#everett shepard

@tiny-banana-time showed me how to mod my game so I've been replaying the trilogy! FINALLY, Evvy is in a sweater as he is meant to be!

🪐 COMMANDER EVERETT SHEPARD

Tagged by @dandenbo — many thanks!

Let’s see, let’s see… been replaying ME so let’s go with Evvy:

Mod from @clericofshadows (Evvy is not a fashionable man, but has had fashion thrust upon him)

Rating:

0/10 never expresses this trait

5/10 sometimes expresses this trait

10/10 almost always expresses this trait

Compassion: 11/10 the man cares deeply about other people to the point that it's honestly detrimental to his own health sometimes. He firmly believes anyone can change for the better, though the level of his compassion does vary depending on how well he knows a person. Having come from a pretty rough background himself, he knows how much someone's circumstances can contribute to a person's bad choices, and thinks everyone should be given as much of a fair shot to choose differently if they want

Bitterness 5/10 this is a tricky one, since any feelings of bitterness have a tendency to be redirected back at himself, when it should probably be directed outward. The Alliance doesn't listen to, say, Kaidan and Ashley? Then that bitterness is for a shitty system and snobby upper officers. If the Alliance doesn't listen to HIM? Well, clearly he wasn't good enough to warrant respect, and he's bitter at himself for not being better

Happiness 7/10 This varies widely depending on where we are in the story, but he's been known to find little pockets of happiness and cling to them pretty hard whenever he can. Baking is happiness, feeding his friends is happiness, geeking out with Tali and Kaidan is happiness. There was a lot less of it during ME2, but even there he managed to find some equilibrium with his new (and not so new) teammates

Politeness 5/10 He's generally easy to talk to and approachable enough once people get to know him beyond his reputation as a somewhat scary/spooky dude, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a conscious decision on his part to BE polite, which is why his rudeness is a bit more like a slap to the face when it hits -- because that IS an active choice he's making. He's usually rude on behalf of others, though (headbutting other krogan on behalf of Grunt, etc)

Honesty 8/10 Generally honest to a fault unless he's talking about himself and how he's feeling. The way he grew up (abuse in the foster system, abuse in the Reds) kind of had this general effect of seeing himself as a means to someone else's end, and for a long time he can't fathom why his own feelings would matter all that much

Bravery 7/10 Most people consider him brave, but he wouldn't think that of himself. He thinks of himself as scared, and his actions as a means of controlling what he can to make that fear go away.

Recklessness 5/10 Not much of a risk-taker for the heck of it, really, though that doesn't mean complete avoidance of risk in and of itself. He may have been more reckless when he'd been younger, but even then he didn't consider himself...well, frankly as a person in his own right. He was always something to someone else, protecting someone else, and being reckless would have been antithetical to that. As a kid, it was protecting his adoptive sister. As a soldier, it was protecting his fellow soldiers. As a commander... you get the picture.

Ambition 3/10 He never wanted to be in the Alliance, and whatever dreams he may have let himself entertain as a kid have faded a long time ago. Post-war, the man just wants to live quietly, maybe open a bakery, and never don the armor again. Maybe ambition will be rekindled when he has time to figure out who he is outside his titles and honors.

Loyalty 9/10 He's definitely more loyal to people than he is to organizations, but that doesn't mean he won't criticize a good friend if he thinks they're doing something stupid or self-destructive.

Love 9/10 He intensely loves his friends and adoptive family, and doesn't really rank the types of love that come as a result. Romantic, platonic, familial, it's all love and it's all important.

Sense of Family 5/10 This is another tricky one, as he's fiercely protective of the family he has (adoptive sister, later Kaidan, his closest friends from the Normandy), but in the traditional sense the idea of STARTING a family freaks him out so bad he'd probably break out into hives. He does end up marrying, but he's content to be uncle to his clone's twin's kids with no real desire to ever have any of his own.

Attractiveness 5/10 Rated in terms of himself, and how he sees himself. He's vaguely aware that people find him good-looking sometimes, but he's always accepted the same thing he's been hearing since he was a kid, that he was too "spooky, with those spooky eyes" to ever really be considered handsome, so he just doesn't think he is. He's okay with that.

