#I did think man should I include Tywin or is that too weird | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

magalidragon · 3 years

Note

15, please

Ooooh this one I was really thinking about do we go full fluff or angst or what? Sooooo let us return to a universe that may have been forgotten....Princess Daenerys and her bodyguard Jon (spoiler alert) from my weird mysterious angsty fic bird on a wire. Well in that one he is FORMER and in this one it is set a bit before. Forbidden Love! 💗

Moodboard to come! Enjoy and thank you for the prompt!!

Romantic One Liner Prompts

15. “I’ve missed you so much.”

"Daenerys you look a bit peaky, are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine, mother." She really needed a drink. And not the ancient Dornish red they were currently drinking with their meal. It was the weekly family dinner, something her brother instituted the second he became King, in effort to "foster better familial relationships." It was basically his way of trying to turn them into as normal a family as possible, when they were anything but that.

She lightly touched her fingertips to her temple, a dull ache forming. It would rage later, she had no doubt, but for now she could only ignore it and listen to Rhaegar wax on about a dull meeting he had with the Minister of Finance, Willas Tyrell, who was near her age but a bit of a wunderkind in finance and politics.

The empty seat across from her was ignored by Rhaegar, and her mother, and it irked Dany. Viserys was back in the hospital, not that they would acknowledge it beyond simply saying his doctors thought they had his medications worked out and he would be home soon. She took a deep breath, crumpling her napkin in her lap. "You know Muna, I am a bit under the weather, I think I will retire early."

Rhaella glanced away from Rhaegar, who was annoyed she'd interrupted him. Her mother furrowed her brow, concerned. "Of course darling, I'll send something to your room later..."

"No thank you, I'm not hungry." She tossed the napkin onto the chair as she stood, shooting a dark look at Rhaegar, who ignored her and sipped his wine. "Perhaps it's the weather....or the company."

"Daenerys," Rhaella began, sighing.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Forget it Muna. Rhae, always a displeasure."

"Daenerys," he began, but it was their mother who cut him off.

"Rhaegar, please. I'll not have to fight right now." It was the Queen Dowager who now looked exhausted and peaky, touching her fingertips to her head. She waved her hand. "I will see you later Daenerys, I'll check in on you."

I'm not a child, she wanted to say, but bit her tongue, nodding curtly. She left the dining room, one of the smaller ones they used solely for family functions-- not that there were any of those beyond weekly dinner-- entering the corridor.

Maegor's Holdfast, where the official family residence happened to be, was free of security during non-working hours, to give the resemblance that they lived in a normal home. If your home happened to be multiple levels of an ancient castle built by dragonriders. It was a joke to her, an illusion, something out of a movie. This is not the home you're looking for, type of thing.

Her heels clicked on the stone floors, barely covered with carpets, chilly in the late evening. She shivered, an impressive feat given her dragonblood that normally kept her hot, and wondered where her security detail happened to be lurking that evening. She could call them, if she wanted to go out, but this late they might say no, they couldn't guarantee anything.

Trapped would be a word for it. Caged, another. They meant the same thing, but that wasn't it at all. Daenerys felt like her wings were clipped. She could flit about and pretend she could fly, but she really couldn't. Not unless she escaped from under their noses.

She went to her room and picked up one of her dump phones, texting missandei. A moment later she had the address for a party, should she want to go out. But she didn't. She sighed, walking through the big open doors onto her terrace. Her suite was in a tower, because that's what she wanted as a girl, and overlooked the Blackwater Bay, in the direction of Essos.

Wishing she was at Dragonstone, she closed her eyes, allowing the cool night breeze, salty from the sea, to brush through her hair and across her skin, like a lover's caress, gentle and soft. On Dragonstone the air might have a burnt, ashy tinge to it, curling your nose, but she loved it. She missed it.

Her eyelids flickered up, spotting the ships in the harbor, scanning the horizon, to the Dragonpit ruins and then to the Sept of baelor. She could slip out easily. Ser Gerold, their Chief of Security, was probably asleep in his bed in the Lord Commander's tower. Arthur would likely be on duty for Rhaegar well into the night, Barristan was her mother's keeper and then there was Jamie Lannister floating about somewhere.

She named off the Kingsguard in her head, the ones that all had their assignments, some off duty that night, some no doubt in a control room, buzzing in anticipation there might be a plot afoot to kidnap the Princess or assassinate the King. It had happened once. Actually, twice, if she included that time Rhaegar's car had flipped on the way to Summerhall. They said it was an accident, but she knew better. It was Baratheon supporters.

Her nails dug into the stone, her heart empty, achy. "Brienne might let me leave," she murmured. Brienne was their newest guard, she was eager to please.

At her feet, her massive leopard-sized cat Drogon fussed, emerging from wherever he'd been hiding. He yowled, clawing her feet. "Is this how you greet me?" she teased, leaning down to lift him up. She hefted him up and down a couple times, chuckling. "I think you need a diet, young man."

Drogon yowled, protesting. She knew he was just saying he was big-boned. She kissed the top of his head, scratching under his chin. He clawed into her arm, demanding he be put down, and she obliged lest her arm become a new scratching post for him. He sauntered his fat butt back into her room and over to the tapestry of the three Targaryens and their dragons, pawing at the edge.

Her lips twitched, heart leaping hopefully, and soon her relief washed over her, the tapestry pushing aside and the secret passageway opening to reveal him.

"Oh," she exclaimed, pushing away from the stone wall, hurrying towards him. Her arms flung around his neck, embracing him tight, her face buried in his dark curls, inhaling the scent that had been fading from her sheets and the oversized sweatshirt she'd stolen from his apartment, with each passing day.

He gripped her close, his exhale hard enough to knock her earrings aside. He swayed, with her in his arms, her toes touching the tops of his feet, lifting her slightly off the floor. "I've missed you so much," he mumbled, voice raspy.

"I've missed you too."

Falling back to her feet, she pushed his hair aside, tucking it behind his ear, fingertips stroking down his recently cropped beard. Regulations being what they were, he had to make sure it wasn't unkempt, which he sometimes preferred it to be, especially when he was gone for a long time, like he had been. His eyes crinkled with his warm smile, his own hands mapping her face, both reacquainting with the other, until she could take no more.

She cried out, muffled, kissing him before she could stop herself, fingers digging into the back of his neck, her mouth opening easily under his, desperate. He held her tight, hands branding her hips, pushing her towards the nearest surface, which happened to be a chaise lounge near the door.

The chaise’s soft silk fabric brushed over the back of her legs when she reclined onto it, pulling him over her, kissing hard and demanding, pouring her happiness at seeing him after so long into the kiss. He broke it, when the need for air forced them apart, and touched his forehead to hers, whispering. "I was worried about you, that security breach last week."

It was just a drunk, the Aegon's Hill Academy frat boys daring each other to try to jump the fence, but of course he would see it as a legitimate problem. "I wasn't even here, I was with Missandei," she murmured.

He frowned, tracing his finger down her nose, thumb skimming her swollen bottom lip. "I wish you wouldn't do that without me."

"Because you want to party too?" she teased, but she knew what he meant. He was her protector, her shadow, and she was never fully usafe unless he was near her.

He smirked. "No, because it's been six months."

"Six months," she sobbed. She had barely spoken to him, sneaking messages when she could. She laughed again, rolling her eyes. "Remind me to tell Lord Commander Hightower to never approve your military leave again."

"Better tell your Minister of War to stop fighting with the Free Folk at the Wall."

Her nose wrinkled; she detested Rhaegar's pick for Minister of War, Lord Tywin Lannister, and only knew he gave ihm that position because it meant he could keep an eye on him. Better to have him near than across the continent, her brother said. Dany would prefer he be in jail.

She nuzzled into his chest, needing to hold him, listen to his heart, and reassure herself he was there with her and not traipsing about in the snow thousands and thousands of miles away. "Will you be back on my detail?" she breathed, her heart stilling as she awaited his reply.

He moved so she could stretch over him, so he could play with her hair, and he nodded. "Aye, I believe so. Last I heard."

"We have to be more careful, I think Viserys knows."

He stilled his movements. "He...is he good?"

She shrugged. "Who knows...they keep medicating him. Regardless, if he says something...I don't know."

"We'll be more careful."

They couldn't be any more careful at this point. They hardly looked at each other, every interaction strictly professional. He was her bodyguard, nothing more, nothing less. She treated him like she did everyone else. Little did they know that five years ago, since Captain Jon Snow, reserve Night's Watch, walked into the solar and Ser Arthur introduced him to her as her newest lead bodyguard, she had been hopelessly in love with him.

Well, not exactly five months. It took some time. He was annoying the first six months. Then she started to become friends with him. They grew close. Closer. Until about a year in she'd kissed him, when he'd found her after she'd given him the slip, at a warehouse party in Vaes Dothrak, while they'd been over in Essos for a 'goodwill tour.'

It was wrong. They both knew it. They both couldn't stop it. He'd get reassigned at the least, fired at the most, and she didn't want anything to happen to him.

It was a matter of time.

Someone would find out.

She was sure that this latest assignment of him from reserves to active duty for the last six months might have been a sign. Except he was a drug, she couldn't stop it. She loved him and he loved her. "Jon," she murmured, pressing her nose into the shadow dent between his shoulder and collarbone, idly pressing a kiss against his steady pulse.

"Hmm?" He pulled lazily at her hair, twisting braids around his fingers. She could die and be the happiest she'd ever been.

Lifting her face to his, she whispered. "Make love to me."

He smiled slowly and leaned down, kissing her so tenderly, she thought she might break. Except she wouldn't, because she was a dragon. She relaxed against him and he lifted her up, carrying her across the sitting area into her bedroom suite.

Some time later, she lay against him as he slept, and stared out the open doors to the balcony and beyond, the moon full and as silver as her hair, glowing into the darkness over them. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, ignoring the sound of reality beating at the door, and returned to sleep, where in dreams she could be Daenerys and he could be Jon.

And not the princess and her bodyguard.

#Jonerys #jonerys fics #jonerys drabbles #my fics #forbidden love #angsty Jonerys!

63 notes · View notes

aerltarg · 3 years

Note

2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 26, 27 from ask game

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

oh, it's actually hard to answer bc pretty often my otps can work as brotps for me as well. it also means that when i can't ship some characters they don't work for me as friends either. not to mention that in asoiaf i'm open to many ships, and if i'm not very passionate about some it's not a sign i can't see them in romantic light.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

may i say any sansa ship? 😭 as well as sansa herself lmao. idk generally i can't ship characters i don't like because i'm just not interested. and it's not to say i don't like book!sansa (show!sansa is another case 💀), i just don't find her arc as intriguing and epic as arcs of some other characters. however, it's absolutely her obnoxious fandom's fault that i don't want to touch anything about her now, pairings including. sansaery? pass. sansan? i used to have a soft spot for them in my heart but now? nah. sansa x anyone? pls have mercy, she's already a fandom bicycle.

and jonsa ofc. i would never mind some crack ship as i do this one if not for their obnoxious stans that did way too much to list there right now. but this burning desire to persuade every rock on the street that your crack ship is canon will never stop being ridiculous lmao

also braime. tbh i used to low-key like them but some of their stans weirded my away lol. i get that not all of them are like that but still. it's generally my great pain when i see braime/brienne/jaime stans who are also dany/targ antis. every time i see them i cackle and run away as fast as i can crying from disappointment lmao. it's really a pity because i'm either very neutral or like in my own way all three of them.

