#mjshepard

Casual Outfit/Armor: love the N7 hoodie.

Interest/Hobby: Boxing. I have a HC that after Mindoir she was in the foster system until she was old enough to join the alliance. During that time she found herself in a lot of MMA/ fight-club type groups. Helps her blow off steam.

An Animal: Honey badger. These guys are WILD! theyre considered absolutely fearless, which is very Shepard to me. When they attack theyre relentless and will fight just about anything, no matter how big. Their anatomy is very tough, impossibly thick skin, and damn near indestructible. Cool animals!

An object in their bag/ on desk: Headache relief. And a thermal clip.

Favorite weapon: Biotic Charge into Meele.

Their love interest: Garrus <3

When MJ helped Garrus with Dr. Saleon and later told him, "You can't control what others do, but you can control how you react. In the end, that's all that matters," it really made him rethink how he handled situations. MJ inspired him and earned his loyalty to the very end.

On the other hand, in the beginning, MJ really enjoyed Garrus's company. He was smart, funny, and a damn reliable soldier. Time and time again, he showed her that he had her back. She trusted him completely.

I have a HC that, with MJ being an MMA specialist and Garrus being a hand-to-hand combat specialist, they trained together a lot. They were interested in many of the same things, had a very similar sense of humor, etc. At the end of the day, they became best friends, and I don't think either of them had ever experienced a friendship like that before.

At the beginning of ME2, MJ does a lot of very Renegade things. In simple terms, she's pissed as hell about her current situation. Once Garrus is recruited (and almost seeing her best friend's head get blown off certainly didn't help her mood), I have a HC where Joker talks with Garrus, and together they help her get grounded. Garrus reminds her of what she told him after they found Saleon. I also think just the presence of Garrus allowed her to relax for the first time since waking up. He was a familiar face from before, she knew he had her back, and she leaned on him heavily. Garrus also helped remind her of who she was. She was still Shepard. 

In ME2, when MJ propositioned him, and he said, "Well, I had never thought about it..." neither had she. In my mind, it was a spur-of-the-moment proposition for a friends-with-benefits situation... that failed horribly. After they survived the Collector Base, whenever they spent time alone together (which was very often, since they were still best friends and comrades), it usually ended with them being more intimate than just friends.

I feel like it finally hit both of them that their connection ran deeper right before Shepard left for Earth at the end of ME2. Being apart felt like losing a limb. Sure, they were both strong enough to continue with their respective missions... but something was missing.

When they reunited, the relief of having that missing piece fall back into place made them finally realize that they were simply it for each other. MJ was Garrus's person, and Garrus was MJ's.

I could keep yapping about this forever, so I'll stop there haha. But basically, I think they fill in each other's missing pieces. Shepard helps Garrus see the gray between the black and white, while Garrus helps Shepard realize that sometimes things really are black and white. It's not perfect, but there's so much love and loyalty between them.