"My father would surely have been disappointed in me anyhow. To leave me in the hands of a Stark, and to return to me in the arms of a Greyjoy. What a thought."
After the death of her mother, Massey Bryer's life begins to change in ways she isn't...
I actually can't believe I finished this story. What a fun journey it's been. I started it over a year ago after binging GoT for the first time and reading some other fanfics. I would just work on it in my notes app at night as a creative writing exercise.
I initially just wanted to write a cute little pre-war romance for Theon when I began writing these chapters. I'd had an idea for the library kiss scene and just worked around that. But, as I wrote, I came to care about Massey and Broden and their father. Gareth too, even though he sucked so bad. I wanted to find out where they might end up, where their loyalties might lie throughout the show. As you read, you can tell sort of how much my mind set changed throughout my writing. I probably should have taken more time and planned the chapters a bit better, but I'm overall happy with what I put out.
This wasn't the ending I'd intended, though.
Around the time Massey gets close to Pyke with Yara, you can probably tell a bit that I was toying with the idea of having her be pregnant. That was my initial route. I was going to have her give birth to a son on Harlaw. We'd have seen her struggle with motherhood and loneliness before learning of Sansa's impending marriage to Ramsay. Distraught by all she should have done to help Rickon and Bran, she'd have gone to help, leaving her son in the care of Rodrik Harlaw and Alannys. In this timeline, Massey and Theon would have still reunited on Dragonstone where she'd sort of release all of that pain of bearing their son and beginning to raise him alone. They'd part ways again and meet up for the long night once more, Massey having entrusted her son to Rodrik entirely and knowing she had to help the North. But, in this version, we would see Massey and Theon back together only for her to fall in the battle against the Dead, leaving Theon to return to the Iron Islands still broken, but with a piece of Massey in the form of their son. That's also why you saw the Theon chapters disappear after my mind changed.
So, yeah. That was gonna be the ending. That is, until I saw how many of you guys loved Massey and Theon. Then, I decided to spare her and scrap the kid, leaning more into the idea of these two battered characters who will always find one another in the end, and that's enough. That's why I left where they'll choose to be with one another up to interpretation. I have my preference, and I hope that you have yours.
I seriously can't thank you guys enough for the votes and comments. For each of you that read without voting. Even to the one person who added it to their "Game of Thrones" reading list, then about two hours later added it to a reading list called "tried." Lol, thank you. It sounds like a generic gratitude, but it's not. When I began this fic last year just as a nighttime hobby, I was struggling to find myself. I was just down and in a weird place, doing nothing creative at all and sort of letting that side of me (which had always been so important) die. Through doing this fic and interacting with you guys, I started writing so much more. Stories and poems. I've had ideas for other fics and even original stories. I picked up photography again. Drawing, too. I read so much more. I feel excited about art, and I really don't think I'd be in that place if it weren't for this fic and the sense of community it sort of brought me. I mean, someone liked my story enough to translate it into Portuguese along with custom gifs and fan casting. That's fucking nuts, and it made me actually beam with happiness.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope that you guys liked the story and the end, even though the tone may have changed throughout. I may go back and add some casting and the playlist I'd put on to inspire me. Though, I tried decently hard to not give Massey and her family too many physical attributes to avoid the readers not being able to self insert (lol) because that's what I like to do, so I don't want my cast to overshadow whoever you maybe be imagining. I've even been toying with CapCut to try to make an edit. But, for now, I'll make do with this dodgy shuffle I made the other night while I was drunk. Maybe I'll go back to the early chapters and beef them up, who knows. But, genuinely, love each one of y'all who voted or said something nice. Thank you to the first few followers and readers I gained who gave me the confidence to keep trying at something that I felt a bit dumb for doing.
Massey and Theon forever 🫶🏼
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