Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Fic: Nights Without Armor (Chapter 3 - Brienne, Part 2)

[bratanimus]

Author: bratanimus
Title: Nights Without Armor (Chapter 3 - Brienne, Part 2)
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Pairing: Jaime/Brienne, Podrick/Sansa
Word Count: 4,441 this chapter (~ 32,000 entire story)
Rating & Warnings: M for sexual content, language
Summary: An unlikely trio - Jaime, Brienne, and Podrick - set out to rescue Sansa from Petyr

Comments

[gilpin25]

This is fast climbing the ranks of my favourite fics, and this chapter gave it another boost upwards on its merry way! That icon of Brienne is perfect; it's lovely to see her start to shed the inclination to hide her body, and start to accept the scars and who she really is.

I must do the usual and start by praising your characterisation and storytelling. Pod might not say much here, but when he does it's either comedy gold (“I - yes, my lady, Ser, I am! I merely - I thought -"), or one of those loyal and touching lines that makes me think Tyrion couldn't have picked a better squire, so long ago. And now he's there for the three of them (but increasingly for Sansa, it seems. LOL). I grinned at Brienne and Jaime teasing him, too, despite the fact I'm sure they're less than thrilled at the prospect of another meeting with the Brotherhood. I am though

[bratanimus]

Thank you SO much for all your wonderful, thoughtful, generous comments!! As always, you've seen everything I hoped you'd see, and then some

[gilpin25]

Merrynovice wrote on AO3 a beautiful and horrific endgame!fic called Corruption by Salt Water, starring Brienne, with Jaime/Cersei, and it killed me dead.

Wow, that is a powerful and well done piece. Even more so, because it seems horribly likely that Jaime will take Cersei out in some way before meeting his own fate. Leaving Brienne behind. AAGH.

My one hope with the books is that Cersei and Jaime's fates have been SO heavily signposted from the very beginning, what with prophecies and dreams and their own words throughout, that it's almost expected should it occur? And GRRM doesn't like to give the reader what they might expect.

Can you tell I've had quite enough of my ships dying and will therefore grasp at any straw? LOL. But I agree with you that Jaime's arc surely has some way still to go; he wants to fill that page in the book for a start.

Of all the squicky moments of canon, that one was right up there for me.This. I suppose it needed to be utterly wrong in so many ways that they'd actually go there, to show how

[bratanimus]

Can you tell I've had quite enough of my ships dying and will therefore grasp at any straw? LOL.

YES. AND I QUITE AGREE. Speaking of those ships, did you see the Remus bio from Pottermore?? Guh.

I really do hope you're right about GRRM not wanting to give the readers what he's so heavily foreshadowed. Especially in light of what you reminded me of re: Jaime's dream about he and Brienne being the only survivors. Do you have that quote? I'd love to read it again. No worries if it's not at your fingertips. :)

[gilpin25]

Especially in light of what you reminded me of re: Jaime's dream about he and Brienne being the only survivors. Do you have that quote?

In the dream the only people he sees that aren't dead (Ned, Rhaegar and the knights), or soon-to-be (Joffrey, Tywin), are Cersei, Brienne and himself. He first turns to Cersei: Her torch was the only light in the cavern. Her torch was the only light in the world. She turns away from him and leaves him alone in the dark.

He bends to pick up the sword his father gave him and a small flame starts; he then sees Brienne, chained up, and her longsword takes flame as well. Their blades made a little island of light. Brienne says several times that she swore an oath to keep him safe, and he hears Cersei call: The flames will burn as long as you live. When they die, so must you. I seem to have quoted half the book back at you there, but the interesting part is that GRRM uses flames, plural? I read that as Brienne replacing Cersei as his guiding force. It's shortly after this that he and Cersei part,

[bratanimus]

So sorry it's taken me a while to reply. Dad and stepmom are visiting, and our hands are FULL at the moment, lol

[gilpin25]

Was that the one he was talking about when he said, "I dreamed of you"?

It is. Jaime's Hollywood-style, romantic line. But I suppose the truth - that he dreamed of being alone and was truly terrified - is far less so. It always strikes me that he's weak, selfless and totally vulnerable in it, and there is only Brienne with her gentle light to guide him. Guh.

I think fanfiction really made Remus more of a "nice guy" than a "scared guy," but the fear is really, really part of his psychological makeup to the core.This. He was certainly sadder and more scared than I'd realized, and for longer in both cases, but then I'm glad he and Tonks had that year of close friendship otherwise I'd think the marriage really did come out of the blue between two relative strangers! It's all reinforced my respect for Tonks, because honestly, he may be endearing and clever and so, so sad, but OMG, talk about a test of endurance! My favourite phrase of the whole lot is when Tonks is described as "Wiser than Remus." I'm now thinking it's even more of

[bratanimus]

He was certainly sadder and more scared than I'd realized, and for longer in both cases, but then I'm glad he and Tonks had that year of close friendship otherwise I'd think the marriage really did come out of the blue between two relative strangers! It's all reinforced my respect for Tonks, because honestly, he may be endearing and clever and so, so sad, but OMG, talk about a test of endurance!

Definitely, lol. And it makes sense that only a younger woman would have the patience (naïveté?) to sit through something like that; I'd imagine most older women would have given him the heave-ho long ago. Tonks is an odd combination of wise old soul and young idealist. I can't wait to read HER bio from Pottermore!!

It's interesting, though, how when the fictional 'love' dies in some way - not necessarily literally, lol; I'm talking more in the way that something happens to tarnish the fantasy, or it's simply 'outgrown' - that the feeling can never be recaptured again in the same intensity. It's like a first love: it burns brilliantly