❝ NOW DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME; WHEN I CALL MYSELF A SHELL, I MEAN - A USED BULLET. AS IN, THE AFTERMATH OF SOMETHING LETHAL. AN ECHO OF INFLICTED EVIL.❞ - (..) RHAEANA BARATHEON, an independant, private, and selective original character for GRRM'S ASOIAF / HBO'S GOT. Lovingly angered by KIT.
anything and everything. favorites. thoughts on people, on events. what they would do in a certain situation. how things would be different if something had/hadn’t happened. simple questions, complex questions. have at it!
items of comfort come in two different forms for rhaeana - as a little girl she'd cling to any form of trinket or jewelry or items of clothing that were left behind by her mother; green ribbons, little Estermont turtle imagery and charms that she asks to be dressed with, these connection and reminders of a mother she will never remember or see again.
versus, Rhaeana in the aftermath of the Rebellion, clinging to any and all reminders of her House and identity, decked out in Baratheon colours and heraldry, still wearing the momentos from Cassana but keeping them more to her chest. Always has some form of dagger, or three, on her person because she learnt the hard way that sometimes the only person who's going to save her is her.
which tragic character from ancient greek literature are you?
orestes
you are orestes from the oresteia by aeschylus, and you are haunted by a cycle of pain. you try your hardest to be a better person, but sometimes you wonder if you will stop feeling trapped by your past. you have a strong sense of justice, you are quick to protect and defend those you love, and you are not afraid to compromise your morals if that means you are settling the score. eventually though, the consequences of your deeds will catch up to you, but that's okay, because sometimes looking your ugliness right in the eye is the greatest release.
in her beggar queen verse, i dont think rhaeana could necessarily fix viserys (bc it's not her job and they're both as traumatised as each other) However! i do think she could make him Worse
I might write anything from a paragraph to a whopping essay, but send me something you’ve noticed about my characterisation or just something you want to know about my muse and I will write what I can!
the world has not been kind to you. it has come for you with gnashing teeth, swiping claws, and you have barely escaped time and time again with your tail between your legs. but you are made of tougher stuff; far more resilient than you give yourself credit for! allow yourself this moment, yield yourself some clemency, and be prepared to face this stalking monster with a renewed sense of purpose. the moon will guide your well deserved reprieve.
by madeline miller. i altered some quotes so they fit better ♡
❝ my father has never been able to imagine the world without himself in it. ❞
❝ there is a twisting feeling in my chest, like cloth being wrung dry. ❞
❝ the grudges of the gods are as deathless as their flesh. ❞
❝ it was my first lesson. beneath the smooth, familiar face of things is another that waits to tear the world in two. ❞
❝ you think just because you are a daughter of the sun, you may uproot the world to please yourself. ❞
❝ even the best iron grows brittle with too much beating. ❞
❝ fear of failure is the worst thing for any spell. ❞
❝ those who fight against prophecy only draw it more tightly around their throats. ❞
❝ did you smile a little? perhaps i only flatter myself. ❞
❝ i have a better idea. i will do as i please. ❞
❝ what can i say? the world is an ugly place. we must live in it. ❞
❝ how many of us would be granted pardon if our true hearts were known? ❞
❝ you threw me to the crows, but it turns out i prefer them to you. ❞
❝ give me the blade. some things are worth spilling blood for. ❞
❝ it is very close. a perfect sleeping spot to ease your weary bones. ❞
❝ all my life had been murk and depths, but i was not a part of that dark water. i was a creature within it. ❞
❝ most men do not know me for what i am. ❞
❝ i suppose i could weep and rub my eyes to please you, but i choose not to live so falsely. ❞
❝ there is no wound that you can give me that i have not already given myself. ❞
❝ i will not be a bird bred in a cage, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. ❞
❝ i stood there for a long time fearing such things, and waiting, as if someone would come and reassure me. ❞
❝ this is how zeus felt when he first lifted the thunderbolt. ❞
❝ i had a little pride, and that was good. more would have been fatal. ❞
❝ will you not come to bed, my love? ❞
❝ if my childhood has given me anything, it’s endurance. ❞
❝ if you had asked me, i would have said i was happy. ❞
❝ that is another thing about you. you make me want to spill my secrets. ❞
❝ they do not care if you are good. they barely care if you are wicked. the only thing that makes them listen is power. ❞
❝ as for that safety, i do not want it. it is only more chains. ❞
❝ all those years i had spent with them were like a stone tossed in a pool. already, the ripples were gone. ❞
❝ war always seemed to me a foolish choice from men. whatever they win from it, they will only have a handful of years to enjoy before they die. more likely they will perish trying. ❞
❝ are you always so suspicious? ❞
❝ in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. ❞
❝ i can bend the world to my will, as a bow bent for an arrow. ❞
❝ will you do me the honor of dining with me? ❞
❝ i know what we owe you. what i owe. ❞
