Fic: Afterwards

[pforte]

Title: Afterwards
Fandom The Charioteer
Pairing: Ralph/Laurie
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Mary Renault's brilliant novel. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Note: Many thanks to the highly efficient beta service of maryrenaultfics. fawatson was super!

Comments

[pforte]

I'm glad you liked it. :)

[trueriver]

This is beautiful - before and after the beta! So many careful and thoughtful touches, weaving in what we have already learned with these new events, moving from the shock of the ending to a real hope for their future TOGETHER!

This leaves me moved and happy :)

[eumelkeks]

Thanks so much. :)

The real ending always leaves me a bit anxious because Laurie can be so daft and what if he messes up? O_O

[lorie945]

Lovely, thoughtful continuation of the final scene. Laurie's awkwardness and caution are just perfect.

[pforte]

Thanks a lot for this lovely comment. I'm glad you liked it.

[my_cnnr]

How lovely - intuitive and faithfully respectful of Renault's characters. Particularly appealing was the continuing shift in Laurie's awareness and understanding, and his control of his responses.

With sudden clarity his overwrought brain worked out what Alec had meant about Ralph being nothing like Sandy, that he had suspected all along. The sharp shock was mercifully softened by a deep, unconditional gratitude.

The tenor of Laurie's future relationship with Alec has been, in the past, a topic of some passionate discussion. Most members commenting seemed willing to acknowledge that at this moment gratitude would be the only emotion Laurie was capable of feeling for Alec. There was some divergence of opinion as to his feelings going forward. Fairly intolerant of anything not transparent to him, I've wondered if Laurie would be able to maintain that sense of indebtedness much longer. You chose "unconditional gratitude" which, if I'm interpreting you correctly, implies that Laurie will be just as grateful to acknowledge the depth of

[eumelkeks]

Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. :)

For me Laurie is still not fully developed. I'm with Ralph here, he's changing into something and one cannot be sure of what that is. He's quick to judge but he's willing to re-evaluate. I thought that, even though he looks down on Sandy, he respects Alec. I think his first thoughts about him were along the lines of him recognising a fellow outsider. That's probably true for Alec, Ralph and Laurie. I would think that Laurie is capable of unconditional gratitude, even though it doesn't come easy to him. But losing Ralph would have been a loss that would have been extremely hard to cope with because Ralph isn't just a person. I think both, Laurie and Alec understand parts of Ralph the other doesn't quite grasp but they're united in their sincere affection for him.

[my_cnnr]

admin note:

Archive? And, if so, under which user name?

[pforte]

Under pforte because it's my fanfic journal.