#i haven't finished me3 with her yet

[theoriginalladya]

20 Fanfic Questions

I was tagged by @bioticbooty. Thank you, friend!

Tagging @mtreebeardiles @tiny-banana-time @shadoedseptmbr and @wrathoscribbles and anyone else who wants to participate.

How many works do you have on AO3?

153 stories across 40 series

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

2,700,745

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Mass Effect. Some Dragon Age in the past and some crossover worlds with ME (World of Darkness, WWII, etc.). Potentially Baldur's Gate 3 in future if the muses start talking.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ever Constant - My Dragon Age epic fic. FemCousland/Nathaniel Howe, pre-Blight through Dragon Age: Origins. (103)

Dribbles & Drabs - a collection of writing prompts for various pairings, mostly Mass Effect related, mostly Caleb Shepard but also includes Michael Shepard, Kristofer Shepard, Tessa Shepard, Abbots (Abby Williams/Major Coats) and a few others. (102)

Found Family - A Collection of Drabbles - specific writing prompts from the Dribbles & Drabs collection related to Caleb Shepard/Kaidan Alenko and their kids. (92)

Destiny's Road - married Shep/Shep AU pairing set in ME1, first of the three game related stories. (83)

Destiny's Fate - divorced ShepShep AU pairing set in ME3, third of three game related stories. (64)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do, yes! I love to hear from readers!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably either Bury Me In Willow , Give Me Peace, or Never Alone.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Difficult to say, but Shepard in Sherwood is a pretty fun, positive one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have two or three times, unsolicited comments from people who believe their opinion matters more than how I want to tell my story.

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

It depends. I have in past, I do on occasion these days, but it's very rare because I'm just not that comfortable writing it. I tend to stress a lot more when writing smut, too.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Several, actually. Most of mine are crossovers with historical time periods rather than fandoms (though there are a couple) ME/World of Darkness, ME/WWII, ME/ME Andromeda, a couple of ME/Celtic Ireland, and a new ME/American Revolution idea. I have a couple ideas for ME/DAO crossovers, but have yet to start them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A couple small, old ones.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Translated, no. Podcasted, yes.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes. In 2022, @happychica and I began writing Caleb Shepard in her Modern ME series, The Town of Norman in the story, As Luck Would Have It

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

mshenko and femshenko. Okay, who am I kidding, anyone and Kaidan - Alenkoats (with Coats), Reylenko (with Reyes Vidal), Parasenko (with Gianna Parasini). Another very high fave of mine (because of Caleb and Kaidan) is Abboats - Abby Williams/Major Coats.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I would love to bring all the hundreds of ideas I have drabbled on (but not shared), or started but haven't gotten back to, but it probably won't happen. For now, I just take it a day at a time and hope the muses will keep inspiring me so I can get more done.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Plotting.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Just about everything else. I have moments where I sort of go 'zen' and can get good things going, but it isn't consistent for me, and I wish it was. Still, I'm constantly working on them, so I hope I have at least improved them somewhat over the years and will continue to do so.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have done, to a point, with fics, but not usually more than an expression here or there. If I do, it's usually French because I have the most experience with it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Dragon Age

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is like asking me to pick which of my children is my favorite!!!

(Okay, so I only have one kid - but I have TONS of stories!!!)

For now I will say anything with Caleb Shepard. He has been such a wonderful learning experience for me and continues to be, and I love how his world has been turning out - past, present and future. Can't wait to share it all!

#20 fanfic questions #ladya writes #memes #writing memes #it's so late and I can't think how else to tag this thing...

[bellamer]

Playing Mass Effect Andromeda and seeing that Zaeed's son was there but remembering Zaeed made me realize that I forgot about the ME2 rather quickly. The only ones who really left an imprint were Grunt, Mordin, Thane and Jack. And I only liked Mordin in 3 , I liked Thane because he was actually interesting and fleshed out, I adore Grunt because I like Krogan's anyways and again, I only got really attached to Jack in 3, like I did Mordin.

I forgot all about the Asari milf justice car lady, the thief lady and.... idk who else there was. I remember Garrus and Tali but I'm gonna be honest, even though I like her, I forget Tali exists sometimes and Garrus has been homie since 1 so he's never gonna be forgettable. Even though Tali was in that one too.

