eponymous_rose

I should probably mention, for the sake of keeping in touch with you spectacularly awesome people, that I've almost entirely moved over to tumblr now, mostly because it's a lot more active at the moment. I'm probably Doing It Wrong, because I still make long text posts over there that are better suited to a medium like this, but I'm finding it strangely easier to connect with folks over there these days. I post a lot of Mass Effect stuff over there, and lately there's been a massive upsurge in Vorkosigan Saga posts as I get sucked into reading the books again, but I try to revisit old fandoms from time to time. I also haven't posted fic back here in ages (although most of it migrates over to AO3 eventually), so if you're big on keeping up with that these days, tumblr's probably your best bet.

If you're over there, feel free to follow and I'll follow back! Just let me know if you've got a different username there, so it doesn't take me four months of awkward half-conversations to realize I've known you for eight years already. Um. Not that I've ever done that.

I'll still try to post here occasionally, but it's (obviously) going to be a lot less frequent!

So as any of you who follow me on other social media probably heard, I managed to crash my bike pretty badly yesterday and broke both arms (aaaand possibly also my right kneecap, still waiting to hear about that). Waiting to find out whether I get two casts or if they'll let me off with one or both arms in soft slings (which is what I have now--if I'm careful, I can type!). Luckily, my parents happened to be in town at the time, so they'll be sticking around and helping out. No word yet on recovery times, although the ER doc suspected more like 3-4 weeks than 6-8 weeks. Hooray for being young and otherwise healthy, I guess?

Title: Breaking the Mold
Author: eponymous_rose
Artist: liberalspaceship
Disclaimer: Mass Effect isn't ours, tragically.
Word Count: 14,995
Beta: The incredible tarysande--any remaining errors are all on me.
Warnings: Game-level violence
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Shepard/Garrus, Ashley, Brooks
Spoilers: Everything up to and including the Citadel DLC.
Author and Artist's Notes: At end of work on AO3.

Summary: With her ship under enemy control, Commander Shepard must fight a losing battle against shattered-mirror metaphors, sci-fi clichés, and, above all, herself. An alternative take on the Citadel DLC.



Artist's Masterpost: @tumblr
Author's Masterpost: @AO3

I'd like to apologize to all of you on tumblr, because yeah, I'm gonna be spamming this new Mass Effect DLC for a while.

If you're on the fence about it: GET IT. DO IT NOW. If you just buy one piece of DLC for Mass Effect 3, this is it (and I say this as an overenthusiastic Omega fan). It's the most glorious fanservice you can imagine, and it's a perfect, perfect send-off for the trilogy. The rest of the trilogy lets you act the part of the main character of a giant, multi-season space opera. This DLC lets you act out the very best kind of fanfic about all these amazing characters. It's the funniest thing this series has ever done, bar none.

On a side note, the combat was actually pretty awesome - a certain boss battle is the first time I've been seriously tempted to lower the difficulty from the highest level on my Engineer playthrough. Turns out incinerate-spams are so much less fun when you're the target.

The minigames are great. The combat sim is excellent (including the inevitable OH NO SOMEONE TURNED OFF THE SAFETIES moment). Side characters and inside jokes are so plentiful that it may actually take the fandom several weeks to ferret them all out. I played extremely slowly and carefully, and when I went to tumblr, I only recognized about half the dialogue people were giffing there. There is a whole lot of content.

And, well, it has an amazing ending (shocking, right?). Satisfying, well-paced, makes you grin even as you're tearing up. Hits just the right note. What a great series of games.

(The only downside is that I was so wrapped up in playing that I nearly forgot about mebigbang and wound up signing up with a premise I thought up on the spot. WE'LL SEE HOW THIS GOES.)

Title: Keeping Score
Word Count: 1200
Characters: Joker, ensemble
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Set early in the first game

Author's Note: Written for justice_turtle, who requested "Joker saves the day!"

Summary: After a close call on Therum, the crew unwinds.

(Also available at AO3.)

( Keeping Score )

Written for Mass Effect Big Bang 2012.

Title: Home Fires Burning
Word Count: 26,000
Characters: Hilary Moreau, Aeian T'Goni, Solana Vakarian, Lantar Sidonis, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, Donnel Udina, Dehkarr, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Rating: T
Warnings: Canon character death, violence
Spoilers: ME3, from start to finish.

Summary: Khar'shan, Tiptree, Citadel, Palaven, Earth. Five tales from the Reaper War. This is the way the worlds end.

Author's Notes: Huge thanks to both my artist MaxwellDemon and my wonderful beta arcanelegacy. Getting to explore some of the lesser-known stories of this universe was a fantastic experience – I hope you enjoy reading the fic as much as I enjoyed writing it.



Prologue: Freefall
Night Winds: 1. Endings
Night Winds: 2. Beginnings
Interlude: Sympathy for the Devil
Steel and Shadows: 1. Past Continuous
Steel and Shadows: 2. Present Tense
Steel and Shadows: 3. Future Imperfect
Epilogue: Just Like New Times

Also available at:
(LJ) | (AO3)

Title: Home Fires Burning (7/8)
Word Count: 1,300 (this chapter)
Characters: Hilary Moreau, Aeian T'Goni, Solana Vakarian, Lantar Sidonis, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, Donnel Udina, Dehkarr, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Rating: T
Warnings: Canon character death, violence
Spoilers: ME3, from start to finish.

Summary: Khar'shan, Tiptree, Citadel, Palaven, Earth. Five tales from the Reaper War. This is the way the worlds end.

( Steel and Shadows: 3. Future Imperfect )

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Title: Home Fires Burning (5/8)
Word Count: 5,500 (this chapter)
Characters: Hilary Moreau, Aeian T'Goni, Solana Vakarian, Lantar Sidonis, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, Donnel Udina, Dehkarr, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Rating: T
Warnings: Canon character death, violence
Spoilers: ME3, from start to finish.

Summary: Khar'shan, Tiptree, Citadel, Palaven, Earth. Five tales from the Reaper War. This is the way the worlds end.

( Steel and Shadows: 1. Past Continuous )

Previous Chapter | Back to Masterpost | Next Chapter

Title: Home Fires Burning (3/8)
Word Count: 4,400 (this chapter)
Characters: Hilary Moreau, Aeian T'Goni, Solana Vakarian, Lantar Sidonis, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, Donnel Udina, Dehkarr, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Rating: T
Warnings: Canon character death, violence
Spoilers: ME3, from start to finish.

Summary: Khar'shan, Tiptree, Citadel, Palaven, Earth. Five tales from the Reaper War. This is the way the worlds end.

( Night Winds: 2. Beginnings )

Previous Chapter | Back to Masterpost | Next Chapter

Title: Home Fires Burning (1/8)
Word Count: 1,800 (this chapter)
Characters: Hilary Moreau, Aeian T'Goni, Solana Vakarian, Lantar Sidonis, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, Donnel Udina, Dehkarr, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Rating: T
Warnings: Canon character death, violence
Spoilers: ME3, from start to finish.

Summary: Khar'shan, Tiptree, Citadel, Palaven, Earth. Five tales from the Reaper War. This is the way the worlds end.

( Prologue: Freefall )

Back to Masterpost | Next Chapter