#i'm not even saying i WANT jon to be on the iron throne

[hikarimiyanaga]

The Queen's Bride (Part 2)

Warnings : Omegaverse. Stark!Reader. Omega!Reader x Alpha!Daenerys Targaryen. Modern!AU.

Taglist : @kelloggs4cereal

-

You go back to your apartment and immediately see Jon just lounging around.

"You have your own apartment, you know?" You glare at him as you put down your bag.

"Where were you all day yesterday? I even called Oberyn and he told me you left your class fast."

"I was with Arya! Also, why are you looking for me??"

"Ygritte wanted a date." You raise an eyebrow at him.

"So?? The fuck are you telling me this for??" Jon rolls his eyes at you.

"Should I accept or not??"

"Jon. You are going to marry the girl. You'll become part of their family. Go on a date. It's not like you're busy, right?"

"Hey! I'm learning to be a kn-"

"A what? Knight? Do you think the Lannisters would allow it? Their head is part of the inner council." Jon scoffs at you.

"So is Uncle Ned!"

"Father doesn't have that much sway in that circle though, unlike Tywin." You sit besides him and sigh. "Tywin Lannister is scary as fuck. I think he has no conscience considering his treatment of his own youngest son."

"I still can't believe that you're friends with th-" You glare at him and pinch his hand before he could finish his sentence. "Tyrion! Ow!"

"He's smart. That's enough reason to be his friend." You grab his cost from the couch and toss it to his face. "Go on that date. Get to know your future wife."

"But-"

"No buts, Jon. You came here for advice. Get to know her." You smile at him. "You might actually like her."

"Fine. Fine. You win." Jon stands and puts on his coat. "See you next week?"

"We do have to study for history. So yes."

"Nice. Bye!" He dashes out of the apartment and leaves you alone with your thoughts.

'A date, huh?' You get your phone and look at your messages. Nothing new. You open your WestBook and search her name.

Daenerys Targaryen.

It seems that she's the youngest of all Targaryen kids right now. With Rhaegar being the heir right now.

You sigh at the picture. It was her with her family, all around the iron throne.

That's right. The Targaryen Family are the current ones sitting on the Iron Throne. Respected as the Family who is heading the Westeros Conglomerate and the only ones who has a connection with the dragons.

'If someone is really going to trial themselves with the dragons then it's my chance to see one.' You scroll and hum.

She's 18 Just like you. Also a freshman at Westeros University. It seems like she's studying Ruling and Taming Beasts. Both are official courses at the University.

You hum. Seems like Targaryen kids have more freedom unlike you.

'Fucking management.' You wanted to be a knight. Or maybe even a magician. But your Father pushed this course onto you and wanted no arguments. He said that this was the easiest course in the University and should be no problem for an omega like you. You shake your head of the memory.

"Fucking hells." You stand and get a glass of water for yourself.

When you say your last name, commoners either look at you with awe or disgust. Nobles usually look down on you. After all, The Starks were never on the top 3 Families in Westeros.

The Top 3 usually consists of the Targaryens, The Lannisters and the Baratheons. All three always vying for the Iron Throne.

You look at your phone again and click to message her.

You were about to send something when someone else messages you first.

Jaime Lannister has sent you a request.

You raise an eyebrow at the notification and immediately message Tyrion.

You : Is your brother on crack??? Why the fuck is he messaging me??

Tyrion replied immediately.

Tyrion : They found out that you were hanging out with me. Sorry.

You hum.

You : No worries about it, Ty. Tell him that I have no interest in him.

Tyrion : Oh. Got it. Have you got your fiancé yet?

You : Yes. Daenerys Targaryen.

Tyrion : OPPOSITE MOTTOS?????

You groan at the reminder. It felt like your father really took this arrangement out of his ass. It felt like he licked the current king's boots just for this.

And no way that it was to the Targaryen's benefits. Maybe they just wanted a new omega in their midst.

'Oh. Probably.' You realize. There have been too many beta results among the nobles. Omegas like you were basically like really rare among the nobles. Betas are like the last option when it comes to arranged marriages. After all, when it comes to pregnancy, omegas are more known to have greater pregnancy rates than betas.

You shudder at the thought then tears were on your eyes.

Did your Father arrange you to become a-

You sob as you fall to the ground.

You didn't want to think about it.

You didn't want to fall into that rabbit hole.

You didn't want to think about that way about your father.

But it's times like these that made you really want to kill yourself ever since you found that you were an omega. You sob as you hug your knees to yourself.

A breeder. What a term. It hasn't been used for five centuries but that was because people kept finding ways to disguise it.

But that was basically what you are. Easiest course. Grand apartment. The top Family in Westeros. It all fit like a perfect puzzle.

"I'm a fucking joke." You say to no one as you realize your predicament. It's why he found someone so fast. Maybe people even begun offering to him after your result was out. You didn't know. You don't want to know. You just wanted to be numb right now.

You text Oberyn.

You : I need to be numb.

His reply was surprisingly fast.

Oberyn : Numb how??

You : Like I can forget who I am.

Oberyn : I'll bring some to your apartment. Take it alone. I can't guarantee your safety if an Alpha is there with you.

You : What kind of- you know what. Fuck it. Bring it.

Oberyn : Gotcha. Will be there in a few minutes. Make sure to lock everything.

You change your clothes and wait for Oberyn. You didn't want to feel anything. Specially not this helplessness that persisted ever since you found out that you were an omega.

You hear a knock on the door and open it.

"Here. It'll last for the night. You'll feel numb af. Did you lock everything?" He asks and you nod. "Air vents? You don't want to let Alphas know you took this." You open up the air vents and Oberyn hums. "I like you, Y/N. Amongst all the nobles here in Westeros, you are one of the honorable ones." He holds out the small bag. "I get it. I have a sister who is an omega. But do not let this be a habit. I'm only helping just this once."

"I'm not going to be an addict. I just- I want to forget just for a night." Oberyn hugs you tightly and you sniff, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"Good luck, Stark. Don't be a stranger." You smile slightly at him then lock your door. You double check everything then lock yourself in your room. You get the drug and quickly consume it. You didn't know what it was. You didn't want to know what it was.

After a few minutes, you started to feel the effect and was just staring in space.

That was the last thing you remember.

-

You wake up groggily and look at the clock. 8 am. What happened?

You look around and hum.

Right. Drugs. Forgetting.

"Fucking- my head hurts." You look at your phone and see the messages.

Oberyn : Remember to take the day off and rest. You'll need it.

Jon : The date is on Saturday. Will you help me choose clothes?

You groan as you stand and get to the bathroom. You get some medicine and drink it.

"Sleep. I need more sleep."

-

You get up four hours later and sigh in relief. Your headache is gone. You get your phone again and hum as you see no new messages. Thank god.

You drink a glass of water and sigh in relief. Your phone rings and you see that it was an unknown number. You answer it cautiously.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, Ms. Stark." You raise an eyebrow at the unfamiliar voice. You look at you phone in confusion before replying.

"Uh... Do I know who this is?" You hear the voice chuckle and hum.

"You probably should. After all, I am your fiancé."

"What?"

"I'm Daenerys Targaryen. Can we meet for coffee?"

-

You were in your favorite cafe, one that was run by two wives. You were drinking hot chocolate when Daenerys finally arrived. Almost everyone in the cafe stopped what they were doing and stared. You can't even blame them.

The Targaryens' signature silver hair flowed smoothly through her shoulders. You were drooling. At least you think you are. You quickly wipe off your mouth as Daenerys stops in front of the counter. She orders her drink then looks around. You were spotted so you quickly open your phone and pretend you haven't been staring and drooling at her since she walked inside. You hear her footsteps and your focus immediately shifted.

"Y/N Stark, right?" You put down your phone and Jesus. She is fucking ethereal.

"Yes. Uh- Daenerys?" She smiles and you blush.

"Yes. Daenerys Targaryen, nice to meet you." She says as she takes a seat in front of you.

"Oh, um. Nice to meet you too. I honestly didn't think I would see you before our well-"

"Wedding?" She confirms and you blush.

"Yep. Most fiancés never really meet each other before so. When you contacted me well-"

"Surprise." She smiles at you. You feel your heart racing as you look at her. Shit, were you really falling in just the first date. You gulp. Yes, you were.

"So, um, what did you want to talk to me about?" Daenerys was about to answer when her name was called. She stands and you quickly try to calm your heart down. "We need rules."

"What?"

"Rules. As you are now my fiancé, you are also a de facto member of the Targaryen House and so we need to establish rules that you have to follow."

"We're not even married-"

"Yet. Yes. But still."

"No one knows about our engagement. Only the elders and us-"

"I will let the public know."

"Why?"

"Because I'm proud to have an Omega as my fiancé." There it was. A stab in your heart. Your hands shake and you clench your fists.

"What rules then?"

-

You put the laminated paper on your kitchen counter and sigh. You didn't think that Daenerys was serious but here it was. On your kitchen counter.

"Fucking hell." You grab your emergency stash of bourbon and pour yourself a glass. Your phone rings and you look at it. You answer it.

"Y/N. Where are you?"

"I'm at my apartment, Father. Can I do anything to assist you?"

"I see. Will you be able to go home tonight?"

"Yes? Is there anything happening tonight?"

"Yes. The Lannisters are throwing a gala and I need you to attend."

"Oh. Me?"

"Yes. Rob will be coming along with you."

"Oh. But I don't have any-"

"A suit is already prepared for you in the house. Go wear it."

"Of course. I will be there shortly, then." You groan and put away the bourbon. "This day is driving me nuts."

-

A/N:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Readers!

[turtle-paced]

We know that Jon, who only wants Winterfell, is absolutely horrified by burning people (he even mercy kills because he can’t bear to see someone suffering like that). How would such a character fall for Dany, who only wants the IT and frequently enjoys burning people? Silver hair and all that, but book!Jon isn’t going to forget his entire personality for it? Didn’t find it believable on the show either as obvs their values are too different. I understand J/D is a theory you believe, does the above not seem like a fundamental difference, a deal breaker, so to speak? And what would be the meaning and moral of their arc?

I'm not with you on premises, I'm afraid. I wouldn't characterise Dany burning people as frequent or her reaction as enjoyment - honestly I think the text is perfectly clear that she doesn't enjoy violence.

More than this, I wouldn't say that Dany only wants the Iron Throne, or that Jon only wants Winterfell. For both of them, Westeros and Winterfell represent home. They both want home and family. I think they'll have a chance to be that for each other, however briefly.

