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In response to the question, "How does your character deal with an itch found in a place they canât quite reach?" from The Big Place discord server.
~
âBoss, what the hell are you doing?â
Shepard looks up halfway through an awkward squat against the front rail of the treadmill, face contorted in a grimace that Kara has to stuff a fist in her mouth to keep from laughing at.
âItch,â he replies, grimacing even harder and twisting his spine to get a different angle.
âSo youâre trying to scratch it with a smooth pole.â
âI canât reach it,â he grumps.
She tilts her head, tapping a finger on her chin. âWhat if we stuck one of those scrubby things they use to clean the converter thingamajig? You know, the thing with the spiky bits that are pokey but not too pokey?â
âYouâre an engineer, right? You know what the thingamajig is, right?â
âIâm an explosives engineer.â She mimics an explosion with her fingers.
âThat doesnât answer the question.â
âDo you want me to get the scrubby thing or not?â
âYes, get the scrubby thing. Iâm dying.â
Ten minutes later sheâs retaping the scrubby thing to the pole, using a stronger adhesive this time so it doesnât fall off the moment he starts going to town on it, when Alenko walks in, towel thrown over his shoulder. He come to an abrupt halt at sight of the two of them crouched in front of the treadmill.
âPut it up a little higher.â
âWhat, canât squat that low?â
âOf course I can squat that low, doesnât mean I want to.â
âI thought pain let you know you werenât dead yet.â
âWhat the hell are you doing?â Alenko asks.
âHe has an itch,â Kara replies.
Alenko stares at Kara. Stares at Shepard. Then exhales wearily and holds out a hand to pull Shepard to his feet. Without a word, he whirls him around and starts raking his fingernails up and down Shepardâs spine.
âFuck,â Shepard sighs, shoulders slumping in relief. He wiggles his back around to move Alenkoâs fingers to the right spot, groaning like something out of a porno.
When the itch is finally sated, Alenko resumes his course towards the training mat and starts his  warm ups. Both Shepard and Kara watch him, pensively.
âWhy didnât we think of that?â Kara asks.
âI mean, a custom back scratcher is still a good idea.â
âRight? Oooooooh. Hang on. I have an idea.â
âYou thinking Stabby?â
âDefinitely. Iâll go get âim.â Â Â
#mass effect#mshenko#kaidan alenko#otp: after all this time#my fic#opus!verse#'shoot it again sam' shepard#kara pendergrass
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Oh my god. Oh my god. You loved Kara and Aslany enough to draw them. Oh my god. Oh my GOD.
The shrieking you heard off in the distance? It was me.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Some portrait practice I did this week!
Featuring @swaps55's Sam Shepard and two OCs, Kara Pendergrass and Muriel Aslany, from her absolutely beautiful Mass Effect series Opus.
I'm experimenting with my art style, trying to get away from relying on line art, I thought using some of my favourite characters would help make it less scary.
Plus I just really wanted to draw Aslany because she is the complex, badass, not-so-tall, dark, and handsome, female character I've been waiting for MY WHOLE GODDAMN LIFE!
All hail swapp for giving her to us, amenđ
#mass effect#mass effect art#'shoot it again sam' shepard#muriel aslany#kara pendergrass#opus!art#i am on cloud nine and you cannot pull me off of it#aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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SUPERGIRL PLAYLIST: SEASON 1 (PART I)
Summary: This is a compilation of songs that can possibly summarize Kara and Winnâs thoughts and feelings throughout Season 1 of Supergirl. All of these songs were compiled using the application Spotify Song Radio and the song âSheâs A Bad Mamma Jamma (Sheâs Built, Sheâs Stacked) by Carl Carlton in Episode 1 of Season 1 of Supergirl as its base.
1. Â Â Â Sheâs A Bad Mamma Jamma (Sheâs Built, Sheâs Stacked - Carl Carlton
2. Â Â Â Through the Fire - Chaka Khan
3. Â Â Â The Way You Do The Things You Do - The Temptations
4. Â Â Â Isnât She Lovely - Stevie Wonder
5. Â Â Â Silly - Deniece Williams
6. Â Â Â Car Wash - Rose Royce
7. Â Â Â Mr. Telephone Man - New Edition
8. Â Â Â We Are Family - Sister Sledge
9. Â Â Â Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton
10. Â Â Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
11. Â Â Groove Me - Guy
12. Â Â Let It Whip - Dazz Band
13. Â Â Letâs Get Serious (Single Version) - Jermaine Jackson
14. Â Â Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations
15. Â Â All This Love (Single Version) - DeBarge
16. Â Â Best of My Love - The Emotions
17. Â Â Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Iâm Yours) - Stevie Wonder
18. Â Â Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation
19. Â Â Encore - Cheryl Lynn
20. Â Â Letâs Hear It for the Boy - Deniece Williams
21. Â Â I Canât Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) - Four Tops
22. Â Â My Girl - The Temptations
23. Â Â Shake Your Pants - Cameo
24. Â Â Candy Girl - New Edition
25. Â Â Watchinâ U - Ardijah
26. Â Â Lady (You Bring Me Up) - Commodores
27. Â Â Working My Way Back to You - The Spinners
28. Â Â Boogie Shoes (2004 Remastered Version) - KC & The Sunshine Band
29. Â Â Sparkle - Cameo
30. Â Â Head to Toe - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
31. Â Â Ladies Night - Kool & The Gang
32. Â Â New Attitude - Patti LaBelle
33. Â Â Time Will Reveal - DeBarge
34. Â Â Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knights & The Pips
35. Â Â Boogie Fever - The Sylvers
36. Â Â Stay - The Temptations
37. Â Â Cool It Now - New Edition
38. Â Â Ainât No Woman (Like The One Iâve Got) - Four Tops
39. Â Â Apache - The Sugarhill Gang
40. Â Â Candy - Cameo
41. Â Â Got To Give It Up (Pt.1) - Marvin Gaye
42. Â Â I Found Lovinâ - Fatback Band
43. Â Â Pick Up the Pieces - Average White Band & Gene Paul
44. Â Â Lady Soul (Single Version) - The Temptations
45. Â Â Lovergirl - Teena Marie
46. Â Â Blame It on the Boogie - The Jacksons
47. Â Â Rapperâs Delight - The Sugarhill Gang
48. Â Â Last Dance (Single Version) - Donna Summer
49. Â Â The Second Time Around - Shalamar
50. Â Â When Somebody Loves You Back - Teddy Pendergrass
51. Â Â Looking For A New Love - Jody Watley & Louil Silas Jr.
