barbrey, where he seems to put trust and effort into her (”How many of our grudging friends do you imagine we'd retain if the truth were known? Only Lady Barbrey“ | “[Roose] takes care to keep me sweet”), while she on the other hand talks in a very disillusioned way about him (”Roose has no feelings, you see.”). We do know Roose appears to be the only Bolton (besides Ramsay), so the lonely Domeric might feel attachment to him in that aspect. Roose is generally liked by few characters, and often appears cold and unfeeling. He is deeply flawed, has a mean aspect to his character (like his mean sense of humour), is mocked for his strange health habits, and seems to talk a lot and think hes very smart and witty. On the other hand he is also somewhat tolerant/laissez-faire (”Your amusements are your own, I will not chide you on that count”), he seems to have provided Domeric with everything he could want and supported all his hobbies, and judging by how Walda seems to like and trust him (”Lady Walda gave a shriek and clutched at her lord husband's arm.”), and he also doesn’t agree with Ramsay’s treatment of Jeyne ("Roose is not pleased. Tell your bastard that."), we can assume that Roose does not treat his family members in a cruel way. It is also worth mentioning that his cold and unfeeling attitude seems to be at least partially motivated by him trying to hide his intentions in fear of them being used against him (in line with his other cautious behaviour), so it might very well be that he is warmer towards people he trusts (Note that we only ever observe him from the PoV of people he is not close to). So while there is a lot to dislike and be annoyed by about Roose, he also has qualities that Domeric might have liked.

It is interesting to analyze the scenes with Roose and Ramsay for how he might have interacted with Domeric. We know Roose loves to educate Ramsay on how to be a good Lord and impart his wisdom to him, and that he also frequently enrages Ramsay with the tone he uses. The quote “I forbade it, but Domeric was a man grown and thought that he knew better than his father.” suggests to me that he might have butted heads with Domeric in a similar way, giving him advice that Domeric doesn’t always listen to. Since Domeric openly disobeyed Roose, it appears he was not scared of his father, and that he had a proud/stubborn aspect to him.

It is of course also important to note the differences: Ramsay is of a lowerclass background (Roose has been shown to be classist - “His blood is tainted, that cannot be denied.”); He has a cruel und unwise personality that might frustrate Roose and make him resort to using a meaner tone with Ramsay; and we know Roose on occasion talks negatively about Ramsay when he is not there (”Ramsay's nature was sly, greedy, and cruel. I count myself well rid of him.“), though he has also talked positively about him in related scenes (”Yet he is a good fighter, as cunning as he is fearless.”). While he talks in a condescending tone to Ramsay and even insults him, he might have had more of a respectful tone to his competent, trueborn son.

Domeric and the Red Wedding

I think in any case, Roose would have tried to take care to keep Domeric out of any great danger. Domeric would have surely argued with him on many points (”Domeric was a man grown and thought that he knew better than his father“), and since he seems to have had martial prowess he would have probably insisted on participating in battle. If Roose had tried to participate in the Red Wedding without Domeric’s knowledge, Domeric would have probably been a nuisance; he appears to be highly intelligent, he has no fear of speaking out against his father if he doesn’t agree with an idea, and he doesnt seem to blindly comply with his fathers wishes if he doesn’t see a reason to. Roose would likely not have let him near a situation as dangerous as the Red Wedding especially if Domeric doesn’t know about the plan, but it might have been hard to get him out of the way without a good reason.

If Domeric knew about the Red Wedding, he would be a good asset, since he’d likely have a position close to Robb (as i mentioned the guard seems like something he’d participate in). However even in this case I think Roose would have tried to keep him out of the Wedding itself, as not to put his sole heir in danger.

However, another problem is that not only does Roose never state his precise list of reasons for the red wedding (making it a point of debate to discern what exactly changes if you change the course of events), according to grrm he also wasn’t even completely set in his tracks to go through with the Red Wedding until pretty much the last minute:

As for Bolton, if you reread all his sections carefully, I think you will see a picture of a man keeping all his options open as long as he could... sniffing the wind, covering his tracks, ready to jump either way... even as late as his supper with Jaime at Harrenhal... - SSM 8/3/2000

Domeric’s presence could influence so many plot points it is hard to say if Roose would have even come to the point of getting the Red Wedding in motion.

Would Domeric even go to war with Roose or would he stay behind as Castellan of the Dreadfort like Ramsay did? Is Ramsay even still there/does he still have a position of power or role in the story? If Ramsay isn’t there do Bran and Rickon even flee and get presumed dead? If Bran and Rickon are still alive does Cat still free Jaime and commit an unpopular political decision? Does Winterfell still burn? It doesn’t seem likely that Roose instructed Ramsay in the minutiae of what happens in Winterfell considering Ramsay is presumed dead before he even enters it; So would Domeric in charge of the Dreadfort have instead opted to liberate Winterfell if someone reached out to him? Note that the disaster at Winterfell seems to be one of the main reasons that Roose considered the Red Wedding:

"I [serve] the King in the North. Or the King Who Lost the North, as some now call him.“ - aSoS, dinner with Jaime

"What … what do you owe me, m'lord?"   -   "The north. The Starks were done and doomed the night that you took Winterfell." He waved a pale hand, dismissive. "All this is only squabbling over spoils."   - aDwD, dialogue with Theon

Also with a trueborn and gifted adult heir, would Roose even have considered marrying a Frey maiden? Would Domeric have wed one instead, or would Roose prefer a better alliance for him? Would Roose marrying a Frey count that much for an alliance if the Frey child wouldn’t even inherit the Dreadfort?

Conclusion

As you see there are many questions and What-Ifs, and probably even more that i didn’t mention considering how much of a butterfly effect all of asoiaf is. So i don’t think there is any “canon answer” to what would have happened; it all hinges on how you interpret Domeric’s personality, his relationship to his father, what changes to the plot his presence might have brought, and how you think Roose might have reacted to them.

#asks #domeric bolton #roose bolton #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #not art #thrillainvanilla

[turtle-paced]

Revisiting Chapters: The Prince of Winterfell, ADWD

I know, I know, I promised this for last week, but I had to pace myself with that last scene. The recap is also available on my wordpress.

The story so far…

Having opened the Neck and secured some support from Barrowton, Very Definitely Theon Greyjoy is not so cordially invited to the wedding of Very Definitely Arya Stark and Ramsay Very Definitely Bolton.

Content warning: this chapter ends with a rape scene. The recap contains discussion of the sexual violence depicted. Fourth subheading, if you want to avoid it.

False Identities

That’s the thing this chapter. With his return to Winterfell to assist in the marriage of a girl who is not Arya Stark, Theon’s starting to feel the cracks in the Reek identity that’s been forced on him. Once again he’s been jammed back into playing Theon. His first reference to himself in his internal narration this chapter is Theon Greyjoy.

The girl Theon starts the chapter attending to is referred to as “the bride,” and she is terrified. Jeyne starts by trying to convince herself that it will be okay.

“I will be a good wife to him, and t-true…I will please him and give him sons. I will be a better wife than the real Arya could have been, he’ll see.”

In case anyone was thinking that Jeyne deserved something bad to happen to her because she was mean to Arya, this fact is brought up again. In the context of Jeyne desperately seeking validation that she’s pretty enough not to be brutalised by the man she’s being forced to marry. As if that might work. She knows the problem. She can’t maintain that lie.

“He knows who I am, though. Who I really am. I see it when he looks at me. He looks so angry, even when he smiles, but it’s not my fault. They say he likes to hurt people.”

Jeyne is not Arya. She is not another Stark for Ramsay to torment. Which only means she’s going to be hurt for that particular offence as well. Theon models her some denial, telling Jeyne that Theon deserved to be hurt for making Ramsay angry, and that Ramsay is a sweet and kindly man. He advises (begs really) that Jeyne stop even alluding to the fact that she’s supposed to be someone who isn’t Arya Stark - just like Theon isn’t supposed to be Theon anymore.

This is made damn near impossible because Theon and Jeyne have been shoved into Theon- and Arya-shaped molds to enact a bit of political pageantry.

Theon Greyjoy had grown up with Arya Stark. Theon would have known an imposter. If he was seen to accept Bolton’s feigned girl as Arya, the northern lords who had gathered to bear witness to the match would have no grounds to question her legitimacy.

And therefore Ramsay’s claim to Winterfell through his wife.

Theon, meanwhile, is thinking of his own forcible return to being Theon for a time. The mummer’s farce. Theon cannot bear to trust even in part Roose’s comments about possibly installing Theon as Lord of the Iron islands. Note that the one detail of Theon’s wedding outfit that’s given to us is a crude iron kraken cloak pin. Much like Theon, it has been roughly hammered into a Greyjoy shape.

For all Theon says the solution for him and Jeyne is to keep up the pretenses forced upon them, in his internal monologue he’s got mixed feelings about it.

For a long moment [Jeyne] did not speak, but those eyes were begging. This is your chance, he thought. Tell them. Tell them now. Shout out your name before them all, tell them that you are not Arya Stark, let all the north hear how you were made to play this part. It would mean her death, of course, and his own as well, but Ramsay in his wroth might kill them quickly. The old gods of the north might grant that small boon.

Jeyne does not say it. Theon does not say it. The wedding proceeds, and Theon is left alone beneath the heart tree to continue his existential crisis (the one he has on top of all the other bad stuff that’s happened to him).

He was ironborn, a son of Pyke, his god was the Drowned God of the islands…but Winterfell was long leagues from the sea. It had been a lifetime since any god had heard him. He did not know who he was, or what he was, why he was still alive, why he had even been born.

And then he gets an answer.

“Theon,” a voice said.

It’s so perfect it actually could be divine intervention. Not only is this one of the most grounding things Theon could have heard, an affirmation that yes, he’s Theon, it’s quite possibly Bran himself speaking to Theon. A Stark, and a Stark injured by Theon’s actions, recalling Theon Greyjoy with all his mistakes and failures. Whether maybe-Bran intended it or not, whether or not Theon fully realises it, it’s a stunning if subtle act of cosmic grace.

With that prompting, Theon starts to think back. He gets annoyed at Jeyne for looking to him for a rescue, “like some hero in the stories she and Sansa used to love”. Most importantly,

I learned to fight in this yard, he thought, remembering warm summer days spent sparring with Robb and Jon Snow under the watchful eyes of old Ser Rodrik. That was back when he was whole, when he could grasp a sword hilt as well as any man. But the yard held darker memories as well. This was where he had assembled Stark’s people the night Bran and Rickon fled the castle. Ramsay was Reek then, standing at his side, whispering that he should flay a few of his captives to make them tell him where the boys had gone. […] None of them would help me. I had known them half my life, and not one of them would help me.

Now that’s some Theon! The good and the bad. This is key to Theon recalling the real Theon, in total, the sum of all his past choices. Not anyone’s image of Theon, but the person Theon made himself. The Theon who isn’t Ramsay’s plaything.

A Ghost of Winterfell

This is the first time since ACoK we’ve had a chapter physically set in Winterfell, so the time spent on describing how the place looks and feels now is time well spent.

Beyond [the godswood’s] confines, a hard white frost gripped Winterfell. The paths were treacherous with black ice, and hoarfrost sparkled in the moonlight on the broken panes of the Glass Gardens. Drifts of dirty snow had piled up against the walls, filling every nook and corner.

It’s not as though there’s no frost on Winterfell when the Starks are in residence, but the language here definitely reflects the new regime. (See also ‘A Ghost in Winterfell’.) No associations of cleanliness or purity here (see ‘Sansa VI, ASoS’) - Winterfell under Bolton occupation is full of dirt, treachery, and broken glass.

However, emphasising the soul of Winterfell, the godswood is in some ways unchanged and unaffected. Even by winter. The ground is unfrozen and the visible signs of Bolton occupation don’t touch the physical aspects of central point. That said, even Theon notes the empathic weather going on during the wedding:

He had never seen the godswood like this, though - grey and ghostly, filled with warm mists and whispered voices that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Beneath the trees, the hot springs steamed. Warm vapors rose from the earth, shrouding the trees in their moist breath, creeping up the walls to draw grey curtains across the watching windows.

Basically, the place is haunted, another thing that’s made explicit.

It felt like some strange underworld, some timeless place between the worlds, where the damned wandered mournfully for a time before finding their way down to whatever hell their sins had earned them.

Though that much is probably Theon projecting. He’s not the first one to find Winterfell’s godswood almost oppressive to outsiders. Specifically, in the godswood, Theon feels watched and judged. The people around him don’t feel (or look) like people. And there are a bunch of ravens roosting in the trees, thickest on the heart tree. The entire scene is claustrophobic and almost self-consciously a setpiece. A wedding in a quiet, wintry hell.

As we leave the wedding and therefore the godswood, we get a sharper, clearer look at the damage to Winterfell. “More ruin than redoubt.” Roofs have fallen in, the crops are dead, people are living in the ruins. Hanged workers are along the walls. The doors are new and roughly made. The interior stone is smoke-stained and the new roof timbers raw.

In total, everything in Winterfell castle is ruined, violent, and ugly, when Theon recalls Winterfell as a place of summertime safety. The wrongness of the setting shows the wrongness of the current administration.

Beyond the Walls

Even though this chapter is a setpiece, we’re reminded of the things going on around Winterfell. First, ‘Abel’ the bard shows up. Hooray, a random singer, appearing out of nowhere in a northern late autumn! Abel and his ‘washerwomen’ are going to become a bit more prominent in the next Theon chapters - and of course, readers already know from Jon’s chapters just who Abel is and why he’s there.

The context of the entire feast is, of course, preparation to fight Stannis, as Roose’s wedding speech recalls. 

“I am sorry that our good friend Stannis has not seen fit to join us yet,” [Roose] went on, to a ripple of laughter, “as I know Ramsay had hoped to present his head to Lady Arya as a wedding gift.”

Beyond Stannis, we get a look at what Barbrey Dustin’s thinking about the past and future of the North. First she sizes up Wyman Manderly and judges him a coward. She thinks he’ll piss himself when Stannis shows up. She also tells Theon that Roose knows exactly how treacherous Manderly is. Specifically, she tells Theon how Roose is watching for Manderly to poison him.

Theon has his doubts about Barbrey’s assessment, based on what he saw of the younger Manderlys in battle. Given what the reader knows about the pies, and what the reader has seen in Davos’ chapters, we know that Theon’s right and Barbrey’s wrong. Manderly’s got one over everyone here.