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

jonrya it is! i never hated them, you know, but they never were more than siblings and brotp to me. however, later i encountered the deluded crack ship fandom that shall not be named and understood that if there is any possible romance for jon with any of his sisters-cousins we all know which one it will be lmao. also their stans are very sweet and i really like many of their takes on arya and jon! i generally love relationships of jon and arya very much so it wasn't that difficult in practice to see them in a quite different light.

7. Is there anything you used to like but can't stand now?

meta culture lmao. reading different analysis and interpretations of the text used to be very interesting to me (and still is tbh but in other fandoms) though asoiaf is a different case. imo many people aren't honest in their so called theories and analyses. i get that all of us are biased but some "meta writers'" denial of their own biases influence fandom in a bad way. it looks like too many people run to them to get answers to their questions about any minor detail as if they were grrm himself. yk instead of using their own reading comprehension lmao. you see how this meta culture ruined fandom just looking at the most delusional stans and shippers who spread their agenda by writing endless text posts full of nonsense and bullshit but styled as oh so intellectual and thoughtful analysis. it's insane how many people actually buy it and don't check canon accuracy of such claims themselves. it got to the ridiculous point when random people try to argue with you with some far-fetched embarrassing "theories" as if they were canon facts or quotes straight up from a fanfic because they read somewhere some other confused soul's post and got from a context that this quote is canon (despite the fact that it wasn't written in grrm's style at all but some people can't use their brains even if their lives depended on it it seems).

anyway it's become too long and rambly already so tldr. because of such "neutral unbiased" analyses i got the habit of fact checking almost everything i see in such posts. there's only a small amount of meta writers from targ/dany/jon/arya stans that i trust because i know by practice and following them for some time that they don't pull anything out of nowhere, back up everything they say with canon quotes, don't decontextualize anything and (that is the most important thing to me) are reasonable and open to discussion unlike so many bnfs nowadays.

8. Have you received anon hate? What about?

ah, not in this fandom yet, god bless! i think i'm not loud enough for the needed amount of time to deserve it lol. but since i'm not going anywhere soon maybe one day i will 😂

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

robert baratheon and tywin lannister, obviously. tbh it's pretty hard for me to hate any characters because you know. they're fictional lmao. just lines on paper, they can't hurt you. and even such dudes as tywin or robert don't get real distaste from me if they're written well enough. my problem with them lies not only in their canon crimes and shitty consequences of those but in fandom's (or at least some parts of it) unwillingness to acknowledge that they're canonically written as shitty, not as stan/pity/worship material. tywin isn't as clever as some think and robert is a coward outside of battlefield, not to mention some absolutely disgusting denial of his nature from targ antis only because the man happened to be the most vocal targ hater in-universe so these folks feel like he is their main book representative and whitewash him completely lmao

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

uugh idk even. i'm either low-key interested (or used to be at least so i can stay pretty neutral for the sake of nostalgia lol) or too indifferent to really care.

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn't? Why?

all my faves have their own crowd of haters i'm afraid 😭 but let me say rhaegar. even among some dany/targ stans my man is so misunderstood lmao. it's not even his fault i dare say it's fanon about his half-imagined crimes that somehow got widespread to the unbelievable degree. and when i say they're half-imagined i'm being very generous actually. ofc he isn't perfect, no one in asoiaf is. and yes, he's a pre-series dead minor character but almost all little information about him is actually positive, not to mention the narrative itself that doesn't paint him as a villain or just a shitty dude. on the contrary, he's an idealized to some degree dead prince who could've been a good king (like some other historical targaryens, jacaerys, baelor breakspear, aemon son of jaehaerys, etc.), a mysterious yet tragic figure. i have much to say about why it's so popular to shit on him in fandom but yeah. his haters should send their complaints to grrm instead, no one forced the man to write him like that lol. and i mean that no one has to like him ofc. but it's misinterpretation of the text to claim he was intentionally written as a villain or smth by grrm.

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn't? Why?

i don't know if it counts as unpopular but i would say tyrion's arc as a whole because i enjoy his character and like in my own way. i can get why some people don't like him but this man will always have his own place in my heart i must admit.

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

is this unpopular tho?.. ok but renly wouldn't make a terrible king. i dare say he would be better than both robert and stannis. yes, he wasn't shown as perfect and i don't claim this. he wouldn't be the best or the most brilliant or the most just or noble. yet still better than his brothers. his flaws weren't anything other high lords didn't have, his mistakes weren't anything other lords and kings didn't do. in many ways he would make a better job than robert or stannis, too bad he died so early, even though i get why it was important for the narrative.

26. Most shippable character?

well generally for me it's the ones i love the most lol. jonerys/snowstorm is my never dying otp but i admit my sins, sometimes i just see dany with other characters (often from other fandoms pls don't @ me). however, since dany is THE fave of mine it means i would rather twist the other guy or girl to fit into the good match for her than twist her for another character in my new born crack ship lol. and i never stay for too long with the ships with which i feel they don't really fit and don't do justice for each other lol. maybe that's the reason i'm not much of a rare shipper / crack shipper afshdjdb

27. Least shippable character?

everyone i don't like? 😭 as i've said sansa for the reasons above lol. you can insert many others in her place lmao

#thanks for the ask!#.txt #mypost #ask game #anonymous #*answered

2 notes · View notes

amuelia · 4 years

Note

I'm not sure if you've ever mentioned anything about this but how do you feel about show Roose? I was really sad to see his character get cut so much but I really like his voice,,,,it's a good Roose voice ( also it's CRIMINAL how they took away the Bolton's pink like they don't even wear anything but black in the show 😭😭 ) (( also also I absolutely love your art YOU MAKE SO MUCH GOOD ART OF UNDER APPRECIATED CHARACTERS ITS SO GOOD TO SEE 🥺😭♥️♥️ ))

I think the actor is very handsome and talented! I like reading his Interviews, he seems very intelligent and you can see the thought he put into his character and his scenes. He did a great job with the material he was given, and i think it’s very understandable and professional that he read the first books but then decided to focus his portrayal on the show scripts, because the way they wrote him was too different.

Did you read the books before you started filming? I read the books before I started. Well, I read two of the books, and then I stopped actually. Because the character in the books is very, very different to the character in the show. The core differences were he spoke with a whisper. He never raised his voice. He had no emotion on his face. I remember there's a [line] that joy and laughter were very similar. So you couldn't play that. It's fine if it was the Roose Bolton show, you could do something like that. The character was not written like that at all. So it kind of did me a disservice reading the books. So I put them aside and just concentrated on the character in the scripts. - Michael McElhatton, IGN interview

But also, in the end, what he mentions about the difference is part of why, as a book stan, the show version doesn’t interest me that much; it’s not even about him specifically, but just a general thing all the show characters share. Just like most other characters they adapted, they completely suck the fun out of the character grrm wrote - no leeches, no icy eyes or pale face, no pink house sigil; ending up with a character that pretty much looks and acts like every other dude. I don’t need Roose to look like Dracula (as much as i love it, the long dark hair for example is not book canon, since his hair is never described), but he should be memorable! Instead, i often hear that people new to the show don’t remember his s2 scenes, or mix him up with other regular looking dudes like Stannis, or otherwise don’t remember him. One of grrm’s biggest strengths is how with just a few traits he makes every character memorable and distiguishable; think about any random character and youll probbaly remember at least one “special trait” that sets their appearance or personality apart from the rest. The show completely falls flat in this regard, ironically making it so that the books make better use of the “visual medium” than the show does.

Apart from that, visually the actor is ok; Considering a Dance with Dragons came out at a similar time as the first season and the casting process takes a while, I don’t blame them for leaving out some details of his character descriptions (for example his “ageless” appearance or the small close-set eyes are only mentioned in aDwD). His height (175cm, influenced my hc for the book version) and body type are close to the book, though i wish they’d left him clean-shaven like in s2 for the entire show. He has a bit of a long face which fits with the book’s northmen. He’s no Supermodel but i heard him called handsome frequently, so idk if that fits with the book description “not handsome but not quite plain”; i love interesting faces more than conventionally attractive ones so i can’t really judge objectively. Voice is imo too deep (imdb also calls it “commanding”), i imagine him having more of a mid range voice; and the actor also just talks normally instead of being notably whispery/quiet.

In terms of characterization, as the actor hints at, I do not think they are written very similarly. Roose in the books is a character who is ruled by an underlying fear/anxiety that drives him to, at all times, ensure his own safety and health (I elaborate on this more in this meta); The show version the way i remember it does not show this a lot. He doesn’t have the leeching scene and if he has scenes about being obsessed with health they werent prominent enough for me to remember (maybe the Jaime scene included some book dialogue?). He is serious, but he does not act emotionless to hide his feelings (Though the show scene where he says he doesn’t drink was a nice touch; it is not completely congruent with book canon, but brings across the same idea that he wants to be in control of a situation and his feelings).

For a bigger example: Show!Roose’s characterization in the Red Wedding episode shows him acting very confident and in a great mood, bantering with Cat, and staying in the room the entire time while wearing chainmail; while in the books he barely eats and doesn’t talk to Cat, is shown exchanging threatening glances with Walder, and leaves early to ensure his own safety only to return fully decked out in armor to give Robb the final blow. In the books, imo, you can see that he is stressed out by the situation; because while he planned it very thoroughly with Lothar Frey, it is still a great risk for such a cautious man to take, and he needs to trust that Walder doesn’t backstab him.

Bolton had made a toast to Lord Walder's grandsons when the wedding feast began, pointedly mentioning that Walder and Walder were in the care of his bastard son. From the way the old man had squinted at him, his mouth sucking at the air, Catelyn knew he had heard the unspoken threat.

They are not necessarily great story-changing differences, but to me still paint a different picture of his character. People always say “oh a character doesnt need to look exactly like the descriptions as long as the actor works for the story, oh you dont need to adapt every little character detail as long as the story is intact”, but do this too much and somewhere along the way you lose what makes the character themselves. The small details and human traits are what makes me love a character, so if those are missing i end up not seeing them as a an adaptation of the same guy, even if the plot is similar. I do think there are scenes in the show where you can see the scriptwriter read the books and put in some of the book characterization, but the general direction of the character is still different.

I also loathe the s2 change that had Arya as Tywin’s cupbearer; it removes one (/two) of Roose’ best chapters and also the one that establishes a lot of his character traits and Red Wedding foreshadowing. The Tywin-Arya scenes are everything wrong with the show; changing scenes arbitrarily to prop up fan-favourite characters (later culminating in stuff the s7 wight hunt), bad “feminism” (like Arya saying “most girls are idiots”), having characters act OOC to be more “likable” or “sympathetic” (like that weird “fatherly” way Tywin acts towards Arya), ignoring how people in that time period and universe act (as if a man like Tywin would even glance at a servant), etc etc... here is a great post on that scene by @turtle-paced.

