![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7is so dumb
via https://ift.tt/2CRNnE9
you rediscover your original motives for creating a work and are like,
struck anew, with how fucking justified you were
i just read a really fantastic and lovely Geralt/Jaskier fic that I enjoyed
enormously that had lovely characterization and wonderful storytelling
mechanics and some great use of plot devices and voice and such, wonderful
secondary characters, really all around a great story
and the central premise of it was that Jaskier, at fortysomething, was so
old, he was just past it in every way, he was so wrinkly (it talked about
his wrinkled hands a lot, his gray hair, the twinge in his hip, his rivals
rejoicing in his retirement, him fretting that he’s “past it”, and so on
and so forth), he was settling down and retiring and was just so ancient
and agéd, and in the finale of the story he *dies of old age*, and like,
he’s referred to explicitly as “fortysomething” at some point early in the
story and there is an indication that quite some time passes before he
kicks it, but the premise of the story was basically him waiting around to
die. It was a lovely story, very light-hearted, very sweet, and
the central premise was that Jaskier, in his forties, was waiting around to
die.
*oh my god* you guys.
Also I recently saw yet another discussion where it was taken as read that
in olden times people died of old age in their fifties and *that’s not how
life expectancy works*, people, the average life expectancy being in one’s
fifties does not mean people died of old age in their fifties, it means
most of them died in childhood or youth and then *aged normally after that
time*. A man of fifty in the medieval era would be approximately the same
physical condition of a man of fifty today, given roughly equivalent
physical labor and healthcare (which, for a healthy person, wouldn’t matter
that much), he just would be more *unusual*, and more likely to die of
something that today wouldn’t be fatal, at any time. Not *old fucking age*,
my god.
Anyway Meet Death Sitting <https://archiveofourown.org/works/22572403> is
#ownvoices Jaskier being 40, *realistically*. And so while it’s not that
his hip won’t ever twinge and he won’t mutter that he’s too old for this
shit sometimes, he’s also not going to settle down and fucking *die*.
(Okay he does say he’s ready to die. I mean. He decides he’s not going to
run away. Listen that’s not him settling down. Christ that’s the title of
the series. Argh I’ve undermined myself, this entire entry doesn’t hang
together. Anyway my point is he’s not ready to die *of old age*, he’s just
seen enough shit to know it’s coming.)
(Also I did enjoy the fic and would totally rec it except for all the shade
I’ve just cast on it. Sorry, author, it really is beautifully-written but I
cannot get over How Extremely Agéd Jaskier is in the whole thing. Like,
would it’ve been so hard to start off with him older?? he didn’t have to be
explicitly fortysomething to start with. If you want to write a story about
an old man then write a story about an old man!)
I don’t blame the author I blame our culture that thinks you retire at
forty and then you die. Like… … … my kingdom to retire at forty, what a
fucking concept, but like.
I mean. You know Henry Cavill is almost 40, right? (he’s thirty-seven) Does
he look on the verge of retirement to you??? ??? Come on.
(This sort of reminds me of when Rogue One came out and the novelization
made it clear that despite them casting the beautiful age-appropriate Diego
Luna, who was in his late thirties at the time and has the most incredible
crow’s feet as Cassian, just the most beautiful subtle weathering in his
face and his haunted, drawn expressions and my god he was magnificent as
that character, they’d intended the character to be in his twenties. Like.
WHAT??? Well because nobody really knows what any age actually looks like,
ever, and they couldn’t imagine a story’s hero being nearly 40. [Diego was
born the same year I was, ha. Is he not beautiful??? He was so perfect in
that movie, he is just a delight everywhere I’ve encountered him.]
Oh, you callow youths– there’s a suggestion. If you want to see what a
beautiful man of forty looks like, Diego Luna is currently 40 (born 12/79)
and just participated in the COVID-quarantine Princess Bride remake, look
for him being Inigo Montoya with a red umbrella (I can’t find a good link
but if you’re kids you’re better at the Internet than me, surely). *There*’s
a genuine depiction of forty. There’s your realistic Fall Of Cintra-era
Jaskier, with real crow’s feet and a line between his eyebrows and still
wearing the same size trousers he did at twenty-seven, thanks, he’s *maintained
his lifestyle*, thanks, he can wield an umbrella imaginatively and *doesn’t
have to put on a fake accent for the role* ahem oh sorry I’ve digressed.)
Anyhow. I just wanted to rant about that a little. I’m not mad, it was
funny, but – and it’s not that I’m like “oh this author is Babey and
doesn’t know”, I’m more worried that this author is like, in their early
30s and does not realize that they’re not old yet. They’re thinking of
themself as old and think they’ll be ready to die in their forties. And
like, not even consciously. Surely I’m devoting more thought to this than
it requires but that’s my worst fear, not that this is some sweet kid who
has no idea, but that it’s *not*.
