#hellospunkiebrewster

[blackcatkita]

I miss the old fandom and the og writers. Now it’s a drama a day.

omg, SAME.

We had drama, but it was legit drama. Like, someone copying another persons work word for word and just changing the names. It was the best when they would miss one and prove their guilt all by themselves. Ah, good times.

I remember some contention about pairings as well. Like, "So and so wrote so and so first." For the most part, us writers were like, "Who cares?" We saw it as a compliment if someone found inspiration based on what we did.

I think the first person I recall writing Drake x Olivia was @boneandfur. (The Queen of crack *pairings*) I read it and thought, ooh, I like this. This makes sense. As my headcanon and stories evolved it made sense for what I was doing as well. Same pairing, yet completely different. Would I have put them together if she hadn't first? Yep, sure would have.

Everyone is so damn dramatic these days. FFS we write fanfiction for a story app. It's not that serious. We do this for fun, to de-stress, and escape reality for a bit. Stop pissing in people's cornflakes and let us enjoy ourselves because that's why we're here isn't it? To collectively celebrate and enjoy something we all love?

Want to know why the tumblr fandom is dying? It's because of all the contentious bullshit that occurs on the daily. We had some amazing writers on here; alicars, kinkykingliam, theroyalweisme, hellospunkiebrewster, and many others I can't think of off the top of my head. This doesn't include those still technically here who either don't write anymore or don't post at all. These people left because they were sick of the nonsense and anon hate they'd get. (Btw, if you have something to say to me, don't hide behind anon. If you have to hide behind anon while you send hate, it's because you don't want other people to see what an asshole you are. Own that shit. I do, which is why I never send anything anon.)

Y'all know who you are and you're ruining it for everyone. Stop. Grow the fuck up and find something more productive to do.

[queencatherynerhys]

Taken - Part 13

A/N: It has been a really LONG time since I updated, but now I am pretty much finished with college. I recently moved to Italy with my husband for our new duty station. I am not working. I am completely bored. I recently replayed The Royal Romance, and here I am. If you are still following along, if you are new, thank you for your interest. I feel that the next chapters are more like a different section of the story. We will be exploring in detail what happens to Catheryne as she left Cordonia. We will not forget Liam’s perspective during that time either. This is completely turning into a longer story than I originally planned. As for the tag list, it’s been a long time since I posted on Tumblr, so I am just going to use the tag list that was already pasted on past chapters. Simply let me know if you would like to be added. I am also thinking of adding my stories on Fanfiction.net, Archived of Our Own, and ChoicesFanfic.com

Summary: On the night of the Homecoming Ball, Duchess Catheryne was taken and kidnapped. What will result from this devious plan? In this Chapter, we will explore what Catheryne has been doing since she left Cordonia after being rescued.

Tag List: @devineinterventions2​ @madaraism​ @theroyalweisme​ @drakewalkerwhipped​ @laniquelove-blog​ @hhiggs​ @hellospunkiebrewster​ @mrswalkerreynolds​ @mfackenthal​ @simplyaiden-blog​ @hopefulmoonobject​ @blackcatkita​ @cocomaxley​ @boneandfur​ @lizeboredom​ @crayziimaginations​ @umccall71​ @zarina-x-zig-blog​ @ranishajay​ @heatherfilliez​ @kingliam2019​ @texaskitten30​ @mom2000aggie​ @ao719​

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. They solely belong to Pixelberry. Also, credits for the image used for the book cover.

*CATCH UP HERE*

2 Years Later

Catheryne sits atop a quiet temple on top of a mountain, concentrating on feeling her breath and connecting to the nature around her. She relishes the rare, short vacations before heading to take on another job for her employers.

With her eyes closed and mind focused on meditation, she feels the reality slip away and find her center. She has had to fight, literally and figuratively, to achieve where she is now regarding her state. Here at the peak, she breathes in crisp, fresh air and finds peace within her mind. She enjoys this time she rarely gets to herself. It shocks her still when she finds herself enjoying meditation since there were constant battles and demons clawing their monstrous influences in her mind. As she breathes deeply, she recalls the time she spent wandering after leaving her heart’s home.

Flashback

When she decided to leave Cordonia, Catheryne thought the best way to find healing was to travel the globe, visit various temples and sites of enlightenment. After 3 months of wandering, she ends up in a female monastery in Romania. The nuns were initially suspicious of her. She couldn’t blame them, really. Any girl who shows up at the doorstep of a monastery dirty and with nothing to give should be given some level of skepticism and curiosity. She was just thankful that after a week the sisters let her stay.

The first month there was an adjustment, but not impossible. The nuns could be harsh at times, but she enjoyed the rigidness and routine she was subjected to live accordingly. Her day always began at 6am and ended at 10pm. Her schedule consisted of her meals, physical exercise, prayers, meditation, religious studies, and her work chores. She was grateful for the distraction. It took her away from the problems she didn’t want to face.

