#also i love how eezo isn't the only one to start off really angry but to be changed by love 🤗

[ageless-aislynn]

"He started off really angry but I've been giving him lots of love and now he's a big ol' softy."

Jack, Mass Effect 3

[clericofshadows]

Tell me something about what Regis was like as a kid?

ooooo fun question :) I ended up making a mile long post about this because I don't think I've really talked about it much, and I ran with the prompt lol

Despite never knowing his father, Atlas, Regis was a relatively happy kid up until his pre-teens. As a young kid, he loved being in space with his mother, Hannah, and despite visits to his father's side of the family being sparse, he was content just seeing his family through vid calls and occasional visits. Hannah didn't have much family, many only children in her family tree, so she never had much of a connection to the few family members that were on Earth, as well as no living maternal grandparents. So, most of the extended family was on Atlas's side.

But the allure of space quickly wore off when he became a pre-teen, and he was tired of moving between ships and stations, never being on solid ground. He was always aware of how his father died (freak accident as a shuttle pilot), but it started to wear on him a bit as he got older. He wanted to live on Earth with his father's family, but his mother never relented, wanting to keep him close. This is due to her wishing that Atlas could've served closer to her and thinking he would still be alive because of it, but also, he was a pilot first and foremost, and never would've been happy on a large ship like a dreadnought.

By the time Regis was a teenager, he was definitely the rebellious type, always trying to find a way to convince his mother that space wasn't for him or make it hard for her to keep him on board. His most notable moment was him stealing a shuttle from the ship his mother served on when he was fifteen and piloting it back down to Earth.

He already knew how to make his own hacks and omnitool programs, so it wasn't a hard job for him (and it showed the Alliance how much of a tech prodigy Regis was, which led to Anderson, a good friend of Hannah's, taking notice and seeing if he was interested in serving. At the time, Regis was not, and was offended at the notion. This soured the relationship between them, and ultimately never recovered. Hannah was also trying to push him towards the Alliance, and Regis thought she put Anderson up to it. Did she? Sort of, but not to the extent Regis thought she did, but Regis can hold one hell of a grudge, and never really gets close to Anderson or hears Anderson out as a result of that.)

He was also very defensive as a teen, always quick to fight back. Regis also excelled in school, and he loved learning, the only time he was civil on the ships and stations, but any other time, he was a menace.

After his second eezo exposure and BAaT happened, Hannah took a more hands off approach, and Regis finally got the independence he wanted. Regis was angry that she sent him there without a second thought and blamed her for not checking in on him with the low level of communication, considering she was always a bit of a helicopter parent otherwise. After that Regis said he was going to live on Earth whether she liked it or not, and Hannah finally let him.

He finished school on Earth while living with his uncle (incidentally his father's twin brother, Adrian), got both of his tattoo arm sleeves since his mother never liked tattoos, got all of his facial piercings (including some others), he kept in contact with Kaidan that soon led into a long distance relationship as Regis went to university to study biotic implants and VI tech, and ultimately chose to enlist with Kaidan because he realized how beneficial the Alliance was for a biotic compared to normal civilian life. And to prove that he was going to get into the Alliance on his own terms.

This last bit isn't related to his childhood, but rather his relationship with his mother, but I think it still stands. Their relationship is better if they perceive it as superior officer and soldier, rather than mother and son. They communicate better over vid calls, but once in person, it starts to get volatile. Their relationship is best left to emails, honestly, but a small part of Regis wishes it could be a little better, but he isn't going to do a damn thing about it.