But Barbrey goes further.

“Truth be told,” she said, “Lord Bolton aspires to more than mere lordship. Why not King of the North? Tywin Lannister is dead, the Kingslayer is maimed, the Imp is fled. The Lannisters are a spent force, and you were kind enough to rid him of the Starks. Old Walder Frey would not object to his fat little Walda becoming a queen. White Harbor might prove troublesome should Lord Wyman survive this coming battle…but I am quite sure we will not. No more than Stannis. Roose will remove both of them, as he removed the Young Wolf. Who else is there?”

“You,” said Theon. “There is you. The Lady of Barrowton, a Dustin by marriage, a Ryswell by birth.”

Interesting. Now, Barbrey’s political judgement has just been called into question by her assessment of Manderly, but it’s something to keep an eye on. (Note also the complete omission of Queen Regent Cersei Lannister from Barbrey’s list of Lannisters there. Barbrey hasn’t even met any of the Lannisters, so far as we know. Cersei’s not entirely wrong when she thinks people disregard her because of her gender.) But it’s a look at what some parties might want from the future. Barbrey paints a picture of a man who will seek out power not because he has anything in particular he wants from it, but because he can. Theon’s suggestion that Barbrey herself could make a tilt at the throne is weaker, but Barbrey clearly likes the idea of having power.

As soon as maesters enter the room, we get a better idea of what she might like that power for.

“If I were queen, the first thing I would do would be to kill all those grey rats.”

Barbrey believes that maesters conspire to rule through the people they advise. There’s a decent measure of anti-bastard prejudice to her beliefs, blaming maesters for getting rid of their bastard names and ‘laundering’ their identities. If anything, Barbrey seems to get carried away here, railing against one Maester Walys, who advised Rickard Stark back in the day, and who Barbrey seems rather bitter about given “the Tully marriage”.

This is interrupted by the announcement of more news about Stannis, which the maesters came to deliver. Roose announces he’s received word that Stannis has left Deepwood Motte, recruited the hill clans, and is heading for Winterfell. Hosteen Frey shows some of his own temperament by shouting advice to ride forth and attack; Theon’s internal monologue notes the pre-arranged treachery Roose has waiting in the Karstarks. The feast winds up as the lords present go to meet with Roose…and while the marriage that opened the chapter is consummated.

Another Grim Wedding

It’s just that everyone’s pretending that it’s not.

The disregard for Jeyne’s wellbeing starts from the word go, as we see her in her wedding dress, which Theon sums up as “pretty, but not warm.” For an outdoor, late autumn wedding at a northerly latitude. Jeyne as a prop is more important than Jeyne as a person. No help is coming, because Theon’s participation is intended to silence any questions about Jeyne’s identity as Arya: “if a few entertained private doubts, surely they would be wise enough to keep those misgivings to themselves,” as Theon thinks.

The wedding feast itself is opened by Roose joking about giving Jeyne Stannis’ head as a wedding present, which sounds like a registry gift that Ramsay would arrange, all right, if not useful or desirable otherwise.

Wyman Manderly provides the catering, and this quietly furthers the mystery of the three missing Frey guests. Amongst the other food and drink Manderly brought, he brings three gigantic pork pies. Wyman himself serves it to Roose Bolton and Walda Frey Bolton.

“The best pie you have ever tasted, my lords,” the fat lord declared. “Wash it down with Arbor gold and savour every bite. I know I shall.”

So that’s where the missing Freys got to. Manderly’s pie. Which he served to their relatives at a wedding. In case you missed it, after the feast, when Manderly’s drunk, Theon passes him in the hall mumbling a request for a song about the Rat Cook (who slew a guest beneath his roof and served that guest to his father in a pie).

What makes the entire party even more awful is the knowledge of what comes when it’s over. Neither Jeyne nor Theon manage to eat much (pie included! Symbolically, neither are partaking of vengeance against the Boltons, being more concerned with their own survival). Theon notes that Jeyne is petrified and considers what he might do about it.

I have no way to save her, he thought, but I could kill her easy enough. I could beg her for the honour of a dance and cut her throat. That would be a kindness, wouldn’t it? And if the old gods hear my prayer, Ramsay in his wroth might strike me dead as well.

And after the political detour with Barbrey, we get to the end of the party, as we had to. Jeyne and Theon, alone in a room with Ramsay, completely within his power. It’s about four pages in my ebook version. Four harrowing pages.

Just like Ramsay’s wedding clothes were made to resemble bloody wounds, he’s gone and applied Dead Stark Chic to his bedroom as well. Specially brought in from Barrowton, Theon points out. The canopy of the bed is blood-red velvet. The chair is black oak with a red leather seat. The OTT nature of Ramsay’s aesthetics speaks to his deadly serious insecurity.

It’s also clear that he’s getting off not just on violence alone, but on violence against people with the surnames of Stark and Greyjoy. 

“You gave the wench to me. Who better to unwrap the gift? Let’s have a look at Ned Stark’s little daughter.”

She is no kin to Lord Eddard, Theon almost said. Ramsay knows, he has to know. What new cruel game is this?

The emphasis he places on them during this scene is on the stations they hold in public. Jeyne as a Stark, Theon as the former conqueror of Winterfell. Ramsay clearly finds pleasure in controlling and degrading them, as well as simply physically hurting them. Earlier, Barbrey Dustin said that Roose enjoyed playing with men. It’s clear that Ramsay does the same, from the power games he plays with both Jeyne and Theon. Instead, he uses them to act out something else:

“Would you like to fuck her first?” He laughed. “The Prince of Winterfell should have that right, as all lords did in days of old. The first night. But you’re no lord, are you? Only Reek.”

Given what we know about Ramsay’s bio-parents (and what Ramsay quite possibly represses), Ramsay holding a “first night” themed rape on his own wedding night is a whole ‘nother psychosexual level of urgh. With some class resentment thrown in.

He does not allow Jeyne even as much control as undressing herself, instead ordering Theon to render her clothing unusable. When she’s naked, Theon and through him the reader are reminded how young she is.

A child. […] Sansa’s age.

Thirteen. Theon can also see that someone’s whipped Jeyne in the past. She also says that she’s been “trained” to please a man. That, we can put at Littlefinger’s feet.

Ramsay further demonstrates his control over Theon by not only allowing Theon to wield a knife throughout the scene, but ordering him to use it. Theon is aware that he could turn it on Ramsay himself. Theon is aware that he could use it on Jeyne. He thinks of both over the course of the evening, going to far as to weigh up the advantages he might gain from surprise.

Another trap, he told himself, remembering Kyra with her keys. He wants me to try and kill him. And when I fail, he’ll flay the skin from the hand I used to hold the blade.

Note the “when”. Theon considers his failure a foregone conclusion. He is so terrorised by the prospect of yet more pain and so mentally beaten down that he cannot truly imagine a way out of his situation. All thoughts of killing Ramsay and helping Jeyne escape are reduced to ineffectual fantasising when Theon’s confronted with the real prospect of acting on those thoughts. This culminates in some of the final lines of the chapter, when Ramsay orders Theon to directly participate in raping Jeyne (a situation which is also rape of Theon).

Somewhere in the godswood, a raven screamed. The dagger was still in his hand.

He sheathed it.

Reek, my name is Reek, it rhymes with weak.

Theon is acutely aware that Ramsay put him into a situation where he had everything he needed to kill Ramsay and escape - except will. He is acutely aware that Jeyne is suffering from his failure to use the knife. This is not portrayed anything like Brienne’s internal condemnation of the knights who stood by, though. This is a depiction of lack of action through enforced weakness. Theon too is a victim in this scene. If anything, he’s even further trapped by Ramsay’s forcing him to participate.

And on that horrible confirmation that both Theon and Jeyne remain in Ramsay’s power for the time being, suffering and aware of their powerlessness, the chapter ends.

Chapter Function

The political action of the chapter is pretty clear: this wedding in Winterfell is intended to help the Boltons co-opt the Stark claim to the North. However, the chapter also serves to remind us that people aren’t planning to sit down and accept it. Our PoV character for this event is one of a very few people present who can tell us for sure that Jeyne is not Arya, and this whole thing’s a political sham. The fact that it is a political sham is front and centre. Nobody’s being real here except maybe the Boltons. Barbrey’s hiding her grudges, Manderly’s starting work on his revenge, and central to the entire chapter are Jeyne and Theon, forced into playing parts they don’t want for a cause they don’t support, regardless of the harm it does to them.

In terms of Theon’s character arc, I tend to consider this the midpoint. Theon is aware of what he’s been made by Ramsay’s torture, and now he’s become aware of the Theon he once was. He sees the gap and starts bridging it by recalling his past. Including his bad choices. With awareness of his bad choices, however, comes the awareness that there are better choices out there. It’s just taking Theon a bit of time to work himself up to them, in light of what he’s suffered.

Politically, we get the usual mishmash of various plots advanced incrementally, all leading up to that big treacherypalooza we might end up calling the Battle of Winterfell. Stannis is marching on Winterfell with the hill tribes. Mance Rayder’s scoping out the situation on behalf of Jon Snow. Manderly’s feeding Freys to other Freys. Arnolf Karstark’s nearly in position to betray Stannis. Roose and Barbrey are considering a post-Stannis and post-Lannister winter.

Admist all of that, Theon’s pondering about how he and Jeyne could possibly escape Ramsay is a bleak little thing, because as yet he’s thought up no options besides death.

Miscellany

This is not Mance’s first time at Winterfell. This is not Mance’s first time at Winterfell while Theon was there. Theon doesn’t recognise him. He also describes Mance’s voice as “passable” and his playing “fair.”

We get the Poole coat of arms here - a blue plate on white, framed by a grey tressure. This really, really screams “steward!”

Clothing Porn

Jeyne wears white lambswool trimmed with lace, with freshwater pearls on the sleeves and bodice, plus white doeskin slippers and a white wool cloak trimmed with grey fur. This is replaced with a pink cloak spattered with teardrop-shaped garnets (Ramsay not being one to tone down even sartorial representations of violence) and the Bolton flayed man on the back in red leather.

Ramsay wears a black velvet doublet slashed with pink silk, garnet teardrops sewn in, with high grey leather boots.

Barbrey Dustin dresses for the occasion in unadorned black wool. It’s never out of style.

Food Porn

Manderly provides for the feast! Cod cakes, winter squash, lots of neeps, lots of cheese, beef ribs, and wedding pies filled with carrots, onions, turnips, parsnips, mushrooms, and long pork.

Next Three Chapters

Brienne VIII, AFFC - Jon VII, ACoK - Jon IX, ADWD

#ASoIaF #valyrianscrolls #cw: rape #cw: violence #cw: abuse #theon greyjoy #jeyne poole #ramsay snow #roose bolton #barbrey dustin #revisiting chapters #a dance with dragons

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

How do you predict Lady Stoneheart's story will go in TWOW? Obviously she will be central to everything going on in the Riverlands. But I also have a feeling that Arya will meet her when she comes back to Westeros, and, assuming Jon Snow becomes King in the North, she'll find out about Jon's coronation and react in a significant way (don't know how, though).

Boy I sure hope, for her own sake, that Arya doesn’t ever have to see Lady Stoneheart. As much as I love Stoneheart for the creepy factor, she’s something of an abomination.

However, Nymeria being the one to find Catelyn’s body hints to me that their journeys will converge in some way. Because of the similarities between Arya’s ‘Mercy’ and Stoneheart’s ‘Mother Merciless’, there are theories that Arya will ultimately grant her mother a ‘mercy’ killing... but I really, really don’t want her to have to see Catelyn as a literal monster. She’s been through enough trauma.

There’s a chance that, as Stoneheart carries out her revenge, she learns her remaining children are alive. She might one day glimpse Arya—the real Arya—and find that it breaks down the very thing that drives her—spite and revenge. That could be a much less overtly traumatizing ‘Mercy’ for Catelyn. Something like an ‘Arya lives, so I can rest’ sort of revelation. But that’s probably wishful thinking.

I’m still trying to figure out why on earth the ‘gods’ (or whatever otherwordly force) brought Catelyn Stark back. In the grand scheme of things, politics, revenge, and house restoration seem a bit superfluous—but I can’t yet see a purpose for her return outside of these options. Maybe breaking guest right really does offend the gods enough to resurrect Catelyn—but then… What’s this about?: “Guest right don't mean so much as it used to”. If nothing else—she serves as a great example of why House Tully burns the bodies of their fallen...

So far as I can guess, whatever Catelyn is back for almost certainly has something to do with Jaime Lannister. I feel like Jaime’s too wrapped up in prophecy to be taken out by Stoneheart or Brienne just yet. In the same way that Jaime has saved Brienne’s ass, I feel like she’ll likewise find some sort of way to convince Stoneheart that Jaime has more use alive than dead. I’m not really sure what Jaime will be tasked to do on Stoneheart’s behalf, but I suspect it will involve her daughters in some way… or maybe he makes a trade—his life for Edmure’s or Jeyne Westerling’s?

Speaking of Jeyne Westerling… 

I think chances are good that Jon does become King in the North based on the ‘kings hiding under the snow’ foreshadowing. So, if Jeyne survives and really is pregnant with Robb’s baby, does that complicate Jon’s (presumed) position as king? It’s hard to say. Especially since Jon was named Robb’s heir. We all know Jon, though. Boy was dreaming of having a son to name after Robb. I think he’d be pleased to find Jeyne pregnant with Robb’s child. I bet he’d pull a Ned and fiercely protect both Jeyne and her baby (assuming they survive Lannister captivity).

I’m not sure Stoneheart ever makes it back to Winterfell, though. And gods, I do not need Catelyn to fuck with Jon any more than she already has. I feel like his strong desire to save ‘Arya’ must count for something, though, right? It’d be great if she somehow found out the truth about Jon’s parents, though it seems unlikely. I admit I do love the theory that she gives Jon the kiss of life—but the logistics of that would be difficult unless we spent the better half of TWoW with Jon on ice (I’d rather not) and I’m not sure she has much life left to give...

I wish I had more concrete predictions for you, anon, but right now I’m still a bit stuck on why Catelyn is back (from a more objective and apolitical ‘supernatural’ standpoint, I mean). Based on how much GRRM fought for her inclusion in the show, and how much Jaime’s storyline seemed to suffer from her absence… my guess is that it’s actually very important, particularly for his redemption arc. Unfortunately, I’m going to go ahead and admit that Jaime Lannister isn’t a particular favorite of mine (nor is Catelyn), so I just haven’t spent as much time over-analyzing their storylines the way I might for characters I prefer… but hopefully there’s something helpful somewhere in this rant lol Thanks for the ask!

