#alexander of tirragen

[morphmaker]

Song of the Lioness No. 14: Sorcerer's Sleep

[isnt-it-pretty]

Fandom: Tortall, Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness

Rating: Teen+

Catagory: Gen

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Categories: Gen, M/M, F/M

Relationships: Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau & Thom of Trebond, Alexander of Tirragen & Alanna of Trebond, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau & George Cooper, Alexander of Tirragen & George Cooper, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau & Baird of Queenscove

Characters: Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, Thom of Trebond, Alexander of Tirragen, George Cooper (Tortall), Gary of Naxen, Baird of Queenscove, Jonathan of Conté, Additional Song of the Lioness Characters, Roger of Conté

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Character (not actually she's just visually impaired but ao3 doesn't have a tag for that), visually impaired author, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Past Child Abuse, Child Neglect (Alanna and Thom have Feelings over their father), Emotional Manipulation (via Roger), general warning for Roger of Conté being Roger of Conté

Summary:

Legends say that to have purple eyes means one is touched by the gods. To Alanna and Thom, all it means is that their eyesight has never been as good as it should be.

Unfortunately, both are true.

(AU where the twins are visually impaired.)

Here it is! The first (and second) chapter of my NaNoWriMo piece; the fic that's been bouncing around in my head for years.

[darkpuck]

Every time I go to the tag for Alexander of Tirragen, I see this snippet from a wip you were making long ago:

I have scrolled for ages through your blog in search of more and even resorted to trying to find it via searching on with tags there, but I can find nothing more

if you still have it somewhere, finished or not, I beg you to reveal it if not to your blog at large then to me

It haunts me, I think about it practically daily

I am prepared to go to extreme measures (this is only partially a joke), you want me to name my first born after you? Done. You want me to make a shirt of shame to wear everyday for the rest of my life saying that I annoyed you on tumblr over a silly thing? Done. You want money? As soon as I get a way to transfer money online then sure.

it’s of course fine if you don’t want to share, it’s your work to do with as you please, or if you don’t have it any more, it was from the little I could see very prettily written and it just piqued my interest, Alex is a very beloved character to me

have a great day

That is the merest etchings of me poking at an AU where Alex of Tirragen MAY OR MAY NOT have been reincarnated for a second chance... and ends up being a page more or less alongside Keladry of Mindelan. These are only pokes, mind you, but let me assure you that while Alex's morals are more of the blue and orange variety, more often than not he's backing Kel. He gets her. For your entertainment and from a discord conversation:

DarkPuck: i am here for the AU where he's a yearmate of joren's and while kel doesn't actually LIKE him, becuase alex is a bastard with blue and orange morality -- alex doesn't give a good fuck that she's a girl DarkPuck: like it doesn't even seem to register in his head that gender is a thing DarkPuck: "she's The Girl!" "....and?" DarkPuck: Alex just does not get why that is a problem????? who cares????????? kheradihr: Alex "I don't see how it weighs in on her ability to handle training, whereas you, [name], you're an embarrassment to this august tradition." kheradihr: Kel "By the Goddess he just threw august in to be an asshole" DarkPuck: Alex: "you get me." Kel: -DOES NOT WANT TO GET HIM-

Anyway Alex does not know what gender has to do with anything, and as for sexual preferences, while you were busy being allosexual, he studied the blade. Bonus fun fact: This Alex's knight-guardian is none other than Gary the Younger. Alex loves him.

[ipreferfiction]

Jiggy.

MY SPECIAL LITTLE GUY MY BLORBO LOVE OF MY LIFE. i am insane about him. he is the character of all time

My first impression: huh. i don't know what's going on here but he seems interesting and competent.

My impression now: i would kill and die for him. he is my favorite character in mdzs and one of my favorites EVER. he has so many layers!! a-yao....

Favorite thing about that character: he's COMPETENT. to an absolutely insane degree. learning what he did about cultivation from shitty useless manuals and forming a golden core as an older teenager/young adult takes an INSANE amount of talent, not to mention HENSHENG??? he is the only (named?) character to have a soft sword, he's adapted bits of fighting styles from multiple major sects, and he's skilled enough with Hensheng that at some point he has shattered multiple spiritual weapons with it. he was a spy under WEN FUCKING RUOHAN for months. he and wwx are entirely responsible for winning the sunshot campaign and he dealt the final blow. also what he did with the song of turmoil?? equally insane amount of talent.

