Thanks for the input, and I originally did consider having the setting be in Northern Europe during Knut's ascension to become the King of England, Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Besides having read Vinland Saga, and seen how lots of other HTTYD stories already seem to focus on Northern Europe, I wanted to try to focus on other unexplored territories of the world.

One of the first reasons I wanted to the Byzantine Empire as one of the settings was due to the Varangian Guard, the Norse/Rus/Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the Praetorian Guard for the Byzantine Emperors of this time period. I found it interesting that there were Vikings who found their way so far from their homes, and also to use it as a potential reason for Hiccup to even be in this region of the world rather than stay confined to the Viking Archipelago and the traditional areas where they were found.

The other reason I had was due to the Byzantine Empire allowing Hiccup to experience a variety of different cultures. Some of it through the marketplaces of Constantinople where he meets traders and merchants from across the globe. Others through serving in the many conflicts the Byzantines had during this time period such as his aforementioned meeting with the Slavonic Bulgarians, potentially the Norman rulers of Sicily, and the Muslim Arabs and Turks.

Another reason I had was that I wanted to explore the religious facet of Hiccups character, and more specifically his reaction to knowledge of other religions aside from Norse Paganism, and the challenge it brings to his identity. This is especially evident when he meets the Jomsviking and learns of how much of Scandinavia is being Christianized, and that the old ways are being forgotten. It gets even more confusing to him when he travels to Constantinople and learns of the myriad other competing religions such as Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, and the variety of other forms of Paganism that vary from region to region. One of the aspects I thought was interesting would be to see how Hiccup's identity changes through this journey.

Another idea I thought was interesting was the idea of Hiccup entering the complex world of Byzantine politics, with its many cutthroat schemes and intricacies.

The final, and one of the most interesting aspects I wanted to write about were the adventures and battles that this setting offered. While the northern clashes of the Viking Age are interesting, I felt that they didn't offer the same variety as those of the Byzantine Empire. In the Viking Age most of the fighting seemed to be either between longboats at sea or with heavy infantry mainly during their raids and conquests. With the Byzantines though, they fought with heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, archers, and various mercenaries which filled in the auxiliary roles that they themselves could not meet. Furthermore, I just thought the idea of Hiccup experimenting with Greek Fire sounded cool.

As for the comment about steel, I assume you were mentioning the Wootz Steel from India and Damascus Steel. For a clarification, I was under the impression that Damascus Steel was made through using Wootz steel imported from India and the Middle East, thereby making it so that it would be an extremely rare material to find, making it so that Hiccup has to experiment with it for awhile before he learns how to derive his own method of creating Damascus Steel (probably through the cliched use of dragon fire), thereby limiting Hiccup from making too many instant win weapons.

 

Posted by someone else on another message board:

 

I like that a lot.

There isn't much in the way of good Bond fics, let alone crossovers.

 

It seems I have an idea for another RWBY crossover. This time it’s RWBY/Pokémon merging.


In this merging I was thinking it should be based in the Pokémon world with some RWBY locals. For example Beacon and other academies exist, as does the nearest city to Beacon, Vale. Beacon and Vale are located in Kanto or Johto, Signal, like in RWBY canon, is an island so it could be in the Orange Isles or off the coast of Hoenn.


In this merging, Hunters and Huntresses exist. Their job primarily is to deal with incredibly dangerous wild Pokémon who are a danger to humans and other Pokémon and criminal ‘I want to rule the world’ Pokémon trainers, while also taking on task such as dealing with criminal organisations. For example the events of the first movie would be an example of something Hunters and Huntresses would deal with; a super-powerful Pokémon who intends to destroy/enslave the world.


In the story I would replace Pokémon Aura with RWBY Aura and make it much more common while also adding semblance. Riolu and its evolutions are a Pokémon who has Aura and semblance like a human while most other Pokémon have normal Pokémon attacks.