52. Â Â Can You Stand The Rain - New Edition
53. Â Â Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
54. Â Â Blame it on the Boogie - The Jacksons
55. Â Â Is It Good To You - Heavy D & The Boyz
56. Â Â Shout, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Isley Brothers
57. Â Â Letâs Stay Together - AI Green
58. Â Â Oh Sheila - Ready For The World
59. Â Â Apache (Jump On It) - The Sugarhill Gang
60. Â Â If It Isnât Love - New Edition
61. Â Â Do I Do - Stevie Wonder
62. Â Â Iâm Coming Out - Diana Ross
63. Â Â Forever Mine - The OâJays
64. Â Â My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
65. Â Â If Only You Knew - Patti LaBelle
66. Â Â Cut the Cake (Single Edit) - Average White Band
67. Â Â Ainât Too Proud To Beg â The Temptations
68. Â Â Iâm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
69. Â Â Candy Girl (Mixed By: Arthur Baker & Maurice Starr) - Â New Edition
70. Â Â Written All over Your Face - Rude Boyd with Gerald Levert
71. Â Â Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb
72. Â Â Donât You Worry âBout A Thing - Stevie Wonder
73. Â Â Itâs A Shame - The Spinners
74. Â Â Love Ballad - L.T.D
75. Â Â Doo Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing) - Zapp
76. Â Â If I Had No Loot -Tony! Toni! Tone!
77. Â Â Meeting In The Ladies Room - Klymaxx
78. Â Â Iâll Be Good - Rene & Angela
79. Â Â I Wish - Stevie Wonder
80. Â Â Lovely Day - Bill Withers
81. Â Â Bad Girls - Donna Summer
82. Â Â Lost In Emotion - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
83. Â Â Get Ready - The Temptations
84. Â Â Turn the Beat Around - Vicki Sue Robinson
85. Â Â Every Little Step - Bobby Brown
86. Â Â Looking For A New Love (Radio Edit) - Jody Watley & Louil Silas Jr.
87. Â Â Back In Love Again - L.T.D. & Jeffery Osborne
88. Â Â Rhythm Of The Night - DeBarge
89. Â Â Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
90. Â Â Lean on Me (Rerecorded) - Club Nouveau
91. Â Â Call Me - Skyy
92. Â Â Foolâs Paradise - Meliâsa Morgan
93. Â Â September - Earth, Wind, & Fire
94. Â Â Soul of a Woman - Johnny Gill
95. Â Â Rock Witâcha - Bobby Brown
96. Â Â The Cisco Kid - War
97. Â Â Run - Bell Biv Devoe
98. Â Â Roni - Bobby Brown
99. Â Â Saturday Love - Cherrelle & Alexander OâNeal
100. Â I Like - Guy
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Okay so I usually don't really care for OCs in a story, but the Yang's crew has stolen my heart completely ngl. So I was wondering, what would Pendergrass, Aslany and Beaudoin think about the ME1 Normandy's crew? How would they get along with them?
I've been sitting on this question so I could give it the attention it deserves, because it's a really fun thought exercise.
[And now that I've written this out, I really wish I could put them on the SR-1 and explore it further, so thank you again for an amazing question.]
Beaudoin: By nature, he gets along with everyone, but I think if you were to put him on the SR-1 or mix him with that crew, he'd feel really out of his element. He's never seen himself as anything other than Just A Guy. The superhero stuff is for other people. Courage, bravery, heroism, and The Cause isn't his thing, not because he doesn't care, but because he lacks the drive and initiative people like Sam, Kaidan, and Aslany do. (Pendergrass doesn't have initiative so much as insatiable curiosity and an unsettling lack of concern for safety).
So when it comes to the SR-1 crew, he'd probably feel even more of what he did on the 'Yang with Sam - that he's not good enough to work with these people. But he's very good at hiding his insecurities, so you probably wouldn't see it unless you knew what to look for.
He'd probably avoid Wrex. Dealing with Wrex is outside his paygrade. Garrus' loose cannon tendencies would worry him a lot, and he'd nag Sam to watch that guy because he was bound to get himself and everyone else in trouble. I wrote a scene in my ME1-fic, Exordium, in which Shepard (not Sam) notices Ashley get weird during a card game, finds her in the cargo bay, and then discovers she was playing poker with her unit when the geth attacked. Beaudoin would be the guy who sought her out if he were there, and he'd give her someone to talk to or confide in about Eden Prime, pep talk her about her family legacy, and have a smile when she needed it.
He'd find Tali delightful and charm the pants off her. He'd make sure she had something decent to eat, and when he figures out she's lonely away from home, guess who becomes a Fleet and Flotilla fan and sucks Ashley into it. The three of them hold watch parties, and suck in everyone they can. Aslany has to be dragged kicking and screaming, but she does it for Clay even though she scowls the whole time. He'd be equal parts fascinated and amused by Liara's blend of competence and naivete. He'd be the one to shake Sam by the shoulders and say, "to you Benezia was a monster to put down, but to Liara it was her mom."
Joker and Ashley would severely test his, "you don't fuck crew," motto, but he'd resist. Virmire would put a rift between him and Sam, while also putting himself in a guilt spiral, because the other choice would have been to leave Kaidan behind, and he wouldn't have been able to live with that, either. Virmire, more than anything, would teach Beaudoin things about what Sam does that he never truly grasped on the 'Yang, and reinforce that he wants no part of that. I think he gets out of the Alliance after Virmire.
