๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ is an independent, private, highly selective && mutuals only roleplay blog dedicated to the portrayal of Jacaerys Velaryon, drawing inspiration from fire and blood as well as the hbo television adaptation house of the dragon. this interpretation is grounded in extensive character study, thoughtfully developed personal headcanons, and a variety of alternate universe influences, all approached with deliberate care and narrative intention. themes explored may be mature in nature. 21+ only. est timezone. minors dni. written by snow.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ inheritance questioned at every turn, the ache of proving oneself worthy of a name half the realm would deny him, winter lessons and dragonfire alike, grief inherited before manhood, the burden of being his motherโs heir, and the cruel knowledge that history rarely remembers how young its princes truly were.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐; and never before had Rhaenyra felt its cruel, stifling weight as fiercely as she did now. The cold iron seemed to sink its teeth into the very bone of her skull, a prison not of metal alone but of duty and blood and every ghost that had been torn from her arms. The crown was a prison; fetters bound about wrists and ankles and throat, drawing ever taut as a noose with each choice she made, each command she gave, each time she pressed her claim upon a realm that had already devoured so much of her. It was her curse, her destiny โ the fate woven into the tapestry of existence long before her first breath; the gods had decreed this rule for her, and she would not relinquish it. Not after all she had sacrificed, not after all that had been stolen. She could not. Even as sorrow burrowed deep in her chest; a barbed and poisoned thing that festered in the hollow where she had once, a decade past, naively nurtured sunlight. The Realmโs Delight they had called her then; it was a life now so distant it felt as though it had belonged to another woman entirely. In many ways, it did. Rhaenyra was a shadow of delight now; she was vigilance honed sharp as dragonglass, fury alighting her from within, grief etched into her marrow. She was fierce protectiveness made flesh, a dragon roused to feral wrath, wings unfurled over the last fragments of her heart that still lived. Lucerysโs death had ruined her in ways no tongue could shape; a pain so intricate, so infinitely layered, that no mind ( whether mortal or divine ) could ever hope to comprehend its full and terrible architecture. It had remade her into something that would do whatever must be done to reclaim what was hers; to set the world back into the order her father had decreed and the gods had shown to Daemon in vision. To ensure no more of her heart was thieved. She needed only this one act of vengeance, this one act of reclaiming โ her path paved by her childhood companion. Rhaenyra needed only this, and then she would rule as peacefully as her father had ruled. She would not be remembered in the histories as the queen who failed her house, but as the queen who reinstated the true legacy of the conqueror.
โ I know you bristle, brave boy. I know you mistrust. I ask that you do not mistake my consideration of Alicent's offer as forgiveness, or as a baring of the throat. For it is not. But I cannot disregard how greatly she risked in coming hereโit speaks of truth, Jacaerysโ โ Rhaenyra paused, his name a hymn, a plea for understanding, โ By her account, I can end this in one sweep of my dragon over Kingโs Landing. I will have Aegonโs head, and I can begin to shape a realm worthy of you. โ Three strides carried her around the painted table, three strides that devoured the space between them as though distance itself were a foe to be slain. Her hand rose to cradle his cheek with a tenderness that belonged to no queen, only to the woman who had carried him first beneath her beating heart. Her expression softened, faded into naught but fierce pride and affection; she stood before him as only a mother gazing upon her firstborn, the soul more precious to her than breath itself, seeing the fire that burned behind his eyes and the grim burdens no son should ever have to bear. Beyond all of it she saw the boy in him โย her boy, her sweet little child who had once laughed so brightly, who had played so innocently, her child who had suffered so much judgement and ache.
