#tibero quentius

[sparatus]

📓

GIB

send 📓for a fic plot i haven't written yet

so it's been a while since i wrote any sparatus clan stuff or council political intrigue, yknow, My Brands™️, and ive kinda been wanting to return to those cause i miss my grandpa, so ive got a couple ideas percolating for that

so in a couple different places (most notably serpents in the garden) i've scattered in some details that sparky's predecessors, councilors veleus and aepharia, were both slowly working on gathering evidence on tevos to take her down, and passed on their findings to their respective successors. i'm kind of tossing about a concept for maybe a one-shot, maybe a little more, of the early period just before ierian takes office, when he's trying to get ready for the inauguration and trying to set a good precedent with his to-be colleagues... and then aepharia lets him in on the secret, shows him what veleus found and what she's gathered in turn, and how that colors ierian's perspective on tevos and the way galactic politics are set up as a whole. seemingly kind gestures now have ulterior motives, polite declines of spending time with the others outside of work now seem like flimsy excuses rather than scheduling conflicts.

things come to a head at the reception after his inauguration, when ierian's eldest son areus, 16 years old and technically an adult as of completion of basic training, is approached by an asari social climber. areus, being, y'know, sixteen and also not xeno, tries to decline politely because he's a good boy and knows the galaxy is watching, they don't take that as an answer, ierian (and new friend major quentius! this is how they meet in fact!) steps in to protect his son, and tevos steps in on behalf of her own kind. tevos pretends to be understanding, but still suggests areus is "maybe just young" and "might appreciate the attentions of an older person", which obviously incenses ierian. he can't bite her head off, it's his own inaugural party, but hey - conveniently enough, here's a decorated shanxi war hero, and there's quite a few more in the area if that one raises his voice, and tibero, both older than ierian by 13 years and a father himself, is more than happy to help out.

flash forward a few years, ambassador quentius is sworn in for parnithas. he and ierian have been friends ever since the party, and by now their wives are also thick as thieves, and with tibero coming to the embassy, ierian decides maybe he knows who to trust with the legacy left to him...

[lieutenantabrudas]

ngl lads i told myself i'd finish this for mother's day and then immediately forgot and just happened to finish it now anyway because i wanted to close the canvas and do something else. anyway hello good morning can i interest you all in a lawful neutral/evil navy milf

this is nautilea victrilianus, turian imperial navy. she's a vice admiral at the time of canon and a very highly-decorated shanxi veteran, as well as the wife of tibero quentius, turian chief ambassador (and possible councilor if cnclr sparatus dies, depending on timeline). born on rocam in 2094 terran, she met tibero during their mandatory services when they were briefly sharing a ship and the travels were interrupted by a solar storm, and they fell for each other instantly. they have four children together - atticus, valeria, and the twins bellicus and salvius - and now that tibero has switched from the army to xenopolitics, when she isn't out with the fleet (on the dreadnought Enninion, usually, under her own command) she usually resides on the citadel with him or at their beachfront home on his homeworld of parnithas around holidays. the two of them are also good friends with councilor sparatus and his wife aediteia, and frequently hang out together as a group; tibero is also known to spend time with the sparatuses by himself when nauti is away and he's lonely, with her blessing, because she hates it when he's lonely look at his face he's so sad :(

you can read about her mainly so far in these two fics: "a luncheon most foul" [AO3], her actual character introduction feat. teia and other tower spouses, and "a contest of titans" [AO3], from hackett's pov both during shanxi and many years later.

also she has the bird version of a yorkshire accent. for fun. and kinda because she was inspired by jason isaacs as zhukov in the death of stalin. more rambling under the cut i have so many Thoughts about this one horrible terror-bird