Least favorite thing: the Bad TakesTM. he attracts them like FLIES

Favorite line/scene: Lan Xichen! In this life, I’ve lied countless times, killed countless times. Like you said, I killed my father, my brother, my wife, my son, my teacher, my friend—of all the evil in the world, what haven’t I done?!...But I’ve never even thought of harming you!

i am very normal about them.

honestly his entire Guanyin Temple showing is nuts in the best way and i am chewing on him. close seconds are him on the stairs of Jinlintai looking at Nie Mingjue and going, of course they and I are different! the utter RESIGNATION of it. the truth of it!! he will never be treated like the rest of the cultivation world, he knows it, and Mingjue can't see it like he does!

Favorite interaction that character has with another: every time he and xichen are on screen or on page together is just. so nuts. the box scene. guanyin temple (god!!!!!!!!!! augh). everything cql added in.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Qin Su!! she needs more time anyway but god their relationship is SO TRAGIC and i love looking at AUs where the whole marriage can be avoided and there aren't lasting scars left on both jgy and qs from. you know. accidentally marrying your half sibling because your shared father is a rapist. also, we get zero real looks at how their relationship is before everything goes south and it pains me.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: this is so fucking hard oh my god. there are bits of He Xuan and Ling Wen that i see in him, i think? especially the. "i was born the same day as you and i am cleverer than you but my life was a tragedy and yours was perfect, so why was I not worthy of the same fate you were? why did I get nothing when you got everything?" and the "you know what? I am tired of cleaning up your messes. i am going to cause problems now." he also... i cannot explain this one but his vibes are very similar to Alexander of Tirragen from the Song of the Lioness quartet in my mind. i genuinely truly cannot comprehend WHY those two are associated in my brain, but they are.

A headcanon about that character: he was in love with Xichen and Xichen was in love with him. god bless the cql xiyao agenda.

A song that reminds of that character: lying beast by run river north - it reminds me very much of what he would think of himself esp. towards the end (and guanyin temple)

An unpopular opinion about that character: he and Mingjue's relationship could not have been fixed, or at least not without considerable effort on Mingjue's part, post-Sunshot and especially around the time of the stairs before JGY starts playing turmoil. JGY did not need to put more effort into it! he was already putting effort into it! Mingjue's worldview is fundamentally incompatible with JGY's existence, frankly. It never mattered how hard he tried to mend the relationship because Mingjue would always see him as a liar who was trying to manipulate him, and the sworn brotherhood was not a good idea, Xichen, good god.

Favorite picture: all of them but especially these. i support his wrongs (he has never done anything wrong ever in his life). he is the prettiest man alive and yet!! he suffers! but oh god his thousand yard stare after Mingjue kicks him down the stairs...

[theladyragnell]

Thom/Alex, vulnerability and/or marriage of convenience

(Much as I tried, I couldn't think of a sensible way to get them married, so have a moody pre-ship scene that leads to an AU where Fuck The Roger Resurrection Actually.)

“Do you all really think I’ll do it?” Thom inquired one night, tongue loosened with wine. Sometimes he envied the girls who had stayed at the Goddess’s temple, who got lessons in holding their liquor as they did in holding their fans and their tempers. The Mithrans expected those who came to them to be retiring scholars with no need or desire to spend long at court. They’d expected him, in so many words, to be like his father, who would have loved the cloisters.

Alexander of Tirragen, who’d learned to hold his liquor with all the young knights and squires but who never had more than a glass anyway, simply smiled from where he was lounging in one of Thom’s spare chairs. “Do what?”

“What you so clearly want me to do,” Thom snapped, annoyed, but not annoyed enough to say it out loud. Saying it out loud made it seem so much realer than he wanted it to be.

“Have I asked you to do anything, Lord Trebond?”

No, but he’d smiled at Delia’s teasing as it turned into pushing. No, but Thom had had years of letters from Alanna as she worried about Alex’s proximity to the man she hated so much, and a strong memory of a broken collarbone and the story of a practice fight that Alanna never successfully pretended to be fine with. No, but he was the only person who actually sought Thom out from time to time, and Thom could tell when he was part of someone’s long-term plan and not a true friend. “If I wanted to prove I’m the greatest living sorcerer–because I don’t care to compete with the dead, Sir Alexander–I could try to bring someone back from death, but I don’t know why I would choose him.”

