#prettythief

WIP Wishlist

I remain more away than around, but I had this almost done, and it’s a quick thing to wrap up.

There’s a theme this round: Recently Updated.

the road back home again by Roccolinde (22,636 words, first posted 24 Dec 22, last updated 21 Feb 23)

Summary: After eight years, Jaime Lannister is back to run the Castle Black Race: fourteen dogs, one thousand miles, and a woman who can't stand the sight of him after what he'd done all those years ago.

Things I Love: The details of the race, nature as a beautiful, terrible threat, all the hints of the friendships and connects from the past, the character voices.

The Wolf Cub and the Lion by HalfBloodDragon (11,158 words, first posted 31 Jan 23, last updated 20 Feb 23)

Summary: Atop a broken tower, Bran's tunic in Jaime's grasp, some mistakes are harder for Jaime to make the second time around. Westeros's newest champion wishes the gods had picked someone else to send back and re-live their life. Like... oh, anyone with a plan. Or someone who cares. Really, he's not picky.

Things I Love: Bran and Jaime’s friendship, all the things that change and all the things that stay the same, adorable Brienne, Jaime training Bran and Arya, Jaime and the Starklings, Brienne swearing to Robb, the looming threat of the Red Wedding.

Begin Again by PrettyThief (24,363 words, first posted 2 Jan 23, last updated 19 Feb 23)

Summary: The realm is on the brink of war, and Jaime Lannister is recently widowed following the death of Elia - his wife and the mother of their young son. Brienne of Tarth has a responsibility she would like to dodge. Jaime doesn't quite understand why she's chosen him as her escape, but he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Things I Love: Jaime and Brienne Road Trip, Joanna’s talk of duty and how her survival changes things, the sweet, lingering love between Jaime and Elia, Brienne young, and stubborn, and restless, Jaime’s determination to save Tommen.

Cruel World by keepinmind (14,228 words, first posted 4 Feb 23, last updated 3 Feb 23 (somehow))

Summary: Mostly canon until 8x03. What were to happen if Brienne were injured during the Long Night, and lost her memory along the way, all before either Jaime or Brienne were able to express their feelings toward one another? More importantly, who would take advantage, and drive them further apart?

Things I Love: Amnesia plots, complex, manipulative women, bisexual women, the promise of Daenerys/Brienne and Sansa/Brienne, Jaime’s worry over and care for Brienne, Podrick and Brienne. 

my hand was the one you reached for (throughout the Great War) by chrkrose  (2,687 words, first posted 4 Jan 23, last updated 9 Jan 23)

Posted eight different WIP Wishlists during 2021. Several stories have been updated since they were posted, including some that had not been updated in awhile. Celebrate these updates!

almost a beauty, almost a knight by ifancymyselfawriter  Mentioned in Round Three as updated 26 July 2021. Current Last Updated 30 July 2021!

The Arrangement by tarthiana @bussdowntarthiana Mentioned in Round Four. Now complete!

At Your Side by miera @mierac Mentioned in Round Four. Now complete!

Beware Your Dreams by Zeta_Mei @zetaaa Mentioned in Round One as updated October 2020. Current Last Updated 25 May 2021!

Brave New World by suffolkgirl Mentioned in Round Eight. Now complete!

The Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse)   Mentioned in Round Eight as updated November 2021. Current Last Updated 01 January 2022!

Constant as the Northern Star by PrettyThief @pretty--thief Mentioned in Round Two as updated April 2021. Current Last Updated 9 September 2021!

Crowned With Flowers by BecauseBraime  Mentioned in Round One. Now complete!

Heart That Matters More by dancinginthecenteroftheworld @dancinginthecenteroftheworld Mentioned in Round Six as updated August 2021. Current Last Updated 11 October 2021!

It’s All Coming Back to Me Now by CatelynTsukino  Mentioned in Round Four as updated July 2021. Current Last Updated 10 January 2022!

it’s not much (but my money’s on you) by jellyb34n  Mentioned in Round Six as updated September 2021. Current Last Updated 21 November 2021!

The Keeper by PalyGirl  Mentioned in Round Two as updated March 2021. Current Last Updated 28 November 2021!

No One Mourns the Wicked by boywholivednotdied  Mentioned in Round One as updated June 2020. Current Last Updated 25 June 2021!

An Old Lion Amongst Young Wolves by Angelic_Temptress  Mentioned in Round Three as updated December 2020. Current Last Updated 3 August 2021!

Three years, no more by Zeta_Mei @zetaaa Mentioned in Round Two as updated April 2021. Current Last Updated 16 May 2021!

