#stark restoration

[agentrouka-blog]

Who defeats the Bolton Frey in TWOW? Stannis looks to be in a decent position as far as Theon TWOW sample chapter is concerned but I just don't think it makes narrative sense to take it. He doesn't have any narrative and thematic connection to Winterfell. Probably one of the Starks.

I'd say, purely taking a step back and considering what the author would be saying with these choices, the answer is clear.

Stannis is doomed. He burns people alive. There can be no reward, no vindication for his acts. He isn't winning back Winterfell and gaining himself a toasty seat in the center of the North after defeating his local enemy. There's no credible challenge left to his intermediate safety if he wins back Winterfell now. What a let-down if he has Winterfell and GRRM has to create another reason for his downfall out of thin air? If, however, this confrontation with Ramsay ended in a defeat or stalemate of some sort, this paves the way for the desperate act foreshadowed all this time: burning Shireen, and thereby immolating the remains of his entire House, his legacy and himself.

What caused the fall of Winterfell? A broken homebase. The Boltons were champing at the bit to betray Ned and then Robb from day one. House Dustin isn't mourning them, nor are the elder Karstarks. Theon's traumatic childhood led him to take advantage of an ill-defended castle and the Boltons swept in, obliterating Stark rule in the North within months of Robb's coronation. No matter how loyal some of the Northern lords are, others did not feel that way. Loyalty is earned, though fealty is sworn even under duress. To have an ethical grounding for their rulership in the North, the Starks need to be "chosen", they need to earn their seat back.

The only way to "fix" their losses narratively is for the Stark seat to be regained in a demonstration of cooperation, where the combined loyal effort of numerous and heterogenic Stark allies helps them defeat the "usurpers", who have (conveniently) narratively discredited themselves as villains by their own cruelty (killing Northmen, abusing the smallfolk, colluding with enemies) and their lack of concern with what really matters: preparing for winter and defending the North in all directions by supporting the Watch.

Not one single Stark can retake Winterfell, it has to be a group effort. It has to be about the purpose of leadership in the North more than it has to be about enforcing any claims or rights. It has to be about preparing the North for what's to come. And that's something they can only survive when they all work together, not by the grace of one chosen family parking their butt in a stone chair.

A fun twist would be if House Bolton were to take themselves out by infighting before they even needed to be defeated in a terrible battle. That seems to be at least partially likely, considering the way tension is rising between Ramsay, Roose and the Freys. 

#asoiaf speculation #twow speculation #stannis baratheon #house stark #stark restoration #winterfell #politics in asoiaf

[babybells123]

(ASOS, Sansa II)

(ASOS, Jon XII)

#jonsa #jon x sansa #sansa stark #jon snow #don’t tell me they mean nothing to each other when they have such glaring parallels #it’s the way no one else in the series has this exact dream to restore Winterfell and have a little starkling family #in the same book mind you !! #the way Robb is the missing piece to Sansa’s fantasy <33 #and Jon and Sansa don’t mention each other because they’ll be parents #oh the feelings I have #sometimes there was even a girl who looked like arya #and arya is known to resemble Jon really closely #implying that Sansa wants to marry someone of the north with stark features #which makes so much sense for her character arc to BE with someone born and raised in the north #not another random lord to exploit her claim and power #see this is why I wrote a 40 paged meta analysis and compiled it into a PowerPoint #and then presented it to my mother thus converting her into a Jonsa truther #WITHOUT OBJECTION #on a side note I find it so interesting when you talk to someone who’s neutral on ships and is willing to listen to whatever theory #as objectively possible #because as soon as I pointed all the evidence out to my mum she was like woahhh you’re smart analysis and you’re so correct

[idk-bruh-20]

Irondad fic ideas #139

NWH AU where Tony's been in a coma this whole time. He still is. But the world thinks he's dead.

One day, Rhodey is in some science place (maybe SI, maybe a community college where he was giving a speech?) and he sees this kid tinkering who looks exactly like Tony Stark. The teen Tony Stark from when he first met him at MIT. Even down to the mannerisms. He goes up and has a brief conversation with this stranger, just curious. Then he leaves.

Unbeknownst to the kid, Peter, Rhodey managed to grab something for a DNA test. The kid just looked too much like his best friend. Like seeing a ghost

When they analyze the DNA, they learn that this kid is in fact Tony's biological son

Rhodey goes back to find the kid, this time bringing Happy. Peter gets to have the super fun conversation where two people who should know him but don't tell him that the person he saw as a father was his actual father, only it's too late

They convince Peter to come with them eventually. And Peter gets the shock of his entire life

Over the next little while, at Tony's bedside, Peter gets to know Morgan (who he would've seen as a sister anyway but this is insane). He also gets reacquainted with Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper, who all admittedly find him a bit sus with how much he seems to know.

But...this is Tony's kid. His son. So they let him be there, let him talk to Tony and hold his hand. 

Finally, finally, Tony wakes up.

And it turns out, being in a coma and thought dead by the entire world, including wizards, makes one exempt from certain magic

Bonus:

As he sits by Tony's bedside, Peter has to grapple with a lot of emotions. One of them is the realization that he was never actually related to Uncle Ben, which makes him feel like his uncle and aunt died for nothing

Pepper helps him through it. Even not knowing him the way she once did, she knows plenty about guilt complexes and chosen family. She assures Peter that he's still a Parker, no matter what, and that his aunt and uncle wouldn't have given him up for the world

Another thing Peter deals with is the fear of Tony waking up and not knowing him. It breaks his heart just thinking about it.

