Of White Trees and Blue Roses
is a fanfic set in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's a series of POV chapters of the few years leading up to Robert Baratheon's rebellion in the main series. In particular, it focuses on Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Many posthumous characters from canon were featured as well.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Age Lift: Gerold Dayne is much younger here than in A Song of Ice and Fire due to being Brandon Stark's son.
- Agony of the Feet: Brandon warns Benjen not to drop Robert's hammer on his foot.
- Amazon Chaser: Robert, at least towards Lyanna. He entertains the idea of bedding a woman with her wearing armor.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Ned beats Robert in a duel by pricking his neck armor.
- Bastard Bastard: Gerold Dayne, who in this fanfic is the son of Ashara Dayne and Brandon Stark, will become one of these, even though no one knows he is a bastard.
- Big Brother Mentor: Oswell Whent towards Lyanna while she's at the Tower of Joy.
- Broad Strokes: Despite the close following to canon, the fic offers plausible suggestions on unrevealed plot points which Martin has been silent on so far, e.g. Jon Snow's parents, and the identity of the Knight of the Laughing Tree.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Lyanna can tell that Cersei and Jaime Lannister are much closer than normal for siblings. Jaime buys Lyanna's silence by agreeing to vouch for the Knight of the Laughing Tree.
- Butt-Monkey: Ned. He's unremarkable compared to his elder brother Brandon (the heir to Winterfell) and sister Lyanna, Brandon and Robert make fun of the fact that Ned's still a virgin, Ashara Dayne rejects him, he gets blamed for getting Ashara pregnant, Robert makes fun of his poetry, and then he loses his father and eldest brother.
- Call-Forward:
- Robert is shown writing an essay on how Dothraki would fare against knights and castles.
- Once again, a Lord of Winterfell is suggested as Hand of the King.
- The Cameo: Melisandre appears in one of Rhaegar's dreams, as do Jon Snow and Coldhands. Greatjon Umber appears early on in one of Benjen's chapters. Boros Blount appears during the Knight of the Laughing Tree's second joust.
- Character Tics: After Robert gets a cut on his neck from Brandon, he rubs it from time to time.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Robert is able to lift his hammer with one hand, while Benjen can barely pick it up and waddle with it.
- Chekhov's Gun: In a sparring match with Brandon, Robert gets a cut on his neck. When Robert wants to go to King's Landing after Lyanna is taken by Rhaegar, Ned pricks Robert in the same spot, ending Robert's plan.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Robert's idea of torturing someone to death? Send them to Jon Arryn to write an essay.
- Crush Blush: Ned does this quite a few times whenever Ashara Dayne is around.
- Deadly Prank: The whole Knight of the Laughing Tree incident in hindsight.
- Déjà Vu: Rhaegar when he arrives at the Tower of Joy where Ashara gives birth to her child.
- Did Not Think This Through: As alluded to in canon, Rhaegar's abduction of Lyanna blew up spectacularly. Also, the Knight of the Laughing Tree participating in the Tourney of Harrenhal. For example, Rhaegar catches Lyanna handling the bags containing the armor and warns her that the Knight could be accused of treason.
- Dissonant Serenity: In one of Rhaegar's dreams, several things happen as rats scramble about on a table while the Small Council seems undisturbed.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Robert is dumb-struck by Lyanna several times, as Jaime and Cersei note with disdain.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Ashara Dayne does not want to be pitied by the man she marries because she bore a bastard.
- Doomed by Canon: Lyanna Stark, Brandon Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen, King Aerys, Lord Rickard Stark.
- Doting Parent: Rickard Stark notes he has been this to his children, particularly Lyanna and Benjen.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Rhaegar's dreams regarding the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised. However, the fic did its own take as the prophecy remains unresolved in canon. One such vision is of Jon Snow. King Aerys received one to beware of Jaime, who would be called the Kingslayer.
- Dude Magnet: Ashara Dayne. See Love Dodecahedron.
- Empty Shell: Lysa after she recovers from her mysterious illness, heavily implied to be a result of being forced to take Moon Tea.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Rhaegar has one when he sees the injured Benjen Stark, which he couples with the weirwood-emblazoned shield of the Knight of the Laughing Tree and Benjen's absence during the Knight of the Laughing Tree, concluding that Benjen is the Knight of the Laughing Tree.
- Evil Is Petty: When Rhaegar suggested reviving the ancient tradition of Targaryen polygamy in order to stop Robert's Rebellion by wedding Lyanna, Aerys vetoed the idea simply because he had not thought of reviving the tradition himself in order to hold on to Joanna Lannister. The other reason is to not "infect the bloodline with wolf-blood", which is just as bad.
