An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/2
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Roose Bolton/Catelyn Tully Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark & Robb Stark
Characters: Catelyn Tully Stark, Roose Bolton
Additional Tags: POV Catelyn Tully Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark Lives, Past Catelyn Tully Stark/Ned Stark, Canon Divergence - Red Wedding | Roslin Frey and Edmure Tully's Wedding Goes Differently, Heavy Angst, Grief/Mourning, Dreadfort (A Song of Ice and Fire), Captivity, Gothic, Warning: Roose Bolton, Horror, Mentioned Theon Greyjoy, Supernatural Elements, Betaed, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Summary:
“No mother deserves to watch her children die,” she had overheard a guard mentioning once, though she had not seen his face nor the coat of arms he bore in his chest. Am I still a mother if I have no children left to me? Catelyn wondered. Is an apple tree still a tree after it's been carved out? She found it hard to swallow. Did the Lord of Leeches crave the woman or the statue?
Catelyn is spared in the Red Wedding on the orders of the same lord that killed her son. Brought to the Dreadfort alongside his forces, she finds her heart has grown hollow amidst tragedy. Even so, Roose Bolton is a strange man with stranger vices, and teaches her there is still a strange sort of thrill to feeling fear.
She probably likes your page bc your really the only blk creator who writes about buck and Eddie (sadly) 🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️ You don’t have to expose the poor girl for doing something that we were all doing at her age
That is very unfortunate, which is why I love writing for the Black (my) community. We are not represented unless we do it ourselves and I honestly wouldn't want it any other way because no one can tell us our own experiences when it comes to really anything.
I can't speak for you or others, but I wasn't disrespecting page owners in my teens. I was respectful enough to not interact with it, per request as some didn't care. I had literal folders dedicated to different celebrity crushes with straight LINKS, okay? Copy and paste, because I saw admins fighting for their lives and I was fortunate enough to understand the damage it could do to all parties.
I see accounts with "I'm a minor. Please don't talk to me if you're over 18". I block immediately so there is no chance of our pages crossing again. They should be comfortable to enjoy Tumblr without people who have no business on their page talking to or engaging with them.
Creators over 18 who make the same request and specify minors are not to engage with their work deserve that same comfortability.
a loyal devotee entertained barbatos quite while, everyday they go to his statue, pray, sing, sometimes tell tales, and before they leave, they offer a gold coin.
Not the usual ones, this devotee claims this gold was made by him. He was a weaponsmith from a far away land, long exiled from his home, the devotee found his way to a statue of barbatos providing him a spring breeze to sigh on about his griefs and regrets in life.
"lord barbatos, do you think someone like me deserves a heart?" exhaling his hopes, the devotee places a gold coin and this time, together with a letter.
"Dear Lord Barbatos,
I have long told you my desire to innovate a working warm heart to the cold clunky body of mine. I am confident on my artisanship but to my concern it would turn to a heart of sorrow as whatever my hands lays upon seeps the very purpose of my existence—destruction. As a loyal devotee, going to your statue was not even a task. To freely tell, sing, and pray was a moment I found dearly for I am with the winds. You might wonder why I have written this instead of the usual tales, I have been summoned to the service of another god in exchange for the the very thing I have wanted. This does not mean I'm turning my back to you, your guidance have felt the warmest I've ever been and betraying you would mean I'd lose myself again. For if ever I forget my devotion, I leave this letter together with the first cecilia I've picked, a reminder of you.
And so, this is a goodbye
but goodbyes means see you later
I will be back my lord."
it has been 500 years since, but not once did the devotee came back. Barbatos was a god proud of preaching freedom yet the god could not sit idly knowing one of his people is driven by false hope and fallacious fidelity.
riding with the wind, barbatos guised himself as a normal traveler in the face of his old friend as usual and roamed around sumeru city gathering information on the commotion he has heard from few of his informant.
Barbatos as the closest link to istaroth was not affected by the samsara and could easily pinpoint that his devotee has ascended to divinity is now proclaimed as the Shouki no Kami.
Barbatos could not intervene- no he should not intervene, after all, archons could not interfere to other nations' major conflicts unless reached upon.
after all the irminsul conflict has been resolved, he now can see for himself of what his once loyal devotee had chosen. Barbatos is watching, he knows soon the devotee will call for him.
Barbatos was right, in the verge of a critical moment, he heard the devotee's plea, he heard his will to overcome his grief and grievances, barbatos perceived his strong sense of freedom, and so he grants him a vision.
the power and guidance of anemo shone through the brightest, scaramouche- wanderer has never seen his ambition this lucid.
"my lord... you were always my guidance"
After overcoming shouki no kami, the devotee decided to visit the very statue it all started, and where it almost ended.
It was still the same, the breeze accompanies him but this time he no longer pray, sing, and tell tales to the statue.
He now speaks with the ever denying bard,
"I'd order barrels of wine if you told me lord barbatos, one moment please! I have a lot to tell, the longest tale you'll ever hear"
Venti sighs placing down his wooden lyre, "Kunikuzushi how many times do I have to tell you? I am not the anemo archon!"
But as a loyal devotee, and a species different from humans, wanderer knew it was barbatos in front of him.
"alright, fine, and I won't ask you why you knew my name from 500 years ago, but I decided to go with wanderer now"
"wanderer? okay, wanderer... I could listen to your tale in exchange of a dandelion wine! not barrels! but a bottle"
venti just giggled at his little mistake and the thought that one of his children decided to incorporate wind into their name.
