#Turian fauna

[sweatandwoe]

Penguins

A sort of sequel to Overflow (or takes place in the same universe in my mind)

Saren x GN!reader, 962 words. Fluff, mentioned past trauma, working through it, mentioned medication and therapy, this is some very fluffy winter nonsense

-

“What kind of creature is on your pants?” 

You glance down at your pajama bottoms - bright green fabric with little white and black birds decorating all over the legs of it. Some have hats on, and others have scarves. “It’s called a penguin.” 

Saren grunts in the doorway, and you only flick your gaze over to see if he needs help first, before glancing back to the extranet news report you had on. It takes a couple of minutes for him to remove his outerwear, and then he moves. Reaching you in moments, he only carefully lifts your ankles in his talons so he can slide his body beneath your legs. Letting your feet rest in his lap, while he rolls his head back against the couch. 

“Rough day?” You offer, and he pats your calf. 

“Nothing more than usual.” He pauses, his talons moving slowly along your leg. Then there’s a tilt of his head, and he traces one of the penguins. You hide your smile behind your datapad, as you watch him try to come up with something to say about them. His mandibles twitch when he thinks. “They’re very cute.” 

“That’s sweet of you.” 

He glances at you then. Metallic, cybernetic eyes gaze into your own. The fake irises shift, twitching almost like real eyes while he scans over your face. “I am trying.” 

You reach for him then, placing your hand over the top of his talons. Everything was still hard, but you were patient. This was all very new to him still, since the indoctrination - and even more so since his discovery of his attraction to a species he had openly despised beforehand. It had been rough, and things were still quite awkward. “You’re doing well.” 

The former spectre’s mandibles flare. “Am I?” 

You hum and tug him forward until you’re both lying on the couch. “Quite well.” You pause, to press a kiss to his mouthplates and he applies pressure in return. It’s the closest to a peck you’ll get, but you don’t mind. “Do you want to watch a documentary about them?” When he tenses, you smile. “You can say no.” 

“I wouldn’t mind it.” He says softly after a few moments of thought, moving to tuck his cybernetic arm over your waist. “Is it alright if we watch a documentary for the colony wars afterward?” 

You give another peck, enjoying the way his mandibles twitch against your face. “I’ll order us some dinner so we can watch both.” 

Today is an easy day. You listen to his comments on how turian fauna would easily rip apart penguins, and let him thrum with pride during the colony wars. You hold his hand when he has to take his medications and help tune up his arm before he has a shower. Falling into bed afterward is easy, with slow and thoughtful love-making before you both go to sleep. 

The next few days are harder. There are so many people on the citadel now, and he starts to get overwhelmed, fidgeting. You fight when he says he wants a gun because he isn’t allowed one - even if he can sneak one into your home. He roars and spits because he needs to protect you and himself. But you both know how he gets with guns now. It’s why they took away his biotic amps too. Not just out of fear of how strong he could be, but how he got when he had those tools. 

It was more of a fear that he’d hurt himself instead of just anyone. He had tried that a few times, shortly after the end of the Reapers and his indoctrination began to subside. It still hurt, to find him waking because you’d hear him. Sometimes mumbling and other times whispering. One time you heard him, repeating to himself after a nightmare: “Sovereign took my eyes. I can’t see anymore. None of the colors are real.” 

You manage to stop arguing each night before bed, so you never fall asleep angry at one another. The thought of phoning his therapist still lingers in your brain, but on the fourth day, you wake to find your bed has a much smaller, different figure lying beside you. 

It’s a penguin, you realize, reaching out to touch it. A toy penguin with a scarf that was far too big had been tied carefully around it. Your fingers run along the scarf, and a soft sound leaves your throat. 

When you go downstairs, he’s making breakfast for you both. You make sure your footsteps are loud, that he knows that it’s you before you move to wrap your arms around his small waist from behind. 

“I love you.” You whisper. 

“I know.” One hand comes down to rest upon your own. Talons gliding over your fingers. “I’m not good at this, I wasn’t even before - everything, but I… I want to try. I want to be better again.” 

He would never be the spectre he once was. But he could be better, be the hero that the citadel had once seen him to be. Charismatic, powerful; a leader. At the same time, if he didn’t want to be, you’d be fine with him like this. Just being your Saren, your partner, and trying to be happy. 

You think being happy would be a good ending for both of you. “I know.” 

Saren usually pauses now, before he speaks. As though reassuring himself that his thoughts are his own, to explain his own reasoning in his head before he lets it out. But this he says quickly, as though he feared when he had forgotten to say it. “I love you too.” 

Talons and fingers hold together, as the smells of two different meals fill the house.

[lunargazing-png]

I felt so flattered when people wanted to learn more about the Mass Effect OCs I made, so I thought I'd write a (very long) summary (more like an info dump) of them and introduce all of the characters from my previous post here (and briefly mention a +1)!

I'm calling my little rag-tag cast of OCs "Starcrossed." I've made five characters so far.

The year is 2157. A human scientist named Kara Twelves is scrambling to save her research as alien forces are closing in on her laboratory in Shanxi. The building has turned into a fort for Alliance troops and colonists, and the force of the Turians has overwhelmed the human occupants inside. Her once-beloved lab is beginning to crumble- its structure unable to take the barrage of firepower much longer. The last things she takes with her are a USB and a photograph of her two-year-old daughter, Kenzie. Kara has dedicated the past two years to learning about Shanxi's unique flora and fauna and isn't willing to abandon her work so quickly.

This is Kara during her time as a colonist in Shanxi. She was 22 years old during the First Contact War) Azailick Zeusura is a foot soldier rookie on the battlefield, determined to earn the respect of his peers- and, more importantly, his father. He knew he wasn't fit for this mission, but he naively went anyway. Az was eager to prove himself a mature, loyal soldier under the Turian Hierarchy. General Williams surrendered the Shanxi garrison two weeks earlier, which lifted soldier morale in properly taking siege of the colony. His platoon is steadily advancing to eliminate an Alliance fortification, picking off soldiers who are starting to realize that their odds are dwindling.

(This is Azailick. He was 18 years old during the First Contact War.) Alliance soldiers make a last-ditch effort to ward off their attackers, and Azailick's world comes to a halt as a grenade lands at his feet. Maybe some supernatural force made Kara act the way she did, but in the blink of an eye, she was suddenly not hiding anymore. Kara pushes Az out of the impending explosion, and they tumble into a debris-riddled cliffside together.

(This picture was in my original post! kerplow 💥) Kara becomes critically injured from the fall. Suddenly, it's not about Az making a point that he's a capable soldier anymore. He has a choice: Does he carry on and leave his enemy to die as a soldier would, or does he acknowledge her sacrifice and make an effort to help his savior?

The year is 2167. It's been ten years since the First Contact War. Kara doesn't remember what came of the Turian who carried her to safety or her belongings she failed to save. She, her daughter Kenzie, and her nurse Agjaa T'rete are settling into their new apartment on the Citadel. Her sister's constant hawking over her physical care became too much to handle, and Kara decided she wanted to start fresh. Kara couldn't fathom the grandness of the megastructure they were about to live on, and she was ecstatic to start a new chapter and be more independent. During one of her strolls, she spots someone who feels familiar. Her stomach twists in knots as she realizes who she's looking at. Azailick retired from playing soldier eight years ago to support his eight-year-old son, Apsot. Working at C-Sec seemed like the better option and was less emotionally taxing for him. Someone politely grabs his attention, and he's struck with so many emotions at once that he doesn't know what to do with himself. He almost mistakes her for a ghost at first, but it's the human colonist who saved his life right in front of him!

(This is a painting I did showing what it was like when they reunited with each other.)

Even through so much tension after the war, Kara and Az manage to kindle a friendship with each other- and maybe even something a little more than that :-) I've always really liked narratives of love being the stronger power when everything is stacked against its favor, and they fit this bill very nicely. After they reunite, they learn more about each other and bond over their trauma from the war and how their unlikely union completely changed fundamental parts of themselves- for good and for bad. and that's about it!! thank you for reading about my ocs :-) I hope to draw more of them soon. Here's a Kenzie as sheldon cooper for you as a send off.❤️idk if anyone would be curious enough to send asks in, but my ask box is open!