Cue THE most relieving hurt/comfort reunion ever imagined

#peter (crying): you remember me? #tony (also crying): obviously?? I did all this to bring you back #ironfam: the hell tony?? why didn't you ever tell us you had a son?!?! #tony: what? you guys know peter.. #irondad fic ideas #irondad and spiderson #miscommunication and confusion continue until they finally get through to tony that peter is not just his emotional son #he is also his biological son #tony: ...HOW has this not come up before??? kid we did all those tests on your freaky spider dna- #entire room: YOUR SON IS SPIDER-MAN?!?! #iron dad and spider son #tony stark #peter parker #nwh fix-it #endgame who? #ironfam #tony once he somehow restores FRIDAY'S files and discovers she literally did run a paternity test: why didn't you tell me this hon? #FRIDAY: all data indicated that you already knew and were acting as peter's father #queueueueue #weekly reminder that i love you all but am too busy to be human :) #fic ideas still postponed but you can send asks if you want i just won't see them for a while #see announcements

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Yeah it’s cool and all that Lyanna Mormont and Wylla Manderly are such vocal Stark loyalists. But it’s actually quite important that they share names with two of the most important women in Jon Snow’s life: Lyanna Stark - his mother, and Wylla - his wetnurse and rumored mother in universe. Such stunning loyalty from these two girls who are named after women so important to Jon just tickles all the key parts of my brain. These are the women who gave him life. And it’s even more poignant when we realize that by ADWD, when the girls are declaring their loyalty, Jon is the KiTN who bears the name STARK per Robb’s decree.

#jon snow #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #lyanna mormont #-> #lyanna stark #wylla manderly #<- #wylla the wetnurse #Lyanna couldn’t press her son’s claim and wylla had no power #so little Lyanna and young wylla step in for them #and do what they can with the little power they have #though they may not truly know what it means #I’m sorry but jon is like at the very heart of the gnc - however big or small #the conspiracy by itself is really about love - love the north has for the Starks and esp ned stark #but then we have Jon a product of love - lyanna’s wylla’s and ned’s #and he has been named KING #it’s why a stark comeback can’t be punitive vengeance #it has to be about restorative justice - the return of love to the north where fear and hate once ruled #let stannis do the avenging #but let jon bring love when all is said and done

[ladystoneboobs]

no of fence to jon snow fans who for some reason care about his exact age, but these discussions just annoy me no end. not only bc there's no way any weirwood flashbacks bran has to rhaegar/lyanna will come with time/datestamps, but also bc there's always comments like this:

SEVERAL turns of the moon (ie, months)?! have these people never seen a human baby before or just have no concept of their ages? even if we take into account travel time from the toj to wf, meaning jon was not a newborn too fresh out the oven when catelyn and robb arrived, there's still a difference between a newborn and a 3mo and an even bigger difference between those infants and an older baby 5-7mo. there's very good reasons these lines were cut. whatever birthdates can be worked out internally for jon and robb from when they're first mentioned as 15 and 16 don't matter in the end, bc grrm doesn't care about a consistent timeline and the actual text of catelyn's pov and ned's convo with robert about cheating on her should outweigh any guesstimates about jon's official nameday wrt robb's. catelyn may not have cared for jon, but she would sure as hell have noticed his nameday if it came before robb's and made him ned's firstborn. if jon's birthday canonically came before robb's then either ned's cover story would not involve adultery (not impossible for him to sire a bastard before his wedding), or he'd just give jon a new nameday along with his new name to fit the adultery lie. it makes no sense for him to lie about one and not the other, undermining the big lie with a little public clue of his story not adding up. whatever else she was as a stepmother, cat wasn't stupid and a bastard who was actually the eldest son being raised alongside her trueborn heir could be an even bigger insult than whether he was born of adultery or not.

BUT, the unknowability of jon's true birthday is not the only reason this annoys me, it's bc this is all based on the assumption that jon must be older since rhaegar/lyanna ran off together before ned married cat, as if both boys must have been conceived asap as robb canonically was when his parents consummated their marriage. and that's not how human reproduction works! even if you don't understand how fast babies grow in the first year, you should know that people who get pregnant do so through ovulation cycles and a lucky sperm finding an egg and all that, not just immediately getting knocked up as soon as one has p-in-v sex for the first time. not unless you only know mean girls sex ed where if you have sex you will get pregnant and die. (even tho lyanna did die, there's plenty of canon examples where pregnancy did not lead straight to death. also examples of people who did not get pregnant right away and even some who are/were sexually active and childless without always having moon tea on hand.) we can't know how long lyanna was having sex before that sperm+egg match happened or even how long she was with rhaegar before losing her technical virginity. if they were married, doesn't it make sense to think they didn't consummate their relationship until the wedding night either? that's the only leverage there is to ensure a status as wife rather than just mistress.

and while i just said grrm doesn't care about exact timelines and a lot is still foggy surrounding the rebellion and esp rhaegar, there is one timemarker wrt robert's rebellion he voluntarily threw in, time and time again: that stannis was besieged at storm's end for almost a whole year. that siege, which mind you, did not match the duration of the entire war. it only started after robert won his battles at gulltown and summerhall, returned to storm's end, and then went out and lost the battle of ashford, leaving his homeland open to the reachermen. the same siege which only ended when ned made a detour there after the sack of king's landing, before going to the toj. even if lyanna may not have given birth that exact day ned found her, she could only be waiting in that bloody bed for weeks at the most, not months. so if rhaegar knocked her up the very same night he carried her off and jon was still a newborn when ned found her after the siege of storm's end had ended, wouldn't that mean lyanna was pregnant for well over a year? that's not how human pregnancy works either! so, maybe that's proof that jon and robb, whichever order they were actually born in, were actually very close in age as babies, much closer than if they were both conceived asap.

and really, jon's actual birthdate does not matter imho, when he was raised not just as the bastard to robb's trueborn heir, but with robb also known by catelyn and the world as ned's firstborn (which he was, in any case, as jon was ned's nephew by birth). what difference could a birthdate before robb's make (even were there some means of discovery) after ned, cat, and robb are all dead? if one is looking only at his birth parents then he's only a firstborn child on lyanna's side, but definitely a second son on rhaegar's side. maybe he was always meant to be a second son with a not much older half-brother! even if the aegon fka young griff is not in fact rhaegar's son, he'll still be known as aegon vi targaryen, meaning jon will never be known as any father's elder son. if i may reference mean girls again, it's not going to happen.

#valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #robb stark #jonathan snowflake starkgaryen #i want him to succeed me as king in the north #jon snow #ned stark #lyanna stark #like this isn't prompted by anyone except that reddit post and its comments this has just annoyed me for so long #that's why i made that show!robb/show!jon coming of age gifset years ago bc narratively jon is always a second son #bc robb did everything first as elder bro and the only milestones jon will hit first will be the those robb can't since he's dead for good #(obviously starting with jon being first male stark to be brought back from the dead) #not that everyone interested in this debate thinks this way but it just feels tied to the idea of jon being a trueborn heir #not only was he never a bastard he was an eldest boy! eldest surviving boy with those pesky half-dornish sibs gone! point missed. #sorry i just dont think grrm means for a targ restoration with king jon any more than fake eldest boy kendall roy could win his succession #(c)lsb #i had to look up all the quotes on the big storm's end siege bc it makes me feel like i'm taking crazy pills #thinking what abt stannis starving for a year while others are like we just can't know how long rr was. was it even 9mons? #like yeah lollys's pregnancy doesn't add up but bc grrm really slowed the tl down postacok prob w/o really thinking #thats diff from repeatedly saying something lasted almost a year when he didn't have to give such a timeframe!

[rise-my-angel]

Really weird topic to bring up but have you seen the Robb/Daenerys shippers. They are hard core convince that Robb would become her loyal dog and give her the seven kingdoms. Like are we talking about the same Robb that fought for the North independence. I just find it kinda funny. Just wanted to know your opinion on this ship.

Robb and - thE DISRESPECT???? HELLO??

First of all, none of these people care about any character that isn't Dany. They literally just see Robb as loyal arm candy as much as they see Jon as her arm candy. Its pathetic. They aren't characters to them they are only accesories to Dany.

Second, DANY WOULD HAVE LINED ROBB UP RIGHT BESIDE THE TARLYS TO BURN ALIVE.

The show didnt go into detail, but part of why Dany I suspect, didn't take Jons claim as King in the North seriously is unironically because hes a bastard. Danys claim for the Iron Throne is depending on her highborn bloodright. Targaryeans already see themselves as superior people, and thus she definitely did not see Jon as a threat as much because to her, hes a bastard with a false claim to a Northern Kingdom she intends to force into subjegation anyways.

Robb though? Robb is a massive threat. Robb is Eddard Starks eldest trueborn son. He was the first King in the North since before her family invaded Westeros. He fought for Northern Independence tooth and nail. Robb would never bend the knee, its why he didn't have any treaty with Stannis despite their families close ties to each other. Stannis wanted Robb to bend the knee and so he refused. Robb would never give up Northern Independence. Never. Robb is also a charming man who is smart, a good battle commander and very well liked by the people and worshipped by his men. And he is a trueborn Stark.

Robb is a huge threat to her. Now so is Jon, but again, Dany does not consider Jons claim to be valid. Its why she doesn't mention Robb to him, shes trying to frame it like Jon has no right to rule. She could never say that to Robb, because he is the King the North the people chose after 300 years of forced subjegation.

Dany would absoutely consider Robb Stark her enemy, and Robb would hate her for the exact same reasons he hates the Lannisters. Robb would protect the North against her, and Dany would rather burn Robb alive because the North will never side with her as long as he lives.

WHY ARE JON AND ROBB NOTHING MORE THEN ARM CANDY TO DANY STANS I DONT GET IT

#IS THERE EVEN AN ANTI ROBB AND DANY TAG CUS IM APPARENTLY GONNA USE IT JUST TO BE SAFE #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #robb stark #jon snow #anti daenerys targaryen #anti daenerys stans #anti dany stans #anti targaryen #anti targ stans #anti targ restoration #anti jonerys #idk what robb and danys ship name is but i do throw shade at jonerys here so i guess ill just tag that

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #72: Game of Thrones, but make it Ptolemaic

There's something fascinating about the way the Ptolemys took over Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great - sure, anyone can conquer, but it takes an interesting mind to look around for ways to legitimate their rule and fall on sibling marriage as the solution. Yes, it was common among certain royal dynasties, but the Macedonian Greeks, from whom the Ptolemys descended, despised it. I would love a snapshot into how that first sibling marriage came to be.

It was this in mind I stumbled upon the idea for my next terrible fic idea: What if Jon and Robb were not of age with each other?

Aka: The Weirwood Queen Fic

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon, with two exceptions: 1) Lyanna dies giving birth to a daughter at the Tower of Joy. Ned names the girl after their favorite Great-Aunt, Jocelyn; and 2) Catelyn loses the child she conceives on her wedding night.

(Robb is still born, but his birth date and the birth dates of all the other Stark children are pushed back two years.)

Now, it is one thing to return from war with a bastard when your wife has just given birth to a legitimate heir; it is quite another thing to return from war with a bastard after she miscarried. For this reason Ned choses to pass Jocelyn off as his brother Brandon's bastard daughter with Ashara Dayne.

