Comment fic meme #2

[gotexchange_mod]

After the first round of got_exchange we had a surprisingly successful comment fic meme going for a while (here's a list of all the fics that were written last time), so I thought it might be fun to do this again. (Like last time, it's posted on the mod account journal because I don't want to enable anonymous comments on the exchange community.)

I changed the

Comments

FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 1/2)

[juno_chan]

Catelyn has taken to spending afternoons outside, sitting shaded near the river with the babe on her lap, sometimes letting him kick his feet in the slow stream though Lysa notes that for all his Tully looks, he takes to the water more like a wolf than a trout, and it makes Catelyn laugh as he battles it with a stern expression on his little face

FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Catelyn smiles again, but there is always war lurking in the corner of her lips, uncertainty, hesitation; it brushes her but does not consume her, does not strangle her the way it does Lysa, she feels its grip around her throat, its fingers pushing into her mouth and it tastes like honey and pennyroyal. “He will remember that he is both Tully and Stark, then.”

I shall forget that I was ever a Tully, I shall forget Father and Edmure and even you, Cat.

“Here,” and suddenly the bundle is in Lysa’s arms, and she freezes, terrified, and her hands do not come up quickly enough to grip him but Cat’s hands are there, steady and sure, a mother knows best. He is heavier than she would have thought, solid, a real child and not the dream baby that Lysa rocks in her arms each night, made of air and wind. He is warm, and real, and Catelyn’s, always Catelyn’s (Petyr was always Catelyn’s, too, she never wanted him but he was hers regardless, no matter what Lysa did or said or gave, but a son, she thinks, a son would have made him love her, would

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[linndechir]

Wow, this is perfect. The entire atmosphere is so tragic. This beautiful day by the river and Catelyn's complete joy and happiness just make Lysa's sorrow so much more heartbreaking. I love her thoughts about Catelyn and LF, her what-ifs and her complete hopelessness. Amazing.

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Thank you!! Lysa is such a sad figure, and the war time must have been so difficult for her - so soon after the forced abortion, so soon after her marriage to Jon Arryn, still at home like a child but watching her sister have a baby and become a mother.

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[embossedsilver]

Oh my heart! It shattered into a million pieces. This is one of my favorite "past" eras in the books, it's always great to see some more fic.

This is amazing and it just aches. Oh Lysa. And Cat! You really seem to have a good grasp on her, and how she would be as a new mother, especially as seen though Lysa's eyes. You can definitely see her kindness and sisterly love, even though she doesn't know and can't understand.

But every other line in this just ripped my heart out. Especially: she does not touch her sister’s boy, no, never, she is poison and her fingers may turn him to ash and dust like her own child made from love, she is death to beautiful things and Petyr was always Catelyn’s, too, she never wanted him but he was hers regardless, no matter what Lysa did or said or gave, but a son, she thinks, a son would have made him love her, would have set things right. I just want to hug her.

Thank you for the amazing fill!

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Eeee, thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed!! I'm glad that you thought Catelyn seemed right, I love writing about Catelyn and Lysa's relationship but Cat is such a more nuanced, more subtle character so I'm always nervous about how I write her (also she's my fav so I WORRY) - Lysa is easier because her emotions are always so much bigger.

I always thought it was so sad that Lysa had to carry that burden on her own, had to stay at Riverrun where so many awful things happened to her, and this is only the beginning of the heartbreak she'll have, gahhhhh. :( :(

Thanks again for the wonderful comments! :D

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[lainemontgomery]

Guhhhh Lyyyyyyysa! She is so soul-crushingly sad, and you write her to absolute perfection. The way that her aborted child haunts her, the jealousy she feels toward Cat for having a son that she can actually keep and hold and love...so flawless, so beautiful. You have such a wonderful prose style- really powerful and evocative, and just descriptive enough.

Phenomenal work.

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Eeeee, thank you so much!! Lysa is SUCH a tragic character, and I find her relationship with Catelyn so incredibly fascinating, to their closeness as children to this sort of middle ground where they start pulling apart because their lives are so different, to the absolute collapse in A Game of Thrones and to Lysa's harsh words about Cat to Sansa in A Storm of Swords. It makes me sad to know that this is the only beginning of all Lysa is going to suffer! :(

Thank you again for your lovely words, I appreciate it!!

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[sternflammenden]

There are so many elegant, beautiful lines in this: Lysa as tin & Cat as gold, the "murder" in Hoster's cup, Lysa's touch as poison. The characterizations are so well-drawn and the entire mood of the story is just so tragic. Wonderful.

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Squeee, thank you so much!! That means a lot coming from you since I find your Lysa so excellent - I am glad you thought the characterizations worked! She is really such a sad figure, especially at this point where she still hasn't lost her grip on reality, and she still has so much misery in front of her. :(

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[fields195]

You write Cat and Lysa so well! I love the scene you set with the sisters down by the river with baby Robb. I agree that Robb was the first Stark Cat really loved and that motherhood would have made her glow. Lysa feeling dull and tainted in comparison is so tragic and true to her character. I love how you balance Lysa's feelings of resentment with her genuine love for her sister. It's so sad to see Lysa troubled by her forced abortion but still far from the insane woman we meet in the Eyrie. Her grief over her lost baby is palpable, and it drives a rift between her and her entire family and identity. I loved the conclusion where Lysa reflects upon her talent for lying; it hints at how self-deception, which starts as a coping strategy, will eventually lead to her downfall. All the feelings for the Tully siblings!

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Yay, thank you so much!! I love writing Lysa and Cat. Their relationship is just so sad, they were so close and it ended up so twisted. And Robb was totally the first Stark that Catelyn loved (since I'm of the opinion that she was probably infatuated with/attracted to Brandon, but never in LOVE with him, from what we see in the books). <3

Poor Lysa - she really does gain a skill for lying to herself, and she's just a wreck by the time we meet in the series, but she's had so much tragedy in her life.

Thank you againnnn!!! :D

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[maidwithglasses]

You consistently break my heart with these two!

How sad. Poor Lysa...no wonder she wants to forget she's a Tully. Hoping she'll make a new start, have a new chance at happiness. All her life, she's been in Cat's shadow. Of course none of this will turn out the way she wants to.

You capture Lysa brilliantly!! Well done!

Re: FILL: Lysa and Cat - lie by the river (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Thank you so much!! The more I write about Lysa, the more I sympathize with her. Writing about this time in her life is especially heartbreaking, because there's still such a large part of her that's the shy, sweet sister that Catelyn remembers (rather than the woman she's become by A Game of Thrones) and she still has that hope for the future despite her despair - and we know she'll never have that happiness. :(

Thank you for your lovely review! :)