It was at night after her long day when her troubles would plague her. She found it hard to sleep when she always saw his face behind her eyes. It made her heart ache in ways she did not know was possible. She missed him terribly. Every night all she wanted to do was pack her things and come home to him, but she knew she could not because her horrible memories would follow.

She painfully remembered all that she had endured being trapped and tortured in that hellish cave. She remembered coming home thinking she was free, and that thought soon became her nightmare. She became enraged knowing Amir is dead, yet he won at the end. He poisoned her mind and turned her into his weapon. She wondered if she will ever be free of it.

It was at the monastery where she first learned how to properly meditate. The sisters taught her that healing and enlightenment can only come when we can find our center. During those first few months, it was horrible. Every time she tried to concentrate and let her walls down, the memories of hurting Liam would come back, and she would begin to feel the first symptoms of a panic attack. Some of the sisters tried to help by suggesting she talked about it, but how could she? How could they understand what she went through and what she continues to fight through?

When talking about it was not an option, they suggested to learn how to forgive herself for things she could not control. It took her a long time to come to terms with that lesson, but soon she was able to see the truth behind it. All that had happened to her, and the results afterward were not in her sphere of control, she was not to blame. Six months of long hours of meditation & rigorous schedules would prove to be the start of her journey to healing, until one day a face would walk into her sanctuary of peace. A face that she thought she would never see again.

“Uncle Johnny?” she was shocked to see in the head mistress’ office. She could not believe he was here. Her only surviving relative was here. How did he find me here?

“Hello, Catheryne,” he said nonchalantly as if he had been in her life all these years. She did not know what to say or think about his presence here. How could she? She had not seen her uncle for more than a decade!

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“Sister, may I please speak to my niece in private?” he asked the head mistress, ignoring her. The older lady nodded curtly and walked out of the room giving the small office to themselves.

When the door clicked close, her uncle finally got up and walked slowly closer to her. He circled her as if she was a specimen under his scrutiny and she glared at him.

“You’ve grown taller, squirt,” her uncle observed.

“What? Did you expect me to stay the same after my parents died?” she angrily spat back as he came face-to-face with her. She saw her father’s feature in his uncle’s face. She saw the same hazel eyes and brown hair. The same smile lines that lined his face. Her father and uncle could practically be twins in the similarity of their features. It tugged painfully at her heart. It’s just another reminder of what life had taken from her. She saw her uncle’s mouth begin to form the words of reply, but she didn’t give him the chance.

“Where were you, Uncle Johnny? Why weren’t you there to take care of me when Mom and Dad died? Why did you leave me all alone? Why?” she tearfully screamed at him. She hated herself for crying in front of a man she barely knows, but she could not contain the loneliness and resentment that she felt inside after being in the monastery for such a long time with no one who knew her.

When she blinked the tears away, she saw the first sign of genuine emotion in her long lost relative. She saw pain and regret behind his honeyed eyes. Then, he did the unexpected and closes the distance between them and enclosed her in a tight embrace. An embrace that when she closed her eyes and allowed her other senses in the forefront, reminded her of her father’s loving hugs. She gave in and wrapped her arms around her uncle. She had forgotten what it felt like to have family, and she was grateful that at least she still had someone left to care for her.

“Would you take a walk with me?” Uncle Johnny asked after he had let go. She nodded as she wiped her tears away. She led him out of the office and into the gardens. They walked silently to their destination. All around sisters of the monastery glanced at her uncle. It is rare for men to step foot in this enlightened piece of earth.

Most of the sisters that found their way here were to escape the clutches of men’s wrath and influences. Most have found forgiveness and healing and didn’t hold grudges toward the opposite sex. But there were still those who were rather new at the monastery that had anger, and their eyes showed it. If her uncle saw the glare, he did not show it, but stoicism always did run in their family. One learned to hide their thoughts and emotions when working in the clandestine field.

When they arrived at the gardens, they sat at a bench overlooking the valleys below the mountain where the monastery is perched. The sun rested at its peak and bathed them in its bright rays. Even though the last of the spring is upon them, a cool breeze still remained where Catheryne lived, high above the altitudes. She will not miss the winter weather here. It was harsh and bitter. She had to live off of endless, bottomless cabbage soups for weeks on end because it was all that could grow in their small garden. Yet, she was still grateful for the minimalist lifestyle. It was a good contrast to her previous life where she almost became queen. The thought brought with it the never-ending sadness and heartache. She needed to forget.

“So, what are you doing here, Uncle Johnny? And how did you find me?” she asked to distract herself. Besides, she needed to know how her relative found her all the way here in a remote mountain monastery.

“I came to recruit you. The Shadow Order could really use your talents. Our resources are global and it’s how I found you here. Agents are everywhere and nowhere. Shadows for a reason.”

“Recruit me? What makes you think I would go? Or want to live the life my parents died for?”

