#aedan shepard

[shadoedseptmbr]

aedan doesn't really do holidays, but here's a little story i wrote a while back (advent stories for space cadets)

winter prompts

this one was for candles and it ties back to the story distractions and alternatives. Aedan Shepard has been toting around an old style sniper rifle since just after she joined the Alliance. It’s the only thing she owns that isn’t Alliance or Cerberus (or Kasumi) issued and it was sort of her good luck charm.  She’s been known to tuck small tokens in the case along with it.

Candles  

o-o-o-o-o

Now that she’d hauled it out of the harsh light of Alchera, the gun case was definitely worse for wear.

It took a prybar borrowed from the shuttle bay to split the edges that had melted, a combo of liquid nitrogen and aerosolized graphite and oil to crack the fused latches.  

She wasn’t expecting much when she’d finally coaxed the lid open but it was a miracle to have found it at all, tucked safely in the hull of the MAKO.

But there it was, the old style sniper rifle she’d won from that jarhead on Luna, a lifetime ago.  The engraving of mountains on the stock just visible through the fine haze of rust.

  She wrinkled her nose as she drew her finger across the rough surface, starting to pit in places.  It was going to take hours to get it back in shape.  No time for it just now.  Aedan started to slide her fingers under the forestock only to have the velvet covering of the molded casing crumble under the faint pressure.  

 There was a black wool roll under the remnants of the velvet.  Frowning, Aedan tugged it out.  She didn’t recall leaving her tool kit…

Oh.  She could feel the tell tale slender objects. Nothing else felt like that.  How on …

Tugging the latch and hook closure open, she revealed 8 pale green candles, slightly misshapen, none of them longer than her pinkie finger and barely a half centimeter wide.  The tips burned down to almost the wax. One still had a crumble of chocolate frosting on the end. 

Ash’s candles.  Aedan had filched them from the shipping box when they’d cleaned out her locker.  Never had quite known *why.* Just…seemed like the thing to do.  Her family would never have missed them.

You know why, Skipper.

“Well, maybe.”  

“Commander?”  

“Nothin’ EDI, just talking to myself. Never mind.  Uh…wait.  Um. Do you know what day it is?” She shook her head as EDI rolled off the galactic date. “Uh, no.  On Earth, Northern Hemisphere, West of Greenwich?  What’s the day…month.  Whatever.”

“It is Sunday, November 30th.”

Oh. Okay.  “Thanks EDI.  Uh.  Hey, what are the protocols for, uh, burning materials aboard ship?”

“Is this an emergency, I have not detected…”

“No, no.  Just.  Wondering if I lit a match would anyone care.”

“I can…” Aedan can almost hear the AI’s processors grind, trashing another Cerberus protocol.  “I can circumvent the safety protocol for a short time, Shepard.  

She fiddled with the roll of candles and then tugged one free. 

Waiting was what Advent was about.  Waiting, preparing.  She remembered that much. 

“Do it.”   

In her thigh pack, there was a firesteel, part of an emergency kit Anderson…they’d always told her to carry.  Just in case.  It had saved her life once during N training and she’d replaced it as soon as she thought about it, coming back.  

A flick of the metal tongue against the stone and she had one of the tiny candles flickering in her cupped hand.

She sat down on the bed, still sheltering the fragile flame in one hand as she scootched back..  It dripped quickly and someone smarter would’ve probably stuck it to a plate or something.  All she had was a data pad. 

Probably shouldn’t use that.

It didn’t really hurt, though- little drips down her fingers.  A little sting was all.  She leaned back on one elbow and lifted the feeble light up to reflect off the view port, to dance with all the stars streaking by.  

She remembered the prayer.  She’d been able to recite it the second time she’d heard it. She had the saints memorized by the time she was six, since the nuns gave sweets to anyone who could name more than four.  

And tiny pictures.  And bookmarks.  She’d memorized a lot.  

She couldn’t feel less like praying to a saint.

“Hey, Ash. I don’t know if you can hear me.  I know you’d laugh but I don’t know. Seems right.

Things are gonna get grim if I screw this up. I’ve done everything I can think of.  I…can you believe that I’ve got a geth on board?  Tali freaked.  You’d have freaked.  Flashlight heads, right? But he’s a damned good shot, you know?

