Some of Wymond's family lived in the same village of Henford in England. On the occasion that one of his sisters from Windenburg would visit, the entire family would gather at their familial cottage that had been in their possession for three generations.
The eldest of Wymond's sisters, Gwendolen, was the paramour to their lord liege, and had birthed two daughters. With her lover now dead, she was made the caretaker of his only living son to protect and raise until he became of age.
Orella had become a bride of the Watcher and devoted her life to Their service, moving away to the city of Windenburg. Roana, in her youth, had run off to fight in the Hundred Year's War to prevent her father from further injuring himself. Now, she resided with their youngest sister and her family.
The youngest daughter, Elenwen, had married and started a family of her own. She only had one daughter, Milrid, but dreamed of having many more, like she grew up with.
Elenwen's husband, Matteo Shepard.
And Gwendolen's youngest daughter, Maudelyn, whom loved to speak endlessly with her uncle and new aunt, Jane.
PREV. | NEXT ‧— 📜 THE THORNEBLADES | FAMILY TREE (contains MAJOR spoilters!)
It had been months at the King's fort, under a strict and rigid training regime.
Wymond had the honor of being placed within the same camp as of that of the King himself. Lowe saw it as a great and wonderous responsibility placed upon them. Wymond didn't agree.
The training was something Lowe looked forward to. To build himself up to fight for his King. He trained daily, sometimes past nightfall.
While Wymond was just glad the food was decent.
PREV. | NEXT
‧— 📜 THE THORNEBLADES | FAMILY TREE (contains MAJOR spoilers!)
matteo shepard really is a full paragon who romances the two "token renegade squadmates" (jack and morinth) purely by just being so goddamn kind and understanding and wanting to actually sit and listen and empathize with the shit hands they've been dealt that they both find them oddly compelling and feel safe enough to open up and start their character arcs never speak to me about kind characters being boring
motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?
matteo tries to stay mobile for combat purposes, and also for ptsd reasons, and their style of dress reflects that. everything they wear is fairly practical, and allows for a wide range of motion - just basic pants, shirt, boots, nothing too tight or too loose.
texture: Does your OC favor any specific kinds of cloth or textures? Is there anything they can't wear or don't like? What sort of fabrics do they prefer?
they like to be comfortable, mostly! soft cottons, maybe a fleece, just about anything that's soft to the touch and doesn't itch is their jam. fabrics that feel stiff, starchy, or even plasticky are no-gos, like khaki or high-polyester blends.
change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?
they had a bit of a break after akuze. shaved their head, got a tattoo of their lost squadmates' names on their shoulder just below their acid scarring, started wearing baggier and darker-colored clothing. they didn't know what to do with themselves with ptsd consuming their every waking thought, and this was shortly before they went into their stay at the psych ward, so they have mixed feelings about it. on the one hand, they recognize it as trying to cope with their trauma, but on the other it's got a lot of dark memories attached.
after minuteman and x57, they start changing their appearance with a bit more positive intentions, as they're no longer confined by alliance regs. going to omega accelerates it - experimenting with their hair, dressing more casually and more like. well. someone who spent a lot of time in terminus, they even get a pretty large tattoo after [REDACTED] as a sort of way to visually and definitively throw in their lot with the sparatus and arterius clans in defiance of what the alliance is trying to get them to do.
33. What skills do they have that are a surprise to the people around them?
they tend to shock people a lot with being better at diplomacy and finding a peaceful resolution than they are at combat and tactics. push comes to shove they can lead a fight to victory no questions asked, but if there's a way to resolve something peacefully and/or stealthily, they'd rather do that. their priority is saving as many people as possible, after all, and that tends to lend itself well to finding a minimum-casualties solution.
also they originally went to school to be a marine biologist before they decided to join up with the alliance, so that's a fun skillset to whip out on the like, 3 occasions it comes up.
48. What abilities do they rely on the most in a fight?
despite being a biotic, and a vanguard to boot, they actually rely most heavily on tech skills and using their environment to their advantage. their biotics are more of an afterthought, and tend to only get used defensively and on reflex. meanwhile, a solid overload and a well-placed grenade are their best friends.
absolute best part of itlog so far definitely the little bits of sparky being an Adult Man Who Fucks Sometimes and shepard being completely floored by it. he snarks back at his shitty abusive father-in-law and rubs his face in the fact that he has just, so much sex with teia, and shepard almost loses track of the whole conversation cause they’re thrown for such a loop. the claws on one hand are filed down shorter and blunter than the other and shepard, who absolutely never in a million years would perceive of the old man who signs their paychecks as someone who even knows conceptually what genitalia are much less has and uses them, thinks to themselves “ah yes clearly he does that because it’s easier to write” no matt he’s fingering his wife
welcome welcome, we’re now [checks notes] 3 major installments and some extras into my big no-reapers au, so it’s probably high time i actually make a big masterpost for it, huh?
