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theoriginalladya · 4 years

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27 100 ways to say I love you for Caleb x Kaidan

from this list

on AO3 here

Some Caleb and Kaidan set in ME1 prior to their romance, actually. Still, small things lead to bigger ones, right? Set right after Virmire. A bit sad maybe, more bittersweet, but in the long run I think it works well. Under cut due to length.

~~~

After dismissing the others, Caleb can’t exit the comms room fast enough. Between the disastrous outcome of the mission and the lack of sensitivity on the Council’s part, he is absolutely livid. It takes every ounce of willpower within him to keep from cursing up a blue streak and losing his temper – in Irish, just to be safe, but he still can’t count out a well-placed assistant on any of their staffs – but he manages, barely. Logically, he knows returning to the Citadel is the right call, especially if he wants to have backup going after Saren, but it does very little in the way of calming him. And after Virmire, he needs calming.

Heading through the CIC, he descends to the crew deck, but once he reaches the base of the steps, he hesitates. He really should head to his own cabin; his gear needs attention, and God knows he could do with a rest after events on Virmire, but his thoughts are elsewhere for the very same reason, so he doesn’t. Instead, he calls the lift and takes it down to the cargo bay where he spends the next few hours cleaning out Williams’ locker and her work station, packing her personal belongings away in a shipping crate that he carefully secures and labels. He still has a letter to write, one he isn’t looking forward to but has far too much experience with. He’ll add it later, securing it to the crate with her things. When they arrive at the Citadel, he plans to personally see it gets onto an Alliance transport back to her family. Ashley deserved a hell of a lot more in life than she got; he’s going to do what he can to see that she gets it now, even if it’s the last thing he does.

A quick glance at his chronometer when he’s done explains why he finds himself alone in the cargo bay; it’s 01h16. Only third watch is up this late, all sensible crew members are asleep in their beds or pods. With that in mind, he finally gives in and heads to his cabin.

He doesn’t get more than a half step inside the room before he hesitates. He sees her face in his mind’s eye, hears her voice insist he protect Alenko and the bomb instead of coming for her. The weeks and months of chasing Saren suddenly come to a drastic, unexpected halt as a result; a young life cut short far too soon. One hand rises almost of its own accord to rub over his left breast, attempting to ease the ache there. It doesn’t do any good, of course, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.

“Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat,” he mutters then spins on his heel needing to be any place but here …

… and runs straight into Kaidan. Throwing his hands out is automatic, and he catches the lieutenant before either of them can fall. “Sorry.”

“My fault,” Kaidan replies, stepping back out of his way.

A quick assessment is all Caleb needs to see something isn’t right with him, and he steps to the side, gesturing him into the room. “Come on in,” he invites, putting as much warmth into the words as he can just now. Whether he’s successful at that or not, he doesn’t know, but Kaidan is agreeable and moves into the room. “Did you need something?” He doesn’t wait for his answer, but walks on over to one of his storage lockers and retrieves a dark bottle and two glasses.

Kaidan sighs heavily, the sound echoes throughout the small room. “I just … I can’t stop thinking about Ashley,” he admits after a minute or two.

Caleb sets the glasses onto the table and opens the bottle, pouring two-fingers worth of the liquid into each. When he finishes, he caps the bottle then nudges a glass in Kaidan’s direction. The lieutenant seems startled at first, but catches himself after a moment and takes it in hand. Only then does Caleb lift his glass. Instead of his usual toast, he murmurs, “Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.” At Kaidan’s quizzical look, he clarifies, “May she rest in peace.”

Kaidan nods and lifts his glass, clinking it softly against Caleb’s. They drink in silence, each to their own thoughts, own memories. When their glasses are empty, Kaidan sets his on the table. Caleb is about to reach for the current bottle, but a twitch of distaste at his lips. “Not to your liking?”

Kaidan shrugs but says nothing.

Grabbing what he affectionately refers to as the good stuff, he returns it to the storage locker and snags a different bottle. “How about this?” he asks, tilting it so Kaidan can see the label. When Kaidan hesitates, Caleb provides a smile of encouragement. “Try some,” he insists. “I promise, it’s good.”

Kaidan chuckles softly, conceding with a slight nod of his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a commander quite so … well-versed, shall we say, in spirits?”

The smile that follows doesn’t reach his eyes as Caleb pours another two-fingers worth into their glasses. This time, he reverts to his standard toast. “Sláinte.” Their glasses clink lightly and they down the liquid in one gulp. This time as he sets his glass down, Caleb takes a seat.

Kaidan follows. “What was that you said?”

“Hmm?” Rubbing his hands over his face, Caleb tilts his head until he can see the lieutenant. “Sláinte? It means ‘good health.’”

Kaidan shakes his head. “No, before. When we were at the door,” he clarifies.

Caleb frowns and tries to think back. So many things he says, so many in Irish, even, and he does it without really thinking about it at the time. How is he supposed to remember?

“Sounded like something about a … cat?”

From one instant to the next, it’s as if a light turns on in his head. “Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat,” he repeats.

“Yeah, that one.”

Chuckling, Caleb pours himself one last drink. This time, he silently salutes his friend, hoping she is watching down over them and keeping them safe for the rest of this mission. “Loosely translated, it means, May the cat eat you, and may the divil eat the cat.”

Kaidan waits a moment or two before he asks, “What the hell does that mean?”

Sitting back up, Caleb shrugs. “I was wishing Saren and surefire one-way ticket to hell, simply put.” He looks over at Kaidan and tips his chin toward the bottle, but the lieutenant shakes his head. Pushing both the bottle and his glass to the side, Caleb settles his hands on the table as he turns toward his friend. “Look, Kaidan, I –.”

Shaking his head, Kaidan waves off the comment. “I’m sorry I put you into such a position to begin with,” he says quietly. His fingers fiddle with his glass. “I … shouldn’t have, and now? … The shock of losing Ash like that, it just …”

Caleb reaches over and plucks the glass from his hands before covering them with one of his to keep them still. “The whole situation shouldn’t have happened the way it did,” he corrects. “Ashley should be here now, drinking with us; it should never have been you or her. But she isn’t here, and that’s Saren’s fault, not yours, not mine. Understand?”

Kaidan’s closes his eyes for a minute, but he nods.

Pulling back, Caleb asks, “Do you remember that night on Arcturus, when we finally went out for the drink I owed you?”

His eyes open again and focus across the table with the question. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Caleb shrugs. “I made some comment about how things played out on Akuze. And you said …?”

