#deciding to be Arya while her family is lost to her and that identity is connected to an unwanted marriage would feel so significant

[fromtheseventhhell]

Remember George's outline notes that had "joy of giving" and "mercy at the gate" for Arya? Mercy is crossed out and we obviously have that as her sample chapter, so what if Arya's next alias is "Joy"? Over-thinking the significance of that phrase and how it could apply to the rest of her Braavos arc🤔

[laurellerual]

Arya and Sansa storyswap: an exercise in imagination

Premise: I tried to speculate what might happen if Sansa manages to escape King's Landing and Arya gets stuck in the capital. I collected my thoughts on this scenario trying to make logical, credible choices that respected the characterization of the characters and the timeline of the books (the wiki was very usefull for this). I discarded all the scenarios that end in "…and then she dies horribly" because they're boring. I write with assumption that they would still remain POV characters and therefore mantain a minimum of plot armor. Like everyone, I have my biases so it's not perfect, but I tried to put myself in the most neutral mindset possible. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts. Part 1, Part 3

Part 2/3: Arya

A Game of Thrones 

For Arya to remain trapped in King's Landing, she must be captured by the Lannister men. I think she would manage to escape the Red Keep anyway, at least at first.

The factor I'd choose to change is in Arya V. The girl is in Flea Bottom when she sees the Winds Witch hasn't left yet. She approaches, but this time the guards in disguise decide to arrest her. Why? In this scenario both Stark girls have been lost, so the Lannister men have orders to to be extra scrupulous, the situation is serious. They can't afford any more mistakes, they'll capture every slightly suspicious child.

Arya is brought to the queen who confirms her identity and is then locked in Maegor's Holdfast. Needle is taken from her by one of her captors (ser Meryn?): perhaps he keeps it as a trophy, perhaps it's thrown into the royal armory. Jeyne is locked up with her. The servants come to bring food, but do not answer her questions. She is brought suitable clothes, many of these are Sansa's because the trunk with Arya's things got lost in stables. She waits and fears that her father is dead.

Ser Boros comes to collect her on the third day, while she walks she looks around searching for a way to escape. They pass the pikes and for a moment Arya is sure that he's accompanying her to her death. She'll be executed for what happened on the Trident and she can't help but wonder if the reason for all this carnage is to punish the Starks for when she hited Joffrey. Actually she's accompanied in front of the queen who welcomes her with smiles and kind words… a facade, Cersei has never been that kind to her. The girl is relieved to know that her father is alive, but when she asks about Sansa she receives no answer. Does that mean she's dead?

Cersei prepared a letter for Arya to copy and sign to send to her family. The contents are similar to those in canon. Arya reads it, but she has a flash of courage: "My father is no traitor!". Joffrey is a liar! But she doesn't say this out loud. The manipulative kindness is over, Cersei nods at Blount. The knight hits her in the face and breaks her lip. Cersei says that if she doesn't comply they will kill both her and her father. It's a bluff but Arya doesn't know it and it's now clear that they have no qualms about hurting her so she starts copying. She hopes that the stilted style in which the letter is written will be enough to make Robb understand that this are not her words. Arya is locked back in her new room, but Jeyne is no longer there.

Cersei complains about Arya's behavior, 'The girl is as wild as a filthy animal'. If she lets her get close to Joffrey the girl might attack him again. Or he could have her killed and they would lost an hostage. However it's necessary for the girl to be seen attending court or no one will believe that she is really in their hands. If they keep her hidden for too long word might spread that she is dead. Littlefinger proposes to avoid this risks by using Jeyne, Sansa's friend, as Arya's public image.

The real Arya is not allowed to participate in Joff's first court session. She has not proven to be loyal and obedient enough and therefore she's not allowed to move inside the Red Keep. She can't leave the room and has no information. The servants change every day so she can't befriend them. The time she spends awake is spent thinking of a way to escape.

She sleeps alot, and when she sleeps she dreams: she begins to dream of being a cat roaming free, the true king of the castle. She dreams to flee the Keep, hiding in Flea Bottom and then she sees a crowd, she follows and she sees… her father. His head falling off. She wakes up screaming! She tells herself it's just a nightmare, but it feels too real. She wants to cry, to die, she wants to kill Joffrey. Joffrey and Cersei, sir Ilyn, sir Meryn and the Hound: she begins to pray every night for their deaths.

One day Joffrey discovers where she is locked and arrives with the Hound and two white cloaks. They force her to get up and get dressed. He takes her to her pikes to taunt her and show her his father's head. Arya has confirmation that the dream was true. Joffrey baits her for a reaction,… if only looks could kill. She takes a step forward and the Hound throws her to the ground and she gets beaten up.

The Hound takes her back to her room and reminds her that Joffrey wants her dead, if she wants to continue living she has to try harder to not get killed. Arya doesn't give a damn about her life right now. After she calms down she decides that if she wants to see her mother again she has to pretend and play along. From this day on she'll wear the mask of the perfect lady to convince Cersei to allow her to leave the room. Only like this she could have a chance to escape.

A Clash of Kings

After what happened Cersei decides to throw her in a real cell. This is first of all to punishing Arya, but also to keep her away from Joff because the girl is the only leverage she have to free Jaime.

At this point Sansa receives a message to meet with Dontos. Littlefinger may still consider using Arya to gain power and get back on Ned/Cat. But the problem is that Arya isn't free to go to the Godswood alone. Given the situation, Littlefinger may decide it's not worth trying to free her from the Lannisters. Also this Stark sister doesn't look enough like her mother for his tastes.

Meanwhile, Jeyne attends Joffrey's birthday celebrations as fakeArya and Dontos dies. Tyrion arrives in the city to take Tywin's place as Hand of the King. At the tournament for his nephew he meets Jeyne and offers his condolences, but he can't help to notice that something is wrong. She looks older, her eyes are brown, and although her hair is the right color, up close it's clear that she doesn't look much like either Lord Stark or Jon Snow.

Arya has been in a cell for days now, she feels small and helpless like a mouse. One night she starts dreaming again, but this time it's different, she dreams of being a direwolf running free in the woods. She leads an immense pack and hunts every man who wears the Lannister lion. A bit of hope is rekindled in her. One night, in the distance, she sees a girl: it's her sister.

Tyrion begins to ask questions about what happened to the real Arya Stark and discovers the conditions in which she is incarcerated. He has her taken to the Tower of the Hand and allows her to wash and eat. Arya tries to find a secret passage, there has to be one, she thinks, but she can't find it. The idea of sleeping in a real bed overcomes her and she falls asleep. In the morning Tyrion introduces himself and tells her about Robb's recent victory. He jokes about the rumors that her brother has an army of wargs (like in Sansa III). 'Warg'! Yes, that's what those creatures were called in old Nan's stories! She wonders if... maybe she is a warg, and that's why she managed to see her father's death even though she wasn't there.

As in canon, Tyrion offers the Stark girl his protection. Sansa doesn't accept because she doesn't trust him and she has decided to point on Dontos' plan. As we have seen, her sister does not have this option to consider and therefore she accepts Tyrion's protection. Arya doesn't trust him, but she has no real choice if she wants to get out of her cell. Plus the Imp isn't that bad, sure he's a Lannister, but he's the only person who's done anything to help her so far. She doesn't want to be pitied by him, but there's something about that man that she likes. Maybe he reminds her a little bit of Jon, he reminds her a little bit of herself.

Her few belongings are taken to the Tower of the Hand and Chella becomes her personal guard. No matter how wary she is, Arya can't help but find the wildling woman intriguing. In order to avoid losing the few freedoms she has obtained, Arya continues to pretend docility and obedience. Over time this allows her to get out of there to pray in the Godswood, but when she tries to escape the guards catch her, beat her and lock her back in the tower.

In the eyes of the courtiers Jeyne remains the true Lady Stark. The two girls are kept apart and never met. One day she hears rumors about Arya Stark's supposed death: Jeyne was lost during the Bread Riots. The Lannisters refuse to give rise to these rumors and to dispel them they announce an engagement between Arya Stark and Lord X (Tyrion maybe?). Arya hasn't flowered so they won't get married for now, but time passes and the risk becomes more real every day.

Every now and then she still has cat dreams, wandering around the castle, listening to conversations, she even managed to scratch Joffrey once. One night she dreams of being a kitten and enters Tommen's rooms, cats like to go there. Her attention is drawn by a familiar gleam: hanging on the wall, display lika a toy, is Needle. The handle is different, richer, red and golden, but the shape of the blade and Mikken's mark are unmistakable.

During the Battle of the Blackwater Arya is taken to the Queen's Ballroom in Maegor's Holdfast, along with the other ladies of the castle so that Cersei can keep an eye on her. As per canon the queen gets drunk, she leaves and panic takes over the room. Arya sees her chance, she takes advantage of the confusion to exit the ballroom.

Arya runs to find an escape or at least a place to hide, but suddenly realizes that she is in a familiar hallway, just outside Tommen's door. The little prince was brought to Rosby to protect him so his rooms are empty and unguarded. Here we need a bit of luck because it's crazy, but Arya can't abandon Needle. She tries in every way to get in and under this pressure she manages to warg for the first time while she's awake. She use a cat to open the door and retrieve her sword. She steals a cloak and some male clothes, the least extravagant she can find.

She wanders around the Holdfast looking for an opening but there's no secret passage in Maegor's Holdfast. In the corridors she meets a soldier, but manages to kill him by taking him by surprise. In the end she comes across Sandor Clegane, drunk and crying and trying to get away from the battle. The Hound recognizes her and in a moment of madness wraps her in her cloak, throws her on his shoulder and run.

The Hound is not at all kind to Arya and the two have not had the opportunity to bond like with Sansa in canon. He doesn't care about Arya's will, he wouldn't ask her, he would only see it as an opportunity to leave and ask Robb Stark for a ransom. So Sandor kidnaps Arya, cuts her hair, and ties her on his horse. The two escape the city and start a their journey north.

Tywin arrives in King's Landing and is proclaimed "Savior of the City". Then he finds out that Cersei and Tyrion lost their last Stark hostage and he has a nervous breakdown (lol).

A Storm of Swords

During the journey, Sandor and Arya's relationship evolves pretty much like in canon. The two don't like each other, but over time they manage to coexist without killing each other. Arya learns some useful lessons about "where the heart is". But one day some outlaws capture them...

[hateswifi]

Rising from the Ashes: Of Decisions and Old Friends

So this is Part Nine here is to my Master List and Part Eight. Just a short little chapter, not even 2k words. Sorry my dudes.

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"Ladybug, my name is Superboy," he says as he sits beside her.

"What's up? I'm Ladybug heroine of Paris, who decided in a need for a change of scenery," she greets, her eyes never leaving the skyline.

"Nothing much just ruined my brother's relationship," he shrugs dejectedly. "What's got you down in the dumps?"

"I have to leave again. The life I've been building is going to be destroyed," she says practically emotionless.

"Why is that? If you like it shouldn't you try and fix it?" Superboy asks, looking at the poor girl.

"As guardian of the miraculous and holder of the miraculous of creation and the ladybug, anyone who isn't a miraculous holder is not allowed to know my identity. Somehow my boyfriend figured it out not even a week into our relationship. I don't want to put him in danger because I'm pretty sure I love him," Ladybug explains, standing, she heard more footsteps.

"There you are Superboy," Nightwing says, walking towards him. "Robin has calmed down and doesn't want to kill you. So you can come back to the Batcave."

"I didn't realize that Hood was going to post that," he groans, standing as well. 

"You live you learn," Nightwing shrugs. "How are you doing, Spot?"

"Tired," she replies with a yawn.

"Yeah me too. By the way LB you might want to get your injuries checked out," Superboy pointed out.

"What injuries?" she asks, confused.

"Ya know the stab wound, burns, and multiple broken bones. There are so many you shouldn't be alive," he answered.

"How can you see those?" she asks, looking to where the stab wound had been weeks ago.

"X-ray vision," he said, tapping his temple. "How are you not dead though?"

"How can you still be walking with a healing stab wound and broken bones?" Nightwing asked, sitting on the ledge, patting the area around him telling them to sit too.

"Part of my miraculous' power is Lucky Charm which is what is given to me to solve a problem. Back when I was fighting akumas I would use the Lucky Charm after the fight to fix Paris. I didn't realize my injuries would still show up, not gonna lie. During the last battle, I took a hit for my partner, Chat Noir, because he was protecting Ryuko. I got stabbed with Hawkmoth's cane, sword combo thing," she explained. "I guess the injuries are held together by magic until my body naturally heals them."

"Well, I gotta start packing, bye you guys! I wish you the best of luck with Gotham's criminals," She said, jumping off the building her yo-yo twirling.

"Packing? What did she mean by that?" Nightwing asked, standing. Jon then explained everything she had told him before he had arrived. "You know he's going to kill you."

"I figured, but I have a plan to help fix this," he said, standing before flying back to Metropolis. 

"Telling me would be helpful and you know give me and probably Robin piece of mind," Nightwing shouted after him. "Or not that's fine too." He ran back to the manor after finishing his patrol.

Marinette decides not to pack tonight and also decides to go see Chloe tomorrow. She falls asleep fast after showering. When she wakes up the next morning she texts Chloe asking if Ann can come to see her. After a positive response, she packs an overnight bag including her pajamas, an olive green light jacket, a white shirt, blue skinny jeans, and gray ankle boots. The second outfit she packed is for Christmas day, which is a red off the shoulder v-neck dress, the bottom part is flowy and reaches the knee, black tights and would wear the grey boots from her last outfit. She packed her hairbrush, toothbrush, her charger, her sketchbook, and the miracle box. After she gets dressed as Ann in her outfit Luka inspired, she transforms and teleports to Chloe's room.  She continues to wear the horse miraculous as glasses so she didn't have to put them away.

"Hey, Marinette, what's up? I just saw you a couple of days ago, not that I'm complaining," Chloe said, hugging her.

"Damian found out about me being Ladybug, now I have to move again, because no one can no," Marinette said, setting her bag down. "I'm just going to stay until tomorrow night. I hope you don't mind. For Christmas Master Fu said I could stay with him."

"That's fine, but what's the matter with Damian knowing? It's a different time from when you were a hero during Hawkmoth's reign. Have you talked to him about it?" Chloe asked, rubbing her back.

"No, I was asked to spend Christmas with him, but I don't think he will want to after the exit I made," Marinette said, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't think you should make any rash decisions before you talk with him," Chloe said, standing. "Want to go for a walk? I heard André's is nearby," Chloe said, leading them out of her room. They walk to the lock bridge where André's cart was set up.

"Hello girls," André greets. "I see almond for his lips and skin, mint for his piercing green eyes, and dark chocolate for his dark past and black hair, but it seems you've met him. For the young blonde--"

"No, I don't want to know," Chloe interrupts. "Can I just have dark chocolate?"

"That I can do," André says, scooping the ice-cream as they pay. "Have a good day you two."

"Let's take a selfie," Chloe says, pulling out her phone. They hold up their ice-cream with the Seine and lock on the bridge in the background. Chloe posts the picture with this caption:

'I'm here with my girl, Ann. <3. Miss her, so glad we can spend a couple of days before Christmas. #Blessed #MakingMemories #Andrés'icecream'

@adrienagrestebrand

‘Why didn’t you tell me that she was coming! And you guys got ice cream without me and @Kagami.Ts and @luka.coufaine! I’m hurt’

"You didn't tag me in that right?" Marinette asks, licking her ice-cream cone.

"Nah, you're dead remember?" Chloe says, brushing off her concerns.

Marinette giggles, but that is interrupted by Marinette's phone. She sees Damian's number. "I'm going to take this," shes says, answering the phone. "Hi, Damian."

"Hi, Marinette, can we talk in person?" he asked, his voice being cracked by the distance.

"I... I.. can't at the moment," Marinette said, crossing her phoneless hand in front of her.

"Ann! It's so good to see you!" came a voice.

"Marinette, who was that?" he asks.

"Ummm... that was Luke, but this isn't the best time right now," she responds, waving at Luka.

"Luka? Isn't he in Paris? Where are you?" Damian asked she could hear stuff shuffling in the background.

"I'm in Paris," she said, slowly.

"Please, Angel I'm--" the line crackled and hung up before he could say anything.

"I love you, Prince," she said, bringing the phone down from her ear with a tear forming in her eyes. She walks back to the group because Luka, Adrien, and Kagami had joined them while she was on the phone. "Hey, guys, I think I'm going to visit my parents. Luka may I borrow your hoodie, I want to be able to cover my face."

"Ya sure Bug," he said, pulling off the Jagged Stone sweatshirt. "I love the outfit you made by the way. I heard I inspired it."

"Yes, your guitar solo inspired me," She explained, the hoodie over her head. "Thank you, guys. Will I see you for dinner?"

"Yes, we decided to eat together at a small cafe called, KB Café," Chloe says, hugging her goodbye.

"See you later," She said, waving bye. 

She walks in silence to the graveyard where her parents are buried. She kneels in between her parents' grave. That is until a tap on her shoulder. Alya.

"Hi, your name is Ann, right?" Alya asked, kneeling beside her. 

"Yes," She responds politely in her practiced British accent. Even though Marinette and Alya weren't friends anymore doesn't mean she didn't feel the loss of her or maybe she just wanted to hear what Alya thought of her. "What is your name?"

"I'm Alya. I was Marinette's best friend for a long time," she answers, looking at Marinette's grave. "You're friends with Chloe, Adrien, Luka, and Kagami, right?"

"Uhh... yes. I used to be friends with her when Chloe and Marinette used to be friends as children. I miss the girl, she helped me with my bullying problem by showing me my worth," Ann explained, trying to make her feel a bit guilty.

"She was so nice to everyone, I think I lost sight of it," Alya said, a tear rolling down her cheek. 

After awhile Ann broke the silence. "Ya know, Kagami, Luka, Chloe, and Adrien, they aren't bad people. They protect people, who are family to them. Their blood family might not be the best, but who's family is, they have each other's backs. They face things together head-on," Ann explained, standing. "I wish you the best in life. I hope you can forgive yourself and move forward. I hope you find a family bond like mine someday. Goodbye." She heard Alya crying as she left. 

When she arrived at the cafe they agreed on, she took off the hoodie Luka gave her to borrow, The group arrived not too long after. They ordered the food and ate happily they talked about what they're doing tomorrow and on Christmas. Kagami and Adrien's families are spending Christmas together. Luka was leaving tomorrow to see his grandparents with his sister and mom. Chloe's mom is flying in tonight to be in Paris till New Year's. She decided to text Master Fu about staying tomorrow and Christmas so Chloe could spend more time with her family.

"You guys want to come back to the hotel to watch animes," Chloe asks, splitting the check with Adrien.

"Sounds like a plan," Adrien agrees, standing and pushing in his chair.

Once they get back to Chloe's room, Marinette takes out her contacts and takes off her wig. She wears a hoodie to bed just in case someone, like Chloe’s mother, comes in her room. They all watch anime for a while until Luka and Adrien have to leave, then put on cliche Hallmark movies. The girls fall asleep together on Chloe's couch.

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[writingthrones]

the northern dragon- part 7.

PART 7: A CELEBRATION.

TAGS: @psychosupernatural , @xleviiiix , @ashtronomyyyy , @starkbelova,@5aftermidnight , @makapaka11 , @mxxkscreate-write , @scorpiosmalfoy,@harrison-shot-first , @art-flirt , @jessyballet , @vaexvictis ,@callmeconceited , @cassiopeia-barrow , @the-three-eyed-ravenclaw , @iirelynn , @aspiring-fangirls-world , @emmaelizabeth2014 (feel free to shoot me a message if you’d also like to be tagged!)

DESCRIPTION: the world thought that just 2 dragons survived, that house targaryen was missing its third head. but there was another– the youngest, the final child of the mad king and queen rhaella. of course, she was almost part of the near extermination of her house. but the honorable ned stark, unable to watch a babe be murdered for crimes she did not commit, rescued her from an awful fate. instead, she grew up amongst wolves within the walls of winterfell.

NOTES: this chapter was so much fun to write wow. i hope y’all enjoy, it’s a bit longer than usual, too. as you know by now, feedback is very much appreciated!

WARNINGS: ANGST ANGST ANGST, things getting a little steamy.

First, I must tell you why I need to leave. I should have long before this and I suspect you will agree. My name, my true name, is Visenya II Targaryen and I am the youngest child of the Mad King. How did I end up as a ward to your father? Well, he is truly the best man I’ve ever known. He risked everything to save me. If not for him, I would’ve been slain in the arms of my mother the Queen. I was lucky to have been welcomed with open arms by your mother. I was lucky to have known them at all and trust me when I say that I mourn them as you do.

Second, with this being my last word to you I must be honest. I love you, Robb Stark. I always have, before I even understood what love was. All our lives I wondered: if I never had to hide myself, would you have loved me, too? I didn’t let myself dream for too long before realized even then that wouldn’t be possible. A Targaryen and a Stark, really? My father did awful things to your family, no amount of noble blood could change that hurt. So I suppose it was just never meant to be.

Lastly, I am so sorry for all that has happened. I do not understand the pain of losing the ones you love more than anything. But I will not apologize for saving your life even if it’s not what you wanted. You are a king and your people are counting on you. I truly want nothing more than for them to be granted their freedom. Sansa and Arya are counting on you. Please, if you will, tell them that I love them. But I must go. Jaime Lannister discovered who I was the night he escaped. I already stayed too long and put you at risk. If anyone found out that the King in the North was harboring a Targaryen, I know it could mean disaster. I’m sorry for putting you in this kind of danger. I will not be a burden any longer, though. I’m not quite sure where I will go, maybe across the sea, as far as I can get away from this place.

Now burn this letter. I do not want it to end up in the wrong hands.

Farewell.

- Y/N

CONTINUED THIRD PERSON.

So the Young Wolf sat there, mouth actually hanging open with astonishment. There’s just no way this could be true.. right? His father, saving a Targaryen girl? The idea sounded ridiculous at first but the more he thought on it, the more it made sense. He could understand his father seeing an innocent babe and being unable to just walk away. He was nothing like the former King Robert in that aspect. He had never known the full details of what happened when they took King’s Landing but he did know that children were murdered as part of it.

