#garrus is my bestie

[psin314]

a bit of silly text memes.

ru ones under the cut

[copiasthighhighs]

honestly just mass effect art dumping…. ily ashkii shepard + my drell and turian oc’s…

[digitalangel777]

I love making up fake drama in my mass effect games just for like rp purposes

[ratasum]

Me vibrating regarding Qirri being there for at least a little bit of the research in this since she's the krewe chief of the Dragonwatch Krewe.

[dukeoftheblackstar]

@eyecandyeoz e///////////////////////////e

lies and deceit

[theduvetpirate]

I am prepared to be hated but I really think Garrus is a bit overrated?????? I went into this game being like damn Garrus is clearly the one to be with cos of how popular he is and don’t get me wrong I LOVE that turian so much he’s a bestie fr but I had actually 0 interest in romancing him at all???

Prepared for double the hate but yall overhate Kaidan as well lmao he does not deserve the hate he gets I love him !?? his romance for fem shep was completely fine and destroyed me at the end of 3 even with horizon (this is a whole separate thing but some of you willingly decide to not see he has some very valid points on horizon), and I love Thane too so I’m excited to see his romance now on my second play through but damn…

[brekkie-e]

I think the reason that the lack of multi-dimensional relationships within the party, and for Tav, is eating away at me so much recently is because it’s significantly affecting BG3’s replayableness for me. It’s a huge game, and I’m ever guilty of taking a completionist approach. Now, there are many branching narratives in BG3 which means there’s endless new content to explore by taking different approaches. Personally though, that’s not quite enough of a reason for me to want to keep revisiting a story. I don’t feel compelled to replay hundreds of hours worth of content just to see what happens to Sazza if you rescue her in Act 1 instead of leaving her in the cage. But if I’m invested in a story and the characters in it- I will replay a game 10,000 times just to rewatch my oc become ride or die besties and trauma bond with their companion. Thinking of Liara’s relationship with an unromanced Sheperd in ME3. Tali declaring herself Tali’zorah vas Normandy?? Gut wrenching. Garrus taking you out on a friend date and making fun of your go to catch phrase in the process? Iconic. Varric writing Cassandra a book to bury the hatchet between them? Unforgettable. Solas and Varric co-parenting a kid together? Can’t get enough of it. Those are the interactions that keep me coming back to replay a game over and over again. Seeing the effect my character has on the lives of their friends, and the effect their friends has on them. Absolutely, I adore the romance aspects of these kinds of rpg’s. It is also a reason I will replay a game. But I don’t want to replay a game as massive as BG3 if the only real significant connection my character develops during it is with their love interest. There’s too many hours that have to be invested to just be playing for a couple of scenes with their boo.

Same goes for trying different romances! If I want to try out the game taking a different approach, and exploring a different character’s romance- I’m dedicating a significant amount of time just to get a handful of scenes over the course of the entire game that focus on an emotional connection for my character. If replaying the game with a different oc meant that I could explore their friend dynamics differently as well? Heck yeah. But as it stands, it just feels like you pick your romance option and then have to stand awkwardly while you’re surrounded by acquaintances who want to bang you.

[bunabi]

wyll's voice actor brought so much heart to the character, and he has such a lovely shakespearean type of cadence of speaking that really gets across that this is an 18 charisma guy, with a mild obsession with heroic tales. and he's very handsome irl too, he deserves more love ;^;

i think wyll had like... the least cutscenes and dialogue of any companion, by far, which is just sad. it made me like the whole game less once i realized i hadn't just accidentally missed some of his cutscenes, they straight up didn't give him any for large swathes of the game...

Literally. Like Wyll is fine. I only experience BG3 through osmosis + my bestie's streams — maybe there's something I'm missing — but fans usually go wild for this archetype. He's giving Alistair. He's giving (the only endearing parts of DAI) Cullen. I even feel a little Garrus in him. So where the fanworks at?

[To the eight folks asking what happened: here]

[ersatzpenguin]

BioWare Artist 1: And all the female characters will have thigh gap. Because thigh gap is sexy, and players want sexy.

BioWare Artist 2: Yeah! And so will the Turians! But like, even bigger, and gappier. Like, we’re talking thigh canyons. Especially Garrus.

BioWare Artist 1: Wait—why?

BioWare Artist 2: Uhhh… Be—because they’re aliens of—of course. 😳

BioWare Artist 1: Oh. Yeah. Duh.

