#jonsa casting

And if your Jonsa nose isn't already twitching, it should be.

This is less than ten pages in, y'all.

And having flipped through the book, we can confirm that the relationship between these Northern cousins becomes romantic down the line.

The similarities are too specific and too many to be a coincidence. Surely...?

We also happened to find one or two other...familiar sounding references:

(Please note that we are in no way suggesting the author is plagiarizing GRRM. It has been established many times in the past that some concepts and tropes are fairly common in the fantasy genre, and Ms. Bruno's series, from what we can tell, has an entirely different world, mythology, and magic system from those found in GRRM's books.

But we do know that Cat Bruno is a self-proclaimed fan of the ASoIaF books and TV series...

...and while there's no way to know for sure, based on the evidence we think the author herself may be

Art by Tara Spruit

Jon x Sansa as Lazlo x Sarai in Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer

It's hard to adequately explain the parallels without spoiling this book for those who haven't read it, but at the very least, picture this - a lonely (dark-haired, gray-eyed) orphan boy who goes on an adventure to a mystical land beset by some otherwordly menace. A soft-hearted (redheaded, blue-eyed) princess goddess in a tower with a tragic past. They fall for each other, but of course, their love is not without its share of obstacles.

Is that Jonsa enough for you? No?

Truthfully, there's more than a touch of Samwell Tarly in the male protagonist (he's a librarian, after all), but there's quite a bit of Jon in Lazlo's character as well:

Sarai, much like Sansa, was born of privilege, but trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation:

When they meet, sparks fly, and it's a beautiful thing.

As for the Jonsa of it all:

Jonsa reunion hug, anybody?

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Bonus: You know how Sansa taught Jon how to compliment a girl by telling her her name was pretty? Lazlo doesn't say so out loud, but he does Jon one better...

What a line! 😍

Similarities to Jonsa or no, Strange the Dreamer is a lovely, evocative book with sympathetic, well-written characters, a unique mythology, rich worldbuilding, and a compelling story.

Highly recommend.

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A redheaded woman and a curly, dark-haired man, illustrated in a romantic art nouveau style that depicts the dawn (say, after a Long Night) and a red-leafed tree symbolizing growth/a dream of spring? And the brand name is it's captioned "Prophecy"?

Tell me this isn't Jonsa!

(Also, as @sunbeamsandmoonrays pointed out - 2016 was when S6 came out and unofficially launched the ship, especially for show watchers. 😎)

Anyway, here's the illustration in all its Jonsa-esque glory:

(Credit where credit is due: some sleuthing revealed that the artist is named Victo Ngai, and she's actually the talent behind all Prophecy wine labels.)

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From the novel “Under the Oak Tree” by Siana Park

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Jon and Sansa as Duncan Targaryen and Jenny of Oldstones

Prince Duncan Targaryen, also known as Duncan the Small and the Prince of the Dragonflies, was the eldest son of King Aegon V, but inherited his Blackwood mother’s dark features. After falling in love and marrying a “strange, lovely, and mysterious” peasant woman named Jenny of Oldstones, he abdicated his title as Prince of Dragonstone and gave up his claim to the Iron Throne.

In Game of Thrones, costume designer Michele Clapton has said that Sansa Stark’s dragonfly-themed jewelry is worn in homage to Duncan and Jenny’s romance, which is one of young Sansa’s favorite stories. Eagle-eyed viewers such as @oddjobsqueen have also pointed out that several Sansa’s Season 8 costumes also seem to utilize the dragonfly motif.

Though written prior to the last season, @butterflies-dragons and @lady-griffin examine some of the Jonsa parallels in greater detail in their metas here and here, citing from the books as additional evidence for the Sansa-as-Jenny argument.

The song ‘Jenny of Oldstones’, as sung on the show, is a haunting one, though hardly romantic. However, it also seems to tie in with this theory, as the show ends with Sansa being crowned Queen in the North - a glorious ending, yes, but one that also leaves her alone with her ghosts, as in Jenny’s song (depicted by @flibbertigiblet here).

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Lady Pirate as illustrated by Jon Paul

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PIRATE SANSA. PIRATE! SANSA! We’ve seen Pirate Jon in fic already, but as far as I know, no one has flipped the roles before. The plot of the romance novel by Lynsay Sands that this art was created for seems like it would even work for the characters with only the smallest of tweaks…

Valoree Sansa no longer has to masquerade as her murdered brother and scourge the oceans as Captain Red. She no longer has to command his pirate band in a quest to regain his birthright. She has been named heir to Ainsley Winterfell Castle. But no executor would ever hand over the estate to an unmarried pirate wench and her infamous crew—no matter to whom she’d been born. And the will distinctly states that in order to inherit, Valoree Sansa must be married to a nobleman … and pregnant.

Enter Daniel Jon, Lord Thurborne Targaryen.

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Our Windy Meadows series by Laura Makabresku

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