His body felt numb and it felt impossible to move. A lot of information had just been thrown at him; he had grown up with a Targaryen princess, whose identity had been discovered by the Kingslayer, she was headed Gods know where and she.. loved him? All her life, apparently. How could that be and he just never knew? He quickly shook away the thoughts, instead focusing on the more pressing matters: Jaime Lannister knew who she was and now she was fleeing, supposedly in his best interest. But the ink was still wet, which meant she couldn’t have been far. So snapping himself out of it, he hurried onto his feet, out the door and down the hall. There was still no sign of her, not even any sounds he could hear. But she couldn’t possibly have already left! The letter was freshly written.

He ran out into the courtyard. Still no sight of her. His heart was truly racing now. As he searched high and low, he finally spotted a figure preparing a horse in the dim light. The figure’s frame was a small-- it had to be her. So he ran up, grabbing at their shoulder and turning them around. It was. Shock was written all over her face. Robb wasn’t quite sure what to feel. “I’m sorry,” he began. She sighed, it didn’t seem like she truly believed that. “I am so sorry, Y/N.” Or should he call her Visenya? He didn’t know and didn’t care right now. “You didn’t deserve any of that. I know what you did was exactly what my mother wanted..” He can still hear her pleas to Y/N and shuddered at the thought. “But you can’t go.” Not after all his parents went through to protect her. “We’ll figure this mess out with Jaime Lannister but I won’t let you just leave.” Her brow furrowed at that. “It’s not up to you whether I stay or go,” she shot back. No response to his apologies-- great. “Stay, Y/N. Stay for a time, just.. don’t go now. Not after everything.” She sighed and released the reins of the horse. Giving him the same silent treatment he’d given her, she followed him back into the castle and up to her room.

BACK TO READER’S POINT OF VIEW.

There was a very uncomfortable tension when the two of you returned to your chambers. He still hadn’t really addressed who you were or the fact that you said you love him-- present tense. You sighed, sitting down on the bed while he sat in the chair in front of the desk. “We should both get some rest,” you finally said quietly, hoping to spend the next few quiet hours getting some rest before another exhausting day started back up. “You’re right,” he said, though he never moved. “What are you doing...?” you asked, brow furrowed. “I...” He seemed awkward. “I just.. want to make sure you stay. And.. uh, that we don’t have another problem like this business with the Kingslayer.” Huh. “So are you just going to sit here the whole time?” you questioned incredulously. “Yeah, uh, I guess so.”

Well, this would be interesting to say the least. You stood and walked over to your trunk, searching through to find something you could get some sleep in. Settling on the first nightgown you saw, you looked at him over your shoulder. “Can you.. turn around?” He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but instead just turned like you had asked. In the most uncomfortable manner, you slid off the heavy material you’d donned for your long journey and changed into something else. You made your way back to the bed, falling back onto the soft material, which he took as a sign of you being decent. Your eyes met as you turned your head to look at him. “So you’re actually going to sit there and just.. watch me sleep?” You almost wanted to laugh. “Well, no.. I just want to be sure that something else doesn’t happen,” he replied.

With a sigh, you turned over and did your best to fall asleep. Instead, though, you remained in a state of somewhere in between. When you couldn’t deal with anymore, you sat up only to find that Robb had dozed off. It made you giggle and it felt so good to have that tiny moment of happiness after all the misery that had been the past two weeks and all the heartache that came even before that. Feeling particularly restless, though, you decided to sit at the window, something that you did often back at Winterfell. With most people still asleep and the other person in the room already knowing the truth, you removed the wrap from your head and tossed it aside.

THIRD PERSON BREAK AGAIN.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. The young wolf jolted himself awake, hoping that he had only dozed off for a few brief moments. But his heart started to pound when he saw the furs tossed open and no Y/N wrapped up in them. He hopped out of the chair, ready to run when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, there she was. For the first time in his life, he saw her without being all covered up. That signature Targaryen white-silver hair that fell down her back in tousled waves was... beautiful, frankly. He didn’t expect to feel that way but he did. The young king felt frozen as he watched her.

Feeling the eyes on her, she turned around to face him. Seeing her in all her glory was breathtaking but he cursed himself for thinking so. He’d just lost his wife and mother to the child he’d never gotten to meet. And he still loved her deeply, those feelings couldn’t just go away like that. But seeing her, really seeing her, it brought up feelings from the past. He needed to break the silence. 

“You scared me,” he said awkwardly. Still taking it all in, he walked closer. “Well you don’t have to worry,” she sighed, brushing past him to go pick the fabric back up and re-apply it. Jogging over to her, he grabbed her wrist. “You don’t have to. Not now, at least.” Her eyes went wide and as he looked deeply into them, he could see the purple hue they held. All those years they’d grown up together and he never noticed. Realizing it had already been too long, he released her arm and once again, she pushed past and collapsed back into the bed. This time, though, the silver locks sprawled out around her. It’s all he could focus on as she moved. Sighing, she curled up under the covers.

BACK TO THE READER’S POINT OF VIEW.

He returned to his spot in the chair so you tried to just close your eyes and actually fall asleep. In a moment of impulse, you opened them again and met his. “You should lay down. I won’t run.. but you should probably get some rest, I’m sure it’ll be another long day.” He looked completely taken off guard and it made you immediately regret opening your mouth. “You’re sure?” he questioned softly as he rose from his chair. Surprised by his positive response, you nodded and so he came to the edge and you looked up at him for a moment before moving back, allowing him plenty of room. He removed the cloak he’d been wearing and all other heavy garments he wore then slid under the furs, lying on his side and looking directly at you. It became clear that neither of you were going to get much rest but hey, at least you were comfortable.

“Did you mean it?” And there it was, the moment you were dreading. Of course he was going to ask! You only wrote that because you really did plan to never see him again. Unable to form words, instead you just nodded. “All this time?” You nodded again. No point in pretending, right? “And you never said anything?” That’s when you propped yourself up on your elbow. “How could I ever? And if I did, what would it matter?” He didn’t move but continued to hold your gaze, never breaking away from a second. “Maybe it would have,” he replied softly. Your brow furrowed-- what on earth was he talking about? You let out a humorless chuckle. “Ah, yes. Robb Stark and Y/N, a girl from no house of any importance who just so happened to grow up as his father’s ward.” You laid back down, this time staring up at the ceiling. It sounded like he was about to say something, but you cut him off, “I’m tired. You should get some rest, too.” So you turned onto your side facing away from him and drifted off into slumber.

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW.

Robb laid there, staring at the back of her head, for a while. What am I thinking? he wondered. He was still in mourning, why was he concerning himself with her romantic feelings for him? But then again, how could he not? She said she loves him, as in, currently. And here they were, sharing a bed so it had to be a thought on both their minds, right? Watching her frame ever so slightly rise and fall with each breath, his eyes soon fluttered shut and he slept as well.

This night, Robb was gifted a look back into his memory in a dream. He was 11, she was 10. He had been just about ready for bed when his door flew open, revealing the red, puffy-eyed and tear stained face of Y/N. He quickly got out of bed and ran over, ushering her inside and shutting the door behind her. “Woah, what’s wrong?” he asked. “I--I had a nightmare,” she said between sniffles. Robb placed his hand on her back in an effort to comfort her. “What happened?” he questioned cautiously. “I— There was a dragon. I was somewhere outside.. and it just came down in front of me, it roared so loud I thought I’d never be able to hear again. I think it was just about to blast me with his fire when I woke up. But it was so scary!” It was hard to even understand what she was saying she was so choked up. “It’s okay, Y/N, all the dragons are gone. And I’d never let anything hurt you,” he replied, pulling to girl in his arms and squeezing her. Her tears wet his shirt, but she seemed to calm soon after he held her. Robb leaned back from her, wiping the rest of the tears away with his thumbs. “All better?” he asked with a warm smile. The younger girl nodded. “Come here,” he said quietly, pulling her gently by her hand and leading her to his bed, urging her to lay in it. “You can stay here. I’ll be here if it happens again,” he said, continuing to smile at her. So she laid there, falling asleep not long after. Meanwhile, he watched to make sure she slept peacefully before he could sleep himself.

That morning when he woke up, she was still sleeping. He didn’t think it was possible for someone to sleep so gracefully, especially when she was a total mess when they were younger. The thought made him chuckle. He watched her for a few minutes longer before he turned to lay on his back, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling. What a mess things had become. It was about time he move and get prepared for a long day of trying to figure out what their next move would be. Many of his men had been taken out at the Twins, but a decent amount had also escaped and had reportedly re-assembled at Riverrun.

He gently slid out of the bed and began to put himself together when he heard movement behind him. Y/N looked groggy as she propped herself up on her elbow. He still found himself fixated on her hair, that beautiful hair, that hung down in loose waves. He loved his wife and mourned for her and their child’s death. It was horrific and he would seek revenge for them, as well as his mother. 

But was there still feelings there for Y/N? Feelings he hadn’t really thought about in years. As he grew older he came to realize that he was heir to Winterfell and she was no one, so he had been told, so there was just no way it could be. When they were children, though, he loved to do things like hold her hand, lay with her, hug her. He had never considered what his role would be as a man, all he knew back then was that there was a pretty girl who he loved to spend his time with-- a harmless crush. Then, they got older and they started to speak less and less until it became strictly when they needed to. He needed that distance or he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from acting on those feelings. Even with it, he couldn’t keep himself from stealing glances of her at occasions she’d been invited to or even just time spent in the courtyard. Theon always made jokes about the way she was covered up and he hated himself for sometimes laughing along but none of that mattered to him. Beauty radiated off of her. And then when she showed that she was as strong as she was beautiful.. wow. He could see the raw talent back when he caught her sparring with Jon. It only made him more attracted to her. Seeing her insist on being involved with the war, it scared him. But it also intrigued him.

Then Talisa came along and immediately he was pulled in. The woman was beautiful and smart and challenging. It was an instant love, a love that he didn’t care about risking things for. She loved him back, too, just as quickly and intensely as he had. They married and in no time she was carrying his child. All the while, though, his feelings for Y/N certainly hadn’t just disappeared. In fact, she was the first taste of love he had. But having it drilled into him for so long that he would one day be Warden of the North and he would be married to a Lady of another great house, he had to just.. forget about it. It was terrible and unfair to push her away but that’s what he did. And now, here they were, being thrusted back together again. They shared a bed just like when they were children. He enjoyed it just as much. Everything was just so mixed up it was making his head spin.

“You—“ he started, only for her to immediately cut him off. “I know,” she grumbled as she hopped out of bed going over to get her head wrap. Well, that’s not what he was going to say. But, being as frustrated as she was, she rushed over to change without even thinking about how he was standing right there. He watched as the night gown slid down off her back and it was just about to pass her hips when he tore his gaze away. She dressed quickly and reapplied the wrap.

READER POV.

You couldn’t believe that you two had slept together. Why did you offer him the place next to you? It was stupid. It was stupid because as soon as he did and stared at you as he did so, your heart fluttered. You remembered the sleepless nights when you’d run to his chambers and he’d pull you right in. How could you not have fallen in love with him? Sighing, you sat on the bed. “Shouldn’t you be on your way out? They shouldn’t see you leaving from my room. And I imagine there is a lot to do today.” The look on his face told you that he wanted to say more but instead he nodded and made his exit.

Letting out an even heavier sigh, you placed your hands over your face and unwillingly let some tears slip down your cheeks. Today was going to be a long one. You weren’t sure how, but you needed to find some way to be useful and keep yourself busy, your mind off all that was going on. You stood up, wiped the tears off your face and told yourself there would be no more of that today. Then you turned and made your way out of the room.

After having some breakfast, you tried your best to find something to do but what was there? Yeah, you saved the king but the Mallisters didn’t plan on bringing you into the meetings. However, after some wandering, you started to hear a conversation between multiple men. The closer you got, the more you could hear. It was Robb and the other men, discussing all that had happened and what would come next. So what you found out was under Theon, the Iron Islanders had taken Winterfell (infuriating Robb and you as well). Then, Roose Bolton had been slain, by a peasant girl (causing you to smile when you heard this), after attempting to murder the king he had sworn his men too. With that being said, his bastard was now mobilizing Bolton forces with the intent to take Winterfell for themselves which was going to make an even bigger problem. The Bastard King was furious upon learning that Robb had survived the assassination attempt and Lannister forces were surely on their way to find them, though they hadn’t yet figured out that he is at Seagard. But the final news is what made you fall to your knees with a sharp gasp. “…Daenerys Targaryen lives and has somehow produced three growing dragons. She has an army of Dothraki and bought over 8,000 Unsullied. We believe she has intentions to return to Westeros to reclaim the throne and has already sacked several cities in Essos.” Your sister was alive. No longer were you a Targaryen alone in the world, no, your older sister was alive and thriving. You clasped your hand over your mouth to muffle the cries that escaped. When you were able to gain control of your limbs again, you ran off to your quarters. This was the perfect opportunity to leave now. You would sail to Essos to find your sister and fight at her side-- then you would be out of Robb’s hair. It would be a win for the both of you.

Once again, you were assembling your things together. Only the absolute necessities would be going with you and whatever else you didn’t need could be sold. You would need as much money as you could get in order to make this trip. This time, though, you would not simply run off into the night. Maybe Robb deserved a goodbye, if that’s what he wanted. And if that wasn’t it... well, you’d find your way out. It wasn’t his decision whether you left or not, just as you had said the night before. 

Hours passed and when you grew tired of waiting for the chance that he would visit you in the night again, you stood up and approached your door-- just at the same time there was a knock and he walked in shortly after. This put you two within inches of each other, causing you to suck in a breath with surprise. He looked down then stepped back a bit. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to--” You cut him off again, “It’s fine.” Feeling nervous about the closeness, you hurried back over to your bed and sat down then patted the spot next to you, beckoning him over. He looked confused but came and sat anyway.

“I heard your meeting today.” If he expected an apology for eavesdropping, he certainly wasn’t going to get one. But he knows you better than that, you thought. “I need to go, Robb. It’s dangerous for me to be here when Jaime knows who I am and my sister is alive. I have somewhere to go!” At this point you stood up, your emotions getting the better of you and making it impossible to be still. “I thought I lost my entire family and now that’s not the case and I just.. I need to be with her..” The tears were starting up, as much as you tried to hold them at bay. “Were we not your family?” his voice is stern but it isn’t hard to hear the hurt in it. “You know that’s not what I was saying,” you shot back weakly. “...I just don’t see why you want to leave for someone you don’t know. You don’t know what she’s like, Y/N!” You swallowed the lump in your throat. “And neither do you! But I’m willing to take the risk. I told you before, it’s not your decision if I stay or not and I’m choosing to go,” you spit out harshly. 

That’s when you march across the room to go grab everything you might need and shove it into a bag that was easily carried. So much for a bittersweet parting. You feel his hand grab your arm and you look up at him as you pull it from his grip. “You can’t,” he says. “But I am,” you reply, throwing the bag onto your shoulder and shoving past him, only for him to catch hold of your wrist and pull you backwards. “Let go of me!” you shout, both anger and sadness in your tone. “I can’t let you go,” his tone is softer now, as is his gaze. You hated that you thought about but Jaime’s words calling him your captor crossed your mind. Was that it? He wanted to keep you because having one of the remaining Targaryens under his thumb was easier than the two potentially teaming up and conquering Westeros like their ancestors had? No, of course not. The two of you may have lost your connection over time, but Robb was not that callous.. was he?

“What is this about?” you questioned, once again pulling your arm away from him. “I..” He seemed so conflicted and it left you baffled. “I love you, too, Y/N,” he finally spits out. Your body felt numb and your heart began to pound. He couldn’t be serious. He had a wife just a month ago-- one who was tragically killed. This was absolutely ridiculous. “Don’t say that,” you replied, voice breaking. “I do. I have. I should have said it a long time ago but then I was told I had no choice in who I would be with and so I.. I don’t know, let it go I guess! Then there was Talisa--” That’s when a tear managed to slip down your cheek, which you wiped away as you stepped back. “Listen to me,” he pleaded, noticing the way you seemed to have checked out. So you nodded. “Then there was Talisa. The first woman I loved since you. And she loved me too. There was the Frey girl but I wanted a choice, so I made one.” Did he really want you to listen to the story of how he fell in love with someone else? “I’m saying this because I don’t want to lie to you. I loved her.. I don’t know if she’ll ever leave me, truly. She was the mother of my child.” Another tear you needed to wipe away. “But I loved you since we were children, just like you. I always loved you, it was always there, I just.. didn’t want to confront it and that was stupid. I was being a coward. But I can’t anymore, I can’t just watch you walk away.” 

You tore your gaze away from him in a poor attempt to hide the tears. But he came close and pulled gently at your chin to make you face him. He took your face into both hands, Tully blues giving you the most intense look. “Why? Why now?” you asked in a strained voice as tears continued to stream down your porcelain cheeks. “I told you, I’m a coward. I should’ve told you as soon as I knew. I think I was 10.. but I was scared.” You simply stared at him, unable to find the words to say. “I love you, Y/N, I do. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Targaryen, you are as much a Northerner as I.” He wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “I won’t be your secret,” you replied, your voice as stern as you could manage. “No, you won’t. I promise. I will figure this all out and I promise I would never keep you a secret. You’re a Northerner who has fought alongside them, what could they possibly have to say?” You sighed, why was he so foolishly optimistic? “I’m a Targaryen. I can’t stay all covered up anymore, if I do it’ll only be a matter of time before it gets revealed and I’d rather do it myself than have Jaime Lannister spread it across the Seven Kingdoms,” you replied. He sucked in a deep breath then nodded. 

“We’ll figure this all out,” he said softly before pressing his forehead to yours, still holding your head in his heads. You sighed, both out of a strange sense of relief but at the same time, frustration. This was all so complicated that it made you sick. This was all you had wanted all your life and yet now that it was here, it wasn’t as happy an occasion as it should’ve been. He leaned back and looked deeply in your eyes, “Just don’t leave.. please.” The way he seemed so vulnerable, so distraught.. it made your heart ache. Gods, you wanted to meet Daenerys-- you wanted to know your family but maybe staying was the best option, at least for now. But Robb’s doubts be damned, you would find a way to make contact with her. Even if you had to do it in secret, you didn’t care. Sure, you knew very little of her but something in your gut told you that she could be trusted-- that’d she’d be just as excited as you to learn that her sister had survived.

So you nodded. You wouldn’t leave, not now at least. And he smiled, a smile so bright-- something you hadn’t seen from him in Gods know how long. Then, finally, he pressed his lips to yours and you kissed him back with the longing of so many years. He returned the amount of passion and in no time, the two of you fell onto the bed. Things were getting intense when you stopped him, staring down at him with a smirk and watching as he was left panting. “You’re mad if you think I’m risking falling pregnant right now. I intend to keep fighting, Stark. And besides, you don’t want to dishonor me, do you?” you said, that smirk never wavering. He chuckled, propping himself up on his elbows and running a hand through your hair. “You’re right.. I guess,” he replied playfully before pressing a kiss softly to your lips. 

You rolled off of him, settling in the place next to him instead. He rolled onto his side to look at you and you did the same. It felt like you two were children again. “The men who survived and more are meant to be here tomorrow. I’ll tell them that I mean to take a new queen. I won’t let any of them try to object and then.. you can tell them who you are,” he said quietly. Your mind raced and your heart was pounding-- so this was in then, huh? After going your whole life hiding, you were going to reveal that you were in fact the Mad King’s daughter. With a sigh, you nodded. “Aren’t you afraid of losing their support?” you questioned. “They swore an oath to my father and then to me, they can’t simply go back on that. And you are no ordinary queen, you fought for them-- alongside them. You saved my life and killed a traitor. It shouldn’t matter what your name is after all that.” All you could do was nod but your mind continued to race. Would it really go this way? You sure hoped but.. you knew all too well that not all men were too keen on keeping their oaths. 

And they did reach Seagard that next morning. You were still lying in bed when Robb came in to inform you. So this was it then. Robb was going to announce you as his queen and you would tell them that you were a Targaryen. It was a terrifying thought. But you realized you hadn’t even confronted the thought that Robb was going to make you his queen-- he loved you and you two would be bound to one another. Before he could leave the room, you shot up out of bed. “All you said was that you’d make me a queen, you know. You are terrible at this whole asking someone to marry you thing,” you said, chuckling slightly. His eyes went wide and his face had a slight red tinge, presumably from embarrassment. He quickly made his way over, seating himself next to you on the bed. One hand went to the side of your face, fingers getting tangled in your hair. “Marry me, Y/N Targaryen. I wish to be yours until my last breath, and you mine. I love you.” The butterflies in your stomach fluttered so intensely you thought for a moment that you might be sick. “I will. I love you too, Robb Stark,” you said, nodding with tears in your eyes. He pressed his lips passionately to yours before breaking apart. “Get ready. It’s time.” You nodded and he left the room.

You put on a simple gown and then your wrap. When you stepped forward and made your own speech, you would remove it. But obviously you couldn’t just walk out that way. Closing your eyes and catching your breath, you smoothed out your dress and mentally prepared yourself for what could either be a liberating or life-threatening moment but either way, nothing would ever be the same. So you made your way out the door, hands clasped in front of you as you walked down the hall. Keeping your head high, you finally arrived in the courtyard where Robb was speaking with his trusted advisors. When he notices you from the corner of his eye, he quickly makes his way over. “It’s time then,” he said softly. You felt yourself beginning to shake and he grabbed your hand, “It’s going to be okay.”

Then it began. Robb stepped out into the middle of the courtyard, calling to the men to listen. Your eyes scanned the crowd, shocked by how far they went. They went far beyond the gates of Seagard, all trying to get a listen of what their king had to say.

“Men!” he called out. “After the tragedy at the Twins, I thank you all for assembling here to discuss our next course of action.” The men all cheered, clearly their loyalty never wavered despite what happened. “I promise you all, we will avenge all those we lost. We will punish the Freys for betraying their king in the name of some bastard in the South.” They cheered even louder this time. Well, it was surely going to get silent the moment he mentioned you-- or they’d protest, even. “But there is another matter I must speak about.” They were quiet this time, the anticipation written all over their faces. “I understand what taking Lady Talisa as my queen did. You must understand that I was making the choice I believed to be right and I will be seeking revenge on her behalf as well. But now, I ask that you trust me when I tell you I present you all a new queen. A woman I grew up with, who is loyal to the North. She understands our ways and she would gladly fight for you all until her last breath!” Just as you expected, they were silent now. “It is she who saved my life that night. She drove the dagger into Lord Bolton’s heart when he sought to kill me in the name of the Lannisters!” Then there was some enthusiasm from them. You were shocked.