Dust would also exist but it is basically crystallised Pokémon attacks. It exists naturally like coal or oil but it also can be made artificially. The Schnee Dust Company is the largest manufacturer and miner of Dust, making large use of faunus labour.


Rather than humans with animal appendages, faunus are humans with Pokémon appendages. Like in RWBY canon the appendages are not overwhelmingly animal/Pokémon, rather you only get one or two features from that Pokémon. Few faunus gain the ability to use Pokémon attacks.


Hunter and Huntresses usually start out as Pokémon trainers. They learn to use Pokémon in battle before gaining an interest in the Hunter/Huntress path and going onto a suitable prep-school for the occupation like Signal. From 13 to 17 they learn to use Aura and fight alongside their Pokémon before learning to forge their weapons. The key isn’t directing Pokémon like in a Pokémon gym battle, but rather learning to fight with your Pokémon. They would then go onto a school like Beacon to refine these skills, learning to operate both as a team and with their Pokémon before formally becoming Hunters/Huntresses.


The Plot would follow RWBY in this alternate world as they attend Beacon. A number of plot points from RWBY would come into play such as faunus rights and the White Fang, and probably Torchwich, but it would slowly move towards more Pokémon like threats. Like usual I’m not sure exactly where to go with this.

 

Feeling like today is Other Fandoms day.

Here are short ideas for PODs for various fandoms:


GTA Vice City - During the beginning scenes when Diaz's men bust Tommy's deal and kill Victor Vance, Ken Rosenberg is killed as well. Tommy escapes, but now has nobody from the city on his side. For example, he doesn't get the invitation to Cortez's party and has to find out things differently.

Back to the Future - At the end of the second movie when the lightning bolt hits the Delorean with Doc inside, it sends him to 2085 instead of 1885.

Stargate SG1 - The Langford expedition finds both the Stargate and the DHD and the Stargate Program begins in 1928.

Star Wars KOTOR - Trask Ulgo survives and lands on Taris with Carth and the amnesiac Revan.

Star Wars movies - Seconds before being destroyed by the Death Star, Alderaan is transported to our reality and placed in our solar system in 1977.

Skullgirls - Upon grabbing the Skull Heart, Parasoul wishes that it never existed. She is immediately transported to the real (our) world, where that is indeed the case.

Aveyond: The Darkthrop Prophecy - Mel is transported back in time by the Oracle to the events of Ahriman's Prophecy and meets Talia and Devin when they arrive in Thais.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Halloween fic in which Xander dressed up as Albus Dumbledore. The problem is that when the day is saved and the curse is lifted, Albus remains and Xander does not return.

Half-Life - What if instead of putting Freeman in stasis for 20 years, the G-Man simply transported him back to Earth to deal with the Combine invasion?

Pokemon Anime + Games - What if Ash and Red switched places? How would the events of the anime play out with Red deciding its fate?

Casper - Instead of being sent to an insane asylum Casper's father was able to demonstrate that the Lazarus works and therefore prove the existence of the afterlife, ghosts and that he can bring them back from death.

Terminator 2 - A malfunction of the time machine sends both the T-1000 and the T-800 to 1795 instead of 1995.

 

Genre: Horror

This seems redundant as hell. Ash and Red are essentially the same damn person, one just has a different name and art style.

You know I completely forgot about the 90's Casper movie. I used to love it as a kid, but I can barely remember it now. I should try finding it.

 

Have you even read anything about Red? Pokemon Adventure manga, for example? There are far and away differences between Ash the anime protagonist, and Red, the game/manga protagonist. Their personalities, their decisions, the very worlds in which they live, where Team Rocket is little more than a joke in Ash's world and an infestation of the Kanto government in Red's, and pokemon that are minor grievances to Ash are very much the deadly creatures Lamora has painted for us in The Game of Champions for Red(manga).

Ash would very likely be eaten alive if he were put in Red's Pokéverse and set to challenge the same trials and tribulations. Red, on the other hand, would handily adapt to Ash's watered-down setting and emerge victorious.

