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scripts4dreamers · 3 months ago

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Just a headache

AN: I am officially Back on my Bullshit, writing for characters from a video game that came out in 2007 but, in my defence, I only discovered them like two months ago. Furthermore, I will never understand the Kaidan Alenko hate, I heard that man say "I'm 32 years old, Shepard. You don't live this long without coming to terms with yourself" and SWOONED. We love a man who doesn't need fixing! Characters: Kaidan Alenko, fem!Shepard Warnings: None Spoilers: None

The first time it happened it was so innocuous that Shepard barely noticed. She called for Kaidan to meet her in the cargo hold and instead got Joker in her ear.

“No can do, boss. Alenko’s a no-go. Gotta pick someone else.”

Oh well, it happens. She shrugged it off and hooked Liara into a quick Mako ride instead.

The second time it happened she was actually looking for him. Nothing serious was going on and she’d wanted his opinion on some readings they’d picked up coming from the Argos Rho cluster.

“Lieutenant,” she’d started, staring intently down at her datapad, “can you take a look at these for me? I think I-Lieutenant?”

There was an empty spot where the lieutenant usually stood. She had, in fact, been talking to air. Okay, a little embarrassing, but where was Kaidan? He was always there, like always. She knew he wasn’t on the bridge, she’d just come from there. They were in space, so he couldn’t have gone for a walk. He said the cargo hold made him feel claustrophobic, so he wouldn’t be down there. Maybe the engineering bay? She felt strangely off kilter not knowing where Kaidan Alenko was. He was something of a constant for her, a little piece of stability in her incredibly chaotic world. With him missing…

“Everything alright, Commander?” he asked, appearing at her right shoulder and making her jump.

“Lieutenant,” she said, with a little screech. Kaidan chuckled and she flushed, continuing, “I was just-I was looking for you and you weren’t here.”

Did Kaidan look…guilty? He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and avoided her gaze. Now that she thought about it, something was definitely off with Kaidan. His skin was slightly sallow and he was holding his body with a kind of forced stiffness. When he moved there was the slightest edge of gingerness to it, like he was afraid of something. They were subtle things, expertly hidden, but Shepard had spent too much time on the field with Kaidan to not notice. He was definitely hiding something.

“I’m here now, Commander,” he replied with a tight, but sincere smile, “can I help you with something?”

She opened her mouth to question him, but something kept her quiet. Kaidan had never pushed her, never forced her to be more open than she was ready to be. Maybe it was time she gave him that same respect. Still, if she did a little research when she was alone in her cabin that night, who would know?

The third time…well, the third time it happened, everything clicked. They had just cleared out a base on Luna whose VI had gone rogue. It had been more tedious than actually challenging, but the constant buzz of the drones, the hum of the kinetic barriers and the harsh glare of the grenades Ashley had been launching had left Shepard feeling irritable and overstimulated. Ashley was uncharacteristically quiet as they clambered back into the Mako, which was the only clue as to how tired she was as she stared listlessly out the window at Earth. However, it was Kaidan who was drawing her attention. He looked wrecked. She could see him clenching his jaw and then forcing himself to relax it. His hands were balled into fists where they were resting on his thighs and he winced subtly whenever he opened his eyes. She forced herself to drive slowly, trying to minimize the jolting as much as she possibly could and earning a few well meaning jabs from Williams as they made their way back to the Normandy. She took them on the chin and kept her mouth shut, her eyes flicking over to Kaidan in the rear view mirror, deeply concerned.

As they drove the Mako up into the Normandy’s open cargo hold and stepped out into the decontamination zone, Shepard felt herself cursing the number of bright lights. Had spaceships always been so shiny and loud? Did it always need to jolt like that? Kaidan looked like he was about to fall over. As subtly as she could, Shepard moved so she was standing in front of him and blocking him from view. Kaidan let out a small sound of relief that made her heart pinch as he used her cover to shield himself from the worst of the glare.

“Migraine?” Shepard asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper as they waited to be decontaminated.

“Not yet,” he answered, “but it’s coming.”

“Should I get Dr Chakwas for you?”

“No, no I have meds in my cabin.”

Shepard nodded, looking forward to avoid drawing attention, “Seems like this is happening more often these days.”

Kaidan was quiet for a long moment, “I didn’t think-I was hoping you hadn’t noticed.”

“Kaidan,” she started gently, “I want to know when you’re struggling. I want to-”

The automated voice chirped that they were now free to proceed into the ship and, like an arrow fired from a bow, Kaidan shot past her into the elevator, gave her an apologetic look and vanished up into the main body of the ship. Shepard let out a breath and forced herself not to bolt after him. It was becoming a problem, this need to know that he was alright, this compulsion to check on him, to keep him safe. He was a grown man, she reminded herself, a capable man and he wouldn’t appreciate her fussing over him.

And yet…

When over a day had passed with no sign of Kaidan, when he didn’t show up for breakfast, lunch, dinner and then breakfast again, Shepard made her way down to the crew quarters. It was unusual for a lieutenant to have a room to themselves on a ship like the Normandy, but Dr Chakwas had pulled some strings. She had only been inside it once, on the first day of her first tour on the Normandy. The day she’d met Kaidan.

Slowly, she raised her hand and knocked.

—

Kaidan felt like his skull was going to split open, like someone was sending shockwaves directly from his brain into his cranium in an attempt to break him. His stomach roiled with nausea, but there was nothing left in his body to throw up. The strength of the migraine had surprised him. It hadn’t been this bad since he was a child, since those brutal days at Brain Camp when the instructors had pushed them past their limits just to see how quickly they could recover. Somehow, the pain was even worse than he remembered.

He couldn’t say for sure how much time had passed since the attack had started, but he knew that it had been too long. He knew his absence would have been noticed and his heart pinched at the thought of Shepard and his friends talking about him in hushed tones, wondering about his capability, throwing doubt on his fitness for duty and sighing with disappointment as they took on his jobs. A little part of him fought back on that narrative, reminding him that these were his friends and they were more likely to be concerned than disappointed, but he was too strung out on pain and exhaustion to be reasonable.

As a way to distract himself, Kaidan thought back to his last proper conversation with Shepard. It hadn’t been anything special, just trading ideas on what they were most excited to do when they next got shore leave. Shepard had said that the first thing she was going to do was find a cafe and order herself a proper cappuccino and Kaidan, with a confidence that was rare for him, and quipped back that if she came with him to Vancouver he knew a place that would blow her mind.

“Better than sex,” he’d promised, immediately realising that he’d never actually said the word ‘sex’ around the commander before and cursing himself for his lack of formality, “swear to god.”

She had just laughed in response and the sound was so intoxicating that Kaidan suddenly didn’t care about propriety, “Better than good sex or bad sex? Because that matters.”

He had made a big show of thinking it over when, in reality, he had been trying to keep himself from flushing. Shepard and sex were thoughts he usually fought very hard to keep separated, now that he had brought them together they were getting all tangled up and sweaty in ways that-

“Better than good sex,” he had said, proud of how normal his voice sounded, “but worse than great sex. I don’t want to give you false hope, Shepard.”

She’d chuckled, patting him on the back as she started making her way back to the bridge, “I’ll hold you to that, Alenko. You, me, mind blowing coffee in Vancouver.”

“It’s a date.” he’d said without thinking.

Shepard had almost stumbled. Almost. It had been small, just the briefest stutter in her usually fluid movements, but Kaidan had caught it and it made something flare in the pit of his chest. She hadn’t done anything but give him a shy smile but, as he had watched her walk away, he had felt something in their dynamic shift.

