9962 réponses à ce sujet

[Ignis Mors]

I've never seen or read any cyberpunk or noir stuff, as I usually stick to fantasy for books, and get my sci-fi fix from games, and pretty much nothing else.

[hot_heart]

...what's this about noir? I wouldn't know anything about noir, nope...

[Seracen]

You know, now I am totally picturing Miranda as some "dame" in a trenchcoat and fedora, walking through "Marlowe" Shepard's front door...asking him to recover the Prothean Artifact from her evil father, the feared gangster TIM.

Ah man...good times...[whacks self]. NO! Focus on the current story! I just finished two more chapters...only a few more to go....

I shall NOT devolve into writing a redux gumshoe Mass Effect one-shot...save it for the next story...

DAMN YOU MUSES!!!!!

[hot_heart]

Heh, well, I meant more that my writing on this Miranda story is heavily inspired by the works of Chandler and Hammett. She is essentially a private eye...who will also open a can of whoopass if need be.

I was actually considering doing some sort of basic detective story set during humanity's earlier years in the galactic community, though I think I will funnel those into a completely original story.

I did always want to include some sort of narration about it being easy to read krogan 'body language', especially since it was usually a headbutt heading straight for you.

Modifié par hot_heart, 20 juillet 2013 - 05:08 .

[Seracen]

I did something similar with the batarians in my story. It says in the codex that batarians regard body language as importantly as words.

For instance, that whole tilting of the head thing (left for "hello," right for "eff you") reminded me of the Canim from Codex Alera (by Jim Butcher).

So, I kind of wrote them as a culture not unlike the Kilrathi from the old Wing Commander games, militaristic Roman mindsets obsessed with honor and societal status.

[YurigirlzCrush]

this site still won't let me quote anything. *glare*

I saw armitage way back when. and bubblegum crisis (the original OVAs, not the 2040 remake so much) is one of my favorite action oriented ones. and for some reason I always want to classify Akira as cyberpunk, idk why. but tbh, when it comes to anime i'm more of a slice of life girl than into the actiony ones. my faves are things like A-channel, K-On!, Kanamemo, Yuruyuri, Aoi Hana, Ginban Kaleidoscope, and occasionally something really silly like Softenni.

*sheepish* and since I have strayed waaaaaaay off topic for this thread, I will now slink off into the shadows and lurk. *edges away* I was never here. got that? *shakes fist* never here...

[Drussius]

I have nothing to say. Just bumping to keep this on page one, where it belongs.

[feriwan]

OK, can I get some advice?
Here's my problem:
I want to write a fanfic that's pretty much a summary of my headcanons. I think I can do that (it goes from beginning ME1 to post ME3).
But there is one thing that I'm not sure of. Captain Anderson. I'm am going to follow the very controversial (but still liked by at least me) ending (destroy). But I don't know if I should let Captain Anderson live. I know he's supposed to die (according to the game), but I still think if he was saved in time, he could survive. I just don't know what to do though. I really don't want him to die, but on the other hand, some sacrifices need to be made. What should I do?

note: If you disagree with my opinion about the ending, don't start bashing me or anything. If you have to, just ignore this post.

[hot_heart]

Personally, I wouldn't get so far ahead of yourself like that. With fanfiction, you have the option to publish chapters as separate entities. The end of ME3 is a looooong way from the start of ME1.

You may find that by taking things one step at a time, a stronger story will form in your head and you'll have a clear idea of whether you want Anderson to live or die. You've already said you may take other slight deviations from game canon and I'd encourage that if it makes for a more interesting story. Who knows, your end point could wind up being drastically different to how you originally envisioned it and all the better for it.

[Fatiguesdualism]

 ... Phew other folk, can I ask who left the coffee out where YurigirlzCrush could find it? Also why is it always the cutesy one's that go all "Hulk Smash!" when they get caffeine?

Before anyone asks, no. I am not scared of her - I just thought it best to let someone anyone else post first. Not scared, not at all. She is gone right?  Right?  ...

