Author's rants and notes, etc. informally with bad grammar!
Thanks to RB of the Yaoi Arslan ML for posing the contest and thus getting me to actually write something. Thanks also to my beta, Shrenee, who looked over the first two chapters. Thanks to Angel, for whom this fic is dedicated and the only reason why I even bother writing Arslan stories.
just a timeline of events and ages in this story:
300 - narcasse and darun, 8
hirimes, 9
kharlan, 12
302- kharlan, 14 gets girl pregnant
zante born
304- narcasse and darun, 12. darun's first battle (darun few months older)
hirimes, 13- burnt face, flees
kharlan, 16
307- arslan born
narcasse and darun, 15
308- eram born
narcasse and darun, 16. narcasse meets eram's mom.
kharlan, 20.
311- narcasse and darun, 19. narcasse appointed royal historian upon his master's death
eram, 3
arslan, 4
war against turan.
315- eram, 7. mother dies, narcasse makes promise and takes him in
narcasse, 23, protests slavery more violently. is kicked out of court.
darun, 23.
arslan, 8
317- last time according to anime that darun and narcasse saw each other
narcasse and darun, 25.
arslan, 10. assigned to train w/darun when andragoras deems bachman too old
eram, 9
320- narcasse and darun, 28
hirimes, 29
kharlan, 32
zante, 18
arslan, 13
eram, 12
anime starts
--
author's notes:
Don't ask me how Arslan knows what gender pronoun to use in chapter 9. He's just guessing. ::cough::
After re-watching arslan on dvd, there some things about Arslan fanon I don't quite agree with. For example, Narcasse being a better swordsman than Darun. It's true that Narcasse has a sword, but its rare to see him use it, whereas Darun has plenty of great fight scenes. plus darun has a position that would require him to fight more.
A note on Narcasse's position: when Darun and Narcasse meet again in episode one, they say that Narcasse had been the royal historian in the subbed version of the anime. I think as such, he can give advice, but I dont think he's an official advisor. In the dub, they call him the imperial secretary, but I decided to go with the subbed version. I mean, the dub also says that Androgoras dies at the end of volume 4, which isn't said at all in the subbed vers. o_O
of course, it is only after I've written the whole thing that i find that arslansenki.net has also called him the imperial secretary. sigh.
Based on the anime, not the manga, the latter which has a lot more questions about Arslan's birth that isn't brought up in the anime. And this is based on the subbed version, since the dubbed version says a lot of strange things (if you dont believe me, watch the dubbed vers with eng subs. different, no?)
This fic literally consumed me for 2 weeks. It killed my spring break and my first week of school. But it was fun to write. Editing sucked, though.
There were 2 main influences on this fic while I was writing. One was Jei's beautiful Gundam Wing fanfic series, Moments of Haven, in which Duo and Heero are in a 'nice, healthy, un-lusty relationship.' ::grins:: The Darun/Narcasse fics out there are absolutely gorgeous, and the lemons are a ton of fun to read. But since there is a lack of unlusty fics for them, I thought I'd try writing one.
The second was Ellen Kushner's absolutely beautiful book, Swordspoint, which I mentioned before. If you want a slash story with swordsmen and nobility, read this. It's still one of my favorite books of all time. Kusher's prose is superb. The ending line in the epilogue is a nod off to her story, "The Death of the Duke".
I was originally planning to stop after chapter 7, where there's a happy ending. but then it wouldn't explain why they weren't together by the anime. ::sigh:: and in case you're wondering why Narcasse is angry in the anime story continuing from this fic, its cuz he doesnt like the fact that Darun brought Arslan (member of royalty) in. That and when Darun mentions his poor taste in art, it reminded him of Darun's action towards his work in chapter 9.
I think I killed off all my original characters, except Hesam and Vahid. They...um...died in the war. uh. yeah...
-and for those who are actually reading thhhis, and may be curious, here's poe's poem:
Alone
Edgar Allan Poe
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
<stolen from stellar-one.com>
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