Claire Bennet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
infinite1ups) wrote2023-07-16 01:01 pm
infinite1ups) wrote2023-07-16 01:01 pm
Ice and Fire Bullshit!
I make no secret of the fact that The World of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF/GoT/HotD) is my other fandom special interest in addition to Heroes. So I thought I'd put together this handy-dandy post listing some of my AU ideas for Claire. This isn't by any means all-inclusive, it's in no particular order, and I'm always open to new ideas. This is just the stuff I've thought the most about, whether for existing threads or just stuff I want to do. Also, I apologize in advance because I do not know how to be concise.
Parentage:
In Heroes canon, Claire was born out of wedlock and is therefore literally a bastard. I like to keep this aspect of her character in Ice and Fire AUs because parentage and bastardy are such big parts of the plot. Sometimes I allow for Claire's mother (Meredith) to be of Valyrian descent, while her father (Nathan) would be of some other noble blood. Her grandmother (Angela) has precognitive dreams in Heroes canon, which just so happens to totally be A Thing in Ice and Fire, so it kind of works. Maybe they're of First Men descent (like the Starks) or very pure Andal (like House Arryn, who may have some latent abilities too) blood. Nathan can fly in Heroes, which in Ice and Fire could be treated as a sort of telekinesis. Meredith's power in Heroes is that of pyrokinesis, creating and manipulating fire. Claire definitely comes from "special" genes on both sides.
It's really the best way for me to explain Claire keeping her powers in this AU, which I generally prefer to do because her ability - for better or worse - lends itself to shaping her character in a big way.
That said, I'm definitely willing to alter her parentage so she isn't Valyrian. Personally I think it works for her because of all the fire imagery surrounding her, but it isn't by any means mandatory. Fire and Blood really is part of Claire's aesthetic in Heroes, though. Plus her parents have Fire and Flight which screams dragon. Or phoenix, but I don't think there's much mention of those in Ice and Fire, if any at all. Rambling aside, there are always alternatives. For one, her features (blonde hair and green eyes) match the description of the Lannister Look.
A Lord's Adoptive Daughter
Here is probably the most "normal" and Heroes canon compliant option for Claire's background. She'd be given to the Bennet family as an infant or small child, and instructed to keep her safe and never to tell her of her true origin. Where the Bennet family live and what they're doing is extremely flexible. They could be anywhere in Westeros; I lean toward the more southern regions, perhaps the Reach or Westerlands. Or even across the Narrow Sea in Essos. Pentos works for sure, but it could also be Braavos or literally anywhere else.
As far as what her adoptive family is up to, it's up in the air. Sometimes it might involve Noah Bennet being a powerful merchant lord. He starts out in the manufacturing and selling of parchment (get it? paper salesman?), and branches out into the selling of secrets and information, as well as acting as a middleman of sorts to broker political deals between parties. It's possible he may also act as an assassin while on "merchant trips", though naturally that can't be proven. Otherwise they could simply be a noble family of lesser standing, one some might call upjumped.
Noah and Sandra are a solid unit, working together to keep Claire's secrets for her safety as well as that of their family, and they're each very keen to teach her everything they know so the might have a wealth of knowledge to help her. While initially they'd be sure to keep Claire's secrets even from herself, I do settle on them eventually telling her the truth, probably sometimes around her pre-teen years. I waffle on whether or not Lyle is present here, partly because Lyle is already forgotten in most of Heroes canon and I'm keeping up the tradition. Claire is very close with her parents, and both are teaching her all she needs to know in order to survive and succeed in the world. They might be trying to find her a good marriage, or they may allow her to visit another noble house. She could be taken in as a handmaid for a lady of higher standing.
The Hero's Origin Story:
From this beginning, there could be the tragedy of Claire losing her family due to some noble political drama. She could be captured by slavers. She could decide she wants to be an adventurer and run away. The possibilities are, of course, endless. It's merely a vehicle to have her end up wherever a plot might be taking place, and I'm totally down to adjust this depending on what's happening.
The basic bullet points are that she 1) knows she's an adopted bastard, 2) knows who her mother is, 3) has a strong guess of who her father is due to rumors of her grandmother's prophetic dreams, and 4) can inexplicably heal from any injury. This isn't to say that she's completely invulnerable, as arguably beheading her would be perma-death, and possibly dragonfire. Naturally, if permanent death for Claire comes up, I'd prefer to avoid it, or at least discuss it heavily beforehand to write a satisfying end to an AU scenario.
Alternate Origins:
If she's not raised with the Bennets, she could simply be Claire, a bastard girl who'd been raised with her mother, or perhaps orphaned and surviving on her own. She could have been raised with her lord father and his family, as an acknowledged noble bastard, her surname of course depending on where in Westeros she's raised (Claire Hill, Claire Storm, Claire Waters, etc.). From here, of course, she can be slotted in anywhere: taken in by a lord to work in their keep, taken by slavers, surrendering herself to some temple in Essos to be a priestess? Anything, really.
