#turian world building

[dispatchwithlove]

I absolutely adore your ideas for turian culture. The shawls, the interesting word choices correlating with Roman/Latin words (like zuccha, amar, saccha). My absolute favorite thing though is the ties they have with the sky and stars. Garrus' curses (empty night, blackest night) especially are some of my favorite little elements in the universe you write for them. Where did you come up with these awesome ideas? I'm just so invested in the culture you created for my favorite space cats!

Hello Anon! Sorry this took so long to answer, I got absolutely giddy when I read it!

Well the whole Latin thing is taken both from canon (they're based on the Roman empire) and fanon. I know others have used Latin words and Roman culture to develop turian culture, and I liked it so I ran with it. A lot of the words I made up are bastardized latin words, lol. Saccha, mela, and zuccarum (zucca for short) are taken from the Latin words for sugar, honey, and ... sugar again, I think, lol. Crulum is taken from cookie. I kind of just look up the latin words for things and throw some letters around until I'm happy with the mouth feel of it. Other words I just plain make up, like lambas, which is a dish Val makes for the family. I want all turian words to sound like a rich, rolling, rumbly language as much as possible. For Avinelin, a Garrus/Nihlus one shot, I wanted the turian language Nihlus teaches Garrus to sound more like Spanish, because I think it's an incredibly sexy language. Basically, I want turians to sound hot I guess! I think a lot of people like to write turians as cold and ultra-militaristic, and go as far as to say they don't show physical affection easily (which is a valid take that I fully support!). But, I like to show the opposite of that -- that yes their culture is regimented and bureaucratic, but there's still warmth within them. Maybe expressing that warmth within them is even more important, considering their strict social guidelines.

I think that's also why I like to explore the importance of celestial themes with them as well. It shows that they once were religious, just like many species, and that shaped their language and how they cope with life. I know others play with curses being star based as well, so I didn't invent that, I just have fun playing with it. I will say that so far my favorite bit of star theme that I've come up with though, is Garrus seeing Jane's freckles as stars in a night sky, and that when he was a boy he'd look up at the night sky for comfort and solace. I don't get gushy over things I write often, but that moment in The Quarian where he makes that connection gets me! And I will absolutely be playing with that as Garrus and Jane reveal their feelings and explore their relationship in The Boy. One day he'll tell Jane that her freckles are like stars and she'll just melt 🥺 (I've already written the scene 😁)

OH, and the shawls...in the sequel to The Boy (working title is The Missing -- I hate my titles btw, but I feel stuck to the theme now, lol) There's going to be a murder based on the Jeffrey McDonald murders (a military doctor accused "hippies" of killing his family) and I wanted turians to have some sort of cultural appearance that xenophobic humans judged, but was based on something loving, so I thought maybe turians wear shawls while they marry, then i daydreamed about Jane wearing a shawl when her and Garrus get married, then when I was writing about a winter turian holiday (Anivia Vocan) I thought it would be cool if turians wear shawls for all important occasions. Boom, turians have special shawls. Okay, I feel like I've blabbered on enough. Bless anyone who read through this all. TLDR is that I have no plan and don't even keep track of the stuff I write. It all just bubbles up while I'm daydreaming about Jane and Garrus and I include what I remember.

Thanks for asking! Hope this was fun to read. If it was, I'm always down to answer any questions about my stories or world building! ❤️

[not-a-newt]

Anyways, here's an excerpt (Mass Effect Initiation) on the way that turian, asari, and krogan crowds move as opposed to humans

[teamdilf]

turian world building gets me so excited! i’d love to hear anything you’d like to share about estate turian culture. i’d also love any fic links you’d like to throw up that explore this topic.

Ooh, I’ll bring you on a journey today!

The turian estate families are a small group of families (Victus, Sparatus, Malso, Kandros and Surcus being a few examples), who live in massive estates in an old neighbourhood in Cipritine. They are descended from soldiers whose actions were so heroic; so helpful to the cause during the Unification War, that the Hierarchy gifted them with large plots of land in what was, at the time, the edge of Cipritine.

Every one of them opted to build a house, with the mindset that it would be the family home. Over generations, the houses are expanded to accommodate the growing number of family members, but soon this idea becomes twisted as it becomes clear that they’ll never have a house large enough to fit everyone. So, someone comes up with the bright idea that the highest ranking child of the owner is the one who inherits it. Every other family follows suit.

The result of this is that there are different tiers in these families. There’s the family that resides in the home, and then those who need to either marry into another estate family home, or live as (mostly) ordinary citizens with a very good name.

Arranged marriages are common, and so are accidents befalling the top-ranked child. Adrien’s father, Erasmus Victus’ older brother fell victim to such an accident, when he and Erasmus were on the same mission. Just a tragic coincidence… right?

Over the centuries, some families fall on hard times and must sell their estate to a “new credits” family. No matter how long the new residents live in the estate, they’re never seen fully as part of this exclusive club, but it is common for less highly-ranked children to marry into a new credits family to take advantage of their wealth, increasing the opportunities for them and their children. This is what Sparatus winds up doing - he and his wife wind up becoming friends, and have two children, but never fall in love with one another. But, his wife’s wealth and influence allow both of them to go far in Hierarchy and galactic politics! Sparatus’ niece was initially promised to Adrien, who rejected an arranged marriage, estranging himself from his abusive parents for years because he fell in love with Tullia, who comes from an ordinary middle class family.

Adrien loathes his origins so thoroughly that he works to shake his upper class accent as a young man, adopting Tullia’s accent instead. It slips out when he’s been drinking - especially at formal events with estate turians in attendance and it pisses him off.

