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Player Information
Player name: Leon
Contact: (aim) aleongetinthecar (plurk)![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
supernovae
Are you over 18: Yes!
Characters in The Box Already: n/a
Character Information
Character Name: Kaidan Alenko
Canon: Mass Effect
Canon Point: Post-ME3 (Destroy ending)
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive!
History: Link to the Wiki.
Personality: His Shepard
If there would be the need of describing Kaidan Alenko with only one word, that would probably be integrity. Because Kaidan is a lot about that: about ethics and morals and a lot of time spent questioning both things when it comes to himself and the decisions he makes. He doesn't force his ethics and morals on people, though, but he expects them to respect said integrity. He is the kind of man that would give his life to do what he believes is the "right thing".
Being born a biotic marked Kaidan's life straight from the beginning, because growing up as a human biotic was no small thing. Being such a new thing for humanity, it was initially met with fear and disdain (and it still does now that he is an adult). During his years growing up he had been sent to something that was supposed to be a school for human biotics, even if 'school' was only half of what the facility he was sent to was supposed to be. His time in there was hardly easy, fault of their abusive teacher who made them go through hell whenever he could (asking a human-hating alien to teach human kids was not smart, luckily the alliance learned from that), and it also did not end in the best way possible. Kaidan ended up killing said teacher in a fit of rage during one particular harsh lesson. Not on purpose, of course, he was only trying to defend a fellow student he cared about and then defended himself when the alien pulled off a knife. He wasn't charged for the crime (the school knew they were the ones in the wrong for even letting that turian teach their kids) but it messed him up.
He's grown up since then, though, with the event still in his mind. He doesn't regret it, (he'd probably still do it if it meant again protecting a loved one), but he sure felt bad for killing him. It was the first person he's taken the life of, too. He hasn't let it define him, however. He's never hated aliens just because of his experience with his teacher, for example. Kaidan is a level headed enough man to understand that the actions of one individual do not define the ones of their entire race ("I mean, if one asshole was enough to judge a whole race, I'd probably hate humans too").
He's also grown up in a different way thanks of his biotics. Having to make an important decision early in his life. He could have let them dictate his life, have them ruin it and become one of the many human biotics who 'sit at home in their pjs killing themselves slowly with drugs', but he hadn't. He embraced them and decided that if he had to live with such an ability and the discrimination that came with it, he'd rather put them to good use. It's why he has joined the military.
Kaidan is a good soldier and his rank shows that. He's loyal to his duty and allegiance almost to a fault, even though he is seen not thinking twice about going against them for the right reason. He doesn't believe himself to be a born leader, someone able to make the right decision all the time (like Shepard does), but he knows he is the kind of person who isn't afraid of taking responsibility if he has to take a decision like that and it ends up being wrong.
Depending on the situation, he's either someone who spends a lot of time pondering about his words before saying something, or that kind of guy with a mouth three words ahead of his brain: the latter usually happening on social occasions he isn't used to, when flustered or embarrassed, when the subject is not connected to his emotions, he mutters and stutters and generally has a hard time finding the right words; the former, instead, reserved to those moments too important to mess up (and where he's probably had enough time to actually think). He tries to take in consideration all the information, going to great length to put himself in the shoes of people and looking at their point of view before forming an opinion on them. And he also has no troubles revising his opinion if his initial stance ends up being wrong and with more information is presented.
It's happened with Shepard, for example.
His relationship with the commander is both very simple and complicated: there are very few people in the galaxy Kaidan can say he trusts as much, and it has showed during their first adventure. He never once had double guesses about following Shepard's orders, about dying for the mission, about following him to hell and back (even when the back was unsure), even if following him there meant going against his allegiance. And all of that was because he knew that Shepard was right and that he was the only man that could make a difference. Because he trusted him.
