OF HOUSE KARSTARK

[inboxstuff]

Honesty meme!

[nadresydarys]

inboxstuff:

Send me a symbol for my muse to come clean about:

 ♥ - Something they like about your muse.

 ❦ - Something they hate about your muse.

 ✎ - A reason they’re jealous of your muse.

  ♪ - A secret they’re keeping from your muse.

 ♤ - What they thought about your muse when first meeting.

[bcrnabas]

【 TORRHEN 】

┠ ☼ ┨ ︱   IT’S AN INSTINCTIVE RESPONSE. Barnabas winces only slightly, knuckles turning white as he clenches his hands behind his back; the letter he held crushed under the pressure of his attempt to remain NEUTRAL despite words knocking against the backs of his teeth. ❝ Ah, sometimes you remind me so much of FATHER. ❞ There is no swallowing down the bitterness, his words are laced in it; drenched in resentment that burns white hot. Were it not for his mother, Barnabas was sure he’d have been shipped off to the Wall and eagerly ERASED from the Karstark family tree.

❝ The Wall would suit you better, however, brother, ❞ he faces Torrhen, something akin to JUDGEMENT swirling in his green hues, ❝ for many reasons. ❞ It was no secret he was against conspiring against their king, for more reasons than just consequences of LOSING. His opinions never mattered, worthless against the weight of everyone else’s.

A jagged line against pale skin; Torrhen never looked more like their father than when he wore that DAMNED expression on his face. It is needles under the fingernail to endure, but Barnabas takes a breath and calms his own TEMPEST as he listens to his brother’s words. ❝ If you’re trying to insult me by sending me as an escort save your breath; I relish every second I’m away from this HELLHOLE and will gladly see them to the Wall. ❞ Though his words come out strong, there is anger in his tone and his stance defensive.

[bcrnabas]

【 CLARA 】

┠ ☼ ┨ ︱  THE SOUND OF A DOG BARKING FILLS THE AIR.  It is followed by the hushed sound of a woman’s voice, a familiar melody that manages to lift his even mood. RED leaves crunch beneath his leather boots and more fall to the grown as a cold wind blows, rustling bone white BRANCHES. It does not take him long to reach the STARK princess, crouched down as she pets her brown and white dog - more than likely trying to quiet her previous barking.

❝ It is, ❞ Barnabas confirms, ❝ although if you were trying to be SNEAKY, you might need a bit more practice. ❞ There is a smile on his face as he speaks, showing that his words were spoken in JEST. He steps closer to the woman, bowing his head in greeting. ❝ It’s been some time, Clara, I hope you have been well. ❞

[bcrnabas]

【 JULIA 】

┠ ☼ ┨ ︱  IT WAS CLEAR BY THE CHANGE IN HER EXPRESSION.  Books, apparently, did not seem to be a source she was interested in; he couldn’t fault her reaction, it sounded like TEDIOUS work to sort through pages of bookkeeping. Gods know that was one thing he wasn’t interested in learning MORE about. ❝ Yes, and considering how each House does things differently I am sure you have a lot of WORK ahead of you. ❞ Northerners could be distrustful and unkind to STRANGERS from different regions.

❝ May I ask what interests you in the North’s trade tendencies? ❞ He does not mean to sound CAUTIOUS, but her interest is not something he is normally accustomed with outside of those who operate outside of those in the NORTH. ❝ You said this was not a pleasure trip, ❞ he says, ❝ so I can only assume it’s some sort of BUSINESS? ❞

[bcrnabas]

I have my replies drafted and nearly completed, but I'll finish them tomorrow! I'm sick with a side of hellish headaches so I'm going to head to bed!

[bcrnabas]

△ Do secretly want more power?

「 5 / 10 」

❝ I’D BE A LIAR IF I SAID NO. ❞  The answer he gives bothers him more than he’d like to admit; he’s seen what power does to men and yet a part of him was always trying to IMPRESS his father in his youth, and even on the man’s dying day one of Barnabas biggest regrets was that he could never prove himself worthy to the man. It was a strange tug and pull, he wanted MORE simply to validate his existence, but he liked to believe he would never abuse it. 

