#barla von

[acciokaidanalenko]

Taking on the Universe: Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen: Searching for Proof

Summary: Commander Shepard and her squad take the investigation into their own hands.

CW/TW: None

Preview of chapter below the cut. AO3 link: here.

Natasha led the others into the small office that belonged to the Shadow Broker's agent, Barla Von. The Volus in question was seated at the desk in the back of the room, two armed mechs flanking him protectively. The decor was limited to a few small potted plants in the corners of the room, and no other furniture. The only thing to be found in abundance in this barren room were the surveillance cameras positioned in such a way around its perimeter that every square inch would be covered.

"Ah, hello, Earth Clan. What an honor it is to have the Hero of the Blitz herself visiting my humble business," the Volus said as Natasha was the first to approach. Alenko, Williams, and Garrus followed closely behind, moving slowly and uncertainly as the Shadow Broker's agent offered his greeting. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Commander Shepard?"

"How do you know my name?" she asked apprehensively, stopping a short distance in front of the desk. She stood where chairs would normally be positioned in an office such as this, though they were absent in this case.

"Come now, Commander, surely you're aware of how famous you are. Not only among your fellow Humans." He paused briefly, and Natasha imagined the sly smile that must've been on his face as he spoke. "Your exploits on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz are known throughout the galaxy. Your bravery has been lauded over the years." Another interval of silence as the Volus watched her intently. "Though, one does wonder... What number of those people who hail you a hero, would change their opinion if they knew what you sacrificed that day?"

A pointed silence lingered as the Volus finished speaking, the final hiss of his breathing punctuating the air as Natasha glared at him, her fists clenching in response to his veiled threat. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she struggled to contain her anger, focusing on her need to quell the sudden wave of biotic energy threatening to spill out from her carefully contained aura.

Natasha took a deep breath to calm herself, noting the way Alenko subtly stepped closer to her. She quickly reminded herself of the objective of this meeting, her goal to acquire the information necessary to take Saren down. She couldn't allow herself to consider how this stranger knew about the cost of her victory when the Alliance had worked so hard to keep it hidden from the public.

"Sounds as if you're well-informed, Barla Von," she countered sharply, ignoring his baited words and pushing through the emotional turmoil now raging within her mind.

"Ah, so now we come to the reason for your visit today. Is information what you seek from me, Shepard?"

"We need any information you have about the recent attack on Eden Prime, or the one responsible," she replied with a swift nod of her head. The Volus stared at her for a long moment, allowing the loud hiss of his breathing to fill the silence as he watched the group squirm with impatience.

"The recent attack on Eden Prime was a tragedy, most certainly. How odd for the Geth to find themselves on a Human colony, so far from the Perseus Veil. I wonder what led to such an alliance? One of the Council's best agents leading the Geth, in pursuit of Ancient Prothean technology? Very curious behavior, indeed."

"Enough with the mind games and riddles! Just tell us what you know about Paradise and Saren so we can take his ass down," Williams interjected, her tone sharp as her patience had reached its limit. The Volus chuckled darkly and shifted his gaze to the chief for the first time since the group had entered his office.

"My, my, my. The Hero of the Blitz keeps such interesting company," Barla Von mused as he steepled his hands together and continued to stare at Williams over them. His tone had turned mischievous. He seemed to be enjoying this game of his own invention, toying with the soldiers as he dangled their secrets in front of them.

[combustiblecake]

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite plush on the Citadel!" Thank you @conleysdoodles for putting this together :)

My Shepard is a sentinel and she hasn’t picked up a sniper rifle in a whiiiile. Oh, and Barla Von is a well known cheater.

Still... she got an elcor plush... and she beat Vidinos (Pinnacle Station DLC) so I'd say that’s a lot of wins lmao.

[atarial]

been a year since the last update on this...oops

surprisingly it was veilguard that inspired me to add a bit more to this, and i have a little break before i have to go into con prep mode again

so barla von, petrovsky, grunt and samara have been added since last update :)

[onedismay]

Tazzik, the Shadow Broker, Bray, Harrot, Aria, and Barla Von please!