Which had made the events of Horizon hurt more than he thought they would. Shepard's death was something that took long for Kaidan to get over with -- it felt like losing a limb -- and his reappearance with Cerberus, their enemies, did not make things easier. Seeing him standing there, flying under enemy colors... almost as if nothing had happened. It was something worse than a betrayal. He would've followed him anywhere, but not with Cerberus. Not when he wasn't even sure the man in front of him was the same he worked under two years before. Because for all he knew, he could have been a clone, a puppet of the Illusive Man or maybe he was controlled in a way he couldn't understand. ("I just want to know: Is the person I followed to hell and back still in there? Somewhere?")
He was wrong, of course, but he won't realize that until very later on, after a heart to heart talk in a hospital and a moment where their guns are pointed against each others and their trust for each others is what kept them both alive (and he regrets not realizing it from the start, on Horizon, and not being there when Shepard needed it).
Because Kaidan is like that: he'd go against the person he has faith in the most in the galaxy if what he believes goes against theirs, but at the same time he isn't above changing said beliefs if the situation changes and he realizes he's wrong.
All in all, though, Kaidan is a pretty nice guy. It comes with his integrity. He dislikes mindless slaughter or violence and isn't against giving people second chances if possible -- unless that person committed mindless slaughter or violence, in which case he makes an exception to that. He's compassionate, often being shown worrying about others more than he worries about himself; calm. The kind of soldier that would keep a clear head even when things go FUBAR. He's seen comforting the daughter of a traitor mourning for her mother's death, for example; worrying about civilians in a war zone; defending a friend discriminated for her race.
EDI has called him 'judgmental' once (but he's never been without good reason); Shepard 'stubborn' (and if he has any says on the matter, he'd say that Shepard is projecting) and 'not exactly the life of the party' by himself (and seeing how he's behaved during the Citadel party, he isn't wrong). He's also quiet, polite and sort of an introvert. The sort of friend who rarely declines invites out with friends but also the one you don't see starting things himself.
Growing up as a 'freak' is probably the fault of both his social awkwardness and his self-control. When everyone around you thinks of you as a monster it's normal to find it hard to fit in, and it's normal to always try to keep yourself under control when a bad move could kill someone. And he'd know.
Items on your character at canon point: Clothes on his back.
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
Kaidan was born a biotic, a person capable of creating mass effect fields via implants thanks to being exposed to element zero before birth (aka space magic).
For Kaidan, this does not come without any drawbacks. Being part of the first generation of human biotics, he was "equipped" with implants that were later found faulty and caused severe complications like insanity or mental disabilities. Luckily Kaidan "only" suffers from constant migraines because of them, but is rewarded with stronger biotic abilities than the upgraded implants (which he has more than once mentioned not having any interest in wanting to get).
Biotics also come with needing more nourishment than the normal human, because of the physical effort that comes with maintaining said mass effect fields.
Aside from that, Kaidan is a soldier. A person trained to kill and survive as long as he can. He is also skilled with guns and electronics (of his time, at least).
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
[ it hasn't taken long for Kaidan to understand how to work one of those cellulars. it's old. older than the ones he is used to. but it's easy enough to grasp that not even the age-gap between them has made it a issue for him to use it.
the screen flickers with a close-up of his face. brown eyes looking at nothing in particular right into the screen; eyebrows tense, showing an expression that is trying really hard not to look concerned.
there is a Uh right before he speaks. almost as if he has been looking for the right words before saying anything, even if the words he's gonna say won't be different from the ones he's had in mind from the start. Then a low sigh. ]
This is Major Kaidan Alenko. Alliance Navy.
I've... well, I've already been filled in with the details of the place even though I'm still processing them. It's kinda hard to believe, all of this...
[ there is a pause, where he moves his eyes away from the cellphone to stare at something that isn't visible to anyone but him, before moving them back to the screen. same expression as before. ]
...But, yeah. I'm... I'm looking for some people and I'd be grateful if anyone could help me out. I'm gonna list their names in a moment. Just let me know if any of them rings a bell. Knowing they are here and well might be good news... so to speak.
