#{Balmoral Answers
Note
💟 Aside from Mhoirbheinn's plans to try to be the first one Bal sees that morning
Send in 💟 to hear my muses idea of an ideal Valentine’s Day date!
"Would it be unfair tae say tae jist be with m'eudail would be enough? Och aye, ruling takes a fair bit of work but because of our...arrangement it can be hard tae hae quality time thon isnae my chambers or sneaking 'round like we're teenagers. 'Course ah can and hae simply put others oot but ah cannae dae thon a'time lest ah want gossip running aboot. Again."
"It's hard tae say though. Such a holiday is aboot yin's lover, innit? The problem is m'eudail is so amenable on my suggestions, sometimes ah cannae decide if he enjoys it truly or is following my whims. And he's nae partial tae much. Food wise, activity wise...so it's a struggle finding what he would love tae dae. But ah endeavor and hae tae thoughts."
"Outside of the Winter Revelry and some minor celebrations, there is nae much reason tae dress up in Unseelie. Or rather there's nae many places we could show up and it nae...rouse attention. So ah would choose a show up on in the mortal realm, likely choosing...ach, ah believe they cry 'em boxes tae be alone. It's an excuse fir the garbs he liked...maybe the appearance of a gift...och, how lovely they'd look on him. And dinner should be easier up there since they hardly believe in fae, much less thon they'd stroll in."
"The other goes...almost the opposite. Ah thought of a ride thon'd be outside the Citadel. Jist us on mounts, you'd be surprised how rarely we dae thon anymore. Something aboot me nae getting injured or inconveniencing the Royal Protector. Ha! As if thon wasnae something we were doing years prior. But there were some new additions tae some areas we've tromped through. Yin in particular ah heard practically belongs in the clime it sprung frae. And yin tae gang a' oot. We huvnae had a row with no limits in a while. Sounds mad but in some ways it is how we fell. Course close with a picnic. A small peace fir the day."
#{Balmoral Answers#{My Heart is Yours; Always and Forevermore}#Bal's thought of it y'all#the question is when he'll execute it#because they do lead busy lives#and he has to figure out how to get Mhoirbheinn to be okay#with all of this plan#maybe some favors
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"Nathair asked something interesting," Balmoral remarked, "he asked what ah'd be doing if not--" he gestured towards the vicinity of the palace, "--and ah cannae say. So ah'm giving it tae you, whit would ya dae if nae protector? Anything with this ruling business?"
@thewolfisawake || Unprompted :)
Why on earth would the child be asking about hypotheticals like that? "What's the point in asking that when it's not the reality we live in?" Bal was king and he was the king's protector. In his mind, there was no use in wondering about 'what ifs'. It was a question his love had posed to him though, so Mhoirbheinn put his best into thinking of an answer.
"I'm not very sure. I ended up falling in with you and the militia right after I was released from the prisons. I never stopped to wonder what particularly I wanted, other than to spend more time with you." Certainly nothing to do with ruling.
Mhoirbheinn shrugged. "I suppose that's my answer then. Anything that would allow me to remain at your side, I would be happy with that."
#thewolfisawake#{Mhoirbheinn Answers#{My Heart is Yours; Always and Forevermore || Mhoirbheinn and Balmoral}#asking Mhoirbheinn if he would have been interested in ruling anything-- is that a guilty conscious speaking there Bal
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Sound FX oopsie or not?
I was watching a couple of episodes of "The Crown" last week, and picked up yet again on something I'd noticed - heard - before. Unless there's something going on that I don't know about, the sound the show used for phones is incorrect.
They (w)ring wrong. In fact they ring American.
UK / Irish bell-ringer phones, the ones I grew up with - and which you'd expect to hear in Buckingham Palace, Balmoral etc. - had a short double ring, like so: Brringg-Brringg ... Brringg-Brringg ... Brringg-Brringg.
youtube
US bell-ringer telephones had a single long-ish ring, like so: Brrriiinnng ... Brrriiinnng ... Brrriiinnng.
youtube
It probably sounds unimportant for those too young to have heard these phones unless they've installed a "old phone ring" in their mobile.
However for people who grew up with a particular ring (not that long ago, the phones in those pics brring'd on in homes and offices on both sides of the Pond well into the 1990s) the incorrect sound can be as odd as, for instance, seeing US or Irish / UK cars driving on the wrong side.
It takes a couple of seconds, and then "Oh, that's not right..." (or not left, as appropriate).
Despite more on-line searching than I should have wasted time on, I haven't found either "goof" or "reason why" to explain how those phones in "The Crown" rang the way they did, and it's an itch I'd love to scratch.
*****
Another sound error is depicting modern British emergency vehicles as having two-tone (dee-dah-dee-dah) horns. Not any more - even though an EV going somewhere in a hurry with lights and sounds on is AFAIK still "running blues and twos".
Nowadays "twos" have been replaced by wailer, yelper and oth-er kinds of electronic siren - none of which, IMO, are as efficient as the two-tone either for cutting through ambient noise or indicating which direction the sound and vehicle is coming from.
I've also got a memory of a documentary sometime in the past year about the Battle of Britain and the Blitz (i.e. 1940-41) where whoever dubbed in the sound-effects clearly assumed that a dee-dah tone has always been the British police-fire-ambulance warning.
Ahhh... No.
