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Mass Effect "Tales"

Discussion in 'Story Search' started by MonkeyEpoxy, Jun 13, 2013.

  1. orangeyensign

    orangeyensign Squib

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    Well I didn't know we had a Mass Effect fanfic thread. This was one of my top three fandoms. Forgive me but i do have a lot of fics and authors to dump. I Many have quite a few stories set in their own universe, so i will link the author profile and then their first story in that universe.

    Authors:

    Sudentor

    A particularly underrated author, he has a collection of ME fanfics that range from the short and sweet to an epic, written in different narrative formats not seen in Mass Effect fic

    Fics: Mass Effect: Mistakes Worth Sharing

    Post Reaper one-shot where Garrus gives a commencement speech to a cohort of military academy graduates, the speech shines with his personality throughout. Yet, it can also be introspective and shine a light into the burdens and torment that Garrus has suffered throughout the series, bringing more detail into periods ME doesnt cover, like his time as a C-Sec corp and his efforts on Omega as Archangel. It does bring a tear to my eye when he talks about Mordin Solus. Overall, does not waste a single word in this fic

    Mass Effect 3: The Miracle at Palaven

    I cannot really do the summary justice, but i do enjoy fics that try to fill in the gaps, expand upon snippets that canon drop. Sudentor manages to write an epic tale of a grand military operation in the Reaper War, giving you a gigantic sense of events happening beyond the Normandy that also have little to do with Earth. It is riveting and addictive, especially for a history buff like me and I would have no problem believing that the events in that book actually happened. Furthermore the writing is incredibly complex and handles multiple perspectives from command officers to ground troops incredibly well, with a level of sophistication that most fics struggle to reach. Lastly, major kudos is given for the Quarians being awesome where the weaknesses become strengths and Kal'Reegar is given the appropriate send-off and a most glorious death like the badass he is.

    An unquestioned 5/5 for me


    Random Equniox

    Author has written various fics about a Shepard that is secretly a coward and would like to buzz off from but can't.

    Accidental Hero of the Galaxy

    A humorous novelization of ME 1, where Shepard is actually a kleptomaniac coward, but was at the wrong place and the wrong time. It is presented as Shepard's memoirs edited by David Anderson and in later fics about the other two games, Liara. Thus, Shepard's inner thoughts about the events of ME1 are in full display where we can see that while he would like to refuse and run away from the burdens imposed upon him, he cannot and thus has to make the best of it. The reactions from Anderson and later Liara are another joy to read in the form of author's notes, if a pain to repeatedly scroll through.

    His best fic is probably his ME2 novelisation The Hero We Deserve. However i have found his ME novelisation pretty lackluster because i guess it is hard to make the collapse of galactic civilisation consistently funny, if you have to play it straight. Still there's about 10 or so fics set in the same universe, including a couple from Garrus and Miranda's PoV. Generally updates every other Monday

    MelaraDark

    One of the first five authors who I kept track of. Melaradark writes about a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered Paragade F!Shepard and her eventual partner Liara in her Dark Energy series, stretching from ME1 to 3 and even beyond with their children. It is engrossing, even if some of her subplots are pretty bland and it can get heavy seeing her struggle through the burdens of conducting a desperate war against the Reapers while withstanding their psychological attempts at breaking her without resorting to grimdark. She plays around with canon like inviting Liara onto her ship in ME2 and gives the Rachni an expanded role in ME3.

    Tairis Deamham

    A retelling of ME2, LotSB and ME3 with a M!ShepardXTali pairing, the three fics are gripping and exciting. I find his ME2 fic to be generally serviceable without being totally offputing and boring. But the writing quality and the canon divergences start to pick up in the LotSB retelling and i find ME3 to be his best work. In particular, it gives the Rachni the expanded role as a species that the ME3 game could not deliver on and his take on the Geth-Quarian War is also just as good.

    ME2 novelisation: Razor's Edge

    Nevery

    Less a fic and more a collection of ficlets, Nevery's I Should Go chronicles the reactions of all sorts of beings in the ME universe to Shepard's death. It is quite universal, as no tale's reaction is dependent on gender, background or deeds of any shepard. All sorts of characters are represented in the fic, from squadmates to one-off NPCs and their grief and grattitude is on equal display, serving as a clear reminder of the impact Shepard had in saving the galaxy.

    Do remember to bring tissues.