Pendergrass: We saw in Fugue that Pendergrass developed some pretty intense jealousy over the SR-1 crew, fearing that Kaidan and Sam had replaced her with something better. And I think if she were on the SR-1, she'd get off on the wrong foot with Tali specifically. But they're both huge tech nerds, and Tali is Tali and Kara is Kara, so that would pass quickly. It wouldn't be long before they'd be attached at the hip, and and when one of them said, "I have an idea," the whole ship would nervously hold their breath.
She wouldn't get Liara at all, and probably ask a lot of really inappropriate questions about asari sexuality, requiring Beaudoin to intervene and explain to Liara, "Sorry, she's just Like That, she doesn't mean anything by it.' She would have no fear of Wrex, thanks to Sam's reverent krogan talk over the years. Wrex would find her excessively irritating at first, but would find a deep appreciation for her after watching her work in the field. She's a different kind of warrior with different weapons than he's used to, but a warrior all the same. If you can imagine anyone lounging in Wrex's lap to watch a movie, please imagine Kara.
She might bounce off Ashley a little for similar reasons to her initial clash with Tali, but my guess is they don't make up the ground the way Kara and Tali do. ME1 Garrus is probably a little too intense and focused for her, but she'd get along famously with ME3 Garrus. She'd think he was funny, and take his side over Vega's when they play one-up with each other.
Aslany: She would predispose herself to hating everyone. This is her family, her squad, and fuck you. You aren't part of it. Opening up her small circle of people she loves so fiercely would be extremely difficult for her. None of them are good enough to protect her people. Kara becoming close with Tali and Beaudoin becoming close with Ashley would make her crazy. She'd need a lot of reassurance, and Kaidan is probably who she'd go to for it. Ironically, she'd find Wrex the least threatening and warm up to him first. He'd be skeptical of the fragile human who wants to spar, but ultimately sing her praises, and Sam would be insanely proud of this.
She might grudgingly start to tolerate Ashley, but by that time it'll be too late. She probably becomes more neutral towards Liara, but the swiftness with which Liara becomes close to Sam would irk her a lot. Garrus would also piss her off - who the fuck does this guy think he is, I'm the sniper in this family - but after the events of ME2 she would respect him for sticking with Sam when the rest of them didn't, and see him a lot differently.
#swaps replies#itbelikethatsmetimes#opus!verse#clay beaudoin#muriel aslany#kara pendergrass#i now have a lot of feelings about this thought exercise
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Always
Prompt in the Big Place discord server: write a scene using the words survivor, cluster, and friend.
Instead of a scene it turned into a 2k fic, whatchagonnado.
In which Kaidan and Kara Pendergrass have a very ace conversation.
~
Itâs late morning before Kara stumbles out the screen door, blinking into the sunlight, to find Alenko swaying lazily back and forth in the porch swing. A smile touches his face as the voices of Shepard and Aslany carry up the hill from the barn, followed by the whinny of a horse.
Kara sits heavily on the swing beside him, disrupting his moment of quiet contemplation, but she makes up for it by handing him a coffee thermos. âI threw out Shepardâs shit and made this.â
âThanks,â Alenko says, flashing her a grin. He smiles a lot more these days. They all do, really. Even Aslany.
Alenko takes a long, grateful sip from the thermos. No matter how much you love a guy like Shepard, you canât love his coffee.
âThink the real survivors of the reapers were everyone who had to drink his bullshit,â she remarks, pushing her foot off the ground to start the swing again and tucking her leg underneath her.
âYeah, maybe,â Alenko says with a chuckle. He always indulges her stupid jokes.
They sit in comfortable silence. The wind makes the trees wave. The orchard is a lotâŚfriendlier in the summer. The leaves and the blooms and the sun and the warmth make it feel a lot different than that cold winter where reaper cannibals and husks crept in the woods.
Now thereâs just deer.
âSurprised he got her in the barn,â Kara says, nodding down the hill. After that string of terrible nights sleeping on haybales and keeping a sniperâs perch in the loft, staring at the clusters of trees and waiting for nightmares to emerge, Aslany had sworn sheâd never come here again. But here they are.
âYou know Shepard,â Alenko says, lost in thought now. âHeâs hard to say no to.â
âShe trusts him.â
Alenko gives her the look he gives when heâs putting some pieces together sheâs not gonna like. âShe trusts you, too.â
Kara shakes her head and draws her feet up onto the swing, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. âBut she doesnât think she has to protect him. Me? She has to protect me.â
âWe all protect each other. Always have.â
âMaybe. I donât know. Itâs justâŚdifferent with her.â She scowls in frustration. Sheâs never been good at explaining things. âI canât take care of her the way she takes care of me. Itâs not just a squad thing.â
âKara, we havenât been âjust squadâ in a very long time. Any of us.â
She snerks. âYou mean since you started getting naked with one of the squad?â
A flush creeps up the back of his neck. Itâs so easy to poke at him sometimes she canât help herself. âYou know what I mean.â
She does, sometimes. But other timesâŚshe doesnât get it at all. She spends about as much time with Aslany as Alenko does with Shepard. If she didnât have Aslany to spend all her time with and talk her ear off over bad Chinese food that Aslany loves for some reason, she probably wouldnât spend her time with anyone.
And living alone soundsâŚwell, sheâd rather not think about living alone. Too many monsters in her head. Aslanyâs, too, based on some of the nights theyâve spent sitting in front of the holoscreen at three in the morning, watching one of Shepardâs stupid B movies and not talking about what happens when they fall asleep. Â
Friend doesnât feel like the right word, which is why sheâs always fallen back on squad. But they have no orders to follow anymore, and the only fighting they do these days are chicken fights in the lake. Sheâs never had a sister, and Aslany shuts down whenever the word âsisterâ gets thrown around, so that oneâs out.
Theyâve never fucked. Itâs never come up. But it didnât come up for Shepard and Alenko for a long time before they finally did, and despite all the details Beaudoin shared on the âYang, she doesnât actually understand how these things work.
