Figure skating AU, retired skaters, coach/choreographer, skater!Aegon III
«I just can’t do it with those judges!» - Jace tiredly groans, as he enters the hotel room in the hotel after the whole day of nuisance his first Westeros championship as the coach. If he had more strength he would already punch something, but even after the shower, which should have refreshed him, he feels totally numb and wearily lands himself on the coach near Cregan. The latter sighs. «There were 80 points in the last competition, and 76 when we were at the Kiss’nd Cry with Egg, and why is it 75 points now?»
Cregan rolls his eyes.
«A point can be taken from the skater if he overreaches the time limit.»
«And if his coaches would demand it». Jace adds and leans to Cregan who is holding the telephone now. «Has the Skatingscores uploaded for now?»
There is nothing left for Cregan than to allow Jace to lean on his shoulder and allow him to watch the protocols.
«He got «q» on the sequence and a vague edge on the flip» Jace constants. «But given his age and the growth spurt he is going through now, it’s pretty normal».
Cregan hums.
«And he still has the current second place». Jacaerys says with the smile.
«Wasn’t you fuming with rage two minutes ago?» Cregan returns him the smile and hugs him from the back.
«Well, I made the program for him!» — Jace suddenly exclaims and then looks like he is deflated. «As for me, I am actually offended to see his step sequence I made and we’ve been practicing for a month to get to the third level.» he mumbles. «Not to mention my nephew’s choreographer never bothered to cut the music for SP normally, and not like, you know, cutting meat».
Here, Cregan barely holds himself from laughing. It sounds really funny about Criston Cole, whose last creation as choreographer was «Sweeney Todd» SP. And like a lot of his programs, since the idea was not given by the skater, it turned out to be not really good.
«It’s still current second place». Cregan says. «And if he would not risk tomorrow with quads, he will get to the Youth Olympics.»
«Yes, I know that one quad and two triple axels will get him a youth Oly’s ticket. But since the last Junior World Champ we had nearly lost our national team three spots…» here Jace stops and allows himself to fall onto the bed. Cregan follows him a second later.
«You better sleep now.» he says and plants a kiss on Jace’s forehead. The latter groans tiredly.
«And you will scroll the news and blogs here?» he replies.
«Well, given, who of us is more prone to emotional outbursts…» Cregan says in a semi-academic tone and Jace laughs.
«Sometimes you seem to forget who is his coach.» he says.
«And you forget that you are his choreographer and not his mother».
«Why are you insulting me in such a way?» Jace falsely groans and Cregan finally bursts into laughter.
Given his eyes' expressions, he definitely had it coming.
While still being the active skater — first as single, than, when he had been struck by growth spurt, as pair skater with Arra and than with Aly — Cregan actually had the time to think about his retirement from competitive skating. He thought about studying, and later, when he and Aly won their first senior Worlds, about skating in shows.
But he never imagined — even in his wildest dreams — that he will work as the coach. And that he will actually marry the boy he once met at the summer camp. And that they will have their coaching team.
But the fact it’s unexpected doesn’t means it’s felt undeserved.
***
Some info about this au though:
It takes place in our world, though a bit alternative(no teamTut melodrama and so on). Westeros charactres represent Great Britain.
Jacaerys comes from the skating family: his mother once won two junior worlds and YouthOlys, but retired after two senior seasons after leg trauma and decided to become a choreographer and have a family of her own. His uncles are also competitive skaters but they(except Daeron) are not really loved by GBfed(Aegon due to his alcoholism and him scandsals following it(from drinking at summer camp as junior up to driving cars while being drunk), Aemond due to his anger control problems and offending vice presindent of NISA in one intreview).
Cregan started to skate later than the most of his peers, albeit managed to learn all of the triples by the time he was 13. When his growth period spurt he believed he will go through it and will be able to do 3A and quads and found major inspiration in Elvis Stojko(Lillehammer 1994 and Nagano 1998 silver medalist, who also was 1,8 metres tall). However, he failed to do it and switched to pairs(first with Arra, after his retirement with Aly Blackwood).
Cregan and Jace actually met eachother at Mishin's summer camps when Jace was getting ready to his senior debut, and started to like eachother very fast.
Albeit they did not realised they love eachother up to the next Olys.
However it did not stopped their shippers and #jacegan community was one of the hottest since #yuzuvier one cause of amount of content they were getting. Somebody of non-shipping people even complined of toxicity poisoning the community that normal, close, respective relationship should seem romantic.
Yeah, it was totally platonic for two men to create a Exhibiton program "Die shatten werden lenger" and to star Rudolf and Der Tod in it. Or make another EX Wildhorn's "Rudolf" and star as Rudolf and Taafe.
Cregan and Aly often used not really popular music for their programs. One day they used Aoife O'Daire's cover on "Lutien's lullaby" for their short program with Cregan as Morgoth and Aly as Luthien.
Jace, meanwhile absolutely loves musicals, especially Norwegian and French. His programs at season "......": "One night in Bangkok"(SP) and "Je dors sui roses/Comedie-targedie/Place je pass" had actuallu blown the Youtube.
