queenetoilewrites

[queenetoilewrites]

new game: put your sexuality in the tags and what sauce you eat chicken nuggets with

im a lesbian and i only trust ranch

[queenetoilewrites]

Out of curiosity how old is the MC of the sequel series? What's going on with her brother (single and in to girls (asking for a friend)? Why does he go to a school different from her? His personality (my friend likes princes ok)?

Jae and her twin siblings are all 16 (for anyone not aware, in Korea you're born 1 year old, so the quads are 15 in American years) in the sequel. The quads or their younger siblings never went to different schools. Hangyeol and Jiwon were adamant that they all attended the same school for the sake of convenience, and the guards were 100% behind it because it made gathering all of them at the end of the day easier.

When the expulsiongate fiasco happened and the school couldn't keep it under wraps, it was decided (with the assent of Jae and her siblings) that all of Hangyeol and Jiwon's children would be moved to the school that traditionally educates the imperial family. Of course, because of the fam wanting to present a united front, the rest of the family quickly followed suit.

Jae-Gyu is kind, but mischievous. He was the first to vouch for Jae when Elisabeth would accuse her of bullying. One of his lines is "Why would my twin sister cause a diplomatic nightmare by going after the daughter of a diplomat?" He's steadfast and loyal. He also began to throw shade at Myungsoo when he realized that he was doing nothing to stop his girlfriend from antagonizing his twin sister.

[queenetoilewrites]

[queenetoilewrites]

As she should.

Didn't Anne of Cleves outlive Henry??

She did and she enjoyed everyday of it.

[queenetoilewrites]

Boosting to save a life

Heard some important information on Twitter today, and thought I’d post it here for anyone who may not have heard it. This is actually a thing, devised by human rights organisation called Karma Nirvana.

Reblog to save a life?

[queenetoilewrites]

This is good for anyone looking to write trauma!

How to Write OCs With Trauma

Just as I had shown with the 3 love posts for this series, there are a ton of ways that trauma can be shown through character behaviors or even speech patterns. Different people react differently when it comes to trauma, and you should also keep in mind what kind of trauma the character had gone through and what they were like before it occurred before deciding how they would be like now.

In the following post, I will be giving some different responses to trauma that your characters could display.

I. The “IDGAF Anymore” Trauma Response

Perhaps one of the most used responses to trauma that you see in characters in media is the character that blocks off their emotional responses to anything thereafter. They may fall in love with someone but they’ll never admit it because they don’t wish to be hurt. They may find a new family to love them but they shut themselves off from expressing said love because they are afraid of being hurt again.

Essentially what this response boils down to is a fear of being hurt again. Most people that shut down emotionally have been abandoned or abused or betrayed by someone they once trusted in some way; sometimes the thing that makes them feel betrayed isn’t even the other person’s fault such as an older sibling moving out of the house and away from their family once they get older or the death of a loved one.

II. The “Anger Issues” Response

I have known 2 people personally really well that have had this response to trauma. This response is where a person is so emotionally shut down (much like the last response spoken about) that they won’t allow themselves to show any emotion other than anger.

I once had a therapist tell me “usually when a person is angry, there is another emotion behind the anger, whether it is fear or depression or otherwise.” So the first question you should ask yourself when making a character with the rage response is… why are they angry? What emotion is being masked by the explosion of their anger? What are they trying to hide from? What traumatic experience is making them feel this way and how do they really feel about said experience? Depending on your answers and the kind of character you’re writing about, the angry outbursts can be different.

Some people will yell, some will get violent, some will punch holes in walls and doors and furniture… some will scream into a pillow… some will storm away in the middle of a conversation or hang up the phone if someone says just the wrong thing. Really think about what your character is like, how they respond to tense situations, before you lean into their anger response because some anger responses do not fit certain personality types.

III. The “Sensitive One” Response

Some people, when dealing with tense situations, become intensely emotional. They may cry easily when someone just looks at them cross-eyed. They might go quiet when they’re anxious. They might get really defensive at the smallest things. The Sensitive One can be shown in many, many ways, as there are lots of different types of sensitivity, so really consider your character and what they’ve been through before you decide which type of sensitive person they are.

IV. The “Unmasked Hero” Response

Not all heroes wear capes… that’s the saying, right? These people are the activists. These are the people that will talk to anyone for hours and hours just to talk them down. These are the people you always hear saying “I never want people to feel the way I felt when I went through this.” These are the people that become therapists to help others going through their issues. The Unmasked Heroes live their lives to make it so that no one has to experience the pain that they felt, if they can help it.