She blows a puff of air out the side of her mouth. âWhen did you know you wanted to fuck him?â
Alenko chokes on his coffee. She pats him patiently on the back until he stops.
âUm,â he manages.
She gives him an expectant look. He hems and haws for a while. Sometimes you just have to be patient while he works things out in his head.
âWhy do you want to know?â he says finally.
âWell, at some point you changed from just being squad to sucking his dick, soââ
He holds up one hand to stop her and rubs the bridge of his nose with the other. âCan you justâŚcan you call itâŚsomething else?â
âSucking face?â
âOkay, fine. Sure. Iâll take what I can get.â
He stops talking. The swing creaks. She raises an expectant eyebrow. At first he pretends he doesnât see it, but eventually he swears under his breath.
âMy feelings, uh, changed a few months into the first tour.â
âDamn. You already wanted to fuck him just a few monthsââ
âNo. I donât work like that. I needâŚtime before that happens. Butââ He gestures helplessly. It shouldnât be so funny to see Alenko so pitiable. He sighs in defeat. âDo you remember Mavigon?â  Â
âMavigon.â
âYeah.â
âThe ice storm? That his dumb ass got us stuck in?â
Alenkoâs face gets redder by the second. âYeah. Uh. Well, you know, when it got cold that night and we all had to..."
She dissolves into laughter. âWait, wait wait wait, no. You wanted to fuck him on Mavigon?â
Alenkoâs face does all the stuff it does when he plays out an argument in his head, loses, and concedes without opening his mouth. âYeah. Okay? Yes. I wanted to fuck him on Mavigon.â
âStill, like, a decade before you actually fucked him.â
âIt wasn't a decade.â
Kara shakes her head in admiration and then sniggers. âYou are the only person I know who can have both literal and figurative blue balls.â
âWow, I am really feeling the love and support after offering up some very personal information Iâve never even told Shepard, soââ
âWait, he doesnât know how close he came to getting railed on Mavigon?â
âKara.â
She holds up her hands in surrender. âHe wonât hear it from me. On purpose.â
Alenko groans. She grins.
She kicks her feet to get the swing moving again. âOkay, so. What does thatâŚfeel like? Wanting to have sex with someone?â
He arches an eyebrow. âAre you wanting to have sex with someone?â
âNo. I donât know. Thatâs why Iâm asking. How do you know?â
Now he actually looks thoughtful. âWell. Itâs different from me than for a lot of people.â
âYou mean Beaudoin?â She snickers into the back of her hand.
âYeah,â Alenko says, though something sad flicks across his face. Guilt flashes through her. She always forgets that the others still think about his death before they think about his life. âFor me I tend not to notice the physical stuff beyond aesthetics, at least not right away.â
âAnd then, what, one day Shepardâs ass is all you can think about?â
Now he actually cracks a smile. âNo. Not quite like that. I justâŚcouldnât stop thinking about him. All of him. Not one particular piece. Wanted to be around him all the time, hear everything he had to say. When he wasnât around I just had thisâŚknot in my chest. At some point I started imagining what it would feel like to kiss him and then it, uh. Went from there.â
She scrunches her nose. Kissing Aslany is such an alien thought she canât even picture it when she tries. Probably not a good sign. âOkay.â
âWhy do you ask?â
Her turn to hem and haw a little. She considers lying, but lying never works with Alenko, so she just says it. âI donât want Aslany to leave me.â
He sits up straighter. âWhat do you mean?âÂ
She shrugs a moody shoulder. âI donât know. Sheâs my Shepard. But weâre not like you and Shepard. We donât fuck. We donât even hold hands, and yeah, Iâd kinda like to hold hands sometimes but I donât wanna get punched and I donât think I wanna fuck, but I donât know what it feels like to want to fuck someone, and she does like fucking people and I donât want to lose her because we donât.â She stops to catch her breath.
Alenko looks at her for a long time without speaking. She squirms.
âHow long have you been worrying about this?â
She stares out at the trees. âDunno. A while, I guess.â
âKara. Hey.â He waits until she meets his gaze. âJust because it doesnât look like what Shepard and I have doesnât make it mean any less. To you or to her. Everyoneâs different. Sex isnât a requirement for a relationship. Or whatever you want it to be. You get to define it. Even if that means not defining it.â
She nods, and looks back down the hill as Shepard leads his horse out of the barn, Aslany walking a safe distance away. Shepard may be hard to say no to, but even Shepard isnât going to get Aslany to not be afraid of a horse.
âShe cares about you more than most people care about anything,â Alenko says quietly, like heâs seeing a few of his own monsters. âSheâs not ever leaving you behind.â
Theyâve all seen a lot of shit. Lot of it theyâve seen together.
Shepard leans lazily against the fence, watching the horse graze. He says something and Aslany laughs. Karaâs heart tightens. ButâŚin a good way.
âThanks, boss,â she says quietly. He puts an arm around her, and she snuggles up to his side. Maybe heâs right. Maybe theyâre all more than squad. But squad was pretty good, too.
~
That afternoon they shake the chicken teams up, and itâs Aslany and Alenko against Kara and Shepard in the lake. Shepard complains about her bony ass on his shoulders the entire time, but itâs affectionate, and he does a lot of crowing when they finally manage to dethrone Aslany. After theyâve had enough, Shepard uses his biotics to throw Kara around in the water for a while. They finally climb out when the sun starts to get golden but thereâs still warmth in the air. Aslany and Kara lay on their towels and stare up at the sky while Shepard pins Alenko to the ground and makes wisecracks between kisses, grin the size of a planet every time Alenko laughs.
Kara watches them idly, then looks over at Aslany, who ignores them completely. Instead the folds her arms behind her head, her dark hair splayed out behind her head in a wet clump. She closes her eyes and sighs in contentment, her usual standing scowl replaced by not quite a smile.
She might be the most gorgeous person Kara has ever seen, but. Nope. Doesnât want to kiss her. Or anything else.