British emergency vehicles in the 1940s didn't use sirens, horns or klaxons; they were fitted with hand-operated or electric bells. At that period, the two-tone warning called a Martin-Horn...
...was AFAIK exclusively German...!
All this sounds picky-picky, but while using the wrong plane or ship or vehicle because no example of a real one exists any more is one thing, making a mistake in something as inexpensive and easily-reconstructed as a period sound is another matter.
Of course it's a well-known truism that while the contract for a movie / show's historical consultant says they must be paid, there's no matching contract clause that says they must be heeded, so for the sake of their scholarly reputations those consultants sometimes demand to be removed from the credits.
Looking at you, Ridley...
*****
ETA: Some days later, with that original post still queued, I may perhaps have found an answer. :->
I've just watched "Thirteen Days", that rather good, properly tense movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Kevin Costner's character had two phones at home. The black one was domestic with a US single ring, the red one was Official...
With a UK-style double ring.
Without bothering to re-watch each relevant episode of "The Crown", I'm now thinking those "incorrect" phone-rings may all have been internal lines and - like the Official phone in "Thirteen Days" - had a different ringing pattern to denote they weren't a "civilian" call.
In addition, the Costner character and his wife both react to the double ring with alarm, indicating they know its significance.
All of the above makes sense when you consider that custom ringtones were half a century in the future, and there's only so much the electrical pulses driving a pair of metal bells can do...
#The Crown series#Thirteen Days film#US - UK telephone ring#on-screen accuracy#sound effects#Youtube
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What do you make of the theory that Harry jumped on the plane last-minute to see Charles because it would've been horrible optics for WME if the first time Harry was seen publicly after his father's "devastating" cancer diagnosis was when he was partying it up in Vegas?
I don't think Harry or Meghan think of (or care about the optics of) things like this, so it had to be a WME orchestration if anything like this was remotely true.
I personally have subscribed to the theory that Harry spent all of--when was it--Tuesday night screaming at his people over the phone about how they better fix this ("this" being all the criticism of his 12-minute visit, how William refused to see him, and none of his friends/relatives offering him a bed for the night) so WME got him the last-minute NFL award thing. Walter Payton's family not even knowing Harry was going to do the presentation seems to hint at how last-minute it was.
It's possible that Harry thought about the optics of his father announcing he had cancer while Harry went out and had a good time. However, I feel that it had a lot to do with Harry wanting to know how serious it was and perhaps getting details that weren't shared on the phone.
I think back in 2022 Harry was told that TQ was sick but not to the extent of how bad she actually was. It's why we would get articles about her frail health from time to time and what the doctors were recommending. I think these details were given to Harry and Meghan. They were being spoon fed information. So more than likely Harry had no clue just how sick she was and he was still bitter about the Jubilee so he was sulking and decided not to go visit her in Balmoral while he was in the UK. Remember, the Sussexes made a huge deal about how they weren't there to see family and it was business for them, etc. via the press.
When Harry was told that TQ was on her death bed, yeah I imagine he was probably more than shocked. But at the same time probably didn't think it was THAT BAD because he wasted hours arguing with Charles over Meghan going. So his sob story about her dying when he was in the air and how William wasn't answering his texts were all consequences of his own actions.
With Charles I think Harry in a way wanted to check for himself but I also feel like there was more of a self-serving reason behind the visit as well.
As for the NFL thing, yeah I don't know if it was last minute or not. It could have been but you would think there were other more qualified people to hand out that award than Harry.
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And William, I think he must be so bloody worried. He needs to draw a line: all family shenanigans must stop immediately, no Harry, no Andrew, no Camilla, no King Charles of Clarence House Antics.
Yeah that ain’t gonna happen. BP threw KP under the bus again. BP are busy briefing against will and Kate in this extremely stressful time but have no issue with allowing a SEX OFFENDER to attend events with the wider family. Also BP was briefing about inviting Harry to balmoral over the summer with Megan and the kids
Show me the last time BP* came to Kate's defense?
The answer is NEVER.
*not the BP under the QEII's reign and most certainly not the BP under KCIII's reign
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Princess Anne warned feather that obscured Harry at Coronation was ‘decent size’ but was told to wear it anyway
Princess Royal raised concerns about the hat and only changed seats to sit in front of her nephew at last minute for a 'speedy exit'
Hannah Furness for the Daily Telegraph
The Princess Royal had warned Coronation organisers that a feather, which made global headlines on the day after obscuring Prince Harry’s face, was “quite a decent-sized hat” but was told to wear it anyway.
The Princess raised concerns about the large headpiece, she has said, and had only changed seats to one in front of her nephew at the last minute, seeking a “speedy exit”.
The plume of the Blues and Royals caused amusement worldwide for blocking Prince Harry’s view from his third-row seat at his father’s Coronation.
In a new book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, by Robert Hardman, the Princess defends herself against allegations she had done it on purpose.
“At the Coronation itself, Prince Harry was seated in the third row of the royal section, immediately behind Princess Anne, who was wearing a striking red-plumed bicorn hat that remained on her head throughout,” he writes.
“Social media snipers instantly concluded that Harry had been deliberately placed behind his aunt’s tall hat to obscure his view.
“This is nonsense. Not only do the Lord Chamberlain’s Office not think like that, but the Princess Royal had only switched to that seat after her request for a speedy exit.
