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innepttia · 2 years

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@spookyvalentine has this wonderful “50 questions about Shepard” list. They posted about it in our discord and the chat BLEW UP. So here we are with the most information ever about:

Maeve Shepard

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse

(Art by Twitter: Maitimo and tumblr: @point-maitimo )

1. Why did Shepard enlist? Any regrets?

OH YEAH - so many regrets. She enlisted because her parents were in the Alliance, but if she could have sat on a beach or in a remote cottage in the middle of a forest and listen to nature she would have been happier. But seeing as she has a spacer history, she’s not actually entirely sure how true that is. She’s never been to any of those places if it wasn’t for a mission.

2. How does your Shepard feel about having a yeoman assigned to them in 2? And in 3?

No thoughts. She accepts it, as she accepts the entirety of the crew she doesn’t get to pick.

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson?

I think everyone is going to hate me when I say this but… he’s just her coworker/boss. They’re a little friendlier than a regular colleague, but until he gives her his old apartment, she didn’t think they were good friends outside of work.

4. Is your Shepard any good at poker?

She’s not actually good at poker, but she is good at reading people, which makes up 90% of the game.

5. How well does Shepard know their crew? Not just the companions, but the folks making up the Normandy

She thinks she knows them well (I’m writing my Mass Effect Lower Decks (MELD) fic with Maeve as the Shepard). I mean she’s absolutely convinced she knows every single person, but at the beginning of ME2, hell no. At the end of ME2 (and at the end of my MELD fic), yes.

6. Initial reaction to EDI? Does it change?

Oh, she absolutely loves EDI. She’s engineer class, so AIs are quite a passion project for her, and now her ship has one? Fucking dope.

7. Does their love interest move into their quarters?

No, but he sure as fuck spends most of his time there.

8. What is their reaction to the Alchera mission? And after?

Before she goes down, she thinks it’s pandering. She thinks that the Alliance is trying to pacify her for something and she’s not entirely sure what, but she’s suspicious.

Afterwards, she’s a crying mess with a handful of dog tags and her old helmet and wants to be left alone in her cabin.

9. What type of fighter is your shepard? Do they fight with honor, or do they fight dirty

She will fight so dirty, like she will throw pocket sand in your face if she could.

10. Does Shepard keep any pets? The hamster, fish, something else?

No pets and if I could resist the hamster and fish in game, Shepard wouldn’t have any pets at all. She’s very aware she’s off to go fight in a suicide mission/war, so she doesn’t necessarily want to have more responsibility than she already has.

11. What order does Shepard pick up companions in me2?

Oh my god what a question lmao.

Zaeed and Kasumi (easiest ones), Garrus, Mordin, Jack, Grunt, Thane, Samara, Tali, Legion

12. Does Shepard have any nicknames? What do they think of em?

The aliens that can’t pronounce her name (excuse me, an a and an e RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER?!) call her M. She thinks it’s cool because of James Bond.

13. How does your Shep react to teasing/ribbing?

Teases them right back. She’s got a sharp tongue, but she knows when to stop so she doesn’t hurt anyones feelings.

14. Any good at flirting?

Middle ground on this one, I think. She’s good at picking people up at a bar, but once the flirting has to continue more than a couple minutes, she loses steam.

15. What colors does Shepard prefer for their armor?

The typical N7 colors: red, white and black.

After the war (and mentioned in my indoctrination fic), she changes her colors to match Thane 🥺: emerald and black.

16. Is Shepard a drinker? History of other substances? Do they struggle with sobriety

Oh boy. Yeah she’s a drinker. It was mostly social in ME1 and before, but after she died in the beginning of ME2, she hit the bottle hard. I have a little of Maeve written into my nameless Shepard in my Lungs fic, so if that tells you anything… She ends up swapping her drinking for a much more fun substance to abuse (drell venom).

Then she gets put in the brig for six months, is forced to sober up, and in the beginning of ME3 she’s clean. Haven’t quite decided what happens after that though.