@feriwan - I think you're making a rod for your own back there. IF you're going to follow the events of ME3's (insert personal adjective) end exactly, then I personally feel the odds on Anderson surviving are long, really astronomically long. Remember Anderson is gravely injured (unconscious as well), in an (apparently) remote section of the Citadel which (seems) to only be accessible via the Reaper's transporter pad. A pad that could well be disabled considering Harbinger just leaves the thing, pretty unguarded, after gunning down most of Hammer. Those are some pretty large hurdles, even before everything goes Kaboom. They're not insurmountable though (especially if you're willing to tweak a few things here or there)

If you're asking whether you should kill a character off - just because you're theme is loss and sacrifice - then I would suggest no, you'll run the risk of the deaths seeming too contrived. (IMHO that's a problem I ran into too!)

PS - sermon took so long I didn't see hot_hearts advice!  Follow theirs it's much better than mine!  (Too be fair mine is mostly a rant though - sorry!) 

Modifié par Fatiguesdualism, 22 juillet 2013 - 08:06 .

[Seracen]

feriwan wrote...

OK, can I get some advice?
Here's my problem:
I want to write a fanfic that's pretty much a summary of my headcanons. I think I can do that (it goes from beginning ME1 to post ME3).
But there is one thing that I'm not sure of. Captain Anderson. I'm am going to follow the very controversial (but still liked by at least me) ending (destroy). But I don't know if I should let Captain Anderson live. I know he's supposed to die (according to the game), but I still think if he was saved in time, he could survive. I just don't know what to do though. I really don't want him to die, but on the other hand, some sacrifices need to be made. What should I do?

note: If you disagree with my opinion about the ending, don't start bashing me or anything. If you have to, just ignore this post.

The two who responded before me stated it well enough, but here's my two cents.

Honestly, it's your headcanon.  If it makes sense, and you aren't shoehorning some random contrived event, I say do what you feel is best.

In all fairness, that's a lot of storyline to cover.  Your ideas and flow may very well have changed altogether by the time you get to that point.  Ask any of us who have written long epics, the journey is twisting, even when we've "planned it out."

Quite often, I end up being surprised at the way my stories pan out.  Case in point, I've dropped entire plots and characters from some stories, and added others that I'd never considered, simply because it was the right decision at the time.  Had you asked me beforehand, I'd never have guessed those events in my own story.

Above all, it should make sense, and be fun for you to write!

[MrStoob]

Seracen wrote...

feriwan wrote...

OK, can I get some advice?
Here's my problem:
I want to write a fanfic that's pretty much a summary of my headcanons. I think I can do that (it goes from beginning ME1 to post ME3).
But there is one thing that I'm not sure of. Captain Anderson. I'm am going to follow the very controversial (but still liked by at least me) ending (destroy). But I don't know if I should let Captain Anderson live. I know he's supposed to die (according to the game), but I still think if he was saved in time, he could survive. I just don't know what to do though. I really don't want him to die, but on the other hand, some sacrifices need to be made. What should I do?

note: If you disagree with my opinion about the ending, don't start bashing me or anything. If you have to, just ignore this post.

The two who responded before me stated it well enough, but here's my two cents.

Honestly, it's your headcanon.  If it makes sense, and you aren't shoehorning some random contrived event, I say do what you feel is best.

In all fairness, that's a lot of storyline to cover.  Your ideas and flow may very well have changed altogether by the time you get to that point.  Ask any of us who have written long epics, the journey is twisting, even when we've "planned it out."

Quite often, I end up being surprised at the way my stories pan out.  Case in point, I've dropped entire plots and characters from some stories, and added others that I'd never considered, simply because it was the right decision at the time.  Had you asked me beforehand, I'd never have guessed those events in my own story.

Above all, it should make sense, and be fun for you to write!

Totally +1 here.

It's your fiction and AU, do what you like as long as it's well reasoned.  And agree, where my longer story started and where it ended up were not exactly what I envisaged but it was a fun ride.

Edit:
Don't forget the power that Anderson's final scene holds, the 'father figure's' final words and sacrifice.  That's a lot of potential 'deep' writing to throw away, if you like that kind of thing... which I do.  (cry you bastards, cry!) 

Modifié par MrStoob, 23 juillet 2013 - 04:25 .

