#yes this is MY Shepard not the default one

[ghostymermaid]

Ashley: 🤨🏳️‍🌈⁉️

[dutyworn]

The Leviathan DLC, especially the Despoina part, is truly one of my favourite missions in the entire trilogy.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, Illium part three:

Liara

-Nyxeris doesn’t say anything outright suspicious, but the voice acting is such that she raises red flags. She sounds a bit sarcastic when she praises Liara.

-Liara’s refusal to speak clearly is exasperating. The dialogue is nearly as bad as the dialogue with the Virmire Survivor on Horizon. Her excuse that they may be being monitored doesn’t help much beyond acknowledging how unnatural it is.

At least Liara’s lack of shock can be attributed to A) Being the one to give Shepard to Cerberus in the first place and B) Being an information broker and therefore already knowing about Shepard’s activities

-You’d think Shepard would have more questions about what made Liara drop archaeology and become an Information Broker, but no.

Illos is right there.

-Liara also says “like old times”. Someone on the writing team really liked that phrase.

-Interesting that the intro renegade option questions Liara threatening the human she was speaking to, but not the neutral or the paragon options. That feels more paragon to me.

-Hacking the terminals in the side quest for Liara is harder than any other hacking I’ve done in the game. Is that intentional? The last matches I needed didn’t show up until just before time was up.

-When asked to come with Shepard Liara says: I need to work. I can’t do that on the Normandy. I wish I could.

Yet in ME3 Liara continues to be the Shadow Broker while flying with Shepard.

Yes, circumstances had changed significantly, but it still makes Liara’s reasoning now feel like an excuse. Even with just ME2, it feels like Liara doesn’t want to go with Shepard and is using her position to hide that.

It’s probably the guilt. For Shepard or Feron? Let’s say both. She’s too ashamed to look at Shepard for what she’s done to them and what she couldn’t do for Feron. Shepard wouldn’t have failed Feron.

-ME2 Liara is obsessed with Feron. She spends two years searching for him.

Yet he barely features in ME3. You’d think that you could maybe run into Liara speaking with him on a call a few times like Garrus and Victus, but no.

This is another case where ME3’s failure to follow up on the groundwork ME2 lay makes ME2 feel like the odd game out. It did not have to be this way.

(I still think they should have hooked up if Liara doesn’t get with Shepard.)

-Shepard can be insulting the next time Liara asks for help. Referring to her quest against the Shadow Broker as a “petty vendetta” was uncalled for.

-If you go this route, Liara says she doesn’t have the technical skills to reconstruct the data.

But Shepard does? When did Shepard gain these advanced technical skills?

Not every Shepard is an engineer! My vanguard does not know how to reconstruct data or hack. Fortunately for Liara, I have Kasumi in the party.

Also, I would like to take this moment to point out that ME1 Liara knew electronics. By default she should be better with tech than most Shepards.

-After getting the data, if you go paragon Shepard refuses to help Liara murder someone.

Again, this is odd. Every Shepard is very comfortable with killing. How many mercenaries has Shepard killed just because they were in the wrong place in the wrong time? Scavengers?

Taking out Shadow Broker agents shouldn’t raise any alarms. They aren’t civilians.

-The last leg of this dialogue behaves strangely. It might be bugged. If I choose investigate > Liara’s Needs, the conversation ends. It should take me back to the investigate wheel.

Considering the other investigate option reveals that Liara gave Shepard to Cerberus, this is not a minor issue!

-The game does not do nearly enough with the revelation that Liara gave Shepard’s body to Cerberus. It’s barely a few lines and Shepard has only two possible responses. This should have been an extensive, branching conversation with numerous possible outcomes.

Also, Shepard should have demanded the full story. I don’t care that it’s told in the comic; Shepard hasn’t read that comic and would want to know more. Hearing it from Liara’s perspective would be interesting even for those that have read it – what does she think is worth including? What does she emphasize, what does gloss over, what does she tweak to be more palatable?

-If you go renegade, Shepard tells Liara “You did this to me”.

Did what? What specifically is Shepard upset about? Being revived? Part synthetic? Given to Cerberus? Put in a situation that ostracizes them from the Alliance?

Bioware, deal with the trauma you give your characters!

-One of the options to end the dialogue, Shepard to Liara: Be careful out there. Don’t turn into what you’re hunting.

Liara: Says the dead spectre working for Cerberus.

Girl, we just established that that is your fault! Yes, I know it’s said in a joking tone, but this is too soon!

Quarian Slave

-The slave broker sounds like she’s talking about a pet.

Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you, Quarian’ strict health requirements make them expensive to house and feed, I don’t have the money for constant suit repairs and clean room facilities…

This makes me feel dirty. Ugh.

-There’s a fee for freeing indentured servants contracts before the contract ends. Someone is sure lobbying to maintain indentured servitude. I wonder who that could be?

-Illium resents batarians for giving slavery – er, indentured servitude a poor public image.

While that’s a logical conclusion, I think it has more to do with human history. There are plenty of examples in human history that match or likely even surpass batarian slavery practices.

It’s almost like total power over another person frequently leads to abuse.

-How many quarians get fucked over in their pilgramage?

So far in ME2 we have three hub worlds and three screwed quarians:

Omega – Kenn. Struggling to raise money to make a ticket to get off world. Forced by Harrot to sell at high prices.

Citadel – Quarian accused of being a thief by a volus. C-Sec takes the opportunity to kick her while she’s down.

Illium – Quarian sold herself into slavery to repay her debts

We may as well add Tali from ME1, who had a hit put out on her by the Shadow Broker.

Honorable mention to Veetor'Nara, who nearly got taken by the Collectors on Freedom’s Progress. I’ll give that one a pass as that isn’t an institutional issue but an out of context program. No one could anticipate that.

Tali says rather confidently in ME1 that the pilgrimage isn’t dangerous, but all the signs are pointing otherwise.

-Is it better to talk the slave holder into freeing the quarian or to convince Synthetic Insights to buy her?

If you talk the slave holder into freeing her, she gets her freedom but is broke. If Synthetic Insights buys her, they free her but she has to work for them to repay the debt.

The game awards more paragon points for Synthetic Insights, and I agree. At least that way she has a job.

[bioticbooty]

20 Fanfic Questions

Tagged by @swaps55. Thank you!

Tagging @cr-noble-writes, @theoriginalladya, @ad-astra13 and anyone else who feels so inclined!

How many works do you have on AO3?