As far as the post-s3 scenes go I’m not a fan (though i did not rewatch those a lot, so feel free to remind me if i forgot something). i don’t like that they made Ramsay the main character of the plot, with Roose merely as a supporting role side character; the books give Roose a great arc starting in aDwD that imo is needed as a continuation of the Red Wedding plot. They pretty much cut out the Winterfell aDwD story (one of my fave storylines in asoiaf) entirely and replaced it with forgettable scenes. Replacing Jeyne with Sansa not only makes no sense for Littlefinger but also for Roose, since that makes him antagonize the Iron Throne. His death scene was so bad that it makes me hopeful he will have a bigger story in the books, and that they just culled him because they wanted to thin out plots like they did with Mance, Barristan, and Stannis.

Though in the end, while i don’t like the show’s writing and visual direction, i do still thank them for making the Boltons such prominent characters; They seem to have gained a lot of fans through the show, and are regarded as very important characters (i even see them in some “great houses” gifsets). They are of course also important in the books, but not as prominent/central as for example Ramsay was in s6. So even if they are adapted badly (Show Ramsay is especially bad), if they make people interested in their book counterparts, it’s still some sort of a win in my book.

(Also, thank you so much!! Glad you enjoy my art ❤️❤️)

#asks #asoiaf #roose bolton #meta #game of thrones #Anonymous #not art #long post

38 notes · View notes

mockingbird-on-the-throne · 4 years

Text

Promised princesses and three headed dragons

I'm going to make this as short as possible (even though I've sort of linked this in with theories about Quentyn and Dany, too). I'm going to be skipping over a lot of my reasoning in order to keep this brief, so if anything seem like a real stretch let me know and I'll flesh it out.

So, the Princess in the Tower chapter of AFFC got me thinking about 1) why someone always tells, 2) how Doran always seems to know what's going on in Dorne and 3) marriage contracts and their uses...

For starters, I think that the marriage contract that Quentyn has with him is fake. Absolute crap, slapped together by Doran to give Quentyn a purpose behind his quest. But there is a marriage contract involving his sister which came about because of favour that he did for the Targaryens. Arianne is a little too wrapped up with her own queen-making schemes to realise the Queen in the Making is actually her. All her ire being directed at her quite innocent brother is a helpful byproduct of Doran's scheming because it means that she isn't suspicious of the people she should be... more on that later.

I don't think that Doran, who keeps such a good eye on what everyone is up to and who seems to have a reliable network of messengers, etc. in Dorne and who has used a fake letter to Quentyn to manipulate his daughter into learning as much as she can about Rhoynish culture and be obsessed with her birthright... would not know about that one time Rhaegar's mistress was in Dorne.

Well, 16 years earlier, a boy was born in a tower in the Red Mountains of Dorne: a Prince in a Tower, if you will. Personally, I cannot believe that Rhaegar's pregnant mistress and a bunch of White Cloaks, including one from a prominent Dorninsh house, would just be friggin chillin in Dorne without Doran's knowledge and express permission. So I'm thinking Doran was actually in on the Three Heads of the Dragon prophecy fulfillment. It doesn't make sense for Rhaegar to bring Lyanna to Dorne and expert her to be safe, even with his guard there, if Dorne is ready to throw down to protect Elia's honour. So the simple solution to this is that Elia (and her brother) were in on the prophecy and trying to keep Lyanna safe so that it could happen. The closest hold to the tower of joy is Kingsgrave which is the home of house Manwoody. A Manwoody accompanied Oberyn to King's Landing, refused to drink a toast to King Tommen, and long ago had married into the Targaryen dynasty. I think it would be safe to say that if there were problems at the tower, this house could have, in a worst case scenario, been called upon to assist.

But what about Doran and the child that would have been born at the tower? Even if Doran believes in a prophecy, he is a careful man and would probably need something a bit less vague than 'well, dear brother, you will help us fulfill a prophecy!' to take on the risk of housing the mistress of the prince during a civil war. Especially when, before Lyanna gave birth, word would have come from the capital that Rhaegar, Elia, and their two children were all dead. Well, Doran at that point had two children- a son and a daughter. The heads of the dragon with Dornish blood, Rhaenys and Aegon, had both just been brutally murdered. The Targaryens had lost the war and the balance of power in King's Landing was shifting to favour other houses. But there was still, if Lyanna gave birth to a healthy baby, a Targ that could be restored to the throne (at this point, I would guess that no one knew that the Queen on Dragonstone was pregnant with Dany). What could Lyanna promise Doran so that he would continue to risk Dorne by housing the vulnerable mistress of the dead Targaryen prince? A royal marriage would be a nice promise.

Some other things that could have happened in this scenario: a baby swap with Ashara Dayne undertaken by Ned (I'm not sure what the Dayne's end game is, idk who was raised where, I'm not sure Dany is who with think because she appears to have memories of Dorne ((the lemon tree)), I'm not sure what Howland Reed knows and why Arthur died, if Ned was clearly not about to -hurt- Lyanna or the baby, unless Arthur and the Kingsguard had some weird directions from Rhaegar that went against what Doran, Ned, etc wanted to do...). An important question at this point is- how did Ned know where to find his sister? Rhaegar was dead, the other Kingsguard were probably not spilling the beans, Elia was dead... unless, of course, Doran knew all along and had found a way to get word to Ned there is no way (other than supernatural knowledge involving a glass candle or something). He went straight there from King's Landing after the sack, so it's not like he was asking or looking around. What if Doran asked him to go there and sneak his sister away, and promised a safe place to hide the Stark-Targ kid that Robert would otherwise have smashed with a hammer? This is something that maybe the Kingsguard would be against, and would give reason to Ned and Howland's murder-spree. But it's not a strong theory. I guess we won't know until TWOW or later.

As I was working through this theory, I had assumed that the Daynes (other than Arthur) were working with Doran and were in on the Queen-making for Arianne scheme. I thought that Dark Star was the one to rat out the group, which would mean that he's in on making Arianne queen, because he is of House Dayne and might be aware of what happened at the Tower of Joy and who Arianne is meant to marry. But then when I got to thinking about house Dayne's motives, I wasn't sure. I was also worried that actually this didn't make sense because there is STRONG textual evidence for the real betrayal to have been from Tyene, either hearing the Myrcella plot from Andrey or Arianne herself. Well, if it was Tyene, which it almost certainly was, then it wasn't Darkstar, which means that the Daynes maybe aren't in on the plot at all, don't have a special relationship with Doran, are not a part of the real Queen making... but then I remembered that just one book earlier, in ASOS, there was evidence that there were two poisoners at the Purple wedding, and that two people actually killed Tywin (Tyrion killed him quickly, but he was a dead man anyway from Oberyn's poison). So I thought- well, why not both then? Tyene/Andrey told Doran of the plot, because she had always been reporting on Arianne, and Darkstar did too, because of his loyalty to the Queen-making plot as a Dayne.

TL;DR -- In exchange for safety in Dorne, Lyanna/Rhaegar promised their child would be wed to either Quentyn or Arianne. Doran may have changed plans when he sent Ned to pick up the kid, which made it necessary to kill all the Kingsguard. The Daynes are actually closely allied with the Targs and Martells, and there were actually 2 betrayers to Arianne's queen-making adventure (just like there were 2 murderers of Tywin- sometimes the answer is 'both').

I think the really interesting thing to think about is how much double crossing and baby swapping has really been going on. I think there is a good chance that we don’t know Jon, Dany, and (f)Aegon’s real parents. And in a story that subverts fantasy tropes, how much does their real lineage matter, as long as everyone believes in the lie?

#dorne #arianne martell #doran martell #asoiaf theories

2 notes · View notes

kee-writestrashh · 5 years

Text

Guns for Hire

Ramsay Bolton x Reader

Ao3

Summary: You are the wife to the Heir of the Red Kings, Ramsay Bolton. living the undercover life of a mob wife has its perks, and you love your husband. But you find out something that seems to unfold a series of unwanted events…

Chapter 14: Curtain Call

You sat there giddy in excitement, waiting on your name to be called. It was impossible to hide your feelings, as you wrung your hands in your lap.

Ramsay simply sat there, lost in deep thought by the look in his eyes until the sound of your shared lastname brought him to.

"How are we feeling today, (y/n)?" The nurse asked as you stepped on the scale.

"Fantastic!" You said, doing your best to keep your voice quiet.

The nurse smiled, "glad to hear. No problems?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Baby B and I are reaching an agreement in the eating arrangements now." You said as the nurse led you to the room.

"Good deal. So, looks like today we are finally getting to see the little one. Sorry we couldn't get you in on your first appointment, our tech was on holiday." The nurse said, smiling between you and Ramsay. "So, with that said, she will be in here in a couple minutes."

You glanced around the room. Full of wires and equipment. You gave your husband a small smile as you gripped his hand.

After only a few minutes of waiting the ultrasound technician entered with a knock.

"Good morning." She said with a smile and sitting in her swivel seat. She typed in a few things on her computer, pulled on a pair if gloves, and turned to you, "let's see this baby, shall we?"

You laid back on the bed, unbuttoning your pants as instructed and watching the tech place a blue paper cloth in your pants waist and pull a tube of gel from her table.

"Mkay, so it will be cold at first, but then it gets warm. Ready?" The woman said.

You bit your lip, grasping Ramsay's hand, and giving a nod.

The thick gel feeling weird as it began to warm, your eyes glued to the screen as finally your child came into view.

Your breath caught as you saw the tiny little human shaped form inside you. Ramsay said nothing as his eyes wandered over the screen. A stoic mask upon his face

"Looks like we are actually sitting at more at thirteen weeks. Projected due date is... uhm, June twenty seventh."

"How can I have been pregnant for so long and just now finding out about it?" You asked as the information penetrated you.

The woman gave a small laugh, "some women have no idea until they are almost due. Bodies are crazy. So in about, oh, i'd say six weeks we will take another look, just to make sure we have all our fingers and toes and see if we are a boy or girl."

You gave a small nod as the tech pulled away from you and pulling her gloves off, adding notes to her computer and printing out three of the pictures and handing them to Ramsay as you wiped the gel off your skin with the blue cloth.

In one hand you clutched your next appointment slip, and the pictures in the other as you climbed into the jeep. You wore a big grin watching the snow kiss the windshield.

"Hungry?" Ramsay asked, glancing around the parking lot.

"Well, I could eat." You said with a shrug. "I'd actually probably kill for some greasy hash browns and nasty ass McGridle."

"So specific." Ramsay chuckled.

xxx

"Where you going?" You asked sitting up from the couch.

"Gym."

You scrunched your nose. "Can't you just stay home with me, where it's warm?"

"I won't be long." He said, leaving.

