#so pre-me1 canon

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

RATING: Explicit (Mentions of Graphic Violence, Brief Mentions of Smut) Word Count/Chapters: 52k, 5 Chapters Pairing: None Characters: Female Shepard, Zaeed Massani

“You’d get us involved with the goddamn fucking Marauders? You know exactly what they’re doing out on the edge of the Traverse. Trying to push into the Hades Nexus. Capture more fucking humans for slave trading. They’re burning down fucking colonies, Santiago. Slaughtering families like it’s goddamn nothing at all. You want the Suns involved with that kind of shit? We’re not about that. We’ve never been about that.” A shake of his head. A huff of Vido’s own breath as his snapped back around to face him. A new fire in his eyes. Fury, scorn… maybe something he’d never even seen before. But he was so goddamn far past gone, he should have realized it sooner. "It ain’t about that, Massani. Dezda’s Marauders are the smart fuckin’ option now. Cheaper labor. They know their shit. Know how to transport. Can handle smuggling for us… zero fuckin’ issues. You think that kinda shit was easy to find out here? You know how many creds we can save gettin’ involved with them instead of the fuckers on station? Who gives a shit if some little piss-fuckin’ colonists end up gettin’ worked to the bone out past the inner relays? Not the Council. Why the fuck should we?” A scoff from him this time. He couldn’t believe how quickly the man he’d once trusted with his life would sell his soul to the fucking devil. His partner. The only person he’d ever trusted. The mercenary outfit they’d built together, and he wanted to sell it out to fucking Batarian slavers. Like it was nothing more than a common fucking street gang. "So you’re gonna take every fucking thing we built? And sell it to those little fucking terrorists? And for what? A deal on cheaper goddamn labor? I always knew you were a bastard, Santiago. Never thought you’d lie down in bed with goddamn fucking terrorists. Never thought you were a coward.” A crowd had started gathering by that point. Other Suns members. People slightly down the totem pole. Their disagreement had drawn the attention of everyone else in the facility, but all he saw from Vido was a sharp little smirk tugging its’ way across the corners of his lips. And then a shrug. "I’ve never given two shits about your opinion of me, Massani. You were always some old bastard merc… too stuck in his ways. Too fuckin’ softhearted. Never had the guts to do the shit that mattered. Always content to pussy-out on anything that really counted. All you are is some old fuckin’ mutt, still leashed to the old rules. The old values. The old ways. The Suns? They never belonged to you. We took a vote. We already decided.” Another smirk and he just as quickly brandished the Karpov strapped to his hip. He hadn’t had enough time to react and grab his own. Why would he? He hadn’t expected Vido to pull a gun on him. They were partners. Someone he’d trusted with his life. They’d built the Suns together. “You’ve been overruled.”

[anghraine]

Commander Bennet please!!

Ooh, thank you!! I'm super fond of this one. I promised myself that I wouldn't post any of it on AO3 until I'm actually done, which is why it may seem like all I do is talk about it! I really have written things, but it's nowhere near done. Here's the opening, though:

Elizabeth Bennet knew what people called her behind her back, whether they were Alliance or not. The butcher of Torfan. They didn’t understand. Nobody did, really, not even Captain Gardiner, who’d defended her to the tribunal, or Major Massey, who’d ordered her to take Torfan at any cost and been honorably discharged later. Elizabeth was resigned to that. When she could do something about a problem, she acted; when she couldn’t, she let it go. And she couldn’t do anything about the past. Least of all when she didn’t regret it.

Anyway, this is my Pride and Prejudice fusion with Mass Effect, aka an AU of both stories in which the cast of P&P takes on the roles of various ME characters and essential elements of both plots occur. This has been challenging but really interesting to figure out—how to center both the epic space adventures of the ME1 plot and the Elizabeth/Darcy relationship + character development that make P&P what it is.

Overall, I've got the P&P plot points nestled within the larger sweep of ME1, and in some ways rearranged to make sense of so many P&P characters filling out the crew of a stealth military starship without requiring a ludicrous number of coincidental pre-existing relationships (I granted myself only one of these, with the other relationships developing on the Normandy). So I've been figuring out which P&P characters stay human (Jane, Wickham, Lydia, Mr Collins, etc) and which would become unrelated aliens (Darcy, Charlotte, Fitzwilliam, Georgiana, etc), how the differences between the P&P characters and the ME characters whose roles they're filling play out, and so on.

My summation of Elizabeth as Commander Bennet in my notes—

Commander Elizabeth Bennet is a resourceful, charismatic, tactically brilliant, and extremely tech-savvy Alliance officer, and a fusion of Commander Shepard and Elizabeth Bennet.

She used her precision as a mechanist and sniper to not only survive but extract victory out of the apparently unwinnable Battle of Torfan, and tries not to think about it too much these days, following her canonical advice to "Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure."

Class: Infiltrator, more or less

Background: Spacer & Ruthless

Originally, I assumed Elizabeth would of course have one of the nobler service records than the Torfan option, but that as the seed of her philosophy was such a wild concept that I couldn't resist trying to make sense out of it.

[innepttia]

@spookyvalentine has FOUR sets of “50 questions about Shepard” list and this is the third!!

Maeve Shepard

First 50 Questions | Second 50 Questions

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse & canon typical death

(Art by tumblr: @/milton-chamberlain)

1. How often does Shepard use the omni-blade?

Omni-blade, not a lot but it’s her favorite weapon to use (ok I know this is contradictory but just go with me). Omni-tool – ALL THE TIME.

2. What does the Virmire Survivor think of Shepard?

Ashley! I think she wishes they were closer, because they really would get along if they both gave it a shot. If Shepard didn’t die, they’d probably have become besties at some point and perhaps Shepard could have still soothed over some of that xenophobic nature of Ashley’s.

3. Top three comfort movies:

Howl’s Moving Castle

Princess Bride

Shallow Grave

4. How many languages can they speak (without the translator)?

Oh, I love that Spooky has asked this in the Mass Effect discord we’re in because I already know the answer now!!

English, ASL (which doesn’t really count for translator-use), and – in my own HC – spacers have a language similar to The Expanse’s Belter Creole.

5. Does Shepard keep a log/journal?

No. Which is a boring answer, but no.

6. What kind of driver is Shepard?

I like to HC that she actually would rather have others drive so she can tinker with something. So, instead of driver, she’s a passenger princess.

7. Shepard witnesses a petty crime. What is their response?

She ignores it! Maeve really cultivates an air of: “If this doesn’t affect me, then I don’t care.”

8. Revenge, or the high road?

REVENGE, BABEEYYYYY – but only in her head because she’s a busy lady and doesn’t have time to really properly act out her revenge.

9. What will always distract them?

Thane, Thane, Thane, Thane, alcohol, Thane, Thane, Joker, Thane, Thane, Thane, etc.

10. Does Shepard ascribe to any sort of faith?

No, but she becomes interested in Thanes.

11. Fondest childhood memory?

By ME2, she isn’t sure her childhood memories are really hers, so she tries to forget them.

12. Most embarrassing adult memory?

In ME2, before Thane’s romance was locked in, she got so drunk one day and drunk-messaged Ashley trying to flirt with her. Then when that was completely rejected, she went straight to Zaeed to try and flirt with him, but she became so distracted in the garbage compactor that she missed her one chance with that old merc. Joker was 100% watching the vid feeds and EDI was monitoring her messages to Ashley.

13. What does Shepard choose to do about Gavin Archer?

THIS mothafuckin guy THIS GUY ohhhhh my god. I think canon choice was “your brother is going to Grissom Academy and you can fuck right off” but the unhinged, more correct choice is: iron pressed against his temple and ending it all then and there for Gavin.

14. Is Shepard the type to gossip?

If it’s gossip with Kasumi, yes, because Kasumi has the best tea and tells the best story. Anyone else, probably not.

15. How does Shepard react to Garrus’s Archangel reveal?

I’m just going to go with the canon-neutral reaction.

16. What was the N7 program like for Shepard?

This was when she was A Good Soldier and A Good Person (pre-ME1), so it went pretty well, all things considered. She was focused and driven and wanted to be the best she could be.

