#as garrus would put it >w>

[thatwildwolfwrites]

—in which turians gossip.

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's youngest?

His son? Yeah. Apparently he got detention again. It's the fifth time this week. I don't know why that child keeps talking back. It's like he has no respect for authority.

Well, they'll beat that out of him at bootcamp. He'll fall in line eventually.

Why can't he just be normal? All the other kids his age understand this already. Maybe something's wrong with him...

I wonder. He's not growing up into a good turian... Poor Castis.

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's son?

--

Yes. What a waste. I heard he ranked at the very top in all sharpshooting and hand to hand combat tests... and all of that for nothing.

What's wrong with him? 

He will never make a good turian.

Spirits, poor Castis. First the accident, and now that son of his...

--

What about his son? I thought he was normal now. Didn't he find a job, outside the military?

He did. Citadel Security, like his father. Easier outlet for that... passion of his. You know. All that talk of justice and right and wrong... Castis hoped working at C-Sec would help him get it out of his system. Start being normal. Maybe he would finally burn through that... energy.

Did it work?

He's constantly fighting with his superiors. Disobeying orders. Questioning their judgement. I hear he's just as much trouble out there as he ever was down here.

I don't envy Castis right now. Hearing about your son constantly failing at the job you excelled at... It's got to do something to you.

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's son? I heard he actually quit C-Sec now. Couldn't even conform to that. Now he's left the Citadel on a whim, with some human, on an impulse...

--

Poor Castis.

Poor Castis.

I heard Castis Vakarian's son was part of that mess at the Citadel, with the geth.

--

Apparently he's aiming to be a Spectre now. I don't know how his father is going to take that.

I wouldn't want to be in his plates right now.

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's son? He dropped out of the Spectre training program.

--

Have you heard? He's gone mad.

I heard he finally snapped. Had some sort of identity crisis, left spirits know where without saying anything.

I suppose it was always a matter of time. There's always been something wrong with that boy. Still, his poor family...

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's son? 

--

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian? Yeah, he has kis kids staying over.

I heard. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse. Working with a terrorist organisation. Human supremacists, too... I can't imagine what his father's going through right now.

--

I heard it's a difficult family situation, yes. The mother's dying, and he... At least he still has his daughter, not like that good for nothing son of his.

Have you seen him? What a disgrace. Half his body covered in scars like that. Wearing his failures right on his face... His family must be so ashamed.

Heard he's saying he's fallen in love with an alien. A human of all species. 

Disgusting.

That's just adding insult to injury. His poor family.

Poor Castis.

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian's son?

--

Isn't he the one in charge of that refugee camp on the Citadel? Who even decided to put him in a leadership role?

I don't know. I heard he's friends with the new Primarch. I heard he failed upwards. I heard he's in an important position now, in charge of helping with that war summit.

This damn war. They'll promote anyone as long as they're still alive.

--

--

--

Have you seen? Commander Shepard's written a private account about the Reaper War. Have you read this? 

--

Incredible.

Heartwarming.

Inspiring.

Unbelievable.

Beautiful.

She wrote about Garrus Vakarian.

They were close. He was her lieutenant. Her closest aide. Her best friend.

He held her up when she stumbled. He asked her to take care of herself. He checked in with her. He cared. When everyone else saw the Commander, he was the only one who saw a person. He was the only one who asked how she was doing. He was the only one who supported her.

She wrote about everything he did for her.

He's the only reason she had the strength to win that war.

He saved the world.

--

--

Have you heard about Castis Vakarian?

--

You mean Garrus Vakarian's father? Yeah. I heard. He must be so proud.

[hanasnx]

but uh… related to ass-in-face, do you think Garrus would love it if X sat on his mouth? although.. the mandibles seem to be a bit… forward.

…… y’know I actually think he’d be a hell of a cheek-spreader. not just for safety but also- “damn, I love spreading you open like this. I get to unlock the ship’s cargo hold and rearrange the storage…. me being part of the crew is just a bonus for you, isn’t it?”

just mumbling flirtatious dumb shit while eating, like it’s part of his daily routine. the banter in bed would be hilarious, but he’s so much more a tender tall boy. ✨

“oh captain, my captain…” with some rawdogging. “god, I love fucking my boss~”

🫠 [I love aliens—]

~❤️❤️

anons i need you to know that “god, i love fucking my boss” in garrus vakarian’s voice has been stuck in my head since i read this. god i love fucking my boss????? are you fucking kidding me?? you shot me through the heart with that one. it’s such a loaded statement too because throughout the games he doesn’t ever really punish you for disagreeing with his input, like he rly is so loyal to you and your decisions and your orders. he’s a good soldier to you. and now he’s doing the most unspeakable, inappropriate, unprofessional things to you stashed away in your quarters. it’s a thrill to him that you’re his commander.

i’m not sure about sitting on his face because of his fringe and mandibles (i’m sure he’d make it work if he really got down to it) but eating you out?? he’s on that. he’s on top of that, he’s handling that. he’s eating you out like a pro, it rly does not take long. that sweet and long turian tongue is putting the work in, hot breath fanning over your folds as hes plunging deep in you, upper lip catching on your clit for a little extra stimulation. he’s gotta hold you down while he’s doing this, you squirm so damn much. telling him that you can’t do it, and if he didn’t have a mouth full of pussy he’d be murmuring into your hole, “you can, you can,” but he’s gotta let his body language do the talking. talons are indenting your thighs keeping that hold on you, keeping your spread while he tongue fucks you

i love his flirtatious, corny, and cute dialogue tbh it endears me so much. that whole thing w the storage sounded so him. i love his VA <3

[valentineveils]

oh i finally remembered my post yayyy so anyways . my thoughts on mass effect 1 so far :

-it's a game

-don't like how a lot of paragon options feel too nice or how renegade options feel too mean to me . personally

-also don't like how fast liara's romance can start . it's a personal preference of mine but i would rather have them establish a connection first instead of like , u just rescued me n i want u . type of situation . idkkkk im not a fan [this doesn't mean i don't like liara ok]

-i also don't like how many romances r genderlocked . where the FUCK are the BISEXUALS AND THE LESBIANS HELLO ?! ur telling me i can't romance ASHLEY as a woman ? ABSURD .

-the overheating mechanic is stupid and i hate it . theres lore reasons sure but it doesn't make for good gameplay ESPECIALLY in fights w so many enemies

-it's a game . i dunno maybe im not too far into it [only at 10 hours , going to feros] but it's not like a future favorite of mine . feels kinda like a weak entry in a series .

-the story isn't capturing me at all and i would rather not do so many sidequests . but its a bioware game so . just feels like i don't know saren i don't know the council i was just put here

-i rlly love most of the characters tho ; kaidan , ashley and tali r my faves currently ^_^ [gods strongest soldier for enjoying the virmire duo lmfao] don't ask me abt garrus . just don't . i have nothing nice to say abt him . i need to play w wrex and liara more tbh

[nighttimepixels]

Garrus is unimpressed with the mild interruption of his & his commander's shoreleave outing

[ficbrish]

WIP Wednesday long post

When I say I’m in WIP hell, it’s more like a mixture of WIP hell/heaven.

I was on a writing hiatus for so long before I started writing fic. I have original projects I’ve been working on for years, and I felt stuck in my stories and stuck in my circumstances. Then I decided to just write down one of my daydreams and now I have more ongoing projects actually making their way onto the page than I ever imagined. I’m writing a lot, and now I find I have more motivation than time. I love being here. I don’t ever want to go back to thick, blank stuck.

So to celebrate, here’s snippets of various WIPs I have. If they’re a part of work that’s already posted, I’ll provide a link to where they are on AO3.

Tagging @tealenko @acciokaidanalenko @halesshepardn7 @drthrvn @ljandersen @felan-daris @mallaidhsomo @ghostxofxartemis @nolenag03 @mrsd-writes @major-alenko (and anyone else who sees this who wants to join!) Please show me some WIP snippets if you’re willing to share! No pressure, just fun.

Rating: Explicit, 18+ If you are not an adult, do not interact!

ME1: Inevitability (not posted)

[my novelization of my headcanon playthrough of the first Mass Effect game]

Chapter 1 - “Welcome Aboard the Normandy, Shepard”

“I was really hoping Joker would be there, but you’ll meet him eventually,” Anderson shrugged.

“Joker, sir?” Shepard asked.

“Oh, our pilot.”

“Is he funny, sir?”

“Not as funny as you, Shepard,” he responded dryly

Chapter 2 - “The Spectre”

“One more thing, Shepard,” Anderson said hesitantly as she walked out of the room.

She turned and waited for him to speak further.

“He’s on Elysium.”

Shepard groaned, “Are you fucking for real?”

“Language, Commander!”

“Sorry,” she apologized, then repeated, “Are you fucking for real, sir?”

The Night Before Ilos (not posted)

[smut one-shot about Kaidan and Shepard’s first time together]

“I’ve waited so long to touch you,” Kaidan moaned into her neck as he pressed her back into the wall. She gasped at the admission, not the pressure. He apologized as he met her lips again.

Oh, wow.

They wanted this so bad it suffocated them both. It gripped them tight and squeezed, squeezed, squeezed…

Until it met the limits of grip.

Shepard’s kiss was the shudder as the muscles gave out, releasing at last. Nothing was holding them back anymore.

Victory Lap (not posted)

[short fic about the month between ME1 and the destruction of the SR-1]

Chapter 1 - “Victorious”

Everyone was waiting impatiently outside the Normandy. C-Sec wasn’t letting anyone inside.

“Come on, I left medicine in there!” Joker protested, moving to the front of the crowd.

“Please head downstairs and let requisitions know what you need,” the turian guard informed him, “They’ll provide it for you until you can get back on board,”

“C-Sec has the medicine I need for my rare Human condition?”

“Sir, it’s the Citadel. We have everything here.”