We’re making the jump in the morning.  I …think I stopped them invading a week ago but I’ve still got to make this jump tonight.  

No one’s ever come back.  

I’ve…told everyone to tell me if they want off, we can drop them off at Omega before we hit the relay.  But they’re all staying.  I should go and eat with them. I …it’s a lot.  But they’ve got the crew.  We have to go.

Kaidan sent me a letter awhile back.  I…haven’t opened it, yet.  Hey…if we don’t.  Even if we do…but if we don’t come back…look after him, okay?  I’m gonna assume if I don’t come back I’m just gonna end up wherever it was I was before.  But …you.  You look out for…” Fuck, ow.”

The flame had eaten through the wax like ryncol through stomach lining.  It singed the tips of her fingers before she could shake it out.  

She chuckled at herself, smiling at the smudge of soot as she rubbed it away. If they could just make it through the Relay.  If they could do that…then whatever on the other side was just another fight.

Hope. Hope was the other thing. Waiting, preparing.  And hope in the growing darkness.  She remembered that much.  And maybe that was all anyone could ask for.  A little flicker of hope as the stars streamed by.

[keriweird]

WIP whenever.

Finally got to start painting @shadoedseptmbr 's earth born Shepard Aedan from her Reds days. Lots left to do but got her roughed in enough to share a sneak peek. Can't wait to rough her up at the end, lil scrapper she is and all. Right now she's too photo ready hehe

[faejilly]

so average-mako-enjoyer made this post about Shepard being forced to have a social media account for morale and only posting hamster pictures and like

I read that and immediately had four different Shepards yelling at me in my head (I blame @shadoedseptmbr's Aedan tags) 🤣🤣🤣

*

Weaver would in fact include hamster pictures, but they'd be macro pictures of like, whiskers and toes only.

The whole account would all only be macro photos. No tags, no comments, no explanations, no definitions. No time stamps or metadata, all expertly wiped, no location cues beyond maybe the quality of the light... which isn't that hard to manipulate after all, if you've got an omnitool and some good flashlight/spotlight blueprints.

It's all just exquisite close-ups of pieces of gravel and seeds and leaves and pollen or fractions of circuit boards and weird screws or clamps or the odd pattern of wear on a [redacted but clearly the Mako for those in the know] tire.

She and Aeden would clearly get along great.

*

Ngaio would flat out refuse. (She would've done it if she'd met Traynor sooner, because she can refuse Traynor nothing, but that was too late, on several levels.)

*

Ella would be asked to make an account after she gets her N7 status and starts showing up in the news periodically; she's told to try and soften the public image of the infamous Butcher of Torfan.

She does set something up, posts some generic pretty Alliance Training Stock Photos, the kind you get in a recruiters office, but that's it for ages.

And then she posts five separate in-depth tutorials in a row, three on astronomy and two on France of all things, one specifically about the language, one about cooking.

Then nothing again.

And then a three-part series on astral navigation, and how different species figured out the math for measuring where the fuck they were in space.

Then a thing on baking with chocolate, including how to convert levo recipes to dextro (and vice versa) and which things were more likely to translate into something that might still taste good.

She never shows herself however, so it does fuck all to counter all the pics and videos of her stalking around heavily armed and armored in full gear, occasionally with a bit of a blue halo from biotics usage, generally glaring or scowling as she avoids reporters trying to get a comment.

Most people don't connect her socials to the Butcher of Torfan at all, and those that do assume someone else is running the account in her name in a failed Alliance PR stunt.

After the Battle of the Citadel, there are enough recordings of her helping with clean-up efforts and being polite at formal ceremonies to make it clear that the Butcher and the Shepard-who-goes-on-weird-tangents-on-social-media are actually the same person, who is also POSSIBLY a galactic hero, so the whispers about Torfan finally start to fade out a little...

And then she dies.

