Braime fic rec list part 2 (once again in the order I read them)
Alright, let’s start right away…
I don’t think I need to say much about @sigilbroken’s amazing stories. But I do need to tell you that my absolute favorite is the “In This Light” series. I love everything in these stories, but especially the Jaime-characterization. He’s so ‘raw’ for lack of a better word, as if his soul was laid bare for us. A perfect example of how beautiful writing meets a great plot.
@ladyinredfics has written so many great fics and I must mention at least four of them here, starting with the epic “Battle is the Great Redeemer”, which should be included in all Braime fic rec lists. Because it’s a genius way to fix the eighth season, because we get an amazing Arya/Jaime friendship in it (I especially love how Arya takes so much joy in killing Jaime over and over again. Lol) and because it is that good. Then there’s the fic “The Gift”, which is a truly magical story and a wonderful gift for any Braime fan. But my absolute favorite story is “Little Lion Man”. This one is so precious and adorable and simply purrfect! I love a great ‘Brienne or Jaime is turned into an animal for a time’ plot and this one is at the top of its game!
The third author is @angel-deux-writes whose writing is out of this world because she combines creative plots, perfect characterizations and great pacing with pure talent. We need to talk about quite a few of her stories here. First her series: “two halves of a sword” is a two-part series with the same story written both from Brienne’s and from Jaime’s POV. And this is done utterly brilliantly because the two fics complement and add so much depth to each other. It is writing ability at its best! Then there’s the five fics in her series “we should kind of forget about season 8”, each one of them proving that angel-deux should have written the damn eighth season and we would have all loved it! Also, don’t even ask me which of these five is my favorite as I couldn’t tell you. Because married Braime pining for each other! Because Jaime as king! Because bloody amazing Jaime/Sansa friendships (even though I’m not normally a big Sansa-fan). *chef’s kiss* Her third series is “Deliverer”, in which Brienne and Jaime have a daughter. This one will hurt, but then it will also mend your heart, and you’ll be left smiling at the adorableness that is Jaime with Cat and Brienne with Cat and Jaime with Brienne and all three of them together. As for her single stories, I definitely need to mention “for beauty is found within” because it’s the most perfect Braime/Beauty and the Beast mash-up with everyone being completely in-character. As well as her epic “Honor Compels Me”, which is not only one of the longest Braime fics in existence, but also one of the very best - holy heck, what a journey and emotional ride she’s taking us all on here! Sigh, I could go on and on, as there are so many more: You’ll find everything from Brienne being a spy over Braime accidentally getting married to Jaime temporarily being de-aged. Just make sure to read them all…
For these rec lists, I mostly choose authors who have stopped writing or are on a break (I really do hope that most of them are just on a break), but this time I needed to make one exception and mention Ealisaid as my last rec for today. Not only because “Valiant” was the gift I received for the Braime fic exchange this year, but also because it was a pawfect story! The characterization of Jaime and Brienne was on point and, on top of that, it’s all shown through a dog’s POV, whom you’ll all fall in love with on the spot.
Saying all that, just head over and read all the stories of these authors because my rec lists are too small to include all the magic they create.
Post Lady Stoneheart / Lady Stoneheart Confrontation
there are so many out there that there will probably be multiple parts to this one as well lol. here's most of them, though! this list includes fics that deal with the stoneheart confrontation & ones that occur shortly after.
enjoy! as always send love to the authors of these fics!
a kiss to seal our fate tonight by janie_tangerine (E, 6.4k, 1/1)
He has no idea why everyone in the Brotherhood thinks that Brienne is his whore out of everything, but it’s not what is making him feel dizzy. It’s what he said after.
He knows that people think he’s some kind of heartless monster; they don’t call him Kingslayer for nothing. The only part of himself he could see in Brienne, maybe, it’s something of his fifteen-year old self, but that’s the entirety of it. What if she looked like Cersei? he thinks, and he feels sick when he realizes that maybe his sweet sister isn’t the only person who might be his mirror, after all.
