fuck yeah alenko

Fulfilling all the Kaidan needs you didn't know you had, and a few you did

[swaps55]

It’s hauntingly beautiful to see up close, the wreckage of your old life neatly preserved under the snow and a blanket of stars. 

What had it felt like to die? 

To lose hold of the Normandy’s deck plates, be ejected so violently into the space between those stars?

You don’t remember. You don’t want to remember. But that doesn’t change the truth. 

This is where it ended, for you. The few steps between the bridge and the escape pod too great for you to cross. Joker had lived and you died, only to get yanked back from oblivion, stuffed into a reanimated corpse and told it was an upgrade. They even handed you a ship that’s a good enough copy of the old one you almost believed them.  

You have to wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier if Cerberus had given you a completely different ship, instead of trying to resurrect yet another thing that had already been destroyed. 

The Normandy, the real Normandy, is here. 

Perhaps the real Shepard is still here, too.

[chicafinal]

love wins

[the-69sin]

[fal3r3]

[masseffectscreenarchery]

Sleeping beauty

[overfalls]

[fyeahmshepkaidan]

I grieved for you. 

[blueteaparty]

Give this boy ALL the hugs <3 

[glflayart-deactivated20190630]

“You’ve got a big rain cloud above your head, Alenko.”

“Asshole. I’m still angry with you.”

[fal3r3]

“Seems like you’re having a bad day, Shepard”

[starfleetspectre]

trouble in paradise

weeell i never said it would be lovey dovey mshenko

[glflayart-deactivated20190630]

So uh, I slipped and drew Subject Zero Kaidan. Like, he kills Vyrnus and instead of joining the Alliance later on, becomes a homicidal maniac, plus tattoos. I tried to incorporate an Alliance uniform with his new outfit, and a headcanon popped up in my head that he may have actually joined the Alliance, but was made CAT.6 pretty damn fast and ended up killing a whole ton of people in revenge. Hence being in prison when Shepard gets to him.

BUT I DON’T KNOW.

This is all @vorchagirl ’s fault, you cannot blame me! I only did the thing!

*HIDES FOREVER!*

[mythicbeast]

This was a commission from the ever-lovely @avaliart, posted with her permission. I can’t stop giggling at it and all the lovely details. It’s almost impossible to get their faces looking just right, and she captured them both perfectly (that’s definitely Kaidan’s ‘benefits’ face).

Mako is a blue merle Cardigan Welsh Corgi and Shepard is a shamelessly affectionate dog dad (ala Stephen King), so it’s up to Kaidan to be the disciplinarian. Thank you for indulging my need for this in my life, Avali. :’)

[bioticfox]

KAIDAN ALENKO APPRECIATION WEEK

Day 5 - Romance AKA have some valentines day trash!

[mssticha]

Kaidan Appreciation Week Day 5 – Romance. I decided to write a lead-up to one of my older pieces that you can read here. Or you can just enjoy this short little piece.

Kaidan hummed softly as he set about his task. His father always told him to find the joy in each job so nothing ever truly felt like work, but this project was so fulfilling to begin with the happiness seeped out through the jaunty little tune. The dim lighting assured him nobody would be around to hear it anyway, not that he cared. It was late in the night cycle and everyone else was either at their posts or asleep. Well, almost everyone.

He took a single step back to admire his work. The edges of his contented smile turned down slightly as he studied the results. It was structurally secure and symmetrical but something was missing. It didn’t pop. His brow furrowed as he pulled at his neck. It was passable but good enough wasn’t what he was going for. A sudden burst of inspiration hit and he ran with it, growing more excited by the second. He groped blindly for the last piece of the puzzle nestled deep within the recesses of the highest cabinet. He smiled widely as he opened the sealed box and laid the contents along the perimeter. Perfect. Now for the finishing touches…

Kaidan filled the two mugs and placed them on the tray. They looked small and insignificant next to the heaping plate of food in the center but they were all equally important. And the cookies along the edge were the perfect addition. He couldn’t believe he’d almost forgotten them since he’d only picked them up earlier in the day. He had to. That was the only time he’d ever seen them before, and Joker mentioned once (many months earlier) that they were her favorite. How could he pass them up after all she’d been through?