She could not endure more of it, she could not witness him bear more woe, she wished to spare him โ to save him. For Jacaerys was her soul made flesh; the living extension of her heart sent out into a realm that sharpened its knives for him. It was a terribly beautiful thing, to be a mother; a glorious blessing and a frightening vulnerability. Whensoever he stepped beyond her sight, her heart went with him, and the ghosts that haunted her mind's palace found their cruel voices again. It had been thus for years now; whensoever any she loved stepped from a chamber, she was seized by the visceral dread that she would never see them again. Rhaenyra had felt it with Lucerys, and the guilt of having silenced the voices that warned her devoured her still, and would until her last breath. She had felt it at that final supper with her father, death whispering around the table as though a spectre she refused to acknowledge. She had felt it when Laenor's silhouette sailed into the mists with his lover. She had felt it the day she bid Ser Harwin Strong, and her last true shelter of soulbonded comfort, farewell. Death haunted her; had carved its nest of rot deep in the ivory of her bones, seeping slow madness into her marrow. And she would not know respite nor safety from it until the war concluded.
โ I ask you to trust thine own motherโnobody else, โ she whispered with a fragile, pleading smile, her thumb brushing once, twice, thrice, across the warm round of his cheek, โ Only me. Can you find it in you to do that, Jace? I wish to end this. I will end this. Those who still name me cruel after I have taken Aegonโs head will learn, in time, to speak my name with kindness. They will come to understand that the sword I raised against the usurper was the greatest mercy I could offer the realms. But to succeed at all we must first strike at King's Landing when they are most vulnerable. That is now, zaldrฤซtsos. โ
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ fell suddenly away. Her thumb moved once across the round of his cheek, then again, then once more, and every pass drew some half-buried memory from the dark earth of him. He remembered the soft press of that same thumb beneath his eye after some childhood fall had bloodied his mouth; he remembered silver hair unbound across her shoulders, a candle guttering low behind her whilst she sat at the edge of his bed and told him there was no shame in fear. Before the realm had become a beast with its teeth sunk deep into them, she had been safety entire, before he had understood crowns, claims, bastardy, blood, she had been the one fixed truth beneath all the shifting lies of court. Mother. The first kingdom he had ever loved; the first god before whom he had ever knelt. He had trusted her before he possessed any other word for faith; he had trusted the hands that lifted him, the voice that named him brave, the lips that kissed his brow when nightmares drove him from sleep. He had trusted her when he began to understand why courtiers looked too long at his face and then too swiftly away, and when Ser Cristonโs mouth curled at the sight of him, when laughter followed the name Strong through corridors where no man dared speak it plainly within his hearing. Jacaerys drew breath through his nose, though his breast had begun to ache beneath the effort of containing all that moved within it, as he stood near enough to behold where sorrow had made its small, merciless changes: the faint lines carved beside her mouth, the dimness beneath her eyes, the tension held at her jaw.ย
The crown looked cruel upon her.
โ I have trusted you all my life. โ He lifted one hand and closed it about her wrist, and his fingers rested instead where her pulse leapt beneath the skin, quick against the pad of his thumb. ย โ When the court looked upon me and saw only a question they might use to wound you, I trusted you. When they called Luke and me beasts for defending our brother, I trusted you. When Grandfather died and the greens crowned another in your place, I trusted that you would know the path we must take. โ His grasp tightened about her wrist once more. โ When you sent us forth as messengers, I trusted you then as well. โ That thought pierced Jacaerys clean through. โ I do not say that to blame you. I would tear out my own tongue before I laid Lukeโs death at your feet. He went because he loved you. Because he believed in you. Because he wished to prove himself worthy of the trust you placed in him. But Luke trusted that a messenger beneath a peace banner would be safe, โ he continued. โ He trusted that guest right, kinship, and the laws of gods and men would restrain those who hated us. The greens taught us what such protections are worth when no honorable heart remains to uphold them. โย
His gaze returned to hers, heavy with all he had neither the grace nor courage to speak, and he wished for naught so dearly as that she might know this had never been born of scorn for her counsel, nor contempt for the keen and careful wisdom she had ever shown him. It had been hatched from the egg of Lukeโs death and fed thereafter upon every fresh treachery.ย
โ You ask me to believe Alicent Hightower has risked much because she has spoken of ending this. Perhaps she has. Perhaps every word she offered you was true. Yet a frightened truth may still lead a man into a snare. She may believe the city undefended. She may believe Aemond absent, their forces scattered, their councils divided. Belief does not make it so. โ
He imagined Alicent crossing the sea beneath darkness; her green hood pulled close, fear gnawing at every breath. He imagined the woman who had once stood before them rigid with righteousness now reduced to secrecy and supplication. There would have been salt upon her cloak, perhaps, and sleeplessness beneath her eyes. She might have trembled. She might have wept. Jacaerys did not doubt that she had risked herself. He doubted what that risk proved. Men did not become truthful merely because they were frightened. Fear made liars more inventive and honest men mistaken. A drowning woman might swear there was land beneath her feet because she could not bear to know there was only darkness. Perhaps Alicent believed every promise she had made. That possibility was not safety. It might have been more dangerous than deceit. A liar understood the trap he laid. A desperate mother might lay one unknowingly, guiding them all toward ruin with love as her lantern.
