Urgh.
Between helping my sister for her math final tomorrow morning -- err, today, in a few hours -- and other things, I somehow managed to finish part one of the fic.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4948844/1/Through_a_Glass_Darkly
(Holy shit, final count = 9700 WORDS *INSERT EXPLETIVE*)
I should have probably sat on it for a while to tweak the most recently written parts (which are rushed, raw, and uhhh, RAW) instead of posting it immediately. But I figure I still have a second half of the damn thing to deal with, at which point I will know better what exactly to fix if anything.) And at any rate I am soooooo sick of working on this arrrrrgh. I have noooo liiiiiife thanks to this thing. *kicks*
Previous fic babble: 1 (most substantial), 2 (scroll down), 3 (scroll down), 4 (ignore crazy)
Well, I'm technically only half-done with this fic, obviously (I have been working on it on and off since last July, but mostly conceptually -- only got a few sentences written and didn't really start doing most of the major work on it until January), but I want to start writing down some notes/commentary already. As you know, 2009 has not really been an emotionally easy year for me so far. (Well, it's better now. Sorta.) This fic was... not cathartic; it was a highly immersive experience, and so didn't really help much in that regard, but ehhh, basically it's been emotionally exhausting to write in a way that it hasn't been for a while, and not necessarily in a good way. (A few firsts for me: crying over this fic, losing sleep for an extended period of time over this fic. As I've said before, I've lost sleep occasionally maybe for one night when I get a sudden surge of ideas, but this time I would obsess over it for days at a time. And my own writing has never brought me to tears, as far as I remember. Teary, yes; to actual tears, no.) Honestly, I don't have enough distance yet to really get a feel regarding how this is reflected in the writing. I suspect the writing is actually more emotionally dead than usual in some ways -- not because I couldn't take anything more vivid, but because overdoing it would have cheapened it in my mind. Still, not sure if it works, as a result.
For me this is, I think, first and foremost a feminist tale. (I think I've said this before, but most of my FE fic seems to be this way. I think it's a natural response from being in a fandom with a lot of dumb teenage boys.) I mean, at its very core, it's about power, and lack of it. Different kinds of power. I played around a lot with the concept of agency -- with passiveness and activeness, giver and receiver (I think this in particular is more of an Asian concept; I'm at a loss as to how to describe it more clearly except as maybe "seme/uke" in the original, non-yaoi sense). I think this is very much a personal response to developments in Book 2 of FE3 -- the final chapter/reveal regarding the kidnapped priestesses is personally very horrifying and disturbing to me in its implications. (And to be honest, I can't really buy into Elice/Merric for that reason, though part of it may be the fault of bad translations. As for the others -- Maria is still young, which means she's impressionable, but at the same time she has a child's resilience, so she's definitely going to be traumatized to a certain extent but it's just not real in the way it is for an adult... and um I can't figure out how to explain this without trivializing the very real issues of child abuse/childhood trauma/etc. And Lena is, I think, much stronger than I suspect most people would give her credit for... and Nina -- well, you'll see.) The roles the various princesses play throughout the games also reinforce to me, this serious sense of futility... But at any rate, in my mind, it's that seme/uke dynamic, more than anything else, that distinguishes the two sides of the primary "love triangle". (And really these are not the best terms to use because of the yaoi connotations, which have morphed more into a dom/sub, masculine/feminine dichotomy. BUT. :P)
Another result of my feminist tendencies: I made a very deliberate attempt to ground this story physically. I mean, yes, it's all about the emotions -- but the separation of body/mind/heart/soul/whatever is an illusion, and people rarely ever take into the physical aspects when writing about women for some reason. (Except in unrealistic sex scenes, so whatev.) And by physicality I don't mean like, you know, outward appearances. I wanted to emphasize this even more than I actually did (I actually don't think I pulled this off at all the way I originally wanted to -- partly because I didn't want the story to veer into M or TMI territory -- I have this thing with seeing how far I can push the "T" label), but it didn't really fit with the narrative style at any point. I think this will become more significant in part two though.
I could talk about Hardin and race here, but honestly I'm so very tired of the race issue and the way it seems to be permeating every aspect of my life these days. But still will note that it is very much an issue to me, and was even before RaceFail -- Hardin is OBVIOUSLY coded as Other (and in particular as vaguely stereotypically Mughal, if I am not mistaken, which I very well could be). Dark-skinned (well, darker, and it kind of varies depending on the artist), turbaned, the moustache... in an otherwise very (aesthetically) white European world -- oi. Not even his own brother/countrymen look like him! It's made worse by the fact that he's stuck in a very lopsided love triangle with two blonde/very "Aryan" characters, and also we all know what happens to him in Book 2..... -____- There's just so much wrong with this. So yes, there is a certain aspect of me writing this that is all about giving Hardin the dignity he deserves. Still problematic, but I tried to alleviate some of that.
