#this is fero speaking

[swordbreakerz]

I've been waiting to make this for weeks

#lemfero #lem king #fero feritas #seasons of hieron #friends at the table #f@tt #hieron #this is DUMB AS HELL but its making me laugh #and z speaks

[katthekatt]

I know it's already a thing, but here is my take on a Saren/Nihlus reverse AU because I really wish we could see more of both of them. Spoilers for the whole Mass Effect 1.

Okay, so Saren, while on the Normandy, is cocky and doesn't believe Shepard is fit to be a Specter, although he does see them as capable based on their background. I still want Saren and Anderson to be the ones with history between each other, so while on the ship, both of them are very passive aggressive towards each other much like in the scene in front of the council with Saren being accused. Saren is dismissive of Anderson and thinks this whole thing is a joke while Anderson is at his wits end trying not to punch the turian for Shepard's sake. The rest of the crew pretty much dislikes Saren because of the way he acts, but agree he is all that because he can back it up.

On Eden Prime Saren is like Nihlus quick to run on his own because he believes the humans will slow him down. And while Shepard's part is much the same with some jabs between them and Saren when they get updates on each other, Saren's part as Nihlus is a bit different. When he recognizes Nihlus, he is more careful and doesn't turn his back on him and actually gets to fight him. This is due to Saren's more careful/paranoid nature, which ultimately saves his life, but he is still overwhelmed, and when Shepard gets to him, he is in critical condition. Everything proceeds normal after that, with Nihlus getting to the beacon and then Shepard breaking it.

For the first ark on the Citadel, Saren is in a coma due to his injuries, and Shepard has to fight with the Council to show Nihlus' part in this only for them to be dismissed. There is also a subplot of Saren being almost assassinated, which is where he can die for the first time in the game. If Shepard lets Saren die, it's because of Tali that Nihlus is revealed to be working with Matriarch Benezia and the geth. If Saren is saved, he wakes up on time to crash the council meeting while they are presenting the evidence against Nihlus and backs it up. Before departing from the Citadel but after talking with Anderson, with him revealing his history with Saren, Saren shows up, and you can recruit him. If you don't recruit him, he helps you from the side with connections. Saren also goes on his own to hunt for Nihlus while you are, and you run into him on several occasions. A consequence of not recruiting Saren ends up in special dialog in the second game with him already knowing about the collectors because of already being on his own investigating.

If you take him in your crew, you can find him on the bridge next to the galaxy map. Some of his special dialogs are about becoming a Specter, about Anderson, The council, and about Nihlus. Like Wrex and Garrus, he has a special mission related to a Specter investigation he had prior to being assigned to oversee you. In the beginning, he is closed off and seemingly annoyed about Shepard talking to him, but with the story's progression, his respect for you grows, and he is much more open for when you talk with him.

Taking him on Noveria has him recognized as a Specter, and entering is much easier. While traveling to the facility like Liara, he can talk about Matriarch Benezia, and when you have both of them on your team, they have a unique dialog about her. With fighting the rachni, he recognizes what they are and gives little comments like "Those were.. no, I'm probably mistaken" kind of lines. With the confrontation with Benezia, Saren speaks up about how low she has fallen. He seems unapologetic even when it's revealed she has been mind controlled. He is highly against letting the Rachni Queen go and berates you if you choose to spare her.

On Feros, if you take him, he is less concerned about the civilians and cares more about getting the mission done, so you experience a bit of what Anderson had to deal with. Saren is all for you to kill Matriarch Benezia's soldier when she is off of the Thorian's control. He again berates you if you spare her. When having to fight the civilians, he seems to have to issue with killing them before Joker mentions the gas granades. At the end of the mission, Shepard confronts him about his lack of care for the loss of civilian life and mention what Anderson told them. This is the second time Saren can die, this time at your hand, because if the argument escalates, he draws a gun on you. This conversation has a lasting effect on your relationship with him, even in the later games.

On Virmire, he has special dialog when confronting Nihlus and him almost being killed when trying to shoot him down. Other than that, he just comments on how capable captain Kirrahe and his team are.

Before the final assault on Ilos, Shepard and Saren have a talk, he comments on how he now sees Shepard if quite fit to be a Specter and that he was wrong about them after seeing them in action. If you take him with you on Ilos, he has a weird feeling about the place, and with the reveal at the end, he is quite surprised like everyone. With confronting Nihlus at the end, his choice words are influenced by your talk of Feros depending on your choices. If Nihlus kills himself, Saren congratulates him for being strong enough to do what was necessary if Shepard kills him in the first phase of the boss fight, Saren insults him for letting himself be controlled to the very end. With the start of the second phase, Saren's sentences go from "Even in death loyal to them, huh?" To "His sacrifice was meaningless at the end." At the very end, he congratulates Shepard and tells them he looks forward to working with them.

That is for ME1, I might post more of this with ME2 and ME3, plus more detailed relationships of Saren and the crew in the future.

#mass effect #saren arterius #nihlus kryik #commander shepard #mass effect au #ReverseSarenAU #that one moment when you make a whole AU because you love the villian a tad bit too much

[literallyjusttoa]

Hi! I started reading toa and I love it so far, I found your blog and I really like it! but I've been having a hard time finding a lot of fandom content, could you recommend me some toa blogs that you know please?

Ok so number 1: @ukelele-boy. Guys ukeleleboy is so cool. If you want some incredible art and really cool hc you should definitely follow them. 

@sierice is another blog I would definitely recommend. I swear she manages to find every post related to ToA on the site lol. She’s also the accidental creator of Polldona!

Speaking of collections of ToA stuff on tumblr, @the-toarchives is collecting all the ToA content on tumblr, so definitely check it out!

I adore @heresronnie21 ‘s art, and all of their headcanons about Apollo. Seriously one of my favorite artists in the ToA space. 

@flzzypop is also such a good ToA fanartist!!! They’ve said they’re taking a bit of a break from ToA related stuff, but you should still absolutely give them a follow bc their art is just so cozy and wonderful.

I just love @trials-of-apunllo. Like it’s so good.

@txny-dragon has such adorable art, I smile everytime I see it. Also they're running the apollo ship tournament right now and I am so hyped for that.