during shanxi, nautilea was a lieutenant-commander, and after her unit boarded a human ship and took several humans prisoner, she was placed in charge of their keep and interrogation. one of said prisoners was then-lieutenant-commander steven hackett. they both proceeded to be utterly abhorrent to each other, they both sucked, nauti was mean and violent and taking out her own emotional distress on hackett who had nothing to do with it, hackett was just as nasty and cruel back, neither one of them was a good person in this instance don't get it twisted. nautilea was worried about her husband and son atticus, both with the army (atticus being 21 and only a sergeant at the time, while tippi was a major) down on the ground on shanxi, and took it out on hackett, seeing it as humanity's fault that her loved ones were in danger while she was stuck up in orbit unable to do anything. it got worse when she lost contact with tibero, which would later turn out to be because he had been captured and taken prisoner, and then when atticus was med-evaced to her ship because he'd been grievously wounded and wouldn't speak to anyone, just cried for his mummy. his squadmates came forward and vouched that the humans who'd ambushed them had started to take them hostage, but needed "mama" to be translated for them as parental terms hadn't been translated yet, and then retreated once they learned what atticus was saying and how old he was, uncomfortable with the knowledge of what they'd done to someone so young. unfortunately, nautilea didn't care, and took out her rage on the humans in her charge. she calmed down significantly once atticus recovered enough to talk to her, and formally requested being taken off prisoner duty so she could focus on her son. hackett would never learn why she disappeared.

later on, hackett would continue to hold a grudge well into the future, while nautilea mostly put everything behind her and stopped caring, because her husband and chicks were safe and that was all that ever mattered to her. in the current period, she generally doesn't care about humans and leaves dealing with aliens (the ones who aren't actively shooting at her men, anyway) to her husband once he switches to xenopolitics. she cares about her people, and her duty to them, and that's what she focuses on. if tippi asks for her input, she'll give it, but for the most part she keeps work and home separate. it helps that when she comes home to tibero, her main line of thought is just about how happy she is to be home where she gets to be cuddled and cooked for and given shinies and not have to wear real people clothes if she doesn't want to, everything outside their apartment be damned. she does still think it's funny that she lives rent-free in hackett's head, especially after tibero is made chief ambassador under sparatus and hackett complains in the news about her. it's whatever. that was the old her. she's moved on.

... except in my "bad end" timeline, where the destiny ascension is left to die under shepard and hackett's orders, and she and tibero lose a very close friend. as hackett was in command of the fifth fleet and made the call to hang back and let the ascension burn, all those bad memories come roaring back, and nautilea goes on the warpath. when the alliance make a move to try and get more of their own ships defending the citadel, the council shoots them down and lets the turians take command instead, and nautilea is put right at the head of the fleet. hackett is not happy about this. nautilea is not happy about hackett killing her friend. the alliance's betrayal is taken as proof that they should have crushed the humans at shanxi, and while tibero tries to counsel peace, nautilea spirals, and becomes determined that what happened to ierian sparatus will not happen to her tippi. things get bad, they almost divorce, the series is about dealing with tragedy nobody's having a good time okay but it works out tippi insists on therapy because he recognizes she's grieving and cracking under the strain of trying to be the strong one

and, just for fun, her character inspo:

his intro with the slowmo and dramatic music is exactly what you should be thinking of when she arrives in luncheon most foul btw. as a treat. that's her that's nautilea. wife <3

[sparatus]

For the emoji asks can I get these for Desolas aaaaand your choice pls? 🍧 SHAVED ICE 👑 CROWN 💧 DROPLET 💚 GREEN HEART

oc emoji asks

yesssss let's say [spins wheel of ocs] tippi? tippi <3

🍧 SHAVED ICE - do they still have any objects from their childhood? what significance does it have to them? what would their reaction be if they lost it?

desolas: everything from his parents' home that wasn't, like, saren's was either put into storage or left in the house, which technically belongs to him and he's been hanging onto for his brother or kids if any of them wants it. his grandmother and saren occasionally drop by to tidy and keep the place from falling into disrepair. he can't go back anymore, the memories are too strong, but the comforter from his parents' bed was folded up and taken to his grandmother's home for safekeeping, and given to him when he married valis. sometimes, when he's upset, he wraps himself up in it and imagines he can still smell them.

quentius: he doesn't have many things from childhood beyond pictures, most of the things he's more sentimental about happened as an adult (his wife, his kids, his friends). he might be a little sad if the pictures of his baby self were lost, but they aren't that important to him in the long run.

👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

desolas: when he was younger, he wanted to be somebody great, whose name would go down in history and be written across the stars. now that he's achieved that, he just wants to be remembered for being a good big brother, a loving husband, a doting father. he doesn't care about much else.

quentius: intelligent and just, loyal and true. he's not interested in fame, but if he could be remembered for being a good and honorable man, he'll be happy.