Thank you!! :D

Push off a cliff: Uhhh I think Aria's gotta go....... She's got biotics, she'll survive (but I won't)

Kiss: So I don't really care for kissing but I would make an exception for the Shadow Broker any day

Marry: Barla Von for the financial stability and lack of gunfire

Set on Fire: Tazzik, I mean, he'd probably be into it idk

Wrap a Blanket around: Harrot. As an apology for never finding that stupid couch for him. I tried, man, I tried

Be Roommates with: Bray because he's like, not likely to cause drama. I think. Reasonable guy

[mtreebeardiles]

WIP Whenever

Got some words going, so have a snippet from the next chapter of the ME3 longfic

( @theoriginalladya here's some of what I was talking about :) )

Derek Gilliam didn't think of himself as a spy.

Contractor, maybe, a jack-of-all trades, a freelancer offering a suite of skill-sets tailored to a wide range of potential client needs. It was coincidental, really, that many of his contracts came from the sort of people for whom discretion was paramount.

He was seeing less of that now, though, what with the galaxy falling apart around them. Needs shifted, but money wasn't one of them, and he needed work, and maybe manual labor in warehouses on the Citadel wasn't as lucrative as the sorts of jobs he was used to but it kept him fed and sheltered.

It was more than he could say for a lot of refugees on the station, and if Derek had learned anything in the years since his disgraceful discharge from the Alliance, it was not to overlook the thinnest of silver linings.

Or to look a gift varren in the mouth when opportunity came calling.

He sidestepped a gaggle of hagglers arguing with a shopkeeper in the Presidium, his general presence unremarked and unnoticed, and that suited him just fine. Would've rankled, once upon a time, before his name had became synonymous with disappointment, but he was a different man these days. No longer desperate to fit into the mold his father had carved out for him, no longer weighed down by lofty ideals of legacy, of believing himself better by virtue of bloodline and surname. A different man, maybe not necessarily a better one, but maybe better in the ways that mattered -- to him, at least, if not to his father.

His father, who he wasn't sure was even still alive, who had considered his son dead to him long before the Reapers had come calling.

That was the thing about becoming a ghost to your own family -- you cared less, or told yourself you did, while accepting that they would always haunt you in a way you weren't sure you'd ever haunt them.

Did you ever worry about me? Thought of those cool blue eyes and the hard lines of his father's face, the way his dress uniform with all its ribbons and medals and accolades never did sit quite right over the soft bulge of his gut, the bulge Derek himself might've developed, too, if he hadn't stopped drinking so fucking much. Did you ever wonder where I went? What became of me?

A pointless exercise in nostalgia for a childhood he'd never had, and Derek shook the thoughts away as he navigated the wreckage of the Presidium. Ash and soot and evidence of laser fire scoring the once pristine white walls of this place and it still wasn't nearly as bad as it was down in the Wards. But priorities were priorities and the dregs of society were never going to be particularly high on anyone's list.

He ducked around a grouping of Alliance soldiers, not even bothering to hide his face. They wouldn’t recognize him, not anymore, not for a long, long time.

He found he liked it better that way after all.

The office was set up in one of the hotel rooms on the second floor, panoramic windows giving view of the Presidium down below. It was a hastily assembled space, bed pushed against a far wall to make room for a series of desks and mismatched chairs pulled from other places, but the hum of servers, at least, was familiar enough.

Also familiar was the figure seated behind the desk with the greatest amount of clutter, and Derek angled for the volus the moment he spotted him.

"Gilliam," the volus greeted, waving him towards a seat.

"Barla Von," Derek replied, sinking into the chair before him. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

He'd worked for the volus on and off for the past five years. A contact of a contact of a contact, layers and layers of obscurity, but Derek didn't mind the cloak and dagger so much so long as Von made good on his promises -- and his pay. He knew surface-level things only, details easily verifiable as fact -- that the volus worked in the Financial District, usually, that he worked with high-profile clients, that his operations were smooth and well-lauded. The murkier underbelly was something else together, worth only the most cursory of glances before Derek had decided he was better off not knowing. An information broker, that much was sure, lined up well enough with the sort of work the volus tended to pass on to him, but anything beyond that…

Well. Some things Derek just didn't feel he needed to know.

