#my bran is still trying to make sense of it

[neyuse]

I come here to say that I have played Hashihime and want to play UuultraC soon-ish

Expect ADELTA fanart and merch in the future o7

[cdragons]

❄︎ House Stark & Spicy Food ❄︎ - w/ spicy loving reader

Cries if there's too much pepper:

All of them, Sansa and Robb - these two will actually die if they have the slightest sense of heat to any food they try. Like their hair, they get it from their mother.

Robb will try so hard to pretend that he has any spice tolerance...he doesn't...he REALLY doesn't

This boy wants to impress you so badly while also dying and you are not being very helpful bc you keep laughing at how red his face gets

You didn't even put that much in, it was barely a dash of cayenne or one jalapeno seed and he will DIE

If you ever try to put spice in his dishes, he will look at you with the biggest look of betrayal

Redding Wedding what? Nope, the real, most unforgivable act of treason against this King of the North was putting a ghost pepper in his stew after he pissed you off and drinking all his water to make sure that there wasn't any left near him.

Are the two of you married? Does not matter - off to the dungeons with you.

Okay, not really, but he will be seriously pissed and have a huge pouty face for the rest of the week.

He feels even more betrayed when he sees Grey Wind sleeping next to you after you put the pepper in his food.

"Are you on my side or hers?" - Grey Wind is on Team Cuddles and Being Spoiled.

If you end up eating something too spicy for you, he WILL be the most insufferable person about it

Sansa is literally no different, if not worse, than her brother.

Everything that was written above -> multiply that by 10000 in terms of spice intolerance, and you get Sansa.

She does NOT care about impressing you with improving her spice tolerance.

You could try to convince her that spicy food is better for her body and there are a ton of health benefits, but you will FAIL

You once gave her a Cubanelle pepper (About 1,000 SHU) bc the only less spicy option was a bell pepper and bell peppers are only peppers in name and not in spirit

She did not react well

She RAN 🏃‍♀️ to the well and drank the water out of the pail.

...Was it bad that you laughed at her reaction? Yes

Would you do it again? Also, yes

Was it totally worth being banned from nighttime cuddles and kisses for an entire month?...Okay, maybe you won't do it again

You could make fun of her unseasoned potatoes and closer-to-water soup all you want. She is not interested in damaging her stomach lining and developing stomach cancer.

She WILL make fun of you if you end up eating something too spicy for YOU, and you let her because you love seeing her more childish smile and side.

Slightly Dying, but Otherwise Okay and Kind of Digs It:

Jon can eat spicy foods...theoretically.

He's eaten Wilding food and the rotten food from Castle Black -> compared to that, he can take a little heat.

He was wrong - He was so very, VERY wrong. Your level of heat and spice was something that only a demon could take.

Jon was convinced that you were part dragon bc he can't think of any other reason as to how and WHY you put yourself through this?

Eventually, he DOES develop a bit of spice tolerance, and you take full credit for it, especially because this means his taste palette is more on your level. You aren't as afraid of accidentally killing him with your cooking preferences.

But it ends up lowkey backfiring on him bc you won't stop sneaking spicy food into his meals, and sometimes Tormund and his brothers in Black will sneak a bite off his plate (no one died...everyone lives...shhhhhhhhh)

Sam is dead - he died, you killed him. Gilly is officially out for your blood, and little Sam is raised with the single goal of piercing you with a pointy stick bc you killed his dad.

Pyp and Edd are also lowkey dying. Still, they actually enjoy the heat and are always happy to taste test for your dishes...despite their bowels hating them for it

Grenn and Tormund fucking LOVE the heat. They can easily down bowl after bowl after bowl of your cooking.

Bran SHOULD not eat spicy food...but he does because it makes you so happy, and he will literally do anything for your smile and cuddles.

Like his love of climbing and scary stories, he honestly lives for the thrill of taking the heat.

All of his siblings are terrified he's going to get a stomach ulcer one day because he keeps adding more spice to his food, and they are ALL blaming you, and you're just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

While he's traveling with Osha, Hodor, Rickon, and Reed Siblings, it's your cooking that helps keep them warm.

When he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven and King of the Seven Kingdoms, he and you will go to the kitchens to make your favorite dishes from your shared past because it brings a little of the old Bran back.

It's only around you that he can still smile and laugh, and you love him no matter what.

Love Spicy Food and Can ACTUALLY Take it

Arya LOVESSSSS the heat - All Day, Everyday Baby

While she was in Braavos and training in the House of Black and White, she sampled so many dishes and spices from the markets.

This opened a whole new world to her tastebuds, and when she returned to Winterfell - she still loved the food because it was all the food of her childhood, but it just tasted...boring.

You and her actually met while she was training in Braavos, and your family ran a spice stall in one of the markets.

You were fascinated by the girl and always offered a warm meal and housing if she ever needed it. While cooking for her, Arya would tell you stories about Ned and Jon and all her other siblings.

When she reunited with her family at Winterfell, she thought it was adorable how happy and excited you were to meet them. She also highly encouraged you to share one of your spiciest dishes with them.

Bran didn't have much of a reaction save for a small cough, but Jon immediately reached for his water while Sansa just fainted from the shock of the heat assault in her mouth.

Rickon is the only sibling who can actually eat your food and so he automatically becomes your favorite Stark after Arya.

Rickon and you met while traveling with your siblings (Meera and Jojen) to find Bran. You carried many foreign spices with you (for whatever reason).

Immediately, he was smitten with you because you were the youngest sibling around his age. Shaddydog also loved you from the beginning, which helped your case.

A lot of the spices you carried also had medicinal purposes, so you were in charge of cooking while Meera handled the weapons and Jojen helped guide Bran to the 3ER.

It was during the coldest and most freezing blizzard nights, you used one of your hottest spices to make a stew. It was a miracle by fate that Rickon LOVED it.

Since then, he's always begging you to put hotter spices in the meals, but you refuse bc your spices are expensive and because you don't want to accidentally kill the rest of the "Save The World" Gang.

Shaddydog is a huge issue when you're making food because he's very curious about all the different smells and tastes, and you have to keep booping his nose out of the way because you love adding garlic, and it's not good for canines to eat garlic and salt.

*BONUS*

Catelyn - cannot eat anything spicy for the life of her

Ned - same as his wife, tbh lol

[jedimaesteryoda]

One trend I've noticed a lot lately in the speculation of Tyrion meeting Daenerys is how he'll influence her. The argument often is that Tyrion will encourage her more "fire and blood" destructive tendencies when they get to Westeros. However, this view is often one-sided as it's always about how Tyrion will influence Daenerys but never about how Daenerys will influence Tyrion.

"Daenerys, I am thrice your age," Ser Jorah said. "I have seen how false men are. Very few are worthy of trust, and Daario Naharis is not one of them. Even his beard wears false colors." That angered her. "Whilst you have an honest beard, is that what you are telling me? You are the only man I should ever trust?" He stiffened. "I did not say that." "You say it every day. Pyat Pree's a liar, Xaro's a schemer, Belwas a braggart, Arstan an assassin . . . do you think I'm still some virgin girl, that I cannot hear the words behind the words?" "Your Grace—" She bulled over him. "You have been a better friend to me than any I have known, a better brother than Viserys ever was. You are the first of my Queensguard, the commander of my army, my most valued counselor, my good right hand. I honor and respect and cherish you—but I do not desire you, Jorah Mormont, and I am weary of your trying to push every other man in the world away from me, so I must needs rely on you and you alone. It will not serve, and it will not make me love you any better." -ASOS, Daenerys IV

Daenerys is not the sheltered child Aegon was who Tyrion could easily manipulate as shown when she called out Jorah for trying to isolate her from other men. Even Tyrion admitted to Aegon, having never met Daenerys that "she is strong" and "fierce." Daenerys was more worldly at 14 than Aegon is at 16. Even as a small, frightened girl at age 13 in the beginning of the series, she had more street smarts than her adult brother Viserys and has shown to be a prodigy in the series. Tyrion would not be able to manipulate her easily, especially since would initially be wary of him for being a Lannister.

Tyrion at the end of the day would be serving as her subordinate, him being largely dependent on her. Tyrion largely is the way he is because of the toxic family he grew up in. The Lannister vision has no idea of a Good Society, it's just pure self-aggrandizement by any means necessary. As the adage goes, rot always starts at the head. The monarchs Tyrion served as Hand, Joffrey and Cersei, were both cruel, incompetent tyrants with senses of entitlement that outweighed their actual abilities. They also had no concept of the duties of a monarch to their subjects, and instead just abused their power over others, including sexually. The one who actually ran the show for the Lannister regime, Tywin, was a cold, abusive Machiavellian who brutalized the smallfolk and his children, seeing them as pawns in his schemes. Tyrion could be cunning and brutal, because it was both encouraged and necessary for the winner-take-all, dog-eat-dog world of the Lannister court. It was an environment designed to bring out the darker side of his nature.

However, since the beginning we saw hints of the lighter side of his nature such as when he gave emotional support to Jon and designed a special saddle for Bran. He even helped Catelyn when they were attacked by the mountain clans even though she kidnapped him. In A Clash of Kings, we see hints of Tyrion wanting to be something other than the cold Machiavellian like his father when he stands up for Sansa when Joffrey beats her, and he has Morec killed and Slynt sent to the Wall for killing Barra, wanting to "do justice." In A Dance with Dragons, he risks his life to protect Aegon and even in his lowest he looks out for Penny even though she is a complete stranger to him.

Daenerys is a foil to Cersei, whose ruling philosophy is expressed in the statement "Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?" Daenerys tries to live up to the image of an ideal monarch who protects the weak. She liberates the oppressed from slavery and tries to protect them, even performing acts like tending to those afflicted with the bloody flux herself, marrying someone she doesn't want and putting her plan of going to Westeros on hold to achieve peace. Working as Hand to Queen Daenerys, Tyrion may find himself in a change of pace in a different environment where for once his more positive tendencies are encouraged with his fondness for "cripples, bastards and broken things."

In short, in cutting himself off from his toxic family, Tyrion may actually find a new beginning in service to Daenerys. He's the Machiavellian polymath and court politician she needs, and she's the competent, idealistic monarch he needs.

[jozor-johai]

So do you think Dany and Jon are just two Heads of the Dragon? and if so, who do you think is the third? my money's on Bran as like, the Ice Representative to balance out Dany's fire and Jon's Ice/Fire dealies.