💧 DROPLET - random angst headcanon

desolas: the ifura raid happened when desolas was 24, not long before he was given the choice to stay in the army and get officers' training or leave for uni or trade training to pursue a non-combat career. he'd been talking with his parents about his options before they died, and was close to settling on a career outside the military. after the raid, his depression and despair led him to stick with the army, because it was the only thing he felt like he could do when all of his creativity and interest in other subjects died with his parents and he had a little brother to provide for.

quentius: he's been entrusted with the truth about ierian's cardiac disease and what to do if he has an episode at work. he has nightmares about not responding fast enough, and his friend's death being his fault. in bad end, when ierian dies on the ascension, he's wracked with guilt about not being there to at least ease his friend's suffering before the ship went down.

💚 GREEN HEART - what things make your oc feel comforted? hugs, kisses, food?

desolas: touch his face. touch it. preening, running your claws through his crest, soft kisses, cupping his head in your hand so he can lean into the touch and maybe close his eyes as he lets you take the weight of his weary head for just a moment-- ahem yeah most forms of gentle intimate touch involving his face do the trick, hugs and simply Holding Him help too but the face is the ticket if you're valis abrudas close enough to him to be allowed to do so

quentius: leaning on him or letting him lean on you in turn, or bringing him a drink and listening to what's on his mind. he's switched to politics, but he's an old officer at heart. his wife also gets the special secret bonus comfort of sitting in his lap, lying on top of him, gentle caresses, assuring him she'll take care of everything and he doesn't have to worry. this is a bad thing in bad end.

[sparatus]

📚📚

send me 📓 for a fic plot i haven't written yet

oh you want two, cool i got two :)

been bouncing around a couple ideas for some sparkyteia + quentilea couples' vacations, let the old men get off the station and have fun with their feral wives a bit. also because "the alleged mistress is actually just quentius" is a hell of a take i think it would be funny to seed into the fandom.

first one is a tropical vacation on quentius's home planet of parnithas. ierian's been stressed out and getting grouchier by the minute, so teia and tibero scheme to get the poor old man to agree to a vacation. ierian's stubborn though, so "persuade" eventually becomes "strong-arm;" teia books the tickets and packs, tippi offers a room at his beach house for better privacy and security, nautilea goes on ahead to get the place ready. but ierian doesn't want a vacation, he's got shit to do and people to call and spectres to handle – except he also has an assistant happy to tell people the big boss lawyer boy is on vacation, and the spectres love chaos and agree to divert to valern and tevos (and the dead parents club aka saren nihlus and avitus do bird rock-paper-scissors to see who gets bodyguard duty for the free tropical vacation, of course), and it's all taken care of, ierian, relax, come along our flight's in an hour

ierian's omni-tool is confiscated on arrival on parnithas. mandatory relaxation it's for your health eri. cue about a day or two's worth of sulking and complaining and trying to be wily and get his tool back before finally succumbing to the allure of a nice sunset on the beach with his good friends, some nice rum, fishing, and a bonfire under the stars. his wife being happy and relaxed and so very pretty topless and wearing fluttery skirts also helps.

idea #2 might be this year's new year's fic, the power couple couple skip out on the annual stuffy new year's gala to go have fun somewhere tevos and udina can't spoil it for them. they scuttle off to bird vegas, once again against ierian's will - he did agree to the vacation this time, the council is on recess anyway, but he wanted somewhere quiet and relaxing, he just got outvoted by his feral friends and wife. shenanigans ensue. nobody's really keeping track of who's had how much to drink, even ierian has a little too much, but that's what they have blackwatch for, innit?

when they wake up the next morning, they find they accidentally got married to the wrong ones. ierian and tibero, teia and nautilea. oopsie!! luckily, since they're all verifiably already married, it's easy enough to get an annulment, but not without a good day's worth of ribbing each other and goofing around with it, for funsies. they also obviously never let each other live it down, and calling each other their exes becomes a running in-joke.

[sparatus]

sparkyteia + quentilea platonic pile dynamic is basically just sparky and quenty watching detective shows and drinking in the living room like normal reasonable old men who work in xenopolitics and want to chill with their friends. and then there's teia and nauti. running around in the background. causing problems on purpose.