[Drussius]

I have an opinion question for anyone willing to offer an opinion. If you were going to read a post-ME3 fanfic, would you consider it a cop-out or a downside to a story if Shepard was retired and only peripherally involved in the plot? I haven't had the urge to write since I finished my first fic, but I'm finally getting small glimmers of creativity back. But while I am sure my next fic will be post-game, and will continue with the setup in the epilogues of my first story, I am toying with the idea of drawing more of Shepard's crew into the next story. But I really don't want the fic to center around Shepard.

Personally, I just can't see Shepard going back into the fray after all the hardship of the Reaper War, and especially after a near-death experience and months of rehabilitation and healing are added in on top of everything else. But I find myself wondering if fans would so vehemently disagree with the idea of a retired Shepard that it would color opinions on the rest of the story.

[feriwan]

I personally would prefer for Shepard (after maybe some rest) to get back in action.
He still is a spectre, and has a ship. Not only that, he could team up with the VS and become one of the few pairs of spectres.
That's just what I like though...

[Seracen]

Drussius wrote...

I have an opinion question for anyone willing to offer an opinion. If you were going to read a post-ME3 fanfic, would you consider it a cop-out or a downside to a story if Shepard was retired and only peripherally involved in the plot? I haven't had the urge to write since I finished my first fic, but I'm finally getting small glimmers of creativity back. But while I am sure my next fic will be post-game, and will continue with the setup in the epilogues of my first story, I am toying with the idea of drawing more of Shepard's crew into the next story. But I really don't want the fic to center around Shepard.

Personally, I just can't see Shepard going back into the fray after all the hardship of the Reaper War, and especially after a near-death experience and months of rehabilitation and healing are added in on top of everything else. But I find myself wondering if fans would so vehemently disagree with the idea of a retired Shepard that it would color opinions on the rest of the story.

I would reiterate the same advice that I gave to feriwan in my previous post.  I might make mention of your reasons in the author's notes, so as not to be jarring to potental readers.

In all fairness, I think Shep has earned a rest.  The only reason I am doing this particular story is in response to my feelings after the original ME3 ending.

Even when I do my next ME3 aftermath fic, it'll be another AU that deals with Femshep's response to the end of ME3.  It just doesn't seem right to subject the crew to another "trilogy" of events following the Reaper War.  Furthermore, I doubt that such a "trilogy" could exist without feeling cheap and contrived.

It would take a better writer than I, certainly.  But back to the main point, as long as you have compelling characters, it shouldn't matter if Shep isn't around all the time.

EDIT: I will say that it'd be sad to see Shep sidelined.  But this is no different than seeing Indiana Jones get old in the 4th outing.  We just don't want to see it happen.

However, I wouldn't have particularly minded, so long as he was replaced by a compelling character.  This would give us an exciting new POV into the franchise, while giving us satisfaction that the old characters finally got some peace.

So again, while it's a bit jarring, I still consider it a viable option in storytelling.  As always, it's about the presentation.

Modifié par Seracen, 23 juillet 2013 - 06:04 .

[enayasoul]

Drussius wrote...

I have an opinion question for anyone willing to offer an opinion. If you were going to read a post-ME3 fanfic, would you consider it a cop-out or a downside to a story if Shepard was retired and only peripherally involved in the plot? I haven't had the urge to write since I finished my first fic, but I'm finally getting small glimmers of creativity back. But while I am sure my next fic will be post-game, and will continue with the setup in the epilogues of my first story, I am toying with the idea of drawing more of Shepard's crew into the next story. But I really don't want the fic to center around Shepard.

Personally, I just can't see Shepard going back into the fray after all the hardship of the Reaper War, and especially after a near-death experience and months of rehabilitation and healing are added in on top of everything else. But I find myself wondering if fans would so vehemently disagree with the idea of a retired Shepard that it would color opinions on the rest of the story.

Sounds very reasonable. I don't have a problem with a retired Shepard.  Not fond of a dead Shepard storyline... or the two we've been given.  Dislike, sorry.  I'm pro destory. [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/crying.png[/smilie]  After everything Shepard's been through... he deserves better.  So he lives in my fics!   

Personally, I don't think my Shepard would want to go back to the alliance after the war...  He'll probably be like, "Let someone else handle it.  I did my part."  Besides, I see myShepard and Miranda being together doing what *they* want for a change.  But I also think Miranda would take a role in the restoration project of Earth and other places so Shepard would probably be in the background assisting her or something.    I have yet to write my version after ME3... but that's not until I finish my current fic.