17. How does Shepard react to attention? Do they enjoy it?

Maeve is used to it. She doesn't really think about it anymore.

18. Who’s the dream team? Which companions does Shepard fight best with and why?

I’m a fuckin simpleton and the dream team is Thane and Garrus. Maeve likes to be up close and personal so if she had a couple of long range snipers at her back… 🤌🏼

19. Are there any companions your Shepard just absolutely cannot vibe with or relate to

In ME2, she’s not a big fan of talking to Miranda and Jacob (whoops that’s mostly my fault because I am always so hype for ALL THE SQUAD) but she pretty much vibes with everyone. Get a couple drinks in her and it doesn't matter who she’s talking to.

20. Does Shepard enjoy looking for resources and upgrading gear, or do they see it as a chore?

She enjoys it! It’s the only thing in ME2 that makes her sleepy. 😂

21. Do you have any AUs for your shepard?

YAAAAHHHHHHHHH. Working on one now - an indoctrination fic. Although, is that really an AU? But I just got comfortable including her in my fics (usually used default Jane Shepard to be on the safe side) so hopefully more to come!

22. What’s the last thing Shepard ate before the final reaper showdown?

Holy shit I’ve never thought about this question. I saved this one for last and… honestly I think the last meal she ate would have been before killing Kai Leng, so it would be whatever is on the ship… probably some packet ramen? Just a quick wham bam meal. She was too focused on wrapping up her life at the end.

24. Who does Shepard turn to for advice? For comfort? Who do they like to gossip with

These are all different answers.

Advice: Samara (bruh she has a thousand years of morally grey choices to advise upon)

Comfort: Thane (he’s ALSO her best friend on top of being her LI)

Gossip: Kasumi (hands down the best choice)

25. How emotionally articulate is your Shepard? Do they emote well?

She’s funny, a lot of dry humor, but she’s emotionally constipated.

ME1, she was more liberal with her emotions, she smiled actual genuine smiles.

ME2, she’s more of a shark. Her smiles aren’t as real, mostly forced from a life that she previously knew. Maeve keeps her emotions real close to her chest.

ME3, uhhh honestly she’s just an entire mess. She’s sober for the first time in what feels like forever and it is actually not liberating for her. She’s constantly second guessing herself, she’s got the blood of millions on her hands, and she’s once more responsible for her crew’s safety on another suicide mission.

26. Does your Shepard have a romance? Who are they, and what drew Shep to them?

*shouts from the rooftops like Christian in Moulin Rouge* THANE! She falls hard for that little assassin dude. He glares at her during his recruitment mission and she’s like, oh my god am I in love?

He’s dark, mysterious, strangely polite, and also on the same course she seems to be. Both are barreling towards their deaths at an alarming speed.

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

Neither her nor I have put any thought to this. I can’t even think of any of my own pet peeves now that this question has been asked 😂

28. What about hyperfixations? What’s the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place

Oh man, I feel like my Shepard is just so depressing…

Since ME2 she doesn’t have any hyperfixations. No time to enjoy anything but the people around her.

Prior to ME2, she used to be up on all the most recent video games. She would game online under the username “rogue_protocol” because her favorite book series is the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (lmao I’m dragging real life books into this now).

29. How active is Shepard? Are they hitting the gym, playing sports, or do they prefer quieter downtime?

She does go to the gym quite a bit, but she also prefers to read… uhh, when she’s not drinking, that is. 👀

30. What will always make them laugh?

EDI or Legion asking ridiculous questions about “why are organics like this”.

31. Who can always make them laugh?

Joker. There’s a lot of confusing feelings between them, oscillating at all times between wildly inappropriate and platonic. They’re kinda a mess, but neither of them have ever tried to sort out their feelings so in the long run, they’re besties.

32. What do they do when they have hit their limit angry, just incandescent with rage

It doesn’t happen much, or at all yet, but Maeve just goes feral. Verbal or physical, it doesn't matter. She loses it.

