Commander Jane Shepard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janeshepard) wrote2022-05-17 12:01 am
janeshepard) wrote2022-05-17 12:01 am
Entry tags:
!ooc
[Player name] Amanda
[Age] 22
[Personal Journal]riidaa
[Other characters currently played] N/A
[Character name] Jane Shepard
[Age] 30 (she would be 32 if she'd hadn't been dead for two years)
[Canon] Mass Effect
[Point in time taken from canon] ME3, just after Mars. Kaidan is gravely injured and they're on the way to the Citadel to get help.
[Background]
Timeline of the Mass Effect universe
Mass Effect 1 guide
Mass Effect 2 guide
Commander Shepard wiki page
[Age] 22
[Personal Journal]
riidaa[Other characters currently played] N/A
[Character name] Jane Shepard
[Age] 30 (she would be 32 if she'd hadn't been dead for two years)
[Canon] Mass Effect
[Point in time taken from canon] ME3, just after Mars. Kaidan is gravely injured and they're on the way to the Citadel to get help.
[Background]
Timeline of the Mass Effect universe
Mass Effect 1 guide
Mass Effect 2 guide
Commander Shepard wiki page
The Mass Effect trilogy is a unique set of games wherein the player can immerse themselves in an unforgettable journey as they play a pivotal part in saving the galaxy. Commander Shepard is the protagonist and the character that you get to build and develop during this time. Players get the opportunity to make this journey truly their own. Not just limited to choosing a male or female character, you can also customise Shepard's appearance, choose her background, decide how she deals with difficult situations, and even determine how and with whom she develops a romantic relationship with.
Sex: Female
Moral alignment: Paragon
Pre-Service History: Earthborn
Psychological Profile: Sole Survivor
[Personality]
If one were to hear the name Commander Shepard, whatever race they may be, a flurry of words would rush to mind. A word that would be offered by most if not all, however begrudgingly, is strong. Commander Jane Shepard of the Alliance Navy is strong. Not only can she headbutt a krogan into silence and not get concussed, let alone killed!, but she holds the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders like it's no big deal and doesn't even get the weekend off.
It's as if there's an elephant accompanying her wherever she goes. It's the embodiment of the galaxy and she's been carrying it around since that fateful encounter with the prothean beacon on Eden Prime in 2183. Don't get me wrong; the fate of the galaxy is definitely a big deal - the biggest of deals. Everybody knows it and she knows it even better than they do. There's something about Shepard though. She will openly acknowledge the elephant in the room, give it a salute and go about her business again. She doesn't lie about the elephant or try to hide its size or significance. She's got it under control. It makes people feel more at ease and by the time she leaves, they realise that the elephant wasn't impossible to control - she's the best person to handle it.
It takes a whole lot of strength to take that kind of weight without cracking up. In all honesty, she tries not to think about her position in the grand scheme of things. She tries not to pay much heed to the label 'saviour of the galaxy' but instead remains Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy - a marine first and foremost. She takes things as they come, one by one. Constantly bringing up the list of missions to complete, people to talk around, upgrades to install, and a crew to captain is just unnecessary torment and means that these things are on her mind when they shouldn't be; that she's not giving her current problem the devotion and attention that it requires. Whether it's taking out a bunch of mercs or saving a whole species of alien, each mission is given the same scrutiny and the same determination. Every mission sees Shepard at her best, giving it her all whenever she can.
Despite being a hero, Shepard is still as human as the rest of us. She may try her damned hardest to keep her position and duties from overwhelming her but sometimes the pressure is extremely difficult to keep at bay. The problem's she's shoved into a box and put to the back of her mind often make an appearance while she sleeps because that is when she is most defenceless. In the rare occasion that her box of problems is overflowing and demanding her attention even in her waking moments, she will retreat to her private quarters and devote some time to herself and the box. It's never an easy few hours. Her crew and friends may occasionally notice her absence on board the ship (she makes it her goal to be around her crew as much as she can) and approach her with offers of comfort or a distraction which she'll gladly accept. However if they fail to notice and confront, she will not trouble them by asking their assurances. She is human but she is also a captain, a Commander and a role model. Her crew look up to her for guidance, advice and leadership; to show any signs of weakness would lead them to question her abilities be a bad idea. They might doubt her or themselves, or both. Any of these scenarios was not an option she could afford. Everybody on board the Normandy had to be at 200% both physically and mentally. They need to be prepared, ready, determined, grounded.
