mark_asphodel | Fic Update: "To Freely Serve, Part Four" / Game Novelization Wibbles (Reply)

sailorvfan10 , this is your fault. I've been sitting on this chapter since JUNE of last year, but since you mentioned Norne-epics...

Well.

Anyway, at this point this story's been out there for the better part of two years. It's not that I don't know where it's going-- the final chapter is already done and I have no intention of changing it. The problem is the whole uneasy situation regarding "continuity" as far as Archanea games are concerned. This was begun before FE12 was announced, much less released, and FE12 canon claims that Norne and Athena and Horace and the other gaiden-chapter weirdoes were rubbing shoulders with the old-school members of the Archanean League. Hell, even Nagi apparently fits into the continuity somehow, which hurts my head to even think about.

But back in FE11, to get Norne, you had to waste a couple of characters in the Prologue. And, as War of Darkness is a setup for the War of Heroes, taking characters out of the "time stream" had an impact on the events in the sequel. Think Gordin's useless? Well, in FE3, you needed Gordin to recruit Jeorge, and Jeorge not only recruited Astram but turned out to be a major player in post-war society. Break the chain, and things turn out a bit different in the post-war political landscape-- arguably not for the better. And no, having Norne become Jeorge's adoring apprentice doesn't work.

Anyway, it quickly became apparent that what I had on my hands was a "canon divergence" story, and things became a hell of a lot harder to wrangle. And as I refused to shy away from killing off characters in battle, the rising body count makes reconciling canon harder with each chapter.

(Also, Cain and Abel and some other characters are rooted in a 2009 conception of them, from before I worked on any of the "Tales of the Unified Kingdom" stuff. And it shows.)

But, anyway, since I have strong opinions about that odd beast known as the Game Novelization, I feel obliged to lay my cards on the table to explain what I was trying for with my entry into the novelization game.

1) Pick a minor character, a bit player, as viewpoint character. If I wanted to follow Marth around for the entire story, I'd replay the game. A supporting character offers a potentially fresh view of the game events.
2) Keep in mind that character's limited perspective and likely activities. Norne is not hanging out with the whole cast of characters. She's not with Marth every second, and she doesn't know everything, much less understand everything she does see. She's not a noble, she's not even a proper knight, and she's Altean to the core. She sticks with her people.
3) Don't cover every chapter and plot point of the game. It's OK to skip over some of the bandit encounters, you know? Also, what's relevant to Norne? Taking back Altea, dammit. Not the rest of the crazy stuff. Conquer Macedon? Why the hell do we want to do that?
4) Show no mercy. Characters get maimed and characters die. Norne will lose friends.
5) This is not the best time for a teenage romance. Which does not mean that some characters aren't relieving their stress by making out in the bushes. People are people, and we all have slightly different reactions to extreme situations. But don't expect a kissy-kissy love fest.

Yeah. If I think of something else, I'll add another point.