He looked back at you now, nodding. “Come forward, Y/N,” he said, loud enough for those close to hear but no longer shouting. Shaking, you walked to his side and looked out at the men before you. You were able to recognize some of them as those you’d fought with, who commended you on your skill in battle when it was all over. Robb looked over at you, nodding as a way to tell you to speak. You exhaled a deep breath and built your confidence. “It is true, I plan to continue to fight alongside you all. I would die protecting any one of you! I am a Northern woman, it is my home and I will see to it that we destroy all of its enemies and take back the freedom that is rightfully ours!” You saw them nod and begin to cheer, not as loud as before but it was something. “It was I who put that blade in Lord Bolton’s chest-- and I plan to do the same to Lord Frey and any other traitor! Any ally of that Bastard King is an enemy of mine and I will happily put my life on the line to cut each and every one down!” Their cheers got louder and a grin began to grow on your lips. “But if I am to be a Queen, then I must be honest with you all. I am not nameless, not a peasant. Lord Stark saved me when I was just a babe and raised me in the ways of the North-- to pray to the Old Gods-- the true Gods-- and live with honor!” Your heart was racing as they grew silent again, waiting for what truth you needed to tell them. 

“But I am a Targaryen.” Gasps echoed across the crowd as you removed the wrap from your head. “Yes, the Mad King is my father but I have no connection to that evil man! And I wish to right all the wrongs he committed. My name may be Targaryen but I am as much a Stark as your king!” You called out. Still silence until.. there were some that began to cheer and others joined in until the entire crowd was. Queen in The North, they called you. You couldn’t believe it. A Targaryen-- a Northern Queen. It felt like a dream. You were absolutely beaming. Robb then grabbed your hand, smiled over at you and held it up. The people cheered. They would now have rulers who wouldn’t hide away-- but would aid them in the fight for freedom.

“We invite you to celebrate our union tonight with a grand feast!” he exclaimed as you grinned at him. So this was it. Years and years of loving him and now here you were, ready to marry and live as King and Queen. The men cheered as Robb lead you away from the commotion, back into the castle. The two of you kissed passionately as Robb wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you off the ground, causing you to giggle against his lips. How had things gone from so catastrophically wrong to as close to perfect as can be in just a matter of nearly two months? It was so hard to believe and yet here you two were.

“A grand feast, huh?” you asked, smirking as he let you back down. “And why not?” he shot back playfully. “Nothing! Just.. shocked is all. A Targaryen-Stark wedding being grand.” It was something no one would have ever thought possible let alone it being celebrated. “Well here we are,” he said softly before pressing another gentle kiss to your lips. “Do we even have a septon?” you asked. “Of course! And I believe the Mallisters have something for you to wear,” he said as he began to grin. Your eyes narrowed, “You are something else, Robb Stark.” He pulled you into a tight embrace again and you melted into his touch. Just then, some handmaidens walked over to you two, heads bowed. “Lady Targaryen, we apologize for the interruptions,” their voices sounded like they were shaking. You turned to face them with a warm smile, “No need.” Both of them looked up, returning the gesture. “We are to help you prepare for the ceremony if you could please come with us,” they still sounded intimidated, but less so. You nodded, breaking away from Robb and venturing off with the two young women. With one last look over your shoulder, you grinned at him.

First, you were given a bath. The two women looked shocked when you stepped right in, both warning you that it was still extremely hot but it felt great to you. You submerged yourself, holding yourself there for a few moments before returning to the surface, wiping your eyes. Once it finally ran cold, you stood and the handmaidens rushed over to cover you in a robe. “Thank you,” you said, chuckling slightly at their urgency. While one of them worked on trying to dry your hair, the other laid a dress out on the bed and you gasped at its beauty. It was done completely in Stark colors but you could swear that there was a three-headed dragon stitched just over the left breast. Completely taken off guard, you began to walk over, completely disregarding the woman working on your hair. As you stared down, you found that you were right. “How...?” you asked, looking over at the woman who stood next to it. “His Grace swore us to secrecy and asked that we make a small tribute to your house.” Your eyes began to water but you wiped at them before they tracked down your cheeks. Robb was unbelievable.

After apologizing to the other handmaiden, the both of them got to work on preparing you for the wedding. It wasn’t much, but they seemed to have some simple makeup on hand: painting your lips red, adding an ever so slight pink tinge to your cheeks and braided pieces that met in the back while leaving the rest of your silver locks in loose waves. They helped you step into your dress and while one pulled your corset tight, the other helped to adjust the front of the gown. It felt like you could hardly breathe but.. it was worth it for such a joyous occasion. “My lady,” one woman, who you now came to know as Lyla, said as she brought a mirror to your face. You smiled at your reflection before looking up at Lyla and Samaya. “I can’t thank you two enough,” you said, beginning to get choked up. “It was our pleasure, Your Grace,” Lyla spoke up first, but both grinned at you. Both of them gave you a curtsy before making their way out. “Congratulations, Your Grace,” said Samaya as she shot you a grin.

So you were left alone in the room, trying your best to not freak out. It was just so hard to believe that this was really happening. It was then that you heard the door open and you spun around to find Robb in the door way. He actually had his mouth hanging open as he stared at you, causing you to smirk. “Yes?” you asked, raising your brows. “You look.. breathtaking,” he said as he came closer and grabbed hold of your hand. “But we should go, Your Grace,” he replied, grinning. You realized then that there was no one to walk you to the ceremony. It should’ve been Lord Stark or Lady Catelyn but now they were gone. He seemed to notice your change in mood and his brow furrowed, “Y/N?” Your head snapped up to look at him, shaking your head. “It’s nothing.”

And then you two made it into the Great Hall where Robb walked right up to the septon then looked over at you, awaiting your arrival. You walked down the aisle with your head held high as all the high lords and ladies stared at you. When you reached your spot across from Robb, you smiled warmly at him and the vows began. “...I am his and he is mine. From this day, until the end of my days.” “...I am hers and she is mine. From this day, until the end of my days.” The two of you finished in unison. Then, the septon began to tie a ribbon around your clasped hands as he proclaimed, “Let it be known that Robb of House Stark and Y/N of House Targaryen are one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder.” The two of you looked at one another with a smile as he finished, “In the sight of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity.” And then the ribbon was unraveled. While you both believed in the Old Gods, Lady Catelyn believed in the Seven and you both knew this is a ceremony that she would appreciate. Besides, you were in the Riverlands now. A formal Northern wedding could be held when this was all over and you two were home.

The next few hours was magical. You never really expected to have a wedding or be married at all.. much less to Robb. But here it was, the time of your life. You danced with Robb amongst your people, laughing and beaming from ear to ear. And just as he had said, there was a grand feast for all to enjoy. By the end of the night you were quite exhausted when the two of you retired to your now shared room within the castle, though you wouldn’t be there much longer.

As soon as the door closed, Robb pressed his lips to yours with a sense of urgency, pushing back until you were up against the door. “Someone’s eager,” you giggled against his lips. “Should I not desire my wife?” he bantered back. His wife. You were his wife. Before you knew it you fell down onto the bed, dress half off, with Robb on top of you. Without thinking, you allowed him to strip you of nearly everything when you finally pulled away panting. “I told you, Stark, I will not fall pregnant. Not now,” you said with a smirk but you were very serious. As much as you would love to indulge in all the pleasures of married life and live in domestic bliss, there was a war to be fought. No time for children, not right now. He simply sighed but pressed another gentle kiss to your lips. You stood up and changed into a night gown before crawling back into bed, cuddling up to him.

The two of you were just starting to doze off when the door floor open. It was a young man who stood in the door way. “My apologies, Your Grace!” he exclaimed, clearly very shaken up. “What is going on?” Robb questioned in a gravely voice as he began to sit up in bed. “The men, they caught someone sneaking into the castle.. I think you’ll want to see him right away,” he said frantically, though he put his head down. “Yes.. I will be right there,” Robb quickly responded as he hopped out of the bed and got more heavily dressed. You got up as well, hurrying to find a robe you could throw on. He turned to look at you with a furrowed brow, “You don’t need to worry yourself with this.” With a single brow cocked, you shot back, “Robb, I plan to rule at your side. I would like to know who is trying to spy on us.” He sighed but you caught the slightest hint of a smirk as he turned away. 

The two of you followed the young man out the door and down the hall into the Great Hall, where a group of guards stood around a shackled prisoner. Upon your arrival, the disheveled man raised his head-- none other than Jaime Lannister. What on earth was he doing here? You knew that it was now well-known that Robb was re-assembling his army at Seagard but did the Lannisters really send him, just when he escaped their capture? Jaime was a fighter like no other but him against an entire castle? Tywin Lannister fought hard to get his son back, this move seemed ridiculous. “You know, I sent good men after you yet here you are, willingly coming back to me. Did you really think you’d be able to finish the job your father’s spy could not with an entire castle to get through?”

“I’m not here for you, Robb Stark. I’m here for her.”

[gendryaweeklyupdates]

All Updated Gendrya work this week (08-Mar-20 to 14-Mar-20)

Note: all dates are in dd-mm-yy

Redemption by LME ( 16/? as of 08-3-20)

Imagining Arya and Gendry's reunion when the Game of Thrones is finally over. This story is focused on the voyage of 'Arya the Adventurer' on her ship Nymeria, after she asks, "What is west of Westeros?".

Rating:M

Even the Darkest Night will end. by @lianria (12/? as of 08-3-20)

Arya reaches out to old allies for help, and the pack begins to reform. Pack doesn't always mean just wolves anymore.

Rating:M

Runaway With Me - Part 2 by @the-end-is-kigh (14/14 as of 08-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

Arya Stark was not happy when her family was forced to move to King's Landing due to her father's promotion. But at the same time, it allowed her to escape her problems back home, allowed her to meet a cousin she'd never known, get a job doing what she loves and there's the issue of a certain mechanic.

Maybe the move would be worth it?

But the problems from back home follow her, her only hope is to keep running, until she can't run any more.

This is the reaction mostly to the letters Arya and Gendry send back home.

Rating:T

One for the road by @obsessivewriter (9/9 as of 8-3-20)

As a survivor, Arya always knew she was living on borrowed time, five years in remission she had done almost everything on her bucket list until her time ran up.

That time is up now and there is only one thing she never got to experience: falling in love.

Gendry will do anything for his best friend, and really how hard could it be to fall for someone you already love?

Rating:E

The Ghost of the Red Keep by TheDameintheRaininMaine (4/? as of 8-3-20)

Lysa never sent her letter. Bran was never pushed. Five Starks make the journey to King's Landing.

And one day beneath the Red Keep, Arya hears a voice she decides must be a ghost.

Rating:T

Evading Capture by @katlyn1948 (9/? as of 8-3-20)

Arya evades the brotherhood, but fails and Gendry can't seem to keep his eyes of their captive.

Rating:M

A Thunder In Our Hearts by hungerwolves (2/? as of 9-3-20)

In which Arya has to marry lord Gendry Baratheon, the legitimized bastard son of the King in the South, to avoid war between the 6 Kingdoms and the North.

Unrated

Heavy Lies The Crown by OneMoreNight1996 (7/? as of 13-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

When the truth of the Baratheon children is revealed, King Robert orders the execution of Cersei and Jamie Lannister and exiles the children to Casterly Rock. This leaves him without an heir so he is quickly forced to legitimize a bastard blacksmith brought to him by Ned Stark and, in the eye of the King, his heir is in need of a bride.

Rating:E

The Last Time by @yanak324 (14/? as of 9-3-20)

After a decade away, Arya returns home. Encountering the boy she left behind is not in her plans.

At least she’s always known the Gods have a funny sense of humor.

Rating:E

True Love's Kiss by @prettyyvacant321 (2/? as of 9-3-20)

Gendrya Sleeping Beauty AU with a few twists!

Based off the January (oops I'm late but what's new) prompt from @days-of-gendrya on Tumblr.

Rating:M

Head of the River by @everyl1ttleth1ng (13/? as of 14-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

Gendry Waters, multiple Pan Westeros Games gold medal winning rower, has been the highly successful and well-loved Director of Rowing at the exclusive Riverlands Grammar School for six years now. Ser Davos Seaworth has very recently retired as school principal and been replaced by the much younger multiple gold medal winning fencer from the North, Dr Arya Stark.

One morning Gendry finds himself approached by his new boss. She wants him to teach her how to row.

(In which Gendry is still rowing AND Gendry and Arya spend time in a boat together.)

Rating:T

Gym Daze by @dragongoddess13 (5/5 as of 14-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

For years they worked out together. In high school he drove them to the gym every afternoon after school or after extracurriculars. In college, they went first thing in the morning before classes and after graduation, when they both moved down to King’s Landing, they found a new gym and a new schedule. 

Or how Gendry and Arya learn to use their frequent trips to the gym in ways that were a whole new kind of satisfying.

Rating:E

I Wanna Be Yours by @sneetchstar (15/? as of 12-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

Gendrya one-shot collection.

Rating:E

When Winter Comes by OneMoreNight1996 (2/? as of 11-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

Winter sets in after the Long Night is over leaving everyone stuck in Winterfell and unable to go south. This causes some tension within the group as secrets are revealed and promises are made.

Rating:E

The odd girl who smelled the rain by @blue-nebulae (5/6 as of 12-3-20)

Gendry noticed her the very first week of the semester.

Something about her caught his eye, he didn’t know exactly what it was, perhaps the fact that she was a very pretty short girl or the fact that she was carrying a bright yellow umbrella, and using it almost like a cane, on a perfect summery day and that was odd.

Rating:T

More Than Words by @keepitmovinshawty (6/? as of 12-3-20)

Arry and Steffon first meet on the beaches of Braavos while escaping their responsibilities. Both ignorant of their true identities, it comes as a surprise when they meet again on a more formal scale and try to handle a relationship while the world watches.

Rating:M

Bad Pick-up lines Work Best by JoPoGirlsKickAss (17/? as of 12-3-20)

Gendry's life is suddenly sprinkled with bad pick up lines--at first he ignores them, then he realizes they might all be from the same person and that person might just be the death of him.

In which Arya flirts hard and Gendry is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[Slow(ish) burn until chapter 15]

Rating:T

The Lost Prince by @psychvamp25 (37/40 as of 12-3-20)

The first Baratheon prince died in his crib, this is known.

Arya Stark comes to King's Landing when her father becomes Hand of King and her sister is set to marry the Crown Prince, Joffrey. Arya journeys to the street of steal and meets a handsome young blacksmith. Little does she know, that her relationship with this blacksmith could change the future of the Seven Kingdoms.

Rating:T

A Dance of Shadows by Faiseuse_d_Histoires (29/50 as of 13-3-20) (significant Gendrya with Jonerys)

It’s been one year since the death of Daenerys Targaryen, called by some "the mad queen", and the North and the Six Kingdoms try to rebuild all that was lost. Jon Snow had disappeared beyond the Wall, his wolf last seen near Hardhome. Queen Sansa "the Wise" is facing unrest in the nearby villages, which leads her to make questionable choices in the eyes of her people. In the South, king Bran the Broken fell seemingly ill and fear for his life makes people uneasy about the succession.

As once again instability risks to break the kingdoms, a hero reappears, with the name of a long-feared enemy, and an old song is beginning to be sung once again, with fire and ice meeting for one last dance.

Not mentioned, but coming: Some news from the iron islands and Dorne, trouble coming from Essos… oh, and some resurrection, perhaps.

Rating:M

The Prince That Didn't Come by @igitnothin (61/63 as of 13-3-20)

On an normal winter day, Hot Pie happily delivered two meat pies and a jug of ale to a waiting table.

There was no interruption from his ordinary work. No happy reunion, no thrilling tales, and no missing Stark girls to steal his food and change the world. There was nothing but another group of hungry mouths to feed.

Or Arya Stark does not visit the Crossroads Inn, and the world of ice and fire is changed forever.

Unrated

then we take berlin by @evax3 (14/20 as of 13-3-20) (equally Theon/Robb)

After Petyr Baelish tragically suffocated on a gigot before he was able to poison Jon Arryn, Westeros fought in united strength against the White Walkers and built up a diplomatic relationship with Queen Daenerys in Meereen after the victory.

So, the land was at peace, the winter was over and 2 years later Theon, Robb and Arya sat together in Winterfell, bored to fucking death.

Fortunately, distraction seemed within reach, as Theon discovered a book in Maester Luwin’s library, maybe solving their problem. Promising the opportunity to travel back in time and experience one of the big battles again, they’d fought in the past.

But mixing the ingredients, something went wrong and instead of arriving back on the field of the second Battle of the Dawn, they found themselves in Berlin of the 21st century, still wearing their thick furs and understanding not a single word.

Putting their hopes in a certain dark-haired goldsmith from California, who kindly takes them in, they tried their best to somehow find their way back home and find a lot more in the process.

Rating:M

Prompts by @psychvamp25 (9/? as of 14-3-20) (multiple updates this week)

A collection of any of the prompts I get. Will be standalone little ficlets.

Rating:G

Through the storms by @nikelaos87 (3/? as of 14-3-20)

The sequel of "An empty shell"

«I won't marry you»

«You can't»

Rating:M

You Feel Like Moonlight On My Skin by @randifrnz (3/5 as of 14-3-20)

After six months in the capital, it is time the future King and Queen of Westeros continue the envoy through the kingdoms of the lands to know and build relationships with their people. Throughout their journey, the crown prince and princess grow even closer and grow up as well. Arya navigates what it means to be a woman grown and what it means to want.

Rating:E

Masterlink for the week: here

[ironicallypresant]

Idea for a game of thrones fanfic I will never write:

-Jon Stark is the son of superhero Lyanna Stark aka Mystery Knight and an unknown civilian. The mystery of his fathers identity and the irony of his mothers alter ego name isn’t lost on him. Nevertheless the mystery of his father has never really been something he’d pondered on too much. Plenty of hero’s had daliences with civilians, often occurring in children. It’s why so many new supers came from allegedly powerless families. Odds were one of your parents was actually a caped crusader. Jon was luckier than most, his mother had actually chosen to raise him, others like Aryas friend Gendry weren’t so lucky even though his control of the weather clearly marked him as a Baratheon scion. Jon had other things to worry about than whoever his father was, like making sure he scored hero on his placement test and not becoming the first Stark ever to register as a villain. But when he develops an ability that he really shouldn’t have been able to the question of his fathers identity is put into the spotlight resulting in Jon questioning not only his identity but the entire system his society is based on. -So basically the idea is that Jon is the son of Lyanna who’s a superhero and Rhaegar who is a supervillain (I’m thinking maybe having him be called silver prince) and he finds out about his parentage when he develops a third power. In this Au children of two supers have 3 powers, the inherited family power from each parent and then their individual power. Children of one super therefore only have two. Jon can warg into ghost (the Stark family power) and control fire (Targaryen family power) but he thought that the fire power was his individual power not realising it was an ability he inherited from his dad’s family since Lyanna told everyone that his dad was a powerless civilian (except maybe Ned and Benjen know the truth). Lyanna’s lie is exposed pretty spectacularly when Jon develops a third power (a power which I won’t lie I can’t decide what it should be!) and everyone realises that Jon is not only the son of two supers, but the son of a mager villain. - Since this story is a bad rip off is Sky high (my childhood favourite!) there obviously needs to be some kind of problematic system Jon needs to expose the issues of and destroy, here it is folks: children of hero’s go to Vale academy for heroes (I felt like the vale was the closest to sky high in that it’s in the clouds kinda...) children of Villains go to the Dragonstone institute of darkness (or something equally lame sounding). A child of both a hero and a villain is practically unheard of but the common belief is that they would go to Dragonstone as naturally they would eventually succum to evil it’s genetic, it’s inevitable. (Noticing the flawed logic yet?). Knowing this Lyanna told everyone that Jon’s father was a random Civilian she seduced after saving him and as this is a common theme in the hero world no one questioned her. I’m not sure how Hero Lyanna ended up having a relationship with villain Rhaegar but let’s just imagine that somehow he doesn’t know of Jon’s existence until the time of the story. Both Rhaegar’s elder children very much exist as does Elia, I like to imagine her as the brains behind Rhaegar’s supervillainy and operates kind of like an evil oracle. -At the end of a super teens 16th year (I’m English so I’m referring to the end of year 11 but I have no idea of the American equivalent and I’m to lazy to check since I’m probably never gonna write this 😂) the kids must take a placement test. This test supposedly scans the teens very being and is able to determine weather they will be a hero or villain. All teens from both schools take the test and the idea is that if a teen from one school is determined to be the alignment for the other school then they transfer. However while occasionally a born hero teen will be transferred to the villain school, no villain kid has ever been transferred to the hero school (suspicions no?)

[wackygoofball]

Gwenspiration: The Wacky Version Vol. 3 - The Moodboards

So, here I go again parading myself and tooting like there is no tomorrow.

As people still brave enough to follow me on Tumblr will know, I do a lot of moodboards, or at least I call them such. Others call them collages or storyboards or pictures with random text. Either way, for me, moodboards became a neat tool to somehow capture story ideas not yet anywhere near a level that I could write fic about them - or serve as inspirations for fics I am actually writing.

And it gives me opportunity to hoard unhealthy amounts of Gwen and Nik pics, in the name of moodboards. And science. And stuff. Whoozah!

So yeah, in this post, I want to share some of my personal favorites. A lot of them actually, because I can’t decide, really.

I will start off with a group of moodboards which took inspiration from the Marvel universe, since the Marvel universe was my gateway into the more active parts of fandom.

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An all-time fave is the Iron Man AU... I mean, what not to love about a JB AU with Jaime as sassy Tony Stark and Brienne as the not-taking any shit from you army doctor, am I right? But yeah, seriously, Jaime *is* the Tony Stark of the GOT universe, and I can’t be convinced otherwise. And neither should be you.

