touch da:i, free trip to ao3 hell
Mar. 28th, 2015 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenluait's a shame that Issues-y Genfic is usually all i want out of any given new fandom
because it's so so easy for authors to get a few key details/dialogue-bits/etc just a little wrong, but those things were key and now the whole thing is ruined. (and, of course, there's plenty of fic that gets said key details massively wrong, which is an even greater cause for anguish)
"but lua, that's basically all you write, like, all your stuff could be subtitled Laguz_Oppression_Issues.doc, isn't that kind of the same—" yes yes yes, i'm a massive hypocrite, i haven't reread my fic in ages but i'm p sure next time i do i will cringe at everything and throw myself & said fic into the ocean, i'm sorry ok
(though, as an aside, re: hypocrite: i have a personal theory that people who are never hypocritical are probably worse than hypocrites. like, hypocrisy can imply someone who's relentlessly callow and two-faced, but more often i think it just implies someone who sometimes falls short of their lofty ideals, and like, hey, at least they have ideals and they're trying, right, so why does "hypocrite" categorically have such a negative connotation
...though it wears thin if they always fall short of those ideals
...and i'm pretty much always writing issues-y genfic
...okay i don't like where this logic is going, how is this aside relevant again, END PARENTHETICAL)
anyway. this is all just a roundabout way of saying that all the Dorian Pavus fic i've found so far has disappointed me in one highly irksome way or another, and, even more annoyingly, basically none of it focuses on the aspects of dorian that i care about (read: i just want to read about dorian-wanting-to-save-tevinter-even-though-he-thinks-its-politics-and-culture-is-seriously-effed-up-d'aww-idealism. this is a topic that, semi-predictably, gives me feels. the whole fallout-with-his-father aspect is also interesting, but it's pretty well covered in the game; i don't particularly feel the need to see that angst explored more, and most fics on the topic just seem to be retreading old ground)
i mean, it probably doesn't help that his main in-game plot wasn't handled very delicately either. i... don't want to say it was badly done, because bioware sure ain't payin' me dolla dolla bills to be their scenario writer, and it was good in a lot of ways, but. it's so hard to do any Dramatic Interpersonal Confrontation Over Issues properly (i should know, because it is my #1 writing hobby, for a good time send me soap opera prompts), but it just hit a couple weird notes for me, and i think i was like, underdeveloped cultural context / a vague suspicion that the game is mungling real-world issues with in-game-universe isues in a funky way, i can't really articulate it, but something was off—but, there's only so much ground you can cover if you're given like Three Scenes to Complete a Romance or whatever and do you see why finding issues fic to please my tastes is impossible, i even pick nits when the professionals do it. i am the worst.
"lua does this mean you've become one of those dragon age: inquisition people"
...maaaaaybe.
okay so like. tumblr basically spoiled half the game for me, and then i got kind of curious, and one of my kentucky bros has done like three playthroughs and won't stop talking about it, and i started playing it except i am not the patient type and that game's hella long and youtube is right there and before you know it i've got twenty ao3 tabs open and what is my life.
so.
yeah that happened.
(...though while we're on the topic, here's a brief recount of Lua's Adventures Playing DA:I:
because it's so so easy for authors to get a few key details/dialogue-bits/etc just a little wrong, but those things were key and now the whole thing is ruined. (and, of course, there's plenty of fic that gets said key details massively wrong, which is an even greater cause for anguish)
"but lua, that's basically all you write, like, all your stuff could be subtitled Laguz_Oppression_Issues.doc, isn't that kind of the same—" yes yes yes, i'm a massive hypocrite, i haven't reread my fic in ages but i'm p sure next time i do i will cringe at everything and throw myself & said fic into the ocean, i'm sorry ok
(though, as an aside, re: hypocrite: i have a personal theory that people who are never hypocritical are probably worse than hypocrites. like, hypocrisy can imply someone who's relentlessly callow and two-faced, but more often i think it just implies someone who sometimes falls short of their lofty ideals, and like, hey, at least they have ideals and they're trying, right, so why does "hypocrite" categorically have such a negative connotation
...though it wears thin if they always fall short of those ideals
...and i'm pretty much always writing issues-y genfic
...okay i don't like where this logic is going, how is this aside relevant again, END PARENTHETICAL)
anyway. this is all just a roundabout way of saying that all the Dorian Pavus fic i've found so far has disappointed me in one highly irksome way or another, and, even more annoyingly, basically none of it focuses on the aspects of dorian that i care about (read: i just want to read about dorian-wanting-to-save-tevinter-even-though-he-thinks-its-politics-and-culture-is-seriously-effed-up-d'aww-idealism. this is a topic that, semi-predictably, gives me feels. the whole fallout-with-his-father aspect is also interesting, but it's pretty well covered in the game; i don't particularly feel the need to see that angst explored more, and most fics on the topic just seem to be retreading old ground)
i mean, it probably doesn't help that his main in-game plot wasn't handled very delicately either. i... don't want to say it was badly done, because bioware sure ain't payin' me dolla dolla bills to be their scenario writer, and it was good in a lot of ways, but. it's so hard to do any Dramatic Interpersonal Confrontation Over Issues properly (i should know, because it is my #1 writing hobby, for a good time send me soap opera prompts), but it just hit a couple weird notes for me, and i think i was like, underdeveloped cultural context / a vague suspicion that the game is mungling real-world issues with in-game-universe isues in a funky way, i can't really articulate it, but something was off—but, there's only so much ground you can cover if you're given like Three Scenes to Complete a Romance or whatever and do you see why finding issues fic to please my tastes is impossible, i even pick nits when the professionals do it. i am the worst.