That had been what, two weeks ago now? It was hard to tell, but he thought about it almost every day. That shy smile, the briefest touch of her hand on his back, they kept him going. He knew it was inappropriate. He knew there were a million regulations forbidding him from ever-forbidding them from ever-

But God, nothing quite distracted him from the pounding in his head like fantasizing about Shepard, so he let himself dream. He let himself imagine holding her face, twisting a lock of hair around his fingers, bringing her home to meet his parents and kissing her on their patio. He imagined being happy with her, living a simple life where they would both be safe and comfortable. It was a pretty dream made even prettier by how impossible it was, but he felt just sorry enough for himself that it didn’t matter.

The soft knock drew him from his imaginings. Probably Dr Chakwas coming to check on him and give him a scolding for not coming to her immediately.

“Come in,” he said weakly, his voice horse from lack of use, “door’s open.”

In the pitch darkness of his small, spartan room it took him longer than it should have to realise his guest was not, in fact Dr Chakwas. It was only when she’d gotten nearly to the bed that Kaidan could make out Shepard’s familiar form.

“Commander,” he said, scrambling to his feet as quickly as he could and gritting his teeth as his head responded with vicious throbbing, “I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

The movement was too much. His stomach revolted against him, white lights flashed before his eyes and, for a mortifying moment, he was convinced that he was going to pass out right there in front of her. Only years of experience working through the pain kept him upright and he fumbled for a lightswitch.

“If I’d known it was you-” he started, finding the switch and flipping it on.

The sudden brightness made him cry out and, in one fluid movement, Shepard leaned forward and flicked the switch back off, plunging them both back into darkness.

Before he could finish his sentence or do something really embarrassing, like throw up on her boots, Kaidan felt Shepard’s hands grip his upper arms softly.

She waved away his apologies with a simple, “At ease, soldier,” and guided him back down so he was sitting on the edge of his bed.

She took care to move him slowly, keeping her touch soft so as not to jolt him too much. It was tender and, even though his skin usually felt tender and sore during an attack, the contact felt like a soothing balm. He could make out her features through the darkness now, as she crouched in front of him. Her brow was furrowed with concern, her eyes traced his face like she was scanning him for injuries and she was worrying at the inside of her lip, a habit she’d had the whole time he’d known her. Suddenly, Kaidan became aware of how wrecked he must look to her. He had kicked off most of his clothes long ago, leaving him in just a pair of comfortable shorts. His skin was tacky with dried sweat, his room was a complete mess and he must smell-

“Are you alright, Lieutenant?” Shepard asked, her voice kind and non-judgemental.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied automatically.

She pursed her lips, “Kaidan…”

“It’s just a headache, ma’am,” he insisted, repeating the lie he’d been telling since he was small, “I’m ready to serve, whenever you need me.”

Shepard sighed, sounding tired and, to Kaidan’s surprise, reached up to press her fingers against his throat. His heart stuttered in his chest. She was checking his pulse, that was all. It was a very normal thing for a person in her position to be doing, he shouldn’t be - The gentle pressure of her skin against his felt so good that Kaidan’s eyes fluttered shut involuntarily and he just managed not to whimper.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Kaidan,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “I know you. I know you don’t make a habit of missing meals and spending days lying alone in the dark. Talk to me.”

“I-” he started to protest, before sighing, “I’ve been better.”

“Are there meds I can get for you?”

He shook his head, “Can’t keep them down long enough for them to work. Just gotta wait it out now.”

She made a sympathetic noise in the back of her throat, “Mind if I wait with you?”

Kaidan felt a flicker of something in his chest, a mix of anticipation and mortification. No one had ever-not since Brain Camp-but he was so sick of being alone with his thoughts, and Shepard-

“I wouldn’t want to bother you, ma’am,” he argued, half-heartedly, “I’m sure there’s a million other things that deserve your attention more than me.”

She smiled and, even in the darkness, Kaidan could make out the glimmer in her eye.

“Not today there isn’t,” she replied, “today I’m all yours, if you want the company that is.”

Kaidan silently thanked the lord for the darkness, because he just knew he was blushing something fierce. There was no amount of pain in the world that would have stopped him from feeling a lick of desire deep in the pit of his stomach at the phrase ‘today I’m all yours’. He would unpack that later, he promised himself.

“I-I would like some company, Commander,” he agreed.

The way Shepard’s face brightened at that was worth any level of embarrassment he might have felt, “Good.”

She immediately took a seat beside him on the bed and leant forward, untying her shoes and kicking them off. Kaidan opened his mouth to ask what she was doing but, before he could say anything, she pulled her legs up and crossed them.

Kaidan Alenko was, for lack of a better word, dumbfounded. Commander Shepard, the commander Shepard, first human spectre, and the woman he currently had a big fat juvenile crush on, was sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce on his bed. It was so ridiculous that he couldn’t help but chuckle, even though his voice was still weaker than he would have liked. She smiled, like the sound pleased her, and reached down into the satchel that, until now, Kaidan hadn’t realised she’d brought.

“I have supplies,” she explained, “so, head on my lap please, lieutenant.”

—

Jesus Christ what had gotten into her? Shepard’s face felt like a bonfire as she waited for Kaidan to react to her frankly insane request. It had seemed like such a good idea in theory; just show up and be so confident that Kaidan couldn’t possibly think she felt obligated or burdened, but now it was real. Now they were alone in his room with the lights off and Shepard who, up until this point, had been so careful to never offer Kaidan anything more than a friendly pat on the back to maintain protocol, had just decided to camp out on his bed and ask him to pop his head on her lap.

Inappropriate. Abuse of her power. Unexcusable.

But he looked so destroyed. When she’d checked his pulse she had been able to feel his pulse thrumming too quickly beneath his skin. For the few seconds that the light had been on she had seen the tremor in his limbs, the dark circles beneath his eyes. The man could barely stand let alone serve, but he had tried, he had tried so hard for her, just like he always did. She wanted him to be comfortable, she wanted him to know that he didn’t need to push the pain away with her, that she could be someone he could depend on. If he’d let her.

Only now he was staring at her like she’d grown a second head, and she’d almost certainly blown any sort of trust they might have had and she really didn’t want to explain to Anderson why she was being reported for harassing her lieutenant when he was ill and-

“That’s-” she cleared her throat, “I didn’t mean that as an order, by the way. I just-” she reached into her back and pulled out the ice packs she had brought with her in preparation for this terrible, terrible plan, “I brought supplies.” she repeated.

There was a look on Kaidan’s face that she’d seen glimpses of before but had never been able to identify. He looked down at the ice packs in her hands and then up to her face, holding her gaze for a long moment. His eyes reminded her of whiskey, smooth and unassuming with a kick that sent a shiver down her spine. She tried not to think about how little clothing he was wearing. The man was ill, she absolutely refused to be a pervert about this, but his eyes were fair game and damn, his eyes…

Slowly he moved up on the bed, lowering himself so that his head rested gently on her lap. His arms - more fair game - tentatively wrapped themselves around her knees and Shepard let out a slightly shaky breath.

“Where is the pain, mostly?” she asked.

“Besides everywhere?” He replied with a weak smile, “Base of my skull and my left temple. That’s where it always starts.”