“Situations like that are out of your control. There isn’t anything you could have done to change the outcome,” Kaidan repeats. “Something like that, anyway.”

“I think we both know Ash would agree with that.” Caleb leans back in his seat and sighs. “I hate losing people under my command. But it happens. Will happen again, no matter how I wish it won’t. Virmire … Akuze … the streets of Shannon. Doesn’t matter where or who, it happens. But each time, I try to learn something from it – take something that might just keep it from happening again, or at least will lessen the numbers.”

A thoughtful look crosses Kaidan’s face. “And this time?”

Huffing softly, Caleb admits, “Still working that out.”

After several more moments of quiet, Kaidan pushes to his feet. “Well, thanks for the talk, commander, and the drink. I –.”

Caleb’s eyes narrow to slits. “Alenko, what have I told you?”

“Sir – .”

He folds his arms across his chest, giving his most intimidating stare. Granted, after three quick drinks, it’s probably less than effective. Probably. But he’s got his N7 training behind it, too. That has to count for something.

Kaidan sighs again and grumbles, “Fine, Shepard.”

Intimidation slips easily into amusement. “Was that so difficult? At least I’m not asking you to call me by my given name.”

“The point,” Kaidan continues acting as if he hadn’t been interrupted, though the hint of pink at his cheeks states otherwise, “I was trying to make was, thank you. For taking the time to talk. For the drinks. For …”

He eases up immediately, sensing the completion of that thought. “For remembering Ashley?”

“Yeah.”

“Not likely I’ll forget her.”

“No, I wasn’t suggesting you would. I mean – .”

Rising, Caleb shakes his head. “I remember every single person I’ve lost over the years under my command,” he says quietly. “Ashley won’t ever be forgotten.” And if he has his way about it, the entire family won’t ever be forgotten again.

“Thank you, sir.” Kaidan slides to attention. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

The minute the door shuts behind the lieutenant, Caleb pours one more drink. It isn’t what he’d prefer, but the bottle is right in front of him. Lifting his glass, he stares across the room at the door and lifts the glass and begins to recite, “Ciara, Colin, Sean, Brennan, Nora, Aoife, Killian and Siobhan.” Each name comes easily from his memory, gliding off his tongue with his easy lilt. He continues through the names of his unit on Akuze, of the couple of personnel lost over the years on his N7 missions, then hesitates as he concludes, “welcome her with open arms, if you’d be so kind. Like you, she was the best of us and deserves the homecoming. May good luck be with you Wherever you go, and your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.”

When he finally tumbles into bed and falls to sleep that night, his dreams are blessedly still and empty for the first night in what feels like forever …

#100 Ways to Say I Love You prompt #ladya writes #Caleb Shepard #mshenko #OTP: Brothers in arms #Kaidan Alenko #mallaidhsomo

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ramblinganthropologist · 3 years

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N7 Challenge - 5 (Cruelty)

Summary: It was cruel fate that stuck Garrus in that cafe, waiting for his fake date so they could get that mission going. He would’ve been so much better as the tech oversight guy... damn the fact Shepard’s too gay to pretend to be into a woman realistically.

(Aka, Chris plays fast and loose with the rules.)

ME1

---

It was a lovely day on the Citadel... and Garrus was in hell.

'Relax, you're as stiff as a board. Nobody's going to believe you're on a date like that.'

His mandibles twitched as he listened to Tali through his hidden transmitter. Normally, this was where his visor would come in handy... except he wasn't allowed to wear it. No, apparently that was against the first date dress code and he'd been made to leave it on the Normandy along with his armor and weapons.

Well, he had a pistol stowed away... but that wasn't the same as his rifle, damn it.

“I still don't get why I'm the one who had to do it.”

'We needed a tech expert, and Shepard says... Shepard, what did he say again?'

'He's too fucking gay to fake being into a woman, so Tali was out. You were the only one left, Mandibles.'

The other Shepard's deep voice disrupted the quarian's electronic tones. Garrus hadn't been expecting it – the sudden change made him wince a little. Luckily, nobody at the cafe noticed. They were too busy eye-fucking their dates.

He knew this place, had walked past it when he had still been in C-Sec. It was a popular spot for couples to have their first date thanks to the fact it was public, fairly reasonable, and offered booze if things started to go south. Had he not been on a mission, the turian definitely would've been ordering a drink or two to survive this.

After all... he had to fake being on a date with Commander Shepard.

There was a point to all this, of course. According to Alliance intel, there was something strange about this cafe and the fact a lot of well-armed people tended to stop by after hours. He hadn't heard whispers of it being a front for something, but it had been sometime since he had walked a beat. For all he knew, someone could have moved in while he was gone.

That... or he just hadn't really cared. Scoping out hot date spots had never been high on his priority list.

“Where is my date anyway? He didn't run away at the thought of being in public, did he?”

Garrus hadn't meant to use that much scorn, but it leaked out anyway. It wasn't as if he disliked the man, per se … just found him incredibly odd and more than a little off-putting. He had a way of catching you off guard and hammering home that made the turian uneasy, not to mention his strange hamster tending habits. Add in the fact they had met by colliding into each other and... well, maybe he was a little salty.

So, he didn't dislike the Commander... but maybe they weren't quite to like just yet.

'You're not that ugly, Mandibles.' The Normandy's XO sounded bored on the other end. 'I think he's scoping the area out. Make sure to appreciate the view when you see him, I worked my ass off getting him ready.'

'She really did a good job, I'll be amazed if you recognize him at all.'

Well, that was perfect. Guess they were going for the blind date angle and taking it to the extreme.

“Thanks.” Now he really meant the sarcasm as he sipped at his water. If he was on a date, he should probably wait before he ordered anything. That was polite, right? “I swear, you two are enjoying watching me suffer.”

He could expect that from the human, but Tali's cruelty really caught him off guard. Who would have known the quarian had it in her?

The line went quiet not long after that – no doubt they'd gotten their fill of his misery. Garrus was left to glance around in the hopes he might spot Shepard. He had already checked all the obvious spots, but nobody quite fit the profile of short and kind of awkward looking.

Ok.. maybe that was mean. But the guy was awkward. Even he said so.

“Where are you...” Garrus' mandibles twitched as he kept looking. Really, it was couples as far as the eye could see. Apart from a couple school-age looking girls gossiping, everyone else looked to be on a date. There was nobody who stood out as being on their own, especially not someone who looked to be casing the joint. “Shit, he better not be the girls.”

