#verse ✧ mass effect.

[serabellyms]

  PLOTTED STARTER !     ⤷ @downs1de ✧ rustin cohle.

Finally, finally, she'd been able to take some leave. It was difficult, given the intensity of her training, but now that there were final evaluations for those who'd be deemed N7 status (and her passing all of the previous levels with flying colours), she had time to wait until she'd know whether she'd been chosen for such an esteemed vocation. It'd been a difficult journey, and so far... she'd passed. Now, she had a chance to take a break, and she’d sent a message to Rust, letting him know where she was staying if he’d like to come visit. She hadn’t received a message back, but she figured he’d see it eventually.

What she didn’t expect was hearing a knock at her door late at night. She was up in a flash, grabbing her sweater and pulling it over her head to conceal the garish scars that marred her arms and shoulders. Who would be coming at this hour? She hadn’t received any messages; surely if it was emergent, one of her COs or her training officers would’ve sent her a message. Raising a hand, she pulled her pistol close with her biotics, setting it out of sight in case of an intruder, but somewhere she’d know where it was. No need for her to answer the door holding it; she didn’t exactly need a gun to defend herself, after all.

Opening the door, she was... surprised at what she saw. Dishevelled was one way to describe it; clothing rumpled, tie loosened, and a half-abused bouquet of flowers that looked like it'd been bought hours ago. The only saving grace was his hair; it always looked like that, a little tousled. The rest was easy to figure out; even if she couldn't smell the alcohol yet, she certainly knew the look of a man who'd had one too many drinks.

At least he'd taken a cab, identified by the car that was leaving now that she'd opened the door. Oh, god, what did you do? At least he looked... okay, for the most part. No bruises or cuts, which mean no fights, but something had happened. Sighing softly, she reached for his arm to gently coax him inside, resigning herself to... whatever this was. If he'd come to her in this state, there had to be a reason he'd picked her over everyone else.

"C'mon," she encouraged, guiding him to the couch. "Do you... want some coffee, or do you just want to sleep it off?" Either option didn't matter to her; she doubted she'd be sleeping much, given she'd be too damn busy worrying. Once he was sitting, she pulled two glasses from the cupboards, filling them both with water; if nothing else, she’d get him to drink at least one glass of water, and she herself probably needed one. Of course, water wasn’t the only thing she grabbed; reaching into the fridge, she juggled one of her usual electrolyte drinks, knowing that ought to be a hell of a hangover cure for a non-biotic.

Setting the glass down in front of him as well as the bottle, she took a seat next to him, sipping the second glass of water herself. “Drink. The water first, then that. It’ll at least save you from being dehydrated in the morning. They’re, uh—they give them to us after… long stints groundside.” Hopefully he wasn’t apt enough to notice her cover-up; she’d yet to tell him about their real purpose: to keep biotic soldiers hydrated, given the amount of calories and electrolytes burned in combat generating and controlling mass effect fields.

[swaps55]

Twin Souls of the Same Star

Funny, Kaidan thinks as they lie side by side, Shepard’s bare skin illuminated by the fishtank. They’d changed their lives just a few hours ago, assuming Joker actually filled out and filed the paperwork to the hanar and Alliance’s satisfaction.

And yet…everything feels exactly the same.

Shepard strokes Kaidan’s ring figure, then pinches it at the knuckle and examines it closely. “Guess I need to put a ring on this, lest anyone doubt that you are now bound to me by official legal documents. Er, at least as far as hanar law goes. Do we know how binding that little ceremony actually was?”

“Are you questioning the legitimacy of Joker’s ordination within the Enkindler Souls of Stars?” Kaidan asks, tugging his ankle free of the twisted sheet and draping it over Shepard’s leg. “Or are you asking about the return policy?”

Shepard kisses Kaidan’s knuckle and then tugs him until he straddles Shepard’s hips.

“Just try and renege and see what happens to you.”

Kaidan hides his flush behind a chuckle. Shepard pulls him in and traces the shell of Kaidan’s ear with his lips. Bastard. Not even fair to go straight for the ear.

“You’re stuck with me. I just want the entire galaxy to know.” 

No hiding the flush now. “Well, in that case. Don’t need a ring. I know your transponder code. Your baseline biometrics. Your service number. Your mnemonics.”

“Okay, so you know how to take me in a fight, sure.”

Kaidan trails his fingers lightly across Shepard’s belly, smiling in satisfaction when he yelps and nearly shoots out from underneath him.

“I know that.”