She nodded and gently pressed one of the flexible ice packs to each of the spots he mentioned. For the left temple he could simply rest his head on the pack, but she had to hold the second one to his neck to make sure it stayed in place. The sound he made was somewhere between a sigh and a moan and that strange protective possessiveness flared to life in her chest again.

“Quiet, LT,” she teased, “people might get the wrong idea.”

He chuckled, his eyes fluttering shut as the coolness spread along his skin. She could feel his laughter against her legs, she could feel his sighs of relief and his gratefulness in the way his arms just briefly tightened around her knees. It felt good to help him. It felt good that he was letting her help him.

They sat together in silence for a while, but the silence was comforting rather than awkward. Despite being there for the express purpose of helping Kaidan, Shepard couldn't help but find some of her own relief in having nothing of importance to do. With Kaidan’s head in her lap and his warm breath ghosting over her legs, she could almost forget about Saren and the geth. There was no conduit, no secret race of sentient machines, no hellish past tattooed on the inside of her skull by the last remnants of the Protheans. There was no one counting on her. It was nice.

Shepard tentatively reached out and brushed her fingers along Kaidan’s temples, letting her nails scrape against his scalp softly. He sighed and pushed his head against her hands.

Eventually, Kaidan broke the silence, “I’m sorry I rushed off like that when we got back from Luna.”

“No need to be sorry,” she replied, “I understood.”

“No, I want you to know that I don’t usually let my headaches get in the way of my work like this, ma’am,” he continued, his voice taking on a slight edge of tired desperation, “I usually manage it better, it’s just-”

“It’s just that the work we’re doing is full of endless triggers?” she suggested, “Bright lights, bombs, gun fire, constant life or death pressure, high stress, chronic exhaustion-”

“It sounds like you’re describing being a soldier, ma’am,” he interrupted, but his voice sounded fond.

She snorted, “I’m describing war, Lieutenant. There are soldiers who go their entire career without seeing the level of combat that we see in a week. You and I are more prepared than most with our service histories, but there’s no way to really get your body ready for what we’re putting ourselves through. Every single member of this crew is seeing wear and tear of some kind, this is just yours. You’ve done good work and we all see that.”

He was silent for a moment, “The others are struggling too?”

“Oh yeah,” she agreed, “Garrus works on that Mako all hours of the day because if he stops moving he’s worried he’ll never start again. Ash runs drills until her body physically gives out because she can’t sleep otherwise. Tali can’t stop checking the engine because some part of her is convinced that it’s just going to give out while we’re sleeping, Wrex had broken three shotguns in fits of rage and Liara-” she shook her head, “that poor woman is so overwhelmed that it’s a miracle she’s still moving at all.”

Kaidan hummed sympathetically, “And you, Commander?” he asked gently.

She pressed her lips together to keep from immediately giving one of her prepared, comforting lies. Kaidan had trusted her, he was being vulnerable. She owed him at least that much.

“I haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep since Eden Prime,” she admitted with a sigh, “I try, but I just end up lying in bed awake for hours and then, when I do eventually doze off, I wake up screaming like an hour later. Dr Chakwas thinks I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and the lack of sleep is slowing the healing process for all the damage my body is taking.”

“Well, maybe if you let me put barriers on you before charging right into the middle of every firefight we come across-” Kaidan replied teasingly.

She waved him away, eternally grateful to him for not forcing her to linger in her moment of vulnerability, “Save your barriers for yourself, LT. I’ll be fine.”

He chuckled before continuing, “Thanks, Commander. It-it doesn’t make the pain go away, but it’s good to know I’m not the only one.”

Shepard took a moment to turn the ice packs over, earning her another relieved sigh from lieutenant Alenko, and studied his frame intently. His brow had smoothed out, his breaths were deep and even. The tension he had been carrying in his shoulders and neck seemed to have leached away. He seemed better, or at least more relaxed than he had when she first arrived and she fought the urge to run her fingernails along the smooth expanse of his back.

“I’m glad,” she smiled, “how is the pain now?”

He sighed, “Still there, but-” she could just about make out the pink flush that spread along his cheeks, “but it’s a lot better with you here.”

He was fighting to stay awake, she realised, a fight that he was rapidly losing as the sheer exhaustion that came with being in constant pain dragged him closer and closer to sleep.

“Good,” she replied gently, feeling herself softened by something deeper than mere fondness, “get some rest, Kaidan. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She could see him trying to think of some sort of protest but, eventually, the pull was too strong.

“Thank you, Shepard,” he said softly, “for everything.”

She was saved from having to answer. Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was already fast asleep.

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #mass effect 3 #kaidan alenko #shenko #commander shepard #female shepard #fem!shep #kaidan x shepard #kaidan alenko x female shepard #kaidan alenko x shepard #kaidan alenko x commander shepard #kaidan alenko fanfiction

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nateeseart · 1 year ago

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Happy N7 day!

#mass effect2 #masseffect #mass effect garrus #garrus vakarian #female shepard #shepard #garrus x femshep #kaidan mass effect #kaidan alenko #n7 day

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contrivedcoincidences6 · 20 days ago

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Trying my hand at edits

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #shenko #kaidan alenko #kaidan x shepard #I love you I’m sorry #female shepard #me2 #fshenko #commander shepard

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olath124 · 1 year ago

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This was a drawing I’ve made for the Alenko Summer exchange… but it was too late and being the anxious gremlin I am I've never posted it. So, being n7 month I've decided to post it now!

She is the lovely @halesshepardn7 's Rose Shepard in a soft and lovely moment with her space husband Kaidan ❤️

#female shepard #normandy #n7 #mass effect n7 #bioware #mass effect #mass effect trilogy #femshep x kaidan #kaidan romance #kaidan alenko #mass effect kaidan #i love to draw couple #love them sooooo much

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hextechmaturgy · 1 year ago

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olivia (?) shepard ; earthborn ; vanguard ; bisexual disaster nightmare

#mine #shenko #shrios #aria x shepard #shepard x aria #thane krios #aria t'loak #kaidan alenko #commander shepard #female shepard #olivia shepard #mass effect 1 #mass effect 2 #mass effect 3 #not to mention the consort. flirting with liara and james whenever possible. unstoppable force

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pardonmymannerssir · 1 month ago

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Title: just a thousand miles between me and paradise

Rating: M

Link: AO3

Pairings: Kaidan/Female Shepard

Synopsis:

They made her birthday a galactic holiday, erected a dizzying array of monuments, and opened probably a hundred different museums with varyingly authentic amounts of her possessions—some of which Kaidan even donated. They named ships and schools and children -of all species- after her.

Shepard would have hated it.

———————-

Chapter Two

The soft blue light from the fish tank and the blinking life support indicator above their heads cast Shepard’s cabin in a wavering, uncertain glow. Dreamlike, Kaidan reached out to trace a finger along the smooth curve of Shepard’s shoulder. Being here with her, like this, always felt vaguely as though it were happening to someone else.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady, but her full lips twisted up into a gentle smile, making his heart clench. She looked so soft like this, so relaxed and comfortable with him. It seemed unfair that someone could be so beautiful and so confoundingly capable at the same time.

He’d been a goner from the moment he met her.

“I miss them,” he whispered, hardly meaning to speak as he ran his knuckles down her side, feeling the ridges of her ribs and the flex of her muscles as she shifted. Goosebumps rose across her skin in his wake, and he felt the familiar, almost primal satisfaction of her reaction to his touch.

“Miss what?” she whispered back. These moments often felt sacred. Delicate. Like if they talked too loudly or moved too suddenly, everything would shatter.