@ferodactyl Is, as stated in their blog description, the CEO of Sunflower Sibs. Fero's art is amazing, their writing is stellar, and they've organized a whole bunch of events for the ToA fandom over the years. Honestly I don't think the ToA fandom would be what it is today without Fero.

@choconoru does art of the riordanverse in general, and all of it is beautiful and I love it. Their most recent piece of Lester is literal gold!

Another great fanartist is @moodyseal !!! She's been around for a while and her art is always sucha treat. I love her AoD design it's beautiful

Another og is @flightfoot . As she's said, she's more posting about Miraculous Ladybug now, but I followed flightfoot when I first started looking into the ToA fandom which was years ago. To me, Flightfoot is a fandom pillar, and definetly a blog you should check out.

I'm not going to lie I know there are many more blogs to recommend but I feel like I just haven't reached out enough to know them all ahhh. If any of my fellow ToA blogs want to reblog this with their own recommendations I would be thankful!!

#this post is very fanart focused but there are also so many meta and fanfic writers and so many more #this fandom may not be the biggest but I like to think we have quality over quanity #love all these blogs they are awesome <3 #trials of apollo #sunny speaks #ask #long post

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, beginning:

-Right from the start the vibe is obviously different.

Mass Effect 1 has a slow, exploratory intro. You get to walk around the Normandy and have the option to talk to different characters in the depth you choose. Then you’re dropped on Eden Prime and alternate between combat and talking to survivors.

Mass Effect 2 drops you right into an exploding ship, then into a base under attack. Far more cinematographic, but noticeably less world building and less talking.

Neither is wrong, per se, but I greatly prefer Mass Effect 1.

-Miranda’s introduction centers her sexuality. First you see her back and ass, then you see her stride forward shaking her hips to an excessive degree, all in that cat suit.

This never helps my first impression of Mass Effect 2.

At the start, Miranda’s the only female main character* – next up are Jacob, then Wilson, then TIM. There are other female characters, but they’re all in the background.

So the only prominent female character in the introduction of ME2 is heavily sexualized, much more than the average female character in ME1.

This does not make for a promising start. While it’s not enough to ruin either game, the increased sexualization of female characters through ME2 and ME3 remains irritating throughout. I prefer the greater gender neutrality in ME1.

*Excluding Shepard, who can be either gender

-It’s odd that Miranda blames the Council not listening to Cerberus on their low opinion of humanity. I’d wager Cerberus being a terrorist group is a greater problem.

Then again, at this point Miranda genuinely believes all the cells we destroyed in ME1 are “rogue cells”, so I suppose she doesn’t consider Cerberus to be terrorists.

-The game intro states the attack on the Citadel is officially blamed on the geth and Saren.

This is the line the Council will stick to later when speaking to Shepard – does Shepard ever consider that they’re getting the “official line” treatment because they’re with Cerberus?

There’s no indication of it in the game, but it’s a reasonable extrapolation.

-Why don’t the Collectors target the escape pods?

We know that must of the Normandy crew survives. Ergo, the escape pods make it away.

Shepard was the Collectors target – how did they know Shepard wasn’t in one of the pods?

This can probably be credited to some kind of advanced technology if you want to do so, but it feels like an oversight.

-The Alliance was right to ground Joker. He is the reason Shepard dies – if he had obeyed orders, both he and Shepard could have made it to the escape pods. And since the Collectors didn’t target those, they would have survived.

-What is the popular opinion of the art for the Genesis comic? Personally, I’m not fond of it.

-Shepard still refuses to acknowledge that the Council had a point in the first meeting about Eden Prime. They state that the Council refused to believe one of their spectres could have attacked the colony, and that they wanted evidence so Shepard had to go and find proof.

Why is wanting proof that someone committed a crime before convicting them of it a bad thing???

-The comic skips Feros completely. I suppose that’s reasonable, since it’s main purpose is to let players make some of the major choices that carry over to ME2 and Feros doesn’t have any.

The cipher isn’t critical to any plot points in ME2, so no need to review it.

-The comic takes many poetic licenses.

I was never interested in romancing Liara, but the comic certainly makes it sound like I was.

Benezia also doesn’t die in Liara’s arms – you might not even have recruited Liara at that point. However, the comic always says that she does.

-It also keeps talking about relays into dark space. There’s only one known relay to dark space: The Citadel relay. That’s a major plot point, so odd that it’s not correct.

-It says Saren died believing the Reapers would save him. That’s not true – if you kill him, there’s no indication that Saren expected the Reapers to intervene.

In my playthough Saren actually killed himself, but again this comic is intended for players that did not play ME1. I suppose the game defaults to you needing to kill Saren.

-Since I went neutral on the Council choice in ME1, I did have to choose a councilor in the comic. No neutral option here.

I went with Anderson. At least that way the first human councilor dies a hero, rather than a traitor.

-As many others have said, how does Shepard know that the pistol is missing a thermal clip?

I thought they might have been familiar with some prototype weapons created to use thermal clips and recognized it as such, but Shepard dies only a month after the attack on the Citadel. Feels a bit too soon for thermal clip weapons.

-Ah, ME2 combat how much I dislike you.

Insanity is much harder. My shields are worthless.

-The irony here is rather sad. Shepard (from their perspective) just killed Saren, who preached about how they’re the pinnacle of evolution as an organic and machine intertwined thanks to the enhancements Sovereign gave them.

Now they’re in a lab hearing about how Shepard is a mix of flesh and synthetics. Just like Saren was a mix of flesh and steel.

The game could have really added some depth by leaning into the horror aspect of all this, maybe some fears that Shepard will become like Saren. Shame it did so little.

-The game emphasizes repeatedly, over and over, how Shepard is just how they were before they died.

This is waste of a Chekhov’s gun – the repeated protestations feel like they should result in some kind of dark reveal, but they don’t.

So instead it feels like a plot thread left hanging, and you’re left wondering why the game won’t shut up about it.

-The game doesn’t even try to hide that Wilson is up to something. Every line out of his mouth is suspicious, and most noticeably when he’s in the party you can’t go to the squad menu.

