#mass effect aya

[thebansheeoflamordia]

#oh gd here we go #just gonna tag characters not fandoms #fi loz #susie haltmann #penny polendina #orianna league of legends #hera wolf 359 #edi mass effect #viv vision #annalee call #cortana #doris #val and isaac #ok i lied tagging that fandom cause idk which doris tag to use #jenny wakeman #monita nintendo land #aya #N.O.R.A #that's right i put my OC in this meme and you all will deal with it

[virtualcamelselfies]

Mass Effect Andromeda planets 🪐✨

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #planets #photomode #ps4 #ps5 #ryder #elaadan #aya #pathfinder #bioware #scenery #the tempest

[heavenlyeros]

ayan villages .

#mass effect andromeda #angara #aya #mass effect #mass effect art #mefanart

[do-i-love-jaal-today]

Can we please have more mermaid ryder hc please!!!!!!

From this ask! Not gonna lie, I’m still not sure what more I can offer...but I will try!

After befriending you, one of Jaal’s favorite topics is cultural exchange. Learning new things- studying in general- is openly one of his favorite things to do, and getting to do so with you is deeply enjoyable for him! (He deeply hopes you enjoy knowing of his culture, too.)

He’s full of questions, but you rarely get tired of it. Even when you do, he’s more than happy to stop and give you some space... If not first seeing if he could help ease your stresses any!

...Jaal may also try to ask permission to watch you sleep. Yes, even at friendship stage/before dating. It’s a weird request, but he’s as honest as ever...and better to ask than not?

Honestly, it’s kinda why he’s so likeable; it’s hard to not be fond of the guy who will bluntly ask any question, with the open understanding he’ll listen and back off if you’re uncomfortable.

However, if you let him watch you fall asleep (whether you can sleep with him knowingly watching or ask him to mull around elsewhere for an hour, then come back), just... Prepare for more questions.

...Which turns into him helping you be better situated for sleeping?! Depending on your preferences, Jaal puts a sudden, large amount of work to ensure you will get the best sleep possible.

If plants help you feel safe, he offers plants from Aya and extra samples from Voeld. He is...unsure when you may be able to travel- or if you can at all- and wishes to further incorporate you into his life. (This is, essentially, the start of his courting phase.)

Each plant is carefully vetoed; ensuring it won’t change your tank’s structure too much and continue to keep you healthy. (There’s definitely at LEAST one plant that does it better than any from Earth, leading to those on the Initiative to work their asses off to adjust your tank around this better specimen.)

He also brings in potted plants. You’re in awe of their glorious coloration...! Some of them even glow!!!

If you have water-safe cloth, he may try to hand off the cloth to his mother, requesting she aid him in making a rofjinn for you.

Nude or jewelry only? He, as always, works with that; expect many new pieces, both as courting gifts and random expressions of his love. Hair pieces were the trickiest to figure out, but Ryder, the other humans, and even Vetra helped out.

Sahuna can’t quite visit at the moment...but she’s absolutely in love with you. She pesters Jaal and Ryder for every crumb of information she doesn’t yet have. (It makes him laugh, if also terribly shy at his mother’s excitement.)

Other angara also tend to stop by to visit, since you’ve got Jaal Ama Darav so starstruck! Some are...a little hurtful with their honesty (“I don’t see what the deal is, really,” one mused out loud), but others are fun and sweet! You try to keep the latter in mind, more.

...This is partially because you made the sincere mistake telling Jaal about one such comment. He proceeded to straighten up, a serious look in his eyes, and asked for details of this angaran. Realizing he was about to fight the mf who talked shit, you had to hurry and cover for a random person’s ass. Less Jaal throw hands about it.

(Alas, he probably did find that angaran while mulling about the Nexus. Hands were indeed thrown. A funny problem to have, all in all...and the realization angaran relations would need extra work, going forward.)

#Anon #AkiMod answers #Jaal Ama Darav #Mass Effect Andromeda #[me: idk what else I could come up with LOL] #[also me: writes all of this] #[anyways maaaaybe thinking of how merReader would end up on Aya...] #[or should we aim for the far stars??] #[cause I'm personally still VERY in love with Voeld] #[merReader meeting the singing whales!!!!! CRIES!!] #[ME:A 2 where I can finally meet them face to face pls] #Imagine Jaal Ama Darav

[shadowrun-effect]

Pictures & important data of my cute boys

Samuel Wolfsbane: Elf – APEX Agent, Ki-/Physical Adept, Shadowrunner, Bodyguard of the Emissary, Soul Brother and Slave of Thantos Savallian, Unknown so far: Child of Ra’a, Cerberus Combat Breeding

