Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Fic: Look Behind You (Ten Drabbles)

[bratanimus]

Author: bratanimus
Fandom: ASOIAF
Character(s): Jaime, Aerys, Brienne, Catelyn, Tyrion, Tywin, Robert
Rating: T for suggested sexual themes
Author's Note: Written for the Shippy Sea Shanty challenge at gameofships. My selected character was Jaime

Comments

[irisparry]

Wow, these are just stunning. Little details really draw you in even in such short pieces.

I tend to think of Jaime as quite passive, letting things happen to him, electing to be someone else's weapon in the Kingsguard rather than take on a responsibility where he would have more agency... Killing Aerys is his big choice, an act in which he breaks out of role, and others define him by it... Anyway I could go on about this all day but basically I think Powerful and empty is SUCH a great description of how he would've felt about it. Brilliant stuff.

[bratanimus]

Thank you! I'm really glad you liked these. I totally agree that Jaime is passive in many ways, reflecting what he thinks others want from him. Thank you, too, for pointing out "powerful and empty." I think in many ways he prefers to remain disconnected from what he does and what happens to him, because he doesn't really know what to think or how to feel about it, perhaps because of his father's overbearing "rightness" all the time when he was younger. Also, Jaime mistakenly muses that the dust motes that arise from Aerys's collapsing body are Aerys's last effect on this earth, but what Jaime doesn't realize in that moment is that he will be forever linked with the mad king. So the one real choice Jaime makes is the one that haunts him forever. Poor guy. ;)

[irisparry]

Umf, yes. I thought Tywin's first scene in the series, with Jaime, was so powerful for both of them: it made me think about what kind of father he must have been for the first time.

The dust thing was so good, especially with the line that followed. One of the most interesting things about the series for me is Jaime starting to sort of define himself rather than let others do it for him. Obvs the breaking down of his relationship with Cersei is a huge part of that - and I think it's been behind a lot of his passivity. What it must be like to have a twin, a reflection of yourself constantly around during your childhood - and a twin who's your lover... Especially when Cersei's so angry at the world. It's easier to let her be the real one and stay the reflection.

ARGH now I have all these pretentious, hysterical Jaime feels I never knew ~pitches onto desk face first~

[bratanimus]

Tywin's first scene in the series, with Jaime, was so powerful

OMG YES. That was the first inkling I had that there might be more to Jaime than the man who shoves kids out windows. ;)

I agree that Jaime is starting to define himself in the series, starting with his perusal of the White Book (was that the name? too lazy to look it up, lol). And yes, his affair with Cersei HAS to end in order for him to become a whole person rather than half of one, a reflection of his twin only. I like how you refer to her as "the real one" and him as the reflection. That's brilliant.

I encourage any and all Jaime feels, hee hee. :P

(But watch out for deskplants. You've only got the one nose. ;))

[just_a_dram]

These are great! Jaime's an excellent subject for rumination. My favorites are 3, 5, and 10. And I love in 7 that we get a flashback to when the Lannister siblings were a bit younger. That's becoming one of my favorite things for Cersei/Jaime.

I'm really excited to see the Jaime/Sansa fic that you're working on. I'm totally going to bug you about that. ;)

[bratanimus]

Ooo, I'm thrilled that two of your favorites featured Jaime and Brienne! I secretly ship them, but have not quite figured out how I want to write them. I have a plot bunny hopping around my head right now, some kind of gen/romance about Brienne delivering Jaime to Lady Stoneheart to save Pod but then defending Jaime and both of them being imprisoned together.

I, too, like thinking of the Lannisters when they were younger, before things got so god-awful complicated for them, when they were teenagers and immortal and immune to consequences. It's interesting to think how they began to structure their elaborate system of justifications, even when they were teenagers and younger.

I'm working on the Jaime/Sansa fic right now! Keep bugging me, because I may need it, lol. The song that inspired me (which didn't make it into the drabble challenge) is Be Here Now, by Ray LaMontagne:

Don’t lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don’t put your trust in walls
‘Cause walls will only crush you when they fallThank you

[gilpin25]

It's wonderful to see you writing again.

I could talk about all of them, as they all made me nod or think or smile, but these jumped out on the first read-through. #3 because it says so much about Jaime and Brienne, and how their relationship hovers between meaning so much and so little, and continues to defy most of the usual traits! #5 because that black sense of humour is so very Jaime, while #8 made me think how much he does notice outward appearances - and Cersei is so very much about them. As for #9 (Rufus!): I love the section in the books where Jaime stands guard over his father's rotting corpse - easy to believe he thought like this.

♥

Re emailing: I'm sorry. Things are quite difficult, with family health problems that aren't leaving me much time for catching up, but I have not forgotten.

[bratanimus]

Guh, I totally need to snag that Jaime icon of yours. *drool*

Thanks, hon. It feels incredibly good to be writing again, though I do feel pretty rusty. It means so much to me that you liked these drabbles. I love that you were drawn to the two Jaime/Brienne pieces; I sooooooo want to write more about them but cannot quite figure out where to begin. I actually found a poem that to me is all about them here and I can't seem to find a way to state their relationship better than that. :) (I imagine Jaime speaking it, but I suppose it could be Brienne, too

[mrstater]

Oh, I'm so pleased I found some time, finally, to read these! I'm only sorry I didn't do sooner, but what a treat for a nice rainy Friday I'm calling a day for catching up on everything from cleaning bathrooms to reading fic. :D

[bratanimus]

Thank you, hon! I'm so pleased you liked these, and I'm thrilled that you liked the Jaime/Brienne drabbles. I may convert you yet, lol. No, I agree that Jaime's relationship with Brienne is really fascinating on many levels. The fact that he gives her his sword so that she can be his arm of justice is very telling, given how many other creeps he COULD have given it to. That tells me he's changing, and that she, I think, has affected him.

The moment on the horse in canon really stuck with me, and I'm constantly imagining that moment again and again as emblematic of their entwined destiny, however that may pan out. But yes, I just had to write about the gruesomeness of The Rotting Hand, lol.

Thank you for liking the image of Tyrion kicking water at them. I love kid!Lannisters, too. :)

Thanks for reading these. I really appreciate your thoughtful comments!