I thought this was incredibly good! I love historical fiction and this satisfied those cravings in the best way possible. I love that you described the hardships of life in that period but didn't let it define the characters' interactions completely--all three MC's had dignity and I believed their interactions 100%. There were no woobies here, despite the realities of their circumstances.
Jensen: I loved your portrayal of masculinity via Jensen--I completely understood Alona and Tristan's love for him. I can thoroughly enjoy a world of tightly controlled gender roles when they are this beautiful (if that makes sense).
Jensen/Tristan: I felt a bit like I was watching the source that a new great slash fandom would be based on, you know? I for one was happily surprised that the slash stayed pre, if only because a) I read (and adore) so much J2 that anything new is a pleasant surprise, heh b) it meant I could imagine all their future adventures together (and possibly some anachronistically awesome threesomes) without having to like do a lot of historical fixes in my head or have the narrative be hijacked by How Teh Gay Has To Be Kept Hidden. I like those narratives a lot too (Restraint by DarkEmeralds is one of my fav fics), but that wasn't this story.
And it also meant that the relationship stayed in that deliciously ambiguous space where you're not sure if Jensen is a role model, daddy replacement, friend, or love interest. So he can be all of them, which is more narratively interesting than narrowing it down with a blow job or two.
I also really enjoyed the Alona/Jensen. I think you did a great job making their relationship about intersecting ideals--Jensen and Alona related to each other as people, but also as constructs. In such a gender-segregated world, there is obviously a bunch of myth telling that both sides do about the other, and it was cool to see that play out in a way that seemed real and made it all actually seem more important (and hotter) and not degrading.
I thought the prose was lush without becoming precious or distracting from the narrative, which is most appreciated in a historical fic.
Anyway, I just think you did a fabulous job, and I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this!
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Date: 2011-06-29 01:16 pm (UTC)Jensen: I loved your portrayal of masculinity via Jensen--I completely understood Alona and Tristan's love for him. I can thoroughly enjoy a world of tightly controlled gender roles when they are this beautiful (if that makes sense).
Jensen/Tristan: I felt a bit like I was watching the source that a new great slash fandom would be based on, you know? I for one was happily surprised that the slash stayed pre, if only because a) I read (and adore) so much J2 that anything new is a pleasant surprise, heh b) it meant I could imagine all their future adventures together (and possibly some anachronistically awesome threesomes) without having to like do a lot of historical fixes in my head or have the narrative be hijacked by How Teh Gay Has To Be Kept Hidden. I like those narratives a lot too (Restraint by DarkEmeralds is one of my fav fics), but that wasn't this story.
And it also meant that the relationship stayed in that deliciously ambiguous space where you're not sure if Jensen is a role model, daddy replacement, friend, or love interest. So he can be all of them, which is more narratively interesting than narrowing it down with a blow job or two.
I also really enjoyed the Alona/Jensen. I think you did a great job making their relationship about intersecting ideals--Jensen and Alona related to each other as people, but also as constructs. In such a gender-segregated world, there is obviously a bunch of myth telling that both sides do about the other, and it was cool to see that play out in a way that seemed real and made it all actually seem more important (and hotter) and not degrading.
I thought the prose was lush without becoming precious or distracting from the narrative, which is most appreciated in a historical fic.
Anyway, I just think you did a fabulous job, and I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this!