After being forced to look on as her team of marines were cruelly stripped of their lives on Akuze in 2177, she has become more determined than ever to let nothing like that happen again. Not on her watch. They were her responsibility and she was supposed to be looking out for them. Before all of the business with Saren, people would recognise Shepard frequently and always bring up Akuze and how lucky she was, how amazing it was that she was the only soldier to survive out there. It must've been tough, but she did it. Only 23 at the time, she was young and ridden with guilt. She should've been prepared. She should've been dead. Nightmares were commonplace. Not to say that she isn't still guilty about her team but she has learnt to deal with her guilt as time has gone on. Seven years later and she still thinks of every team member lost and uses every mission to improve as both a soldier and a leader to ensure that her crew lives to fight another day by her side. Every day she mourns the soldiers lost and forces herself to confront the blood on her hands. The guilt is channelled into passion and burning ambition - anger which fuels her determination. She still stops to think of her team, as well as Ashley and the salarians who helped her on Virmire.
Shepard cares greatly for her crew and shares a bond with them like no other. Despite being quoted as the saviour of the universe the most often and the one awarded the most credit, she and her crew know that there was absolutely no way she could've done it without them. She couldn't have defeated Saren and she certainly couldn't have destroyed the collector base on her own. Commanders aren't given the title if they're incapable of dealing with people or are too proud to rely on others. They have a mutual need of one another. She needs a ready and able crew to pull her out of dangerous situations only to take her to new ones with a smile and a salute. They need a Commander to follow that will provide for them, give them good orders and let them fulfil their duties in as many places as possible around the galaxy.
There is not one day of the week that she wouldn't drop what she's doing to help out a team member, whether it's aiding in ensuring their futures or helping them face their pasts. A few loyalty missions is the least she can do in return for their help on and off the Normandy. She not only cares for them as their superior but as their friend. She doesn't help them out just to ensure their loyalty on the mission, but because she wants to. Whether human, turian, or krogan, her crew are her family and she will everything in her power to help them out when they need it. This might just be a quick chat or could involve putting their lives on the line and either way Shepard is so there. She is loyal above and beyond the call of duty to her friends, especially the team she assembled when defeating Saren.
Some might call her manipulative, some might call her simply good with people. There has to be something to her if she has the best warriors and crew members in the galaxy ready and raring to serve by her side. Not only that but she's managed to talk a lot of people round to her way of thinking during the years. This could be making them realise that killing somebody wouldn't be in their best interests or just solving an argument between two people. She’s good at getting what she wants. Of course sometimes she isn't charming enough to bring them around to a different perspective but she tends to succeed more often than not. Problems are solved either with words or with bullets and while she has no problem with killing bad people or people who threaten the livelihoods of others, she much prefers words. The words she uses however, are blunt and honest. No beating about the bush and certainly no fancy language to get at something between the lines. After all, Shepard is a marine. Politicians can spew all the crap they want but she will never take on that approach with anybody be it citizens or Council members. They deserve the truth (however bad it may be) and to be addressed directly with no frills attached to cloud their judgement.
Arguably the only weakness she has is that she cares. If anybody wanted to get at her the best way would be to hold hostages, which is precisely what batarian terrorist Balak did on Asteroid X57. Shepard was forced to let him go in order to save the innocents' lives. The anger didn't last for too long though because several lives had been saved and she was sure she could catch up to Balak at some point in the future. If not as an Alliance marine then definitely as a Council Spectre. If there is an option to save lives, Shepard will always take it and never regret it. It's her livelihood and what she enlisted in the Alliance to do. As soon as someone loses that motivation to save lives, well... It's never a pretty deterioration and she's 300% certain that that road is one she'll never go down.