- Exact Words: Cersei points out to Jaime that his oaths as a Kingsguard make no mention of celibacy regarding extramarital affairs.
- Face Death with Dignity: Lord Rickard is completely silent and composed during his execution, which irks King Aerys to no end.
- Fanservice: Text-only. Rhaegar is entranced by the sight of a naked Lyanna when she changes clothes after the Knight of the Laughing Tree's third joust.
- Fantastic Racism: King Aerys has a great amount of scorn for the North, for some reason. This gets worse after the Tourney at Harrenhal.
- Female Misogynist: Cersei, who scorns Robert Baratheon's attraction and betrothal to the Tomboy Lyanna Stark.
- Fetish: The whole Knight of the Laughing Tree incident gives Robert an idea for a "game" with a brunette and a suit of armor, dressing the brunette in the armor and stripping it off.
- Force and Finesse: Between Jon Arryn's two wards; Robert is the Force with his prowess with a hammer and hitting too hard with a sword, while Ned is the Finesse with his abilities with the sword.
- Foregone Conclusion / How We Got Here: Due to the close following to canon, it's not hard to forsee the fates of the various characters. However, the fic presents a good case of why the surviving characters behaved the way they did in canon.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Benjen is seriously injured while posing as the Knight of the Laughing Tree during the second joust, forcing Lyanna to take the third joust.
- Generation Xerox: Ned is said to be very much like Rickard, more cautious than the Hot-Blooded Brandon and Lyanna.
- The Generic Guy: Ned is distinguished by being relatively unremarkable compared to his siblings. Hoster Tully even forgets his name.
- The Ghost: Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish is mentioned a few times, but never appears in person.
- Green Around the Gills: Robert winds up barfing a few times while horseback riding.
- Has a Type: Robert notes to Ned that he wants a girl who he can grow to love.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Lord Rickard has problems with chest pain and Maester Walys tells him that his days are numbered.
- Home Sweet Home: In a
Tear Jerker fashion. Brandon Stark's last thoughts are of his home before he strangles himself to death. - Hope Spot: Ashara hopes that her child would be more like Ned with his sense of honor. From what's known about Gerold Dayne, her hope is in vain."You have your father's strength and my colouring, but if you take anything else from your true family, please let it be your uncle's sense of honor."
- Hot-Blooded: When Robert hears the news of Lyanna's abduction, he tries to storm off to King's Landing as Brandon did and it requires a duel with Ned to change his mind.
- I Just Want to Be Special: What convinced Lyanna to follow Rhaegar, aka the "abduction", was Rhaegar's promise to train her to become a real knight, and to knight her subsequently. While at the Tower of Joy, he does make good on his promise.
- Kick the Dog:
- Brandon when he drops Ashara after a one-night stand.
- Aerys II by naming Jaime to the Kingsguard. Afterward, he parades him about, like a hunter with a trophy on display.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Ned's the only one of the Starks who doesn't know about the Knight of the Laughing Tree's identity.
- Love Dodecahedron: Between Ashara Dayne, Barristan Selmy, Brandon and Eddard Stark, Catelyn and Lysa Tully, and Petyr Baelish.
- Like in canon, Barristan had his crush on Ashara.
- Ashara had a crush on Brandon, and Eddard had a crush on her. Ashara rejected Eddard's feelings for her, while Brandon dropped Ashara faster than a hot potato after a one-night stand. However, he fathered a bastard, as mentioned under
Fandom Nod. - Catelyn had a crush on Brandon, to whom she was betrothed. She would later be promised to Eddard after Brandon's execution.
- Like in canon, Petyr had a crush on Catelyn and lost a duel to Brandon over her.
- Also like in canon, Lysa had a crush on Petyr and lost her virginity to him. That this union got her pregnant with a boy, whom she later miscarried after drinking moon tea, helps Hoster Tully get Jon Arryn to agree to marry her.
- Love Ruins the Realm: Rhaegar was very aware of how badly things could turn out, particularly after hearing of his father's execution of the Northern lords. Other characters had also thought to themselves (or voiced their opinions on) just how bad Rhaegar's idea of abducting Lyanna really was.
- Marry for Love: Rickard Stark had considered allowing Ned to marry who he wanted; as the second son, he was unlikely to inherit. Of course, events transpired to change those plans.
- Misblamed: Ned Stark is not the father of Ashara's child.
- Mistaken for Cheating: After the tourney, Elia believes Rhaegar has much deeper feelings for Lyanna than he's willing to admit.
- Mythology Gag: Ser Humfrey Hardyng is mentioned when Brandon warns Benjen not to drop Robert's hammer on his foot.
