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albatrossisland · 3 years ago

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Fic writer asks

Thank you @a-cosmic-elf for tagging me! I love tag games, so thank you for thinking of me!!!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

17. Such a good number. (That’s my birthday, hehe)

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

189,412. Not bad for two years of posting.

3) How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Really two, Game of Thrones and Marvel (just one). I’ve written a couple of Sherlock fics, but they are staying unpublished.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Knock Three Times - My exchange fic from last year, where Jaime opens his apartment door to find a naked and wet Brienne standing in front of him, asking to use his phone.

Saving Jaime Lannister - While on a hike in an old forest, Brienne hears a voice in her head, imploring her to find Jaime Lannister. Find him and save him. And she does. And it’s only the beginning.

The Love I’ll Never Recover From - Jaime is inspecting a newly acquired hotel for his father, when he sees a ghost, a ghost with a tragic backstory that she chooses to share with him.

Worthy - A canon divergence where Brienne goes back in time to stop Jaime’s maiming so he can fulfill a prophecy to defeat the Night King. Fun fact, this is the only canon fic I’ve written.

The Stoneheart Protocol - Brienne and Jaime are (space!) bounty hunters, but he’s disappeared. As the Stoneheart Protocol (shoot him on sight, basically) is authorized for him, Brienne goes on a desperate hunt to find him first.

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

J+B. It’s a Romeo and Juliet adaptation, and I struggled with the ending, because I felt that I had to remain true to the source material, even if I didn’t feel great about it, which is probably the reason the ending was so hard to write. It’s my only unhappy ending, and I have no plans to repeat that one. None at all.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

This is such a tricky one, because I love angst and sadness, even if I’m a stalwart believer in happy endings for JB, so even when a story works out, there’s always a twinge of sad to them too.

But, with that in mind, I might go with Saving Jaime Lannister for this one. They’re young, in love, and they have a lifetime ahead of them. They go through a lot in that fic, so they earn their sweet ending.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Not yet, but never say never.

8) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have dabbled in smut, but it’s not something I’m really comfortable doing. I don’t have a good grasp of writing sex and emotions, and that’s the best kind, so I mostly stay clear of it.

9) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do. Commenting takes a lot out of me (anxious introvert, party of one, right here), so I think it’s important to write back, even if it takes a little while. And really, that whole back and forth system on AO3 is the cheapest serotonin in existence.

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, not yet. And hopefully it stays that way.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know, no. Woo!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

That would so cool, but no.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven’t, but it’s an interesting idea. Writing is such a solo thing for me, so it would be a challenge, but the good kind.

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Stands to reason that it’s JB, because no other ships have inspired me to actually read/write fic to this degree. But here are some others from my life of shipping:

Jeff/Hillary - Remember Wenn

Adama/Roslin - BSG

Michael/Jan - The Office

Ned/Chuck - Pushing Daisies

Shepard/Garrus - Mass Effect

Jackson/April - Grey’s Anatomy

Kevin/Nora - The Leftovers

Sam/Jack - Stargate SG1

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Earlier this year, I rewatched “The Prince of Tides,” which I first saw when I was 12 or 13, and it was the first adult film that I loved. I absolutely hated the ending, so much so that for like seven years, I just ended the film early whenever I would watch it.

I had this idea for JB that wasn’t a PoT adaptation, because that’s too intense for my writing style, but more like Jaime was an actor trying to transform his image from hot dummy to serious actor. As a young actor, a upcoming band wrote a song, Hollywood Handsome [it’s a real song, and it’s great] about him as a beefcake with no brains, and the idea stuck in the public. He wants to use PoT to transform his public image, with B as his director (and eventual co-star).

It’s a good idea, but I lost the thread of it, and I probably won’t pick it back up anytime soon, if at all.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Focus I guess? I can take an idea, a voice in your head, or a planet that makes you see things, or space bounty hunters, and grind them down to their essentials components to tell a story. Good or bad, well that’s up to reader, but on the flip side of this, I’m also pretty good at spotting when a story is out of my control and walking away early.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Body/scenic descriptions. They are TORTURE. I don’t like reading them, and I hate writing them, so I try to avoid them as much as possible. Fanfic is so good for that, because mostly, I really just need to say the Jaime is hot, and Brienne has a rockin’ bod, and I’m done.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I probably wouldn’t try. I only know English, and I’m sure I’d absolutely butcher any other language I tried to implement.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

AMC’s first TV show was a well-loved but little seen series called “Remember WENN” and it was the first TV show where I dived into online fandom. It was a great experience, even after AMC canceled the show (yes, still bitter about it). I wrote two fics for the show, and I think they are lost to the archives now, and the world is probably better off without them. But thinking back to the one I remember, my love of angst was apparent even back then.

20) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

This is a tough one, but I narrowed it down to two, and I can’t decide from here, so here are my top two favorites:

Saving Jaime Lannister

Valyria

Tagging: This is a lot, so I’m not going to tag anybody, but if you’re reading this and you want to do it, go for it! It’s a lot of fun.

#tag game #fic writer asks

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yungidreamer · 4 years ago

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Always

This is a gift I made for someone for Christmas and I thought I would share it here in case anyone might have fun with it here as well

Summary: After the defeat of the reapers, Garrus is left without his soulmate, and wants nothing more than to have her back.

Wordcount: 4.8k

Content warnings: Very angsty, missing your soulmate and being stuck in memories of the times you had together.

Text in bold is a flashback and plain text is present time. The italic section is a ‘dream’ (meaning maybe real, maybe just a dream, you can decide).

Garrus ran his fingers over the texture of the name on the memorial. Shepard. The name was etched more deeply in his heart than it was on the large memorial he stood in front of now. The sounds of London buzzed distantly around him, barely penetrating the fog of melancholy that wrapped around him.

In this place the defenders of all life in the Milky Way galaxy made their last stand. Too many were taken in the battle to preserve life itself, but their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

For all the moments we have, now and into the future, we give them thanks.

***

“Welcome aboard Garrus,” Commander Shepard said, giving the turian a quick nod. “Glad to have you.”

That moment and those words, spoken with such a casual friendly warmth, had been a changing point he could never have anticipated. Stepping foot on the Normandy and getting out of the C-Sec rules that felt more like shackles than useful guidelines, had been his first moment of finding himself. There was never a boring moment and, damn if Shepard didn’t have a way of challenging him, challenging the preconceived notions he carried around without thinking about it.

Shepard just… made him a better person.

***

“Still glad you left C-Sec,” Shepard’s voice echoed behind him in the docking bay. A smile spread across his face and he straightened up from his work on the MAKO.

“No question,” he responded, the trill in his voice carrying his humor. “Being free of all the red tape and regulations has been amazing. I finally feel like I can actually make a difference. Get things done.”

“You do remember that there are still rules here, too, you know?” Amusement suffused her voice.

“Yeah, I understand,” he shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I feel like your rules make a lot more sense. They aren’t stopping you from saving people or letting bad people go just because of some silly technicality.”

