#LeDiz writes an AU

[thelediz]

Psssst...given that pokeani has gone completely off the rails, how abt dropping that big rant abt the "Ash assistant coach in Galar battle league" au you shall never write? It's been living rent-free in my head ever since you mentioned it bc I love mentor Ash and I bet you'd do more justice to Galar in bullet points than pokeani did in its whole journeys run :3c

Oh, be careful what you ask for... I have pages of bullet points and half a page of prologue.

For those of you who don't know (or remember a side-comment I wrote in an author's note three years ago - seriously, my dude, wow), at the start of Journeys/end of Alola, I came up with an AU to carry on Ash's story. But it was an idea for a series, not a story, so it sits in my documents untouched.

So the basic deal is this: Galar has a different kind of league to the rest of the Pokemon world. In Galar, trainers compete as teams, rather than individual trainers. Each team does have a captain – the one who is supposed to be the best, and ultimately becomes champion – but it becomes clear over the series that the greatest trainers in Galar are the ones with the best support teams.

The advantage to having a team, instead of just working alone, is that you can have a lot more pokemon on a 'regular' team. And they belong to the group, not just the captain. This allows more flexibility, but as Ash points out to the team, it also means you can’t form as close a bond as more traditional trainers would. (This is potentially the reason why Pikachu can gigantamax safely without a dynamax band - because they have such a close bond)

The team we follow in this series is Team Eight - the eighth team for this year's league.

It's quite a large team, made up of seven team members in total:

The Captain, Victor. Our player character, and essentially the Gary of the series. He’s a natural when it comes to pokemon battle, charming and likeable, but confident to the point of being arrogant. His character arc is learning that natural talent won’t get him by forever, and he needs his team to make it to the top. (Friendship hooray!)

Active Trainer Hop. The current champion’s little brother, Hop was supposed to have so much promise. He was great with pokemon as a kid—they all love him—and Leon had so much faith in his baby brother. But on the battlefield, Hop is average at best. He’s nowhere near Victor’s talent, let alone as amazing as everyone expected. His character arc is learning not to stand in others’ shadows, and to believe in his own quieter power.

Active Trainer Gloria. Our female player character, and a very loud, slightly violent young woman. She’s actually the strongest battler of the team, but is also incredibly lazy when it comes to training. She’s not that interested in the league, mostly using the challenge as a chance to see and explore the world. Throughout the journey, she becomes a protector, often standing with Ash while Victor and Hop run off to gather artefacts or whatever, and discovers her true passion is as a bodyguard and organiser.

Groomer Goh. A blatant attempt to reengage children with Pokemon Go, Goh’s passion is collecting pokemon for the team to use. His goal is to catch one of every kind of pokemon, so that no matter the situation, he will always have the right ‘tool’ to hand. When his pokemon aren’t being used by active trainers, he farms them out to gyms and jobs, earning cash for the team. His arc is learning that pokemon are friends, not tools. (Pet safety, hooray!)

Medic Chloe. Originally just tagging along with Goh because someone needs to keep her childhood friend in line, Chloe discovers a love of cooking and medicine, discovering that she enjoys watching pokemon grow and become stronger.

Coach Kiran. A Dark-Type Trainer with a bad attitude, but a heart of gold. He’s normally a field agent of Chairman Rose’s security division, and it’s a requirement that all agents do at least one season of coaching duty as a kind of community service. He hates it. He brought Ash on to essentially do his job for him, but since Ash doesn’t really know how Galar works, he still has to lead the way and provide exposition. His arc is learning the limits of how far he’s willing to go to protect ‘the good of all’, and that kids aren’t that bad, really.

Assistant Coach Ash. He signed on because he wanted to see Galar, and learn about the different league, but he’s actually really enjoying helping Team Eight discover who they want to be. He battles with the active trainers, accompanies the support team on their trips, and generally enables their journeys. He forms bonds with some of Goh’s pokemon, who eventually become known as 'his' pokemon despite the fact they belong to the team.

Team Eight were supposed to be the real up and comers, but Hop’s lack of skill in a very public moment made them seem very unimpressive, and now no one really expects anything of them. Of course, they work their way up through the ranks, meeting rivals and defeating gym battles, until Victor can eventually challenge Leon.