V. The “Rebel” Response

I do what I want. That’s the theme song of the Rebel. They lash out, usually acting like the victim no matter what happens (sometimes they really are, but sometimes they aren’t). Trauma can completely rewire a person’s brain, but with the Rebel, they often felt repressed before or like they were unable to fully be themselves and when something traumatic happens, something snaps in them to trigger that “I don’t give a flying fuck” response in their brain and suddenly they’re doing anything and everything they ever wanted to do (and sometimes even didn’t want to do) just to spite the rest of the world and if you don’t like it, you can kiss their ass. This can also be shown through a runaway after something traumatic happens.

This is another very common, often used trauma response.

VI. The “Mental Breakdown” Response

As a mentally ill woman myself, I want to emphasize: not all who go through trauma get mental illnesses and not all with mental illness went through a mental break. That being said, it is very common for an extremely traumatic experience (or life, in some cases) to give someone a mental illness. Or rather, to bring it out of them. There are illnesses like Bipolar, PTSD and more that come to the surface after an extreme mental break, PTSD being the more famous for this very situation.

What is important here is that there is no one situation that will cause a mental break. Depending on the person, it can be something that would be nothing to one person but would completely break another down while a third person might be going through 5 things all at once and seem to be handling it well. There are so many different illnesses out there, and a lot of them are very similar, so what I think is most important is that you do your research before you write an illness you have not personally seen or experienced. If you know someone with an illness you want to write about, ask them if you can run some idea by them and make sure it isn’t stigmatizing the illness, as mental illness gets stigmatized left and right in media.

VII. The “Class Clown” Response

Another common thing that is shown in media - and I’ve noticed is very common in real life - is the depressed clown. There are so many people that listen to society telling them it isn’t okay to not be okay, so they laugh and clown around to make others laugh and just like a lot of people need others’ compliments to feel validated, these people often need laughter to feel validated.

Some people that become the Clown type will deflect their sadness by making dumb jokes. Maybe, if you write about your character texting or on social media, you can show them in a downward spiral and just get on their social media page to post a dumb pun to negate the negativity. Or make a joke at their own expense, which is also common. A lot of people will make others feel bad for not being able to laugh at themselves, and these people are [often] great at doing exactly that, even if they end up in tears later on when they’re by themselves.

VIII. The “Angsty Artist” Response

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, a lot of artists have a lot of emotions they are processing and a lot of them will use their art (whether it be visual or writing or otherwise) in order to process it.

You may have a teenager writing angsty fanfiction or poetry. You may have a young adult opening their first blog where they write about their life beginning adulthood. You may have a person that is drawing dark, gory artwork. Whatever it may be, the art can either directly reflect the way they feel, such as the dark artwork, or they may do the opposite and write about their personal idea of a utopia and use art to escape. Either way, the art is a means to process and understand themselves better and/or escape from reality for however long they do it.

The only good and bad thing about using this response is that a lot of people that use art end up getting lost in it. They end up becoming obsessed and never cease to work on the art or think about the art and may become consumed by their own processing creativity.

IX. The “Addiction” Response

Addiction can come in so many forms. It can be the typical drugs, cigarettes, alcohol… or it can be addiction to getting lost in a hobby (see #8: The “Angsty Artist”)… or it can be becoming a workaholic. Honestly, anything can become an addiction if you let it consume you, so keep that in mind. It could even be something such as them becoming a hoarder because they are afraid to let their past go, so they won’t let anything go.

There are so many other responses to trauma. There are billions of people in the world, and tons of them have trauma in their lives. To say that it all boils down to these responses would be silly, but these are some common responses to trauma that would be a great starting point if you’re trying to figure out how to have a character of yours going through trauma.

[queenetoilewrites]

As the Kardashians celebrate their 20th and final season…

I would LOVE to congratulate myself for never watching a single episode.

[queenetoilewrites]

Alright, my laptop died yesterday so please reblog my pinned post with links where you can support me in order for more people to see it. Likes are very appreciated and a very sincere thank you to the ten people who liked, but they don't help me in the long run. I have a Kofi and PayPal, and my Cash App has officially been added to the list of links for anyone who wants to support me that way. My Patreon is still a work in progress, but my laptop going "Bye Bitch" has put a hamper on my progress.