Saraan de Kanos: Angara - Curator of the Repository of History (Professor), Second in Command of The Resistance (Lieutenant), former Roekaar

Thantos Savallian: Drell – Commander of the Phoenix, APEX Agent, Ki-/Physical Adept, Assassin, Bodyguard of the Emissary, Master and Soul Brother of Samuel Wolfsbane

Varius Talorian: Turian – Second in Command of the Phoenix, APEX Agent, Chief Engineer, Shadowrunner (Drone & Vehicle Rigger), former Eclipse Killer, Sniper (Favorite Weapon: Heavily Modified N7 Valkyrie Burst Rifle/Black Widow Sniper Rifle Combination)

#mass effect andromeda #mass effect #mea #mass effect andromeda fanfiction #mass effect andromeda fanfic #mass effect fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #archives of our own #bioware #shadowrun #shadowrunner #kiadept #commander #assassin #Master and Slave #aya #repository of history #angara #turian #drell #elf #Roekaar #apex #N7 #N7 Valkyrie Burst Rifle #Black Widow #these boys are all gay #there is no shepard

[n7-obsidian]

Aya Shepard, I love the effect this filter has on biotics. Mass Effect 1. 

#mass effect 1 #mass effect mods #myshepard #aya #mass effect legendary edition #mass effect photo mode #biotics

[fereldanwench]

apropos of nothing and certainly not my tag rant from a few posts back

did you know that out of 150 popular video games released between 1985 and 2022, only 6% of them feature sole female protagonists?

did you know that prior to mass effect 3, female shepard was never used in any promotional material for the series?

(and there's no hard data available on this, but i very distinctly recall a lot of gamerbro outrage when me3 had an optional reversible cover so you could pick between male and fem shep on your personal game)

did you know that only 18% of players chose femshep in any shape or form (default or customized) during the original release?

(anecdotally, i know a few people who didn't even realize you could play a female at all in me1 bc of how the cc is setup)

did you know with the release of the legendary edition in 2021 the percentage of femshep players didn't even double (despite jennifer hale's seemingly enormous popularity amongst the broader playerbase over the past decade) and is reported at 32%?

did you know that dragon age inquisition has the same breakdown between male and female inquisitors (68% to 32% respectively)?

did you know during the playtests for assassin's creed odyssey, it was a 50/50 split between kassandra and alexios, and ubisoft suits actually thought when the game was released, kassandra would be more popular? and yet once again, about 70% of players chose the male protag

did you know evie and aya were both supposed to have a much larger roles in assassin's creed syndicate and origins but were forced into a smaller role bc the ubisoft marketing team didn't think the games would sell well with a female lead?

cdpr hasn't released data on male vs female v, probably because the game handles gender a little differently than just two strict options like many other rpgs, but it was revealed that panam was the most popular romance, sitting at about 68%, which means at least 68% of players chose the male v body. I'm sure some players did not make that choice as a cis male v, but i would also guess that those who didn't are a small minority of this demographic, and if you factor in kerry romancers, this split is probably very similar to other games in the genre

now i realize that a lot of the male v players who are in more transformative fandom spaces (like tumblr) are not the str8 gamer dudebros of reddit angry about pores on a female character's face and whatnot. i realize that a lot of you are also on the outskirts of the perceived norm and also feel under-represented by mainstream male protags and that's incredibly frustrating and alienating and i genuinely feel for you

but female protagonists and female gamers who want to play as female protagonists and who have a few niche spaces to celebrate female protags are not the reason for your lack of representation

and frankly you don't sound a whole lot different from the angry incel gamer boys when you say shit like "fem v gets too much attention"

so maybe try advocating for male protags who don't fit the generic boring gruff white guy mold without throwing women under the bus. we're should be allies in this fight, not rivals

#t: wench.txt #leaving reblogs on as long as ppl behave #but i will come down hard with the block button on bad faith replies to this

[silurisanguine]

Happy anniversary Mass Effect Andromeda!

Or more apt, the Reyes Vidal dating simulator. yes the game has flaws, thanks to EA's meddling, but the heart of the story. Of a person thrown into heavy responsibility and rising to the occasion. Of exploring somewhere so unknown and..alien. Those resonated with me in a way the original trilogy didn't. I loved the Angara and found the Kett to be incredibly creepy. Though the Archon was not scary as he looked like a gibbon. His Primus though *shudder* The worlds were beautiful, Kadara, Navarl and Aya especially and the Remnant tech was fascinating.