I could also talk about how, if you really wanted to, Camus/Nina could be boiled down to Stockholm/Lima Syndrome (this argument almost always inevitably comes up when discussing similar pairings). But I hate labels, and I hate pigeonholing things, especially complex things like emotions and relationships, especially when there are other factors in the mix, and this argument drives me nuts. As someone who's done some actual reading on Stockholm syndrome and the various famous cases -- the romanticized popular conception is COMPLETELY WRONG (when is it ever not?) and in fact possibly exists only in popular conception. Also the whole bonding-under-extreme-stress thing, as if that somehow makes the relationship more shallow. Aaaargh. Yes, in this fic, it's a factor, I'll admit. Yes, relationships like this in RL don't tend to last. But at the core, in this case, is something that runs far, far deeper, and I really hope I managed to get that across, though I suspect I failed. (Still, if anyone mentions Stockholm syndrome in conjuction to this, I AM GOING TO KILL SOMETHING.)
Recurring themes: eyes/vision/sight/reflections (including dreams as a reflection of the subconscious, blah blah, I know, cliched as heck, but I love dreams, as should be obvious by now to anyone who's read anything I've ever written), names, the ocean. This was very deliberate -- the theme regarding vision/sight would have been better depicted in a visual context though (I was thinking in very cinematic terms when I set up that strand -- it's rather more clunky when done through writing). Names, again -- I was very, very deliberate, very careful in how I utilized names and various terms of address. Actually this is something I always pay attention to, but not to the extent that I did this time. (Partly it's because I noticed the game places a subtle but very present emphasis on the importance of names as well...) The ocean, too -- I've mentioned this before, but where the other FE universes are very much landlocked, my personal view of Akaneia is a culture heavily based around the sea. In particular the many island kingdoms -- it's pretty much canon that there's not much good farmland around except maybe on the mainland (i.e. Aurelis and Akaneia-the-kingdom); based on the official world-building notes, iirc Altea may be a bit more fertile than the other places, but Grunia (Grust) is canonically not conducive to agriculture, and neither is Macedonia. This divide is part of the deeper context regarding the conflict between Akaneia/Orleans and the other kingdoms; from the notes Grust has pretty much never gotten along with Akaneia (and for fairly justified reasons).
Well, that's all I really have to say for now, but I'm sure there will be more by the time I finish the second half. (Maybe I should talk about religion in Akaneia and in this fic... too lazy though.) I think there are some things that I'm doing or trying to do with this fic that will not become obvious until then -- even some of the things I've brought up here. Like I've said, I'm usually not quite *this* obsessively deliberate with my writing, but well.
Oh, one last thing, I guess:
I was and still am very tempted to write an AU instead in which Marth dies, Michalis's political maneuvering comes to fruition after secretly allying with Camus, Elice and Nyna successfully pull off a rebellion with help from Hardin and Minerva, Jeorge is badass as ever, the ultimate defeat of Medeus is much more of a team effort, and certain couples live happily ever after. :P
I'll make it no secret: sorry if you like him, but I don't care for Marth at all. :P I'm not much for destined heros... (At least Roy was a sweet kid.) I actually do think the story would have been much more interesting if he had not survived, buuuuut that's a story I'm not going to write. :P
Seriously though, I think Michalis/Camus and Hardin/princess trio would be the most awesome teamups ever. Michalis and Camus in particular -- I won't lie, I am a complete sucker for scheming bastards (well-intentioned or not -- but good intentions do help XP) and think that their partnership would have been AMAZING, potentially. XD Similarly, I'm of the mind that Hardin and Elice are much more suited to each other... (though this thought only occurred after I realized what bothered me so much about Elice/Merric, which I actually did think was kind of cute but didn't really feel strongly about otherwise originally. I'm horrible though: once the concept of Hardin/Elice occurred to me, it really took root...) That and I ship Minerva/George for no reason other than two hot, badass, available characters. XP (And, I am ashamed to admit, awesome snarky cooperation between the two in the manga, which was one of the only awesome things about the manga, in fact.) Of course all of this is a complete fantasy on my part, but more seriously, I do think Camus and Michalis did have an established basis for a relationship in canon (based on the Rena connection: if you're unaware, Rena lived in Grust for a few years* and knew Camus during that time, and was only called back when Misheil took over, at which point he decided to marry her for political purposes -- this is info hinted at in game only through Rena's grandfather in one of the villages though, and through Machis i.e. Rena's brother's offhand remarks to her based on his own crappy understanding of the situation... and is the info that serves as the basis of the flashback section in the fic. And especially given the alliance with Dolhr, it seems so obvious that they MUST have met at least once... XD)
* Five in my verse. Canonically she's ten when her mother dies and she moves to Grust to live with her grandfather; Misheil kills his father and recalls her to Macedonia in 598; the main game begins in 604 (with the prologue taking place in 602). Now, I know Misheil has a weird sister complex, but historical basis/political marriage or not, I'd prefer not to think of him proposing to anyone younger than 16. (15 is a stretch.) This makes her 21 at the time of game (which is... actually slightly older than I would otherwise place her -- I'd place her at 19 or so, as she does seem younger than the other women.) Nina and Elice are about the same age, I guess; Elice possibly younger. Though it's kinda funny; Nina comes across a lot younger at first in my interpretation in this fic. That was also deliberate though. I'd place Minerva at the same age too, actually.
