Introduction post
Nov. 28th, 2020 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12My name is Ronni. I'm an Australian woman, in my forties, and live in the UK.
Elsewhere online, you can find me at:
Wordpress:![[wordpress.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/1225b00cee13/-/s.wordpress.org/about/images/wpmini-blue.png)
dolorosa12 (long-form reviews)
Archive of Our Own:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Dolorosa (fic)
Instagram:![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
ronnidolorosa (photos of nature, food, drink, books, people)
Goodreads: Dolorosa (book logging, mainly for my own records)
Please feel free to add me on any of these platforms. If I don't recognise your name (i.e. if it doesn't match your Dreamwidth name), I will not add you back unless you let me know who you are.
Friending policy
Feel free to subscribe and add as you like. I generally won't add people back unless they introduce themselves (or unless we met in a friending meme or similar), so please do feel free to say hello, either in the comments of this post, or elsewhere.
Transformative works policy
I give blanket permission for anyone to remix, translate, or create fanworks inspired by any of my fic, as long as my fic is acknowledged and linked to. There's no need to ask me for permission, although it would be great to have a link to anything you create.
Linking policy
Almost all of my posts are public, and please feel free to link these public posts (with attribution) on your own journal or Dreamwidth comms.
I'm an Australian immigrant to the UK. I immigrated in 2008 to do an MPhil, and then PhD, in medieval Irish literature, at the University of Cambridge. While I realised that academia definitely wasn't for me, I fell in love with the place, and basically never left. After a series of part-time entry-level jobs in libraries during my PhD, I moved into a career in academic librarianship. I work in one of the faculty libraries at the University of Cambridge. My job mostly involves teaching classes on research/academic skills to university students, researchers, and healthcare professionals. I really love teaching, and have found librarianship to be a profession which perfectly suits my interests, skills, and temperament.
I'm married to Matthias, a German immigrant to the UK. He's been in Cambridge since undergrad, and we met when we were postgraduate students in the same department. Like me, he left medievalist academia after finishing his PhD for librarianship, and he works in another Cambridge faculty library. Between the two of us, we have five passports (for four different countries).
I came to fandom comparably late — I've been online since 2007. My first foray into online fandom was two forums for two different books series: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn series. Although most of us have since drifted away from those two forums, and barely talk about the fandoms that brought us together, the friends I met through those two forums ('sraffies' and 'Obernetters' respectively) are still some of my closest, and the sense of community I found in those two platforms remains the (high) standard by which I judge all fannish communities.
After drifting through Livejournal and Tumblr, I found my ideal fannish home on Dreamwidth, and it's remained very much my online home base ever since. Most of my fandoms are small (think Yuletide-eligible) book fandoms, and it's very rare that I meet other people who share my fannish interests. For this reason, I've found it more helpful to connect with people who share common outlooks and ways of engaging with fandom, rather than common fandoms. I'm in fandom for conversation and community, with a preference for slower-moving, long-form blogging, rather than the rapid-fire, real-time reactions that you get on more fast-moving platforms. I like commenting, and receiving and responding to comments on my own posts. I've found over the years that I tend to connect better with people whose Dreamwidth journals are a good mix of real-life reflections, reviews/meta/fannish discussion, and links to interesting things, rather than people who are all fandom all the time, or people whose journals are solely links to their fic.
Once I'm fannish about something, those feelings tend never to go away, so my list of fandoms is ever expanding. This is a non-exhaustive list:
Pagan Chronicles series — Catherine Jinks
Romanitas trilogy — Sophia McDougall
Galax Arena, and the Space Demons trilogy — Gillian Rubinstein
The novels of Victor Kelleher
The Bone Season series — Samantha Shannon
His Dark Materials trilogy and the Sally Lockhart mysteries — Philip Pullman
The Benjamin January mysteries — Barbara Hambly
Spinning Silver — Naomi Novik
Winternight trilogy — Katherine Arden
Six of Crows duology — Leigh Bardugo
Dominion of the Fallen trilogy (and novellas) — Aliette de Bodard
The Lions of Al-Rassan — Guy Gavriel Kay
Juniper and Wise Child — Monica Furlong
The Demon's Lexicon trilogy — Sarah Rees Brennan
A Memory Called Empire — Arkady Martine
Terra Ignota series — Ada Palmer
Roma Sub Rosa series — Steven Saylor
Crossroads and Court of Fives trilogies — Kate Elliott
The Silence of the Girls — Pat Barker
The characters of Briseis and Chryseis in the Iliad (and various adaptations/retellings — barring The Song of Achilles, which I really dislike)
I'm also kind of broadly fannish/always happy to talk about folktales, fairytales and mythology, medieval Irish literature, Cirque du Soleil, and the eclectic variety of music I enjoy. I watch a lot of TV, but for the most part I don't tend to get involved in TV fandoms: my fannish feelings are pretty much exclusively absorbed by books.
