#her inheriting the throne after her mother died in childbirth trying to give the realm a king

[halfyearsqueen]

no because let’s discuss this matrilineal lineage

[disregardcanon]

succession asoiaf au 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Old Guard 

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

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

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

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

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

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

The key reasons for the successful coup were

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

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

3. The strategic locations of their bases of power 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Right? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[imagine-loki]

Pride and Prejudice

TITLE: Pride and Prejudice CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 57 AUTHOR: wolfpawn

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki was raised on Jotunheim as Laufey’s son after the war, but an agreement was then made that he would wed Odin’s daughter so Odin could secure the alliance of Jotunheim through the marriage. Loki, in turn, was raised to be king of Jotunheim, but how he views Asgard is far different from how Odin’s daughter is raised leading to a clash of cultures as well as uncertainty between the pair of betrothed youths.     RATING: Mature   NOTES/WARNINGS: Forced Marriage, not all fun and games. My first real step back into the Loki scene in over a year.

Tags - @skulliebythesea @asimovethroughthisworld @blackcherry26-blog @we-shadowhunter2901

“My King.” Loki forced himself out of his thoughts and looked around at his mate. Seeing the polite and kind smile on her features, he smiled back slightly. “What is worrying you?”

Loki sighed. “It is all under my watch now. Anything that happens, I must oversee it, work those it affects through it.”

“You do not have to do it alone, you have your brothers by your side, Arden, your father, and if all else fails, you perhaps can resort to talking to me.”

Loki could not prevent the little huff at her comment. “You know you are at the top of any list of those I would rely on.” He looked over at her again. “Though I don’t think I will have to look far, will I?”

“I will be where you need me to be.” She placed her hand on his arm reassuringly. “It is my duty to assist you as much as I can.”

Loki’s brow knotted slightly at that statement. He wondered if she only wished to help him because of a sense of duty to the fact he was her mate. “Which duty is that?”

“The one where I do not want to be the one they all point the finger at when you turn into some power-hungry brute who thinks he can take on a Bigelsnipe barehanded and win before being gored to death.” 

Loki’s face turned to one of horror at such a thought, he stared at Ella whose face was one of poised calm for all of a moment before she laughed. “I am jesting.” 

“You are the picture of royalty the majority of the time, then you do that,” Loki growled.

“I like to keep things interesting,” Ella commented playfully. “I finally got to speak with my mother again.”

“I thought you said you were conversing with her through everything?”

“I was, but face to face is far nicer. She finds the difference in customs so difficult to grasp sometimes.” 

Loki noted the change in Ella’s tone even before she did. “What concerns does she have?” In truth, Loki wanted to say something far more clipped about the Vanir born Aesir monarch but he remained neutral, knowing that by the manner in which Ella was speaking, she accepted the differences and arguing them on behalf of Jotunheim. 

“About childrearing and childbirth mostly. In Asgard, the father being present is not the norm, you see.”

Loki knew that and found such a thought repulsive. Not assisting your significant other through such an even was too foreign for him to comprehend. “It is overseen by a Healer, like that one that came to attend to you when you were ill?”

“Correct, yes. To ensure both mother and child have immediate medical attention should they require it,” Ella explained. 

Loki noted the apprehension in her features. “You wish for such?”

“No, I do not require such, I have learnt every spell I could to safely assist our child from me if things were to take a sudden turn for the worse.”

Loki shuddered at such a thought. It had, of course, occurred in the past that some dams died in childbirth but the size of Jotnar females to the size of infant’s birthed made it something of a rarity. Going by Ella’s comments and indeed the size of her growing stomach, it was clear that the child she bore was of considerable size and she was indeed lithe in comparison. “You fear something happening to you?”

“I just consider everything so that I am prepared for anything.”

“Your preparations for the more negative side of things always unsettle me.”

“Then my request for you to have a measure in place as a last resort in case all else fails is not going to go down well either,” Ella looked at Loki’s eyes to show her seriousness.

For a moment, Loki could not think of what she could see as a last resort, but then her eyes flickered to his wrist for a moment and horrified realisation came to him. His head shook side to side before he could even find his voice. “No.”

