Fangirl Woes

[lea_hazel]

Hello, all. I have something I need to get off my chest.

It's hard being an esoteric fan. It's hard, and no one understands. Why can't I fangirl Cullen and Teagan like everyone else? Why do I have to fixate on characters like Jarvia, and Branka, and Erlina, and Sgt. freaking Kylon? Why do I play Awakening only to weep gently over Seneschal Varel and utterly ignore Anders?

Why, Maker? Why?

Anyway, this was my fangirl lament. Who else has love for fandom-obscure NPCs?

Comments

[zevgirl]

LOL, it ain't easy being on the fringes. It's no secret I adore Seneschal Bran while practically everyone else ignores/hates/wants to punch the guy. You are not alone in your lamentations. :)

[lea_hazel]

I can't wait to play DA2. It's going to be... interesting.

[le_monde]

Oh Varel, (*fan girl sigh*) I'd let him take an arrow for me any day, esp if I can nurse him back to health. Unfortunately, that's never part of the game and he doesn't flirt with me...I swear some day I'm gonna write me up a Warden and fix that little tale...

[kelcat]

I have a huge crus on Constable Aidan...

[lea_hazel]

See, I was just disappointed that he wasn't Sergeant Kylon. There can be only one guardsman in my heart of hearts.

[silvermoonshade]

Seneschal Varel..... omg.. he is the sex. Voice + character model = drool.

[lea_hazel]

Now I feel like replaying the first Joining where he and the WC exchange this horrified look and he says, "Maker help us all."

[silvermoonshade]

hehehehe such a good line said in just the right tone. I saved the keep and let the city burn because I heard the seneschal died in the attack otherwise XD.

[lea_hazel]

I'm never saving Amaranthine again. Varel died in my first playthrough and I had to headcanon that his demise was part of the reason my WC left Vigil forever when she had been planning to make it her home. So many fangirl wails were wailed that day. So many.

[silvermoonshade]

Yeah. I can honestly say I was a sad panda... was almost as traumatic as when i finished my first play through of DA:O with an unhardened Alistair who died so my dailish warden wouldn't have to ...

[lea_hazel]

I'm sort of almost glad that I'm less inclined to romance than the average player. Given how tragic things can get.

[msbarrows]

Definitely love a lot of the obscure ones as well. Love Sergeant Kylon. I've written fiction around templar Keran, adult!Feynriel, Oswyn, Varel Baren (not the Varel from DAA - this is a different Varel you see for a few seconds at the alienage entrance in DA:O), plan to use Ser Cauthrien soon too.

[lea_hazel]

The NPCs are definitely rich and mostly unmined fanfic fodder. I can't seem to find a single Bhelen Aeducan story, for example.

[msbarrows]

Yup! And with so little canon about many of them you can be very OC in your interpretation of what their personality, motives, backstory, etc is like. And when using obscure NPCs for one or both of the main characters in your story, you're also very much less likely to run into the "Oh, it's another f!Cousland/Alistair fic, I won't even bother reading it" effect. Mind you, you do run into its opposite - "Oswyn? Varel Baern? I have no clue who those are. Pass!"

But I'm enjoying writing that particular story so much that I don't care if its readership numbers are low; it's fun for me!

[lea_hazel]

That is the best kind of fanfic. I'd rather be telling myself stories that other people sometimes also like. However, I don't think I'll ever be at risk of writing about overly popular pairings. Even if by some miracle of chance or fate I end up shipping something popular, my interpretations tend to be less OTP-style and more dysfunctional (at least a little) than the standard. I think. Also, I'm apparently the only one who likes Leliana?

[le_monde]

How's this for an obscure character: Remember the guard at the gates of Amaranthine who checks the Warden for contraband? He's become a reoccurring character in the series smut princess and I continue to work on. Sometimes he's present other times it's his wife and children. Turns out with that dark hair and complexion the guard (who we named Edric) is related to the Warden Ferox Cousland...kinda a seed dropped along the roadside :)

[lea_hazel]

A+++.

[nachtmusik]

Excuse me while I sit here consumed with lust for Athenril.

Oh, and my adoration for Arianni is pretty high. Sob. Why does no one care about Arianni?

Also Branka is awesome. I kinda love Hespith, too, ngl.

[lea_hazel]

Dwarves in general are awesome. And, I can't wait to have feelings about DAII characters.

[nachtmusik]

I admit to being lukewarm on most dwarves, but the female dwarves and Varric all have my heart. Oghren is entertaining, too, in his own way.

DA2 is my favorite of the two games tbh, so I have way more DA2 feelings. ;3;

[eatenbydragons]

I always like Alarith, the elven shopkeep. Just something about his voice. Then Fenris came along (same actor), and heaven opened. Ser Perth too. If you ask him about the tavern for supplies he has the cutest *scoff*. Then Dagna the dwarf is adorable.

[lea_hazel]

Dagna is one of my favorites. :D

[sleepyowlet]

Oh yes, I definetly know what you're talking about. I think you can imagine what the fandom at large has to say about fangirls who like Loghain.

Varel... oh yes, I can appreciate him ^^ - it's the voice-actor. I've liked the guy and his work ever since Babylon 5. One of the characters he played there is the romantic lead in my one and only Bab 5 fanfic ^^ - and this character is a very obscure one too.

Playing Morrowind I developed a liking for Vivec - which nobody really shares either. Star Wars? Thrawn. Sigh. Does anyone even remember who Joret Dal was on Star Trek: The Next Generation? Nope. And he was soooo cute.

And then, one actor I'm usually really glad to see in any show (because it means that there is at least one person doing their job well) gets a part in True Blood (and one that pushed all the right buttons for me, sick puppy that I am), and I rejoiced... and they went and frickin killed him, like, four episodes later. Kasplat. Dammit!

Liking an obscure character has two definite drawbacks: Next to no fanfic to read, and almost nobody will read your fanfic, if you write it. I never would have finished my Bab 5 one, if I hadn't had a cheerleader egging me on.