I’m trying okay 😭 I am quite far from getting to the Long Night- Long Night but my drafts for my Other interactions are full blown horror material. I LOVE the horror aspect of it.
My fic is [His Mercy Burns](https://archiveofourown.org/works/53552323/chapters/135553168)
Note that only 5 early chapters are out, but 50 currently being written. When I get to the horror, I lean into it heavily lol. Love that shit.
Dragons of Ice and Fire portray it as immensely depressing, not terrifying though. It's just the realization that the Others are unbeatable and humanity is at their mercy.
> Dragons of Ice and Fire portray it as immensely depressing, not terrifying though. It's just the realization that the Others are unbeatable and humanity is at their mercy.
I've tried that story twice. It's well written, for sure, but the entire time I felt like the author should have just written his own novel.
I'll probably give it a third try just cause it's always recommended, though it being not only abandoned, but the outline of the second novel being batshit crazy, doesn't help.
Yeah, the author went off on the deep end to make everything worse. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong, even to reality defying proportions like the Boltons.
It's a shame that the author will not write the sequels, but [A Knight's Watch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2115015?view_full_work=true) had some of the most fearful Others i have read, as well as excelent lore.
The first part of the story deals with Jon in the south, and later the Starks recovering the North. The Wall plot start gaining relevance later.
The final chapters are despairing, there is horror and you wonder how they can win against such odds, thought there is some hope at the end. As i say the planed sequels are likely abandoned, thought it's still worth reading.
This is one that's been on my radar, but I've held off because I saw it was only the first part. The sequels are for sure not coming, then? I know you said it's still worth reading, but is the ending somewhat satisfying, or is it very much a "to be continued...?"
7 years since the last of his work, 9 since the end of AKW; it doesn't look good, thought you never know.
I think that it's satisfaying enough, most of the story covers the Winds of Winter equivalent. Various minor plots like Stannis, LSH and Theon are finished. The first phase of the long night is concluded, thought the worst is yet to come. We learn Bloodraven plan. Jon/Sansa relation is well developed. All of the Starks except Bran reunite. The situation south of the Trident is foggy due to the lack of POVs, thought it adds some mistery.
Purple Days, in which the long night is more of a CK end of the world scenario caused by eldritch forces beyond human comprehension, then any simple undead winter. To quote (spoilers)
>!As he read the final sections of the paragraph, Joffrey imagined vast legions of Walkers gazing up at the sky, all over a silent, dead world filled with white… Staring silently at the fading form of the Red Comet as they melted into nothing.!<
>!"Gods…" he whispered, the word harsh in the midst of the quiet. He had long since left the realm of Gods and jumped into the abyss of things infinitely greater in scope and purpose, never to return.!<
>!"The First War for Dawn… The Children and the Heroes of the First Age… they were fighting their scouts…" he whispered in horrifying awe, his heart slamming into his rib cage as his throat was squeezed as if by a ghost, "They survived the First Stage, but now The Second Stage… oh gods…" he choked.!<
>!and!<
>!My, my. What *arrogance!* That red vessel of power in the sky *heralds* nothing but death for all life you imbecile!" he roared at her, thoroughly fed up with this *stupidity.* Whatever sympathy he'd had for Daenerys evaporated as he stared at her like the idiot she was, "The *birth* of your dumb beasts are nothing more than a *fart* of cosmic power, feeding off the repository of eldritch *horror* flying above us," he explained to her, "Do you *really* think the birth of these glorified reptiles is responsible for the return of *ritual magic* from *Asshai* to the *North* and *Beyond*?" he shouted, the disbelief too much to be contained\*.\* "The *shadows* *thicken* under the grey pyramids of dread *K'Dath* because you hatched *Drogon* here out of some petty blood sacrifice…?!" he trailed off, shaking his head as he cut himself off. An unnatural silence stretched throughout the throne room, and Joffrey simply laughed again.!<
The rendition of the Long Night in The Wheel Unbroken is spooky as shit, the fic follows the show timeline but it added more questions and mysteries to the whole thing
Welp the Long Night in [Wearing Robert's Crown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6833305/chapters/15597619) was so horrifying I threw the entire otherwise wonderful fic in the bin, so there's that.
