#cerberus mass effect

[illusivesoul]

"Anyone can destroy, but great civilizations do more"

[lonesurvivorao3]

Metamorphoses: SPECTRE

Seeing what Cerberus had done to obsolete projects and their creators, she changed the state of play, asking why Lawson thought she and Lazarus would be spared the same harsh treatment.

“All things are conditional,” she said, dumping hot sauce over the wagyu steak. “We rarely know what those conditions are, though.”

She ignored the cult-like chatter. They could carve out all random spheres of influence they pleased, but it would never wash with her.

Blood from the steak dropped down her chin as she tilted her knife towards Lawson. “Everyone has a pain spot, Miri. If you press it at the right time, with the right amount of pressure... He hasn’t exploited it yet, but he will. And when that day comes? You’ll find out who he really is.”

[warrenwoodhouse]

Cerberus Databank (Mass Effect Guide) (Databanks)

Databank by @warrenwoodhouse #warrenwoodhouse

Details

Headquarters: Cerberus HQ (Also Known As: Cronos Station) (Space Station), Anadius, Horse Head Nebula, Earth Systems Alliance Space.

CEO: The Illusive Man

Operative: Jacob Taylor

Officer: Miranda Lawson

Facilities

Cerberus Medical Facility (Also Known As: Lazarus Research Station): Cerberus Medical Facility (Lazarus Research Station), Strenuus, Horse Head Nebula, Earth Systems Alliance Space.

Cerberus Facility (Also Known As: Minuteman Station) (Space Station): Cerberus Facility, Strenuus, Horse Head Nebula, Earth Systems Alliance Space.

Cerberus HQ (Also Known As: Cronos Station) (Space Station): Cerberus HQ, Anadius, Horse Head Nebula, Earth Systems Alliance Space.

Cerberus Teltin Facility: Cerberus Teltin Facility, Pragia, Dakka, Nubian Expanse.

Cerberus Project Overlord Facility (DLC: Project Overlord): Cerberus Project Overlord Facility, Aite, Typhoon, The Phoenix Massing.

Cerberus Project Firewalker Facility (DLC: Firewalker Pack): Cerberus Project Firewalker Facility, Karumto, Yakawa, Caleston Rift.

Changelog

17th June 2024 at 7:40 pm: Updated the databank with new information in the section titled “Facilities”

1st June 2024 at 10:28 am: Moved databank to my Tumblr blog

18th September 2022 at 2:50 pm: Created databank

[milkywayes]

future operative Lawson after a training session

a fun commission I loved working on! thanks!

[zathura-art]

Jack and the Cerberus cheerleader.

[wetsocksinbed]

Shepard: I died saving my crew. Then someone I considered one of my closest friends gave my corpse to a terrorist organisation, who brought me back to life against my will, and have been manipulating me for months. I am isolated from almost everyone I knew and I am trying to save everyone yet again while also making sure I am not losing my morality.

Kaidan/Ashley: you left me >:(

[gaysidesalad]

Me when i play ME2 and Kaidan is only there for like 2 minutes

[mtreebeardiles]

Every so often I’ll see interpretations of Liara’s N7 armor display as creepy/obsessive behaviour — and that’s a fair interpretation! But it got me thinking about my own interpretation and, well

It kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?

Whether you romance her or not, she still has that armor display. The archaeologist. Displaying the armor of someone Important™️, someone whose most recent importance was downplayed by the Alliance — support for Shepard’s Reaper theory was waning, the Alliance sent them off to more remote spots, Alchera happened…

Liara is first and foremost a student of history, and an Asari one at that. She’s trained to see those patterns of history, and knows a legend when she sees one — beyond whatever else Shepard may have been known for before ME1. And in the aftermath of Alchera, I’m sure she got her first real experience with how humans, and the Alliance in particular, will try to bury or gloss over inconvenient truths — if they can be bothered to acknowledge those truths in the first place

They didn’t memorialize Alchera until Shepard was back, two years later. They didn’t want to keep a spotlight on Shepard, on why they were even out there. But Shepard didn’t stay buried, and, well, maybe other ghosts wouldn’t either