Before he could worry if he was going to have to ask one of the teenagers if they were actually a fully grown man in disguise, a shadow fell across the table. He looked up, expecting to have to apologize to the waitress for taking so long to order. The excuse was already on his tongue – his date wasn't there yet. But then it died on his tongue.

There was a man standing there, human and wearing the tightest jeans Garrus had ever seen. He gave a little wave as he smiled, eyes sparkling. Well, eye – the other one was covered by his blue-streaked blonde hair.

“Hey there, been waiting long?”

Garrus' brain had short-circuited long ago. It didn't help that his tongue had somehow glued itself to the roof of his mouth of the sight of the man and his incredibly tight pants. Really... he must have had to paint those damn things on. Weren't humans concerned with ball space or something? Their genitals were on the outside...

…

Also wasn't he supposed to be straight? Why was he checking some dude's ass out?

Right, words. “Uh... what?”

The man chuckled as he sat down. “Sorry I was late, I know we said we'd meet at 2 but I got held up at work. You didn't wait long, did you?”

By now, the turian's brain was thoroughly fried. Somehow, someone had mistaken him for their date. Scenarios to get him out ran by quickly – the most obvious being to tell him that he wasn't there on a date at all. But that would probably break his cover...

And more importantly, Shepard and Tali would enjoy it way too much. They were evil.

“I...”

“Anyway, thanks for waiting for me. I hear this place has great tea. Not sure what you can get, though. Are you allergic to levo?” The man's voice lowered as he leaned forward to whisper to Garrus. “Perimeter's clear, though the back door has some pretty serious locks for a simple business. I think we're onto something.”

…

His brain turned back on. “Wait... Shepard?”

The man's cheeks turned pink as he sat back down, playing with the ends of what Garrus realized now was most definitely a wig. “I told her it was too much, but she said otherwise I would've been too easy to spot.”

In theory, that made sense – Shepard was the first human Spectre. Pretty much everyone had seen the video of him accepting the position at least once. To say a small human with a bight red military haircut and a missing eye would've stuck out in a popular cafe was putting it mildly. Honestly if any of this was actually true, it might have gotten guns pulled on them had they tried it.

Which, probably would've made things easier but they were trying to be subtle.

“Well... she's right. Those two are probably enjoying this.” He moved in closer as well, if only to prolong the image. That close, he could definitely smell Shepard had been sprayed with something that wasn't sweat. It wasn't bad just... odd. “So... see anything else?”

Shepard pulled the menu so he could flip his wrist over to expose his omni-tool. Specs popped up, showing the blueprint of the building. Garrus' facial plates twitched as he gave it a brief once over, stopping at the basement level.

It was pretty damn big... maybe too big for a restaurant.

“I think it's shared with a building halfway down the block that has connections to the Blue Suns.” Another spec, for a place Garrus definitely remembered as being a suspected front for something. They had still been working on it when he left C-SEC. Maybe they'd wind up wrapping two cases. “It'd probably be easier to get into this one once it closes up...”

That would be in a couple hours... so they were probably doing dinner then.

“Hi there, are you two ready to order?”

Both men sprung back up as they realized they had company. A cheery looking waitress had appeared, smiling at them like she knew what was going on. At the same time, the pocket of her uniform was sitting a little weird. Maybe it was a datapad... but maybe she was packing heat. The Blue Suns were getting creative with their recruiting.

“Uh, yeah. I'd like a strawberry soda for now.” Shepard had dropped his voice way below where Garrus thought he could, and his accent was different. He grinned as he turned to the turian. “How about you, big guy? Pretty sure I picked somewhere you could eat.”

It was hard to keep his mandibles from twitching. This was going to be a long night. Luckily, there were no turians around to pick up his subvocals as he shot murder over at the human. Instead, he checked the menu fast – honestly, he had forgotten it was there.

“Coffee is fine by me.” And then he remembered he had to pretend to be into Shepard. The pants helped. “Wouldn't want to be bouncing off the walls and kill the chance of a second date.”

The waitress giggled – maybe that was a datapad. That, or she was one hell of an actress. “That's one strawberry soda and a coffee for the cute couple at table 5 then. Be right back!”

And then she was gone. Both breathed a sigh of relief as they relaxed – it was a little harder for Shepard for obvious reasons. But at least they had managed to pass the first round of this fake dating nightmare.

“You didn't seem like the coffee kind of guy, Garrus.” His fake date sounded a little too honest as he leaned back. The turian would have thought him using the position to look around under the wig, but he knew better – that eye was dead. “Let me guess, you take it black as night and bitter as hell?”

Garrus' mandibles twitched a little. “Not big on sugar. Clearly that's not the case with you. You planning to bounce around all date?”

“Some of us need the energy. Besides, if you think this is bad you should see me slam pixie sticks sometime.”

Just the thought of it made Garrus twitch. Biotics and their energy requirements...

“Right, well, we should start to figure out where we're going next.” His eyes wandered back to the storefront. “Maybe a walk around? There's a park nearby that's beautiful at night.”

Shepard smiled at him, and his stomach flopped. Maybe it was the fact he hadn't eaten anything. “Sounds good to me. Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourself so if you try to murder me and shove me in a trash can, I can text my sister beforehand so she knows who to tell C-SEC about when you go to the bathroom.”

Despite everything, Garrus found himself laughing. The human chuckled as well, maybe in spite of himself. Honestly, the whole thing was just utterly ridiculous and the plot of some cruel spirit that enjoyed jerking them around. Somewhere, they were enjoying this.

Fucking spirits...

“You two are doing great. Shepard's scan gave me a weak point you can access once the building is shut down.'

Tali was back in his earpiece. From the sound of things, she wasn't in engineering anymore. Wherever she was heading this mission's tech corner was somewhere much quieter, and with a little less foot traffic. Maybe they wanted to enjoy this in private.

'Tell Al to fix his shirt, unless he wants to show his new underwear off when you two go to take your walk.'

The other Shepard sounded almost amused by this. Garrus felt his mandibles twitch as he glanced over at the human sitting across from him. Shepard had taken to folding a napkin again and again, turning it into a rather lopsided bird. If it were real, it probably would've been spawned near a toxic waste dump and probably glowed under black light.

But at least he was doing something with his hands that wasn't too suspicious.

“Hey, I know this is awkward because I shouldn't be staring at your ass yet-” At least Shepard had the sense to chuckle at that. “But... might want to pull your shirt down.”

The blush that colored Shepard's cheeks was definitely real as he tugged his shirt down over those skin tight pants. Hooray for method acting, he assumed. If they kept this up, people might actually believe they were a couple.