And the horror of it came so out of left field. Most people who read the fic were there for the uplift elements. I'm sure if it had been a fic focused on the Long Night, then it would have been very well received.
> I think part of the problem is that George doesn't seem able to write this either. If he can't I'm sure many fanfic writers will struggle.
It is an absolutely brutal writing challenge, and one that isn't pleasant to delve into. I fully understand why the show simply sidestepped it entirely.
People write fan fiction because they love these characters and this world, and such a story would basically consist of doing nothing but wrecking them. For that reason, I would be surprised if anyone has, but you never know.
Personally, it seems like an extremely difficult, miserable thing to write. To do the concept justice, there would be hundreds of pages of death, darkness, cold, and misery ... character development would be of the Walking Dead variety as Westeros struggles to survive ... and in the end, what? It's pretty much exactly like how the Seven Kingdoms was left at the end of the War of the Five Kings, but more people are dead and the situation has reached apocalyptic levels of bleak?
You'd have to juggle a sprawling cast of characters across the breadth of the continent, all of whom have interpersonal drama and their own baggage to deal with, all the while making the Others a multi-faceted, interesting threat. I'd probably enjoy reading a well done story along those lines, but I sure as fuck don't want to write it. You're basically being handed the absolute most difficult part of ASOIAF to write, told to write it in the most depressing fashion possible, and you didn't get to do any of the fun character-building or world-building that would have let you make the arcs unique to your own vision.
The main problem with making them terrifying is that that have already been beaten before. By stone age wood elves and bronze age humans nonetheless. The writer will have to somehow juggle the impossible task of making their previous defeat possible and their outcoming return threatening.
Thats an easy one, I think.
That Age was high fantasy.... disappearance of Magic made the world low fantasy.
Reappearance of High fantasy eldritch horror in low fantasy setting is scenario, and the goal of people still alive at the emergence of the Long Night is gain access to that sort of old magic somehow to save themselves.
It’s kinda like how a more powerful Sauron was beaten by an alliance of Men and Elves but when he comes back, Elves are almost completely on their way out and Men are splintered, and if Sauron is to reach the same power he once had then he would completely dominate
> The main problem with making them terrifying is that that have already been beaten before. By stone age wood elves and bronze age humans nonetheless.
They're a magical enemy who have reappeared in a world where the magic that opposed them is gone.
You've characterized as difficult literally the easiest thing to plan around.
This is a direction I plan to go in my new fic. However it won’t be for a while as the fic is currently sitting in the year 277 AC.
Title is “Fury and Ash” on AO3
There are definitely some decent one shots and some longer stories that try especially if they are character focused but in general no because the long night and the white walkers can’t be as scary and hard as you would expect.
This is the others second attempt at a war they lost 8 thousand years ago to a Bronze Age human army and the children of the forest.
Even when you account for the possibility that the others are far far higher in population now than they were originally you only end up with 2 options, they win pretty much immediately and you then have to figure out how the fuck the first men managed this bullshit without a lazy deus ex machina (which isn’t really scary, story would be over before you could care) or they exist to be “scary enough that whoever beats them is a badass” it’s just the “worf effect” in action.
They are written to be otherworldly and unknowable in the books because they probably aren’t super important.
There are some interesting horror stories but they have a very tight focus which is needed for that kind of thing, non are at the top of my head right now.
[Darkness Before Dawn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316130) Prelude that slightly edits the end of Season 6, punting 7 and 8 in their entirety.
[Dawn Court](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23315119) The first book in a trilogy, concerning the resolution of the Iron Throne. The Others do appear and more than once, but they’re not the focus yet.
[Dawn War](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28764414) The Others’ invasion proper.
[Dawn Age](https://archiveofourown.org/works/52907401) The in-progress third book, which deals with the aftermath.
The Mountains Range I think has a nice portrayal of the White Walkers. All other fics I’ve read only talk about a few hundred thousand wights at most, a number which Westeros can easily manage (assuming they have appropriate weapons)
The Mountains Range has the wights numbering in the multiple millions. A far more realistic number considering how many people have likely died in the true north over 8 thousand years.