All this to say I personally see Liara’s display as her own way of honoring Shepard as a historical symbol, as someone Historically Important™️, and part of that history is a part the Alliance wanted to forget, was happy to forget until they couldn’t anymore

But Liara wasn’t going to forget, and she’d make sure galactic history broadly wouldn’t, either. And in ME3, she takes that conviction one step further, seeding Shepard’s story, the story of the Reapers, all throughout the galaxy

That just reads as more narratively consistent to me, anyway 🤷‍♂️

[c-rowlesdraws]

✨Excellent News📰

for sophisticated enjoyers of obscure Mass Effect lore! This reddit user compiled ALL of the old Cerberus Daily News e-mails into a google doc, helpfully formatted for better readability and organized by topic! There are plenty of one-off articles about various aspects of galactic life, but also a bunch of multi-installment stories. The whole thing is very entertaining and compelling despite CDN having been written as "just" a fun extra thing for players to read along with in ME3, and it's packed with tons of neat glimpses into the setting outside of Shepard's immediate circle and experiences.

[one-little-nerd-stayed-home]

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

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

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

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

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

Does it matter whether you are or not?

I dunno dude it just fucks me up.

[kikithecoconut]

listen i get that when cerberus brought shepard back the whole deal was "make her exactly as she was before" but ive taken it upon myself to occasionally do some renegade actions that ME1 shepard would have never done just to make cerberus think theyve fucked it up and that shes just slightly off

[illusivesoul]

Cerberus Phantom

[lonesurvivorao3]

Metamorphoses

For Lawson, observation always held a higher importance than interaction, and it became more crucial than ever in the first few weeks. Surprisingly, Commander Shepard was just as keen to test the limits of her new abilities as her. The sandstorm they’d just run from? Her biotics whipped it up.

A cigarette hangs from Shepard’s lips as her legs hang over the side of the roof. She watches Nihlus up to his elbows in wires and considering his arm span—well, it was a lot.

He’d stood her silent guardian whilst the subject slept. Every so often, she’d reach an impasse with Kyrik that seemed more rooted in culture than vocabulary. Now she knows it’s love and what that looks like up close. But the word doesn’t seem quite enough.

Many words don’t seem sufficient for Shepard anymore.

She smiled like a predator, her teeth grazing her lower lip as she glanced his way. Lawson rolled her eyes at the blatant lack of subtlety and inwardly cringed when she closed the gap and pulled him down into an approximation of a kiss between the two species.

Their relationship was even less palatable in the evening because of the thin walls and Shepard—or rather Kyrik—pushing the limits of her body in an altogether different manner.

She reached for her earplugs and continued typing the report.

[perkeleen-lavellan]

Earthborn Shepard who still had the gang tattoos.

Earthborn Shepard who woke up on Miranda's lab table and shrugged on the armor fitted for their exact proportions in a hurry to get out of the Cerberus station.

Earthborn Shepard who, when finally looking into a mirror on the SR2 Normandy, finds nothing but bare skin.

And if they'd ask about it from Miranda she'd explain, "We were meant recreate them, but thanks to Wilson we ran out of time."

How would that feel? Which is worse, the fact that enough of Shepard had to be replaced even their skin isn't original anymore, or the fact that there is a timeline where Shepard would have looked into a mirror and seen their tattoos, and maybe thought they're a little off? A little too bright and fresh in colors, and were the lines always so thick? But unable to really determine what's wrong for sure.

[tarysande]

After Recruiting Jack

Miranda: Welcome to the ship, Jack. I'm Miranda, Shepard's second in command.

Shepard, standing behind Miranda, shaking her head with her eyebrows shooting for her hairline, like ... no, nope. Nah. Uh-uh. I mean, Garrus is literally right downstairs. No.

Shepard: Give Jack whatever she wants, Miranda.

As Miranda walks out of the room, Shepard's just trying to telepathically communicate to Jack like I'll explain that later. But seriously. No. I'm only wearing this Cerberus uniform because the other option is a hideous shoulderless jumpsuit I'd rather die than wear in public. And like. I have been dead before. It's not an idle threat. I'll make one of my dead fish second in command before I entrust anything to Ms. Cerberus 2185.

[minamoreh]

You just never know who you'd run into the grocery store.