#Megga Tyrell

[valyriansource]

Closest to Sansa's own age were the cousins Elinor, Alla, and Megga, Tyrells from junior branches of the House. "Roses from lower on the bush," quipped Elinor, who was witty and willowy. Megga was round and loud, Alla shy and pretty, but Elinor ruled the three by right of womanhood; she was a maiden flowered, whereas Megga and Alla were mere girls. The cousins took Sansa into their company as if they had known her all their lives. They spent long afternoons doing needlework and talking over lemon cakes and honeyed wine, played at tiles of an evening, sang together in the castle sept . . . and often one or two of them would be chosen to share Margaery's bed, where they would whisper half the night away. 

[lilith-kruger]

Una especie de hermano pequeño puede ser lo que necesita Tommen para alejarse de Margaery y sus gallinas.»

[highgardenart]

Tyrell Week Day 2— Roses from Lower on the Bush

— [Elinor, Megga, and Alla having a tea party]

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Yes, very good. I do love Margaery going mask off at last to show her genuine personality, and I also hope to see more of it in TWOW.

But please note that Cersei and Margaery and the Tyrell cousins are not getting humiliated by the men around them. They're getting humiliated by the women. It's septas who are stripping their clothes off and examining (sexually assaulting) the girls, and giving them scratchy shifts to wear and feeding them gruel and waking them up at all hours to order them to confess. Septons (including and especially the High Sparrow) wouldn't dare come near them, for fear of being exposed to "sin".

Yes, for sure the men of the Faith do think of Cersei and Margaery etc as idiot sluts and sinners who deserve their treatment -- but so do the women. It's notable that three women will be among the seven judges in Margaery's trial. It's notable that between the time Cersei tried to flee from the High Sparrow and the time she was brought before him to confess, the only members of the Faith who she saw were women. It's notable that women are acting as her guards during her house arrest in the Red Keep as well. The patriarchy is at its most insidious when it is being enforced by women.

And yeah, men were absolutely involved in Cersei's humiliation during her walk. But if you check her narrative, the people she takes most notice of and is affected by (and thinks the most vicious thoughts about), are women. (Including her hallucination of Maggy at the end.) This is for sure due to Cersei's own pre-existing misogyny, but it also reinforces it, and, well, again it will be interesting to see how that develops in TWOW. Although Cersei 2: Even Worse will likely be depressing as heck to me too...

They took my clothes from me. I wore a gown of ivory lace, with freshwater pearls on the bodice, but the septas laid their hands on me and stripped me to the skin. My cousins too. Megga sent one septa crashing into the candles and set her robe afire. I fear for Alla, though. She went as white as milk, too frightened even to cry.

My cousins? Alla and Megga are hardly more than children. Your Grace, this . . . this is obscene. Will you take us out of here?

i dont have anything to say about this besides it’s horrifying, it’s horrible and despicable that a sixteen year old teenager has been left in the position of “adult” and is more worried about her cousins because alla is only thirteen. it’s sooooo much and then there’s MORE because while cersei is gloating over what she sees as a win, she has no idea that these dudes also see her as nothing but a slut and an idiot just like every other woman, and all this torture she’s laughing over is about to be turned into her and she can’t stop it because she got rid of the ability to stop it so margaery would have bo way out. and now neither does cersei. like yeah she’s got her evil advisor and bestie qyburn who is going to get her out of this but god, cersei margaery alla elinor megga just get completely humiliated by all the men around them and it’s not only legal, they all think these women deserve it for *vague mumbling*

Margaery stared at her, then pulled her hand away. "Is that a jape? Boros is a craven, Meryn is old and slow, your brother is maimed, the other two are off in Dorne, and Osmund is a bloody Kettleblack. Loras has two brothers, not six. If there's to be a trial by battle, I want Garlan as my champion.”

This is really interesting to me because of course Margaery understands the situation she’s in, for all that everyone throws (deserved) criticism at Mace for pimping his fourteen year old daughter to every baratheon he could get his hands on, it’s clear margaery’s political education was not stifled by her father the way cersei’s was by both tywin and robert. she plays up a sansa-esque sweet innocent maiden taken in and eating up every line thrown at her because she knows it’s the only personality cersei won’t actively try to beat down but once it sinks in that it’s really hopeless, she simply stops trying. this little moment, margaery taken aback at how cersei really does think margaery is a fucjing idiot is the moment i think her mask finally slips and what’s left is a perceptive and bitchy-as-only-a-teenager-can-be girl who is no longer interested in wasting time trying to get cersei to like her. i’m really interested in how their relationship develops in twow before whatever the hell it is that happens happens.

[studyofasoiaf]

Names used in the Reach

(according to books; names of characters from houses in the Reach)

- next to the names are either houses which have a character/s with that name or culture of the character/s with that name

Female

Alerie (Hightower)

Alicent (Hightower)

Alla (Tyrell)

Alyce (Graceford)

Alys (Oakheart)

Alysanne (Bulwer, Hightower, Osgrey)

Arwyn (Oakheart)

Bethany (Hightower, Redwyne)

Ceryse (Hightower)

Clarice (Osgrey)

Delena (Florent)

Denyse (Hightower)

Desmera (Redwyne)

Elinor (Costayne, Tyrell)

Ellyn (Beesbury)

Elyn (Norrridge)

Falia (Reachman)

Florence (Fossoway)

Florys (Reachman)

Helicent (Uffering)

Janna (Tyrell)

Jeyne (Fossoway, Merryweather, Rowan)

Leona (Tyrell)

Leonette (Fossoway)

Leyla (Hightower)

Lia (Serry)

Lynesse (Hightower)

Lysa (Meadows)

Malora (Hightower)

Margaery (Tyrell)

Megga (Tyrell)

Melara (Crane)

Melessa (Florent)

Meredyth (Crane)

Mina (Tyrell)

Myrielle (Peake)

Olene (Tyrell)

Olenna (Redwyne)

Patrice (Hightower)

Patricia (Redwyne)

Rhea (Florent)

Rohanne (Webber)

Rosamund (Ball)

Rose (Crane)

Rowan (Rowan)

Rylene (Florent)

Samantha (Tarly)

Sansara (Tarly)

Selyse (Florent)

Sharis (Footly)

Talla (Tarly)

Victaria (Tyrell)

Yrma (Peake)

Male

Abelar (Hightower)

Addam (Hightower, Osgrey)

Aegon (Ambrose)

Aemon (Costayne)

Agramore (Cobb)

Aladore (Florent)

Alan (Beesbury, Tarly)

Alekyne (Florent)

Alester (Florent, Norcross, Oakheart, Tyrell)

Alton (Beesbury)

Alyn (Ambrose, Ashford, Cockshaw, Hunt)

Amaury (Peake)

Androw (Ashford)

Armen (Peake)

Armond (Caswell)

Arthor (Oakheart)

Arthur (Ambrose)

Arys (Oakheart)

Aubrey (Ambrose)

Axell (Florent)

Baelon (Hightower)

Barris (Hightower)

Barquen (Peake)

Bayard (Norcross)

Ben (Beesbury, Bushy)

Bertrand (Tyrell)

Bors (Bulwer)

Buford (Bulwer)

Branston (Cuy)

Braxton (Beesbury)

Bryan (Fossoway)

Bryndon (Hightower)

Cleyton (Caswell)

Clifford (Conklyn)

Colin (Florent)

Damon (Hightower)

Desmond (Redwyne)

Denys (Oakheart, Redwyne, Woodwright)

Derrick (Fossoway)

Dickon (Tarly)

Donald (Tarly)

Donnel (Hightower)

Dorian (Hightower)

Eden (Risley)

Eddison (Peake)

Edgar (Sloane)

Edgerran (Oakheart)

Edmund (Ambrose, Gardener)

Edwyd (Fossoway, Osgrey)

Ellard (Crane)

Elwood (Blackbar, Meadows)

Elyas (Willum)

Emerick (Peake)

Emmon (Cuy)

Erren (Florent)

Eustance (Hightower, Osgrey)

Franklyn (Reachman)

Foss (Fossoway)

Gareth (Gardener, Tyrell)

Garlan (Tyrell)

Garland (Gardener)

Garmon (Hightower)