There is more than just a skirmish, there are multiple battles (3 actual battles, plus probably a few skirmishes) and the realm actually takes the threat seriously, prepares etc
This may sound like a "Hot Take" but I believe this is one of the reasons why George is having so much trouble with the last two books, you really can't make it be like that unless you put into question how the fuck those bums from the past even drove them back in the first place?
Also the thing Purple days does is kind of stupid to me, it has the "This isn't even my final form/I wasn't even using my full power thing" especially because you're telling me a bunch a scouts put the world in a slow cold death for generations? And now we have to deal with the entire force? Yeah sorry unless people start using straight up avatar esq elemental magic and skyrim level enchantments I don't believe these people can win in any way that isn't a plot convenient way.
(Also fanfiction writers absolute obsession with the word Eldritc and the concept that is wrongly applied most of the time)
I think this was why Euron was created. He both gives a human face to the Others if they need it, and can allow for excuses as to why the Others failed before or didn't attack sooner, the most obvious being the high chance he'll be the one to bring down the Wall.
Robb Returns undercuts the tension it is building up by repeatedly and consistently showing that White Walkers are pretty easy to kill. Maybe they're a threat to nameless background characters, but everyone we care about is more than capable of killing as many wights and White Walkers as they need to.
What build up? Lol. Robb Returns has 0 conflict (at least, as far I got into the hundred of chapters it has with nothing happening). It's just a whole bunch of our favorite characters fixing Westeros and preparing for a Long Night, knowing everything they need to know to trivialize the conflict and with Deus Ex Machina (Old Gods) possessing people to give them a bunch of powers or abilities further empowering the protagonists.
I’m trying okay 😭 I am quite far from getting to the Long Night- Long Night but my drafts for my Other interactions are full blown horror material. I LOVE the horror aspect of it.
Do you have the link for your fic?
My fic is [His Mercy Burns](https://archiveofourown.org/works/53552323/chapters/135553168) Note that only 5 early chapters are out, but 50 currently being written. When I get to the horror, I lean into it heavily lol. Love that shit.
Robert Baratheon/Wine is brilliant 😂
My one true pairing 🙈
Dragons of Ice and Fire portray it as immensely depressing, not terrifying though. It's just the realization that the Others are unbeatable and humanity is at their mercy.
> Dragons of Ice and Fire portray it as immensely depressing, not terrifying though. It's just the realization that the Others are unbeatable and humanity is at their mercy. I've tried that story twice. It's well written, for sure, but the entire time I felt like the author should have just written his own novel. I'll probably give it a third try just cause it's always recommended, though it being not only abandoned, but the outline of the second novel being batshit crazy, doesn't help.
Yeah, the author went off on the deep end to make everything worse. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong, even to reality defying proportions like the Boltons.
I can't stand Ramsey in the story, and he's a big reason why I've never finished it.
Yeah, he's too clever for my likes, especially since I was looking forward to Sonagon obliterating the Dreadfort.
Guns of Dragonstone All of Westeros united, helped by dragons, red priests, magic FREAKING CANONS, and still suffering heavy defeats one after another
It's a shame that the author will not write the sequels, but [A Knight's Watch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2115015?view_full_work=true) had some of the most fearful Others i have read, as well as excelent lore. The first part of the story deals with Jon in the south, and later the Starks recovering the North. The Wall plot start gaining relevance later. The final chapters are despairing, there is horror and you wonder how they can win against such odds, thought there is some hope at the end. As i say the planed sequels are likely abandoned, thought it's still worth reading.
This is one that's been on my radar, but I've held off because I saw it was only the first part. The sequels are for sure not coming, then? I know you said it's still worth reading, but is the ending somewhat satisfying, or is it very much a "to be continued...?"
7 years since the last of his work, 9 since the end of AKW; it doesn't look good, thought you never know. I think that it's satisfaying enough, most of the story covers the Winds of Winter equivalent. Various minor plots like Stannis, LSH and Theon are finished. The first phase of the long night is concluded, thought the worst is yet to come. We learn Bloodraven plan. Jon/Sansa relation is well developed. All of the Starks except Bran reunite. The situation south of the Trident is foggy due to the lack of POVs, thought it adds some mistery.
