#mshenko

[monowires]

i’m gonna say it. mshenko’s development over the third game is so beautifully bittersweet.

two men who know they could wake up the next day without the other by their side, still deciding to love each other like they had the rest of their lives. and in a way, they did.

shepard’s “someone to live for,” which is so telling if you look at it for a moment. a man who has died and been resurrected—a man who knows what it’s like to die—admitting, albeit subtly, that he didn’t have any real purpose. nothing that was more personal than trying to save the entire galaxy. but kaidan… kaidan gave him something concrete to fight for. something that made him think, “gods dammit, i want to live.” something that made him see a person when he looked in the mirror, and not just a weapon.

kaidan’s “you’re real enough for me,” which tells of the depth of his love. because here, kaidan is saying that it doesn’t matter if shepard is some fancy, elaborate cerberus clone. here, he’s saying that he has finally been able to put some of his doubts and worries to rest—perhaps not all of them, but enough, enough that most of the hurt and anger from his sudden reappearance has been quelled. it’s kaidan saying that he loves shepard; that he’s not overlooking his flaws, but rather that he loves shepard with such an intensity that he loves his flaws, too, because they are part of him. it’s kaidan, who has always had an iron grip over his emotions ever since baat, admitting that shepard has somehow made him feel something so intense and so important that he’s letting it grow of its own accord. that shepard somehow got past all of his self control in a way that was utterly terrifying—and in some ways, still is.

it’s two men who are both broken in their own ways finding it a little easier to hold themselves together when they have the other by their side. it’s something so, so beautiful finding a way to grow amidst a world of destruction and loss.

and gods dammit, i’m so normal about them.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

So I've been thinking about this post from @monowires, and and it's a great post, but I want to talk about one aspect of the mshenko relationship that really gets me personally.

They can only come into this relationship as absolute equals. With fshenko (unless femshep stayed single or preferred Liara in ME1) there's always that awkward "remember when we fucked when you were my CO?" thing, but with mshenko there's no such baggage.

More importantly, Shepard never acted as a mentor figure to Kaidan and never fixed any of Kaidan's personal problems. They still affected each other deeply, but again, only as equals. And that is what makes their romance so bittersweet.

They both go into it knowing that it will end in tragedy. Maybe it won't happen today or tomorrow, but it will 100% end in their deaths.

They both have no expectation of surviving the war, so they don't call themselves boyfriends, they don't make empty promises about meeting the parents, having a kid, even having a home when it's over. They just live in the moment, as fleeting as it may be.

When Kaidan says, "We know the score. We know this is goodbye," he means it. And when he says, "Don't leave me behind," he means, "Don't die without me like you did before." He knows that Shepard is going to die on the Citadel. That the Crucible will kill him. He knows that for sure.

"Losing you was losing a limb," says the unromanced Kaidan in ME2. Now imagine having that limb reattached, imagine feeling whole again, and then to have it ripped off so mercilessly.

The thing is, for Shepard, the ultimate love is sacrificing his life for someone he loves, and for Kaidan, it's facing death with someone he loves by his side, and yet Shepard denies him that. He denies Kaidan the last, most important bit of equality in their relationship.

Like an asshole.

Stupid, heroic, tragic asshole. Kaidan must be so pissed.

[guchaigue]

I wish you didn’t have to go

[rim--blim]

good morning mshenko enjoyers

[fukiana]

MASS EFFECT 3 (2012) dev. Bioware "Come on, Kaidan. I'm getting you out of here."

[racc00nguy]

Ya’all ever think about how confusing it must’ve been for Kaidan in me2 when boy was just trying to get the groceries and heard shepards “favorite store on the citadel” ad 😭😭

[psin314]

my fav part of citadel dlc is when shep's love interest says "nice outfit" to shep, when bro literally fell through a fish tank, rolled 100+ meters down the wall of a building, fell somewhere with low hp almost dying, wandered around the smelly meat and fish market, and got into a shootout with unknown armed guys. thanks kaidan (in my case) i appreciate that.

[apllecrash]

space-husbands

[by-the-dreadwolfs-tits]

mass effect 2 be like

[sewermageboy]

Shepard while running around with Nyreen and Aria bickering: is this how James felt on Mars when he had to listen to Kaidan and me

[aidenlydia]

A lil comfort sketch..

[blue-arts-stuff]

Im a hugeeeee Mshenko nerd so once again MShenko dressing in BuckTommy clothing because they remind me so much of one another.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Every time I see art of Kaidan glowing, I remember the line from the Citadel DLC where he says that he also glows blue when he's drunk, and I truly believe that there was a scene like this at some point in his and Shepard's relationship.

Kaidan (drunkenly stumbles into the captain's cabin): Shep- Sheprrrd! Sheprr... I just... I just wanted to say that I... that I love you and I need you and I'LL NEVER LEAVE YOU AGAIN! And when it's over and we win, we'll go to Vancouver and we'll get married and we'll adopt a dog or a kid or... something... and it'll be great. We'll be so happy and... and... MY PARENTS ARE GREAT! IT WILL BE SO GOOD!

Shepard, who has just fallen asleep after a 16-hour shift:

[mosscreeperarchived]

On a related note, some of y’all also expect me to believe Kaidan is a bottom after the following incidents:

Exhibit A: the infamous Citadel DLC line

Exhibit B: he throws Shepard onto the bed in the sex scene from ME3

Exhibit C: the way he pulls Shepard into the kiss at the FOB

These are not the actions of a bottom. I rest my case, your honor.

(All screenshots taken from here because I’m not replaying ME3 just for a tumblr post)

[clericofshadows]

REGIS SHEPARD AND KAIDAN ALENKO MASS EFFECT 3 - MARS FEAT. PROJECT VARIETY MOD (CLEAR HELMETS)

[m1lkteaboi]

Dealing with some bad art block still. So heres a lil thought I had whenever Kaidan would corner my Shepard and kept asking him to be straight.