My journal tends to be a mixture of book, TV and film reviews, slice-of-(my) life (I like cooking, gardening, swimming, wandering around in the fens, yoga, and travelling), links to interesting things (both fannish and non-fannish), and the occasional politics post (mainly British or Australian politics). I do my best to encourage comments and discussion, and am always happy to get comments on older posts.
Elsewhere online, you can find me at:
Wordpress:
dolorosa12 (long-form reviews)Archive of Our Own:
Instagram:
ronnidolorosa (photos of nature, food, drink, books, people)Goodreads: Dolorosa (book logging, mainly for my own records)
Please feel free to add me on any of these platforms. If I don't recognise your name (i.e. if it doesn't match your Dreamwidth name), I will not add you back unless you let me know who you are.
Friending policy
Feel free to subscribe and add as you like. I generally won't add people back unless they introduce themselves (or unless we met in a friending meme or similar), so please do feel free to say hello, either in the comments of this post, or elsewhere.
Transformative works policy
I give blanket permission for anyone to remix, translate, or create fanworks inspired by any of my fic, as long as my fic is acknowledged and linked to. There's no need to ask me for permission, although it would be great to have a link to anything you create.
Linking policy
Almost all of my posts are public, and please feel free to link these public posts (with attribution) on your own journal or Dreamwidth comms.
I'm an Australian immigrant to the UK. I immigrated in 2008 to do an MPhil, and then PhD, in medieval Irish literature, at the University of Cambridge. While I realised that academia definitely wasn't for me, I fell in love with the place, and basically never left. After a series of part-time entry-level jobs in libraries during my PhD, I moved into a career in academic librarianship. I work in one of the faculty libraries at the University of Cambridge. My job mostly involves teaching classes on research/academic skills to university students, researchers, and healthcare professionals. I really love teaching, and have found librarianship to be a profession which perfectly suits my interests, skills, and temperament.
I'm married to Matthias, a German immigrant to the UK. He's been in Cambridge since undergrad, and we met when we were postgraduate students in the same department. Like me, he left medievalist academia after finishing his PhD for librarianship, and he works in another Cambridge faculty library. Between the two of us, we have five passports (for four different countries).
I came to fandom comparably late — I've been online since 2007. My first foray into online fandom was two forums for two different books series: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn series. Although most of us have since drifted away from those two forums, and barely talk about the fandoms that brought us together, the friends I met through those two forums ('sraffies' and 'Obernetters' respectively) are still some of my closest, and the sense of community I found in those two platforms remains the (high) standard by which I judge all fannish communities.
After drifting through Livejournal and Tumblr, I found my ideal fannish home on Dreamwidth, and it's remained very much my online home base ever since. Most of my fandoms are small (think Yuletide-eligible) book fandoms, and it's very rare that I meet other people who share my fannish interests. For this reason, I've found it more helpful to connect with people who share common outlooks and ways of engaging with fandom, rather than common fandoms. I'm in fandom for conversation and community, with a preference for slower-moving, long-form blogging, rather than the rapid-fire, real-time reactions that you get on more fast-moving platforms. I like commenting, and receiving and responding to comments on my own posts. I've found over the years that I tend to connect better with people whose Dreamwidth journals are a good mix of real-life reflections, reviews/meta/fannish discussion, and links to interesting things, rather than people who are all fandom all the time, or people whose journals are solely links to their fic.
Once I'm fannish about something, those feelings tend never to go away, so my list of fandoms is ever expanding. This is a non-exhaustive list:
I'm also kind of broadly fannish/always happy to talk about folktales, fairytales and mythology, medieval Irish literature, Cirque du Soleil, and the eclectic variety of music I enjoy. I watch a lot of TV, but for the most part I don't tend to get involved in TV fandoms: my fannish feelings are pretty much exclusively absorbed by books.
