A Wedding in Sunspear update for the three people who are still reading it.
I finished teaching Summer School on July 26th and since then my main task, besides sleeping in every day, has been getting the first draft all done. It’s been a great time, though the characters have zero respect for the outline I made for them and keep doing things without my permission. And I’m quite sure I’m driving @gotgifsandmusings insane with my constant need for reassurance.
Anyway, as of this morning I finished Chapter 52, which means that each of the 8 pov characters now how one chapter left. We are officially in denouement. All the drama is resolved so they just need to reflect on their arcs, such as they are, and all I have to do is not think about how I’m going to go back and make everything actually readable.
Tumblr filters think they can censor this work of art?! Welllll it’s back, along with my original intro from 2018, starting below!
Before I attempt to gifcap the latest beautiful, heart-stopping, breathtaking, life-changing chapter of A Wedding in Sunspear, Julia’s thematically deep and dramatically satisfying pre-canon canon-compliant ASOIAF fic Austen meets Martin in Dorne and has a culture clash baby... I need to Martell shame myself. She posted it at the end of May, and it’s a goddamn Dany Gargalen chapter! What the hell, me?? A job and adjustment in a new city is no excuse!!
However, she celebrated a birthday the other day, so between that and a very Canadian harvest celebration that occurred today, I can post this gifcap without it feeling too arbitrary! Hopefully you find it entertaining, though please be sure to read the darn thing first!
Where we last left Dany...
Yup, she and Maron in their half-fucking state were discovered by Loree, setting off a chain if events wherein Olenna ate pie, the groom threw a shit fit over not marrying a virgin, Loree had to pull rank on her husband-to-be which includes but is not limited to an order not to give him any more alcohol across all of Dorne, Maron fucked a sex worker because he was so upset about his commitment to Dany not being taken seriously, and Ormond got pocket-vetoed by his friend with benefits.
That takes us to the night before the wedding, where Dany is crammed into a bed with with six other ladies.
Shockingly, she wakes up a bit before morning. Even more shockingly, Loree is already up and staring out the window.
It’s the FREAKING TITULAR WEDDING, GUYS!
Dany wants to go talk to Loree, but freezes for a second. You see, she had spent a whole day mad at her cousin, and in 15-year-old language, that’s basically a decade.
However, cooler heads have prevailed. You know, heads belonging to Joleta and Maron of all people. And they both think as long as Dany holds her ground, Loree will give in.
So Dany decides to confront Loree, where she’ll be ~firm~ and not emotional. Loree will clearly give in.
She subtly lets Loree know she’s there
Loree tells her she should still be asleep, which is pretty rich considering she’s all:
Apparently it was quality time for herself. Dany realizes it’s a hint for her to leave, but she’s just so thrilled to have caught her alone that she’s sure this is a good time to press the Maron issue.
She tells Loree she gets why she said what she did, and Loree is pretty impressed.
Dany’s a bit miffed by that reaction, but tells her cousin eventually she’ll see how serious she and Maron are about each other, and that this wasn’t just a young flight of fancy.
But Loree’s all
Dany takes this with much aplomb.
She insists that they’re in love and she wants his babies. Loree tells her that’s not how this goes.
So Dany’s like
And Loree’s basically, “yeah. We’re in the same boat.”
Dany really has no come back to this, so she points out how shitty Eliott’s been, and how Loree shouldn’t be fine marrying this dude.
But Loree won’t raise her hand, because duty. Instead she’s points out he has some positives...somewhere...
Dany’s like, “you’re just not into him because of HENRICK.”
Also that she was happy. Loree isn’t sold.
She calls it a mistake, and when Dany presses the matter more, Loree says that indulging her feelings was the mistake, since she knew it was a weakness from the start.
Dany tells her it would have been brave to stay with Henrick, just like Prince Duncan was.
Sadly, there’s a great counter example in the shape of Prince Daeron that’s been hanging around this whole time.
Dany maintains that they will sing songs about Jenny for years, but Loree’s just like, “yeah those aren’t the songs I want sung about me, and I hope you feel the same.” Dany’s brain is just kinda
But there’s no real comeback. So she just says Loree hates herself and is trying to bully Dany into agreeing to feel better. Which mildly breaks her cousin.
Trystana fortunately comes bursting into the room, yelling about how they didn’t sleep, and there’s tons to do, and they both need to get ready.