[lenskyq]

many fantasize about what the relationship between Daenerys and Daemon could be, many even fantasize about what the relationship between Daenerys and Aemond would be (in my humble opinion, Dany would not get along with him for many reasons).

but I keep thinking about Dany and Jacaerys, and I'm surprised I didn't find anything about it. there are a lot of AU and fanfiction on the Internet about the possible connection of Dany with Daemon and even with Aemond, but nothing about how Dany and Jacaerys could relate to each other, which, in my opinion, is a big omission.

Jacaerys is still a Targaryen, having a direct relationship to his mother Rhaenyra, he is still a dragon rider and well politically savvy, he is a very smart and capable young man, whom many considered a worthy heir to the Iron Throne despite his dubious origin for some, he is the one who proposed the idea of riding dragons without a rider during the Dance (not Daemon, as in show) and someone who knows how to make alliances. these are the qualities for which Dany would respect him. she is not like a certain part of the fandom that ignores this because of the color of Jacaerys' hair and eyes, for Dany, the appearance of Jacaerys would not matter at all. even the fact that he is considered a bastard would not matter to Dany, she is not the one who condemns people by these criteria, but Jacaerys has qualities for which Dany would respect him.

she would have a much better attitude to Jacaerys than to Aemond, who literally killed the child (Daenerys, whose character is deeply tied to the topic of motherhood, would not approve of infanticide, even if we believe the writers of HOTD that it was an "accident").

I have no doubt that Jacaerys would deeply respect his distant descendant, the last of his kind, for her kindness, compassion, bravery, intelligence, determination and strength. if he had been asked "Daenerys or Jon/Aegon", I very much doubt that he would want another Targaryen woman, after how much she worked for the Iron Throne, to be usurped for the sake of a man (another Aegon, ahem), simply because he is a man. Jace fought in the war for the rights of his mother Rhaenyra so that this would not happen. so somewhere in heaven, Jace 100% supports Daenerys' rights to the Iron Throne and hates Varys' sexist phrases.

and Jacaerys is not a "meov meov boy", he was ready for war with the Greens and when asked about making peace with them, he told Rhaenyra that they could not trust the usurper (cut scene). Therefore, he would not condemn Daenerys for doing what was necessary to end slavery or to win the Iron Throne belonging to their dynasty. He looked delighted when Damon threatened the Queen Guard to do what Daenerys did to Tarly for betraying Rhaenyra, so he would definitely definitely support Daenerys executing Tarly.

Jacaerys would be 100% in Daenerys' team, and Daenerys would respect Jacaerys for his qualities. That's just what I'd like to say.

[atopvisenyashill]

do you have any idea of how jon’s ending is going to be? 😄

me answering this two months later should tell you that i have no fucking clue alsjfdlk. i mean...i have some guesses but i'm not completely sure on any of them and i reserve the right to change my mind as soon as 3 seconds after i post this answer and i actually had to psyche myself up to post this bc i crave validation and i feel like i'm talking out of my ass here lol.

jon's story is honestly the one that trips me up more than everyone else's. for one thing, the show is basically no help at all here - i think a lot of the stuff they did with jon in the show they mostly did because it looked cool and fit the action hero trope they were trying to fill even though "action hero" isn't really what jon's story is about or even follows. for another thing, the fandom just differs soooo much on what's going to happen to him that it's hard to sort of sift through how everyone feels and come to a specific idea on how EYE personally feel. there's a few things i feel strongly are or aren't happening so i guess i'll just ramble on a bit here:

there is one thing i am absolutely sure is going to happen and it's this:

His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. The plan would have required the Watch to yield back a large part of the Gift, but his uncle Benjen believed the Lord Commander could be won around, so long as the new lordlings paid taxes to Castle Black rather than Winterfell. "It is a dream for spring, though," Lord Eddard had said. "Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on." If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father's name. Lord Eddard was dead, however, his brother Benjen lost; the shield they dreamt together would never be forged.

I really think this is foreshadowing Jon and Bran's ending wrt each other - building up holdfasts and raising up new lords and ladies not as a shield against the Wildlings but to help the Wildlings as well as the large amount of Northerners in need of somewhere safe after the destruction of the Long Night. Land and resources to help this group of people desperately in need of a new homeland - it's Brandon's Gift to his brother!

the other thing i'm mainly convinced of is i think a bit spicy of a take not just amongst the greater fandom but even amongst the jonsa side more specifically - jon isn't going to be king nor is he legitimate. it's not to say that I don't think the crown will be offered to him because I definitely believe that jon is going to have several other moments similar to stannis offering him winterfell where someone is offering him a crown and a way to jump ahead of the other starklings in the line of succession. i do not believe he will say yes. not only that, but i think his story is going to end with him leaving Winterfell and KL specifically because he doesn't want anyone building a faction around him and his name to topple his family members' claims. like maester aemon, his beloved mentor, he is going to purposefully take himself out of the succession AND get himself out of sight and out of mind so Sansa and Bran face no real backlash.

the thing is - i just don't know when that is going to happen. i generally fall under the idea that this ending will come about halfway through a dream of spring - after sticking by his siblings, supporting their claims, dealing with his identity crisis, doubling down on making Sansa QitN and Bran King on the Iron Throne, he's going to realize there's a political faction building around him and just peace out to the Gift to deal with resettling the Wildlings. Completely out of politics, completely cut off from most of Westeros.

THAT. It's the only thing I'm sure of in his story. All my other theories are a lot more vague and I'm a lot less certain of them but Jon helping resettle refugees from the Long Night (whether it's displaced people from the Riverlands and the North, perhaps the remnants of the Unsullied even, as well as Wildlings and former Night's Watch members) and purposefully going there to make sure no political faction builds around him to usurp his brother and sister's claims after rejecting a crown, that is the one thing I would bet money on happening at some point in the series.

But the other stuff...I'm gonna bullet point because I'm less sure:

Jon as Hand/Regent - there's a lot of foreshadowing about Bran having a Regent for awhile and while I'm not sure Bran is going to have a lot of say over his regents, he will have more say over his Hand and I think if Jon does access any sort of power, it's going to be as Bran's hand. But once he realizes people are still kinda itchy about the new political structure (a parliament style rule with a disabled king), that's what prompts him to leave entirely.

Jon as the Mummer's Dragon - Dany is going to show up thinking he's a "proper dragon" because she's already killed the mummer in Aegon VI (or so she thinks) and rumors have started about Jon's parentage (part of why Jon is going to refuse the Winter crown will be because any claim he has comes through Lyanna which puts him at the bottom of the rankings anyway! No way Howland is just going to let Jon get crowned without pointing all of this out!). But Jon isn't a dragon, he is a wolf in dragon's clothing. I don't fully believe he's going to stab her a la the show - I think it's more likely Arya kills her and Jon takes the fall for it to protect Arya.

Jon as a Romantic Hero - we all know I go back and forth on whether Jonsa will be canon or not. IF it does go canon, I think what happens is they fall in love through TWOW, find out about his parentage so it's surprise not incest, and then broach the topic of marrying (maybe they even do get married secretly) only for it to get put on pause because of like, ice and fire magic plot reasons, then Jon's reputation is ruined by "killing" Dany, and he leaves. I THINK that's how the story is going to end - with them separated due to the politics but with some hope of one day reconciling. if they DO end up together though, it will be after he builds a reputation for himself in the Gift (maybe even colloquially referred to as King of the Gift by the people there, the way he's called King Crow by the wildlings in the show), Sansa broaches the topic of them being together once again and this time they can because of how his reputation has built, and because it combines their claims without usurping Sansa's (and I think it's likely Jon insists on being called Prince-Consort and not King-Consort). That's the only way I see it ending happily for them but tbh I vastly prefer the idea that he lives in the Gift forever and secretly marries Sansa maybe but they are never able to live together due to the politics. But that's because I love a bittersweet romantic ending, I want those two full of longing for the love that could have been!!!

Jon as a Dragon Rider - also something i waffle on. part of me feels like you don't have a dragon named after a main character's secret father and not have that character interact with that dragon. another part of me feels like the set up of all three dragons have defined, loving relationships with their riders might be set up for dany's feelings on losing her dragons to enemies (euron/victarion and aegon) than for those dragons actually getting relationships with main character riders. i like the idea of jon, like nettles, having a close relationship with his dragon because he's serious about keeping this dragon away from other people, and treating the dragon like a pet (the way he treats ghost) instead of a war machine but i'm not sure george finds that compelling, ya know. Don't ask me which dragon he could possibly ride, i have no strong opinions one way or the other.

[vivacissimx]

On Lyanna's crypt statue

Having many Winterfell crypts thoughts of late, but did want to theorize about the possible unintended results of the break-in-procedure that Ned committed when he had statues made for his siblings Brandon & Lyanna:

"And there's my grandfather, Lord Rickard, who was beheaded by Mad King Aerys. His daughter Lyanna and his son Brandon are in the tombs beside him. Not me, another Brandon, my father's brother. They're not supposed to have statues, that's only for the lords and the kings, but my father loved them so much he had them done." [AGOT, Bran VII]

Yes, bittersweet, however also wanted to touch on this in the face of Winterfell being partially a necropolis (the crypts are larger than the entire castle!), and how Lyanna having this effigy relates to her presence through the books. We actually meet Lyanna through that very crypt statue (Ned leads Robert down to pay respects) and the gravesite symbolizes a final rejection of Robert when he says he would have buried her on a hill, outside, beneath a fruit tree and the sun only for Ned to remind him that she wanted to "rest beside Brandon and Father." Immediately, she's an active presence. During this visit, Ned feels that the dead are watching & even speaking to him. He sees the empty grave where he will be buried. He acknowledges that this is "his place."

This is the last time Ned visits the crypts before his death. Aside, I think that's interesting because while Ned's physical remains are a point of contention it's implied that Maester Luwin commissions a statue of him prior to dying, so we can assume that even if his tomb is forever empty, Ned Stark will still have a place in the crypts. That does connect to the point I'm making, that the crypts of Winterfell are less important as a gravesite than as a living site of memory.

Bran and Rickon live in the crypts during Winterfell's occupation & we know they interact with the Rickard/Brandon/Lyanna area because they take Brandon's sword (it's absence later noted by Barbrey). This is also when Bran communicates with Jon beyond the Wall:

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. [ACOK Bran VII]

-

[Jon as Ghost during a wolf dream] 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. Don't be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him. [ACOK Jon VII]

How did Bran do that? This is a conscious dreamsharing sequence we don't see again in the series. I dunno if it has anything to do with Lyanna at all but we know the dead are always watching, that they're present in the connection between Jon & Bran, and more importantly, that Winterfell's dead have been in Jon's dream before. As he recounts to Sam, he has a recurring nightmare about the crypts:

I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It's black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. [AGOT Jon VI]

-

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. [...] Up above he heard drums. They are feasting in the Great Hall, but I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place. His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. "Ygritte?" he whispered. "Forgive me. Please." But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark [ASOS Jon VIII]

The Lyanna connection to all this is clear. There's something in the crypts waiting for him but it's not the Kings of Winter—that narrows it down a bit then!

