#I think the asari would love them.

[saiyanblood2]

So, has anyone made a post about how the various races would react to cats yet? Is yes, can somebody link me?

[crqstalite]

also thinkin abt writing a post-mea fic where i get to write everyone at a nexus gala. i think itd be funny lol

[thefloatingstone]

You know what you're right. How could I have been so blind?

Although gonna say it's not Batarians as a whole, just their bitch-ass government who then forces this opinion down the ranks as propaganda so it just becomes a sort of "common knowledge" among Batarians. And then one day Bray just casually says to Shepard "Actually I kinda liked Predator" out of nowwere and she has no idea wtf this is supposed to mean.

Do you suppose the Citadel species look at old earth movies about aliens and are like, "Really? That explains a *lot*."

Honestly I think they'd get a kick out of them in many ways. Especially since for the most part none of the aliens in our movies represent any real Citadel species. And greys are different enough from Salarians to not feel insulting, although I'm sure there will be a small group of salarians who will call "outdated stereotype!" to greys but in the same way the hanar scream about their religion and insulting representation to anyone who will listen.

Because Mass Effect understood that an alien species is not a mono-opinion and every species is made up of countless individuals and groups and factions and some of them can be just as stupid about things as humans are.

That being said, pretty sure every single alien species in all of Mass Effect would agree "The Thing" is one of the greatest sci fi horrors of all time.

[sol-consort]

Do you think there is human/krogan porn and human/krogan relationships? (Feel free to expand that into having a Krogan roommate, I love your alien roommate drabbles)

if a romance drama film about a krogan and a human falling in love/overcoming their different cultures got widespread in the milky way enough for the Andromeda initiative to pack it up amidst the other media records, then not only is there porn for this category but an over abundance of it.

But I see it being considered taboo and controversial amidst krogans to be with a human. The only reason we're even considered "datable" is through the process of elimination.

A Korgan would either eat their own quads than smooch a salarian. They'd rather cave their own skull in than ever sleep with a turian. The asari are sexy to them, but they're also partially responsible for wronging them in the past. Plus, most asari avoid krogans because they fear commitment and long-lasting relationships with their equal lifespans. Quarians are chill, but there are very few of them to go around, and many many krogans.

Leaving...the humans. The soft squishes. Only winning first place courtesy of all other contestants shitting the bed. Congratulations to humanity.

Yeah, we're not exactly a tasty cut from the sexual appeal pie to them. We're too soft, too fragile, and we have too few organs. Traits that turians find hot in us would turn the krogans off instead.

They like us for what we're not rather than what we are. Humans are not as ugly as turians, humans are not as annoying as salarians, humans are not as condescending as asari, humans are not.

They do, however, enjoy our art, find it endearing that we still attempt to drink krogan liquor despite it possibly putting us in an early grave. Humans party hard and keep up with krogans. The rest of the galactic species are too uptight. And despite our inflated egos, sometimes our bite lives up to our bark.

The problem is, would a human survive sexual Intercourse with a krogan? What's uh the situation down there? What are we dealing with in the trenches? I doubt whatever we have to offer is enough to satisfy them.

Sexually and attractiveness wise, humans are a 4/10 at best to krogans. Romantically, however? You've seen them follow in humanity's footsteps when it comes to courting rituals. The flower bouquets, the poems, the slow dancing. They're awkwardly mimicking us.

A krogan roommate wouldn't care the least bit about you being half naked lounging on his lap, but he'd have to resist melting into a puddle whenever you cup his face, call him honey, sweetheart, beloved, darling, any of your silly human petnames that hold a vice grip on each of his hearts for some reason.

He would think about it for centuries if you ever tuck a flower into his armour. Dream about it every night that one time you came drunk home and insisted on dancing with him to slow music in the kitchen, teaching his the steps, swaying together with melodic music playing in the background.

A hug, the simplest show of affection of all, coming from a human, is enough to send a krogan to their knees.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Bigots and Failed Promises of Mass Effect games

(I had this thing in my drafts for almost a month, and it would have stayed there if not for the wonderful post by @androidtrashfire, because I saw it, and I was like: "Fuck it, I have to rant about these games." I love Mass Effect, and I really think we should critique it. We should criticize things we love because silence = compliance.)

So I was talking to @liss-art recently about the bigoted fans in the Mass Effect fandom, and I think I need to make a post about it because it's something that really, truly bothers me, and it needs to be addressed.

Canon

Mass Effect is a story about deeply flawed people with a lot of problems, and through them it touches on issues like xenophobia, sexism, corruption, elitism, morality, identity. That's why we like it, right? But why are there so many bigots in the fandom? My theory is that it happens because Mass Effect, for all its supposed complexity, only touches on these issues without giving any meaningful commentary on them.

Here are a few obvious examples:

The Quarians are a distasteful allegory of the Roma people (right down to their accents). They are persecuted and ostracized for creating Geth, but the game never gives us any socio-political reasons why the Quarians did that. They just developed real AI because they were naive and stupid? Or because they were the only ones smart enough to do it? Did they do it in secret? Why did other races not make the same mistake?

Same with the Batarians. Yes, the game mentions tensions between humans and Batarians because humans try to claim territories that Batarians think are theirs, but that's about it. Batarians are all racist slave traders and they're bad, don't think about it, here's some memes about 300,000 of them dying, good job. And yes, I know you can read more about their history in the Codex (why is it an Asari who writes about Batarian history,btw?), but it's basically the same thing as saying D*mbledore is gay (I really am sorry for this reference). If no one ever mentions this rich Batarian history, then it doesn't exist.

And please don't get me started on Hanar. They "mercifully" saved the Drell by inviting them to their planet, immediately assimilated them into their own faith and also put them in conditions where they have to train as assassins from the ripe old age of 6 and eventually die of sci-fi lung cancer. But don't worry about it, Drell actually love to serve the Hanar, they do it willingly and consider their servitude an honor. Do you really want to criticize some stupid jellyfish who talk funny? Do you really want to talk about why the so-called Council races do nothing about it? LOL

Another thing the trilogy does is present entire races, including humans, as amorphous blobs. Do all Asari believe in the same "goddess"? Do all Turians obey the same Primarch? Well, what's important is that all humans in this bright future speak English.

But what about the genophage? That's a profound story, right? Well, not really, and it raises more questions than it answers. We hear a lot about how brutal, aggressive, and short-tempered Krogans are, but every single Krogan we meet is extremely well-mannered, and they only resort to violence against other races in dire circumstances. So why not save them? Does the game really present you with this moral dilemma or not?

And can anyone tell me why Salarians are allowed to abduct and experiment on sentient beings, and why Turians are allowed to wage wars? Why does no one talk about Asari in this context?

I really want to say that at least the characters are well written, but I can't because they're not.

Kaidan is a good example of this. We are told about his implant, we are told that he has chronic pain, but do we see him suffer from it? Do we see him in those moments of weakness and vulnerability?

The scene where he gets annoyed with Jenkins acting like he's a circus monkey who has to do a trick and biotically throws a cup at him was cut from the game. We occasionally hear him mention some of the side effects of his migraines ("Too many lights, too much noise"), but that's about it. What has happened to "show, don't tell"? And no, I'm not saying that the writers should feed me the story or walk me through it. What I am saying is that if you gloss over your characters' mistakes, flaws, and circumstances, you're getting people to ignore them. Do people who call Kaidan "boring" and insult him think about how his chronic pain, his trauma from Brain Camp, and the loss of Jenkins and Ashley affect who he is? Hell no.

Thane is another great example. What Mass Effect is telling us as a story is that you can completely abandon your family and your child and be forgiven if your reason for doing it is good and heroic enough. Like avenging your dead wife, because of course there has to be a dead woman thrown somewhere.

