- When I woke up I expected it to be a regular, mundane and boring day. What I definitely did NOT expect was me ending up on the Citadel, which happens to be in a totally different universe. God I hate Thursdays.
Massed Up
is a Self-Insert fanfiction set in the Mass Effect universe and is written by DelVarO. The fic is about what happens when he is transported to the galactic scene roughly six months before the start of the first Mass Effect game, by a mysterious benefactor known only as the Chairman. With little in the way of help from him, other than just enough money to cover basic, by future standards, medical procedures, Alex is left on his own in the Citadel, eventually taking up a bouncer position at Chora's den.
The first fic is completed, and a sequel Massed Up 2 is in progress by the author. It is set in between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, divergent from the main storyline as it follows Alex and his own adventures.
Currently Dead: Last Updated April 1st 2020
''Massed Up contains examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname: Jorren the turian bouncer at Chora's Den is called Joe by Lucy. Alex begins calling him that as well, much to his annoyance.
- Bouncer: Alex becomes one in Chora's Den to support himself until Shephard arrives, and to ensure he can meet her.
- Deadpan Snarker: The chairman oh so very much. Damn near everything he says is coated with a thick layer of sarcasm, especially when addressing Alex personally.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Deconstructed with a mook. When Alex has to stealth kill one, he notes that, had the mook been wearing a helmet, it would have been impossible to kill him quickly enough to avoid alerting the others.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The Chairman is no doubt a massive jerk, but at the same time he does have a strong grasp of what's going in the galaxy at large. He also brings up a valid point for letting Shepard die, stating that any other way brought up too many variable to ensure her survival.
- Last-Name Basis: Alex and Riley both notice how the former never knew her first name, or even asked for it. He calls it 'Shepard Syndrome'.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Alex gives a scathing one to the Council and Udina, who both proceed as they did in canon in tarnishing Shepards name for political reasons and refusing to do anything about the Reapers.
- Self-Insert: Obviously.
- Shout-Out: The first thing Alex compares the Chairman to is the G-Man.
- During Lucy's rescue, Joe reenacts the famous cheeseburger scene from Pulp Fiction.
- Sibling Rivalry: Joe has one with his brother, or had one until he moved away. His brother, didn't let it go, and he kidnaps Lucy and plans to kill her for revenge for their parents favoring Joe over him, forcing both Joe and Alex to rescue her.
- The Stations of the Canon: Zig-zagged. On the one hand, Alex starts out a good ways away from the start of the game, in Chora's Den, a throwaway location in the first game, and details his own original adventures. He does join up with Shepard later and goes through the plot of the first game. After the first game ends however, he is once again doing his own thing.
- Specifically invoked by the Chairman in regards to Shepard's death. When Alex angrily calls him out for only allowing him to change things once she's dead, he says that her dying was the best chance of anyone surviving the Reaper invasion.
- Took a Level in Badass: Alex. He goes from barely being able to hit the broadside of a target at medium range, to being a part of Shepard's crew, and later, even starts his own business bodyguarding people and a within the law style merc band.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Joe and Alex. They constantly trade jabs at one another, but at the end of the day both would risk their lives to help the other. Lucy even comments that he wouldn't have helped Alex learn how to shoot unless he really did like him.