The idea was that it was going to retain Sun and Moon's group dynamic, fade Ash out of the spotlight while maintaining his status and strength, and make a bit more out of Galar's story. Also play with Leon's relationship with Hop because you know I'm a sucker for family relationships.

But yeah. I'll leave it there for now. Hope it didn't disappoint!

#pokeani #LeDiz writes an AU #anon ask

[skitter-kitter]

:0 pokemon fanfic??? you got any recs for that? (if you don't mind of course)

okay I was gonna go to sleep but I’ve been waiting to rec these fics for MONTHS

vassal by stolashoots is my current favorite fic. it’s all about Cyrus trying to be a better person after he’s been recruited by Rainbow Rocket. He has a connection to Giratina through the red chain and this fic has such strong characterization I adore it!!

The Taller They Stand, The Harder They Fall by OneSarcasticTremere is an amazing study of Cyrus and how he views the other bosses!!! I really love how they wrote cyrus and how he cares but also doesn’t want to care about the others. Plus it’s really funny at times!!

Shining, Shocking Star by DarkLux is a really interesting character study of Volkner from the perspective of the town of Sunyshore, and how Cyrus has made them more hesitant and fearful of fucking up their kids. There’s a lot of comparisons of the two and I love how they’re both depicted!!

Return by LeDiz is a really interesting character study of Ash and it’s based around him promising Kukui he would be honest to himself and others and his struggle with sticking to that promise throughout the whole fic. There are a bunch of sub plots that all come together during the climax and it’s just kabskwbwkwj it’s so good I highly recommend it!!

for a memory (and a quiet lie) by lovelit is an amazing fic. It singlehandedly got me to consider its ship and I just ajevwkhe the writing style is so nice to read and I love the characterizations!!

Plus, here’s some of my favorite animatic/animations because I adore them:

Jk by TheRoyallyPurple is so so good and I adore how the artist shows how his childhood impacted him and how he went from a quiet nice kid to an insane bitch. There’s this amazing moment where it shows him growing up and I adore it and it inspired the name for my fic “Wait, Waiting, Waited”!! I love how the artist made the music’s rising tempo just show how much he snapped and god it’s so so good

Superhero by FandomEscapades is just. GOD. The art is amazing and it’s animated!!! I love how the artist changes their style on purpose for this to show how Lysandre’s perspective has darkened and god god god I have so many emotions about this animation. i could ramble for hours about literally anything I’ve recced here

Plus, I’ve written like eight Pokémon fics!!

I have an old Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fic about the mcs learning to lean on each other again after dying and coming back to life.

Then, starts my descent into Cyrus becoming my favorite character to write. I have a character study of his last few days before he summoned Dialga and Palkia, with a lot of him loving his Pokémon sprinkled in!!

This one is set the day before, with him thinking about everything that will happen and having a conversation with his Pokémon about it!! yes he loves his Pokémon a lot hehe

Here’s a fic about Cyrus and Saturn meeting in the Rainbow Rocket universe, leading to Saturn joining them as more of an equal that a subordinate

This fic is about Cyrus going into the distortion world and spending about a year there before he caves and tries to escape, but Giratina will only let him escape if they share a body so it can be free as well. He leaves and finds out that only a few seconds have passed in the real world. Plus, it’s all set in Cynthia’s perspective!!

I wrote this one after I watched Arceus and the Jewel of Life three times in a row. I really loved Damos and Arceus and I was insulted there weren’t any fics, so I made one!! This is a canon divergence au where nothing bad happens

now, this is my pride and joy. my favorite fic I’ve written, probably. It’s all about a world where Giratina never interfered and Cyrus destroyed the world. He’s being thrown through dimensions by Dialga and Palkia as they try to show him the good of humanity, though he still has full control of them.

