#saul asks

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

Well if you leave it open for all Sheppies, I’m gonna do it for all Sheppies XD

Sam - Sam is my first Shepard, so her background is the closest to what the game actually assigns. She’s largely been shaped by military life. Both her parents were in the alliance navy (her dad is retired, Hannah still active duty). David Anderson is a family friend who she knew growing up (although she didn’t know about his brief history with the Spectres or Saren) so she was personally invested even before her boots hit the ground on Eden Prime.

Saul - also a spacer kid, but by a more circuitous route than Sam. Saul was in contact with both parents growing up, but was raised by Hannah and his grandmother (Hannah’s mom, who is a rabbi). He never got along with his dad, who (loudly) disapproved of his goal to enlist. Saul did really well in school and could have gone far either in academia or industry but never gave up on wanting to be an N7 marine. Saul did not reconcile with his father before the Reaper war started.

Atticus - Atticus is a colonist. He lost his entire family in the raid on Mindoir except for his uncle, his mother’s brother, who took him in until he enlisted at 18. Atticus remained quietly angry, very driven in his military career, and an advocate for bolstering defenses for colonies. His reputation as a ruthless commander is only partially deserved. Getting assigned to Major Kyle’s unit wasn’t good for him. Kyle was good at inspiring loyalty and drive in his soldiers but prone to fanaticism even then, and since Torfan was a retaliation for the attack on Elysium, it was hard for Atticus to remain professional. Torfan saw him at his most reckless. Watching his fellow soldiers die around him strained his self-control, and when one of the batarian prisoners who had surrendered tried to stab him while being taken into custody, Atticus had a flashback to Mindoir and snapped. 

Atticus needed more counseling after Torfan than he got, but he kept his mouth shut about the flashback and let people believe he’d executed the prisoners rather than deal with any potential fallout from an admission that he’d lost control, and deep down he was glad they were dead. He’s made a promise to himself that he won’t lose more humans to batarian violence, which was the reason he let the terrorist on asteroid X57 go. 

Questions from here!

7. Did they want to be part of the N7 program? 

Garviel: Yes! Enlisting in the Alliance navy saved his life, got him away from Earth, and gave him the chance to have achievable goals. So when he learned about the program he decided to go for it. 

Sam: Also yes! Her parents, Hannah and Mike, were career soldiers - when she was little, she wanted to be like them. When she was older, she wanted to enlist for her own reasons, but she didn’t want to always be “that Shepard kid”. The N7 program was a way for her to set herself apart and be recognized for her own merit. (She did not expect the notoriety that came with being the Hero of Elysium. That sort of recognition made her a little uncomfortable.)

Saul: Aaaand yes. :D Like Sam, he knew about the N7 program before he enlisted. Saul was ambitious and liked the idea of a challenge. His dad was very vocal about his preference that Saul’s ambition be directed toward the science/R&D side of the military. Hannah was proud of Saul and supported his decision.

9. What are their hobbies and which hobby is their favorite? 

Garviel: Garv likes spending time outdoors; he enjoys going to new planets and exploring when he has down time. Even Earth - he grew up in a city and didn’t have the opportunity to do anything like hiking, visit national parks, or go to the beach. So when he gets the chance, he will. He likes participating in most sports (although he gets bored easily playing baseball).

Sam: She likes to read and do a little creative writing, but it’s mostly for herself and she doesn’t share it with most people. Although she’s not a great dancer if it’s a club setting, Garrus got her interested in ballroom dancing and she likes dancing as long as it’s with him. She’s also pretty good at ultimate frisbee.

15. Does their view of themselves differ from their partner’s view?

A little, yes. Lynnie wasn’t confident in her abilities as a mage because she didn’t think she’d put enough effort into being well-rounded in her training - she quickly learned to be a good fighter, but other areas such as healing were lacking and she thought she might be letting her party down somehow. (She felt especially guilty because this lopsided focus started while she still lived in Kinloch Hold, where she should have been more diligent.) Even as they traveled, she put more emphasis on building her physical strength rather than her magical ability. Alistair, on the other hand, thought she was impressive from the beginning and never thought she was lacking in anything. 