"yes, wanderer, like how the wind wanders"
quite a stretch but this is how i like to imagine where venti and wanderer's relationship roots (god and loyal devotee). +
scaramouche who's scared of another betrayal and venti who never lets his people suffer, always there to guide his people even when he's slumbering. wanderer finds it comforting to know there is someone whose vocab does not involve betrayal but he's just shy to admit it and venti understands that. As nahida took him in, venti often checks on wanderer.
in short uncle venti is born the moment scara receives his anemo vision
just published the piece i've been working on to my substack!! it's a quick read so if you have a few minutes to spare, it would mean so so much to me <3
always nice to close out the year talking about writing, so here are my responses for 2023:
How many words have you written this year?
163073
2. How many works did you publish this year?
three one-shots (hetero of the year, en garde, and lovely figurines), the last few chapters of like because, love despite, and the first five chapters of the road is made by walking.
3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?
i really did love writing (and still love) hetero of the year. thankfully, the kudos/hits do align with that, so i guess it's not just me. :)
4. What work of yours has the most hits?
on a per-chapter basis, hetero of the year with 7178 for a one-shot.
5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?
i was kinda down on like because, love despite at the beginning because it wasn't getting much traction, but in later chapters and especially once finished, engagement picked up a lot.
6. Favorite title you used
i rather liked like because, love despite. i felt it linked with the original movie closely enough but without being too similar and with a different angle to the original title.
7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?
lovely figurines (still speak to me today) is the only title pulled from song lyrics, so i guess suzanne vega? the road is made by walking is pulled from an antonio machado poem that has been adapted INTO song, but i don't think that counts.
8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year?
i haven't written about anything but wilmon since 2021, dude. xD
9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?
see previous answer.
10. What work was the quickest to write?
hetero of the year wrote itself SHOCKINGLY fast for a 21K-word behemoth of a one-shot.
11. What work took you the longest to write?
like because, love despite took nearly a year to complete. about a month-ish per chapter, when you think about it that way.
12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?
i only work on one fic at a time, so i don't have WIPs other than the one i'm currently posting (the road is made by walking). i've got 31 ideas in various levels of detail in my "fic ideas" folder, though.
13. What’s your longest work of the year?
like because, love despite is nearly 100K words.
14. What’s your shortest work of the year?
en garde clocked in at 3241 words.
15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?
the road is made by walking, as mentioned above.
16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?
"romance." because of course.
17. Your favorite character to write this year?
this year marked a bit of a turn on my level of comfort writing simon. all three of my one-shots were actually from his PoV, and both chaptered fics alternate between his and wille's PoVs. not that i didn't write from simon's PoV before, but last year i still felt a bit apprehensive whenever i did; i've historically felt a bit too close to simon to feel comfortable writing him-- he's the character i identify with the most and that often makes me nervous that i'm writing myself into my stories rather than writing the character. i didn't really feel nervous about it this year. i guess practice makes… not perfect, but easier.
18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?
i had to write more august this year than i've had to in the past, and i'm still cringing about it.
19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?
bish, please. xD in this house, it's wilmon or bust.
20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?
i've reread hetero of the year more times than i can count. it just puts a smile on my face, what can i say?
21. How many kudos in total did you get this year?
1357
22. Which work has the most comments?
again on a per-chapter basis, hetero of the year with 67 comment threads on its only chapter.
23. Did you do any collaborative works this year?
not this year, no. :(
24. Did you write any gifts this year?
two! en garde for @the-amber-fox and lovely figurines for tui.
25. Did you receive any gifts this year?
one! the talented miss @the-amber-fox wrote love is everything, stupid as my birthday present. <3
26. What’s your most common category?
M/M. because of course.
27. What do you listen to while writing?
the TV? sometimes it's the news, sometimes it's just youtube videos, but i usually work/study/write with the TV on.
28. Favorite work you wrote this year?
i feel like this is the same as question 3, idk. same answer.
29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?
i really loved the big argument at the end of chapter 9 of like because, love despite. i was really, really proud of how that scene came out.
30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?
it's not much a writing surprise as it is a reading surprise, i guess? but i didn't know so many people out there wait until a fic is completed to start reading it. i'm very much a read-as-i-go girl as long as i have assurances that the fic will not end tragically (always tag your angst with a happy ending, folks! don't alienate potential readers just by forgetting the tag!). but it seems a good chunk of the fandom doesn't start reading anything unless they know it's complete. and i totally get why, truly, but it just hadn't ever really occurred to me to do that, lol. xD
Thank you to the multiple people who sent in a request for part 2 of this Buck Booty Seggs request lol
I love you guys so much and I am working on a longer version. I don’t want to give a promise as to when that will be out, but it is in the queue of upcoming releases 🤍🤍
little kids getting their feelings hurt be they're somewhere they're not welcome. literally shut up. How many more ways can this admin tell you people who is allowed and who isn't?
Cali has taken all the precautions she can by adding banners and putting 18+ everywhere on her blog that you can't miss it. You little pricks (and yes that's what you are bc you really don't see how you're WRONG) ruin it for the people these stories are intended for.
we adults of tumblr (writers and fans) deserve a space of our own where we shouldn't have to worry about children invading. You're never going to get with anyone Cali writes about while you're under 18. It's a gross concept to even think about and we shouldn't have to be forced to be reminded that children are in our midst (unwelcome).
Holy shit.
I fucking love you...? This was worded perfectly, especially that last paragraph. Thank you 😭
