New to FE, plz2halp

[Ody]

Hey all,

So I only recently purchased and completed my first Fire Emblem game - Awakening. However, something special happened: I got inspired. For whatever reason, I strongly feel like filling all the gaps by writing a fanfiction of the game. To accomplish my goal, I will require the help of you - the fans.

Now, I'm not asking for handouts or even beta readers and I am not asking ''how do I write a fanfiction?'', I am however, asking ''what should I keep in mind when writing a Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfiction''. I need to understand the fanbase before I jump into writing something that is meant for their specific enjoyment. You may be asking yourself "why not just write about a franchise you're more familiar with?" Well, honestly I guess I don't have the same drive to fill the gaps as most other titles.

I'm going to need a quick list of canonical information, anything you feel is a 'must know' for fans of the game (and the timeline from the other two). I hope this makes sense.

^FAQs:

• I intend for it to be a series of stories, spanning generations and starting around the time Emmeryn succeeded the throne.
• I will likely have to go consistently headcanon when filling these gaps, I don't intend on doing anything completely absurd, but it will be my best interpretation.
• Just for fun, I'd like to include Roy (seeing as there are gates to other times/dimentions, this could be a thing) but probably as something minor, such as a sub-plot or cameo.
• I will probably have to create some OCs, but I promise they wont be anything over-the-top.
• I don't intend on making any wild OTPs and ships. Basically, if it's possible in the game, I'll use my best judgement when pairing characters - so, unfortunate for my fellow Yaoi fans out there, I won't be giving you a steamy Chrom x Frederick arc.
  

Keep in mind: this is intended to be a serious, high-quality work of fiction, not just some cute little project. I want this to be approaching the quality of published books. I say that because I feel that many people believe that fanfiction don't hold a candle to a 'real book'. English is not my native language, thus I hope that minor imperfections may be overlooked (though I will have a sizable team of beta-readers). After all, spelling, grammatical, printing and typeface errors exist even with the most professional of works.

With all this information in mind, if you were going to read a fanfic about Awakening, what would be your Do's and Don'ts? What kind of input can you give me so I am prepared to write for this fanbase? For example: if you think an Awakening prequel/sequel is way overdone and bland, then inform me so I might change my direction. If possible, give me some established Awakening stories that you feel I should compare my work to.

Thanks for reading, I hope to get this project started soon!

[Parrhesia]

Keep in mind: this is intended to be a serious, high-quality work of fiction

Already a serious departure from FE13 IMO

[Ody]

Already a serious departure from FE13 IMO

Thank you for your contribution, Parrhesia. I'm taken aback by how useful this post is :p

Why do you believe that the writing/story/plot/whatever it is you're talking about is not a serious, quality work?

[shadowofchaos]

Why do you believe that the writing/story/plot/whatever it is you're talking about is not a serious, quality work?

While I am one to admit that FE13 is my favorite in terms of "on the surface" story...

I have repeatedly said that "FE13 is great when you don't scrutinize it" when it's about pairings or story...

It is a train wreck when you think about the details. It is excusable considering they though this was going to be the last FE, and they just wanted to put together a coherent, emotionally invoking story with the MU in place...

But all the references and pacing put together... as well as the implications of Chrom's actions as a king and the Exhalt (Japanese version)... Hell, the Valm arc feels like filler. Even back in 2012, I was HORRIBLY confused why MU's double shows up in Chapter 13, forgotten and not to be seen until Chapter 23.

...the plot is horribly executed by the game. Hence the response by Parrhesia.

Awakening takes its popularity and value from... honestly the waifu/husbando simulator. As well as the children. The supports help with the development, and the rest is filled in by the player's imagination. In terms of story, that's why people love the game.

It's "good enough"... but when torn apart by the veterans here of Serenes Forest... "serious, high quality work" isn't the right word. Hell the Japanese reviews criticized it on the story aspect harshly as well... only curving up the score due to its fun gameplay mechanics.

I love FE13... it's good enough for me... since I also have other reasons to love it... but what Parrhesia said is accurate.

I wish you luck in your endeavor because piecing this mess together will be quite the task.

