WesternLarch
Fandoms
- Mass Effect Trilogy (17)
- Mass Effect - All Media Types (17)
- Original Work (1)
Recent works
-
Tags
Summary
When recently demoted detective Garrus Vakarian moves into his new apartment on the Citadel, the last thing he expects is an intruder.
A stray, to be exact.
Mysterious, aloof, and more than a little bedraggled, his neighbor Shepard keeps odd hours and the rest of the world at arm's length. Thanks to her troublemaking cat, however, avoiding Garrus proves harder than she'd like.
But earning the trust of a stray—human or otherwise—has never been easy. There’s more to Shepard than she lets on, and the closer Garrus gets, the more he sees that beneath her battle scars lies a grief she's spent years trying to bury. A feeling he can understand all too well.
A Shakarian AU about a disillusioned man, a mischievous cat, and the quietly guarded woman who becomes attached to them both.
-
Tags
Summary
Original poems, free verse.
-
Tags
Summary
Commander Shepard is well acquainted with death. Her life is full of death. But for Shepard, living is harder. What happens when the fight is over?
In the ten years after the fall of the Reapers, the civilizations of the Milky Way are rebuilding amongst decimated worlds, splintered governments, and old resentments that never truly died.
Commander Circe Shepard, hailed as the savior of the galaxy, now moves through an uncertain future where peace feels more fragile than war ever did. But while old allies fall into new roles, and fresh conflicts ignite, Shepard is forced to confront the one battle she never prepared for: how to live a life she was meant to lose and find her place again.
Lyrical and immersive, Taproot is at once a deeply human story set against the backdrop of a galaxy in upheaval, and an intimate exploration of duty, change, love and renewal.
Series
- Part 1 of Taproot
-
If the Fates Allow (a.k.a "A Very Merry Vidchat") by WesternLarch
Fandoms: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect - All Media Types
14 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
On Christmas day, there's only one thing Commander Shepard wants: to have a quiet holiday reconnecting with friends.
Now, if only they'll let her...
-
The Interview by WesternLarch
Fandoms: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect - All Media Types
09 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
A series of one-to-one interviews, revealing the intimate thoughts of various Mass Effect characters.(Based on the 2025 N7 Month Challenge)
Recent series
-
Summary
The entire series takes place in the 10 years after the Reaper War.
Taproot is the main story. All other stories that follow are companion stories tied into Taproot. They are meant to round out the larger universe and allow us to see what other characters are up to. Companion stories can be read as stand alone, but for best/intended reading order, please see the series notes.
- Words:
- 210,631
- Works:
- 4
- Bookmarks:
- 2
-
The Carrion Eaters Trilogy by WesternLarch
Fandom Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
24 Jul 2025
Summary
A Femshep & Gianna Parasini BFF, Shakarian, no Reapers AU
A three part, slow burn series about murder, greed, ambition, corruption, and the divisions of class. Loosely inspired by the Carrian Group scandal of the early 80s
- Words:
- 26,190
- Works:
- 1
- Bookmarks:
- 1
Recent bookmarks
-
Tags
Summary
A long-term ground mission on Hackett’s orders in the wake of the war. Traveling across forgotten wastelands and destroyed communities with just a ground car and Garrus, Shepard can’t help but let exhaustion and frustration get to her. Even on the open road, she’s never felt more trapped. And with the wall she can’t seem to get past between her and Garrus, her usual escape has never felt further away.
It feels like they’re just chasing ghosts—but who knows? As Shepard starts seeing strange things in the dark, maybe it’s more they’re chasing than a not so long ago past.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,825
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 44
- Kudos:
- 29
- Bookmarks:
- 8
- Hits:
- 164
Bookmarked by WesternLarch
07 Jul 2026
-
Tags
Summary
she smiles, and as you watch the ground splash up in burst fire behind her and buildings fold in crescendo to the west, you know: this will be the last time you see her.
Bookmarked by WesternLarch
01 Jul 2026
-
Priority: Old Friends and New by capnmarvl
Fandoms: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect - All Media Types
24 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
The first thought Shepard had after seeing Garrus Vakarian for the first time in 10 years was that he looked like his mother, but stood like his father.
The first thought Garrus had after seeing Shepard for the first time in a decade was that he should have known ‘Commander Shepard - Hope for Humanity’ was in fact Jane Shepard, the same kid, now woman, he had once wished -threatened- to push out an airlock.
An alternate universe where Shepard and Garrus grew up together, drifted apart, and found each other again during a re-telling of Mass Effect 1. The story is interspersed with important moments from Shepard's childhood.
This is a 3-Part Series (completed) and totals about ~100k words.
Part 1: Priority: Old Friends and New covers the events just after Eden Prime to Shepard becoming the First Human Spectre.
Part 2: Priority: Making and Breaking Amends covers Therum, Noveria, Feros, and some adventures in between.
Part 3: Priority: Loved, Needed, Wanted covers Virmire, Ilos, and the Battle for the Citadel.
Series
- Part 1 of Fostered Rivalry
Bookmarked by WesternLarch
09 Jun 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Still reeling after her defeat at Thessia and lacking any leads on the Catalyst, Shepard pursues the only path left: find the Reaper-killer, the Leviathan of Dis, and finally get some answers. They just might not be the answers she was looking for.
Series
- Part 19 of Kit's Mass Effect Fic Collection
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 9,127
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 6
- Kudos:
- 45
- Bookmarks:
- 9
- Hits:
- 523
Bookmarked by WesternLarch
26 May 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Thirty years since first contact. Thirty years of war between the turians and the humans. Shanxi, a human fringe colony in the Traverse, has been the epicenter of the fighting. And humans are in the eleventh hour, about to lose not only their colonies, but their way of life. The only hope they have left is a Prothean beacon found hidden beneath labs-- a beacon which could, if given to the salarians, turn the tide of the war. The problem is: the turians want it just as badly.
Commander Roni Shepard wears her uniform more comfortably than her own skin. But a traumatic injury from the batarians, a client race to the Hierarchy, has left her unsure of everything she used to be secure in.
Lieutenant-Commander Garrus Vakarian thinks outside of the box, much to the chagrin of his commanding officers, his father, and the very establishment he fights for. When he uncovers a dark secret embedded deep within his own military, he holds on to the hope that others can put a stop to it, even if it destroys everything.
When both of them are tasked with securing the Prothean beacon, their lives will intertwine, and everything they thought they knew flies out the window when a mysterious ship also comes to collect.
Bookmarked by WesternLarch
28 Mar 2026