yo

yayyyy ty!! given two options i have, yet again, chosen both. vampires first!

🍆 What scene do you think was the hottest? What scene do you think your readers thought was the hottest? Are they the same? 

since everything in this fic leads up to The Bite, it makes sense that most people think that part is the hottest. that’s what the whole thing is about. based on comments people have different favorite parts of that sequence, but it seems pretty much agreed on. in my opinion the hottest part is the Julien Horny Montage, specifically this paragraph: 

He would carve her enemies to pieces, would forswear all he’s ever loved, would tear his very heart from his chest—it’s the thought of that, of her taking it from his hands and smiling and devouring it, bite by bite, that sends him tumbling into the abyss more than once. The image is so vivid in his mind that he has to sink his teeth into half a dozen pillows in half a dozen bedrooms to avoid crying her name—his blood wet on her fingers, her tongue dipping into the valves, a low satisfied rumble in her throat—anything, he wants to wail, clinging to her skirts, anything, if you would only ask.  

half a dozen pillows in half a dozen bedrooms + cannibalism fantasy while you get off you will always be famous

🔎 What detail(s) in the story are you particularly captivated with? Is there any behind the scenes info or backstory? 

probably pretty clear by the fact that this continued as a series, but the entire concept of this got into my head and just would not let go. the main piece of unrevealed info that threads through the entire vampire au is: What Actually Happened To Make Aranessa A Vampire And Why? like, mechanically. i got really captivated by the marriage between sylandri and the king of faerie, and what kind of things would be included in a negotiation like that—sylandri obviously never expected to die, but i thought the implication of ‘you will sacrifice some of your people to act as my mourners’ was too good to leave on the table. the winter curse that overtakes house royce in this au is that mandated mourning made tangible.

as for what actually happened when aranessa, raimond davinos, and her parents’ frozen corpses were in the room, well. uh. it’s a hungry grief, you see.

🔮Have you imagined what happens to [character(s)] in the future? Or does the story only exist to you as a moment in time? 

i feel pretty confident about where the series ends up—it is fun to imagine how things would work out for aranessa & julien traveling with the seekers carrying this huge secret, but honestly at that point in the story they have so much more going on. i think they could get away with Leaving Things Unaddressed as long as they wanted to. i don’t think either sequel to the first fic was even particularly ‘needed’, but they sure were fun to write 😊

AND NOW FOR VAST MIDNIGHT MY BELOVED VAST MIDNIGHT i could talk about this fic for fifteen years. and i will.

🍆 What scene do you think was the hottest? What scene do you think your readers thought was the hottest? Are they the same? 

i’m not sure what people liked in this one! i think everyone just agreed with my thesis (Women Hot). if i had to guess i’d say probably them kissing -> the hookup is what the audience would most enjoy. i very much enjoy when the switch flips in the dynamic and suddenly aranessa is the one being possessive.

“You’re still mine,” Aranessa murmurs, more the Lady Royce than she has ever managed to be, eyes blazing with faerie-light. “While you’re mine, I’ll take care of you.” 

a huge point of this fic was 'the davinos-royce dynamic is inseparable from I Am Your Vassal/You Are My Liege' and i really liked the kind of... sexy noblesse oblige aranessa is rocking here.

🔎 What detail(s) in the story are you particularly captivated with? Is there any behind the scenes info or backstory? 

my number one absolute favorite part of this fic is a small detail that’s easy to miss. it’s this part:

“My lady,” Maya says outside of the closed door that marks the only half-decent room the place could offer. This place is shabby, unimpressive—she will sleep in the carriage tonight and likely be more comfortable for it. It does not matter that her back will ache in the morning. This is the order of things.  

maya is deeply angry this entire fic, but she’s also still very devoted to social rules and expectations. she scolds aranessa constantly, but only inside her own head. she believes aranessa is a failure not because of some quality but because aranessa is choosing to be a failure, reinforcing the idea that aranessa is still her superior. she was just mad at the idea of aranessa sleeping outside, but she’s fully planning to do that because it’s What Is Expected. it’s so much fun to write a character who believes strongly in things like this.

🔮Have you imagined what happens to [character(s)] in the future? Or does the story only exist to you as a moment in time? 

this is meant to be a ‘what the fuck was i thinking’ memory they can both look back on in the future. it’s more of a snapshot than a jumping-off point for a future story; i set this even before the seekers met maya davinos on purpose, because i wanted to focus on the mix of anger and disappointment and fealty that drove her to the point we met her in. i rewatched the maya scenes multiple times to get to my best version of her and she never suggests that davinos make some kind of play and overthrow royce; she very much understands that the time for that is past. there’s nothing left to steal from aranessa, so pulling some kind of social coup on her isn’t in the cards.