the following prompts were taken from the starz series becoming elizabeth, a period drama set in tudor england, following the life of the future queen elizabeth the first after her father’s death, & during her brother’s reign. some prompts have been lightly edited for roleplaying suitability. please note — these prompts may include mentions of blood, war, death, & other things some might find upsetting. feel free to change pronouns & prompts as you see fit !
❛ the [ king / queen ] is dead. long live the [ king / queen. ] ❜
❛ there. you’ve said your goodbyes now. ❜
❛ can a [ king / queen / title ] not speak for themselves ? ❜
❛ wait for instructions, & have faith. ❜
❛ already the wheels are turning, & no - one even takes breath to grieve. ❜
❛ they won’t make us wait to marry, will they ? ❜
❛ we’re ahead of them all for now. we need to keep it that way. ❜
❛ don’t let them see you doing that. ❜
❛ you’re not a child anymore, you’re the [ king / queen / title. ] ❜
❛ the court can be a forest of opinion, with no clear path through it. ❜
❛ you saw how they swarmed around [ name ], even as they were dying. ❜
❛ a great hole has opened up in the world, & men are going to be scrambling to fill it. ❜
❛ the more you let in, the more you leave yourself exposed. ❜
❛ a [ king / queen ] is made by marriage to a [ queen / king. ] whether they’re dead or alive is not the issue. ❜
❛ to act like age is any protection from the designs of men ! ❜
❛ you look thin & you look sad. ❜
❛ pay no attention to the designs of men. they forget them as quickly as they make them. ❜
❛ i’ve seen it many times, [ name ], you galloping away from the trouble you started. ❜
❛ well, how disappointing to be remembered for what i am, rather than who i am. status over personhood. ❜
❛ would you have remembered me if it was not for my status ? ❜
❛ what do you think you’re doing, barely dressed & out here ? ❜
❛ what devil down there is playing finger puppets with us all ? ❜
❛ yes, i am still here, full of regret, & shame, & wine. ❜
❛ so have your tutors assigned me as something for you to study ? what lesson am i ? ❜
❛ we’ll find you a bucket of water for you to dunk your head in, sober you up. ❜
❛ please stop flirting so outrageously with [ name ] ! ❜
❛ you’re offering me the [ king’s / queen’s ] ear, are you ? ❜
❛ actually, i’d like to offer you the [ king’s / queen’s ] hand. ❜
❛ best marry you while i have the chance, then. ❜
❛ i shouldn’t have to send an army to fetch a [ husband / wife ] for myself. ❜
❛ your & my opinions, [ name ], are best kept to ourselves, for they are of no worth. ❜
❛ i don’t believe i outrank anyone, really. ❜
❛ you up here craving power, [ name / title ] ? ❜
❛ ah, well, i’m quite sick of decisions, myself; quite overwhelmed by them. ❜
❛ you learn much more about your parents after they’re dead than you ever did when they were alive. ❜
❛ so, what had you done to deserve a clap in the face ? ❜
❛ i had ideas of marrying people i should not, & i was sent away for it. ❜
❛ there have been a great number of movements at court. ❜
❛ i only wanted to know more of court. ❜
❛ i’m still in mourning, & you’d now have me gossip with you like a fishwife ? ❜
❛ i carry the sins of my [ mother / father. ] ❜
❛ i never dreamt you’d have such new & sudden - found maturity. ❜
❛ wait ? to be sold off again to the highest bidder ? how do you think i ended up in [ name ]’s bed to start with ? ❜
❛ no [ man / woman ] with any wit should allow themselves to become a piece for barter in other people’s games. ❜
❛ i’ve been trapped at court like a fly under a glass. ❜
❛ if only problems at home were as easily solved as they are here, with a sword & some strength of character. ❜
❛ i dread the day when my enemies have managed to pay for your sword. ❜
❛ perhaps you would permit me to ride with you one day. ❜
❛ have you really been as foolish as i hear you’ve been ? ❜
❛ you consider me a valuable piece in this game, whether you admit it or not. ❜
❛ is no - one to marry for love ? ❜
❛ do you know what rooms like this become for women ? cattle sales, as owners barter over our value. ❜
❛ it’s treason, what we’ve done. ❜
❛ speak for your own weakness, & your frailty, & your lack of ambition. ❜
❛ you really expect me to believe you married them for love ? ❜
❛ i trust you no more than i trust a rabid dog. ❜
❛ well, war is never over. so with any luck, you’ll still get yourself killed. ❜
❛ i wanted not to look a fool ! ❜
❛ talk like this again, i will have you whipped. ❜
❛ some still say you’re a bastard. ❜
❛ i should strike you for thinking such a thing. ❜