All but two of the estates are destroyed during the war, but the remaining families petition the Hierarchy to purchase government land outside the city, which they use to build gaudy new mansions. The official who made that call did not consult Adrien, and made the deal because they determined that they needed the credits more than the land. Adrien, who recognizes that his people needs land to grow food, is furious and tries to stop the deal, only to discover he’s too late. This both infuriates and devastates him.

A lot of my Victus-focused work gets into Adrien’s horrific childhood and the deep scorn he feels for the wealthiest in Hierarchy society, but here are a few that really get into it:

A Broken Old Estate - Adrien’s origin story, told through a mix of flashbacks and current events. CW: child abuse, death of a sibling, death of a child, and drug/alcohol addiction.

The Family Dinner - Tullia meets Adrien’s parents for the first time. CW: child abuse, and drug/alcohol addiction.

The In-Laws and the Grandparents - A minor deviation from my canon universe wherein Adrien’s parents attempt to assassinate his adopted daughter, Aurelia, with Adrien covering her and taking the hit. The focus is on their father-daughter relationship, but there is a heavy helping of estate turian culture and politics - and even more in a coming chapter. CW: attempted murder of a child, major character injury, medical procedures, PTSD, and child abuse.

[edenprime]

One of the strongest points of Mass Effect, if not the strongest, is just how well written the characters are. From Shepard, to the squad, to the side characters like Anderson and Bakara, to barely-there NPCs like Ereba and Charr the lovers, Etarn Tiro the enthusiastic turian merchant, Kargesh the krogan who wanted a fish, Lia'Vael, the quarian who gets falsely accused of theft, and the Salarian who wants to buy a memento to his asari lover to remember him by once he's dead.

I feel like so many of them are memorable, and they all serve a purpose to the overall world building. The krogan show that they are not the violent thugs the galaxy has made them out to be. The salarian shows the struggle born out of building relationships with people of a species with a life expectancy so beyond your own. Lia'Vael illustrates what Tali says about the quarians being treated like second class citizens. Those small little side quests have a meaning and a purpose, it doesnt feel like they are Just There, and they add more to the lore of them game to those who care about that stuff.

[felassan]

Story elements, Campaign Map, and Garrus character sheet from the Mass Effect The Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz Rulebook [source]

bonus: move names of Garrus' and Wrex' that just made me happy :)

Text version of first three images under cut -

Opening blurb:

"In the year 2186, the civilizations of the galaxy are at war with a relentless, artificial enemy called the Reapers. Commander Shepard’s warnings of their arrival were all ignored, and now the Reapers have invaded the galaxy in force, crushing all resistance. Earth has fallen. Palaven, the turian homeworld, is under siege, and their military might barely holds the enemy at bay. The Reapers are pressing into the galaxy on all fronts, and it is only a matter of time before the races of Citadel Space are crushed beneath their onslaught. But there is still hope. Commander Shepard has assembled a crew of trusted allies aboard the Systems Alliance stealth frigate, the Normandy. They have the schematics for the mysterious Prothean superweapon, the Crucible, but constructing it alone will not be enough. Shepard and the Normandy crew are racing to forge alliances, build a unified front capable of defeating the Reapers before they overtake the galaxy and complete their harvest of all biological life. All the while, the insidious terrorist organisation Cerberus advances their own agenda of human supremacy at any cost, led by the mysterious Illusive Man and his army of ruthless operatives."

Note from Admiral Hackett:

"“Commander Shepard, Since you took out the Cerberus lab on Sanctum, N7 Special Forces have hit every other lab we could find. Cerberus has caught on and moved their research efforts off-world. They’ve retrofitted one of their cruisers as a mobile research facility and now keep it on the move. I’ve received reports of more abductions, like the one you stopped on Benning, and several refugee ships have unexpectedly dropped off the grid. Cerberus could be holding those abductees on that cruiser as hostages, or worse, as test subjects. Their latest hiding place was the storm above Hagalaz. Taking a page out of the Shadow Broker’s book, I suppose. We only found them because the cruiser appears to have suffered a massive systems failure and crashed on the night side of the planet. Although these nights are a lot longer than Earth’s, unfortunately it’s almost morning and daybreak will bring the most powerful storm on the other side of the Attican Traverse. The Normandy is the only Alliance ship in range. I need you to see what Cerberus was up to. Interference from the storm is degrading comms, so there’s no way Cerberus can get their research off-planet except by portable data transfer. We have recovery assets on the way, but they won’t arrive until after the storm hits and tears that ship to pieces. Shepard, your orders are: Whatever you do, keep that research data out of Cerberus’ hands. When the storm is over, I don’t want them to recover their work from the wreckage. Denying them those assets will be a major blow. Retrieve the research if possible, or destroy it if there’s no other choice. Alternatively, find a way to fortify the ship until the fleet arrives. If you find prisoners along the way, get them out of there. The storm is coming, Shepard. Get it done.” – Admiral Hackett"

Note from EDI:

"“Shepard, analysis of the crashed cruiser has isolated three primary objectives. The reactor, the research data core, and the kinetic barrier generator. You only have time to reach one of those before the storm arrives. Accessing the data core will allow us to steal Cerberus’ research, but they could salvage the ship’s wreckage after the storm has passed. Overloading the reactors will destroy the ship – and all hope of any data recovery or salvage. I am also detecting signs of the captives Admiral Hackett mentioned. By diverting power from the research core, you can boost the ship’s kinetic barriers long enough to preserve it and protect the prisoners until the Alliance arrives. However, if you do this, the data banks will be lost. The storm is only a few hours away, Shepard. I recommend moving fast. Displaying potential routes to each objective. The mission is yours.” – EDI"

[sol-consort]

How do you think the mass effect depicts would react to trick or treating? (Sorry if it’s been asked before and I missed it)

Halloween Pt.1

[Part 2]

Dw, you're good it's never been asked before. Even then, I don't mind repeating prompts if I had something new to add... Otherwise I just let it marinate in my inbox in shame.

