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dragonlady7allmyfansquees, rionsanura, the witcher, replying to replies, middle aged
via https://ift.tt/30uyKz7
bittylildragon <https://bittylildragon.tumblr.com/> replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
I’m gonna be honest, that fic you keep describing as lovely does not sound
lovely to me if those are the erroneous assumptions the author is making
Well so here’s the thing. If from the beginning, they’d just gone with *Jaskier
is sixtyish in this story* as a premise, it would’ve been completely fine,
and I would be writing out a fic rec instead. Like, it would even work out,
the way his friends talk about him, the way he worries about being past it,
the way he mostly can still get around and get up to his normal
shenanigans, but is occasionally Regretful of doing something too
physically-rash.
Given that it’s a non-canon story, there’s no reason they couldn’t have
done that, either. They just… didn’t think to, because as far as I can tell
they genuinely thought that was reasonable for a character in his forties.
If I just… erased the few lines where Jaskier explicitly discussed his age
(there are a few “ah twenty years ago!” kinds of lines as well here and
there, and like, guys. Twenty years is a long time, but it’s not like, a
*crazy* long time. I can laugh with some of my friends about the dumb shit
we got up to 20 years ago but then later that same evening I can find
myself doing some shit that is like 80% as dumb, just better-informed. All
those Witcher 3 playthroughs
<https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/wee-precious-flower-prince-geralt>? I met DF
and MM 22 and 26 years ago, respectively, and our shenanigans are only
constrained by the kids asleep upstairs, y’dig? we’ve got like, another 25
years before we retire, if we’re lucky)– if you just changed those numbers,
the fic would be absolutely perfect.
brighteyedjill <https://brighteyedjill.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
*in Monty Python voice* I’m not dead yet
RIGHT
walburgablack <https://walburgablack.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
oh ffs, forty is maaaaybe middle-aged?
And that’s the thing. being middle-aged isn’t a *thing* that people
understand anymore. It’s seen as this thing to dread, and then gets mushed
into the same thing as being geriatric. So in our society, being past your
mid-thirties (…ish) is basically the same as being retired which is some
unspecified brief span of waiting for death. Like, we can’t even
*imagine* being
middle-aged. You’re young, and then you’re In Denial, and then you’re dead.
Which ties into this from the tags onrionsanura
<https://tmblr.co/my3yup0xyq4alxi1lv_wgpq>‘s reblog of the post–
#but i also think that part of the conception that jaskier was waiting
around to die#was centered on the fact that he himself didn’t realize he
wasn’t old?#cause he was vain#and used to life as a Beautiful
Youth?#perhaps not#perhaps it’s the author’s ignorance
So like———- in many societies, being middle-aged is something you ASPIRE
to??? I’d imagine on the Continent it would be too. you’ve survived youth!
You’ve lived long enough to marry, and maybe get some kids! You have a
career! You’ve had time to amass some kind of wealth or stability!! In our
society this is stuff we aspire to too, but we do so while also wanting,
somehow, to cling to this illusion of youth as well. You want to settle
down but you don’t want to LOOK TOO SETTLED, you don’t want to look too
prosperous, you want that Youth Energy and Being In Touch or whatever– it’s
all weird and self-contradicting.
Like! In real life being middle-aged often means something of an end to
awkwardness (ok at least an easing of it, i will die still awkward but i
shove my foot wholesale into my mouth MUCH less often now through sheer
dint of practice), maybe you’ve figured out what fashions suit you so you
wear those instead of chasing trends, you’ve finally got a handle on just
what it is that upsets your tummy so you eat things that actually nourish
you more consistently, yeah you get hangovers more easily and you can’t
bounce back from all-nighters like you used to and you just can’t wear
ridiculous high heels anymore without paying for it but like, your skin is
probably way better, you finally figured out how to get your hair to do
that thing you want it to, mostly you’ve figured out how to pay your bills
and you know you’re good at some stuff and probably have managed to get
paid for them, you’ve probably gotten therapy at some point so you’re not
just a bleeding wound of all the wrongs done you in your childhood all the
time– I’m not saying I have my shit together exactly, but shit, guys, I cry
a *fuckton* less than I did even ten years ago, and my cheekbones have come
into their own thank you *very* much. Sure your body starts to betray you,
but I had sciatica at 22 and tendonitis at 27, generally my body is about
as well-behaved as it ever was from a daily maintenance perspective. And I
just have seen enough shit that I get fazed a lot less often and know what
to do a lot more often and that is just *nice*, y’all, there’s so much less
drama and so much less *fear* all the time. (I mean. *gestures broadly
around* not so much at the moment, but like. at least I know who *I* am.)