I’m not going to look it up and I’m not going to discuss it with the
author, I’m going to move on with my life, I’ve just been rereading my
intro stuff in this fandom and pondering, is all.
via https://ift.tt/2CRNnE9
you rediscover your original motives for creating a work and are like,
struck anew, with how fucking justified you were
i just read a really fantastic and lovely Geralt/Jaskier fic that I enjoyed
enormously that had lovely characterization and wonderful storytelling
mechanics and some great use of plot devices and voice and such, wonderful
secondary characters, really all around a great story
and the central premise of it was that Jaskier, at fortysomething, was so
old, he was just past it in every way, he was so wrinkly (it talked about
his wrinkled hands a lot, his gray hair, the twinge in his hip, his rivals
rejoicing in his retirement, him fretting that he’s “past it”, and so on
and so forth), he was settling down and retiring and was just so ancient
and agéd, and in the finale of the story he *dies of old age*, and like,
he’s referred to explicitly as “fortysomething” at some point early in the
story and there is an indication that quite some time passes before he
kicks it, but the premise of the story was basically him waiting around to
die. It was a lovely story, very light-hearted, very sweet, and
the central premise was that Jaskier, in his forties, was waiting around to
die.
*oh my god* you guys.
Also I recently saw yet another discussion where it was taken as read that
in olden times people died of old age in their fifties and *that’s not how
life expectancy works*, people, the average life expectancy being in one’s
fifties does not mean people died of old age in their fifties, it means
most of them died in childhood or youth and then *aged normally after that
time*. A man of fifty in the medieval era would be approximately the same
physical condition of a man of fifty today, given roughly equivalent
physical labor and healthcare (which, for a healthy person, wouldn’t matter
that much), he just would be more *unusual*, and more likely to die of
something that today wouldn’t be fatal, at any time. Not *old fucking age*,
my god.
Anyway Meet Death Sitting <https://archiveofourown.org/works/22572403> is
#ownvoices Jaskier being 40, *realistically*. And so while it’s not that
his hip won’t ever twinge and he won’t mutter that he’s too old for this
shit sometimes, he’s also not going to settle down and fucking *die*.
(Okay he does say he’s ready to die. I mean. He decides he’s not going to
run away. Listen that’s not him settling down. Christ that’s the title of
the series. Argh I’ve undermined myself, this entire entry doesn’t hang
together. Anyway my point is he’s not ready to die *of old age*, he’s just
seen enough shit to know it’s coming.)
(Also I did enjoy the fic and would totally rec it except for all the shade
I’ve just cast on it. Sorry, author, it really is beautifully-written but I
cannot get over How Extremely Agéd Jaskier is in the whole thing. Like,
would it’ve been so hard to start off with him older?? he didn’t have to be
explicitly fortysomething to start with. If you want to write a story about
an old man then write a story about an old man!)
I don’t blame the author I blame our culture that thinks you retire at
forty and then you die. Like… … … my kingdom to retire at forty, what a
fucking concept, but like.
I mean. You know Henry Cavill is almost 40, right? (he’s thirty-seven) Does
he look on the verge of retirement to you??? ??? Come on.
(This sort of reminds me of when Rogue One came out and the novelization
made it clear that despite them casting the beautiful age-appropriate Diego
Luna, who was in his late thirties at the time and has the most incredible
crow’s feet as Cassian, just the most beautiful subtle weathering in his
face and his haunted, drawn expressions and my god he was magnificent as
that character, they’d intended the character to be in his twenties. Like.
WHAT??? Well because nobody really knows what any age actually looks like,
ever, and they couldn’t imagine a story’s hero being nearly 40. [Diego was
born the same year I was, ha. Is he not beautiful??? He was so perfect in
that movie, he is just a delight everywhere I’ve encountered him.]
Oh, you callow youths– there’s a suggestion. If you want to see what a
beautiful man of forty looks like, Diego Luna is currently 40 (born 12/79)
and just participated in the COVID-quarantine Princess Bride remake, look
for him being Inigo Montoya with a red umbrella (I can’t find a good link
but if you’re kids you’re better at the Internet than me, surely). *There*’s
a genuine depiction of forty. There’s your realistic Fall Of Cintra-era
Jaskier, with real crow’s feet and a line between his eyebrows and still
wearing the same size trousers he did at twenty-seven, thanks, he’s *maintained
his lifestyle*, thanks, he can wield an umbrella imaginatively and *doesn’t
have to put on a fake accent for the role* ahem oh sorry I’ve digressed.)
Anyhow. I just wanted to rant about that a little. I’m not mad, it was
funny, but – and it’s not that I’m like “oh this author is Babey and
doesn’t know”, I’m more worried that this author is like, in their early
30s and does not realize that they’re not old yet. They’re thinking of
themself as old and think they’ll be ready to die in their forties. And
like, not even consciously. Surely I’m devoting more thought to this than
it requires but that’s my worst fear, not that this is some sweet kid who
has no idea, but that it’s *not*.
I’m not going to look it up and I’m not going to discuss it with the
author, I’m going to move on with my life, I’ve just been rereading my
intro stuff in this fandom and pondering, is all.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-19 09:23 pm (UTC)Seriously though, I'm fitter & healthier than I've been in years (though my knees sometimes creak alarmingly), my kids are finally old enough that I Get Enough Sleep, which is not unrelated to the general fitness improvement, and I have a much stronger sense of who I am and what matters to me than I did 25 years ago. I have no expectation whatsoever of being able to retire for another 25 years at least, and nor do I want to! I'm good at my job and I like it and the people I work with.
Diego Luna is indeed beautiful, and also a couple years younger than me. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a few years younger than me! Ursula Vernon is pretty much my age, and continues to improve my life with every book she writes (and tbh quite a lot of her tweets).