[queenetoilewrites]

Hello, Queenie here! Since the pandemic is a pain in the ass as of late, I've decided to leave links where people can support my work. It's not required to read my works (well on Patreon it will), but every little bit will help. Now, that it’s out there, here’s where to support my work:

Kofi: Here

Patreon: Work in Progress

I’ll update this with my patreon when i get it set up, so keep an eye out for that, because I’ll update this post when I do!

Edit: also feel free to share this, I don't bite, and it's not a requirement to give if you're in a tough financial situation.

[queenetoilewrites]

Can I be added to the taglist for The Price of Betrayal?

Of Course!

[queenetoilewrites]

WIP Intro: Price of Betrayal

Sometimes, the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. Once, I had loved a boy with all my heart, had an amazing group of best friends that I would willingly go above and beyond for if they asked me. They repaid me for my unwavering love and trust by stabbing me in the back and screwing me over. As Daenerys once said, "A Queen who trusts no one is as foolish as a Queen who trusts everyone." I will never make the mistake of trusting so easily ever again, getting stabbed in the back by the people that you thought you could trust isn't very fun, you see. I wonder if this is how Caesar felt on the ides of march, or how Catherine of Aragon felt when Henry VIII turned on her.

PoVs: Third Person, Jae Hwa, Jae-gyu, Jae-kyung, Jae-young, Hwa-young, Ji-won, Han-gyeol, Soraya, Elisabeth, and Alexandre

Genre: YA/NA, Romance (takes a backseat to main plot though), Coming of Age, Problem Novel

Themes: heartbreak, betrayal, a fall from grace, moving on, self-identity, individuality, family, friendship, love, building and rebuilding trust, facing the consequences of your actions, finding your own path

Warnings: Ableism/ableistic language/trivializing mental illness/invisible disabilities, trauma, confrontation of abuser(s), anxiety/anxiety attacks, mention of cyberbullying, past toxic relationships/friendships, manipulation, racial microaggressions, bullying, talk of classism and elitism, emotional abuse, off-page car accident, death of a loved one, underage drinking, blood, mentions of sexual content, mentions of the death of a sibling, sexism, (emotionally) abusive father, fatphobia/fatphobic comments, body shaming, grief, loss, infidelity, non-consensual touching, hospital, person pressured to drink, unexpected kiss, mentions of previous incidents of intimate partner violence, dubcon/forced kiss, abuse, violence, age gap, wrongful imprisonment, violation of privacy, colorism, and mentions of murder.

Current Status: Brainstorming

Synopsis:

At Seoul’s private Lee Hwa Arts School, Lee Jae Hwa has it all: A loving boyfriend, great friends, and the role of class rep under her belt. Being the eldest daughter of the beloved Emperor and Empress and twin sister to the Crown Prince of Korea has it's perks, namely being allowed the privilege of being able to travel without having to endure security going through your luggage since no one would accuse you of smuggling contraband (which comes in handy when you buy snacks from the airport gift shop in New York or Belgium before departure). However, her life comes crashing down around her when she finds out that her boyfriend Myungsoo cheated on her with his ex-girlfriend Elisabeth (on valentine's day and her own mother's birthday of all days), and she is betrayed by her best friends and ousted as class rep because of the subsequent fallout of his infidelity in which she is painted as just nothing more than a jealous liar on Monday. And just like that, Jae is jettisoned from beloved friend and girlfriend to a bully and jealous harpy no better than the mayor's daughter within the span of one day. Not even her own teacher is willing to stand up for her star pupil, believing wholeheartedly that Jae Hwa has become a problem child over a boy who cheated on her.

Wrong move, no one stabs a Princess of Korea in the back and gets away with it. Her friends quickly find themselves paying both the personal and social price of their betrayal. No more attending events or hanging out at the palace as her honored guests, gone are the free pastries from her grandfather's bakery, the carefully planned class events using her connections, and so are the prospects of being presented at the imperial debutante ball. Eventually, the girl she treated like a sister stoops low enough to try and get her expelled as retaliation for refusing to yield to the pressure to roll over and go back to being their thankless errand girl, but when it fails (thanks to the principal stopping the witch hunt in it's tracks when her parents show up to plead her case), her parents decide that enough is enough. Under the reasoning that the other school is much closer to the palace, has better academic offerings, security, and offers their students better electives/extracurricular activities; Jae and her six siblings are transferred to the highly prestigious Joseon International School for the Arts over the spring break. Jae finds herself making new friends and missing her old school less and less as the days go by. Unfortunately, her former friends take her departure and changing her phone number as a betrayal despite the fact that she had no choice in the matter, and continue to hound her about her jealousy and bullying of "poor Elisabeth" over Myungsoo. Funny how she can bully her former friend over her ex-boyfriend despite the fact she's stopped caring and blocked everyone's cell phone numbers, right? Sadly, fate isn't kind to her and her former school burns down over winter break, meaning that her friends will temporarily be transferred to her school. This causes more conflict once they're placed in her class, and they quickly try to reassert their dominance over her, thankfully her new friends and siblings stand by her and defend their best friend and sister against their underhanded attacks.