Given you just recruited Jacob, you likely went into it to distribute his powers. So when you go to do the same for Wilson you’ll notice it’s disabled.

ME1 and ME3 handle this better with Jenkins and Anderson.

-And ME2 is already massively downplaying Cerberus’ behavior in ME1. If you go paragon, Shepard says it’s some kind of pro human splinter group they ran into a few times.

Really? No mention of killing Admiral Kohaku? All the experiments? Attempting to use the Thorians and Rachni as weapons/tools? The colony they murdered? The squad of marines fed to thresher maws?It’s just a pro human splinter group?

I’m playing Sole Survivor Shepard. This is ridiculous.

-Once again, ME2 is structuring it so the human female companion is renegade and the human male companion is paragon.

Notably, however, Miranda is cold compared to Ashley’s warmth and Jacob is emotional compared to Kaidan’s logic.

-Miranda first says that it’s fine to abandon the other survivors, because Shepard is the only person on the station worth saving.

Then she says that’s completely fine leaving to you to rot on the station with the mechs if you refuse to go with her.

Make up your mind.

-Very irritatingly, when you speak to TIM you can’t choose any of the investigation options AND go paragon.

Let me find out everything I can and still tell him to fuck off because he’s not trust worthy, damn it.

-TIM claims the Alliance isn’t acting on the missing colonies because they don’t have the resources. Nice of him to throw shade at Shepard for saving the Council – I take it that the lack of resources are because of the ships lost doing so.

Also, this is a lie – the Alliance is upgrading colony defenses. In the description of Freedom’s Progress it notes colony defenses had recently been increased, and later we see the Virmire Survivor doing so on Horizon.

(I’m also reminded of the codex entry where humanity is seen as unusual for having so many colonies without dedicated defenses. Humanity insists this is fine because the Alliance can quickly move to any colony’s defense as needed, but the evidence certainly indicates otherwise…)

-I do believe that TIM genuinely believes Cerberus to be acting in humanity’s best interests here. Cerberus is a pro human group, and this is protecting humanity.

That it also aligns with his long-term goal of obtaining Collector technology is a bonus.

-If you go paragon, the game says you can part ways with Cerberus if you don’t believe what TIM’s telling you. Shame that’s not actually true.

-Shepard asks TIM if Miranda and Jacob are trustworthy. This is recurring question that they’ll ask later companions as well – they spend most of the game making up their mind on the two.

-Why is Freedom’s Progress in the Terminus Systems? I thought the Alliance was settling the Attican Traverse?

-Jacob, if you go neutral (paraphrased): Most Alliance soldiers hate Cerberus on principle.

Jacob, Cerberus murdered an Admiral. And a squad of marines. And a colony. It’s not on principle, it’s for an abundance of good reasons.

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #mass effect 2 replay

[wereshrew-admirer]

2020 15daysofFatT Day 15: Celebration

This new dirt might not have a connection to Hieron at all, but after a day collecting oldworld flowers and speaking to them as though Samol himself might be listening, Fero buries his words just to be safe - in case the old man can feel them

(this was inspired by a game annie made for the same day; "A short game to play in celebration of that old dragon, Hieron himself.")

#maddie's fic today had me thinking #fixed his face a little because i'm a cheat #ferol #hieron #friends at the table #fatt #fero feritas #samol #my art #old art #april 2020 #15 days of fatt

[itsalwaysaliens]

On the path to Feros (original writing)

<This is my first time sharing my fanfic writing on Tumblr>

Liara idly hummed to herself as she walked to the Med Bay. Deep in her thoughts, the familiar whoosh of the bay door opening caught her by surprise. Doctor Chakwas stepped aside to make room for Liara to pass.

"Doctor T'Soni, good morning."

Fortunately, Liara hadn't walked into the Normandy's chief medical officer.

"Oh, good morning, Doctor! I'm sorry, I...am preoccupied this morning, it seems."

Doctor Chakwas' open demeanor always made Liara feel at ease. She wasn't feeling much at ease in general this morning, however.

"It's no problem, Liara. I, too, get lost in my thoughts when working through a problem. What does the Commander have you working on now?"

"Oh! Tali and I are tracking Geth communications in the Attican Traverse. I am hopeful we will be able to triangulate their position before we reach Feros."

"Good luck, doctor. Let me know if I can be of help. I'm off to speak with the Commander about some medical irregularities that have recently been reported on Feros."

"Thank you, Doctor." Liara turned and walked into the Med Bay, making her way to her office at the back. As she sat down and began to crunch numbers at her terminal, she felt even more preoccupied and at odds than before.

The truth? Shepard hadn't asked Liara to look into anything in a few days. In fact, they hadn't spoken privately for nearly a week. She felt frustrated and emotionally roiled. Why?

This was too much. Emotions cannot affect her work. They must not. She collected herself and dove into analyzing the Geth encrypted network messages. Deeply focused, she lost track of time. This flow was one of her favorite places to be.

"Do you have a minute, Liara?" Shepard's confident and melodious voice came behind her.

Liara's stomach dropped to her feet, and she could feel heat coming into her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she swiveled her chair to look at the Commander, steeling herself to meet the Commander's gaze.

"Yes, Commander. How may I be of assistance?"

#mass effect #liara t'soni #shiara #commander shepard #femshep

[misspickman]

fero pickman and xue yang. i know all your comics friends have you covered

fero !

Sexuality Headcanon: bi i think. i dont think hed care about defining that tbh. also keith once called him aromantic on twt and idk if thats generally considered canon but i enjoy it<3

Gender Headcanon: little guy. again to me? genderqueer but idk if hed care about it. in a modern au maybe, but less because he wants to define it and more because people would ask that of him. which maybe just makes him refuse to define it even more. much to think about

A ship I have with said character: ephero.. theyre so real in my heart.. i dont think about them much anymore but when i do. ah :(. also ferol he fucked that old man

A BROTP I have with said character: fero and hella and adaire,, what we could have had,, also mother glory. and samol. anyone of the main pcs tbh just put this guy in dynamics

A NOTP I have with said character: uhh idk honestly. i cant think of anything rn? im sure i have some but ?