Maybe. Spirits, this was hard.

“Thanks...”

“No problem.” The turian nodded as he spotted the waitress. “I spot my coffee and your sugar syrup. Refuel for round two?”

They would need it – he was starting to get the feeling things might get interesting after all. After all, it wasn't every day he faked being someone's date to get into an underground facility with a Spectre in skinny jeans.

Now that was something even the writers of Blasto couldn't come up with... too bad he was living it instead of watching it. At least he got coffee...

#n7month #ramblinganthropologist's writing #Alistair Shepard #Garrus Vakarian #fake Shakarian #it'll be real Shakarian eventually #just give it time and trauma'

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annakie · 4 years

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An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Thirteen

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Last Time: We arrived on Feros, helped the struggling colony, and headed across the Skybridge.

This Time: Falling metal bugs, capitalism, and gas grenades.

Let’s keep moving across the skybridge.

Oh we’re picking up radio transmissions that there’s some people in the area looking for some loot? Should probably help those idiots out.

Whoops, too late. Man I hope you sacrificed yourself to the Geth for some truly great loot.

*sad trumpet sounds* Annnnd.... all reduced straight to Omnigel.

Finally, across the skybridge, and time for a pretty fun battle getting into the facility! Boom!

During my last playthrough, I remembered I’d made a post on tumblr about the really f’d up textures down in the hallway on the way into the facility, so I was like “Hey, I wonder if the textures are still like that?

Guess who decided to jump down here before getting the dialog at the blue door OR going into the fight behind the locked door?

Guess who hadn’t saved since leaving the colony tower?

Guess who had to do the entire skybridge again?

Anyway, good to know that ALOT fixed the textures in the hallway!

I love this fight. It’s just dropped in on you then you can watch the varren running at you QUICKLY and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed if you don’t use some well-placed biotics very quickly, and also it’s great for short-ranged weapons, which often fights in this game are not.

Also, flying varren!

Maybe one of the best comical moments from ME1, a particularly dumb Krogan arguing with a VI.

Honestly, krogan aren’t dumb? At least not any more dumb than most humans. I’m glad they got out of that mindset. We have Wrex, starting to get to know him and see how he’s survived so long and later becomes a great leader. Ryder has Drack, and a whole colony of Krogan using their ingenuity to survive.

Obviously by now we know that things are super F’d up, but throwing something called The Thorian at us WHILE we’re in a tower full of geth and hostile Krogan is like a whole other level of scary.

I mean thanks for the security clearance and all, but Lizbeth should have given us the rundown ahead of time. Did she think we weren’t going to find out?? Lizbeth, c’mon, we’re here to save you, and your mom is pretty cool.

Anyway, thanks for the info, VI! Moving on...

Oh neat, GIANT CLAWS STICKING THROUGH THE BUILDING. All of this is very Normal.

This fight is like, so easy with a well-placed Singularity!

But seriously, what IS the deal with the orb? We never really find out. It’s one of those dropped threads that never gets picked up again, and I don’t think we see another orb.

This hallway fight against THREE CHARGING KROGAN is definitely not terrifying, or impossible feeling on Insanity when I played. Nope.

Real glad I’m still wearing armor with all of 20 shields on it! Thank you, Niftu Cal for Barrier.

Believe it or not, Tali survived.

Of course, fighting through the Krogan was totally worth it for Gavin’s data. Or more like, the very eventual results of said data.

Mmm... yeah. Awesome.

Now that’s what I call teamwork!

Thanks, ExoGeni and Geth for leaving important data just laying around for me to find out!

Oh no... math. Nobody told me there’d be math in this game!

Actually, it’s pretty easy to figure out, and there’s two right answers! But still a decent small puzzle.

And the conclusion is so, SO satisfying.

Buh-bye!

Annnd... done here! Back to Tower One!

Plus, we can talk to Joker again! Oh, Zombies, pounding on the Normandy door? You’re FINE, Joker! Uhh don’t we have like, Wrex, Garrus, Liara and Ashley just hanging out in there? Should tell them to suit up and clear that out! Don’t want zombies putting scratches and dents into my ship!!

This guy doesn’t trust Cerberus, eh? And they’re doing something shady? I’m sure it’s fine and we can totally trust them and NOT ever be mad at someone who doesn’t want to join them!!

Time to go.

Aw, right. Lizbeth. FINE.

Hey, I’ve only ever written five Mass Effect fics, and they’re all pretty short, and it’s been a long time and my writing has gotten somewhat better since I wrote this, but one of the five fics I’ve written is about this moment, right here! Link: AO3, Four’s A Crowd. The drive back with Lizbeth in the Mako! (Except in the fic, I brought Wrex along to amp up the reasons why things had to happen like they did.) It’s all Shenko, and 2500 words.

(Nevermind the typo in the gif.)

Thanks game, for keeping the mako as we parked it and forcing a u-turn and then putting big blocks and mounds of rock in the way. Very cool of you.

100% expert Mako driving here, y’all.

Believe it or not, I didn’t fall off the edge.

Yes, Lizbeth. Run out of the protection of the Mako WITHOUT your highly-trained military escort. Good thinking.

Have we said fuck you to Jeong lately? No? Jeong, fuck you for holding Juliana at gunpoint. Bootlicker.

Let me explain to you how this is gonna go.

Honestly, I’m kind of regretting my decision here to let Jeong live. Not letting ExoGeni purge the colony is the only reason you get to live.

Annnd... done! Now to not think about you again for like, fifty hours.

Time to get back to the colony!

Ummm....

Well... that’s not great.

Glad we’ve got that clear, now let’s kill some zombies!

FUN!

Now time to kindly put some colonists to sleep, saving their lives.

*cough*

Time to REMEMBER TO EQUIP THE GAS GRENADE and put some colonists to sleep, saving their lives!!!!

That’s better.

No that’s cool, just keep shooting at me. My 20 shields can take it. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Believe it or not... all 16 colonists saved on only the second try!

So lets’s find the secret, hidden staircase and...

Damn.

I’m truly sorry things went down like that, Fai Dan. I wish I could have saved you.

I was going to try and finish up Feros in this update, but this feels like a good place to end it. Next time... the Thorian, and back to the ship.

