#Maxrev

[theoriginalladya]

MEBB 2023 - The Devil You Know

Story Title: The Devil You Know

Story by Ladyamesindy

Art by Maxrev

Rating: Teen and Up

Tags: Mass Effect/WWII Crossover, crossover fic, Alternate Universe, Angst, Adventure, WWII typical situations, German Occupation of France, Game Level Violence, Field Medical Treatment, Blood mention (not graphic)

Relationship: Kaidan Alenko/Caleb Shepard

Characters: Kaidan Alenko, Liara T'Soni, Garrus Vakarian, Aria T'Loak, Major Coats, Abby Williams, Caleb Shepard

Setting: World War II - 1942 England and Occupied France

Summary:

Alchera was an unmitigated disaster for the Alliance and for Kaidan Alenko. Not only did they lose the prothean beacon data but Shepard as well. Seven months on, Kaidan is still trying to come to terms with it, both professionally and personally. But a rumor has surfaced at Alliance Command that Shepard still lives, and Spectre Alenko has been chosen to look into it. Deep behind enemy lines, Kaidan must make the decision if it's better to live with the loss or take a chance on the devil he knows.

~~~

Finally, posting day has arrived!!! The Devil You Know is my story for Mass Effect Big Bang 2023 and is also a part of my Mass Effect/WWII series, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

This time around, I got to work with the fabulous @maxrev for the art and oh, man, did she ever deliver! THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAXX!!!!! Folks, she's knocked it out of the ballpark for me and I am so very grateful and delighted she chose my story to pair up with! Go check it out and please let her know how much you like her art, too!

Also HUGE THANK YOU to @shadoedseptmbr for betaing again for me this year! Your suggestions were perfect and you always make the story look so much better than the initial draft! You're the absolute BEST!

And a HUGE shoutout to @azzydarling and @mebigbang for putting this event on again! I have a blast each time I participate and this was one of the BEST!

Full story can be found here

Series can be found here

Mass Effect 2023 Collection can be found here

[the-shotce-newsletter]

Sadly, I can’t be there for @maxrev ‘s birthday stream, so here’s a Kaidan to keep you company, love! Happy Birthday!!

[swaps55]

Fandom meme asks: B, G, N, Z

fandom meme

Thank you!!!!!!

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

These three answered here!

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

Ok. This is not going to be what you were probably aiming for, but I need to talk about Luke Alvez and Penelope Garcia for a hot minute, because I cannot get over the fact the Luke walked into a federal prison, sat down with an inmate, threatened the ever loving fuck out of him, and followed through on that threat, just because he saw Penelope cry.

He didn’t do it to protect Spencer Reid, who was getting beaten up in prison. Ok, that was part of the reason he did it. But he did that because Penelope was SAD that Reid was getting beat up, and fuck anything that makes Penelope cry.

Likewise, who’s the one who physically comforted Penelope at Reid’s arraignment? 

Luke. 

Who’s the one who was in a car accident, and still ran to her when he realized she was about to discover the body of Stephen Walker? 

(gif from this post)  

Luke. 

JJ HAD GLASS IN HER FACE, AND HE JUST RAN AFTER PENELOPE. WHO DID NOT HAVE GLASS IN HER FACE. She was just sad. 

Who’s the one who visibly got his hackles up once he learned she’d been shot, and asked where the guy who’d shot her was now, because he was gonna go put him in the ground right then if he wasn’t there already, even though it happened ten years ago? Yeah, that’s Luke.

Oh, and he also wanders off from local law enforcement giving important intel about a case because PENELOPE IS IN THE FIELD, and what if she trips stepping off that curb.  

