#adding these to the Rhaegar posted last week

[melrosing]

doodling the robbie’s reb lads

[esther-dot]

I was thinking about the show. Sansa and LF has talk about Lyanna and Rhaegar and how she was abducted and raped. The conversation was in crypts of WF. And then she got married to Ramsey and got raped. She was stuck in WF like Lyanna was in Tower of Joy. Lyanna couldn't escaped from her fate and she has last conversation with her brother Ned. Sansa was able to escape and she met Jon and they together took WF. I don't know if makers knew what they were doing despite incoherent writing.

Me every day of the week: “…and that is yet another nonsense writing choice. D&D had no idea what they were doing!”

Also me: “As I was saying, that is the level of meticulous foreshadowing and care they had…”

I contain multitudes! 😂

The connection between Sansa and Lyanna seemed very deliberate, anon. This post talks about R/L and if you scroll down someone added pictures. D&D had little girl Lyanna wear the same hairstyle as Sansa when she was young, and they had the same hairstyle as adults. The shift that Lyanna is shown wearing on her deathbed matches the one Sansa wore while Ramsay's prisoner. I really don't think that could have happened accidently. Seriously, look at the pics.

So, we got the contrast between Jon and Rhaegar, with Lyanna dying far from home and Jon returning Sansa to Winterfell. That makes sense, to me, that the canon era characters are a variation on the pre canon story. For GoT-verse, most of us assumed the association there (and the turning of R/L into a straightforward romance) meant this generation's Targ prince (Jon) would also be in love with a Stark girl (Sansa). Now, that never was made explicit, some say it was never a thing, but it occurs to me that we also have the finale of the show to consider, and while Rhaegar's "love" for Lyanna led to her death, Jon's love for her meant that Sansa lived.

[esonetwork]

A blog of ice and fire: Thoughts on Game of Thrones season 7 (spoilers!)

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/a-blog-of-ice-and-fire-thoughts-on-game-of-thrones-season-7-spoilers/

A blog of ice and fire: Thoughts on Game of Thrones season 7 (spoilers!)

The first six seasons of Game of Thrones were a slow-burn build-up, full of simmering tension, constantly shifting alliances, and a brutal battle for control of the Iron Throne.

In season 7, it feels like the showrunners really hit the gas pedal, and all these narrative pieces start coming together rapidly. Daenerys is finally ready to challenge Cersei for the Iron Throne, but standing in both of their ways is the growing threat of the Night King and his army of the dead.

A tale of two queens

Cersei and Dany continue to be two of the most fascinating characters on this show, even though I’m not really rooting for either of them to take the Iron Throne in the end.

On the surface, Cersei is the show’s irredeemable villain and Dany is the hero, riding in to save Westeros from a seemingly endless cycle of violence and upheaval. But, this show has always been more of a Shakespearean tragedy than a feel-good fantasy tale, and there’s a lot of nuance to these characters, once you dig beneath the surface.

I’ve talked before in my Game of Thrones blog series that even though Cersei is a ruthless schemer, at certain moments I do feel sorry for her. She really does love her children, and watching them die one by one is genuinely heartbreaking for her. Her father and her husband both used her as a pawn in the game of thrones, and her codependent relationship with her brother Jaime is unhealthy for both of them. Plus, Lena Headey’s performance makes Cersei such a compelling character that even though you’re hoping for her downfall, she’s a vital part of what makes this show work so well.

As for Dany, in the first couple of seasons I was really cheering for her and I wanted to see her triumph. She’s a character who’s been beaten down and, like Cersei, has often been used as a pawn by the people around her. Yet there’s a darkness within Dany, hidden beneath the surface, that you don’t really see until later in the series.

Dany has a kind heart and compassion for the powerless and the suffering, but she can also be brutal to those who oppose her. One of the questions I’ve been pondering throughout my time watching this series is, “Does Dany go too far in her pursuit of justice? And should she do a better job of showing mercy?” Although her new adviser, Tyrion Lannister, fully supports her, you can see his growing concern with her determination to squelch her opposition.

On the one hand, I do understand that Dany is trying to consolidate her power and make a strong case for why she should sit on the Iron Throne. Yet sometimes her actions strike me as too harsh, and I worry that she may be tempted to cross too far over into the dark side. (Actually, I know she does this, since I’ve heard season 8 spoilers.)