❝ i’m afraid i might have floated on, believing those dull memories were all there was, until the end of days. ❞
❝ do not be too happy. it will bring down fire on your head. ❞
❝ you are a poison snake, and i am another, and on such terms we please ourselves. ❞
❝ your words are like a secret. a thing that looks like stone, but inside is a seed. ❞
❝ you cannot know how frightened gods are of pain. there is nothing more foreign to them. ❞
❝ bold action and bold manner are not the same. ❞
❝ a golden cage is still a cage. ❞
❝ i am surprised to see you so plain after such boasting. ❞
❝ your voice is like balm upon my raw skin. ❞
❝ does no one have the courage? will no one dare to face me? ❞
❝ those who love me a little do not care to say. ❞
❝ it is easily to speak so open with you. your face is like a quiet pool that will hold everything safe in its depths. ❞
❝ humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. as if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep. ❞
❝ you are weak and blind, and it is worse because you choose it. ❞
❝ you can teach a viper to eat from your hands, but you cannot take away how much it likes to bite. ❞
❝ i should have known you would be good for nothing to me. ❞
❝ gold does not give back a life. ❞
❝ it is funny, that even after all this time, you believe you will be rewarded, just because you have been obedient. ❞
❝ i have done your work for you, and all you give me is mockery and contempt. ❞
❝ where would you go, if you might escape? ❞
❝ you are right. this world is a wild and terrible place, and worth shouting at. ❞
❝ i cannot bear this world a moment longer. ❞
❝ i owe you nothing. you will have of me only what i want to give. ❞
❝ however gold you shine, do not forget your fire. ❞
❝ that is what you desire most of all: to drive others into doubt, keep them wondering and fretting, stumbling behind your dancing feet. ❞
❝ sorry that you thought i was weak, but you were wrong. ❞
❝ trickery is for cowards, men not bull-necked enough to show true courage. ❞
❝ i have a little pride. if they do not weep, i will not either. ❞
❝ you have as many coils as a snake, and an eye always to your advantage. ❞
❝ i want the sun to burn me. i want it to scorch me to the bone. ❞
❝ what of me? shall i rot? ❞
❝ how long would i cling to that handful of minutes, trying to cover myself as if with some threadbare blanket? ❞
❝ i have been old and stern for so long, carved with regrets and years like a monolith. but that is only a shape i’ve been poured into. i do not have to keep it. ❞
❝ i am not weak. and i will never be sorry not to be like you. ❞
❝ you draw me in as if you are winding up a thread. ❞
❝ the fragility of mortals breeds kindness and good grace. ❞
❝ come, there are blankets here, laid for you upon the soft grass. ❞
❝ there will be no songs made for you. no stories. you will live a life of obscurity. you will be without a name in history. you will be no one. ❞
❝ those heroes. you should see the look on their faces when i run straight for them. ❞
❝ those who fight against prophecy only draw it more tightly around their throats. ❞
❝ see? we do not need anyone. ❞
❝ have you not always insisted on being difficult in everything you do? ❞
❝ you cannot think of it. it will only torment you. ❞
❝ and that is the least of my powers. ❞
❝ you are lucky i do not kill you where you stand. ❞
❝ you do not understand the dangers that wait for you in the world. ❞
❝ your threats are crude. i had hoped we might discuss this reasonably. ❞
❝ you showed me your scars, and in return you let me pretend that i had none. ❞
❝ my whole life, i have waited for tragedy to find me. ❞
❝ it is not for such as you to question my purpose. ❞
❝ i felt a weariness in me so great i thought i would sink into the earth. ❞
❝ have patience, your strength will come in time. ❞
❝ you have never understood how strong i am. ❞
❝ you do not know what i can do. ❞
❝ i have said all i will say. do not ask me again. ❞
❝ perhaps no parent can truly see their child. when we look we see only the mirror of our own faults. ❞
❝ i cannot bear this world a moment longer. ❞
❝ there is no profit in chasing riddles of the fates. ❞
❝ why can you not be more peaceful? why must it be so hard? ❞
❝ come. let’s do something fun. i will show you magic. ❞
❝ at last. i have met the thing the gods can use against me. ❞
❝ clever. you were testing me, weren’t you? ❞
❝ i must tell you, all my past is like today; monsters and horrors no one wants to hear. ❞
❝ you cannot come. it is not safe for mortals. ❞
❝ come forth, and speak to my face. or do you only do your murdering from the shadows? ❞
❝ you are safe. we may be happy at last. ❞
❝ what else have you kept from me? ❞
❝ all heroes are fools. all heroes but me. ❞
❝ i know what i was in those days: unsteady, inconstant. ❞
❝ i will be fine, i promise you. ❞
❝ i have a better idea. i will do as i please. ❞
❝ will there never be an end to it? ❞
❝ i will wear that shame all my life. i cannot undo it, but i will spend my days wishing i could. ❞
❝ if you want to join me, i will not stop you. ❞
❝ if i do this thing, it will be the last i will ever do for you. ❞
❝ i am sorry i put you in such danger. ❞
THE MEMBERS OF HOUSE BARATHEON ARE INFAMOUS FOR THEIR TEMPERS AND RHAEANA IS NO DIFFERENT. She carries their words like a badge of honor, a shining beacon against those who would deny her based solely on her sex, as if she must be meek and dutiful and not as if the raging storms of her homeland. (She has fury enough for all her brother's put together, no matter how Robert may rage and thunder.)