[sparatus]

Character Cuddle Scale

How-to: Rate your OCs based on how they handle cuddling/being cuddled.

tagged by @outpost51 and @thetrashbagswasteland tyyyy

limiting myself to these guys cause otherwise we'll be here all day <3

Aediteia: 999999/10 oh my god please cuddle her please please PLEASE she'll DIE-- ahem. she's empty-nesting hard, she's an excellent cuddler, she'll cuddle anyone who asks and will be very happy to do so, complete with face rubs and also a snack and blankie (but not control of the remote, ierian)

Nautilea: 6/10, she's a little aggressive but she's got the spirit, bumps up to 11/10 if your name is tibero quentius. she likes getting cuddled more than giving them out, preferably either with her husband very lazily dozing off or getting piled on by her kids which they're SO good at

Matteo: 5/10. i mean. sure, you can, and they're like, warm, and solid, and they theoretically know what they're supposed to do in return, but you could hug a plush toy you threw in the dryer for roughly the same effect, and the toy is more squishable.

Viktoriya: 10/10 if you just give her a sec. she might freeze up and look like you shot her at first, but give her a minute and she'll completely melt and be SO cuddly and also not let go at any point ever

Taniria: 7/10. she likes hugs! if you ask first. it's the autism just approach her politely and respectfully and if she likes you and is in the mood she's SO good at enthusiastic hugging

Galenia "Leni": 2/10. she'd rather you not, unless you're her mom or dad or an uncle if she's sad. she might cry, actually. it's also the autism but she's like 30x more touch-sensitive than her sister.

Axilus: solid 8/10, great if you like being crushed to death by biceps bigger than your head. he WILL crack your back real good, so just make your peace with that. he also doesn't get to cuddle very often so please just let the baby nuzzle and preen he misses his mom he will look so so sad if you tell him to go away

Taeja: -70/10. don't.

Tarvok: 4/10. he's touch-starved to hell and back, because hegemony, but also really bad at expressing emotion, also because hegemony, so he's gonna pretend he doesn't like being touched and be real prickly and grouchy the whole time. best he can offer is lying on the same couch at the same time.

tagging uhhh @ndostairlyrium @threewhiskeylunch @who-is-riley @daisywalletchains and anyone else who wants to and hasn't been tagged yet godspeed

[sparatus]

Slides "shaking hands" and "dust motes" across your table for the micro stories, please 👀?

oho i can do rude things with these thank you :3

micro story prompts

15. trembling hands and 32. dust motes - Tibero Quentius, Nautilea Victrilianus (Bad End)

Everything had fallen apart.

Nautilea had never liked it when her Tippi was upset. There was something wrong about it, a great big man who was always so calm and patient while she raged and shrieked her pain to the stars suddenly breaking down into deep, painful sobs. He wasn't supposed to be the emotional one. She was wild, and he wasn't, and he balanced her fits of emotion with quietly holding her until she was done.

And then the Destiny Ascension was left to die, and Ierian Sparatus burned.

Nautilea watched from the door, blocking the door firmly so nobody but her could see the new councilor cry over a picture of a dead man. Tippi's hands shook as he took down his picture frames, his little knickknacks, all the things that had made the chief ambassador's office his over the years he'd so comfortably been Ierian's right hand, and packed them delicately into a box for their move into the big office right around the corner. He'd been putting this off for weeks already. He'd already taken down Ierian's things out of the big office, given them back to Teia so she'd have more of her husband to remember him by, but he'd been clinging to his own office like a lifeline. If he moved his own stuff over, it made it real, and if it was real, then their friend was dead.

The bone carving Ierian had cut prayers to old gods Tippi didn't know the names of into trembled enough in his hand Nautilea could see it from the door. Her heart twisted. "Tippi, are you sure you want to do this yourself? You could ask Auggie, I'm sure he wouldn't mind..."

He swallowed audibly. "No." Dust motes swirled through the sunlight streaming through the blinds. "No, I... I have to do it, it has to be me."

"Tippi..." She took a few steps into the office, letting the door slide shut behind her. "Tippi, I hate seeing you like this."

"I'll be okay, Nauti. It... it has to get done, I've been putting it off too long." If he noticed her approaching, he didn't acknowledge. Widow's light seemed to be mocking them, bright and cheerful like a lazy summer afternoon instead of one of the worst things they'd ever had to do. The sun was shining, children were playing in the parks down below, and they were packing up so Tibero could take the office his best friend used to hold. "I can't keep pretending forever."

