#ghostxofxartemis

[keriweird]

Warm up request painting of Miranda Lawson for @ghostxofxartemis . The pose made the likeness tricky but it was fun.

[ghostxofxartemis]

Rayleigh Scattering

After a year and some, I have decided to post the first chapter of Rayleigh Scattering.

Tags: Female Shepard, Coats, David Anderson, Kahlee Sanders, house fire, fire, rats and mice, guns, violence, guns and violence, blood, blood and injury Rating: Mature

Summary: She suddenly finds herself all alone.

[theoriginalladya]

AO3 Meme

I was tagged by @dandenbo - thanks for thinking of me, friend!

Rules: Give us the links to your wonderful words with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and least words.

Okay, let's see what we've got here...

Most Hits

I was looking at this earlier today because I got a lovely comment on my epic Dragon Age story, Ever Constant. It's been at the top of the hit list for so long, I was wondering how it was doing after I got an unexpected comment on it last night. Turns out, the gap between it and second place is not nearly so big as it was! Ever Constant is still first with 4,432, but my Mass Effect longfic, Destiny's Fate, has nearly caught up - 4,334. It used to be several hundred behind, now it's less than a hundred!

Most Kudos

Again, Ever Constant is at the top at 103. However, Dribbles & Drabs (Mass Effect, mostly Caleb and Abboats, but also a couple other mSheps) is at 100!

Most Comments

A tie this time at 65 each! Ever Constant (thank you to the commenter last night! lol) and (Mass Effect) Destiny's Hand, the first one of the Destiny series with my mShep/femShep pair.

Most Bookmarks

Ever Constant at 43, more than twice the second place one.

Most Words/Least Words

Most words = Ever Constant at 331,923 (will never do another fic that long, I don't think lol)

Least words = Earthbounders - Mass Effect - a fun little prompt/drabble I did for my Parasenko pair (Gianna Parasini/Kaidan Alenko) at 318!

What a fun meme to research! Thanks so much for tagging me!

I'll tag back... @tiny-banana-time @mtreebeardiles @shadoedseptmbr @happychica and @ghostxofxartemis - no obligation, of course!

[wrathbites]

Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words

Tagged by: @cr-noble-writes

His reason for a final sweep of the area becomes clear when he holsters his weapon in favour of lowering Benezia's body to the ground, hands free of their gloves so bare fingertips brush her eyes closed, a tiny consideration few would expect of a vampire.

There's no way in hell I'm tagging that many people so uh... lemme see... @theoriginalladya, @ghostxofxartemis, @tiny-banana-time, @korblez, if any of you wanna take part in the last line meme 😁

[soldiermom1973]

The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

I’m still setting up the next long fic for Allie & Kaidan’s adventure.  This story is part of it.  It’s a second chapter for something I wrote a couple of years ago for N7 month.  I’m posting a snippet here because it’s a long one - you can read the whole thing on AO3.

HUGE shoutout to @elleweird, @ghostxofxartemis, and @kalliesa​ for the beta reads.  Your concrit & advice was IMMENSELY helpful.  Thank you!!!

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Kaidan and Rahna messaged and vid-chatted daily and saw each other as often as they could.  Rahna's job allowed her more freedom than Kaidan's, so she frequently traveled to him.  At first, Kaidan felt a little guilty for dating again – his heart would ache when he and Rahna held hands or snuggled on the couch; hell, the first time they kissed, he almost called it quits right then and there.

But Allie was dead, so it wasn't like he was cheating on her.  And she would want him to be happy, right?  It was nice being a part of something special again, to have someone to talk to at the end of a rough day, someone to share things with, and the guilt stopped when he realized that yes, Allie would want him to move on and be happy again.

The months went by and things got more serious.  Kaidan hadn't used the L-word and they hadn't slept together yet.  Sometimes he got the feeling Rahna was more serious about things than he was, but she was patient and let Kaidan set the pace.  She assured him she was ok with things how they were, that grief wasn't a straight line, and that she was willing to wait until he was ready to take things to the next level.

He appreciated her patience and often told her so.  It was strange, really, that he wasn't willing to jump right in with both feet.  It wasn't too long ago that he was the one suggesting immediate co-habitation.  He remembered the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of waking up with Allie in his arms every morning and tucking her against him every night as they fell asleep and sometimes wondered why he didn't have the same reaction with Rahna.  He truly enjoyed her company and cared about her, but there was just something holding him back.  Something he couldn't put his finger on.