[turisiancom]

TURISIAN.com – Air Terjun Batang Kapas Riau merupakan salah satu air terjun tertinggi di Indonesia. Perkiraan tingginya mencapai kurang lebih 150 meter, dengan panorama alam yang sangat indah untuk Sobat Turisian kunjungi dan nikmati. Objek wisata Riau yang satu ini sangat cocok buat Sobat Turisian yang ingin menikmati suasana alam nan asri dan memukau. Sekaligus healing dan refreshing untuk melepas rasa penat dari rutinitas sehari-hari. Di sekeliling Air Terjun Batang Kapas terdapat hutan “perawan” dan masih memiliki berbagai macam flora fauna. Sehingga Sobat Turisian dapat merasakan udara segar, dengan iringan berbagai jenis suara kicauan burung yang syahdu. Bakal membuat kalian nyaman dan betah berlama-lama di sini. Ketika berkunjung ke air terjun tersebut, Sobat Turisian tak hanya dapat melihat air terjun. Namun kalian pun akan terpuaskan dengan sajian pemandangan yang indah dari perbukitan. Seolah-olah berada di negeri di atas awan. Pesona sunrise di pagi hari pun sangat sayang Sobat Turisian lewatkan. Setelah lelah mengeksplorasi kawasan wisata Air Terjun Batang Kapas, Sobat Turisian dapat beristirahat atau bermalam di spot yang diyakini aman dengan berkemah. Tetapi menuju spot tersebut, kalian harus mendaki kurang lebih 15 menit. Baca juga: Berselancar di Sungai Kampar, Unik Juga Mendebarkan Letak spot tersebut berada tepat di balik gemuruh air terjun. Di tempat ini Sobat Turisian dapat beristirahat di atas cekungan batu. Ukuran panjangnya sekitar 50 meter dengan lebar sekira 2 hingga 4 meter. Suasana alam sekitar objek wisata tersebut sangat memukau. Sobat Turisian juga akan memanjakan diri dengan panorama alam yang sangat indah. Tampak hamparan pohon-pohon besar dan batu alam menjulang tinggi yang membentang panjang menghiasi air terjun ini. Lokasi & Akses ke Air Terjun Batang Kapas Wisata alam ini terletak di Desa Lubuk Bigau, Kecamatan Kampar Kiri Hulu, Kabupaten Kampar, Provinsi Riau. Untuk menjangkaunya, Sobat Turisian bisa menggunakan mobil atau motor. Rute perjalanan ke air terjun ini, Sobat Turisian bisa berangkat dari Kota Pekanbaru, dengan waktu tempuh sekira 2 jam perjalanan. Jaraknya 71 km dengan kondisi jalan beraspal. Selanjutnya perjalanan kalian teruskan menuju Desa Lubuk Bigau. Ada beberapa desa yang akan Sobat Turian saat berlibur di kawasan ini. Di antaranya Desa Sontul, Tanjung Karang, Deras Tajak, dan Desa Batu Sasak. Setelah sampai di Desa Lubuk Bigau sisa jarak tempuh untuk menuju air terjun Batang Kapas diperkirakan 4 hingga 5 kilometer. Baca juga: Mengenal Candi Muara Takus, Tertua di Tanah Sumatera Di Desa Lubuk Bigau tersedia pula jasa ojek sepeda motor dari masayarakat desa setempat. Waktu tempuh ke destinasi tersebut, hanya 15 menit. Lalu lanjutkan berjalan kaki melewati hutan belantara dengan waktu tempuh sekitar 3 jam.*  

[masseffectfancodex]

Sol Lacerti - Turian Fauna - Mass Effect Fan Codex

Size and Characteristics

The Sol Lacerti is a large lizard ranging in a variety of colors, including tan, orange, green and gray. Their skin is rough and durable.

It takes 8 to 9 years for full maturity, and they may live up to 30.

Males have a range of meaty spine scutes in varying shades of orange similar to the stegosaurus from earth. A male can be 8 to 9 feet in length and weight about 200 lbs when full grown

Females grow to 6 feet. They have a bony ridge but not the decorative meaty scutes their male counterparts have.

Sol Lacerti have good vision; they can see objects as far away as 985 feet (300 m), They can run briefly up to 13 mph (20 kph) but prefer to hunt by stealth — waiting for hours until prey cross their path.

Diet: Sol Lacerti are cannibalistic carnivores. They are such fierce hunters they can eat very large prey including unwary Turians. They can eat 80 percent of their body weight in one feeding.

Offspring: They are generally solitary outside of mating season. Males maintain and defend a territory and patrol up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) per day. Females can reproduce through both sexual and asexual reproduction. Laying anywhere from 20 to 30 eggs in a clutch with no parental care. When the young hatch they must first cut through the shell of their egg and then dig themselves out of the nest before they run away, climbing trees to escape their mother and bigger Sol Lacerti. When born, babies are on average 12 inches long.

While eggs come out male or female they found that temperature can change those parameters. Eggs that are kept at a steady 25°C come out male.

Random Facts: While both are edible, it is the males that are the most sought after for the better presentation. After hours of cooking those spines are easily pulled away.

Great care is taken to incubate the eggs at just the right temperature to ensure the maximum male birth rate. Creating a huge gap between male and female price tags. The excess males are headed towards the meat market, making females a protected commodity.

While it is not rare to find the Sol Lacerti in the wild, the vast majority of them are Females due to average temperature in their natural habitat.

At one time in history, the male population of the Sol Lacerti were heavily hunted, the larger the male the better, both for game and traditional medicine focusing on virility.

As a Meal A Traditional Sol Lacerti meal is served with raw or steamed reedy vegetables and and aged fruit sauce. (Kind of like eating ribs, the male spine meat would be the choicest cut of the animals.)

By BerryShiara

[lieutenantabrudas]

finally put together some proper concept art for dazduus, the palavenian answer to reindeer!! helpfully modeled by dear old snowpox

dazduus are a palavenian megafauna found exclusively on the polar island-continent-nation of tiirtias, and the largest extant riding mount animal in the galaxy (a title they claimed after the extinction of kakliosaurs). standing at 8 feet (2.4 m) at the shoulder on average, dazduus have a mutualistic relationship with the local turians. domestic herds are provided with food, shelter, safety from predators, healthcare, and companionship. in return, their turian caretakers gain incredibly strong draft animals; sources of wool, dairy, leather, and meat; and riding mounts for hunting and warfare. wild herds also benefit, as even though turian hunting parties will go after them, other predators are wary of unseen guardians. dazduus trained as riding mounts are famously protective of their riders, and often will refuse riders other than their usual.

a dazduus’s coat has three layers: an undercoat of soft, insulating wool; a midcoat of longer, hollow guard hairs to trap heat; and a top coat of very long, stiff, thulium-heavy quills to serve the same purpose as turian plates. the midcoat also has radiation-blocking qualities, but not as strongly as the quills. in the spring and summer, the wool from the undercoat will naturally shed, and can be brushed out to be collected. wild herds will roll on the ground to shed the dead weight. by the next winter, the wool will have regrown, keeping them warm through the long, frozen nights. their coats also change color with the changing seasons, to provide camouflage against the snow and the ground. the markings on their legs and face can come in either white or a dark brown.

dazduus are opportunistic omnivores; while they predominantly eat plant matter, they do have a few extra teeth meant for crunching up the occasional small animal that crosses their path if they’re hungry enough. these teeth are also useful for biting enemies or simply strangers who try to pet them. their eyes appear opaque white from the outside, but in reality they can see just fine. the muslin-like layer of their cornea covering their pupils functions as a sieve, blocking out harmful radiation and scattering the light passing through. while this impacts their perception of the visible spectrum in the dark, the veil allows infrared light through, which they use instead. the two sets of eyes are specialized for different distances, with the upper set being tuned for far-off distances and the lower for close-up, granting them a very long range of view.

dazduus are central to tiirti culture. the oldest folklore even states that the sun is carried in the antlers of a giant dazduus which wanders back and forth across the continent, explaining the extreme solar angles. in artwork, when all four hooves are on the ground they are also a symbol of life, renewal, and fertility. a dazduus rampant, on the other hand, is a symbol of war, courage, and loyalty.

[autistic-council-spectre]

@sparatus

turians pointing at a rabbit: you ruined a perfectly good shayustu is what you did, look at it it has anxiety now

zander holding 50 and crying: All Of My Dreams Have Come True

[bagog]

Awkward First Date Kiss - Mshenko - Ask Meme

It's a kiss-prompt ask meme! Thanks very much!!

Mshenko "An awkward kiss given after a first date."

++

The next time the Normandy docked at the Citadel, Shepard had an email waiting for him at his console.

"Hey Shepard, maybe if you've got some time between errands, we can hang out some? There's this botanical garden on the Presidium that just reopened. Maybe we could check it out?" Shepard had smiled to himself: they'd been together for maybe a week, and an email felt so formal. Taking things slow was usually the best approach in a new relationship, though. And he felt good about Kaidan, he wanted to make sure he did this right.

