Reading roundup: The Raven Cycle and fandom meme (also, happy new year!)

[hamsterwoman]

So, first of all, Shana Tovah! The new year starts this evening, and I hope by then I will be able to stop yelling and being annoyed at literally everyone in this household, because that's no way to set the tone for the year, but that's pretty much what the entirety of my weekend has been so far

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[spiffikins]

I've had these on my TBR list forever - so I'm not reading the spoilers - but this may push me over into getting them and reading them since I've only really heard good things about them!

[hamsterwoman]

If/when you do read them, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts! I'd been vaguely thinking about reading them for a while, but reading them together with a friend definitely turned out to be a great way to do it, especially as the books all are about friendship.

I wouldn't say they are the greatest books ever, or even the greatest YA, but I had a lot of fun reading them. Especially book 2 -- so even if you try book 1 and it doesn't grab you, it might be worth continuing on.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, when/if you do read them!

[bearshorty]

Happy New Year to you and your family!

How about Harry/Ginny from Harry Potter for meme.

Harry/Ginny

[hamsterwoman]

Thank you -- likewise! :)

And meme:

- falls asleep on the couch
They have three closely spaced children and demanding careers -- I bet they both fall asleep on the couch while waiting for the other person to finish their reports/articles or bedtime story or bath.

- makes friends with the neighbors
Ginny, because Harry is still a bit awkward about people knowing him as The Boy Who Lived. (I'm assuming here that they're living among wizards, because why would they choose to live among Muggles?)

- is the adventurous eaterGinny. She's an adventurous person in general, and I think having grown up with delicious-but-monotonous home cooking (I mean, Molly had to feed nine people on not a lot of money, I'm sure there was not a lot of variety to what she made because it had to be optimized for scalability and leftovers and cost-effectiveness/stuff that could be gotten from the kitchen garden), I think she'd really want to branch out and try all kinds of different flavors. Harry, on the other hand, would eat Molly's cooking all day, every

[bearshorty]

OMG, these are so amazing. It is everything I didn't know I wanted. I liked Harry and Ginny but didn't really read much about them in fandom. But now your answers make me want to go find some nice domestic fic to read. Thank you so much!

[hamsterwoman]

I'm actually the same way -- I like the ship in theory, but don't read much fic for it (because there's so much variety of HP fic, and my priorities were always elsewhere) and don't think JKR did such a great job of developing their relationship on page. But this meme for them ended up being SO MUCH FUN! It's actually kind of scary how well-tailored the questions are to them -- for most of the other couples, I had at least one or two "well, I really don't know, flip a coin" kind of answers, but this thing pretty much wrote itself. So, thank you for the very fun prompt! :D

[silverflight8]

OK, level with me - the Raven Cycle books, I hear about on meme, but I know they're by Stiefvater who does YA (I remember she did Shiver etc) and - seriously, are there any female characters in the books?? Because I find it weird that they'd be YA and not at least have one woman in the book yet I honestly swear I never hear anything whatsoever about anyone but Ronan and Adam and their love.

The meme with Kushiel's Legacy! (all three trilogies? :D? only if you have time though!)

[hamsterwoman]

There are some female characters! They are definitely outnumbered by the guys, though. There is one female protagonist (to three male ones), Blue, who is the same age as Ronan and Adam and spends time with them. She is fine? Stiefvater is doing something deliberate with her, a girl all of whose friends are guys, and that's as legitimate a story as anything, I guess. Blue is not as interesting to me as Ronan is, but I do think the author is trying with her. The more interesting to me part is that pretty much the entire adult support system for the cast is female -- Blue's mother and ~aunts, who are quite neat; that's also where you get the female-female friendships that aren't there in the boys' generation. Also, one of the male leads has a sister who is a tertiary character but whom I like a lot

[silverflight8]

Ah, good to know.