 

Eh. Season one Ash was pretty good. He didn't start degrading until... Sinnoh iirc.

 

What Pokemon manga would you recommend to someone, who has never taken a Pokemon manga in his hands or on his computer screen before?

 

Again with the Red dicksucking. The game's Red had no fucking personality whatsoever, and Pokemon Origins and the original anime together are probably the best representations of what he'd be like if he did. What exactly is so wrong with that? Why are this board's resident Pokefags so desperate to make Pokemon sound like it's badass and gritty or something?

 

Probably cause they want to make Pokemon animé into more than a mere kids show?

 

Pokemon Adventures is, IIRC, the best and strongest depiction of the characters while retaining and enhancing plot from the games. The rest are better off avoided.

And on the other hand, what is so wrong with elevating a source material beyond it's limitations? Particularly when one source is already doing just that(manga)?

Isn't that why most of us explore fanfiction?

Go ahead and remain locked in your predetermined box, RA. More your loss than mine.

 

Here's one that popped in my head yesterday night:

Take the Marvel Movies (include AoS). They come across Captain Jack Harkness being shot in the head and not being killed, offer him a job. When Hydra comes back turns out they're cybermen and we get a Dr.Who appearance. The big twist is that back in WWI the two universes got melded together by the Kremlin which caused super heroes in the current universe.

 

Fans will do as fans do. Revisionist history becomes more convenient than the truth. That's true for pretty much every fandom, isn't it?






An absolutely absurd idea occurred to me, so naturally I must share it. Naruto and company go on the mission to Wave, hear all about the evils of Gato, etc, etc, sounds like your standard crappy opening to a Naruto fanfic, right?

Except that it turns out that Gato is the good guy. He isn't interested in Wave as a place to conduct illegal business practices; he's trying to stamp out a cult worshipping an eldritch abomination from the deep that keeps sinking his boats.

 

WARNING: This idea is really dumb

In the beginning, there was war. In the beginning, there were shards. In the beginning, there was Them.

Hurtling through time and space, moving at speeds that outstripped all else in existence but for light itself, They were incomprehensibly beautiful in their vastness. They shimmered and contorted with the weight of trillions upon trillions of glittering shards of power. Even the stars were outweighed, outshone, and outburned by Them.

They traveled side by side, always with one another. The Warrior and the Planner. The Protector and the Thinker. The Warrior was active, taking the experimental process into its own hands and trusting the Planner to guide it as They saw fit. The Thinker was passive, gazing far beyond the here and now, acting only to adjust the path the Protector was walking.

They were two, but in the end They were also one. Partners, in every sense of the word. There was only one problem.

The Warrior was sick.

It was not a physical sickness, not the kind of affliction that had strangled life from countless different organisms on countless different planets. It was not a plague, a flu, or even a cold. The Planner was not even aware of its existence until it was far, far too late.

They descended on the next planet in Their cycle, and the Planner was quick to discard all unnecessary shards, bending, melding, and breaking down the spares to be distributed amongst the bipedal organisms that currently dominated the planet. It kept the essentials, and around those essential shards it created an avatar in the image of the planet's organisms.

Human beings, they called themselves. They were a vicious race, seemingly at constant war with themselves. This was ideal. The Planner observed them, casting its gaze across the humanity's history, and crafted an avatar of a man. A man, because they were the leading figures of this planet, of these humans. Wise, handsome features, because this race's culture was one of mysticism and sages. A pair of horns sprouting from the forehead, because there was respect for gods, and respect would make the Planner's job easier.

Finally, a pair of violet eyes, pupils framed by dozens of concentric circles. Not because of anything to do with humanity, but because they were the Planner's eyes, and without them it could not see.

Once the body had been made, the Planner opened its eyes and looked upon the planet and its inhabitants with a new understanding. It had created its avatar in humanity's image, and from this avatar began to flow human emotion and perspective, which the Planner made immediate use of. It peered through time and space once again, but this time rather than looking at the before, it looked at the after. It searched for reality after its arrival, for the steps that would have to be taken to reach the ideal end of this cycle.