One of the show’s primary themes is that a desire for power can become a consuming, corrupting force that can cause even good-hearted people like Dany to stumble. Is it possible to wield that much power and still remain pure of heart? So far, the Iron Throne hasn’t really brought anyone peace or fulfillment, and pretty much everyone who’s sat in it has become corrupted in some way and come to an unhappy end.

The prince that was promised

A character who offers an interesting contrast to this desperate struggle for power is Jon Snow, who, despite being a natural leader, doesn’t really seem to crave power or influence. When he’s named King in the North, he accepts the honor with humility and is one of the few leaders in Westeros who really does care about helping his people. His interactions with Dany show that he’s willing to set aside his own pride to recruit allies for the coming war against the Night King.

Of course, if you’ve already watched this season, you know by now that there’s a REALLY BIG twist when it comes to Jon and Dany. As in, Jon was never actually Ned’s illegitimate son, and as the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he actually has a claim to the Iron Throne himself. And this whole situation gets even weirder and more complicated because this reveal comes right as Jon and Dany have started a romantic relationship.

We’ve already got one incest subplot going on in Game of Thrones, so I’m really not a fan of adding ANOTHER one. I wish they would have either gone with “tragic romance between a queen and one of her advisers” OR “two allies whose friendship is compromised when they learn they could be rivals.”

Anyway, none of this is going to come to a happy ending, but I guess I’ll just have to wait until the next season to see how it all plays out.

Also, this is somewhat of a random side note, but I couldn’t end this blog without commenting on the downfall of one of my favorite characters, Olenna Tyrell. Even though she technically loses to House Lannister, she still gets the last laugh by telling Jaime that she was the one who assassinated Joffrey. Lady Tyrell is an icon, and I still maintain that she deserved to sit on the Iron Throne.

The long night

Season 7 really starts to drive home just how dangerous the Night King and his army of the dead are. Like, this is a potentially world-ending event if they cannot be stopped. And to heighten this feeling of utter terror descending across Westeros, the season ends with an UNDEAD DRAGON blasting the seemingly impenetrable Wall with blue fire and then blowing a hole in it big enough to march an army through.

While I already know the final season is going to be nerve-wracking to watch, I am looking forward to seeing pretty much all the power players in Westeros setting aside their differences (at least for one battle) and teaming up to fight the undead.

Up till this point, I’ve been able to borrow copies of the previous seasons of Game of Thrones, but season 8 has not been released on home video yet. However, I discovered I can sign up for a free trial of the HBO streaming service, so I have exactly one week to binge watch the entire final season. So, see you on the other side!

[fics-for-the-fic-gods]

New and updated fanfic in the week of 2017-Jun-10 to Jun-16

This week we saw twenty-one new fics, ten new one-shot fics, four revived fics, and seventy-one updated fics.

We also saw two new quests, and seven updated quests.

Fanfic updates for Jun 10th to Jun 16th

Shoutouts!

To Swords and Supes for having the biggest revival. It's last update was in 2015!

To Harbin for having the most entries this week (five)!

Most active fics!

Completely Unoriginal :: There Are No Bad Premises, Only Bad Executions (284 boops)

Taylor Varga (265 boops)

Reincarnation of an Angel (223 boops)

Ring-Maker (209 boops)

Formerly Known as Aquilla (201 boops)

Worm Respun: A Peggy Sue Story (180 boops)

Like a Worm from a Bird (142 boops)

All Things Devoured (142 boops)

Emissary - A Deputy Recursive Crossover (142 boops)

Deputy Commander (139 boops)

Notes and FAQ

"What's a boop?" It means the fic saw some amount of activity during one of my software's scan periods. Currently this is seven and half minutes. So one could say that the Taylor Varga thread was continuously active for one day, three hours and fifty-two minutes this week. Whew, that's a lot!

"But that one has too many boops! It couldn't have been that active!" Well, keep in mind, these numbers are aggregated across all of the sources I scan: SB, SV, QQ, AO3 and FFNET.

"But they have too few boops! I know it was more active than that!" Hah, well, mostly my software scans ever seven and half minutes. Except it's still running on my laptop, so not when I'm commuting or a handful of other occasions.

