scribblemyname | Brain is Musty...: Ficlet O'Clock Truth or Dare

This entry is part 35 of 35 in the series 365 Challenge

The current prompts are leaving me dull and uninspired. Seeking creative procrastination: ask me any question about how something works in a storyworld, a why that's been pestering you, or any backstory you just really want to know, and I'll commentfic it.

If that doesn't inspire you, how about a character (original or fandom) and something crazy you would dare them to do.

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Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

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From:

pygmymuse.livejournal.com

I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have tried to clarify things there. I still wasn't clear, and I almost tried to do it in this reply, but I stopped myself.

This is one of those agree to disagree cases, and yes, I do think I will avoid Vardin from now on.

I didn't want to stop, wanted to like the stories, and I did enjoy prompting you.

Edited Date: 2013-05-25 02:22 am (UTC)

From:

scribblemyname

I was really responding your statement that the bond does not need strengthening, it's just there. Physical bond, yes. Really knowing each other, no. They have to build that like everyone else.

Very few rothnen would consider marrying other than their rothnen, but I do write about humans, so they're not perfect and some make wrong decisions in the course of doing the best they can. In fact, I can only think of one case of a Vardin rothnen marrying other than their rothnen. They generally, once they find their other, see if it works out, then if it doesn't, do the whole single thing. I think if there were rothnen in America, that sort of problem would probably be a lot worse.

Sorry if I implied otherwise in this fic, but the implication was supposed to be that he was asking her to court her before making that final irrevocable decision. I included the line primarily to contrast bonded and bound. But ah well, there are other worlds and I never expected you to love all of my worlds, especially one that takes so long to draw the framework of.

From:

pygmymuse.livejournal.com

And that's why I said I wasn't clear. The dumb thing is that I do believe people need time to know each other. I don't really believe in first sight. Like, maybe, but not love.

What bothers me about the Rothnen can be boiled down to this principle: that anyone looking at a woman with passion already committed adultery with her in their heart. Since they do dream of the other in that way, I feel like they should be committed to each other. That's the bond that was already too strong to my mind. That's why if they did choose anyone else, it would be like cheating.

Then there's the way that they come of age at sixteen. It's a different world, yes, but the idea of them having those dreams when they're that young and younger... That bothers me as well. It's not that I don't think that people do have them at that age in our world, but for me, it's too young.

I do think it's better that most Rothnen do marry their rothnen or stay single.

I think, having gotten most of my exposure to Rothnen culture from Rhiannon first, my feelings toward her and her choice colored all the others. I didn't have enough background on what the bond was like, what the etiquette was, or how other couples found their way. Still, I keep going back to her, and it ruins my ability to read stories about Rothnen, and she's the exception. I just wish I'd not seen the exception before the rule, I guess.

From:

scribblemyname

Makes sense. And I think I've started to realize that too. That's why I never meant to write her story, but when I was just trying to finish stories, any stories, that one came out. Hm.

And they do start dreaming at puberty, but they don't actually have the "explicit," to use your words, dreams until about late fifteen to mid-sixteen, which is part of the reason they tend to marry after 16 and 3 mos. the legal age in Vardin. Culture makes a difference there. In America that used to be common enough when kids were raised to BE adults at that age, and in Vardin, they are raised to BE adults at that age.

From:

pygmymuse.livejournal.com

Sometimes we can't help the stories that come out. Some just refuse to be ignored even if they're not the ones we want to write or even that we should write. *sigh*

Oh. I don't think I quite got that there were more to the dreams than just... that. I realize that Etienne said something to that effect, but it just didn't stick out enough to me (I'd suggest a short flashback with one of the couples where one remembers a dream that's not explicit for the sake of clarity there, and it could go a long way toward helping understanding of the bond, too, maybe.)

I don't remember getting the sense that sixteen was maturity before the first version of To Dance, and so mixing it with the Rothnen dreams was... unsettling. (Jhemet's wanting Etienne the man to notice her made me uncomfortable, but then I didn't get until this one that he wasn't that much older than her.) If I'd read Akena's piece first, I might not have reacted the same way. She was different. She called herself a little girl, but she didn't act like one, which is my usual trouble with stories about teenagers: they lack the maturity to handle the situations they've been put in (or just every day life, depending on the author.)

From:

scribblemyname

You see. This is why I wish I ran my commentfic through betas. I think I've covered all the huge gamut of implications brought up and miss some. :shakes head at self: Will clarify some things before posting these on my site.

Thanks for pointing these items out.You're right. They make a difference.

Story order makes such a difference too. I think that's why I stuck Gone Hunting at the end of the three and chose reverse chronological order, but I never thought of putting someone like Akena first. Making notes for when I really start pulling together this world big time.

And that's why I rewrote Jhemet's little piece. 1. I had written it too much like fanfic, not explaining everything. 2. I had written it from the outsider perspective and I needed the insider, so had to switch POV. Etienne's hesitance was best explained by Etienne.

From:

pygmymuse.livejournal.com

Well, I think even with betas we miss things. It goes back to everyone being different and coming in with different perspectives. Other readers will point out things me and my betas never saw.

You're welcome.

Akena does a lot to give insight not just into what it is to be a dragon but also to how one reaches maturity in Vardin, at least for me. She was important to understanding a lot of the world.

I had meant to tell you that I appreciated the historical details you'd worked into Etienne's version of the scene.

From:

scribblemyname

Well, thank you and feel free to prompt other worlds or, if you do like anything Vardin at all, nonrothnen stories. Rothnen are hugely in the minority, even among kahtchen.