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

Not sure if it’s a surprise she can do this, but more of a surprise that she does do this… she likes to tinker around and repair circuits and panels. She was building a new computer from scratch in ME2 whenever her thoughts got too loud and liquor didn’t quiet them, but it never got finished because, well, she got arrested. (Very Anakin-Skywalker-fixing-droids-esque.)

34. Got any tattoos?

I WISH! I wrote one fic with a Shep with tattoos and was constantly forgetting about them lol so it’s easier for my tiny brain if she doesn’t. And this is coming from a person with like… a lot of tattoos lmao

35. Which companions have they lost? How do they cope with it?

Maeve has only lost their companion on Virmire (don’t @ me, I still, to this day, can’t decide who officially lives) and Mordin and Thane in their forced death in ME3. She loses no one in ME2 (I can’t stomach losing anyone that I spent all game getting close to) but the people she does lose, it hits her hard. She does not cope well. Especially with Thane. The loss of Thane is what really triggers her in my Indoctrination AU fic.

36. Do they like to style their hair, wear makeup and jewelry? How do they feel about getting dressed up?

She would prefer to go natural with her hair, no makeup and no jewelry. UNLESS she’s dressing up, which she does enjoy doing. Her parents used to bring her to the Alliance military balls every year, so she’s pretty used to it.

But she would prefer to have her wavy hair down or clipped back out of her eyes. She never got quite comfortable wearing sweats around her crew until ME2. Then she said fuck it and wore whatever the fuck she wanted.

37. Got any bad habits?

No - lol actually probably but both her and I are biased towards her and think she’s perfect (if you don’t count the drinking, but honestly that’s a big one 😂)

38. Does Shepard do any activities with the companions and crew during downtime?

Maeve likes to enforce mandatory shore leave. She can be found either stuffing her face full of delicious food, trying to convince Thane to take his shirt off and sunbathe (if it’s a sunny planet) with her, or at a bar.

39. Do they keep around any sentimental items?

After ME2, no.

After the Citadel DLC, only a single artificial white flower in her cabin to remember Thane by.

40. Does your Shepard actually like to collect model ships? If not, what do they display?

Yes!! She loves it, but she’d just as easily not have them. They don’t mean much to her other than they’re fun to look at.

41. How is Shepard with a gun? What about hand to hand?

She prefers hand to hand combat. Maeve is fine with a gun, but prefers lighter guns so she has quicker access to her abilities. She likes to make things explode so if she can set it on fire and then overload it, it’ll no doubt make her laugh.

42. Favorite weapon?

Omni-blade. She loves that little sneaky shit. Oh, and her combat drone. It’s so cute and makes chirping noises and has a flamethrower.

43. Which version of the Normandy do they like best?

Normandy SR-2.

Hates the stupid window above her bed, but loves the freedom she had on this ship.

44. Do they like to rotate out companions for quests? Who do they bring the most?

No because her and I are dumb and fall into a habit of bringing only the sniper squad. In ME3, though, she’s a little more lax, a little more flippant, basically just says, “who wants to come” and the first two that say “me” are the ones she brings (mostly Garrus and Liara).

45. Do they approve of curing the genophage?

Yeah, bro, fuck that noise.

46. Does Shepard allow the rachni to live in me1?

Yes. It wouldn’t rest easy on her conscience if she killed the last living being of a species.

Both Maeve and I: *nervously looking at the Arrival DLC*

47. Does Shepard practice any kind of self-care?

Sometimes she puts moisturizer on her face… but she thinks, why’s self-care matter when you aren’t going to make it to 35 years old?

She’s a little pessimistic.

48. What abilities do they rely on the most in a fight?

Combat drone.

If she’s in battle and her drone is about to be destroyed, she’d rather save up her recharge to bring it back than use any other ability.

After that, it’s overload because there are 8000000 geth at all times.