The botanical garden was beautiful. All the sunlight inside the huge 'glass' dome was artificial, of course, but it shone with a warm intensity the fake sky on the Presidium failed to generate. There were flora and fauna from several council worlds, all planned and placed to create a harmonious cavalcade of alien colors and sounds.

They walked along a catwalk that wound through the canopy of the exotic trees, quiet, but occasionally marveling at a butterfly flitting off a leaf, or a flower just on the cusp of opening.

"It's beautiful," Shepard said when Kaidan pointed up into the branches where a softly glowing Thessian bird sat preening at the apex of a tree. "I had no idea anything like this was one the Citadel."

His hand brushed against Kaidan's, just knuckles against knuckles, but Shepard forgot what he had been saying.

"Yeah," Kaidan continued, letting his body drift another handspan away from Shepard. "Glad it's still open with the war going on. People need a place to catch their breath."

"Good pick for a first date," Shepard turned and grinned. Kaidan returned it with a knowing smile. Their hands hung at their sides. Shepard cleared his throat. "Well, how about we see the downstairs?"

On the ground floor of the garden, a shaded path ran between water features and spacious carpets of alien underbrush. They chatted as they strolled: anything but the war.

At the far end of the garden, there was a huge waterfall that cascaded the full height of the dome into a deep pool, surrounded by the densest copse of wild trees. The roar of the falls was only punctuated by the occasional squawk of an exotic bird, and the crystal water that thundered down shed a mist into the air that glittered in the artificial sun.

"Woah," Shepard said, after a moment. His hand at his side was almost touching Kaidan's.

"Yeah, 'woah' is right." Kaidan stepped forward, leaned his body on the railing that surrounded the pool. "Y'know, uh, there's an urban legend about this waterfall..." He said, but kept his eyes trained on the water rather than addressing Shepard directly.

"Oh yeah?" "Yeah. It goes that if you kiss your partner right in this spot and a white bird lands in the pool, you're with 'the one'." He looked up at Shepard, a challenging smirk on his lips.

"Is that so?" Shepard grinned. He leaned on the railing, their shoulders touching. "Well I know it's our first date, but, uh, what do you say?"

Kaidan shrugged, but didn't reply, only leaning forward. He watched Shepard's face and his tongue darted across his lower lip. Shepard closed his eyes and let the other man's gravity pull him in. When Shepard's lips touched Kaidan's he almost pulled away, almost opened his eyes. But he didn't, and Kaidan kissed him with a surety, a soft conviction that felt so intimate in such a public space.

He opened his eyes as their lips parted and Kaidan's met him with a shy gaze, eyes dark agate in the beaming sunlight.

"Ummm," Kaidan looked down, scratched the back of his neck. "What do you think?" Shepard spared a glance away to check the pool.

"No white bird... maybe we try again?"

Kaidan smiled, stifled a laugh, then pointed to a sign sitting beside the railing.

The Turian Nemeneice White Swan is not currently on display, we are sorry for any inconvenience.

Shepard laughed. "Guess we have to try again another day."

"Another day," Kaidan confirmed. They watched the prismatic falls silently for another few minutes, then left hand-in-hand.

[soranis-sunshadow]

I'm sorry you're getting weird/boring asks. I'm not saying mine will be a whole lot better but i know how ir is not getting asks you want. Do you have any new headcanons you haven't talked about before? Do you think Entrapta and Hordak celebrate different or same etherian holidays?

Thank you anon. Don't know why people insist on going to a SPOP blog and asking anything but SPOP related things :shrug:

Here's a rare Headcanon - as a treat!

Horde Clones are aliens so their genetic structure is vastly different than that of the Etherians as such, most if not all Etherian pathogens don't affect them in the slightest. They are too different from the planet's fauna, flora and bacterial ecosystem for them to be affected by any of them.

The explanation behind it:

Most species on Earth - species that are related to other earth life forms - have enough genetic differences between them that the pathogens affecting them have to be tailored to them specifically.

A bacteria that has adapted to infect a mammal will not affect a tree. A virus that has evolved to feed on plant cells has no way to enter into animal cells.

It comes down to the protein receptors on the cell walls. Bacteria have learned to mask their presence so that the immune system doesn't attack them (so have some eukaryotes like malaria).

Viruses need to enter the cell to make use of the protein manufacturing apparatus of said cell and make more of itself. They do so by interacting with specific proteins on the surface of the target cell. It's why the influenza only binds with the cells in your respiratory system and not those of your gut - Different surface proteins.

Streptoccous Pneumoniae - the bacteria that gives mammals pneumonia needs a specific temperature to incubate - a few degrees lower or higher and the bacteria can't grow. (incidentally, that's why we get a fever when we are sick). It's why it doesn't affect cold blooded animals (*too cold) or some birds (they run at higher temperatures than mammals). A bird's normal temperature would be considered a high fever for a human. The streptoccocus wouldn't even know what to do with a plant cell with it's wildly different cell wall and chemical content.

Now, the genetic difference between a Tulip and a Possum is smaller than the difference between an extraterrestrial being and a native of the planet. This is done very well in Mass Effect where some aliens are so different from others that they can't even eat the same food at all. (turians and quarians = team dextro, humans, asari, salarians...etc = are team levo)

All of the inhabitants of Earth are related to one another, we shared a common ancestor some 560 million years ago.

The genetic code of all earthlings is coded in base pairs using pretty much the same building blocks and the information is coded very similarly for all earthlings from bacteria to bonobo.

The sequences of adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) in very specific orders "spell" out the order in which the ribosome adds amino acids to make up proteins for all earthlings.

An alien organism might have its genetic material so different from those of the inhabitants of a planet they are not native to that they wouldn't even use the same base pairs, they might not even code the information in nucleotide bases at all. They might use different amino acids to create their proteins.

A pathogen has no idea how to interact with proteins that are made so differently. A virus can't insert itself into the nucleus of a cell that has such a different way of coding the information.

That's what makes the Horde Clones immune to any illness indigenous to Etheria.

As for Celebrations, I doubt Hordak knows what those are until Entrapta teaches him. It's not like the cult where he came from allowed for the celebration of anything other than Horde Prime's ego. Hordak will see that Entrapta cares about these things and I believe he will try to understand them. He might go through with them even if he doesn't understand them because they are important to her.

[sparatus]

[takes a detour from writing the second part of wtwr to develop more native fauna of palaven and also a reasoning behind turians not having feathers when other palavenian birds do just in case anybody ever asks] writar

[pathfinderslog]

Day #10

Tempest. Pathfinder's quarters. On the way to Eos.

🎶 Whatever it Takes - Imagine Dragons

As we can't use mass relays for the shifts between a system to another, like we'd have done in the Milky Way, in the Andromeda Galaxy we have to rely only on ours spaceships engines. Travel times are getting longer, but fortunately the Tempest is the fastest and most agile ship of the Initiative, so we are able to reach Habitat 1 in less than a week. We probably would have been able to get there sooner if Kallo hadn't had to make numerous evasive maneuvers to escape the Scourge's offshoots along the way.

In about 26 hours we will reach the Pytheas system and by then it shouldn't take long to reach the planet.

In these days I have had the opportunity to explore the ship from stern to bow and every corner has managed to enchant me. There is really everything you need to analyze and study all that Andromeda will offer us: flora, fauna, artifacts, new technologies! I even have a private cabin! (I've already said this, right?)

I also got to know the crew. If we need to work together for the good of us all we must do it well, as a team, and the best way to do this is to get to know each other.

First of all I need to know the on board crew: the pilot, the mechanic, the scientist, the doctor. They are essential support figures, without which it would not be possible to complete any mission. They keep the Tempest ready for the action and 100% efficient and take care of analyzing the samples we bring on board, they maintain active communications with the Nexus and they take care of coordinating the informations between my team and those of the leaders of the Initiative.

Gil tried to explain to me in the most elementary words possible how the engine works, which reproduces the ODSY of the arks on a smaller scale. Something related to the static energy accumulated while traveling and used to recharge the ship itself. I do not know. He tried hard, but I've never been good with technicalities. I prefer practice to theory.

Kallo, on the other hand, told me some curious anecdotes about his creation. He was part of the team in charge of designing and building the Tempest in the Milky Way and he left with her aboard the Nexus to follow her footsteps, while the rest of the group stayed behind. In a certain way it's like if he is a living legacy of the past. Couldn't have nothing better, after all, he was the testing pilot, he practiced with her a lot so he knows how she works.

The most curious thing, which both confirmed to me, is that the Tempest's cloacking system is based from the technical specifications of the Normandy SR-1's IES stealth system, but I know for sure that those projects are covered by military secrecy, so I don't understand how the Initiative could get their hands on them. Maybe my father has something to do with it? Maybe some of his old contacts in the N7? What else are you hiding from me, old man? AH! Damn! I wish I had you here now so I can choke you with my hands!