Both of them know about fanfiction about them and read it sometimes. However, Jace do not understnad, why are they writing so much porn about them, giving the fact that afer the competitions they are so tired that fall on the bed sleeping in process.
This thing hardly changes even after they retire and became a coach and choreograhpher respectively. In fact, the only time they can go intimate is their vacation.
I'm gonna say it: it's aemond's own fault he lost his eye in both the show and the book. Both times, he snuck out to claim vhagar. In the show, he wasn't stopped. In the book, three year old Joffrey Velaryon was with his dragon because he was an early riser and told Aemond to stay away from Vhagar, so Aemond - who was much older - pushed little three year old Joffrey over and, in his fear of being caught because he knew he was doing something his parents would like, claimed Vhagar and flew her for the first time.
Baby Joffrey, all of three years old, then of course runs to get his big brothers, likely crying and terrified. Because he's, y'know, A BABY.
In the show, Aemond claims Vhagar and with arrogance and smugness returns to the castle, high on the fact that he'd just claimed Vhagar, uncaring of how rude/insulting it may have been to claim Vhagar on the night of her previous riders funeral, like A NORMAL PERSON.
When, in the show, Rhaena and Baela confront Aemond with Luke and Jace, they're clearly upset. Their mother has just died, its her funeral, and their last tether to her - Vhagar - has been claimed by Aemond. They say he stole her, and while dragons can't be stolen, he did use underhanded tactics to obtain her and bond with her. And his haughtiness afterwards, towards the daughters of the woman whose dragon he just claimed, is what makes the altercation his fault.
Baela, upset: Vhagar is my mother's dragon!
Aemond, uncaring: Your mother is dead, and Vhagar has a new rider now.
Rhaena: she was mine to claim!
Aemond: then you should have claimed her. Maybe your cousins can find you a pig to ride. It would suit you.
Rhaena then hits Aemond, provoked into this by his cruel words and actions. Was it right? No. But it's literally the night of her mums funeral, Vhagar has been claimed by someone who clearly doesn't care about her mother, and he just insulted her. Aemond pushes Rhaena to the ground, so Baela slaps him in defense of her sister, and he punches her in the face.
Aemond: come at me again and I'll feed you to my dragon!
Now aemond is threatening to murder his cousins, which is par for the course for hid character. He always had kinslaying in him.
The fight devolves even more, and Jace and Luke get involved, defending their cousins. Luke, a little kid, is whacked and shoved to the ground, so Jace jumps in. Then Baela decides to help, and she and Luke - both of them younger and smaller - start wailing on Aemond (u go kids).
Aemond kicks Luke off of him, throws Baela off, and stands only to grab Luke - only five - by the throat and hold a rock over his head and threaten him.
Aemond: you will die screaming in flames just as your father did, bastard.
Luke, terrified and upset: my father is still alive!
Aemond, amused: he doesn't know, does he? Lord Strong.
This is when Jace pulls his knife, literally the size of my thumb, and attacks. Jace us quickly unarmed by Aemond, who is still holding the rock, and Luke sees the blade. Aemond holds the rock over them, smirks at Rhaena and Baela, then gets sand thrown in his face and Luke slashes at him wildly, not even aiming for his eye, just aiming to stop Aemond from hurting Jace and himself and his cousins, because at this point Luke has heard death threats, and seen Aemond take on him and the other three easily and win, so of bloody course this terrified little boy used a weapon to defend himself when it became necessary.
After, Alicent makes the situation about her because she's a poor uwu baby (gag me with a chainsaw, I loathe her) and attacks Rhaenyra as though Rhaenyra and her kids were in the wrong? Gurl.
Aemond will then go on to use him losing his eye as an excuse to use his war dragon to chase fourteen year old Luke on tiny baby Arrax and have the FUCKING AUDACITY to look shocked when it went wrong? Aemond is still at fault for Luke's death even if "he didn't mean it" or "he lost control" (he's not a true dragon lmfao)
In the book, Joffrey - who is three - returns with Jace and Luke, who grabbed wooden swords - they won't help against Vhagar bbys - in defense of their brother.
Despite it being three on one, Aemond was winning the fight until Luke slashed him, and good thing he did otherwise Aemond wouldn't have stopped in my opinion. He'd have kept going, beating the boys to bloody pulps. It was stable-boys who had to end the fight, where were the guards? Cole was probably simping over alicunt tbh.
Also, Alicent was the first to demand Luke's eye in recompense for Aemond losing his soz not soz ya uwu Queen is a cunt heh
Aemond will then, years later, attack Luke because of this and kill him and start the Dance of Dragons in full because not only did he cause the events that took his eye, but also the worst war in history, all because he's a little bitch baby sociopath with genocidal tendencies lmfao
Also, Aemond got off lightly, merely losing his eye - do u know what the punishment is for people who attack a princes' daughters and the heir to the throne sons? Calling them bastards, which is treason!!!! Death. Bitch shit should be exuberant that he merely lost an eye. Unfortunately viserys is a bitch and didn't send Aemond to the Wall like Jaehaerys would have for fucking real lol
Everything was a nightmare.