New to the fandom? "Quests" are little interactive games between the author and the readers where the readers vote on how the story progresses. While they're probably best enjoyed by participating they can often be solid stories unto themselves.

Relatedly, "CYOA"s are little guides to setting, theme and character creation often used by folks writing SIs.

The word counts and chapter counts often (usually) include omake, so keep that in mind.

Days in the range are inclusive, so ALL of each day. Start and end of days are in UTC. So if you're posting on Friday evenings in the US you'll be in the next week's listing.

I might have missed you, especially if your fic was new or returning from a long hiatus. I mean, I really hope not? But possibly! My methods aren't perfect. If I did, please let me know and I'll make sure you get picked up in the future!

I pick up oneshots from personal oneshot/snippet threads, but not from the global one. (No threadmarks!) So if you want your oneshots included, start up your own personal thread to archive them.

I do an early draft of this over on the Cauldron Discord on Thursday evenings or Friday mornings (PDT). If you want to help out, joining and providing feedback then would be awesome!

Technical blather

Starting this week I've been using mostly automatic software to scan for new and updated fics. In previous weeks I watched updates by eye and ran them by hand. This week I had the machine do it.

There's an RSS feed, if you're inclined that way.

If you're technically inclined, you can find the source for the generator over on github. I'm afraid the source is kinda garbage though. You can also find the giiiagantic JSON file I use as source material.

Previous weeks:

Jun 3rd - June 9th

Concise list of updated fics:

For a more complete (and dare I say pretty) version visit the main page: Fanfic updates for Jun 10th to Jun 16th

New Fics

All I Desire by Momo added 4 chapters, 6.1k words

All-Father by Rhaegar added 3 chapters, 1.9k words

The Best Intentions by BlueNine added 1 chapter, 3.8k words

Between the Devil and the Deep by S0ngD0g13 added 6 chapters, 4.4k words

The Book of Worms by RavensDagger added 1 chapter, 924 words

Delta by Lapis Dust added 1 chapter, 4k words

Equestrian by billymorph added 3 chapters, 2.6k words

Full Contact Magic by Tekomandor added 1 chapter, 1.7k words

A Hero and His Witch by TheBlackLight added 3 chapters, 5.8k words

An Infamous Hero by The One Who Lost added 2 chapters, 1.6k words

Many, Many Reasons Why The Endar Spire Is A Terrible Place To Work by LightsaberDalek added 1 chapter, 624 words

Mega Girl Comes to Brockton Bay by unreliable aerator added 4 chapters, 8.4k words

Micromanagement: Or, Taylor and the Long Walk by somnolentSlumber added 1 chapter, 5.6k words

Tarantula and Triumph by Rukaio Alter added 1 chapter, 2.6k words

Who ya Gonna Call? by Rukaio Alter added 2 chapters, 5.4k words

Fear by Ryuugi added 1 chapter, 2.3k words

Sea Spider by B_Ray452 added 2 chapters, 997 words

The Sharpest of Knives by Deus_Ex_Transhuman added 6 chapters, 20k words

SKYLINE by Fellgrave added 2 chapters, 3.4k words

Vending by Knightowl2425 added 1 chapter, 313 words

We, SIs by Multi Author added 9 chapters, 8.9k words

New Quests

Audacity; Damsel's Quest of Distress by frustratedFreeboota added 3 chapters, 5k words

Balance by WastingPixies added 3 chapters, 304 words

One-shot Fics

Escalation by Disaster Dominoes added 1 chapter, 577 words

Devil's Due - Devil’s Due (2) by Harbin added 1 chapter, 1k words

Distraction by Harbin added 2 chapters, 2.3k words

Gods and Heroes by Harbin added 1 chapter, 1.3k words

Hello, Megan by Harbin added 1 chapter, 615 words

Slaughter House by Harbin added 1 chapter, 550 words

I'm Sorry by NaGeL added 1 chapter, 628 words

Menagerie by PseudoSim added 1 chapter, 1.9k words

Cest La Vie - C'est La Vie (Worm/MTG/Jurassic World) #01.2 by PseudoSim added 2 chapters, 2.6k words

Pretty by tearlessNevermore added 1 chapter, 767 words

Revived Fics (last update was ≥ 3 months ago)