"lua does this mean you've become one of those dragon age: inquisition people"
...maaaaaybe.
okay so like. tumblr basically spoiled half the game for me, and then i got kind of curious, and one of my kentucky bros has done like three playthroughs and won't stop talking about it, and i started playing it except i am not the patient type and that game's hella long and youtube is right there and before you know it i've got twenty ao3 tabs open and what is my life.
so.
yeah that happened.
(...though while we're on the topic, here's a brief recount of Lua's Adventures Playing DA:I:
- purchase game on a whim because i am really not so good at saving money these days, call up Mirrix and tell her we are playing the shit out of this
- we boot the game and, of course, spend like 5ever on the character creation screen, and also, researching & deciding who we're going to romance. the decision went something like this:
ME: WHO'S THAT. HE HAS FEATHERS ON HIS OUTFIT THING I LIKE THAT
MIRRIX: That's Cullen; he's like, an ex-templar—
ME: ew he was a paladin gross
MIRRIX: I think I read he's a drug addict or something?
ME: ooh drug addict that sounds kinda hot let's date him - wtf are tutorials tutorials are for weaklings who even reads tutorials
- oh fuck we're out in the middle of nowhere with no health and we keep getting murdered by this one fucking rift. what are tents. what are healing. what do you mean i have no heal spells. what are these controls even. why did i have three glasses of wine. i give up this is too hard
- barriers! barriers are such a good idea.
- omg tents. tents are also a great idea.
- i attack a bear and die like immediately
- ME: Ayo, does Cullen ever join up in my party to fight alongside me?
FRIEND: No, he just sticks to HQ.
ME: ...wait, so what you're saying is, Cullen is basically a house husband?
FRIEND: *chuckles* Yes, Cullen is your house husband.
ME: yassssss
(...no seriously though, is it weird that that made him more attractive, I mean I've given this some thought and I kind of like the idea of having a house husband someday, okay let's end this train of thought before it gets weird) - i try to fight a bear and get my ass handed to me
- i receive a comprehensive lecture on WTF Grey Wardens are, because Friend is aghast that I don't know and this probably means it's super-important to the plot later or something. idk. To be honest I only kind of know what's going on right now; I meant it when I said I don't know anything about this series at all! :D;;;
no subject
Date: 2015-03-30 02:07 am (UTC)The problem with hypocrites is not that they fall short of their own ideals-- as you said, at least they have them. The problem with hypocrites is the old "your fist in my face" problem-- the "values" leader who votes against abortion but pays for his mistress to get one, the closeted politician who votes against gay rights, the reformers who are secretly on the take, the church leader who's a scam artist, etc etc etc. The tumblr SJW who publicly shames people for enjoying the same trash they enjoy. They aren't just betraying their own ideals, they are actively harming other people in the name of the ideals they don't have.
This is a defense I have seen among Christians in attempting to deflect accusations of hypocrisy against known Christian grifters like Thomas Kinkade. The sin lies not in failing to live up to one's own high standards, because we are human and we fail, but in condemning others for failing to reach the standards we don't strive for. As a defense of grifters I find it inadequate but it's something worth keeping in the back of one's head in this shame-happy society.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-02 09:21 pm (UTC)