Joker sighed and put his hands on his hips, “Well, damn. I really thought that was gonna work.”

Chapter 3 - “The Story of Shepard”

“If you didn’t like corny, you wouldn’t like me. So come on, tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. She sighed and began to think.

“Hmmmm… Well, when I was a kid I couldn’t draw circles.”

“That’s so lame. No one can draw circles.”

“Kaidan… Yes, they can.”

“Lies! Show me.”

“Wait, you can’t draw a circle?”

Shepard crawled out of bed to grab her datapad.

“Show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” she said.

ME2: Cerberus Bitch (not posted)

[my novelization of my headcanon playthrough of Mass Effect 2]

Prologue: Death

Kaidan’s own locker was at the other side of the bay, but instead of rushing over he grabbed the unfamiliar pink and white armor nearby.

Liara and Garrus spotted him and sprinted over. Concern creased their faces.

“What’s happening?” Garrus asked, ready for whatever action was coming.

“I don’t know! We just heard the alarms,” he answered, stepping into the legs. Liara and Garrus were already suited up and started helping him into his.

“Why are you naked?” Liara asked, dazed like someone who had just woken up from a deep nap they’d never meant to take.

“Because there’s no time!”

Grief Makes People… Well, You Know (not posted)

[smut one-shot about stranded post-war Normandy]

The Normandy SR-2 was stuck with most of its crew inside; trapped within a stranglehold of Pragia’s ever-growing vines, grounded, and cut off from the rest of the galaxy.

No Shepard. No EDI.

A stain on the thick, surrounding jungle, the SR-2 was a ghost of itself, inside and out.

The war’s ending had transformed everything, leaving them all in a limbo state. Nothing about the state of the galaxy was known. Kaidan, Liara, and Joker had become the ultimate authorities in this shrunken universe. As leaders, they were effective and inspiring, but all three were bleeding at the neck. It was in their souls, and it rested on their faces and on their shoulders.

It also left them all in a crisis state. The helm of the ship was buried in muck, but the rest of it shone in the sun of a new day. They had survived the impossible, but they needed to get flying again to keep it that way.

So, they worked, and they itched—with victory, loss, celebration, horror, disbelief, joy, ecstatic joy, relief, relief, more relief, and then deep, deep fear. Itching, itching with it. Working over it and under it, through it and because of it.

There was too much thickness in the air for laughter to cut through. The halls were coated with fresh, hot ick from the war’s sharp, dripping maw. Lightness was respectfully tucked away in pockets. Grasping for each other was confined to hidden crevices in time and space.

ME4: Aftermath [AO3]

[a novel of my headcanon about post-ME3 Shepard]

Chapter 3 - “Seeing You Again at the End of the World”

“Shepard…” Garrus began.

“Garrus…” she copied.

“It’s just…”

“What? Garrus!” Shepard interrupted in a casually persuasive way, like a cheap ship salesperson. “I mean… there’s so many mass relays out there that need calibration. How can you rest?”

He actually had to think about it for a second.

“You know me… it’s hard to resist a good cal—"

Tali didn’t let him finish, “Don’t let her bully you like that!”

“I’m not bullying anyone!” Shepard protested, throwing her arms up in mock defeat. “I just… I’ll do whatever it takes to get you all on board.”

“You’d even use my love of calibrations against me?” Garrus asked, betrayed.

Shepard hung her head and admitted, “Yes.”

Garrus held his hand up to his mouth in shock.

Scenes from a Hospital (not posted)

[smut one-shot, Shep makes herself handy in the hospital]

Their throats felt tight even though they were finally home.

“I—” Kaidan started, but his voice caught.

“I know,” she said.

“I really thought—”

Shepard shushed him and rubbed his chest.

“I know,” she finished for him.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

It felt so good to feel his heart beating under her palm.

Untitled (not posted)

[my novelization of my headcanon dragon age inquisition playthrough]

Chapter 1 - “A Rift”

“It throngs with magic!” Adan commented poisonously, referring the green, glowing hand of the slumbering elf.

Cullen bent down to examine it further, Solas taking a knee next to him. When he took her hand in his, he could feel the tingling through his thick leather glove. There was an active, chaotic power there for sure, but something about it had the air of stability.

“Do you feel that too?” The ex-templar asked the apostate.

“Yes, but it is not what you think.”

“Hmmm…. He grunted thoughtfully.

Maker. His head pounded. It didn’t take any amount of training or lyrium to know he was staring at an unknown magic. He looked at the elven apostate, the waking one that is, and squinted. There was a surety underneath the other man’s concern. It put his own mind at ease.

“It should be fine,” he judged, standing up.

“Those are baaaad words,” Varric commented, and Cassandra shot him a warning look.

Rice [AO3]

[smut/fluff short fic where Lavellan and Cullen cook together]

Chapter 2 - “A Dalish Dish”

Commander and Inquisitor be damned, the head cook still cursed when they came crashing into the kitchens demanding everyone take some time off.

“Just an hour or so!” the Inquisitor pleaded to the displeased cook, his flour-covered shoe tapping and his hands frowning at her from his hips. He didn’t answer but rolled his eyes and shouted for everyone to clear out.

“Never thought I’d meet anyone more terrifying than Corypheus,” Cullen joked. Her responding smirk made him realize he was still catching his breath.

She laughed, “You never caught me.”

He grabbed her up in his arms now and she squealed.

“Unhand me so I can feed you!” she joked.

“Every part of you feeds me,” he said into her ear, and even though they’d just had each other, she felt desperate for him.

[cybersoldier82]

What fictional characters would your prey OCs want to get eaten by the most?

What fictional characters would your pred OCs want to eat the most??

-🦝

Ok so like on the prey side (and I’m putting Mike and Hanna for both bc their switches) Kyle Mike and Mackenzie are all in agreement that they’d wanna be eaten by Tali and Garrus from mass effect along w Cortana from halo and Vash from Trigun lol

But on the pred spectrum Mike Mackenzie and Hanna would want to eat Twice from mha, Luke from Star Wars and Frodo from lord of the rings

[thearchdemongreatlydisapproves]

Tarquin Victus, Adrien Victus, Grizz, Lorik, Rolan GO

Jsdjjd can we at least get a coffee first?

Rolan my beloathed little mrrp mrrp

Send me a character and I will answer these prompts about them

First impression

Tarquin: my mind was swarming:

Imagine waking up one day in the middle of the worst galactic war and finding out you're now the son of the new Primarch because everyone else is dead or MIA. What was it like being the son of Adrien Victus, did he always feel like he's living in his dad's shadow? His dad Primarch has just promoted him out of the blue so he can lead a super top secret mission on which the turian-krogan alliance hinges and isn't that a lot to handle? Of course he fucked up and misjudged, he's obviously young and inexperienced and trying to live up to his dad, but isn't Adrien somewhat to blame for putting this responsibility on his shoulders-

Adrien: every time I close my eyes I see that ass shot of him in front of Palaven. Like congrats, you're the Primarch now and here's your planet burning!

But also at the time I was so elated to have Garrus back I could only acknowledge that Victs was a hot older turian 😩👌🏻 but not much beyond that. Back on the Normany tho 😳

Let's just say that I keep thinking thoughts

Grizz: "I would work for you anytime 😏"

Lorik: Oh no 😳

Impression now

Tarquin: first impression but turn it up by 11 + Baby boy, you deserved so much better than this!!! You deserved to come home and to redeem yourself without being turned into a martyr 😭😭😭

Adrien: [REDACTED]

Also, Bioware really gave us a sad turian dilf and expects me to be normal about this???

Grizz: I hope you're getting paid a decent wage

Lorik: I know he's a businessman but he's so polite and endearing!! He just keeps trying to use human expressions but he's also terrible at it!! I love him!!!

Favorite moment

Tarquin: Garrus says it, he never hesitated. Tarquin saw what needed to be done and he did it. We spend so much time with him on that bomb and I think that was a genius decision. It shows us how young he's like in his early 20s and just lost pretty much his whole squad because of his mistake, because he tried to be clever like his dad but didn't have the experience to back it up and- and scared he is in that moment but he's also so determined to finish the mission now.

I think that scrombled my brain a bit.

Adrien: that moment when he's told he's the Primarch now because Fedorian is dead and pretty much everyone in line before him is either also dead or MIA. The shock and horror because he never expected it to happen, there were so many people better suited for the job but they're all dead now and he's a soldier not a politician. But he accepts it with determination because his people need him to be the Primarch now even if it means abandoning his squad on Menae to be quite possibly slaughtered by the Reapers.

It's the ruthless calculus of war. 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻

Also the ass shot... I am looking (respectfully)👁👁

Grizz: kskdkd when you use a paragon option and he just "Alright fine u didn't hear it from me though"

Lorik: how fast he crumbles when you ask him to testify against Anoleis. Like yaas king, don't play hard to get 😩👌🏻

Idea for a story

Tarquin: he survives the Tuchanka mission. Just that. I want to see him live and get to see his dad again. Consequences be damned.

Adrien: what I said about Tarquin. I'm pretty sure he would rather have his son back that have a martyr.

Also @hanarinhightown's idea for Adrien and Castis being old friends who got back in touch because Adrien needed someone to show him some tough love and who better than that nerd Vakarian who kept bugging him about protocol back in when they were in basic who he also had a crush on.

So after the war they finally meet again and finally get to talk about everything and it culminates with Castis gives a handjob to the Primarch of Palaven

Grizz: Grizz's day off. I want to see how mundane life on Omega looks like for someone like him.

Lorik: I want the whole Noveria quest explored better and more in-depth with both his and Gianna's involvement as well as a proper dive into the class culture of Noveria (maybe even add Lilihierax into it 👀). I want the tension 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻

Favorite relationship

Tarquin: Victus

Adrien: Tarquin (and Garrus)

Grizz: hmmm maybe Aria? Or maybe he's buddies with Gavorn? 🤔

Lorik: either Gianna or Lilihierax

Unpopular opinion

Yeah idk

Favorite headcanon

Tarquin: he never wanted to be a soldier. I kind of believe he wanted to be an architect or something like that after his compulsory service except the Victus family is so synonymous with the military and war he didn't have a choice. And then the Reaper War started and he had even less of a choice.