It would just be nice to not feel like he was being CRUSHED under the heel of his brothers and sister.

❝ However, a forgotten man hears and sees more things than one might assume and that can be POWER in and of itself.❞

                                                              send a  ❝ △ ❞  and ask an invasive question

[bcrnabas]

△ How do you feel knowing your little brother will always prefer Torrhen over you?

「 9 / 10 」

❝ IT’S NOT SOMETHING I COULD DESCRIBE WITH WORDS. ❞  It was a knife in his gut, pushed deep and TWISTED slowly to ensure he felt the wholeness of the blade. A wound that had been festering for years and years and YEARS. If Torrhen thought he could ever top the HURT inflicted with that blow, he was sorely mistaken — that was his MASTERPIECE and something Barnabas found UNFORGIVABLE. It is not something he likes to think about, it always leads to darker places and fills him with the sort of HATRED he’s always seen in others, but never himself.

❝ I don’t have anything more to say. ❞

                                                               send a  ❝ △ ❞  and ask an invasive question

[bcrnabas]

△ Would you ever do anything to get rid of Torrhen?

「 6 / 10 」 

❝ I BELIEVE MEN LIKE MY BROTHER ARE ALWAYS THE START OF THEIR OWN DEMISE. ❞  If history was anything to go by, his brother would meet a horrific end not unlike their father. Medrick, once a man feared was diminished to that of a MAD man; a shell full of rattling bones who could no longer inspire the fear he once had. ❝I would not say it is not a possibility; it all depends on HIM. Let him walk the path paved out before him and let him fall onto his own sword,❞ he pauses, ❝as long as those I CARE for remain safe, I’ll keep my hands CLEAN of his ruin.❞

                                                                 send a  ❝△ ❞  and ask an invasive question  

[the-write-ideas]

Send me a △ and ask a really invasive question aimed at my character

They’ll have to:

Rate on a scale of 1-10 how much they don’t want to answer that question.

Answer that question.

[ladyeowyn]

♛ A Song of Ice and Fire | House Karstark

[bcrnabas]

Do you have any rituals or habits?

❝ THE MOST PREVALENT ONE WOULD BE VISITING THE GODSWOOD. ❞ It would be a stretch to claim that he was particularly RELIGIOUS; the Old Gods hardly ever seemed to hear his prayers as a boy and he was willing to bet that such facts hadn’t CHANGED. ❝ I’ve done it since a boy and I suppose it’s become part of my mornings.❞ Usually, it was a quiet place and he wouldn’t run into others.

He pauses, shrugging his shoulders. ❝ I suppose I jumble my words when I’m CONSIDERABLY nervous. I pace before going to speak with Torrhen. Afterward, I usually drink. And, of course, I read before turning in for the night.❞ There wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to him regarding his own habits.

[bcrnabas]

do you hate your siblings?

THE QUESTION FLOODS HIM WITH MORE EMOTIONS THAN HE CAN COUNT. Silence prevails as he looks away, focusing on some insignificant corner in the room. HATE was a strong word to use and yet with one sibling in particular it danced on his tongue, prisoner to constraint. His sigh is louder than he intends, fingers kneading between his eyebrows as he attempts to GAUGE his words carefully lest his emotions leave him RAW.

❝ My brother, TORRHEN, was someone I aspired to be like as a boy.❞ The words are bitter in his mouth as he thinks back to a time when he might have even looked up to his brother. Short lived, surely, and soon enough he turned into COMPETITION; a rival for his father’s attention, a boy he always LOST to. Now, Torrhen is the furthest thing Barnabas could ever want to be; greed consumes him and his lack of MORALES troubles the younger brother more than he cares to admit.❝ I thought I had found my place ONCE, but he took that from me, too.❞ It wasn’t enough that Torrhen had their father, mother and sister as well; he had to snap up their youngest brother as well. ISOLATION, that is the only gift he’d ever given Barnabas.❝ I would tell him I HATE him.❞ Brows furrow in irritation.❝ But if he were to die,❞ he pauses, frustrated with his own self,❝ there is much I’d REGRET not having said to him.❞

