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Mar. 1st, 2010 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsFirst, whoever sent me the anonymous virtual gift - thank you! It makes me grin whenever I look at my profile.
Second,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chlorrel recently lent me Gail Carriger's Soulless, and as total supernatural-romance fluff it was very enjoyable! The basic premise is an AU semi-steampunk Victorian England (of course) in which vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are a relatively accepted part of society; the scientific explanation for them is that they have an overabundance of soul. Our Heroine Alexia, on the other hand, is soulless, which does not mean anything in terms of her ethics and emotional functioning but does mean that when she comes into contact with a vampire or a werewolf she cancels out their supernaturalness and sends them back to default human state. The plot revolves around mysteriously-appearing-and-disappearing vampires and werewolves and a shady conspiracy and is mostly an excuse for Alexia to run around and hit people with her parasol, although it does also set up for some potentially interesting worldbuilding around the question of how vampires and werewolves are made.
This is the sort of book where the heroine is less upset about being attacked by a vampire at a ball than the hostess' distressing failure to provide snacks, the werewolf would be exceedingly respectable and an excellent marriage prospect if he weren't so Scottish (and possessed of terrible taste in cravats), the frilltastically dandyish outfits of Alexia's vampire BFF and his adoring man-harem are described in loving detail, and the bickering love interests keep referring to That Incident With the Hedgehog. If you like this sort of thing, you will probably enjoy this book. The author is desperately in need of a good Brit-picker, which could get extremely jarring, but since the whole point of the book is basically LOLVICTORIANS and while we're at it LOLVAMPIRES I am not complaining too much. It's an AU! Lots of handwaving. (It is, however, a fairly standard Victorian AU in other ways: namely, everyone is white, with the biggest divergence from the visual standard being Alexia's darker Italian skin tone. Which - is not that big a divergence. Also, while there are sympathetic non-straight characters, it's mostly played for laughs. Then again, so is everything else.)
A few things I did like about the romance, objectively speaking: Alexia is a twentysomething spinster and her werewolf boyfriend is over a century old, and whenever she starts going on about how she is too old and a spinster and on the shelf, he is like "seriously? I am feeling kind of sketchy with the age difference here already, an eighteen-year-old would be AWFUL." Also, Alexia is bossy and dominant and amazingly in charge, and her alpha werewolf boyfriend is totally into that, which is cool.
However, I think I have figured out one of the things about romance novels, even good ones, that often means they don't quite work for me: I have a self-control kink. The romance novels I have read are so often about the ~irresistible urges~ of OMG I FIND THIS PERSON SUPER HOT, with all the development of the people learning to like and respect each other woven in through the IRRESISTIBLE PASSION. And while this is a perfectly legitimate trope, and there is certainly nothing wrong with passion, I tend to find it a lot more interesting (and respect the characters more) when they are able to suppress that because of more pressing concerns. But this is just me! What about you guys? When it comes to fiction - or fic, for that matter - which do you like better?
[Poll #1532193]
Second,
chlorrel recently lent me Gail Carriger's Soulless, and as total supernatural-romance fluff it was very enjoyable! The basic premise is an AU semi-steampunk Victorian England (of course) in which vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are a relatively accepted part of society; the scientific explanation for them is that they have an overabundance of soul. Our Heroine Alexia, on the other hand, is soulless, which does not mean anything in terms of her ethics and emotional functioning but does mean that when she comes into contact with a vampire or a werewolf she cancels out their supernaturalness and sends them back to default human state. The plot revolves around mysteriously-appearing-and-disappearing vampires and werewolves and a shady conspiracy and is mostly an excuse for Alexia to run around and hit people with her parasol, although it does also set up for some potentially interesting worldbuilding around the question of how vampires and werewolves are made.This is the sort of book where the heroine is less upset about being attacked by a vampire at a ball than the hostess' distressing failure to provide snacks, the werewolf would be exceedingly respectable and an excellent marriage prospect if he weren't so Scottish (and possessed of terrible taste in cravats), the frilltastically dandyish outfits of Alexia's vampire BFF and his adoring man-harem are described in loving detail, and the bickering love interests keep referring to That Incident With the Hedgehog. If you like this sort of thing, you will probably enjoy this book. The author is desperately in need of a good Brit-picker, which could get extremely jarring, but since the whole point of the book is basically LOLVICTORIANS and while we're at it LOLVAMPIRES I am not complaining too much. It's an AU! Lots of handwaving. (It is, however, a fairly standard Victorian AU in other ways: namely, everyone is white, with the biggest divergence from the visual standard being Alexia's darker Italian skin tone. Which - is not that big a divergence. Also, while there are sympathetic non-straight characters, it's mostly played for laughs. Then again, so is everything else.)