โ She comes to you now because she has begun to understand that the beast she helped feed will devour her children as readily as yours. โ His jaw set hard enough to pain him. โ That is not loyalty to you. It is not repentance. It is fear. She would place Aegonโs head beneath your sword because she believes it may purchase safety for those she loves better. What shall she offer when that price no longer satisfies us? What name will she whisper when Aemond returns? What gate will she promise to open if Daeron brings the Reach against us? โ He thought of Alicent at Driftmark again, blade in hand, raged by all the years of sacrifice she believed Rhaenyra had escaped. He had been young then, but not too young to understand hatred, because it had poured from the queen like blood from a mortal wound. She had wanted Lukeโs eye. She had wanted his mother to know the terror of being unable to shield her child. โ And what if the path she offers is true? What if the gates open, the watchmen kneel, and there is no trap at all? What then? You fly above a city that has been told to fear you since the hour Grandfatherโs breath left him. They will see Syrax and believe death has come. Some will flee. Some will riot. Some will fight because they think surrender means their children shall burn. Aegon may hide among them. He may fill the Red Keep with innocents. He may flee through Maegorโs tunnels whilst you descend upon an empty throne room. โ
He could see it too clearly. Syrax wheeling above the city, gold scales afire beneath the sun. Bells screaming from every tower. Smallfolk flooding the streets, trampling one another beneath blind terror. Mothers snatching children from beds. Soldiers loosing arrows because frightened men obey the hand before the mind. The gates opening. Aegon vanished into hidden tunnels whilst Rhaenyra landed in the yard and every high window became a murder hole. Perhaps the greens had hidden scorpions within stables. Perhaps wildfire slept beneath the stones. Perhaps Aemond waited beyond the clouds upon Vhagar, old death made winged, patient until Syrax descended low enough to strike.
โ I do not doubt that you can take Kingโs Landing. I doubt that any victory in this war will be so clean as Alicent would have you believe. โ
โ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐,
who hid their little faces in my skirts โ ๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ,
so that I may sit upon a throne of swords? โ
๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. There were sights a son was made to bear, and sights that made a boy of him again no matter how tall he had grown, no matter how princely the cut of his doublet, no matter how many lords bowed their heads and named him heir. His motherโs grief was one such sight. The Painted Table lay between them, Westeros spread in black stone and carved coastlines. Jacaerys had looked upon that table since boyhood, tracing its borders with wondering fingers before he understood that all maps were lies told politely. And at the heart of it stood his mother, asking still whether mercy might survive the war that had been made upon her. His hands were clasped behind his back, so tightly that his nails bit crescents into his palms. Lucerys had been taken from the sky. His motherโs crown had been stolen before it had warmed her brow. His own name had been weighed and measured by men who had never dared speak their treasons to his face while Harwin Strong lived to hear them. Even now, even here, he felt the realmโs doubt moving over him like ants beneath the skin. Bastard, they had called him. Strong, they had said with smiling mouths and poisoned eyes. ย The thought made something dark and dragonish stir behind his ribs.
At last, he lifted his eyes.