*

Ward would be some terrifying (but delightful once you got past the scowl) combination of Adam Savage and Mercury Stardust because he would legit show people how to take things apart and upgrade and fix them (and which bits are 'legal-ish' depending on whether they technically own them or not) but also things probably explode sometimes (or at the very least spark A Lot™️) and Tali guests wearing glorious (flame-retardant) Turian fashions and ALSO sometimes PROPRIETARY TECH THAT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE and no one ever bleeps ANY of Jack's swearing and sometimes the three of them are gleefully trying to make something that probably shouldn't exist and some poor Alliance PR officer cries in their office sometimes because they are actually spectacular PR and GREAT for morale and also they break so many TOS's but it's Commander Fucking Shepard so who's gonna tell him to stop?

[thatapostateboy]

for OCs, ships, prompts and askbox prompts, see below!

My inbox is always open, feel free to ask questions, send prompts, or just pester me about any of these! You can find my shared writing prompts here or I accept random requests.

You can find more info over on Carrds here

I also basically run a 'Everyone Exists' AU for all of my stuff - for example, all of the Dragon Age characters exist in Thedas together, so I also accept requests for their interactions together!

Baldur’s Gate 3:

Nel’Tavia Lienthel 'Nell' (Tav)/Wyll Ravengard/Astarion Ancunin

Malakai (Durge)/Shadowheart/Halsin

Malakai (Durge)/Gale Dekarios (this exists in the same canon as Kai’s relationship with Shad and Halsin, but Gale’s not part of the throuple)

Malakai (Durge)/Gortash (past)

Dragon Age: Origins:

Rowena 'Tab' Tabris/Alistair Theirin

Jennifer 'Jenni' Cousland/Zevran Arainai/Nathaniel Howe

Aedan Cousland/Leliana

Callum 'Cal' Surana/Morrigan

Brianna Amell/Bann Teagan

Lyna Mahariel/Tamlen

Thrina Aeuducan/Gorim Saelac

Dragon Age II:

Marie Hawke/Anders

Garrett Hawke/Isabela

Dragon Age: Inquisition:

Brenna Lavellan/Solas

Freya Trevelyan/Cullen Rutherford

Moss Lavellan/Dorian Pavus

Summer Lavellan/Blackwall

Dragon Age: The Veilguard:

Evanura 'Eva' (Rook) Mercar/Davrin/Lucanis Dellamorte

Magnus Thorne/Lace Harding

Dragon Age AU:

Alistair Theirin /Rowena Tabris/Jenni Cousland/Zevran Arainai

Rowena Tabris/Jenni Cousland

Rowena Tabris/Anders

Marie Hawke/Varric Tethras

Garrett Hawke/Sebastian Vael

Brenna Lavellan/Krem Aclassi

Greedfall:

Genevieve de Sardet/Kurt

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen:

Alicia ‘Ace’ (Arisen)/Mercedes Marten

Liam (Pawn)/Julien

Dragon’s Dogma II:

Ceridwen ‘Saber’ (Arisen)/Glyndwr

Sebastian (Pawn)/Captain Brant

Mass Effect:

Nora Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Sam Ryder/Vetra Nyx

Scott Ryder/Gil Brodie

Anthony Ryder/Reyes Vidal

Mass Effect AU

Nora Shepard/Sam Ryder

Fallout:

Cora (Courier)/Benny

Natalie Powell (Sole Survivor)/Paladin Danse

Stardew Valley:

Farmer Jack/Penny

Farmer Daniel/Alex

Fable:

Princess Sophia (Hero of Brightwall)/Elliott

Skyrim:

Narah (Dragonborn)/Kaiden

Rowena (OC)/Vilkas

Choices: Stories You Play

(For the Choices deep dive, check out my secondary page https://indescribablechoices.tumblr.com/post/184653680920/mc-masterlist)

[favoriteblogonthecitadel]

I'm sorry this is too funny because THEY'RE THE SAME PICTURE

everyone say thank you bioware for giving james vega the most incredible pair of tits ive ever seen on a man

[shadoedseptmbr]

art for me art for me lalala commissioned @lethendralis-paints to illustrate a scene from Verge for me that's been living in my head for years now-

“You got it clear, though?” He’d been digging his palm into the lower part of her back and felt the knot go. She nearly went limp against his side with a groan.