Ned wasn't supposed to give Lyanna a statue, but she asked to be buried there, and he did, and now Jon has dreams of something reaching out to him. Bran possibly hitches onto this line to speak to Jon. Before Ned died, he also dreamed of Lyanna's statue reaching out to him:

He was walking through the crypts beneath Winterfell, as he had walked a thousand times before. The Kings of Winter watched him pass with eyes of ice, and the direwolves at their feet turned their great stone heads and snarled. Last of all, he came to the tomb where his father slept, with Brandon and Lyanna beside him. "Promise me, Ned," Lyanna's statue whispered. [AGOT Ned XIII]

Staying on Jon's crypt dreams however, I've talked about this somewhere before but ACOK Theon shares Jon's ASOS crypt dream, albeit from a different angle. Jon is in the crypts but Theon is at the feast upstairs. As in life, Jon is not welcome at Robert's welcoming feast, while Theon technically is. Both of their dreams end with Grey Wind appearing.

But there were others with faces he had never known in life, faces he had seen only in stone. The slim, sad girl who wore a crown of pale blue roses and a white gown spattered with gore could only be Lyanna. Her brother Brandon stood beside her, and their father Lord Rickard just behind. Along the walls figures half-seen moved through the shadows, pale shades with long grim faces. The sight of them sent fear shivering through Theon sharp as a knife. And then the tall doors opened with a crash, and a freezing gale blew down the hall, and Robb came walking out of the night. Grey Wind stalked beside, eyes burning, and man and wolf alike bled from half a hundred savage wounds. [ACOK Theon V]

And who is present in Theon's dream? Lyanna. The face he's only ever seen in stone. Because she has a statue in Winterfell's crypts.

Which brings us to three people who've specifically had Lyanna's crypt statue haunt their dreams. That statue which is an anomaly and shouldn't exist. It makes me wonder. Wonder if Ned didn't do a little something there.

[cassowariess]

I think what's so frustrating about the ending of Game of Thrones, even 4 years later, is that I could see those disappointing character endings actually working if they had been written properly.

Jaime could have gone back to Cersei in a way that made sense, if we'd had multiple scenes where he struggles to convince himself that he can be a good person and fails because of his trauma and codependency. He hates himself so much he can't possibly believe that he deserves someone as good as Brienne. Instead we have him say "oops, I'm a bad person all along!" after 5 seconds of introspection and ride off on a horse.

I'd also take out the "I never cared about innocents" line unless there was a way to make it really clear he didn't mean it and was saying it out of bitterness. Otherwise it's non sensical and erases his most pivotal scene where he confesses to Brienne how and why he killed the Mad King.

Daenerys could have had a mental breakdown in a way that makes sense if we'd seen her unravelling more. All we got was her staring off into the distance and looking slightly dishevelled while Tyrion told her Varys had betrayed her. I wanted to see her pacing while she was alone and looking devastated. Cold, icy looks don't tell us anything about her state of mind, because she always had a ruthless side, but was in complete control of her mental faculties. Hiding her emotions for a shock and awe "twist" doesn't make it a good twist because there were hardly any breadcrumbs, even subtle ones. It could have worked (if it was well written) because the freedom fighter to tyrant pipeline is something that has happened historically in the real world. A good twist is Jon Snow being revealed to be Lyanna and Rheagar's son, because there were chekovs and groundwork to follow. Dany's "twist" was just bad writing.

Bran could have become king in a way that made sense if they'd stuck more to the Bloodraven storyline in the books. i.e. that Bloodraven (A Targaryen bastard that went missing beyond the wall and became the Three Eyed Crow decades before Bran shows up) is secretly trying to install himself on the Iron Throne, and yes there's peace in the realm but it still feels sinister because there's a Targaryen on the iron throne in the end after all, but in a Stark's body. Instead we got a half hearted speech about stories and Tyrion calling him "Bran the Broken" which I personally would have smacked him for. (Also still think it was a mistake to leave out Commander Mormont's Raven in the show. I loved the creepy things the bird occassionally said and I'm fully on board with the theory that Bloodraven is speaking through the bird.)

”King,” croaked the raven. The bird flapped across the solar to land on Mormont’s shoulder. “King,” it said again, strutting back and forth. “He likes that word,” Jon said, smiling. “An easy word to say. An easy word to like.” “King,” the bird said again. “He rose and dressed in darkness, as Mormont’s raven muttered across the room. “Corn,” the bird said, and, “King,” and, “Snow, Jon Snow, Jon Snow.” That was queer. The bird had never said his full name before, as best Jon could recall.“

So much character development was avoided because of the time devoted to cartoonish battles you could barely see. Battles which will likely be only a few pages in the future books, as all the others are in the currently published ones.

[inthehoneymoonwithconnorrk800]

MY DARKEST DESIRE (joffrey baratheon x dark! reader)

Joffrey Baratheon x yandere! Reader

PART 1 OF 3

*I am sorry for the inappropriate use that this text can present in English, I have translated it on google.

TW: NON-CON, emotional manipulation, unhealthy behaviors. Obvious divergence from the canon. That's right, I'm hungry and I want Joffrey to suffer, so here goes.

You were the only daughter of Petyr Baelish.

How did he decide to take care of you? Easy, you were related to the Tullys: your mother was a member of that honorable house that in her youth fell in love with the charming Petyr, that was the only reason he took you under his care. He didn't love your mother, but having you was a point of power over that family, and obviously, it gave him a certain prestige that your father didn't intend to waste.

You couldn't blame him.

Since you were little he had taught you how cunning surpassed honor, and he had made you part of his strategies through innocent father/daughter games. Who could suspect that under the table was an innocent girl listening to conspiracy plans?

You grew up through power plays, secrets between nobles, and making connections at a young age. At your age, you already conspired with your father in the death of Jon Arryn.

You were like his only partner in crime. He told you about his plans, you fulfilled his wishes for influence in other houses, you told him your suspicions and you confessed what you wanted most: to help him be on the iron throne.

Now you were on a walk with Lady Margaery, both of you were alone and politely, you stroked her hair. Anyone would say they were friends with her, but you only saw her as a lever for power. You had known her since her arrival in King's Landing, wearing your classic mask of fear of King Joffrey's violence and your feigned kindness to any maiden in the Red Keep. So you tricked Sansa, the poor redhead who desperately needed someone kind in her life, into the mercy of the Arryn according to your father's plan and she was safe there.

"Everything okay, lady?" Margaery's lovely voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

You ignored the strange pressure in your chest when you thought about the Stark's future.

"That's right, my rose." You gave her a seductive look, Margaery tried to hide her blush by pretending to pick some other flower.

But you knew her well. You knew of the Tyrell ways, of his trickery, and of Margaery's purpose: to become queen. You became close to the future queen according to your plan: to become someone trustworthy (by advising her, joking with her and sharing your false worries like not knowing whom to marry) … and she responded with gradually spontaneous smiles, answering your jokes with wit and offering you the possibility of marrying Loras, as if you were humble in the first place.

Little by little, you became friends with her (getting petting, talking with Loras like they were old friends, as well as having intelligent conversations with Olenna, the true Tyrell mastermind). Secretly, you took advantage of everything you could to learn more about the Tyrell through oral data that the young woman gave you. And then came the hardest step to do: seduce her.

When you were thirteen, your father took you to one of his brothels. You knew from a young age what he was working, but you had never seen what happened inside. There he showed you the prostitutes, how the pleasure business worked, the nobles who requested his services and in the company of women of pleasure, he taught you how to please a man or a woman, or even tactics that would make anyone submissive of Dorne.

And you did your duty.

Over several moons, you meekly began to make advances to the ambitious Tyrell. At first, she feigned innocence and even mild rejection of your advances, but thanks to your parents' spies, you knew that she spoke positively about you whenever she could with her grandmother. You mentioned it to your father and he proudly admitted that having you was positive. That was the best, even though you were cunning, cruel and calculating, you loved the love that your father gave you. So encouraged, the caresses turned into kisses and these into sexual acts. You pleased her, you pretended to be an angel by her side, and you sweetened her with words of always being by her side, helping her when she is queen. However, you only executed the steps to bring the Baelish name closer to power.

“At a good time I see them. “the hoarse voice of the Tyrell matriarch was present, you made the classic bow as the protocol said,” Don’t bother, girl. Hey Loras! Come here, help your grandmother.”

You coldly thought how to fully gain the trust of the queen of thorns.

"It's nice to have you around."

"No way, little girl! I know you will join us soon.”

You smiled, if only they knew…

—

You notified your father of the progress with the Tyrells. His smile appeared on his face when you told him everything you achieved during these last three months. You didn't see him because he was in the Eyrie, courting Lady Lysa.

"You know this is the hardest part, right?"

You nodded. It wasn't just about cajoling the Tyrells, you had to influence the littles Baratheon.

After a short dialogue, you left in the direction of the palace.

You politely greeted the nobles who were around and decisively went to where King Joffrey should be.

"Isn't this place a bit dangerous for a young woman?"

Inwardly you frowned, the Spider's sweet words irritated you. You had known him for as long as you could remember, your father's rival, the same man who had given you your first candies simply to separate you from your father.

“I am touched by his concern, Lord Varys. And at the same time, I am amazed that you are here. I'm at the request of a maid, you know.”

"The king has grown braver" he replied with his classic wide eyes.

"Such bravery will shed blood."

You bowed your head to say goodbye and left. You quickly mentally replayed all his gestures and words.

You concluded that Joffrey was in a bad mood, a mortal danger to anyone who came near. Better you should go to Tommen, though that meant daringly dodging the queen regent. You faked a downcast look when you entered Tommen's playground, luckily his mother wasn't near him, but that didn't mean anything safe, there were guards everywhere and he was surrounded by other young nobles.

You chattered with false joy until you approached the shy Baratheon, you couldn't blame him. The fact of growing up with a beast eager for pain had reduced his extroversion, making him closed and even tender, for a moment, you felt remorse, but you discarded those annoying thoughts thinking of making your father happy. That was the most important thing.