Nautilea hesitated, then finished crossing the room and placed a gentle hand on his arm. His eyes were wet, and his mandibles quivered. "Tibero," she said, voice soft, and when he didn't respond she stepped up close enough to lean against his side. "You're grieving. We're all grieving. Let me... Let me take care of you."

Tippi snuffled, a deep, chest-shaking noise that rattled Nautilea's bones. "You're in charge of the Citadel fleets, Nauti, you have enough on your plate."

Nautilea puffed. "That's my job, though, innit? As your wife." She slid her hand around to grip his other shoulder, wrapping him in a side-hug, and leaned her head against his. "Drake tends the nest, hen protects the brood and the den. You just focus on doing your job, and I'll take care of everything else." She tipped her head to press a kiss to his mandible. "Just let me take care of you, Tippi. Let me protect you, so you don't have to feel this way ever again."

Tippi took a deep breath and set the bone talisman in the box. "You can't protect me from everything, Nauti."

"No." Nautilea pushed her head against his again, and this time he leaned back, and she let her subvocals carry all the grief and pain she didn't know how to express otherwise. "But I can damn well try."

[sparatus]

♾️

Send a ♾ to my ask box and I’ll shuffle Spotify and write a drabble or flash piece for it

Sainted be what I say.

Character(s): Nautilea Victrilianus, Kautus Fidensis, Steven Hackett, Tibero Quentius

Words: 1,607

Warnings: referenced character death, derogatory language towards humans by an alien (leaning towards turian supremacy?)

--

Nautilea's boots clanked along the metal floors of the docks as she marched towards her ship, her cloak snapping in the wind left in her wake. Footsteps clanged in stamping, ominous unison behind her, the two men she'd selected as her personal guard on the Citadel doing their best to keep up. They were good men, loyal and proud, and wouldn't hesitate in the line of duty. She could trust them.

It was hard to trust anybody, these days.

Captain Fidensis met her at the airlock. His salute was swift and crisp, like a good turian. "Ma'am."

"Captain." She returned the salute, tapping her mandibles against her face, then dropped it and headed into the airlock. "I assume you've heard?"

"Yes, ma'am." He fell into step at her flank, Lieutenant Fortis stepping aside to make room. "I'm surprised the asari agreed to it."

"We gave them no choice." Nautilea drew her hands behind her back and stood at ease while the decon ran its course. The lights hurt her eyes, and the decon itself tickled her scalp, like always, but she barely afforded it more than a twitch of one mandible. "The asari failed to defend the Citadel and the Council. Now it's our turn. We're stronger, smarter, better suited to war. If the Alliance decide to be cowards again, it won't matter."

Fidensis's boots scraped against the floor behind her. "I heard the Alliance was expecting to take over defense of the Citadel, ma'am."

Nautilea snorted. "They were."

The lights switched off, and the VI chirped pleasantly. "Decontamination complete. Identity confirmed: Welcome back, Admiral Victrilianus."

The airlock doors slid open, and Nautilea continued onward without a backwards glance. Hurried footsteps were her only assurance Fidensis and the guards followed, as if there was any question they wouldn't. "Contrary to what Admiral Hackett's ego would have him believe, the Council didn't take kindly to the suggestion that the navy who let the Ascension burn would be the best ones for the new job opening. Unanimous vote of absolutely not."

Fortis snorted, and her mandible twitched upwards a couple degrees. One of Hackett's marines had dared try and get in Fortis's face during the hearing, and now had what she was sure was a lovely Phaeston-shaped bruise on their chest where he'd proven exactly what turians thought of such aggression. Fidensis just rumbled, his subvocals betraying his concern. "I'm sure the Alliance was thrilled."

That got Nautilea's mandibles all the way up, and she licked her teeth as the memory of the human admiral staring up at her and trying to make himself look big. "Oh, you should have heard the cries of nepotism. Thought Udina was about to have an aneurysm and die right there on the floor. Hackett wanted to shoot me, I think. So sad, I don't think he knows how to handle opponents a head and a half taller than him and pointy on all ends. Would've called 'im cute if he didn't have my friend's blood on his hands."

"You've got a lot of damn nerve, Steven Hackett, speaking to me like that with so much blood on your hands!"

She should have shot him. Her arm jerked towards the SMG at her hip, but a warning bark from Tibero stayed her hand. She settled for looming over the humans instead - Hackett only came up to the point of her keel, and Udina was even smaller, and humans were nothing more than squealing mammals when you applied enough pressure. The Star of Palaven swinging from her chest proved she knew plenty about that.