The names are: Lieutenant James Vega, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy [ he takes a short pause at the end of Tali's name to make sure he said it correctly Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'soni, Commander-- [ this time the pause is longer and his expression darkens even harder, moving his eyes away from the device again. then another one of his low sighs. ]
Well, these should do for now. I'm sure if I can find even only of one them I'll end up finding the rest, too.
Thanks for your time.
Prose Log Sample:
They had been at this for so long Kaidan started to forget how many days exactly had passed.
It was nothing he wasn't expecting, of course. Rebuilding a city-- hell, the whole world, wasn't going to happen overnight, he and everybody else knew that. The red beam that engulfed everything, destroyed their enemies (and killed a friend for some people) was only the first of the many victories the galaxy achieved. The other ones would come with every building brought back up, every house rebuild, every family rejoined, every lost friend found again... and he'd know something about that.
He'd been given the assignment by Hackett together with a group of his students, after a long speech that Kaidan didn't need, because no matter how many reasons for him to be there Hackett was giving him (and they mostly involved Shepard, the legacy Kaidan became part of from being a member of the Commander's crew and the boost of morale it would have given the workers and other civilians just from his presence alone), Kaidan would have accepted the task anyway. Because it was the right thing to do. Because he wanted to help others achieve as many victories as he could.
No matter how long they had been at it, though, moving rubble with his biotics was hardly a problem for him, especially when you just came out of a war against enemies kilometers long, but knowing Kaidan he wouldn't have complained even if it was. And it wasn't only because of his integrity.
There was something in the back of his head. A spark. It appeared right as they found Shepard again under the Citadel's rubble, still breathing and having gone through God's knows what. It made him grin -- and this time he had no one to feel bad about his lack of professionalism -- and keep going, working more hours than he should have. It became almost like a resolution. A reason to keep fighting he didn't know he needed.
He was going to help those people get their homes and maybe by the time they were done rebuilding, Shepard would be back on his feet and Kaidan would be finally able to share a beer with the Commander right there, while showing him that beautiful view he liked to talk about.
And that would be his other victory.
Player name: Leon
Contact: (aim) aleongetinthecar (plurk)
Are you over 18: Yes!
Characters in The Box Already: n/a
Character Information
Character Name: Kaidan Alenko
Canon: Mass Effect
Canon Point: Post-ME3 (Destroy ending)
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive!
History: Link to the Wiki.
Personality: His Shepard
If there would be the need of describing Kaidan Alenko with only one word, that would probably be integrity. Because Kaidan is a lot about that: about ethics and morals and a lot of time spent questioning both things when it comes to himself and the decisions he makes. He doesn't force his ethics and morals on people, though, but he expects them to respect said integrity. He is the kind of man that would give his life to do what he believes is the "right thing".
Being born a biotic marked Kaidan's life straight from the beginning, because growing up as a human biotic was no small thing. Being such a new thing for humanity, it was initially met with fear and disdain (and it still does now that he is an adult). During his years growing up he had been sent to something that was supposed to be a school for human biotics, even if 'school' was only half of what the facility he was sent to was supposed to be. His time in there was hardly easy, fault of their abusive teacher who made them go through hell whenever he could (asking a human-hating alien to teach human kids was not smart, luckily the alliance learned from that), and it also did not end in the best way possible. Kaidan ended up killing said teacher in a fit of rage during one particular harsh lesson. Not on purpose, of course, he was only trying to defend a fellow student he cared about and then defended himself when the alien pulled off a knife. He wasn't charged for the crime (the school knew they were the ones in the wrong for even letting that turian teach their kids) but it messed him up.
He's grown up since then, though, with the event still in his mind. He doesn't regret it, (he'd probably still do it if it meant again protecting a loved one), but he sure felt bad for killing him. It was the first person he's taken the life of, too. He hasn't let it define him, however. He's never hated aliens just because of his experience with his teacher, for example. Kaidan is a level headed enough man to understand that the actions of one individual do not define the ones of their entire race ("I mean, if one asshole was enough to judge a whole race, I'd probably hate humans too").
