#of course bethany chooses my longest fics to ask about

[bananakarenina]

Fanfic writer ask!

For Love's Sake Only: 3, 4, 9

Leave the Light On: 11, 12

for love's sake only

oh god this is going to be so hard, there are so many words to choose from

3. What is your favorite line of narration?

ajdkl;jasf;ld obviously this answer (and my answer to number 4) is me picking one of many many favorites because i love all of it?? but really it's this:

She takes a deep breath, letting the river breeze wash over her, lift the curls that have escaped their pins and set them gently back down again. It feels like a caress, like Luke is there, helping her find the words.

i just. i will love that line forever, the end.

4. What is your favorite line of dialogue?

it is too hard to choose bethany it is too hard!!! i went back to this exchange from chapter 3, because it's such a lovely story that ray tells, how love blooms in the most unexpected ways ;;_;;

“I didn’t say anything, of course. She was the daughter of a duke, and I was a portrait artist. It could never be. So I pushed the feelings aside and finished the portrait. And when I unveiled it—that was the first time I ever saw her completely still. I still remember, she fell silent and I thought she hated it. But then—” Ray pauses, and Reggie sees that the Marquess has tears brimming in his eyes. “Then she reached out a hand and touched the curve of her own face that I painted. Her voice went very quiet, and she said—and I will never forget this—she said ‘I have never seen myself like this. Is this how you see me, Mr. Molina?’ And there was this note of hope in her voice, like she wanted the answer to be yes so badly.” “What did you say to her?” Reggie says, completely spellbound. “Do you know, I don’t even remember, because that is when she kissed me.” “She kissed you?!” Reggie exclaims, now on the edge of the velvet armchair seat, and Ray is smiling fully now.

“She did indeed. It turns out the whole time I was looking at her, I never realized: she was looking back.”

i also love the exchange between jane & julie in chapter 10; i remember reading it aloud a few times in what i heard as jane's accent and julie's, just so i got the rhythm and cadence i wanted

honorable mention goes to "i love you." / "i know." aka me slipping star wars into my historical romance, you're welcome reg

9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

hmmm at one point early early in the process reggie's mom was involved, like gossiping about how eligible julie was, but it didn't really fit. and then i killed her off, sorry first lady peters, because reggie not wanting to carry on the legacy of his parents became more important.

more complexly: jay (@where-you-go) and i were chatting about flso once (as we do) and she was like: what if julie didn't have reggie to save her from that match? what if the boys weren't gentry, but the musicians they are in their souls? like traveling bards/musicians who were hired to play at a party or whatever at the duke of covington's sprawling estate. and they meet the duchess covington, who is a ghost of a woman, sad, trapped, psychologically broken down. and they win her over, they make her smile for the first time in months, and over the course of a few days she realizes: she can't stay. she has to run, and she wants to be with them. and willie is also there, with his own psychological damage from being caleb's ward, and at first he and julie are suspicious of each other, in that household where no one can trust anyone, but then of course alex happens, and willie is a good person so he helps and runs away with them too.

from discord:

she knows how covington--how society operatesit seems futile to even try, at first but that first rehearsal, where she hears their music and something she thought was long-dead flares to life inside her and then she hears them laughing in the garden and is struck by a longing so fierce she almost sits down right on the grass she's longing for those handsome young men, sure, but she's also longing to laugh again

never trust jay and i in the same room together, we will inevitably make it incredibly sad, hahahahaha

leave the light on

11: What do you like best about this fic?

oh gosh. you know...i think that it's about Adulthood, in a way? like it's post-canon, it's canon compliant (technically lol) but: what happens to these characters we love when adulthood complicates things? like sometimes you find love in the midst of grief and you don't even notice. sometimes you fuck up big time. sometimes you feel like you're still 22 and stupid but you have crow's feet and gray hair poking through and fucking bills to pay and gosh, wouldn't it just be so nice if you could see dr. turner on the regular, except she's a pediatric psychologist julie, you're thirty years old.

yeah, i think that i like that it's very specifically about discovering thirty and beyond, and about second loves.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

i...genuinely don't know! i love this fic a lot, it means a lot to me. i think maybe that i subjected alex and willie to the crossing over, hahahahaha. but reggie had to be Totally Alone, you know? it doesn't work if it's just luke.

i think maaaaybe if i were reworking it (which i'm not, i love it the way it is) i might stretch the timeline out a bit? like have alex cross a bit later time-wise? stretch things out a bit? but i think it works either way

ilu bb thank you for the ask sorry for the novel lol

ask me things!