9

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

233,7802

This doesn't include WIP wordcounts which are so much higher

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mass Effect primarily. A little Dragon Age from time to time (mostly one shots). I have a Fable III WIP and Stargate Atlantis fic that's only on ffnet (and I refuse to go back to ffnet it's become a trash fire).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Crosshairs - Mass Effect 1 slow burn shenko. (This version will be abandoned as I've been doing The Great Rewrite because the characters and my Shepard have evolved over the years, but I like having the old version up for comparison.)

Lightning - Mass Effect 1 fshenko smut with a wild card Shepard who would blow up a small moon if she was asked to fix a microwave

No Strings Attached - Pre-Mass Effect 1 fsehnko fluff and smut, which started as smutty prompt (what if Kaidan and Shepard had a one night stand on shore leave before ME1) and turned into this Whole Big Thing

Brace for Impact - Mass Effect 3 AU where Olivia Shepard is not an Alliance Marine because Mindoir was never raided so she never lost her family. And yet, fshenko because love always finds a way.

Sine Qua Non - Mass Effect/Pacific Rim crossover with fshenko, Kaidan and Shepard have a service history and then end up on the same Jaegar class fighter in the drift together.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Sometimes it takes a while, but I always respond to everyone before I post a new chapter because I want everyone who took the time to write me something that I really appreciate their words!! I also do it because I miss the old days of fandom community where comments flew around left and right, and I want to encourage that in my own little corner as best I can.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Color the Sky - The Blitz, Shepard is on shore leave with her partner when the slavers attack. This is the story that cements the belief that she's better off alone because the people who get close to her die.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't think anyone is happier in a finished fic of mine than Alexis Shepard and Kaidan in No Strings Attached when the finally find each other again after having pined after the other for literal years.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Only once, and it was transphobic garbage. "It's clunky and bad for reading to use these wierd fake pronouns introduced to make people feel better about themselves." I told them no one was holding a gun to their head forcing them to read the story and then locked the comment thread, because comment section battles with people who are already coming at it from a place of not actually wanting to understand is a waste of my time.

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

Sometimes, not that often anymore, and part of that is I can never just write smut without their being fluff and emotions and connection (see above: No Strings Attached turning into a 20k+ fic for a one night stand smut prompt). Part of this is because I am ace as fuck and the desire to have sex with people every second of the day because they're hot or whatever is just so utterly foreign to me. It has to feel right in the story. And if I'm gonna write just a smut story, you can bet there are thousands of words of background lore I wrote to make the smut happen on the page.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Very few. I think the only published one is the Mass Effect/Pacific Rim crossover. So by default, that one!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

None translated.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Once, with some friends over a decade ago (on ffnet). It was fun but also stressful, and I probably won't do it again. It really has to be the right people, and this group I did that project with was a good group and also very kind and generous in giving over the reigns to each other. But I've also grown more stubborn as I've gotten older. It can work, but unlikely I'll ever do it again.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Shepard and Kaidan, to the surprise of no one.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I would like to finish Never Surrender, my Stargate Atlantis WIP that is partially published. Part of that will involve migrating it over to AO3. I'm so enmeshed in Mass Effect and The Great Rewrite that I don't know that I have time for that WIP right now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and combat.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Bridging scenes together. I get way too in my head about it, especially when characters are just sitting in silence for a moment.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I would love to do this and maybe could do it in a rusty, limited capacity with French, but it has been ages since I've spoken it in any useful capacity.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Trek Voyager. I've long since lost this story, but it was writing a bisexual and (though I didn't have the words for it at the time) asexual Seven of Nine.

Listen, I don't wanna say I was prophetic but have you watched Picard? Case settled.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Choosing is hard!!!! Also I have so much unfinished, unpublished stuff that is my favorite but sticking to things that are published out there on AO3, it would be No Strings Attached. Shepard and Kaidan find unexpected happiness, then pine for a couple years because they were trying to pretend they weren't in love, and then the find each other again on the Normandy. They're nerdy dorks. They get to be the lighter versions of themselves and let go of expectations for a few days with each other and be a little reckless (and deeply, unapologetically romantic).

I also wrote that story in like 6 days while high off my ass on cold and flu medicine with a raging fever of like 102.

[afraidofchange]

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍.

what’s your phone wallpaper : one of the iphone defaults of the black sky with the canyon/cliffs. last song you listened to : buss it - erica banks currently reading: just finished “The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture” (2016) as a potential reading list candidate. last movie: Steel Magnolias (1989) - it’s my gf’s favourite movie and I hadn’t seen it. last show : Letterkenny, of course. how tall are you? : 5'7". piercings / tattoos? : Lobes with studs, and my left conch with a ring; right upper arm American traditional style heart with BUTCH on the banner.  glasses ? contacts? : glasses. I tried contacts in hs but it did not go well for me lol last thing you ate? : I made beef tacos for dinner! favorite color(s): red current obsession: Yellowjackets! do you have a crush right now?: lol well, I’ve been dating the same woman for 3 months now so yes. favorite fictional character: on this blog? I love one Cmdr. Alice J. Shepard, beloved. last place you traveled: Tampa, Florida, USA to visit one of my besties and my baby ‘nephew’ <3 

tagged by: @valheri tagging: @pentaghest @hereisthelie @martyrshe and whoever else!

[o-wyrmlight]

Hello. Me again.

I wanna do a bunch of comics as I replay the games so I won't answer everything XD but to answer a basic question;

You can play as a male or female Shepard, but Bioware intended the main character to be female. But because video games they were afraid dudebros wouldn't want to play a female lead so they just gave you a choice. Both are called "Shepard" because it's the last name. (Femshep's first name is Jane).

There is also character creation. So you can create a Shepard OC. but Shepard is one of the weirdest main characters I've ever seen, because as the years have gone on... instead of people leaning more into the self insert style of mass Effect, default Jane Shepard has become more and more popular. So these days most art and fanfic will write her as a default instead of a player/reader insert. it's fucking wild!

Also I am still in ME1 so she's still in uniform, but uh... that doesn't last.

........also yes I own the hoodie....

As for everything else... I selfishly don't want to spoil?? Even tho you can literally google it?? 😂 Because I wanna draw it because who boy.... do my babies have a storm coming....

I see! That is super cool, though--I like that female Shepard was intended to be the more canonical between the selectable characters. I wasn't 100% sure about it because I do remember seeing a mention or two about an option between male and female, but I've really only ever seen concept of female Shepard.

And I also think that it's super neat that Shepard's default is so popular! It's sort of a double-reverse of what you'd expect, and people are so baller for that, to be honest.

It sort of reminds me of how--when I play a Legend of Zelda game--I'll usually default to the names I can chose as being the canonical names. Link as Link, Epona as Epona, etc... same with the Pokemon games.