BioWare Artist 2: Ye—yeah. Duh. Haha. 😅

Don’t mind me—finally playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition, enjoying a ride in the elevator with my besties, and thinking about BioWare’s character design choices.

[deep-space-lines]

I've realized the main reason I romance Garrus every time (apart from the fact that he's cool and I love him) is because he's the only one my demisexual ass can tolerate tbh

Liara and Kaidan are trying to smash from day 1 and I keep coming around to liking them by the time I finish a playthrough, but then when I replay ME1 again I HATE THEM AGAIN I'm like bitch I'm just trying to be nice to you STOP trying to get in my pants I swear to god I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND AND TAKE YOU BOTH RIGHT BACK TO THE CITADEL DO NOT TEST ME

Jacob speaks for himself

Thane? It's not even because he dies (or is a man), it's that I physically cannot bring myself to romance him because the option to do that comes right after him talking about his dead wife and I just can't, dude, I just can't. That's weird to me. Guy just told me about this traumatic experience he had and how his wife was killed and he's never talked to anyone about that before and I'm supposed to sensitively reply with "wow dude so sorry that happened to you! anyway. i want you" I CAN'T DO THAT!!! WHO DOES THAT!!!

Samantha's cute as hell don't get me wrong. Finally a gay woman who isn't Liara! But the shower thing caught me so off guard I was genuinely looking forward to playing chess with my new bestie & she decides to shoot her shot by showering in her underwear with the door open, like I gotta respect it but girl what 😭

anyway shoutout to Garrus for being the only romance option that doesn't make my ace ass even vaguely uncomfortable, if he wasn't in there my Shepard would be getting No Bitches

[thechildofmythal]

I’m replaying the Mass Effect series after a long break - I bought the Legendary Edition in the sales.

Jane Shepard is a celebrated war hero, a loyal Alliance soldier, and in my case, always on the side of the people, doing the difficult humane choices. A Paragon.

In ME1 the team makes sense, even the aliens. They have a common goal and they work together towards that goal. There’s trust, respect and even friendship among that group.

In ME2 I feel like there’s way too many companions and most of them don’t make any sense. Half of them feel like they have been made controversial in the way producers want weird controversial people in reality TV shows - for the drama. This is a paramilitary operation, we ain’t got room for drama!

Jane Shepard, who’s been on her own two feet for like a week and absolutely not recovered from hearing that she’s died and been brought back to life after two years by Cerberus. That her old team has moved on, that her beloved Kaidan is unreachable and also moved on. That she’s apparently bound to fucking Cerberus now??

She reads the dossiers The Illusive Man has given her. A renegade looney (Archangel), a bounty hunter (Zaeed), a dangerous convicted criminal in actual prison (Jack), another criminal (Kasumi), and so on. Not to mention Miranda who’s a real haughty bitch holding the Cerberus whip.

Luckily there’s Jacob, who’s past, morals and work ethic are in line with Shepard’s. Luckily there’s Joker who is the only one who can make her smile and laugh in the first weeks. Luckily there’s Dr. Karin Chakwas. Jane gets misty eyed and nostalgic drunk with her and ends up crying alone and drunk in her bunk.

Shepard also goes alone to the Normandy SR1 crash site, closes her radio and weeps alone, trying to come to terms with what she has lost and what she has become.

Luckily Shepard goes for Archangel and finds her old mate Garrus. She’s so relieved to get that jackass back in her team. Her bestie.

Luckily there’s Mordin Solus, whose recruitment makes actual sense, and whose expertise Shepard can respect and whose ramblings she enjoys, even if they don’t always agree on everything. That doesn’t matter because Mordin is military trained and Shepard does not need to worry about him disobeying orders.

But Zaeed? Jack? Kasumi? Even Grunt? Their recruitment makes absolutely no sense.

I think Shepard should have thrown those dossiers to the bin.

(I lowkey love Jack, btw, and Zaeed fills a role Bioware always has, but still. I’m also not there yet with Samara and the others in my current playthrough.)

[thefloatingstone]

We know that Liara is bestie and that Legion is baby. That Garrus is best boi, but who is your favorite none squad member/NPC from Mass Effect?

Honestly I can't answer that. I thought to pick Liara's dad, but then I remembered Li from the first game who I have a giant soft spot for but that reminded me of the turian who works as a gardener on the Presidium and I like him a lot too, but Bray is also really cool and I like him a lot, but also the poet krogan iss great but also Victus is great and sool and Councilor Sparatus has a great character arc which I think most players don't notice or give him enough credit for, Qui'in I'm a big fan of, David Archer is really cool, THE BIOTIC GOD, Kirrahe my best friend Kirrahe, Blasto....