This is my most recent Pokémon fic!! It’s about cyrus and Cynthia being childhood friends and Cynthia being asked to go undercover to find the mysterious leader of team Galactic. you can imagine how terribly that goes

#skitty asks #anonymous #skitty fic recs #god I love reccing things #thanks for enabling me!! #i adore vassal so so much #just everything here #my pride and joy #i love it

[grainjew]

Random ask time! Care to name ten fics, any fandom, that you have or plan to reread? (Not necessarily your top ten because top ten is hard but ten that you genuinely enjoy.)

hi lynse i can’t believe you slightly switched the ask subject from what you were contemplating sending in dms. yes i do care to do this!!! fics follow

these are arranged in literally no order whatsoever except vaguely the order I remembered they existed and tragically they will mostly not be readable for you lynse on account of us sharing fandoms basically never. but in any case!!! let’s go!!!!

A Professor and a Student - LeDiz - Pokemon Anime (Alola) - multichap, complete - Professor Kukui’s pov outsider on Ash, through interstitial set during the first season of Alola anime. This fic is the fic that got me into pokeani in the first place, and I have reread it all the way through at least once and specific chapters genuinely so many times. it’s good! it’s got so many fun reveals! it’s even got a surprise plot! if someone is in pokeani fandom though there’s like a 95% chance they’ve already read it, so it’s kind of pointless to recommend

Broken Rules and Consequences - Redring 91 - Doctor Who (All Eras) - series, ongoing i think - This is one that i’m planning to reread rather than one i’ve already reread: I first read it back when i was originally into dw, in like 2013, and honestly lynse the timing was probably right for me to have recced it to you back then. in any case i have a friend who vouches for its continued quality, and it was straight-up the only dw fic i kept up with for several years after i first fell out of the dw fandom. it’s a really excellent exploration of all the times the doctor has met their past and future selves, and i highly recommend it. it’s also very long, so watch out!

An Unexpected Greeting - kimirice​ - Pokemon Anime (Alola) - threeshot, ongoing - it’s a fic in the “cynthia runs into ash in alola and dumbfounds his entire class” genre and it’s a good one. my favorite one. i reread it whenever i want to feel serotonin in my bones. serotonin does not go in bones. whatever, this fic is such a joy, it’s pretty short, please read it if you too want serotonin in your bones on account of revealssssss

Phone A Friend - TheBigCat - Doctor Who (Seventh Doctor Era / Gallifrey Audios Era) - oneshot - this is another “reread when i want serotonin in my bones” fic. it really is amazing just how much joy can be stored in a single 1K oneshot, it makes me so happy, that’s ace’s space dad........... wahhh the au - everything’s fine tag on this one really carries it right into my heart

dreamt you a kinder future - Sixteenthdays - Dream SMP - multichap, ongoing - my FRIENDS forcibly got me into the damn MINECRAFT RP. this is all you will see of it on this blog ever because i do have SOME dignity left but if you HAVE gotten bodily dragged into caring about the block men yourself please do enjoy this time travel fixit about pre-plot Dream getting dropped into post-Doomsday era canon and dealing with the fact that his future self is evil and ruined all his relationships. its very good i reread the ranboo chapter regularly

The Red Coast - Maldoror_Chant - One Piece - oneshot - genuinely hilarious pov outsider on post-skypiea straw hats via some idiot bounty hunters who think they‘re easy prey. it’s a lot of fun and it took me three entire rereads to catch the punchline, which i am still mad about. please read this fic i am shaking my fist at it

Though She Be But Little, She Is Fierce - Izzyaro - Pokemon Anime (Kalos Era) - multichap, abandoned(?) - a few years after the kalos crisis, Bonnie sets out on her own pokemon journey. told through the eyes of her very alarmed traveling companion, who so incredibly doesn’t know what to make of her. yes, it only has two chapters and hasnt updated in years. i do not care. the chapters stand alone as oneshots and this fic has done so much for me. its like 90% of the reason i write bonnie the way i do its such a joy

Keeping a Welcome - Gramarye (ao3 | ffn) - The Dark is Rising Sequence - oneshot - did you ever wonder, gee, zeph, why do you write so much loyalty content? and why is it all Like That? well, the answer is that i read this fic at a formative age and imprinted on it like a baby bird, and then subconsciously was shaped by it for the next decade. genuinely it is SO good. it’s so good guys. guys it’s so good im going to cry just thinking about it. o a t h s ,,,  wahhhhhhh gramarye is probably my favorite fic author ever i love their stuff SO much. so much. i am going to cry im telling you!!!!!! (also while I'm here I also recommend everything else theyve ever written, especially the Eirias Triad, which i have reread probably as many times as there are fingers in my house, and which is only not on an entry on this list on account of me wanting to keep it at one rec per author)

Nah - soomin - One Piece - oneshot - the straw hats have been stuck in a time loop of their entire lives for many, many years, and boy are they having a good time causing chaos. this is one of the only op time travels that i feel like accurately captures what would actually happen if luffy did a time travel, and i love it. they’re having so much! infinite retries for the best adventure ever!

