#HerringMage
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goosecatte.bsky.social
day 29 - layer

some gifts are more thoughtful than others.

#xivwrite #ffxivwrite2026

aquae vitae | gen | 100 words | #HerringMage
archiveofourown.org/works/93522751
Coultenet poured the bucket's contents over Sam's head; sudsy water sluiced down his shoulders between them.
September 29, 2026 at 9:26 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈❔
#HerringMage
sam kneels on the floor in front of coultenet, who is seated on a bench and leaning his elbows on his knees as he leans forward towards sam.
September 1, 2025 at 1:13 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
things are pretty bad here today so i'm rotating herringmage in my mind like a rotisserie chicken

i googled fish puns because i'm not smart enough to come up with my own on the fly, and sam is rolling his eyes so loudly that he almost can't hear all of the ones coultenet is slinging

almost 😂
September 30, 2026 at 5:21 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
day 26 - susurrus

what is it all for, if there are no moments of peace among the world-threatening disasters?

#ffxivwrite2026 #xivwrite

cor meum vigilat | gen | 100 words | #HerringMage
archiveofourown.org/works/93325861
His head in Coultenet's lap, the Warrior of Light slept deeply for once, untroubled by nightmare or catastrophe.
September 26, 2026 at 8:04 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
my wonderful friend @miqosquat.bsky.social has done it again with the "sunny autumnal day gays"

what if i felt so normal about them

#HerringMage
sam and coultenet cuddle together but sam is a bright orange irish setter wearing a gray scarf, and coultenet is a sleek cream-color cat with gray points and bright green eyes, wearing a floppy wizard hat. coultenet is half-climbing on sam's flank and sam is head-bunting into coultenet's shoulder.
June 23, 2026 at 8:46 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
coultenet murmuring one sunny morning in their room at the rising stones that sam's eyes are green like coerthas used to be, and sam has to leave because he's so distraught about it

is this anything

#HerringMage
January 7, 2026 at 5:55 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
sohna and stephanivien are #CatmintAndRoses

sam and coultenet are #HerringMage

sohna and aspen don’t have a ship name

#cattefishing
onlymammets.etheirys.social Noah Nonsense (Only Mammets) @onlymammets.etheirys.social · Sep 26
#wolqotd

Because now I want to know! Hey you! Do you have a WolxOC ship? An OCxOC ship? Does that ship have a name?

If so, is there a story behind that name?
September 26, 2025 at 5:26 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
pictures of sam cascade unceremoniously out of my wallet,

#cattefishing
#herringmage
sam and coultenet look at one another in the rising stones. they are standing very close to each other; sam is smiling softly. sam smirks at the camera as streudel the ferret perches on his right shoulder.
November 11, 2025 at 10:42 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
day 30 - vestige

to be loved is to be changed.

#ffxivwrite2026 #xivwrite

magnificat anima mea domina | gen | 464 words | #HerringMage

archiveofourown.org/works/93582856
Given the breadth of expertise and materials available in the Musica Universalis stalls, it was easy enough to find a length of black fabric of a suitable size and shape for his task. Thancred, the first time he saw Sam wearing it, had raised a knowing eyebrow but had remained blessedly silent on the matter. Alisaie, too, had stared suspiciously. Mercifully, she had not found an opportunity to corner him about it.
September 30, 2026 at 7:37 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
an epilogue, because it was bugging me that my series had 29 entries instead of a nice, round 30.

the night of his safe return from the first, sam shares a revelation with coultenet.

the doorway to a thousand churches | mature | 1950 words | #HerringMage
archiveofourown.org/works/93659321
After the celebrations, after the reunions and the tears and laughter, the Rising Stones settled into a much more peaceful rhythm and silence than it had known for the last year. In Sam's sparsely furnished room in the dormitories, Coultenet had discarded his hat on the dresser. It was occupied now by Streudel, curled up and sound asleep.
October 1, 2026 at 5:02 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
the sam and coultenet playlist is so.... so!

it's got fleet foxes. bon iver. gotye. fuel, carbon leaf, lord huron. yes hozier is there.

[slaps roof of these elfs] this ship can fit so much yearning and complicated probably-it's-healthy-but-tough-to-say mutual need and love ;;;

#HerringMage
February 5, 2026 at 9:01 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
was genuinely speechless with joy when i opened my piece from @anaithnidd.bsky.social this morning.

i've been staring at it for gosh, almost an hour now. the lighting, the _tenderness_ and emotion, the colors, the little fish!!!!

thank you so much. i'll be thinking about it all day 💙

#HerringMage
a digital painting by anaithnidd of sam, an elf with shaggy ginger hair in a brown tunic, and coultenet, a taller blonde elf in green wizard robes and a floppy big wizard hat. they are embracing; coultenet has a little secret smile and is holding up a finger as though to gently shush sam about something. they are surrounded by a little cloud of freshwater fish in tones of grays and browns and reds.
July 2, 2026 at 12:15 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
i forgot i parked sam here the other night

tonight is the first time i noticed the girls staring at them in the background

#HerringMage
coultenet is sitting on a chair, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. sam sits on the floor in front of him, leaning on coultenet's knee and arm. behind them, aenor and clemence stare across a table strewn with empty liquor bottles.
October 2, 2025 at 1:38 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
there’s an old tweet like “i love when people ship their wol with an npc, because what do you MEAN blorbo mcthatguy is banging the warrior of light on the regular”

it‘s important to share that this thought crosses coultenet’s mind a lot. often because hoary teases him about it 😂

