Notes and Errata of Mark of the Asphodel

Nothing like having another novelization of your pet game on your tail to spur you into an update.  I'd been sitting on this chapter for yonks, but the second half wasn't finished, so I just chopped the chapter in two and released this half.  Yay?

So, Norne the spunky volunteer is starting to falter; the war just keeps getting more complicated, and there are signs that not all the players on the "good" side are actually... good.  Don't worry, it just gets worse from here.
  
ETA: Really, I just want to get to the chapter where they hit Gra.  Because.

Son of ETA: Dammit.  Looking over this again, I'm seeing the stumbling-block at the end of the 'fic.

( Spoiler discussion under the cut )

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.

( Musings and 'fic spoilers )

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.  

 OK.  Just posted Chapter One of a three-part giftfic.  It's not here, and it's not at ffnet, and it's not at my DA account.  

( Click for explanation. )

 So, I promised myself I'd stick all the FE3-inspired stuff to one side and concentrate on my backlog of FE11 stories.  My Norne-centered account of the War of Darkness is high on the list of shamefully half-finished works, as I'd not updated it since August.  But a recent blast through some books on the American Civil War got me inspired enough to finally finish chapter three, and chapter four is nearly ready to upload as well.  The story is twelve chapters long and I don't plan on going beyond that, so that's a little more respectable in terms of progress.

Norne is a nice change of pace to write, in terms of both vocabulary and in general outlook, and she's a good means of exploring some social issues that the noble characters don't necessarily consider.  Her story also allows me to present a slightly different take on the main cast of characters; Norne's very presence means that one of the canonical stalwarts isn't around, and everyone else shifts to some degree to accommodate this new reality.  All the Unified Kingdom stories assume a more or less "perfect" playthrough of both games, but this one does not.  And, since the removal of some canon characters changes the fates of some of the gang during the War of Heroes, this version of events may go in a slightly AU direction.

Anyway, it's a little bit different from the other stories I've worked on, and I enjoy writing it.

Also, I had a dream last night about the trailer for the actual "Fire Emblem 13," which in this dream was a 3-D console game featuring a return to Magvel.  Only instead of random creature battles, it spawned random Disney-esque musical numbers.  Yuk.

No, it's not discontinued. I simply have to retool some things. Basically, I decided to fully embrace the possibilities of having a 'fic based around a gaiden character from FEDS. Norne's very existence shoots a hole in FE3 canon-- if we follow the game script, replacing her for Gordin basically dooms both George and Astram in the War of Heroes, which will lead to who-knows-what in the post-war Archanea scene. No George means no Free Knights, which can only be... bad.

So I changed some things in my 'fic timeline. Some major characters die and stay dead. Elements from Book Two of FE3 occur far earlier. Norne and her 'mates take a trip to the magical land of the Altarspire. And the world map at the end of the War of Darkness is going to be a bit different. So, instead of a straightforward FEDS novelization that just happens to star Little Miss Norne, we've gone AU. Which is likely for the better.

Until next time....