ASOIAF fic: The skies are full of them

[lilith_morgana]

The skies are full of them.
Lysa Arryn. 7300-ish words. Rated M just to be safe.

Comments

[embossedsilver]

I've been on a total Lysa-kick lately, and I may have clapped my hands when I saw this posted.

And fuck. This is stunning and heartbreaking, this inevitable destruction. It's everything Lysa is--and not just her, everyone is so in character.

"I am with child," she confesses to him one hot summer afternoon when the heat has drenched the corridors and courtyards in a thick humidity.

He arches an eyebrow. When he first came to the city there had been a slight shift in the pattern, a temporary discrepancy between what they have always been and what her recent rise in the ranks has done to them. It is gone now. His detached little half-smile tells her as much. "Why are you telling me that?"

I don't know why I fixated on this, but I did. Just the perfect encapsulation of the ouch of this fic.

[lilith_morgana]

Thank you so much! I was worried about playing with completely different dolls than I'm used to so I'm glad you think they're all in character.

We need more Lysa, for sure.

[sternflammenden]

Like embossedsilver above, I've been really into Lysa these days. Her life is so tragic and such a grotesque caricature, really, in canon, and it's wonderful to read a fic about her that goes so far in showing her inner self and all of the horrible things that have turned her into what she is.

I especially appreciated the realistic depiction of childbirth/childloss in Westeros (I'm writing a fic about another character now where this is a big theme and it's heartbreaking to contemplate what these women go through).

Yes, more Lysa fic.

[lilith_morgana]

I think Lysa's life is so awful and it always rubs me the wrong way when she's caricatured.

The whole childbirth/childloss thing is so heartbreaking because that's her sole purpose in that fucked up world and she can't do it. Oh, Lysa.

[lareinenoire]

Oh, how absolutely stunning. You made me feel for Lysa here in a way I kept getting hints of in canon but were not fully realised. And your secondary characterization of Petyr is fantastic.

What really struck me, though, was Lysa's voice and how it evolved across the story and how it wasn't entirely clear by the end whether or not she was still fully sane (to be honest, based on the descriptions of the Eyrie, it wouldn't surprise me if most of its inhabitants didn't lose a few of their marbles after a few years there).

Also, total shameless pimping here so feel free to ignore if you'd like, but I'd love your opinion on a fic I wrote about Olenna Tyrell.

[lilith_morgana]

Thank you so much! I was terrified of writing Petyr since he's definitely one of my least favourite characters (not so much his character perhaps, but I'm very bored with his function in he story) but it was very interesting to write about him from Lysa's POV.

I'm also thrilled that the ambiguous sanity/insanity worked for you. I'm not sure what I think of her state of mind in canon but like you say, I don't think the Eyrie or the multiple miscarriage/stillbirths do your mental health any favours.

Ooh, I will check out your Olenna fic for sure! *adds to to-read list*

[lareinenoire]

I think I can see why Martin hasn't given us his POV and it's more or less for that reason--Petyr knows too much about too many converging plotlines. I definitely find him interesting to write and it was fascinating seeing him as a boy through Lysa's eyes.

[fallingtowers]

Oh fuck, that's absolutely heart-breaking. Lysa is presented as so much of a caricature in canon, and it's far too easy to dismiss her or mock her, but when you look at her life closely, it's a total tragedy, and it's no wonder that she probably became mentally unstable over the years. This fic really brings that home in an absolute suckerpunch.

[lilith_morgana]

Thank you. ♥ I don't think many people would remain healthy and happy under those circumstances, no. Lysa's character for me, drives home the point of how vulnerable women are in societies with this kind of structure - kind of like how the slut shaming of Cersei worked in ADWD.

And as always with GRRM and these issues I can't tell if it's intentional and his fans are stupid for not seeing it or if it's unintentional and he's the one who's stupid...

[firebluespinel]

Wow. I know when I re-read the series I will still look at Lysa as terminally unstable and creepy, but this is still phenomenal. You have quite a gift for writing these reviled characters in a moving and sympathetic way. (And since this isn't valyrian_forged and I can speak my House bias here, thank GOD you wrote a long fic! I've had to give hundreds of points to the bloody Tyrells with barely a Lannister fic in sight. Seeing this post was a HUGE sigh of relief for me.) Thanks so much for writing it!

[lilith_morgana]

Lysa is creepy, that's part of her charm. :) I'm glad you liked the fic and hell yeah, about house bias. Lions, represent!