[mt07131]

fandom peeps to get to know better

tagged by @redwayfarers haiiiiii :)

three ships i like: I'm mostly an oc shipper sooo these will all be oc/pc ships

Maeve Shepard x Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)

V x River Ward (Cyberpunk 2077)

Xuna x Astarion (Baldur's Gate 3)

first ship ever: I honestly don't remember my very first but I'm gonna say Asra x the apprentice from The Arcana since that's when I started engaging with fandom in a shippy way

last song you heard: Scoring The End of The World by Motionless In White is in fact playing right now as I type this

currently reading: I'm rereading the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, currently I'm on Glass Sword

currently watching: Nothing right now, I don't watch tv often these days

currently consuming: Nothing at the moment besides the water I have on my desk

currently craving: Something sweet. Also playing more Veilguard because I was out all weekend and I miss my crow baby

tagging: @ecofear @grapecaseschoices @hawkeish @lusavors and @teiasviago no pressure tho besties <3

[innepttia]

@spookyvalentine has FOUR sets of “50 questions about Shepard” list and this is the third!!

Maeve Shepard

First 50 Questions | Second 50 Questions

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse & canon typical death

(Art by tumblr: @/milton-chamberlain)

1. How often does Shepard use the omni-blade?

Omni-blade, not a lot but it’s her favorite weapon to use (ok I know this is contradictory but just go with me). Omni-tool – ALL THE TIME.

2. What does the Virmire Survivor think of Shepard?

Ashley! I think she wishes they were closer, because they really would get along if they both gave it a shot. If Shepard didn’t die, they’d probably have become besties at some point and perhaps Shepard could have still soothed over some of that xenophobic nature of Ashley’s.

3. Top three comfort movies:

Howl’s Moving Castle

Princess Bride

Shallow Grave

4. How many languages can they speak (without the translator)?

Oh, I love that Spooky has asked this in the Mass Effect discord we’re in because I already know the answer now!!

English, ASL (which doesn’t really count for translator-use), and – in my own HC – spacers have a language similar to The Expanse’s Belter Creole.

5. Does Shepard keep a log/journal?

No. Which is a boring answer, but no.

6. What kind of driver is Shepard?

I like to HC that she actually would rather have others drive so she can tinker with something. So, instead of driver, she’s a passenger princess.

7. Shepard witnesses a petty crime. What is their response?

She ignores it! Maeve really cultivates an air of: “If this doesn’t affect me, then I don’t care.”

8. Revenge, or the high road?

REVENGE, BABEEYYYYY – but only in her head because she’s a busy lady and doesn’t have time to really properly act out her revenge.

9. What will always distract them?

Thane, Thane, Thane, Thane, alcohol, Thane, Thane, Joker, Thane, Thane, Thane, etc.

10. Does Shepard ascribe to any sort of faith?

No, but she becomes interested in Thanes.

11. Fondest childhood memory?

By ME2, she isn’t sure her childhood memories are really hers, so she tries to forget them.

12. Most embarrassing adult memory?

In ME2, before Thane’s romance was locked in, she got so drunk one day and drunk-messaged Ashley trying to flirt with her. Then when that was completely rejected, she went straight to Zaeed to try and flirt with him, but she became so distracted in the garbage compactor that she missed her one chance with that old merc. Joker was 100% watching the vid feeds and EDI was monitoring her messages to Ashley.

13. What does Shepard choose to do about Gavin Archer?

THIS mothafuckin guy THIS GUY ohhhhh my god. I think canon choice was “your brother is going to Grissom Academy and you can fuck right off” but the unhinged, more correct choice is: iron pressed against his temple and ending it all then and there for Gavin.

14. Is Shepard the type to gossip?

If it’s gossip with Kasumi, yes, because Kasumi has the best tea and tells the best story. Anyone else, probably not.

15. How does Shepard react to Garrus’s Archangel reveal?

I’m just going to go with the canon-neutral reaction.

16. What was the N7 program like for Shepard?

This was when she was A Good Soldier and A Good Person (pre-ME1), so it went pretty well, all things considered. She was focused and driven and wanted to be the best she could be.