"A job," the volus replied, words interspersed with the all-too familiar rasp of his ventilator. "Of a sort to which I feel you are…uniquely suited."

Derek's eyebrows rose, and he sat up a little straighter. A flutter of unease hit his gut, and he fought the urge to wipe his palms down the thighs of his pants. He wasn't sure he liked where he thought this might be going.

"Oh?"

"Tell me," Barla Von went on, bracing his hands on the desktop. Derek couldn't see his eyes beyond his mask, but he felt that heavy gaze on him all the same. "How familiar are you with the Alliance protocol known as 'category-6?'"

Well, Derek thought, swallowing against a suddenly dry throat. Shit.

[alsolikestoast]

I was doing side quests then barla von flashed on the screen.

[lilmissnatcat24]

Turn Left Ch 22- (don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious)

Shepard and Garrus dive into the OSDs of Fist and Barla Von to create a new plan of action. Archangel just can't help himself.

CW: alcoholism

Relationship: Femshep/Garrus Vakarian

Archive Warnings in author's note

Additional tags: enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, slow build, alternate universe- canon divergence, detective noir, sex club, anonymous sex, canon temporary character death, murder mystery, drug use, dom garrus vakarian, whump, smut, heavy angst, alien sex, dual pov, an overly sexual elcor named candy, earthborn, ruthless, fake/pretend relationship, dead dove: do not eat, identity porn, minor character death

Detective AU mixed with identity porn mixed with so much whump my fingers are bleeding

(or, start from the beginning here)

lil text blurb:

“I hate these fucking things,” Garrus muttered under his breath, toying with the cowl of his suit. He wasn’t used to formal wear. He could count on his fingers the times he had to dress up so ostentatiously-- and mind you, he only had six. His cape kept getting caught between his legs, the flowing fabric around his carapace was itchy, the tight squeeze around his waist made him feel like he was being ogled by just about every turian he passed. 

“Nah, you don’t,” Chellick snorted next to him, already three drinks deep before the event even began. Garrus wished he could join him-- he normally spent these stupid public galas either so drunk he couldn’t remember it the next morning, or in some storage closet with a turian woman bent over and his hands covering her mouth from yelling out too loud. “You’re preening for your girl, don’t deny it.” 

“I am not preening ,” Garrus snapped. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, he hadn’t preened his neck at a woman in years. 

“Then care to explain why you’re dislocating your neck every five seconds waiting for that Shepard woman to show up?” 

Garrus just grumbled at that. He was busy scanning the crowds because he was waiting for any sign of Benezia or her daughter Liara. They devised a plan a week ago that they would take the gala as the best opportunity to strike on the doctor. It was perfect; she couldn’t run away, there was so much going on that no one would even notice two C-Sec officers talking to a pretty, young asari, and her mother would likely be so busy with all of the politicians and dignitaries and who-the-fuck-else was even there that she wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes on her. 

“Why didn’t you two show up together, anyways? Trouble in paradise?” Chellick asked with an obnoxious shove of his elbow into Garrus’s side. 

“No,” Garrus said testily. The truth was that Shepard offered for Garrus to come over to her apartment while she got ready, but Garrus declined. Something about knowing that Shepard would be naked in just the room over, putting the paint on her face and tossling her fringe, made Garrus have the distinct fear that he would hardly be able to control himself. It was hard enough keeping his plates in place while they sat on the couch in Wrex’s safehouse, but being cramped in one tiny studio with her clothes strewn about the floor and her scent overwhelming his senses? “She wanted to get ready with Elyria.” 

“Does your girlfriend know you’re still fucking that human at the sex club, or is that actually Shepard I’m smelling on you?” 

“Chellick, I wish you didn’t say the things you say.” 

[pigeontheoneandonly]

100% believe Barla Von was a street kid and probably has an interesting *wink wink I recognize you* dynamic with earthborn Shep.