"Pft. Okay." You muttered, laying back down on the couch and picking up your phone.

A knock came on the door. Thankfully the dogs were out back. You did not want to hear their obnoxious barking.

You rose from the couch and opened the door. There stood Tyene holding a plastic bag full of cookies and ice cream. A file folder in her other hand.

"Got what ya wanted." She said with a grin, walking in past you and falling into the couch, snatching up the remote.

You sat beside her, pulling the cookies toward you. You rose to your feet again and went to the kitchen for a spoon.

When you came back, it was to find Tyene shoveling cookies in her mouth and watching some anime on Netflix.

"Sooo... what's up with you and Matt?" You asked, giving her a sly grin.

Tyene grinned, "He's cute. A real sweetheart. And he's fucking funny. I like him. He turns eighteen in a couple months, and i’m only nineteen, so it's not like weird or anything."

"I thought you were twenty." You said, raising a brow at her.

"I may or may not have lied about that on my application. I've been doing this since I was thirteen, so sometimes I just kinda forget."

You shook your head and sat back down on the couch and picked up the folder. You slowly opened it. It was full to bursting with papers and evaluations. All of Ramsay's psych reports from age five.

After almost two hours and a whole half gallon if ice cream, you set down your spoon and set aside the folder.

"So, how much of a piece of work is your husband? I didn't get the chance to look." Tyene asked as you rose from the seat.

You gave a shrug.

She took the look on your face, and cocked her head. "(Y/n)? You okay?"

"Yeah. Just... I dunno." You said, your voice sounding unnaturally high as it left you.

'I'm a clinically diagnosed psycho.'

You weren't sure how to take in the information. He fit the bill. But he loved you. Right? Or was he just using you? Could he love you? Roose's words echoed in your mind,

'Obsession. That's what he has for you.'

'No.' you thought bitterly. 'he does love me. He has given me the world. He's never hurt me. He loves me.'

You pushed aside everything and gave a smile.

"Yeah, the baby just... I guess the ice cream was too cold or something. I'm okay." You said, snatching up the folder and pushing through the back door to the patio. "Do you smoke?"

"Yeah. Why?" Tyene called back, as the dogs pushed past you to get inside.

"I need a lighter."

You watched the papers curl up into ash. You then closed the lid of the grill and walked back inside.

"So, thought I should tell you. The Lannisters will be attending theater tonight for that new reenactment of Hamlet or whatever." Tyene said, snatching up her keys.

You nodded, "the boy?"

Tyene nodded, "all of them. And the Tyrell bitch."

"What theater?" you asked.

"That Mocking Bird place."

"Thank you." You said, seeing her to the door. Once closed you walked back to the couch and picked up your phone.

"Everything okay, baby girl?" Ramsay's voice said, through a heavy breath.

"Yeah. I just got info the Lannisters will be going to see a play tonight. All of them. The Tyrells included."

"Good girl. Dress nice. That backless dress. Diamonds over pearls. I'll be home soon. Pull out my finest."

xxx

"God, you're fucking sexy." Your husband purred, running his rough hand over the bare skin of your back, digging his nails in slightly, watching your skin form red lines.

Your cheeks flushed, "Thank you baby." You ran your hand over the front of your dress, your bulge very pronounced in the right fabric. It was exciting. It was little and not very noticeable to others, but you noticed it. You loved it.

"Don't shave." You said, as you watched Ramsay step into the shower.

"Whatever my queen commands." He replied.

"Bow tie tonight huh?" You asked, brushing Ramsay's hair aside. It was getting a bit long.

"Been awhile. And none if my ties match this jacket." Ramsay shrugged, stepping back from you and adjusting his cuffs. "Ready?"

You grabbed your clutch off the bed, slipped your phone inside and nodded.

It was always exciting when Ramsay took you out and went over the top, as he helped you into the limo.

"So, the plan is?" You asked, watching the slow city life of a Wednesday night downtown as the Ramsay danced his fingers across the bare skin of your thigh.

"You get friendly with the Tyrells." He whispered, leaning over and nibbling your neck.

"What about you?" You asked leaning into him more.

"You have your orders, I have mine." He murmured as the door opened.

The man at the door helped you out and as you straightened up you were surprised to see Roose and Walda standing there beside two men you didn't know. One was younger looking with a cocky air about him. The other looked ancient and like, well, a creep.

Ramsay placed his hand on the small of your back, "Father. Baelish. Frey." He said smoothly, inclining his head at each man in turn.

"Son. (Y/n)." Roose responded in his silky voice.

"Shall we?" The man named Baelish asked, motioning toward the entrance.

You and Ramsay fell into step behind the group. He gripped your hand almost painfully hard, but you weren't sure why. He wasn't mad at you. Must be his father.

A man at the entrance showed your party up a flight of velvet stairs and bowed you all in through a door to a half room with a balcony to see the stage.

The sight made you gasp slightly as you saw them. Tywin, Jaime, Cersei, Joffrey , Margaery, and her brother Loras. They all stood when your party entered. You took in Margaery. She was a beauty. Poor girl. Stuck with that blonde idiot boy. She was easily three years older than him.

"Roose and company. So glad you could all join us this evening." Tywin said, shaking your father in laws hand.

What the fuck was going on?

You saw Joffrey lean into Margaery and whisper something in her ear with a smirk. You saw her let out a forced giggle and a smile that betrayed her eyes.

You took your seat beside Ramsay, crossing your legs and toying with the clutch in your lap.

"You sure are a pretty little dove." Cersei spoke up, smiling rather unkindly at you.

"Thank you, ma'am. I get that all the time." You replied through a genuine smile that made hers falter slightly. Ramsay snorted, making Cersei drop her fake smile all together and give you both sour looks.

"I hear you and the Mad Dog are expecting. I have a dog too you know." Joffrey said maliciously nodding behind him to a man who had a very scared face. He grunted but said nothing. what a bitch to have a body guard. Pompous little shit.

"Well I think you are absolutely glowing. I only hope I look as beautiful when I'm pregnant." Margaery cooed with a big smile.

"Speaking of dogs, Bolton." Jaime spoke up, leaning forward in his chair, "I heard you were in the ring today. Getting a bit slow, huh?"

Ramsay gave a shrug, "Been awhile. Thought I'd give it one last go before the glory days are over."

"You neglected to tell me that, son." Roose said, eyeing Ramsay disdainfully.

You watched Ramsay's profile, as he turned to you, "go get me a drink baby girl. Top shelf. Don't let them water it. If they try to swindle me, shoot 'em."

You gaped. "Shoot 'em?"

"Politely, of course. This is a black tie affair after all." He said, slapping your ass as you stood from your chair.

"Allow me to come with. I'm a bit thirsty. Anyone else want something?" Margaery said standing quickly.

"You know what I like." Joffrey said, leaning back in his seat as if he owned it.

Margaery looped her arm through yours and you glanced back at your husband who gave you a wink and ran his tongue along his lips rather suggestively. Your cheeks burnt.

"So, are you excited?" Margaery asked, eyeing your belly.

"So excited. Got to finally see the little one this morning. It's so surreal." You gushed, unable to keep the excitement from your voice.

Margaery gave a tinkling laugh, "I hope to have one soon. I love children. I want so many."

"I suppose you're here to feel me out?" You asked rather bluntly. No point in beating around the bush.

"Naturally. As are you." Margaery said, her kind smile never faltering.

"Men." You huffed with an airy laugh.

"Right though? What do we even need them for? I'm sorry by the way. About your bar. And the what Joff did that night. I see Ramsay wasn't hurt too bad." Margaery said, tugging at her dress as you both descended down the stairs.

"He looks much better than he did." You replied sagely.

"I would have stopped it, if I had known in advance."

You weren't sure if she meant the shoot out or the bar. But it didn't matter.

You were a bit startled to see Olyvar at the bar.

"What can I get you ladies?" He asked, as if he didn't know you.

"Might as well just buy the whole bottle of your best whiskey." You said with a sigh, pulling your card from your clutch and sliding it across the counter.

You fingered the bottle waiting, as Margaery placed her order.

'What a bitch if that's what he likes.' you thought to yourself as Margaery paid for the two electric blue fruity drinks.

You gripped the bottle. "Can I get a glass, please? I'd rather if my husband didn't look like trash while getting trashed."

"Of course ma'am." Olyvar said, leaning forward as he slid the glass to you. "Tell Ramsay the Lannister's are tailing Stark." He whispered, glancing around.

"Thank you!" You said cheerfully, taking the glass and walking back over to where Margaery stood waiting on you.

"I have it that you aren't from the city?" Margaery said, sipping her drink as you made for the stairs.

"Nope. Little town about three hours from here. Came here for school, then I met Rams, and well, here I am." You said with a small laugh. What a story you would have to tell someday.

"Is it true he kills for fun? That's what Joffrey says."

You gave a small shrug, but said nothing.

"Does he... You know, hurt you?" She asked, quietly.

"No. He doesn't. He's very good to me." You said coldly.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to assume, I just thought he would be violent. After the things I heard."

You stopped on the stair, "What do you mean?"

"Oh. I only just meant... do you not know?" Margaery asked, taking you in.

"Know what?" You breathed narrowing your eyes at the woman.

Margaery looked around uncomfortably, then jerked her head to a bathroom door.

You stepped off the stair and followed her. Once inside she quickly checked the stalls and then locked the door.

"I don't know the truth of it, but I heard Cersei talking with Jaime and Tywin about Roose and Ramsay the other day. Jaime was saying how he doesn't blame Ramsay for constantly undermining his father. Now with Domeric gone, Ramsay is the only one with the Bolton last name, Roose won't end his family name that easy. But, apparently Roose used to beat the hell out of Ramsay. Abused him in ways that make women shudder. He ran away to go to school and box and started the Bastard's Boys. They say that's why he tortures and kills people." She shifted on her feet, "like I said, I don't know how much of that is true. Just what I heard."

You stared at the girl in front of you, trying to process the words.

"Antisocial personality." You whispered to yourself, remembering the psych reports.

You cleared your throat, "we better get back."

"Knew I married you for a reason." Ramsay chuckled as he took the bottle and glass from you as you sat down.

You gave a small smile and turned your gaze to the stage.

You blindly watched Hamlet. Margaery's words echoing in your head.

Ramsay's hand on your back made you jump.

"They all die." He whispered.

You rolled your eyes, "I know what happens."

"Come here." He said gruffly, pulling you into his lap.

He smelt like the bottle he just damn near drained.

"Stop. It's not the time." You hissed as his fingers trailed under your dress.

"Baby girl, any time is the time. Think I care what any of these fucks think? I'll bend you over this balcony and fuck you right here, right now. Maybe teach these cunts a thing or two about enjoying life." He growled, resting his palm against your pussy. "No undies, huh? And you said it wasn't a good time."

Your cheeks flushed and you stifled a gasp as your husband slipped a finger in you.

"You know I have no underwear." you retorted through a hiss.

You cast around, but no one was paying attention. They were all engaged in conversation, pretending to like one another.