49. What is Shepard’s happy ending? What’s the dream that keeps em going

Meeting Thane across the sea. I am not even kidding. This depressing shit is her happy ending. I have spent so long building up this story in my head that she didn’t want to be brought back, she didn’t want to be used in another war, she just wanted to be at peace. So, she’s going to do her damned job and save this ungrateful galaxy and hopefully be able to rest with Thane in whatever afterlife Kalahira has for them.

50. Is your Shepard indoctrinated

*HEAVY BREATHING*

(+1: what does Shepard smell like?)

Standard issued soap, grease from digging around in the ship’s engine room or AI core, and lavender because she uses lavender chapstick. Someone once told her that would help calm her thoughts and while it didn’t actually help, she keeps trying.

#sare shouts into the void #OC: maeve shepard #mass effect stuff #commander shepard #mass effect

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innepttia · 2 years

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(Part one can be found here) AMAZING MAEVE ARTWORK BY @bomerpascal what a delight he was to work with! I think he captured Maeve perfectly and I’ll be crying about this for the rest of my life.

Y’all ready for part two of

Maeve Shepard

I really put my all my heart into these next 50 questions. (Thank you for the prompts @spookyvalentine )

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse

1. Where would your Shepard go back to play tourist? Are they going alone, or bringing someone(s)?

Maeve honestly doesn’t care, she just wants to go to any desert planet and drag Thane along with her. When I say this woman loves this silly lizard, I mean it’s twuuuueeee luuuvvvvv.

2. Your Shepard is making a sandwich. What’s going in it?

She’d be making a breakfast burrito with some chorizo and hot sauce and adobo eggs, let's be real.

3. What’s Shepard’s love language? What love languages do they respond best to?

Physical touch. Especially with Thane, it helps to keep her grounded. A good tether to reality.

Garrus figures this out eventually too and touches her shoulders and hands and fringe a lot. She doesn’t make him stop.

4. What were Shepard’s opinions of Cerberus before waking up on their table?

🚨Terrorists🚨Terrorists🚨Terrorists🚨Terrorists🚨

5. Is your Shepard politically active? Do they stay on top of galactic comings and going’s

No way, she had enough of that with her parents in the military. She’s way over it.

6. What would they be doing, if Shepard never joined the alliance?

She would be a chef. She loves to cook but never gets the chance to. Too busy saving the galaxy and all that.

7. What’s Shepard’s favorite way to let loose?

Both Maeve and I: *nervous laughter* “Let loose”? We don’t know her.

8. Does your Shepard like to be alone? Are they prone to isolate?

No. Contrary to almost everything pointing in the direction of severe depression in ME2 and ME3, being around people makes her brain stop thinking so loudly. She usually tries to hang out with at least one person on board at all times.

9. What does Shepard like to wear when they’re out of the armor?

In ME1 she was super stuffy and had all the Alliance SOPs drilled into her head so she would wear the Commander’s uniform, but after she died…

She started to wear what she really enjoyed, which is, AND I AM NOT JOKING, the whole Ellen Ripley outfit from Alien. Engineer jumpsuit, top rolled down and tied at her waist with a white top underneath and her hair up.

In ME3 when she has some dignitaries on board, the jumpsuit is buttoned up, but she WILL be comfortable! Except when they have official meetings in the conference room… then FINE, she’ll wear her uniform.

10. What does TIM think of Shepard at the start of me2? And at the end?

“This fucking bitch.”

“This fucking sexy bitch.”

11. What does Shepard think of TIM?

Hot daddy vibes (shut up). I have been informed I am the resident TIM fucker in our discord so… all related TIM questions are all very thirsty.

12. Who is Shepard’s favorite non-companion character?

Joker, for reasons I will explain further down the list.

13. What kind of roommate would Shepard be?

A great one! She’s lived on ships her whole life! The drinking could become a problem, so it depends on when in her life you catch her… but for the most part she’d be a great roomie.

14. It’s takeout potluck night with the gang! What’s Shepard ordering, and from where?

Maeve would probably just order a giant container of mashed potatoes and grumpily place it in the middle of the table because she wanted to cook something instead but was too busy.