17. Go-to karaoke song?

ANOTHER ONE I CAN ANSWER BECAUSE OF DISCORD thank god. This song because it’s mostly shouting instead of singing:

Fire Woman – The Cult

18. What choice does Shepard make on Rannoch?

Okay so, this one might get me a lot of hate BUT I’ve always accidentally (I’m so serious about this) picked the option here Tali throws herself off the cliff. Like, I’m not joking. It doesn’t matter how many years are between play throughs, or if I’m like, OKAY THIS TIME…!!! I always manage to pick that option. In an AU, I’d really like for the Geth and the Quarians to make peace and build the planet together and I’m just inept at making Good Choices.

19. Which kind of reaper do they think is the ugliest?

That stupid Human-Reaper from ME2.

20. Can they dance?

She can sway to music really well.

21. What is Shepard’s relationship with Hackett?

Mostly annoyed at him. In her eyes, Hackett is up there with TIM.

22. What’s their alignment? Paragon, renegade, a mix…

Renegade all the way. Light up her face with scars.

23. Got any allergies? How bad?

No, because I honestly just won’t remember she has them.

24. When’s their birthday, and how old are they?

Canon birthday and canon age!

25. Trash talk or potty mouth

BOTH!

26. What’s their temper like?

Flares hot, but then it dies down pretty quickly because she’s either smothering it with alcohol or she’s already moved on to the next crisis.

27. What does Shepard think of Bakara?

EVEEEE and not my clone named Eve!!!!! She adores her and will do anything for her.

28. A reoccurring nightmare:

Indoctrination. She can’t shake the feeling that, even after everything, she’s indoctrinated.

And Moon’s Haunted fic.

29. Which news correspondent/journalist does Shepard bring on the Normandy? What’s their relationship like?

Diana Allers and it’s a relationship of: Maeve forgets she’s there until Diana reminds her.

30. Who’s got the biggest crush on Shepard?

Ummm ME!!! Hmm definitely Joker in all 3 games, Garrus in 1 and 2, (and finally a HC) the Geth (and OC) she messages all throughout ME3.

31. What kind of relationship do they have with Dr. Chakwas? Which doctor do they bring her on board for 3, and why?

Good! They’re drinking buddies, except Dr. Chakwas is obviously less unhinged about it.

32. Who has Shepard’s grudging respect?

Javik & Zaeed.

33. Reaction to the window over their sr-2 bed

Kill Bill sirens.

34. Does Shepard want children?

Not just no, but hell no.

35. What does Shepard consider their greatest mistake?

Joining the Alliance.

36. Did Shepard enjoy the heists with Kasumi?

Yes, this was her favorite mission. I think I mentioned this in one of the previous 50 questions, but she was excited for the heist. She was excited to dress up and to have even the slightest potential to not kill anyone.

37. Does Shepard ever play matchmaker?

Ngl, I like Liara and Javik together so I’d like to imagine she helped with that somehow.

38. A silly daydream:

While she was on house arrest after ME2 and before ME3, she daydreamed that Joker would come visit her and they’d rekindle whatever they had before.

Or, she’d imagine Thane would come rescue her like a damsel in distress.

(god these aren’t really “silly” are they?!)

39. What kind of media do they consume the most?

Tech news, but she’s pretty off mainstream media content. She prefers to spend time with her crew in person.

40. Favorite ice cream flavor

Cookies and cream.

41. If Shepard has a LI, what would they say are a couple of Shepard’s flaws? And strengths?

I think we all like to imagine our LI’s being over the moon about our Sheps, and my HCs are no different.

Thane sees her as the spitting image of one of his goddesses. She’s strong, relentless, ruthless, and determined, which are all qualities he admires. In private, she’s soft and a puddle of mush most of the time. I like to think he enjoys taking care of her (e.g. blanket over the shoulders, a good cuddle session, sharing food).

Her flaws come through pretty starkly in all these sets of 50 questions: she can make REALLY poor choices, she can get tunnel vision on certain missions, she can be too brash.

42. Are they quick to laugh, or slow to smile?

Okay, I’m probably going to be annoying with this but I’m going to say both to this one too (like the potty mouth or trash talking one). I think she’s quick to laugh, but it isn’t always genuine. She’ll laugh when she feels like there’s a social cue she needs to meet. She’s slow to smile because those would be her true, genuine feelings.

43. What does it take to earn Shepard’s trust?

Most people have her trust from the beginning. She doesn’t feel like she has time to be untrusting, so her initial trust is easy to get. As long as that isn’t broken, then all’s golden. If the initiate trust is broken then it’s near impossible to get it back.