What might be interesting would be to work out the timeline regarding the famine (also canonical, going by notes**) that occurred when Misheil (and Camus) were both around 10, establishing the basis for Misheil's resentment of his father and of Akaneia. I don't really have solid ages in my head for them... I mean, obviously they're in their twenties, and they read about 25-27 to me, but I haven't pinned down anything exact. No, actually, Camus is the fuzzy one; Misheil screams 26 for me in Book 1 (this would place the famine around 588 and his takeover at age 20, which "feels" right to me, I guess -- so Nina is old enough to have been around at the time of the famine though probably not enough to actually *remember* it; similarly, I have Maria pegged as about 8 in Book 1, which means she was 2 years old and too young to understand re: Misheil's takeover, and sent as hostage two years later when the war starts at age 4). If anything I'd say Camus is the same age as Michalis, maybe a bit older. Hardin's slightly older yet, maybe 28-30. (Going by looks -- in FE3, not sure what they did re: the art in the remake -- there's about a two decade age difference or MORE between him and his brother.)
** http://serenesforest.net/general/designer3_1.html, http://serenesforest.net/general/designer3_2.html (and it should be noted that the FE3 script actually does, I believe, contradict the notes on one minor detail, that being the name of Midia's father) Transcripts of the BS games are here, though in Japanese (there are translations available on the Serenes Forest forums -- go find them yourself, as I don't care for them much); I used them as supplementary characterization resources, but not much else (their depiction of events contradicts quite a bit of what is implied in the notes, in the games, and by pure common sense -- I consider them only a cut above the manga/anime in terms of degree of "canon").
Oh, also, while I'm on the subject of worldbuilding, because I just KNOW some jerkass, well-intentioned or not, is going to point out my use of "Duke" Hardin instead of "Prince" Hardin (though actually, I'm not sure what the Shadow Dragon translation uses, but for some reason there's always someone who reviews, nitpicking at something that they're completely wrong about -- for example, this one person nitpicking about ages who I didn't bother responding to, as the ages are IN THE FUCKING ARTBOOK) -- the character in the original Japanese is ambiguous. Actually it's ambiguous in Chinese too (possibly moreso; I'm not really sure how directly ranks translate over to Japanese, though I know it's pretty close), as I mentioned regarding Fuchai in my Great Revival posts (to be resumed.... soon). I won't go into an in depth discussion of Asian ranks. (The official FE7 translation, notably, is horrible about ranks.) HOWEVER. There is another term for prince that is far less ambiguous (and often doubles as an indication of the actual heir -- translating literally as "king's son") -- which is the one used in conjunction with Marth. Considering that people in the games tend to address Hardin with a "-dono" suffix (corresponding roughly to "Sir" or "Lord" though not really), as well as certain other context-related issues, I feel that it's important to make the distinction: Hardin is not a prince. He is the king's brother. He is a military leader. He is not (theoretically) directly in line for the throne. Like I said, I was very deliberate and very careful with my choices in these regards.
