Marina Receiving The Whistledown Sheet Where Penelope Reveals Herself

My dream house, honestly.

One of life’s hardest hurdles is accepting that this house is just a set and doesn’t really exist 😭

I've ended up falling down a Dramione rabbit hole. I read some really amazing ones (Wait and Hope and Draco Malfoy and The Mortifying Ordeal of Being In Love are probably my favorites, although Measure of a Man was also PHENOMENAL).

However, I've just finished Manacled. It was so well written and absolutely brilliant, but holy shit on a stick if it didn't break my heart.

The alternate ending to the Battle of Hogwarts was worse than even my panicked teenaged brain could have come up with back when Deathly Hallows actually came out. I wept for characters I've always loved in ways I didn't think I could.

I finished the flashback scenes last night and thought about them all morning, until I forced myself to get back into it and read the rest of the story. Which was still devastating. But honestly.

I am currently drowning my sorrows in Meg Cabot's cheerful writing and then I'll have to reread something funny and familiar. All the people telling me they've reread Manacled, like, HOW?! I need a few years away from it before I could think of rereading.

You can love Dramione AND Romione. The universe will not implode, I promise. That's the fun of fiction. (Also, how could you not love it when there's adorable fanart like this??)

Hermione and her two red cats

Learn to write by reading lots

Apart from writing as much and as often as you can, the best way to improve your writing is to read.

Read often. Read widely. Read critically.

Learning from other writers is the best way to improve and grow.

RIGHT?! The first time I read it, I was like, "Well that's poorly worded. She could just pardon herself and then make Cardan miserable for fucking her around."

I'm really glad with the way it turned out, but it's definitely a moment where it's like, "Wow. You're so smart, but you're still so dumb."

Listen, I will admit that I couldn’t figure out amarantha’s riddle for the life of me BUT my first thought when cardan exiled Jude was “isn’t this bitch ~the crown~? Pardon yourself and go back…” and that has to count for something right???

my favorite customer service slip ups

Again, bless. <3

✨Two Twisted Crowns B&N Exclusive Edition Content✨

Here is the bonus chapter in the Barnes and Noble Exclusive edition of Two Twisted Crowns.

(Link to One Dark Window bonus chapter here: https://www.tumblr.com/downrightbooks/775940012518817792/one-dark-window-bn-exclusive-edition-content )

I would be so interested in a prequel that shows Madoc's backstory, what happened with his first wife, and how he and Oriana came to be together. I reckon it would be more political/adventurous, but still. I think it would be so interesting to see how his moral compass actually works and to know more details about what happened to lead to the events of the main series.

Spoilers for The Prisoner’s Throne

Not Madoc giving me the most emotional responses in this book. 🥹

Listen, Madoc is the most complex, the most morally grey, the most treacherous, and yet, I adore him.

Okay, this is very funny.

Now, apart from the occassional piece of fanfic I'd seen as a teenager, I was very much a Romione girl. As a girl who had been hopelessly in love with her best friend, they were my beacon of, "See?! It all works out in the end! It can happen!!"

But now as an adult, rereading HP and also stumbling headfirst into the world of fanfic, it never would have worked.

Harmione would have been ridiculous, for many reasons, but Romione is the relationship that would have worked for a while, but not lasted. They loved each other, absolutely, but they wanted different things. As much as I adore the ending of the HP series, in a more nuanced setting, it wouldn't have worked.

They'd have been bonded by their trauma, yes, loved each other, yes, and yes, I think they suited each other - as teens/early twenties. But I don't believe Hermione would have given up her ambitions to build The Burrow II. I don't think Ron would have been capable of stepping back and letting her shine.

They would love each other, but after a few years, they'd realize it didn't fit.

I think that's why people gravitate towards Dramione (along with the obvious chemistry between the two actors who brought them to life on the big screen and their friendship off-screen - hell, I'm still holding out hope for them). I think people can more easily imagine an organic, adult relationship growing out of their dynamic. Every fanfic seems to have a similar thread - a rivalry that eventually evolves into respect and into more. There is a power dynamic that ebbs and flows between the two characters, as opposed to guilt tripping and the over-familiarity between her and Ron. I realize this could be me going way too far down the rabbit hole and overthinking it, but I genuinely think this is why.

i just know hermione will put y'all in a jar for this

This set is perfection. I'm obsessed.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) + tumblr posts (part 1)