I still hold a grudge against my father for what he did to me.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to him for saving my life, but I also wish he hadn't burdened me with this HUGE responsibility. Fortunately, SAM has shown himself to be an excellent support several times, often also emotional, in certain ways, while not being able to show any emotion. Even if he's very sophisticated, he's still an AI, but sharing my father's body and mind for years has allowed him to share with me thoughts able to clarify many of my doubts about him and the relationship he had with us: me, Scott and even mum.

The more time passes, the more I feel I can do it!

This sense of oppression is gradually fading, and I must also thank the rest of my team for this.

Lexi now demands that I have a psychoanalysis session every day, arguing that it's essential to deal with mourn, and I, even if reluctantly, let her do it, because I am sure that my tangled mind is an interesting subject of study for her.

With Suvi we had some interesting scientific discussions, she showed me the results of the researches conducted so far by the Nexus and she passed me all the data of what we know so far about the Scourge. She is ... strange ... I thought I was strange, but she manages to be extremely intelligent and at the same time tremendously naive. She is convinced that behind the creation of the cosmos there is the hand of a god. Well, who am I to contradict her? Everyone is free to believe in what they want, as long as it doesn't interfere with their work.

Liam and Cora are helping me with the reports to send to the Nexus and together we analyze strategies and tactics to use to better prepare ourselves for what we have to face on Eos. Liam's experience with the Crisis Unit is proving particularly useful in this context of uncertainty, where anything that can go wrong surely will. And Cora, well, I understand why dad chose her as his second-in-command: she was part of a team of Asari Commando, Thessia's military and biotic combat excellence, backed by centuries of tactics and experience.

And then there is Vetra.

To have a smuggler's past she is very honest and crystal clear. I enjoy spending time with her. She is a tough girl who grew up alone, away from Palaven and the rest of the turian hierarchy (and I don't know how bad that can be), with a younger sister to raise, Sid. She told me what happened to the Nexus in the months before the arrival of the Hyperion: the clash with the Scourge, the chaos, the mutiny, the expulsion of the exiles, the failure of the first outposts. But she also told me amusing anecdotes, such as when she began retrieving special components for Kesh in the Milky Way - once, twice, three, four times - until she found out about the existence of the Andromeda Initiative and joined her in this undertaking, hoping for a better future - like many of us.

Sometimes, if I need to let off steam, I go to see her down in the hangar and she is willing to listen to me and my problems. On the contrary, she does not really like talking about herself, I have understood this by now, but I know how to be very patient, as well as very curious, and I am sure that sooner or later she too will confide in me. For the moment, I'm just happy to gossip with her about Addison's and Tann's.

[pathofcomets]

soldier, keep on marching on (11)

fandom: mass effect andromeda (AO3)

pairing: jaal/ryder

summary: Sara Ryder will replay that moment before she died for the first time many times afterwards.

playlist: spotify

Havarl is wet and rainy, and she thinks she might prefer Veold’s killer snowstorm, than the way the humidity feels, with the added armour. To be fair, Jaal has warned them, and she has opted for a thinner one, made heavy anyway during the five minutes’ trek from the ship to the angaran base. Every single bit of clothing item on her is sticking to her skin, uncomfortably so, and she’s sure she is in the process of chaffing in several places where her skin has no business hurting like this. The humidity in the air makes it almost annoyingly difficult to breathe, her hair sticking to her head, her forehead shiny with sweat.

Liam seems to find some kind of happiness in her misery, even as he doesn’t look any better. He just seems more pleased at still seeing a planet at least half functional. Of course, that is until they encounter their first dinosaur.

“They’re not… dinosaurs.” Jaal frowns, and the word, coming out of his mouth, sounds harsher, the consonants more pronounced, and Sara scrunches her nose to stop herself from calling it cute, though she can’t quite stop the faint smile, which in turn deepens Jaal’s frown.

“Yeah, you see those tiny arms? That’s a damned T-Rex right there,” Liam says, and his arms bend at the elbow, imitating the shape of the creature. When Jaal’s face remains clearly unimpressed, he sighs, letting his hands drop around his body. “I will show you some vids and then you’ll get it!”

***

Peebee insists to be taken for all the Remnant missions. Since Havarl is still a slightly functional planet, one of the monoliths still working, her enthusiasm grows as soon as she steps onto the planet. It is the first place, besides the healed Aya, where she has seen plants. Sure, plants that would prove poisonous if ingested (or touched, direct contact on the skin, SAM helpfully provides), and fauna ten times bigger than the thing they’re usually used with, but it’s still an ecosystem when nowhere else has it yet.

They save the scientists, and Jaal sees, for the first time, the true powers of the human Pathfinder. The old ruins bend to her wishes, her hands glowing much like how the biotics powers do – even when he knows she has none of that; this a skill entirely hers. He is not a scholar of biology, and the little SAM tried to explain, about his connection with Ryder’s DNA, the constant link between the two, made so little sense. Stuck by the horror and intimacy of such unity, he has decided to not comprehend, rather than think of Sara as anything but a mere human. It would be unfair towards a person who has shown him so much undeterred friendship, even when it turned out detrimental to her purpose.

Because if she was truly, something more AI than human, she would not have erred, would not have taken the choice less preferable.

He watches her, munching on a wrapped snack, her taste too fragile to fit the Havarl food that the grateful scientists are feeding them, even if she tries the drink – out of being gracious. Her nose wrinkling is the only sign that her taste buds don’t agree with the flavour, even if to him, it’s sweet and floral. He tries to keep his smile in check, the vibrations and bioelectricity, because in the midst of his people, his amusement and pleasure would be so easily read, so easily understood. He can only imagine what jumps through non-existent scenarios his people would build. And his mother, his family – they’re only several miles away.

He watches her, even when Vetra approaches her, nudging her shoulder so she can rise to attention. They’re listening in to a conversation between two angara, the description of a ship and some other aliens. He can notice the moment she makes the connection, because her eyes turn towards the turian, both hopeful and mournful.

“That description sounds like me,” Vetra says, her subvocals leaking into the words, none wise enough to make out the inflections.

Sara jumps to her feet, slapping Liam’s back. She throws one look towards Jaal, the tiniest smile of reassurance as she exists the room. SAM is the one that fills him in on the full picture: he made out some of the things, from reports and conversations on the Tempest – but both have been filtered. Like this, the voice in his ear tells him outright that no other alien Ark has made it to the Nexus, besides the human one. Which means, somewhere in the wide space of the Andromeda galaxy, everyone hopes they’ll find their kin again. Because the other scenario, that they didn’t make it, that they are all dead, is too cruel to comprehend; an end before having a start.

When they return, Vetra kicks against a crate, hard enough that the sound is loud in the air, but neither the metal bends, nor does she sketches any pain. She’s angry, because while somewhat successful, it is still not enough. They found just a tiny piece, saved just several turians, and thousands others are adrift in the dark emptiness of the universe. When Vetra repeats the action, Sara closes her eyes, trying not to wince, trying not to take it a personal failure.

***

It’s still raining. The Pathfinder stands in the mud, trying to ignore the way it seeps around her boots, and she looks up at the immense Remnant structure keeping Havarl together. At the top of it, she will find the key to making things better. She has to believe that, because it will be otherwise a very uncomfortable and painful climb. Peebee snorts, patting her shoulder, and walks up the straight surface towards the first level, feet glued to the plank, using her biotics.

“Show off,” Sara mutters, and she has to use the jet pack to reach the asari.

Jaal shakes his head, and follows.

It takes Sara Ryder three days of being constantly wet, shivering under the incessant beating of the rain, to sneeze for the first time. Jaal’s eyes go wide, immediately searching her body, and he cannot stop staring at her, even when she catches him.

“What?” she asks, sniffing, rubbing the tip of her nose with her palm, her skin itching.

“What was that?”

They continue to stare at each other, both equally as confused with each other, meaning seemingly lost somewhere in the conversation. Peebee bumps her hip against Ryder’s, making her stumble on her feet, as she does a dramatic rendition of her sneeze, loud and not at all how Sara sounds.

“A sneeze,” she adds helpfully, though she throws the Pathfinder a disgusted look when Ryder repeats the sound again, wiping her palms of invisible germs against Sara’s suit.

“What does it mean?” Jaal asks, transfixed.

Sara returns the gesture, bumping into Peebee on her way to get to the next level of this damned skyscraper.

“Nothing,” she mumbles, and the asari rolls her eyes, shrugging her shoulders and following Sara; Jaal’s curiosity is still not satisfied, but he can notice from the closed slump of Ryder’s shoulders that it is not something that she wants discussed.

