Line #23 FanFic/ACagedSongbird


1	''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/10451103/chapters/23070591 A Caged Songbird]]'' is a ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' / ''Series/GameOfThrones'' AlternateUniverseFic where Sansa was married to Joffrey. However, as Sansa suffers in the royal court and Targaryen forces march on King's Landing, she learns to take matters into her own hands… then Daenerys takes the Iron Throne and arranges for Sansa to marry the man raised alongside her as a half-brother, and the dominos start to fall from there.
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3	Unmarked spoilers ahead.
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5	!!Tropes that appear in this fanfic:
6	* AdaptationalVillainy: Joffrey takes his cruelty a notch higher, repeatedly invoking his MaritalRapeLicense on Sansa. Later, he forgoes having his Kingsguard hit Sansa for him and does it himself, cutting her face with his ring, almost causing her to miscarry, and threatening to kill her before [[ILoveTheDead having his soldiers rape her]] in front of the royal court. He also destroyed the Red Keep's godswood because she had gone there to be away from him.
7	* ArrangedMarriage:
8	** As per canon, Joffrey and Sansa are initially betrothed, but this continuity has them go through with the marriage, at least [[TilMurderDoUsPart until Sansa hacks his head off]].
9	** InSpiteOfANail, Tommen and Margaery still get betrothed and later married until Daenerys takes over, after which Tommen is eventually sent to join the Night's Watch and the marriage is ultimately annulled.
10	** After Targaryen rule is restored, Daenerys betroths herself to Aegon and arranges for Sansa and Jon to marry, as per familial custom. Aegon ends up dying at war with the Others, though, and Daenerys admits in the final chapter that everyone knew he wasn't a real Targaryen anyway and that she was just playing along.
11	** Jon Connington spends part of the story trying to get Jon to set Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell.
12	* AwfulWeddedLife: Sansa's marriage to Joffrey is a living hell, with him raping her every night as she frequently contemplates suicide.
13	* BestFriendsInLaw: Sansa gets along with Tyrion far better than she does with her husband. In fact, Tyrion is Sansa's only true friend in King's Landing.
14	* BottleEpisode: The entire story takes place in King's Landing and other plotlines go unmentioned.
15	* ChildrenAreInnocent: Joanna, especially early on. She even loves her father! Justified in that she's a very young child.
16	* ChildByRape: Joanna Baratheon (later Stark), the daughter of Sansa and Joffrey, is this since her conception is the result of her father invoking MaritalRapeLicense.
17	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Joffrey. Sansa slashes his throat to the point that she decapitates him.
18	* TheCutie: Joanna, Sansa's adorable little girl who loves everyone and is loved by most people in the story.
19	* DeadGuyJunior:
20	** Joffrey names his daughter Joanna, for his grandmother. Sansa personally considers naming her Catelyn, after her own mother, before dismissing the idea, knowing it wouldn't be accepted as an option by her husband and in-laws.
21	** In Chapter 18, before Jon goes off to war with the Others, he and Sansa discuss naming their child Eddard if it's a boy, and Arya (who's still presumed dead at this point) if it's a girl. It turns out to be a boy, and so Eddard/Ned becomes his name.
22	** Years later, Jon and Sansa consider naming their next child -- a daughter -- Lyanna or Cat, depending on whether she looked Northern or of the Riverlands. The girl turns out to look Targaryen, so the two accept Daenarys' suggestion of Rhaella, after Jon's grandmother.
23	* DeadpanSnarker: Tyrion Lannister. Even spending time in the dungeons has not dulled his wit.
24	-->"I went without wine for months -- miracles do happen."
25	* DeathSeeker: Sansa spends a fair amount of her time in King's Landing contemplating going the way of Ashara Dayne, but ultimately unable to do so to protect Joanna from the cruel whims of the Lannisters and the royal court. In Chapter 20, she realizes that she's finally reached a point where she ''doesn't'' want to die.
26	* DrivenToSuicide: Ashara Dayne's canon suicide by leaping from her tower into the sea is dwelled upon a fair amount. Sansa, meanwhile, never quite gets there, but contemplates it fairly often while in King's Landing.
27	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: ''Loved'' ones might be a bit of a stretch, but the bottom line is that Joffrey treats Joanna decently.
28	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Tywin does not scream when he is torched by dragon fire.
29	* GenerationXerox:
30	** Sansa notes that Joanna is very similar to Arya personality-wise, which is likely why she and Jon are so quick to grow close.
31	** Sansa also notes she and her mother Catelyn went through similar circumstances in their respective marriage stories.
32	* HowlOfSorrow: Cersei lets one loose when Daenerys reveals Joffrey's death.
33	* HowWeGotHere: Chapter 1 has Sansa looking for Joanna as Daenerys' forces converge on the Red Keep before the story launches into Sansa's marriage to Joffrey.
34	-->'''Daenerys:''' Queen Sansa. Where is your husband?
35	* InUniverseCatharsis: Sansa smiles in vindictive satisfaction while watching Cersei scream in rage upon being informed of Joffrey's death in Chapter 11.
36	* {{Jerkass}}: Jon Connington is anything but nice to Sansa, simply for being a Stark.
37	* KarmaHoudini: Littlefinger. Despite starting the entire war, he's rewarded for supporting the new regime with a seat on the Small Council and the titles he accumulated before leaving for the Vale are left intact.
38	* KarmicDeath: Joffrey is killed by Sansa, while trying to rape her as he always did throughout their marriage, with Widow's Wail, a sword forged from the Stark family sword Ice, which her father had been executed with.
39	* KillItWithFire: Tywin, Cersei and Jaime are executed by Drogon.