17. Go-to karaoke song?

ANOTHER ONE I CAN ANSWER BECAUSE OF DISCORD thank god. This song because it’s mostly shouting instead of singing:

Fire Woman – The Cult

18. What choice does Shepard make on Rannoch?

Okay so, this one might get me a lot of hate BUT I’ve always accidentally (I’m so serious about this) picked the option here Tali throws herself off the cliff. Like, I’m not joking. It doesn’t matter how many years are between play throughs, or if I’m like, OKAY THIS TIME…!!! I always manage to pick that option. In an AU, I’d really like for the Geth and the Quarians to make peace and build the planet together and I’m just inept at making Good Choices.

19. Which kind of reaper do they think is the ugliest?

That stupid Human-Reaper from ME2.

20. Can they dance?

She can sway to music really well.

21. What is Shepard’s relationship with Hackett?

Mostly annoyed at him. In her eyes, Hackett is up there with TIM.

22. What’s their alignment? Paragon, renegade, a mix…

Renegade all the way. Light up her face with scars.

23. Got any allergies? How bad?

No, because I honestly just won’t remember she has them.

24. When’s their birthday, and how old are they?

Canon birthday and canon age!

25. Trash talk or potty mouth

BOTH!

26. What’s their temper like?

Flares hot, but then it dies down pretty quickly because she’s either smothering it with alcohol or she’s already moved on to the next crisis.

27. What does Shepard think of Bakara?

EVEEEE and not my clone named Eve!!!!! She adores her and will do anything for her.

28. A reoccurring nightmare:

Indoctrination. She can’t shake the feeling that, even after everything, she’s indoctrinated.

And Moon’s Haunted fic.

29. Which news correspondent/journalist does Shepard bring on the Normandy? What’s their relationship like?

Diana Allers and it’s a relationship of: Maeve forgets she’s there until Diana reminds her.

30. Who’s got the biggest crush on Shepard?

Ummm ME!!! Hmm definitely Joker in all 3 games, Garrus in 1 and 2, (and finally a HC) the Geth (and OC) she messages all throughout ME3.

31. What kind of relationship do they have with Dr. Chakwas? Which doctor do they bring her on board for 3, and why?

Good! They’re drinking buddies, except Dr. Chakwas is obviously less unhinged about it.

32. Who has Shepard’s grudging respect?

Javik & Zaeed.

33. Reaction to the window over their sr-2 bed

Kill Bill sirens.

34. Does Shepard want children?

Not just no, but hell no.

35. What does Shepard consider their greatest mistake?

Joining the Alliance.

36. Did Shepard enjoy the heists with Kasumi?

Yes, this was her favorite mission. I think I mentioned this in one of the previous 50 questions, but she was excited for the heist. She was excited to dress up and to have even the slightest potential to not kill anyone.

37. Does Shepard ever play matchmaker?

Ngl, I like Liara and Javik together so I’d like to imagine she helped with that somehow.

38. A silly daydream:

While she was on house arrest after ME2 and before ME3, she daydreamed that Joker would come visit her and they’d rekindle whatever they had before.

Or, she’d imagine Thane would come rescue her like a damsel in distress.

(god these aren’t really “silly” are they?!)

39. What kind of media do they consume the most?

Tech news, but she’s pretty off mainstream media content. She prefers to spend time with her crew in person.

40. Favorite ice cream flavor

Cookies and cream.

41. If Shepard has a LI, what would they say are a couple of Shepard’s flaws? And strengths?

I think we all like to imagine our LI’s being over the moon about our Sheps, and my HCs are no different.

Thane sees her as the spitting image of one of his goddesses. She’s strong, relentless, ruthless, and determined, which are all qualities he admires. In private, she’s soft and a puddle of mush most of the time. I like to think he enjoys taking care of her (e.g. blanket over the shoulders, a good cuddle session, sharing food).

Her flaws come through pretty starkly in all these sets of 50 questions: she can make REALLY poor choices, she can get tunnel vision on certain missions, she can be too brash.

42. Are they quick to laugh, or slow to smile?

Okay, I’m probably going to be annoying with this but I’m going to say both to this one too (like the potty mouth or trash talking one). I think she’s quick to laugh, but it isn’t always genuine. She’ll laugh when she feels like there’s a social cue she needs to meet. She’s slow to smile because those would be her true, genuine feelings.

43. What does it take to earn Shepard’s trust?

Most people have her trust from the beginning. She doesn’t feel like she has time to be untrusting, so her initial trust is easy to get. As long as that isn’t broken, then all’s golden. If the initiate trust is broken then it’s near impossible to get it back.

44. Top three people Shepard thinks are hotties:

Samara

Nyreen

Zaeed

+Thane because he’s her Li so that’s a given

45. What’s the easiest way to gross them out?

Throw up. THAT’S ALL hahahaha but fr gross.

46. What are some of their favorite combo moves with team members out on the field?

Oooohh this is embarrassing for her and me. I always forget team members and Shepard can do combo moves together, so I never do it. So lets go with: she’s a lone wolf who likes to do her own tech combos herself.

47. Can they forgive easily, or are they the type to hold a grudge?

Neither! She’d rather just forget.

48. Does Shepard have a good sense of direction?

She relies solely on her HUD that she doesn’t know anymore!

49. Did they enjoy their party on the Citadel?

Yes, it was nice getting everyone together, but she really missed Thane.

50. What is Shepard’s ending?

Maeve, beloved, goes full destroy ending, which includes destroying herself. I’ve talked about this a lot in the server so I’m not going to get too much in the weeds but… she’s very content with this choice.

+1 …got any kinks?

*looks back at question 33* yes – a choking kink whoops

[clericofshadows]

Shepard aaaaaask!

3, 14, 21 (give me details! hehe), and 33 😉

thanks for the ask :D

fifty shepard questions

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson?

For Regis it's... not great. I've written some fic on it, but the TL;DR is that Hannah wanted Regis to have a good mentor, and he said fuck that to any sort of meddling and mostly just respects the man for his skills alone and keeps him at a far distance. He doesn't quite like that he was blindsided about being evalutated for Spectre status nor does he appreciate his visions being brought up in front of the Council.

He does nominate him for Council since he doesn't really trust Udina either, and in his mind it's a lesser of two evils. Their relationship never really goes beyond, in Regis's mind, "coworkers I have to tolerate."

For Nyx, it's cordial. He doesn't have much of an opinion on Anderson and sees him as a decent ally to have. Nyx, however, nominates Udina as the Council rep since he doesn't like the idea of putting a military man on the seat despite being a First Contact War veteran. Or maybe because he's a FCW vet... :)

14. Any good at flirting?

Regis is pretty good at it and can even ramp up the charm as needed for missions. And he also managed to get Zaeed in his and Kaidan's bed while on Omega during vorcha mafia nonsense and a pissed off merc who's mad that his target was now focused on two alliance idiots...

Bonus gif from same gender romance mod's flirt option for Hock lmao

Nyx is extremely good at flirting and can charm the pants off of anyone (or rather any man). He's very confident and into himself, which can be pretty attractive. He's also quite observant and has a good feel for what a person might like. And he was able to get Kaidan in his bed pre-ME1 for a one night stand, and I typically headcanon Kaidan as not being into that sooooo yeah :)

21. Do you have any AUs for your shepard?

I have a few :)

Regis's canon is technically one big AU in the sense that I get rid of canon things I don't like (Liara as Shadowbroker, for one, Virmire being a no win scenario... etc), but in Nyx's canon, Regis is actually a doctor on Omega with his uncle, Vikram, and leads a bit of a merc life with Zaeed. On the other hand, Nyx in Regis's canon never rejoined the Alliance after an extended time after the FCW and stays as a civilian engineer, who also stays in his relationship with Hackett. In Nyx's canon, he breaks up with Hackett, later enters a relationship with Kaidan pre-ME1, and then later the three of them become a triad.

There's also the fact that Nyx's canon is a sort of No Reapers AU... in the sense that the Protheans failed to fully extinguish most Reapers and a few still remain, but not enough to be a galaxy ending one.