By the time they reach the top of Mithrava, Ryder is running the beginning of a fever. The religious stories of the angara swim in her mind, mixing settings and myths, and when she accidentally misses a small step, forcing her to either tumble into Jaal’s shoulder or fall directly to the ground, she swears – a word so sharp, more of a yelp, that Jaal’s translator doesn’t pick up –  and prepares herself for the impact. The hurt however does not come, and when she opens her eyes, she can only see Jaal’s blue, shining ones.

“You have such beautiful eyes,” she mumbles, and the fingers around her shoulder and waist tighten for a fraction of a second.

“You’ve gone mad,” he says, harsher than he intended, but worried at the glossed look on her face, at the way her skin seems to be burning up.

“The Pathfinder is sick,” SAM provides helpfully.

Sara turns her face, pressing it against her shoulder, most of her expression now hidden.

“Traitor,” she sighs, and she succumbs to Jaal’s help, as he tries to bring her back to her own feet.

Jaal’s fingers push the hair from her face, resting for a second more against her forehead, looking at her, trying to make out what the signs of sickness are, what to look for in the future.

Her body is trembling with shivers, and with a defeated sigh, she allows all three of them a short return to the ship. The sneeze that seems to have accompanied her through their explorations so far has turned into an incessant cough, sounding worse and worse the longer she stands in the rain. Jaal has never realized how long the walk aboard the Tempest is.

“Are you a baby?” Lexi chides, making Sara strip in the middle of the hallway, no more than a second in the same wet clothes. The human blushes and stutters, but the doctor remains passive and unfazed, and it is a losing battle from the start.

One by one, each piece of her armour falls to the ground with a loud noise. From the first one, Liam has made himself scarce, Peebee made herself more comfortable. When the last one hits the floor, she turns to Lexi.

“Good enough?”

Lexi just frowns. “No. The clothes too.”

The human blushes and stutters, but the doctor remains passive and unfazed, and this is a losing battle yet again. Jaal knows, instinctually, that he should have followed Liam a long time ago, but when Sara tugs at the hem of her shirt and drags it over her head, it is too late for his sanity. Suddenly, with just that one movement, the vast expanse of her skin is visible; not just her arms, which would have been at least a familiar sight, but her back as well, her stomach. Spots of colour are sprawled across her shoulders and back, darker one still at random points, forming swirling patterns across her torso – and he tries to understand the roundness of her chest, kept together by the delicate band of material. When her body is ran through by the force of another coughing fit, her voice unlike anything he has heard, he rips his eyes away from her, guilty to have found himself star struck at the sight of her, when she is so weak and fragile.

She bends, unsticking the tights from her legs with some difficulty, and Jaal can only hear the rustling of her clothes, the wet sound as they drop to the floor – his eyes trying to remain respectfully glued to the ceiling. Peebee whistles.

“Good,” Lexi hums, finally pleased at last. “Shower now. As hot as you can handle.”

Sara sighs, relieved, and her footsteps are hurried, to please her tyrannical doctor. Peebee gathers her clothes, since she has learnt how to do the laundry recently anyway, and disappears towards the Pathfinder quarters. At last, safe, Jaal opens his eyes. Where Sara has been standing, there’s just a puddle gathered on the floor.

Lexi is staring at him.

“I… I didn’t realize bodies can do that,” he says, and he can remember the way her forehead has burnt against his fingers, even through the material of his gloves.

“Humans,” she says, though the word is filled with fondness. “So fragile. More stubborn the more fragile they are.”

***

“Only idiots catch a cold in summer,” Sara mumbles, upset, but she downs the honey-textured medicine that Lexi forces down her throat.

“There are no seasons in space. Which makes you a double idiot, Ryder.”

Fair enough. There’s no way she can say she was not an idiot, not after she pulled such an act. When the doctor told her that, had she just noticed earlier, taken a medicine from that first day, she would have never gotten to this point, well, that was the moment when she realized how stupid she truly is. But it seems so absolutely ironic, that she can survive death, but it is a cold which stops her from continuing her work.

“Ryder,” Lexi presses, her voice sounding threatening. “You will sleep. Your body needs the rest to fight off the sickness.”

She huffs and puffs, making an entire show out of cocooning herself in the blankets she dragged around with her to the medbay, her body still feeling colder than normal. Lexi shoos her out of the lab, standing in the doorframe to make sure the Pathfinder truly goes directly to her room. As much as she would like to do anything else, the moment she hits the bed, Sara succumbs to the tiredness that has settled in her bones for days.

***

She wakes with a dry throat, her hair sticking to her neck with sweat, body half gone numb from an uncomfortable position. But at least she can breathe through both her nostrils, and there’s no more disgusting residue at the back of her throat, her sickness broken in. She blinks awake, and then slowly, as everything around her becomes firmer, she realizes why she woke up, the hard knocking at her door.

She screams an assent, though her voice breaks and the person on the other side laughs at her for it.

“Good morning, Sleeping Ugly,” Drack says, as he steps into her room.

“You mean Sleeping Beauty?” she asks, as she tries to get to a sitting position in her bed.

“Nah, I got it right the first time,” he says, as he plops a tray in her lap.

The smell makes her dizzy for a second, a memory so strong attached to it that she is rendered speechless at first. Drack has… made her soup. She didn’t even know they had ingredients for this on the Tempest, but she is so grateful she could dry. It feels like an eternity since anyone has taken care of her when she’s been sick and suffering – not in the military style, patching her up and sending her on her merry way, but in the way of family, adding meaning to every gesture, doing it without awaiting anything but her good health in return.

She blinks, picking up her spoon, giving it a taste. It’s so good; her head whips up to Drack, who only laughs, pleased, at her expression. She feels like Christmas came early – wait, do they even celebrate Christmas in this side of the universe? Nevermind.

She takes another sip, and the krogan gets ready to leave her.

“I expect you eat it all.”

She nods, sighing happily at the warmth and taste of the soup. Then, after the delight washes away, she realizes what he said.

“Wait! Did you just call me ugly?”

But Drack just laughs again, exiting the room.

“Drack!”

***

When she wakes again, she can feel the strength back in her bones, but she is still slow to stir awake, warm under her blankets, spoiled by the lack of urgency in SAM’s voice. Which reminds her…

“SAM, how long have I been awake?”

“Good morning, Ryder. Since aboard the Tempest or Drack’s visit?” SAM’s helpful voice greets her immediately.

“First one,” she mumbles in a pillow, rolling around until only the cold open air meets her toes, allowing herself to slide down to the floor; the room is just slightly spinning around her.

“Seventeen hours.”

“Fuck. And how many unread messages do I have?” she asks, already bracing for the answer.

“A hundred and two.”

“Double fuck.”

She swears she can hear SAM’s amused chuckle haunting her, as she’s hurryingly getting dressed. When she presses her palm against the door panel, sliding in-between the space before it’s fully open, she does not expect to be welcome by the sight of Jaal, sleeping with his arms crossed across his chest in the corner of the hallway, right next to her room.

She blinks, even rubs her eyes, just to make sure this is not some kind of residue of her fever. But he seems real enough, and she approaches him carefully. Her touch against his shoulder is feather light, and yet Jaal’s eyes immediately open. In a fraction of a second, her feet disappear from under her body, her knees giving out, and the wind gets knocked out of her chest as her back hits the floor. There’s only time for a surprised yelp, before she has to blink away her confusion, finding Jaal straddling her body, pining her arms above her head.

His breathe is heaving, him as surprised by her presence as she is surprised by this situation, their chests brushing, so close that she can notice the faintest purple freckles alongside Jaal’s cheeks.

“Ryder,” he lets it out in one syllable, his hands immediately shooting up in the rain, as he is still blinking away his sleep, the world rearranging around him.

“Jaal,” she says, but the amusement is obvious in her tone, and when he starts shuffling, wanting to get on his feet, her fingers just barely graze his knee and his entire body seems to go in override, stilling entirely above her.

His eyes, like a feline ready to pounce upon its prey, land on her.

“Are you alright?” he asks instead, and she just nods – the question breezy and polite enough, loaded by the position they are in, by the position she found him in, waiting at her door to see her healthy.

“I thought…” she starts, and has to lick her lips to get the rest of her words out, “you’d go after the reincarnated angara.”

She is not even sure that is real, but chasing fairy tales and myths is not the most impossible thing she’s done so far. The question seems to sober him up though, and Jaal gets on his feet, apologies in every line of his expression, as he offers his hand to hers.

“Esmus said it could wait,” and now, able to look at her fully, he checks her up, slowly, from her toes to her head; he finds her red in the face already.