40	* TheKingslayer: Sansa is personally responsible for Joffrey's death the night Daenerys storms King's Landing. Cersei even calls Sansa "Kingslayer" during her own trial.
41	-->'''Oberyn:''' I should not think a Lannister would care to call another a Kingslayer.
42	* KissingCousins: Sansa marries Jon, who turns out to be her aunt Lyanna's son with Rhaegar Targaryen, [[ArrangedMarriage per Daenerys' orders]]. While cousin marriages are fairly common in Westeros, the fact that [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo Jon was raised as Sansa's half-brother]] makes it difficult for both of them to process initially.
43	* LastOfHisKind: Tyrion is the only remaining Lannister after Chapter 18 due to the deaths of Cersei, Tywin and Jaime.
44	* MaritalRapeLicense: Sansa is repeatedly raped by Joffrey, beginning on their wedding night. Sansa's 14 at the most, Joffrey's 17 or 18. According to Sansa, Joffrey raped her for 11 hours that night.
45	* MarriageBeforeRomance: Jon and Sansa are placed in an ArrangedMarriage, but initially feel awkward about it due to the fact they were raised as kin. They develop romantic/sexual feelings for each other later.
46	* NasalTrauma: Sansa shows Rickon she's not their mother by having him feel her nose, which was broken during her marriage to Joffrey.
47	* NomDeMom: Since Joffrey is a false king, Joanna is technically a bastard. She's later legitimized as a Stark.
48	* NowOrNeverKiss: Although they're already married, Jon and Sansa's lovemaking before Jon rides off to war has this vibe.
49	* NumberTwo: Oberyn Martell is Daenerys' Hand.
50	* OneSteveLimit: Averted, much like canon. There's Jon Stark (né Snow), Jon Connington, and Ser Jon Florent, one of Sansa's knightly guards.
51	* PatchworkKids: Into their marriage, Sansa eventually begins imagining having a child with her hair and Jon's eyes.
52	* PetTheDog:
53	** Joffrey seems to be nicer to his daughter Joanna, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk because he sees her as a validation that he is truly a Baratheon]].
54	** Oberyn Martell appears to be the only one of the conquerors who empathizes with Sansa's situation.
55	* PosthumousCharacter:
56	** Ashara Dayne is mentioned numerous times, mainly whenever Sansa contemplates suicide.
57	** Ned Stark appears as a ghost several times, similar to a [[Franchise/StarWars Force spirit]].
58	* TheRival: Jon Connington to Sansa in the Small Council. She spends a significant part of Chapter 14 angered by his presence and practically tears into him for [[KnowNothingKnowItAll thinking himself to know more of Northmen's sentiments than her]], who was born and raised as a northern Lord's daughter while he spent most of his life exiled from Westeros.
59	-->Sansa had been livid.\
60	Livid that the ribbons that the Targaryens had wrapped around her wrists were being pulled by a man like Jon Connington and livid that a man like Jon Connington gave her lectures on intimacy. Sansa hates the man, that she is sure, but it is unlike other hatred she has borne – this hatred that she feels for Jon Connington cannot be masked by one of her smiles, or by polite indifference. Every time she faces the man, with his dark eyes and judgement, she wishes for nothing but a sword in hand so she can hack him from his pedestal that he so loves to preach from.
61	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Presumably after [[spoiler:getting stabbed]], Jon left the Wall and journeyed to Essos, where he joined up with Daenerys.
62	* SparedByTheAdaptation:
63	** Tywin and Joffrey make it past Jon's stabbing.
64	** Oberyn Martell lives several years past his canonical death.
65	** Myrcella and Tommen are still alive after Daenerys arrives in Westeros.
66	** Sansa sends Shae to White Harbor before Daenerys' forces reach King's Landing.
67	** Rickon and Osha live out the war on Skagos.
68	* StrongFamilyResemblance:
69	** Joanna Baratheon, Sansa and Joffrey's daughter, has dark brown hair and blue eyes. Joffrey thinks it's the Baratheon looks, but Sansa and Jaime know that the blue is that of the Tullys, while the hair is from the Stark side.
70	** When Rickon is found and he and Sansa meet again, he thinks she's their mother Catelyn, whom Sansa has started to resemble as she's grown older.
71	* SurvivalMantra: Sansa's mental one after the Targaryens' return: "My name is Sansa Stark. I'm [insert title(s) here]. And I can survive this."
72	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The last parts of the final chapter cover the years after the Starks take back Winterfell, with Sansa as Regent of the North until Rickon comes of age:
73	** Jon and Sansa have at least another pair of twins, naming them Robb and Sara. Robb is to inherit the title of Lord of the Trident from Edmure Tully as his wife, Roslin Frey, is barren.
74	** Daenerys accepts a proposal from Willas Tyrell a year after the main plot wraps up, and the two have a daughter, Daenys, who is [[ArrangedMarriage set to be married to Ned]] when they're older. Ned will serve as Daenerys' cupbearer, Jon will return to his place on the Small Council, and the family would move to Dragonstone.
75	** Tyrion names Joanna heir of Casterly Rock.
76	** Arya returns to Winterfell and later marries Gendry Baratheon (né Waters), who was legitimized by Jon.
77	* YouRemindMeOfX: Oberyn admits that Sansa reminds him of Elia in some ways and by extension, Sansa's daughter Joanna reminds him of Elia's daughter Rhaenys. However, it's not so much because they share the same personality traits as much as it's the tragic circumstances they both suffered through. Thus, he's especially sympathetic to Sansa's plight and goes out of his way to protect her.

Context FanFic / ACagedSongbird