Cute Boys from Altea and the Peg Knights Who Love Them

Me:

Mark of the Asphodel, aka ~cymbalina on DevArt. Started off with Ducktales and Dinosaucers fanfic at the age of 7 1/2. Veteran lurker of many fandoms (Gundam Wing, Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Rescue Rangers, and the dread Real Person Fiction). Loves searching for gold in dungheaps, but won't complain if the day's haul is a shiny bit of fanfic pyrite. Prefers proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and something resembling canon characterization, but isn't the type to flame based on violations of the above. Generally hews to "don't like, don't read" when it comes to sensitive topics. Tends to bail on fandoms when they get too nuts (see: Gundam Wing).

Currently writing for Fire Emblem, specifically the "Akaneia" games: FE1, FE3, FEDS. I have also begun to dabble in FE8 (Sacred Stones). My Deviant Art journal, which contains more extensive Author's Notes on my fics, can be found here. Just check out "Journal" for the details-- all Author's Notes are labeled as such. I am also using the DA Journal to host essays on characterization and the like. More essays (okay, rants) on FE in general are located here.

My Stories:

My FE fics take place in a quasi-historical setting; my main frame of reference is Western Europe circa 1300-1500 AD (Post-Crusades, Pre-Reformation). However, canonical elements from the game (like Marth's trademark Rapier) sometimes shove the frame of reference to 1600-1800, except without guns or the Industrial Revolution. This is all my personal take on things and is in no way meant to be the One True Interpretation of canon. I am enough of a "canon purist" to make my stories canon-compliant, except when they're not. I take what the games give me as the underlying skeleton, and then flesh it all out as fancy strikes me.

Completed (and posted):

Curse of Artemis Universe: These are companion pieces that can be read as standalones.

"The End of Love": Because the Fire Emblem is a really lousy present. FEDS postgame fic starring Marth and Nyna. Mostly hews to FEDS canon, with some FE3 influence.

"Love is Not a Victory March": Because everyone has at least one Palla + Abel fic in them. FEDS endgame fic.

Tales of the Unified Kingdom Universe:

"Sketches From Valencia": Because FE Gaiden needed to be addressed by somebody somewhere. FE2.

"Forsaken": Because every act has consequences, especially when the act in question is treason. FE3 postgame.

Standalone fic:

"An Extension of the Weapon": Because war heroes aren't all they're cracked up to be. FEDS ingame fic, starring Beck and the other characters cut from FE3.

"The Time Remaining": Because the "bad" ending of FE3 is really quite bad. FE3 postgame fic.

"The Golden Age": Because kings are but men, and all men must die. Thirty years post-game, Catria-centric.

"Twilight of Aurelis": Because the Wolfguard needs some love. FE3.

"Call Down the Rain": Because sometimes ideas won't leave you alone. Catria/Marth, but not in the way you'd think. FEDS.

"Rainbow Tears and Pink-Cloud Dresses": Because Tiki's brother makes a promise he can't possibly keep. Post FE3.

In progress (posted):

"To Freely Serve": When strange characters arrive in her village, Norne the archer investigates and ends up involved in the greatest war in a century. FEDS, because that's where Norne exists.

"Sleep of the Just": Because it takes more than marrying people off to reconstruct Magvel. Obviously this one is FE8, featuring Innes and Ephraim. All you people who claim to want political fic, genfic, and FE8 fic, please have a look.

In progress (not posted):

Tales of the Unified Kingdom Universe:

"Another Piece of Blue": Cain's sworn duty was to protect his king and country. Building an empire should never have come into it. Postgame FE3.

"Interregnum": The Crown Prince of Archanea doesn't think he's ready to be king. Neither does anyone else. A faithful knight and an honest advisor find their way through a strange new world. Prequel to "Homecomings" and also waaaaay post-game.

"Homecomings": An exile returns to his motherland to find himself a ghost in the world. Post-game (way, way post-game) with spoilers for FE3.

Other:

"When Mila Walked the Land": FE2/3/DS fusion featuring some special guests from the land of Magi Varl.

"Alteza Serenísima": She had been Regent of Altea for twenty-one minutes. Elice's story, FEDS.

"Such Counsel You Gave Me": Young Prince Michalis attends his first Council of Kings, and learns far too much about the way things work on Archanea. Pre-game FEDS.

Plotbunnies:

"Catria in Gaiden-land": Catria the White comes back from a scouting mission to find things in camp mysteriously changed. Unfamiliar people are filling the roles of her friends and loved ones, and Catria herself has taken someone else's rightful place in the League. Will Catria be able to get back to her own timeline, or will this new reality prove to have an allure of its own?

"Pride of Macedon": Sister Minerva has renounced both the throne and the skies to care for war orphans. One child in particular may be the centerpoint of a mystery whose resolution might undermine the peace of the Empire. Postgame FE3.

Pairing and meme opinions:

In terms of what I take seriously when writing for FE: Game canon >>> Manga > Anime > Smash Bros. Actually, in some respects the anime is less helpful than Smash Bros. FE3 canon differs somewhat from FEDS canon, and characterization varies between the games, so I try to take that into account.