He hesitated outside the closed door, suddenly more nervous than he’d ever imagined possible. It wasn’t unusual for them to compare reports over a late-night snack. This was just another impromptu meeting… and yet it was so much more. They mutinied and stole the Normandy. They were on their way to a lost planet to face who-knows-what.  It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. The prolonged lockdown on the Citadel gave him a chance to do a little shopping, if nothing else, so the plate was filled with all her favorite foods. The steak sandwiches were actually his favorite, but she needed the protein anyway. Everything else in the colorful pile – from the ripe strawberries down to the thin mint cookies – was pure Shepard .They were all gathered from memory; little conversations they’d had over the course of their time together on the Normandy guided his choices. He wanted to bring a smile to her face, if even for a moment.

The true beauty in life never lived in grand gestures. They were often hollow or hid salacious intentions. It was the little things that really mattered most – the quick glances, the soft smiles, the quiet conversations, the shared meals… The heaping tray said everything he didn’t.  He noticed she missed dinner.  He was there for her. He listened to everything she’d ever said. He would help shoulder the burden placed before her. He would take care of her so she could take care of everything else. He would do anything she asked and more…

Or it could just be a snack while they went over reports. It was up to her. He always left a way out, after all.

[daggerslesbian]

They’d tried to leave the system, but the blast got to them first, knocking out the already battered thruster’s of the Normandy’s systems and sending her spiraling. The crew screamed, grabbing onto anything bolted down or onto their harnesses as the artificial gravity failed.

They thanked their lucky stars EDI had warned them this could happen and released the oxygen masks before she’d gone dark. 

Joker, by some miracle, pulled the Normandy upright and used the very last reserves of power to throw the gravity on, foregoing any hope of moving for the moment. The oxygen would last them for maybe a few hours, but he doubted even that. 

Keep reading

[iarinthel]

Kaidan is totally the sort of dude that would go all out for his marriage proposal. He’d get flowers, bring his lover to either some romantic location like a beach or the lakeside, maybe English Bay? Or he might bring them to a movie first then to a restaurant that serves his lover’s favourite food. The dinner would be sumptuous and there’d be candles on the table lighting their faces in a soft yellow glow that make their smiles seem brighter than the silver sliver of moonlight coming through the window. After dinner, (because he’d totally proposal after dinner under the light of a full moon you know he would), he’d get down on one knee with an engagement ring in one hand to ask, 

“Will you marry me?”

Kaidan Alenko is a not-so-secret-romantic and he’d do everything in his power to make his marriage proposal the sappiest, most romantic shit he can pull off and nothing will ever convince me otherwise.

[mareel]

On the Other Side

For Kaidan Appreciation Week - Day 5:  Romance

A letter, remembered. And a gift. 

“Can I ask you something, Kaidan?”

Shepard and I are relaxing on the couch after a late dinner. We really should work off some of the calories, maybe take a moonlight walk or something. But I’m pretty damn comfortable right here with my head in his lap.

“When have I ever said no to you? Wait… don’t answer that.”

I meant it as a joke, not referring to any particular occasion, unless it would be something silly like ’could I have my hoodie back now?’

But I can feel his body tense up and he doesn’t ask his question.

Turning my head a little, I try to see his face. His forehead looks like my reflection in the mirror when I’m trying to fend of an impending migraine, and he’s chewing on his lower lip.

“Okay, it’s something I said. Want to talk about it, John?”

I feel the deep breath he takes as he reaches for my hand, wrapping his around mine as it rests on my chest.

“Yeah. I guess we should. For a moment it just sounded like you knew what I was going to ask you about. Coincidence I guess, but it threw me.”

Not wanting to rush him, I stroke my thumb across his hand slowly before finally asking.

“What did you want to know? Whatever it is, it’s okay… we should talk about it. Seems important.”

I consider whether I should sit up so we could talk face to face, but my instinct is not to move.

“Did you ever get a letter forwarded to you by Anderson? A reply to the message you sent me after… after Horizon.”

Okay. It all makes sense now. Even my flippant remark about never saying no to him… since I did say no there. In too many ways.

“Yeah, I did. Anderson forwarded it, saying he hadn’t read it, that he trusted the both of us enough to respect our privacy. Just as an aside, that meant more to me than you can imagine. Him saying that he trusted you. Despite everything.”