There was a long, awful silence. After so much silence in the cloisters, Thom was sick of it, and knew his court reputation for prattling would embarrass his terse sister when someone inevitably wrote her the gossip. Still, he knew how to summon it when he needed it, and Alex always took a long time to speak. “Who, then? Who would you choose, if you wanted to try it? Alan–Alanna’s father died, in our squire years. Would you bring him back, so you could spend a few more years without the burden of Trebond?”

Thom hadn’t spoken to his father since the day he was sent off to become a knight. He didn’t regret it, either. “No. Given the choice, I suppose I wouldn’t raise anyone from the dead at all. The Black God can keep his own. Unless he takes my sister.”

“You love her very much.”

“More than anyone else. Ask me to stop the tides, if you want. I’m not bringing back her worst nightmare.” And, because there was nothing left to lose, “You know what he did, don’t you? What he wanted to do? Doesn’t that matter to you?”

Alex finished his wine. It was faster than Thom had ever seen him drink. “The world made sense when he was around,” he said after a long silence, low-voiced. “I understood how everything was meant to be. I was trusted and important, and not an impoverished young hill lord trying and failing to help my father recover from a war.”

Thom remembered Alanna talking about the jewel Roger liked playing with, the way he caught attention and convinced the prince to go to the Black City. It would have been nearly as easy for Thom to pick up a glass from the table and let it catch the candlelight. He could give Alex that certainty he missed, if he cared to lose the ethics his masters had tried so carefully to instill in him, the honor Alanna insisted on. “That’s childish,” he said, because he wouldn’t be so cruel as to give him what he wanted, but he couldn’t be kind enough to soothe the rough edges either. “Nothing is meant to be, and I say that as a man who can see the future, if I try hard enough.”

Alex’s smile in reply was bitter enough to make Thom like him. “There are moments when I know that. But can you blame me for being seduced by simplicity?”

“Alanna wrote me about her friends, before she caught your friend’s attention and it got too dangerous to write much at all. She had lots of good things to say about your sword and your skill at mathematics. Neither of those seem to me to be the kind of discipline that would attract someone who only wants simplicity.”

“I wish she had said any of it herself. About me, about him.”

“After that training session, why should she trust you?”

“That’s a good question.” To Thom’s shock, Alex poured himself another glass of wine. “I ask it of myself, sometimes. A question for you, in turn. You say you won’t do it, but I can see you’re tempted. You say he’s your sister’s worst nightmare, so how does it tempt you?”

Delia of Eldorne, a year or two older than he was in those first years in the City of the Gods, a girl that the nicer young ladies told him to steer clear of, because she always knew just what taunts would hurt most. “It’s … efficient, you might say. I’m tired of being underestimated, told I’m too young or too arrogant or that I do things in the wrong way. If I could do what no living sorcerer can, nobody would ever say it again.”

“They would,” said Alex, to his shock. “They’d say Roger was a sorcerer too and that his Gift did half the work. Or that someone’s research showed you the way. Or that really, you were only copying the mages of legend.”

Thom blinked at him. “Shockingly honest, from you. You know that only gives me ammunition so I won’t do what you want me to do, don’t you?”

“Maybe.” He toasted Thom and took a deep drink from his glass. “Maybe you’re right that I don’t seek simplicity as much as I like to think.”

“I hope you don’t. When Alanna comes home, I’d like her to have her friends again. All of them.”

“What about friends for you?”

Thom shrugged. “I don’t have a talent for attracting friends. Surely you’ve noticed. If she can be happy, that’s what matters to me.”

“You have no talent for attracting, and apparently I have no talent for keeping. Who else would put up with either of us?” Alex finished his second glass and stood up. “I have to train in the morning. Thank you, Lord Trebond, for your fine hospitality.”

“You’re welcome, of course.”

Alex gave him a little ironic bow, heir to a fief who’d actually been trained to it showing respect to the lord of the fief who had no idea what half the reports he received truly meant. “Good night.” He made to leave, and stopped with his hand on the door, back to Thom. “I’ll think about it. What you said. I find I don’t like the thought of being encouraged to reduce the world’s complexity.”