“I…I saw what happened to you in the news. I heard about the…lingering side effects. You need help and resources to properly heal. The Order has been experimenting on counteracting the brainwashing methods that Amir similarly used on you. Besides, it would be nice to have my niece again. We’ve been far apart for too long. Family should stick together. I regret not being able to be there for you after your parents died.”

“Speaking of, why were you never there? I thought you would have custody of me after my parents passed away, but instead I went into the foster system!” she asked, the previous anger rising back from deep within her. She watched as he thought of the right thing to say. His face showed hesitancy before finally releasing a deep sigh.

“After your parent’s passing, I was determined on leaving the Order. I knew that your father would never forgive me if I did not take care of you. But I did not want to have part of the Order if I was going to take you in. I wanted to leave it all behind, and I was almost finished in the transition before I found out the truth,” he explained.

“Oh, you mean the truth, that my parents were murdered instead of the lie that they died in a car accident? I never thanked you for finding the people responsible and making them pay for it,” she casually said as she stared at the expanse of the landscape before her. She quickly glanced at her uncle’s shocked expression before he fixes it back to his stoic demeanor. He did not need to say anything else, so they both just looked down at the grasslands below and reminisced on their loved ones.

After a while, her uncle turned to her.

“I think it’s time to discuss the other reason why I came to find you,” he says.

“What is that?” she replies.

“Like I said, I would like to recruit you to the Order.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot,” she finally looked over to her uncle to reject his proposal, but before she could her uncle interjected.

“I know what you went through, the reason behind why you sought refuge here in the monastery, but The Order can help you. We know about the faction that took you. We know about their…unorthodox methods, and we have been experimenting on countermeasures. We would like you to join so we can study it, and we can continue helping with the healing process and cure. We also have another reason we think you would like to join. I don’t know if your parents explained what The Order really was about,” he waited for her to acknowledge.

“Not really. Mom and Dad trained me, but they really only told me that it’s because they gain a lot of enemies from the work they did.”

“Well, The Order is a shadow organization tasked on protecting world leaders by taking down their enemies quietly. Recently, we have heard chatter of a sub-faction of the group that Amir was part rising out of the ashes you, quite literally, burned and exploded to the ground,” he explained.

“So, you mean, that if I join The Order, I will be tasked with protecting…” she could not quite say his name.

“Well, usually, The Order is careful about assigning agents to projects they have personal relations, but your dear uncle has some connections in the organization. It doesn’t hurt that you are a prodigy born from two of the best agents The Order has produced. You have been trained all your life. You will have no problem with the transition. Although, you would still have to go through the recruit program. The favoritism can only get you so far, but I am confident you can sail through that with flying colors. So, what do you say?” he asked.

Thoughts flew through her mind. She loved the peace and enlightenment she had found living here in the monastery for the past six months. Yet, joining her uncle could help her find healing and provide her an opportunity to protect her loved ones. To protect Him. She could put the skills her parents ingrained in her to good use. She could step back into the light by hiding in the shadows.

“I’ll do it.”

[queerchoicesblog]

November Challenge: Day 24 - Trouble (Eiko x MC)

Oooh nice and interesting choice @hellospunkiebrewster!

P.S. hope you'll join the challenge as well and maybe take requests 🙏🏻

[melodyofgraves]

hellospunkiebrewster

Do they follow me: Yes | No

Do I follow them: Yes | No | Now

What I think about their blog: love the fics, one of the reasons i made a tumblr account, i’m ashamed to admit how much i’m fangirling whenever there’s a new one, love all the chanevi and the sinclaires, love the historical nitpicks, one of my favourite blogs, also a really sweet and funny person.

[camcantarella]

My Tumblr Crushes:

rebeccaschoices (8%)

teamtomsato (7%)

radiantrosemary (6%)

hellospunkiebrewster (4%)

mysteli (4%)

courtesanofrome (4%)

walkerisbae (3%)

boneandfur (3%)

mikeyharrison (3%)

I haven't posted my top 9 in a while so !!!

[madaraism]

14 and 27 for Liam and Riley. 💜

Thank you for the ask @hellospunkiebrewster 💜

Always waits for the other to sleep first

Riley will wait no matter how long for Liam to climb into bed with her. It does not matter how preoccupied he is with work, or how many more stacks of papers that he has to sign, she will wait. Sadly, there will be times when exhaustion will overcome her, and Liam will walk into her room with her sleeping upright against the headboard, or even in a chair with a book in her lap. If Riley is still awake, it does not matter to him how exhausted he is from a day’s work. He will battle the sleep in his eyes and force them open, just to spend a few minutes talking to her, to take in the features of her face, to drown her in his kisses and loving words. If they have the privilege of climbing into bed together for the night, they will both compete against sleep. If they ever get to make wishes with God, they would wish for more time to spend with each other alone, away from various duties and work that is required of the crown.