(I gotta be honest, my husband and I don’t do a lot of take out so this was somehow the hardest question I’ve had to answer so far. So my tiny brain said PO-TAY-TOES.)

15. If Shepard could have an extremely dangerous and illegal pet, what would it be?

Really my kneejerk reaction was to say “none”, but in the interest of being more creative… A snow leopard. She wants to pet the ears and smoosh the face.

16.. What does Aria think of Shepard?

Hot daddy vibes (shut up).

17. Does your Shepard seek counseling/have a therapist?

No. While she knows she’s Definitely Not Fine, she doesn’t want help.

When she’s locked up though, the Alliance assigns her a court mandated therapist. It does not go well.

18. Obligatory gang beach episode! What’s Shepard doing?

She’s trying so hard to get Thane to take off all his clothes. No shame, girl, no shame. But also drinking a pina colada and reading a book and taking sneaky candid pictures of the gang.

19. What was Shepard’s first interaction with an alien?

Oohhhh what a good question. With being in the military, her first interaction with an alien was a turian and she said, “oh damn that is a sharp alien” to herself and that was about the extent of it.

20. List five songs your Shepard is currently listening to

Y E S!!!!! I hoped this would be here. I’m going to do a +1(+1) because I can never just do the required amount. So we doing the 5 +1(+1)trope but with songs 😂

Madness by Ruelle (this is the song that would be playing if she snapped and murdered someone… while not on the military’s dime) “Feel the fury closing in, all resistance wearing thing, nowhere to run from all this havoc.”

.44 by Tejon Street Corner Thieves “My mama told me that god ain’t happy, that I ain’t worthy of the love of the lord. I said, mama I don’t mind, mama I don’t need it. Cos I’m meeting the preacher man at the local liquor store.”

Cocaine and Abel by Amigo the Devil “I was born impatient and I was born unkind, but I refuse to believe I have to be the same person I was born when I die.”

Bath Salts by Highly Suspect “I feel like death is coming soon and, oh all I wanna do is fucking sleep.”

Witches’ Wrath by The Bridge City Sinners “I kick and scream but there’s no life left in these lungs.”

+1 Empty Crown by YAS “My body’s missing pieces, can’t pull it all back together, I wish I could remember.”

(+1) I’m Tired by Labrith & Zendaya “Now the tide is rolling in, I don’t wanna win, Let it take me, I’ll be on my way, How long can I stay in a place that can’t contain me?”

21. What companion quest did shepard enjoy the most? What was the most difficult one for them to do?

Most enjoy, Kasumi.

Most difficult, Zaeed.

Funny how it’s the two of them isn’t it? Kasumi was fun because Maeve was so excited to do a heist. Zaeed’s was most difficult because she brought Thane along and the two of them had so much beef the entire time and honestly Zaeed was being so fucking annoying.

22. Any guilty pleasures?

Yes, Thane. *evil laughter*

Okay but in all seriousness, playing the piano. She’s a natural at it, with only minimal practice, but she never has time to play so it never comes up. When there’s that piano in Anderson’s apartment, she gets so excited to play it, but alas, the world decides to end before she can.

*Guilty pleasure because any pleasure she feels during those last months are laced with guilt.

23. What does Shepard think of Conrad Verner? How do they handle him?

Uhhhh okay tbh I don’t remember this person lmfao so I assume Maeve also doesn’t remember him.

24. How does Shepard handle house arrest? How do they fill their time?

Badly. So, so badly. She’s not only going through DTs, but she’s mad. Like furious. Not at Vega, who she begrudgingly befriends, but at all of them. All the people she saved three times over now (ME1, ME2, Arrival DLC) and they had the nerve to lock her up for war crimes. (Her logic is not sound at this point in her life.)

25. How does Shepard react to meeting Javik, a real life prothean?

She said, “holy fucking shit, Liara are you seeing this?!” As Liara is standing next to her with her mouth hanging open and Javik is about to explode them both with his biotics. Garrus is the only one that can snap the two of them out of their stupefaction.