#answered #lady stoneheart #asoiaf speculation

[fromtheboundlesssea]

Celia Frey talking time Cat about Jeyne!

“I am sorry that I was unable to talk my son out of bringing that girl here,” her good mother said gently as Celia rocked little Eddard in her arms.

“I feel as though the king would have done as he wished regardless, he has no care for me, only his honor.” Celia pressed a kiss to her son’s brow and laid him in his crib. “Shall we retire to my room, my lady, so that we might not disturb the sleeping babe!”

Lady Stark smiled. “Yes, of course.”

The two women went to Celia’s chambers, ones now made separate from her husband’s. Although Celia’s father had put up a fuss, Celia had not budged, claiming her body had yet to heal from the birth of her child. The room was connected to the nursery, usually housing the nursemaid, but Celia had deemed it necessary that she be the one to tend to her son instead.

Celia and her good mother sat down and Celia offered some tea that had been left for them. “My lady, might I ask you for advice?”

“Of course, my child,” Lady Stark said gently. “What is it you wish for me to advise?”

“How did you handle it? Lord Stark bringing Jon Snow home with him?”

Her good mother took in a sharp breath and Celia knew the question was a difficult one. Then, Lady Stark began her tale.

“Many years ago, one of the boys came down with the pox. Maester Luwin said if he made it through the night, he'd live. But it would be a very long night. So I sat with him all through the darkness. Listened to his ragged little breaths, his coughing, his whimpering.”

“Jon Snow?” Celia inquired.

“Jon Snow,” Lady Stark nodded. “When my husband brought that baby home from the war, I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't want to see those brown stranger's eyes staring up at me. So I prayed to the gods, take him away. Make him die.” Her voice was colder than Celia had ever heard it, yet it was so very broken. “He got the pox. And I knew I was the worst woman who ever lived. A murderer. I'd condemned this poor, innocent child to a horrible death all because I was jealous of his mother. A woman he didn't even know. So I prayed to all seven gods, let the boy live. Let him live and I'll love him. I'll be a mother to him. I'll beg my husband to give him a true name, to call him Stark and be done with it, to make him one of us.”

“And he lived.”

“And he lived.” Lady Stark closed her eyes and wiped a single tear from her cheek. “And I couldn't keep my promise. And everything that's happened since then all this horror that's come to my family it's all because I couldn't love a motherless child.” The older woman put her hand on Celia’s. “While this child will have a mother, I ask that you take no anger out on the child who did not ask to be born. Be better than I was. Better than I am. Perhaps, then Little Eddard might break the cycle made by his father and grandfather.”

#keep the prompts coming #robb stark x oc #robb stark #celia frey #celiaverse #would you know honor #snippet

[leialannister]

Why C+B=R doesn’t work...

*rubs hands*

This is going to be fun…

I’ll start with busting the evidences that the theorist gave to make their theory believable (I’m not trying to mock them here btw don’t get me wrong) and continue with other factors why they simply do not work.

1)Follies done for love.

So the first thing the theorist talks about is Catelyn’s Tully morals and stuff, then they give Catelyn’s thoughts when she learns of Robb and Jeyne’s marriage as one of the evidences.

Only then came her belated remembrance. Follies done for love? He has bagged me neat as a hare in a snare. I seem to have already forgiven him.

-A Storm of Swords, Catelyn II.

They claim that the “follies done for love” is actually about Robb’s parentage.

“Brandon knew how to take what he wanted. Seems like he begged some,

(We will wed on my return he vowed) and she agreed,

hence the follies done for love.”

This could have been a good comment of the paragraph if we didn’t have a much better and realistic cause for her thoughts which is Jaime. Catelyn freed Jaime to get back her daughters, the daughters she loved fiercely, and she believes they are under Cersei’s claws, who she also blames for her husband’s death, and I don’t think I have to talk about the love Catelyn bears to Ned, for I never shut up about it. (Mind that Catelyn was unaware that Arya had escaped from the capital when she freed Jaime.) So no, passing off Brandon’s bastard as Ned’s isn’t the follies done for love, but freeing Jaime Lannister.

2)I did so gladly.

Here, the other evidence is that she marries Ned gladly and in a haste, because she’ll pass the child as his own, and she shouldn’t be far along or showing by the time they marry.

“When Brandon died shortly before they were to wed, Catelyn now having realized she is pregnant does not want her baby to grow up a bastard, so when told she must marry Ned in a haste, she does so gladly, planning to tell him that the child is his own.”

The problem here is how they interpret the word “gladly”.

Highborns rarely have the chance to choose whom they marry, especially if they are a woman and it’s their lord father who had arranged the marriage for them. (The Queen of Thorns, we all know she’s just another level.) Keep in mind that Catelyn is the favored child of Tully, (I love the Tullys but sorry Hoster that’s bad parenting 101) she is probably even more loved than Edmure, the heir to the Riverlands, and being his precious child, he wants Catelyn to be happy, for she deserves the world (FACTS!). But the man is also ambitious as fuck, she wants both daughters to be the wifes of high lords, and mother high lordlings. This is a great chance at hand, probably that comes very rarely too, considering the heir to the North has always had a Northern marriage. But Catelyn, being the dutiful daughter she is (Family, Duty, Honor) answers the way it would please her lord father.

And when Lord Hoster promised her to Brandon Stark, she had thanked him for making her such a splendid match.

-A Clash of Kings, Catelyn IV.

And when Brandon was murdered and Father told me I must wed his brother, I did so gladly, though I never saw Ned’s face until our wedding day. I gave my maidenhood to this solemn stranger and sent him off to his war and his king and the woman who bore him his bastard, because I always did my duty.

-A Clash of Kings, Catelyn IV.

She marries off Ned “gladly” because she has always done her duty, not because she wants to pass Brandon’s bastard as Ned’s.

3)Jon Snow…

“Another issue is the way that Catelyn treats Jon. Jealousy is understandable, but it's very uncommon for a woman and a mother, with maternal instincts, to treat a small child so badly.”

The whole Jon Snow/Catelyn relationship is severely misunderstood, and I think that is why this is mentioned in the theory.

The thing is… Catelyn rarely even treats Jon. She simply ignores him to at least make his presence bearable. Jealousy comes a long while after Jon is born and brought to Winterfell, and that never makes a change to Catelyn’s behaviour.

She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him.

-A Game of Thrones, Catelyn II.

Her problem is not Ned banging another woman in wartime, it’s that this child is in her home, where her trueborn children lives. He lives pretty much in the same luxuries with her own children. This might be bold of me, but there is no other ACKNOWLEDGED (The Baratheon (!) children are out) bastard in the Seven Kingdoms who lives in much luxury under such conditions (like Ned lacking a true born heir, etc.). As their marriage and relationship progresses, my parents (Ned & Cat) fall in love and this is where you can assume the jealousy comes in. She loves Ned dearly, fiercely, and it not only breaks her heart but makes herself feel as if she’s not enough to see that Jon remains in Winterfell, no matter how many sons she had bore him. Aye, she is aware that Ned is bestotted with her, but just like everyone, she has her dark moments where she wonders if she could never fill the hole that the bastard’s mother had left behind (Let’s not forget to mention that she doesn’t even know if she had ever left his heart at all). Despite being a fictional character, Catelyn is still human, and no one can ever blame her for being a human. That is what makes her a greatly rounded and complex character in the first place.

It is also confirmed by George R. R. Martin that Catelyn has never abused or mistreated Jon in any way, other than the time she snapped at him when Jon came to bid Bran farewell.

“Mistreatment” is a loaded word. did Catelyn beat Jon bloody? No. Did she distance herself from him? Yes. Did she verbally abuse and attack him? No. (The instance in Bran’s bedroom was obviously a very special case.) But I am sure she was very protective of the rights of her own children, and in that sense always drew the line sharply between bastard and trueborn where issues like seating on the high table for the king’s visit were at issue. And Jon surely knew that she would have preferred to have him elsewhere.

-George R. R. Martin.

“Keep in mind that the only way a bastard can threaten a trueborn 1st son is if the trueborn son is actually a bastard.”

Umm, no? The kid is a danger to all, especially if something were to happen to Robb. After all, Catelyn’s other children are also a part of the line of succession after Robb.

“In the show Catelyn says:
“All this horror that's come to our family,
It's all because I couldn't love a motherless child”.”

I think I have talked enough about how this scene totally ruins Catelyn’s character, and my opinions on this matter can be understood pretty clearly from the explanation I made about Catelyn and Jon’s relationship. The show is full of bullshit, and this is just one of them. (see my twitter account for this)

4)EvEn CeRsEi?!

“When Catelyn discovers Cersei's children are bastards who are not Robert's, she thinks:

"Would even Cersei be so mad? Catelyn was speechless."

Why EVEN Cersei? Why not simply say Cersei?

She can't believe another woman did the same thing she did, which is to let her husband raise another man's child, as his own.”

LMAO, she is talking about the freaking Targaryens!!! Cersei is literally the queen of the man who dethroned the mad incest supporters and she finds out that his wife is doing the same exact thing! Don’t you guys think it’s ironic? Well, I wonder what makes Catelyn so shocked...

(Oh and by the way, Cersei, baby you were so right..)

5)16,20,50 & Some Height Issues

“This is what Catelyn thinks about Robb:
“Let him grow taller, she asked the gods. Let him know sixteen, and twenty, and fifty. Let him grow as tall as his father, and hold his own son in his arms. ”

So let’s ask ourselves Why these numbers?
Does Catelyn just pick them out at random or is there meaning behind them?
They certainly don’t seem to apply to Ned and yet they fit perfectly when applied to Brandon Stark

-Brandon was 16 when he met Catelyn and they fell in “love”
-And was 20 when he died.
-Although Rickard Starks exact age is unknown,
I believe this is who Catelyn is thinking of when she says 50, Robbs Grandfather who died with Brandon.

So here we have Catelyn's thinking of Robb's life:
may he live to meet a girl and fall in love,
may he not die at 20 like his father
or die at 50 like his grandfather.
may he hold his own son in his arms, something Brandon was never able to do.”

This is one of the most well-thought evidences, but it’s wrong nonetheless.

Brandon Stark was born in 262 AC, and Catelyn was born in either 264 or 265 AC, we do not know the exact year.

So yes, he died at 20, but Catelyn was 12 when her father promised him to Brandon. That makes Brandon 14 or 15 when they met and “fell in love”.

Oh and the mention of “tall”:

““ Catelyn watched a breeze stir his auburn hair, so like her own, and wondered when her son had grown so big.

Fifteen , and near as tall as she was. ... Let him grow as tall as his father"

Catelyn specifically noted how disappointed she was with Ned's height, compared to Brandon who was tall.

So how DID Robb get so tall if Ned is short?

And if Ned is so short, who does she mean when wanting Robb to grow, as tall as him?

Again this sounds like Brandon to us.”

Brandon being taller than Ned doesn’t mean Ned is short. Considering the average height for men is 5’9 today, someone who is 6’3 is tall. A man who is 6’1 is tall as well, but shorter than other. This is the same case. Ned is never mentioned to be short, he is just shorter than Brandon, who is mentioned to be tall.

5.1)Fall in love

Oh, and just fyi, Catelyn was never in love with Brandon. Yes she might have liked or even loved the idea of him and their live together, but never really loved him.

6)When possessive pronouns confuse the f out of you

“"She had brought him forth in blood and pain, not knowing whether Ned would ever see him. Her son.”

so Why say HER son?

This is how the sentence should have been like,

Given the premise that Ned is Robb's father:

"not knowing whether Ned would ever see him. His son.”

Or:

"not knowing whether Ned would ever see him. Their son.””

So ok, I’ll admit that this is the best one by far. There’s nothing I can say to deny them, though Catelyn does mention the children as “our” and as Ned’s son as well. And while might imply, it does not give the theory %100 accuracy.

7)Nine moons

Catelyn thinking about Robb:

““Brandon Stark had bid her wait as well.

“I shall not be long, my lady,” he had vowed.

“We will be wed on my return.”

"Yet when the day came at last, it was his brother Eddard who stood beside her in the sept. Ned had lingered scarcely a fortnight with his new bride before he too had ridden off to war with promises on his lips. At least he had left her with more than words; he had given her a son.

Nine moons had waxed and waned, and Robb had been born in Riverrun while his father still warred in the south.

Nine moons since when? This paragraph started with Brandon, not with Ned.”

Nine moons since ‘Ned had lingered scarcely a fortnight with his new bride before he too had ridden off to war with promises on his lips.’ I think this was pretty clear but okay. Considering the huge hate towards Catelyn, I’ve come to a conclusion that Martin’s works are very open for misinterpretation.

8)A son

““he had given her a son.” He did give her a son, instead of a bastard.

By marrying Catelyn,
Ned has effectively turned her Bastard into a son.”

I think this would have been again one of the best well thought, if Catelyn mentioned more than words to Brandon as well. She basically said that Brandon just left her with words while Ned gave her more. If Brandon gave her bastard, she wouldn’t have just said “words”. Yes, she might not have mentioned it as “a son” but there would be more than that.

9)Lord Dustin is Actually GRRM in a nutshell

““On Catelyn’s own wedding night ...

When Lord Dustin had beheld her naked, he’d told Ned that her breasts were enough to make him wish he’d never been weaned”

Breasts are the very first to expose a pregnancy, way before the belly shows.

Why would GRRM make the effort to give us this little tidbit of information about how her breasts reminded men of nursing?”

I think this is just a way of GRRM describing his type. Quoting grrmartin from Tumblr:

“Catelyn’s descriptions make her seem like the most attractive woman in Westeros. And people comment on her beauty frequently. Unlike Dany or Cersei, people do not fear or need to compliment Cat in the same way. GRRM, the author, married 2 redheads. He clearly has a type. And based on your logic on what makes somebody the most beautiful, LF started the War of the Five Kings because he loved the beautiful Catelyn Stark, even after over a decade of not seeing her.”

see the original post here

GRRM’s like of hot women is known, and “hot women” by classic standards are big breasts, a slim waist and wide hips. They are big guys. Ned Stark is a lucky man. Don’t overread. Not to mention that Catelyn tells herself that she’s given her maidenhood to Ned. Yes, maidenhood does mean an unwed woman, but it is also the synonym of “maidenhood”.