Thank you for this ask, sorry it took ages to respond.

Say that we know (or we think we know) that two "heads" of "the dragon" are Jon and Dany—insofar as we even think we understand what that phrase is supposed to mean (an assumption that I think is worth questioning as well, but that's not a task for now).

Here's what I love about this question—the issue of "who/what is the 'third head'" comes up as a literal question in a religious sense when Arya is talking to the Sailor's Wife in Braavos. There's a statue to the god Trios, and the Sailor's Wife can't tell us the purpose of one of the heads:

Three-headed Trios has that tower with three turrets. The first head devours the dying, and the reborn emerge from the third. I don't know what the middle head's supposed to do.

GRRM is definitely referencing the concept of the "three headed (dragon)" when he invented Trios; the imagery is too central and too specific for that not to be the case. What's fun, of course, is that we're all asking ourselves the same thing—what (or who) is that middle head?

I like your suggestion about Bran. It's a pretty unorthodox idea, because most people assume/expect that the three heads of the "dragon" must be Targaryen or at least Valyrian... but I don't think one needs Valyrian blood to ride a dragon, so as far as I'm concerned Bran is an option. He's a cool idea, too, because of his attachment to the North, the far North, and maybe even the "Ice" concept, like you say. Bran's also a powerful skinchanger—or, in training to be one—and there's not a doubt in my mind we're going to see some dragons get skinchanged. GRRM has been asked about that idea before and he's gleefully dodged answering it.

That would also be interesting because it's worth remembering that Jon is technically not canonically a Targaryen (yet), or even a contender to be a "head of the dragon" (yet). We think we've figured it out (and we probably have) but it's still technically a mystery. In that sense, then, if I was going to lean on the comparison with Trios, I would say: perhaps by now we should have met the first "head" —the "death" head—and we should have met the last head— "rebirth" head—so we should be missing this middle head whose purpose we don't know. However, we think we've figured out that Jon is the marriage of Ice and Fire, so maybe he's the "unknown" middle head—and then Dany is, on one side, the "rebirth" head (of fire?), and we should have met the "death" head (of ice?) already, but we don't know who it might be. Perhaps it's Bran!

If I'm being honest, I personally haven't thought too much about solving the third head of the dragon issue. It's clear to me that some key piece of the puzzle is being intentionally obscured from our view, so it feels like a fool's errand to be confident in solving it at this point. I realize that's a lame answer, but it's the truth—I try to approach these things beginning with how they work in the story and how they work with the symbolism at play, so without being sure how the "three heads" are even supposed to work I haven't tried to solve this mystery.

If there are truly three people who are going to be the "three heads of the dragon," I think the rules of good storytelling limit our options to characters that were introduced in AGOT. If we limit that to POVs—which is not necessarily a valid assumption, but I think is likely—then that's only Tyrion, Bran, Arya, or Sansa. I'm torn on the common "Tyrion Targaryen" theory... I don't really like it, but it would explain why he's included as a POV in AGOT and why he makes the shortlist for possibilities here (among other things). Bran would be a much more interesting option, though.

The thing is, I'm ultimately not convinced the "three heads" are going to work like we expect. Yes, it's said that Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya were the "three heads," but who knows if the common understanding of that is true? Plus, the person who presents the idea to Dany of the need for "three heads" to ride the three dragons is Jorah... who I don't think knows shit about dragons. So my mind is wide open when it comes to possible interpretations of the "three heads of the dragon."

[agentrouka-blog]

The Pact of Ice and Fire is some really damning evidence when it comes to Jonsa. I got into an argument with someone on a forum about it because she disputed that it could just as easily be fulfilled by Jon (a Stark) and D/aenerys (a Targ). Except Jon is the Targ fostered at Winterfell... which seems much more damning to me evidence-wise; we learn about the pact, but more meaningfully it's already been partly fulfilled (leaving the open question of how it might be further developed) and in addition to that acts as foreshadowing for Jon's parentage. It's actually very elegant.

But you know what's most damning to me about it? Why would GRRM invoke 'ice and fire' in this pact - his series namesake, the prophecy for which R/haegar felt called to? It's special, and it might not be saving-the-world special (not GRRM's style - this was what my friendly rival invoked, that it could only be J/D because they'll save the world, i.e. the heroic song of ice and fire), but it's so special it foreshadows two major revelations in the story. About love and the human heart in conflict with itself and unfulfilled political promises. I mean, you could even make the argument that this foreshadows a bit of the dragon dispute - if the Starks have already made alliance with one 'dragon' (Jon) and the rest of Westeros with another (Aegon), what's left for D/aenerys?

Interesting, interesting, all very interesting; a fascinating piece of evidence to be sure. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the J/D take, though not to formulate my argument for me - this argument is both long past and also the one thing I used to hate in anon asks from people was being used to make their arguments (I would literally be contacted mid-Discord debate hahahah) - mostly just curious as to what you think about all those conflicting Snow/Stark/Targ elements - perhaps J/D itself if you feel like it - and the Pact. Love to hear your thoughts.

Something that is often overlooked is that Rhaegar dedicates the "Song of Ice and Fire" to his son Aegon. The son by Elia. The sun's son. His intended heir.

Because to Rhaegar the prophecy was about some kind of epic confrontation between a fire-coded hero and a presumably ice-coded enemy. The imagery and wording of Azor Ahai and his more explicit fire-ice/light-dark/good-evil dichotomies is so similar that we can reasonably assume that this Promised Prince is supposed to be Fire and the Song is supposed to be an epic fight with Ice.

We can't be sure what the motivation of Cregan and Jace would have been in naming their Pact in this way, though it's likely to be different and more representative of their respective elemental symbolism. Emphasizing a union and alliance between contrasting forces for a greater political good. (In their eyes.)

The structure of ice and fire as two opposing but equally destructive magical threats with mirroring arcs and magical conduits (Bran and Dany, actually) that is faced by all of humanity fuses both takes on the name. It's not fire good and ice bad, it's two extreme expressions of blood magic, with humanity banding together in the middle trying to survive.

Jon, as the product of ice and fire Houses, can't represent ice in a union with someone else's fire to create an alliance. He himself is already a mix of both, and his most significant political effect in the narrative has been to faciliate a crucial alliance between two former enemies. We can expect more along those lines. He is the fulfillment of the Pact, in a sense, (No thanks to Rhaegar, all thanks to the love of his mother, uncle and siblings) with only the minor political detail of that marriage to a Stark cousin still in question.

Dany, on the other hand, is fully identified with fire. She can't separate herself from that role to suddenly occupy a space separate from that elemental threat. She represents the threat. Or rather, if she separated from that power (like Bran will) she would cease to represent fire entirely.

If she is to be part of "ice and fire" it can only be in the role of an enemy to be defeated. If she ceases to be fire, she has no place in that equation, and she would be missing an icy counterpart. If GRRM had intended for Jon and Dany to represent ice and fire together, he would have never needed to bother with RLJ. Jon could be Ned's bastard "ice" son to Dany's "fire". But a significant aspect of his story is, specifically, the revelation that Jon is not, in fact, Ned's son. He is the son of a Stark maiden and a Targaryen prince, "hiding in the snow".

Jon and Dany occupy two very different spots in the "ice and fire metaphor continuum".

[arellabella]

Why I think Theon is indeed magical and not just some prophet like Aeron.

Don't get me wrong I do like the prophet angle as well but I just don't think that is where Theon's character is heading. I will explain more on my thoughts on that later and why I don't think it makes much sense.

I think for one too many magical things are happening around Theon and even though they are ambiguous, which I do like because it makes you question on whether what we are seeing is real or in Theon's own mind and there are also things you can go there are plausible reasons why this was able to happen like him and Jeyne surviving jumping off a very high wall even in snow.

But I think overall too many magical things are happening around Theon for it not to mean anything.

I know people have compared Theon's green dream to that of Jaime's as Jaime got his while sleeping on a weirwood, I can't quite remember if it was a tree or stump though while Theon had his while in Ned's bed which is made of Weirwood. But to me the two are different as Jaime was sleeping on live weirwood while Theon wasn't.

And truth be told if this had been the only evidence I would have probably agreed that it's like Jaime but it's not.

Theon can hear people through the weirwood. This is not an ability that many have and Theon has done this twice possibly thrice and while awake. I think the only two people who we know can hear through weirwood are The Ghost of Highheart and Jon but both of these can only do it while in their dreams.

He can either hear crying from a distance if it's believed to be Jeyne, a ghost crying or again Bran crying. It's unknown at this point who he heard crying but either way he heard it.

The most ambiguous one he flew. Now there was evidence for and against this but I think he did and don't think it would have been worded like that if he didn't.

Another ambiguous one. He keeps on surviving. This is a question that has been asked both in book and out of book. How is Theon still alive? Even Theon asks this question because with all the dangerous situations Theon has been in he should be dead. He should be dead from the torture inflicted on him in the Dreadfort dungeons or should have died from starvation, sickness or infection. He should have died on his way to Moat Cailin, he was weak and had a weak horse he should have easily been hit by an arrow but yet not one does. Theon should be dead when that crossbow bolt should have hit him and when he jumped off that wall with Jeyne.

There's also the fact that both Bran and possibly Blood Raven are trying to get in contact with him through the Raven's. I have heard theories that they just want to sacrifice Theon to the tree and that could possibly be the case but then that also doesn't make sense because why are they trying to contact Theon specifically?

It would make more sense for them to try and get Stannis' attention if this was the case because he is the one who has power over how Theon is executed. Theon has no power here, he has no say in how he's executed.

But it's Theon who they are trying to contact and Theon they are now both watching and there is a reason for that.

I think in TWOW as Theon discovers himself more and discovers who the real Theon is the more supernatural stuff will be happening to him and from him. I said before I think his magical journey will coincide with his identity journey. Theon has only just gotten his name back but he's still clawing back his identity.

Now on the prophet idea. I do like the idea as a I said above but the problem here is that Theon would at this moment in time be the worst prophet going. Theon is meant to be the Prophet who speaks the truth? How? It's a theme throughout ADWD that no one really listens to Theon. They either think that the stuff comes out of his mouth are lies, they misunderstand or they don't want to be near him for him to be able to speak. So how is one of the most hated people in Westeros meant to be a prophet where listening to a prophet and heeding their message is important? I mean this was also a theme in ACOKs too with no one wanting to listen to Theon.

