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Do you think Jaime and Jon are connected? That they will cross paths or would you like them to be?

I don’t know if I’d specifically use the word ‘connected’ but I do think there are very intentional parallels drawn between them in a way that would be a lot more obvious if AFFC and ADWD hadn’t been split!

like the Kingsguard and the Night’s Watch are obviously foils for each other as institutions to start with. Jaime joins the KG as a teen thinking he’s joining the best of the best - and in combat they are, but they’re also a hypocritical institution sworn to a tyrant in a way that makes a mockery of every moral and ideal young Jaime holds.

the NW isn’t a paragon of virtue by comparison, it as an institution has its own flaws. but while Jon initially finds that many of these boys and men are far from skilled warriors and a sizeable number of them are just outright criminals, the NW has no pretences - the NW is what you make of it no matter who you are. while Jaime’s KG brothers threaten him and try to shape him w their own hypocrisies, Jon’s NW brothers have real camaraderie and find unity in their vows. and also the NW are sworn to protect the realm, not the king, so while their purpose has been twisted by the nature of the wall, the idea that Jon is trying to argue is that the nature of their vows mean they should be protecting all the people of the realm, and not just some.

so while this doesn’t get into all the flaws inherent in the NW and what ofc happens at the end of ADWD, the point is that jaime and jon both enter these institutions as idealistic and proud kids and while one finds he’s able to grow into his own beliefs and find ways to make the change he wants to see in the world, the other is basically punished for putting a toe out of line and loses all sense of what he actually believes in for a time.

and ofc by AFFC/ADWD they’re both lord commanders of their respective institutions and I think their POVs are massively supposed to be in conversation w one another - both of them trying to change these institutions and give them meaning again, and constantly hitting brick walls. I really do think Jon v Gilly and Jaime v Edmure are supposed to be parallel events too - the deranged threats they find themselves making to try and prevent violence etc. they’ve both also got scenes where they observe others playing in the snow and are like ‘that can’t be me anymore :(‘ lol

whether any of this actually requires a conversation or relationship between them….. idk. I don’t necessarily think so. their stories mirror one another’s, but don’t exactly suggest an inevitable encounter where they share their understanding or whatever…. like for all their similarities, Jaime and Jon’s stories sit some way apart from one another’s. but also what do I know maybe they will cross paths in later books

#jon snow #jaime lannister

unfinishedname

when asoiaf said either your story will go unrecorded in history and that is violence or your story will be made into an ideal or a warning and that is violence and when it said power is an illusionary thing but it is real and when it said gender and class are both performances utilized to perpetuate an unjust system and when it said dismantling such systems are not easy and it will not happen without violence and when it said the youth will inherit a world destroyed by the older generations and their only choice will be to adapt and rebuild and when it said vengeance is a cycle and catharsis is a lie and only you can stop it and when it said hope and idealism is worth fighting for and when it said over and over and over again atrocities beyond your imagination will happen next to you and to you and the only thing you can do is get up the only thing you can do is keep going despair is the ultimate crime

unfinishedname

Imagine reading this and thinking it’s grimdark.

greenbloods

what makes theon so so fun to me as a character is that because he is so deeply unpleasant and unpalatable in his actions, he immediately takes on this "character it's okay to torture" role in the narrative. no action taken against him is morally wrong because he deserves it. and yet the tension in his narrative is that everything done to him is still wrong even if he sucks. he didn't deserve to be taken as a hostage from his mother as a ten year old, he didn't deserve to live with a noose around his neck carrying his would-be-executioner's sword, he didn't deserve to be treated like a freak by his family for being a hostage for nine years. the weird tension of victim-perpetrator in the esgred scene (which nosafeanchorage discusses more cogently than i can here) and obviously the theon adwd reek-ness of it all play heavily into this too. he did so many awful things. and yet the reasons he's punished have almost nothing to do with his actual crimes. there's no justice here. and that's fun.

#theon greyjoy

When you're immersed in a fictional world long enough you inevitably want to make an OC for that setting. Every Star Wars fan has their own jedi knight. Every LotR fan has their Hobbit who was trained as a Dúnedain Ranger. Even King of the Hill fans eventually come up with Texassonas if left in the sauce long enough.

But the trouble with A Song of Ice and Fire is, whatever OC you're trying to make, there's already a guy for that. Want an edgy swordsman with a troubled heart? That's Darkstar. Want a woman who snuck into the Citadel to train as a maester? That's Alleras the Sphinx. Want a crafty rogue with a heart of gold? That's Davos. Want a bastard who's actually loved and accepted by their family? That's Alleras the Sphinx. Want someone who actually knows all the lore and themes and genres of the story they're in and can be kinda tongue-in-cheek about it? That's Old Nan. Want a woman who's good at fighting but uses something other than a sword? That's... Alleras the Sphinx, again. Want someone who's literally just Pearl from Steven Universe? That's Jon Connington. Want someone who gets to say the punchline in every scene like they're in some sort of sitcom? That's Dolorous Edd Tollett. Want representation for the trans experience? That's Alleras the Sphinx. Want a leftist mermaid with blue hair? That's Wylla Manderly. Want someone playing the game of thrones AND the game of magic, but from a position where they don't hold all the cards? You already guessed it, that's Alleras the Sphinx.