Also, the Iron Man suits just totally fit the color scheme for both, which made creating the moodboards all the better for me. Jaime and Brienne were made for armor, now in medieval or modern times, let’s not kid ourselves.

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Another Marvel fave has got to be Captain Westeros. Because if there is a female GOT Version of Steve Rogers, it’s gotta be Brienne of fuckin’ Tarth. This one is really close to my heart because it gave me a lot of feels coming up with plot bunnies for it, and the tragedy of those two people missing each other in time over and over again, always trying to protect one another, only to end up on opposite sides because of the machinations of others... *sigh*

And I mean, one guy loses an arm. The other is blond and strong... I don’t make the rules but this delivers me enough material to re-imagine this as a JB AU... so yeah, I do kinda make the rules after all. Anyway.

Since I realized that this post’s gonna get even looooonger, I decided to make a cut here and put the rest below, so not to have you scrolling for five hours.

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Although it’s not the most popular moodboard amongst my followers (you brave people, I can’t parade you enough for staying through the madness lol), I really, really love that Fantastic Four moodboard and the concept behind it. And I just know a lot of effort went into making Valyrian Steel Brienne, which took all of my three computer editing skillz brain cells. But yeah, here again, I liked to play with the idea of them not admitting to their love until shit hits the fan and then they hide behind that because... drama, angst, feels, pining, yadda.

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And we go from Marvel to DC little quick. Because Brienne is, most certainly, a Wonder Woman. Nuf said.

Now, let’s move on to other big movie franchises that give me all the JB feels:

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Jurassic Park (aka Valyrian Park) evidently holds a special place in my heart because JB fighting dinosaur-dragon hybrids and kicking ass while being disbelieving about what was bred out in Valyria thanks to some certain someones to rescue Brienne’s adoptive daughter Arya is just... a thing? For me anyway.

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More down memory lane, I don’t know how often I watched the LOTR movies, suffice to say it was a lot a lot. We had the extended versions DVDs of the first two and basically it was the one thing to watch when nothing was on (which was the case a lot). Either way. JB in MIddle Earth long after the days of Frodo et al. - why? Because I just loved the idea (and aesthetic) of Jaime as a ranger and Brienne as a knight of Gondor working in disguise. And Hobbipod. I mean, Pod as a Hobbit. Come the fuck on. And Tyrion as an asshole wizard. What could possibly go wrong? This moodboard was very time-consuming as I had to do a lot of edits (pointy ears, tiny up people, smudge Brienne’s face on a lot of Boromir and Faramir images, smudge Jaime’s face on a lot of Aragorn images, you name it). So yeah. No matter its popularity... I dig it. Despite not having read the books yet (I know, shocking), I continue to ogle at the idea and go like: Must. Write. But. Must. Resist. Either way. Mood.

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So yeah, I grew up watching these movies a lot, too (I grew up watching a lot of TV, period). And when Gwen was cast as Captain Phasma, I got a lot of JB juices flowing as a result. Mehe. I found it was a fun idea to play with, to basically *kill* Phasma so *Brienne* can come into play and assume her identity. And a rundown Jedi!Jaime who’s lost faith in himself and everything else safe for his partner in crime/resistance is just... I needz. So you gotta cope with it. I still adore this concept a lot even if others may not. :)

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This one’s just... gah. Feels. And I really liked the color scheme lol. And I watched Horse Whisperer A LOT. Because of feels. And horses. And Honor is a horse and he deserved better than be barbecued at Highgarden, dammit.

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The No Reservations AU definitely has to be in this post because I live for this dynamic. Brienne taking care of the girls, not knowing how, though, constantly doubting herself while always trying to be perfect and composed, not just in life but on the job as well. And Jaime being the laid-back guy who’s just a darn good chef but may carry his own baggage of problems that keep him from his happy ending story is just... mah jam.

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This one was a lot of fun to do because you don’t really think about Erin Brockovich when you say Brienne of Tarth in terms of character. But when you scratch away the boob jokes and the differences in where they come from, what you find are two hard-working women who fight for justice, so I found that close enough. And it was excuse enough for me to go down the lane of biker!Jaime because... dayum.

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Music and Lyrics is an all-time guilty pleasure romcom of mine. It’s so light and easy and I kind of love how everyone is basically a bunch of awkward losers. All the more perfect for Jaime as a singer (we need that in our lives after the infamous video Nik was in to sing to us about global warming...) and Brienne as the unexpectedly gifted songwriter. What I like about the moodboard per se is how the color scheme turned out because it’s all warm and bright and... makes me happy.

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Very much in contrast to the former stands this one. I still love the overall mood of it and I dig the story idea because I dug both The Prestige and The Illustionist because they presented something dark yet very different, which made it all the more appealing to put into a moodboard for me. While not the most well-known moodboard of mine, I keep going back to it time and time again to basically lust at all the illusions and magic and drama. And blue butterflies.

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What is there not to love about a Pacific Rim AU for JB, am I right? Right?! JB ain’t just compatible when it comes to the Drift, yo, that’s all I’m gonna say. Reasons why I like the moodboard a lot is that it’s very different, flashy colors, gigantic robots, and I was mostly alright with how the edits turned out. It is tough to get images that fit the angles, yo.

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Jumping back in time once more, I really adore this one even though it’s not one of my popular moodboards. I dug the fusion of elements from Cinderella Man while granting Brienne as the female lead more space to develop as a character and make her a badass sniper nurse who is about to get her doctor’s degree. And Jaime doing anything to make it work because he owes her a debt (and his love) by boxing his way to their shared life is just... nice.

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Another supposedly lesser known moodboard is this one, though I really adore it for its premise and the amount of work I put into it (all the giffing and moodboarding). I also found use for that image of Gwen with what looks like the veil of a nun, which was probably what had me inspired in the first place lol. The plot bunnies revolve less around Se7en and more the novel El ùltimo Catón (2001) because it has a nun solving a mystery revolving around Dante’s works. But Se7en gives us the Seven, which is a delicious parallel too hard to ignore. For me at least. If only I knew how to write crime, dammit.

Now, to  move more into the serial (smooth transition from serial killer to serial TV shows, I know, I know) way of life, here is some moodboards inspired by TV shows (although some have since gotten movies which I also took inspiration from... yadda):

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Childhood memory galore. I spent many weekends watching The A-Team with the whole family. When the movie came out, I was happy about the feels it gave me (and the “you spin my head right round” scene still cracks me up more often than it should). Either way. I found it absolutely necessary for Jaime to be Face, for Tyrion to be Hannibal, for Bronn to be B.A. and cuss at everyone and everything and Brienne giving us the strangest genderbend of a Howling Mad Murdock. It added some angst, which I always need because I am a thirsty hoe for it. In case no one noticed yet. Ha.

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This one is very remotely inspired by The Bletchley Circle and the Imitation Game (because both feature encryption and one features Charles Dance already, yo.) I just really dug the idea of Brienne being so good at this because she is such a straight thinker but being underestimated because “she a woman.” And of course her not being done just encoding messages but getting into action, very much to the dismay of the stupid soldier wanting to defend the bae from harm. What could possibly go wrong? Right. A lot.

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Then. Elementary. Let me count the ways in which I love that show... ALL THE WAYS. And I really dig it as a JB AU. I have so many thoughts and feelings, I can’t even begin to tell you. I especially had my fun basically making Jaime Sherlock without making him really Sherlock because that guy was the one who taught him how to be an investigator before disappearing and fucking up his life for bad. And Brienne as the army doctor turned sober companion turned private investigator turned love interest is just too delicious to ignore.

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Pants down I mean hands down, this may be the actual favorite (currently) amongst them all for the plain reason that I also grew up watching that series and still watch it and keep obsessing about it. Ever since Discovery launched and has since given me both joy and grief, I found myself intrigued by the premise of a JB Star Trek AU where Brienne would be standing *with* the Klingons during the war around the time Discovery takes place, and Captain Jaime Lannister having lost far too much to this war already to truly trust anyone, even less so a woman who ran to the Klingons, for what it seems.

You would not believe how many ideas I have for a fic based on it. You wouldn’t believe that I basically have a sequel to that fic already in mind. And you would definitely believe, knowing me, that I am nowhere near writing that fic. But a fangirl can dream and moodboard, right? The moodboard was such a fun way of going about it, not only for the edits but because I could sneak some secret Klingon messages in there. :)

Now, on to the last part, which are the moodboards not inspired by movies or TV shows primarily but really just spewed out of my wacky, wacky brain:

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This has a special place in my heart because it combines military and the traumas it comes with for JB and.... the aesthetic of farming. And both finding a kind of peace they didn’t know they were looking for as they struggle to adjust and find their way back “to normal” after the horrors they have both seen in war. And did I mention the aesthetic? And Jaime in plaid? All dirty and sweaty? Do I have to say more?

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Why this one? Because it combines angst and romance and falling in love twice because DESTINY. And paintings. I love me my artist AUs. So that was my go at it, combining it with the “mystery” to be uncovered about what history Jaime and Brienne actually share as he tries to put his memories back together.  Also. This moodboard gave me opportunity to try out new filters and create JB paintings. :)

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This one’s gotta be on the list since I also added the Horse Whisperer. Now it’s Dog Whisperer Jaime and Brienne who won’t give up on her dog who’s seen some shit in the warzone (as did she, but Brienne will put it all aside for her doggish best buddy, of course). While it’s not a very popular moodboard of mine, I really enjoy the premise of it and how the dynamics can so easily change between the two of them if you see it in comparison to the Horse Whisperer AU. Also. I just really think Jaime is a total pet person.

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Another lesser known moodboard, I’d assume, but I really dug the premise of it (still do), and it was intriguing to do some edits to make Jaime’s hand *truly* golden lol. With people having developed strange mutations which aren’t nearly as much fun as they are in Fantastic Four AUs. What I liked about it was the idea that Brienne would have a kind of mutation/ability that links to the mind, since she is such a physically strong fighter that she may rather rely on that than on her own mind, fearing that she cannot control that with discipline the same way she can train her body with it. What unites the two is their strong wish to protect the people in their care, in a world on the verge of collapse forcing two unexpected allies together (okay, I totally expected it, but they didn’t). Either way. Much love for this one. :)

Link

Aaaand the last one (not of all the ones I made but the ones I picked for Gwenspiration). I really, really, really adore this one because I was so happy with how the aesthetic turned out and how the colors all match. And I dig the premise. Like holy moly do I dig it deep. Jaime and Brienne both serving in military, but on different fronts, and almost accidentally ending up writing each other letters? I mean... the PINING. And Brienne having to decipher Jaime’s chickenscratch. Yeah no, but for real. I just love the idea so much. That they are both committed to the cause while also yearning for a home, for peaceful times, for sweet, sweet love. And them meeting up and acting like stupid teenagers, only for drama to keep hitting because. It’s eh me angsty Wacky.

Either way. I dig the premises of a lot of my moodboards (in fact... basically all of them or else I wouldn’t be making them, I guess). I spared you listing all of them, though I listed a whole damn lot already. Moodboards are an awesome means for me personally to visualize and (re-)imagine. And since quite a few people seem to continue to be onboard with them, I am all the happier to keep making them.

That’s all for today.

Much love! ♥♥♥

*flies away*

[bonesgadh]

My take on Arya Stark’s ending in Game of Thrones (a.k.a why I firmly believe she is going to return to Westeros eventually)

Disclaimer: I still don’t agree with the way D&D chose to end Arya’s arc—and probably I never will. However, I wrote this very long-ass meta because I’ve been trying to find a meaning behind her ending, and in case you are still in denial as I am I hope this helps you get some closure.

Let’s begin (as I just said a very long-ass meta coming right up, I promise it’s the last one):

The last two weeks have been rough. Now that my mom™ has given up on GOT I’ve been forced to keep my theories and headcanons to myself (although I’ve shared my rants with you it’s not the same because it’s not a proper conversation with actual feedback). I’ve spent a good portion of my days thinking about how shitty the GOT finale was and how stupid it was for Arya to leave her family and her home behind just to sail into the unknown. I know there’s people out there who are pleased with her decision, saying that Arya was always a free spirit and is not meant to be bound to one place for long, and that she is destined for greatness and a life of adventures. There’re also others out there (like me) who are not happy at all because even though Arya is a free spirit, she is not a lonely wolf. She is fierce and independent but she also has strong bonds with her family and her home and there’s no way she would give that up to follow a life of uncertainty away from those she loves. Anyway, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

That said and in case you haven’t noticed, I’ll proceed to make the following statement: I’m a complete Arya Stark stan. Arya is one of my three favorite fictional characters ever and I have loved her ever since I first saw her on screen ruining her embroidery. I love how she talks, the things she says, how she thinks, how she loves and feels. I love the way Maisie Williams portrays her and speaks on her behalf in interviews and bts videos; she gets Arya in a way no one does and that’s what a good actor is supposed to do, to become its character’s custodian (like Carrie Fisher was Princess Leia’s).

I have spent years studying Arya. Profiling her, analyzing her, trying to get inside her head to understand her motivations. “What is Arya thinking in that scene? What motivates her to do what she is doing? What are the real reasons behind her actions?” I’ve used all my training as a psychologist to get to know her better, to love her more. When I study a character I like to pretend we are in therapy; I’m their therapist and they are my patients.

Now, why didn’t I support Arya’s decision to go find out what’s west of Westeros? Because for the first time since I started watching GOT I couldn’t understand why she wanted to do it. I couldn’t. Obviously because her leaving brings a sad end to the Stark rhetoric of “the lone wolf dies but the pack survives”, but also because I just didn’t get why someone who had finally embraced life would embark in such a suicide mission. I was left speechless (and yeah I know she mentioned wanting to make that trip before but she did it once and at a time of her life when she thought she was alone in the world).

As a Gendrya shipper I didn’t like her rejecting Gendry’s proposal but I understood her reasons. I knew she had something else to do, besides she had never been drawn to the life of a lady because that’s not her (even though I strongly believe changing your mind about something you said when you were a child is completely valid and it doesn’t mean you’ll become a different person but whatever). Besides it made sense after what Maisie said about Arya being torn between life and death. It hurt but I knew why she did it. That didn’t happen to me during the last episode.

Arya leaving to see what’s west of Westeros didn’t make sense to me because it seemed as if she was embracing her “no one” persona again. What makes you ‘”someone”? Your home, your family, your friends. What makes Arya Arya? Winterfell, her siblings and those she holds dear (besides her family, Gendry is the only meaningful relationship she has now that the Hound is dead). Arya choosing the life of a reckless adventurer meant giving up her home, her family and her friends. I couldn’t stop scratching my head at the thought of Arya going back to being no one because it pretty much destroyed her entire arc from at least seasons 6, 7 and 8 (her returning home after years away, reuniting with her loved ones, finally embracing life and recovering her humanity).

Arya’s decision has haunted me for two entire weeks. I couldn’t stop asking myself: “Why?” Well, after sleeping for approximately 70 hours over the last fourteen nights I think I finally have the answer:

Her choice goes beyond wanting to see what’s west of Westeros, beyond a longing for an adventure that she gets to choose for once, beyond living wild and free.

Arya is looking for the meaning of her life.

For years, Arya‘s list worked as a lifesaver. She held on to it as tightly as she could and it’s what helped her survive all the shit she went through. In “Man’s Search for Meaning” Viktor Frankl says:

Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any 'how’.

When you lose whatever gives meaning to your life (your partner, your children, your parents, your job) you suffer the most serious existential crisis of them all.

Arya’s entire existence revolved around getting revenge, about avenging her family and making those who had hurt them pay. However, with her list gone, Arya has now lost the “why” Frankl talks about. Chances are she can’t stop asking herself what happens next, followed closely by:

”Who am I without my list, a list that gave meaning to my life?”

For those at Winterfell she is a hero, the slayer of the Night King, the savior of the world. For Gendry she is the woman he loves, the one he wants to marry. For Jaqen and the Faceless Men she is a girl, a girl that is no one. For those who have known her for most of her life she is a lady.

But Arya rejects all of the above. She said it herself to the Hound: she doesn’t like heroes. She doesn’t see herself as one even though she is. She rejects Gendry’s proposal because she is not interested in being a Lord’s wife (although she has feelings for him she doesn’t want to live in a man’s shadow). She rejects the identity set on her by Jaqen because she knows she’ll never be able to let go off her thirst for vengeance. She rejects being a lady because that’s not her.

It seems to me Arya is very aware of the things she is not, but she doesn’t know what she is.

In that case, who is Arya Stark? What is her?

“Who are you?” is probably the hardest question you can ask a person to answer. My guess is Arya doesn’t even know it herself. That’s why her whole plot with the Faceless Men makes sense and it’s not really about her learning cool skills, it’s more about her trying to learn who she is. Even though she knew she was Arya Stark of Winterfell what does that even mean? Strictly speaking it’s nothing else besides her name and the place where she was born. However, things with the Faceless Men would never work because if there’s one thing Arya knows is that she is not no one. She defended her right to her identity until her last day in Braavos.

I mentioned earlier three of the things that make you you are your home, your family and your friends. Let’s break them down:

Home

A crucial part of Arya’s overall arc was her constantly trying to return to Winterfell, her very long road back home. However she abandoned her quest and went to Braavos instead, and for a while she seemed to have forgotten her earlier wish. A year and a half later she told Jaqen she was going home after she decided to leave the Faceless Men, but she wasn’t planning on going back North. She only decided to head there after she heard her family had recovered Winterfell. She told Nymeria she was going home because at that moment she thought the North was her home. 

But then why did she leave without saying goodbye after the Great War? Perhaps she didn’t want to worry her family by telling them what she planned to do, or maybe (and for the record I don’t agree with what I’m about to say) the months she spent there made her realize Winterfell was not her home anymore—or it didn’t quite feel like home yet—. When she and the Hound were inside the Red Keep and he told her to go home, my guess is Arya had no idea where to go. The place she believed to be home was not anymore, so where was she supposed to go? That’s why she didn’t really abandon King’s Landing after she rode away on the white horse—she only used it to leave the immediate destruction but chose to return to check on Jon, because she had nowhere else to go.

Family

Now, let’s compare Arya’s position in the finale with that of her siblings:

Jon left to live with the wildings, the people he loves and who love him in return. He is meant to be with them and maybe even lead them, Bran kind of hinted at this during their goodbye after Jon apologized for not being there for him when he needed him. I don’t remember the exact quote but if my memory doesn’t fail me he said something like “You were exactly where you were supposed to be”, and that’s what gave Jon the idea of permanently leaving with the wildings.

Sansa was crowned Queen in the North. She is officially the leader of the pack and the alfa, and her new mission is to protect and guide her people. Thanks to her the Starks recovered Winterfell, she fought for independence and the northerners love her.

Bran was elected King of the Six Kingdoms and he will help rebuilt the realm after the war’s atrocities and prevent everyone from reprising their mistakes.

Strictly speaking her siblings don’t need her right now, the three of them are relatively safe and they have all found the meaning of their lives and their place in the world. Arya, on the other hand, hasn’t. Her list gave her a meaning for years, but now that it’s gone for good she is trying to find a new one. You would think killing the Night King would give her some sense of purpose, but I honestly believe finding out you were born to save humanity would give you an even bigger existential crisis than anything else.

”Hey, but didn’t the ending already establish finding out what’s west of Westeros is the new meaning of her life?” You might ask.

The answer is no, it didn’t. The way I see it, Arya wanting to know what’s west of Westeros is like an item from her bucket list. A few weeks ago I found a very good post that said it would be great if Arya replaced her killing list with a “living” list full of things she wants to do. “Seeing what’s west of Westeros” definitely sounds like a bucket list item to me.

Also just take a look at each of the Stark’s endings by the time the credits roll:

Jon, Sansa and Bran’s endings are very “final”, sort to speak, while Arya’s was the most ambiguous of them all. When you get exiled you get exiled for life; if you are King or Queen you are until you die. However, a journey is, by definition, a temporary thing. Arya can’t—and won’t— spend the rest of her life travelling to nowhere. A person that has been as hurt as Arya has needs stability, something safe to hold on to, and living an errant life is the exact opposite of this.

Besides she is Sansa’s heir. Even if Sansa is young too we can’t know for sure if she’ll ever get married and have kids and therefore it’s way too risky to make their entire lineage depend on her. That’s why a King or Queen’s siblings try to have two-three children themselves, just in case they come in hand.

Goodbyes

GOT is a show that puts a lot of emphasis in goodbyes. When they wanted to close a storyline, most of the times they gave those involved a closure scene (this doesn’t include Gendrya because their final scene didn’t give them closure at all, but that’s another story). The ones I can remember now:

Daenerys never got to meet Rhaego and still she was able to say goodbye to him and Drogo during her vision.

Davos giving the wooden stag to Shireen.

Sansa telling Ramsay to his face how much she hated him and how his house would go extinct after his death right before giving him to his own dogs to eat.

I would dare to say the scene where Talisa and Robb talk about their baby right before they are murdered during the Red Wedding serves as a goodbye between them.

Theon and Yara’s final scene from 8x01. 

Jaime and Brienne’s conversation before he left for King’s Landing.

Obviously the Hound and Arya’s moment at the Red Keep when he encourages her to save herself.

Tyrion thanking Jaime for being kind to him before helping him escape

I was pissed we didn’t see Arya saying goodbye to Sansa. They wasted a good two minutes on Tyrion rearranging furniture but they didn’t give us the Stark sisters wishing each other good fortune? I call bullshit. Nevertheless I now believe it was probably a good thing we didn’t (if you are a Gendrya shipper this applies to them as well).

The reason why we saw Sansa, Arya and Bran saying goodbye to Jon was because it was meant to be the last time the three Starks would see their half brother/cousin. However we didn’t see Sansa, Arya and Bran saying goodbye to each other because they will definitely reunite in the future. Theirs is not a permanent goodbye while the one with Jon was, and that’s why they showed it during the episode (besides Arya’s exact words were: “I’m not going back North” but she didn’t say she would never return. The way I see it she meant: “At this moment I don’t intend to go North.”)

Some parting thoughts

I don’t know if what I wrote makes any sense and no matter how much I try to understand it, I’ll never agree with D&D’s decision of sending Arya away and giving her that ending. However, because I think I know her I want to believe she chose to embark on her little suicide mission because she needs to clear her mind and gain some perspective about what she wants to do with her life. I’ve seen some people refer to it as her taking a gap year before college, others say she just went on sabbatical, I personally like to call it a Rumspringa-like trip around the world.