9)First time

This is, again, a controversial remark, I personally believe that it’s her instinct. She felt it. Though, the way it could work is very simple.

Her moon blood might have been early due to stress or coming after a few days they wed anyway. This was a time of war and they didn’t wait till women were most “available”.

10)Timeline…

Ok so I was going to continue with the other stuff that the theorist had mentioned but this is getting too long and I’m getting bored. So let’s bust this theory with the simplest thing: Timeline!!!

“Age: Brandon died in 282AL , Rob was born in 283AL. Time wise, it's plausible.”

“they had spent that year apart, Ned off at war in the south”

This way, because she gave birth at Riverrun without Ned, Ned would not know exactly how long after he left Robb was born.

Robert's Rebellion timeline is speculative, at best.

This is how I think it went, in chronological order:

1. Catelyn and Brandon Conceived Robb at Riverrun.

2.Brandon left for KL, and died.

3.Ned married Catelyn BEFORE calling his banners, to make sure he has the Riverland's support. Riding all the way North from the Vale, only to go all the way back in times of war seems unlikely. Ned probably sent someone in his name to call his banners, while he went to wed Catelyn. This would place their marriage likely far less than 3 months after Brandon left Riverrun, probably around 6-8 weeks after Robb's conecption.

4.Ned goes to war.

5.Jon is born.

6.Robb is born.

Brandon dies In the early-mid of 282 AC (With the words arriving, Rickard coming to Kl) since Lyanna’s abduction happens early in the year. Then Aerys demands Ned and Robert’s heads so Jon Arryn calls the banners and Ned returns to the North and Robert leaves for Stormlands to call the banners. Then, The Battles of Summerhall happens, followed by Robert’s defeat in the Battle of Ashford. Having retreated to the Riverlands, The Siege of Storm’s End starts and we know that the defenders were already in bad shape “by year’s end.” Ned and Catelyn marry after the Battle of the Bells, since it is a double wedding and we know that Jon Arryn loses gallant cousin and heir, Ser Denys Arryn, so he needs a young wife to produce an heir. This means that Catelyn and Ned married in the early 283 AC.

If Brandon had impregnated Catelyn, she would have been heavy with child by the time they married, and Robb would have been big enough to know he’s not Ned’s by the time he meets Robb. I think this is the biggest evidence that this theory simply does not work.

11)Significance of Parentage

Robb getting in the list of the secret parentage reduces the significance of parentage. There are way more believable parentage theories (and canon ones like the Baratheon (!) children) out there that concerns other families, and they have much more evidence other than the crumbs here. Everyone being a secret bastard takes the excitement of the better ones like R+L=J or A+J=CJ (love this one, don’t think it’s true but love it anyways).

In conclusion, even if I’m wrong, and Robb is actually Catelyn’s son (though I know Catelyn to be better than that, there’s a reason why I stan her) it makes literally no impact to the storyline. Robb is dead, Ned is dead, Brandon is long dead, Catelyn is dead, at least the part of her that made her Catelyn is. How other people will be aware of this is a dilemma as well. There has to be a good reason for Bran to look from the eyes of the Godswood of Riverrun. The only way this can have an importance is Jeyne being pregnant, (The chances are quite low on this one.) though not much would come of it anyway.

#catelyn stark #ned stark #ned x cat #catelyn tully #catelynstark #robb stark #brandon stark #brandon x catelyn #tbh c+b=r is pure bs but i tried my best to remain respectful #catelyn is baby and people think she's a heartless cold bitch #honour people... #cat has it you know

[dragongoddess13]

Shirtless Joe Dempsie Month #9

Gendry was like a mountain, tall and massive, taking up so much space. His shoulders and arms flex as he lifts crates and barrels in and out of the forge. They haven't spoken since the night before the battle, but she’s found herself watching him in secret whenever she isn’t stuck in council meetings or training new recruits. She’s spent so much time watching him that even Sansa has noticed, reminding her that Gendry is in fact the bastard of a royal, who Jon considers a close friend, and would legitimize him if she’s truly interested in him and he her.

Arya pushes it aside. She has long since come to terms with her feelings for him and the fact that she would be more than happy to spend the rest of her days with him, but Gendry hates the nobility, her family the exception of course, and the idea of him accepting his father’s name is laughable. All he wants is the simple life and becoming a lord will take that possibility from him. Additionally, on top of what she’s already given him, she can’t for the life of her make herself believe that he feels the same for her. She knows, logically, that he cares, he wouldn’t have accepted her advances the night before the battle if he didn’t feel something for her. Whether that something is the same as she feels for him, or the affection he holds for a friend who needed comfort, she doesn’t know.

Today is his name day, or at least the day she made him choose while they were on the King’s Road together, and Jon has planned a feast for his fellow bastard. Gendry isn’t thrilled, she can tell, being one of the only people around who can decipher his broody expressions, but he doesn’t argue, knowing he should count himself lucky to be treated to such a thing at his simple station, knight and war hero or not. 

Arya does not, repeat not, wear her best dress; a deep blue and with silver wolf embroidery, crafted by Sansa. She does not wear the corset that accentuates her naturally perky breasts. She does not let Sansa do her hair, or paint her face with make up the older woman is so fond of. And she most certainly does not feel nervous as she enters the hall, eyes discreetly scanning for the guest of honor. Most importantly, she does not feel disappointment or jealousy when she catches sight of him conversing with one of the young serving girls. 

She spends most of the evening trying to take her mind off the fact that he hasn’t looked in her direction all evening. She makes conversation with the lords and ladies, laughing with Brienne and Tyrion and Jaime. It’s late in the evening when she finally excuses herself, unable to remain in the same room with the oblivious blacksmith. 

She’s halfway to her chambers when she hears heavy footfalls behind her and turns to find Gendry jogging toward her. “Leaving already?” he asks, that little half smile on his lips. She wills her heart to calm. 

“Yes, it’s getting late and I have a water dancing lesson to give in the morning.” she tells him, her voice soft. He watches her a moment, something she doesn’t want to hope for passing through his eyes. Before she can think twice about it, she reaches into the small pouch at her belt, pulling out a small paper box and holding it out to him. “Happy nameday, Gendry.” she says, before turning on her heels and walking away. She doesn’t want to wait for him to open it, doesn’t want to see the look on his face when he finds the little silver wolf charm on a leather band, doesn’t want to think about the implication of her giving him her family’s symbol, or what he may think of that. He will always be her family, whether he likes it or not, but she doesn’t think she can handle the rejection if he still doesn’t want to be. 

Her sleep is restless that night and in the morning she goes about her day intentionally avoiding every place she knows she would normally see Gendry. Perhaps it’s childish, but she feels more vulnerable as of late than she has in a long time. Her accomplishments on the battlefield and in Braavos doing little to alleviate it. For the first time since she was a child, she feels the insecurities warring inside her. The voice of Jeyne Poole, Septa Mordane, even Sansa, echoing in her head, reminding her that she’ll never be pretty enough, never be feminie enough, never be good enough. 

She’s managed to go the entire day without seeing him, a rare feat given how she’d normally planned her route around Winterfell to catch his eye at least once a day. She’s so caught up in her self deprecating thoughts that at supper she fails to notice Gendry watching her, even as she retreats to her chambers after supper she doesn’t see the way his eyes follow her across the hall. 

She spends the next few days in much the same way. On the fourth day, Winterfell welcomes a lord and his sons from the Veil, the party having lost their way in a small blizzard and needing a place to stay while they regroup. The following days are spent helping them reorient themelves to their path and for the first time in nearly a week, Arya doesn’t find herself dwelling on her broken heart or her imagined inadequacies. All of his sons are betrothed, so she doesn’t need to worry about anyone asking for her hand or her brother getting ideas. They’re also well trained in combat and are more than willing, after watching her train the young girls of Winterfell in water dancing, to test their abilities against her own. They’re impressed by her skill and only the oldest brother gets the better of her. She finds herself laughing and enjoying their company, happy to make new friends of these future lords. 

The party leaves early one morning, and Arya goes about her day, feeling as light as she had before. She returns to her old routine, no longer avoiding Gendry or the routes she usually takes through the castle. She meets his eye once or twice throughout the day, but he makes a point of looking away quickly when she does. She tries to pretend that doesn’t hurt. 

By supper she’s put it out of her mind. She goes through the meal, sharing a conversation with Tyrion on the hardships of the small folk she lived among for years, and what can be done to improve the quality of life for everyone. 

Late into the evening she excuses herself, heading for her chambers, ready to turn in for the night. The dress she chose for the evening is very simple and it takes very little to rid herself of it, leaving her in only her slip as a knock sounds at her door. Confused she opens it enough to peek out, finding Gendry on the other side. He’s shirtless, only his fur cloak over his shoulders and a flagon of wine dangling from his hand at his side. He’s leaning against the frame, one arm up over his head and the slightly unfocused look in his eyes tells her that he’s at least a little drunk. 

“Gendry?” she questions confused. “What are you doing here?” she has to force herself not to trace his defined torso, but she does catch the glint of silver around his neck, the small wolf head medallion glinting in the low fire light. 

“M’lady.” he says, his voice low and rough. She represses the urge to shiver at the sound of it. 

Suddenly he pushes through the door, forcing her to take a step back as he enters her chamber. He closes the door behind him, never looking away from her. She has to crane her neck back to meet his eye, their considerable height difference working against her yet again. 

“What are you doing?” she asks, taking a step back as he steps forward. 

“You’ve been avoiding me.” he says, a flush across his cheeks giving away his state. “You give me something like this.” he continues flicking the medallion. “And then you just walk away. What am I supposed to do with that?” he continues taking steps forward, Arya taking steps back. She knows he would never hurt her, that he’s no danger to her, but she can’t stop herself from putting distance between them.

“Gendry.” she says, but she doesn’t get to finish, Gendry slamming the flagon of wine on the table as they pass it. She flinches slightly. He looks angry now and it sparks her own anger. She reaches out and pushes at his chest as he tries to get closer. He’s caught off guard but he catches himself before he stumbles. Her fit of anger seems to sober him up and stands above her, welling up to his full height. “Piss off.” she tells him. 

Gendry laughs at her, enraging her more and she lashes out to strike him. He catches her wrists, transferring them into one of his enormous hands. “Always so feisty m’lady.” 

“Don’t call me that!” she exclaims, kicking out at his shin. He dodges a little too well for someone who’s supposedly drunk. He laughs again, yanking her forward by her wrists, pulling her into him and wrapping his arms around her, keeping her crushed against him. “What are you doing?” 

“You said you wanted to be my family, I thought you still wanted that, but then you just walk away, you avoid me all while spending time with your handsome lords.” he snarls. She stops struggling, looking up at him wide eyed. 

“You said no.” she whispers. 

Gendry looks down at her confused. “When did I say no? You walked away before…” clarity crosses his face and he sighs. “It’s been years Arry. I know you think I’m stupid, but I’ve learned alot since we’ve been apart. I know I made a mistake.” he says. “I thought… I thought I’d made that clear that night… before the battle.” 

“You never said anything after, I thought you were just protecting me.” 

“Protecting you?” he sounds skeptical, his arms loosening enough for her to pull back a few inches. “How exactly is taking your maidenhead protecting you?” 

“I thought you agreed to keep me from going to someone else.” 

“Would you have?” 

“No.” she replies. “I didn’t want anyone else. I don’t trust anyone else.” 

Gendry lets out a huff and she can feel him deflate against her. He leans his head down, resting his forehead against hers. “And those lords?” 

“They’re all betrothed of married. They’re just friends; allies.” she explains. Her eyes catch the medallion and she reaches up to run her fingers across the metal. She had to have one of the other blacksmiths forge it and it’s not nearly as good quality as it would be if he had made it. 

Gendry suddenly pulls away, wrapping his arms around her again and picking her up. She yelps as he tosses her back on the bed. She looks down to the foot of the bed where he stands, watching as he sheds the fur cloak. “Good.” he says, his voice a deep, rumbling growl again. His eyes rake over her barely closed form, and she’s suddenly very away of how transparent her chamise is. He continues as he climbs up the bed, holding himself over her. “You. Are. My. Lady.” 

Arya reaches up to him, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him down to her. “And you’re my stupid bull.” he smirks, closing the distance between them.    

#gendrya #gendrya au #canon divergence #arya x gendry #gendry x arya #arya stark #gendry waters #gendry baratheon #joe dempsie #shirtless joe dempsie #dragongoddess13

[jackoshadows]

This is a write-up regarding the situation in the North as of the last book A Dance with Dragons regarding the Starks and their claim to WF and the North. It’s a rather long post with book quotes that looks at why each character has a claim to the North/WF and how much support they have for that claim going from the character with the strongest claim/support to the weakest.

Contenders currently in the North:

Bran Stark: Currently in the lands beyond the wall with the 3ER. Prince Bran Stark was the Prince of Winterfell and the Stark in Winterfell when King Robb Stark was campaigning in the South. He ruled over the North until Theon’s betrayal and attack wherein Theon became the Prince of Winterfell with his father Balon Greyjoy as King. Ramsay then sacked Winterfell and Roose Bolton took over as Warden of the North with Ramsay Bolton as the Lord of Winterfell, by way of marriage to ‘Arya Stark’.

Rickon Stark: Currently in Skagos. Next in line to Bran Stark.  Has the support of the powerful Wyman Manderly to become the Lord of Winterfell/Warden of the North under King Stannis Baratheon as per the deal made with Stannis’ envoy Davos seaworth. Robett Glover also agrees to join Stannis’ campaign if Davos brings back Rickon safely from Skagos and sends weapons and hunters to Stannis to help in his march on Winterfell against the Boltons. Davos is currently headed to Skagos to bring Rickon back.

Characters that know that Bran and Rickon are alive: Theon Greyjoy, Wex, Wyman Manderly, Robett Glover, Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, Gilly, Osha, Hodor, the Reeds and the Liddle of the mountain clans.

Additionally, Bran is communicating with Jon, Arya and possibly Rickon through their wolf dreams and in Theon’s case through the WF Godswood. Jon sees Shaggydog eating a unicorn in Skagos through Ghost. He sort of ‘knows’ that Bran and Rickon are alive through the direwolves communicating with each other.