Everyone's favorite Garrus (mine too) is a cop whose character arc basically consists of deciding that he is above the law (since the law forbids him from killing people he thinks should die) and then involving his squadmate/friend/partner (depending on your playthrough) in the public assassination of his former squadmate, whom he never even bothered to confront first. Are there any consequences for Garrus for his actions? No. Again, it's all glossed over, and that's unfortunate because it removes the conflict and therefore the character development and depth.

And if you're going to tell me that ME is just a space opera, and that I should just enjoy the spectacle and the romance, then I'm going to tell you that I know that, and that I think it's a wonderful spectacle, and that some of the romance subplots are absolutely amazing story-wise, but the superficial commentary (or lack thereof) on the most important issues that ME covers actually harms the audience.

Fandom

On the one hand, we have people making mods that remove all the clothes from all the female characters (or remove all of femShep's organs and replace them with giant tits). We have people reposting that horrible, horrible art of Miranda and Jack fighting, tearing each other's hair and clothes, and maleShep smirking and saying "I should stay". We have people who say ME2 is the best game in the series because "there are no f*gs". On the other hand, we have people saying things like "there are two Commander Shepards - female and the wrong one". We have people who say "only weird people play as dudebro in 2024". We have people who think that simply playing as a female character is some kind of feminist statement, and that it makes them better and smarter than everyone else (the same people who use the term "dude gamer" as an insult). And all of those things are kind of the trilogy's fault.

Both maleShep and femShep have the same story. The only differences are the romance options, sexist remarks directed only at femShep, and flirtations from various NPCs directed only at femShep. What this tells you is that sexism exists in the Mass Effect universe, and only women suffer from it. It also tells you that only women are worth flirting with.

Another thing this game does (and modern games like Cyberpunk do the same thing) is equate the female experience to the male experience by giving both femShep and maleShep the same lines.

So there are some mixed signals here. Sexism exists and doesn't exist in this universe, Shepard is both genderless and very gendered, romances with underdeveloped characters are all over the place, and bigots thrive in this kind of environment.

The lack of commentary, the lack of perspective, the disastrous worldbuilding allows you to freely choose your sexist, racist adventure and not be punished by the story in any way.

Mirrors

There's a passage from Solaris that I absolutely adore and think about often.

"We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos. […] We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is."

I think that perfectly describes what Mass Effect is as a universe. And in a way, it's a reason why it's so compelling. It's just empty enough for us to invest in it, to fill in the blanks of that narrative with the stories of our own. And it's also a reason why this fandom is a fucking hellscape.

[omegastation]

MEA thoughts:

I kinda agree that finding new species, space faring ones, in the Milky Way might have proven to be a challenge, but I don't believe that everything has been explored, that it was all "been there, done that" as if the galaxy had nothing new to offer. Even for someone like Peebee. I know the "unknown" is exciting and obviously Andromeda would be full of discoveries but the grass is always greener on the other side mindset plays a huge part here.

I don't think they have really explored the psychological impact of everyone not waking up at the same time, especially when linked to loved ones/families. If you spend months or years working and helping the Nexus as essential personnel in Andromeda while your wife/husband/partner is still in cryo, those are still months or years you get to live and do things without the one you love. It's time taken out of your lifespan, and time you won't get back with them, but it's also time you fill with other people and feelings. I don't know, I find the idea extremely scary.

Patterns and basically history repeating itself. Many ways we can see that in Andromeda. I think Avina - the face of an asari as the welcoming VI in the galaxy - says a lot really.

[naiitiel]

I was just thinking about Morinth.

i would loved if we were able to explore more about morinth's psichology if you chosed her over samara.

maybe samara is not a bad person and was not a bad mother to falere and rila, but maybe she was not as good to morinth, since she was the firstborn and she was a new mother fighting to a really stigmatized illness in asari culture. maybe she tried her best to protect morinth, but sometimes that's not good enough. maybe morinth felt trapped and controlled, maybe she had to learn how to value herself without thinking about that curse, since her needs were always put aside for the safety of others. maybe she blamed her mother for making her that way but then rejecting how she was, a thing that she had no say in. at some point, she had to accept she would never be loved, cause loving her meant to die, and few would be able to sacrifice that much, and even if they did it would never save them and they would break her heart anyway. maybe she runned away, tired and accepting her lonely fate and just did what a life of stigma made her to, be selfish.

I would loved to know her more as a person, really.

[what-the-fic-khr]

Hiiiii! Recently discovered your page and am currently enjoying scrolling through. Just saw your tea prompts and just wanted to request for Giotto with milk tea and/or pomegranate tea(your choice hehe) anyways, hope you have a nice day!

ahhhh I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog, thank you for checking my stuff out!! I chose to do both prompts but a little different; I had a really clear plan and story so I turned the two answers into a longer, more cohesive story combined instead of two separate scenarios. I hope that’s alright, and that you like it!! my first time doing so but I really wanted to write this out and the two prompts really fit well so,,, (side note, he’s so pretty in the manga…… adore him omg)

character/s: giotto, g, ugestu asari, reader-insert (gender-neutral)

word count: —

warnings: discussions of being chased and beating some dude up (a little bit), very minor injuries

prompt: tea prompts (milk tea, pomegranate tea)

milk tea; what are their kisses like?

I think his kisses are very gentle. soft. he’s always very soft; he’s never had a reason to be otherwise with his partner. he’s such a gentleman… so romantic. unless, of course…

His Guardians had been split up, and while he worried, he didn’t have to worry too much. They all knew how to fight, how to protect themselves.

You did not, however. You weren’t a fighter. So the fact you were not by his side…

Giotto and G straightened when some bushes to their left rustled, tense as they waited to see who would come out.

“Ahh, Giotto, G…! I finally found someone…!”

…unless, of course, he was really worried about your safety. if he could get you back in his arms, reassured you’re safe… I think that’s one of the very rare times he’d be anything but soft; he’d be firm and insistent, overwhelmed with his relief that you’re okay

“My dear!” Giotto took long strides to reach you and you preened when he took your cheeks into his gloved hands, lifting your face up gently. You let out a short, muffled noise when he kissed you, strong and firm. You made sure to relay your feelings in return, head tilting.

“You’re alright…” He spoke quietly, lips brushing yours as he did. You wrapped your arms up and around his torso, underneath his cloak so you could grip at his vest tightly. “And you’re hurt… I’m sorry.”

You shook your head, resting your chin on his chest gently so you could look up at him. “I’m okay… Just a few scrapes here and there. Ahh, I was being chased and it was scary…!”

You pulled back to show him the palms of your hands and G finally joined after giving you two a moment, eyeing over the scratches on your hands.

“I can’t fight, but… I broke off a branch and just.” You huffed softly and G had to stifle a snort. “Just… beat him over the head until I could run away again.”

Giotto released a soft breath, head tilting. “Good job, my love. You did well on your own, all things considered.” He took your hands gently, turning them over to bring your knuckles to his lips. “Still, I have to apologise for letting you out of my sight… I won’t let it happen again. I’ll be there to protect you next time, I promise.”