“Your scars… not that I want you suffering,” he added, feeling an embarrassed flush rise up his chest. “Just… they made up who you are.”

He missed the scars because they served as a map for him to follow- footnotes and addendums to her life that he could see and catalogue. Stories on her skin for him to touch and taste and memorize. She had a few fresh ones, but they were uncharted landmarks, representing events he had missed, dark spaces unexplored.

She rolled onto her side towards him, her breasts pressed together and one arm splayed between them. Her eyes opened, gleaming in the faint light as she studied him through thick lashes. He took her hand in his, and she threaded their fingers together. He felt like maybe they were the only two people left in the galaxy -the prospect wasn’t as unwelcome as it should have been.

“I miss them too, a little. My body didn’t feel like mine again for a long time.”

He unfolded his other arm from where it was tucked under his head and idly played with her hair, letting the soft, freshly washed strands glide through his fingers. Her eyes fluttered, and she hummed like a contented kitten, and his heart clenched again. God, he loved this woman.

“I should have been there,” he said, untangling his hand from hers and spanning the warm breadth of her belly, thumb brushing over an angry scar near her navel.

“I got that one shaving,” she teased, and he pinched her lightly before dragging her body flush against his.

“I should have been there,” he repeated, the familiar guilt a heavy weight in his gut that not even her naked body could fully distract him from.

“I’m glad you weren’t,” she said, tone sincere as she slid her leg between his, “it was a shitty fight and a bad day -bad week really. But I’m glad you’re here now.”

She nudged his nose with hers, and her lips ghosted across his, making his pulse jump.

“Me too,” he murmured, arching her neck with his hand so he could press his next words against her pulse point. Her fingers wove through his hair, nails biting into his scalp and raising the hair along his arms.

“I love you.”

And, unspoken but pulsing beneath the surface on a constant loop -Please, please don’t leave me.

—-

“I think I’ve pinpointed her location to here,” Miranda tapped away at the navigation console, and the star map hovering between them zoomed in on an unfamiliar star system. “A small colony that Cerberus has apparently maintained for years and managed to keep off the Alliance and Council radars. From what I can tell, they also seem to have managed to avoid the Reapers.”

Kaidan looked up and met her gaze across the miniaturized cosmos. The glow of the star map created shifting patterns across her face, making her expression even more difficult to read than usual. The ship—not the Normandy, an old Cerberus model Miranda had apparently managed to acquire through not exactly legal means—hummed and vibrated around them. Kaidan had missed the sound—had missed the feel of space travel.

“I have been able to find out almost nothing else,” Liara admitted, pacing away from them to look out the window of the hull. Kaidan could tell she was frustrated.

“You said almost nothing,” he pressed. He hoped he sounded calmer and more collected than he felt -internally, the lid was a pretty loose on the jar.

Liara sighed, her back still turned. “There are scattered reports of missing equipment and cargo in the nearby star systems, nothing that would obviously tie them together, but my gut tells me that they are related.”

“What kind of cargo?” Miranda asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Liara turned back toward them. “Most of it was simple things—food, fuel, tools… but a few years back, a shipment of advanced medical equipment went missing. There was an investigation, but nothing could be discovered.”

“Ha!” Talia said trumphantly from the opposite corner of the room. “That’s the evidence we needed! Do you think they… rebuilt her? Like you did the first time?”

Miranda sighed, her brow furrowing. “That’s hard to say… the money and time it took to repair Shepard the first time was, well, exorbitant. If her injuries were less severe than the first time, then perhaps.”

Kaidan quietly and deeply hated how they were speaking of Shepard as if she were some sort of machine that had fallen out of commission, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Explain it again,” Liara said, “the message you found.”

Miranda nodded. “When Shepard broke away from Cerberus, EDI and the Alliance triple verified that there was nothing they could detect that would allow Cerberus to, say, infiltrate her in any way, which -after reviewing all the reports you provided Liara- I believe are accurate. The message I found indicated that a failsafe was activated, something internal to Shepard herself, and not able to be remotely activated by Cerberus, but one that provided an alert if triggered.”

“Severe brain trauma,” Liara said, tone cold, removed. “It was meant to protect her brain in the event that she died.”

“From what I have gathered… yes,” Miranda confirmed, and Tali hung her head a little as if it were hard to hear. “And well, as I have said, I believe it also indicates that Shepard’s memories have been preserved somewhere… offline.”

“Which is when EDI got involved?”

Kaidan frowned, wondering what he had missed. “EDI?”

Miranda nodded. “Yes, you see, I couldn’t discover the location of her memory files. Liara couldn’t either and then-“

“We heard that Joker managed to get EDI back online, and we enlisted her help,” Liara said.

“How long did it take her?” Tali asked, a hint of a smile in her voice.

“Five minutes,” Miranda said drily.

“In our defense,” Liara interjected, “we had collected most of the necessary intel. She was just able to find the missing pieces and fit it all together.”

“Which is when you came to me,” Kaidan said slowly.

“Yes, Major, that's when I came to you,” Miranda said. “According to EDI, Shepard’s memory files were sent to a facility in the star system adjacent to where I believe Shepard is being held. The facility has been abandoned for years now, but… well, who knows what we might find there, and I could use the backup.”

“And you’re sure Shepard is there… alive?” Tali asked.

Miranda braced her hands on the console and leveled a stare at each of them in turn. “I need to be very clear with all of you… I’m not sure of anything. I… well, I wanted to be before I came to any of you, but I can’t do this myself, and I think you all deserve to find out the truth, one way or another, as much as I do.” This last bit she said while holding Kaidan’s stare.

Liara dropped her gaze. “Alright… so we go to this facility… we find Shepard’s memory file and then what?”

“We get to this secret colony, upload her memory file… and get our Shepard back,” Miranda said like it were simple, easy even, and there was a hint of steel in her voice. “Are you in?”

“I’m in,” Liara said immediately, almost before Miranda finished speaking.

“Me too,” Talia said. “I’ll help however I can.”

They all looked at Kaidan, who felt as though he weren’t fully attached to his own body anymore.

“Okay… okay, I’m in,” he said, trying not to hope. Trying to protect what was left of his broken, shattered heart as long as he could. To hope now and find nothing would be… well, he wasn’t certain he could survive it.

“Alright,” Miranda said with a firm nod. “Let's go get our girl.”

—-

They called her Hanna, but she knew that wasn’t her name.

She knew it wasn’t her name in the same way that she knew that she wasn’t really a farmer. She liked it well enough -farming that is. The sun and fresh air were nice, and she wasn’t expected to do much, no more than she wanted to. Her recovery had been long and terrible, or so they told her —she didn’t really remember any of it— and she was supposed to take it easy. Not push herself. Still, as she snipped vegtables and weeded garden beds, she knew deep down inside herself that this life wasn’t hers.

“The brain trauma was significant,” Dr. Reeves —her sister in law, apparently— told her, patting her gently on the knee. “It will take time for your memories to return, if they return at all.”

She had strange dreams sometimes, but they were more like echoes… voices heard from far away. Some of them were scary and violent, even in flashes. Others left her aching, empty, and alone, longing for something… or someone.

A name burned at the tip of her tongue.

Not-Hanna’s days bled together, and she found her gaze turned ever more often upward, lingering on distant stars. Some nights, she stayed up long past lights-out to stare through the dark spaces between, searching. She felt as though something was calling to her, as if she were meant for more, and it was there, beyond the atmosphere, waiting for her.

