“Bring her home, Mance” but away from Winterfell, because the Starklings are each other’s home not some castle

GRRM’s inclusion of Mance Rayder among Jon’s expansive catalogue of father figures is a very clever one, beyond just being a retread of the fantasy protagonist gaining a temporary teacher who imparts wisdom then leaves. It’s the way Mance’s identity as father-figure and king play into Martin’s subversion and deconstruction of the secret prince trope. Because he is Rhaegar’s son, many of us would expect Jon to inherit the Iron Throne once his identity is revealed. After all, that’s the rule of the genre and Jon is as clear cut a fantasy protagonist as you can get in ASOIAF. But we’re five books into a seven-book series, and Jon is nowhere near the Iron Throne. Not only that, but he still doesn’t know who he truly is. Instead, he’s spent three out of the five books interacting with Mance’s kingdom, building their trust and becoming Mance’s spiritual heir. Jon even completes what Mance tried and failed to do when he manages to bring wildings south of the Wall and install some sort of working peace with the Watch. By the end of ADWD, Jon has pretty much become the de facto leader of the wildlings and there’s thousands more left to save. So if GRRM is to subvert the hidden prince trope in any way, it looks like he already has. Jon may not be the one to inherit Rhaegar’s kingdom at the end, but it sure looks like he’ll inherit all of Mance’s. And it’s quite clever to have the fantasy protagonist not take over his father’s kingdom by virtue of his birth, but instead rule a stand in’s by virtue of his actions.

some wildlings (including mance for an anon a while ago!) + jon

dilf beyond the wall dare i say….

Drawing Every Named Character in A Song of Ice and Fire

By Alejandro Kay

Part I: Prologue

Part II: Bran I

asoiaf character you'd like to be tumblr mutuals with? asoiaf character you'd have beef with on tumblr?

it’s already been said but wylla manderly is basically already on tumblr and she would be the coolest mutual that i could ever have. also sansa would do the justgirlythings bit including the lesbian part and i eat that shit up. i would have beef with selyse’s tradcath r’hollor blog who blazes her 5 note posts religiously (all 5 notes are mel on separate accounts it’s a mating ritual.) also if mance was a real person and he was in a band i would have to blacklist the tag because the people on here would make so much old man yaoi between him (lead singer) and the drummer (qhorin) i would have blood feuds with people posting untagged mancexreader fic on MY dash in the year of our seven 298 AC

A tale of two marriages.

The vast difference in how Jon Snow deals with the marriages of Arya and Sansa Stark has already been mentioned. However, I noticed there are also other differences in the overall narrative as well.

First, two Kings - Robb Stark and Stannis Baratheon - refer to and use Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion to affirm that Sansa will never get Winterfell while positing that Jon Snow should be Lord of Winterfell.

“Young, and a king,” he said. “A king must have an heir.  If I should die in my next battle, the kingdom must not die with me. By law Sansa is next in line of succession, so Winterfell and the north  would pass to her.” His mouth tightened. “To her, and her lord husband. Tyrion Lannister. I cannot allow that. I will not allow that. That dwarf must never have the north.” - Robb Stark, ASoS

"By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa."

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

In contrast, two Kings - Mance Rayder and Stannis Baratheon - are trying to save Arya Stark from her marriage to Ramsay Bolton for Jon Snow.

He glanced at the letter again. I will save your sister if I can. A surprisingly tender sentiment from Stannis - Jon, ADwD

Bring her home, Mance. I saved your son from Melisandre, and now I am about to save four thousand of your free folk. You owe me this one little girl. - Jon, ADwD

It’s interesting that Stannis has this ‘tender sentiment’ while vowing that Sansa will never get Winterfell considering that Arya too is married to his enemy Ramsay Bolton. Maybe he intends for Ramsay Bolton to be dead soon which would free Arya to make other alliances. Or maybe he hates the Lannisters more than the Boltons.

Additionally there is no other mention of the Sansa/Tyrion marriage in the Northern context, no Northern houses or lords who bring it up, no secret plotting that revolves around this marriage. In contrast Arya’s marriage to Ramsay is mentioned in the four corners of the North, from the Wall to Winterfell, from Deepwood Motte to White Harbor and is a driving force for many of the characters’ actions and plotting. It’s more important in terms of ‘The North Remembers’ and Northern uprising against the Lannisters in King’s Landing, the Freys and the Boltons considering it revolves around Lady Arya Stark present in Winterfell.