Here’s a link to the earlier WIP Wishlists.

All Jaime x Brienne again. As usual. Most of these are fairly short.

Into the Dark by PrettyThief @pretty--thief​ (1,069 words, first posted and last updated 20 Aug 2021)

Summary: Jaime Lannister, recently promoted Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, doesn't care if the Stark girl's bodyguard hates him. Sure does compel him, though.

Things I Love: Jaime sent to the Night’s Watch after Aerys, Jaime’s voice and characterisation (in the first paragraph there’s a brilliant line about Jon Snow learning “the difference between a firestarting stone and his own lordly cock, which seemed unlikely” that makes me laugh every time I think about it), the sharpness between Jaime and Brienne, and that last line of the chapter.

A Matter of Chance by aliveanddrunkonsunlight @aliveanddrunkonsunlight​ (5,124 words, first posted 22 Jan 2021, last updated 10 March 2021)

Summary: Two guests, one a much maligned duke, appear at the first ball of the season. He is here. That is about all he could say for it, as he surveys the room with dread. Couples circle each other on the dance floor as older members of the ton watch from the sidelines, speculating about the matches to be made.

Things I Love: Much like I never used to read WIPs, I was never much a fan of Regency stories before the Jaime x Brienne fandom got ahold of me. That being said, the setting is one of my favourite parts of this. Other things: the influence Aunt Genna has on Jaime, Brienne the brave and true big sister escorting her younger sisters while pretending to be Galladon who has gone missing, Brienne who boxes, Brienne’s (and Galladon’s) friendship with the Starks, Jaime’s clever, funny thoughts about the people around them, the way he needles at Brienne, the way Brienne needles him right back, Brienne teaching Arya, Bran, and Rickon little bits of swordplay.

Summerhall by greenmtwoman @greenmtwoman​ (889 words, first posted and last updated 30 Dec 2021)

Summary: “Summerhall is cursed, you know,” said Jaime to his wife’s back. “No one goes there. No one even wants to talk about the place.” Puffs of dust rose from under her horse’s hooves and tickled his nose. “Then how do you know it’s cursed?” Brienne asked. Even the back of her head was stubborn.

Things I Love: Brienne stubborn and set on seeing Summerhall, the smoke lingering on this burned and broken place, the sweetness and teasing between Jaime and Brienne, the mystery.

Silk and Steel by LadyRhiyana (828 words, first posted and last updated 31 Dec 2021)

Summary:  She took the throne in the old way – by fire and blood.

Things I Love: Brienne the Targaryen with a dragon and an army of Stark, Baratheon, and Arryn fighters, Brienne’s advisors warning her away from her beautiful, golden spoils of war, Brienne growing up beloved and respected as a strong, fierce, determined alpha who rose against her mad uncle Aerys.

i will learn to love the skies i’m under by miss_universe @missxuniverse (1477 words, first posted 12 Sep 2019, last update 13 Sep 2019)

Summary: Brienne and Podrick slowly make their way to Tarth, where Jaime Lannister waits for them.

Oh, for the days when I didn’t read WIPs and did not know the longing, and regret, and joy of waiting for updates. As always, I am behind on commenting, but I like to mark these things publicly and if I wait to catch up, it will be years. (All my travel has to be via road trip this past year, which leaves me with time to read but not good access to comment. I’m working on catching up.)

Round One

ASOIAF/Game of Thrones

The Tourney Knight by trulily @trulilyy (14,000 words, last updated November 2020) Summary: An AU in which Brienne sets off for King's Landing to compete in King Renly Baratheon's tourney.Along the way to the capital, she discovers an ensnared Jaime Lannister. She decides to help him, and in so doing, she wins a crucial ally she did not realize she would soon so desperately need.

Intrigue! Jousting! Inspired by the adventures of Dunk & Egg! I love my girl. 

Those Who Favor Fire by LSquared80 (25,000 words, last updated August 2020) Summary: Brienne accompanies Sansa to Castle Black to reunite the girl with her brother, fearful that her own fraught history with the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch - Jaime Lannister - will not bode well for them.

I am deeply intrigued by the idea that Jaime ended up at the Night’s Watch after killing Aerys and being refused a marriage with Brienne and eager to see more of this.

Valonqar by H3L (168,000 words, last updated July 2019 WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF) Summary: The Lannister's lives are interrupted when Joanna Lannister dies in the birthing bed. Her favorite cousin, Lord Selwyn Tarth, comes to Casterly Rock not long after her death and brings with him his son, Galladon, and his daughter, Brienne. Years later Jaime, in chains, must face a very different Brienne than he remembers.