"Baby, stop it. I don't wanna ruin this dress." You whispered, unable to keep yourself from relaxing into him.

"I'll buy you a new one." He replied and a throaty voice as he slid another finger inside you.

You leaned back into him, bringing your hand behind you to fumble with his belt. Once you had gotten it loose enough you slid your hand in his pants.

He made a noise and shifted as you gripped him tightly in your hand, running your thumb over his tip, spreading his precum. He shifted again, apparently becoming very uncomfortable.

"The Lannister's are tailing Ned Stark." You whispered in his ear as you rested your head back on his shoulder.

Ramsay jerked, pulling his fingers from you and wiping them on the inside of your leg.

"Who told You that?" He asked, running his bloodshot eyes over your face, pulling your hand from his pants and fixing his belt.

"Oly. He's working the bar." You said, unsure of what you were seeing on Ramsay's face.

"We need to go." He said, sliding you from his lap and standing abruptly. He grabbed your hand and made toward the door before stopping suddenly. "Oh yeah." He muttered, shoving his hand in his pocket.

You noticed everyone looking at you both, many looks calculating.

Ramsay thrust something into Joffrey's hand, "word of the wise, kid. If you wanna cause mayhem, leave no evidence."

You looked down at the gold, lion shaped cufflink and saw Joffrey swallow uncomfortably.

"Where are you going son?" Roose asked, standing.

You looked at your father in law with cold malice and burning hatred.

"Home. My wife says this isn't the place to fuck her." Ramsay said smoothly. You gave him a dirty look, your ears burning.

You leaned back into the seat of the limo, welcoming your husband's touch as he made various phone calls.

You ran a hand over your belly, as Margaery's words sounded again. 'He won't let his family name end so easily.'

"No. He's waiting to see of I'm carrying a boy. Then he will kill Ramsay. Six weeks. I need to figure out what to do." you thought with a sigh, closing your eyes as you felt Ramsay's weight on you.

You peeked your eye open to see him sliding to his knees in the floor board. He grabbed your hips rather roughly and slid you to the edge of the seat. He bunched your dress and pushed it up to expose you, and ran his scruffy jaw against your thigh as he placed sloppy kisses to your bare skin.

"Rams, stop. We are almost home." You hissed, swallowing the moan threatening to escape you.

You glanced out the blackened window to see multiple police cars shoot past the red light. You frowned. Ramsay pulled away from you and sat up right watching the lights until they were out of sight.

He pulled out his phone. You saw the questions swarming on his face.

"Why did your father seem interested in you fighting again?" You asked suddenly.

Ramsay looked up at you, licking his lips. "Money."

"I don't understand?" You said, furrowing your brow.

"Well, plenty of money to be made. He'll bet against me if I decide to fight again, I'm sure." He said, glancing back down at his phone.

"What happened between you and your father?"

Ramsay gave you a cold look before putting on a sickly sweet smile. "Nothing. We just don't get on well. Now, don't ask questions baby girl."

You frowned. The rumors were apparently not rumors after all.

You fell on to the couch with a sigh, turning the nightly news on. You made it just in time. You slid your heels off, leaning back into the cushion, waiting on the commercials to be over.

The anchorman had a very grim look on his face.

"Good evening folks. Tonight we bring you dismal news as sources are pouring in that Police Chief Ned Stark was shot to death in cold blood just a little over thirty minutes ago as a group of masked men abducted his eldest daughter outside of the mall where she works. We will bring you more information on the story as it comes in."

You gasped. That's where those cop cars had been going.

"Ramsay!" You called, eyes glued to the television.

"Hm?" He asked a few moments later. You glanced over at him, flushing as he only wore a towel at his hips. But you pushed that away and rewound the report.

"Listen!" You cried, hitting play.

Ramsay sat on the couch, running his hand over his stubble and running his tongue over his top teeth.

"Well, this complicates things." He finally spoke.

#guns for hire #gfh #ramsay bolton x reader #ramsay bolton imagine #modern ramsay bolton #ramsay bolton #ramsay bolton fic #AO3 fic #game of thrones fanfic #game of thrones fanfiction #modern game of thrones #got modern au #modern au #Modern Setting #mafia au #guns #violence #pregnancy #kee_writestrashh

14 notes · View notes

joannalannister · 6 years

Text

@kahlanhbic submitted:

Do you think if Joanna would have lived and been around to raise Cersei properly do you think Cersei would have turned out any different?

Probably.

MISOGYNY

The Cersei we know in the books is very misogynistic. Part of that is Westerosi culture, part is the influence of Tywin and his own violent aggression against various women, and part is Cersei’s own self-loathing, but I think another part – a big part – is her mother dying. I think when Cersei was a very young child, her parents seemed as constant as the stars, “eternal as Casterly Rock.” Joanna perhaps even more so than Tywin, because Tywin was “often away” in King’s Landing. Think what they must have looked like to tiny Cersei. Beautiful, tall, powerful, towering over her like gods. (“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” –Thackeray)

(It is my headcanon that the ancient golden statues of the Seven in the small sept at Casterly Rock have a very Lannister “look” and when bb!Cersei prayed to the Mother, she prayed to her own mother, because they were one and the same to her, even with her mother right beside her.)

But then Joanna died, and I think that profoundly influenced how Cersei views women. To Cersei, the female body is something weak and soft and, above all, fallible. (To be fair, the incidents that would make Cersei hate her body started before Joanna died, but I think Joanna’s death cemented Cersei’s misogyny and self-hatred.) Women are weak, according to Cersei. They are “Vapid, weepy creatures, always telling tales,” treacherous, never to be trusted. (Since she was ten, Cersei has never trusted “anyone but Jaime”.)

(EDIT to add: Contrast Tywin’s body in AGOT -- “hard as a man of twenty” -- with Cersei’s body in ADWD. Men’s (able) bodies are the long-lasting, celebrated ideal, while women’s bodies are a source of shame, a source of betrayal.)

Cersei also has this idea that she’s playing a zero-sum game; if another woman gains, Cersei loses, in her mind. For example, Margaery being queen diminishes Cersei’s own queenly status. Even before Cersei visited the maegi and heard the YMBQ prophecy, Cersei has feared that other women would take from her. They would take Jaime, they would take Rhaegar, they would take her position. Other women would take and take and take, she feared. (It’s what makes her so jealous and afraid of Sansa, Margaery, soon perhaps Arianne. Even the ghost of the “wolf girl” Lyanna haunts her.)

If Joanna had lived, I don’t think Cersei would have quite as terrible views on women. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Joanna being alive would be wash away all of Cersei’s misogyny, Westeros being Westeros. I think Joanna absolutely loathed women like Ellyn Tarbeck and Tytos’s mistresses, and I don’t think she would have liked Tysha at all. So there would have still been a lot of negativity toward women. But with Joanna alive, I think Cersei would have seen some female positivity to counterbalance all this negativity.

(In the text, we see some glimpses of Cersei’s relationship with Genna, but – and this is just my headcanon! because grrm doesn’t delve into female relationships!!! including this one!!!! – I don’t feel like Cersei had the same close relationship with Genna that she might have had with her mother.)

***

Tangent:

Sure, Genna prepped Cersei for the tourney (likely at Tywin’s wishes, because Tywin can’t very well do that himself, can he) and afterwards Genna promised that Tywin would find someone better for Cersei (because Genna has massive faith in Tywin and was extremely loyal to him), and then when Tywin sent a raven that Cersei should come to court, Genna, in Tywin’s absence, explained to her distraught teenage niece what was going on and prepped her for it. So idk, the things Genna did with Cersei always seemed to me like … idk, like Genna was being a female!Kevan, acting on Tywin’s behalf, out of loyalty to Tywin. So these three instances, to me, seemed more about Tywin & Genna, and how they operated together (or apart, as the case may be), rather than them being about Genna & Cersei. I think maybe a lot of people disagree with me here … but I imagine these like … ~Tywin goes up to Genna, like, “I don’t know how to parent or show emotions, and women/girls are … you know … so please go do something with my daughter. Brush her hair or. Something.” and Genna’s like, “Anything for you, Tywin!”~ Like, she’s trying to help cover for Tywin’s massive failings as a parent, because she’s Tywin’s sister and House Lannister is ride or die. I had a similar headcanon about Gerion playing with Jaime, because Tywin never knew how to play.

***

… where was I … female positivity to counterbalance all the negativity … I think Joanna had many positive relationships with various ladies at Casterly Rock. She was obviously good friends with the Unnamed Princess of Dorne. I think Joanna and Genna were good friends. So I don’t think Cersei would have felt quite so hateful toward other women, and toward herself, if she’d had Joanna there to be a positive female role model.

(However, I imagine Joanna had various problems herself, but I think she would hide those problems from Cersei as best she could, so let’s set those aside for now. I feel like everyone thinks I’m weird when I suggest that Joanna had her own problems, but idk how anyone can think living with Tywin was easy. For anyone. House Lannister is where life goes to be twisted in darkness; just ask that strange weirwood, “choking out all other growth”.)

RELATIONSHIP WITH JAIME

I don’t think Cersei’s relationship with Jaime would have been allowed to continue, had Joanna survived. I still think that Joanna and Tywin both intended that Cersei marry Rhaegar, given that that plan was set in motion before Joanna died. I think it was wishful thinking on the part of the Unnamed Princess of Dorne that Cersei/Oberyn would happen, and I don’t think it was ever going to go through, but I do think that the betrothal of Jaime to Princess Elia would have gone through. (See: #jaime x elia)

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think it could go either way in terms of which child leaves CR after Tyrion is born. If Joanna is very persuasive, Jaime gets fostered in Sunspear with the Martells. Crakehall, otherwise, just sooner than in the OTL.

But I think there’s an interesting alternative to fostering Jaime, one that would separate the twins without Joanna angering Tywin. When Joanna is well enough to travel, I think she and Cersei could spend the rest of the winter in Sunspear. Joanna and the Unnamed Princess were BFFs, after all, and it’s important for Joanna to keep a close eye on Cersei, to prepare her to be a queen. Not a formal fostering in Sunspear, because I honestly think Tywin is too much of a dick, but, like, an extended vacation in the sunshine.

(Wow I think I just solved one problem in my fanfic, thinking about it while typing this out. Cool.)

And with Elia already taken, I don’t think Aerys can find a wife for Rhaegar, which opens up all sorts of possibilities, but I’m not too interested in most of those. If … something … happens to Aerys, I think Cersei/Rhaegar is a strong possibility in this AU.

Anyways, I don’t think Jaime/Cersei is quite as much of a thing in this AU. Still possible, but less likely. I don’t think Jaime or Cersei need it to be as much of a thing in this AU.

I think one of the reasons Jaime and Cersei turned to each other in canon – aside from Tywin’s belief in Lannister superiority – is that they were emotionally starving after Joanna’s death, and they sought comfort in each other. (This almost makes me think of the twincest as, like, emotional cannibalism. Hmmm. Gonna think more on that one.) With Tywin turning in on himself, Jaime and Cersei are left to grieve all alone, trying to navigate this massive trauma all by themselves, which I kinda think pushed them into each other’s arms.