Shepard actually grew up in gangs back on Earth. As aforementioned, she excelled in this lifestyle and it was possibly the starting point of her uncanny ability to charm and intimidate people in order to twist their decision making. One would probably be surprised to learn of her past seeing as she's now an N7 graduate, Commander, and a Council Spectre to top it all off. On the other hand her decision to enlist and to save lives could also be seen as a good way to escape the life of the slums for good and now she couldn't be further away. She's actually glad that her upbringing was what it was; it gives her the backbone she needs to defy orders for the greater good. She's a marine, sure; half of that is following orders but if those orders are wrong she will kick into instinct mode and rely on her gut feeling to make a decision of her own and brace herself to face the music afterwards. She is not afraid to bend the rules because you can bet that if she bends them, it's because she feels as though she had no choice in doing so for one reason or another. She's not the type to break the rules for mere fun. She'll never try and forget her past or be ashamed of it because it's what shaped her and helped her become Commander Jane Shepard.
[Abilities]
Commander Shepard is a marine of the Vanguard class. She loves to get stuck in and be on the front lines in order to make sure, personally, that the enemies on the battlefield have been taken of. Shotguns and pistols are her weapons of choice and the ones she has the most training in. A favoured tactic of hers is to attack with a pistol to wear down an enemy's armour as she closes the gap between them, before blasting them across the field with her shotgun at close range. It is very much a high risk attack which comes with high rewards and it is this that makes the class so fearsome. They waste no time shooting from afar but choose to pressure enemies into reacting by closing in on them fast.
If close range is impossible, biotics will do the trick. Vanguards, as well as being skilled with the aforementioned weapons, have biotics which focus on disabling enemies. The Commander was fitted with L3 implants when she was 17 but these were upgraded to the L5n implants by Cerberus when she was 'rebuilt'. Not only can Shepard launch an enemy into mid-air with Pull, but she can use her biotics to propel herself from one side of a room and charge the enemy with a hard-hitting physical attack. Her biotic skill as of the canon point she is taken from is Biotic Charge, but she is able perform other feats as she has in previous games. She is able to use Throw, Lift, Warp, Barrier, Shockwave, and Pull.
[Other important stuff]
[Sample post]
[First Person]
1) You have two options: either save your friend who is hanging from a cliff, or chase after the bad guy who put them in a position. If you choose the former, the bad guy will get away and it will be hard to catch him. If you choose the latter, the cliff will crumble and the friend will fall to the spiky rocks below. What do you do and why?
"Talk about an ice breaker.... There’s no way I’m gonna throw away a friend's life just to catch a bad guy when I can catch up to him later. Of course I'm gonna save them. I'd rather save a life when I can, especially if it's a friend's, than waste it to go and probably end up killing the bad guy anyway."
2) Will you make a contract with me? ／人 ◕ ‿‿ ◕ 人＼
"I can't sign anything that hasn't been sanctioned by the Alliance."
3) Murder. What is your opinion?
"I never condone the slaughtering of innocent people and if I somehow end up in a situation where I have no choice but to do so you bet I’ll think long and hard about it if I can. I saved those colonists’ lives on Franklin at the cost of the Alliance spaceport and the lives there. It was a difficult choice but I feel like I made the right decision. What I do condone though, is the slaughtering of people that are not innocent. Mercs, assassins, anyone who pulls first (within reason). Sure I wanna try and save lives where I can but if you push me or try and force me, I will pull the trigger and I won't regret it. Be smart."
4) Would you consider yourself a well traveled person? If so, what are some of your favorite places? If not, would you want to travel or is there some place you want to go?
"I've been around the galaxy on missions so I'm pretty well travelled. Earth will always be my favourite planet but you can't beat the asari elegance of Thessia or even Ilos, that was pretty amazing. I've still not been to Palaven though, the turian home world, so maybe I'll get Garrus to take me one day when all this is over."
5) Do you prefer adventure or the peaceful life?
"I don't know if you've heard but I'm not one you'd usually find relaxing on the Citadel... I do like my shore leave every once in a while but if I'm out there it means I'm saving lives and that's good enough for me."
6) You find yourself on a robot unicorn. What do you do?
"Does it have guns? I doubt it'd last very long in battle and I can't afford to get injured when it falls down. Not to mention there's no cover up there either."
7) Your country is in the middle of a war. What do you think of it? Do you support it or try to solve it yourself by going on an epic quest? Explain.
"My country? My planet is in the middle of a war and we're getting slaughtered out there. Earth is under attack from the Reapers and if I don't get us help from the Council we're all gonna die. I don't mean all humans, I mean all of the galaxy. They're not stopping and if we're gonna have any chance of defeating these bastards we're gonna have to come together and hit 'em with all we've got. It's the only way, and I have to make that happen. Whatever it takes."