Gonna assume this is about Mass Effect alien species and not specific characters since that's what I'm mostly asked about. If anything, it shows how impressive the world building in the franchise is for the whole foundation of my blog to be set upon mostly just the species content.

Asari

They think it's a little novel of a holiday

Surprisingly down to participate in it, both to "welcome our new human neighbours" and because they're genuinely intrigued

Most asari are hardcore

They take the costume making part of Halloween very seriously

A good handful of them do end up dressing up as Aria

Doesn't end well.

The first year of Halloween to them is a big hit

Becomes a whole trend and the Next Big Thing

Then like all trends, it ends up simmering down with time

A couple decades into the future and only some asari still celebrate Halloween, mostly the ones with human relatives or friends

But a lot of houses, stores, and even offices keep a honorary candy bowl for humans during this time of year

More as an accommodation

Human demand free candy from you during this one day, it's a given fact across the galaxy

And the asari are nothing but courteous and considerate of other species' customs.

The asari only ever hand out asari candy, absolutely refuse buying anything else.

-

Turians

You give the war nerds a chance to dress up as their favourite hero and expect them NOT to jump on it?

They even use real guns and weapons in their costumes

Aren't in it for the candy

Frankly they can't even eat 90% of it, and houses rarely have dextro candy soo...

They're content with being the person with the most badass Halloween costume in the room

Get too into character, however.

Especially the ones cosplaying as a specter

Especially the ones cosplaying as a certian specter Sniper from an infamous Normandy team

Turians think humans have the right idea about Halloween but the wrong execution

Everything is too easy it's...too boring

Where is the pizzazz? Where are the stakes?

The tricks. Oh yes the tricks

Instead of freely offering candy, you must impress the whole turian household first before they deem you fitting of receiving their favour

Sometimes whole competitions are put in place

They like it enough to incorporate an altered version of trick treating into their own holiday calendar

At least the human Halloween parties are fun

Turian houses hand out energy candy bars and dextro candy, which is...poisonous to humans.

-

Angara

So why can't they just give you the candy right away?

Why do you have to wait and dress up?

You can just ask, they'll give you free candy any day :)

Despite their words, they're the most likely species to pick "trick" when approached

They're just curious, they wanna see what trick you have up your sleeves

What do you mean "it's just a saying"

You don't have anything prepared? Then why did you offer in the first place

Now they're just disappointed, human.

They find the holiday a little strange, some are sceptical of how it could be enjoyable, others are very intrigued and excited

Chances are the angara would just observe the humans from afar

At least in the first Halloween year before deciding to take a dip in the pool

Others straight up immediately canonballing into the whole Halloween thing from day one

They end up enjoying it more than they thought. Going door to door and seeing their neighbours, meeting other friendly faces

They still don't see a point for the rehearsed lines, why not just ask directly for candy?

A lot of Angara do actually bother to prepare a trick

Ringing the doorbell to an angaran household, the door opens for you to be greated by one of the mothers looking at you in endearment

She compliments your costume, little nitpicky with the details, but hey, it's her sincere opinions

Lifting your candy bucket up in anticipation

You receive!

Goob

A scoop of yummy angaran goob piped into candy wrappings

As your treat

[nokstella]

— wip wednesday

I am still going strong on my twc kick, and this weird little AU that I've got bouncing around so, have another little snippet I thought of today and had to jot down! Again, this is likely to change a bit when (if) it gets into the final piece, but oh well. Soft!Mason be upon ye!

Even if you're not on my taglist, if you have a wip you'd like to share feel free to use this as an incentive and please tag me so I can see! :D

"So, what do you think?" Mason stares. Lets his head tip to the left, just a bit, and stares harder. When this monumental effort fails to yield any new insight, and fairly sure that his eyesight is still in working order — if not painfully human, a nagging little voice is keen to remind him — he frowns. Says, "It's a truck," because, well, that's all he can say. He's never been an expert on vehicles — that's always been Adam's domain, odd as it is — but even Mason can tell it isn't exactly new. Not exactly old, either, but... well-worn. Not a current model, but looked after and taken care of. Used, but loved. And bigger than the silver hatchback, for sure. Which, fine, Mason admits that isn't an entirely fair comparison. Just about anything is bigger than the old rust bucket, may it rest in peace. It's a faded red color, though he can't tell if the dullness comes from age or had been a purposeful choice, and it looks like it's meant for rougher terrain. Mud and dirt and back trails, certainly not the small, easy streets of Wayhaven. Ahead of him, leaning against the side of said pickup, Everett laughs. It's a sweet sound — deep and rumbling like thunder, smooth as whiskey — and Mason revels in it. Lets it flow through him like molten honey, savoring it, clinging to it. Is in the process of letting himself drown in it when Everett says, "I know that, sunshine. I meant, what do you think of it?" Oh. Still confused, Mason asks, "Why?" Everett smiles, because of course he does. That's what he does best, after all. Smiling. Easy and free, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if he has no idea that each one manages to shatter Mason's whole world to pieces, only to put it right back together, rebuilding it into something wholly different. Something worthwhile and new and better. "Because, I bought it for us." Oh. Oh. "You okay, sunshine?" He is, actually. Never mind the stinging in the corner of his eyes, or the tightness in his chest, or the way the word us keeps echoing in his head, a song on loop. He is fine, great, and any odd, warm sensations building up inside of him are probably just some human affliction or his newfound magic going wonky again. That's all, of course. "Yeah, handsome," he says, in a voice that is most definitely steady and normal, not shaky at all, "I'm fine."