It is the thing Cregan repeats by the time he wakes up in his bed.
The first thing he does is reach out for Jace sleeping near him. His eyes are still shut, he lies relaxed on his bed, and the pajama cloth can be seen at his shoulder. His brown hair which started to grow now after the hospital is scattered across the pillow. He looks normal…
Except the hollow part lower, at the place where the left thigh normally is.
The consequence of the car crash which claimed not only his leg, but his mother and adopted father’s lives as well.
While Cregan goes out to the kitchen, he does his best not to push the crutches accidentally. His and Jace’s room is next to the one, where Jace’s youngest siblings - Visenya, Viserys and Aegon - sleep. Next to them is his cousin's room and in front of them, Jace’s middle siblings’s - Luke and Joffrey’s room.
Sometimes, Cregan did not understand how it happened. He got into this family so well, even though he moved here only a half-year ago, after Jace asked him to move here and the tragedy happened. But in spite of the time it happened they accepted him really well.
Cregan moves himself to the kitchen and puts the kettle. A minute passes and the noise of the crutch sounds through the hallway.
Jace arrives in the kitchen a second later. There is a strange expression on his face but Cregan understands what it means. Both of them actually feel each other's emotions and know what to talk about. He knows that even at his lowest, Jace refuses to talk about the car crash and knows when Cregan suffers from nightmares.
“It seems somebody overread “Berserk” this night” he replies. “Tell me what you have seen”.
And he tells Jace about everything. About the world with kingdoms and dynasties older than any existed. About the world of dark magic and ice zombies. About the dragon riding dynasty who conquered the continent of Latin America size. About the feud between brother and sister, who looked really similar to Jace’s mother and eldest of uncles and even shared the same names.
Thin nervous line lies at Jace’s face as he hears it. His parents started to sue Jace’s uncles not so long before the car crash and he clearly does not want and expect them to be brought here. There is the surprise and somehow - curiosity in his eyes.
“Were we here too?” he asks.
Cregan nods and answers. About Luke who was eaten alive by the huge monster. About Jace’s aunt Helaena who went mad after her son was killed and later committed suicide. About Jace himself, shot down and riddled with arrows. About young Joffrey falling from his mother’s dragon to death. About raging war and the whole numbers of atrocities committed during it. About his Jace’s second uncle Aemond and the adopted father Daemon killing each other, as well his uncles Addam and Daeron. About his mother, late ms.Targaryen being eaten alive - or worse, fed to the dragon, while young Aegon was forced to watch.
Cregan does not say anything about him ending this war in his nightmares or him here seeing them not for the first time.
For some time both of them end up in silence for the whole time, until suddenly, Jace starts to bombard him with questions:
«What was the inheritance system in this kingdom — salic or austrian? Why were there no analogues of Parliament or Corteses here? Why did both the queen in his dream and her brother…» he specifically avoids calling them by their names. «asked for an army from lords, if they should have had the army from the king's domain? Why are there city councils and militias absent? And why was there an Essie thing when prostitutes were on the very end of the medieval social ladder?”
Unintentionally, Cregan catches himself smiling. It is Jace as he is: utterly spoiled by his historical education and searching for every inconsistency in every book about medievity and every setting which is stated to be medieval and stated to be as the realistic take on medieivity. The way he lashed on Joe Abercromby books(“Where is the religion? Had he read Geoffrey of Villehardouin or Nicetas Choniates? The medieval people were religious as hell! Why are there no thoughts about the afterlife in the North?) still stands in front of his eyes. Jace loves history books very much. And his qualification and devotion to his work never ceases to amaze Cregan.
“Maybe you should write a book about your dreams?” Jace asks him. “Albeit with some changes?”
“And you will work as the historical consultant?” Cregan chuckles.
“Well, somebody has to do it in the end!” Jace exclaims. “I noticed that most modern authors who try to mix Druon with Tolkien fail miserably. So, it’s my duty to observe that my boyfriend will not make their mistakes and write truly accurate books though!” He looks so serious now that Cregan can’t find the strength not to laugh. And by this the nightmare goes away.
The misery is not here. The misery is anyway except this house.
Akito Sohma stans: I love Akito because of her complexity! She is so sympathetic character!
Also Akito stans: but it would have been way better, if Takaya cut out her beating Kisa and Momiji, pushing Rin out of the window and droving Kana to clinical depression
Jiang Cheng stans: I adore Chengcheng, he is so complex!
Also Jiang Cheng stans: Of course, he was justified to demand of his adoptive brother to give up the innocent boy, elders and the persons to whom, you know, is obliged to help! Of course, he did not tarnished Wei Wuxian's reputation more by saying that he declared himself the enemy of the world! Of course, he was right to disrespect his sister's sacrifice the worst way possible! And he was right in killing innocent people during the timeskip and letting the literal maniac go!
