I am almost embarrassed to admit what I've been reading throughout March, but here goes: *deep breath* I've been reading fan fiction. A LOT of it too, and rather obsessively.
I've always harbored this aversion to fan fiction, thinking of it as the poor writer's refuge -- taken up when one cannot be bothered to create characters or worlds of one's own. Instead, though, I'm finding that these stories have offered me the chance to delve even further into a universe I love: that of Bioware's video game series, Dragon Age.
I have played far too many hours of Dragon Age in the last year or so -- Origins, at about 40+ hours per playthrough, twice, Inquisition (at about 70+ hours per playthrough) twice, and I'm in the midst of Dragon Age II right now (currently logged at about 19 hours). It's been spread out since last June, but nonetheless, that's a lot of hours spent gaming.
I cannot deny, however, that I've loved every minute of it. The universe is carefully created to be deep and fulfilling, rife with complicated situations to be resolved, religions to be understood, and characters that I can't help but come to care about. In fact, what I quickly realized when I picked up Dragon Age is that I want more of these characters, their lives, their struggles, and I had to be content with that the games offered.
Until about a month ago, when I stumbled upon a blog filled with short stories constructed around one of my favorite characters, Cullen Rutherford, the Commander of the Inquisition's military.
Inquisition stands as the most recent of the Dragon Age universe, and I have fallen madly in love with it -- those two playthroughs, 70+ hours each? Yeah, those have both been since January began. Obsessive? Not at all! *heavy sarcasm* Anyway. Within Inquisition, you play as the Inquisitor, who in my case is a female rogue about 27-30 years old. She's sarcastic and a badass, wielding dual blades against anyone who crosses her path and dispensing justice and one-liners in equal measure. In short, she's everything I would love to be, if I were actually athletic and perhaps thrust into a world where I had to destroy monsters and demons in order to survive. Unlikely, if I do say so myself.
There's a lot to her story in 70 hours or so, but not enough. It's never enough, if the number of novel-length fan fics I've read in the last month are any indication. I always want more -- not more action, lord knows I killed enough demons and darkspawn throughout those 70 hours, but more detail. I want to know more about each character, know what all the conversations look like, not just the ones with cut scenes attached. I want to see the lives of the members of the Inquisition come to life!
And that's where fanfic comes in. All the things I wanted are come to life within these pages, and I cannot look away.
So: Here's the list of what I've read in March. I've tried to include only those stories that are novel length (50K words or more) in the interest of keeping track of the 'books' I've read -- each would definitely count as a book if officially published anywhere other than on a fan fiction site.
1. Of Fear and Lyrium
2. The Soul has Bandaged Moments
3. Though the Darkness Comes
4. Tearing Down the Heavens
5. Herald and Commander
6. In Good Times and in Bad
7. Winter's Grasp
8. As the World Falls Down
9. Her Lion
10. And If I Fall
11. The Inquisitor's Lover
12. Against All Odds
13. Templar Enchanted
14. Of Sweet Memories and Guarded Moments
15. As the Crow Flies
Each different version of the Inquisitor, each different version of the Cullen romance arc, each different imagining of the Inquisition itself offers something wonderful to the universe. Some of these obviously have titles that are more fitting for bad romance novels, and I have trouble denying that that is, in fact, what some of them are. But even then! It's a perspective I hadn't thought of, one that I'm finding more valuable than I ever expected. Ah, the nuances of romance!
These stories are just those I read in March, and at its heart, this month was beautiful. Hours upon hours of reading, hours of romance, and hours of a new, passionate love for fan fiction.
I guarantee there are more stories I've read already, and more to come, in April. I may started out very skeptical, but I know now I'm a full-on convert to the world of fan fiction.
Now I just have to keep myself from writing it, too...
