It was almost three years ago that I unwrapped my copy of Mass Effect. My holiday was made. I played it twice before New Year's, and then set down the controller. And picked up a pen. "Stay With Me" was born out of an intense desire to keep playing, to see where Shepard would go next. I had no notes, no real plan, and only slightly-baked ideas. Apparently, it was enough to get followers.

For every review, at least two more people signed on for story or author alerts. Some added me to their favorites. I was, and still am, deeply honored. Athena Solaris was my first reviewer, but not the last. Sho-ro Eyez, VoiDreamer, ilmiopassato, Hawki, blackghost7, PenguinOfTroy, Nyfain, nisaa231295, katzy85, NCArden, brynnevan, AllyAbabwa, DhtrofIsis, JadeBlueAfterGlow1, magooglersriot, The Odd Little Turtle, R-I-C-A-R-D, xvmysteryvx, MasterVash, Sarcasm Turtle, HalleysComet, Lawliet's Shinigami, Selena Valentine Mars, Swirlwind, Delylah, MeSoCute123, Tiger Snaps, moonlightseeker, tradygirl, fortunesque, Cate Lynn, Apathyisdeath, TheLostMinstrel, NOBLAHBLAHBLAH, FrozenPyromaniac, Elyssa Brown, Bdub, Jenna53, Skattebasse, Kuroi Akuryou, RubyRed1975, jillyfae, arysani, -x-fallen-x-fate-x-, Kalan Jade, blackhawk68, Ioialoha, KermitTheHermit, and CCBug...thank you, all of you. Your reviews kept me going, stroked my ego, and made me want to be better. I owe you so much.

Now for the behind-the-scenes factoids:

There was supposed to be a minor plot point in which Esme and Rhona both had crushes on Kaidan and competed for his affections. But all it did was make them look stupid and bratty, and poor Kaidan came off as either oblivious or a jerkwad. So it was dropped. Here's a cut clip.

(Ch. 12, just before the call from Garrus.)

Kaidan considered banging his head on the desk again, but thought better of it. Why torment himself when he could train his new recruits? If he was lucky, he'd wear them out so badly that they would stop barging in on him all the-

"Captain Alenko?"

Speak of the devil.

"What is it, Private Mitra?" Kaidan snapped, getting out of his chair.

Rhona smiled, pulling her ponytail of long blonde hair across her shoulder, running her hands through it.

"Um, I was wondering...Captain, would we have any chance of going groundside soon? It's just, it gets so boring on the ship..." She shot a glance at him from under her eyelashes. "...and I don't know what to do with myself."

Kaidan couldn't recall the last time he'd been so absolutely irritated at a human being before. No, wait, he could. Rhona reminded him of the asari Consort.

Because the truth was, no matter how cute the girl was, no matter how much she flirted and batted her eyelashes, there were so many more constructive things she could be doing. Especially if she was a private on the Normandy.

"That's fantastic," he said, grinning. "Because I've got something in mind for you."

"Really?" Rhona beamed, then caught herself and remembered to act sultry again. "Oh, Captain..."

"That malfunctioning panel in the mess hall? Go repair it for me."

Rhona resembled a goldfish, her mouth opening and closing in a desperate attempt to swallow what she'd been told. "Um...I-"

"Perfect," Kaidan continued. "Now go see to that." And then he pushed her out the door.

"Teenagers..." he muttered.

See what I mean? As amusing as it might have been, it wasn't the way I wanted Rhona's character to go. And Esme isn't the type to get in a catfight, anyway.

Speaking of the kids...I didn't do as much as I thought I would with them. I almost considered cutting them. But no one seemed to hate them being there, and they gave an interesting perspective to events. And Kaidan needed someone to TALK to, and a unit that he could command and learn to grow with. So they did serve a higher purpose.

Incidentally, Rhona is a Vanguard, Aldon an Adept, Jacen a Sentinel, and Esme a Soldier. (I know, technically that's not a biotic class, but that doesn't stop us from using those Bonus Powers, does it? And Esme has the weakest output anyway.)

Just so you know, it bowled me over when we got to explore inside the derelict Reaper in ME 2. "What's this tomfoolery?" I said. "I am rather forcefully reminded of my fan-made fiction, wherein Shepard does battle within sleeping Reapers. This is quite a strange coincidence!"

Actually, when I said it there was a lot more swearing involved. Because my brain had apparently been tuning in during a Bioware staff meeting. Records will show that I planned and wrote that chapter BEFORE playing the game. Weird...

Incidentally, my outline for the story was written on three post-it notes. Clearly, I am both insane and a masochist.

But the chapters still got written, somehow. The last one was sparked by a headache, and that was how I began the chapter. So thank you, Brain. I owe you things.

Penultimately, I have a bit of news. This Friday I will be putting up the first chapter of my next Shenko series. (Please stop squeeing; my ears are beginning to bleed.) I've already got five chapters completed, and I will post one every Friday until I run out or get bored. The title is "Love and Marriage", and here's a short preview:

Really, it was a testament to Shepard's skill that she had managed alone for a week. There had been an award ceremony on the Citadel (the two of them had enough medals to fill every room in the house), they didn't want the baby anywhere near the media feeding frenzy, and Shepard loathed such events slightly more than Kaidan did. Ergo, he was the one to leave for a week and sit through days of pomp and circumstance. When he had come home, it was very clear just how far at the end of her rope Shepard was. Kaidan was determined to make it up to her.

Of course, his wife had only been out of the room for ten minutes before the baby started crying.

This may or may not be the first chapter. I have yet to decide what order they should go in.

And finally, I dedicate the completion of this project to my boyfriend, John. He's my Carth, my Kaidan, my Alistair, and whenever I'm with him I feel like I can take on the universe. I love you.

Shenko forever.