“Ehh?” You shuffled on the spot, cheeks warming. “Oh, it’s not your fault at all, Giotto…! I’m okay!”

pomegranate tea; at what point did they know they loved their s/o?

very familial with him. you doing something very close with his Guardians. if his Guardians can truly learn to accept you, become close with you at the same time as he falls for you… he’s sure that’d be the best outcome. his whole relationship he gauges his Guardians reactions, too. so if you can all be just as close, like family, I think he’d happily fall in love with ease after that point

“Primo.” G nodded down at you two once before nodding in the direction you came from. “It’ll be no good letting them run around. I’ll go find the one they ran from. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, you’re going?” You had reached out to grab one of G’s sleeves, eyes wide. “Ah, I know you can fight… Be careful, okay? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, especially if I upset him further…”

G hummed lowly, reaching up to pet your hand gently twice before squeezing in reassurance and then returning your hand to Giotto’s. “Appreciated, but I’ll definitely be fine, so there’s no need to worry. One of the others should be back soon - they better be, anyways.”

“Right, of course.”

You watched G wander off before jumping when he stopped short of the bushes to point across the clearing. “Hey! Get over there and help them out; they’re injured!”

“Pardon? Of course!”

You turned quickly to look over your shoulder at Asari, smiling crookedly and holding up your hands along with Giotto’s. “Just a few scrapes, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yes, they made it out on their own.” Giotto sounded a bit proud as he said this, turning you gently to face Asari. “After beating him themselves.”

Asari blinked in surprise at this before smiling, watching you hold up your hands, palms facing him. “Oh my. Did you? Excellent work. I’m glad you’re alright. Let me see them.”

“Yes! I’m not strong by any means, but…! They don’t hurt much, so if you need to we can wait until we return to the estate.”

“That won’t do. We should treat them here while we have the time. Is that okay?”

You could feel Giotto squeeze your shoulders, encouragingly, reassuringly, and you acquiesced.

There was something about watching you get tended to by one of his Guardians; one nagging thought that this may only be the first time… and not the last that this will happen. But a greater thought that you truly were cherished by the Vongola, and for now he chose to focus on that one instead.

[i-am-worm]

(This is an old idea I had for Quarians here, I just think Tali looks adorable in this old pic, lol).

Today's inktober word is 'Nomadic' and this made me think about Quarians in the game Mass Effect. And to my self-imposed horror, I realized I never bothered uploading my ideas for what they looked like back in the day. I went through a phase like that. I did lots of stuff back in 2010 and never really uploaded it...Possibly for the best, as it looks pretty rough in places now, but I did want to share some of my ideas before I upload my more current version from today.

I did at least upload my concepts for the Volus and the Raloi though (two other unseen races in game, one is coved up, and the latter just mentioned in other media). You can see them here:

Quarians are masked aliens in game and back in the day, I had to have my graphic settings turned WAY down in order to play mass effect. Have my low graphic crunchy Shepard

Because of that, I never saw the two glowing eyes or slightly human nose bridge reflection you can see in a normal setting. So I had in mind an alien species that somewhat resembled the Geth - a race of AI the Quarians themselves made:

So I was picturing something with one eye, armour and maybe even mandibles? So here is my first go:

BUT later on, when I played Mass Effect 2 on a better pc, I was disappointed that you could see a bit of a human face. No matter- I could still work with this.

MORE BELOW so I don't clog up your feed with ancient quarian debates I should have posted a decade ago, lol.

So I got to playing around with ideas, using my old ones. I mean- Quarians are mentioned to be attractive to Turians and later Javik mentions that ancient Quarins looked attractive. And they look like this:

So definitely not very human....right?

One thing I also noticed was that male Quarians have a flat nose compared to females, almost like a muzzle. (screenshots are mine, the model I downloaded back in the day and can no longer find a source sadly)

And that made me think about the sci-fi trope of cat people.

Seriously, these are just some of the books on my bookshelf that contain sci-fi cat people, and that's the ones I could find off the top of my head:

It makes sense; Mass Effect is a bit of an amalgamation of sci-fi tropes into new ideas. You have the insect race (Turains), Warring tank race (Krogun), the classic 'Grays' (Salarians), Animal-like with tentacles (Hanar), The 'sexy human female but a colour' (Asari). etc. etc. yadda yadda.

So I sat down and tried to design something that sort of encompassed all these ideas, Geth-like, attractive to Turians, Javik and maybe even humans...and a little bit of space cat thrown in.

So this was my first idea that I meant to upload back in 2012.

I think I wasn't happy with the body and I had meant to come back to it. I had over the next few years dabble din other sketches, even going back to the drawing board on the face.

I think what stopped me was the things we learned from Mass Effect 3. If you romance the Quarian Tali, you can see a photo of her face!...

...they were purple humans.

LAME.

But recently, The legendary edition took the critique on board and revamped the picture to the one on the right. Now they look ...even MORE human.

EVEN MORE LAAAAME.

Utter disappointment. Now I always knew that if Bioware revealed the Quarian face they would disappoint some people, but this was such a missed opportunity to design something unique. Bioware did they that they were worried if it was too alien, it would be hard for cosplayers to dress up? But come on, cosplayers love a challenge and will overcome anything. We knew they had two eyes and a nose bridge, it didn't have to be too alien, just alien enough.

TALI RAGE.

BUT the best answer is to REJECT CANNON.

And in a moment I'll upload my more updated Quarian idea.

[omniblades-and-stars]

The loss hurt, no, worse than hurt. It ate up every little bit of light that was in his life. It was a clawing, desperate monster that sat heavy in the pit of his stomach. It squeezed his lungs, made him choke on food before it even made it to his throat, and made him sluggish and angry. He lost his ship, and that was bad enough. One of the true joys of his life, blown apart in space by the kind of spooky legends that everyone swore didn't exist, right up until they were being blasted into pieces by them.

But that wasn't the loss he was really mourning. It was only a small part. You see, there was this woman. Not just any woman, either. She was powerful, wicked smart, a little cheesy, stupid hot, a certified hero and now, she was super dead. And it was his fucking fault.

His stupid fault for being so attached to his ship that he was fully planning to go down with it when she went and did the heroic thing and pulled his ass out of the cockpit by force and crammed him into the last escape pod. She wasn't able to get inside of it herself, and he wasn't capable of pulling her in. He watched with stone cold terror as Commander Shepard was ripped away from the Normandy by an explosion with only enough time to launch his sorry butt away from the wreckage.

It should have been him. She should have gotten in the pod and left him to suffocate and burn up on atmospheric entry. She was too brave for her own good. And he was a coward.

Couldn't even tell her that he had feelings for her. Not that he was ready to admit it until she was already gone. You don't know what you've got till it's gone, blah, blah, blah.

Besides, she was out of his league by about three star systems. She was Commander Shepard, Alliance legend, total badass, and the very peak of physical performance. And he was Jeff, the totally average looking guy with creaky, fragile bones and crutches.

He couldn't imagine that Shepard could think of him like that. And he'd never know for sure now anyways. Thinking about it was a pointless exercise in making himself feel like shit, there were only losers inside his head right now.

Everything fucking sucked after she died. He got to fly the most advanced starship in the Alliance Navy, with the best crew, and the galaxy's savior for such a short time, and now the Alliance had him reassigned. If he couldn't have Shepard back - and he couldn't because she was very, very, super fucking dead - he wanted to at least fly.

Still, it wasn't the same. There was no goofy Commander making bad jokes, no shy asari scientist stumbling on accidental innuendo, not a single hardass turian, or terrifying krogan making sure no one ate a bullet planetside. Not even one sweet quarian engineer helping Adams keep the drive core balanced so Joker could pull insane maneuvers. No more interspecies cooperation. No more saving the galaxy either. It was all bullshit.

It didn't help that the Council and Alliance brass were both sticking their fingers in their ear holes and shouting, "La-la-la, I can't hear you!" over Shepard's warnings that Sovereign wasn't the only Reaper. Now that she had bitten the dust, it was even more disrespectful.