Jon Snow:  Ned’s bastard son only comes into the picture through Robb Stark’s will. So let’s take a look at this will. Before his death, Robb Stark creates a will to ensure that the Northern kingdom does not die with him. At this point, Robb thinks that Bran, Rickon and Arya are dead. First, he needs to make sure that the Lannisters don’t get the North:

By law Sansa is next in line of succession, so Winterfell and the north would pass to her.” His mouth tightened. “To her, and her lord husband. Tyrion Lannister. I cannot allow that. I will not allow that. That dwarf must never have the north.”

“No,” Catelyn agreed. “You must name another heir, until such time as Jeyne gives you a son.”

Robb and Cat seem pretty determined that Sansa, her husband and any children they have will never get the North/WF. This indicates that there is a provision in the will where Sansa is explicitly debarred/disinherited from getting the North. This seems to be a pretty popular idea as, up North, Stannis is of a similar mind –

"Lady Lannister, you mean? Are you so eager to see the Imp perched on your father's seat? I promise you, that will not happen whilst I live, Lord Snow."

So anyways, Sansa is out. Next, Robb decides to legitimize Jon Snow and he trusts Jon so much that he decides to do this before even knowing whether his wife Jeyne Westerling is pregnant or not. Catelyn is so distressed over this, that she would rather Robb select some cousin from the Vale to be Lord of WF/KITN than Jon Snow because she thinks that Jon will steal Robb’s child’s birthright. And that once Jon is legitimized it cannot be taken back. They argue over this:

He is set on this. Catelyn knew how stubborn her son could be. “A bastard cannot inherit.”

“Not unless he’s legitimized by a royal decree,” said Robb. “There is more precedent for that than for releasing a Sworn Brother from his oath.”

“If you make Jon legitimate, there is no way to turn him bastard again. Should he wed and breed, any sons you may have by Jeyne will never be safe.”

“Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa . . . your own sister, trueborn . . . ”

“ . . . and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father’s head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya’s gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they’ll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice.”

From all this we can speculate that the Robb’s will has provisions that disinherits Sansa, legitimizes Jon and makes him KITN if Jeyne does not have a child – since the only uncertainty at the time the will is written up is whether Robb will have a child or not. 

The following lords are signatories and witnesses to this will: Jason Mallister, Raynald Westerling, Greatjon Umber, Galbart Glover, Maege Mormont and Edmure Tully.  We don’t know where this will is – it’s speculated that Galbart Glover and  Maege Mormont are in possession of the will and were last headed for Greywater watch, the residence of Howland Reed.

If Robb’s will comes into play, then Jon goes from Jon Snow to Jon Stark and that automatically pushes him to the head of the queue as the eldest Stark, even if Bran and Rickon are alive. Of course, ultimately it all depends on which houses will support Jon Stark and which houses will support Bran, Rickon or Arya stark.

Contenders currently outside the North:

Because much of the North and house Stark is patriarchal, the girls come further down the line when it comes to their claims to WF and the North.

Arya Stark: Currently in Braavos. She is involved in the Northern plot in the book through Jeyne Poole – who marries Ramsay Bolton as ‘Arya Stark’ to help the Boltons hold the North. With Jon’s help, Stannis engages with the Mountain clans and they agree to fight under him to defeat the Boltons and free Arya. As Big Bucket Wull explains:

Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned’s little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue.

So the clans and Stannis are fighting to save Arya. While Stannis himself is not interested in Arya as a heir to WF (he wants to rescue Arya for Jon’s sake and send her to him), the clans and some of the Northern houses in the game – who don’t know about Bran and Rickon being alive – could be plotting to get rid of house Bolton and restore WF/North to Arya as Queen in the North. Even Roose’s so called Northern allies are not pleased with the way ‘Arya’ is being treated.

Barbrey: The bride weeps ... Dressing her in grey and white serves no good if the girl is left to sob. The Freys might not care, but the northmen ... they fear the Dreadfort, but they love the Starks.

Theon: Not you.

Barbrey: Not me, but the rest, yes. Old Whoresbane is only here because the Freys hold the Greatjon captive. And do you imagine the Hornwood men have forgotten the Bastard's last marriage, and how his lady wife was left to starve, chewing her own fingers? What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl. Lady Arya's sobs do us more harm than all of Lord Stannis's swords and spears.

“Night work is not knight’s work,” Lady Dustin said. “And Lord Wyman is not the only man who lost kin at your Red Wedding, Frey. Do you imagine Whoresbane loves you any better? If you did not hold the Greatjon, he would pull out your entrails and make you eat them, as Lady Hornwood ate her fingers. Flints, Cerwyns, Tallharts, Slates … they all had men with the Young Wolf.”

“House Ryswell too,” said Roger Ryswell. “Even Dustins out of Barrowton.” Lady Dustin parted her lips in a thin, feral smile. “The north remembers, Frey.”

Meanwhile, Lord Commander Jon Snow at the Wall has send Mance Raydar – the King beyond the wall – to rescue his sister. After he receives a letter from Ramsay Bolton informing him that Stannis has failed and that Mance is dead, Jon rallies the Wildlings to go attack the Boltons and save Arya. He is assassinated at this point.

So while all this is happening in the North, the real Arya is in Braavos. How would she connect to this plot? Well, if Jon is dead at the wall, fake Arya/Jeyne Poole may end up going with Justin Massey to Braavos – where Stannis has send him to get more mercenary soldiers and men to fight against the Boltons. Imagine Arya’s surprise when she comes across Jeyne masquerading as Arya in Braavos while Arya is walking around with someone else’s face?! This could very well be the spur that pushes her to make a trip to the Wall or the North. The only obstacle is of course that Winter has come in the books and the snowstorms are so bad that Stannis and his army is stranded unable to march even to WF. It’s not going to be easy for Arya to get North at this point. It’s possible that Arya therefore travels to the Riverlands or even the Vale since weather wise that’s easier to do.

Sansa Stark: Currently in the Vale. She is LF’s nominee for the North/WF. The major obstacle for her getting the North is her marriage to Tyrion. Currently she is still married to Tyrion as of the last book. This marriage can only be annulled by the high Septon in KL – which means there should be a regime friendly to Sansa in KL before this can happen. Or Tyrion should die. This is what LF is hoping for - that Cersei somehow manages to kill Tyrion. LF’s plans depends on both Tyrion and SweetRobin dying. Hence why Sweetrobin is being given dangerous levels of sweetsleep, despite the Maester’s warnings. LF also thinks that Bran and Rickon are dead.

So according to LF’s plans, Cersei kills Tyrion, SweetRobin dies, Sansa marries Harry the heir and is unveiled as Queen in the North/Lady of Winterfell.She gets the North and the Vale in one swoop.

But unfortunately for Littlefinger, the North is moving full speed ahead with their own plots and games. Bran and Rickon are still alive, some Northern houses are pushing for Rickon, others support Arya and Robb’s will basically disinherits Sansa Lannister. LF does not know any of this. There’s also the fact that with winter coming to Westeros and the snow storms, no army is going to be able go North any time soon. No single person would be able to do the same. Alys Karstark nearly died riding from Karhold to the Wall. So Sansa is going to be stuck in the south for a while yet.

So with Sansa in the vale, Arya in Braavos and Bran beyond the wall, the closest contenders for WF and the North location-wise are going to be Rickon and Jon. And Jon is still lying dead in the snow. So it’s very likely that we will get either Lord of Winterfell Rickon Stark if Stannis wins or KITN Rickon Stark if Stannis dies in the next book.

#ASoIaF #Bran Stark #Rickon Stark #Jon Snow #Arya stark #Sansa Stark #Robb Stark #Northern lords #Winterfell #And the North

[alayne-stonecoldfox]

Sansa and Songs

Sansa’s love of songs is shown early on in the books, and is a an important part of her character as well as her narrative.

Once, when she was just a little girl, a wandering singer had stayed with them at Winterfell for half a year. An old man he was, with white hair and windburnt cheeks, but he sang of knights and quests and ladies fair, and Sansa had cried bitter tears when he left them, and begged her father not to let him go. "The man has played us every song he knows thrice over," Lord Eddard told her gently. "I cannot keep him here against his will. You need not weep, though. I promise you, other singers will come."They hadn't, though, not for a year or more. Sansa had prayed to the Seven in their sept and old gods of the heart tree, asking them to bring the old man back, or better still to send another singer, young and handsome. But the gods never answered, and the halls of Winterfell stayed silent.

Many different characters comment on it

Lady Catelyn had said that Sansa was a gentle soul who loved lemon cakes, silken gowns, and songs of chivalry - Brienne

So the singer played for her, so soft and sad that Arya only heard snatches of the words, though the tune was half-familiar. Sansa would know it, I bet. Her sister had known all the songs, and she could even play a little, and sing so sweetly.- Arya

Sansa Stark, he mused. Soft-spoken sweet-smelling Sansa, who loved silks, songs, chivalry and tall gallant knights with handsome faces.- Tyrion

Her love of songs is at first tied to the way she wishes to see the world, her innocence, her dreams and her naivety. She has lived a happy and sheltered life, she is the beautiful daughter of a noble house, and has no reason to think her life would not be like the heroines of the songs she loves. This is her romanticised view of the world.

All she wanted was for things to be nice and pretty, the way they were in the songs.

Be brave, she told herself. Be brave, like a lady in a song.

"It is better than the songs," she whispered when they found the places that her father had promised her, among the high lords and ladies. Sansa was dressed beautifully that day, in a green gown that brought out the auburn of her hair, and she knew they were looking at her and smiling.

Sansa insisted. "I don't want someone brave and gentle, I want him. We'll be ever so happy, just like in the songs, you'll see. I'll give him a son with golden hair, and one day he'll be the king of all the realm, the greatest king that ever was, as brave as the wolf and as proud as the lion."

This quote below is one of the first times Sansa instead associates songs with a negative connotation, but in an interesting way.

The young knight in the blue cloak was nothing to her, some stranger from the Vale of Arryn whose name she had forgotten as soon as she heard it. And now the world would forget his name too, Sansa realized; there would be no songs sung for him. That was sad.

She has just witnessed a young Vale knight die in the joust. It is described as :

“the most terrifying moment of the day came during Ser Gregor's second joust, when his lance rode up and struck a young knight from the Vale under the gorget with such force that it drove through his throat, killing him instantly. The youth fell not ten feet from where Sansa was seated.”

Sansa’s reaction is recorded alongside her friend Jeyne’s

Jeyne Poole wept so hysterically that Septa Mordane finally took her off to regain her composure, but Sansa sat with her hands folded in her lap, watching with a strange fascination. She had never seen a man die before. She ought to be crying too, she thought, but the tears would not come.

I love this part of the book. It’s Sansa’s first, very blunt, encounter with death, though it takes place in such a wonderful colourful atmosphere, a court joust, where she’s been having the time of her life and has always dreamed of being part of. It is even quoted by her as being ‘a song come to life’. The way it’s written seems like she can’t quite process what she’s just seen. The reality of the death. The only thing that registers with her truly in that moment is that he won’t be the one the songs are sung for, and that’s what she finds most tragic. It is a shallow take on it. She is still a young girl caught up in songs and not reality.

This passage happens in Sansa’s third chapter, when Ned has decided Ser Gregor is to be brought before the Kings Justice, and Loras volunteers to bring him in but Ned refuses to send him. Sansa doesn’t understand why, and says this to her Septa, and Petyr Baelish overhears

Her father's decision still bewildered her. When the Knight of Flowers had spoken up, she'd been sure she was about to see one of Old Nan's stories come to life. Ser Gregor was the monster and Ser Loras the true hero who would slay him. He even looked a true hero, so slim and beautiful, with golden roses around his slender waist and his rich brown hair tumbling down into his eyes. 

Lord Baelish stroked his little pointed beard and said, "Nothing? Tell me, child, why would you have sent Ser Loras?"Sansa had no choice but to explain about heroes and monsters. The king's councillor smiled. "Well, those are not the reasons I'd have given, but …" He had touched her cheek, his thumb lightly tracing the line of a cheekbone. "Life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that one day to your sorrow."

Again, a moment highlighted Sansa’s naivety and how she truly believes life would be like the songs, Ser Loras defeating Gregor because he is the handsome young knight and Gregor the monster. It is also the first introduction of the line “life is not a song sweetling” which will be echoed throughout Sansa’s chapters from this point on, as her innocent world view is shattered and her naivety chipped away. The line is impactful coming from Petyr Baelish of all people, as he was once also a young boy who’s world vision was crafted from songs. 

"There's a song," he remembered. "'Jenny of Oldstones, with the flowers in her hair.'""We're all just songs in the end. If we are lucky." She had played at being Jenny that day, had even wound flowers in her hair. And Petyr had pretended to be her Prince of Dragonflies. Catelyn could not have been more than twelve, Petyr just a boy.

Did you come with Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood, the time they visited to lay their feud before my father? Lord Bracken’s singer played for us, and Catelyn danced six dances with Petyr that night, six, I counted.

He believed Catelyn Stark was being married against her will in an arranged marriage to Brandon Stark, falsely believing Cat loved him and he had taken her maiden head (he hadn’t, he was drunk and it was Lysa) and they were going to be together despite his lower birth, and he could fight for her hand, because that was how it happened in the songs where the gallant young hero’s always won. But that’s not what happened, and Petyr lost everything in that duel, his home at Riverrun, his ties with House Tully and what he thought was his true love, and from that point onwards he descended into bitterness, becoming a man of ruthless practicality. He recognises the same innocence in Sansa with a knowingness that it will not last.

Another key figure in Sansa’s narrative relating to songs is The Hound. From the beginning of her chapters he derisively refers to Sansa as a little bird who sings songs.

Some septa trained you well. You're like one of those birds from the Summer Isles, aren't you? A pretty little talking bird, repeating all the pretty little words they taught you to recite."

Tell me, little bird, what kind of god makes a monster like the Imp, or a halfwit like Lady Tanda's daughter? If there are gods, they made sheep so wolves could eat mutton, and they made the weak for the strong to play with."

A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face." He cupped her under the jaw, raising her chin, his fingers pinching her painfully. "And that's more than little birds can do, isn't it? I never got my song.""I . . . I know a song about Florian and Jonquil.”"Florian and Jonquil? A fool and his cunt. Spare me. But one day I'll have a song from you, whether you will it or no."

