#like tywin. did. doing. any. of. that. make. you. happy. no? then why the fuck are you killing every person in westeros so your horrible gr

[seaworthee]

my favourite thing about reading asoiaf is thinking to myself 'you dont have to do this. nobody's making you do this.' every two pages

#i just dont understand WHY these people want to be king #she speaks #oh no theres a great evil but we cant team up to fight it because we both think we're king and if we time up then that means we're less lik #e kings YOURE BOYS. YOUR BABIES. NOW GO KILL THE LANNISTERS DAMN #ofc this gets renly killed #but renly why did you want to be king in the first place? you wouldve been perfectly happy just hanging out w loras being gay #but nooo you have to be king #whats so good about being king?? #stannis does some shit im like 'dude i dont think you care i know YOU think you care but i dont think you being king would make you any les #s eternally miserable than you are usually' #n e ways #narrative non understanders raise your paws #lannisters r a huge example of this #like tywin. did. doing. any. of. that. make. you. happy. no? then why the fuck are you killing every person in westeros so your horrible gr #andson can slice his ass open on the throne? #why were you so petty about your snotty daughter (that you've been ignoring since she was born) being spurned by rhaegar that u had that do #ne to elia and her kids? you literally couldve just moved on #nobody in these fucking books wants to move on #everybody wants to be the king but theyre already so stressed out like babe do u think being the king would be less stressful than whats ha #ppening to u rn? it wouldnt #asoiaf

[dalekofchaos]

Rhaegar's victory and reign would not be long lived or the happy fairy tale everyone thinks it is

So while I still love Rhaegar and Lyanna and think a lot of events could've been better if Rhaegar killed Robert in the Battle of the Trident. Rhaegar bringing peace to the realms and Rhaegar and Lyanna as this great love story is wishful thinking at best. Even I think Rhaegar's choice would've really fucked over his rule because he made enemies of everyone.

Why would anyone allow Rhaegar to rule?

By abducting an engaged noblewoman Rhaegar has told all his vassals that he gives 0 fucks about the marriage contracts that are essential to the entire system, because he’s prince and might makes right. Why would any vassal follow him? Would you follow a king who says he can break up your engagement whenever he wants?

Not even his allies want him at this point most likely. Rhaegar has dishonored the Martells and created a bastard that is a potential threat to their line. Targaryen bastards do not have a good reputation, see the Blackfyres.

Aerys was a madman who murdered the father and brother to the woman who was kidnapped. The rebellion was justified. Anything but pardons and apologies would be an idiot move on Rhaegar’s part. If he’s even allowed to be on the throne.

If for whatever reason the rebellion doesn’t continue and they don’t just rally around a new claimant then I’m guessing Rhaegar gets assassinated no matter what or would become a paranoid king just trying to stay alive for the good of the realm. The Faith will be angry at him. The Martells will be angry at him. The Starks will be angry at him. The Baratheons will be angry at him. The Arryns will be angry at him. The Lannisters will be angry at him.

I don't know if Rhaegar would have collapsed the 7K, but he wouldn't have been seen in as positive a light as he canonically is.

I mean, he kidnapped/raped a teenage girl from a Paramount family that kickstarted a massive war leaving his lawfully married wife and children to the mercy of a pyromaniac madman over a prophecy that may or may not be true.

This wouldn't inspire confidence in the nobility…….at all.

He doesn't even have dragons, which is the entire reason why his house is ruling in the first place. And Rhaegar wants to save the realm, so using the Wildfire caches is not his intention.

So let's say for arguments sake. The sacking of King's Landing doesn't happen, instead, it's the complete and utter sacking of the Rebellion. The rebel forces are decimated. Jon Arryn dies. Hoster dies. Ned Stark and the northern forces are either killed, retreats or is sent to the wall.

Ned or Benjen would declare for Northern Independence in Lyanna's name. The Vale would be outraged over Jon's death. The Blackfish would hold the Vale and the Riverlands to avenge his brother and Lord Arryn. The Lannisters would abandon the crown because after everything Tywin did, Rhaegar still refused Cersei and would not let go of Jaime. Stannis Baratheon would not take Robert's murder lightly and would lead the Stormlands against Rhaegar's rule. The Reach is a tricky one. I suppose the Tyrells would object to Rhaegar dishonoring his vows, but that's about all I could think of. The Faith would refuse to legitimize Rhaegar's rule and his marriage to Lyanna(if she's even alive) The Iron Islands sees this as an opportunity to attack and take the seven kingdoms with the Iron Price. Dorne would abandon the Targaryens. You think Oberyn would take the slight to Elia lightly? He'd be leading Dorne to save Elia and her children, burn the Targaryen dynasty down and personally kill Rhaegar himself.

The Seven Kingdoms would be at war with each other and Rhaegar's prophecy to save the realms from The Others is the least of his worries because he doomed the realm because of his decision to take Lyanna.

The War Of The Seven Kingdoms would've been more bloodier than Robert's Rebellion, War Of The Five Kings and even worse than Aegon's Conquest and it all would've been Rhaegar's fault.

#ASOIAF #Rhaegar Targaryen #Lyanna Stark #Jon Snow #Eddard Stark #Benjen Stark #Jon Arryn #Brynden Tully #Hoster Tully #Tywin Lannister #Stannis Baratheon #Oberyn Martell #Elia Martell

[thebluelemontree]

I know GRRM has previously stated that ADwD!Tyrion is at his lowest point, but I find it very hard to see how he will ever redeem himself given what he has done and what he has participated in. Do you believe readers gloss over the tragedies he faces i.e. slavery, the Tysha revelation, and do you see path for redemption?

I think with the fandom in general there does seem to be a proportional relationship to the amount of careful consideration people give their problematic favs versus how little they give to a character that is decidedly not their fav. Full disclosure: Tyrion is not one of my favs. There are moments I don’t like him and I don’t personally connect with him. He’s deliberately written to be someone most readers will wrestle with. Out of all the POVs, he’s probably the most psychologically complex and fraught with a minefield of trauma-induced hot buttons. As we know, profound trauma and horrific family dynamics rarely produce saintly victims who suffer beautifully, quietly, and always behave magnanimously. I am by no means an expert on Tyrion; however, I do know he definitely started out as a good person. Early AGOT Tyrion is a pretty decent fellow who validated Jon’s feelings of anger and resentment and designed a saddle to accommodate Bran’s disability for no other reason than he just empathized with them both. Even later on, he does stand up for Sansa against Joffrey’s cruelty, even though their marriage was a miserable farce and act of war against her family. Sansa seems to bear no personal ill-will toward him despite it. I think we should leave room for the possibility the impression he made with small kindnesses in the beginning could come back around to foster peace and mutual forgiveness between the Starks and Lannisters toward the end. 

But before that he was a sweet, loving kid until he was brutally disabused of the notion that anyone could possibly love him. I can’t imagine anything worse than your own father violently raping by proxy two innocent kids for the crime of his son being happy and believing for one single second that he was loved for himself. He’s experienced a lifetime of continuous physical, sexual, mental, and verbal abuse on top of ableist bigotry and repeated scapegoating that nearly cost him his life more than once. For all his dark gray, unlikable moments, it’s actually kind of a miracle that Tyrion still retains what goodness he does have when he could have been totally fucked up beyond repair, without any pity or compassion left in him, and hating all of humanity with every fiber of his being.   

GRRM does a good job of delivering blow after intensifying blow leading up to the moment he snaps and murders Tywin and Shae.There’s the overwhelming stress of the trial for the regicide he was framed for, one where his guilt and conviction is a foregone conclusion. The public humiliation and betrayal of Shae’s false testimony where his sexuality is served up for mockery. The people of KL are literally bloodthirsty and cheering for his death. There’s the momentary hope and crushing defeat of Oberyn Martell championing him in the trial by combat. Then finally Jaime drops the Tysha bomb. I mean, wow... it’s a lot. It’s totally understandable why he goes to the Hand’s tower to confront his father instead of escaping immediately. Personally, I don’t think he has to be sorry about killing Tywin at all. That pile of excrement had it coming and deserved a painful, ignoble death on the shitter at minimum. Shae is the only one there that has enough mitigating factors to say she definitely didn’t deserve to be strangled to death, though I get how it happened in the heat of the moment under intense mental duress. I think he needs to atone for that one, and I say that as someone who thinks Shae is a callous, conniving, greedy, low-level bloodsucker without any redeeming qualities. Yet, killing either of them, especially Tywin, didn’t bring Tyrion any peace or satisfaction whatsoever. Kinslaying is still up there with the most cursed of transgressions. It’s major part of his spiral into the tormented abyss we see in ADWD.  

It’s been a long time since I read ADWD as it’s not my favorite part of the series, so my memory of all the details is not the best. And like I said, I am not an expert on Tyrion. The general impression I get is that Tyrion thinks that he thinks he hates humanity and he’s finally become the monster everyone believed him to be. So he rages against practically everything and everyone. He certainly harbors a hatred for the people of KL and the sister sitting on the throne. There is a high probability he acts upon those feelings and helps usher in a catastrophic tragedy out of vengeance. Just as an example, he is aware of the wildfire cache sitting under KL and that knowledge can be used in a really bad way. Might be that crossing a point of no return, which may feel glorious in the moment, is ironically the thing that causes him to recoil in horror and regret after the dust settles. Consider Tyrion’s dream about the duality of himself: 

That night Tyrion Lannister dreamed of a battle that turned the hills of Westeros as red as blood. He was in the midst of it, dealing death with an axe as big as he was, fighting side by side with Barristan the Bold and Bittersteel as dragons wheeled across the sky above them. In the dream he had two heads, both noseless. His father led the enemy, so he slew him once again. Then he killed his brother, Jaime, hacking at his face until it was a red ruin, laughing every time he struck a blow. Only when the fight was finished did he realize that his second head was weeping.

If the two heads are both noseless, then they are both present day Tyrion. There are two sides of him right now that are equally capable of reveling in bloody vengeance and weeping for someone he still loves even though they wounded him deeply. 

Then what? Well, the thing about hitting your lowest point is that you can either dwell there until you fatally self-destruct or you can find your way back up. Granted, ADWD Tyrion is in a dark place, but there’s still space to get even darker for at least a little while in TWOW. It is possible Tyrion spends the rest of his life atoning for his worst actions during this period, using his intellectual gifts (even the parts that are Tywin writ small) to serve the needs of the people he has harmed. And it does make good story sense for someone who grew to hate humanity for very understandable reasons still found it in himself to care about it enough to save it. Even sacrifice himself for it if necessary since there’s a strong possibility he is a dragon rider. Since all signs seem to point to him ultimately playing a heroic role against the Others, we can rule out the idea that he just says good riddance to bad rubbish and laughs while the world ends. That has to mean something, right? 

There is always a path for redemption for anyone who sees the wrong of what they’ve done, has heartfelt remorse, and commits themselves to meaningful and lasting change. It’s not really about forgiveness at all, although that sometimes happens alongside redemption and it’s certainly easier for people to forgive once they see change. Redemption is work the character must do themselves for the right reasons. It’s not a status granted to them by other people. In fact, it’s probably more sincere when someone decides to do right anyway even if no one ever thinks better of them. If Tyrion (or any other character) is unforgivable to you, then the best worst thing that could happen is that they have to live a long life and spend all of it repaying their karmic debt. Even if he’s not my fav or your fav, a lot of people out there still do relate to him and the things he’s been through. A lot of people are not okay and not good victims from the trauma they’ve suffered. Fiction with redemption that is possible for anyone gives people hope that they could be better too, and there’s no other instance in the books that makes me think GRRM is cynical about redemption. The only way redemption isn’t happening for Tyrion is if he choses not pursue it. 

#Anonymous #valyrianscrolls #tyrion lannister #asoiaf meta #redemption in asoiaf #not my area of expertise but I'm trying my best here #my meta

[misseffie]

So I finished ep 4 and I want to write my overall first impression. I haven’t read the books btw.

THE DARKLING:

I’m trying to get invested in the Darkling but I’m on ep 4 and I just... can’t. I guess you have to be attracted to Ben Barnes, and even though I know he’s gorgeous he never really did it for me.... Plus all the emotional beats of the story revolve around Alina and Mal. Yes, General Kirigan is mysterious and dark and sexy but what else is he? Meanwhile Alina and Mal leave me feeling hollow and broken when she erases her scar as Mal lies dying in the snow. I guess you have to have a thing for pretty and rich darkbois to like the Darkling. But it’s hard for me to feel anything for the fancy rich guy being lonely when the underdog character is out there risking his life and shit. 

I also feel like the Palace storyline could REALLY benefit from some political intrigue. But it mostly feels like Alina and Kirigan + some background characters. I guess I thought it would feel more like “Sansa in King’s Landing” than “Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle”.  

If you’re going to make it exclusively about Alina and the Darkling then he has to be a captivating villain. But I’m just not invested in the Darkling. Not just as a romantic interest but more importantly as a villain. And that sucks. Because I love villains. But I guess I just like my villains really fucked up? I love characters like Cersei, Tywin, Joffrey (yes, I’m just naming Lannisters) or Azula. Characters you love to hate and hate to love. Who are irredeemable but also human. General Kirigan is more of a villain archetype than a character. It’s not even about shipping. Because I really want to like him as a villain and I can’t. He’s just.... empty. I hope he improves as he goes on and develops a personality beyond being mysterious. Alina and Mal might not be the most interesting characters to watch but something about them feels honest and human. 

MALINA:

That said, I’m still not enjoying all the orphanage flashbacks. I feel like all those scenes should’ve maybe been shown at the beginning of episode 1 and then we could flash forward to 10 years later or whatever. If they’d done it like this then they could’ve also used that time in the orphanage for exposition purposes and world building. I feel like going from them lying in the meadow and talking about running away together to being smack-dab in the middle of a warzone would’ve been more impactful. And also you have the fun of guessing who the characters are. Imagine that first fight scene with Mal if we were also wondering “Hey! Is that the orphan boy?” and then we see them get reunited and we feel happy that they’re still friends 10 years in the future. And then Mal and Alina don’t have to keep making references to being “best friends” or to their past in the orphanage because we already know.

OTHER:

I really want to enjoy the show but so many parts just drag on for me. There’s too many romantic subplots which don’t really add to the plot. Yes, I’m talking about Matthias/Nina. I also want to like the Crows because they have the most fun scenes, but something about their dynamic just doesn’t... do it for me. And I usually LOVE when a merry band of outlaws form their own family - so it’s frustrating that I can’t get into their banter. I will say that Jesper is my favourite at the moment.

Maybe the last 4 episodes will change my mind about these characters and the story. At the moment, the most emotionally riveting story is Mal hunting the stag and Alina moving on from him because she thinks he’s forgotten all about her.

THE GOOD:

Magic:

I know this all seems very down on the show, but I promise you that there’s a lot that I did like. Mainly the way magic is presented. Whenever they have to cross the fold I get goosebumps. The mythical stag is cool af. The way some people can manipulate the human body is intriguing as hell. I love how magic is considered a “small science” that only a few can master. The world building also feels solid and interesting. There’s a real “sense of setting” in the way the characters dress. I feel like it could’ve been exploited more tbh. They could’ve made more use of the maps to explore different settings. I think the fact that the main character is a map maker should’ve been used more. They could’ve had an intro with a similar vibe to Game of Thrones except BETTER. Because it actually relates to the main character. Imagine if we saw a map being slowly created on screen!!!!! And then the fold being and inky darkness spreading across the map. 

Race/Xenophobia and “The Chose One” trope:

I also really like the fact that Alina is mixed raced. I think it adds a lot of emotional turmoil to her being a “chosen one” character. I feel like people who said that it added nothing to the story haven’t grown up in a multicultural family. I really felt for her on a personal level. She’s meant to be the saviour to people who have never accepted her as one of their own. I felt her craving for wanting to carve out a place for herself where she didn’t feel like an outsider, where she could feel at home. I remember the anguish I felt when I was younger, knowing that I would always be considered “foreign” no matter where I went. Both sides of my parents family considered me the “foreign relative”. People would ask me if I felt more like one or the other. So Alina being asked “What are you?” over and over really struck a chord for me. It’s really a feeling of never being “enough” of a certain thing to ever fit in. You will always be a little bit of an outsider. I also grew up in a country with very little immigration at the time since it was just coming out of a dictatorship. So foreigners of any kind were a rarity. Kind of the same way Alina and Mal stand out so much among the homogenous Ravkan people - who have been isolated from the outside world for a while. So I understand the way Alina and Mal cling to each other. I also used to develop strong friendships with other kids who were also either mixed raced or multicultural. 