- Named by the Adaptation: The Frey that the Knight of the Laughing Tree faces is established as Aenys Frey.
- Not So Above It All: Rhaegar's reaction when he learns that Ashara is pregnant is to think that Ned is not so noble. He's wrong: Ashara's child is not because of Ned. It's Brandon's.
- Number Two: After the Tourney at Harrenhal, there's a short debate over who should be Hand of the King after Tywin Lannister's resignation. Someone suggested Lord Rickard Stark, which eventually sends King Aerys into a frenzy over a possible conspiracy.
- Officer and a Gentleman: Rhaegar was keenly aware of how his actions regarding Lyanna had deeply hurt his wife. Also, at the beginning, he was a true gentleman in his interactions with Lyanna.
- Ser Arthur Dayne was a gentleman as well.
- Off with His Head!: The fate of Elbert Arryn.
- Out of Focus: For all his importance during this period of the series (and subsequent periods), Tywin Lannister was only alluded to in the fic.
- Overworked Sleep: Rhaegar is pouring over papers given by Pycelle when he falls asleep, leading into a dream with a burning table, sparring with Lyanna, a blue rose at the Wall and observing a young Night's Watchman who calls himself Lord Snow.
- Parental Marriage Veto: King Aerys puts his foot down on a marriage between Rhaegar and Lyanna because he didn't think of it himself for Joanna Lannister and he doesn't want to "pollute his house with wolf blood". He's even jealous that Rhaegar even tried a solution in the first place.
- The Paranoiac: King Aerys. Good Gods, King Aerys.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Rhaegar was both an accomplished warrior, and an excellent harp player.
- Secret-Keeper: Brandon keeps his mouth shut about Lyanna and Benjen disposing of the Knight of the Laughing Tree's armor. Lord Rickard managed to find out on his own.
- Shotgun Wedding: Rhaegar suggests marrying Ashara to Eddard, to make amends for Brandon fathering her bastard child and not piss off the Tullys by forcing Brandon to marry Ashara. Ashara puts her foot down, saying she would not force Ned to pay for Brandon's mistakes as she, Ashara, is a fallen woman.
- Sibling Team:
- Lyanna and Benjen. They're both responsible for the Knight of the Laughing Tree.
- Lord Rickard has planned on having Ned act as Number Two to Brandon when the latter became Lord of Winterfell.
- Single Malt Vision: After getting defeated by Rhaegar, Brandon sees what he thinks is a three-headed Targaryen. It's really Ashara Dayne, whom he just deflowered.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Ashara has a child by Brandon Stark, who becomes Gerold Dayne. Ashara had made her own name for him: Brandon Snow.
- The Squire: Benjen was going to be sent to be Roose Bolton's squire.
- Stab the Salad: Ned impales a piece of paper with his poem about Ashara Dayne with a spear.
- Take Me Instead: Rickard planned to offer himself up to secure Brandon's release, since Rickard is dying. It doesn't work out.
- The Stations of the Canon: Major events, such as the Tourney at Harrenhal and the fates of Rickard and Brandon Stark, are unchanged from canon.
- Trying Not to Cry: Essentially, this was Elia Martell's reaction to her husband's shenanigans regarding Lyanna. Rhaegar himself knew how deeply he had hurt his wife, and genuinely loathed himself for it.
- Unknown Rival: Ashara Dayne for Catelyn Tully. The reason why Ashara rejects Ned's feelings for her is because she would always be looking at his shoulder at Brandon.
- Virgin-Shaming: Robert likes to make fun of the fact that Ned hasn't had sex.
- Vow of Celibacy: Despite his firm belief that he must fulfill a Targaryen prophecy by having three children, Rhaegar refrains from having sex with Elia, not wanting to put her fragile health at risk with a third pregnancy.
- Who's Your Daddy?: Ashara Dayne is found to be pregnant. Everyone thinks it's Ned's. It's really Brandon's.
- Would Hit a Girl: King Aerys tries to have Ashara Dayne burned alive when her pregnancy is revealed.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The real reason why King Aerys kept Elia Martell and her children in King's Landing? He was planning on killing them once he had fathered a daughter to keep the bloodline pure.
- Young Future Famous People: Young Stannis and Renly make cameo appearances. However, Benjen Stark deserves special mention, as one half of the Knight of the Laughing Tree. See Did Not Think This Through above.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: After seeing some of Rhaegar's actions toward Lyanna at the Tourney at Harrenhal, King Aerys remarks that Rhaegar has his "Joanna." Rhaegar is not amused.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Lord Rickard is dying of heart failure.