”‘The hat was an interesting question,’ the Princess recalled later. ‘I said: ‘Are you sure you want me to keep the hat on? Because it’s quite a decent-sized hat.’ And the answer was yes. There you go. Not my choice.’”
Prince Harry had attended the Coronation without his wife and two children, who remained at home in California.
He made only a brief appearance in public, taking the first possible flight after the ceremony to make it home to see Archie Mountbatten-Windsor on his fourth birthday.
The seating plan had relegated him to the third row, where he took a position between Jack Brooksbank, the husband of Princess Eugenie, and the late Queen’s cousin Princess Alexandra.
Social media had been alight with jokes about the red feather, with critics of the Duke of Sussex claiming she had worn it on purpose to cement his estranged status.
The Duke had been seen in pleasant conversation with his aunt beforehand, also talking to Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, during the service.
There was no known interaction with his brother and sister-in-law, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Writing in his own memoir Spare, Prince Harry relayed how it was Princess Anne who was first to greet him at Balmoral after the death of Elizabeth II, when he arrived later than most of his family.
Meeting him with a hug, she took him to the late Queen’s bedroom to pay his respects.
The book, “Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story” by Robert Hardman, is out in hardback on Jan 18, published by Macmillan.
#there you go#princess anne#princess royal#prince harry#kciii coronation#british royal family#brf#newspapers
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What examples did Scobie give that point ti William and his staff being bullies?
Ok, so you have to remember that this is Scobie/Harry's perspective of William and his staff.
William and his team, specifically Christian Jones, using the power of William's position to silence the press about the Rose Hanbury affair. (You can tell Scobie believes he thinks the affair happened and he walks you right down his evidence but stops short of saying those words specifically.)
Kensington Palace using Harry's mental health, or William's concerns of Harry's mental health, to bury negative stories about him and Kate being lazy in the aftermath of Megxit.
Kensington Palace excluding Scobie from their events, press releases, and briefings because he was spending more time reporting on Harry and Meghan.
William not talking to Harry, despite all of Harry's attempts to talk.
William not apologizing to Harry or making amends.
William not inviting Harry on the private plan to Balmoral when The Queen was dying. William refusing to answer Harry's calls, take his calls, or return his messages on that day.
Jason Knauf stepping into, and interfering with, Meghan's lawsuit against the Daily Mail over Thomas's letter. Scobie claims Knauf did this at William's request.
Kensington Palace leading the smear campaign to kick the Sussexes down a notch after the "successful" Australia tour.
Christian Jones hyping up the Cambridges' visit to see Baby Archie and making it sound like it was an hours-long visit when really it was a drive-by at William's request to make the Cambridges look better.
Kensington Palace leaking about Megxit and the Sussexes' plans.
William not investigating, or taking seriously, Harry's concerns about Christian Jones's connection to The Sun.
William awarding Christian Jones for his smear campaigns against the Sussexes by promoting him from 'Head of Communications' to private secretary.
William recommending Knauf for the RVO and doing his investiture.
Kensington Palace aides being sympathetic to the royal reporters who were being called racist by Sussex Sugars in their DMs/on social media.
The palace protecting Melissa Toubati instead of Meghan. (This one is interesting - I'll give you the quote at the end of this list.)
Kensington Palace pressuring ITV to remove Scobie's comments about how William was using Harry's mental health to create positive press for himself from a documentary they were making. The KP complaint was that Scobie's comments were defamatory. Scobie insists they were not. ITV did what KP wanted take these comments out of the broadcast and Scobie is still upset about it.
KP's involvement in a superinjunction about something involving Christian Jones and Dan Wootton/The Sun. (Quotes too, below. This one is weird.)
Melissa Toubati:
When I wrote in detail about [Melissa Toubati]'s departure in Finding Freedom, it was intriguing to see how quickly and thoroughly the Palace defended her, from the Palace's positive briefings all the way to a call I received in March 2021 from a senior Buckingham Palace communications aide, after I reported details of the Sussexes' side of the story on air. 'Omid, I need you to remember that there is a human being at the other end of these claims,' they said. 'Melissa has been very upset...Please remember that words have very real consequences.'
Words do indeed have consequences, but it felt slightly rich coming from the same institution that tacitly permitted cruel nicknames and did little to protect one of their own from a deluge of hateful and damaging reporting.
There have long been rumors that Melissa Toubati's departure from the Sussexes' service involves a NDA and possibly a payout. The palace coming down this hard on Scobie for having written about her does give credence to yes, there really is a NDA in place and the terms are serious enough that Buckingham Palace (not Kensington Palace, not Clarence House, but Buckingham Palace) was concerned that Scobie writing about what happened - or whoever his source was - treaded dangerously close to violating it and Buckingham Palace was trying to reel that line of investigation back in to avoid the NDA being nullified.
In other words, Buckingham Palace was stepping in to protect the Sussexes but Scobie is so far up the Sussexes' ass that he missed the forest for the trees.
The Superinjunction--
In the lead-up to the quote below, Scobie is talking about how Christian Jones was offering Dan Wootton exclusives from Finding Freedom, which would lead to Wootton promoting Scobie and endorsing the work, in return for Wootton standing down on the Rose rumors. Scobie says Jones made this offer four times, he shut it down each time, and finally:
It was soon clear my book was not the only carrot Jones would dangle in front of his pal at The Sun. In late June the paper suddenly pulled reporters after the hunt and then dropped digs into the story entirely. "Christian helped make it end," one high-level courtier told me. Curiously, Wootton and the paper--which does not have a reputatino for giving up on potential scoops--shifted their focus to a series of revealing stories about the Sussexes.