I don't read or reject 'fic based purely on pairing, but I do have preferences that influence my reading and writing.

Merric/Elice: I respect that it's canon, but I don't really like it. Based on their one in-game conversation (FEDS), Elice seems to consider Merric a cute widdle kid, and maybe views him as her brother's endearingly dorky friend.

Marth/Caeda: She clearly adores him, even in dialogue-scant FEDS, and he reciprocates in a nerdy, repressed way. Their relationship in the games is much better than in the anime or the manga. Caeda is a shrew in the anime, and the manga has overtones of Marth/Merric until it goes all Merric/Linde.

Merric/Linde: I think there's game-canon basis for this (if you take Elice out of the picture). It's cute.

Abel/Est: It's canon. I will happily read other Abel pairings, 'cause I don't much like Est.

Palla/Abel (unrequited): Now we're getting somewhere. She plainly loves him even in FE2, a game in which Abel doesn't even appear.

Catria/Cain (unrequited): FEDS appears to be pushing this, what with Catria's support bonus with Cain and her ending bio, but isn't one tragic peg knight/cavalier pairing enough for this universe? On second thought, they could also be pushing Catria/Frey. It's left indeterminate.

Catria/Marth (unrequited): FE3 has as much evidence for this as FEDS has for Catria/Cain (supports and death quote). No matter which way you slice canon, Cat can't win. Also, it turns out Catria does have that one-way support with Marth in FEDS, so he still could be her mystery crush. Apparently, this is my OTP, as I can't keep from writing it even though it's basically impossible in canon.

Camus/Nyna: Doomed love that isn't a case of teenage hormones or "our love is pastede on, yay!"

Hardin/Nyna: He really does love her, and he wasn't always evil. Respect the Coyote; he deserves better than he got.

Marth/Roy: It's everything that was ever bad about Heero/Duo, except Heero and Duo actually came from the same continuity. That's not to say there aren't, like, one or two decent fics with this pairing. But most are pretty darned bad.

(Special FE8 Addendum) Innes/Eirika and Innes/L'Arachel are fine, but Innes/Vanessa is better. All Eirika's pairings have their own merits. Ephraim is best with L'Arachel or his sister, because Ephraim/Tana is like a redo of Marth/Caeda without any sweetness or charm. And Joshua/Natasha bores me to tears, even if I don't object to it.

Things That Interest Me:

Cute boys from Altea and the Peg Knights who love them. That is, much of my work explores two of the three big love triangles from FE1/3/DS: Caeda/Marth/Catria and Palla/Abel/Est. I don't really deal with Camus/Nyna/Hardin, because I can't add anything to it that "Through a Glass Darkly" by Shimizu_Hitomi doesn't already cover. My interest is not so much love per se as how love, fidelity, and integrity intersect (or not).

Code-switching.

Issues related to myth, legend, history, art, propaganda, and the winds of public opinion.

Things My Fics Won't Have:

Blue, green, pink, or any other funny colors of hair. Nothing yanks me out of a detail-rich and emotionally resonant yarn like the reminder that the protagonist is sporting teal-colored locks. I know Marth's hair is blue, and I don't need to be reminded of the fact constantly. Also, if characters can only be distinguished by hair color, they are crummy characters. Tiki and other non-humans are excepted from this rule.

Fluff. The one story in my "in progress" bin that ends "happily ever after" features the death of an adorable canon character in chapter one and a massacre in chapter two. The happiest of my finished/posted stories, "An Extension of the Weapon," has its POV character portrayed as being cynical to the point of being almost amoral. I have nothing against fluff, but I don't see it as appopriate to Fire Emblem. These are war games. Good characters and on-the-fence ones die along with the bad guys. And the Archanea-verse is very sparing with its happy endings. I take up assorted plot threads and follow them through to my concept of a logical conclusion.

Shipping Wars: I write Marth/Caeda and Marth/Catria, Abel/Palla and Abel/Est, Merric/Elice and Merric/Linde. The pairing isn't the story. The story is the story. Shounei ai and shoujo ai are OK by me, too.

Varlets. I swear, that must be the worst line in the entire NOA translation of FEDS, and it's supposed to be the emotional climax to the game.

Drunken-Brute!King Cornelius. I guess I missed the scene in FEDS wherein Marth responds to news of his father's death with a monotone "Good," a la Rorschach (it must be in Hard-5 mode only). I realize that Cornelius, in his brief turn on-screen in the anime, is inarguably abusive towards his wife and younger child. Whether this incident was a one-off or part of a general attempt to "beat the pansy" out of the boy is not clear, but the scene is awful and the viewer is clearly meant to take it as abuse and not merely "tough love," Altea-style. But there is no trace of any of that in the actual games. I grant that Marth seems more upset by his mother's death than his father's, and seems more attached to Elice than to either of his parents. But there is nothing in FEDS (or FE3) about drunken rampaging through Altea Castle with extra rape on Tuesdays.