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Language:
English
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Published:
2014-09-09
Completed:
2014-09-21
Words:
14,527
Chapters:
10/10
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8
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Ithaka

Summary:

Reapers aren't the only monsters in Ashley Williams' life, but as she learns that the galaxy isn't always what it seems, maybe she can learn to fight them off.

Snippets of Ashley from the end of ME2 through to the aftermath of the destroy ending.

Notes:

I don't own Mass Effect/characters/etc. This is all appreciative fanwork.

Generally the same universe as Broken Path and For the Future, except Virmire worked out a little differently (ie. Ashley, not Kaidan) and Shepard transitioned pre-Alliance.

Interesting particulars of the universe:
-Box: a magical transition machine! originally from the turians, all of the human ones were destroyed in the Purge, the remaining one was with Cerberus, located on Palaven, until Shepard.
-Binary Legalities: these nasty transphobic laws that were put into affect before Shepard was born, basically makes it illegal to be trans
-The Purge: what it sounds like, the legalised genocide of trans people that happened after the Binary Legalities were put in place. This needs an entire essay, not a blurb.
This isn't necessary for the story, it just might help a bit?

Quotes are from the poem "Ithaka" by Constantine Cavafy, there has to be poetry, this is Ashley we're talking about.

Chapter 1: A letter

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Dear Ashley,

 

I know we’re not really on the best terms at the moment, but I want to make sure you hear this from me, not some article on the extranet or a news point on Omega or something.

You’re still my crew. I still care.

You were always right. Cerberus can’t be trusted. I don’t blame your coldness on Horizon. It hurt, of course, but I understand it. Now that the Collector base is destroyed, I have no more need for terrorists. I hope that news may help you accept the next part of this email.

This is supposed to be easier in writing, dammit.

I’m trans. You know, the people they always warned us about in school. The people the Binary Legalities is supposed to protect us from. You may be young enough to have missed the Purge, but I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’ve been boxed. My parents and doctors decided I was male. I’ve never been a man, and I was lucky enough to get to Palaven and be boxed before joining the Alliance.

I know you’ve been taught your whole life that trans people are dangerous, that it’s a sick disease of brainwashing, that trans people don’t actually know what’s good for them, that the Box is a form of self-harm. I’m asking you, begging you to reconsider.

For some people, it is impossible to live as our assigned gender. There’s no addiction, or brainwashing, or self-hate. It’s not a cult. It’s simply survival. Please, try to question what you’ve been taught and realize how much of it comes from fear and hatred. Some famous person* once said that history is always written by the winners. This holds even in now (I’m sure the protheans would agree).

The reapers are coming, but in the meantime, there’s another war to be fought. If anyone can start changing public opinion on trans identities, it has to be the first human spectre, someone that people might actually listen to (but you know the politicians I’m working with, there’s little hope for any kind of change).

And, I hope, that just maybe, when the reapers do come, you might be fighting by my side again. I miss that.

 

-Commander Jennifer Shepard

Notes:

*Winston Churchill