Reasons for Living
is a Game of Thrones Fix Fic diverging from Season 8, Episode 3: The Long Night.
This fic is now complete.
Tropes appearing in this Fanfic:
- Adaptation Expansion: The Targaryen strategy this time around includes gathering the Stormlords and the Dornish lords to support Daenerys, and this occupies Jon's efforts for the first several chapters.
- Adaptational Explanation: Daenerys explains why her forces should be divided; she wants to regain control of Dragonstone and she wants to divide Cersei's forces.
- Adaptational Name Change: Grey Worm's second-in-command is named Blue Flea instead of Hero.
- Age Lift: Quentyn and Arianne Martell's ages are swapped; Quentyn is the oldest and the ruling Prince of Dorne while Arianne is his closest advisor, a situation that echoes Jon and Sansa.
- An Arm and a Leg: Jon Connington lost his right hand in a fight with a Dothraki.
- Ascended Extra: Gendry plays a larger role in the campaign to take King's Landing, while Arya assists Jon in pacifying the city in the wake of Daenerys' death.
- Best Served Cold: Jon Connington has waited for more than 20 years to get revenge on House Baratheon for taking everything he cared about.
- Black Humor: When Bronn tells Jon about what Cersei promised him, Jon replies "We can always ask her. The Queen is resting in a barrel of wine in one of the other tents."
- The Bus Came Back: Howland and Meera Reed attend Sansa's meeting with the Northern Lords after Jon's parentage is revealed.
- Canon Immigrant: The story features characters that appeared in the books but not the show, like Quentyn Martell, his sister Arianne, Jon Connington, and, while they do not appear, Willas and Garlan Tyrell.
- Carry a Big Stick: Gendry uses a different warhammer, a one-handed variant that he can use with a shield.
- Combat Breakdown: Jon's duel with Grey Worm; they start out wielding their normal weapons (spear and shield for Grey Worm, sword and shield for Jon) before losing their weapons through different means and end up grappling. Then Grey Worm grabs the Villain Ball at the worst possible time by threatening Sansa.
- Death by Adaptation: Grey Worm chooses to face Jon in a final duel to avenge Daenerys and loses.
- Death Seeker: Jon Connington hopes to find his death in battle one day as he's too loyal to commit suicide. He does not find it, as again he survives.
- Doomed by Canon: Rhaegal, Missandei, Varys, Harry Strickland, Cersei and Jaime Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and presumably Sandor and Gregor Clegane and Qyburn offscreen.
- The Dragon: Jon Connington to Harry Strickland, as his leading commander in the Golden Company.
- Evil Is Petty: Euron killed one of the Golden Company in an argument over transporting the elephants.
- Fix Fic: The fic is mainly to address problems with Jon Snow in Season 8.
- Gutted Like a Fish: The shadow-binder Euron forces to make shadow ash for him.
- Handicapped Badass: Jon Connington is missing a hand, but that doesn't mean he isn't brutally effective. Unlike Jaime Lannister, he's even effective with his non-functioning brass hand, which he uses to injure Jon Snow."A brass hand does have its uses."
- Hearing Voices: The Targaryen madness is presented as a voice inside a Targaryen's head encouraging domination and conquest.
- The Heavy: Jon Connington is the most active character opposing Jon Snow and by extension Daenerys' conquest, but he's only The Dragon to Harry Strickland, who himself answers to Cersei.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Jon Connington describes himself as such, with his years of exile having "ground him down to a shadow of the man he once was".
- In-Series Nickname: Jon Connington mentions that he once called Rhaegar "dragon son", a name he passes to Jon Snow.
- Irony: Jon Connington notes that he hates the Lannisters, yet he's now serving the Lannisters against Daenerys, the sister of his friend Rhaegar Targaryen.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: The shadow-binder forced to prepare shadow ash for Euron."Now, as to our agreement-" [Euron stabs him]
- Kissing Cousins: Jon and Sansa begin a sexual relationship after learning they're not siblings.
- Moment Killer: Davos interrupts a kiss between Arya and Gendry."I don't mean to interrupt this touching moment, but we're in the middle of a pile of charred bones."
- Motive Rant: Jon Connington goes into one during his duel with Gendry in battle, punctuating every wrong with a blow."Your father took everything from me! My lands! My lordship! My prince!"
- Mythology Gag:
- Jon Connington's missing hand is a nod to contracting greyscale on one of his arms in A Dance with Dragons.
- Griff is a nod to Jon Connington's identity while in hiding. His buddy Egg is a nod to the identity Aegon Targaryen (the future King Aegon V) took on when he squired for Ser Duncan the Tall, especially since in the books, Connington's adopted son Young Griff is possibly Aegon VI, who is being raised to be an in-universe Expy of Aegon V.
- Nasal Trauma: Gendry ends his duel with Jon Connington by breaking his nose.
- Never Learned to Read: Gendry is raised to Lord of Storm's End, but as an unacknowledged bastard, he's predictably illiterate and Storm's End's maester has to teach him.
- Old Soldier: Lord Andar Brax has served at Tywin Lannister's side for decades.
- Pet the Dog: Cersei allows her aunt Dorna to flee King's Landing.
- Post-Final Boss: Grey Worm outlives Daenerys and faces off against Jon for a Duel to the Death as a last chance to avenge Daenerys.
- The Remnant: After the battle, Jon Connington notes that of the 20,000-strong Golden Company, only 800 are left; 300 of the force brought to Westeros, and 500 in reserve in Essos (plus the elephants). He notes dryly that the fabled Golden Company is more like the blackened company.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After using his pouch of shadow ash to heal his injuries, Euron decides to skip town.
- Sibling Team: Dorne's ruling Prince Quentyn and his sister Arianne, who serves as his main advisor.
- So What Do We Do Now?: Discussed by Jon Connington with Jon Snow in the aftermath of the Battle of King's Landing."The battle is over, aye. But what next, I wonder? Do you think that she will be content with ruling over a blackened ruin? She has the Iron Throne, aye – but Aerys had that and he tore the realm apart all the same."
- Spared by the Adaptation: Euron Greyjoy coerced a shadowbinder to prepare him a pouch of shadow ash as a contingency plan, allowing him to heal his wounds from his fight with Jaime and escape.
- Take That!:
- Jon Connington notes that it was stupid of Harry Strickland to line up his troops outside King's Landing's walls.
- Bran recalls seeing a future where he became King and inwardly laughs at it.
- Team Switzerland: After the burning of Randyll and Dickon Tarly, the Reach remains neutral for the rest of Daenerys' campaign.
- Tell Me How You Fight: Jon Connington remembers that Rhaegar had a fierce and aggressive fighting style, to go with his passionate personality.
- Those Two Guys: Griff and Egg, Jon Connington's subordinates.
- Together in Death: Unless Talisa Maegyr's family wishes to claim her body, Jon intends to have Robb and Talisa buried in Winterfell.
- Unwitting Pawn: Maester Pylos for Varys. Varys convinces Daenerys to spare Pylos and only burn him (Varys) because Pylos had no idea that he was sending letters revealing Jon's parentage.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Blue Flea's fate is unmentioned after being left behind at Winterfell.
- Worthy Opponent: Jon Connington to Jon Snow, probably because Connington's reminded of Rhaegar Targaryen.
- You Are in Command Now:
- Olyvar Frey became Lord of the Crossing after Walder Frey's demise in Season 6.
- Jon Connington is the leader of the Golden Company after Harry Strickland's death.
- You Are Too Late: Varys is arrested and executed for revealing the truth about Jon’s parentage... well after the ravens have flown.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Euron gets the shadow ash he needs, he kills the shadowbinder who made it.