“Rules exist for a reason,” she reminded him firmly, but still a tinge of understanding in her tone. “But I know the frustration of feeling like things are slipping through the cracks because the rules leave no space for judgement.”

“Yes, exactly,” Garrus sighed, relieved to feel like someone understood. “I understand the reason for rules but… it all just feels like red tape at some point. If you aren’t hiring people who you can trust to have good judgement, maybe you aren’t hiring the right people.”

“Even good people can make bad judgements,” she pointed out. “It’s too easy to get caught up in being sure that your judgement is clear when you are neck deep in something yet still only know half the story.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Just having to see the consequences of people getting away and causing more misery all because the rules and the paperwork and the regulations got in the way. I hate it. I hate… being helpless to save the innocent.”

“It’s never possible to save everyone,” Shepard commiserated. “All we can do is our best. Most of the rules are there to keep us from making the same mistakes other people have before. We get to make all new ones. It’s just part of being human… or turian, too, I guess.”

“Right,” Garrus laughed. “I should really get back to this.”

“Of course,” She nodded, taking a step back. “We can talk more later.”

***

“Has your father accepted your choice to leave C-Sec?” Shepard asked as she watched him work on the MAKO.

“As much as he ever will, I think,” a tinge of bitterness flavored Garrus’ voice. “He’s like C-Sec personified. He’ll never understand or respect someone who doesn’t fit into his system.”

“Don’t write him off just yet,” she cautioned good naturedly. “He probably only really got to see the bad sides of people who didn’t follow his rules and his way of doing things. I think you might be surprised at how he comes around… eventually.”

“You have more faith in him than he seems to have in me,” he sighed bitterly.

“Sometimes it can be hard for a parent, especially one who also is accustomed to authority outside the family as well,” she replied. “For them to accept when their children don’t just follow their same path. Give it time and you’ll be able to show him that your choice was good too.”

“I’d ask you to talk to him for me,” he chuckled. “But like I said before, he doesn’t like spectres even more than he seems to disapprove of my life choices.”

“I can understand,” she shrugged. “He probably saw the consequences of rogues and rule breakers more than anyone else. It would make anyone wary of seeing the same in others.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, turning to face her. “He saw the worst in people every day and I know there was more than one corrupt member of C-Sec he had to take down from the inside.”

“I’m sure more than one of them started out just bending the rules to make things easier or just to get things done,” she sighed. “I can understand how it would be hard for him to see it as more than just a slippery slope.”

“I know, I get it, I really do,” Garrus shook his head and returned to his work. “I just wish he trusted me.”

“You’ll get it someday,” she assured him, pushing off where she had been leaning against the MAKO. “You’ll earn it and then it will mean even more.”

***

Flaming ash fell around him like snow. The smell of the citadel burning around him was acrid and the cracking of fire filled his ears mixed with the blaring of the alarms. Seeing that piece of the recharge that had once been Sovereign fly towards them in the council chambers had, all at once, moved like slow motion and with unbelievable speed. It was as if he could see it coming, slowly moving closer and closer, yet his body moved like he was fighting through honey. Time pulled at him, kept his movements slow even as he willed himself and the others in the room, including Shepard to run, to move out of the way. He knew they could not make it far enough.

“GO,” Shepards voice had been sharp, decisive, like herself. Then there had been that dull, perfect ringing silence that comes when sound overwhelms your senses. An odd bliss of nothingness. In that moment he had wondered if he had made it. Perhaps this deafness was the last thing he would experience in life.

Then, slowly, as if someone was turning on the volume on a distant world, the sounds of a half destroyed station filled in around him. The crackling of the fire, the scream of the alarms, the creak of the building settling into its new, less stable self.

Shepard, he had thought, trying to turn to look in the direction he had last seen her, but all he could see was wreckage. Where she had stood was the massive pile of former reaper. Could she have survived that? Did she get out of the way in time? He waited, looking that direction, hoping to see some movement, but there was nothing.

“Captain Anderson, we found them,” a voice shouted from nearby as some of the wreckage was moved away. “They’re in here.”

“Take it easy,” Captain Anderson’s calming, authoritative voice carried over to him as the man knelt near Liara. “It’s over. You’re safe now. Where’s the Commander?”

Both sets of eyes turned to look in the direction she had been before the wreckage had come careening into the tower. She couldn’t have dodged that, there is just no way, he thought, his heart in his throat.

He had no way of knowing at the time, but that moment of fear, that split second of acceptance that she was gone was training for those two long years of her absence that was to come. Two years of trying to find a way to make the difference he felt like he had been making at her side.

***

“Archangel?”

That voice… he knew that voice. He could never have forgotten that voice, even when he tried.

“Shepard?” Part of him still didn’t believe it even when he saw her face.

Just my luck, he thought mere moments later as he lay bleeding on the ground in some back corner of Omega. Shepard finally returns from the dead and I’m going to die. I guess if one of us has to go, I’d rather it be me.

“We’re getting you out of here Garrus,” she said, leaning over him. Her voice traveled to his ears as if he had sunk to the bottom of a very deep pool. “Just hold on.” How could she sound so sure, he wondered, pain flaring with each move. “Radio Joker, make sure they’re ready for us.” The tone of her voice told him he looked bad. Maybe this is what I deserve, he resigned himself even as he refused to give up. He wanted to stay… but he wasn’t sure he deserved it.

***

“Look, you’ve done it before,” Garrus huffed, leaning forward on the desk. “Why not this time? Is it really so different?”

“Garrus, it isn’t that simple,” Miranda leaned back in her chair. “Even if I had all the resources I had back then, what we did, the testing the repairs on the cellular level, they were all in response to the injuries and damage her body had taken after the loss of the SR 1. With what they recovered, it would almost be like starting the whole thing over.”

“But you could do it again,” he insisted. “Just get the same team back. With the same talent and well stocked lab, we could get her back again.”

“After all that we’ve been through, after all the suffering,” she shook her head and sighed. “Maybe it’s time we just let her rest. In her two lifetimes, she lived enough for all of us combined. I want her back, too, you know. You aren’t the only one who misses her.”

“It’s not the same,” he was being defensive and he knew it. It was just… how could everyone just give up like this? “You only worked with her for a little while… you… It’s just not the same.”

“I know you loved her,” Miranda let his insistence go, fighting him on the idea that she cared just as much was futile. She didn’t love Shepard, but she had earned her respect, and that probably mattered more to her. The galaxy was a better place because of her, and it would have been an even better place if she had survived that final battle. But she hadn’t. She had done what any on her team would have; she stepped up and made the necessary sacrifice to ensure the survival of sentient life in the galaxy.

“You just,” he sighed, clenching his mandibles in frustration. “You don’t understand. You can’t understand.”

“Just because I’m saying no,” she said with a firm finality. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it, too.”

“Not enough,” Garrus said with a resigned defiance. Without another word, he turned and walked away, only the sound of his armored feet clicking metallically against the floor plating filling the silence.