Best of luck with yours.  Should be very interesting.  Above all write because you want to do it and not so much what others think.  Have fun with it.  I just spent the majority of yesterday working on my chapter coming up.  I'm actually have a lot of fun with this current chapter. 

Modifié par enayasoul, 23 juillet 2013 - 06:19 .

[MrStoob]

enayasoul wrote...

Drussius wrote...

I have an opinion question for anyone willing to offer an opinion. If you were going to read a post-ME3 fanfic, would you consider it a cop-out or a downside to a story if Shepard was retired and only peripherally involved in the plot? I haven't had the urge to write since I finished my first fic, but I'm finally getting small glimmers of creativity back. But while I am sure my next fic will be post-game, and will continue with the setup in the epilogues of my first story, I am toying with the idea of drawing more of Shepard's crew into the next story. But I really don't want the fic to center around Shepard.

Personally, I just can't see Shepard going back into the fray after all the hardship of the Reaper War, and especially after a near-death experience and months of rehabilitation and healing are added in on top of everything else. But I find myself wondering if fans would so vehemently disagree with the idea of a retired Shepard that it would color opinions on the rest of the story.

Sounds very reasonable. I don't have a problem with a retired Shepard.  Not fond of a dead Shepard storyline... or the two we've been given.  Dislike, sorry.  I'm pro destory. [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/crying.png[/smilie]  After everything Shepard's been through... he deserves better.  So he lives in my fics!   

Personally, I don't think my Shepard would want to go back to the alliance after the war...  He'll probably be like, "Let someone else handle it.  I did my part."  Besides, I see myShepard and Miranda being together doing what *they* want for a change.  But I also think Miranda would take a role in the restoration project of Earth and other places so Shepard would probably be in the background assisting her or something.    I have yet to write my version after ME3... but that's not until I finish my current fic.

Best of luck with yours.  Should be very interesting.  Above all write because you want to do it and not so much what others think.  Have fun with it.  I just spent the majority of yesterday working on my chapter coming up.  I'm actually have a lot of fun with this current chapter. 

I just couldn't do it, myself.  Having the Reapers gone and Shepard living just seemed wrong somehow to me.  So I cheated.  

[Fatiguesdualism]

@Drussius - I would say it depends on the level of involvement of Shepard's crew and whether you want the absence of Shepard to be a theme or not.
 
If you're talking about reforming the group -sâns Shepard- then I probably would feel retirement to be a bit of a cop-out.  Although a medical discharge & LI absence would be understandable.  Remember this is the team Shepard drew together to save the galaxy from the Reapers, the latter are presumably gone and without the former, what real reason is there for the team to reform?  They all do have their own separate lives (presumably) which they have put aside at Shep's request behalf a few times now.  If the commander can walk away, why aren't the others?

Or if the focus is on a new team of characters, with the regular participation of members from Shepard's old squad then Shepard's retirement wouldn't be all that jarring (to me).  Although it may become so if you end up with everyone but Shepard, hanging around for extended periods of time.

Seracen wrote...

*snip*
In all fairness, I think Shep has earned a rest. 

I would say the others are 'entitled' too.  After all they didn't have a two years hiatus!

Edit (again):  Does anyone know of any good 'Reapers won' fics?  I'm in a funny mood at the moment

Modifié par Fatiguesdualism, 23 juillet 2013 - 06:53 .

[MrStoob]

Oh, it's pretty imminent now and I don't want to boost posts to get us there faster but... page 300 approaches...

[fluffywalrus]

I'd say Shep's deserving of a rest after ME3, so yeah, I'd think it'd be totally alright to have a post-ME3 fic without Shep. If there's one thing I've learned since writing and reading fanfiction, it's that a good story is a good story. Period. Obvious, as with any fandom, you'd need to lay out an author's note, or something in the summary, detailing that Shep's out of commission or a tertiary character or whatever. It just comes with the territory in this fandom.

Edit: And Drussius, I WILL finish reading your fic. After reading a certain scene, I was a bit heartbroken (okay, a lot heartbroken), and then that kind of spiraled into me taking a break from the ME fandom for a bit, to try and cure my writer's block, and get all my writing and reading related stress off my shoulders.

