#shakarian thoughts

[madamedramatics]

I think of Mass Effect, and the brain train reroutes me to Shakarian thoughts. I don't make the rules. I just follow them.

Now then,

Hear me out. Plz. I'll only be a second of your time.🩷

Turians are sort of a homogeneous society that likes predictability, rationale, integrity, honesty, and all that jazz. Since they have to be selfless, always putting the whole before one's self, they are more than likely not very materialistic meaning whenever they do give or receive gifts, it's a rare moment and probably something that reflects quality or some sort of sentimentality.

Now imagine the beginning of Shakarian's relationship. We have Garrus reading up on human cultures where a large chunk of human societies have gift giving sometimes all year round, which varies in price and other factors. Then imagine Shepard being stumped on what to get Garrus as a gift because she doesn't want to cross cultural boundaries and get something that isn't meaningful to him. The first date happens, and Garrus gets Shepard something super sweet and cost efficient, like a handmade card, so he doesn't come off as desperate (according to the forums he's read) and Shepard gets Garrus the most expensive gun money can buy. Neither knows the other has done their research. Garrus thinks he looks like an asshole by not sticking to his values, and Shepard thinks she looks desperate for such a new and budding relationship since Garrus got her something small but sweet.

They both loved the gifts they received, but they felt internal turmoil about the gifts they bought. Then it comes down to the awkward confession that they both looked up what to do when it comes to gift giving. They both decide they should probably just ask each other from now on about any questions they have since their relationship is neither strictly turian nor human. It's human AND turian, meaning they should just do what feels right for each other and no one else ❤️

[milkywayes]

there's only room for one on the door normandy float. [prints]

[lizardsexposed]

Honestly the fshepard garrus romance really feels the most organic and real to me because of how symbiotic it really is. It becomes really apparent they both rely on each other at points. Garrus really goes from needing a morality check to being the morality check over the course of the games.

I also really enjoy the fact that the relationship essentially opens with them going to a ‘friends with benefits’ dynamic and never actually is that. The relationship is always emotional support first and the rest comes very secondarily.

They also have such a pre-existing dynamic that the romance only builds upon that and doesn’t actually change it at its core.

[ozziyo]

hi i'm joker welcome to jackass

[slyheartzz]

I just started playing mass effect for the first time and I'm almost done with the 3rd game and I'm absolutely in love with this man ok

[thehornedguy]

Garrus wasn't the same after that😆

[hellt00th]

Shepard saving Garrus' ass from an encroaching phantom with a WICKED headshot from a hell of a distance away and him pulling up beside her 20 minutes later in the middle of the firefight going "Hey gorgeous, what brings you here?" bc he's so wildly turned on its not even funny

[hanasnx]

i like to think garrus had a mass effect equivalent of a motorcycle in his youth that he got both bcos he wanted one and to cement his rebellious phase. eventually he grew out of it, and still hasn’t found the time to fix it up and sell it. when he finally shows it to shepard, taking the tarp off, she expresses interest in the old thing, saying she’s always wanted one but never stayed in one place long enough. garrus internalizes that information, and makes time to fix it up. gets it in running condition, and takes his girl out for a ride. eventually, once they settle down, she inherits it. garrus thinks she can hold onto it until she buy get a “better one.” she never ends up parting with it though.

[thefloatingstone]

Shakarian fans I need help because I have something that is just vibes and idk how to form it into something substantial.

One of the crew (probably Joker because I like it when Joker acts like... ... Joker) in some form or capacity overhears "Rocket Man" coming from Garrus' general vicinity. (idk if he hums it or it gets picked up from his fucking airpods because the fact that Garrus canonically listens to music when he's sniping is a piece of trivia from ME2 that is never going to dislodge). And Joker is like "well THAT'S a fucking weird song choice to her from Bird Boy." and then it turns out Garrus has 0 context for the song, he just overhears it in the very early morning while Shepard is making their coffee.

(specifically Rocket Man because idk what the actual tone for Rocket Man is supposed to be but it's the most poignant, bittersweet song of loss and affection to me in the whole fucking world because irl when the Opportunity Rover on Mars died, after trying to reestablish connection for almost a day, NASA played "Rocket man" for it as its last received transmission and I HAVEN'T GOTTEN OVER THAT I AM NOT OVER THAT I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT)

(So having it be associated with Shepard and Garrus in a painfully intimate scenario of something like the earliest morning coffee and carried as a small but unmistakable permanent mark on Garrus in that he hums it because SHE hums it, and it is sad, and melancholic, and filled with affection and loss and just everything and it all melts together but at the same time it becomes associated with Shepard. So it becomes something he just DOES because he's a fucking nerd and he can't listen to the Fleet and Flotilla soundtrack ALL the time and sometimes shit gets stuck in your head because people become stuck in your head and ALSO that gd alternate intro someone made where they cut the intro to Star Trek Enterprise to that song to turn it into a tribute to man's dedication and hopes and devotion to space travel and exploring and dkjfhskjfsdjkhf)

is this anything?

[dreams-of-an-escapist]

My current dive into the Mass Effect fandom actually almost maybe 7 years later than the last one was??? Crazy!

