For sure! <3

THANK U HE IS EATING HIM

he just wants to nom. to chomp. to nibble. he's a vampire. he's just some dude in love. he has an oral fixation. joe tastes nice. i love him so much

nicky, pushing joe into a river: we should go out for coffee some time

joe, too besotted to notice that both their clue cards are floating downstream: yeah i'd like that

booker & quỳnh, watching this all unfold from shore:

Shepard’s face is pressed against the window of the shuttle as it descends towards the landing pad. Garrus would give good credits to be on the other side of it, looking at that weird, fleshy human nose mashed up against the glass.

It’s rare Shepard looks like an idiot. Garrus takes a lot of enjoyment in those moments when they come.

“You look like an idiot.”

He also enjoys pointing them out.

“I saved the galaxy,” Shepard replies, mashing his face even closer against the glass.  “I can look like an idiot if I damn well feel like it.”

No doubt he’s scanning the ground for a familiar face, even though this high up he wouldn’t be able to tell Kaidan from a pyjack.

“You know, up until right now I held on to the belief that you saved that galaxy for me. Now I see the truth. It hurts, Shepard.”

Shepard tears his face away from the window to grin. “I’d never let anyone come between us, big guy.”

Garrus’ mandibles quiver.  

“Ok. Fine. Kaidan bats even one eye and I let him come right between us.”

“It’s the hair, isn’t it. I can’t compete with the hair.”

Shepard chuckles, slouching back in his seat and fidgeting, knee bouncing as he waits for the shuttle to land.

Sure you don’t want to come? Garrus had asked Kaidan when this entire expedition had come up.

Everything that happened on Tuchanka is something I wasn’t part of, Kaidan had told him. I think it would do him good to just spend time with you. The person who was with him through all of it.

There’d been more than a little guilt in his voice, and it spiked more than a little worry about Shepard. Aside from being a little more quiet, inward, than normal, every time they’ve talked Shepard seems...ok But Garrus knows almost better than anyone how good Shepard is at hiding things. 

I worry about him, Garrus.

So Garrus worries, too. But upon seeing him in person again Garrus had been pleasantly surprised to see his old friend looking and sounding more like he had in the days when all they had to contend with was a rogue Spectre. Less weight on his shoulders. Less lead in his steps. Maybe that worry is misplaced. 

Kaidan’s always been overprotective of Shepard. But then again, so has Garrus. Few people knew just how bad things had gotten leading up to the Omega 4. Maybe Shepard’s told Kaidan about it. Maybe he hasn’t.

Maybe there are a few things Shepard will never let get between them.

They’d spent a week on Tuchanka touring the rebuilding efforts, playing with broods of tiny, headbutting krogan, reviewing expansion plans with Wrex and Bakara, and watching a stockpile of shark documentaries Shepard had put together with Grunt. The entire time Shepard had been so much like himself that Garrus was almost baffled. He thrived with the krogan.  

Up until the dedication ceremony, anyway. At the very mention of Mordin’s name Shepard went into the same lockdown Garrus remembers all too well from those late nights in the galley during the Cerberus days.

Those had not been good nights.

It had taken Shepard a while to shake it off. Long enough that Garrus had gotten Kaidan on the comm to ask what to do.

Keep him looking forward. Point him at the future. Not the past. He needs to remember what it was all for.

With all the damn krogan hatchlings rolling around that hadn’t been too hard. One squirming, reptilian bowling ball later and Shepard had been all smiles.

But now that it’s over and home is in sight, Garrus gets a glimpse at the other future that’s kept Shepard moving forward.

The moment the shuttle door opens Shepard flies through it. No corona propels him on this particular occasion, but the speed is similar.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll get your bag,” Garrus grumps. He’s already having nightmares of what it’s going to be like to spend a week on Earth, alone with the two of them and no backup. Mentally he calculates how long it would take Tali to get here from Rannoch.

The only reason he catches up is because Shepard slows down to search the crowd waiting on the platform, and Kaidan isn’t there. Shepard scowls. “Where the hell is he?”

Garrus points. Across the street on the other side of the platform a familiar human slams the door of a skycar, expression frazzled.

Shepard doesn’t even look before darting into the street. Try telling Shepard that traffic doesn’t give a shit how many times he saved the galaxy.