Insomnia - tikitikirevenge - The Legend of Zelda (Majora’s Mask) - multichap, abandoned(?) - novelization of majora’s mask with a twist: instead of resetting the three day loop every time, link gets exactly 5 cycles, and the whole thing is a stable time loop. its true it hasnt updated since 2015, but it was my favorite zelda fic back in middle school and i still reread it every few years to confirm that it’s just as good as i remember: it somehow always is. and every time, i forget just how agonizing (complimentary) the link&tatl friendship slowburn is like dear lord does this author know how to write a slowly developing relationship hh i wish more people would read this fic it’s really just very good ok dont mind that its abandoned just before the snowpeak temple

#i feel very much like i am committing a grave betrayal with how few of my friends' fics are on here but my friends write things that cause m #e to have emotions. i have enough of those already!!! i dont need more emotions!!!!! #long post #recs #zephflix original #chatter tag #asks and ask memes #pokemon #pokeani #doctor who #sighs...... #dream smp #i GUESS that tag has to exist on my blog i GUESS #one piece #the dark is rising sequence #the legend of zelda #majora's mask #i tried to keep these summaries short but i feel like they got longer as i got further down the post. whoops #sorry this took so long to answer!

[ygospamproduction]

Puzzleshipping Fanfiction Recs

While I have read probably a hundred or two awesome puzzleshipping fanfics in the last… thirteen years (yikes), there are a handful that really stand out to me as exceptional, wonderfully written and characterized, or just straight-up inspiring. I’ve decided to put them together in a reading list.

I wanted to highlight a lot more, but my reading speed has honestly slowed down since I started writing actively myself- Limited free time and all that. So for now I decided to stick with my All Time Favorites and a few more recent reads- There’s just a dozen right now, but expect expansions on this list as I reread old bookmarks or find new things.

Also, I strongly suggest checking out the other works by these authors- Very few good writers turn out to be one hit wonders.

elystia :: lessons

Rated G || In-Canon || Complete

“Yugi shows the Spirit many things, after pulling him from his prison within the Puzzle. Anyone looking in from the outside probably wouldn’t believe it, based on appearances alone; what does Yugi Mutou have to teach a figure so imposing? They would all be wrong, of course, because only the two keepers of the Millennium Puzzle will ever know the extent of the lessons exchanged between them.”

ifwegettherebysunset :: Cerberus

Rated G || Post-Canon {{Atem Alive}} || Complete (Part of a Series)

“Now that they’re in separate bodies, Atem finally decides to go for it and asks Yugi on a date. Unfortunately, this isn’t a duel. But, as always, he can count on Yugi to help.”

Kaibbage :: He Has a Heartbeat

Rated E || Post-Canon {{Atem Alive}} || Complete

“Atem is back, and this time he’s living and tangible. As such, Yugi cannot stop touching him - and vice versa.”

Kudalyn :: Boxes and Clouds

Rated E || In-Canon || Complete

“Everybody keeps secrets.”

LeDiz ::  Homecomings

Rated T || Post-Canon {{Atem Alive}} || Complete

“Every family has certain things they do in order to Keep the Peace. Normally, this isn’t a problem, only it’s been a long time since Yuugi’s family included his father, and things aren’t the way they used to be.”

olesia.love :: Sight the King

Rated M || In-Canon {{AU}} || Complete

“After Yuugi wakes up at the scene of a crime with blood on his hands and a voice in his head, there’s only one thing he can do: Run.”

oogenesis :: Getting Rivalzoned (And Learning To Live With It)

Rated T || Post-Canon {{Atem Alive}} || In Progress

“Finding out that your best and closest and most infuriatingly attractive rival has come back to life is one thing. Finding out that he and his former vessel have eyes only for each other - well, that’s quite a different matter.”