I feel more attachment to the crew in Andromeda than the ME2 crew, even though they're kinda meh in their own ways sometimes, but they're honestly funny and I have fun with them. Drack, Jaal, Vetra, Cora, PeeBee, Suvi, Kallo, hell, even Gil and Lexi and I barely talk to those two at all because I find them boring, I barely even talk to Liam's annoying ass, but their background chatter with each is fucking hilarious, walking into the room and seeing Vetra and Jaal tell off Cora over a board game analogy almost made me pee myself.

I never really got moments like that in ME2, unless it was with Garrus.

ME2 was Suicide Squad 2016 while Mass Effect Andromeda was The Suicide Squad 2021. Meanwhile ME3 (even though I haven't finished 3 yet) was Guardians of The Galaxy and ME1 was just... idk, I don't have a movie analogy for it, fucking any military movie.

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #mass effect 3 #mass effect andromeda #zaeed massani #urdnot grunt #mordin solus #jack mass effect #garrus vakarian #tali'zorah #nakmor drack #jaal ama darav #vetra nyx #cora harper #peebee #kallo jath #suvi anwar #gil brodie #liam kosta #lexi t'perro #suicide squad 2016 #the suicide squad 2021 #guardians of the galaxy #thane krios #belle rambles

[sol-consort]

God that vibration in a Turians voice is what made me realize that “oh Garrus IS hot” in Mass Effect 2 because I liked him in 1 but didn’t think he was hot yet. I must’ve been too focused on trying not to romance someone in 1 which I almost failed at. Also I know that people have already said this out of the blue but I do hope you’re okay, you’re a cool dude who makes dope stuff even if I don’t comment which I should and pretty much the reason I’m still somewhat active on tumblr now

I feel out of the loop because I am desperately trying to find ME2 Garrus hot but something about how dismissive and distant he is puts me off. No like I tottally get it you've been through a lot BUT I WAS DEAD.

I LITERALLY WAS DEAD FOR 2 YEARS AND ALL HE HAS TO SAY "oh Shepard it's you." FUCK YOU MAN I WAS GOING IN FOR A HUG.

I haven't done his loyalty mission yet so maybe he will warm up on me eventually. Idk no strong opinions on romance so far except for the theif girl but she already has someone so I am fucked.

I was fully planning on cheating on Kaidan here.

I imported my ME1 save and the game currently has me flagged in Kaidan's romance because his picture is in my bedroom. It's supposed to turn down when I cheat on him and he will confront me about it in ME3

But now. I can't find anyone fuckable. Even Garrus who I was down bad for because of the stars in his eyes literally became batman 2.0 and is blasting my chemical romance from the back of the ship but no one wants to confront him about it and instead hope the phase ends soon.

Jacob is. Jacob lacks rizz. Jacob makes me feel like I'm sexually harrassing him because of how uncomfortable he seems whenever I pick a romance option. I actually had to google if he was romance-able just to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Who's left huh????? Who's dick I supposed to suck in order to get my shepard a malewife??

There is Liara. Liara is always fucking there standing in the corner. Ruining my Kaidan romance and tricking me into her romance like some kind of fae.

I hope the Garrus fever infects me soon too because it looks like I will end up staying loyal to Kaidan against my will. That man probably spent the two years after Shepard's death to make sure all men in the galaxy are unfuckable and all hot women are straight, just on the off chance Shepard comes back to life and tries to get some.

I mean he isn't wrong, Shepard flirted with him while on the job and while being his captain, he knows his commander will flirt with their co-works without any shame so why even take the risk?

God I miss Ashley.

On other news, I keep meeting Turians I want to fuck. Who are not an option to fuck. It's a twisted irony of fate because I keep refusing Garrus.

Also I'm starting to regret the fact I made Anderson the council. He seems really sad, but man it felt great watching Udina get told to fuck off.

Is he happier if he doesn't become the council? What choice did you make? Does he become something else then or do we even get to meet him?

And it is funny how all of this is your fault. I wouldn't have installed Mass effect or gave it a chance wasn't it for you ask a long while back. I would've let it rot in my library for a year then finally gave it a chance.

You stole my bg3 obsession and replaced it with mass effect! How dare you! I am very thankful you introduced me to this because I never realised how fun fps can be. I even bought another fps on sale today, called hellsinger.

But it is really freaky how much such a small thing like sending an ask detoured my life so much and changed my interests. It's a whole new side I wasn't even aware of its existence.