Perhaps it was a grief-addled mind that led him to jump at the opportunity, even if she would have hated it, but when he was approached by Cerberus, of all organizations, to join as a pilot in their Lazarus Cell, he went for it. They wanted to stop the Collectors, and they rebuilt the Normandy. Not just rebuilt, they made her bigger, more powerful, more beautiful. More ship to love. They even made the pilot's chair comfortable. Real leather seats, baby!

But he was lying to himself and everyone else if he told them it was just for the ship. You see, they were trying to rebuild Commander Shepard too, and that Lawson woman was certain it was going to work. Joker avoided Lawson as much as possible, she was all business, and he was sure she wouldn't hesitate to smear his carcass on the wall if he cracked any jokes about a zombie Shepard, but if she said they could bring the Commander back, he fucking believed her. And he was pretty sure it wasn't just blind optimism and desperation that made him believe her.

Mostly.

He knew he'd made the right decision when Dr. Chakwas joined on. Of course, the first thing she did was chide him for not taking his medication enough. Karin claimed that she only joined because he needed someone to make sure he was taking care of himself and managing his disease appropriately or whatever. They both knew that was a lie. They were there for one reason, and one reason only, Commander Shepard.

The new starship was just a really, really expensive bonus. Just the best bonus a guy could ever dream of getting.

Now, if he'd had his way, Joker would have thrown a resurrection day party for Shepard, complete with zombie themed cupcakes, and those little poppers that sent confetti flying everywhere. And booze. A lot of booze.

And strippers.

But something happened at the Lazarus Project labs, and God only knew what because trying to get information from Cerberus insiders was like trying to get blood from a particularly dry rock, and he didn't get the chance to set it up. She wasn't supposed to be awake yet. She was already back.

He didn't really care for drama, at least, not the kind of drama that The Illusive Man seemed to thrive on. So when he walked - or limped - into the QEC conference room on the station they were headquartered at to find Shepard finishing up her call with the big man himself (The Illusive Man, not God), he felt kind of like an asshole. Well, a worse kind of asshole than the one he already was. Sneaking up on a woman who had only been alive again for like a day and a half seemed like the worst kind of practical joke.

Her back was turned on him, but he would know that fiery red hair anywhere. He heard good ol' "Timmy" say something about someone from her old crew, and then disconnect the call. When she turned to see him a cascade of thoughts crashed into his head, and he was glad for once that he managed to keep his stupid mouth shut.

Holy shit! - It's her! - Why is her face glowing? - Do other parts of her glow? - Focus, damn it. - Quick, tell her a joke!

His brain was too busy processing all of the input and raw joy he felt knowing that she was alive to open up with a witty one-liner. It didn't matter anyways because in a split second, Shepard was crushing him in an iron grip hug. The plates of her armor dug into his skin through his uniform. It was bone breaking.

Like literally bone breaking.

"Jeff, you're alive!" She sobbed into his neck as she squeezed him mercilessly.

"Yeah, not for long if you keep squeezing me like that! The bones, remember?" He managed to gasp out as he awkwardly tried to hug her back from within the crushing weight of her grasp. Shit, he forgot how strong she was.

Shepard pulled away abruptly but kept her hands on his shoulders, "Shit, I'm so sorry. It's just … the last thing I remember is the escape pod and these assholes didn't tell me if you'd made it." She met his eyes and she was definitely crying, red-eyed, sniffling, snot, the whole shebang. He'd be embarrassed for her if he wasn't so affected by it.

And damn it, she was actually literally glowing. There were cracks in her skin, like if he got too close he might see the gooey bits underneath. And from the cracks came a strange, amber glow, similar to the light from an omni-tool. Shit, now she really looked like a superhero. Somebody needed to pinch him, because superhero Shepard was the topic of no fewer than four of his nerdiest fantasies. Some other types of fantasies too.

Shepard took her hands back and wiped her eyes with gauntleted hands. "You asshole, why'd you join Cerberus?" If she was trying to sound mad, she was doing a bad job at it. Her sobs turned to relieved laughter as he led her out of the conference room.

"Nobody else was doing anything about the Collectors threatening the colonies," he started to explain. "Besides, they brought you back, so they can't be all bad."

"Joker …" Shepard groaned.

He panicked and struggled to find words to fill the air. He settled on redirecting the conversation, and exclaimed, "They also rebuilt my baby! You're gonna love her!" Stupid. Of course she would be upset that he buddied up with Cerberus. He led her to a darkened observation window, the one that looked out over the Normandy's docking bay. He hit the window controls.

The awed gasp that she made would live rent free in his head until the day he died.

"Oh my God!" Shepard bounced up on her toes. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and just like that, her reservations were forgotten, for now at least. Just outside the new Normandy waited for her Commander. And fuck was she gorgeous. Almost twice as big as the original, she was a powerhouse of a stealth frigate. "She's beautiful! And this is my ship?"

"Hey, now, this is my baby. You can have her on weekends and every other holiday."

"The drive core must be insane! Oh, I can't wait to get in her guts and see what she can do."

This was definitely the Commander he missed - smart, funny, and into spaceships. And little too into disassembling expensive tech so she could find out what made it tick. Borderline serial killer behavior if her victims had been living beings and not guns, cleaning bots, the Mako, and at least one of her omni-tools. "Gonna have to veto that, Commander. You never put it back right."

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, recruiting Jack:

Osun

-Erinie has element zero. Quite a bit of it. Why does a garden world in its last stages with a small salarian colony have so much?

I suppose if it was colonized in the last cycle, the element zero may be from various crashes at that time.

-Purgatory is run by the Blue Suns. So this is yet another Blue Sun mission. Why are they central to so many?

-The Blue Suns were started by humans or a batarian, depending on the story you go by. Yet they sure seem dominated by turians. Warden Kuril runs this place.

-When Warden Kuril gives that little intro speech he sure sounds like he’s selling Purgatory to Shepard. You can tell how proud he is of it.

I suppose it could be viewed that he’s warning Shepard how secure it is, so they don’t try to escape later.

-Kuril and Garrus are actually very similar. They’re both from Palaven, both former law enforcement, and both chose different career paths because they thought governments weren’t strict enough. They hate letting criminals get away.

In a different universe, I could easily see Garrus running Purgatory – although to his credit, I don’t think he’d sell criminals.

(Yes, I know Garrus has special dialogue for this mission.)

-I think Kuril generally does believe he’s doing the right thing. Or at least he’s convinced himself of it.

He’s also just very greedy, and thinks he can perform a public service and line his pockets.

And since criminals aren’t “real people”, it’s okay to beat them up and sell them off.

-Why are all the prisoners we directly encounter human?

The one being beaten, 780 whom we speak to, 403 who’s hearing things, Jack…

Bioware, c’mon. How hard would it have been to make one of them a salarian or an asari?

-Shepard has some autodialogue when Jack is released.

-Jack’s outfit is so bad. I don’t know why she’s even bothering with any kind of top. What was Bioware thinking?

(Between Jack and Miranda, I’m not sure the character designers were thinking.)

-Kuril’s threat to blow out all the airlocks if the prisoners don’t stand down is empty; that might cost him money.

-I think I’m slowly getting the hang of charge, but I am dying so many times. Charge was not designed with insanity in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Shepard can’t dodge and is so, so slow. If I could run to cover this wouldn’t be so bad.

-The Kuril battle is much easier than the battles before it. One of the easiest fights so far in the game.

-If you ask Jack why it’s a problem that you’re with Cerberus, Miranda says she’s destroyed Cerberus people and property. I don’t think she knows that Jack was raised by Cerberus.

Jack says Miranda will die first. Lovely to see them get off on the right foot.

-Miranda also says Shepard is not authorized to give Jack full access to the databases. This is the first time Jack calls her a cheerleader.