The Kiss of Life by igotanobsession (M, 19k, 5/5)
Post-ADwD. Brienne is determined to save Podrick Payne and Hyle Hunt from Lady Stoneheart and the Brotherhood without Banners, without fulfilling her 'promise' to bring Jaime back to kill him in exchange. Without allies, Jaime's sword hand, or even a plan, this proves to be a difficult task. Smut-fluff, particularly near the end. Watch out.
only walk beside me by painting cranes (T, 6.4k, 1/1)
“I have one request,” Jaime called.
You dare make demands of me? Lady Stoneheart growled. Have you no shame?
“Just one,” he swallowed, trying to find the humor in his own request, but only landing on regret. “I wish to die at the hands of the Maid of Tarth.”
“Send me back,” Eurydice would have called out to her husband as he walked on. “Send me back to the Stranger. You have to let me go, so you can live.”
Brienne and Jaime disagree on an old tale of love.
What Might Have Been by sophie_of_tarth (E, 34k, 11/11)
When Brienne of Tarth sought out Jaime Lannister on Lady Stoneheart’s behalf, had she really thought about how both of them might have changed during their time apart?
A Change of Heart by LadyofTarth (E, 64k, 56/56)
Jaime finally comprehending the source of the rope burn on Brienne's neck asked, “What have you done?” “Jaime, I’m sorry....” she said her voice mournful and blue eyes watering. A woman so slight in figure it could not be believed emerged from the thicket of brush, along with several men, all armed. The woman was hooded, but Jaime recognized her.
Hesitate by pearly_rose (M, 24k, 12/12)
He had never known her to be an adept liar. Too righteous, too…good. Right now, she wears her guilt like a shroud. It’s written all over her, in how stiffly she holds her shoulders, in the way she won’t quite look him in the eye. Still he follows her into the Riverlands without question, with the same swirling intensity in his stomach as when he galloped back to Harrenhal to save her from the bear pit. or Jaime and Brienne face Lady Stoneheart and must figure out how to live with the consequences.
The Lion Maid by LeoSapphirus (E, 25k, 8/8)
"…but you will need to come alone. Elsewise, the Hound will kill her." She had said. And so he had followed. Because she’d needed him to. They’d both made an oath.
Truth Like Ice, Like Fire by orphan_account (T, 5.6k, 1/1)
Going to kneel before Podrick, she felt his forehead with her palm. The whole of her hand fit over the boy’s brow with room still for her fingers to follow around the curve of his head. So small, she thought. Pain lanced through her as real as any sword. If his fever did not break soon, she knew her squire would not live to the end of the week.
She looked up into the canopy of trees. Beyond them, the sky was darkening. A weak trail of smoke drifted up from their fire and disappeared beyond the silvery boughs.
Once, she had thought honor a simple thing, as simple as truth. But those were just words. Real living was choosing, was harder. Ser Jaime had tried to tell her that, perhaps.
Honor Thy Regard (series) by SigilBroken (T - E, 48k, 8/8)
Canon continuation. Complete.
Souls to Hear by Albatros_assoiffe (M, 40k, Ch. 24/24)
“Brienne, you are a bad liar. Tell me the truth.” The truth. That she failed him. Failed Lady Catelyn. Failed Renly. That her honor was slipping out of her, like the blood Stoneheart thirsted for, pooling out of Jaime’s severed neck. Like the tears she could no longer contain. Brienne turned away from Jaime and wiped them away, embarrassed, but they did not stop. “Brienne, what happened? Tell me.”
Picks up Jaime and Brienne's story immediately after Jaime's chapter in ADWD.
So Many Vows by greenmtwoman (T, 80k, 22/22)
It begins with a dying maid, and a marriage, but it doesn't stop there.
let me crawl inside your veins by makinggold (E, 6.9k, 1/1)
“I don’t—I haven’t…”
“Do you…want to?”
She thought about every time her eyes had lingered just a little too long, every time she dreamt of his bare body, every time she imagined something exactly like this happening while chastising her traitorous mind.
Somehow, this infuriatingly stubborn Lannister had gotten under her skin and against all odds, she loved him.
“Yes, Jaime.”