It's all fun and games until they go after her new friends and siblings, which Jae Hwa isn't about to take lying down. She has dirt on her former friends and ex-boyfriend, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. Everyone knows, hell hath no fury like a princess scorned. Will they withstand the price of betrayal, or will they find themselves blown away by the storm that they caused?

Note: Price of Betrayal (or the Betrayalverse, as i call it) is a revamp of my OG WIP, Behind the Phoenix Throne. While it’s predecessor the Phoenix Throne duology followed Jiwon in the lead-up to her becoming the Empress Consort of Korea by marrying Hangyeol, the Betrayalverse trilogy follows their eldest daughter Jae Hwa. Also, Jae’s former school was originally supposed to burn down over the same spring break that she left, but i moved it to winter break in order to give her a break/let her settle in to her new school.

Taglist (Let me know if you want to be added or removed): @inky-duchess

[queenetoilewrites]

George Floyd has justice.

The brute that ended his life has been found guilty of the second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. This a step in a long arduous journey, but it's in the right direction.

[queenetoilewrites]

Thank you for the tag @inky-duchess​!

Squash

"I'm going to squash this matter of the seating arrangement right now, everyone who was not in this class prior to today, stand up. Everyone who was here prior to today and has an assigned seat in my seating chart, move back to your assigned seats. As the teacher, I'm the one who assigns the seats and decides who sits where, are we understood?" 

Queen

"Your mother was a commoner before she became a Queen-"

"A Queen?" Jae Hwa rolled her eyes as she corrected Elisabeth, her voice almost as cold as the cup of iced coffee that was currently sitting in front of her courtesy of Alexandre, who was currently holding her hand under the table and rubbing her thumb. Maybe he was trying to calm her down before she started a fight over her mom's dignity as empress. "My mother isn't a Queen, she's the Empress of the Great Korean Empire, so refer to my mother properly or don't refer to her at all. I'm not going to ignore that small dig at my mother, so consider this your first and last warning. Your problem is with me, not my family or friends, go after them and I'll have your mother convinced that shipping you off to boarding school in Switzerland is a good idea before you can even get the chance to spin another one of your lies about me."

Coat

"Jae, look at me." Alexandre's voice is soft as he removes his coat and drapes it over her shoulders to protect her from the cold, drawing her attention to him. He didn't know how bad the situation was before she transferred schools (though it had to be pretty bad if she and her siblings transferred), but he did know that she wasn't facing them all alone this time. The grin he gives her is boyish and lopsided as he runs a hand through his hair. "I know you, your family definitely knows you, and your friends know you. We all know you, that you wouldn't even dream of doing anything that you're being accused of. Let's go to the store and buy some of your favorite snacks and some treats for Toffee, then we can head to my place and watch a movie of your choosing, how does that sound?"

Animal

"That animal you and your friends want thrown out of the class, Miss Brandt is Jae's service dog." Georgiana gestured to where Toffee slept peacefully in his bed in the corner. She was initially taken aback learning that royals having service dogs was an actual thing, but it was no different than what it was like with her mother's service dog Speck. Toffee just happened to reside in a palace like the Queen's corgis did. Besides she vowed to teach all of her students equally regardless of status, ailments, or any physical or mental disabilities. "She has permission from her teachers, the principal, the ministry and local office of education, and her licensed mental health professional to have Toffee accompany her to school. She does not need permission from you or anyone else in this classroom. If I catch anyone harassing or questioning her regarding Toffee's presence again despite her vocal desire to not answer or disturbing him either when he's sleeping or by Jae's side, you will have a detention the first time. The second incidence, I will be calling your parents to discuss your need to violate a fellow student’s privacy and hinder her service dog from doing his job. The third time, it will be considered bullying and discrimination and as this school has a strict no-tolerance policy, it can result in suspension or expulsion. Are we understood?"