For Prince Harry and some other Palace staff, including one who was confiding in me at the time, the timing of this shift was dubious. And those suspicions reached fever pitch when, a year later, a report was published by a grassroots news outlet run by a team of media lawyers and former Fleet Street journalists that focuses on the activities of Britain's newspapers. Strict U.K. laws prevent me from repeating the details contained within it.
Why mention the superinjunction in the first place? There's no reason to, unless Scobie is trying to drop hints that he feels Kensington Palace is involved in it somehow. The way Scobie writes this section feels like he wants us to say those specific words so he doesn't get accused or sued.
*******
So some of these are legitimate complaints and I can see how one would think it's bullying, like using the power/prestige of the office to censor criticism (i.e., the 'bully pulpit'). But some of them -- particularly the ones centered on the interpersonal relationship between William and Harry (like William not taking Harry's calls) -- seem petty.
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ask game! :D
🔥 — Least favourite Master of the Bazaar?
🧍♂️— What stats would they provide as a companion? Where would you obtain them?
🔥 — Least favourite Master of the Bazaar?
Hiram seems pretty neutral towards the Masters, he maintains a loyal facade just because their trades are useful to him, and he needs the immortality juice. But if anything were to accidentally happen to one of them, well, what would he be able to do about it? Surely he couldn't have predicted what happened to Mr Veils or Mr Cups. Whoever was responsible for their dreadful ends must be apprehended and brought to justice, as the Law so righteously demands. But, as much as he would like to offer his help, he just can’t seem to locate the culprits, what a shame ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He extends his most sincere condolences. (once he gets his own cider it's over for them bats)
Real answer: it's Mr Stones. Mr Stones decided to be a huge bitch about a cursed sapphire, throwing a tantrum and collapsing a mining facility on Hiram. They both ended up having the worst day ever, stuck underground and almost drowning in Lacre. Fuck Mr Stones.
🧍♂️— What stats would they provide as a companion? Where would you obtain them?
Long answer because this is the perfect excuse to think about Hiram as a npc. You can meet The Soulless Socialite here and there in location based opportunities, to find out about his affairs and his story, and to call in some favours. Locations and items change as you progress his story.
He initially shows up in Velgarden, at the Singing Mandrake, at Mahogany Hall, and at the University, where he can help you raise your Scholar of the Correspondence quality. He will exchange your Bohemians or Society favours for Scraps of Incendiary Gossip, Intriguing Snippets, and Wine items. The Wine items are randomised, a rare success will get you a Cellar of Wine, but with the risk of getting Black Wings Absinthe. You can also interact with him during the party from the Polite Invitation opportunity, he increases your Talk of The Town quality but you gain Scandal.
After some time, you can find him at the Medusa’s Head, at The Blind Helmsman, in the Forgotten Quarter, and at the Shuttered Palace. He will exchange your Criminals and Docks favours for Appalling Secrets, Compromising Documents, Blackmail Material, and a number of randomised Contraband items or Souls. A rare success will get you a Magnificent Diamond or a Portfolio of Souls, increasing your Suspicion.
If you follow through with the opportunities, he'll show up in Wilmot's End, at Moloch Street, at the Magistracy of the Evenlode, and Balmoral. He'll exchange Preserved Surface Blooms, Moves in the Great Game and Uses of Villains for Comprehensive Bribes, Favours in High Places and Vienna Openings. Rare successes will get you an Epaulette Mate, a Queen's Mate, or a Stalemate. Getting the Stalemate causes a Nightmares increase, and it marks the end of his opportunities.
You can obtain The Soulless Socialite as a companion at the end of the Wilmot's End carousel, but only after you unlock The Chessboard in Parabola. You need some Great Game favours and a Vital Intelligence to unlock the companionship option, and you will get an Identity Uncovered and a Stolen Kiss (optional). He boosts Persuasive, Player of Chess, and Mithridacy, causing Scandal and Nightmares build up.
If you equip him as companion you get a new permanent opportunity card to exchange Great Game favours for Legal Documents and Favours in High Places. A rare success grants you a Night on the Town and a bottle of Laudanum. If you equip him before getting arrested you can choose between two extra options in New Newgate, in the Bribery or Contact Your Lawyer cards.
Regardless of wether you equip him or not, he causes some Infrequent cards to appear in your deck. They all describe increasingly off-putting deja-vus, giving you Tales of Terror and causing a high Nightmares build up every time you play them. They can't be discarded, unless you equip an item imbued with irrigo.
#is his npc dynamic unnecessarily convoluted? yes. will you be able to get a lot of cool items? also yes.#will all that scandal and nigtmares be worth it? debatable. have fun :D#regarding the first answer: coincidentally the polycule choose different ambitions so all the masters deaths exist at the same time for us#our headcanon is short of two masters. looking forward to increase that number!#hiram hargrave#oc asks#no beta rip all eventual typos as usual 🫡#my writing
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Ok I figured out my answer to @thedeafprophet's prompt about which historic figure your Fallen London OC would fight
Andrew Carnegie was Scottish. Story where he visits Balmoral and I best him in hand-to-hand combat
Fr tho he and Mr Fires would love each other 😭 Carnegie was devoted to increasing production above all else and hired people specifically for being ruthless strikebreakers
(Now the most straightforward answer is that Orsinio should be allowed to fight Victoria)
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She was once the Patron of the National Theatre, had invitations to Balmoral and had a Commonwealth position. Now she’s answering questions on DeuxMoi and is about to resurrect the Tig…. Quite remarkable!