Garmund (Hightower)

Garrett (Reachman)

Garse (Gardener)

Garth (Gardener, Hightower, Oldflowers, Tyrell)

Gawen (Gardener)

Gedmund (Peake)

George (Graceford)

Gerold (Hightower)

Gilbert (Redwyne)

Gordan (Gardener)

Gormon (Peake, Tyrell)

Glendon (Hewett)

Greydon (Gardener)

Gunthor (Hightower)

Guthor (Grimm)

Gwayne (Gardener, Hightower, Oakheart)

Gyles (Gardener)

Harlan (Tyrell)

Harlon (Tarly)

Harrold (Osgrey)

Harys (Cobb, Graceford)

Herndon (Tarly)

Hobber (Redwyne)

Horas (Redwyne)

Hosman (Norcross)

Humfrey (Beesbury, Hewett, Hightower)

Humphrey (Bulwer)

Hyle (Hunt)

Igon (Vyrwel)

Imry (Florent)

Jack (Bulwer)

Jafer (Reachman)

Jason (Hightower)

Jeffory (Norcross)

Jeremy (Hightower, Norridge)

Joffrey (Caswell)

John (Gardener, Oakheart)

Jon (Bulwer, Florent, Fossoway, Hightower, Roxton)

Josua (Willum)

Laswell (Peake)

Leo (Blackbar, Costayne, Tyrell)

Leyton (Hightower)

Loras (Tyrell)

Lorence (Roxton)

Lorent (Tarly, Tyrell)

Lorimar (Peake)

Lucantine (Woodwright)

Lucas (Inchfield, Leygood, Tyrell)

Luthor (Tyrell)

Lyman (Beesbury)

Lymond (Hightower)

Lyonel (Hightower, Tyrell)

Mace (Tyrell)

Manfred (Hightower)

Manfryd (Redwyne)

Mark (Mullendore)

Marq (Ambrose, Merryweather)

Martyn (Hightower, Mullendore, Tyrell)

Matthew (Mullendore)

Matthos (Tyrell)

Medwick (Tyrell)

Merle (Gardener)

Mern (Gardener)

Merrell (Florent)

Mervyn (Reachman)

Meryn (Gardener, Peake)

Morgan (Hightower)

Moribald (Chester)

Morgil (Hastwyck)

Moryn (Tyrell)

Myles (Hightower)

Norman (Hightower)

Normund (Tyrell)

Nyles (Rowan)

Olymer (Tyrell)

Olyvar (Oakheart)

Omer (Florent)

Orbert (Caswell)

Ormond (Osgrey)

Ormund (Hightower)

Orton (Merryweather)

Osmund (Tyrell)

Otho (Hightower)

Otto (Hightower)

Ottyn (Wythers)

Owen (Costayne, Fossoway, Inchfield, Merryweather)

Parmen (Crane)

Paxter (Redwyne)

Perceon (Gardener)

Peremore (Hightower)

Perwyn (Osgrey)

Portifer (Woodwright)

Pykewood (Peake)

Quentin (Tyrell)

Quenton (Hightower)

Quentyn (Ball)

Randyll (Tarly)

Raymun (Fossoway)

Raymund (Tyrell)

Renly (Norcross)

Reynard (Webber)

Rickard (Redwyne, Rowan, Tyrell)

Robert (Ashford, Redwyne, Rowan, Tyrell)

Robyn (Rhysling)

Rolland (Uffering)

Runceford (Redwyne)

Runcel (Hightower)

Russell (Merryweather)

Ryam (Florent, Redwyne)

Rycherd (Crane)

Samwell (Tarly)

Samwyle (Tarly)

Simon (Leygood)

Steffon (Fossoway, Varner)

Talbert (Serry)

Tanton (Fossoway)

Thaddeus (Rowan)

Theo (Tyrell)

Theodore (Tyrell)

Titus (Peake)

Tom (Costayne)

Tommen (Costayne)

Torgen (Oakheart)

Torman (Peake)

Triston (Hightower)

Tyler (Norcross)

Unwin (Peake)

Urrathon (Peake)

Urrigon (Hightower)

Uther (Peake)

Uthor (Hightower)

Victor (Risley, Tyrell)

Vortimer (Crane)

Walys (Reachman)

Wendell (Webber)

Wilbert (Osgrey)

Willam (Wythers)

Willas (Tyrell)

Wyman (Webber)

[ellemnopie]

July prompt - smudged green eyeshadow

@theglitteringtrio and I decided to each write a one-shot to the same prompt with our own fandoms, so don't forget to check out her story, too! you can find our stories in the collection "letterglow lab" on ao3 as well

for today, the prompt is "smudged green eyeshadow" and my first association went straight to sansaery, so that is what I did :) enjoy!!

a shade too soft for goodbye ~2,070 words

The Year 300 after Aegon the Conqueror had been crowned Aegon I, becoming the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and king of the Iron Throne, started with an event of historical importance.

Today, Margaery Tyrell would become Joffrey Baratheon’s queen.

Sansa dragged herself out of bed, already dreading what was to come. With Tyrion serving as Hand of the King, he would be given a special place at the king's side. But knowing Joffrey, the celebration would not pass without any cruel incident. Since she had become Tyrion's wife, Joffrey had largely left her alone, and the engagement with Margaery had also contributed to appeasing him. But his cruel character had not changed in the short time since Margaery's arrival and Sansa had learned not to trust the calm before the storm.

Joffrey’s betrothal to Margaery had been both a blessing and a curse for Sansa. She was free from his sadistic grip but now it was Margaery in her stead. Margaery who had been so very kind and gentle toward Sansa since the day of her arrival in King’s Landing.

Sansa’s heart ached, thinking back to the day she had supped with Margaery and her grandmother Olenna Tyrell in the garden. They had wanted to hear what Sansa could tell them about Joffrey and when she warned them about his nature, Margaery had looked her in the eyes like she was the bravest and loveliest person in the world.

“You mustn't marry him. He's not like he seems, he's not. He'll hurt you”, Sansa had said.

“It's brave of you to warn me, but you need not fear”, Margaery had answered then, while taking Sansa’s hand in hers. She had described Joffrey as spoiled, vain and cruel but she was not scared and when she jokingly called him “our little lion”, Sansa knew she had made her first real friend in King’s Landing.

Today, Sansa would help Margaery prepare for the wedding. She had asked for Sansa’s company the day before and Sansa gladly obliged.

With one last look into the mirror, Sansa left her bedchambers and went to the tower of the queen, where Margaery had been situated upon her arrival.

She did not know the guard stationed at the door by name but he had to be one of the future queen’s as he smiled at Sansa and opened the door for her as soon as she reached him.

Inside, Margaery sat on a big cushion in the middle of her room. Three of her ladies-in-waiting were sitting next to her, braiding her hair and applying face paint. When Sansa got closer, she identified them as Alla, Elinor and Megga Tyrell.

The three of them had become close friends of Sansa but ever since the wedding with Tyrion Lannister it felt like they had avoided her.

It’s not like she had wanted to marry him. Obviously, she would have much rather married Willas Tyrell and gotten out of the hands of the Lannisters.

Surprisingly, their prior abrasiveness toward her had disappeared. Megga squealed excitedly seeing Sansa in the doorway and Elinor got up to hug Sansa and welcome her in their midst.

“Sansa, I am so glad you are here. You look wonderful in that dress!”, Elinor said, subtly feeling the material of her skirt as she ushered her toward the group. “We were just wondering whether or not you were going to come”.

The prospect of Margaery being wed to King Joffrey excited the Tyrell girls. From the moment they befriended Sansa, they kept going on about how pretty and graceful Joffrey was. Megga even revealed to Sansa how much she pitied her for having “lost” Joffrey. What a joke.

Margaery turned around smiling at Sansa and for a second she forgot how to breathe. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her curly brown hair was pinned into buns with dangly jewellery twisted around them on top of her head. She was clothed in a long ivory dress with an open back and a deep v-shaped neckline. A trail of silvery roses and thorns that started at her shoulders and went down towards her breasts curled around her waist ending in a long train of roses at the back of the gown. She already looked like a queen.