Jocelyn's childhood is similar in many ways to canon, but not. Without her "twin" or any trueborn siblings to draw attention away, most of the castle dotes on young Jocelyn. Even once her cousins are born, Jocelyn remains the oldest of the lot, filled with the confidence that a child only has when they know they are loved. She loves her cousins in turn, but with the age gap they're never quite as close as canon, and she's more nursemaid for the younger ones than a playmate.

Catleyn, of course, loathes her, and begs for her to be sent away - which she eventually is. But instead of sending Jocelyn to the Silent Sisters, or across the sea, or marrying her off to a loyal man-at-arms stationed on the edge of Stark lands... Ned accepts widowed Rickard Karstark's offer for Jocelyn's hand. He's a loyal bannerman whose family has often wed Stark bastards and was notorious for his care and devotion to his first wife. It is the best Ned can do for her.

And so Jocelyn becomes the second Lady Karstark, which is awkward, as her stepsons are quite a bit older than her and her stepdaughter Alys is only six months younger, but Jocelyn thrives as a lady of a Northern House. Her husband is kind enough and largely allows her to run the house as she will, which is as best as she could have hoped for in a marriage.

By the time King Robert rides north two years later than canon, Jocelyn has given birth to a son, Brandon, and is pregnant with a daughter, Lyanna.

Canon continues apace, if somewhat delayed. Ned becomes hand of the king and loses his head. The North rises up, names Robb King in the North... and Rickard's sons Torrhen and Edward are killed by Jaime Lannister, for which Rickard kills two hostages. Robb still choses to execute Rickard Karstark.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn has been rallying forces to take Winterfell back from the Greyjoy's in the North. She succeeds, only to learn within the week that her cousin has made her a widow.

Jocelyn quietly rages. She'd never loved her husband, but she'd been fond of him. It's the hypocrisy that gets her most - because the Starks have always put family first, but she's known from the beginning that some family counts more than others, otherwise Ned would have never killed her uncle Arthur, or led her mother Ashara to throw herself off a tower, or allowed his son to think it fitting to kill her husband while they knew Jocelyn was preparing to take back his home for him.

And so what you have is Jocelyn continuing to rule Winterfell in her cousin's name but largely acting on her own, never outright ignoring Robb's commands while he's still alive but following the letter rather than the spirit of the order.

This continues for some time, with Jocelyn Queen of the North in all but name after the Red Wedding - holding off the Boltons and the Greyjoys - and gaining the respect of the North.

Into this enter Bran (as played by the Three-Eyed Raven) and baby Rickon.

After four or five years of playing Regent for Sansa, still held hostage in King's Landing, the last thing Jocelyn wants to do is give up power to her thirteen year of cousin who 1) spent the last five years beyond the Wall, letting her do all the hard work of ruling and 2) has no idea what the political situation is in the North. Most of the Northern lords feel similarly and insist Bran and Jocelyn wed, if only so Jocelyn can continue what she's been doing while Bran learns the ropes.

Jocelyn is even less happy about this, but goes along with it in name only, sleeping in a separate part of the castle.

This goes on for about two years, Bran making all sorts of subtle attempts to undermine Jocelyn's rule that - if they'd succeeded - would only have destabilized the North. Jocelyn is gearing up to have him declared addled by his trip beyond the Wall when she catches Bran - or, rather, the Three-Eyed Raven - trying to jump ship into Jocelyn's son seven-year-old son, Brandon Karstark, who with his Targaryen and Stark blood would make a better host.

Explaining to her bannermen just why she murdered her second husband is a challenge, but the evidence - that he was trying to kill her son - is rather irrefutable. Unfortunately, it leaves her in the same position as before, this time having to marry her her ten-year-old cousin Rickon to continue ruling the North.

Through all of this, it should be clear Jocelyn is doing this less out of desire for personal power - though there is a glimmer of that, especially when certain lords demand she give up her regency to man - then desire to stabilize the North. Ned and Robb had gone south, and it had nearly cost the North everything. All Jocelyn wants to do is keep the madness consuming the south from infecting the North too.

Meanwhile, Daenerys and Young Griff have joined forces in Essos, married, and begun their reconquest of Westeros. Amid the chaos, they succeed brilliantly.

They leave the North for last, attempt to replay the submission of Torrhen, but in a much weaker position than The Conqueror was - they have dragons, but winter is setting in and their martial might is largely exhausted by a decade of warfare. Regardless, Jocelyn tells Rickon to bend the knee, realizing the North can't survive on its own for long. For this they get many concessions - a break in taxes, the title of Prince of the North, and the betrothal of the Dany and Young Griff's son and daughter to Jocelyn's children Lyanna and Brandon Karstark respectively.

Jocelyn continues to rule the North, largely without the input of her third husband, who after his majority largely spends his time in Dany and Young Griff's ongoing military campaigns - putting down rebellions throughout their empire, pirates in the Stepstones, and the like - until he is killed crossing a river in Essos. The title of Prince of the North falls to Jocelyn's son, Brandon Karstark, who drops the Kar from his name and rules well - with the help of his mother.