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
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2023 Fic Year in Review
Thanks to @a-regular-jo for tagging me!
List of fics completed
take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man series
The Yellow Tulips of Texas
an affair, three ways series
inosculation
cause I’m a mastermind (the west wing au)
in our perfect park
leave the light on
Santa Kate series
fuck it, it’s fine series
I’m on Fire
Modern Omega
Number of words written
502,159 😳
Your most popular fic
The Set Up by a laughably large margin. Although as I checked stats now to answer this question, I see that Bridgerton, Actually (my Love, Actually AU) is now second and it wasn’t before, quite recently actually! It seems it got a lot of holiday readership :)
Your personal fav
This is like asking me to pick a fav child! It’s difficult but I’d have to go with the professor au (take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man series). It came at a time where I was feeling uninspired and sort of adrift fandom-wise. Following the completion of Bridgerton, Actually, which was a behemoth and draining to write (though I loved it!), I was in the midst of taking some downtime to just… be. To consume without worrying about creating and to just reconsider. During that time, I read plenty of other things, including fic from other fandoms. I noticed tropes and things I simply hadn’t been exposed to ever/in a while, and found myself really drawn to the idea of an age gap with Kathony. Their fics feature them being near/the same age so often, in an effort to illustrate just how well matched they are. I wanted to do a sort of character study and love story when they had a significant age gap. I wanted to explore the ways Anthony might have been different if he was older, the fears of dying young (perhaps) abated but with no Kate to spur them forward. The Anthony I created in this AU was someone who had lived a bit of a life, hadn’t settled for a marriage for the sake of it, and had grown up and developed his own tastes in between teaching lectures and devoting himself to his family. I feel as though it can be popular to show Anthony devoid of taste or personality in terms of home decor or outside pursuits pre-Kate, and that simply wasn’t an option with him here. I really enjoyed developing this man with cultivated and exacting tastes. I’m getting rambly here so I’ll stop, because I could talk about this oneshot for a while. The point being—this oneshot marked a time of sort of creative freedom for me. When I started writing it, it felt nearly insane. I just wrote and wrote with no real reader expectation because I was writing a daddy kink in a fandom that really didn’t seem to have one. I was writing and entirely possessed by the story and characters and premise itself. I wrote that and nothing else for a while. I wrote it across continents and flights and subways and in my room, alone. I would text Kara about it nonstop and I’d post excerpts and just wrote it and didn’t think about it… and then it came time to post. I genuinely didn’t know how it would be received. And I need to add that it is far from the most popular Kathony fic ever, and it’s not even my most popular Kathony fic ever, but the response was nonetheless astounding. I genuinely couldn’t have expected the way it would be received and I’m so grateful for anyone who spent time with those words and maybe found themselves inspired to push boundaries in their own fic and writing.
Your fav scene
I genuinely can’t pick one. I think I’ve written too much hahaha. I’ll state a few that come to mind now;
In the Texas!Anthony AU I loved writing Anthony meeting Kate’s extended family. I loved giving her an extended family, filled with doting grandparents, noisy cousins, and all the fun hallmarks of Indian American kid life.
The papercut scene in the Prof AU.
Nearly the entirety of the spanking oneshot follow-up to the prof au
And also the Lover inspired fic in the prof au lol
I loved the Balmoral chapter of The Set Up, especially the beginning vignette of three; Charlie/Harry, Hugo/Willie, Kate/ghosts/legacy/history. The moment she lights incense and says a prayer in this really storied, old, English castle is unbelievably significant, I think, in ways that will come to play in the fic now.
So much of the roommates fic is a real love letter to NYC. I did a reread recently and was almost surprised by it myself? I think I’ve had enough time away to be surprised by it and I was. I know those places, I feel those places. I hope the sense of self comes across as significantly for the reader as it does to me.
Writing the aftermath of the shooting scene in The West Wing AU and Kate winning the election as well were really poignant. I cried writing them and I cry rereading them. They’re almost a brilliantly rebellious ode to hope in the face of the perceived hopelessness of US politics. Regardless of whether or not a president like Kate Sharma plausible, I center my politics and general life philosophies around hope. That fic felt like hope and belief in a better world.
A fic or scene that challenged you
Plenty! The Balmoral chapter challenged me a lot until I saw Angels in America and something clicked. I actually can’t think of more right now in a really specific way but I will say anytime I felt challenged I either ignored it or wrote through it. Writing through it was always the answer and right way to tackle it.
A line of writing you’re proud of
There’s definitely a lot I’m a proud of but I am currently traveling and CBA to trawl through over 500k words to find the line I’m proud of. There’s a LOT of prose I’m really proud of though. The recent chapter of Babel where I describe Simon’s party is some of my best work, I think. Sweet Like Honey (stepfather au) has some prose I’m exceptionally proud of. As does the Obsession AU. Some descriptions of Texas in the Texas!Anthony AU are gorgeous. If you can think of anything that stood out to you, let me know.