And then there was his sister, Helenys. In his childhood she had been just another TORMENTOR; he’d never known what WRONG he’d done her to deserve such behavior, as he grew he realized it was never his FAULT, it was just her nature. Perhaps it was her own way of dealing with the PRESSURE that came with being born KARSTARK. Either way, looking back on those days never brought up good MEMORIES.❝ I don’t hate my sister, no,❞ he explains. Lately, she had tried to be BETTER; kinder around him than he ever remembered her being as a girl. It CONFUSED him, left him waiting for the snide comment to slip past painted lips. It was hard to trust she was really CHANGING, she was part of the reason he was distrustful of people.❝ Helenys is my family, I might DISLIKE her but I do love her.❞

It stung still to think about his youngest brother, but he kept himself balanced all the same. There were a lot good memories associated with the YOUNGEST Karstark, a time when Barnabas felt he truly had FAMILY. Long gone, but he’d do almost anything to get back those simpler days. ❝ I know he thinks of me as WEAK, which is quite ironic considering only one of us was MANIPULATED by the words of Torrhen. Perhaps one day he’ll wake up and see that. ❞ A sigh leaves his lips as he runs his fingers through his dark hair. ❝ Still, I don’t think I could ever stop loving my youngest brother, ❞ his voice is THICK, sorrow attached to every syllable. 

[bcrnabas]

What do you love the most about your home?

❝ I SUPPOSE I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THE VAST LIBRARY. ❞ It was easy to fade out of existence when he picked up an old book that most might not find all too interesting. With a burning candle he’d hide himself away in corners behind larger structures and forget about the words his FATHER often tossed his way, harmful and careless.❝ Our maester encouraged my thirst for knowledge when I was a boy and my MOTHER use to read to me. I have a lot good MEMORIES there.❞

[bcrnabas]

If you could be born of any house, would you and if so which would it be?

❝ IF I WERE TO: ANY HOUSE FROM DORNE.❞ There is no hesitation in his voice and he thinks that, perhaps, this is one of the easiest questions that he could be asked. ❝ Dorne is BEAUTIFUL with more freedoms allotted to its people.❞ He’d seen it several times, although his trips were less than ENJOYABLE thanks to the intense heat.❝ But, no, if given the choice I would not be born anywhere else. I am PARTIAL to the snow.❞ 

[bcrnabas]

Have you ever been love?

THE QUESTION CATCHES HIM OFF GUARD. Barnabas falters for only a moment before composing himself, a deep breath exhaled through his nostril as he contemplates the question asked. ❝ YES, ❞ he starts, ❝ though I do try not to THINK about it.❞ Certainly he had fancied a number of people in his life, GENUINELY liked them and enjoyed their company. But LOVE was too strong a word to describe what he had FELT. Only one person had stirred his heart so and filled his thoughts with WARMTH, so foreign to the usual cold.❝ Make of that what you will.❞

[bcrnabas]

What is one thing you wish you could change about your life?

❝ MY LITTLE BROTHER. ❞ Barnabas lets out a wary sigh, resigned despite himself. ❝ We were close at one point in time, until Torrhen decided to RUIN it. I’d change that. ❞ The expression he wears is balanced but his eyes dance with FURY. ❝ I miss having a little brother. ❞ Quieter, it GNAWS at him.

[bcrnabas]

What’s the one thing that people always misunderstand about you?

THOUGHTS BOMBARD HIM LIKE THE INCESSANT HUM OF BEES. Misunderstood. That is a word he’s never been a fan of. It is a word his mother would use to explain the distance he felt toward his father and siblings; a word that satiated him then, but now HAUNTED him. Barnabas clears his throat, shaking his head to rid himself of the PAST. ❝ I suppose my EMPATHY. It has always been misunderstood for weakness, but I cannot believe that case holds any TRUTH.❞ Bitterness clings like rain in the air, eyes clouding over. ❝ Or my NATURE, to those who do not know me, the KARSTARK name certainly leaves an impression on most; an impression I do not fit. ❞