I think making Alina mixed raced actually adds SO MUCH to the typical chosen one narrative. Because would you even want to be the saviour for these people who don’t even accept you as one of them? When Alina was writing about how she felt like a traitor to herself if she succeeded rang so true to me. Mal and Alina bonded over being outsiders and relying on each other. Who is Alina without that?

It also makes General Kirigan’s manipulation feel even more sinister because of how different she’s always felt. How much Alina has always craved to feel accepted. There’s a moment when he seems to question why she would want to be like other people. He claims that she’s not like other people, but he’s viewing it as “Alina being superior and special”, while Alina is just aching to feel welcome and at home somewhere. It shows how he can never actually understand how truly isolated she feels - despite using this to manipulate her.

Her being mixed-raced honestly elevated her story and her personal struggles with being a “chosen one”. 

#shadow and bone #malina #shadow and bone meta #alina starkov

[nanso]

Pretending that Rhaegar wasn't gonna be super gross and marry his daughter(s) to his son (Aegon) and he wins and becomes King, who do you think he'd betroth the remaining Targaryen family to, and why if you're up to it?

Oooh, this is a really interesting ask! I don't know how well I'll fare but here's a try

Since you said 'he wins,' I'm assuming we're talking about a canon divergence from how the war ends (and not, for example, divergence of no rebellion). If Rhaegar won, everything is still a mess of course cause buddy boy and his pa pissed everybody off. There's a lot of ways this could go because various questions/strands can lead to multiple divergences, for instance: 

-Are the rebellion forces so decimated that they can't really push back against the crown? (The rebel forces were doing pretty well since the Stoney Sept and the royal forces got pretty squashed at the Trident)

-Immediately after killing Robert, does Rhaegar suddenly grow a brain and say 'Ok, let me try to reason with them and what kind of agreement we can come to now since I 1) set all this in motion 2) disappeared for, shit, a really long time and 3) endorsed what dear ol' dad did by fighting against the rebels.'

-Or Does Rhaegar believe that by winning, his reading of the prophecy is correct and validated - and therefore says 'fuck it, I do what I want!' 

-What's up with Tywin and the Lannister forces? 

Let's handwave somethings for simplicity since this is supposed to be an entertaining and fun ask **jazz hands** And we'll even give Rhaegar the benefit of the doubt (even though he doesn't deserve it) and let's assume he realizes that he really needs to make amends and show that he respects the noble houses and people of the realm. I operate from the mindset (others may not agree with that) that Rhaegar would actually really need to show the realm he is *not* his father and that he respects them. 

I think it's somewhat fair to argue for a betrothal between Aegon and Margaery to reward the Tyrells (not that Mace Tyrell really did a lot - Tarly was responsible for Ashford and the siege at Storm's End "dragged on a year to no result," as Tyrion notes in ASoS). But they stuck by the crown technically so <shrug> - lock down one of the few friends you got. 

There's the matter of Tywin - did Tywin come in to help defeat the rebel forces? IIRC, the treasury was doing fairly well during Aerys's reign, according to Ned in AGoT ("Aerys Targaryen left a treasury flowing with gold") so I'm guessing Lannister money wouldn't be necessary. But maybe Rhaegar asks a favor of the High Septon (not sure why the HS would be inclined to grant it if this Rhaegar is like "polygamy rules!") and asks for Jaime to be released from his vows. That isn't much pertaining to marriage but relevant to stability. But if Tywin was part of them winning at the Trident perhaps, that changes things. (Otherwise if he did nothing - can't see him being rewarding with a betrothal at all)

You could also make an argument that a betrothal to a future daughter of House Baratheon could make sense  (if, again, Rhaegar wants to make amends - which also will have to go beyond betrothals, I’d argue. But it also may be a step too far when it comes to amends). But this scenario is also reliant on Stannis having a daughter (also not sure who he would be married to in this scenario, tbh). 

As for Rhaenys, again it depends on a lot of the factors above. I, personally, don't think Ned is going to want to have anything to do with the crown whatsoever (I'm assuming Rhaegar, in this AU of him growing a brain, doesn't send Ned to the Wall after his dad killed Rickard and Brandon) - so sorry my RobbxRhaenys peeps. But maybe Hoster decides he'll take a tie to the crown as a peace offering - and she is betrothed to Edmure. 

I think Viserys wedding Arianne makes a lot of sense, tbh.  While the Martells were technically allies, they were forced into it - on top of the various insults to Elia and House Martell by Rhaegar. They're gonna need a little bit of assuaging to soothe things, I'd think. And given that Viserys would be next in line to the throne after Aegon, that should go a long way - particularly with Jon around (as a bastard). 

If this is after the war, Daenerys should technically exist. It's not clear to me how old Monford Velaryon is - but he could make sense as a longtime Targaryen ally (though I believe Lucerys was part of the Aerys faction at court/on the small council...). But hopefully Dany just says 'fuck this noise!' and decides she likes hanging out on Dragonstone and finds some eggs and hatches them and flies around happy. 

That isn't terribly creative, I'm afraid (I didn't even touch the Vale cause I have to get back to work soon, sigh). In any case, there are just so many what-ifs and unknowns about what would be happening after Rhaegar won so I'm sure there are a lot of holes in the above and other reasonable choices!  

#asks #what-if #Rhaegar Targaryen #aegon vi targaryen #rhaenys martell targaryen #ASoIaF

[a-libra-writes]

Game of Thrones Imagines  - Being Jealous

A request preference that i am more than eager to do ohohoho

If i missed any of your favs, gently caress my ask box and ill add em!

In this preference, you’ll be making the following characters green jelly: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Benjen Stark, Jory Cassel, Dolorous Edd, Tormund Giantsbane, Theon Greyjoy, Yara Greyjoy, Daenerys Targaryen, Jorah Mormont, Missandei, Grey Worm, Tywin Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Jamie Lannister, Sandor Clegane, Bronn, Petyr Baelish, Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Margaery Tyrell, Brynden Tully, Edmure Tully, Brienne of Tarth, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Oberyn Martell, Beric Dondarrion

NED STARK

He really wouldn’t figure out his jealousy at first. He’s see you enjoying the company of someone else and end up staring, looking more dour than usual, and it’d take Benjen nudging him and teasing about being jealous. Ned would think it’s silly; he trusts you, after all, but as soon as the other person touched your hair and brushed it aside like he did, he’d end up stepping in without thinking.

The few times it does happen, Ned feels a bit childish and would try to deny it if you teased. He’s the Lord of Winterfell, he shouldn’t have such feelings, but anytime it happens he just wants you take you in his arms and bring your attention back to him.

ROBB STARK

Robb’s jealousy is pretty obvious, although he totally denies it. Anytime older lords would approach you at feasts, he’d feel that annoyed, tight feeling in his stomach and just wish they’d leave you alone. He’d even feel it when you be sweet with Jon or Theon would flirt with you; he’d just hide it and try his best to impress you the next time you two were alone.

He’s far more protective and prone to his boyish jealousy once you’re married. He might tell a lord to give you some space a little too firmly, or even pull you aside from a dancing partner with a stormy look in his eyes. He’d apologize to you later, once he thought about what he did and felt foolish for it.

SANSA STARK

She wouldn’t realize how jealous she was feeling. It would start with her noticing you enjoying the company of someone at a feast, and she’d end up staring more than she intended. Even if someone was talking to her, she’d keep glancing in your direction and an ugly knot would pull at her stomach. Eventually she’d excuse herself and find you, casually inserting herself into the discussion, but she’d stand very close to you and would pointedly talk to you more.

Even after the person left and you two were alone in the evening, it’d still keep bothering Sansa, and she’d suddenly take your hand and ask you pointed questions, like how you knew that person and why you were so chatty with them. She’d blush as red as her hair if you pointed out she was being maybe a little jealous. She’s disagree completely, and it’s just a coincidence she’d want extra kisses and cuddles that evening.

JON SNOW

Jon’s jealousy would be pretty evident to anyone paying attention to him. He’d be sulking somewhere off to the corner, watching you laugh and joke with some lord you knew. The final straw would be when the lord stood too close and nudged you, as if sharing some private joke. Jon would immediately walk over, grab your hand and spout off some excuse, like someone was looking for you and you had to go now.

You knew exactly what was going on because Jon was actually just pouting as you both walked. You’d nudge him with your shoulder and tease about how cute green looks on him, and he’d just frown and insist otherwise.

BENJEN STARK

Anytime he’d see someone try to flirt with you, he’d just grin to himself and try to be amused with their attempts. He’d try to tell himself it’s fine, you’re beautiful so of course you’ll have others after you. If it got to be too much (in his eyes), he’s an expert with how he casually steps in and redirects the conversation - but you can see the irritation in his dark eyes and in his smile.

On the days it bothered him too much, and he’d wait until you two were alone to catch you in a tight hug. He’d playfully bite at your ear and neck, telling you it’s mean to tease him like that. That night he’d be sure to leave more than a few hickeys on your chest and neck, which you’d surely bug him about in the morning, because now you’ll have to dig for an outfit that hides it all. Benjen would secretly wish you wouldn’t.

JORY CASSEL

Jory would understand if you had to associate with certain important lords, and being as lovely as you are, he’d know some of them would flirt with you. It would bother him, but he’d know you can handle yourself, and if they tried to test you or make you uncomfortable in a public space, he’d have no hesitation in stepping in and telling them to leave you be.

Sometimes though, Jory would worry if you were truly happy with him, especially since he wasn’t of a high social status. He’d wrap his arms around you and kiss you several times, silently wanting reassurance and giving you a small smile when you’d do so.

EDD TOLLETT

The other members of the Night’s Watch were always quick to try to chat you up and bother you, for obvious reasons. Edd didn’t really tell them off unless they were really bothering you. He figured you’d want to stand up for yourself, and he thought you were pretty cute when you were telling grown men where they could fuck off the Wall.

He was really only bothered when you did something that you really only do with him - maybe patting someone’s hand in comfort, fixing up a wound and giving them a smile, laughing really hard at a joke … He really couldn’t help himself from sliding up between you two and making a very sarcastic comment that would earn him an elbow in the side from you.

TORMUND GIANTSBANE

Tormund’s jealousy is actually kind of adorable when it isn’t driving you nuts. He really is like a kid sometimes - some other guy would be helping you with something and Tormund would swoop in and do it himself. Someone would be showing you how to use a bow, maybe standing too close, and Tormund would tell them to leave and insist he can show you himself. So on and so forth. Sometimes he’d just take your hand and drag you off or would stand behind you and wrap his arms around you, staring at the person until they finally get the point and leave.

He’ll admit it, too, and he sees nothing wrong with it. At least Tormund’s jealous spells tend to leave as swiftly as they come; he’s already forgetting about it once you two are alone and you smile at him.

THEON GREYJOY

No surprise here, Theon is the absolute worst when it comes to jealousy - He wears green almost as often as he wears grey and gold. You know when it’ll happen, too, because nothing pisses him off more than a young, rich lord flirting with you and trying to get you to dance. It’s not as bad if it’s Robb or Jon, because he trusts them and you, but he doesn’t like the intentions of stupid lordlings following you around at feasts.

If he’s had a bit of wine he’d step in and more or less insult them to their face, and you’d have to quickly drag him away before Lady Catlyn notices. Once you two were alone, he’d waste little time in bringing you close and giving lots of rough kisses, quietly begging for reassurance that you’d pick him over anyone.

YARA GREYJOY

Yara has a bit of a double standard here. She’d feel constricted if you bothered her about all the women she flirted with - let’s be fair, it’s a good amount - but she definitely gets a green glint in her eye when she sees you giggling over a man’s joke or blushing at a woman’s charming smile. She’d watch you two from across the room, smirking to herself and pretending it isn’t bothering her. Finally she’d just call you over, roughly pull you into her lap and kiss your neck while looking pointedly at the person who was flirting with you. 

If she felt like you were being especially friendly with them, she’d even want to kiss lower and leave marks on you for everyone to see. Pointing out Yara’s behavior to her would either earn a scoff - as if she’d ever be jealous - or she’d just pull you closer, touching your body and reminding you who knows you the best.

DAENERYS TARGARYEN

Dany didn’t like to think of herself as a jealous person. She really didn’t think she was until she  noticed how, during your travels together, some men would stand far too close and speak with you in a manner she didn’t like. It made her cheeks burn when you politely laugh with them or they tried to dance with you. Depending on her mood, she’d dismiss them politely or order them away. 

She’d quickly ask you just why you had to talk to them for so long. Honestly, it’d be so obvious you’d just have to point it out, and she’d sputter and insist a khaleesi would never be jealous of such petty men. No matter where you traveled, it’d get out quick that the mother of dragons didn’t appreciate advances toward her lover.

JORAH MORMONT

Honestly, Jorah is pretty pitiful when he’s jealous, and you always know when he is. He’d stand a bit too close when you talked to the person, almost as if he were being protective, he’d have a frown on his face, he’d end up holding your hand at some point. If you were at a large gathering and having fun with someone, he’d just be sullen in a corner until you were free, and once you were free he’d waste no time in being by your side.

Once you two were alone he’d suddenly be more affectionate and clingy than usual, you’d point his jealousy out and he’d be pretty embarrassed. He hates feeling that way and he does trust you, but he can’t help himself from being bothered by it. He’d sigh, give you several kisses and ask you to forgive him.

MISSANDEI

She’d know what she was feeling as soon as it surfaced, but she’d do little more than clasp her hands and trying to will the discomfort away. For years she’s had to push her feelings down and present a stoic, unflappable image, and sometimes a little voice told her that of course you’d want to laugh and talk with someone else. She’d start to doubt herself, and later when you two were alone, she’d seem withdrawn and a little down. 

After a big hug and kiss and asking her what’s wrong, Missandei would finally tell you that she was uncomfortable with how close you were being with that other person. She’d be so grateful to rest her head against your chest and hear your comforting words.

GREY WORM

Unlike Missandei, Grey Worm would have trouble identifying what he was feeling. It was very foreign, and he didn’t like it at all. At first he’d interpret it as suspicion - whoever was making you smile like that was being too close and they must be up to something. He’d stand right behind you or next to you, pointedly looking at them and usually spook them away. When you’d ask him about it, Grey Worm would just insist something wasn’t right with them.

Sometimes this protectiveness would surprise you; if someone put a hand on your shoulder or grabbed your hand suddenly, he’d be right there, telling them to unhand you and step back. Once you realized it was actually jealousy, you’d have to admit his frown was pretty cute, but you’d still patiently explain to him that the people had no ill intentions.

TYWIN LANNISTER

It takes quite a bit to for Lord Tywin Lannister jealous. If anything, he just becomes irritated, as he has no patience for men treating you inappropriately. The jealousy finally comes out when you’re enjoying yourself with a younger lord. Perhaps the man is an enjoyable dance partner who you spend one too many songs with, or he sought you out at a feast and was making you laugh. Anyone looking Tywin’s way would notice an absolutely icy, dangerous look in his eyes. His gaze would follow you through the evening, and if he had enough he’d subtly bring you back to his side and keep you there, often with his hand over your’s. 

Of course, he doesn’t bring it up until you both are alone. He’d pin you against the nearest surface and calmly explain who you belong to, and he won’t stand for disloyalty. Pushing his buttons and teasing him would result in a swift punishment on your shared bed, where he’d take you until his jealousy subsided. He wouldn’t neglect to leave more than a few love bites that you’d have trouble hiding the next day.

