Fanfic Young Stag with a Bright Future
While the Game of Thrones fanfic archive has it's fair share of OC-centered stories featuring a trueborn son of Robert Baratheon in a What If? scenario, this is quite possibly my favorite fanfic among them.
As I said before, this story revolves around Steffon Baratheon, the second and trueborn son of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister. What makes Steffon truly unique, though, is that he has his own ideals, goals and flaws. Steffon feels human and believable by being a competent fighter who's greatest weapon is his mind. He works as a stark contrast to his father by not being a man of action, but a man of strategy. I genuinely believe I can take him seriously because nothing about him feels exaggerated.
Another thing I love is the romance between Steffon and Arya. Arya starts off as a Defrosting Ice Queen towards Steffon at first, but the two eventually start a very genuine relationship built around admiration and affection rather than politics and family duty.
The story also combines elements and characters from the novels that never appeared in the series, such as Edric Storm and Cortney Penrose, and even characters from the Telltale video game.
All in all, this is an enjoyable fanfic and I highly recommend it.
Fanfic Kinda underwhelming
The first 20 chapters or so is an almost beat-per-beat recreation of canon. The protagonist Steffon is a bland self-insert in all but name, with his personality best described as "perfectly acceptable for modern audience". The writing is rough and awkward at the best of times. I have no idea if it will get better or not, but I don't think I can read any further.