Tome of the Month: April 2026
Hello, and welcome to the Messie Hall Discord Server's very 1st monthly "Story of the Month" (AKA: Tome of the Month) Award!!! Tome of the Month was created as a way to honor the authors in our server, as well as to help get everyone reading their fellow member's fics. Nominations are open from the 10th through the 20th of each month, and then we all take a vote during the last week of the month to decide which story/author to feature.
This month, our members voted on the story: "Merope" by @aliceemersonwrites2!!!
We recently sat down with Alice and put together a Q&A, that way everyone can get a bit of insight into her writing process, her inspiration, and her thoughts behind the story. If you have any additional questions for Alice, please feel free to ask them in the comments below. Or stop by the Server to leave your own thoughts, reactions, or follow-up questions. 💚
Q1: Your portrayal of Merope walks a delicate line between vulnerability and quiet strength. What drew you to her story, and what did you most want readers to understand about her?
A: What drew me to her as a character is the fact that her story was so glossed over in canon. Her story is mostly speculation from Dumbledore, and it always rang a bit…false to me. The assumption that just because she wasn’t ‘attractive’ meant that she tricked a man into being with her because he was always irked me. Additionally, I am obviously a huge Tom fan, and his mother's story has always drawn me in. I think the biggest thing I want readers to understand is that oftentimes, women during that time period– and honestly, any time period– who are marginalized and treated poorly are not left with many options. And often, people prey on the weak. She is both vulnerable and strong, and I think her rage is depicted in a way that shows how she was conditioned to be. I think what I want most readers to understand is that she was born into and raised in a place where she wasn’t given many options, and even when she was given those options, she was still a woman in the lower class, a woman not considered conventionally attractive, and a woman who was vulnerable.
Q2: Your characterization of Merope Gaunt feels incredibly layered—how did you get into her mindset to write her character, and how closely did you aim to stick to canon versus reinterpreting the gaps in Merope’s story from the HP books?
A: I actually stayed away from canon a bit, except to look up descriptions of the house and names. I think that because the memory of Merope was seen from Harry’s perspective in a memory from Ogden, it shaped how we view her. And of course, Dumbledore’s commentary. I think the biggest thing was I kept her treatment by her family and the conditions she lived in, but most of it was filling in my own gaps. To get into character, I looked up the lives of women in the general area described in canon and how women at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale lived. And oftentimes, it was at the service of the men who ran their homes. However, if you look between the lines, you see that it was truly Merope who ran the home.
Q3: You did an excellent job of showing how abuse shaped Merope’s understanding of help, love, and worth… How intentional were those themes while writing, and did it evolve as the story developed?
A: Those were very, very intentional. Merope was raised in a home where she was valued only for what she did, not for who she was or what she thought. Both her father and brother were allowed to do as they pleased, and yet she, even in canon, was treated more like a servant in her own home. She was conditioned to believe that love means giving what those who demand of you want. And that if someone has you serving them, that means they love you.
Q4: Do you see Merope’s relationship with Tom Sr. as true love, a means of survival, an illusion—or something else entirely?
A: I think that Merope loved him, in her own way. I think it is tied to the idea of conditional love above. She thinks because she was helping him, that she was caring for him, that it was love. But in a way, it was also an escape from her life. She believed that Tom Riddle Sr. was her way to live a life different from what she experienced in the Gaunt house, but as we can see, he was using her in both those ways and in more intimate ways.
Q5: How do you think this version of Merope influences who Tom Riddle Jr. becomes?
A: First, I think her death affects him more than anything because he resented her for it. It also implanted a fear of it in him. When he discovered his past, he saw that Merope, even though she was magic, still died. And he both dismissed her for it and became obsessed with overcoming it himself. Additionally, her death led to him being raised in the Muggle world as well as being an orphan, both things that he saw as shameful. I think even though in my story she fought for him in the end, because she ‘failed’ him, he let that fester in his own mind and helped to lead to his obsessions.
Q6: Do you think Tom Riddle Jr’s darkness is nature, nurture, or a combination—based on your portrayal of his parents in this piece?
A: I truly think it is a combination. Children, due to simple genetics, often inherit their parents' personality traits in some ways, but Tom became his own person. I think, more than anything, the absence of his parents shaped him through his resentment and obsession with it, which we can see when he references his father in canon.
Q7: What scene in this one-shot was the hardest for you to write emotionally, and which one came the easiest?
A: The hardest scenes for me to write were both Tom Riddle Sr’s seduction, which was borderline SA, and her death. Both of those scenes were hard because they show how people take advantage of her and how limited her options were. The easiest scene for me was definitely when she lashed out at Riddle Sr., because he had it coming.