***

“I just thought being finished with him, with what happened to my squad,” Garrus’ mandibles clicked in frustration. “That it would feel different. I thought I would feel…”

“Less guilt?” Shepard prompted. “Like you had finally found peace?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s it,” he admitted. “Thank you for your help and for everything you’ve done for me with this whole thing. There isn’t anyone else I would have trusted for this mission.”

“You did the right thing,” Shepard soothed. “In time the feeling will fade. It’s not the sort of thing you just forget but you’ll find a way to accept the difference you can make given what happened. You can’t change the past but you can do things now to make a difference.”

“If only it was easy to know I had done the right thing,” he groaned.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have the surety of knowing that,” she chuckled. “I don’t know that we can ever really have the comfort of knowing for certain that we did the absolute right thing, just that we are doing our best given what we know.”

“How do you just accept that?” He questioned, baffled by the ease with which she seemed to be able to do it.

“I don’t,” she gave a scoffing laugh. “But I don’t let it stop me. It’s my motivation. I know I can’t completely avoid having regrets, but the regrets I have help me avoid more; not making the same mistakes.”

“No, no, we just get to make completely new ones,” Garrus gave a self deprecating laugh.

“Exactly,” Shepard agreed with a laugh.

“Every day a new adventure,” he smiled.

“Every day,” she nodded.

***

“Garrus,” Tali’s sweet accented voice trilled over the vidcom. “It’s been a while. How… how are you?”

“As well as can be expected,” he couldn’t help the stiffness in his voice as he replied.

“Of course,” she replied quickly before they both lapsed into a tense silence.

“How is the resettlement of the Rannoch going?” He finally asked, searching for something to say.

“Better than I could have ever expected,” she responded. “The geth have been invaluable in the process. After 300 years… I never would have thought we could be living side by side.”

“Everyone is really getting along? Even after all the history and everything that has happened?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

“Well, not everyone,” she quickly admitted. “But the people who have been most skeptical have decided to remain aboard the homeships, keep the lifestyle of the fleet. I’m not sure I like the idea of us splitting up, but I can understand how some wouldn’t be able to trust the geth after so many centuries.”

“I’m impressed the geth could make the transition themselves that easily,” he admitted. “Afterall, it was your people who started all of it.”

“It wasn’t that simple,” she started defensively, then paused, having to admit there was truth to it. “But the geth still operate collectively. I envy them sometimes. It must be so much simpler when everyone just… understands.”

“Where is the fun in that?” He joked. “Is life worth living if there isn’t something you have to fight for?”

“There is enough to fight about without having to fight amongst ourselves,” she pointed out even as a note of humor tinged her voice.

“Listen,” he began, trying to move onto the topic of the call he had intended to have. “With all the knowledge we have now… with the geth and everything else… do you think… can we bring her back again?”

“I know you miss her, but…” Tali sighed. “Even if we know how. I don’t know that it is the right thing to do.”

“What do you mean?” Garrus could feel his stomach drop.

“She spent her life saving the galaxy, saving all our lives,” she shook her head. “She has earned her rest.”

“She earned a lifetime of happiness,” he corrected with passion.

“She made the choice and I have chosen to respect it,” Tali responded with resolute compassion. “I live my life and lead my people in honor of that choice and that sacrifice. I am doing what I can so that none of it, none of the losses or the sacrifices made to bring us here go to waste. And I am letting her rest. It’s all I can do. I’m sorry.”

***

Garrus returned to the apartment Anderson had left Shepard. He didn’t really know why he hadn’t sold it yet. Every corner of the place was filled with ghosts. Joker’s laughter and banter at the bar. Kaiden on the second floor floating James with his bionic field. His eyes fell upon a small pile of datapads. Just looking at them made the echos of Mordin’s voice echo in his mind. So many ghosts.

He padded through the sparse but well appointed room that had stayed the same since that last party they all threw before… before everything went wrong. Of course he had gone in knowing some or all of them might die. They had already lost Mordin and Legion. It would have been a miracle not to lose anyone else from the team. He just wished it hadn’t been her. Not again.

***

“How did you even find her body?” Garrus asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Technically I didn’t,” Liara admitted, pacing in front of the desk that held her camera. “The Blue Suns recovered her remains. The real challenge was getting the body back from the Shadowbroker. Leaving Freon behind for all that time… it was a hard choice, but it was the right one.”

“Easy for you to say as the one who wasn’t captured by the Shadowbroker,” he said sardonically.

“He would have done the same,” she assured him. “The job was too important. We couldn’t let the collectors have her.”

“I wish I knew what they thought they would have found if they had gotten their hands on her,” she shook her head and sighed.

“Who knows,” he shook his head. “Maybe they wanted to know what she knew, what the Prothians had managed to preserve and pass on through the beacons.”

“There had to be an easier way to find that out,” she decided after a pause. “Maybe they needed to know why she could understand it. Shepard always was something special.”

“Do you think there was something that different about her?” He asked. “I mean in some way you could quantify in DNA or something?”

“It’s foolish to think that such things would simply be a result of some small quirk of genetics,” Liara admitted. “But maybe… maybe it could have told them those most likely to be dangerous to them if they were allowed to live and resist them.”

“That makes sense,” he had to agree. “They needed the masses to make the new collectors and maybe… maybe someone like Shepard would have been used to make the new ‘human’ reaper.”

“Perhaps,” she considered. “We have so much information now at our fingertips. I never really thought I would feel like there was such a thing as knowing too much. As a historian, I grew so accustomed to picking through little bits of information here and there. Now it feels like I have just fallen through the ceiling of some great library of a thousand lost civilizations. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Do you think…” Garrus paused, his mandibles clenching and twitching anxiously.

“You want to bring her back again,” Liara finished for him.

“Don’t you?” He pushed. “Don’t you think that she deserves it? Deserves to have a real life beyond being a sacrifice for the greater good?”

“I… yes but… it isn’t that simple,” she began. “The Illusive man is gone. There is no Cerberus this time to bankroll her resurrection. And what we found, what was left by the time her body was recovered, it wasn’t the same.”

“We did it before,” he insisted. “Surely what we learned from before, and with what we know now from all of this… it has to be possible.”

“Right now it feels like anything is possible,” she admitted. “But even if we have the information that would make it possible without 4 billion credits, I don’t know if we would understand it yet. Like I said, there is so much right now we are just working on absorbing at the moment.”

“Can’t someone, the geth for example, sort through it,” his voice held a note of desperation. “They owe Shepard as much as any of us do.”

“You can give a Yagh a physics textbook but they will never understand the material,” her analogy wrangled but got the point across.

“You really think we are too dumb to understand it now?” Garrus asked flatly.

“Stupid or not,” Liara shrugged. “We have to understand the framework and build the fuselage before we can fly the ship.”

“We’ve done it before,” he repeated again for the hundredth time.

“Cerberus did something before,” she corrected. “They spent two years doing bespoke work on a single person with a single circumstance. There isn’t anyone or any organization that is going to want to invest in a project like that again.”