“Where have you been earlier?”, Alla picked up the conversation from before. “The others broke their fast in the Queen's Ballroom and I heard someone mention you were missing. As a Lannister by marriage one could imagine you were invited to break your fast together with the lords and ladies.”

She had been invited, but there were at least a thousand things she would rather do than spend her morning watching Joffrey receive his wedding gifts and use that as a further chance to mock or insult Sansa.

“Girls, I know you are very excited but let Sansa settle in, first.” Sansa was glad for Margaery’s interruption since she did not really know what to answer and hurried to lend a helping hand with the preparations.

After some chatter about the ceremony, that would be held at midday in the Great Sept of Baelor and further sprucing up of the future queen, Margaery asked her ladies-in-waiting to give her some privacy with Sansa and the three of them politely left the room.

Margaery was standing in front of a mirror and Sansa came up behind her. She was slightly taller than her and so both their reflections could be seen in the mirror.

It was quiet now with Alla, Megga and Elinor gone, and for a minute the two of them stayed unmoving, locking eyes in the mirror. Margaery’s pupils were big and dark, like a pit and Sansa could see herself fall in, unable to escape the depths of her brown eyes.

“There is something you want to tell me, isn’t there?”

“It’s nothing”

“Please Sansa, I know you want to say something. It is just us two here, no one will hear it except for me.”

You mustn't marry him. He's not like he seems, he's not. He'll hurt you.

“The colour on your eyelid is smudged”, Sansa said instead.

Margaery did not at all seem surprised to hear her change the topic. “Would you help me fix it?”, she whispered.

Grabbing a handkerchief, Sansa gently wiped off the muted green colour. Instead of reapplying, she cleaned the other lid as well and picked out a soft orange colour. It simply fit her complexion more.

“What do you think of this?”, she asked the reflection in the mirror.

“I think it should have been you who did the face paint right from the beginning”, Margaery laughed. “Is there anything else you would change? I trust your eye”

“I wish they hadn’t put up your beautiful hair in those buns. You are ought to show off those curls of yours”, Sansa mumbled.

Margaery reached up and took out the pins in her hair one by one. Her hair unfurled elegantly as it fell out of the buns and spread over her shoulders and across her back like a waterfall of shiny amber.

With a few practised moves, Sansa pinned up the front strands of Margaery's hair. This allowed her to place the crown in the centre, freeing up her face while still leaving most of her hair loose.

“There, you look absolutely gorgeous”.

“Thank you my dear. Now let me help you with that hairnet you told me you were planning to wear.”

Ser Dontos had given Sansa the silvery hairnet about a month ago, insisting on her wearing it during the wedding. It was light as a feather and so delicate, that Sansa was almost scared to break it. The gems on the hairnet were rare dark amethysts from Asshai in the Shadowlands. The knight had called it “magic” and - if what he said was true - the hairnet would be the key to her escaping the clutches of Queen Cersei.

“Like a spiderweb made of silver”, Margaery noted while placing the hairnet cautiously on Sansa’s hair, “and the deep purple of the gems is such a pretty colour.”

Trusting the words of Ser Dontos and his promise to bring her home after the wedding weighed heavy on the fine-spun wire strands of silver. She felt safe and confident.

I will go home.

If only the thought of abandoning Margaery in King’s Landing did not pain her so much. The girl was in the middle of the lion’s den, and with the wedding ceremony only a few moments away, there was no escaping. Oh how she wished she could convince Margaery of leaving the capital or at least stop the wedding before she was forever bound to Joffrey.

You mustn't marry him. He's not like he seems, he's not. He'll hurt you.

But Margaery would not budge, no matter how desperately Sansa wanted to beg her to listen. It was no use. They were all just rabbles in Queen Cersei’s game of cyvasse and Margaery had joined the board.

A sudden knock at the door made her jump. It was Elinor who was telling them to finish up quickly.

“Margaery, you are expected in the Great Sept”, she squealed, “the Queen wants the ceremony to begin shortly.”

“Thank you Elinor. You can go ahead, Sansa and I will join in a second.”

When Elinor’s face disappeared behind the closed door, Margaery looked at Sansa as if she could read her thoughts. The Sept was the place where they had beheaded her father and now she would loose another person she loved.

“Sit with me for a moment”, she said and perched on the edge of her bed looking up at Sansa with those big doe eyes of hers. One of her brown curls had come loose from the elaborate hairstyle that Sansa had carefully pinned up. She noticed and tried to blow the strand out of her face.

Sansa came closer and reached over to pin the curl back, her fingers brushing lightly against Margaery’s cheek. She blushed, averting her gaze from the big brown eyes of the girl following her motion.

“Look at me Sansa”

Sansa, now a deep shade of red, complied and met Margaery’s eyes.

You mustn't marry him. He's not like he seems, he's not. He'll hurt you.

“You are so special to me and I could not be more elated to have you by my side on this day”, Margaery said, reaching for Sansa’s hand.

“I just wish it wasn’t today. I wish we had some more time and I wish it wasn’t Joff-”

“Don’t say that, little dove”. The nickname sounded so loving coming from her. It was no comparison to how Sansa felt whenever the Hound had called her a little bird before. It seemed as though Margaery could call her whatever she wanted, Sansa knew she would savour every pet name from her. “I am getting married to Joff and he will be a good enough husband to me. I have my brother in the kingsguard to ensure that. You mustn’t worry.”

“Margaery, I cannot lose you.” Sansa gulped down the tears that started to prickle her eyes. The older girl did not know what kind of pain Joffrey had inflicted on her. The constant abuse she had endured ever since he condemned her lord father for treason and ordered Ser Ilyn Payne to cut off his head with Ice, his own greatsword.

Margaery pulled her in by the waist, still looking up at her from the side of the bed.

“You are not losing me.” She cupped Sansa’s face in her hands and brought it closer to hers. “No matter what happens. I promise.”

With that she closed the gap between them and planted a soft kiss on Sansa’s lips.

She tasted of oranges and a promise she would not be able to keep.

When she pulled back from their kiss, Margaery wiped away a tear from Sansa’s face. With a sigh she got up from the bed and went to the door. For a split second, Sansa knew that she was not as composed and confident as she seemed. Like she hesitated to open the door and join her party, uncertain whether or not she was ready to get married.

She shook out her hands and the moment was over. Shooting Sansa one last reassuring glance, she slipped out of the door and was gone.

divider by @uzmacchiato

don't forget to like and reblog if you enjoyed this post and if you wanted to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you think <3

[thehiddendooronserpentinesteps]

THE UNKISS – A KISS THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED - PART 2.

This is the second part of my unkiss theory, where I’m gonna analyse Sansa’s memories in the light of my idea: that this kiss actually happened. :)

THE HOUND IS REALITY HIMSELF

Sansa’s memory of the kiss and that night is altering throughout the books. First, when she recalls the night of the Blackwater battle, she doesn’t even remember the kiss to be there:

“I wish the Hound were here. The night of the battle, Sandor Clegane had come to her chambers to take her from the city, but Sansa had refused. Sometimes she lay awake at night, wondering if she'd been wise. She had his stained white cloak hidden in a cedar chest beneath her summer silks. She could not say why she'd kept it.” (ASoS Sansa I.)

It’s only later on, when she starts to put the kiss at that particular night, but nevertheless, the kiss itself seems to be surprisingly real.

I find it striking, that the first time the memory of the kiss appears, it has nothing romantic about it. It really doesn’t sound like something a teenage girl who wants to create something romantic would make up. It’s also very important to look at the CONTEXT Sansa thinks about it, it’s very, very telling:

„Megga couldn't sing, but she was mad to be kissed. She and Alla played a kissing game sometimes, she confessed, but it wasn't the same as kissing a man, much less a king. Sansa wondered what Megga would think about kissing the Hound, as she had. He'd come to her the night of the battle stinking of wine and blood. He kissed me and threatened to kill me, and made me sing him a song.”

(…)

They (Megga and Alla) are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They've never seen a battle, they've never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father's head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them.” (ASoS Sansa II.)

For me this means, that Sansa, when comparing her experiences with the Tyrell cousins, thinks, she now knows more of the real life than them. That they’re dreamy little girls, while she has already seen more. The kiss, as she remembers here is rather disturbing than romantic. It comes with the threatening, how he stinked, etc. It sounds real, rather than pleasant to think of.