The North:
I'm glad to fit her in with all sorts of Dragon Show/Book canon, but I do have one specific thing that I think would be fun to write. One way or another (see my above ramblings lol), she winds up either at The Wall or in Winterfell. Now, listen. I don't have a concrete way to get to this point that makes a ton of sense, but that doesn't stop me from wanting it.
Somehow the followers of R'hllor get it into their noggins to burn Claire in sacrifice. Various parties debate back and forth on whether or not this should happen, with Claire ultimately being like "lol i dare you" because she realizes she's in no position to escape and the argument seems to be at a standstill. It ends up with her being burned and of course surviving, ????, PROFIT. Honestly, I'm super open as to how things get to this point and what happens after. I just think it's a nifty parallel image to Daenerys surviving the funeral pyre.
Claire of the Blackwater:
This idea I came up with to write with an old friend of mine but we never got around to it, and it's stuck in my mind since. Here, Claire would be a bastard born and raised with her birth mother in King's Landing, orphaned at a relatively young age and forced to do whatever necessary for survival. She ends up working on various different ships, and against all odds, rises to become the captain of her own vessel. Whether this is doing legitimate work or piracy, well. Either are possible. No specific ideas with this, it's perfectly open to all sorts of shenanigans all over the Ice and Fire timeline.
Characters and Other Wanted Plots:
As far as specific characters I'd like for Claire to interact with, um... all of them? I do, admittedly, have a soft spot for Jon Snow. He's my favorite. In ASOIAF/GoT, she'd likely get along with the Starks, Daenerys, Jaime Lannister when he's on his redemption arc, Brienne of Tarth... basically more protagonist type characters. On the HotD side of things she'd fit in just as well, especially if writing her with Valyrian parentage. Watching the series as it aired, Rhaenyra reminded me a lot of Claire. The scene at the hunt where Rhaenyra returns to camp all bloody? That gave me huge Claire Bennet Vibes. I had already liked Rhaenyra, but after that scene, I loved her.
IMO, everyone has the potential for morally grey behavior in this setting (including Claire, even if I do try to write her more on the side of Good), with that in mind, it's possible for her to get along with or align with most anyone. (Except maybe Ramsay or book!Euron, they're the most evil, lmao.) I can age her up or down as needed (keep in mind that she'll perpetually look to be in her late teens-early twenties), depending on scenario. Hell, she could be born around HotD and still be alive when the events of GoT start.
But honestly, bring them all to me. Book and show canon characters, even other crosscanon for the all of the ridiculous We Don't Even Go Here AUs. For gen purposes, familial (and found family) purposes, shipping purposes, all of it. I will point out that I'm open to antagonistic interactions but strongly prefer things to be discussed heavily beforehand because I'm an anxious bean and too much conflict will stress me out, even if it's IC.
Other plots, I'm cool to let the memes decide. I'm fanfic trope trash and that most definitely applies to Ice and Fire AUs.
And as always, if you've read this far, thank you. You're a fucking rock star. ♥
Parentage:
In Heroes canon, Claire was born out of wedlock and is therefore literally a bastard. I like to keep this aspect of her character in Ice and Fire AUs because parentage and bastardy are such big parts of the plot. Sometimes I allow for Claire's mother (Meredith) to be of Valyrian descent, while her father (Nathan) would be of some other noble blood. Her grandmother (Angela) has precognitive dreams in Heroes canon, which just so happens to totally be A Thing in Ice and Fire, so it kind of works. Maybe they're of First Men descent (like the Starks) or very pure Andal (like House Arryn, who may have some latent abilities too) blood. Nathan can fly in Heroes, which in Ice and Fire could be treated as a sort of telekinesis. Meredith's power in Heroes is that of pyrokinesis, creating and manipulating fire. Claire definitely comes from "special" genes on both sides.
It's really the best way for me to explain Claire keeping her powers in this AU, which I generally prefer to do because her ability - for better or worse - lends itself to shaping her character in a big way.
That said, I'm definitely willing to alter her parentage so she isn't Valyrian. Personally I think it works for her because of all the fire imagery surrounding her, but it isn't by any means mandatory. Fire and Blood really is part of Claire's aesthetic in Heroes, though. Plus her parents have Fire and Flight which screams dragon. Or phoenix, but I don't think there's much mention of those in Ice and Fire, if any at all. Rambling aside, there are always alternatives. For one, her features (blonde hair and green eyes) match the description of the Lannister Look.