His heart aches when he sees her fast asleep on the couch with a book on her lap. He tentatively places the bookmark on the page that she was reading before placing it onto a nearby table. When he picks her up, he is cautious, not wanting to wake her. 

But she stirs anyways when he places her onto her bed, no matter how softly, no matter how tenderly.

“Go back to sleep, my love.” Liam will brush the messy strands of hair away from her face. 

With her eyes barely open, she will force herself to look up at him. “No. You just got here.”

She will struggle, trying her best not to fall back into the lulling arms of sleep.

She will try to rub her eyes, hoping it’ll help her stay awake. “How was your day?”

He will pull her body close to his as he presses kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, her nose and chin.

“Better now that I’m next to you.”

Is actually scared of deep water

When Riley was in her teens, she managed to spend some time away with her friends at a beach somewhere. She knew how to swim, not confidently, but well enough. What she hadn’t considered - when she was so innocently jumping waves hand-in-hand with a friend, was how she was not at all confident when it came to swimming in open waters. 

It surprised her how far out she found herself to be - simply from jumping waves. A second ago her feet was still firmly planted on the wet sand. The next second, she somehow found herself out in open waters, her legs kicking, struggling, searching for some form of land. 

She looked over to her friend who was now out of her reach. She remembers asking her, her voice half scared, half joking, “Hey, let’s go back now? I kinda can’t touch the ground.”

She couldn’t hear her friend’s reply. All she knew was the waves hitting her face repeatedly whilst her legs kept on kicking. She struggled to breathe. With every breath that she took, waves would splash into her mouth and nose, and she would try to spit it out, to breath, before the cycle repeated itself. She was never too good at treading water.

She remembers trying to swim back towards the beach - it looked so close, yet with every move of her arms, with every failing stroke, it seemed that she was getting further and further out to sea.

She remembers wondering if this was going to be it - she had heard so many stories especially in the past week of people drowning at sea, and this was really not how she had expected to go…

Thankfully, a surfer was on his way back to the shore and managed to spot Riley and her friend. They clambered onto the surfboard, clinging on for dear life. 

It still amazes her to this day how the second she got back onto dry land, the first thing that she said was, “Well that was fun, we almost died.”

A rip tide, she learns later that day. She spends the next week watching videos and reading articles on how to spot a rip tide and on what to do when you’re caught in one.

Liam, who has had his boat experience with Drake, completely relates with Riley in every way. However, he took the luxury to overcome his fears by training himself at every spare moment that he had to swim. He grew stronger overtime and found himself to be quite competent if he were ever to be in that same scenario again.

He sympathizes strongly with Riley, and even though when she shares the story and expresses just how over she was with that one situation, he can see the fear that lingers in her eyes, and how she would freeze slightly when she needs to wade into the ocean just a little bit too much. He will take his time to reassure her, to embrace and to calm her, and makes sure to go through and change any itinerary that requires her to be in the ocean without the safety of being on a boat.

Liam being Liam, will take every preemptive measure to minimise Riley’s anxieties in their day to day life.

This is a personal story of mine to be honest, and it still gives me nightmares to this day…. 

[hellospunkiebrewster]

I am very keen and excited to hear what you have to say about “making of the wedding ring” scene in D&D

I’ve been meaning to write about Regency Era weddings since we knew this book was going to be about MC’s wedding. So uh… here we gooooo….

The Regency era itself was a paring back of the super ornate and detailed jewelry and garments of the earlier Georgian era (despite the fact that the former is contained within the latter era). The Regency calls up notions and images of simpler fabrics, less complicated (but no less beautiful) gowns, the (still continued) example of male fashion in the three piece suit, and also less jewelry. The focus was on natural beauty– the eyes, hair, and skin of the individual– as having clear and radiant skin and shining hair could be indicators of health (due to having good wealth, or perhaps just really good genetics). 

Elaborate jewelry was a thing of the past and ladies might wear a thin string of pearls or a small gold cross on a chain day-to-day. Earrings were rarely worn and, if they were chosen, they were small, simple, and delicate, like a solitary gemstone or pearl at each ear. Suffice to say, what we know about necklaces and earrings of the time also carried over to rings.

Does one of these Regency era rings look familiar?

Gold, naturally, was popular. As was (millennial scream) rose gold. Rose gold was a blend of copper and gold, the copper giving the metal a rosy color. 22 karat and 18 karat gold were the most popular metals of the time. But for those without the wallet to pay for it, Pinchbeck (a brass consisting of zinc and copper) was a very passable imitation for gold. In Germany, due to the popularity of donating your gold to strengthen the military, cast iron jewelry became popular and a symbol of patriotism in the country. 