She was trying still to be good. ( Gods, that was the cruelty of it. ) After all they had done, after every oath broken, every kindness answered with a blade, every hour of restraint repaid with insult and blood, still she spoke of wisdom . . . . ย and still she spoke of mercy. There was still some bright, stubborn part of her reached toward the queen she might have been had men not made a pyre of the path beneath her feet. He drew himself straighter, because if she must stand unbroken then he would not crumble before her. The gods had stolen much from him, but they had not stolen his will.ย
@sezobriedaria ; I would have ruled with wisdom and mercy. I may yet do so.
โ . . . Then rule. Rule with wisdom. Rule with mercy, if mercy is what remains within your power to give. But do not let them convince you that mercy must mean offering your throat to those who have already put a knife to it. โ ย
His gaze fell to the painted table, to the hills and rivers and keeps of a kingdom that had never loved his mother enough to obey her without protest. There lay the Reach with its green fields and perfumed treasons. There the Westerlands, rich and watchful. There Kingโs Landing, that stinking crown of men and rot and bells, where a usurper warmed his stolen seat while calling his theft holy. And there the Gullet, dark in his mind though the table rendered it only in paint, a stretch of sea that seemed already hungry for ships, sons, dragons, all the bright things war meant to swallow. He thought of Luke then, as he always did. The memory pierced him so cleanly that for an instant Jace could scarcely breathe. Mercy, he thought, and nearly laughed. What mercy had the storm shown? What mercy had Vhagar known? What mercy had the greens offered when they sent ravens fat with lies and crowns wet with treachery? Still, his mother spoke of ruling wisely.ย
โ They will call you cruel no matter what you do, โ he continued, the bitterness now quiet rather than loud, and all the more dangerous for it. โ If you forgive, they will call you weak. If you punish, they will call you mad. If you grieve, they will say you are ruled by a womanโs heart. If you do not, they will say you have none. There is no virtue you possess that they will not try to turn into evidence against you. โ His mouth set in a grim line. โ So let them choke upon their judgments. โ
ย
โงหยฐ.โ๏ธ.ยฐหโง ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ยทยทยท a collection of rightful heirs, contested thrones, & loyalties tested by war roleplay sentence starters for those who would see their birthright restored. genre: political intrigue, family drama, war & consequence.
โข They name me usurper, yet I am the rightful heir. Tell me you believe this to be true.
โข My father named me his successor before the realm. Does his word hold no weight now that he has passed?
โข You swore a sacred oath to uphold my claim. Have you forgotten your vows?
โข I shall not beg for what is mine by blood and by right.
โข Tell me trueโwhich bannermen may still be counted among our allies?
โข My children's lives hang in the balance. I must know where your loyalties lie.
โข The small council is divided. I have need of your voice in that chamber.
โข They expect me to surrender? To bend the knee to a pretender and usurper?
โข Every house that declares for them is a house forsaken and traitorous.
โข I did not seek this war, but they have left me no recourse.
โข My claim is lawful and just. Theirs is theft and treachery.
โข You served my father faithfully. Now I stand in need of your counsel.
โข I shall not permit my legacy to be penned by mine enemies.
โข The realm shall bleed for this transgression. Do they comprehend what they have wrought?
โข Send forth the ravens. Our allies must be reminded of their sworn oaths.
โข They hold the capital, but the war is far from won.
โข I would have ruled with wisdom and mercy. I may yet do so.
โข Speak plainlyโdo you believe victory is within our grasp?
โข Each day we delay is another day they strengthen their position.
โข You must fly to [location] at once and secure their fealty.
โข The lords who falter now shall come to rue their hesitation.
โข They slew my son. Blood will answer for blood.
โข I care not what it shall cost. They will answer for their crimes.
โข The prophecy speaks of my line. I am certain of it.
โข History shall remember which claimant held true right.
โข Do not mistake my mourning for frailty.
โข I was groomed for the throne since childhood. It is my birthright.
โข How many must perish before they yield to reason?