Barla Von would rather die than admit to anything though

[anderwhohn]

@dutyworn asked: "come sit a little while with me. tell me how you've been? really." / nihlus, ME1 era

It's been a couple days since the Council officially stripped Saren of his Spectre status, and providing their 'additional support' in ensuring his capture by granting his protégé full Spectre status before suggesting they continue to work together in order for him to provide her a proper introduction to her new role.

Things had been busy immediately after, as he showed her to the turian embassy and the Spectre outpost there, introducing her to another fellow Spectre, Avitus Rix, as the other turian had happened to be there at the time, before ensuring she was better equipped for the mission ahead of them, though getting suitable armour for her had been a unique challenge, with a notable lack of Spectre-grade human armour being available.

Once he was satisfied that she was properly geared to handle whatever Saren might throw at them, and the Normandy was fully resupplied, he had disappeared into his quarters upon their return to the ship while she took command of the ship and got them underway. He'd only just emerged the next day in search of a meal, fully intending to retreat back to his quarters to eat while he works.

Forest green eyes settle on Shepard, mandibles fluttering in a moment of indecision - does he grant her request, or simply brush it off and deal with whatever fallout may come of it later? It's tempting, he has to admit, to simply ignore her, because the truth of the matter of what she's asking is far more personal than he cares to admit to anyone.

With a small huff, he instead changes his course to join her at the table, taking a seat across from her as he sets his meal tray down. "My own mentor that pulled me out of a miserable life in the turian military tried to kill me, attempted to destroy a human colony, and has apparently lost his mind... And now I've been tasked with hunting him down. How do you think I've been, Shepard?"

A frustrated growl rumbles deep in his chest as he pauses to take a few bites of his meal. "Busy, for one. A lot of my contacts are Saren's contacts. I'm having to reevaluate my entire information network, figure out who the hell I can even trust any more, and cut ties with anyone who's even the slightest bit at risk of being bought by Saren. There are only a few, like Barla Von, who owe loyalty to someone else and so should still be safe, but that's not the case with too many of them for any sense of comfort."

[xoshepard]

barla von: the shadow broker fully supports your efforts against the reapers

me: you think so? das craaaaazy 😳

[messydiabolical]

The screenshots these portraits were drawn from. Mass effect legendary edition already has a great photo mode feature. This can be enhanced with the mod improved photo mode, which allows things like going out of bounds. But to take the screens like this I use a few other things: 1) Enable flycam, so that I can take screenshots during cutscenes from any angle I want. That one of Kolyat for example would be impossible without this; we pretty much only ever see him in cutscenes at set angles. Console commands and flycam allow me to pause the action and get a better angle. Cut scenes are amazing for getting great shots because the lighting tends to be much more dynamic and carefully applied; the character animations/expressions will also be more alive and interesting. If you are doing a portrait, interesting highlights and having some shadowing on the characters face will make such a difference. Tutorial on how to unlock flycam in LE3 here: https://hackmd.io/@munchyfly/ByO94Nqu5 (and if you click on munchyfly's profile you can find guides for the other two games as well). 2) Use of a reshade in game. Reshade has its own screenshotting options that let you do things like save to a custom location and save in format other than the default bmp. reshade tool is here: https://reshade.me/ I like to use the juicy reshade preset: https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectlegendaryedition/mods/105 3) I don't currently use any texture mods (none were used in these examples) as I like to heavily mod my game and update them regularly, and you can't change mods once textures are applied. However there are some gorgeous texture packs available and they are worth considering. Thane in LE2 looks absolutely stunning with LEUITM2 for example. 4) I edit the screenshots myself in windows photo editor. Nothing fancy, I usually crop, perhaps flip direction, tweak saturation, brightness, contrast and exposure. I like high saturation and have a tendancy to go for warm tones. Here's the Thane one after editing:

Oh and as for how I had Feron in ME3: he makes an appearance in the expanded galaxy mod if you do the quest for barla von.

The drell portraits collection. Soft, smiley lads, because they deserve some happy moments too.

