#jaime and the lannisters in general bc of how they would just used to sit high above the rock looking down on everyone

[swordmaid]

i am wide awake thinking about that post canon jb au again when I should be sleeping …!!! such is the nature of the jbrainrot…

[a-libra-writes]

Game of Thrones - Love Letter and Handwriting Headcanons

In this preference, you'll be writing to: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Benjen Stark, Jory Cassel, Eddison Tollett, Yara Greyjoy, Daenerys Targaryen, Jorah Mormont, Missandei, Grey Worm, Tywin Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Sandor Clegane, Bronn, Petyr Baelish, Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Margaery Tyrell, Brynden Tully, Edmure Tully, Brienne of Tarth, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Oberyn Martell, Arianne Martell

my own silly fanfic made me think of this bc there’s letter writing later on in that. whee!

Ned Stark

His handwriting is neat, evenly spaced and fairly plain. It’s easily readable, which is the point - he knows not everyone is well-versed in letters and he tries to make it easier. Ned typical sends ravens, only writing a full letter for when he has to give instructions or relay something important. He has a formal Stark wax seal for this… and yes, he uses that same formal seal when he sends something to you. The more you exchange letters, the more relaxed he clearly becomes in writing. He knows he isn’t romantic or poetic by any means, but he hopes his affection for you comes across.

Robb Stark

Goodness knows he’s had endless lessons on writing properly and expressing the right words, but Robb just has no interest in it. His handwriting is perfectly legible but obviously hastily written, and he doesn’t care if there’s a few smudges or the paper gets dirty. When he’s writing to you, he’ll try to be neater… but sometimes he’s just got so much to say, and he’s so eager to send it, he doesn’t even notice the mess. Robb never thought he’d anticipate letters, especially romantic ones, but he loves receiving things from you. If you live far away, he feels the distance strongly and starts to rely on your letters to feel more connected to you.

Sansa Stark

As expected, her penmanship is pretty and neat. If she's in a good mood she'll add little flourishes here and there, but normally she's a bit embarrassed to do it. It feels childish to do that now. When she finds a nice stationary, she saves it until she writes to you. Her envelopes have the usual Stark direwolf with some wildflowers along the border. Honest and romantic words used to come easy to her, but now she’s more subdued. She’ll include pretty poetry she heard and wanted to share with you.

Jon Snow

His writing would be neater if he just slowed down, but he’s often in haste, especially once he becomes Lord Commander. He never cared about the proper penmanship or address because who would a bastard write to? Really, it’s lucky he was taught letters at all. He’d do his best to write neater for you, but the words keep escaping him - It’s hard enough to express how he feels in person, writing it isn’t any easier, no matter what Sam says. Jon always responds if you write to him, even if he’s blushing and feeling stupid the whole time.

Benjen Stark

He’s perfectly capable of writing neatly, but Benjen rarely bothers to. He jots down what he needs, though he at least has to make it legible - there’s only so many men that know their letters at the Wall, and Benjen has to keep his orders neat. When you pass him a secret letter, he’s grinning like a boy. He thinks it’s adorable that you went through the effort of finding supplies and writing something so sweet. He’ll ask to read it in front of you, but if you make him do it in secret, he’ll want to run and find you as soon as he’s done. He’d fold it up tight and keep it in a safe pouch tied to his belt. 

Jory Cassel

His handwriting is pretty messy. Jory was never bothered by it until he had to write you something. Oh no. Wasn't there a proper way to address you? What if it was too personal, or too standoffish? Poor Jory overthinks his letters unless you two write with frequency. His handwriting won't get better, but he's more comfortable writing sweet things. He likes to keep his envelopes and papers plain so no one suspects anything, which is a good habit if you’re dating in secret, but a silly once if you’re married. 