Regis as a doctor/merc also exists in a Kaidan/Hackett fic I've been slowly writing as well. But other than that, I don't really have any modern AUs or anything of the sort since I see my Shepards already existing as big ol' AUs.

33. What skills do they have that are a surprise to the people around them?

Regis is good with metalworking and making jewelry, and he is quite skilled with making custom weapon mods. Not as good as Zaeed, which he gloats about, but it's something he learned on the side. And despite his degree being public, it's always a shock that he knows his way around cybernetics and can talk real technical when it comes to biotic amps and VI and AI...

Plus he can make really good desserts.

Nyx moonlights as a hacker and is well known on many extranet forums as Phoenix, which should be obvious given his callsign in the war being Phoenix, but to the greater 'net it's a mystery. Like, yeah, he's an engineer who is good with tech and is good with cybersecurity, but a hacker who posts tricks and takes down shit in his free time? Not so obvious.

He's also really good with intricate braids and loves braiding his hair and beard and offering his skills to the other long-haired folks on the ship.

[monowires]

info dump about ‘my’ shepard because i’m Autistic™️

DEFAULT/CANON MALE SHEPARD / sheploo (calling him this is so funny)

name: commander john shepard

birthday: april 11, 2154

class: adept (L3 pre-me2, L5x post-me2 prologue)

background: earthborn, sole survivor

morality: paragon (me1), paragade (me2), renegon (me3)

skill set (italicized = most used)

combat style: medium-range offensive

weapons: sniper rifles & pistols

powers: barrier, pull, reave, singularity, shockwave, slam, throw, warp

friendships/relationships

sexuality: gay

canon/primary romantic partner: kaidan alenko

headcanon/alternate romantic partners: garrus vakarian & jeff moreau

queerplatonic partner(s): tali’zorah vas normandy, liara t’soni

best friends: wrex, EDI, mordin solus, samara, kasumi goto, thane krios

kaidan is his partner unless otherwise stated; in some AUs (i.e. fanart or fanfic pieces), he may be with garrus or joker. garrus and joker count as his best friends, too, but for the sake of clarity they aren’t listed there.

tidbits

romantic traits:

he is the little spoon (and the bottom).

his love language is touch, but he doesn’t initiate physical contact often.

he’s clingy, but not overbearing.

he’s a bit dense. not to the extent that it makes him seem stupid, but enough to cause unnecessary pining.

he’s rather inexperienced; growing up on the streets had him too occupied with surviving, and by the time he’d hit adulthood, he joined the alliance. this became his sole purpose and he didn’t have much interest in pursuing romantic relationships.

disposition-related traits:

in me1, he seeks diplomatic solutions to problems, only resorting to violence when unavoidable. he often tries to avoid pursuing revenge or anything similar, but this is slightly shaken when he meets toombs & wayne. he convinces toombs to let wayne be arrested rather than killed solely because he does not want toombs to become wrapped up in chasing closure through killing just as he has.

 in me2, he still tries to be a good person, but his patience with those who become his enemies is rather thin. he doesn’t hesitate to threaten/intimidate his enemies, but he also tries to help civilians and similar people. as he’s very on edge given that he’s been forced to work with the same people that slaughtered his entire unit on akuze, he’s quick to defend himself and his allies. he will pursue those who threaten him or those he cares for because he doesn’t want to risk their lives regardless of cost; he feels largely at fault for the destruction of the normandy sr1, and this causes an obsession with eliminating potential threats.

in me3, he shoots first and asks questions later. he doesn’t accept any risks to himself and his crew. the invasion of the reapers despite his warnings has caused him to fall into a constant state of anxiety; these are the same entities he’s had nightmares about for years. he’s distrustful, brutal, and protective, but not evil. this is an important point, as a lot of his inner turmoil centers around his growing anger and worsening violent tendencies. he tries his best to protect the innocent, but acknowledges the occasional need for sacrifice. he will make these sacrifices if it eliminates something he perceives as a threat. this is, again, mainly a trait of post-traumatic stress disorder.

misc. traits:

due to being biotic, he eats a ton of food, and often steals the leftovers of his crew. this is something they learn the hard way; they either finish their food in one sitting, or they get their leftovers stolen by their Feral Biotic Commander™️.

he really, really enjoys tending to the fish tank in his cabin. it’s therapeutic for him. 

collecting model ships becomes a special interest hobby after his two-year coma. he enjoys setting up their displays and learning about various ships.

he has trust issues—but not towards other people. he distrusts himself and his ability to protect his crew.

he falls for kaidan in me1 but doesn’t ever confess his feelings on account of alliance regulations (and the fear of rejection). in me2, he pines for him, but the encounter on horizon causes a rift between them. in me3, he tries constantly to prove himself to kaidan, yearning for the trust he’d placed in him so many years ago.

there’s more, but it’s 4am and i can’t think straight anymore. plus this is also like a huge fucking wall of text already. so enjoy 👍

[antivanruffles]

Who: Corinne Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Tags: pre-relationship, ME1, feelings realization, canon divergence,

Summary: Three times Kaidan helped Shepard realize that being different wasn't always a bad thing.

A/N: Some Shenko fluff for the Year of the OTP event. Ailin belongs to @cursedwithgloriouspurpose. Both Ailin and Corinne are part of our Family Matters AU, you can read more of that HERE you like.

____________________________

The first time she realized Kaidan was different, it was because she felt heard.  

Corinne, as her sister, Ailin, would always happily point out, was a nerd. She had never been the most socially adept person, it just wasn't her strength. She had grown into her rank and title to (hopefully) become an effective leader, but that didn't mean it got any easier to deal with people. It just meant she could play the role and follow regulations. She still felt like an awkward teenager sometimes, jealous of her sister's natural social graces.  But not every situation followed the regs and people rarely went by protocol; they were generally unpredictable, and full of surprises. Which was why Corinne had always preferred tech and machines and math, that was straightforward, never messy or confusing. Corinne always knew what she could expect. 

That was why she had become an engineer. It just made sense. Even if she couldn't be totally sure she was a good commander, a good leader, she could say she was a damn good engineer. In that regard she had blossomed in the Alliance, with all the newest toys at her disposal. She no longer had to scrounge and save, buying used parts to piecemeal something together. Something that was always an approximation and never at its best. That was why she was so utterly infatuated with the Normandy. Everything about it was a marvel, top of the line, and cutting edge. Nothing piecemeal about it. She would spend hours going over the ship from tip to tail if she could. The newest toy she could imagine. It gave her something to obsess over and something to talk about. Much to Ailin's chagrin. 

Corinne often could be found poking around various parts of the ship, tinkering and learning all she could about it. So it was that Kaidan stumbled over her one day, and simply asked her what she was doing; clearly amused at finding the commander lodged half way under a console like a grease monkey under the hood of a transport ship. 

She didn't think about her reply, just answered his question as she shimmied out to fully look at him. Her answer wasn't diluted, just an honest response with more technobabble than she might use with her sister. Not to discredit her sister, because Corinne knew Ailin was capable and smart, but she didn't really care about how tech or machinery worked, just so long as it did. Because of that Corinne was used to a certain level of detachment when she babbled about the more intricate workings of something. Not that Ailin wouldn't listen, just that after a certain point her eyes would start to glaze over even as she nodded encouragingly. 

Kaidan, however, listened intently, asking questions as she spouted off more and more facts and anecdotes about the marvel of the SR-1. Eventually Corinne came to herself and realized she had gone off on a tangent even Adams would find tedious. She rose slowly from where she had been crouched on the ground and awkwardly rubbed her hands on her thighs, uncaring of the streaks of grease and crime she left behind.

She didn't expect malice, only a certain brand of boredom that she had grown accustomed to over the years when she got too carried away. Corinne could feel the embarrassment settling in, worried she had taken up too much of Shenko's time, and it was only because he was too polite to interrupt his commanding officer that he hadn't stopped her to tell her she was rambling. 

"Sorry," she said to the floor. "I didn't mean to take up so much of your time, Lieutenant." 

