trains and purple skies (17.02.16)

The Joker comic I talked about is finally here!

I can't lie, I was pretty disappointed with how the reunion with Joker went in ME2. Out of all the characters, his should have been the most emotionally impactful (he saw Shepard die!!) yet all we got was "Sup?" as though Joker wouldn't have spent the 2 years dealing with insane survivor's guilt. Well to that I say pthhbt. My Shepard would have been beside herself seeing him again for the first time, so he's getting hugged whether he likes it or not.

Also while this is technically part of my ongoing Shakarian comic, please feel free to interpret this as romantic as well as platonic.

- Captain Anderson’s biography notes. 😭

- “Tonight’s performance is brought to you by random acts of violence!”

- “Look at that, the hero of the Citadel used Brittle-Bones guy as bait!”

- “I used medi-gel. A lot of medi-gel. All of it, actually. Everything’s a little… bouncy.” “I think you used too much.”

- “What do we know about these mercenaries?” “They have guns and don’t like me.” “Great. Very helpful, thanks.”

- “What is that? Some kind of alarm? What’s going on?” “I thought I’d make things more interesting!” “Of course you did.”

- “I liked seeing you in action down there. It was, uh, kinda hot.” “Why, thank you.”

- “It wasn’t, what, five minutes before someone started shooting at you?”

- “Civilian casualties were restricted to… fish.”

- “I’m going to have to file a report on getting shot.” “It’s easier if you make a template.” “I think you get shot too much.”

- Everyone dunking on Shepard because she fell through a fish tank.

- “Do they even have food there you can eat?” “Not the point, Shepard.”

- “Nice… outfit.” “Kaiden.”

- “Can you open the gate? Thank you.” “Please leave.”

- “…I could’ve done that.”

- Kaiden “Embarrasses-His-Girlfriend-In-Times-Of-Crisis” Alenko

- “You can’t even attend a party without someone getting killed.”

- “What’s with the volus?” “Pizza delivery.”

- “So, who’s going to take point with you?” “Ahem…” “Ahem…” “Ahem… who’s going to pay for the pizza?”

- “There’s a Prothean standing over there!” “And there’s a future corpse standing over there!”

- “I think that turian they’ve got with them is Archangel! How’re we gonna kill him?!” “You won’t!”

- “If you say please, we may accept your surrender and let you live!” “The Prothean, however, makes no such promises!”

- “Team Hammerhead here, doing much better than Team Mako.” “Team Mako here, you copied those moves from us!” “Team Prothean here, my body count is higher than all of you combined!” (This one and some others are probably wrong since I’m writing this from memory alone.)

- “Any of you comedians want to start hitting something?”

- “The target is *doing something I can’t remember what*. She didn’t wish to be disturbed.” “What?” “I thought she was you.” “Sigh Go find her again!” “Stupid machine…”

- “Do I really sound like that?” “Uhhh, yeah.” “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” “I’m not really the talking type. I get told that I say ‘calibrations’ far more than a turian should.”

- Shepard’s existential crisis over how she says “I should go”.

- “Shepard, why aren’t you more worried right now?” “Hm? What? Oh, right! Glyph!”

- Don't leave me behind. (This one's a real toss up. Some won't react. But if they're me they'll sob)

- Meet me at the bar. I'm buying

Or

- Come back alive. It would be an awfully empty galaxy without you.

- I will meet you across the sea.

- Does this unit have a soul?

- Had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong.

- Would've liked to run tests on seashells

- I am the very model of a scientist salarian! (Note: Will likely make them smile, sing, and cry. Possibly all at once.)

I gotta give an honorable mention as well to

- Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. Their silence is your answer.

Mordin’s words echo on, outliving their speaker in each piece of ash falling from the Shroud, each speck carrying forward the hope for the future of the krogan.

She walks away, leaving soft footprints in the ash, burdened with the weary resignation of losing yet another friend mingled with the bittersweet respect he’d damn well earned with his choice.

Mordin’s words echo still more than a year later, clinging to her like the acrid smoke that fills the air in the ruins of what used to be London.

In that moment, seeing Kaidan’s eyes plead her to stay as she loads him on to the Normandy’s ramp, she has her own choice to make.

In that moment, she is caught between the push-pull of duty-obligation, heart-head, stay-go.

In that moment, when their eyes meet, the world freezes for just the blink of an eye and the paths before her branch into the maybes and could bes of a life lived in love and contentment. An entire universe exists within that moment, offering her glimpses of the moments and milestones of a life that she'll never see.

If there was more time.

If only we hadn’t lost those two years.

If only…

If only…

If only….