Eddison Tollett

He jokes it’s a small miracle that he knows his letters, poor as his family was. He likes to pretend he doesn’t, just so the higher ups on the Wall won’t give him extra duties like they did Sam. Reading never interested him, and he had no one to write to, so it’s just not something he thinks about. When you slip him a letter, he just stares at it dumbly for a minute. Once Edd has a chance to open it up, he’s a little taken aback. What… should he do? Should he talk to you? Respond to it? He’s never had such a nice gesture given to him, never had anyone write such nice things to him (has he even received a letter before??). So the next time to meet him, he still has a stupefied look on his face. And here he was thinking nothing on the Wall could surprise him anymore.. 

Yara Greyjoy

She was taught writing and reading by her nuncle - because the Gods know her father hardly bothered - so she actually has fond memories of both, even if she hardly does it. Yara would be very curious by anything you sent. Was something wrong? If it smelled of perfume or had a pretty stationary, she’d snort… but once she read the contents, she’d just grin and laugh. If the letter is more romantic, she finds it silly, but so like you. Very endearing. If it’s more saucy and risque, well … she’s going to read this in private and take her time.

Daenerys Targaryen

Her handwriting wasn’t as neat as it could’ve been, given her upbringing. It’s a point of embarrassment, so Dany practices pretty lettering and uses interesting inks she’s found around the markets. It’s a bit relaxing, though when she’s writing something official as Khaleesi and Queen, she makes sure it’s perfect. She’s pleasantly surprised when you write her something - has she ever actually received something this sweet before? She’ll write you back with a smile on her face, and she likes any chance to use that fancy Targaryen seal. Dany will still love to receive and send letters even if you both are staying in a palace together. It’s just one of many romantic gestures she thought she’d never enjoy.

Jorah Mormont

Jorah's handwriting is nice, but he usually writes in haste, so several letters end up smudged. He doesn't like to waste paper and start over. Jorah really can’t believe that you’d send him something romantic and sweet; he tries to hide his grin and blush, but he’ll wear it the whole time he’s reading. When he's writing something really sweet to you, it gets him flustered and happy, so whole words end up smudged. He doesn't notice the ink on his hand until he's already put the letter in the envelope. He keeps whatever you’ve sent him in a protective leather book so they can’t get damaged.

Missandei

She has lovely handwriting in many languages, as she was taught. The neatness of the lines and letters really is impressive. When she's writing something sweet to you, she pauses and struggles with the words for a while. Missandei always has the sweetest, most thoughtful letters - more sentimental than romantic. Her letters are punctuated with citrus smelling paper and a modestly decorated envelope.

Grey Worm

He’s only recently learned to read, and writing is still a struggle - he’d be very intimidated at the idea of writing something to you. When you give him something to read for practice, it takes Grey Worm a few minutes before he realizes it’s something you wrote. And it’s for him! And about him! He’s very happy but also very flustered. It takes him longer to get through it, but he can’t stop smiling all day once he’s done. He aspires to write something just as nice, once he’s practiced more. He’d keep your letters in a safe place, and wouldn’t want anyone else to see them.

Tywin Lannister

His penmanship is near perfect, which you expected. It’s always written in a stark black ink on fine, almost marbled paper that has an equally officially looking gold Lannister seal on the envelope. People whisper it’s liquid gold that seals it, but you know better. Tywin’s letters are for business only, so he doesn’t expect you to send him anything romantic… He wouldn’t know what to do with it, besides read it with some amusement and tuck it away for later. You might think he never read it, until he’ll tease you by quoting it weeks later. 

Tyrion Lannister

His handwriting is elegant and flawless, as it was meant to be. When Tyrion’s tired he’ll smudge here and there, and depending on how important the letter is, he’ll start over entirely. When he receives your first letter, he’s surprised by the pretty stationary and envelope - this is for him? - and the contents are even better. Tyrion might have a small mental shutdown if you write him something romantic and kind. He’ll re-read it over and over and be distracted through much of the day. This is really for him? He has to respond, of course, and he’ll do it while his emotions are high. For once he doesn’t think on carefully crafted words, he writes what he feels and picks a more subtle stationary (no giant Lannister seals) so attention isn’t drawn to you.