Thank you, genuinely. But I have learned my lesson and won't fall to your tricks twice. I'm not even gonna search up that other game you recommend until after I finish mass effect. Just in case it turns out to be jaw dropping too.

But the director ME2 took in gameplay isn't my favourite. I'm too squishy and the enemies are too squishy now. I can't be a cool sniper jumping from place to place and headshoting enemies. Now I have to hide behind fucked up barriers and wait for the enemy to reload or use my invisibility then I go in for the snipe.

The weapon feels more limited too, I get that they made them more unique but I prefer having the stats menu more. I only have two snipers so far and I hate both of them but I'm forced to use one because there are so little options.

It feels more resident evil-ish? Or maybe because I'm on veteran difficulty? I tried lowering it but it doesn't fix the issue.

My problem isn't that the enemies are dying too fast my problem is that I am dying too fast. I hate the new points system and level up too, I miss the more detailed one in ME1. I also loath the hacking minigames in here.

The dialogue and animations improved a lot tho, the missions diversity too! The heist one was such a blast I felt like I was in a movie. It was so cheesy and cliche in a very endearing way oh my god.

I like my Shepard but I miss their face scar. Why did they remove that option? I had it in like a cool reminder of the blitz or something.

Also if you pick earthborn you get these two wholesome newsrports

And this one for War hero

They made me smile. But also wtf people are having WEDDINGS on MY memorial??? GET OFF MY STATUE.

I also wished that people would've had a bigger reaction to us showing up alive, yk? Not even a hug so far. Even Anderson :(

But yeah that's all for now.

And I appreciate it dude, checking up on me. You're cool too. And about the comments, I can't exactly force you to do it, I can't force anyone, it's just a choice they make everyday.

But I am curious because I never thought you were one of my readers. You don't leave likes on my writing posts, and you have only sent one or two requests so long ago. You do like my writing advice and opinions sometimes. Is that why you follow me? Because I'm funny ofc.

But nah don't tell me. I don't wanna know, it will ruin the mystery. I pay attention to the posts each person who frequents here likes, and I get a general idea of their preference. Sometimes, I can predict which posts will be liked by who and which will be ignored by others. It's a fun minigame. Humans love patterns.

But yeah. I don't want random comments on stories or fics you haven't read or finished. I want them from the people who read and liked the story. I want to hear their opinion I want to know what they thought. But if you are dinning and dashing then...again I can't force to do anything. It just makes me sad really.

I like talking, but not about myself or feelings. I am the way I am, flaws and all and I don't have to explain it. This cycle will repeat, I might give up tomorrow, I might not, I can't predict the future. One day my thread will eventually snap.

But not today, I'm still working on fics, I am still posting. I'm not giving up yet.

And I hope this inspires you in any way since you're back to writing, I hope that you don't give up too no matter how scary quiet it gets. I hope you're more resilient than me. I hope you love what you write because it is very deserving of love.

[swaps55]

Hey Swaps, not a writer’s questions ask, but rather a question about what’s been written 😅just finished re-reading Cantata, and i always wondered, Sam and Kaidan are married in the post me3 Opus fanfics, does Sam invite his mother to the wedding (if there’s a ceremony)? And does she come?

Oh, this is a great question.

There is a ceremony (there are baby krogan, and it's wild), and yes, she is invited, and she comes.

I haven't nailed down a lot of the details yet, but Sam and Hannah will never be close, and he'll never really think of her as a mother.

However, I want to think they...try. The end of everything has a way of reframing your priorities, and Hannah tries, as much as Sam is willing to let her, and eventually they find some common ground.

(Kaidan, however, is not and never will be a fan of Hannah Shepard.)

#'shoot it again sam' shepard #swaps replies #this was such a great question thank you so much for asking!!!