A random headcanon: do you remember when we gave him a bunch of cats in our au. also: always fixing shit. this is how he shows he cares. he will not say it but he will fix that hole on hellas roof and be grumpy the whole time

General Opinion over said character: he has changed my brain chemistry irreparably. listening to seasons of hieron and going hes just like me fr (derogatory)

pickman!!!

Sexuality Headcanon: lesbian. probably not something she thinks about much, a la "im probably nb but i have a job so idc about that now"

Gender Headcanon: my big butch wife. but in general same as above, she is what she is and shes too busy to dwell on it, and its not like its anyone elses business, right? also what even Are gender expectations of a caprak? i dont think this is ever discussed but i would like to know

A ship I have with said character: pickman/chantilly scathe.. man

A BROTP I have with said character: alekest :) and colette<3

A NOTP I have with said character: uhh idk i cant imagine her with men. the lesbian energy is off the charts

A random headcanon: i would like to think she gets more into art after zevunzolia. maybe into wood carving. it would be sweet. would she write poetry.. i dont think she would consciously sit down to do it but she is Very good at writing letters (thanks jack, for that<3)

General Opinion over said character: miss pickman my wife miss pickman.. we shall have a spring wedding.. i think about her six travelers ep So much. "I think it is something magical that separates us. Again, I am not speaking metaphorically."

xue yang :)

Sexuality Headcanon: probably bi. similar to what i said for fero but for entirely different reasons, i dont think hed care

Gender Headcanon: you see this is a Question. its been so long since ive actively thought about this so i cant articulate it but theres something going on there

A ship I have with said character: songxue, songxuexiao, i love a very horrid and messy xueyao too. any ship with xue yang is horrid and messy but in most cases the horridness is one sided but in xueyao its both of them. this increases the levels of horridness. u get me

A BROTP I have with said character: in my beautiful mind and nowhere else? wen qing. in a more realistic sense aqing and meng yao

A NOTP I have with said character: oh im sure there are many xue yang ships i would not enjoy but i dont wanna think about it rn. but uhh him and mo xuanyu? i just dont vibe

A random headcanon: in any modern au i am giving this guy soo many tattoos and piercings. also motorcycle guy

General Opinion over said character: i miss him its such a shame i can never step back into that fandom. also changed my brain chemistry but in a completely different way

#thank you baby :) #ask #i wish i could kick into my fatt era again so i could write more ephero bc my old fics are sooo bad but like trust me. trust me

[mass-effect-anonymous]

Full Confession Under the cut due to length

CONFESSION

I'm realizing Feros' quest makes no sense. ExoGeni only knew about the Thorian for a little over a month before the start of ME1. Saren somehow knows of the Thorian's existence, somehow knows it has a connection to the Protheans, knows EXACTLY where it is, invades Zhu's Hope with a small army of Geth that none of the colonists sees, gets the Cipher, leaves, and THEN decides the Thorian needs to die and sends an army of Geth to the colony, but has the majority of the force in the ExoGeni HQ for no reason and not at the colony itself.

Somehow, despite smaller contingencies of Geth flanking the colony from either side, the Thorian manages to control unequipped farmers and very minimal security detail to fend off the Geth long enough until Shepard gets there, despite the fact the Geth have managed to completely wipe out an entire squad of trained soldiers multiple times.

If Saren got his information on it from Sovereign, that's even more headscratching. If they knew the Thorian was older than and had close ties to the Protheans and was extremely powerful, how come the Reapers didn't harvest it alongside the Protheans? It's all so contrived.

How did the Thorian even know Shepard learned of its existence? The main force of the Geth threat was in ExoGeni HQ. Shepard's entire goal was eliminating the Geth and only learned about the Thorian thanks to a Krogan speaking to a VI on a random staircase landing. The Thorian had no thralls in ExoGeni HQ, thus it had no reason to believe Shepard even knew of its existence unless they started asking colonists questions about it, which obviously never happens.

And then, on top of it all, the worst offender of this entire rant (/s), Lizbeth's mom learns about the Thorian and is confused about what it is until 0.00002 seconds later when she suddenly knows EXACTLY what it is and just happens to conveniently have an anti-Thorian gas grenade to non-lethally KO the colonists? The same colonists we haven't seen actually attack the player yet, and are just under the assumption that they'll shoot on sight because Joker said they're slapping the Normandy a little bit with their grimy little hands? It's... bad.

:

#Mass Effect Anonymous #Mass Effect Confession #Mass Effect #Feros #Thorian #long confession

[humanmorph]

speaking of. i should add art to feros fatt.wiki page sometime i really should

#rosa rambles #expecially the one thats so special to me. hold on

[arwainian]

F@tT Fic Marathon: 1141-1160

with this twenty I reach the end of 2019 and the start of secret samol 2019! I've got lots of recommendations today for a whole host of reasons

fill your lungs up by waveridden - a modern AU Echo/Gig that translates Echo's canon lack of connection to the Mesh as having a real-life hearing impairment, which I like! more modern AU Echos should be disabled

Despite My Attachment, My Legs Were Deemed Unfit for Utopia by WifeWifeCity - speaking of Twlight Mirage and disability! Here's a short original character fic. I'm not even sure i liked this fic, but I wanted to shout it out because it gave me a strong urge to like have a book club type discussion regarding it. what is this saying about disability in science fiction and utopia? does this depiction of the By-And-By resonate and fit with what we see of its canon cultural philosphy?

until it goes unnoticed by waveridden - Aria and Jillian get stuck on a subway train and have to actually talk to each other. I really liked this! big weird emotions in it!