Jaime Lannister

Gods, he hates writing. Just sitting down to write a report is bad enough, but when it's something important? When it's a response to something lovely you wrote? He struggles. The letters start moving around like they used to, he remembers those awful lessons with his father and he's just put off by the whole thing. Seeing you in person is far better. Jaime's handwriting is neat, because it had to be, though when he's upset he'll write a few letters backwards.

Sandor Clegane

It's a mess. Really, the fact his words are readable is a miracle. 'Chicken scratch' is a generous term, though his name is passable. If you wrote him a letter, he'd have no idea what to do with it, let alone how to respond. Sandor doesn't do sentiment like that; seeing you in person can be conflicting and confusing enough. He'd probably rip it up and burn it after drinking too much (and immediately regret that in the morning).

Bronn

He's barely literate, and not a man of flowery words anyway, so don't respect a response. If anything he'd hand the letter to Tyrion and ask him to read it - only for it to be handed back once Tyrion realized it was very personal and... revealing. Bronn doesn't worry about a response or consider you getting upset about it. If you are, he has ways to make up for it. 

Petyr Baelish

You expected him to have neat penmanship, but you didn't expect it to be this nice. And of course, his way with words shows in his letters, but it's even better. You might even blush and have to excuse yourself to read it in private. Petyr loves to write on fancy paper with fancier envelopes that have his sigil, but if they're meant to be secret, the only indicator is a little symbol on the envelope's seal. He delights in anything you send him, especially if he can smell your perfume on it.

Stannis Baratheon

Stannis writes very neat letters with equally impossibly neat rows. He has a habit of gripping his quill too tight, but his letters are concise so his hand doesn’t hurt. While he usually writes quickly because he knows what to say, when he writes to you, he pauses far too often. Sometimes ink drips on the paper while he’s thinking, sometimes he misspells a word he’s never gotten wrong before. It takes a long time, especially if he’s responding to something that was very sweet and romantic. His first letters were very awkward and halting, but they’ve steadily improved. Mostly. 

Davos Seaworth

You were the one who helped him with writing, after helping him read as well. Davos isn’t happy with his penmanship, but he didn’t think he’d make it this far, so he keeps trying when he has time. It’s messy but legible enough. Davos is always pleasantly surprised when you write to him; he loves that you took the time to send something so sweet. It’s hard for him to reply efficiently, or to put what he’s thinking into words, so sometimes he’ll wait for you to get back instead. He would use your letters to practice reading… but it gets him terribly flustered to read the same kind things over and over again.

Margaery Tyrell

She doesn't mind taking the extra time to make her letters extra beautiful, to press dried flower petals and put them in the envelope, to look through dozens of stationary to find one that's just right for her mood. For most people, they're lucky to get one of these little rituals - you get all of them. She'd be delighted if you took extra care in your letters, too, and naturally she keeps whatever you send her in a special box (that absolutely no one will find). 

Brynden Tully

It's no surprise that his handwriting is simple and gets the job done. His brother used to complain that he wrote like a soldier, not a lord, and Brynden is proud of that. He won't wax poetic to you, but he will plainly state that he misses you and he always writes back promptly. Brynden feels bad that his letters take so long to arrive, so he'll make them longer with funny anecdotes and things he's heard from travellers. He folds his letter a few times and wraps it in a protective parchment, just in case rain comes or some idiot drops it.

Edmure Tully

He writes well enough, with neat letters that are jotted down in haste. Edmure almost never stays and lingers on words and sentences, he just writes what comes to mind and moves on. He’s shocked in a good way when you write something to him - you missed him that much? Enough to write all this? He re-reads it several times, and keeps whatever you send him after that. He’ll eagerly write back, and even if it’s silly and awkwardly worded, you can feel the love in every letter. His letters are often a bit crumpled and are plain except for the Tully seal.

Brienne of Tarth

It might surprise some that she has a lady's penmanship. It was never something Brienne had trouble learning, though she often accidentally broke the quill by holding too hard. Though she cherishes the kind things you send her (and she blushes terribly as she reads them), she struggles to send something in return. Her words fail her and she feels embarrassed for trying, but she does try. Seeing you in person is so much easier, though. She likes to keep your letters in a safe place and read them when she's feeling down.