âHey, Aslany. Can I ask you a question?â
âSure.â Â Â Â
Kara chews her lip. Thereâs a cloud in the sky that looks like a pyjack. âAre you ever gonna leave me?â
Aslany lolls her head to the side, the contentment replaced by the look she gives someone who asked a stupid question. âThe day you tell me to go, I guess.â
âIâm never gonna say that.â
âThen Iâm never leaving.â
Kara grins. âGood.â
Aslany nods in satisfaction before turning her attention back to the sky.
Alenko always makes things make sense. Aslany always makes things so simple.
âReady to head back to the house?â Shepard asks.
Kara picks her head up. Alenko is still pinned beneath him and looks quite happy to be there. âDunno, you done sucking face yet?â Alenko gives her the finger, but heâs grinning.
Shepard considers her question. âFor now.â
âThen yeah, I guess.â She gets to her feet and offers Aslany a hand to pull her up. They gather their towels and the bag Alenko always brings, because part of him will always be a medic prepared to take care of them when theyâre far from home. Shepard starts talking about the B-movie heâs going to inflict upon them when they get home as they walk, Kaidanâs hand gripped firmly in his.
Kara falls into step beside Aslany, like always. But not like always, Aslany reaches out and laces their fingers. Itâs awkward, like she doesnât really know how to do it. Neither of them do, really, and thatâs why itâs perfect. Kara beams. Aslany squeezes her hand, with a tiny, tentative smile.
Maybe from some angles, it does look like Alenko and Shepard. From others, it doesnât. But whatever it is, itâs theirs. And itâs good. And itâs always.
Itâs the always part she likes the most.
#mass effect#mshenko#kaidan alenko#otp: after all this time#my fic#opus!verse#kara pendergrass#muriel aslany#i have a lot of feelings about the yang crew post war#very ace feelings XD
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THANK YOU!
Specialist Kara Pendergrass, the golden retriever who will chase after a ball and come back with a stick of lit dynamite.
Collector of drones and robots, and a firm believer that a grenade can solve all your problems. I love her with an unholy love.
Kaidan signals to Pendergrass, who already has her omni-tool out. âGet this door open.â
âLookee that, they sure did upgrade the lock,â she reports. âHang on.â After running a few scans she scowls down at the dead guard, then flash fabricates a silicon-carbide blade onto her omni-tool and slices off the guardâs arm.
âWhat the fuck?â Wong cries out.
Pendergrass hefts the dismembered arm, blood dribbling where the omni-blade hadnât fully cauterized the impromptu amputation, and slaps its palm against the biometric panel. A red light blinks.
âDammit,â she mutters, and tosses the arm. Beaudoin hops out of the way of an arc of congealing blood as it lands next to his feet. Pendergrass jogs down the hill, slices off the arm of the second guard with a squelch, and runs back up with it tucked under her shoulder.
âThis should do it,â she replies, smacking the dead palm against the reader. The lock turns green, and the door hisses open. Pendergrass drops the severed arm and beams. Blood smears the front of her chest plate.
Well. Pendergrass is probably going to do fine in a fight.
Commission for @swaps55 of Kara Pendergrass!
#mass effect#mass effect art#kara pendergrass#tw gore#she is a fucking human sunbeam who also loves murder#thank you so much#opus!art
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I feel like I know the gang so well, they're family. I found myself chuckling and answering most of those questions for myself. But surprise surprise, I'd love to hear your music picks (number 9 on the OC meme) for Aslany and Pendergrass.
Also, um, number 1 if you're feeling generous.
Thank you!!!!
Edgy OC Ask Meme
9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC
Kara Pendergrass: Ha, this actually isnât an easy answer because her vibe is so different from the other characters that I donât often listen to music that evokes her specifically. She is a determined ray of sunshine, not out of any driving act to put kindness in the world, but as a defense mechanism. If you donât take anything too seriously or hold it too close, no one can hurt you with it. Because she serves as my earthborn âShepard,â so-to-speak, sheâs also someone who learned very young that you might not get a tomorrow, so get your kicks today. And thatâs why I like this one:Â
Hey child, hey child We were born wild Let your neon lights Keep shinin' bright
(Though I thought really hard about âBoom,â by the same artist, for obvious reasons XD)
Muriel Aslany: I have a similar problem with Aslany, because she just doesnât quite lend herself to my usual writing aesthetic of âsad dude playing a guitar,â but I heard BURNS' cover of âHo Heyâ while I was working on the latter part of Fugue, and then promptly went off and wrote the scene where Aslany will finally see Sam again after the reaper war. I love this song for her, because the cover is infused with so much wistfulness and longing, and as hard as she is on the outside, thatâs the inner Aslany. Someone who desperately wants to belong, but doesn't know how.
I been tryin' to do it right I been livin' a lonely life I been sleepin' here instead I been sleepin' in my bed, sleepin' in my bed So show me family All the blood that I will bleed I don't know where I belong I don't know where I went wrong But I can write a song
The Lumineers version of the song has always felt like a âYang song in general to me because of the lines, âSo show me family, all the blood that I will bleed.â That whole bunch is a group of misfits who needed family. They found it in one another, and itâs worth bleeding for. Â
1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?
This is a tough question for both of them, because Iâve almost purposefully let their past histories stay a little murky. Both of them have childhoods they try not to think about. I have a lot of daydreams about Sam, Kaidan, Aslany, and Pendergrass hanging out at the orchard doing dumb shit like climbing trees and having chicken fights in the lake after the war, because they all had interrupted childhoods and I like the idea of them having the chance to reclaim them â together. Â
#swaps replies#katerinaalianovamindin#mememe#meme replies#muriel aslany#kara pendergrass#i have a lot of feelings about the fact#that the 'yang marines#wound up each representing a different piece of sam#except for kaidan#who was his missing piece
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I still occasionally get that random pain in my chest over Cantata's:
âIâll let you work,â Kaidan says softly.
âYeah,â Shepard says with a distracted wave of his hand.
The door swishes back open. Kaidan looks over his shoulder before he goes, drumming his fingers on the frame.