“Yes. if it’s me or him, choose him, please.” Ella’s voice, though small was filled with certainty. “Cut him out if you have to.”

“But you…?”

“I am talking the worst-case scenario, if I have something prepared for that, then I feel I can concentrate on more likely and important matters,” Ella explained. “I have no plans to die any time soon, especially when I have a son to raise.” 

Loki studied her features. “You wish to raise him? I thought that on Asgard…?”

“Do you know what made me actually look forward to starting a new life here, away from everything that ever made sense to me?” Loki shook his head slightly, he had never figured out why she had been so willing to come to Jotunheim. “I was reading about how family units are here. I was startled by the multiple mates part at first, obviously, but then I read something that caught my attention and made me look forward to the life I was to lead. I read that the moment a child is born, it is held by its father who cuts the cord and holds it to his chest so it can learn his scent before being brought to its mother and is not taken from her. The only time they are parted is so the father can tend to it and give her some rest, but all three remain together for a time until the other mates are introduced and assist also, but she remains the primary caregiver.”

Loki did not say anything, this was by no means news to him, he knew full well what she was saying was entirely true of the ways of the realm. 

“The thought of such, it sounded idyllic. Too good to be true. Even at the beginning, when you loathed me, when we only did what was required to create a child because it was demanded, the one thing that gave me comfort was that I would be the caregiver for the child that would come to be. That I would have them if I had nothing else.” 

Loki felt his throat tighten at that confession. He never thought she would think in such a manner. He also recalled his thoughts at the beginning, when he forced himself to couple with her, how any child that came from such a union was to be removed immediately from her presence because of some preconceived notion in his mind that she could not possibly care for a child. Now, he realised that if that had occurred, it would truly have been a fate worse than death for her. “I thought initially that you would not be interested in such a role as a dam.” He felt it right to confess such, even if it led to something uncomfortable. 

“Initially, we both thought a lot of things that were entirely wrong, didn’t we? Thankfully, with time and effort to look past such, we learnt that we were both wrong and we are all the better for it now. Or I think at least.”

“Are you admitting that you have been wrong in the past?” Not wanting to focus on the negatives of the past, Loki tried to lighten the mood once more. 

“I am rarely wrong but I can be and more importantly, I can admit to such.” She smirked. 

“I can admit to my wrongs,” Loki argued. 

“Under pain of losing your position of heir to the throne and when you put another on their deathbed, perhaps. Try not to make them the only times you such. A good king admits his faults...in private only for the most part, of course.” She winked as she stated the last part. 

“And only then to his closest confidantes, of course.” He smirked. 

“But of course.” Ella smiled in return. Seeing the stress in his features fall slightly, she walked behind him, causing Loki to look at her curiously before she put her hands on his shoulders and dug her fingers into the muscles there. 

At first, Loki found her actions hurt but when she continued, he realised that she was alleviating the tension in them, the tension that had been building for longer than he wished to admit to. His moan at her actions was somewhat guttural. 

“Better?”

“Incredible,” Loki did not even attempt to say anything but the truth. 

“You are not required for anything for a time. Lie on the bed and I will see what I can do to help with that.” 

Though his shoulders were tender from her actions, Loki could not decline such an offer. He did as instructed and went to the bed where Ella instructed him to lie on his front before she got onto the bed behind him. Loki looked around worriedly but his worry was quickly removed when she placed her hands on his back and began to rub into the muscles there, her hands magically becoming lubricated with some sweet-smelling and soothing liquid while she did so. Loki wondered where Ella had learned such witchcraft. Her hands were soft and relaxing as they pushed into his aching muscles. He loved every moment of it as she focused on each area, the feelings of tension dissipating as she did so. 

When Ella finished, she proudly looked at her mate resting comfortably and contently on the bed. “Better?”

“Much better.”

Ella laughd at Loki’s muffled voice as a result of his face being into the pillow. “Good, you are not needed anywhere so just relax.”

“If I am, send one of your doppelganger things.”

