Hello people in 2021. Sorry, but this isn't a real chapter. If you are someone who is somehow still subscribed to, and interested in, this story after however many years it's been, then I apologise for getting your hopes up. It may seem incredibly random for me to be posting an update after all this time, but if you stick around, I'll explain why.
With the announcement of the remaster of the original ME trilogy, as well as a new game, my interest in the franchise has recently been reignited (not that it ever truly died). Feeling nostalgic, I decided to look back over this story, written when I was first playing through and experiencing the games all those years ago. I've always regretted leaving it unfinished, especially considering the abrupt way that it currently 'ends'; literally in the middle of a scene. Sadly, there isn't much I can do to change that now.
But, it does feel right that I take this opportunity to offer some kind of closure, for anyone who cares. Firstly, below is a copy of the author's notes I've just added to the start of Chapter 1, outlining my current thoughts on the 'state' of the story. Feel free to skip these if you have read them already:
A/N – 2021 UPDATE:
Hello everyone. If you're reading this, then you must be on a journey deep into the bowels of ff net in search of F/F Mass Effect stories. Congratulations on being a person of culture. As you can see, this story, while very long, is also very old. In fact, it's been almost 10 years since I last updated it with new a proper new chapter. Nevertheless, I wanted to provide some more recent notes (it is currently 10/04/2021 when I am writing this) so that I can offer some insight for anyone still looking to read it. Feel free to skip the rest of these notes if you want, but I think they're worth a read, if for no other reason than to provide some context.
Firstly, a fair warning: this story is unfinished. In fact, despite its meandering length, it's not even close to finished. And to be honest, I doubt it ever will be. I started writing this story years ago as simply a fun and interesting thing to do, and also because I had (and still do have) a deep fondness for the Mass Effect games and the characters therein. As time went on it grew and grew, but I never had any particular plan for what I wanted to accomplish with it, or what the 'endgame' of various plot threads and relationships would be. I had a ton of ideas, many of which I incorporated as I went, but it was always a 'making it up as I went along' kind of approach.
As such, the plot, and the relationships contained within, are kind of all over the place. The story follows the established events of ME 1…mostly. It doesn't stray too far from canon, but it does make multiple detours along the way. And some aspects do conflict with information revealed in ME 2 and ME 3, simply because those parts were written before those games were released. It also sets up multiple questions and mysteries that, I'll be honest, don't have satisfying answers, because I never got around to deciding how they would be resolved (just call me JJ Abrams). My lazy, cop-out answer: feel free to assume things concluded in whatever way you think best.
Secondly (and I realise these notes are also getting kind of long, sorry), the quality of the writing reflects the abilities I had at the time. That's not to say it's bad, or to claim that I'm anything special as a writer now, but I definitely feel that my skills have improved since this story was written, which is hopefully evident in the more recent works I've published. Were I to write this story today, there are a lot of things I would do differently, both in terms of the plot, and in how certain scenes play out. I have considered attempting to go back and re-edit the text with a fresh eye, but the time investment such a task would take is, frankly, too daunting (any volunteers? lol). Instead, if/when I do write another longform Mass Effect fic, I'd probably prefer to start from scratch, maybe cannibalizing some of the better pieces from this story where appropriate. Hey, it's not plagiarism if it's your own work, right?
With all that being said, this story has received a lot of positive reviews over the years it's been uploaded, for which I am immensely grateful. Even though I am not happy with it in many ways, clearly there is enjoyment to be got from it, which is why I wanted to write this message and leave it up, rather than simply deleting it. If you've read this far and haven't been put off yet, I hope you enjoy :) And be assured, I do still actively read reviews and respond to PMs, so if you want to leave a comment, it's not a waste of time to do so.
Secondly, well, what is there to say? I had an amazing time writing this story, and while I offer no promises, the recent resurgence of Mass Effect may inspire me to write some more. Like I said in my note above though, anything new that I do write will almost certainly be as a separate fic, if for no other reason than to avoid the tangled mess of plotlines set up in this one and start with a clean slate. FShep/Liara and FShep/Tali remain my absolute favourite pairings (even if the second one isn't technically canon), so any new fics will definitely include one or both of them, just like this one.
Interestingly enough, the FShep/Tali pairing in this fic was initially never intended to be anything more than a speedbump on the way to eventual FShep/Liara. But, as I was writing it, I discovered that I was actually incredibly fond of them as a couple as well. It didn't seem right to leave Tali broken-hearted, even fictionally, and thus the story evolved into the somewhat unusual menage-a-trois it is now. Similarly, the Shadow Broker was initially meant to just be a kind of cool temporary nemesis for the group (bear in mind this was all before ME 2, when his identity was still a mystery), but he eventually became something much more important and serious. Looking back on it, I think it would have been much better for the plot if I'd kept him in the low-key form I'd initially intended. But oh well, we live and learn.
As for closure, well, I had many grand (and equally vague) plans for how our three ladies' journeys could span all three games. I won't list out the ideas here, as none of them are particularly fleshed out, and there's a chance I may still want to use some of them in the future ;) If you are interested, feel free to PM me. Ultimately, though, the ending was always going to be a happy one. All three of them would have survived, more or less intact (even Shepard), and go on to have a fulfilling and deeply loving relationship.
That's about it. I hope you enjoyed the story, for what it was, whether you have just finished reading it for the first time now, or whether you followed a notification email thinking 'wtf, I don't even remember subscribing to this fic'. See you all around :)