#LIARA MOMENT

[themayomambo]

THIS ALL OF THIS

BUT ALSO

She knew she'd outlive Shepard, of course, but I think what drove her over the edge was the amount of time she was able to be with them. It's safe for Liara to assume Shepard is the best of humanity, the council literally chose them as the first human spectre, they are at the top of Alliance military skill level, and they seemed untouchable to her. Time and time again, Liara had the opportunity to witness Shepard survive and surpass things no other being in the galaxy could endure. I think Liara fell into a false sense of security that their time together would last many years later.

And then Liara watches her die, not at the end of another hundred years, not after decades, not even after years, but months.

The Normandy had become her new home, romance or not. She stays after the events of ME1 and just as much a part of the crew as when they were after Saren. Then she watches her home get blasted to bits and the one person that made it all happened was destroyed alongside it.

Liara knows what it's like to be alone, even said she prefers it. But I don't think they were ready to be alone again. Not after just months of a new home and friends. People who treated her well, maybe more people than ever before to treat her seriously for once.

If I was freshly 18/19 years old and I had mere months of a fresh start and time spent with dear friends, or even the very first person I allowed to be vulnerable with in such an intimate level? I'd break, and break everything around me in turn to latch onto what was left.

For a romanced Liara, I wonder what the part Shepard they kept within themselves was like. Was it a voice? A feeling? Did it tell/inspire her to keep going, keep fighting? Could it be a part of why she turned so cold and unshakable in her mission to retrieve Shepards body and hunt the Shadow Broker?

Either way, I will never stop thinking about her.

the fact that LIARA was the one who worked to bring you back to life is such good characterisation for her and for Assari in general. Like. Everyone else grieved, but they moved on with their lives, they focused on their own goals, they honoured your memory in their own ways, but they kept going. But Liara couldn't. And of course she couldn't. Liara was older than most of the people ont he normandy, but culturally she was the younget. At just over a century old, Liara is only just an adult. She hasn't experienced grief in this way before - where someone is torn away from you way too young. Her mother died, and she's still reeling from that in ME1 but hey, she was a matriach and she died to try and do the right thing and she was older, but Shepard? Liara can't handle it.

And that's so facinating because...Liara was always going to outlive Shepard and the crew anyway. That's what being an Asari in this multi-species galaxy means, it means that you're going to outlive so many of your potential friends.

IDK man i think its facinating i love her

[edains]

Ashley and Liara catching up on things

Expanded Galaxy Mod (LE): Restored Conversation

Project Variety (LE3): Liara's outfit

New Outfits I For Shepard (MELE3): Ashley's outfit (personal mod)

[one-little-nerd-stayed-home]

Y'know I'm still thinking about Shepard's resurrection because after the initial wtf wears off, after you’ve resigned yourself to your cerberus crew, recruited a few people you feel you can halfway trust and maybe even one or two you know have your back - then you wind up on Illium and Liara pays your docking fees and you're kind of excited because hallelujah someone you know. Someone you trust!

And then you find out she's the one who put you here in the first place.

I keep thinking about being rebuilt by your enemies. Accepting the fact that they found you first, that this is just how it is. How it was always going to be - and then finding out one of the people you trusted. Maybe even one of the people you loved was the one who gave your body to them in the first place.

I think it's just that sometimes the good things fuck you up worse than the bad ones because it's good to not be dead right? To be loved to such an extreme that someone would go to those lengths to have you back… That’s a gift isn’t it? Nevermind what it does to you right?

You can admit to yourself, to others that the bad things were bad. But Isn’t it good to have a healed body and advanced cybernetics and all of the strength and skill with none of the scars you’ve earned through your life? Aren't you grateful to be alive? Aren't you happy to be loved? Aren't you proud to be brought back to save lives?

Does it matter whether you are or not?

I dunno dude it just fucks me up.

[strawberrykidneystone]

brief moments of intimacy with mass effect companions

the commander shepard showing affection to their lover <3

a/n: i kinda like this format bc i need more practice writing for the other companions besides garrus😭 some of these are set in ME2 and some are set in ME3 oopsies

gn!shepard x mass effect companions

ao3 version

garrus:

-during missions, shepard is always at the front and center of her companions, guiding them through even the worst circumstances

-however, the way back is a different story

-with the rest of the crew in front of them and walking back to the normandy, shepard hangs back and walks next to garrus, giving him a small nod

-he nodded back and flickered his mandible, looking straight forward as he felt their hand lace with his, giving him a reassuring squeeze as if to say “it’s okay, we’re both okay”