8) If someone provoked or attacked you, what would you do?
"I'll try and talk to them first; see what their problem is, why they're doing this. Talk them down. Likely they're putting other people in danger and if they're trying to kill me, you can bet it's probably for a reason I don't care for. If they force my hand though, I'll shoot them where they stand. In the leg if they need some persuading but if they're a lost cause I won't hesitate."
9) Oh no! Someone tripped and injured themselves right in front of you! What do you do?
"I'd help them up, check if they're alright. If they're not I'll slap on some medi-gel and help them to med bay."
[Third Person]
One way Commander Shepard liked to unwind after a long hard few months of making the galaxy a better place was by going for walks back on Earth. She owned an apartment on the outskirts of one of the American mega metropolises; whenever she went back the same walk was full of different things, even if it had only been a few months since she'd been there last.
A walk was what she had been partaking in before she'd snapped out of her reverie and come back to reality on a quiet street she didn't recognise. As observant as she was, there was no way she could keep up with the streets here what with only visiting a few times a year. The maps were always changing and she was only ever at this apartment for no more than a few days at a time so she never bothered looking for directions on her omni-tool. Not to mention she didn't really need them. Calling a cab to pick her up and take her home was always an option but one that she tried to avoid if necessary, opting to try and find her way back by herself.
However, it was fast becoming necessary. The rain was brutal and unforgiving and she was sans armour. It had been her umbrella flying backwards and rain hitting her face that had brought her back from her thoughts in the first place. She'd tried to retrieve it from the pavement but it had apparently blown inside out and in the process, the wires had broken. If she'd have known her whereabouts and her way home, she might have been able to shield herself with biotics if she was willing to go to bed with one hell of a headache when she got home.
A quick sigh and she was scanning the road for any buildings to seek refuge in. Having been a Commander for as long as she had, Shepard was skilled at quickly picking out the safest areas and making decisions in the blink of an eye and this was no different. The last thing she wanted was a common cold to take back to the Normandy. The shack was obviously the most dangerous option and the hotel would be fine but she really didn't intend on staying the night anywhere but home; that was the whole point of her shore leave. To be at home. To truly relax. Which meant she'd be checking out the house across the road and down the street. It looked sturdy enough and was probably abandoned. Perhaps some squatters but that was fine.
She jogged up to the house and approached a little more slowly from the pavement and down the path, which was when she spotted it. The windows. They looked to be... bloody. She sure as hell didn't know anybody in their right mind who would squirt tomato sauce over their windows. A second later and her pistol was out and she was crouching quickly toward the door. Blood was never a good thing, especially not dripping blood. From the window.
Someone could be hurt in there and she had to find out. First she'd get in and have a quick scout around. If somebody was willing to splash blood all over their windows then they were clearly dangerous and didn't give a shit who knew it. Maybe they even wanted people to know. However if someone had lost that much blood then they might not be in a state good enough to be able to wait for Shepard to finish her rounds of the house, especially if the blood wasn't new. No. She would try and find the victim first, check their state and apply as much medi-gel as she had, which wasn't a lot, if necessary. This would hopefully hold worsening off until she could make sure the house was clear and get back-up.
Looking through the window was impossible. It was lighter outside than it was dark inside and if she didn't get spotted, she herself certainly wouldn't be able to spot anything. She knelt down and reached her hand up to turn the doorknob. No resistance. She pushed it open quietly. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Her eyes narrowed.
[Why do you want to play this character in Somarium?] I've been considering Somarium for a while actually, I just didn't know who to bring in! Dreams fascinate me and to have a game centred around them sounds great.
[Which rule was your favorite and why?] Stay in character. I mean, that's the whole point of RPing right?
[Where did you hear about Somarium?] Probably ATP.
[Any questions?] Not that I can think of right now.
Sex: Female
Moral alignment: Paragon
As a player will find soon into the game, Shepard's moral stance will essentially end up leaning towards either 'good' which is Paragon, or 'bad', Renegade. This alignment depends on the choices made and dialogue chosen during missions. One can opt to aim for a full Paragon or Renegade bar, or be a mixture of both. Of course, the main events of the game still happen either alignment you choose to opt for and so Renegade isn't actually 'bad' in the stereotypical sense of the word but more... questionable, more ruthless.