Fear danced across his eyes, but not enough to stop the stupidity on his tongue. "It's obvious you're biased," he argued. "If we put the turian councilor's own wife in charge of the Citadel fleets-"

"I'll have a personal fucking stake in saving him, won't I!?" Nautilea hissed. Fortis and Praetelus behind her both echoed with their own wordless snarls. Good boys, those two. She took one step forward, bringing herself that much closer to what she should have done twenty-six years ago. She was close enough that she had to turn her head almost all the way down to look Hackett in the eyes as she bared her teeth. "Because of you, I held my friend back from throwing herself on her husband's pyre, and you have the gall to tell me you deserve to defend this Council. Ierian Sparatus and thousands of others are dead - because of you!"

Her foot came down a little too forward, a little too angled. She yelped as she stumbled, just barely catching herself on the railing around the command center before she cracked her skull open on it. "Fuck!"

Fidensis lunged forward, but she waved him off. "I'm fine," she forced out through her teeth, pushing herself back upright. Her ankle throbbed in disagreement, but half the techs on the command deck were watching. She couldn't look weak now. She'd have her snuffle in private.

Maybe she'd call Tippi once she was alone. Tippi understood her.

"You can't lose your temper like that, Nauti."

Nautilea's gait faltered, just a step, but it was enough for her to fall behind. She huffed and took longer strides to catch up. "You heard what they were saying, Tippi. They were practically spitting bile on Ierian's pyre."

"And you almost started a war in the Council chambers." Tibero stopped by the elevator and pressed the up button. His shoulders and mandibles were sagging, more tired than Nautilea had ever known him. "Believe me, I'm just as angry as you are, but Ierian is gone, and Teia's back home in Tiirtias. I can't have you going to prison or getting killed, Nauti, you're the only friend I have left on this station."

Her heart climbed up her throat, and on impulse, she reached for his hand. "Tippi..."

He flinched back, and pure bile replaced her heart. Then he sighed, and he took her hand, lifted it to his mouth plates, and gave her knuckles a gentle kiss. "Just... keep your head on straight. For me. Please, baby."

He was supposed to understand her, anyway.

She took a deep breath as she stepped up the command dais. Most of the bridge was already watching, waiting for the speech they'd probably been buzzing about as soon as word of the shifting tides arrived. She did always pride herself on delivering. She tapped the keys to broadcast herself across the ship, then settled into parade rest. "This is Admiral Victrilianus," she told them, and a distant echo confirmed the speaker system was working. "I'm sure you've all heard the news by now. The Enninion is taking the lead in defense of the Citadel, and the Empire will be sending more ships to bolster the fleets. By morning, you'll all have been officially transferred to Citadel Defense."

Hackett's face flashed across her mind's eye, infuriatingly defiant despite the clear danger he'd put himself in, and her mandibles pulled in tight. "I won't lie to you, lads. We've all seen the state of things on the station, and on the news. The Alliance believes themselves heroes for letting thousands die by their inaction."

Grumbling and growling rose up around the bridge, but fell silent as she raised a hand. "I'm as angry as you are. Our late councilor wasn't just a politician. He was a champion for our people against a culture that wanted us to file down our points and make ourselves small. He upheld the law in the face of aliens trying to chip away at what it stands for. He was a great man, one I..." Her throat tried to close. She took a deep, slightly gasping breath and soldiered on. "One I'm honored to have called a friend."

Her talons curled around the railing as she bowed her head. Murmurs of sympathy and agreement slid through the air around her, and just behind her, Fidensis lowed soft encouragement. Another deep breath, and her head came up. "Ierian Sparatus will not have died in vain. At this very moment, Commander Shepard is being hunted down like the worthless, terrorist vermin he is. Justice will be served. Order will be restored." A low growl built in her chest, and she rolled her shoulders. "Starting today, the Alliance will learn that their actions have consequences! Together, we will stand strong against the Council's enemies, and prove the might of the Turian Empire! The Alliance may have betrayed the Council, but we, the sailors of the Turian Imperial Navy, will not fail!"