Reva Sevander stans: Reva, my baby! 😍😍 You would be a true Jedi of Old Order!🤧🤧 And you did not forgive Anakin(who literally nearly ceased to exist as person, as RoTS novel clearly indicates)! Such a complexity!
Also Reva stans: *ignoring her joining group of fascist enforcers, for which is pretty normal to kill teenagers, who are suspected to be Jedi(as Ezra and Cal situations show), and abduct children from their parents(may be killing said parents), hunting down underground railroad-like organisations, kidnapping 10 years old Leia and attempting to kill Luke*
Severus Snape stans: Of course, he was wonderful man, and so complex! He would definitely be a good father figure to Harry!
Also Snape stans: Of course, he was not an awful teacher to his students and never bullied Neville out of pure spite and said awful things about Hermione when her teeth end up growing fast and causing her a lot of pain! And also, he was forced to join Neo-nazi group at school, pull a hurtful pranks over Muggleborn and call the love of his life a racial slur!
Edelgard von Hresvelg stans: Such a complex character! A true embodiment of Progress! Go, Empress! Edeleth canon!
Also Edelstans: So, we are gonna project Dimitri's good traits on her, make Claude a villain(with the huge OOC) to make her look good, tell ten thousands of lies about Rhea and Nabateans(including genocide apologia) and of course, ingore all of her war crimes and imperialism(with her erasing the culture of far more progressive Leicester and Faerghus)!
Me: So... Are you truly here for complexity?
Nice day to remind you all that abandoning two clearly alive girls under the rubble and persuading another person to do so because of so called «non-attachment rule» is not cute, fine, a «good example of master-padawan relationship» or, at any point, normal. It's killing, indirect, but killing nonetheless.
IRL, the man or woman who has an a ability to save another person, who is clearly alive and mostly well, from danger, but refuses to do so, is considered nobody else but criminal. But when it comes to fictional woman, that suddenly becomes unrelevant. It somehow gives her the right to read a sermons to another grown-up man, who was never her student and who lost practically a ten of his peers(Bhat Jul, Padawan Pack, Tono) and comrades during the war. Who, unlike her, does not abandon the living for the sake of written rules.
And when the student of this woman decides to become a terrorist and bomb the Jedi Temple, hold in mind, that the thing that may have contributed to it was a knowledge that her master was ready to abandon her to death and walk away with it.
Hello, My name is Mosab Elderawi, and I live in Gaza with my family. Life here has become harder than I ever imagined, and I’m writing this with hope in my heart that you might hear our story.
The ongoing war has devastated my family. We’ve lost 25 family members—each one a beloved part of our lives, taken too soon. I miss them deeply—their laughter, their presence, their love. Every day is a reminder of this unimaginable loss.
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We are now facing daily challenges to survive—things that most people take for granted, like food, clean water, and a safe place to sleep. The harsh realities of life here have replaced our dreams with the constant fight for survival.
💔 Lost Stability: The war has left us without work or a stable source of income. 🍞 Basic Needs: Food and water are becoming harder to afford with rising prices and scarce resources. 📚 Dreams on Hold: Like so many here, my family’s dreams have been replaced by the need to simply survive. 😢 Unimaginable Loss: Losing 25 loved ones has left a void that can never be filled.
I’m sharing our story with the hope that someone out there might care. Even $5 can make a big difference for us, and if you’re unable to donate, just reblogging this post can help spread the word.
Your kindness, no matter how small, is something we’ll never forget.
Your support is not about changing our entire situation—it’s about giving us a little relief, a little hope, and a way to keep going. We are not asking for much, and we understand if you can’t donate. Sharing our story is just as valuable to us as a donation.
Thank you for reading this far. It means the world to us to know that someone is listening. Your kindness gives us strength and helps us believe in a better tomorrow.
With all our gratitude, Mosab Elderawi and Family ❤️
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united states is responsible for not only the massacre of its own minorities but also for the deaths of all the minorities in the countries they fund the fascism of
Sith at the time of High Republic/Prequels: pretty small and unknown sect clouded in myths and considered to be one. Even if there is a person considered to be sith, he will likely be a simple bandit or local madman.
Jedi at the of High Republic/Prequels: huge state-sponsored semi-religion in all but stated secular state with not really healthy recruiting practice. Closely assosiated with goverment and the view on them differs depending on time and trust to the goverment, but viewed to the degree with suspicion even in Canon.
And the post seemes so strange to me. It almost sounds like «Well, lash on Aum Shinrikyo for organising terroristic attacks and NXIVM for sexual abuse on their members, but don't dare to call Catholic Church out for helping Nazis to escape with «rat trails», refusing to apologize to Duplessis orphans(Canadian chidren who were taken by their families at 40s and 50s), put into orphanages(than turned to mental hospital), where they were abused and sexually harassed, and demanding to ban The Magdalene Sisters(the film telling the story of young girls and unwed mothers being abused by Ireland Catholic Church since 1920s)!»