Team-Building by Shadaras - as far as I can tell, this is the first Partizan fic!! its about how SBBR came together

Do You Drive It Home? by tmhector - and the second Partizan fic! ish. it's also extremely cool digital art of Cassander, but its about the partizan perspective on them

Unravelling by 3RatMoon - Hella writes Lem and Fero some letters post SiH. good Hella, good Lem, and good Fero (i feel like fic that really Gets Fero is so hard)

now for music there is this awesome TenFour playlist and this fansong that's meant to be written by Samol!!!, I am listening to it on repeat while typing this up

and for secsam art recs I have this Helladaire, and this Ephrondir

words read: 28,700 (3,117,765 total)

works remaining: 780

next twenty:

#fatt fic marathon #fatt #friends at the table

[shalalalalaw]

Wrote a small blurb hurt/comfort for my Guardians and im crying over them q-q

tl;dr Feros-8 stayed on Io at the end of Arrivals and got eaten by the Darkness and later resurfaced on Europa and his Ghost, Mia, took a long time to recover from it. Meanwhile, Schala-2 was the only one who asked friends and the Vanguard to let him go, let him face his fear and his trauma instead of continuing to spiral until he 'fell'. (They are a fireteam/poly partners.)

Feros is still scrubbing dust from between the segments of his toes. An entire week after they came back from the Spire and he still hasn't managed to clean all his crevices, much less their weapons.

He broods over a scout rifle, its varnished wood and polished synth brass covered in dust and all the grime that got picked up by radiolaria splashes all along its length.

He doesn't even hear Schala come in.

Only notices they're there when their thin hands come between the barrel he's polishing and his face.

He blinks at her and puts it all down.

She lingers, hands awkwardly hovering in front of them like they haven't decided what to say, if to even say it.

It's a rare time that he sees her hesitate. 

Apprehension gathers in his muscles as he watches her hands twitch, abandoned motion after abandoned motion. Then her throat lights catch his eye, just for their sudden appearance.

But not even a trace of her raspy voice filters through.

He wipes his hands and reaches for their hands, slowly. Giving ample time to pull back, not let him cut off their 'voice' even for the sake of comfort.

But they don't move, and he pulls them gently around to sit on the couch with him, shoving the low table with his supplies to the side.

He rubs careful circles over her palms and her head slowly hangs. Feros' jaw twists, sits awkwardly against his upper lip. He hates not knowing what to do. 

They sit, knee to knee, in the heady light of noon. The silence isn't a stranger to them, Schala almost never speaks and Feros is more inclined to doing than telling.

Between the two of them, it's a miracle they communicate.

He bites down a bitter chuckle on how all his previous relationships and fireteams fell apart, if they didn't die first, from that same lack, but here seems to work just fine. For all that all of those people were infinitely more talkative than both of them combined. 

He entertains the idea that Schala probably has lived through every single of their interactions over an impossible amount of lives spent together, she might as well know his every thought, so he might as well have no need to speak ever again, and immediately scraps the thought.

'I am human, I can't save everyone. I have to accept that; my mistakes.'

She said that, when he'd told her that chasing after Saint-14 in the Infinite Forest was suicide. And then she chased after him anyway. They did it; Schala and Osiris. But she had just as readily accepted that, this time, they might fail.

He sighs, keeps rubbing soothing circles into their palms and realigns his jaw to sit properly.

"I'm sorry."

It's so quiet, he nearly misses it. Whispered low enough the slight ruckus of the nearest street spilling in from the open window almost covers it.

He leans closer, trying to get a clear look at their downcast face, "What for?"

They pull their hands away, the motions as they form words careful, Not being here

Feros tilts his head at that, "What?"

They repeat the words, forcefully, Not being here

"Where, firefly?"

And there's anger and grief at the choked voice they let out, "When the Darkness came. I let you go."

And it feels like the air was knocked out of him.

He reaches awkwardly to their hands, but they pull back, going through more words, I should have stayed, I should have helped but I just abandoned you, like you didn't matter or I didn't care but that's not true I worry and I care and I love you more than this life will let me and I can't forgive my mistakes, not when it hurt you and hurt Mia and-

And his chest feels constricted, the air cut off, like a fist was shoved through his heart and he can no longer breathe. She speaks like she condemned him, when it was his choice to take the dive.

His hands shake as he slips them over their cheeks, and their hands still.

It had been like dreaming. Letting the cool dark wash over him.

It had him confront so many of his failings. Pahanin, Mare Imbrium, the Gap, letting down Ana, Tevis, Andal, Cayde-

Eris, at least, he knew lived and scorned the fatalism he'd plunged himself in, as he'd gone on to tear down the Crimson Keep and burn clean the Moon's depths.

But he would have never lived through life as it has become now, with Darkness curling fingers in Guardians if he hadn't let the ghosts of his regrets haunt him. If he hadn't let himself go through the Dark like crossing a river.

He knows, Shin would have planted a blazing bullet between his eyes ages ago, if the man had the balls to show his face again, after all the seeds he planted that the Darkness now sows.

But it had been his choice and he would have fought anyone that would have tried to stop him, "I'm not sorry. I would do it again, Schala, again and again and you can't say you let me go. You can't go down that way, please."

And she looks at him like she would break down from the weight of his words alone.

He crushes them to his chest, still missing a breath he can't catch and wanting for the life of him to just take this pain away from them.

"You didn't abandon me, you didn't, I swear to you and the Light and the Dark, you didn't."

They shake against him, small fist weakly grasping at his shirt and he just holds tighter. 

She hiccups and pushes back until she can move her hands between them he looks helplessly as the torrent continues unabated. Hands moving jerkily and sloppy as their shoulders tremble, And I always let you go, every time I let you slip away and you don't always come back, you don't, and it's my fault for not holding on for not saying anything 

"And someone will always say, you did wrong. That it's not how fireteams work and it's not how partners work but that's not true."

And he wills her into understanding, "You have to push sometimes, you have to let others fall, let them fail and yes, it's not your fault, but they need it, to try."

His fingers tighten on their shoulders, "You can't save me every time."

And then they start crying in earnest, crumbling in his arms like a house of cards.

There's no tears that exos truly shed. But the laboured breathing, the choked keening, all the motions and exertions hit the body just as hard. Even down to the lightheadedness from lack of oxygen. 

Feros shushes them, rubbing his hand down their back, and up again. Rocks them gently. He knows that feeling. Tearing you apart from the inside like an infestation. And you have to cut it out.

"Shh, I'm here, I'm always here somehow aren't I? Too stubborn to stay away. Shhh, it's okay. I love, you know that? You always try so hard, I love that about you. Shhh."