like, Jaskier in his forties, in my stories at least, is just settling into
a prestigious career, he’s got a back catalogue that’s got him some fame at
this point, he’s got a handle on his own appetites and mostly can control
his self-destructive impulses, mostly, and in general life is good! But
there’s no real awareness in our society about that, that like, life gets
good once you’ve got the hang of it, which necessarily also means you are
Older. Sheesh.
allmyfansquees <https://allmyfansquees.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
This is like an INCREDIBLE Untamed fic I read last week which was utterly
exquisite… except that it had an 8-month-old baby talk in complete
sentences. Short ones. But… complete sentences. WT actual F?
Ha oh man.
It’s not like, a huge dealbreaker, but it’s like yeah okay this person did
not think to type into a search bar “when baby start talk” or like. “basic
child developmental timeline”. And I guess there’s no way to easily
google “what’s it like to be 45″ (although I would argue that since most
societies have an established age of retirement you could probably start
there???)
I get it, folks, I get that it’s hard to have characters’ ages line up with
timelines and things, and if you need a character to Do A Thing For Plot it
can be tricky to make that work out. But like. Make that a two-year-old,
friend. And make Jaskier sixty, and this fic is perfect.
I would wager it is definitely down to a) not having thought about it that
much, b) he’s forty in canon! (never mind that he is also still out on the
road in canon), c) not understanding the *life expectancy of 50 does not
equal dying of old age at 50* fallacy and definitely, definitely, d) not
having thought about it all that much.
I’m not really getting my panties in a bunch about this, I just felt like a
kind of rant. Like, I’m not mad, and I’m not going to say anything to the
author, because the author doesn’t really deserve to be like, Called Out
about it, and if you think you know what fic it is please don’t like point
this out to the author. Just… if you *are * the author, or have written a
fic like it where Jaskier is 40 and retired, please… please, IDK, pay a
little more attention to the world? and think about where you’re gonna be
at 40 and realize that retirement age isn’t under 60 basically anywhere in
the world?? and like, think about why you don’t appear to have any older
friends or relatives and what’s that about???
Anyway.
via https://ift.tt/30uyKz7
bittylildragon <https://bittylildragon.tumblr.com/> replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
I’m gonna be honest, that fic you keep describing as lovely does not sound
lovely to me if those are the erroneous assumptions the author is making
Well so here’s the thing. If from the beginning, they’d just gone with *Jaskier
is sixtyish in this story* as a premise, it would’ve been completely fine,
and I would be writing out a fic rec instead. Like, it would even work out,
the way his friends talk about him, the way he worries about being past it,
the way he mostly can still get around and get up to his normal
shenanigans, but is occasionally Regretful of doing something too
physically-rash.
Given that it’s a non-canon story, there’s no reason they couldn’t have
done that, either. They just… didn’t think to, because as far as I can tell
they genuinely thought that was reasonable for a character in his forties.
If I just… erased the few lines where Jaskier explicitly discussed his age
(there are a few “ah twenty years ago!” kinds of lines as well here and
there, and like, guys. Twenty years is a long time, but it’s not like, a
*crazy* long time. I can laugh with some of my friends about the dumb shit
we got up to 20 years ago but then later that same evening I can find
myself doing some shit that is like 80% as dumb, just better-informed. All
those Witcher 3 playthroughs
<https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/wee-precious-flower-prince-geralt>? I met DF
and MM 22 and 26 years ago, respectively, and our shenanigans are only
constrained by the kids asleep upstairs, y’dig? we’ve got like, another 25
years before we retire, if we’re lucky)– if you just changed those numbers,
the fic would be absolutely perfect.
brighteyedjill <https://brighteyedjill.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
*in Monty Python voice* I’m not dead yet
RIGHT
walburgablack <https://walburgablack.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
oh ffs, forty is maaaaybe middle-aged?
And that’s the thing. being middle-aged isn’t a *thing* that people
understand anymore. It’s seen as this thing to dread, and then gets mushed
into the same thing as being geriatric. So in our society, being past your
mid-thirties (…ish) is basically the same as being retired which is some
unspecified brief span of waiting for death. Like, we can’t even
*imagine* being
middle-aged. You’re young, and then you’re In Denial, and then you’re dead.