Bonuses include: 1) Jocelyn never expressing anything other than familial fondness for any of her husbands, never sleeping with the second two, and largely being presented as an aromantic asexual who because of societal expectations forces herself to try to have romantic/sexual feelings for her first husband, fails, and then keeps her second two firmly in the baby cousins category; 2) An exploration of family dynamics in Westeros - specifically, what it means to be on the outside looking in as a bastard and knowing that your uncle and cousin don't seem to count the death of your mother, mother's brother, or husband as kinslaying, and being a woman allowed to hold the reins of power while the men are away and being expected to turn everything over to the first male claimant who shows up after you've done all the hard work; 3) The Three-Eyed Raven putting on a masterclass of how to be subtly creepy enough to cause everyone around him to think they're imagining things, when in reality it's worse than they imagined, and having been working even beyond the Wall to help bring about the Targaryen Restoration; 4) No one ever suspecting Jocelyn as being Rhaegar's daughter, and historians using the Valeryian looks her children have with their Targaryen spouses as proof Young Griff was really Prince Aegon; and 5) An exploration of the North, its traditions, and its religion, with Jocelyn somewhat inadvertently bringing about a revival of the last two through her desire to Damnatio Memoriae her late and unlamented Aunt Catelyn.

And that's all I have. I suppose its not as ptolemaic as it could be, but I was thinking of Cleopatra VII and her marriages to her two younger brothers as I wrote it, so. As always, feel free to adopt this plot bunny, just link back if you ever do anything with it.

Other Jon Snow Headcanons: Aelor the Accursed | Aegon the Adopted | Aegon the Undying | Aegon the Unyielding | Aemon the Adventurous | Baelor the Brave | Bastard of Winterfell | Daemon the Destroyer | Daena the Dreamer | Daeron the Desired | Dyanna the Defiant | Elia the Magnificent | Jon the Fair | Jon Whitefyre | King of the Ashes | Lady Arryn | Lady Baratheon | Lady Lannister | Lady Stark | Lord of the Dance | Maekar the Maester | People's Queen | Prince Consort | Prince of Summerhall | Queen Mother | Queen of Nightingales | Red Queen | Rhaegar the Righteous | River Queen | Shiera Snowbird | Visneya the Victorious | Weirwood Queen | Wolf Queen

More Terrible Fic Ideas

#plot bunny #fic ideas #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #got #asoiaf #jon snow #jon snow is a targaryen #female jon snow #bran stark #rickon stark #arranged marriage #house stark #the old gods #three eyed raven #targaryen restoration #king in the north #queen in the north

[lunaathorne]

Elia and Sansa warriors braved the GoT fandom and we sure will rally behind Alicent Hightower if we have to.........

#alicent hightower #sansa stark #elia martell #anti Daenerys #anti targaryen #anti targ restoration #asoiaf #anti rhaegar targaryen

[annes-andromeda]

Haven’t posted anything GOT related in a while since that god awful finale, but since HOTD came out and I’ve been watching it, it honestly baffles how people can think that the Targaryens are the heroes of the story when:

The fact that House Targaryen’s origins literally parallel that of the opening dialogue of Avatar (the four nations lived in harmony but everything changed when the fire nation attacked/the kingdoms of Westeros were independent until Aegon and his sisters came in and conquered them)

The fact that Aegon melting the swords of his fallen enemies to create the Iron Throne is reminiscent of Sauron from Lord of the Rings creating the One Ring in the fiery pits of Mordor. Not only that, but the fact that GRRM himself has paralleled the IT to the OR (they’re both objects of power that corrupts anyone who wields them).

Also how ironic that the volcano the One Ring was created and destroyed in is called Mount Doom, when Old Valyria was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption. And what was the catastrophe called? The Doom.

The fact that in many medieval/fantasy stories, dragons are depicted as the beasts the knight must slay to save the princess locked away in the tower or, in the case of LOTR, greedy monsters who stow away treasure and will leave nothing but ashes in their wake (“I am fire. I am death”)

This might be a reach, but the fact that the Targaryen sigil is similar to another famous three-headed dragon known as Ghidorah; a sadistic, malicious kaiju who rather than kill for survival, kills for enjoyment and is the embodiment of death and destruction.

The fact that the colors of House Targaryen are colors often used for villains/antagonists. Plenty of animated villains from Disney use this color combination and, again with the LOTR parallels (ironic considering GRRM takes much inspiration from the works of Tolkien), the land of Mordor is a region of black soil with flowing, red lava.

The fact that the main element associated with House Targaryen is fire, which is one of the elements in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ title. Not only is it the opposite of the associated element of House Stark (ice), but also the fact that the first book/first season starts with the return of the White Walkers and ends with the return of the dragons, aka The Song of Ice and Fire, aka The Threat of the White Walkers and the Dragons.

The fact that GRRM has stated that “Fire consumes, but cold preserves”, which is in line with his words about the Starks being the heart/heroes of the story, and how the reason why Westeros’ monarchy is so flawed is because the Targaryens depended on the dragons to keep everyone in line, aka they relied on the dragons as their main source of power and without them they fell apart:

Well, the Starks are certainly the center of the story, when it begins… But, the Starks are the center of the book…

To me, the Starks are heroes…

The Kingdom was unified with dragons, so the Targaryen’s flaw was to create an absolute monarchy highly dependent on them… So, without dragons it took a sneeze, a wildly incompetent and megalomaniac king, a love struck prince, a brutal civil war, a dissolute king that didn’t really know what to do with the throne and then chaos.

Im just saying, the Targaryens have all these villainous parallels (amongst many more of which I probably forgot) but somehow they’re the true heroes/protagonists??

I’m not saying you can’t enjoy them. Who doesn’t love a good villain? But while many of the characters in GOT/ASOIAF are morally grey, including the Targaryens, ultimately many members of that family were horrible rulers who were nothing but cruel, entitled, and indifferent towards those around them.

In conclusion:

House Targaryen: making their problems everyone else’s problems since 2 BC.