The endless possibilities, the kaleidoscope of never-to-be weaves a fragile thread between them in that moment. But it is not enough to turn her away from her duty.

She turns away, the assurance of her love on her lips and the surety of her path guiding her feet forward.

In the end, there’s really no choice at all.

for #trilogyappreciationweek, with thanks to @wlwkiranerys and @rannochs for being my sound board.

The one where Wrex doesn’t adopt Tali (except he kinda does) also here on ao3

~~

Everyone on the Normandy was young to Wrex. The thing about being a Krogan was that it gave you a different perspective on age. Excluding the Asari, all species burnt out bright and quick to him. But even Liara was just a kid to him, not even 200 yet. 

From what he knew about Quarians however Tali was young to them too. He’d met a few Quarians on pilgrimages before; their version of the Rite of Passage from what he gathered. Except with less Thrasher maws.

Well there was one on the planet they’d gotten a distress beacon from. That probably counted. 

But unlike the Rite of Passage you did it alone; not a krantt to rely on like Krogans had. Seemed lonely.

So Wrex may have decided somewhere after that mission to keep an eye on the young Quarian. She wasn’t so bad. Understood all his grumbling about the Council and the bullshit they put his species through.

 Though at least his species hadn’t released an intelligent robot race onto the galaxy that now worshipped some old machine.

Still Tali was okay. 

She just had to remain alive to be okay.

Wrex sighed as he watched her clean her shotgun. He rubbed a hand over his jaw, scratching lightly with his gloves. 

“Where’d you learn how to fire that anyway?” He asked.

Tali jumped at his voice, the light in her helmet that indicated she was talking lit up when she yelped. 

“Wrex! Don’t sneak up on me!” Tali scolded but then her shoulders fell like she expected a scolding of her own. 

Wrex merely stared.

“I…” Tali began, her nervousness coming through her tone even without facial expressions to go off on. “My father taught me. He’s an Admiral.” There was a touch of reverence and regret in her voice. “As his daughter I was expected to learn. Our ship could have been boarded by Geth at any moment.”

Wrex hummed, loudly enough it echoed in the quiet cargo bay. Thankfully it was late enough most of the crew was asleep. 

“Makes sense.” He inclined his head a little in acknowledgement. “Guess the Quarians would have reason to know all that." 

"We may not be the Krogan but we’ve seen our fair share of battles. You’ve seen me fight, I can handle myself.” Tali practically bristled from where she sat, angry and petulant. Wrex wondered idly how many times she’d been forced to prove herself to others that it was this touchy a subject.

“Didn’t say you couldn’t. Could use a few tricks though.”

Tali paused, caught off guard. “Oh? Like what?” If she was trying to aim for casual she failed. The curiosity shone through and her leg bounced like she could hardly contain herself.

Wrex huffed in amusement and then pulled out his own shotgun.

 "Lemme show you.“ He said and aimed at Garrus’ locker. The shot fired and he reloaded with ease, firing off another shot a second later.

Tali was up in an instant, "How did you reload so fast?” She asked in one breath, the words blending together.

Wrex chuckled, “Old trick I learned. Here, watch the wrist, keep an eye on my right finger." 

"I’m not sure Garrus would like us using his locker for practice.” Tali said even as she inched closer to do what he’d asked.

“Oh no an upset Turian. I’m real broken up about that.” Wrex’s voice was as dry as ever and Tali snorted in amusement. “Now come on, I don’t got all night.”

 Tali stepped closer still and watched carefully as Wrex did the trick over again.

Shep and Tali did a pseudo human wedding at the Normady. Jack was Shep’s maid of honour. Garrus walked Tali to the “podium” (Normady’s bridge). Joker did the “ceremony”. they also did a legit Quarrian union.

Jack and Shep are sisters in everything but blood, always confiding to each other.

Shep and Tali have officially adopted Grunt and Wrex has made all of them honorable members of his own clan.

Garrus became a Spectre and inherited the Normandy. Shep stepped down but still joins sometimes, under Garrus’ command, with Garrus being awkward about it cause of course he is

Grunt is “working” in the Normandy, so Shep and Tali actually spent a good chunk of the year at the ship

Jack is the only one that can go toe to toe with Grunt in training (Shep and Wrex included), although Vega keeps butting heads with the Krogan, despite the fact that he hasn’t manage to beat Grunt once. they’re best pals and can take on an army together.

Joker and EDI did an actual proper wedding at Earth and the guest list was the weirdest thing the organizers had ever seen. not every day a freaking Prothean shows up in a wedding. or, ya know, the whole galaxy saving squad and also the goddamn Council.