A comment that touched you
I genuinely treasure every single comment I’ve received and I’m currently working through responding to many (if you get a months late response,,, I’m sorry). I will take this time to impress upon anyone who might be reading that leaving comments can be so encouraging and I do love hearing from readers. Fic really does feel like I’m writing directly for you guys. And so it’s great to get feedback or excited squealing because it makes it less lonely and helps me feel like I’m a part of it with you guys. I love when friends comment, I love when people who I only know through excited screeching on ao3 comment, I really love it all.
Recently, a longtime reader left a comment on my recent update of The Set Up just to thank me for writing this year and it was so moving and so lovely I teared up. It was unbelievably kind and thoughtful. That really snuck in at the end of the year for one that just took the cake for me.
Something that inspired your writing
Everything. Angels in America. Echoing Jo by saying Prince Harry’s memoir Spare. A lot of Haladriel and Darklina works and writers. Bruce Springsteen. Lysistrata. Babel by R.F. Kuang. Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej. Babylon the film. Singing in the Rain. The West Wing lol. Dachshunds (English cream) and Greyhounds. The British royals. Kafka. Religious trauma. Guts by Olivia Rodrigo (specifically bad idea, right?). Wet Dream and Chaise Lounge by Wet Leg. The people who broke my heart and the people who helped me stitch it back up. My fellow writers and friends, always.
Your proudest accomplishment
Getting over a bad depressive episode and writing slump and purposefully refocusing my attentions to: myself, why I felt compelled to write, and the people who did love me and read my writing and made that clear, as opposed to the people who didn’t.
Do you have any writing goals for next year?
To finish The Set Up. To finish some Perfect Park drabbles and revisit the west wing au for some good election year distraction. And, maybe, to take a little break as I work on original things. I am not leaving, don’t worry. I have set some professional and personal goals for myself that require more of my emotional and intellectual time/space/energy and I need to refocus some efforts there. But I’m not done and I will be back. I’m tentatively planning something quite exciting fic-wise. If it comes to fruition, I’ll tell you all in time.
Tagging @grantairesbottle @amalinwrites who is never on tumblr but I’ll annoy her to do it, @bad-surprise @inkbugfic @ladykettlechips and Rama whose tumblr @ I always forget to do this lol
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Babygirl (to Bal)
Unprompted!
"Haw, ah hardly think thon works fir myself," Balmoral said, hovering between if this was a compliment or an insult, "there's plenty of words tae describe myself but pathetic is nae usually amongst em. And isnae the crux of such a word?"
#{Balmoral Answers#bold words Bal#he's really stuck on the pathetic part of it#or that he might have to be taken care of
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“M'eudail,” the word came out more melodic than his usual tone. Balmoral took the hands of his Protector to shifts his steps. There was no one in the immediate vicinity so it went unnoticed. Though even if there were a witness, it was not unusual to see the king with his watchman.
Still, he was mindful to not drag Mhoirbheinn as he oriented towards one of the quieter towers. The last major post at the foot of the staircase. Climbing up and out of view, Bal took the other’s hand to lay a quick kiss as he kept ahold. It reminded him of their adolescence where neither quite knew what to do since being ‘together.’ How he proceeded to do something like that and it flustered his lover while it sent flutters into his chest. It has been a long time and they were ways past that.
He found the passage to lead to the roof, it usually without use but could see it recently been touched. Opening the hatch and taking lead, Balmoral stepped to the night air that carried his loosened braid. Atop the roof were cozy cushioning that took up a decent amount of floor space. Where there wasn’t that, there were either crystalline aglow, much like those found in the Unseelie though they were a more warm tone than the cool ones normally seen. Food and glasses were present with wine nearby.
“Ah couldnae get as much time as ah hoped off today,” the fae explained, “but ah didnae want my Valentine tae think ah forgot him.”
@thewolfisawake || Valentine’s Day Sweetness
At Bal’s call, Mhoirbheinn immediately halted his stride to turn towards his beloved, curious at the address. A quick glance around confirmed indeed that they were alone at the moment, and so it was with great pleasure that he let Bal take his hands in his, his curiosity only growing when his lover began to lead him elsewhere. Dutifully, always, without a single moment of hesitation, Mhoirbheinn followed him through the palace and up a flight of stairs, trying to guess his love’s intentions the entire time.
The answer was soon revealed to the man as they climbed to the roof. The picnic, if it could even be called that in its extravaganza, spread out before them and the sight of the lovingly crafted and elaborate setup took his breath away. He had assumed their work that day would keep them too busy to take part in any elaborate affairs together, and he was fine with that. Any moment spent in Bal’s company was enough for him. For Bal to have found the time to plan this…
Mhoirbheinn turned towards Balmoral and cupped his face, drawing the other into a long kiss. Only when his air threatened to run low did he reluctantly part from Bal, his forehead coming to rest against the other’s, and even then it didn’t stop him from laying more sweet kisses against Bal’s lips.
“I love you. I love you so much.” Paltry words couldn’t hope to ever contain the depths of his feelings, yet futilely he attempted it anyways. He did not have Bal’s gift for weaving love into poetry that could make even the most hard-hearted of Unseelie sigh with wistfulness, but still he tried. “I love you with every breath of air that leaves my lungs, every single beat of my heart beats for you. I love you, Balmoral Sitheach. My beautiful, my beloved.”