Edited February 10, 2014 by shadowofchaos

[Ody]

Uhm.. Okay.. Well, I didn't state that Awakening was a serious, high-quality work, or that I wanted to make something that emulates it, nor did I say that I wanted to 'fix' the game. Wishing me luck isn't helping me either, I kindly ask that you re-read my original post, please. I will reiterate for clarity: I wish to fill the gaps that precedes and proceeds the game, only a few instances will I deal with that occur during the game, such as what happens to Basilio.

So please, criticisms of the game aside, may I please get some help with what I need to get started? Unless you don't have what I'm asking for. I don't want to wait forever to get started, but I cannot reasonably consider this a serious work of fiction if I just wing it.

edit: Because I wasn't making this thread to say 'hey, I'm making a fanfic, isn't that cool?' I was trying to say 'I really don't know much about the series and I don't want to look like a fish out of water.'

Edited February 10, 2014 by Ody

[shadowofchaos]

I really don't think you're going to get much help here... at least what I think you're asking for.

Serenes Forest isn't exactly the place to get inspired to write fanmade cotent from.

In fact, this part of the forum barely gets any traffic at all... so you're not exactly going to get the input you're looking for.

You'll have free reign over most of it considering there just isn't that much information about it. Any and all material such as illustrations showing little Chrom and Liz/Lissa with Emelina/Emmeryn is in Japanese.

[Ody]

So what you're saying is, compared to most other games or series, there isn't a lot of rules and not a lot of canon that I have to follow? Well, that does make things simpler for me. I just wanted to make sure I had a solid grasp on at least this title first.

I'm not trying to get inspired, since I already am, I just desire to have some need to know information, for example: Is there some kind of paralogue or some such thing that already tells of character X's story that I'm unfamiliar with? Or: is Y and Z already a canon pair? Even though I've gone through the game several times now, there's always something I will miss or something not within the game.

I'm disappointed that this place isn't better suited to this kind of thing, seeing as you have a section dedicated to fanfiction...I suppose then my only option is really just to wing it and hope for the best. I can still post my fanfiction here once I get it underway, correct?

I appreciate your replies however.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Ody

[Lenh]

Need to know info:

- General storyline (pretty much gotten through a playthrough)

- Support conversations and DLC scripts (http://serenesforest.net/fe13/)

Beyond that, things are fair game. (Even within it they could be; there's not a lot of strongly hinted canon anything. You could do a real shocker and ship ChromXCordelia, even.)

[Ody]

Need to know info:

- General storyline (pretty much gotten through a playthrough)

- Support conversations and DLC scripts (http://serenesforest.net/fe13/)

Beyond that, things are fair game. (Even within it they could be; there's not a lot of strongly hinted canon anything. You could do a real shocker and ship ChromXCordelia, even.)

... I take it Chrom X Cordelia is like, the ship? I was thinking about doing just that because it's the closest thing to a canon pairing I could find.

[Lenh]

... I take it Chrom X Cordelia is like, the ship? I was thinking about doing just that because it's the closest thing to a canon pairing I could find.

Cordelia's personality makes it sound like a classic ship, but it's actually not possible in-game (no supports between them exist, so if you stick to in-game possibilities, it's impossible for Lucina's mom to be Cordelia).

[Ody]

Cordelia's personality makes it sound like a classic ship, but it's actually not possible in-game (no supports between them exist, so if you stick to in-game possibilities, it's impossible for Lucina's mom to be Cordelia).

I thought I noticed that, but I wasn't sure. It says in Cordelia's bio that she's basically crushing on him, so it's weird. Do you know why there's no support for the two?

[Fateborn]

I thought I noticed that, but I wasn't sure. It says in Cordelia's bio that she's basically crushing on him, so it's weird. Do you know why there's no support for the two?

For the same reason as Marth and one of the Pegasus Sister.

[shadowofchaos]

... I take it Chrom X Cordelia is like, the ship? I was thinking about doing just that because it's the closest thing to a canon pairing I could find.

More like Sumia x Chrom as decided by the developers.

She's in the opening holding his baby.

Has the fastest support growth with him.

Has a movie named "Lovebirds" with him that has even more implications in Japanese.

"Slaps" some sense into him.