Hello! I want to ask you something about Star Wars. What's your opinion on "love isn't attachment" interpretation of the Jedi Code that has been going around?
I think it’s a misrepresentation born out of an effort to make the Jedi Order seem perfect, instead of the noble but flawed institution that we see in both Disney canon and the Star Wars EU. It is a blatant disregard of both the general canonical and legends continuity that the Jedi Order did not allow love. Love is a type of attachment, at least in the Jedi's eyes, otherwise they would not be separating young children from their families.
And no, if the chosen one is doing just fine with his latent force powers, I don't think they're recuiting toddlers because they would otherwise "have no control" and be "a danger to others." Take that crap somewhere else, because I'm not buying it.
If they don’t care about loving people (ie your birth family), then why do we never see Jedi (aside from obvious exceptions like Anakin or Ki-Adi-Mundi) mention their family or keep in any form of touch with them? Why would they accept only very young children? Notably children whose memories of their time with their family would largely or wholly be lost due to childhood amnesia*, and therefore would not remember their attachment to their families and the love of their family. Regardless of whatever media tries to retcon the no love thing as love being acceptable and that attachment was a different thing, the most important canon (the movies) does not support this at all.
(*Childhood amnesia refers to the inability of most adults to recall memories from before the age of 3-4 years. It also refers to the fragmentation of memories from early childhood, especially from the ages of 3-6. This is paraphrased from the Wikipedia article on the subject.)
Also, if love (platonic or romantic) actually is allowed, then why would this official movie poster for Attack of the Clones exist? (Someone on youtube literally tried to argue with me that despite it being an official poster, it “didn’t mean anything." 🤨 By that logic, a movie advertised as R-rated can be assumed to be appropriate for children. Jedi apologists are truly dedicated to spiting their English teachers and anyone who tried to teach them about critical thinking or analysis.)
Bonus Round: Star Wars EU Edition
(read the paragraph on the right, starting at "Love is also a strong passion," and I also suggest reading the character's annotations on the side.)
They literally explain love is forbidden. While they say "those who obsess," in practice, it applies to any love, not just obsessive. (Also, it is a parent's job to prioritize the needs of their child. It's not "obsession" to put the child first, that's what you're supposed to do.) They are literally being told that wanting to contact their birth families is a cause of concern and that any attachment will cause you to "lose sight of your path" and are a cause for expulsion from the Order.
Once again, they are not allowed to connect with their birth families. The HoloNet calls it monstrous because it is. Separating a child from their parents is incredibly damaging, especially in early childhood*, (the age of recruitment into the Jedi Order) which is obvious, but this is the same fandom where I see people try (and fail) to justify child soldiers and using a slave army.
Sources about the detrimental effects of separating children from their parents:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/psychological-damage-inflicted-by-parent-child-separation-is-deep-long-lasting/
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2018/06/psychological-impact-early-life-stress-parental-separation
This excert is from a section called "Misperceptions of the Jedi" from The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force.
"This charge springs from the pain of emotional attachment. It's also technically false." If I had my child taken from me and had no way to get them back, I don't give a shit if you have legal authority. You are effectively a kidnapper. The child isn't being removed from their parent's care because of abuse or any other legitimate reason. It's because they want to indoctrinate them and it's far easier when they don't remember anything before being taken to the temple. So they don't have a pesky attachment or concern for their mom left in slavery, for example!
Anyway, Luke's Jedi Order from the EU >>>>>> the old Jedi Order
Semi-crossover with Ice Dragon short story.
In this AU, Cregan is born a strange boy. He is born cold, but not dead, with grey eyes and part-grey dark hair. Once he starts to grow up, he becomes even more strange: he rarely smiles but never actually cries(even at his fathers funeral), he actually loves the cold weather and can go out even during the bitter cold and collect the snow even with his bare hands. One day, to the great fear of his cousins, he is found playing with the ice lizards without causing himself frostbites. They told their father about it and Bennard is inferred as hell.
Cregan also has a tendency to disappear from the keep and return after many hours of absence. When one day he says that he flew on the dragonback, nobody seems to correct him or say that only Targaryens can claim the dragons. They are actually afraid of this strange as hell boy.
So, when one day nobody can find young lord Cregan in his chambers, and another day — when Lord-Commander of Night Watch tells them about a huge dragon(the old men of the Watch say that it’s a same size as Queen Alysanne’s dragon) and his rider taking control of Skagos. Another day, there was a rumor about its inhabitants stopping to eat human’s meat.
Nevertheless, Bennard Stark seizes control over Winterfell. Prince Jacaerys still visits him in attempts to get reinforcements for his mother, but, unlike Cregan in canon, Bennard decides to stay neutral and politely refuses. When Jacaerys flies from Winterfell, one of the old servants tells him about the Skagos and Cregan and his dragon living here. At first, Jace doesn’t believe him, but when the servant tells him about the size of the said dragon, he suddenly remembers Aemond and Vhagar’s size. So, he decides to play safe.
If this thing could be said about traveling even further into the North, to the island where cannibals live or used to live(or so it is told). Where it is even colder than at the Wall.