PreciousOrgel :: Tales from Domino Bay

Rated E || Alternate Universe || Complete

“Yugi is trying to catch a fish for his Grandpa’s birthday when he becomes distracted by a flirtatious swimmer with a captivating voice.”

Sougiya_Hara :: No Dark Side Without Light

Rated T/M? || In-Canon || Complete

“Yugi wanted one last chance to tell Atem how much he really meant. But what about Atem? How much did Yugi mean to him?”

TechnicolorNina :: Written in the Stars

Rated M || Post-Canon || Complete

“Yuugi’s never been good at keeping himself out of trouble. When ancient magic gets involved, he’ll learn more than a few things about himself as he tries to get home.” 

Trinity Destler :: It’s Only Forever

Rated M || In-Canon {{AU}} || Abandoned

“I must leave it all behind, give up all my life for something larger than myself. I’ll never see my love again, but it’s only forever… not long at all.”

TunaFax ::  Witcher

Rated T || Alternate Universe || In Progress

“Sacrificing a prince to the Northern witch is not the best way to warm up the land. Or, the one where Yugi is a very creepy captor.”

last updated 05-07-2017

#puzzleshipping #puzzleshipping fanfiction #ygo fanfiction #fanfic rec #fanfiction #fanfic rec list

[ariasune]

To Do List

青い龍王 YGO, Blueshipping, 45k~

Seto Kaiba’s teenage years had been filled with corporate intrigue, card games, and overdramatics, so in the scheme of things, Mokuba’s academic suspension is not the end of the world

Outline recreated, beat sheet finished. Low priority.

Wanted to explore a post-canon two years later, utilizing non-traditional yuugitachi dynamics. Definite focus on Kaiba brothers, notably Mokuba hitting puberty. Good fucking luck Seto Kaiba. Good fucking luck.

Idea credit to reijiakabutt

A Handful of Water YGO, Rishid Focus, 70k~

Her name was Leila, and she was Rishid's mother.

Thiiiis was something due for YGOME16 so god...goddamn. That being said, it’s actually almost finished? It’s been a weird year, but I will always love Rishid. High priority.

Gift for @the-cryptographer​

Akhet YGO, Puzzleshipping, 70k~

“Atem trotted back the way he came, and crashing back into the waking world felt uncannily as though the Afterlife had slammed its door in his face.”

Due to some narrative issues throwing up in my face, this has gone on hiatus. I’m expecting the next chapter to go up in early June, which I suppose brings us full-circle. High priority.

This idea was inspired from the memoryloss concept posited by saitoki, and the akh concept, which I first saw in LeDiz’smanifesto.

Axis Series YGO, Bakura-Atem introspection

Anathema, Antivenin, Avarice, Ashes

I love this series and I will stop never. Low priority.

Castle In Your Skull YGO, Inception AU, ?

“He’s not real,” Malik tells him, words a drop-kick from behind Ryou. “Nothing’s real here.”

“I could have told you that,” Ryou answers, without missing the beat. His dry laugh is arrhythmic; tachycardia climbing up his throat. “There’s nothing real about my brother.”

Still working on this now and then– need to rewatch Inception for the umphteenth time to really get my teeth around the plotline. So far, about 2k written. Low-priority.

Really enjoying the team I’ve picked out though: Malik Ishtar, Ryou Bakura, Yami Bakura, Rishid Ishtar, Mai Kujaku, Pegasus and Seto Kaiba make for an interesting cast to work with.

Ghost Stories YGO, Sugoroku and Ryou interaction, Pre-Series, 3k~

SUMMARY PENDING

This one has been on title shuffle for fucking forever. Current draft was also lost, so has been placed on a back-burner. Current title is likely fixed. Low-Priority.

Gift for texasdreamer01

In The Mouth of the Jackal YGO, Thiefshipping, Canon Rewrite, 90k~

SUMMARY PENDING

Outline in endless rewriting. Trouble with Virtual World arc is the big problem, and since that’s the first arc, I can’t really set it aside. That being said, DOMA and MW have come together well. Low-Priority. 40k written.

