#a courtesan of rome

[reneechoices]

The GOATs of Choices imo:

[bejewellled]

would've could've should've

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by anonymous

‘Reminder that by starting ACOR around the new year and playing 2 chapters a week, you can finish the book/stab Julius Caesar on the Ides of March’

POST/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE MOD’S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

[mythris]

blades 2 and cop 2 airing weekly is the closest we’ll ever get to perfect match, ilb, and acor at the same

time 😭

[luminouslumity]

Julius Caesar has been dead for many slutty, slutty years!

[rosesnink]

mcs vs MCS

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC F/AtoW: Dec 8 - 14, 2024

✒️ = Fanfic | 📱 = Text Fics/Edits | 🎨 = Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🏳️‍🌈 = LGBTQIA+

A COURTESAN OF ROME

Shades ✒️ | Cingerix - @cassiopeiacorvus

CRIMES OF PASSION

Red Strings of Fate (That Bind Us Together) (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️ | Multiple Pairings - @rosesnink Chapter 2: All Too Well

HIGH SCHOOL STORY

Piano Training ✒️🔥 | Aiden Zhou x F!MC - @cadybear420

IMMORTAL DESIRES

For the Love of Mary - Gabe Edition 🎨✒️ | Gabe Adalhard x F!MC - @mercedesdecorazon

NIGHTBOUND

Bound by Fate (Series) ✒️ | Nik Ryder x F!MC - @ladylamrian Chapter 9: Mirror & Smoke Chapter 10: Lady Shadow

OPEN HEART

Complete Open Heart F/AtoW List: Dec 8 - 14, 2024

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

Bedtime Baklava ✒️ | Liam Rys & Queen Regina - @lizzybeth1986

Estranged (Series) ✒️ | Liam Rys x Savannah Walker - @twinkleallnight Part 5

Princesa Real 3 (Series) ✒️ | Liam Rys x F!MC - @belencha77 Special Chapter: Navidad

Turning the Page (Series) | Liam Rys x F!MC - @tessa-liam Chapter 16: Before I Called You Mine

CROSSOVERS

Immortal Desires / It Lives In The Woods

Until I'm By Your Side, Forget Me Not! ✒️🏳️‍🌈 | M!OC x NB!OC - @aallotarenunelma

[bri1234]

What song(s) do you relate to a Choices book survey results!

Hello! So it's been about a week and there are a few responses from the Google form I sent out! The form is attached at the bottom of all this so if you want to take it, you still can!

I will continue to update this if there are any more responses.

Also if you see your song on here but not the additional comment (if you left one) and would like it on here, just let me know and I'll add it!

So without further ado, let's jump right in!

Songs that relate to a Choices book (chosen by you guys!):

Across the Void

Remember Me as A Time of Day by Explosions in the Sky

Blades of Light & Shadow

Two by Sleeping at Last

Comment was "MC's deeply unhealthy desire to put everyone else's wellbeing first (book 2)."

Degenerates by I the Mighty

In My Head by Jacob Ryan Smith, Daniel Mertzlufft, Andrew Barth Feldman, & Joe Serafini

Comment was "Aerin and MC on Deadwood lake date (book 1)."

Falling by Write Out Loud, Ciara Renee, and Kat Sicilian

Die With A Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga

A Courtesan of Rome

I Survived a War by Mariami

Crimes of Passion

In My Blood Song by Joel Smallbone and The Cast Of Journey To Bethlehem

Comment was "I relate this song the Trystan Thorne, specifically Book 2 of CoP, wanting to be the son his parents and country are proud of while being himself."

Arpeggio by Alexandro

Perfect World by Twice

The Cursed Heart

Dream A Little Dream of Me by The Mamas & The Papas

Comment was "It reminds me of how Kieran and MC often would visit each others dreams at night (book 1)."

Power Over Me by Dermot Kennedy

Without You by Ursine Vulpine

Find You by Ruelle

Die For You by Postmodern Jukebox and Tatum Langley

Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

Comment was “MC thinking about their mortality and how someday they won’t be young and beautiful.”