It takes time for their sobs to die down. For the trembling to cease. And Feros whispers softly and rubs down their back until they both petter into silence again.

His fingers trail up to her tense neck, pushing carefully into the synthcord muscle and smoothing it out.

He stills when they curl up against him instead of just just collapsing, fitting their head to the crook of his neck. And he holds them, until the sun starts dipping from its zenith and the breeze coming in from the open windows changes direction.

Until his back hurts and his shoulders ache.

He leans to whisper softly in their earwing, "I'll move us to the bed ok?" and waits to feel the nod against his neck to hook his arms under her.

Sheis small, he always forgets.

Small and slight and doesn't hesitate to headbutt people to death in the Crucible, the same way she doesn't hesitate to look down a god and grind them beneath her boot.

Larger than life. More than a single life, especially when she looks at you and sees all you ever were and could be, good and bad. All the times he succumbed to the Dark instead to walking out like he took a dip in the ocean, when entire planets didn't survive it.

And she barely takes up room on the bed as he tucks the covers around them both.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into the sheets. "I forgive you," he whispers against their knuckles as he presses his mouth to them. "Thank you," he whispers when they finally manage to look him in the eye.

#destiny #nana writes #nana's ocs #feros 8 #schala 2 #hurt/comfort #d2 fic

[swordbreakerz]

Autumn in hieron episode 27

#autumn in hieron #f@tt #hieron #girl. help ! #help !!!! #hella having the worst 3 days of her godamn LIFE #lem king characters of all time #any time fero is called little birFVEGAKS SORRY IM STILL LISTENING AS I MAKE THIS POST AND THE KINGDO MCOME IS ON FIRE #god. #anyway im not immune to characyers with bird motifs #fatt #friends at the table #seasons of hieron #also gav if u see this know that despite the less animated chatter in ur dms this time around i am still going properly insane #im just sparing u the spam DHAHAJF #i need to draw fero immediately #and z speaks

[akuzeisms]

Nine nifty things your muse can do

Katrina's biotics are more advanced than the average human, partly attributed to her training under an asari prior to joining the Alliance. Her specialty is biotic barriers and other defensive biotics, as well as ranged-projectile spatial distortion fields.

Katrina can draw. Her specialty is drawing graphite landscapes. She has a perfect memory for recalling landscapes of places she visits, which she uses to draw most of her pictures.

[ME2 & onward] Because of an increased resistance to toxins and poisons coupled with her biotic metabolism, she can drink most alcoholic beverages straight. If she wants to get drunk, she's forced to drink alcohols such as absinthe, Everclear, or krogan ryncol straight to get a buzz. Therefore, she'll almost always win any drinking contest.

[ME2 & onward] Katrina's physically stronger and more resilient than the average human. This is because most of her joints are enhanced with cybernetics, making her stronger and more durable. What would break the average person's bones takes more force for hers due to cybernetic reinforcement. This also makes her physically capable of lifting things that the average human (of her size) wouldn't be capable of.

She's an excellent cook (when she finds the motivation), though she hasn't cooked since she was on Mindoir. Her specialties are pasta sauces, chili, and soup.

Most people can't match her appetite. The only people with a hope of matching it are fellow biotics (as, like her, they have increased metabolic rates). It's entertaining when the average person doesn't know she's a biotic and invites her to dinner... and she eats as much (or more) as they do. (This is why she usually offers to pay.)

Despite her social introversion, she is an excellent public speaker. When prompted, she can and will speak from the heart, and when she does, she speaks with honesty and conviction. Her charisma is unmatched, even by high-ranking politicians. She would make a decent politician, not that she'd ever take the job.

She is capable of understanding Prothean spoken language and can interact with Prothean objects as if she were one. Between her exposure to the beacon on Eden Prime, coupled with the Prothean Cipher from the Thorian on Feros, she can visualize and understand Prothean technology on a level no other organic (other than another Prothean) could hope to achieve.

She can make even an amateur look like an excellent dancer. She's that bad. She has zero sense of rhythm and practically has two left feet.

tagged by: @pessimistics

tagging: feel free to steal!

#this was harder than I thought LMAO #i tried to think of things that weren't like... lore-based or were just her specifically but it was difficult lmao #dash games. ❖﹙ don't deny you're petrified ⋄ like you're looking at the living dead. ﹚

[octerminal]

I have a question. In ME1, there are two missions, UNC: The Negotiation, and UNC: Besieged Base, which require 80% Renegade and Paragon points, respectively. Is it possible to get both without modifying the save or exploiting glitches?

Hi anon,

I want to say "probably not" but my actual answer is "I don't know." The thing about receiving the missions at 80% morality should only be true for the first morality you reach, not both. I.E., if you're playing a paragon Shepard and you reach 80% paragon, you'd need to reach 90% renegade afterwards to also unlock UNC: The Negotiation. A lot of decisions that net you the most morality points are also mutually exclusive. You can't both save and kill the Council, you can't both charm and intimidate Saren into committing suicide, etc.

It's worth mentioning that the morality guide says there are 629 total paragon points and 609 total renegade points possible in ME1, and (if I’m reading this part right) that you need about 260 points for 80% and 292 for 90%.

Generally speaking, I dislike using the wiki as a source of information because I find it frequently unsourced or poorly sourced, which prevents me from fact checking the information for myself. But it's a good starting point and it's the only resource I have for this issue because I 100% do not know what number of points corresponds to what percentages or anything else the morality guide covers, and I am way too lazy to fact check all of that for myself. I would recommend using it if this is something you really want to try.

I ran through the page myself and mentally created a Shepard and playthrough to see if this was possible. I did a Colonist/Ruthless Shepard so I started with more renegade points, since you have less opportunities for renegade to begin with. I went renegade on every main mission minus killing the Feros colonists and got 216 points. I got 92 paragon points during the main missions. I tried to stay mainly paragon for the side missions and got 222 paragon and 111 renegade, for a total of 327 renegade and 314 paragon. This puts me at both required thresholds.