He steps closer, entering her personal space, his hand resting against her forehead – and he is pleased, humming his assent, when he finds it a normal temperature, and not the burning sensation that haunted him all these hours.

She shakes her head, shaking him away as well.

“I really am fine. A cold is nothing, we recover fast.”

“You were burning up.”

“That meant my body was doing its job of killing the illness.”

He narrows his eyes at her, unsure if he wants to believe her or not.

“I don’t know how to trust you anymore; you seem to deny yourself the basics of wellness.”

She shrugs, “I drink coffee.”

Her attempt at a joke goes poorly, because Jaal’s face twists, as if he’s just tasted something sour. She cringes, a gesture that he catches, and he immediately schools his expression in something more neutral.

“I’m glad to see you’ve recovered, at least.”

And with that, he turns on his feet, storming out of her room.

[autodiscothings]

Silene Resort Collection, 2192-2193, Citadel Fashion Week. 

[PRESS RELEASE]

Silene Boladonis, creative director of Silene, started her third year as a working designer with her very first resort collection. It is a known fact to the fashion world that Silene has no formal training in garment construction, but instead served the Hierarchy as a product engineer for her mandatory length of service. 

Detractors have put her rise to power to many reasons, including her close connections to the influential movers and shakers of the Citadel party world- but not for her talent and creative skills as a designer.

She proved them wrong with her last show, a memorable collection that closed with a fluttering dress that was a cross-multicultural clash of Thessian-based ocean fauna, batarian patterns, and bioluminescent love poetry. A controversial choice, especially on Kahje; to most, it was a beautifully unifying message wrapped in the colour and extravagance the universe sorely needed: fashion could be fun again.

With a couple of stronger collections under her belt, Silene is now free to experiment with the more lucrative format of a Resort collection, but keep to that multicultural touch leftover from her last collection. This time ancient human architecture and the vistas of Macedyn, a turian colony, were her main inspiration. 

“When I look at art and culture across the galaxy, it’s always the similarities that interest me, we’re more alike than we think. Macedyn is a very old, culturally rich colony that survived the war; the similarities to the old human cities of Earth are striking, right down to the colours of the land and seascapes. To me it just made sense to use both in a resort collection.” 

Silene also chose to use ‘ordinary people’ to model her clothes, instead of VIs and professional models. Lieutenant Colonel Eliana Corvalis-Arrieta was chosen to represent the turian collection- fitting, considering her role on Macedyn. “I was born here,” she said, via a vidcall to the colony. “Macedyn is my blood. I’m just one among many trying to help rebuild and start over.” 

When asked why she agreed to model, Corvalis-Arrieta only smiles. “I’m only a structural engineer, but I’m a good fit for the project, once it was explained to me. I’m a great example of the collection in real life- I’m a Corvalis-Arrieta for a reason, I married a human.” 

Proceeds of the collection go towards three charities: The Macedyn Rebuild Foundation, Kellams Industries, and The Alliance Relief Fund. 

(this is a commission piece for @capt-biglou! The model belongs to him.)

[natsora]

WIP Meme

Tagged by @dafan7711 to share an update on a WIP. And since I’ve just posted a new fic today. Let me share a snippet from it.

If you’re keen to read a Lexi T’Perro / fRyder fic, check it out here 

Ryder stepped off the shuttle and rolled her shoulders. Her left one hurt, but that was nothing new. She grimaced and ignored it. This was what brought her to the Nexus after all. 

Six months. The Cluster stayed relatively peaceful, all things considered. Ryder hadn’t expect Andromeda to suddenly spew rainbows and unicorns out of its proverbial arse just because the Archon had dropped dead, but it had been — fingers crossed — calm-ish. The remaining Roekaar had gotten real quiet after Akkusul got ousted. No doubt, they had hunkered for the moment and would eventually make their next move, she thought darkly. Kadara improved vastly after the Charlatan took the reins. With vaults activated, they did all the heavy lifting making planets habitable. There continued to be pockets of kett resistance, but nothing APEX and the Resistance couldn’t handle. Things, oddly, were good. 

And what had to happen? Her shoulder had to give out, of course. 

Grimacing, she picked up her bag. It didn’t help her dominant shoulder had to be the problematic one. A childhood of playing competitive biotiball and then a short lived career as a human cannonball on the frontlines of humanity's never ending skirmishes against Batarian slavers had worn her shoulder out. And that last battle with some kett turned out to be the final nail in the coffin.

Ryder sighed. “There’s a reason why I quit the Alliance,” she muttered as she trudged towards the medical centre. With ever more colonists being thawed out, the crowds on the Nexus had become unmanageable. 

A turian bumped into her as he hurried past. She grunted and breathed through the pain. How could a hairline crack at the base of her shoulder hurt this bad? It just didn't make sense. She had seen her scans, the fracture was tiny. The turian tossed her an apologetic flap of his mandibles and was off. She inhaled and walked on. The overnight shuttle in had not been pleasant. Squashed between a krogan with the power to snore so hard the shuttle felt like it would rattle apart and a salarian that wouldn't shut up about how the pilot could have gone faster if they would just use this other route. By the time the nav-maps came out, Ryder's eyes had glazed over. 

Navigating her way through the crowd proved difficult. With her shorter stature and her futile attempts to keep from bumping into others and hauling a bag around, it became impossible. Her temper frayed rapidly. 

“I am a scientist, I came to Andromeda to science, but here I am being the Pathfinder, killing perfectly good local fauna that probably could and should be domesticated. Oops, there goes my agricultural science degree, I guess. When can I just grow some steak in the lab in peace?”

“What are you going on about?” A gruff voice called out. 

She whirled around to find Kesh. The krogan loomed like a mountain, forcing her to crane her neck at an ever increasing angle just to maintain eye contact. Kesh chuckled. "Don't hurt yourself some more." She clapped gently — by krogan standards — against Ryder's shoulder — the good one. Even then, Ryder felt the vibration rippling through her bones as she stumbled. 

"Good to see you too, Kesh."

Read the rest on AO3

[archs-geth--consensus]

This is about as far as I got for their society and stuff, cause I got tired, but feel free to ask any questions if I left something out that you wanna know about!

Also, I’ll draw some clothing for the Aschall later.

Thiery is a doctor turned field medic. She is niece to Councilwoman Haenna. Her aunt took her in after her parents disappeared while she was little.

Councilwoman Haenna is a prominent figure in Ascall Society. Despite not being one of the representatives of her clan, she is often asked to attend meetings via holo/comm. She is very protective of her son, and of Thiery, having lost her other two children.

Teyrdok “Tayer” is the Ascall Councilor’s only child, and is cousin to Thiery. He and his small family of three are some of the few on the Citadel who haven’t taken the Vow of Silence. In his hometown, he helps mentors train young Aschall who have turned 17.

Average 5′6″ Human compared to an Ascall.

[Homeworlds]

-          Their homeworlds, Annivus and Davos, orbit in close proximity to a very powerful sun. One that burns most to a crisp if they aren’t adapted to living on the planets’ surfaces. So, very very early on in their evolution, the Ascall moved underground, into caverns and caves.

-          The size of the planets is comparable to Neptune (Davos), and Uranus (Annivus).

-          Nowadays, there are vast cities built into the dense stone. The cities and towns span across the entirety of their planets, and have different levels beneath the first you enter in. Some of the largest populations can have thousands of feet worth of levels.

-          Although the cities have elevators and escalators to help span the distance, smaller towns will have ramps and stairs, and even smaller villas will have vertical tunnels between each level, with foot and hand holds dug into the walls. The tunnels are large enough to fit a Krogan, and often require you to wear some sort of harness and tether in case you aren’t used to the structures or can’t hold onto the holds. The tether attaches to a sturdy metal pipe off to the left of the ‘ladder’, and can be clamped tightly to stop one from falling.

-          Most of the planets’ surfaces is completely barren, mostly stone valleys, plains, and mountains. But there are large oases (oasis plural), dotted where the sunlight touches least. And there, hardy plants grow. The plants are largely inedible to Ascall, but not to the Betrite that frequent the oases and migrate to find more.

-          Underground fresh water rivers, springs, and aquifers are primarily how the Ascall get hydrated. Their largest cities were built near the aquifers, and the towns are closer to rivers and springs.

-          The oases evaporate when the sun is in direct contact with them, causing local wild fauna to migrate daily to more shady areas of the planet to find better water sources. The bodies of water refill rapidly when the sun is not in direct contact with them. It storms at night, the evaporated water refilling the empty pools.

-          On occasion, the storms can get to be so bad, that thick metal storm doors will close over the entrances to the cities and towns.