Los Ageless by St. Vincent

Comment was “Lustre’s theme song 😈”

Dirty Little Secrets

"Slut!" by Taylor Swift

Suburban Legends by Taylor Swift

The Elementalists

Hedwig's Theme by John Williams

Guinevere

Queen of Heart by Twice

Only Girl by Stephen Sanchez

Hot Couture

Choose Your Fighter by Ava Max

Immortal Desires

Boys Will Be Bugs by Cavetown

End (The Other Side) by Fit For A King

Scars & Lifelines by I Prevail

Death Is All Around by The Amity Affliction

The Death We Seek by Currents

Kindred

Still Don't Know My Name by Labrinth

In Hell I'll Be Good Company by The Dead South

Murder at Homecoming

no body, no crime by Taylor Swift

Nightbound

Songs from the Shadowhunter series: Dynasty , Hurricane, Making a Monster out of Me (Katherine McNamara) , This is the Hunt (Ruelle), Storm (Ruelle) , Bad Dream , Love to Hate You, I am Ember from Katherine McNamara , Hold On (from Chord Oversee) , Glass Slipper (Katherine McNamara) , Paralyzed (NF), Angel with a Shotgun (instead shotgun imagine crossbow) , Brother (Kodaline), Shadowhunter series Finale Song by Ruelle

Open Heart

Symphony of Skin by I The Mighty

Comment was "Romancing Bryce vibes"

Platinum

3 Minutes by Alexi Blue

Red Carpet Diaries

Why Should I? by Alexi Blue

Roommates With Benefits

You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi

The Royal Romance

Not Your Barbie Girl by Ava Max

Barbie Girl by Aqua

Loves Me Not by Kate Grahn & Will Jay

i wanna be your girlfriend by girl in red

Rules of Engagement

Hair by Little Mix

Surrender

Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran

Here's the Google form if anyone wants to take it! Thank you so much to those of you who have taken the time to do this!!!

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

Nymeria, Princess of Gaul, in 10 Quotes

[somerandomjewelleryonthefloor]

Meet Subira! My "A courtesan of Rome' MC.

I don't have much to think of about her (FOR NOW. edits pending...)

- She is egyptian, yet was born in Gaul.

- she is Taisia's favourite historical figure

- if she existed in the modern world, she would have loved to be a mathematician or work in STEM.

[masked-alien-lesbian]

[kainebell]

I guess pb couldn’t come up with anything for St. Patrick’s day so they settled for celebrating the next best March holiday

[the-pale-goddess]

I've polished this anger and now it's a knife.

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by @cadybear420

‘It’s really fun to diamond mine ACOR for spending on OG HSS Book 2. Getting to stab Caesar and then taking down Principal Isa right after is such an experience you have no idea.’

POST/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE MOD’S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

[thefirstcourtesan]

Me: (casually during a conversation about Roman history) "I went through a phase a few years ago where I was really interested in learning about Marc Antony."

Not elaborating that phase was motivated by a visual novel and the smutty fanfic I wrote because of it.

Oh, good times.

[cassiopeiacorvus]

Shades

Read on AO3

Summary: As Cingerix fights for survival after his family's triumph, he's haunted by echoes of the past.

Words: 1,342

Warnings: Brief/Implied mentions of torture, slavery, and blood.

It started with Talius.

When Cingerix and his sister would spy on the Roman soldiers, they’d catch glimpses of the other Gauls being carted away to slavery. Cingerix would watch his people be marched away and bite hard on his tongue to stop himself from racing out. His sister would be there with a gentle hand on his shoulder, begging him not to act. Most days, he'd be able to contain himself, blood pooled in his mouth. Cingerix would look away and see him among the trees on the other side of the pathway.

Talius. The same strong legs, the calloused hands, his toned arms, his taut chest. His jaw, his nose, his bright green eyes, bored into Cingerix. If he’d walked over, Cingerix would’ve been able to place his hand on his chest, feel his heartbeat, kiss his lips.

But Cingerix knew that wouldn’t be real. He’d seen those same legs grow fatigued from battle. He’d seen those same hands drop their weapons in anguish, those same arms grab him in desperation, that same chest struggle to keep breathing. That same jaw slackened in death. That same nose broken in two places and leaking blood. Those same eyes gazing up at him and seeing nothing. Cingerix blinks and Talius is gone. He’s died a second time. Cingerix followed his sister when she pulled him further into the forest. He didn’t tell her what he saw.

Cingerix stopped seeing Talius after the triumph. He liked to think that Talius saw no point in continuing to watch him. They’d soon be together again. Cingerix was sure he’d be sent away to a latifundia or perhaps the mines. He wouldn’t have to wait long to join Talius if he was sold to the mines. Instead, his family was snatched from him, and the Romans broke him piece by piece.

He was sold to the legions, enslaved to an officer. Cingerix did as he was ordered, told himself he was being treated fairly, and kept his head down. He was given the opportunity to enlist. He once told his sister that he’d rather die than be a slave and now he would fight to enslave others. He walked out of the tent a newly minted soldier, and his father stood before him.