#mass effect #bioware #kaidan alenko #tali'zorah #video games #annakie's mass effect stuff

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dgcatanisiri · 7 years

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Got asked about BioWare fandom and prime numbers... (Also a specific request for Mass Effect on #1)

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Aside from any crackship... I don’t think any of them is quite at the level of ‘don��t get.’ I don’t care for certain relationships, but I generally can understand what would make someone ship them. It helps that, with the variety of romance options, I can at least get where they come from. Hell, as much as I hate the pairing, I understand where Anders/Fenris emerged from. I firmly believe it has a less than zero chance of being anything more than a hateful unhealthy abusive shitshow, but I understand where it comes from.

I think the closest to ‘not get’ I have is Ryder/Cora, which is really just out of the fact that, despite her being a romance option in the game, I really seriously genuinely feel that she should not have been one, that not only would her characterization be tightened by this no longer being on the table, it would allow her to be more of a rival/antagonistic element to Ryder’s decisions, by not having her developing feelings for Ryder while also not seeming to care for them. Though I’m not sure Ryder/Cora counts as a fandom OTP, since the overall impression I’ve gotten of her as far as fandom cares is a resounding ‘meh’...

Maybe I’d throw in Dorian/Cullen here, but I think what I don’t “get” in this is that people will ship this, but when I express a desire for Male Inquisitor/Cullen, I’m ‘changing his sexuality’ and that makes me ‘just as bad’ as anyone who’d change Dorian to be romanceable by a woman... Yeah, let’s not even go there.

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*

Warden/Morrigan. I just really see Morrigan needing the Warden as a friend more than a lover. At least considering that I’m over here playing male Wardens (because I stand by Morrigan being a bisexual woman and it is bullshit that she’s not a romance option for female Wardens). I think Morrigan is in a place where she needs, first and foremost, someone who wants nothing from her but her friendship and companionship, things she’s never been asked to offer before. Sex, sure, she’d use that as a weapon. But to offer her someone who she can be vulnerable with, who doesn’t want to use her at all... That’s new territory for her. The Morrigan/Warden friendship is a greatly unappreciated dynamic.

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Not that I can recall. I generally won’t follow someone unless either we share the big ones or they show that they’re respectful of those who disagree.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

Not really in the BioWare fandom. As a general rule of thumb, I try and cultivate my experience to enhance my love, not have it undermined.

Though (dis)honorable mention to the Shakarian fandom - I’m a male Shepard player through and through (since, y’know, gay guy, rare chance to play a M/M relationship in video games), but it’s like some of them are TRYING to make people hate the ship, given the way that they’ll push Shakarian to the center of the stage and tear down Kaidan. These are also usually the people who hardcore push this belief that female Shepard and Jennifer Hale are empirically ‘superior’ in every way, too, so they can bite me twice over.

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?*

I think the closest that counts is Dorian, in that I wasn’t thrilled or wowed by his romance in Inquisition, but would probably have given it another go, if not for Trespasser having him declare the relationship would be long-distance, no discussion allowed. After that, the luster wore off of the character for me, and I really can’t stand him, don’t WANT to see him have the cameo that they shot his romance in the foot to set up.

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I’m going to stick Kaidan in this category - when BioWare themselves is misspelling his name on their official merchandise, I’m pretty sure that counts. Though, as my tag for her indicates, this is an Ashley Williams appreciation blog, and the fandom hates her too...

As for the why... Kaidan is the trilogy character most like me, which is what always draws me in to a romance - let me romance this idealized version of myself with the dashing hero, give me that confidence boost that there’s someone out there who I’d be attracted to who would return those feelings. And Ashley, legitimately, is hated for bullshit reasoning that I will have no part of. She’s fun, badass, and literally doesn’t deserve the hate she gets - if these people who are pissed about her MAYBE killing Wrex REALLY cared about him, they’d do his damn quest and recover his grandfather’s armor.

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

I don’t like Dorian. I think he’s a shallow character with limited (if any) development in Inquisition, who is raised on a pedestal because of the novelty of a gay character of prominence in a media generally devoid of them entirely, as well as a vocal performance that gives him more personality than his writing offered. And his story is a paint by the numbers story I’ve seen a dozen times over that brought nothing worthwhile to the table that hadn’t been brought before, and it only exists to do the emotional lifting to make the audience feel bad for Dorian, rather than genuinely attempting to make the audience care. AND that he’s there first and foremost for the straight female audience to have a ‘pet gay best friend,’ with no care or concern for the gay audience.

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

How long have you got? Kaidan in ME1, Alistair, and Cullen as bisexual romances (in Cullen’s case, for all Inquisitors, so I don’t have to give up my Adaars) are the big ones, but I’ve got a list a mile long of things that if I had the power, you BET would have happened.

Though, at the moment, Andromeda DLC is right around the top of the list too...

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Lordie... The utter toxicity. You have to do, say, and choose JUST RIGHT or face a million people coming for your head. And, of course, that ‘just right’ position is impossible to attain. There will always be SOMEONE who doesn’t like what you do in your games and will want to rip you a new one for it.

23. Unpopular character you love?

Kinda the same question as #11, but I’ll give a different answer anyway - Gil is unpopular for understandable reasons. It’s clear his story wasn’t a priority for his writer, and it’s a mess of homophobic elements that consulting actual gay people could have prevented. Still, as a character, I love him. He deserved better than he got, especially when the patches did nothing for him and the cutting of any DLC for Andromeda prevent any kind of authorial saving throw, but I will love him all the same.

And try and fix a lot of these problems through fic.

#dg replies #dg does a meme #leia connor vas serenity #kyogre-blue

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felassan · 7 years

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What's your favorite "Final mission" out of the four Mass Effect games? The Citadel attack in ME1, the Suicide Mission in ME2, London/The Citadel finale ME3, or the Meridian sequence in Andromeda? Right now... I love how everything you've done throughout the game comes together in Andromeda, and the squadmembers you DON'T bring still show up because... of course they would, so Andromeda's probably at the top of my list right now. (+real epilogue = awesomesauce)

awesome question! thanks. Mmm.. you know, I like different things about each of them. cut for length.

The Meridian sequence is great for having a proper, detailed, lengthy, character-interaction focused epilogue. like, not just a last pre-final-battle conversation with each teammate as the send-off. It reminded me of going around talking to the companions after the coronation before you exit to Denerim in DA:O - something I liked a lot. it was also good as you say for the parts where things you did and choices you made throughout the game came together during it. seeing all the different factions and characters working together was impactful after the headache of trying to get everyone to make nice and get along, and benched squadmates joining in the fight at points was great. the Nomad section and choice of temporary ambassador gave me nostalgic flashbacks to the race to the Conduit in the Mako and choosing Anderson or Udina in ME1. I know there’s the nice scene on the bridge, but I did miss the classic “LI comes to your quarters the night before/on the way to Final Mission” element from the OT.there are a lot of plotthreads still unresolved, left hanging or even straight-up brought up properly for the first time in the final act of the game. the ending of ME:A feels like a beginning, not an ending - like the story of Ryder and their crew is just getting started. whether that feeling improves or takes away from the ending is going to depend on the person. personally, for this reason, if the next ME game doesn’t have Ryder as the PC it runs the risk of falling flat. feels like Ryder will return as the PC though so that’s probably a moot worry.