[westeroslive]

can i get some suggestions for the lannisters of lannisport

i'll give a variety based on .... vibes so here we go: charles  melton,  pamela  tome,  olivia  holt,  freddie  fox,  daisy  head,  margot  robbie,  havana  rose  liu,  rudy  pankow,  ellie  bamber,  archie  renaux,  bethany  antonia,  isabela  merced,  maddison  jaizani,  matthew  broome,  naomi  scott,  ruby  barker,  sean  teale,  sebastian  de  souza,  vanessa  morgan,  jordan  fisher,  victor  alli,  jonathan  daviss,  jeremy  pope,  ncuti  gatwa,  kit  young,  hafsanur  sancaktutan,  melike  ipek  yalova,  simay  barlas,  mookda  narinrak,  cemre  baysel,  amy  james  kelly,  alicia  von  rittberg,  ann  skelly,  aurora  ruffino,  cailee  spaeny,  corey  mylchreest,  ella  purnell,  eloise  smyth,  emilia  schule,  florence  pugh,  freddie  stroma,  freya  allan,  gabriella  wilde,  haley  bennett,  harriet  cains,  harris  dickinson,  isolda  dychauk,  jessica  madsen,  joey  king,  kathryn  newton,  lily  james,  lily  rose  depp,  dylan  wang,  ece  cesmioglu,  francesca  corney,  go  yoonjung,  ji  li,  julie  anne  san  jose,  khushi  kapoor,  madelaine  petsch,  zhao  lusi,  shin  ye-eun,  froy  gutierrez,  tom  glynn-carney,  khadijah  red  thunder,  amber  midthunder,  chandler  kinney,  henry  eikenberry,  ozge  yagiz.

[movienized-com]

Yabani

Yabani (Serie 2023) #HalitOzgurSari #SimayBarlas #YurdaerOkur #DolunaySoysert #YurdaerOkur #SebnemHassanisoughiBilgic Mehr auf:

Serie / WildJahr: 2023- Genre: Drama Hauptrollen: Halit Özgür Sarı, Simay Barlas, Yurdaer Okur, Dolunay Soysert, Yurdaer Okur, Şebnem Hassanisoughi Bilgiç, Bertan Aslani … Serienbeschreibung: Ali, der im Alter von vier Jahren aus seiner Familie entführt und auf die Straße gebracht wurde, kehrt genau siebzehn Jahre später als Yaman nach Hause zurück. Dies ist die Geschichte seines Kampfes, sich…

[freedombeginsathome]

Mass Effect The "Series" S01 | Ep.4 Evidence

EN and PT subtitles available

Shepard maneuvered through the Citadel, determined to gather evidence against Saren. In the dimly lit confines of Chora's Den, a disreputable strip bar, she encountered Harkin, a drunken and vulgar individual. Unwilling to tolerate his sexist behavior, Shepard unleashed a torrent of her own thoughts, putting him in his place. Harkin revealed that Garrus, the C-Sec officer investigating Saren, could be found at the MedClinic.

Heading to the Financial District, Shepard and her crew sought out Barla Von, an Information Broker and Financial Advisor. Barla informed them that the enigmatic Shadow Broker had hired a mercenary named Wrex to eliminate Fist, the treacherous owner of Chora's Den, who had betrayed the Shadow Broker to join forces with Saren.

Their path led them to the C-Sec Academy, where they discovered Wrex. With a common goal in mind, they joined forces to confront Fist. However, their plans took an unexpected turn when they arrived at the MedClinic and found Garrus embroiled in a hostage situation. Swiftly reacting to the chaos caused by Shepard and her team, Garrus managed to save the hostage, Dr. Michele. The doctor revealed that the thugs were sent to silence her, as she knew that a Quarian had evidence connecting Saren to the Geth, and Fist's arranged her assassination.

Shepard, Wrex, and Garrus rushed to Chora's Den, battling their way through Fist's henchmen. Determined to rescue the Quarian, they interrogated Fist for her whereabouts. Shepard's impatience with the ruthless thugs was evident as she pressed for information. Upon obtaining what they needed, Shepard was caught off guard when Wrex took matters into his own hands, swiftly ending Fist's life. Surprised by Wrex's unilateral action, Shepard questioned his decision, but Wrex explained that it was part of his contractual obligation and that it would be his last assignment.