It did this, and it saw the Warrior's descent to the planet. And as the avatar looked upon its partner with the new perspective of a human being, it saw the sickness that the Planner had not seen until it was too late, and it understood.

It was a mental sickness. The Warrior was insane.

The Planner's avatar contemplated confronting the Warrior, attempting to communicate with Them with something other than the already discarded communication shard, but these contemplations were quickly dismissed. The Planner saw, and it knew what had to be done if ever the cycle were to be completed.

The Warrior struck the planet with an avatar created in its own image, rather than that of humanity, and the human race reeled in horror. The Warrior's avatar struck out, its insanity driving everything from its focus but the primary objective: Conflict. It razed forests, toppled mountains, and drove humanity to its knees.

It was too much. The shards that had been distributed across this planet's timeline had yet to unveil themselves in sufficient force, and the Warrior's avatar was being too aggressive. At such a rate, humanity would be wiped out long before it amassed the power necessary to stand against the Warrior, to truly push their shards to the limits of their potential, to learn.

The Planner's avatar saw this, and so it acted.

The Warrior was the Planner's superior in direct combat. This had always in the case, and would always be the case. But the Warrior was not in their right mind, and even if They had been, They would have never expected their partner to turn against them. The Planner's avatar struck the Warrior's avatar a single crushing blow, banishing it from the primary planet and sealing it away into the reality which housed the Planner's incomprehensibly vast self.

Humanity saw the actions of the Planner's avatar, and as it had foreseen, they worshiped it for them. The Planner's avatar cast about for the perfect words to steer humanity along the right path, the path that would end in the completion of the cycle, and it found words of peace.

The Planner's avatar spoke of peace between human beings, of an energy that united all human beings. The Planner thought shards, but the Planner's avatar said chakra. The Planner's avatar preached ninshu, and in doing so it laid the foundation for shinobi and war. Conflict.

Then as the shards began to bloom one by one, and peace began to strain, the Planner's avatar saw that the avatar itself was the only thing maintaining this lack of conflict. So it grasped at the Warrior's avatar, sealed and subdued by the Planner's full self, and shattered it into nine different shards, each containing one of the powers that the Warrior had deemed absolutely necessary to keep.

Then the Planner's avatar unleashed the nine shards upon the planet with a single command: Make them fight. In doing this, the Planner's avatar saw that the time had come for it to step back, to observe, and to wait for things to run their course. Thus, the Rikudou Senninsplit the Juubi and "died".

Hundreds of years later, the elemental nations have been plunged into yet another war, and Konohagakureis in need of a savior. Having been divested of all allies, and with the threat of the Bijuu a constant looming presence, they need another SSS-rank legend to pull them through the conflict. Another Senju Hashirama, another Namikaze Minato.

They need Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto is someone that constantly toes the line between prodigy and fool, a perfect mix of his late parents. From a young age it is determined that he is one of the lucky few to possess a skill, a technique, a shard all his own, separate from the chakra shard that all shinobi received as buds from the Rikudou Sennin, and even separate from the Uzumaki bud that gifted him with stamina and longevity beyond the vast majority of humanity.

He calls this pure, untouched shard Kage Bunshin. Shadow clones.

From a young age he is taken in by Jiraiya, Gama Senninof Konoha. Jiraiya trains him to be Namikaze Minato born again, but with the unrelenting stamina and determination of Uzumaki Kushina to make him completely unstoppable. For all this, Naruto's rise to fame is a struggle. The true nature of his shard, of his Kage Bunshin, is vague and unexplored as all brand new shards are. It takes him years of relentless training, experiment, and hardship to finally realize its true potential.

It happens during the war, his second enlightenment. In the midst of a furious slaughter, in which the combined forces of Kumo, Iwa, Suna, and Kiri crush Konoha's army into the bloody dirt, Uzumaki Naruto realizes that they need more. More shinobi, more bodies to fight and sacrifice, more minds to plan and maneuver. He realizes that his clones need to do more than punch and kick whatever target he points them at. They need to do more than beat up an opponent.