I think part of the reason for that might also be due to consistency. It seems like Mass Effect is a chronological series that takes place over the course of a period of time that features the same characters, so it'd make sense for the main character to remain the same over time.

You look at game series like Fallout, customization is much easier to get a hold of because each game (if I'm correct) features a new main character. It allows for more customization of the experience to fit around the character, but since Mass Effect is in that chronological story that follows the same or a similar cast, it's easier to have an agreed-upon default than it is to have a thousand or so different Shepherds, especially since they all end up sharing the same name (which takes away a part of that customization process).

It could also be that, as Shepard is the name given to the character, it feels ingenuine to a lot of people to have them deviate from their default--as if it's changing their identity. Already having the name implies that the character doesn't exist in a vacuum--they already existed before in the context of the game.

I! Am! Rambling! But I do find it super interesting to think about this!

[soldiermom1973]

I saw a post today about how people who think Liara is forced down our throats are ridiculous. No, actually, we aren't & here are some receipts...

1. The Ninjamance - unless you wait to pick up Liara until after you've locked in a romance with Kaidan/Ash or you just don't talk to her, she's gonna think your Shepard likes her the was she likes you. In all of my playthroughs, these are the only ways I've avoided The Jealousy Scene. There are people who are under the mistaken impression that Kaidan is also a ninjamance, but he absolutely is not. You can shut that shit down with him and he backs off. Not so with Liara.

2. Citadel DLC - if your Shepard isn't romanced, guess who comes to the rescue at the car lot? Liara. Guess who also still flirts and comments on Shepard's outfit? Liara. I went into that in my last playthrough hoping for James (who I thought was the default for an unromanced Shep) or maybe Javik (because at that point I had taken him EVERYWHERE). But no. I get Liara - the one person I NEVER take anywhere unless I have to. To say I was unhappy would be a monumental understatement.

3. Apollo's Cafe - we've all done the whole conversation with Aethyta. My romanced Shepard's conversation with Liara's 'father' sure sounded a lot like she was in a romance with Liara and not Kaidan, with all the veiled threats and 'my girl' bullcrap.

4. End game - if your Shepard is unromanced, guess who's holding their nameplate at the memorial wall? Liara. Not the person you took along most often. Or even second most often. Nope. It's Liara.

So yes, Liara is shoved down our throats. Are there more examples than this? Probably, but that's what I could think of off the top of my head. I'd leave her on Virmire in a fucking heartbeat if I could.

[master-gatherer]

The more I think about this whole description the more insane I get:

Text Description:

“Even Systems Alliance Marines Need a Break

Kaidan Alenko might be a badass sentinel marine with powerful biotics that can kick the life out of his adversaries (and commanders who dare to duel). But even this warrior needs a break once in a while. And just like on a sunny day on Earth, a “cold one” in space does the trick. In this Kaidan Alenko statue, you find him seated with his legs crossed, a cold beer in his, and his eyes lost in thought, perhaps about Rahna. His outfit is recreated to perfection, with every little detail from the creases in his folded sleeves to the texture on his pants.”

Okay! So! One by one:

“Kaidan Alenko might be a badass sentinel marine with powerful biotics that can kick the life out of his adversaries (and commanders who dare to duel).”

I just really hate how this is phrased and the word choices in general, but I’m gonna hone in on that parenthetical clause: “commanders who dare to duel.”

Who? Which commander? Because Commander Shepard never dueled Kaidan.

They had a duel/fisticuffs with James. They had a stand-off with Kaidan. But they never dueled Kaidan.

When did they duel Kaidan, Bioware? I would remember if they dueled. I would not shut up about it if they dueled.

“a “cold one” in space does the trick”

I am just fascinated by putting cold one in scare quotes. Like that’s special Mass Effect slang for a beer, and not like... a general colloquialism in the States (and maybe Canada? Canadians let me know.)

(Although if its strictly a States thing that may go a long way to explaining why it’s in quotes.)

Also gotta make sure this ad copy is strictly profesh for our collectible statue of a video game man. Don’t want to get too familiar with potential buyers.

“his eyes lost in thought, perhaps about Rahna.”

I’m not going to go too into this since this is what our little corner of mini-fandom has been focusing on, many others have pointed out the ridiculousness of this.

I will just reiterate what I’ve said elsewhere: whoever wrote this skimmed the fan wiki entry for Kaidan. That is the only explanation I can think of for why they’d name drop a character he mentions twice in the first game, and who is never seen on screen and is mentioned once outside of those particular conversations, if you happen to make the choices to get that dialogue line.

Like the writer was stumped for stuff to put in this description, hopped to the wiki, skimmed the entry about his early life, “oh he loved Rahna, I’ll put that in there, see boss I totally how to weave in game details,” and called it a day. Because I don’t know about you, but if the world was ending around me and I had to fight cyborg zombies all day, I’d be thinking about my high school crush.

The truly baffling thing is this should have been a layup. “His eyes are lost in thought, perhaps about a certain commander....” BOOM! The Shenkos would eat that right up. Particularly since who the fuck else is spending $125 USD on this? You can lean into the romance options on character merch if they’re a romance option. It’d be like if Thane’s body pillow’s description talked about how he missed Irika. Sure, yes, but maybe don’t mention it on the thing you’re selling to people who like to pretend to smooch on him?

Damn I lied, I did go too into this.

“His outfit is recreated to perfection”

Okay this really irked the nerd in me.

This is not his outfit:

This is his outfit:

The outfit he’s in for the statue are the fatigues that Shepard wears at the start of Mass Effect 3:

I don’t know if that has a special name or not, I’m not about that life.

What I AM about are tiny little details like this. You can put Kaidan in that outfit with mods, and he does look good, but that’s not “his” outfit. Hell, his outfit isn’t really “his”, it’s the default casual look for most of the Alliance characters.

It’s not that I don’t like the outfit. I mind that the copy says they’re recreating it “to perfection” and it’s not even his.

Anyway I have had a total of 10 hours of sleep over the last two days (work stuff - don’t ask) and am going to try to rectify that now that this is out of my system. Apologies for grammar/spelling mistakes, again, 10 hours of sleep over two days.

[nonbinarytriscuit]

Mass Effect Rp! Looking for 18+ Only Peeps!

Looking for anyone to play as Kaidan Alenko, Garrus Vakarian, Steve Cortez, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, James Vega, Urdnot Wrex, or Grunt. If this interests you please message me on discord @2tiredboi#1321. Please if you do reply be able to do at least 2 to 3 paragraphs.