Modifié par fluffywalrus, 23 juillet 2013 - 06:52 .

[MrStoob]

fluffywalrus wrote...

I'd say Shep's deserving of a rest after ME3, so yeah, I'd think it'd be totally alright to have a post-ME3 fic without Shep. If there's one thing I've learned since writing and reading fanfiction, it's that a good story is a good story. Period. Obvious, as with any fandom, you'd need to lay out an author's note, or something in the summary, detailing that Shep's out of commission or a tertiary character or whatever. It just comes with the territory in this fandom.

Edit: And Drussius, I WILL finish reading your fic. After reading a certain scene, I was a bit heartbroken (okay, a lot heartbroken), and then that kind of spiraled into me taking a break from the ME fandom for a bit, to try and cure my writer's block, and get all my writing and reading related stress off my shoulders.

Good to see you fluffy!

[Drussius]

Thanks everyone for the opinions. A debate with friends in my life led to me wanting to see how writers here would feel regarding Shepard surviving and yet not being involved to any significant extent in a post ME3 story. I've always been a proponent of writing the story you want to write, not writing what you think people want to read, so if I get an idea I like enough to run with it, I'll write it whether people are going to read it or not. My curiosity was centered more around whether or not people would accept a sidelined Shepard. I see the opinions here are as varied as those among my friends.

Two of my friends and my eldest daughter all think that Shepard would never be able to sit on the sidelines whether he/she wanted to or not. But some of my other friends and myself all believe that there's only so much even a hero will subject themselves to, and retirement is more than reasonable after saving the galaxy. Although I will certainly agree that if Shep's entire crew was going to be in the story and just Shepard was on the sidelines, it would feel like a huge cop-out.

fluffywalrus wrote...

Edit: And Drussius, I WILL finish reading your fic. After reading a certain scene, I was a bit heartbroken (okay, a lot heartbroken), and then that kind of spiraled into me taking a break from the ME fandom for a bit, to try and cure my writer's block, and get all my writing and reading related stress off my shoulders.

Something I wrote pushed you into taking a break from the ME fandom? I'm so sorry!

But as I said once before, you're certainly not obligated to read my story, and even more certainly not on any timetable.  It's there when/if you feel like it. And it's good to see you. Hope your battle with writer's block has seen the beast properly slain, stuffed, and mounted.

[ftkerns]

 Okay, gonna try not to post a gigantic wall of text like I usually do....

Sorry I've been absent so long. Had all sorts of things keeping me sidetracked. Mainly, continuing unemployment. Been trying for six months, and the only responses I got were two emails telling me that the employers don't want to interview me. <_< I'm getting desperate enough that I've been thinking about applying at the company I worked for before I moved away from the Oregon coast...and that job almost drove me to the point of mental and emotional collapse, which is why I finally walked out just a couple hours into the shift. 

On the up side, I finally managed to get my computer fixed, and just in time, too, as my laptop has now started randomly refusing to connect to my home network. *headdesk*

Another thing is, I just have too many things going at once. Total writing projects include a novel, another novel just entering the planning stage (meaning ideas are starting to buzz around in my head and not leave me alone), a short story/novelette that I was fortunately commissioned to write (this and another commission are the reason I was able to buy a new motherboard) which I'm having severe writer's block on, my ongoing Mass Effect fanfic, a new Transformers Prime fic (I'd just finished the last one, and couldn't get the ideas for this one out of my head until I wrote the first chapter...and now more new ideas are coming to me), an ongoing serialized original story featuring several characters from one of my novels, a blog I've been neglecting for too long, and my website which needs some updating.

And, not really writing-related, but I've been doing some stuff on YouTube that I really need to get back to work on. Been wanting to either do some videos or just an audio-only podcast-type thing covering several different subjects. Like, some anecdotes about stuff that happened in the photo lab I used to work in, and my thoughts on the Mass Effect games (which will likely amount to a lot of praise and discussion of details for the first two, and either a quick middle finger to the third or a lot of me ****ing about all the things that are wrong with it. Maybe also some science and technology stuff, which I <3.