(Once I earn N7, things will change)
He walks back into the corridor and lets the door swish closed behind him.
Beaudoin claps him on the back when he returns to the lounge and hands him a beer.
âCanât drag him out of his hole, huh?â
âNah,â Kaidan says. âHeâs busy.â
On the far side of the room, Aslany yells when Stabby bops her in the ankle right as she throws a dart at the new dartboard, while Pendergrass laughs gleefully.
Beaudoin gives him a sympathetic look, then loops an arm around his shoulders and steers him towards the dartboard.
âHappy birthday, Alenko.â
Kaidan takes a sip of his beer, and digs up a smile. âThanks.â
Gosh, that hurts so beautifully. Sam being laser focused and Kaidan stepping back to give him room to do his thing depleting himself from what he wants. On his birthday ffs! *sigh* Beautiful.
But that's not what I wanted to ask and now that the gushing is over .. if somebody told Sam BEFOREHAND that it's Kaidan's birthday and (I'm most likely thinking about Kara here) roped him into getting him a present - how would that go? Would he buy something? Would he deem it unnecessary? What would it be? Would he wrap it? Give it to Kaidan while nobody's looking?
You have no idea how pleased I am that this moment resonates so much with so many people.
Sam has a weird relationship with birthdays, because he likes the idea of them; he's been trying to be special enough to get noticed by his mother his entire life, so the concept of having a day in which you are treated as special is both alluring and weird, because you get to be special just by existing, which doesn't compute.
In practice, birthdays were a letdown more than they weren't, so he for the most part spends very little time thinking about them. Which makes him bad at birthdays for other people. He's also not a gifts guy. Time spent with a person is far more valuable to him than a gift, so he's a lot more likely to do something that just involves spending time together. For him, that's the gift.
Here's the other thing when it comes to birthdays: he doesn't see the big deal for himself, but making someone else feel special on theirs becomes a mission. It's something that has a bar he can reach - or fail to reach - so he would take making someone else feel special on their birthday very seriously once he understood it was important to them.
Which is why I have no doubt he felt wretched when he realized he'd missed Kaidan's. Maybe it was days later, maybe even months, but he'd eventually realize. By that point he'd know that it was important to Kaidan, and failing to even acknowledge it to someone who means so much to him would be devastating.
What's funny is that he'd try to make up for it by finding a way to spend time together. On Kaidan's birthday would be a squad affair, but now Sam is paying a penance and hoping he'll be forgiven, so it's all eyes on Kaidan, no distractions. Just the two of them.
Basically, in an effort to make it up to him, Sam would more or less accidentally take Kaidan out on a date.
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At the end of Cantata, Pendergrass takes 4 of the cross-stitches from the 'Yang. We see the one she sends to Kaidan in Sonata, but does she send one to Shepard too? If so, which one do you think she sends him and when does he get it? And which does she send Aslany?
This is SUCH an excellent question!
Kara indeed takes four cross stiches with her from the 'Yang, and sends one to each of the squad and keeps one for herself.
As for which ones she sent to the others, and which one she kept, I'm leaving that one open to be answered when the time is right, but I can tell you this: she chose ones that were inspired by each of the squad. AKA, she picked on that she made because of Aslany, one she made because of Sam, etc. BUT. She did not give them to the person who inspired them. She wanted them each to get one that reminded them of someone else in the squad, which is why Kaidan got Karma Pirate, which she originally made for Clay Beaudoin. She didn't want them to forget each other.
As for what happened to Sam's, I don't know yet. He keeps very few personal possessions, and what little he does have he tends to keep with him, so it's very likely the cross stitch got lost with the Normandy. But I am playing with a few ideas, and waiting to see which one feels like the right one.
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This is basically a photo of Clay and Kara Pendergrass. XD
#clay beaudoin#kara pendergrass#i am imagining that dog came bounding across the field barking its fool head off#probably with a ball#and then slid to a stop and chose hugs
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Fugue - 17 - All The Time
Art by @eluvisen. From left to right, Corporal Muriel Aslany, Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko, and Specialist Kara Pendergrass.
Pairing: mShenko
Rating: M
Tags: Angst, Grief, Major (Canonical) Character Death
Summary: Alchera, and the two-year gap. Â
Chapter Summary: Epilogue
Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story. I started writing it in the fall of 2020, and itâs been the most difficult writing journey Iâve ever taken. Writing Fugue was like fighting a war, and there were many times I didnât think I would get to the end. The story was too ambitious, outside my scope as a writer, and just too difficult to do justice. But it was very important to me, and I wanted to give it my best shot. The fact that I am posting the epilogue is in large part because of everyone who read it, commented on it, supported it, and encouraged me through it. You believed I could do it when I didnât. Thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart.
Chapter 17: All The Time | Read on Ao3
23 October 2185, Sol System, Local Cluster, Earth, Vancouver
Light rain starts to fall when Kaidan heads back to his parents condo in Vancouver, a fresh jar of saffron tucked into his pocket that will, at least in his motherâs eyes, save dinner from being a disaster.
Shadows from the surrounding skyscrapers loom large in the quickly fading light as he heads up the street and around the corner, wishing heâd thought to bring an umbrella. The rain and wind with winter on its mind make the last eleven weeks he spent at the Villa a distant memory. Should have grabbed a better jacket.
He shakes rain off his boots as he gets in the elevator, checking his omni-tool one more time to make sure his mother hadnât thought of anything else sheâd forgotten, or worse, Pendergrass had found some way to make the oven explode in his absence. Leaving her and Aslany alone in a confined space with his parents feels like a tactical misstep, but the afternoon had passed without incident, if you didnât count Pendergrassâ elcor sex joke. Which, given his fatherâs fifty year career in the military, probably wasnât anything they hadnât already heard.
Besides, his mother had laughed.
Light and a blast of warmth spill into the hallway when he opens the door, on the heels of Pendergrassâ laughter. The smell of the stew, Khoresh-e Fesenjoon, made special for Aslany, is enough to make his mouth water. Heâs pretty sure the saffron isnât going to make much difference in the end, but you canât tell his mother that.