Brienne and Jaime’s friendship when they are little left me besotted, and then their dynamic when they’re adults is entertaining as hell. I love how the plot twists and turns from the source material, and there’s a Cersei reveal which did not surprise me but was an emotional punch even seeing it coming. 

The Keeper by PalyGirl (450,000 words, last updated March 2021) Summary: All Brienne ever wanted was to be a respected knight and serve a just king. The Gods, however, have a different plan for the Lady of Tarth. She must bring together their warriors, weapons and wisdom to defeat the Night King and Army of the Dead. The sworn sword will become the most powerful instrument in the Game of Thrones.

I am torn on this one. I think the plot is intriguing, and I’m invested enough I’ll keep reading (as it stands), but the longer this goes on, the more each chapter quotes previous chapters in full, which I find obnoxious and a waste of reader’s time. I’d rather they trusted the reader to either get the references to earlier parts or to be able to read on even if they miss things. This has some things I love (Brienne and dragons, women being friends and supporting each other, Young Griff is occasionally wonderful) and intriguing character dynamics, but it also leans hard into Brienne believing in the gods and clinging to being a chosen one in ways that don’t always come across as believable to me.

(Note for J/B readers, while the fic is tagged with it, the fic is also tagged “romantic relationships are mentioned by not explored” and so far it’s come across far more Brienne/Young Griff than anything else. And I’m here for that, too, I had no idea how much I’d enjoy them, but at this point, 450,000 words in, I’m also getting tired of the lack of resolution of anything.)

After having talked about it, I think I’d best hold off on reading more until it’s complete and then go through it again with a fresh eye.

Three years, no more by Zeta__Mei @zetaaa (60,000 words, last updated April 2021) Summary: "Nobody had warned Brienne that the Kingslayer was like that. God-like. Nobody had warned her that she had to wed him."

We are SO CLOSE to the ending on this one, 12 chapters posted out of 15, and it has only been a WIP since January 2021, but every time I think about it, I feel like I’m dying for the next chapter. ZM’s writing has this feel to it that I’ve tried and failed to describe before, but I always find it compelling, and their plots are full of interesting twists and turns. (Not-so-secret Targaryens of my favourite sort and the world’s prettiest dragon egg included.)

Taking the Silver by nurdles @nurdles (160,000 words, last updated June 2016 REALLY, I KNOW, I’M PUNISHING MYSELF AT THIS POINT, WHAT THE HELL, ELLIE) Summary: Jamie is sentenced by Queen Daenerys to "Take the Silver" for killing the mad king. Taking the Silver means fighting the Others in the North with Dany's army, something he and Brienne were already doing before he was arrested. But now that he and Brienne are stuck in KIng's Landing for a while, maybe the time has come to let her know how he feels. Between Cersei also being readied to go North and fight, Tyrion with his inappropriate humor and Queen Daenerys' demands and truly terrible decorating choices, will things ever go smoothly for them? Humor, romance, adventure and danger ensue. Plus, everything is better with dragons!

That summary’s not wrong about the humour! I finished this over the weekend while on a long road trip and I laughed out loud often enough I had to explain a whole bunch of things to the driver. It is very irreverent and wonderful to read. I would hate myself for reading something that hasn’t been updated in so long, but I had way too much fun reading it to regret it.

Beauty and the Viper by Rav3nB1ack @drrav3nb (674 words, first chapter posted March 2021) Summary: “Cersei told me that she was keeping a beast down here,” Oberyn said. Brienne hung her head. Beast. She thought she’d hardened herself against the word but hearing it again brought back memories she’d rather forget.  “The way she was bragging, I thought she had captured a wight, a giant or better yet a huge dragon!” he continued. Oberyn regarded her once more. “But you’re no beast.”

I saw the gifset before I saw the fic, I was already interested in Oberyn/Brienne after the gifs from that one interview about who on the show would try to beat her in a fight in order to marry her, and now I am excited to see where this version of that goes.

Constant as the Northern Star by PrettyThief @pretty--thief (60,000 words, last updated April 2021)  Summary: Brienne Tarth does not feel ready to command an entire space station. To make matters worse, the Alliance has assigned to her the most infuriating defense officer she could have (but definitely did not) asked for. The pair of them and the rest of their misfit crew swiftly find themselves mixed up in the reigniting embers of rebellion on the planet Winterfell below. Suddenly the fate of an entire planet, if not the entire galaxy, is up to Brienne and Jaime.