Find the Word Tag Game

Thank you @writeherewaiting​ for tagging me!

Rules: find the given words in your wips, and if continuing the chain then pick some new words :)

My words are:  awake, listen, sharp, hum, and catch

Awake

Fenice gazed at him, eyes half-lidded, framed by ugly shadows that would be painted away in the morning. She blinks slowly, eyes fluttering every so often in an attempt to keep awake. And she would, if she had to. Stay awake, that is. That is why it is Nike that closes his eyes, chin tucked and knees slightly drawn up. Head immediately returning to the early days of his education where his Ederosus attempted to make him memorize all the ways a prince must conduct himself.

He loved his Ederosus, he really did. The man just had the rather unfortunate talent of putting young, energetic princes like Nike to sleep.

-- When Comes the Dawn

Listen

Fenice’s lips curled into a rueful grin. “Gods hear but they do not listen.”

-- When Comes the Dawn

Sharp

You remember a dream: a woman; sharp and elegant, who wore steel and mail as easily as if it were the silk dresses of her youth. A man; calm and giddy, he tightened the leather straps of his vambrace with his teeth. Another woman, another man. Dressed in armor, dressed in gold, they wore their garbs like a second skin, eyes bright, eyes golden, alive.

-- The Stars do not Bind Us

Hum

You grasp the sword’s hilt and raise it— sheath and all, for some instinctual part of you knows not to unsheathe this blade— above your head. You slice the air with a single stroke. The blade is in perfect balance, a natural extension of yourself. (Of course it is. It is yours. Has always been yours.) It hums, content in your hand and you relish this feeling of rightness— of almost-completion that fills you.

-- The Stars do not Bind Us

Catch

Dessia ghosts a kiss on your wrinkled forehead.

“Do not let him catch you this time, child.”

-- The Stars do not Bind Us

Tagging: @inky-duchess @mayawritesbooks @writting-in-blood @danger-writes @ryns-ramblings

Your words are: Fabric, wave, stars, reach, and grin.

[queenetoilewrites]

I'm interested in both, but I especially love the idea of Tea Thursday (who doesn't like sharing piping hot tea from their wips? ☕)

Guys, I was wondering if you'd all be interested in a theme day? I love hearing all about your OCs and any exposure can plump up your taglists. So here are my ideas:

Meme Mondays: Submit or share a meme about your WIP/OCs or a friend's.

Tea Thursday: Share a snippet of drama about your WIP or your OCs in the spirit of Paris is Burning. The library will be open.

So if you guys are interested in one or both, I would love to hear it and we'll see what we can do about organising it 😊

[queenetoilewrites]

Survival Guide For Ladies/Maids in Waiting

So you're a noblewoman at the imperial/royal court, when you and your family receive word that you've been selected to become a lady/maid-in-waiting for the Empress/Queen/Princess by the Emperor/Empress. Problem is, you have an idea of what the job entails, but no idea how to survive and hang on to your position at court. According to @inky-duchess​ (thanks for the help!), the key is to remember the acronym LOCS: Loyalty, Obedience, Comportment, and Secrecy. Be loyal to your mistress, know how to follow orders and directions (she says jump and you ask "How high, your majesty/highness?"), know how to behave, and always keep your mistress' confidence. Follow these basics of being a lady in waiting and your female character will quickly become a favorite of her mistress and hold her position for a long time.

Know your place: There’s a pecking order for a reason

Even among the ladies/maids in waiting, there’s an established hierarchy that you're required to follow without question, this hierarchy governs who gives orders to who and who has permanent access to the empress/queen. The textbook ambitious lady will use it as an excuse to kick up a major fuss about precedence when she feels that her treasured position as the favorite is being threatened by a newcomer. For example, the hierarchy for the ladies/maids-in-waiting tasked with serving the Queen of France/Empress of the French goes:

Mistress of the Robes

First lady of honor

Dame d'atour

Dame d'honneur/Dame du Palais

Filles d'honneur/Demoiselles d'honneur (maids of honor)

Première femme de Chambre ('First Chamber Maid')

While the mistress of the robes was the highest ranking in the hierarchy of the ladies serving the Queen, the first chamber maid was the only woman in the queen’s household aside from the maid of honor allowed to have the keys to the queen’s rooms and permanent access to the queen. This gave her the opportunity to filter requests of meetings, audiences and messages to the queen and made her a de facto powerful person at court, where she was often flattered and bribed by the courtiers. Any lady or maid-in-waiting worth her salt will know that she has to be clever and useful to her mistress in order to get far at the imperial/royal court, and willing to know when to concede to those above her in the pecking order. Many court ladies in my WIP have received the honor of being promoted to where she directly served the Empress Consort because she either proved herself to be clever or demonstrated loyalty to the imperial family.