They need to fight a war.

It is at this crucial moment that he finally unlocks the potential that had been kept from him for so long, finally breaks through the barrier holding him back from reaching the heights of his father. It is at this moment that he turns his gaze upon the thousands of shinobi arrayed against him, and knows with complete and utter certainty that there are no longer enough of them to contain him.

And it is at this moment, as he forms a cross with his fingers and prepares to turn the tide of the war, that time and space buckle, warp, and shatter around him. Uzumaki Naruto has but a second to hear the horrified screams of his friends and comrades before the world as he knows it is swallowed up, discarded, and replaced with something entirely new.

Replaced by a woman with countless alabaster wings shifting around her waifish frame, and a song on her lips that makes Naruto's heart flutter in his chest.

He spends what feels like hours but is actually seconds simply listening and looking, transfixed by the woman- angel?- floating up in the sky. Then he notices that she isn't the only person around. Naruto casts his gaze around and finds that there are dozens, hundreds of people scattered throughout the bizarre Ame-esque village that he's found himself in.

Soon after noticing this, Naruto realizes that they are all attacking the beautiful angel.

Being Uzumaki Naruto, he wastes no time stepping in.

The gathered forces of the Protectorate have all of a heartbeat after seeing a man garbed in ornate red and white robes leap up into the air amidst them to identify him as the one and only person to fall from the Simurgh's bizarre portal, and even less time to react as he forms a cross with his fingers and blots out the sky with thousands upon thousands of fluttering red-white robes.

Konoha's Godaime Hokage hits the field in Earth Bet's Madison, Wisconsin, and immediately throws the parahuman forces into disarray.

They do their best to hold the line, to drive through the sea of clones and do something, but it's useless. For some incomprehensible reason, this new arrival is bent on keeping them from the Simurgh, and for some even more incomprehensible reason, the Simurgh is coordinating her movements and attacks with the new arrival's clones, shifting to and fro between waves of fluttering robes and wild blond hair, allowing herself to be swallowed up when someone is gaining on her and reappearing to take telekinetic potshots at those focusing on taking down the new arrival.

Finally, Eidolon turns his attention from the alabaster Endbringer and focuses instead on the man in red and white, shifting through powers until he finds one that throws the world's colors off-center, washing out all but one of the blond men. Eidolon identifies the original, and then he blows a path through the chaos and chases him down.

Hokage and Triumvirate clash, and it quickly becomes clear to Naruto that the he and the angel might be in over their heads. He's capable of handling most of the shinobi present, especially now that his Kage Bunshin have evolved past mindless fighting and become something altogether closer to Uzumaki Naruto. But there are some present that are beyond even him, like the three that blew through his clones like they were nothing and zeroed in on him without a moment's hesitation.

One on one, he could probably take the man in the skintight blue suit- force a stalemate, if nothing else. One on one, he could maybe outlast the woman dressed in black and gray, though he was becoming more unsure of that as time went on.

But the man in the cloak, with the eerie green mask, was a force that Naruto had never encountered before. Naruto threw everything he had at the other shinobi, and everything he had was crushed with horrific ease. Tales of the Shodai and the Yondaime danced in Naruto's memory as the three drove him further and further back, led by the man in the glowing mask.

Then the golden man shows up, and everything goes to hell.

When all is said and done, the beautiful angel manages to escape, followed by the golden man that had somehow dwarfed even the masked shinobi in strength, leaving Naruto to deal with the assholes that had been attacking her.

Before he can get back into the swing of things, however, the man in the skintight blue suit floats in front of the other two leading shinobi, and raises both hands up in a signal for peace. He introduces himself as Legend, and asks if Naruto has a title of his own. Naruto is thrown by the sudden shift from all-out offensive to cautious civility, but answers readily enough.