“You said there are others out there, aliens, I mean,” she said to Vivian, Dr. Reeves's friend and their neighbor, as a strong breeze rustled the wheat fields beyond. The swaying stalks made a pleasant sound, reminding her of something else, something she couldn’t quite name. That happened to her a lot and it was pretty damn annoying, to be honest —like the tickle of a sneeze that never came.

The two of them were sitting on the back patio of the Community Center, sharing a plate of cucumber sandwiches and some lemonade, legs dangling off the wooden deck. There was the faint sound of children’s laughter from the schoolyard just down the road, and birds chirped in the nearby trees. It was an idyllic, perfect day. But Not-Hanna felt nothing but a rising restlessness coupled with a growing sense that this was all… wrong somehow.

Vivan hesitated for a moment, hardly at all really, but Not-Hanna was perceptive. The question made the other woman uncomfortable, and her answer was guarded. “Yes, there are… a few.”

“And they never come here?”

“No… this place is protected.”

“Protected from what?”

Vivian seemed to have a bit of difficulty swallowing and took a long sip of lemonade. She wouldn’t meet Not-Hanna’s eye. “Well, from unauthorized visitors.”

“Who decides who is authorized?”

“Um, well, Dr. Reeves, I suppose.”

Not-Hanna contemplated this, eating another sandwich as she considered the shape of the moon in the sky before them. “Does anyone ever leave?” she asked.

She could feel Vivian’s eyes boring into her at the question, but she played dumb and forced her body language to exude casual interest.

Vivian carefully wiped her lips with a napkin and said, tone cool. “Why would anyone want to leave?”

——

Garrus met them planetside, just outside the dilapidated Cerberus base.

“Vakarian,” Miranda said by way of greeting. “Glad you could make it.”

“Where’s Tali and Liara?” Garrus asked, words clipped, Shepard’s rifle balanced on his shoulder.

“I asked them to remain aboard in case we needed tech support or extraction. Where’s your transport?”

“In orbit, once we’re done here, I’ll send them home and come with you.”

“Perfect,” she said and unholstered the gun at her hip.

“Place seems deserted,” Kaidan said from his position on the crest above.

The old Cerberus base was laid out below him, sprawling and large, partially concealed by huge trees and dense, blue and green foliage. The air was hot and sticky, and sweat pooled at the hollow of his throat and the back of his neck. He never thought he’d missed the desert, but the present humidity level was really helping him understand what people meant when they talked about a dry heat.

“A shame,” Garrus said darkly, as if he wanted nothing more than a good fight.

Kaidan didn’t really blame him. He felt like he was on the brink of flying out of his own skin; a good firefight might have been grounding.

Miranda led the way down and through the valley below and then managed to get them past the front doors. It was eerie inside the old facility—dark and silent, smelling of rot and mold as the sun shone through from high above, where the ceiling had either caved in… or been blown apart. A cursory glance had him leaning towards the latter—you see enough buildings blown up, and you start to get a sense for such things.

Eventually, they found a lab deep within the facility that Miranda seemed to think was what they were looking for. Kaidan and Garrus watched the doors as Miranda frantically tapped away at a computer, arguing with Liara and Tali over the com as she attempted to hack in.

“You really think she’s alive?” Garrus asked quietly, peering into the dimly lit hallway beyond.

Kaidan, who’d been trying very hard to disconnect his brain from his body as much as possible, went still. “I… I don’t know.”

The turian grunted. “Would be a hell of a thing, coming back from the dead twice.”

Kaidan didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. They were silent for a long moment, the only sound Miranda’s frantic typing and agitated grumblings into her Omni tool.

“I guess… well, I guess we have to be sure, at least,” Garrus murmured, more to himself than Kaidan.

Kaidan nodded and said, because it was true, “She’d do it for us.”

Garrus glanced over at him. “She would. For you, though… I think she’d tear the galaxy apart.”

Kaidan didn’t think he meant this to be a condemnation, but it felt like one anyway. “I'm not sure I can take losing her again.”

“If she’s alive, we’ll find her, and we’ll bring her home and the two of you will get mated, or married, or whatever it is you humans do and you’ll have a gaggle of soft skinned, foul mouthed little hellions,” Garrus said, voice cracking a bit and Kaidan had to tamp down on his biotics hard to keep from doing something insane, like throwing a toppled desk through the lab observation window.

“Don’t,” he managed through gritted teeth. “Please, I can’t-“

Garrus lashed out, gripping him hard by the shoulders with both hands, and shook him. “Listen Alenko, you better pull your shit toegther, because if Shepard’s out there and you don’t put your whole ass into finding her, you’ll always, always regret it. She might need help, okay? She might need us. So Get. Your. Shit. Together.” The turian punctuated these last words by shaking Kaidan in tandem.

Kaidan shoved free, barely managing to contain himself as he stepped back, eyes burning and biotic energy sweeping over him like a lightning storm. Fuck, he thought, fuck he’s right. He drew in a deep breath, then another, willing himself to consider it. Really consider it.

Shepard was alive.

Shepard was out there somewhere, waiting for them to find her.

Waiting for him. For a life with him.

They hadn’t really talked about it, the future, especially there at the end when the chances of success had seemed nonexistent. It would have been stupid to talk about the future; it would have jinxed it, but they slipped up sometimes. Talked about things they wanted to see, stupid shit they wanted to do toegther, always with “once all this is over” tacked on like some kind of shitty sales tax.

He would always regret how much time he’d wasted after Horizon. He had been right not to trust Cerburs but fuck it all he should have trusted Shepard. He should have been there with her, then, and at the end and, and- “Now,” he whispered to himself. He needed to be there for her now, even if it killed him.

He felt himself deflate, collapse in on himself, his biotics simmered then disappated and two tears slipped free as he squeezed his eyes shut.

At that moment, an alarm blared, and overhead lights began flashing red. “Defense systems have been activated. Repeat, defense systems have been activated,” a robotic and strangely cheerful voice announced over the intercom.

“Well,” Miranda said blandly, “The good news is… I got the data files. The bad news is... it looks like you boys will have some work to do after all.”

Garrus grinned and flicked the safety off his gun. “Hell yes.”

——

They showed her old recordings of herself.

Many of them were of her playing with Dr. Reece’s daughters —her nieces— so Not-Hanna supposed it must be real. And she did love them, her nieces, even if she couldn’t remember them. They were sweet girls, curious and full of energy, and, as Not-Hanna grew ever more filled with an unexplainable sense of dread, she found more and more comfort in their innocent presence.

They alone felt safe. They alone didn’t try to pretend she was normal. They were too young to remember her much before her accident, Dr. Reeves insisted, but the girls always looked perplexed when their mother insisted Not-Hanna had been present for some event or another. She wanted to brush it aside, to let the feeling of unease go, but it settled in her bones and festered quietly.

One day, as she sat at the community dining hall surrounded by laughter and pleasant chatter, Not-Hanna realized that she didn’t trust the adults in the colony. Not a single one. Something about the way they all looked at her set her on edge, as if they were all looking at her all the time, watching, waiting. Observing.

There was also a distinct lack of familiarity.

For all that she had apparently spent most of her life in the colony, there was no camaraderie, no eager friends anxious for her welfare. No one tried to tell her an inside joke, remind her of past events, or talk to her much at all unless prompted. It was becoming a lonely and frustrating existence. Even Vivian avoided her.

