The Tale of Westala and Villtin

The Tale of Westala and Villtin is an alt.fan.pratchett fanfic series written by Örjan Westin, Marco Villata and Elin Rosén. Not Terry Pratchett fanfic; alt.fan.pratchett fanfic.

The main characters are two heroes, with a notable resemblance to both the authors and Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser, who over the course of their adventures encounter various heroes and villains with a similarity to other afpers. Parodies of anything else the authors can think of also make regular appearances, if at all possible in combination with the above.

The series currently runs to one novel-length fic, one novella, one quick skit, and one unfinished novel-length fic. While the first one was started on the spur of the moment and continued in a rather random fashion, the second one was much more planned, which may be why it became moribund.

The Taleoverse has even spawned its own fanfic.

The series comprises

• The Tale of Westala and Villtin: Ill in Anorankhmar
• A Midwinter's Tale (novella)
• A Birthday Tale (skit)
• The Second Tale of Westala and Villtin: Return of the Striking Knights

Tropes used in The Tale of Westala and Villtin include:

• Adjective Animal Alehouse: The Plummetting Lemming in Anorankhmar and the Unobtrusive Beagle in Hannovarian Hinckley (a parody of the Snooty Fox pub at former DiscCon location Hanover Hotel, Hinckley).
• Alternate Universe Fic: Arguably, an Alternate Universe Real Person Fic (although only a handful of said people are famous). Just as arguably, an original creation which uses a few obvious characteristics as starting points.
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• Big Bad Duumvirate: Bos and Ballong in Ill In Anorankhmar
• Bumbling Sidekick: Lord Sopracasa's manservant Malindrew in Return of the Striking Knights is a pastiche of Baldrick, complete with turnip obsession.
• Catgirl: The Goddess Pfeiffa -- the Taleoverse version of Bast. Yes, named after Michelle, but also the Lapine word for "cat" in Watership Down is "pfeffa".
• Christmas Episode: A Midwinter's Tale
• City of Adventure: Anorankhmar
• Cloak, Hood, Mask: In Striking Knights, the Upright Man and his sidekick, Walter Allard, wear these.
• Crossover: A Birthday Tale crosses over with another afp tradition, Paul Jamison's Birthday Salute. Versions of the ferret characters from the Salute also appear in the Tales proper.
• Dead Fic: Return of the Striking Knights was last updated in 2009.
• Expy: Of Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser.
• Her Codename Was Mary Sue: Largely the point.
• Hurricane of Puns: The other point.
• Mr. Exposition: Kendy D'Avid in Return of the Striking Knights knows a lot about the history of Anorankhmar and will rattle it off enthusiastically if asked.
• Magnificent Seven Samurai: Autopet is assembling such a group, with appropriate Punny Names, in Return Of The Striking Knights.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Afpers with "dragon" in their username tend to get it literalised. Major players include a friendly eight foot long specimen with similarities to both the Luggage and the Xenomorph, and a Prince of Dragons who is only known by a symbol.
• Prequel: A Midwinter's Tale.
• Shout-Out: To Discworld (obviously), Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The Muppet Show, comics, music, and much, much more. Like Discworld itself, it has an annotations page.
• Something That Begins With Boring: Westala and Villtin play I-Spy on the way to the Truefort Manor. Messy tries to start a game while locked in a cell, but the only thing there is "Shackles".
• You Mean "Xmas": Midwinter Night in A Midwinter's Tale.