As roaring cheers filled the air, Nautilea took a deep breath, cut the feed, and slowly relaxed her hands. "I will not fail," she repeated, quieter, eyes fixated on the map of the Widow system one of the navigation team had put up. The wreckage of the Ascension had finally been towed away the week prior, and the space where it used to be was just that, a gaping hole where the sense of safety and security of an entire galaxy used to be. A flashing dot appeared in the center, followed by a nav path leading to the little holo Enninion still docked at Zakera Ward. "I promise, Ierian. This is my revenge. For you, I won't fail."

Tippi wasn't going to like it, but so be it. He'd come around. She wasn't going to lose him like Teia lost Ierian. The Alliance had betrayed them, but now she was in command, and she wasn't letting anything happen to her Tippi.

If she had to take out every star in the universe, she would protect her own.

[sparatus]

4, 12, 17, 28?

ao3 wrapped

4. What work of yours has the most hits?

lol. broken mirror, ringing in at 7,441 and blowing literally everything else ive ever put on ao3 out of the water. come read it if you haven't yet ik 333k is a bit of a slog but the whole series it started is my baby and apparently a comfort read for some of my readers??

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

answered here!

17. Your favorite character to write this year?

answered here and here, but also. in conjunction with sparatus, i've been doing a lot of dabbling with quentius this year (not all of it published), and he's a lot of fun too! he provides a really interesting foil to sparatus, esp with sparky being a prosecutor before politics while quentius was a military officer. they're good friends, and i love writing quentius as the loyal dragon to sparky, and how he's both a confidant and the "we tried playing nice and you didn't wanna be nice so okay violence it is" guy.

and then there's bad end. oh my god i love bad end quentius. councilor tibero "i want you to kill the traitor shepard and i want to watch you do it" quentius. killing the council is treason and you shouldn't be allowed to continue the series if you do it and i stand firm behind it and quentius is SO FUCKING DELICIOUS as a vengeful big bad i LOVE him even tho bad end makes me cry

28. Favorite work you wrote this year?

technically my answer for 3 over here also answers this, so skipping still on patrol, probably a toss-up between two:

i know you, pre-shanxi desabrudas. listen the pre-canon stuff with them always hurts always cause it's the darkest part of the pit of depression des falls into but the emotional catharsis is so fucking good and i love playing with the background between them

serpents in the garden, my m.e. big bang fic. xenopolitics and political intrigue have been my jam since i started in this fandom and i had SO much fun returning to it for this fic. the group chat has been begging for sequels so i think that means i did good lol

[sparatus]

from the character design asks: favorite, for a character of your choosing?

thank you!! let's doooo. oh i have nautilea on the mind, let's do her :)

character design asks

nautilea victrilianus: rear admiral in the turian imperial navy, decorated shanxi veteran and wife of ambassador tibero quentius

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

she likes to wear the jacket of her dress uniform with all its shiny medals and ribbons like a cape, just to flex, but her favorite thing is a necklace her husband gave her when they were younger, long before shanxi. it's a simple thing, just a simple chain with a colorful agate pendant hanging from it, but it was the first piece of jewelry he ever got her, and he bought it outside turian space so he had to spend his actual savings on it, so there's a lot of sentimental value for her. she wears it everywhere she goes to keep him close to her even when they're apart.

[sparatus]

L and N for the oc ask!

fuck yeah thanks bb!!

OC Alphabet Soup

ok who do i have for L lemme think. uhhHHH well i do have dr. leonardo shepard, estranged older brother of matteo shepard. he's a psychiatrist by trade, doing very well for himself, kind of thought of himself as the successful brother considering he got the traditional job, has a wife and kids, etc etc... and then matteo just had to go and make spectre. kinda left a bitter taste in his mouth when everyone starts asking about the brother he disowned.

when ginevra disappeared, leonardo is the only one of the family who accepted that she was either dead or had abandoned them. alessandro, matteo, pietro - all three of them chose to believe that she was still out there somewhere, wanting to come back to them. as the years wore on, this built up bitterness and resentment, especially when leonardo went to shrink school and saw them as coping unhealthily with an unpleasant reality. this culminated in a fight, and leonardo ended up disowning the rest of his family. he tried to reach out when matteo was caught up in akuze, but it turned sour when their mother inevitably came up, and he is again no-contact with the family. will he make an appearance? idk, haven't decided yet :)

and then for N. okay admittedly part of why i delayed answering this ask was cause i have a new oc i was trying to spitball a name for so i could talk about her :lmao: her name is nautilea vitrilianus, nicknames include "lea" for most people, "vic" for her military friends, and "nauti" if you're tibero quentius and don't fear death. she's ambassador/councilor quentius's ex-wife though im getting attached and might switch and say they're still married actually who he parted with amicably, they married young when they were both still in mandatory, and by the time they realized it wasn't working out they were already several years and two kids (one daughter, one trans son) in. they're still good friends and have a lot of fun together when she finds herself on the citadel.