taglist (click here to be added/removed ♡):

@alexios @beifongisms @breadedsinner @dekarios @eluvixns

@fialine @gallusneve @gothimp @halkuonn @happilyobsessing

@hiddenbeks @katsigian @lestatlioncunt @leviiackrman @magebastard

@morgotts @pavus @rindemption @risingsh0t @terendelev

@thedeadthree @thee-morrigan @turian

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3, Omega DLC:

-This DLC is fairly meh for me. It has many interesting concepts, but it primarily plays out as a long extended corridor shooter. That gets old fast.

That’s disappointing as Omega in ME2 adds a lot of flavor and lore to the Mass Effect universe. I would have loved to have seen more of that in the DLC.

Instead, you mostly just shoot your way through environments that are slightly different than the main game. There’s barely any additional world building.

-The excuse to have Shepard leave their squad mates behind is weak.

Aria has objections to them? Really? Aria, the queen of Omega has objections to what – a couple of Alliance soldiers, a turian ex-vigilante, an AI, the Shadow Broker (everyone else knows, I’m sure Aria does), and possibly a quarian Admiral?

Given the forces she’s up against, she should be insisting that they all tag along.

-I think one of the reasons Aria insisted Shepard come with her was for the psychological factor. It’d be a huge boost to the morale of the Omega people to know that Shepard had come to free them.

However, it’s hard to say for sure because after showing off Shepard to Petrovsky that angle is dropped. You’d think Aria would make a bigger deal of mentioning Shepard, say, in her speech to the Omega people about half way through the game.

-I do love how Aria is dead set on taking the station back or die trying. Her initial plan was to crash into it!

-Look, the upgraded defenses suck now but you’ll appreciate them once they’re yours.

-Why does Batarian State Arms have a shop on Omega? Given it’s a lawless station in the Terminus Systems, seems an odd location for a branch.

-Shepard asking about the rendezvous point and Aria answering is one of the most difficult parts of the DLC to swallow. Both are incredibly stupid. They must have known it was possible they were under surveillance.

If Aria had just kept quiet, a good chunk of the fighting could have been avoided.

-The game just throws medi-gel at you during this entire DLC. I gained multiple levels, and I credit at least one or two of those to the medi-gel alone.

-And here we see Cerberus’ human supremacist beliefs in full color. Nonhumans must be supervised, armed nonhumans will be shot on sight… Lovely.

The game keeps insisting Petrovsky has a code and is honorable, but I’m not seeing too many redeeming factors.

-Ugh. I’m not a fan of the female turian design. Why are their eyes shaped differently? Why is there skin around their eyes? Why doesn’t their crest cover their head? The crest serves a functional purpose on turians. It protects them them from the sun. It should be the same on males and females. The eyes are sunk into the crest to protect them.

For my sanity I assume this is a result of turians being dispersed across colony worlds for so long and crests can vary greatly across males and females.

As for the eyes… Ugh.

I suppose I should be grateful that the Bioware didn’t give them breasts. Bare minimum.

-That said, I do love Nyreen herself. She’s a fantastic character and it’s a shame she does not survive the DLC.

-Aria and Nyreen must have been very, very close for Aria to show her so many of her secrets.

Perhaps since Nyreen “oozes virtue” Aria felt she could be trusted with them.

-And Nyreen stayed behind even after they broke up, and managed to slip under Aria’s radar. Very impressive.

-I love the injured Talons. They remind me a lot of cats with the way they curl in on themselves.

For giant clawed birds they’re surprisingly cute.

-What’s up with the face paint on so many of the turian Talons?

Turian face paint is supposed to colony markings. However, many have paint that looks similar to the Talons symbol.

I suppose it’s possible that some take on gang markings to symbolize that they’ve abandoned loyalty to their world and belong to their gang now.

Very odd thing for Nyreen to do, however. And you’d think if her paint had changed that Aria would remark on it.

-The Talons include humans as well. Good. Hopefully in the future Omega will remember that not all humans were with Cerberus.

-I quite like the gun salute Talons do to Nyreen. Is that the only time the game features it?

-Aria’s midgame speech is okay. Not great, not awful.

Kirrahe’s hold the line speech was better.

-Aria’s a cynic, but she seems to want to believe in a better world. Why else would she have grown so close to Nyreen?

And while she bitches, she listens to a paragon Shepard.

-Nyreen says that when her biotics manifested she was practically locked away.

I’d love to know more about turian biotics. The game mentions that they’re isolated from other turians; I bet they have a very interesting subculture.

Such subcultures are often insular. How well do late developing biotics integrate into it? Is that one of the reasons Nyreen became so frustrated?

-Aria says the war will start when the force field comes down. Nyreen says the war started months ago.

Well, that’s probably the closes ME3 will ever come to giving us a time frame. The war takes at least a few months.

-Aria’s willing to sacrifice multiple wards to bring the force fields down. Not surprising, but disappointing.

Petrovsky attempts to use this to persuade me that Aria shouldn’t be in charge, but given the whole “human supremacy” agenda he has he can go fuck himself.

At least Aria’s equally shitty to everyone.

-I hate disabling the bombs. Easily the hardest part of the DLC.

And given my game crashed on the first attempt, it apparently agrees.

