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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Resource Fanfic Writer's Desk: Your Place for Writing Discussion, Questions, and Advice

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Luna_Nightshade, Nov 24, 2011.

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  1. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    It bugs me that the "dreaded Mary Sue" has prevented people from writing so many intriguing characters and stories. I've ranted about this before, but as others have mentioned, life is crazy and people have and do overcome insurmountable odds. I'm pretty sure I'm reading the same book as Mav right now, and yeah, it is amazing all the horrible tragedies Alexander Hamilton overcame EVEN BEFORE HE GOT TO AMERICA. While nowhere near as miraculous as Chyntuck's refugee stories, but I'm pretty sure if I told my personal backstory, I'd be accused of having a "Mary Sue" backstory.

    Life can be messy, but that is where the best stories lie.
     
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  2. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    I always thought of Mary Sues not simply as people who overcome overwhelming odds, but one who does so easily while making the normal hero of the story look weak. I think people don't mind an awesome OC if they have their faults and they are not overshadowing the profic book's normal hero.

    If your OC is always saving Luke Skywalker's life....he may be a Mary Sue.
     
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  3. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Yeah, and this gets to the heart of my issue with the Mary Sue criticism and how out of proportion the "fear" of having a Mary Sue is. People automatically assume that characters with tragic backstories are Mary Sues and fear giving their OCs a tragic story to overcome. When in reality, bastard orphans become founding fathers, refugees get university degrees, etc.
     
  4. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    Right. But also what Jedi_Lover said... It will be interesting to see what they do with Rey. She's overcoming a tragic backstory, and the biggest mistake so far (which I'm hoping they manage to fix) is justifying how she is so good at EVERYTHING when she's been stuck in the middle of nowhere.

    One book said she learned how to be a pilot because she found a Y-wing flight computer in the debris field and used it to do simulator runs. Here I think is where things get Sue-y. She finds a flight computer, INTACT after a crash which would not only destroy the ship but also set it on fire, and which has survived sand and heat (two things that don't do good things to machinery), she manages to fix it up, attaches it to...something? Then just runs it over and over again as a simulator, because she also found a perfect working view screen? And gets good enough from flying one type of ship that she can automatically fly every single type of ship? Unless Unkar Plutt was trying to teach Rey to fly & repair various types of ships (how else could she have known what repairs he was making to the Falcon?), for me, that strained credibility (and I really like Rey).

    Luke, we know, has flown several types of ships, and we learn that the Incom X-wing starfighters are deliberately designed with controls similar to those of civilian ships to make them easier to fly. We also know that Luke gets at least a day of training on the flight simulators with the combat pilots. All of that, COMBINED with his Force sensitivity, makes it easier to believe that a small group of Rebels desperate for pilots would take a kid fresh off the farm and put him in a last-ditch battle for their survival. It still strains credibility that he somehow ends up commanding what's left of the team. Frankly, with Red Leader gone, Wedge or Biggs should be running the flight, having had far more experience. That's Luke's Stu moment.
     
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  5. FireKeeper

    FireKeeper Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2017

    That's what bothers me about Rey as well, and that's what I am trying to rectify/ explain in my fanfics.

    And no, my chara doesn't save Luke Skywalker all the time. She might end up saving a lot of people in the Resistance by telling them they should evacuate though, but she wasn't alone in figuring this out.

    Also, if anyone is interested in continuing this conversation, I think it's time to move to the Scribble Pad or the Mary Sue topic.
     
  6. gizkaspice

    gizkaspice Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2013
    Hello! I'm a bit of a noob here (well, not really......I just don't post often) so hopefully I'm posting in the right place.

    Basically I want to add a scene involving some medics treating patients for a story, but I've been struggling to start it/and or need some inspirations. I'm reading the SW Medstar novels to get some ideas, but some of those scenes are graphic and I'd prefer to stick to something more simple, yet compelling. How do ya'll visualize a SW simple medical scene that actually feels SW-ish? all ideas/example/anything is welcome :)
     
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  7. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    simple kolto drips instead of bacta dunk?

    synth cell spray?

    Using the Force to alleviate pain?

    Lightsaber cauterizing amputation (no blood?)
     
  8. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Under what circumstance are talking about? Is it a field situation or do they have a real medbay or even a hospital?
     
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  9. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    Yes, I think you need to define 'simple.' Battle/blaster wounds, broken bones, head colds...? And is the POV of the medical personnel, of the patient, or of an onlooker?
     
  10. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 14, 2015

    A 2-1B medic droid is a staple. Bacta is typical. As for the "simple, yet compelling," that depends on the depth of the characters and how well you've written them, I figure.

