Notes and Errata of Mark of the Asphodel

OK.  I was going to throw up a little bit of cracky headcanon regarding Minerva for today's meta contribution, but I went and made a 'fic out of it instead.

Because we all know why noblewomen suddenly retire to convents, right?  ;P

It was one of those days in which I looked at my WIP-pile and said, "Dammit, finish something."

So, here 'tis: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5572950/1/

Well, then, what is it?

It's the love story of George and Minerva, of course. But, ah, I'm supposed to be a canon purist, so where the heck did this come from? Hey, it's post-game 'fic. I have leeway. See, a while back, shimizu_hitomi noted that the dynamic between George and Minerva was one of the better things about the FE1 manga adaptation. I hadn't given much thought to George as a character before; he's not much use in FEDS, and he just struck me as another one of these Archanean ego-trippers (see: Astram). Then I went back and read his scenes in FE3. Nuh-uh-- George is awesome. He's smart. He does things. Useful things. And hey, he has a backstory in the designers' notes (he's kind of a "Levin" figure, as in he's the prototype for an FE character who comes from a noble/royal background and doesn't want to deal with it). And he's allowed to be all these things without ever really signing up for Marth's fanclub, which otherwise tends to be the dividing line between the sheep and the goats. George totally merited some exploration and exposure.

[No, I don't spell it "Jeorge." I'd also use "Niena" for Nyna if I could get away with it.]

And Minerva needed to get out of that convent. Her official character ending is one of the most craptacular in FE, up there with "Canas died in a snowstorm." Anyway, this is another post-war snippet of my "Tales of the Unified Kingdom" series; it actually originated as a spit-take scene in "Wandering Planets," this M-rated thing I wrote to see if I could actually depict Cain/Catria in a positive sense (jury's currently out on that one). As with too many ideas, it ultimately took off on its own.

Also, I have strong (negative) opinions about romance stories elsewhere in FE fandom, and I thought it worthwhile to demonstrate the kind of relationship I find interesting. I don't know how well this succeeds as romance, but it does star actual adults, which IMO is a nice starting point.