(alternatively, a smutty thing happened on the way to lsh)
One Last Harvest by vitaminkenjoyer (NR, 41k, Ch. 3/3)
Brienne reached for her cup, taking a sip. "I'm not glum.""You certainly are. Do you revel on the occasion by flagellating yourself, my lady?"She lowered her cup, eyes narrowing. She looked like a great freckled bull with her nostrils flaring. "I don't revel, ser."
Featuring: Brienne's nameday in The Vale, a play, a struggle against despair, confessions, and Sandor Clegane living his best life.
The Right Choice by PerishTwice (T, 12k, 10/10)
Post ADWD. Jaime and Brienne face the Brotherhood Without Banners and other challenges, not least their feelings for each other.
they who made you by bettysdryer (T, 6.3k, 1/1)
"To be honest, she didn't know what, exactly, was going to happen. But her main priority was to keep Sansa safe – and to stay alive, if she could. For Sansa. For Jaime. For my father." Brienne brings Sansa to Lady Stoneheart.
(this fic is part of a series but can be read on its own)
Oaths Are Meant For Keeping by tnayyyyyoftarth (NR, 25k, 14/14)
This story takes place after Brienne somehow gets away from Stoneheart. She finds Jaime and lies to him about finding Sansa Stark.
Mercy by Lady_in_Red (M, 4.1k, 1/1)
Jaime finds himself at the mercy of Lady Stoneheart.
Sworn by the Noose by gnosiophobic (E, 25k, 10/10)
No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other. After finding Jaime at Pennytree, Brienne must make a choice.
Open Your Eyes by ellaria (M, 10k, 1/1)
Memories flooded her mind. Memories of a young king who never ruled, memories of two daughters who never made it home, memories of a golden knight whose honor she never restored. Every oath was a dry leaf flying in the wind, a promise unfulfilled. Choose, the dead woman had said, the sound reverberating in the corners of her mind, and her acceptance of death had felt so right then. To die for him. Choose.
Brienne of Tarth has come to learn that when alliances shift faster than the wind, oaths are a double-edged sword.
Nights Without Armor (series) by bratanimus, (M, 35k, 2/?)
On what may be the last night of their lives, Jaime and Brienne discover that their actions and motivations are not so different after all.
An unlikely trio – Jaime, Brienne, and Podrick – set out to rescue Sansa from Petyr Baelish. Can they return the last known Stark heiress to Winterfell and fulfill their oath to Catelyn, thereby releasing them all from Lady Stoneheart’s death sentence?
Status Post Stoneheart by Kittles123 (M, 7.4k, 1/1)
Brienne and Jaime confront Lady Stoneheart.
Please Answer Clearly by Tarth (T, 9.3k, 3/?)
"The girl. Have you found her?"
"I have," said Brienne, Maid of Tarth.
"Where is she?"
"A day's ride. I can take you to her, ser… but you will need to come alone. Elsewise, the Hound will kill her."
Remember Spring Swaps Snow for Leaves by orphan_account (T, 28k, 1/1)
Whatever happened to the Kingslayer and the Maid of Tarth after A Dance with Dragons. A Brienne-centric endgame fic for A Song of Ice and Fire.
forever, together. by SeeThemFlying (T, 1.1k, 1/1)
Brienne is crying.
Jaime doesn't know what to do about it.
Journey to Pennytree by tarthiana (M, 10k, 20/20)
Sword or noose? Friend or foe? Truth or lies? In the game of thrones, we all must make a choice.
When last left our heroine, Brienne of Tarth, she had been tasked by the merciless Lady Stoneheart to deliver Ser Jaime Lannister in exchange for the lives of Podrick Payne and Hyle Hunt. Now with Jaime in tow, Brienne must find a way to keep all she holds most dear.
This is a choose your own adventure fic. You play as Brienne and make her decisions in the story!
