#bardofheartdive

[silvermoon424]

#3 for the Simple asks game, please!

3. what are you looking forward to right now?

I'm really tired so I'm looking forward to huddling under my heated blanket and watching Youtube videos before going to sleep!

I'm also looking forward to the new PMMM movie, whenever it eventually comes out lol.

[swaps55]

Raphael Sbarge | Cameo

Check out this Cameo by Raphael Sbarge for Bardofheartdive (Bard)!

Hello, @bardofheartdive! I am your Holiday Harbinger! As a fellow Kaidan lover, I thought, what better way to send some January Jubilation and encouraging words for the new year than from Major Alenko himself? 

Raphael Sbarge was kind enough to record this message for you. I hope you enjoy it! 

[cassiefisherdrake]

I got my @masseffectholidaycheer gift from @bardofheartdive — thank you SO much for such a thoughtful gift! I just moved into my first ever apartment so desperately needed kitchenware, which she supplied in the form of these LOVELY handmade potholders. :’)

Thank you also for the copy of the Last Unicorn! It’s so sweet to include a book so precious to you, I’m gonna give it a read as soon as I can. Happy January Jubilation!

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

[commanderkats]

So I got my gift from @bardofheartdive for Mass Effect Holiday Cheer! Thank you so much for the lovely personalized journal and I have been wanting to read The Last Unicorn so this is absolutely perfect.

[theoriginalladya]

so my @masseffectholidaycheer gift from @bardofheartdive arrived today, and what a delightful surprise on an otherwise gloomy, rainy day! I LOVE THE BAG!!!!! As a crafter, I'm always looking for bags to keep my projects in, and to have one that ties into my Abby Williams/Major Coats story?! AHHHH!!!!! Thank you so much!!! And The Last Unicorn! I've always wanted to read it but never gotten around to getting the book - now I can! Thank you, so very very much!!! I will treasure them both! :)

[bagog]

An ask for #trilogyappreciationweek! (If you're up for it, no pressure!) Of the Mass Effect fics that you've written, what are some of your favorites? What about them are you proud of? Are there any "behind the scenes" things you'd like to share about them?

Oh god thank you so much! Okay, so I flipped through a bunch of my old stuff to see if I still liked the stuff I remembered liking. I’m just gonna be indulgent and talk about them a little. ++ The Difference between the Sea and the Sky Loooooooooong Okay so this is the biggie, this is the 300k one. I’m still really proud of this and know lots of things I’d tweak around at this point in time, but I still feel pretty good about a lot of my writing in that one. I wrote the first... 40 chapters before I knew there was a Mass Effect fandom to show it to. The story was written so that each of the earlier chapters covers the between-mission development of Shepard and Kaidan’s relationship, and the tools are there to essentially play Mass Effect 3 after Kaidan/Shepard’s Apollo’s conversation along with this story. *shrug* I poured a lot of myself into this fic, and every year that passes, I realize I put more of myself in it than I even knew at the time. Heh. N7 Month 2015, Day 5: Alternate Universe Where Kaidan Makes it to the Citadel with Shepard Angst I originally saw a post about the idea of Kaidan and Shepard both reaching the transport beam to the Citadel at the end of ME3, and I immediately had this very angsty idea. I don’t have much to say about it, I guess. Sleeper Pods Fluff, short Wrote these as a series, but the link here is all of them compiled in order. I really like telling stories in tiny chunks: usually, I have like one or two crystal clear ideas and writing all the other stuff around those is tough. So in this case, I just wrote out all the bright bits in my head and wrote... nothing else. Heh. I’ve also got a thing for stories/series you can join into or leave at almost any point, and I sorta tried that here. N7 Month 2016, Day 1: Destroy Ending from Catalyst POV Angst? I’ve written different permutations of the ending of Mass Effect many many times (I already put one on this list :/). This one was part of a broader series where each of the endings was viewed from a Reaper perspective and their conclusions about big, sapient emotions like ‘Fear’ and ‘Love’. It’s convoluted, I know, but I’m always bad at elevator-pitching my conceptual stuff. I was writing during a period of great tragedy in my life, so to write about a tragedy from the perspective of a being who cannot feel pain like I do, and who has the power to DO something about the tragedy--that was kind of nice. Vigil Every N7 month, for ‘Day 7′ (the free-space day) I write about Vigil, the Prothean hologram from ME1. The stories are connected, each year, but each one takes place progressively further in the future, so I’m not exactly sure ho wI could continue it anymore. It still makes me very emotional to read these, the Mass Effect games really mean a lot to me, and this is sorta my yearly distillation of that. His Voice 60k words