“Naughty, that is not how you should be thinking,” she admonished. “You are king now.”

“All I wish to think about right now is to rest with my mate by my side for a time.” He reached around until he felt her hand before urging her gently to lay onto the bed beside him. “That is even better.”

“Get some rest.” Ella urged. After a few moments, when Loki’s breathing was steady and it seemed like he was asleep, Ella studied his features carefully. Partly because she was studying them as she did their child’s to see what one’s he would inherit from his father, the other part because she simply liked acknowledging her mate was indeed quite handsome, if not slightly peculiar in relation to what she was used to from growing up. But in thinking that, she also knew part of his appeal was in his personality. Behind the austere man she met the day she was brought to Jotunheim, a caring and selfless creature resided, one who put his realm before himself. Smiling, she toyed with his hair for a moment before leaning over and pressing her lips gently to his temple. She was unsure why she did it. When she pulled back, she was startled to see Loki studying her face curiously, his eyes confused having been woken from his slumber by her. 

She was about to apologise when he pulled her close to him, pressing their foreheads and noses together and sighing contently.  

[english-royal-history-1455-1603]

On this day July 25, 1554, Queen Mary Tudor married Philip of Spain, the son of Mary’s first cousin, Emperor Charles V. It was a marriage which would sadly lead to heartbreak and misery for Mary, but she embarked upon it with hope in her heart and stars in her eyes.

Mary had once been betrothed to Charles when she was a young girl. Her father, Henry VIII, had arranged the match, and her mother Catalina de Aragon, had strongly supported it, since Charles was the son of her sister, Joanna and it would strengthen the ties England had to Spain, and defend against their mutual enemy, the French.

Unfortunately, alliances shifted, and Charles married elsewhere. Henry VIII annuled his marriage to Mary’s mother, Catalina, and married Anne Boleyn, who supported the French.

Mary’s life was very difficult after that point. She refused to recognize her parents had never been legally married and that she was a bastard, ineligible to inherit the throne. Her father treated her with increasing cruelty in order to force her to accept it.

He wouldn’t allow Mary to marry out of fear a powerful husband could support an uprising in her name. The years of Mary’s youth slipped away, and undoubtedly, her father’s abuse left deep psychological scars. Her mother’s family on the Continent urged her to remain strong and refuse to surrender her claim to the throne.

But Mary finally broke down under the brutal treatment after her mother’s death and Anne Boleyn’s execution. She’d thought Anne Boleyn was the one forcing her father to treat her this way, but it only got worse after Anne was gone.

Mary signed the statements her father demanded, recognizing her illegitimacy and her father as head of the English church, but their emotional relationship was never restored. Mary was never again the pampered “pearl” of her father’s kingdom. The loving father she remembered from her youth was long gone. Later, Henry would restore Mary to the succession with an act of Parliament, but he never restored her legitimacy.

After Henry VIII’s death, Mary’s Protestant brother, Edward VI took the throne. While he was never cruel to his sister, there was tension between them because of their religious differences. Mary would not renounce her Catholic faith. Edward tried to leave his throne to Jane Grey, but the people supported Mary, the next rightful heir according to the Act of Succession.

As soon as she took the throne, Mary began to look for a husband, though she assured the people she would never choose a husband who would harm the nation and would rather remain unmarried than bring trouble to her beloved people. Her natural first choice was to turn to her own family on the Continent, the people who had always supported her during those horrible years of her father’s abuse. Charles VI suggested his son, Philip.

The English were somewhat alarmed by the possibility. Mary was the first queen regnant, and there was a lot of concern over what marriage would mean for her reign. As a woman, she would naturally have to obey her husband, and as a queen, that would mean England would be effectively under Philip’s rule. There was also concern over the religious aspects. Mary had brought England back into the Papal fold, and the English worried that Philip might bring the Spanish Inquisition when he came.

A marriage treaty was created that limited Philip’s power. Though he would be “king” of England, his reign would only last as long as Mary’s did. He would not be permitted to take his wife or children from the kingdom without the approval of Parliament. Most of the authority was reserved for Mary, though acts would be issued jointly in their names, and they would open Parliament together.