As I mentioned in a previous meta, sometimes we forget Arya is still a very young woman because she is such a badass. She is only 18 years old and she has her whole life ahead of her. She will use her journey to see what’s west of Westeros—which apparently is Asshai in the books’ canon—to discover who she is, instead of what she is not. A recurring theme in Arya’s arc has been her being forced to repress her own identity (pretending to be Arry instead of Arya; pretending to be a boy instead of a girl; pretending to be a mason’s daughter instead of a Lord’s; pretending to be no one just to be accepted into the House of Black and White; pretending to not being scared about potentially dying). But now, she’ll get to construct her identity at her own pace, without being constantly afraid of everything being taken away from her. 

She will arrive at Asshai and discover the known world is round, but she’ll decide to travel across Essos instead of simply turning back. She’ll visit Qarth, catch a glimpse of the Red Waste, go to Dragon’s Bay and stay at the cities Dany was in. She’ll sneak a peak of the Dothraki Sea and Vaes Dothrak, and then she’ll sail for the Valyrian Peninsula. She’ll go to the Red Temple of Volantis and the red priests and priestesses are going to be delighted to meet the person who ended the Long Night. She’ll travel north to Myr, Pentos and Braavos and finally, after a year or two of backpacking through Essos she’ll reaffirm Winterfell/Westeros is her home, and she’ll be ready to return to her family and loved ones as a healed new woman *If you are not a Gendrya shipper you can stop reading right now* First she’ll go to Winterfell to catch up with Sansa, then she’ll go to King’s Landing to say hi to Bran and finally she’ll make her way to Storm’s End.

And Gendrya will get the soft epilogue they were denied in the final episode.

[tacitwhisky]

Jon / Sansa Reread - Jon I, AGOT

< Previous Chapter (Bran I) | Next Chapter (Arya I) >

In which Jon gets drunk at a feast, embarrases himself, and talks to Tyrion.

After his introduction in Bran I, this is our first glimpse into Jon’s head, and boy is it a thorough one. Despite being a somewhat simple chapter from a plot perspective, in just a few short interactions Martin packs in a huge amount of material to show how Jon sees himself, his bastard identity, and how he engages with the world and his place in it, threads that will continue throughout the entirety of the series.

(I’ll be linking to several in depth metas about each thread throughout the reread, but also gathering them together in a further reading section at the end of the post for convenience.)

It was the fourth hour of the welcoming feast laid for the king. Jon’s brothers and sisters had been seated with the royal children, beneath the raised platform where Lord and Lady Stark hosted the king and queen.

Jon starts the chapter exiled to a literal lower tier of society. Later in the chapter he’ll tell his uncle Benjen it’s because Catelyn doesn’t want him sullying the main table as a bastard because of the presence of the royal family. This brings up an interesting aspect of Jon’s position within the Stark household; not only does he exist in a sort of liminal space between two different classes, noble and not, but where exactly he exists on that spectrum is fluid and fickle.

Once he goes to the wall Donal Noye will rightly point out all the privilege Jon grew up with, but something not really discussed is just how fragile that privilege is; at the drop of a pin Jon can go from son to bastard, from sitting at the high table to sitting at the low. Stability is hugely important for children, and not having any growing up is nearly as damaging as simply not having privilege to begin with. From a young age Jon would’ve internalized that the world was an unstable and untrustworthy place and on some level instinctively understood he had only himself to rely on. As maester Luwin says, “bastards grow faster than other children.”

This actually helps explain why Jon is so proactive any time he enters a new environment. Time after time in the series Jon will be thrust into a new environment and immediately start gathering allies and taking decisive action. At Castle Black he quickly forms a clique (Sam, Grenn, Pyp) and confronts Alliser Thorne. Once he’s Lord Commander he gets the wildlings on his side and immediately starts rebuilding and manning the Wall.

This is an interesting meta on how Jon tends to gather up the downtrodden as his allies, and the ways that while Jon may not realize it, it’s not completely altruistic because by taking them in he’s also making them loyal and beholden to him, and is really just a good rundown of the practicality and moral greyness lurking in Jon. To quote from it for a minute:

“Jon’s advocacy for Sam looked like a thing he did because he’s a good person, and I ultimately do think that’s the case. Still, he did something which required absolutely no effort on his part, and look what he got out of it. Sam isn’t just the best friend Jon will ever have, he’s a powerful asset to the Watch and he’s Jon’s most loyal supporter.”

Though never explicitly thought on by Jon, the very physical illustration here in the first chapter of having to sit at a lower table than his brothers and sisters because of simply who’s visiting must’ve crystalized for him how tenuous his place in the Stark household really is, and probably helps drive him to ask Benjen to join the Night’s Watch later in the chapter.

In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glass of wine, but no more than that. Down here on the benches, there was no one to stop Jon drinking as much as he had a thirst for.

And he was finding that he had a man’s thirst, to the raucous delight of the youths around him, who urged him on every time he drained a glass. They were fine company, and Jon relished the stories they were telling, tales of battle and bedding and the hunt. He was certain that his companions were more entertaining than the king’s offspring. He had sated his curiosity about the visitors when they made their entrance. The procession had passed not a foot from the place he had been given on the bench, and Jon had gotten a good long look at them all.

Methinks the bastard doth protest too much...

On a more serious note, throughout the series Jon will have to navigate through different levels of society, interacting with thieves, lords, wildlings, and two different kings, and this chapter lays out the foundation for just how naturally it comes to him. He’s perfectly comfortable with the other squires and youths (besides his resentment at being banished).

His lord father had come first, escorting the queen. She was as beautiful as men said. A jeweled tiara gleamed amidst her long golden hair, its emeralds a perfect match for the green of her eyes. His father helped her up the steps to the dais and led her to her seat, but the queen never so much as looked at him. Even at fourteen, Jon could see through her smile.

This is a narrative trick Martin uses a lot throughout the series: he’ll start the chapter in the present (the feast), have the character think back to what’s happened in the past (the entrance of the royal party) and then back to the present (feast again). It’s a good way of filling in what happened between chapters for a character (gaps that can be upwards of seven or eight chapters later in the series) without boring the reader or wasting their time.

After them came the children. Little Rickon first, managing the long walk with all the dignity a three-year-old could muster. Jon had to urge him on when he stopped to visit. Close behind came Robb, in grey wool trimmed with white, the Stark colors. He had the Princess Myrcella on his arm.

Having the Starks escort in one by one the royal family is a nice way of both introducing them, their relationship to Jon, and also emphasize Jon’s isolation: they are literally closer to the royal family than him at the moment.

She [Myrcella] was a wisp of a girl, not quite eight, her hair a cascade of golden curls under a jeweled net. Jon noticed the shy looks she gave Robb as they passed between the tables and the timid way she smiled at him. He decided she was insipid. Robb didn’t even have the sense to realize how stupid she was; he was grinning like a fool.

There’s two things going on here. The first is Jon is feeling left out and so he’s transferring his anger onto Myrcella by calling her insipid in his head. But part of his distaste comes from something more complicated, and is the first indication of Jon’s low key dislike for traditionally feminine women throughout the series.

I read a really great meta about this once (which is unfortunately lost to time no matter how many times I look for it), that outlines how while Jon values women as a whole and has no problem respecting non-traditional women (Arya, Ygritte, Alys, Val) he has issues with traditionally feminine women (Myrcella, Catelyn, Selyse, Gilly), and that it almost for sure originates with Catelyn; she’s the head of the female half of Winterfell and symbolized all refined westerosi femininity for Jon growing up. And considering how openly hostile she was to him it’s really not surprising he’d be uncomfortable with the femininity she embodied.

This idea is actually the origin of my Jon of the Kingsguard fic: the idea that both Jon and Sansa start in a place where they don’t respect each other (he for her perceived feminine weakness, she for his bastard status) and by the end have grown and learned to appreciate what they once didn’t. Overall I wish it was a side of Jon’s character that was explored a little more in fic, especially fic that has him interacting with Sansa (though this is an aspect completely missing from show!Jon so that may be why it doesn’t much come up).

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon’s vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister’s hair and his mother’s deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey’s pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell’s Great Hall.

This entire paragraph is very clearly about Joffrey, with Sansa as a kind of afterthought. It’s one of the frustrating things about how Martin writes Sansa, but outside of Arya (and Robb a little) we really don’t get any idea of what her relationship on a day to day basis was like with the other starklings, especially Jon.

Even just a sentence here, like how Rickon came to say hi to Jon and had to be shooed back into line, could’ve done a lot to characterize Jon and Sansa’s relationship. Did she purposefully not look at him? Or did she look at him pityingly? Offer an encouraging smile? We don’t know.

In the show Sansa says she was awful to Jon, but there’s no actual indication that’s the case in the books from what I remember, and just that one line in the show. There really is just a black hole where their relationship should be. It’s one of the things that I think make them so shippable to people: they don’t ever think of each other as siblings so the incest vibe can be as high or low as you want, and that blank space can be filled with whatever headcanon you find interesting or appealing.

I’ll get into this more in Sansa’s chapters, but a lot of this I think is the legacy of Sansa being a late add on to the Starks and one primarily created to contrast with Arya. While there’s no doubt that Martin likes Sansa, there’s a lot of ways that here in AGOT she’s an underserved and under developed character. This early in the writing process I think Martin just hadn’t really thought through her relationships with the other starklings.

The last of the high lords to enter were his uncle, Benjen Stark of the Night’s Watch, and his father’s ward, young Theon Greyjoy. Benjen gave Jon a warm smile as he went by. Theon ignored him utterly, but there was nothing new in that.

This is more fuel for my theory from last chapter that Theon ignored Jon because he wanted to stay close to privilege.

Back in the present, Jon sulks, tries to convince himself he’s having a good time, feeds Ghost, and then Benjen comes to sit with him.

Benjen Stark gave Jon a long look. “Don’t you usually eat at table with your brothers?”

“Most times,” Jon answered in a flat voice. “But tonight Lady Stark thought it might give insult to the royal family to seat a bastard among them.”

“I see.” His uncle glanced over his shoulder at the raised table at the far end of the hall. “My brother does not seem very festive tonight.”

Jon had noticed that too. A bastard had to learn to notice things, to read the truth that people hid behind their eyes.

I’ve heard the last part referred to as early installment weirdness, and I think that’s partially true. Jon doesn’t really mention it again, but he is remarkably perceptive and willing to learn and listen to others later in the series. I’d also argue he has a low key reactive paranoia to almost everyone he meets that he doesn’t immediately like, which can appear like him being perceptive, but is more just suspicion.

Benjen gave Jon a careful, measuring look. “You don’t miss much, do you, Jon? We could use a man like you on the Wall.”

Jon swelled with pride. “Robb is a stronger lance than I am, but I’m the better sword, and Hullen says I sit a horse as well as anyone in the castle.”

“Notable achievements.”

“Take me with you when you go back to the Wall,” Jon said in a sudden rush. “Father will give me leave to go if you ask him, I know he will.”

Uncle Benjen studied his face carefully. “The Wall is a hard place for a boy, Jon.”

“I am almost a man grown,” Jon protested. “I will turn fifteen on my next name day, and Maester Luwin says bastards grow up faster than other children.”

Notice how Benjen first says Jon would be good at the Wall, then when Jon shows interest tells him it’s too tough and manly and adult for him like he didn’t just suggest it himself. He offers something, then when Jon reaches for it he slaps his hand.

“Daeren Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.

“A conquest that lasted a summer,” his uncle pointed out. “Your Boy King lost ten thousand men taking the place, and another fifty trying to hold it. Someone should have told him that war isn’t a game.” He took another sip of wine. “Also,” he said, wiping his mouth, “Daeren Targaryen was only eighteen when he died. Or have you forgotten that part?”

More negging on Benjen’s part implying that Jon is a child who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. More importantly though, this is one of the first indications of just how idealistic Jon fundamentally is. There’s a lot of meta that goes into the parallels between that idealism and belief in stories and Sansa’s love of songs of knights and ladies and how that shapes her worldview.

And much like Sansa, throughout his character arc Jon has to grow past that initial faith in stories and grapple with the reality of war and loss and ruling. It’s easy to picture the Young Dragon as one of the heroes of AGOT’s Jon, but much harder to picture the Jon of ADWD thinking so favorably of a bold and brash king that went to conquer another country; not after his experiences with loss and the wildlings.

“I forget nothing,” Jon boasted. The wine was making him bold. He tried to sit very straight, to make himself seem taller. “I want to serve in the Night’s Watch, Uncle.”

He had thought on it long and hard, lying abed at night while his brothers slept around him. Robb would someday inherit Winterfell, would command great armies as the Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon would be Robb’s bannermen and rule holdfasts in his name. His sisters Arya and Sansa would marry the heirs of other great houses and go south as mistress of castles of their own. But what place could a bastard hope to earn?

The sad part of this is Jon’s thoughts here about his future are completely rational. One of Ned’s major failures as a parent is how unclear he’s been with Jon about his future. This meta goes into it more in depth, but there are a lot of futures Ned could’ve set up for Jon (giving him a holdfast in the gift or becoming Winterfell’s Castellan, for example), but he never communicates them to Jon or really seems to have thought about them. A lot of this springs from Ned’s own trauma; because of just how brutally his family was halved he seems to want to keep his children young for as long as possible. This was more or less ok for the rest of the starklings, but for Jon whose position is already tenuous, it would only make him more insecure.

Ned should’ve sat Jon down at a much younger age and explained what the shape of his life could look like. Because he didn’t, Jon takes matters into his own hands (going back to the proactive thing) and decides that the best option for him is to join a lifelong half penal colony institution at fourteen.

“You don’t know what you’re asking, Jon. The Night’s Watch is a sworn brotherhood. We have no families. None of us will ever father sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor.”

“A bastard can have honor too,” Jon said. “I am ready to swear your oath.”

“You are a boy of fourteen,” Benjen said. “Not a man, not yet. Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up.”

“I don’t care about that!” Jon said hotly.

“You might, if you knew what it meant,” Benjen said. “If you knew what the oath would cost you, you might be less eager to pay the price, son.”

Jon felt anger rise inside him. “I’m not your son!”

Benjen Stark stood up. “More’s the pity.” He put a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “Come back to me after you’ve fathered a few bastards of your own, and we’ll see how you feel.”

Some people have said that the scene with Catelyn and Jon at Bran’s bedside is what permanently put them off Catelyn as a character; I get that, because this scene does the same to Benjen for me. It is such an utter dick move on Benjen’s part to put down Jon because he hasn’t gotten laid yet, to equate sex with maturity, and to taunt Jon with the fathering bastards thing which he has to know is a sore subject for Jon. Jon at this point is drunk and at the height of his insecurity about his place in Winterfell, and instead of comforting him or talking him through it, Benjen preys on his insecurity and dismisses him.

This meta makes a convincing case that Jon joining the Night’s Watch at such a young age is a comprehensive failure of all the adults in his life, and it’s hard to argue against. To quote from it:

“Both Starks completely and utterly failed to provide Jon with the necessary information he needed to make a conscious and informed decision to commit to that institution. They let him, a teenager who feels he has no place in the world to call his, make a decision based on incomplete information then held him to it, and allowed him to walk into binding lifelong commitment completely unprepared.”

Jon trembled. “I will never father a bastard,” he said carefully. “Never!” He spat it out like venom.

What’s interesting about this line is not just that it gives us insight into Jon’s views on his sexuality, but it shows just how much Jon internalizes his bastard status. It’s not just that he’s dispirited that other people view him with prejudice and treat him as lesser, but he also internalizes that into his view of himself and how he thinks he should act. Everything is internalized because of the ideas of personal responsibility that Ned instilled in him.

Suddenly he realized that the table had fallen silent, and they were all looking at him. He felt the tears begin to well behind his eyes. He pushed himself to his feet.

“I must be excused,” he said with the last of his dignity. He whirled and bolted before they could see him cry. He must have drunk more wine than he had realized. His feet got tangled under him as he tried to leave, and he lurched sideways into a serving girl and sent a flagon of spiced wine crashing to the floor. Laughter boomed all around him, and Jon felt hot tears on his cheeks. Someone tried to steady him. He wrenched free of their grip and ran, half-blind, for the door. Ghost followed close at his heels, out into the night.

As a writing technique this is a good way for Martin to have us identify and sympathize with Jon. We’ve all been in embarrassing situations, and kicking your character in the gut is always a good way to get the audience on their side (up to a certain point; after that it just alienates us from them). It’s also a good way of emphasizing Jon’s youth and reminding us that the kid is barely fourteen.

(And where is Benjen for this? Such a dick.)

Once he makes his way outside Jon runs into Tyrion who’s perched high on a ledge. We then have the most blatant example of early installment weirdness in the whole series when Tyrion backflips off the ledge (gymnastic prowess that will never get mentioned again until ADWD). Tyrion then tries to pet Ghost.

The wolf pup padded closer and nuzzled at Jon’s face, but he kept a wary eye on Tyrion Lannister, and when the dwarf reached out to pet him, he drew back and bared his fangs in a silent snarl.

“Shy, isn’t he?” Lannister observed.

“Sit, Ghost,” Jon commanded. “That’s it. Keep still.” He looked up at the dwarf. “You can touch him now. He won’t move until I tell him to. I’ve been training him.”

“I see,” Lannister said. He ruffled the snow-white fur between Ghost’s ears and said, “Nice wolf.”

“If I wasn’t here, he’d tear out your throat,” Jon said. It wasn’t actually true yet, but it would be.

This is such a hilariously teenager thing to exaggerate and boast about. It’s also a subtle hint of how comfortable Jon is with violence, a theme we’ll come back to in later chapters. He’s drunk here though, so we should cut him some slack anyway.

“You’re Ned Stark’s bastard, aren’t you?”

Jon felt a coldness pass right through him. He pressed his lips together and said nothing.

“Did I offend you?” Lannister said. “Sorry. Dwarfs don’t have to be tactful. Generations of capering fools in motley have won me the right to dress badly and say any damn thing that comes into my head.” He grinned. “You are the bastard, though.”

“Lord Eddard Stark is my father,” Jon admitted stiffly.

While Tyrion’s dwarfism and Jon’s bastardy both marginalize them, the stereotypes between the two aren’t the same, and because he’s older, Tyrion has found a way to perform his when it’s useful (even as he hates the stereotype itself). In this case it’s the Wise Fool. It’s an interesting contrast with Jon, who will never quite pick up this skill outside of his time with the wildlings where the stereotype of the bitter and treacherous bastard is useful for getting Mance to think he’s switched sides.

Largely I think it comes down to a difference in their comfort with deception: Tyrion is very good at lying (especially in ACOK when he’s in a constant game of cat and mouse with Cersei), where Jon as the son of a Stark believes in personal responsibility in a way that has him chafe any time he has to.

Lannister studied his face. “Yes,” he said. “I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers.”

“Half brothers,” Jon corrected. He was pleased by the dwarf’s comment, but he tried not to let it show.

From a prose perspective, Martin bluntly stating that Jon “was pleased by the dwarf’s comment” is interesting because it should be an example of bad writing: it’s telling, not showing, right? But bluntly stating character’s reactions and emotions is something Martin actually does a lot. I think he gets away with it for two primary reasons. The first is that his prose can be so laconic and sparse at times that it just feel natural to state things straightforwardly. And the second is that Martin can pull out more complex descriptions for emotions when he needs to, which helps the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks when he doesn’t.

(Doing this may also just be a leftover of having written scripts for most of his life. In a script it’s fine to just state what emotion the character has because it’ll be filtered and communicated through the actor and dialogue. And Martin does write really naturalistic dialogue.)

“Let me give you some counsel, bastard,” Lannister said. “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”

Jon was in no mood for anyone’s counsel. “What do you know about being a bastard?”

“All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes.”

“You are your mother’s trueborn son of Lannister.”

“Am I?” the dwarf replied, sardonic. “Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he’s never been sure.”

“I don’t even know who my mother was,” Jon said.

“Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are.” He favored Jon with a rueful grin. “Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs.”

This is a key, key scene and concept for Jon’s entire series arc; that the best way to deal with prejudice is to face it head on and reappropriate it. That ethos will form the care of his Lord Snow persona thought it’ll take him a few chapters at Castle Black to really internalize the lesson and start making use of it.

This conversation with Tyrion is also the first of the many peeling aways of Jon’s blinkers when it comes to his privileges. It’s the starting point of his ability to empathize with other marginal groups: first Tyrion, then the Castle Black recruits, then the wildlings. That ability to grow and learn (despite the constant mantra of knowing nothing) and empathize with others is what separates Jon from just any other run of the mill peasant boy to high king fantasy protagonist.

And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling a tune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.

And with that this insanely long chapter comes to an end. Next up will by Arya I, in which we finally get to properly meet Sansa. Until then below are the metas I linked to (and a few more) to keep you occupied.

Also check out my meta tag, or my fanfic. And feel free to ask me a question about this chapter or anything else here on tumblr. I love interacting with my ASOIAF fam.

Linked Metas:

--The practicality of Jon’s relationships

--How Jon joining the Night’s Watch is a story of the adults in his life failing him

--How Ned failed to prepare his kids (especially Jon) for their adult lives

--Why Ned didn’t foster Jon at another northern house

--What Ned should have told Jon about his parentage

< Previous Chapter (Bran I) | Next Chapter (Arya I) >

Photo Credit: Kali Ciesemier

[bisexualgendryas]

gendrya + jonsa au: bastard lords and hidden ladies (part 1)

so, this is very much not the whoooole concept as I practically just switch from Cat!Arya to Alayne!Sansa (this post is basically just Gendrya + Alayne!Sansa, sorry, not even written Jonsa, but I promise the full concept includes happy married!Jonsa (two versions, too, lol)), but I am tired af whilst simultaneously being really pumped that ppl wanted to see this idea so here’s (much of) the longass outline of the thing I posted about earlier:

au wip, a legitimized-boys, secret-identity-sisters canon divergence piece, where: Stannis becomes king (and keeps Gendry alive), Arya accepts Jaqen’s offer to work for a courtesan and Gendry finds her while on business for the Crown, Jon gets legitimized after taking Ramsay down, and Baelish makes a betrothal for Alayne to Gendry that she later basically manipulates Stannis into changing into one with Jon after Gendry and his true love ditched the whole ass crownlands. It’s got a lot of book plot overlap too but I have no true concept of the timeline in terms of when different canon events happened. If you want more of this or have ideas or anything, feel free to share them!