Loyalty: Don't be like Littlefinger

A lady/maid must always be loyal to her mistress, otherwise she could experience a major fall from grace, even more so if her mistress the empress/queen/princess is on the exact same page as her husband the emperor/king/prince and she's not his mistress. That means absolutely no following orders from anyone outside of the imperial/royal household, she was hired to serve the empress/queen/princess only. Without royal favor you are just as expendable as anyone else in the service of the imperial/royal family, they can easily replace you with a new favorite if they discover that you've been disloyal, and if you don't like that and have the audacity to try and read the empress/queen/princess then there's being reassigned to lower in the hierarchy under the excuse that you're still technically serving the empress/queen/princess. Loyalty can earn you honors, jewelry, or an advantageous marriage. Being disloyal could earn you being distanced from the inner circle of the empress/queen/princess. Good examples of ladies/maids in waiting (and good inspirations for a loyal lady-in-waiting character) who were loyal ride or dies to their mistress include Catherine Champernowne of Kat (Kat Ashley; lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth I), Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (lady in waiting to Queen Mary I), and Maria de Salinas, Countess Willoughby (lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon).

Obedience: No, that wasn't a request

A lady/maid is required to obey her mistress regardless of what her mistress asks of her, even if her orders are ridiculous or dangerous, her maid/lady could be asked to jump and her response is required to be: "How high, your majesty/highness?" Your character does what her mistress asks, when her mistress asks it of her. No back talk, and no refusing, otherwise she'll fall from favor. She speaks when her mistress tells her to speak, and she doesn't speak out of turn. Once again unless she's the mistress to the emperor/king, has an influential family that her mistress' husband the emperor/king doesn't want to alienate, or she can't be banished from her mistress' inner circle for a reason (such as the husband of her mistress using her as leverage against her family because he suspects them of plotting treason), she's just a mere lady/maid who can easily be replaced with a new favorite who will obey her orders without any questions.

But sometimes obedience can lead her to the execution block. If her mistress is sneaking a lover into her bed, and she had a hand in getting the lover there to begin with, she had better pray that her mistress or her lover don't implicate her as thanks for her help because saying "The queen (or empress) was the one who commanded me to help her sneak him in and I couldn't deny her request!" doesn't absolve her of her integral part in helping her mistress cheat on the emperor/king and potentially muddying the royal bloodline since people are going to doubt that the king's kids are truly his if his wife had an affair. If her mistress wanted to make her and her fellow ladies into spies whom she slips into the beds of her enemies to gain intel like Catherine de' Medici did with the Flying Squadron, guess what she’s doing?

Comportment: Mind your Ps and Qs at all times

A lady/maid has to know how to behave herself both in public and in private with her mistress. She can be friendly with the royal she's serving, but she can't hang off her or call her mistress names then claim that she was "just joking" when her mistress takes offense to her behavior, being friendly is okay until you cross the line. The Empress/Queen must be respected even by her best friends, especially if they are in public. Think of it as like being friends with the wife of your boss, you can be playful with her, but up to a certain point. While the lady might be a subject to the monarch or his mistress, her mistress is his legal wife and the crowned Empress/Queen (especially if her husband is the type of man to reproach his mistress for flagrantly disrespecting his wife and her position), you have to play nice with her in order to retain the favor of the Emperor/King. Now if the Empress/Queen is a monarch in her own right, this complicates the matter because she’s not just disrespecting her mistress, she’s basically disrespecting the monarch of another country.

Do not let her behave like Sarah Churchill did to Queen Anne (your husband writing in a letter to you that the Queen “should make good political use” of his victory in battle isn’t a good excuse). A lady/maid is not allowed to verbally abuse her mistress or tell her to shut up about jewels and unlike Sarah, she would (and should) know better. Anyone else would have dropped her from her inner circle on the spot the very first time she verbally abused her. She can argue with her mistress, but only to a certain point. It should never, ever elevate to a shouting match for any reason, especially if the empress/queen is ruling in her own right. Any empress/queen who is ruling in her own right can ultimately spell the end of your social and political advancement, seeing as her favor depends solely on the Empress/Queen.

