#((next one is complete! rikkie finally showed up! :D))

[the-cerwyn]

Golden Roads, Chapter lV:

The point of these writings is to show how the happenings of Cley whilst the Season 2 AU, as well Season 6 of the show, occurred. References to other OCs and characters are included as listed: The Brownbarrow family belonging to @meghanxbrownbarrow, as well as references to @badgershite‘s Season 2 AU.

You and 60% of readers chose to be polite.

Cley weighed heavily his two options, as much as he yearned to see his old friend as soon as possible… he needed to play it diplomatic. He wasn’t a lad anymore, he was a lord, whether he liked it or not. Hallis has dealt with that, so did… so did Ethan, Old Gods bless his soul. The Red Wedding left it’s scars on all of them, heaved this new responsibility onto the younger generations. It wasn’t fair, but when you really think about it? Neither was most of Westeros. It's just something he has to take in stride. Like this is the way the world is, and he better just get used to the fact his main goal will be overcoming his parent’s shadow. And… letting go, eventually.

After a several moments, Cley refocused and looked back to the older lord. The Cerwyn responded: “I am here for a particular reason, Lord Stout, but it can wait. How has the past few months been treating you and your steadfast?” He had to swallow down his straightforward and uncomplicated thoughts, in favor for pleasantries and manners. It can’t always be about himself, he had to do things for his house; he’ll have his own moment soon enough. As much as his Flint nature went against it, he’d have to stomach that fact, and play polite lord for a bit.

“The past months have been fair enough for me, as for my steadfast…” The ruggedly older man paused for a moment, as if trying to find the correct words for his situation. Possibly didn’t want mope and whine in front of guests, but that was Cley’s own varied guess. He went further: “As you brought me, we’ve been dealing with rabble such as your “gift” for some time now. Because of the wedding, we don’t have the men we used to for dealing with them”.

That made sense, House Stout seemed more of a production house than one of the fighting ones. They didn’t have many bannermen to start with, such as the Brownbarrows, and had to make do with what they have. And such as the Brownbarrows… they lost men to the Red Wedding. Unlike the Cerwyn and the Condons, who had to only deal with the Mountain and his forces; they managed to salvage more compared to other houses.

“Well, while I’m here, if they get too much out of hand, all you need to do is but to ask me for assistance. Goldgrass has always been fair to me, as well as you, my lord. I only feel it’s right I repay your hospitality”. Cley replied back, offering to handle the local bandits if they become too much of a problem. He figured he might as well try his hand at bettering his relationship with the house. He had experience with feeling welcomed among the smaller houses, such as the Wolfwoods’ houses, it normally pays off to be fair and generous with them. Ser Kyle would go to add: “And as you know, House Condon would be more than willing to lend you aid as well”. The Cerwyn mentally noted of their houses’ relationship, so it only made sense he would throw in that fact. The alliance between Stout and Condon was strong; Cley’s words prior showed that the Condon’s liege lord approved of it, perhaps such as his own father did.

Lord Stout scratched at his facial hair with his one arm, giving a quaint nod to their words, before adding: “Both of you have my thanks; times have been tough, for all of us. But if we all pull through together, we can get through this time of terror”. He put his arm down, before actually using it to support himself up from his chair. Lord Stout continued: “We can talk more of ridding Westeros of those brigands during dinner, later in the evening. With your offer of help, there’s some duties I need to attend to before we discuss such any further. Now may be the time to accomplish what you hoped to, before evening is upon us”.

Cley gave a old-fashioned bow to the older lord, adding along: “Of course, attend to what you need to, Lord Stout. Although, I must ask, do you know where the whereabout of Lady Rikkie Condon are?” He had been patient enough, now was his chance in asking where she was.

Lord Stout gave a wiry smile to the younger lord’s question, as if he had a general idea of why the Cerwyn was inquiring such. He replied with a chuckle, before turning to leave to go into another part of the hold: “Ah, yes… Try the courtyard, that’s where the guards undergo training. She seems… bored of the un experienced guards, maybe you can sate her?”