Frankly, the charade was becoming insulting, and she wished she understood why it was necessary. Logic would dictate that it had something to do with her memories, who she was… or who she used to be. She began to wonder if she were, in fact, a prisoner.

Not-Hanna spent most of her evenings and free time with Dr. Reeves and her nieces, Vera and Devon. They played board games, listened to music, read books, and, on occasion, watched old movies on a projector the doctor set up outside on cool, clear nights. Those were the nights she liked best, the girls curled up on either side of her, an old pre-contact film playing.

Sometimes, she and the doctor would sit out there with a glass of wine after the girls had gone to bed. Sitting mostly in silence. Lacking the bulk of one’s memories made conversation a little challenging.

“What was my brother like?” Not-Hana asked one night, sipping from her glass and enjoying the semi-sweet burn down her throat.

Dr. Reeves hesitated, but there was a soft smile on her pretty face, one Not-Hanna had never seen before. “John was…Brave. Obstinate. Smart as hell but too restless to put it to much good use. Never could sit still for long. You… remind me of him.”

It was one of the first things the doctor had ever said to her that she actually believed.

Not-Hanna finished her wine and set her glass aside before folding her hands in her lap. She was tired of the games. “I don’t really belong here, do I, Dr. Reeves?”

The other woman finished her glass as well, setting it carefully beside Not-Hanna’s on the outdoor table between them. “You do if you want to,” she said carefully, not an admission, but close to it.

“And if I don’t?”

The doctor sighed. “Then I would ask you to trust me… and give me a little more time.”

Not-Hanna pursed her lips, listening to her gut because she had little else to go on. “Okay. A little more time.”

“And Hanna?”

“Yes?” Said Not-Hanna.

“Your name is Jane.”

——

“Well,” Tali said, “the colony has perhaps the most advanced defense system I’ve ever seen. I could barely get a read on it with the drone before it was obliterated.”

Miranda frowned, eyes narrowing, and Liara cursed. “We don’t have the resources to mount an assault."

“If only we knew of a ship designed to avoid detection,” Garrus quipped.

Kaidan smirked. “I’ll reach out to Joker.”

Later, alone in the comms room, James patched through from Normandy. “Commander Vega,” Kaidan said with a mixture of shock and genuine pleasure. The other man looked a bit sheepish.

“Major, Alliance records show you on leave… I have a feeling you didn’t ping us for vacation tips.”

“We need a favor… is this line encrypted?”

James frowned a little. “It is.”

“We… found her, Vega. We think -we’re pretty sure. Shepard, we found her.” Even saying the words felt like he was ripping off a limb.

James’s face turned to stone. “I’m going to need you to explain, Major,” he said after a long moment, voice rough.

Kaidan explained, and by the end, James was pacing in and out of the com display, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Alright, Alenko… okay. I-shit. I don’t know what to think. But I trust you. If we’re going to use the Normandy for this, I’m going to need you to do so as a Spectre.”

Kaidan nodded; he’d anticipated this. “You got it. I’ll send the order after we're done here.”

James leveled a hard stare at him. “If she’s alive… I’m prepared to do whatever it takes, Alenko. Whatever it takes.”

“I know you are. So am I.”

“Good, send me the coordinates.”

#fanfic #fanfiction #mass effect #mass effect 3 #kaidan alenko #kaidan x shepard #female shepard

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loganpine · 11 days ago

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Throw me to the Reapers. I deserve it.

#Mass Effect #Meme #garrus vakarian #kaidan alenko #femshep #female shepard #commander shepard #garrus x femshep #garrus romance #kaidan x shepard #kaidan romance

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spacevixen2024 · 4 months ago

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Last Fic of the Year! My Christmas present to all those Shenko fans out there!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard, Kaidan Alenko/Shepard Characters: Kaidan Alenko, Female Shepard (Mass Effect), Liara T'Soni, Javik (Mass Effect), Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Garrus Vakarian, James Vega Additional Tags: Christmas Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Post-Mass Effect 3, Earthborn (Mass Effect), Sole Survivor (Mass Effect) Series: Part 12 of Commander Faith Shepard aka One Hot Mess Of A Human. Summary:

Kaidan helps Shepard get in the spirit of the Holidays.

Aka Vixen's love letter to you all!

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #shenko #fshenko #kaidan alenko #female shepard #femshep x kaidan #happy holidays

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stupid-tes-nerd · 3 months ago

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youtube

What’s up nerds. There’s a new Mass Effect live in my channel! We talk down a cult leader, do some gambling, and meet some Batarians that are trying to crash an asteroid into Terra Nova!

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danypooh80 · 2 years ago

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All I ever wanted, Ch. 109

Sloane, Vega, and Kasumi look for Miranda; the team heads deeper into the facility and learns more about what Lawson was up to in Sanctuary.

#mass effect #female shepard #mass effect garrus #shakarian #garrus vakarian #commander shepard #shepard x garrus #fanfic #shepard twins #garrus x femshep #kaidan alenko #richard jenkins #mass effect kasumi #kasumi goto #the illusive man

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amadholes-lostre · 5 months ago

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My hopes for ME 5:

Take place centuries after ME trilogy

Mainly

The protagonist could be plays as nonhuman

The idea that instead playing as a human protagonist like the first 4 games, here players could choose their race like how Dragon Age does so. The races I could think of are: humans (naturally lol), asaris, turians, salarians, quarians (suitless), and maybe an original race.

Humans will naturally have the most optionable when it comes to customization, however other races should have some variations as seen in ME3 multiplayer but with more. Having asari's crest shape either being curly, female turian having fringes, etc.

Another idea is how some races have restrictions when it comes to class selections, like how DA done with its race. Humans are the jake-of-all-trades: neither thr most powerful yet not the weakest. Asari could only play biotic class, but the most powerful. Salarian can't play frontline class like soldier and vanguard but best at infiltrator. Krogan can't play infiltrator, but the best options for soldiers and Vanguard.

The protagonists were either cryosleep or descendants of the Mass Effect squadmates

The cryosleep option will likely be a good choice for a stand-in character; before Reaper War, some of the government officials did believe in Shepard's warning and managed to create a cryogenic colony, similar what the Protheans did. There were only limited numbers due to funding and timing, and the numbers were likely only in the thousands. Once Shepard active the Crucible, it fried the VI moderating the cryopods, causing some to die and the rest not to be reawakened until the start of ME5. What likely woke them up was a conflict between Liara and her group with the Reaper Cultists trying find a now awake Shepard. Now the awoken Protagonist trying adjust to a new galaxy unfamiliar to their own; another intragalaxtic rivaling the reformed Citadel Council called Attican Traverse Alliance, a Reaper snd Shepard cultists, etc.

Another option is that the protagonist-based on their race- are descendants of ME triology characters, more specifically the squadmate and crew. Like thr krogan will be Wrex child, thr human will be great grandchild of Ashley or Kaidan, etc.

More preexisting Alien races before and during Reaper War

Canonically, there are dozens of different races that members of the Citadel Council, however, the games were limited due to the game engine and creativity. The idea is that there should be more races in the 5th game that were already known, but only introduced in this game. Maybe like 20, at least to show that thr galaxy is far more diverse than how fanfic protray it.

That, and also more non-gonochoric races, either mono-sex (like asari), hermaphrodite, or races having more than 2 sex. For mono-sex, I already saw 2 ME oringal species that assigned at such, and I have my own original races that are mono-sex.