Ramsay Bolton

The letters are messy, but legible enough. The real issue is all the stains on the paper, usually a combination of mud, blood or water. He has little care for the proper way to write or address others; Roose may have given him the bare minimum and not expected him to actually use it. Ramsay is very surprised and amused by anything you send him, though. He considers writing something back, but decides to wait or just go and see you directly. That’s far more fun.

Roose Bolton

His handwriting is functional and his words are to the point. There's nothing outstanding about the letter or its contents, save for a blood-red Bolton seal on the envelope. Roose rarely sends full letters, though; it's a quick Raven or nothing. Though he won't mind anything you send… he'll be very pleased with how personal they become, and he still won't send anything back right away, if he does at all. Better to keep you in anticipation.

Oberyn Martell

Oberyn has a stylish flourish to his letters that’s unique to him. If that didn’t give it away, the pretty gold ink or embellished envelope will. Often it has the spear as a seal, sometimes it’s some interesting and strange stamp he picked up from his travels. There’s always a slight scent to his letters, and you can’t always place it. The actual words themselves are often scandalous and teasing, though he’s sent plenty of heartfelt things, especially if you enjoy it. He’s no poet, but he’s honest and romantic. Oberyn much prefers to see you in person, but he likes to receive sweet things and re-read them.

Arianne Martell

Her handwriting is beautifully elegant, and she loves getting ahold of pretty colored inks and papers. Her letters straddle a fine line between romantic and a little scandalous, and she likes to use pet names, as if you both are writing in secret. Her envelopes have a pleasant smell, and the official Martell seal. If she wants her letter to be sent especially fast, she’ll take her father’s seal. She keeps anything you send her in a pretty, hand carved wooden box with a lock and key.

[him-e]

/post/185439099486/i-will-never-recover-from-danys-arc-it-killed but wait. i enjoyed reading this meta bc i'm still trying to come to terms with how tragic bookdany's ending might also be. but it's more focused on thematic reasons rather than plot points, so here i'm asking: what do you think will happen? i've read before that you consider the possibility that she'll be called to fight the others before fighting for the throne. (1/3)

so she’ll go and lose allies, then she’ll go back and fight aegon and burn kl? but will the burning be deliberate or not? will tyrion be complicit in such a crime? why would she decide to attack civilians if she could just burn aegon (at least if we follow the situation as presented in the show)? (2/3)what will her relationship with the starks going to be like (i still can’t believe sansa or arya would be that hostile to dany if she helps her in the wftd, especially if it happens before she burns kl)? what’s jon’s role in this, will he have to kill her bc she became a tyrant? will dany have to go fully bad to the point of having nazi symbolism in her story? (3/3)

i’ve read before that you consider the possibility that she’ll be called to fight the others before fighting for the throne

what I actually said is that the chronological order of the two events (the wftd and, generically speaking, dany’s “fall to the dark side”) could be the same in the books too, rather than switched as most people think. But Dany’s fall might not happen in the same context of the show. 

There are legitimate reasons to believe that the battle of King’s Landing (assuming there will be only one) and Dany VS Aegon will happen in TWOW, not long after Dany arrives in Westeros, certainly before the WftD comes to a climax. For one thing, I think the Long Night will be a much larger scale event in the books, that will affect King’s Landing too, so I doubt that whoever sits on the Iron Throne will be able to stay there throughout it as if nothing happened. Secondly, I just don’t think book!Aegon is going to last so long. Third, the detail of the bells ringing totally screams Jon Connington, so it could indicate that there’s some kind of *conflation of two separate book events in one* thing going on there—it’s not like this isn’t the show’s modus operandi anyway.

The counter argument is that Jaime needs to be able to BOTH fight in the Battle of Winterfell and die with Cersei after trying to stop a second wildfire apocalypse and fulfilling the valonqar prophecy, and these two things need to happen in THIS order for obvious reasons, lol, as Jaime can’t fight against the Others if he’s already dead.