-          There are few entrances to the underground. Possibly four at most. Vast tunnels with an occasional shop in the walls connect all of the populations.

[Society]

-          Generally, they are a rather friendly people. They are very fond of Found Family and will often adopt others into their family. If you ever go to visit the Ascall homeworlds, you can find people of most species, either visiting, or having been raised there.

-          Because of this eagerness to include others, there is a stark lack of clan names, or group identifying names. Usually, when talking about a specific clan, the entirety will be referred to as [Insert Name]’s Clan. Generally, the clans are old enough, and their leaders are recognized enough that they can easily avoid tacking a name onto a clan.

-          While there are no IDs for the clans, there are prominent 3 leaders. Chosen by the clans themselves to represent them when decisions must be made for either an individual clan’s problems, or for the species as a whole. One leader is selected for their knowledge of the clan’s current agricultural/cultural representation, another is selected for the medical representation, and the third is selected for the Protection representation.

 -          Ascall have no straight military. Rather each child born into a family is taught the basics of weaponry, protection, and guerilla tactics at age 17. If they so choose, when the need arises, they can volunteer to help protect their people (IE; The Reaper Invasion).

  -          Many Ascall do volunteer when necessary. But it is often a last resort. If they cannot see any way to reason with or calm their aggressor, they will take up arms.

 -          *Most Ascall that leave their homeworld to visit or live on the Citadel will often take a Vow of Silence.  Their ability to copy a vast majority of voices leaves a lot of people unsettled, so in attempt to quell any suspicions, or accusations, the Vow of Silence is offered to those going to the Citadel, by an Ascall Ambassador. It can be refused, or accepted, but it is solely up to the recipient. 

-          The Vow of Silence is only in effect while on the Citadel, and the Ascall that accept it can speak when not on Citadel bound transport, or on the Citadel itself. The Vow in and of itself is just a strip of fabric often tied around the right wrist of their secondary arms. 

-          **While on their homeworlds, those that chose to walk on 4/6 of their limbs will have tough gloves for their secondary hands. It’s considered an offense to greet others while wearing the gloves, or to eat with them on, as it’s seen as eating/greeting with all of the dirt and filth left behind on the ground from people walking about. 

-          Ascall have adapted a lot of names from other species, you will commonly find Ascall with human, Turian, Quarian, Krogan, Salarian, Asari, etc. names.

[Flora and Fauna]

Betrite: Large thick plated herbivores, similar in weight and height to human draft horses. They travel in herds, and wild Betrite are largely aggressive, but easily fooled by mimicry. They will always investigate the sounds of other injured Betrite. They have heads similarly shaped to Varren, two small eyes, large nostrils, round disk shaped ears, and six thick legs with padded paws. Although they can’t curl up like Armadillos do, their plating patterns are quite similar to them.

Domesticated Betrite are far less aggressive, but also far less inclined to do anything other than what they want to do. They’re very stubborn creatures.

[Biology]

-          First and foremost, the Ascall are an extremely flexible species. Soft flesh, and collapsible spines allow them to squeeze into places that would be hard to reach for most others, even despite their tall stature. Before they had the abilities to create cities and towns within the caverns they inhabited, when they were still primarily a hunter-gatherer society, they would force their way into whatever dark crevice they could, if they couldn’t make it back to their caves before sunrise.

-          Also, an evolutionary trait that stuck with them through the generations, is a secondary larynx. When both larynxes are in use, they can mimic most if not all sounds, and most voices.* Some millennia before they had begun to farm the larger prey animals that could walk their planets’ surfaces, they would mimic cries of injured members of the Betrite. This in turn would lure prey to the cave/cavern openings to be ambushed. This saved them from having to go out into the damaging sunlight when their food stores began to run low.

-          Due to a diet of mostly glowing fungi that grows in the caverns they live in, and what meat they can get, combined with often living in darkness, Ascall have developed Bioluminescent patterns. Each pattern is unique to that Ascall specifically. Although relatives may have similar markings and colors, no two will never ever be the same, like a human fingerprint. The glowing mouths are a side effect sort of evolution. Their mouths will always glow, regardless of whether in light. But their markings will only glow in low light or in complete darkness.

-          Ascalls are often dark or muted colors, but fade to gray as they grow older. Councilwoman Haenna used to be a rich dark purple but has grayed out as she reached her fifties.

-          The purpose of the secondary arms is a question that has largely gone unanswered, due to a lack of data and evidence. But on their homeworlds, most Ascall will either pick between walking bipedal, or using their secondary hands and their legs, while their first hands will remain free to grab things.**

-          All reproductive organs, regardless of sex, are hidden in their bodies until time for their use.

-          Ascall have rather durable internal organs, lengthened to enable their flexibility, but not resistant to being punctured.

-          Ascall have litters of 2-4 young.

[twitchesandstitches]

some ideas for Sakaar

planet hulk is on my mind, so have some Sakaar thoughts:

the planet itself is a fusion of its portrayal in the original Planet Hulk storyline, and it’s look in Thor Ragnarok. it’s a rough, extreme world where things are so ferocious that superhuman-typical power levels are required to just survive, and it used to be a chaotic mess of a conquering empire dominated by an alien species forcing all into compliance. IT is a very bombastic place, however, full of glowing neon, architecture out of an 80s music video, and a populace drawn from all over the multiverse,

the planet is (now) a green and lush place, full of deserts not yet reclaimed, but even those are gradually turning into savannahs. elsewhere, forests, jungles, swamps and wetlands dominant depending on climate. in recent times, it has become absurdly fertile and full of life, and plant life grows absurdly fast. Sakaar’s population is natrually predisposed to extreme levels of strength and power, but it holds more power for its ability to export vast amounts of food and feed an enormous number of planets, Sakaar feeds empires, or so it is said, and those worlds depend on its favor.

it is still a dangerous world. almost all native fauna is at least inclined towards carnivorousness, most plant life is known to consume living meat when given the opportunity, and the entire planet can be politely described as a death trap. the weather regularly changes at random, storms capable of wiping out cities regularly sweep the continents, the tides are equivalant to tsunamis, and people tend to explode during thunderstorms... and that’s just the weather. giant hordes of carnivorous kaiju and Monster Hunter-appropriate beasts roam the lands in vast numbers, consuming all in their path; hyper-aggressive predators are extremely common.

to survive, people must be strong, cunning and tough, and the planet has become home to several notable species that dominate its local cultures:

the krogan of Mass Effect (a reptillian race resembling alien tortoises, with a touch of shark) having largely established themselves here and thriving in the rough climate. they’re not particularly common, as yet, but their numbers are growing and they are incredibly well adapted to the harsh conditions of Sakaar’s more outlying regions. they generally live in the more desolate regions that even others won’t touch, and are rather smug about it. They’re very large aliens, standing over fifty feet tall and can be even bigger, if you count their humps.

the Natives of Sakaar, as the name suggests, are the original indigenous species, and have made great success since the ascension of the Sakaarson to rulership, an insectoid species, they are based off of the ones from the original comic, but are physically modeled after Miek as he appeared in Thor Ragnarok. Colorful sapient insects that resemble hard-shelled isopods, they are naturally adapted to digging in soft areas such as sand or dirt, and their limbs are surprisingly good at manipulating their environment, but they do not have limbs like humanoids. They have taken to using exoskeltal suits they operate, however, giving them a humanoid stature similar to MCU-verse Miek. They come in a variety of sizes ranging from human-sized to as big as a car, depending on age, but the patriarch of a given hive grows to truly enormous size, often as big as a train, and they are stilled dwarfed by the queens of the hive. (These are usually quite insectoid, but plenty have become gynomorph-types, and adopted a broodmother body plan.)

Natives, resembling brightly colored bug plushies, may look harmless, but they are enormously strong and can ram into things with considerable force; one moving in sand is like a drilling machine going full throttle, and they like their frames built for agility and resilience. they’re also notable empaths, able to chem (transmit memories and feelings, biologically) with any known form of life, making them outstanding diplomats. this is a new route for them, as until now they’ve been quite wary of aliens. the example of the noble Sakaarson, however, has made their youngest more optimistic.

The Imperials formerly dominated the planet in a bloody empire similar to the Roman Empire, and are believed to be a offshoot of the turians; the CT-verse is broadly similar to the turians, design-wise, though they lack the hard shell of their kin, instead having skin of varying reds or pinks. They stand roughly fifteen feet tall on average, and boast enormous physical power. they seem stronger the more of them there are, and it is speculated they may have a form of latent psionic ability that ‘pools’ their collective power the more of them there are.