Gemstones, like flowers, had special meanings that were strictly adhered to during the era. Garnets and topaz were particularly popular due to their meanings. Garnets symbolized faithfulness and dependability. Topaz was valued because it indicated love and affection. Jane Austen wore a topaz cross on a necklace. Sapphires (what is in our MC’s ring) were used but they hardly were given as tokens of love because their meaning was one of strength, power, and faith. Diamonds were highly coveted for their perceived purity. The easiest and most popular way to set a stone in the Regency was mounting them. Unfortunately for all these stunning sparkling gemstones, mounting hides the entire underside of a stone and doesn’t allow for light to pass through. You can compare this to modern day bezel vs prong settings and how the same or similar stones will look quite different in them.

A stone in a prong setting, with more light passing through it, has more life to it. In the Regency era, mountings were even more extreme than a bezel setting. Jewelers would place aluminum or another pale lustrous metal behind the stone to help it reflect light better. Also, due to the difference and setting but still the desire for brilliant, glittering stones, gemcutters of the era would use other shapes to pull more light into the stone and bounce it around. The most popular cut of the time was the rose, followed by the old mine cut, which was much more complex and very difficult to find now.

Antique cuts compared to the standard round brilliant cut of nowadays. (Source: coreyegan.com)

So now that we have a bit about the jewelry of the era and what it generally looked like, what was wedding themed jewelry like at the time? Did women wear a ring? Men? Were engagement rings a thing? *deep breath*

Yes and no. To all of those questions.

The use of engagement rings was not yet widely in practice. If a groom could afford it, he may gift a ring to his future wife as a symbol of his love but it wasn’t an indicator of anything. Often, these rings were the very popular and stylish posey ring and for an example of a posey ring you need not look any further than MC’s mother’s ring. Posey rings would feature an engraving on the inside indicating the purpose for which it was given. This “engagement gift” ring was worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, just like today. A man might, like Edward in Sense and Sensibility, wear a ring made from his fiancee’s hair. (More on hair rings below.)

As for a wedding ring however, if they were used by the couple, their designs focused on nature, much like the emphasis on natural beauty during the time. The stone placement and engraving would conjure up images of butterflies, flowers, acorns, and birds. All of this jewelry had to be handcrafted and so each piece created was truly on of a kind. Not much authentic and verified jewelry of the time remains, mostly because when one’s ring or necklace or whatever else fell out of style you would take it to a jeweler and have something more fashionable made.

Rings were compulsory in a Church of England wedding and so a wedding ring would be required for both parties in Desire and Decorum. They could be made of any metal and of any size. 

Some of the more interesting jewelry of the era consisted around the preservation of loved ones lost (or just far away). Mourning rings were popular, as were hair, locket, and miniature rings. Mourning/hair/locket rings would have a space to keep a lock of a loved one’s hair, sometimes intricately woven. Miniature rings could have a loved ones entire portrait in them or, slightly creepily, just an eye of theirs. This was called the lover’s eye.

Mountings for miniature, lover’s eye, and mourning rings.

And there you have it. Everything I know about Regency jewelry. I hope you all enjoyed it.

–

Perma-tags: @darley1101, @blackcatkita, @fullbeaumonty, @melodyofgraves, @anxiousdepressedintrovert, @theroyalweisme, @bella-ca, @katurrade, @hopefulmoonobject, @shwarmi, @cocomaxley, @writtenbycandy, @gardeningourmet, @thequeenofcronuts, @tmarie82, @mfackenthal, @paisleylovergirl, @pixieferry, @the-writerly-night-owl, @flyawayboo, @regency-lady, @tabootheunicorn, @choicesyouplayandmore, @daisy-ashton, @x-kyne-x, @universallypizzataco, @desiree-0816 

Tagging: @alittlebitbethany, @choicesregencygeek, @choicesyouplayandmore

[marlcasters]

current mood because @hellospunkiebrewster is just 😍😍💖💖😭😭💗💗 :

[rafaveiro]

tag game!

I bumped into this amazing picrew and thought I’d start a tag game since I haven’t seen any going around in a while

Tagging: @theo-oface @choicesarehard @iaraiumi @caroldxnvxrs @pixelberrytrash @noesapphic @mrsbhandari @hellospunkiebrewster @brightpinkpeppercorn @client-327 @zigtheeortega @nazario-sayeed @tyeril and anyone who wants to do this!

[blackcatkita]

I used to post anonymous little one off’s but decided to stop. I’ve watched the fun get sucked out of the fandom and people who used to be nice turn into a brigade of wannabe Regina Georges. I pop on to check if some of my old favorites have posted but I don’t think they’re going to. You used to be friends with bobasheebaby, darley1101, theroyalweisme, hellospunkybrewster, and alicars. Any chance they’ll finish their stories? Are you going to finish yours?

I still talk to some of them!

Alicars had some personal stuff going on and just wasn't into Choices anymore. The Royal Heir is what ruined it for her and she never looked back.

Last I heard from @theroyalweisme was she wanted to get back into writing and the fandom, which is exactly how I feel yet there never seems to be enough hours in the day.