Deal With a Deadman - Opening Act 2.1 by StitchLips added 1 chapter, 1.2k words

Fling a Light - The Death of Great American Cities 2.04 by UltraRedSpectrum added 1 chapter, 3.4k words

Gadget - Chapter 9,3 by Rhydeble added 1 chapter, 5.7k words

Swords & Supes - Chapter 16 by BirdLawyer added 1 chapter, 1.7k words

Updated Fics

Armsy the high school student - Part 11 by freebiewitz added 2 chapters, 3.1k words

Auld Lang Syne - Chapter 17 by TheOrange added 1 chapter, 2.5k words

A Bad Name - Chapter Twenty-Six by Potato Nose added 1 chapter, 2.7k words

Bah, Humbug! - 1.6: The Meaning of Christmas by Historian added 1 chapter, 2.5k words

Acid - 50-57 "Yara" by BeaconHill added 2 chapters, 4k words

Brockton Isles - 1.4 by Raquz added 1 chapter, 1.7k words

City Midnight - Golden Morning 1.5 by Pangolin added 1 chapter, 3.4k words

A Cloudy Path - Warrior Interlude 24-1 by LacksCreativity added 1 chapter, 7.1k words

CMDR Taylor Hebert - Ch 6: Things Going in Assorted Circles by Guardian54 added 1 chapter, 3k words

CMDR Taylor Hebert (Revised) - Ch 6: Things Going in Assorted Circles by Guardian54 added 1 chapter, 3k words

Completely Unoriginal :: There Are No Bad Premises, Only Bad Executions - Day 18.46 : Insights by themanwhowas added 6 chapters, 7.4k words

Covenant - Neonate 10.3 by The Laurent added 1 chapter, 5.9k words

Divided - Part 58 by Para_Docks added 1 chapter, 3.1k words

A Dovahkiin without Dragon Souls to spend. - Main Quest line 3.2 by freebiewitz added 2 chapters, 4.7k words

El-Ahrairah - Power 6.3 by Anderein added 3 chapters, 19k words

Elevation From Meatshield - Ousted 1.02 by Seij added 1 chapter, 2.9k words

Emissary - Funny Bits With Sithking! by Noelemahc added 5 chapters, 9.5k words

An Essence of Silver and Steel - Overture 1.3 by James D. Fawkes added 5 chapters, 6.8k words

Exodus - 2.2 by Zaru added 1 chapter, 2.8k words

Final Fantasy Worm EXVIUS - Updated Character Sheets (1) by dingbat779 added 3 chapters, 23k words

A Game of Chance - Chapter 6 by Jevran added 7 chapters, 12k words

Glowworm - Chapter 23: Lights Out! by redshirt added 1 chapter, 2.4k words

A Hell of a Time - Chapter 21 by Rater202 added 1 chapter, 647 words

Here Comes the Sun - Chapter 1: Battle Cry by AncientPhoenix added 1 chapter, 1.5k words

Honiahaka: Little Wolf - Chapter Five by StAnonymous added 1 chapter, 2.2k words

The Interviews. - The Interviews 3.4 by deadblue added 1 chapter, 600 words

Intrepid - 16-02 - Emma by Cerulean added 1 chapter, 3.6k words

Judiciary Misadventures - Realis' Multiversal Mayhem by Spades163 added 1 chapter, 4.3k words

Learning to be Human - Travelling None - 9.x (Sam) by Crimson Square added 1 chapter, 1.5k words

The Little Ship that Could - Cape Taylor: Assault on Coil – Part Two – Section One by JGregory32 added 1 chapter, 968 words

Maincraft - The Great and Powerful Za --Oz's little brother by ScottotheUnwise added 2 chapters, 8.4k words

Making Waves - Origin 1.5 by YunYunHakusho added 1 chapter, 6.6k words

The Masks We Wear - Interlude 2 by BarelyPresent added 1 chapter, 2.4k words

Mortality - 9: Tattletale by frommerman added 1 chapter, 4.4k words

Nice Guy's Amazing Adventures with those chaps he met from the Slaughterhouse - Screamer's troubling time with all the King's Men by frustratedFreeboota added 2 chapters, 2.1k words