A few things I did like about the romance, objectively speaking: Alexia is a twentysomething spinster and her werewolf boyfriend is over a century old, and whenever she starts going on about how she is too old and a spinster and on the shelf, he is like "seriously? I am feeling kind of sketchy with the age difference here already, an eighteen-year-old would be AWFUL." Also, Alexia is bossy and dominant and amazingly in charge, and her alpha werewolf boyfriend is totally into that, which is cool.
However, I think I have figured out one of the things about romance novels, even good ones, that often means they don't quite work for me: I have a self-control kink. The romance novels I have read are so often about the ~irresistible urges~ of OMG I FIND THIS PERSON SUPER HOT, with all the development of the people learning to like and respect each other woven in through the IRRESISTIBLE PASSION. And while this is a perfectly legitimate trope, and there is certainly nothing wrong with passion, I tend to find it a lot more interesting (and respect the characters more) when they are able to suppress that because of more pressing concerns. But this is just me! What about you guys? When it comes to fiction - or fic, for that matter - which do you like better?
[Poll #1532193]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:03 pm (UTC)They DIDN'T love each other, but it just happens.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-01 06:10 pm (UTC)Also, I doubt you will be surprised to note that I checked "Stoic Self-Control." For one thing, ignoring love and lust for the sake of Urgent Plot generally adds extra interesting tension to Urgent Plot, and for another thing, I just like stoic self-control.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:14 pm (UTC)I am indeed shocked by this response from you, and also, by your icon choice. *laughing*
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-01 06:21 pm (UTC)...Then again, I really love it when couples are able to put their feelings on hold in order to, say, save the world in my fiction, so perhaps I should have voted for self-control. Hmm.
EDIT: Actually, I should have just said partnership.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:27 pm (UTC)But that book sounds rather fun and like something I might check out if I do not have a problem with the writing style! (I am SO FUKKEN PICKY about prose.)
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:30 pm (UTC)My favorite novel doesn't begin with TOTAL AND ALL-CONSUMING PASSION but it's also a domestic novel, basically, and so there's no world to save: there's just family stuff to deal with. And OH DEAR GOD the kisses, once they start, are AMAZING...
I like instant attraction between couples, and I like slow-burn passion, and I like when the process of falling in love is well-illustrated. it just depends on how it's all written, I suppose.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:33 pm (UTC)Oh goodness. Gen and I had this long, dorky conversation about why we love the very few OTPs we both have while Merc did her hair. She squeaked at us a lot. It was adorable.
My thing is partnership. I could honestly careless about Big Romantic Gestures, PASSION, and all those things. WHATEVER! I do read them; I fully embrace my affection for trashy romance, but it isn't actually my true affection.
It's like you said: I love the long term growth. I love them equal, standing in tandem, fighting the good fight. It doesn't mean both have to be these hardcore soldiers saving the world through their mutual hardcore-ness (THOUGH I LOVE THAT TROPE SO MUCH, OMG). I love it when it is two people that have things and common, aren't the exact same person, and really balance each other. Like, you know, REAL COUPLES. It makes me do this flaily dance of joy and hug things.
Like, I loved Ripley and Corporal Hicks in Aliens. It is this very slow thing that's more tension and suggestion, and he likes she is tough as fuck, and she likes he respects her authority and tough as fuckness. Plus he has common sense. She finds that really hot. And they save the day and adopt a kid! EEEEE!
It's also why I loved Susan Ivanova and Marcus Cole in B5. It starts out as this very unbalanced relationship. He thinks she really nice to look at, then falls head over heels for her when she kicks ass, takes names, and command a fleet in an interstellar war. She thinks he is a total moron (because he IS around her, all the time) and totally takes him down all the time because HELLO, GROW SOME COMMON SENSE. She is too practical for handsome rogue heroes!
They work together for years, and he grows some common sense and tops being a moron around her all the time. They're friends that talk about their hobbies! Plus save the universe! They get to the point where she goes, okay, it's you. You're That Person for me. And then it all ends tragically, which means I love it all the more, but. EEEE!
