instead of a specific fic I want to ask about a fic series–the aro!courf/feuilly one. Can you do questions 3, 5, and 10 for that series?

So, I ended up rereading the first two stories and part of the third in this series, so that took a little longer than I was expecting.  Sorry!  ;D

Answers behind the cut because of length and possible spoilers:


3: What’s your favorite line of narration?


Right at the top of A Dream Deferred is this little bit.  I honestly just felt like I’d done a good job of showing instead of telling here and that’s something I’d been finding hard to figure out how to do at the time.

Of course, that wasn’t answer enough. This thing between them was still so new, and they were both feeling their way through it, trying to figure out where the boundaries were. So, there was no pressure in Courfeyrac’s voice, but there was concern. It was the same concern Feuilly heard there when Combeferre came to ABC meetings with bloodshot eyes, running on caffeine, sheer cussedness, and precious little else. It was the same concern Feuilly heard there when Enjolras slammed into the Corinthe, ordered a bottle of wine and slumped into a corner to drink his way through his latest disappointment in a world that just couldn’t seem to care.

It wasn’t that Courfeyrac didn’t show concern for everyone in their group. He did. But his concern for Enjolras and Combeferre was… different. It was special. And as much as Feuilly hated knowing that he’d worried Courfeyrac, there was a small part of him that was leaping about like a small boy at Christmas, thrilled that Courfeyrac now showed that same level of concern for him. It meant something. It was a milestone. Feuilly couldn’t return that concern with cold silence.

And especially liked that bit because of how how I got it to echo down into the resolution of their quasi-relationship at the end, because I really enjoy that kind of symmetry from the beginning to the end of a fic.  ^_^

Courfeyrac’s hands tightened almost convulsively on Feuilly’s then, and he ducked his eyes… but not before Feuilly caught the telltale signs of tears. When he recovered himself enough to look back up, Courfeyrac asked, voice rough with those unshed tears, “Are you sure? I can’t… Feuilly I don’t think I have it in me to be a boyfriend. I’ve been trying. I really have, but… it’s just not there. And I do care about you. A lot. The same way I do about Combeferre and Enjolras. But… is that really enough? To know that I love all three of you the same way?” When Feuilly moved to answer, Courfeyrac shook his head. “Don’t… don’t answer right away, OK? I need you to think about this. Really think about it. Because it would destroy me to know that you might miss out on someone who could really make you happy just because you felt obligated to keep a promise to me.”

Feuilly stood up from his chair and pulled Courfeyrac to his feet and straight into a tight hug, smoothing a hand down his back when he started to tremble. “Courfeyrac… did you think I didn’t know that? I’ve watched you with the two of them for years. I know how much they mean to you. I know how much you mean to them. Do you have any idea how long I’ve wished that someone felt that strongly about me? Do you have any idea how honored I’d be for you to list me among their company in your heart? Because I would be.”

From when Feuilly and Courfeyrac are looking at the photo album and Courfeyrac asks about Darnell.  Another spot where I thought I’d done a good job of showing instead of telling – the burgeoning feeling of hope for something better that Darnell had brought back into Feuilly’s life.  ^_^

Feuilly rested his head on Courfeyrac’s shoulder, allowing himself the luxury of staring at that bright smile, the way one long arm draped around a younger, baby-faced Feuilly’s shoulders… at how lurking around the edges of that sullen baby face, there was the barest hint of a smile.

And then this last paragraph from I Shall Give You Wings because EVERYONE IS HAPPY AND I LIKE THAT EVERYONE IS HAPPY AND HOPEFUL AND JUST– I’m glad they all got there.  ^_^

Miguel leaned in to bump Darnell’s shoulder and Darnell just laughed along with him. And, a few minutes—and rounds of teasing—later, as he watched Miguel and Courfeyrac drive away… he marveled. If you’d asked him ten years ago if he’d ever see Miguel laugh like that—free and joyous and so purely happy—he’d have said no. Neither of them had had much to laugh about then. But, now…? For the first time, Darnell thought things just might work out for him, after all. And if Miguel was going to be OK… maybe it was time Darnell took a stab at it, too. He left the restaurant that night with a full stomach, a full calendar, and a full heart… and, for the first time in a long time, feeling like Musichetta’s joke just might be right… and he could fly.

5: What part was hardest to write?

Honestly?  ALL OF I SHALL GIVE YOU WINGS.  It fought me the whole way and I was trying to write it deep in the middle of that period of time when I was convinced that everything I was writing was pure crap and just trivial and banal and plodding and just… boring.  I felt like I was doing all telling and no showing and I used this fic to force my way past it and just put something on paper?  From the perspective of months later, I like it a lot better than I did when I first wrote it, but there are definitely things I would change if I were to go back and do it again.


This ‘verse started off life as a meme answer, actually.  ^_^  The prompt was Confusion for Feuilly.  (It was your prompt, Ve.  ^_~)  And I knew I wanted to write sick!fic because Ve and I both really like sick!fic and I think I eventually settled on Courfeyrac because you and Ve had both been talking about Courfeyrac/Feuilly a lot and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.  So, this seemed like a good time to dabble.  And I’d also wanted to write more ace and/or aro Courfeyrac and suddenly BOOM, there was the idea for the confusion in the prompt.  ^_^