Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister

Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister is the het and twincest pairing of Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister in the A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones fandoms. They have a canonical long-term relationship.
==Canon==
At the beginning of the series Jaime and Cersei have been in a long-term romantic relationship since childhood, on par with a marriage. This has resulted in three children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, although, Cersei is married to King Robert Baratheon and everyone but the twins believes the children are his. Ned Stark discovers the true parentage of the children, but he is beheaded before he can reveal the secret.
===Bookverse===
Cersei and Jaime are separated for some time during the War of the Five Kings, because Jaime is captured by Robb Stark. After he returns to King's Landing, their relationship is a rocky place. This is made worse when their brother Tyrion tells Jaime that Cersei has been having sex with out people while he was gone. The context this happened in is omitted, and lacking that, Jaime begins having jealous ruminations. He never confronts Cersei about it.
Jaime leaves the capitol for military reasons, and while he's out there, he receives a letter from Cersei begging for help, which he does not respond to. The latest published book ends there.
===Showverse===
Cersei and Jaime are separated for some time during the War of the Five Kings, because Jaime is captured by Robb Stark. After he returns to King's Landing they resume their relationship. Jaime is supportive of Cersei, even though he does not always agree with her actions.
In Season 7 when the threat of the White Walkers is revealed Cersei pledges to help, but backs out of that promise. Jaime disagrees and says he means to keep his word, and they separate.
At the end of season 8, Jaime returns to King's Landing to join Cersei, telling Brienne of Tarth that he is a "hateful" like his sister as he leaves. Cersei and Jaime both die together, in each other's arms, during the destruction of the Red Keep. Tyrion finds their bodies together in the rubble.
==Fandom==
===Statistics===
* In 2014, Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister was the 5th most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.
* In 2017, Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister had fallen just slightly to be the 7th most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.
* In 2019, Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister was the second most popular ship for Jaime in the Game of Thrones category in a survey of FanFiction.net, accounting for 17% of sampled fics.
* In 2020, Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister was the 7th most popular A Song of Ice and Fire ship on Archive of Our Own, accounting for 6% of sampled fics.
===Beautiful Golden Fools tag===
The phrase "beautiful golden fools" is a reference to a pair of correlated quotes that the twins say to one another in canon.
On June 23, 2018, fic author Azdaema wrote a tumblr post complaining that the Cersei/Jaime tag on Archive of Our Own suffered from Bruce Banner Syndrome. She advocated that shippers begin using the tag "beautiful golden fools" to denote fics written by and for shippers. This resulted in a handful of people tagging their fics like that, but did not cause any major shift.
On June 17, 2019, Azdaema wrote another post, this time posted on AO3, advocating for the same thing.
This time it garnered a much larger reaction. That same day, the tag was marked "common" on AO3 by tag wrangler Isis. By the end of 2019, the tag had just over 100 works, and some AO3 shippers using the tag reported picking it up via osmosis, without even seeing the original post.
In October of 2020, it hit the 200 fics mark.
On January 8, 2021, the tag name was updated to "Beautiful Golden Fools | Cersei/Jaime Lannister-centric", as part of an larger AO3 tag change to make fandom-specific tags more explicitly fandom-specific.
===Showverse vs Bookverse===
Many book fans expect that Jaime and Cersei's relationship will end acrimoniously in the books. Some believe it will end with Jaime killing Cersei due to the prophecy that she will die at the hands of the "valonqar" ("little brother" in High Valyrian). The show's take on the relationship was thus generally well received by Cersei/Jaime shippers, with many viewing their ending (in which they die in each other's arms in the attack on the Red Keep) as more soft and bittersweet than the ending expected from the novels.
However, the passion and symbolism are the main appeal of the relationship for many shippers, and thus they prefer the books' take over the show's, as it places greater focus on these elements:
===Ship War===
Some fans of this pairing have had skirmishes with shippers of Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, although not on the scale of a full-blown ship war, such as Jonsa vs Jonerys. There is a decent amount of animosity between the factions, however. Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth and Cersei Lannister/Brienne of Tarth are rarepairs.
One major point of conflict is that Brienne/Jaime shippers commonly tag their fics "Past Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister" or similar, and due to AO3 Tag Wrangling, those fics appear in the main Cersei/Jaime tag, contributing to Bruce Banner Syndrome. This was one of the main issue that drove J/C shippers to create the "beautiful golden fools" tag.
===Terminology===
* The Failed Blowjob: Book-only. The time in ASOS when Cersei tries to give Jaime a blowjob in the White Sword Tower, but he says no.
* The Shell: Show-only. A large shell Cersei keeps in her chambers and is seen gazing at. Theorized to be a momento of childhood days playing together on the beech at the Rock.
===Common Tropes in Fanworks===
* Canon Divergence AU: Varies, but may include scenarios in which Cersei never marries Robert, Jaime is in an arranged marriage to Elia Martell or Lysa Tully, etc.
** Pentos AU: An alternate ending that picks up at the end of show!canon but which in they make it to Pentos alive. Occasional tragic or semi-tragic fics exist, but most are fix-it fic where everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, involving them living their best life together with baby #4 (usually a daughter named Joanna).