In short: I'm a dork.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:37 pm (UTC)*edits her own comment*
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:38 pm (UTC)(Like
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:45 pm (UTC)I pretty much hate the irresistible lust trope, because I so very rarely see it done as anything other than OUR GRAND PASSION EXCUSES ALL OUR SHITTY ACTIONS AND PROBLEMATIC DYNAMICS and will incidentally also provide for our futures.
I much prefer people who are passionate about more than one thing, and have at least a modicum of self-control, or otherwise I could get the same story arc from the Discovery Channel.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:46 pm (UTC)So basically it's just "no, eff your responsibilities. Twoo wub is always justification for being irrational, and love will conquer all, and by the way, here, nosh on this box of candy."
I mean, substance-wise, sure, it's lacking. But it's escapism - it's sort of supposed to be lacking.
Urgh. Mondays mean my logic is sounding useless and circular. But basically because I'm willing to take anything romantic as total unrealistic escapist BS (which is sometimes just the sort of brainfluff I need), the whole lack of self control trope doesn't bother me.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:56 pm (UTC)a.) I can't imagine any of the people you're thinking of there *solemn*
b.) inner dorkiness makes everything better, especially because it shows that the author is not taking their creation too seriously
c.) equal partnership is my FAVORITE THING!
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:57 pm (UTC)I love you because sometime last summer I came across a review of an ARC that involved a kickass female protagonist in Victorian England with vampires and werewolves, and I cursed my luck because I was going to be in Cuba when it came out. And then I closed out that tab and a few weeks later thought, "Well, I should find it and order it anyways, maybe my mom can bring it to me" and could not find it. It's been driving me absolutely bugnuts crazy for upwards of six months now and this is that book OMG.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:58 pm (UTC)I think you would enjoy the book, though - the writing is a lot of fun and very clever in parts, it's just the dialogue that occasionally veers into not so much with the Victorian.
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:58 pm (UTC)(Also, that book sounds very relevant to my interests.)
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Date: 2010-03-01 06:59 pm (UTC)Anyway, writing is obviously a key proponent in any of these. And I would never say "such-and-such trope NEVER WORKS FOR ME" because that is pretty much just tempting fate for someone to hand me a book completely centered around that trope and have me love it; I can only speak for myself in terms of trends.
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:01 pm (UTC)Stoic control of passion also leads to adorable moments between teenagers where one or both parties says, "I would really like to have sex, but I don't think I'm ready!" In GOOD media, this comes across as less preachy, more sweet and respectful of emotional as well as physical needs. See: Matt Saracen of FNL.
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:05 pm (UTC)Also, I should have noted that if my brain is in the right frame of mind, I can still enjoy the trope, but it's getting rarer and rarer, alas.
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:06 pm (UTC)I so wish I could have been there for that conversation! Except not really, because I was busy very seriously shipping everyone in Angel with everyone in Ugly Betty with Shati and I would not have missed that for anything either, so clearly you will just have to reprise this sometime when I am there. I AM SURE THIS WILL BE A GREAT HARDSHIP FOR YOU.
Also, as I said above: yes to all of this, equal partnership is my favorite thing ever! (This trope you mention of saving the world through mutual hardcore-ness is also relevant to my interests. But yes.) I love the partners that complement each other, where they have some things that are totally different but it works for a balance.
Although I am a little confused by your example - only in terms of bits-I-know-about-canon. Doesn't Ivanova date the blonde psychic girl?
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:07 pm (UTC)Yes, having other interests is KIND OF IMPORTANT to - well, survival in the world, I feel, as well as a happy relationship! (You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals? - did I make you watch the Utena vid to that?)
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:10 pm (UTC)It might work better if they came with a box of candy.
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Date: 2010-03-01 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-01 07:15 pm (UTC)Well! It is complicated. They are friends, with very very very subtle sexual tension, until the DAY before her personality gets erased. Susan meets Marcus by that point, and that is part of the reason she is all "omg, fuck off, you MORON" because she is busy being perplex by her not!relationship with this hot telepathic chick.
I liked the idea of their relationship, and I know I would have loved it if the original plan worked (that actress would have come back with different personality, had her original personality restored after Marcus died, and they eventually have A Thing).
Does that make sense? Like, she meets two people that she would have been Very Happy With, and then life happens and makes the choice for her. ...yet another thing I really liked (I may believe in True Love, but that doesn't mean that there is only one person that you could ever ever be happy with).