But whether Theon is magical or not or whether he becomes a prophet or not I'm excited either way for TWOW, if it ever comes out.

[atopvisenyashill]

hey! i’ve been sort of lurking on your blog for a while, lol, but seeing you answer one of your recent asks abt some of your main theories got me curious enough to finally start a convo. so for the record, i was kind of ambivalent about sansa before reading some of your metas, and i’m still not really a jonsa believer, but a lot of things you’ve catalogued on ur blog did a lot to solidify sansa being lady of winterfell as a new member of my ASOIAF Endgame PredictionsTM, and seeing u answer that recent ask w all your separate bits of evidence collected together really sold it for me! quick question, though: i tend to skim-read long posts, so maybe i missed something, but did you say anything about why sansa would specifically end up as QiTN, rather than just lady of winterfell (still under whoever the next major ruler of westeros is)? i mean, especially if we do go ahead and assume that bran will end up as king in harrenhal, i don’t quite get why sansa would want to establish the north as a separate kingdom by seceding from her own brother? i suppose there’s the angle of wanting to honor what robb fought for, which certainly isn’t a bad motivator… but i think the remaining starklings, of all people, would be more likely to recognize (and focus on the fact) that robb’s main motivation in participating in the Wot5K was mostly just to avenge ned and secure the safety of the rest of his family. and even if the idea of finishing what robb started is a motivating factor, considering that asoiaf’s endgame is almost certainly going to be post-apocalyptic in some senses, i feel like whoever’s making these big decisions (even if that group does include some of the starklings, though it definitely will) would be more likely to prioritize trying to kind of return the world of westeros to something most resembling the previous status quo, which committing to splitting the kingdoms would maybe not really help with?

interested to hear your thoughts on all of this, thanks for reading :D <3

First - thank you for the compliment!!! I love to spread the gospel of Sansa As Ruling Lady In Winterfell lol, and it's nice to know I've convinced some people about some aspects of it! I have got to get better about adding a tldr at the ending though bc I too will sometimes just skim a post and queue it alsdjfla. (also validating each other on "the ending is going to be post apocalyptic" - YES that's what I've BEEN saying omg I do sometimes feel like some of the endgame predictions leave out that imo the last half of ados is going to feel very much like a post-apocalyptic type rebuilding!). Also sorry if this is kind of meandering, I wanted to organize it a bit more but that didn't work out lol.

But honestly okay - I go back and forth a LOT on whether Sansa is ruling lady of Winterfell or straight up Queen on the North. I’m still very undecided on it! I think it makes sense, narratively and just like logically that if Rickon is found he’s Bran’s heir in the South (both as a parallel to the Aegon/Viserys ending of the Dance and as a kind of neat bow tie on their story as brothers - they start the series being left behind in Winterfell and end the series choosing to stay behind but together in Harrenhal), then the girls are in the North as the Starks in Winterfell. Again, I think this is a parallel to Sansa/Serena & a play on the she-wolves of winterfell, but also, being the two oldest Starks, makes sense that Sansa is ruling lady and Arya is a sort of Hand (and like Rickon, potentially the one their line descends from but again - call me Sokka because I love to waffle!) But Queen in the North specifically? I think that's less clear than Sansa being ruling lady of Winterfell (which imo isn't just clear, it's the obvious answer for her story arc) though I still think there's a high probability of it.

First, let me get into the more conjecture side of it. Basically, I think part of the reason the kingdoms are going to split is because there will be some population and geographic changes after the Long Night/second war for the throne - I think I've mentioned it before I believe the Neck is going to "break" ie become flooded the same way the arm of dorne was "broken" and flooded and became the stepstones. This would make the North a lot harder to get to, geographically, which could further isolate them and want them to have their own monarch who is In The North and can make more snap decisions as they rebuild than Bran could all the way passed the Neck in Harrenhal.

I also think the Iron Islands are going to get fucked and Asha will lead a lot of her people to the mainland to settle, probably in the North due to them needing more population because they also got fucked - and two groups of people who are notoriously kind of isolationist coming together might prefer to stay partially disconnected from the main kingdoms. Which isn't to say they won't have contact with each other - I guess I was picturing like....idk a sort of EU thing lmao, or maybe a Narnia thing of like, open borders between the 2-3 kingdoms who are all allies and work together due to being on the same continent.

Of course, the breaking of the Neck (which is something I'm a lot more confident on - I think it's a guarantee tbh) could also drive the North back into the arms of the other kingdoms, as they need more help recovering from the Long Night and can perhaps offer help to the South as the South recovers from their wars. But anyways that's my geographic/logistical reason why I think the North might stay separated from the rest of the Kingdoms, even with a Stark King on the throne.

Now, in the previous ask, I mentioned her parallels to other Queens and some of the Queen imagery surrounding her - there's the abundant Naerys/Sansa parallels, and the Cersei/Sansa antiparallels. There's a bit of talk about how ~Sansa is good at queenly things~ and ~Joffrey was foolish to set her aside that feels (to me) like setup for her being a ruling Queen - no one can set her aside or disrespect her then, like Naerys and Cersei go through. Of course just paralleling a few Queens doesn't inherently mean she'll be Queen but I do think the emphasis on comparing her to queens is pointed - then again, imo there's also a lot of parallels between her and Princess Rhaena Targaryen of Dragon Twins fame, and Rhaena does not wind up a queen!

(there is also some parallels to historical queens there, most notably to Elizabeth of York, Queen of England and wife to Henry VII. Notably their marriage ended the War of the Roses, but I don't claim to be an expert there but I have reblogged some meta on that here and I'm sure there's others floating around).

There's also these two little bits here-

Ahead he glimpsed a pale white trunk that could only be a weirwood, crowned with a head of dark red leaves.

In their midst was a pale stranger; a slender young weirwood with a trunk as white as a cloistered maid. Dark red leaves sprouted from its reaching branches.

The first is from a Jon chapter and I think it could point to Bran or Sansa - dark red hair, pale skin, and a crown. The second one is what makes me think it points to either just sansa or both of them - that comes in a Brienne chapter. Again you have the pale skin (white as a cloistered maid) and dark red leaves acting as hair almost. To be honest, there's a lot with the Tully-Starklings having the coloring of a weirwood that's sort of fascinating in what it implies - perhaps that their roots are leading them back North, perhaps something more sinister re: Bran being eaten by a tree. I digress lol.

There's a few comments from Ned as well that feel like they might be foreshadowing-

“Brandon. Yes. Brandon would know what to do. He always did. It was all meant for Brandon. You, Winterfell, everything. He was born to be a King’s Hand and a father to queens. I never asked for this cup to pass to me.”

"Yet someday he may be the lord of a great holdfast and sit on the king's council. He might raise castles like Brandon the Builder, or sail a ship across the Sunset Sea, or enter your mother's Faith and become the High Septon." But he will never run beside his wolf again, he thought with a sadness too deep for words, or lie with a woman, or hold his own son in his arms. Arya cocked her head to one side. "Can I be a king's councillor and build castles and become the High Septon?" “You,” Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, “will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.” Arya screwed up her face. "No," she said, "that's Sansa."

There's a lot made of that last one, about how Ned potentially lays out his kids endgames right there to Arya -

Lord of a Great Holdfast and sit on a King's Council - Jon Snow

Raise Castles Like Brandon the Builder - Bran

Sail a Ship Across the Sunset Sea - Arya

Enter the Faith and Become High Septon - Rickon

Marry a King, Rule His Castle, Sons will be {etc} - no, that's Sansa

Those comments stick out to me because imo Sansa & Arya's endgames will be a sort of mirror to Ned & Lyanna so it seems natural to me that some of Sansa's endgame would be foreshadowed in the chapters of her father the same as Arya's endgame is sort of anti-foreshadowed (idk how you would phrase that one lol) in Lyanna.

tldr i am much more confident in the idea that Sansa will rule Winterfell than I am in what title she will have while ruling. I do think there is some Sansa-as-Queen foreshadowing, in her comparisons to other Queens like Naerys, Cersei, and Elizabeth of York, and the way characters like Ned & Tyrion talk about how ~queenly~ she acts and how naturally leading under stress comes to her.

[duhragonball]

It's my birthday today, and the local grocery store was thoughtful enough to stock the Dragon Ball Z Reese's Puffs, so I'm gonna try it out. Join me, won't you?

I still can't believe this is real. I mean, Reese's Puffa is kind of surreal enough as it is. It sounds like some satirical brand meant to poke fun at sugary kids' cereals. The box says "Made with REAL REESE'S Peanut Butter", the same way a fruit-flavored beverage will claim to contain genuine fruit.

The bowl on the box art is a Reese's cup, so it basically depicts candy being served in more candy. I'm old enough to remember when they would photograph cereal as "part of a complete breakfast", and there'd be grapefruits and toast and maybe a hard boiled egg. Basically they were admitting that the cereal was so unhealthy that you needed to eat three or four other breakfasts to make up for it. I just liked the photos because they were so picturesque. Ah, to have unlimited free time to prepare a leisurely 4-course breakfast while reading the paper. I just assumed everyone else was having toast with their cereal except my family, but yeah, it never really made any sense.

I haven't even gotten to Goku yet, but first I want to talk about his spoon. I don't think we see him holding a spoon very often. He's usually a chopsticks kind of guy, or he'll just use his bare hands or even dunk his head into the bowl. It kind of looks like a ladle when he holds it like that, which implies he cooked this bowl of candy soup all by himself, and he's showing it off like a proud chef. This spoon kicks ass, is what I'm trying to say.

But the real reason I bought this is because of that orange hillbilly who needs no introduction. I wasn't even looking for Reese's Puffs. It was the furthest thing from my mind. No, I was stocking up on the old-man cereal I require to survive, when I just saw him staring at me, with his friendly-yet-confident smile. Goku's not pressuring you to buy the cereal. He's sure you'll enjoy it, but it's okay if you want to take a pass. He'll just enjoy all this peanut butter chocolate goodness all by himself. Goku is truly the ideal spokesman. How can you say no to this lovable hunk?

