Title: In the Shadow of Gods
Author: Anne Whynn
Rating: T (lots of swearing, but that was the rating on FF.net)
Genre: Sci Fi/Adventure
Fandom: Halo/Mass Effect
Pairings: NA
Chapters: 12
Words: 92,799
Updated: June 9, 2012
Published: December 3, 2011
Status: Abandoned
Summary: They stand apart from humans as heroes, saviors, and gods among men. But when we stand in the shadows of gods, we fail to see the cost to them. Sometimes the only one that can understand the weight of the universe is someone else who bears it.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7607380/1/In-the-Shadow-of-Gods

I don't know how many Halo and Mass Effect fans are on this site, but I figured this story was too good to not upload here.

This is the best Halo/Mass Effect I've found on FF.net, and trust me, I've looked. The characterization is spot-on, and the story itself is so engrossing. She gets Master Chief near perfectly despite being more of a Mass Effect fan. And although I knew nothing about Mass Effect (huge Halo fan), I was able to follow along just fine.

It's a WIP because although she did state that she was not going to upload any more chapters due to the online "bullying" going on in FF.net, she did state on her blog that she was writing more chapters, rewrites, and a sequel. Her laptop crashed recently, so that's certainly going to delay her plans. It's a bit complicated :/.

Overall, I give it a 5/5.


The author started to rewrite the story:
Title: In the Shadow of Gods
Published: December 24, 2013
Updated: December 24, 2013
Words: 6549
Chapters: 1
Summary: They stand apart from humans as heroes, saviors, and gods among men. But when we stand in the shadows of gods, we fail to see the cost to them. Sometimes the only one that can understand the weight of the universe is someone else who bears it.
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1099236



Checked by Minion, December 25, 2013
The original story is no longer awailable on fanfiction.net
Instead the author started to rewrite it. Thx. to Notableword for the info.

 

This story is so much better than a lot of the crap in the Halo/ME section. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember the interplay between the Master Chief and Shepard as being pretty awesome.

It's been over a year since the last update though so I was pretty sure the story was abandoned. Good to hear there is hope of eventually seeing more.

 

Probably my favorite Halo crossover. Haven't played ME, but wasn't hard to pick up on what was going on.

I certainly thought the friction and shaky introduction between Master Chief/Cortana and the ME crew is part of what makes this interesting.

One minor issue is that Abigail Shepherd seems almost overly understanding and helpful. I think there could have been a lot more conflict and distrust from both sides there (rather than just MC). This also then seems at odds with how ruthlessly she puts down her aggressors on Omega. Everyone seems to accept the inter dimensional traveler explanation way too easily as well.

It's a real shame that this has most likely been abandoned (given the lack of updates in almost a year). It certainly had a nice intro to the story, but I think that's all we really got to see. Where stories like this make or break it is at this point (ie, how would the author continue an interesting story once MC has accepted his position on the crew? How would other elements of the Halo universe continue to play a part?)

Hard to rate given the fact that it hasn't gone past that point, but nonetheless I feel I'll give it a tentative 4/5. What has been written was very enjoyable and certainly a step above any other Halo cross.

 

I have played Mass Effect but other than knowing that the main character of Halo is Master chief and some kind of AI nothing else.

Knowing this can I understand the story better? Which universe is she basing her story on more, Mass Effect or Halo?

 

It is in the Mass Effect world, and all you got to know is at the end of Halo 3, Master Chief gets frozen in cryo in a half-destroyed ship in the middle of space. And yes that is a spoiler, but if you haven't played Halo 3 yet, you are probably never going to.

As for the fic, best Halo fic I've read, and a decent enough one for Mass Effect. 3.5 rounded up to 4/5.

 

An excellent fic; for both Halo and Mass Effect categories. The Chief is kept in character, and the "every-woman" Shepard from the games is filled in with an interesting personality. Just long enough to be great; just short enough to be disappointing.

A strong 5/5

Be sure to let this site know if she ever adds new chapters to her blog, or just add a link

 

I'm fairly well convinced that nobody could do a Halo/ME crossover better than this. Comparable, perhaps, but not better.

5/5 without a doubt.

Her blog: http://annewhynnfanfiction.tumblr.com/

 

Really loved the interaction between Shepard and the MC. Never played Halo and am a big fan of femshep so, to see both sides being respected is very awesome. Had feared that, what with the beginning, it would devolve into a "MC is more awesome than everyone" kind of story but it struck a perfect balance.

Writing is top notch and story and character are very engaging. 5/5 so far, hope it will get updated.

 

FYI

This fic has now been deleted from ff.net by the admins.

Thanks, Critics United.

 

Edit by Minion: Link removed on request of Sauce himself.

 

Christ. Are these Critics United twats that much of an issue? Because I'm pretty sure all of my posted stories break the rules of ff.net in some manner or another, the decent fics and the shitty ones.

 

I just looked them up because I hadn't heard of them before. The top, pinned thread in their forum is titled "Stories in Violation" - it has 750 replies and it's apparently the second thread. This is a direct quote from the admin's OP:

Then they all then report the story and get it taken down if I'm following the gist of things. Is this for real? That's some pretty wtf behaviour. Damn I despise FF.net sometimes.

 

You can report communities, can't you? This just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and that excerpt stinks of bullying. Seems more like a hive of self righteous pricks who gang up on stories they disapprove of than proper critics of any sort.

In fact, fuck them. Fuck them right in the ear.

 

Found their 'reason' for reporting it.

http://www.fanfiction.net/topic/78623/31298368/4/Clean-Sweep

 

That's some super villain shit right there. 'Author is hostile'? What the fuck?

THIS CREATOR DOES NOT RECOGNIZE OUR JUSTICE. COMMENCE BUREAUCRATIC EXTERMINATION.

 

Hadn't heard of them before so, just clicked myself through a few of their threads.

Apparently, when you receive a review from them you have to immediately drop everything in your life and make the changes they deem appropriate and afterwards visit their discussion thread or whatever and prostrate yourself in front of them. Falling on your knees, begging for forgiveness and thanking them for their sage advice and selfless help. Or, at least they like it if you do that.

Also love how this is the forum introduction line

Now, they only need to demand the money of their new members before they join and they would fulfil every cliché of a cult.

Don't know about you, but if their stance is "immediately change your fanfiction so that it fits within our rules or we delete it" doesn't seem very helpful. You leave a review if there is something wrong and that's it. No need to report them to higher authorities to make sure that their stories get deleted and they get banned from fanfiction.net.

What kind of helping mindset is that?

 

I can't get over the fact these wankers report stories if the author ignores their review.

 

Hmm... when you realise that CU's reason for reporting the fic was written over a year ago [June 2012] and Anne Whynn had long ago fixed the issue so that the story was compliant with the rules, it just makes this sadder.

 

If you've been following her blog, I believe she's planning to post a rewrite of this story by Christmas. Looking forward to that (although i don't see the point of a rewrite, the story is awesome as it is)

 

First chapter of the rewrite has been posted http://archiveofourown.org/works/1099236