“Every single being in existence owes it to Shepard to do this,” he insisted.

“Shepard never did this expecting something in return,” she reminded him.

“I don’t care.” He snapped. “I do.”

“Shepard has returned to the greater whole we are all destined to return to,” she tried to comfort him, turning to the idea most Asari believed in to some degree. It made sense to her even as a vague, comforting idea more than a strict system of answers of belief. “Maybe that is the best thing we can give her.”

“I can’t just be satisfied with that,” Garrus admitted. “I can’t just accept it.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything different,” a sad humor filled the admission. “If anything changes, I promise to let you know.”

“Thanks,” he nodded and looked away. “I’ll let you go.”

“Be well, Garrus,” Liara said before closing the channel. He sighed and moved away from the desk, heading up to the bedroom to sleep. Rest had eluded him even when he slept. His mind could not stop chasing every possibility, every chance, every last grain of hope. He had to admit that things looked bleak as he changed and stretched out on his side of the bed. His eyes closed and after a few tosses and turns, he slipped into dreams.

The hum of the SR-2 filled his ears and he opened his eyes to see a field of stars through the skylight above the bed in the captain's quarters. It was a view he loved but had seen too few times. Of course really, it had been the company that made the place so special. Even if he had only seen it once, it would have been burned into his mind for the rest of his life. Ripples of blue shimmered over the field that kept space outside even in this dream world.

Beside him he felt someone else shift in the bed and turned to see her laying beside him, a contented look on her face as she looked up at the same view he had opened his eyes to. The room was dim and warmly lit, just like she liked it. The speakers played a low key, chill electronic song; one of her favorites for going to sleep.

“Thanks for the company,” her voice filled the holes in his heart as she turned to face him. “It’s never the same here without you.”

“Always,” he turned on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. “You know it will always be the two of us, Shepard and Vakarian. Side by side. Forever.”

“How is everyone these days?” She asked, giving him a smile as she reached up to touch his face.

“Fine, fine,” he nodded, answering automatically at first. “Good even really. Tali is thriving in the work to settle people back on Rannoch. Miranda is putting all that genetic perfection to good use on both sanctioned and not so sanctioned projects. Joker is test flying the newest and most advanced ships that are being built. He and EDI got a little place together near the R&D facility that he would be living and working at otherwise. She’s learned to cook to make sure he is taking care of himself. Liara has put the organizational and research skills that she developed as the Shadowbroker to monitor and integrate all the information we have as best we can. Wrex and Grunt are back on Tuchanka rebuilding their civilization, ‘only better’ as one of them put it in the last message I got. All of the alliance crew is happily back at work flying from one system to another ferrying researchers and tech to colonies and planets as the innovations come out of all the new things we are learning. Jacob has a family and has happily settled in a new colony on the edge of what used to be alliance space. He’s happy taking orders and making a difference as part of a project he feels matters.”

“What about you?” She asked, eyes searching his. “How is my favorite turian doing?”

“I’m—” he wasn’t sure why, but he was about to say he was fine. At the moment, lying beside her, maybe he was, but that isn’t what she meant. “I miss you. Some days it feels like I am the only one who remembers you. I keep trying to get you back and everyone says it’s impossible. They did it before, why can’t someone just try again?”

“You know I’m always here,” she soothed. “Even if you can’t see me, I’m still here. I’m waiting for you at the bar. I don’t mind the wait. I’ve already got a bottle of the good stuff just waiting for us to share.”

“I don’t want to wait,” he held her cheek as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I hate that I have to wait to meet you here. I want to fall asleep in your arms again. I want to worry when you go on stupid missions. I want to have to worry about securing your apartment again. Zaeed still has some good ideas about securing the place Anderson left you.”

“No one is better at making some place safe than an ex-assassin,” admiring laughter danced in Shepard’s voice.

“Kasumi dropped by to check on me,” he added. “I’m pretty sure she’d been watching me for a few days since she gave a few things a security upgrade before she left. I have no idea what she is up to these days, but she seems happy and well. I guess when you are a cat burglar, not seeing her on the extranet is a good thing.”

“She always did land on her feet,” she smiled and shook her head.

“Samara and her surviving Ardat-Yakshi daughter have been able to spend some quality time together.” Garrus recalled from his last conversation with her. “Her work as a Justicar has diminished since the last stand. Besides, I think once you’ve saved the existence of life itself, anyone would feel like they’ve earned a moment’s pause.”

“I’m sure her daughter is grateful for that,” she responded.

“Samara is too,” he agreed.

“I’m glad everyone is doing well,” Shepard sighed contentedly. “You know it’s okay for you to move on, right? I know it’s not that you’ve forgotten me or that you gave up. You can follow your dreams still, go out and fight injustice.”

“I’m not ready yet,” he sighed. “Just a little longer.”

“You don’t have to stay here,” she assured him. “I’ll be with you wherever you are. Omega, Horizon, earth… wherever.”

“I know, just… not yet,” he curled up along her side and let his eyes close as he held her close.

“Whenever you’re ready,” she agreed, hand resting on his arm that was draped across her stomach.

***

Liara paced around the dim room, lit mostly by the cluster of screens that lined much of one wall. Her mind lipped through a hundred ideas and possibilities as she scrolled through a series of names on the data pad in her hand. Her networks had their fingers in almost anything that was going on in Alliance territory and in most of the places outside its jurisdiction as well.

She had said no to Garrus when he called, but she had never really written off the possibility of working to bring Shepard back. She could cling to it, keep pursuing the possibilities while keeping a cool, dispassionate head. Shepard would always be someone who she owed more to than she could have ever repaid in even an asari lifetime. Still, she wasn’t her soulmate, the other half of her the way she was for Garrus. It would be cruel to string him along as she looked into the slim, distant possibilities that existed.

This looks like something, she decided, pausing on something that had come on to her list in the last few days. Clicking through the information, she flicked it onto the screens on the wall, analyzing all the information and connecting it with threads and bits of research that others were doing in completely different places.

Yes, this could be very promising, she decided. Taking a seat, at her communication station she pulled up a covert channel and opened the line to one of the agents she had as her roll as the Shadowbroker.

“Shadowbroker, what a surprise to hear from you,” the trill of a female turian voice chirped over the coms.

“I‘ve been following the research happening at your facility,” Liara’s voice was transformed over the coms into a mechanical tone that held none of her original tone or voice. “I want to know more…”

#mass effect #mass effect epilogue #shepard x garrus #fem shep #liara #tali #miranda #mass effect fanfiction

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crqstalite · 4 years ago

Note

“Because I fell for you, isn’t it obvious?” for Brione/Garrus

i write a criminal amount of brione + garrus, and even less of garrus himself to be entirely honest. hopefully once i get around to reintroducing the pair of them in redamancy, i’ll have a better handle on his character. brione’s usually so put together, so it’s just a tad ooc for her as well.

placing this right around the end of me2, but i couldn’t find the N7 mission i was thinking of, so...handwavey mesh a few together and we ended up here. pretty short since it goes effectively nowhere.

mass effect 2. petrakarian. no warnings.