“Do you like salmon chunks, your grace?

Tommen blushed. You knew why, his cat Sir Pounce especially enjoyed that fish, and Tommen fed it secretly because if he did it in public, Joffrey would show his cruelty. You knew this from your own spies in the kitchens, and besides, you served dinner from time to time when Tommen was feeling blue to eat with the others.

"Yes, I like it a lot”

"I'm glad. Tonight we will prepare various dishes and with your confirmation I could make some extra dishes of cooked salmon along with chicken and cream of duck with herbs for you”

"I would like that, thank you, Lady Baelish."

"You're welcome, your highness."

Under shy and polite smiles, you walked away. You were not to give suspicion to your alleged lover Margaery Tyrell or the others.

Tonight could be the beginning of another step for the father's plan.

@yandere-stan @yandere-daydreams @megsironthrone @letsasoiaftogetherftogether @missglaskinkin @witchthewritertchthewriter @a-libra-writesa-writes  @agent-whiskeys-sweetheartweetheart @ladywinterwitchinterwitch @anxiousnerdwritings

[faiakishi]

im back with a game of thrones update

after watching through a lot of the show very quickly i have two episodes left, which are the ive heard are absolutely terrible and are the reason my dad (who says season 1-4 are almost perfect television and a great adaptation) hates the show so much. my mom and i have been pointing out dumb things while watching (such as lady mormont being shown turning into a white walker, then being shown on a funeral pyre despite literally every white walker shattering??) but ive still heard that the dumbest and worst things are in these last two episodes.

as curious as i am to see the "terrible ending" ive heard so much about im not really looking forward to whatever these episodes have in store

I will admit that my memory of that episode is hazy due to traumatically blocking most of it out, but it was just the white walkers who shattered, right? White walkers are different from wights. White walkers are seemingly live people turned into whatever they are now, and presumably can still 'grow up' as it's shown that Craster's sons all become white walkers themselves. Wights are reanimated corpses-unintelligent, fragile, and decaying. Lyanna Mormont became a wight. And I think they all just collapsed at the end of it. So...that part at least was not a plot hole.

The dead/survived ratio in the Battle of the Long Night was just fucking ridiculous. Yes, it was crazy and random and tons of people died, but no one really important. Pretty much just everyone the writers didn't really have more material for and wanted to justify getting rid of. Jorah's unrequited love for Daenerys? Doesn't matter anymore! Theon? His redemption arc was over anyway! Ed Tollett being irrelevant now that Jon is a king and there are no POV characters in the Watch anymore? That's cool, he can just die! Beric Dondarrion-okay, I am STILL salty about what they did with him, he's already dead in the books but (and this is a spoiler but I'm trying to encourage you to read the books) he dies bring Catelyn Tully back to life, who then takes his place as Lady Stoneheart at the head of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Meanwhile fucking Sam survives. Don't get me wrong, I love Sam, but how he's portrayed in the show-mf would not have lived. They tried to make it a GRRM bloodbath but critically misunderstood what he did to make his deaths feel so brutal and realistic.

I will say, as much as I would have loved little Lyanna living happily ever after as her badass self-killing a zombie giant while having the life crushed out of her was a death worthy of her. And this is Game of Thrones, so honestly that's as much as you can hope for.

One of the places-I mean, there are many places D&D went wrong, but one of the big ones I think was the decision to make the Long Night a secondary plot point and treat the conquering of King's Landing as the real end battle. Germ has likened the white walkers and the army of the dead to climate change and the advance of the Night King during the War of Five Kings is very much a political metaphor-people are fighting over something dumb like who gets a chair while the real threat goes unheeded, and when it arrives it will not care who sits what throne. Rushing through that just to get back to 'who gets the Iron Throne' is profoundly missing the whole point.

Really, Germ first thought the novels would be a trilogy. The first book detailing the War of Five Kings and the birth of Dany's dragons and her rise to power, Book 2 being Dany returning to Westeros and the ensuing conflicts that will cause, and Book 3 being the war against the 'real' enemy. We aren't even through Book 1.

[frostbitepandaaaaa]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @quarantineddreamer and @astromechs. thanks friends! <3

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

44

2.  What's your total AO3 word count?

654,506

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently riding the Andor/Rogue One wave. i've also written for X-Files, Avatar the Last Airbender, Game of Thrones and Mad Max: Fury Road

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ozymandian (3,322) GoT. my albatross. my unfinished season 8 speculation fic. jon/dany

Thumbprint Scar (1,514) GoT. modern au, my pride and joy honestly. i love this fic so much. jon/dany

Built to Love (1,174) GoT. arranged marriage fic. jon/dany

Symptom of Time (815) GoT. soulmarks/soulmates. jon/dany

Fire & Brimstone (517) GoT. pacific rim au. jon/dany

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! it might take a few days/weeks/months, but yes! i am always so grateful to anyone taking their time to leave a nice comment, no matter how brief or incoherent (sometimes those ones are the best ones lol)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Not Now, Not Then for sure, but i'm a fucking wimp and left it ambiguous anyway. also if they die together it's fine right? this is fine.

also, Ozymandian might also work for this because it's not finished lmaooooo

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

that's tough considering i try to end all of them happily. i'll probably say Symptom of Time, though, because at the end soulmarks and the magic behind them returns to the world. it's kind of ironic, too, considering that is probably one of my angstier fics.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not since i wrote for Thrones, which is to be expected. but even then, i never got much.

9. Do you write smut. If so, what kind?

yes and it only ever seems to be intense and emotionally charged. it's all pretty vanilla, comparatively, i feel like. lots of oral sex is always involved and safe sex and hearty consent are my kinks, so.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

do crossovers include like... fandom crossovers or like... aus? because if it's a fandom crossover, then no. but i've written a pacific rim AU for jon/dany (GoT).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

non but i would literally die. i've had a few of my fics turned into podfics though and that was fucking surreal. (thanks @adecila).

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

yes. i am not good at it lol. (sorry @ashleyfanfic)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

you know, recency bias and all that... but rebelcaptain seriously has me body and soul. i am pretty certain that i will never be over them. they just have everything-- two lonely, touch-starved, traumatized loners who finally feel some modicum of safety among each other (even if it was only for the briefest of moments)? two warrior babes with competency kinks? doomed by the narrative? one of them with a fucking abandonment complex and the other the one who always comes back? THE ANGST THE YEARNING THE UNHINGED-- okay i'll stop sorry. SO UPSET i never got in on the ground floor with these morons with Rogue One came out. (although, tbf, i was deep into the max/furiosa feels when RO came out and they're second place for my favorite ship.)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ozymandian *sobbing*. i really, really wannt to but season 8 just stole all the wind from my sails my god.

16. What are your writing strengths?

imagery/setting descriptions. worldbuilding to a certain degree. i like writing dialogue but how good i am at it is another manner all together.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

inner dialogues. i feel like i either go overboard or never give enough. i'm also pretty shit at plot lmao. vibes?? i got you. plot?? fuckingn forget it i'm out.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

not sure if i understand this question?

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, un-fucking-fortunately. hi, i am a fraud.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Thumbprint Scar i just love it sm. it has a special place in my heart and i did exactly what i wanted with that fic annd i think i mostly did it well. anyway.

tagging: @justwandering-neverlost @ashleyfanfic @andorerso @fulcrumstardust @luciechat @mosylufanfic and anyone else who wants to join in!

[reginarubie]

AHHHh!! *Screaming and rolling around in my bed from the updates*

dang my jonsa heart melting did you see Sansa already planning out her future good mother a gift. And Jon being taken off guard by her gentle nature and the pack antics. I'm so weak for this duo. And Ned keeping his receipt is wonderful!! Specially after the attempt on his family's life I'm glad he was aware that communication may also be intercepted.

Now I adore Rhae's characterization another fresh what-if interpretation of her character! Showcasing her Dorne blood AND Trag god complex with their "pure blood". I like how her husband seems like a good person able to still calm the paranoia creeping in. Also, the way she and Egg decided the fate of Sansa and Egg's child while she herself didn't want a political match has me shaking me head.

Hi nonny!,

actually thank you because I have happened upon a couple of comments about Rhaenys which have left me a bit sad because I feel like somehow she has been miscontrued.

First of all, excellent take on my Rhaenys, because you have hit the nail on the head, she is a dornish woman — which we see in several moments — but she also has the Targaryen holier-than-thou attitude which is ingrained in all Targaryen we have seen so far. Even "bully" Jon has a touch of it. And yes, as we say in Italy, they did their sums without the master — hanno fatto i conti senza l'oste — though as it would be Aegon's child he is well within his right for medieval time to choose up ahead whom to betroth them to.

Also yes, after living all of his life believing the Starks had abandoned them and living in a toxic environment created by Rhaegar, let's not forget that Rhaegar basically pit one son against the other, either out of spite for how his hand was forced or because he wanted to test both; being with the Starks is like a breath of fresh air, and he is really charmed by Sansa' charming attitude.

Also yes, people give Ned way too little credit, in canon the man managed to keep Jon's parentage a secret until his death and his teachings are still moving his children. It only made sense that Ned would keep the receipt.

Now, since you happened to comment on Rhaenys I am going to jump at the chance and actually address some of the claims that have been made about her in the chapter that I feel have not been really in line with the Rhaenys I wrote.

First of all, obviously everyone has the right to say their own piece about what they read and are allowed to their interpretation, but as the writer I feel like I need to clarify a couple of points.

So, the accusation moved toward Rhaenys is that she is an hypocrit which she is not, and in brief order I will address those points I think need clarification:

The first point made was that Rhaenys was apparently showing her hypocrisy by not realizing how much her and Lyanna' journeys were similar. Which they aren't and let me explain why imo it is so.

It is not true that the only difference between what Lyanna did and what Rhaenys has done is that no war was fought about it. If you really think about it, their circumstances are vastly different.

For easiness of navigation Lyanna's name shall be in blue, whilst Rhaenys in red.

Lyanna was very much younger than Rhaenys was when she chose to defy Aegon for her husband.

Lyanna, despite being betrothed to Robert — so bound in some way to Robert, though we still don't know in canon if the match had been finalized or not; which in this story we know Lyanna based off her right to not marry over the fact she and Robert had not yet taken the vows of betrothal — eloped (in this story; if most of you follow me, you know I feel like Lyanna in canon was manipolated and seduced by Rhaegar and later secluded) with a married man, who happened to be the heir to the Iron throne, whose wife was still very much alive (and not set aside, as lawfully there would be no ground to annull their marriage) and who had given him two children (both alive; one of whom was the second in line to the Iron throne). On the contrary, Rhaenys eloped with a man whilst much older than her, who had been in a marriage before her, but that marriage had prove fruitless and was done with by the time he and Rhaenys married and whilst it was not yet specified in further chapter we would have learnt that his first wife unable to have children had chosen the Faith thus their marriage had been nullified.

