#Amateur ecologist musings

[dulcidyne]

Garrus for the character meme?

Thanks @buskies! And I apologize in advance to the entire internet.

First Impression

"This non-Tali squadmate has some funny lines."

Impression Now

The perfect combination of dry humor and bad decisions. I literally couldn't ask for more in a fictional fave.

Favorite Moment "Well, don't forget to come up for air, and not just because these people need you...but because I need you." I LOVE that he indulges this bit of selfishness for the two of them. I love how this is a dude who voluntarily listens to "Die for the Cause" (the goddamn imperial anthem and that's all you need to know about where turian cultural ideals lie) in a firefight and he's telling the person who the entire galaxy is relying on that for him, all that is secondary to her well-being. It's so vulnerable, it's so not what you'd expect from him given the overwhelming cultural expectations for sacrifice. And while it seems like Garrus still holds himself to this, he's one of the few who doesn't want heroic sacrifice from Shep. He just wants her to prioritize herself. It's really beautiful.

Idea for a story It's part of my Terminus AU, but I'm really invested in exploring how extremely dysfunctional Garrus's stint on Omega was. Especially in the context of his grief over his mother's terminal illness and the loss of his mentor. But also in light of Omega itself. The administration and operation of the station are entirely in the hands of the gangs and he decides what that clusterfuck needs is a power vacuum?? "I know what will fix this city...murder!" Like, my dude, what are you doing?

Unpopular opinion

Ho boy. Okay. Here goes. I don't think Garrus (and turians in general) have an exceptional sense of smell ala Earth-type olfactory specialists (like dogs). I think it is even likely subpar to human olfaction? By no means am I here to rain on anyone's headcanon, because obviously, this is all just speculation and it's all make-believe anyway! But I've noticed I'm in a pretty drastic minority on this topic and because no one was here to stop me here are my reasons why: 1- Morphology. Okay, look at this nose. Yeah, it's cute.

But form follows function. As far as noses go, we're missing olfactory specialist morphologies like extended snouts or in the case of olfactory specialist birds--large bills. The nares are small and centrally located, lacking the slit-like lateral placement that we see in cats, humans, and dogs to aid in stereo olfaction. Additionally, the external structure is pretty minimalist. Compare this to a dog snout or even a human nose--both of which have little ridges of bone inside called turbinates that essentially churn up inspired air for the purpose of conditioning, humidifying, and allowing for volatile chemical (odor) sampling. More surface area and volume=better for olfaction. Turian noses look pretty minimal. They're so cute though! 2- Selective pressure on olfaction typically sees reductions with increases to visual acuity and other senses. This has been observed in primates, with genes controlling olfactory receptors demonstrating reductions over time in conjunction with improvements to visual photoreceptors. While it is an outdated claim that birds lack olfactory capabilities entirely, it is true that most non-water birds have reduced olfactory capacity (compared to reptiles and dinosaurs) with a heavier reliance on vision and vocalizations for predation and mate selection. And fancy dances. And can you IMAGINE? Just, please imagine turians pulling out something like this to impress a date:

(not to say that scent plays no role in bird mate selection, but as of yet, currently, there is minimal evidence for widespread pheromone-mediated mate selection in avian species although the one species they're studying it in smells like tangerines. I am not making that up.) 3. Function follows niche. Turian dentition indicates obligate carnivore. The forward-facing eyes indicates predator. Fun fact, eye size in organisms correlates with run/flight speed. The faster, the larger. So the relatively small eyes indicate low-speed terrestrial hunters. Not long-distance endurance hunters like humans, given the lower thermoregulatory capacity. But maybe agile pack sprinters adapted to a tropical forest biome (Palavan and Virmire apparently sharing climate characteristics). Which would be a niche that would prioritize visual acuity over olfaction versus say low-visibility aquatic predation ala reptiles. Also, short-distance predation would rely less on stereo olfaction and olfactory navigation. I think the whole predator = good sense of smell thing is where the predominate headcanon comes from but many apex predators on Earth are not olfactory specialists due to niche-based selective pressure on other senses.

Favorite relationship Outside of Garrus/Shep for obvious reasons, it's hard to beat Garrus and Tali's camaraderie. I love how she absolutely calls him on his shit once they really become friends, he needs that. Favorite Headcanon Garrus never tells Shep he loves her explicitly because, in all the turian war romance vids, someone always dies after the big romantic declaration. The whole point is that love is good and all but dying for the cause is the pinnacle of what it means to be turian. So, in a fit of unpatriotic selfishness, he decides he's not going to make any declarations until after they both make it out alive. It's a weird ritual of hope for him. Ask me about characters (I promise I don't have any more olfactory dissertations)!