Reluctantly, one hand pulled away from Bal only to reach into the folds of his own clothes. He had planned to give Bal his gift once they had returned to his room, but what better time would there be than now?
His hand returned and he took hold of Bal’s to slide a ring onto his finger., a perfect fit of course Housed in a solid band of silver, the midnight blue stone set into the center of it seemed to house the night sky and glimmering stars within it. Looking at the king’s hair, it would be easy to tell where the Protector had gotten the inspiration from. Within the stone itself, if Balmoral were to rest a finger atop it, he would be able to feel it thrum ever so gently, an arrhythmic beat that matched the thrum of his lover’s heart. It cost a pretty penny to make, and an even prettier penny to have enchanted to connect the stone to his own heartbeat. None of that mattered any in the face of finding a gift for his love.
Lifting the hand that now wore the ring, Mhoirbheinn pressed a single kiss to his knuckles.
#thewolfisawake#{Mhoirbheinn Answers#{My Heart is Yours; Always and Forevermore || Mhoirbheinn and Balmoral}#SAAAAAAPS#very cute#long post
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Have you heard the rumour that the Queen Mother hated sex? I find it hard to believe.
Thank you for the question! ❤️
The fact is, we’ll never really know the truth to this, and even if there was evidence documented in diaries, it will unlikely ever see the light of day!
What we do know is that Elizabeth had two difficult pregnancies, both resulting in Caesarians, and which were performed under much more dangerous circumstances for both mother & baby back then. Forms of birth control were also, at best, incredibly unreliable and uncomfortable! So with this in mind it might have been that it was too risky to have sex (simply for pleasure!) regularly, and that once their family of ‘Us Four’ was complete, her focus was on helping raise the princesses, being incredibly busy with royal duties, and of course, the later additional strain that came with supporting Bertie in his kingship as George VI. They were also both very religious, and attitudes to sexual behaviour might have additionally been influenced by their faith and Elizabeth’s own aristocratic upbringing.
There is an account from a letter written to Bertie’s friend (& later courtier) Louis Greig: ‘Everything was plain sailing, which was a relief,’ Bertie wrote. ‘You know what I mean. I was very good!!’ This refers directly to their honeymoon in 1923, and, while it doesn’t suggest anything about the frequency of their intimate life between and after having their children, it could suggest that sex was at least an enjoyable experience… in Bertie’s opinion anyway! 😂
In another letter written to Elizabeth whilst he was in Balmoral and she only ‘across the hills’ in Glamis, Bertie sweetly stated, ‘Don’t get frightened at night sleeping all alone darling in that enormous bed.’ She replied with, ‘I miss you dreadfully and am longing for Monday, when I hope you will arrive here sunburnt, manly & bronzed…’
Again, this isn’t proof of their sexual relationship, but it does definitely show that there was a deep affection between them that almost certainly amounted to a bodily closeness of some kind.
I truly believe that The Queen Mother and Bertie absolutely adored each other; and that in loving (and emotionally trusting) someone so much, there was therefore no reason why there wouldn’t be physical intimacy on some level throughout their life together.
Sorry for the super-long answer! Obviously I’m guessing as much as the next person, but I wanted to take time to write a sensitive reply out of respect for the question and the fact that I’m commenting on something that isn’t really anyone’s business to know. So I hope this kinda helps! :)
Quotes cited from:
The King Maker: the Man Who Saved George VI, by Geordie Greig
The Queen Mother: the official biography, by William Shawcross.
#aww bertie and elizabeth#elizabeth bowes lyon#king george vi#george vi#king bertie#bertie windsor#queen elizabeth the queen mother#the queen mother#the royal family#the british empire#the british monarchy#the british royal family#the monarchy#the king's speech#god save the king#prince albert duke of york#albert duke of york
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Chapter 36
05th January 1996
Back home in Ray Mill and with Thea having finally fallen asleep after the third good-night story, Camilla poured herself a glass of red wine and sat down on the cosy sofa in the sitting room - her sitting room, that was, in her house. For the first time in her life she owned a home that was entirely hers and though she had never expected to feel that way, she had to admit that it felt good. This was her very own little piece of paradise, she was the boss and could design and furnish it all just the way she liked it, without having to argue with somebody who didn't like her kitschy decorations or her collection of commemorative mugs, and that was very nice. She particularly appreciated it after last week; Birkhall had been heaven, it had been wonderful to be with Charles, the Queen Mother had been way too kind and Thea and the other children had had a good time, but once again she had come to realise how "unfree" that life as a member of the Royal Family actually was, how little they could decide for themselves, how every little step had to be planned and arranged and how much fuss everybody made of everything. And it had only been Birkhall which came nowhere near the flumery of the Big Houses like Balmoral, Sandringham or Buckingham Palace, not to speak of Windsor Castle, but still. She was glad that she didn't have to deal with that on a daily basis.