“Yup. Got a pretty upper level Cerberus goon to turn screwtape, too. And access to Aria’s Eezo mines for the Alliance.”

“So…not a bad haul, then.” Focus on what she’s focusing on and then ease into what happened before she left.

It startled him when she turned into him suddenly, knocking her head under his chin like a pushy cat. Her voice was muffled against his chest and her breath was warm and not a little sour. “I swear I didn’t mean to disappear for a week.”

He spanned the nape of her neck, hiding the streak of blood that dried there a day or so ago, rubbing slowly. “I know.”

[baejax-art]

@shadoedseptmbr let me borrow her Aedan Shepard looking grumpy to do some experimenting this weekend 💕💕

[crqstalite]

had the pleasure of being able to draw a few ocs yesterday afternoon! from left to right: @shadoedseptmbr‘s aedan shepard, @spaced0lphin‘s bailie shepard + @nug-juggler‘s lea hawke! (oh, and click, because tumblr butchered my quality)

[shadoedseptmbr]

"Explosives aren't my favorite," Shepard rolled her eyes at Williams' phrasing, "But they're generally put together by people who are logical, which is relaxing, or crazy, which is fun." Her grin was a little vicious but contagious and Kaidan couldn't help but smile back. Chakwas admonished, "'Crazy' is a pejorative, Commander." "I once disarmed a dirty nuke that used twinkle lights and high tensile, conductive fishing line as part of its wiring. The materiel was encased in a silicone drell dildo and part of a holiday display of 'Gifts for the Special Person in Your Life,'" Shepard added the last dryly. "Sometimes usefully descriptive, I will admit."

Share an excerpt that needs a "do not try this at home" label.

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[deadlymaelstrom]

HANDWRITING CAN TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT A PERSON.

go HERE and repost with your character’s name in their handwriting!

Tagging: @dickeybbqpit, @red-wardens, @elevanetheirin, @keeperscompanionsdai, @mocha-writes

[shadoedseptmbr]

Aedan came to me in a dream on a train... lol no i didn't play ME until after 3 came out, so i knew eventually the goal was to "take back earth" and it just seemed to me an earth kid would have more stakes. (not really, it turns out, but that's okay heh) So i played my first run or two not really having a backstory and wrote several "fill in scenes" the same way, with just a vague idea of what her story was (orphan, gang member, joined up at 18- vaguely that she grew up within sight of the US Capitol, vaguely that she hadn't always lived there, but somewhere farther south and humid- certain phrases made me think deep south). So the first bit came with a story- Kaidan asked about a winter memory and all she came up with was cheap hot chocolate and the nun who gave it to her and that sent me off on a tangent of nuns and the closest place i know of that has a few, being New Orleans and why she went from there to D.C. and the line with Kaidan about how since no one came forward during the news about Elysium that made her a little famous, she figured there wasn't anyone- which made me think she *never* knew her parents and that made me think about safe baby drops.

I'd made her a sniper, i'd made her someone who liked to tinker with scraps and make things and then apparently out of the blue writing a story, i made her someone who didn't read stories. Smart, educated but not well-read and what did that tell me about her?

Doesn't use her first name often, prefers Shepard- so maybe that name's been with her from the beginning hey what was the name of the convent oh Shepherd's Arms of course. And maybe her first name isn't what she was given, maybe she didn't connect to that but gang members have tags and nicknames and dead-eyed shots and deadman's hands and suddenly she was Ace before she was Aedan but maybe her name had been Eden before.

Those lines of skycars on Illium, the city scape that you can't see the sky from if you aren't up in the clouds made me think of the lower levels of Coruscant- where you can't see the sky, either and the "mega-cities" and somehow it translated to Aedan having only really seen them once, on a charity camping trip to the country up in the mountains. And 10th Street- well, i did some research there- who joins a gang, how kids might be used before they joined, what you earned tats for, how you climb a rank, what a kid with a gun in a place where guns rule will do. The major choice i made there was that i didn't want it to be "oh she was a good girl in a bad place" and she wasn't pretty enough to sell and while there are good stories in that, it wasn't her story. She made bad choices, she did terrible things, she did more than she had to to live. She didn't believe she had a future, stars or not. And it was just like that- building on itself.

