Oh god don't even get me started on Leech Lord. Just like every other SI he has to get his special little waifu into the story. Seriously, Roose Bolton and Cersei Lannister?

Mm. I've heard the writer is a Muslim, so that goes to show you what you get when you let those people write.

I'm not, I'm discounting it on the basis that the writer is probably a terrible human being. Also, the best Jon Snow is the one in Game of Thrones. Kit Harrington is such a talented actor.

Mm. We shouldn't tolerate that sort of fanfiction around these parts. Make DLP great again!

Understood, yak. This'll be the last I speak of it.

 

Not sure if anyone is still reading it, but I reckon Our Choices Seal Our Fates is one of the best currently updating (albeit really slowly) ASOIAF fics at the moment. Getting quite lengthy now, at 565k words.

It certainly starts off as advertised - the cheesy Sansa/Jon/Dany teenage love triangle you expect from the summary. It's possibly also why a lot of people don't really give it a proper go and drop it early on.

But at some point, the author seemed to change their mind on what sort of fic they wanted to write.

The plot rapidly moves away from the romance and moves to huge, complex plots, politics, battles, POVs from many characters and just generally epicness/complexity more reminiscent of canon.

We get to see how Westeros still falls apart with Rhaegar on the throne, how Aegon/Rhaenys scheme against everyone else, a Jamie who is even more torn between his duty/his family, a Jon who is struggling trying to play the role of a leader, an Arya who ends up having a very different adventure with Asha, a Bran struggling to be a honourable squire in the Red Keep, Robert with an army of Dothraki at his back and Elara Sand falling into the world of magic.

The romance subplot, which used to be the focus early on, disappears almost completely. The love triangle characters haven't even seen or interacted with each other for many, many chapters.

It's got the feel of canon or the North Remembers, but with a fairly different plot. It also has the most exciting battles I've come across in the fandom and just generally has some awesome scenes.

Spoiler

Also, shit. Dany thinks Jon is dead and married Euron for his ships. Fuck.

And Jamie finally stuck it to his family.

Another decent fic I'm still enjoying is Ties of Blood and Fire, which is a more personally focused drama focused around Jon, Aegon and Sansa after the war has been wrapped up and the Others have been driven out.

Despite what the premise may sound like, it's not really a romance at all, but rather an exploration of characters and how they interact and fight with each other through some really fucked up shit.

Aegon is charismatic, friendly, just wants to be friends with his half-brother and is also a rapist. Sansa has been fucked up too much and is left as a cynical, cold person who is happy to play off the two Targaryan Princes against each other and stick with the winner. Jon wants to do the right thing, but isn't used to fighting villains that he actually gets along with and has no idea how to politic.

Spoiler

I loved the happy, nonchalant and friendly letter Aegon writes to Sansa after she stabs him. Or every awkward interaction the two Targaryan's have with each other, knowing they're both plotting each other's deaths.

 

Can I just skip ahead to the good part in Our Choices Seal Our Fate? I stopped reading fairly early on. I second Ties of Blood. It's one of my favs.

 

Probably. I can barely even remember what happened in the really early chapters so it probably wasn't important. Sansa was betrothed to Jon, and Jon wanted to marry her, except then he realized he also loved Dany and blah blah who gives a shit.

I can't quite remember exactly where the real plot starts to take off, but from where Rhaegar arrives Winterfell is probably a good start. That's where the love triangle drama peaks (with Dany coming to Winterfell too) but I think it's probably important to see Jon's relationship with Rhaegar. I'm pretty sure the real plot starts to take off shortly after they leave Winterfell. Just skim read the shit out of it from there until stuff gets interesting.

 

I agree that the story is lacking in many areas that usually would've had me stop reading early on. The author does many things that annoy me such as repeating a lot of the same information under different view point characters, exaggerated facial reactions that everyone always seems to have, slow ass moving plot to the point that it doesn't seem like there's an actual story being told etc

BUT there is something about the fic that kept me going. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm really enjoying the discovery of lost histories, artifacts, ancient pacts and what have you. Just wish it was being written a little better.

There's an author attempting something similar on Spacebattles only it's a crossover with Dresden Files: Still In Exile

As for Jon-Centric non-Sansa stories I found this one a few months ago. A Jon goes to Essos story. A Bane of Blood It's listed as Jon/Dany.

The author writes some good stuff.

Spoiler

Robert's invasion was one of the most rapid pulse pounding things I've read in a while which is saying something for a fanfiction

. And at times his update rate is mind boggling fast.

However, the author does certain things that I don't like. The biggest one is that instead of writing new ideas he will take canon events and switch out the characters involved. For example, in Choices

Spoiler

The Red Wedding STILL happens, but in this story it happens to Aegon's army consisting of Martells, Tyrells and other Targaryen allies while the Frey's are substituted with the Florents. Bran is given the same treatment of Catelyn by being thrown from the tower into the river.

And in his story The Conquest where the Targaryens conquer Essos instead of Westeros for some reason Robert Baratheon has become Robert Durrandon. Stuff like that bother me.

Plus, the author has a MASSIVE hard-on for all things Sansa which is obvious in his fics. I made the mistake of checking out his Tumblr after the Sansa/Ramsay marriage episode and you'd have thought an actual person was raped on TV for public entertainment.

Even still, I'd recommend his fics because they are well written, and he still get around to updating them. I'm still waiting for the sequel to A Knight's Watch, which in my opinion, was his best fic.

 

No you certainly can't. I don't know what Jarik is about, but that story is a collection of Jon whining about stuff, Sansa being Sansa and Dany being as useless as in Mereen/canon.

I really try'd it, I wanted to like it, but looking back it was just one big angst fest. There are some good parts in it, I won't deny that but overall it is a cringe fest.