Also he can cook good 🤌🏻

Adrien: used to be in the same unit as Castis back in basic and we're constantly bickering like an old married couple. At one point people just stopped recommending they settle their difference in the fighting ring and instead to do it in a more intimate environment.

Grizz: I like to think that he occasionally chats with Patriarch.

Lorik: he has a crush on both Gianna and Lilihierax and no, I am not projecting

[spookyvalentine]

sneaky peek wednesday!

i've got a couple (a lot) of mercy one- and two-shots in the wings, and while i work on my last jack chapter, i wanted to share some snippets w yall :)

should've been a cowboy (garrus pov, me1)

Kepler Verge, his omni-tool blinks. A message from Shepard—

Herschel, MSV Fedele.

Yes.

His mandibles twitch, just a little bit—Shepard came through.

They listened, offered to help and followed up—Garrus is surprised again, by this human. He’s grateful—pleased, really, there’s a low sort of thrum gathering in his chest. He made the right choice in leaving C-Sec, he knew already—but it feels good, feels right, to be on the hunt with someone that understands the thrill of bloodscent.

He picks out his guns with care.

Shepard meets him at the Mako, bumping arms with Tali as they walk out of the engineering core together.

For a moment he wishes Shepard had chosen the krogan instead—the last time the three of them went out, that rip tear pop bam crunch boom had sated something in him.

But the quarian—for her deceptively slight nature—is mean with a shotgun, and has an affinity for tech that is lethally obvious.

Paired with the way he can clear a room with a rifle, Shepard’s nasty little biotic trick that freezes people in place and how they burn through shields and locks faster than acid, well. Together they slide into something sleek and vicious.

Shepard, Garrus concedes, can pick a team.

teenagers (anderson, pre-ME)

When they finish eating, Mercy has a leg tucked up against their chest, examining the new piece of hardware around their ankle.

“That’s the best monitor the Alliance has outside of a dermal tag,” David says. “Top of the line, should be unbreakable—and will alert the military police if you leave your court-assigned radius, if you start poking around or try to remove it.”

He stands, which immediately catches their attention, and gathers up their dinner plates. “I have no idea how it works—I don’t have the key, or a code. You won’t find anything like that here.”

“But, if by some chance,” David says. “You do manage to crack it—” their eyes dart up to him, narrow and flashing gold, “—I’d like if you left me a note telling me how you did it. Would make for a good read, I think.”

That was clearly not what the kid was expecting—a quick surprised blink and a long stare—with what David knows is an unintentional start of a smile, before they give him a slow nod.

He takes the plates over to the sink, feeling their gaze track him across the room. “I do hope, however,” David says carefully, “that I’ll see you in the morning.”

Mercy doesn’t reply outside of a quiet “thanks for dinner,” but he wasn’t expecting a response. They slink into their new room, shutting the door firmly behind them.

rainbow connection (edi, me2)

“You can call me Mercy, if you’d like, when it’s the two of us like this,” they say almost absentmindedly, painting the hull of their newest model ship with care. EDI is about to point out that Sovereign's color is closer to that of an oil slick rather than the hot fuschia on lime green they’ve chosen—and realizes it must be their idea of poking fun. “Shepard’s fine too, but friends call me Mercy.”

“Are we friends?” Edi focuses her camera from their steady hands to take in the commander’s face. A couple days into living on the Normandy, Shepard had ripped out the Cerberus-issued cameras from their cabin, which was unsurprising. Then they installed a new, private channel for her in their work space, with a nicer camera—put in at eye-level—after EDI asked about their model ships. It’s... nice. It’s almost like they’re sitting together.

“Well, sure,” Shepard huffs out a laugh, then cleans the paintbrush and drops it into a cup. They lean back in their chair. “We hang out all the time. Conversation’s great—I’d like to think you think I’m funny, you’re interesting to listen to—and I trust you. You keep our fridge stocked with clementines just ‘cause once you heard me say I like them—“ their voice cracks a little, and they ruffle a hand through the summer wheat hair curling at their nape. It catches golden in the light. “That’s friend shit, EDI.”

“Then you are my first friend, Mercy Shepard,” EDI says, and feels warm.

She watches as an enormous smile sweeps across their face. “It’s my honor,” they say simply, and then dimples into her camera.

Distantly a file of Jack plays—“Like goddamn sunshine,” EDI hears her mutter, stunned and flustered and annoyed and fond, and... she thinks she understands.

Mercy swivels to examine a neat little row of paint pots, a hand hovering over the colors. They pick out a creamy-looking periwinkle, and start lining the model ship’s edges with a thin brush. The aquarium bubbles faintly in the background and EDI watches—with what she thinks might come as close to companionable silence—as Mercy paints.

I WROTE PORN oh god i really did....... its thane having a blowjob for the first time bc @battlemastershepard an' i had an excellent conversation about what if humanity's contribution to the galaxy was oral this is like maybe a fourth of document oh god its so filthy forgive me lord

The hand that has been lightly resting on Shepard’s head, with his fingers tangled casually into their curls, suddenly clenches—and fuck, fuck—the tug sends hot skitters of electricity across Shepard’s skin. Their jaw drops open with a startled moan, and Thane slides deeper into their mouth. Shepard reaches out, briefly desperate to catch themself before they can gag—one palm slaps across a tensing thigh and their other hand slides down—the way easily slicked by Shepard’s saliva and Thane’s precum—to grip the fat base of his cock.

The sound he makes isn’t quite a shout, but it’s the loudest they’ve ever heard him, and Shepard has to know what he looks like.

Thane’s back bows with pleasure, head thrown back and throat bared—the soft skin of his frill is flushed darker than Shepard’s ever seen it, the deep color of very good wine—and his scales glimmer silver under the glow of aquarium lights. The best part, though, the best part is—

By now Shepard can recognize the momentary glitches in the translator with the sound of his prayers rolling in like summer thunder—but these desperate noises tumble out of his mouth in broken gasps. His voice is deeper, maybe—Shepard can feel the warm curl of his venom adding vibrancy and texture to the room—and the burr of his voice burns through their bone marrow. Shepard whimpers, they absolutely fucking whimper at the way Thane fills their mouth, at the way his hips jerk with helpless little thrusts in time with the rise and fall of his voice.

Shepard leans heavily on his spread legs, liking how his thighs tremble and flex beneath them. Some of it is literally because of the venom, but there is a high to seeing this man sprawled across their couch with not a single fucking stitch of clothing on his body, gleaming like a pile of jewels and reduced to prayers—Shepard did that, is doing that, actually, and can feel a pleased smile spreading as they watch him writhe at their (godammit) mercy.

They ease up some and let their spit pool around his cockhead, waiting for Thane to catch them looking. The weight of his dark gaze seizes the breath in their throat, and he slowly, deliberately, pulls on their hair. Shepard sinks back down with a gasp, watching him stare at his cock pushing the drool out of their mouth.

They take him in til their lips meet the ring of their fingers around the base of his cock and fuck, Shepard has to know what it will feel like, and swallows.

This time Thane does shout and Shepard whines because they could’ve sworn those ridges on his cock flexed and so they do it again, loving the full way their throat flutters and catches around him. His hand is heavy on the back of their head, and for a wild, lightheaded second, they want to find out if Thane will choke them on his cock. His hips twitch up and, trapped, Shepard gags.

Immediately Thane’s hand lifts. They have to turn their head to the side, panting for breath around his shaft, while the head of his cock presses into their cheek.

He straightens out of his sprawl, a little, and his hand tucks a curl of hair behind Shepard’s ear, and they shiver. His fingers run down the line of their jaw, and he stares—almost dumbstruck—at where his cock bulges through Shepard’s cheek.

Thane says their name with a raw voice, reverent, Mercy, mercy.

They lick at the thick vein at the base of his cock and starts kissing their way up, laving attention on his ridges. The scales here are so small it nearly feels like soft skin, but there’s still texture enough to make Shepard quake hotly at the idea of Thane sliding inside them. They press a messy, open-mouthed kiss to the pointed head before swallowing him down again, and glances up at Thane when he lets out a soft, shaking breath.

His eyes burn into theirs as Shepard, very gently, closes their teeth around his cock.

His cum is sweet and um, stickier, than what Shepard expected, and... there’s a lot of it. It starts to spill out of their mouth. Shepard leans back, coughing a little, and feels it drip warmly down their chin.