-garrus squeezed back and leaned down to their height, pressing his plate lips against their forehead very briefly as they finally arrived back at the ship they both called home

liara:

-she was holed up in her room, combing through all of the information they had on the protheans for the umpteenth time as if she would magically see something new

-unsurprisingly, she didn’t

-what did surprise her, however, was a pair of arms wrapping around her waist and a nose burying into her neck

-thankfully, she could recognize her lover's embrace anywhere

-by the goddess, she was so wrapped up in her research that she didn’t even hear the doors open

-and what better time to take a break than with her favorite person in the galaxy?

tali:

-she was busy tweaking the core reactor in the engineering room to run at full capacity

-apparently, more time had passed than she thought because the next thing she knew, there was a tap on her shoulder

-she looked over the shoulder that was tapped, but no one was there

-a tap came on her other shoulder so she looked, and the same thing

-she finally completely turned around and found a smiling shepard holding up a picnic basket

-tali apologized for losing track of time but they stopped her, taking her hand and leading her to the cat walk where the core shined above them

-shepard laid out a blanket, setting up tali’s sanitized food and their own human food

-they sat directly across front each other, each sacrificing a hand to hold the other as they ate their respective foods

-a picnic in the stars, at least a very warm one

kaidan:

-kaidan woke up to shepard’s side of the bed being barely warm anymore, they were always up before him

-he yawned and stretched his arms up, sitting up and tossing his legs over the side of the bed to get the day started

-the door suddenly opened and there was shepard with two steaming cups of hot coffee in their hands

-kaidan couldn’t help but smile, they even indulged his “ridiculous” moose head mug (he brought it from home)

-shepard yawned and walked over to him, gently handing him his cup before pecking his lips

-as they turned to walk away, kaidan caught their hand and pulled them down into a deeper kiss, tasting stale coffee on their lips from an earlier cup

-shepard withdrew with a smile and shook their head playfully, ruffling his already messy bedhead hair

-what a nice way to start the day

ashley:

-it had been a long day in the war room and ashley was more frustrated than ever, feeling helpless in this war

-shepard caught up with her walking back to the elevator and snaked their hand around her waist, pulling her closer to them

-she couldn’t help but smile, leaning into their touch and leaning her head on their shoulder

-she may not be able to do much in negotiations, but she knew humankind was in good hands with her fearless leader

jack:

-after narrowly saving grissom academy, the kids were set up in the common area as they waited for another shuttle

-jack was still heated from the entire situation and was currently ripping shepard a new one

-at the end of her spiel, she slapped them and pointed at their chest “that’s for cooperating with cerberus in the first place”

-then, she grabbed them by their collar and pulled them into a rough kiss, their teeth clacking at the first pull in

-jack pulled back for air and looked at shepard with a blush on her cheeks “and that’s for saving my kids… it might be nice to see you again too.”

-shepard chuckled and pulled her close by her waist, so close that their noses were almost touching, “it’s nice to see you too jack.”

miranda:

-meeting miranda on the citadel after hearing about her sister was hard, especially when miranda insisted she needed to do it alone

-but if anyone would understand wanting to do something by yourself, it was shepard

-so they did what they could, pulling her into a tight hug that she returned with full enthusiasm, their rib cages crushing against each other

-a small sob escaped miranda and shepard cupped the back of her head, turning their head to the side and kissed the top of her hair, shielding her from the world so she could compose herself

-miranda took a deep breath, taking in their familiar scent and calming down in their arms

-everything would be alright as long as she had shepard by her side

thane:

-he was sitting in his usual seat in the hospital at the citadel, he was here more than her liked

-a small coughing fit started and his chest heaved, a dizzy feeling going straight to his head

-suddenly, he felt grounded when he felt a familiar hand rubbing circles on his back

-he didn’t even have to turn to know who it was, shepard sat down next to him and he comfortably leaned into their embrace, resting his head on their shoulder

-this place wasn’t so lonely with them, he would embrace death once again knowing that they would join him across the sea

jacob:

-jacob was doing his daily crunches in the weapons room (unsurprisingly)

-shepard initially came in to switch out her shotgun for another she found on the field, but this was even better

-jacob acknowledged then with a small wave, staying committed to his usual workout routine

-that was fine, shepard smirked and walked over to him, kneeling down in front of his legs

-he was a little confused at first, but they had perfectly timed it to when he started his full-sit ups, kissing him every time he made it all the way up

-he did way more sets than he was expecting to that day and could barely move his torso the next day

-worth it though

a/n: if a request is made for more characters i would be happy to add them in!!