Philip appears to have been unhappy about these concessions, but he agreed to obey his father’s wishes and marry the woman he’d always called his “aunt.”

The Wyatt Rebellion was the first - but not the last - rebellion Mary would have to face in opposition to her marriage. Wyatt stated that he had “taken up arms solely for love of his country, not to harm the queen, but to hinder this marriage, lest Spaniards, who are arrogant and indeed wanton men, should reduce the English nation to a base slavery, from which they shrink far more than from death.”

Despite these challenges, Mary was very excited about the marriage. She seems to have been half in love with her husband before he even set foot in her realm. Perhaps she was in love with the idea of being married itself and the future she envisioned she was creating.

Mary thought her reign was setting things right again in England, restoring the kingdom to that golden age she remembered as a child, when her parents had been happy, and the realm had been united in the Catholic faith, before Anne Boleyn had come along and ruined everything. She anticipated personal happiness in her marriage, and hoped she would give the kingdom heirs, so that her Protestant sister would not come to the throne after her and undo all of the progress she had made.

She was thirty-seven years old, but her friends assured her she could still have children, even bringing to meet her a peasant woman over forty who’d recently had a child. Though she’d had irregularities in that regard all her life, the queen still menstruated and was thought to be fertile.

Philip wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about the union, but he was willing to do his duty and obey his father. He was only twenty-seven, ten years younger than his bride, and he didn’t speak her language. Mary had learned Spanish as a child from her mother, but it had been so many years since she heard it that she was uncertain about speaking it. The couple communicated in Latin, instead.

Philip was polite and courteous to Mary when they met, but his courtiers mocked the queen in their letters home, saying that Mary was “… not pretty, not at all, is low, flabby structure instead of fat … has no eyebrows, [and] she dresses very badly.”

Mary’s taste in clothing led to another minor incident that must have hurt her feelings. Soon after they met, Mary sent Philip a surcoat to wear for their wedding banquet. It was made of cloth-of-gold (thin gold wire twined around thread and woven into cloth) with designs of Spain’s symbol of pomegranates and England’s symbol of roses made from seed pearls and gold beads. It had eighteen diamond buttons. He did not wear it. Mary must have been very hurt, but she said nothing. Years later, it was included in an inventory of Philip’s clothing. He made a note in the margin beside it: “This was given to me by the queen for me to wear on our wedding day in the afternoon, but I do not think I wore it because it seemed to me ornate.”

Mary’s father had always conducted his weddings in private, but Mary intended her own wedding to be very visible. She chose to have it at Winchester Cathedral, and a special stage was built so that all of the attendees could see it.

There were some interesting examples of gender reversal in the wedding. Mary had a sword of state borne before her as she walked toward the chapel; Philip, though elevated just before the ceremony to King of Naples so his title would be equal to his wife’s, did not. Mary was seated on the right side, and Philip on the left, where the consort was usually seated. (During the ceremony, a sword of state was quickly procured for Philip so he would have one as they were led out of the church to their banquet.)

He tried to be kind to his wife, but this was not a love match for Philip. “The Queen is a lady of quality, but older than we thought, but his Highness is behaving so well and gives so many gifts that I’m sure both will be very pleased with each other, the king is trying to be as friendly as possible, he believes that his marriage was not made for flesh, but for the restoration of this area and preservation of those states.“

He was attentive to her and Mary was deliriously happy in those early days, though Philip made no secret of his desire to go back home to his own realm. Mary didn’t want him to go.

The marriage was not a popular decision, and her sister Elizabeth’s decision never to marry may have had a great deal to do with watching what happened after Mary’s marriage. Simply put, the kingdom started to fall apart. Rebellions and riots against foreigners increased and seemed to get worse once Mary made the decision to burn Protestants who refused to return to the Catholic fold. Then, a series of bad harvests led to famine and plague.

Mary had a false pregnancy about three months after the wedding. Today, scholars believe it was the first signs of the ovarian cancer that would end up killing her, but a the time, Mary gave all signs of being pregnant. Her belly swelled, and her breasts leaked milk. She thought she felt the child move within her. Mary was overjoyed, believing that God had blessed her reign.