I am wanting to do this roleplay after the Reaper War. Maybe a year afterwards. It took them almost half of it to find and rescue Shepard. Yes, Shepard is badly injured and is currently healing from those injures. Thing is he was in a coma for six or seven months. We will start where Shepard wakes up from the coma. Yes, they are in a pre-established relationship. So their reaction to Shepard waking up is all up to you. I am willing to take OCs, human or any type of species really. I will post the stuff about my Shepard below. Warning ahead of time, he suffered a lot of injuries everything. Broken and cracked bones, brain damage from the lack of oxygen and blood flow to it, losing an arm and a leg from being crushed under rubble. He's not in a good condition so beware.

Now, here is my information for my Shepard. His name is Andrew Shepard, goes by Drew for short. He is nearing forty years old as he as at the age of thirty eight. He is around 6'0. He is a Colonist, a War Hero and an Infiltrator, strictly Paragon as well. He had short dark brown hair with the sides shaves, but that's long grown out unevenly as long with use to be light stubble on his face. His skin tone is bronze type of tone and his eyes are these pale blue color that pop out. His face is similar to that of the default Shepard's, but a bit thinner with a tad larger nose. He use to be built with a good amount of muscle, but being in the coma definitely made him loss quite a bit of his muscle mass and fat.

‐---------

It all had happened so fast. His whole body felt like it had been torn to shreds, but he kept pushing on. This war with the reapers had to end! No more lives will be lost to those damn things after this day! It did make his heart ache to realize he would be leaving everyone behind once he made his choice (which was to destroy). Leaving (y/c) behind probably was the worst of it but he had to do this. For him and his family. He would not let Anderson's sacrifice go to waste either! It absolutely destroyed him knowing the man he had come to know as a good friend and even saw as a father figure that he had known for so long was now dead. Body left behind as Shepard forced his way to his destination.

His decision was final. He choice to destroy the Reapers. If he did not no one would survive this war. Too many lives had been lost already and he would not allow anymore to! More pain seared through his entire body as the structure around him crumbled and collapsed. This was worth it. This was all worth it so those he loved and cared for would be free from this horrendous war. He was content with losing his life to protect them all. What he did not know in that moment that he would somehow survive all of this.

The news of Commander Shepard being found broke through the entire galaxy in a storm. Blurry video footage was show as a rescue team dug him out of layers of rubble. There was a very still eerie few minutes as one checked for his heart beat or even his pulse. In relief it was announced that the Commander was alive, barely but alive!

With how serious his injuries were Andrew did not wake for a long time. His body was in awful shape and the moment he had arrived at the medical facility he was rushed into urgent surgery where the doctors worked on him for *hours*. His left arm and leg having to be amputated due to the excessive damage done to the limbs. They would not heal in the state they were in, so they took the best route that would help the man survive. Even after he was finally out of surgery he still had not awoken. Months passed and hope began to fade that he ever would. Yet, it seemed no one could ever truly keep Commander Shepard down.

It was almost a year later when Andrew finally stirred to consciousness. There was a faint pain pulsing through his body, but it compared nothing to how it was before. Wait. He was feeling pain...? His eyes were forced open soon after that thought and he felt so many crashing in him at once. Where was he? He wasn't dead? How was he not dead? Was that even possible? He should have died in that explosion! He had calculated the rate of his survival and it had been zero!His thoughts are torn away from him when footsteps catch his ears. He couldn't stop himself as his blue eyes slowly moved to the door, head tilting a little to get a better view on who was coming to his room. When that door open and a familiar voice spilled into the silence he felt the stir of so many emotions go through him like a tsunami. He opened his mouth, throat dry and aching from disuse yet it didn't stop him from speaking the name of the man that held his heart. "(Y-Yn),"

[luckyspacerabbit]

COMMANDER SHEPARD AS A COMPANION (ME2) TEMPLATE

This is my template for the Commander Shepard as a companion dossier. Mass Effect is a humungous game so creating a template that would work for recruitment in every single installment wouldn't have been feasible, so this centers around the idea of a companion being recruited in ME2. I still included Citadel DLC things because it's just so neat, and if you want to modify this template to work for ME1 and ME3 events specifically, you are totally welcome to! Feel free to @ me if you use it! I'd love to see y'alls creativity!!!!<3

A sample dossier is linked here.

Name:

Alias:

Birthdate:

Class, Specialization:

Weapons:

Unique Power (Active/Passive):

Armor: Pre/Post Loyalty

Origin: Spacer, Earthborn, Colonist, Other

[details of origin]

Psychological Profile: War Hero, Ruthless, Sole Survivor, Other/ N/A

[details of psychological profile]

Recruitment Dossier Text:

Recruitment Mission Me(1/2/3): [Select one game for recruitment or as many as your Shepard exists across]

Where Are They On The Ship Me(1/2/3): [Dialogue Branches]

Loyalty Mission/Assignment:

Suicide Mission (If Applicable): [Specalist for?]

Romanceable: (Y/N): If Yes: [Lock in Quest] [Romance Scene(s)?][Rekindled in Me2/3?] [Mordin advice?] [Special Dialogue?] [Kasumi Commentary]

Citadel DLC:

Message to Meet:

Friend Date:

Apartment Date:

Shadowbroker DLC:

Terminal Messages:

Shadowbroker Comment:

Comments on Shepard’s Driving:

Opinions:

Friends: [companion 1, companion 2]

Neutral: [companion 1, companion 2]

Enemies: [companion 1, companion 2]

Decisions They Approve Of:

[examples: Killing Wrex, Curing the Genophage, Saving the Reaper Base]

Decisions They Disapprove Of: [Saving the Rachni Queen, Passing Data to the Shadowbroker, Saving the Council, Choosing Udina, Punching Khalisah]

Comments on Cerberus:

Comments on the Alliance:

Comments on the Reapers:

Comments about other Squadmates:

Banter:

Joker commentary on recruitment:

Joker Comments:

Greeting/Default Saying: “Do you need something?”

How do they Address Shepard: “Shepard” “Commander”

Combat Phrases: “GOT ONE!” “Sit down!”

Low Health: “Low on Ammo!”

Revived: *coughing*

Friendly Fire: “Adjust your aim.”

Location Comments: [Any Notable: Omega, Illium, The Citadel, Feros, Horizon]

Companion Banter: [Me3 Style]

[mindful-hempress]

Tagged by @apotypocalypse

Random questions (I was late to answer, but thanks for the tag!)

1.     Which celeb would you want as your other BFF and why?

I'm not big on celebs, but if I had to pick one it would be Phil Lamar, because of his voice impersonations. I love to laugh, so imagine being around someone who can randomly change their voice.