Bakura deserves a damn redemption arc, and I am going to write it.

Kusari YGO, Ensemble, Domino City Headcanons, 8k~

“…the company’s outlandish relocation, and rebranding as an entertainment company is nothing more than the whim of an inexperienced, grief-stricken child. The newest link in the chain of the once-great Kaiba Corporation toys with our national economy, as though he is playing with dominoes, and as Gozaburo Kaiba falls, so too will this new domino city of Seto Kaiba…”

Nikkei Business Journal

5k written so far, outline finished. High-Priority. Very pleased with stylistic decisions involved. You can get a good idea of the fic from the summary tbh.

Gift for operagoose

Penumbra YGO, Eclipseshipping, 4k~

Amongst other things, penumbra is an area of the brain that is damaged, but not yet dead.

Chapter 4 [Gibbous] is under work. Fleshing out more pertinent details about Yamima’s guilt process. Low-Priority.

Metamorphosis YGO, Trans!Haga, 4k~

The terms chrysalis, and cocoon are not synonymous.

Art largely finished, outline completed, just got to actually write it. Low-Priority. It’s kinda sat on the backbench for the longest time, but it’ll get done.

Gift for khesari

See How Deep These Roots Run YGO, Ishtar Focus, ?

It would have been easy to hate their father.

Examining how Isis and Malik are similar to their parents, specifically how Isis is like her father, and Malik is like his mother. I wanted to do a nuanced exploration of their feelings towards Lord Ishtar. Low-Priority.

Spoiler YGO, Puzzleshipping, 2k

SUMMARY PENDING

PWP with Yuugi topping Atem, tee bee eh. Trying to delve a bit more into their dynamic, especially on Atem’s side. Low-Priority.

#todolist #aria #writing

[puddeneen]

ygo anon!! i’m so sorry buddy, i must’ve fucked up somewhere and deleted yr message, but yes i have recs!!! not so much with the devotionshipping stuff unfortunately (maybe somebody can add sth in reblogs??) but i have a couple puzzle/blind faves. idk if any of these are still updating bc i’m helping someone with a big writing project atm and i won’t be touching fic til we’ve finished up, but here ya go*

the other door by sarasusamiga (pre-slash/friendship, drama, angst; wherein the spirit of the puzzle probes a little too deep, and the dark magician steps in for as much his benefit as yugi’s) a little earthquake by oogenesis (vriskacircuit) (post-canon fix-it, romance, drama; doing the do for the first time, a treatise by two awkward but v.enthusiastic nerds) past perfect by victoria hughes (drama, angst, supernatural, friendship/gen; yugi puts two and two together, and finally confronts the spirit wrt the dark games he played in season 0/the early manga arcs) puzzles and dreams by ceresi (drama, supernatural, angst, romance; amazing dub-verse piece - over the course of a few nights during battle city, yugi tries to help the spirit uncover the secrets of his past and the puzzle) half full by sea salt (gen/friendship, drama, introspective; the spirit of the millennium puzzle visits the seaside with yugi and his friends) akh by lediz (canon divergence, fix-it, angst, drama, pre-slash; p. much the quintessential alternative ceremonial duel outcome) time after the tone by smallinsect (canon divergence, fix-it with consequences, action/adventure, horror, ensemble, friendship; shadow magic wreaks havoc in mainland europe, and it’s up to yugi, yami, and co. to find a way to stem the tide - the puzzleshipping here is p. lowkey/unspoken, but they’re joined at the hip - absolutely worth the read) statement by yutaan (au, humour, friendship/pre-slash; so adorable, so true to character) sight the king by olesia (au, horror, psychological, action/adventure, romance; if you’re a fan of the season 0 vibe and the mythological/spiritual aspects of ygo you’ll enjoy this, i think) six feet under the stars by meggannn (romance, compilation; a collection of one-shots with some gorgeous dub-verse voices/characterizations) the gods of king and men by beewritesstuff (mimispace) (fix-it, drama, romance; something unprecedented occurs during atem’s farewell, and the future yugi might have pictured for himself shifts to accomodate) coolness factor by victoria hughes (highschool au, drama, action/adventure, gen/friendship; a new student transfers to domino high, and yugi makes a friend) paradise by llivla (season 0, drama, supernatural; yugi and the spirit of the puzzle come face to face, and it’s about as creepy as you’d expect) he has a heartbeat by kaibbage (lalaen) (fix-it, romance, drama; in a happier aftermath which doesn’t involve atem leaving or remaining a stranded ghost, the nerds jump each other’s bones, and all is well)