She looked up at his huffed laugh and found nothing but genuine interest in his eyes. Corinne wasn't used to that. People could be kind, she knew, but it was rare she found someone who managed to keep up with her. It seemed like Alenko had. 

[octerminal]

I have a question. In ME1, there are two missions, UNC: The Negotiation, and UNC: Besieged Base, which require 80% Renegade and Paragon points, respectively. Is it possible to get both without modifying the save or exploiting glitches?

Hi anon,

I want to say "probably not" but my actual answer is "I don't know." The thing about receiving the missions at 80% morality should only be true for the first morality you reach, not both. I.E., if you're playing a paragon Shepard and you reach 80% paragon, you'd need to reach 90% renegade afterwards to also unlock UNC: The Negotiation. A lot of decisions that net you the most morality points are also mutually exclusive. You can't both save and kill the Council, you can't both charm and intimidate Saren into committing suicide, etc.

It's worth mentioning that the morality guide says there are 629 total paragon points and 609 total renegade points possible in ME1, and (if I’m reading this part right) that you need about 260 points for 80% and 292 for 90%.

Generally speaking, I dislike using the wiki as a source of information because I find it frequently unsourced or poorly sourced, which prevents me from fact checking the information for myself. But it's a good starting point and it's the only resource I have for this issue because I 100% do not know what number of points corresponds to what percentages or anything else the morality guide covers, and I am way too lazy to fact check all of that for myself. I would recommend using it if this is something you really want to try.

I ran through the page myself and mentally created a Shepard and playthrough to see if this was possible. I did a Colonist/Ruthless Shepard so I started with more renegade points, since you have less opportunities for renegade to begin with. I went renegade on every main mission minus killing the Feros colonists and got 216 points. I got 92 paragon points during the main missions. I tried to stay mainly paragon for the side missions and got 222 paragon and 111 renegade, for a total of 327 renegade and 314 paragon. This puts me at both required thresholds.

The one issue that arises here is that I did not test for whether I'd be able to pass intimidation/charm checks. This would significantly alter how much morality you get, since a lot of big morality gains are locked behind checks. A notable example here is Jeong on Feros. You can get 24 paragon or 25 renegade if you use a check, versus something like little to no morality gain if you’re forced to kill him. But those are locked behind 12 charm and 10 intimidate, which are both fairly far along in the skill bar and thus hard to actually achieve if you play Feros early on.

TL;DR: Seems theoretically possible on first time playthroughs if you’re able to pass certain morality checks, but you'd likely have to micromanage what missions you do and when in order to maximize those checks. You would also likely have to sacrifice roleplaying a consistent Shepard. That being said, this definitely seems feasible on a NG+ playthrough because NG+ retains your skill allocations, so you wouldn’t have to worry about morality checks since a lot of them would already be unlocked from the previous playthrough. So in that scenario: yes, it seems possible to achieve without mods or exploits.

Anyway, I'm not going to pretend I haven't done similar things before* but this doesn't seem particularly worth it to me considering the Noveria exploit nets a lot of points and is very easy to use. I do it on Nadia even though she is fairly consistently renegade without it, just so that I can be sure I can pass intimidation checks without having to worry about it when playing. It's up to you, though, and it’s entirely possible you’re just asking this out of curiosity and not because you actually have any desire to do this, lol.

Hope this helped.

*throwback to when I had to literally plan out missions to get best friend Tali in ME3. I had a doc sheet and everything.

[swaps55]

7 for every part of Opus! 🥰 (Just the main parts, not the multiverse. I wanna know about the muuuusic 🤩)

Oooh, fun!

Writing Ask Meme.

7: Where did the title come from?

Originally, Opus was going to be a single fic. (What is now Cantata was going to be about 4 chapters - cue laughter). I wanted it to be a series of mini-stories that followed a playlist, each chapter themed to a different song, charting the arc of Shepard and Kaidan's relationship. If the chapter titles were going to be based around song titles, I thought it would be neat to name the main fic after a form of music. Initially I picked Concerto, not because it was a thematic fit, but because there was a racehorse in the late 90s I really liked named Concerto. XD

Then the Fake Dating Disaster Fic happened, which was not part of the plan at all. And it needed a name. As I was still thinking about it as an AU, I wanted to pick another form of music for the title. I can't remember how I landed on Sonata, but it just felt like the right fit, so I went with it.

When I finally caved and admitted Sonata was too important not to be part of the "canon" fic, I decided to break the whole thing into pieces, and went to work renaming all the parts. So choosing the names for each story came down to looking up different forms of music (this is not something I am inherently knowledgeable about), and making unscientific choices based on what felt right, and/or what had a meaning that was a loose thematic fit. So I ultimately landed on (with links to respective playlists):

Cantata (pre-ME1)

Concerto (ME1)

Sonata (post-ME1)

Fugue (Alchera + 2 year gap)

Mezzo (ME2)

Requiem (ME3)

Nocturne (post-ME3)

Cadenza (Multiverse AU)

(The playlists for Mezzo-Nocturne have very WIP playlists - the outlines are a mess right now, and Cadenza's playlist kind of "unofficial" at the moment, since I don't really know what Cadenza is yet.)

And since I needed a series name, I went with Opus, as the series is definitely my magnum opus. :D

[ljandersen]

Do you think Kaidan also went through N training at some point? I've seen fics where he's apparently gone through it, but couldn't find anything in canon about it.

Hi, anon! Ooh, a question. Fun! Thank you for thinking of me.

Do I think Kaidan is N-trained?  In short, no.

There isn't evidence disproving that he's N trained, but there isn’t evidence suggesting he's N trained either. If anything, the lack of any indication he has N training is proof in itself.

For one, none of the characters associated with N training ever include Kaidan as if he’s a member. James goes to Shepard with his N questions. He never mentions or refers to Kaidan's experience. Neither Anderson nor Shepard mention Kaidan being N trained.

It's not mentioned in his background anywhere. It's said he has over a dozen special commendations. He does get involved in special operations, even leading the first Special Operation Biotic Company, but this doesn't require an N designation.  Unless he failed out before qualifying as a N1, it seems like something that would be included in his history.  

In ME1, he specifically says he’s been holding back up to this point in using his biotics offensively.  Jenkins is the first soldier he’s lost to hostile action.  None of these suggest to me someone who’s undergone rigorous N spec ops training, where holding back would probably limit being accepted.  Some N operatives may not have seen someone die due to hostile action, but it’s at least more likely with a N trained operative than a general marine.  It seems like Kaidan is still coming into his own in biotic combat in ME1.

If anything, I wonder if health concerns over his L2 implant may not disqualify him.  N operatives frequently lead high-risk, high-priority missions either independently or in charge of a small groups. The whole mission hinges on that one person. Having a serious pre-existing health condition, especially one triggerable on the field (light, sound, stress, etc.), would be a serious concern. 

 While he may function well on a team or even in a leadership position commanding a unit, I think special forces may rely heavier on single-person performance under high-strain situations.  Conditions on those high risk N missions maybe be more likely to trigger an attack than typical combat.   Alone, disabled, and with the whole mission riding on him achieve a specific task, it could be disastrous.

Even if was accepted to apply, I don't know if he could pass N training with his health condition. If Wiki is correct, it says this about N1 training:

"If this is their first time at the school, trainees participate in scenarios experienced by the elite units of most land-based armies; a typical candidate may be in training more than 20 hours a day, leading small units into combat over hostile terrain with little sleep or food. Trainees who do well are awarded an internal designation of N1 and are invited to return."

While Kaidan is obviously a tough person, who's gone through basic and performs well as a marine on the field, I don't know if he could push himself to operate with 4 hours of sleep a day and hardly any food. My sister has terrible migraines, and she has to careful judge her sleep cycle and the timing of her meals. If she doesn't get enough sleep or oversleeps, she gets a migraine. If she misses a meal, she gets a migraine. 

Obviously, Kaidan would face those issues while on the field as a general marine, but I don't think it would be to the same extent as here.  If on the field in these conditions, a migraine could be dealt with, either supported by his team and medication.  Or, if extreme, by evacuation.  As a N candidate under these conditions, a bad migraine affecting his performance would simply disqualify him.