So I wonder if there will be two “battles of King’s Landing”, one before the WftD and one after; if Dany VS Aegon happens in the former, her treatment of Aegon will be a good reason for Arya and Sansa to be wary of her, once they learn about Jon’s true parentage. It could be that George pulls a redemption bait n’ switch with her—having her hit a low point in the battle against Aegon, then decide to join the fight against the Others as a way to atone, but ultimately failing to redeem herself—and god knows I’m absolutely NOT a fan of redemption bait n’ switches, but it’s one possibility among many. But like I said it’s also possible that Dany’s final fall happens in an entirely different context. We have no idea what Martin told d&d, what amount of details he gave them, which plot points they decided to adapt and which ones they scrapped or changed drastically. Dany’s losing allies, Dany being shrouded in nazi symbolism, Dany being triggered by the bells and deciding to incinerate civilians who had already surrendered—those might as well be show-only inventions, attempts to visually convey something essentially unadaptable, maybe because it involves some storyline that was scrapped in the show, maybe because it’s too internal and character-driven and lacks the climatic, action-y quality that is considered to be structurally necessary in a season finale (a television rule that the show has always bent over backwards to apply religiously—the penultimate episode of every season is invariably the one with the Big Climatic Event, sometimes with excellent results like Blackwater or the Battle of the Bastards—and season 8 was no different).

So in short: I have no idea of “what will happen”, and I’m not sure I want to try to guess it. I think trying to speculate on how the actual book plot points will unfold is a slippery slope towards wrong assumptions. When I say the main beats are probably the same I mean that:

the war against the Others will indeed be the narrative climax of the whole story and the most important battle in history (I don’t think the show tried to undermine its importance and centrality compared to the game of thrones, at least not intentionally—it did come across that way mainly because of how rushed the season was, and because the show often sucks at nailing the thematic resonance behind naked plot points), but it won’t magically redeem humanity and solve all its problems; there will be an “after”, and it will be narratively as important as the actual battle (isn’t the last book supposed to be titled “A Dream of Spring”? and before that, wasn’t the tentative title “A Time for Wolves”? Wolves, not dragons…)

Daenerys will join the WftD thinking it would be her ultimate heroic purpose, but the experience will both deeply traumatize her and destroy her confidence in being a prophesied savior, leading to a massive identity crisis;

a similar thing will happen with Jon—actually, all the characters will have to deal with survivor’s guilt and the disorienting, unceremonious burden of having to rebuild, but it will be harder for Jon and Dany as they will have to rebuild their identities first and foremost;

that’s where their experiences will differ dramatically; now that the world no longer needs them to be heroes, they will both try to revert to what they used to be (and want) before their heroic purpose came into the picture, to the original roots of their identities, the truth of their family (to quote star wars lol). But while for Jon it used to be being the Bastard of Winterfell, i.e. someone who has never been NOT looking for a place in the world, but deeply loves his family and is loved in return—for Dany it’s the Iron Throne. It’s all Viserys used to talk about, and Viserys was the only family Dany has ever known. But it’s always been a pipe dream. Something that was never supposed to be hers, or her family’s, or anyone’s at all in the first place. And this will be her downfall (though the details and actual plot execution of said downfall might be completely different from what we saw on tv!);

and let’s be real this can potentially have a variety of awful implications and subtext in the books too! I have a lot of issues with the notion that your upbringing & the values that were passed on you by your parental figures ultimately define who you are, so I’m not saying this is a good narrative at all. It really depends on how Martin executes it, but the point of my posts on this subject isn’t and has never been proving that the books will do “well” where the show failed, merely that such a narrative is possible in the books too. And yes I think it’s possible, because it’s always been the flip side of the whole “Ned Stark legacy wins, Tywin Lannister legacy loses” discourse, which is definitely A Thing in the books.

finally---the Iron Throne will be destroyed and not as an *accident*, but deliberately, and it will be Dany herself via her proxy Drogon to do it (as it happened in the show). House Targaryen started it, House Targaryen will end it.