Brione snorts, trying to hide a laugh and failing miserably. She’s grinning like an absolute idiot. She can barely look at Garrus properly.

That is by far the most reckless thing they’ve ever done. Rigging things up to explode is neither of their fortes, but Brione didn’t become an N1 only to balk at a challenge. Wasn’t that hard with a few grenades and a target nearly a foot taller than she was.

And it worked. No, that was the part that was stunning. The fact that it hadn’t gotten them both killed in the process was the thing she was still hung up on.

Shepard wasn’t going to be happy when she found out things had gone off the rails so quickly, and that wasn’t a report Brione was looking forward to writing. If she found out. EDI could be trusted to keep it a secret, and it wasn’t as if she or Garrus were clamoring for their Commander to chew them out for it. The job was done, the parameters had just been shifted. Enough to be noticeable, but enough to make it far easier to do.

Usually Brione could be trusted to keep her head on straight when it came to things like this. Very by the book. Her Alliance superiors often pressured her into more conservative strategies, and after Torfan, it wasn’t surprising why. Blowing a building sky high was definitely something she was capable of, just not something that the Alliance would be happy to have their names tied to.

Something about facing their possible deaths in a few weeks or less turned her on her head. Right now, she isn’t sure minds it.

“Guess I should be glad you even came back for me.” Garrus deadpans, though there’s more relief in his voice than anything else. He doesn’t look any worse for wear, which only added to this win.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Vakarian.” She smirks at the Turian, running a hand through her hair, “I would consider this a success. The mechs are gone, the building is a crater and whatever information the Alliance was after is safely in our hands now.”

“It almost lost you your hair, Petrakis. Not sure about how you’d feel being bald.”

“I could pull off the look,” She gives it a single second of thought. She’s always had this mop of dark hair, at least from the earliest that she could remember. The vision of being spontaneously without it is enough for her to visibly blanch. A buzzcut? On her? “Or not. Either way, there’s little reason to be sour.”

“It isn’t the craziest thing we’ve done, not by a longshot,” Garrus responds, before he glances at her, “Don’t do that again.”

“Don’t do what?” She asks, turning the datachip in her hand a few times, “If anything, I could ask you to stop going after more scars. That came far too close.”

“For you, maybe-” He answers uneasily, “How did you manage to turn this on me? You were the one who engineered this whole thing.”

“And you were the one nearly got singed. I should ask you how you’d feel with a buzzcut,” She chuckles, starting towards the transport that had just landed, Garrus on her heels, “Be more careful, would you?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one reminding you of that after the stunt you pulled?”

“And yet, here I am reminding you.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I fell for you,” There’s a dangerous twinkle in her eyes when she looks over her shoulder, holstering the sniper rifle she’d been using earlier, “Isn’t it obvious?”

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ilyasvieltrevelyanshepard · 7 years ago

Text

Nights on Illium

Well, another weekend enjoying the MEWC! This time I publish later than planned, but at least, here it is ;)

I had this idea roaming inside my brain for weeks now >_< and yesterday it screamed to me to be written at last hahaha

Is a fShoker ^_^ with some sassy comments and smut at the end :P

As always, no hard editing on this works. Hope you enjoy it! Obviously, the smut is under the cut... and well, a big part of the fic too xDDD I created another short-long fic >_< sorry hahahahahahaha

The Normandy docks in Illium after the madness of recovering Subject Zero from Purgatory, where, as always, everything has gone FUBAR as soon as Jane has put a foot in the prison. Joker has been sitting on the Normandy, hearing everything, with the vitals of the ground team on his screens, worried to death every minute of the mission. After the battle, Shepard has almost run to the cockpit, sealing them inside and sitting in the floor beside him, just letting him pet her hair until she relaxed enough to talk with the rest of the crew and face Jack again. As soon as she storms away from him, he selects the destination, opening the extranet to book a room on a place Liara has recommended him last time they visited. He has ignored every question from Miranda and Garrus about why they are going to Illium again, turning off the speakers diligently. The damned button is getting old thanks to the cancer ship and her diatribes, but who cares?

The ship lands softly in the designated dock, one of the best and closest to the market area, a gift from Liara, and he can’t thank her enough for that. As soon as the control tower gives them the green light, he contacts Shepard. “Hey, Commander. Are you alive?” A soft grunt is his answer, and he chuckles softly, “Glad to hear that our new team member didn’t kill you for sure this time. I have a surprise for you.”

That seems to pick her curiosity, because he can hear the sound of her shifting, on the couch maybe? “Is the reason we are docked on Illium without anyone having selected the destination?”

“You are no fun, Shep. Do you want my surprise or not? We can return to the ugly and dirty Omega if you prefer.”

He can hear her sighing before answering him. “No. The team deserves a rest, and Illium is a nice place to have it. Besides, now that we have a convict with us, we can’t even go to the Citadel until we have her controlled. Let the asari deal with her for a while.”

Adjusting the cap on his head, he stands from the chair, straightening his back and popping some bones in the process. “Then is settled. Will you join me in the cockpit in around five minutes?”

The sound of her standing from wherever she has been sitting reaches him, making him smile fondly, “Sure thing. I’m on my way. I hope that surprise will be worth enough for the scolding I’m going to have from Miranda tomorrow.”

“I truly hope so.” The hiss of the elevator’s doors closing signals her position, and he fixes his cap before blocking the consoles and leaving the cockpit, leaning on the wall beside the exit and talking with her using the omnitool. “Will you protect me from her ire? I’ve been ignoring her for the past hour, and you know how bad she deals with not being the world’s perfect belly button.”

Shepard appears on the CIC, giving a short nod to Chambers on her way to the cockpit. “That will depend on how good your surprise will be.” Her strong step filled the silence of the hallway that leads to the bow of the ship. Seeing him leaning against the wall, she smiles at him, closing the comms. Stopping in front of him, she crosses her arms. “Ok. I’m here. Where’s my surprise, Flight Lieutenant?”

“Oh, we are in rank mode again, huh? Ok, ok, Commander. My surprise is outside the ship. And I plan to keep you there all night. Maybe it will be good to let the team know that you will be--” He closes the distance to her, a mischievous grin plastered on his face, and keeping an eye to the few crewmembers that are roaming the CIC, “completely inaccessible for the rest of the day and night.”

A matching grin grows on her face, and she raises a hand to put it on his chest, enjoying the hard muscles she knows are hidden under the uniform. “That sounds like a challenge.”

With a wink, he steps away from the wall, tilting his head and pointing with his hand to the door. “Let’s see how it goes. But Commander, I’m the only one allowed to bring weapons to this mission.”

She chuckles, following him while writing the message to Chambers, asking her to inform the rest of the team about the free night. “Feeling cocky, huh?”