another good thing about the end of ME:A is that they seem to have avoided the mistakes that the end of ME3 got criticized for.

the Battle of the Citadel feels the most.. space operatic, classically heroic, retro sci-fi. the ending has this foreboding feeling with the sheer scale and threat of the looming unknown, and Shepard is determined in the face of it.

The Suicide Mission is amazing because it’s not just choices you made throughout the game coming together or having an influence, you’re actively making meaningful tactical decisions during the mission itself (as opposed to a set mission then a final choice or two) which have instant, very-real consequences (perma character death). like a real commander in a real battle, a battle you’ve spent an entire game prepping for. I managed to get us all out alive without consulting a guide, but still, my first runthrough of the SM was the most stressful hour/couple hours I’ve spent in a game to date.. stressful in a good way ofc. are we prepared enough to make the jump through the relay now? have I prepared enough? I debated back and forth for ages about who to assign for what task, then worried about them the whole agonizing way, hoping against hope I wasn’t going to lose these characters that I cared about so much.. I still remember after I’d completed the game, I watched the SM like fuck up a friend of mine on camera, and it was just like, jesus.. ow. we set it up so she was livestreaming it and I could watch her screen and face/reaction as stuff unfolded. she was stressing out about the choices like I had done (the rule was, I couldn’t help her with the decisions), and she sent her LI, Thane, into the vents.. course, he died and she like, crumpled in on herself, and it was surprisingly tough to see her like that. hi there if you’re reading btw LOL sry not sry for detailing your misery, it was necessary to highlight the impact of choice in the SM.. totes.

the SM is cinematically and musically strong too.

the ME3 ending debacle is old ground and there’s no sense in beating a dead horse. say what you will about the ending of ME3, but with the Extended Cut I like it a lot. the EC fixed my four or so main issues that I had with the original ending, and it was free, so yeah. I find the ending of ME3 to be the most emotionally impactful of all of them.. I still cry every time I play through it. it’s hard for the endings of the other games to compete with the level of emotion there though, because this is the climax of a trilogy, years spent with a story irl, the end of Shepard’s journey period, and the end of a massive, galaxy-ravaging war. the end of ME3 is the ending I replay most often.

the Citadel DLC is a different kettle of fish as it’s a goodbye/send-off for the OT and its cast to the fans in a meta sort of way, not the in-universe final mission/epilogue, so I don’t think it’s fair to draw comparisons there. part of why the Citadel DLC works so well is because it comes off the back of having spent years and whole games with some of the characters, having their personalities fleshed out, getting to know them, fighting alongside them in the face of complete annihilation (galactic stakes). I think that’s why some of the Citadel-DLCesque character moments with characters in ME:A feel a bit forced or fall a lil flat. there’s a few moments where it’s clear that you’re supposed to care, but it doesn’t feel natural for me, and the light-hearted overtones feel.. try-hard and scripted. we need to be fair to Andromeda in this regard though, because Shepard.. casts a very long shadow. yknow?

this doesn’t really answer your question.. if I had to pick, probably ME3.

#bioware #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #mj replies #anonymous #video games #spoilers #spoiler #mea spoilers #mea spoiler #andromeda spoilers #andromeda spoiler #mass effect andromeda spoilers #mass effect andromeda spoiler #mass effect: andromeda spoilers #mass effect: andromeda spoiler #dragon age #feels #breezytealy

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ramblinganthropologist · 4 years

Text

Writober 2020 - 18 (photograph)

Extra, extra, read all about it: someone’s about to fucking die. As they should, because who the hell honestly believes that Commander Shepard and Commander Shepard are straight anyway?

(ME1)

---

“Do you think either of them know they were seen yet?”

“Doubt it. Definitely explains the last name thing, though. How long do you think it's been?”

“Can't have been more than 5 years, they both did N7...”

Alistair was starting to get tired of people whispering. Didn't they know it was rude?

Ok, maybe his nerves were still a little frayed from the whole touch the Prothean beacon, figure out Saren is trying to kill everyone, become the first human Spectre thing. Nobody could blame him that he was a little cranky that morning as he left his office to get the Normandy where it needed to go. The fact it was actually his ship definitely didn't help either. After years of being enlisted or an officer, having free reign was... deeply uncomfortable.

He'd probably get over it, but... yeah it felt weird.

Still, even in his terrible mood it was impossible to miss the stares and the whispers from the crew whenever he walked by. Part of him had wondered if it was them gossiping about how he'd gotten the Normandy off Admiral Anderson, but... it didn't feel right. Professional whispering from the ranks was one thing, but this felt... oily. Salacious, maybe. Definitely something personal, which just amped up the gossip even more.

Now, had he been in a better mood, Alistair probably would have ignored it. The thing was, he wasn't. So he would have to be forgiven if he took a right when he should've gone straight and walked straight behind the two gossiping crew-mates. Neither of them noticed him, of course. He was quiet like that.

“What was that about N7?”

He shouldn't have enjoyed just how much air the two men cleared when they jumped out of their skins, but forgive him if he wasn't feeling just a little petty that morning. They were both 3 shades lighter as they turned to face him, and the sweat was really starting to pour down their faces. On his scale, he'd call that shit terrified.

Good.

“C-Commander Shepard, sir! W-we didn't see you there!”

He smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. “Yes, that tends to happen when someone comes up from behind you. Now, to reiterate. What was that about N7? Have either of you been asked to join the training program? My congratulations if so, it's an honor even to be asked.”

He would know – he had it tattooed above his ass. And he definitely knew nobody on his ship was in active training at the moment. It was one of the perks that came with being the Normandy's CO. The other was getting to see moment like this transpire before him.

The larger of the two was sweating bullets as he tried to figure out what to say. “N-no... nothing like that, sir.”

“Just...” the words failed the smaller one. His face screwed up as he seemingly gave up whatever he was holding back. “How long have you been married to XO Shepard?”

…

Alistair blinked slowly. “What?”