Instead of Gendry having to escape from Stannis, Shireen finds out that her father’s found a cousin of hers - a true one, not one of Cersei’s bastards but one of her uncle’s - and especially with pressure from both her and Davos, Stannis ultimately decides he’ll keep Gendry alive, have him taught to behave properly, how to manage lordly duties, and so on.

Jaqen realizes that Arya may not be perfectly cut out for being Faceless, and makes her an offer - that he could find her employment of a different sort. As he’s noted, she’s taken by the allure of the courtesans, whose jobs include far more than just the sexual duties shared by those who work in brothels.

At first, Arya insists she can get better, but then Mercy!Arya ends up becoming friends with a girl who works on one courtesan’s ship, and after hearing many stories about how the women play instruments and tell stories and sing songs, she decides that perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst thing to try out. She talks to Jaqen, tucks Needle in a belt, and makes friends with Mercy’s friend with her own face, as Cat, and then the friend convinces the courtesan that Cat’s a charming young woman who should come work with them.

Stannis first loses at the Blackwater, but then with assistance from the Iron Bank and much of Westeros, as well as some more magic, he later manages to topple Tommen and take the Throne.

Needing to be sure of where the Crown stood with their Essosi allies, Stannis sends Gendry and Davos to Braavos to speak with the Iron Bank. As the Starks were always so keen to remind everyone, winter was coming.

And, ahem, the men sent with Gendry and Davos certainly intend to as well. And, only naturally, after a couple nights of well-enjoyed brothel trips, some of them decide they all ought to take advantage of their being in Essos and seek out some renowned courtesan as well - they had Westerosi lords and knights, after all, one of whom was in line for the bloody Iron Throne! Surely someone would love to host them!

Spoiler: yes, someone absolutely would. (Especially considering that Robert had quite the reputation - not as a particularly fun partner, but definitely as a man who’d finance the purchasing of a week’s worth of alcohol in two nights and come back to bed every pretty girl an establishment had afterwards.) How many Braavosi courtesans or whores can say they were bedded or courted in any manner by the son of a Westerosi king? Not many.

Contrary to expectations, Cat ends up being one of them, though not so much while they’re in Braavos. And as sweet and reassuring as it is that her friends, her companions in training, are certain that this lord immediately realizes how pretty she is, she knows the moment that Lord Baratheon meets her eyes he can see Arya, buried deep beneath Cat, and when she speaks in response to the courtesan he and his men are visiting, he hears her as well, though she’s glad to see he’s smart enough not to have his shock blatantly on display.

After a couple visits, his men return to the brothels, the enchantment of listening to old songs more lost on them than the enjoyment of fucking - but Gendry keeps coming to the barge, even though it’s only him and his uncle’s Hand at that point, and after a couple nights of only them, trading stories with the women and listening to songs in languages that have barely been heard since Westeros’ common became, well, common, he actually asks to have time with only Cat.

And of course, the parts of them that are closest to the Arya and Gendry they once were have an awkward but heartfelt reunion - but the parts of them that have grown up are acutely aware of how different they are, how different their places are. Still, he’s not surprised she became an assassin, and she’s not surprised he doesn’t enjoy the vast majority of what’s involved in being at court. They don’t share everything, but they share quite a bit, almost falling back into the sort of friendship they’d thrived off having. On following nights they talk more about things - about Shireen, about the Hound, about the Red Woman, even a bit about King’s Landing girls and Braavosi dockworkers.

It takes a couple more nights, but after a while she decides to remind him that, while it’s not something guaranteed simply by seeking out a courtesan, he is allowed to bed her. (With permission from her employer, of course, as payment and whatnot would be arranged, but…it’s him, her friend, grown and handsome, so Arya doesn’t mind giving the suggestion.)

He asks, though, what would be the cost just to kiss her. For all the time she’s spent learning people, especially men, it’s embarrassing to be caught off guard as she is, but she manages to gather herself and say that it would depend on who he intends to be telling. She doesn’t really let him consider that, though, not the first night, because she simply does kiss him.

They don’t explicitly tell people they’ve started kissing, but they’re terrible enough at hiding their affections that they’re quickly the talk of their respective social groups. Everyone among them, and probably others who view the barge consistently, knows that he keeps coming back, after all…until their few weeks in Braavos are coming to an end, at least, Iron Bank negotiations and all other necessary business of the Crown having been handled.

But then, before Arya’s really made to think about the fact that he found her on the other side of the world and inched closer and closer to becoming a lover only to have to leave her again, Gendry asks her to leave with him. He can’t give her back her home or her family, but if nothing else they can live safely, together - and more than that, he simply wants not to leave her, ever. From what he’s said of his own family, she doesn’t imagine she’ll get a warm welcome, but she can’t stand the idea of him leaving her either, so she packs up what few belongings Cat has and says farewell to her friends, and to Braavos.

Other than the scandal of her coming with, none of the men seem to think much of her taking a place in his cabin. It’s there that he ultimately decides he’s free enough to bed her for the first time. They’ve not yet made it to King’s Landing by the time he realizes he’s completely and irrevocably in love with her.

Arya’s mainly right to think she won’t get a warm welcome; both Stannis and Selyse almost immediately denigrate Gendry for following his father’s path, the path of foolish men, for what kind of lord openly brought a whore to their castle? She’s not actually a whore, he cares to remind them, even though it stokes the fire of the fury. He has his own to match Stannis, though, and it’s clear and it’s spectacular in its own way. So, too, does Shireen - lovely, kind Shireen who’s so happy for the prospect of a friend that she again begs her father on Gendry’s behalf, and reluctantly, Stannis allows Cat to remain, with some strict guidelines, many of which Arya has no complaints about meeting.

Up North, though, Jon has heard about Arya’s marriage to Ramsay, and decides to reach out to Stannis for help on the matter, help of some sort, any sort. It’s not immediately granted, especially as Jon is already asking for Other help, but ultimately, Stannis starts to consider it. Ramsay was only ruling in the North because of a series of betrayals against those who would rightfully rule it - if the last known living child of Ned Stark, a man who died for speaking the truth of Stannis’ claim and denouncing Cersei’s bastards, was asking for help, to save his family, was it not Stannis’ duty to give it?

He does decide that having Jon as an ally is his best move, and begrudgingly he sends some troops North with Davos and Melisandre, to assist Jon’s wildlings in taking back Winterfell. The Night’s Watch doesn’t all take kindly to the Lord Commander’s priorities, but by the time mutiny drags down Jon Snow, Melisandre is in residence at Castle Black and she brings him back, having seen him at battle at Winterfell in her flames, knowing it needs to follow.

He takes Stannis’ sent men and his wildlings and begins to march south, only for a broken Theon to bring to him Sansa’s friend Jeyne, whose identity Theon had hid so that she could be believed to be Arya. The battle is hard-won, but they win it still, and Stannis gives him his father’s name for the victory, but it’s hollow.

Hollow, too, is the love promised to sweet Alayne, whose false father seeks out his best excuses to wed her to the highest bidder, a title claimed all too soon by the king and queen, part of their plan to change the behavior of the king’s nephew and part of Petyr’s plan to return to power in King’s Landing. A bastard lord for a bastard lady - to Stannis that’s like to sound fair, but to Sansa, it’s everything but. She’s learned to pay attention to whispers and rumors, and with this…Petyr intends to mold her into Cersei, it nearly seems. A Baratheon with a temper and a love, and he’d have Alayne marry him, if only to return to seeking the power of the crown. She knows he’d been speaking with Lord Bolton, which still boils her blood even now that she knows it wasn’t her sister who had been made to be his poor wife - she’d doubted it always, especially with the recollection of how Arya had once raised her own sword even to Joffrey - but he still will drag her back to residence in King’s Landing rather than let her go home…unless she can work something out with her betrothed, and perhaps she can.

Not that he intends to give her the chance, though - the moment that Stannis informs him of the betrothal is a bigger, louder fight than they’ve ever had. Stannis might be king, but he owns Gendry no more than he ever could his brothers, and Cat even less, and he won’t be allowed to forget it. There’s a ship bound for Braavos in the bay, and soldiers intended to take her to it, soldiers who are meant to grab her from Gendry’s chambers while she’s alone there and escort her so that he doesn’t get a say.

Stannis, though, doesn’t know that only some parts of any woman are soft, and Gendry’s the only man with rights to ask for any of her softness. Even without real context she knows the soldiers are only obeying their king, so Arya focuses on injury and little more, rushing down underneath the castle, down where she’d ran when Syrio had told her to do so. And, as if by magic - perhaps, actually, by magic, for she wouldn’t know - Ser Davos finds her. He takes her to a dusty corner, hands her a wine skin and one of Cat’s other dresses, and tells her to wait for him to come back…and so she does.

She waits until the entire area is getting dark, only the trail of the sun and no lanterns or sconces to show her the possible way out, and holds tight to Needle until after the sun is set and he scurries back to her, Gendry at his side, rushing to her like never before. Davos has given him clothes that once had belonged to a son of his, and grabbed them some food.

They make it out of the city on a ship manned by one of Davos’ other sons, a trade ship headed for the Riverlands - straight for Hot Pie, as far as they’re concerned. Arya might cry, in part from feeling terribly anxious and in better part because he’s so terribly kind.

Alayne and her father arrive in their carriage a few days later, to a very apologetic royal party, and Alayne spends much of her first days back in the city thinking how horribly fed up she is with men for all their machinations. Princess Shireen, though, is very clear that while it’s a pity someone was hurt by it, her cousin is deeply in love, and in their private company she calls her father foolish for thinking he could ever sway him. It’s so very Sansa of her, that Sansa herself is easily swayed to their side, though she knows Petyr is having much more difficulty accepting the rejection.

It’s all very much a lovely love story to Sansa, though, as it is to Shireen, and Alayne bonds with the princess easily. She even enjoys Shireen’s stories about this woman Cat, and finds herself wanting to know more and more, especially as she realizes that in a way she has taken the other woman’s place, just in Shireen’s life as a friend as opposed to in her cousin’s. Stannis and Selyse, though, really do stew in their displeasure. Petyr does a better job of hiding his, but she knows that’s only because his intentions are about power and not family, let alone love.

Then, one day, about a fortnight after their arrival, Stannis mentions a part of the plan she’d been unaware of, one she might be able to use.

He wanted to secure the Vale support so that he could support Jon - Jon Stark, now, newly legitimized Lord Stark, warden of the north, the man who had beaten down House Bolton but needed more of his king’s support to fight a larger, more pressing battle, one against the dead, one for the living. As Petyr says, the details make it sound like madman’s words, but King Stannis has magic on his council and more importantly, this was Jon, and Jon was…Jon. Surely if he declared that the dead could be raised by some unnatural force and made to fight the living, he was speaking the truth of it.

She confronts Petyr in private - had the Vale not already been sworn to House Stark? He disagrees, cautiously - House Arryn had been truly bound by House Tully, and Jon had no Tully to speak of.

“Jon Arryn, my uncle, fostered my father, Jon’s father. He called his banners against House Targaryen in defense of Rickard Stark and his children, and Jon is as much Ned Stark’s son as Robb or Bran or Rickon, no matter where your loyalties lie.”

“Your cousin -”

“My cousin trusts his beloved stepfather not to mislead him,” she finishes, proud that she can see in his eyes how the remark wounds him, and then she takes a walk to the godswood to get her head around her situation.

She wounds Petyr again the next day, by bringing to court a proposal of a marriage between her and Jon - she prefaces by saying that she and her father had spoken of it, just gently enough that no one would doubt her, for Lord Baelish keeps his expression so very static, his surprise just barely visible to even an educated viewer. It’s a good offer, to Stannis, and on the surface it’s good for Petyr as well, though no one would say it’s better than putting his future grandchild in the line of succession for the Iron Throne.

Stannis, though, is perhaps realizing he’s glad to have removed a contender from his line, and he’s quick enough to agree to write to Lord Stark with little more than Petyr’s confirmation that the Vale would give its strength in this war of Jon’s.

Petyr makes his displeasure known, but Sansa is sure enough that Jon will side with her that he agrees not to raise a fuss. She knows she’s made the potential error of keeping either of them from an heir, but if it allowed her to go home with her brother, she’d manage what she had to manage.

Jon, too, agrees, surprised for an offer but happy for it all the same, writing back to Stannis days before he’s actually set to leave for Dragonstone to mine dragonglass on the island, another part of their deal. Jon would remain the ever-vigilant guard of the realm, and Stannis would provide him what he needed to hold such a position well - that was how Ser Davos had said it.

They could figure out heritage when this great war was won.

[kallypsowrites]

Game of Thrones, The Lowest Point, and what it means for Season 8

Hello everyone. I’m here to talk to you today about ‘the lowest point’. The lowest point, for those of you who aren’t familiar, is the darkest place in the story. The moment where everything seems hopeless because a character has failed or gone through tremendous loss or died. The lowest point is one of the most important moments in any character arc because it tests our characters. Sometimes they rise stronger than ever and sometimes they succumb to their struggles. This is often what sets apart a tragedy from a drama.

In a three act structure, the lowest point typically is placed at the 2/3 or 3/4 mark of the story. You’ve probably noticed this if you’ve watched a film. With 20-30 minutes left to go the characters are often crying/moping/suffering. But then it’s more satisfying when we see them rise up to face the conflict in the final moments!

Now in a long ass TV show like Game of thrones, lowest points do work a bit differently. There are many lowest points throughout the season. But we can still identify each character’s LOWEST lowest point and see where it is in the narrative. And the show is eight seasons, with a total of 73 episodes. So we can kiiiiinda see where the lowest point fits in by using math (*gag*)In this way, we can predict what that says for each character in their final season of Game of Thrones.

So, the remaining Starks (Jon, Sansa, Arya and Bran) actually all have their lowest point at around the same place, which is thematically satisfying. Obviously the Starks have had MANY low moments, but we’re looking for the LOWEST of the low.

Sansa, for instance, is a character with many rough moments. But while Joffery is awful, her marriage to Ramsay is unquestionably her lowest point. She has been constantly losing her identity as a Stark to marriage but this is the very worst instance. This happens in season five and culminates with her being willing to throw herself off the wall of Winterfell on the off chance she might survive. Her lowest point happens roughly 2/3 of the way through the show because of that.

Arya also is a character of many bad moments from witnessing her father’s death to the red wedding! But her lowest point is when she begins to lose her very identity as a Stark in season five and six. Her loss of vision is what kick starts that lowest point at the end of season five. Roughly 2/3 of the way through the story. 

Jon lost his lover Ygritte which was sad, but his lowest point is when he DIES at, you guessed it, the end of season five. 2/3 of the way through the story. Worse than that he is BETRAYED for doing something he thought was right!

Bran is the only Stark who’s lowest point occurs in season six instead, when he surrenders himself to beoming the three eyed raven and the old Bran seems to “die”. But Bran wasn’t in season five at all, so if we just take the seasons he IS in, then his lowest point occurs around the 3/4 point of his story, so not too far off.

It’s not just the Starks who have a lowest point at the end of season five! So does Cersei! Her walk of shame marks her most emotionally vulnerable and awful moment and therefore occurs 2/3 of the way through the story. Losing her son was of course, awful, but this attacks her very sense of self. Again, often times the lowest point is not someone you love dying but when you start to lose all sense of who you are.

Tyrion’s lowest point is when he kills Shae and then his father. It occurs about half way through the story, so he’s set apart from the other five we’ve discussed here. He has tried so hard to be accepted by his family, so hard to prove his innocence, so hard to get his father’s approval. And this is the moment when he says FUCK it. He becomes a Kinslayer and he leaves King’s Landing in a box. He, at the time, seems to have forfeited the game. It’s no coincidence that the next time we see him he is drinking like its the end of the world. A lowest point at the half way mark is unconventional, but sort of makes sense in a TV show. There is Tyrion BEFORE he killed his father and there is Tyrion AFTER he killed his father. He is forever changed now.

But some characters have a lowest point that’s even FURTHER back. Let’s check out Jaime and Theon. They both have their lowest point in season three and...man...could it have to do with a loss of self? Hell yeah it does!

Jaime loses his hand in episode three of season three, about 1/3 of the way through the story. It is stated many times that his LIFE was in that hand. His sword hand. That has always been the one thing he KNEW he could do better than anyone. With that gone he has nothing. He doesn’t know who he is so he must figure it out again from scratch. And he takes a kind of long time to figure it out but we’ll circle back to Jaime in a sec.

Theon SUPER loses his identity through awful torture until he goes only by the name of Reek. His lowest point kind of lasts awhile, but I’d say the end of season three where he first abandoned his name, marks the true lowest point. A little over 1/3 of the way through the series. And he, like Jaime, takes a long time to rediscover it.

And then there’s Daenerys. Do you know when her lowest point happens? Her LOWEST lowest point?

It’s season one.

Now, Daenerys has had other lowest points of course. Locking away her dragons, being picked up by the Dothraki, losing Viseron. But none of them have been quite so intense as her season one loss. Toward the end of season one, Dany has finaly been coming into power, free from her brother. She has a plan to cross the sea and take back her throne! And she has an army willing to take her there! And, even better, she’s pregnant with a son who she already loves!

But then, in a very short span of time she loses her husband, her son and all of her armies. She is left with only a few scattered followers and she walks into a fire with the dragon eggs. At this point, her surviving or the dragons hatching is not a sure thing. This, for Daenerys, is a sort of desperate act to try to retain SOMETHING of the power she had only a few days previous. Fortunately for her...it results in dragons.

Let’s talk about the results of the lowest point real quick. The lowest point isn’t just there to make a character suffer. It’s there to mold them and push them along their arc. It’s there to make them stronger. So how does the lowest point effect each character? Well, Jon is brought back from the dead, escaping his lowest point. And with that, he is actually able to fight for his family again--the family he always wanted to be a part of. He, as a result, becomes King in the North. But he wouldn’t have been able to do that if not for being knifed through the heart. On a personal level thought...he’s more jaded but also more focused than ever on the true threat. The Night King must be stopped. It is the only way to save everyone.

Sansa, after enduring abuse after abuse, is tired of other people deciding her fate for her. Cersei, Joffrey, Littlefinger, Ramsay. They’ve all used her for their own means. She wants to take back Winterfell, with Jon, so they can be safe. That is Sansa’s main desire at this point. Safety. And she will do anything to ensure it. The reason why its so satisfying to see her face Ramsay and tell him to “sleep well” is because she is no longer letting anyone have control over her. She’s done with that. She as become harder and smarter.

Arya, after having her eyes taken, must of course learn to use her other senses and endure physical abuse from the waif. So she gets stronger. But the real struggle here is for her identity. All throughout the arc, there’s this thread that she can’t let go of Needle. It’s what Jon gave her! Its her last piece of herself! And by the end, instead of letting herself be killed or giving up on Arya Stark, she takes Needle and kills the waif before declaring “a girl is Arya Stark and I am going home”. Perhaps she has lost everything... but she will not give up her name or her family.

Bran, interestingly, is sort of still in his lowest point. He has become the three eyed raven and at this point it is uncertain whether or not he will find himself again or whether, as Mira says, he died in that cave. That question will surely be answered in Season 8.

Cersei, in response to being shamed...fucks up EVERYONE. She blows up the sept with the faith as well as Margaery and becomes queen of the Seven Kingdoms. They brought her low and she climbed higher than ever. But this is also at a tragic cost. She loses her final child and thus becomes colder than ever. Cersei’s story is a tragedy after all, so there is never TRUE triumph for her.

Now, Jaime and Theon are frustrating character, partially because they have to be made, unmade and reborn. And that takes time. In season one and two, they both kind of suck. Jaime sucks most in season one and Theon most in season two. Then, through a dramatic, traumatic event they lose themselves and are left wandering in the dark. Jaime TRIES to return to buisness as usual as a King’s Guard, but finds himself more distant from Cersei as she too is changed. And he fails to protect TWO of his children, which leaves him feeling more lost. But really, he’s stuck with the person who brings out the worst in him, clinging to the past that he had with her until he FINALLY realizes that its over and leaves her at the end of season seven.

Theon spends quite a bit of time as Reek, likewise, and even though he escapes Ramsay at the end of season five, he still is left with the fear of him and the trauma that losing himself inflicted. For THREE WHOLE SEASONS he was with Ramsay, and that has been traumatic. So season six and seven focus on him still not truly being Theon anymore. Now, at the end of season seven, he has finally claimed his name again, bathed himself in water (reborn) and is ready to save his sister.

Jaime and Theon are both frustrating characters because we WANT to see them embrace their new selves but it takes them awhile to do so. The Starks are easier to get behind because their reaction to their lowest point is more immediate whereas Jaime and Theon stall for a bit before finally getting it. It is frustrating but like...it’s also relatable in a way.

And then, back to Daenerys. Daenerys, as I mentioned, comes out of her lowest point with three dragons. By the end of season two, she has money. By the end of season three, she has an army. By the beginning of season four, she has Mereen. By the end of season five she has figured out how to ride her dragon and she has new advisors in Varys and Tyrion. By the end of season six she has the dothraki in addition to her other armies, a bunch of allies, and is ready to sail for Westeros.

There are lowest points interspersed in these developments, but over all, she has continued to gain more and more ever sense her lowest point. As her dragons get bigger so does her power. Now, some of that power has wavered as she lost allies in Westeros and now the threat of the dead is coming...but the fact that we haven’t seen Dany lower than the end of season one? That has implications for season eight. So what are those implications?

Of the remaining major characters, I think Jon, Sansa, Bran and Theon have already hit their LOWEST lowest point.

Arya and Tyrion are a toss up for me.

Cersei, Jaime and Daenerys have yet to hit their true lowest point. 

I’ll explain. For Jon, he has already died, and even if he dies again...that’s not really hitting a lowest point. If anything, the second time he dies, it will be after completeing his mission and therefore less devestating than the first time. He certainly won’t die via betrayal this time. And, best case scenario, he lives! But this is Game of Thrones after all.

