[ SECRET POST #2731 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2731 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 033 secrets from Secret Submission Post #390.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

04. http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t570/CourtesyGriever/MassRomance.png

[(Anonymous)]

F!Shepard/Garrus fics are even worse about this, tbh

[writerserenyty]

I love Shep/Kaidan but yeah I really want the characterization to be better in fics, generally.

[elaminator]

Don't have any links atm, but I KNOW there's at least a couple of good dominant f!shep/Kaidan fics out there. At least I'm pretty sure there are...

I don't read much fic in Mass Effect fandom but the characterization in a lot of it seems to be off. Still, as long as you have a MC who's fairly customizable this sort of thing will happen.

[(Anonymous)]

If you do remember those link this anon would be interested.

[quirkytizzy]

This is why I'm a little afraid to search for ME fanfic, even though it is one of the few universes I would absolutely LOVE to read new stories in.

[(Anonymous)]

That's kind of the problem with both femShep/Kaidan and femShep/Garrus fics... Since the writers are usually female, they're often not writing about femShep and her love interest, they're writing about their world-saving self-insert alter ego and her perfect husbando. You don't see that as often with manShep fics because it's probably harder for a lot of female authors to turn a male character into their own self-insert, but with femShep they can make Shepard look just like themselves and even give her their same name. Is it any wonder that they write Kaidan as "Super Romance Novel Guy"? Heaven forbid their fantasy husband have any flaws! (Besides totally hot possessiveness of his girlfriend or the occasional brooding over his dark past, ala Edward Cullen.)

[(Anonymous)]

This smacks a bit of misogyny, especially since I know a lot of people who use Male Shepard as a self-insert and they're equally gross about the love interests worshipping his cock (granted, BW made it easy by making at least one of his romances explicitly the healing power of said cock).

I think that F!Shenko does tend to underplay Shepard in a way that other pairings don't, mainly in order to justify being OK with Kaidan's treatment of her on Horizon and in ME3, if she romanced someone else in ME2. But I think it's less a side effect of them being women and more a side effect of how BW presented the relationship. Namely, he has a massive crush on FemShep from the beginning, and he essentially controls the conversation in ME2. Then, in ME3, Shepard pretty much has to pander to his lingering paranoia and judgment in order to continue the romance. It's all kind of icky, especially compared to how much smoother the transition from friends to lovers is for Male Shep and Kaidan, and it gets perpetuated in fics about the relationship.

As for Shakarian, while I dislike most Shakarian fics because they lean too heavily on a flanderized fanon Garrus, I don't think those are self-insert Shepards, either. I think they're the same kind of power fantasy projections that pretty much 75% of male writers indulge in (only male writers get their own IP's and get paid for their shit).

[diet_poison]

Have you read anything by Sinvraal on ffnet, OP? I think her f!Shenko is pretty good, though it's not always the focus of her work. She has a series of fics spanning all three ME games and covering multiple character POVs, with f!Shenko being the central pairing, and I definitely wouldn't call her femshep submissive or self-inserty.

[(Anonymous)]

You're not writing Carth write if you're writing him like that either.

Kaidan is so low-drama I feel like ME3 reads more like the fic you're talking about than the fics itself.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think it has anything to do with Kaidan/FemShep fics.

It has to do with FemShep.

She's TERRIBLY done in fanfics. Regardless of the differences in dialogue, Shepard tends to talk and act in a specific way that most fic writers miss. Not to mention that Shepard really has no flaws, and when writers try to give her various weaknesses, they tend to botch her up a la Metroid: Other M.

[beverlykatz]

This. Most fics end up giving Shepard a secondary personality that makes her easier to write but less like herself. It's hard to explain, but fic!Sheps tend to be... more personal? I think a lot of people write their own concept of Shepard, the same way they project their own concept of Shepard while they're playing. It's fine, but it's... not in character. I want to read about Commander Shepard, not Lorena or Kira or whomever you're writing about.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, exactly! It's a hard concept to explain without having played the game especially since early Shepard is very blank. Shepard gains more and more of a distinct personality with each game... in fact, Citadel DLC probably had the most vibrant Shepard. But I think Shepard DOES have a personality, even if it's fairly bare.