I think, the Hound all the way represents the harsh and bloody reality to Sansa, compared to the love songs and beautiful tales of knights and fair maidens.

As time goes by, Sansa’s memory changes… it’s very natural, regarding that more and more time passes by, we all start to think about events slightly differently, according to what’s important for us in that particular memory.

WHO’S KISS IS THIS?

The next unkiss memory takes place in AFfC Alayne II., and again, I think it is important to examine, in what circumstances Sansa remembers the Hound kissing her.

“Before she could summon the servants, however, Sweetrobin threw his skinny arms around her and kissed her. It was a little boy's kiss, and clumsy. Everything Robert Arryn did was clumsy. If I close my eyes I can pretend he is the Knight of Flowers. Ser Loras had given Sansa Stark a red rose once, but he had never kissed her . . . (…).”

 “As the boy's lips touched her own she found herself thinking of another kiss. She could still remember how it felt, when his cruel mouth pressed down on her own. He had come to Sansa in the darkness as green fire filled the sky. He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak.”

This in my interpretation also shows the duality of fantasy and reality: first comes the fantasy, and then it’s overwritten by reality: she tries to imagine the Knight of Flowers, but Ser Loras NEVER kissed her. Her great crush, whom she most likely fantasised kissing her. Instead, she REMEMBERS another kiss: the Hound’s kiss.

Sansa even recalls how it felt physically, and I find it very interesting how she describes it: “his cruel mouth pressed down on her own.” means to me that it was a passionate kiss. One of my key arguments against her fantasizing, is that if Sansa’s ever make up a kiss fantasy, than it would be something delicate and beautiful… not heated and passionate.  It really sounds like Sandor, is it not? Strong and heated. It’s Sandor’s style, not Sansa’s.

It’s also very interesting, that she recalls this kiss rather than the one LF gave her, which already happened by this time. The way Petyr kisses her is not like the kiss she remembers. It’s again not Petyr’s kiss that comes to her mind later, when she’s asked about the details of the wedding night: “She thought of Tyrion, and of the Hound and how he'd kissed her, and gave a nod.” It is most natural, that she thinks of Tyrion, and the things that happened on her wedding night. But the fact that she remembers the Hound kissing her, means to me that she connects it with sexuality. The kiss was sexually charged. This, again seems to be something coming from Sandor, instead of her making up fantasies.

Plus, if my theory’s right, it also tells a lot about how it happened. Sweetrobin kisses her honestly and spontaneously, and I think the kiss she remembers was also given in the heat of the moment, driven primarily by emotions and not by lust. That’s why she links the two together. Given the circumstances they were in King’s Landing, it could not happen otherwise than incautiously. A member of the Kingsguard kissing the king’s betrothed? Well it would cost both their heads.

She also remembers the Hound on her wedding ceremony with Tyrion, in ASoS Sana III.: “He leaned forward, and their lips touched briefly. He is so ugly, Sansa thought when his face was close to hers. He is even uglier than the Hound.” If I play the same mental game like in the case of Sweetrobin’s kiss, this, for me means that Sandor’s face was close to hers too. The similarity of the situation makes her remember the Hound in both cases.  

THE IMPORTANCE OF A KISS

But if this scene with the kiss really happened, than why hide it? I have a proposal for this too. Well, usually a first kiss comes with some kind of declaration… or confession. It’s not like Sandor goes there, kisses her and immediately leaves her. I think Martin wanted to hide the surroundings of the kiss, which would help us decide what to think about him and his feelings towards her. Maybe that’s what he referred to, when he said about the unkiss: “That will eventually mean something, but just now it's a subtle touch…” But if that’s the case, Sansa should remember it too, does she not? I think she remembers it. We just don’t see the more important parts. Just like in Ned’s case. When he thinks about Lyanna, he usually remembers her asking for a promise. In AGoT Eddard I.: “He could hear her still at times. Promise me, she had cried, in a room that smelled of blood and roses. Promise me, Ned.” Of course, he remembers the rest of it, but we’re not allowed to see those memories, and for a very important reason.

I’m not the only one, who thinks that Sandor will return in the books too. And that he’ll play an important role regarding Littlefinger. If I’m right, he’s basically the only one, who could open Sansa’s eyes up about LF, by telling her how this man betrayed Ned Stark. I think that would change everything for Sansa. But for this, he must get close to her… and maybe play a double agent role, which, I think he’s very capable of, despite his hatred for liars. In AGoT Eddard VII. at the Hand’s tourney, Littlefinger bets on Jaime Lannister, against the Hound: "A hundred golden dragons on the Kingslayer," Littlefinger announced loudly (…) "Done," Lord Renly shouted back. "The Hound has a hungry look about him this morning." "Even hungry dogs know better than to bite the hand that feeds them," Littlefinger called dryly.” But eventually Sandor defeats Jaime, and LF loses the bet. Petyr misreads Sandor’s character, very early on. This could be pivotal later. The big question is, where does Sandor’s loyalty lie? Where’s his heart, what does he really want? What are his real feelings for Sansa? Is it just the lust of a brute man for a young girl, or is it love? The fandom for me seems to be puzzled about it, due to his mixed actions, and I think, we have to be uncertain about it, until his role regarding LF is played.

And it’s not just us, who are left in the dark about his motivations and feelings, but all the other players in the game, except for Sansa and himself. Did you realize, that basically all their important scenes together are hidden? They take place in the darkness… with only the two of them present. And from what we see their public interactions do not seem to be strange or suspicious for the other players. Their interactions in the darkness, with only the two of them present, and the Hound being at least tipsy of wine, could be… intimate from Sandor’s perspective. Scary from Sansa’s perspective. And hidden from everyone else’s POV, seemingly even from Varys and LF, which is actually a big deal. It’s left in the darkness…

There are two types of not-POV characters. The first is who’s simply not important to the story, and the second is who’s thoughts and feelings we are not allowed to see, in order to keep it secret or uncertain. I think Sandor is the latter.

IT’S STILL IN DARKNESS

Well, in the end, I can be mistaken, it’s just a theory. Sansa has no one to talk about the kiss she seems to remember. No Jeyne Poole, no one, whom she could gossip with or she could trust, who would know what was happening between her and Sandor. It’s still in the darkness. No one can confirm or deny her memories, no one to shed a light on what really happened… only Sandor. And I’m waiting for him to return and tell his POV. :)

In the next part I will reconstruct the missing scene based on hints and Sansa’s memories.

For Part 1. click here:

[goodqueenaly]

Do you see a similarity between Margery Tyrell (as well as Elinor Tyrell, Megga Tyrell, and Alla Tyrell) being put on trail and the trail of the daughter's in law of King Philip the Fair of France (specifically as described in The Accursed Kings), I was reading the Iron King a few weeks ago and it made me wonder if there was a connection as GRRM is a fan of the The Accursed Kings.

Me, think about a connection between ASOIAF and The Accursed Kings? Now when have I ever done that before?

(It me, it always me. Also long, more under the cut.)

Absolutely, I 100% believe that GRRM partially (emphasis on partially) based the supposed love affairs of Margaery and her cousins on the Tour de Nesle Affair as depicted in The Accursed Kings - specifically the first novel of the series, The Iron King. To very briefly summarize, the Tour de Nesle affair centers on the three daughters-in-law of King Philip IV of France: Marguerite of Burgundy, wife of Philip’s eldest son, Louis (and Queen of Navarre, since Louis is King of Navarre in his own right); Marguerite’s cousin Jeanne of Burgundy, wife of the king’s second son, Philip; and Jeanne’s sister (and, naturally, Marguerite’s cousin) Blanche, wife of the king’s third son, Charles. Marguerite and Blanche engage in extramarital sexual affairs with two courtiers, the brothers Philippe and Gautier d’Aunay, with Jeanne acting as facilitator and messenger for their trysts; the affair takes its name from the tower of the Hôtel-de-Nesle, the manor of the King of Navarre, where Marguerite and Blanche entertain their lovers. The affair is discovered by another French prince, Robert of Artois, and he and Philip IV’s daughter, Isabella, engineer a scheme to trap the princesses and expose them. Marguerite, Blanche, and Jeanne are subsequently caught and found guilty, the former two of adultery, the latter of aiding and abetting them; Marguerite and Blanche are imprisoned (the former until she is murdered, the latter until she dies, prematurely young and apparently insane), while Jeanne is likewise initially imprisoned but eventually freed by and reunited with her husband.

