This week we’re featuring @thunderheadfred!
What got you started writing Fanfic?
Hmm. Hard to say. I started back in middle school. Just for fun, I suppose. I took a long break from it - what brought me back was a desire for a low-pressure proving ground. I lacked the confidence to jump straight into original work, but I wanted to write again, to start practicing again. Fanfic seemed like a good outlet.
Are there any authors, published or fanfic, that inspire you in anyway?
I started writing my first Mass Effect fanfic after (another) binge-read of 'Ghost' by @theherocomplex. I wanted to challenge myself to try something on that scale. Bee has since become one of my biggest inspirations in the community - and a wonderful friend! <3
What Mass Effect character comes easiest for you to write and why? This can be a canon character, an OC, or one of the MCs (Shepard/Ryder).
It's a close race between Kallo Jath and (young) Garrus Vakarian. They're both a bit snarky, a bit trapped in their own heads, but deeply sweet and selfless at the core. I find characters like that make for natural POV characters, because they allow for a lot of emotional range and fun (for me!) unreliable narrator moments. I think Kallo wins by a tiny margin on account of the fact that he's a bit more whiny and pretentious, and I've been known to indulge in that kind of thing from time to time. Hahaha.
Are there any characters you want to tackle writing but haven't yet? Why?
Thane is a big one. I always liked his character in-game but struggle with how romantic and... uh... "siha!" he can be. I feel like I'd fumble to capture that and end writing him with too many purple words and dramatic flourishes. I've also considered adding Tali as a POV character to my longfic (Red Streak) but ultimately decided against it because I don't think the quarian perspective would jive well with the turian v. human POV thing I've got going there (plus I'm lazy and ughhgghghg MORE research??)
Time to talk about your fics! What's your favourite story you've written / are working on? Add a synopsis, talk about why you like writing it, and add a link here!
Red Streak
Synopsis - Jane Shepard was raised by a turian expat after the First Contact War. The plot runs as parallel streams - an AU version of the first game plays alongside Shanxi, following Hannah Shepard and the turian OC who eventually becomes Shepard's adoptive father. Background - I started this massive beast with a casual, carefree attitude (oh how things change!!) purely as a personal challenge to write as much as I could as FAST as I could, because I wanted to see if could sustain a 100k+ narrative. Turns out I could write a LOT more than I thought... but once I reached a certain level of investment, the self-doubt arrived, and in a BIG WAY. Thanks to a lot of IRL stress-factors and a general lack of confidence, I've been on hiatus from this one for a while, but I absolutely plan on seeing it through to the end... eventually.
What's your second favourite story you've written / are working on? Add a synopsis, talk about why you like writing it, and add a link here!
A Pretty Taste For Paradox
Synopsis - My take on a canon-compliant asexual romance between femShep and Mordin Solus. Background - Early last year, I became deeply curious about what might have been - what if we'd had the option to pursue an ace romance with Mordin that spanned the events of ME2/3? What might have changed? What would that relationship even LOOK like? I thought nothing could knock Shakarian off my personal OTP throne... but... damn. Since starting this, Mordin/Shep has become almost impossible to beat.
What's your third favourite story you've written / are working on? Add a synopsis, talk about why you like writing it, and add a link here!
Double Blind
Synopsis - Basically... 50 Shades of Solus. Shepard is assigned to apprentice with Mordin Solus on Omega for her N5. An improbable amount of BDSM ensues. Background - The idea for this dumpster fire came to me while I was drunk in the middle of a thunderstorm. That in and of itself was so ludicrous and Byronic that I had to do it, haha. Trying to use this one as an outlet to break free of months of agonized writer's block. No better way than a PWP to remind myself that not everything has to be good. Sometimes you gotta just let yourself roll in the trash.
What are your greatest challenges when writing?
The entire process, start to finish. Writing feels like trying to line up the pieces of a pain-pleasure torture puzzle so fiercely seductive and complicated that it puts the Lament Configuration to shame.
What are your greatest strengths when writing?
Um. I honestly don't know. I guess... imaginative similes and descriptions? (Thanks, ADHD. No, seriously.) My brain is a constant stream of weird disconnected thoughts. I feel like writing is the one place where so much random noise is actually helpful rather than a huge pain in my ass.
Okay, we're almost done! Any WIP or sequels or anything you'd like to give a hint about?
NOPE! Just that if I have a WIP that hasn't been updated in a while, don't give up hope! None of my works have been abandoned. Sometimes I really struggle to write, but I'm making a little more progress each day. I SHALL RETURN!