The point is there's so many guys that come pre-made in this story and if you want a new one there's a 50% chance they're already in both Oldtown chapters

#sarella sand #alleras the sphinx #asoiaf

huyandere

the potential family

#house stark

cainhurstundead

Tyrion's sexual abuse is often viewed as something that only happened in the past when it's actually something he still experienced as an adult. Tywin is constantly trying to have control over his sexuality from his relationships to who he has sex with this is why he has to keep Shae a secret and why he goes to extreme measures to keep her hidden. He forces Tyrion to marry Sansa then tries to pressure him into consummating it when he clearly doesn't want to. He has Shae talk about her and Tyrion's sex life in front of everyone at his trial. All of this is sexually abusive and it's not acknowledged anywhere near enough

#tyrion lannister #tywin lannister

greenbloods

real important to note that agot jon snow’s entire arc is about love vs duty, his allegiance to the night’s watch battling with his worry for bran, for ned, for robb, pulling him south. and by the end of the book, he fails—in a manner. he chooses love, deserts the watch, and runs for robb, condemning himself to be “motherless, friendless, and damned” even if robb beheads him for being a deserter. but his friends bring him back.

now consider adwd jon, who spends the entire book stuck between love and duty, pulled between the night’s watch and the war against the Others and the politics of the North—stannis’s campaign, ramsay bolton, and above everything else, arya. again jon is given an impossible choice, and again he chooses to desert the watch in a manner and go south—only this time not sneaking away, and not alone, calling upon the freefolk to march with him upon Winterfell. only this time his friends can’t save him because he sent them away, or isolated himself from them. so again he chooses love, and again he fails. daggers in the dark. a pool of blood draining into the snow. jon’s whole arc is about choosing love over duty, just like ned, even when it hurts him, even when it leads to failure

#jon snow

forget-me-foramoment

Sansa x Mya stone

@i-clandestine

#sansa stark #mya stone #yesssss

letterful

turtle-paced

If Bran makes it back to Winterfell and survives the series, do you think the Northern lords would accept him as the Lord of Winterfell and/or King in the North? I personally think that would be an interesting direction for Bran as a character, but Westeros has pretty awful treatment of disabled characters and I'm wondering if some factions could claim that Bran's disability was a reason to pass him over for one of the other Starklings - e.g. Jon (explicitly named in Robb's will as his heir, already of-age by Westerosi standards and able to provide immediate leadership), Rickon (much younger and easier to control), even Sansa or Arya (on the expectation that they marry and produce male heirs).

Yes, I think Bran will be acceptable, despite his disability! He's Ned's oldest surviving legitimate son. We know that the rules are flexible, but they're also pretty clear about what's supposed to happen when there's a legitimate son around to inherit.

More practically, I think Bran's likely to return to Winterfell last. When the disputes about whether Jon (oldest surviving son) or Sansa (oldest surviving legitimate child) should inherit are in full swing or ramping up considerably. Bran then arrives as a candidate both of these factions can support without losing face. With those parties having supported Bran despite the fact he had a disability at the time, it's way harder five years down the track to go "I just realised! Bran's paraplegic! We can't have that!"

Also important is the fact that ableism isn't a universal constant but can manifest in very different ways depending on what the disability is and how someone came to have that disability. People who acquire disability in later childhood or adulthood may be treated differently from people who were born with them or acquired them very early in life. With Bran, there may eventually be questions about his ability to father children, questions about how he handles more martial endeavours, and I would put money on any such questions being either motivated by ableism or expressed in ableist ways, but there are plenty of people who can attest to Bran not being a "twisted monkey demon" like Tyrion or "feeble-minded" like Hodor, but a bright, active kid who had a bad accident.* Still pitiable on some level, but not, y'know, stupid disabled or evil disabled.

If this promotion ends up happening, Bran might be well served by big impressive chairs, big impressive horses, and a FDR-esque routine of not allowing many people to see the mechanics required to get him into a position where he looks physically imposing. Pay no attention to the carers behind the curtain. Which is just what happens when society is Like That about ableism and masculinity.

*accident may not have been accidental.

#bran stark #we've seen bran rule winterfell and the north somewhat briefly #the liddle respects him well enough #and the lords of the north offer him pity when they pledge to him #it seems to me the type of ableism they show him is the #'give me the honor of doing what you cannot' type of ableism #at least so far

greenbloods

asoiaf dashboard simulator all timers. to me.

#rhaegars-cervix catching strays #dash board simulators

ladystoneshart

just found out catelyn was the cover for the agot advance reading copy... oh cat you are so loved 🥺

#catelyn stark #and is that...#brynden tully #??

ladystoneshart

the winds of winter tomorrow

visenyaism

Melisandre: Jon i know you just woke up fifteen minutes ago but I think you’re literally the messiah you literally just came back from the dead

Marge Mormont and Gelbert Glover: Jon you’re the king in the north according to your half-brother Robb’s will

Tycho Nestoris: Jon can I have $20,000 in gold dragons

Howland Reed: no Jon you’re the one true Targaryen king of Westeros

Mance Rayder: no no Jon you’re the king in the north

Jeor Mormont’s Raven and the corn in the cellar:

greenbloods

crazy how asoiaf is one of the most well fed mainstream fandoms while being starved of the one thing it wants most. currently we are in the middle of season 3 of hotd with each episode being an hour long movie length production, season 2 of akotksk is confirmed underway, and the new four hour mad king prequel play just dropped. it has been fifteen years since the last book in the main series was published. winds of winter is still not on the horizon.