Then Horizon happened.  When Kaidan confronted Allie, feelings he thought he'd dealt with and buried were forced to the surface.  Anger and hurt at her silence barely overshadowed the fact he was still in love with her and that opened a whole 'nother can of worms regarding Rahna.

Kaidan messaged Rahna that night – she didn't know where he was, only that he was investigating the missing colonists – and told her he'd be offline for a bit and not to worry.  He knew he'd be on Horizon for at least the next week, gathering witness and survivor statements, coordinating with Alliance personnel, and working on his report.  He spent his downtime in an empty field, beer in hand, staring at the sky, trying to figure things out.

He replayed his conversation with Allie over and over in his head.  Was he too harsh? Perhaps.  Now that he'd calmed down some and was thinking with a clearer head, maybe he should have been more open-minded to what she had to say.  But the fact remained she wasn't dead and didn't reach out to him.  On top of that, she was working with Cerberus.  That alone was almost inexcusable.  Still, he felt guilty for how he reacted to her; watching her eyes well up with tears almost broke his heart at the time and now he felt like he owed her an apology.  He also wanted to sit down with her and talk, to see if they could clear the air.  He knew he still loved her and judging from the look on her face when they spoke and again as she was leaving, she still loved him, too.

So where did that leave Rahna?  Even though she hadn't said it yet, Kaidan knew she was in love with him.  His feelings for her weren't on that level, not yet anyway, and now that Allie was alive they might not ever get there.  He thought about how they reconnected in Chicago all those months ago.  After BAaT, he confided in his mother about his feelings for Rahna and how she shut him out.  His mom gave him the 'If you love someone, let them go' speech.  At the time, her words were cliche but in retrospect, maybe there was some meaning to them.  Back then, Kaidan didn't seek Rahna out knowing he'd scared and hurt her.  Fast forward a few decades and they managed to find each other again and were seeing where things went.  He'd have been lying if he said he never wondered where the two of them would be now if they hadn't separated back then.

He thought about all the times she hinted about the two of them moving in together, subtle mentions of shared expenses allowing for more saved money, less travel to see each other, and more time spent together. Something always held him back, though.  With Allie, they'd practically been co-habitating since the day the met, but that happened when you spent time together in the confined spaces of a starship.  After Saren was defeated, all of their downtime was spent together in her apartment on Intai'sei.  He knew ahead of time that she abhorred wet towels left on the bathroom floor and always made sure to cap her toothpaste.  Little things that he agreed with that they got to know about each other while they served on the SR-1.  It wasn't like that with Rahna and he wasn't sure he wanted to move in with her to find out just how compatible they were.

But those words about letting someone go applied to Allie, too, right?  She died, he let her go, but she came back.  Were the wherefores and whatnots really important?  Maybe not, but the fact she was with Cerberus made him hesitate to want to pick back up where they left off.  Hell, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to even talk to her.  Even so, there was no denying he was still hopelessly in love with Allie.

[ljandersen]

Thank you for the tag @ficbrish! It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new game.  Thanks for thinking of me!

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people. 

[I went with six and a longer excerpt] 

‐----------------------------------------------------

1. Sideways Part 1: Sideways

“Here.”  Shepard grabbed his hand.  He tried to pull away, but she slapped the pistol into his palm and curled his finger around it.  She shoved his hand back at him.  “There, Admiral Alenko .  Feel better now?”

Kaidan considered the pistol in his hand.  He looked up at her. “You know Cicero would like to see me KIA?”

Shepard frowned.  “What?  You think I’m his hired gun?  I’ll take you out while we’re down here alone?”

2. Sideways Part 2: Entwined

Kaidan laughed and cupped her face.  “You know there are cameras in here.”

Shepard realized her hand had brunched up his shirt almost to the shoulder.  Her palm pressed against the hot skin of his chest.

“I don’t care.”  She panted wolfishly and reeled him back to her mouth.

“Whoa.”  He laughed and playfully batted her grasping hands away.  “You want this all over the extranet?  Councilor-Spectre sex tape.”

“Sure.  Aquarium Sex Romp Part 1. ”

“Part 1?”  Kaidan sputtered, backing up, and laughingly batting her hand away again.

3. Sideways Part 3: Prism

“That’s how you got them?  Sleeping gas?”  Shepard threw Feron back a step.  “After I save you, I’m killing you.”