[capnhanbers]

okay binging 115 chapters in two sittings within the same week was tough but i made it!! i loved it a LOT, one of the best ut fics i've ever read and DEFINITELY the best long term one! everyone feels so well characterized, i've never seen a sans x reader fic get so right for what and WHO sans undertale would be in a romance- and he's fat. LITERALLY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING HIM BE FAT AND HOT AT THE SAME TIME that's GOT to be fucking like. the biggest thing so many fic writers just like write out or w/e and it's so refreshing to see that part of him preserved. the Papyrus characterization is ALSO fucking amazing he's the best- as a Papyrus advocate i'm absolutely stoked that he's not generally written as stupid or a baby and written as the grown ass autistic adult he is, but also as an older sibling i IMMEDIATELY understood that no. no way he's able to talk about sex he's not allowed to. no he's not. also ace/aro papyrus my beloved <3 and toriel- holy shit your toriel. literally incredible and put so amazing i love her characterization as a mother and seeing her being tired of mothering but falling back into it when she's stressed and who she is as a teacher and a FRIEND it's genuinely wonderful. also she's Ripped to shit and i'm a huge fan (and if she isn't then well i made that part up but i'm keeping it here because i like it 😌). asgore is wonderful too, old OLD favorite of mine and i like seeing him done justice, huge and imposing without meaning to and fretful and apologetic when he realizes he does and goofy and loving and cries wholeheartedly at the drop of a hat, i'm so glad he has a family that loves him on the surface. literally thank you again for writing this fic it's so great and interesting and i'm DYING to know more like what the hell is going on with chara they're another big favorite character of mine and how INTERESTING (VERY, VERY INTERESTING.) the stuff and worldbuilding with gaster is! i am absolutely going to be following this for a while ty very much <3

(side note: no lie, i thought hector was hot from the moment that description of what he looked like ended, even before anaya made the garrus comparison. unrelated, but does anyone have anything to drink i'm a bit parched-)

wh-where....where do i even begin w/ the glory of this ask

ONE fat sans is so important to me you have no idea TWO AAAAH i so appreciate you like my paps >>>8D THREE I SO APPRECIATE YOU LIKE MY TORIEL SHE'S MY MAIN SQUEEZE she IS ripped you're right that's straight canon babey FOUR asgooooooooore waaaaaaaa yeaaaaaaaah he needed somebody to love!!!!! FIVE our friends from the void sure are :) they're sumthin huh :) and finally SIX ah, i see, a good-taste-haver when it comes to hector

big big messages like this are like. this will fuel me for the next thousand years. this will stoke my hearth for the winter. this is so sweet. thank you a million for reading and strapping in for a wip lmao THRILLED to have u

[inthejunegloom]

Polyamoury Coding In Mass Effect...

I have been replaying mass effect through the legendary edition collection (wow!! Wowie zowie!!) and as a polyamorous person myself, I was pleasantly surprised to see the poly subtext in the game.

Under the cut are a list of thoughts I have on this, with evidence as best to my recollection based on my ME:LE run

Mostly covers ME1 and ME2, haven't started the ME3 file for my shep yet)

Of course the Virmire Survivor and Liara are each attracted to Shepard instantly

I'm guessing asari as a culture have mostly moved past sole monogamy, as w a culture like theirs so emphasizing on peace, progress, and diversity, it seems like a no-brainer that an asari will have multiple partners in their life. And as asari are encouraged to find meaningful relationships outside of their own species, who's to say those relationships aren't in triads? Polycules? Etc?

Liara almost seems tempted in the ME 1 convo if Shep suggests a nonmonogamous arrangement, in the scene where Shepard has to lock in between the virmire survivor and her; curious, and not adverse to the idea

Who else but LIARA makes the entirety of ME2 possible, regardless of who you pick as your LI?

Liara, heavily implied to be in love with Shepard throughout 1 and 2

Liara, who becomes the Shadow Broker only to help Shepard

Liara, who goes insane trying to save Feron that she can't even consider resuming her friendship or relationship with Shepard because she's so sick with stress and worry

Liara, who will make a jealous crack about your ME2 LI ("garrus is doing more than calibrating the normandy's cannons these days!!!" being my favorite) but still loves Shepard deeply enough to trust that they can feel it out together

Garrus is the same -- his genuine love for shepard is visible no matter Shep's gender, but is more obv w f!shep

Garrus, who was deeply depressed until Shepard whisked him away

Garrus, who respects Shepard so much he just wants to make sure nothing goes wrong in their romance

As big as he is on strategy and trust... he would def be okay with Shepard's relationship with Liara, given their previous history, and out of respect for both of these people he's put his life on the line for, he'd be open-minded. The relationships they've developed together are too precious to him.

Garrus, of course, will date Tali in ME3 if left to his own devices; but even if you try to be Just Friends, his devotion and love for Shep is still clear regardless of the romance

Speaking of Tali

Tali is canonically attracted to both Shepard and Garrus, as we all know from various side convos and DLC content

But who else is Tali hinted at having a deeper relationship with?

Kal'Reegar. Kal, who admires Tali SO MUCH that he goes to trial for her without question

Who respects Shepard and trusts in the admiration and love that Tali has for Shep.. and is willing to die for shep IMMEDIATELY upon meeting on haestrom

From a meta standpoint: wouldn't polyamory arrangements be encouraged on the flotilla, to help maintain the fragile quarian population balance?

Shala'Ran, for example, was close enough with Tali's mother to be suitless with her through Tali's birth, and be the first to hold her over Tali's own father

Another key romance: thane

Thane actively encourages shepard to find love outside of his relationship with them due to his terminal illness

Jack clearly has a crush on shepard, and states outright in a convo to shepard that she was once a space pirate in a poly throuple with a man and woman who had saved her. (She ends up killing them, but that's beside the point issjdhdjs)

On Tuchanka, the krogan women have control on whoever they mate with. Krogan men meet with the women's camp for copulation and to see the children, but are also often seen having meaningful relationships with asari as well. Each individual's situation is different of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if Clan Leader Urdnot Wrex took a progressive stance on spreading the love, if only to reduce interpersonal krogan murder over lovers

TLDR:; lots of poly subtones and room for representation through small gaps in lore.

This all started because I'm a useless bisexual CONVINCED that everyone on the normandy is so fuckin hopelessly in love with shepard

[multi-fandom-imagine]

I'm Proud Of You || David Anderson ||

Summary: Those four words just kept ringing in her ears and she just wondered why her and not him.

Notes: Father Figure David Anderson x Femshepard [ light Garrus x Shep ] *Happy ending Modd for Mass Effect was in effect*

Staring out the window from the Normandy, watching the stars pass by Shepard continued to wonder why she was alive. She knew she should be dead; she should have gone down with the Citadel…when she destroyed those Reapers yet here she was alive. With a broken, burned arm leaning on a cane, the only reason why she knew she was even standing here was thanks to her crew and Joker for even going back.

When Brooke first woke she didn’t know where she was, the room was a blur and her body was protesting her moving from that damn reaper blast. She heard an accent first, followed by more voices and it wasn’t until she finally realized she was in what you would call a hospital room. Dr Chakwas and Michels where hovering over her frail body.

“Thank goodness she’s awake” That was Chakwas, the woman always worried over her. She then heard the voice over Joker, trying to mask the pain in his voice with a joke.

“Told you Doc. It takes a lot more than getting hit with a Reaper beam for our Commander to die” Though she knew he was worried, slowly turning her head she spotted her whole crew in the tiny room, she figured she must be somewhere in London since she spotted the Normandy, streaked with marks from the broken window.

She noticed Steven Hackett first, he had a bitter smile on his face though he looked tired but the man seemed happy she was alive. Shepard then let her gaze glance over to where Kaiden, James and Jacob where standing in the back silently. Liara was comforting a crying Samantha though she knew her friend was crying too. Wincing, she held back a gasp to push herself up as she waved the doctors off. “Im fine” she muttered but that was a lie.

Brooke then noticed Zeed and Samera as they were in the far back, she could have sworn the man held a concerned look in his face but that could have been the light, she knew Jack wanted to tell her off, scream at her for doing something so stupid since she was the first to walk over to her.

“You owe me Shep, shit you scared the crap out of me.” Jack whispered in her ear though she then left the room muttering about checking on her students.

The final pair she noticed was of course Joker, the man just hung his head low as EDI held his hand. Tali standing on his other side and Shepard felt a pain in her heart, since she knew her best friend was hurt because of her though feeling her heart clench she was going to ask where he was but hearing that familiar chuckle she turned he heard to see Garrus sitting by her side.

“I’m hard to kill.”

Sighing the woman let her body relax for a moment until she felt realization hit her, gasping her eyes scanned the room and missing was someone who she wanted to see more than anything. Anderson, where was he…h-he was with her, she remembered him being by her side.

“W-Where’s Anderson…I remember…” Brooke closed her eyes, she remembered him telling her that he made her proud, then that’s it.

“He’s in another room right? He’s fine” her voice sounded so weak, so dry though finally opening her eyes she didn’t understand why everything was blurry…why they were all silent.

That was when she knew, she was crying and David Anderson was not in the next room, he was not fine but he was dead and its hurt fault.

“Oh god” Chocking on a sob, her body started to shake as she heard Grunt scream something to the Chakwas, screaming about helping her.

Shepard didn’t even notice that she tried to sit up, she didn’t care about opening wounds up. “I need to…please he can’t be.” Feeling her body wrack with guilt she turned away from her team, her friends and the man she loved. She didn’t want them to see her like this, so broken and now she wished that she died on the Citadel, then at least she wouldn’t have to live with the guilt.

Garrus looked at the team though he didn’t have to say anything, they all slowly left until he was the only one. The turian slowly reached up and brushed the short blonde hair away from her bruised and cut face. He felt more tears it the talons, but seeing your steady breathing he knew you’d fallen asleep.

“You of all people deserve to be happy, don’t dwell on Anderson death. He would not want you to cry over him.”

Leaning over, Garrus placed a gentle kiss to your head as he then sat down holding your hand gently. He won’t leave your side.

“I’m Proud of you”

Shepard looked around, she looked down seeing her body was not broken anymore so that was when she knew it, she was in a nightmare and god’s. She prayed she wouldn’t see him, her dreams were already plagued with the deaths of Mordin, Thane and Ash, she didn’t think she could handle hearing Anderson too.

Though as she walked she noticed everything felt peaceful, the air felt light and it was beautiful. Looking around she noticed a bench followed by someone sitting on it. It did not take her long though seeing who it was her heart clenched, she was now looking at David Anderson and he had a smile on his face.

“How can you be smiling” It felt like a whisper as it slipped from her lips though the man chuckled shifting his body as she sat down next to him.

“Why shouldn’t I be, the Reapers a dead…you did it Shepard. You saved humanity.” Anderson looked out on the horizon.

“That’s a lie…so many people…I couldn’t. You died because of me” Shepard started to feel herself break down again.

“Now that is a damn good lie and you know it Shepard. There was a good chance that I wouldn’t be making this out alive. But you did! I’m Proud of you Shepard and I am happy I was here for you.” The man reached over and grasped her hand.

