canongoddess

[canongoddess]

The Dresden Files: A Summary

Storm Front: The heart-wrenching tale of a torn family. Fool Moon: #NotAllFurries Grave Peril: Worst. Party. Ever. Summer Knight: Freaking SJWs. Death Masks: In which grown ass men fight over a blanket. Blood Rites: Dear Penthouse… Dead Beat: Spooky Scary Skeletons [Polka Remix] Proven Guilty: Still better than Dashcon. White Night: White people. Small Favor: Sweet, sweet victory. Turn Coat: Well, shit. Changes: BUTCHER NO. Ghost Story: That one gif from Community. Cold Days: Family meetings are gonna be awkward. Skin Game: James Bond, but with less alcohol and more fire.

(Feel free to add your own versions.)

[canongoddess]

[canongoddess]

Jaal and Evfra

Warning. This post is a bit of a rant. If you don’t like that, please go look at pictures of your favorite animal doing cute animal things.

Ok. So there’s something that really bothers me and it’s been sitting in my head for weeks now.

Game fandoms can be incredible. There’s a lot of amazing art, literature, headcanons and theories that come out of the collective. However, fandoms, ESPECIALLY the Mass Effect fandom, have this REALLY bad habit of simplifiying down complicated characters to make them more ‘cute’.

Over the last month or so I’ve been seeing this a LOT with Jaal and Evfra (I can’t speak for other characters because Jaal and Evfra are my focus in that game).

I won’t deny that in game, Jaal has his cute moments. However, Jaal isn’t all cute all the time. He has moments of profound sadness and anger. This is a guy who has a goal in life of killing other living things to help keep his people safe.

Jaal is also riddled with self doubt. He doesn’t show it at first but the more you get to know him, the more he lets his guard down and shows you that he isn’t sure what he should be doing with his life and that he’s worried about not living up to the accomplishments of his family and those around him.

Jaal is also amazingly intelligent. Even as a child he liked to take things apart to try and figure out how they worked. As an adult he is now a tech expert; an acomplishment he basically had to reach on his own as the angara don’t have organized schooling anymore.

And let’s not forget that inside Jaal also lives a philosopher. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard him say deep, introspective things that really make you think.

And yet he is always reduced down to the cute moments. Very seldom do you see any of the rest of that in all the fandom whatnots. He’s always depicted as cute and, frequently, innocent. Jaal is FAR from innocent. He’s seen some shit. He’s DONE some shit. He’s a soldier in what is basically the closest thing the angara have to a military anymore. Talk to any soldier that has done a tour of duty during times of war and has had to kill someone. You don’t walk away from that clean and innocent.

Now let’s talk about Evfra. Depictions of Evfra as cute are probably my BIGGEST issue because Evfra is NOT cute. He doesn’t do cute things. He doesn’t say cute things.

Evfra is not only the leader of what is basically the angaran military, he’s the guy that made it what it is today. His own codex entry says that he’s shut himself off to others. That he tries to create either respect or fear in those around him.

FEAR. Evfra ACTIVELY makes people fear him. And it shows in some of the ambient dialog you can hear on Aya and other places with Resistance angara. Such as the two angara getting his shuttle cleaned up and ready for… whatever. One of them doesn’t so much as want to SAY Evfra’s name aloud because he’s always listening and he’ll catch the two of them talking about him behind his back. I mean, that’s practically Voldemort levels of fear.

And Evfra has completely closed himself off from all interpersonal relationships. He doen’t let people close. Paaran is one of the people that is likely closest to Evfra and even SHE says she doesn’t know how to get on his good side.

Evfra doesn’t let people in. He doesn’t make friends. Why? Well for one he’s the leader of the entire Resistance. His JOB is to knowingly send angara, his people whom he loves and wants to survive the kett, to quite certain death to fight the kett in hopes that more kett than angara die. He even says so when you ask about him.

“You want to know what being me? I wake up every morning to fight a war. I send people to kill, and die. If I’m lucky, there are more dead kett than Resistance when I go to sleep.”

A word for word quote from Evfra. That isn’t cute. That’s haunting. His words and his tone are both angry and haunted, but resolved. He knows he has to do this.

And let’s not ignore the ‘if I’m lucky’ part. That’s telling in and of itself. It’s probably very common in a day for Evfra to learn that more of his people died than there was kett that died.

So why make friends with people you are knowingly sending to their death? Evfra already knows the pain that can cause. He lost his ENTIRE family to the kett. Not just a couple family members, but everyone. Evfra is the only Tershaav left, which is a hell of a thing when you consider how large angaran families are. Not to mention the game just says his 'family’. It doesn’t list out family members which leaves it up to speculation on who all he lost. Since it doesn’t say otherwise, it’s possible that Evfra could have lost a mate and children along with the rest.

He’s deliberately closed himself off from being friends. The best a person can hope for his his approval. Nothing more.

And the ammount of stress this guy must have is difficult to imagine. He’s basically holding his entire people on his shoulders. Without Evfra, the Resistance wouldn’t be an organized group. It would still be a bunch of angara running around trying to do something and getting nothing done. Hell, maybe the angara wouldn’t even exist anymore if it wasn’t for Evfra. And he can’t just quit. Can’t just walk away. Can’t stop what he’s doing. For better or for worse, he’s stuck in the role he’s in until the threat of the kett is elimiated and his people are safe.

Evfra is all hard, sharp edges. There’s no cute in there save for his physical features because all the angara have that kinda cute squid cat thing going on. And yet despite that, I increasingly see Evfra depicted as cute. Often time it’s as an uncle to Ryder and Jaals children, a friend to Jaal or more unusally, a participant in a poly relationship between he, Jaal and Ryder.

Evfra. Is not. Friends. With. Jaal. I mean, yes yes yes. It’s all headcanon. Everyone is entitled to their headcanon. It just BOTHERS me. Everyone has their buttons, and this is one of mine.

Jaal is a SOLDIER. Yes, he’s one of Evfra’s best, but they aren’t buddies.

And I think my biggest issue with the two of them being depicted as cute all the time is it’s happening BECAUSE angara look like adorable squid cats. I mean, that kind of shit happens all the time in real life; having the rest of your intelligence and personality pushed aside and deminished because you’re adorable/hansome/beautiful/etc. Making a false image of a person in your head based on what they look like and just blatantly ignoring the rest of them, even when you know the rest of them, in favor of the image in your head. It’s up there on a list of 'don’t do that’ along with things like infantalizing grown people.

And yes! I know! They’re fictional characters in a video game. But that doesn’t mean the core issue isn’t a real one. I mean, people were fucking up in arms to make Jaal bisexual due to the real life issue of bisexual erasure in media. And this particular issue, of ignoring a personality and just making them cute because they look cute, is also a real issue. Except this issue isn’t one that is IN the video game itself. This is one that is being perpetuated BY the fans.

And not everyone is guilty of it. I know that. There are some amazing creators out there that don’t just ignore the rest of the character’s important personality points because they want to make them more cute. And good on you people who do that.

It just bugs me when people constantly depict those two as cute. Especailly Evfra. he just… isn’t. He isn’t a cute little kitten with pinchable ears, he’s a freaking sea urchin. All sharp edges.

(Lets out a breath). Ok. I think I’m done with that rant. And that was… a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be.

[canongoddess]

From the left: Jaal, Evfra, Reyes

[canongoddess]

Yes, please.

When Pathfinders are happy for no reason.

[canongoddess]

Strong and Clear - 1

Evfra had let Jaal enter the alien vessel against his better judgement. The alien – who was called Ryder – had made an offer that the open angaran identified with and that was that. Evfra had learned the hard way to not trust alien presences. But he did admit that these humans looked much more squishy and delicate than the previous bone-faced kett. This was one reason that Efvra felt it would be no large task for a warrior of Jaal’s caliber to defeat the crew – although he would likely die in the process, but who was Efvra to talk the powerful open angara out of attempting peace.

Efvra had only been swayed by the plea in Jaal’s eyes and – to be honest – slightly intimidated by the wash of hope the bioelectric field that simply saturated him at the mention of the Moshae’s salvation.

“I know you can spare me.”

Jaal’s voice had rang with a hint of laughter, and Efvra gathered that Jaal was teasing him. Not that Efvra appreciated that. After grudgingly giving his assent, Evfra’s only comfort was hearing the threat ringing out across the room from Jaal, though he doubted that Jaal would need to kill the small female in her sleep.

Now, Efvra was alone in his office awaiting impatiently for Jaal’s report. A light dinged on his datapad, and he opened the message. _________________________________ Efvra,

This vessel is amazing. The humans have many things aboard. I had brought articles with me, but it seems that they will not be needed. Upon crew introductions, I feel that they trust me as little as I trust them – save for the Pathfinder. The woman seemed to bludgeon her comrades into offering the respect that she felt I deserved. Perhaps it must be earned on both sides. We are not going to Voeld directly. I am not very pleased with this, and I am anxious to see the Moshae once again. A human colony stationed on Eos will be used to refuel and resupply before our journey. I do hope we will make it to the Moshae in time.

In the meantime, I have a good feeling about working with the crew. There are five types of aliens working peacefully aboard the ship. I will list them in terms of formidability.

Drack – He is a krogan and fierce. I feel that going into combat with this one is much better than going against them.

Vetra – A turian. I believe that she is one of the spiked aliens that have been reported on Havaarl. If they can stand stalwart against the wildlife of the home planet, I believe that they deserve our respect.