3.     What’s the last lie you told??

I told myself that I was going to get some work done today, but I know that’s a lie! 

4.     When’s the last time you felt inspired to create something?

Every day I feel inspired to create something. Rather it’s writing, cooking, artwork, etc.

5.     What’s your favourite dessert?

 6.     If you were an animal, what would you be?

I would be a chinchilla, soft, cuddly, and agile.

7.     Have you ever used a dating app?

Hell no! That is too much effort for me to meet a person. 

8.     What’s your No.1 karaoke song?

I don't do karaoke, but when I was a little girl I got a karaoke machine and my favorite song to sing on it was Achy Breaky Heart. Only by default though. There were only 5 songs to choose from. You won’t catch me singing Achy Breaky Heart nowadays lol!

9.     Have you even been on a blind date?

Oh God, nooo!

10.  If a song played every time you entered a room, what would it be?

Where Is My Mind? by the Pixies. The title of the song is the perfect explanation.

11.  When’s the last time you got to really experience nature?

 Sunday, the woods is my favorite place to be!

12.  What’s an unexpected movie that makes you cry?

Antlers, I had to watch a little boy lose his dad and baby brother while they transform into Wendigos. I didn't cry, but it was hard to hold back a tear with the baby brother’s scene. It was supposed to be a scary movie, but it had my emotions everywhere.

13.  Do you consider yourself religious or spiritual?

Religion and spirituality are damn near the same thing. People just like to argue and call it different names. But yes I consider myself so.

14.  If you could listen to a one singer or band for the rest of your life, who would you choose?

Just one? But I need music or I’ll wilt away!  

15.  What was the last movie you watched in a theatre?

Prometheus was the last. Fuck, that was a long time ago.

16.  Who is your hero?

In the comics, Wonder Woman. In video games, Shepard from Mass Effect. In real life, the many whole-hearted people who devote themselves to the many aspects of this world, and try to make it a better place for us all to co-exist.

17.  What is your favourite animated film?

Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse 

[shadoedseptmbr]

meet cute pt 2

Second installment of my Meet Cute: All Aboard the SR1 in honor of MELE coming out this week. 

Up next, Joker.

meet cute

When Joker catches his first in person view of Shepard, she’s got her sea bag over her shoulder and a long black case in her other hand. Everything about her is crisp and sharp, from her posture to her shiny, shiny boots.  

And the Hero of the Blitz is scowling up at his ship. 

She isn’t as tall as she looks in the newsreels and recruiting vids, but next to Anderson not many humans are. Freckles, pointy chin. He’s debating if she’d qualify as kind of cute when, as if realizing she’s being watched and no that wasn’t creepy she looks directly at him; a cool, assessing gaze that locks on like a steel beam to the head. 

That’s the Shepard from all the vids.  Yikes.

She stalks up the gangplank and he manages to drag up a salute.  For the captain behind her, is all.  Mostly.  

“Commander Shepard, this is our pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau.”

“Call sign Joker?”  She somehow manages to look down her nose at him, as if she’s not real impressed. But her eyes never leave his face, like the rest of him doesn’t matter and all right, that’s a little different.  

“Yes, ma’am.”  He doesn’t bother to explain and she respects it, just a nod. 

Adams is behind him and he gets a handshake and a grin.  “Lieutenant Adams!  Nice to see you again!” 

“Commander!  Wait until you see her, ma’am!  This design is amazing.”

“So say the specs.  I’m looking forward to going over with a fine tooth comb.”

“Come on down.  I’ll introduce you to the junior league when they get back from shore leave.”

Oh, she’s a tech head.  Well.  At least she’ll appreciate his baby and her inner beauty.

“We’ve gotta get a maintenance crew out before we sail.  Someone left lube on the hull.” She jerked a thumb up at the -mostly- gleaming plating.  Damn, she was right.  The A was all smudgy.  Okay, that explains the scowl, earlier.

“Any one else aboard yet,” she asks Anderson.    

“No, the dock crew is just rotating out.  Command staff, marines, and crew are supposed to start reporting in an hour.  Pressly just notified me he’s...there he is.” Anderson pointed out a tall, stocky figure with a fringe of grey hair just clearing the landing area.

“All right.  I’ll stash my gear if someone wants to point me to a locker and then I want the grand tour before we start the meet and greet.”   

“Crew deck is down the stairs.  Enlisted lockers are in the shuttle bay, yours is up next to the pods.”  

“Thanks, Boss.” Hunh, Hero’s not a stickler for regs then, unless...hmm.  She and Anderson are supposed to have some history.

“I’m headed that way, Commander.  I can get you to the elevator before I head below.  

“Thanks, Adams.” She hefts the bag again and they trot up the gangway, as she listens intently to Adams Geeking out over the drive core.  Her hand runs up the edge of the Normandy’s hull when she gets to the door and just before she disappears into cooler light of the airlock- Jeff is sure of it- she pats the shielded skin.  

Hunh.

After everyone else is settled, he makes his careful way back to his pilot’s chair, settling in with a sigh as it curves around him and he’s back in his comfort zone, the crutches tucked under the dash display.  

He’s watching the load out of the shuttle and the tank from the exterior cameras when there’s a sound behind him, the bulkhead door cycling open.  Maybe the Nav Officer, Pressly.  They’ve worked together before.  Jeff isn’t exactly looking forward to it again.  

But the pilot seat is his. Exclusively his unless he deigns to share it with the underling they’ve promised him.  He notices a twinge in his hand, gripping the edge of the display too tightly, and he drops it.  

“Best view in the house, right?” 

He manages not to jump. Shepard.

“Will be.  Once we’re up.” 

She stands next to him, parade rest, eyes locked on the open view of the unshuttered ports.  It’s organized chaos, like any dock.  Hundreds of Alliance crew scrambling to make this launch perfect.

He doesn’t think she’s seeing the docks.  The cool expression is still there, but she’s leaned just a hair forward, up on the balls of her feet.  As if she just can’t wait.  

They share the space in not entirely uncomfortable silence, until her omni pings.

She scowls down at that, too.  Maybe it’s just her default expression.

“Crew’s starting to show.  I gotta go press some flesh and smile.”  

“Okay, Commander.”  He thinks he probably has to say something.  “Uh, I’d stand and salute but...uh”

“Nah, not unless the brass is around.” Her fist drops, gently, on the back of the chair as she turns to go.

Just before she steps away into the CIC, she turns back around and slides back into his view.  “Did you really steal her, to prove you ought to be the pilot?”

