#probably the first time i've gathered these headcanons into a coherent document

[laelior]

Recently posted this on the Kaidan subreddit felt like sharing it here, too. Because why not?

I headcanon him as an only child. I like to imagine that his mother has a Ph.D in electrical engineering. She was working as a civilian contractor for the Alliance in Singapore when she met his father, a logistics officer with the Alliance. Shortly after Kaidan's birth, his father decided to separate from the Alliance so that his family could put down roots near his family in Canada. He took up a consulting job while his wife continued to work as an engineer.

When they started to learn about the effects of in-utero eezo exposure, Kaidan's parents decided not to further expand their family. Kaidan has a few cousins, but I see them as a bit older than him so he didn't have many family members in his age range.

His mother fostered his interest in electronics and taught him how to build circuits and create small gadgets. I imagine that she also became interested in the engineering potential of eezo-integrated circuitry after she started delving into the rabbit hole of cutting-edge eezo research following Kaidan's exposure. She became friends with Ellen Ryder, who was at the forefront of that research.

While his mother threw herself into research to try and understand the risks facing her child, his father remained more cautious and wanting to take things as they came. He was more focused on getting Kaidan through childhood in a practical sense.

Both of his parents were reluctant to send their son to BAaT, but ultimately relented because they thought it would genuinely help him to be around other biotic youth. Naturally, they were horrified by what actually happened there. They did their best to support Kaidan through the aftermath of it. They were in a position, both in terms of wealth and open-mindedness, to help him work through some of the trauma, which put him in a better position than most of the kids who made it out of BAaT.

Personality wise, he takes after his father: cautious, observant, and completely willing to risk everything to do what he feels is right. From his mother, he gets his sense of curiosity and a keen interest in engineering. He's still close with them, which is supported by some of his comments in the games, in part because of their unconditional support that helped him through a pretty turbulent time in his life.