44. Top three people Shepard thinks are hotties:

Samara

Nyreen

Zaeed

+Thane because he’s her Li so that’s a given

45. What’s the easiest way to gross them out?

Throw up. THAT’S ALL hahahaha but fr gross.

46. What are some of their favorite combo moves with team members out on the field?

Oooohh this is embarrassing for her and me. I always forget team members and Shepard can do combo moves together, so I never do it. So lets go with: she’s a lone wolf who likes to do her own tech combos herself.

47. Can they forgive easily, or are they the type to hold a grudge?

Neither! She’d rather just forget.

48. Does Shepard have a good sense of direction?

She relies solely on her HUD that she doesn’t know anymore!

49. Did they enjoy their party on the Citadel?

Yes, it was nice getting everyone together, but she really missed Thane.

50. What is Shepard’s ending?

Maeve, beloved, goes full destroy ending, which includes destroying herself. I’ve talked about this a lot in the server so I’m not going to get too much in the weeds but… she’s very content with this choice.

+1 …got any kinks?

*looks back at question 33* yes – a choking kink whoops

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

25, 26, 27 and 28 from the fifty shep questions if you’re taking em!

Tysm for the ask!!!! My Shepard's name is Raien, he's colonist/sole survivor for added context. Here's a pic of him with his two besties doing the Noveria Smirk(tm):

25. How emotionally articulate is your Shepard? Do they emote well?

This varies. In the first game, he starts out trying to be aloof, keep distance between him and the crew, but quickly gets very attached to the Normandy crew. Especially after Anderson hands command over to him. He's very comfortable with them and generally is just himself when not in the field. In the second game, he never fully warms up to the SR-2 and the new crew, mainly because of Cerberus. He gets pretty sleep deprived and pissed off and spends most of the mission guarded and recedes into himself. In the third game, he spends a lot of his time stressed out and still sleep deprived, but overall much more comfortable once back with the alliance. So in short, when he's not too freaked out or stressed, he tends to be fairly easy to read emotionally, though after dying and coming back he becomes a lot harder to read unless you know him very well.

26. Does your Shepard have a romance? Who are they, and what drew Shepard to them?

Kaidan!! He loves Kaidan. They've always had a pretty good rapport, and worked well together in the field. Kaidan's the one he started this whole mess with, and he becomes determined to come out of it with him, too. He feels safe with Kaidan, which is a rare feeling for a soldier like Shepard. It takes him... a long time to understand his feelings though. Or at least longer than it does for Kaidan. He really only realizes right before the suicide mission in me2 (like minutes before going through the alpha relay from which he doesn't expect to return), days after an enlightening conversation with Liara. Then, after returning to the alliance, he resigns himself to believing they'll probably never work together again. And then the reapers and mars happens. They are bffs to it's really complicated to lovers.

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

He doesn't like people touching his Mako. Unless it's Garrus. It takes a little while before he trusts Garrus with it though. Also doesn't like other people messing with his gear. He is very particular about the specs on his sniper rifle and omnitool, and is convinced other people would fuck them up just by touching them. Ashley learns this the hard way. Raien also generally dislikes people reading over his shoulder, for many reasons- it stresses him out.

28. What about hyperfixations? What's the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place?

He loves ships. Growing up on Mindoir, he spent a lot of time at the small space port there, helping the engineers with repairs and such. It's where he learned most of what he knows about engineering. He always wants to talk about the latest models (the kind that fly and the mini kind he can build, both) and what he likes or hates about them. But he really prefers going hands-on and working on them, tuning them and making small adjustments. He also just generally enjoys vehicles, too. Hence his protective nature when it comes to the Mako. He also really likes asking other engineers about ships, too, sometimes pretending he has no idea what they're talking about just to fuck with them. (That's how I explain the in-game dialogue choices you get at least lol.) He talks with Tali and Adams for hours upon hours. In me2, he spends a lot of time in the uncharted depths of the SR-2; in maintenance shafts, in-between floor and wall paneling, etc. Which isn't very safe while they're flying in space and he knows it, but it's the only place he can be fairly certain Cerberus isn't watching and listening. In fact, he spends so much time there, that half the Cerberus crew are convinced he knows how to teleport, since he often cannot be found anywhere on the ship, and will appear/disappear seemingly out of thin air.

Thanks again for the ask! I love Raien so much :') Have another pic of him smiling, he doesn't smile often enough:

[misseffect]

7 snippets, 7 mutuals

Thanks for the tag @otemporanerys!