#game of thrones #house of the dragon #anti targaryen #anti targ restoration #anti targ stans #pro stark #pro house stark

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Sorry girl, but you lost so badly, GRRM will never finish the books, meaning that there will be zero Stark restoration, zero Jonsa, and Daenerys is still alive. And the Greens are still utterly irrelevant and no character mention Alicent when they discuss the DoD. Stop stanning losers.

Oh honey. I know this is probably hard to you for hear, but I already have five books of Stark content to enjoy. I already have five books of Jon, Bran, Arya, and Sansa, not mention Ned and Cat, all pointing to a Stark restoration and the rebuilding of Winterfell. This entire series started with the scene of the Starks finding the direwolves. The original title of ADOS was A Time For Wolves. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Calling the Starks losers is very funny, when their enemies had to break the rules of their society to win and are already on their way out. The North Remembers and the mummer’s farce is almost done. Like, I don’t know what to tell you, the Starks still are at the heart of the books as written, doesn’t matter if George ever finishes ADOS, the Starks are still the heart. And that’s a win for me. And on Dany? Well. I mean. Girl is not exactly winning at everything at the moment, is she? One of the few essays about ASOIAF George has ever endorsed is the Meereenese Blot. Maybe go check it out? Or maybe reread ADWD? That’s sure to give you the warm and fuzzies about Dany all over again. And it’s funny for you to bring the Greens into this. Bc F&B is fundamentally an unserious book that I enjoy laughing at. Nobody looks good in it. I don’t even particularly like the book Greens. I just think that when a show tries push the framing of one side in what’s meant to be a bloody civil war where no one wins, I push back. And of the characters that get mentioned in canon during the Dance? Uh. I hate to tell you that Criston Cole gets equal mentions to Rhaenyra, and everyone else is pretty much not talked about. Daemon doesn’t even get brought up (overshadowed by all the Blackfyres I imagine). And we all know how the Dance ends. That story at least is done.

And this is the ASOIAF fandom. There are literally no irrelevant characters, lol. Someone can have nothing but one named mention, and there’s probably a fanblog about them somewhere. That’s simply not the insult you think it is. And as I recall, one of the og Dance novellas was “The Princess and The Queen”? Idk, someone’s talking about Alicent. Wonder who wrote that.

#this anon hate was actually kinda cute #that’s why I answered it #no nasty words or anything #“stop stanning losers #lmao #calling the Starks losers is an awfully bold take #and even the Jonsas are winning at the moment with the new Kit and Sophie movie so #I can laugh at the fact that the Jonsa fandom got everything right about the show ending except Jonsa #that’s an irony that George could have written #oh well #if you don’t think a Stark restoration is coming you are actually delusional #branwen answers

[capsiclesteebrogers]

i rewatched the scene when jon and d*ny meet and hearing missandei call her "the RIGHTFUL queen of the seven kingdoms" made me burst out laughing. girl... your family has been deposed from the iron throne years ago, you have NO RIGHT to the the iron throne.

#anti daenerys targaryen #anti targaryen restoration #game of thrones #not only does she not have a claim to that ugly chair she also doesn't know history #the last king in the north was robb stark and he did not bend any knee #and she gets upset jon doesn't call her queen #while also refusing to acknowledge him as king in the north #he does not consider you his queen AND HE HAS EVERY RIGHT #the entitlment she has is ASTOUNDING #and later on her refusal to believe the white walkers were real is just... #jon fought them numerous times and is trying to warn her #does she think he just imagined them? woke up when day and said “white walkers exist cause i had a dream”? #d*ny was politically inept and just plain stupid

[nerajaana]

ARYA STARK VALENTINE’S DAY CHALLENGE

|| Day Three: Headcanon ||

306 A.C- Prince Aegon, son of the disinherited Hand of the King Rhaegar chose to marry not his sister but his half brother Jon Waters and his lady cousin, the she wolf of Winterfell, Arya Stark who’s said to resemble her aunt Lyanna Stark to an uncanny degree leaving the Seven Kingdoms shocked beyond measure.

#lots of oedipus complex vibes topped up on the ✨incest✨ #in other words the tamest flavours from grrm’s selective palate #(seriously the man’s twisted beyond measure) #basically the background of this AU is that Rhaegar Won- but still got disinherited by Aerys #Aerys drank wildfire back in the day (that’s the story it was Rhaella who dunked him in that liquid) #Viserys the Crown Prince eloped with Mya Stone (because reasons) #therefore Dany’s the current ruling queen with Rhaegar as her Hand #Aegon was supposed to marry her to unite claims or whatever- Doran would’ve been the happiest to see his nephew regaining his rights #but this is Rhaegar’s offspring what could be expected heh #dude went off for a triad marriage and the three fucked off to the freshly restored Summerhall #King’s Landing is in a bit of a chaos #Catelyn fainted thrice already #Eddard’s aggressively sharpening Ice #Cersei hasn’t stopped shrieking #Doran’s dealing with his Arianne eloping with Edmure Tully #honestly everyone’s in the mood for elopement #‘tis the season etc etc #arya x jon x aegon #arya stark #jon snow #aegon vi targaryen #aryasvalentine #asoiaf

[greenmeanqueen]

It's interesting how in both asoiaf/got and f& b/hotd, the Targ stans have a problem with characters who don't simply appease their faves. Alicent is a scheming bitch because she fights for her son's claim and wants to protect her children from being killed. Sansa is Cersei 2.0 because she doesn't want to surrender a free and independent North to a stranger who threatens her family. They want everyone else to bend to their will and allow their Targ faves to walk all over them.

