Aegon is the one infatuated by his half-sister.
Viserys is still a cunt that sees half of the family as mongrels because they are not pure Valyrian and for that reason, he is disliked. He just likes Jon and tries to gain favor with him because he is the man that brought Dragons back and braved Valyria.

I am enjoying the family dynamic especially the love vs duty and Aegon´s shortsightedness, Jon chapters are a bit meh with the exception of the last one but I can see that they will become more interesting, especially if he marries Myrcella Tully and ends up tieing 4 kingdoms to him (North, Vale, Tully and the Lannisters) creating a huge power imbalance in the kingdom. The OCs aren´t boring and they have their own voice. I can't talk about the smut because I didn't read it.

I recommend people to read it but the first chapter doesn't leave the best impression.

 

Usually when people use that many words to defend a story, it's trash. But I don't mind cliche Targ-fests because I generally don't read them.

If it's garbage, trust me, I'll let you know.

 

The False and the Fair is pretty good, and I didn't really have a problem with Tywin's portrayal.

The Lost Emperor is very meh. I found myself skimming vast sections of story. It's not terrible, just not good. I don't give a shit about these people, and the story hasn't done much to make me care.

There's a good story in there somewhere, but the author ain't writing it. He's overly descriptive and his descriptions are boring. There's a mind numbing repetition in the prose itself. I didn't much care for it.

 

This just keeps getting better and better. Dwellingondreams has really done an excellent job realistically fleshing out characters we so rarely have a chance to see, and that the fandom has a habit of demonizing or lionizing. Elia and Lyanna are particularly fun to read, treading on the edge of madness as they both are and drawn together by their shared point of animosity.

Really, I think the only drawback is Rhaegar, who continues to be a bland character who’s only purpose seems to be a point of leverage for Lyanna, Rhaella, and Elia’s changes in character, rather than an entity in his own right.

 

Agreed with the assessment. Great story so far. Interesting point of divergence.

 

The story is like a breathe of fresh air. There are actual consequences Rhaegar and Lyanna have to live with. There’s none of that “Elia is fully onboard with a polygamist marriage” nonsense.

Instead of Rhaegars reign being all sunshine and daisies it’s looking like it’s going to be one of conflict and dissatisfaction with the King. His actions have alienated nearly every kingdom except the Reach and Iron Isles. He’s slowly losing all his friends and the has lost the respect of the people he loves. I expect Arthur Dayne will die from his injuries, Robert will kill Jon Connington. Rhaegar will be a lonely king.

And of course Lyanna’s torment caused by her actions are great to read. It was nice to see her certain things would turn out ok to her realizing it was all a pipe dream. I thought Rickard’s comment about Lyanna being made into the king’s whore was great. It’s nice to see Saint Lyanna get a rare dose of reality from a fan fiction author.

I think this story has the potential to be one of the best fics in the fandom.

 

I wonder if Daenerys will still be born. Or if Rhaella will have more kids.

I'm guessing Rhaegar won't live to see his prophecy fulfilled or dragons reborn-- but after he dies, Lyanna's kid(s) will be essential in some prophetic sense

 

It’s been three months since his injury and he isn’t dead. I think he’ll keep on carrying on.

I really did like that symbolism. Spitting in the eye, indeed.

I mean, you have to realize that canon can’t be a love story. Either she’s a naive girl that ran away with her fantasies and she’ll come crashing down to reality, or Rhaegar raped her. I don’t hate her character at all. The fandom just tends to love their Disney fairytales. Sure, Martin could have gone the way of the show, but if he did, what respect I have for him as an author is way out the window.

 

You’d think so.

But fanfiction clearly demonstrates that the show convinced a fuck of a lot of people that 24 year old Rhaegar running off with 14-15 year old Lyanna is totes okay because it's true love, and also that marriage was entirely legit.


I’m at the point where I can’t stand it even in guilty pleasure fics.

 

I think most people don't notice their ages reading the books the first time, and when they finally do they just sort of pretend the problem doesn't exist because they're too invested, for what it's worth.

 

It might be the TV show effect too when everyone was aged up. Khal Drogo isn't as dreamy when he's banging a 12 year old or however old Daenerys was in GoT, for example.

 

The aging up the show did hurt Jon. In the books, he's a boy wonder that's the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch at 15 (16?). Basically some Jamie Lannister shit. In the show he feels 18/19 at the beginning and mid-20's by show's end and his charisma and ability feel diluted.

 

Age doesn’t even need to come into the equation as far as Rhaegar and Lyanna are concerned. It just doesn’t logically add up to “true love, here take my baby we named after his other son.”

If she is living in fantasy land, then when she hears about her father and brother being killed for her sake, she would probably want to leave. Or at the very least, regret everything she’s done. If Rhaegar never tells her about her father and brother and still has sex with her, that’s rape. (Informed consent and all that). If she was kidnapped, the conclusion is obvious.

 

Jon is not one of my favorite book characters. Always felt a bit underwhelming as a hero. Never felt him to be too charismatic. The whole scene where he gets warned of betrayal, and still dies, just turns me off to his character.

It's been years since I read the books though, and I probably missed stuff- I think I need to reread them.


I think there's a balance to be struck with Rhaegar. I like to view him as knowing it's idiotic but: 1. some sort of prophecy/dream that he must fulfill; 2. Love; both motivate him.

And it's up in the air whether it's 'worth' it. If Jon turns out to be some magical hero who defeats the Others, maybe it's worth it. Otherwise, yeah, he's an incredibly selfish character whose dick caused the death if tens of thousands for nothing.

But I always viewed Rhaegar as a character who makes more sense as existing at the fine line of greatness/madness, who, like the Targareyns who fled before the Doom because of a dream, doesn't know if he's mad or has foresight.

The whole age thing...yeah, it's as sketchy as any other GOT age-mismatch. One of the interesting things in the books is Khal Drogo's character. Yeah he's a rapist warlord, but he also tells Dany he knows the word "no" and IIRC there's a scene where she's on top during sex and it's a powerful symbolic moment. Or maybe I'm misremembering that part

 

No, that’s there. It’s one of the critical turning points for her character, but is creepy as fuck when you think for a sec and associate her age. Kind of like the rest of ASOIAF. Martin really should have kept with the time skip.

 

I don't know, the age thing makes ASOIAF creepy, but also makes it more realistic. As horrifying as it is to modern sensibilities, 12-15 year-olds were fighting and dying a few hundred years ago. Easy to forget someone like Catelyn is, what, in her early 30's and already has 5 kids? Dany and Jon are still teenagers. Arya is really a child.

 

Yeah, it's incredibly disturbing. I read that moment as an intelligent child responding to trauma in an attempt to minimize her suffering, not as her 'becoming an adult'.

 

Had to put down "Our choices seal our fate" for the first time in like a week to recover from something I've just read. Honestly the dude has a knack for writing gut wrenching scenes that want to make you give up on the story.

 

It's a great story. Interesting parallels to Canon, creative storylines, and pretty good characterization. A shame it's probably abandoned.

 

Dolorousedditor has never finished a piece. It’s been, what, four or five years since he updated that? It’s done and gone.