Sure, Imriel pairings sound good! Hit me :)

Imriel/Maslin

[hamsterwoman]

Okey-dokey :)

- falls asleep on the couch
Maslin, I guess, because I think the way he passes his days involves more physical exertion and is more likely to tire him out. Plus I see him as someone who is by nature more of an early to bed/early to rise type than Imriel.

- makes friends with the neighbors
Neither of them is particularly gregarious, but Maslin probably finds it easier to pal around with neighbors -- Imriel comes across as too aloof and stuck up, even though he's really not.

- is the adventurous eater
Imriel. He's traveled much more widely as a kid and has tasted more different cuisines than Maslin. Maslin I see as someone who is more likely to see food as fuel and have not much patience for fiddly dishes that aren't very filling. (He loves Vralian cooking for this reason :)

- hogs the covers at night
Maslin, and Imriel teases him about it in the morning.

- forgets to do the dishesMaslin, but not so much "forget" as "enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to do them if he doesn't want to". Imriel would be more likely

[postingwhore]

Shana Tovah!

[hamsterwoman]

Thank you! :)

[fallingtowers]

Happy New Year to the rodent household!

And as for the shipping meme, I'd like to hear your answers for Joanna/Tywin (for your general amusement) and Jaime/Brienne (for *my* general amusement :D).

Tywin/Joanna

[hamsterwoman]

Thank you! :)

And I appreciate the two-pronged approach with the meme :) (I do love Jaime and Brienne for these memes, because they are such an entertaining couple! especially when I can focus on crack and not think about the likely tragedy...)

- falls asleep on the couch
Not on the couch, but over his desk -- Tywin, because I can definitely see him as soneone who drives himself to keep going until he has no more energy left. And if Joanna wakes up at night and notices he isn't in bed next to her, she'll go find him at his desk, slip a pillow under his head, cover his shoulders with a blanket, and kiss the top of his head, if he doesn't wake up sufficiently to follow her back to bed.

- makes friends with the neighborsLOL, well, definitely not Tywin. I mean, the neighbors respect him and are pleased to see him living there because that sort of thing is good for property values, but friendly with them he isn't. Joanna isn't particularly interested in being friendly with the neighbors, either, but she makes a point to be polite and

Tywin/Joanna, part 2

[hamsterwoman]

- takes the selfies
Hmm... Tywin's definitely not a fan of candid photos -- everything needs to be posed and curated just so -- so I don't think he likes taking selfies. Joanna doesn't necessarily strike me as someone who would be into selfies either -- she would probably just want to enjoy the moment without bothering to document it, and I think she'd feel like selfies have a desperate kind of "look at all the fun we're having!" vibe that is very much not what her relationship with Tywin is about. But what I could see her doing is snapping photos of Tywin when he's relaxed and smiling the way he is with her and no-one else, and refusing to let him erase them -- or even see them -- because of the vendetta against candids (and of course he'd make an exception for photos taken by Joanna).

- plans date nightTywin, and "plans" in this case means with the diligence and scale of a military campaign. Everything is thought out and prepared, and trusted people are in charge of executing key portions of it. Joanna actually enjoys watching

Jaime/Brienne, part 1

[hamsterwoman]

- falls asleep on the couch
I don't see either of them as the type of lay about on a couch for no good reason, so the only way I can see this if they're both sitting on the couch, watching TV, Jaime increasingly sleepily teasing Brienne about her choice of entertainment and Brienne increasingly sleepily defending it, until they both fall asleep sort of slumped over each other.

- makes friends with the neighbors
Jaime is the one who breaks the ice, but Brienne is the one who develops the actual friendly releationships and knows major details of their lives and asks after their kids away at university and ailing parents.

- is the adventurous eater
Neither of them especially, but Jaime is more willing to go outside of his comfort zone there. I think Brienne is somewhat reluctant to try eating things that look/sound weird because she can't shake a nagging feeling that people are making fun of her/playing a prank on her by offering her unfamiliar things.

- hogs the covers at night*peers at map of Westeros* IDK, Casterly Rock and Tarth