The one issue that arises here is that I did not test for whether I'd be able to pass intimidation/charm checks. This would significantly alter how much morality you get, since a lot of big morality gains are locked behind checks. A notable example here is Jeong on Feros. You can get 24 paragon or 25 renegade if you use a check, versus something like little to no morality gain if you’re forced to kill him. But those are locked behind 12 charm and 10 intimidate, which are both fairly far along in the skill bar and thus hard to actually achieve if you play Feros early on.

TL;DR: Seems theoretically possible on first time playthroughs if you’re able to pass certain morality checks, but you'd likely have to micromanage what missions you do and when in order to maximize those checks. You would also likely have to sacrifice roleplaying a consistent Shepard. That being said, this definitely seems feasible on a NG+ playthrough because NG+ retains your skill allocations, so you wouldn’t have to worry about morality checks since a lot of them would already be unlocked from the previous playthrough. So in that scenario: yes, it seems possible to achieve without mods or exploits.

Anyway, I'm not going to pretend I haven't done similar things before* but this doesn't seem particularly worth it to me considering the Noveria exploit nets a lot of points and is very easy to use. I do it on Nadia even though she is fairly consistently renegade without it, just so that I can be sure I can pass intimidation checks without having to worry about it when playing. It's up to you, though, and it’s entirely possible you’re just asking this out of curiosity and not because you actually have any desire to do this, lol.

Hope this helped.

*throwback to when I had to literally plan out missions to get best friend Tali in ME3. I had a doc sheet and everything.

#replies #anyway on this topic. unc: the negotiation is one of my fav side missions in the trilogy #genuinely formed the basis of a lot of my personal readings of the alliance and alliance politics #and also the kind of work nadia mainly did as an N7 pre-trilogy #i know hackett says he only sent shep on the mission specifically because they are a spectre #but the idea the alliance has *never* made use of assassinations before they had a spectre is so laughable to me #so i ignore it #in my canon that mission happens pre-me1

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 replay, part 4 and conclusion of Noveria:

Benezia

-The dialogue with Benezia changes very little with Liara, which is disappointing. You’d think bringing her along would change more.

After saying her line Benezia just… ignores her and proceeds with the normal dialogue.

-Benezia says the rachni soldiers would be raised to hunt and slay Saren’s enemies. She doesn’t seem aware of the Reapers.

-What is even with Benezia during the initial combat? She strikes dramatic poses and then more commandos and geth enter the room. Somehow this depletes her power. How? Why?

-Just as with Shiala, Benezia credits her indoctrination to Sovereign but implies that Saren is controlling Sovereign. No inkling that Sovereign is alive.

-She does say that the geth did not build Sovereign! First time that is brought up.

-If you’ve done Feros, there’s an option to mention Shiala and that she told you about indoctrination. Nice touch.

-Benezia says she was aware of what the indoctrination was forcing her to do, but could not resist.

This is different from other cases, where it’s emphasized that indoctrination is often a gradual change the person is not aware of.

Could credit this to Benezia having locked part of herself away from the indoctrination – so it’s that small part of herself that watched on in horror.

-As others have mentioned, here a supernova merely relocated the Mu Relay. In ME2, an asteroid destroys the Alpha Relay.

Ah, plot holes, If you must make a series up as you go along, at least leave enough time to review each entry for consistency and perform rewrites if necessary.

-This entire scene establishes Benezia was subservient to Saren. She was just another servant to him.

Of course, in reality they were both servants of Sovereign, but of the two Saren called the shots.

Interesting dynamic. Presumably this is because Sovereign got his claws into Saren first, but I imagine that in-universe the expectation is that a matriarch is usually the dominant personality in such relationships.

-The fight with Benezia herself was absurdly easy. Bioware needed to do something to make it more impressive.

-As Benezia dies, if you go paragon you offer her medigel. She refuses – she’s still indoctrinated and can feel its grip on her. She chooses to die.

-If you go renegade, you say she keeps changing sides. Betrayed the Council, betrayed Saren. She says she guesses that’s how history will remember her.

Damn. She was indoctrinated, she didn’t choose to betray the Council. That was cold.

-Benezia’s actions here are important to laying the ground work for the ability to talk Saren into suicide in the finale, just like Fai Dan’s were on Feros.

Both struggle against the indoctrination, are able to resist just enough to perform one final action, and choose to die because they know they will not be able to keep resisting.

Once more: This is how you build to a satisfying conclusion. You have to sprinkle the seeds throughout the story and let them fruit. You can’t just throw out a bunch of elements in the last few minutes and expect it to form a cohesive narrative.

Rachni Queen

-And here we go again. Another mind controlled asari, being used to speak for an eldritch creature. Just like on Feros.

-The Rachni Queen even refers to her as a vessel, and says that she is weak to urging.

What the game tells me: The asari are the dominant race. They are wise and powerful, and often their actions are hard to understand because they take such a long view

What the game shows me: Asari are malleable, and if you put any near another creature with mind control powers they’ll fall under its sway quickly. They tend to follow the strongest personality in the room, and need others to save them from the situations they find themselves in.

The asari deserved better.

-When referring to the fact that a child locked in a closet till they come off age will not be sane, Liara picked the age 16.

Why 16? I thought Asari come of age around 50?

Probably just a case of having all characters say the same line or minor variants of it.

-The Rachni Queen uses plural throughout most of this conversation. Why?

Are they speaking for the Rachni race? Using plural because they’re royalty?

I get the impression they’re using we in the singular since, like Legion does.

They do use I once, when speaking of the rachni’s actions in the war. This rachni queen does not what happened in the war to cause the rachni’s actions.

-The Rachni Queen refers to their planet as “The Singing Planet”. Here, on Noveria, the sky is silent.

Hmm. Do all races from that planet “sing” the way the rachni do?

-There are parallels to the geth here. Both the Rachni Queen and Legion plead with Shepard for the future of their race. Shepard’s actions decide if their species lives or dies. If Shepard decides they die, the Rachni Queen\Legion reject Shepard’s choice and scramble to save their people anyway. They fail.

Well, it is an impactful story line. If future Mass Effect games choose to repeat it, however, I’d like to see a variant where the doomed species survives and the protagonist now has to deal with a species that hates them.