If he hadn't known better... someone had just asked if he was married to his XO. His XO, Commander Bo Peep Shepard. His XO, Commander Bo Peep Shepard, his best friend and probably the closest thing he had left to family.

What the entire fuck?

Big one rubbed the back of his neck as his face began to take color again. “It... was on the extranet a few days ago. Pictures of you two together. It implied that you two were married. We thought it would explain the shared last name and all...”

Alistair let a sigh leak from between his teeth as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “A tabloid with nothing better to do, I assume.”

He let the pinch go, shaking his head. “Mind sending that site to me? I think I need to do some correction next time we dock at the Citadel.”

The two were already racing for their omni-tools, but he could tell the question still loomed in both their eyes. After all, he could just be trying to quash the story to keep his so-called marriage quiet. These crew, lovely as they were, didn't know he or his XO well enough yet.

Maybe that was why he rolled up his sleeve to expose his tattoo. “And by the way, I think this should clarify your questions.”

He tapped the wing colored in the gay pride flag for emphasis. The other, shaded in trans pride, went without saying. Years later, he was still glad he had gotten it during pride, even if it had been somewhat of a spur of the moment choice. Ironically enough, he had gotten it with Bo – she had the lesbian colors around her ankle.

You know, because she was a fucking lesbian and he was gay as hell.

“O-oh... yeah I guess it would.” Someone's face was turning red. “Sorry, Commander...”

“Just don't spread it around anymore.” Down went his sleeve. “Now, I'm going to go see where this website is hosted...”

With that he left them, the details blooming to life on his omni-tool screen. Once they got back to the Citadel, he and Bo were going to have to take a little trip...

---

“I'm going to murder them when I get my hands on them.”

“Don't worry, I won't stop you.”

The port hissed as Bo and Alistair left the Normandy's decontamination lock and entered the Citadel docking bay. It had been a few days since the discovery on ship, and now they were at the heart of the matter. Someone was about to get their clock cleaned, and it wasn't going to be mechanically.

'Don't forget ,you two, you don't have to testify against each other in court since you're married and all~!'

Al shot a glare back at the Normandy as he pressed the communicator in his ear. “Joker-”

'Just kidding, commanders. I know what teams you two play for. I guess we'll know you found them when we see the blood spurting.'

“You better fucking believe it.” Bo's eyes were practically glowing with hostility as she stomped down the walkway that connected their ship to the dock. Around them hummed the activity of the Citadel proper. Ships sailed above their heads, people went about their business... and somewhere, a tabloid was about to get the unholy shit kicked out of it.

Alistair checked the details on his omni-tool as they began to walk. “I traced the website's ISP to a building in the Wards. Chances are, they're there.”

“If not, they're going to tell us where the fuck they are.” Her knuckles were white as she slammed them together. “Damn straights and their height kink. How the hell could anyone think I was straight?”

Yeah, that was his question – she was built like a tank and had pink hair. How the hell could anyone read that as straight?

“I mean, they thought I was straight somehow, so they don't have a great judge of character.” Alistair tapped at his omni-tool. “It would be faster if we got a taxi, but walking is an option too. Up to you honestly.”

Bo didn't answer him. He realized why once he figured out he had lost his handy patch of shade. The other Spectre had left him in order to go storm over to a nearby newsstand where people were whispering. Given a few were running...

Well, he ran over to make sure nobody died.

“I can't fucking believe this!”

She pounded her fist on the counter, and Alistair felt like doing the same once he saw it. A new story had popped up, front cover with a picture that definitely wasn't photoshopped. Bo was front and center, chatting with a rather lovely lady. Anyone who could read body language could guess the two were probably flirting, which is probably why someone had been so quick to take it. Above the photo, a bold headline proclaimed “Commander Shepard: Newlywed in Bisexual Affair?”

Oh boy... whoever took that was a dead man.

Bo rounded on him, fire in her eyes. “Taxi. Now.”

Alistair didn't need to be told twice – they were soon in the back of a cab, headed towards the Wards. To say a burning silence fell over the back was putting it mildly. Bo was gearing up to kill someone, and he... well he didn't want to be next in the tabloid.

The cab driver unfortunately didn't have the sense God gave to rocks as he surveyed the two. “Trouble in paradise, huh? Well, there's always divorce court.”

Alistair grabbed for Bo before she could crash the cab. “We're actually going to clear up we're not married!”

“Ah, that's a shame. You two make a cute couple, being the first two Spectres and all. You could've made some wicked strong biotic kids.”

“Sir when I tell you I'm the only thing keeping you alive right now, please believe me and keep driving.”

By the time they were dropped off in the Wards, Alistair was pretty sure he had lost 10 pounds keeping the cab driver alive. His arms were killing him as they stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of a nondescript office building. It had a listing on the side, telling the different businesses inside. Their next stop was on the fourth floor... so if anyone got tossed out of a window, they would probably live.

“Alright, so let's figure out what we're-”

He didn't get to finish his statement. Bo was already walking in like a woman on a mission, leaving him in the dust. All he could do was chase after her, eventually catching up on the stairs to the second floor. All the while, a receptionist chased after them.

“Excuse me, you can't just-”

Bo turned back to face her dead on. “Spectre business.”

Their tail shook a little, but... Al was pretty sure it was because she was kind of into that. She was definitely blushing a little as she backed up. “R-right... fourth floor is what you're looking for, ma'am.”

Alistair sighed as he held up his hand in an apologetic gesture. “Sorry, we'll be done quickly. Thank you for your information.”

And then he was chasing after Bo again as she took the stairs two at a time. Before long, they were standing on the fourth floor's landing. There was only one door here, labeled with a sign that called themselves Citadel Daily. They were one of many tabloids that supplied the Presidium and Wards with the lack of news people loved, and no doubt they were one of the more popular ones. After all, they were creating quite the buzz about humanity's first two Spectres.

A buzz that was about to be repaid with a lot of violence if he didn't mediate.

He managed to grab her wrist before they went in. “Let's just... try talking first.”

“It's not you they're calling a cheat, Al.” She tugged her arm away. “I'm handling this my way.”

And then she pushed the door open, probably burying the knob in the wall. All motion stopped on the other side as she stormed into the room, coming to a stop at the heart of it. All Alistair could do was enter after her pulling the door out of the wall as he did. Yep... the handle went straight through. That was going to require a patch.

Bo glared at the room filled with desks and people. Someone was reaching for a camera, a device that abruptly died as her eyes glowed red. She might not have been good with technology, but she knew how to break it just fine. No more devices came out after that – they were smart.