I'm kind of out of touch when it comes to cereal marketing, but I'm pretty sure this sort of cross-promotion is a rarity. Like, they once put WWE wrestlers on Wheaties or something, but usually if the cereal companies want a cartoon on the box they'll just make their own character. Or if the cartoon people want to put their guy in the cereal aisle, they'll just commission a whole new cereal just for that brand. C-3PO had his own cereal for a while. It was pretty good!

What I'm saying is that it's kind of unusual to see a popular character like this on a cereal box. The only exception I can come up with is Fred Flintstone on Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, but I always assumed that those were specifically "Flintstones Cereal".

Other than that, yeah, I can't think of any other examples of cartoon characters appearing on unaffiliated cereal boxes like this. Well, I drew my DBZ OC on a box of All-Bran today, but I don't think that counts.

"MY FIBER IS MAXIMUM, KAKAROT!"

I wondered what was up with the picture of Piccolo on the back of the box, and it turns out that he's one of seven different characters you can find on the back of the box. Collect them all! Aw man, that Cell one looks fucking sick! I don't know how they distributed these. Maybe they roll them out in waves and Piccolo's came first. Or maybe it's random and I might have found a Cell if I'd checked more boxes at the store. Well, Piccolo's pretty good. I guess.

All right, I just poured myself a bowl and Goku's cereal is gonna have to set course for Planet Oat. The dairy industry may not applaud my shopping choices, but I like oat milk because it doesn't spoil as quickly as cow milk, and it's got a nice oat-y flavor that compliments the cardboard taste of All-Bran.

I did not put Dawn liquid soap in my cereal. This time.

So what's the verdict here? Well, the first few bites were pretty tasty, and then I realized I was getting kind of sick of this as I made my way to the bottom of the bowl. The peanut butter flavor overwhelms everything. It has a very strong odor, so if you like Reese's peanut butter cups you can just sit this out in your room and savor the aroma. I barely registered any chocolate flavor at all. I mean, I believe they put it there, but the peanut butter is the whole story to this.

It's basically Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs from Calvin and Hobbes, only this is a special Peanut Butter variant they made. I never really appreciated the jokes about sugary cereals before. I grew up on Frosted Flakes and the like, but there were a certain class of cereals that my mom would just refuse to buy. My grandparents would have them, but I never really understood the difference between Frosted Flakes and Honey Smacks. As I got older, I ate less cereal in general, but that was mostly because I fell out of the habit of eating breakfast altogether.

But now I'm 47, and the only cereal I eat these days is bran topped with diced peaches and a couple of packets of artificial sweetener, so Reese's Puffs is way, way too sugary for my palate. It's not bad, but a little goes a long way for me.

When I was a kid, old people were always griping about all the stuff they couldn't eat anymore. I remember Isaac Asimov writing mournfully about how he couldn't have an Oreo cookie, which bummed me out because that was my favorite cookie back then, and it seemed that the fate of all humanity was to be denied the simple pleasure of enjoying them.

Now, I realize that a lot of the stuff that you liked as a kid just doesn't age up with you. Your tastes change, and you gain appreciations for new things that you wouldn't have appreciated before. That's not a bad thing. It's life. Things change, and you change along with them.

Well, you and I do, anyway. Not Goku, whose Saiyan biology keeps him looking exactly the same for sixty years so he can eat all the sweetened corn puffs he wants. But I don't envy him, is what I'm trying to say. I'm watching a wrestling show on PPV tonight, my mom took me to Cracker Barrel for lunch today, and I drew on a cereal box. I can't complain.

[yanderu-deredere]

line.

★ you and your friends accept the gracious invite a couple of strangers extended to you. they didn't seem all that bad and, in fact, you get a bit attached to them! they're really kind after all...

a/n: here's the second part. i'm writing this before ive published the first part so here's crossing my fingers, hoping that first part gets good reviews loool this should be published the day after so! hope i didnt make yall wait to long!

like i warned in the first part, these yanderes are inspired by slashers. the first part didn't include any violence but this part might. i'll include in the warnings if it does. please heed the warnings! thank you!

part one (hook.) ★ part two (here) ★ part three (sinker.) ★ part four (?)

pairing: casimir fiala x reader x emmaline fiala word count: 2393 warning: gender neutral reader, reader is attracted to males and females, readers friends suck even more, reader is kind of pervy in this one, final ship is poly

When the entire group finally entered the couple's house, you were met with a hallway entrance. Unlike the outside of the house, the inside was nice and well-maintained.

"Pretty sweet house." Dirk wolf whistled as he walked ahead and looked around, his bag slung behind his shoulder. Chloe giggled at him as if what he said was a joke. You honestly didn't understand.

Of course, Bran had to put his two cents. "Pretty sweet for a glorified security guard."

"Shut up, don't be rude." You couldn't help but defend the couple a little, a frown marring your lips as you watched Emm look curiously at her husband, only for Casimir to roll his eyes as if to say 'Don't get me started'

Before you could venture further into the home, you felt a rough shove from beside you. You tried your hardest not to fall over; not an easy feat considering the hefty pack on your back.

When you glanced at who shoved you, you weren't exactly surprised to see it was Kathy. She mouthed at you to shut up, probably annoyed that you were telling her boyfriend off.

She had a weird notion that only she was allowed to do that.

Rolling your eyes, you just gave a curt nod and went on your way, trying to stick close to the couple and avoiding your friends who were oddly striking nerve after nerve with you today.

You weren't surprised. After years of the four of them keeping you around to use you for their own bullshit, you had gotten tired of it and tried to distance yourself.

Why did you even let them talk you into going on this trip?

Maybe a part of you still felt some sort of friendship for them. After all, even though they'd been terrible to you, you were good friends with them for a long time and that wasn't something easily forgotten.

Call it stupidity or some misplaced sense of loyalty.

"Make yourselves at home." Emm gestured to everything before pointing to the stairs directly at the end of the hallway "The third floor's off limits 'cus that's where we're at but everything is on the second floor."

"There is two guest bedrooms there and a shared bathroom." Casimir elaborated as he hung up his rather drenched lab coat "Usually, we keep it for the in laws and close family. They stayed recently so the rooms should still be good and clean."

"Why would anyone want to visit here..." You spotted Chloe running her fingers along a table by the door with a bunch of knickknacks on it, frown evident on her face

Emm tossed her motorcycle keys Chloe's direction and she had to snatch her hand back just to prevent it from smacking the back of her hand.

"We're not allowed a lot'a vacation days so family have to visit us here if the wan'a spend time with us." Emm easily explained, shrugging as she hung up her motorcycle helmet before just unceremoniously placing her elbow pads right next to her keys.

You ignored how much that didn't make sense and opted to look into one of the door ways branching off of the hall way.

Dirk was right, though. Their house was pretty impressive for an abandoned little town.

It reminded you of those historical movies set in rural Georgia or something; a lot of wood furniture, with the open wooden beams in the ceiling, and a lot of family heirlooms cluttered everywhere.

The room you specifically looked into was a living room, complete with a fire place and a creepy looking mirror hung above it.

The couches at least looked nice but they also looked ancient, with the floral patterns looking like they came from someone's Grandma's linen closet.

"No windows?" Kathy walked up next to you, taking every step like she was about to walk into a trap.

You would've rolled your eyes if you didn't think she would've shoved you into the rather nice coffee table as retaliation.

You gestured to a rather large window to your left but she just scoffed at you "That's a door."

You walked closer to observe and were surprised to be proven correct. It was a door. You could see something like a garden through the gauzy curtain covering the panes of glass.

"The lack of windows make it a little gloomy in here." Bran appeared right next to Kathy, arms crossed as he pretended to shiver from how scared he was of the bad lighting.

Kathy just laughed but you shook your head.

As you turned around, the three of you were suddenly blinded with light and, though you couldn't say the same for Bran and Kathy, you definitely jumped a little.

At the entrance of the living room, Casimir stood, his hand on a light switch and a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I am in charge of dinner, as I am every night. I was going to cook a rather nice scotch fillet for me and my wife. I have some extras I was going to save for later this week." He explained, drawing his hand away from the way to tuck it behind his back "Any allergies? And how would you like your steak cooked?"

"No allergies in the group." All the anxiety in Kathy's body seemed to evaporate at the thought of getting free dinner "And I love having my steak done medium well, thank you!"

"Well done for me." Bran grumbled out, not happy his girlfriend was so easily won over by a steak dinner

You, on the other hand, felt a little nervous accepting such a wonderful dinner invitation so you moved forward, dropping your bag next to the couch "Are you sure it's okay for you to cook us dinner?"

"It's late, the rain is predicted to keep up all night. I most certainly won't let my wife drive in the middle of the night even if it does stop." Casimir held out a hand as if to stop you from whatever you wanted to say "Let us at least do you this one favor. We don't get a lot of visitors after all and we're paid well enough by our jobs to afford feeding a bunch of strays."

When he said that, you saw his green eyes flicker for a second to Bran and there was some sort of irritation there but then it flickered back to you and all you could see was sweet politeness.

So, of course, you relented but not without compromise "At least let me help you prepare dinner."

Casimir seemed surprised by that but then he grinned "If you insist."

Then, his hand, which he had held up a second ago, raised even further to tuck a stray strand of your hair behind your ear, his fingers seemingly lingering for a bit longer "How about I get the ingredients ready and you change out of those sopping wet clothes?"

"It won't do either of us good if you get a cold now would it?" He added and you felt your ears get a little hot with embarrassment.

He was right, you were getting a bit ahead of yourself. You gave a quick nod. Scurrying back, you picked up your bag and made a move to go upstairs.

As you passed by Bran, he shouldered you a little and you heard him whisper to you, "Don't flirt with him, you fucking freak."

You felt your face fall but you quickly tried to compose yourself.

You honestly should've been used to it by now. Bran always decided to knock you down a peg at random moments like that but, still, it always took you off your guard.

Before you could get up the stairs, a gentle hand cupped your elbow and you turned, curious to see who stopped you.

"Hi, sorry, darl', just wanted to say that you'll have to stay in a spare bed on the third floor." Emm smiled gently at you, the picture of a kind hostess "I hope you don't mind."

You quickly shook your head, trying to calm the heat on your face and ears "Of course not! You're already helping us so much after all the trouble we've put you guys through!"

Then, you leaned close, pretending as if you were going to tell her some terrible secret "Don't tell Bran I said this but it was honestly stupid of him to try and go through here as a short cut to Lovelock."