It also says about higher level N training:

"The highest grade of training, N6, provides actual combat experience in conflict zones throughout the galaxy. From day one, invitees are given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen. The first few are out of the program. If the trainee survives these scenarios in "admirable and effective fashion," they finally receive the coveted N7 designation."

I imagine every N operative enters training with the intention of becoming a N7. No one thinks, "Yeah, I'll join, but I only want to be a N4." Everyone is shooting for the top. In that case, if Kaidan wanted to become a N7, that means he'd be stranded alone on an asteroid and rationing oxygen. I think the hypoxia alone could be a huge trigger for a bad migraine.

Overall, I don't think there's any evidence to suggest Kaidan entered N training. Moreover, I suspect he may not qualify due to health concerns. If he did qualify, I don't know if he'd get pass the extreme conditions to get even a N1 designation.

Now that sounds like I'm looking down on Kaidan and what he can do having a migraine condition, but I'm really not. He obviously has found a way to function effectively as a marine. He assures Shepard he won't be a burden on the crew, if Shepard was worried.   He received all those commendations and jumps up the ranks fast.  He obviously functions well and deserves his position as a marine.  But the military is strict with health limitations, and I think N training may be the point where the line is drawn.  It’s just too risky for him and the mission.

I think what opportunities Kaidan lacks due to his L2 implant, he makes up for with his outstanding leadership skills, level-headed resourcefulness, and intuitiveness for politics and tact.  Through ME1, he is frequently dissecting Council and Alliance motivation and power-plays.  He’s open minded, fair, and progressive in the larger picture, long-term goals of the Alliance.  He takes time considering all of the political players involved and giving the benefit of a doubt to aliens in their actions toward humanity.  

To me, he makes an excellent candidate for Spectre for his political saavy in addition to his leadership skills, lack of racial bias, self-accountability, determination, and independent decision making.  He thinks for himself beyond blindly accepting orders.  He is willing to take those convictions to the level of breaking rules and confronting superiors.  Those are important for a Spectre, and his moral self-accountability will ensure he has proper discernment in how he uses his powers.  He obviously has good fighting skills and ability to lead on the field despite his health condition, because he jumps so many Alliance ranks.  He learns to Reave and is teaching other spec op biotics.  He’s very capable both on a political intellectual level and physically with skills and ability.

While he may not, in my opinion, match well with the rigors and high-intensity of N training, he’s an exceptional option for a high leadership positions within the Alliance and for promoting galactic interests as a Spectre.  

Thank you for the ask!!!

[aliatori]

Transmasc Kaidan fic!!!!

Yes! The release of Legendary Edition, and specifically how they didn't retcon in M!Shenko from the first game, got me outlining a story that’s essentially reimagining a selection of canon events in Kaidan’s history through a transmasc lens.

First off, all the stuff in his backstory about Jump Zero hits so much harder when you imagine it’s a teenage, pre-transition Kaidan going through all this trauma instead. Not only is there the very justifiable anger at all the abuse he and the other kids experience in the name of being trained in biotics, but then there’s the double layer of deep, persistent psychological discomfort. Add to that the crippling physical pain (and permanent disability) of the implant and learning its usage, and feeling like a stranger in his own body for a myriad of other gender related reasons, it’s no small wonder he snapped, lost control, and killed his instructor Vyrnnus.

And then, if you look at his relationship with Raina with a pre-transition Kaidan in mind, it (at least imo) resonates a lot more with the complicated queer, trauma bonded, ‘are we, aren’t we in love?’ vibes I get from their relationship than if he were cis. It also makes her rejection of Kaidan after he kills Vyrnnus cut all the deeper, confirming what he already suspected: he wouldn’t have been good enough for her before, and he certainly isn’t now.

Canonically, teenage Kaidan and his dad have a heart-to-heart after the incident where his dad offers reassurance and support to Kaidan, and it’s here I choose to believe he came out and started the process of transitioning.

For the F!Shenko path, there’s a line in their first love scene in ME1 where Kaidan confesses she makes him feel human, and whoo boy, if that doesn’t ring all of my personal transgender euphoria and intimacy bells. For someone who has had to work so hard to take ownership of his physical body, both in regard to biotics and to gender identity, for someone who has been othered and made to feel less than on those same levels, that line admits so much trust in Shepard.

Oh my god, and Horizon through a transmasc Kaidan perspective? It’s a gold mine. Not only do you have all the delicious canon flavoured angst of realizing Shepard is alive at Horizon, some of the lines in the letter he sends a romanced Shepard hurt even more. The survivor’s guilt he mentions probably brought up a lot of old trauma from his teenage experience with Raina, of being rejected and abandoned for doing what he thought was right. And “I guess I really don’t know who either of us is anymore”? *siren noises* With the caveat that there are a myriad of experiences under the transgender umbrella, I feel it’s safe to say all of us grapple intensely with our identity and who we are, even if the manifestations of that conflict look different. For Kaidan to be thrust back into that uncertainty, to question a truth he’s been told is immutable, unchangeable? That’s the good stuff right there.

(In a worldbuilding sense, I posit that Kaidan probably thinks a lot about the implications of the technology Cerberus used to rebuild Shepard and how it could be applied to both trans and/or disabled people—along with having mixed moral leanings about using such technology even for good—but I digress.)

Which finally brings me around to the M!Shenko thing. Kaidan being transmasc gives me a reason to turn BioWare’s cowardice into a valid relationship development arc. This may be @ing myself on main, but imagining a transmasc Kaidan trying to navigate his new command position under a larger-than-life Shepard, all the Reaper and galactic peril business, and a desire for another man he’s not sure will be reciprocated or well received on either the queer or trans fronts? There’s delightful substance for exploration there. Granted, Kaidan is 32 by the time Mass Effect 1 rolls around, so I don’t think he’s struggling with his identity so much that he’s not sure taking that much of a risk will work out in his favor re: pursuing a romance with M!Shepard.

Anyway, there is my essay of headcanons that are the foundation for the transmasc Kaidan fic that you probably didn’t ask for but got anyway. I haven’t decided which canonical romance path to pursue for the series of snapshots, and knowing me this might end up T4T in the end too because why not, but there you have it.

In short: Kaidan Alenko is transmasc and, while I will gladly allow for other interpretations, this is the one I’m sticking with now.

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

RATING: Explicit (Graphic Violence) Word Count: 21k Pairing: Shenko Characters: Female Shepard, Zaeed Massani, Aria T'Loak, David Anderson

“Josie!”

The sounds of his shrieks are muffled, but guttural- hoarse even. It’s a picture of blurred feet kicking and flying in nearly every direction in a desperate attempt to shove them off of him. A flash of violet light in his hands that twines its way up his arms disappearing just as quickly as the sounds of his radius cracking deafens the room. The smell of thick, ebony smoke and burning flesh clogging lungs- and then the taste of iron.

The taste of blood.

“Josie- help! I- need you- to help me-” He cries through huffed gasps of pain. Heavily armored hands close in around him. A blurry pair grasps at a bunch of onyx-colored hair from the top of his head, slamming it against the hefty aluminum refrigerator door. It sends a flurry of drawings, magnets, and half-torn pictures fluttering to the ground like leaves during early Mindoiran autumn. Vermillion streaks from his brow, trailing toward his lips. Armored bodies close in around him, but he pushes himself against the refrigerator with a pained grunt.

Another flash of hazy violet light permeates the room, filling it briefly with the muted sounds of pained moans as the bodies hit the floor- one after another. His hand grabs the table, vaulting himself to his feet with a slight stagger. He begins hobbling- a blurry image limping closer and closer. His eyes are fuzzy as they shift from violet to sable- the edges starting to meld together in a haze of mish-mashed, murky colors. Then, the blur is replaced by a feeling of warmth as his hand reaches down.

“Josie, we have to-“

His voice is cut off by a shriek as his body comes careening down towards the floor. Surprise is replaced by anguish as one of them smashes their boot into his back. His agonized bellows cut throughout the room, as another one of them grabs his right leg and begins dragging him further and further away.