He lifts his chin and looks her dead in the eye.  “Uh.  Yes. Yes, I did.”

Her grin is crooked and it lights her eyes up when she laughs. Cackles. Jeff finds himself grinning back.  “Flight Lieutenant, you and I are gonna have so much fun.”

[dutyworn]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSE(S) SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)? I am such a multishipper with Shepard in general (any vague fanon femshep since I engage in fanfiction as well), and I'm the same way with Wren on this blog! No OTP, but probably because the first time I ever played Wren, also the first time I played Mass Effect, I had her romance Garrus despite having planned to keep going for Liara after the first game... since Shepard/Garrus just happened, if I was held at gunpoint to name one, then yeah, probably Shepard/Garrus. It's funny because most of my ships that I ship actively enough to seek fanfic of are not wholesome (like... literally one of my favourite ships ever is Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham), and Shepard and Garrus are so wholesome in canon. That "there's no Shepard without Vakarian" is a canon dialogue without romancing Garrus says it all, about how they are best friends first. I don't (obviously) push for ships or assume ships, and Wren's default romance for this blog is no romance (so that she's open for shipping with anybody; I sometimes pair her up with whoever as an NPC if me and the other mun plot so but default is no romance), and I truly up to testing the waters of pretty much all ships. But yeah if I had to name one.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE? As long as all muses are 18+, no age gap makes me uncomfortable. Like I come from fandoms where one of the most popular ships is between a 19-year-old and a 900-year-old, and I ship it as well, so. I write so many non-human immortal or near-immortal muses too so it's like... I'm used to age gaps of literally billions of years. In general, I'm less likely to ship something where the younger muse is below 25, the older above mid-twenties, and there is a large age gap. Not because I'm uncomfortable but because chemistry doesn't often happen like that? As long as there's chemistry and the muses are both 18+ (and the older muse hasn't consistently known the younger one since childhood), it can happen, with my muses. With Wren, she's around 30 in her main verses (listen age is hard when you die for years), so as for muses younger than her, I don't see her super easily going for muses younger than 25 (but like I said, it depends on chemistry: for example, I've shipped her with Tali, and Tali's younger than that; I've shipped her with Liara and Liara's relative age is up to anybody's interpretation when she's a bit over 100 but in Asari terms considered really, really young). For muses older than her? I don't think you really feel it when a person is older/younger when you're past your mid-twenties, so there's no limit whatsoever.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW? I don't know, I'm shit at deciding when to consider it that and begin to use a readmore. If genitals are being described??? I tag for lemons cw rather too early than too late, I start using readmores with descriptions of private body parts but also with heavy kink I guess, even non-sexual kink.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING? I mean yes in the sense that I won't force myself to ship something that the muse isn't feeling. No in the sense that I am very happy to try ships; work towards a ship, be sent flirty memes without being asked, etc.

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH? Pretty much every canon romance option, including ones only available with same gender romance mods? Obviously respecting other muns interpretations of their muses sexual orientations and preferences. I can't think of a canon romance option I don't ship at least right now. I also ship many canon character ships that aren't shippable in the trilogy, such as Shepard/Joker, Shepard/Nihlus... And I'm always, always happy to entertain crossover and OC ships.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU? No, you can send in shippy memes as long as they're interactions suitable for not assuming an existing relationship between muses. Like if your muse wants to flirt with Wren or do something sexual/romantic? Go for it, send the thing, you don't need to ask me; if she'd point-blank react badly, I'd just not respond to the meme, unless you specified it was fine to write out her reacting badly to it. No harm done. I guess in theory, starting from something like that, we could entirely wing a romance, but... I would much prefer to talk about it ooc at that point? Like if we want to go further than have the muses flirt/show interest, it works better if we discuss it a little at least! And no, you can't assume an unplotted, pre-existing ship between our muses; that's difficult to write without ooc communication. So you can flirt and show interest without asking, with her, but you can't assume how she feels about your muse.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS? I don't know what this means. I love to ship, yes, but I don't like to use the word "obsessed" in a positive context because I have OCD. (I don't mind when other people use it that way though, at all.) I also feel like there's this vibe of needing to disclaimer you like platonic dynamics as much, and even this vibe of superiority to preferring platonic interactions sometimes, in the RPC? Not with any of my mutuals and not with any individual anyway, but more like a collective thing where preferring romance/smut is seen as inferior. Or I might be imagining things, I'm not socially that skilled. I love to ship, I like to write romance, I like to write smut. I also love to write friendships, familial relationships, enemies... etc. I don't love one more than the other; how much I love a particular muse dynamic depends on how much we write it and talk about it ooc, rather than the flavour of it being a ship or not.

ARE YOU MULTISHIP? Yes, in every sense of the word. I will never do exclusives, or exclusive ships, I don't even list mains. Every depiction of a canon character is unique and I don't wish to limit myself to shipping (or interacting) with just one version of a character. You cannot replicate muse dynamics even if you literally start with the same trope with two versions of a canon character, let alone using different storylines for duplicates. If I like a trope I will repeatedly engage with it; never so far has it turned out repetitive in storytelling or felt the same than writing it with another person. I will also multiship with the same muse. Our muses have an established ship? Let's make an AU for them and ship them in that AU as well...

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM? I'm not going to name favourites. I don't like to try to place muns or muses in order. Obviously there are ships I've written more, plotted further, feel closer to. But I see no point in naming names. All ships have the potential of becoming favourites and I don't see why I can't have more than one favourite as well.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU? Message me with "hey, want to ship our muses?" or send Shepard a flirty/shippy meme. I try, but I am so shy about suggesting/initiating ships myself, so... unless we're close ooc, the ship idea probably has to be brought up by the other person unless I get over myself enough to suggest it (I TRY). If we haven't interacted much yet, my response most likely will be "oh I would love to see if it happens". It can be hard to gauge muse chemistry without writing them or at least without tossing around ideas ooc for a bit. If I really don't think I will want to ship it, I will clearly tell you that I'm not interested/I don't see them as a ship. So me leaving an opening for a ship isn't a nice way of turning you down. It's a "yes, I just can't definitively say before we plot it a bit". When I mean no, I will say no. When I mean yes, I will say yes. When I mean I don't think so, I say I don't think so. Etc. And if it is a no, I won't in any manner feel weird about it. You are not forceshipping by sending a meme or asking if I want to ship.

[dragonflight203]

ME2 replay, Illium part one:

Omega

-Detour to Omega first to wrap up the sidequest from recruiting Garrus, however.

-There are two sidequests here, actually. The datapad where the mercenaries groups plotted against Aria and the one where Ish asked you to pick up packages.