Speaking of which, a couple days ago I saw the trailer for Neil deGrasse Tyson's updated Cosmos series, and had the biggest nerdgasm ever.  My brain came so hard, the force of it threw me across the room and slammed me into the wall.  And here's where things get kind of amusing...last night, on my profile page on one of the sites where I post first drafts of my books and stories ( http://www.fanstory.com/phred ), I mentioned the new Cosmos. I briefly mentioned seeing the original show when I was a kid, and how it got me interested in science and especially astronomy, and made Carl Sagan one of my personal heroes. And this morning I found a comment under it, just two words: "Evolutionist propaganda."  *facepalm* My reply: "Yeah, because facts are 'propaganda.' Sigh. I really hope you were just joking." I haven't gotten a reply yet, and doubt I will. Just...wow. (Hmm...now that I think about it, this might give me some material for a blog post or a podcast....)

Anyway, this is already turning into a wall of text, so I should get to some current topics. (Sorry for not addressing specific posters; at the moment, it's faster to comment on the topics themselves.)

Headcanon...well, it's your story, so you write it the way you want to. The important things are that it makes sense and is a good story, as others have said. Also, as has been menioned in previous posts, start at the beginning and just see how the story develops as you write it. It might take a direction at some point that surprises you and gives you entirely new ideas. That's kind of happening with my current novel-in-progress. I started it thinking it was going to be about a certain plot, but only eight chapters in, it's starting to look like that plot might actually wrap up within another two or three chapters, and the focus change to something else. But that's one of the joys of writing--being surprised by your own stories. 

Keeping Anderson alive after the end of ME3...again, your story, so go for it.  For me, just about anything that could lighten up the bleakness of that game's ending would be welcome. And personally, I don't worry too much about whether letting him live would break the story, because for me, Anderson's very presence in that scene (and, to be honest, every single thing he does in the entire game) makes no sense at all. In my playthroughs of ME1, I always chose Anderson to be the new councilor to the Citadel. And in ME2, there he was, the new councilor. In ME3, however, he was suddenly Admiral Anderson, back in the Allience military, with no explanation whatsoever (unless there was a line of dialogue I missed somehow?), and Udina is the councilor. Because, obviously, our choices matter. 

That's just one of too many reasons to list here that I'm headcannoning the entirety of Mass Effect 3 out of existence. Once Freelancers eventually comes to an end, the Reaper war will have developed in a completely different way, and we'll have beaten them without an ass-pull like the Crucible, or an abomination of writing like the Catalyst, or any kind of space magic at all. 

Sorry. I know I should've gotten over it by now, but as a writer, that whole mess still infuriates me. I'm considering adding in bits of dialogue here and there, such as, someone discovers plans for the Crucible and after analyzing them realizes they don't have the slightest idea what it actually does. Which results in the only possibly intelligent solution--"Toss it, then. We'll keep looking until we find something that works."  One other thing I have in mind is, near the end, Shepard gets knocked out by an explosion, and when he wakes up, he talks about having a dream that sounds suspiciously similar to the ME3 ending and the RGB crap. After which another character (probably Dakka, since it just seems to fit her) stares at him for a few seconds, rolls her eyes, and says, "That's ****ing stupid." 

Heh. Not sure if I'll actually use it...it depends on how the story develops by that point, and whether a humorous scene will even fit into the story without appearing contrived. But if I do use it, it'll probably go something like this....

Dakka: "That's ****ing stupid."
Shepard: "Well, it was a dream. I wouldn't expect it to make sense."
Dakka: "I wouldn't know about that. Most of my dreams are about Quint banging me silly."
Shep: 
Quint: "Actually, that's what we call 'reality'."
Dakka: "Well, I dream about it, too. :wub:"
Quint: 
Shep: "Wow, really? Get a room, you two." 
Garrus:  "How are you even still alive after having sex with a krogan?"
Quint: "I get that question all the time."
Garrus. "Yeah, I bet you do."
Joker: (through comlink) "I'll be in my bunk."
Shep: "I'm starting to think I should've stayed unconscious."
Joker: "With EDI."
Shep: "At least wait until the mission's over and we're not in danger of being vaporized."
Dakka: "And try not to break any bones." :innocent:
EDI: "I am capable of being gentle."