-Aaand we learn that Cerberus has been converting people into adjutants with control implants so they can create an army of them. Because of course they have. Cerberus loves trying to control monsters.

Petrovsky has a code, my ass.

-And what is with adjutants being able to convert any being into another adjutant via a virus?

The game just glosses over this, but that sounds very important.

It’s definitely Reaper adjacent, at least. It reminds me of the virus the Collectors spread on Omega.

-There’s a turian labeled as a “civilian” in full armor.

Did the team that created the Omega DLC just not have access to the casual wear assets for turians?

-The mad prophet is a nice call back.

I’d have loved to have seen the Patriarch, too. He should have been leading his own resistance cell.

-Nyreen dying is a damn shame. Excellently done, but I’d have preferred if she lived. She provided a nice balance to Aria.

-In the final battle, the Afterlife doors opened at some point. I charged through them to kill the enemy and the doors closed behind me. Couldn’t reopen them.

Bizarre bug I’ve never heard of before.

Game didn’t even crash. I had to reload my last save.

-If Petrovsky weren’t such a smug bastard, I’d let him live.

As it is, bastard’s dead.

You shouldn’t experiment on people.

-Aria’s ending speech is much better than the mid game speech.

Especially the last line – “We are Omega”.

Very good contrast to her ME2 line “I am Omega”.

[lunargazing-png]

I felt so flattered when people wanted to learn more about the Mass Effect OCs I made, so I thought I'd write a (very long) summary (more like an info dump) of them and introduce all of the characters from my previous post here (and briefly mention a +1)!

I'm calling my little rag-tag cast of OCs "Starcrossed." I've made five characters so far.

The year is 2157. A human scientist named Kara Twelves is scrambling to save her research as alien forces are closing in on her laboratory in Shanxi. The building has turned into a fort for Alliance troops and colonists, and the force of the Turians has overwhelmed the human occupants inside. Her once-beloved lab is beginning to crumble- its structure unable to take the barrage of firepower much longer. The last things she takes with her are a USB and a photograph of her two-year-old daughter, Kenzie. Kara has dedicated the past two years to learning about Shanxi's unique flora and fauna and isn't willing to abandon her work so quickly.

This is Kara during her time as a colonist in Shanxi. She was 22 years old during the First Contact War) Azailick Zeusura is a foot soldier rookie on the battlefield, determined to earn the respect of his peers- and, more importantly, his father. He knew he wasn't fit for this mission, but he naively went anyway. Az was eager to prove himself a mature, loyal soldier under the Turian Hierarchy. General Williams surrendered the Shanxi garrison two weeks earlier, which lifted soldier morale in properly taking siege of the colony. His platoon is steadily advancing to eliminate an Alliance fortification, picking off soldiers who are starting to realize that their odds are dwindling.

(This is Azailick. He was 18 years old during the First Contact War.) Alliance soldiers make a last-ditch effort to ward off their attackers, and Azailick's world comes to a halt as a grenade lands at his feet. Maybe some supernatural force made Kara act the way she did, but in the blink of an eye, she was suddenly not hiding anymore. Kara pushes Az out of the impending explosion, and they tumble into a debris-riddled cliffside together.

(This picture was in my original post! kerplow 💥) Kara becomes critically injured from the fall. Suddenly, it's not about Az making a point that he's a capable soldier anymore. He has a choice: Does he carry on and leave his enemy to die as a soldier would, or does he acknowledge her sacrifice and make an effort to help his savior?

The year is 2167. It's been ten years since the First Contact War. Kara doesn't remember what came of the Turian who carried her to safety or her belongings she failed to save. She, her daughter Kenzie, and her nurse Agjaa T'rete are settling into their new apartment on the Citadel. Her sister's constant hawking over her physical care became too much to handle, and Kara decided she wanted to start fresh. Kara couldn't fathom the grandness of the megastructure they were about to live on, and she was ecstatic to start a new chapter and be more independent. During one of her strolls, she spots someone who feels familiar. Her stomach twists in knots as she realizes who she's looking at. Azailick retired from playing soldier eight years ago to support his eight-year-old son, Apsot. Working at C-Sec seemed like the better option and was less emotionally taxing for him. Someone politely grabs his attention, and he's struck with so many emotions at once that he doesn't know what to do with himself. He almost mistakes her for a ghost at first, but it's the human colonist who saved his life right in front of him!

(This is a painting I did showing what it was like when they reunited with each other.)

Even through so much tension after the war, Kara and Az manage to kindle a friendship with each other- and maybe even something a little more than that :-) I've always really liked narratives of love being the stronger power when everything is stacked against its favor, and they fit this bill very nicely. After they reunite, they learn more about each other and bond over their trauma from the war and how their unlikely union completely changed fundamental parts of themselves- for good and for bad. and that's about it!! thank you for reading about my ocs :-) I hope to draw more of them soon. Here's a Kenzie as sheldon cooper for you as a send off.❤️idk if anyone would be curious enough to send asks in, but my ask box is open!

[mtreebeardiles]

Okay, more Mass Effect asks.

For this thing: https://www.tumblr.com/mtreebeardiles/760706275485122560/101-mass-effect-questions?source=share

16, 32, 64

😉

More! More:

16. MAKO: die in a fire or best thing ever

My answer to this depends entirely on where I’m at scaling a mountain I am clearly not meant to scale 🤔

(Anyone else get stuck, say ‘fuck it,’ and drive off-map so Joker has to pick your ass up?)