Victus looked tired. Their two years in the woods had taken its toll. His back, once unbowed and unbent, had slackened with the weight of the slaughter of the Verbigeni. His dark angry eyes pierced into Cingerix. They felt like daggers stabbing into his chest.

Cingerix wanted to say he did what he needed to survive. He wanted to say that Victus had no idea what they had done to him. Victus was dead; his family was dead. How was he supposed to go on without them? His words died on his tongue.

Cingerix tried to move, to push his father out of the way, but Victus was gone. And Cingerix was alone again.

He saw his mother by the river. The legion had finished setting up camp for the night and he had snuck away to wash himself. He thought of the cleansing ritual Delphinia had taught him and wondered how tainted a person could be before the ritual stopped working.

As he bent down to scoop up the water, he saw her in the reflection. He knew that if he turned around, she wouldn’t be there. He looked anyway. Only the forest greeted him. He turned back to the water, and she was still there.

Delphinia looked worried. There was that crease between her brows that she had always gotten when Cingerix and his sister did something reckless. When they were fighting the Romans, it never seemed to leave her face. The kohl around her eyes made them stand out and it felt as if Isis herself was judging Cingerix through her. He slapped the water, and his mother was dead again.

He thought about performing the ritual but doesn’t attempt to. Cingerix knew he was tainted. He didn’t need a ritual to tell him. He settled for washing his hands and feet. Baths were a rare luxury on a march.

He spent most of his time with the rest of the Gallic auxiliary units, but occasionally he’d hear the Roman soldiers talk about how they missed the bath houses. It sounded appealing. He’d like to see Rome again one day. His family’s triumph had faded to a corner of his mind, an old shame he was glad none of his fellow soldiers knew about. Perhaps it was time to look to the future.

Cingerix did see Rome again. After Gaul submitted to Caesar’s will, many triumphs were held. Cingerix marched with his fellow soldiers as they displayed the spoils of Gaul. At the front of the procession was Caesar himself dressed in the toga picta and wearing a laurel crown. His soldiers lovingly mocked him with lewd songs as they wound through the streets towards the Temple of Jupiter.

As much as he tried not to, Cingerix’s focus was riveted to the centerpiece of the triumph, the Gallic chief Vercingetorix. The man who banded the remaining tribes together to defeat Caesar. Cingerix remembered the Battle of Alesia. There the chieftain was tall and shining. He galvanized his forces. Even in defeat, he laid down his arms and surrendered with the utmost calm and deliberation.

This was not the man who stood before Cingerix now. Six years in the Tullianum does much to a person. Vercingetorix was hunched over, barely able to keep himself upright. His bones jutted out at odd angles. His once lustrous hair hung limp and matted. Cingerix couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. He turned to the crowds.

All of Rome had come to see them. The teeming masses of the city surrounded their procession route, eager to take part in the games and parties that came along with triumphs. Ten years ago, he wanted to rip out the throats of the Romans who were celebrating the slaughter of his people. Now he was celebrating along with them.

Then he saw her. His sister Andarta. She was standing in the middle of a group of women. Cingerix stumbled for a moment. A fellow soldier steadied him and kept up his bawdy ballad, unaware of the change in his comrade.

Time slowed. Cingerix should surely have passed her by now, but the moment stretched on into eternity. Andarta wasn’t even looking at him. Her eyes were fixed to Caesar at the head of the procession. Cingerix could feel the heat of her gaze, as if the war goddess she was named for had descended from the sky. It brought him back to the forest, to dodging Roman legionnaires, to his own past rage. He had to do something. She couldn’t be that bold in public. If Caesar saw—

Cingerix cleared his head. Caesar wouldn’t see. His mind was playing tricks on him again. Andarta wasn’t here. She was dead. She wouldn’t have survived. His sister was many things, but she was not subtle. She was not quiet. Cingerix would be shocked if she had lived even a few days after they were all separated. She wouldn’t compromise herself. Not like he did.

This was the gods mocking him. Perhaps it really was the goddess Andraste in the crowd. He had turned from the gods even before the triumph and this was how they punished him. These visions, these shades were a reminder of his failures.

But he hadn’t failed. He had survived and no one would take that away from him. The procession finally moved passed the sick simulacrum of his sister. Cingerix closed his eyes and imagined his family as they had been before all this began. Victus walking with the men of their village discussing the day’s affairs. Delphinia teaching the women her ways of healing and worship. Andarta teasing him as they helped with the day’s chores. He left them in their home and walked forward, his eyes on Caesar, never to waver.