TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Short code of laws: Have you seen (or done) something similar?

Go To

punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#1: Feb 28th 2011 at 4:01:38 PM

These three things all belong to the same race in my fanfiction's universe. The laws and their stipulations (and all their intended Unfortunate Implications were my (and my Beta's) creation:

(I split it up into three sections based on aspect of life being described, and for easier reading - I've listed it in order of Article 1, Article 2, Article 3)

http://evfan257.deviantart.com/#/d36dw6r

http://evfan257.deviantart.com/#/d36ixbz

http://evfan257.deviantart.com/#/d38zu0k

So, have you guys seen or done anything similar? What did you think of your own example - how much did it add to the world, or did it only take away from it?

Do you have any input for me on what I could change/needs explanation/elaborate upon?

(Just a note: the culture being described here is composed entirely of humanoid wolf yokai - hence wolf-like terms and social ideas being used.)

Thanks a bunch!

Gault Laugh and grow dank! from beyond the kingdom Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: P.S. I love you
Laugh and grow dank!
#2: Mar 1st 2011 at 5:54:51 AM

I've ideas for things like in-universe documents and books, excerpts from which I plan to intersperse throughout the thing to add to the complexity and detail of the world. Anything from political documents to private letters to news reports, scientific documents, books, academic papers etc.

What you've written here does look like a set of official by-laws for the tribe. The tone is certainly reflective of this, very official. There is indentation and all that too.

How will these be used may I ask? As supplemental materials or integrated in to the writing or what?

edited 1st Mar '11 1:58:08 PM by Gault

yey
punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#3: Mar 1st 2011 at 10:26:24 AM

Ooh, that sounds like it would be fun! smile I've noticed that while I greatly enjoy crafting and developing the characters, I get a real kick out of the setting, and what I can do with it within certain boundaries, and if those boundaries were removed or somehow changed, what that would change, by definition. That...sounds exactly like me - I have a lot of fun with those sorts of details. Although my main character is illiterate - as were many who were not nobles or warriors in my mostly historical setting(part of her difficulty and obstinancy with following and learning the laws when she must follow them stems from her illiteracy; this also feeds into the feelings of frustration/superiority to her that others around her feel.)

Thank you! My Beta is a legal assisstant in real life, which is actually part of why I asked her to be my Beta - she's the one that gave it the proper formatting and most of the legal wording. The laws themselves are mine, but she gave them their flavor and credance. All those indentations were not fun to format on deviantart - so many "blockquote" tags that I nearly just stopped. You can see I was...confused with the first article, but I learned for the second two.

They'll be used by the main character's husband and his subculture (he, just for the record, is the Alpha of his tribe, and the main character is his Mate) both to highlight and propagate plot events and morality quandries. He has an attitude, as the laws relate to his wife anyway, of Screw the Rules, I Make Them! - because it's his job to enforce them, and he deeply resents her, he makes sure that she knows it - she, in turn, resents him because of the high expectations those laws set, which she feels are impossible to fulfill, and often tries to sabotage them somehow in "revenge". (She's a teenager, her reasoning is supposed to be immature/illogical - the author and this Troper being a teenager herself, can capitalize on the whole "why can't I forsee consequences, dammit?!" deal.) She, because all matters are ultimately handled by Alpha, really can't do anything when his attitude and treatment turn abusive - as well as being subject to pointedly ignored/"justified" subversive blackmail and abuse by the Tribe's resident Complete Monster.

They're supplemental materials for the audience - so that they exist in full as a reference. However, they are also integrated into the writing - just not every single one, and not in the formal, legalized wording. Their purposeful subversion or strict adherence, by turns, creates a number of conflicts for several characters in the setting.

breadloaf Since: Oct, 2010
#4: Mar 1st 2011 at 11:43:19 AM

I like making small excerpts here and there, since actual criminal codes and such for any reasonably large society is super huge.

Add Post

Total posts: 4
Top