26. What is Shepard’s relationship with Joker?

*rubs hands together in anticipation* Hope you’re ready for a long reply.

Maeve never romanced anyone in ME1. She was holding out hopes for Joker. They had a work wife/work husband vibe going on. She’d always be in the cockpit talking to him and flirting and they’d banter and he could always make her laugh. But, she had “no fraternization” from the military so drilled into her skull that they never took it any further.

Then, she died.

And Joker mourned her, mourned a love they could now never have, and for two years he tried his best to get over her. But, it’s Commander Shepard. Who can get over her?

Then, ME2, they’re reunited and it’s big emotional. But that same night Joker went up to her cabin and had to set the record straight. He grieved her, he loved her, but he had moved on. Maeve accepted this, not wanting to push it any further or overstep any boundaries.

“In another life, without military ranks, we would have been good together,” Joker said with a small smile, sounding all the world like he regretted every word coming out of his mouth. Maeve had to drag her eyes from him to stare at the empty fish tank so he wouldn’t see her tears.

“I understand,” she replied softly.

They kept their flirting up, the two of them toeing the line between impropriety, but once more neither of them taking the leap.

Then Thane literally dropped into her life and EDI kicked down all the doors of reality for Joker.

Towards the end of ME3, Joker is fully prepared to mourn her again, and maybe - maybe - there’s a soft kiss pressed to her armored glove as she passes by his chair, quiet words passed between them; all the squadmates looking away from this private moment before she disembarks to blow up the fucking Reapers.

27. What does your Shepard take pictures of?

Her crewmates.

Joker sitting in the pilot's chair, looking over his shoulder at her, genuine smile on his face like he’s happy to see her. (ME1)

Garrus and Tali fighting over some dextro food rations in the mess hall. (ME1)

Kaidan and Ashley on the Citadel, chatting easily with each other. (ME1)

Maeve and Wrex trying to arm wrestle (Liara took the picture). (ME1)

Joker, sitting in the same pilot’s chair, arguing with EDI as a blue orb. (ME2)

Samara and Kasumi, sitting in front of the big observation window, talking to each other. (ME2)

Dr. Chakwas patching Maeve’s leg up with a hovering Miranda. (ME2)

A lot of (tasteful!!!) pictures of Thane in Maeve’s cabin. The most looked at ones are the ones where she managed to catch him smiling or laughing. (ME2)

A straight up selfie of poker night with the engineers, Garrus, Jack, Jacob, Zaeed, and Tali all trying to squeeze into the background. (ME2)

Mordin and Legion standing awkwardly, looking like they were trying to have a staring contest. (ME2)

Maeve hanging from Grunt’s arm as he waves her around wildly. Maeve is nothing but a blur in this picture and Grunt is laughing and presumably shouting “battle master” (Garrus took the picture, a talon can be seen in the corner of the picture where he accidentally covered part of the lens). (ME2)

Someone took a picture of Maeve drinking a very full glass of white wine with a cigarette in her hand (she does not smoke but she always tries things at least once), looking super stressed with her hair haphazardly pulled back (like the Mads Mikkelsen meme - I will be getting this one commissioned eventually so I’ll link once I get that done). (ME2)

Joker and EDI on the Citadel, Joker’s arm around her waist as they stare out at the scenery. (ME3)

A very special photo of Thane, on some desert planet, smiling up at the sun like a flower in bloom. (ME3)

Javik at his table in his quarters. (ME3)

Liara and Garrus on the battlefield, both concentrated on the enemies while Maeve is there taking pictures of them. (ME3)

Vega and Cortez in the shuttle bay, laughing about something. (ME3)

Of course the group photo at Anderson’s apartment. (ME3)

Tali, on her homeworld with the whole future ahead of her. (ME3)

A picture of a vase of white flowers in Life Support. (ME3)

*all of these, no, not all the (tasteful!!!!) photos of Thane (but most of them lmao), are released to the crew after her death and they all have a good cry

28. Who is your voicecast for Shepard? Is it Jennifer Hale/Mark Meer? Do they have an accent?

Straight up Jennnifer Hale. No changes - it’s perfection.

