he/him | acespec | I like Mass Effect a normal amount | all characters, ships, AUs, etc. are welcome here | AO3 | Writing tag | Bsky | hardcore_like_eezo on Discord | blog formerly known as serioussamiam
Hi! I'm Sam and I'm pretty much here for Mass Effect (it's had its hold on me since about 2008). I like to write and play video games (replays of ME, and hey other games too). I gravitate towards sci-fi with reading and TV. If you DM me, I might not respond right away since I've uninstalled most everything from my phone except what makes it a phone (I only Tumblr on the computer).
All my stories are on AO3 and tagged here. My Mass Effect fic list is under the cut. Many of my fics center around Cambria Shepard, aim to stay canon-compliant, and are shakarian (once they reach the trilogy timeline). I have a lot in the pipeline and will update this post occasionally.
Short(ish) stories
The Usual Suspect | Words: 38,709 | Completed (7/7) | Yeah I know it's not a "short story," but it reads like a novella
The Collector Base is destroyed, Commander Shepard has severed ties with Cerberus, but her next steps remain unclear. Mobilizing an entire galaxy against a threat most people believe is a fantasy is far from simple. When a whistle blower inside a Cerberus cell catches her attention, Commander Shepard winds up on Noveria as the prime suspect in the murder of a major biotech company's CEO, and finds herself with more questions than answers.
The Ghost of You | Words: 16,851 | Completed (6/6)
Garrus looked up to Commander Shepard, trusted her, respected her, and dismissed the chance there might be anything more than friendship between them. But when he's broken by the news of her death, he finds the last thing he can do is learn to move on, haunted by a ghost he can't lay to rest.
One-shots
Homecoming | Words: 2,451 | Completed (although I could see returning and adding chapters to this one)
With Commander Shepard taken into custody by the Systems Alliance, Garrus returns to the one person in the galaxy he never thought, or wanted, to go to for help: his father. He also grapples with his guilt over failing to answer his sister's asks for help with their ailing mother.
Garrus Never Prayed | Words: 647 | Completed
Over the years, as Garrus's views of galactic society hardened, his belief in the spirits waned alongside his desire for their inspiration—until now.
The Courage of Stars | Words: 2,234 | Completed
Saren and Desolas take on an imaginary army, share some sibling banter, and bond under the stars.
Blood of a King | Words: 1,303 | Completed
Wrex celebrates Clan Urdnot's newest member, Garrus just wants to survive his trip to Tuchanka, and Shepard can't resist adding another notch to her legendary status.
A Gift of Peace | Words: 1,206 | Completed
Shepard’s birthday ends up falling on the same day as a historic ceasefire, and Garrus and Tali can’t help but tell everyone.
Twitterpated | Words: 1,429 | Completed
Shepard’s ever-stoic demeanor is overcome by an indefatigable joy. Liara and Tali are itching to find out why.
New Wings | Words: 1,963 | Completed
He’d lost the Normandy, he’d lost the privilege to fly, and he never stopped blaming himself for Shepard’s death. During his lowest of lows, an unlikely job offer presented Joker with his first glimpse of redemption—if he was willing to make a deal with the devil.
The Disciple | Words: 3,019 | Completed
By the time of the Reaper War, Shepard had honed her biotic skills to a deadly art, wielding advanced techniques like the nova, traditionally known only to the asari. But before that, she had to learn the basics like everyone else, and who better to teach her than an asari justicar?
He Had Reach | Words: 945 | Completed
Garrus attempts to be helpful in the kitchen. Shepard, the tall human that she is, doesn’t appreciate any insinuation that she is short.
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Following @mostmagical's suggestion and posting my WIP just 'cause.
“I thought I messed up. I’ve reread every entry in the Lazarus Report these past few months, looking for a mistake. When I couldn’t find one, I worried I’d woken her up too soon. That her mind wasn’t ready. Half-baked…” Miranda paused with a curl of her lips, then steadied herself. “She doesn’t match her psyche profile.”
If you haven't already posted some WIP for a seven sentence Sunday/Monday/any day, I cast area-of-effect tagging! Consider yourself tagged.