❛ you think i’ve ever got what i wanted ? ❜
❛ never be sorry for a personality, [ name. ] ❜
❛ i find it hard to picture you a matchmaker. ❜
❛ if only we were all free. free to act as we choose. to do what we want. if only. ❜
❛ [ name / title ], do you not know what this sound requires of you ? ❜
❛ pray, when will you stop torturing me ? ❜
❛ i wanted to check if you were always going to look at me like this, or if it were only temporary. ❜
❛ i am sorry that my marriage caused this. ❜
❛ believe it or not, your opinion means a great deal to me. ❜
❛ i will end up like my [ father / mother / relative ], banished & alone. ❜
❛ the world wants us at odds, we don’t have to let it be that way. ❜
❛ people pay far less heed to what i’m doing thank you think, [ name. ] ❜
❛ i have no effect on the standing of anyone in this world. ❜
❛ i’m not trying to hurt you, i’m trying to warn you. ❜
❛ i have no opinion on who or what you marry. you are of no consequence to me. ❜
❛ for your safety, your sanity, come to me. ❜
❛ it was, as you so often tell me, a hideous time, so why do you need these reminders of it ? ❜
❛ everyone thinks i am a fool to have married you.❜
❛ i won’t speak ill of any [ man / woman ] with ambition. ❜
❛ all women are used. choose who to be used by. ❜
❛ i suppose other people’s money is an easy currency to spend. ❜
❛ we will not surrender because you feel the strain on your wrist reaching into your pocket, or because you were born without pride. ❜
❛ if this is the price of staying at court, i will return to the country. ❜
❛ spied on by royalty, what an honour. ❜
❛ why must i always be the spectator ? why can’t i just this once play the part ? ❜
❛ if only you held the scripture a little more dear. ❜
❛ i worry sometimes that history’s going to repeat itself. ❜
❛ you may hiss & tease & hate me, but you may not disbelieve me when i say that you are magnificent, for you are. ❜
❛ you may well ruin my life, [ name. ] & i’d fucking let you, if you’d like to. ❜
❛ i have seen sensible men & sensible women die all around me, & yet i stay standing. ❜
❛ i wish you’d tell me who you’re writing to, with such impenetrable dedication. ❜
❛ i’m old enough to make my own decisions without counsel. ❜
❛ the country is a powder keg. our duty is to stop anyone lighting either fuse. ❜
❛ spring has come & gone, my love. all should be renewed. ❜
❛ if you do still mourn them, know that the dead want us free, for they are. ❜
❛ i would not keep reading a letter that has caused as much pain as that one has. ❜
❛ they are a loaded canon, & the game of court is to see which gunner can fire their rage in the right direction. ❜
❛ forgive me, [ name ], but i cannot fuck the threat away this time. ❜
❛ freedom comes by the leave of others, i’ve learned. ❜
❛ i do not believe you have the ability to keep your word. ❜
❛ you wish me to tear apart my own family & my own country ? ❜
❛ it’s quite extraordinary how people can see so much, but they cannot see themselves. ❜
❛ i think they don’t scheme & plot against you & i. i think they don’t think of us at all. ❜
❛ beauty really is wasted on the young. you don’t use it, or believe in it, & just when you start to, it disappears. ❜
❛ somewhat forgotten now, though, aren’t you ? ❜
❛ even i can divine the true purpose of these celebrations, & they’re not for me. ❜
❛ do i have your leave to speak freely ? i’d hate to presume the right to an opinion again. ❜
❛ you wield your power as a royal readily enough, so you clearly have not forgotten it. ❜
❛ perhaps just mind that others have not your power. ❜
❛ you know me. why can’t you take my side ? ❜
❛ i will always be on your side against those that wrong you, but when you use your energy in shitting on those weaker, i choose neutrality. ❜
❛ i’m sure it was unpleasant to be you just then, but it’s most unsettling to be me, & to have caused it. ❜
❛ my dress is only for tonight. do not spoil it, else my revelation of tolerance for you will be short - lived indeed. ❜
❛ do you know how awful it is, to be forced to live with that bastard ? ❜
❛ i know who you are now, [ name. ] i will not speak out of turn to you again. ❜
❛ i take no pleasure, though, in making myself small to ease the fears of others. ❜
❛ lord, how will things ever be done with these constant dances we must perform ? ❜
❛ i am the [ king / queen / title ], not you ! i am to be consulted, i am to be obeyed ! ❜
❛ i am not even given say over myself, it seems. ❜
❛ you are in this room not to rule, but to learn from those that do — from me. ❜