she's an admiral in the turian imperial navy (a point of playful conflict with tibero, who made it to major in the army before he switched to xenopolitics) and is fairly relaxed and easygoing, very likeable. she also gets on well with cnclr sparatus's wife aediteia, and will show up to embassy spouse shindigs specifically so teia doesn't lose her goddamn mind and has somebody to be catty with. she's got a good sense of humor, and basically when she's off base or out of uniform you wouldn't expect her to be an admiral or the chief ambassador's ex-wife, but she can switch the Command Voice™ on in an instant which of course tibero thinks is hot.

basically oops! made a canon/oc ship again, i just can't help myself,

[sparatus]

I was hoping for some of your headcanons about (would be Councilor if Shepard didn't save the Citadel Council, which of course they did) Quentius. I would be especially happy if a few of these included his weekly(?) dinners with Sparatus. Please and thank you?

sorry this took so long hdflskf i’ve been VERY busy and low on spoons

anyway, My Boy Quincy,

his first name is tibero, and he’s from the colony world parnithas, the second-most major colony after digeris and the first colony established beyond the apien crest. he was a standard soldier during his time in mandatory, and studied law to become a defense attorney (well, the turian analogue of such).

while sparatus is councilor, he’s the chief ambassador, meaning it’s his job to act as go-between for the ambassadors of individual worlds (or clusters, depending on population density) and the council. they bring him issues, and he works with them to resolve it; anything he can’t help is sent up to sparatus. he started out in the embassy as a diplomat representing his home city, then was promoted to ambassador for parnithas, then got the chief ambassador job.

he personally doesn’t have much interest in becoming councilor himself, knowing how much pressure the councilor is under and how many things the councilors get blamed for that are out of their control. he leaves the position roughly 12 years after the reaper war, recognizing signs that sparatus is considering retirement himself and opting to let somebody else who actually wants the job have a chance at it.

he gets along well with the others in the embassy, having a generally amicable personality. he’s usually the one others come to to resolve arguments, even beyond politics, like “so-and-so said my favorite food SUCKS” type of disagreements.

despite only being maybe 20 or so years younger than sparatus, sparatus has a very paternal attitude towards him, and regards him like a nephew. (it’s very common in turian circles that the “leader” of the group, most commonly established through age and authority, will also be the one who acts most parental towards the others, so this behavior isn’t unusual.) in turn, quentius regards sparatus as a mentor and semi-father figure.

sparatus’s wife famously dotes on anyone in regular contact with her husband, being a broody with a mostly-empty nest. quentius is no exception. as chief ambassador, he has the most contact with sparatus of anyone in the embassy, so she has effectively adopted him as her fourth child (despite being probably ~20 years older than her eldest). he comes over for dinner at least once a month (but usually once a week), and receives gifts from her and sparatus on every major turian holiday that features gift-giving. he’s welcome to any leftovers in their fridge, and sometimes she’ll also bring him takeout when she comes to the embassy to have lunch with her husband. she has all his favorite dishes memorized. there’s no escape. he is happy to accept his new, second mother, which of course gives him many brownie points in sparatus’s book.

he’s very slow to anger, and does his best to remain calm under pressure. this tends to lead people to view him as a “gentle giant,” but this isn’t necessarily true; it’s more that he’s the kind of guy who’s scariest when angry, because he stays so damnedly calm that it freaks people out. when he’s pissed off, he can threaten to decapitate you in the same tone of voice you’d use to say you’re out of milk, and you’d fully believe his willingness to do it.

he’s the kind of person who moves slowly but deliberately. when he’s startled into moving quickly, he’s clumsy and uncoordinated, and has a tendency to knock things over and/or break them.

he has two older brothers and a younger sister. the oldest is a doctor, and the other two are military officers. they’re all fairly close, and get together at least once a year to hang out.