so i've spoken before abt how jace might've insisted on postponing his and baela's wedding till after the dance (despite ample opportunity/mutual desire) bc his love for her wanted to give her a ceremony without death looming over it. and that his fear for her compelled him not to wed and inevitably bed her when the tragedy of three harrowing labors might take what should be a joyful time away from them and - even more than that - take his beloved baela from him.

but what if, and bear with me for a moment, what if beyond rhaenyra and laena and rhaenys - all three women robbed, in some way shape or form, of a queendom - jace's thoughts took him to another targaryen ancestor, robbed of her birthright, burdened with the loss of her husband, and left alone to defend and protect their children from usurpers? maybe i'm just spitballing but what if jace's nights during the dance were haunted by the memory of rhaena targaryen, black bride, queen of the west, queen of the east, and whose ghost yet haunts the halls of harwin's his father's home at harrenhal?

what if he sees his baela, bold and brave and so beautiful, and knows - gods willing - he'll make her his queen. what if jace sees her and wants so many things for her but not one of those things is to make a rhaena targaryen of her. rhaena who was queen of the west and queen of the east but never ruled as queen of westeros in her own right - and, in trying to spare baela of that fate, jace dies anyway.

and she becomes a bit like rhaena regardless: robbed of her love and her crown.

Chapters: ¼ Fandom: House of the Dragon (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Baela Targaryen/Jacaerys Velaryon, Viserys II Targaryen & Jacaerys Velaryon, Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen Characters: Jacaerys Velaryon, Viserys II Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen, Baela Targaryen, Rhaenyra Targaryen Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Jacaerys and Baela Marry at the End of S2E1, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Jacaerys Velaryon Lives, The Dance of the Dragons | Aegon II Targaryen v. Rhaenyra Targaryen Era, Married Baela Targaryen/Jacaerys Velayron, Tags will be added by chapter, Implied/Referenced Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Jace said rip to all y'all but were different, BAMF Baela Targaryen, Protective Daemon Targaryen, Parent Daemon Targaryen, Protective Jacaerys Velaryon, POV Jacaerys Velaryon, Pregnancy, off screen implied death of pregnant woman, except…is she really dead?, is she?, Lys (A Song of Ice and Fire) Summary:

The worst part of it all wasn’t that they didn’t believe him, it was the pity in their eyes. As if he was about to break, as if they stared hard enough he’d finally crack, dissolving into a teary acceptance that they could soothe instead of a steady rage that could not be gentled with a soft touch or kind word.

“Baela is alive,” he whispered every morning against the scar on his palm, an undying belief. Faith was not born by sight, but in trust, in the knowing, in the clinging hope that the fates were not so cruel as to allow him to live just to go home to a dead wife. A dead babe.

Baela was alive. If she wasn’t, he would feel it, he would know.

just stewing in what jace said....."mongrels" and ironically mentioning aegon's dreams as another tool IN this game of pretend just like rhaenyra calling him her heir. you are a targaryen that's all that matters // i'll never be a son. it just makes so much sense that he would be so alarmed when rhaenyra couldn't be found. "you could've been slain!" because jace is nothing without her. how many times did he lie awake thinking of rhaenyra dying and having to fight his own brothers for their mother's crown, that the lords he's known and has known him for years turn to little aegon and crown him because rhaenyra's words are wind? just like viserys' were. and if just any bastard can ride dragons, then jace is nothing special at all.....the single moment of hope in jace's face when rhaenyra chose the war above him, her heir....

Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: James Norrington/Elizabeth Swann, Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner Characters: James Norrington, Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, Weatherby Swann, Jack Sparrow Additional Tags: Angst, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, James Gets a Second Chance, Jimothy’s Time-Travel Fix-It Summary:

James Norrington does not fear death. And when it arrives, he allows it to take him without a fight. But the universe has different plans. Just as he’s slipping away, final thoughts turning to the woman who never returned his love, James awakes to find he is very much alive. Time has rolled back like a scroll and it is ten years in the past. Faced with the prospect of reliving his life with the knowledge of what’s to come, James resolves to change his fate. Perhaps he can find happiness after all. More importantly, this could be the promise of redemption. — CHAPTER 18 IS READY, MY LOVELIES!