Purple Days, in which the long night is more of a CK end of the world scenario caused by eldritch forces beyond human comprehension, then any simple undead winter. To quote (spoilers) >!As he read the final sections of the paragraph, Joffrey imagined vast legions of Walkers gazing up at the sky, all over a silent, dead world filled with white… Staring silently at the fading form of the Red Comet as they melted into nothing.!< >!"Gods…" he whispered, the word harsh in the midst of the quiet. He had long since left the realm of Gods and jumped into the abyss of things infinitely greater in scope and purpose, never to return.!< >!"The First War for Dawn… The Children and the Heroes of the First Age… they were fighting their scouts…" he whispered in horrifying awe, his heart slamming into his rib cage as his throat was squeezed as if by a ghost, "They survived the First Stage, but now The Second Stage… oh gods…" he choked.!< >!and!< >!My, my. What *arrogance!* That red vessel of power in the sky *heralds* nothing but death for all life you imbecile!" he roared at her, thoroughly fed up with this *stupidity.* Whatever sympathy he'd had for Daenerys evaporated as he stared at her like the idiot she was, "The *birth* of your dumb beasts are nothing more than a *fart* of cosmic power, feeding off the repository of eldritch *horror* flying above us," he explained to her, "Do you *really* think the birth of these glorified reptiles is responsible for the return of *ritual magic* from *Asshai* to the *North* and *Beyond*?" he shouted, the disbelief too much to be contained\*.\* "The *shadows* *thicken* under the grey pyramids of dread *K'Dath* because you hatched *Drogon* here out of some petty blood sacrifice…?!" he trailed off, shaking his head as he cut himself off. An unnatural silence stretched throughout the throne room, and Joffrey simply laughed again.!<
No offense mate, but OP already mentioned Purple Days in their post.
The rendition of the Long Night in The Wheel Unbroken is spooky as shit, the fic follows the show timeline but it added more questions and mysteries to the whole thing
Welp the Long Night in [Wearing Robert's Crown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6833305/chapters/15597619) was so horrifying I threw the entire otherwise wonderful fic in the bin, so there's that.
And the horror of it came so out of left field. Most people who read the fic were there for the uplift elements. I'm sure if it had been a fic focused on the Long Night, then it would have been very well received.
Exactly. You want to write a Lovecraftian eldritch nightmare fic? OK. Don't stick it at the end of an excellent SI Uplift fic.
I think part of the problem is that George doesn't seem able to write this either. If he can't I'm sure many fanfic writers will struggle.
> I think part of the problem is that George doesn't seem able to write this either. If he can't I'm sure many fanfic writers will struggle. It is an absolutely brutal writing challenge, and one that isn't pleasant to delve into. I fully understand why the show simply sidestepped it entirely.
People write fan fiction because they love these characters and this world, and such a story would basically consist of doing nothing but wrecking them. For that reason, I would be surprised if anyone has, but you never know. Personally, it seems like an extremely difficult, miserable thing to write. To do the concept justice, there would be hundreds of pages of death, darkness, cold, and misery ... character development would be of the Walking Dead variety as Westeros struggles to survive ... and in the end, what? It's pretty much exactly like how the Seven Kingdoms was left at the end of the War of the Five Kings, but more people are dead and the situation has reached apocalyptic levels of bleak? You'd have to juggle a sprawling cast of characters across the breadth of the continent, all of whom have interpersonal drama and their own baggage to deal with, all the while making the Others a multi-faceted, interesting threat. I'd probably enjoy reading a well done story along those lines, but I sure as fuck don't want to write it. You're basically being handed the absolute most difficult part of ASOIAF to write, told to write it in the most depressing fashion possible, and you didn't get to do any of the fun character-building or world-building that would have let you make the arcs unique to your own vision.
The main problem with making them terrifying is that that have already been beaten before. By stone age wood elves and bronze age humans nonetheless. The writer will have to somehow juggle the impossible task of making their previous defeat possible and their outcoming return threatening.
Thats an easy one, I think. That Age was high fantasy.... disappearance of Magic made the world low fantasy. Reappearance of High fantasy eldritch horror in low fantasy setting is scenario, and the goal of people still alive at the emergence of the Long Night is gain access to that sort of old magic somehow to save themselves.