Could choose Shepard's gender and their lover

I preferred that Shepard is a woman and that her lover is Liara T'soni (people forget how big this was in the 2000s). I also know Bioware portrayed Shepard as a man. My idea is to keep it as anonymous as possible and allow the players to choose, likely at where players customize their character.

If not, at least allowed be Shepard x Liara be canon and still allowed to change Shepard gender.

Self-explanatory, I know how biased Bioware could be with Liara, and a lot of the storyline make it more dramatic and romantic if the players choose Liara as their lover. However, I don't like the idea that mashep will considered be thr canon Shepard, so hopefully, they allow us to choose the gender.

If the last two were option, allow the protagonist and/or main characters (as an Asari) be Shepard's daughter.

One idea is that each optionable race have their own backstory with players choosing some of it (like Shepard). My idea that the asari character is Liara's daughter, either being Shepard (if players chose them) or some other person (likely another asari, or maybe still Shepard if they gave het permission before hand). This creates more drama and interesting storyline.

Technology progression far more after the canon end

Self-explanatory. It will make sense, especially since they already did so after ME1. Some idea I think of: far larger and faster ships (3km+ and 25 ftl per day); using plasma or hard-like light weapons; far larger space station (see my Citadel redesign); maybe a new wearable computer and superseded omnitool; maybe some tech that isn't based on mass effect/eezo.

Actually provide more lores for races other than superficial ones on the codex

Even though Mass Effect sometimes provided great lores, it doesn't feel as filling.

Lost Worlds/Reconnecting other planets that were disconnected from the relay

One of the primary reasons why I wanted the game to take place centuries layer. Having planets that were isolated due to the destruction of the relays, especially multi-species ones, allows interesting storyline and lore. Though ME3 already confirmed the mass relay were back up, it will make sense if they are only functionable in Citadel Space.

One idea is a hub section on a newly connected world, heavily populated by multiple species with a large population (maybe around 50 billion). Another idea is multiple star systems in Terminus Systems that were populated by former slave descendants who had revolted after the Mass Relays destruction. Likely called the Free People Republic who are extremely anti-Batarian.

Mythification of Commander Shepard

Don't know what else to add here.

The main antagonists are Reaper cultists

Like the mythification of Shepard, there will also be a mythifcation of Reapers. Insteadif believing that Reapers were villains wiping out organic and synthetic alike, they were actually a harmonic force of good, trying to bring harmony and unity through assimilation. They only fought through horrific means due to the resistance they faced.

The game storyline will be about finding Shepard while also dealing with the Reaper cult, figuring out who they are and their motivation. They will be more like a looming threat in the background like Cerebus were in the first game.

Some characters' ideas I have/ want a lesbian and gay characters in the squad

Honestly, this is more like my oc in ME 5, but I also disliked how the only lesbian/gay character we allowed to romance ain't squadmate. I love Samantha Traynor and Suvi Anwar, but they're don't have a lot followers due of their lack of scene time. I have 2 characters, though one is more like transmasc nonbinary.

The Blue Mage/ Blue Sorcerer

An oc I have since ME:A, the Blue Mage biracial Japanese, she is a D&D enthusiast who enjoys role-playing as a Mage and employed it through her biotic Though naturally a weak biotic, her staff contains a large amount of eezo, which amplifies her biotic ability. She is also a biochemist who specializes in genetics and eezo. Her backstory is a bit tragic; she once has a beloved wife that she adored along with 5 daughters. However, due to recklessness when researching eezo and genealogy, her wife died through AEND, and all her daughters blamed her for it. The Blue Mage (I calling her Samantha) looks like in her late 20s, she is actually in her 100s (it helps that humans' maximum lifespan will be at 250 years). Not only that, due to her tinkering her genes (with eezo) (and being a designer baby), she could live up to her 500s. (She also talk about how weird it is to have an asari best friend; by the time she has her third daughter by age 40, her asari friend will be at stage 4 of puberty.)

When the Female/Enby protagonist romance her, or at least trying to be friends with her, she will open who she is, including about the research that led to her wife death, thr method behind her daughter's birth (she carried her), her parents that she hated, and her religion belief (she is a Shintist, Buddhist, and Siarists) (it also connected to her research). Her research was about not only increasing biotic potential for humans (and other nonhumans), but it was also about trying to apply telepathy and mental connection like how asari does so. Not only that, but using herself as a guinea pig, having telepathic. Her telepathic is so adroit that she managed inseminated telepathically through her former wife's gene, through birthing her daughter like an asari. And how her wife got AEND was that, due of her being also an eezo researcher like Samantha, she and her were both reckless when dealing with her research, and though Samantha was immune, her wife was not. Her daughter blamed her for her death, which she agreed. However, the protagonist could convince her that both her and her wife held responsibility and that she shouldn't feel as solely the guilty one. This will help her for her loyalty mission and their romance if female/enby protagonist romance her.

For the loyalty mission, her oldest daughter-a powerful biotic vanguard - joined up with an asari majority vigilant group that fights against pirates and slavers. Samantha discovered an SOS from her band that they managed rescued slaves from an infamous, powerful mercenary who's planning to sell them to an unknown buyer (likely the Reaper cultists). The hilarious idea that Samantha's daughter contacted the protagonist's squad and learned that her mother is in it. Cue two of them yelling at each other to the point the omnitool can't even translated it. When the protagonist intervened, and if the they're female/enby romancing Samantha, this would be the response.

Daughter: Who the hell is this!?

Female/enby, choosing renegade option: I'm your new daddy.

Daughter: My new wha- Okāsan?!

Samantha, blushing yet also angry: Not the time, babe!

The other squadmate: I didn't know you two were dating/ too much information/ you using the wrong gender word.

In the end, after rescuing the band and the captured people, the daughter and Samantha made up, and the daughter introduced them to her asari lover. This led het other 4 daughters to forgive her too.

The Ronin

A vanguard who was friends with Samantha (they lost touch before Samantha's wife death), the Ronin is like a futuristic samurai. The idea behind the character is based on my fictional architectural/cultural resurgence called Neohon. The idea is how Japanese started rejecting having their architecture and fashion based on Western style and start using their traditional ones, just using more advanced or new tools (other cultures also done the same thing). (The only issue is that it was overtaken by ultranationalists.)

Anyways, the idea was how some Ko-ryū and Ninjutsu schools started employing biotic ability into their curriculum and swordship method. The Ronin uses Iaido (quick drawing) for their swordship; do a biotic charge and use the momentum to cut through enemies.

I don't have lore behind them: they were friends with Samantha and both were from a Japanese-Asari jointed colony that predated the Reaper war, they part of some samuari/shinobi band, their teacher was also their lover, and the majority of their band were betray by their own member, leaving only them as the only survivor.

The Biosyth

This is actually based on one of the aliens that was mentioned in the game. With all their race living a huge server, there are some who wish to venture outside, using a robotic unit that has almost all the similarity with an organic body. The virtual race does not have restricted genders, nor do they have retained sexual orientation. Meaning the protagonist, no matter of gender, could romance them.

Some ideas I have that the Biosyth is a youngster of their race, going through a rite of passage by leaving the server and venturing out with their unit. They are fascinated by the outside world and ask the protagonist a whole bunch of questions and trying new foods. They even start experiencing their gender, either feminine, masculine, nonbinary, or agender, and the player could help choose for them.