TYRION LANNISTER 

Tyrion is well aware of who he is, and while he adores you more than anyone he’s known, he still has moments of doubt. He hates these dark thoughts, because he doesn’t want to push his own insecurities on you. But it’s hard to not think about them when lords gather around you at dances or feasts, and even if you’re being nice to them out of politeness, sometimes one of them will get a genuine laugh out of you, the same laugh he usually gets when he makes his wisecracks around you. Obviously, he handles this maturely and drinks a lot.

You’d notice after he’d had a bit and you’d take him back to your shared room, where he’d take your hands and just emotionally spill out that he’s grateful to you and loves you, but he hates it when other lords paw after you. You’d have to give him reassuring kisses as you’d encourage him to get some rest, because that wine is gonna hurt in the morning.

JAMIE LANNISTER

He doesn’t get jealous. Nope. He doesn’t care who flirts with you or makes you laugh, because how could they really be that interesting when he’s made you laugh much harder, and he’s pleasured you until you couldn’t walk straight? He’s only stepping between you two with a smirk that’s barely containing his irritation because wow, look at the time, don’t you have something to do? Anything to do that isn’t here?

He’s terrible at hiding his jealousy, and the moment you’re alone he’s got you in his arms, marking up your neck and asking why you like to tease him like this. It doesn’t matter how much you reassure Jamie, he’d sulk about it for a good day or two, and for good measure, he’d enjoy seeking out whoever is interested in you to subtly put them down with insults hiding behind a smile.

SANDOR CLEGANE

Sandor is terribly predictable when it come to jealousy, because it feels it often and wears it on his sleeve. To anyone else, the scarred man would have his usual frightening scowl, but you’d notice who he was looking at - a suitor who often bothered you, an older lord that would make inappropriate comments. If he was in a situation where he could get away with it, Sandor would absolutely use his full height and intimidation to tell them to fuck off. Sometimes he’ll be this way to someone whose just trying to be friendly.

He’d feel the jealousy for a while, long into the evening, when you both were alone and he’d want you out of your clothes and under him right away. He’d growl as you’d point out his jealousy and probably deny it, even as he leaves hickeys across your neck and pins you to the bed. It would take a lot of physical and affectionate reassuring before Sandor would feel comfortable - he frequently feels anxiety that you’d leave him for this reason or that, and flirtatious, good-looking little shitlords make it worse.

BRONN

The mercenary has rarely been in a position where he’s been truly jealous, the kind that makes him glare at that little shit lordling that couldn’t have been more than eighteen, and likely hadn’t swung that sword hanging at his fancy belt. Bronn already relishes in sticking it to the nobility, especially now that he’s a proper “Ser”, so he’d have no shame in waltzing up, throwing his arm around your waist and outright insulting the lord.

No matter how many times you’ve scolded him about flaunting the two of you in court, he hates that so many of these men don’t get it through their damn heads that you’re taken. He’d play his usual confidence while he takes you in his arms and undresses you, using his jokes to make you laugh, but he’d want to make you feel especially good and leave marks so you’d never forget about him when he’s not around.

PETYR BAELISH

Oh boy. The real question is, when isn’t Petyr feeling jealous of this man or that one? You rarely notice, because he hides it so well. There will be some days when he has an especially predatory look when he finds you, pins you and suddenly wants to mark your exposed neck or give you a kiss that leaves you dizzy and breathless. Other days he’ll seem fine until that evening, when he’s trying a little too hard to prove himself and make you feel good. 

Even as he presents himself as being totally in control, and he likes his dominant role with you, he seems to always want reassurance. No matter how much affection you give, you feel like he believes you’ll just slip away without warning. His jealousy runs deep, and he seems to always feel it.

STANNIS BARATHEON

While Stannis wouldn’t be jealous too often, but you almost always knew when it happened. Whenever a charming young lord would capture you in conversation or your seatmate at a tourney would have you in stitches, he’d be pointedly sullen. To anyone else, this is usual Stannis behavior, but once you two were alone you’d have to wrap your arms around him and reassure him. 

He’s very aware of what others think of him, and he hates the sight of someone making you smile and laugh so easily. He’d outright tell someone to stay away from you if he felt like they were actually making passes, and of course, he’d remember it forever and put them on a mental shitlist.

DAVOS SEAWORTH

He loves you to bits and trusts you completely, so when Davos feels jealous is because he thinks he might not be enough, and maybe you should be with someone better. These thoughts always pop up when younger men flirt with you or high status lords try to make lowkey passes. He’d really hate the feeling bubbling up, so he’d walk over and easily join the conversation. He knows many lords don’t like conversing with a former smuggler, so they might leave, and if not he’s got a perfect excuse to escort you away. 

He thinks its a clever way to get you away from them, but you knew what he was doing, he always had a sort of anxious look on his face whenever he was worried. For a minute, he’d feel embarrassed when you’d kiss his cheek and reassure him of your feelings. Then he’d just be grateful and thank you for being with him.

MARGAERY TYRELL

She’d really only start to get jealous if you were hanging out with someone far more than her and you talked about them often. This is especially true if it were another pretty highborn lady. When Margaery would see you two together, she’d expertly insert herself into the conversation and occasionally give pointed little jabs that only you would notice.

Once you two were alone, Margaery would be obviously pouting, insist it was nothing, and only after you cuddled and kissed her would she admit she’s annoyed by how much time you spend with the person. If it’s a lady, she'd definitely would prefer you three to hang out together instead of you being alone with them.

BRYNDEN TULLY

Brynden’s likely been through more shit in his lifetime than any of the younger lords and soldiers will ever deal with, and of course, he had his moments of boyish jealousy when he was younger. Whenever he’d drink at a feast and see you surrounded by admirers wanting a dance, he’d just chuckle to himself and find it more humorous than anything - at his age, he still has a chance to feel jealous over his beautiful lady. 

Even he’d have his limits, but he’s just kindly take your hand and ask you to sit next to him. He’d want you to kiss him and hold his hand in public, and when you would, he’d laugh and ask you not to tease an old man’s heart so much. He’d also get a huge kick out of the younger lords looking in surprise as you’d keep giving Brynden affection.

EDMURE TULLY

Poor, poor Edmure. While he was normally totally confident in your relationship because he’s just so disgustingly in love, there were a few times when a very specific man would just irk him. Wether he was just better looking, particularly charismatic or even just taller, Edmure would be straight up pouting at his table while he waited for you to come back. Once you returned to him, he’d straight up take your hand and ask you to stay with him for the rest of the evening, which would get a chuckle out of you. 

He’d continue, insisting that the person definitely had strange intentions and you should just stop talking to them. No, really, don’t smile and kiss him, he’s trying to be serious.

BRIENNE OF TARTH

Honestly speaking, Brienne gets jealous quite easily because she’s already so down on herself. She’s often insecure in your relationship, especially on her bad days, so if you’re really enjoying someone’s attention and laughing with them, she just feels really awful. It’d put her in a mood that would make her snap a bit more and grumble, but she couldn’t do that to you. She’d be obviously upset when you finally met back up with her.

You’d take her hand and kiss her cheek and ask her to tell you what was bothering her. She’d feel pretty bad for feeling so cross, so you two would have a good talk about how she gets these awful thoughts and insecurities. She trusts you, it’s just these awful things that her mind tells her that makes her think otherwise. After the talk she’d feel so much better, especially when it ended with you both cuddling and giving each other sweet kisses.

RAMSAY BOLTON

Ramsay’s jealousy lights up like someone throwing gasoline on a fire .It’s a sudden, impulsive anger that strikes him and makes him want to act immediately. Honestly, you tried to warn some lords away from being too friendly with you, but the fools really thought they could get away with flirting when they thought Ramsay wasn’t around.

Depending on his mood, he’d come up behind them and grasp their necks, asking what exactly they’re doing with his Y/N. Or he’d slide up to you, roughly pulling you to him by the waist and ‘sweetly’ asking just who this is, and if you could introduce him.

As soon as the person flees or Ramsay pulls you to a (mostly) empty hallway, he’d pin you to the wall and leave you full of hickeys. He’d rip your dress if it was in the way, and if he was sufficiently jealous he’d want to go even further so your voice would fill up the hall and remind everyone who you belong to.

ROOSE BOLTON

The other lords aren’t aware of how deep Roose’s jealousy runs, and perhaps that’s for the better. He spent quite a while courting you, after all, convincing your family that you’d be safe in the Dreadfort, and safe with him. He knows what the whispers say about him, and he doesn’t care. It’s when the ones who whisper start hanging off you, saying what they think are subtle flirts and compliments. 

All Roose has to do is get up from his seat and steadily walk toward them, and his absolutely frigid grey eyes and the way he’d suggest they move on would spook them in no time. You’d try to ask him what’s going on, but he’d be just as icy, making you wonder what’s going on.

Well, now you know exactly where it goes once you’re alone. He wants you in his arms right away, removing your clothes for him and saying his name. The iciness drops immediately and he’s almost over-eager for your attention.

OBERYN MARTELL

First of all, everyone knows you two are together. He makes sure everyone knows, with how loveydovey and overly affectionate he is with you in public. He also has an open mind, so if someone is flirting with you and you’re both interested, he doesn’t mind you having your fun. He thinks it’s cute, especially since you come back to him after stringing them along.

Some people, though. .. Well, you noticed it was men, and specifically men who were of a similar passionate, hot-tempered personality as him. 

He’d suddenly be at your side, pulling you close and just openly kissing your cheek and even your neck - pretty firmly establishing “mine”. If the person didn’t back off, Oberyn might actually get indigent, and you’d have to stop a duel in the middle of a party.

BERIC DONDARRION

Beric doesn’t experience too much jealousy; he’s quite easy going and he trusts you completely. Sometimes it’s a little irksome when some men won’t leave you be, or try to flirt when they think he’s not around, so he’ll just walk up, kiss you on the cheek, call you “love” and ask what you’re up to. He can’t help but chuckle a little bit when they walk away looking dejected.

Sometimes if you’re really paying attention to someone because you’re helping them or having a funny conversation, he’ll give you a big hug and tease you about leaving him all alone. Lots of hair and cheek kisses later, the sentiment is so much, it’ll probably make anyone in a fifteen foot radius roll their eyes and walk away.

#game of thrones #got #asoiaf #game of thrones imagines #game of thrones x reader #ned stark #robb stark #jon snow #benjen stark #jory cassel #dolorous edd #theon greyjoy #yara greyjoy #daenerys targaryen #jorah mormont #missandei #grey worm #tywin lannister #tyrion lannister #jamie lannister #sandor clegane #bronn of blackwater #petyr baelish #stannis baratheon #davos seaworth #margaery tyrell #brynden tully #edmure tully #brienne of tarth #roose bolton

[aviss]

For the short fic ask, would you be interested in writing 50 "Going through a divorce" for Jaime and Brienne?

Thanks for the prompt! To compensate by the fact I can’t write short and it took me longer than I thought, I seem to have tried to shove every single trope I could find into this one. 

The documents arrived just on the day they had agreed as Jaime knew they would. He was left standing with his back to the door of his brand new and empty flat with his hands holding the paper that was supposed to cleanly sever the most important relationship of his life.

No-fault divorce, as painless and bloodless as they had planned, laughing, two years ago while they drank Tyrion's excellent wine. 

This didn't feel painless to Jaime. 

It had been a great idea like all of Tyrion's ideas always were, and it had backfired and exploded on Jaime's face like they usually did.

"You two are already more married than most couples," Tyrion had said waving his glass around, the wine sloshing dangerously, his voice slightly slurred. "You get your father off your back for a while," he'd said pointing at Brienne, "and you'll get Aunt Genna off yours and fulfil the terms of the inheritance." The inheritance, his father's last laugh. Jaime cared nothing for the family fortune, he had his own money but unless he married before his thirtieth birthday neither of Tywin's children would inherit a gold dragon. Tywin had known he would do it for Tyrion, if not himself, and was manipulating Jaime even from beyond the grave. "You forget to sign a prenup, stay married for two years, and at the end of it you have the last fuck you for the old man by giving half of it to Brienne so she can donate it to kitties or dolphins or whatever the fuck she wants."

It had felt like such a good idea just then. Brienne had laughed, eyes sparkling and Jaime had lifted his glass on a toast.

"Ms. Lannister," he had said, clinking his glass with hers. 

"Mr. Tarth," she had countered, her voice raspy and low and so amused.

"See, you guys will be fine." Tyrion had joined his glass to theirs and they had all downed their glasses. 

Jaime and Brienne had married the following week, just the two of them in front of a judge signing some documents, and it had been fine. It had been more than fine, nothing had significantly changed as they had been living together for a couple of years already. They still had their own rooms but shared everything else, they still had their arguments about silly stuff and they still went out together more often than apart.

Brienne still scolded Jaime for leaving his dirty dishes in the sink instead of the dishwasher, except now she would say,  "I don't know why I married you, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a week," and they would both laugh at that.

Jaime still would drink the sludge she made in the mornings pretending to be coffee and moan about it. "I should have chosen a more skilled wife." 

Brienne always cuffed him over the head for that. "Then make your own coffee, you lazy husband."

"I should have married a less violent wife," Jaime would moan between fits of laughter.

It became their go-to joke when they were watching TV and fighting for the remote, when they were running in the mornings and met the neighbours, or when they got back home after work and Jaime would say, "Darling, I'm home," and Brienne would throw whatever she had at hand at his head.

It was perfect for a year and a half, it was everything Jaime had always wanted in a relationship and if sometimes he looked at Brienne, pressed against his side on the couch snoring lightly while pretending to still watch a movie, and felt the urge to kiss her, well that was just to be expected. 

They were husband and wife, it was normal to want to kiss your wife.  

Then they got drunk during Brienne's birthday dinner and woke up together in Jaime's bed, without clothes and without memories of how they got there. At least Jaime couldn't remember. He tried to laugh it off, though there was a weight settling in his stomach when he saw her horrified expression.

They had obviously had sex, and it was just as obvious that Brienne regretted it, if the way she looked at him and the haste with which she fled his room were any indication. The only thing Jaime regretted was that he didn't remember making love to Brienne. He had not known how much he wanted it until now, and it was clear there would be no repeat performance.

He had missed his chance, but at least he still had his friend. 

Or so he had told himself, for the first time since they had met in college, he was feeling awkward around Brienne and couldn't meet her eyes.

The awkwardness didn't disappear during the first few days, no matter how hard Jaime tried. He made the effort of behaving exactly the same way as he had done before, going out for a run in the mornings with Brienne though the conversation was now strained instead of easy, and Brienne always steered them away from their neighbours. He would plan movie nights like before, buying their favourite snacks, but Brienne always had plans with other friends lately. They hadn't shared the couch since that night, not they had shared a touch, when before they would brush against each other and rest together continuously. 

One morning, he complained about the coffee as always but Brienne didn't cuff him or follow the joke. 

"Sorry I can't make it any other way, you shouldn't drink it if it's that bad," Brienne snapped at him, her voice sharp though she wasn't looking at him. Jaime froze, the smile falling from his lips and the weight in his gut increasing.

The next morning she didn't make any coffee and Jaime felt the loss as more than the awful sludge.

"Darling, I'm home," he said coming back one night and seeing that Brienne was home, a desperate hope things could be back to normal. It was becoming a rare sight to come home to her dancing in the kitchen while she cooked, or sprawled on the couch with a book. More often than not she was already in her room, the door closed like a barrier between the two of them Jaime didn't know how to break.

Brienne's head snapped up and she stared at him with wounded eyes right before she closed her book and stood from the couch. "Can't you stop it? It's not funny," she said, and that was all Jaime could stand. 

He missed his best friend, it had been two months since that night and it felt like he had lost her, completely. Awkwardness he could understand, and he'd been trying to get past it, but Brienne was at points sad and angry, she had been withdrawing from him, and Jaime didn't know what to do anymore to stop it. "You used to think it was," he said, taking off his coat and hanging it on the back of the chair, something she would always scold him for. Brienne narrowed her eyes at it but said nothing. "Talk to me, Brienne. Don't go back to your room and hide there." 