    (I'm not sure if this is acceptable--mods, please let me know if I need to take this part out!) There is a very non-graphic medical scene in the last chapter of my fanfic of Episode I, if you want inspiration and feel like reading some spoilers. The link to the whole book is in my signature; just scroll to the bottom-ish.
     
  11. gizkaspice

    gizkaspice Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2013
    I'm definitely trying to avoid a reliance on things like bacta dunks, although I'm not really sure what you mean by kolto drips? I'm also wondering if there are applications to kolto, such as the use of gels or pill-forms someone can use. Using the Force as pain-relief is a great idea and something I've considered using.

    It's a clinic/mini hospital I have currently situated within the Jedi Temple that offers treatment to non-Jedi peoples.

    Good point. That's exactly what I mean by simple--blaster wounds, broken bones, fever, etc, but not anything gory for example. The POV is third-person narrative, although the focus is more on the medical personnel rather than the patients.

    Oddly, I've never considered using the 2-1B medic droid as of yet. Thanks! I'll be sure to check that scene out; I could really use an example of a non-graphic medical scene to stir some inspiration.
     
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  12. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    Kolto is from the KOTOR game.
    but basically like bacta, but from 4000 years before.
    So it's a poor man's bacta. Like using bourbon before prepping a patient for surgery when you usually use morphine.
     
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  13. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    gizkaspice I suggest cleaning the wond, then a bacta plaster followed by a bandage.
     
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  14. Darth Osnil

    Darth Osnil Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2016
    Alright, so I need a bit of help. I'm looking for two outer rim planets that some folks from the Solar System could reach. Preferrably ones that Smugglers would hang out near. And Tatooine isn't going to cut it. The characters in question would most likely attempt to overthrow Jabba, and horribly fail. ANd I'd rather not rewrite the opening 30 minutes of nonsense from ROTJ. I'd really not prefer to work near Lothal yet, either.

    I've never actually established where the Solar System borders, so I'm open to crazy options.
     
  15. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    You mean our solar system?

    What about Yaga Minor and Helska IV. Yaga Minor is where Outbound Flight was sent to find life outside of galaxy And Helska IV is where Danni Quee first discovered Yuuzhan Vong incoming.
     
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  16. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000

    Well, I treated myself to a copy of the Galactic Atlas for my birthday! :D There is a system just past Helska called Belkadan.

    At the end of the Corellian Run, just past a system called "Smuggler's Run," (which itself is just past Ryloth) there is a planet called Naos, on the edge of Wild Space. Nearby are Excarga, Pzob, and Rothana.

    And a short way off from the end of the Hydian Way, again, on the out arms and bordering Wild Space, you have Kinooine, Seoul (really!) and Mephout.

    No descriptions for any of them.
     
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  17. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    What is the steering wheel on a boat called, please?
     
  18. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    I think it's just a "ship's wheel" or "boat's wheel" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship's_wheel), though it's one component of the helm, if that helps.
     
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  19. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    It's curious that none of the SW movies or books show any one "steering" the ships. I think in SW you just have buttons on consoles that do the same thing as the helm?
     
  20. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    I feel like I've come across "steering yokes" and stick-type controls; the X-wing and TIE pilots in the ANH trench run scene are definitely moving some kind of yoke-like stick. It's true, though, that autopilot is used for a lot of things.
     
  21. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    I am looking for a joke about the ending of different cultural writing books regarding end of books.

    It goes like At the end of American novels, the protagonist get the girl
    At the End of Russian books, the protagonist doesn't get the girl?
    Then at the end of another culture books, the girl kills? the protagonist?

    Anyway, I have been trying to find the joke, but cannot. Someone help?
     
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  22. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Interesting! I haven't heard that one before; if I had to guess, maybe French or some other Romance nationality? (It also applies to numerous 19th-century French and Italian operas. :p )

    I have a question of my own now, and this is especially for anyone out there who may be military or former military. What are some things soldiers might do, deliberately or inadvertently, to annoy their fellow soldiers while deployed, out on a tour or duty, or otherwise away from home? Pranks, annoying habits, that sort of thing? I actually did try googling "annoying things soldiers do to each other," but that didn't turn up much for whatever reason ( :p ), so I would be glad of any suggestions. :)
     
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  23. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Thank you, Findswoman

    My planned in-fic sarcasm, "It's not called a steering wheel, it's a..." fell apart a bit when I didn't know what it was called either.
     
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  24. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    I have no military experience whatsoever, but singing/humming comes to mind. The singer may do it just to annoy others, or it may be a self-soothing mechanism.
     
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  25. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Be so ****, that the entire platoon gets punished.

    Culture books - LGBTQ: protagonist gets something, but they are going to have to agree pronouns first.

    Welsh books: protagonist gets the sheep. Girl takes pic of them, and uploads it to her social media.