The Hound seems to resent Sansa’s innocence. He is a character that certainly knows how harsh the world is, and he see’s Sansa’s world views as foolish, and every chance he gets he seems to want to wake her up to the real world, whilst also acting as a protector. She brings out a lot of conflicting feelings within him, as he does in Sansa, as he does not fit her idea at all of what a knight was meant to be. His harsh demeanour is very confronting to her throughout her early chapters, culminating in a scene in her room where he seemingly planned on raping her, but could bring himself to do it, because as much as he hated her innocence, it touches him as well. He settles on wanting a song.

"Think I'm so drunk that I'd believe that?" He let go his grip on her arm, swaying slightly as he stood, stripes of light and darkness falling across his terrible burnt face. "You look almost a woman . . . face, teats, and you're taller too, almost . . . ah, you're still a stupid little bird, aren't you? Singing all the songs they taught you . . . sing me a song, why don't you? Go on. Sing to me. Some song about knights and fair maids. You like knights, don't you?"He was scaring her. "T-true knights, my lord."

I could keep you safe," he rasped. "They're all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I'd kill them." He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her. He was too strong to fight. She closed her eyes, wanting it to be over, but nothing happened. "Still can't bear to look, can you?" she heard him say. He gave her arm a hard wrench, pulling her around and shoving her down onto the bed. "I'll have that song. Florian and Jonquil, you said." His dagger was out, poised at her throat. "Sing, little bird. Sing for your little life."Her throat was dry and tight with fear, and every song she had ever known had fled from her mind. Please don't kill me, she wanted to scream, please don't. She could feel him twisting the point, pushing it into her throat, and she almost closed her eyes again, but then she remembered. It was not the song of Florian and Jonquil, but it was a song. Her voice sounded small and thin and tremulous in her ears.

This scene, as well as the entirety of the chapters that come after Ned’s death and covering the battle of the blackwater, references songs in a new dark way in Sansa’s chapters.

Perhaps I will die too, she told herself, and the thought did not seem so terrible to her. If she flung herself from the window, she could put an end to her suffering, and in the years to come the singers would write songs of her grief.

She called for the heroes from the songs, for Florian and Ser Ryam Redwyne and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, but no one heard. Women swarmed over her like weasels, pinching her legs and kicking her in the belly, and someone hit her in the face and she felt her teeth shatter. Then she saw the bright glimmer of steel. The knife plunged into her belly and tore and tore and tore, until there was nothing left of her down there but shiny wet ribbons.

She heard it as she had never heard it before, and there were other sounds as well, grunts of pain, angry curses, shouts for help, and the moans of wounded and dying men. In the songs, the knights never screamed nor begged for mercy.

The deep moan of warhorns, the creak and thud of catapults flinging stones, the splashes and splinterings, the crackle of burning pitch and thrum of scorpions loosing their yard-long iron-headed shafts . . . and beneath it all, the cries of dying men.It was another sort of song, a terrible song.

They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They've never seen a battle, they've never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father's head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them.

Do you have any notion what happens when a city is sacked, Sansa? No, you wouldn't, would you? All you know of life you learned from singers, and there's such a dearth of good sacking songs.""True knights would never harm women and children." The words rang hollow in her ears even as she said them.

For those who remained, a singer was brought forth to fill the hall with the sweet music of the high harp. He sang of Jonquil and Florian, of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and his love for his brother's queen, of Nymeria's ten thousand ships. They were beautiful songs, but terribly sad. Several of the women began to weep, and Sansa felt her own eyes growing moist."Very good, dear." The queen leaned close. "You want to practice those tears. You'll need them for King Stannis."

But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. "Life is not a song, sweetling," he'd told her. "You may learn that one day to your sorrow." 

Sansa’s world view has begun to change as she is no longer naive and has suffered tragedy, and nothing is happening as she thought it would. She still seems to love songs, but now there’s a lot of melancholy attached to them.

The third key figure in Sansa’s narrative associated with songs, after Petyr Baelish and the hound, is Marillion. Her Aunt Lysa’s favourite singer who she encounters first at the Fingers during Petyr and Lysa’s marriage, where he attempts to sing to her and rape her.

"Marillion?" she said, uncertain. "You are . . . kind to think of me, but . . . pray forgive me. I am very tired.""And very beautiful. All night I have been making songs for you in my head. A lay for your eyes, a ballad for your lips, a duet to your breasts. I will not sing them, though. They were poor things, unworthy of such beauty." He sat on her bed and put his hand on her leg. "Let me sing to you with my body instead." She caught a whiff of his breath. "You're drunk.""I never get drunk. Mead only makes me merry. I am on fire." His hand slipped up to her thigh. "And you as well."

Luckily, he is scared off by Lothor Brune, who is asked by Petyr Baelish to watch over her that night. But Marillion and his singing factor again into one of the biggest moments of Sansa and Baelish’s story so far, as he plays his harp and sings to cover the sounds of Lysa’s attempt at killing Sansa by throwing her through the moon door.

“No." Sansa planted her feet and tried to squirm backward, but her aunt did not budge. "Not this way. Please . . ." She put a hand up, her fingers scrabbling at the doorframe, but she could not get a grip, and her feet were sliding on the wet marble floor. Lady Lysa pressed her forward inexorably. Her aunt outweighed her by three stone. "The lady lay a-kissing, upon a mound of hay," Marillion was singing. Sansa twisted sideways, hysterical with fear, and one foot slipped out over the void. She screamed. "Hey-nonny, hey-nonny, hey-nonny-hey." The wind flapped her skirts up and bit at her bare legs with cold teeth. She could feel snowflakes melting on her cheeks. Sansa flailed, found Lysa's thick auburn braid, and clutched it tight. "My hair!" her aunt shrieked. "Let go of my hair!" She was shaking, sobbing. They teetered on the edge. Far off, she heard the guards pounding on the door with their spears, demanding to be let in. Marillion broke off his song."Lysa! What's the meaning of this?" The shout cut through the sobs and heavy breathing. Footsteps echoed down the High Hall. "Get back from there! Lysa, what are you doing?" The guards were still beating at the door; Littlefinger had come in the back way, through the lords' entrance behind the dais.

Petyr comes in time to stop it. Of course, we know this is when he kills Lysa himself. Marillion is witness to all of this. Petyr decides to keep him alive for his own ends, sending him to the dungeons to be tortured into now defending their innocence.

"We have come to an agreement, Marillion and I. Mord can be most persuasive. And if our singer disappoints us and sings a song we do not care to hear, why, you and I need only say he lies. Whom do you imagine Lord Nestor will believe?""Us?" Sansa wished she could be certain.

"Lord Petyr has been kind enough to let me keep my harp," the blind singer said. "My harp and . . . my tongue . . . so I may sing my songs. Lady Lysa dearly loved my singing . . ."

Sansa most traumatic moment, the moment she almost died, was serenaded with a song. Now she and Petyr use that singer to cover the crime of Lysa’s death with Sansa being able to hear him from down in the dungeons where he sings at night.

The singer's voice was strong and sweet. Sansa thought he sounded better than he ever had before, his voice richer somehow, full of pain and fear and longing. She did not understand why the gods would have given such a voice to such a wicked man.

He would have taken me by force on the Fingers if Petyr had not set Ser Lothor to watch over me, she had to remind herself. And he played to drown out my cries when Aunt Lysa tried to kill me.That did not make the songs any easier to hear.

 "Please," she begged Lord Petyr, "can't you make him stop?""I gave the man my word, sweetling." Petyr Baelish, Lord of Harrenhal, Lord Paramount of the Trident, and Lord Protector of the Eyrie and the Vale of Arryn, looked up from the letter he was writing. He had written a hundred letters since Lady Lysa's fall. Sansa had seen the ravens coming and going from the rookery. "I'd sooner suffer his singing than listen to his sobbing."

That night the dead man sang "The Day They Hanged Black Robin," "The Mother's Tears," and "The Rains of Castamere." Then he stopped for a while, but just as Sansa began to drift off he started to play again. He sang "Six Sorrows," "Fallen Leaves," and "Alysanne." Such sad songs, she thought. When she closed her eyes she could see him in his sky cell, huddled in a corner away from the cold black sky, crouched beneath a fur with his woodharp cradled against his chest. I must not pity him, she told herself. He was vain and cruel, and soon he will be dead. She could not save him. And why should she want to? Marillion tried to rape her, and Petyr had saved her life not once but twice. Some lies you have to tell. Lies had been all that kept her alive in King's Landing.

Marillion in his entirety really opens up a more troubling world view for Sansa to start to digest. He was beautiful and young and a singer, but he tried to rape her. He tried to aid in her murder. He was tortured into defending her and Baelish. She knows he will be killed. Sansa is conflicted by all of this, feeling haunted by his sad songs as she tried to sleep but can’t. He has given her a lot to think about regarding her survival but also her morality.

"My lady was too trusting for this world." Petyr spoke so tenderly that Sansa would have believed he'd loved his wife. "Lysa could not see the evil in men, only the good. Marillion sang sweet songs, and she mistook that for his nature."

Songs have been weaved throughout Sansa’s narrative consistently, alongside three men who enforce these links even more. The Hound who wanted a song, Lord Baelish who was once a lover of songs himself, and Marillion, the singer. I believe that songs will continue to play a thematic role in Sansa’s chapters, but i would say the dreams and innocence once associated with them in her mind is long gone.

The moment came back to her vividly. "You told me that life was not a song. That I would learn that one day, to my sorrow." She felt tears in her eyes, but whether she wept for Ser Dontos Hollard, for Joff, for Tyrion, or for herself, Sansa could not say. 

As the boy's lips touched her own she found herself thinking of another kiss. She could still remember how it felt, when his cruel mouth pressed down on her own. He had come to Sansa in the darkness as green fire filled the sky. He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak.It made no matter. That day was done, and so was Sansa.

That day was done, and so was Sansa.

That day was done, and so was Sansa.

That day was done, and so was Sansa.

#sansa stark #petyr baelish #sandor clegane #asoiaf #got #long post #SORRY IT'S SO LONG #i just...LOVE. BOOK. QUOTES

[goodqueenaly]

Who do you think some of the she-wolves of Winterfell could be? I think strong contenders are one of Rickon Stark's daughters, Serena and Sansa, Myriame Manderly, Lorra Royce, maybe Melantha Blackwood if she's in the North yet. What do you think?

Per GRRM (at least back in 2006), the story of “The She-Wolves of Winterfell” will feature “five Lady Starks running Winterfell ... with four of them widows of a bunch of fairly recent former Lord Starks, and the current Lady Stark, whose 30-something husband is fading fast from a wound taken from fighting the Ironborn”. That Lord Stark would be Beron, which means that the “current Lady Stark” would be Lorra Royce (though whether she was from the senior line Royces of Runestone, or the junior line Royces from whom Nestor descends, we don’t yet know). Beron’s predecessor as Lord Stark was his brother, Rodwell, whose wife was Myriame Manderly, so presumably she will be the first of those Stark widows. Rodwell was the eldest son of Lord Brandon Stark, so I expect his and Beron’s mother, Alys Karstark, will be alive as well. (Hopefully she’s as brave and awesome as her name twin in the main novels.)

What makes this calculation somewhat tricky from here is that, according to the Stark family tree from TWOIAF, Barthogan (Brandon’s immediate predecessor as Lord of Winterfell) was unmarried. Barthogan’s own predecessor, Jonnel, was married, twice in fact - but unless he took a rather extraordinary step in putting aside one of his wives to marry the other, presumably we’ll only meet one of them. My money would be on Sansa Stark, because of the rich succession questions her presence could raise; as one of the daughters of Rickon Stark, Sansa had arguably a far better right to Winterfell than any of Cregan’s younger sons or their descendants. It’s remotely possible that either Jeyne Manderly (the wife of Rickon Stark) or Lynara Stark (the wife of Cregan) would have still been alive at this time, although my feeling would be no. If Jeyne was of an age with Rickon she would have been in her early 80s by the time of this story, and while that’s not the oldest age any (non-magical) person has reached in Westeros, it is certainly old by Westerosi standards; as for Lynara, while I would guess she was younger than Cregan (especially if she was a granddaughter of Uncle Bennard), I can’t imagine that even at the youngest she was too much younger than her own stepson Rickon, and so probably the same calculus as with Jeyne would apply.

That’s only three Stark widows, of course, though I wouldn’t say that that would necessarily be all the fierce Stark ladies hanging around Winterfell (and let’s remember, not only has this been a work in progress long before the formalization of the Stark family tree in TWOIAF, but GRRM can’t math). Serena Stark was not a widow of a Stark lord (as Edric Stark, her uncle-husband, died before he could succeed), but she was still the senior heir of Rickon as well as the widow of a Stark. Serena also had four children by Edric, and while I’m suspicious their twin boys died young (they never ruled Winterfell either, and the family tree didn’t show them marrying or having children), their daughters lived to marry and have children of their own; indeed, I could see where Serena and her daughters would have emphasized that they were “Starks”, the rightful heirs to Winterfell. Cregan’s daughters by Alysanne Blackwood might have been alive, albeit probably in their 70s at least (although we don’t know if they ever married; no spouses were listed on the lineage). Cregan’s youngest daughter, Lyanna (how could GRRM ignore the thematic possibilities with that namesake?) and his granddaughter, Arsa (Beron’s sister), may also have been around Winterfell (though their marital fates are unknown as well).

It’s also worth pointing out that there may be one other lady around Winterfell around the time of “The She-Wolves of Winterfell”: Wylla Fenn, the mother of Brandon Stark’s bastard, Lonnel Snow. Although Lonnel, as an unlegitimated bastard, would not legally have any rights to Winterfell, as a son of a Stark lord (and his son by a northern noblewoman) in a period of uncertain succession, Lonnel might well have come forward (or been put forward by his mother) to grasp at power in the North. (And let’s be real, could it really be coincidental that GRRM named the mother of a bastard son of a Stark lord “Wylla”?)

#asoiaf meta #the she wolves of winterfell #tales of dunk and egg #house stark #lorra royce #myriame manderly #alys karstark stark #sansa daughter of rickon #serena stark #wylla fenn

[disregardcanon]

A decade in fanfiction

The meme template was made by me myself and I! Please, if you’re interested go ahead and do it! I would love to see other people reflecting on their writing right along with me :) 

Where can we read your fic? Please give us a link so that we can check these stories out!

my early fics can be read on my ffn The Ficsmith 

on ao3, my pseuds are sunkelles and fullmetal anime

I also have lots of short things here on tumblr. i would try searching a favorite fandom of yours and au on my blog and something might pop up. 