She crossed her arms over her chest, tense, braced for impact. "I don't think I want to do this anymore."

"This?" he asked, though he knew what she meant. He just didn't want to believe it, "you mean us? Because of that night."

"Yes."

"Did I--" he started to ask, unsure of how to continue. He had no memories, as much as he would have loved to, of that night. He had tried, every single night since then to recall the taste of her lips and the feel of her body, he had tried to remember whether she had moaned or sighed, and if she had held him as tight as he wanted to hold her. But maybe it hadn't been like that. "Did I hurt you?"

Her eyes softened a bit at that. "No, not like that." She sighed, her mouth turning down at the corners. "It's not--I--you don't." She stopped and swallowed and Jaime waited for her to continue.

"Then why?" He asked when it was obvious she wasn't going to say anything else, he didn't understand. "I miss you, I miss my friend, why can't things be like before?" He wouldn't push for more if he could have their old relationship back. He could be, if not happy, at least content with it. 

Brienne looked like she was about to cry but turned and went to her room before she did. "I'm sorry, I can't."

She had gone to stay with Margaery the next day and Jaime had moved out of their apartment. 

He had made sure it went to her in the divorce settlement, along with half of everything he had. He would give it all, all of Tywin's misbegotten fortune and his own on top, if he could get his best friend back. He looked at the papers in his hand and sighed, checking them again, then paused. 

Jaime scanned the paperwork and saw all the changes she had made. Brienne had refused the money and properties that he had stipulated, had only requested things with sentimental value, like the painting of the Blue Knight Jaime had bought for her years ago. She had signed the papers and there were smudges where her name was, the ink spreading in a circular pattern which looked suspiciously like tear marks. 

She had been crying.

Maybe, Jaime dared hope, she missed him just as much as he missed her. Maybe he had been mistaken and she hadn't regretted sleeping with him because she didn't love him but because she did, and his trying to make it as if nothing had changed has hurt her. Maybe he was grasping at straws, but what did he care? He had already lost Brienne. 

Jaime was knocking on the door of his own flat ten minutes later, still short of breath because he'd not had the patience to wait for the lift.  The door was wrenched open on the second round of knocking, "I've told you I'm fine, Marg," Brienne said before she closed her mouth with a click. She didn't look fine, she looked as miserable as Jaime felt. Her eyes were red and puffy, her nose runny and her mouth downturned. She was the best thing he had ever seen. "Jaime."

He pushed the divorce papers against her chest. "I don't want to sign them," Jaime said, not giving her the chance to say anything else. "I want my best friend back, but more than that, I want my wife back. I'm sorry I was so dense and didn't realize I loved you before I married you, but now that I know I don't want to leave. These last months have been awful." Her eyes were impossibly wide and there was a new light coming to them, one that had been missing since that night. "Do you want to stay married to me? This time for real?"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, closing the door and pushing him against it. She then pressed her lips against his and kissed him, long and deep, Jaime clinging to her for dear life. There was no way he didn't remember this one.

She pulled back and pressed her forehead against his, smiling. "I do."

#jaime x brienne #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #short fic prompt #my fic #seethemflying

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Fanfic Junk Drawer #7: Game of Thrones OC Notes

Junk Drawer Mission Statement

Summary: These are some backstory notes I wrote for an OC to work along side another Game of Thrones OC I wrote back when the show was good.  I posted a story of hers here if you’re interested.

Background: Born a Bastard of House Marbrand, Tristan was luckier than most. He was given the chance to become a knight, to prove himself and rise above the stain of his name. He understood the honor, and knew he would be forever in debt to the Lannisters. It was a price he was willing to pay, that is, until he laid eyes on the new Lady of Casterly Rock: Elenna Stark of Winterfell.

Why It Was Junked: After the last few seasons of Game of Thrones, my enthusiasm dwindled and I couldn’t bring myself to take on such a massive projects.  Add on the fact the books are so long and the series is still not finished, it was just too much.  Still, I had fun for a while and was actually pretty proud of the stuff I came up with.

Pre-Book/Show

Bastard, born to Lady Elissa Marbrand during Robert’s rebellion

Mother never told him who his father was

Rumors it was one of the Kingsguard; possibly Arthur Dayne

Father wanted to turn her away, but Tristan’s Uncle Addam convinced his father otherwise

Addam adored his sister and acted as a father to Tristan

Servants and Tristan’s grandfather still treated him as inferior

Mother was confined to the castle; never allowed to public dinner or to leave her room for the most part; effectively a prisoner in her own home

Prone to depression at times do to the confinement

Tristan did everything he could to make his mother happy

Feeling of guilt over being the reason for her suffering

Became a bit of a prankster around the castle

Got in trouble with servants and his grandfather, but his antics brought a smile to his uncle and mother’s face so he knew it wasn’t truly wrong

Never forgot his was a bastard

Learned to laugh off being called bastard, but always had a hard time when people insulted his mother

Got into a few scrapes as a child

Addam taught him how to fight

Tristan was small for his age and so learned how to fight smart and use his size and speed to his advantage

At age 10, Elissa committed suicide

Left Addam and Tristan devastated

After Elissa’s death, Addam knew Tristan could no longer stay in the castle and sent word to his childhood friend Jaime Lannister, asking him to allow Tristan to become a squire of Casterly Rock

Jaime agreed and convinced his father to allow the boy to stay

Tywin decided to give the boy to serve Tyrion as he was rather insulted at the prospect of having to house a bastard

Tyrion took a liking to the boy do to his quick wits

Tyrion helped him learn to love reading and ways to sharpen his mind

When he wasn’t serving Tyrion, he was watching the knights of Casterly Rock train

Tywin eventually caught on to the boy’s ambition and talent, and promptly sent him to serve another one of his knights, allowing him to sharpen his fighting skills instead

Tristan was sad to go, but Tyrion convinced him it was for the best, and assured him Tristan always had a seat at his table

Introduced Season 3

Came with Tywin and the rest of the Lannister army to fight at the Battle of the Blackwater

Knighted soon after for his bravery in battle

Tywin assigns him as Elena’s personal guard; as he is one of few knights he knows loyalty remains with the Lannisters

Tristan gets Elena more freedom around the Castle using both her and Tywin’s name as an excuse

Miscellaneous Info

Need scenes between him and Addam

Give his own chapters during what would be season 2?

Random Dialogue

          “You think he’d fuck her?” Bronn asked, suddenly.

          Tristan raised an eyebrow.  “Tyrion?” He then looked forward watching the retreating backs of the Imp and Lady in question.  He shook his head. “Absolutely not.  Not his type.”

          “And you know his type, is that it?”

          Tristan shrugged. “I just know he hasn’t tried it with any woman who wasn’t a whore.  And Elena is just as far from a whore as you can get.”

          “Can’t disagree with that,” Bronn conceded. “A frozen Lady of the North if there ever was one.  Still, lady like that peaks a man’s interest.”

          “Are you saying you’d fuck her?” Tristan said, dryly.

          “Gods no.  Give me experience over stubborn innocents any day.  I’m just saying men in general like a challenge.  And maybe the prize isn’t worth the trouble to get it.”

          Tristan stiffened as he looked to the sellsword.

          “Your secret’s safe with me lad,” Bronn dismissed. “You just might want to mind what your eyes are doing when you think no one is watching.”

            “You’re going to be the death of me,” he said with an exaggerated sigh.

          “Don’t say that.”

          Tristan paused.  The teasing had gone from her voice, replaced with a quiet desperation which cut into him deeper than he believed possible.  He turned to her.  Her eyes matched her voice; for a moment, he thought she might cry.

           “Please, don’t say that,” she repeated, softly.

           “I’m your sworn knight,” he said.  “My job is to keep you safe.  My life for yours, those were the words.”

           “I still rather you didn’t.”

           “I’m yours to command my lady. Command me.”

           “I command you not to die.  You are not allowed to die until I permit it.  Is that understood?”

           “Yes.”

           “And do you swear it?”

           “I swear it, my lady, by the Old Gods and New; I will not die without your express permission.”

           “Good.”

           “Will that me all, Lady Elena?”

           “That would be all, Ser Tristan.”

#asoiaf #asoiaf oc #game of thrones #game of thrones oc #got #got oc #a song of ice and fire #tristan hill #junk drawer

[dwellordream]

Hello! You've mentioned rewriting But the Wolf a couple of times now, which is certainly exciting as I enjoyed it and would love to see how you would approach it as an increasingly skilled writer. Could you give any hint as to the changes you are planning? I'm guessing maybe some parts of the Berena/Jaime dynamic? I totally understand if you prefer not to reveal anything at this point. Your stories were always interesting but your recent stories are especially captivating and well developed!

I don’t want to make any promises because there are other fics I’d like to write before rewriting that one, and one of my problems is I have little interest in working on two ASOIAF fics set in roughly the same time-period at the same time. As in I don’t want to be writing 2 WOT5K fics at the same time because it would be too overwhelming. I do have some vague ideas as to what I would like to change in a rewrite/reboot, and I can list them here although none of it is set in stone, of course. Just to begin with I think the very premise of the fic (a Stark daughter wedding Jaime Lannister after Robert releases him from the Kingsguard) is on shaky ground because in what world would Ned agree to this. Yes, Robert could overrule Ned as King, but they were already on tense terms at the time and it seems out of character for Robert to insist on this, having no love for Jaime himself and having already married Cersei. So were I to rewrite I think I would approach it from the point of ‘Rickard and Tywin were in talks to betroth Jaime and Berena years earlier’ (like how Jaime was maybe going to be betrothed to Lysa in canon), but this is derailed with Cersei encouraging him to join the Kingsguard and him happily agreeing. Thus the match is off, both Tywin and Rickard are pissed, Rickard pivots to trying to get Elbert Arryn for Berena instead, considering that an even better match.  Unfortunately the Rebellion then kicks off, Elbert is killed before him and Berena are ever officially betrothed, everything else proceeds as in canon, Ned marries Cat, Lysa marries Jon Arryn, etc, and then in the aftermath, Robert agrees to release Jaime from the Kingsguard, and the idea of that old betrothal that was all-but-announced between him and Berena comes popping back up. It’s still a stretch but I could see Ned reluctantly agreeing to it on the grounds that he knows it was what his father had intended for Berena, Jon Arryn is putting the pressure on to make peace with the Lannisters, *and* Berena herself is in agreement and thinks the marriage should happen. Why is Berena all for it? Because in this rewrite I would come at it from the perspective of a young Berena helped Lyanna plot to be the Knight of the Laughing Tree, and then helped her plot her grand escape with Rhaegar, which obviously had terrible consequences. Berena feels tremendously guilty for this, blames herself in part for the Rebellion (however misplaced that guilt may be), for Lyanna’s death, etc. As she cannot join the Night’s Watch as Benjen in canon did, and she feels horrific about what happened to Rickard, she sees the marriage to Jaime as a sort of penance or what she ‘owes’ for her part in Rhaegar absconding with Lyanna, despite her only being like 12/13 at the time. Ned would never force his sister into it, but seeing her *seem* enthusiastic about the marriage, Catelyn being like ‘yeah, it’s the Lannisters, they suck, but they are a Great House, it’s a good marriage’, and both of them wanting to support Berena = the match goes through.  Jaime, as in the original, is not a happy camper and certainly blames part of it on Berena, feeling she was just scheming for a rich husband and an ‘easy life’ at Casterly Rock as opposed to the ‘brutal North’.  Anyways the marriage starts off very rocky as Berena, although initially trying to make the best of it, quickly realizes Jaime is not at all into this, he’s also just an asshole to everyone involved, sour feelings quickly multiply, etc.  I’m also leaning towards in the rewrite the births of Joff, Myrcella, and Tommen all still happening because Cersei is frequently visiting the Rock and the Lannisters are frequently visiting the capitol, and it seems even less likely to the average person that an affair could be happening if both Cersei and Jaime are married.  I’m not sure yet what I would keep/change about Berena and Jaime’s kids. Might be some different birth orders/names.  Tyrion does not get married but the Tysha incident is probably averted and thus he has 10% less horrific childhood trauma. Berena’s ladies in waiting have a larger role and more defined personalities. Genna and Kevan probably play larger roles as well.  Ned doesn’t die.  Cersei and Berena would have a very strange dynamic insofar as yes, Cersei loathes her with all the fire of a thousand suns and would off Berena in an instant, but is also... oddly fond of her at times because she is the one other person who knows Jaime as well as Cersei does? Not that they’re uh... light-hearted frenemies now but that it’s a very fucked up sort of ‘Jaime is my other half and thus you’re almost as much my spouse as his’ back-and-forth where Cersei flashes between outright ignoring Berena, being all buddy-buddy with her, and being privately venomous towards her (not that this becomes a Jaime/Cersei/Berena poly relationship haha but... on an emotional level, kind of?). Like Berena becomes almost... oddly attached to Cersei too, despite coming to know all this horrible shit she’s done.  The characterization of both Berena and Jaime would be slightly different. I think the original went easy on him, insofar as excusing some of his horrible behaviors. In a rewrite I would go all in on detailing how genuinely disturbing the entire Lannister family dynamics are and what it is like to be an outsider married into that mess. Berena would be a different character in terms of behavior, probably dutiful in so far as ‘this is the marriage, it’s what I’m stuck with’ but in terms of the personal relationship with Jaime, she’d be just as petty and spiteful as him- they’d have similar personalities insofar as coming across as pretty flippant/’light-hearted’ but there being a lot of Bad Stuff insofar as repressed guilt/shame underneath the exterior. I don’t have many more specifics but for now that’s what I have mapped out.

#ask #anon #but the wolf

[ddagent]

"I’m a contestant on The Bachelor, and I’m probably the only one who really fell in love with you as soon as you walked in, but dammit, you don’t seem to like me at all, no matter what I do."

I have become rather obsessed with reality TV AUs of late, so be prepared for a whole bunch of them. I hope you enjoy this one, and my first prompt of April ‘20 (aka the best month, aka my birthday month). Happy reading!

“Are you gentlemen ready to find true love?”

Podrick, who looked barely old enough to drink, let alone be a producer, addressed the three men waiting inside the historically inaccurate Dragon Age carriage. The one closest to the door, with a bland face and brown hair, grinned. Another, with a broad frame and a red beard, practically crowed. That left Jaime Lannister, sitting as far back as he could manage, to give a brief nod of the head. 

“Sure.” 

And with that, Game of Hearts began. It was Westeros’ most popular dating show: one young lady in search of a husband; twenty-one knights of the realm looking to be the lord of her castle. Jaime usually changed the channel whenever it came on, even if his brother was a producer. But Father had been pushing for Jaime to settle down; throwing daughters of business partners at Jaime day and night. After a night of drinking and complaining, Tyrion had come up with this ingenious idea to get Tywin off his back. All Jaime had to do was act as if he really wanted to get married on reality television and reach the finals. 

Not hard. With a face like his, a final spot was practically guaranteed. 

As he leant back, letting the evening’s festivities wash over him, Jaime caught the bland man in the corner eyeing him. He raised a single brow. “Can I help you with something?” 

“You’re good looking.” A statement. Not a question. That was coming. “You could get any girl you want. Why bother coming on the show?” 

He shrugged. “I like a challenge.”

“Yeah, well, I like money. I heard one of the producers talking; apparently, this girl is rich. Heir to some Stormlands fortune.” 

The bland man seemed to come alive at the prospect of his potential wife’s dowry. Jaime just picked lint off his shoulder. She might be rich, but she wasn’t Lannister rich. Another shrug. “Guess we’ll see who the better man is.”

A muscle twitched in the other man’s jaw. “Yeah. I guess we will.”

Before something could irreparably tear in the other man’s face, Podrick re-appeared at the door to their carriage. “Gentlemen, we’re nearly ready for you. Before that, I’d like to unofficially introduce you to our suitress. Her name is Brienne Tarth, she’s the curator of the Evenfall Museum, and she’s 32. She is also heir to the Tarth Shipping fortune.” Podrick grinned. “Jaime, Hyle, Tormund: are you ready to meet your future wife?” 