This is why - as GRRM has pointed out in interviews - Arya’s marriage to Ramsay is a necessary and important book plot.

Unintentionally. A little change in a long narrative can have big changes further on. You know, when we remove Jeyne Poole from season one, then you don’t have Jeyne Poole to be the fake Arya, as happens in the book. So what do you do then? The butterfly effect has done that.

It’s not Jeyne Poole’s marriage to Ramsay Bolton that is driving all these mini subplots in the North.Yes, it’s sad that no one would care if Ramsay married Jeyne just like no one cared that Jeyne got send off to the brothels while Sansa was a high value hostage of the Lannisters. Just like no one cared about Jeyne’s story in the books until the show replaced her with Sansa and suddenly there were discussions about rape in the series.

GRRM: I was trying to set up Jeyne for her future role as the false Arya.   The real Arya has escaped and is presumed dead.  But this girl has been in Littlefinger's control for years, and he's been training her.  She knows Winterfell, has the proper northern accent, and can pose as Arya. Who the hell knows what a little girl you met two years ago looks like?  When your a lord visiting Winterfell, are you going to pay attention to the little kids running around?  So she can pull off the impersonation.  Not having Jeyne, they used Sansa for that.  Is that better or worse?  You can make your decision there.  Oddly, I never got pushback for that in the book because nobody cared about Jeyne Poole that much.  They care about Sansa.

In the books, it’s Arya marriage that has two kings trying to save her, the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch breaking sworn oaths, the Mountain clans and Northern houses marching with Stannis for the Ned’s precious little girl. They all think that’s Arya Stark in Winterfell. Arya may not be physically there, but it’s the marriage of Arya Stark in Winterfell in front of the Heart Tree, being given away by kin, Theon Greyjoy, that’s being used to hold the North and lend legitimacy to Ramsay Bolton as Lord of Winterfell.

The most unrealistic thing about Game of Thrones isn’t the dragons or the White Walkers. It’s the fact that there are so many fine ass men in Westeros.

i forgot to post this one with the others

young mance and qhorin :3

We need to talk more often about how clever was Jon on his first meeting with Mance at ASOS. The boy knew that despite the guest right protecting him ( since he had already eaten at Mance's table) he was still in a dangerous position so he had to choose his words carefully in order to survive. So what did he do once Mance asked him why he deserted?

First, he brought some extra time to himself - so he could think more carefully what to answer - by taking a long drought of mead. Then his great observation skills paid off, as he correctly had observed that Mance was a man who liked to talk about himself. So when Jon asked him to reveal first his reasons for his own desertion of the Night's Watch, Mance gladly took the bait. And by doing so, he learned more about his opponent and his values. That made Jon more prepared to give an answer which would satisfy Mance once his turn of talking came.

They say that the best lies are based on truth, and that's what Jon does with his answer to Mance. He's not lying when he implies that he was jealous because he wasn't allowed to attend on the central table along with his family and the royal family. Back on his first chapter in AGOT, where that feast took place, it was crystal clear that Jon was jealous and he was drinking too much trying to forget. However, what he didn't tell Mance there was that his love for his family, his brothers at the Wall and the North in general is so much bigger than any negative feelings he had.

manceqhorin divorce is something that can be so

End of the year meme anyone?

"I am my own champion, my own fool, and my own harpist."

Mance Rayder by jozor johai (me)

"One day on a ranging we brought down a fine big elk. We were skinning it when the smell of blood drew a shadow-cat out of its lair. I drove it off, but not before it shredded my cloak to ribbons. Do you see? Here, here, and here?" He chuckled. "It shredded my arm and back as well, and I bled worse than the elk. My brothers feared I might die before they got me back to Maester Mullin at the Shadow Tower, so they carried me to a wildling village where we knew an old wisewoman did some healing. She was dead, as it happened, but her daughter saw to me. Cleaned my wounds, sewed me up, and fed me porridge and potions until I was strong enough to ride again. And she sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me." He swept the cloak back over his shoulders. "But at the Shadow Tower, I was given a new wool cloak from stores, black and black, and trimmed with black, to go with my black breeches and black boots, my black doublet and black mail. The new cloak had no frays nor rips nor tears . . . and most of all, no red. The men of the Night's Watch dressed in black, Ser Denys Mallister reminded me sternly, as if I had forgotten. My old cloak was fit for burning now, he said.

“I left the next morning . . . for a place where a kiss was not a crime, and a man could wear any cloak he chose."