Yeah, so I like Vigil a lot. This was written for a Big Bang, and is the story of the Protheans on Illos who programmed Vigil and built the mini-Mass Relay. It’s intercut with a kind of ruminating character piece about Shepard recovering from the Trauma of the war. Funnily enough, the Prothean part of the story is based off a shorter treatment I wrote as a choose-your-own-adventure type thing, as an application to write for Bioware. There’s a significant Leviathan encounter in my real long fic, The Difference between the Sea and the Sky, was the same thing, originally. It’s the closest thing to a stand-alone, long-form work with original characters that I’ve written for Mass Effect. While originally writing, I used the names of the Apostles to denote each of the Protheans so I could keep them straight. Then, before publishing, I did a find/replace using Prothean names some of my friends and followers on here had recommended. N7 Month, 2015 - Day 6: Shepard’s First Name Fluff My Shepard, Ben Shepard, is my template for Shepard in... maybe three shorts I’ve written where he’s only ever called ‘Shepard’, but other than The Difference between the Sea and the Sky, this is the only other story I’ve written where its blatantly Ben. Furthermore, DbtSS is entirely written in the most stand-offish third person, whereas this short is written in first person in Ben’s voice, so it was a weird experience after writing 300k words about him through binoculars.

[ghostxofxartemis]

May I have John/Ashely at a party for the Kissing Prompts, please? If you're still taking them?

Of course you may! I always love writing these two cinnamon buns! 

Available on AO3 | From this prompt here... inbox always open just let me know it’s from this list. 

The After Party

Ashley's arm was wrapped around Shepard's waist, as much for supporting him as it was to be in close proximity to him; his arm was wrapped around her shoulder. The last month and few weeks had been long and agonizing. The recovery from surgery, the physical therapy, the psychological exams he wanted to scoff at, all had been so taxing on John. He was a man of action, he couldn't sit long enough without feeling agitated. He needed to move. And hospitals had a way of making sure you did just the opposite. 

Now, as they walked back to the Normandy, a huge grin on his face, he was happy. The war was over, his girlfriend, his crew… family were all okay, and here he was, taking command of his ship once more. The thought excited him. There was just something about being out there in space, helping and protecting others he found so rewarding. He ran his hand against the hatch door.

"Skipper?" 

"Hmmm?" He looked at Ashley, their smiles met, but there was concern in her eyes.

"Thought I lost you there for a moment. You okay?" 

John's smile widened. "Everything is perfect’" he said as he brushed his lips against Ashley's forehead. He really meant it. 

“I could use a drink. I do believe there is a freshly stocked bar down on the crew deck.” A coy smile tugged at Ashley’s lips which only caused John to laugh as they walked to the elevator lift.

“I do believe we have a score to settle. I mean… I did save the Galaxy, so that gives me a few points towards being the best human Spectre… but if you do want me to drink you under the table tonight…” He half-smirked. Ashley rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the ribs. 

“Ow.” He complained slightly, as he rubbed his ribs with his hand. Ashley snorted as she pressed the button to deck three.

“Oh suck it up, princess, you’re fine.” Ashley rolled her eyes.  

“You didn’t…?” He wasn’t sure he had heard right.

“Oh! I did!” Ashley gently shoved him out of the lift and towards the lounge.

The door whooshed opened as they neared it, Shepard was immediately greeted by the crew who had gathered and already started drinking. He was surprised to see even Jack and Miranda had made their way in here. 

James raised his glass, “Hey hey, the man of the hour is here!” 

Traynor was the first one to get up from where she sat on the ledge of the couch to come give Shepard a hug. “Welcome back, Commander!”