❛ look, we’re not gonna have a performance over last night, are we ? ❜
❛ i married a [ man / woman ] of little wit or judgement. ❜
❛ i believe you may think you saw something last night that you did not. ❜
❛ i did not believe that you had been cast in the same mold as your [ mother / father / relative. ] ❜
❛ we cannot replay this moment. choose carefully how you act in it. ❜
❛ i tried to teach you the way this great game we find ourselves in is played. well, even if i say it myself, i have been a most excellent teacher. ❜
❛ what will it be, then ? it isn’t how it seemed, or, [ she / he ] seduced me ? ❜
❛ forgive me, i skipped ahead. you are in two minds over something else ? ❜
❛ i’m glad you know the truth without me telling you, & my mind without me speaking it ! ❜
❛ you do yourself a disservice to pretend to be so cold. ❜
❛ did you think them a better puppet if you used your cock instead of strings ? ❜
❛ choose [ her / him ], if you want. it won’t end well for them, for you. ❜
❛ i would that we had been married long ago. ❜
❛ the way the world thinks of you, what it says, is precious. it can protect you, or it can end you. ❜
❛ what you’ve done does not matter. it’s what people think you have done is all that matters now. ❜
❛ affection must not slip into overfamiliarity. ❜
❛ i know you find me rude, [ name. ] i do apologize for it every time ❜
❛ no letters have come for you. i have told you i would tell you if they did. ❜
❛ i imagined you’d taken a silly fancy to them. but this … ❜
❛ how knowledgeable you are in these matters. ❜
❛ if word gets out, then we will both lose our heads. ❜
❛ what pain you have caused, & shame you have brought. ❜
❛ i thought you were planning to marry me to the [ king / queen / title. ] ❜
❛ never forget that you’re worth more than any [ man / woman ] who’s lucky to marry you. ❜
❛ do you know what they say of you ? ❜
❛ how can i know what others say when i’m not there ? ❜
❛ i’m sorry for the letter i sent. ❜
❛ i know you think yourself cleverer than me, & in truth, you may well be right. ❜
❛ even the cleverest need learn, & for that, they must listen to those with experience. trust me, i have plenty. ❜
❛ you will come with me to court, & we’ll show the lies for what they are. ❜
❛ whose idea was it for you to come here, of all places ? ❜
❛ they wish us to fight it out to the death & hope they’re standing behind a winner at the end. ❜
❛ don’t hand me the power to destroy you & then ask me not to use it. ❜
❛ you trying to stuff your wad into every young purse with a claim to the throne ? ❜
❛ i hate this. it’s like watching a greek tragedy, the end foretold from the start. ❜
❛ i haven’t come to fight with you. let’s do something that we enjoy. ❜
❛ there’s been enough gossip flapping around your house that it took flight & reached mine. ❜
❛ are you so very proud of your own actions that you present this face to me ? ❜
❛ after all that you have been through, all that i have seen & admired, you choose this ? ❜
❛ all your fine tutors of latin & greek, yet no - one taught you this ? ❜
❛ you wouldn’t look at me like that if you knew what i had done. ❜
❛ i know you are taken to drama, [ name ], but you could have spared it on this one occasion. ❜
❛ you are the only player in this game worrying about the rules. ❜
❛ as god persectures me, i think his greatest trick is that he leaves you still well alone. ❜
❛ your view out onto the world, [ name ], is a little different from the one that the rest of us have. ❜
❛ i’ve spent my whole life waiting for men to prove themselves honourable, but no matter how decent or pious, they all had their price. ❜
❛ ambition is much admired in men, but derided in women. ❜
❛ the crown forgives your absence, & welcomes your return. ❜
❛ it has been three nights you’ve spent in my garden, staring up at my window. ❜
❛ if there’s one thing i’ve come to learn is an inevitability with you, [ name ], it’s that you change your mind as often as the sea. ❜
❛ when we last spoke, you said you were in love with me. ❜
❛ i’ve come to you for a new life, not for us to beat ourselves with misery & the past. ❜
❛ i’d been all but banished from this place, but i fought my way back. ❜
❛ i will not give up my victories to marry in the shadows. ❜
❛ you know, sometimes it’s good to share your worries with an inferior, inconsequential person. ❜
❛ i know you will not believe that you owe me an explanation, but try to take my word for it here when i tell you that you fucking do. ❜
❛ i’ve made a mistake, haven’t i ? this choice, it was the wrong one. ❜
