Did you mean me or did you actually see a story where that somehow came up?

 

Ha, I'd read a story where Shepard's gender changed between chapters and people commented on it. It would probably only work for a one-shot though.

 

Am I the only one who gives zero fucks about Shepard's gender? A good story is a good story.

 

It's just weird when you've mainly played as Male!Shep and it's been rooted in your mind that Shepard is a man. ME is story driven unlike games like Dark Souls where you can play as female coz it looks so badass swinging swords twice your size. I'm a guy so by default, I play guy characters in games like ME, Fallout, Dragon Age etc. and so by default, I tend to avoid Fem!MC fics.

It's like reading Fem!HP for me.

 

Epoxy is right, but while I play almost only with a male!Shep I do think Hale is better, specially at the more humorous or sarcastic quips, and her 'gruff' voice is perfect. But Meer nails a professional soldier through and through Shepard, specially an Alliance Paragon one.

My favourite fics had fem! Shepard though, but it's mostly coincidence I think.

 

I like Hale's voice the best, for the most part. Meer's voice only seems to fit the default male Shepard face, and it gets weird if you customize. Hale's voice fits almost any face you make. IMO

 

It's probability.

Like with The Lone Wanderer, The Courier, The Hero of Kvatch, and the Dragonborn, if there is a choice between a characters gender, fanfic writers seem to usually go female.

 

Cuz the authors are mostly female. Nothing against them in any way. It's just most fanfic authors statistically speaking are females.

 

I don't think that the gender of the author has such an effect on whether their protag is female or male. There are plenty of female authors who write stories with male main characters.

Hale's voice acting probably contributed more to the fact that many chose female Shepards and then wrote fanfic with that in mind.

 

Yes indeed, Meer nails the professional soldier

 

Never really cared for the gender dispute of ME. As long as I like the story i could care less if it's FemShep or MShep.

I always preferred Meer's voice acting than Hale's and sometimes got unreasonably angry when fans would start piling shit upon Meer's skills and how he failed to convey the direness of the situation in ME. :facepalm

--

Now back on topic.
Does anyone have any new stories? I'm in need of my ME fanfic fix and got desperate enough to start rereading The Mission Stays the Same for the fifth time. :/

Maybe something from the Alternate history Forum? Anyone?

 

Not new, but I don't think I saw it mentioned before in this thread:

And the Meek Shall Inherit the Galaxy

And it's got a sequel (WIP):

The Heavens Shall Tremble

I'm not posting the summary for this one, since it's somewhat spoiler-y.

 

Are there any good stories with no Reapers where the established council races watch as the expansionistic powers begin to grow belligerent? Really anything without the three years later apocalypse since its a little boring after seeing it so many times.

 

I was pretty sure I've already read that one. Then I remembered that I dropped it half-way through the first story... I think. Now if only I could remember why I dropped it. :/

I will give it a chance one more time.

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OSABC : Lions in Blue and Silver By: LogicalPremise The story of the Legacy Team in the First Contact War : Ahern, Kyle, Florez, Chu, and Saracino. A pre-ME1 quickfic covering some of the OC's from the main story as they go up against the Turian Hierarchy and then struggle to adapt to the changing lives they are forced into by surviving. M for violence and Ahern's mouth.
Rated: Fiction M - English - Sci-Fi/Adventure - Benezia - Chapters: 8 - Words: 24,900 - Reviews: 43 - Favs: 26 - Follows: 27 - Updated: Mar 2 - Published: Oct 2, 2014 - id: 10730442

Lately I have read the OSABC : Lions in Blue and Silver by LogicalPremise

It's the guy who wrote Of Shepard and Battle Chicken.

The main difference between Lions and Battle Chicken is the lack of angst, wangst and woe is me, curse you my painful past... but it's OC driven. Sure you have Kai Leng(who is a colossal dick to David Anderson), and a number of other names we saw in canon but they are all pretty much OC's. It's a Pre-FCW story and does a lot to explain why Systems Alliance never even considered capitulation in the face of turian Hierachy and chose to fight all the way to the end.

The dialog is what you would expect between people serving together in the military:

Yeah, Saracino espouses a certain brand of dorm and barrack humor. Take it as you will...

 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9892740/1/Mass-Effect-A-Measure-of-Salvation

Man, I'm going to be honest and say I don't remember much about this other than that it's mainly Miranda's POV, Miranda/Mshepard, there was an extended kidnapping arc by a group in this fiction that seems influenced by the Comissariat in OSABC, and that the last 4 chapters have been pretty good. Starting up a re-read now.

It's probably worth a read, if you're bored. I'll know more later

 

I'm 12 chapters in and going strong. Kind of a sucker for Alt History in ME. A good find, Odran. Definitely 4/5 so far, here's hoping it keeps up the quality.

 

Anyone know any with Garrus and Shepard just getting up to shenanigans? That friendship was my one of my favorite aspects of ME. Really came full circle in ME3 actually when I found a fair few characters kinda fell off (Ashley just being eh, Jack and Miranda practically non-accessible unless you did everything you could do to keep in touch etc.

 

Ooof. I finished this fic but boy oh boy the middle part drags like you wouldn't believe. I was getting seriously ticked off with Miranda running all around the place while the plot dragged on like a cripple snail. The middle part of the story is also its weakest and most overcomplicated filler I saw so far in ME. Which is a shame because the rest is actually alright. The last 3-4 chapters really pull their weight and manage to construct some actual tension.

I also like how Miranda was portrayed in this fic and that it touches upon the problem of Shep/Miri relationship and how it may be viewed by outsiders and the kind of damage it can do do Shepard's ability/credibility/reputation to lead the war against Reapers.

