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disregardcanon · 11 months

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succession asoiaf au

Premise: Logan Roy is the long-term, conquering king of the seven kingdoms. He doesn’t think that any of his kids are worthy of inheriting his empire.

Logan and his band of lords seized the Seven Kingdoms from a dragonless Targaryen king. This king wasn’t a particularly “bad” king in the way that Aerys was, but he wasn’t beloved the way that Jaeherys and Alysanne were. The Realm made the transition away from having Targaryen kings a bit easier because despite Logan Roy’s many, many flaws, he’s a much more effective and hands-on leader than Robert Baratheon.

Ewan, Logan, and Rose Roy were born in Flint’s Finger, the grandsons and grandaughter and later nephews and niece of the Lord of House Flint. Their mother was the youngest of four children: a son who became lord and three daughters. Their mother was the youngest and the least “responsible” of the bunch. The eldest sister married a younger Stark son, the middle daughter married the heir to House Blackwood, and then their mother married… a hedge knight with a made-up surname. (It was only allowed because she confessed to already being pregnant and she was the last unwedded daughter and always…. Much slower than her sisters. No one they’d particularly want wandering around another court and embarrassing the family.)

She died in childbirth with Rose, and the husband disappeared into the ether. No one quite agrees on the circumstances of Sir Douglas Roy, but his presence is never reported again anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms. Their Uncle Noah Flint, Lord of The Fingers, takes them in. Not kindly, mind you, but he does. He has a pair of sons 15 and 13 years older than Ewan, so the presence of the three children doesn’t pose a threat. Still, Logan grows into quite the little stubborn, bossy, know-it-all who’s protective and fiery and very much a thorn in his uncle’s side.

That’s why Noah sends HIM away to “squire” at age 8 with border patrol. Logan spends a very long time fighting a very large amount of Ironborn and picking up on the idea of life itself as a fight. When he finally gets to go home to visit for a while, Rose gets greyscale and dies. It’s fairly unlikely that Rose got it from him, but Logan thinks that he gave it to her and Lord and Lady Flint do nothing to dissuade him of that idea.

As Logan and Ewan grow up and get knighted, Logan starts to decide that the only way to win in this world is to make it into a fight. He becomes a sellsword and an advisor, working his way through position after position and eventually getting himself married to the only daughter of a lord worried enough to gamble on the strong-man being enough to protect his fragile daughter’s claim to the keep in the future.

(I’ve decided on this keep being Rosby, due to its proximity to King’s Landing.) Logan does business in both Rosby and King’s Landing and is very displeased both with his “erratic” wife and the “weak” king on the iron throne. He gathers up his old guard and starts trying to make changes in King’s Landing in a way very akin to Daemon in hotd.

The Old Guard

Gerri- a born Hightower that married into House Bronzegate and is not very impressed with her husband or the current government. Gerri has extensive education from the Maesters and Maesters in training from the city and has continued wringing it out of different people along the way.

Hugo- an Arryn of Gulltown. He’s not particularly smart, but with his connections to the port and the Vale he’s a good asset.

Frank- one of the numerous sons of Lord Walder Frey that is twelfth in line for the seat. He’s still trying to shake off the indignities of growing up a Frey and find a way to utilize his background.

Karl- the third son of House Farman of Faircastle, looking for his own way to advance. His wife is a Bitterbridge, which gives the group yet

Stewy’s dad- the Prince of Dorne, a Martel of Sunspear. His sister was passed up for a marriage to the current king for the king’s own sister and he’s still seething about that. And of course has access to the port of Sunspear, the ire of the Dornish people, and their loyalty.

Ewan- a believer in justice and reforms. He is mobile and believes that maybe if they get a new group of people into the monarchy, Westeros can become better. He lends his brother his sword.

The key reasons for the successful coup were

1. Charisma and networking, both on Logan’s part and the rest of his gang

2. Hatred outweighing fear of the Targaryens at this point vs Logan Roy, nobody from the Fingers, taking on the world and winning. His propaganda image is very populist and puts into people’s heads the idea of him as a “People’s King”.

3. The strategic locations of their bases of power

4. Both of the elder Flint cousins perishing in the fight, leaving Ewan the closest in the line of succession to a major Northern hold

After securing the throne, Logan has his marriage annulled, leaves a maester with Connor to help teach him how to run a castle, and sets his sights on finding a suitable wife to produce real heirs to his new throne. Ewan fucks off back North once he realizes that Logan has no plans to make positive changes and Ewan can’t bully him into them either.

