Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Fic: Nights Without Armor (Chapter 2 - Brienne, Part 1)

[bratanimus]

Author: bratanimus
Title: Nights Without Armor (Chapter 2 - Brienne, Part 1)
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Pairing: Jaime/Brienne, Podrick/Sansa
Word Count: 4,742 this chapter (~ 32,000 entire story)
Rating & Warnings: M for language, scene depicting death, sexual innuendo
Summary: An unlikely trio - Jaime, Brienne, and Podrick - set out to

Comments

[gilpin25]

It's been one of those frustrating days, with things not going to according plan, but I knew this was waiting for me to read late on to end it on a good note. Of course it's done exactly that and a lot more. :)

I remembered you telling me that this chapter had had to be split due to length, but I loved that two fascinating female characters got to take centre-stage. YAY.:D When they talked, or when they struggled to, how much was revealed about who they are, who they've had to be to survive, and just maybe, who they're on the way to becoming. It's apt that Sansa's voice is reduced to a whisper, as she has been a pawn for so long; now she seems to be literally shedding that 'little bird' image. How much stronger she seemed with her hair gone and while listening to Brienne's advice on using the advantages she has to fight back.

It was Sansa’s curse to be beautiful, just as it was Brienne’s to be ugly, and somehow they’d each had to navigate their lives based on others’ perceptions of their countenances.You've made me consider

[bratanimus]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback!! I'm so pleased that you liked the Brienne and Sansa scenes. Honestly, I could probably write a whole novel just of scenes between those two. As you say, they're very much another Odd Couple, and the epiphanies that could be mined between them are huge, as is the character growth they could induce in each other.

I'm pleased you like Brienne's vulnerability even as she's reaching out to others (and even when it's uncomfortable for her sometimes). The saltbox moment was one of my favorites, because I think Brienne has very much missed having a mother; even though she's made do quite well, there's always that question of "what if?" And now she's in the mother role and doesn't quite know what to do with it, so she's muddling through and making it up as she goes along, as she's done with her role of knight, as well.

Regarding Jaime, I would imagine that it's very hard for Brienne to concentrate with him around, lol. Aside from his being Jaime Effing Lannister, he's also her first