I dunno man, would argue it was already boring in this one but all the power to you if you got some enjoyment out of this.

It's just, the biggest problem seemed to be Ned's a bit arbitrary and ultimately meaningless stance against using useful but corrupting magic and even that wasn't as much as a struggle as he basically went "oh no I shouldn't but then again why not" and dominated Westeros without any trouble.

As to the few good Ned stories out there, to be honest, it's because there is a balance between things not going as horrible for him and his family as in the books and winning things in easy mode because the author said so and that seems to be a difficult line to walk for most writers who really want to give Ned a win.

It doesn't help that Ned gets cast as the honor above everything else character that he really isn't. He's certainly willing to lie, manipulate and do unchivalrous things if necessary, he just really prefers not to.
-He lied about Jon's heritage (whatever it ultimately might be in the books) to his family, his wife, his king, his vassals and everyone basically, bringing dishonor on a lot of people, especially his wife.
-Didn't exactly win honorable one on one fights against the Kingsguard but rather teamed up on them. Show even has Ned backstabbing Ser Arthur, something that Jaime specifically didn't do to him, even though they were in a really similar situation. (kidnapped sibling)
-He didn't bring back the bones of his companions who died at the Tower of Joy to their families (if he had a good reason, we don't know, still not very honorable).
-whatever happened with the Daynes and Ashara. He brought back the sword of the guy who helped kidnap his sister back to his family but not the bones of those who died for him to theirs? And never talked about it?
-He broke tradition by burying his sister in the crypts even though only kings and lords of Winterfell are supposed to be buried there.
-He did agree to Joeffrey's and Cersei's demands at the end, forsaking his honor for the sake of his children.
-Can't remember the particulars but faintly remembering him lying about Robert's will. Since he never told Robert about the incest, think Robert wanted Ned as Regent until Joeffrey was old enough but Ned never wanted that and went against that. Understandable, perhaps but still.

So, does Ned value honor and decency and has more principles than most people in Westerosi? Sure. But he isn't exactly a slave to them. His downfall was less honor-obsession but rather severely underestimating Cersei and the type of person she was,, since he barely knew her, and not seeing the betrayals coming.

Ned is an interesting character, with solid strengths and weaknesses and the impact both have on the society he lives in and there are certainly lots of things one can do with him, but dunno if magically or militarily overpowering him is the right answer. Would rather see Ned struggle with things and trying to come up with solutions that are neither too extreme or too contrived.

Something like, what if Ned's coup succeeded and everything went according to plan? How would things unfold then. Is there a fanfic with that premise?

 

I think Neds problem was he come to a place where Lannisters were really entreched. He simply didn't have time to build his own network.

 

@Nemrut

He lied about Jon's heritage to keep him safe from Robert. If he had told Robert the truth and Jon died would you use that as an example of him dishonoring his promise to his sister? The rest of your points are reaching, for example he was at war why would he duel anyone?

 

Canon Ned Stark is a fucking idiot. Or at least becomes one once he leaves the North.

He went up to Cersei and told her that he knew about her bastards, at a point where he thought/suspected the Lannisters were responsible for Jon Arryn's death. Who in their right mind would give someone like Cersei a warning about what is to come? Did she strike him as someone who would go peacefully and quietly?

 

The fact that Ned doesn't make much sense as a character who has been ruling half the continent for sixteen years was a common discussion point years ago.

In the books he comes across as a henpecked husband, that suffers from a massive inferiority complex due to being a second son.

 

Not saying those actions were stupid. Those were smart things (at least those we know off. Not the leaving the bones thing, that just seemed dumb and made an enemy out of Lady Dustin for what seems to be little reason). Like, of course he should have lied to Robert since he didn't want Jon dead. I am saying that these were still dishonorble and not the actions of a man who never acts dishonorably.

The Lannisters and Starks were pretty much in open conflict as well and yet Jaime stopped fighting Ned the second one of his men intervened, putting more stock in the honor of one to one combat than anything else. Dumb on Jaime's part, yeah, but still shows a greater commitment to chivalry and honor than Ned showed when he fought the person who helped kidnapping his younger sibling. What was reaching @invinoveri?

@Odran Pretty sure at that point he just didn't know what kind of person Cersei was, not having the power of hindsight and meta-knowledge that we as readers have.He tends to underestimate people, specifically girls/women. Like how he firmly believed Arya was simply going through a phase and humored her but still thought she would come around eventually on the "i wanna fight and not be a lady" thing. Similarly, I think, he thought that Cersei, seeing that he knew everything was going to be cowed. Since poison is culturally seen as the cowards/woman's weapon, probably figured that him saying the jig is up or else that it would be enough to make her stop and do what's best rather than to double down and go on the offense.

Plus he figured he could count on Littlefinger and thus the biggest armed force in the city, which yeah, big mistake.

 

First: the honorable and smart move to do was to use crossbows.
Keeping his people safe is far more honorable than giving fair chances to the enemy.

The bones of his fallen companion issue:
I doubt he could transport all the bodies : Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, Mark Ryswell, and Lyanna as well, while taking care of Jon, his nurse maid.
In addition I think he and Holand Reed were injured as well.
He gave them proper burial.
Carrying a sword is far more simple than carrying a body back, in addition he might have unsolved issues in Starfall.
All we have the end results we don't really know why and what moved him to not bring the bodies back with him.



Ned grew up in the Eyre where Jon shaped environment to follow his house words, in north, the north itself, Winterfell and Winter town are more simple and hard places, when you always have to worry how you survive the next Winter.