As the first human Spectre, Shepard has the authority to treat matters with however much finesse and mercy she wishes with no consequence. For instance, this Shepard will try her utmost to solve conflicts with the least violence and the most diplomacy possible, using all of the skills to attempt to save as many innocent lives as she can. A Renegade however, may choose not to do this. An example would be the Bring Down the Sky DLC (downloadable content) in which a batarian terrorist gives Shepard an ultimatum. To save the hostages, you must choose to let him go. This will give you Paragon points. If you choose to kill him, you also choose the death of the hostages. This is a Renegade choice.
Before she was Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy and first human Spectre, she lived a life just like everyone else. There are three backgrounds to choose from in deciding your Shepard's upbringing and life before enlistment, as well as three psychological profiles determined by a particular event after enlistment all of which elevate her reputation in the military.
Pre-Service History: Earthborn
Jane Shepard has grown up without parents in an unstable environment whereby she was more welcomed in gangs on Earth than by any adoptive family. She excelled in this world of petty crime and violence but had the foresight to realise that she could do better somewhere else, somewhere it mattered. She enlisted in the Alliance at 18 and never looked back.
Psychological Profile: Sole Survivor
Shepard's team was attacked and subsequently massacred by a thresher maw on a mission on Akuze. She was the sole survivor and is well known throughout the Alliance for her ability to withstand the emotional turmoil that comes with helplessly watching all of your team, your brothers and sisters in arms, die.
Because Shepard is coming from the beginning of the third game, a lot of important decisions have been made in the previous games. These decisions have consequences that affect later games. Here is a list of the major decisions that this Shepard has made so far. Including these decisions, Shepard had a brief romance with Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko in Mass Effect 1. After she was rebuilt by Cerberus, Kaidan was angry and upset with both her and Cerberus and couldn’t bring himself to trust Shepard. They ended up parting on bad terms after Horizon. Alenko sent a message to apologise and explain his reasoning but Shepard remains saddened by the relationship’s recent developments, or lack thereof, and as a consequence did not romance anybody in Mass Effect 2.
[Personality]
If one were to hear the name Commander Shepard, whatever race they may be, a flurry of words would rush to mind. A word that would be offered by most if not all, however begrudgingly, is strong. Commander Jane Shepard of the Alliance Navy is strong. Not only can she headbutt a krogan into silence and not get concussed, let alone killed!, but she holds the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders like it's no big deal and doesn't even get the weekend off.
It's as if there's an elephant accompanying her wherever she goes. It's the embodiment of the galaxy and she's been carrying it around since that fateful encounter with the prothean beacon on Eden Prime in 2183. Don't get me wrong; the fate of the galaxy is definitely a big deal - the biggest of deals. Everybody knows it and she knows it even better than they do. There's something about Shepard though. She will openly acknowledge the elephant in the room, give it a salute and go about her business again. She doesn't lie about the elephant or try to hide its size or significance. She's got it under control. It makes people feel more at ease and by the time she leaves, they realise that the elephant wasn't impossible to control - she's the best person to handle it.
It takes a whole lot of strength to take that kind of weight without cracking up. In all honesty, she tries not to think about her position in the grand scheme of things. She tries not to pay much heed to the label 'saviour of the galaxy' but instead remains Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy - a marine first and foremost. She takes things as they come, one by one. Constantly bringing up the list of missions to complete, people to talk around, upgrades to install, and a crew to captain is just unnecessary torment and means that these things are on her mind when they shouldn't be; that she's not giving her current problem the devotion and attention that it requires. Whether it's taking out a bunch of mercs or saving a whole species of alien, each mission is given the same scrutiny and the same determination. Every mission sees Shepard at her best, giving it her all whenever she can.