#anon i love u #it’s the same pattern time and time again #really turns me off from targ characters sometimes #like sometimes i just want to enjoy the blonde people and it’s nbd if characters don’t think they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread #but noooo #if they’re not enamored at first sight they’re the villain #tired #alicent hightower #pro alicent hightower #sansa stark #pro sansa stark #anti targaryen #anti targ stans #anti targ restoration #asoiaf #game of thrones #fire and blood #hotd #ask a gal

[imaginarianisms]

more asoiaf comparisons, parallels & antiparallels to the first dance of the dragons vs the second & final dance of the dragons (& possibly the sixth blackfyre rebellion): the blacks being daenerys i targaryen's supporters, the golds being aegon vi targaryen's supporters, tommen baratheon being a close equivalent to gaemon palehair & his mother essie & sylvenna sand which may be interpreted as a parallel with queen cersei lannister & taena merryweather of myr, trystane truefyre being a close equivalent to aegon/young griff & perkin being jon connington & the shepherd being the new high septon the high sparrow, dalton greyjoy being euron i greyjoy's ancestor & the latter surpassing him, alyn waters later alyn velaryon resembling aurane waters later aurane velaryon & finishing what their ancestors started. history repeats itself.

#out of the galaxy. || ooc. #LIKE!!!! LOOK AT THE PARALLELS BRUH #it kinda makes me wonder who the hightowers would support this time... #its literally so wild how history repeats itself #i think the lannisters would support aegon after he takes king's landing bc they're lowkey fucked either way. #cersei lannister's probably either in hiding at casterly rock or will end up as aegon's political prisoner. maybe jaime too idk. #i have no idea who would lead the lannisters on the side of the golds now that kevan's dead killed by varys tho... maybe genna lannister? #cersei jaime & tyrion's aunt? to parallel johanna lannister who attacked the ironborn like a boss bitch?? #i personally predict aegon'll marry sansa who would have the north the riverlands & the vale at her back—it'd be arranged by baelish & varys #i also think it's possible he'd take arianne martell as another wife to parallel aegon & his wives visenya & rhaenys. #so by taking sansa & arianne as his wives & queens both of whom are well beloved in their countries he'd restore honor to their houses. #bc aerys & later the baratheon dynasty was a terrible time for the starks & the martells so he brings the north & dorne back into the fold. #so by marrying sansa he honors & respects her given her past betrothal to joffrey & forced marriage to tyrion & mending what aerys did #particularly to her grandfather rickard stark & her uncle brandon stark & to her aunt lyanna stark. #& by marrying arianne he's restoring honor to house martell considering all the bs his mother elia martell experienced in king's landing. #(whether elia actually Is his mother or who he perceives her to be) & restoring the line of succession again in dornish hands #& they'd probably marry him on the condition that the northerners & dornish gets special rights & privileges that others don't. #& not to mention that the targaryens starks & martells have a common enemy. #polygamy's a big nono in the faith of the seven but that didn't stop aegon & his wives & im sure after everything w/ the faith rn?? #w/ cersei & the sparrows?? & considering aegon's actually a decent person & he'll be foreshadowed to be popular & loved?? #i don't think most would bat an eye tbh. i actually think daenerys would wanna talk to aegon first tho. #then everything & everyone around them goes to shit & they end up fighting bc like. daenerys wants SO BADLY to have a family. #so like i don't see her immediately perceiving aegon as a threat. #the starks & most of the north would prolly be wary of dany @ 1st due to aerys & having a MASSIVE army w/ three dragons until the long night #except for like. maybe jon. but anyway the martells could be slightly wary of dany bc of what happened with quentyn in meereen. #idk maybe there's a division in the north & dorne. i think sansa & arianne would actually get along personally. #anyway im presuming stannis is gonna be at the nightfort & i personally don't think he's ever gonna come south again. he'll die at the wall.

[rosalinesurvived]

The things going on north of the Wall and the Targaryen on the other continent with her dragons are of course the ice and fire of the title, “A Song of Ice and Fire.” […] One of the dynamics I started with was the sense of people being so consumed by their petty struggles for power within the seven kingdoms, within King’s Landing […] that they’re blind to the much greater and more dangerous threats that are happening far away on the periphery of their kingdoms. —George R. R. Martin

Tell me again how Daenerys isn't the enemy

#pro stark #pro house stark #shitpost #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #anti dragons #anti daenerys stan #anti daenerys targaryen #dragons plant no trees #anti targaryen restoration #the night king #wight walkers #ice vs fire

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #70: Game of Thrones, but make it time travel

I have a terrible weakness for time travel stories - especially when it leads to massive sprawling changes from the moment of divergence. So I thought to myself: which character would be able to most change Westeros through the simple act of time travel?

The answer came easily. Or: What if Ned Stark time traveled from after his death to the middle of Robert's Rebellion?

Just imagine it:

Ned Stark dies in the OT as per canon. He watches the events of canon unfold fold from the afterlife and has a crisis of faith.

For here is a man who has been nothing but an honorable, faithful, just lord. He served his realm in the best manner he could, was a dutiful husband and loving father, and put the good of others above personal advancement or that of his family. He even stained his honor to raise his sister's son as his own and give the boy the best protection he could - and yet.

And yet the gods allowed his son, wife, gooddaughter, and unborn grandchild to be murdered at a wedding. They allowed his oldest daughter to be used and abused by those that should have protected her. They let that thing take over his second son's body-

So when Ned finds a means to return from the afterlife or is allowed the chance tor return and fix things, the Ned who arrives on the morning of the Sack is a very different man than the one who went to bed the night before. Though they are the same at heart, Ned no longer believes or trusts everyone around him to be good, honorable, or want the best for Westeros.