Philip decided to stay during Mary’s pregnancy. If she died in childbirth - as most people quietly expected would be the outcome - her child would be the king or queen of England and Philip would want to make sure he had custody of the baby when that happened. He couldn’t take the baby from England, but he could ensure it was raised in a way that was favorable to his interests.

But the time for the birth came and went with no signs of her going into labor. Mary’s psalter still exists, and when the book is stood on its spine, it falls open to the page which contains prayers for women in labor. The page is stained with the tears Mary shed while praying for the safe delivery of her child.

The doctors kept pushing back the date for the birth, but then the swelling began to shrink, and Mary finally had to accept there was no baby on the way. She emerged from her confinement chamber, humiliated and heartbroken.

Philip left not long after that to return to his kingdom on the Continent, and Mary had a devil of a time convincing him to return to her side. Reportedly, she spent hours in darkened rooms, weeping for him, and the letters she sent to him pleading for him to come back to her were stained with tears. Philip kept putting her off with excuses. He needed to wait until after his father’s abdication for his coronation. Then he needed to visit his new realms, and make sure everything was settled.

Once Mary involved England in Philip’s foreign wars, her council grew fractious, and she could barely keep control of them. Worse, England’s involvement drained the treasury and cost England its last bit of territory on the continent, Calais.

When Philip did return, he brought with him a woman many thought was his mistress. Mary refused to house the woman in chambers near her own or the king’s and it was a minor scandal. Soon after his return, Mary believed she was pregnant again, but Philip doesn’t seem to have believed it. He decided to leave England for his own realm, leaving behind his anguished wife. Mary went into confinement, expecting the birth in February of 1558, but went through another long, sad wait when labor didn’t commence.

On March 30, Mary wrote her will. She insisted in it she believed herself to be pregnant, and left her throne to that child, directing that her beloved husband raise the baby and bequeathing him the love of her subjects, which she felt was the most important thing of all. She now had to face the fact that she’d never see him again, this man in whom she’d invested so many hopes and dreams only to see them all crumble to ashes.

By summer of 1558, Mary’s second pregnancy had quietly faded away. She amended her will in light of that, directing that her throne be passed down as the law dictated, unable at this last to write the name of her sister. She died that November, brokenhearted and alone as her courtiers deserted the palace to flock to the side of her sister, the heir Mary had hoped to disinherit with her own children.

After her death, Philip wrote he felt "reasonable regret” for her loss.

[sheikah]

How would you LOVE for Game of Thrones to end vs how you would expect it to realistically end?

Sorry I took so long to answer this! I first received it out of town and then got so many more asks that were quick and easy answers. This is one I really wanted to take my time with haha. 

Okay, so I would LOVE for Game of Thrones to end in a way that is totally not consistent with its tone thus far so I know this won’t happen. I put this disclaimer here as a filter for the long string of wet blanket anons who love to come into my inbox and tell me all of the problems with my answers even when those answers are meant to be in good fun, and not to be taken seriously–like this one haha. 

So in my happy fantasy ending (that we know will never happen, okay?), the WW are dead. Jon and Dany’s season-long relationship has lead to an unexpected (for them at least) pregnancy. Dany has a baby girl. This is not a problem because they are both alive to assert that their daughter will have full rights to inherit any titles they hold upon their death, because if anyone thinks the “men first” inheritance rules are bullshit, it’s Dany. Baby is named Lyanna. Bite me, I love this name and the idea of Jon wanting to name his daughter after the mother he never knew but later learned of. 

Speaking of that, Jon comes to terms with his Targaryen roots when he learns of them. At first he feels strange about his familial connection to Dany but his affection for her overcomes any weirdness since as we all know, cousins and other family members often wed in this universe. If anything, their shared blood gives both Jon and Dany a renewed sense of belonging with one another. Jon no longer feels like the cast off or bastard, and Dany takes comfort in the fact that she is not the last dragon after all, and that she and Jon can carry on her family’s special bloodline together. 