*a good handful of these are gen/friendship, just bc that’s a huge appeal of their relationship imo

also maybe try checking my general fic rec tag on here, i’m pretty sure there’s some tumblr pieces floating about that’ve ruined me in the best way 👍👍

#fic rec #ygo #puzzleshipping #blindshipping #these are all straight outta my big bookmarks doc so if there's any broken links let me know #will probs add to this some time i've been meaning to check out more ygo fic #askbutts #sorry again nonnie!!

[thelediz]

Dragon Age AU: Loghain's Fall

Okay, I’ve read the synopses for the Dragon Age prequel novels. I had not until after I had already imagined a trilogy in my head. I suspect the real ones are probably better, BUT!

Young adult fantasy! Hopes and dreams and positivity! You know, all those things Bioware writers don’t believe in! Let me tell you about the books I imagined!

To me, Maric’s story is the most complete and unashamed cliché storm of a fantasy novel in the history of young adult fiction. A simple farmhand, born in protective obscurity, the last remaining heir to the Theirin line. Once, his family were great kings. His ancestor, King Calenhad, united the warring tribes of Ferelden into a single united force: the Bannorn of Ferelden. But then the Orlesians invaded in the name of ‘order’, enslaving the Fereldens with unrelenting cruelty. The Theirin line were forced into hiding in their own kingdom.

Maric never wanted greatness. He never wanted anything except to protect the people he cared about. The problem was that he cared about everyone. He cared about the people he worked with, the people in his village, the people in his lands. And so he fought to protect them. All of them. And they, in turn, chose to protect him. By fighting to protect the people he cared about, he garnered an army, and fought back against the Orlesian nobles until village by village, Bann by Bann, he defeated the Orlesians and took back his family’s throne.

And through it all, at his side, was his best friend Loghain. These books are Loghain’s story.

Loghain cared too. But where Maric loved his people and wanted to protect, Loghain hated his oppressors and wanted to rebel.

He hated what the Orlesians had done. He hated the way they treated the Fereldens—the ones who owned and worked the land—and the scorn the Orlesians spat at good Ferelden life. He hated the airs they put on, the snide remarks, the games, the fashion, the nonsense. He hated it all.

It was the cause of many arguments between the two best friends. Loghain demanded Maric be stronger, angrier, tougher. That he fight and never forgive. But Maric would always forgive. Maric would always choose faith and freedom and kindness, arguing that these things inspire greater strength and loyalty than fear. Fear, he argued, was Orlesian power, and he would be better than that.

Loghain thought him foolish… and too good to be true. A fairytale, except he knew Maric was real. So he swore to protect his foolish friend until the very end.

In my imagined world, there are three books in the series, following Loghain in his mission to protect his idiot friend. The first book, Shepherding Fools, is about the original uprising in Loghain and Maric’s home village/bann. Technically Loghain’s the hero of the book, rescuing Maric time and again, but Maric is the hero in the story. It all starts when Maric sees a chevalier harassing an elven servant and steps in to protect her. His big mouth gets him arrested, and pushes Loghain over the edge. He breaks Maric out of the dungeon, and their ensuing argument catches the attention of the villagers. When Maric gives a big speech about basic rights and freedoms, everyone rallies around him. They stand up and take on the whole castle, killing the corrupt teyrn and taking over the bann. It ends with the Loghain looking out across the fields toward the next Bann, and asking Maric what he thinks about taking back his family’s throne.