Tagging a lot of people who have already been tagged: @diaphanouso @helila @dispatchwithlove @kalliesa @angry-jager @dwarrowdams @serendipitys-teapot

All of these are from my Mass Effect F1 AU: Flashpoints

+++

Singapore Shower

One moment Garrus is holding her by the arms, water rolling over his shoulders – there's a knotted look on his face; his mouth is moving but no sound is coming out, which is weird – and the next she's lying on her back on the shower room floor.

"Shepard? Hey – c'mon."

Garrus is kneeling beside her, pinching her arm gently, holding her legs in the air with his shoulder. She feels heavy, like her bones are full of syrup, and the thumping behind her eyes is keeping time with the fuzz crowding her vision.

"Shit."

"It's alright." He sounds further away than he should, and so does the water still beating down on his back. "You passed out for a second, that's all."

+++

Shepard Does An AMA

probinguranus6969 - Would you rather fight 20 duck-sized Jokers or 1 Joker-sized duck?

janeshepard54 - I know your reddit handle joker

probinguranus6969 - damn it

+++

FaceTime Antics

She fishes another biscuit out of the packet while Garrus props his phone up on the side and heaves his suitcase onto the bed. It’s a nice enough room from what little she can see: old-fashioned, like the rest of the place, but in a plush, cared-for sort of way.

“Oh, by the way–” Crunch. “–you don’t happen to know how the dark web works, do you?”

He unzips the case and flips the lid. “Not really. Why?”

“I got called up for drug testing at Paul Ricard and my sample went missing,” she says, chewing glumly. “Joker’s winding me up about it; thinks someone’s selling vials of my piss on the black market.”

+++

Normal Thoughts To Have About Your Bestie's Car

The second he starts to ask the car for more, everything changes. 

It feels familiar – in fundamentals, sure, in throttle and steering output – but there’s something else, too. It’s more pliable than the Hierarchy car, more predictable than anything Omega or Archangel could give him; it's unlike anything he’s even driven, but somehow he knows it. Like catching a familiar smell in a place you've never visited.

And then it hits him.

It's not the car. It's her.

He knows Shepard's driving style almost as well as his own – reactive and twitchy, nose-heavy, late-braking, all faith and guts – and this thing lives and breathes it. It takes everything he's got to give, the good and the bad, and amplifies it tenfold. It grins and says c’mon, I dare you.

It’s not just a car designed with her in mind. It’s like wearing her clothes.

+++

Not To Be Dramatic But I Would Die For Mr Blobby

Shepard rounds the corner into the kitchen to find Mr Blobby loitering by the back door like a pair of cow-coloured slippers.

“He’s in a time-out," Hannah calls through the open window, paintbrush in hand.

“Aww, Blob.”

Mr Blobby makes a mournful rrrr sound. There’s a dab of brown paint on the end of his tail.

+++

Shepard Has PTSD Probably

It's not a nightmare really. Sure, it wakes her up every few hours, sweaty and unrested, and when she closes her eyes again, it drops her right back where she left off, but it's not scary. She's not being hunted or chased. She's not standing at the front of class with no clothes on. Nobody's dying.

Shepard's driving a road car on suburban streets - shifting, nebulous streets; faintly European but also faintly not - and somewhere in the distance, there's a fire.

There's a fire and she has to reach it.

She can see a column of black smoke in the distance, catch the odd lick of orange between buildings, but every turn she takes feels wrong and by the time she doubles back, the smoke isn't where she thought it was. It's in her rearview mirror, or out to her left when it was on her right. Sometimes a fire engine blasts past her in the opposite direction, the wailing siren fading before she can follow.

+++

Everybody Hates Conrad

Mathematically Shepard could win the Championship as early as Japan, five races before the end of the season, and it shows. Media seems to come naturally to her in a way it never has to him, but still; he’s never seen her so relaxed this early in the year. Al’Jilani can’t draw her in with pointed questions about Anderson giving her an easy ride and she doesn’t even bother taking a bite out of Conrad Verner.

“Any comment on rekindling your relationship with Thane Krios?” he asks, his big square face expectant.

Shepard scratches under her chin. “Why am I always the last person to find out who I’m dating?”

There’s a ripple of laughter. Emily is checking her watch and people are starting to shuffle their belongings around.

“Are you going to answer the question?” Conrad calls, but by then there’s enough ambient noise for everyone to plausibly ignore him.