The bland man, Hyle, grinned; gold dragons replacing the dull brown of his eyes. The hulk in the corner, Tormund, practically salivated at the thought of meeting this woman. Any woman, probably. Jaime was...intrigued. After watching a few episodes to know what he was getting himself into, he had expected the suitress to be a dental hygenist or a student...some kind of consultant, perhaps. As an archaeologist, a museum curator was someone he would actually want to talk to. 

Maybe he wouldn’t have to murder his brother after all. 

Jaime actually found himself excited as the minutes ticked closer to meeting Brienne Tarth. As Hyle and Tormund tried to imagine the physical attributes of their suitress, Jaime tried to recall what he knew about Evenfall. The Blue Knight was buried in Tarth. There was a pirate exhibit he’d wanted to visit two months before but had been talked into this instead. Ah, Oathkeeper. One of the great Valyrian steel swords was on permanent display at the museum. Interesting. 

“Jaime, are you ready to meet your future wife?” 

This was Podrick’s sixth time of asking. But, as the camera pressed into his face, Jaime actually smiled and said, “Yes, I think I am.” 

Jaime was the last to leave the carriage. In the restored ruins of Harrenhal, now the locale for Game of Heart’s quest for love, twenty other men stood having already met Brienne. Best for last. Adjusting the line of his three-piece suit, Jaime strode as directed by the producers to meet his potential wife. A line formed across his brow as he walked, unable to pick her out from the crowd. There was a tall, broad-shouldered man standing beside the host, Oberyn Martell, but no suitress. 

And then: “Brienne, this is our last suitor for the evening. Archaeologist Jaime Lannister.” 

The tall, broad-shouldered woman standing beside host Oberyn Martell turned on the heel of her blue flats. Anything more, and she would have loomed over him. As it was, Brienne Tarth had an inch, maybe two, on Jaime’s six-foot frame. The blue suit she wore betrayed the muscles in her arms and back but did little for her waist or breasts. Her face was far too plain, but her eyes were all the decoration it needed. 

Fuck. It made sense that she would be the guardian of Oathkeeper. She looked like the Blue Knight. Jaime beamed. “Hi.”

“Hello.”

“I’m Jaime,” he said, wearing that charming smile that had left more than a few women in a puddle on the floor. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Brienne. I think we have a lot in common.” 

A muscle beside those gorgeous eyes twitched. “I’m sure.” 

And that was it. No gushing, no flirting. A curt three words were all that Jaime had been offered. From behind the line of cameras, he spotted his brother conversing rapidly with Podrick. Jaime Lannister – gorgeous, wealthy, accomplished – was supposed to be their showstopper. And Brienne Tarth stared at him as if he was an eight-year-old boy who had been caught touching the exhibits. Less than that, even. Cool indifference. 

Well, fuck that. Jaime hadn’t even wanted to do this show in the first place, but here he was, and he was going to be in that damn final. 

Taking two steps forward, Jaime reached for Brienne’s hand and rubbed his thumb across her wrist. As she gasped from the contact, he leant forward and brushed his lips against the corner of her mouth. Tyrion’s hissing stopped, and Jaime could feel every camera trained on them. Good. Everyone else thought him charming. It was time Brienne Tarth thought so, too. 

“I’m sure I’m not the first man tonight to tell you that your eyes look like sapphires,” he said; his voice soft. “If I am, then every other man here is a fool.” 

The corner of her mouth twitched, and Jaime thought he had her. “Does that line often work?”

“Only about 10% of the time. Too many people in Westeros have brown eyes.”

“You think you’re charming.” 

“But you don’t.” 

Brienne shook her head. “I know men like you.” 

“There are no men like me, Brienne.” Jaime took a step back but still held her hand. He lifted it to his mouth and pressed a kiss across the bridge of her knuckles. “Let me show you.” 

Brienne nodded but did not seem convinced. Good. Jaime liked a challenge. He’d make her fall just enough in love with him to get him to the final, get Father off his back, and then some other knight could propose. Just because she had pretty eyes and a big sword did not mean Jaime wanted to win. But those were big eyes. And a really pretty sword. 

#Anonymous #braime #jaime x brienne #mine: paragraph prompts #ship: braime #I'm 90% sure this is trash #and I really need to stop writing beginnings of stories and instead jump into the middle #but I'm tired and this is the first thing I've written in 9 days so here we are

[scoundrels-in-love]

Did you slip in through open doors and sit down, just to look at me like that (every day) | Chapter 2 - Jaime I

Brienne doesn’t mean to lie to her father. She just wants him to stop trying to set her up with men who aren’t Jaime Lannister, whom she’s secretly in love with. Unfortunately, that’s exactly who eagerly inserts himself in the narrative as her fake boyfriend. And her father is coming to King’s Landing in two weeks.

Truly, what could go wrong?

Also on AO3. Still part of @jbmonthlymadness Mutual Pining March.

He is so, so fucked.

Not quite the same way he thought a week ago, but still very much fucked.

Jaime glances over to where Brienne is watching a game on the couch for what feels like the hundredth time this half hour. While that itself isn’t unusual, everything else is. Tenseness in her shoulders he isn’t sure he will lure out with a stupid joke and then slay with even worse one, the way they’ve barely spoken to each other today and that his heart is being harshly kneaded by some huge, clawed animal. He’d say it’s a lion, but considering his House that feels just a little cliche .

Though, according to Elia, he is a walking cliche and a terribly executed one, at that. He sighs, realizes that the beer bottle really isn’t where he’s blindly grabbing for it, and averts his gaze from his fake girlfriend. There is exactly one word too many in that title and it’s neither girl or friend. If only he could convince Brienne of the same.

Jaime has tried , he really has. Gotten up earlier to make sure he can prepare her coffee and go on a jog with her, kissed her goodbye on the cheek, pestered her into having a lunch during work hours and ordered takeout to arrive just after she got home the days he knew he’d be home even later than her, sent her obscure memes about animals he found on some nature activist group on Raventome that he frankly didn’t get but hoped she would and have a good laugh between work and more.

Granted, he does all these things regularly anyway (except the cheek kisses, but he isn’t sure they’re as much of a highlight of the day for her as they are for him), but now it’s daily. And it’s not a bother, like Brienne tries to convince him to think, and Jaime would gladly do it for the rest of the foreseeable future. Even waking an hour earlier, although he likes to think that if they were properly dating, he’d persuade her to explore other workouts they could do in the time without leaving the house.

Elia suggested it’s because she’s stressed about the convention, but Jaime knows better. (“Of course you do, that’s why you suggested to be her fake boyfriend instead of telling her you’ve been head over heels for her for years now.”) No, Brienne’s work has nothing to do with the skittishness in her eyes, the way she freezes when he presses lips to her delightfully reddening cheek, sometimes daring to brush corner of her mouth or lingering a second too long because her proximity makes him a little dizzy, or stumbles over conversations topics as if they are larger than boulders she can easily best when hiking. She doesn’t even shut down his flirtations anymore - instead she looks away and mumbles something or trips into the next topic.

Their new arrangement is the cause, and the realization has been rolling toward him like a house sized morning star down a gentle slope.

“Jaime? Movie’s starting,” subject of his sweet agony and worry calls out and Jaime realizes he has quite literally spaced out. And that perhaps his inner narrator is going a little overboard. Elia would have another laughing fit if she knew.

He grabs the snacks and another beer and presents them to her with a smile, falls heavily in his spot that earns a little bit of glare from Brienne because, of course, she’s concerned for the springs and one of these days he will tell her he can think of more interesting things to wreck their couch with. ‘One of these days’ feels like an awful stretch and ‘a mountainclimb later’ sort of thing, though. He heaves a sigh.

“Everything alright, Jaime?” she asks and he looks at her, armed with a bright smile and an easy no, when they crumble faced with concern that colors the blue of her eyes deeper, yet gilded shade like the last glimpse of sunset paints the sea. Of course Brienne finds time to worry about him, despite seemingly thinking she’s standing between two cannons labelled ‘work’ and ‘fake boyfriend’, ready to shoot.

He wants to pull her close and press a kiss to her furrowed brow so much he can physically feel an alternate reality, one where he’s braver and does just that, manifest.

Unfortunately, in this one Jaime only laughs and plops his head in her lap, facing the TV. “Of course I am, B. But if you’re so worried, you can always pet my head and tell me it’s going to be alright.” He likes it when she says that, the way she sets her jaw mulishly and seems to simply talk it into existence with sheer willpower and kindness. But never for herself, only others.

Brienne stills for a moment, then, much to his relief, makes indigant noise and pushes at his shoulder slightly but with no real force. “I’m not a cushion, Jaime” she tells him and he shifts just so he can grin up at her.

“C’mon, I’ve been a good boyfriend this week, have I not earned one lap cushion coupon? I must use it before it expires.”

“ Fake boyfriend,” she says seriously and Jaime looks at the screen again so she can’t witness his grin shattering like the window of Casterly Rock’s kitchen when he had been six and too eager while playing ball. He might feel even more chastised than after the lecture Tywin had given him, which had left a stone grinding sharp edge in his gut for a week.

“Fine, but I am not going to pet your head. You are not an overgrown housecat, no matter how much you may act as one,” Brienne relents, but by the end of the movie, she brushes back a strand he has shaken into his eyes and halfway through the second movie, she actually runs her hand through his hair and he barely manages to remain still, instead of following her hand like foam graces a wave’s edge.

All things considered, Jaime feels re-energized for the next week and his little war campaign on Brienne’s heart. He likes to think of it as war, though she is not a thing to conquer despite her truly formidable walls, just to trounce the narrative she has set for herself.

Once, before that fatefully shitty night when a pipe in his first own apartment burst and Brienne had invited him to stay over until it was fixed (and then he never really left), they had talked about who they would be in Targaryen and Stark eras, both revealing their dreams about knighthood.

Already knowing her love for ridiculous, historical(ly inaccurate) romance novels, he had joked if she’d not like ballads written about her instead, but Brienne’s face had shuttered and she had reminded him that no one would go to war for her . “I would rather defend the innocent and fight than stay home a sad and unmarried maid,” she had concluded, before going off about Blue Knight and other warrior women of Tarth. Jaime had already known back then that in any lifetime she’d be worthy of many great songs - of love and otherwise. But the bridge of their friendship was tentative still and he had had no intentions of being the one to lay the siege on her heart.

And when he had wanted to, he had already been so deep in the annoying, best friend role and still so utterly not having his shit together he didn’t feel he had the right to start the march. Someone better would surely come along. Except no one has, three years later still, and Brienne seems to think it’s a sign she only deserves a photoshopped suit-hanger and Jaime would rather be pierced endlessly by her glowering and risk her friendship that he treasures above anything he has ever known, than passively let her continue believing that.

For now, he’s only dying because of work, as they are currently quite swamped. It doesn’t help at all that his brain is a little (or a whole lot, but who’s counting) occupied with various Romance-Brienne-So-Hard-She-Doesn’t-Know-What-Hit-Her strategies. His plans for Friday come to immediate stop when he arrives home and finds Brienne fallen asleep at the kitchen table, her laptop’s screensaver of pixelated Kingslayer and Blue Knight from their favorite cartoon bouncing around the screen. He had installed it the first week of living here and despite her initial grumbling, she has never changed or disabled it.

This would be easier if Brienne’s one quirk when working at home wasn’t changing her workspace every few hours, as if it helps her think. It’s one of her most restless habits and typically, Jaime finds it adorable, but now that he has to haul half-asleep Brienne to her room he… Who is kidding, he also finds it endearing.

“Jaime, I can walk,” she scoffs, but leans on him anyway and when he helps her lay down on the bed, her eyes are soft and a little dazed and he thinks of early spring mornings, when nothing but the birds and clouds are awake yet, against the blueness of the sky.

Brienne curls up and he pulls a blanket over her and she gives him a sleepy smile, so warm that the consistent pull toward her feels anchored to the sun itself. He follows it and leans down and presses lips to her forehead. She exhales softly and when he pulls back, her eyes are closed, but there’s an almost sad turn to her lips.

“I really don’t want this to end, Jaime.” Her voice is so quiet he almost doesn’t hear - he wouldn’t if he wasn’t so close. His heart does an odd thing in his chest, something that would make it more of a rope dancer than a lion leaping through a ring of fire.

Jaime brushes a strand of her hair back, gently, in an attempt to reassure what odd fear has burrowed into her heart. He shouldn’t be so happy every time Brienne expresses she doesn’t want to lose him, but even her brilliant light can’t erase generations of carefully cultivated selfishness. “It doesn’t have to.”

“But it will.” And then she nuzzles deeper in the pillow and he knows this is a conversation to be finished (or maybe repeated) when she’s actually awake. Quietly, he walks out of the room and when the door has shut gently, bounces toward the living room with a grin that everyone would tell him begs for a punch.

There is hope for him yet.

#Jaime x Brienne #braime #braime ff #rainy writes stuff #my fic #I don't know how to format these things *sad noises*

[ramsayboltonsmuse]

The Missing Piece

Chapter 1: Bolton Enterprises

Summary: You have been selected for a big promotion at Bolton Enterprises to work on none other than Ramsay Bolton’s team. The new job is certainly not what you expected, and neither is Ramsay. This is a modern Ramsay fanfic about his increasing territoriality and need to control the reader and her attempts to escape the dark and sadistic man she also can’t live without.

Pairings/Characters: Ramsay Bolton/You, Jon Snow/You, Myranda, Damon

Warnings: Smut, Dom/Sub, Violence, Noncon, Ramsay is his own warning

Links to other chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Ao3 Link

Fuck. You knew you were going to be late now as the subway sign that had previously been flashing “6 minutes” turns to “9 minutes” and then finally to “DELAY”. 

“Fuck!” You exclaim a little too loudly, and the elderly man standing next to you on the platform turns and looks at you. “Excuse me.” You duck your eyes and walk away, back toward the stairs to the street. Uber it is. 

You pump your long legs up the stairs, your black stilettos making quite the riot of noise in the otherwise quiet station. Normally you loved this stop, there were hardly any crowds, but today you were really not benefitting from the express train bypassing it. 

And of your many etiquette-focused rules, the one you really hated breaking was not arriving on time. You preferred living by the rule of ‘better an hour early than one minute late’, and today of all days was not in your favor to be late. You were starting a new job, and would be meeting the whole of your new team at 9am. 

Coming outside of the station, the cold air hit you at once, the wind biting at your exposed legs. Why did I have to wear a dress today? You groan, looking down at your watch only to realize you don’t even have time to order an Uber. Taxi it is. You hail a cab, having no trouble catching the attention of the first one to drive by, your outfit choice finally providing some benefit.

“Wall Street. Bolton Enterprises.” You quickly provide the cross streets to the driver as he speeds away, but he doesn’t need them. Everyone knows the Bolton building. 

Seated in the cab, you work to calm your breathing, confident now that you will arrive on time. It’s cool [Y/N], it’s cool. You’re fine. A smile crosses your face. Jesus, why do I talk to myself? I’m such a nut. 

Buildings fly by as the taxi races downtown, the gleaming center of Wall Street coming into view. It really is an exciting day. You’d worked your ass off for the last year, proving yourself to be one of the brightest young recruits at the firm. No doubt your Yale degree in International Business was a qualifying factor as well, but you’d shown that you were more than a resume. Your dedication was unquestionable. 

Nonetheless it was a very competitive place, and much as you thought you deserved the promotion, you were surprised when you got the news just given how many other qualified people there were.

“Oh, just here.” You signal to the driver to stop outside the looming skyscraper, pay him and get out. You check your watch. 8:45am. Taking a deep breath, you walk into the bright marble lobby and head for the elevators. 

Oh, great. Today really isn’t your day, you think as you see that all but one of the elevators are already making their way up to top floors, with the last one’s doors already starting to close. You sprint towards it, knowing it’s useless. But just as you internally give up, you see a hand shoot out from the inside to hold the door and hear a familiar voice. 

“Good morning.” Jon’s face pokes out of the elevator and a big smile crosses your face. 