How many words of fanfiction have you written this decade?

On ao3, I have posted  1,031,824 words. I would bet that I posted 40k on ffn before i started posting concurrently to my ao3, and that i’ve posted maybe 80k of stuff just to tumblr? If I estimate that way and don’t think about unfinished works and wips, I’d say 1,151,824 words thereabouts. 

How many stories have you written?

I’ve posted 338 stories to ao3. I am not going to go do the math to add on my stories from ffn as well. 

Have you written on multiple websites? If so, which website is your favorite and why?

ao3 is my favorite website for fic because it’s just so EASY to search through, post to, and get your stats from. plus it’s very visually appealing. 

Have you used multiple pen names? If so, list them and tell us the story behind the name

on ffn, i used a lot of pen names over the years, but i only remember 3 of them 

1. thee sun. this was my first pen name on the internet and it was because back then, my friends and i had series of nicknames going where we were each a part of the solar system. one of my friends suggested that i should be the sun because i was happy and bouncy and the friend group “orbited” around me. it wasn’t really accurate then or now, but sun ended up sticking. 

2. sunless skies was my emo change to that pseud 

3. the ficsmith is my current name there as i thought the word “wordsmith” was badass and decided that ficsmith sounded very, very cool 

on ao3, my primary pseud has always been “sunkelles”. half of it’s the old nickname and half of it’s another nickname i won’t get into. it’s a very personal handle for me that i love dearly 

my second pseud is fullmetal anime, my anime pseud. fullmetal alchemist was one of my first anime when my old roommate got me onto my weeb phase in my twenties, and i thought that sounded too badass to pass up. 

What is the first story you posted this decade?

I Will Never Leave You Alone: this is a percy jackson fic set after the lost hero. It was my imaging of how the meeting in son of neptune might go if percy didn’t get his memories back. it’s bad, but it was my first attempt at fanfiction. i think that it could have been a lot worse. 

What is the last story that you posted this decade?

Not Willing to Wait for it: this is a tangled the series fic about cassandra. it’s not really my favorite thing i’ve ever written, but it’s not a terrible thing to end the decade on either. 

What is the longest story that you have wrote this decade?  

The Poetry of Time and Space: this is a pipabeth fic with annabeth as the doctor and piper mclean as rose tyler fic that i wrote back in 2013 at the urging of my first internet friend. coming in at 27,842 words, it’s the longest fic i have ever written. 

while i wouldn’t call it some of my best work, i’m still fairly proud of the thing. writing it helped me make a friend (even if we don’t keep in touch anymore), it helped me find some cool poetry, and i did a lot of fun historical research for it! 

i learned a loooottt about the history of spain for this fic and it was really cool. 

What is the shortest?

A Good Listener coming in at 192 words, this pipabeth fic is at the polar opposite end of the spectrum. 2013 was a wild year, my dudes. 

What’s your favorite?

I think that choosing a “favorite” would probably be too hard, but the one that I come back to the most is Over the Shadowy Hills. This fic could have been just good, but my friend was like. girl. you need to sort your shit out. and then i deleted it, worked on it with her help, and fixed it into something that i can still be really proud of. I’m glad that I decided to stick with it and give this fic the time and attention that it needed. 

What story do you feel was your biggest challenge?

I don’t have a fic in particular I would say is my biggest challenge, but one challenge has been the growing pains of becoming a better writer. I’ve moved into a point where I need to tell more thorough, longer stories, but I also don’t have the time needed to do that at the moment and my desire for instant validation is fighting against my desires to not do work and be a better writer. 

I know that right now I’m growing as a writer, but I’m not exactly sure what direction I’m growing in and how to deal with it. 

Which story was your most creative?

All Katz Go to Heaven is certainly an idea that no one but me would have come up with XD the premise is “all of hannibal’s victims from the show hannibal die and are reincarnated in brooklyn 99″ 

Which story do you think demonstrates the greatest growth?

I think that Paint a New Horizon demonstrates a lot of my progress as a writer. 

1. coming in at 23k, it’s one of my longest fics ever 

2. it has some of my best visual descriptions ever, as i decided to write sansa as a painter and it make visual descriptions a FAR bigger part of the story than they normally are when i write 

3. it handles dark subject matter, but i feel like i go into well. i’ve found myself dwelling in this universe a LOT, and i think that i might actually go back and write more of it over this next semester or summer because i just. like being in it. even though it was dark, it was also homey and lively and interesting, you know? 

4. it’s the best romance i’ve written this year, hands down. 

Here, have a snippet 

She dared a glance forward and met Margaery’s eyes- a deep, chocolate brown. They were warm and inviting and Margaery’s little curly bangs framed her face like a heart. Margaery’s head went over the back of the booth and it seemed to almost be floating against the flowery wallpaper. It looked like Margaery was lying out in a field of flowers- the Maiden gazing up at the clouds and trying to make shapes of them.

She could imagine Margaery telling her that this one is a flower, like Tyrell, and this one’s a deer, like Baratheon, and this one’s a dick, like Joffrey. She giggled nervously again and felt her cheeks flush. She’d never felt this giddy and unsteady in her whole life.

“Are you alright, Sansa?” Margaery asked cautiously. She reached across the table and laid a hand over Sansa’s own. The touch was warm and tender, and Sansa felt the blush from her toes to the tip of her head.

“I’m perfect!” Sansa nearly screeched. Margaery laughed at that, but her look was kind.

“Yes, darling,” she said with a smile that was wide and fond, “I think that you are.”

Lesbian. The word wasn’t supposed to fill her with such a warm, hopeful feeling, was it? She wiggled awkwardly in her chair, trying to get situated and stop feeling so silly and excited and vulnerable, but it didn’t fix anything. She felt Margaery’s leg brush against hers under the table. It sent a jolt through her.

Lesbian.

Sansa took a shaky breath. She thought to herself that there might be something to that.

Tell us about your writing process.

my writing process is quite frankly all over the board. sometimes, i’ll sit down and just hammer out a fic start to finish in one sitting, but when i don’t do that i’ll make the thing come together in patchwork. i’ll normally start with some vivid pieces of dialogue that i want to write and then i’ll figure out where i’m going and how. often, since i write in a nonlinear fashion i might end up having to change what i’ve written for the middle or the end, but when i get there and it doesn’t feel right for what i ended up writing, i always decide that i’m better off with what feels more natural. 

Tell us about how you come up with fic titles.

I have 3 different systems for determining fic tiles 

1. come up with a cool title to write a fic around. i wrote Chasing Annabeth solely because i thought that would be badass title 

2. try to find something external to the story, like a saying, a lyric or quote, that works with the message or mood of the story. for If You Believe in Me (I’ll Still Believe), I realized that both Memoria by Nirvana and Holland Road by Mumford and Sons shared a distinct feel with what I was doing with the fic, so I went through the lines of both and identified some possible titles. 

Then, I decided that the line “if you believe in me I’ll still believe” felt the most right. I thought that it best conveyed how much Jeyne believing that Theon could become better again contributed to him actually going through with it, whereas some of the other options didn’t have either the external influence or faint hope that I felt the fic deserved. 

3. find something from the fic itself or the source material! often times, i’ll end up with a motif in the fic that makes a perfect title, or i’ll have something to draw on from the source material. this feels different from the 2nd option because whereas that first one is going outside the world of the fic, this 3rd one is going inside the world of the fic. 

Have you ever used an epigraph? Tell us about your reasoning.

I use epigraphs for the same reason that I use outside sources for fic titles. While sometimes I have that lyric or quote in mind while I am writing the fic, like Washing Machine Heart, sometimes you get to the end of writing and realize that you’ve created something that would be enhanced if you were to have your readers mulling over the theme brought up in a song while they’re reading, like Unfinished Business. 

I don’t know, these are probably the reasons that ANYONE uses epigraphs, but it’s cool to see other people’s thought process. 

What are some of your favorite lines that you’ve ever written?

Here’s a few of my favorite exchanges from my older or more underrated fics!

She swallows the spit that has started to pool in her mouth and continues, "We'll all end up dying and meeting the void face to face and blah blah fucking blah, but the thing is that's tomorrow. This is today. You remember Thalia, so she matters. And you matter because you're alive. Your heart's still beating. You can still do shit. See shit. Be the shit. Annabeth Chase, you can still do anything."

Chasing Annabeth (2013)

Annabeth tsks as she laughs, “You’ve always got to steal the attention for yourself, don’t you?”

Piper laughs and then pretends to glare, “Borrow. I borrow things.”

“Borrowing BMWs is still frowned upon, my friend,” Annabeth says and then everything is back to normal. The future is forgotten, if only for a moment in the company of a friend.

The Fates Smiled (2014) 

“I guess,” Arya mutters, and she walks straight over to the trash. She pops the lid, and dumps the enormous plastic cock unceremoniously into it. Then she lets the lid close. She and Shireen look to the trash can in horror.

“Do you think that we should burn it?” Shireen asks.

She pauses a moment before she adds, “I’m afraid it’s going to attack us in our sleep.” Arya bursts out into laughter.

“I can hear the news anchors already,” Arya says, “women murdered in sleep by haunted dildo.” The Kids Are Alright (2015) 

"I think huckleberry just came out too," Maya stage-whispers back, "two gays for the price of one."

"Bi one get one free," Riley says with a shit-eating grin 

A Guide to Coming Out (2015) 

"Do I look like a man with a plan to you?" He tries to look as crazy as he can. Rachel isn't buying it. "You impersonated a member of the mayor's honor guard, you predetermined and informed us of every victim before you killed them. You're a planner, Joker. You're even a good one." The Joker shrugs. "I'm not a schemer, though. Don't hang my hat on whether or not things work out." In that moment, Rachel understands this man. Rachel understands why he does the things that he does, even though she thinks that he's the scum of the earth. "You wanted to let us know all our plans would fall apart. You wanted chaos." "You're a smart woman, Ms. Dawes," The Joker says, cracking a smile, "you know what I did to you and your boy toy was nothing personal. It was just to turn the schemer's plans on their toes.

The City of Bats and Clowns (2016) 

Zatanna crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against Bruce’s black SUV. The “parking lot” at this camp is a glorified field of grass. It rained last night, and there are muddy ruts left all throughout the field and little muddy puddles scattered everywhere. It’s disgusting and rundown and everywhere that Zatanna doesn’t want to spend three weeks of her summer.

“I don’t want to go to this stupid camp.” Endless Summer (2017) 

Rose feels a twist in her gut. This might be worse than finding out he wanted to desert. This is knowing the reasons behind it, having to see him as human in his mistakes and understand why he made them.

Oh how heroes fall and then stumble back up again.

The Spark That Will Light the Fire (2017)

Sloth is all the memories you have and never asked for, all the feelings you don't know what to do with.

Sloth is your feelings towards two boys who aren't your sons- can't be- because you never wanted them in the first place.

You never asked for this, to be born half-formed and hungry. To be born somewhere between not caring and caring too much, to just go along with what you were told because you don't care enough not to.

You never asked for those two boys to look at you the way they do, like you're something hideous and beautiful all at once. Like you're their sin to bury, their damsel to save. All you've ever wanted is for it all to stop.

The Seven Deadly Almost People (2018) 

What are you favorite characters to write. 

I don’t really have “favorite” characters to write because I bounce around so often. I’ll have a new favorite next year, but my favorite me character that I wrote THIS year was Dabi. 

Which story was the most fun to write.

Out of all the stories I’ve written, Dicks in the Wind comes to mind as being the most fun. The soulmate au where whatever your soulmate draws on their skin appearing on yours might not be my all time favorite, but the idea of spitefully drawing dicks on your own face to spite the soulmate who hurt you while also hurting yourself is both really fun but also really interesting? I really liked getting to explore the implications of that idea, the humor, Sabine’s relationship with Kanan, and the possibility of a reconciliation between her and Ketsu. 

If you use ao3, tell us about your fics with the most

Kudos: The Matter of Soulmates 1,049

Comments: Her Heart’s Duet 63 comment threads

Hits: Golden Cages, Silver Linings 15,272 hits

Subscriptions: The Matter of Soulmates 105 subscriptions

If you could have written one story this decade that you didn’t get around to, what would this have been?

There’s lot of fics that I wish I would have gotten written this decade. I think that if I could have written ONE fic that I didn’t get around to this decade, though, I would have turned my tucker turns ed into a chimera instead of nina tumblr post into a real fic. 

Do you write original fiction as well?

Sometimes! I don’t write it as much as I’d like, but I’ve written some short stories and I have some longer wips. 

Did you ever do nanowrimo this decade? If so, tell us about your projects.

I tried nanowrimo in both 2017 and 2018. My 2017 was a story idea about magic pirates. My 2018 was a story based on a fic idea I had where ed HAD created al like al thought he did in fma 03 for a while. it would feature prominent relationships with characters inspired by winry, wrath, and lust. both of these have about 15k to their name. 

What have you learned writing in the past decade?

I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person. For better or for worse, the easiest way to get to know me would be to go through my ao3 and just start reading. 

I also feel like I’ve learned that I CAN be a writer. While I have a long way to go if I ever want to become any good at original fiction and develop a thick enough skin to get it worked up to publishing shape, I know that I have the skills to at least give it a try.  If I don’t, I’ll always have these stories that I hold closely to my heart and this hobby that’s brought me a lot of joy. 

What are your writing goals going forward?

At the moment, I’m not entirely sure. I feel a little bit like I’ve stagnated and I need to figure out a way forward, but I’m not entirely sure what that way forward IS. I think that the way forward is longer projects (maybe even more original fiction) but I’m going to need to figure out a way to not devote all my mental energy to these projects at a time and also not let them wither and die. 

In the past, I’ve only been able to do proper, well written long fics when I had a LONG time to dedicate to getting the thing done. Like, days and days off that I could devote multiple hours to the writing project. In the future, I don’t think I’ll have that. I just need to find a way to not get SO into it that I can’t do anything else, but also maintain the energy and drive to keep coming back to it. 

Tell us about what aspect of your writing makes you the most proud.

I feel like I excel at word choice. People frequently comment on my fics that there’s something about the wording that just FLOWS, and I would have to agree. I feel like I’m good at choosing words that both sound good and hit emotionally. 