29. What is the perfect day for Shepard?

Suns Out, Buns Out (~500 words)

30. What did Shepard think of the thorian? How did they feel about killing it? What did they decide for Shiala?

ME1 Maeve was creeped out by the thorian (although ME3 Maeve would make a joke about how it could be potentially good inspiration for tentacle porn) and she wanted to save Shiala.

When she saw Shiala in ME2 she probably would have fallen for her and her new lovely shade of green if she hadn’t met a different green alien only moments later.

31. How did Shepard feel, seeing Legion wearing their old armor? Does that change?

Maeve thinks this is cool af. She kind of did that Leonardo DiCaprio gif of him pointing at the TV when she saw it and then went to interrogate Legion about how he got it and why.

32. Any vices?

🍺🍷🥃🍸🍹🍶🍑

(The last one should really be the Thane peach.)

33. Is Shepard free with affection, or more reserved?

Free with it. She really is emotionally constipated (as stated in the previous 50 questions) but she will tell her crew if they do a good job and how proud of them she is. She’ll hold Thane’s hand in public, she’ll clasp a squadmate on the shoulder, she’ll hug someone if they look like they need it.

If someone asks her how she’s feeling though?

“I’m fine,” Maeve replied, as she said every single time she’s asked. “Thanks for asking though.”

34. Are there any people out there that betrayed Shepard? How do they handle it?

Yeah there are plenty, but Maeve is a busy lady and she eventually just kind of shrugs and says “fuck it”.

35. Is your Shepard a biter? (Interpret this as you will)

Wow the whole time I thought this said “bitter” and I was like, I mean I guess she’s bitter but who wouldn’t be after the things she’s been put through- oohhhh this said BITER.

No, she’s not. She’s not a super fan of people that aren’t her found family being up close and personal in her face. And honestly, Thane has scales, so… no (but she might get a little nibbly around the frills).

36. What is their relationship with Wrex?

In good standing! Just buddies, friends, pals that would do anything for each other including die for each other.

37. Does Shepard have any friendships that surprise the rest of the crew?

Mess Sergeant Gardner. She just wants to cook, man!! So sometimes she goes down to the Mess Hall and just watches him with rapt attention and critiquing the way he holds his knife (which drives him crazy).

In ME3, she’s friends with a geth who she has private correspondence with via email. It is notably not Legion, but this geth just kinda slid into her DMs, ya know. Turns out they both love the Murderbot Diaries series, which should maybe raise some red flags for her that this geth likes that particular series but she thinks it’s hilarious instead.

38. If Shepard is dropped into the middle of the wilderness for a week, how do they handle it?

PROBABLY NOT WELL. If you dropped this woman into the middle of space on a broken down ship slowly losing power to its life support, she’d do better than in the middle of the wilderness. How find food? How find water? No electronics to fix? RIP Maeve.

39. Does Shepard have a will? What do they want done with their body after they’ve passed?

Yeah, she has a “DO NOT BRING BACK FROM THE DEAD A SECOND TIME GOD DAMN IT” type of will. Viking death please. Place her body in a boat, push it out to sea, and set that shit on fire. That way she’s really really really REALLY gone.

40. How does your Shepard react, when Liara tells them she’s the one that handed their body over to Cerberus?

Liara tells her and Maeve doesn’t say a word. Just opens up her Omni-tool, beginning to type something out. It’s awkward and silent between the two of them, but Liara is determined to wait this out. Maybe five minutes into this horrid standoff, Maeve sends a file to Liara and lowers her arm with her Omni-tool. She stares neutrally at Liara until the asari opens her messages and reads the email she got from Shepard.

It’s the will she just made that says, “Do not do this shit again I swear to god do NOT bring me back from the dead A SECOND TIME.”

Then they both move on. Maeve is very aware that every second is precious so she doesn’t spend a lot of time mad at her found family.