Kasumi and Liara are gfs and they have a lil blue baby. they live and work from the Normandy, occasionally joining Garrus on the field.

speaking of babies, Wrex already has a ton of children, each and everyone of them a riot, although the biggest rebel is the one they named after Mordin.

shepard walks around in a santa hat at all times and refuses to listen to any criticism like the true aries they are.

kaidan and ashley reminisce about christmases on earth and manage to get their hands on authentic candy canes. kaidan gets teary-eyed and leaves one in shepard's hoodie without telling them. ashley finds an old recipe for eggnog and they sit drinking and chatting until the early hours of the morning.

wrex refuses to partake. it's a dumb earth tradition and he can't find it in him to care. however, when shepard seems dejected, he begrudgingly attends the dinner and eats with them. he doesn't wear tinsel though. that's where he draws the line.

grunt is dubious at first but with some prompting he joins in. it turns out he loves the festivities, and he spends most of the time starting loud play fights and games. he finds red cloth and drapes it over himself to look like santa.

tali and liara are both absolutely fascinated by the holidays and ask a long string of questions about how traditions differ in different cultures and parts of the world. liara is particularly fascinated by the religious aspect, and spends copious amounts of time researching pagan traditions and where the concept of yule and the marking of the change in season originated. tali is more interested in how it's celebrated, and does her best to make the celebrations multicultural, adding her own quarian spin to it and adding some cool, tecchy lights to brighten up the Normandy.

garrus pretends not to be interested, but he can't help but watch the light return to shepard's eyes when they recount their own christmas experiences over time. their joy and bittersweet celebrations are contagious, and he finds himself humming along to the strange human carols they're singing. when shepard is rosy cheeked and drunk at the end of the day, they tell him all about how they've always celebrated. he doesn't care about the holidays themselves, but shepard gets so wistful and nostalgic, and he's transfixed. they stay up late comparing cultural celebrations and end up celebrating like turians: sparring.

miranda rolls her eyes at the tradition and thinks it's a waste of time. jack sees it as an excuse to get drunk, and boy does she dance when she's had a few. it brings miranda to the party, and despite her derision she finds it's all worth it to have shepard dangle mistletoe in between miranda and jack. she finds herself laughing properly for the first time in a while, and when jack says she's "not as robotic a princess bitch as i thought", there's something a little fond about her tone.

jacob finds an unexpected friend in thane, who is baffled and bemused by the celebrations and keeps out of the way to meditate. samara joins them for a peaceful moment's prayer among themselves, away from all the ruckus. when they find all the trash in the morning, they bemusedly and kindly tidy for the others, though ask any of them and you'll get complete ignorance.

mordin takes so many notes it's ridiculous. he wants to examine different behaviours and how different species respond to very human celebrations. he tries to stay on the sidelines, but vega refuses to let him and draws him in to a festive game of cards. when vega gives up to go and flirt, miranda challenges him to an arm wrestle and puts him on the floor to give him some humility. for the rest of the evening vega is starry eyed about her. quietly, jack takes him aside to tell him to back off, and even threatens to show him an extra good time if he dares go there.

javik refuses to participate in anything. it's, in a word, primitive. liara leaves a gift for him outside his door, however, and the next morning she finds it gone. there's a prothean artefact in his room the next time she visits. he never mentions it, but she smiles at him a little more all the same.

legion doesn't really understand it, but it joins in as much as it can. shepard gives it some N7 armour and although it can't make sense of gift giving or its purpose, it seems to appreciate it all the same in that synthetic way.

joker is the life of the party. he drinks, he dances (as much as he can), he jokes at everyone's expense. he explains the concept of mistletoe to edi purely as an excuse to kiss her, and she is a bit more lenient with him than usual. she finds the festivities interesting, having already learned all there is to know about human culture. experiencing it is different, however, and she confesses to shepard that she feels a strange, human sense of belonging during the celebrations.

legacy. what is a legacy? it’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.

And then he says it, because he analyzes the situation as it is, and he believes that he is truly going to lose her. So he has to say it.

Wrote this because I have nothing better to do and it’s fucking pride month. *throws confetti* surprise, it’s gay time.

It was well into the party, and everyone had managed to gather around in the common area to play some games while they all got progressively more drunk. Specifically, they decided to play a few drinking games. After a few rounds of suggestions, they all agreed on ‘Never Have I Ever’, since after explanations, everyone could follow along with the basic principle.

By the time they’d even gotten around the circle once, everyone was feeling the alcohol. By the time they got around a second time, things were getting more interesting.

mass effect + reductress (3)