It was hate on first sight.

Normandy

-Crew: I’ve never worked with so many aliens so far.

Strange line. I’ve recruited two so far – Mordin and Grunt. Last one I picked up with Jack. This should have played later in the game.

-Jack tends to respond better to neutral or renegade lines. Paragon tends to make her defensive or think you’re weak.

-The image of Jack’s silhouette in the shadows holding a gun is very well done.

-One of the biggest mysteries is why Jack doesn't bail at the first opportunity. She knows how dangerous Ceberus is. She doesn't give a damn about the Collectors. Why does she stick around?

-Grunt says humans, salarians, and asari are soft. Quarians are not – why?

Tell me more about Qurarian biology, Bioware!

-Okeer wanted Grunt to hate aliens. Why? I didn’t get that vibe when we spoke to him.

-More of Grunt’s complex is starting to come out. He’s strong, but he didn’t earn it. He just is.

The dead may have been weak, but at least they tried. He never had to.

-You don’t get this line if you go renegade and tell Grunt you need him to be strong. He tells you he’ll be strong enough to kill your enemies, and that’s all you need.

Grunt may respect you if you go renegade, but he doesn’t necessarily trust you.

-The amount Grunt thinks is itself telling. Krogan intellect is often mocked – they have no scientists. They just exist to kill.

But Grunt is the perfect krogan, and he spends a lot of time thinking. About what he was told, about what he believes, about who he wants to be.

That’s the antithesis of the view most people hold of krogan, even other krogans.

But they are capable of it. Grunt is proof. Violence is baked into krogan culture, but that’s not all they have to be. They’re capable of much more – they just have to break the cycles they’re trapped in.

It doesn’t even necessarily mean leaving violence behind; Grunt loves violence. But it can be productive violence, for the betterment of their people and the galaxy as a whole.

If Wrex is the Urdnot clan leader in ME3, he touches on this. With him, Bakara, and Grunt I think they do have a chance to rewrite the future of the krogan people.

[carnalapples]

as someone who recently played through Mass Effect for the first time, I'd love to hear more about "exposure therapy"!

YES I would love to know what you thought about the games!!

exposure therapy is a Shepard/Kaidan fic: I love the idea that Shepard has a lingering fear of open space after what happens in the beginning of ME2; Kaidan is always in the observation lounge in ME3, and the thought of what Shep loves and fears in one convenient location led to this... a snippet:

“There you are,” he hears, and he’s pulled away from his stargazing to see her in the entry, a dark, full presence cushioned by the dimmed lights of the hallway.

Kaidan, in the room full of windows, can't help but reach out for her. Just a faint thing, instinctive, and then he curls his hand back into his side. She keeps one hand flat against the wall as she enters, tracing it as she takes a circuitous path to him. 

“You like this place a lot, huh?”

“It’s calming.” He glances back out the window, afraid to look at her. “Nice to remember why we’re all out here.” She's quiet, and when he looks back to her, she casts her gaze to the floor.

“Yeah,” she says quickly. “Everyone has a reason.” She clears her throat. “I am glad that you came back. I know I didn’t really, uh—well, I wanted to make that clear.”

“It’s clear,” he says. “Don’t worry.” She nods.

“The Asari who we met today… She used to stay here. I never spoke to her as much as I should have.” She raps her knuckles against the window. “God, that place was freaky, wasn’t it?”

“So freaky. Never seen a place so empty.”

“Nearly pissed myself when you knocked that can over,” she mutters, smiling at the memory. “Felt a little like old times, don’t you think?”

And Kaidan knows Shepard, knows what she’s getting at. She never really liked these sorts of games, but she played them anyway. “Yeah,” he says. “It really did.” And she smiles, so he does too.

“She used to meditate,” she says suddenly. “All the time. She’d invite me, and I didn’t want to be rude, but—it used to kill me, sitting here with her,” she laughs. Her fingers curl against the wall. “Even with all that waiting around they make us do. You can’t teach patience, I guess.”

"We could try again," he says. Suggests it before he really knows what he means, and Kaidan is fairly sure he doesn't mean sitting on the floor, looking inward. Shepard looks at him, something softening in her.

"I guess we could," she says.

(from my wip list)

[silurisanguine]

OC Questionnaire Tag (bookish-karina questions answered)

Thanks to the lovely open tag by @bookish-karina I have more questions to answer as my OCs! I am loving doing these so if i haven't answered any you guys posted, send them my way!! As usual I'll be answering as Seren Jones, Aeryn Ryder, Zofie Orel and Kiara Black under the cut! Tagging @vorchagirl @despicablediet and @bearlytolerant @staticpallour @fangbangerghoul

@atonalginger @eridanidreams @toxiclizardwrites @therealgchu @aro-pancake @a-cosmic-elf and open tag to anyone who like to answer these questions three as their OC- 1- If you could time travel without consequence what moment in the past would you visit? 2 - Do you have a favourite food and drink? 3 - What do you think about the supernatural and magic?

Now to answer the questions given me - 1-have you ever wanted to stab someone? 2-what's your worst memory? 3 -what are you hoping to avoid? First up Seren Jones ( My Starfield Coemancer Starborn)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Wanted to? I have, multiple times, with my beloved Va'ruun painblade 'viper's fang' - Spacers, Crimson Fleet, Fanatics and other Starborn. Damn I sound bloodthirsty don't I? Just the Settled Systems are the frontier, It ain't safe for an explorer and especially a Starborn one. You got to know how to defend yourself. But In truth, the only one I've ever really wanted to drive my blade into would be The Hunter for who he is, what he represents...what he did and could do again." What's your worst memory? "...Oh void, I hate talking about this, but... seeing Sam dead in front of me on the floor of the station. The Hunter had killed him, but I blamed myself for not being fast enough, for choosing to protect the people in the Lodge and not run to the Eye. It took me a long time to accept it wasn't my fault. But it hurts, especially when I see another Sam. I'm learning to live in the moment now, jumping through universes, taking a little happiness where I can until I find the right one. But that wound is still there on my heart and not sure if it will ever heal." What are you hoping to avoid? "Becoming like the Hunter in the amount of times I jump universes. Losing my humanity and compassion like he has to become this empty, cold and bitter creature. I... also really want to avoid dying before I find a universe to finally stop and settle down in again, like Aquilus has managed to do. Much as I don't subscribe to his faith, I admire what he's done." ✨ Next Aeryn Ryder ( My Mass Effect Andromeda Pathfinder )