But Jon is still a Stark at heart, and he is the planner, the pragmatist, and the surly one in the relationship. Dany is still fiery, temperamental, and passionate. But she is even more compassionate and together they are very happy. They get married without frills while they are still in the North, because Jon keeps the Old Gods and I love Northern wedding ceremonies :) 

Instead of ruling the 7k as king and queen, they both desire a quieter life after everything they’ve been through. Dany’s main prerogative is to leave the world better than she found it, and she can do that without being queen of the 7k. This makes sense because the Iron Throne both visually and literally is a seat for one, not for a happy, functioning couple. So Dany and Jon take up residence at Dragonstone to raise their family while remaining close enough to King’s Landing to still be involved in the governance of the realm. Dany serves as a representative of sorts who periodically travels to King’s Landing along with other prominent survivors to discuss important business. 

Her dothraki are complicated. I suppose they could have a good life in the South, where the landscape isn’t so different from the dothraki sea. They breed the best horses in the realm. The Unsullied stay at Dragonstone as Dany and Jon’s personal guard.

Tyrion travels between King’s Landing and Casterly Rock, and serves in a position something like a prime minister, overseeing and calling the aforementioned meetings of representatives together. He also oversees the people who hold important “small council” style positions. There is still a master of coin, etc, and a bank. Things still have to function. It’s not a utopia. Varys lives in KL as well and is still our favorite gossip and to some extent shares governance with Tyrion as he did in Meereen while Dany was gone.

Jaime stays in King’s Landing with Tyrion, who he managed to reconcile with after Cersei’s death. I’m going to say that Jaime finally wised up and saw Cersei’s role in the deaths of all their children and fulfilled the prophecy by killing her himself. Since I will always see Jaime as a man who loves to fight, he will serve as something between the commander of the City Watch and the commander of what was the Kingsguard, because Tyrion and other government officials will still need protection. 

Brienne, whose life’s goal it has been to serve honorably and to serve someone deserving, stays in Winterfell where she protects Sansa, the Lady of Winterfell. Sansa is married to Podrick Payne, and she doesn’t care at all that people reading this are freaking out about how he isn’t enough of a noble and it isn’t an advantageous marriage. Because Sansa always wanted a handsome, gallant knight to sweep her off her feet. And who better than the truly adorable and perfect cinnamon that is Pod? Not to mention the fact that he is canonically sensational in the sack. Sansa deserves a positive romantic relationship for once in her life. 

I think it’s difficult to choose for Arya because I want so many different things for her. I am not sure if Arya’s character where she stands now would be happy being rooted in one place, if she really would settle down and stay in Winterfell. I see Arya exploring what is left of the world to explore, doing cool shit and always coming back to visit her beloved big brother/cousin, of course :P She also will have Gendry at her side because I will continue shipping Gendrya from beyond the grave lol. Maybe for added fun The Hound joins them on these adventures. That’s a spinoff I would watch the hell out of.

Bran lives at Winterfell with Sansa. I am also on the fence about Bran’s ending. Does he like being the Three-Eyed Raven when all is said and done? Does he want to have visions in peace time? If not, I like to think he would find reprieve from them at Winterfell with his sister. Maybe he’s married to Meera and they have gorgeous children with curly brown hair. God this is so sickeningly sweet and nothing like GoT hahaha I am so sorry. 

Sam finishes his studies at the Citadel and becomes maester at Dragonstone, because there is no longer a Wall and no longer a Night’s Watch. There is nothing to fight off North of The Wall and the Free Folk are now free. Gilly lives with Sam and Little Sam.

The Free Folk have all been given lands in the wide expanse of the North, which has even more room thanks to the catastrophic casualties of the wars we’ve seen through the seasons.

All of these noble houses whose lords are dead are quickly filled with people who were helpful in the war effort, like Davos, Edd, Grey Worm, Missandei (those two are together, of course :P), maybe even Tormund, Theon. 