When you pulled back, there was an expression on Emm's face that you couldn't exactly decipher. Before you couldn't really think about it though, it was gone and she was back to smiling at you.

"Yeah, there's been millions'a people like him for sure." Emm nodded, hand gliding up to your forearm as she guided you up the stairs, probably to where your room was "I always think the fine's too big for'em to try but there's always anoth'r dum'ass every week."

You giggled a little at her words but your brain felt a little dizzy at the feel of her hand around your arm, the way her palm almost wrapped entirely around it, how firm her grip was on you.

She was one tough looking lady.

"Your other two friends are a'ready in their rooms, d'now if you were lookin' for them." She informed you as the two of you passed that landing before embarking on the second set of stairs to the third floor.

"How come you guys have such a huge house?" You couldn't help but wonder, the curiosity getting the best of you.

"This used't be the house of some big shot at the Pharma back in the day, before the factory closed. Someone with a big family, I reckon." She shrugged as the two of you got to the final step on the stairs "The Pharma gave us reign to the entire village and we were movin' in with my brother and sister at the time so we jus' picked the biggest house. The oth'r choices were way smaller or just straight up apartments."

You nodded before feeling a little surprised to see that the third floor looked like a second living room. There was another set of couches, a coffee table, TV set and a door leading to what you presumed was the master bedroom.

"I hope a pullout is okay with you?" Emm smiled apologetically at you "It's really comfortable, I promise."

Without thinking much about it, you took her hand into yours and gave it a little shake "It's really fine, truly. Like I said before, you've been more than hospitable to us. This is so much more than what we should expect."

Her smile grew wide and she swooped in, giving you a tight hug "I'm so glad you think so! You'd fit right in here, y'know."

You laughed, hugging her back. You didn't know exactly what she meant by that but she was just so nice and kind that you accepted her words easily.

"Now, I think I heard you say you'd help Cas out with dinner." She pulled away, her hands rubbing up and down your shoulders for a second before she turned you towards the closed door you spotted earlier "Let me show you the bathroom."

"Oh, wait, isn't that--"

"It's fine!" Emm waved off your concerns as she practically dragged you along, opening the door and gesturing to the other door on the far side "That's the bathroom, by the way."

Then she let you go to rifle around her drawers for something.

You couldn't help but look around a little, curious about their master bedroom. It looked like any other bedroom, albeit a little too clean. Big bed in the middle, nightstand on either side, dresser for both him and her. There was another door you assumed was a closet.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, I was just--" You were about to answer her except, when you turned to look at her, she was in the middle of taking off (or putting on?) her shirt and you panicked, your entire face feeling as hot as a kettle.

You turned around, squeaking out apology after apology as you scrambled into the bathroom, heart beating a mile a minute.

You locked the door and put down your bag, changing as fast as you could while trying to erase the image of Emm changing in your head. Still, you couldn't.

She was a married woman so you felt guilty but that didn't change the fact that she was very beautiful. Her body was built but curvy, pudgy but in a way where you could tell she had muscles underneath, with black and red tattoos swirling all over her tanned skin.

All you could remember was the lace of her black bra cupping her breasts, the way they were too big and seemed to overflow at the top of the cups.

Even her pants hung low, revealing the tops of her matching underwear and the hints of a tattoo on her wide hips.

You wanted to slap yourself.

She was a married woman! And she was being so gracious to you! Why were you lusting over her like some stupid high school kid? You idiot!

You tapped your head a few times as if you could tap the thought right out of your head before continuing with your changing.

When you exited with your bag, she was gone, probably weirded out by your staring. You sighed and just dropped your bag off at the couch right outside their bedroom.

Then, you walked downstairs. You wanted to check on Chloe and Dirk but, from the giggling right outside their room, you rather gouge your eyes out.

So, instead, you headed directly to the kitchen.

Casimir was already there, looking dressed and ready to cook. He had a different button up, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also had an apron around his waist and his hair was tied in a messy bun high on his head.

There was something both domestic and handsome about the way he was dressed.

"Ah, my dear Igor, you've gotten dressed." He smirked as soon as he spotted you, his hand doing a couple of final flicks to roll up his last sleeve "There's an apron there, on the chair--"

You spotted it quickly and put it on, though you struggled a bit to tie it at the back.

Casimir chuckled a little, all deep and rich, before going behind you and helping you tie it.

"So, if I'm Igor, does that mean you're Dr. Frankenstein?" You tried to keep the silence at bay as he tied your apron and you rolled your sleeves up to your elbows.

He chuckled again "Of course. Though, hopefully, our cooking doesn't end up as convoluted as the Creature."

As he got ready at the kitchen counter, you couldn't help but turn a little meek "Uhm, by the way, did you see where Emm went?"

Casimir didn't spare you a glance as he set out a board and some vegetables out, probably for you to cut or dice "Oh, I think she went out to park her motorcycle? Probably so it doesn't rust in this downpour."

You frowned but took your place beside Casimir who seemed intent on peeling the potatoes as best as he could "When-- When she was uhm showing me the bathroom-- I uhm-- I accidentally-- you know-- I uhm--"

That's when Casimir finally stopped and peeked at you, his green eyes justas intimidating as when you first saw him out on that main road, by the factory.

"I a-accidentally saw her ch-changing." You squeaked, unable to keep your gaze on him

Instead of anger, Casimir suddenly clapped a hand on the back of your neck and pulled you close, that same deep and rumbling chuckle leaving his lips "Is that all? It's fine. If she had a problem with it, you wouldn't be with me, chopping up vegetables."

"O-Oh, okay!"

"She's taken quite a liking to you. I can tell." He continued to peel the potatoes, chucking the peeled ones in a bowl before gesturing to some broccolini and asparagus that needed trimming "Don't worry, if she had a problem with you, she will let you know."

"I'm sure she's told you but you'd be a good fit here, you know."

"Yeah, she said that." You started chopping the bottoms of the asparagus absentmindedly "What does that mean?"

"Just that we both really like you. Your friends take you for granted. You're a really great person." Casimir shrugged before bumping his hip against yours "Have you ever thought of settling here in Lovelock permanently?"

"Oh, I mean, there's not really anything waiting for me back at home other than a college degree." You laughed nervously before shrugging too "I don't know, I think it'd be nice but I'm-- I've never-- I don't know."

You could see Casimir look unsure for a second, like he was panicked and didn't know what to say, before he sighed "Sorry if I said something-- Or-- I'm not good with words or with feelings."

"But you have a place to stay with Emm and I if you ever need it."

You grinned at him, nodding "I really appreciate it! Thank you!"

When you looked up at him, there was a strange expression on his face. KInd of similar to that expression on Emm's face earlier. You chalked it to you just being weird. Instead, you focused on your asparagus, excited about the dinner coming.

[gurugirl]

The Séance Experience Sneak Peek | ghost!harry

Someone asked for a sneak peek. Find it below the cut.

This is a bit scary and just a tiny taste of what's to come. Please only read at your discretion. Based on the Halloween one shot On Halloween Morning but can be read as a standalone (though the story will make more sense if you read the previous part). This sneak peek is from the point of view of one of the mediums (called Cooper) for the séance.

She could feel the house as if it were alive. Every room had a story, a haunted retelling of the horrors that had happened over the years.

“I invoke light and pure intention. I am a clear and kind channel. Light is my guide. I will not harm and my request is for knowledge and safe passage.”

Cooper repeated her words as she descended the stairs to the main floor, already feeling the way the spirits in the home were at odds within. Some were receptive, some were not. She knew this could lead to trouble if everyone inside wasn’t on the same page. If they weren’t sensitive and receptive.

She lit candles to guide everyone into the basement of the home. The rest of the people who had been invited to join would be arriving shortly for the séance.  

Bran, Marin, and Russ had set up the table and chairs, put the black cloth at the center with candles in the corner, and Cooper’s old Ouija board and planchette atop.

She took a deep breath to center herself and felt the chill of the spirits all around.

“Bran?” She held her candle close to her heart as she stepped down into the basement and looked at the tall man.

Without responding to her verbally he turned to look at her. The shadows that cast over his face made it hard to see his expression.

“Jacob and Rick are still here. I can feel them. Maybe we can draw them out. I can’t tell if they’re alive or not.”

Bran nodded, “I can also feel them. I don’t know what happened but this house is full of darkness and despair. Are you open?”

Cooper nodded, “Yes. I feel the guiding of the good spirits here. I’m protected. You?”

Bran looked at a dark corner of the basement and back to Cooper, “I don’t know. I keep lighting that candle and it keeps getting blown out. Something here is trying to warn us to leave.”

Marin suddenly ran into a chair and gasped, “What the fuck!”

“Are you okay?” Cooper rushed toward the young woman who shook her head in disbelief.

“Something just pulled me into that chair and whispered but I couldn’t understand. I… I’m okay. I think.”

Cooper looked down at the chair and back to Marin, “Have you spoken your intentions to the house? Are you protected?”

The young woman looked at Bran and then back to Cooper, “Protected from what?”

Cooper set her candle at the edge of the table and gazed toward Bran, “You told everyone about this house, correct? About its past? What to expect?”

Bran cleared his throat as three young men abruptly descended into the basement, laughing and speaking loudly.

Cooper pointed as she kept her eyes on Bran, “Who are they?”

Bran took Cooper’s arm and pulled her away from Marin, “Observers. I found a group who were interested in coming to watch.”        

Cooper yanked her arm from Bran and walked toward the three obnoxious men, “Excuse me, you three will need to leave. It’s not safe for you here. I’m sorry that you were misled–“

“Who are you?” The man with jean shorts and flip flops laughed as he took in Cooper’s appearance wearing a shawl and hood as if she were some old witch.

Bran interrupted, “They’ve paid to be here. They’re not going anywhere, Cooper.”

“Paid? Why would you charge anyone? What are you trying to do here? This isn’t some game!”

“Calm down. Nothing will happen to them. I’ll see to it.”

Cooper scoffed and rubbed her hands over her face, “How many outsiders have you invited?”

“Just four.”

“Four outsiders? Bran, they can’t be here. Two of our own are already gone. Maybe dead.” Cooper began to raise her voice. She knew it was a bad idea to get Bran involved. She felt it from the beginning that he was up to no good. There were only meant to be eight people in total for the séance.

The fourth outsider made their way down into the basement as well as Russ and two of the others Cooper already knew.