The Normandy’s door closes behind them, and Joker sets the pace to a slow stroll. “We can call it a weapon, Jane.” Looking at her over his shoulder, he giggles his brows while his mouth turns into a grin, “I know, for sure, that it can make you scream and turn you into a useless ragdoll. It's pretty effective with you.”

Shepard pushes his shoulder, making him laugh, “Definitely cocky. Now I’m curious about that surprise.”

“You will see soon enough. We need to grab a skycar. Sorry, but you will need to keep my slow pace for a while.”

With a chuckle, she steps beside him, “Didn’t I have to do it every single time, Casanova?”

They leave the docking hallway, taking the door that leads to the cargo area. They have just reached the stairs that lead to their destination when Shepard’s omnitool begins to beep. Raising it, she opens the commlink, and a very pissed Miranda appears on the screen. “Lawson.”

The biotic’s voice sounds as angry as one can imagine by her look, “Commander. Why in the void are we on Illium? And where are you?”

With a roll of her eyes, Shepard’s face turns into a severe frown, fixing her gaze on Miranda’s face on the little screen. “We are here because I want it. You don’t need to agree or even know about my decisions or course of actions, Lawson. Remember who is in charge of the fucking mission and who is your commanding officer.” Closing the comm without leaving Miranda talk, Shepard keeps walking in the taxi’s direction, with a very amused Joker in her tail. “Shush. Don’t break the magic of the moment.”

Joker fights very hard to keep the grin away from his face, but he knows he is failing spectacularly when she rolls her eyes at him when they reach the taxi console. They share a little giggle while the taxi arrives, with Shepard trying to look pissed with him, but he reads her like an open book, knowing that she is fighting the laugh as hard as him. The car arrives, and he opens the door for her, making her chuckle and call him ‘Casanova’ again. He enters the car too, turning on the screen to select the destination. He can see Shepard looking intently into the screen, trying to see where they are going. Taking off his cap, he puts it on her head, lowering the visor until it covers her eyes. “No peeking, Jane. I want to surprise you, remember?”

Her huff accompanies the movement of her arms crossing over her chest, “Fine. But really, I expect it to be an awesome surprise.”

The skycar takes off, surprising Shepard, who makes a soft ‘woop’ making Joker chuckle. “I hope it will be awesome, but time will say. We will be there soon, don’t worry.” Less than five minutes later, the car is landing on a private terrace on the Sanves hotel. Joker has used a good amount of credits to have this suite for the night. Taking a deep breath, he closes the distance to her, pulling off the cap while giving her cheek a soft peak. “Welcome to paradise, Jane.”

Shepard lost the ability to talk while her brain accepts what she is seeing. They have landed on a terrace, covered in green and flowers. A big room can be seen through the windows, and a little pool and a jacuzzi lay to her right. She keeps examining her surroundings but moves a hand to capture one of Joker’s, interlacing their fingers. “Well, consider me surprised, love.”

Squeezing her fingers, he raises the hand to his lips, giving her a sweet kiss on each knuckle before letting it go. “Wait until you see the room. Come on, the taxi has to leave, and I want to enjoy our time here to the max.”

They exit the taxi, which takes off as soon as the doors close behind them. Shepard is still in awe, looking around, touching the flowers of the flowerpots around her. Joker walks to the doors, using the code from the booking mail to open them. As soon as he steps inside, the sound system and the lights inside and out turned on. Everything is bathed in a pale and soft blue light, giving the room an ethereal look, with the shiny metallic surfaces and the white furniture. Shepard is leaning against the doorframe when he turns in the middle of the room. She wears a lopsided grin, and her arms are crossed over her chest, “I must admit that I didn’t expect this.”

Joker picks the bottle of sparkling wine from the table, together with a pair of glasses, before moving to her. “I can add the ‘I’m the one who can surprise the mighty Commander Shepard, twice, to my CV.” She sticks her tongue out to him, stepping away from the doorframe when he comes closer. “Now, my dear Commander, I must ask you to hand over your clothes until tomorrow. No garments allowed for the next twelve hours.”

“Bossy.”

“You love it.” He winks at her, passing beside her on his way to the pool. It is the main reason he booked this very room. The water gives him more freedom of movement, taking away the weight from his legs. Reaching the deck chairs beside it, he puts the wine on the little table between them, putting the cap on one of the chairs and turning to face her. When he finds her still at the door, looking at him with a quizzical frown, he shakes his head, pointing to the pool. “I believe I'm being pretty obvious here, Jane. Use that strategist mind of you to add one plus one and move your freckled ass here, my love.”

Her soft chuckle travels directly to his heart, and Gods above, the way she is moving her hips while walking to the pool is going straight to his groin. “Don’t know if I like that bossy side of you, Jeff. But it looks like a good day to try things, huh?” Stopping in front of him, she keeps eye contact with him while her hands begin to work in her clothes. The formal uniform she wears whenever she isn’t inside of her armour gets opened with a deft movement of her fingers. The jacket fall from her shoulders, getting caught on her hands for some seconds before she let it fall to the ground. With a wink, she bends a knee, unlacing her boots, one after the other, before doing the same with his. He is looking every movement with predatory eyes, and when she finishes with the laces, Joker puts a hand on her shoulder before she can stand, “Now that you are down here, mind to help with my trousers too?” She mutters a ‘bossy’ under her nose, but he can hear the amusement in her voice. Her hands travel up his legs, in a slow movement, until her fingers find the waist of his pants. Moving to the centre of it, she opens the button and lowers the zip, slowly enough to make him growl. Once his trousers are opened, he puts a finger under her chin, raising her face to look at him. He keeps pulling her up until she is standing in front of him. Closing the little gap between them, he captures her mouth in a life-sucking kiss, putting all his passion and dirty thoughts into it, making her gasp and lose her mind on it. Joker lets his hands roam over her back, finding the perfect spot to grab her ass cheeks and pulling her against his body, grunting softly when her curves mould perfectly with his hardness. Her hands are working clumsily with the closings of his uniform, making him break the kiss with a half laugh, half grunt. “Clothes off, Jane, right now.”

Shepard steps away from him, panting softly, and begins to take off the garments, using the feet to pull off the boots while she peels off the tank top from her upper body. He does the same with his own clothes, letting them half folded on the same chair as his cap. She is in her underwear in record time, and Joker has to smile at her. The eagerness he always brings on her is the better aphrodisiac he never heard about. Pulling down his pants, he steps out of them, letting them fall unceremoniously over the chair before taking her back in his arms. Her skin is so soft… even before she healed the angry scars, her skin has been perfect. A game for him. A map to follow, enjoying the moles and battle marks over her back, following the trail of wounds of her belly, the bones of her ribcage, the firm muscles under his soft skin. His fingers find the closing of her bra, opening it with a little twitch of them, making her giggle. “You magic fingers are working hard today.”