With respect to parallels between this story and the plot of AFFC, the Tour de Nesle affair and the affair Cersei invents for Margaery both involve several interrelated royal (or semi-royal) ladies. I mentioned above the princesses in The Iron King, who are called the “Princesses of Burgundy”: Marguerite is the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, while her cousins Jeanne and Blanche are referred to as the “sisters of Burgundy”, daughters of the late Count of Burgundy. (Yes, the Duchy of Burgundy and County of Burgundy were at this time two separate political entities despite sharing a name). Likewise, the sexual scandal dreamed up by Cersei centers on four Tyrell girls at court, with one a queen: Queen Margaery, of course and three of her cousins, Megga, Elinor, and Alla. None of the Tyrell girls are sisters to any of the others, but all four are part of an extended Tyrell family, grouped together as “Tyrells” much as the three princesses of The Iron King are counted together by Robert of Artois as part of the “family of Burgundy”. In turn, just as Robert of Artois seeks to reveal the scandal specifically so that “[t]he whole family of Burgundy will be plunged up to the neck in the midden … [and] their inheritance will no longer be within reach of the Crown” - leaving that disputed inheritance open to Robert himself - so Cersei, furious at being “awash in roses”, dreams of framing Margaery for a crime of treason so serious that “even her own lord father must condemn her, or her shame becomes his own”.

Moreover, the parallel between these plots in The Iron King and AFFC is strengthened by the identities of the respective plotters. As I noted, one of the two chief architects of the plot against the princesses of Burgundy is Queen Isabella - daughter of King Philip IV of France, sister-in-law to the three princesses, and Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II. Just as Cersei is considered one of the most beautiful women in the Seven Kingdoms, inheriting the golden good looks of any number of Lannister antecedents, Isabella is often compared to her famously handsome father, Philip the Fair, sharing what Druon calls the king’s “legendary personal beauty”; a courtier of her father’s, Hughes de Bouville, even goes on to compliment Isabella in a later novel, The She-Wolf of France, by saying that Isabella had inherited “all [King Philip’s] beauty which was so impervious to time”. Yet The Iron King opens on Isabella by calling her “the loveless queen”, and it’s a description as fitting to Cersei as it is to the daughter of Philip IV.  Just as Isabella is trapped in a miserable marriage to Edward II, so Cersei was trapped in a terrible marriage to King Robert Baratheon - marriages made by their respective fathers, for the political gains of their paternal families. Indeed, King Philip’s retort to Isabella’s complaints about her bad treatment at the hands of her husband - “I did not marry you to a man … but to a King. I did not sacrifice you by mistake” - seems like the sort of reply Tywin would have given to Cersei, having chosen to make his daughter queen and secure a future royal grandson despite privately dismissing Robert as a stupid oaf (to say nothing of Robert's years of abusing Cersei). 

Likewise, both queens seek solace in their eldest sons, as well as their birth dynasties. Isabella is first shown approving that her baby son Edward’s first word was “want”, which Isabella calls “the speech of a king”; she also teaches her son that “he belongs to France as much as to England” and insists that he “get accustomed to the names of his relatives” and learn “that his grandfather, Philip the Fair, is King of France”. Isabella also surrounds herself with reminders of her French past: The Iron King opens with Isabella listening to a French poem, her most trusted lady-in-waiting is the French Jeanne de Joinville, and in a later novel, The She-Wolf of France, Isabella loses to her husband’s favorite a book of poetry by Marie of France. For her part, Cersei has made sure - or at least tried to make sure - that Joffrey was raised as a Lannister with no love for his Baratheon “father”; indeed, Cersei even likes to think of conceiving Joffrey with Jaime as an act of revenge against Robert while trapped at the home of Robert’s maternal family. Joffrey’s surcoat when he duels Robb at Winterfell shows the Lannister lion equal to the Baratheon stag, imagery he later makes his official standard when he becomes king, and he famously has in the first book a sword he proudly calls Lion’s Tooth; too, when he is married, the Lannister banners are displayed as equal to the Baratheon and Tyrell banners, underlining the Lannister importance in Joffrey’s reign. 

Too, neither queen has much love for the eventual objects of their respective plotting. When Robert of Artois informs Isabella that the princesses of Burgundy “hate you”, Isabella replies that “[t]hough I don’t know why, it is true that as far as I am concerned, I never liked them from the start”; Robert then adds his opinion, that Isabella “didn’t like them because they’re false, because they think of nothing but pleasure and have no sense of duty”. Indeed, Isabella’s longstanding dislike and distrust of her sisters-in-law seems reflected in her suspicions, apparently established before the beginning of The Iron King, that the princesses were already deceiving their husbands with extramarital lovers, seemingly heightened by the contrast to her own faithful (for her part) but loveless marriage - Isabella later tells Robert that “when I think of what I am denying myself, what I am giving up, then I know how lucky they are to have husbands who love them”, declaring “[t]hey must be punished, properly punished!”. Cersei’s distrust of Margaery, of course, can hardly be overstated, though in her case the origins of her hatred stem not from Margaery herself but rather Cersei’s paranoia about her, Cersei’s, own prophesied downfall at the hands of a younger and more beautiful queen. Convinced - probably at her ultimate cost - that her son’s (or sons’) eventual wife would fulfill the prophecy Maggy gave so many years prior, Cersei was predisposed to dislike, distrust, and deeply fear such a woman from the first 

So both queens set out to denounce and bring down their royal in-laws through the revelation of a sexual scandal - the bombshell news that a queen and her aristocratic cousins have taken lovers in the persons of a few highborn courtiers. Both plots begin at their outset with the queens appointing spies in the households of the targets of the plots. Robert of Artois advises Isabella to request one of his allies be placed in Marguerite’s household as what he terms “a spy within the walls” - a successful move for Robert and Isabella's conspiracy, as not only does Marguerite (correctly) suspect Madame de Comminges for “always trailing about in her widow’s weeds”, but Robert also reveals that “[s]ince entering Marguerite’s service, Madame de Comminges sent him a report every day”. Cersei herself recruits Taena Merryweather from Margaery’s own household, blithely confirming Jaime’s suspicion that “[s]he’s informing on you to the little queen by saying that “Taena tells me everything Maid Margaery is doing”. Taena, for her part, tells Cersei what Cersei wants to hear, often dropping sexually suggestive hints supposedly about Margaery and her court, which encourage Cersei in her plot against Margaery. 

Additionally, each queen faces the difficulty in singling out the rival queen in question given the presence of those rivals’ respective ladies. Robert of Artois complains that the princesses of Burgundy are “[c]lever wenches” because while Jeanne or Blanche often go to “pray” with Marguerite at the Tour de Nesle, each acts as an alibi for the other; as Robert concludes, “[o]ne woman at fault finds it difficult to defend herself”, but “[t]hree wicked harlots are a fortress”. Indeed, Taena Merryweather borrows almost the exact same castellated metaphor from Robert, claiming that Margaery’s “women are her castle walls”, as “[w]henever men are about, her septa will be with her, or her cousins”. This commentary from Taena inspires Cersei to ponder whether “[Margaery’s] ladies are part of it as well … [sic] not all of them, perhaps, but some” and then manipulate the confession of the Blue Bard to implicate Elinor, Megga, and Alla in the invented affair.

So in both cases, the groups of royal ladies are accused of fornication, with one lady from each excepted for a charge of what we might call criminal knowledge instead. In the case of the princesses of Burgundy, it is Jeanne who is deemed “guilty of complicity and culpable complacence”, while in the case of the Tyrells it is young Alla who is “charged with witnessing their shame [i.e. the supposed sexual relationships of Megga, Elinor, and Margaery] and helping them conceal it”. The distinction in charges notwithstanding, all the ladies are thereafter imprisoned, with both the Burgundy princesses and the Tyrell ladies stripped of their finery: at their judgment, the princesses of Burgundy kneel before the king “shaven and clothed in rough fustian” (so humbled that Jeanne and Blanche’s mother mistakes them for “three young monks”), and when Cersei visits the imprisoned Margaery, the young queen is dressed in “the roughspun shift of a novice sister”, with “[h]er locks … all a tangle”.