@darley1101 and @hellospunkiebrewster are out, full stop. The fandom drama took all the fun out of it and not only do they not want to post anymore, they don't want to write for Choices anymore at all. Which is fucking sad, in general and for the fandom.

@bobasheebaby wants to finish hers someday but isn't sure if she'd even post it here. I will say... sometimes a quick ask to show interest does wonders for us writers to find motivation 😉

As for myself, yes, I'm going to finish my current series as well as plans for others. My problem is time. I don't even have kids and it baffles me how people with kids and full time jobs manage to find time to write. I work ehh... 50-60 hours a week but big deal, lots of people do that and more. Maybe I need to cut back on my social life or leave my house dirty or something, I don't know.

When I referred to people sending asks on anon, I meant those who send hate. I get many people aren't comfortable showing who they are and that is perfectly ok. But if you're going to run your mouth and talk shit, own it. Don't say something shitty behind someone's back or behind anon that you wouldn't say to someone's face. That's a good general life lesson too. If you're afraid of someone finding out you said something, ask yourself if you should be saying it at all.

Anywho, I'm gonna go finish redecorating my bathroom and figure out what I'm making for dinner but I'm going to get some writing done today. Believe me, I want to finish the series too! 🤣

[princess-geek]

Happy Women Writers Day!

Wishing all my fellow female writers a happy day!

Thank you for taking time from your busy days to write and share your work with the world! It doesn't matter if it's fluff, angust, humor or smut, your works brighten our lifes! 

I would also like to address fellow writers who have a special place in my heart:

💖 @missameliep - Cheers to you for writing wonderful stories and always ready to help fellow writer.Your generosity is only surpassed by your talent!

💖 @regencylady1810 - Cheers to you for having the courage to be different from what is considered popular and write what your heart speaks, creating a wonderful world for readers to get lost and dream!

💖 @noesapphic - your imagination and talent never ceases to amaze me! Never ever stop writing! Cheers to you!

💖  @storyofmychoices Cheers to you for  writing so many fantastic stories. No matter what genre or what characters you write about, you nail with them all. Your stories are a reflection of your big heart, and that's why they are so incredible!

💖 @secretaryunpaid - Cheers to you for giving us stories so full of intense emotions! Your characters are complex, imperfect, like all of us, and that's what makes them so special.

💖 @twinkleallnight - Cheers to you for making TRR even more magical!

💖 @lorirwritesfanfic - Cheers to you who is not afraid to challenge the canon! Continue to show PB how good work is done!

💖 @ethanramseysrookiexox Cheers to you that you can turn simple moments into amazing fics!

💖 @whenyourheartskipsabeat Cheers to you! Your stories are still one of my all-time favourites. I look forward to the day you return!

💖 @lyannacyrill706 - Keep writing! You have great ideas, and I'm sure you'll tell the world great stories.  Cheers to you!

Special mention to other writers I admire ❤

@happiness21 ; @kinda-iconic ; @flowerpowell ; @kingliamandriley ; @daddytyrilstarfury (I'm happy you are coming back) ; @anotherbeingsworld @takingcourage @hellospunkiebrewster @i-put-the-sin-in-sinclaire (never give up from writing!); @mm2305;  @dalishessence;  @the-writerly-night-owl​

and to the others female writers out there! Cheers to you, girls!

[missameliep]

R for the fanfic questions?

Hey, Noe! Thanks for the ask☺️

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

Yes, there are many writers that have influenced me. I think everything I read has made me think about what I like and what I dislike, how I wanted or not to tell my stories; specially in Brazilian literature, Machado de Assis and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, and many others who have definitely influenced my writing; Jane Austen, Albert Camus and Muriel Barbery (I could cite so many more, but I'll refrain myself!) are some authors whose writing are among my favorites. I wish I could someday capture that same kind of humor Machado and Jane Austen have - they're subtle and sometimes not so much - , and create compelling narratives and fascinating characters.

Regarding fanfiction, I'll only mention writers from the Choices fandom, I look up to @lorirwritesfanfic, she's an obviously talented writer and her Desire and Decorum ModernAU! inspired me and gave me confidence to write Second Chances; and pixieferry, she's no longer in the fandom but her amazing storytelling was absolutely inspiring. I could list another many inspiring writers, like @hellospunkiebrewster and @lilyoffandoms who are great writers too. But this post is already getting too long...

Thanks for the ask, sweetie!

=========================

Fanfic ask game - Send me an ask!

[boneandfur]

Teaser - Marry in Haste - new chapters coming soon!

The tag list is from the original tag list for this fic. If you don't respond then I'll assume you want to be taken off it. xx ♡ refresh your memory here: MIH masterlist + shorts

(1820)

The door slams open to the room, and young Lord Martin Ballantine bursts in, startling Marlcaster from his contemplation of a bottle of vintage scotch and the newspaper.

"Marlcaster! You're missing it!" Ballantine pounds heartily on the door, as if to prove his point. "There's a race on Rotten Row, and it's going to start any minute! Haven't you heard the commotion from the street?"