“No- Let- Let me- Josie- Help me!”

An arm reaching out, but it isn’t his. Another flash of violet light that begins snaking its’ way from palm... To wrist… To elbow as the hand tremors violently through the blur. Chipped jade nails covered in dried blood- a bracelet made from multicolored rubber bands loomed together caked in mud. There’s an attempt to focus that light- to use it. Trying to find some way to protect him.

But then the violet light fizzles out just as quickly against the blur. The hand falls as the edges begin to shift from blur to darkness.

“Josie! Please- help- help me!” He screams- a muffled, croaked sound that begins to fade against the edges of the blur. Then, a flash of nails- bloodied claw marks in the wood of the floor made by the resistance of his hands as his body fades further and further away.

The blur is gone now- replaced almost completely by a wave of darkness. The jade-nailed arm feels heavy – a weight that can’t be lifted as a high-pitched noise envelopes the room and the large hydraulic door whooshes open with a soft metallic whir.

“Josie!”

His last shriek.

His last expression is a picture of pain- of anguish- of agony. Through the darkness, his eyes showcase something worse than fear as the hydraulic door slams closed, and his bloodied face disappears into the void.

Then, his final image is replaced by a wave of onyx. The smell of smoke returns- the scent of burning flesh, and the taste of iron. His screams ring over and over through the void of darkness on the other side of the hydraulic door for those few moments as the heaviness settles and breath becomes shallow. He calls again and again, but the words are hollow- nothing more than sounds being swallowed whole by the blackening vacuum.

And then just before the darkness fades to nothingness and the heaviness overtakes, one more sound- one short, resounding crack that deafens the room, echoing for what feels like hours through the darkness.

And the sound of his voice goes silent.

[shockdowndefiance]

1, 7 and 11 for Allison Shepard and her preferred love interest?

Answering from this post here. Not specified which sections so I'm going to do one question from the top 3.

This is for Allison Shepard and Kaidan Alenko

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

In a Systems Alliance base in Jacksonville, FL, where Kaidan and Joker were joking/veering on mocking who their new XO would be, when Kaidan notices a Staff Lieutenant* in fatigues and with a sea bag over her shoulder. He doesn't think much of it - this is an Alliance base (one of the busiest on Earth, up there with Vancouver, Shanghai etc.) and being his polite self he asks her if he can help her with anything.

Allison doesn't say anything for a moment, eyeing him up, then Joker, then the ship, then back to Kaidan. As soon as she starts to speak all the pieces fall into place and he instantly recognises her the moment she says "Staff Lieutenant Allison Shepard. I believe I'm your XO."

* Yeah I got fed up with the ranks as they are in game/canon, so I made my own system. Shepard is a Staff Lieutenant, Kaidan is a Lieutenant, Ashley is a Gunnery Sergeant as of ME1

GENERAL

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

Allison. No question about it. It's not that she's necessarily the more forward or outgoing of the two, but being a War Hero (and before that, daughter of a First Contact War veteran) she's more than used to plastering on a smile, making casual small-talk, and lending an ear to someone for one task or another, but always making sure to never promise anything completely.

As of ME1 Allison's been in the limelight for near-on seven years, received invites to multiple high class events (and when a tour of hers accidentally or accidentally overlaps, oh I'm so sorry I would have loved to come but duty calls) and is basically the Alliance's biotic, N7, and later Spectre poster child.

Kaidan is definitely the more withdrawn of the two, though he opens up enough around close friends and maybe a little alcohol in the mix. When he and Allison are out about their relationship, I imagine that he is quite affectionate in parties, always wanting to be by her and touching in some way (hand on elbow, holding hands, knees touching).

LOVE

11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

Hoo boy. I have a playlist of 88 songs, totaling almost 6hrs. This does cover the entirety of Allison Shepard's story up to (and a bit beyond the Reaper War) so not all of them are romantically linked. Of the ones that are, these are my favourite/tell the story in the best way:

Mass Effect 1:

Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love - more for the melody and the title than the lyrics themselves. Allison is a Spacer, so there's a bit of romanticism around stars, the galaxy etc. around their relationship.

Sixx A.M. - Starts (Explicit Lyrics) - "Do you wanna go to heaven tonight...Do you wanna be my lover tonight...Do you want to see the stars before they fall". The romance scene between Shepard and Kaidan on the way to Ilos. Again a cosmic-linked song but the moment I heard this it became the Shenko song for me. Remember this one

Black Stone Cherry - Remember Me & Johnny Cash - Hurt - "Today was a hard day, I still can't believe that all of this is true...When I am gone, will you stay strong, don't cry, this is not a dream. When heaven calls, and stars they fall, believe, will you remember me?" & "What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know, goes away in the end"

AKA the ooof ow my heart songs. Needless to say this is after the destruction of the Normandy SR-1, both from Kaidan's viewpoint. The relationship between the two of them wasn't expressed, so while Allison's family can grieve and mourn in public, Kaidan cannot - and even to a point where he can't be that upset over his CO, can he?

Mass Effect 2:

Shinedown - If Only You Knew - "If you only knew, I'm hanging by a thread, the web I spin for you. If you only knew, I'd sacrifice my beating heart before I'd lose you." This is Allison post-Horizon, when things are heavy. She's pulled her head above water somewhat, but Horizon pulls her back down.

Shinedown - Through The Ghost - "Speak of the devil, look who just walked into the room, the guilted and faded notion of someone I once knew. All the perfect moments are gone, all the precious pieces are wrong." This was originally an ME3 song (Vancouver) but story-wise this now places at the end of ME2, when Allison is heading off to Aratoht. Hackett sends along Kaidan and this echoes her feelings when she sees him.

Mass Effect 3:

Sixx A.M. - Stars (Cinematic) - I told you to remember this one. In any official soundtrack this would be a reprise, the same song but in a more mournful way. Allison and Kaidan are now officially together, and while the spark of what was back on the ME1 is still there, the galaxy being at risk puts a damper on their ability to take time and enjoy being with each other.

Florence + The Machine - Bedroom Hymns - pure romance scenes song. Nothing else to add. Smutty lyrics.

Conchita Wurst - Heroes - "So let the walls come down and the colours light up the sky. We could be heroes, we could be heroes, tonight. Where the hearts break loose and love is like a battlecry, we could be heroes, we could be heroes, tonight".

This one takes a bit of explanation. On the approach to Earth for the final assault, in the small hours of the morning, a thought pops into Kaidan's head. He turns to Allison and simply says "Let's get married." Allison half-laughs but goes "Sure. When?" and 30mins later they're in the shuttle bay, wedding officiated by Joker.

This song (or at least the chorus) is what I imagine whenever I think of that scene. Allison and Kaidan do quick vows, exchange simple fabricated rings, and prepare for the assault. Their wedding day, not that they know it at the time, is also the day the Reaper War ends.

And Beyond...

Black Stone Cherry - Sometimes - "Couldn't we pretend that I'm fine, and this ain't my life. It's not the way it ends for me. Couldn't we pretend, you're not gone, you're still here, it's not true. It's not the way it ends for you.". I spent so long swapping this and Remember Me (in the ME1 section) around and I think I am happy with their placement.

The Reaper War is over. Casualties are many. Allison Shepard is in the hospital, in a medically induced coma, with multiple injuries. The Normandy and her human crew are reported as MIA with no one knowing their status.

This song is, in my mind, a duet sung between Allison and Kaidan, Allison on Earth and Kaidan who-knows-where in the galaxy. They both believe the other dead, and this is them both wishing that this is not the case, that maybe the other can find a way back to them.

In short, another ooof ow my heart song

Skylar Grey - I'm Coming Home Pt. II - I'm sure this is on a lot of people's lists. The Normandy systems are functioning, they're going to make it to Earth, and Kaidan finally gets in contact with the Alliance in London. He discusses what happens with the brass, and turns his head and hides a sigh when yet another higher up is introduced to him.

"Alenko. Good to see you again."

"Allison?!" His eyes snap back front and centre. She's alive, standing in front of him in the QEC. It's a hologram, but it's her. She's alive, on Earth. They made it. Both of them.