I am a sucker for AUs set in space and though I’m holding off on starting this until it reaches closer to the end (15 posted out of 25 so far) (I’m tempted to start reading right now, so we’ll see how long I last without doing so), but I trust PT as an author, and I know this will be great.

None but the Lonely Heart by OccasionalAvenger was going to go here, BUT IT HAS BEEN COMPLETED! (It appears I am not getting my AO3 notifications, great news.)

Knives Out

Straddle the Line, In Discord and Rhyme by mardia (31,000 words, last updated January 2021) Summary: It’s not until Marta picks up the medical bag that she notices that something is wrong. She can hear Harlan still singing upstairs in the attic, just like she can hear everyone downstairs getting ready for bed, just like she can smell Walt’s cigarettes, the incense Joni is burning in her room, a thousand different things her senses are picking up that Marta has learned to ignore, learned to put to one side. But this--this Marta can’t ignore. Because it’s Ransom’s scent lingering in the room, Ransom’s Tom Ford cologne lingering in a room he has no reason to be in, and as Marta lifts the bag to her nose and takes a careful sniff of the handles--it’s Ransom’s scent, human sweat and pheromones and man-made perfume lingering on a medical bag he has no reason to be touching in the first place. 

22. three songs you listen to when you’re sad

“i don’t wanna know” by charli xcx—I don’t listen to it when I’m “sad” really, but I listen to it when I feel a depressive episode coming on after a trigger and I’m scared and I don’t know what to do or how to handle this and I feel like I’ve forgotten everything I’ve ever learned and done in this recovery.  charli sings about a s/o, and I’ve never been in a romantic relationship, but something about the chorus “I don’t wanna know / I don’t wanna know / what you’re doing what you’re doing / what you’re doing what you’re doing,” the repetition of those words and the melodies that accompany them brings me back to safety when I thought I was gonna drown or float away.  it’s something about her singing about her uncertainty and being incredibly vulnerable and honest about that is very comforting for me.

“undertale” by toby fox—boy howdy, since 2017, this song has gotten me through a lot of anxiety episodes.  my mind is racing and I don’t know what thought to settle on, so I find myself in gratitude when my body reacts and opens up spotify and hits play on this song.  those first chords of the guitar tend to stop my thoughts in their tracks and it’s like it holds my hand, and instead of running like my feet and legs can’t take it anymore when I have those anxious thoughts, we walk at a leisurely pace.  I’ve cried a lot while listening to this song, and it takes me a lot to cry nowadays unfortunately, and I just get flooded with relief and some stability when it ends.

“here comes a thought” by rebecca sugar—it’s literally just a song that says so gently, “hey, I see where you’re at and honor you and your feelings; at whatever pace you wanna go, you will get out of this, just have trust in yourself.”  so important!!

14. three songs you want at your wedding

OMG THANK U FOR THIS, IT’S LIKE I’VE BEEN WAITING MY ENTIRE LIFE TO BE ASKED THIS

“sakura kiss” instrumental aka the opening theme for ouran high school host club—I want this to play after me and my spouse have been married, so like when we walk out, IT’S THE DREAM

“rainbow connection” instrumental from the muppets—kermit is my BOY, I love him sm, I love the muppets sm, and I just think that would be a beautiful song to walk to as I walk down the aisle.

and then I want “up all night” by one direction to start the dancing at my wedding reception after the first dance and the parent-child dance and then “dancing in the moonlight” as covered by toploader to end the wedding reception.  IM ALL ABOUT THE NARRATIVE THROUGH MUSIC BABY, EVEN AT MY OWN DAMB WEDDING

also I cheated and said four teehee

6. three songs you wish you could erase from history (because they’re terrible)

29.  three songs that you connect with right now.

ooo!  connect with.  hmm.  *scurries to look at spotify*

shake it by charli xcx feat. big freedia, cupcakke, brooke candy, pablo vittar—it makes me feel like the baddest bitch whenever I walk around and honestly yeah I am!  it also makes me think of my closest friends and how much fucking fun each are and then how much fun we have together, which this entire song radiates with all the feat artists, so I love how listening to it makes me remind me of them~

clean by taylor swift—it’s been helping me in my recovery process of moving on from my emotional abuser who was once a really really good friend.  I have it on my jaime lannister playlist, which I listen to often, so it makes me feel—at peace? content? that I can recover with him at my side in a way.

grand theft autumn / where is your boy by fall out boy—dude I do not even know why this song has such an impact on me, but lemme tell ya it does!!!  my heart gets all warm and fuzzy while listening to it and I can’t help but goofy grin.  I love listening to it when I’m in movement, so when I’m walking or on my commute to/from work.

20.  would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?