Feron tugged on his jacket and stood taller.  “Then I’m not going.”

“Oh, you’re going.  I’ll knock you out with something more concrete than nerve gas and drag you.”  Shepard waved at Wrex.  “Get over here.  We’ll lift them out biotically.”

Grunt roared and beat the wall approvingly.  Garrus seemed less certain.

“Who’s lifting me?”  Garrus got to his feet.  “Is Kaidan up there?  Do I get a choice?”

4. Sideways Part 4: Abyss

“You sure you should be operating heavy machinery?” Shepard forced mirth into her tone.

“No.”  Kaidan punched another series of buttons.  A hiss and lift in the gravity made her scramble to grab the back of his seat for an anchor.  Just as quickly, the gravity settled.

“Outer doors locked.”  York ran up the gangway to them.  “Why aren’t we moving?”

“Because I’m not a real pilot,” Kaidan snapped.

York shoved past Shepard and leaned down beside him.  “You sure you should be operating heavy machinery?”

“Does someone else want to do this?  Hmm?” He rubbed his temple.  “At least I can name some of these buttons.”

5. About Mars . . .

“Donkey laugh?”  Shepard shoved him away.  “You’ve got it somewhere.  That picture.  Holding out for something you really want before blackmailing me with it?”

Kaidan lifted his Omni-Tool.  The holoscreen image made her cringe.

“Damn.  It’s worse than I remember.  And, oh nice – ha! – I do have hair in my mouth.  Lovely.”

Kaidan laughed and snapped the screen down.

“You found that pretty fast,” Shepard said.  “Got it on shortcut?”

“It’s a favorite.  Won’t lie.”  Kaidan put his hands on his hips.  “It’s a good memory.  Ash was there.”

6. About Horizon . . .

“Yeah.”  Kaidan leaned an elbow on the bar and studied her profile.  “I’ve lost a lot of people close to me. Been years now for some of them.  Still hurts like hell. You know, let’s just talk about biotic ball or turian prions again.  Who doesn’t like a spirited prion debate, hmm?”

Her lips stretched into a weak smile.  “I didn’t mean to dampen things. Damn.  I’m a bad date, aren’t I?”

“You didn’t stand me up.  That strong out the gate, what’s to worry about?”

She grinned sideways at him.  “No one would stand you up.”

“Ha.  Well, thanks.  Go on a date once a year, it keeps the odds in my favor.”

“Once a year?”  Her eyebrows raised.  She rotated on her stool.

Heat flushed in his cheeks.  “Well, I’m deployed a lot.”

Tagging: @rpgwrites @ripley95 @alphahelices @unicorn-farm @jamesholden @ghostxofxartemis @halesshepardn7 @acciokaidanalenko @aricazorel

[ficbrish]

10 Random Lines Tag

Thank you @tealenko for the thought/tag! I love doing these tag games.

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

I will have to treat chapters of multi-chaptered fics as different fics. I think I have like seven different fics, but I have more than ten chapters currently posted.

Please mind the ratings/warnings if you click on the links to the fics!

1. Weekend, Chapter 1 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“I’m not—Did you get my letter?” [Kaidan]

He was struggling to pick a lane. Oh God, she was right there. Just like the last time, he was losing control.

“I did,” Shepard admitted, disarmed.

“You didn’t answer it.”

“I couldn’t.”

*     *     *     *      *    

2. Breaking Regs - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

A few steps later, he kissed her when no one was looking. It felt like hell to tear himself away from her and continue walking. They walked and talked in a shared daydream, detached from the reality around them, and a need broiled between them that was left unspoken.

They’d almost forgotten the purpose of their stroll, and suddenly it hit Kaidan.

*     *     *     *      *    

3. Hanar Hats for the Birthday at the End of the World - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“Uh oh,” Wrex shouted playfully from the other side of the table. “Here she comes!”

He gestured to Shepard, who was doing something with her hips and hands. The way she moved about had absolutely nothing to do with the beat of the currently-playing song.

“It’s not a birthday party without some grooves,” she danced, inviting everyone else to do the same.

*     *     *     *      *    

4. Weekend, Chapter 2 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“May I join you?” [Kaidan] asked, dangling [Shepard] so effortlessly she felt weightless.

He felt her hair brush between his thighs in response.

“Are you nodding your head?” he asked, trying to see past her bottom.