Lyanna told no one of her choice to elope, Rhaenys instead enlised her uncle's help (the Hand of the King's help) before eloping. So there were people aware of Rhaenys choice, which, if the Starks had been aware of Lyanna' love for Rhaegar (or their possibly void marriage) things could've gone much different.

Also, whilst the are gap is similar between Lyanna/Rhaegar and Rhaenys/Aeleski, it is also true that Rhaenys was older than Lyanna was, so better equipped to decide if that love was worth the consequences that may come.

And that's point one, and I think that everyone can agree the similarity between Rhaenys and Lyanna are not even skin-deep.

The second point made was that Lyanna made her choice to love a man and the same did Rhaenys and that both did whatever necessary to stay with that man (case in point, eloping) even against the wishes of their families. Which brings us back to points 2 and 3 previously discussed. On the top of that, Rhaenys was never expresselly forbidden from marrying Aeleski, yes, her king and the head of her House secluded her in Maegor's Holdfast but they were negotiating, so technically Rhaenys did go against a direct order but not against a decree. And in many chapters it has been repeated that this was the only case in which Rhaenys defied Aegon or any other man of her family and again she was backed by the Hand of the King, which is no small thing.

Another point made was that she's upset that Aerys rejected Elia from going to Dragonstone with the children but doesn't bat an eyelash about Aegon keeping Lyanna and Jon at court. And here, again, circumstances are much different.

as in this AU Rhaegar was winning the rebellion, Elia was still his wife and the current princess consort of Dragostone, in full wartime, while Aerys was within his rights as king, to keep her at court, if he sent the rest of the Targaryen household to Dragonstone (which was Elia' seat through marriage) he ought to have sent Elia and the chidren as well, especially since her husband was subduing the Rebels.

Rhaenys remembers how tramautizing it was to live at court during that time. Aerys had gone mad, and Rhaenys doesn't have nightmares about him hunting her for nothing. Just imagine what she has lived through, and what that war caused her both from her own side — her grandfather — and the fear of the enemies.

Neither Rhaegar or Aegon are told to have been cruel toward anyone, thus neither Lyanna not Jon suffered what Rhaenys, Aegon and Elia suffered in that time.

Lyanna as she chose to remain at court to stay near her son and the man she loved became part of the Targaryen household as recognized Favorite (and potential wife) especially since Rhaegar entrusted her in Aegon's care when he died; plus, Jon is a recognized son of the previous king thus without the permissione of his brother, the current king, he is obliged to stay at court. Being a bastard of a Targaryen king, a recognized bastard at that, House Stark cannot claim any kind of authority over him. So, Aegon is well within his rights to host them in KL.

Also... who's to say the children (Rhaenys and Aegon) are aware or guilty of the isolation suffered by Lyanna and Jon?, we've seen there are much more dynamics that we'd like in court, there are tensions between the dornish and Lyanna, especially after Elia died, and we know LF has been at play for some time now. And what if the children were not aware of the plot to keep the comunications between Lyanna and the Starks to zero? , they have lived in such a toxic family environment that they could very well be assuming comunication was scarce because of the fact that Lyanna' choices costed House Stark many deaths.

Plus, Aerys refused member of noble families agency in war-time, Aegon pushes his limits, within his rights, during peace-time.

Next stop, Rhaenys commenting she doesn't hold Jon guilty of Lyanna and Rhaegar's actions, but guilty of thoughts of others, is she really? I read someone commenting on how Jon never showed interest in the Iron throne, and I wanna ask you, who's to say he didn't? Case in point:

Tyrion commenting how much people are convinced the Black Bastard is a good fit — as much if not more than Aegon — for the throne, because of how he proved his skills.

Rhaenys pointing out how everyone was waiting for Jon just to make the move, they aren't waiting to see if he's going to make the move, but when he is going to make his move for the Iron throne.

the Starks are aware that here was tension at court and that people were assuming that the inheritance deal could end up in war, which didn't happen, though everyone is as if waiting at the brink of a succesional war.

Tyrion's comment about how, after Jon apparently showed his rivarly with Aegon more publicly — and his stint in the black cells — started to pit brother against brother as if to test both and see which one was worthy, which in exchange made the court painfully aware that Jon could be a valid alternative for the Iron throne.

Jon himself comments about his feralty and his need to prove himself and have as much freedom and chances as his trueborn brother did + the summary-line from Jon's POV “He had always wanted it, but never like this + The hunger in his chest had become a hole so big that Seven Kingdoms and a whole world besides could not fill it”, that's ambition for the Iron throne. Maybe he was cautious, but his hunger for Aegon's throne and life (the Queen, the children, the Realm) is there from the beginning.

So, I ask you again? Jon (the same Jon who, in canon, wanted to be lord of Winterfell even if not at the price of his family's deaths) never even hinted, in any way, to how he might want the IT?, with all of the points of which above... I think it is a bit difficult to believe he never quite showed interest in the IT.

Plus, people are commenting on how Rhaenys acts as if she's better than the Starks (which is what she has been taught, again with the god-complex of the Targaryens) which I have nothing against as it's a correct take, the point is that, it seems like we all forget that:

House Stark has a double intent to accept Aegon's offer (an offer for peace), they want to basically steal from beneath his fingertips the North without bloodshed. Remember, Ned bent the knee to Rhaegar (even if, as Cat said, he did it out of love and not morality)

House Stark is using the full period of mourning to buy more time and get a better grasp of their strength before launching their plan. In any other condition they would've been much more lenient, remember Wynafryd is in Winterfell, they coul've sent Sansa to Aegon and just let the time pass until the married but letting them been seen as a couple and not as if one has the upper hand (them), which is instead what they are doing.

House Stark again has a double intent for Sansa's mandatory progress around the Realm, a political intent meant to make thei future secession a success. They aren't doing it in the name of the peace, like instead Aegon is doing. He could've subdued the North with the dragons, he choose the diplomacy route (grey character, remember?)

So, actually, Rhaenys isn't so off the charts with her fear that House Stark is showing the Realm who is the one who has the upper hand and threaten to make Sansa a more powerful symbol than Aegon.

On the top of that I've seen the fact that Rhaenys is upset by Sansa becoming queen as hypocrisy because it was Aegon who moved for the match, which, Rhaenys explains why it makes sense, but she was still the only one of Elia's children who remembers the time they spent at Aerys' court in wartime, and after, when people kept just waiting for her mother to be set aside and make a fool of, if you noticed, Rhaenys never calls Rhaegar ‘father’ she calls him by his name, because she han't forgiven him for having abandoned them for the taking for Lyanna; it's human she, as her mother's only supporter in House Targaryen, even though she can see the reasonability about it, would feel upset that the niece of the woman whose presence in court humiliated and pained her mother, albeit necessary, ends up having a big say in what she feels should her mother Legacy. Which is also why she and Aegon agreed their children would marry, to ensure their mother's blood and legacy remains on the Iron throne. It's human.

Also, do you really see similarties between what Rhaegar did and what Rhaenys did?

Rhaegar was a grown man, a prince with two children and loyal and dutiful wife (a wife who almost died to give him his heir) to whom he was still married when he eloped in secret with a girl (betrothed to his cousin atop that) who was half his age. On whom he sired a bastard without caring to ensure her family and the family of her betrothed was suitably compensated for the stain on her reputation.

Rhaegar abandoned Lyanna secluded in a Tower, in Dorne (the horrendous toad) without proper care in her status after having gotten her pregnant at 14/15, isolated from her family and went to fight a war. Several times it is said that it was Ned intervention that ensured Lyanna had a Maester and proper care during her pre-time birth.

Rhaegar, despite having to make peace with the dornish (remember the litle bitch abandoned both "wives" and children to fight his war), kept Lyanna as favorite (compensating the North by avoiding any kind of ingerence in the Northern politics trusting Ned's word and vow)furthering humiliating her, Elia, the Dornish and the Starks plus putting in peril his son and the woman he loved, who lost a child to poisoin or stress.

Rhaenys was yet unbetrothed and unmarried with no children to her name, and married a "divorced” man, childless. She ensured people in the high spheres were aware of her choices and didn't keep it a secret, hell she brought her husband publicly on Dragonstone and publicly fought Aegon about it.

Rhaenys never abandoned her husband and her husband did not abadon her. She is loyal to her husband and they respect each other. Rhaenys ensured her peace with her brother and king was stable and supports him wholeheartedly and never before or after that she has defied him.

I rather think Rhaenys is not Elia — Elia was kind almost to fault, and whilst Rhaenys is kind and generous she has her uncle's temper — she's not Rhaegar and she's not Lyanna. She's Rhaenys, she ain't perfect, yes she has bias born of all the traumatising shit she has gone through, she can be a bit paranoid but so far we've seen it is not out of reason and listens to counsel.

But tbh I feel that hypocrisy is not one of her faults.

It's not that she is not willing to see and forgive other people around her who fought for love, but differently from many, Rhaenys doesn't romaticize the circumstances. She could not forgive Rhaegar for what he did to her mother, and she cannot forgive that what Lyanna and Rhaegar did resulted in almost their deaths and her mother's humiliation.

She fought for love, but did so within the limits, aware of the consequences and working to avoid it escalated.

The circumstances between what Rhaegar did, what Lyanna did and what Rhaenys has done are so different that the similarties are not even skindeep, imo.

I hope I have clarified some points, again you are more than allowed to your own intrepretation of my take on Rhaenys, these are just my two cents as the author!

Oh, and about Aegon's politics. They aren't so off kilter, you know? He's keeping the Lannister in his corner with a second generation Lannister/Targaryen marriage; he is making peace with Stannis also binding their lines with betrothing Shireen to Maekar (notice that like this Shireen will retain the title of princess and her children will still be in line to the throne), he's taking a Stark wife, Daenerys was married to the dornish and he is considering a match between Joanna and Willas Tyrell; Renly bent the knee and is lord of Storm's End. With his marriage to Sansa he is making good with both the Riverlands, as she the daughter of a Tully and the Vale who loved her father.

As always, anon (and everyone else) thank you for the support and the love for the story! (sorry for the big tangent I took with this) and sending all my love ~G.