Following the line of her spine, Joker slides his hands under her panties, lowering them while he bites her neck, enjoying the little sounds she makes. “I’m gonna show you how hard my fingers can work on that beautiful body of yours.” When her panties are around her ankles, he uses a hand to raise her leg, encouraging her to step away from the discarded garment. She takes the hint, taking one ankle from the fallen panties before throwing them into the pile of clothes near the chairs. Pushing her away from him with a hand on her chest, he grabs the bra and pulls it away from her, letting it fall to the ground. Looking intently into her eyes, he keeps pushing her to the edge of the pool, stopping at the last moment with a chuckle. “I was planning to throw you into the water, but I don’t want to finish my night at the medbay. Wait for me in the water, will you?”.

With a giggle of her own, she grabs him, pulling him to her body and letting herself fall into the water, dragging him with her between her laughs and his swearing. They landed with a big splash, water spraying everywhere around the pool. They surface soon, and she runs away from him, giggling like a child. “I’m sorry, Jeff. It was so tempting to not doing it!”

Following her, he corners her near the steps of the exit, “I’m not mad. But now I have to think on a way to make you pay for it.” She let him capture her, pinning her against the wall. Her legs instinctively wrapping itself around his waist. The water makes her float, giving him the chance to keep her in that position. He uses the tip of his tongue to follow the hard line of her jaw, finishing on her hear, before tracing the shell of it, making her gasp. Biting softly the lobe, he keeps kissing and biting her neck, until he reaches the pulse point, where he sucks, hard enough to leave a dark bruise, marking her skin. A loud moan escapes her control, fuelling Joker’s passion. Straightening his back, he fixes her gaze on her face, waiting until she recovers a bit of control and looks him back. “Rest your arms on the edge.” She does as told. She can be the Commander everywhere, but right here, right now, she let him take all the decisions for her. Leaning booth arms on the edge, she lays her head back too, resting the upper part of her shoulders and head on it too. He untangle her legs from his back, grabbing her ass while stepping back. He raises her body until it is floating over the surface of the water. His right hand finds a perfect spot on her small back, keeping it floating in the perfect spot, while his left hand opens her legs for him. Her foggy mind can imagine what he wants to do, but she screams his name anyway as soon as his tongue touches her inner labia. Knowing and feeling are two different things, and soon she is thrashing under his care. The hand on her back keep her floating, while the other keeps her inner labia open to let his tongue move in whatever direction he wants. He plays with her with gusto, tongue playing with her clit before moving to enter her, lapping her juices in a greedy way. She is a gasping mess in no time, with trembling legs and broken voice, and he can’t feel more proud of himself. He is tongue-fucking her when the first telltale of her orgasm hits him, and he pulls away from her, making her shudder and swear. Kissing her belly, he lets go her hips, moving closer while she lowers her legs. Stepping to the wall, he rests her body against it, extending a hand and grabbing her arm before pulling her against him. Her body is pliant under his touch, and he knows exactly what she needs. Turning her over her heels, he rest her back on his chest, using both hands to pin her against his body. “Time to show you some magic with my fingers, love.”

Her head falls to his shoulder the same moment his hand grabs one of her breasts, twisting the nipple between his thumb and index. The other hand slides down her abs, finding the heated core of her body. His deft fingers find the hardened nub of nerves immediately, using the tip of his fingertips to trace it, putting the perfect amount of pressure to make her moan. He keeps teasing her until her hand grabs his wrist, nails digging his skin. Sliding his fingers even lower, he finds her entrance, delving inside of her in a swift movement and enjoying, maybe too much, the loud way she screams his name. Feeling his own erection pushing under the wet and ungrateful material of his underwear, he decides to give her what she needs before they can move to what he wants. His fingers keep moving in and out of her, and he adds the pressure of his palm on her clit to the mix, biting her shoulder hard enough to make her gasp every time. Soon enough her inner walls begin to pulse around him, her breath quickened and her moans growing louder by the second. With a knowing smile plastered on his face, he pinches hard her nipple while using his tongue to draw a trail up and down her neck. When her back arches, he bites her pulse point again, hard and adding some sucking, just like she likes it. Shepard is moaning his name, totally oblivious that they are in the open, with other suits in the same level that can hear her screams. But he can’t care less right now. The feeling of her body crumbling under his touch is intoxicating. He keeps his fingers moving inside of her until the pulsing walls begin to relax around him. “Still with me, love?”

Shepard pushes herself away from him, turning in his arms until she is facing him, still breathless. “Always.”

That word. That overused and straightforward word is better than any promise, any ring. She means it. Joker can see it in her eyes, in the way she tilts her head to one side when she says it. And with her, it means literally always. For whatever time they have in this God’s forsaken galaxy, she will be his. His hands cup her face, lowering her until their lips are almost touching. “You know I love you, right?” Her answer, close the gap between them, sealing their mouths, tongue delving inside finding his and dancing with it for some seconds. Pushing away from the wall, she wraps her legs around his waist as soon as they move, eliciting an approving growl from him while he turns to pin her against the edge again. Still kissing her, Joker uses a hand to lower his underwear, freeing himself from the cage of wet material. Even in the heated water, he can feel the heat emanating from her core, which just adds to his own raging fire. Breaking the kiss, he leans their foreheads together, sharing the broken breathes they are trying to take. Her hand slides down his chest, enjoying the hard muscles of his upper torso as she always does, touching more than necessary, fingers following the curves of his chest, the lines of his ribs. Her hand finds its way to his erection, wrapping her delicate fingers around it, caressing it, wrist moving up and down until she gets the moan she has been looking for. “Don’t be a tease, Jane.”

Using her free arm to surround his shoulders, she raises up her body, face hovering in front of his, “Said the pot to the kettle, love. But don’t worry. We have the rest of the night for the teasing. Right now--” She positions his stiff member in her entrance, hand keeping it in place while she lowers her body, engulfing him in a slow motion. “Gods, Jeff--” Her head fall back, a low moan, the kind of sound you can feel as well as hearing, escapes her. “Yes!”

Joker didn’t need any more word from her. Positioning his legs better, he pushes her back to the edge, where she rested her elbows. His strong arm surrounds her waist, keeping her in place, while the other hand grabs the edge of the pool with white knuckling force. He has dreamt of taking her this way for years, and now he is finally doing it. Pushing away from her slowly, the heated water can’t compete with the blazing hot of her core, making him shudder when it touches his cock. With a quick movement of his hips, he enters her again, causing her head fall back in a silent scream. Repeating the motion, he keeps moving until he finds the spot he has been looking for. The shiver that runs up and down her body when he finds it is the signal he has been waiting. Stepping forward, he pins her body entirely against the wall, and she wraps her arms around his neck. His hands move to her hipbones, finding the perfect spot to grab her and move her body up and down in rhythm with his hips. None of them has enough blood in their brains to form coherent words, and the only intelligible word that one can make between their shared moans and gasp are their names. Soon than he wanted, Joker can feel the pressing sensation of his orgasm coming to catch him, and he can’t do a single thing to fight against it. His hips begin to move harder and faster, making her groan at the sensation, while he buries his face in the crock of her neck, inhaling her essence like a perfume. Feeling the end near, he bites the mark he has put in her throat before, making her shudder. Her inner walls tremble with her when he keeps punishing her skin, making his body react to it. “Damn, Jane. You feel too good to be real.” His husky voice, breathless for the effort and the passion of their lovemaking seems to be her breaking point, and she moans her name, louder than ever, nails piercing the skin on his back. His own release is not far away, and after four or five thrusts more, he buries himself as deep as possible, unloading his charge inside of her with a low grunt. They milk one another for several seconds, bodies trembling for the effort. His brain seems to be online before hers, and grabs her body again, taking the few steps that separate them from the stairs. They are still connected, and he hasn’t no intention of breaking the contact yet, so he manoeuvres them with care until he is sitting in one of the steps, water barely reaching their chests. Joker awaits until she comes down from her high, wearing a contented smile on her face, even when she is still trying to catch her breath, just like him. “I love you, Jane Helen Shepard.”