Rhaeana can admit, even if only to herself, that her defense is not purely selfless empathy for Drusilla's plight. For if their brothers have deemed her old enough to wed, Rhaeana's own wedding chains will not be far behind. Even the imaginary feel of them chafes. (Though, at least she has the comfort of knowing her future husband to not be utterly horrid, even if she is nothing but a consololation prize for his own murdered sister.)
"Why should men hold all the power and leave us hoping for nice and not decrepit? It is not their life being bargained away!"
@stormfuryd sent ❝ they are deciding your life for you! how can you simply accept it?! ❞
drusilla turned away from her chamber window, and looked over to her sister. "how can i accept it?" she hadn't ever thought about fighting it. she knew that when she grew up her older brothers would be deciding how she spent the rest of her life and with whom. she'd accepted that they were the ones that got to make that decision. it wasn't that it didn't make her angry, she was, but she wasn't pacing around the room like rhaeana. "there's nothing to argue about with them. they don't care about my opinion, and they certainly wouldn't listen to my suggestions." she pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "i just hope my husband's nice, and not too old."
RHAEANA TREASURES HER TIME WITH HER LITTLE NIECE. Her visits to Dragonstone are both more and less than she would like, fearing the cold glares of the dragon statues and Stannis alike, but missing the company of her favourite addition to House Baratheon. (The only trueborn addition, if her suspicions hold true.)
Shireen’s hand in hers is a grounding force, calming the roiling storm in her soul for a time as she surveys the market, keeping an eye out for unkind eyes their direction. (She’s no stranger to the whispers of her niece’s affliction, pitying glances and honeyed words thrown in the direction of a young girl who had done nothing to deserve them.)
“Who said anything about choosing, little doe? It is an aunt’s job to spoil her niece, is it not?“ Rhaeana would track down even the most impossible request if Shireen wished it hers, unable to deny her niece any amount of pleasure in her young life. Dragonstone is a dreary place, holding none of the comforts or safety of Storms End, and Rhaeana would gift her the sun itself, if only it would bring that smile back.
“If you want a closer look, you need only say so. Have a feel as well, if you wish.” Absentmindely, Rhaeana wonders if her own mother would have done the same for her; a day just for them, gentle hands guiding her own, counselling her on her choices, and helping her tie them in her hair. She would have liked that, she thinks.
@stormfuryd sent a letter to shireen baratheon: ‘‘ shall we all look for some ribbon together ? ’’
prompt: it is a truth universally acknowledged.
The stall they have stopped in front of presents many a colorful fabrics to their potential customers, and Shireen is quite sure she has never seen so many colors before ! Despite her curiosity, however, she does not leave her aunt’s side to step closer to the stall to take a better look at them — nor does she let go of her hand. Rather, Shireen steps closer to her aunt’s side, tightening her hold on her hand. You see, there are many people milling about the market today, and Shireen would rather not get lost while distracted by all the wonders offered by the stalls around them — not at all !
That would be quite the sad way to ruin an otherwise great day… and it would indeed be best for Shireen to stay close to aunt Rhaena.
And it is the latter’s voice that ultimately draws her attention away from the stall and its fabrics, prompting Shireen to raise her head to look heavenward, towards her aunt. Her question is welcomed by quite an enthusiastic response, a ❝ yes, aunt Rhaena ! ❞ emphasized by a nod that is just as enthusiastic; And though the smile she directs at her aunt is small, it does not dampen the high spirits that such a simple question has caused. Turning once more towards the stall, however, Shireen cannot help but murmur: ❝ there are so many… ❞ and each one is so beautiful ! How will she be able to choose ? This much she asks her aunt, genuinely puzzled.