[butterflies-dragons]

Why does Jonsa feel like such an obscure solution to me lol? I'm a Jonsa, but it's not something that seems super obvious or direct in the story. If I hadn't known about the theory and was a casual reader with little knowledge of the evidence, I don't think I would have even seen Jon as a possible Sansa love interest. Do you think this is intentional?

You know, I've read the ASOIAF books and never saw any romance there except for Ned and Cat. And then one day watching the Show I saw romance. It was in the form of two supposed distant half siblings reuniting after years of separation and suffering. And curiously enough, they looked like Ned and Cat younger versions.

At that time of my life I decided to re-read those books and while doing that I had several epiphanies, like this one:

“No one will ever marry me for love.”

Be glad the Imp preferred his whores. It would not be fitting for my son to take that dwarf's leavings, but as he never touched you . . . How would you like to marry your cousin, the Lord Robert?" The thought made Sansa weary. All she knew of Robert Arryn was that he was a little boy, and sickly. It is not me she wants her son to marry, it is my claim. No one will ever marry me for love. But lying came easy to her now. "I . . . can scarcely wait to meet him, my lady. But he is still a child, is he not?" "He is eight. And not robust. But such a good boy, so bright and clever. He will be a great man, Alayne. The seed is strong, my lord husband said before he died.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa VI

“By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.” 

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon I

“Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.” 

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon IV

In the south, every great house of Westeros were fighting to get Sansa’s hand in marriage in order to take Winterfell and the north under their control. Sansa reflects about this objectification in the books and gives us one of the saddest lines in ASOIAF, especially coming from a girl who yearns to be loved and always dreamed of getting married: “No one will ever marry me for love,” (because everyone only wants her for her claim to Winterfell and the north).

Meanwhile at the Wall…

Jon Snow was offered legitimation, Winterfell’s Lordship and a wildling bride (Val) by King Stannis Baratheon, in order to gain the northern lords and the wildlings support to his claim to the Iron Throne. And Jon Snow rejected it all by saying: “By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.” (A Dance with Dragons - Jon I) and “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.” (A Dance with Dragons - Jon IV).

Yes, Jon’s answer was Sansa. Winterfell belongs to Sansa. He could have said “Winterfell belongs to my sisters Sansa and Arya” or “Winterfell belongs to my true-born sisters” or “Winterfell belongs to the Starks.” But no. He said, more than once, that Winterfell belongs to Sansa.

Unlike Tyrion, Willas, Theon, Littlefinger or even little Robert, who pursued Sansa’s claim over her, there was a man who was offered Winterfell and chose Sansa over her claim: “By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.” – “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.” Among all the high lords interested in becoming the Lord of Winterfell by marrying Sansa Stark, the bastard Jon Snow refused to despoil his sister Sansa of her rights, even if her claim is the one thing he has wanted as much as he had ever wanted anything.

So, do I think this is intentional??? Does this tell me anything???

For me the answer is yes, this tells me a lot.

...

Maybe I'm right and my speculations and theories and all my findings are hints for romance, or maybe they are just mere parallels and similarities without any significance, purpose, repercussion or effect, or even worse, they are just coincidence.

But when something happens that many times, it's no longer a coincidence.

Anyways, we will never know until George finish the Books.

Thanks for your message :)

[allovesthings]

I was thinking of Jon's claim to the iron throne and I have to wonder would he even try to claim it ? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he doesn't want it (or some other bullshit the show spewed), I mean practically, this would be after or during the fake Aegon plot and Dany would have to be there for this, right ? The Others/winter would be here as well and the seven Kingdoms are already destabilized because of the war of the five kings + Cersei + whatever else might happen in the mean time.

Is it smart to have another claimant and destabilize it further or would that just cause more problems to save said realm, especially if Dany is there with dragons ? I think Jon might figure it out, absolutely be conflicted about it but chose not to (or to just wait until things are less fraught) claim any iron throne and someone else, on his behalf, might do it.

[atopvisenyashill]

What if Rhaegar had been born a girl?

I mean.........seventeen years where Rhaella and Aerys are having nothing but miscarriages and stillbirths and the only heir is a girl Rhaegar who will NOT be allowed to inherit under any circumstances whatsoever? That's the perfect scenario for the Southron Ambitions to fuckin HAPPEN BABEEEEE.

Rhaella is probably a hundred times more miserable because Aerys is blaming her for not giving him a son. Aerys probably gets much more difficult to control much quicker because he has no heir. Maybe he even makes overtures at setting Rhaella aside and makes more obvious passes at Joanna. Drives Tywin away earlier, right into the scheming arms of Jon Arryn, Hoster Tully, and Rickard Stark. With no Martell-Targaryen marriage (I mean...maybe girl Rhaegar marries Oberyn but I can't see Doran OR Loreza forcing that on Oberyn if he doesn't want it), Dorne isn't likely to be particularly loyal to the Targaryens because the Iron Throne doesn't have a hostage - Lewyn probably doesn't even join the Kingsguard, and even if girl Rhaegar (Rhaena?) marries Oberyn (or Doran? IDR when he married Mellario and I'm too lazy to look it up rn), girl Rhaegar is going to be living in DORNE not in King's Landing and it's likely Doran looks at all that mess and goes "not my circus not my fuckin monkeys". By the time Viserys is born and Aerys finally has an heir and goes off the deep end for real, you have a situation where there is no one to lead Aerys forces, no Dornish faction to back him up, and no Rhaegar absconding with Lyanna to prompt Brandon and Rickard to go to the capital. Aerys WILL eventually do something heinous enough to make everyone turn on him, and it WILL prompt Jaime to attempt to deal with it but whose to say when that happens? By the time it does, we could be looking at a very abbreviated Rebellion where Aerys attempts something heinous, and has basically the entire might of Westeros going "fuck this dude" while Dorne whistles and looks the other way, Jaime kills him, and hands the capital over to the rebels. OR Aerys fucks around too much with wildfire, and KL kabooms super early/Jaime has to go up against not just Aerys and the pyromancers but half the Kingsguard to whack Aerys.

No matter what, the rebellion still happens imo but the war is probably a bit quicker without Rhaegar to rally troops and Elia to use to blackmail Dorne.

[adecila]

I think they are doing this to us on purpose...

I love this fandom, I was sad and depressed because of the 💩 ending but after reading all of this amazing jonerys fics I felt happy and no matter what I still found comfort on this.

Please I now it's a lot to ask but don't go don't let them took away this bubble of happiness (you and the others on this fandom created for all of us) from us too.

On purpose? Yes if by that you mean the purpose of doubling down on the season 8 ending and milking whatever they can from the old Game of Thrones fan base. You know, the same ones who are so easily swayed by CGI dragons and will tune in to watch The House Of The Dragon. And the ones who think that the only thing wrong with the ending was that Dany's turn was too quick (but they thought she was mad in the first place, so that's not why they're raging about the ending), the ones who wanted Jon to kill the Night King instead of Arya and the ones who wanted Jon to end up on the Iron Throne.

WE ARE NOT THE SAME WHAT THE FUCK IS NOT CLICKING

Now that I'm heated again and in light of what Emilia said, I'm gonna say this respectfully but you're giving too much credit to HBO AND Kit.

Let me refresh your memory!!!

HBO agreed to the ending we got. Have y'all suddenly forgotten?? The HBO CEO watched the rough cut of the 6 episodes and thought hey these are great

In fact HBO stood by the ending after the petition to redo the season gained worldwide popularity

HBO even thought it appropriate to insult the fans even further and stick by their ending when they gave D and D a cameo in Westworld in which they chop up Drogon

While Kit himself feared that the ending would be divisive, he thought that it was justified:

I'm not saying he wasn't traumatised because it obviously fucked with his head having to kill off his friend on screen (READ THAT AGAIN) I'm just saying y'all are mistaking his grief related to the end of GoT as to the grief for Dany's botched up story.

In fact Kit thought that Jon's ending was "really sweet" 🙃

I cannot overstate how much Kit has in fact stuck by the writing choices

Emilia saying now that this spin off (told y'all the news was real and legit, even if it the spin off might currently be in just the very beginning stages) is certified by Kit doesn't mean shit to us Dany fans!!!

Because tell me what in everything I showed you that Kit said regarding season 8 sounds like a man who would ONLY do a Jon Snow spin off in order to revive Dany and retcon season 8?? It just sounds to me that he loves the character so much he'd probably play it again in most circumstances now that he has had time to deal with his mental health.

Like an asoiaf podcaster said, who if given $10M to play Jon fucking Snow would say no out of principle?

Exactly.

And I'm not "letting them take away anything." Please. I was amongst the last women standing when the last episode aired. I was one of the few still trying to hold everyone's hand through the grief we've had to deal with. I have and still am pouring my heart into so many jonerys fics and I will continue to do so until I can't do it anymore. I've stuck with jonerys through all the shit Kit has said since the ending of GoT, I just tune him out now (after the proper rant ofc) because I really don't trust his judgement on a lot of things 😃

And before you come for me I can still like Kit and drag him for all the shitty things he's done and said. It's called nuance 🤍

Go read an old jonerys fic today and show the author some love. We don't need HBO. We don't need shitty spin offs. We've done well for ourselves for the last 3 years, this isn't going to suddenly make me love jonerys more. Thank god my love for Jon Snow (the legit one, not the s8 one), Daenerys Targaryen and jonerys doesn't depend on what Kit Harington says or does.

[writingsofwesteros]

Cersei making Jon’s Twin fuck Ned in front of her

Wtf?!? that is so hot and fucked up! no way!

Ned should have known not to underestimade Cersei, but court politics have never been his strong point. Now he is rotting in his cell somewhere in the bowels of the Red Keep, dressed in rags and praying that his children are safe.

Lord Varys has visited him, and offered him a deal, one Ned has refused. So he expects that the next time the door to his cell opens, it will be for his execution.

He is wrong.

They drag him out by his collar, straight to the Great Hall, and he is thrown to his knees before the Iron Throne.

There, on the throne sits Joffrey, the insufferable brat. His expression is bored, his nose wrinkled in distaste, as he regards Ned.

"I do not know why you insist on this, Mother. This is bound to bore me to my death. I doubt he can even get it up," says the King. Ned has no idea what is going on. Get what up?

And then his heart stops, when he sees his beautiful girl step out of the shadow behind the throne. She is being led by Queen Cersei, completely naked for all to see, and adorned with jewels. And his tired mind connects the dots.

Oh no. No! Anything but this!

He looks about, then, searching for any way of escape. That's when he notices the hall is full of Kings' Landing nobles, wealthy merchants, and even the common folk. There's going to be an audience.