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Yeah! That son of a bitch Archon would get the pointy end of my asari blade if I could get close enough to him. The rest, I don't want to do it, I just have to as they are trying to kill me!...well maybe if I ever find out who the Benefactor is, they might get to meet my blade too for what they did to Jien." What's your worst memory? "Dad told me that mom never wanted a funeral, that she didn't want people standing around her body crying, so we had a memorial service to celebrate her life and I remember just feeling so empty that she wasn't around anymore. That all I had were memories of her. That stayed with me. Close second would be waking up to find my dad had sacrificed his life to save mine after I'd...died. I didn't get to say goodbye or anything and then becoming Pathfinder, I haven't even really had chance to mourn or process the fact that I...died." What are you hoping to avoid? "Oh god, failure. Failure to live up to my dad's standard as Pathfinder. Failure to secure a viable home for everyone in Heleus. Failure to stop the Archon and the kett. Also really like to not die again." ✨ Next Zofie Orel ( My Deus Ex/ Assassin's Creed OC)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "I am an Assassin in the Coterie of Assassins. It's my job, so yes I have stabbed someone...many someones. Whether I wanted to, was very much up to learning what they'd done to warrant such an action. Sometimes it wasn't so much a want as a need. They were doing bad things, even if they thought they were doing good and couldn't be convinced otherwise. I took no pleasure in stopping them." What's your worst memory? "I could say it was the attack that caused me to be augmented, but truth be told, I don't remember it well. Being hit hard in the head has a tendency to do that. I think the worst, was waking up in the LIMB clinic and finding out Sarah, a fellow Assassin I was...close to, had died saving me, and my goshhawk Ghost had been killed too. That devastated me for quite some time. But I channeled that into my recovery, swearing vengeance for them both." What are you hoping to avoid? "Having to prevent Jensen from interfering with my mission. I'd prefer he was on board with what I have to do. So far the signs are good and I think once he finds out the full story he wont want to miss working with me." ✨ Lastly Kiara Black (My Dishonored/ Thief OC)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Wanted to? No...maybe? Sometimes I saw an Overseer in Dunwall abusing his power, scaring someone, threatening them and I wanted to hurt them for it. But I don't really know how to fight. Garrett's shown me how to avoid fights and how to take someone down without them seeing you, but it's always no lethal. But there is a part of me that wants to see those who hurt people- be stopped for good. I have a feeling Garrett did that once, but he wont talk about." What's your worst memory? "...Finding out I might have caused my best friend's death. I was fourteen and Dylan was my only real friend. I thought I could trust him with a secret but he must have talked about it and it caused the Abbey to come to his family and try and take him...there was a fight, he and his family were killed by the Abbey and my family and I had to flee Caulkenny to Dunwall. I hated him for blabbing about what I told him, but I never wanted anything like that to happen to him or his family. That still haunts me." What are you hoping to avoid? "Getting caught. Either by the Abbey back in the Isles or by the City Watch here in the Eternal City. Both are as corrupt as they come, though if I had to choose, I'd take the Watch. least I know I could probably escape them. What the Abbey do to 'Heretics'... I think I'd rather die than be caught by them."

[sol-consort]

I’ve been thinking about hands, and how meny fingers I use

Like I be using all them digits

Y’think the other mass effect aliens would ever look at them five fingies and be like damn, might be helpful? Or do they think human and batarian hands are weird/uncanny?

(I don’t really count asari as five-fingered, because the whole ‘parasite that looks different to each viewer’ hc thing)

That depends, how do you feel about these hands, anon?

What about these? Do they fill you with fascination? Curiosity? Disgust? Intrigue? Can you imagine their texture?

Would you ever fall in love with a sentient person who has any of the above hands? Would you have them as a friend? Would you trust them to watch your back in battle? Would you hand them their change with the receipt?

How would they hold a pen? How would they write your name. Can they play the piano? The lyre? Maybe a lute? Would they be cold or warm in winter?

We can figure out how hypothetical aliens would feel about human hands by figuring out how we, the humans, feel about alien hands. And animals are the closest things to aliens we have currently.

Whatever answers came to your mind, aren't far off from what Mass Effect aliens would feel about human hands. Just like looking at the hands of a orangutan can cross into the uncanny valley territory, aliens with similar biology to humans (non-shapeshifter asari for example) might get an uneasy feeling looking at our non-blue hands. Or maybe drell get queasy at seeing our scale-less limbs, much like you'd feel seeing an animal with transparent skin with all of its organs on display, the fact you can see human veins and skin stiching makes any species with some sort of protective layer extremely anxious at first glance.

The most important part of any given hand is the opposable thumb. At least that's the conclusion humans came to, since it was what allowed us to seamlessly transition from animals into the stone age and weild tools.

But most hands start as feet—not our current feet designed for bipedal movement, but a prototype—so did ours. Evidence suggests that humans evolved thumbs and tool-making front "feet" while we were still quadrupeds!

We learned to create before we learned to walk on two legs! then it lead to our spines being fucked opsies

Human hands are also... kind of weird, don't you think? I mean.

This is some eldritch horror type shit.

The bones of your arm literally cross into an X when you flip your hand 180 degrees, to a lot of aliens who cannot flip their arm, this must seem absolutely horrifying. Imagine an alien being able to turn their head 180 degrees like a freaky owl, wouldn't that phase you at least a bit? Yeah, that's how those aliens view our arms.

Don't get me started on how some people can flip their arm 360 degrees...

Human fingers are special in the way they have more joints than most animals. Our biology meant for dexterous fingers that excel at delicate work. And the fact we can control each finger separately, bend, and curl it. Every single finger might as well be counted as a separate limb.

If you want a comparison, we don't have the same degree of control and awareness over our toes. Besides the big toe and pinky, the middle ones are hard to move separately. Sure, with practice, you can get better at it, but it's still much harder to flip someone off with your toes than with your fingers. It's not impossible, but hard.

To put more emphasis on just how much of an important position our hands hold, each finger, not hand, but finger, has its own area in the cerebral cortex.

While your toes—with the exception of the big one—share the same somatotopic map.

Our wrists are an intricate fragile design. They have a limited number of use. The thin skin above the radial artery easily allows you to find your pulse, while most animals, our size, have their wrists covered in protective layers.

We were made for tool-making and tinkering, which is what I'm getting at. Turians didn't need to make weapons (for a long while at least) when their claws and thick metalic hands could easily tear the meat off of bone whole, while humans had no other choice. Why our teeth aren't as sharp, why our legs aren't as fast, why our punches don't pack much in comparison to that of a bear or else; our natural evolution invested so much into making us resourceful tool-makers.

You know the saying when you're holding a hammer, your brain views it as an extension of your body rather than your hand holding a tool?

We don't need layers of insulation, we can make clothes. We don't need protective shells, we can make armour. We don't need claws, we can make swords.

So can other species, yes! But they arrived at that stonewall stage much later than humanity who hit their physical limits pretty early which forced them to relay on tools, therefore altering our biology to be precise tool-makers (and keep in mind evolution takes THOUSANDS of years to come into effect)

But to make, to create anything, you need high tier hands with opposable thumbs—how the elcor and hanar evaded that requirment, I'll never know. Flexible, precise fingers with total awareness and control are valuable add-ons that allow you to jumpstart civilisation.

A lot of aliens wouldn't be able to play our instruments, but we might be able to play their instruments if we create synthetic attachments to add-on to our hands because it's unlikely that their hands move in a way that we cannot replicate. I could hold my last three fingers together and attempt to write like an angara, but an angara can't separate their last three fingers and attempt to write like me.

We always poke and prode at our bodies, seeing how we can improve it, why surgery is so common nowadays, why CRISPR technology is being reserched earlier than it should relative to how neglected other branches of science are.

Because humans cannot wait to play god with their bodies!

We still want to tinker and make toys, be more efficient with our creations, invent even more complex instruments, add more buttons to a videogame controller.

The asari hands evolved (or were genetically engineered by the protheans) for biotics and mass effect field handling, the turian hands for cutting and slicing, the krogan hands for splitting skulls, the drell hands for insulation against the burning sand, etc etc.

The human hands for creating.

Would other species want our hands? Depends on what the species values. Turians and krogans would think living with our hands must be a nightmare, drell would find them overexposed and too... wiggly.

Salarians might see the benefit of having fingertips smaller than your fingerbase... unless their inflated fingertips allows for a better grip on small tools?

What I think most aliens would be the weirdest about when it comes to humans is our hair, straight legs, and chest if we follow the asari are shapeshifters HC.

Hair as in all hair. Body hair, head hair, eyelashes and eyeybrows, and even pubic hair.

It's all just... so weird to them.

They call it fur. They 100% call it fur. The only reason we even classify hair as hair is because we have it, so we're particular about categorising it and just why it's different from fur.