For Lynnie’s part, she doesn’t agree with Alistair that he wouldn’t make a good leader. It really surprised her when he chose to defer to her after Duncan’s death. Privately, she thought he would make an excellent king, but she never tried to convince him to put himself forward. He’d told her in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t what he wanted, and she did her best to help him make his own choices. 

Both of them have a higher opinion of each other than they do of themselves, apparently. :) 

1. What drew your character to their LI and vice versa?

Saul just really liked being around Tali when he first met her. She was intelligent, steady, and surprisingly snarky, especially once she’d settled in on the Normandy and gotten to know the crew. He’d met his share of quarians but didn’t know them very well, so he was curious to hear about her life growing up. For Tali’s part, she noticed that Saul treated her with respect (being called “suit rat” her first time on the Citadel wasn’t exactly unexpected, but felt worse than she thought it would), and she saw that he dealt with everyone the same way, even when he had to deal with conflict. Saul’s engineering background made it easy for them to bond over tech nerdery. Saul also was humble about it; if Tali pointed out there was a better way to do something, he’d give her a chance to show him, and he was glad to learn from her. In short, they each found the other very likeable, and their personalities just clicked. There wasn’t any romantic attraction on either side during ME1, but Chakwas suspected that their could be, given time. (She was right.) 

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI? 

Right in the middle of Tali’s trial. Saul had been having a lot of strong feelings for Tali ever since she’d joined him after Haestrom, but it hadn’t sunk in what it meant: There was profound relief that he had another person on the SR2 that he could trust completely and happiness that he had one of his best friends with him again. His admiration for her bravery and intelligence had grown while she’d filled him in on what she’d been up to over the past two years. And he’d been all kinds of frustrated and grieved and angry on her behalf, watching her deal with the fallout from Rael’Zorah’s actions. Telling the admiralty board that none of them even cared about Tali, he realized that a small voice inside his head was adding the words “like I do”...and then he was very glad he was wearing a breather helmet and nobody could see his face, because what exactly do I mean by that? Saul, this is really not the time...

Saul Shepard is the one who would be the most electronically-inclined. He has a degree in aerospace engineering (with a focus on avionics, which focuses on electronics used on aircraft, satellites, and spacecraft). He had the opportunity to go on to get his master’s and PhD, but joined the N7 program instead. (His dad was not thrilled.) 

Yay team!

Shepards Samantha, Garv, and Saul would work well together. All of them play well with others, and since they’re a Vanguard, Soldier, and Infiltrator (in that order), their skill sets would combine nicely. Garv especially is used to partnering with biotics, since his brother is an Adept. Sam would probably be the one to lead the group.

1. What’s one experience your character had that made them very afraid?

There was an accident during his N4 training course. Saul grew up on starships, so he had the opportunity to take some EVA training starting in his late teens, when he wasn’t away at school, and he adapted to it really easily after he enlisted. His N class was practicing zero-G combat, and Saul was careless. He thought he’d checked his equipment thoroughly enough since he was familiar with it, but he made a mistake. An air hose burst on his jump pack in the middle of the exercise and ejected him off the hull of the cruiser. It took him fifteen minutes to control the leak, redirect it, and get himself back to the ship, but they were the most terrifying fifteen minutes of his life. He came dangerously close to being pulled into the planetary gravity well and depleted his oxygen tank, using it to jet himself back to safety. He made it into the airlock just in time to prevent himself from passing out.

His supervisor initially praised him for his quick thinking, but he confessed that the incident had been his fault to begin with. He’d expected to fail the course, but they kept him in the program because he’d owned up to his mistake - and assigned him the task of briefing his fellow trainees on EVA safety.

2. What is your character’s happiest memory?

Saul really loved his high school years - he was on Earth, at a boarding school that had a lot of other alliance military kids. Although he’s close with his mom, his relationship with his dad is difficult, and he was glad to have some space. It was the longest time he’d ever spent planetside. He spent a lot of time out of doors, and formed a small but close circle of friends that he still stays in contact with. His memories of time spent with them are some of his fondest.

3. What’s one skill your character really wishes they had?

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I need company with the Shepard/Tali feels