#dbtss lore

[bagog]

“…you have gorgeous eyes, Ben.”

“Only in the right light,” Shepard grinned. He leaned in for a kiss.“ The Difference between The Sea and the Sky, Chapter 60

Art by @stonelions, Thank you!

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I commissioned this in December 2014, I think? I finally get to post it! I’ve always loved @stonelions‘ WIPs and those pieces with really cursory colors and lines, so I REALLY wanted something like that for this story. The first piece is solid, lines firmly in place. This one is more fluid, perfect for the end of a story where the boys have an uncertain future they’re ready to face together.

[bagog]

DbtSS Extras: Getting Started

Well here we go, if you have no interest in seeing me get a little misty-eyed about my long fic, please blacklist #dbtss lore. Otherwise, I’ve tried to just respond to direction requests I’ve gotten so things don’t get TOO egotistical...

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In Summer of 2014, my depression had reached the point where I was suicidal. I was living alone on a giant tract of land in the north, my job was getting ready to drop me, I was finally owning up to being gay and it was destroying my sense of self, and I was basically at the end of my rope.

A friend recommended I play Mass Effect: role playing might be a good way to be someone else.

I didn’t know anything about Mass Effect, but I drove into town to download it, designed a Shepard, and started playing. I decided Ben Shepard would be gay, by god, because I couldn’t be, and probably the game wouldn’t let him be gay, but I was NOT gonna fake a relationship with a woman in a game like I had done in real life.

I fell in love with Kaidan. In Mass Effect 3, when he flirted with Ben, I nearly lost it. I played the Citadel DLC for about two months.... spending hours each day in the arena, too afraid of what would happen to me once I finished the game. I started thinking about what Ben and Kaidan must talk about in bed, started to get jealous of all the little moments between them I didn’t get to see.

I wondered about maybe writing something about it, but thought “What would I do with that?”

Then I discovered the world of Fan Art, and it changed my life. Oh man. @stonelions is one of my favorite artists to this day, and of the massive catalog of wonderful mshenko art available at that url, this is my favorite piece:

Reposted with permission, please check-out the original post. Please reblog it around from there, it’s just my favorite, oh god.

I thought “That’s it. That’s what I want to write. If I can write stories like that, then I will.”

[bagog]

DbtSS Extras: Inspirations

Again, block these or look at them all in one go by using the tag #dbtss lore

@oneiricjourney and a few others have asked me to talk about my inspirations in writing the long long longity long fic, and that’s tough to put my finger on.

I hadn’t really read any fics when I started writing The Difference between the Sea and the Sky, so while a lot of great fic writers would really inspire some of my other fics, not so much for DbtSS... Okay, maybe I’ll do it like this:

Character Inspirations

Col Vedirus, one of two minor OCs in this fic, is supposed to be like Mordin if Mordin tried really hard to blend in

Kaidan writes very differently than how he speaks, I guess everyone does, but the degree of difference is inspired vaguely by my dad

I spontaneously fall asleep when I’m with people I love and am comfortable, so does Ben.

Writing Tics Inspirations

I use the terms ‘comms’, plural, because I’m a fan of Farscape

Star Trek is all over this thing:

The duty-shifts are very Star Trek

Leviathan refers to Shepard as ‘The Shepard’, based not off the star child, but off the Prophets in Star Trek DS:9 referring to Captain Sisko as ‘The Sisko’ while constantly changing form to represent threatening or welcoming people he knows, based on their attitude towards him.

Other:

I was watching Hannibal and Person of Interest at roughly the time of writing, not sure how much they contributed?

Hannibal certainly taught me that people could go in for lots of talking and idea-ish stuff in what otherwise is an ‘action-packed romance’

Lots of music influenced whether certain chapters are melancholic and shoe-gazey or abrupt and efficient. I promise I’m working on a playlist, as was requested.

I’m not very good at this! Please, uh, feel free to ask specific questions I guess? PM me or post a comment or whatever? I wanna answer this question, but feel like I’m not doing the best job!

[bagog]

“Commander,” Kaidan leaned closer, pressing his body into the edge of the mattress. Shepard’s chest heaved with a deep breath when Kaidan’s eyes locked with his, the rough feel of the blade slowly scraping down his face. “Are you flirting with me?”

“If you have to ask…” Shepard grinned. -The Difference between the Sea and the Sky, Chapter 62

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finally! I can show this commission of Ben and Kaidan from @mrgamblinman! I have waited so long... I’m not above a little shameless hurt/comfort shaving smut, and neither are Kaidan and Shepard.

Thank you so much! It’s great!