The Shadow People (often simply called the shadows of Sakaar) are, like the Imperials, not native to the planet but are descended from colonists whom were marooned there in ages past. It’s unclear who their ancestors were; some suggest they are remnants of the ancient Quarian people, others think they may be a modified form of Nebulan, and the Shadow People themselves don’t know. They are rightly called giants; standing over 50 feet tall for even the shortest of them, they are imposingly strong and carry ancient lore of magical secrets that allow them to draw on life force and strengthen themselves, growing even bigger and more powerful. Grey-skinned (some tending towards darker shades), they tend to have broad shoulders and elongated necks, and combined with their flat snouts and pitch-black eyes, they have adapted well to the deserts they often commune in.

The Shadows are also the traditional priesthood of Sakaar, worshiping various gods depending on locale; some revere the planet as personified through their gods, while others worship Gojira the god of monsters and torment, and others still. A common thread in a reverence of a prophet-like figure believed to come to Sakaar to revive it’s people, a belief confirmed in the fierce but just ruler of Sakaar, who has claimed the title of Sakaarson as his name; Holku Sakaarson, and to the rest of the multiverse, he is known as Hulk.

Largely indifferent to politics are the Spikes; fungal beings who feed upon cosmic energy, and are content to live in space, monitoring the portals surrounding Sakaar and exploring the multiverse. They are commonly believed to be energy beings, as they process consumed energy into shell-bodies they operate, and in their natural environment, tend to resemble luminous entities. They can feed on living beings, parasitically devouring them and mutating them into mindless monsters, but only do so when their is no alternative and have been driven to madness through sheer hunger.

Finally there are the various robots inhabiting Sakaar. Most are integrated, but the Wildebots bear some discussion. Feral robots who for the most part are profoundly disinterested in organic coexistence, they were intially thought mindless until other robots opened dialogue with them, revealing that they are fully sapient, and content to live as wild animals. They have since agreed to be left alone, though the natives and them still do battle; now, it seems, mostly in fun and out of boredom.

There are other species present in notable communities across Sakaar; isolated pockets of Transformers (mostly beastformers and unique, monstrous changers) are well suited to the environment. Yautja and the horrific xenomorphs also have survived there quite well, and many varieties of dragon have established their homes upon the world. Some species that do well in harsh conditions (Tetramands, vulpimancers, and crystalsapiens, for example) all live here, as do other species that have changed to become strong and survive it.

finally, the Red King, the former ruler of Sakaar, is not quite dead. Reports differ to whether he was killed by wildebots or infested by spikes and burned by his own soldiers, but it appears that he was previously the latest in a long line of kings serving the will of the Ringers, on behalf of Javik and his Prothean Empire. the Sakaarson’s emergence completely threw his plans off track, removed Sakaar as a strategic piece, and is now a completely independent world now ruled by a hero so ferocious and stern that the likes of Grimlock call him a spiritual brother. Accordingly, the Red King desperately wants revenge and to reclaim his kingdoms, though Javik is loathe to allow him to do so, disliking him personally; he would have already killed the Red King as an incompetent bully, but the Red King is the last of his bloodline, and many of Sakaar’s hidden weapon systems and technologies buried beneath its surface (currently obscured from the Sakaarson) are linked to his genetics. He is a necessary burden, for the moment, and is a prime use as a recurring antagonist; he is a tempermental and petulant sort, and is likely to attack heroes for imagined slights or to claim their worlds for his own.

[thunderboltfire]

Thoughts on Andromeda

Recently I’m playing ME:A and - so far - here are my thoughts on it.

 My first impression - MASS EFFECT INQUISITION. The game not only shares an engine with DA:I, but the map of area, the interface (to some extent), the dialogue wheel and the journal structure are also reminescent of DA:I. The similarities continue with regularly spawning enemies groups and with the mechanics of gathering influence and power points/ Andromeda Viability Points and cryo pod perks. That being said, I think that ME:A handles it a little bit better, with certain level you must reach on each planet before you set up a colony there. There’s no way to avoid some things with sheer influence and you have to put some effort on every planet you wish to settle on.

IMO the game’s strongest points are:

1. Companions and loyalty missions. At first, I didn’t really liked my companions. Some dialogues felt forced, but with time the Pathfinder’s team begins to grow on me. The loyalty missions seem the most cleverly thought - out missions of all I played so-far. They seem diverse and fun, placing the team in the circumstances that need to be solved with something more than just sheer firepower (I really liked changing gravity motive in Liam’s mission and the use of Sid’s hacking in Vetra’s). I’m excited to see what the next loyalty mission brings!

2. Pathfinding. Your role in ME:A is different than in the original trilogy and that’s actually an advantage. In think that the game was a major letdown because of the fact that it was marketed as a succesor of the trilogy when if fact it’s more of a spinoff. Being a pathfinder isn’t exactly being a space commando - sure, you need to fight and you will fight through the major part of a game, but your priority is caring about the people of the Milky Way. You are their leader and their trail-blazer, one who need to fight through the hostile enviroment, political problems and other obstacles to make planets viable and I think that this role is shown well. You’re not only fighting off the Kett - you also need to put a lot of work into every planet you want to settle on and your efforts have visible results.

3. Combat system - I wouldn’t say that the combat system is better than in ME3, but considering that the structure of the game is completely different, I’d say that it’s well-adjusted to the game’s open world. I’m playing the infiltartor and I’m loving the camouflage. Contrary to the Inquisition, where combat system was a major weakness, here I’d say that it’s a merit.

4. Enviromental diversity - gravity affects the Nomads behavior and  you need to watch out for your life support like in 1st ME. I’d prefer that there would be more landscape diversity on-planets, different ecosystems etc, but it’s already preety nice. Shading of caves is really realistic.

5. Factions. People are forming factions and organisations of which every one has its goals. It’s nice touch, considering that the Initiative society had to be built form scratch, but with pre-existing stereotypes and prejudices.

Weaknesses:

1. Random encounters. While ME:A doesn’t have the annoying fetch quest Inquisition was full of, this aspect is similar in both games and it annoys me to no end. The point is - no matter you clear the Kett base and essentailly removed their dominion over the area, their field units are still apearing with same intensity and in same numbers. Considering that Andromeda is all about your decision forming the worlds and about the weight of your deeds and decisions the random encounters are really a dumb move, because no matter what you do, the Kett/bandits/something else will appear and you will have to fight your way through the planet like you did on day one.

2. Fauna - the lack of fauna diversity is baffling. I visited +/- 5 inhabitable planets by now and most of them have a similar set of animals. It’s possible that these once were domesticated animals, who went wild when the Angara civilisation collapsed, but there’s no explanation for it so far. Considering that the diverse worlds are one of the strongest points of the game, the monotone animals are making the impression weaker. There’s also a lack of herbivores (unless Eirochs are harbivores, but I don’t think they are) which doesn’t make any sense. Also, everything wants to kill you. Most of wild animals don’t behave this way. Big minus.

3. Interface. So far, certain features of interface are so-far one of the greatest setbacks for me. Unclear journal construction, lists that are hard to browse on PC, and equipment choice containing the squad selection all took me some time to figure out and all of these are things you are using all the time while playing, so they shouldn’t be counter-intuitive (it’s only my opinion tho).

4. Aliens’ characterisation - while you could possibly get away with giving every turian the same face, it won’t be so easy to pull it off with asari without people noticing. Especially if you have scenes in which you have two or more asari talking, with their faces being exactly the same, not counting the skintone/markings. Even Lexi got the generic Asari face, which screams rushed game and lack of care in characterisation. On top of it, most of salarians lost their characteristic speaking tempo and something’s wrong with turian and krogan face binelike features, they’re way to monochromatic and as a result sometimes they resemble chalk. I think the aliens’ faces is nothing a few mods couldn’t fix, but it makes me want to learn how to mod frostbite ASAP and it’s not a good sign.

5. Kett seem to be just really incompetent and stupid. They’re furious because they can’t use remnant devices, but they won’t tell you why they need them - apparently you, who figured out how to use them, are too stupid and inferior and ‘won’t understand’. They get a little scarier with time, but they’re still far from sheer terror of Reapers or even from inhuman intelligence of Geth. They’re probably closest to the collectors and the collectors were only Reapers’ agents, whereas Kett don’t seem to have bigger, badder wolf behind them. What’s a good thing, is that the Kett are not the only opponents you’ll have to face, with Kadara gangs, Roekaar and in-initiative treasons making up for them with variety of motives.

Overall, the Andromeda so far looks fine - sure, it has its problems, glitches and mocap weirdness, but it’s a very nice game. IMO it shouldn’t be pitted against original trilogy because of the fact that it’s a vastly different game, focused on different tasks and with different atmosphere, but it’s still a decent game.