Ronnel Stout gave a face palm to suggestive tone his uncle was giving, prompting a confused and nervous response from Cley. The Condon knight just shook his head at the Cerwyn, before walking over to Ronnel Stout, who remained there. Before doing so, Arwyn was approaching, and Ser Kyle decided to inform Cley: “I’m going to catch up with ol’ Ronnel here, Arwyn’s sticking with me, maybe he can learn something from our old stories… I would say, “have fun”, but that’d only fuel the old man’s laid out thoughts. So… have a nice talk, catching up, all that”. The Cerwyn was only able to give a nod, knowing he didn’t want to say the wrong thing and earn Kyle’s ire; Master at Arms or not, this was his daughter they were talking about. Cley walked out the great hall; leaving Ser Kyle, Arwyn, and Ronnel to create conversation. It was time to see an old friend.

Cley walked down the dirt courtyard, taking in the old sight of his memories. He remembered walking down here for the first time, he was on horse with a younger Ser Kyle; he himself was younger than ten when that occurred. Although, he was much younger when he met Rikkie, that was back when he first went to House Condon’s steadfast. The Cerwyn actually recalled the reason she was here instead of there; it happened before the war, the knight wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be in harm’s way. Thus… she ended up in Goldgrass, and has been here since there. Although they disagreed about it beforehand, one couldn’t help but to note… that Ser Kyle does truly care for his daughter, perhaps they could take her to her home after this?

His thought process was interrupted by the Cerwyn actually spotting his old friend. She had the straight black hair Condons usually have, but the Stout dark brown eyes. The lady kept her hair short, in order to transition between sparring and duties required of her as a lady. She was shorter than Cley, but then not by much. Even more so, she wore lord like clothing; hard to fight in a dress. That was another thing that was noteworthy of his old friend; Ser Kyle actually taught her how to wield a sword and a dagger, to protect herself. So much so, it’s said even Kyle’s older brother threw some training her way. Compared to Arwyn and himself, he wasn’t afraid to admit it, she could probably hand him his arse. She no doubt got to train whilst he participated in the war, even more so when he began the learning process of becoming an heir, and then again when he became lord. She’s had a lot of time to hone her own skill, and she was proving such as well as he spectated.

Rikkie was sparring with a Stout bannerman, one of the young men guards, who seemed to be most of the standing force around here. He put up a good fight… but the Condon was used to fighting her father’s bannermen, who were more known for their combat. The guard didn’t stand a chance after being parried away one too many times. He gave a sigh, sheathing his sword, before commenting to the Condon: “Bested me yet again, Lady Rikkie, you’re getting too good for us”.

Rikkie herself gave a whimsical chuckle, sheathing her own blade, before replying: “So I’ve been told, Henric, so I’ve been told. Work on your swing, you might have a better chance next time”. As teasing as she was, her bold and knowing face was about to be questioned as she turned around to see a watching Cley, arms crossed with a knowing face. He slyly commented to her: “Ah, so the conquering heroine has noticed me? How goes your crusade of besting young guards left and right?”

However, he was instead given a tackling hug from his old friend. He almost lost his footing, managing to keep standing as Rikkie replied in excitement: “Cley, you thin lug, it’s been too long! Do you know how quiet Goldgrass is compared to Condon land?!” She had a warm smile as she hugged him tightly, he would too, if his arms weren’t trapped under her’s. It had been far too long. He replied, with a sheepish smile: “At least two years… sorry for not coming earlier. And… considering how Kyle and Allister are? Too quiet. Mind… letting me go? Wanna hug you myself, plus, you’re kinda crushing me”. The Condon lady noticed how tight she was squeezing him, and let go with a face of realization. Cley gave a thankful look, before hugging her himself; he missed her certainly. Two years were too long, this was evidence of such.

She gave a chuckle, before teasingly commenting: “I’d thought you be stronger than this after a war and two years of training”. Cley himself gave a laugh, before letting her go and playfully defend himself verbally: “Hey now, had to do deal with lordship training. That digs into combat training!”