He's also grown up in a different way thanks of his biotics. Having to make an important decision early in his life. He could have let them dictate his life, have them ruin it and become one of the many human biotics who 'sit at home in their pjs killing themselves slowly with drugs', but he hadn't. He embraced them and decided that if he had to live with such an ability and the discrimination that came with it, he'd rather put them to good use. It's why he has joined the military.
Kaidan is a good soldier and his rank shows that. He's loyal to his duty and allegiance almost to a fault, even though he is seen not thinking twice about going against them for the right reason. He doesn't believe himself to be a born leader, someone able to make the right decision all the time (like Shepard does), but he knows he is the kind of person who isn't afraid of taking responsibility if he has to take a decision like that and it ends up being wrong.
Depending on the situation, he's either someone who spends a lot of time pondering about his words before saying something, or that kind of guy with a mouth three words ahead of his brain: the latter usually happening on social occasions he isn't used to, when flustered or embarrassed, when the subject is not connected to his emotions, he mutters and stutters and generally has a hard time finding the right words; the former, instead, reserved to those moments too important to mess up (and where he's probably had enough time to actually think). He tries to take in consideration all the information, going to great length to put himself in the shoes of people and looking at their point of view before forming an opinion on them. And he also has no troubles revising his opinion if his initial stance ends up being wrong and with more information is presented.
It's happened with Shepard, for example.
His relationship with the commander is both very simple and complicated: there are very few people in the galaxy Kaidan can say he trusts as much, and it has showed during their first adventure. He never once had double guesses about following Shepard's orders, about dying for the mission, about following him to hell and back (even when the back was unsure), even if following him there meant going against his allegiance. And all of that was because he knew that Shepard was right and that he was the only man that could make a difference. Because he trusted him.
Which had made the events of Horizon hurt more than he thought they would. Shepard's death was something that took long for Kaidan to get over with -- it felt like losing a limb -- and his reappearance with Cerberus, their enemies, did not make things easier. Seeing him standing there, flying under enemy colors... almost as if nothing had happened. It was something worse than a betrayal. He would've followed him anywhere, but not with Cerberus. Not when he wasn't even sure the man in front of him was the same he worked under two years before. Because for all he knew, he could have been a clone, a puppet of the Illusive Man or maybe he was controlled in a way he couldn't understand. ("I just want to know: Is the person I followed to hell and back still in there? Somewhere?")
He was wrong, of course, but he won't realize that until very later on, after a heart to heart talk in a hospital and a moment where their guns are pointed against each others and their trust for each others is what kept them both alive (and he regrets not realizing it from the start, on Horizon, and not being there when Shepard needed it).
Because Kaidan is like that: he'd go against the person he has faith in the most in the galaxy if what he believes goes against theirs, but at the same time he isn't above changing said beliefs if the situation changes and he realizes he's wrong.
All in all, though, Kaidan is a pretty nice guy. It comes with his integrity. He dislikes mindless slaughter or violence and isn't against giving people second chances if possible -- unless that person committed mindless slaughter or violence, in which case he makes an exception to that. He's compassionate, often being shown worrying about others more than he worries about himself; calm. The kind of soldier that would keep a clear head even when things go FUBAR. He's seen comforting the daughter of a traitor mourning for her mother's death, for example; worrying about civilians in a war zone; defending a friend discriminated for her race.
EDI has called him 'judgmental' once (but he's never been without good reason); Shepard 'stubborn' (and if he has any says on the matter, he'd say that Shepard is projecting) and 'not exactly the life of the party' by himself (and seeing how he's behaved during the Citadel party, he isn't wrong). He's also quiet, polite and sort of an introvert. The sort of friend who rarely declines invites out with friends but also the one you don't see starting things himself.
Growing up as a 'freak' is probably the fault of both his social awkwardness and his self-control. When everyone around you thinks of you as a monster it's normal to find it hard to fit in, and it's normal to always try to keep yourself under control when a bad move could kill someone. And he'd know.