Essentially it was a clash of cultures, Jon Aryn did disservice to him, he gave him false picture of the south or never had a chance to break down the various ideals Ned had in his mind about the south.

 

So SerpentGuy's Dragons of Ice and Fire updated.

Spoiler

I have to say he's making Jon retarded and his enemies far too cunning. He has an author's note attempting to explain himself, which others may find more convincing, but I can't really take it seriously. Again these are spoilers, but he's had Jon's Maester betraying him the whole time, Ramsey somehow infiltrating Jon's guard, and perfectly causing havoc while Jon refuses to use his dragon to storm Winterfell. At this point all the evil factions get everything going their way, and it's explained by their talent and skill where Jon is apparently bumbling along thanks only to his dragon. It's not very satisfying to read for me, no one seems to deserve anything that happens and it's all occurring randomly.

I don't think I'm just being salty about Jon facing setbacks, I really don't think the current mess is at all reasonable. Other people may disagree.

 

I found myself skimming through the latest update, losing interest as it progress

Spoiler

Ramsey keeping is disguise up, that long? for a guy who doesn't know what impulse control is?

On different note:
Anyone tried
Stannis Baratheon: A Tragedy in Three Acts By: ResOmnesBeneFacere
"The Iron Throne is Joffrey's, by rights. All those who deny that are our foes." In which Stannis never discovers the incest.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Drama/Tragedy - Eddard S./Ned, Stannis B., Davos S., Joffrey B. - Chapters: 3 - Words: 6,901 - Reviews: 8 - Favs: 32 - Follows: 25 - Updated: Jul 22 - Published: Feb 11 - id: 12359905

 

I've been reading that Quest 'A Dragon of the North' over the last day. Quite interesting, and well written given the limits of the style.

Spoiler

I've just reached Oberyn's vengeance on Tywin, but I am super fucking salty about Arya's fate. Suuuuuper salty.

Anyone got any good Arya fics? I'm fairly new to the fandom.

 

Yep, SerpentGuy's ASOIAF fic has turned to shit, but to be fair I was never a big fan of it. I get that he wants to hammer in how Jon is inexperienced, but pulling this bullshit with

Spoiler

Ramsey Snow has just put me off the whole thing. Honestly, what's the point of all this here?

 

Heh. Jon in that fic is pretty much where Dany is in the show. Who what's to bet she is going to be betrayed by someone who is secretly working for Carsei. ;p

 

Oh, its doing Show Ramsay bullshit? Yeah, gonna drop this like a hot potato.

 

People keep being rebellious shits in the face of that dragon as if they do not have any sense of self preservation.
I have also seen in a lot of stories the repeated trope of irregular warfare being effective regardless of motivations, capabilities and politics.
Must be the post colonial counter-insurgency blues that people have in mind.

 

Lol. Yeah, that was one of those "domino falls this way and domino falls that way and bam Arya's dead now."

 

Honestly the thing that annoys me, and this is something I see in a lot of fics, is that people don't realize Jon is actually pretty politically astute but is portrayed as an inexperienced apolitical idiot. He made many decisions as Lord Commander that show someone who is willing to make those difficult command decisions. If I recall the books correctly, he switched Mance and Gilly's baby so Melisandre wouldn't be able to sacrifice for King's Blood, he arranged a political marriage to thwart Karhold from falling into Lannister/Bolton hands and created a new northern house by doing so (Magnar of Thenn), he sat down and cut a deal with an Iron Bank representative for gold, sent an envoy to Dany, gained the respect of Stannis and many wildling leaders, dealt decisively with Jano Slynt and so on. These are not things one learns to do in a few months as Lord Commander. Jon knows what he's doing most of the time. His biggest mistakes were not seeing the discontent in the few brothers who disagreed with his decisions with the Free Folk and his response to the pink letter to the point that they wanted him dead. Even then, I seem to recall most of the Night's Watch he read the pink letter too reacting with enthusiasm to march south and save Arya.

The story seems more to be basing Jon on the show version, and show!Jon is a fucking moron of the highest magnitude. All of his decisions ore idiotic, and all of his successes come from the sudden appearance of dues ex machina. Show version has shown Jon to constantly make the apolitical decision, making him more like Robb who couldn't sense a political situation if his life depended on it (which IT FUCKING DID!!!!)

I'll still be reading the story because I enjoy the idea of it. Jon with an Ice Dragon leading an army to retake the North is enough to keep me going forward, but at some point Jon is going to have to show he is a leader who can deal with the issues that appear like he did in canon.

 

He's also super angsty in this fic, despite being well past the dejected bastard arch from canon. I really enjoyed this fic at first, despite its problems. However the way things have gone lately, not just this chapter have really put me off.

 

I didn't watch the TV show, what mistakes Jon made there?
Btw the fic is listed under A Song of Ice and Fire, rather Games of Thrones.

 

No Featherbed for Me is probably the pinnacle of ASOIAF fics (and Arya fics). The major change is that Cersei's and Robert's son (that she aborted in canon), is born, leading to the incest never being discovered, and Arya never getting to be more than a highborn lady. The fic itself is pretty incredible as all the characters have good and bad sides. You want to root for Arya but at the same time, see the terrible choices she has made. http://archiveofourown.org/works/317779/chapters/511035

 

TV Jon only makes mistakes. Only reason he is still alive is because act of plot is keeping him alive (kinda like dany in both the books and show).

And I doubt that the fix is based on the books, because the author is using the wanked Bolton's from the show and has taken over's the shows "retarded plots" sickness.