But Shepard somehow bends the universe to his will, like he always does. He reaches Kaidan unscathed, wraps him up in his arms and kisses him so deeply Garrus clears his throat and looks away. He also waits until the sign tells him it’s safe to cross the damn street.  

“Hey, you,” Kaidan tells Shepard with a grin, then glances at Garrus. “Did you forget someone?”    

“No,” Shepard replies. “But this weird turian keeps following me around. I think he wants my autograph.”

Garrus snorts.

“Come on, big guy,” Shepard calls out. “You’re gonna love the orchard. Lots of space for target shooting, and a lake where I can kick your ass skipping rocks.”

“Your life sounds very exciting,” Garrus replies.  

Shepard’s gaze slides to Kaidan, expression soft. “Yeah.”

NILE FREEMAN MY BELOVED <33 - thank you Michelle 🥰🥰🥰

First impression

I remember when I was watching the film for the first time there was the cut after the train and I was like: "Oh? A new character? Who will it be??" and then we saw Nile and my first thought was something incredibly cheesy like "aww, a sweetie with some sweeties" probably, and then i saw how she commanded the attention of the women and her team and i got very excited by how competent she was portrayed.

Impression now

My favourite thing about Nile is how incredibly relatable she is. The more I think about her the more I lose my mind with how brilliant she is, how she fits right in with the team because she cares so much about others, but also how she's the natural leadership material post-Andy because she questions the way things have always been done, because she can say 'fuck it' and trust her mind and her guts in equal measure. Just all round perfection tbh <3

Favorite moment

I can't quite articulate why, but that scene when she rides up in the elevator to rescue the others to the sound of "If it's the end of the world/I'm going down fighting" gave me major goosebumps when I watched it for the first time last year. It's the natural conclusion of the "we're not meant to be alone" theme, the beginning of the end, and you can see her growing into the amazing immortal warrior she's going to be and just... it was a lot. Still is.

Idea for a story

Ha! So I've been writing some scenes for this idea I've had about the growth Nile does in the six months between film 1 and (fingers crossed, Geeked Week!) film 2. I see her sitting in front of Copley's boards and imagining what they might look like in 50, 100 years time, and then travelling around with the other three and slowly becoming accustomed to the lifestyle, and becoming a little overwhelmed by how little they can still help - because there's so much suffering in the world, and what can the four of the actually do about that? Wouldn't it be better to prevent war/famine/global warming before it happens? So it's kind of about her finding her own sense of purpose as a Millennial Immortal and restructuring what "we fight for what we think is right" means.

Unpopular opinion

Not sure if this counts as unpopular, but I think she'll struggle adjusting to her new family, even though I believe the others would try to make her feel welcome. It's just that they must have ingrained habits that she won't jell with, and they might be a bit out of touch as well, and so I think living with "the fossils" when she used to have immediate (and varied!) support systems like her friends, family, etc.

Favorite relationship

Nile and Andy's friendship/mentorship is very special to me. Long-term I do ship her with Booker, but overall her relationship to Andy is my favourite.

Favorite headcanon

Nile cannot, cannot do downtime. Copley will be like: "You guys gotta lie low for a while," and Nile will be tearing up the walls. Whatever safehouse they're in, she'll try and pick up a new hobby or cajole the others into being tourists for the day or accidentally join a local football league.

if you could hit any character without repercussions, who would it be?

several questions: what exactly counts as “repercussions”? also can i choose to hit them WITH repercussions? because if not and the repercussions are like, literally anything and everything that comes with slapping someone (including but not limited to emotional damage, heartbreak, et al) then booker just for the personal satisfaction of getting to tell him to Get It Tf Together. if i CAN hit someone with (including but not limited to) emotional repercussions then merrick because i dont want him to not retaliate in that moment. he’s, like, got gamer physique, what is he gonna do to me?

characters you would marry in an instant?

joe. which gay man in this fandom is gonna answer differently.

what is your favorite overused trope?

ykw at least in the tog fandom i feel like i dont really have a fave overused trope for these character but in general ? bakery ausssssssss bakery aus put these people in a setting where they are making food and i am all over that shit immediately. asap. 

name a song that reminds you heavily of a specific fandom or character.

a combination of all circles by mewithoutyou and thus always to tyrants by the oh hellos for booker <3