“We can’t do this. Not like this.” Cooper rushed out her words and grabbed for her board at the center of the table but Bran stopped her, putting his hand over hers.

“We will. The show must go on. I can already feel them. They want to be heard. It can't be stopped.”

Cooper shoved Bran away, “You’re making a big mistake. I’m out. This is reckless.”

She wanted her board and her planchette but she could already tell the evil that resided in the house had already gotten Bran. He was channeling the dark and she needed to leave before it was too late.

As she took the stairs up to the main floor the basement door slammed closed and everyone in the dark space had their attention on Cooper.

“No one leaves this home, Cooper. Don’t you understand? Angra has called us all for his sacrifice,” Bran’s voice crawled through the chilled air of the damp, dark basement and one of the outsiders laughed not realizing the levity of the moment.

“Fuck. This is creepy as shit. Worth every penny.”

“It’s not a game!” Cooper’s voice wavered as she held onto the banister and made her way back down the stairs to join the other 9. She already knew the house was locking them into the basement. She wouldn’t be getting out by turning the knob. It would be useless for her to attempt it.

Harry and Y/n watched from their shadowed corner with pleased smiles. Bran was right. No one would be leaving unscathed, if at all. The ten living souls trapped in the basement were now theirs.

“This is going to be fun.” Y/n whispered as they watched the humans gather around the table and another candle blew out.

“Shall we begin?” Bran spoke loudly, his voice like nails on a chalkboard. An old fixture above the table flickered on, casting light down over the board, making the edges of the room appear darker.

Evil had arrived.

ghost!harry masterlist

[lemonhemlock]

I'm a 'Martin won't ever publish another ASOIAF book' truther but in addition to King Bran being profoundly idiotic, Martin has major structural issues that are now too 'big' to 'fix' imo. Namely, the ages of the characters are ridiculous and are all wrong for where their arcs need to go. The characters on the show were aged up and even the younger ones grew up on screen so Bran and Sansa and Arya were at least into late teens/adulthood at the end of the show - one is 13 and other is currently 11 and Bran is like, what, 8 in books? sksksksksk Just absolutely disastrous.

The characters should have been in their mid to late teens at the start of AGOT, at minimum. Especially because Martin essentially treated them, and has them act, like adults. I'm sorry, but I don't think that man has any understanding between the mental and physical developmental differences between, say, a 14 year old girl and a 17 year old girl. Every character appears and acts like they are anywhere from 3 to 5 years older than they are.

Also, the POV structure, while interesting, has also been disastrous in actually getting the story moving because certain characters have to be in certain places for things to happen while others are just sitting around killing time.

Hmmm, I don't really agree about the POV structure. It functioned fine for three books and offered compelling court drama, battles, magical elements and intriguing plot-twists. AGOT / ACOK / ASOS are pretty well paced and I've even seen someone making the case that the series could even have ended in that point and would have been one of the best fictional fantasy experiments. I found myself agreeing and disagreeing. I think the ASOS ending would have still distinguished ASOIAF from other fantasy series in its toppling of the good-guys-win-everything type of wrap-up, but it would be way less ambitious than what GRRM ended up pursuing.

The pacing problems came about with AFFC/ADWD. And I'm not one to talk here, because I'm an AFFC truther and it's always been my favourite of the series, so my two cents on this is that Dany's Slaver's Bay plotline is too damn long. Tyrion is also taking too damn long to get to her. It's a drag. In the book she is supposed to solve the Quaithe riddle,* escape Vaes Dothrak, get herself an army + navy, make the decision to leave Slaver's Bay AND sail to Westeros, so that in TWOW she can fight Young Gryff, face-off the Others, become a mask-off tyrant AND get deposed? It's a lot.

I honestly think he should just give up the 7 book compartmentation, admit defeat and just add another damn book to the series to get Dany to Westeros and fit in his fAegon plotline. It's not like he doesn't have the pages. No one's gonna care if there are 8 books instead of magic no 7. But my guess is that he's hung up over some decisions he's made in the past and kept trying to make the gargantuan plot fit inside this neat box he envisioned - 7 books, King Bran, Caesar!Jon etc. It would explain why he tried a time skip between ASOS and AFFC and had to scrap it - it would make more sense for the Stark children to be older. But he characterized himself as a gardener-style writing who doesn't plan everything in advance and lets the story grow organically. In that case, he should make allowances if the story grew in a direction he did not initially predict and make the required changes! Maybe King Bran made sense when he first wrote the initial three-book outline, but that was a long time ago & many other plot points changed.

My advice is to just stop trying to make the plot fit the previous designs, stay true to the way the characters evolved and respect the themes you've painstakingly developed over the course of nearly 30 years. Otherwise what's the point? If your original ending doesn't fit anymore, think of another ending ffs. The show is irrelevant at this point, so what if the endgame will be different? IDK, I'd be thinking that this is my life's work and I have every right to do it justice. Perhaps that's what he's thinking too and why it's taking him so long.

I agree that the ages of the characters are ridiculous, but if a time skip really, really can't fit anywhere, it's better to compromise on the age issue and leave off with a teen monarch than it would be to impose a surveillance state in Westeros as the solution with all-seeing, all-knowing Bran. That's a starkly dystopic ending, if you ask me.

Not to mention that it clashes directly with the end of magic - how is Bran supposed to be the Tree of Sauron if there's no magic anymore and everything goes back to normal? On what basis does he even get to be king at all if he's just a regular boy? How will he even survive being pulled out of the weirwood net if magic leaves the realm of men?

*“To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.” JFC, if Dany has to get to Asshai, I will fucking scream.

[amplifyme]

The path that leads home

They are alone again, Howland Reed having left shortly after his pronouncement, offering Sansa time to absorb the news he has presented. Sandor finds he needs time as well. Thoughts scurry like rats inside his head and he cannot keep track of any of them, does not know which to grasp first to begin to unravel this development.

They both keep quiet. He isn't sure what to say and so waits for her to break the silence. Sansa eventually sighs and rises from the chair, crossing to the window. She pulls back the drape, looking out on the village surrounding them. Sandor turns to watch her but remains where he is.

"Do you believe him?" she asks after a minute. "You once told me you could smell a lie. Is he telling the truth?"

"I think he is."

"He cannot force me to go if I do not wish it."

"No, he can't. Nor will he try."

She glances back at him just as his hand curls round the grip of his sword and their eyes hold through a lengthy, mutual appraisal. He sees in her a calm and sober approval and basks in it for a brief moment before she looks away again.

"Bran is the true heir to Winterfell. And in his absence it is Rickon who sits as Warden of the North. I have no claim to any of it, not anymore. I may still be viewed as valuable commodity to some men, but none can directly gain the Stark home or lands by way of marriage to me."

"That won't stop the suitors from lining up to court you. Don't think otherwise, little bird."

"They may line up as they please, it will make no difference. I have already chosen."

He barks a sharp laugh. "Imagine their faces when they get a good look at the bloody cur you've brought home to warm your bed."

She laughs in turn, goes somber, and states definitively, "Bugger them all."

And then he is behind her and wrapping his arms round her, pulling her close. He rests his forehead on her slender shoulder for a moment and then sets his chin on the crown of her head. "The day comes you grow weary of the unwanted attention, you can leave as easily as you came. I'll make certain of that."

A silence falls over them again. He is content to simply hold her and feel her breathing against him. He senses in her the contradictory emotions, same as his, and knows she is not yet firmly decided. He wonders at his own conclusion despite his conflict, the resolution which has settled so swiftly upon him. And then he thinks perhaps it was never for him to have any real choice. Perhaps every moment since he first saw her has led him to where he is now, that this path was chosen for him.

"What am I to do, Sandor; pray tell me?"

"It's not my decision to make. Only you know what is it you ought do." He can almost hear her in his head, prodding him to say it for her. Might be she needs someone else to utter the words, so they can become a solid thing that she can take hold of, measure against what she is feeling and what she knows. "Go home, Sansa," he dips his head and whispers close to her ear. "Go home where you belong."

She turns until her smooth cheek is resting against his ruined one. "And you? Will you stay with me?"

His arms tighten round her before he answers.

"Until my last breath."

She wheels in his embrace, holding on to him with fierce intent, and he knows it is done. They will make their way to Winterfell and whatever future awaits them there. And they will do it together.

Bugger them all, indeed.

These Scars We Wear, Chapter 21

[gsabt]

AGOT; Prologue

→ Bran I

Preface

Welcome to my first installment of a totally unoriginal concept! You can call me G, Sab/Sabi, Mia, I really don’t care. You’ll probably call me a whore after this first post to be fair!

I think over time I’ll perfect these posts since I was never fully sure of how I wanted to format things. Obviously it’ll be about the chapter and my thoughts however I won’t be divulging everything in the chapter because y’know… it’s pretty cheap to buy and if you’re feeling a little Greyjoy it’s easy to find over on the high seas but hey, I won’t tell if you won’t. I’ve read both AGOT and ACOK start to finish and even got into ASOS when I was around 15-17. Now as a much older adult, I decided to hop back in and check on my ex-bf Jon Snow who is now very younger than me and I wish GRRM would fix that desperately.

Anyways I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, pretty much since I started my main blog earlier this year but I have a career and whatnot. Let’s get started cause I need to shut it already. Be warned, there will be spoilers and I may lightly discuss theories when they tie into chapters in the later books.

Chapter Summary

I’m not surprised that right from the first line, my loud mouth already has commentary.

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

Like yeah, you’re nuts for wanting to check this out, Waymar, pack it up babe they’re dead! Speaking of Waymar it’d hit it till the wheels fall off. Back on track. I have always enjoyed how immersive George’s writing was, people have told me how my own writing is very Tolkien-like which I think is totally brown-nosing but thank you anyway. The seamless immersion every time I read this chapter is unbelievable as I’m the type of person to ‘see’ things I read in my head practically being played out if that makes sense.

This chapter is scary and it damn well should be. These three Nights Watch men are trekking through the Haunted Forest tracking wildlings that are claimed to be deceased by Will, our POV character for the prologue. He’s having the worst night of his life being stuck between Gared and Waymar, the latter being very douchey and picking at Gared but what I said earlier still stands. Till the wheels fall off.

