This is the first time I've even read a fic about female footballers, and you did a great job with it. At least for me, it seems much more difficult to write about the girls, because they get less coverage and therefore there are fewer people who have their own visions of them. Unfortunately.
Also - your notes and links were really helpful, and I love how you managed to use the information in them in the fic, too.
Thank you, and it was my pleasure. I'm glad that my research wasn't overwhelming!
Yeah, the lack of coverage is a real problem in writing female footballers, even the ones from English-speaking nations. I would love to write about the Chelsea Ladies, but there's very little info out there about them. Sure, there're stats and match reports, but not so much on what makes the players tick as human beings.
I know the pairing was Cristiane/Marta, but I found this really more like a slice through the whole team, with those two being the voices taking us inside. And it was excellently done, with the understated tone making the harshness of their reality, the bitter edge of their outsiders' statuts that seems to accompany all their accomplishments, speak truly and deeply. The line about Shanghai's lights could apply to the whole fic: clear and sharp, with a little cold at the heart of all that flashing fire.
Thank you for your lovely words, and I'm happy that I've managed to convey at least a little of the emotional resonance that the lives of the seleção feminina has with me. This is a gen fic, really, but Marta and Cristiane has the kind of connection often romanticised in slashfic featuring (male) footballers. They're utterly amazing together on the pitch.
Lem, this is perfect. You cover a wide swathe of history, but do it in a way that's effortless intimate and affectionate, strewn with details that never seem forced; I can't think of an approach that would have been better. I'm so, so glad you decided to contribute to the issue, and that you chose this pairing -- or, rather, this team. Thank you for writing them.
Oh, wonderful. Your weaving in the gender and class issues for this team without letting them affect your tone or focus on the individuals in this story make them all the more powerful for me. To me this is an incredible piece of feminist writing as well as a rich, moving story about Cristiane and Marta, and it makes me want to cry - with sympathy, with joy, with anger; all of it. Power to you.
Thank you. I had my doubts while writing this story, whether I would be able to adequately express what the team's stories inspire in me -- that they make me happy with the beauty of their football, that they make me grieve, and be angry on their behalf. I still think I don't do them justice, but I can but try.
Comments 18
Also - your notes and links were really helpful, and I love how you managed to use the information in them in the fic, too.
In short: this was lovely. Thanks for sharing!
Reply
Yeah, the lack of coverage is a real problem in writing female footballers, even the ones from English-speaking nations. I would love to write about the Chelsea Ladies, but there's very little info out there about them. Sure, there're stats and match reports, but not so much on what makes the players tick as human beings.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment