Introduction:
Feel free to skip this introduction or come back later if you aren't interested in reading it.
What this story is:
This story is a retelling and reimagining of the events of the Mass Effect series and beyond. The story will include a few deviations from the content in the games, the deviations growing more pronounced later in the series. Scenes and settings will be reworked, but the main outlines of the story will be readily apparent. The new deviations and developments will hopefully breathe some new life into the story, making it interesting to read even for those intimately familiar with the Mass Effect series, but anyone familiar with the games should not feel lost at any point.
The main protagonists of this story are Rachel Shepard and Liara T'Soni. Rachel is a colonist, war hero who begins to fall in love with Liara shortly after meeting her. She sees herself primarily as a Specter, rather than as an Alliance soldier or Cerberus operative. She's neither paragon nor renegade but has a complex set of values that determine her actions, and these values change and develop as the story progresses. When I played through the series while role-playing as her, her Paragon/Rengade bars were very similar in size. She had more Paragon points than Renegade points in Mass Effect, but this trend reversed itself in Mass Effect 2 and 3. I assure you, however, that she is not a "renedouche" as some types of renegades have been described. She's neither a cigar chomping "Starbuck" badgirl nor a diplomatic "Captain Picard" dogooder. She can be thoughtful at times, but not intellectual; she underestimates her own intelligence. She usually chooses to do the pragmatic, safe thing, except when her anger or the imp of the perverse compel her to do otherwise. As a survivor of the Mindoir massacre, her bigoted feelings about batarians are a rather prominent character flaw. Her parent's religiosity has also left a major mark on her life. Also, this probably shouldn't have to be said, but since some people write their Shepards as godlike, I would like to point out that Rachel will make mistakes, and come to regret some of the choices she makes throughout the story.
Liara is the other heroine of this story. I have less leeway to play with her character than Shepard. I have tried to keep her true to the character that she was portrayed as during each installment of the Mass Effect series while exploring some of the motivations that drove her character change. I've heard some people say that they don't really like Liara in the first game, that she comes off as too much of a damsel in distress. If this is you, I would encourage you to hang in there during the early chapters; Liara's darker side will come out to play later. The other side of that coin though, is that I don't believe that she becomes an utterly ruthless sociopath once she grabs the Shadow Broker's reigns either. Like Shepard, I'm trying to write her as a complex and believable person. She will be neither the paragon of goodness nor the heartless renegade of information brokering that many depict her as. I don't feel that either of these stereotypes are true to her character. She does indeed begin the series as the second most "Paragon" squadmate (only Kaidan outranks her when suggesting Paragon decisions to Shepard) and she does go quite Renegade during her hunt for the Shadow Broker (though not as much as I think some people make out). But neither of these one-dimensional extremes are the core attributes of her character. They're merely outward symptoms of where she is at that stage of her life. Some of her core attributes include, a driving curiosity and intelligence, a detail orientation and tendency to obsess (first about Protheans, then information brokering), a workaholic streak bordering on the unhealthy that she sometimes uses to bury her feeling rather than process them, devotion to Shepard (this is true for both romanced and non romanced Liaras and might again be considered to be almost unhealthy for non romanced Liaras) and, of course, much more. I find her final stage to be one of a balanced personality, sympathetic and caring, but pragmatic and logical enough to scramble the eggs where it has to be done. She's as reasonably selfish about her own happiness, and by extension her bondmate's, as any of us are, really.
Romance:
Since romances are a sticking point for many readers I would like state upfront that, yes, Shepard and Liara will be in a romantic relationship in this story. And, no, there will be no threesomes, philandering, S&M, or anything else of the sort. I have no intention of writing smut, however, I reserve the right to depict romantic scenes to greater or lesser degrees of intimacy as I deem appropriate.
Alternate Universes:
Since I've stated that this story will be a reimagining of Mass Effect the question naturally arises, how much will the story deviate from Mass Effect as told by Bioware? Most of the changes to the story are small enough to be considered cosmetic. For instance, I have depicted the Normandy as a somewhat larger ship than the layout provided in game, while still keeping her a frigate class vessel. Did you notice that there was no bathroom on the first Normandy? Where were meals prepared, supplies kept, water and air filtered? Extending the deck plan of the Normandy beyond what was depicted in game is only a minor change. The main features of each game will still be readily apparent to fans. Shepard will still visit Noveria, Therum, Feros, and Virmire (where either Ash or Kaidan and maybe Wrex will die) before Ilos. She will still work for Cerberus to take on the Collectors and she will still gather forces to construct and deliver the Crucible. Though I am somewhat uncomfortable with certain aspects of the Mass Effect series such as the Crucible or Lazarus Project, I will not excise them completely as they are far too deeply interwoven into the plot. Instead I will try to mitigate some of the aspects of these elements that make me uncomfortable, such as providing better foreshadowing for the Crucible, and leaving Shepard's body in better condition than, "just meat and tubes."
I also hope to make better use of Liara's position as the Shadow Broker, as this seemed like a wasted opportunity to me. Having your protagonist romantically involved with the most powerful information broker in the galaxy should have consequences.
I promise that I will work hard to make any deviations from the material presented in the games feel logical and satisfying. Obviously these judgments are somewhat subjective but I promise that I will not allow the story to fly off on a tangent because I have some pet idea that I wish to shoehorn into the narrative at all costs.
About the title:
Sea of Flame is a reference to the idea that the universe is a constant flux of change, often likened to a fire by poets and mystics of many traditions. I want to explore this idea as a theme throughout this story. You'll find the characters dealing with perpetual change, positive and negative, and struggling to make sense and meaning of their lives in an indifferent universe that throws away some and elevates others with nary a care for fairness or justice.
I've chosen an appropriate quote from the ancient Presocratic philosopher, Heraclitus, as the epigraph.
About that ending:
I've reimagined it. In the interest of not spoiling it, I won't say much more about the details than that. Hopefully, you'll like what I've come up with better than what Bioware presented. You may be wondering, is it happy or sad? That depends on your hopes and aspirations for the characters. Everybody's different. I don't think that you'll come away feeling like your emotional investment in the characters was a betrayal, a cruel trick to jerk some tears out of you and pat myself on the back for being deep. But a happily-ever-after ending, drinks on the beach with Garrus, et cetera, isn't appropriate for a story about galactic extinction events either. (I do have a fluff story if you want to read that sort of thing.) Ideally, you should find a nice balance of emotions in my ending. Will Shepard and Liara be together when all is said and through? I'm not telling! I've got to keep you in suspense somehow!
Let me just say that I am no longer in the frothing at the mouth with hate for bioware camp in regards to the endings. I do believe that the pre-extended cut ending warranted the hate that it received. But the extend cut has brought the endings from abject failure to poor but tolerable. For now, let me explain what I didn't like about the ending as bioware presented it, and you can decide whether or not you respect my judgment enough to entrust me with crafting a new one. After all, this story will be fairly long, a big investment of your time, and you probably want some assurance that the payoff will be worth it.
First off, I have no problem with the Reapers' origins being a zeroth law rebellion. (though this is not what I chose for them) You can look up the term zeroth law rebellion if you don't know what I'm talking about. I do, however, reject the idea that it is inevitable that synthetics will always come into conflict with organics. I don't see any reason why, as technology advances, synthetics and organics can't go hand in hand into some kind of transhuman future together. This might lead you to suspect that I like the synthesis ending to Mass Effect 3. You would be very wrong. Ignoring the moral implications of tampering with the DNA of every organic being in the galaxy without consent, I find the synthesis ending to be completely unsatisfactory from a narrative perspective.
In any sci-fi universe we are asked to suspend a certain amount of disbelief. The amount and type of disbelief we are asked to suspend is established early in the narrative. If, at any later point in the narrative, the author asks us to suspend additional belief, we tend to protest. We may be cajoled into accepting the request for additional suspension of disbelief if the request is small and is clearly in the service of an emotionally satisfying plot development. (For instance, I don't really understand fully what happens to Legion during the paragon resolution of the Rannoch arch in Mass Effect 3, but it doesn't yank me out of the game world when my paragon Shepards choose it.) Although, really, it is simply better writing to stay within the originally established bounds entirely.