Pendergrass and his father stand in the living room, eyes on the photo wall that his mother has so carefully tended over the years. Normally his mother is the one who tries to embarrass him with old photos, but apparently his father is on duty tonight.
Kaidan kicks off his boots in the foyer so he doesnât track in the rain and heads to the kitchen, where his mother and Aslany peer into a dutch oven. Aslany has a spoon in her hand and a look of concentration on her face.
âNot sweet enough, is it?â Kaidanâs mother says.
Aslany shakes her head. âNeeds more molasses.â
âOr saffron,â Kaidan says, handing her the jar.
âGoodness, is it raining?â his mother exclaims at the sight of him. âHang on, thereâs a few spare towels in your old bathroom, and I can grab one of your dadâs sweaters.â
âI can take care of it,â Kaidan tells her with a chuckle, hand on her arm to keep her from charging out of the kitchen. âTake care of the stew.â
âI donât know, I think Murielâs got it,â his mother says, offering Aslany a proud grin. âDonât think Iâm even needed here.â
Aslany ducks her chin, flush building at the back of her neck. Leave it to his mother to be able to charm Aslany right out of the gate. His mother straightens his collar and smiles at him. âThanks for running to the store.â
âCanât have a chicken stew without saffron,â he says in mock horror. âWhat would the neighbors think?â
Her smile deepens, and suddenly she tugs him into a hug. She squeezes him tight before she lets him go.
âWhat was that for?â he asks.
âGood to see you smile again,â she says, before making a face and wiping at her shirt.
Read from the beginning | Read the rest on Ao3 | The Fugue Playlist
#mass effect#mshenko#kaidan alenko#otp: after all this time#fugue update#the last update#i can't believe it's finished#i hope you enjoy it
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not sure if you play dnd (or if you have the time/energy/interest to look things up), but if so-- what do you think the 'yang gang would be as an adventuring party? either what you think they'd choose to play as if they were playing dnd together or what they'd actually *be* in universe, your choice!
This is a very fun question! I am a terrible role player, especially when I have to do it externally, so I do not play much DnD, but I do love it.
A few of them are no-brainers, others a little trickier. The no-brainers:
Clay Beaudoin: Bard. His words and his charm are the source of his power.
Kara Pendergrass: Artificer, with a specialty in explosions.
Kaidan Alenko: Cleric. Healer who answers to an unshakable moral code.
The trickier ones:
Sam Shepard: I go back and forth between a fighter and a barbarian. He fights like a barbarian, but he isn't driven by rage, and is incredibly strategic and intelligent on the battlefield. He just does everything so BIG and is comfortable with chaos and improvisation. Fighter is still probably the best fit for him.
Muriel Aslany: She's also tough to pin down, because she's got elements of a fighter and a rogue, with a sprinkle of barbarian. She does fight from a place of rage, but she bottles it up until that rage is precise, honed, and hidden in the dark. When she shoots, she does not miss, and you never saw who fired the bullet. She doesn't want to give someone the satisfaction of perceiving her anger. Gun to my head, I'd probably go with rogue.
Now, if they were to PLAY DnD, I imagine Kara would still be an artificer and Clay would still be a bard, insisting on doing a Voice and acting out his performances, though let's be honest - he's the DM.
I can see Aslany choosing a Monk as a player and solving the party's problems by punching. Kaidan would wind up a cleric because last time he tried NOT to be a healer, no one else had any healing and everyone died terribly.
Sam? It depends on whether you get him in a Shepard mood or a Sam mood when they roll characters. If you get Shepard, he probably plays a fighter and gets too into it and takes it too seriously until someone reminds him this is Fun, not Work. If you get Sam, his primary goal is to find a way around Clay's No Krogan in DnD rule, and every game includes that moment where he gets a shit eating grin and does something like cast Wild Shape as a druid at some unexpected moment and becomes a krogan while half the table cackles and the others groan, are you fucking kidding me. He is very creative, can find and exploit every possible loophole, and has succeeded every time.
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speaking of ur playlist: every time I hear a banners song I think of sam and kaidan đ I started listening to them bc of you and even their newer stuff that isn't in your playlist makes these dorks appear in my mind's eye
(also have you shared the yang gang's drink recipes yet? im Intrigued)
Oh gosh, BANNERS. I don't know if I've ever heard a Banners song I couldn't make an OTP song. I have half a first kiss AU written to In Your Universe. Do I have a story for it? Nope. But the vibes.
The drink recipes! All courtesy of @pip-n-flinx.
Clay Beaudoin's Paloma
Muriel Aslany's 151 Swizzle
Alma Ingram's Egg Nog & Kara Pendergrass' Firestorm
Kaidan Alenko's Sack Sipper (scroll down to the bottom of the post)
Sam Shepard's Govorkam's Roar
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*screaming into a pillow*
I FUCKING CALLED IT
I KNEW IT WOULD BE KARA
I was literally mulling over the ways Horizon would go a couple of chapters back, when Hannah tells Hackett to send Kaidan to lure Sam out (which I think is a SUPERB twist, by the way, but more on that in a moment), and while I was not expecting Muriel Aslany to shatter my heart before you even got to the meat of the Horizon mission, goddamn if I'm not sitting here vibrating impatiently for the next chapter because SWAPS HOW COULD YOU?
I mean, I know how, it's brilliantly done and you should be so proud of it oh my God but HOW?
I CANNOT WAIT for an eventual Pendergrass POV now. She's the perfect "person on the inside," as it were, and you set it up so well. This line in particular really sells it: "Yeah, she's not nearly as oblivious as she seems. She's just good at not seeing what she doesn't want to." Pendergrass is about to see so. many. things. that no one wants to see. That she's not going to have a CHOICE but to see. Is she going to be up close and personal for the... emulsifying? En-goo-en-ing? (whatever you want to call turning people into a human reaper via sludge-based means) Whatever happens to her in there, she's going to process it and deal with the fallout so differently than anyone else in the cast would, and I am here. for. it. I'm so excited to see how her arc plays out.