41. They’ve been caught in the rain! How does Shepard react?

Like a soggy wet blanket. You’d think for someone who never grew up experiencing rain, she’d like it more but instead, Maeve thinks it’s gross to just be… moist.

42. How does Shepard handle the reporters? What are they like in an interview

Since she grew up in the Alliance, she handles reporters with professional passive aggression. No punching off reporters here, she answers the question in monotone, standing at parade rest, with dead eyes, and moves on with her life.

43. What was the clone’s fate? Do you think Shepard and their clone could coexist?

The clone does not make it. Actually, Shepard wonders what screws are loose in TIM’s head to make a clone of her because she is such a disaster by ME3. She is suuuuper sus about if TIM has a relationship with the clone or not (I HAD to somehow fit timshep in there, okay, I have a problem) because of some choice phrases the clone tried to taunt her with.

44. What’s the perfect date to sweep Shepard off their feet?

Well… this is currently getting published in my indoctrination AU so I’m not sure I want to ruin it…

But there’s a lot of laughter and smiles.

I’ll update with a link here when I get around to posting that fic.

45. How many unread emails are in their inbox?

None. She reads them all and cherishes them all even if she doesn’t respond (though she responds to most of them).

46. What does your Shepard get competitive over?

Video games. Back when she had hobbies besides war crimes, she played online video games. (Referenced in the first 50 questions)

47. What museum is your Shepard going to? natural history, science, art… the zoo, aquarium?

Art! She didn’t get a whole lot of art growing up on spaceships. Seeing paintings of ships at sea, or sunsets is amazing to her.

48. What kind of a sleeper is Shepard? Sprawl out, hog the covers, octopus…. How many hours do they normally sleep?

Sleep? What’s sleep? Lmao well if she isn’t sleeping in some random place on the Normandy and she’s up with Thane in the cabin, she’s a big time cuddler. So I’d think she’d be curled up around Thane in some sort of fashion.

She’d rather fall asleep at the CIC on the galaxy map searching for resources than alone in her bed.

49. Do they have any morning or evening rituals?

Brush teeth ✅

Shower ✅

Brush hair (if she remembers)

The end 🙃

She read somewhere that if there’s only one thing you have the wherewithal to take care of it should be your teeth because those are expensive to fix.

50. What scents in particular draw Shepard in?

Okay I’m so lame when I say this but I’m obsessed with this idea so here we go.

Pre ME2 death: cloves, cinnamon, mulled spices. They remind her of her parents boiling the spices over a stovetop on whatever ship they were on during Christmas. It was really the only tradition they had (they didn’t do gifts because they didn’t have a lot of possessions with how much they jumped from ship to ship; only what could fit in a single standard issue Alliance duffel bag).

Post ME2 death: the ocean, the salty breeze that blows across the sea, the way rain smells when it pours over angry waves (she tries to put an Ocean Breeze febreze scent in her cabin only to stink up the whole thing so badly she couldn’t sleep in it for a month ((she slept in the co-pilot's chair in the cockpit that month with Joker just side eyeing her the entire time)) (((this was before she was in a relationship with Thane so she was really like, why the FUCK do I want to smell the ocean all the time))) ).

I really HC that Kalahira had a hand in bringing Shepard back from the dead.

Kalahira is like, to bring one life back to save the galaxy seems a fair trade

And Maeve is like, no the fuck it’s not

+1 what, to your Shepard, is a good death

You know, an independent journalist asked Maeve this once, while she was still working for Cerberus, almost immediately after she woke up barely stitched back together. It’s the only time she’s ever snapped at a report. You know what she said?

“Shut the fuck up about death already. She’s a bitch and won’t leave me alone.”

(The real answer is that she doesn’t know, by ME3 she just wants to go back to being dead and it doesn’t really matter how.)

#sare shouts into the void #OC: maeve shepard #Commander Shepard #Mass Effect stuff #Mass Effect #if you get all these references please let us be friends

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