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acesandfairydust · 2 months

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Javik Cider

SFS | Google Drive

Genius | Loves the Heat | Bookworm | Loner | No Sense of Humor

#ts3 #sims 3 #jaceic's game #cider lepacy #lep 12: peninsula #javik cider

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queercraftingchonk · 2 years

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Shepard Hosts a Samhain “Dumb Supper” on the Normandy

I always enjoy the holiday Mass Effect fics; there's a plethora of cute Halloween drabbles out there. As a Celtic Pagan, I crave seeing a Pagan Shepard celebrate Samhain this time of year. (Don't have the current time/energy to bring that into reality at the moment. To hold me over, have a summarized thought experiment on how it would go...) So my mind wandered to the beauty of Shepard hosting a "Dumb Supper" on the Normandy--a Samhain tradition for some NeoPagans, and a ritual I've held a few times personally...

Shepard is terrible at cooking, and thus employs Kaidan and James to help bake Soul Cakes and an autumnal meal. Neither Garrus nor Tali know exactly what dex meals to prepare, so Shepard ordered some Palaven dishes ahead of time and froze them. Kaidan works on defrosting and cooking them up, obsessively checking the notes on his omni-tool to be sure he won't accidentally poison his dextro-amino friends with poor cooking.

Samantha Traynor and EDI craft an absolutely gorgeous tablescape of black cloth, black plates, Earth autumnal leaves, and (electric) candles. Every place setting has extra utensils and condiments, just in case. The one real candle sits at the Head of the Table where the Spirits of the Departed are assigned to sit in honor. A small, cast iron cauldron sits nearby.

Mordin's old coffee mug sits next to the wine glasses for the Spirits. (Miranda was sure to buy the Sur'Kesh beans the salarian doctor was fond of.) Kolyat comes aboard before the dinner, nervous but warmed by the invitation. At Shepard's request, he's brought some of the candies he remembers both his parents once enjoyed on Kahje. (Grunt is obsessed with the little hanar-shaped sour gummies and grumbles a bit that he can't eat them because they're for "the ghosts". Steve Cortez overhears the young krogan's disappointment and sneakily requisitions an order of the gummies for next week's shipment.)

Guests are asked to wait in the Lounge where they can mingle and chat. Pens and paper are strewn about the bar with a little sign written in Shepard's chicken-scratch penmanship: "Write a letter to a passed loved one. These notes are for the deceased, not the living. Your letters won't be shared. Feel free to write one letter for everyone, just a message for one person/ancestor, or make several individual notes for various spirits."

Garrus has three crumpled papers and a frustrated look on his face. His mandible flick in annoyance as he struggles to write a letter to his mother. Joker is similarly struggling writing a note to his dad and sister. When he says, "We better not find out we need postage to the afterlife to send these damn things," some tension is relieved and the men laugh.

Samara, Tali, Jacob, and Kasumi sit at the poker table and chat, gushing over the pics Jacob is sharing with them of his son. (His partner is watching him; a fussy toddler won't be able to stay quiet for a Dumb Supper.)

Liara and Wrex catch up while Javik sits with unusual amounts of tact after being thoroughly warned by Liara to be respectful of this tradition. However, he seemed less apt to call the ritual 'primitive' even if his initial reaction was one of nihilistic cynicism. He remains contemplative.

When the first batch of Soul Cakes comes out burnt, Zaeed steps in to salvage the second batch and grumbles about yankees' inability to bake a goddamn decent shortbread. (Turns out the merc is a surprisingly good baker.) Jack steals a burnt soul cake with a quick biotic slight-of-hand; before she can eat it, Dr. Chakwas swats it out of her hand. Smirking at the biotic's affronted expression, she puts it back on the tray. "Our special guests get served first, Jack."

"It was a shitty one!" Jack cries. Chakwas quirks a brow, and the matter fizzles, leaving James and Kaidan smirking. (Kaidan already wrote a letter to Ashley; it's been secured in his back pocket all morning. Her favorite beer is chilling in the fridge next to Jenkin's favorite hard cider.)

EDI briefly disables the fire alarms so Shepard can cleanse the mess hall with juniper incense and a slapdash bottle of blessed water she managed to make while on Earth visiting Anderson's grave.

Finally, the time comes; with EDI pumping a gentle dinner bell noise through the Normandy, the dinner guests file in and take their assigned seats at the very large table. (Garrus and Joker feverishly finish their letters, jam the envelopes into their respective pockets, and stumble out of the lounge last.)

Shepard sits opposite the Head of the Table where the Spirits sit. The electric tealights along the Samhain centerpiece equal the number of lives listed on the Normandy's memorial wall--plus two: one for Irikah Krios and one for Robert Cortez.

The food is served with the Honored Guests first; Miranda pours Mordin's coffee as Kaidan uses a Biotic pulse to flick off the cap of Ashley's beer and Jenkin's cider. The plate for the Dead is piled high with hot levo-foods. The guests are then served from oldest to youngest; Wrex wears a smug grin while Grunt does the krogan version of a pout.

Once everyone is served, Shepard moves to hold hands with everyone; Garrus to her right, Tali to her left. Eventually all guests hold hands (even Jack, who swallowed a mumble of annoyance) and Shepard says a silent prayer. Once done, everyone eagerly digs into the food. The only sounds are everyone's enjoyment of the meal.

Before dessert, Shepard leads off the letter sending. She has several envelopes which she places in the small tabletop cauldron. Using a long match, she lights it on the Honored Dead candle and then safely burns the paper notes. (Grunt and Jack are noticably more excited now that they get to burn stuff.) Shepard then sits down, and clockwise, folks go up, take a moment to respect the Head of the Table, and send their letters in flame to the afterlife. Kaidan and EDI begin handing out dessert once Garrus's letter burns to ash in the cauldron.

Shepard and Tali almost burst into laughter when EDI--eyeing Joker knowingly--places a charging cable beside the Spirits dinner plate (ostensibly for Legion). Jeff is thrilled and wears a smirk, having received the reaction he hoped for.

As folks finish dinner, they each get up and pay respects at the Head Chair. (Once Grunt leaves the mess hall, Shepard chuckles as she hears him lament "wasted food" regarding the offerings.) The reactions range from quick and casual to heavy and misty-eyed.

Eventually, Shepard is alone with the dishes. Her heart is overflowing, bolstered by the presence of loved ones living and dead. Before she begins cleaning up the cauldron and used dishes, she listens quietly for the voices beyond the veil.

A tear escapes when she hears Anderson whisper, "I'm so proud of you."

Happy Samhain everyone~

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #samhain #Pagan Shepard #normandy crew #commander shepard #garrus vakarian #EDI #Kaidan alenko #jeff moreau #Dr. Chakwas #Jack Subject Zero #the crew celebrating mourning and loving #sincerely a Pagan Mass Effect fan #urdnot grunt #sour hanar gummies

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acesandfairydust · 2 months

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