[nulfaga]

;________; god if you ever wanted to elaborate a bit on the timeline of salomé & miri’s relationship post-3….. would love to hear anytime <3 ;—;

thank you for asking they mean the world to me <333

i won't lie. i haven't really hashed it out blow by blow :') like my biggest and clearest vision is that they just settle down and have a family and nothing bad happens ever again lmao. i think in general things are very slow moving between them like um... ok

they were close almost from the start (obv miranda is kind of cold at first but salomé is an excellent judge of character and made the decision to just. not bite back. which kind of defused the tension and let them get to know each other on like a non-antagonistic footing)...miranda already had it kind of bad by the end of me2 but she's very good at shelving her feelings so.

around the end of me3 salo begins to wake up to like. how much she actually cares for miranda too but it's the absolute wrong time (salo herself is going to pieces literally and figuratively toward the end of the reaper war. she's grieving, stressed out beyond belief, crushed by guilt, etc etc. she convinces herself—it's not true, but she convinces herself—that she would have fallen in love with anyone who threw her a bone at this crisis point. her stance is very much like "if i'm ever sane again i'll reconsider it")

so after the end of the war salo is laid out in a hospital in london (maybe she had to be transferred since london is bombed-out, idk. it's not practical or probable but i always liked the idea that she was airlifted to paris, where she's from. bookends etc) and miranda's tracked her down and spends the better part of a year w/ salo in a private hospital ward while she recovers. waiting by your lover's bedside etc, never mind they're not actually involved yet. during this time they talk about their visions for the future. miranda hasn't had time to hatch many plans, she's just enjoying the fact that no one's trying to kill her for a change. salo on the other hand is pretty firm about remaining on earth, not so much out of personal responsibility/helping to rebuild but because like. christ. she's (more-or-less, temporally speaking) 31 now; she didn't leave the sol system until she was 22; she didn't properly speak to an alien until years after that (very little talking happened during the skyllian blitz, and the thresher maws on akuze were obv nonsapient); so her first steps into the greater galactic community, her first visit to the citadel, introduction to council politics, becoming a spectre, and the Fucking Reaper War all happened in the span of 5ish years (and 3 years in her experience, because she was out between 2183-85). this is all to say that very little of it all feels real to her after the fact; she feels the strong desire to remain on earth at least for the foreseeable future and recenter herself. miranda's a fan of the idea, and she hasn't personally been to earth in decades, so she'd like to reacquaint herself. so there's the agreement that they both want to stay put AND the tacit agreement that they'd like to stay together at least for a while.

so once salo is well enough to leave, they get a nice apartment in a small town somewhere (one largely left alone by the reapers); salo finishes her bachelor's degree remotely & under an assumed name. miranda helps coordinate restoration efforts in the nearby city. it's good work but unchallenging; she'd like to get back into a research lab at one point. this is all about 2188-89

the rest is pretty fuzzy NO IT DELETED THIS BULLET. short version: they get married around the end of the 2190s and have adopted 2 kids by 2200.

eventually miranda goes to work in a clinical research lab for an earth holding, everything aboveboard, etc, but finds it fatally boring. good riddance to cerberus but she misses the work environment where money is not a factor and red tape is nonexistent. that aside, salomé can be a homebody if she likes, but miranda wants any children of hers to see the galaxy. so they move (a little reluctantly on salo's part) somewhere closer to the action, one of the hub worlds like illium or elysium

that's as far as i've planned lmao. i will say, idk if i'm going to stick with this bc it is Quite corny, but i like the idea that one of the kids' middle names is bailey. (because it was on thane's baby name shortlist)

#i almost didn't put a readmore thereby obliterating the dash #salomé vauquelin #i said she attends uni under an ''assumed name'' but vauquelin is the name that was on her papers when she was born #just got lost in the move to paris. ''shepard'' has another origin entirely

[tali-zorahs]

i’m still taking my time with me:le, but i thought i’d drop a bit of the art i’d done of my new shepard, who i’m completely in love with. 

minerva shepard is an engineer (war hero/spacer/paragon) who asks a bunch of questions and gets along with a lot of people, even though she has very strong opinions of right and wrong (though she mellows a bit over the trilogy). she has feelings for ashley in me1 but doesn’t act on them because she feels like it would be unfair to pursue her as her superior officer (and then mellows on that issue as well and ends up with garrus in me2)

#mass effect #commander shepard #ashley williams #garrus vakarian #tali'zorah vas normandy #my art #shakarian #minerva shepard #i haven't finished me3 with her yet #but in me3 she stops dying her hair bc of the Everything going on and it returns to its natural black #also i made her have purple eyes in me2/me3 bc i think it's unfair that only renegade sheps get funky eyes #*dyeing lmao #i'm not retyping all that #fun fact the scar on her face is from an accident when she was a kid and not a battle #like what most people assume

[trickster-whim]

I spent so long watching YouTube videos about 50 Shades sueding Butch and Varvara but they do not like standing lmao.