But if Joanna survives, Jaime and Cersei not only don’t have to deal with this trauma, they also have a mother to love them and show them affection.

And the Tywin in this AU isn’t quite the man we know; if Tywin’s 100% cyborg in canon, maybe in this Joanna Lives AU he’s only 95% cyborg, so that’s 5% more fatherly affection than the twins saw in canon. Has to be statistically significant, right? With Joanna alive, Tywin is probably more willing to show emotion, more willing to at least try to be human.

So I don’t think Jaime and Cersei are as emotionally dependent on each other in this AU. Which means I don’t think Jaime and Cersei first have sex at about 13. (That time in King’s Landing when Jaime decided he didn’t need Casterly Rock was probably not the first time Jaime and Cersei had sex in the OTL.) Whether they have sex later in life is an interesting question to me, but that’s getting into too many variables, so I’ll leave that off.

So yeah, I think the twincest is less likely. Not impossible, because there’s a lot of underlying Lannister ideology motivating the twincest, but less likely than in the OTL. The outcome of the Rebellion is a big question here, and that’s going to affect twincest, but again, too many variables that aren’t very interesting to me.

CERSEI AND EMOTIONS

I think being raised with Tywin’s ideology fucks a person up no matter what, so I think Cersei still has some issues, regardless of whether Joanna lives or dies.

For example, shortly after Joanna died, Tywin made this pronouncement in Cersei’s hearing: “You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night" (AFFC). Tywin’s fascist masculinity has no place for love; it was a weakness in him that made him smile and even laugh, “not once, but upon three separate occasions!” So, after Joanna died, Tywin recognized this weakness in himself and crushed it as mercilessly as Castamere, until there was “naught but stone at the heart of Casterly Rock.” Unlike his father Tytos, Tywin was not one to let his “heart burst” (literally or metaphorically) with any sort of positive emotion.

In the OTL, Cersei internalized all of Tywin’s fucked up views on love, to the point where she calls love a “disease” (ACOK, Sansa IV) and a “poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same.“ Tywin’s whole worldview that Cersei adopted has fucked Cersei up, it’s completely fucked up her ability to form meaningful connections with other people so that “It had never been any good with anyone but Jaime”. She views her children as extensions of the self, and her relationship with Jaime is narcissistic, “one person in two bodies”. (I love Jaime/Cersei with my entire being, but this ship is deliciously fucked up. Everyone go follow my twincest sideblog.)

Anger is the only emotion fascist masculinity truly allows, so after Joff’s death, after Tywin’s death, we see this barely controlled rage in Cersei, because she doesn’t know how else to react. Anything less than a display of violence is weakness, and weakness ill befits a Lannister. (Even just after Joanna’s death, what we see from Cersei is violence, when she sexually abuses baby!Tyrion.)

Now, how do I want to say this? I don’t think that Joanna was immune to House Lannister’s fascist masculinity culture, but I don’t think Cersei would have been as emotionally fucked up if Joanna had lived. Like, Cersei is still going to be raised thinking that Lannisters are superior human beings, there’s still going to be a significant lack of empathy / compassion, she’s going to be arrogant, privileged, Lannister.

But I don’t think it’s going to be as extreme, like, I don’t think you’re going to get Cersei viewing love as a poison. I think Cersei would be better able to express herself emotionally, in a healthy manner. I also think Cersei would be able to connect with (noble)people better. Basically, slightly better adjusted in society.

Beyond that…

If Joanna lives, in what ways does A/erys continue to harass her to get at Tywin and House Lannister? And how do these things affect Cersei?

What happens in Robert’s Rebellion?

Who does Cersei marry?

What is Jaime and Elia’s relationship like?

What about the prophecy? Does it still exist? Does Cersei still go and hear it? Does she still murder Melara?

Joanna’s death was undoubtedly significant to Cersei’s development, but so many other things – some of which have nothing to do with Joanna – have shaped who Cersei is. We can’t just pin it all down to this one thing in Cersei’s childhood.

Also…

To simplify this scenario, I’ve kind of been assuming here that Joanna doesn’t do anything, um, damaging to Cersei. But what if that’s not the case? I kind of think Tywin was like, “OK, Cersei’s gonna marry Rhaegar. See ya in a few years, Cersei,” while I can imagine Joanna being a lot more, um, helicoptering. “Cersei, you have to do this, you have to do that, stand up straight, sit still, smile, no pressure but the well being of House Lannister depends on this.” I don’t think Cersei would necessarily be damaged the same ways she was in canon, but what about the damage Joanna herself would inflict, even unintentionally?

And what of Joanna herself? No one but @cosmonauthill seems to like my Joanna-Lives-But-Suicide headcanon, even tho House Lannister is overwhelmingly self-destructive in canon. *pouts*

So there’s a lot of factors to think about here.

I don’t know if I’ve addressed everything you wanted me to address because this is such a broad topic, but if there was something specific you had in mind for this AU that I didn’t touch on, just send me an ask! I also have a #joanna lives AU tag, if you want to explore more.

Finally, I will just leave you with this fanfic by lilith-morgana because it is one of my favorites.

#kahlanhbic #joanna lannister #cersei lannister #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #au questions #joanna lives au #the only au i actually like #i dont think anyone's ever asked me about cersei in a joanna lives au before?? or at least it's not in the tag #this is strange because i thought i have dealt with joanna+cersei au questions?? but apparently not #joanna meta #lannister thoughts #jaime x cersei #genna lannister #jaime x elia #fascist masculinity in asoiaf #replies #submission

210 notes · View notes

tyrion4pm · 7 years

Text

This "Catspaw" theory is wrong (almost certainly)

To be clear I'm talking about my own theory here, not bad mouthing someone elses. Basically I saw some dots that COULD line up, but after looking around a bit I hadn't seen it before and in the very off chance it turns out to be true wanted to stake my claim on it. Sorry about it being a bit long winded or if it's already out there. It's a different take on the "Catspaw assassin". My theory is he wasn't a random hired killer. He wasn't hired by anyone. It had nothing to do with Brans fall, the weapon wasn't given to him, and not only wasn't Robert's dagger, but wasn't even a "dagger" (originally) So there's already a lot to unpack here before I say I it was Howland Reed, and that's why he's been (seemingly) absent in the story. He's been in it. Just very briefly before dying on Brans floor. So the first obvious problem is why didn't Ned or Catelyn recognize him. This is a broken tormented husk of Howland Reed who's been drinking himself to death for probably over a decade at this point. There was a reference to him being described by his daughter as "having been brave, strong, and smart in his youth". She's describing him like this in the past tense. Other than that his description is pretty much "small like all Crannogmen". The catspaw assassin is described as a small, dirty man in filthy brown clothing that smells of horses. Being small isn't much to go on obviously, but think of the difference in descriptions between when Robert Baratheon rebelled as a handsome young warrior, and what he had become by the time he died. He looked like if a giant bag of hairy laundry could get the booze sweats. He would have been unrecognizable to anyone who hadn't seen him since the end of the war, and that was after living the good life. Howland is said to have not left the neck since the war. Robert became king, Eddard became Warden of the North, and Howland went home to rule the swamp everyone has to troop through to go kill each other in places with dry ground. Although to be clear, I'm not saying it has anything to do with resentment of his position, but the burden of knowledge he's been carrying all these years. Only Ned Stark and Howland Reed survived the fight at the tower of joy. And they both then learned the entire bloody atrocity filled civil war that upended society as they knew it, was based on a lie. Even the men they had killed at the tower were protecting Neds sister, not keeping her captive. Ned swore to keep his sisters secret, so Howland had to keep it also. But I haven't gotten to the bad part yet. Jojen. "In his childhood Jojen nearly died of greywater fever. While he was near death, he was visited by a three-eyed crow that gave him the gift of greensight causing him to experience prophetic dreams known as greendreams." A lot of this theory is based on the darker take on the three eyed crow that a few people have mentioned before. 3eC is not Brynden Rivers anymore than the ironmen became Starks when they took over winterfell. When faceless men disguise themselves with a face they've taken they experience the deads emotions and memories and when Wargs stay in the mind of an animal too long they etc, you get the idea. (This part I actually do think is accurate) Brynden Rivers didn't become the three-eyed crow. The three-eyed crow warged into and took over Brynden Rivers. Rivers was already thought to be a powerful sorcerer and taking him over probably expanded the crows power. I'll try and hurry this up. Howland had watched Jojen grow up with the 3eyed crows "gifts" and was probably as aware of anything about the future that Jojen is, including when he'll have served his purpose and will die. Howlands past present and future are already a lot of weight to carry, and now he know it's time to send his children off to probably die so a trickster forest demon can move onto its next more powerful host, who the crow will groom until his powers are ready, then invade like a parasite. That host is the child of his friend Ned Stark. That's what he was being "merciful" by preventing. He may have sent his children, he may have believed it was the right thing to do, but he's been struggling and conflicted about everything he knows, and at some point the weight of it all caused his to snap. As for the "dagger", the idea is at some point Howland found his way to the 3eyed crows cave (or the children had) and found "Dark sister". It was built smaller and more slender than a typical sword, so the handle may have been about the right size, maybe a little on the large side but usable for a dagger. The silver he was carrying might have been to pay off the smith who was skilled enough to convert the Valyrian steel blade down to size. But when it came time to pay, something set and already spiraling Howland off, and there may be a carved up smith somewhere out there. Crannogmen use "guerilla tactics" and he wasn't going to be battling his way through a crowd. He was going to be quickly eliminating one target, whatever happened to him from there didn't matter. But he couldn't blend in walking around with a full length sword.

Why was it important to use that blade? Valyrian steel is good for monster killing. He may not have known if the crow was already in the kid, or what kind of magic things could be protecting the crows next vessel. Turns out a dire wolf was, which again was just awful luck for Howland. Howland was a great fighter in his prime, but not only was he long past that, but this was something he really didn't want to do. As hard as it was already going to be he runs into Catelyn. The boys mother and the wife of his closest friend during the war. But it's kill him or let him be taken over by a demon, so he's dead anyway and this way prevents the crow gaining more power and doing it within the Stark family. But still running into the kids mother is going to throw you off your game no matter what. He may have even spent the week around the castle seeing the life her and Ned had made with their family trying to work up the nerve to follow through, with either letting the crows plan happen, or putting an end to it, as they walked past him for days never so much as making eye contact with him. Unable to recognize him with what the years of drinking and stress had done to him. There's the problem with ownership of the blade already being established, but there's a lot of weird confusion about that. It's a Valyrian steel dagger. Anytime someone see's a Valyrian steel sword, which there are only like a couple hundred or so of in the known world, people freak out like the audience in old footage of a Beatles concert. They name them and pass them down for generations. But apparently that's just swords because the reactions to being asked about the dagger seems to be calling it "plain" which by the nature of what it is, it really can't be. But also most of the people asked never actually see it. The only person who has a clear answer about the dagger is Little finger, and of course he's lying. I think he just saw an opportunity to start a fire and jumped at it. He knew Catelyn was champing at the bit to put the assassination attempt on the Lannisters, and just gave her the answer he knew she was dying to hear. Putting himself in the story lets him be able to speak about the dagger with intimate familiarity so there's no chance it's a misidentification and also doesn't cause the kind of suspicion that just going "It's a Lannister knife, they did it!" would. Even though that's exactly what he's doing.