Q8: In your own opinion, do you think that Tom Riddle Jr. is capable of love, or only capable of wanting something that looks like it?
A: Yes. I do. I think that Tom Riddle Jr is capable of love. I think that it may not be the kind of romantic, familial, or platonic love we associate with the word, but I think that he is very capable of loving things. However, I think due to his circumstances, he learned to love himself first.
Q9: What do you think people misunderstand the most about Tom Riddle as a character?
A: Oftentimes, I think that people who are solely ‘Voldemort is bad’ misunderstand that this was once a child who was raised in a hard situation. Even if you buy that he was raised and not mistreated (and looking into orphanages in the 20s and 30s seems less likely than not), he was still a child who was ‘othered’ because of the way he acted. He didn’t understand that what he performed was accidental magic. And even when he was introduced into the magic world, it was with suspicion. He was an impoverished child with no name dropped into a house that was focused on wealth and status. He, once again, had to learn how to survive. People parallel him and Harry, which is fair, but Harry’s support system upon arriving at Hogwarts was very different from his friends to Dumbledore. Tom had his earthly belongings burned in front of him when he was told he was magic; Harry was told by Hagrid how wonderful his family was. Children are easily impressionable.
Q10: Given your love for Tom Marvolo Riddle, how did that impact the way you wrote Tom Riddle Sr. here? Did you find yourself drawing parallels between the two—or making it a point to highlight their differences in this piece?
A: It was important to me to show that although Tom received his looks from Tom Riddle Sr, he is different. Although they are both cunning and manipulative, Tom Riddle Sr. was more focused on using his wealth and status to get what he wanted, even if it was considered beneath his status. Tom Marvolo Riddle wanted to ascend the ties of his status to be something more. I think that is where the key difference lies. However, they both used their intellect and power over others to get what they wanted.
Story Picspam created by RoxiMalfoy (AKA: @crazydeana)
Q11: What makes Tom Riddle such an intriguing character to you? And at what point did your appreciation for him turn into a full-blown obsession? 😅Be specific, Alice—we want the whole origin story, lol!!
A: Honestly, I also thought Tom was intriguing since Chamber of Secrets. Voldemort is an exciting character, but I think that what did it for me was Half-Blood Prince (the book). Seeing the way he was treated, the way that he was brought into the world, the way that he was both cunning and smart, but also suspected from day one, made me care for him. He is intelligent, handsome, well-spoken, and driven. But instead of anyone making sure he was emotionally well, he was lauded for his accomplishments. I think that obsession over earning praise and being the best both drove him to what he did, both to know he was the best and to resent having to serve others. Also, I get really, really mad at Dumbledore for not handling his meeting with Tom better when he was young. Also, his fixation on learning, on being the best, is something that I relate to wholeheartedly. And I also first saw him when I was a hormonal teen, and damn, he was pretty. Shout out to Christian Coulson. Cheekbones! ♥︎♥︎♥︎
Q12: Do you tend to plan your stories out in advance, or do you tend to discover things about the fic as you write?
A: I both it. Ha! With “Merope”, it was fully planned out the moment the story caught in my brain. For other stories, I have general outlines and ideas, and then fill in the blanks as I go. It is wherever the muse takes me. I am writing a Tomione and a Tombraxas, and both are pretty much fully plotted through to the end. I have a Harmony WIP that I have a vague notion of, but I am kind of playing it by ear, going with what inspires me.
Q13: Do you like/prefer working on several WIPs at the same time? How do you keep all of your ideas so organized without them blending together?
A: My ADHD keeps me on my toes. Ha. So working on several at once is nice because I never get bored. I think most of my stories are so distinct that there isn’t a chance of mixing them together. BUT that said, I also keep copious notes in a tab in my docs to capture ideas, and I have a notebook (it’s actually a Tom Marvolo Riddle diary that I bought from an independent vendor) where I jot down random ideas. I also re-read what I write often to make sure the tone and story make sense!
Q14: Is this Merope one-shot connected to any of your other works, or does it exist as a standalone story? And if it is part of a larger universe, are there any details or connections that readers might not immediately notice?
A: This one isn’t really connected! I mean, you can definitely connect it to any of my Tom stories, because I never mention Amortentia in his story as the source of his mother and father getting together.
Q15: Do you like to listen to music while you write—and if so, what kind of vibe(s) did this fic have?