“Though I hate I won’t be walking this stubborn woman down the aisle.”

Feeling her tears slide down her cheeks, Brooke felt her lips twitch into a smile though she then laughed. “I’m stubborn…you…” shaking her head she felt him grip her hand.

“So you and Garrus huh?”

“Me and Garrus.”

“I always thought he was a good match for you Shepard…now do me a favor and stop mourning me. You have an Earth to rebuild. A lot of people are looking up to the woman you managed to survive a Reaper blast and take them all down…now live your life, be happy for once, you deserve it”

“I had help…but I will…thank you Sir”

Shepard did take his word to heart, after she was well enough to leave the hospital she started to help Earth, though she knew it would take a lot more to rebuild and now here she was. Standing on the Normandy in her dress blues looking out at the stars. Putting her weight on the cane she felt a body slip behind her, a familiar hand slip and place its self on the small of her back.

“Beautiful isn’t it…and the stars aren’t half bad either” Garrus chuckled though he pressed his mandibles to her head.

“He would be proud of you Shepard, you’ve done good.”

Nodding her head, the young woman smiled, she could see Anderson's own smile on his face repeating those same words.

“I’m Proud of You Shepard.”

[lyrishadow]

How about collapse for Egan and crave for marley. :3

I managed 600 w for Egan so that is below. I did not manage 600 w for Marley.. so a link https://archiveofourown.org/works/28932120 Egan and Kaidan under the line: 

Minor Damage: 

On Therrum, when they went into the mine after Dr. Tsoni, Kaidan Alenko, noted that Egan Shepard didn’t think twice about having to jump down to the bottom of the mine, or about using a laser to get past the barrier to help the Asari. Everything went well until then, the mining laser had cut a nice space for them to duck through and the doctor was freed. 

“What was that?” Kaidan asked as the ground moved.

“ Um.” Egan was seldom lost for words but there were definite sulfur and ground movent, he turned to look at the Asari they had just rescued “ Is there a way out of here?”

“ A lift, in the middle…”  She gestured to the elevator controls.”You left that until now?” 

 Thank you for…” the Asari began to say but the building began to shake again, far more insistent than before as the elevator reached the top. "Ah Shepard how are we getting out of here…" Garrus asked readying his rifle. “Joker? We need a pickup. Lock into my location, on the double."

Aye aye. Eta 3 mins” 

A Krogan and an assortment of geth were of course waiting for them.

"Surrender. Or not, that would be more fun." The Krogan licked his lips "Hand over the Asari."

Shepard looked between the terrified expression on the poor Asari's face and his crew, before stepping directly in front of her.

"No thanks, the Asari stays with us." 

The ground moved again, the smell of sulfur increasing.

“ 3 mins huh? ”Egan muttered before Kaidan could see him starting to ramp up for his biotics, Egan Shepard was at least good in a fight. Although this entire place starting to crumble around them did not sound appealing.

“Let’s get this done. Kaidan, take Liara and go that way - keep her safe.”  Shepard turned to Garrus “ Garurs you are with me.” 

“Aye aye” Kaidan took Liara by the arm and dragged her to cover as Shepard launched a lift at one of the Geth, which Garrus immediately sniped down. The Krogun took down Egan’s shield almost immediately, and Kaidan was not entirely sure what possessed Egan but he turned and with a grin ran straight for the lumbering Krogan. True it cut off the Krogan’s charge, but it also put Egan in harm’s way. For an adept, Egan played a little close to everything for Kaidan’s sense of safety. “Damnit.”  Kaidan had his eye on the info for the fight, everyone’s data except for the Asari who now cowered against the cover. A geth split off from the group and Kaidan, seeing it coming, quickly pushed it away and shot it. The Asari looked at him confused. 

Meanwhile, the main fight was drawing to an end, Kaidan could hear Egan out of breath, which given the need for a hasty escape was not exactly the best. However, results said that Egan knew what he was doing.

“ Let’s go!” Egan yelled.

“ C’mon.”  Kaidan led the way to the curtain of energy that blocked their path. “Commander?” 

“ Wait for it, then run,” Egan replied, running a hand through his hair. The curtain fell, and they sprinted up the gangway, which was fast shaking loose under their feet.

“ Get moving!” Egan yelled behind them, Garrus and Kaidan ran swiftly out of the mine but did not immediately see Egan or the Asari. The wait was terrifyingly slow then Egan ran out of the mine almost dragging the Asari with him. Dr. Tsoni had a wide-eyed look.

[nighttimepixels]

TALK TO US ABOUT MASS EFFECT I HAVE BEEN AN INSANE MASS EFFECT/SHAKARIAN TRASH PERSON SINCE 20-FUCKING-11 AND LEMME TELL YOU THOSE FEELINGS HAVENOT TARNISHED A SINGLE FRACTION IN THOSE TEN YEARS OH MY GOOOOOOODDDSSSS!!!!!!!

I DEMAND A PLAY-BY-PLAY UP TO THE MINUTE OF YOUR REACTIONS TO EVERYTHING!!!!

you are so valid and I totally see why everyone I've ever mentioned it to loves the hell out of it

aksdjlsdfj I meannnn if you want to hear my rambling about it then hell yeah

Okay, gonna put this below the cut to save everyone else XD also- since I'm not leaving this Mass Effect obsession anytime soon, if you're not interested in seeing occasional posts about it, please feel free to block the tag "night plays ME"~

(mild spoilers ahead??)

((also for real I mean it when I say this is rambling as hell lol, apologies and no stress if absolute no one reads all this))

OKAY SO Mass Effect 1-

Stars help me, I was honestly hooked right from the start?? Like even in Legendary Edition (the combined trilogy just re-released in one "can play it on one system + minor improvements", for anyone who doesn't know) where it's smoothed out, of course it's obvious that ME1 is a decade old... but the foundation for these relationships are all there and gods I love them already.

Like - Kaiden right off the top is a delightful good fightin lad, what the hell. I've heard that he's viewed as 'bland' by a good portion of the fan community but I dunno, he's a delight and even more complex by the time 2 rolls around and you encounter him on Horizon, it was honestly Ashley I was way more meh about - mostly because before you can learn about her family history/etc, she comes off as hella xenophobic and I was immediately offended for my growing space family that she didn't like/trust all the aliens around, pfff.

(she gets redeemed a bit through further actions/evolving thoughts, but I thought in retrospect it was a bummer that they didn't flip the order there, give her a chance to be liked before the complicating factor of being so rude about aliens >:c that then she could grow from... ah well. Apparently she has a good arc but uh, let's just say I chose Kaiden at the "key junction" in the latter part of the game so I won't be seeing anymore of Ashley uh... anytime soon, haha.)

Garrus??? Is??????? The ABSOLUTE best???????????

I liked him from the start, I'm always a bit of a sucker for a rogue-detective "the system won't bring this bastard to justice, so I've got to" type and all their moral shadiness XD But he just gets better, honestly, and where I'm at in ME2 (right before the Reaper IFF mission, as of typing this, with everyone's loyalty!) I am only digging myself deeper into this hole-

-*wheezing* okay anyways -

Wrex is AMAZING I love fightin' middle-aged krogan bastard, gods. Liara is great too, I'm a sucker for a wlw relationship (playing fem!Shepard, so) - buuuut I'll admit she's a bit more one-note in ME1. Last week while I was still on ME1 I remember hearing (while trying to dodge spoilers) that her arc is really good, though. I think they leaned a little hard on the 'innocent but sexy' sterteotype on her (so despite the yikes aspect of a few of the things I've learned in ME2, lol, I actually really like the complexity that's been added to her character.)

Saved Liara first, so by the time I got to Noveria and had the standoff with Benezia there was the chance to have emotions over Liara having to face her TwT and of course, I made the questionable but quality decision to free Queen Rachni heheh. no ragrets

More than a blow-by-blow of my choices though I totally wanna take the chance to say that even in the mild jankiness of ME1 (goddammit, the Mako.... please..... please just go up this impossible cliff I just want to resource hunt-) the way that the lore, both obvious/key to main plot and the lesser/filler/background/world-building kinds... I just love it. It incorporates it well, you can go ham in the codex learning more, or just dive into the basics - it's clearly a complex galaxy (and they do an even better job in 2 of fleshing it out further), and it never really felt overwhelming. It was pretty natural figuring it all out-!

Plus the interesting implications of resource hunting amongst the sapient races, and the little side missions you better bet I did every one of- there's so much rich depth in the story if you do 'em!! (And that lead with that Keeper side mission...? Looking back, damn, clever foreshadowing-!!!)

And oh my gods, Ilios??? hell yeah. I loved that mission so much, especially having Garrus & Kaiden with me when talking to the hologram/computer, and more than anything, that last sprint in the Mako trying to get to the jump before it closed-???

yeet the boi-

Also mannn I love a good setpiece, and having to go up the side of the elevator, space-side?? such a cool setup!!

Plus it felt good having been Paragon enough (as simple as the good v bad vibe system is, I don't hate it, lol) to avoid one of the Saren fights, ngl. And the er, "second fight" with Sovereign-Saren.... hell yeah

... I'll admit I had to double check my choice re whether to save the Council. I did in the end, but I swear, sometimes the way they phrase things I'm like ".... okay but Garrus is right, defeating Sovereign is more important than these few leaders??????" woops. Listen, priorities, is all I'm saying..... (￣ヮ￣|||)ゞ

'Course later they emphasize (in ME2) that there were 10,000 people on that same ship and I was like well I wouldn't have second guessed if I'd known that, I mean c'mon-

Also I did indeed romance Liara in this one, so I got that scene ;Dc But,,,, I also knew by the end that I was totally gonna romance Garrus in 2 since he's an option then finally,,,,, lemme tell you the guilt as I waffled over whether to romance Liara bc of it. hahaha.