But, at the end of the day hair and fur are made out of the same thing, tomayto tomahto, to them, it's just fine fur.

On the other hand, our head hair might remind them of trees. In a nice way? Think dangling vines of leaves, like those of a willow tree.

It's made of keratin, just like our nails, and most aliens have nails, yet none of them have even a single strand of hair. Except the other animals on their planet definitely have hair/fur, so why is everyone else so weirdly smooth?

When your only interaction with a certian biological trait is within the animal kingdom and... pets of your civilisation, it builds a certain impression.

Like he we coo at krogans having tails, the other alien species must think our hair is absolutely something to fawn over. I feel like a lot of aliens would unwarrantly touch your hair at the start of the human integration, try to pet it, before they got the memo that humans absolutely abhor the act and turn hostile if done to them.

It's like common courtesy not to touch human hair, they still think about it tho. Maybe if you're close to an alien and hang out a lot, one day they hesitantly ask to touch it because they've always been very curious, and you oblige.

They're probably surprised to find out it's a dead part of your body. We can't feel anything in our hair except at the root. But they get the memo that hair is an important part of self-expression in humans. Be it dyeing it the most vibrant colours and spending hours styling it, or covering it in headwraps and hijabs with a beautiful pin or two at the corner.

I see the asari especially loving the curly hair, more specifically the kinky type and how it holds its shape. The process of braiding it takes an immense amount of focus and effort, the results being breathtaking. It's the height of elegance to them.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, washing your hair in the sink before applying oil and brushing it, each time one of your alien roommate pass by, they get completely intrigued by the process and just stand watching you work on each knot by the open door.

By the time you're finished styling it, like a handful of aliens are just standing there, completely enamoured, some even taking pictures.

[morganaseren]

The Bodyguard AU 😌

((Your love for Tevos is showing again, friend. 😏 I gotchu though! I think you wanted three prompts from this if I recall correctly, so I hope you like these!))

Pairing: Rajhi Shepard/Councilor Tevos

Rating: General

AU: Wanna Be On Your Mind (formerly titled the Bodyguard AU)

---

"Who the fuck taught Sparatus how to do air quotes?!" Shepard crossed her arms with a scowl. "I swear, I'm going to break his fingers if he does that to me again!"

Tevos didn't even bother to look up from where she was perusing through various documents on her desk. "Please don't," she deadpanned even though she was all too aware her request was likely to be ignored with as incensed as the human woman currently was. Her point was further proven when Shepard continued on her with tirade without so much as missing a beat.

"Was it his secretary?! I bet it was his secretary!" Shepard began pacing along the length of her office--agitation evident in every movement--while voicing her thoughts aloud. "I see the way he leers at her!"

"Shepard--"

"'Interest in strengthening alliances with the newest members of the galactic community' my ass! They're fucking, Tevos! I just know it! I'd bet my entire salary on it!"

Tevos gave a long-suffering sigh as she pressed her fingers against her temples. "Considering I'm currently paying for your salary, one would think you would act with a bit of decorum."

"Look, outside of your office, I will act as damn professional as you want me to be. There's a reason why I had Miranda put that 'satisfaction guaranteed with services' clause in the contract with our clients." The woman pointed down repeatedly at the floor. "When we're alone though? I want the option to at least vent. If not, that's fine. I can always have Kaidan or Jacob stand in for me if you'd like."

It was likely the wiser option, Tevos knew.

She had met both men often enough to know they were utterly consummate in the duties expected of them. Tevos had employed enough bodyguards in her lifetime to know that they more than met the standards of such an intense industry. Still, there was something... refreshing about Shepard's personality in particular--one that was a powerful and bold as the former Special Ops commander of the Alliance.

And for as wild and spirited as Shepard could be, Tevos could admit the woman would never intentionally jeopardize her position as the asari councilor. Shepard was always the epitome of professional competence even among the most high-profile members in the galaxy.

Her connection to those very same individuals aside, she was everything one could ask for in a bodyguard.

Even Tevos could admit that.

Surely, she could forgive a few eccentricities in these private moments if it meant retaining the part of their relationship that she had come to appreciate. She tilted her head as she turned to consider Shepard more thoughtfully then. She couldn't help the soft smile that danced upon her lips.

"That won't be necess--"

"Councilor?"

Both she and Shepard turned to stare at the intercom at her desk. Tevos immediately recognized the voice of her secretary. She leaned forward to tap at the haptic interface.

"Yes, Esila?"

"The turian councilor is here to see you. He mentioned wanting to discuss some of the upcoming proposals for the Council." There was a pause. "Oh, and it seems he's bringing along his secretary. Would you like me to update the lunch order from your favorite restaurant?"

Tevos didn't at all miss the way Shepard immediately perked up with great interest at the mention of Sparatus' secretary accompanying him.

A dog with the proverbial bone as it were if she were to borrow the human idiom...

"That would be lovely, Esila. You can send them both in. Please do tell me when lunch is delivered."

"Of course."

Tevos ensured she had the intercom turned off before she turned to Shepard with a pointed stare. The woman responded by giving her the most winsome smile, but Tevos knew not to fall for it. "And you... behave."

---

"Miss Lawson's calm conduct in all matters is highly regarded by my colleagues."

"Oh, Miranda?" Shepard chuckled as she wandered over to her desk with their lunch. "Yeah, she's probably one of the smartest people I know. She's got a doctorate or two in fields that I probably couldn't even begin to understand. Don't ask me how she managed to do that between the type of work we do. I just chalk it up to being a Miranda thing at this point." She grinned. "I'm sure the Alliance Admiralty Board is still frothing at the mouth that I managed to steal her away from them when I left. Sorry about the wait with the food by the way. You wouldn't believe how long the line was for these."

Tevos was pleased when Shepard was mindful of placing coasters beneath their respective drinks. Tevos wasn't fond of the marks that were often left behind on the glass surface due to condensation. As she gazed down at the colorful beverages, she realized that the woman had ventured out to one of the Asian restaurants that recently received a boom in popularity thanks to having the asari councilor's personal bodyguard as a frequent visitor.

The drinks were something of a new, but well-appreciated, novelty on the Presidium for the small spheres nestled at the bottom of the cup. They were either made using traditional tapioca, which Shepard preferred because of the chew, or Tevos' favorite of the tropical fruit-filled balls that popped almost instantly on meeting her tongue.

"No need to concern yourself," she answered, smiling gratefully when Shepard handed her an oblong-shaped sandwich. She could smell the sweet, grilled meat almost instantly. Despite her focus toward finishing her remaining work, she couldn't help the way her mouth watered, reminding her she hadn't eaten since early that morning. "Did she hold a similar position to yours when she was in the Alliance?" Tevos wouldn't have been surprised if she had.

"No actually." Shepard wasted little time into tucking into her banh mi. Apparently, the woman's hunger had been greater than her own, for Tevos couldn't help but raise her tattooed brows at the large bite that had been taken. Shepard hummed appreciatively at the taste, finishing chewing before continuing with, "She held the same Lieutenant rank Kaidan had before we left. I honestly thought she'd make Captain before he and I ever did, but if you were to ask Miranda, she'd say something along the lines of her being tired of the bureaucracy."

"Hm. I'm sure with her resume she could have gone anywhere she desired."

"That's what I told her!" Shepard laughed. "I guess for her, working private security wasn't too far different from what we used to do." She shrugged. "The pay's better at least, considering the type of clientele we have. I don't think she's going to complain about being able to pay for the entirety of her sister's university funds without even having to bat an eye." The woman picked up her drink then--a coffee variant from what Tevos could tell of the color--to sample it and the tapioca balls, chewing carefully on the latter. "I appreciate that she was even willing to follow me on this little venture. It was admittedly a bit of a gamble when we first left the Alliance."