Caroline Tyrell is charming, cunning, cutting, and connected. It’s a deadly combination that makes for a fearsome queen. While the Tyrells are powerful enough that Logan can never risk outright divorcing Caroline or sending her away once they sour on each other, he CAN have many affairs and be terribly cruel to her, all while keeping her on the other side of the keep from the kids.

Kendall grows up with the assurance that he, someday, will be king. He is the oldest recognized son and that means that he’s going to be, right? Yes, he fostered in Dorne. Yes, he got married there in secret. Yes he and the oldest Martel son have made some… questionable choices regarding alcohol and drugs. Yes, he adopted a kid there and had one, but they’re legitimate because he did it legally, septon and everything! They had the wedding at Dragonstone, his super special keep that his dad gave him as the eldest son! It’s totally legit! His dad.. Is not impressed.

Roman spends most of his time bouncing from court to court, using his name and “staying in the good graces of the king” to extort lords for much longer, more luxurious stays than should be expected. He technically is the Prince of Summerhall but by god he’s not gonna put the work into getting that place up to snuff.

Shiv is down in Oldtown at the Citadel, trying to make headway on her proposal that the order of Maesters start accepting women. Tom, the son of a family of well educated merchants from the Reach, is pitching his own proposal that the Order create a privately funded branch to educate men unwilling to give up their titles and rights to marry. Their goals, seemingly, align. But Tom is a by the bootstraps littlefinger type, and he’s going to get his own share of whatever spoils are coming.

Connor, though not recognized as a legitimate claimant for the throne, has been granted his mother’s lands and title. He’s not a good lord, per say, but the city’s not falling apart under his rule at least. He IS hemorrhaging money and is a laughing stock among the local community.

While lots of lords seek to make their daughter Lady Rosby, none of them decide to follow through with it because Connor’s just. He’s Connor. Despite his connections to the crown, no one honestly wants him as their son-in-law and most end up worried that if Logan croaks, that will put their daughter and possible grandchildren in the line of fire.

Logan the First, recently, has been decrying the traditional rules of succession. The stance that he’s taking is that it should go to the most worthy options, like an Ironborn kingsmoot, but Connor has not so subtly been pushing his own claim to the throne as the eldest son. (In direct opposition to what Logan was actually saying the reasoning would be, with, you know. Rule of the Strongest)

This actually makes lords LESS likely to have him marry their daughters. Yes, there are power hungry lords in Westeros, but most of them are not so desperate as to side with this man over either of his more well-connected brothers.

Connor, however, is still on the hunt for someone who won’t leave him. Willa is a mediocre traveling singer from a poor family. She’s better compensated whenever she dabbles in sex work, but she’s really passionate about different types of art. Connor gives her a place to stay for a night in exchange for a song, and it all just spirals from there. He supports her artist endeavors and she tolerates his presence while everyone around them is mean to them both. It’s pretty much just like canon.

Logan, souring on the idea of Kendall on the Iron Throne, gives Roman a chance at being Hand to see if he could take over. He does about the same as he did in canon, with major assistance from Gerri. Shiv starts getting frustrated with the lack of progress that she’s making with the Maesters and how Roman’s been named Hand of the King. SHE could do a better job. SHE has all the skills needed for a job like that, right?

Tom encourages her idea that if she just were able to put her own hat in the ring, then she would win her father and the whole court over. With the combined power of their scheming, they leave Tom in charge of the Maester situation, and Tom makes a pitch for an engagement between the two of them. Shiv is initially hesitant due to *gestures to every tomshiv interaction ever* but with the combined power of “you DON’T want the suitors fighting over you and not seeing you as a real claimant” and “people like your dad because he’s a man of the people! I too, am just some guy :) so that means… they’d like me”

They don’t like Tom, but with new sway as the king’s future son-in-law, he’s able to push his OWN desires through, because they may threaten the fabric of Westerosi society, but they don’t empower women! That’s waaaaayyyy too dangerous. He’s able to push himself into administration in the Citadel and get his “no strings attached” chain forged within the time that Shiv’s gone.

When Shiv arrives back in King’s Landing after months in Oldtown, she comes bearing engagement announcements and desires to get into more of the “nitty gritty” of the politics here. Her father is very angry about the engagement, but glad to have her back in the fold. He even gives her her own role on the small council. It’s not Hand of the King, yet, but she’ll get there.

Right?