Varys see's it and says he doesn't know anything about it. Weapons are an important resource. Valyrian steel is incredibly rare and valuable and this one supposedly changed hands through a bet. Interactions like weapons and things of value being up for contention really should catch his attention. I don't think he's holding information back, I think this isn't the blade people think it is and he's really never seen it. When he sees Little finger make up a story about it, he knows he's lying but doesn't get involved and lets things play out. When Jamie points out the problem with Little fingers story all he actually confirms is Tyrion wouldn't bet against him. He has some vague idea about Robert having some dagger, but he never see's the blade he's being asked about. He's got sort of a memory, from a drunk party few years ago of something that kinda sounds like what they mean maybe, and everyone takes that as "Ok so now we know Robert actually had it." He's not confirming anything. He's answering like he's under the impression the blade is already known to have come from them and is scanning his memory to give as best an answer as he can, and a book later (I think that's right) Tywin says "Robert had left a hundred daggers in his armory, but that the only knife the king ever used was a hunting knife he received in his youth from Lord Arryn". This is to Tyrion and the Starks are out of position to do anything about it by that time so he has no reason to lie.

The Lannister brothers decide Joffery hired the assassin, which makes no sense. In the early stories we knew Joffery was bad, but as this point we know he was never patient, calculating or subtle. He was not going to wait a week for an outside peasant assassin to commit a "mercy killing". A Joffery plot would be more like having Clegane kick down the door and Joffery runs in and sets the bed on fire. As the guards rush in Joffery is swinging from the chandelier cackling like the wicked witch screaming "Hey look at that crippled kids I murdered!" And all this is if he hadn't spoiled his plan by telling everyone he was going to do it over and over again at dinner. Howlands wife Jyana has been running his affairs in his name for years while he's been in a downward spiral and continued to after his death, which she doesn't actually know happened. I can see why GRRM is taking so long to finish the new books. This was supposed to be about 2 paragraphs long. So I think I got everything. That's not Roberts knife, Joffery wasn't behind it and the 3 eyed crow is evil are all things I actually do think but other people have already talked about them with a lot more clarity. The assassin being Howland Reed and the dagger being Dark sister are possible and no more crazy than a lot of very popular theories, but I doubt it. It's more like a "What if..." idea than an actual theory.

#game of thrones #asoiaf #catspawdagger #got theories #howland reed

2 notes · View notes

renlyisright · 6 years

Text

Season 6 Episode 10: Justice for Everyone, Ex-Sept for Some

WHAT.

Just what. That seems to cover it. What.

Cersei just… but what about… but she… what… okay, one more try.

The episode starts with a shot of the sept of Baelor, and a montage of everyone preparing for the day’s trials. Then the music starts. Oh dear, the music. The foreboding, pling plong music. Cersei has a plan.

And what a plan. It’s very efficient. Put all of your enemies in King’s Landing in one place, then blow that place up. There’s some collateral damage, like the whole court and several districts surrounding the sept, but since those weren’t Jaime or Tommen they don’t matter.

When I figured out that she was going to use wildfire, and it was enough to burn everyone in the sept, the question became “Okay, who is going to get out? Margaery obviously, she had her own plot which we don’t know yet, some other named characters too so this doesn’t end all court politics in King’s Landing… they are not getting out. They are not getting out. High Sparrow, what are you doing? They -” And then it happened.

When you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die.

So many deaths in the span of a second. But I want to acknowledge all of them, so a few words of them all.

Grand Master Pycelle gets his own personal death, when he is called into Qyburn’s gothic cellar. He would have gone to the trial anyway, right? So when Qyburn says that this is nothing personal, and that he has no ill will towards the good old grand maester who has mocked him his entire time in the King’s Landing… he is lying like a cat. He wanted him there, so he could watch him be murdered by children. The realm will be in good hands with this Hand. Pycelle has been such a constant in the show, that him being gone feels weird. Who’s going to look smug, clang around and mutter in the small council meetings now? If there will be any anymore.

Of Lancel Lannister I have little to say. He poisoned Robert on Cersei’s order, then caught an arrow, was hit by Cersei, was sick for a long time, found the gods (they were hiding beneath the bed, I assume), became a religious fanatic, was stabbed by a child and then blown up as the wildfire’s first victim.

The High Sparrow is the second one to meet his gods, by a fraction of a second. If they exist, they will perhaps congratulate him for trying so hard and almost succeeding, or they’ll tell him to chill, that he was wrong on many points, but that when Cersei arrives, she will be dealt much more harshly. I never want an answer on what’s afterlife like in stories (purgatories are fine), but the High Sparrow was all about the afterlife and the judgement of the gods, and now he has gone there, and he has the answers. If he is welcomed not by his precious Seven, but by the Lord of Light… well, he went by burning, that should be a plus. I wonder about his last moments. When Margaery told him that Cersei is planning something and they should leave, what did he think it would be? Something like the Red Wedding? He knew that if he and/or members of the court died, they would be martyrs. He wasn’t afraid to die, and he wouldn’t care for the rich and elite, if the end result was a revolution. Well, he didn’t count for absolutely everybody dying at the same time.

Then there’s Margaery, who… was a plotter. She had a plan, that she would put to use when Loras was free to leave the sept. I wonder what it was. Margaery never was one to murder people, she just gently manipulated the people in power to do what she wanted them to do. Sadly, she couldn’t manipulate wildfire. (Sidenote: I think that not even Daenerys could survive that explosion, her body just wouldn’t burn, but there’s shock waves and everything else. So look out once you are there, there’s more of this stuff beneath all the big buildings). Margaery’s death was the biggest surprise. Everyone else there, sure, but she felt like she still had things to do and Cersei to challenge. Oh well. That’s the thing with death, it doesn’t care how much you have things to do.

Loras’ time has been almost nothing but suffering. It’s a pity, especially as he is… was the only gay man in the show after Renly died. Well, there was also that prostitute, but he was mostly a prop, and if he was still in the sept dungeons goodbye to him too. Anyway, after a long humiliation and abuse, he is mutilated and left to bleed as the High Sparrow goes after the bigger fish. And getting the star carved onto him was least of his worries, as he then dies too. Talk about drawing the short stick.

Mace Tyrell. How do I even begin to explain Mace Tyrell? He turned the wrong corner in the studio and ended up in the wrong show. Westeros is a darker place without him. I mean, sure, in that world kids died and people were flayed and so on, but that world also included Mace Tyrell, pompously going around the Red Keep, knowing that the place was kept in one piece only because of his diplomatic skills in the finances and fleet-organizing. Why, he practically ruled the realm behind the scenes, like in some game of thrones or something.

The Hand of the King is a very perilous position. Tywin Lannister was the only one who survived in that position for more than a season. Let’s see, Ned lost his head, Tyrion got a scar, Tywin was shot, Cersei (the Hand in all but name) was arrested and had Mother’s Mercy given to her, and now Kevan goes out in green flames. He was right in that Cersei wasn’t much of a ruler when she tried it, but completely excluding her from decision-making and her son was a wrong idea as well. Tywin could do it, but Cersei wouldn’t have blown Tywin up. Maybe. I’m actually not sure.

That’s everyone important inside the sept, but it doesn’t stop there. Oh how it doesn’t. Last week I wondered who will take the spot of the most vile character now that Ramsay is gone. Well… I have also thought that Cersei should get a win at some point. Can you say “summer child?” Because when Cersei gets a victory, it’s not pretty. The explosion at least was quick, even if it killed hundreds of innocents, but Septa Unella will suffer horribly for a long time until the good Queen allows her to die.

Queen, don’t I mean Queen Mother? After all, Tommen is still the king, right? Well, actually, after everything that Cersei has done for him... That is, trying to be the only one he ever listens to, removing everyone else from his life, including the woman she loves... To be fair, everybody in his life has only tried to use him for their own ends. Tywin told him to get good counselors, he has tried to get them anywhere he could. First Tywin, then Cersei, Margaery, Kevan, the High Sparrow… But he has been a puppet all the time. Once he figured out just how evil his own mother is, and that nothing in this world is good, except perhaps his beloved wife who just died… darn, that’s a lot to take in when your job description says “the most powerful man in the world” and that doesn’t help at all. He takes a long walk on a short windowsill.

There, that’s everyone in King’s Landing. Nine. What a purge. And it doesn’t stop there, as we move on to the Twins!

Lord Walder Frey is super happy for getting Riverrun back. He tries to make “The Freys and the Lannisters send their regards” into a thing, but Jaime is not amused. In their conversation Walder tries to make this a great victory, “I have defeated my enemies”, but Jaime points out that “he” had already defeated his enemies back at the Red Wedding, and then he couldn’t keep them defeated without Lannister help again. Now they are in the exact same situation but the Lannisters had to kill Blackfish for him. So after the Late Walder Frey becomes the late Walder Frey, is there a proper heir amidst his army of relatives, or will Cersei go “Pssh, who cares, let’s give Riverlands to some other house”?

Yes, Walder Frey dies. Not from old age, he’s too experienced of it to die from it, but from Arya’s hand, same way as he had her mother killed. Arya kills not only him, but also Black Walder and Lothar. She actually bakes them into a pie and has Walder eat them. This is some Titus Andronicus level horridness, and it’s done by Arya… actually I’m not even surprised.

I don’t remember who are on her list, Cersei, the Mountain, the Hound… is anyone else still alive? Jaime apparently was not in the list, otherwise he wouldn’t have left the Twins alive. Arya uses faces, did she take them from the temple when she left? Do they work like that? And do the Faceless Men mind that she uses their tricks for her own purposes? Last time she did that, she was blinded. But maybe Braavos doesn’t mind her killing Cersei and some others, as the crown is still in debt to the Iron Bank. Even after the excellent deal Mace must have made with them.

But darn Arya, don’t act like cutting people up and baking them into pies is a cool thing to do. What I said last time of Sansa applies to her as well. Killing people is fine (in story), but cruel and unusual punishments must take a toll on you too, so better stop before you end up like Cersei.

So, on the throne? She has won the Game of Thrones, and sits now on the pointy chair. She has managed to gather enough of a new court to fill the throne room once more. The Mad King almost ended his rule by burning all his enemies, Cersei starts with it. So she read Stannis’ self-help guide “What would Aerys II do?” And with Qyburn as her hand and the entire Small Council, I’m sure her reign will be long and prosperous. Maybe even seven episodes long.

Sam and Gilly have arrived to their destination, without any dramatic hunting and confrontation which I feared would happen. They have the precious Valyrian steel sword in their possession. It would help a lot more in Castle Black than in the Citadel, but can Sam find anyone trustworthy enough to get it there in time?