32. Least favorite team member?

Oof, that’s a tough one! I feel like ME2 was a bit superfluous with the squadmate options so there are a few I never really got close to. So mechanically, I don’t tend to take out Thane, Zaeed, Jacob, Garrus, or Mordin (I LOVE Mordin, but my go to squad is Miranda and Tali)

Narratively? I feel like of the “main” squad mates, Garrus is the least developed. I honestly came into the games expecting to really like him because the fandom was always so hype about him that finding he was a caricature of copaganda that the games never really made a point to develop or give us any real insight into Turian culture was a massive let down. No offense to Garrus lovers, he just ain’t it for me 🤷‍♂️

64. Something you hate about any/all of the games?

The surprising lack of world building makes me sad, for sure. I know that’s more of a side effect to the way the game is structured but still 🫤

Something I HATE though? Changing reload mechanics from 1 to 2. Weapons in general in ME2. Not giving infiltrators their sniper rifles upfront is a crime, frankly 🤨

Most of the mechanics in 3 were a massive improvement, and the weapons felt a little better, but then they got rid of my hacking mini games! Can’t have anything in this economy 🙄

[omniblades-and-stars]

Ding dong me again

“what if i asked you out?” Nilea/Lou

You brilliant bastard, you made me write something I can actually use in the real story. Anyways, I wrote this over my lunch break, so it's not the finished product that will 100% be in Pass the Knife, but here's something nice happening to Lou for once. I can't be mean to her the whole time. Under the cut for length!

What If I Asked You Out?

The mug was warm in her hands. The tea inside rippled with the gentle shake of her hands, mirroring the floating wake of thoughts freed from their chains by generous application of pain killers.

Crawling through air ducts, riding on top of a crashing car and rumbling with a biotic mercenary were apparently not what the doctor had ordered. Dr. P'Beria was kind enough to make a house call once they stumbled back to Lou’s apartment after the whole debacle. Dr. P'Beria had not been kind enough to spare Lou the lecture about post-surgical wound care, concussions and whatever that asari had done to her that made her head all fuzzy and the world go in triplicate every time she opened her eyes for a couple of hours. Her promise to the doc to stay out of trouble had gone in one ear and right out the other.

Lou had never been good at staying out of trouble.

She didn’t know which way was up, partially because her head was swimming and every time she tried to stand up everything went kind of upside down or sideways. Or maybe that was just her going sideways. And partially because she was growing frustratingly fond of the turian who was her captive to start with. When her head was inhibited by the sort of logical thinking that sobriety brought, she was able to reason herself into believing she was just being foolish, and everyone felt kind of like that when they were stuck in close quarters with someone for extended periods of time anyways.

Someone who didn’t have to help her escape. But she did.

Someone who didn’t have to talk her through daddy dying. But she did.

Someone who didn’t have to stay with her at the hospital. But she did.

Nilea could have just taken the datapads and Lou’s omni-tool and disappeared into the night. And maybe she’d have been right to do it. But she didn’t. And more than that, she’d just given Lou a steaming mug of tea (though Lou wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t just a ploy to get her to stop trying to stand up), and was currently carefully cleaning the blood off of Lou’s armor which had been discarded haphazardly by the couch when the doctor arrived to make sure she hadn’t suffered anything worse than getting the shit kicked out of her a bit.

Whether it was good fortune or bad, sobriety had left the building along with anything resembling good sense that Lou might have had.

“You don’t gotta do that,” Lou murmured into the mug as Nilea diligently wiped the violet spatter free of the white surface. Lou didn’t look up from the cup lest the movement release the rusted and fragile valve holding back every thought she’d ever had about the woman in a deluge.

Nilea hummed and didn’t look up from her scrubbing, even in the low light, the armor glinted in the spaces where it hadn’t been scuffed by Lou’s unfortunate meeting with the asphalt. “I know. But you’re in no shape to do it yourself.” Like everything inside of Lou’s home, the old armor looked brand new when she’d donned it just prior to their misadventure that day. Immaculate, in perfect working order, every piece stored in a special case made just for it. Nilea wondered if Lou could ever be convinced to take care of herself even half as well as she took care of her things. “Besides, it’s a tripping hazard, and you’re already enough of your own tripping hazard. Armor doesn’t get put away bloody.”

The logic was sound enough to Lou, but again, higher reasoning was on vacation, leaving Lou sitting in a dark room trying to sift through all the nonsense in her head all by her lonesome. There weren’t easy compartments for her to put each thought into, she couldn’t just carefully paint a grid out in her mind like she did for her workbench. Those little bitty screws went over in square 4A, firing pins on 2B, but where the hell did these feelings of affection go? They probably needed go right into the trash can.

Something was bubbling up inside of her, threatening to break free of her lips and embarrass her for good. Lou did the only thing she could think of to stop it, she tilted the mug up and took a slug of the tea that was still entirely too hot for that sort of consumption. The scalding on her tongue didn’t stop the words from hissing past her teeth, “What if I asked you out?”

Damn it. Stupid. Stupid and juvenile and inappropriate.

Nilea paused her scrubbing and quietly stood up. Lou tried to watch her as she approached, but her vision was still a little on the wonky side. Though she was down to twins instead of triplets on that front, at least. Nilea propped herself up on the edge of the coffee table before finally speaking, “Lou, you have a concussion.” Talons tilted her head back and Nilea examined Lou’s eyes.

Lou’s heart plummeted somewhere down into her feet. Her face burned bright red, and a veritable flood of words tumbled out of her as she back pedaled as hard as she could without physically throwing herself over the back of the couch and locking herself in her room to hide from what she’d just said. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said that. It ain’t right of me to say shit like that. You’re here ‘til we can save your friend. You’re only in this mess ‘cause I tried to take you in for creds. Look you can just take all that information and shit and Tac and Adi’ll help you get Yaeno back. You don’t gotta deal with-“

“Lou,” Nilea said her name sharp and like a knife it cut through the ramblings rushing out of her and blessedly stopping Lou from embarrassing herself anymore than she already had.