-The datapad sidequest is frankly disappointing. All you do is pick up the datapad and give it to Aria. No options in how to complete it, no extra lore or character development.

With how many times I run into the mercenary groups in ME2 I feel I should have the option to blackmail them with the information.

This is unfortunately typical of many ME2 sidequests. They’re just fetch quests.

-Aria “rewarded” me with the coordinates for a mission I’ve already completed (N7: Eclipse Smuggling Depot). You’d think the game would check to see if that mission is finished or not and update the dialogue accordingly.

-The Ish sidequest is more interesting. It’s a pain to go to the Citadel or Illium to pick up the package, but at least I have options in how to complete it. Give it to Ish, give it to Anton, blackmail Anton…

I went with warning Ish this time around that he’s in over his head. I still feel I should get paragon points for that choice, but the extra credits are nice.

-And of course the traitor in Aria’s organization is the batarian guard. How shocking: In Mass Effect the batarian is the villain

Illium:

-Illium goes a long way to redeem the asari for me. I’m always unimpressed with them by the end of ME1 – stop being mind controlled! - but Aria and Illium give them much needed depth.

-The Concierge says that Illium is an asari world, and you’re as safe on it as the Citadel.

The planet description specifically says that Illium is officially not an asari world.

If you speak to Garrus, he’ll tell you that Illium’s just a prettied up Omega, i.e. very dangerous.

-The Concierge also says that most standards are relaxed to remain competitive with the Terminus Systems.

This reminds me of how Anhur abolished the minimum wage to remain competitive with the batarian’s slavery practices. This resulted in slavery on Anhur (somehow) and a vicious civil war that the planet is still recovering from.

I don’t think it’s an accident that you can learn about Anhur well before going to Illium.

-Mass Effect 2 is being surprisingly subtle in its criticisms about lack of regulations in this scenario – both of the above have gone right over my head in prior playthroughs.

-The Concierge uses “her” as a default pronoun, rather than “he” or a neutral “they”.

Nice touch, since she’s an asari and asari don’t do gender. I presume she is using an asari pronoun (presumably genderless) and the translator is translating it as female.

-According to the Nos Astra shuttle schedules, flights to human colonies have been delayed due to security concerns.

I suppose colonies just up and vanishing due warrant a level of concern, yes.

-Illium broadcasts are the first time you hear about Blasto, the first hanar spectre.

This reframes part of ME1: Humanity has been part of C-Space for less than 30 years and bitched about the unfairness of not having a spectre. The hanar have been a part of C-Space for who knows how long and still don’t have one.

Not saying it’s fair that some races don’t have spectres, but the humans were not being specifically ostracized by not having one.

-The rachni messenger conveys a message from the rachni queen that Shepard is hunting the one who soured the song of their mothers.

The obvious explanation is that they are the Reapers, and this is discussed. However, it’s left open that it might not be the Reapers. And if not them, than who?

Shame ME3 completely drops this and does absolutely nothing with it.

-The rachni messenger says she isn’t mind controlled, and if she is she doesn’t mind (pretty sure she’s not of sound mind to make that decision if so...).

She certainly sounds mind controlled. And the rachni queen wiped part of her memories (the rachni’s location) and can restore it at any time. So I’m going with it’s debatable if she is or not.

Also, can we please go back to the part where the rachni queen can manipulate memories? That sounds pretty important. Just me?

-Gianna Parasani mentions that lots of people are suddenly interested in dark energy, so her bosses are having her look into it.

Again, it’s a shame that ME3 does nothing with this.

-In defense of ME2: I know it’s criticized that ME2 can be skipped over, and players can go from ME1 to ME3 with losing very little plot critical information.

However, that’s ME3’s fault, not ME2’s. ME2 throws out many plot hooks like the one with the rachni and the mentions of dark energy that ME3 does nothing with.

Even the main plot had potential – there’s no reason that ME3 couldn’t have the Omega-4 relay critical to its plot. Maybe this cycle was the first to find a way through it and that’s what would have made it possible to take down the Reapers.

ME3, however, chose to completely ignore the groundwork ME2 laid and went off in a different direction. That’s why ME2 feels so isolated.

It’s a shame, because all these points from ME2 being dropped make the trilogy as a whole feel disjointed. It’s baffling that this is the case when the games were made back to back with mostly the same key staff.

-Also: If ME3 had made half as much effort to foreshadow its own endings as ME2 does to foreshadow a plot ME3 didn’t even use (dark energy) the outcry against the endings would not have been as bad.

Part of why the reactions to them were so strong is that they came out of nowhere. If ME3 had little nuggets here and there suggesting synthesis as a possibility and that controlling the Reapers was a viable option the same way ME2 name drops dark energy, having them as choices for the endings would not have such as controversial.

-There’s an advertisement for moisturizer that says “they’ll never know you hit the matron stage”.

I’ve always assumed that the asari’s maden/matron/matriarch stages were psychological. Is there a physical component? Or is this just an ad playing on the fear of growing old?

-Love that if you go paragon, the asari bar owner suggests you could kill the trouble making human (Conrad) and she’ll cover for you.

Ah, Illium. Yes, I’m seeing that corruption. Although to be fair I think such behavior can be found in most cities.

-And here’s the bachelor party that has caused so much discussion in Mass Effect fandom: Do the Asari mind control people to see them as attractive or not?

I suspect the developers included this as lamp shade hanging, and as commentary on the ridiculousness of asari being blue human women.

Frankly, I agree with that. However, it is so absurd that I appreciate anything that makes it slightly less so. What I personally go with is pheromones – I believe even Mordin mentions these at some point.

Asari aren’t intentionally mind controlling people, but influence them as a natural side effect of their biology. The pheromones cause everyone to be attracted to them; how much depends on how affected you are by the pheromones. So they do look like human women – enough to share armor with them – but not quite as much as we see in game.

Is this canon? Probably not. Do I care? No.

-Oof, that turian with the quarian. I can’t tell if she’s reciprocating or not. At first it appears not, but she does tell him about the vibrator built into her suit…

And kudos to the quarians for having those, by the way. Very practical. Do the volus?

-If you go full renegade with Conrad, he never tells you he spoke to the weapons merchant. You get the quest anyway.

-I love Aethyta. She’s fantastic. And forward thinking too – building Mass Effect relays would be a very good investment.

Doubtlessly they’d be expensive as hell, but the Asari are supposed to be known for their long term planning.

She should have taken it to the salarians. They’d build one in a heartbeat. Probably already are, in a deniable research base.