Cersei is going to make him fuck his own daugher and there's going to be an audience.

He looks at Cersei then, ready to beg, but one look at her face tells him any pleading on his part is going to accomplish nothing. Worse, she's going to enjoy his humiliation all the more. He is determined to deny them the good show they're after, and instead he resolves to remain proud and unresponsive. Maybe they'll cut it short when they indeed ger bored.

He cannot look his daughter in the eyes. Not if he is to stay composed. One look at her would unravel him, surely. Poor thing must be so terrified, so humiliated...

Cersei pushes his daughter forward, and the girl approaches Ned slowly. He wants to tell her something reassuring, but nothing comes to mind. And then...

"Come on daddy... Surely this isn't so bad? We've done it so many times. Do it one more time with your good girl," she coos, her voice sultry. She says it out loud, for everyone to hear.

Gods, is his daugher in on this? Is she enjoying this? What has Cersei done to her? The Queen has corrupted his pure, sweet girl.

Ned feels he is about to collapse when his daugher unties the rope binding his hands, and then immediately she embreaces him tightly and pulls him into a kiss. It's torture to feel her sexy body pressed to him, to feel her mouth move against his, when he is aware of everyone that's watching.

Still, he embraces her and returns the kiss against his better judgement. He is so weak and he despises himself for it but... how could he not give in? How could he resist, when it's his girl that's touching him, needing him, calling him.

She breaks the kiss then, turns around and kneels, and then gets on all fours, right before the Iron Throne. A murmur passes through the surrounding crowd, as she wiggles her ass enticingly at him.

"Come on, daddy," she says. "You know what to do!"

He looks straight at Cersei then. Just to make sure all this is not some sick kind of a joke, and that she really expects him to fuck his own daughert in fron of the whole court to see. The blonde Queen is smirking with malice.

"What are you waiting for, Warden of the North?" she taunts. "If you truly can't get it up, I'm sure we can arrange something to get you in the mood..."

And then Ned thinks: to hell with all of them. Fuck Cersei, fuck Ser Jaime and fuck their inbred rat on the throne. They want a show? Oh, they'll get one they won't forget. He reaches into his pants and frees his cock, and starts stroking himself, never breaking Cersei's gaze.

"You want to see how a real man does it, Cersei?" he calls out to her, loudly. "Ser Jaime's performance has been lacking and you want him instructed? Is that it?"

Joffrey snorts in a most undignified way on his throne, and Ned counts it as a win. Cersei's face contorts with rage, and Ned can hear sounds of choking from the line of White Coats behind his back. He grins with satisfaction.

"I'm sure your brother can be thaught a few new tricks. I'll do my best to make this educational," he says, as he kneels behind his daughter and aligns his fat, throbbing member with her cunt. He strokes the girl's hip reasuringly, and she turns her head to look at him too. He sees her smile and wink at him.

"Daddy, I'm good to go," she whispers, only for him to hear. "Show them how much you love your girl". Gods, but he's missed this. He slowly sinks his cock in her dripping teenage cunt, and his girl gives out the most beautiful moan for all to hear, bless her.

"See, how she's enjoying this?" Ned asks, once again looking Cersei in the eyes, as he begins thrusting into the girl and picking up his pace. The Queen is seething with fury. "Don't get too jeallous, my Queen," he taunts, and the crowd erupts with laughter. "Maybe I'll let you suck me off once this is over, if you ask nicely!"

Someone in the crowd whistles and cheers loudly, and King Joffrey is laughing like a maniac.

"I was wrong, mother" he cackles. "This is most entertaining!"

Idk what I'm doing at this point this is pure brainrot

I HAVE NO WORDS!!

I love how Ned turned it around..Joff might keep him alive just for that amusement

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: The Drowned Man (Aeron II) [Chapter 19]

He had run before the Crow's Eye as if he were still the weak thing he had been, but when the waves broke over his head they reminded once more that that man was dead. I was reborn from the sea, a harder man and stronger. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could, nor the bones of his soul, the grey and grisly bones of his soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.

I have to say, you still seem a bit frightened.

+.+.+

On the crown of the hill four-and-forty monstrous stone ribs rose from the earth like the trunks of great pale trees. The sight made Aeron's heart beat faster. Nagga had been the first sea dragon, the mightiest ever to rise from the waves. She fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone so that men might never cease to wonder at the courage of the first of kings. Nagga's ribs became the beams and pillars of his longhall, just as her jaws became his throne. For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. Here he took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. From here he ruled both stone and salt, wearing robes of woven seaweed and a tall pale crown made from Nagga's teeth.

This is fun! A female sea dragon feeding on krakens, and drowning whole islands! The Grey King slayed her! Bones turned to stone! The jaw became a throne! The tall pale teeth used as a crown! Weee.

(It's probably the bones of a random whale, but whatever.)

+.+.+

Aeron paused where the doors once stood, pulled the cork from his waterskin, took a swallow of salt water, and turned to face the sea.

um.

+.+.+

All night he prayed, for when the god was in him Aeron Greyjoy had no need of sleep, no more than the waves did, nor the fishes of the sea.

I'm calling a big fat unreliable narrator on that one, Dam-phair.

+.+.+

The Drowned God wakes, thought Aeron. He could hear his voice welling from the depths of the sea. I shall be with you here this day, my strong and faithful servant, the voice said. No godless man will sit my Seastone Chair.

Maybe give that a second listen.

+.+.+

Aeron's voice thundered like the waves. "But who? Who shall sit in Balon's place? Who shall rule these holy isles? Is he here among us now?" The priest spread his hands wide. "Who shall be king over us?"

A seagull screamed back at him. 

BRAN?!

+.+.+

"I am Gylbert Farwynd, Lord of the Lonely Light," the lord told the kingsmoot.

[...]

The Farwynds there were even queerer than the rest. Some said they were skinchangers, unholy creatures who could take on the forms of sea lions, walruses, even spotted whales, the wolves of the wild sea.

There's ironborn wargs?? Bwahahahaha!

I'd warg into a lobster and march that thing right into my pot.

+.+.+

Lord Gylbert began to speak. He told of a wondrous land beyond the Sunset Sea, a land without winter or want, where death had no dominion. "Make me your king, and I shall lead you there," he cried. "We will build ten thousand ships as Nymeria once did and take sail with all our people to the land beyond the sunset. There every man shall be a king and every wife a queen."

I'm going to pee my pants.

+.+.+

His eyes, Aeron saw, were now grey, now blue, as changeable as the seas. Mad eyes, he thought, fool's eyes. The vision he spoke of was doubtless a snare set by the Storm God to lure the ironborn to destruction. 

Grey, then blue? Val, is that you?

His eyes probably aren't changing colour at all, Aeron is just being Aeron.

Now I'm wondering if Jon is seeing deep blue sunlit eyes that aren't actually there.

+.+.+

The gull screamed loudly above them, and landed atop one of Nagga's ribs as the Lord of the Lonely Light made his way back down the hill.

Wait, I was joking before, is this seagull actually Bran or Bloodraven?

Why did you bring up wargs, George?? HMM???

+.+.+

Aeron Damphair stepped forward once more. "I ask again. Who shall be king over us?"

"Me!" a deep voice boomed, and once more the crowd parted.

The speaker was borne up the hill in a carved driftwood chair carried on the shoulders of his grandsons. A great ruin of a man, twenty stones heavy and ninety years old, he was cloaked in a white bearskin.

[...]

"I can't count how many hands I've smashed to pulp with that hammer," Erik said, "but might be some thief could tell you. I can't say how many heads I've crushed against my anvil neither, but there's some widows could. I could tell you all the deeds I've done in battle, but I'm eight-and-eighty and won't live long enough to finish. If old is wise, no one is wiser than me. If big is strong, no one's stronger. You want a king with heirs? I've more'n I can count. King Erik, aye, I like the sound o' that. Come, say it with me. ERIK! ERIK ANVIL-BREAKER! ERIK KING!"

[...]

"Stand up, Erik," she [Asha Greyjoy] called. "Stand up and I'll shout your name with all the rest. Stand up and I'll be the first to follow you. You want a crown, aye. Stand up and take it."

Elsewhere in the press, the Crow's Eye laughed. Erik glared at him. The big man's hands closed tight around the arms of his driftwood throne. His face went red, then purple. His arms trembled with effort. Aeron could see a thick blue vein pulsing in his neck as he struggled to rise. For a moment it seemed as though he might do it, but the breath went out of him all at once, and he groaned and sank back onto his cushion. Euron laughed all the louder. 

Lovers' quarrel.

I'm giving this speech a 6/10.

I'm giving the takedown by Asha a 9.5/10.

I'm giving Euron's laughing a 10/10.

+.+.+

"Who shall rule the ironborn?" Aeron Damphair called again. "Who shall be king over us?"

Men looked at one another. Some looked at Euron, some at Victarion, a few at Asha. Waves broke green and white against the longships. The gull cried once more, a raucous scream, forlorn.

Can it please be Bran? It's important that Bran watch and learn how to win a democratic vote.

+.+.+

The Drumm came next, another old man, though not so old as Erik. He climbed the hill on his own two legs, and on his hip rode Red Rain, his famous sword, forged of Valyrian steel in the days before the Doom.

[...]

He drew Red Rain and told them how Hilmar Drumm the Cunning had taken the blade from an armored knight with wits and a wooden cudgel. 

People on the messages boards believe the sword originally belonged to House Reyne. I don't know, don't ask me.

+.+.+

"Who shall be king over us?" the priest cried once more, but this time his fierce black eyes found his brother in the crowd. "Nine sons were born from the loins of Quellon Greyjoy. One was mightier than all the rest, and knew no fear."

Victarion met his eyes, and nodded. 

Excuse me, it's illegal to advocate for your candidate at the voting booth.

+.+.+

Victarion waited till they quieted, then said, "You all know me. If you want sweet words, look elsewhere. I have no singer's tongue. I have an axe, and I have these." He raised his huge mailed hands up to show them, and Nute the Barber displayed his axe, a fearsome piece of steel. "I was a loyal brother," Victarion went on.

Look at my hands! Of course Victarion would give the most lackluster speech of all time.

I'm surprised someone isn't feeding it into his ear.

+.+.+

When Balon was wed, it was me he sent to Harlaw to bring him back his bride. 

You have experience with fetching wives? Good to know. Also, why is that a good reason for you to be king? Lol.

I'm giving this speech a 2/10.

+.+.+

With that his champions began to chant: "VICTARION! VICTARION! VICTARION KING!" Below, his men were spilling out his chests, a cascade of silver, gold, and gems, a wealth of plunder. Captains scrambled to seize the richest pieces, shouting as they did so.

