Hah. Even though you wanted to keep your protagonist a grand surprise, I had suspected it would be the Queen of Thorns. Indeed, I had hoped that you would write at length about her, her family (esp. Margaery) and her machinations in the game of thrones - I certainly don't mind her holding her own against Lord Baelish, quite to the contrary. And the political power couple Olenna & Margaery FTW! (Wherever Margaery gets her sense and acumen from, it's certainly not her father.)
Hee, I wonder how many people guessed that I was writing about Olenna! And, yay for dancing Sterling Cooper employees! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
The full version is even longer, believe it or not, and goes all the way back to Olenna's childhood, but I just couldn't fill in enough of the gaps to post it as it was.
Ooh, lovely. I think it's a shame that we don't get a Highgarden PoV in the series, and this is an incredibly plausible and well-thought-out story that goes a long way toward filling in that gap.
"Why talk you of choices, Mace?" But she knew already that this was a losing argument. In a world where Robert Baratheon could rebel against his anointed King, of course there was a choice.
I really like this moment -- it captures the ways that Robert has changed the way people think about politics and agency, and maybe offers a glimmer of hope for the ending of the series.
I love the sort of quasi-friendship Olenna has with Littlefinger -- they are such good matches for each other, and they know it -- and the hints that she has a growing respect for Sansa.
I have been wondering for a long time why we haven't had a Highgarden POV yet, especially in AFfC and ADwD.
One of the things I ran into in writing the POV of someone who distinctly remembered what it had been like not just before Robert's Rebellion but even before Aerys' madness became a major issue is that I had to imagine in the back of Olenna's mind the Targaryens were still the default kings. The fact that I was finishing this while teaching the Henry VIs caused them to sort of bled into the fic, I suspect. ;)
The scenes between Olenna and Littlefinger just wrote themselves -- it really is a pity that they're on opposite sides because they'd be unstoppable if they joined forces...
This is absolutely glorious. Olenna and Margaery are two of my favorite minor characters, and I would love a Margaery POV in future novels. Olenna's wit and intelligence are very much in evidence here, as is Margaery's.
Your telling of Joffrey's poisoning pretty much dovetails with my view of events, based on the facts given, although in my mind it was Olenna who dropped the poison into the wine. I like your depiction of Margaery doing the actual deed though; it makes perfect sense. I also liked Olenna's interactions with Littlefinger. If anyone could match him in cleverness, she would be the one. I kind of hope she and Sansa will meet again, so Olenna can take her measure once more, especially now that Sansa's had some personal instruction in the game of thrones.
Very well written and perfectly realized, I enjoyed this immensely!
My initial plan had been to have Olenna drop the poison into Joffrey's wine but after rereading those chapters in ASoS for the umpteenth time it occurred to me that Margaery had just as much opportunity to do it as she did and just as much reason, if not more. It was too much for me to resist, giving Margaery that moment of agency. (It does, I think, also fall in with how protective she is of Tommen, all things considered, since he is very much the anti-Joffrey.)
I really hope Olenna and Sansa meet again too! And Sansa and Margaery, for that matter; I did feel that there could be a genuine friendship between those two.
Re: wrath of weddings, indeedlareinenoireOctober 8 2011, 14:22:09 UTC
Thank you so much! I did enjoy writing it, in spite of its frustrations. :)
I also appreciated that you portrayed Margaery as being genuinely fond of Sansa, since her meeting with the Tyrells is probably the first hint we have of a female society that's equally complex as what's going on among the men, and I like to think it wasn't all phony.
One of the things that struck me on my most recent reread of the series (before ADwD) was how different women's positions seem to be in Highgarden compared to elsewhere in the Seven Kingdoms. We not only have Olenna at its head, but women interacting and befriending one another in ways that I just don't think we see in any other households -- Catelyn and Lysa are rivals while Cersei and Dany are usually the only women in the room and are, I think, defined by that isolation. I babbled about it here, if you're curious. I really do think Margaery cared about Sansa because she seems like that kind of person.
Oh, this is great! Olenna is one of my favorite characters, and it's so wonderful to get an entire long story from her POV. I greatly enjoyed her interactions with all of her grandchildren and with Mace (and Mace not being a total idiot is a plus, even though he is still, canon-compliantly, a bit of a dolt), and also with Littlefinger and, unexpectedly, Oberyn. Margaery being in on poisoning Joff makes perfect sense to me, too.
Thanks so much! I had a great time writing Olenna with her family so I'm glad that came through. And the scenes between her and Littlefinger kept threatening to take over the entire fic...;)
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My feelings on that fic can be summarized thusly:
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The full version is even longer, believe it or not, and goes all the way back to Olenna's childhood, but I just couldn't fill in enough of the gaps to post it as it was.
Reply
"Why talk you of choices, Mace?" But she knew already that this was a losing argument. In a world where Robert Baratheon could rebel against his anointed King, of course there was a choice.
I really like this moment -- it captures the ways that Robert has changed the way people think about politics and agency, and maybe offers a glimmer of hope for the ending of the series.
I love the sort of quasi-friendship Olenna has with Littlefinger -- they are such good matches for each other, and they know it -- and the hints that she has a growing respect for Sansa.
Reply
One of the things I ran into in writing the POV of someone who distinctly remembered what it had been like not just before Robert's Rebellion but even before Aerys' madness became a major issue is that I had to imagine in the back of Olenna's mind the Targaryens were still the default kings. The fact that I was finishing this while teaching the Henry VIs caused them to sort of bled into the fic, I suspect. ;)
The scenes between Olenna and Littlefinger just wrote themselves -- it really is a pity that they're on opposite sides because they'd be unstoppable if they joined forces...
Reply
Your telling of Joffrey's poisoning pretty much dovetails with my view of events, based on the facts given, although in my mind it was Olenna who dropped the poison into the wine. I like your depiction of Margaery doing the actual deed though; it makes perfect sense. I also liked Olenna's interactions with Littlefinger. If anyone could match him in cleverness, she would be the one. I kind of hope she and Sansa will meet again, so Olenna can take her measure once more, especially now that Sansa's had some personal instruction in the game of thrones.
Very well written and perfectly realized, I enjoyed this immensely!
Reply
My initial plan had been to have Olenna drop the poison into Joffrey's wine but after rereading those chapters in ASoS for the umpteenth time it occurred to me that Margaery had just as much opportunity to do it as she did and just as much reason, if not more. It was too much for me to resist, giving Margaery that moment of agency. (It does, I think, also fall in with how protective she is of Tommen, all things considered, since he is very much the anti-Joffrey.)
I really hope Olenna and Sansa meet again too! And Sansa and Margaery, for that matter; I did feel that there could be a genuine friendship between those two.
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I also appreciated that you portrayed Margaery as being genuinely fond of Sansa, since her meeting with the Tyrells is probably the first hint we have of a female society that's equally complex as what's going on among the men, and I like to think it wasn't all phony.
One of the things that struck me on my most recent reread of the series (before ADwD) was how different women's positions seem to be in Highgarden compared to elsewhere in the Seven Kingdoms. We not only have Olenna at its head, but women interacting and befriending one another in ways that I just don't think we see in any other households -- Catelyn and Lysa are rivals while Cersei and Dany are usually the only women in the room and are, I think, defined by that isolation. I babbled about it here, if you're curious. I really do think Margaery cared about Sansa because she seems like that kind of person.
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