*     *     *     *      *    

5. Weekend, Chapter 3 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“So,” [Kaidan] said, “How are you going to save the world this time?”

“If I told you the details, you’d never let me leave this room.”

“That’s not true, I’d let you use the bathroom.”

*     *     *     *      *    

6. Weekend, Chapter 4 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

She took his hand, bit her lip, and looked into his adoring eyes.

“I kind of want to show you though,” she said, pulse racing.

The tenderness in Kaidan’s eyes sharpened into want.

“Are you sure, Shepard?”

*     *     *     *      *    

7. Weekend, Chapter 5 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“Uuuhhh? I don’t know. It’s been two years for you and only a few months for me.” [Shepard]

“Sleeping Beauty,” [Kaidan] agreed, grinning and moving some hair out of her face.

“Yeah," she laughed, "Pretty much.”

*     *     *     *      *    

8. Weekend, Chapter 6 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

“Wow,” [Shepard] said, water dripping down her face.

“I know,” [Kaidan] responded confidently.

“That’s new.”

“I’ve improved since I last saw you, Shepard.”

“Apparently!”

*     *     *     *      *    

9. Weekend, Chapter 7 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

Garrus, the largest of them, was curled up and leaning against Tali, who was the smallest and in the middle. Liara was snug in the bench's corner up against the wall, taking up more space than the other two with her legs spread out.

Shepard patted Kasumi on the shoulder, “Mind if I go join them?”

“Of course! I’ll be good up here alone.” She looked up at Shepard and winked, “I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

*     *     *     *      *    

10. Weekend, Chapter 8 - Mass Effect - Shepard x Kaidan

Kaidan clutched his datapad, holding it in front of him. Shepard put her fingers on her keyboard.

Maybe it was just a message away.

They each took a deep sigh. The same few seconds in the universe passed.

*     *     *     *      *    

Tagging: @acciokaidanalenko @nowandthane @halesshepardn7 @ljandersen @elfishtales @gabrielrexiel @crescentbunny @lauraceaaee @ghostxofxartemis @mrsd-writes

[illusivesoul]

Was tagged by @quietborderline to take this quiz. Thank you :)

I'll tag @cactihazard @ghostxofxartemis @ladyamesindy and @marythegizka Only if you feel like doing this, of course.

[keriweird]

I knead you, Shepard.

Thank you @dandenbo and @ghostxofxartemis for the request inspiration! Baker!Kaidan and Apron!Alenko fulfilled!

[kyratittyfish]

WIP wednesday

I was tagged by @commander-krios

tagging @painterofhorizons @ghostxofxartemis @korblez and @cronusamporaofficial

There were few perks to getting up one hour earlier than what any normal human would consider a barely acceptable “drag your ass out of bed” time. 

An empty mess hall was one of them, Jeff thought as he hobbled to a secluded corner and set his breakfast tray down. 

He crossed his arms on the table and buried his head in them, stifling a yawn and wondering where exactly the border between ‘nap’ and ‘night of sleep’ laid. In any case, he suspected his three hours of sleep came dangerously close to it.

He was tired. He’d been tired the night before, too, but a dozen ghosts with red hair and dead eyes had been playing hide and seek in the shadows of his bedroom and whispering curses in his ears until an obscenely late hour. 

To make matters worse, his leg hurt. His arm hurt too, as if phantom fingers were curling around it, digging into his flesh and bones, twisting and turning and pulling him and…

He hated mornings.

[masweird]

Last Line Challenge

Tagged by: borrowing this from @elleweird

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words.

“They use octahedra to build this. Precision engineering and mathematics.”

Evidently his blank stare translated through his opaque visor.

Do I know anyone to be tagged? Oh well, if you've been tagged before, add another line! @ghostxofxartemis @cr-noble-writes

[theoriginalladya]

Ten Characters, Ten Fandoms

I was tagged by @ghostxofxartemis - thank you my friend, but you don't know how hard this is for me! LOL Do i even HAVE ten fandoms???

Mass Effect - Commander Shepard (or Kaidan Alenko) - this one is hard because I love so many of them

Dragon Age - Alistair Theirin (my boy! <3)

Horizon Zero Dawn - Aloy

Gundam Wing - Quatre Raberba Winner (Sandrock rules!)

Rurouni Kenshin - Kenshin

Star Wars - Han Solo

Legend of Zelda - Sheik

The Witcher - Geralt of Rivia

MCU - Maria Hill

KotoR - Carth Onasi

Okay, managed to squeak out ten with the help of kiddo!