But man, I am never going to get used to localized spellings for the most part, am I? XD (In my head I pronounce Camus the "proper" way i.e. with the silent s, and Michalus as "Mishelus"... And I refuse to type "Nyna" and "Jeorge" unless absolutely necesesary. :P) And good lord, my notes are going to be just as long as the fic. -__-
Anyway I need to go to sleep. Will catch up on other aspects of life tomorrow. Ugh.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4948844/1/Through_a_Glass_Darkly
(Holy shit, final count = 9700 WORDS *INSERT EXPLETIVE*)
I should have probably sat on it for a while to tweak the most recently written parts (which are rushed, raw, and uhhh, RAW) instead of posting it immediately. But I figure I still have a second half of the damn thing to deal with, at which point I will know better what exactly to fix if anything.) And at any rate I am soooooo sick of working on this arrrrrgh. I have noooo liiiiiife thanks to this thing. *kicks*
Previous fic babble: 1 (most substantial), 2 (scroll down), 3 (scroll down), 4 (ignore crazy)
Well, I'm technically only half-done with this fic, obviously (I have been working on it on and off since last July, but mostly conceptually -- only got a few sentences written and didn't really start doing most of the major work on it until January), but I want to start writing down some notes/commentary already. As you know, 2009 has not really been an emotionally easy year for me so far. (Well, it's better now. Sorta.) This fic was... not cathartic; it was a highly immersive experience, and so didn't really help much in that regard, but ehhh, basically it's been emotionally exhausting to write in a way that it hasn't been for a while, and not necessarily in a good way. (A few firsts for me: crying over this fic, losing sleep for an extended period of time over this fic. As I've said before, I've lost sleep occasionally maybe for one night when I get a sudden surge of ideas, but this time I would obsess over it for days at a time. And my own writing has never brought me to tears, as far as I remember. Teary, yes; to actual tears, no.) Honestly, I don't have enough distance yet to really get a feel regarding how this is reflected in the writing. I suspect the writing is actually more emotionally dead than usual in some ways -- not because I couldn't take anything more vivid, but because overdoing it would have cheapened it in my mind. Still, not sure if it works, as a result.
For me this is, I think, first and foremost a feminist tale. (I think I've said this before, but most of my FE fic seems to be this way. I think it's a natural response from being in a fandom with a lot of dumb teenage boys.) I mean, at its very core, it's about power, and lack of it. Different kinds of power. I played around a lot with the concept of agency -- with passiveness and activeness, giver and receiver (I think this in particular is more of an Asian concept; I'm at a loss as to how to describe it more clearly except as maybe "seme/uke" in the original, non-yaoi sense). I think this is very much a personal response to developments in Book 2 of FE3 -- the final chapter/reveal regarding the kidnapped priestesses is personally very horrifying and disturbing to me in its implications. (And to be honest, I can't really buy into Elice/Merric for that reason, though part of it may be the fault of bad translations. As for the others -- Maria is still young, which means she's impressionable, but at the same time she has a child's resilience, so she's definitely going to be traumatized to a certain extent but it's just not real in the way it is for an adult... and um I can't figure out how to explain this without trivializing the very real issues of child abuse/childhood trauma/etc. And Lena is, I think, much stronger than I suspect most people would give her credit for... and Nina -- well, you'll see.) The roles the various princesses play throughout the games also reinforce to me, this serious sense of futility... But at any rate, in my mind, it's that seme/uke dynamic, more than anything else, that distinguishes the two sides of the primary "love triangle". (And really these are not the best terms to use because of the yaoi connotations, which have morphed more into a dom/sub, masculine/feminine dichotomy. BUT. :P)
Another result of my feminist tendencies: I made a very deliberate attempt to ground this story physically. I mean, yes, it's all about the emotions -- but the separation of body/mind/heart/soul/whatever is an illusion, and people rarely ever take into the physical aspects when writing about women for some reason. (Except in unrealistic sex scenes, so whatev.) And by physicality I don't mean like, you know, outward appearances. I wanted to emphasize this even more than I actually did (I actually don't think I pulled this off at all the way I originally wanted to -- partly because I didn't want the story to veer into M or TMI territory -- I have this thing with seeing how far I can push the "T" label), but it didn't really fit with the narrative style at any point. I think this will become more significant in part two though.
I could talk about Hardin and race here, but honestly I'm so very tired of the race issue and the way it seems to be permeating every aspect of my life these days. But still will note that it is very much an issue to me, and was even before RaceFail -- Hardin is OBVIOUSLY coded as Other (and in particular as vaguely stereotypically Mughal, if I am not mistaken, which I very well could be). Dark-skinned (well, darker, and it kind of varies depending on the artist), turbaned, the moustache... in an otherwise very (aesthetically) white European world -- oi. Not even his own brother/countrymen look like him! It's made worse by the fact that he's stuck in a very lopsided love triangle with two blonde/very "Aryan" characters, and also we all know what happens to him in Book 2..... -____- There's just so much wrong with this. So yes, there is a certain aspect of me writing this that is all about giving Hardin the dignity he deserves. Still problematic, but I tried to alleviate some of that.