And the blood will dry Underneath my nails And the wind will rise up To fill my sails So you can down and you can hate But i know no matter what it takes I'm coming home, I'm coming home Tell the world that I'm coming home

❤️

[shepgarrus]

For the Made Up fic title - "Might As Well"

a smut one shot - a shrug emoji ‘let’s try it out.’ i’m thinking post-me1 victory sex (btw, how are there no fics of that already?) - they’re probably a tad drunk, or start out that way, but i could make shepard a biotic and garrus just burn through it quick if i found it was giving me issues.

admittedly i’ve thought through a fic along those lines before, but didn’t get very far in writing it a few years ago - but think along the lines of quondam’s Well. Fuck. with the teaching aspects, and/or both of them stopping in the middle of things to look things up on their omnitools because they’re nerds.

OOOOOOOO or alternatively, this same idea but post-me3 with a version of the final battle that doesn’t leave shepard super injured immediately afterwards (wish i’d been in the fandom pre-me3 when we didn’t have the limit of knowing what the canon is lol). platonic friendship through the war, but again for whatever reason the idea of having victory sex comes up during the celebration after the big battle. this one would be particularly fun because there’d be more room to work with the relationship developing afterwards = not sure if i’d be up to tackling that much, but i’d at least set the stage and leave teasing points so that we could all daydream about it for the serotonin.

[send me a made-up fic title and i’ll tell you what i would write to go with it]

[yellingaboutmasseffect]

7, 14, 20, 23?

7. You can undo three canon deaths in the series. Which ones do you pick, and why? What futures do you see for these characters in the version of canon where they lived?

Emily Wong- while I find the how they wrote her death compelling (gets caught up in the initial Reaper invasion and sacrifices herself to save others). The fact that this was done on TWITTER and not even something referenced in game is awful. I would have loved Emily Wong in Diana Allers’ role as the Normandy’s embedded news correspondent and it almost feels like that may have been the intention at one point. In my fic, I actually plan on keeping her death canon and having it be Khalisah who becomes the embedded correspondent but she opines that Emily was the natural reporter who should be here.

Nyreen Kandros- Nyreen because it’s more interesting if she lived and she and Aria actually have to deal with their unresolved issues. Also, I will unbury Bioware’s gays. I don’t fully know if Nyreen and Aria could truly be co-queens if Omega but even Nyreen and the Talons acting as a way to keep Aria honest about her promise to protect Omega and its people is a better resolution to her arc than her just dying. Also, I love Sumalee Montano, her voice actress a lot.

Gianna Parasini- my beloved. Okay she’s not dead by any official means but the fact she doesn’t show up in ME3 is a crime. She should show up as a war asset or have a quick mission where you uncover a Cerberus mole leaking information to them from Noveria that then nets you those resources for the crucible. I would trade Conrad Verner’s quest for that any day.

I feel Thane’s death absolutely should have been handled better to make more sense and given the weight of Mordin’s and Legion’s deaths. So far that’s the plan for my fic. Not saying that Thane living isn’t a valid choice too because as I would also prefer he live personally but as someone crafting a story that’s currently not in the cards for him 8/

14. Are there two squadmates you wish had been allowed to interact with each other more? How do you picture their interactions?

Going to cheat here and do two. Technically, Thane and Ashley/Kaidan do interact but the fact that THIS IS NEVER ELABORATED ON OR ASHLEY/KAIDAN DON'T GO TO HIS FUNERAL IS A CRIME.

Garrus and Thane I feel would get along really well stemming from a mutual admiration of each other’s skills. I also see Garrus’s brand of humor being a good match for Thane’s drier sense of humor. You do get Garrus’s line at Thane’s funeral where he calls him a friend and I wish we had ME3 style of Normandy where squad mates could wander the ship in ME2 because I could easily see the two of them having a few scenes together. Honestly just more ME2 era squad mates interacting

20. Is there a character you feel you're more invested in the idea of, rather than the way the character is actually written in the games?

This hurts me deeply but I feel like Ashley sort of falls in this category. I adore Ashley in ME1. I think she is one of the best written squadmates in that game and she asks questions that really let you flesh out who your Shepard is. Then ME3, her writer left after ME2 and it really shows. I recently found out that Kaidan has a scene where he plays poker at that card table, talks about how he trained a unit, etc but Ashley really doesn’t leave her area of the Normandy and has what feels like much less to say. I really do feel like I fill in a lot of the gaps with headcanons but I am very much attached to her and those headcanons

23. What's one piece of character or species lore that never made sense to you? How would you fix it?

Can I offer you my Krogan pre-genophage birth rates don’t make sense rant in this trying time. The stuff that EDI tells us about their birth rates are literally as if someone threw some scary numbers at the wall without thinking about how Krogans had to manage not to overpopulate Tuchanka before the Salarian intervened if each krogan female can apparently produce 1000 young in a year. It also flies in the face of what we see with longer lived species that exist in real life unless they are super preyed upon. While Tuchanka is dangerous, the Krogan were essentially the apex species so such high birth rates of 1000 young per year are wild! If each Krogan female could produce a clutch the equivalent to the size of a litter of puppies in a year that would also be incredibly prolific (and what I would go with) but I am sure whoever wrote that dialogue wanted a scary number to make you question the genophage cure but it always takes me out of the moment

[crqstalite]

sunday scraps.

might start that, idk. but i have a lot of wips that i reworked or will just never publish, and im starting to do my yearly word count roundup. this bit? i might actually use this somewhere.

(they’ve met in eye of the storm’s canon, but i wrote this long before i started that lol)

citlali velasquez & kaidan alenko. post me1 + pre me2

-

He can barely think straight, her last words to him, strained and breathless over the comm that died only moments later. It was over the squad's private frequency, though in that moment he was terrified he'd been the only one who'd heard it. A quiet declaration of love, of affection -- hell whatever you wanted to call it. His name had been the final word on her lips. Moments later, sounds of struggle filled his ears as he sunk to the ground of the escape pod. He doesn't even register the others saying her name, growing more and more panicked when her line goes quiet.

And here he was, the bringer of bad news.

He presses the doorbell.

It doesn't take long. He wishes he had more time.

The girl is twenty three, celebrated it nearly a year ago now. Curly hair that's less coiled than Kodelyn's is. Her green-blue eyes shine in the dim light of the apartment when they find him, but they're rimmed red. She's dressed down, a faded N7 sweatshirt that's much too big for her around her shoulders, a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He quells the need to cut and run when he sees Kodelyn's name written out on the chest of the sweatshirt.

She's holding an old helmet. One he recognizes from just after the Skyllian Blitz before the slight redesign of the helmets to fortify them further. Kodelyn's, with how recent it is he can make the guess. She clears her throat, "So they sent you."

"I'm-"

"I know, I know. You're sorry for my loss," She pauses, unable to meet his eyes. He can't even imagine what's going through her head now, looking through the dented visor at an empty helmet. He doesn't know what to say, what to do now. She shifts the helmet in her hands before placing it on an endtable out of his view. Hanging her head, she steps forward to put her arms around him. At first, he flinches. He's not used to receiving hugs and other physical affection from anyone but his family, or someone who wasn't Kodelyn, "They all are." She whispers.

She's nearly the same height as Kodelyn.

The similarities are uncanny. There's a faint scent of the same rose perfume Kodelyn had worn the day she got out of the hospital. It makes him miss her more as he lowers his arms to hug the younger woman back.

He'd met Citlali Velasquez only a few times. She'd visited Kodelyn a few times while he basically lived in the hospital during their short shore leave. A talented biotic, a graduate of Grissom Academy. She'd said she'd wanted to become a pilot. Kodelyn had said she'd introduce her to Joker when she got out of the hospital. Smart, and capable, Kaidan is struggling now, recognizing the once bright woman as the husk of a person that clings onto him. He doesn't know what to do, as he can hear her beginning to sob, quiet at first and then enough to rack her body against his.

She'd lost her sister. They'd been close, from the way they spoke of each other.