She has her baggage that drags after her and comes back to haunt her. That her actions from the past are being thrown in her face time and time again. She doesn't get a clean slate just for shagging Shepard and being LI of the protagonist - actually it's Shepard who's the love interest of the protagonist as it's mostly from Miranda's POV that we see the story unfold.

If I would have to choose two cons and pros of the story I'd go with:
cons: Orianna's characterization and adding her to the story at all. She reminds me too much of Dawn Summers and the WTF is she doing there vibe.

The second being the previously mentioned post kidnapping arc which drags as hell.


The pros on the other hand:
- Miranda's character assassination by TIM who starts publishing on the extranet what she did while working for Cerberus. Haven't seen that before in any fic.

- Jack's, Kasumi's and Miranda's characterization and interactions.

Solid 3/5 with tendencies towards 3.4/5.

 

So I spent some time browsing through ME fiction writers favorite lists and found four stories that I actually enjoyed to greater or lesser degree.

Nearing The End By: space.puppy.bcg Commander Shepard is nearing the end of the Reaper war. Can he succeed where no organic has before? Can Miranda Lawson hold him together until the end? Novelisation of the end of ME3 starting from Sanctuary. Not all canon - some major changes to the plot line. Final Chapter now up.
Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Sci-Fi - Miranda L., Shepard (M) - Chapters: 19 - Words: 93,624 - Reviews: 101 - Favs: 103 - Follows: 83 - Updated: Jun 13, 2013 - Published: Apr 17, 2013 - Status: Complete - id: 9211342

This by no means is a masterpiece. It's nice. A good time-waster. The author knew what he wanted to convey and did a passable job. 2.5/5. I know, not the highest rating but I liked the story, won't re-read but it isn't all bad. It's very average. Give it a try.

The second story is a companion to the former.

---

What The Future Brings By: space.puppy.bcg A series of one shots detailing the life of John Shepard and Miranda Lawson after the Reaper war is over. This is an account of the most important stages in their family life, from the hilarious moments of calamity to the difficult moments of sadness and reflection. Direct continuation of my first story - Nearing The End.
Rated: Fiction M - English - Family/Romance - Miranda L., Shepard (M) - Chapters: 34 - Words: 148,211 - Reviews: 198 - Favs: 212 - Follows: 251 - Updated: Feb 8, 2014 - Published: Jun 27, 2013 - id: 9433345

Meant to be a one-shot. It developed along the lines of many stand alone pieces connected by the setting. It's a fun romp through the lives of Miranda and Shepard as they deal with life post-Reaper war. Mostly slice of life, life of a couple story. But I enjoyed it a lot more than the main story. 3/5. You can read this without really going through the first one.

There is some fun poking at Shep's dialog from the games.

---

Demon's Shepard By: Kreidian There was more fun to be had with Morinth. This is a different take on the character and what could have been. Slightly AU so the decision to pick her makes more sense. Rated M because this is Morinth after all. (p.s. and no, she won't be sexing FemShep)
Rated: Fiction M - English - Adventure/Friendship - Morinth, Shepard (F) - Chapters: 19 - Words: 51,664 - Reviews: 35 - Favs: 34 - Follows: 50 - Updated: May 31, 2013 - Published: Nov 28, 2012 - id: 8746210

Now this is actually quite good despite the small number of reviews. It's what its says it is. Morinth takes Samara's place.

---

Queen's Gambit Accepted By: fahRENheit2006 Specialist Samantha Traynor, one of the Alliance's best and brightest, was relatively content working in Alliance R&D. But then... the Reapers came. Full of action, profanity, sarcasm, friendship, and gripping chess matches that will leave you breathless. Ch 29: Sam is tasked with taking up where Taskforce Aurora left off: tracking down the Reaper-killer known as Leviathan.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Sci-Fi/Friendship - [Shepard (F), Samantha T.] Ashley W., Liara T'Soni - Chapters: 29 - Words: 192,643 - Reviews: 508 - Favs: 410 - Follows: 583 - Updated: Jan 30 - Published: Nov 2, 2012 - id: 8664129

First of all. Solid writing. Sure there are some issues from time to time. Punctuation, capitalization and a grammar hiccup sprinkled here and there. But! The characterization is superb. It's consistent, very vivid and likable. Since we are told the story from Traynor's POV get ready to be acquainted with all her quirks, neuroses, social paranoia and geekiness. More than once I had a smile while reading this... and I have to confess that I didn't finish the story.

Mostly because from chapters 20 through 22 I got bored and exasperated with Traynor and her pushy, nosey, righteous, self-entitled attitude. Especially when she set ups Shep to be 'ambushed' by Allers outside the med bay despite knowing Shep is injured, tired and under a lot of stress. And why Traynor did it? To let Shep know that Traynor's been hurt and upset because of the possible choices Shep had to make. That right there is high-school level manipulative drama. It pretty much soured my whole perception of Traynor up to chapter 22 when I just dropped the fic. Maybe I will return to it, maybe not. I'm undecided for now.

I give this 3.5/5 - solid characterization, writing and the plot is going somewhere. Obviously.

And for the finale I'm dropping this, for those of you who haven't seen it, yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8V9dRqSsw

I'm not exactly floored with this. But oh well. Better than nothing? Right? Right.

 

Since i see a fair number of novelizations, this is a sort of novelization:
The Many faces of Femshep is a youtube of multiple femsheps spliced together to run through all of ME2. Its pretty well done for 6 minutes, and the inter-shepard splices are done really well.