Luke Alvez fucking adores that perfect ray of sunshine and I live for the way he looks at her.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 

[ghostxofxartemis]

Fandom meme asks: A, O, P

Thank you for asking my dear friend! 

A: Your current OTP(s)/OT3/OTX(s)

Hmm the obvious choices and others that I can think at the top of my head right now. I’m sure there’s more. 

Shepley

MShenko

F!Shenko

But I also like:

Miranda/Jack

Lawenko

Shep/Kaidan/James

Shep/Kaidan/Cortez

Willenko (I wasn’t a fan of Willenko until a few of my favorite authors wrote some, now I’m into it. (Ashley is mine! xD) 

O. Choose a Song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of?

Okay, ngl it took a few shuffles for my brain to start warming up the hamster wheel. 

But when it fell on Winds of Change by Vance Joy it reminded me of Axel in my current (M!Shenko pairing) one shot-fic that I started writing. He’s one of my few  Shepards who actually retire post-war (John’s aiming his M-98 Widow at me right now lol, he has not retired *snorts*) and he’s alone at home while Kaidan is off on duty. Axel, feeling a bit lonely, is waiting for him to come home, and it just reminded me of that. 

P. Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas). 

Oh you! I should hate you right now but making me think of other AU makes me adore you! 

I have several in mind. 

1. Modern Police AU for Shepley most likely (mentioned in the BBB server with Chimerarts actually, will eventually be doing this - I just need to experience the cadet training first hand… relatively soon...I believe?) 

In my head John would already be a police officer, providing for his wife and two kids. Becoming a police officer is also Ashley’s dream but she put that dream on hold to raise their two children up until they start school. When the children are both in school, that’s when she goes for training and starts her career. (Ashley in his case would be me (minus the children because I don’t have any- but I did put my dream on hold of an ex who could have been considered a child because it sure felt I was raising him at times). 

It would be a spin on the post-war family I’ve made for them. 

So they still would have Alexandra as their daughter and Kaidan as their son (Kaidan would be named after John’s work partner that died in the line of fire… maybe protecting a family?) 

Well this got developed further in the last 2 mins than it did last week or the week before when I talked to Chimerarts about this lol.

2. Maybe a Van Helsing AU (Like the show on Netflix - have you seen it? It’s amazing!) 

And seriously, being back on the Fallout 4 binge again, that could be really cool as well. 

3. And then there was a Tutor one mentioned in the BBB server once more.  But I don’t think this one will be made. Who knows though.

Oh Maxrev...what have you done?!! You’ve created a MONSTER! LOL! 

[nernershuman]

Favorite Fellas, Individual Shots:

1. Levi Sky Summers, by @maxrev and me

2. Reid Beckett Wright, by @dstarsims and me

[comefeedtherainn]

ship hc meme for mshenko -- 9, 14, 15, 27

Thank you friend!! Again, sorry it’s late, I’m playing catch up lmao

9. 

Answered already!

14. When one has a cold, what does the other do?

Well they both react to being sick very differently lmao Kaidan’s like “im totally fine i could go for a run” while actively dying, and john’s a huge baby. so when kaidan is sick, john spends most of his time steering him back to bed and keeping him occupied. when john is sick, kaidan takes care of him and lets him pout for as long as his patience will allow lmao

15. When they watch a film what do they choose and why? Who gets the final vote?

Kaidan’s not very particular, so he usually lets John pick. John likes action movies with a good love story. Also romcoms. 

27. Why do their friends get annoyed with them?

Because they won’t stop...touching each other. Stop it. Boys. Put your goddamn hands away. John get your hand off Kaidan’s ass this is a MEETING.