The second book, Fielding Wolves, is a love triangle on multiple fronts. Loghain and a female rogue named Rowan think it’s a romantic love triangle, with Rowan needing to choose between Loghain’s passion and Maric’s warmth. But Maric doesn’t think of Rowan as anything more than a battle partner – he has fallen for the elven bard Katriel, whose passion and fire about elven rights inspires him to protect all people of Ferelden, not just the humans. The true love triangle is between Loghain, Maric, and the banns of Ferelden, who see Loghain as intelligent and fiery, but Maric as strong and just. Maric encourages them to stand up against the Orlesians for their people and their lands, while Loghain demands they fight back because they owe allegiance to the descendent of King Calenhad, not the Orlesian empire. But in the end, Loghain’s threats scare a skittish teyrn into betraying them to the Orlesians. They only survive due to the intervention of Arls Cousland and Howe, who Maric had befriended early in the book. They stop the assassination, and it all ends at the big ball Rowan has been worrying about all book. It ends with Loghain, Rowan, and Howe watching the ball and planning their futures, while Maric dances with his elven bard outside.

The third book, Cornered Mabari, is an epic adventure as Loghain, Maric, Rowan, and Katriel attack Denerim and the Orlesian Court. Despite huge action sequences and great swordfights, the book is most well remembered for a quiet, emotionally charged scene at the camp, where Loghain and Katriel argue about why they’re with Maric. Loghain forces Katriel to admit she cares more about the plight of her people than Maric’s cause, and that if the Orlesians offered her people free land in return for Maric’s location… she isn’t sure what her answer would be. It leads to a bittersweet ending, as both Maric and Katriel agree to prioritise their people over each other. She ends up dying in the final battle, and Maric marries Rowan before becoming king of Ferelden. Loghain, now the Teyrn of Gwaren, reaffirms his vow to never let the Orlesians harm his friend.

It’s a cheesy, melodramatic series, filled with lots of scenes that you kind of look back at and go “…hmm, slightly problematic, actually.” But the best thing about it is that despite being in third person, it’s still got a really unreliable narrator, and you know it from the start. Maric’s held up as larger than life, glossing over things that aren’t always good or righteous. Because you, the reader, are being told this story by someone who lived it. Like a grandfather or something, someone who was a farmer or a soldier, directly impacted by the Orlesian oppression. Loghain’s anger is palpable, because it’s the same anger the narrator has, even as they tell you this beautiful story of love and opportunity.

But what it really does is foreshadow Loghain’s end. He’s still young by the time the series ends, but you can absolutely see him growing into the bitter and angry old man he is by the time of Dragon Age Origins. This is a man who has such a visceral hatred that it overrides anything positive in his life. And even at the end, the cause of that anger is still present in his life, an overbearing shadow, constantly sending snarky little missives reminding Ferelden that they could invade again one day.

And then his best friend—his wonderful, loving friend—raises his son to understand their ways. Cailan learns from the old bannorn how the Orlesians play their sordid games, and he’s an expert. He’s so good at it that Loghain—none of the Fereldens, in fact—can’t see Cailan playing at being an idiot while he makes deals and international friendships and raises his people in all the ways Loghain loathes. All he can see is his best friend’s achievements being squandered by an obnoxious child of a man who plays at being the hero his father actually was.

And the elves! To Loghain, the elves are all just like Katriel, clinging to what little Maric could give them like they were entitled, just waiting for the chance to betray him. And they seduce his friend, dragging him back like Katriel, eventually spawning that brat that refuses to die no matter how much Loghain prays for it. They'll use him, you know. Eventually, that brat will be used by his elven or Orlesian masters to destroy Maric's legacy, he's sure of it.

And then Maric dies. In mysterious circumstances. Loghain can’t even find the body.

Of course it all twists up, becoming horrible and rotten, until all that’s left of him are the terrible things his best friend hated. And so there’s a bittersweet end to Loghain’s story, as he is brought to his death—whether literally or just as a Grey Warden—by Alistair: a boy who is actually Maric’s heir in all the ways that matter.

It’s an epic, cheesy story full of betrayals and love and politics and failed redemption and I wish I was an action writer so I could write it!

But I’m not. So it lives only in my imagination.

#LeDiz writes an AU #Dragon Age #loghain mac tir #maric theirin #story ideas #I have so many ideas and so little motivation to write