Game of Thrones AU - The Lady and The Lion (Jaime/Brienne)
“My dearest child, I have bought the sword dear. In return for it, I have been obliged to promise thee to a savage lion, and when he has thee he will tear thee in pieces and devour thee,” and he told her all, just as it had happened, and begged her not to go there, come what might. But she consoled him and said, “Dearest father, indeed your promise must be fulfilled. I will go thither and soften the lion, so that I may return to thee safely.” Next morning she had the road pointed out to her, took leave, and went fearlessly out into the forest. The lion, however, was an enchanted prince and was by day a lion, and all his people were lions with him, but in the night they resumed their natural human shapes.
“A dream… only a dream.” Jaime stared at the camp around him, lost for a moment. “I was in the dark…”
The moonlight glimmered pale upon the stump where Jaime had rested his head. The moss covered it so thickly he had not noticed before, but now he saw that the wood was white.
Today, u/_honeybird posted on r/asoiaf, titling the thread:
I went to the Cushing Library and went through the entire 1600-page original ADWD manuscript. This is what I found. (Spoilers ADWD)
I suggest reading u/_honeybird’s entertaining post, and looking at all the pictures from the visit. The manuscript is marked with notes from GRRM’s editor Anne Groell, and of course with George’s responses. An old theory is actually debunked in those margin notes.
But of most interest to me? The picture above from the end of Jaime I in ADwD.
While Groell asks Martin to help refresh reader’s minds on where they left Jaime last, both in the story and geographically, she also asks him to refresh reader’s minds that Jaime ignored Cersei’s plea for him to return to King’s Landing and that he burnt her letter. Given Groell’s three points, one wonders if perhaps this entire passage was drafted at her urging:
Past time this was ended, thought Jaime Lannister. With Riverrun now safely in Lannister hands, Raventree was the remnant of the Young Wolf’s short-lived kingdom. Once it yielded, his work along the Trident would be done, and he would be free to return to King’s Landing. To the king, he told himself, but another part of him whispered, to Cersei.
He would have to face her, he supposed. Assuming the High Septon had not put her to death by the time he got back to the city. “Come at once,” she had written, in the letter he’d had Peck burn at Riverrun. “Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once.” Her need was real enough, Jaime did not doubt. As for the rest … she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … Even if he had gone back, he could not hope to save her. She was guilty of every treason laid against her, and he was short a sword hand.
Let’s just say season 7 inspired me to draw their season 8 reunion the way I want it to happen.
I’m not back to drawing J/B art by the way, so please don’t be disappointed when there won’t be more anytime soon.
I just thought why keep this to myself when it might make some of you happy :)
As always: please DO NOT repost this anywhere. Thank you!
PS: I recommend listening to Keane’s U2 cover of “With or without you”
Looks like I’m making this my very last J/B drawing. Excuse the sketchy/unfinished look, just how I roll.
This is for everyone who had their heart crushed by the mess that was season 8.
I want to encourage you to create your own headcanons and hope you will find peace.
UUUUUH, what’s happening? XD If you want to find out, check the full view of this piece on my twitter page. (WARNING, it might cause spontaneus combustion of your monitor, have fun)
the wench looked as ugly and awkward as ever, he decided when tyrell left them. someone had dressed her in woman’s clothes again, but this dress fit much better than that hideous pink rag the goat had made her wear. “blue is a good color on you, my lady,” jaime observed. “it goes well with your eyes.” she does have astonishing eyes.
brienne glanced down at herself, flustered. “septa donsye padded out the bodice to give it that shape. she said you sent her to me.” she lingered by the door, as if she meant to flee any second. “you look…”
“different?” he managed a half-smile. “more meat on the ribs and fewer lice in my hair, that’s all. the stump’s the same. close the door and come here.”
redraw of this scribble but this time with a little bit more effort. make sure you click on it to see the details because there’s quite a bit ! (:
The sobs that Brienne heard were all her own. When she realized that, she threw down her knife and shuddered.
“I’m sorry that I never trusted you. I don’t know how to do that anymore.” — (Brienne IV, AFFC)
art by @flargied, can't believe i forgot to post my commission here!! thank you so much again!
"The light was so dim that Jaime could scarcely see her, though they stood a scant few feet apart. In this light she could almost be a beauty, he thought. In this light she could almost be a knight. Brienne's sword took flame as well, burning silvery blue. The darkness retreated a little more."
