soulless shell is a Redwall fanfic centered around Leif Melyamos, a mouse-rat hybrid whose parents are killed by a mysterious organisation of evil. This same organization captures him and declares him to be the "crimson king". They then demand that he demonstrate his powers, which leads to him revealing that he has the ability to shoot beams from his paws and teleport, by which fact no one seems surprised by in the least.
Some time passes, and Leif has become the leader of the mysterious organisation of evil despite being a good guy at heart. His rival, Councilman Arnold, is accused of rape and Leif has him arrested, only to have him escape. Luckily, Leif is on a date nearby with a rat named Maiomi, and he finds Arnold and slaughters him messily while in his brand new monster form, which has horns and wings. Leif then goes on a quest to find his father's magical sword, which demands a sacrifice of blood before it will let him use it. The story ends abruptly there, as the author has not resumed it since.
The original can be found here
and the dramatic reading is here.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: For Leif, and it's mentioned that Cataros is an experienced spy while Rajh is a veteran warrior. By contrast, the rest of the council is mostly useless.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Leif against everyone he fights. Lampshaded in the encounter with three of Arnold's guards, though they, as Mooks, wouldn't give most heroes any trouble, either.
- Darker and Edgier: It was intended to be a lot darker than Redwall, having rape and more graphic violence.
- Dead Fic: The story was left incomplete in 2009 after eight chapters.
- Fat Bastard: Arnold is fat, especially by the standards of ferrets, and he's also a serial rapist. He's outright described as one in-story.
- Fat Idiot: Arnold is described as overweight and stupid, especially when he falls for Leif's ruse and ends up being sentenced to death for it.
- Hate Sink: Councilman Arnold is intended to be completely loathsome, with no redeeming or likable characteristics. He's not only a convicted rapist who rapes another girl during the period the story is set in, but he's also described as fat and stupid, to make him as unattractive as possible. Leif has no problem sentencing him to death when Arnold asks for one of his victims to be put to death for attacking him in self-defense when Arnold raped the girl, then brutally kills him when he escapes from prison and rapes another woman on his way to get revenge on Leif.
- In Name Only: The fanfic bears no relation to the canon except for the fact that it's briefly mentioned that the characters are the "evil" species of the world. Main character Leif is a rat/mouse hybrid and is a good guy, yet is the leader of the bad guys.
- Interspecies Adoption: Aveena, a fox, takes Leif under her wing to raise him in the village he is now king of after his parents are killed.
- Interspecies Romance: Leif's father was a rat and his mother was a mouse. He himself engages in the beginnings of a romance with the rat Maoimi, but the sequel "Blood omen" mentions that he eventually married another character named Maria, who is referred to as a human.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Arnold's reaction to getting tortured to death amounts to "ahh".
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Leif Melyamos always seems to develop a new ability right when he needs one.
- No Ending: After Leif obtains the sword, the story abruptly ends as the author never updated it since.
- Odd Name Out: Most of the characters have names that wouldn't be out of place in Redwall, but Arnold less so, even if it is an old name. Many commentators claimed that the name evoked Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Older Than They Look: Maoimi is supposed to be seventeen, but her age isn't mentioned until the final chapter. Even then, she's written as if she's actually ten years younger.
- One-Winged Angel: Leif's bizarre winged transformation, which comes completely out of left field.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: Especially "Councilmen Rajh, Councilmen Arnold" etc. How many of each of them are there?
- Said Bookism: "Replied" is the most common alternative to "said", and is used so often it's almost a subversion.
- Shout-Out: The "crimson king" routine is a reference to the Demons & Wizards song "Crimson King". The song itself was based on The Dark Tower, though it's unclear if the writer knows this. Also, in the sequel "Blood omen", the hero Zain sings the Helloween song "Keeper of the Seven Keys" for reasons having apparently nothing to do with the story.
- Stealth Parody: The quality implies it's intentionally bad, though there's something eerily earnest about it.
- Too Dumb to Live: Arnold falls for Leif's not very clever bluff when threatened with execution for rape, inadvertently confessing to his crimes while begging for mercy as Leif sentences him to death. It's suggested that had he not done that, Leif might not have had enough evidence to actually sentence him to death. He then breaks out of prison, and not only is dumb enough to want to kill Leif in revenge, but tries to rape a young girl first, pushing Leif's Berserk Button and earning himself a messy death at the hands of his One-Winged Angel form. Apparently, he didn't even think to bring the guards he recruited with him, although given how easily Leif dispatches them soon afterward, they wouldn't have done much good.
- Transplanted Character Fic: The fanfic's only connection to its source materal is rats and the other vermin being the evil races. While there's no evidence of magical powers existing in canon, main character Leif has the ability to shoot laser beams, teleport, and turn into a demon.
- Waif-Fu: The first fight scene with Leif learning to shoot beams from his paw appears to take place when Leif is only three or four.
- Wicked Weasel: Arnold is a ferret, and is a Serial Rapist and attempted murderer.
- You Just Told Me: When suspecting him of having committed rape, instead of putting Arnold on trial, Leif tricks him into confessing himself.