(It’s probably going too far to suggest that the planned roles for two courtier brothers in Cersei’s plot echoes the involvement of the d’Aunay brothers in the Tour de Nesle affair. After all, only Osney of the three Kettleblacks was supposed to have had sex with Margaery, and only Osney did have sex with Cersei, whatever Cersei would later claim to the High Septon.)

(I would be amused if GRRM named Margaery after Marguerite of Burgundy, knowing perhaps he would use her in an Accursed Kings-like plot in the future. However, I’m not saying this was necessarily or even likely the case: Margaery had been named since AGOT, after all long before the writing and publication of AFFC, and while GRRM’s affection for Maurice Druon and The Accursed Kings predates ASOIAF, there is no evidence that he planned this sort of parallel all the way back in 1996. The similarity of names may be simply an amusing coincidence, or even a retroactive realization by GRRM that he could use a similarly named character to star in a plot directly inspired by Marguerite of Burgundy’s story.)

Now, does this mean GRRM limited himself to The Iron King in creating this plot point for AFFC? Absolutely not, I would say. Indeed, I think it is very clear that GRRM also looked to the popular conception of the downfall of, and all but certainly false accusations leveled against, Anne Boleyn for further inspiration. Here, as in the popular imagination of Anne’s undoing, is a queen accused of sexual affairs with several male courtiers, who are imprisoned along with her (though note that according); here, as in the trial of Anne Boleyn, is a singer, supposedly among those accused lovers, tortured into a presumably false confession (and being the only accused lover to confess); here, as with Anne and George Boleyn, is a charge of incest against a queen and her brother, so obviously ludicrous in both cases that no contemporary takes it seriously; here, as with the arrests and subsequent release of Thomas Wyatt and Richard Page, are two courtiers seemingly accused of the same crime, but expected to be freed in order to demonstrate the guilt of the others. It’s an obvious but important point that GRRM does not need to borrow only to one point of inspiration, fictional or historical (or, rather, what he imagines as historical), for any given narrative he wants to write. Drawing connections between The Iron King and the plot against Margaery and her cousins no more invalidates connections between that same plot and the popular conception of Anne Boleyn’s downfall than comparing, say, Baelor to Louis IX of France (including the latter’s depiction in The Accursed Kings) invalidates comparisons between Baelor and Henry VI of England. 

This last point extends to Cersei herself as well. While I definitely believe GRRM borrowed elements from Isabella of France for Cersei, I have also argued, and still believe, that Cersei also shared elements of her character and story with Marguerite of Burgundy herself. Parallels between Cersei and Marguerite should not nullify or undermine parallels between Margaery and Marguerite (specifically in this context of affairs/supposed affairs), any more than parallels between, say, Edward IV of England and Robert Baratheon should nullify or undermine parallels between that same King Edward and Robb Stark (specifically in the context of a secret marriage with no apparent political benefit). GRRM is not required to neatly match one for one a character in his universe to a historical or fictional figure, nor would I think we as readers would want him to; it would be a pretty boring story if he simply copy pasted figures from extant works or history and swapped their names for those he created. 

Plus, I think Margaery and her cousins are pretty likely to come out of their trials much better than the princesses of Burgundy did with theirs. Most obviously, as even the High Septon admitted, the case against the queen and her cousins is weak - as indeed it might be, given that Cersei invented the affair in the first place. Far from the d’Aunay boasting about their royal lovers by wearing the infamous purses given them by the princesses (and gifted to them by Queen Isabella, to catch the lovers with them), all of the supposed lovers of the Tyrell girls save the Blue Bard have denied the affair, and his testimony is denounced as “half-mad”. On a practical level, the High Septon surely knows the danger for him, and his position, of convicting Margaery, given that Osney reported on the crown of sparrows demanding Margaery’s release (news Cersei regards ruefully, since as she thinks “Margaery has been their little pet”). Add to that threat the presence of Mace at the head of his army, returned to the capital explicitly to see through his daughter’s trial, and the High Sparrow is playing with fire in truly trying to convict Margaery and her cousins. 

[isefyres-archive]

𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶 𝔦𝔫 𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔢𝔯𝔞:

conquest: rhaenys targaryen, obsidia celtigar, orys baratheon. jaeherys era: baelon targaryen, alaric stark, viserra targaryen, alyssa targaryen. dance era: rhaena targaryen, laena velaryon, jace velaryon, mysaria (on her blog), cregan stark (on his blog), sara snow (on her blog), cassandra baratheon, lea tyrell, morthen vagnaron. after the dance: aegon iii targaryen, myrmadora haen, jaehera targaryen, viserys ii targaryen, larra rogere, sycorax celtigar. rebellion: rhaegar targaryen, arthur dayne, ashara dayne, elia martell. asoiaf era: balerion blackfyre, thena celtigar, laena longwaters, jeyne farman, sebaston farman, oberyn martell, quira qorgyle, harmen uller,allyria dayne, jeyne fowler, tyene sand, ellaria sand, edric dayne, jeyne poole, mara mormont, howland reed, alys karstark, jorah mormont, larence snow, loras tyrell, willas tyrell, elinor tyrell, desmera redwyne, megga tyrell, alyna ashford, roslin frey, edmure tully, barbara bracken, joanna swfyt, doreah, sariah, lysandro orthys, irri, nika elizan,ember assharis.

if you want to interact with some of this muses, do like this post and reply which ones and i'll try to come up with something.

[adreamofsilk]

@sevynhells liked for a starter (Lilliyan Rivers/Megga Tyrell)

"I'll speak to the kitchens about adjusting your meals." As she spoke Liliyan wrote down a note to remind herself. The Tyrells had their own cooks that had come, but the main meals were still handled by the original cooks.

And it seemed they were ignoring requests.

"Is there anything else I can do to assist my lady?" She had been relegated to almost a servant given the events of the war, but she wasn't arguing if it meant keeping her head

[thaliajoy-blog]

My Asoiaf Tarot Plan !

Major Arcana

0 - The Fool : Jon Snow

I - The Magician : Bran/Bloodraven

II - The High Priestess : Melisandre

III + IV - Empress & Emperor : Daenerys ×2

V : The Hierophant : Ned Stark

VI : The Lovers : Jon & Dany (?)

VII - the Chariot : Arianne Martell

VIII - Strength : Brienne of Tarth

IX - The Hermit : Stannis Baratheon

X - Wheel of Fortune : Tyrion Lannister

XI - Justice : Jaime Lannister

XII - Hanged man : Theon Greyjoy

XIII - Death : The Others

XIV - Temperance : Ellaria Sand

XV - The Devil : Euron Greyjoy

XVI - The Tower : Rhaegar Targaryen/Elia Martell/Lyanna Stark

XVII - The Star : Jon Connington

XVIII - The Moon : Arya Stark

XIX - The Sun : Sansa Stark

XX - Judgement : Oberyn Martell

XXI - World : Carved table of Dragonstone + Littlefinger & Varys OR woman representing Westeros

Minor Arcana

1) Suit of Cups (House Stark) - also Suit of Fangs

Ace of Cups : Catelyn Tully Stark

Queen of Cups : Jeyne Westerling

King of Cups : Robb Stark

Page of Cups : Rickon Stark

Knight of Cups : Wyman Manderly & granddaughters

2) Suit of Pentacles (House Baratheon) - or Suit of Antlers

Ace of Pentacles : Gendry Waters

Queen of Pentacles : Selyse Florent

King of Pentacles : Robert Baratheon

Page of Pentacles : Shireen Baratheon

Knight of Pentacles : Davos Seaworth

3) Suit of Wands (House Tyrell) - also Suit of Thorns

Ace of Wands : Olenna Redwyne Tyrell

Queen of Wands : Margaery Tyrell

King of Wands : Renly Baratheon

Page of Wands : Megga, Alla & Elinor Tyrell

Knight of Wands : Loras Tyrell

4) Suit of Swords (House Lannister) - also Suit of Claws

Ace of Swords : Tywin Lannister

Queen of Swords : Cersei Lannister

King of Swords : Joffrey Baratheon

Page of Swords : Tommen & Myrcella Baratheon

Knight of Swords : Gregor & Sandor Clegane

Additional suits !

