Writing meme

[nineveh_uk]

Courtesy of

Comments

[executrix]

MILES: You may be wondering what I am doing in the dungeons of the Chateau chained to the wall and dressed in the uniform of an Armsman in Chief.

Wimsey shrugged. "Remorse can heal the soul, though naturally it leaves a scar."

See? Now you only have to finish one fic. Fixed it for you!

[nineveh_uk]

And Miles can work out whodunnit through the power of accountancy, and Rene gets a trip to the Orb, and Wimsey is relieved to meet people even more inbred than he is. Meanwhile the Stirlitz introduces the Barrayaran proles to the works of Karl Marx.

[wellinghall]

Can they all meet at Cafe Artois?

[nineveh_uk]

Of course! Here is the cheese plate, Edith is about to sing.

[a_t_rain]

Are there really that many cunt / count jokes in Shakespeare? I think Parolles and Lafeu make a couple in All's Well (which the count in question richly deserves), but I can't think of too many others...

[a_t_rain]

Also, re the Vorkosigan thing, I think the problem is that the books are basically written in American English, with the odd Britishism thrown in for a bit of aristocratic cachet, and it's a very hard pun to work in given the American usage of the word "cunt." As in, 1) it's so strongly gendered that the only character you'd be able to make it about is Dono Vorrutyer; and 2) it would mark any character who made it as thoroughly despicable, and would be Fighting Words from the perspective of any and all of the PoV characters.

[nineveh_uk]

That's an interesting perspective on it that hadn't occurred to me. While I think that the " 'cunt' is entirely ungendered and not really very rude' in British English" internet brigade goes wildly over the top*, there definitely is a usage difference. "Lord Auditor Count Vorkosigan" in particular is the absolutely perfect formula for the slightest accent slip, but the pun having occured to me there's an absolute multitude of possibilities in British English (although given the tenor of the book, and it's general lack of swearing, it could be worked in the Sayersian "I just wrote that and you all know what I said, but it can be denied by the publishers" mode).

*I always want to reply, "so you'd say it in a job interview, would you?"

[ext_195770]

I once worked with a French Comte (in the loosest sense of the word "work with"; he greeted me on turning up at the Paris office with the words, 'I do not understand why you have come. This matter is about cars. I do not understand why the London office have sent a woman.") Most of the London office, when referring to the individual (who had marcel-waved hair; I'd never seen it out of fiction before) usually did say, "Have you met Henri? He's a Comte." The natural and notorious inability of the British ever to attempt the accent make the allusion without more.

[daegaer]

I *am* wondering, Rene!

[nineveh_uk]

All vill be revealed...

[azdak]

I certainly hope so, because I'm wondering, too. And if Rene's got his uniform, what is Stirlitz wearing??

[nineveh_uk]

If (one of the) canon(s) is anything to go by, either the outfit of an 'umble cafe owner, or a basque and suspenders.

[littlered2]

The lack of cunt/count jokes does seem like a bit of a missed opportunity. Maybe the non-Vor Barrayarans make them (we see so many more Vors in the books that there's probably a lot we're missing).

On the subject of Shakespeare and genitalia puns, one of my favourite Terry Pratchett quotes: "Mind you, the Elizabethans had so many words for the female genitals that it is quite hard to speak a sentence of modern English without inadvertently mentioning at least three of them".

[nineveh_uk]

I bet the proles do it all the time. Especially in the opposition papers Aral keeps trying to censor. Calling your Count a Count is gloriously plausible deniability insult. "Of course I called the Count a Count. He is my liegelord and I owe him that honour." And the Escobarans definitely do. But I bet even the Council of Counts sometimes find their ennunication gaining just the slightest emphasis at times.

And on further thinking, now I'm on the subject, the place it's really missing is in Shards of Honor, where the non-Vor political faction has lots of power. Why the hell aren't they taking the piss of the Vor with it? I shall now assume that they are, behind the scenes.

[littlered2]

Perhaps having had Counts for so long means they're too used to it to notice the pun. I suspect the fact that we don't actually have Counts means it stands out more as a potential joke. But still, I would very much like to read a Shards of Honor with Vor-mocking.

Regarding Aral's attempts to censor the opposition papers, I would like to know more about Cordelia's thoughts on the matter. She's shocked when she hears that the proles don't have comconsole access, saying that people's right to information is the first item in Beta Colony's charter*; Beta Colony, one would think, has pretty strong anti-censorship taboos.

*fic I want to read: Cordelia sets up a public library system on Barrayar to promote the spread of information

[nineveh_uk]

I love the idea of Cordelia setting up a public library system.

I suspect that Cordelia handles the mental disconnect of "good person - who favours everything I'm supposed to against" with a lot of "it's not my planet, they have to develop it themelves". No Betan cultural imperialism!

[elmey]

I do hope #1 is being written as we speak... because I do get the feeling that Stirlitz may be on the verge of failure here.

[nineveh_uk]

I'm sure he'll pull through. Though I have to admit at the moment that I have no idea how he has come to lose his uniform, just that everyone in Allo Allo always does.

[sam_t]

I think the rule is that if you disappear through the same doorway as another character while holding a questionably-obtained object, your clothes get swapped. I'm not sure how much Watsonian logic you actually need...