Time was of the essence as they had a mere three minutes to reach the Quarian before the assassins closed in. Battling against more thugs along the way, the team pushed forward, determined to rescue her in the nick of time. With unwavering resolve, they reached the Quarian, saving her from impending danger just as the clock ticked down to its final seconds.

[dutyworn]

Wren full playthrough part 3. Notable mods for this part: LE1 Diversification Project, Saren Stages, Keepers Finders (full modlist linked under the readmore along with other generic information about this playthrough)

I timestapmed this a while ago so I have less commentary than usual for the self-roast etc because I can't remember shit. I do remember, though, that this part is a good example of the general "in-game isn't 1:1 to blog portrayal" what with exhausting a lot of the conversation options. I aim for this to be a "full" playthrough so like I'm recording the full Avina conversations, but a lot of that stuff... would probably be stuff that she either already knows or at the very least even if she likes to hear the facts from the actual people rather than the extranet (OK, Avina is a VI anyway but), she'd probably not stop to ask questions while being supposed to be rushing to the Council chambers XD See also she would never essentially brag at Avina for having an audience with the Council but that was one of the "Havu did not think the tone of that dialogue tree was that and clicked it anyway" times that happens way too much in this game.

Also? 100 percent I'm doing the Scan the Keepers quest for the money and the XP. Wren would... not fuck with that, and most likely report it to C-Sec. But I'm doing it because money and XP and also I like the little things the mod adds to it loool.

One more note, I don't think I had installed the mod that fixes mumbling NPCs yet for this part but I know I did sometime fairly early on. Paired with no subtitles this is not ideal but. Eh.

youtube playlist / tumblr masterpost (pending) (look for ; havu gaming tag for prev)

Highlights and timestamps:

00:00 Docking on the Citadel. Genuinely one of my favourite cinematics from the first game.

01:54 Talk with Udina and Anderson.

04:54 Chat with Embassy receptionist.

05:48 Chat with Embassy Avina.

10:40 Keeper, chat with Citadel Tower Avina.

15:03 Elevator chat: Ashley & Kaidan. Yes, I aim to record as many elevator chats with different squad combinations as I manage.

15:37 Meeting Garrus.

17:26 Council hearing.

20:15 Chat with Udina and Anderson.

27:27 Elevator chat: Ashley & Kaidan.

28:03 Scan the Keepers pt1, Chorban

30:40 Presidium Prophet pt1. A "I don't have enough reputation points for this dialogue, doing this later" moment.

33:33 Barla Von

General disclaimer: This is not meant to be a 1:1 to my roleplay portrayal, even if it can be used as a reference for choices and just as a general "people can watch this if they are interested/wanna know Wren/the game more" fun thing. In gameplay, I tend to exhaust dialogue options; for a lot of asking questions, Wren actually would already be aware of the answers so sometimes it's more about wanting to show the dialogue (for people not familiar with the game) and gaining XP, other times (mostly when conversing with people about their personal experiences) she asks about things she is aware of because she wants the story from the person themselves, and to show care. Also, gaming dynamics obviously have their limits.

I record everything. I edit out reduntant getting lost on the map (happens a lot more you'd expect), repeat dialogue, and/or speed through leveling up, modding equipment, etc. If I am reading something while playing, I keep the text in my edits for long enough for me to be able to read (I'm a slow reader). Stuff less relevant to the story, such as planet descriptions, I keep in the video but only very briefly so that the information is there and readable if the video is paused.

I mainly record for my own reference/screencapping etc. purposes. That's why there also are no subtitles, though I will record clips I specifically want to share with subtitles on.

You may use my videos freely for anything you wish, such as screencapping your muse if you play someone from the games etc.

I play with a galore of mods! Here's my list of mods I currently use in this playthrough for the first game.

I always include clickable timestamps on Youtube, if you want to watch, but want to skip some parts.

[flatstarcarcosa]

barla von: the shadowbroker fully supports your war against the reapers

norman, deadpan, while making eye contact with liara across the presidium: oh wow, this is brand new information for me, i would have had no idea otherwise.