Secrecy: Don't spill the tea sis!

A lady/maid will be expected to keep secrets for her mistress, no matter what the secret is, even if she doesn't approve of it. The empress/queen has just found out that she's pregnant with a son and wants to keep it a secret so her husband's mistress can't sabotage the pregnancy since the son of the crowned empress/queen will be the heir regardless of if his mistress has a son? Is she planning to switch her seven children to the school that traditionally educates the Imperial/royal family because the former best friends of her eldest daughter have all turned on her and the girl behind it all tried and failed to get her expelled? Has she confided to you that she's worried that if the prime minister finds out about her plan, he might intervene in his capacity as friend to the monarch and convince her husband that it wouldn't be in the best interest of the crown prince and his siblings to abruptly transfer them out halfway through the school year over one child having problems with her friends? She had better keep that secret, otherwise the empress/queen can and will hold you personally responsible for the loss of her son and the long-awaited heir to the throne or if the prime minister does intervene with her husband. This involves anything like leaking letters alluding to a love affair (looking @ you, Sarah Churchill; you’re lucky you weren’t around for Henry VIII) between her and her mistress or anyone else.

The trust of your empress/queen is like a mirror, once you crack it you can put it back together with but her trust in you won’t be the same and she will begin to confide in another lady/maid about her personal matters, seeing as her former confidant has already proven that she cannot be trusted. Her loose lips make her a massive liability to the monarch and the state and any emperor/empress/king/queen who is worth their salt will recognize this and put her in a position where she is virtually useless to those seeking intel on the monarch from the get go.

He's not worth it: Don't bang her husband if she's calling the shots

Listen to what I'm about to say very closely: It doesn't matter how hot the prince consort is, or how nice he is to her, not one bit. If he takes her as his mistress and parades her around openly, the reigning empress/queen will not be very amused with her, and will definitely make sure she doesn't progress socially or in regards to precedence. He may lavish her with money and gifts, but he can't do much aside from that without openly insulting his wife. Yes, he's allowed to see her as the apple of his eye, but she's still banging the husband of her monarch. Everyone at court will ostracize her for disrespecting the monarch, even more so if she's being a pain in the ass for the imperial/royal court and kicking up a fuss about precedence and favoritism. Her lofty position as mistress/favorite to the prince consort only lasts as long as he's consort to the monarch. Once one of his children succeed their mother as monarch, they have no real reason to extend their father the money to keep his mistress once they hold the purse strings, unless they stand to gain something from it.

It's even worse for the lady/maid if her mistress is the reigning monarch in her own right and he's her consort, seeing as if her husband is only her consort, she can only get so far on his favor alone since his wife is the monarch. She's the ruler of the country, and he's nothing at court without being married to her. If she's the mistress/side piece to the prince consort, she'll be openly ostracized by everyone at court save for the prince consort seeing as she's being a pain in the ass and openly disrespecting her monarch/mistress by hopping into bed with her husband. The more powerful people at court (who are favored by the empress/queen herself) will not hesitate to throw shade at her family seeing as the prince consort can’t really come to their defense on account of the fact that doing so would be an open/major insult to his wife.

[queenetoilewrites]

I'm the one who sent the previous ask and i just found your blog (from your inky duchess asks) and I was like tf cus I couldn't see anything. Either way your wip sounds real cool

Yeah, I’m working on the revamped WIP that precedes the books about the princess, seeing as the first three books (Behind the Phoenix Throne, Heir to the Phoenix Throne, and War for the Phoenix Throne) in the “Behind the Phoenix Throne” (I’ve settled on the new title “The Emperor’s Favor”) series follows a fictional modern-day Empress of Korea (formerly a Korea expy named Astorelia) who rises to increased power because of her arranged marriage (it was a deal made between their grandfathers meant to reward her grandfather for his service to the crown as chief guard to the Emperor and Empress and as a token of gratitude for him seeing the Emperor as a human being and friend)  to the Emperor, while the next two (Betrayal of a Princess and Rising from the Ashes) shift to follow her eldest daughter who faces upheaval of the worst kind when the people she called her friends stab her in the back.

Thank you anon!

[queenetoilewrites]

Did you delete your posts?

I just made this blog, so there are no posts on here save for my newly posted introduction here, so you’re probably confusing it with my previous writing blog, @stunningstarwrites