 

I imagine he's called Durrandon because the Baratheon name came from Orys.

 

My thing is that if the Targaryens didn't go to Westeros that means The Baratheons didn't either since Orys was Aegon's supposed bastard brother. I just have an issue with Robert Durrandon being an exact replica of Robert Baratheon considering the vast difference in Westerosi history.

I dunno. I stopped reading it a while back. Maybe Robert Durrandon turned out differently.

 

Bane of Blood is rather awful, by the way.

 

A Coat of Gold and it's sequel The Sunset Kingdoms are some of my favorite fanfics going at the moment. Mycella and Tommen are fostered in Winterfell during their childhood, and this leads to a small rippling effect that changes everything.

A Coat of Gold starts pretty much after Joffrey's poisoning, with a less weak King Tommen taking charge. The authors goal is to make the Lannisters be seen in a little more of a positive light, and give Tommen and Mycella an actual voice.

The update rate and quality of writing is pretty impressive as well.

 

10 chapters in and the characterizations are fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

Cersei talking like that with Tyrion? After everything? No.

Not to mention that the definition of "cunning" or "wise" or whatever the fuck you want to call it here is the same kind of shit you see in those pathetic HP fanfics where you have 11 year old children outwitting/outsmarting Dumbledore and Voldemort.

 

I quite like The Squire of Dragonstone and its sequels which is about Jon ending up as Stannis' squire and later a knight in his service.

 

The Squire of Dragonstone and it's sequels are also rather awful. Not terribad, but nowhere near good, either. Odran's fic is good. Droman's quest is good. The North Remembers is good. Some of Sera de Whatever's stuff is good. Ties of Blood and Fire is good. Almost everything else is trash, or too short to judge.

We've lost our standards, DLP. I am ashamed to be a member.

 

I think it's more of most people are holding ASOIAF fanfic to a different standard than HP fanfic for some reason. Most of the shit in this fanon is utter trash but people are heavily jonesing for it so some try to justify it by suggesting some of it is good.

 

The downside of a fandom with a midling sized sections on ffnet and Archive of your Own feels like an extension of tumblr sometimes. In Harry Potter I read a lot of shit early on, but as I read more of the same stuff I started looking for better and more original fics. In Ice and Fire I read mediocre fics because there aren't many top tier fics.

Also, the downside of an author who takes a decade to release a book. I need my fix and the tv show goes by so fast!

 

I have no idea what you are talking about, nor to which fanfic you are talking about...

If you are talking about A Coat of Gold, I must say I am slightly confused. This is an AU, characters will be different. I will admit, the beginning is slightly weak as this was the author's first major story. The writing does improve incredibly though. The first chapter (which is a rewrite) is a sign of that, as it is much better than the following few chapters.

I don't get the "cunning" you are talking about though. This is not Lannister-wank or anything. Most these characters will suffer for what they believe to be true. Myrcella and Tommen are not outsmarting everyone. Tommen only was able to free Tyrion because Mace is a fool and Oberyn wants to pit father against son, and because he is the King. This all starts to backfire though.

 

Without having read a single word of either fic you mentioned, I'm 100% he's talking anour Coat of Gold.

 

Is this not a point of divergence with the decision to foster Tommen and Myrcella? What does that have to do the fact that her chatting with Tyrion the way they do in Chapter 8 is *absurd*?

 

I'm not talking about Tommen and Myrcella.

I'm talking about everyone acting like they have ADD.

Baelish constantly bringing up cock, cockless wonder, cock, cock, and more cock with Varys.

Then there's the awful attempts at wittiness, as everyone quips at each other.

Then there's the incest and how nearly everyone talks about it like it's common knowledge and then even talking about it in public.

Then there's the endless repetition of phrases we'd only seen mentioned once or twice in the books, yet the author inserts them in common conversation as if though that will somehow bring up the quality of his (?) writing.

Then there's Tywin, who's not even a fucking shade of himself and the way he talks sounds nothing like Tywin Lannister.

I can accept AUs. No beef with that, at all. But I can't accept drivel for writing and mental impairment suddenly imposed on characters that never had it. I can't accept mangled characterizations. I can't accept Olenna just airing things out about the incest or Lancel talking about it so brazenly. There is not even an attempt at being subtle here. From anyone.

For my complaint regarding the Cersei and Tyrion conversation, you can find it in the 8th chapter. It's a bit too much to simply copypaste here.

 

I disagree with pretty much everything you've said.

It has its weaknesses, like everything does, but its a pretty solid fic, especially if you keep reading. A lot of these "weak plots" and "weak characterizations" do have meaning later on in the story. Plus, some of these characters we barely see in the books; we have no idea how Tommen or Myrcella see things. We don't even have a Tyrell as a POV anywhere in the books. We have no idea how often these things, such as incest is mentioned.

Even Tywin only has a few lines in the books-- he is mostly feared by what we know of him, not what we see of him. We see a lot more of him in the show than the novels.

I do agree with the 8th chapter being one of the weaker ones, but there is a reason for this as well, in addition to make her just a wee bit more likeable. Cersei may have been drunk and rambling, but she is still a bitch that wants vengeance.

You read 10,000 words out of a 300,000 word fic. If you don't like it, don't read it. That's fine. But it is not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. It is a lot like ASOIAF, things are slowly building up. It is a very solid fanfic in the pool of crap that is Game of Thrones fanfiction. It also updates almost every other day with great quality. It may not be a 10/10 but its one of the better fics out there. If you really don't like this Odran, I doubt you would like any of the other fanfics out there. At least the author is trying to make everyone human, and not just Stark or Targaryen wank like 99% of the other fics.