But I have to say - I'm not pleased at all how omegaverce tendencies bled into the Shakarian and other turian pairings/headcanons.

I don't like how people started to HC turians way more animalistic over the years. It just feel wrong. They weren't showed like that in canon. And it feels particularly wrong considering there was "aliens are like talking animals" racist view pointed out in canon in fact.

+ Turians are avian/reptilian so I can see where "mating for life" headcanons come from because some birds do that. ( even if I myself find the concept somewhat depressing).

Buuuuut knots????? They aren't canine for fuck's sake, they are not even mammals. Yes they are compared to cats often because they kinda look cat-like but cats don't do knotting. Marks go in the same category too - coming from omegaverce.

I don't like omegaverce as a concept in general even if I read it sometimes. So I'm displeased about omegaverce slipping itself almost everywhere in fandoms.

But it kinda feel especially wrong about attributing such qualities to turians and therefore making them more "beastly". Makes me really uncomfortable and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[milkywayes]

says cheese, doesn't know what cheese is

[mockingnerd]

Honestly I think part of the reason griddlehark drives me crazy is that “I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it” + “see you on the flip side” has big “it’d be an awfully empty galaxy without you” + “meet me at the bar” energy

oh and also “the entire point of me is you” and “there’s no shepard without vakarian”

like I guess just utter devotion gets me real good

[captainderyn]

Happy N7 day to the best space babes taking up all my brain since 2020 <3

[mahiiimahiiii]

Geriatric, naked, and slightly soft and round femshep.

That's it. Send post.

[madamedramatics]

Been on an x-files kick lately, and holy shit can Shakarian be msr-coded. “You’re my one-in-five billion” is absolutely something Garrus would say. The quiet yet unconditional support? The deep unspoken bond? That it ends in tragedy? There’s no shepard without vakarian???? What the fuck. They are literally Mulder and Scully but in space. Shepard’s even a redhead.

It's the quiet yet unconditional support for me😭 I don't think some people understand how huge that is for someone in Shepard's position. Even Tali didn't immediately join Shepard when they ran into eachother in Mass Effect 2. Imagine everyone in the Galaxy thinking you're a space terrorist and a human supremacist now and Garrus cares little for it because he knows you so well, and he knows damn well you'd never work with something Ike Cereberus without good reason.

Then he signs up for the suicide mission on top of that? ❤️❤️

There's no Shepard without Vakarian is one of my top ten phrases from the overall series because it is true af. Then the way femshep specifically looks at Garrus when they're dating. It's the little things🥹🥹

And the way Garrus says he's right behind her😭😭🩵🩵 My heart always feels like it's gonna explode when they're on the screen together.

The similarities between the two you mentioned just solidifies the fact that this dynamic is the ultimate dynamic duo and my mind cannot be changed😂❤️ Thank you for submitting this and getting me rambling.

[that-wildwolf]

Something about Shakarian when they're both losing themselves is just... so fucking personal to me. 

Like, yes, Garrus losing himself in his quest for vengeance and slowly letting his rage consume him while Shepard just. does what she can to Pull Him Out of it and like.... save his soul? putting herself in front of his gun just out of.... love? Like, yes, that's the good shit right there, that makes me weep with the love and trust she has for him even when he's at his worst, she still chooses to lay everything on the line for him, even though she doesn't have to, even though his life is not in danger here but his heart, his soul, is, and she knows that he wouldn't shoot her even if they never talked about anything like this, like.... yes. That's the good shit right there. 

And yes, when Shepard throws herself into the mission and pushes herself too hard at every moment, and starts to connect her worth, her existence, to only fighting the Reapers and can't see any worth she might have outside of it because it's become the very core of who she is... and Garrus just.... being there for her through this? loving her when she doesn't love herself, when she doesn't see herself as a person and more as a weapon? holding her when she falls, carrying her when she stumbles, giving her something to fight for and something to hope for after the war at a time when she probably never even thought there would be an "after" to the war.... and just...... loving her... when she's made of nothing but rage and death and despair, he's still holding her, telling her that he sees her? That's the good shit too.

But Shakarian where they're both losing themselves? Shakarian where both of them are deeply in love with a person who's not sure they're worthy of love and don't see how this also works the other way around? Shakarian where they hold on to each other to find their grounding? Shakarian where both of them learn that they're loved, that someone cares for them even when they're barely holding together, even when their rage almost consumes them? Finding a person who loves you and wants to save you when you're at your worst... and you love them so deeply and want them to be happy even if it is just for a few seconds, and you want to make sure this person doesn't lose themselves in their mission, and you do what you can, and just love them and hold them and tell them you will be there.... Where you find this person you care about so deeply and you so sincerely love them, and slowly come to realise that it could mean you, too, are worthy of love, and that they might love you as deeply as you love them even through all the mess you're in, even through it all..... That there's. love. That you're in it together and whatever happens, you will face it together, that there is no Shepard without Vakarian, that you can't imagine your life without them, you can't imagine yourself without them.....

Just... Shakarian where they learn to love themselves by loving each other.