“You just saved me.” You nearly slide into the elevator, breathless. “The universe is against me today, I swear.” Jon’s eyes light up as he laughs. “No, really! Don’t laugh. The subway was late, these damned new heels are slowing me down, my hair is now a mess, and I almost missed the last elevator for at least the next seven minutes.”

Jon gives you a warm smile and you feel at ease at once. “I think you look great.” You smile back.

“What are you doing here anyway? Not that I’m not super glad to see you, but didn’t the Stark and Bolton negotiations close last week?”

Jon frowns. “Alas, it looks like we’ll have at least another month now. Roose apparently got a competitive business offer from Tywin Lannister, if you can believe it. So we are back to the drawing board. But I shouldn’t be telling you any of that.” Jon winks at you and you laugh.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” Your eyes catch a glimpse of the elevator buttons. “Oh shoot!” You had totally forgotten to press your floor button. Jon reads your reaction and goes to press 17 for you, but you stop him. “Oh, no, actually, can you press 28?” 

“28?” Jon whistles. “What important business do you have up there?” You smile really big.

“I got a promotion. It’s going to be floor 28 from now on! I’m going to be working on Ramsay Bolton’s team on strategic initiatives for the whole business. Can you believe it? Literally with Ramsay Bolton! You can’t get closer to the top than that.” 

You’re surprised when Jon doesn’t return your smile. 

“[Y/N], have you met Ramsay? He’s bad news.”

You’re taken aback at the comment. “Gosh Jon, I thought you’d be happy for me.”

Jon looks at you apologetically. “Shoot, that’s not what I meant. I’m really happy for you, on the promotion.” He tries to smile at you. “Just be careful around Ramsay, okay? He’s got a dangerous streak and a penchant for games. And sadly, I think you’re kind of his type.”

You huff at that. “I’m not going to be sleeping with my new boss, Jon. And what a weird thing to say to me!” You are suddenly very glad there’s no one else in the elevator to hear this conversation.

The elevator comes to a stop at Jon’s floor. “Look, I’m sorry [Y/N]. I just care about you, you know? You’re a really great person and he’s a really bad person. This is my stop. I’ll see you later, okay?” John steps out and you just nod at him, not sure what to say. This really has not been an ideal morning. 

Two seconds later and the elevator dings, opening out onto Floor 28. You take a deep breath, push your long [H/C] hair behind your shoulders and walk out onto the floor.

***

“I can take your coat, miss.” A very pretty receptionist walks over to you and holds out her hand for your jacket.

“Oh, thank you.” You take off your black trench to reveal a tight elegant little black dress. 

“That’s a great dress. I’m Myranda by the way. You must be [Y/N]. Mr. Bolton told me he’s expecting you. Conference room 3, just to your left.” Myranda eyes you up and down as you walk away. 

You can see them all through the glass doors of the conference room. There are seven of them, all in suits, all fairly young, and all men. You check your watch, 8:57am, and open the door, your heart speeding up. 

It’s beautiful inside the room, a gorgeous handcrafted birch table in the center with a mixture of industrial and wooden accents adorning the chairs. The view out of the windows is incredible and you’re able to see the water, the morning sun making it sparkle. All of the talking stops as you enter the room, and everyone’s eyes snap to you. 

“Hello.” Your voice sounds a lot more confident than you feel. “It’s lovely to meet you all. I’m [Y/N].” You’re beginning to fear you’ve walked into the wrong room, when a tall broad-shouldered brunette stands up from one of the chairs and walks over to you. 

“Hi there.” He offers his hand and you shake it. “I’m Damon. Great to meet you [Y/N]. We’re all very excited to have you join the team.” The other men follow Damon’s lead and walk over to shake your hand, introducing themselves. You smile and nod with each new introduction until you’ve met everyone. Everyone except one person…

“Will Mr. Bolton be joining us?” You ask. “My apologies, it’s my first day in the new job and all I’ve been told is that Mr. Bolton will be walking me through my new responsibilities.” 

You think you catch two of the guys seated further back snicker. Damon smiles at you.

“Of course, it’s no problem at all. We didn’t expect you to come in here and present a master plan. Not yet, anyway.” He laughs and it’s a big booming laugh, turning the air around him a few shades brighter. “Yes, Ramsay will be joining us shortly. He’s just finishing something up -- Oh, speak of the devil.”

You hold your breath as you watch Ramsay through the glass of the conference room walls as he walks across the floor toward the room. Not walks, no. Strides. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone walk with such complete and utter power, and so effortlessly. He’s wearing a beautifully tailored dark blue suit, so dark it might as well have been black, accenting his toned and muscled body exceptionally well. The air of wealth and bourgeoisie royalty seems to emanate off of him. From afar, you think he’s probably very attractive, but when he opens the door and walks into the conference room, you lose your breath completely.

His eyes instantly fix themselves onto you, and you feel as if he is looking directly into the deepest parts of your soul. They are the most beautiful icy blue color that you have ever seen. Something straight out of a National Geographic documentary on Alaskan wildlife. Just pure carnal white ice blue. Fuck. You think that you might have said or thought ‘fuck’ more this morning than in an average week. Fuck. 

Ramsay’s eyes sweep over your body, coming back to linger on your lips and then boring into your eyes again. You feel as if he’s violating you somehow, the intensity of that gaze. Like he can see absolutely everything about who you are and what you want and and what you need.

In an instant, he lets your captive eyes go and looks at Damon.

“A girl? Interesting.” Ramsay leans against the door frame and takes something out of his pocket, turning it around in his hand. 

Damon chuckles. “Scores don’t lie. She’s outperformed them all. Men, women and rocks.” Ramsay smirks, and you realize Damon is referencing the recent acquisition of Frey Holdings, the old company’s logo two stone towers. 

You decide to take a risk.

“More like rubble than rocks.” 

Damon laughs out loud, some of the other men joining in. Ramsay’s eyes slowly move to focus on you again, contemplating something. You stay still under his gaze, waiting. You realize perfectly well that if he doesn’t like you for some reason, he can send you right back downstairs and pick out someone else.

“Come now Ramsay! She seems lovely. I for one, would appreciate more feminine energy in this place. It’s just cocks, cocks and more cocks as far as the eye can see.” Damon winks slyly at you and you smile at him, glad to have at least one friend. You turn back toward Ramsay.

It’s as if he decided something. In an instant, the brooding cool look on his face evaporates, replaced by a brightness and a large smile. It’s almost unsettling how quickly his demeanor changes.  

“You’re right Damon, I’m afraid I’ve been terribly rude. Forgive me, please. It’s been a long morning. It’s a pleasure to meet you [Y/N].” He offers out his hand and you shake it, tremors vibrating through your body as you feel his incredibly firm grip. 

“The pleasure is all mine Mr. Bolton. It’s a dream to be a part of this team. I’m really looking forward to working with you” 

Ramsay drops your hand. “Call me Ramsay. My father is ‘Mr. Bolton’.”

“Of course. Ramsay. My apologies sir.”

Ramsay’s eyes light up when you say that, and you can’t help but blush a little under his gaze.“That’s quite alright.” Ramsay pushes the door back open and holds it for you. “You’ve met the boys, why don’t I show you around the office.” It was less a question than a command. 

You had a feeling he wasn’t one to ask things often. 

As you walk out of the door, Ramsay shoots a look back at Damon and the rest of the men. 

“I expect all the documents for the Lannister call on my desk before noon. And, Damon, take care of our little situation in Conference Room A. Promptly.” You can see Damon nod, before you lose sight of the conference room as Ramsay leads the way down the hall to the left. 

He doesn’t really give you a tour as you walk, but you figure you don’t really need one anyway. You’re smart, you’ll figure out where things are. As you continue down this hall, there are less and less offices and doors until it’s simply one straight stretch of hallway with floor to ceiling windows on either side of you leading up to a large iron door at the end. As you walk, you feel as if you’re flying high above the ground, looking out of either window making you dizzy.

Ramsay’s quick pace comes to a stop. He turns back to look at you, and opens the heavy door, gesturing for you to walk in.

“Welcome to my office.”

As you walk into the large room, you find yourself in awe. You’re standing in what looks like a traditional study, complete with a roaring fireplace, bearskin rug, old bookshelves, and an intimidating-looking desk with two leather armchairs facing it. 

On both sides of the room, there are winding iron staircases that lead up to a second floor with a tiny balcony overlooking the room below. There are also two doors behind the desk, one closed and the other open, leading into what looks like a very modern kitchen with the same floor to ceiling windows overlooking the water.

You turn to look at Ramsay who seems to have been clocking your reaction.

“This is incredible! I’ve never seen an office like this before.” You walk over to the fireplace, putting your hand out to feel the heat. “How did you manage to put a real fireplace in here?” 

Ramsay shrugs. “Our city, our building, our rules.” 

“I would want to be at work all the time if this was my office.”

Ramsay smiles. “Well, it’s your lucky day. You’ll be working here with me darling.” You blush at that. Should he have called you darling? Maybe it’s just a British thing. You shrug it off. Ramsay points to a smaller but beautiful wooden desk on the opposite side of the room, one you hadn’t even noticed with the other extravagant elements competing for your attention. 

“That’s your desk. That’s the kitchen through there. Bathroom upstairs, complete with a shower. And there’s two bedrooms upstairs. I often work late and stay the night here.” 

Ramsay stepped closer to you. 

“You’re very welcome to adopt the same level of work ethic.” 

You feel a slight shiver down your spine. But Ramsay steps past you and sits at his desk, pouring himself a glass of bourbon. 

“The second bedroom is at your disposal.” His eyes snap back to you suddenly and forcefully. “You will not, however, ever go into the room behind me without my express permission.” The closed door room. His voice was frightening and very dark. “Do I make myself clear? I don’t want to ask a second time. I hate asking a second time.” You swallow, beginning to understand why Jon had warned you.

“Yes, of course. It won’t be a problem sir.”

“Good!” Ramsay clapped his hands together. “I think we are going to have a lot of fun together, you and I. There are some papers on your desk. You’ll need to read them quite carefully.” His voice took on a mock serious tone. “We take confidentiality very seriously here at Bolton Enterprises.” 

He smirks at you. 

“This job won’t be what you were expecting I’m afraid. You see, I do business very differently. You could say I take a more hands-on approach. And you, apparently, have tested the highest in every skill that I need.” 

He locks eyes with you and you feel the electricity coursing through the airwaves from his eyes into yours. 

“You are the missing piece darling.”

NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 2

#ramsay bolton fanfiction #ramsay bolton #ramsay bolton fanfic #ramsay bolton/original female character #ramsay/reader #ramsay bolton/reader #ramsay bolton/you #jon snow/reader #jon snow/you #game of thrones fanfic #game of thrones fanfiction #ramsay bolton smut #modern ramsay bolton #myranda game of thrones #ramsay/myranda #ramsay bolton x reader

[theusurpersdog]

So Game of Thrones ended on Sunday, and for now it’s going down as potentially the worst ending of any TV show ever. Some of the backlash has come from the more nonsensical elements, such as Bronn being on the Small Council, anyone in Westeros defending Daenerys (the show literally framed her like Hitler, come the fuck on), Tyrion deciding who was King while in shackles, etc. But the truth is, none of that would’ve mattered if the emotions rang true. And that’s been a problem since the show started; go all the way back to Winter is Coming and you’ll see that the Starks have always been sidelined - both as individuals and as a family - in favor of the Lannisters. George Martin is writing a character piece about the Starks and how they survive, and the show was never going to stick the landing when they fundamentally didn’t understand that.

I’m not the first to point this out, but man did it really bother me this episode. D&D really could’ve phoned in 95% of this story and just shown up to love the Starks and everyone would’ve been at least satisfied, and they just couldn’t do it. So many years of bad writing and idiot plots and plain stupidity hasn’t lost Game of Thrones hardly any fans, because the ones they had were deeply invested in the characters GRRM had created and were willing to overlook just about everything to see those characters have some sort of conclusion. That’s why their entire audience has turned against them now - they didn’t care about the Starks for 8 seasons, and GRRM’s ending required the audience and the writers care deeply for Jon, Sansa, Arya, and Bran.

For all of GRRM’s talk about wanting to break his reader’s hearts, and D&D’s version of his story as this GrimDark nightmare, GRRM’s story has a real, emotional heart to it. People debate whether it was a fantasy story with the false premise of a political period piece, or a political story with a touch of fantasy intrigue - but the truth is, this story is and always has been a character piece centered around the Starks and how they survive and rebuild after family tragedy. In number of povs and chapters, they literally overwhelm the series. Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Catelyn all are in the top povs as well as Ned, who is still competitive despite being in exactly 1 book of the series. Having the Starks as the center of the story, the point in which almost all the action revolves, is what grounds all of Martin’s series even as his povs reach 30+. Martin was being very serious when he said Arya, Sansa, and Bran were the heart of his series. You need them because they make it worth it.

So let’s break down how D&D ripped the heart out of asoiaf’s chest. The biggest problem the show had was something book readers have known for a long time, but didn’t fully realize until Sunday night: The Bran Problem. GRRM has stated multiple times that Bran is his hero, yet the show has never had any interest in his story. They made an entirely random decision not to include flashbacks or dream sequences, which immediately cuts out about half of Bran’s content. But not only did they take away his magical importance, they also stole his political importance. Bran was Robb Stark’s heir, Lord of Winterfell and first in line to be the King in the North. Yet they took Bran’s story away from him and gave the focus to Theon Greyjoy, a character more appealing to the tastes of David Benioff and Dan Weiss. So we never got to see the King of the Six (should be eight but whatever I’m just dying inside) Kingdoms acting in any leadership capacity. And, last but certainly not least, D&D took all emotion from Bran. And no, I don’t mean when he came back from beyond the wall a husk of a person. That was awful, but the damage was done seasons before. If you’ve read the books, you’ll know and love Bran Stark because this is who he is:

He sent sweets to Hodor and Old Nan as well, for no reason but he loved them

Bran was a sweet boy. Everyone loved him

The roots of the trees grow deep, and under the ground the Kings of Winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. Like me, he thought,  I'm not dead either

Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time

He is a sweet boy, quick to laugh, easy to love

Bran has always represented happiness and people coming together in GRRM’s story. Ned wants to bring him to King’s Landing because he’s universally loved and will ease the conflict between Joffrey and Robb, and just the thought of him being alive makes Jon bury his ego and reach out to his Night’s Watch Brothers. He is Meera’s little Prince, someone that Howland Reed’s children are willing to go beyond the wall and die for. He accepts food on the road beyond the Wall, and promises he’ll repay his debt many times over. He’s the boy who looks back into the past and just wants to see his dad again; who reaches out to save Theon, even when Theon took everything from him. He is Eddard Stark’s son, soft and kind and loving, brave when he is afraid, loyal and honorable, and he is a good person. He’s young, but he is fit to be a King one day. 

But no, D&D didn’t stop at Bran. Let’s talk about Arya Stark, and the little girl who never was. Was there ever a character more suited to D&D’s tastes than a little murder girl hellbent on revenging her family’s killers? But was there ever a character further from Arya Stark? She is nine years old when Ser Ilyn takes her father’s head, of course she is brash and reckless and childish, wanting to avenge him. But she is all of those things because she is still a kid. Below the surface, she is very scared and very hurt. Unlike the show’s version of Arya, who is upset Joffrey died because she couldn’t do it herself, the Arya of the books has a realization that Joffrey dying means nothing because she’ll never get Robb back. Arya isn’t turning into an assassin because it would be cool, she’s running away as far as she can.

You can watch the season finale of Game of Thrones s4, and be right in concluding that Arya Stark leaves The Hound for dead in a ruthless move of brutality as she goes to pursue her dreams of being an assassin. Now read the end of A Storm of Swords, and you’ll find an Arya who refuses to let Sandor take a piece of her no matter how he abuses her, and goes to Braavos because she is so afraid that no one could love her anymore - and most of all she leaves because with Winterfell sacked and held by the Boltons, she genuinely thinks she has lost her home. Arya doesn’t make a well-adjusted decision to leave Westeros, she’s trying to keep her head above water before she drowns in grief. Disassociating from her pack is the only way she can cope with the unbearable amount of loss she has suffered, especially at such a young age. But GRRM’s version of Arya is fierce, brave, loyal, loving, and above all she loves her family.