If the Force didn't exist in the Star Wars movies until Return of the Jedi, but was pulled out of thin air and used to defeat the emperor at the end of the trilogy, you could bet that it would have been thoroughly mocked. For me, the synthesis ending violates the implicit author/reader agreement that is established in the early portions of a narrative, namely, "you will be asked to suspend this much disbelief (element zero, mass effect fields, et cetera), and no more than this." I would hardly find the synthesis ending to be less satisfying if a wizard appeared at the end of the Catalyst's speech, robed in a cloak of stars and crescent moons, and offered to wave his magic wand to create synthesis. Hey, why not? I already can't buy that Shepard's élan vital was vacuumed up and spat out across the universe to draw glowing green circuits on people's skin and baseball caps. Once suspension of disbelief has been lost, adding a wizard does little more damage to a person's sense of immersion.
Hopefully, you will find that the ending that I have planned does not rob you of your suspension of disbelief. The motivations for the Reapers that I have come up with are at once both less complex than bioware's, and more mysterious. Clarity is often the enemy of terror. The Reapers motivations must leave them as terrible monsters whose very existence shakes one's confidence in the rightness of the universe, and must remain true to Sovereign's, "our kind transcends your very understanding," line. I'm not sure bioware's explanation does either of those things.
About the author:
This is the second story I've written for Mass Effect. In fact, these two stories are the only pieces of fiction that I've ever tried my hand at writing, so I still consider myself to be quite new at the whole authoring thing; constructive criticism is welcome. And, of course, praise is welcome too! ;) I haven't read many author's retellings of the Mass Effect saga, because I want to keep their ides from influencing my story. Nevertheless, I have incorporated one idea from another author of Mass Effect fanfiction, and I would be remiss if I didn't give her credit for her idea. I have decided that, despite Rachel's love for Liara, she is, in fact, a straight woman. Confused? Read on to see how this works! This idea came from the writer Awska and her amazing story, Unity. You can find Unity here: fanfiction dot net /s/8078346/1/ I highly recommend it, it's my favorite piece on fanfiction dot net.
Special Thanks:
Thank you, David, for being my proof reader. (When you finally get around to it, you lazy ass.)
Update: David can't be arsed. But, my fanfiction heroine, Awska has stepped up to the plate as of chapter three. Who would have guessed?
And thanks to everyone for reading the introduction, and I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimers:
Bioware owns the rights to the Mass Effect characters and universe. This is a work of fanfiction set in their universe, not an original IP. This story contains spoilers for all three Mass Effect games as well as supplementary material such as the books and comic books. The story is rated MA and contains graphic language, violence, and depictions of adult situations. Read at your own risk.
Updates:
You can read these now, or come back to read them when you reach the chapters with which they were co-published.
Web of Lies
Sex, Gender, Sexuality:
Though there is nothing really apropos in this chapter, the issue of portrayals of sexuality within fanfiction has come to my attention as of late, and I'd like to comment on it here before we continue.
Sexuality is a pretty combustible topic for a lot of people. Many have suffered a lot of abuse for simply being who they are, and it's understandable that this is a sensitive issue for many. By this point you are no doubt well-aware that Rachel self-identifies as being a straight woman. Which is simply to say that, up until this point in her life, she has found herself sexually attracted to human men and not to women.
When I first wrote this idea (one which was borrowed from fanfiction writer, Awska), I never stopped to think about how important Shepard's "queer" status was to many of the people who "ship" this pairing. I want to stress that I had no intention of trying to steal away a queer hero from this community. I was allured instead by the breath of fresh air and new(ish) perspective that I hoped this could bring. You will find no whitewashing of homosexuality or bisexual erasure in this story. Some of the characters will be gay. Kaidan is bi, although he hasn't had much chance to show us this side of himself since he is pursuing a woman at the moment. (Liara too, like the majority of asari in this story, is unconcerned with the gender of a potential partner.)