Marlcaster glowers at the interruption, swirling his scotch with the movement of his wrist. "I don't pay much mind to the doings of the street," he drawls, curling his upper lip just so, and Ballantine colors, tugging at his collar. "But since there's a race on, tell me quick whether or not it's worth my trouble."

Ballantine shakes his auburn curls. "I'll tell you on the way, old man. I've got two hundred pounds on it already. Do try to keep up."

That is why, not ten minutes later, Marlcaster finds himself being jostled so hard his teeth rattle, pounding on the roof of the coach as he tries to make the driver speed up. "Blast! It would have been faster to take my mount!"

Ballantine leans forward, barely able to keep his voice from cracking like a boy's, so great is his excitement.

(Or, more likely, his greed for those two hundred gold Sovereigns, for his IOUs are so monstrous, his creditors have threatened to repossess his estates -- Marlcaster, for one, would be the sole beneficiary of a castle in Wales, were he not passing fond of the young pup.)

"Everyone saw it! The streets were in an uproar! A curricle going so fast it was like a lightning streak, driven by a pair of Arabian bays from the hiring stable in Mayfair!"

Marlcaster leans back against the seat, and has his teeth rattled so hard it is a wonder they do not drop into his lap. "And it did not hit anyone? Think of the scandal, Ballantine."

Ballantine's face lights up. "It was a marvel! The Amazon in the seat drove those bays like a she-devil, dodging around every phaeton and gig like she was born to race a chariot! The thing nearly tipped over once or twice, and the crowd screamed, but her groom -- a big African, kitted out in uniform -- well, he swung his weight over every time it threatened to careen over the side! And well, you know how men hate being beaten when they're in a race they did not even know was a race!"

Marlcaster is beginning to get an inkling.

Tag list: @cocomaxley @tornbetween2loves @pixelsandkink @mrsernestsinclaire @annieleigha-blog @drakewalkerfantasy @hellospunkiebrewster @super-secret-fandom-blog @topsyturvy-dream @kingliam2019 @hhiggs @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @choiceswreckedme @breaumonts @gardeningourmet @usuallyamazinglyaverage @debramcg1106 @lizeboredom @enmchoices @thatcatlady0716 @walkerismychoice @darley1101 @blackcatkita @ritachacha @harrington-sinclaire @littlecrookedheart @mrswalkers-blog @eileendannie @khakie4 @ehkw1989 @regina-and-happiness @mfackenthal @choiceslife @princess-geek @thechoicesvita @choicesarehard @pixieferry @perantonis @queen-among-writers @hellomynameisdeviblaire-blog @thefirstcourtesan @bobasheebaby @hopefulmoonobject @nikkisha16 @indiacater @anneross41 @h3llostrang3r

[madaraism]

What’s your most useless talent?

I am double jointed in my fingers.... Besides it being an “omg” factor, it honestly serves no other purpose in my life.

Is that even a talent hahaha

Thanks for the ask @hellospunkiebrewster!

[hellospunkiebrewster]

How I arrived at Ethan’s arc in my cities miniseries...

Basically, this is what I think of as my Ethan’s backstory. It currently fits with canon, but even if it doesn’t end up like this. I don’t care, I much prefer the complexity and flawedness of this over Ethan being absolutely perfect.

While he was in med school, Ethan had a very serious girlfriend who he had planned on marrying. After a difficult childhood and the break with his parents and grandparents over attending medical school as opposed to doing something more in line with his family’s interest. She was supportive the two were very much in love. However, when residency rolled around and he was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work under Doctor Naveen Banerji, she was not prepared to make the move to Boston as the city had nothing for her own creative industry. The two agreed that the best thing for both of their careers was to move on and let each other go. She will always remain the one he let go. He was thinking of marriage and children and all that sticky, gooey stuff. With her gone and so easily, it left him a bit jaded about love.

He moves to Boston and starts his residency at Edenbrook. There, he meets Harper Emery, a fiercely intelligent and ambitious neurosurgery resident. He is intrigued by her mind and they click. She’s interesting and smart and fun to talk to and the two kind of fall into each other because the hospital takes up so much of their damn time. It’s easy. The relationship has an emotional component for Harper before it does for Ethan and for him it doesn’t feel serious, not in the way he felt about his previous girlfriend. That isn’t to say he never feels anything for her, but there is an intense friendship and trust that develops.

Harper’s ambition and intelligence are evident and she rises through the hospital’s ranks. In short time, after her residency she quickly outranks Ethan, and he’s totally fine with that. She deserves it, she works so hard, and she’s so smart and motivated. She’s also rather intensely in love with Ethan and he begins to feel it too. However, eventually Harper’s ascension puts her over Ethan, as the higher up you climb, the less horizontal space there is for movement.