“Feel free to bring me the fruits of your thought,” said Thom, eyebrows raised. “It’s so rare to see a knight using his brain, I can only encourage you.”

Alex laughed, a surprisingly free and easy sound after the weight of their conversation, and let himself out before Thom had to find a way to say anything else.

Thom sat there, the two empty glasses on the table in front of him, for a long time.

[goodgrammaritan]

I've often wondered why the people of Tirragen supported a coup; did they have to, because their lord ordered them, or was it something they all wanted?

Rereading The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, the last chapter gives a possible clue: the sorceress lives in a village near Lake Tirragen. She says it was a hard winter and they had no food. Probably a safe bet that food was scarce at the Tirragen holdings as well. Possibly their lord convinced them a new king would fix their problems. Dissatisfied citizens are more likely to want and support change than people who are prospering.

Anyway. Just a thought.

[pornosophical]

who do I need to pay for my 120k fix-it fic for Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond because I haven’t been properly fed for five years now and I am hangry

[forest-of-stories]

Ficlet Post

Title: Out of Breath Fandom: Song of the Lioness series Characters/Relationship: Alexander of Tirragen/Roger of Conté Words: 200 Rating: Mature Summary: Roger finds a new way to test Alex. Additional Tags: Breathplay, Dubious Consent, Age Difference, Power Imbalance, Dysfunctional Relationships

[valentinegoestotortall-blog]

Hi! I loved your POTS rec list! Some great fics on there. Do you have any favourite SOTL fics?

Thank you! The POTS series is my favorite, so I don’t have nearly as many recommendations for SOTL. Some of my SOTL recommendations are in the POTS time period, but focus on Alanna. One of my previously recommended authors, devilinthedetails, also writes some SOTL works, especially about Alex. I’ll especially recommend this piece and this piece, but if you go through the Alex tag, anything written by her won’t disappoint. LadyLingua writes (exclusively?) SOTL fanfic. I recommend a couple specific pieces below, but you can also look at her page for more.

it’s a dangerous business, going out your door (you never know where you might be swept off to). Series about Kourrem bint Kemail. 30k words

Hear Her Roar. Moments in Alanna’s life.

Raising Lion Cubs. Moments in Alanna and her family’s lives as her kids grow up.

The Decision. About Alanna, set after POTS. New Life is devilinthedetail’s take on the same situation. Both are well done. 

War Crimes. Alanna and Buri during their time in Sarain.

First Frost. Alanna and Thom as young children.

Terrifying Sweet. Alanna and George.

In Hand. Alanna and George get married. Really cute.

The Lioness and Her Cubs. Alanna as a mother.

That Time of Year. This one’s a bit silly, but cute and funny.

[ruinconstellation]

Recent fic recs

Tortall

The Dark is Light Enough by harborshore (27k), Tortall, Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond.

New Hope by BracketyJack (series, 777k), Tortall, Keladry & everyone, Keladry of Mindelan/Domitan of Masbolle, post-canon.

Tooth and Talon by squiderella (264k, series, incomplete), Tortall, Alanna of Trebond/Thayet jian Wilima, Keladry of Mindelan & Thom of Trebond, Keladry of Mindelan & Alexander of Tirragen, Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond, Jonathan is murdered after Alanna gets kicked out so Roger becomes king.

MDZS / The Untamed

Overflow the autumn pools by @malachai​ (103k, incomplete), The Untamed / MDZS, Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng raises Wen Yuan.

living in my memory/living in my mouth by tardisgradeschool (33k), The Untamed / MDZS, Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, modern reincarnation.

despite it all by novalotypo (292k, incomplete, last update in 2019), MDZS, Wei Wuxian & A-Qing, he is raised to god-ish-hood.

kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf and tardisgradeschool (75k),  The Untamed / MDZS, Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, in-universe Parent Trap.

James Bond

Traceability by blackidyll (73k, series), James Bond, Bond/Q post-Skyfall.

Blindsided by NotLonelyJustAlone (74k, series, incomplete), James Bond, Q/Alec Trevelyan, Q & James Bond, time travel.

Red vs Blue

Mind over Matter by kineticallyanywhere (136k), Red vs Blue, Wash & AI, mercs shove all the AI (Epsilon + memory-shadows of the others) back into his head.

Good Omens

your memory seems like a living thing by minkhollow (38k, series, incomplete), Good Omens, post-canon angel & demon OCs.

Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm (99k), Good Omens, Crowley goes to therapy.

The Goblin Emperor

Keystone by hermitknut (170k, series), The Goblin Emperor, Maia & everyone, Maia Drazhar/Csethiro Drazharan, Csevet Aisava/Maia Drazhar, the downstairs staff, during and post-canon.

[ao3feed-romione]

We're Two Sides of the Same Coin; Yule See

We're two sides of the same coin; Yule see by purplepotatoblob

In this Harry Potter-Tortall crossover, the guys (Jon, Gary, George, Ron and Harry) come swarming to poor Raoul for advice on how to ask their crushes (namely Thayet Jian Wilima, Cythera Elden, Alanna Trebond, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley) out to Yule, and meanwhile, Buri is being similarly tortured by the girls. Stuck in this terrible agony-aunt-advice predicament, Raoul and Buri must find a way to make their friends' wishes come true... all the while harboring secret feelings for each other... will they admit their feelings before it's too late?

Words: 869, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Draco Malfoy, Alexander of Tirragen, Delia of Eldorne, Josiane Rittevon

Relationships: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak/Buriram Tourakom, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau/George Cooper, Jonathan of Conté/Thayet jian Wilima, Cythera of Naxen/Gary of Naxen, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley

Additional Tags: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32319877

[morphmaker]

Song of the Lioness No. 11: Thom has fallen in with a bad crowd at court.

[isnt-it-pretty]

Fandom: Tortall - Tamora Pierce

Chapters: 3/4

Characters: Alexander of Tirragen, Thom of Trebond,Liam Ironarm, Roald VI of Conté, Stefan Groomsman, Numair Salmalín, Veralidaine Sarrasri, Jonathan of Conté, Nealan of Queenscove, Keladry of Mindelan, Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie’s Peak

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Bittersweet Ending, Canonical Character Death (kind of), Protector of the Small au, lots of headcanons

Summary:

The dead don’t rest in King Jonathan’s palace, until the day they do.

Read from ch1 here!

[darkpuck]

not tagged but posting anyway

Every Sunday, share six sentences from your current WIP and tag six friends*

*Sunday is only a suggestion, please post your own any time in the week!

His earliest memory was of walking along the bank of a stream, one small hand in the firm grip of his guardian. Even in that early memory, he knew he loved and trusted the tall, unhappy-seeming duke. And as he was lifted atop a rock too big for him to scale himself, Alexander of Tirragen looked up into the warm, sad chestnut eyes of the man he wished were his father, and laid a hand on his arm. “It won’t happen again,” he said solemnly. “I promise.”

He turned, therefore missing the surprise crossing the knight’s face. “What won’t?” his guardian asked, but Alex didn’t answer: he’d seen a cat curled atop the rock, napping in a sunbeam. Forgetting entirely what he had said, he eased his way over to the cat to watch it sleep.

[unicyclehippo]

Just curious re: Knight AU Anya's past -- is it to do with her personally or her house (if I remember the Trebond books correctly, it's been awhile~)?

that’s a very good question! a combination of both, in a way. the name tirragen might by itself not be so bad, it would set some folk on edge but not so bad. the fact that she is half k’miri in a country that despite the best intentions of its king & queen still has its prejudices ? that’s another strike of fate against her, in some peoples eyes. now add to that the fact that she is a solemn, serious, intelligent, reserved young woman with a remarkable likeness to another of her family? the fact that she is extraordinarily gifted at sword craft? that’s smth else.

so primarily it is about her family history!! but the simple fact is that in defending herself from other people, she looks more and more like alexander every day. lean cat like grace. a dark intensity. a nobility. a habit & talent for being drawn toward powerful people

[tortallrecall]

I've listened to your entire backlog in the space of about a month, and I really appreciate the thoughtfulness, keen criticism, and affection with which you revisit these books. Also, you made me go from zero to "MY FEELINGS ABOUT ALEXANDER OF TIRRAGEN LET ME SHOW YOU THEM" in the space of a few minutes, or however long it took you to discuss the possibility that Roger might have put the magical whammy on him. My sincere thanks for that, and for everything else.

thank you so much! alex’s character is so interesting, and we all wish he had been given a little more time in song of the lioness. we’re glad you enjoyed our discussion!