OC Facts Meme: Nathan Shepard

Now that I’ve almost finished ME2 with my newest Shepard, I think it’s time for me to talk about him in a bit more detail. I touched on some of these things in my introductory post about him on Tumblr, but not in much depth, so without further ado...

Here are the tag rules:
1) Post these rules.
2) Post 8 facts about your character.
3) Tag 8 other characters (whoops I forgot)
4) Post their names along with their creators' avatars.

Here is what my beloved son looks like:

I have yet to get a decent screenshot of this precious child, but that will do for now. His name is Nathan, maybe Nate if you’re a good friend, and he’s a full Paragon, a Spacer, War Hero, and Sentinel. And here are eight facts about him:

1. As described in this short story, Nathan is a very sensitive guy. Not sensitive as in easily hurt, but sensitive as in deep-feeling, and able to empathise strongly with the emotions of others. He never holds back his own tears or laughter, and despite being normally calm and mild-mannered, he will speak sharply and fiercely when angry. This tends to confuse people, because Nathan is so soft-spoken and gentle that they find it odd, someone so quiet being so passionate.

2. Nathan is very patient and kind towards people who he can tell are suffering, simply spending time with them, being friendly and sympathetic, and offering them tea. This is how he became best friends with Jack, despite them being almost polar opposites; she constantly mocks his incessant niceness, but actually rather appreciates it. He also formed an equally unlikely friendship with Samara, with whom he spends a lot of time on the observation deck, looking out at the stars in complete silence. She has tried to teach him some asari meditation techniques - but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t do that awesome biotic glowy thing that she does.

3. Remember I mentioned tea? As it happens, Nate is fantastic at making hot drinks of any kind. It’s not an uncommon sight on the Normandy to see him wandering the corridors balancing a tray stacked with various beverages – he knows the favourite of every member of his crew, and delivers it to them after every mission. (He’s rather fond of caramel lattes, himself. He has a sweet tooth.)

4. Nathan took up playing the piano in his youth to keep himself occupied while his parents were out on duty, and found he had a natural flare for it, developing a love of classical music and a habit of playing for hours at a time to calm himself whenever he felt a little distressed. Needless to say, he ends up needing to do this a lot during the events of the games. Fortunately, he managed to persuade Miranda to let him install a keyboard in his cabin in the SR2.

5. His biggest character flaws are a tendency to throw his life on the line when it’s really not necessary, and a compulsive desire to prove himself. These both stem from the same thing: his father, Reuben Shepard, who died during the First Contact War saving a bunch of civilians. He was lauded as a war hero, and Nate grew up afraid that he’d never live up to his father’s example, and that he’d be letting his family down if he couldn’t. He even wondered if he’d have to die a martyr like Reuben did. When he held the line at Elysium, he fully expected to be killed there...

6. But of course, he didn’t die, and the experience inspired some character development in him, as he realised he could be a hero while very much alive, and being seen as a hero wasn’t even the important thing - what was important was that he protected people. It was a huge confidence boost for him. Still, the fact that Reuben Shepard’s heroic sacrifice was lauded by the media during the very same news reports that poured scorn on General Williams would eventually leave Nathan feeling a bit awkward around the General’s granddaughter… especially since he was developing a heavy crush on her. Thankfully, his closeness with Ashley would eventually allow him to use his experiences to talk her out of her own self-sacrificial tendencies.

7. Nathan is Jewish, and does his best to observe the various holidays when they come around, in between all the galaxy-saving. I really like the idea of Passover coming around on board the SR1, Nate explaining it to Tali (another of his besties) and her persuading him to hold a Seder and invite everyone. After all, Tali knows the importance of remembering forced exoduses and lost homelands. 

8.  After he falls for Ash and learns about her love of poetry, Nathan starts reading poems too (because showing interest in your partner’s interests is always a good idea.) He gains an especial fondness for If by Rudyard Kipling, and tends to think about it to give him motivation when things are tough. (I mean… read it. It’s basically four verses of life advice for Shepard. Also, I love it.)

With any luck, I will feel inspired to draw or write more things about this fella soon. We shall see. For now... *Shepard voice* I should go.