"I'm sure anyone would be lucky to have a second-in-command as level-headed and skilled as Miss Lawson."

"Oh, definitely. I'd probably forget that my head was on my shoulders half the time if it weren't for her. She's better at the business side of things than I am. Honestly, she has the patience of a saint, which says a lot, considering Jack and I normally--"

"Shepard!"

And Tevos blinked when Shepard jerked in place at the call of her name by the very woman they'd been discussing. From the volume, Tevos wagered that Miss Lawson was somewhere outside her office.

"Shepard! Why the bloody hell did Kasumi find surveillance footage of you and Officer Vakarian shooting drink canisters off the highest point of the Presidium?!"

"Oh, goddamn Kasumi and her hacking abilities..." Shepard muttered balefully. Still, she wasted little time in gathering her half of her lunch in her hands before throwing a grin Tevos' way. "Uh, I'll text Ash and tell her to take over guard duty for me for the next few hours. I should hopefully see you again during dinner if--"

"Shepard!"

The woman's smile only widened at the shout even if Tevos could see how those golden-colored eyes tightened at their corners with sudden nervousness.

"Excuse me. I have to go hide now."

---

"Whoa, what? Wait, wait, wait! You can't just leave me here with them!" she whispered frantically.

"Shepard, I haven't visited Thessia for the better part of a decade. I'm expected to at least talk to some of the politicians here during my stay. Surely, you can manage a half hour on your own while I do so."

In response, the woman inhaled deeply before placing both of her palms together, reminiscent of a prayer position. Then, she slowly raised her hands up to press the sides of her index fingers against her own lips.

"Tevos, I really don't think you realize just how repressed some of your colleagues are..." she murmured, dark brows raising as she widened her eyes pointedly.

Tevos sighed even as she was unable to stop the wave of fondness that washed over her amidst her exasperation. "Shepard..."

"They are!" she countered in a harsh whisper before flickering her gaze over Tevos' head inconspicuously.

Well, as inconspicuously as she could anyway.

The human stood head and shoulders above most of the asari in attendance.

"Look, remember how long it took for the people on the Presidium to get over their fascination with me when I first took this job? There's a reason why I didn't bother wearing a sari to this thing. I learned from last time! Everyone kept wanting to touch my arms!"

Tevos blinked before turning to eye her bodyguard's current attire. While she had been curious about the change, she hadn't bothered to question the reasons as to why. Shepard certainly didn't do the dark, three-piece suit a disservice. Still, while it was remarkably well-tailored, it did nothing to hide Shepard's impressive physique.

Considering the asari were a communal species, it wasn't odd for them to be rather casual around one another, but such conduct was typically reserved between close friends and family members. While she knew some of the maidens upon the Presidium could be forward with their curiosity, she had assumed her colleagues would have shown the proper level of etiquette to a foreign visitor in their midst--even for someone as unique as Shepard.

That apparently hadn't been the cause.

Tevos would be in Armali for the next month or so on business. Perhaps she could forego work for at least one night, especially since Shepard seemed so uncomfortable.

...She did, however, make a mental note to watch whomever had caused her bodyguard such discomfort.

Tevos held her hand out then in request for Shepard's own. "Would you dance with me?"

Shepard blinked, taken aback by the request, especially since it wasn't part of their typical routine. "Um, sure. If you really want to."

"Well, it serves two purposes," she admitted with a laugh even as Shepard took the lead. For someone as large and imposing as her, she was remarkably light on her feet. "You wouldn't be left on your own, and it would be easier to dance our way toward the exit than manage through the crowd here. I can announce our farewells, and we can depart for the rest of the evening."

"Oh? Oh!" Shepard grinned then. "That's pretty smart of you."

Tevos huffed out a small laugh. "I do try although I'm sure my mother might be somewhat disappointed that I'm not making more contacts tonight."

"I doubt it. Matriarch Osiria's been more interested in what you get up to during your day to day schedule than anything business-related."

Tevos' brows furrowed at the claim. "I... didn't realize you had become that familiar with one another."

"Oh, well you know that I like waking up early. She's normally down in the kitchen when I make my protein shake, and she likes talking with me."

"About what exactly?"

"Random things honestly although we had a pretty interesting talk this morning."

"Oh?" Tevos could feel a certain sense of wariness settling over her. "Should I be concerned with this topic of conversation? Do I even wish to know what you spoke to her about?"

"Well..." Her gaze turned toward the high domed ceiling in thought. "I'm not entirely sure if my translator glitched out when she asked, but she seemed interested in my pedigree?" She shrugged. "And then she went on to ask about when you would be giving her grandchildren,” she answered, snickering, especially when Tevos stiffened in her arms, almost missing a step. “She mentioned something along the lines of waiting centuries and there still not being a single toddler in sight. Although honestly? I think she only added that last bit to earn some sympathy from me. Apparently, my being around you all the time makes her assume I have better insight into your love life.”

[omegastation]

Musings about Liara & grief post Thessia

I know we appreciate characters in our own way, and what would frustrate me would not frustrate someone else. But Liara post Thessia has often been talked about as selfish and focused on her own pain, ignorant and/or dismissive of everything that happened to others before. I disagree, because every single time - for every loss - she has shown empathy. Even on Thessia, when her own planet was dying, she tried to put her own hand on Shepard’s shoulder as if to comfort them. And that’s one example. I truly think Liara cares a lot, even too much sometimes.

But really there are many things to consider:

We truly don’t know how we react to things until it happens to us. It’s one thing to have empathy for others, but you truly grasp the horror when it’s done to you. It’s one thing to see another species being deformed and changed by Reaper tech, but seeing features that are your own, familiar to you, being torn apart in front of you? That’s something else. Seeing a planet destroyed, you feel empathy. Your own planet and civilization? What are you supposed to do next? Liara does things, that’s how she fixes what isn’t working. But facing this kind of devastation, what’s the next step?

Liara post Thessia is not just grieving people. She’s also dealing with all the revelations regarding the protheans. I think, in the conversation with Javik, that her anger is misdirected, and he knows it, and he takes care of it in the best way possible. But she’s angry because: 

The asari probably didn’t achieve the excellence she believed they ought to achieve to save the cycle

She hints that she believed they would be protected and didn’t help them as much as she thinks she should have

Her research and career feel like a joke to her 

Her mother hid things from her 

Her entire species hid a big secret that, if known, might have changed the galaxy and this cycle’s future 

There's a lot of guilt and shame in her post Thessia. It's not self-righteous anger. It's never been about that.

And thankfully, Shepard reminds her that she can still do things to help people. That's the moment right there with her face full of tears:

She finds the will to go on, gets up and tries to help the refugees.  She thanks Shepard.

For this moment, I think she’s allowed the tears, because grief can be so devastating. Getting up at all is already a big step. But I don't think there's any moment there where she believes her pain is worse than anyone else. And her pain doesn't take away from others, it doesn't mean everyone else isn't in pain! I don't think ME3 is trying to tell us that. The opposite in fact.

Earlier Tali is found near the wall with all the names of the people they lost, Legion is added there. Garrus has found his family is safe, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have tough choices to make. Joker talked about his family and Reapers going to destroy the colony they live in. They're all allowed their moment of grief and triumph. Liara's deepest grief is just at that moment. And she's not the only one being comforted. Garrus and Tali both really worry about Liara, but they each have reassuring words for Shepard post Thessia. Joker and Anderson are focused on taking care of Shepard as well.

People need people, and they're all dealing with grief in their own way. They also all love each other very deeply and it shows. That's my conclusion post Thessia.