Shepard gives him a wary look. “Tickling is just a dirtier kind of warfare than bullets, in my book.”

Kaidan wiggles his fingers in tune with his eyebrows, but pins Shepard firmly in place when he attempts to flee.

“Point is,” Kaidans says between sloppy kisses against Shepard’s neck. “I’m pretty sure I can stake a pretty convincing claim to you without a trinket as proof.”

“Don’t know why I’m worrying. Pretty sure you’re the only one who would put up with me, anyway.”

Kaidan trails kisses down the line of Shepard’s shoulder. “Dunno. Have you seen how pretty you are?”

Shepard preens. “Maybe. But Liara says I’m very vexing.”

“Lucky for you, I like vexing.”

“See? Soulmates. The hanar say so. Joker’s head garment thingy looked very official.”

“If you’re really worried about it we could always hire a hanar to follow us around and tell people.”

Shepard sniggers into Kaidan’s shoulder, then adopts a solemn tone. “This one would like you to know that these two are bound soul stars in the eyes of the Enkindlers.” His eyes widen. “Oh god we cannot tell Javik.”

Kaidan barks a laugh, and Shepard grins.

“Well, we don’t have a hanar on board,” Shepard goes on. “Suppose we could just stick some tentacles on Garrus. No one will know.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“He’ll think it’s funny.”

He probably would.

Kaidan rests his head on Shepard’s chest, sighing softly as Shepard runs fingers through his hair.

“Should I have taken your name or something?” Shepard asks eventually.

Kaidan’s heart does a somersault at the thought. Not something he’s ever thought about. Not something he’s ever even cared about. But the fact Shepard has…

He swallows. Shepard continues stroking his hair and just…lets him feel it for a minute.

“You married me,” Kaidan says after a moment.

“Yeah, I remember. I was there.”

“Other people saw it.”

“Pretty sure they remember, too. Joker’s hanar impression was very memorable.”

“Wow.”

Shepard chuckles. The sound rattles under his sternum, and Kaidan lets the feel of it wash through him. “So? Should I be Sam Alenko?”

Kaidan huffs. “Well, you hate being called Sam.”

Shepard ponders that for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it would be kind of weird if people started calling me Alenko, huh?”

“Yeah, that would be pretty weird. Thought’s pretty romantic, though.”

“I am so full of romantic gestures. Just you wait.”

“Mmmm,” Kaidan says with what he’s sure is a stupid grin. “I could take yours, I guess.”

Shepard makes a face. “Can you imagine you and me in the same room as my mother? No one will have any idea what the fuck to call us.”

“Okay,” Kaidan says with a laugh. “No name changes.”

“It’s the thought that counts.”

“Definitely.”

They drift off for a few minutes. Shepard’s hand stills, the weight of it on Kaidan’s head warm and comforting. Maybe Kaidan falls asleep. He’s not sure.

“Did you know we get tax benefits for being married?” Shepard asks, startling him awake.

Kaidan raises an eyebrow. “Did you read a manual or something?”

“Well, I can’t suck at this.”

Kaidan stifles a laugh against Shepard’s chest. “You know, Williams even told me once we should get married for the tax breaks.”

“Did she? Do you think she knew?”

“Of course she did.” Kaidan hoists himself up on an elbow to look him in the eye. “Everyone did. Except you. You thought I was into Williams.”

Shepard flashes him a guilty look. “She made you laugh all the time.”

“She was funny!”

“Yeah, but she was funnier than me and I didn’t like it.”

Kaidan raises an eyebrow. “And that didn’t…raise any flags for you.”

The guilty look gets guiltier. “Does it make it any better if I say that when people mistook us for a married couple I’d think to myself, ‘there are a lot worse things than spending the rest of my life with him?’”

“Really? Really?” Kaidan gooses him again, this time with a lot less mercy. Shepard yells indignantly and twists beneath him. They tussle until Shepard manages to trap Kaidan’s back against his chest.

“In my defense.”

“I’m waiting.”

“Hang on, I’m thinking.”

Kaidan laughs. “You realize that this exact line of thinking is what got us in trouble in Vancouver.”

 “Hey, I remember kissing you in the rain in Vancouver, so I think my line of thinking is pretty great, actually.” 

“Yeah,” Kaidan says softly, gripping his hand. “This is pretty great.”

Shepard rests a chin on Kaidan’s shoulder. “You were pretty pissed at me over the Williams thing. I thought I’d really fucked up.”

Kaidan strokes his arm. The memory of Williams still sits like a bruise, but it’s less tender to the touch than it used to be. “Think I was more angry at myself.”