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: MARS (PART 1)

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Maj. Kaidan Alenko, Lt. James Vega, and Dr. Liara T'Soni Sophie, I don't know what you are- or who. Not since Cerberus rebuilt you. For all I know, you could be their puppet- controlled by The Illusive Man himself. Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

[catalinemorosetheblog]

Started Playing Mass Effect 1 a little while ago and...

Me (playing relatively blind): So I know there's romance in this game, but I doubt there's gay romance since it's from 2007, so who should I date. Garrius seems cool (did not know he was unromancable in this game), and Kaiden has some interesting backstory going for him.

Liara T'Soni: *exists*

Me:

Me: ✨WOMEN✨

[skullmoss]

you're gonna carry that weight.

[jellyrump]

So im playing ME1 and I just got to Noveria. I decided to bring Liara and Kaidan which is, in my opinion, the funniest duo I could've brought. You'll talk to Liara and she's like "the goddess looks down on places like these, darkest in the places with the most light" or some shit and then you talk to Kaidan and he's like "the chill is making my nipples hard" like

[luosaugury]

the more I think about Javik the more I realise just how tragic his life is. He doesn’t have any choice in being who he is. Most characters have the luxury of choices when they pick bad decisions, i.e. there’s another way to do something but that character decides otherwise anyway (see: renegade!Shep). This guy doesn’t. He couldn’t choose not being a soldier. He couldn’t choose not killing his crew. He couldn’t choose sacrificing himself for someone else to survive into the current cycle. He can’t choose what his worldview and mindset may be (the only thing that helped him survive) (those who thought or believed otherwise had higher mortality rate).

If Shepard doesn’t intervene to show him life has more to offer and that he has a choice regarding his own future, of course he would choose to end himself - the only decision that’s purely his own, yet also informed by... nothing of himself. By letting him relive his people’s sufferings and his own, he would of course conform to what’s expected of him as a prothean, instead of what is good for him as a person.

[beastwars-transformers]

Both instances of Transformers and Mass Effect im just trying to watch one thing but YouTube gives me annoying people in the recommendations. STOP showing stupid arguments between weird nerd men over plastic toys I’m trying to watch top ten robot yaoi moments.

[ninashiki]

ok i desperately need to know. whats the song for the video game poll. i love it dearly and would like to know where its from and a week is a long time.

hi anon ^_^ it's from mass effect 3, and it only plays during the garrus vakarian romance route on his date with shepard while they're dancing at a bar. the track is called "shepard's tango". the rest of the soundtrack is very different!

[wingsofthesun]

Instead of Shepard dragging Garrus around everywhere in ME1 because she wants to take him under her wing and teach him, I think it'd be a lot funnier if she drags him around everywhere because he comes pre-trained.

I mean, think about it. By the end of the first visit to the Citadel, besides Ashley and Kaidan (who are full members of the Alliance military), she has/is heading to recruit the following:

Wrex, a krogan mercenary who definitely doesn't have a file and who later admits mainly works alone and/or in very small groups, and has definitely not been part of any formal military structure or anything even remotely similar

Tali, who is a very wonderful person and very knowledgeable about the geth, but is only ~22 (her birth year is 2161 apparently), is on her people's rite of passage, and has never been formally attached to any kind of command nor has had any formal training as far as we know

Matriarch Benezia's daughter, Liara, who they know very little about at the moment other than she's an archaeologist who specializes in the Protheans and has never had any commando training, nor do they know if she even knows anything about her mother's actions

I love them, but they're not exactly on the level someone that's been part of a military for years would be.

By contrast, you have:

Garrus, who's not that much younger than Shepard herself, was part of the turian military for a few years (and had at least one ship posting from what we know from 2), and has also been part of C-Sec for awhile given he's a full fledged detective, so he's used to working in teams and being under someone's command

I feel like Shepard would have taken a look at his file and breathed a sigh of relief because there's at least one person that she won't have to worry will accidentally undermine her authority. He even comes with amazing sniping skills and tech expertise! Of course she's going to drag him around everywhere!

