straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2025-11-30 07:57 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2025-11-30 07:57 pm
328.
/collapses
I just finally, finally finished the first draft of “to have something in the end”. Originally my goal had been to post this before the end of November (and ideally also make good progress on the Sofia fic as well afterwards), which obviously isn’t going to be happening now… but considering that I originally thought this fic would be 2-3K, maybe 4K max if things really got out of hand, and now it’s sitting as one of my longest works at 7.3K, I think I can be forgiving of myself for not managing that, lol.
I’m a little afraid of what problems I might find in editing—hopefully nothing that’s unfixable—but for now I’m going to allow myself to feel good about getting this far.
I also finished my second replay of Frederique's route earlier today, this time taking the time to revisit the dialogue for both options during the final choice instead of just doing the good end... though it is of course heartbreaking to have Iolanthe reject him, I do find their conversation in that scene fascinating. Arguably, Iolanthe is far more open and direct about her feelings for him when she's rejecting him than she is when they're actually getting together, which I find fascinating. The way she tells him that she's never happier than when she's with him, and the desperate way Frederique interjects with "Nor I you!" before she continues on to say that they nonetheless can't be together... ugh, my heart.
Some of the ways Iolanthe describes their relationship and how she feels about him in that scene also reminds me of what Lucrezia says to Cesare in that "god or the devil" scene from season three of The Borgias, which... kind of checks out. Though the characters involved in both ships are very different from one another (just imagine comparing Frederique and Cesare to one another, lol, no, absolutely not), they do have some similarities that resonate with me—the devotion between the siblings, the sisters being used as marriage pawns in a historical or quasi-historical context & how the brothers react to that, the cute gestures they share (the nose booping versus the forehead kisses), how much they simply and genuinely like being around each other, and the joy and laughter they share. Every time I think about what Frederique and Iolanthe's first time might be like, I find myself thinking about Lucrezia and Cesare's first time in The Borgias—the way they smile at each, their pure joy, their laughter. I can't help but think it would be the same kind of vibe for Frederique and Iolanthe.
I just finally, finally finished the first draft of “to have something in the end”. Originally my goal had been to post this before the end of November (and ideally also make good progress on the Sofia fic as well afterwards), which obviously isn’t going to be happening now… but considering that I originally thought this fic would be 2-3K, maybe 4K max if things really got out of hand, and now it’s sitting as one of my longest works at 7.3K, I think I can be forgiving of myself for not managing that, lol.
I’m a little afraid of what problems I might find in editing—hopefully nothing that’s unfixable—but for now I’m going to allow myself to feel good about getting this far.
I also finished my second replay of Frederique's route earlier today, this time taking the time to revisit the dialogue for both options during the final choice instead of just doing the good end... though it is of course heartbreaking to have Iolanthe reject him, I do find their conversation in that scene fascinating. Arguably, Iolanthe is far more open and direct about her feelings for him when she's rejecting him than she is when they're actually getting together, which I find fascinating. The way she tells him that she's never happier than when she's with him, and the desperate way Frederique interjects with "Nor I you!" before she continues on to say that they nonetheless can't be together... ugh, my heart.
Some of the ways Iolanthe describes their relationship and how she feels about him in that scene also reminds me of what Lucrezia says to Cesare in that "god or the devil" scene from season three of The Borgias, which... kind of checks out. Though the characters involved in both ships are very different from one another (just imagine comparing Frederique and Cesare to one another, lol, no, absolutely not), they do have some similarities that resonate with me—the devotion between the siblings, the sisters being used as marriage pawns in a historical or quasi-historical context & how the brothers react to that, the cute gestures they share (the nose booping versus the forehead kisses), how much they simply and genuinely like being around each other, and the joy and laughter they share. Every time I think about what Frederique and Iolanthe's first time might be like, I find myself thinking about Lucrezia and Cesare's first time in The Borgias—the way they smile at each, their pure joy, their laughter. I can't help but think it would be the same kind of vibe for Frederique and Iolanthe.