โข I shall not be remembered as the sovereign who bent the knee.
โข They believe my [youth/sex/inexperience] makes me weak. They err gravely.
โข Summon the war council. We must plan our next course of action.
โข I entrusted you with everything. Pray do not make me regret that trust.
โข What word from the battlefield? I would hear truth, not comfort.
โข We command dragons. Surely that must tip the scales in our favor.
โข I am plagued by dreams of fire and ash. I believe them to be portents.
โข They wish to make an example of me. I shall make one of them instead.
โข Dispatch word to our loyal bannermenโyour true queen/king yet draws breath.
โข I did not choose this conflict, but I shall see it through to its end.
โข Do you recall my father's final words? His wishes were made plain before witnesses.
โข The crown belongs to me. All else may be negotiated.
โข Speak without courtly pleasantriesโhow dire is our position?
โข They have underestimated me from the very beginning. That is their fatal mistake.
โข I would sooner die than allow them to deny my rightful claim.
โฆ โ ๐ค โ โฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ยทยทยท a collection of injuries tended in silence, pain worn like armour, the intimacy of being seen at your worst. genre: hurt and comfort, angst, romance, drama.
โข You're bleeding through your shirt. Don't tell me you're fine.
โข How long have you been walking around like this?
โข I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to see how bad it is.
โข You should have told me the moment it happened.
โข Hold still. I mean it. Hold still.
โข This is going to sting. Bite down on something if you need to.
โข You've been hiding this for days, haven't you.
โข Who did this to you? I need you to tell me who did this.
โข Stop being brave for five minutes and let me help you.
โข I've seen worse. I've also seen men die from worse, so let me look at it.
โข I found the bandages in the trash. You want to explain that?
โข Don't you dare apologize for bleeding on me.
โข Your hands are cold. That's not a good sign.
โข I'm not angry. I'm terrified. There's a difference.
โข Come into the light. Let me see your face.
โข You should have stitches. I know you won't go. So sit down and let me do what I can.
โข You're white as a sheet and still trying to stand up straight.
โข I could hear you in the night. I didn't say anything. I'm saying something now.
โข Don't look at it if it makes it worse. Just look at me.
โข It's not weak to let someone see you hurt.
โข You came to me. Of all the places you could have gone, you came here.ย
โข Lay back. You're not getting up until the color comes back to your face.
โข I'm not going to ask what happened. Not yet. First let me fix what I can.
โข You've been holding your left side since you walked in. Think I didn't notice?
โข This is going to leave a mark. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
โข I've patched up a lot of people in my time. None of them scared me like you do right now.
โข You could have died out there. You could have died and I would have been the last person to know.
โข Sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere.
โข You're allowed to make a sound. Nobody's watching.
โข I need you to stay awake for me. Just a little longer. Talk to me.
โข You're lucky the cut wasn't deeper.ย
โข Stop apologizing for needing help. Stop it right now.
โข I've seen what it looks like when someone's used to this. That's what scares me most about you.
โข Tell me your name. Tell me what day it is. Stay with me.
โข You're going to be alright. I promise you.ย
โข You went back out there after this? With this?
โข Nobody takes care of you, do they? That ends tonight.
โข I've been gentle with you. I need you to be honest with me in return.
โข You're safe now. You're here, you're safe, and I've got you. Just breathe.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ over being children of a tragic, chaotic court. While the rest of the world saw their betrothal as a purely political alliance, by the time the war broke out, they were fiercely in love. Jace used to give Baela small, polished pieces of dragonglass he found on the shores of Dragonstone as tokens of affection.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. He convinced himself that a future king shouldn't waste time sleeping when there are histories to read and maps to study. He's kept a running ledger of every house in Westeros, their hidden grievances, and their financial debts, creating a massive political blueprint that Rhaenyra found after his passing, realizing just how hard her eldest son had been working to secure her throne.