Speaking of Theon, Euron died in some glorious fashion, a battle at sea, and Yara is queen of the Iron Islands, where there is no more raping and reaving, and my beautiful pirates live well, crafting the best ships for travel throughout Planetos. 

I’m sure I’m forgetting someone but that’s it for now. 

So onto how I think it actually will end. 

I think that the war with the WW will be devastating. The Wall will be totally destroyed and there will be a lot of damage to the North. Winterfell will be okay because the Stark’s always endure, etc etc. King’s Landing will be destroyed.

Again, my honest speculation is that all of our faves can’t possibly live until the end. I think that Jon might die during this war. I don’t want that to happen. But I think it will happen. I will be inconsolable for the rest of my life but I am still trying to be logical about it and manage my expectations haha. 

If Jon does die in battle, I think he and Dany will have conceived a baby before that happened so that the Targaryen line continues on. As I’ve said before I am not sure the Iron Throne will still be a thing at the end so instead of ruling in KL Dany will be queen at Dragonstone and will raise her child, who will probably be a son. 

Since she granted independence to the Iron Islands in the season 6 finale, she will happily let other kingdoms govern themselves if they wish and I imagine whatever is left of Dorne will choose that route, along with the North. 

Alternatively, both Jon and Dany live through the battle. But Dany dies in childbirth, and Jon raises their child at Winterfell. These are two very different predictions, I know. But I just don’t know if George or D&D will be nice enough to let both live haha.

I have a feeling that the remaining Starks will live, but that Sansa will be the one to rule Winterfell and possibly serve as Wardeness of the North if such a title still exists, maybe even QitN, which could be cool. 

If Arya survives, my prediction for her is kind of similar in my fantasy version and real speculation. I don’t see Arya just marrying some lord and I certainly don’t see her just sitting around serving Sansa at Winterfell. I feel that Arya might continue roaming.

I kind of buy into all the fun theories that Bran really is all of those Bran’s throughout history, or that he at least influences them as the Three-Eyed Raven. So I think that Bran will continue to be the Three-Eyed Raven, watching over everyone and staying rooted wherever he has to to do that.

Tyrion will live and so will Varys and like I said in my fun ending I believe that they will manage the government of the realm, but since I think KL will get destroyed, perhaps they do this from Dragonstone as their headquarters. 

I do think that Cersei will die but unlike in my happy fantasy ending I think that Jaime will die too. I hate this but it’s just what I predict. Jaime, especially show!Jaime, seems to base so much of his identity on Cersei that I honestly can’t picture what he would do without her, especially now that all of their children are dead. 

I think that a lot of our minor characters that we love will die in the war, too. Probably The Hound. Maybe Tormund. I could see Brienne going out defending Sansa as much as I would hate that. But I know they’re going to tear at our heartstrings a few more times before this is all through. 

If Davos lives I believe he will be given a lordship somewhere if Jon is dead. If Jon lives, I see him continuing to be Jon’s own sort of “Hand of the King”/adviser/hype man. 

Sam’s story is one that I also see the same in real ending and happy ending. He will finish his studies to be a maester and then serve somewhere, always keeping Gilly with him because “fuck the system” Sam is a thing and I am 100% here for it. 

Theon will die fighting but it will be okay because he can never be the man he was before Ramsay got to him anyway. Euron will eventually be killed but not before wreaking a fuck ton of havoc. He probably kills Theon. Yara gets to rule the Iron Islands but it is not easy and she faces a lot of resistance as their first female ruler. 

If Gendry lives he could possibly be legitimized and be lord of Storm’s End. I would dig that.

I have no idea what to say about the Sand Snakes. No idea.

Drogon and Rhaegal will be the last dragons because their power is too much for any one person to have. Dragons returned to the world with Dany because she uses them for good to fight the WW. But they, and many other traces of magic, will die out from the realm at the close of our story. 

If I’m being realistic I’m sure that Essos will to some extent return to its former lawlessness, but I doubt slavery will ever truly take root their again, especially around the Bay of Dragons :)

Anyway, I wish this was more detailed but I am tired and this answer is already insanely long. I hope it is at least of some interest to you, anon!