* Gender play: Includes tropes such as crossdressing and pegging. Centers on the idea that gender is the twins' main difference, and may also explore the sexism of Westerosi society. In the books, it is revealed that Cersei and Jaime sometimes swapped places as young children, and that even their father could not tell them apart.
* Grief: Fics that explore Jaime and Cersei's grief after the deaths of their children.
* Modern AU: Modern setting, where they know or meet other characters from the series.
* Pastfic: Exploring their childhoods and how they became romantically involved.
* Myrcella knows: Myrcella alone among their children knows, usually because she's simply astute, although occasionally because she witnessed something.
==Controversies==
* Anti-Shipping: The ship is sometimes subject to objections that it is problematic due to its incestuous nature (despite its canonicity) or because it is deemed unhealthy or abusive.
* Sept Scene: Many fans viewed the Cersei/Jaime sex scene in Season 4, Episode 3 as rape, although the showrunners and actors disagreed with this interpretation. Fans were disappointed that the dynamic of the scene was changed from the books, with many viewing it as originally a consensual encounter on Cersei's part. However, some fans still view the scene in the books as rape, since Cersei initially tells Jaime "no" before encouraging him to continue.
==Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* by ImhereImQuire
* by Ren
* by zelsh
:: (English translation by catmanu, )
* by SecondStarOnTheLeft
* by redbelles
* by LionsEscaped
* by jadeandlilac
* by Lann_the_cleverest
* by ohhtheperiphery
* by houselannister
* by regnant
* by copacet
* by lannisqueen
===Fan Vids===
*Bedroom Hymns by blackiebrens
*the only ones in this world by apple outlaw
* Original song "Only Us" by Miracle Of Sound ft. Karliene
===Meta===
* by Fran
* by lainelannister
* by Azdaema
* by lainelannister
* Through The Moon Door, ep. 7: "One Heart, One Flesh, One Soul" by Archmaester Buzzkill and Rohanne
* by miazeklos
===Memes===
Jaime's_first_POV_chapter_meme.jpg|Jaime's first POV chapter|alt="Image of a fake A Song of Ice and Fire chapter from the point of view of Jaime, most words are replaced with Cersei"
Marry-me-cersei_meme.jpg|by caffeinosis|
Anatomy-of-the-valonqar_meme.png|"Basically, what happened so far" by Fran
Area-man-still-loves-that-crazy-bitch_meme.png|by Mia Zeklos
===Cosplay===
* Cersei and Jaime + Twins Lannister by Aerien-Designs
==Art Gallery==
File:Lannister Gold by MathiaArkoniel.jpg|Lannister Gold by MathiaArkoniel (2009)
File:Martinacecilia_Cersei-and-Jaime.jpg|Cersei and Jaime by Martina Cecilia (2010)
File:Lannister twins by lececamara.jpg|Lannister Twins by lececamara (2011)
File:J c by alexielapril.jpg|j + x by AlexielApril (2012)
File:JaimeCersei_sketchditto.jpg|A Night Companion (or a Knight Companion) by sketchditto (2013)
File:JaimeCersei_milablake_carefreeyears.jpg|The Lannister twins in their carefree years by Mila Blake (2013)
File:Lannister Twins by denkata5698.jpg|Jaime & Cersei by denkata5698 (2014)
File:YouAreMineIAmYours_Marina-Shads.jpg|You Are Mine, I Am Yours by Marina-Shads (2014)
File:JaimeCersei_Afterlaughs_jaimefromtherock_commission.jpg|Jaime and Cersei by Afterlaughs (2014)
File:Tumblr_nfi7c3V8XX1qfjlc4o1_500.jpg|by doomburgerdoodles (2014)
File:The Twin Lions Of Casterly Rock by DaeronTargaryen.jpg|The Twin Lions Of Casterly Rock by DaeronTargaryen (2015)
File:Naomi returningfromCrakehall,.png|Jaime returning from Crakehall by Naomi (2018)
File:JaimeCersei_winterofherdiscontent_fran_commission.jpeg|Until you and I are the only ones left in this world by winterofherdiscontent (2019)
File:The End by Inna-Vjuzhanina.png|The End by Inna Vjuzhanina (2019)
File:Jaime and Cersei by Marmonaut.jpg|Jaime and Cersei by Marmonaut (2019)
File:Yanfoal jaime cersei morning of the wedding.jpg|I fucked Jaime on the morning of my wedding by yanfoal (2022)
==Resources==
* Archive of Our Own tags:
** Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister tag
** Core pairing tags: Beautiful Golden Fools | Cersei/Jaime Lannister-centric and Endgame Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister
** Minor pairing tags: Past Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister and Minor Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister
** Jaime/Cersei Fanworks collection
* FanFiction.net:
** Jaime + Cersei
** Books: [Cersei L., Jaime L.]
** Show: [Cersei L., Jaime L.]
* Tumblr Tags:
** Jaime x Cersei
** Cersei x Jaime
** Lannicest
** beautiful golden fools
* Shipcestuous: Tag
* DeviantArt paring group: Jaime x Cersei
==References==
Category:Het Pairings
Lannister
Category:ASOIAF/Game of Thrones Relationships