Lou took a deep breath in, given that she had not breathed at all since … well she wasn’t exactly sure. “Yeah?” she asked wearily.

“Shut up.” Nilea chuckled softly and leaned in, brushing her mouth plates gently against Lou’s lips. “When this is over, I’d like that very much.”

[cr-noble-writes]

2023 Mass Effect Fic Recs

As we approach the end of the year, I want to shout out some really fantastic fics I've read this year. Some of them were posted this year, some of them were posted earlier, but I found them this year so they're going on the list.

Some of these deal with some pretty heavy issues, so mind the tags!

Natural Fissures by happychica

The necessities, the demands, and the endless pressure that is war finally crack the foundation that is Commander Shepard. Forced to face his demons, John is reminded once again that the people he fights for are willing to defend him, even from himself.

This fic is an ongoing longfic set during the ME3 timeline, and it is an absolutely incredible piece that follows not only Shepard, but the rest of the crew in their personal journeys alongside the crisis of The Reaper War.

Fugue by Swaps55

A few minutes more and they wouldn’t have even been on the ship. The Mako was scheduled and ready for drop, both of them suited up and ready with the final checklist completed.

A few minutes more, and they would have watched the Normandy burn from the surface of Alchera.

But they didn’t get those minutes.

Alchera, and the two year gap.  

Really, I recommend the entire Opus series, and everything related to it (really, anything that Swaps has written). Fugue is an absolutely beautiful depiction of the journey of grief and hope, and I honestly still don't have the words to express the things it made me feel.

Phoenix by mallaidhsomo

Shepard went down with his ship, only to wake two years later and find out the love of his life had gone down, too. Or so he thinks.

First off, I am an absolute sucker for Subject Zero!Kaidan. This fic is an incredible depiction of that, and I may be slightly just a little bit mildly in love with Sidney Shepard.

Descent by mallaidhsomo

Leo Shepard makes a promise to Ashley Williams that he intends to keep.

Or, relationships are complicated.

I adore Leo Shepard. I highly recommend reading all three posted parts of the Us Against The World series. The relationship building in this fic is just so good, and I have found my new favorite side character in Bolts the Drone.

An Unfortunately Sexy Man by missjlh

Jarun Tann is an obtuse fool. Unfortunately, he's an obtuse fool that Addison, Kandros and Kesh all have a crush on. The three of them get together to offer one another moral support through what is clearly the very worst thing to have happened thus far in Andromeda.

This fic is so god damn funny. I love it so much, and when I am having a particularly bad day, I go back and read it. It's such a well written comedic piece.

Volta by DanDenbo

At the outset of the war, Kaidan Alenko wonders about his path - whether to become a spectre, whether to rejoin the Normandy, and what to do about his feelings for Shepard. During a mission on Chalkhos, he finds his answers.

Non-binary Shepard/Kaidan battle couple. I feel like that honestly is enough of a recommendation. This is an incredibly well written piece. Shepard and Kaidan's relationship, and the complex nature of it, is just so well done.

Life Behind Enemy Lines by Otempora

The Illusive Man leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “We humans have a saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Shepherd was familiar with the phrase, but turians didn’t think that way.

---

Species swap AU, Human!Garrus/Turian!Shepard. ME2 retelling. Not a standalone.

I would kill and/or die for Shepherd and also for Gareth. An incredibly well done, intriguing, and captivating species swap. Shepherd is such a complex character, and she makes my heart hurt.

There are honestly a billion more fics I would recommend, but it would end up being the world's longest tumblr post, so I am gonna call it here for now.

Please enjoy!!

[not-a-newt]

Except from Mass Effect Initiation detailing some interesting facts on alien body language/facial expressions that aren't all depicted in-game

[ferniliciousness]

Teaser Tuesday

Cause why not. I've never done this, and this is a little, confusing to anyone who doesn't know the story but uh 😅. Gaia is my human Mass Effect OC. This is set on Omega while Garrus is going all vigilante.

"shit. Shit shit shit." Mercs were everywhere. At least 20 Blood Pack members just where she could see them. She wouldn't have had a chance even when she was at her best, let alone after 5 years away from the trigger.

Scanning over the building, her eyes were desperate to find something, anything that she could use, any way she could find in, instead all she could see was just more and more things to discourage her.

They had a small band of mechs and varren guarding the entrance. The upper levels were bustling with activity and from her perch she could see stockpiles of weapons. People were constantly running in and out, all of them carrying weapons, and all of them with the Blood Pack insignia.

"Dammit." Her fist pound into the wall, pain shooting up her hand as she tried to wake up her head enough to think. What could she do? This was too much for her. There was no chance she could get in there and run them out, and an even slimmer chance of finding the man she was looking for.

*No, no, no, I can't ask him, I can't. I can do this myself, somehow.* Biting her lip and leaning back over the railing, one last chance, one last look, there had to be a way. But she saw nothing. She's only one person, and she hasn't done anything like this in years.

A loud sigh escapes her lungs. Thinking that's enough looking she slips back into the shadows of Omega, letting the darkness of forgotten pathways welcome her once again. People pass by underneath her, their distant chatter floating up to her ears as she treads across the station.

The familiar sight of home greets her and she reemerges amongst the crowds. Auto pilot takes over for her, her mind completely occupied planning out what to do. Neighbors wave at her and offer friendly greetings but she doesn't notice any of them. She's completely stuck in her own head, at least, until she hears voices coming from her home.