Tell us anything else that you’d like! This is your reflection post, so end on whatever bang you would like!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over these past nine years! I haven’t been on tumblr for this whole time (i’ve only been here since 2012), but i grown a lot, both as a person and a writer, over this decade.

if you had told me when i wrote my first fanfiction that by the end of the decade i would write the order of the phoenix more than 5 times over in fanfiction, i would never have believed you. 

not every fic that i wrote was fantastic, but every fic that i wrote was MINE, and it’s a memory that i get to come back to when i’m feeling sad or lonely or like i can’t do something. so, thank you fanfiction, for always being there for me. even if you might be there for me a little too much XD

#writing meme #a decade of writing in review #a decade of fanfiction #personal reflection

[bisexualgendryas]

gendrya + jonsa au: bastard lords and hidden ladies (part 1)

so, this is very much not the whoooole concept as I practically just switch from Cat!Arya to Alayne!Sansa (this post is basically just Gendrya + Alayne!Sansa, sorry, not even written Jonsa, but I promise the full concept includes happy married!Jonsa (two versions, too, lol)), but I am tired af whilst simultaneously being really pumped that ppl wanted to see this idea so here’s (much of) the longass outline of the thing I posted about earlier:

au wip, a legitimized-boys, secret-identity-sisters canon divergence piece, where: Stannis becomes king (and keeps Gendry alive), Arya accepts Jaqen’s offer to work for a courtesan and Gendry finds her while on business for the Crown, Jon gets legitimized after taking Ramsay down, and Baelish makes a betrothal for Alayne to Gendry that she later basically manipulates Stannis into changing into one with Jon after Gendry and his true love ditched the whole ass crownlands. It’s got a lot of book plot overlap too but I have no true concept of the timeline in terms of when different canon events happened. If you want more of this or have ideas or anything, feel free to share them!

Instead of Gendry having to escape from Stannis, Shireen finds out that her father’s found a cousin of hers - a true one, not one of Cersei’s bastards but one of her uncle’s - and especially with pressure from both her and Davos, Stannis ultimately decides he’ll keep Gendry alive, have him taught to behave properly, how to manage lordly duties, and so on.

Jaqen realizes that Arya may not be perfectly cut out for being Faceless, and makes her an offer - that he could find her employment of a different sort. As he’s noted, she’s taken by the allure of the courtesans, whose jobs include far more than just the sexual duties shared by those who work in brothels.

At first, Arya insists she can get better, but then Mercy!Arya ends up becoming friends with a girl who works on one courtesan’s ship, and after hearing many stories about how the women play instruments and tell stories and sing songs, she decides that perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst thing to try out. She talks to Jaqen, tucks Needle in a belt, and makes friends with Mercy’s friend with her own face, as Cat, and then the friend convinces the courtesan that Cat’s a charming young woman who should come work with them.

Stannis first loses at the Blackwater, but then with assistance from the Iron Bank and much of Westeros, as well as some more magic, he later manages to topple Tommen and take the Throne.

Needing to be sure of where the Crown stood with their Essosi allies, Stannis sends Gendry and Davos to Braavos to speak with the Iron Bank. As the Starks were always so keen to remind everyone, winter was coming.

And, ahem, the men sent with Gendry and Davos certainly intend to as well. And, only naturally, after a couple nights of well-enjoyed brothel trips, some of them decide they all ought to take advantage of their being in Essos and seek out some renowned courtesan as well - they had Westerosi lords and knights, after all, one of whom was in line for the bloody Iron Throne! Surely someone would love to host them!

Spoiler: yes, someone absolutely would. (Especially considering that Robert had quite the reputation - not as a particularly fun partner, but definitely as a man who’d finance the purchasing of a week’s worth of alcohol in two nights and come back to bed every pretty girl an establishment had afterwards.) How many Braavosi courtesans or whores can say they were bedded or courted in any manner by the son of a Westerosi king? Not many.

Contrary to expectations, Cat ends up being one of them, though not so much while they’re in Braavos. And as sweet and reassuring as it is that her friends, her companions in training, are certain that this lord immediately realizes how pretty she is, she knows the moment that Lord Baratheon meets her eyes he can see Arya, buried deep beneath Cat, and when she speaks in response to the courtesan he and his men are visiting, he hears her as well, though she’s glad to see he’s smart enough not to have his shock blatantly on display.

After a couple visits, his men return to the brothels, the enchantment of listening to old songs more lost on them than the enjoyment of fucking - but Gendry keeps coming to the barge, even though it’s only him and his uncle’s Hand at that point, and after a couple nights of only them, trading stories with the women and listening to songs in languages that have barely been heard since Westeros’ common became, well, common, he actually asks to have time with only Cat.

And of course, the parts of them that are closest to the Arya and Gendry they once were have an awkward but heartfelt reunion - but the parts of them that have grown up are acutely aware of how different they are, how different their places are. Still, he’s not surprised she became an assassin, and she’s not surprised he doesn’t enjoy the vast majority of what’s involved in being at court. They don’t share everything, but they share quite a bit, almost falling back into the sort of friendship they’d thrived off having. On following nights they talk more about things - about Shireen, about the Hound, about the Red Woman, even a bit about King’s Landing girls and Braavosi dockworkers.

It takes a couple more nights, but after a while she decides to remind him that, while it’s not something guaranteed simply by seeking out a courtesan, he is allowed to bed her. (With permission from her employer, of course, as payment and whatnot would be arranged, but…it’s him, her friend, grown and handsome, so Arya doesn’t mind giving the suggestion.)

He asks, though, what would be the cost just to kiss her. For all the time she’s spent learning people, especially men, it’s embarrassing to be caught off guard as she is, but she manages to gather herself and say that it would depend on who he intends to be telling. She doesn’t really let him consider that, though, not the first night, because she simply does kiss him.

They don’t explicitly tell people they’ve started kissing, but they’re terrible enough at hiding their affections that they’re quickly the talk of their respective social groups. Everyone among them, and probably others who view the barge consistently, knows that he keeps coming back, after all…until their few weeks in Braavos are coming to an end, at least, Iron Bank negotiations and all other necessary business of the Crown having been handled.

But then, before Arya’s really made to think about the fact that he found her on the other side of the world and inched closer and closer to becoming a lover only to have to leave her again, Gendry asks her to leave with him. He can’t give her back her home or her family, but if nothing else they can live safely, together - and more than that, he simply wants not to leave her, ever. From what he’s said of his own family, she doesn’t imagine she’ll get a warm welcome, but she can’t stand the idea of him leaving her either, so she packs up what few belongings Cat has and says farewell to her friends, and to Braavos.

Other than the scandal of her coming with, none of the men seem to think much of her taking a place in his cabin. It’s there that he ultimately decides he’s free enough to bed her for the first time. They’ve not yet made it to King’s Landing by the time he realizes he’s completely and irrevocably in love with her.

Arya’s mainly right to think she won’t get a warm welcome; both Stannis and Selyse almost immediately denigrate Gendry for following his father’s path, the path of foolish men, for what kind of lord openly brought a whore to their castle? She’s not actually a whore, he cares to remind them, even though it stokes the fire of the fury. He has his own to match Stannis, though, and it’s clear and it’s spectacular in its own way. So, too, does Shireen - lovely, kind Shireen who’s so happy for the prospect of a friend that she again begs her father on Gendry’s behalf, and reluctantly, Stannis allows Cat to remain, with some strict guidelines, many of which Arya has no complaints about meeting.

Up North, though, Jon has heard about Arya’s marriage to Ramsay, and decides to reach out to Stannis for help on the matter, help of some sort, any sort. It’s not immediately granted, especially as Jon is already asking for Other help, but ultimately, Stannis starts to consider it. Ramsay was only ruling in the North because of a series of betrayals against those who would rightfully rule it - if the last known living child of Ned Stark, a man who died for speaking the truth of Stannis’ claim and denouncing Cersei’s bastards, was asking for help, to save his family, was it not Stannis’ duty to give it?

He does decide that having Jon as an ally is his best move, and begrudgingly he sends some troops North with Davos and Melisandre, to assist Jon’s wildlings in taking back Winterfell. The Night’s Watch doesn’t all take kindly to the Lord Commander’s priorities, but by the time mutiny drags down Jon Snow, Melisandre is in residence at Castle Black and she brings him back, having seen him at battle at Winterfell in her flames, knowing it needs to follow.

He takes Stannis’ sent men and his wildlings and begins to march south, only for a broken Theon to bring to him Sansa’s friend Jeyne, whose identity Theon had hid so that she could be believed to be Arya. The battle is hard-won, but they win it still, and Stannis gives him his father’s name for the victory, but it’s hollow.

Hollow, too, is the love promised to sweet Alayne, whose false father seeks out his best excuses to wed her to the highest bidder, a title claimed all too soon by the king and queen, part of their plan to change the behavior of the king’s nephew and part of Petyr’s plan to return to power in King’s Landing. A bastard lord for a bastard lady - to Stannis that’s like to sound fair, but to Sansa, it’s everything but. She’s learned to pay attention to whispers and rumors, and with this…Petyr intends to mold her into Cersei, it nearly seems. A Baratheon with a temper and a love, and he’d have Alayne marry him, if only to return to seeking the power of the crown. She knows he’d been speaking with Lord Bolton, which still boils her blood even now that she knows it wasn’t her sister who had been made to be his poor wife - she’d doubted it always, especially with the recollection of how Arya had once raised her own sword even to Joffrey - but he still will drag her back to residence in King’s Landing rather than let her go home…unless she can work something out with her betrothed, and perhaps she can.

Not that he intends to give her the chance, though - the moment that Stannis informs him of the betrothal is a bigger, louder fight than they’ve ever had. Stannis might be king, but he owns Gendry no more than he ever could his brothers, and Cat even less, and he won’t be allowed to forget it. There’s a ship bound for Braavos in the bay, and soldiers intended to take her to it, soldiers who are meant to grab her from Gendry’s chambers while she’s alone there and escort her so that he doesn’t get a say.

Stannis, though, doesn’t know that only some parts of any woman are soft, and Gendry’s the only man with rights to ask for any of her softness. Even without real context she knows the soldiers are only obeying their king, so Arya focuses on injury and little more, rushing down underneath the castle, down where she’d ran when Syrio had told her to do so. And, as if by magic - perhaps, actually, by magic, for she wouldn’t know - Ser Davos finds her. He takes her to a dusty corner, hands her a wine skin and one of Cat’s other dresses, and tells her to wait for him to come back…and so she does.

She waits until the entire area is getting dark, only the trail of the sun and no lanterns or sconces to show her the possible way out, and holds tight to Needle until after the sun is set and he scurries back to her, Gendry at his side, rushing to her like never before. Davos has given him clothes that once had belonged to a son of his, and grabbed them some food.

They make it out of the city on a ship manned by one of Davos’ other sons, a trade ship headed for the Riverlands - straight for Hot Pie, as far as they’re concerned. Arya might cry, in part from feeling terribly anxious and in better part because he’s so terribly kind.

Alayne and her father arrive in their carriage a few days later, to a very apologetic royal party, and Alayne spends much of her first days back in the city thinking how horribly fed up she is with men for all their machinations. Princess Shireen, though, is very clear that while it’s a pity someone was hurt by it, her cousin is deeply in love, and in their private company she calls her father foolish for thinking he could ever sway him. It’s so very Sansa of her, that Sansa herself is easily swayed to their side, though she knows Petyr is having much more difficulty accepting the rejection.

It’s all very much a lovely love story to Sansa, though, as it is to Shireen, and Alayne bonds with the princess easily. She even enjoys Shireen’s stories about this woman Cat, and finds herself wanting to know more and more, especially as she realizes that in a way she has taken the other woman’s place, just in Shireen’s life as a friend as opposed to in her cousin’s. Stannis and Selyse, though, really do stew in their displeasure. Petyr does a better job of hiding his, but she knows that’s only because his intentions are about power and not family, let alone love.

Then, one day, about a fortnight after their arrival, Stannis mentions a part of the plan she’d been unaware of, one she might be able to use.

He wanted to secure the Vale support so that he could support Jon - Jon Stark, now, newly legitimized Lord Stark, warden of the north, the man who had beaten down House Bolton but needed more of his king’s support to fight a larger, more pressing battle, one against the dead, one for the living. As Petyr says, the details make it sound like madman’s words, but King Stannis has magic on his council and more importantly, this was Jon, and Jon was…Jon. Surely if he declared that the dead could be raised by some unnatural force and made to fight the living, he was speaking the truth of it.

She confronts Petyr in private - had the Vale not already been sworn to House Stark? He disagrees, cautiously - House Arryn had been truly bound by House Tully, and Jon had no Tully to speak of.

“Jon Arryn, my uncle, fostered my father, Jon’s father. He called his banners against House Targaryen in defense of Rickard Stark and his children, and Jon is as much Ned Stark’s son as Robb or Bran or Rickon, no matter where your loyalties lie.”

“Your cousin -”

“My cousin trusts his beloved stepfather not to mislead him,” she finishes, proud that she can see in his eyes how the remark wounds him, and then she takes a walk to the godswood to get her head around her situation.

She wounds Petyr again the next day, by bringing to court a proposal of a marriage between her and Jon - she prefaces by saying that she and her father had spoken of it, just gently enough that no one would doubt her, for Lord Baelish keeps his expression so very static, his surprise just barely visible to even an educated viewer. It’s a good offer, to Stannis, and on the surface it’s good for Petyr as well, though no one would say it’s better than putting his future grandchild in the line of succession for the Iron Throne.

Stannis, though, is perhaps realizing he’s glad to have removed a contender from his line, and he’s quick enough to agree to write to Lord Stark with little more than Petyr’s confirmation that the Vale would give its strength in this war of Jon’s.

Petyr makes his displeasure known, but Sansa is sure enough that Jon will side with her that he agrees not to raise a fuss. She knows she’s made the potential error of keeping either of them from an heir, but if it allowed her to go home with her brother, she’d manage what she had to manage.

Jon, too, agrees, surprised for an offer but happy for it all the same, writing back to Stannis days before he’s actually set to leave for Dragonstone to mine dragonglass on the island, another part of their deal. Jon would remain the ever-vigilant guard of the realm, and Stannis would provide him what he needed to hold such a position well - that was how Ser Davos had said it.

They could figure out heritage when this great war was won.

#house baratheon #house stark #gendrya #jonsa #shireen baratheon #i think there's still a tag limit for what shows up in tags which stinks but oh well #game of thrones #things by charley #fanfic #ish #whatever