#HerringMage
July 5, 2026 at 4:03 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
helps to have a mage's patience, when you're peeling a knight out of his everything

#HerringMage
May 22, 2026 at 12:16 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
complicated things with arms: a retrospective

(alternate title: i have freed the wizard from his dimly lit stone prison and now i cannot be stopped)

#HerringMage
sam and coultenet embrace outside on a sunny day in sharlayan. coultenet's left arm is around sam's waist, and sam is toying with the brim of coultenet's brown wizard hat. coultenet runs his hand along sam's ear. sam is pleased. sam playing with coultenet's hat again, from a different and closer angle. neither of their faces are fully visible but they're both smiling.
May 27, 2026 at 3:43 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
sohna and steve is #CatmintAndRoses
sam and coultenet is #HerringMage

sohna and aspen doesn't have a name yet

#cattefishing
February 28, 2025 at 4:59 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
absolutely delighted by this wonderful piece from @painnington.bsky.social of sam relaxing a little, for once, with coultenet. thank you so much!

to borrow from ilya kaminsky, it is good for this beloved fish to have someone with whom he can sit in water.

#HerringMage
sam, an elf with pale skin and freckles and a beard, sits in a deep bath of steaming water with his arms crossed, reclining against coultenet, an elf with chin-length blonde hair. they are bathing and coultenet, with a big smile, is helping sam to wash the grime and road out of his coppery, shaggy hair. near sam's ankle is streudel, a cream-colored ferret, mostly submerged and content with a little folded towel on her head. the overall mood is soft and romantic.
April 8, 2026 at 10:55 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
you belong somewhere close to me
far away from your troubles and worries
you belong somewhere you feel free

#HerringMage
in a verdant field of colorful wildflowers on a sunny afternoon, sam sleeps contentedly, resting his head on coultenet's leg. coultenet smiles fondly down at him. both are dressed casually - sam in a purple tunic, coultenet in a green long-sleeve shirt. the same scene, from over coultenet's shoulder, showing sam's soft smile.
July 5, 2026 at 10:42 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
sam‘s calloused swordsman‘s hands patiently and deftly undoing the bindings and straps of coultenet’s ringbands. silent, unwinding the leather from around each elegant finger. pausing to massage a joint here and there where the cords have dug in throughout the day. just normal things

#HerringMage
May 9, 2026 at 4:19 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
this too is #HerringMage
holyaches.bsky.social ᛤ @holyaches.bsky.social · Jul 29
if you send for me， you know i'll come. and if you call for me， you know i'll run.
July 29, 2026 at 2:37 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
i've worked with neunian a few times before and each one was a delight. if you're in the market for a piece with your little guys, take a look at neunian's work - you won't be disappointed! :D

#cattefishing
#HerringMage #Mossflowers
a digital illustration evocative of a watercolor storybook picture. sam, in a brown tunic with a blue hip cape, kneels in front of coultenet and offers him his sword. coultenet reaches tentatively for it. they are surrounded by lush purple wildflowers and are under a starry sky. aspen, a brown-skinned elf with green hair in a braid, wearing a frilly long blue and white coat, twirls sohna, who is wearing a green tunic dress with a skirt that twirls really big. they are smiling merrily at one another and are surrounded by twinkling fireflies.
July 8, 2026 at 9:11 PM
goosecatte.bsky.social
day 20 - free day - encore

sam has a nightmare.

(major heavensward spoilers, endwalker spoilers, character death. mind the tags)

lacrimosa, dies illa | 1750 words | mature | #HerringMage
archiveofourown.org/works/92995721
Something jostled him, there in the featureless dark. He turned his head away. It happened again. He whimpered, an undignified sound, but what did dignity matter at this point, in light of all the loss? Was there anyone left to hear it?
September 21, 2026 at 4:59 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
sam and coultenet both wanting (on some level) to get married/have some ceremony about [gesture], but sam so skittish about being church and the clergy, and coultenet making endless lists of why they ought not to do it.

(sam notices one of the lists and has Questions. uh oh.)

#HerringMage
March 21, 2026 at 3:50 AM
goosecatte.bsky.social
time falls away but these small hours, these small hours still remain

#HerringMage
sam, streudel, and coultenet sit on a bluff in sharlayan, overlooking a galleon in the harbor in the distance. coultenet seems to be watching sam. sam leans on coultenet, who is now without his hat. sam leaning on coultenet; both are smiling in peaceful contentment. sam is holding coultenet's hand. another angle of the previous picture, highlighting their hands.
July 11, 2026 at 10:01 PM