Which ties into this from the tags on
rionsanura<https://tmblr.co/my3yup0xyq4alxi1lv_wgpq>‘s reblog of the post–
#but i also think that part of the conception that jaskier was waiting
around to die#was centered on the fact that he himself didn’t realize he
wasn’t old?#cause he was vain#and used to life as a Beautiful
Youth?#perhaps not#perhaps it’s the author’s ignorance
So like———- in many societies, being middle-aged is something you ASPIRE
to??? I’d imagine on the Continent it would be too. you’ve survived youth!
You’ve lived long enough to marry, and maybe get some kids! You have a
career! You’ve had time to amass some kind of wealth or stability!! In our
society this is stuff we aspire to too, but we do so while also wanting,
somehow, to cling to this illusion of youth as well. You want to settle
down but you don’t want to LOOK TOO SETTLED, you don’t want to look too
prosperous, you want that Youth Energy and Being In Touch or whatever– it’s
all weird and self-contradicting.
Like! In real life being middle-aged often means something of an end to
awkwardness (ok at least an easing of it, i will die still awkward but i
shove my foot wholesale into my mouth MUCH less often now through sheer
dint of practice), maybe you’ve figured out what fashions suit you so you
wear those instead of chasing trends, you’ve finally got a handle on just
what it is that upsets your tummy so you eat things that actually nourish
you more consistently, yeah you get hangovers more easily and you can’t
bounce back from all-nighters like you used to and you just can’t wear
ridiculous high heels anymore without paying for it but like, your skin is
probably way better, you finally figured out how to get your hair to do
that thing you want it to, mostly you’ve figured out how to pay your bills
and you know you’re good at some stuff and probably have managed to get
paid for them, you’ve probably gotten therapy at some point so you’re not
just a bleeding wound of all the wrongs done you in your childhood all the
time– I’m not saying I have my shit together exactly, but shit, guys, I cry
a *fuckton* less than I did even ten years ago, and my cheekbones have come
into their own thank you *very* much. Sure your body starts to betray you,
but I had sciatica at 22 and tendonitis at 27, generally my body is about
as well-behaved as it ever was from a daily maintenance perspective. And I
just have seen enough shit that I get fazed a lot less often and know what
to do a lot more often and that is just *nice*, y’all, there’s so much less
drama and so much less *fear* all the time. (I mean. *gestures broadly
around* not so much at the moment, but like. at least I know who *I* am.)
like, Jaskier in his forties, in my stories at least, is just settling into
a prestigious career, he’s got a back catalogue that’s got him some fame at
this point, he’s got a handle on his own appetites and mostly can control
his self-destructive impulses, mostly, and in general life is good! But
there’s no real awareness in our society about that, that like, life gets
good once you’ve got the hang of it, which necessarily also means you are
Older. Sheesh.
allmyfansquees <https://allmyfansquees.tumblr.com/>
replied to your post
“sometimes”
<https://bomberqueen17.tumblr.com/post/623988473566773248/sometimes>
This is like an INCREDIBLE Untamed fic I read last week which was utterly
exquisite… except that it had an 8-month-old baby talk in complete
sentences. Short ones. But… complete sentences. WT actual F?
Ha oh man.
It’s not like, a huge dealbreaker, but it’s like yeah okay this person did
not think to type into a search bar “when baby start talk” or like. “basic
child developmental timeline”. And I guess there’s no way to easily
google “what’s it like to be 45″ (although I would argue that since most
societies have an established age of retirement you could probably start
there???)
I get it, folks, I get that it’s hard to have characters’ ages line up with
timelines and things, and if you need a character to Do A Thing For Plot it
can be tricky to make that work out. But like. Make that a two-year-old,
friend. And make Jaskier sixty, and this fic is perfect.
I would wager it is definitely down to a) not having thought about it that
much, b) he’s forty in canon! (never mind that he is also still out on the
road in canon), c) not understanding the *life expectancy of 50 does not
equal dying of old age at 50* fallacy and definitely, definitely, d) not
having thought about it all that much.
I’m not really getting my panties in a bunch about this, I just felt like a
kind of rant. Like, I’m not mad, and I’m not going to say anything to the
author, because the author doesn’t really deserve to be like, Called Out
about it, and if you think you know what fic it is please don’t like point
this out to the author. Just… if you *are * the author, or have written a
fic like it where Jaskier is 40 and retired, please… please, IDK, pay a
little more attention to the world? and think about where you’re gonna be
at 40 and realize that retirement age isn’t under 60 basically anywhere in
the world?? and like, think about why you don’t appear to have any older
friends or relatives and what’s that about???
Anyway.