[bagog]

9, 12, and 17 for the fanfiction writer asks, please

Thanks! I really appreciate the ask!

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

We’ll just go with my favorite scene in my most popular work, The Difference between the Sea and the Sky. There’s a scene where Kaidan confronts Leviathan and I genuinely think it’s good writing. I toiled over that scene for days.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?

KAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAN because I sorta wish I could be him and he’s kind and sensitive and a total badass and he feels like the realest character in the Mass Effect universe. With the possible exception of Tali...

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on. 

Lemme dig one up real quick:

“It came hurtling through the ground cover from the right side, one arm already raised, it slammed into Benar’s barrier  bringing it crashing down. Reela staggered for a moment and fell to the ground. The Brute loomed over her until it shuddered, sparking blue with a warp field flung from T’Sendra on the flank. Kaidan reached out with his biotics, felt the crackle of his own energy against the asari’s. There was a biotic explosion when the two energies twisted together, blasting off the Brute’s arm. Several Cannibals that had swarmed into the breach were killed instantly.“

[natsora]

1, 7 and 15 for end of the year asks!

Thank you for the ask!

1 favorite fic you wrote this year

Memini has to be my favourite that I’ve written this year. It’s whumpy, it’s angsty and it just checks all my boxes. BUT… I’ve not published it not sure if I’ll even publish it this year cause I have to edit it and all the others I’ve written as part of NaNoWriMo this year. 

As for something I’ve actually published it’s a tie between Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Never Walk Alone. 

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend because I think it’s my funniest fic ever. Not sure if I can top this. Then Never Walk Alone because OTP, and the response it got fills my heart!

2 longest completed fic you wrote this year

Technically I’ll say my longfic for Splintered Minds and The Persephone Arc will be the two longest coming in at 150K each thereabouts but they won’t be done publishing this year so… it will have to be Picture on the Wall which comes in at 28k and Demons Within and Without which comes in at 13.5K. 

17 fics you’ll continue next year

All my three longfic The Persephone Arc, The Lost Childhood and Splintered Minds will all be continued next year mostly just editing and publishing. And I’ll also be writing and publishing more instalments to my Bad Things Happen series and my Dragon Age Cassandra Pentaghast / Female Trevelyan series The Sword and the Scabbard. 

Ask me more Fanfic End of Year Asks

[aydaptic]

Last Line Meme #9

Tagged by @maxrev on this post!

Rules: Copy and paste the last sentence you wrote/from a WIP, then tag as many people as there are words.

I’m currently hard at work on my Reed900 slow-burn fic for Detroit: Become Human. What always interested me is the aspect of an android being stuck in some form of purgatory of indecision whether or not to go deviant. My Nines doesn’t want to be deviant. This is a very big part of the story and let’s just say that Gavin has his reasons not to be happy about it...

“What the fuck makes you different?”

Tags: None this time.

P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | P7 | P8 | P9

[hawkeykirsah]

Happy Birthday!!! 🎂🎈🎁🎉

Thank you!! ^_^

[theoriginalladya]

WIP Whenever

Because I did not share a snippet last Sunday and I think I missed WIP Wednesday last week and I will be busy babysitting tomorrow, here is a new snippet from my Shields UP fic.

tagging @urdnotflexthejedibard @threewhiskeylunch @mtreebeardiles @mareel and @maxrev because I know you have interest in the story! (for which I thank you all so very much!!!)

