Hey Case -

Fair point. By 'kill the UI login modal', do you mean that it would be inserting something between the text fields and the login button, therefore disrupting the flow in some way? If so, I can see that.

The only problem with having 'Remember Me' auto checked is that I feel like a lot of users get bothered by it. At least personally, even when I WANT to eventually check the box, I feel like having it done for me takes the agency away from me and comes off as slimy. So, if we ran with that view (which I understand may not be the case), then it would be the next best thing in my mind to place 'remember me' higher in the flow.