I could also talk about how, if you really wanted to, Camus/Nina could be boiled down to Stockholm/Lima Syndrome (this argument almost always inevitably comes up when discussing similar pairings). But I hate labels, and I hate pigeonholing things, especially complex things like emotions and relationships, especially when there are other factors in the mix, and this argument drives me nuts. As someone who's done some actual reading on Stockholm syndrome and the various famous cases -- the romanticized popular conception is COMPLETELY WRONG (when is it ever not?) and in fact possibly exists only in popular conception. Also the whole bonding-under-extreme-stress thing, as if that somehow makes the relationship more shallow. Aaaargh. Yes, in this fic, it's a factor, I'll admit. Yes, relationships like this in RL don't tend to last. But at the core, in this case, is something that runs far, far deeper, and I really hope I managed to get that across, though I suspect I failed. (Still, if anyone mentions Stockholm syndrome in conjuction to this, I AM GOING TO KILL SOMETHING.)
Recurring themes: eyes/vision/sight/reflections (including dreams as a reflection of the subconscious, blah blah, I know, cliched as heck, but I love dreams, as should be obvious by now to anyone who's read anything I've ever written), names, the ocean. This was very deliberate -- the theme regarding vision/sight would have been better depicted in a visual context though (I was thinking in very cinematic terms when I set up that strand -- it's rather more clunky when done through writing). Names, again -- I was very, very deliberate, very careful in how I utilized names and various terms of address. Actually this is something I always pay attention to, but not to the extent that I did this time. (Partly it's because I noticed the game places a subtle but very present emphasis on the importance of names as well...) The ocean, too -- I've mentioned this before, but where the other FE universes are very much landlocked, my personal view of Akaneia is a culture heavily based around the sea. In particular the many island kingdoms -- it's pretty much canon that there's not much good farmland around except maybe on the mainland (i.e. Aurelis and Akaneia-the-kingdom); based on the official world-building notes, iirc Altea may be a bit more fertile than the other places, but Grunia (Grust) is canonically not conducive to agriculture, and neither is Macedonia. This divide is part of the deeper context regarding the conflict between Akaneia/Orleans and the other kingdoms; from the notes Grust has pretty much never gotten along with Akaneia (and for fairly justified reasons).
Well, that's all I really have to say for now, but I'm sure there will be more by the time I finish the second half. (Maybe I should talk about religion in Akaneia and in this fic... too lazy though.) I think there are some things that I'm doing or trying to do with this fic that will not become obvious until then -- even some of the things I've brought up here. Like I've said, I'm usually not quite *this* obsessively deliberate with my writing, but well.
Oh, one last thing, I guess:
I was and still am very tempted to write an AU instead in which Marth dies, Michalis's political maneuvering comes to fruition after secretly allying with Camus, Elice and Nyna successfully pull off a rebellion with help from Hardin and Minerva, Jeorge is badass as ever, the ultimate defeat of Medeus is much more of a team effort, and certain couples live happily ever after. :P
I'll make it no secret: sorry if you like him, but I don't care for Marth at all. :P I'm not much for destined heros... (At least Roy was a sweet kid.) I actually do think the story would have been much more interesting if he had not survived, buuuuut that's a story I'm not going to write. :P
Seriously though, I think Michalis/Camus and Hardin/princess trio would be the most awesome teamups ever. Michalis and Camus in particular -- I won't lie, I am a complete sucker for scheming bastards (well-intentioned or not -- but good intentions do help XP) and think that their partnership would have been AMAZING, potentially. XD Similarly, I'm of the mind that Hardin and Elice are much more suited to each other... (though this thought only occurred after I realized what bothered me so much about Elice/Merric, which I actually did think was kind of cute but didn't really feel strongly about otherwise originally. I'm horrible though: once the concept of Hardin/Elice occurred to me, it really took root...) That and I ship Minerva/George for no reason other than two hot, badass, available characters. XP (And, I am ashamed to admit, awesome snarky cooperation between the two in the manga, which was one of the only awesome things about the manga, in fact.) Of course all of this is a complete fantasy on my part, but more seriously, I do think Camus and Michalis did have an established basis for a relationship in canon (based on the Rena connection: if you're unaware, Rena lived in Grust for a few years* and knew Camus during that time, and was only called back when Misheil took over, at which point he decided to marry her for political purposes -- this is info hinted at in game only through Rena's grandfather in one of the villages though, and through Machis i.e. Rena's brother's offhand remarks to her based on his own crappy understanding of the situation... and is the info that serves as the basis of the flashback section in the fic. And especially given the alliance with Dolhr, it seems so obvious that they MUST have met at least once... XD)
* Five in my verse. Canonically she's ten when her mother dies and she moves to Grust to live with her grandfather; Misheil kills his father and recalls her to Macedonia in 598; the main game begins in 604 (with the prologue taking place in 602). Now, I know Misheil has a weird sister complex, but historical basis/political marriage or not, I'd prefer not to think of him proposing to anyone younger than 16. (15 is a stretch.) This makes her 21 at the time of game (which is... actually slightly older than I would otherwise place her -- I'd place her at 19 or so, as she does seem younger than the other women.) Nina and Elice are about the same age, I guess; Elice possibly younger. Though it's kinda funny; Nina comes across a lot younger at first in my interpretation in this fic. That was also deliberate though. I'd place Minerva at the same age too, actually.