One day I'd love to see the Andromeda galaxy revisited. Perhaps the promoted new game will bring the two game worlds together as suggested. If the game ever happens. Maybe I'll see my Seren (yes i like the name for my OCs) again, with Reyes and we will find out the results of the plot threads left dangling, like who the benefactor is, how the Quarian arc was saved in game after it's story was told in a book. i'd also love to see a graphics upgrade and photomode added. but that's a pipe dream. One can still hope though, right? Until then i'll keep reading the wonderful fanfics set in this amazing game world.

#Mass Effect Andromeda #Seren Ryder #Reyes Vidal #siluri vp #ME: Andromeda VP

[mattapparentlystumbltourneys]

BRACKET REVEAL

Alright. At long last, I present to you the bracket...or should I say...*BRACKETS* for the Virtual Character Tournament!

Given the scale, the first round is going to be one bracket per week, 4 a day, with each lasting 24 hours. I know that this is still tight, but given how many contestants there are, along with the necessary inclusions of images and propaganda (oh and I guess also my job), it's what I can do to keep this semi-manageable. There's also no redemption round this time. It's gonna be a single elimination tournament. Be kind to your peers. This is not but a drop in the infinite ocean of the internet.

...oh yeah the brackets themselves. We'll be going in order over the course of 4 weeks. I'll make proper announcements for them as they commence. Given how many there are and what I want to get done beforehand, Bracket 1 will likely begin some time this week. But for the matchups...

Bracket 1:

Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid) vs. Elohim (The Talos Principle)

Flame (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRains) vs. The Supervisor/Mouthless (Tenkuu Shinpan)

XANA (Code Lyoko) vs. MetalMan.EXE (Mega Man Battle Network)

9-Jack-9 (Zot!) vs Poppy Pipopapo (Kamen Rider Ex Aid)

Sage (Sonic Frontiers) vs Mektryllis (Fate/Extra CCC)

Dot Matrix (Reboot) vs V Flower (Vocaloid)

Wizardmon (Digimon) vs Delta (Red Vs. Blue)

Sora (Ever17) vs Kasane Teto (UTAU)

The Doctor/EMH (Star Trek Voyager) vs Crash (Awful Hospital)

Burroughs (Shin Megami Tensei IV) vs Quorra (Tron Legacy)

The Machine (Person of Interest) vs The Rocket Dex (Pokemon)

P03 (Inscription) vs. M.X.E.S (FNAF Security Breach: Ruins)

Hakuno Kishinami (Fate/EXTRA) vs Data Riku (Kingdom Hearts)

Samaritan (Person of Interest) vs ART (The Murderbot Diaries)

Cortana (Halo) vs M-Bot (Skyward)

Mitsuko Miyazumi (Archer) vs Ritsu (Assassination Classroom)

Bracket B:

Ene (Kagerou Project) vs The Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe)

Amadeus (Steins; Gate 0) vs D.O.M (The Adventure Zone)

AM (I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream) vs Theo (Meta Runner)

Colonel.EXE (Mega Man Battle Network) vs Daia (Kiratto PriChan)

Agumon (Digimon) vs The Bobbiedots (FNAF Fazbear Frights)

Felix the Desktop Cat (Real Life) vs SHODAN (System Shock)

MegaMan.EXE (Mega Man Battle Network) vs Church (Red vs. Blue)

Shepherd (ENA) vs Dr. Coomer (Half Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware)

Sophie/Sophia (Persona 5 Strikers) vs Dizzy (Beyblade)

Miss J/SCP 5094 (SCP) vs Ultraman X (Ultraman X)

SAYU (No Straight Roads) vs Falulu (Pripara)

Incarceron (Incarceron) vs Benry (Half Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware)

Lea (Crosscode) vs Kiracchu (Kiratto PriChan)

Dragon (Prahumans) vs Murder-Bot 2.0 (The Murderbot Diaries)

Ai (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRains) vs Glitch Slime (Slime Rancher)

Eris (Wolf 359) vs Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Bracket III:

Hera (Wolf 359) vs Shin AI (Your Turn to Die)

Alba (Star Twinkle Pretty Cure) vs The Denpa Men (The Denpa Men)

Guy (Free Guy) vs EDI (Mass Effect)

Aetna (Lore Olympus) vs Yui (Sword Art Online)

Nicole the Holo-Lynx (Archie Sonic) vs Gabumon (Digimon)

Jacqueline Box (Pripara) vs Mamechi (Tamagotchi)

Vanellope von Shweetz (Wreck-It Ralph) vs Cleverbot (Real Life)

The Phantom Virus (Scooby-Doo) vs Chiaki Nanami (Danganronpa)