    DinoJake


    A little reluctant to recommend this author, considering that his fics are almost certaonly abandoned, but still his fic https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5939286/1/The-Last-Spartan is worth a look. What happens when you dump the most silent and anti-social of protagonists in a role that needs a lot of people skills? Character development! The action sequences and Master Chief's skills are on full display and Dinojake does manage to balance the two universes and cobble an intriguing tale out of it. Early chapters are amateurish, and you do need to ask if Alliance High Command is so ready to toss the a literal fossil into one of their most prominent roles,but the fic goes get better. Shame he had to lose interest when it was getting good.

    Other authors below have great stories too and i will do them once i have more time

    Sinvraal

    ServantofClio

    Tusken1602

    guubear
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2016
  2. pbluekan

    pbluekan Chief Warlock DLP Supporter

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    Miracle at Palaven is probably one of my all time favorite ME fics. I think it was mentioned before, but a little more face time never hurts. I found it refreshing to not have another rehash, novelization, or AU of the series. Simply a story within the established universe. It helps that the writing is stylistically and mechanically superb. Definitely a 5/5 for me.

    However, I can honestly say that I despise The Last Spartan. It manages to utterly ruin both of the fandoms a it draws from. Of all the things I couldn't get over, though, it was the chief saying "yup." It's just... Not right. 2/5 because it isn't so bad it deserves a 1. It's close though.
     
  3. Odran

    Odran Fourth Champion

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    From the author of Sudden Contact + Sudden Supremacy, we have a Dishonored/Mass Effect crossover:

    Smoke, Sorcery and Steel

    Only 2 chapters so far, 28k words in total, but absolutely fantastic.
     
  4. Agayek

    Agayek Dimensional Trunk DLP Supporter

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    I'm a big fan of that one. The Dishonored setting is all kinds of intriguing, and his take on the mashup here is fan-bloody-tastic. Really looking forward to where that one goes.
     
  5. Crippled by Megalomania

    Crippled by Megalomania Squib

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    Cheers, lads. Sorry about the lack of update in the first two weeks, but the new term just started off with a bit of a bang. Looks like I'm about to stabilize my workload and my depression, so I should be able to get off another chapter this weekend.
     
  6. Odran

    Odran Fourth Champion

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    No need to push yourself, just work at your own pace.

    I just brought it up since it's such a rare kind of crossover, plus it was decently written so it bode well for the future.
     
  7. Hashasheen

    Hashasheen Half-Blood Prince

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    And Odran being complimentary of anything is a rarity in itself.
     
  8. Johnnyseattle

    Johnnyseattle Chief Warlock DLP Supporter

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    I feel kind of strange with Mass Effect - I love the stories and the game lore, but I had to force myself to get through the first two games, and haven't even bought the third yet. A lot of great things to read here, I've bookmarked the hell out of the recommendations.

    Have there been any good crossovers with Star Trek? I could see the earlier days of the Federation actually meshing somewhat well with the ME universe.
     
  9. Download

    Download Auror ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    I'll be putting this up for review in a few more chapters:

    It's an almost seamless ME/John Wick crossover. I wasn't certain what direction the story would take (and the story really hinged on that direction) but I'm quite happy with what has been revealed in the latest chapter. I know the description is lacking and doesn't really do what I've seen so far justice.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2017
  10. Gengar

    Gengar Degenerate Shrimp –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    Holy fuck this story. It's just getting into it now, but I just find myself with a huge grin on my face as I'm reading it. Who knew that the only thing ME needed for me to give a fuck is John Wick 'John Wicking' his way through the universe.

    I don't even know how I stumbled upon this thread as someone who doesn't care about ME, but thanks for this. A gem.
     
  11. Download

    Download Auror ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    I'm thinking I'll send the author a PM telling him needs to fix his shitty summary up so it actually reflects the quality of his good writing.
     
  12. Mutton

    Mutton Order Member

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    While interesting, it's very much not John Wick. They'd be better off doing an OC since they completely miss his voice
     
  13. Gengar

    Gengar Degenerate Shrimp –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    I think the only knock I have is that he seems to be collecting a posse because Mass Effect.

    While I've not seen 2 (racism!), I imagine he continues being a solo operator.

    The action feels very John Wick though. Extremely so.
     