[edains]

ah back to thessia

i hate the thessia mission

[jzargo]

obviously the "cop who doesn't want to play by the rules because they GET IN THE WAY of him being able to STOP THE BAD GUYS" is a bad character archetype and a classic copaganda tool but it's soooo funny how it manifests in garrus. like he just wants to kill people soooo badly. you stop him from executing doctor saleon and then he immediately is like "btw i don't think we should bring saren in for trial. i think we should just kill him 🥰" and then the MOMENT shepard is no longer holding him back by the scruff of his neck he scurries off to omega to become a vigilante and kill criminals to his heart's content. yes yes it's manifestation of mass effect's copaganda problem but it's also just deeply funny. partly because he's one of the few characters you can sit down and tell firmly "extrajudicial executions are BAD. GARRUS." wrex gets a stern look at one point and liara literally becomes the head of a criminal empire and yet shepard has to sit garrus down and tell him he needs to tone back the murder. like how trigger happy do you have to be that commander warcrimes is telling you to dial it back.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

crying screaming throwing up 1/3

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I just bitched about the lazy writing and world-building in Mass Effect, but I wouldn't love these games if they didn't have moments where everything was on point (or close to it): the writing, the animation, the voice acting, everything.

Here's one of my favorite scenes, it's very short and I bet you've never thought about it before, but it's so, so good, I'm obsessed with it and I have to scream.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the only time that Shepard really freaks out is after the Mars mission. It happens right on screen, we don't hear it from someone else, we don't have to headcanon it, we get to see Shepard not as a protagonist, not as a savior of the galaxy, not as a soldier, but as an actual human being, simply scared shitless.

I also love that it starts with Liara immediately realizing what's going on. You can see that she freaks out too, because Shepard is freaking out, and the camera lingers on her reaction as it shifts from fear to sadness to understanding. And then we finally get to see the condition of our favorite Virmire survivor, and it's just oof.

When we go back to Liara, she already knows what to do.

And then we finally get to see Shepard. All these erratic movements are completely out of character. Throughout the three games, we only see Shepard move with some sort of intention (yes, because it's a game, and it's supposed to be that way, but think beyond that; it's also Shepard's characteristic as a person), and there's no intention in this. Shepard is holding on to the examination table, trying to lean down or move forward, and that's because now, in this situation, he can do nothing. No amount of self-sacrifice, quick thinking, tactical advantage, or stupid badassery will help. There's someone on that table he clearly cares about, and he has no say in the matter.

And Liara knows it. She leans forward to look Shepard in the eye and draw his attention to herself. She starts soft and pleading:

And dude, Shepard's expression is everything. It's sad and scared and open... again, completely out of character.

And then we can watch Liara's expression change when she sees that Shepard heard her. Her tone is no longer soft, it becomes quite aggressive.

It is all very deliberate. And it works! Shepard is still terrified, but he furrows his eyebrows and his expression closes. Now he looks more like the Shepard we all know and love.

Another change of tactics, and oh my god. Say what you will about my girl Liara, she is a real MVP here. Notice how she goes soft again and just gives Shepard a suggestion. She knows the best way to snap him out of his panic and sense of sheer helplessness is to push him to start giving orders again.

And again, it works! This sounds and looks like our usual Shepard.

Oh, I love these animations. The change from something hard-assed and in control to something vulnerable... Whoever animated this, let me kiss you on the mouth, let's ride into the sunset. You're beautiful and I love you.

✨Gentle touches✨ Not like our usual Shep at all.

Now to part 2 because I have even more gifs

[in-finitesuns]

i feel like i need to have a list of mass effect 2 things i'll never stop thinking about, in no particular order

the entirety of the Overlord DLC and the fact that the paragon interrupt is pistol whipping Archer lmao

tali's response to the paragon interrupt (hugging her) after finding her father's body in her loyalty mission (the 'damn it. damn it, i'm sorry.)

liara and femshep's reunion during lair of the shadow broker (romanced)

joker's jump (i got him killed once SORRY JOKER)

how strong kelly chambers comes off IMMEDIATELY AND HOW OUT OF POCKET SHE CAN BE (bbgirl you would be the most unethical therapist ever)

legion's loyalty quest and the heretical geth reveal

so i destroyed the heretical geth and having a max out paragon meter but then getting that +30 renegade oops (i understand why but i would do ANYTHING for tali)

samara after killing morinth and her three lines: "Shepard. What do you think I will say? What can I say? I just killed the bravest and smartest of my daughters." and "There are no words. I will try another time. For now, show mercy on a broken old warrior and let us leave." and "I am a ruined vessel of sorrow and regret, but I am free." i wept

the little interlude femshep had with the liara picture on her desk

also rip to all my fish that i tried and failed to keep alive

[edit] I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TALI CALLING SHEP CAPTAIN AT THE END OF TREASON INSTEAD OF COMMANDER - both the absolute DEVASTATION and GRIEF SHE MUST BE FEELING and also HONOR she bestows on you in that moment i'm screaming crying throwing up

[edit 2] I FORGOT ABOUT THE GIANT HUMAN REAPER AT THE END?