Then there is Sansa, the most empathetic character in GRRM’s whole world. The unfailing hope and kindness in which she views the world are her defining character traits; she echoes GRRM’s own worldview, one where you can see the good and the bad in everyone, and choose to forgive - and if not that, still refuse to be cruel in kind. Sansa is the only one who looks at Sandor Clegane, looks at the ruin fire made of his face, and see that his eyes are why he’s so ugly - and then reach out to show him mercy. The girl who was beaten everyday of her time in King’s Landing, and still mourned Joffrey because he was a person and he died and she understood that it was still awful. She wishes knights who literally beat her bloody would fall off their horse, then feels bad and ashamed when they do. Sansa Stark is kind above all.

And the show took this character and made her cold. They tried to make her Littlefinger. Surprise! Nobody cares about the emotional well being and happiness of Petyr Baelish for a reason. Thankfully Bryan Cogman was there to run interference between Sansa and D&D, so she wasn’t fully the Ice Queen D&D wanted her to be, but goddamn how do you take Sansa “if I am ever Queen, I’ll make them love me” Stark and make her cold?!

The biggest problem with stripping the Stark kids individually of their emotions, is that they can no longer exist as the family GRRM created them to be. Without Arya, Bran, and Sansa’s emotional arcs, everything becomes meaningless. Who cares that Ramsay Bolton is the one to rebuild Winterfell in the show? Certainly not an audience that hasn’t been told to care.

You’ll notice a trend in the type of chapters that D&D decided not to adapt into Game of Thrones; think of all the chapters that are the emotional heart of GRRM’s story. Not the shocking character deaths, or dragons, or plot twists. The moments of intimacy between GRRM, his character, and you as the reader. The moments so small yet so impactful, the lines you remember not because they pushed the plot forward but because they honestly moved you in a way that you felt hope, longing, love? Those chapters are almost always either from Bran, Sansa, or Arya; and are always about their connection to their family. D&D adapted none of them. Here’s three great examples:

Done with Wooden Teeth

When Arya is a serving girl at Harrenhal during A Clash of Kings, it really sucks. Unlike the show, she is not cup bearer to Tywin Lannister; she is just like everyone else: abused, mistreated, underfed, miserable, and uncared for. She’s already at a pretty low moment in life, then the news breaks that Bran and Rickon were murdered by Theon Greyjoy and Winterfell has been sacked. And Arya doesn’t even have someone to grieve with; the one person she tries to tell, Elmar Frey, tells her nobody cares about a serving girl’s brothers when he’s just lost his Princess (the irony...).

The news that her family is dead almost breaks her:

As Arya crossed the yard to the bathhouse, she spied a raven circling down toward the rookery, and wondered where it had come from and what message it carried. Might be it’s from Robb, come to say it wasn’t true about Bran and Rickon. She chewed on her lip, hoping. If I had wings I could fly back to Winterfell and see for myself. And if it was true, I’d just fly away, fly up past the moon and the shining stars, and see all the things in Old Nan’s stories, dragons and sea monsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn’t ever fly back

This is Arya giving up. Everything she’s done in this book so far has been to get back to Winterfell, or to Jon at the Wall. Her making the decision to fly away (which she’ll follow through on in A Storm of Swords) is a defeat, the acceptance that she’ll never get her family back.

If the chapter had ended here (it doesn’t), D&D still would’ve gutted it, because no Stark gets to react to Bran and Rickon’s death in the show. Not even a minute of screentime given to the Heir to the North and his brother dying; not a moment where their family can grieve the tremendous loss.

But Arya is a Stark, so before she gives up on her identity, she visits the Godswood:

“Tell me what to do, you gods,” she prayed.

For a long moment there was no sound but the wind and the water and the creak of leaf and limb. And then, far far off, beyond the godswood and the haunted towers and the immense stone walls of Harrenhal, from somewhere out in the world, came the long lonely howl of a wolf

The Godswood is very important to the Starks for a couple different reasons. First, only the men of the North worship the Old Gods, and the trees is the connection they have to them. The Old Gods were who Ned went to for guidance, and every single Stark has huge moments of understanding in front of a Godswood (none of which made it into the show...). But, more specific to the Starks as a family, Bran speaks to his family through them and guides them toward home. So even though they don’t understand that Bran is calling to them, the Starks are drawn to the trees for help.

And the trees always answer them. The Starks get a real, physical response when they ask the Godswood for help:

Then, so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father’s voice. “When the snows fall and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” he said.

“But there is no pack,” she whispered to the weirwood. Bran and Rickon were dead, the Lannisters had Sansa, Jon had gone to the Wall. “I’m not even me now, I’m Nan.”

“You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you.”

“The wolf blood.” Arya remembered now. “I’ll be as strong as Robb. I said I would.” She took a deep breath, then lifted the broomstick in both hands and brought it down across her knee. It broke with a loud crack, and she threw the pieces aside. I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth.

In her lowest moment, Arya re-finds her strength by remembering she is a Stark, a direwolf who belongs to a pack. The Godswood gives her Ned as comfort, as a reminder of who she is and what she should do. There is an incredible emphasis on family here. It would be impossible to adapt this chapter unless the writers and audience fully understood just how committed to each other the Starks are - which is why they didn’t adapt it.

I’m Not Dead Either

When Bran finally leaves the crypts at the end of A Clash of Kings, he’s close to giving up on himself entirely. He spent three days inside Summer, and returning to the body he views as broken (”Bran the Broken” is something he calls himself when he feels upset, not the monikor he’d give himself as King) is really hard for him. And when he finally leaves the crypts, he comes out to a Winterfell that has been destroyed; Ramsay has set the place ablaze and killed everyone. Bran knows Ser Rodrik is dead and Maester Luwin is soon to be as well. He looks around him and sees all this destruction, all he smells is fire or blood. But one thing in Winterfell stands unharmed; Summer takes off running for the Godswood:

The air was sweeter under the trees. A few pines along the edge of the wood had been scorched, but deeper in the damp soil and green wood had defeated the flames. “There is a power in living wood,” said Jojen Reed, almost as if he knew what Bran was thinking, “a power strong as fire.”

After Bran says goodbye to Maester Luwin, and him and Rickon part ways with no idea where either is heading, Bran has one last moment to look on Winterfell and find hope:

Beyond, the tops of the keeps and towers still stood as they had for hundreds of years, and it was hard to tell that the castle had been sacked and burned at all. The stone is strong, Bran told himself, the roots of the trees go deep, and under the ground the Kings of Winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. Like me, he thought, I’m not dead either.

Bran looks back at Winterfell, and because he’s able to see the unharmed Godswood and the Kings of Winter still seated on their thrones, he can understand it’s not dead, just like him. Again, a Stark is drawing strength from their connection to each other, and through a Godswood.

I Am Stronger Within the Walls of Winterfell

This next one, you’re probably thinking “but the show did adapt Sansa’s snow castle chapter”, and I’m here to tell you they didn’t. I could write an entire book on how that scene is the perfect example of how adaptations fail; they *technically* adapted it, with pretty much the same events, but it was completely stripped of its emotional impact and narrative importance. It is the perfect microcosm of why Game of Thrones was a bad adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as how D&D consistently missed the emotional beats the Starks were supposed to have.

The show’s version of this chapter somehow centers it around Littlefinger, while simultaneously underselling the fact that Lysa killed Jon Arryn (they sandwiched this episode and scene between Tyrion’s trial and Oberyn’s death, when this chapter ends A Storm of Swords. All of the climaxes in that book, and GRRM saved this one for last). The end product is a rather forgettable scene that most people overlook.

In the book, this chapter is everything. It is the best chapter in asoiaf, and the best writing of anything ever. Period. And it’s a chapter centered around Sansa’s relationship to her home, to Winterfell. Unlike the very small castle of the show, Sansa spends hours building a castle big enough that she can step inside and continue building details. The fact that she can stay outside for hours, while several onlookers get too cold and go back inside, is a reminder that she is a Stark.

And this chapter is centered around a Godswood. The tree never took root, because the Eyrie is too high for weirwoods, but the courtyard Sansa’s in was meant to be a Godswood. And since she doesn’t have a real one, Sansa builds her own inside her snowy Winterfell.

Being up in the mountains is also the first time Sansa’s seen true snow since she said goodbye to Robb in Winterfell, and just the thought of it makes her dream of home and of memories with Bran and Arya. She wakes up having dreamed of home, and thinks she’s sleeping next to her sister until she wakes up enough to realize she’s not in Winterfell.

When Sansa’s alone with no real connection to home, she finds the closest thing to Winterfell (the failed Godswood) and builds her own. She literally gains strength from it:

She wondered where this courage had come from, to speak to him so frankly. From Winterfell, she thought. I am stronger within the walls of Winterfell.

Her home and her family give her strength to stand up to her abuser, just as Arya was able to escape the abuse of Harrenhal and Bran escaped the Boltons.

There is way more than these three instances, but these are the best examples of D&D failing to adapt the Starks as a pack, or as individuals with feelings. Of course the ending didn’t feel right emotionally, because we had no explanation for what emotions led our Starks to their destinies.

I’ll probably make a post specifically about this in a couple days or weeks, but I can see GRRM’s ending stuck within D&D’s sloppy rush to the end:

The first time Arya leaves Westeros, she leaves because she thinks all her family is dead or taken, and that Winterfell is gone forever. At the end, she’ll leave because she is sure her family loves her, and that she has a room in Winterfell whenever she wants to visit Good Queen Sansa. Arya is also fast to make friends of all different people, and would start her own pack of rogues as she travels the world.

Sansa won’t be alone because she, like Arya, is good at finding her own pack. (And GRRM has built his world out so extensively, it’s honestly a joke to think we could be in a crowded room and recognize no one). Sansa’s friends are her people. She throws feasts constantly, and like Ned, always has a seat at the High Table for the small folk. She has many ladies in waiting, true friends of hers that help her write songs and stories, and sew dresses. She is a good and kind Queen, and visits the Wall constantly as she helps the Lord Commander resettle the Gift.

King Bran the Wise (or ya know, just not broken) rules from his Weirwood Throne on the Isle of Faces, at the heart of his kingdom. After Daenerys burns King’s Landing, he moves the capital since The Red Keep was a monument to Aegon’s Conquest - a symbol of tyranny King Bran is trying to move forward from. He fills his council with highborn and lowborn alike. He constantly talks to his siblings; Sansa waits for him at the Godswood, and Arya and Jon see him through Ghost and Nymeria. 

Just because they’re far in distance, doesn’t mean they aren’t a pack. They all know the others are safe, and that they’ll see see each other soon. GRRM will invest the right amount of time explaining the emotional beats of this ending to make it feel right. He cares so much about the Starks. He wrote them a whole epic fantasy because he saw Bran finding pups in the snow. He loves them more than we do, guys. 

The Starks are the Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#game of thrones #Sansa Stark #Arya Stark #bran stark #asoiaf meta #if you're wondering why Jon wasn't included #it's because that boy was a whole mess #needs his own post to explain the unique injustice that was done to him

[ginmo]

I’d very much like to hope this isn’t George’s end for Brienne, and I don’t really believe it is, but a tiny bit of me thinks back to how D&D said they seeded in endgame stuff in S4 because it was the first season after they had that story conference with George and there was so much emphasis on the white book that season. But we’ll never get ADOS so I’ll remain happy in my headcanons.

You know what was also seeded in S4 and even in later seasons after their conversation with GRRM? Their marriage.

4x01: Jaime and Tywin conversation, with Jaime protesting becoming heir because he wants to be near Cersei. Assuming his character has development and will break from her (which he does in canon and should have been starting at that point), “I don’t want a wife, I don’t want children!” would translate into him willingly getting married and wanting to openly father.

4x01: Maybe you’re a Lannister too

4x02: While the Bear and the Maiden Fair is playing in the background, Loras tells Jaime he’ll never marry Cersei and then walks off. When he walks off, Brienne walks past and Jaime looks up at her.

Then we have the whole conversation with Cersei and Brienne, with Bear and the Maiden Fair playing in the background again. The scene establishes that Brienne is in love with Jaime (and CERSEI NEVER FINDS OUT THEY BONE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ugh that’s another rant). The Brienne and Cersei scene isn’t direct marriage foreshadowing of course, but when you couple it with the previous scene with Loras, Jaime and the Brienne transition … well.

Also why the fuck would they seed a ONE EPISODE consummation in episode 8 all the way back to the beginning of season fucking 4 (and even back to season 2) if there was no intended meaningful endgame for this relationship? And the best part? GRRM wrote that episode, and we know he wrote those scenes because he mentioned he had to imagine how a Cersei and Brienne encounter would go down.

4x06: Jaime and Tywin conversation, with Jaime showing a bit of growth by agreeing to “marry a suitable woman and father children named Lannister.” He’s essentially choosing Tyrion over Cersei. (so lmfao to their switch from his core being “the things I do for love” to “the things I do for Cersei.”). Considering this is the last conversation he has with his father, with him saying “you have my word,” that gives scene a lot of fucking weight in terms of foreshadowing. YES, the plan didn’t work because Tyrion went crazy during his trial, so he doesn’t have to hold to any agreements he made with his father. But… that misses the point. In that season, Jaime went from totally rejecting any outcome where he’d have to leave Cersei, to choosing his brother’s life over his twin and accepting his role as heir. Because he showed that growth, and this was the last conversation he had with Tywin, it sets up the possibility of him being able to make that decision willingly in the future.  

Also, that scene is like a checklist lol. Tywin is telling him to leave the KG, which HE DOES, and then marry a suitable woman to father children named Lannister (oh HEY there’s a Lady Brienne who you just sent on a quest, gifting her with your own fucking sword -a classic literary symbol for love-, who you coincidentally just had a transformative journey with, and who coincidentally just had a scene where it was revealed she was in love with you HMMMMMMM I wonder where this story is going) 

5x03: Brienne’s happiest moment. This scene right here is why I LOATH HER ENDING FYI. They really failed at adapting her character to screen, but her ending on the show even sucks WITHIN IN THEIR OWN NARRATIVE and defeats the entire fucking point of her character. (I’m not going to rant about that anymore, but I’ll link you to posts that explains why I hate it. [1], [2], [3] [4]). 

Anyway, not only have they been setting up Jaime for marriage, but they also threw this bit in that show’s Brienne isn’t opposed to marriage and being a lady!! She literally says the happiest she had ever been was when the boys wanted to marry her and take her back to their castles. This scene is now completely pointless! Yes, it was to show why she was so devoted to Renly, but they could have written it a million different ways without adapting the romantic rejection element to her arc if they were just going to shit on it in the end? They didn’t have to say she loved the idea of marriage and living that life style? SO LOGICALLY, before the S8 mess, one would think there was a narrative point to throw that in, and that it could be foreshadowing of a marriage between her and Jaime if you add everything up (and for book readers especially since this is also heavily foreshadowed in the books)

5x04: Jaime drooling over Tarth. Seriously, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS SCENE other than to continuously seed his connection to Brienne and possibly foreshadow HIS ENDGAME DESTINATION? Keep in mind they spent loads of money and time on actors to stand around so Jaime can stare at a CGI Tarth. If they wanted to just show that he was thinking of Brienne (again, WHY, if it was meant to be just some half episode fling?!), they could have done it in a way less expensive and time consuming way through dialogue, or him writing her name down on his page of the White Book (WHICH HE DIDN’T DO ON THE SHOW DFGHSLKDJSFGHL) but NO they INTRODUCED THE ENTIRE FUCKING ISLAND I mean…. 

5x10: Jaime tells Myrcella he’s her father. In the books, it is made clear that Jaime develops a desire to want to father his children, but knows he’s unable to. He even has a thought about how if he has another child he’s going to make damn sure he gets to hold it. This scene is introducing his desire to father, but is now reduced to being completely pointless thanks the S8 and Jaime apparently not caring about having a child. Before the joke of S8, if you add this scene with everything else, it’s a sign that the Tywin Checklist is on its way to completion, just in a way Jaime had not intended. 