Despite being a hero, Shepard is still as human as the rest of us. She may try her damned hardest to keep her position and duties from overwhelming her but sometimes the pressure is extremely difficult to keep at bay. The problem's she's shoved into a box and put to the back of her mind often make an appearance while she sleeps because that is when she is most defenceless. In the rare occasion that her box of problems is overflowing and demanding her attention even in her waking moments, she will retreat to her private quarters and devote some time to herself and the box. It's never an easy few hours. Her crew and friends may occasionally notice her absence on board the ship (she makes it her goal to be around her crew as much as she can) and approach her with offers of comfort or a distraction which she'll gladly accept. However if they fail to notice and confront, she will not trouble them by asking their assurances. She is human but she is also a captain, a Commander and a role model. Her crew look up to her for guidance, advice and leadership; to show any signs of weakness would lead them to question her abilities be a bad idea. They might doubt her or themselves, or both. Any of these scenarios was not an option she could afford. Everybody on board the Normandy had to be at 200% both physically and mentally. They need to be prepared, ready, determined, grounded.
After being forced to look on as her team of marines were cruelly stripped of their lives on Akuze in 2177, she has become more determined than ever to let nothing like that happen again. Not on her watch. They were her responsibility and she was supposed to be looking out for them. Before all of the business with Saren, people would recognise Shepard frequently and always bring up Akuze and how lucky she was, how amazing it was that she was the only soldier to survive out there. It must've been tough, but she did it. Only 23 at the time, she was young and ridden with guilt. She should've been prepared. She should've been dead. Nightmares were commonplace. Not to say that she isn't still guilty about her team but she has learnt to deal with her guilt as time has gone on. Seven years later and she still thinks of every team member lost and uses every mission to improve as both a soldier and a leader to ensure that her crew lives to fight another day by her side. Every day she mourns the soldiers lost and forces herself to confront the blood on her hands. The guilt is channelled into passion and burning ambition - anger which fuels her determination. She still stops to think of her team, as well as Ashley and the salarians who helped her on Virmire.
Shepard cares greatly for her crew and shares a bond with them like no other. Despite being quoted as the saviour of the universe the most often and the one awarded the most credit, she and her crew know that there was absolutely no way she could've done it without them. She couldn't have defeated Saren and she certainly couldn't have destroyed the collector base on her own. Commanders aren't given the title if they're incapable of dealing with people or are too proud to rely on others. They have a mutual need of one another. She needs a ready and able crew to pull her out of dangerous situations only to take her to new ones with a smile and a salute. They need a Commander to follow that will provide for them, give them good orders and let them fulfil their duties in as many places as possible around the galaxy.
There is not one day of the week that she wouldn't drop what she's doing to help out a team member, whether it's aiding in ensuring their futures or helping them face their pasts. A few loyalty missions is the least she can do in return for their help on and off the Normandy. She not only cares for them as their superior but as their friend. She doesn't help them out just to ensure their loyalty on the mission, but because she wants to. Whether human, turian, or krogan, her crew are her family and she will everything in her power to help them out when they need it. This might just be a quick chat or could involve putting their lives on the line and either way Shepard is so there. She is loyal above and beyond the call of duty to her friends, especially the team she assembled when defeating Saren.
Some might call her manipulative, some might call her simply good with people. There has to be something to her if she has the best warriors and crew members in the galaxy ready and raring to serve by her side. Not only that but she's managed to talk a lot of people round to her way of thinking during the years. This could be making them realise that killing somebody wouldn't be in their best interests or just solving an argument between two people. She’s good at getting what she wants. Of course sometimes she isn't charming enough to bring them around to a different perspective but she tends to succeed more often than not. Problems are solved either with words or with bullets and while she has no problem with killing bad people or people who threaten the livelihoods of others, she much prefers words. The words she uses however, are blunt and honest. No beating about the bush and certainly no fancy language to get at something between the lines. After all, Shepard is a marine. Politicians can spew all the crap they want but she will never take on that approach with anybody be it citizens or Council members. They deserve the truth (however bad it may be) and to be addressed directly with no frills attached to cloud their judgement.
Arguably the only weakness she has is that she cares. If anybody wanted to get at her the best way would be to hold hostages, which is precisely what batarian terrorist Balak did on Asteroid X57. Shepard was forced to let him go in order to save the innocents' lives. The anger didn't last for too long though because several lives had been saved and she was sure she could catch up to Balak at some point in the future. If not as an Alliance marine then definitely as a Council Spectre. If there is an option to save lives, Shepard will always take it and never regret it. It's her livelihood and what she enlisted in the Alliance to do. As soon as someone loses that motivation to save lives, well... It's never a pretty deterioration and she's 300% certain that that road is one she'll never go down.