Items on your character at canon point: Clothes on his back.
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
Kaidan was born a biotic, a person capable of creating mass effect fields via implants thanks to being exposed to element zero before birth (aka space magic).
For Kaidan, this does not come without any drawbacks. Being part of the first generation of human biotics, he was "equipped" with implants that were later found faulty and caused severe complications like insanity or mental disabilities. Luckily Kaidan "only" suffers from constant migraines because of them, but is rewarded with stronger biotic abilities than the upgraded implants (which he has more than once mentioned not having any interest in wanting to get).
Biotics also come with needing more nourishment than the normal human, because of the physical effort that comes with maintaining said mass effect fields.
Aside from that, Kaidan is a soldier. A person trained to kill and survive as long as he can. He is also skilled with guns and electronics (of his time, at least).
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
[ it hasn't taken long for Kaidan to understand how to work one of those cellulars. it's old. older than the ones he is used to. but it's easy enough to grasp that not even the age-gap between them has made it a issue for him to use it.
the screen flickers with a close-up of his face. brown eyes looking at nothing in particular right into the screen; eyebrows tense, showing an expression that is trying really hard not to look concerned.
there is a Uh right before he speaks. almost as if he has been looking for the right words before saying anything, even if the words he's gonna say won't be different from the ones he's had in mind from the start. Then a low sigh. ]
This is Major Kaidan Alenko. Alliance Navy.
I've... well, I've already been filled in with the details of the place even though I'm still processing them. It's kinda hard to believe, all of this...
[ there is a pause, where he moves his eyes away from the cellphone to stare at something that isn't visible to anyone but him, before moving them back to the screen. same expression as before. ]
...But, yeah. I'm... I'm looking for some people and I'd be grateful if anyone could help me out. I'm gonna list their names in a moment. Just let me know if any of them rings a bell. Knowing they are here and well might be good news... so to speak.
The names are: Lieutenant James Vega, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy [ he takes a short pause at the end of Tali's name to make sure he said it correctly Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'soni, Commander-- [ this time the pause is longer and his expression darkens even harder, moving his eyes away from the device again. then another one of his low sighs. ]
Well, these should do for now. I'm sure if I can find even only of one them I'll end up finding the rest, too.
Thanks for your time.
Prose Log Sample:
They had been at this for so long Kaidan started to forget how many days exactly had passed.
It was nothing he wasn't expecting, of course. Rebuilding a city-- hell, the whole world, wasn't going to happen overnight, he and everybody else knew that. The red beam that engulfed everything, destroyed their enemies (and killed a friend for some people) was only the first of the many victories the galaxy achieved. The other ones would come with every building brought back up, every house rebuild, every family rejoined, every lost friend found again... and he'd know something about that.
He'd been given the assignment by Hackett together with a group of his students, after a long speech that Kaidan didn't need, because no matter how many reasons for him to be there Hackett was giving him (and they mostly involved Shepard, the legacy Kaidan became part of from being a member of the Commander's crew and the boost of morale it would have given the workers and other civilians just from his presence alone), Kaidan would have accepted the task anyway. Because it was the right thing to do. Because he wanted to help others achieve as many victories as he could.
No matter how long they had been at it, though, moving rubble with his biotics was hardly a problem for him, especially when you just came out of a war against enemies kilometers long, but knowing Kaidan he wouldn't have complained even if it was. And it wasn't only because of his integrity.
There was something in the back of his head. A spark. It appeared right as they found Shepard again under the Citadel's rubble, still breathing and having gone through God's knows what. It made him grin -- and this time he had no one to feel bad about his lack of professionalism -- and keep going, working more hours than he should have. It became almost like a resolution. A reason to keep fighting he didn't know he needed.
He was going to help those people get their homes and maybe by the time they were done rebuilding, Shepard would be back on his feet and Kaidan would be finally able to share a beer with the Commander right there, while showing him that beautiful view he liked to talk about.
And that would be his other victory.
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