A Lord's Adoptive Daughter
Here is probably the most "normal" and Heroes canon compliant option for Claire's background. She'd be given to the Bennet family as an infant or small child, and instructed to keep her safe and never to tell her of her true origin. Where the Bennet family live and what they're doing is extremely flexible. They could be anywhere in Westeros; I lean toward the more southern regions, perhaps the Reach or Westerlands. Or even across the Narrow Sea in Essos. Pentos works for sure, but it could also be Braavos or literally anywhere else.
As far as what her adoptive family is up to, it's up in the air. Sometimes it might involve Noah Bennet being a powerful merchant lord. He starts out in the manufacturing and selling of parchment (get it? paper salesman?), and branches out into the selling of secrets and information, as well as acting as a middleman of sorts to broker political deals between parties. It's possible he may also act as an assassin while on "merchant trips", though naturally that can't be proven. Otherwise they could simply be a noble family of lesser standing, one some might call upjumped.
Noah and Sandra are a solid unit, working together to keep Claire's secrets for her safety as well as that of their family, and they're each very keen to teach her everything they know so the might have a wealth of knowledge to help her. While initially they'd be sure to keep Claire's secrets even from herself, I do settle on them eventually telling her the truth, probably sometimes around her pre-teen years. I waffle on whether or not Lyle is present here, partly because Lyle is already forgotten in most of Heroes canon and I'm keeping up the tradition. Claire is very close with her parents, and both are teaching her all she needs to know in order to survive and succeed in the world. They might be trying to find her a good marriage, or they may allow her to visit another noble house. She could be taken in as a handmaid for a lady of higher standing.
The Hero's Origin Story:
From this beginning, there could be the tragedy of Claire losing her family due to some noble political drama. She could be captured by slavers. She could decide she wants to be an adventurer and run away. The possibilities are, of course, endless. It's merely a vehicle to have her end up wherever a plot might be taking place, and I'm totally down to adjust this depending on what's happening.
The basic bullet points are that she 1) knows she's an adopted bastard, 2) knows who her mother is, 3) has a strong guess of who her father is due to rumors of her grandmother's prophetic dreams, and 4) can inexplicably heal from any injury. This isn't to say that she's completely invulnerable, as arguably beheading her would be perma-death, and possibly dragonfire. Naturally, if permanent death for Claire comes up, I'd prefer to avoid it, or at least discuss it heavily beforehand to write a satisfying end to an AU scenario.
Alternate Origins:
If she's not raised with the Bennets, she could simply be Claire, a bastard girl who'd been raised with her mother, or perhaps orphaned and surviving on her own. She could have been raised with her lord father and his family, as an acknowledged noble bastard, her surname of course depending on where in Westeros she's raised (Claire Hill, Claire Storm, Claire Waters, etc.). From here, of course, she can be slotted in anywhere: taken in by a lord to work in their keep, taken by slavers, surrendering herself to some temple in Essos to be a priestess? Anything, really.
The North:
I'm glad to fit her in with all sorts of Dragon Show/Book canon, but I do have one specific thing that I think would be fun to write. One way or another (see my above ramblings lol), she winds up either at The Wall or in Winterfell. Now, listen. I don't have a concrete way to get to this point that makes a ton of sense, but that doesn't stop me from wanting it.
Somehow the followers of R'hllor get it into their noggins to burn Claire in sacrifice. Various parties debate back and forth on whether or not this should happen, with Claire ultimately being like "lol i dare you" because she realizes she's in no position to escape and the argument seems to be at a standstill. It ends up with her being burned and of course surviving, ????, PROFIT. Honestly, I'm super open as to how things get to this point and what happens after. I just think it's a nifty parallel image to Daenerys surviving the funeral pyre.
Claire of the Blackwater:
This idea I came up with to write with an old friend of mine but we never got around to it, and it's stuck in my mind since. Here, Claire would be a bastard born and raised with her birth mother in King's Landing, orphaned at a relatively young age and forced to do whatever necessary for survival. She ends up working on various different ships, and against all odds, rises to become the captain of her own vessel. Whether this is doing legitimate work or piracy, well. Either are possible. No specific ideas with this, it's perfectly open to all sorts of shenanigans all over the Ice and Fire timeline.
Characters and Other Wanted Plots:
As far as specific characters I'd like for Claire to interact with, um... all of them? I do, admittedly, have a soft spot for Jon Snow. He's my favorite. In ASOIAF/GoT, she'd likely get along with the Starks, Daenerys, Jaime Lannister when he's on his redemption arc, Brienne of Tarth... basically more protagonist type characters. On the HotD side of things she'd fit in just as well, especially if writing her with Valyrian parentage. Watching the series as it aired, Rhaenyra reminded me a lot of Claire. The scene at the hunt where Rhaenyra returns to camp all bloody? That gave me huge Claire Bennet Vibes. I had already liked Rhaenyra, but after that scene, I loved her.