6x06: There is literally NO REASON for Jaime to leave the Kingsguard, other than to release him from vows so he’s eligible to land, titles, and marriage. He could have achieved the same endgame while never being released from the KG. He could have left Cersei to join the North while still being in the KG/QG. In the books he even runs off with Brienne to help her while he’s still in the KG. Then Tommen says this, “you have served your House and your king faithfully for many years, and you’ll continue to do so, but not in this city.” Keep in mind that a) from a narrative standpoint there is no reason for him to leave the KG unless he’s specifically being set up for marriage and b) we were introduced to Tarth in the previous season. 

Then we get the tent scene in episode 8, which isn’t marriage foreshadowing by itself, but it for fucking sure continues to seed that relationship with one of their most romantic scenes (and foreshadowing the bang), almost immediately after he has been released from the KG. Anyone who has the slightest bit of pattern recognition, and able to string clues from a narrative together, can see where this is heading. 

7x04: Brienne accepting her title as Lady. Ignoring the fact she doesn’t reject her title in the books, the show has her say over and over and over again that she’s not a lady. We assume this stems from her insecurities and not because she doesn’t want it, because her insecurities are strong in the books and on the show they even established she was happy with the thought of married life in a castle. So obviously there was some sort of confidence boost for her character development on the show, since she’s now accepting her title with a “thank you” and a smile. So… WHAT’S THE POINT of all this Lady Brienne build up for her show arc if the plan was just to have her ditch her title by joining a celibate organization in the end? This was a seed for a very different endgame. 

We also have the dragon pit scene where Cersei looks at them TWICE. Again, not marriage foreshadowing, but taking everything into consideration and piecing it all together…. 

D&D very clearly had an entirely different endgame seeded. I am convinced GRRM told them the Jaime and Brienne marriage endgame, and they seeded it JUST IN CASE they decided to follow through. They’re lazy writers and never cared about properly adapting Jaime and Brienne (I mean, LSH? Adapting literal opposite scenes like the WST?), and they didn’t have a plan after the Red Wedding (they even admitted to not writing stuff that fans started to guess because sHoCk), They threw in only a COUPLE bits of contradictory endgame seeds just to give themselves an out. Towards the end, they decided to go with the out. When did they decided to detour from GRRM and drop it? I’m not sure, but I think they made this final decision when they suspiciously removed Cersei’s miscarriage scene from S7 at the last minute. 

Anyway, the scene with Brienne reading his page doesn’t even happen in the books, and IF she winds up as some bodyguard in the end (again HIGHLY DOUBT), it’ll be a completely changed KG that allows love and heirs. In the books it is made clear that Brienne is the heir to Tarth and it doesn’t look like her father is going to have any other children. And again, she definitely doesn’t oppose being a Lady, she just thinks she’s unworthy to be one and unworthy to be his heir because of her insecurities. 

#gm answers #also #they even point out she's the heir to Tarth on the show too! LIKE WTF #THEY DID IN EPISODE 2 #BY EMPHASIZING SHE'S AN ONLY CHILD #and WOW excuse my typos #I am still half asleep

[mattatouile]

headcanons for chapter 8 of we make the rules

below the cut in case people haven’t read yet! (am I spoiler warning a fanfic? maybe?)

1) Jaime’s mom died when he was 8 and his Aunt Genna made sure the kids went to grief counselors/therapy for it, because Aunt Genna is the BEST even if Tywin is the worst. Because of this, Cersei and Jaime didn’t develop quite the same sort of super toxic co-dependent incestuous relationship. But they were still just...a little co-dependent, just because Tyrion was too young to know anything about their mother, and their father was extremely neglectful. So. 

2) Jaime, because he did always really want his dad to just give a fuck, went to the right University and got into the best Law School in Westeros. He got the perfect internship at Targaryen, Hightower & Dayne. He put in his time, he accepted the job, he spent two years there and then -- he just couldn’t deny it anymore. Something was wrong with Aerys Targaryen and he didn’t know what until Elia stopped by one day and Jaime saw the bruises on her arm and the holllow look in her eyes. And then he found out Aerys was abusing the receptionist and sexually harassing her. Jaime found a way to convince Elia that he was trustworthy and with his support, she filed for divorce and let everything out of the bag about the abuse and the sexual harassment. Jaime helped her in every way he could, including speaking out publicly about Aerys.

3) Aerys was found guilty of sexual harassment and basically lost his ass. Because this is my world and fuck the patriarchy. It doesn’t hurt that the Martells and the Lannisters have just as much weight behind them as Aerys (or almost, and combined...) Jaime’s father was furious with him. He besmirched the family name, basically, and when Jaime decided that he would start his own firm with his childhood bff Addam and Ilyn Payne, it didn’t actually help matters. 

4) When Robert Baratheon was publicly outed in the news for his many, many mistresses and children, Jaime refused to help defend him or turn the tide. He refused to make any statements of support for anything other than his sister. This did not help matters at all, and actually put a strain on the relationship with him and Cersei because she was like, “Do you think I didn’t fucking know about the other women? I’m not a fucking idiot, Jaime.” 

5) Jaime and Addam picked Ilyn to go into practice with them (okay, they all but begged him) because the Paynes were a recognized name, and Ilyn was notorious for being a stern, unforgiving, morally upstanding man. He would give them some clout and they trusted him to at least hold with the same opinion they had regarding the working environment. 

6) Oh, right. The divorce. In keeping with making his father happy, Jaime also married the Perfect Acceptable Woman, Lysa Arryn (in this universe I’ve branched out and she’s not Sansa’s aunt because my head hurts even imagining it). They are...not a good match. At all. They never really were, but they were supposed to get married so they did. Within a year of getting, he finds out that Lysa’s been sleeping with Petyr Baelish for basically the entire time they’ve been together. The weird thing is, that’s not the part that’s upsetting. He’s just sad and maybe a little mad that he wasted 6 years of his life in a relationship he didn’t want just because he was so desperate to make his father happy and The Right Kind of Son(and man). 

7) He threw himself into his career after that, and just sort of...let that be an excuse for not dating a lot. He really didn’t have a lot of time, but he also certainly wasn’t going out to bars and trying to meet people in his little downtime. He did end up dating a nice woman for a little than a year like five years after he and Lysa split up, but it just kind of fizzled out. Jaime Lannister: Unlucky in Love.

--

And now for Addam Marbrand, my perfect boy. I think some readers wondered why Addam was SO angry and why he showed up at Jaime’s house so late. So like, bearing in mind that some of this will be addressed in the next chapter, this isn’t really spoilery because it’s basically just connecting the dots of the story to this point.

So, as noted above, Addam and Jaime have known each other forever and they’ve been extremely good, if not best, friends for most of their lives. Addam also knows how vocal and serious Jaime has been about never being like the Aerys Targaryens and Robert Baratheons of the world. 

Addam has also suspected for months that something was going on with Brienne. He thought Jaime was involved somehow, until Jaime swore up and down and Brienne promised too that it had nothing to do with their working relationship. Addam trusts Jaime. Pretty much implicitly. But he cannot quite shake the feeling that something is off. 

When Addam finds out about the aborted kiss--well.

Here’s the thing, Addam did trust Jaime implicitly until he all but has it confirmed that his best friend has been bold-faced lying to him for months. It’s not just that Jaime lied, it’s that Jaime has lied more than once, and has made Addam feel like he’s imagining things.

He is pissed because Jaime knows first hand the consequences of this sort of situation. And the thing is, he might assume it’s all consensual and fine ... except that Tarth has been acting weird and uncomfortable and she pulled away from Jaime’s embrace. Addam can’t help but start putting together pieces into a really terrible, hideous puzzle. So not only is his friend lying, but his friend is lying about something that could ruin his life and their company and fuck over everyone and of all the men in the world, Addam expected it from Jaime least of all. 

And at the end of the day, Jaime knows good and damn well that it’s not something actually forbidden. You just have to document things and make sure everything is above board with HR and Jaime doesn’t get to decide Brienne’s promotions, etc. It’s so easy. It’s so easy that if they’re just dating, surely Jaime and Brienne are both smart enough they would just do the simple thing like signing a piece of fucking paper so that their entire lives don’t blow up in their faces.   

#we make the rules #my fanfic #i write things #we make the rules headcanons

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

This entire episode and subsequent ones take place in various King’s Landing locations. The episode also takes place entirely at night, the Long Night has descended on King’s Landing and it will remain night until around the middle of Episode 10

Arya and Gendry 

Finally reunite, he jokes he was just going to be on his way to Winterfell to see her but she came to him instead, after they hear about the retreat of the North and the Wall falling, Arya tasks Gendry with making her a specialized weapon, Gendry is only too happy to oblige

Once team Stark arrives on the Greyjoy ships/with the dragonglass, Gendry teaches the other smiths on the Street of Steel how to work the dragonglass and convinces them to start making weapons for the coming battle against the Army of the Dead (he uses the Long Night as his evidence to convince them)

Team Stark/Greyjoy 

Arrive in King’s Landing, Bran successfully/stealthily gets a small party of them into the city to meet up with Davos, Tyrion, Jaime, Gendry, and Arya

Team Targaryen 

(Jorah, Missandei, Melisandre and Grey Worm) make it into King’s Landing, Bran/Tyrion know to look for them because of the raven from Summerhall

Sam and Gilly 

Also arrive in King’s Landing as there’s really nowhere to go with the dead coming south - much of Westeros that believes in the threat of the White Walkers is converging on the city

Jon and Daenerys 

Arrive just outside King’s Landing, their armies gathered there believe they are going to attack the city but Jon and Dany inform them that there is a much more important threat coming for them all - the Army of the Dead

Arya meets Jon and Dany outside the city gates and leads them secretly inside to meet with everyone else

Baelish 

Runs into Gilly in the thick of things, asks her what she’s reading, she shows him Septon Maynard’s diary, Baelish reads the passage about Rhaegar and Lyanna’s marriage, juicy stuff, the cogs start turning

Baelish later catches up with Howland Reed (whom he knows was with Ned when he found Lyanna dying of a “fever”), pumps him for information, what did he and Jon talk about back at Greywater Watch, what did Howland give Jon?

Howland is onto Baelish but accidentally lets slip the “gift” (Rhaegar’s harp) for Jon was something of his mother’s, Baelish’s spidey senses are tingling off the charts, he asks Howland if this has anything to do with Rhaegar and Lyanna’s secret marriage, Howland is taken aback, can’t answer, Baelish is satisfied, he’s figured it out, this is an even better secret than Dany’s infertility, it’s fucking Christmas for Littlefinger

Baelish confides in Varys, this news is mind blowing however neither can predict how Dany will react to this news (they don’t know Jon has told Dany yet), however, if she reacts in a way that derails their plans - marry Jon, name Sansa heir - they have already set up their contingency plan anyway

Bran

Tells Jon/Dany that the Night King has undead Viserion and while this initially worries everyone about the Night King’s arrival, Bran assures everyone that the Night King staying with his army rather than flying ahead. Viserion would only burn the living making them un-turnable so the NK would prefer his army to attack the living instead. Undead Viserion is only for fighting Dany’s living dragons

Bran and Arya have a private moment and he goes back to pestering her about her magical Stark blood. Arya still thinks it’s stupid - she’s the assassin, he’s the warg. But Bran reminds Arya that her assassin abilities rely on her becoming someone (something else). If she can turn into a different person with just a face, what else could she be capable of? Arya is reluctant, but finally allows Bran to blindfold her (like she was sightless at the House of Black and White) in order to help her see and Arya wargs Nymeria for the first time. Arya is stunned by what she’s just been able to do but realizes there’s not much difference between becoming someone else with a face and becoming her wolf. Bran tells Arya she’s always been the warrior in the family, he needs her to be a different kind of warrior in the fight against the dead

Bran convinces everyone they need to treat with Cersei so Cersei will open the gates of King’s Landing to allow everyone to take refuge in the city/defend the city as that’s where the AOTD are headed

Bran explains the Night King is headed to King’s Landing because one million people reside in the city - if the Night King takes King’s Landing, there won’t be any army in the world that can stop him (a city fit for the night king), they must protect the city/the people at all costs

Cersei 

Cersei sends word to Euron summoning him back to King’s Landing.

Team Stark/Targaryen meet with Cersei and the meeting is relatively brief, just a few key players - Bran, Jon, Dany, Cersei, Jaime, Tyrion, Qyburn, The Mountain - Cersei quips why would she let all Stark/Targaryen armies into her city, what if they’re there to pull a Tywin and sack the city, Bran points out they’ve been in the city for several days and hundreds of soldiers are already waiting to act if she doesn’t comply - they can either do this the easy way and leave Cersei alive and safe in the Red Keep, or they can do this the hard way and kill her before the dead arrive, Cersei reluctantly opens the city to all the armies and all the people of Westeros seeking asylum from the Army of the Dead

As they are leaving Cersei, Bran turns back to her and answers the question she’s been too afraid to ask but has been wondering since the very beginning: The one she’s feared, the one she’s been afraid of, the one who has cast her down and taken all she holds dear... it’s her past self and the memory of that prophecy haunting her all her life. The Younger, More Beautiful, Queen.

Episode title would come from a Bran line about King’s Landing being the perfect city for the Night King to attack. It’s where Aegon I landed so of course the new big “conqueror” of the series, the main “King” would have to “land” here as well - and he will have his own dragon to boot, just like Aegon I.

Episode 7 Inside the Episode: A City Fit For A King

1) Everyone in King’s Landing? Really?

I know, I know. But it makes sense. Season 7 nearly everyone converged on King’s Landing for the “summit” only to leave that same episode, and then the same thing happened in Season 8 with everyone converging on Winterfell only to leave it a few episodes later too. Plus, it makes the most sense for everyone to want to protect King’s Landing because of the city's population. “That’s more people than the entire North, crammed into that.” So it would be WAY more devastating for the AOTD to attack King’s Landing than to just hang around the North. As Bran would tell everyone in this episode, if the Night King takes King’s Landing, there won’t be any army in the whole world that can stop him. So it finally gives us STAKES for what would happen if the living lose. Like, real stakes.

2) Bran the Strategist?

It makes a lot of sense for Bran to be the strategist here and calling many of the shots because a) he’s all knowing and can see hundreds of thousands of battles into the past, what strategies worked, which ones didn’t, and b) we’re setting him up to be King here. To see Bran flex his skills and show them off was totally what was missing from Seasons 7&8, you know, showing the audience WHY Bran is the perfect person to be King because of his abilities - along with a more human Bran in general and remember, here he is normal Bran, just all knowing too, like Bloodraven.

3) Baelish figuring out R+L=J so easily?

Like I’ve said, Baelish is the information guy. He knows everything. He can put things together before anyone else can so it makes sense he would find this out about Jon on relatively few clues. Plus, he was around for the Rebellion. He’d be quicker to put this info together than say, Jon or Dany, who hadn’t been born yet.

4) Warg Arya?

FUCK. YES. Arya is already a warg in the books but I feel like this is also where all the HOB&W stuff was going in the show as well. Arya is showcasing her abilities and not only that, her magical powers will have a role in the endgame, unlike in 8x03 where she just stabbed the Night King with the Catspaw dagger - something literally any other character could have done.

5. YMBQ??

Yep, it’s Cersei’s past self. Sorry guys. I’m just convinced of this. I know the books suggest it could be Dany and there’s definitely a lot to support that. But Dany didn’t kill Joffrey or drive Jaime away or get Cersei imprisoned by the faith, none of it. It was Cersei herself. Cersei has been behind all her own downfalls so to me, the YMBQ is Cersei’s younger self, the memory of the prophecy, wanting it to not come true, and Cersei inadvertently doing everything to make the prophecy come true. 

As always, comments are welcome. 

Until next week!

To Read Previous Episodes:

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall 

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

#anti got #anti D&D #game of thrones #bran stark #Arya Stark #Gendry Waters #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #petyr baelish #varys #Cersei Lannister