Agility 10/10 From a young thief in the Reds to an infiltrator class N7, Evvy's always been quick on his feet, adapting to circumstances and finding a way through, finding genuine thrills in working his way past obstacles. What is infiltration if not a fancier way to say breaking and entering? :P

Sex Drive 4/10 When he's in the mood, he does love sex. He is not often in the mood, but does love kissing a whole lot, he just doesn't need it to go any further most of the time. (Gray Asexual, leaning towards indifferent on the sex positive/repulsed scale)

Ahh! Thank you 🥰

Let’s see, let’s see…

11. Evvy is the note leaver and lunch maker. He’d always been into baking and always made time for it even when he was still actively serving, so post-retirement he absolutely took time to learn more about cooking in general. Leaving notes as Kaidan would go off to work on building a new biotics school started not long after — little anecdotes of past shenanigans, words of encouragement, pun-heavy riddles… things he knows are bound to make Kaidan smile 😌

13. Stay-in for sure, especially in the immediate aftermath of the war. Evvy was Going Through Things and that coupled with how recognizable he is just makes staying in more appealing. They do venture out more as the years go by, but nothing beats dinner and a movie… at home 😂

Ah!

12 twice so I’ll take it from the first two lists! Let’s see…

12a. Nicknames! Everett is usually called “Evvy” by his friends, but his favorite nickname is the one James gives him — “Sunshine.” It didn’t feel right, having James call him “loco” like he does in the game, and Sunshine just speaks more to their unexpected friendship, I think 🤔

12b. Shepard’s favorite non-companion? Aside from Anderson, he’s actually really good friends with Gianna Parasini, and he introduced her to Miranda in my post-canon version of events — leading the two to start their own private investigations firm

13b. I answered 13a in another ask, so pulling from the second list! Evvy is a great roommate if you like baked goods. He’s always been pretty spartan in his style (less by choice, more by habit) but some constants are baking, books, and so many blankets. Possible downsides: not the most active person when he’s in a space that counts as ‘home.’ Low-energy, like certain breeds of cat. Figures he’s earned it considering how demanding the rest of his life is. Home is for being cozy.

14a. Any good at flirting? That depends entirely on how receptive the flirtee is to puns 😅 he doesn’t consciously decide to flirt, it just happens organically if the chemistry is there and someone can match him dork for dork.

Ah! Okay, let’s see, from the first round of questions we’ve got

28. Hyperfixations! Everett is a huge LOTR nerd and can talk about it for literal hours. He watches the extended editions of the trilogy every year for the holidays which means Kaidan does too 😂

Kaidan once (rightly) accused him of starting the Normandy book club just so he’d have an excuse to talk about it with new people

It was one of the first series he really got into, something he bonded over with his adoptive sister after they fled the foster system. The library was one of the safer places they could hide out, and they spent many a cold evening reading in a little area tucked away from where they might’ve easily been spotted

32. Everett has a very cold kind of anger. He’s not one to yell, and he may get snappy when he’s irritated, but when he’s truly, rightly furious? He goes cold, and almost seems to dissociate a little, especially if someone is in his face or touching him when he does not want to be touched. This was a lot worse when he was in the Reds as a teen, some ingrained responses to the physical and mental abuse he got in the gang as well as residual trauma responses from abusive foster parents. He likes to think he’s gotten better, at least. Fending off a fellow Red who grabbed him and wouldn’t get out of his face? Broke the guy’s wrist as a warning. Fending off his ex-boyfriend for doing the same thing? Only pinned him and threatened to break his arm if he tried it again. Progress! Sort of!

34. Tattoos! Yes! He progressively gets more over the course of the story, ending with a full sleeve, most of his leg on the same side, and some on his hip — all floral themed, all representing someone he came to care about. There’s a fic I wanted to write, actually, a little one-shot post-canon where his sister Piper (who did all of his tattoos) and Jack work together to restore what they can, and reverting some designs to work with his scarring after the battle of London

Round 2!

6. That’s a good question! Younger Evvy didn’t like to think too far ahead, but his intentions since running away from his foster parents with Piper had always been to provide some kind of stability for her. That was his primary objective since he was like, 13, and if he hadn’t essentially been given the option of the alliance or prison he still would have tried to find a way to work towards that goal. Enlisting gave him the ability to do that, at least, and he’d been considering going to school himself once his mandated service was over — until the Blitz plastered his name and story all over the vids and guaranteed that quiet, stable life he wanted would be virtually impossible so long as he remained so visible

29. Oooh, perfect day for Evvy would be autumn, light rain, waking up early to bake cinnamon rolls, a sleepy Kaidan finding him in the kitchen for half-awake snuggling, and then some LOTR for a quiet rainy day in

(The man is a comfort gremlin, he longs for blankets and warmth and baked goods and to be so so cozy)

40. How did he react finding out Liara gave his body to Cerberus? Honestly? He kind of… didn’t. Like she admitted it to him and he knows it, but it didn’t really register because the entirety of ME2 is a slow motion mental breakdown and that was like a car crash off the side of the road when the road itself is the site of a train wreck. Worrying, maybe, but not his primary focus

Later, I think they probably have a talk about it, but in the end he kinda rolls with it, I think. It wouldn’t be the first time that powers beyond his control dictated what would become of him whether he liked it or not