[...]

But it was not Euron who put an end to the shouting, it was the woman. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, a sharp shrill sound that cut through the tumult like a knife through curds. "Nuncle! Nuncle!" Bending, she snatched up a twisted golden collar and bounded up the steps. Nute seized her by the arm, and for half a heartbeat Aeron was hopeful that his brother's champions would keep her silent

Had to include the italics on the woman.

You know what's crazy? I'm convinced Dam-phair would prefer Euron over the woman.

+.+.+

Victarion loomed above all of them save Andrik. His brother wore no helm, but elsewise he was all in armor, his kraken cloak hanging golden from his shoulders. 

x

"It was good of you to bring such gifts to my queensmoot, Nuncle," she told Victarion, "but you need not have worn so much armor. I promise not to hurt you."

Every time I'm told Victarion is wearing a lot of armour, I'm forcing you to read it.

+.+.+

Asha turned to face the captains. "There's no one braver than my nuncle, no one stronger, no one fiercer in a fight. And he counts to ten as quick as any man, I have seen him do it . . . 

Liar.

+.+.+

though when he needs to go to twenty he does take off his boots.

That I believe.

+.+.+

"Daughter?" Asha slipped a hand beneath her jerkin. "Oho! What's this? Shall I show you? Some of you have not seen one since they weaned you." They laughed again. "Teats on a king are a terrible thing, is that the song? Ralf, you have me, I am a woman . . . though not an old woman like you. Ralf the Limper . . . shouldn't that be Ralf the Limp?" Asha drew a dirk from between her breasts. "I'm a mother too, and here's my suckling babe!" 

I have to be honest, I'm cringing a little bit.

+.+.+

They pushed past Victarion's three to stand below her: Qarl the Maid, Tristifer Botley, and the knight Ser Harras Harlaw, whose sword Nightfall was as storied as Dunstan Drumm's Red Rain.

I love that all these irrelevant houses have Valyrian steel swords, while Tywin had nothing.

It's too bad he didn't know about Jaime giving his away.

+.+.+

"A wolf is not a kraken," Victarion objected. "What the kraken grasps it does not lose, be it longship or leviathan."

"And what have we grasped, Nuncle? The north? What is that, but leagues and leagues of leagues and leagues, far from the sound of the sea? We have taken Moat Cailin, Deepwood Motte, Torrhen's Square, even Winterfell. What do we have to show for it?" She beckoned, and her Black Wind men pushed forward, chests of oak and iron on their shoulders. "I give you the wealth of the Stony Shore," Asha said as the first was upended. An avalanche of pebbles clattered forth, cascading down the steps; pebbles grey and black and white, worn smooth by the sea. "I give you the riches of Deepwood," she said, as the second chest was opened. Pinecones came pouring out, to roll and bounce down into the crowd. "And last, the gold of Winterfell." From the third chest came yellow turnips, round and hard and big as a man's head.

[...]

"Peace," said Asha. "Land. Victory. I'll give you Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore, black earth and tall trees and stones enough for every younger son to build a hall. We'll have the northmen too . . . as friends, to stand with us against the Iron Throne. Your choice is simple. Crown me, for peace and victory. Or crown my nuncle, for more war and more defeat." 

I understand this is the best party platform, but I don't think it's a great strategy to show everyone how worthless capturing Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore has been, right before you promise them that land if they make you queen.

I'm giving this speech a 5/10.

+.+.+

"VICTORY!" shouted Rodrik the Reader, his hands cupped about his mouth. "Victory, and Asha!"

"ASHA!" Lord Baelor Blacktyde echoed. "ASHA QUEEN!"

The two best ironmen, who are sure to live long prosperous lives.

+.+.+

Asha's own crew took up the cry. "ASHA! ASHA! ASHA QUEEN!" They stamped their feet and shook their fists and yelled, as the Damphair listened in disbelief. She would leave her father's work undone! Yet Tristifer Botley was shouting for her, with many Harlaws, some Goodbrothers, red-faced Lord Merlyn, more men than the priest would ever have believed . . . for a woman!

Had to include the italics on a woman.

I'm choosing to believe Asha purposely split the vote with Victarion so Euron can win and kill Dam-phair. That's high level thinking on her part.

+.+.+

Men began to shove at one another. Someone flung a pinecone at Asha's head. When she ducked, her makeshift crown fell off. For a moment it seemed to the priest as if he stood atop a giant anthill, with a thousand ants in a boil at his feet. Shouts of "Asha!" and "Victarion!" surged back and forth, and it seemed as though some savage storm was about to engulf them all. The Storm God is amongst us, the priest thought, sowing fury and discord.

Ants!

Good call, a savage storm is definitely about to engulf you all. Two.

+.+.+

Sharp as a swordthrust, the sound of a horn split the air.

Bright and baneful was its voice, a shivering hot scream that made a man's bones seem to thrum within him. The cry lingered in the damp sea air: aaaaRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

All eyes turned toward the sound. It was one of Euron's mongrels winding the call, a monstrous man with a shaved head. Rings of gold and jade and jet glistened on his arms, and on his broad chest was tattooed some bird of prey, talons dripping blood.

aaaaRRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

See, now this is a well-run campaign.

10/10 already. Substance? No thank you. Give me sizzle.

+.+.+

The horn he blew was shiny black and twisted, and taller than a man as he held it with both hands. It was bound about with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that seemed to glow redly as the sound swelled.

aaaaaaaRRREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

It was a terrible sound, a wail of pain and fury that seemed to burn the ears. Aeron Damphair covered his, and prayed for the Drowned God to raise a mighty wave and smash the horn to silence, yet still the shriek went on and on. It is the horn of hell, he wanted to scream, though no man would have heard him. The cheeks of the tattooed man were so puffed out they looked about to burst, and the muscles in his chest twitched in a way that it made it seem as if the bird were about to rip free of his flesh and take wing. And now the glyphs were burning brightly, every line and letter shimmering with white fire. 

Shit, I'm not ready for the horn. Low expectations please.

Unlike that fake ass sword, I don't think there's any glamour happening here.

The horn was as warm and smooth as the dusky woman's thighs, and so shiny that he could see a twisted likeness of his own features in its depths. - Victarion I, ADWD

The horn is warm, and does real damage to those who use it.

+.+.+

The hornblower's breath failed at last. He staggered and almost fell. The priest saw Orkwood of Orkmont catch him by one arm to hold him up, whilst Left-Hand Lucas Codd took the twisted black horn from his hands. A thin wisp of smoke was rising from the horn, and the priest saw blood and blisters upon the lips of the man who'd sounded it. The bird on his chest was bleeding too.

Euron claims he died.

"Cragorn's died, you know."

"Who?"

"The man who blew my dragon horn. When the maester cut him open, his lungs were charred as black as soot." - The Reaver, AFFC

The following might be accurate.

"A true tale." Moqorro turned the hellhorn, examining the queer letters that crawled across a second of the golden bands. "Here it says, 'No mortal man shall sound me and live.'" - Victarion I, ADWD

+.+.+

Euron Greyjoy climbed the hill slowly, with every eye upon him. Above the gull screamed and screamed again. 

Bran, shhhh. Let it happen.

+.+.+

Asha's champions stepped aside, and Victarion's as well. The priest took a step backward and put one hand upon the cold rough stone of Nagga's ribs. 

Body language experts tell me Euron Greyjoy has already won.

+.+.+

The Crow's Eye stopped atop the steps, at the doors of the Grey King's Hall, and turned his smiling eye upon the captains and the kings, but Aeron could feel his other eye as well, the one that he kept hidden.

Does he have a fully functioning eye under that thing?

+.+.+

"Crow's Eye, you call me. Well, who has a keener eye than the crow? After every battle the crows come in their hundreds and their thousands to feast upon the fallen. A crow can espy death from afar. And I say that all of Westeros is dying. Those who follow me will feast until the end of their days.

I think all of the Bloodraven x Euron talk is overblown, but I understand why it exists.

+.+.+

"We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard. My brother would have you be content with the cold and dismal north, my niece with even less . . . but I shall give you Lannisport. Highgarden. The Arbor. Oldtown. The riverlands and the Reach, the kingswood and the rainwood, Dorne and the marches, the Mountains of the Moon and the Vale of Arryn, Tarth and the Stepstones. I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros." He glanced at the priest. "All for the greater glory of our Drowned God, to be sure."

For half a heartbeat even Aeron was swept away by the boldness of his words. 

Euron Greyjoy promising things he'll never deliver. A true politician!

A lot of people have theorized that instead of binding dragons to people, the horn actually binds people to Euron, because Aeron is swept away by his words. I don't believe that for a second.

+.+.+

The priest had dreamed the same dream, when first he'd seen the red comet in the sky. We shall sweep over the green lands with fire and sword, root out the seven gods of the septons and the white trees of the northmen . . .

Not this god damn comet again.

He dreamed a (prophetic?) dream when the red comet first appeared in the sky: fire and sword will sweep over the land. Tee-hee.

+.+.+

"I know as much of war as you do, Crow's Eye," Asha said. "Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with dragons."

"And so shall we," Euron Greyjoy promised. "That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, before the Doom devoured them. With this horn, ironmen, I can bind dragons to my will."

Semi-canon sources suggest he's lying.

The dragonlords of Old Valyria did control dragons with horns,

The dragonlords of old Valyria had controlled their mounts with binding spells and sorcerous horns. - Daenerys X, ADWD

But according to the World of Ice and Fire mobile app, he didn't find this horn amongst the smoking ruins of Valyria.

I have questions.

If he's lying about that, what else is he lying about?

If the warlocks had a horn that can bind dragons to people, why didn't they use it when she was in Qarth?

If this horn can bind dragons to people, why in the world would Euron give it to Victarion? Please.

+.+.+

The mutes and mongrels from the Silence threw open Euron's chests and spilled out his gifts before the captains and the kings. Then it was Hotho Harlaw the priest heard, as he filled his hands with gold. Gorold Goodbrother shouted out as well, and Erik Anvil-Breaker. "EURON! EURON! EURON!" The cry swelled, became a roar. "EURON! EURON! CROW'S EYE! EURON KING!" It rolled up Nagga's hill, like the Storm God rattling the clouds. "EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON!"

Even a priest may doubt. Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. As a thousand voices shouted out his brother's name, all he could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge.

Don't even judge me, it's okay to laugh at Dam-phair. It's encouraged.

Final thoughts:

The ironborn invented democracy.

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