Days 4, 16, 18, 23, 27, Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, 5 recs
All of these recs could be under multiple days, but I've tried to match each one to a paticular day.
Day 04 - A fic that demonstrates how a pairing with little canon romantic chemistry/interaction can totally work.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Myrcella Baratheon/Robb Stark, Arya Stark/Edric Dayne, Margaery Tyrell/Renly Baratheon, Loras Tyrell/Renly Baratheon, Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell [many more, including some that are spoilery at the link]
Fic Title: Acts of Treason
Author: SecondStarOnTheLeft
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): Mature, character death, sex, spoilers for the novels
Genre: AU, romance/adventure, war
WIP?: No.
Summary: A rebellion in ten acts, beginning and ending in Winterfell. Or, How Myrcella proved herself a Baratheon, regardless of her blood.
Why This Must Be Read: The premise of this fic is that Myrcella is betrothed to Robb Stark at the beginning of the first novel, and how this spirals out and changes things. But I think the biggest leap is giving Mrycella her spot in the limelight. We don't know terribly much about her in the canon, and she has maybe one chance to meet Rob. But she is the daughter of Cersei and Robert (in name at least), and it really shows in this fic. The author gives her a hugely stubborn will, and a great deal of perception. This could just as easily have been the "epic" fic rec, but what really sells this story is the way the romance between Mrycella and Robb is strung out from puppy love to true partnership. I do warn you, that like the books, some things will utterly break your heart. But it's so, so worth it.
Also I picked it for this catagory because of the sheer number of ships for characters that haven't even canonically met.
Day 16 - An epic fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen
Fic Title: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken: The Chronicles of Elia Martell
Author: eena
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): Mature, sex, canonical character death, spoilers for the novels
Genre: pre-canon, character study
WIP?: No.
Summary: If they speak of her, it is only with remorse and pity. If they remember her, it is only because the horror of her end makes it impossible to dismiss her entirely. If they write of her, they write only of her frailty, of her marriage, and of her death- as if there was nothing else at all noteworthy of the pale, sick wife of Rhaegar Targaryen who met a most terrible end...
It would stupefy them entirely to know that she was an actual person, all of her own.
Why This Must Be Read: This is possibly my favourite interpretation of Princess Elia's story yet. In the novels, Elia's end is a dark note in the past, alternately the last act of a successful war or the greatest of injustices. But this story brings her role and her agency utterly to life. Even with the shadow of the future looming over the fic, it manages to make Elia engagingly vibrant and strong. A mad King, complicated House politics, a tourney at Harrenhall (special mention for a terribly young Jaime Lannister); all the actors in this terrible play are set perfectly, and even as you slip towards the end you have to feel proud of her.
Day 18 - An Alternate Universe fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Robb Stark/Jeyne Westerling, Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Fic Title: my watch began
Author: irnan
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): PG, spoilers for the novels
Genre: AU, fix-it fic
WIP?: No.
Summary: I think, Brandon said once to Daenerys - the first time he showed her their godswood - that it would be more true to say that only life can pay for life. It just depends whether that life is given or taken.
Why This Must Be Read: Happy Starks + Queen Dany. Fix-it fic that turns into future fic. DON'T YOU NEED A LITTLE SOUL BALM AFTER READING THIS SERIES I ASK YOU? Also irnan is a smashing author (some of you might recognise her from her Avengers fics on AO3, all of which are absolutely fantastic too) that utterly managed to sell me this great AU. As Nine would say, "Just this once, everybody lives!"
Day 23 - A pairing where one character is paired in multiple ships.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Ashara Dayne/Ned Stark, Ashara Dayne/Oberyn Martell, minor Ashara Dayne/Brandon Stark, Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen
Fic Title: The Evening Star
Author: lit_chick08
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): R, sex, canonical character death, discussion of rape
Genre: pre-canon, character study, romance
WIP?: No.
Summary: Some day people will tell tale of Ashara Dayne, the tragic and beautiful sister of the great Ser Arthur Dayne, who flung herself from the Palestone Sword with a broken heart. They will whisper about the man who dishonored her at Harrenhal, the man who got a bastard on her. But they will never get the story right.
Why This Must Be Read: Because Ashara Dayne is a delightful minx, criminally underwritten, and a unique perspective on the events of pre-Robert's Rebellion. Her romance with Ned is deftly done and at the end you can't help but feel a little soul crushed things end the way they do, even if, like me, you actually ship Catelyn/Ned in the novels. On top of that, there's a range of amazing (if not always likeable) side-characters in Oberyn, Elia, Arthur Dayne and Brandon Stark.
Day 27 - A pre-series fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, platonic Elia Martell/Oberyn Martell
Fic Title: they kill us for their sport
Author: dance_at_bougival
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): R, sex, character death, spoilers for the novels
Genre: pre-canon, character study
WIP?: No.
Summary: "You need only remember this. We are Martells. And we are not weak."
Why This Must Be Read: This is a beautiful, lyrical sort of story. It's structured as a play, and it certainly has a swelling tension as the prose goes on. The interludes with Lyanna and Rhaeger also add to the feeling that things are happening just offstage. Elia is written in more of the Sansa Stark school of Westorosi Queens ("courtesy is a lady's armour"), and she is utterly capable and unflinching.
Mods: Could I request Elia Martell/Rhaeger Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaeger Targaryen, Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell, Ashara Dayne/Ned Stark and Daenerys Targaryen/Jon Snow? The rest are fairly minor one-off ships.