Ah yes, the Citadel. I get big Alexandria vibes from it. The letter from Jon is accepted and believed, (“Yes, both the Lord Commander and the maester of the Watch died recently, I show up here months later holding a letter written by someone you don’t know and who actually is not the Lord Commander anymore, and I’m supposed to be educated by you.”), because who wouldn’t believe Sam?

The Citadel maester crosses out Mormont’s name from his book (if it lists current rulers, half of it must have been crossed out in recent years), and allows Sam to enter the library. Hallelujah! It’s got scrolls a plenty, and also planetary models. Cool! Is the map from the opening titles there somewhere too? More time here please.

So Sam and Gilly spent this season going from place A to place B, with the only hijinks on the way being having to dine with Sam’s father and stealing his sword with no repercussions (yet anyway). Now if they can just stay under radar for the next fourteen episodes…

Fourteen episodes. During the last fourteen episodes Sam defended Gilly once from the watchmen and then they travelled here. It feels weird that this story ends after that same number of episodes is up.

Well, so many of the cast died in this one that they can get more screen time in the future.

You know who won’t get any more screen time? Shireen. Because she was murdered. Davos confronts Melisandre about that, and her reasons and Davos’ objections are what I thought they would be. It felt super satisfying to hear Davos say “If he commands you to burn children, your lord is evil”, but sad as well. After hearing this, Jon doesn’t want her around anymore and exiles her.

Does Melisandre go to find another Chosen One? Well, Jon will fight the White Walkers so in that way he still is, but Melisandre can’t give her any tips from the Lord of Light. Which is totally fine with me. If he wants Jon to win, he can well melt the snow without asking for killing children first.

What did Olenna say to Cersei when she came back to King’s Landing last season? Sometimes you have to work with your enemies, not destroy them. Cersei never got the hang of that, so she ends up destroying anyone she can and making the rest new enemies. But Olenna, being awesome, is ready to put aside long blood feuds between the Martells and the Tyrells and travels to Dorne.

Seriously, Cersei has absolutely no proper allies anymore. The Freys need the Lannisters more than they need them. And being from the original usurper houses, and a bad person, she is a human-shaped target for everyone. Jaime and the Mountain have their job cut out for them to keep her alive long enough to be defeated.

I joked about “The War of Six Queens” back when Shireen, Margaery and Myrcella were still alive, but by the failure of existence of anyone else, the de facto ruleships have slipped to the women. Olenna, Ellaria, Cersei, Daenerys, Sansa almost, Yara likely soon. If you keep on killing everyone in the line of succession, at some point you run out of men.

Varys enters. He had Olenna’s respect back in King’s Landing, and now he can offer an alliance with three dragons and a big fleet full of soldiers. Daenerys’ job seems almost too easy. With Cersei being the most hated woman in the kingdom, and no other kings to challenge her rule-

Oh. These people are so easy to excite. Glover admits that he was wrong when he didn’t support Jon. Good, but the Glovers are still not right.

Sansa doesn’t take the leadership of the North, but she’ll likely become the regent as Jon has a war to fight during the winter. But that war seems much easier now with three dragons on the continent, if Tyrion manages to make Daenerys take that threat seriously. The dead can’t fly, and they can’t cross either the sea or the Wall.

That last information is told to us by Benjen. There are spells in the Wall’s foundations and the dead can’t pass while it stands. But the two dead watchmen who attacked Mormont in the Castle Black got through, by Jon and co bringing them there. Is that a loophole? But the watchmen won’t bring any more through, unless it’s for the pyre.

Benjen goes to be missing again, that’s what he knows best. Bran wants to see how the episode with young Ned ended, and rewinds there. Ned finds his sister Lyanna, dying in childbirth, and asks Ned to take care of the child.

The child. By Renly’s beard! That’s Jon! Who was thought to be the honorable Eddard Stark’s only sin, is instead the son of raped Lyanna Stark and her kidnapper, Rhaegar Targaryen, and Ned took care of him as his son. Wow.

I had no theories of Jon’s mother. I couldn’t figure out anyone 1) in the proper age range during the rebellion, 2) whose name would be a big enough revelation, and 3) who would be able to carry a child and have Ned then bring it to North with nobody wiser. So I decided to just wait and see. And this makes sense enough and fulfills the above conditions. Color me more than satisfied. It’s great to have six-year-long mysteries finally answered. What is left? The dagger will likely never be addressed in the show, Joffrey has been dead for a long time and who is going to care? Some historians, maybe. I don’t remember any other relevant mysteries which are still mysteries.

Littlefinger confesses that he has only ever wanted the Iron Throne, and Catelyn Sansa at his side. Sansa is not flattered, she has had enough of marriages for a long while. Besides, who would trust Littlefinger? Everyone, for some reason. If he had a bear costume and told everyone he was a bear, they’d believe that.

Daenerys wraps up on Essos. Slaver’s Bay is renamed into the Bay of Dragons, and Fabio Naharis is left in Meereen with the sellswords to keep peace there. “I said farewell to a man who loves me. Who I thought I cared for. And I felt nothing. Just impatience to get it over with”. Well, there’s two of us then. I haven’t thought much of any of Daenerys’ sidekicks... except for the ones coming from Westeros, now that I think about it. Huh.

Tyrion gets the Hand pin! And recognition of his skills and services! This is a beautiful day.

Then they are on their way. Daenerys is on her way. The fleet leaves Meereen and sails towards Westeros, with the dragons singing the song of fire.

Argh, I have to get the next episodes ASAP, no need for any months-long-breaks, I’m late as it is.

Compared to… all the other seasons, this one ended very optimistically. Aside from all the comparatively-decent persons dying, and with the knowledge that many more will die before the end, there’s still hope. The North is in peace and it’s led by a person who knows what they are up against, everyone is Cersei’s enemy so she won’t rule for long, and Daenerys has many ladies as allies already.

Okay winter, let’s go.

#game of thrones #renly is right #light of the seven

0 notes

kee-writestrashh · 6 years

Text

Guns for Hire

Ramsay Bolton x Reader fic

ao3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12036195/chapters/28268880

Chapter 14: Curtain Call

You sat there giddy in excitement, waiting on your name to be called. It was impossible to hide your feelings, as you wrung your hands in your lap.

Ramsay simply sat there, lost in deep thought by the look in his eyes until the sound of your shared lastname brought him to.

"How are we feeling today, (y/n)?" The nurse asked as you stepped on the scale.

"Fantastic!" You said, doing your best to keep your voice quiet.

The nurse smiled, "glad to hear. No problems?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Baby B and I are reaching an agreement in the eating arrangements now." You said as the nurse led you to the room.

You glanced around the room. Full of wires and equipment. You gave your husband a small smile as you gripped his hand.

After only a few minutes of waiting the ultrasound technician entered with a knock.

"Good morning." She said with a smile and sitting in her swivel seat. She typed in a few things on her computer, pulled on a pair if gloves, and turned to you, "let's see this baby, shall we?"

You laid back on the bed, unbuttoning your pants as instructed and watching the tech place a blue paper cloth in your pants waist and pull a tube of gel from her table.

"Mkay, so it will be cold at first, but then it gets warm. Ready?" The woman said.

You bit your lip, grasping Ramsay's hand, and giving a nod.

The thick gel feeling weird as it began to warm, your eyes glued to the screen as finally your child came into view.

Your breath caught as you saw the tiny little human shaped form inside you. Ramsay said nothing as his eyes wandered over the screen. A stoic mask upon his face

"Looks like we are actually sitting at more at thirteen weeks. Projected due date is... uhm, June twenty seventh."

"How can I have been pregnant for so long and just now finding out about it?" You asked as the information penetrated you.

In one hand you clutched your next appointment slip, and the pictures in the other as you climbed into the jeep. You wore a big grin watching the snow kiss the windshield.

"Hungry?" Ramsay asked, glancing around the parking lot.

"Well, I could eat." You said with a shrug. "I'd actually probably kill for some greasy hash browns and nasty ass McGridle."

"So specific." Ramsay chuckled.

xxx

"Where you going?" You asked sitting up from the couch.

"Gym."

You scrunched your nose. "Can't you just stay home with me, where it's warm?"

"I won't be long." He said, leaving.

"Pft. Okay." You muttered, laying back down on the couch and picking up your phone.

A knock came on the door. Thankfully the dogs were out back. You did not want to hear their obnoxious barking.

You rose from the couch and opened the door. There stood Tyene holding a plastic bag full of cookies and ice cream. A file folder in her other hand.

"Got what ya wanted." She said with a grin, walking in past you and falling into the couch, snatching up the remote.

You sat beside her, pulling the cookies toward you. You rose to your feet again and went to the kitchen for a spoon.

When you came back, it was to find Tyene shoveling cookies in her mouth and watching some anime on Netflix.

"Sooo... what's up with you and Matt?" You asked, giving her a sly grin.

Tyene grinned, "He's cute. A real sweetheart. And he's fucking funny. I like him. He turns eighteen in a couple months, and im only nineteen, so it's not like weird or anything."

"I thought you were twenty." You said, raising a brow at her.

"I may or may not have lied about that on my application. I've been doing this since I was thirteen, so sometimes I just kinda forget."

You shook your head and sat back down on the couch and picked up the folder. You slowly opened it. It was full to bursting with papers and evaluations. All of Ramsay's psych reports from age five.

After almost two hours and a whole half gallon if ice cream, you set down your spoon and set aside the folder.

"So, how much of a piece of work is your husband? I didn't get the chance to look." Tyene asked as you rose from the seat.

You gave a shrug.

She took the look on your face, and cocked her head. "(Y/n)? You okay?"

"Yeah. Just... I dunno." You said, your voice sounding unnaturally high as it left you.

'I'm a clinically diagnosed psycho.'

You weren't sure how to take in the information. He fit the bill. But he loved you. Right? Or was he just using you? Could he love you? Roose's words echoed in your mind,

'Obsession. That's what he has for you.'

'No.' you thought bitterly. 'he does love me. He has given me the world. He's never hurt me. He loves me.'

You pushed aside everything and gave a smile.

"Yeah, the baby just... I guess the ice cream was too cold or something. I'm okay." You said, snatching up the folder and pushing through the back door to the patio. "Do you smoke?"

"Yeah. Why?" Tyene called back, as the dogs pushed past you to get inside.

"I need a lighter."

You watched the papers curl up into ash. You then closed the lid of the grill and walked back inside.

"So, thought I should tell you. The Lannister's will be attending theater tonight for that new reenactment of Hamlet or whatever." Tyene said, snatching up her keys.

You nodded, "the boy?"

Tyene nodded, "all of them. And the Tyrell bitch."

"What theater?" you asked.

"That Mocking Bird place."

"Thank you." You said, seeing her to the door. Once closed you walked back to the couch and picked up your phone.

"Everything okay, baby girl?" Ramsay's voice said, through a heavy breath.

"Yeah. I just got info the Lannister's will be going to see a play tonight. All of them. The Tyrell's included."