Aaaaand Mass Effect 2-

So I'm only up to right before the Reaper IFF Mission, so I don't know the ending, etc etc lol. That said, I've just finished every side mission I've found with the exception of the Shadowbroker Quest and the Arrival Quest (I've heard the latter basically leads into ME3, and the former is best either right before the Omega 4 jump or in postgame).

So from the start - fuck yeah fuck yeah what a high adrenaline start Shepard noooooo but also yes save Joker aH-

The motion comic too hot damn nice job

I loved this setup, seriously - especially forcing Shep into this situation, having to work with/for Cerberus, and the compelling reasoning given behind "why" they do what they do (I especially found it a good point that the Salarians have the Task Force, the Asaris the Commandos, the Turians the- etc... like, true, when you put it like that, having a similar group advancing human interests/solving human interstellar problems is pretty reasonable...). That said, I love too that it really isn't shied away from how Cerberus is nonetheless fucked up - or its at least done fucked up stuff.

Listen, I still think some messed up stuff is gonna be revealed in 2's endgame......... after that Horizon mission and the Collector's ship???? TIM I SEE YOU YOU SHADY MF-

aaanyways lol...

I'm so so glad on a gameplay level they nixed the Mako style exploration. A few Hammerhead missions are fine and a lot more focused than the slippery ass navigation in that glorified ATV, pfff. The probes are a neat way of getting after similar resources - and more importantly, having good levels and some good hubs (the Zakera Wards, Omega, Ilium, etc) is way way more fun than having a more 'sprawling' space that is.... a lot of empty nonsense, lol.

Then there's the fact that we get Joker right off the bat and you can interact with him so much - and him and EDI??? Get out gods I love them. Kasumi is so right when she says they sound like a bickering old married couple lol. I have a terrible feeling that some shit is gonna happen with EDI..... but I don't think she's evil as-is, at least.

Side-eying the hell out of those "access forbidden" parts of her that she doesn't even know.... and the fact that her AI core has a locked door access................... something's gonna happen gdi LEAVE OUR ADOPTED AI ALONE.

(Also Joker pls stop fracturing your thumb on the mute button)

Also please save me there are so many hot aliens in this game,,,,, the xeno/monsterfuckers really comin' through strong in the sequels............... doin' the lord's work........................................

In general, I love how many levels ME stepped up in two with complexity and interwoven narratives!! Like, to the point it'd be almost a drag to replay ME1, even though it was fun going through it (if occasionally a bit tedious with the cookie cutter rando planet science/mine facilities, lol). Like, just from how fun and interesting ME2 is, mostly! more of all the pre-introduced races, plus new ones, plus more filling in of intragalactic politics, and more interesting implications of all these space-faring races mixing....

Also gods WREX and his planet holy shit,,,,, fuckin' hell yeah my man get their shit together and also adopt Grunt yes good-

And Mordin??? My singing semi-evil scientist best friend forced to confront his choices more than he thought he ever would have???? With some of the best ongoing general report chatter of all the companions??

(when I tell you I choked on my coffee when I talked to him after confirming romance choice w/ Garrus and that 'pamphlet' and 'anaphalactic shot if ingesting-' kajsldkfjsldfjk)

Like, fuck, the fact that they actually dive into the mixed morality and horrors of the genophage, and you can confront Mordin on it, for good reason, yet he still stands his ground, until finally some bits of his loyalty mission seem to... affect him, and I'm guessing might set up things for 3 with him? Unsure, but either way, damn, the fact that they start to dig into it...

And Taliiiii my beloved forbidden alien wife TwT her loyalty mission was SO GOOD. I love how varied they all are?? Getting to defend her and discover what she'd unwittingly been a part of-!!

Zaeed is a bastard but tbh I love that he is and that he's unapologetic in him - and Kasumi omg, best thief. A heist?? Gods, yes- I love our couch lounge chats XD

Samara is..... illegally.......... she's an illegally powerful and beautiful and eloquent MILF...........................

(.... listen I'm sapphic as hell and I'm kicking my own ass for picking her up last aksjdlfksjdfl - but her loyalty mission, damn. And seeing how there's this interesting cultural subset, and the struggle with the Asari in that they unquestioningly accept/respect justicars, but also know that the impact outside their culture is a diplomacy nightmare waiting to happen-)

,.,,,,,T,,, Thane,,,,,

I am weak for morally implicated murder dads okay?? And that voice??? His mannerisms?????? How you first see him, and that prayer after assassinating her...???????? And his history/his people's history with the hanar, gods I love how messy it is, it feels so much more real!

Also Jack is a mess and I love her (and want to get her some therapy, omg), and her and Miranda nearly duking it out after you've done both their loyalty missions??? so good and makes a lot of sense-! Honestly I would love more interactions between teammates on the ship, but there's already so much the devs had to balance I can't blame 'em for minimizing, heh. But suffice to say I also love Miranda and Jacob, even if I'm softest for my alien crew XD Hell yeah Jacob, we'll get loud and spill drinks on the citadel indeed TwT

.... I could write a whole essay on how much I love Garrus oTL Perhaps because he and Tali are the throughlines from 1 on your 2 crew, I have some of the strongest feelings about them... but genuinely, he was one of my favorite companions in the first game, and how you find him as Archangel in two? Getting to help him fight his way out after he's gone nearly 48 hours straight fighting off three gangs alone, jfc. His vengeance quest and what can happen there.... That line? fuck me, that line -

It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Grey? I don't know what to do with gray...

How DARE you come for my heart like this, devs holy shit

(also, some other choice faves so far from the series from him include We can disobey suicidal orders?? and This wasn't in my training manual... [in 1, if you have him with you @ th Thorian fight] and his whole.... pop the heat sink - in his romance ;Dc)

asdasdfksadjfkl like I said I can write an essay on him PFFF suffice to say I'm very looking forward to his romance scene and where things go in 3

But yeah gods I'm just gonna keep rambling if I'm not careful lol. Gods I don't even know what to talk about it's all so good and while I can understand people roasting the obviousness of Paragon V Renegade (v neutral) choices/alignments, I think they do a pretty damn good job in 2 of pushing it further - to the point that there were some times that I accidentally got renegade points and I wasn't that mad, haha. There's so much fun in the interactions that I just have a good time anyways~

I have so many thoughts about TIM (The Illusive Man) and Cerberus.... theories evolving galore............... and like, what the hell!! Omega 4 going to the center of the galaxy is such a cool twist, goddamn - though my heart still breaks at losing Kaiden (his line if you haven't romanced him?? about feeling like he lost a limb when he lost you??? holy shit.... but I also can't blame him for not trusting Cerberus to the point of it affecting his ability to trust Shepard... like fuck Shep go after himmmm) I'm really excited to see where that goes since he comes back in 3, and what the fuck happens with Cerberus bc while I love the fact that obviously there are a lot of people in it for the right reasons, doing good work, there are those that are doing the opposite, and I have a very bad feeling about where TIM will end up landing....

All that said though I need to do the Reaper IFF mission (where I'm lightly spoiled as to getting That Boy, but not how/what happens to make it so - just that it's apparently wise to have all your side missions done before getting him...) and the actual Omega 4 jump. So we'll see what happens and what I think about it from there heheh!

.... major kudos and genuine props if you made it here to the end, I am so sorry for not editing on condensing all this, and appreciate you so much ;w;

[barbariccia]

Jacob: Tough son of a bitch. Didn’t think he’d be up yet.

man, shepard is just so happy that garrus is up and about again, it makes my heart squeeze. ;w;

garrus’ armour is pretty much shot to hell and back, but in true fucking estinien fashion he’s not removing that shit for love nor money - and his face is pretty screwed up as well. he’s got a bandage patch on the right side of his head and neck from now-on, but he’s up and moving, and that’s what’s important.

Garrus:  Nobody would give me a mirror. How bad is it?

Shepard: Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face-paint on there, and no one will even notice.

Garrus: Ha--ah! Don’t make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is.

Garrus: Well, some women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are krogan...

jacob salutes and leaves you guys to catch up, and the moment the doors close behind him, garrus starts voicing his concerns.

Garrus: Frankly, I’m more worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard? You remember those sick experiements they were doing?

Shepard: Right now, they’re a necessary evil. I need their resources to get this done.

also, you know, they built us back from nothing and are holding that above our heads, not to mention provided us with a ship and a crew and an AI that would all tattle.

garrus tells us that whatever he’s needed for, he’s fit to do, and he’ll go settle in at the forward batteries of the ship, which will be his main hangout spot during me2, and you can be sure i’m running right after him to have our 2-year catchup session.

i guess considering what happened to the last normandy... yeah, you really can’t.

Garrus: I thought I’d seen every weapon in the galaxy in our fight against Saren. Mercenary work showed me otherwise. And now Cerberus rebuilds the Normandy with a few upgrades to boot. I wish we’d joined up with them sooner.

Shepard: We haven’t joined Cerberus. They’re funding our mission. That’s all.

Garrus: Relax, Shepard. Just a figure of speech.

the translator in the omni-tool doesn’t always work for idioms and the like, leaving turians and humans particularly at a disadvantage with one another considering their cultural differences. it’s pretty cute that garrus has gotten this one right and that shep’s the one misunderstanding.

Garrus: I can’t exactly doubt your judgment. Not after I got my own squad killed.

Shepard: What did your merc squad do? It didn’t sound like you were available for hire.

Garrus: You saw OMega -- it was full of thugs kicking the helpless. I formed my team to kick back. We weren’t mercenaries. At least, nobody was paying us. We made money by taking down slavers, pirates, or gangs that went too far.

Shepard: Doesn’t sound like you made any friends with the gangs.

Garrus: I got three separate merc bands to work together to take me down. My manager at C-Sec would be impressed. It was simple. We’d hit their shipments, disrupt activities. Get under their skin. Make them angry. They’d come charging right into our well-prepared killzone. Crossfire and snipers, clean and surgical. They never stood a chance.