He wonders if he'd just managed to be there, get to her faster, anything, that she'd still be here today. Though he knew it was misplaced, he blamed Joker at first. He'd never voiced those complaints, and they were quickly fizzled out after the funeral. The poor man was destroyed after that, hell he hadn't even seen him since then. Liara had remained on the Citadel so far, but Garrus was gone as soon as the funeral was over. It took longer for Tali to leave, but she was gone back to the flotilla just as fast. Wrex was on Tuchanka, last he heard.

He doesn't want to be here without her. How she'd managed to become everything to him in such a short time, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. How that spark had blossomed into a flame before Ilos. How he'd looked forward to seeing her after every mission.

[ghostxofxartemis]

Places to kiss: In a bar for John/Jane

Thank you so much for this pairing suggestion! It gives me a reason to write something that has been stewing in my head for a little while now, a lot of it is inspired by @theoriginalladya (her Destiny’s Fate series is amazing!) after reading her ShepShep pairing. (Seriously LadyA, thank you so much for such an amazing series, and easing my mind about my concerns of possible similar context,  and encouraging me to go and write a ShepShep as well!) Now I have reason to put it on paper! 

Another huge shout out to @bardofheartdive for looking this over for me! 

This is pre-ME1 setting.  This takes place after Elysium, John is in ICT - N5. 

Also, this John is not the same as the one in my Shepley pairing. He is of Spacer background. Not Earthborn like my (head)canon John Shepard.

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Paring: John Shepard/Jane Shepard

Rated: E (explicit), for sexual content (semi-public sex - you have been warned). 

Also on AO3

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A Night Out On The Town

John sat on a bar stool at the counter in the only bar in Arcturus Station, a line of shots lined up in front of him. He downed them each in quick succession. Glad to have made it out of that hell hole he’d been sent to. It hadn’t been as bad as Elysium, no where close. Still, when you served in the front line, you faced death everyday. Came with the job. 

“I don’t fucking know how we pulled that one off. I was so damn sure we weren’t going to make it out alive,” Henley spoked John’s thoughts out loud, while lifting a hand to the bartender, ten more shots incoming, five for each. 

Christ, I might be sick tomorrow, John groaned internally. 

“You might not have made it out alive. You had your ass practically hanging out the whole time!” 

John downed two of his refilled shots, shaking his head as he slammed them back down on the counter. 

John just didn’t understand the man at times. Why would anyone get so up close and personal with hostiles with just a fucking pistol like he’s invincible? He must have a fucking death wish of some sort. If it hadn’t been for John’s hacking capability, he swore the man would be a pile of pulp on the ground from those damn turrets. The man definitely had the scars to show for it, while John came out with barely a scratch, and he carried a shotgun.

“It’s a good thing I had you covering my ass then,” Hanley gave him a large grin before downing his shots. 

“I have no idea how you fucking made it N5, man. You got a lucky clover hidden up your ass that I'm unaware of?” John retorded.

“Yeah…you,” Hanley retorted. 

It took all of John’s willpower not to spit his tequila back into his shot glass as he snorted while swallowing his substance. He hadn’t been expecting that one, though he probably should have.  Hanley had never been shy about outwardly speaking to John about how he felt about him. John didn’t feel the same about him though. For one, he was a married man. 

“You... wish,” John breathed as he tried to catch his breath through his strangled coughs. 

“A man can dream right?” Hanley wiggled his eyebrows at John.

“Get line, buddy,” John snorted, shaking his head.

“Is this seat taken?” 

John smiled as the familiar silken voice reached his ears. He glanced to his right, meeting the familiar emerald eyes he loved so much.  Her grin almost met her eyes. 

“Hmm...I've been keeping it for someone," he whispered playfully as he wiggled a brow. 

"Oh? Who's the lucky one," she played along. 

"Someone special, but you can sit until she arrives. What are you having?” he asked her as he leaned in closer to her, inhaling that familiar grapefruit sent from her favorite soap. He reached to nibble at her bottom lip. Her smile deepened as she pulled away before he got a chance, and turned her head to the bartender. 

“Two shots of tequila, and an old fashion please,” Jane ordered.

“Make it two,” John called out, as he looped a finger in Jane’s belt loops of her waist band, pulling her in closer between his legs. 

"I don't think this special person would appreciate you flirting with someone else," Jane enticed while toying with John's waistband. 

John chuckled, “something tells me she doesn't mind.” 

Overhead, their favorite tune played. John and Jane’s grins widened even more. Standing up, John pulled Jane to the dance floor, to her horror. 

“No no no no! What are you doing?!” she demanded, trying to hold him back.

“I believe you owe me a dance, if I recall. C’mon, it’ll be fine.” 

“I’d rather dig my own grave,” Jane muttered, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

John, having heard her muttered, rolled his eyes, while shaking his head. He found a spot in the middle of the dance floors, and pulled her in close. He pulled Jane toward him, turning her around so their bodies moved together in tandem with the music. 

When the tune ended, Jane turned around and wrapped her arms around John’s neck. 

“Hey, handsome. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, beautiful,” he said as he leaned in close.

Their lips met, Jane’s lips parting John’s, her tongue sliding inside his. He placed the palms of his hands against her cheeks, holding her close. They were completely oblivious to their surroundings as people milled around them on the dance floor, and the lights flashed around them. 

Jane pulled away, breathless. They gasped for air. Jane giggled, a new idea forming her head as she pulled John off the dance floor. 

“Where’re we going?” he called out to her. 

She looked over her shoulder at him, a finger placed on her lips. She led them to the women’s washroom, pressed the panel on the door, and pulled John inside. John smirked, pinning Jane against the wall. He activated his omni-tool, locking the door to any intruders. Jane fumbled with his belt, as he untucked her shirt, pulling it just over her breast, then unhooked her bra.  He fumbled with her belt, then yanked her pants down, untied the laces of her boots, she took them off one by one, throwing them on the floor carelessly. She stepped over them, leaving them in a heap on the floor. Jane yanked John’s pants down, in turn, his cock bounced free. She pulls at his shirt, and he lifts his arms up, reaches back to help her take his shirt off. 

Jane hopped, wrapping her legs around John’s waist. He grabbed her bottom cheeks, walked to the counter, while trying not to trip as his briefs and pants bunched up at his feet, and placed Jane on the counter. Jane reached between them, guiding him inside her. She planted her lips against his. An audible gasped escaped her lips as he completely entered her, thrusting like a man with a purpose. 

Jane nibbled and pulled on his lower lip with her teeth, not being shy of her moaning, as John’s hands massaged her breasts, rolling her nipples between forefinger and thumb, and pulling. 

Jane’s lips explored John’s, then her tongue met his, twirling together. They're panting heavy, breathless, covered in sweat as their heartbeat elevates. Locked in a spur of the moment passion. Her nails dig into the skin of his neck and shoulder as they trail down, her walls contracting around his erection. 

They cried out in pleasure as they climaxed together. John slumped over Jane, his head resting up against her shoulder, as he took a moment to catch his breath. He pressed his lips against the crook of her neck, and chuckled slightly.

‘Well. I didn’t expect my night to turn out like this,’ he said between the kisses he planted along her neck, jawline, her lips, then the tip of her nose, and both cheeks trailing along her freckles.

“Well handsome, better get out of here before your wife catches you in here,” Jane teased.

He pulled out of her, planting another kiss on her lips, he lifted his briefs and pants back up, then buckled his belt. 

“I think it’s a little too late, wife,” he jested as he winked at her. 

He lifted her pants from off the floor, then tossed them to her. She put them back on, then jumped off the counter, to put her boots back on. She laced them up as John put his shirt back on. He walked behind her, strapping her bra back on, then pulling her shirt back down. Once Jane’s boots had been laced back up, she adjusted her bra then tucked in her shirt in her pants, then buckled her belt. 

 John activated his omni-tool, unlocking the door.  

“You ready for that drink now?” he chuckled. 

“Yeah, Hanley is probably wondering where we are.”

“Somehow, I very much doubt that,” John laughed, as they walked out the women’s washroom, hand in hand, and headed back to the bar to rejoin their friend.