My journal tends to be a mixture of book, TV and film reviews, slice-of-(my) life (I like cooking, gardening, swimming, wandering around in the fens, yoga, and travelling), links to interesting things (both fannish and non-fannish), and the occasional politics post (mainly British or Australian politics). I do my best to encourage comments and discussion, and am always happy to get comments on older posts.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-28 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 11:48 am (UTC)As to the passports, I'll send you a message. Just to clarify, we have five passports, but only four nationalities.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 10:06 am (UTC)Also, that's a fabulous lot of passports!
no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 11:49 am (UTC)Also, that's a fabulous lot of passports!
Thank you! We're very fortunate.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 02:16 pm (UTC)I hope you're able to make it to Australia for a visit at some point! It's a great place to go on holiday, although it is so, so, far away from most parts of the world, unless you live in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, or Indonesia!
no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 06:29 pm (UTC)I can't wait to read through your fics in those little and sadly little-loved fandoms like TDIR and and the beautiful Monica Furlong books! I do remember where I recognized your name from now -- I think many years ago I read your story "Weaving the Bones" and it really stuck with me.
Also, I followed you on GoodReads (name there starts with a B), as following folks there is one of my primary channels for finding new book recommendations.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-30 12:35 pm (UTC)I wasn't around for that particular debate, but I can imagine the drama. My basic attitude when it comes to anything I put out into the world online (whether that's fic, public Dreamwidth posts, or posts on other platforms) boils down to do what you like with it, as long as you attribute the source to me, and represent my original material fairly. Context and attribution are important to me, not locking down my own fic or blog posts.
I'm so flattered that you remembered my 'Weaving the Bones' story — Monica Furlong's books are among my favourite, and it's one of my favourite fandoms to write in, so it's extremely pleasing to know that people appreciate my fic.
I've added you back on Goodreads. I get a lot of book recommendations from there too.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-05 08:24 am (UTC)I love multiple things from your list here, including A Memory Called Empire, GGK, Kate Elliott, and Monica Furlong (it's been years since I've reread Wise Child!). Looking forward to discovering more interesting things through your posts. (Also, fellow academic librarian here! *waves*)
no subject
Date: 2021-09-10 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 04:42 am (UTC)I very recently reread taronga by victor kelleher, and have had no motivation to talk about it publicly because WHO ON EARTH HAS ALSO READ IT BESIDES HATERS ON GOODREADS? well, possibly you! I enjoy scifi/fantasy generally but am very on/off with my fiction reading and blogging, so hopefully being subscribed to some good influences on that front will help me, lol.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 03:32 pm (UTC)I haven't reread Taronga in years, although your comment has prompted me to track down a secondhand copy at some point and see if it still stands up. I have reread his Parkland/Earthsong/Fire Dancer trilogy in the past two years, and that definitely still stands up in terms of quality — it's devastatingly good. In other words, I would definitely be keen to read your thoughts on Taronga!
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2021-12-27 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-28 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 02:02 pm (UTC)Thanks for that unexpected bonus! :)
no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 06:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 02:11 pm (UTC)I lied, but is it really a lie if you barely recall what happened? I have read one of His Dark Materials and Sally Lockhart. I believe I have the full DM series hidden away somewhere, so I should read that whole series.
Thank you for what will surely be some interesting reads.
I also love DW (over, say, Tumblr) for the ability to comment and have discussions.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-01 06:26 pm (UTC)Hello!
Date: 2022-01-01 11:52 pm (UTC)Same here. I really, really don't fit into small spaces. So if you like the longer, conversational posts sometimes with extensive crosstalk in comments, drop by my blog and see if you like it. Cooking and gardening are other things we have in common, so check my Food, Recipe, and Gardening tags.
Re: Hello!
Date: 2022-01-02 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-04 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-05 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-03 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-04 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-25 01:54 pm (UTC)Hello! I've been reading your post on scams and the links you included in it. It's so interesting and I'm very curious about the thoughts you pen down in your journal. :D I've just stumbled upon your page but I hope you don't mind if I subscribe!!
