#fyt ask

[fytortall]

What are dust spinners based off of? (if anything at all)

I'm not sure they're based on anything other than the pockets of spinning dust and leaves that we've all seen before. I can't think of any folklore/mythology/old wives tales that talk about dust spinners the way that Tammy does. Anyone else have any more insight into dust spinners?

[fytortall]

Is Tamora Pierce going to have any books published soon?

Battle Magic was released about 1 year ago. Tammy is currently working Exile, the early years of Numair. We're not sure what the actual release date is yet. There is also a Tortall Companion in the works.

[fytortall]

Tammy's books were a really strong influence on me during my teens. My younger cousin is about to turn 13, and I'd like to offer an introduction to Tortall and Emelan. I've always been a bigger fan of Tortall (especially Kel and Beka), while my sister prefers Emelan. What are your thoughts on introducing someone with Circle of Magic vs Song of the Lioness? Thanks!

Every person is different and has different interests. The best way to bring someone into a new world is to find the right doorway. So even though the chronological monster inside me is raging as I write this, I (Holly) think it's better to think about your cousin's interests and start there. Do they really like animals? Start with The Immortals. Friendship and magic? The Circle of Magic. Spys? The Trickster series.

[fytortall]

I really, really, really disliked how Pierce seems to equate bigotry with conservatism. Joren and his cronies are horrid people, and also conservatives. Lord Wyldon is sexist, and conservative. Really, I can't think of any character in any series by Pierce that is a nice human being without being a liberal. Am I wrong in this? Can we talk about this?

We don’t think you’re wrong in seeing this trend. And in our current society (at least in the US), our conservative leaders (as a whole) are the ones who are voting against equal rights - anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, funding cuts for schools, etc - just like the conservatives in Tortall.

One of the ‘perks’ of being an author is that you get to share your personal worldviews with anyone willing to read your work. Tammy is using her power as an author to show how detrimental this kind of social conservatism is.

As a note, we do want to mention that the ideas of conservatism and liberalism are very nuanced. This may be hard to remember, as our media (again, at least in the US) has taken these concepts and turned them into stereotypes, but don’t let FoxNews and CNN be your primary determining factor in what constitutes a conservative or a liberal. Just because a person associates as being conservative does not automatically make them a bad person. They may consider themselves conservative on matters of economics and foreign affairs, but socially liberal. We are all more than a title we choose to associate with.

[fytortall]

how come y'all keep casting white characters as POC? as a POC, i find it just as offensive to turn a white person into a POC as turning a POC white. -_-

Our first question for you is “What white characters that are being fancast as POC are we posting or reblogging that are bothering you?” Tammy does not always assign a specific color to her characters, so I am legitimately curious as to which of these posts are offending you.

There is an inherit problem in our society that has brainwashed us into believing that characters that are not described as black or brown to be white. This is incredibly problematic and encourages people to assume that white is the norm, which it definitely is not. Many of Tammy’s fans use this lack of physical description as an opportunity to envision these characters as something other than the “default white.” And a lot of times there are context clues hidden in Tammy’s text that tells you a character is POC. For example, Emelan is based on Turkey; since Sandry is from Emelan, any actress that would potentially play her should be of Turkish descent.

Our second question for you is “Why are you offended?” The majority of our media is white, cis, straight, and male. More diversity is a good thing. There are already enough white characters out there so if the core of the character is not directly connected to their white skin, then what is the harm in making the character a POC? For example, the characters in the Daughter of the Lioness series should never be racebent - the entire story revolves around the race relations between the raka and luarin. But why can’t George Cooper be a hispanic actor or Raoul a black actor or Kel be a Native American actress?

[fytortall]

So. Circle parings. What is the consensus on them - are parings between the circle ok, eww, or *shrug*? (Like, for example, Briar/Tris, Sandry/Daja, Briar/Sandry.)

Well, my (Amanda’s) personal feeling is that I’d rather none of them be paired together. I feel like they work much better as a family. But I can definitely see the potential and allure of pairings within the Four. 

And just as a general reminder: while we might not personally care for a ship, we don't judge anyone based on theirs. 

[fytortall]

*casually cries over First Test on the bus*

I’d like to think that most, if not all of us, have cried over First Test at some point. 

[fytortall]

I have a questions about submitting things for Tammy's b-day. are we allowed to submit more than on thing? like if i did a fanart and then an essay in addition that explains the art?

Hi! Thank you for asking this. We’ve decided that if you want to submit a single image, you can send in a second submission. The reverse is also true. If you’ve sent in another type of submission, you can send in a single image work. For any other type of work, we’re going to ask that you only submit a work once.

-Amanda