Nevertheless, he goes here.
The place is harrowing, to say at least. There are three keeps left and they seem to be fine, but the island himself seems gloomy. Their lord seems the same. When he looks at him, Jace is ready to laugh at anybody claiming Starks are emotionless. By this man’s standards, lord Bennard seems of one of the merriest people Jace has known. His eyes seem to be made of dirty ice and he watches Jace like his dragon watched the food.
He doesn't know that in fact, he seems interesting to Cregan. While Jace gets trouble with deciding what to promise to him for his help, Cregan decides to join him no matter what and asks him to show him the other kingdoms. While he is content with ruling Skagos and wants nothing other than it and flying on the Snowstorm, he is interested in seeing the world in the South.
Nervously, Jace replies: “And you wouldn’t melt?”
To his surprise, Cregan chuckles and says: “Look at Snowstorm, prince, and think again.”
And then he leads Jace to the dragon. His size doesn’t really surprise Jace: he has seen Vermithor, Silwerwing, Grey Ghost and other wild dragons. He, of course, has seen Vhagar and while the dragon is smaller than her it’s nevertheless big.
What impresses Jace is how the dragon looks. The dragon is crystal white, piercingly white to the point of blue, the shade that is cold and hard even to look at. His whole body was covered with frost, so that with every movement the skin was covered with cracks, like a snow crust under a boot, and crumbled in flakes. The dragon's eyes are clear, deep, and icy.
Huge bat wings, bluish-white with iridescence.His teeth are exactly like icicles: jagged, unequal-length ice spears, lined up in a triple palisade to guard the dark blue mouth.
And when this dragon opens its huge mouth and exhales, it does not emit a stream of fire or a burning sulfur stench from its throat, like its smaller brethren. The ice dragon is icy because it breathes cold.
The dragon truly suits the man of the North.
They fly to Dragonstone. On the way here, Cregan and Snowstorm suddenly separate their ways with Jacaerys and Vermax. Cregan says he needs to examine the bay in case of danger. Jace understands it's the right thing to do(who knows whether Greens have their relatives Redwyne’s fleet or not) and flies to Dragonstone. He regrets his brothers would not see him flying with the legendary Ice Dragon.
But soon he will find another type of regret.
Cregan is present, when they bury what remains of Luke and Arrax. He stands still, head lowered. Jace by himself is too busy holding Joffrey, but nevertheless he is surprised to see Cregan being emotional about the boy he never knew.
After the funeral he asks his guest about it and Cregan replies that the killer of his own kin is cursed in the eyes of the Old Gods. And so, he will remain in the South not only to see it but to punish the man who disrespected Gods's law.
It isn’t a promise and lesser than oath of fealty, but now Jacaerys can believe that he will stay. And for some reason he feels happy for it.
It takes a lot of time to convince Prince Daemon not to send the killers to Helaena’s children. Revenge aside, but one of their major alies will not be pleased by this and probably will abandon them to another side. The size of Snowstorm also serves as the argument in the discussion. Eventually, Daemon gives up. However, he and Mysaria still send the spies into the Red Keep and kidnap prince Jaehaerys and princess Jaehaera. The disappearance of her children renders Helaena catatonic and never allows Dreamfyre to be used by Greens.
Cregan never says anything about it.
Once a day, he and Snowstorm are patrolling the surrounding bays. For some reason, Jace finds himself following him. He trusts their new ally fully, and probably, he does in order for Vermax to fly more and get bigger. So, they patrol the bays and, as the time passes, they start to speak with each other. They speak about their past: Cregan about how he became ruler of Scagos and how he got out of his house, Jacaerys about his conflicted family situation. Ironically, despite them coming from different regions and cultures, Jace and Cregan find a lot of themes to speak about. They nearly got the cold throat due to it, but it their discussions seems them worth it.
Everything major from here and up to the Gullet goes the same as canon, except the Dragon Sowing. The Snowstorm is the same size as Vermithor and Silverwing, so there is no need to recruit more riders in order to get the advantage over Vhagar after Meleys’s death. So, only Addam and Nettles get their dragons — Seasmoke and Sheepstealer respectively.
The Gullet goes differently. With Cregan patrolling the Gullet with Jace, they notice the Three Daughters fleet attacking “Сheerful nonchalance” and go to fight(with Addam and Nettles joining them later). Cregan destroys the ships surrounding “Nonchalance” and takes baby Viserys out of the battle and Aegon on Stormcloud follows him. However, while shielding baby Aegon on the Stormcloud, Jace still falls from his dragon into the sea, breaking his hand and ribs. He is fished out of the water by Nettles and put under the maesters’ care after that.
But nevertheless he lives, which leads to his mother's mental stability. During the month of his recovery, Jace and Cregan spend a lot of time together. Cregan by himself doesn’t know what feeling urges him to spend more time with the prince. While living as Skaagos ruler, he repeatedly heard the words of love his subjects whisper, once he met Jace and moved to the South, he listened to songs about it. What he understands it means being by this man’s side, supporting him and deciding to stay in the South. Jace meanwhile takes every opportunity to show Cregan everything in King’s Landing as he feels it’s gonna change irreversibly soon.