Day 04 - A fic that demonstrates how a pairing with little canon romantic chemistry/interaction can totally work.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Myrcella Baratheon/Robb Stark, Arya Stark/Edric Dayne, Margaery Tyrell/Renly Baratheon, Loras Tyrell/Renly Baratheon, Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell [many more, including some that are spoilery at the link]
Fic Title: Acts of Treason
Author: SecondStarOnTheLeft
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): Mature, character death, sex, spoilers for the novels
Genre: AU, romance/adventure, war
WIP?: No.
Summary: A rebellion in ten acts, beginning and ending in Winterfell. Or, How Myrcella proved herself a Baratheon, regardless of her blood.
Why This Must Be Read: The premise of this fic is that Myrcella is betrothed to Robb Stark at the beginning of the first novel, and how this spirals out and changes things. But I think the biggest leap is giving Mrycella her spot in the limelight. We don't know terribly much about her in the canon, and she has maybe one chance to meet Rob. But she is the daughter of Cersei and Robert (in name at least), and it really shows in this fic. The author gives her a hugely stubborn will, and a great deal of perception. This could just as easily have been the "epic" fic rec, but what really sells this story is the way the romance between Mrycella and Robb is strung out from puppy love to true partnership. I do warn you, that like the books, some things will utterly break your heart. But it's so, so worth it.
Also I picked it for this catagory because of the sheer number of ships for characters that haven't even canonically met.
Day 16 - An epic fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen
Fic Title: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken: The Chronicles of Elia Martell
Author: eena
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): Mature, sex, canonical character death, spoilers for the novels
Genre: pre-canon, character study
WIP?: No.
Summary: If they speak of her, it is only with remorse and pity. If they remember her, it is only because the horror of her end makes it impossible to dismiss her entirely. If they write of her, they write only of her frailty, of her marriage, and of her death- as if there was nothing else at all noteworthy of the pale, sick wife of Rhaegar Targaryen who met a most terrible end...
It would stupefy them entirely to know that she was an actual person, all of her own.
Why This Must Be Read: This is possibly my favourite interpretation of Princess Elia's story yet. In the novels, Elia's end is a dark note in the past, alternately the last act of a successful war or the greatest of injustices. But this story brings her role and her agency utterly to life. Even with the shadow of the future looming over the fic, it manages to make Elia engagingly vibrant and strong. A mad King, complicated House politics, a tourney at Harrenhall (special mention for a terribly young Jaime Lannister); all the actors in this terrible play are set perfectly, and even as you slip towards the end you have to feel proud of her.
Day 18 - An Alternate Universe fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Robb Stark/Jeyne Westerling, Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Fic Title: my watch began
Author: irnan
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): PG, spoilers for the novels
Genre: AU, fix-it fic
WIP?: No.
Summary: I think, Brandon said once to Daenerys - the first time he showed her their godswood - that it would be more true to say that only life can pay for life. It just depends whether that life is given or taken.
Why This Must Be Read: Happy Starks + Queen Dany. Fix-it fic that turns into future fic. DON'T YOU NEED A LITTLE SOUL BALM AFTER READING THIS SERIES I ASK YOU? Also irnan is a smashing author (some of you might recognise her from her Avengers fics on AO3, all of which are absolutely fantastic too) that utterly managed to sell me this great AU. As Nine would say, "Just this once, everybody lives!"
Day 23 - A pairing where one character is paired in multiple ships.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Ashara Dayne/Ned Stark, Ashara Dayne/Oberyn Martell, minor Ashara Dayne/Brandon Stark, Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen
Fic Title: The Evening Star
Author: lit_chick08
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): R, sex, canonical character death, discussion of rape
Genre: pre-canon, character study, romance
WIP?: No.
Summary: Some day people will tell tale of Ashara Dayne, the tragic and beautiful sister of the great Ser Arthur Dayne, who flung herself from the Palestone Sword with a broken heart. They will whisper about the man who dishonored her at Harrenhal, the man who got a bastard on her. But they will never get the story right.
Why This Must Be Read: Because Ashara Dayne is a delightful minx, criminally underwritten, and a unique perspective on the events of pre-Robert's Rebellion. Her romance with Ned is deftly done and at the end you can't help but feel a little soul crushed things end the way they do, even if, like me, you actually ship Catelyn/Ned in the novels. On top of that, there's a range of amazing (if not always likeable) side-characters in Oberyn, Elia, Arthur Dayne and Brandon Stark.
Day 27 - A pre-series fic.
Fandom Category: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Pairing: Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, platonic Elia Martell/Oberyn Martell
Fic Title: they kill us for their sport
Author: dance_at_bougival
Link: here
Rating/Warning(s): R, sex, character death, spoilers for the novels
Genre: pre-canon, character study
WIP?: No.
Summary: "You need only remember this. We are Martells. And we are not weak."
Why This Must Be Read: This is a beautiful, lyrical sort of story. It's structured as a play, and it certainly has a swelling tension as the prose goes on. The interludes with Lyanna and Rhaeger also add to the feeling that things are happening just offstage. Elia is written in more of the Sansa Stark school of Westorosi Queens ("courtesy is a lady's armour"), and she is utterly capable and unflinching.
Mods: Could I request Elia Martell/Rhaeger Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaeger Targaryen, Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell, Ashara Dayne/Ned Stark and Daenerys Targaryen/Jon Snow? The rest are fairly minor one-off ships.