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-08 08:23 pm (UTC)Saw your post @ Snowflake friending challenge. Love so many of the books on the list, especially the Six of Crows Duology :) (is Kaz your favorite?)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-09 07:40 pm (UTC)Kaz isn't my favourite in the Six of Crows books — Inej is — but honestly I love all six of the main characters.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-01 05:27 pm (UTC)You included this on your list twice The characters of Briseis and Chryseis in the Iliad (and various adaptations/retellings — barring The Song of Achilles, which I really dislike), so I'm guessing you REALLY didn't like The Song of Achilles. *g*
no subject
Date: 2023-01-01 05:31 pm (UTC)I've updated the post to remove the double-posting. Thanks for spotting it!
no subject
Date: 2023-01-22 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-23 01:12 pm (UTC)Just joking, really, but it might help to know a bit more context. Basically, when I'm looking for Iliad retellings, I'm generally looking for stories that a) focus on the female characters and b) focus on the terrible consequences of violent, patriarchal honour culture on those within such cultures who have no power (women, children, enslaved people, etc). Briseis is my favourite character from the Iliad, but I don't like retellings that depict her relationship with Achilles as being a sort of swoony YA-style starcrossed lovers romance.
At some point, a bunch of people on Tumblr recommended The Song of Achilles to me as an Iliad retelling that did the sorts of things I wanted, and I think at least one person described it as a story that 'did right by Briseis.' However, nothing could be further from the truth. The Song of Achilles is probably better described as a novel that applies slash fanfic tropes to the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, with a lyrical, literary fiction writing style. As in fanfic, this results in the entire world of the novel being warped to revolve around the couple and their relationship. Briseis is relegated to a sort of squeeing cheerleader for the Achilles/Patroclus relationship, and the fact that Achilles literally acquires her as spoils of war after he's invaded her city and killed her family is reframed as being a benevolent act to protect her from the abuses of other, worse, invading men (and Achilles and Patroclus acquire a sort of gaggle of captured women and girls over the course of the novel whom they 'protect' in a similar way).
If you're going into the novel as a huge Briseis fan, all of the above is already enough to make you detest it, but even if you don't care about Briseis, there's a whole bunch of other stuff which I found massively unappealling.
Firstly, Miller has to warp a lot of the original source material to make it fit with the sort of tropey m/m romance she wants to write. And so Achilles' mother is suddenly randomly homophobic (in a twenty-first-century way) so as to provide tension and drama for her son's 'forbidden' romance with another man. And so Patroclus — who, in the Iliad, is a competent warrior with an invading army — is suddenly someone who doesn't fight, is horrified by violence, and horrified that Achilles is going to have to kill people, and is good at it. (Even though the two of them were raised together and trained as soldiers from childhood, and even though for this reason Patroclus obviously knows that Achilles is a very competent fighter.) I found all this extremely enraging — it was as if Miller needed to remove everything from the original source material in order to make her romance comprehensible and her couple sympathetic, so she took away everything about the context and characterisation that might possibly cause readers not to empathise with her tragic, doomed lovers.
So basically, if you ship Achilles/Patroclus and like the idea of them written as a soft, sympathetic romance with both fanfic tropes and lush, lyrical language, you will probably find the book appealling. If all the problems I've laid out above are things that are likely to bother you, you will probably dislike the book as much as I did.
I hope that helps to answer your question.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-29 11:27 pm (UTC)In relation to the Iliad - I actually read Maya Deane's Wrath Goddess Sing recently, the premise of which is that Achilles is a transwoman (and not the only one in the book). The author did a lot of different neat things in my opinion (save perhaps for the vaguely sympathetic Agamemnon) and I enjoyed it. Briseis is actually a transman in it and in my opinion was a very cool character. My friend read it and I asked to read it based on her review. Perhaps something interesting to check out, but if not, that's cool too.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-30 11:12 am (UTC)And I'm always happy to subscribe to people who are interested in different things. Most of my fandoms are so tiny that it's rare to find someone else who's interested — I tend to subscribe to people based on shared values and approaches to being in fandom, rather than the same set of shared interests, so I'll be very happy to subscribe back.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 02:38 pm (UTC)The Silence of the Girls is amazing, and if you do give it a try, I hope you like it.
In any case, nice to meet you through
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2024-05-30 07:40 pm (UTC)i’m still figuring out what i want my journal to be - a little bit of review writing, a little bit of a personal diary? - but hopefully it’s of some interest :)
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-08 03:18 pm (UTC)