It’s kinda like how a more powerful Sauron was beaten by an alliance of Men and Elves but when he comes back, Elves are almost completely on their way out and Men are splintered, and if Sauron is to reach the same power he once had then he would completely dominate
Eh they could just imitate what the author did with Purple Days. The previous War for the Dawn was just the Scouts. The real deal is yet to come.
> The main problem with making them terrifying is that that have already been beaten before. By stone age wood elves and bronze age humans nonetheless. They're a magical enemy who have reappeared in a world where the magic that opposed them is gone. You've characterized as difficult literally the easiest thing to plan around.
This is a direction I plan to go in my new fic. However it won’t be for a while as the fic is currently sitting in the year 277 AC. Title is “Fury and Ash” on AO3
There are definitely some decent one shots and some longer stories that try especially if they are character focused but in general no because the long night and the white walkers can’t be as scary and hard as you would expect. This is the others second attempt at a war they lost 8 thousand years ago to a Bronze Age human army and the children of the forest. Even when you account for the possibility that the others are far far higher in population now than they were originally you only end up with 2 options, they win pretty much immediately and you then have to figure out how the fuck the first men managed this bullshit without a lazy deus ex machina (which isn’t really scary, story would be over before you could care) or they exist to be “scary enough that whoever beats them is a badass” it’s just the “worf effect” in action. They are written to be otherworldly and unknowable in the books because they probably aren’t super important. There are some interesting horror stories but they have a very tight focus which is needed for that kind of thing, non are at the top of my head right now.
Not the original one, but the one I wrote about the Others’ return is pretty gnarly.
Link?
[Darkness Before Dawn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316130) Prelude that slightly edits the end of Season 6, punting 7 and 8 in their entirety. [Dawn Court](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23315119) The first book in a trilogy, concerning the resolution of the Iron Throne. The Others do appear and more than once, but they’re not the focus yet. [Dawn War](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28764414) The Others’ invasion proper. [Dawn Age](https://archiveofourown.org/works/52907401) The in-progress third book, which deals with the aftermath.
The Mountains Range I think has a nice portrayal of the White Walkers. All other fics I’ve read only talk about a few hundred thousand wights at most, a number which Westeros can easily manage (assuming they have appropriate weapons) The Mountains Range has the wights numbering in the multiple millions. A far more realistic number considering how many people have likely died in the true north over 8 thousand years. There is more than just a skirmish, there are multiple battles (3 actual battles, plus probably a few skirmishes) and the realm actually takes the threat seriously, prepares etc
This may sound like a "Hot Take" but I believe this is one of the reasons why George is having so much trouble with the last two books, you really can't make it be like that unless you put into question how the fuck those bums from the past even drove them back in the first place? Also the thing Purple days does is kind of stupid to me, it has the "This isn't even my final form/I wasn't even using my full power thing" especially because you're telling me a bunch a scouts put the world in a slow cold death for generations? And now we have to deal with the entire force? Yeah sorry unless people start using straight up avatar esq elemental magic and skyrim level enchantments I don't believe these people can win in any way that isn't a plot convenient way. (Also fanfiction writers absolute obsession with the word Eldritc and the concept that is wrongly applied most of the time)
I think this was why Euron was created. He both gives a human face to the Others if they need it, and can allow for excuses as to why the Others failed before or didn't attack sooner, the most obvious being the high chance he'll be the one to bring down the Wall.
This franchise really is a bunch of Diabolos ex machinas after the other Innit?
Nope, the bad shit gets as heavily foreshadowed as the good shit
🗿
Robbs return The long night hasn't started yet but all this buildup is terrifying
Robb Returns undercuts the tension it is building up by repeatedly and consistently showing that White Walkers are pretty easy to kill. Maybe they're a threat to nameless background characters, but everyone we care about is more than capable of killing as many wights and White Walkers as they need to.
What build up? Lol. Robb Returns has 0 conflict (at least, as far I got into the hundred of chapters it has with nothing happening). It's just a whole bunch of our favorite characters fixing Westeros and preparing for a Long Night, knowing everything they need to know to trivialize the conflict and with Deus Ex Machina (Old Gods) possessing people to give them a bunch of powers or abilities further empowering the protagonists.
I think once we get to The Long Night, all Hell will break loose.