Rikkie gave a sound of incredulity, obviously feeling that wasn’t a good enough excuse. Of course she did, her own responsibilities weren’t as big as the Cerwyn’s, the Condon got to enjoy what time she had. However, she paused for a moment, with a puzzled look to her. Rikkie asked cautiously: “Lord training? Don’t heirs get--... Did Ven…?”

Cley’s face went happy to more solemn, more soft. He confirmed her suspicion with a nod. She tried to backstep on the matter: “C… Cley, I’m sorry…” The Cerwyn gave a sigh, and responded, trying to ease her mind: “It’s fine, really. He was… Well, he was sort of a rude arse, you have to admit that much”. Rikkie actually gave a snort to his words, replying: “Old Gods, Cley… that was brutal! And, very truthful, I always wondered when you’d admit that”.

Cley’s face turned back to amusing as he shrugged to her words, before continuing to: “He didn’t make it that hard, let’s be fair here”. The young adult lord and lady laughed it off, finding it honestly too difficult in becoming grim when they’ve found each other again. A thought comes to Rikkie’s mind, as she went for his arm, tugging on it. She proposed an idea, wearing a enthusiastic and eager smile: “Remember the old golden meadow? Too many prying eyes here, want to catch up there?”

Cley thought only for a moment, still all too ready, even after all these. Suppose that’s where some of her charm came from, her sheer enthusiasm. The Cerwyn have a warm smile, bobbing his head in agreement, concurring: “I’d love nothing more than that, it’s been too long”.

As thus, the Condon lady practically dragged the Cerwyn lord away from the courtyard, to go off and speak of the years they missed together. They only had so much time before supper would occur, Cley had only a handful of subjects to talk about before such. He could speak about his training towards lordship… or how lordship has been, and what caused it. It wasn’t a hard choice, but it was one nevertheless…

Choose what Cley talks about: http://www.strawpoll.me/12427393

[adorkablephil]

Some Author’s Notes for “Listen” Readers

I keep meaning to include some of this stuff in Author’s Notes on individual chapters of my Deaf AU fanfic “Listen,” because I thought it would be overwhelming to readers if I put it all in one place, but I finally decided to just make one post, since I’ve been storing it all this stuff in one file on my computer.

deaf vs. Deaf

Some people may notice that in this fic I sometimes write “deaf” and other times write “Deaf.” The difference between deaf (with a lower case “d”) and Deaf (with an upper case “D”) is significant. Generally, the term “deaf” with a lower case “d” refers to a person’s sense of hearing, whereas the term “Deaf” with an upper case “D” refers to deaf culture. There’s an interesting article about the difference between the two terms here.

My fictional Deaf Phil identifies as “Big D” Deaf because he grew up in Deaf schools, surrounded by other Deaf students, using sign language as his primary means of linguistic communication, and being concerned with issues surrounding deafness. He is most comfortable in the company of other Deaf people, or at least people who sign and are sensitive to Deaf issues, such as his family (who you will meet in chapter 8) and his childhood friend Craig (who appeared in chapter 3 and returns in chapter 7).

Rikki Poynter made an interesting video about what it’s like to be raised “mainstream” deaf (speaking orally, not learning sign language, going to school with all hearing kids, etc.) and to discover the Deaf community later in life. You can watch it here.

A very easy, accessible, mainstream way of learning about Deaf culture is the tv show “Switched At Birth,” which is available on Netflix streaming. One of the two central characters is Deaf and attends a Deaf school, has primarily Deaf friends, etc. Most of the characters in the show use ASL at least part of the time. There’s even one episode of the show that has no spoken dialogue at all, conducted entirely in ASL with subtitles. I found the show really inspiring when I discovered it (and binge-watched it) a few years ago, and it’s been praised highly by many in the Deaf community for its representation of their culture. My favorite character on the show inspired this fic’s Phil a little bit—in fact, that Deaf character even eventually becomes a film director, which is something I could totally see my Deaf Phil doing someday. (Here’s a quick scene focused on that character, exploring relationships between Deaf and hearing people.) He also does the same thing education-wise that my fictional Phil does: going from a completely Deaf schooling background to a mainstream hearing university.