❛ this is a chance to make something good & whole from the ruins of before. ❜
❛ it’s too late for what is good, what is easy, but you can still do what is right. ❜
❛ they say you are refusing to speak. do you wish me to have you tortured ? ❜
❛ is this what love looks like, coming from you ? ❜
❛ i believe i’m allowed the privacy of my own feelings if kept within my own head. ❜
❛ i hoped you would continue to have goodwill towards me. ❜
❛ what conclusions you draw, without ever hearing my testimony. ❜
❛ well, you must be very pleased, having poisoned every man against me. ❜
❛ what cannot be cured must be endured, [ name. ] ❜
❛ i, too, have done deeds & said things in order to keep myself safe. they will sit heavy on your heart the rest of your life. ❜
❛ what happened to you all ? everyone & everything came back quite changed. ❜
❛ having, seemingly with great surprise, discovered yourself unpopular, must you flap & hiss like a goose at any hand of friendship extended to you ? ❜
❛ if the hand is yours, [ name ], you best keep it out of my reach, or else i’ll break it. ❜
❛ i have always stood by you, & now i only ask you for what you’ve always had of me. ❜
❛ you must stop that. no [ husband / wife ] will stand for that kind of boldness. ❜
❛ you cannot allow yourself to be sold off to another court. ❜
❛ you were always so keen to prove that our positions in this world were alike. ❜
❛ stop fighting to stay free, as if our hands are not already tied, as if they haven’t always been. ❜
❛ if this was the path god decided, you wouldn’t have to struggle to stay on it. ❜
❛ i wish i had listened to you long ago. ❜
❛ love marriages are for peasants wishing to fuck without sin. ❜
❛ unlike everyone else, choosing their path based on what has the least risk & what has the most gain, you simply do what you believe is right. i have never known anything like it. ❜
❛ the story for me here is already writ. i knew it long ago, i always have. & i know the end. however … perhaps i do not need to stay for it. ❜
❛ if you wish to hide from me, do not hide in places that i’ve shown you are good for hiding in. ❜
❛ i know you hold them in great disdain, but do you know how like them you are ? ❜
❛ we can do what you want, we can do whatever you like, please, please, just don’t go in there. ❜
❛ how dare you act as if my life was as simple as this, & that only you know that ? ❜
❛ i can apologise to you later, but first just answer the question … do you love me ? ❜
❛ if you do this, you are on your own. ❜
❛ why do you assume they will return your loyalty just because you have decided to give it ? ❜
❛ i didn’t know where to go, & so i found myself riding here. ❜
❛ you haven’t thought of me at all since i left, have you ? ❜
❛ i see you are determined to make amends, but perhaps start with actions, rather than words. ❜
❛ why do you ask me to do that when you know that i can’t ? ❜
❛ i wonder if we’d have thought it worth all the death & blood we spent in changing the world the first time if we’d known it’d be changing back. ❜
❛ i feel like i’m meant to apologize for being in here. ❜
❛ it is an impossible thing i am looking at now, but then again, i have lived through impossible times before. ❜
❛ i’m here for the one who came to me & promised me freedom. ❜
❛ i did believe that you had taken flight from both court & your sense as some sort of protest at the injustice in your life. ❜
❛ i suppose neither of us had possession of one another. ❜
❛ i’m sorry to have not remained in mourning for you for the rest of my life. ❜
❛ we’re married, or do you sometimes forget ? ❜
❛ you want to upset the whole world to give you, what, power ? ❜
❛ if you wish to murder me, [ name ], do it better ! ❜
❛ whenever there’s a chance of power, a man will always come to a woman who can give it to them. ❜
❛ enough damage, enough lives have been lost in pursuit of want rather than duty. ❜
❛ i believe i am worth your attention right now, for what other option do you have ? ❜
❛ you’d perhaps have done better to keep me as a friend. ❜
❛ you can’t change the game we find ourselves in. you can only play it. ❜
❛ i fear my own family just as much as i fear yours. ❜
❛ do you think you do not somehow answer to me, [ name ] ? for you do. ❜
❛ quite the unfortunate hand you played, [ name. ] ❜
❛ the truth that hits me again & again is that i have no love for you. ❜
❛ i know you like to think that i am raised up while you are trodden down. ❜
❛ you could choose the quiet life, & you do not. you choose this. ❜
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