She cups his face with both hands, giving his lips a soft peak, before kissing his nose, his forehead, his eyes, making him giggle. “And I love you too, Jeff Moreau. Thanks for the present.”

Moving her face lower, nesting a hand on her hair, he positions her face where he wanted it, lips ghosting in front of hers, “You had just taken the wraps of the present, love. The night is young.” She was giggling when he kisses her again, their tongues dancing to the rhythm of their hearts. The night will be a present for both of them, just like that second chance. Shepard can’t be happier for that, and she thanks any God out there for it.

#MEWC #mass effect writers circle #smut #shoker #female shepard #Jeff Moreau #pool moments #xD

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thunderheadfred · 7 years ago

Note

For the OC Asks, and since I'm always curious about your Red Streak universe: Hannah 10, 4 Albacus 14, 18 Jane 19 Nihlus 1 Garrus 8

Oooh thank you so much as always for your wonderful questions! :D

10. (Hannah) If they have an LI, how much of their character is tailored to be compatible to that person?Exactly zero. I had originally planned for Hannah and Albacus to exit the war with intense mutual feelings of… something, never to be admitted aloud. So I didn’t expect either of them would be getting past the interspecies barrier at all, and certainly not as quickly and wholeheartedly as they did. They did that shit totally on their own, right around the time Jane got sick.

Hannah’s initial character development was pretty basic; I knew whatever memories she imprinted on Jane would have to come from raw, instinctual personality traits (the type of behavior you can pick up at a young age) so Hannah’s relationship with her daughter and her struggles as a single mother were the biggest influences on her personality, as well as just having her react to the chaos around her. She’s very reactionary; more on that in the next Q.

Anyway, It has been seriously incredible to write Hannah’s interactions with Albacus, because I get to watch them fall in love without me. Like, when characters take the reins, that is the BEST. FEELING. Especially when that autonomy ends in high romance, haha. I wanted them to get along, sure. To sympathize with one another, absolutely. But to become this goddamn Power Couple rising from the ashes??? Oh man. I didn’t have any idea when I started. They earned that in spite of me, haha.

4. (Hannah) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? Well, I mean all of it. Hannah is probably my most reactionary character. Everything she does is a response to Shanxi, or to Jane, or to some other disaster, haha. I didn’t sit down and determine much of Hannah’s backstory in advance because she’s a very straightforward and “simple” person in the sense that she’s mostly driven to action, not introspection. So she’s much more shaped by her present circumstance than by her own history, which was lonely and not terrifically interesting. She lives moment-to-moment, doesn’t mull things over. She acts. Charon was discovered? BOOM. She joined the military so she could fly out and see it for herself. That’s her: practical and immediate. This is the way she and Jane are the most similar - and the way in which she and Albacus are the most different.

14. (Albacus) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?Integrity and maturity. Integrity determines how he behaves (honorable and idealistic to a fault), and maturity describes how he is written on the page. He’s the hardest of my POV characters to write because I find it tricky to strike a balance between “well-spoken yet believable” and “Jane Austen in space”

18. (Albacus) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?Hmm. Good question. It doesn’t FEEL recent because this happened months ago, but I didn’t know he was going to be an amputee in the beginning. I don’t know if that’s even a “discovery” since it’s definitely something I DID TO HIM DELIBERATELY because I’m MEAN, but the idea to take his arm came to me all of the sudden, like a discovery, so? It counts, right? haha. Also, less miserably, that he likes Frank Sinatra songs.

19. (Jane) What is your favorite fact about your OC?Her resolve. That single trait manifests in a lot of ways: stubbornness, fortitude, even willful self-ignorance. She’s an iron girder because she has to be. Originally, I thought that strength was deliberate, born of self-control and discipline - now I understand it’s reactionary, as much self-deception as strength. I admit it took me a long time to figure Jane out. Maybe longer than anybody else in the story, since Shepard is such a nebulous, halfway blank slate, onto which the player is meant to project themselves. Jane was never meant to reflect my playstyle or RPG choices, so the experience of developing her as a written character was pretty challenging, and I only really nailed her down in the latter half of what I have published. (fixing that now)

1. (Nihlus) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? For Nihlus, we got so very little of him in the game, that I really tried to listen to his delivery and his characterization in that short intro and just… expand on those clues. His dialogue is diplomatic but the slightest bit cold, like he’s got a lot of wheels turning all the time. And he runs off on his own (hooray…) because he’s got a lone-gun complex. I wanted to know why Nihlus thinks he moves faster on his own (turns out it’s because everyone important in his life has been a horrible abandoning shithead). I also wanted to write him as older and more mature than Shepard, somewhere in his world-weary 40s. A lot of fics write him as a contemporary or a partner to Shepard (and that’s great!) but I wanted to explore a mentor relationship that would force Shepard to face down a lot of her repressed feelings about her father. I love writing any scene with the two of them together because of all that mutual character development hhhhnnngg.

8. (Garrus) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? HI. HELLO. YES. ALL OF IT?? Okay, but to answer this with a modicum of seriousness, I really relate to Garrus. Garrus in the game was already pretty relatable. The unrepentant snark mixed with startling one-to-one honesty, and this feeling that he’s the most Joe Normal blue-collar guy on the crew. Relatable.

But Garrus in Red Streak is like a whole other level of self-identification, haha. His written voice most closely resembles my own. His knee-jerk jealousy and self-aware pettiness, his defensive humor and the tendency to overthink himself into a pit… All of that is just… me. Up down and sideways. I think the biggest single characteristic I contributed to Garrus’ characterization in Red Streak was his immature romantic idolization of Jane. When I like somebody, I LOVE SOMEBODY. They are flawless, they are stunning. They are the wisest and bravest and smartest and most amazing human being to ever walk the earth. And it hurts like HELLLLLLL when they fall off that pedestal, if only because it’s a reminder of how complicated relationships are, how difficult to maintain, how lost we all are, and that there are no easy answers. Just more work.

Sorry Garrus.

#wafflesrock16 #Red Streak #fred answers

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