For Sansa and Theon...I really don’t think it can get worse than Ramsay. Even if shitty things happen to them, there’s just...no sinking any lower than that.

For Bran, he’s still in the midst of dealing with his other lowest point so his fate in season eight will sort of be...a reaction that that.

Arya and Tyrion are a tossup for me because it kind of depends. If Arya, at any point, chooses vengeance over family, I suspect she will hit a new and tragic lowest point. If not, I think she’s good. For Tyrion, I’m hazy enough on his motives right now, there is a possibility that he will hit a lower point.

But then there’s Cersei, Jaime and Daenerys. Cersei’s whole life has been barrelling toward this self fulfilling prophesy. And if Jaime is indeed going to be her killer, the realization of that will fucking SHATTER her right before she dies as she realizes that she has been so blind.

For Jaime, the lowest point will likely be Cersei’s death. If his hand was part of his identity, she was another part. Now of course, I’m the biggest Jaime x Brienne shipper in the world and I DO THINK at this point he has left Cersei behind. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be a kick in the balls when she dies (especially if he does it).

And then Daenerys. For a long time, its been a journey up for Dany. Ever since season one she has been rising. What’s the saying? The higher you go, the further you fall? I don’t know what form Dany’s lowest point will take, but I am fairly sure this season is going to be ROUGH for her and will probably have something to do with her sense of self as a Targaryen (since many of the true lowest points have looked at personal identity). On a narrative level, its been too long since the LOWEST lowest point, and its probs going to happen here.

Anyway, just a little story analysis I was thinking about this morning. Let me know what you think the season 8 lowest points will be! As always, keep discussion respectful :)

[writingthrones]

the northern dragon.

A PROLOGUE. 

DESCRIPTION: the world thought that just 2 dragons survived, that house targaryen was missing its third head. but there was another-- the youngest, the final child of the mad king and queen rhaella. of course, she was almost part of the near extermination of her house. but the honorable ned stark, unable to watch a babe be murdered for crimes she did not commit, rescued her from an awful fate. instead, she grew up amongst wolves within the walls of winterfell.

NOTES: of course, this will include many changes to the events of GOT, though only the show. i have pulled some knowledge from the books, but this story will be based on the events of the show. i’ve come up with a lot for this story, so you’re in store for multiple parts. i still haven’t come up with an end, so i’m not sure how many it’ll be. i’d also like to add that i am totally up for suggestions. obviously, this is a story i came up with totally on my own so if there’s anything you would like to see, feel free to shoot me a message. i can’t guarantee it’ll be added but i will consider every request i get! constructive criticism is also welcome.

oh and italics = flashback. 

Your childhood was good-- much better than most who were born lowborn. It was unfortunate how fixed everything was, one’s status in society was decided at birth and moving up was nearly impossible. Lowborn were only allowed to wed lowborn, only allowed to occupy jobs deemed worthy of their status. But you-- you were lucky-- a lowborn girl rescued by the Warden of The North. Your entire village had been slaughtered in Robert’s Rebellion, caught in the crossfire. Ned found you clinging to your dying mother. Staring down at an innocent child, a victim to the absolute worst luck, he couldn’t just walk away. So he scooped you up and when everything was over, you were brought back to Winterfell.

It was rocky, to say the least, your first few days there. When Lord Stark returned to his castle with two children-- claiming just one as his bastard and another as an unfortunate orphan, Lady Catelyn was rightfully devastated. As if she was to believe that just one was a bastard. But after those few days, things shifted. She was still noticeably upset, but considerably less so than before. It was a peculiar sight to those around, though quickly forgotten. Things eventually returned to normal-- if one thing was sure, Ned and Catelyn Stark had a love that was unbreakable. The pair went on to have many children.  Of course, you don’t remember any of that.

So, things were good. You couldn’t be treated like a member of the house, but the Starks considered you like family none the less. Because you were lowborn, you were to perform domestic duties around the castle. In your free time, though, you were allowed to play with the other children. You and Arya got along well, both of you were rough around the edges. Then there was you and Jon, the two of you being able to bond over the fact that you weren’t an official member of the family. There was Theon, too, though you never got too close to him. It was the same deal with Robb, even if you tried. Sansa had gotten you into fashion, occasionally bringing you dresses she’d been able to make. Despite the previously mentioned “rough around the edges” thing, you did like to look pretty sometimes.

There was one problem with that, though. For as long as you could remember, you’d been forced to wear a cover similar to that of a septa. Sansa made some for you that were prettier but it didn’t help much. The rumors were that you had some horrible condition that caused you to go bald and to save you the embarrassment, Lady Catelyn arranged this. In fact, she was the one to put it together each day. At a certain point, she’d taught you how, though.

And that certain point was your 10th nameday. That was the day everything changed. Early that morning, Lord and Lady Stark entered your chambers before everyone in the castle began to wake. That morning was when everything changed for you.

“Y/N, there is a talk we must have with you now,” Catelyn said in a soft voice as she sat on the edge of your bed. You were still groggy, yawning before murmuring as “Yes, Lady Stark?” you replied. She always told you to call her Lady Catelyn, as it sounded less formal, but you were so sleepy you couldn’t remember. As you became more awake, though, your heart began to race. What could this talk possibly be? Why was it so early in the morning? What was it that no one else could hear? They had always treated you like family, but somehow you wondered if they were telling you that you needed to leave. You began to visibly shake.

Ned took note-- seating himself next to Catelyn and resting a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. But how could you not? Taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself for whatever news they were bringing you. It was nothing you could’ve ever expected. You were the last daughter of the Mad King, princess Visenya of the nearly extinct House Targaryen. The shaking had only gotten worse. They explained to you that the wrap you wore on your head was to conceal the silver hair that fell down your back. They couldn’t bring themselves to be so cruel and have you actually shaved bald. Besides, that would expose your identity to yet another person. Ned and Cat alone were certainly enough. Your eyes, though purple, were a deep enough shade for Ned to insist they were blue. Though, it’s not like anyone was inspecting.

From that day forth, you had to live with that on your shoulders. For a while after, you felt on edge nearly all the time. The feeling subsided eventually. When you sat for lessons with the Maester, though, and learned of your house.. you felt heartache. You felt heartache for the things they’d done but also the family you’d lost. They couldn’t have been all bad, right? You had to remind yourself to let go of that hurt, though. The Starks were your family.. or at least the closest thing you’d ever get to family. 

The years came and went and it became easier to handle your identity. You had to just.. forget about it. It didn’t matter because you’d never be able to reveal it or you’d surely be killed by the king or any of the other various enemies of House Targaryen.

It was vain, but one of the hard parts of concealing who you were was the head wrap you were forced to wear. When you were alone in your chambers, you could sit and brush your beautiful silver hair. It truly did transform you once you let it free and yet no one would ever be able to see it. It got worse as you got older and grew into a woman. The boys had gotten older and girls became more appealing.. so when a young woman like you was forced to dress like some old hag, it caused plenty of snickers. It hurt. Jon was the least likely to participate in the whispered teasing but there was occasions you could swear he was joining in. Theon was the most shameless and it was no wonder considering the way he shamelessly objectified other women. Robb typically went along with it. You had to remember that, hey, at least you were alive but it just couldn’t erase your feelings.

Things changed when Lord Stark left for the capital with Sansa and Arya-- not only that, but Jon left for the Wall. Lady Stark fell apart when Bran was injured. Rickon was young and you found yourself trying to keep him occupied while his mother tended to Bran. Finally, you were left with only Robb and Theon for some real company, as the two were almost your same age. You had your moments but honestly, you felt quite alone.

FINAL NOTES: i hope you guys liked it! i’m still figuring out how exactly i want to write this story. there might be points where i need to go into the 3rd person in order to show other events going on but i will try to keep most things from the reader point of view.

[wolfqueen-is-here]

“Especially Now”, Jon x Sansa fanfiction

Eh, so I went to the dentist a few days ago to have my wisdom tooth pulled. Despite being on a shitload of anaesthetics/painkillers, I needed a distraction from all the pain, hence - this. (And also I may have found out where the name “wisdom tooth” comes from. Since the extraction I’ve been feeling considerably dumber than usual, I believe that tooth may have contained a huge chunk of my usual eloquence, now irrevocably gone.)

If you prefer reading on ao3, here’s a link.

Title: “Especially Now”

Relationship: Jon/Sansa

Wordcount: 1742

Tags: love confessions (sort of), godswood, post-parentage reveal, mild hurt/comfort, POV Sansa, Post-season 7, before battle

ESPECIALLY NOW

It’s been three days since they learned the truth, and Jon doesn’t seem to be getting better. The Others are closer every day, Bran says, but Jon is either staring at the walls during meetings or he’s disappearing for hours, maybe longer. Even Daenerys Targaryen grows suspicious.

„Lady Sansa, forgive me,” she interrupts her once, smiling kindly. Littlefinger was right, she is the most stunning woman Sansa has ever laid eyes on. The worry suits her, too. Her face becomes softer, almost girly, a shadow of who they all were before the world forced them to grow up. „There are some final arrangements that we need to consult with your brother, but he is nowhere to be found. Would you please ask him to visit Lord Tyrion’s chambers as soon as you see him?”

It’s not even an order, it’s a plea. The Dragon Queen is concerned—and so is Sansa.

She gives Daenerys a brief nod and gets back to her solar to put on her coat. There is only one place where he would seek solace other than the crypts—and he’s definitely not in the crypts, Arya’s already checked.

It’s not possible to sneak up on somebody in the godswood, the snow crunching under Sansa’s feet announces her presence long before she reaches a hunched, miserable creature sitting on one of the roots. He knows that he’s no longer alone, she takes it from the way his shoulders tense up under a leather jerkin.

“If you want to freeze yourself to death, could you please do it after the Night King is defeated?” Sansa asks, and it’s supposed to sound playful but comes out almost mean. She bites her lip, comes a few steps closer, and then covers him with another fur, the one she’s been carrying through Winterfell’s courtyards, raising curious glances.

She lingers a while longer with her hand on Jon’s shoulder. “I’m with you,” she wants to say, but somehow the reassurance refuses to form. They’ve been telling him the same thing for days, why would he decide to listen to her now? He needs to be alone, she knows that, but unfortunately, it’s the last thing they should let him do. They are his family and nothing will change it.

Jon doesn’t move for another two or three minutes, and Sansa begins to consider releasing his shoulder and retreating to the safety of her solar when suddenly he raises his hand and places it over Sansa’s. She’s got her gloves on, but even through thick leather she can feel the icy touch. She glances down and realises that his hand went almost blue from the cold.

“Jon!” she yells at him—or maybe just whispers, it’s all very quiet around here, she wouldn’t want to disturb the gods—and crunches down in front of Jon to force him to look at her. “You need to snap out of this,” she says, a tinge of rebuke in her voice. “We need you. Not in some fight against the dead that we may as well lose even with you leading our armies. We need you as our family. Arya and Bran need you. I need you.”

Jon finally looks at her—and there’s so much pain in his eyes, it almost physically hurts Sansa to see him like that. She takes both of his hands in hers—partly to make him listen to what she has to say more carefully, the touch always seems to work magic between them, and partly to warm them up—and tugs them under her furs, close to her heart.

“I’m sorry that it happened, Jon. I truly am. No one should have to find out such things after years of carefully building their identity around some scraps that turned out to be lies. You might think that I have no idea of what I speak, but I too was always proven to be wrong about everything I wanted to be. It’s offensive to compare these two, I know, but please take it from the deepest, most honest part of my soul: you might not be our brother, but you will always be our family. There’s only four of us left, you and I, and Arya, and Bran. We are the pack. We are a family. We are the Starks.”

“I’m not a Stark,” he says grimly with a hoarse voice. Sansa is certain he’s been crying for the better part of the last few days. She’d do anything to make him understand.

“You are,” she insists. “Don’t be ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned this only proves you are more of a Stark than you’ve been thus far.” Jon doesn’t look away for a second, as if searching for something in her eyes that would make him believe her words. He seems so lost, she just wants to lock him in a tight embrace and never let go. “I know my mother was never kind to you. Your identity was a hurtful lie she died believing, and it breaks my heart to imagine how different our lives might have been in different circumstances. I hope you forgive her, and I hope she forgives Father for what he put her through. But Father… He loved you with all his heart. If you think even for a minute that Ned Stark wasn’t your true parent—” Jon squeezes her hand tight as if he’s clinging to this declaration. “I don’t care whose blood you share. Father risked everything he held dear to give you a good life, to protect you from King Robert’s wrath, from all the enemies who might have come for your head, had they learned the truth. He raised you as his own, and I’m sure he died regretting that the truth was dying with him. You are a Stark on your father’s side, and now you’re a Stark on your mother’s side, too. In fact, you’re more of a Stark than any of us. Arya, Bran, and I are all half-Stark and half-Tully,” she smiles.

And Jon looks at her for a moment with bright eyes—Sansa thinks there might be tears forming in them but it’s something else entirely, something thrilling, challenging even. And then he smiles back. It’s weak and lasts only a mere second, but it’s undeniably there. Jon pulls her closer and buries his face in her furs.

“You don’t have to be kind to me,” he murmurs.

Sansa rolls her eyes.

“Of course I don’t have to be kind to you, you dummy. I choose to be kind to you because I love you,” she says angrily, and to make her point stronger places a soft kiss to the top of his head, not unlike the one he once gifted to her.

They stay like that for a while, hugging tightly, their arms tangled together, Jon breathing into Sansa’s neck and Sansa stroking the top of his head with her nose, until it dawns on them how strange they must look from the outside.

Well, it certainly dawns on Sansa, because when she suddenly pulls back, Jon seems to have been taken by surprise.

“I’m sorry,” he says with a mortified expression, “was I making you uncomfortable?”

“Uncomfortable?” She blinks at him. “Of course not. Why would you make me uncomfortable?”

There’s a long, silent moment when Jon studies her face carefully as if it is the first time he ever sees her. Then he lets go of her hands and hides his own under his cloak.

“If I asked you a question… Would you answer truthfully?”

It should probably offend her that he would think otherwise, but she decides not to comment on that. He’s way too vulnerable to deal with her wounded pride just yet.

Instead, Sansa simply nods.

It seems to be as good an encouragement as any, because Jon makes this stupid face which he uses when he’s being stubborn: like when he insisted on going to a fight with just a bunch of men, or when he declared that he would be riding south to convince Daenerys Targaryen to fight for them. Only this time it’s about something much more personal, she can feel it.

Jon lowers his eyes almost as if he can’t look at Sansa while he asks.

“About what you said earlier.”

Sansa expects him to continue, but that’s all she seems to be getting.

“I said many things, Jon,” she sighs.

“You said you loved me.” Ah, that. “Why?”

His voice is shaking, he sounds almost too afraid to be hopeful. It breaks her heart.

“What do you mean why? I said it because it is how I feel. You are the most important person in the entire world to me.”

Although Sansa has never wondered about it before, she knows in her heart that it’s true. She loves Arya and Bran more than she loves herself, but Jon is the first person she ever loved for who he was and what they shared together, not someone whom she was conditioned to love no matter what. Maybe it was lady Catelyn’s doing. Maybe it was for the better.

Jon still refuses to look her in the eye.

“Even now?” he asks quietly. “Even after it’s been revealed that I’m not your brother?”

“Especially now,” she answers without really giving it much thought. Seeing that he finally raises his head and stares at her, she gives him an encouraging smile and stands up. Turning to get back to the castle, she hears him whisper:

“Sansa.”

Something about the tone of his voice stops her in her tracks. She doesn’t turn back to him, hit by freezing wind from the North. For a short moment Sansa fears that they’re nearing the end at last, that Winterfell might be under attack, but then she hears Jon’s pleading words:

“Especially now?” There’s a thunder coming from afar. Or maybe it’s just the beating of Sansa’s heart? “Why especially?”

And at this moment, witnessed by the old gods, Sansa finally realises.

She loves Jon, yes.

But she’s also in love with Jon.

A terrifying awakening, and one that is followed by the sound of horns from the gates. “They’re here,” Sansa thinks, and Jon looks at her for the last time before he grabs her hand and they run together towards the castle. “Please,” she prays to the gods, “please let us live, so that I may tell him one day.”

[labime]

Now people think Daario is better than Jon? Lol. Each their own but come on like he ever had so much more respect for Dany than Jon. Daario who by the way saw Dany only as Queen because of her Dragons, felt entitled to her (visiting her bedchamber like that) and bragging what a good lay she was. Yeah what Jon did or didn't do in the ep was shitty but to suddenly bring back Daario to the table....

I feel like the Jonerys fandom is really frustrated with the writing of the show right now and that translates by the sentiment that Daenerys deserves better in her companion. So far, ever since meeting Jon, we’ve seen her loses one of her dragons while rescuing him from his mission, then commits herself to protect the north without him having bent the knee yet at this point—she did it because it was the right thing, but she had other option: wait it out like Cersei did, or go back to Meeren with her armies and remaining dragons to rule there—, then negotiates a truce with an enemy she doesn’t trust.

After all of that, she comes to the North and is greeted by nothing but contempt and mistrust, so much that at this point she has only Jon, who then goes through one hell of an identity crisis—which is understandable—and put distance between them after he learns who his parents really were. The revelations endanger her claim to the throne, and immediately in the next episode, she loses not only her khalasar and most of her armies and but also her friend who dies protecting her.

Most of us Daenerys stans thought that that huge sacrifice would at least be acknowledged in 8x04 but instead, it’s Jon who gets praised for doing exactly what she did. Sansa is still aggressively opposed to Daenerys—so much that she’s crying while looking at her???—because of the Northern Independence, apparently. Arya sides with Sansa and states that they can’t trust Daenerys because she isn’t a Stark, despite her brother’s—who’s also a Stark—certainty that she would make a good queen. The secret Daenerys begged Jon not to share explodes like she knew it would when Sansa proves herself incapable of keeping an oath she made to her brother—and supposedly rightful king—for more than one day.

Daenerys is held to different standards by the characters, narrative, and fans and because of a sudden twist in the narrative in that same episode, her advisers are conspiring, planning to put someone else on the throne, and giving her ineffective advises, all the while expecting her to trust them blindly and taking it as proof that she’s unfit to rule when she is reluctant to. Their last advice concludes in Missandei’s murder and Daenerys’ last loss, which leads to her breaking point and her descent into madness that ultimately culminates in Jon killing her.

I think that’s what most are upset about: after she has lost so much for Jon, he will be the one killing her.

I maintain that the problem is with the writing, though, because I can’t see what other alternatives Jon would have if those leaks are true and she not only executes civilians indiscriminately but she even allows rapes and can’t be convinced she’s wrong with even after he tries to stop her. Which would be the worst character assassination since it is something she fought against even when she was only Drogo’s wife and entirely dependent on him. Yet, from his perspective, what other solutions does he have? At this point she’d be more unstable than Maegor and Aerys.

To address your point about Daario, I agree that his behavior towards her was less than stellar, more so in the books than in the show where I feel the writers mellowed him down to make him more sympathetic—which works fine for me—but for many, his devotion for Daenerys contrasts with Jon’s unwillingness to make concessions in her name. Daenerys would give orders and Daario would do as asked with little to no questions, and Jon just… doesn’t.

That, I think, is not at all indicating different degrees of love the two of them supposedly have for her but a glaring difference in their personalities. Daario is a mercenary who doesn’t have a family or allegiances. The values he has are his own and no one is dependent on him so he can acts however he wants. He killed when he was paid to and betrayed when it was convenient for him. He decided he wanted Daenerys and resolved to serve her.

Unlike him, Jon prizes honor and loyalty above all. He refused to leave to Night Watch even with his brother at war because he was reminded of the vows he took. He grew up with a father he loved and admired for his honor and values. He was pushed into positions of power he didn’t want and tried to make the best of it by protecting and unifying everyone. He had—and still has—people who trusted him to make the good decisions and who would suffer from it if he didn’t. Even when his relationship with Daenrys developed he still didn’t bend the knee before she proved him she could be a good queen, because he isn’t the kind of man who can simply pledge himself to someone based on anything but the absolute certitude that it is a good choice, and his fealty not only involves himself but also his kingdom and his armies, people who would die on his commands.

His principles are driving him and it’s not something that can vanish because of love.

He has been criticized in the Jonerys fandom the last episode and like I said I see where people are coming from but I don’t believe he mistreated Daenerys in any way. Us, as viewers, are here to witness the consequences of his actions but Jon, as a character, took the decisions to share a secret with his sisters who were, to some extent, affected by it due to the fact it involves their family. He did it after literally dropping to his knees and reaffirming his loyalty for Daenerys and defying his sister by declaring his full support for Daenerys and her war. He defended her in public and in private.

Maybe it wasn’t the passionate rant that would have been satisfying for us as viewers but it was a mark of commitment and respect regardless of romantic love and perfectly in character for him. The only thing I can reproach him is that he didn’t mention Daenerys’ efforts when he was congratulated by Tormund.

[misssunnybluesky]

This is my @jonsasecretsanta2018 gift for @dena-1984  

So sorry I waited until the last day to give this to you. I’ve never done modern AUs before but I wanted to give you something you would enjoy based on your preferences. I really hope you like it!

**This is a Modern Westeros AU of how Jon and Sansa meet and what happens after. Everything is like our modern world, except it's on Westeros geography and with Westeros history. Kind of. For the purpose of this story, Jon and Sansa are not related. I will try to post on AO3 as well**

Sansa Stark walked into her thesis research class as a college sophomore, hoping to develop her thesis proposal and methodology. She knew she wanted to write about the North, about Winterfell, her family’s ancient home with century’s of turbulent history. Her family had ill-fatedly emigrated South when she was younger never to return North as a whole family. After her grandfather and uncle mysteriously died, they had been forced from their home to continue to uphold the long-standing condition that the ruling Starks had to live in the capital to ensure the peace between the North and South. Not long after they had settled in the capital, a series of terrible accidents had taken the lives of her parents, her older brother Robb, and youngest brother Rickon. Now all that was left of her family was her sister Arya who she had not seen for years and her younger brother Bran who was under the care of the Mormonts, the only sibling to return North. She was all alone in the capitol and all she longed for was to return home with what remained of her family. Now she understood what her father had meant when he spoke of the love of the land. It was more than just belonging to a place, it was being part of it and embracing the duty of caring for it and its people. She understood it because she felt that love now, and was resolute that after college she would return and make the North her home.