Shepard actually grew up in gangs back on Earth. As aforementioned, she excelled in this lifestyle and it was possibly the starting point of her uncanny ability to charm and intimidate people in order to twist their decision making. One would probably be surprised to learn of her past seeing as she's now an N7 graduate, Commander, and a Council Spectre to top it all off. On the other hand her decision to enlist and to save lives could also be seen as a good way to escape the life of the slums for good and now she couldn't be further away. She's actually glad that her upbringing was what it was; it gives her the backbone she needs to defy orders for the greater good. She's a marine, sure; half of that is following orders but if those orders are wrong she will kick into instinct mode and rely on her gut feeling to make a decision of her own and brace herself to face the music afterwards. She is not afraid to bend the rules because you can bet that if she bends them, it's because she feels as though she had no choice in doing so for one reason or another. She's not the type to break the rules for mere fun. She'll never try and forget her past or be ashamed of it because it's what shaped her and helped her become Commander Jane Shepard.
[Abilities]
Commander Shepard is a marine of the Vanguard class. She loves to get stuck in and be on the front lines in order to make sure, personally, that the enemies on the battlefield have been taken of. Shotguns and pistols are her weapons of choice and the ones she has the most training in. A favoured tactic of hers is to attack with a pistol to wear down an enemy's armour as she closes the gap between them, before blasting them across the field with her shotgun at close range. It is very much a high risk attack which comes with high rewards and it is this that makes the class so fearsome. They waste no time shooting from afar but choose to pressure enemies into reacting by closing in on them fast.
If close range is impossible, biotics will do the trick. Vanguards, as well as being skilled with the aforementioned weapons, have biotics which focus on disabling enemies. The Commander was fitted with L3 implants when she was 17 but these were upgraded to the L5n implants by Cerberus when she was 'rebuilt'. Not only can Shepard launch an enemy into mid-air with Pull, but she can use her biotics to propel herself from one side of a room and charge the enemy with a hard-hitting physical attack. Her biotic skill as of the canon point she is taken from is Biotic Charge, but she is able perform other feats as she has in previous games. She is able to use Throw, Lift, Warp, Barrier, Shockwave, and Pull.
[Other important stuff]
[Sample post]
[First Person]
1) You have two options: either save your friend who is hanging from a cliff, or chase after the bad guy who put them in a position. If you choose the former, the bad guy will get away and it will be hard to catch him. If you choose the latter, the cliff will crumble and the friend will fall to the spiky rocks below. What do you do and why?
"Talk about an ice breaker.... There’s no way I’m gonna throw away a friend's life just to catch a bad guy when I can catch up to him later. Of course I'm gonna save them. I'd rather save a life when I can, especially if it's a friend's, than waste it to go and probably end up killing the bad guy anyway."
2) Will you make a contract with me? ／人 ◕ ‿‿ ◕ 人＼
"I can't sign anything that hasn't been sanctioned by the Alliance."
3) Murder. What is your opinion?
"I never condone the slaughtering of innocent people and if I somehow end up in a situation where I have no choice but to do so you bet I’ll think long and hard about it if I can. I saved those colonists’ lives on Franklin at the cost of the Alliance spaceport and the lives there. It was a difficult choice but I feel like I made the right decision. What I do condone though, is the slaughtering of people that are not innocent. Mercs, assassins, anyone who pulls first (within reason). Sure I wanna try and save lives where I can but if you push me or try and force me, I will pull the trigger and I won't regret it. Be smart."
4) Would you consider yourself a well traveled person? If so, what are some of your favorite places? If not, would you want to travel or is there some place you want to go?
"I've been around the galaxy on missions so I'm pretty well travelled. Earth will always be my favourite planet but you can't beat the asari elegance of Thessia or even Ilos, that was pretty amazing. I've still not been to Palaven though, the turian home world, so maybe I'll get Garrus to take me one day when all this is over."
5) Do you prefer adventure or the peaceful life?
"I don't know if you've heard but I'm not one you'd usually find relaxing on the Citadel... I do like my shore leave every once in a while but if I'm out there it means I'm saving lives and that's good enough for me."
6) You find yourself on a robot unicorn. What do you do?
"Does it have guns? I doubt it'd last very long in battle and I can't afford to get injured when it falls down. Not to mention there's no cover up there either."