I feel a small tremble in the hand holding mine. It’s his injured hand and I wonder if I squeezed it too tightly. The uncallused skin on his palm is still pretty sensitive. But there’s a matching waver in his voice.

“You never mentioned it… I thought maybe he decided not to pass it on. It’s okay – we agreed to bury all of that when we forgave each other to get past Horizon. But hearing that about Anderson… it means a lot to me too. When I got back to Earth he was my biggest supporter, but I didn’t know for sure earlier. He wouldn’t put me in touch with you when I first met with him on the Citadel right after… after being dead.”

I hadn’t realized that. Of course Shepard would have asked about me. I know that now. But the messed-up grieving man I was then wouldn’t have realized that communication might have been blocked. By Anderson, or by the Illusive Man. 

“I got it not too long before I heard you’d returned to Earth with the Normandy. I guess you must have written it before going thru the Omega 4 relay.”

It’s important to be able to see his face for this conversation, so I sit up and scoot close to his side, taking his hand again. I need the contact.

‘Yeah… in the few hours as we got ready for the jump. It was kind of like the night before Ilos, you know? I needed to talk to someone… that’s not quite true. I needed to talk to you, Kaidan. Since I couldn’t, I wrote to you. If something happened, I didn’t want you to remember me as that man you met on Horizon.“

Lifting my free hand to his face, I cup his cheek with my palm and lean in to kiss him. Our lips barely touch before I’m the one trembling. In a moment both his arms are around me, pulling me close against him. I try to find the right words. My voice comes out almost as a whisper.

"I wouldn’t have, John. Not like that.”

The breath Shepard exhales could be one he’d held for far too long.

“I never got to thank you for your letter. They wouldn’t let me communicate with you once you were detained in Vancouver.”

He nods, eyes clouding at the memory of those months alone. “I know. No communication at all, not even from my mom. I don’t know if she tried, but I doubt they’d have seen her as my mother, just as an Alliance Captain trying to talk to the disgraced former Commander Shepard. Hackett could cut past that kind of bullshit when I was still out there, but not on Earth.”

“John. You wrote something in that letter… or maybe I read more into it than you intended. You told me you reread my message when you felt alone. So did I, with yours. And your last words always gave me hope.”

“I gave you hope?”

“Yeah. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. Not hope for the mission or anything. Just hope.” I burrow closer against his chest, letting his arms shelter me. My voice drops low enough that he has to bend his head to catch the words. “Hope for this… for us.”

John sounds surprised. “What did I say? I can’t even remember it clearly. I didn’t agonize over the ending, I know that. I just wrote what I felt… in case it was the last time.”

“You wrote that you hoped to see me on the other side. I don’t know if you meant the other side of the relay jumps. Or the proverbial other side in case you died. Or…”

“How did you read it?”

“Literally. That you were coming home. To the Alliance. To me, maybe.”

“Kaidan…”

No more words are needed. He holds me tight, his cheek pressed against my hair as he just rocks me gently through a moment that’s emotional for both of us.

After long minutes of silence, I remember one more thing I want him to know.

“The way you signed the letter… you used your full name. John Shepard. It felt like a gift.”

He kisses me again, his lips parted, fitting perfectly against mine. And he whispers.

“Maybe it was.”

[whatsaysthefool]

vanishing points (kaidan appreciation week day 4: loss)

(I wasn’t going to post anything for Kaidan Appreciation Week but @malignantillustrator kept saying I should so…..Repost/cross-post of vanishing points from my ao3, a day late.)

–

He still remembers the last words the Commander said to him. They replay as a litany in his mind, a dark dream punctuated by flashes of fire and sparking emergency lights.

“Distress beacon is ready for launch.”

He remembers the praise for managing to save so many of the crew, the promotion he never felt he deserved, the reward that should have gone to someone else. The claps on his shoulders feel like knives in his back, commendations for breaking the first rule the Commander made after Virmire: no one gets left behind again.

“The Alliance won’t abandon us.”

He remembers beige walls, white halls, and a never ending stream of just-one-more-question. They want to know how he feels about what happened, if the psychological strain has finally proven too much, if he needs to be quietly discharged with honors before he becomes a problem they actually have to deal with.

“We just need to hold on.”

Keep reading