My desk is way too small to fit my tv, monitor, and two bjds, but I like displaying them. And I kinda love how unphotographical Var is, especially with that eye. Her eyes are tiny, and this one has a little heart-shaped nail gem for an iris, which absolutely looks terrifying and I love it.

#Kuklakit Varvara #butch is a legit dollshe craft khan #I haven't developed the character for Var yet so I'm just keeping her name for now #Oh also I'm replaying Mass Effect again bc I've only finished ME3 once. I love this series but it's a lot.

[anderwhohn]

I knew some of the MELE mods had updated, so I went to go grab the newest versions, and imagine my delighted glee when there were whole new mods in addition to new ports available!

Between those and some of the updates, I'm probably going to redo at least part of Izzy's playthrough (haven't finished ME3 yet - I'd got as far as Rannoch, but I'm willing to start over for the updated changes), and I also have another playthrough set up in ME1 for an AU of Martha Jones (Doctor Who) as Commander Shepard (Spacer [with @espritferme's Hannah Shepard as her mother] / War Hero / Sentinel [Medic specialisation] / Paragade with high paragon ratio), which I will be adding to Martha's verses over on @vortexparadox.

And as a semi-note to self reminder: I need to compile a mod list for MELE to add somewhere here, given how many mods I have that change up gameplay, equipment, and the like. Probably wouldn't hurt to do the same for Dragon Age, for that matter... (There's a reason I game almost exclusively on pc, and modding is very much high up on the list.)

#out of coffee ( ooc )

[azems-familiar]

Writer meta asks: 2, 6, 9 and 15?

2. tell us about what you're most looking forward to writing - in your current project, or a future project

hmmmmmmmmmmm this is a bit of a question. in my current, active projects, i'm looking forward to getting to my kotor novelization (whenever Revan finally decides to come and talk to me again), and there are several scenes from the hp au (hp fusion with kotor/swtor that has zero hp characters or hp plot and is full of so much of our Better Worldbuilding) that i really am excited to get to. upcoming projects... @ipreferfiction and i have a pair of Shepard sisters we're planning to write an me3 novelization for, as well as several shorter oneshots and couple-chapter fics covering the events of me1/2 and intervening months/years. it's going to be very very fun, the sisters have a great dynamic and flesh each other out very well and i always love working on projects with AC my beloved

i also have an original novel i am working on fleshing out the sideplots and worldbuilding for! it's a lesbian loyalty kink (genre of ruler/subordinate relationships) scifi/regency/political intrigue novel about royalty and spies and assassins and society and the things that hold a society "together" and also it is full of parallels and crunchy social dynamics and i really want to figure it out enough to write it because i am in love with all four main characters (the main hero, her love interest, the real antagonist, and the.... quasi-antagonist-but-not-really?). it has a working title of a number by any other name and i am BEGGING people to ask me about it please oh my god. also the entire concept came from a dream.

6. what character do you have the most fun writing?

hmm this one depends on my mood, really? obviously i adore writing Revan, she's one of my favorites when i can get actual words out of her. Cassus Fett also. in terms of swtor characters, Vyl is my beloved and always has so many words, Ktis is fun, and then i really love writing both Scourge and Orgus Din. for mass effect i haven't done much so far but i love writing for both the Shepards i have and also for Javik. i have not written him yet but he lives inside my head narrating at me. kind of like Scourge. he's awful.

9. are you more of a drabble or longfic kind of writer? pantser or plotter? do you wish you were the other?

the first part of this might be a little bit of an obvious one.

anyway, i do not understand how drabbles work, i have not understood them since i actually developed my own proper writing style, i have MANY sentences longer than 100 words, how the fuck do you all do short fic my may the fourth fic is 7k and still growing and it's only like 3 scenes. also i would like to be a pantser but if i don't plot things out at least vaguely they never get finished

15. which is harder: titles or summaries? (or tags?)

it depends on the fic! tags are definitely the most difficult, because i tend to title things with song lyrics and summarize with a paragraph or two from the fic itself and then add a sentence of more-clear description. finding a song that fits the fic can be difficult sometimes especially if i don't have an easy playlist to grab one off of, and if i'm writing something where i need to give it a proper summary rather than a snippet of narration, that is a drag and i am not very good at it. but tags. i never know what to put for additional tags. there are so many options.

#asked and answered #this was fun! i loved these questions #thank you sm for the ask