Tagging: @mtreebeardiles, @tiny-banana-time, @shadoedseptmbr, @painterofhorizons, and anyone else interested. No obligation! :) (please, I need some new fandoms to get interested in! Help a friend out?)

[wrathbites]

Heads up 7 up

I was tagged by @dandenbo​ to share seven sentences (thank you!) so here we go!  Tagging @theoriginalladya, @shadoedseptmbr, @cr-noble-writes, @happychica, @ghostxofxartemis, and anyone else who wants to share 😄

"Repeat your last, Commander?"

"They're attempting to make vampires here, not cure the genophage.  Enemy krogan are extremely volatile, prone to acts of self-destruction and firing on their own number — keep your barrier up and head on a swivel, Alenko."

"And how does one deal with a krogan vampire, Commander?"  Oh, Kaidan doesn't like Kirrahe's tone, not one bit.  Judging by the lengthy pause over comms, neither does Shepard.

"Headshots, incendiary ammo, explosives, whatever firepower you've got... all of it."

[zet-sway]

WIP ask game

I was tagged by @skittidyne and @yennas and I'm glad to say my wips folder is (mostly) not completely stale lmao

rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Oh lord here we go

FYI i write primarily smut and there is real filth in here so proceed with caution if that's not your thing

The rafters

Scratchies

Standard maintenance part II (will I ever finish this fic? Help me (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠))

Big dumb turian thing

Renegading the fuck out of Thane (for funsies)

Shakarios the third: we wreck Shepard's shit for realsies

Passionsmut

Post war or wharever

The earth is getting destroyed and I'm having secks in a spaceship

I'm tagging @impishbiscuit @stormikins @ghostxofxartemis @spookyvalentine @quietonewisp @callista-curations

No pressure! It's all for fun :)

[kalliesa]

WIP Game

rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Thanks for the tag @angry-jager !

I don't have that many since I've just been writing since May, and they're all Mass Effect.

Regarding Red

The Constant

Archangel of the Little Deaths

Warming

Legion

The Workshop

Happy Plates

80 Days Around the Galaxy - Victory Tour

Honey Pot

The Last Stand

Shepard Vision

Indecent Proposal

Stay

Hallmark Christmas AU

The Race

Waking Up Beside You

Getting Railed

Just Regular Awkwardness

Legion and Shepard - Shegion or Lepard?

Ok, that's a lot more than I thought I had... Lol. Very enlightening exercise!

(Most of these are smut, or angst. Or smutty angst.)

Tagging @iheartgarrus @commander-krios @ghostxofxartemis @whiskynorocks @jusbeinkt @nicolasadrabbles and anyone else who wants to play!

Ask away :)

[masweird]

Probably won't get to this until my local timezone AM, but that just builds anticipation right? Original IP chars: Asher, Skylar, Ciel ME chars: Hailee Shepard, Jiri Shepard, Sara Rachel Ryder

(apologies if you keep getting tagged, I have about as many tumblr moots as unique letters in "moots") @vorchagirl @silencedminstrel @theoriginalladya @oneterribletruth @keriweird @alchemist-after-dark @ghostxofxartemis

A  PEAK  AT  WHAT’S  INSIDE  THEIR          .    .    .

[  *  ]      writing prompt      )         :             send a number  1 - 30  to take a closer look inside this characters life.        /        below you will find a series of various prompts offering a look inside a characters every day life.        these are meant to invoke character development     &     can also be altered as seen fit to better suit the character in question.         bonus if you explain why it’s there!

01.     pockets. 02.     bag   /   purse. 03.     car trunk. 04.     car glovebox. 05.     closet. 06.     bedside table drawer. 07.     medicine cabinet. 08.     wallet. 09.     “junk” drawer. 10.     pantry. 11.     phone home screen. 12.     frequently used emojis. 13.     to do list. 14.     computer home screen. 15.     bookcase. 16.     cd collection. 17.     calendar for this month. 18.     “secret” hiding spot. 19.     five most recent in contact list.  20.     refrigerator.  21.     home safe.  22.     amazon shopping cart.  23.     bank account.  24.     first aid kit.  25.     five most recent in google search history.  26.     most used playlist.  27.     least used playlist.  28.     five most recent sent text messages  29.     five most recent received text messages  30.     netflix watch history.