“Why?”

“For being so in love with you and so unable to do anything with it. About it. I don’t know. You were never going to feel the same way and I just…couldn’t even try to get over the way I felt about you.”

“Seems like I wasn’t the only one who was dense,” Shepard murmurs in his ear. “Turns out I was, in fact, very, very into you the whole time.”

Kaidan smiles into the dim room.

“You know I reached out to Beaudoin after that to get his advice?” Shepard asks.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d really fucked up, but I didn’t know why and Beaudoin, you know. Knew how to people a lot better than I do.”

“So you thought you’d fucked up your relationship with me, went to the only person we know with any reasonable insights on dating and romance, for advice, and that still didn’t trigger anything for you?”

“No.”

“You have saved the galaxy twice.”

“I contain multitudes.”

Kaidan snorts. “What did he say?”

“His message was one line and it was zero help. It said, ‘You’ll figure it out, I’ve got money on it.’ I had no fucking idea what he was talking about.”

Kaidan laughs softly into the pillow. “He and Aslany had a bet about us.”

“Wait….he knew too? Aslany knew?”

“Told you. Everyone.”

“Motherfucker.”

Kaidan tugs Shepard’s arm tighter around him, thinking of simpler days and places and times you can’t go back to. “Wish Beaudoin could have been here today.”

Shepard kisses the back of his neck. “Me too. Can you even imagine what he would have said about Joker’s ‘vestment?’”

“He would have loved us getting married by a human ordained through the hanar. And yeah, he would have fucking loved that vestment.”

“He really would have.” 

They lapse back into silence. It feels heavier this time.

Williams. Beaudoin. The Normandy. The ‘Yang. And there’s more to come. Kaidan feels it in his bones.

“We have a lot of history, don’t we?” Kaidan murmurs.

“Yeah, we do,” Shepard agrees. He wraps Kaidan up tight. “I want more. Think we made some today.”

“This one now pronounces you twin souls of the same star,” Kaidan intones.

“I like that part,” Shepard says, nuzzling his neck. “Even better than the vestments.”

Shepard has always shone brighter than any star, but Kaidan has always walked willingly and unflinchingly into that light. There’s never been another path. At least not that he wanted to take.

“Kiss me,” Kaidan says, the sudden need for it overwhelming.

Shepard rolls him over and obliges. It feels no different than it did a few hours ago: beautiful. It always has, with Shepard.

The kiss gets deeper. Shepard’s corona kindles, bright and flickering, a fire without heat that graces Kaidan’s nerves with a soft, sweet hum. Kaidan reaches into the gravity well and lights his own star, their auras blending together into one, solid glow.

We’ve always been this, Kaidan thinks as he falls headlong into Shepard’s embrace.

Now they just have the documents to prove it.

[grtmnick]

"And [she] that was dead came forth, [draped] with graveclothes; and [her] face was [scarred]..."

John.11.44. The Bible. King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

(Thanks to @masseffectwillcontinue on Instagram for sharing the above awesome art of our favorite commander!)

[seithr]

remembered that my shepard/spacer shep has a still alive mom in the alliance according to ME2/3

also remembered that that character (katrine/caia) always has a sister uninvolved in the family's career military history

remembering she had to mourn her elder sister who just Disappeared for two years, and would have spent even longer knowing shepard isn't alive bc their alliance mom probably can't just tell a civillian doctor,

[01101101ute]

Color wheel art, done on Facebook character recommendations <3

[wrathbites]

"What do you see?" Kaidan mumbles, face half-mashed into his pillow.

I see what I'm not supposed to - the pulse flutter in your throat - what I'd be killed for if most others knew. The throb at your temple, too, before you rub your forehead. A weakness I'll never exploit. I see the crease of pain in the corner of your left eye and the pinch around your mouth when you resolve to grin and bear it. I hate it. Fuck but I hate it.

I see the hunch of your shoulders loosen in sleep's hold, the tension of every muscle unspooling one drawn out breath at a time as one more migraine recedes. I see the rogue curls you've missed, coming loose with every twist and turn in the sheets.

I see the faintest of smiles, slow and lazy in sleep, in daze, the twitch of your fingers when they loosen from your pillow. The ache still lingering, but less than it was. You'll stay where you are, for another hour yet, weary and sore and heavy, eyes falling shut in too-long blinks and I don't have the heart to wake you proper.

I see my whole world in your life, every minute a gift.

"I see you," Rhys says instead.