[redwolf17]

sorry to be a bother but do you think you could refresh my memory on who the ladies-in-waiting for arya, rhaenys, cersei, margaery were/are? the recent chapter where we got more info on sansas ladies got me thinking

Oh boy, this is going to get messy. For the sake of time, I'm just going to copy paste the notes that I have for each set of ladies.

Margaery's ladies at Winterfell

Alla Tyrell: likes to sing, shy, plays woodharp, fond of Ser Tallad the Tall, but unlikely he'll win her... still, her parents are giving him time to prove himself before arranging a betrothal to someone else; age is same as Sansa roughly

Meredyth Crane: always has a funny tale, likes hawking; a few years older than Margaery

Wynafryd and Wylla Manderly

Alys Karstark

Catelyn Bracken

Arya's Ladies up North (ages as of tourney of Winterfell August 301)

Catelyn Bracken- age 19, betrothed killed in WotFK???????? Rides horses and LOVES prayer

Wynafryd Manderly- 20 in 301, 23 in 304 (baby Wyman born mid March 303; got pregnant early January 303, due at end of September 304)

Wylla Manderly- age 13 (Davos guessed her age wrong in canon; thin high voice; likes poetry and sewing albeit with bright colors)

Cornel Umber (girl, age 16, named for mountain flower; betrothed to a Burley (clans); likes sewing and trad fem stuff? Hint that Hoarfrost will expect same when Arya flowers and puts away her wildling nonsense?)

Alys Karstark (16, a tall, skinny, coltish girl. She weaves her brown hair into a braid and has a small bosom. The pale girl has a long face, a pointy chin, blue-grey eyes, and small ears... stubborn, determined, pushy! But likes to sing and excited for marriage/kids/running a keep)

Rhea Royce- 20 in 301; lost her husband to a tourney accident not two years after they were wed (no kids)

Rhaenys's ladies

Obella Sand -> Uller, 16, betrothed to Bors Gargalen; will serve Rhaenys for a few years before she weds. loves poetry (also writes it), Reach chivalry = YES!!!! Catnip for her! She's middling at cyvasse, daydreams, prefers to sleep late, despite her betrothed, still crushing on every handsome youth her age in sight, but smart enough to only flirt, stay chaste

Elinor Tyrell: willowy, witty, likes to read, newly married to Alyn Ambrose, heir of his house; age 18; has Elinor read aloud often; she's good at it; used to serve Margaery

Megga Tyrell: fat, loud, enjoys kissing games, sewing, bad singing voice, betrothed to a Bulwer cousin; she's 17; used to serve Margaery

Cersei's ladies

I don't have notes for them, partially because they mostly came up earlier, partially because Cersei really doesn't give a crap about them as human beings versus as servants and pawns

But here's their introduction in the fic:

Jocelyn Swyft was meek as a mouse, and gullible besides. She'd told Sansa quite sincerely that the recent rains were the gods weeping for Lord Tywin. Cerissa Brax did needlework in a haze, when she wasn't reading from The Seven-Pointed Star. The War of Five Kings had taken her father and two of her brothers, and she was deep in mourning. Melesa Crakehall and Darlessa Marbrand were more shrewd, but if they saw the queen's odd behavior, they refused to acknowledge it.

Melesa was a brisk, big-boned woman, the wife of Ser Lyonel Frey. How on earth old Lord Walder Frey had managed to wed his son Emmon to Genna Lannister, Lord Tywin's only sister, Sansa did not know. However the marriage happened, Lady Genna had never left Casterly Rock, though she had given her Frey husband four sons, including Lyonel. Melesa had quite coldly told Sansa that she was lucky to serve the queen, considering her brother's treachery against the crown and her own disrespect.

"Madness is no excuse for such vile behavior," the lady told her, aggressively stabbing her needle through the brindled boar she was stitching. "The laws of the Seven do not apply to traitors."

Darlessa Marbrand was even more ill-tempered, with her constant jibes about the barbarity of northerners and their demon gods. Despite her hostility, Sansa pitied her. Lady Darlessa was the widow of Tygett Lannister, one of Lord Tywin's younger brothers. Her husband had died of a pox years ago, and she had lost her only son in the bread riots. Nor did she seem to enjoy serving Queen Cersei, who was demanding and gracious by turns. So Sansa let the cruel words pass over her, and focused on her stitches.

I think I gave her a couple of other ladies later on, Taena Merryweather after Meria left and a few others who came/went pretty quickly. 

[lilith-kruger]

Fanart del día2 de la semana tyrell 2024 no terminada de margaery y sus primas 😅😅 me quede dormida 😴 acabaré está semana

[nanshe-of-nina]

Tertiary Characters GIF Sets → Leonette Fossoway

There were three Tyrell cousins, Megga and Alla and Elinor, all close to Sansa’s age. Buxom Lady Janna was Lord Tyrell’s sister, and wed to one of the green-apple Fossoways; dainty, bright-eyed Lady Leonette was a Fossoway as well, and wed to Ser Garlan.

[atopvisenyashill]

The Unkiss: A Story in What's Unsaid

i've mentioned it in passing a few times, but i thought i'd just collect it all together. what is "it"? well, it's the idea that the infamous "unkiss" and similar "trouble spots" in sansa's memory are being caused by bran. "wow are they even gonna make the unkiss about bran?" you bet your ass i am, now follow me on this journey! there's four parts here:

What is the UnKiss?

What are other trouble spots in Sansa's memory?

What do those trouble spots have in common?

What they could all mean!

FIRST. What even is the unkiss? a refresher-

Alla had a lovely voice, and when coaxed would play the woodharp and sing songs of chivalry and lost loves. Megga couldn't sing, but she was mad to be kissed. She and Alla played a kissing game sometimes, she confessed, but it wasn't the same as kissing a man, much less a king. Sansa wondered what Megga would think about kissing the Hound, as she had. He’d come to her the night of the battle stinking of wine and blood. He kissed me and threatened to kill me, and made me sing him a song.

Before she could summon the servants, however, Sweetrobin threw his skinny arms around her and kissed her. It was a little boy's kiss, and clumsy. Everything Robert Arryn did was clumsy. If I close my eyes I can pretend he is the Knight of Flowers. Ser Loras had given Sansa Stark a red rose once, but he had never kissed her . . . and no Tyrell would ever kiss Alayne Stone. Pretty as she was, she had been born on the wrong side of the blanket. As the boy’s lips touched her own she found herself thinking of another kiss. She could still remember how it felt, when his cruel mouth pressed down on her own. He had come to Sansa in the darkness as green fire filled the sky. He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak.

"Oh, yes. He died on top of me. In me, if truth be told. You do know what goes on in a marriage bed, I hope?" She thought of Tyrion, and of the Hound and how he’d kissed her, and gave a nod.

Three (3) instances of Sansa thinking about the Hound kissing her on the night of the Battle of the Blackwater...except the Hound never actually kissed her. I don't want to post the whole scene bc it's long but if you reread it you will note - he pushes her onto the bed, demands a song, she sings mother's mercy, touches his cheek, and he gets up and leaves. That's all that happens. And that's all Sandor says that happens too, as a confirmation:

"And the little bird, your pretty sister, I stood there in my white cloak and let them beat her. I took the bloody song, she never gave it. I meant to take her too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf."

"well," you say, "everyone is always yelling about lemongate but we've gotten hints all that was was george not remembering his own sprawling canon." that is correct! BUT!!! When George talks about the lemon thing, he's a bit jokey with it. But this...

You will see, in A STORM OF SWORDS and later volumes, that Sansa remembers the Hound kissing her the night he came to her bedroom… but if you look at the scene, he never does. That will eventually mean something, but just now it’s a subtle touch, something most of the readers may not even pick up on.

he's saying it's going to mean something. i've said before it could just be trauma but i do think that if he's calling attention to it, that means it's not just trauma, or not just a trauma we've seen on page. plenty of people have theories about it - it's a metaphor for sansa's burgeoning sexuality, it's sansa repressing a time joffrey raped her, it's a sign that she's actually interested in petyr - but i think none of these stand up to snuff (and also - to me! - are just completely uninteresting).