IMO, everyone has the potential for morally grey behavior in this setting (including Claire, even if I do try to write her more on the side of Good), with that in mind, it's possible for her to get along with or align with most anyone. (Except maybe Ramsay or book!Euron, they're the most evil, lmao.) I can age her up or down as needed (keep in mind that she'll perpetually look to be in her late teens-early twenties), depending on scenario. Hell, she could be born around HotD and still be alive when the events of GoT start.
But honestly, bring them all to me. Book and show canon characters, even other crosscanon for the all of the ridiculous We Don't Even Go Here AUs. For gen purposes, familial (and found family) purposes, shipping purposes, all of it. I will point out that I'm open to antagonistic interactions but strongly prefer things to be discussed heavily beforehand because I'm an anxious bean and too much conflict will stress me out, even if it's IC.
Other plots, I'm cool to let the memes decide. I'm fanfic trope trash and that most definitely applies to Ice and Fire AUs.
◘ ◘ ◘ ◘
That should be it! If I think of anything else I'll add it, either in edits or I'll tack on comments. Feel free to DM or comment with any questions/ideas/yelling with me about Ice and Fire things. I'm by no means an expert, just an overly obsessed fan, so if things aren't 100% Correct Canon, it's not a big deal. As long as we're having fun!
And as always, if you've read this far, thank you. You're a fucking rock star. ♥
HotD
Going along with the idea that Claire is of Valyrian descent, it'd be cool for her to tame one of the unclaimed dragons. Or her hatching one would be equally as good. I'm a simple idiot just give her a dragon and I'd be happy, lmao.
Would also be happy to bounce off the Claire of the Blackwater idea and maybe have her sailing for House Velaryon.
She could be a noble (or adopted noble) betrothed to one of the princes - Green or Black may suspect she has dragon blood and want her on their side? Or she could have a more common background and find herself in the midst of the struggle on one side or the other. Personally, I'm Team Black, but am down for writing all of the possibilities. These characters are all so brilliant and complex that it would be fun to explore no matter what.
more HotD rambling after S2E6
She would probably follow Queen Rhaenyra to the ends of the earth!
And also kiss her thanks.But also she could be an excellent voice of reason for Team Green to, you know, give a fuck about the smallfolk and win them over.
AND ANOTHER THING
She would be an agent of Chaotic Good as usual, but I also think it might make her more careful to realize she's not as invulnerable as she thought.
MORE HotD yelling
I like the thought of her being considered as another viable option for carrying on the dragon-riding/hatching genes. Blood and fire is so heavy in her canon imagery that it just fits. Totally down to AU her as a daughter of Saera who ends up in Westeros.
And I still stand by the idea that she could help Team Green win over the smallfolk. Alicent tries to be that voice of reason but she's not terribly good at it. Claire would have ideas similar to what Rhaenyra does, and would probably try to enact some of this herself without asking for permission.
She'd be pretty loyal to whatever side she's on, and want to do whatever is best to help them.
But also I'm an idiot, I see these terrible Targaryen men and my two braincells are like "we can fix them" so there's that. Claire can fix them, or she can go down in flames with them, either way.
GoT yelling!
It would also be cool to have Noah on the small council (probably as Master of Whisperers, but could be Master of Laws, or Hand) for whichever monarch, and so Claire is there with him.
I had vague thoughts about her dressing up as a man and trying to join the Night's Watch, a la Danny Flint. Or the Citadel, like Alleras/Sarella, though I think the Night's Watch is more likely.
Arranged marriage plots are perhaps the easiest thing to get going, and because I'm a sucker for angst and awkward situations, I think it'd be interesting to put her in a marriage with like Renly or Loras, or someone much worse like Ramsay. She'd fit in that Margaery spot pretty well, (also Rhaenyra and Laenor parallels).
Much like in my HotD yelling, I could easily see Claire swearing herself to Daenerys in some capacity. I have high hopes that it would help to avoid what happened at the end of Game of Thrones, lol. And I like the idea of Cersei being jealous of her - the whole younger and prettier queen thing, Claire also has golden blonde hair and green eyes. She'd make for a good Lannister bastard, or perhaps a distant cousin.
HotD S2 FINALE SPOILERS
It does seem like the place is more of a small village, but her family could have a home there, or outside of there, that is destroyed. Her family killed, she has nothing, etc. Noah could have worked with Rhaenyra on things and he could have told her the truth about Claire being adopted (whether or not Claire has Valyrian ancestry).
Or if she's older, she could have her own place there, maybe fishing or something idk.
Either way she loses it all and pledges herself to Rhaenyra's service.