Numbness returns, the world goes silent around her, and all she hears is those two Turian voices. She could hear the sadness behind their vocals even through the door. The low vibrations shaking her core.

Pain. Sharp and quick, stabs into her heart. The trills, high pitched and happy, they used to float through the hall, filling it with joy and laughter. All now just a distant memory that Gaia could barely even recall.

Stolen, they had been stolen. With one shot, the echoes had died, and only a sorrowful memory was left behind.

*Breath, breath, the last thing those kids need is to see you all melancholy. Hold your head up and smile. They don't need to know, what you're doing..... but it still needs done.*

Opening the door, Gaia was greeted by the faces behind the voices, Lunette and Kellic, the two Turians living next door. They were why she was scouting the base, they were why she was wrestling with herself. And they were why, she was finally asking for help.

[edenprime]

The main galactic power players, post-war:

First of all, the krogan. At the very least, the krogan must get a seat in the council. If a named/old character has to be the one to hold it, it should be Bakara. Wrex should rule a unified Tuchanka. Their help was instrumental in holding Palaven, and as a consequence, humanity and the turians. I can see all three peoples become closer allies. Tension would remain, especially between the turians and the krogan, rightfully so. However, I can see the Hierarchy, under Victus, finally start to pay reparations for the genophage.

An initial offer is made to get turian workers to Tuchanka, to help physically rebuild the planet's main cities. This is completely vetoed by the krogan leadership, obviously. These guys were doing secret operations like a year ago to disable a gigantic bomb they had buried in their planet to destroy them. They agree on raw materials + monetary compensation until krogan population reaches pre-genophage and post-industrialization, but pre-expansion numbers. A surviving Shepard that keeps working as a Spectre would totally mediate the negotiations as an impartial observer. It is also yet another show of cooperation between all three peoples.

Now, the asari... would they get any sort of penalty for hiding the Athame beacon? Would it all get swept under the rug due to corruption? Would it be purposefuly "forgiven" due to the galaxy-wide destruction? Let's be real - if they had revealed the secret as soon as the Alliance and its allies started building the Crucible, they would've defeated the reapers much sooner. Hell, maybe Thessia would've been spared - it's attacked after the Crucible plans are found on Mars, with enough time to spare to give Alliance officials (including one very annoyed human spectre) the information.

Even if they didn't know that the beacon held information on how to destroy the reapers, it was known that a weapon of prothean origin was being built, and they had information that came straight from the protheans. If the matriarchs had any common sense, they'd start offering asari help to rebuild say...the Citadel. The keepers were basically reaper tech, right? So it stands to reason that they would've died with them, too. Now, if the others had any common sense they would refuse the generous offer and get their hands on it first (when both humans and turians call dibs, Done-With-Your-Shit Shepard says it should be the asari, under strict council supervision).

Salarians! They did not withhold crucial information, but they actively tried to sabotage the biggest war alliance by trying to ruin the cure for the genophage, and withholding support when they didn't get their way. To save face, the STG could try to make it seem like it was the Dalatrass acting alone, have her replaced, and profusely apologize. They are not formally penalized, but their political influence is definitely diminished. Again, the krogan are now among the most influential species, and the humans and the turians didn't get any help from the salarians, either. The asari chose to stay impartial in that mess, and look how it turned out for them. As such, they'll both need to keep a low profile until things have significantly cooled down.

The quarians would have no interest in joining, I believe. They'll be high on the thrill of getting their planet back. They'll need to completely reorganize their entire society, so galaxy-wide politics would take a backseat for a while. They are used to self-sufficiency and ostatrization for everyone else, so I can't see them being too keen on them, too.

Unfortunately, I don't think the "secondary" species/worlds would get much more influence or power. Some of them, like the volus and the elcor contributed a non-insignificant ammout to the war effort. However, allowing the volus into the council would be a conflict of interest: they are a client race to the turians, so unless they became completely independent for a long while, they wouldn't get that seat. Since elcor made a similar contribution, it would be unfair if they got it and the volus didn't, so no more seats for anyone. The drell don't even have their own planet, and the overall contribution from them and the hanar was not significant enough to change much of their status. Of course, all of these are excuses. The big power players are just not keen on sharing, just like before. After all, politicians will be politicians, and a sense of unity only goes so far.

[dispatchwithlove]

I am in love with your portrayal of Nihlus in Avenilin. He's so naughty, but in this kind of scoundrel-esque refined way that makes you want to get him naked and slap him at the same time

Omg 😂 You have no idea how much I loved receiving this comment. I laughed out loud and I’m so proud my idea of Nihlus has been picked up and explained so perfectly. Yes he is a refined a scoundrel! A cultured man of sexy mischief. He would love to stripped and slapped! lol. I’m hoping to expand this story into a Shep/Garrus/Nihlus fic and Garrus has a line where he’s exasperated and tells Nihlus “Get over here and kiss me before I hit you.”

And if you don’t mind I’d love to work in a flustered Garrus calling Nih a scoundrel thinking it’s an insult but it just turns Nih on. Ugh, I need more fic writing time. I’m working on a canon verse fic where Shepard has amnesia and runs into Archangel, alongside my detective au, but once I’m done with the amnesia fic maybe I’ll start working on the Shep/Garrus/Nihlus fic.

Thanks for the comment Anon! Avinelin is my little underdog treasure and I get so giddy when someone reads it and tells me they enjoyed it.

For anyone who enjoys sexy bratty men, or turian language world building, you can read Avinelin here