Well this came absolutely out of nowhere.
This started as tiny little moments turned at first which then turned longer and longer until suddenly there were 50 pages and an actual plot. It was unexpected.
It will not deviate much from the main ME-plot but there will be some changes.
And I feel I should explain some behavior which might seem odd.
Where to start…
+Kaiden bores me so he won't be mentioned. End of discussion.
+Wrex is there for a good fight. And when he's not fighting he's bored out of his mind until he sees potential in something which he had considered weak and then makes that strong, giving him something to do with his time.
Garrus is Garrus. Nuf' said.
+Ashley is a fighter and will do what she has to do to get what she wants, because that's the only way a Williams can get anything. -That is why she's doing what she does in the first chapter. Victory at all costs even if she has to–[spoiler] Not sure what I'll do in ME2 with her yet. Probably get her punched.
+Liara… Liara fans will not like this, I'm sure. Her obsession for Shepard in the ME story makes no sense to me so I create a possible 'solution' for why Liara is as obsessed with getting Shepard's body back and making the Shadow Broker pay. It's not a pretty solution, far from it.
First we'll get inside her head: She's been a loner for almost her 100 y/o life. Is clueless what to do in any kind of social interactions. And, like all Asari, avoids conflict when she can and searches for solutions other than violence to get what she wants. Liara is nerdy and confuses her admiration for the Prothean civilization with what is in Shepard's head and turns that admiration to Shepard.
Along the way she realizes she doesn't like Shepard, but instead is drawn to the Alpha of the story because the Alpha knows what she wants, takes what she wants and protects what she wants with. Indecisive Liara becomes drawn to it and will follow the Alpha in hopes that the Alpha will notice her.
I enjoyed what I did with Liara's character but I can understand many will not agree with me.
+Tali will be Tali but with much more Tali'ness. Yes it sounds odd, you should know better by now than to expect something different.
She grew up alone on the fleet. Her fellow Quarians would either go, "Oh she's the Admiral's daughter, if I become her friend I'll be in good graces with the Admiral." Or they go, "Hm, she's the Admiral's daughter, I bet she gets everything handed to her and never has to work for anything she does, I'm going to make it difficult for her." And during that nothing she ever does is good enough for her father.
She learns to deal with not having real friends around and the high expectations of her. She is not happy. But doesn't realize just how unhappy she is until Shepard.
During her Pilgrimage (let's say it lasted 3 months before she got the Geth data) she feels even worse than on the fleet because on the fleet people were at least pretending to like her. Here she is completely alone.
Then Shepard happens and for once she is treated like a person instead of an 'Admiral's daughter' or 'filthy suit-rat'. He makes her happy, and when she learns [minor spoiler] he likes her even more than what she thought. She will not let her only chance at normalcy slip between her fingers. She'll make sure he has everything he could ever need and beware those that try to come between. [/spoiler]
+Shepard grows up on Mindoir. Loses his right eye during the raid and has it replaced by the Alliance under the promise that he joins their ranks as soon as he is 18. He accepts, having lost his purpose after the raid, and joins to start a spectacular and particular violent career which reaches its peak when he almost single-handedly kills every Batarian on Torfun during the night. The only surviving Batarian is a young boy who reminds him of himself. Later, when the Alliance took over the base, the boy was beaten by the 'noble and brave' Alliance troopers and only thanks to Shepard's intervention the boy survives.
He stops hating every Batarian he encounters and learns the Alliance is not the force of righteousness that he believed it was since Mindoir. He changes his look on life for the better and interacts more with people from other races.
Along the way learns from a unanimous source (for now, it will show up in the story MUCH later if at all) that Quarians look like space-elves behind their suits, albeit with sharper teeth, and that there sometimes is a lot of pent up sexual frustration hidden in those suits that's just dying to be released. He also learns of the unspoken part of the Pilgrimage is to have 'one's suit popped'. And who better to pop your suit than a – almost Quarian looking – Human that doesn't treat you like crap when the rest of the galaxy does.
He had it all figured out until Tali came along and changed everything.
…
Don't get your hopes too high but I do hope you'll enjoy reading it because I sure enjoyed writing it.
I'm not promising regular updated but will post things as soon as they're ready. The first few chapters are already (mostly) written but still need some polishing before I dare upload it. It all starts small and quick but will become longer and more elaborated. I promise.
Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
~MarcoG