TTD: Favorite fanfiction
halberdier asked me about my favorite fanfics, written by myself and others. I will get this out of the way right now: I am terrible at giving fic recs. I haven't been reading much fic lately, and I'm pickier than is really helpful, about quality of writing, about characterization, about canon details. And then, when I do find something I enjoy, I'm not in the habit of bookmarking it or otherwise saving the link to share with others. I love the kudos function on AO3, but it's not as useful as leaving comments for going back to find things again. Last but not least, I'm avoiding my two largest and most active fandoms right now for fear of DA:I and Age of Ultron spoilers, so I'm not exactly super active.
All that said, here are a few favorites, all Dragon Age except for one since that's mostly what I've been bookmarking. They're all older, and there probably stuff that I've thrown at all of you many times before, but then again there are new people here, so maybe not. :)
Canticle by
tarysande. The story that actually made me interested in Sebastian Vael. Really I could just tell you to read everything that Tarysande has ever written, she's that good, but this is an excellent place to start. She's more active in Mass Effect these days, so if that's your area of interest, check her out for sure.
Amaranthine by
rhiannon87. An AU where the Hawke family ends up in Amaranthine rather than Kirkwall. Rhi is another favorite author, mostly out of DA fandom, but she writes in Marvel as well.
A Hole in the World by sahiya. A sad, sweet, and lovely Temeraire fic.
Love and Levirate by
JessicaJones. Maybe the definitive Alistair/Anora story.
Self-recs:
These are my "if you read only one" stories for each canon. Because of that, they're all on the longer side; sorry about that. Some of them can at least be read in shorter bites.
Cinders: Right-Hand Woman, Cinders/Perrault. I published this in daily writing chunks on my Tumblr a couple of years ago, then pulled it all together in one story. I was quite happy with how it came out.
Dragon Age Origins: Justify the Means, f!Brosca/Alistair. An AU where both dwarf origins become Grey Wardens, and have to figure out how to work together despite very different backgrounds and temperaments.
Dragon Age 2: Symphony in C. Hawke/Fenris. The story of my mage Hawke, told in 28 connected stories, one for each letter of the alphabet (plus one bonus story and an epilogue).
Final Fantasy X: Defender of the Faith, AU in which Auron does not confront Yunalesca, instead returning to Yevon and, eventually, becoming a maester.
Final Fantasy X-2: Aftermath, gen. The story of the founding of the Youth League, told from Beclem's point of view. Wait, come back! Yes, I know Beclem is not exactly a fan favorite. I didn't like him much either, before I got bitten by this plot bunny. But ultimately I enjoyed looking at the world through his eyes. Fun fact: originally, the first scene was going to be the entirety of the story. Then Nooj showed up, and it kept going. And going. And going. Five years later (no joke), it was five chapters, and finally done.
Final Fantasy XII: Reconcilable Differences, Ashe/Balthier, Ashe/Al-Cid. My epic post-game romance and intrigue and politics fic. Probably the story I am most proud of, in terms of all the balls I had to juggle and how well they all ended up falling into place. Writing this story is also how I fell in love with Al-Cid.
Marvel: Infiltration, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers. Peggy takes on a mission to infiltrate a Hydra base.
Bonus crossover: The Joining. Crossover between Dragon Age and Final Fantasy XII. The darkspawn come to Ivalice, and Warden-Commander Cousland and her team are not far behind. This is meant to be Part One of a larger story -- it was written for MegaFlare (the Final Fantasy Big Bang that I ran with
renay for a couple of years, and I realized that I'd bitten off more than I could chew before deadline. So more is planned, but for now it stands alone.
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