“I'm only going to say this one, who the fuck is John Jacobs and when are they getting the fuck out?”

Nobody moved at first. Alistair could hardly blame them as he scanned the room. Mostly, he just saw shocked wanna-be journalists and gossip columnists who had never expected this kind of treatment. After all, they weren't printing anything particularly hard hitting. Of course, their mistake had been printing about the Shepards... which was a bad idea to say the least.

He spotted someone twitching in the corner of the room. Rather than alert Bo, he began to pick his way over. Nobody would look at him, but that was fine. He had his eye on the man trying to hide behind his desktop, looking at though he might piss himself.

And as he should – from the looks of things, he was working on his latest article.

“'Commander Shepard spotted coming out of a bar with-'” He shook his head, sighing. “Mr. Jacobs, if you were even half a journalist you would know I can't drink on my medication. That's just sloppy work right there.”

The man definitely pissed himself as he backed up in his seat. “C-Commander Shepard!”

“One of them, anyway.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Bo, found him.”

Maybe that was mean, but the photoshop job on that picture had been particularly atrocious. So maybe he didn't feel bad that hell on wheels was storming over, ready to put her fist straight through this guy's head. At least he'd stop it if it came to murder...

Maybe.

Bo came to a stop in front of the desk. His desktop fizzed and died as she loomed over him. Alistair definitely smelled piss and something else as the full weight of his crimes fell upon him. And of course, nobody was dumb enough to take pictures. After all, they were Spectres and about ready to prove what happened if you tried to smear them.

Though... was it actually a smear if they did make this guy's life a living hell?

“John Jacobs?”

His answer came out shaky. “Y-Yes, that's me. I didn't expect the story to get so big, b-but-”

Too late. He was already out of his seat by the collar of his garish shirt. Bo had him at eye level, and Al was there to avoid the pants region as he watched the carnage unfold. Someone nearby had a camera up - a blue-eyed gaze quickly put a stop to that. Bo wasn't the only one who knew how to break technology.

“What the fuck was going through your demented little fucking head?” She brought him closer. “You got some kind of height kink, you nasty fuck?”

John was sweating bullets. “N-no! I just... a lot of people think you two are married! It's the same last names!”

Yeah, Alistair was doubting the lack of height kink, but at least he was trying to be honest. He was still probably going to get the shit beaten out of him, though. He kind of deserved it, what with insinuating they were not only married but... ugh... straight.

Really, how the hell did anyone think that of them?

Bo's eyes said murder and her fists were willing to comply. “Let me put it to you this way, that receptionist down there is more my type than this manlet will ever be.”

“Hey, I'm a maligned party too, don't take out your frustration on me.” Alistair rubbed the back of his neck anyway – talking about his height was a sensitive subject. “Anyway, we're very clearly not married.”

“Or straight.”

He nodded. “Or straight, yes that's kind of important. So maybe you should print a retraction on those articles and apologize so you don't get thrown out a window. You'd probably survive, but it would sure hurt a lot regardless.”

Judging by the grip on his collar, he wasn't going to get out of this without some form of damage... but maybe they could keep him from getting tossed out a window. Besides, if he pissed himself anymore he was going to start leaking on the floor. Talk about gross.

John's eyes traveled from Shepard to Shepard. “T-this is cen-”

“Oh come the fuck on, she's ready to murder you do you really wanna complain about censorship? Read the room, man.”

Normally, Alistair didn't swear. However, this man clearly didn't have sense in his head, so maybe shock methods were needed. At least he shut his mouth that time as he thought the offer over. Maybe he should think a little faster.

Bo started to move to the window. “Well, he had his chance.”

“No, wait, stop!” Both his fists couldn't fit around her wrist. “I'll print the retraction!”

She stopped a few feet from the open window. “And you'll stop writing about us. No more Shepard stories, understood?”

He started to look like he wanted to argue, but... that window was pretty damn close. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he considered his options. Then he got inched a little closer, and the decision was clearly made.

“U-Understood... I won't print anymore.”

And then he was dropped to the floor in a sad, soggy heap. Bo wheeled around and glared at the entire room. Alistair stepped forward as well, feeling much more pleasant as he surveyed the terrified reporters sitting before him.

“I hope you all understand, that goes for anyone here. Nobody gets a free pass out of defenestration, understood?”

And then his eyes glowed as another camera died. “No story about this either, by the way. I've added you guys to my omni-tool news feed, so don't think just because we're off saving people that we won't hear about it.”

Given everyone else looked like they might need a change of underwear once they left, that was another pact sealed. With any luck, they wouldn't get too stupid about their stories. Of course, if they did... it wasn't like they were going to move buildings.

“Good talk.” Bo was already throwing the door open. “Let's get the fuck out of here, it smells like piss.”

Alistair was already following her out, sighing in relief as the door shut behind them. At least nobody had died, or even been really bodily harmed in the process. As far as missions went, this was one of their more successful ones.

Then again, Bo hadn't gotten to work her frustration out, so...

“Want to hit up the Alliance training course to work out that energy before we go see Anderson?”

“Fuck yes.” Bo was already heading in that direction. “I still should've thrown him out the window. Damn your sensibilities.”

Eh he could take her being mad at him if it meant nobody died. Dissatisfaction was part of being a commanding officer.

---

Retraction on previous stories concerning Commander Bo Peep Shepard and Commander Alistair Shepard

The Citadel Daily would like to publish a retraction towards two stories it printed. Along with this, we extend a heartfelt apology to-

“Well, I guess they got the message.”

Joker was chuckling as the message read over Alistair's omni-tool. All three were gathered in the cockpit a few days later, after a successful mission on a nearby planet. The news had come in as they were on the shuttle, and he had been waiting to listen.

Bo nodded as the message finished. “They fucking better... still don't know who took those damn pictures. They're lucky I didn't find them...”

Alistair nodded as he killed the feed. “Oh, speaking of. Turns out they're a freelancer. I think I have a beat on them-”

No doubt he was starting another hunt for some poor sap, but... well, again, he didn't feel bad. After all, they had thought he was straight. Someone had to pay for that grievous misstep. And with any luck, maybe this one wouldn't wind up out a window either.

You know, maybe being the CO wasn't so bad after all. He got to schedule time for defenestration duties. Talk about a perk of running the show...

#writober2020 #ramblinganthropologist's writing #Alistair Shepard #Bo Peep Shepard #Commander Shepard #paragon shepard #renegade shepard #you can figure out who is who pretty quickly #if not they're color coded for your convenience

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