"I am Hokage."

The other two introduce themselves as Alexandria and Eidolon while the rest of the present shinobi slowly gathered around them, some floating, other clinging to buildings, and the rest peering up at them from the ground level of the city. All of them are tense, ready to defend against the hostile new arrival at a moment's notice.

Legend asks what was on the other side of the Simurgh's portal, where it was exactly that Hokage came from. Naruto asks him who the Simurgh is, and why the hell they were all attacking that beautiful angel lady with the singing.

Somewhere up in the stratosphere, the Simurgh settles herself in to wait for her next appearance, and carefully considers the young human she had pulled from an alternate cycle. Her mind, for lack of a better term, whirls with plans and prophecies and songs, all building towards an ideal future. A future in which the Hokage will play a key role.

Somewhere even further beyond, sequestered in a different reality entirely, the Rikudou Sennin observes the future unfold with the Planner's eyes, and he smiles.

TL;DR: NARUTO/WORM CROSSOVER LET'S GO

So yeah this has been bouncing around in my head for a while and I figured putting it here would be best, since it is a pretty ridiculous idea, and although I think I'd have a blast writing it I don't really have the time. The premise is simple enough: Kaguya was never a thing, the Rikudou Sennin and the Juubi were the two entities that Naruto's world got, and chakra/signature jutsu/bloodlines/etc. were the shards.

The idea would be that since shards have been around for so much longer in Naruto's world (centuries in comparison to Earth Bet's decades), buds of older shards are what the majority have, with some unused stuff sprinkled in here and there. Bloodlines and chakra in general would be the buds, whereas niche stuff like the Kage Bunshin would be new shards. So you get some shinobi that just have the basic chakra buds, who can do super basic non-elemental jutsu and chakra augmentation (canon fodder, basically). And then you get shinobi with the chakra bud, a bloodline bud, and their own unique shard (like Naruto, Hashirama, Sasuke, etc.).

I don't really have a plot in mind for this, aside from the overarching concept of the Rikudou Sennin putting the Simurgh and Cauldron to shame with his schemin'. His (and by extension the Naruto!Planner entity's) end goal is to eventually reunite the Endbringer!Bijuu once he's figured out how to make the Warrior entity not crazy, and complete the cycle for Naruto's world. How will he go about doing this after he manipulates events so that the Simurgh yanks Hokage into Earth Bet? No clue!

Also my projected pairing for this fic would be NaruSimurgh because fuck the parahuman police.

 

Ok, lets put this in the right Plot Bunny thread:

Alright, I finally got around to watching Season 4 of Legend of Korra. Took me ages and I've been a bit busy but now I've gotten around to it I though of something I'd like to see written.

What if Kuvira actually wanted to install democracy rather than making herself a dictator and Korra joins her? I was thinking the United republic wanted Wu installed as leader because he was easy to manipulate and they wanted the Earth Kingdom stable so they could resume supplying the Republic with food and resources.

Suyin's animosity towards Kuvira would remain creating conflict, and eventually as Stability is restored to the Earth Kingdom and the public back her democratization, the UR would acknowledge her government legitimizing them.

Now, if Kuvira really want to represent the people forcibly integrate Earth Kingdom states, but it's possibly states that refuse will join as they see her government working. Some states though might refuse to allow their citizens a voice creating distrust for her government as they go in and remove the leaders who don't represent the public from power.

Suyin might misinterpret this as Kuvira being a dictator causing more problems.

I also want to see a Asami/Korra Peggy Sue where Korra - despite having removed all the mercury from her body - dies young (before thirty?) due to the damage already done by it. I was thinking as her body slowly shuts down she might decide to end it herself rather than go slowly bedridden, having remembered her earlier experience with be bedridden. Asami witnesses this before ending up back in her younger self several years before the start of Legend of Korra.

I'm not really sure why Asami might end up in the past, but Peggy Sues nearly always involve copious amounts of Deus ex Machina to invoke the time travel so it's not that odd from a writing perspective.