-At one point she says “Your figure’s gotten matriarchal”. Hmm.

Another hint that there are physical differences to the maiden/matron/matriarch stages, but again this could just be related to aging.

-Illium is too big to not have fast travel. And that middle portion is irritating – it’s only there for Thane’s recruitment mission, but you have to travel through it to get to rest of Illium’s shops. And the entrances are set up to maximize travel distance. Why.

-The symptoms of the Zhu’s Hope colonists are strange. Why did they vanish after the Thorian died, only to reoccur now?

I’m still holding out that the Thorian isn’t as dead as everyone thinks, but I’ll concede that a reasonable scientific babble explanation can probably justify it. Dormant spores triggered with season changes or something.

And to keep the counter going: This is third plot hook on Illium alone that ME3 could have used and chose to ignore. And no, I’m not counting an email as “using” a hook.

-Speaking of, ME3 should have brought Shiala back. Maybe made her a companion – it would have been a fantastic example of branching choices. You can kill one of the ME3 companions as a minor NPC in ME1!

She also would have been a good love interest in ME3. You save her life in ME1, you save her people again in ME2, she canonically crushes on you… An even bigger slow burn than a mShep/Kaidan romance.

-Damn, paragon Shepard goes for the throat with Erinya. “Do you think they would want you to do this?”

She had earned it, but damn. Make sure she’s not left alone for the night.

[kyratittyfish]

Soooo. While we're talking about starting to write. How about some basics on your Shepard? Have you played multiple times with different Shepards or do you have a "standard Shep"? Who are they? How are they? Any random thoughts you have about them? ^.^

Alright sooo, I've managed to write almost 3k words about her so far, which I think is a bit too much for a single post, so I'll synthesise and try to be brief.

I'm currently playing with default FemShep, my previous play through focused on default broShep. So I'll focus on FemShep.

Her name is Jane Angela Shepard, although most people only know her by her first and family name. She's a biotic vanguard who's really fond of sniper rifles. She's a Spacer, born on Arcturus station from military parents, and a War Hero. Her family's tradition of serving in the Alliance is what motivated her to enlist after completing her biotic training and turning 18.

She's pretty close to her mother; unfortunately, her dad lost his life during one of his missions. She has a half brother on her dad's side: her military career prevents her from being physically present in his life, although she tries to send him cards and gifts on his birthdays and on major holidays.

Her family’s long history of decorated service in the Alliance military both implicitly and explicitly shaped her and her family’s expectations about her future from an early age. The failure to meet all the unsaid expectations was a constant to her over the years, and despite her multiple stunts at saving the galaxy, some hidden part of her is still afraid of that possibility.

After her biotics manifested, Jane spent most of her teenage years training in special programs, before enlisting in the military as soon as she turned 18: while her peers were having sleepovers, developing crushes and partying together on Saturday night, she was learning to control her biotic powers and harness them to her advantage.

This, combined with seeing her parents' marriage crumble due to their military career, kept her from seeking and achieving anything more than a good friendship with anyone else.

She had a few brief flings, namely with Kaidan during the events of ME1, and with Thane after her resurrection at the hands of Cerberus, but both relationships were abruptly ended: the former by her own death, the latter by Thane's.

When the Reapers hit and Jane was catapulted back into action, the Normandy crew was mostly made up of unfamiliar faces. The only few she knew were James, who she considered almost as little brother, Kaidan, who still wasn’t able to fully trust her… and her loyal pilot Joker. So off to the cockpit she went during the few moments of relative calm, to have someone reassure her through sarcastic comments that yes, all of this was truly happening. Or that at least, if she was really going insane, someone else was having the same disturbing hallucinations. 

Day after day, joke after joke, one brush with death after the other, the two grew closer. Truth be told, some level of mutual interest with each other had always been there, but the two of them had always been too… stubborn? Blind to it? To actually do anything about it.

It took a while for them to recognise the mutual attraction- had it been under different circumstances, they’d probably have never acted upon it but facing the possible end of the world has a way to make you forget your own self imposed restraints and insecurities and, for once, just go for it.

[untaintedtea]

Tagged by @yennas to make my characters in this picrew!! Thank you, I love this one since it's lipstick-centric lol. Tagging fellow lipstick people @black-rose4 and @frogprincelucio as well as @elmha and @yenanng idek how much you like lipstick but yeah. but @ anyone tag me if you wanna do this bc it's so cute tbh!

Ririka Shepard/Kitty Ryder Aria Surana/Leithianel Lavellan/Grey Shirazi

It's gonna be a long time before I draw lipstick/perfume ads for them, so I'm gonna ramble about their lipstick bc I own colours for all of them (and working on perfume for some 💀) lmao. I don't expect people to read it but tell me if you do lksfjdlskfds I would read if anyone did this too negl. this is the only makeup I know about lol

Ririka: Safe Word by Smashbox. But sometimes she'll use the NARS oil-infused lip tint in Orgasm over top or by itself! So exciting. Yes I own them bc the names are hilarious and that's partly why I made Ririka use them but they're legit her style. I pixelled them before.

Kitty: Wild Spirit by NYX (portrait), but I can't remember if I eventually tossed mine bc it had a weird smell. Alternatively, Violet Fury by Fenty. There wasn't a cooler purple in the picrew, so that was closest. Fenty Clapback and Anastasia Beverly Hills Requiem for blue shades. Also I think she'd wear Wild Night by NARS for formal things lol. She's a collector so she's got a ton of different colours/finishes.

Aria: this is subject to change since I only thought about her recently lol but I think she leans darker, so I'm gonna go with Trax by Marc Jacobs. That's the only lipstick Mayari wears too, and it's my favourite dark red lipstick, but it's unfortunately limited edition. Or possibly Vin Chaud by The Face Shop, which is discontinued, but it's one of the first colours I got when I first got into lipstick. I can't find a swatch but it's like a lighter Trax.

Leithianel: def more of just a balm/tint sort of person but I think I typically colour her lips a little dark for that lol. So probably Film Noir or Antique Velvet by MAC, if anything. Otherwise realistically it's probably some random balm from Burt's Bees etc on sale bc I don't think she's too concerned lol

Grey: Dior 999 — I think mine is satin (swatch defaults to velvet; it's 4th last) but I'm not looking rn. I tend to colour darker/less saturated but I always imagine her with it anyway. Maybe in a new drawing. Alternatively Oxblood by Burberry since it's darker but not too dark? She's also a collector but everything is red and she has a bunch of lipstick that are practically identical to each other (but she'll explain to you why they're actually different).

if you're reading this thank you bc this took way too long wtf lmao