Earthborn Shepard people. Do help me out.

How the heck did you figure out Shepard's backstory? I have such a hard time figuring out Reda before she gets out gang life with 16, like whatever happens before that point of time is just a blank file in my head. There's nothing. And whoever follows my akuze fic or my CM character knows I can come up with detailed backstory, absolutely no problems. But for reasons unknown to me, Shepard's history is just something my brain completely blacks out about. And I have zero idea how to solve this. I want to, badly, but I just. Don't. Know. How.

So if you wanna share a bit how you figured out your earthborn Shep's backstory, please feel free to reblog and add or pm me, or if you got any idea how I can tackle this and get Reda cooperate with me, I'm desperate for help.

Very desperate.

[shadoedseptmbr]

Williams shakes her head. "Just makes me remember everytime I set my foot wrong. Like she's stripped me down to the bones and found the calcium is lacking." Snorts into her drink. "She'd have made an excellent drill sergeant in another life. He huffs a laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right, Chief." And he picks up her cup to drop it in the washer on his way down to the gym. Shepard's there. Her usual run about half way through and she strafes a glance over him so he has to catch his breath.

No, Ashley doesn't like it, says it sets her on edge. But Kaidan- it sets him alight.

Getting caught in that steel trap of a gaze is like those moments when he lets himself embrace all of the power running through the nodules in his lymph nodes, like when he catches all the fire in his veins and for just a moment...

just a second...

lets it burn.

[pigeontheoneandonly]

Hey you 🥺 I have a question as I’m replaying the games (LE) and reromancing Kaidan… do you have favorite F!Shenko fics?

I do have some favorite fshenko fics! You may already be familiar with some of them.

Give to Pressure by @citadelsushi. This is absolutely, hands down, my favorite fshenko fic. Please don't let the AU dissuade you-- I would not call myself a fan of westerns but I ADORE this. The characterizations are wonderful and the story translates surprisingly well. (I actually like this one so much I wrote a fanfic for it lol.)

Sideways by @ljandersen. Really interesting fic exploring the dynamic between paragon and renegade Shepards, and the consequences of choice, and the real meaning of home. Also some fascinating worldbuilding. The writing is good and the story is incredibly solid.

Scheherazade by @thexgrayxlady. Probably my favorite fshenko oneshot. It's delightfully complicated.

Aedan Shepard series by @shadoedseptmbr. I sadly have not read this yet myself, but I adore the snippets I've read on tumblr, and Aedan is an incredible, complex badass renegade Shepard and just a delightful character.

[jjjwhovian]

Alright might as well have a crack at this, let’s get a list of characters shall we?

SWTOR:

Arono Maxir X Kira Carsen

Noviitro Antem X Mako

Kanave Flaros X Risha Drayen

Vanzeth Tokusair X Jaesa Wilsaam

Gabeshi Zulis X Theron Shan

Dier’erfano’xen X Vector Hyllus

Leteon Kaneri X Elara Dorne

Zinkaea Kallig X Lana Beniko

Dragon Age:

Aedan Cousland X Morrigan

Daylen Amell X Leliana

Neria Surana X Alistair Theirin (BEFORE BREAK UP)

Neria Surana X Carver Hawke

Natia Brosca X Duran Aeducan

Theron Mahariel X Merrill

Kallian Tabris X Zevran Arainani

Garrett Hawke X Isabela

Maxwell Trevelyan X Cassandra Pentaghast

Ellana Lavellan X Cullen Rutherford

Malika Cadash X Blackwall

Kaaras Adaar X Josephine Montilyet

Mass Effect:

Jane Shepard X Liara T’Soni

John Shepard X Jack

Scott Ryder X Cora Harper

Sara Ryder X Jaal Ama Darav

Pick your poison!

send a heart and a ship for a brief snippet!