It does not help that Snowstorm does not actually seem to like the South. He likes and cares about his rider, but feels uneasy of him growing up close to a mortal man. The only ones to bond with him were the Winter Children — boys and girls with suppressed emotions, who were born in coldest winters, who never cried and rarely smiled, whose hearts seemed to be frozen. They spent their youth with Ice dragon kins, but when the playful young man or woman with fire in their blood catched them, they seemed to alienate from dragons and eventually left for them. And this time, it seems no different.
At least, he is gonna die a good death, at duel with the biggest of Old Valyria dragons.
When Aemond starts to burn and pillage the Riverlands, it’s Jacaerys and Cregan who go to stop him here(Daemon goes after Daeron, while Nettles and Addam stay in King’s Landing and quell the Shepherd’s riot). Snowstorm is way bigger than Caraxes, and while Vermax is still young, both of them are tested in battle. And Aemond knows that no matter of size, Vhagar would not stand the fight against two dragons.
Before the last battle, Jacaerys, not entirely knowing what he is doing and not really sure they are gonna live after that, kisses Cregan, but asks him to return the kiss after the battle. Snowstorm watches them strangely. The old dragon understands that winter goes out of his rider’s heart, and, then, he will likely leave him.
The Battle at the Gods Eye, where Cregan and Jacaerys are going against Aemond, happens differently from the canon. They manage to catch Aemond off-guard and Vermax manages to blind Vhagar with one single attack. At the same time, Snowstorm attacks Vhagar, biting her into the underbelly and then using his cold breath to cause even more pain to the beast. Then he bites into the tail, allowing Vermax to attack her in the back.
However, Aemond is not gonna go down simply. When Snowstorm is biting his tail, he orders Vhagar to bite him at at the neck in order to get rid of one dragon and his rider, and then do it with Vermax again. But Snowstorm refuses to give up and digs his nails and teeth deeper in the older dragon’s abdomen. Vhagar roars and at the same time, Vermax tears her wings forcing her to let Ice Dragon go. In the next move, deeply wounded Snowstorm tears Vhagar’s second wing off and the oldest dragon falls on the land, killed by the last creatures anybody imagined.
Aemond may live after the fall and Jace may take his second eye in revenge for Luke. Or not.
But nevertheless, Snowstorm also never gets to live past the next hours. He uses all of his remaining forces to bring his rider to the land without any harm and he is successful in this. Vermax lands nearby him.
And here, the first time in his life, Cregan finally has the tears to fall on the earth. Jace holds him as he cries for the first and for a most of his time the only friend he ever had in this life. Until the tears end.
They give Snowstorm a funeral pyre, and the battle over the God's Eye goes in history books and songs as the Battle of Fire and Ice
drabble, 1.4k words
King Jace, AU, minor jacela(political marriage), mentioned jofhaera and Addam/Rhaena
The sun sets over King's Landing as Cregan stands near the Princevault — so this building with the slate roof and high carved doors is called now, with prince Daeron Targaryen, formerly the Daring, kept here.
It was the surprise when not so long after the war ended, King Jacaerys Targaryen, former Velaryon, declared that his uncle, who barely survived the battle of Tumbleton, would not be executed, but instead held in lifelong captivity.
« I understand your concerns, my lords». — he said to the Small Council. — «But my uncle is not dangerous now. His dragon is dead. He lost his left arm and half of his foot in the last battle, he has numerous burns… He will not be able to fight for the throne. Nobody will follow the king who is crippled to such an extent. And he is still my uncle, and I don’t want to spill the blood of my relatives.»
«Why won’t you send him to the Nightwatch, your Highness?» asked Corlys Velaryon, Master over the Ships then and Cregan, who stood by here with Hand’s brooch on his doublet, was more than agree with him.
If there hadn’t been a Bitterbridge massacre, Cregan could have even felt pity towards the fallen prince. But not after him demanding to kill all of his inhabitants even after the true killers of prince Maelor were executed. No, he does not understand why Jacaerys spared him.
« He may be kidnapped by remaining Green supporters during the trip. Here, he would be under supervision. His niece may still visit him, though.» — Here he chuckled.
The only niece the imprisoned prince had was princess Jaehaera, who just goes out from the Princevault, in her blue dress, with her hands hold by both King Jacaerys and Queen Baela. The girl looks not really happy, but content — a wildly different from the tear-eyed, trembling girl Jace described here to him they found when the capital was captured.
At first, when they didn’t know what to do with her. She was the daughter of the fallen king, of the man, who usurped his mother and abandoned his wife when she lost her son and went mad. But she was still a young, eternally frightened girl too. The better choice was to marry her to someone loyal to the king, who will not rebel to get a crown and has the possessions of his own. There were four men who may possibly wed her - king’s brothers Joffrey and Aegon, or his bastard brothers Alyn and Addam. Some people expected young Aegon to wed Jaehaera, but the King stopped those talks and decided to marry the girl to the middle brother, and also to marry lady Rhaena to Addam, who became the heir to Driftmark.
