Precious Things DVD commentary (part 3)

[claudia_writes]

Okay, finally done. It's quite frigtening to look back at your own work and analyse it in any sort of coherent way. I like talking about myself and my work, but this was actually very illuminating, because I've never actually thought about the psycho motivation that drive me to write this wierd shit!

:D

for the lovely kat_lair

Comments

[kat_lair]

A third part? Wow! Perhaps I should get back to some of the DVD commentaries people requested from me too... You're dedication has inspired me!

Okay, I love the fact that you're using John in the first scene. You're right, he is the most "adult" of Robin's group. Robin himself being still in many ways nothing but a boy. After all, he was very young when we went of to war, and while war is something that will force a person to grow up, it doesn't exactly give them the kind of experiences needed in everyday life. People who survive battle often find it difficult to survive the life after it.

I think Guy has this terrible need for Marian to love him back and he is willing to give everything to get that - I like the way you've put that terrible need because to me Guy's love teeters on obsession, on the edge of becoming something truly terrible and lethal. In your fic, this is held back by the fact that he actually gets a real chance with Marian, to convince her to love him back. In show... Well. I think Marian's rejection might have pushed him over the edge and I won't be surprised if Guy embraces his inner psychopath fully the 2nd season.

Saying that, in your fic, I find Guy giving the Morning Gift before the wedding (because they did things wrong way around) ridiculously romantic.

Marian understands Robin’s motivations far better than he understands hers. - yes, absolutely. In fact, I think Robin has hard time understanding anyone else's motivations besides his own. It doesn't make him a bad man (often quite the contrary), just very difficult to live with.

The scene between Robin and John is excellent.

with this marriage she was buying Guy’s freedom from the Sheriff and from his own ambitions - lovely meta here. Very correct I think.

As is this: They wanted their world to be simple, black and white; where the lines between evil and good were clearly drawn.

***

I remember you mentioned that this fic was received with some controversy by the fandom. I can't see anything particularly scandalous in it, and I was wondering if don't mind telling what the people's problem with it seemed to be.

Personally I though this was a good story, not something I'd necessarily normally read due to the pairing (being a mostly into m/m slash), but I'm really glad I have. You write well, and so differenly from me; not just because of the concentration on the female character/"feminist" issues etc. (and notice how most of my comments centre around the male characters) but also the style of writing is different. Your style is much... plainer. That's not an insult in any way, it's just that you seem to get into the gist of the matter much quicker and more direct than I do. I occasionally get lost in metaphors and similes, whereas your prose goes where it needs to and gets the job done without unnecessary frivolities. You do use metaphors (like that whole paragraph about names of things, land and women in the previous part), but somehow they sound like they come straight from the character and not from you the author, if that makes sense.

Again, thank you for doing this. Great chance to see things from a different angle.

[claudia_writes]

'okay, the controversy mostly came from the fact that it was Guy/Marian. I think that in a way the het community is a lot harder to please with unconventional pairings, because there are so many obvious OTPs out there. I also think that the lack of romantic-love was an issue for some people. That it wasn't a swooning kinda love story, bu more about politics and marriage as an institution. There was also some grumbling about Guy being better than Robin, which some people found insulting to their personal canon. I think that they missed the point, in the fact that I wasn't trying to make Guy a better man compared to Robin, just somebody who is more suitable to Marian's needs.

I think Marian's rejection might have pushed him over the edge and I won't be surprised if Guy embraces his inner psychopath fully the 2nd season.

Yes, absolutely. I think the need that Gy has for her was met in this fic and that allowed him to become a better man. Because now he has land (station in life) and a wife, he should have less to prove and be more confident on his own.

Speaking of Guy's inner psychopath, I had this mad plot bunny after the season ended, where Marian has to leave her home in order to protect her father from Guy and the sheriff. She ends up living as the Nighwatchman in Robin's camp, and she and Guy have a lot of hate-bordering-on-non-con sex in barns.

You do use metaphors (like that whole paragraph about names of things, land and women in the previous part), but somehow they sound like they come straight from the character and not from you the author,

Dudeee. that's like the best compliment I've had in ages. I've always though that my writing doesn't come through properly, that it's too convoluted and flowery, so thank you for saying that.