Has a special hug scene with him in Chapter 11 as compared to the other girls.

[Agro]

I thought I noticed that, but I wasn't sure. It says in Cordelia's bio that she's basically crushing on him, so it's weird. Do you know why there's no support for the two?

Almost every single support conversation she has is her pining over her unrequited love. What in god's name would they do if suddenly she actually got what she wanted? Every single conversation would have to be changed.

[Ody]

More like Sumia x Chrom as decided by the developers.

She's in the opening holding his baby.

Has the fastest support growth with him.

Has a movie named "Lovebirds" with him that has even more implications in Japanese.

"Slaps" some sense into him.

Has a special hug scene with him in Chapter 11 as compared to the other girls.

Oh, so there is a pseudo-official ship. So if I were to go with the most reasonable pairing, I should go with Sumia? Or was Lenh serious when she said that it would be a "shocker" if I shipped Cordelia?

Almost every single support conversation she has is her pining over her unrequited love. What in god's name would they do if suddenly she actually got what she wanted? Every single conversation would have to be changed.

Uh I see your point, I guess, but it's kind of ridiculous. I suppose I'm not one to enjoy unfulfilled feelings (e.g.: Amy/Sonic or Hinata/Naruto always frustrated me especially since tthese are ships 15-20 years in the making)

[Tryhard]

For the same reason as Marth and one of the Pegasus Sister.

Catria & Marth:

(and Cordelia & Chrom, obviously)

Edited February 12, 2014 by Tryhard

[Anacybele]

Okay, though I'm a serious writer of fanfiction, I'm not sure how much I can help you here. If you've beaten the game, you should know all of the canonical information you can possibly get. Main-story wise, that is. But you can find many support conversations in the support convo thread in the Awakening section of the forum.

Awakening is very vague in terms of which pairings are possibly canon, though, and that's because of the number of possible supports and pairings there are. And because the player's character, the Avatar, can marry anyone in the game that isn't from DLC or a spotpass army.

The best way you can decide on these is to look at the supports and others' lists of preferred ships. People such as myself and Silver Lightning have our lists in the about me section of our profiles. Others have made lists in the numerous pairing preference threads that have been made (they're buried by now though, so they may be hard to find).

As for dos and don'ts, I can only think of one don't at the moment. If you choose to use a certain pairing, it's definitely not a good idea to make another possible spouse of one member of the pairing look bad just to get them out of the way. Meaning, if you decide to pair up, say, Chrom and Olivia, it would be a bad idea to portray Sumia as a stupid troublemaker just to make them look better. I got a few complaints a long time ago myself on my treatment of Geoffrey in one of my stories because I'm an Ike x Elincia shipper for the Tellius FE games. And I hadn't even been intending to make Geoffrey look like a bad person.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Anacybele

[Ody]

OK, so essentially I may take a lot of liberties with plot, character development, pairings and narrative as I please as long as I don't make it contrived or sacrifice something else to gain another. I need to make sure I read all the support conversations but generally I can run with whatever ideas I come up with. Does this sound pretty much correct?

Edit: three questions still elude me: 1) What is Chrom/Lissa/Emmeryn's surname and 2) What was the name of their father/mother? Would it be a poor choice for me to create these if they don't exist? 3) Why are there only three potential queens in the game?

Edited February 12, 2014 by Ody

[Anacybele]

Erm, none of those questions are ever answered in the game. Sorry...

[Lenh]

I don't know the answer to those questions either.

You could always ask/search for factoids on the FE13 subforum (specifically the "I just want to know one thing! - FE13 Edition" thread ), and if there's no consensus or answer, yeah it seems fine to make it up.

[Ody]

OK. Thank you all very much for your aid. I'm that much closer to starting something I really hope lots of people will enjoy :3

[Lenh]

No problem, and good luck! ^^

[shadowofchaos]

Edit: three questions still elude me: 1) What is Chrom/Lissa/Emmeryn's surname

The first thing that comes to mind is that people only had first names and their association to the family is proven by some crest/seal and such, just as the same as the ring that Chrom gives to his bride (barring FeMU explicitly and is only implied). The setting is based on Medieval Europe. Kind of reminiscent of the times when Japanese people also didn't have last names either.