Contest Update

[mark_asphodel]

 Still haven't finished anything for fe_contest  this round.  I've started two "high concept" pieces for the challenge and stalled out on them both, while other ideas have taken over my brain (and work takes up most of my week).  Part of the problem is that the earlier challenges spurred me to tackle 'fic subjects I'd already wanted to write, whereas with this one I'm starting cold, forcing it, and it shows.  So, barring some last-second burst of creative energy, I'll be on the sidelines for this one.  

Stuff that has thus far resulted from fruitless attempts at Challenge 004:

1) Untitled 'Fic featuring the King of Talys and his balancing act from 602 through 604-- harboring fugitives is a dangerous business, especially when your closest friend still living is on the wrong side of the war.   Developed as a sidebar from an untitled 437-word challenge attempt.  (1494 words)

2) "Hearts of Glass," an exploration of the Linde/Merric/Elice triangle featuring Prince Rupert's Drops as a motif.  The actual challenge attempt.  (1020 words)  ETA: Bashed out another 1900 words to finish it, and posted it here.

3) "No Direction Home" (Complete!)

4) Untitled thing featuring Hardin before he went loco (266 words plus unwritten ruminations)

5) "Speak No Treason," starring Astram during the battle for Altea during the War of Heroes.  Features a cameo by a very unhappy Abel. (618 words plus various outlines)

6) "Things Left Unsaid," in which Est gets married and her sisters get themselves into various scrapes.  100% guaranteed to upset some portion of the fanbase if it ever gets finished.  (Three handwritten pages + 166 typed words thus far)

7) "The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics," in with Marth attempts to rationalize why they're waging war in Pyrathi when Pyrathi would rather be left alone, thank you. (268 words plus two handwritten pages)

And, finally...

8) "Mortal Corruption," a L'Arachel/Ephraim vignette featuring blood, tears, and disillusionment. (99 words as I  only finished one paragraph)
ETA: finished this one, too.  Rewrote it to remove the tears, though, as L'Arachel does not cry.

You can't say I'm not trying.  You can say I'm highly distracted and distractable at present.

Comments

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

On the bright side, you now have a number of promising looking fic ideas to flesh out if you ever decide to finish them, even if you don't get one finished in time for the competition. The Linde/Merric/Elice one in particular strikes my fancy for some reason, although they all sound really interesting.

Good luck! I really hope that inspiration strikes soon, so that you can participate. At least there is still some time before the challenge ends.

[myaru.livejournal.com]

This sounds like me, last challenge. It didn't go much better this time, actually, and I think I'm going to end up with something regrettable - but I asked for another extension, so uh...

I'm also interested in #2, partly because the impression I got from FE11 pointed to Merric and Linde (rather than Elice), but mostly because I want to see the metaphor play out.

Somehow, I managed to get the wrong impression of just about every pairing in that game. (Why doesn't Nyna just marry Mar-- what, Camus? WHAT? Should've seen that one coming. Or-- it looks like Merric and Linde get along well, they're totally slee-- Elice? SINCE WHEN? And-- Julian has it bad for Lena? REALLY? I couldn't tell.) The Abel/Est pairing flew completely over my head.

Four and five sound like they have a lot of potential for this challenge. Eight as well.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

The Linde/Merric/Elice one in particular strikes my fancy for some reason, although they all sound really interesting.

On the one hand, I want to finish it in time for the contest. On the other hand... that one feels especially forced for some reason. Merric is cute, Linde is cute, Elice is coming over as a bland cipher, and I introduce Ellerean and then don't do anything with him.

I will see what I can manage....

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

partly because the impression I got from FE11 pointed to Merric and Linde (rather than Elice)

And how. Elice doesn't even appear to take him seriously....

it looks like Merric and Linde get along well, they're totally slee-- Elice? SINCE WHEN?

Hah hah. Oh well, there's always the manga-verse.

[Sidebar-- I sometimes wish I could have a more easy-going attitude re: romance during wartime. I just get all tied up in knots and assume that everyone is keeping their legs together like good little soldiers[*], which is probably NOT the case given the fairly casual FE attitude towards such. OTOH, I don't like it when 'fics treat a war like an extended game of Spin the Bottle. Where oh where is my happy medium?]

* Except maybe Astram and Midia.

The Abel/Est pairing flew completely over my head.

Well, yeah. Though I suspect that to be an FE3 retcon pasted on top of the FE1 storyline. The Peg Sisters in general are, shall we say, problematic.

Four and five sound like they have a lot of potential for this challenge. Eight as well.

In theory, yes, but the bent each of them is taking isn't quite right. Maybe one of them will work for Challenge 005, hah.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

For being stuck, you seem to have been rather productive! :-) Planting seeds for springtime, in fact!

Concerning romance during wartime (from the comments above), the approach I take is that world-spanning crises result in heightened emotional states, bringing people together who might otherwise never cross paths, but I am a romantic, anyway.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

For being stuck, you seem to have been rather productive!

Heh. Rarely do I get into a state where I cannot write anything at all. I just end up writing things that are not on the to-do list.

the approach I take is that world-spanning crises result in heightened emotional states, bringing people together who might otherwise never cross paths

I find this argument pretty convincing when it comes to the "amateurs" in an army-- the accidental soldiers one finds in many an anime or game. I do not find it quite so likely when it comes to the formally trained (knights and clerics)-- yes, people are human, and do need to find comfort, but part of their very training is to override natural impulses, and if Sir Noble Knight and Lady Chaste Cleric are messing around in the bushes, in a war zone, I'm inclined to consider it a lapse in their actual duties. Though FE certainly gives us knights and holy-warriors of both sexes who are not terribly suited for their roles in life....

At the far end of the spectrum is anyone for whom bloodline and legitimacy actually matters, as in when holy weapons or some other form of inherited power is at stake. Any given 17-22 year old youth, in the army, far from home, with women throwing themselves at him, is likely to give in to temptation. But of the FE Lords I'm most familiar with (games 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11), Hector is the only one I can really see doing so... without one hell of an explanation on the part of the author. I'd say that goes double for the femme-Lords, except that FE worlds are not quite ours and at least parentage wouldn't be up for dispute if the necessary inheritance goes through the female.

Then again, FE8 gives us Innes/Vanessa, and I'll be damned if their ending doesn't read like they simply shacked up without the blessings of marriage. And nobody cared.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

:-) I see where you are coming from. Several good points there! But FE also contains quite a number of Supports like those that produce the Innes / Vanessa ending, so it always struck me as very open to the romance, much more so than many games I had encountered previously.