(She doesn’t.) She declares the date and time of her wedding to Tom to try to garner some public support. (That doesn’t work). Then, Tom finally makes his way to King’s Landing as the fiance of the Princess Siobhan.

For better or worse worse… this is at the same time as Gregory Flint. Greg made a very big mistake back home in the Fingers and Ewan was so sick of it he decided to send him to the Wall. Ewan said he wasn’t gonna make him take the vows, but he’d have to stay long enough that he COULD and then come back with an appreciation for life and justice and the privilege that he has.

Greg… doesn’t do that. Marianne gets him his own horse and sends him on a journey down to King’s Landing. He makes his way into the city and tries to force himself into the castle, but no one believes that he’s really the King’s nephew. He didn’t even have a carriage! The Flint symbol on his chest looks fake.

Tom finds him. He knows the name of Shiv’s only living cousin. He knows that he’s supposed to be tall and gangly and incredibly awkward, so when Tom’s making his merry way into the palace… he brings Greg with him. This becomes the start of All That ™.

Shiv has the ceremony (the city is starving) and introduces the new husband (everyone hates him, both nobles and peasants).

Then Tom goes back to the Citadel as a lord with a cursory title, a princess for a wife, the King’s nephew as an assistant, and he has even more sway than he did just a bit ago. Something goes terribly wrong in his marriage with Shiv, but not so badly that the pair of them can’t work it out for the sake of their titles, of course.

Roman keeps playing his own tricks. Shiv disrupts an attempt a unionization attempt by the city’s sex workers on her dad’s orders, but she and Roman both come up dry.

Kendall finally shows his face back in the city, and tries to win back some points. It doesn’t work, and it’s not winning him any points down in Dorne either. Stewy wants him to give up his claim to the throne and come home to Dorne already. Rava, instead of agreeing to come with him and bring the kids, refuses to leave for King’s Landing. “It’s dangerous, Ken! Your father’s never liked me or the kids, and he won’t promise that you’ll be king. Can you even imagine what might happen to the children and I?” But he does it anyway, and he makes some bad choices that get a kid killed and don’t impress his dad. (Rava, Sophie, and Iverson, at least, remain at Sunspear. Kendall doesn’t ever forgive Stewy for that.)

And Logan keeps shifting the favor until he decides that none of them can do it, and starts talks with an Essosi warlord, one who’s been claiming that once Logan is dead and the country descends into chaos he’ll take it and make it whole again.

None of the siblings are exactly trustworthy, and a nation already primed for populism is likely to think that a warlord who made his own empire is a better choice than the past king’s failkids.

The kids try their hardest, eventually even uniting against their father’s attempts to give the country to a foreign warlord, and they of course can’t keep a united front. Kendall won’t consider the idea of one of the others sitting the throne, Roman throws himself back onto his father’s mercy (firing Gerri from the small council and destroying that relationship), and Shiv offers to help Mattson get the Iron Throne if she’s the one who gets to sit it.Connor sits out of it.

But Ken and Rome fight and Shiv schemes, and Mattson decides that her weird little fake-Maester husband will work better for his purposes than she will. After all, Westeros has never had a ruling queen that lived to tell the tale before.

So after Logan’s death, the septons crown Lukas Mattson King of the Andals, the Rhynar and the First Men, with a nobody merchant’s son married to a deposed princess serving as Regent and Protector of the Realm. He has allies from high places in the Citadel, allies on the small council, and a wife who knows her history well enough to know what happened to Queen Rhaenyra. (She’s going to make it work. She IS, she is, she is-)

Kendall flees to Dorne but is not greeted by his wife and children. Rava’s already taken them and fled to Braavos, which is not part of Mattson’s Essosi Empire. Stewy just tells him that they left in the middle of the night and gave him no information about their departure. He doesn’t want to give his unstable friend any information to go searching for them. Instead of sailing on a ship to Braavos, Stewy finds that Kendall drowned himself in the Sunspear pool. His heart aches, and he wonders what he could have done differently.

Roman finds himself back at the bottom of a bottle, trying to find a warm place to land that won’t put him in danger of getting on the new regime’s bad side. He has no friends or allies, and he can’t see the point of trying to get them. It was bullshit anyway. Dad never wanted any of them to have it, even though it’s all they ever knew. They weren’t bootstraps knights’ kids from the Fingers: they were Princes and a Princess, and he always hated them for that.

#succession #succession fics #succession aus #asoiaf #textpost aus #the roy family

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