![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waltzoidHave you ever read a story with a title that serves both as an accurate descriptor of its contents and the feeling one might get after reading it? Such was my experience reading You'll Get No Answers from the Blue Sea Star, a 2019 NaNoWriMo project that attempts to put its own spin on Fire Emblem: Three Houses' story in the space of a small novel.
The story's summary on Archive of Our Own doesn't really say much about what to expect (the first line quoted sounds like it's written from the perspective of the narrator) apart from it bring an abridged retelling of Dimitri and Claude's story routes, with some added emphasis on the former. This turns out to be only partially true, as the majority of the story shines the spotlight on Seteth, Flayn, and Rhea, with Dimitri and Claude only coming into prominence during the few action sequences in the first section of the story and parts of the second section (more on that later).
Instead of Byleth as the viewpoint character, Blue Sea Star is narrated by a young woman named Jo, one of three daughters of Jeralt, mercenary and ex-captain of the Knights of Seiros. She, along with sisters Beth and Nona (whom Jo only refers to as "the kid") get hired by the Church of Seiros to replace a teacher who went AWOL when Dimitri and Claude were attacked on their way to the academy. Over the course of 25 chapters and an epilogue, the sisters train their students (who are grouped by personal preference instead of geographical area), quash rebellions, and fall in love.
Now, this may sound like a lot of plot to condense into 50,000 words...and you'd be right. Due to its nature as a time-limited challenge, a lot of Three Houses' characters and story elements had to be de-emphasized (the nature of Crests, which is limited to the protagonists) or cut out entirely (Hubert, Dorothea, Sylvain, the Death Knight, half of the Golden Deer, etc.) for Blue Sea Star to hit its November 30, 2019 target date. This also causes some issues with the story's pacing. While Jo's breezy, casual narration style does its best to keep readers informed on what's going on, eventually things happen so fast that it's difficult to keep up, especially when it comes to the story's overall structure, which is 80% academy life and 20% fallout from the Empire's attack on the Church. This is most evident in the final chapters (both posted on November 23), which try to compress the last five chapters of Dimitri's story arc into 3,000 words, resulting in the climactic battles not given enough time and space to have proper resolutions. Dimitri, Claude, and Edelgard aren't given a whole lot to do in this story despite being the main characters of the game - the sisters are the ones who get more of the heroic moments here - and it's unfortunate given the latter's apparent role as the main antagonist (not really a spoiler; it's right there in the summary). The parts detailing the former two heroes' fight to take back their respective lands from the Empire should feel as epic as they do in the game, but because they've spent most of the story milling about in the background (and neither of them is mentioned as a participant in the final battle), I can't help feeling cheated by the whole thing.
To be fair to Blue Sea Star, I think a Church of Seiros-focused story is a great idea and wish it had fully committed to that. The chapter where Seteth writes a story detailing his interpretation of the legend of Seiros and the goddess is one of the highlights of the story, along with the riot during the Rite of Rebirth, which still manages to be as tense as its inspiration. Funnily, it's the parts that were pitched in the AO3 summary - the fusion of elements from Azure Moon and Verdant Wind - that feel the most out of place due to how little attention they're given. What I was left with was a story that potentially sets up some interesting questions, but, well...doesn't give many answers.
The story's summary on Archive of Our Own doesn't really say much about what to expect (the first line quoted sounds like it's written from the perspective of the narrator) apart from it bring an abridged retelling of Dimitri and Claude's story routes, with some added emphasis on the former. This turns out to be only partially true, as the majority of the story shines the spotlight on Seteth, Flayn, and Rhea, with Dimitri and Claude only coming into prominence during the few action sequences in the first section of the story and parts of the second section (more on that later).
Instead of Byleth as the viewpoint character, Blue Sea Star is narrated by a young woman named Jo, one of three daughters of Jeralt, mercenary and ex-captain of the Knights of Seiros. She, along with sisters Beth and Nona (whom Jo only refers to as "the kid") get hired by the Church of Seiros to replace a teacher who went AWOL when Dimitri and Claude were attacked on their way to the academy. Over the course of 25 chapters and an epilogue, the sisters train their students (who are grouped by personal preference instead of geographical area), quash rebellions, and fall in love.
Now, this may sound like a lot of plot to condense into 50,000 words...and you'd be right. Due to its nature as a time-limited challenge, a lot of Three Houses' characters and story elements had to be de-emphasized (the nature of Crests, which is limited to the protagonists) or cut out entirely (Hubert, Dorothea, Sylvain, the Death Knight, half of the Golden Deer, etc.) for Blue Sea Star to hit its November 30, 2019 target date. This also causes some issues with the story's pacing. While Jo's breezy, casual narration style does its best to keep readers informed on what's going on, eventually things happen so fast that it's difficult to keep up, especially when it comes to the story's overall structure, which is 80% academy life and 20% fallout from the Empire's attack on the Church. This is most evident in the final chapters (both posted on November 23), which try to compress the last five chapters of Dimitri's story arc into 3,000 words, resulting in the climactic battles not given enough time and space to have proper resolutions. Dimitri, Claude, and Edelgard aren't given a whole lot to do in this story despite being the main characters of the game - the sisters are the ones who get more of the heroic moments here - and it's unfortunate given the latter's apparent role as the main antagonist (not really a spoiler; it's right there in the summary). The parts detailing the former two heroes' fight to take back their respective lands from the Empire should feel as epic as they do in the game, but because they've spent most of the story milling about in the background (and neither of them is mentioned as a participant in the final battle), I can't help feeling cheated by the whole thing.
To be fair to Blue Sea Star, I think a Church of Seiros-focused story is a great idea and wish it had fully committed to that. The chapter where Seteth writes a story detailing his interpretation of the legend of Seiros and the goddess is one of the highlights of the story, along with the riot during the Rite of Rebirth, which still manages to be as tense as its inspiration. Funnily, it's the parts that were pitched in the AO3 summary - the fusion of elements from Azure Moon and Verdant Wind - that feel the most out of place due to how little attention they're given. What I was left with was a story that potentially sets up some interesting questions, but, well...doesn't give many answers.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-27 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-27 09:59 pm (UTC)I noticed around the November 21 mark that the plot went into 4x fast-forward mode as the author realized the finish line was within reach and needed to wrap things up fast. Other than the rushed pacing, it's a mostly harmless, middle-of-the-road story, and I can't come down really hard on it. Maybe without the time and word constraints, it might have risen above that, but trying to condense the plot of a 40-hours-plus game into 50,000 words feels like an impossible task for even the best authors.
LATE EDIT: I should clarify that the original description was written by the story's author (including the "Not for the faint of heart, lore sticklers, or Edelgard fans" line). Because the author is/was a Troper, I'm only posting this review here and not on TV Tropes because I don't want to spark a conflict of interest and make it look like I'm praising/hazing a story based on its ties to a community I've belonged to for such a long time.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 07:29 pm (UTC)YEAH, that's why I knew from the get-go that I wouldn't finish "The Leaders' Path" during NaNo, especially if I wanted to do all the fleshing out I did.
LATE EDIT: I should clarify that the original description was written by the story's author (including the "Not for the faint of heart, lore sticklers, or Edelgard fans" line). Because the author is/was a Troper, I'm only posting this review here and not on TV Tropes because I don't want to spark a conflict of interest and make it look like I'm praising/hazing a story based on its ties to a community I've belonged to for such a long time.
Ah, that makes sense. Probably the best move, too.