In the New Timeline, Ned tries to prevent the deaths of Elia and her children - he's too late to save Aegon and Rhaenys, kills Gregor Clegane as he tries to force the princess, and though Elia is alive when he finds her, she dies of her wounds soon after - and gets Jamie to give up the Wildfire Plot after murdering the Mad King.

The fight he has with Robert for refusing to condemn the royal family's deaths is even worse than the OT and threatens to bring down the Red Keep.

Afterwards, he races to Lyanna's side... but though he arrives a week earlier than canon, he's still forced to fight his way through her protectors and she still dies in childbed. He does have enough time with her to get her side of the story - that she loved Rhaegar until he went to war to keep her, and has been a prisoner in the tower ever since she said she wanted to go home - and say his goodbyes.

He returns to Winterfell a little more mindful of his wife's feelings - Ned still passes Jon off as his son, but makes it clear that he has no intention of shaming her again, while also making it clear that the North would shame him if he sent Jon to be raised elsewhere - and sets about strengthening the North.

The next few years should be a montage of Ned making alliances and enriching his kingdom: 1) He talks Benjen out of joining the Night's Watch, sends him to survey all the empty keeps in the North, and grants him Queenscrown once the coffers have had a chance to refill after the war; 2) He gets White Harbor and Bear Island to start trading lumber and peat up and down their respective coasts and across the Narrow Sea, which enriches the North; 3) When Catelyn announces her second pregnancy, he starts work on restoring Moat Cailin, claiming that their second son will need a seat someday; 4) He finds some excuse, if not to get rid of the Boltons, than at least keep such an eye on them its next to impossible for them to continue as they have; and 5) Making tentative moves to court the other Great Houses. Doran Martell, grateful he at least tried to save his sister, arranges a betrothal between Arya and Trystane? Sansa gets a fostering in Highgarden? Bran is sent to foster at Storm's End?

Regardless, the North should be in a better position when Robert rides north after Jon Arryn's death - by natural causes this time, Ned having shared with his foster father stories Catelyn told him about Littlefinger's obsession with the Tully girls.

Meanwhile, Ned also tries to do a better job with Jon this time around - make it more clear that he is loved and valued, and that a good post or even a holdfast will be granted to him if he earns it. Ned does not want to place him on the Iron Throne, but it becomes increasingly clear as time goes on that war of some kind will inevitably follow Robert's death and so it's best all his children be prepared.

(Sansa and even Catelyn are taught how to use a knife to protect themselves, Ned honestly claiming he wants what happened to his sister never to happen to another woman in their family.)

King Robert rides north, gets a stiff, "No," for both his propositions - and might actually have come to blows if Ned hadn't arranged for Jamie and Cersei to be discovered in flagrante delicto in the First Keep. Robert rides back south sans a wife and heirs, short one Hand and Kingsguard. Cersei is beheaded, Jamie and Joffrey are sent to take the Black, and Myrcella and Tommen are left to be fostered at Winterfell until they're old enough to have other arrangements made.

Tywin is naturally unhappy about this turn of events and rises up in rebellion. The Iron Islands use this as an excuse to start reaving again, while the Reach withholds their support unless Robert promises to marry Margery - and Dorne merely withholds support.

Almost three years into the conflict, news arrives during the wedding of Robb Stark and Alys Karstark that King Robert died in battle without any heirs. His brothers have gone to war over which of them should succeed Robert to the Iron Throne. Tywin continues to claim that his grandson Tommen, safe in Winterfell, is the rightful heir. Baelon Greyjoy has declared himself King of the Iron Islands... and there are rumors of Daenerys Stormborn gathering forces in Essos for an invasion.

Into this Ned - having realized it was the best choice he could make for the safety and security of his family and the North - declares that Jon is really the trueborn son of his sister Lyanna and her husband Rhaegar Targaryen... and as such has rightfully been Jaehaerys III since birth.

The war which follows is swifter and less devastating than the OT War of Five Kings, but is still war. By largely staying out of the fight between Tywin and Robert, the North has a large army of fresh soldiers and, by marriage, the support of the Vale and the Riverlands. Stannis has Renly assassinated via shadow, but few chose to follow a follower of the Red God. The Stormlands end up throwing their lot in with Jon, as do Dorne and the Reach once they see which way the wind is blowing.

In a situation that should very much echo the situation in the British Isles in 1066, Jon's forces should be in the southeast of Westeros preparing for Dany's invasion when word comes of Tywin leading his forces north to capture Winterfell. Royalist forces should race across the countryside, win a magnificent victory at the Twins, and still be celebrating their success when news arrives of Essosi troops landing in the Crownlands. Jaehaerys' exhausted forces race back across the country... and manage to win the first engagement by the skin of their teeth.

When Dany brings her dragons to bear in the next battle, Rhaegal defects to the other side - and rather than pursue another Dance of Dragons, aunt and nephew come to an arrangement.

A Great Council is called. Jon is elected Lord of the Seven Kingdoms by overwhelming numbers. Sansa is his queen. Dany is named Lady of the Rock after most the remaining Lannisters are exiled or take the Black.

Bonuses include: 1) OT trauma for Ned, who never quite moves past what happened to his family then; 2) Dark horse romance between Jon and Sansa, fueled at first by the comment that Ned would like his daughters to marry good men - like Robb or Jon - and Catelyn encouraging it once she learns Jon is really her husband's nephew; and 3) No one ever learning Ned traveled through time.

And that is legit all the space I have. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you do anything with it.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

#plot bunny #fic ideas #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #got #asoiaf #ned stark #house stark #time travel #jon snow #jon snow is a targaryen #targaryen restoration #time travel fix it #catelyn tully #ned stark x catelyn tully #jon x sansa