Shepard: Sounds like you were just another gang.

Garrus: Then I’m saying it wrong. We didn’t shake anyone down. No civilian casualties. That was our rule. Every member of my team had lost someone to Omega’s gangs. We weren’t out to get rich. We were out to make thos bastards think twice before murdering someone in the street.

garrus was going cowboy cop toward the end of me1, where we tracked down someone that wasn’t arrested and dealt with in a manner of his liking... but he seems to have taken a step back once the grudge was dealt with and figured out a way to carry on dispensing justice in a manner that wasn’t just going out for revenge. kinda. sure, his team all had grudges against the gangs of omega, but... they probably weren’t the only ones. not that violence for violence’s sake is acceptable, but i can see his reasoning well enough. make the gangs unable to function, pick off the main players, and there’s less problems to deal with on omega.

... he is forgetting that at the top of the chain is aria, though, and in a power vacuum in gang-controlled space it’s likely that someone else would have stepped in without too much fuss and carried on what the main three gangs were doing in the first place, though.

Shepard: Tell me about your squad.

Garrus: There were 12 of us, including me. Former military operatives, C-Sec agents, the usual. Had a salarian explosives expert. Pretty sure he’d spent time in the STG. My tech expert was a batarian, believe it or not. Not the friendliest guy, but he could hack any system ever built.

Shepard: How’d you end up fighting mercenaries on Omega in the first place?

Garrus: I trained to become a Spectre after the Normandy was destroyed, but it didn’t work out. Too much politicking at the Citadel. Nobody was willing to take risks. Omega was filled with criminals nobody else could touch, and there was no red tape to slow me down. It was a perfect fit. People here needed someone to believe in. Someone to stand up to the local thugs.

Shepard: That explains how you started. How’d you end up with a squad?

Garrus: Not too different from how you formed your squad to fight Saren, actually. You prove that you get things done, and people join up. Mercs who wanted to aton. Security consultants tired of playing by the rules. I gave them hope.

Garrus: And now they’re dead. Shows what I know.

Shepard: I’m not sure I understand. What happened?

Garrus: Sidonis asked for my help on a job. When I got to the meeting point, nobody was there. By the time I got back to our hideout, the mercs had killed all but two of my squad. And they didn’t last long.

Shepard: Are you sure it was a betrayal? Maybe they took Sidonis out first.

Garrus: No. I’ve put out feelers with some old contacts. He booked transport off Omega just before the attack. He also cleared out his private accounts before he left. He sold me out and ran.

Shepard: Know where he is now?

Garrus: No, his trail vanished after he leaves Omega. But I’ll keep hunting.

garrus’ evolution from wanting to find and kill dr saleon to wanting to find and kill sidonis is... really not that far of a stretch, actually. he’s a very emotional character, despite what we’re told about turians - that they’re militaristic and follow rules rigidly. his desire to do what’s right drives him as a turian, sure, but under it all there’s a sense of morals that’s completely unwavering. saleon was a bad person not just because of his illegal operations, but because what he was doing ran so counterpoint to what garrus considers moral and correct that the only way to deal with him, in his eyes, was to find him and put him down to keep him from doing it more (since the authorities were clearly no help). and it’s the same here - whatever sidonis’ reasons for his actions, garrus only sees one path before him.

it’s realistic, and it’s dangerous. who watches the watchmen, indeed - at what point does garrus realise that this is how he deals with what he deems immoral? when does death for death cross the line?

naturally, garrus’ loyalty mission is all about sidonis and the typing up of loose ends, so we’ll be coming back to this later on.

[mass-effect-tales]

Shot in The Dark ch.1

Nihlus groaned as he regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was he was in a hospital. The second was the back of his head was pounding.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Nihlus noticed the human nurse walk into his room. She wore her hair in a braid draped over her shoulder and a visor that ran across her eyes like glasses.

"Now mister Kryik, you'll need to take it easy, you've been out for two days." 

Nihlus nodded, carefully sitting up with the help of the nurse. "Do you know what happened to me?"

The nurse, up close he could see her name tag said Skye W. RN. "You were brought in by Commander Shepard two days ago with a head injury. The bullet broke through your kinetic barrier and grazed the back of your head. Another shot broke through and embedded itself in your hide. We needed to put you under to remove the bullet."

Nihlus checked the back of his head with his hand and felt the patch over his wound.

"How long do you think I'll be in here?"

Skye checked her holopad. 

"Let's see... you'll need a few more days to recover and then you'll need to be tested to make sure nothing was seriously hit. After that you'll be able to return to your duties."

Nihlus thanked her as she stepped out of the room to update his file. As soon as she left he looked at the shadowed corner of his hospital room.

"My sense of smell isn't messed up. Come out Nero."

The drell turned his cloaking off as he stepped out of the shadows. His scales were a grey blue and he wore tactical gear only accessible to a spectre.

"Nihlus, it's good to see you're awake."

"Nero, Saren was the one who shot me. I don't know why but he's gone rouge."

"We know, Shepard has been given the status of spectre and is going to find him. I'll be joining her in your place."

Nihlus was surprised when he heard Shepard was now a spectre. He knew she'd be good for the position but didn't think the council would let her in so quickly.

"Wait a minute, you're going with her? She's my protege so I should be there. Besides, I'm not going to let Saren get away with shooting me from behind like a coward."

Nero smirked lightly, finding it amusing that Nihlus was trying to sound intimidating while wearing a teal hospital gown. Nihlus stumbled a bit when he climbed out of bed but quickly straightened up when he heard the door open.

"Mister Kryik I have some painkillers in case your head is hurting." Skye stopped short when she stepped in and saw Nero along with Nihlus out of bed.

"Nurse, I'm going to need to be released early."

Nero had to hold back a chuckle when Skye's face turned stern and she placed a hand on her hip. "With all due respect mister Kryik, unless you have a medical professional close by to observe you, I can't ask the doctor to release you early."

Skye watched as Nihlus and Nero looked at each other, had a silent conversation with facial expressions and then looked back at her.

"Alright, you can come with me to observe."

"Excuse me?!"

Nihlus opened his omni-tool and called the turian councilor to inform him that he'd be joining Shepard in her search for Saren. Skye tried to protest but was silenced with a hand on her shoulder. When did the drell get so close to her?

"I apologise for your sudden involvement but Nihlus is as stubborn as a krogan. If you do not want to join us could you recommend someone that can."

Skye sighed, pulling up her own omni-tool and messaged her brother. "No it's fine, just let me inform the doctor and get my brother to feed my cat while I'm gone."

-------------------------------------

After a few hours Skye was set up in the Normandy med bay with Chakwas while Nihlus and Nero looked over their plans to find Saren. Nihlus was amused to see Garrus, Tali and Wrex on the ship. He couldn't help but feel proud when he asked Shepard about them and she explained she didn't care they weren't human. He knew he liked this human for a reason.

Speaking of humans he made his way down to the med bay for his checkup with nurse Skye.

"Alright mister Kryik follow my pen without moving your head," Skye said as she held up her pen and slowly moved left and right. Nihlus' eyes followed the pen perfectly and she wrote it down on her holopad. She then checked his blood pressure and muscle reflexes which all gave positive results. 

"Nurse Walker, since you have him here, I need mister Kryik's blood sample added to the crew files. I'll call down mister Verge after you're finished."

Skye froze at the mention of her last name. She hoped Nihlus didn't understand it but she knew that wasn't the case when she heard him snort.

"Wait, your name is Skye Walker?"

"Mister Kryik if you want to live I suggest you drop it."

"Or what? Are you going to use the force on me?"

Chakwas decided not to turn around when she heard a crash and a string of expletives.

[novaimpactgenerator-blog]

First things first: Hello! Second: May I say your recent work on a request tugged my heartstrings so much that it inspired me to think of my own request of where the Lost Light's female human (giant sized thanks to Brainstorm's idea of sizing them up), Rung, Whirl are dealing with the Fort Max hostage situation, though this time the human is trying to calm Max down, but of course Whirl is trying to make sure Max doesn’t hurt Rung or her by making jabs at him so he could hurt him instead. (1/2)

A Hostage Situation:

“Wow! This is amazing, Brainstorm!” You examined yourself in the mirror with the teal and white scientist standing next to you. You were now able to stand up to his elbow joints and looked down at the device responsible for your new found size attached to your wrist. I reminded you of a digital watch except the time was replaced with height measurements and the side rim was a dial you could turn to adjust said measurements. However, it seemed like the current setting was the tallest.

“I really have outdone myself this time, haven’t I,” he stated smugly. “It was a bit difficult to figure out to expand your body since its made of flesh and not metal. Nothing I couldn’t handle though!”

“Well, thanks. I mean it. This will make living here with you guys a lot easier.” You then began to look over the bodysuit that Brainstorm had also made. It was able to change sizes with you. It was even in your three favorite colors! But the weapon specialist did say it could turn nearly invisible so you could wear other clothes over it.

“I have to go show everyone!” You then ran out of the lab to do just that. The entire crew was completely shocked since you had managed to keep this little project a secret. What could you, you wanted it to be a surprise. In total, it took about a few hours to find everyone. Well, almost everyone. You had yet to find Rung, Whirl, and, hell, even Fortress Maximus had managed to elude you. And he wasn’t exactly what you would call subtle.

You decided that you’d start with Rung, and made your way to the most obvious option. His office.

The walk was filled with the occasional exchange of pleasantries among those you passed, but mostly silence. You finally made it. His office was located near the end of the ship to it took a while.

You had just knocked on the door when a deep voice startled you.

“Y/n!? Is that you?” You whipped around to find one of the bots you were looking for, Fortress Maximus. You immediately placed your hand over your rapidly beating heart to calm it.

“Max! Oh, you scared me.” You gave a nervous grin as you looked up to meet his optics. But something was… off. He seemed nervous and kept glancing around as if someone was going to attack him. “Is everything all right, Max? You seem-”

“What are you doing here?” He said cutting you off, but you didn’t take it personally since he looked so shaken up.