ใ ค๐ใ คTHE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES (NOVEL)
ใ คโ a collection of prompts from the novel. please change pronouns and ใ คใ ค ใ คใ คverbiage as needed.
people arenโt so bad, really, itโs what the world does to them.
nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.
youโve no right to starve people, to punish them for no reason.
those are things everyone is born with, and theyโre not yours for the taking.
well, as they said, it's not over until the mockingjay sings.
snow lands on top.
you're mine and I'm yours. it's written in the stars.
wars are won by heads not hearts.
someday something will kill me, but it wonโt be you.
i think thereโs a natural goodness built into human beings.
before need, before love, came trust.
i've no use for liars. what are lies but attempts to conceal some sort of weakness?
you matter to me.
that is the thing with giving your heart. you never wait for someone to ask. you hold it out and hope they want it.
try not to look down on people who had to choose between death and disgrace.
there is a point to everything or nothing at all, depending on your worldview.
you can blame it on the circumstances, the environment, but you made the choices you made, no one else.
what young brains lack in experience they sometimes make up for in idealism. nothing seems impossible to them.
courage in battle was often necessary because of someone elseโs poor planning.
trust is important.
i saved you from the fire, and you saved me from the snakes. we're responsible for each other's lives now.
it's the things we love most that destroy us.
everyone handles grief differently.
did you tell your best friend his crush was a cannibal?
iโm planning to build a whole new beautiful life here.
what was there to aspire to once wealth, fame, and power had been eliminated?
was the goal of survival further survival and nothing more?
do you hear that, ___? itโs the sound of snow falling.
and if even the most innocent among us turn to killers in the hunger games, what does that say? that our essential nature is violent.
who needed wealth and success and power when they had love? didn't it conquer all?
you won't be alone in the arena; we'll be together.
itโs just the kind of story that catches fire.
roses are red, love; violets are blue. birds in the heavens know i love you.
in any scenario, itโs preferable to have the upper hand, to be the victor rather than the defeated.
start with that. chaos. no control, no law, no government at all.
everyone had learned to despise waste.
sometimes i think i love them because i can't trust them, and how mixed up is that?
we donโt charge for tickets, because sometimes hungry people need music the most.
without the threat of death, it wouldnโt have been much of a lesson.
thatโs mankind in its natural state.
go build me a mansion, build it so high, so i can see my true love go by.
you canโt take my sass. you canโt take my talking. you can kiss my ass and then keep on walking.
iโm bad news, all right.
hey, you found some katniss.
weโll get new dreams out there...
we just took a wrong turn one day and were obliged to stay.
but it matters the world having someone show up like i mattered.
that sort of hubris almost finished us off in the war.
maybe he was not cut out to be a lover. maybe he was more of a loner at heart.
it suggested a tale that could only end in tragedy.
i hope old you doesn't haunt new you. we've already got enough ghosts between us.
in a few years, there would be a vague memory that a girl had once sung in the arena.
you didnโt have to like your family. the bond was a given.
because who we are determines the type of governing we need.
what sort of agreement is necessary if weโre to live in peace? what sort of social contract is required for survival?
a little thought can save a lot of lives.
who cares about you? or even better, who can you count on?
tell her, that we are so sorry she has to die.
iโm not convinced that we are all as inherently violent as you say, but it takes very little to bring the beast to the surface, at least under the cover of darkness.
if history teaches you anything, itโs how to make the unwilling comply.
human beings may not be perfect, but we are better than that.
why bother pinching pennies when the dollars had fled long ago?
this is . . . this is maybe the best night of my life.
you know what i wonโt miss? people. except for a handful. theyโre mostly awful, if you think about it.
we should kill them all.
my friend, your life has just begun!
sounds like torture, having someone controlling your voice like that.
the only boy my heart has a sweet spot for now is you.
one way or another, their fates were irrevocably linked.
so supportive. so duplicitous. so self-destructive. like a moth to a flame.
maybe her gravestone could read, 'casualty of cheap laughs.'
you canโt take my charm. you canโt take my humor.
why did these people think that all they needed to start a rebellion was anger?