Features
Premise: 50,000 years ago, the Protheans were able to complete the Crucible, but by the time of firing, their population had been reduced to unsustainability. Their technology still remained for the later species, but the Reapers would never return. All’s well that ends well, right? Well, not quite. When a routine artifact retrieval on Eden Prime once more goes awry, new Special Tactics candidate Matteo Shepard is thrown headfirst into the fray, hunting down the mysterious team that attacked the colony - and stumbling across something so much bigger than they ever could have imagined.
Our Hero: Matteo Shepard, DMAB nonbinary (they/he pronouns). Native of Terra Nova, Matteo’s mother disappeared at a young age, leaving their family fractured and their trust in others on shaky legs. When their team’s investigation into the disappearing colony of Akuze leaves all but themselves and two others (that they know) dead and them needing intensive psychiatric care, they withdraw in on themselves, not wanting to get close enough to other people to be hurt again. Unfortunately for them, the universe disagrees with this plan.
The Crew: The Normandy crew has been supplemented with a whole host of other Shepards imported into a different canon OCs to flesh out the crew, as well as a couple familiar faces - Nihlus Kryik, mentoring Shepard for the Spectres, is a fixture on the team, and his rude shadow Saren Arterius is (very grudgingly, because the boss said he had to) coming along for the ride. Beyond the Normandy’s hull, the rest of the galaxy’s got a lot of new faces too, both friend and foe, ranging from Saren’s secretive family to the batarian Resistance and back again! Both canon characters and OCs join the party to bring the awfully empty galaxy to life...
Most Wanted: ... including the antagonists, of course. An entirely new team of mini-boss antagonists causes problems for Shepard left and right as Shepard explores the depths of Cerberus’s depravity, and an enemy often overlooked gets their own time to shine, with a subplot all their own, because I think they deserved better and had a lot of potential, and I’m the author so I decide the subplots, dammit. (You didn’t think I mentioned the batarian Resistance up there just for fun, did you?)
Love and All That: It's no Truck Shepard and the Space Kissing Adventure, of course, but we're not leaving romance off the table entirely! There's both established relationships and budding relationships for the discerning connoisseur. A couple of them are even majorly plot relevant, check the AO3 tags. Endgame for Matteo themselves is with Jack, but we have to get there first ;)
Links
Full Series: Exponential Differentiation
Broken Mirror: Start here! The first fic in the series. 333k words, completed. The adventure begins on Eden Prime, as usual, but takes a turn for the Something Else when the beacon is assaulted instead by a human strike team, launching a manhunt across the stars that quickly spirals into something so much bigger than Shepard ever could have imagined. [LINK]
Blood in the Water: A novella in-between-quel set maybe a month after Broken Mirror. 50k words, completed. Shepard is taking a much-needed break from the hunt for Cerberus when an unwelcome guest turns up on their doorstep with dire news. It's a race against time to stop batarian terrorist Ka'hairal Balak and his genocidal plans, but this time, with some help: half-mad salarian Spectre Gurji Taeja and her pals from the batarian Resistance, Tarvok and Teezh Shad'derah. [LINK]
Where the Wind Rests: Two-shot glimpsing what Nihlus has been up to while Shepard was dealing with Balak. 8.6k words, completed. Nihlus takes a detour to Palaven to visit Saren and get an answer for an important question. [LINK]
In the Land of Giants: The second major installment. Currently in progress! With Hislop dead and Terra Nova safe, Shepard is back on the hunt for Cerberus. A friend's disappearance and a strange message both point them to Omega, where they encounter a surprising new ally... [LINK]
The Weight of Memory: Novella companion piece to In the Land of Giants. Currently in progress! While Shepard and Nihlus continue the hunt for Cerberus, Saren returns home to Palaven to get his new leg built and adjust to retirement. Unfortunately, the problems for the Arterius clan are getting too big to just retreat from and wait for the storm to pass... [LINK]
also i didn’t end up picking up me2 again today cause i got distracted by hitman and also stabbing desolas again so here’s the me2 cc edition of matteo shepard:
better shots to follow once i get time to sit down and play to a cutscene that doesn’t have the worst lighting on the planet