“I came to see if Rung was here. I’ve been looking for him. You too, actually.”

“Listen, you need to leave now!” Fort Max bent down and whisper-yelled at you.

“What? Why?”

But the door behind you opened before Fort Max had the chance to respond, and you turned around the face whoever opened it. It was Rung. He looked at you and was utterly shocked that he could look straight ahead and lock gazes with you.

“Brainstorm,” you said absentmindedly.

“Oh, I see. That’s very extraordinary, but I’m actually in the middle of a session right now.” Rung said gesturing to the last bot you were looking for.

The helicopter gave a little wave with his claws. “Yo. Nice upgrade, Y/n. Now I don’t have to worry about stepping on you.”

You were about to laugh when Fort Max snarled in frustration behind you. Before you could turn around to see what was wrong the barrel of a very large gun was suddenly next to your head and pointing at Rung’s terrified face.

“M-Max! What are yo-” you tried to question, but he cut you off again. This time with a real yell.

“IN! NOW!” He shoved the barrel into Rung’s cheek to emphasize that he meant business.

Both you and Rung began to slowly back into the room and you heard Fort Max close the door behind him. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that Whirl was crouched down and quietly making his way closer. And it seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed.

Fort Max jerked his gun to point it at the former Wrecker, who immediately threw stealth to the wind and charged at the armed bot with a battle cry. Fort Max fired a few shots at Whirl fully intent on blowing him away, but the blue chopper was nibble and dodged. “BRING IT, GLITCH!”

Whirl jumped over both you and Rung and tackled Fort Max into the door he had just closed. You two made a break for it to the furthest part of the room by the window. You wanted to help but knew you couldn’t.

You watched in horror as your two friends battled it out, and once Fort Max snapped out of his daze it was almost immediately over. What started as a fight turned into a beating for the smaller of the two, but he refused to fall even after his frame was wrecked to hell. Whirl was still struggling when the red-eyed Autobot ripped off his guns and wrapped his entire servo around his helm but went limp when the larger smashed the side of his helm into the wall.

“Whirl!” You cupped your mouth as you feared the worst. You were only slightly relieved when the ex-Wrecker groaned in pain, but Fort Max crushed that relief when he threw him to the middle of the room, beaten and broken and leaking energon. You couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. You knew Cybertronians could survive a lot more than a human, but you didn’t know how much.

The huge grounder then stomped his way over to the two of you and you began to shiver in fear. You slammed your eyes shut when he started reaching out but instantly reopened them when you heard Rung cry out. He had him by the neck as the therapist tried to get away from his assailant.

“No!” You quickly grabbed the large black digits around Rung’s neck and tried to pry them off, but it didn’t deter him in the slightest. Fort Max pulled Rung closer and used his other hand to push you off. You could tell he didn’t put any real force behind his push but it was still able to knock you to the ground as he turned away.

“Max please!”

“Quiet, Y/n.” Max walked past Whirl and sat Rung down on the lounging chair. He then pulled a long reinforced cable from the subspace in his shoulder and began to tie down Rung.

“You don’t need to do this!”

“Yes. I do.”

“Why!?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Then help me understand!… Please.” You made your way to Whirl to check on him. “Why are you doing this?”

“I said. Be. Quiet!” Fort Max then ripped a piece of pipe from the ceiling and speared it through Whirl’s abdomen as he attempted to get up. You couldn’t stop the shriek of terror as energon spattered across your face and body.

Whirl cried out in agony as Fort Max twisted the jagged metal through his delicate circuitry. You pounded your fists against the kibble around his shin while you pleaded and begged for him to quit harming the blue chopper.

Whirl groaned before he rebooted his vox, “Listen, Max. In the hope that this can still have a happy ending- and speaking as someone who appreciates the challenges of adjusting to postwar life- I just wanna say that there’s still time to do the decent thing and kill yourself.”

“W-Whirl, please stop. Don’t push him to hurt you mo-” You whispered to the injured Cybertronian, who only cut you off in return.

“Come on! Blow yourself away! Let’s see a spark-spasm up close!”

“Max! Please don’t listen to him! You can still fix thi-” Whirl interrupted you again.

“Fix this!? Don’t make me laugh! Unless he’s got some kind of time machine hidden under all that armor, I think the frag not! He can’t even fix himself, let alone this mess!” Whirl’s outburst made a growl escape Fort Max’s derma and he looked as though he were about to strike him before a look of realization spread across his faceplates.

“Clever. Trying to get me to lose my cool so you can get the chance to overpower me.”

Rung finally decided to speak up, “Actually, I think you might be crediting him with too much-”

“Seriously, all of this is a bit pathetic, isn’t it? Even for an epic, epic failure like you. I mean not only did you practically beg the Decepticons to take G9 off your hands, but you curled up into a ball the moment Overlor-” KUNCH

Fort Max smashed the barrel of his gun against Whirl’s face denting and crushing the metal around his optic.

“STOP!” You yelled, catching the grounder’s attention. However, it seemed that Fort Max shifting his attention away from Whirl only caused to the ex-Wrecker to vex his assailant more.

“Wow. If I’d known that was the best you’ve got, I would have said something genuinely offensive.” KUNCH “Ugh!”

“PLEASE, STOP IT!!!” You threw yourself at Fort Max’s stabilizer again and slammed your fists weakly against him while tears streamed down your face.

“Anything else?”

You thanked whatever self-preservation instincts Whirl had when he didn’t reply. You then glanced over to Rung to see him looking up. You followed his field of vision to see a small camera blinking in the corner. You slowly got up and stepped closer to Fort Max.

“Max. Please just listen to me. Whatever you’re doing this for, I’m sure there’s another way. You can stop this now and explain yourself and I’m sure everything will be okay.” You tried to sooth the metal giant by gently placing your hand over the servo that wasn’t holding a cannon at Whirl.

“You wanna know why I’m doing this, Y/n? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY!?” You flinched away when he leaned down to shout in your face, which seemed to make him calm down enough to lower his voice. “Fine… I’ll tell you why…”

Fortress Maximus then proceeded to tell all of you about Garrus 9, about Overlord, and about what he and his crew went through. All the torture and death. You finally understood.

“Oh, Max. You said you didn’t remember. Why didn’t you tell anyone the truth?” You stroked his servo while you looked up at him.

“Because, Y/n, I’m Fortress Maximus. I couldn’t just-”

“No one, and I mean no one, would have held it against you. What you went through wasn’t your fault and would affect even the strongest of bots. It’s okay to be mad. It’s okay to be scared. You have a right to be. And you have a right to want answers. But not like this.” You gestured to the other two bots in the room. “Not by hurting others.” You put your hand on top of the cannon and Max allowed you to slowly push it to point at the ground and away from Whirl, while his guilty optics stared into your gentle eyes. “Like how you were.”

Just as Fort Max’s grip was loosening to drop the weapon he snapped out of his trance. “No. It’s too late to go back now.”

Both you and Rung saw the darkness that took over his optics. “No, dON’T!” Rung tried to reason with him, but he ignored his therapist and grabbed you by the arm and flung you across the room.

Your scream was cut off when your spine collided with the wall next to Rung, who screamed your name. Your ears were ringing, so you felt more than heard the pounding of pede steps getting closer to you. You did, however, manage to make out the sound of Whirl yelling curses at the Autobot who threw you.

“YOU FRAGGER!!! YOU KNOW WHAT!?! SHE’S SO WRONG!!! ANYONE that could be beaten into submission by OVERLORD is nothing but a WEAK, SAD EXCUSE FOR A PATHETIC WASTE OF SPACE!!!”

By Primus, if Fort Max wasn’t pissed off already he sure was now. Your vision came back just in time to see the enraged look on Fort Max’s faceplates and you knew that was the last straw. Max whipped around and stomped back up to Whirl. He pointed the cannon directly at Whirl’s face and the barrel began to light up as it prepared to be fired.

“That’s ENOUGH out of you!” Fort Max moved his digit over the trigger, and in a burst of adrenaline, you lept to your feet and tackled the gun.

When Fort Max saw you, his optics widened in horror and he tried to let go of the weapon, but when you pulled it down with you his digit caught the trigger.

And the gun fired.

Your grip immediately fell from the smoking cannon and you stumbled back a few steps. Every bot in the room stared at you with wide optics. They could only watch in horrible awe as you looked down to see a large hole through your shoulder that was bleeding profusely.

With all the adrenaline pumping through your veins you could barely register the pain you were in. You slowly glance over at Whirl and Rung and gave a weary smile as they trembled in shock and horror.

“It’s going to be okay.” You mouthed silently at the two before return your attention to Fort Max. He trembled as he gaped at your bleeding shoulder and he dropped his gun and fell to his knees.

“What have I done?” Max clutched at his head as he began degrading himself.

“It’s okay, Max.” You started taking shaky steps as you kept the best smile you possibly could.

“No, stop. Don’t come any closer, Y/n.” He shook his head as he tried to shy away from you.

“I won’t leave you, Max. I’ll never leave you to deal with your demon alone ever again.” When you finally got close enough you fell forward and wrapped your arms around his neck as best as you could.

“Please… I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” Fort Max kept his servos hovering around you as his plating rattled.

“I’m here for you. And I care for you too much to turn away from you. I love you, Max. We all do. We’re here for you. In our own ways.”

Once your slurred words sunk in, Fortress Maximus finally broke down and wrapped his servos around you as he began to sob.

You smiled gently while rubbing the back of his helm. Your mind and your body were quickly becoming more fatigued and your inner temperature was dropping from blood loss and you could feel yourself begin to lose consciousness. Using the last of your energy, you looked up at the camera, and even though you had no idea that Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Drift, and the entire crew were watching, you whispered, “I love you guys.”

And then you drifted into a cold, dark, dreamless void.