Meta Month, Day 22: Peerless Warrior

[mark_asphodel]

"You’ll be my master strategist, and I’ll be your peerless warrior!"

Thus, a million and twelve visions of Tactician glory were born.

I think it's worth contemplating exactly who, and exactly what, is speaking this line at the outset of FE7.  The speaker is a teenaged girl who's lost her family, her place in society, her entire network of associates, and who has been getting by alone for several months.  I've seen a lot of straight-faced interpretations of this line, when actually, it's pretty fantastic-- and appropriately so.  Again, Lyn is a grieving and lonely teenaged girl who just had some stranger fall into her life with positive consequences.  A little indulgence in fantasy can be justified.

But I do feel that line ought to be met by the player with something less than a solemn nod and the taking of the sentiment to heart.

Comments

[amielleon]

Now I feel bad for not using that line myself.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

It was your omission of the line that got me thinking, actually. Particularly given the other lines you give a subversive twist to in "Lyn's Tale."

[amielleon]

I handled that the way I did because I really didn't want to bother with Lyn's gigantic backstory dump at the end of the prologue. It occurs to me belatedly that tacticianfic loves that line.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

oh come on ammie

infodumps are just

so perfect for tacticianfic.

nothing drives the sane readers away faster!

[hooves.livejournal.com]

I TAKE THAT BACK

starting the fic out with MArk groaning as he wakes up

scares them away faster.

[amielleon]

o-oh god

this is gently subversive comedy, not a sadly accurate satire

do not want

[hooves.livejournal.com]

visions of Tactician glory
visions of Tactician glory
visions of Tactician glory

[hooves.livejournal.com]

As an aside (sorry that line was hilarious)

your last line is worded in such a way that I'm actually like 12% confused. /shame

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Heh.

Oh, basically that people who take that line super-seriously and are all "YES, I AM THE MASTER STRATEGIST. LYN IS MY PEERLESS WARRIOR. <3 <3 <3!"... well, I think they're a wee bit off base. IMO, that line is so over-the-top that, given Lyn's background, I think we're supposed to take that as a bit of fantasizing-- an Anne Shirley kind of moment. Even if it turns out to be true in the end.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's kind of what I thought but then I thought, man, maybe I am reading that all kinds of wrong. And I didn't want to leave some kind of thoughtful~ comment about it and then be talking about the wrong thing because, well, that would suck.

Anyway, no, I agree with you. I think that is probably an issue in a few 'fics, wherein people assume the tactician (i.e., a part of THEM, if not an exact self-insert) is incredibly badass and amazing and just every iota of awesome imaginable.

Nice, comparing it to Anne. :P I always took it as added encouragement for what could be a semi-reluctant tactician-character whose answer was more like, "Well...yeah...I guess you can come..." than a resounding SURE OF COURSE THAT'D BE GREAT ALSO YOU'RE REALLY HOT BEAR MY CHILDREN

Hoping for a positive outlook (being positive) might also be the main goal of the comment, in that Lyn's trying to find the brightest outcome she can and look to it (very much like Anne, actually). She's had a lot of pessimism but since Mark showed up and he's zomg company of some sort, I think it's safe to say she's having a much better day than usual.

[raphiael]

One would think Lyn being so fragile would be enough to cue a liiiiiittle bit of doubt. . .
oh wait no sorry, she's a badass among badasses, second to none, blah blah blah. My bad.

But yes - I think, across the board, the circumstances Lyn was living in before that prologue are glossed over. Wasn't it like, months that she was living alone? And weren't her parents dead before the rest of the tribe? That's pretty messed up, and even if you are supposedly a fountain of willpower and awesomeness, that's going to mess with you a little bit I think.

tl;dr here I go making lords batty again

[hooves.livejournal.com]

Six months alone! and she /cries/ because she's so happy not to be alone.

also lyn is slightly batty yes

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

*wag wag* (http://qieru.deviantart.com/art/A-Girl-from-the-Plains-94180631)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

One would think Lyn being so fragile would be enough to cue a liiiiiittle bit of doubt. . .
oh wait no sorry, she's a badass among badasses, second to none, blah blah blah. My bad.

Yeah, exactly. Stuff like that is the root of fanon!Lyn.

[mastertactician.livejournal.com]

But I am a master strategist!

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

:-| I feel like I ought to make a Mark plushie and give it a hug.