If you read chilyn’s look at the world of fanfiction, you know that there’s a ton of Dragon Age fiction out there, written by fans for fun, entertainment and at times catharsis in response to the events and characters of the game. But with literally hundreds of stories out there, spanning dozens of sub-genres, it can be hard to know where to start. If you’re interested in getting your feet wet in the world of fanfic, look no further. In what I hope will become an on-going series, Community Spotlight: Fanfiction will take a look at some of the most beloved fanfiction stories in the Dragon Age world, and the authors who write them.

Chances are if you’ve spent any time on the Community Creations forum of the BioWare Social Network, you’ve run into a few (or many) stories about a Warden named Aedan. As some of the most-followed threads on the forum, The Hero of Ferelden, Gifts, Unforeseen Melodies, and many other stories and vignettes have comprised a treasure trove of fanfiction spanning the length and breadth of Ferelden and beyond. Today, I had the privilege of speaking with Aedan’s creator and writer Sisimka, about how and why she writes fanfiction.

Aedan Cousland by MaevesChild

She was standing there quietly, her hands twisted before her. It was a habit of hers, this tangling of fingers. He’d hoped for a romantic setting for what he was about to tell her. He’d hoped not to have his heart all but shattered first. But he decided that now was the time, the best time to tell her how he felt.

He reached out and took her hands in his own. She looked up at him and he saw the apprehension in her face. He said, “Leliana, I love you.”

Her blue eyes widened and she tried to pull her hands from his, but he held firm and continued with what he wanted to say, “I don’t want to be friends, Leli, I want more, I want to continue what we have started.” He paused and searched her eyes for any clue that she felt the same way before saying, “Already my heart is yours ’til death parts us, whether that happens next week or in thirty years. I cannot, I will not, take it back. My love for you will be my strength, not my weakness.”

– from ‘Til Death

So why did you decide to write about Aedan? What “grabbed” you about this particular Warden, more so than any others you’ve played?

I created Aedan for a single purpose: To unlock the romance achievement with Morrigan. While I did find the idea of playing a male character interesting, I honestly did not think I would finish the game with him. But knowing I would see him on the screen for at least twenty five to thirty hours I put my usual diligence into designing him, making what I thought was a handsome man! I intended to play him as a ‘rough and ready’ sort of character that would relieve bandits of their gold, ignore chantry boards and possibly tread some of the darker paths in Ferelden.

The minute he opened his mouth, I knew I was in trouble. Aedan insisted on being polite to his father. He handed his mother a bow instead of a sword and had her stand behind him in every fight. He obviously loved his family and it broke his heart to leave them behind. He became a reluctant Grey Warden. He discovered a kindred spirit within his fellow Warden and throughout their journey they bonded as more than companions, they became true brothers. The revelation of Alistair’s birth spoke to the royalist within him and Aedan swore to put his brother on the throne. He championed the weak and he punished the terrible, but he refused to kill anyone who would willingly back down and walk away.

He refused to make friends with Morrigan and instead became confounded by her conversations. He gave flowers to Leliana and asked her to tell him stories. When Morrigan invited him to her tent, he ran to the bard and they exchanged their first kiss. They defied all my plans and turned a deaf ear to my threats; they fell in love and refused to part with one another.

And then came the Dark Ritual. Having played four female characters before Aedan I had already unlocked all of the ending achievements. I talked Alistair into participating in the ritual twice. I recruited and sacrificed Loghain and my mage insisted on making the Ultimate Sacrifice herself. Though I found the game subtly different throughout as a male character, this is where it hit hardest. All of a sudden we were talking about the child of my character, not Alistair’s. Morrigan would bear Aedan’s child. Both Aedan and I became obsessed with this child. We exhausted the dialogue trees and though our hearts nearly tore in two (for many reasons) we agreed and participated in the ritual.

My obsession with the child, the aftermath – Aedan dealing with his guilt, explaining why he had survived, confessing to Leliana and eventually tracking down and confronting Morrigan – is what fueled my first fanfiction effort ever: The Hero of Ferelden.

One of the greatest things about Aedan is that he’s so three-dimensional. He’s a Warden who has defied common practice to build a family, and he works especially hard to maintain the interpersonal ties he has created, despite his obligation to defeat the darkspawn. What prompted you to focus on this aspect of the Wardens?

I think part of his character grew out of the way I played him – or rather the way he insisted on being played. He lost his entire family (though he was reunited with Fergus at the coronation) to civil war and the Blight. This would be a defining moment for anyone. But for Aedan it created a gap and a need to fill it. As a reluctant Warden this was a way for him to defy convention whether on a conscious or subconscious level. So between us, we created a family. He and Leliana have three children, one natural and two adopted.

The idea of a perfect warrior, a Grey Warden, their motto and their mission, is wonderfully romantic in its own right. But to many men (and women) the fate of humanity is too vague and lofty a purpose. I rather think we fight for those we love as well as for what we believe in. Aedan fights for Ferelden, yes, to preserve what he and Alistair established when they slew the archdemon. But he also fights for his family, and this includes Alistair as his brother. He wants to make Thedas a safer place for his children.

However I also made his source of strength his greatest weakness: his heart. Aedan struggles constantly to separate his purposes and often fails, which is why he is a berserker. He feels everything deeply and he has a hard time forgiving himself his failures.

“Watching me sleep again, love?”

“Always, my sweet Warden.”

He began to move his hands upwards from her waist, bunching up the linen shift she wore, when a soft voice called indignantly from the doorway.

“Mummy, Rory took Dolly and he won’t give her back!”

Leliana felt his chest rumble beneath her palms, a combination groan and laugh and she grinned down at him. Dropping another light kiss on his lips she whispered, “Tonight,” and pushed herself up and off the bed, landing lightly on the floor.

Grace had worked hard on her pout, she could see that, and she stifled a chuckle at the overwhelming tragedy painted on the delicately featured face. She took the little girl’s hand. “Let’s go practice our rogue talents, my sweet, we’ll slip into shadow and tickle him until he gives it up!”

– from A Perfect Day

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