#i rewatched the final scene of the finale to write se telefonando (yeah it was. very painful. horribly so)

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I was hoping you would reblog that fic ask game so I could ask you some questions!! #2 for 'se telefonando io potessi dirti addio, ti chiamerei' and 'Home is where your family is', and #11 for 'i hope you do believe me / i've given you my heart' :) and I'll ask you the same thing you asked me: an additional bonus question for any fic, for anything you'd like to say that wasn't covered here!

Oooh these are all fun questions!! Thank you so much!!

2. What scene did you first put down?

se telefonando io potessi dirti addio, ti chiamerei

Thank goodness I still had my notes for this one, because -- as embarrassing as that is -- I admittedly didn't remember! It turns out the very first thing I wrote down was the ending of Rose's conversation with Dorothy (the passage about "sneezing"). I don't think any one scene was put down all at the same time (except maybe for Sophia's voicemail message); I wrote down a series of thoughts / exchanges and then tried to find ways to connect them. :)

Home is where your family is

This one is easy! While the idea in general was sparked by thinking about Janet and Blanche's reconciliation, the actual first scene I wrote down was the one in which Blanche awakes from her nightmare and Dorothy consoles her. It came to me one night and hooked its talons in my brain until I put it to paper!

11. What do you like best about this fic?

i hope you do believe me / i've given you my heart

Oh, this is hard. I honestly love all of it with all my heart -- I had a great time writing it! Perhaps that's it -- the ease with which I wrote it? By this I don't mean it was easy (it wasn't! some passages laughed at me for so long!), but the fact that the main beats of the story and the general tone seemed to find their footing right from the start. At times I felt like I was listening to Blanche and Rose themselves reminisce about what happened, and it was such a fun feeling!

If I had to choose something specific -- it's got to be the final scene in the kitchen, when they discuss how to bring Dorothy into the mix. Their dynamic inevitably got a bit altered during the events of the fic (they were both going through a lot!), but that final scene gave me the chance to bring back some silliness and fun, and I love it so much for that. Blanche and Rose are the epitome of silly x silly for me (unless there's something serious going on, that is!), and I'm glad I got the chance to highlight that.

Right. For the bonus question...

9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

In the first draft of se telefonando, the final conversation between Blanche and Dorothy was going to be much more angry and openly confrontational. Blanche, in particular, was icily furious, and Dorothy ended up completely beaten down by the end of it. I still have a snippet from that original idea:

"You're tired of living in a house?" "Yeah. You see, they have an unfortunate tendency to empty out, after a while." "..." "..." "... Blanche, we --" "We really need to discuss it together, I agree, and we will! I'll bring it up to Sophia and Rose when I see them. Likely tomorrow." "But I--" "You haven't agreed yet? I know. I don't see what you're waiting for, honestly. Why would you want to keep paying the mortgage for this little place, when you've got the marvel that is Hollingsworth Manor to live in?" "..."

Ultimately I decided against this version for a number of reasons. While I think Blanche would turn to anger to deal with heartbreak (particularly in the situation described in the fic), having her lash out like that (being cold to Dorothy, talking over her, all the works) didn't fit right with her character (to me, at least) -- and I felt similarly for Dorothy's behaviour and reactions, too. It all seemed too honest, in a way -- and I really wanted to highlight the miscommunication and the refusal to talk openly about their feelings. I figured a more somber and hidden sadness would be more effective, and when I wrote it down it felt more in-character to me, so I kept the latter version (and had Blanche deal with her anger earlier on, in her monologue).

These were amazing questions, I had a great time answering them! Thank you so much for asking!!