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dont get me started on mordin solus's speech patterns and his refusal to use personal pronouns, most notably when discussing genophage modification, until right before he dies and for the first time starts a sentence with i. dont get me started. full accountability right at the end. no sugarcoating, no deflecting, no rambling. i made a mistake. and then he repeats it. i made a mistake. as if even he cant believe he admitted it out loud, as if it feels so foreign on his tongue. dont even start to gas me up, brenda. dont even think about mentioning that the only time he gets close to a personal pronoun in reference to the genophage is when he talks about his team, calls them "we" as a unit, never to do it again as soon as he realizes the maelon defected. shut your fucking mouth. don't do it. don't say a goddamn word about it. if you even think about discussing how mordin has depersonalized himself so much from the trauma that came with his work that it even bled into the way he talks for the rest of his life, ill fucking lose my mind.
how come garrus never wants to talk to me? do you have a minute? no, i’m in the middle of some calibrations. i get all the resources he needs to upgrade the big gun and he doesn’t want to talk to me! my best friend, that bastard. he’s in the middle of calibrations! calibrate my ass, vakarian! it’s the only thing you’re gonna see when i walk out that door. do you have a minute? no, i have to do complicated math problems and equations or algorithms or some bullshit with numbers. do i have a minute? sorry, no, i’m very busy and have to go feed my two fish!
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The crew ventures out into the expanse of Shanxi. Shepard is faced with her first obstacle.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
lil text blurb
"Commander…" he said, his voice trailing off, parched. He cleared his throat. "Pardon me, I was just…" This time, his voice trailed for a very different reason. She looked as though she barely heard him. He stepped to the side, giving her room back into the storehouse, hoping the shame that festered in his belly couldn't be felt like heat on her face.
Suddenly, she realized exactly where she was. She looked up at Garrus, the light from the fire behind him catching in her one eye that hadn't been slashed with silver. Except it was lit by something other than a fire, something that came from within. "Actually, Vakarian, do you have a second to talk?"
It took him a second to register that she was talking to him, and another five on top of that for what she said. She was patient with him at the very least. "With… me?" he finally managed, which was about as eloquent as he could get away with.
"No, actually, I was thinking that I could talk to that pile of bricks outside, and you could stand guard." Far too late, he realized she was joking. His blank expression drew something out in hers, a crinkled expression that could have been a smile or a grimace. "Okay, not in a joking mood, got it." Except he didn't think she was really in a joking mood, either. It was too forced. He had heard Commander Shepard attempt three jokes since their mission started, and all of them were so unfunny that he thought she surely had to threaten the people around her to laugh.
"I can talk," he said, his voice still even and still, like wading out into unfamiliar waters. "If you still want to." Just in case you changed your mind while I babble, he wanted to say.
tell us about cambria!! who was her father? does she ever connect with her mother?
I'm debating with myself how much to say only because these details won't come up until late in the longfic (it's a deliberate slow-reveal)…but it's too fun not to talk about SOME of it, so here's some tea!
Lemme see, here's how I'll answer this. Cambria is born as Jane Shepard and grew up having been told her mother died in child birth. Jane always resented this explanation because it sounded too simple, and she was right (her mother died a week after Jane was born, but none of those details followed her to the orphanage). She also assumed because her mother died giving birth that someone else gave her the name Jane. At age twelve, she convinced her foster parent to sign for a legal name change, and thus entered Cambria, a name she chose for herself. Cambria has a complicated relationship with the memory of her mother---Meredith Shepard---on one hand she feels abandoned by her since she doesn't know the circumstances of her death, but she also can't let the idea of her go.
Regarding Cambria's father, suffice to say he has no idea she exists. When Cambria eventually learns this is likely the case, it's the final nail in the coffin of any remaining interest in learning who he is. He wasn't there when she was born and she feels no obligation to find him.
Sidebar: seeing your tags on Ro's parents is hilarious. Soldier + Engineer = Infiltrator baby 🤣🤣🤣
Every week I ask a basic question about your Shepard, vote and elaborate in the tags!
Note on this week's poll: I assume every Shepard does the requisite work to stay in shape. I'm asking about what they like to do, what they would still do even if they had a completely different job.
What is your Shepard's favorite form of exercise?
Running
Swimming
Lifting
Cycling
Some specific kind of workout/class (ex. crossfit, orangetheory)
Team sport
Outdoor activity (ex. hiking, skiing)
Creative pursuit (ex. dancing, gymnastics)
Yoga (or similar)
Something else (tell me in the tags!)
Secretly(?) hates exercise and considers it a necessary evil for their professio
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The post going around about how people's parents met has, of course, got me wondering about more fictional variants. So if you feel so inclined, tell the story of how your Shepard's parents met in the tags. Or, for Earthborn Shepards, perhaps the story of how/why they ended up on the streets?