Dany is pushed into the fastest bath ever along with the other ladies, and barely dressed before it’s time for breakfast.
Of course Loree’s already there with her hair perfectly done, since she gets a bit of priority.
But Dany’s just fuming because she can tell Loree is faking all her wedding-day happiness.
She tries to make best of this inane chatter, though Lysanne Manwoody talks about how excited she is to see the Reachmen react to Loree’s not 100% chaste dress. All the women then talk about how nice their packages look.
Trystana kind of fakes outrage at this, and points out that she “felt the solemnity” of her wedding.
Loree immediately stops smiling, while her mom is just like, “Yeah, that’s our gregarious Loree.”
However Dany sees this as a great opportunity to push her point more, and is like, “Yeah it’s so serious and holy and should be 100% what someone wants or else they’re lying to the GODS.”
Loree just responds with, “Oh I agree and I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
She goes off to get ready with that, as does everyone else.
And of course, Loree is totally understated when all is said and done.
Though she has a moment where it looks like she’s about to cry, so Lenelle orders everyone else out.
Joleta’s just like, “yeah obviously she’s panicking..” So everyone has to sit outside the door and pretend this isn’t a very transparent thing that’s happening.
However, finally Loree calls out that she’s ready.
Elda and Genna spread the train out, and all six women need to help lift the stupid thing, like they spent hours practicing.
Though somehow Trystana still feels the need to remind Dany not to let it touch the ground.
Of course stairs are the worst bit of it all
They all pause in front of the Tower of the Sun, because of course the stupid thing needs minute adjustments, but Loree puts a stop to it after a point.
So they head through for even more stairs leading to the courtyard, where a crazy amount of people are there to catch a glimpse.
It’s very quiet, which oddly reminds Dany of her Grandma Dany’s funeral. It’s almost like giant spectacles have similar levels of stress and no actual enjoyment for those involved...
The smallfolk are into it though, chucking flowers at Loree as they all make their way down the path towards Nymeria’s Sept.
When they get there, there was so much incense that Dany can barely make out the altars.
Other great ladies are there to pray with Loree, including Olenna and Friend Besto
Eliott’s mom Serra is there, a reader favorite after her wonderful “how to make marital rape pleasant” speech!
She tells Loree she looks “As lovely as the Maid Herself.”
It’s time for everyone to pray, so Dany of course decides to pray for the most important thing she can think of:
And apparently they pray for like..an hour? Even Rhona seems restless, of all people.
After a certain point...maybe another hour...Loree even seems to be nodding off (or passing out from the overwhelming incense).
So Lenelle calls over a septon, who proclaims a blessing, mercifully putting a stop to it all. They all get up, with everyone’s legs having lost circulation.
What a romantic affair!
They head out of the sept to the courtyard again, though most smallfolk left to line the streets. However here comes the real hurtle: get Loree and her giant dress into the litter. So Elda and Genna just scrunch it up and throw it in.
Everyone else has to cram in as well.
Trystana tries to get Loree to eat, but she just gives it all to Dany.
Aaand they move, and are soon on the streets where, you guessed it: even more people are waiting to call Loree’s name and greet her. So she pulls back the curtain so everyone can see how happy she is.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years as the great and powerful gather in Sunspear for the marriage of Princess Loreza Nymeros Martell. But old tensions are just below the surface.
Love and duty, hate and pride, anger and ambition. There’s nothing like a wedding to make emotions run high.
Chapter XXXI: Olenna V
In which Olenna learns that tournaments are more about politics than chivalry.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years as the great and powerful gather in Sunspear for the marriage of Princess Loreza Nymeros Martell. But old tensions are just below the surface.
Love and duty, hate and pride, anger and ambition. There’s nothing like a wedding to make emotions run high.
XXIV - Alysanne IV
Alysanne thinks she might do something about her jerk-face husband. But what’s up with her daughter?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years as the great and powerful gather in Sunspear for the marriage of Princess Loreza Nymeros Martell. But old tensions are just below the surface.
Love and duty, hate and pride, anger and ambition. There’s nothing like a wedding to make emotions run high.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years as the great and powerful gather in Sunspear for the marriage of Princess Loreza Nymeros Martell. But old tensions are just below the surface.
Love and duty, hate and pride, anger and ambition. There’s nothing like a wedding to make emotions run high.
XXXI - Ormond IV
In which women keep running away from Ormond, and then he gets drunk with his dad.