❤️ first kiss / realization

🧡 kissing in bed / lazy kiss / cuddling

💛 reunion kiss / relief

💚 true love's kiss / magic kiss / healed

💙 drunken kiss / tipsy

💜 surprise kiss / impulsive kiss

💗 slow kiss / gentle kiss / inevitable / soft

💖 rough kiss / hot and heavy / making out

💕 kissing somewhere other than lips

💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss

🤎 multiple kisses / kisses all over / kiss after kiss

🤍 kiss at the wedding / milestone

🖤 kissing while crying / goodbye kiss / desperation

[theoriginalladya]

Top 5 Fics of 2020

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your five (ish) favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I was tagged by the lovely @faith-less-one - thank you so much!

I’ll drop a few tags this time - no obligation!  @shadoedseptmbr, @mallaidhsomo, @swaps55, @jedirangerpenguin, @jediwalkerw and anyone else who wants to participate!  All I ask is you tag me on it so I can see what you have! :)

So, I did one of these a little while back here, so this time I think I’m going to focus on my writing prompts (since last time I avoided them).

1. Over and Over Again Until It’s Nothing But Senseless Babble - (Mass Effect) (mshenko) This is one of the “50 Ways to Say I Love You” prompts and the only one I will insist is in any order, and it will always be my favorite because @swaps55 asked for it and out of that prompt, Caleb Shepard was born.  I absolutely adore my Irish Shepard, just a smidgen more than all the others mSheps I’ve created this year, because he’s my first.  THIS is what started all the mshenko writing, and for that I’ll be forever grateful to swaps for starting me down that path.

2. Chasing Someone’s Lips After They Pull Away -  (Mass Effect) (mShenko) - Caleb and Kaidan again.  I have to put this on because a) it turned out so much better than i EVER could have hoped and, b) I got two comments on AO3 for it - one was “Wow” and a heart flutter, and the other I apparently made @jedirangerpenguin drop her chip while eating lunch.  *rubs hands together*  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! :D

3. A Kiss in a Dream - (Mass Effect) (mshenko)  This one is Takao Shepard and Kaidan.  This prompt confounded me for a long time because I couldn’t quite figure out how to make it work for Taka.  I think it sat in my inbox for about two months?  Maybe longer.  But eventually it worked out.  I love this pairing and I cannot wait to share more of them!  Theirs is definitely an interesting twist to the whole Mass Effect story!

4. Basorexia - An Overwhelming Desire To Kiss - (Mass Effect) (Rydenko) - Scott Ryder with Kaidan Alenko is not a pairing I might have looked at before a few months ago, let alone write, but once I did I was hooked!  Writing them, especially from Scott’s pov, is so FREEING in so many ways!  He has such an impish side to him, and I’ve no doubt I’m going to have a LOT OF FUN writing his stories out!!!

5. You’re Out of Your Damned Mind -  (Dragon Age) This one references no particular pairing, but it’s focused on the friendship between Serafina MacKinnon (my OC) and Aedan Cousland.  It’s the first bit of her and her story I posted up out there starting this year - I apparently wrote quite a bit of them?  One of these days, I will get their full story written, but for now these will do and I love how they two interact with one another!!!

I wrote far too many to narrow it down to my five most favorite - trust me, they are ALL my favorites for a number of different reasons!  Here’s hoping 2021 is as productive/successful writing year as 2020 turned out to be!

[naiatabris]

Need a fic rec? Here are a few of my favorites!

A gorgeous DA2 AU that is pure sweetness: “take my hand (so i know you’re the real thing)” by @hermiowngranger. One of my favorite rarepairs, Bethany x Alistair, make everything better in Kirkwall. But ... it’s still Kirkwall.

An Inquisition story with a kick-ass mage inquisitor who pushes Cullen on his time in Kirkwall: “someday we’ll try to walk upright” by @sirinial​. I want to be Mireille Trevelyan when I grow up.

The Mass Effect 3 Citadel fanfic you’ve been waiting for: turn a little faster (the world will follow after) by @madamebadger​. The entire Normandy conspires to give Shepard a night off. The writing will take your breath away and then split your heart in two. Female Shepard x Garrus.

A hilarious and charming Origins short story: “Vanity” by genginger. Zevran x Cousland one-shot in which Zevran is badly wounded but still can’t stop cracking jokes.

Shameless self-rec: “Honey and Salt,” a short story about Zevran doing a favor for Leliana--and wondering where things went wrong with King Consort Aedan Cousland.