I also think Waymar getting to be the commander of this ranging after only being in the NW for about 6 months is telling of the Nights Watch and the influence of nepotism but of course, that’s my opinion. Waymar is continually an asshole to Gared who is clearly played into the wise elder trope. This is a man that’s lost pieces of himself during the freezing cold winters, something Waymar has never experienced. I do feel greatly bad for Gared, having to deal with a ‘man’-child and I say it like that because I believe it’s 15 that boys are considered men which I clearly don’t agree but I mean… pop off feudalism.

The way the Others are written makes me so uncomfortable. I’m made aware of how sentient these beings are despite they share no common tongue (as far as we know) with the human characters in this chapter. They know their abilities and are confident of it when it comes to fighting Waymar.

The Other’s parry was almost lazy.

Waymar’s death was certainly a downer, especially with the sword shard getting into one of his eyes (the left I believe). But Will’s death certainly hit a little harder. I can’t imagine trying to leave and suddenly your commander who you believe to be dead just rises and stands behind you, looming like a tower of dread. It’s a feeling I know from experience and it’s horrifying. Big G hardly misses and after my 4th reread of this prologue it’s safe to say that I still thoroughly enjoy it.

[sowthetide]

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS this is teainabowl AND IM BACK WITH MORE NONSENSE AS PROMISED. family crisis almost averted?? i havent slept in 2 days but lmao who cares. (you cant see me rn but i want you to know that im doing a happy little jump skip dance as im writing this)

BECAUSE!!!!! ok. lets talk about genderbending in fandom. i think what usually gives me the ick in those fics is they do nature vs nurture wrong??? like a lot of the time they’ll just change the NATURE of the character and use the different gender as an excuse which. idk idk it runs me the wrong way. BUT QUENN!!! shes very much still theon?? just, nurtured differently. am i making sense? i have been traumatized by some bio-essentialism bs in the past when trying to look into similar fics bc i love gender fuckery PEOPLE JUST DONT GET IT LIKE I DO (or you, appearantly hkdhhfjh i love your story it means so much to me) 

and asoiaf is SUCH a gendered world??? like it has so much untapped potential where even a single characters gender can have SO MUCH IMPACT (can you imagine if joffrey had been a girl?? or if sansa had been a boy???) 

but what originally started my spiel was the realization that jon wouldnt have gone to the nights watch if he was a girl. and. what then?? slightly horrifying tbh, and makes me wonder if one of the other character had been male (read; they had been given more agency and autonomy in their lives) what would have changed???

but back to jon, bc then i immediately thought, ok, lets backtrack a bit, who would jon even BE. bc a lot of jons character revolves around his (lack of) a relationship with catelyn, his siblings mother. but she would have a harder time avoiding him if he was a she, right?? am i making sense???? a girl isnt seen like as much of a threat to her children i thinks?? idk i love cat and jon so much a love picking apart their relationship bc bc bc ARGHhhgg yk? also i like to think of ned being haunted by lyannas carbon copy who happens to be great with swords (would he be permitted to practice swordplay??) idk

ANYWAYS no we come to the part where i tie it up to what you mentioned in your answer. bc as much as JON being a girl might change his relationship with cat, it would be much more fucked up if it were robb, me thinks. (i too am a bit guilty of using robb as an accessory to cat) but but but. are. are you seeing my vision. catelyn stark with her three daughters when ned leaves for the greyjoy rebellion. catelyn whos convinced that the reason her husband wont send his bastard away is because she cant give him any sons. in the books she calls bran her special little boy and. idk the double meaning this would give it. and bran!!! being the heir!!! hiw would that change things??? would the reception to his accident be different?? and speaking of, what about king robert and his obsession with joining his family with neds? i havent talked about how robb (robyn?) would be different in this au but i cant think hed be as pleased as sansa was? his first shown interaction with joff is him trying to curb stomp the fucker lmao. i dont think he would be likely to have a different opinion bc of gender changes. in the books hes often rash and impulsive and prideful, and id want him to keep those traits, but peoples reactions to them would be different?? and so he would shape them in different ways??? am i making sense i feel like im just rambling. this is getting way too long and wayy to incoherent i need to stop. ok bye for now ill be back (threatening)

GO TO BED!!!! GET SOME SLEEP!!!!! But yay! to family crisis averted? Maybe?

Okay. I'm gonna indulge in some haterism for a second cause I've actually poked around the ASOIAF genderbending tag quite a bit. Unfortunately, a lot of those fics? Lame as hell. There's a preponderance of genderbent Jon Snow, which I think is totally cool! Very interesting genderbend to explore because of how much it changes the trajectory of his story. But then the character isn't really written as Jon at all? Maybe I'm just picky about characterization, but oftentimes fem!Jon just becomes this cookie-cutter "strong/feisty" female protag and it's like...

Sorry. I'm being mean. Obviously, there is no singular "correct" take on a given character, as we're all influenced by our own experiences and perceptions. My take on Theon isn't the exact same as yours, or goddcoward's, or Ashen's, or GRRM's. A unique Theon exists in all our heads, each one a bit different from the others.

But! Genderbends are so much more fun when you can see the underpinnings of the character you know, and there are moments where those aspects really shine through. And it's like OH!!! (pointing vigorously) THERE THEY ARE!!!! Otherwise, why not just write an OC, or adopt a minor character with very little canon characterization? (Admittedly, this can become a problem when you start collecting minor characters like Pokemon cards. I am my own evidence of this phenomenon.) If it ain't Jon, then why have it be Jon at all, y'know?

ngl female Joffrey has been rattling around in my brain lately... 👀fem!Joffrey would definitely be betrothed to Robb, which would be a complete and utter shitshow (appreciative/affectionate). Joffrey as a true mini-Cersei has such insane juice to it as a story idea, especially considering that Joffrey never liked Cersei all that much lol... the mother-daughter dynamic would be BONKERS.

Back to Jon though:

First, you're definitely right that fem!Jon wouldn't be seen as much of a threat to her siblings as Jon was. She would probably be married off pretty quickly once she came of age, as high as possible for a woman who was bastard-born. I don't see Catelyn liking her per se, but Catelyn wouldn't have the same misgivings about her as she did about Jon. Since fem!Jon probably wouldn't become the vessel of the wildling/Others plot, she might have an interesting role to play if she went south... to marry Robert's royal bastard Edric Storm, perhaps? I could see Robert "having his Lyanna" by marrying fem!Jon and Edric. But then shit hits the fan with the usual plot of AGOT, and maybe fem!Jon gets taken hostage by the Lannisters in King's Landing? Or gets caught in Renly's shit since she was with Edric at Storm's End? I am NAWTTTT talking myself into writing another fic. Go to hell. I need to finish Sow the Tide first.

fem!Robb (Robyn between myself and goddcoward) is even crazier. Catelyn would NOT be fucking happy to have Ned's spitting image hanging around Winterfell, while all her sons are under 10 and have the Tully look. I could see Catelyn successfully arguing that Jon should be fostered out, perhaps in the Vale (as a favor on the part of Jon Arryn)? Like, oh, Ned, you and Robert became such good friends fostering together in the Vale... that way, Jon is waythefuckoverthere and can't make any allies in the north.

I'd love for Robyn to have some of the same anger and pride, and she'd probably be similar to Catelyn in that she was raised as the heir for a good bit of time before the "real" heir came along years later (Bran+Edmure). Also, Catelyn would absolutely NOT trust Theon around Robyn. Not At All. Kinda fair though? Robyn would also be older than Sansa was in AGOT, so I think she'd be at least a little bit more worldly and pick up on Joffrey's... Joffreyness. Robb/Robyn are still dutiful characters, but I think there would be a lot more immediate friction between her and her betrothed. Double genderbend Throbb is my true love, however (Quobyn my beloved).

I've gotta finally go work on chapter 40 now, so I can't answer everything, but do come back... I'll be here... revolving all of these genderbends around in my head...

[agentrouka-blog]

Hmm just thinking about your resurrection theory, which I also subscribe to, that Jon’s physical body will essentially be put on ice 🧊 and his mind will be in Ghost, until a time when he can return to that body. I remember I wrote a little meta about how this kind of connects to the Old Norse concept of a ‘hamr’ vs a ‘hugr’. In The Children of Ash and Elm, Neil Price writes:

‘If you met a Viking-Age Scandinavian in the street, you would have seen their hamr—her or his ‘shell’ or ‘shape’—essentially what for us is the body. Conceived as a container for other aspects of the person, the hamr was the physical manifestation of what somebody was, but, crucially, it could alter. This is where the concept of shape-changing comes from, in the sense that the actual structures of the body were believed to flow and shift. But this was not true for everyone, only for the gifted (or, perhaps, the cursed). Most people stayed as they appeared, but some, in special circumstances—on certain nights, when stressed or frightened, in anger, or at times of extreme relaxation—could become something else.

[...]

Inside the ‘shape’ of a person was the second part of their being, the hugr, for which no modern translation really suffices. Combining elements of personality, temperament, character, and especially mind, the hugr was who someone really was, the absolute essence of you, free of all artifice or surface affect. It is the closest thing the Vikings had to the independent soul found in later world faiths, because it could leave the physical body behind.’

But now I’m wondering (and maybe I need to address this in the ch.2 of my current fic)… if we agree that Jon doesn’t die, but is instead in a similar state to Bran post fall… how does this affect his position as a black brother? Only death can release you. Does his walking away from that maybe hinge on others at least believing he died and rose again? I mean, it would be pretty nuts if there was this technicality of oh well, yesss we did attempt to murder you, buttt since that didn’t work you’re still obliged to stick around at the Wall, sorry mate 🤷‍♀️ in that case, it would make sense to ‘oathbreak’ due to the hypocrisy. What are you thoughts on how others might view Jon’s return to his body (his ‘hamr’ even), and how this affects his position in the Night’s Watch?

Cappy x

Me, when cappy talks Norse things:

I think you're right that it's probably going to involve at least some people believing Jon rose from the literal dead, with some further mix of a) taking advantage of that belief, and/or b) some precedent-setting potential move to expel him. It used to be that the kingsguard serve for life, after all. And yet we have Barry and Sandy walking out (or being made to) and Tywin was quick to try and use the precedent to make Jaime follow suit. Unsuccessfully.

And Jon was never sent to the Wall, he volunteered. I suspect, a Watch desire to have Jon's hugr gone will match a Jon desire to haul his hamr and hugr off the premises, and suddenly Resurrection Technicalities will seem very possible.