I am quite certain that I occasionally mix up d/Deaf and use one where the other would be more appropriate in my writing. I’m doing my best and apologize if I offend anyone. I am open to advice from those who know more than I do!

ASL vs. BSL

A quick note about sign language. You may have noticed that this story refers frequently to BSL. That’s British Sign Language, which is a completely different language than ASL (American Sign Language), though they have some signs in common (just as French and English have some words in common, for example). Basically, “sign language” is not one language—it’s a type of language, using the hands instead of the voice—so a deaf person who grows up knowing sign language can’t magically communicate in that same language when they encounter other deaf people in another country. Andy Signs made a funny video from the perspective of an ASL user trying to learn BSL. (He does tons of ASL covers of songs and even got to perform with Twenty One Pilots in February! He literally rocks!)

If you’re interested in deaf YouTubers who specifically use BSL (as opposed to ASL), I recommend you check out Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, who makes a wide variety of different videos, including stuff about hair and make-up (she is GORGEOUS), movie reviews, LGBTQ+ issues, chronic illness, and a wide variety of other topics … which just happen to include tutorials on BSL as well as BSL videos to popular songs. (Though she speaks orally, she often also simultaneously signs in BSL.) I kind of imagine my fictional Deaf Phil being like this: making videos about all kinds of topics, with his deafness not being the primary focus but just one part of who he is (though I of course imagine him always signing instead of speaking orally as Jessica does). I especially recommend Jessica’s video “Name That Tune Challenge: The Deaf Lesbian Version!” which is both funny and adorable (and also the kind of silly creative content I could imagine my fictional Phil making).

Learning More About Deaf Culture

If you’re interested in sign language and/or Deaf culture generally, you should check out Nyle DiMarco, who won America’s Next Top Model in 2015 and Dancing with the Stars in 2016 and is a big activist for the Deaf community. The story of his experience on Dancing with the Stars—learning to dance beautifully without being able to hear or feel the music at all—is amazing (you can learn a bit about his process here), and I especially recommend watching his performance of the paso doble, in which he performed a section of the dance in complete silence to give the audience an idea of what dancing is like for him. He’s a really incredible person who is proud of his Deaf identity without letting it define his capabilities. He doesn’t put a lot of stuff on his YouTube channel, but there is some interesting stuff there (including some anti-Trump content, as he’s very actively anti-Trump) & he’s done some cute collabs with Tyler Oakley (such as this one) and appears in tons of videos elsewhere on YouTube (like Entertainment Tonight and stuff like that) because he’s so mainstream. He’s more active on Twitter than YouTube. He’s not only incredibly inspiring, but also gorgeous and funny as heck, and I’ve become a huge fan.

For a completely different approach to learning about sign language and Deaf culture—almost the opposite approach—I also recommend Don Grushkin, who makes simple videos in ASL, just him sitting and talking pretty much exclusively about Deaf topics. He has strong opinions and articulates them eloquently, but he’s sort of the social opposite of Nyle DiMarco’s very purposefully approachable, relatable persona. Where Nyle DiMarco may be the charming ambassador for the Deaf community, Don Grushkin is more of a cranky political commentator. He has a lot of important and interesting things to say, but he doesn’t cater to a hearing audience at all. I found his videos an acquired taste, but ultimately really interesting.

There are actually quite a few d/Deaf YouTubers out there! The ones I mentioned here are just the few whose videos I found most helpful/interesting/useful while researching for this fic: - Rikki Poynter - Andy Signs - Jessica Kellgren-Fozard - Nyle DiMarco - Don Grushkin

Lastly, I do not in any way intend to present myself as any kind of expert on deafness or Deaf culture, but I thought people reading my Deaf AU fanfic might be interested in some of the stuff I’ve learned and just wanted to share what I can with you guys in case any of you are interested to learn more.