But SECOND. This is not the only time Sansa's memory is a little off, nor is she the only character to struggle with her memory in odd ways.

Sansa sat up. "Lady," she whispered. For a moment it was as if the direwolf was there in the room, looking at her with those golden eyes, sad and knowing. She had been dreaming, she realized. Lady was with her, and they were running together, and ... and ... trying to remember was like trying to catch the rain with her fingers. The dream faded, and Lady was dead again.

And that’s not even the only weird dream she has. Three others stand out to me-

The night the bird had come from Winterfell, Eddard Stark had taken the girls to the castle godswood, an acre of elm and alder and black cottonwood overlooking the river. The heart tree there was a great oak, its ancient limbs overgrown with smokeberry vines; they knelt before it to offer their thanksgiving, as if it had been a weirwood. Sansa drifted to sleep as the moon rose, Arya several hours later, curling up in the grass under Ned's cloak. All through the dark hours he kept his vigil alone. When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay. "I dreamed of Bran," Sansa had whispered to him. "I saw him smiling."

That was such a sweet dream, Sansa thought drowsily. She had been back in Winterfell, running through the godswood with her Lady. Her father had been there, and her brothers, all of them warm and safe. If only dreaming could make it so … She threw back the coverlets. I must be brave. Her torments would soon be ended, one way or the other. If Lady was here, I would not be afraid. Lady was dead, though; Robb, Bran, Rickon, Arya, her father, her mother, even Septa Mordane. All of them are dead but me. She was alone in the world now.

That night the dead man sang "The Day They Hanged Black Robin," "The Mother's Tears," and "The Rains of Castamere." Then he stopped for a while, but just as Sansa began to drift off he started to play again. He sang "Six Sorrows," "Fallen Leaves," and "Alysanne." Such sad songs, she thought. When she closed her eyes she could see him in his sky cell, huddled in a corner away from the cold black sky, crouched beneath a fur with his woodharp cradled against his chest.

Purposefully glossing over relationship with the old dog here, but notice she has a similar fixation as her siblings, on running in the woods with Lady, and of course that bird's eye view of Marillion which I've talked about before here, that very much echoes when the kids see things through an animal's eyes without quite realizing it. And then here, where she seems to gloss over a gap in time-

At the center of the garden, beside the statue of the weeping woman that lay broken and half-buried on the ground, she turned her face up to the sky and closed her eyes. She could feel the snow on her lashes, taste it on her lips. It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams. When Sansa opened her eyes again, she was on her knees. She did not remember falling. It seemed to her that the sky was a lighter shade of grey. Dawn, she thought. Another day. Another new day. It was the old days she hungered for. Prayed for. But who could she pray to? The garden had been meant for a godswood once, she knew, but the soil was too thin and stony for a weirwood to take root. A godswood without gods, as empty as me.

What's interesting about that last bit is that Summer thinks about a sister that dwells in the "man-rock" (note neither Nymeria nor Arya are near a city at this point) and that she is stuck in a godless place-

He had a pack as well, once. Five they had been, and a sixth who stood aside. Somewhere down inside him were the sounds the men had given them to tell one from the other, but it was not by their sounds he knew them. He remembered their scents, his brothers and his sisters. They all had smelled alike, had smelled of pack, but each was different too. His angry brother with the hot green eyes was near, the prince felt, though he had not seen him for many hunts. Yet with every sun that set he grew more distant, and he had been the last. The others were far scattered, like leaves blown by the wild wind. Sometimes he could sense them, though, as if they were still with him, only hidden from his sight by a boulder or a stand of trees. He could not smell them, nor hear their howls by night, yet he felt their presence at his back... all but the sister they had lost. His tail drooped when he remembered her. Four now, not five. Four and one more, the white who has no voice. These woods belonged to them, the snowy slopes and stony hills, the great green pines and the golden leaf oaks, the rushing streams and blue lakes fringed with fingers of white frost. But his sister had left the wilds, to walk in the halls of man-rock where other hunters ruled, and once within those halls it was hard to find the path back out. The wolf prince remembered.

Now THIRD. Let’s look at those moments specifically- what’s interesting to me about them is that these are all moments where Sansa is thinking about the naivety of childhood, of dreams, and of home.

In the UnKiss section, you have her talking to Margaery's cousins, and just after this section, Sansa thinks this:

They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They've never seen a battle, they've never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father's head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them.

And you'll notice when Sweetrobin is kissing her, she thinks again that he's just a child. And it goes the same when Myranda asks if she knows about sex - in all three moments, Sansa thinks of herself in a before and after, when her head was full of innocence and dreams and childhood, and now, where she knows better than to dream happy dreams.

And not to do a word association here that’s like “and who is a child? BRAN!” but - bran is forever a child to Sansa, because she believes he died. She has not seen him since he was in a coma - and that’s how she remembers him, a helpless child in bed, forever. And just like in her other "trouble spots", same as with the UnKiss scenes, Sansa is fixated on home, on Winterfell, on dreams.

The only "stand out" you could count would be her seeing Marrillion from a bird's eye view - except just like the UnKiss, Sansa considers this another "childhood ended" moment where an adult is projecting a history of sexual trauma onto her (Sandor, and Lysa) that she can only barely grasp. Both instances include "songs" - Sandor pressing her for a song, Marrillion singing over Sansa's crying, then singing in his cell.

All of these trouble spots in her memory, center around innocence, around home, around dreams - the dream of Bran in the godswood, all three Unkiss moments, the rebuilding moment, and the Marrillion dream. And in the godswood, when she's rebuilding winterfell, she is in a godless godswood, something she and Summer both point out, as does Ned! Which could explain why she's having so much trouble connecting magically - there is no way for Bran to interrupt her dreams because there are no weirwoods.

And if it seems like a huge stretch that Bran would connect through dreams, remember that he mentions connecting to Ghost, and we get Ghost's POV on a moment that may or may not have been what Bran was glossing over-

Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother's face. Had his brother always had three eyes? Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow. He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.

Here in the chill damp darkness of the tomb his third eye had finally opened. He could reach Summer whenever he wanted, and once he had even touched Ghost and talked to Jon. Though maybe he had only dreamed that.

And as I detailed here (not to toot my own horn) but Bran also reaches out to Arya (maybe) in a similar way - through their dreams. But Jon is in the North, and Arya was at Harrenhal - easier places for Bran to reach them magically.

And what's interesting about Bran and Sansa is that they have a lot of narrative connections. They are similar not just through inheriting Catelyn's Tully looks, but also that they dreamed very gender typical dreams of being a knight and a queen, respectively, that are violently stripped away from them by the end of AGOT. Like many other younger characters, they also have dark and untrustworthy mentors in Baelish and Brynden who trick them into going somewhere (the Cave, and the Vale) under the guise of "helping" them.

And of course, both are heavily associated with birds. In fact, part of Bran's magical awakening is centered around birds - fly or die. I've even suggested that Bran, who we know is one of those "ghosts of Winterfell" haunting Theon, is attempting to help Theon by opening his third eye and making him "fly."

So I posit here that Bran is trying to do this with Sansa as well. He's already doing it with Jon (with mixed success), and he's clearly awakening something in Theon because Theon's first TWOW chapter after he and Jeyne "flew" is very scattered, like he's having visions constantly. But Theon is in Winterfell, just like Jon is in the North. Sansa remains in a godless land, so Bran hasn't been able to reach her - but I think he's trying and I think he'll be at least partially successful soon. Sansa is a bird in a cage and Bran is a smart little crow who will unlock her cage and teach her to fly!

[deesdressup]

Ladies In Waiting Cersei Lannister - Dorcas - Senelle - Cersei Lannister - Taena of Myr - Jocelyn Swyft Daenerys Targaryen - Irri - Jhiqui - Doreah Margaery Tyrell - Megga Tyrell - Alla Tyrell - Elinor Tyrell - Leonette Fossoway - Janna Fossoway Daenaera Velaryon - Cassandra Baratheon - Lucinda Penrose - Pricella Hogg