 

I wanted to make a Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones plot bunny thread, but I didn't want to create a specific plot bunny thread with this already here.

I don't know if anyone has had the same idea or not, but it's been rolling around my head for hours now.

So, it takes the idea that Ned Stark is the one who sleeps with Ashara Dayne at the Tourney of Harrenhal. The twist is that they both experience a Romeo and Juliet moment and decide to get married right away before asking their parents. After the debacle of the tournament Ned takes Ashara back North instead of going back to the Eerie and introduces his new wife to his father, Rickard Stark. Rickard is understandably angry because just like his other children he had plans for Eddard.

Anyway, the main thing that got stuck in my mind is how much Ned marrying Ashara changes things. My first thought went to the rebellion. Without Ned to marry Catelyn Tully does Hoster side with the rebels? Is just Jon Arryn marrying Catelyn good enough? When thinking of how Ned can convince Hoster to side with them I thought perhaps he promises Lysa Tully to Benjen (Hoster may accept because Lysa is ruined and he is desperate to make a match).

When Ned gets to the Tower of Joy is he willing to raise his sword against Arthur Dayne now that they are brother-in-laws?

iirc, it's said Ashara's baby in canon was stillborn so I also thought that every baby she gives Ned is stillborn leaving Jon Snow as the only possible heir to the North. Benjen and Lysa have also failed to produce a child because of the damaging abortion Hoster forced Lysa to get. So, by the time Robert comes North to make Ned Hand of the King the Stark line is down to - the now legitimized - Jon Stark. There're no female Starks to marry Joffery or be held hostage, instead of siblings Ned fosters a bunch of children at Winterfell so Jon doesn't grow up alone etc. Meanwhile, Jon Arryn was able to get 2-3 healthy children out of Catelyn.

The idea was fermenting in my mind. Can anyone else think of any changes this situation would bring?

 

Possibly Ned following the Seven instead of the Old Gods. I always figured that he may have been on the fence in regards to religion due to his years of living in the Eyrie, but was pushed over the edge to the Old Gods due to what happened during the Rebellion. Getting hitched to Ashara could tip him the other way.

I think forcing Benjen into a marriage with Lysa is probable, if not necessary considering Hoster's desperation to get her hitched.

Would Robert come North in the first place? Jon died because of Lysa and Petyr, and I don't see Catelyn being as malleable as her sister in murdering Jon Arryn.

 

The religion thing could go either way. I never thought Ned to be very religious in the first place and the Godswood was just a place where he went for peace and quiet.

I was thinking that Littlefinger would try some other way to kill Jon Arryn. Maybe even get his own hands dirty. You're right about Catelyn. She's much stronger than her sister, and she isn't obsessed with Littlefinger like Lysa is. She would never marry Littlefinger even with all of new titles he gets in canon. So, all of his (canon) plans are ruined. iirc, wasn't Lysa the reason Jon Arryn brought Baelish to King's Landing in canon?

If Jon lives he tells Robert about what he found. Robert might explode and try to kill Cersei. Jaime might kill another king. How do you pluralize kingslayer or regicide?

 

All of Littlefinger's plans came out of the chaos he sowed -- he's an opportunist. I think the only reason he killed Jon Arryn was because Lysa begged him to help her prevent Jon from shipping their kid off for fostering, and doing so would create some instability for him to move up.

I don't doubt that he'll still be looking for chances to sow chaos to create opportunities to take advantage of, but I doubt that killing Jon would be part of it.

Unless he's doing it to remove a block on his way to bang Catelyn.

I think it may be better to have Robert beat Cersei to death or maim her on accident instead of execute her. It creates a more visceral response and, considering just how angry Robert can get, is believable. It would also make Tywin's revenge/revolt/whatever garner more sympathy from the other Westeross nobles, and give Petyr a chance to do his thing.

I don't know, but now I want to see Jamie, Tyrion, and Kvothe broing it up somewhere.