[janiedean]

I read your metas on why you think GRRM always meant for Bran to be KITN, not King of the 7K as per what he told Benioff and Weiss during their decades-long intimate working relationship on the show adaptation and I have to say I disagree lol. I don't really understand how someone can think that Benioff and Weiss were told 'yeah Jon sits the throne and the irrelevant 8 year old fourth son of the Stark family becomes KITN' and D and D were like, 'ummm no we're going to blow our legacy by putting BRAN of all characters on the IT, and not giving our fan favorite character his shining moment on the IT.' I don't like Bran as King and neither did D and D, but they had to maintain that GOT was some semblance of an adaptation so they had to use Martin's endgames. It blows my mind that people still deny this. I do think the north being independent and Sansa being QITN was fanservice tho. She will likely be Lady of Winterfell, not queen. Anyone that thinks she ends her story in the Vale is deeply unserious.

Jon's a chosen one deconstruction because once he finds out about his parentage, it's not going to be a good thing that gives him a renewed sense of self like in the thousands of other chosen one fantasy arcs. It will be a devastating revelation for him and cause a very negative identity crisis. Also, his parentage was always meant to be a red herring, why do you think GRRM set it up in a way that there is literally no way for Jon to prove he's actually R and L's son? Much less prove he's a legitimate son born from a valid, legal marriage? I don't think anyone outside of Jon's very close inner circle will ever know the truth about who his real parents are, it's not something he will want to ever be made known lmao. The show conflating Jon with YG, not adapting YG, and basically being a Jon Snow is So Great Fanservice vehicle in the last few seasons has made the fandom think that's where his arc is leading, it's not. Not that GRRM will ever publish another book, but anyway.

Also, Jon is not AA, it is Dany. The thing is.....that's not a good thing lol. The AA prophecy is basically prophesizing the coming of Khal Stalin, not a savior lmao. That's the twist and the double edge sword with prophecies that is so very Martin. The constant debates among the fandom as to who is AA is so hilarious because they fundamentally don't understand that it's a negative prophecy. The dramatic irony of house targ thinking they need to bring about the AA prophecy to save humanity when in actuality they are unleashing a new evil that needs to be defeated is deeply delicious dramatic irony. But the fandom is too bogged down into the most basic fantasy tropes to see it and refuses to acknowledge that GRRM is cynically deconstructing these tropes. Almost as if he's trying to say that being the son of the crown prince actually sucks and will make the supposed 'chosen one's' life hell, the ethereal looking princess with the sympathetic backstory is actually an authoritarian tyrant who's bloody conquest for the iron throne using her hordes of brainwashed killing machines will cause destruction not restore some great dynasty, and the 'broken' disabled boy with special mind powers who is able to look into all of history to learn from the mistakes of all the monarchs that came before him is the 'best' ruler for a 'broken' realm.

I'm uuuuh, gonna try and reply to this as briefly as I can but like with the premise that everyone can agree or disagree with anything and text interpretation can't be set in stone until like the entire thing is over... in order

I don't really understand how someone can think that Benioff and Weiss were told 'yeah Jon sits the throne and the irrelevant 8 year old fourth son of the Stark family becomes KITN' and D and D were like, 'ummm no we're going to blow our legacy by putting BRAN of all characters on the IT, and not giving our fan favorite character his shining moment on the IT.'

anon I don't wanna sound rude but.... they lit set jon up to kill the night king and then made arya of all ppl do it NONSENSICALLY just to make ppl surprised, they literally shat all over the entire text since S2 if not S1 already, just the robb storyline shows they didn't understand anything about the point of the red wedding which they said they WANTED to adapt and they basically made shit up since s4 onwards without anything making literal sense including making c*rsei the ultimate boss when there is no shred of text evidence she's that important and grrm is pissed with the ending so like... I can 100% think that both of them didn't gaf about what grrm had to say and just understood what they wanted to, also because we're talking abt the ppl who made stannis go agamemnon on shireen because they hated his ass when if shireen dies like that no way it's stannis ordering it by any shred of textual sense so I absolutely will say dnd didn't gaf about what grrm said and threw their legacy in the trash, that because.... everyone thought the finale was trash and they haven't had a gig like that since bc no one wants them after got, with good reason, so like ppl can say that because there is nothing dnd have done as showrunners that shows they gaf about the og text, end of story

I don't like Bran as King and neither did D and D, but they had to maintain that GOT was some semblance of an adaptation so they had to use Martin's endgames. It blows my mind that people still deny this. I do think the north being independent and Sansa being QITN was fanservice tho. She will likely be Lady of Winterfell, not queen. Anyone that thinks she ends her story in the Vale is deeply unserious.

except the jc endgame is obviously not the book endgame, lit no one's endgame except imvho jon's (hahaha) and possibly tyrion/davos is the actual book endgame and I'd like everyone to remember there's no shred of textual evidence rickon doesn't die in the books but anyway like... sorry but dnd not wanting to put jon on the IT for shock value (which is obvious since everyone expected it) and not giving bran kitn to give it to sansa so ppl who wanted her to be queen would be happy makes absolute sense to me, also like... again I'm not gonna go over it again bc you said you read the meta but: bran is a deconstructed version of a kingly arthurian archetype which by himself means that he has to become king while being disabled/in virtue of having lost his legs so like sorry but bran being king is absolutely in the text but no way it makes sense it's 7k since he's directly tied to his land and its magic same as the fisher king so......

Jon's a chosen one deconstruction because once he finds out about his parentage, it's not going to be a good thing that gives him a renewed sense of self like in the thousands of other chosen one fantasy arcs. It will be a devastating revelation for him and cause a very negative identity crisis

I agree and I wrote a longass meta about jon being a chosen one deconstruction but being AA/his inheritance absolutely does not rule out it being a deconstruction imvho

Also, his parentage was always meant to be a red herring, why do you think GRRM set it up in a way that there is literally no way for Jon to prove he's actually R and L's son?

howland reed was there when he was born and lyanna could have told him and ned they were married, also bran can lit travel in time and prove it/see it happen, but even if he's not legitimate wrt rhaegar it doesn't matter because in the book he's legitimate wrt robb's will so he's gonna get kitn title at some point even just for that but like... point is if howland reed corroborates it and he gets a pet dragon or smth and no one has reasons to disagree esp because they'll need to kill zombies whether r/l were married doesn't matter at all

Much less prove he's a legitimate son born from a valid, legal marriage? I don't think anyone outside of Jon's very close inner circle will ever know the truth about who his real parents are, it's not something he will want to ever be made known lmao. The show conflating Jon with YG, not adapting YG, and basically being a Jon Snow is So Great Fanservice vehicle in the last few seasons has made the fandom think that's where his arc is leading, it's not. Not that GRRM will ever publish another book, but anyway.

we can't know about wrt grrm publishing something else or not but again: howland reed knows and he's still around and kicking and there is no reason for people to not make it known especially when it comes out and they have to treat with dany, also the show conflated young griff with both jon and cersei and jon connington with jorah and daenerys which makes no sense whatsoever so like that argument holds zero water bc they didn't know what they were doing and it shows

Also, Jon is not AA, it is Dany. The thing is.....that's not a good thing lol. The AA prophecy is basically prophesizing the coming of Khal Stalin, not a savior lmao. That's the twist and the double edge sword with prophecies that is so very Martin.

anon the second maester aemon said on page AA is daenerys out loud it went out of the window, the way asoiaf prophecies are structured everyone who's rumored to be X by other people/themselves before it actually happens won't be that, and jon only ever was deemed a candidate by a vision melisandre had... which she immediately discarded bc she didn't understand what the hell her own god was telling her so sorry but I don't agree and it's not gonna happen

The constant debates among the fandom as to who is AA is so hilarious because they fundamentally don't understand that it's a negative prophecy. The dramatic irony of house targ thinking they need to bring about the AA prophecy to save humanity when in actuality they are unleashing a new evil that needs to be defeated is deeply delicious dramatic irony. But the fandom is too bogged down into the most basic fantasy tropes to see it and refuses to acknowledge that GRRM is cynically deconstructing these tropes. Almost as if he's trying to say that being the son of the crown prince actually sucks and will make the supposed 'chosen one's' life hell, the ethereal looking princess with the sympathetic backstory is actually an authoritarian tyrant who's bloody conquest for the iron throne using her hordes of brainwashed killing machines will cause destruction not restore some great dynasty, and the 'broken' disabled boy with special mind powers who is able to look into all of history to learn from the mistakes of all the monarchs that came before him is the 'best' ruler for a 'broken' realm.

anon I don't even disagree with all of this but:

i do not think that in any way shape or form jon is not AA - there is no way he's not, he's lit the only one who actually came back to life in the show if we wanna show truth and there's no other character who lit resurrected and no one else will so there's that, he died according to the prophecy and no one in text would ever put a cent on AA being him, like.,........ what we know is not what they do and for westeros jon snow is the least likely candidate soooo like sorry but I don't think it makes sense that anyone else is AA, you can think it's dany but idt there's a chance in hell

I think the evil is already there and it's zombies, like... ik the show made it look like the long night was nothing but it's the actual ultimate big bad so there's no need for AA to be another evil, rhaegar would have misunderstood the og prophecy well enough as it is without getting that far

jon being the chosen one and AA would still make his life hell

idt dany is written in the book as an authoritarian tyrant and idt it's where she's headed and I'm saying it as someone who doesn't gaf about dany and doesn't care either way but the show version was just ridiculous and nothing in the text says she's headed there whatsoever

I also agree this fandom cannibalizing itself over who is AA is ridiculous... because it's jon and there's no reason to further argue over that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

bran can absolutely be the best ruler for a broken realm,..... the north, which has been mauled and will be further mauled by the zombies, and it makes no sense he is 7k anyway given his background and stuff, again you can disagree with it as you want but idt anything that happened in the show except an extremely selected amount of things which are absolutely out of context has a chance in hell of happening in the books and from the way grrm reacted to the finale it seems obvious to me, then... again you can agree or disagree with me but I wrote so much meta on the topic I honestly feel like I'd be rehashing myself over and over if I went about it again but like

of course everyone believes in their own interpretation but there's no way I'm gonna be swayed by any argument agains kitn!bran and 7k!jon who then abdicates and goes to the wildlings by anything that's not grrm publishing ados and writing differently, godspeed and that's mvho ;)