-The neutral choice is to let the Rachni Queen live

-Aaand the asari commando the Rachni Queen used to speak is just abandoned to die. Guys, we just established she’s not quite dead – can you at least check her pulse?

Noveria Wrap Up

-I only learned recently that the Hot Labs are optional. If you find Benezia first, you can go straight back to the Normandy.

Bit amusing… Sure, I could have killed all those Rachni soldiers with the neutron purge but I was tired so I called it day.

-You can’t go back to the civilian area. I’ve always wondered – do the guards kill all the civilians anyway?

I’d like to think they live, but there’s no proof one way or the other. Just an email from Han Olar, and he lives even if the guards do kill the civilians.

-Disappointingly, if you do the Hot Labs after Benezia there are minimal changes to the dialogue. This comes off as silly, as Shepard acts surprised about knowledge they already have.

-Hmm. In ME3, we learn that the Protheans bred the rachni. That may explain some of their traits, like how queens lay eggs in hours and can have a colony within days. Those would be useful traits in a weapon.

Normandy

-Once again, Ashley is nasty to Liara for no reason. Paraphrased:

Shepard: We need to learn more about Saren’s goals before going through the Mu Relay.

Liara: The commander is right. We cannot rush off blind. We need to learn more about Saren.

Ashley: Who put you in charge? Did the commander resign when I wasn’t looking?

Just, why? Liara was agreeing with me, not overruling me. There’s no reason for Ashley’s hostility.

-And if you go renegade, Shepard says they won’t be a puppet for the asari… Again, Liara was agreeing with Shepard. Where is this coming from?

-In the conversation with the Council, If Shepard goes neutral they say they only care about stopping Saren, not the rachni.

The Salaraian Councilor says the mission must come first, but that actions can have far reaching consequences.

This feels like Shepard living down to their expectations – of course humanity would so short sighted as to not realize that releasing the rachni could result in another war, and if so humanity will be endangered too. Essentially, showing that humans are too short sighted to trust with spectre powers.

-If you go paragon, at least you stand by the fact that you believe this rachni queen won’t start another war. That’s better than ignoring its possibility.

Squad

-Huh. There’s no way to end the Kaidan romance at this point. You’re locked in.

-Kaidan doesn’t know what Benezi was to Saren either. Second in command? Advisor?

-In all dialogue with Liara, she blames Sovereign for Benezia’s change, even though at this point the belief is that Saren is controlling Sovereign. Interesting.

-If you suggest she’d want revenge, she rejects that – there are already enough reasons to stop Saren.

She’s definitely the most paragon aligned character in the game.

-If you select the Investigate > Benezia dialogue, it’s updated to account for what we’ve learned about Benezia’s indoctrination. Nice touch.

#mass effect #mass effect 1 #mass effect 1 replay

[wereshrew-admirer]

🌹🌹

multiple! gonna cheat a lot and put the whole first section of the second chapter of my lemfero tusk carving fic here because i couldn't pick just one line:

It’s a little bird. There’s a tiny and perfect bird on each of Lem’s tusks, and Fero had remembered Lem’s request to keep anything important farther down so it would take longer to grow out. Lem is grateful that Fero remembered, because he nearly cries when he sees them, and then he does actually cry when he sees that the abstract swirls and lines below them also serve as music bars. There on his face, written into his bones, is a tiny melody spelled out as leaves in the wind. 

He’s turning his head this way and that, struggling to get enough light to read the music in the dim cave (He’s awed. How was fero able to see what he was doing?) when Fero’s voice against the silence of the cave nearly causes him to drop the mirror, “That bad huh? If you’re gonna cry we can just sand them down”

Lem turns to protest, but Fero is smiling. And Lem is smiling too, and the tears continue to fall, and he’s blubbering out “thank you”s instead of sentences each time he tries to speak, so Lem gives up and places the mirror down carefully on a nearby table before pulling Fero into a hug. He’s probably squeezing too hard, and Fero’s feet are off the ground, and Lem (remembering that he’s maybe allowed to do this now) kisses the top of Fero’s head. Fero’s so light, it’s nothing to hold him out far enough that to access his face, and now Lem is still crying a little, but he’s frantically kissing trails of gratitude across Fero’s forehead and cheeks and nose and chin, his eyelids and his mouth and the space between his eyebrows. Fero is hitting him as if he wants to escape, but laughing, too. 

“This isn’t-“ laughter “what i asked for!”

So Lem puts him down, tries to regain control of himself. It’s shaky, but he’s able to get more than just those two words out this time, “Fero, do you know how wonderful you are? How important, and - and skilled! -Of, of course you do” Lem’s laughter to crying ratio has tipped towards laughter, “You’re confident and brave and I didn’t know you could read music??”

Fero’s smile is big enough to get lost in, so Lem lets himself get lost in everything he’s wanted to say to Fero over the past several years, “I’m so lucky to know you Fero! You can barely read but it doesn’t even matter, or, or not most of the time,  because you know practically everything! You can make anything and you can turn into birds so of course! Of course you would be perfect at this too!”

He steps forward to embrace Fero again, caught up in his affectionate momentum, but Fero stops him with a hand in his face and Lem is all laughter now despite the sweaty hand smashing his nose a little, “and your hands, Fero!” he plants a kiss at the center of Fero’s defense and it crumbles, Fero snatching it back to his side, “Fero, I think I l- Fero, I’m so lucky to know you.” He’s out of breath so he falls back into repetitions of “thank you, thank you” as if he needs to say it 500 times in order to set a pattern in motion that will express all the things he can’t put to words. 

After a moment of appraisal Fero steps forward and tugs Lem down by his shirt, stares into his eyes, and almost-serious, says: “Your performance was a little hard to follow, but I think you got the job done.” Then he pats Lem’s cheek and walks away. Once he’s passed into the darkness  beyond reach of the lanterns in this room, he casually calls back, “Come on!”

And so Lem chokes on his breath, remembering the rest of Fero’s plan, and stumbles after him into the dark.

#have GOT to finish this one day but man i just #am really struggling with the tone of the sex scene #and this is supposed to be pwp so that's a big part of it #fero having dysphoria is important to me but! yikes!! #my writing #lemfero