“It’s good to be back,” Shepard said as he let go. 

Cortez was standing at the bar; he popped open the champagne bottle pouring it in glasses. 

Miranda was the first one to take up a glass. Amused, Shepard chuckled as he and Ashley approached the counter to take a glass themselves. Miranda was usually the last person to loosen up. 

“Still trying to be normal?” He smirked. 

“Starting to get the hang of it,” Miranda mumbled with a sheepish look as she reached for Jack’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Shepard arched an eyebrow, his smirk now turning into a full grin. Boy, did he ever call it. Though, he never had expected for them to act on their feelings. 

Jack punched him in the shoulder. “Shut up, Shepard!” 

“Should start a dating service, Shepard. The Normandy seems to be a hookup site rather than an Alliance vessel,” Tali said as she sat on the bar tool. She grabbed the tripled filtered Turian brandy and poured herself a glass.

“You’ll be the first to know, Tali,” Shepard quipped as he reached for a glass of champagne. 

“I’m good,” she said as she gulped down her drink through her ‘induction port’. 

“Never mind that. Cortez, line up some shots will you. Reaper metal asses have been sent back to whatever black hole they came from. Time to fucking party!” Jack demanded. 

                                                             ~n~

The bar was littered with all types of different glasses. Shepard had lost count of how many shots and drinks he had, but one thing he was certain about, he felt a lot better than most of the crew. Courtesy of Cerberus upgrades. He could definitely confirm they were still intact and fully functioning. Catalyst be damned for lying to him.

Ashley had met him drink for drink until she felt like the contents were coming back up rather than staying down, so she admitted defeat to their challenge, which she didn’t take too lightly. 

A couple of the crew members were snoring away on the couch, some had called it a night and headed to the crew quarters. While others still danced away to the blaring music in the middle of the lounge, others were playing poker at the table, or gathered around the bar for more shots. 

It had been a good night. It was certainly nice to see everyone let their hair down, so to speak, knowing that there wasn’t a battle waiting for them the next day. For the first time in over three years Shepard actually felt relaxed.  

Shepard was in the middle of taking his shot when Ashley came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. 

“Ash, you want one?” Cortez asked her. 

“Nope. I think we can all say Shepard can drink me under the table.” She shook her head, her eyes a little wild, unfocused. She was slightly unsteady on her feet.  Shepard chuckled. 

“For that, he can give me a dance though,” she wiggled her brows.

“Ash…”

“Just one. Come on.” She tugged at his arm, and he acquiesced following her into the middle of the room. 

Ashley wrapped her arms around his neck, his around her waist. 

“I don’t really care for the dance. I just wanted you for a moment,” Ashley whispered in his ear.

“Impatient are we?” He chuckled as he leaned in closer to her. 

“Just a little,” she admitted as she started closing the distance.

“Is that what I’ll get to look forward to everyday?” Shepard quipped.

“Maybe.”

“I don’t think I mind at all,” Shepard said as he closed the distance between them, planting his lips on hers as they gave in to each other. His hands travelled up her waist to eventually rest on each side of her face to keep her from pulling away. He wanted to keep feeling her soft lips against his for as long as he could. Knowing he had to behave in front of the crew drove him crazy. So many things he wanted to do right now. 

Ahsley’s lips parted his as she bit down on his lower lip, pulling it between her teeth before she pulled away. 

“I don’t think I mind either, sir,” she said coyly, as her eyes showed all the intent behind her words, before closing the distance once more. 

Pulling away, Ashley took his arm and winked at him as she led him out of the lounge.

John smirked, he guessed he wasn’t the only one after all with such thoughts in mind. 

[pigeontheoneandonly]

#2 and #21 for the Ask Meme, please and thank you!

Thanks for asking!

2. If you could be fluent in any language at the snap of your fingers, which one and why?

Welsh.  I’ve always wanted to learn, and the sound of the language is absolutely beautiful.

21. The best ice cream flavour

I have a bunch of favorites.  One I haven’t mentioned yet is pistachio, which is awesome as an ice cream, but will always be my #1 gelato pick.