«I do not think that Joffrey will be against his bride visiting her uncle when they visit the Red Keep. I am not gonna wed them now cause it’s gonna be nothing, but a farce in this case. I’ll wait until the princess turns at least thirteen and their wedding will happen here.»
«And your brother?»
«Will get a Dornish mark. It’s a hardly controlled region and we need strongholds both against Dorn and usurper’s sympathizers in the Reach.»
Here, the king doesn’t tell all the truths. Jacaerys never told about it to the Small Council, but said once to him that the reason his uncles usurped his mother may lay in the fact they would not get anything except reduced to mere toadies if she will get a throne. His uncle and stepfather was a son of the king, but didn’t get anything except a place in the Small council and nothing to give his children except the dragon eggs. Cregan thinks there is nothing to pity the usurpers for, but he more than agrees that Jace’s brothers deserve to get their own lands. Granted, prince Joffrey has Dragonstone now, but when Queen Baela will give birth to the son, it will come to him. So, there are the Dornish mark for Joffrey, Cape Kraken for Aegon and Rain House, whose Lord’s family lost it due to its association with usurper, for young Viserys. And two of them will get new keeps for their families, when the said keeps will be built.
Cregan sighs as the King gets down on one knee, hugs his niece and then rises and kisses his cousin and wife, who looks gorgeous in her red dress despite being heavily pregnant, on her forehead. He is not of those who can think a lot about his past, but he hardly can believe that only two years have passed since the green dragon and his rider landed nearby Winterfell. Once they hunted together, played snowballs in secret,watched the night sky and shared kisses in its darkness. Once merely a young grandlord and prince with a young dragon — now Hand and his King, who is gonna be father soon.
But are they the same persons who have fallen for each other during the visit to the North?
Once they reunited after Jacaerys’s coronation and his mother’s funeral, he voiced his concerns about it. Jacaerys, who there did his best to make Cregan call him «Jace» again, didn’t smiled in vain attempt to make the situation look easier, but lowered his gaze and genuinely said that he didn't know this. He was thrown out of balance by the betrayal of the dragonseeds he recruited, his brother's death and his mother being killed by one of Larys Strong’s spies. Than, they couldn’t find the words to sooth each other and barely sat alone in the cabinet, pressing their foreheads against each other, and somehow, this was enough.
And so they decided — no matter what, to be here and watch for each other.
The princess and the Queen leave King Jacaerys, as he goes to him. In the sky, the dragon’s cry is heard, and Cregan wonders, what sea monster is brought to keep by Moondancer now. Last time, Queen Baela’s dragon dragged the whole shark to the Red Keep.
«We need to discuss some things privately.» says Jace, when he comes to him and Cregan nods.
Since the war, huge numbers of armies of North, Riverlands and Vale and Blacks supporters from other Kingdoms have occupied the Westlands, Stormlands, Kingslands and Reach — as the lands whose lords betrayed their true queen. In retaliation, they will be put under direct control of the king’s through loyal people for a temporary time. Kermit Tully got the Westlands, Lord Rovan got the Reach, Corlys Velaryon got the Stormlands, and Jeyne Arryn’s heir Joffrey Arryn got Kingslands. And Cregan thinks that the reason Jace called him to his rooms is somehow connected to this.
They reach the king’s cabinet in a minute and the guards salute to them. They enter it a second after and Jace closes the door.
Cregan can see the said cabinet. Poets and bards often talk about how wonderful the Red Keep looks like, and sometimes Cregan is ready to agree with them. There is the broken model of old Valyria made by Jace’s maternal grandfather, king Viserys, a huge table, a chair nearby and a fire burning in the fireplace. There are a bunch of letters on the table and a ream of sheets next to them.
Then, Jace shows him a bunch of letters. Cregan reads them patiently. These letters come from different cities - or better to say, from unions the prominent ones of these cities, like merchants or most skilled craftsmen. The number of cities are impressive: Weeping town, Vinetown, Pebbletown, Hull, King’s Landing itself, Duskendale, Lannisport, Tumbletown, Bitterbridge… The prominent ones of these cities are afraid - it’s visible in the tone of their letters. The war left them with no protection from the marching armies of lords, especially the traitor lords and so they are asking the king for protection. They will pay money directly to his representatives, will form city militias or empower the existing ones and put the directly to the king’s service if he’ll support them in their initiative.
And there Cregan understands. Now, there are Tully, Stark and Arryn armies keeping the order in former rebel territories, but it ain’t gonna last forever. Sooner or later, but they need to leave home… And then…
« Are you going to use city councils against the former rebel lords?»
And the smirk blossoms on Jace’s lips.
«Exactly».
she/her, Slav, left-wing socialist, amateur writer and publicist. Spoilt by my historian education rot and gonna rant about many things because of it.
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