A: For this fic, I listened to 1920s music by female artists. There were a lot of songs about the struggles of women during that time, and I listened to them to get me in the mindset. I often listen to classical music when I am writing something intense, or to music without lyrics. In one of my stories, I listened to Britney Spears the entire time to inspire me! It depends on the vibes. I am currently writing a Harmony where I am only listening to music from 1996-2001. And with Tombraxas, I listen to the Game of Thrones soundtrack, Ludovico Einaudi, or cello music.
Q16: Your writing has a very immersive, emotionally grounded style. What does your drafting process typically look like—from first idea to final piece?
A: Often, I just start writing to get my thoughts out! I’ll outline it, sure, but unless I sit down and start typing, it will just live in my head. To be fair, a lot of the time, I will plan a whole story in my head while driving and then get around to writing it. Then I just write. I am a person who will stop, take a break, edit the hell out of what I just wrote, and then come back. My biggest thing is that once I get it out, I can go back and fix what I wrote to make it better and look for more places to add emotion and description. I am an editing fiend. For Merope, I must shout out my AMAZING betas, WinterSerpent, theravenclawscribe, and mother_of_lilith, who brought different perspectives to my story. WinterSerpent is a wording fiend, theravenclawscribe is amazing at identifying spots where things need to be expanded on, and mother_of_lilith is both a great cheer reader and telling me when my language gets TOO confusing.
Q17: One thing that really stands out about your work is how intentional your themes feel—and how beautifully you pair them with your own custom visuals. What is your process like when creating a graphic—do you already have a clear vision in mind, or do you experiment as you go?
A: I experiment as I go! With “Merope,” it was all done afterwards. I knew I wanted green (duh), and I wanted it to feel like the 20s. With other stories, like Tombraxas “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue”, I actually played with it until I found something that fit the story, same with my Theonald story (which ended up settling around Britney Spears and bright colors). My cutesy little Harmony WIP I’m working on now was decided before I even started typing the story because I wanted it to be a fairy tale with 90s/early aughts vibes. But my favorite was my tale I wrote for the Death Eaters Do It Better Fest, a Tombraxas called ‘The King and the Conqueror’, where I knew it would be black and white (for the 40s), but I wanted it soaked in blood. Most one-shots, though, I decide afterwards what the visuals will look like.
Q18: Your stories often feel centered around strong, intentional themes. How do you usually land on the core theme of a fic? Does the theme come first and shape the story—or do they emerge naturally as you’re writing?
A: The theme often comes when I’m writing. With “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue,” the music theme came about in chapter three. “How to Win an Auror in Five Days” (my Theonald), it also came around chapter three. But with “Merope” and “The King and the Conqueror”, they both came to me at the beginning. Merope’s was definitely inspired by my prompt from the Feminine Rage Fest, “You Make Me Do Too Much Labour”, and I just thought about labour that is domestic in nature or labour in the bedroom. For “The King and the Conqueror,” I thought about the idea of a performance because both the Malfoys and Tom Riddle himself are performative and dramatic people, and the theatre theme came to me.
Q19: What’s one writing habit you have that might surprise your readers?
A: I don’t know if it is surprising, but I love looking up history and things indicative of the time period. My shaky accent for Merope was actually created by listening to people speaking from that region of Britain on a drive home from work. I’ve also spent copious amounts of time looking at clothing, household objects, etc. The other thing that may surprise readers is that I panic post. I post, then five minutes later I re-read, find mistakes, and fix them. And I always have this amazing document open, called “Other words for said”. It is great.
Q20: Looking ahead, what kinds of stories or themes are you most excited to explore next—and is there anything you’re currently working on that you’re especially eager to share with readers?
A: I am finally writing a twisted little plot bunny I have had in my mind for a while, but it is anonymous right now, so I have to be hush-hush. The other things that I am excited for are my two Harmonys– Let Your Heart Hold Fast and How to Win/Earn Your Best Friend in Six Months/Nine and a Half Years: A Harmony Un-Fairy Tale (Bookended by Ginny Weasley) -- both very different takes on Harmony from different points in their post-war lives. And, of course, my Tombraxas “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue” and my Tomione “A Swan with Clipped Wings” are my current obsessions. But I am writing a Drinny next. And I have a huge Percy story planned in my “How to Win after You Win the War Series,” which started with my Theonald!
Thank you SOO MUCH again, Alice for agreeing to sit down and complete this interview with me!! And congrats on your nomination and WIN for this month's Tome of the Month Award!!! 🏆
FUN FACT: For those who may not yet know, this fic was inspired by the song Labor, by Paris Paloma