A Prison of Glass - Chapter 19 by McSwazey added 1 chapter, 2.1k words

Psi - Awake 2.1 by turtles_1998 added 1 chapter, 1.9k words

Puella Magica Nicola - 3.6 by Momo added 6 chapters, 14k words

Queen of Monsters (2017) - Chapter 7.5: Many Things Lie Forgotten in the Dark by Here There Be Dragons added 2 chapters, 1.5k words

A Ritual Awry - 07 - A Grand Day Out by Svenity added 1 chapter, 3.4k words

Scholar of the Worm - Smoulder 9.4 by Reytac added 1 chapter, 2.6k words

The Seas and Skies - Spotting 11: Infamy by S0ngD0g13 added 2 chapters, 1.7k words

Setanta - Hephaestus 11.5 by Ritic added 1 chapter, 3.3k words

A Shard of Chrysalis - Emergence 1.6 by Jaesten added 4 chapters, 5.9k words

Sign on the Dotted Line - Interlude Earth by Yama951 added 1 chapter, 2.2k words

Sisyphus - Chapter 2 by Third added 1 chapter, 2.7k words

Skitter Studies - Heist 5.2 by The Laurent added 1 chapter, 8k words

Sleep with the Lights On - Interleuclid - Taylor's Brain by IAmARobot added 2 chapters, 3.1k words

The Slippery Slope - Part Eighteen: Try, Try Again by ack added 1 chapter, 8.4k words

Split - Discourse 7.4 by The Laurent added 1 chapter, 9.2k words

A State Of Mind - 1.A by RarelySleeping added 1 chapter, 2.9k words

The Steve's Battery Cage - Cogito Ergo Lung 1.11 by The Steve added 2 chapters, 6.7k words

Stranger than Brockton - Intermission 6.1 by Victorian_Irish added 1 chapter, 9k words

A Subtle Knife - Scabbard 12.4 by industrious added 1 chapter, 1.8k words

Sweet Dreams - Black Dawn Part 3 by undead frog added 1 chapter, 827 words

Sync - Episode 6 by Golden_ added 2 chapters, 2.4k words

Synchronization - Episode 6 by Golden_ added 2 chapters, 2.4k words

Systematic - Formulation 1.6 by ajf115 added 1 chapter, 1.3k words

Taylor Varga - Battleplans and Revelations by mp3.1415player added 1 chapter, 6.4k words

Tearing the Aeons - Chapter 4 by dwood15 added 7 chapters, 6.5k words

Teenagers Suck - Chapter 17 Part 7 by Mizuki_Stone added 2 chapters, 1.2k words

To Paint, I must See - 1.4 by KindaApatheticButNice added 1 chapter, 3k words

Transposition, or: Ship Happens - Behind The Scenes by sandmanwake by ensou added 3 chapters, 3.8k words

Traversing Paths - Dive to the (Broken) Heart by dingbat779 added 4 chapters, 9.9k words

Undaunted - Chapter 3: A New Wave Matter by Tim811 added 2 chapters, 5.2k words

Viper's Bite - Interlude: Sophia by TheRealChuckNorris added 1 chapter, 272 words

When your Mother is the Simurgh... - 2.4 by CrunchySharpie added 1 chapter, 6.4k words

With a Little Courage - Rebirth 1.3 by Nitramy added 1 chapter, 561 words

A World of Heroes - We're off to see the Doctor by Lunaryon added 8 chapters, 7.5k words

You Needed Opponents With Gravitas - Interlude 2.m by Noobsauce added 1 chapter, 3.7k words

Ziz - 007 by TCurator added 1 chapter, 2.8k words

Updated Quests

The Buzzing - Initiate geomantic protocols by Wolfund added 2 chapters, 5.1k words

Mage Quest - 2.7 by Yuki no Yue added 3 chapters, 2.5k words

Magical Girl Escalation Taylor - Maskless 6.14 by Silently Watches added 3 chapters, 5.6k words

Reincarnation of an Angel - Character Creation - 1.3 by Crimson Square added 13 chapters, 15k words

Superhuman City Lord - Turn 3 by Unstorpable added 2 chapters, 2.7k words

To Reign in Heaven - 68. The Pirate Queen of Heaven V by cyrileom added 1 chapter, 2.4k words

Voracity - Ynys Afallon 4c by Lyova added 1 chapter, 3.8k words