The phone rang and she rushed over to answer the call before Thea would wake up again. It was Charles. "Hello Darling. How are you doing? Back in London safe and sound?", she asked and his desperate sigh told her that this was not quite the case. "What's wrong, darling?" "Diana…", he almost disgorged her name, before telling Camilla that his wife had freaked out completely when he dropped off the boys at Kensington Palace, screaming and shouting at him in front of their sons, and though he didn't told her what she had called Camilla and Theodora, she could vividly imagine her outbreak. "Darling, I'm so sorry.", she said. "Perhaps it was all a bit too early and we'd better…" "No!", he interrupted her with determination. "It was just right! I love you both and you're a part of my life. Thea is my daughter and the half-sister of my sons. God knows how many little bastards the slut would've had by now if it wasn't for the pill…" "Charles!", she interrupted him harshly. She understood his frustration but that sort of language really wasn't necessary. "I… I just think that we need to be careful, darling.", she added. "I don't want to offend anyone. And Harry early didn't feel comfortable." "He's just his mother's mouthpiece!", Charles ranted. "Even if that's the case - we have to be considerate with him. We can't force him to accept thing which upset him. At the end, it will only divide us all. Listen, I've been loving our week and I'm so happy to see our little darling getting along so well with William. He doesn't seem to have an issue with us, but Harry does and we should take it seriously. Please don't bring him in situations that make him feel uncomfortable. Give him time. Anything else will only deepen the trenches between you and him." "Hmpf…", Charles moaned, not quite satisfied with her advice but he knew deep inside that she was right and he'd better not rush things as long as one of his boys had such difficulties with it.
"How is your grandmother?", Camilla asked, subtly changing the topic to a lighter one. "She's brilliant.", Charles replied. "Back at Sandringham with the others and already had an argument with my mother as Anne tells me.", he added and Camilla laughed. The old lady really was one of a kind. If she herself still were as half as fit at 95, she'd probably have achieved everythingshe coul ever have wished for. "Oh did she?", she asked. "She did. Apparently Mama wasn't all that happy when she heard about her party. Not that she had an issue with it taking place or you two being there - but she doesn't like to be bypassed.", he explained. "Of Course she doesn't.", Camilla giggled, vividly imagining these two tiny women passionately arguing with each other. It could have been funny but the fact it was partly because of her and Thea's presence at the Queen Mother's New Year's bash made her feel rather uncomfortable. She didn't want to be the reason for anyone to argue about, she didn't want to cause trouble. And once more she felt those fears and doubts creeping up on her, that insecurity and uncertainty whether all of this was actually right. It had already caused so many people a heartache and it kept on causing problems everywhere… perhaps it just wasn't to be.
"Darling, stop it!", Charles said harshly. "We've come so far! Look what we've achieved. The public supports us, well, not everyone maybe, but an awful lot of them, you're doing so well and our little darling has been absolutely brilliant. She is happy, isn't she? And I'm happy. Very happy. We're almost there, darling. If only Diana and Mama would finally agree on a divorce… then I'd be free and could marry you." Camilla choked heavily. This was the first time he had spoken the words and somehow it scared her. She loved him. Of course she wanted to be his wife. Charles' wife. But the wife of the Prince of Wales? An official member of his crazy family? Good lord… and what about Thea? She had had to so many changes over the past two years, first her and Andrew's separation and divorce, the new home where they'd just settled themselves, the news of Charles being her biological father instead of Andrew, the new family she suddenly had… how much more could her little girl possibly cope with? "She wants us to get married.", Charles said. "She talks about it all the time…" Camilla couldn't deny that. She kept on asking when it was going to happen and why it took so long because for her sweet little innocent, eight-year-old heart, two people who loved each other getting married was the most natural thing in the world and just something that was supposed to be. And perhaps it really was that simple. Perhaps she just had to trust that her love for Charles and his for her was the only thing it took and that everything else was going to fall in place somehow...
One month later, on February 7th, 1996, Andrew married Rosemary in a small and private civil ceremony that was attended only by her three sons, as well as Tom, Laura and Thea, proudly in charge as a bridesmaid, who still adored her daddy Andrew and was equally adored by him. Though they hadn't announced anything in advance, there were lots of photographers outside of the registry office, but Tom and Rose's boys took good care of her and everything went well. There were pictures in the papers and of course people were talking and there were pros and cons, love and hate, and perhaps she just had to accept and embrace the fact that it was going to be like that for the rest of her life now. Andrew and Rose had beamed with happiness on the day and though Camilla was over the moon for them, she couldn't help feeling a little jealous somehow as well. If only she and Charles could have something like that. Just going to an office, signing the papers, becoming husband and wife. No fuss, just them and their children… but this was never going to happen. It was not possible to marry just Charles, the man, and it was impossible for the future monarch to get married for the second time round,let alone in a simple civil ceremony.
#king charles#queen camilla#royal family#royal baby#fanfiction#fanfic#prince william#queen mother#andrew parker bowles
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Hi! What do you think were HLMTQ's most badass moments ?
Hello! Sorry it took me a while to answer this. I was contemplating what to add lol
• When she drove the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia around Balmoral herself. Women were not allowed to drive in Saudi at the time, so imagine how startled the King must’ve been when he found himself being driven by a woman, let alone the Queen. And she was also talking to him while driving, to make things worse!
• When she remained calm and unperturbed after blank shots were fired at her during the Trooping the Colour parade in 1981. The same thing was true when Michael Fagan broke into her bedroom in Buckingham Palace in 1982.
• When she threw tennis shoes and racket at Philip and realized other people saw their little show, she went to them feigning ignorance and asked what would they want her to do as if nothing had happened. Girlie was braver than me bc I would’ve never shown up again if someone caught me in such embarrassing situation.
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