Squad member platonic date and romantic date

Kind of similar how ME:A did it, but after completing a squadmate loyalty mission, they will invite the protagonist and the rest of the crew for a group date. If the player have a romance squadmate, they will also have an additional one.

For Samantha/Blue Mage, her platonic date is returning to her and Ronin homeworld, and going either an RPG/fantasy convention or an dnd session. One hilarious idea is that the player gave the DM an idea using a humongous final boss monster (like Y'gathok, the Ceaseless Hunger). The hologram will make it more hilarious. For the romance/intimate date, Samantha invited the female/enby protagonist visiting her wife's grave, along with her 4 daughters, her oldest and asari lover. It'll be the final acceptance for her wife's death, healing for the remaining family, and introducing new potential families.

I can't think for a romace date for Biosyth, but platonic, I thought of a fun fashion for them in a clothing store. They were trying different clothing that were assigned on genders, and the crew either encouraged them or joined in.

ME:A gameplay mechanic

Fuck do I love Andromeda's mechanics, they better add it back.

Accurate Races height

Due to the first 3 game limiting game engines, almost all thr races have equal height. I wish for ME5 to have a more accurate height for each species, like Krogans supposed to be 7'5, Turians 6'6-7, etc.

#mass effect #mass effect 5 #mass effect trilogy #commander shepard #liara t'soni #Shiara #lgbt #sapphic #wlw #enby #n7 day

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ageless-aislynn · 4 months ago

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Nobody asked me any of these but, honestly, I wanted to know the answers to some of them myself, so... I'm answering what I want anyway! 🤷‍♀️😉

ao3 wrapped [writers edition]

How many words have you written this year?

I'm counting this as how many words in something that I posted, which is 14,819. A lot more than I expected, honestly, but most of it came from me doing several chapters of "15 Minutes" early in the year. 😉

How many works did you publish this year?

9 chapters in all, but only 4 individual works.

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

"Sentence Starters Short Fic Collection" (Soap and Ghost, Call of Duty, Kaidan x Shepard, Mass Effect and Kai and Vannak, Halo the series) Yeah, they're all suuuuuper short but I'm always proud of myself whenever I write anything at all for fandoms/characters I've never attempted before. 😎👍

What work of yours has the most hits?

Definitely "15 Minutes" (John x female Reader, Halo the series). I'll never have anything else that will get this sort of response and I'm going to miss it when it's over. But I AM finishing it. Someway. Some how.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

"15 Minutes," yet again. It was meant to be a one-shot and then people liked it and asked for more.

Favorite title you used

"It's All Coming Along" (Master Chief, Halo/Halo the series) Never post things you wrote while in the middle of a bad insomnia bout, kids. You'll think something is funny and everybody else will probably not. I've debated removing this one but finally thought, eh, so it's dumb, that doesn't mean that one day, somebody might get a laugh from my puns. If not, then welp, I'm woman enough to have a total dud in my collection.🤷‍♀️😂

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

Didn't use song lyrics this year but I have in the past. I honestly just use whatever artist or song fits the story or theme. I have a really eclectic bunch of artists that I like, so you never know what'll pop up.

Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

John x female Reader, since "15 Minutes" had so many chapters and "It's All Coming Along" is technically a John x Reader as well. "Recreation" is Kai x male Reader and the Sentence Starters I've already mentioned above. 😉

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

It's actually the female OC/Frank West from my Dead Rising AU titled "Turn Back." They're the only ones I can consistently sit down and just bang out blocks of hundreds of words. I dunno why. 🤷‍♀️

What work was the quickest to write?

"It's All Coming Along" took literally two hours from "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if...?" to me hitting post. Don't do that, kids. Have a nap first if you haven't slept in, like 40 hours. Don't commit fiction, lol. 😆😴

What work took you the longest to write?

"15 Minutes" which was started 2 years ago along with "Recreation" probably deserves that "honor" for more than one reason, lol.

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

In addition to finishing "15 Minutes" and "Recreation," I have 6 others: "Untitled Fluffy Vannak fic" (Halo the series), "Choices" (Noble Team choose your own Spartan adventure, Halo: Reach), "The Price" (Caitlin Frost/Hunter Zolomon, The Flash), "Guardian Angel" (Time Wraith!Caitlin Snow/Eobard Thawne, The Flash), "Split" (Caitlin Snow/Eobard Thawne, The Flash) and "Try" (TomCav!Eobard Thawne/Caitlin Snow/Mattobard!Eobard Thawne, The Flash).

What’s your longest work of the year?

"15 Minutes" chapters 7 - 11 totaled 12,064 words on their own.

What’s your shortest work of the year?

"It's All Coming Along" at 106 words

What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

I'm dragging all 8 of them with me, lol.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

I'm terrible at tagging so most of my tags are just pairings or the occasional warning I feel might be needed.

Your favorite character to write this year?

I'll always love writing for Master Chief John-117, my beloved. I also really love writing Cortana.

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

All of them. Writer's block suuuuuucks. 😭

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Honestly, once I finish my WIPs I feel like I'm done. I'll probably keep writing things like my Dead Rising AU and my handful of Mass Effect: Andromeda fics but they're all totally just for me, not to be posted. If something pops to mind, I'll write it but, for the most part, I don't think fandom in general needs me anymore, lol.

Which work of yours have you reread the most?

"15 Minutes" because I'm trying to make sure I keep things consistent and wrap up any loose ends.

How many kudos in total did you get this year?

I can't really tell because there's no way to sort out the kudos that "15 Minutes" and "Recreation" already had on them. Excluding them, though, 21.

Which work has the most comments?

"15 Minutes."

Did you do any collaborative works this year?

No, I could barely work with myself this year, lol. I'm lousy at collabs, unfortunately.

Did you write any gifts this year?

No.

Did you receive any gifts this year?

No.

What’s your most common category?

I guess I technically write (hopefully) humorous romance?

What do you listen to while writing?

My inner editor screaming NO1CURRS and that I'm wasting my time even trying to finish my WIPs. I try to drown her out with various playlists. Here's one.

Favorite work you wrote this year?

Again, it's probably the "Turn Back" Dead Rising AU or "The Best Mistake" (Gil x OC, Mass Effect: Andromeda AU). Of my posted stuff, though, "15 Minutes."

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

"Look, it's not my fault that that penguin documentary was kinda lame and—"

"IT WAS NOT!" Vannak bellowed back and took a swing at her that would've definitely put a marine in the infirmary for a month, if not in the ground, permanently. For Kai, it would've at the very least mussed her hair. "Those penguins are adorable and—"

"Lame. Laaaaaame," she singsonged, ducking a flurry of punches, then doing a very impressive parkour run up the wall into a backflip that sent her soaring over the enraged Spartan's head.

"THEY'RE NOT LAME, YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"Sentence Starters Short Fic Collection" Chapter 3, Kai and Vannak, Halo the series. For some reason, I absolutely LOVE the idea they're arguing over whether penguins are adorable or not, lol!

Biggest surprise while writing this year?

That I haven't totally given up. It's been verrrrrry close, friends. But every time I've thought, "Eh, why keep trying?" a comment will pop up, thanking me for writing something that gave them a laugh or the like and that'll give me the strength to keep in the fight. If there's even one person left who wants to read how these end or who'll check out the ones I haven't started posting yet, then I want to finish them.

Here's the original post if you'd like to reblog it for yourself or hey, if you'd like to just go ahead and answer it, no asks require, lol!

#ao3 wrapped #ao3 wrapped ask game #ask game #writing #ageless aislynn

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