#that sums my thoughts up

[vseahn]

details of creature WIP 👉👈

[tarysande]

The best part about coming back to the source material after a looooong time is you sorta get a fresh look at canon in comparison to whatever the dominant strains of fanon have become. Or, in fact, whatever your own dominant strains of headcanon have become.

I mean, yes, Garrus “I’m not a good turian” Vakarian gets infinitely cooler (and more competent!) by pretty much every metric as the storyline progresses. He does. But fresh out of ME1 and into ME2 through his recruitment, I find myself genuinely amused by how thin the veneer of badass is over a pretty dominant core of straight-up nerd sprinkled with idealism mixed with self-doubt.

When you have Garrus in the squad all the time (and thus get all his ambient dialogue and remarks), you really pick up on the number of times he calls out bad behavior, unethical actions, cruelty, and rule-breaking, especially in ME1.

He’s not actually a hothead who can’t abide rules of any kind. In fact, most of the time he’s pretty pro-law-and-order, and he gets amusingly hall-monitorish when people are breaking rules he considers important and worth following.

Fundamentally, Garrus chafes when his sense of what is just is at odds with what the authorities do about that injustice (or what they stop him from doing). And I would hazard a guess that the reason his actions seem so intense or harsh or "of course we should have shot down that ship in the middle of the Citadel" is indicative not of his impatience but of the degree to which he thinks the authorities have failed to uphold that justice. We know he can be patient. He's a sniper. His whole modus operandi on Omega is precision kills without civilian casualty. But when that long fuse finally burns down, he goes from zero to shooting down ships in the middle of the Citadel in what looks (from the outside) like a heartbeat.

And yes, injured pride hastens the burning of that fuse; he doesn’t like losing. Or admitting defeat. Or failing.

Having just replayed his recruitment mission, a few things really stood out to me this time.

The merc bands really hate him--and they also reluctantly admire him (he's described as smart, resourceful, dangerous, idealistic, brave, slippery; they all agree they only way they managed to get this far is by isolating him and employing dirty tactics). I mean, there's literally a station-wide announcement that Omega can return to "business as usual" once Archangel is out of the picture because he was disrupting things so completely.

The way Garrus blames himself for the deaths of his squad is so freaking turian. Failure reflects on the leader who places his people in danger they can't handle, not the individual who fails. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Yes, Sidonis betrayed him, but the person Garrus blames the most? Is himself. For trusting Sidonis in the first place. For raising Sidonis to a position where he had the means and opportunity to harm others--and the weakness of character to turn coat, to save his own hide, instead of dying to protect the others.

Garrus mentions more than once that he was trying to emulate Shepard. And his tone always implies that he knows he failed because Shepard would never have let a Sidonis into the fold. Again, he's blaming himself. Like a good turian. Yes, he wanted to avoid the red tape and bureaucracy of C-Sec, but his code--Archangel's code--certainly aligns with Paragon Shepard's morality (with a Garrus Vakarian twist).

And since it wouldn't be meta without adding a Tara's Headcanon Twist ... I've always wondered why "Archangel" when it's such a ... human concept. But this time, when I noticed how he spoke about Shepard's influence, and how quickly he brushes aside the name when she asks him about it, I wondered if it wasn't actually his way of honoring the mythology of the dead woman whose example he was trying to follow. Not that Shepard is a God he's worshiping, but ... there is something about the way he talks about her. Garrus doesn't make himself over in the image of a God, though; he's the soldier, the right hand, the avenging angel responsible for carrying out divine punishments suited and proportional to the crimes committed, the rules broken, the selfishness or cruelty of the perpetrator.

[yayee-pspsps]

Trimax au where the twins live with wolfwood and livio at the orphanage.

[gaylenin]

stuff like 'pinkwashing', and the laser focus on hamas and the narrative of palestinian resistance being regressive is very imperative to liberal zionism btw. we see this a lot in how western powers will portray foreign countries that they want to manufacture consent to seize/invade - that the indigenous population are despotic and far-right

it's an evolution of the white savior civilization narrative most seen with the british empire, but this one wins over more 'left-leaning' and liberal minds who want to support the 'progressive' cause. and its a tactic that makes anti-imperialism out to be something regressive. dont fall for it

[soup-child]

I'm aroace because kids made fun of each other for having crushes in elementary school and I went I'm not making that mistake

[thelilylav]

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

(He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, The Hollies)

My art, The World at Its Beginning (Dustin Pearson), The Tyrant's Tomb (Rick Riordan), The Fall of the House of Usher (Steven Berkoff), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), Leto and her Children (William Henry Rinehart), The Moon Had No Light of its Own (Imaginary Future), My Love Mine All Mine (Mitski), Untitled (Lyra Wren), The Tyrant's Tomb (Rick Riordan), Electra (Sophocles), To Forgive (The Smashing Pumpkins), Unknown, The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), The Sun is Also a Star (Nicola Yoon), Doomed From the Beginning (@/veniennes on tiktok), On learning to write professionally (Interview with Jazmine Hughes by The Creative Independent), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), My art

[tazmiilly]

How do you feel about the narcissistic Ford headcanons? I know a lot of people don’t like that headcanon because they feel like it Villainizes him even thought everyone should know by now that npd isn’t a bad thing

i don't personally see ford having npd, but npd should not be seen as a bad thing and it's really awful the treatment people with npd get. it doesn't make anyone a villain to have npd.

[wonderholegifs]

Rhett & Link's Wonderhole

[touchlikethesun]

xx

[charlieconwayy]

Movies That Made Me: Back to the Future (1985)

[starkittnd93]

Temenos kinda a mood tho like he religious and believes in Aelfric but sometimes he be like “Aelfric wtf” and all the time he’s like “church wtf” bc genuinely church wtf and then everyone goes “temenos wtf” bc he isn’t as wtf as the church

[scattered-under-moonlight]

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Broke (2016): BBC Sherlock is a phenomenal piece of media and anything that seems like a flaw just hasn't been fully explored yet

Woke (2020): BBC Sherlock is an incredibly flawed series run by an egotistical writer, it never deserved the hype and is actively bad on so many fronts (especially representation)

Bespoke (2024): BBC Sherlock is flawed and bogged down by increasingly poor writing, which many fans refused to see while it was airing, leading to hugely misplaced expectations (particularly for the final series), AND it has the seeds of some compelling characterizations and portrayals, some genuinely solid performances, and touches--albeit imperfectly--on complexities that are still being discussed today (particularly as it relates to the relationship between Sherlock and John). The huge cultural impact of the show has created a massive pendulum effect in its public perception, leading to most people today remembering a caricature of the show (whether positive or negative) rather than appreciating its nuanced merits and failings...that being said Season 4 sucked

[dooblebugss]

I think the thing with the Omni/herbi/carnivore situation is especially that the bf bugs would be a lot more particular since they have the materials to choose NOT to eat meat, and so it's turned into a taboo where in hallownest even if a bug would typically lean herbivorous if it's between eating that tiktik and starving. Well. Make that thing into a stew

I've gotten a few tags on the BF poll along the lines of "there seems to be some weird culture thing with meat" and honestly I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed

[cerealforkart]

Prometheus dared to steal fire from gods

To lift mankind from sorrow

[desultory-novice]

I have finally figured it out.

That "'found family' that is in no way a 'make-believe' nuclear family, that does NOT have pre-defined relationship roles doled out to the participants, just people from wildly different walks of life + attitudes bonding through a shared hellish experience who would be there for each other no matter how late the nightmares hit / that will help you bury the bodies without question no matter how cold it is outside"

...THAT is how I see all the Dream Friends being in Kirby.