Tell me that none of this troubles you, Jon … and I’ll name you a liar, and know I have the truth of it. (requested by anonymous)
I feel like Jon and Tyrion’s respective identities are too integral to their story to just do away with it. Jon is the bastard raised with love and togetherness; born lowborn, treated highborn by his father. Tyrion is the trueborn son raised under abuse and cruelty; born high, treated lowborn by his father. To just write it all away with “oh, Jon’s trueborn and Tyrion’s a bastard” is cheap and unecessary. Their stories mirror each other– Jon, a bastard rises to great heights in the Night’s Watch, then falls. Tyrion, a trueborn Lannister, rises as an effective and powerful Hand, then falls. One loves his father; the other kills his. Both have absent mothers: Jon yearns to know his, Tyrion hardly thinks of her at all except to dwell on how he was blamed for her death.
A lot of their insecurities stems from their birth; Jon feels the stigma of being a bastard and takes it personally, whereas Tyrion tries to meet the impossible standard his father had set for a Lannister son. These circumstances of birth, of bastard and trueborn are important, they are relevant, and they shape each of the characters. To write it off isn’t a fix-it solution– it’s not a solution at all. It cheapens their fight to make peace with their identities.
👏 Ned 👏 is 👏 Jon’s 👏 real 👏 father 👏 Rhaegar 👏 was 👏 just 👏 the 👏 sperm 👏 donor 👏
“Let me give you some counsel, bastard,” Lannister said. “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” ♦ Jon I, A Game of Thrones
“I don’t know what message to send to Bran. Help him, Tyrion.”
“What help could I give him? I am no maester, to ease his pain. I have no spells to give him back his legs.”
“You gave me help when I needed it,” Jon Snow said.
“I gave you nothing,” Tyrion said. “Words.”
“Then give your words to Bran too."
(requested by @mistress-elizabeth)
Jon Snow and Arya Stark (Commission for Rosa Marie)
I plan to stop at Winterfell on the way south. If there is any message that you would like me to deliver…
the wolves will come again.
The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.
Jon Snow thinking of Arya Stark in ADwD
(requested by @lordsnow)