[biowareproblems]

[fatedvoyage]

i finished updating docs and most verses for my dragon age muses, i just need to finish up feyn's and dorian's verses. i think i'll leave those for tomorrow and make promos, but maybe reblog some memes in the meantime. reminder that i've got:

@wittyrogue zevran arainai with verses for all dragon age games

@magistheir dorian pavus with a da:i verse

@vannhawke vann hawke with with da2 and da:i verses

@daxassan feyn isethari, elven rogue oc, with verses for all dragon age games

[rotschopf-thedrow]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by the amazing @daggertongue. Thank you!

Revising my Alenkoats story The loneliest Hour & re-writing whole scenes. I aimed for around 45K word. Currently sitting at 57'411 words.

Hackett looked Kaidan in the eye, raising one eye-brow. “And what would you have done if I had told you? Shepard would’ve still been with Cerberus.” Kaidan threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know! Tried contacting him, maybe! Talk to him! Reason with him! Anything!” “And lose your focus on what’s important,” Hackett retorted and raised his hand when Kaidan opened his mouth. “I know you think I’m a heartless bastard and that I don’t care, but that’s not true. Deep down inside, you know it. You know that Shepard was exactly where he needed to be – no matter how much we don’t like Cerberus. He brought back valuable intel and a frigate with an unshackled AI. He destroyed the Collector base.” “And he destroyed a solar system,” Kaidan shot back, glowering at Hackett. “During a mission you sent him on.” “I won’t deny that either.” Hackett stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. “This war is going to get ugly real fast. There’s no black and white anymore, and you of all people should know that.” “War doesn’t command me to commit atrocities or genocide.” “No. But if your choice is to either let the Reapers walk through our back door, or sacrifice 300.000 lives, the answer suddenly becomes very grey.”

Tagging, with no pressure of course: @cr-noble-writes, @mallaidhsomo, @vorchagirl, @clericofshadows & @otemporanerys

[pholcidae3]

10 characters / 10 fandoms / 10 tags

tagged by @arachnophobic-larantula. never done smth like this, ty Karlach Cliffgate, Baldur's Gate 3

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Mass Effect

Ahsoka Tano, Star Wars

Judy Alvarez, Cyberpunk 2077

Brigitte Lindholm, Overwatch

Vi, Arcane

Camina Drummer, The Expanse

Aloy, Horizon

Rayla, The Dragon Prince

Gwen Stacy, Spiderverse

i dont even know 10 people here lol. guess i just tag who i do kinda very loosely know then? @the-sera @vibingat3am @cutecuttlefish

[odissean]

ODISSEAN. But they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it.

WANDERER. Maedi ns'Etesarl, a fandomless scifi OC. Crossover-friendly with a variety of verses. ©

[serabellyms]

❛  i'm sorry i didn't listen to you sooner.  ❜     ⤷ @seaofbeachystars ✧ garrus vakarian.

"That's kind, but unnecessary, Garrus," Miranda chided gently, smiling at her turian friend. At least... she hoped she could call him a friend. Now that she was no longer with Cerberus, that ought to be acceptable, no? Still... it felt strange, being on the Normandy again, being a part of things again. Miranda wasn't really used to being part of a team, not the way the Normandy was. Running a team, sure; but that was a professional relationship and nothing more. This... no, this was different.

Swirling her tea in her cup, Miranda couldn't help a chuckle. "Honestly, it wasn’t something I expected, either. When I joined Cerberus… we were supposed to be doing good things. And we were—or at least, the things I was involved in, or handling, were good things. You can’t look at the things we did—taking down the Collectors—as inherently bad. Questionable… maybe. But given the situation we’re in right now… if I hadn’t done questionable things like bringing Shepard back, then it’s likely we wouldn’t stand a chance.” If the Collectors had managed to assault Earth and taken most of humanity… The rest of the races would be left floundering without the Alliance’s aggressive tactics.

The entire galaxy would be dead in the water. Unfortunately… Shepard was the only person who could do something about their situation. So as much as people questioned MIranda’s decisions and actions, questioned the morality of what she did in bringing Shepard back to life, there was a reason she’d done it—and now, at least, they had a fighting chance against the Reapers.

[swaps55]

In response to the question, "How does your character deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?" from The Big Place discord server.

~

“Boss, what the hell are you doing?”

Shepard looks up halfway through an awkward squat against the front rail of the treadmill, face contorted in a grimace that Kara has to stuff a fist in her mouth to keep from laughing at.