(Also, Kaidan telling Aslany to keep her out of trouble and then THIS? We're gonna gloss over it but it done did hurt my heart and you should know)
Okay, back to Hannah for a second. So, in this version of events, Hannah Shepard is directly responsible for sending Kaidan and the gang to Horizon. If she doesn't intervene, THEY DON'T GO. She goes through the motions of learning Sam might be alive and thinks, "give him something he wants," looking at it through Sam's SOLDIER'S perspective. Because she only knows the soldier.
And as a result, she puts three of Sam's most beloved people directly in the line of fire, throwing all three of them at the mercy of genocidal bugs. In one fell swoop, she has completely unmoored him, and HE'S NOT EVEN THERE YET! He doesn't know! The main tether he could have had connecting him back to Sam the Person (TM) has been cut and he doesn't even know it yet and his mother was the reason why.
"If that is my son, I want him back."
Ma'am, if those three die, I don't think Sam comes back. Where he's at right now, I'm even willing to go so far as to say I don't even think SHEPARD would. I don't think Anderson or Garrus or any of his other friends save him at that point.
Mezzo!Sam is already fucked up ten ways from Sunday, I don't want to imagine the alternate timeline where he loses them all basically right after he wakes up. That's a bad reality.
I am so so so SO tempted to ask you if Sam ever finds out she was responsible for the gang being on Horizon. To ask you if he does find out, if he forgives her for using them as bait. How does that change their estranged relationship? Hell, I want to know if KAIDAN finds out, how he'll react. I will be patient. I will wait to find out. But I am DYING to know. It is SUCH a gut punch for Hannah to be such a big part of the reason Horizon happens the way it does. I'm enthralled. It's masterfully done. I want every damn reader of this fic to stand and applaud you.
God, the next chapter's gonna hurt bad, isn't it? How dare you make me feel my own feelings
...I'm so excited tho
I'll end this ask on an actual ask for once instead of just enthusiastically yelling: what are the 'Yang gang's favorite toaster pastry flavors? A new Opus!verse Pivotal Food Item (TM) just dropped, so I figure I should get in on the action while they're fresh and hot (out of the TOASTER, Pendergrass)
I have been sitting on this ask ONLY because I wanted to give folks a chance to catch up if they didn't want to be spoiled, but please know this DELIGHTED me.
It had to be Kara. For a lot of reasons that . And you are correct, it is a BAD reality if Sam loses all three of them. He doesn't come back from that.
Re: Hannah Shepard, I have given a LOT of thought to the questions you posed about whether or not Sam and/or Kaidan find out, and how they react, or would react. I think I have the answers to both, and they will be covered eventually in Opus.
And the poptart question!
That whole scene is actually a nod to a post I made eons ago about exactly this question, and it remains the best breakdown of the 'Yang gang's personalities to date.
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The 'Yang Gang Approach to Problem Solving
Sam Shepard: We solve the problem by any means necessary.
Kaidan Alenko: We think about the problem.
Muriel Aslany: We punch the problem.
Kara Pendergrass: We throw a grenade at the problem.
Clay Beaudoin: We make it someone else's problem and go out for drinks.
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Fugue - 14 - Remember We Flew
Pairing: mShenko
Rating: M
Tags: Angst, Grief, Major (Canonical) Character Death
Summary: Alchera, and the two-year gap. Â
Chapter Summary: A familiar enemy reappears. Hackett uncovers a mystery. Kaidan does some reflection.
Thanks to @shadesofmauve for betaing!
Chapter 14: Remember We Flew | Read on Ao3
14 July 2184, Pylos Nebula, Nariph System, Jonus Orbit, SSV Ain Jalut
Finding Aslany in the medbay once he gets through decontamination doesnât do much to improve Kaidanâs mood. His hands still tremble and he has to force his jaw to relax and his teeth to unclench as he walks in. His heart still beats in his ears.Â
She sits on a biobed impatiently kicking her feet while the doctor, an older gentleman whoâd served in the Blitz, runs a dermal regenerator over a bullet wound in her left arm.
âWhat happened?â Kaidan demands.
âFucker knew the ship layout better than I did and doubled back on me,â she says with an uninterested shrug of her good shoulder. âTagged me good, but Iâve had worse. And he got his.â
Kaidan scowls, trying to replay where and when it could have happened in those adrenaline-fueled minutes. âI never got a flag on your hardsuit.â
âShut off the emergency feed.â
A fresh stab of anger runs him through. âThatâs against protocol, Corporal.â
âYou had your hands full,â she says, unfazed. âJust triage. Bullet wound wasnât going to matter much if we all exploded.â
And they almost had. He shudders, shaking off the memory of the rush of dark energy across his nerves when the Normandyâs drive core had gone up.
But the Broken Arrow is still intact. So are they.Â
He unclenches his jaw again.
The doctor eyes them both with the expression of someone who is used to overhearing sensitive conversations and has a lot of practice keeping his opinions to himself.
We have to work on our fucking communication, Kaidan thinks. Kara Pendergrass is his first project on that front, but not until he calms down enough to deal with her in a way that might actually be helpful for either of them. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. Work the problem right in front of you. Do your job.Â
âAll right. Weâll come back to that one later. What do we know about our captive?â
âHeâs not Rumoi, and heâs not Eclipse,â Aslany replies. âHe ainât saying much. And he was wearing an insignia I didnât recognize.â
âWhat was the logo?â
Aslany reaches for a datapad lying at the head of the bed, trying not to earn the doctorâs ire. Kaidan makes an exasperated sound and grabs it for her. She taps a few keys and hands it to him, a narrow white hexagon framed in orange bars displayed on the screen. He blinks at it, forcing the gears to turn until the answer clicks.
âCerberus,â he murmurs. Â
Read from the beginning | Read the rest on Ao3 | The Fugue Playlist
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