DA2 Fic: Tyrants (and the Tyranny of Appearances)

[sarasa_cat]

Tyrants (and the Tyranny of Appearances)

Dragon Age (DA2), Marian Hawke/Cullen, Carver
Rated R, 5200 words, one-shot stand alone short story

Expatriates, secret relationship, awkwardness, control, power, clothing

For no_true_pair  2012 Eight Character Challenge (prompt: f!Hawke & Cullen, Tyrant)

Story links:

• Tyrants on AO3
• Tyrants on fanfiction.net
  
• Tyrants on DW's no-true-pair community

 

Comments

Re: Crit time! Thoughts? (long crit is long)

[sarasa_cat]

sometimes overt symbolism is really irritating

THIS.

IMHO, symbolism works best when it tickles the subconscious or the emotional/feeling/pictorial parts of the brain into generating a feel that is completely on the mark but only after a Very Careful 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) read through does the reader consciously/linguistically see how the symbolism is telling the story.

resigned? Accepting?

Sure, that is definitely a fair interpretation. For a story like this I don't want to force the reader into one box. Uncomfortably accepting, betrayed and resigned, anxious but legitimately unwilling to break off the relationship -- it's all in the same larger space, imho. I don't want it to read positively or negatively, but as a weighing of compromises which puts Hawke+Reader in an uncomfortable place. Not horrific, spine tingling uncomfortable. Just uncomfortable in the sense that the situation not resolved. I don't think I'm explaining myself well because anything I analytic I say isn't going to be the exact same experience the reader has (which, by the way, is why I often prefer writing fiction to writing meta!) -- so, yeah, your read feels like the story directly hits the mark even if you see mismatches with the non-story words I'm saying in these comments.

When a story has more of an in-your-face emotional feeling--when it does things on purpose to force the reader to gasp or cry or cheer--a part of me feels manipulated as a reader. That doesn't mean I do not enjoy reading those stories. But... I guess it is a matter of taste in reading vs writing. Reading takes less time so I'll read a wide range of things. Writing is effortful so it needs to be something I want to write. I prefer putting my effort into stories that are more ambient, unresolved, and that create a space for experiencing a set of related emotional responses that aren't going to be the same for everyone. (Related to my other post today: *this* is why the storyworld in DA2 speaks to me far more than DAO).

It feels like this suggests Hawke has agency to control her response to the situation

Yes! This is something that I liked a lot about the game (despite many gamers hating it) and I wanted that in this story. Shit happens to Hawke. Hawke chooses how to respond, even if it doesn't change the situation all that much.

“You know what is true and what is not. Let them say what they will.”

I almost didn't put that first statement in. It was originally something like "Let them say what they will. I never refer to you as a 'mistress.'" which does little to give Hawke any agency--more of a reassuring pat on the head from Ser Templar. :/ ... and then it was merely "Let them say what they will," which leaves it completely open for the reader to decide how they feel. At the last minute I added resolve to the story with that "You know what is true and what is not" and I still cannot decide if I regret adding that bit of agency that resolves the text.

Carver: Heh. Carver plays the role of ally/helper in this story. He was originally there purely because I *like* writing dorky idiot brother Carver, and because I needed to show the moment when everything changed. The story would have been more ominous had Carver not played the ally role.