They had never been very public with the more intimate details of their relationship and to outsiders at the hospital, it might appear that they were very close colleagues. It is at this point that Ethan decides that they have to break it off. This is it for the two of them. It is too sticky of a situation for the two of them to carry on, with emotions involved, and her being his new superior. After breaking it off, Harper has a hard time resolving her feelings for Ethan, and allows her ambition and new position begin to rule her life as a way to distract herself.

Ethan turns to using alcohol as a way to numb his feelings, and uses the bar as a sort of airlock to keep him from bringing work to his home, his empty home. The two never really resolve their feelings and Ethan becomes kind of emotionally hollow, burying himself in his work and cocooning himself in a prickly armor that hopefully no one will take time to remove.

He’s inspired by Edith’s young mind and her drive, but in awe that she manages to still stay so grounded. He sees a bit of Harper in her, in that she is so fiercely intelligent and motivated, but realizes that she might burn even brighter because she is able to keep herself grounded. In Miami, Ethan, with the aid of alcohol and the high of getting something he thought was unobtainable, misreads his own emotions and the signals Edith is putting out. He misdiagnoses his own feelings as love, when really they’re something closer to pride and admiration. He’s still kind of struggling with dealing with them, as Ethan doesn’t seem to like to approach his own feelings and manage or discuss them, as evidenced from his fMRI scene. He’s holding a lot back about his family, about Harper, and about his hopes for his future.

The frustration at not being able to read a situation perfectly, like he does in medical cases, throws him entirely about and that’s how I got to Backslide in Boston. Don’t worry though, things get fixed: Edith confronts him, he knows he’s in the wrong to exploit Harper’s residual feelings like this, and he gets a much needed wakeup call in the next part, Sober in Sonoma.

--

Tagging @mfackenthal because I said I’d write this up and she seemed so interested. I hope that’s ok.

[marlcasters]

So who exactly is to say that Mr Marlcaster isn't just gonna cheat on Briar with another lady's maid just like he did to Miss Sutton? Who's to say he won't randomly start flirting with someone like he did with Miss Holloway while he was still engaged?

Anon, the relationship between Briar & Edmund and Theresa & Edmund has the big main difference:

EDMUND👏LOVES👏BRIAR👏

No that doesn’t mean he hates Theresa, he obviously felt guilty for leading her on and to be honest him breaking the engagement was better for both of them, he’s said she’s a lovely person and she is and it would be incredibly hurtful for her to find out that he has no feelings for her when they’re married. He was at least honest with her which wasn’t something he found easy to do when his mother was constantly watching him.

Now let’s start with your question:

Cheating on Briar with yet another lady’s maid:

- Highly doubtful as he AHEM .. LOVES Briar.

Flirting around:

-Highly doubtful since again he LOVES Briar.

Throughout his engagement with Theresa he seemed to be confused, he didn’t really want to be around her (again not because she’s a bad person but he just isn’t the type of person that gossips ) which was also the reason he listened to his mother and started flirting with Felicity in the first place. His mother had a plan…he didn’t . So he went along with it.

Now with Briar, his feelings seem to pour out when he’s with her . She asked him at the ball if she thought there was a chance to be together and he pretty much said :

- He cares for her

- He’ll stay with her if that’s what she wants

- He has this feeling of certainty when he’s with her. Stay with me I’ll get back to that.

Now not only that but when Briar came back to Edgewater he accidentally revealed that he dreams about her and that he prefers real Briar over the Briar in his imagination . And when she was saying goodbye to him when she had to go to Bath, he started rambling about how he had no idea what he was going to do without her and how much he’s gonna miss her.

Back to the feeling of certainty. HERE WE GO.

Remember when I said that Edmund seemed to go along with whatever his mother was telling him because he had no plan before? Yeah well guess what? BOY HAS A PLAN ! And guess what it includes? HER! Now, Edmund has mentioned he feels confident and certain when he’s around her TWICE. And both of those times he was talking about their relationship so to me, while Edmund is not the brightest noble man he seems to have this idea in his head that he 100%, no doubt, wants this woman in his life. This woman is literally all that he knows he wants, this ONE person. He’s not 100% sure about things like wanting to inherit the estate, wanting to get married to a noblewoman, wanting to be mean to his stepsister. But he’s 100% sure about this one thing and that one thing is having Briar in his life . It’s just the one thing locked in his brain, he could just be walking around and suddenly: BRIAR. That’s all he sees.

So anon, I don’t really understand what you expect from them. They’re about as affectionate as a couple during that time can be . Just because Edmund hasn’t taken a bullet for Briar, it doesn’t mean he’s easily going to just forget about her. They’ve been through a lot, A LOT together. From attraction, to feeling comfortable with each other, to thinking they should be denying any romantic feelings they had for each other, to a forbidden romance, to a wedding, to a public relationship. So no, Edmund won’t cheat on Briar. Not after everything he’s done for her. Not after everything she’s done for him. That’s not how it works.