Coffee and CSI

This is something I did a few years ago that I'm bringing back because it was fun. Every week I ask a basic question about your Shepard, vote and elaborate in the tags!

Hey fanficcers! Why do none of our stories include mommy issues?

Like, I get why movies/tv/videogames are obsessed with daddy issues. I get why in Mass Effect Andromeda Ryder was running around for scraps of information on his absentee daddy, with hardly any memories or time spent on their very much alive mother who was a part of their life for decades.

what's your favourite kitchen appliance?

do you have a collection of anything?

what's the best job you've ever had?

what's the worst job you've ever had?

what's your favourite piece of furniture and where did you get it?

what's your go-to recipe when you want to make something that requires minimal effort?

are you married or do you intend to get married?

do you have kids? do you want them?

are you on good terms with your parents?

do you have siblings? do you hang out with them?

do you vote?

what's the biggest purchase you've ever made?

what are your hobbies?

what's a hobby you'd like to get into?

do you collect anything?

how long have you known your oldest friend?

are you a member of any clubs or associations?

have you ever changed fields in your career or education?

how many wisdom teeth do you have and have you had any removed?

what's your favourite beverage?

do you have any living grandparents?

do you have nieces/nephews/godchildren/other kids in your life that aren't yours?

what's the coolest place you've visited?

what's your most recent degree and has it been useful to you?

would you rather own a dishwasher or a laundry machine if you could only have one or the other?

do you make a list before going to the grocery store or just wing it?

what's your favourite household chore?

what chore do you hate the most?

do you have houseplants and how are you at keeping them alive?

what's your favourite kitchen appliance?

do you have a collection of anything?

what's the best job you've ever had?

what's the worst job you've ever had?

what's your favourite piece of furniture and where did you get it?

what's your go-to recipe when you want to make something that requires minimal effort?

are you married or do you intend to get married?

do you have kids? do you want them?

are you on good terms with your parents?

do you have siblings? do you hang out with them?

do you vote?

what's the biggest purchase you've ever made?

what are your hobbies?

what's a hobby you'd like to get into?

do you collect anything?

how long have you known your oldest friend?

are you a member of any clubs or associations?

have you ever changed fields in your career or education?

how many wisdom teeth do you have and have you had any removed?

what's your favourite beverage?

do you have any living grandparents?

do you have nieces/nephews/godchildren/other kids in your life that aren't yours?

what's the coolest place you've visited?

what's your most recent degree and has it been useful to you?

would you rather own a dishwasher or a laundry machine if you could only have one or the other?

do you make a list before going to the grocery store or just wing it?

what's your favourite household chore?

what chore do you hate the most?

do you have houseplants and how are you at keeping them alive?

˙⋆✮ What if I'm only successful because I'm too terrified to stop moving?

˙⋆✮ Do I actually enjoy any of this, or have I just convinced myself the suffering means it matters?

˙⋆✮ What happens when my body finally gives out from running on anxiety and cold brew?

˙⋆✮ Am I impressive or just deeply unwell? Can it be both?What if I'm not actually good at this, I've just been faking it longer than everyone else?

˙⋆✮ Do people respect me or just my productivity? What's left when I can't perform anymore?

˙⋆✮ Why does rest feel like dying?

˙⋆✮ What if my self-worth is entirely dependent on external validation and I've built my whole life around a house of cards?

˙⋆✮ Am I afraid of failure or afraid of finding out success doesn't fix me either?

˙⋆✮ How much of my personality is just trauma response dressed up as work ethic?

˙⋆✮ What happens when someone younger, fresher, less damaged does what I do but better?

˙⋆✮ Am I building something meaningful or just running from the silence of my own thoughts?

˙⋆✮ Why can't I celebrate my wins without immediately hunting for the next goal?

˙⋆✮ What if I disappoint everyone by admitting I'm drowning?

˙⋆✮ Do I have friends or just networking contacts I occasionally have feelings near?

˙⋆✮ Am I passionate or just scared of being ordinary?

˙⋆✮ What if I peaked already and this is as good as it gets?

˙⋆✮ Why does "self-care" feel like admitting defeat?

˙⋆✮ Am I living my dream or someone else's expectations of what my dream should be?

˙⋆✮ What if I finally slow down and realize I don't know who I am without the hustle?

˙⋆✮ How long can I maintain this pace before something fundamental breaks?

˙⋆✮ Am I accomplished or just really, really scared of being forgotten?

˙⋆✮ What if I'm only running this fast because I'm trying to outrun my own inadequacy?

˙⋆✮ Do I want this promotion or do I just need to win at something today?

basically when you want to get your advanced scuba certification (allowing you to go more than 60 feet deep) you have to undergo a very specific test: your instructor takes you down past the 60+ foot threshold, and she brings a little underwater white board with her.

she writes a very basic math problem on that board. 6 + 15. she shows it to you, and you have to solve it.

if you can solve it, you're good. that is the hardest part of the test.

because here's what happens: there is a subset of people, and we have no real idea why this happens only to them, who lose their minds at depth. they're not dying, they're not running out of oxygen, they just completely lose their sense of identity when deep in the sea.

a woman on a dive my instructor led once vanished during the course of the excursion. they were diving near this dropoff point, beyond which the depth exceeded 60 feet and he'd told them not to go down that way. the instructor made his way over to look for her and found a guy sitting at the edge of the dropoff (an underwater cliff situation) just staring down into the dark. the guy is okay, but he's at the threshold, spacing out, and mentally difficult to reach. they try to communicate, and finally the guy just points down into the dark, knowing he can't go down there, but he saw the woman go.

instructor is deep water certified and he goes down. he shines his light into the dark, down onto the seafloor which is at 90 feet below the surface. he sees the woman, her arms locked to her sides, moving like a fish, swimming furiously in circles in the pitch black.

she is hard to catch but he stops her and checks her remaining oxygen: she is almost out, on account of swimming a marathon for absolutely no reason. he is able to drag her back up, get her to a stable depth to decompress, and bring her to the surface safely.