Okay, enough. I came up with the last six lines right here, as I was writing this. If I don't stop now, it'll go somewhere...unfortunate.  On to another topic....

Letting Shepard retire after the end/aftermath of ME3...I wouldn't have a problem with this--and in fact, it should've been one of the possible endings of the game. After everything poor Shepard has been through, especially if you accept everything that happened in ME3, then he/she deserves to retire and have some peace and quiet. Or, at the very least, take a very long vacation after he/she is fully healed and rehabilitated. If your Shep has a love interest, let them spend some time with him/her. If you want Shep to remain active, that's cool, too; he/she can help the galaxy rebuild, or the Normandy can fight off pirates and other scumbags who decide to take advantage of all the chaos the war left in its wake, or if your Shep is still a Spectre, then he/she can do Spectre stuff. Maybe Admiral Hackett can arrange for Shep and the Normandy crew to continue working together doing whatever.

But again, it's your story, so write it the way you want to. If you make it a good story, readers will find it and keep reading. It's always a pleasant surprise when a new reader finds and faves/follows one of my stories. When I started writing my Transformers Prime fics, I expected a lot of blowback just because of the hostility I've seen on message boards toward the idea of Jack and Arcee getting into a relationship (I just figure it'd make an interesting story, but wow, mention it in the wrong place, and some people start breaking out the long knives), but so far no one has said anything negative about it, and readers are still discovering and faving them.

Just on FF.net...

First one, "Game-Changer"--8 chapters/47,000 words, 30 reviews, 36 followers, 73 faves.
Second, "Rematch"--9 chapters, 34,500 words, 80 reviews, 61 followers, 74 faves.
Third, "Enemy of my Enemy"--6 chapters, 26,000 words, 33 reviews, 32 followers, 39 faves.
Fourth: "Harbinger"--1 chapter so far, 4,300 words, 4 reviews, 8 followers, 9 faves.

Not patting myself on the back or anything like that. Just saying it really surprised me that these are doing so well. (And, I guess, I have to force myself to focus on things that go well, when so many things in my life tend to fall apart or never go anywhere.)

And Freelancers, still in progress. I really didn't expect it to do very well because it doesn't focus on Shepard or any of his team or the Normandy crew. It's mostly OCs plus a few minor characters, beginning with Lia'Vael, and later Sidonis and Kenn. And recently, Captain Bailey's gotten involved because of a Cerberus plot to hold his son hostage so they can take over Elias Kelham's operation and use it to gradually take over the Citadel. (Eventually, these characters will meet up with Shep and the Normandy and begin working with them.)

Again, I've been pleasantly surprised by the response it's gotten. One reader even mentioned the focus on other characters as a plus. Also, I didn't expect things like a human male/krogan female couple to go over well (or, at least, I didn't really expect any comments about it at all), but some of the readers really like these two as a couple. Same thing happened with another couple, a human male and a turian female...and I have to admit, both couples are fun to write. Dakka's one of my favorite characters, and the turian just has a background that's fun for me to write--a former Spectre who became a porn star (which is where she met her human parner, who became her husband), who was then forced by circumstances to go back to her old Spectre job and become a complete badass again. :happy: Readers seem to like both couples, and several other characters. 

Anyway...16 chapters and 64,000 words so far, 50 reviews, 57 followers, 49 faves. 

And...I'm not sure how I got off on this tangent.  Still, it just feels good when you set out to write a story, put a part of yourself into it along with all the time and effort, and throw it out there for anyone to find, and find it so well received. :happy:

(And now my connection has cut off twice while typing this. I'm on my laptop on the kitchen counter, standing, just to avoid sitting on my ass for hours on end. Hoping it'll link back up to the router by the time I finish this post....)

And this has already turned into a huge wall of text. Sigh. Well, I didn't intend to do this. It just kind of...happens. Again and again. 

On to...the conversation about cyberpunk. I got into it for the high-tech stuff, but didn't wade in very far because some of it was just too bleak for me. Still, I've read Gibson's Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, and several of his other books, and a few other cyberpunk works. Some of the movies worked for me, some didn't. One film that I think is underrated, though it's horribly dated by now, is Strange Days.

