This is an Author Note/Update. PLEASE READ!

Hello everyone! Well, this is "chapter" is serving as purely informative. Granted, this is rather out of the ordinary, but I feel it necessary.

As some of you may have seen, I have been editing and revising the previous chapters of this story to be a bit more sophisticated and mature. I am currently in the process of doing this, having updated chapters 1-4 and nearly doubling them in length. The intention is for me to do this to all 58 chapters before continuing into Mass Effect 3.

Yes, I have played it. Yes, I have seen all the endings. No, I will not tell you how it all ends. The majority of my story to date was well thought out over nearly two years; Mass Effect 3 is going to have the same treatment... though not over that long a period of time, but as I revise the previous content.

On that note, I would like to comment on a few of my intended changes. By putting them here, it will save you the necessity of re-reading when the time comes (after all, this is about 300+ pages long in a Word Document):

1) All decisions Shepard makes will remain the same. However, the conflict around them and reactions to them will differ.

2) All edits to Mass Effect 1 (Chapters 6-30) will be expansion, with little to no content addition. Particular things I am adding: Ash Williams having a crush on Shepard and a bit of open jealousy between her/Corinthia, building Liara and Corinthia's friendship, building Shepard's friendship with Garrus/Wrex/Alenko. Shepard's character will be much colder, but, again, he will make the same decisions. Also, I'll tone down the romantic tension because he's in serious denial of his affections for Corinthia until she's nearly killed on Eden Prime.

3) Chapters 2-4 have been expanded and updated, mostly with the purpose to make Shepard colder and more ruthless. I was never pleased with his initial character and always imagined him being more distant and "condemning"; I have attempted to change that. Chapter 1 (their enlistments) has been updated to more accurately show Shepard's history with the Reds. Chapter 2 (the Blitz) only has major changes to the last section, where Shepard and Corinthia receive Stars of Terra. Chapter 3 (Akuze) give them different, more distant (as it would have been) interactions after the maw attack. Chapter 4 (Torfan) now narrates the entirety of the Torfan mission and Corinthia's reaction to it is very much different than her getting tipsy on her birthday.

4) Chapter 5 is completely new content, being Shepard's final birthday party and his first realization of his affections for Corinthia. The original chapter 5 has been combined with Chapter 6, so the Normandy's first launch is all one long narrative.

[Here ends the completed revisions]

5) Corinthia's role in Mass Effect 2 is changing. First of all, she is not schizophrenic. I am removing the idea of Imreas and leaving Corinthia with a whole mind. She will have other issues, but not as drastic or over-the-top. Also, she is keeping her scars. I had never really wanted to get rid of them, anyway, but I did because... well, I'm not sure why, but they're coming back. Obviously, this will change many things about the narrative in Mass Effect 2, but I am aware of that and working on it. Corinthia has matured significantly, but now it will not be a near split-personality difference between herself and Ariadne. Imreas's concept was always confusing to readers, from the feedback I've received, so she's 100% gone... although, Corinthia is much more ruthless in a fight.

6) Shepard's decisions in Mass Effect 2 will remain the same.

7) Corinthia's activities between 2183-2185 will have more detail, both in the chapters between and as she explains to Shepard. Now that I have played ME3, I can set up much better her missions as a Spectre and her reasons for hunting Cerberus and the Shadow Broker. Though she still fakes her death, Ariadne still remains as her new identity, though no longer her new life. Corinthia uses Ariadne as a cover between her missions to hunt down Reaper and Prothean technology with the goal of finding a way to detect Reapers, issue warnings, and ultimately destroy them. Her hunting Cerberus stems not out of revenge, but rather because she finds information about the Illusive Man's true identity (Jack Harper) and the connections to Saren. She is never able to confirm the Illusive Man's identity, but she suspects rather than knows that he is not only using Shepard, but is also indoctrinated.

8) Mass Effect 2 will have a major time shift. Originally, I had Shepard waking about 18 months after he died. The game specifically states that he was dead for 2 years and 12 days, so that is how long he will remain dead. As such, the dates of Mass Effect 1 may also be altered, but not as majorly.

After all of that is done, I intend to finish the Mass Effect 2 narrative (including Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and Arrival) and move on to Mass Effect 3, complete with what happens during the six months between ME2: Arrival and ME3.

I feel these revisions are necessary and I had begun them before I even played Mass Effect 3. They are in-progress, but I wanted to give an update to you, my faithful readers, so that you know I haven't forgotten... nor will I. If you want to re-read, please check back here every so often to check my progress. I will make sure to note discrepancies between the new versions and old; I may even wait to update ME2 until I've revised all my personal copies.

Regardless, thank you everyone for reading, favoriting, following. It is what keeps me writing and what is prompting me to improve my story.

~Stnemele