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Yuletide letter, belated
Dear Yuletide Author,
Thank you for writing me a nice thing that I will love this Yuletide! I'm super-excited about my assignment, and hope you are too. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you write!
Things I do like: WORLDBUILDING.
Things I don't: public embarrassment, or anything causing vicarious embarrassment. Rape, graphic violence.
Raven Cycle: I love the namelessness of the magic here, where it feels like there's a system and there are rules but we don't know what they are. It's not big and flashy, necessarily, but it's there.
I love Adam and Ronan separately and as a ship; I love their complementary brokenness-es and the goodness that's in them and how they both seem to contain multitudes that, at least in Adam's case, even he doesn't recognize. I love Ronan's total teenage boyhood crush behavior on Adam, and it worries me deeply that Adam might not return it, or not in a way that's good for either of them. I love that Ronan's orientation is treated as something that affects his relationships but isn't central to the plot or to those relationships, even as it's integral to everything else because of its effects.
I don't need the fic to necessarily have them already be together, or to get together, even; I'm content with endless endless tension.
Points: Where do I even start. I read these books around the same time as I was becoming aware of my own queerness, and to see my orientation - bi - treated as normal and unremarkable and good, in a Real Book by a Real Adult in a genre I loved, was incredibly wonderful and a great solace to me as a teenager. I literally cried with happiness when I found out that there would be more books.
Also it doesn't hurt that these are FANTASY MYSTERIES IN A SOCIETY WITH ASTROLOGICAL MAGIC AND A MATRIARCHY. I'm easy to please that way.
I love the magic system and wish I had a list of all the coin equivalencies and the stars and planets and cycles so I could do things for myself; I love the gods and how they're associated; I love the guilds. Basically, I love everything about these books.
I love the hints of Istre's backstory and the way he and Philip are becoming friends and Philip aware of his own jealousy (and getting over it!), and I like him and would like to see more of him.
Miss Fisher: What I like best about Bert is his stubbornness, combined with his depth. I think the moment I decided I liked him was when he was yelling at the cops in episode 1 about the illegality of abortion - that he had an opinion not just because he liked communism (which he obviously does, and I'd be interested in seeing that explored more), but because he recognizes that the laws against it cause real, tangible harm to women.
Which brings me to what I like about the series, pretty much - it tries, and at least in the first season, does a pretty good job of - talking about class and gender in constructive, forward-thinking ways (it tries on sexual orientation, but I'm not sure it's so good on it, despite Mac, given some details deleted from the first episode re: the book; and it's made stabs at race that I'm not content with). Also, good mysteries! Strong, multidimensional female characters! Banter! Fashion! What is not to love?
So, Bert. Just, more of Bert than he gives of himself normally. Everyone else can come along for the ride too, if you like.
So, all in all, thank you for being my writer, and I hope what you receive will be as enjoyable as what I will!
Val
Thank you for writing me a nice thing that I will love this Yuletide! I'm super-excited about my assignment, and hope you are too. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you write!
Things I do like: WORLDBUILDING.
Things I don't: public embarrassment, or anything causing vicarious embarrassment. Rape, graphic violence.
Raven Cycle: I love the namelessness of the magic here, where it feels like there's a system and there are rules but we don't know what they are. It's not big and flashy, necessarily, but it's there.
I love Adam and Ronan separately and as a ship; I love their complementary brokenness-es and the goodness that's in them and how they both seem to contain multitudes that, at least in Adam's case, even he doesn't recognize. I love Ronan's total teenage boyhood crush behavior on Adam, and it worries me deeply that Adam might not return it, or not in a way that's good for either of them. I love that Ronan's orientation is treated as something that affects his relationships but isn't central to the plot or to those relationships, even as it's integral to everything else because of its effects.
I don't need the fic to necessarily have them already be together, or to get together, even; I'm content with endless endless tension.
Points: Where do I even start. I read these books around the same time as I was becoming aware of my own queerness, and to see my orientation - bi - treated as normal and unremarkable and good, in a Real Book by a Real Adult in a genre I loved, was incredibly wonderful and a great solace to me as a teenager. I literally cried with happiness when I found out that there would be more books.
Also it doesn't hurt that these are FANTASY MYSTERIES IN A SOCIETY WITH ASTROLOGICAL MAGIC AND A MATRIARCHY. I'm easy to please that way.
I love the magic system and wish I had a list of all the coin equivalencies and the stars and planets and cycles so I could do things for myself; I love the gods and how they're associated; I love the guilds. Basically, I love everything about these books.
I love the hints of Istre's backstory and the way he and Philip are becoming friends and Philip aware of his own jealousy (and getting over it!), and I like him and would like to see more of him.
Miss Fisher: What I like best about Bert is his stubbornness, combined with his depth. I think the moment I decided I liked him was when he was yelling at the cops in episode 1 about the illegality of abortion - that he had an opinion not just because he liked communism (which he obviously does, and I'd be interested in seeing that explored more), but because he recognizes that the laws against it cause real, tangible harm to women.
Which brings me to what I like about the series, pretty much - it tries, and at least in the first season, does a pretty good job of - talking about class and gender in constructive, forward-thinking ways (it tries on sexual orientation, but I'm not sure it's so good on it, despite Mac, given some details deleted from the first episode re: the book; and it's made stabs at race that I'm not content with). Also, good mysteries! Strong, multidimensional female characters! Banter! Fashion! What is not to love?
So, Bert. Just, more of Bert than he gives of himself normally. Everyone else can come along for the ride too, if you like.
So, all in all, thank you for being my writer, and I hope what you receive will be as enjoyable as what I will!
Val