In the last few years, I've found some good ones, though they're more post-cyberpunk. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is one of my favorites. The Tachikomas are awesome.  Another fun one is Cyber City OEDO 808. I like the English dub because the voice acting's pretty good and it's so relentlessly profane that after a few minutes it just becomes hilarious. 

Hmm. Actually, I should stop now and post it, or this will go on and on and frakkin' on. Now, to see if I can get my laptop to connect long enough to post this.... (YAY! got it to work!)

Modifié par ftkerns, 24 juillet 2013 - 04:28 .

[fluffywalrus]

Drussius wrote...

fluffywalrus wrote...

Edit: And Drussius, I WILL finish reading your fic. After reading a certain scene, I was a bit heartbroken (okay, a lot heartbroken), and then that kind of spiraled into me taking a break from the ME fandom for a bit, to try and cure my writer's block, and get all my writing and reading related stress off my shoulders.

Something I wrote pushed you into taking a break from the ME fandom? I'm so sorry!

But as I said once before, you're certainly not obligated to read my story, and even more certainly not on any timetable.  It's there when/if you feel like it. And it's good to see you. Hope your battle with writer's block has seen the beast properly slain, stuffed, and mounted.

haha, it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I realized that me reading ME fanfics while trying to conquer my writer's block was doing more harm than good. I needed distance, room to breathe, and a fresh canvas to fiddle around with to figure things out with. Realized my constant deadlines, the pressure i was putting on myself for updating quickly, the pressure to review everything quickly, the pressure to do a ME2 arc and an ME3 arc, etc. was all just getting to me and while writing was still fun, there was always this little beast in my mind sapping me of the energy and will to continue due to all the stress.

So I'm just trying to take a different approach. Write what I want, when I want. Take my time fixing the mistakes in the outline I had for Feathers, take my time posting chapters. Take my time reviewing stories, maybe not leaving one for every chapter like I used to. Because I started writing for me, I joined this community for me, and I don't need all the pressure I put on myself to live up to what I think a bunch of other people expect of me.

My writer's block is mostly done and over with, but I made a fine mess of my mass effect fic's outline, forgetting a secondary plot point entirely that should have been introduced nearly ten chapters ago. So I've been working on that, figuring out a way to implement it without rushing it. And in the meantime, I'm writing for fun in another fandom, and most of what I've written is sitting on my computer unpublished. I wanted to see if I could handle that, and I'm happy I can.
So yes, your story was the straw to break the camel's back, but it's turned out to be a rather pleasant experience.
it's good to be back.

Edit: hey stoob!

Modifié par fluffywalrus, 24 juillet 2013 - 08:54 .

[MrStoob]

ftkerns wrote...

Another thing is, I just have too many things going at once. Total writing projects include a novel, another novel just entering the planning stage (meaning ideas are starting to buzz around in my head and not leave me alone), a short story/novelette that I was fortunately commissioned to write (this and another commission are the reason I was able to buy a new motherboard) which I'm having severe writer's block on, my ongoing Mass Effect fanfic, a new Transformers Prime fic (I'd just finished the last one, and couldn't get the ideas for this one out of my head until I wrote the first chapter...and now more new ideas are coming to me), an ongoing serialized original story featuring several characters from one of my novels, a blog I've been neglecting for too long, and my website which needs some updating.

Ugh, don't.  I've so many things that I should be working on but motivation/muses are elusive at the mo.  Writing works, I have 'The Damned' (2nd book following on from my trilogy work), 'Road to Breezehome' (Skyrim Lyda based fic), 'Hunters' (post-war ME fic), a few oneshot projects, the Battle for Earth thread.  Then there's a Cartoon Network RPG music project me and some of my fellow musicians on soundclick are working on, video projects I have ideas for but need lotsa of time for vid capturing first (zzzz), and so on.  And of course, RL stuff.  Life's a trial eh?  

Edit:
Awww, that was nice.  I'd done a screen capt of a Skyrim scene and posted it on the Nexus with just around 20 lines of dialogue between the Dragonborn and Serana (a vampire girl).  I'd thanked a guy for their 'endorsement' of the thing and he said he'd read the first chapter of my Skyrim fic and that in future, he'll see the usually housebound Lydia in a more favourable light, now I have given her a personality and character.  

Modifié par MrStoob, 24 juillet 2013 - 09:22 .