7) Your country is in the middle of a war. What do you think of it? Do you support it or try to solve it yourself by going on an epic quest? Explain.
"My country? My planet is in the middle of a war and we're getting slaughtered out there. Earth is under attack from the Reapers and if I don't get us help from the Council we're all gonna die. I don't mean all humans, I mean all of the galaxy. They're not stopping and if we're gonna have any chance of defeating these bastards we're gonna have to come together and hit 'em with all we've got. It's the only way, and I have to make that happen. Whatever it takes."
8) If someone provoked or attacked you, what would you do?
"I'll try and talk to them first; see what their problem is, why they're doing this. Talk them down. Likely they're putting other people in danger and if they're trying to kill me, you can bet it's probably for a reason I don't care for. If they force my hand though, I'll shoot them where they stand. In the leg if they need some persuading but if they're a lost cause I won't hesitate."
9) Oh no! Someone tripped and injured themselves right in front of you! What do you do?
"I'd help them up, check if they're alright. If they're not I'll slap on some medi-gel and help them to med bay."
[Third Person]
One way Commander Shepard liked to unwind after a long hard few months of making the galaxy a better place was by going for walks back on Earth. She owned an apartment on the outskirts of one of the American mega metropolises; whenever she went back the same walk was full of different things, even if it had only been a few months since she'd been there last.
A walk was what she had been partaking in before she'd snapped out of her reverie and come back to reality on a quiet street she didn't recognise. As observant as she was, there was no way she could keep up with the streets here what with only visiting a few times a year. The maps were always changing and she was only ever at this apartment for no more than a few days at a time so she never bothered looking for directions on her omni-tool. Not to mention she didn't really need them. Calling a cab to pick her up and take her home was always an option but one that she tried to avoid if necessary, opting to try and find her way back by herself.
However, it was fast becoming necessary. The rain was brutal and unforgiving and she was sans armour. It had been her umbrella flying backwards and rain hitting her face that had brought her back from her thoughts in the first place. She'd tried to retrieve it from the pavement but it had apparently blown inside out and in the process, the wires had broken. If she'd have known her whereabouts and her way home, she might have been able to shield herself with biotics if she was willing to go to bed with one hell of a headache when she got home.
A quick sigh and she was scanning the road for any buildings to seek refuge in. Having been a Commander for as long as she had, Shepard was skilled at quickly picking out the safest areas and making decisions in the blink of an eye and this was no different. The last thing she wanted was a common cold to take back to the Normandy. The shack was obviously the most dangerous option and the hotel would be fine but she really didn't intend on staying the night anywhere but home; that was the whole point of her shore leave. To be at home. To truly relax. Which meant she'd be checking out the house across the road and down the street. It looked sturdy enough and was probably abandoned. Perhaps some squatters but that was fine.
She jogged up to the house and approached a little more slowly from the pavement and down the path, which was when she spotted it. The windows. They looked to be... bloody. She sure as hell didn't know anybody in their right mind who would squirt tomato sauce over their windows. A second later and her pistol was out and she was crouching quickly toward the door. Blood was never a good thing, especially not dripping blood. From the window.
Someone could be hurt in there and she had to find out. First she'd get in and have a quick scout around. If somebody was willing to splash blood all over their windows then they were clearly dangerous and didn't give a shit who knew it. Maybe they even wanted people to know. However if someone had lost that much blood then they might not be in a state good enough to be able to wait for Shepard to finish her rounds of the house, especially if the blood wasn't new. No. She would try and find the victim first, check their state and apply as much medi-gel as she had, which wasn't a lot, if necessary. This would hopefully hold worsening off until she could make sure the house was clear and get back-up.
Looking through the window was impossible. It was lighter outside than it was dark inside and if she didn't get spotted, she herself certainly wouldn't be able to spot anything. She knelt down and reached her hand up to turn the doorknob. No resistance. She pushed it open quietly. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Her eyes narrowed.
[Why do you want to play this character in Somarium?] I've been considering Somarium for a while actually, I just didn't know who to bring in! Dreams fascinate me and to have a game centred around them sounds great.
[Which rule was your favorite and why?] Stay in character. I mean, that's the whole point of RPing right?
[Where did you hear about Somarium?] Probably ATP.
[Any questions?] Not that I can think of right now.