Asari –I sometimes think the patterns on their skin resemble the anagara to a degree. It is the tenacity that makes them special. There are two on board the vessel – a doctor and a researcher. They exhibit vastly different personalities. I have heard that this has to do with their paternal parentage, but I have not inquired further at the moment.

Humans - I do believe the humans are not the most intelligent, long-lived, or armored of the group, but they combine all the qualities exhibited in the other species to a slightly lesser degree.

Kallo – A salarian and also the pilot. He makes astute observation and is usually found on the bridge. For this reason, I have had limited contact with him. Perhaps he eats away from his console.

The Pathfinder has made efforts to inquire further about the angara. I am perplexed by her curiosity. It is unnerving to not feel her bioelectric field confirming her words, but I feel that she speaks true. She is the only one that I have spoken to at length. But I am not forgetting my promise.

Stay strong and clear.

Jaal ______________________________________________________ Evfra scanned the attached photos. Apparently, the inside of the ship was a practical mix of lush and functional. He approved of this – grudgingly. He supposed that this practicality would make a fierce opponent. Covert photos and scans of the crew members were included. The warrior resembling a fiend seemed to spring solely from his armor. Efvra felt that this alien was the krogan mentioned in the letter – a formidable opponent indeed. He silently scanned the other humanoids until he stopped at a photo of the Pathfinder. This photo was obviously not taken covertly. The girl’s blue eyes danced as she posed with a friendly smile on her face. Her eyes crinkled making the scar on her left more visible. Jaal must have asked for the photo. He knew the humans appeared… squishy and fragile, but they had crossed galaxies and apparently – if the Pathfinder could be believed – terraformed a world with ancient technology. Jaal simply should not ask for photographs like an enamored schoolgirl. Evfra sighed. He loved his friend dearly. He really was the closest friend he had – more from Jaal’s insistence than any invitation on Evfra’s part. Jaal wanted a peaceful world and seemed to see the starting point as slowly plucking the thorns from Evfra’s personality. But Efvra had become very adept at growing thorns, and Jaal’s persistent plucking had simply opened up a single bare spot where every so often the friendly angara could ply his commander with a touch of friendship, yet they were still close.

Efvra told himself that he held too many secrets to hold friends as well. Secrets about the Moshae’s capture were bound to come to light when this mission was completed. He was still unsure that Jaal would be in his corner after the conclusion. He could only hope.

He looked at the Pathfinder’s smile once again searching for any reason that he could possibly find to mistrust the alien, yet he could find none. Her eyes laughed, and the long string-like bits that fell from her head threatened to fall into him. He wondered what it felt like unconsciously running his hand over his head feeling the slick skin of his scalp with its scars and callouses caused from exposure to the elements as if he had never felt his head before.

“Sir?”

He jerked his hand down and slammed the datapad on the desk with a loud expensive sounding smack. As the ring dissipated along with his blush, he immediately resumed his signature frown.

“What?” He knew that he snapped, and the prickles of embarrassment were still lingering on his skin.

The warrior straightened to attention with a small blip of confusion that Efvra knew was from the usually quiet bioelectrics of the commander suddenly spiking fiercely.

“Sir, reports have come in from Voeld along with the promised transfer for those posted at the Resistance camp.”

“I’ll be there shortly.”

The recruit nodded and ducked out of the office. Efvra sighed knowing his work was never done. He glanced once more down at the datapad and frowned thinking that if only this alien’s picture made him seem so off-balance he wondered how he would ever work with her provided the alliance were solidified.

“At least there are no bioelectrics,” he muttered pushing his chair back and proceeding to stride purposefully to the landing pad.

[canongoddess]

And then he says, “Can you blame me?”

.... Yes. Yes, I can.

Reading that “Mama’s boy” story on Liar! and I’m just like...

I JUST…

[canongoddess]

the moral of frankenstein is if youre going to build a monster out of dead body parts dont make him like 8 feet tall and super strong

[canongoddess]

HEUUUUUURRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. SEASON 3 OF FREE! I’M SO EXCITED. I can’t handle this. I’M EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE. HELP. -Free! Starting Days

[canongoddess]

Just making sure that the girl raised in the tundra with fire powers doesn’t get cold in this icy october wind

Bopal | Kainora | Wuko | All together

[canongoddess]

‘viktor i swear i will burn this tie if you don’t appreciate my pork cutlet bowl dancing’

[canongoddess]

This needs to be a meme now.

◕//o//◕

[canongoddess]

#magnoliacafe #alicante

[canongoddess]

#alicante

[canongoddess]

#alicante #yoquierocanada

[canongoddess]

#roman #alicante

[canongoddess]

#alicante #vikingos #valkyries