You'll have probably noticed that this story is not an "SSV Loveboat" story, and that the characters do not exist for our saucy gratification in this piece. (Nothing wrong with stories that are! I like porn too!) That Shepard will be falling for Liara in this story is not in any sense, meant to be a masturbatory, OH MY GOSH FIRST TIMEZ LESBO!111 fantasy aid for either men or women. It's important to note that, just as some people are gay and will never be compatible with members of the opposite gender, others are straight and will never be compatible with members of their own gender. There is nothing wrong with either of these types of people, full stop. There is nothing wrong with any kind of sexual attraction toward any sentient beings that are capable of informed consent. (If you're wondering why the strange choice of language, it's because that wording rules out animals and children, but not turians and AIs. Adult human beings are the only entities that meet those criteria today, but in fantasy and sci-fi settings, other possibilities can be explored, as I'm doing here.) Shepard's eventual attraction to Liara is not meant to be any sort of attack on, nor slight against, the fixity of sexual preferences that many report experiencing. Nor is it meant to disrespect or disregard the adversities that those who have always felt same sex attraction have faced.
It is a bit silly (and this is fanfiction, not Shakespeare after all), but my Liara/Shepard romance is a spin-off of that old warhorse, the Love Conquers All trope. However, in this instance, I've deiced to justify it a little bit by dressing it up in a veneer of sci-fi pseudoscience. The sci-fi setting allows me to get away with inventing a method by which asari attraction can essentially bypass what, in our reality, are often rigid gender preferences. Exploring the unfamiliar or otherwise unbelievable is one of the joys of sci-fi and fantasy, and very much one of the goals of this story. I want to provide a unique spin on Mass Effect without deviating to the point that my story is no longer the universe that you've fallen in love with.
While, for the purposes of this story, I like to conceive of the primary relationship as being F/A (female human paired with monogendered asari), I'm aware that we are all, "anthropocentric bags of dicks," and we likely see it as being F/F. This may be the primary relationship focus of this story, however, expect there to be other relationships, mostly F/M, but also M/M. I intend to stay true to the sexuality of the characters as Bioware created them.
If the fact that this story will include F/F, F/M, and M/M offends you in anyway, you may kindly excuse yourself from the story at this point without comment. And, yes, that includes any type of "yuck" response, because, "I'm OK with what they do, but I think it's disgusting," doesn't cut it with me. I am a strong believer in the Love is Love slogan. I have no room for your bigotry in my life. All reciprocated love is good love, and it should not be discriminated against, whether it is a common target of discrimination as much gay love is, or even if that discrimination is "reversed" and is directed at heterosexuals. (For those of you who might wondering, yes this does exist, and it is partially responsible for prompting this author's note.)
I don't believe that I've given out any information within the confines of this story about what gender I identify as or what preferences I have in regards to my sexual partners. And though you may be able to make guesses, it is my strongly held belief that it shouldn't matter. If there is any possible combination of gender, sex, and sexual preference for the author of this story that would cause you to reevaluate your enjoyment of the story, then again, please kindly excuse yourself and take your bigotry with you. For the rest of you, thank you for your patience reading this unfortunately necessary author's note. I hope to see you again next chapter. And whether you are attracted to masculinity, femininity, the androgynous, all of the above, some of the above, or none of the above... whether you are cisgendered, transgendered, trigendered, or don't feel particularity gendered at all... thank you for being wonderful as you are.
Liara's Character Development:
I've noticed that there are growing number of people who are fans of Liara, but who don't like the Liara/FemShep pairing. Some of them believe that Shepard stunts Liara's character growth, or that stories where they are paired focus only Shepard's character development to the exclusion of Liara's. I hope to God my story doesn't do that. You can rest assured that, while not every chapter will be about character development for both Shep and Liara, that my intentions here are to explore changes and growth in both of them.