The class was small and was made up mostly of Juniors who were about to embark on their own thesis research journey. To start the class, the Professor wanted to know everyone’s individual research interests so they went around the room as most students revealed their desire to research current politics, the national economy, growth of the capital, and other common topics. Then it was Sansa’s turn.

“I haven’t defined a specific research question, but I know I want to conduct field research in the North. I’m particularly interested in retracing the lost years of Winterfell’s history. I think it’s important for the North to know it’s history so that it can move forward,” she said knowing that her topic of choice was an unpopular one. Ever since the North had finally reclaimed its independence, the rest of Westeros had viewed the North and specially Winterfell, the North’s capital, with contempt and animosity. While her family name was honored in the North, the rest of the country blamed her family for any ongoing strife between the two countries. That’s why she was surprised to hear the guy named Jon sitting at the other side of the room shared that he too was interested in the North, especially Northern politics and the role of the Starks in the rebellion. What did a southern guy know about the North, about her family? What business did his Southern prejudice have in her country? Even if he had a Northern look, what right did he have to wear a Northern sweater when there was no real North in him?

After class, as she waited for the elevator, the guy Jon approached her. He wore his jet-black black curly hair short. HIs stance was confident yet open, and his smile wide and friendly.

“You’re Sansa, Sansa Stark of Winterfell, right?” he asked.

She nodded slightly in response, not wanting to enter into a conversation with him. When she didn’t say any more, he spoke revealing something that piqued her interest.  

“I’m Jon Snow. It was great hearing that you’re researching Winterfell history. I’m hoping to do my field research in the North this summer. It would be great to pick your brain on some topics” he said.

Jon Snow, she thought. Snow, that was a Northern name. She had judged him too quickly. What family did he belong to? Perhaps his family had known hers. Who was this guy with a Northern name and a Southern accent?

“Your name is from the North. You don’t sound like you’re from the North. Are you Northern at all?” She asked, in a somewhat accusatory tone.

“Aye,” he replied in a Northern accent he had not used before. “Neither do you, but that doesn’t make you any less Northern.”

Unknowingly, he had hit a sensitive subject that made Sansa defensive of her identity. Even though the North was in her bones and Winterfell in her blood, she didn’t look or sound Northern. Unlike her other siblings, she had always been told how much of a Southron girl she was.

“I take after my Mother, it’s true. She was from Riverrun, but I’m Northern and proud of it, I assure you,” she said. “And you’re right, that doesn’t make me any less Northern. I’m sorry I said anything about the way you speak.”

“No need to be sorry at all. My mother was Northern but I was born and raised in the South. I have her Northern name, but I’ve only been North a couple times when I was a child. She taught me everything I know about the North, including her love for the country she had to leave.”

Sansa didn’t know what to say so she remained silent. This Jon Snow that she had dismissed so quickly had surprised her. In the span of the hour, she had gone from disliking him to wondering what else there was to him. He had seemed the quiet type and yet in their short conversation, he was doing most of the talking.

The elevator door opened and they both stepped in. She looked at the floor, her mind full of convoluted thoughts that she couldn’t seem to straighten out.

“Your mother, she was a Tully, wasn’t she?” he said breaking the silence

“Yes”

“I’m sorry about what happened to your family”

“How do you know so much about my family?”

“My mother was born and raised in the North. She was friends with the Starks until she had to move South. I grew up on stories of your family. I’m glad I ran into you in this class. I had no idea you went here. I would have thought you would have gone back North”

“That is my goal eventually. To go back home for good. I go there every summer. I visit Winterfell, I visit my brother, and I always hope to see my sister. But, for now, I’m here,” she said as the elevator doors opened and she stepped out. He followed her. “What is your mother’s name? My father always talked about the few friends he had in the South. I’m sure he would’ve mentioned her and met her when we move here.”

Jon stopped walking and so did she as she looked back at him. His jovial expression had been replaced by something grim. “Her name was Lyanna. She died when I was ten.”

“Ohh. I didn’t know...” was all she managed to say. That felt like the end of the conversation as she mumbled something about being late to her next class and he nodded as she started to walk away.  

They didn’t become exactly friends. She wasn’t sure what they were. In the beginning, she saw him every week in research class. Sometimes they would talk after class and sometimes they wouldn’t. And, she didn’t know how to feel about that. Outside of class, they would often run into each other and he always greeted her with a smile, a small wave, and a bit of small talk. Once or twice he had invited her to dinner, and once or twice she had sought him out as well. When they met for dinner once, they talked about their families, their hopes, their dreams for the future. Each time, she became more enthralled by him, by his optimism, by his ideas, by his love for the North and everything else she held dear. They walked together from class, always chatting about everyday things, about their classes, and about their life. She discovered his sense of humor and how sometimes he made her smile even in the dreariest days. He would gently touch her arm or her hand. She would tentatively put her hand on his shoulder or his arm. Both acting slowly as if to see how far they would go without crossing any lines. Still, she found that slowly she began to open her heart to him.

Sansa and her friend Jeyne started making plans to go to the end of the year formal. It was to be a fun event before finals where they would go out to the city and dance until their feet hurt. They had considered taking a date but had decided against it because they wanted to have a girl’s night.

They arrived dressed up. Sansa wore a blue satin dress, as dark as the night sky, her favorite.  With her hair loose around her shoulders, in contrast to her pale skin and the dress, she looked radiant.

She saw Jon first standing in the back as if her eyes had been automatically drawn to him, but it was he who approached her at the bar to say hello.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said.

“Neither did I. Though you never asked.” She felt fire coursing through her veins as he looked at her.

“Your dress...it..you look great” he stammered making her blush as he looked away as well

“Thank you” she responded as her friend approached them to whisk her away to the dance floor. “I’ll see you later.”

As she danced she could not stop thinking how handsome he had looked. How his eyes had taken her in and the quickening of her heart she’d felt at his presence. She wasn’t sure how he saw her, but at that moment she accepted that she liked him as more than friends. She liked him as someone she understood and someone who understood her. As someone who she admired and respected as he did her. But she needed to know if what she felt as love was reciprocated.  

She spotted him standing with a group of his friends, but she was resolute. She walked towards him and tapped him in the shoulder.

“Do you want to dance with me?” She asked him point blank.

“Yes,” he responded, surprise clear on his face.

Jon led her to the dance floor where a slow melody was playing. Once in his arms, they began to sway slowly to the beat of the music.

“I have to tell you something” she began hesitantly.

He looked at her then, his chocolate brown eyes piercing into hers and disarming her of any courage she had. The intensity of his gaze made her feel like he could see into her soul. Yet, there was softness and warmth there as well, and it was that softness that also made her nervous at what it might mean.

“I…” she wanted to say I like you. I love you. She looked away. And, when she looked back, his face was close to hers, their noses almost touching. He smiled and she closed her eyes until she felt his lips on hers. Tentatively, each soft kiss almost made her heart burst.

When they parted it was Jon who confessed with a smile.

“I really like you, Sansa. From the day I met you, I liked you more than I dared to admit. And when I saw you tonight, I had to do something.” He brought up his hand to caress her cheek.

She reached for his other hand and intertwined their fingers, her fears and hesitation had evaporated. “I like you too. A lot.” She replied.

Sansa smiled and caressed his hair, as their lips met once more just as their souls had already done.

“I will be at Winterfell this summer, waiting for you.” His whispered words a promise of their future.

[slahtiz]

❛  “I will remember, your grace,” said sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people’s loyalty than fear. “if I am ever a queen, I’ll make them love me.”   ❜

my portrayal of   SANSA STARK   is highly influenced by both books and personal headcanons, and only slightly influenced by the show  ( mainly plot-wise ).  the verses below will cover her storyline from the beginning of the books to the end of the show.

❛  𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓬𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷; 𝓽𝓸 𝓲𝓿𝓸𝓻𝔂; 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵.                                                                                     ( all books so far; season 1 - 5ish )

sansa is the eldest daughter of ned and catelyn stark.

this verse begins with the story we all know, i won’t make much fuss about it. when sansa found out about her betrothal to joffrey baratheon, she was absolutely thrilled, and couldn't wait to marry the prince. she eagerly followed her father to king’s landing, excited to finally see something else than plain old winterfell. though on the road to the capitol, she had to suffer the loss of her direwolf, lady, because her little sister had stepped up against her betrothed; this put a notch into her relationship with arya, and caused her heart to shatter into a million pieces. in king’s landing, sansa soon found out that not all that glittered was gold   --  though she remained infatuated with joffrey, largely overlooking his violent mood swings, still dreaming about becoming his wife; and queen, now that robert baratheon had died and joffrey sat on the iron throne. it all changed when her father was announced a traitor, and imprisoned on behalf of the queen. she was forced to publicly call him a traitor, and plead mercy for his life in front of the throne. sansa attended the execution with hope in her heart, as the king had promised to allow ned to join the night’s watch instead. however, she had to helplessly watch as they killed him in front of a cheering crowd  --  death was joffrey’s way of showing mercy. sansa was forced to stay in king’s landing, more a hostage than a bride-to-be, even though she was still to marry the king. she was appalled by that thought, but she knew that she couldn’t do a thing without risking her own life. yet, when joffrey forced her to look up at her father’s head on a stick, she briefly considered pushing him to his death  --  she was stopped by his hound, sandor clegane, though.

while being a hostage in the red keep, to keep her family from attacking the lannisters, sansa armored herself in her lady’s courtesies. she was forced to denounce her entire family as traitors, and had to write several letters, pleading them to make peace. she didn’t mean a word of it, in fact, she hoped that her brother would come and rescue her, handing her the head of joffrey. she always did how she was bid, though, not wanting to put any more attention on her., especially because the king kept regularly abusing her, as a punishment for her family’s ‘crimes’, as well as for his own pleasures. after saving ser dantos from his certain death, the drunk knight promised to help her. sansa didn’t particularly trust him, but the prospect of getting out of king’s landing got her hopes up nevertheless. joffrey’s abuse stopped when his uncle, tyrion, arrived at the capitol to take his place next to the king, as his new hand. the dwarf swore to protect her against his horrid nephew, a fact sansa was utterly thankful for. another man she grew to be grateful for was sandor, who, even though he spoke in harsh words and had a hideous demeanor, always treated her kindly, protected her, and had always refused to beat her. it was also sandor who came to her rescue when sansa had been separated from the royal party after saying farewell to myrcella, and instead had been head-deep in a riot. she came out wounded, but alive and untouched, all thanks too sandor. after the battle of the blackwater, which she had spent in safety but also terribly close to cersei lannister, she returned to her chambers only to find him drunk, and waiting for her. he offered to take her with him, as he would be fleeing from the city and the lannisters now; yet sansa refused. after the victory, her betrothal to joffrey came to an end, as he was now promised to margaery tyrell. however, she was still forced to stay at king’s landing, and the king kept mentally abusing her. ser dontos, to whom she still had contact, gifted her a rather stunning hairnet for the king’s wedding, as a sign that he was still trying to help her.

over time, sansa started regretting that she hadn’t accepted sandor’s offer. she was sure she would’ve been safer at his side than she was now. however, she eventually started to develop a close relationship to joffrey’s new fiancée, margaery; eventually confessing that the king was a monster. the tyrell women raised the possibility of her marrying the heir of highgarden, willas, who was crippled but kind and intelligent. it was something sansa didn’t have to think long about, she agreed eagerly  --  all she wanted was to be freed of the lannisters. when she shared these new plans with dontos, he didn’t seem very pleased. furthermore, he shared the information with petyr baelish, who then informed tywin lannister  --  who promply married sansa to his own son, the dwarf, against the wishes of both parties. sansa remained courteous despite her disgust and unhappiness, remembering that tyrion had always been friendly to her. much to her relief, he didn’t require the consummation of their marriage either. shortly after, sansa got informed about the deaths of her mother and brother, leaving her a sobbing mess and utterly broken.

subverse:  sansa, who was still wary of dontos, didn’t share the tyrell’s plans with him; which is why tywin had no fear of losing his valuable hostage, and didn’t come up with a cruel plan to bind her to his family. when words of sansa supposedly marrying the heir of highgarden eventually reached his ears, it was all too late   --  sansa had already left king’s landing  in a cloak-and-dagger operation. she wed willas tyrell soon after she arrived at highgarden, as both parties feared that the lannisters would find a way to prevent it. this time, the marriage was consumated. time passed by; time in which the two got to know each other  --  and started to actually fall in love with the other one.

attending the king’s wedding at tyrion’s side, sansa was able to watch joffrey choking to death with shock, and a bit of satisfaction. she used the turmoil around the dead king to flee, following dontos to blackwater bay, where she was greeted by littlefinger, who revealed that he was the one who wanted to bring her to safety, and who had given her the hairnet  --  the very hairnet which had been used as poison, to kill joffrey. he then proceeded to kill dantos, so that no words of sansa’s destination would reach the lannisters. petyr took her with him to his tower at the fingers of the vale, where her aunt lysa was already awaiting them, and who promplty married petyr. her aunt assured her that she would help her, and protect her  --  as long as sansa would eventually marry her sickly son, robert. she hesitantly agreed, knowing fully well that she had no other choice. from then one, she was known as alayne stone, bastard daughter to petyr baelish. she even dyed her hair a darker color before starting to live at the eyrie, as to hide her most obvious tully feature. for a while, life at the eyrie was rather peaceful.  (  except for marillon, the bard, trying to rape her.  )  alayne was able to rest, and enjoy the fresh snow  --  yet she also had to take care of robert, comforting him rather often because of his shaking sickness. she was disgusted by it, but she was still very gentle with the boy. however, one day, alayne was surprisingly and against her will, kissed by petyr, which lysa saw. her aunt accused her of trying to seduce her husband, and threatened to push her out of the moon door  --  but instead, it was petyr who pushed her through.

when they were questioned about lysa’s death by the keeper of the gate, alayne lied, telling him that marillon had pushed her to her death. she put up such a convincing show, that everyone believed her without a single doubt. now, she was the de facto lady of the eyrie, comforting sweetrobin while being tutored by petyr in some of the finer points of courtly intrigue. alayne was soon able to look through most of petyr’s intrigues herself, but so far, she kept staying at his side, supporting his plans. when they left the eyrie to head to the gates of moon, because of the onset of winter, she learned his true intentions: he had made plans for her to marry the heir of the vale, so that she would eventually reveal her true identity and reclaim winterfell.

❛  𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰.    ( season 5ish - 8ish )

when alayne heard of jon snow’s plans to retake winterfell from ramsay bolton and to free their sister arya from his tyranny, she tried to convince petyr to send him their armies. after he denied her pleading, she decided to took it into her own hands; revealing her true identity to the lords of the vale. sansa also told them that it was petyr who had killed her aunt, that he had done it for greed as he had wanted to reign over the vale himself, and that he had forced her to lie for him, as well as call him father while staying quiet whenever he wanted to kiss her. with such a story, the lords had no other choice than to condone her lies; and to put petyr at trial. he had small chances, and in the end, he lost his head. after sansa was assured loyalty, she joined her forces with jon’s, thus helping him to retake winterfell.

subverse:  instead of going to the gates of the moon, petyr brings alayne to winterfell, wanting her to retake her actual name and marry ramsay bolton. sansa is appalled by this possibility, but she had no other choice than to agree. even though ramsay seemed courteous at first, sansa was soon able to see through his masquerade. while at winterfell, she met theon again, who had suffered at her betrothed’s hands more than anyone else  --  and she also met abel, a bard; however, after having spent some time with the man, she started to look through the facade. it was easy for her to see that he was no true bard, but she couldn’t figure out who he really was. soon, people started dying unexpectedly at winterfell, causing tension between house bolton and the other northeners at the castle. when little walder frey is found murdered the night before their wedding, the tension reached its high  -- sansa was taking her chance of trying to escape with the help of abel; and theon, as he and sansa both had grown up within these walls, and knew them better than anyone. after jumping into freedom, they were getting hunted by ramsay’s men  --  but brienne, a lady-knight sansa had met during her travels to winterfell, and her squire appeared just in time to save them. barely having escaped death, sansa seeked help at castle black, reuniting with her half-brother jon snow. after he listened to her experience, he was even more convinced that he had to go to war against the boltons. using petyr, sansa was able to join the forces of the vale with jon’s army, resulting in him winning back winterfell. the same day, she watched ramsay getting eaten alive by his own dog, smiling at the scene in front of her, satisfied that the man who had abused her was getting killed in such ways. later she, along with her returned sister arya, plotted to get petyr killed as well.

after successfully retaking winterfell  (  and freeing jeyne poole; it had turned out that it had not been the real arya, but sansa’s old childhood friend.  )  and thus reclaiming the north, the northerners unanimously proclaimed jon as their king  --  and oh, how happy sansa was for him! she knew of the love their people had for him, and she knew how capable of leading jon was; even if he mostly didn’t want to do it. she did fear for him though, as kings and queens seemed to die like flies; and if there was one thing sansa wouldn’t be able to handle, it would be jon’s death. sitting at his side as his advisor, making sure that he wouldn’t repeat past mistakes, sansa supported his reign the best she could, as he was a just and good ruler. at the rare occasions that she didn’t agree with his opinions, she questioned him in private, giving him a chance to explain his reasons. in return, jon always made sure to listen to her carefully  --  as she clearly had the most experience with families such as the lannisters.

when jon received a letter from tyrion lannister, hand of daenerys targaryen, sansa advised him to be careful, reminding him of the last targaryen who sat on the iron throne. having heard many varying stories about that new dragon queen, she was rather suspicious of her, and didn’t want her brother to walk into a trap. however, she supported his decision to meet daenerys, as they badly needed an alliance and the dragonglass for their fight against the wights  (  which she had known nothing about, until jon had told her. that alone showed the absolute need for a strong alliance.  )

jon had given her control of the north during his absence, and sansa made sure to use her powers to prepare for the winter and war to come, meaning she tried to stock up on food and invent a warmer kind of armor for their men. it was also during that time that her siblings, bran and arya, returned to winterfell. sansa immediately offered the north to bran, as he was the last remaining male stark, but he refused, explaining that he was the three-eyed raven now. still, she kept both of them close to her, only making decisions about their mutual future after advising with them before.

when jon returned to winterfell with daenerys by his side, she greeted the queen with a certain wary, but also with warmth. she knew that jon wouldn’t have allowed her in the north if he hadn’t put his faith in her, and so she was willing to make an effort for his sake. in the beginning, she was displeased that he had bent the knee and given up the crown, but after she had listened to his reasoning as well as found out about her saving him from his clear death, she later openly supported his decision when he announced it in the great hall. she also sent out letters to the house wanting to abandon jon, reminding them that a crown meant nothing when they were about to face death himself. wanting to make her own mind about the dragon queen, sansa made sure to talk to her followers, knowing that these people would be the only ones who could tell her the actual truth. it was safe to say that sansa was pleasantly surprised, and relieved that there were no signs of madness within this targaryen queen. she eventually developed a friendship with daenerys, helping her to find her way around winterfell, introducing her to the most important people at the castle, including her in little silly talks and dinners; simply making sure that wouldn’t feel alone in the north.

subverse:  instead of jon, the northerners chose sansa as their queen.  when tyrion wrote to her in the name of daenerys targaryen, she trusted his words in regards to their past. though she did send jon to meet the dragon queen instead of going herself, as she did not want to leave the north. he brought her back with him to winterfell, after having convinced her of the importance of fighting against the night king instead of fighting for the iron throne. they joined their forces, and sansa was happy for their alliance, but she would not give up her crown for it  --  she knew she’d lose most of the north if she did. however, daenerys allowed her to keep it; after seeing the wights with her own two eyes, she had come to the conclusion that reigning over six kingdoms would be better than reigning over corpses and ashes.  

given the fact that tyrion was hand of the queen, and technically still her husband, she eventually came to terms with him. after all, he had always been kind to her, and he did seem to be a special kind of lannister. though, she immediately looked through cersei’s ‘offer’, calling him out for believing that she would actually help him. she also met sandor again, who came to the castle shortly before the battle began. the years had changed both of them, she was not a little bird anymore, and he seemed less pleased by murdering people.

during the battle of winterfell, she hid in the crypts along with tyrion and everyone else who wasn’t able to fight. when the wights climbed out of her ancestors’ graves, sansa used the blade she had received from arya to defend the helpless. she survived the battle with only minor injuries.

❛  𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰.    ( post battle of winterfell )

after the battle, sansa attended the war council in preparation for the war against cersei, and advised them to give their forces some time to rest, and grieve,  before sending them into yet another battle, to which daenerys agreed. in the time passing, they were treating the wounded, burned the fallen, rebuilt winterfell, and made sure their army would regain their strength. eventually, the remaining forces of daenerys and the north were stationed in front of king’s landing, with the greyjoy ships waiting on the blackwater. attending the exchange of words between tyrion and cersei, sansa soon realized that the latter had lost all common sense. she was also part of the last war council before the battle, advising daenerys that even though cersei would not back down, the population of king’s landing would give up their city  --  and reminding everyone of the common hatred against the lannister queen, who had blown up her own city with wildfire.

sansa remained on dragonstone during the battle, but every word she had spoken turned out to be true. after daenerys had destroyed the weapons made to kill her dragons, as well as burned the iron fleet  (  while yara was successfully killing her uncle  ),  the population screamed to ring the bells. the lannister armies, soon realizing that they couldn’t possibly survive the attack of such an army as well as two dragons, were happy to follow their demand. when the balls rang, daenerys accepted the surrender.  and when sansa stepped into the throne room again, after all these years, she found cersei’s corpse laying in front of it  --  killed by arya stark. she only smiled; sansa had known about her sister’s list, and also about her finding a way inside king’s landing to murder the queen.

with daenerys targaryen sitting on the iron throne, the realm was finally at peace. furthermore, the new queen allowed the iron islands to crown yara as their queen and thus becoming an own kingdom, for the support in her wars. she also granted the north their independence, knowing that none of them would be sitting here if it hadn’t been for the north defending the realm from the wights.though jon was tired of ruling, resulting in the northerners choosing sansa as their queen.

and so the three queens ruled, and the realm thrived.