What might be interesting would be to work out the timeline regarding the famine (also canonical, going by notes**) that occurred when Misheil (and Camus) were both around 10, establishing the basis for Misheil's resentment of his father and of Akaneia. I don't really have solid ages in my head for them... I mean, obviously they're in their twenties, and they read about 25-27 to me, but I haven't pinned down anything exact. No, actually, Camus is the fuzzy one; Misheil screams 26 for me in Book 1 (this would place the famine around 588 and his takeover at age 20, which "feels" right to me, I guess -- so Nina is old enough to have been around at the time of the famine though probably not enough to actually *remember* it; similarly, I have Maria pegged as about 8 in Book 1, which means she was 2 years old and too young to understand re: Misheil's takeover, and sent as hostage two years later when the war starts at age 4). If anything I'd say Camus is the same age as Michalis, maybe a bit older. Hardin's slightly older yet, maybe 28-30. (Going by looks -- in FE3, not sure what they did re: the art in the remake -- there's about a two decade age difference or MORE between him and his brother.)
** http://serenesforest.net/general/designer3_1.html, http://serenesforest.net/general/designer3_2.html (and it should be noted that the FE3 script actually does, I believe, contradict the notes on one minor detail, that being the name of Midia's father) Transcripts of the BS games are here, though in Japanese (there are translations available on the Serenes Forest forums -- go find them yourself, as I don't care for them much); I used them as supplementary characterization resources, but not much else (their depiction of events contradicts quite a bit of what is implied in the notes, in the games, and by pure common sense -- I consider them only a cut above the manga/anime in terms of degree of "canon").
Oh, also, while I'm on the subject of worldbuilding, because I just KNOW some jerkass, well-intentioned or not, is going to point out my use of "Duke" Hardin instead of "Prince" Hardin (though actually, I'm not sure what the Shadow Dragon translation uses, but for some reason there's always someone who reviews, nitpicking at something that they're completely wrong about -- for example, this one person nitpicking about ages who I didn't bother responding to, as the ages are IN THE FUCKING ARTBOOK) -- the character in the original Japanese is ambiguous. Actually it's ambiguous in Chinese too (possibly moreso; I'm not really sure how directly ranks translate over to Japanese, though I know it's pretty close), as I mentioned regarding Fuchai in my Great Revival posts (to be resumed.... soon). I won't go into an in depth discussion of Asian ranks. (The official FE7 translation, notably, is horrible about ranks.) HOWEVER. There is another term for prince that is far less ambiguous (and often doubles as an indication of the actual heir -- translating literally as "king's son") -- which is the one used in conjunction with Marth. Considering that people in the games tend to address Hardin with a "-dono" suffix (corresponding roughly to "Sir" or "Lord" though not really), as well as certain other context-related issues, I feel that it's important to make the distinction: Hardin is not a prince. He is the king's brother. He is a military leader. He is not (theoretically) directly in line for the throne. Like I said, I was very deliberate and very careful with my choices in these regards.
But man, I am never going to get used to localized spellings for the most part, am I? XD (In my head I pronounce Camus the "proper" way i.e. with the silent s, and Michalus as "Mishelus"... And I refuse to type "Nyna" and "Jeorge" unless absolutely necesesary. :P) And good lord, my notes are going to be just as long as the fic. -__-
Anyway I need to go to sleep. Will catch up on other aspects of life tomorrow. Ugh.