~~~

Lifting a finger to trace the design, Aubri cleared his throat and asked, “What…what is this?”

The corner of Wulfric’s lips twitched and there was a hint of amusement in his voice as he replied, “A tattoo.  Have you never seen one before?”

“Not one like this.”  Aubri tilted his head, squinting to see it better in the dim light of the room.  The base of the design seemed to be one long line that was decorated by shorter lines to either side as well as circles and dots and… 

His finger came to a stop below Wulfric’s elbow on his forearm where several dots formed a particular shape.  Three sat along the base line itself while the other five were split to either side.  Something about the way they were laid out looked familiar.

Wulfric chuckled.  “Find something you like?”

“What is this?”  Aubri pointed at the design, his brow creasing as he struggled to find the memory.  “The shape.  I think I have seen it before.”

Rolling to face him, Wulfric propped his head on his hand and smiled.  “You have.  Think back to that night up on the battlements.”

The battlements?  Aubri blinked, trying to recall that night. It returned readily enough, followed by an unfamiliar word. “Saethyd?”

Laughter returned, warm and understanding as it wrapped around him rather than teasing.  “Close, Tywysog.  Saethyddion.”

The low, smooth tone of Wulfric’s voice sent a light ripple down Aubri’s spine.  God’s teeth, but he loved the deep, mellow tone when Wulf spoke his native tongue.  Taking a moment to clear his throat, Aubri returned his finger to the dots on Wulfric’s arm as he traced the shape.  “The Archer.”  Of that, he was fairly confident.

“You do remember.”

[th3morrigan]

My entry to this year’s reverse Mass Effect Big Bang, now with links! I am still amazed that two of my fave authors picked my art to write for, and they did an absolutely brilliant job.  Please check out their work and leave them some love as well! (They’re both heavy on the angst as requested so have some tissues ready.)

Leave A Light On by @ellebeedarling

Shepard has gathered every resource he can; he’s recruited every ally. Everything comes down to this final battle, and he knows in his heart that this may be the last night he ever gets to spend in Kaidan Alenko’s arms.

Blink Of an Eye by @maxrev

War looms on the horizon and Shepard finds himself thinking about the changes in his life and how they’ve come about. Finally, good things are happening to him and now, he might very well lose them all. Kaidan helps him put things into perspective and along the way, Shepard realizes the most important thing of all.

And here is a second piece I did, which was inspired by the drafts elle and max sent during the course of their writing. 

Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to Azzy @mebigbang for making all this happen.  You are awesome! 

Don’t forget to check out the mebb master post here to see the other amazing artwork and fic. 

[swaps55]

So, your gushing may not have been what I was aiming for but holy hell, I needed it! See, I'm an old school Criminal Minds fan. I stopped watching when it got really, really dark because it was hard to watch the depravity humans are truly capable of. I was also suuuper sad when Shemar Moore left Criminal Minds.

(2/2)

I was in love with the relationship he and Penelope had. Honestly, I watched the show for them <3 BUT you just made my world knowing she found someone else to be there for her in such an amazing way. PENELOPE DESERVES ALL THE LOVE. You make me want to watch it again! (two parter because tumblr cut off my ask -__-)

SO. OK. More gushing. @guileandgall, this is for you, too, since you said you needed some insight. You’re gonna regret indulging me on this. 

I remember watching the first couple of seasons of Criminal Minds, but then Mandy Patinkin left and I never wandered back to it. The only reason I did now is because Adam Rodriguez is a face claim for an OC of mine, and I wanted to bask in him a little, haha. To that end, I skipped everything and just started with season 12, after Shemar Moore left, as Adam Rodriguez’s character, Luke Alvez, takes the place of Derek Morgan. I know of Garcia’s legendary relationship with Derek Morgan only through second knowledge.  

THAT SAID, she tries to hate Luke. Why wouldn’t she? Derek was a once-in-a-lifetime soulmate level friendship. Who the hell is this guy? You can’t fill those shoes. 

Except Luke doesn’t try. It’s pretty clear right off whatever her issue is, it’s about someone else, not him personally, so he just lets her make her assumptions and be a grouch and has good humor about it, because, whoever this Garcia person is, she is made of sunshine and he is here for it. 

But she can’t hate him. He’s got this charming, doofy grin a mile wide and he always has it ready for her, and every time she comes at him he just rolls with it and smiles like he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

So he’s just quietly there for her. Whether it’s to take her shit, make her smile on a bad day, watch her back, doesn’t matter. 

Even Derek comes back to tell her to lighten up on the guy a little. Begrudgingly, she does.  

Turns out when she lets her guard down a little, he’s not so bad: 

Luke Alvez looks at Penelope Garcia like the sun just came out, and he does from the day he meets her. 

He would burn down the sky for this woman and you cannot convince me otherwise. 