“Itch,” he replies, grimacing even harder and twisting his spine to get a different angle.

“So you’re trying to scratch it with a smooth pole.”

“I can’t reach it,” he grumps.

She tilts her head, tapping a finger on her chin. “What if we stuck one of those scrubby things they use to clean the converter thingamajig? You know, the thing with the spiky bits that are pokey but not too pokey?”

“You’re an engineer, right? You know what the thingamajig is, right?”

“I’m an explosives engineer.” She mimics an explosion with her fingers.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“Do you want me to get the scrubby thing or not?”

“Yes, get the scrubby thing. I’m dying.”

Ten minutes later she’s retaping the scrubby thing to the pole, using a stronger adhesive this time so it doesn’t fall off the moment he starts going to town on it, when Alenko walks in, towel thrown over his shoulder. He come to an abrupt halt at sight of the two of them crouched in front of the treadmill.

“Put it up a little higher.”

“What, can’t squat that low?”

“Of course I can squat that low, doesn’t mean I want to.”

“I thought pain let you know you weren’t dead yet.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Alenko asks.

“He has an itch,” Kara replies.

Alenko stares at Kara. Stares at Shepard. Then exhales wearily and holds out a hand to pull Shepard to his feet. Without a word, he whirls him around and starts raking his fingernails up and down Shepard’s spine.

“Fuck,” Shepard sighs, shoulders slumping in relief. He wiggles his back around to move Alenko’s fingers to the right spot, groaning like something out of a porno.

When the itch is finally sated, Alenko resumes his course towards the training mat and starts his  warm ups. Both Shepard and Kara watch him, pensively.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Kara asks.

“I mean, a custom back scratcher is still a good idea.”

“Right? Oooooooh. Hang on. I have an idea.”

“You thinking Stabby?”

“Definitely. I’ll go get ‘im.”   

[issylra]

oh look (it's a proper about me)

Updated 7/15/2024: It's been a long year for me, but wanted to give anyone checking for fic updates a quick update. I'm slowly working on finishing the fics I have started. The final chapter of reciprocation should be posted soon (done!), followed by the second chapter of distraction (reaction). After that, I'd like to look at golden days again, make some edits and hopefully finish it up in a way that feels good. Thank you everyone for your patience!

--

I figured I should do one of these since I'm historically bad at introducing myself. My name is Beth. I'm 34, perpetually exhausted, and this is my blog dedicated to (primarily) The Sandman/Dreamling fandom. I work a lot and I'm a fairly anxious person by nature, so I tend to lurk more than I participate. Please don't hesitate to reach out via ask or messenger if you ever want to chat!

links: my gifs - writing tag - ao3 - au gif sets

[dwarrowdams]

Garrus wrapped his cloak more tightly around him as he made his way out to the gardens. He’d planned to spend the morning in his room, studying up on tactics before practicing them in the training area, but a message from the princess had swiftly changed his plans. Princess Liv Astrea Shepard: First snow of the season!  Meet me in the gardens so we can see it together. It was a welcome change in plans: Garrus had only ever seen snow in vids and holos, and he wasn’t about to pass up the chance to see it with the princess, so he’d dug his cloak out from the back of his closet and rushed downstairs. 

Continue Reading on AO3

[bloodiedbiotic]

@diewithaname — semi-plotted starter

"You really gonna insult my intelligence that much? Or do you just want to ask it a lot more bluntly? How long you been dusting again?"

There’s bile in her throat, ready in a heartbeat to ignite and be spat at the man beside her — but she holds herself back, continues to ignore him even as his gaze drills into her. Knuckles turning white. Her gunmetal gaze is elsewhere as time drags on and the question remains unanswered. Ryker wasn’t going to go anywhere, she knew that for a fact. He had always been such a stubborn prick.

God, every coiled up fiber in her body wanted to just fucking snap— deck the shit out of him right onto the countertop. At least on Omega, this would be considered just another Tuesday. But she already got her daily punch on him in, with that one being what led her to this shitshow of a reunion.

She rolls her jaw, relieving some of the tension that had built up, before turning her attention to the drink that he had bought for her. It wasn’t the first one, but it was going to have to be the last. She needed to get out of here. Taking the glass, she coats her throat with that shitty-tasting alcohol with one final swig and a grimace to follow. On Omega, you never knew for sure what you were going to be given. At least it was usually strong enough to forget the taste. Setting the glass down, the woman pushes herself away from the bar top and turns to the exit, finally responding to Ryker before proceeding to storm out of the club.

“Thanks for the drinks.”