  14. blob

    blob Seventh Year

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    The Fifth Age, 85k words so far

    It's a crossover with The Secret World, which going by wikipedia is an MMORPG about a bunch of secret societies (think Illuminati etc) fighting anything from zombies, mummies, cultists, vampires all the way to some Lovecraftian monstrosities. While it sounds like a really bad matchup with Mass Effect the actual story was surprisingly enjoyable.

    It's not really a story, per se. The first contact between the Citadel races and humanity happens, but there isn't yet another first contact war or the usual overly long diplomatic standoff at the Citadel or really anything that you find in random Mass Effect fic #497. It's a bunch of short(ish) stories about mostly OC characters just going about their daily life and how it's changed by humanity. There is no overreaching plot, and the stories are closer to a slice-of-life than a normal story.

    It won't keep you on the edge of your seat praying for the next update. Hell, the last chapter was about a bunch of lawyers(?) debating about some of the quirks of humanity, so there's little "saving the galaxy from space squids". It's actually surprisingly difficult for me to even describe it (probably because I'm drunk). Nonetheless it was a very enjoyable read and the writing, grammar etc is good.

    Recommend taking a look, a solid 3.5-4 IMO as long as you're not looking for galactic superheroes going on their galactic-saving adventures.

    Edit-linked to chapter 5 instead of 1 for some reason but cant change it on mobile due to resolution problems
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
  15. Nazgoose

    Nazgoose The Honky-tonk ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter DLP Gold Supporter

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    Went through this a bit back, liked it quite a bit. Been busy and forgot to comment until just now, but it does a really good job of showing the different areas of human society and the way it interacts with the larger galactic community. The unconnected multiple short story format it has going works really well for that. Not sure how it will translate for the Reapers, but aren't sure it will ever actually get there. Focus seems to be to just explore the meeting of two cultures, and I'd be perfectly happy if it stayed there.
     
  16. TheWiseTomato

    TheWiseTomato Prestigious Tomato ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Are there any decent Mass Effect SI fics? I've only been able to find shitty ones.

    For what it's worth, I rate Dreaming of Sunshine as a good SI fic.
     
  17. Nauro

    Nauro Headmaster

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    Masses to Masses by iNf3ctioNz was decent.
    Not nearly as good as Dreaming of Sunshine, but it gets credit for having a lot of extra material. Yet, it still retreads the games, albeit in slightly different way.

    The first part is supposedly being rewritten, meaning that it will never be finished.

    Masses to Masses deals with a young SI, knowing of ME, getting into the Citadel by stupid and poorly explained magical means (the explanations that follow are weak, and the more you ignore them, the better), and he ends up working in C-Sec, with none other than Garrus Vakarian. (2.5/5)

    Masses to Masses 2 deals with ME1 with some minor changes due to the presence of a protagonist. (3/5)

    Masses to Masses 3 is probably the best one, as it deals with Omega and the Archangel activities. (3.5/5)

    MtM 4 started to touch upon ME2, and i think that's where the author ran out of steam, as it was never completed, and the rewrite started. (3/5)

    Mind, it's been a while since I actually read them.

    I remember trying a couple more self-inserts in ME universe, but I don't remember much about them. I'd be interested to see if anything new has cropped up.
     
  18. TheWiseTomato

    TheWiseTomato Prestigious Tomato ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    That author name triggers the shit out of me but I'll give the fics a crack.
     
  19. Nevermind

    Nevermind Headmaster

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    I‘ve never really gotten into the MtM series, but one of my favourite new(ish) Mass Effect SIs is "Reduced Mass" by DavidJ647 (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10617200/1/Reduced-Mass).

    The fic starts off years before the original ME, and thus relies heavily on an OC cast. It hasn‘t been updated in a while, unfortunately, but what is there is very decent. Also shows us a different side of the Mass Effect universe in general and the Terminus Systems in particular, something that I always thought was missing from the original games. The largest issue (IMO) is its inclusion of a villain from a different video game franchise. I have never been quite sure whether this was something the author did deliberately or just ran out of steam with the original villain and rewrote the part. To me, it is just distracting and feels like the character was shoehorned into the story for no immediately apparent reason.

    My rating would be 3.5/5.
     
  20. ScottPress

    ScottPress The Horny Sovereign –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    Masses to Masses. Damn, this takes me back. Now, I read this years ago when I was a much less mature writer and reader, but I remember quite enjoying MtM1 and 3 - essentially where the author wrote original material beyond the game plot. Now I want to read some ME fics all of a sudden. Props for the rec @Nevermind, I'll check it out.
     
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