[naromoreau]

Happy Birthday! Hope your day is extra special 🎉🎁🍰🎈

Thank you so much for your words! I really appreciate it

[gwynbleiddyn]

OC questions for Loch and Cade ;) 4, 8, 12, 18

THE BOYS 

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? 

The astounding lack of support that Cade received for his mental wellbeing, growing up. He falls under the all-too-common “my parents loved me but didn’t think much of mental illnesses” umbrella, and despite his insistence that something felt wrong, it wasn’t really investigated. An adolescence shaped by lingering depression and ADHD that went untreated basically meant he turned to other outlets for relief - running with the Reds became his treatment, and the regular hits of red sand he could sneak would always offer him relief that he desperately craved. He was also dealing with internalized bullshit regarding his sexuality; being attracted to men felt wrong to Cade in the sense that he felt as though his father wouldn’t approve, and that shaped his interactions a lot during this period as well. 

In short: the military lifestyle of his parents (both senior ranking officers in the Alliance) didn’t give Cade a lot of freedom, growing up, so he carved out his own in ways that he shouldn’t have.

Loch managed to avoid most of that. He was a quiet kid, kept to himself, and let Cade hog the limelight in regards to being the sibling that constantly argued with their parents. Loch almost had the perspective of an outsider in some ways, he could distance himself enough to look ‘in’ to his own family and consider how dysfunctional they could be some days, and how cohesive they could be on others. It made him incredibly analytical, able to think critically about motivation and people’s interactions. 

For Loch, the discord between family and his environment (a military childhood that he didn’t want) left him kind of closed-off, so he grew up under a guise of being this aloof, distant boy who didn’t care much about anything when he’s really the entire opposite of that, in himself.

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 

Preeettty much everything, minus the clueless parents. Cade’s early life is more or less a reflection of my current one, with some elements tweaked or blown-up for story reasons. 

I have made a big point of his ADHD and how it affects him in the stuff I’ve written, though. I think that would be the biggest reflection. It’s definitely the stuff I feel strongest about - it’s not a struggle that’s often documented, and when it is, it’s disregarded as laziness or incompetence when it’s nowhere near either of those things. 

Loch is someone I struggle to relate to because he’s so completely unlike me, it’s a real challenge to find common ground. If I had to say something, then I’d probably say that I relate most to his ability to analyse a situation - he can be incredibly critical, and imo I can be sometimes as well.

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

Cade is genuinely one of my only OCs that I find ridiculously easy to work with - he and Rion both - and I think it’s probably because he’s based on a combo of myself and my favourite characters across numerous franchises. The deadliest pick’n’mix I’ve ever made let me tell u

Hardest thing is actually drawing him because I keep changing his faceclaim :~) so I never draw him. Problem solved amirite

Loch is just a pain in the ass. Elusive. Noncommittal. Changes his mind as much as he hits the snooze button on his alarm every morning (a Lot) and I can’t keep up with him. Loch is almost an antithesis to Cade, and I deliberately made it that way to challenge myself as a writer but damn, I MADE IT TOO HARD. I love writing him, but he is so difficult to pin down - it’s more of a victory when I do manage to get something done for him.

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? 

Cade enjoys playing Careless Whisper on the sound system at random intervals for no apparent reason, but it’s incredibly amusing to wander the Normandy and find random human crewmembers just absently singing along. Humans are weird and he loves it.

Loch made himself a floating AI/bot called SPARX (Simulant Paradoxical Amplifier - Redux V2) and it’s the only thing that wakes him up in the morning, pre-Kaidan. Kaidan is incredibly entertained by the little bot once he meets it, and I’m sure they start plotting Loch’s demise to the early morning alarms he always ignores.

[comefeedtherainn]

✿ ❤ 🍕 moodboards for John ;)

Thank you, friend!! Alright, feels time. 

✿ for a general moodboard about my muse

❤  for a moodboard about a romantic relationship of my muse

🍕 for a moodboard about my muse’s favorite foods