Alter Ego (Danganronpa) vs Digit (Cyberchase)

Simulcast (Reflection TTRPG) vs SARA (Toonami)

Lumina Ichihoshi (Dig Delight Direct Drive DJ) vs The World Machine (OneShot)

Rumble McSkirmish (Gravity Falls) vs Holly (Red Dwarf)

HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey) vs Samantha (Her)

PAMA (Minecraft Story Mode) vs Noah Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Agent Smith (The Matrix) vs O.R.C.A (Splatoon)

Spunc (Alpha Betas) vs Porygon (Pokemon)

Bracket Delta:

GIFanny (Gravity Falls) vs Coco (Aikatsu Friends)

Vic Fontaine (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) vs Red One (The Last Angel)

Glitchtrap (FNAF Help Wanted) vs Holo (My Holo Love)

Avina (Mass Effect) vs Light Hope (She-Ra)

Motherboard (Cyberchase) vs Aya (Green Lantern: The Animated Series)

Bonzi Buddy (Real Life) vs Tama (AI The Somnium Files)

Dragon (Worm) vs Bip (Runway to the Stars)

Failsafe (Destiny) vs J.A.R.V.I.S (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Aiba (AI: The Somnium Files) vs CanHaz (DC Comics)

SAYER (SAYER) vs Fey (Welcome to Night Vale)

Buddy (Buddy Simulator 1984) vs Ziggy (Quantum Leap)

Maggy (Hellspark) vs The Squip (Be More Chill)

Lyla (Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse) vs Durandal (Marathon)

Beta Jay 137 (Ninjago) vs Zero III (Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward)

Sergey Ushanka (The Magnus Archines) vs Demetra (Spy Kids 3: GAME OVER)

Alie (The 100) vs Lil' Hal (Homestuck)

As always, thank you for bearing with me during this long and arduous process. Sorry for the hassle, and be prepared, as it is almost upon us.

#virtual character tourney #tournament layout #there are a lot of characters so i'll be tagging them during the rounds #don't want to pack even more nonsense into the bottom portion #character polls

[thevikingwoman]

Top Ten Video games

thanks @keturagh for the tag!

as this list shows - I'm not young, and I started out with PC gaming, where truly my love for gaming was built. It was hard to pick 10 games - for being a "gamer" I don't actually play a lot of games, and there's only a few games that really stick out as truly noteworthy over time to me. Criteria is muddled - games that are great, games that are fun, games that defined a moment for me. Yes, there's a certain amount of nostalgia too here. I've by internal logic excluded text-based IFs from considerations.

Tagging @myreia @galadrieljones @galadae @roguelioness @redinkofshame @lilas @coldshrugs @allaganexarch @a-shakespearean-in-paris if you want! And anyone else! tag me!

Civilization

I refuse to pick one, but I'll probably go with IV if I had to, just because of the music and I think it's where they introduced cultural victory. Civilization was the first video game I brought with my own money, and yes that's an old pic of all the boxes (I don't have the Civ I box 😭but I still have the disks and manual). I also have Civ VI, but no new pic. Civilization is genre defining, a PC gaming defining game - there is no other game like it.

2. Diablo II

I played so much Diablo II - it was such a fun game full of fun gameplay. It was also the first game I truly played online - meeting new and wonderful friends and got embroiled on online drama! Diablo II was just sheer fun, from the builds to the loot to the secret cow level. The cut scenes were phenomenal, the one above is still one of my favorites of all time - the shattering of the world stone. Tyrael was possible my first video game crush, yeah just the wings and voice, don't @ me

3. Warcraft III

I played so much Warcraft III. The gameplay was fantastic, just a great RTS. It had humor, but also possibly the most heartwrecking storyline I've played - the fact you get to play out Arthas decent into evil was a stroke of gameplay and storytelling genious. Coupled with this era of Blizzard's cinematic department, the hands down best cut scene ever. This remains a top game for me.

4. Mass Effect

What can I say? Mass Effect is fun to play, has a pretty great and well written story - it's one of a kind to be honest. I don't do shooters, but I do do Mass Effect.

5. Pharaoh

I love city building and this was the best one. IS the best one, as this is remastered on steam. I'm currently playing this, and this is from the other night. I love this! pyramids! logistics! production! bright colors!

6. Dragon Age Inquistion

would be weird if I didn't include this one, right? I love the game and I love all the stuff that lives in my brain because of it. Also I do think the combat is fun? I think mechanics and environment wise it's also the best of Dragon Age.

7. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

I had a hard time picking between II (best boy Ezio, Desmond), Origins (pyramids! BAYEK and AYA, the mature story!!) and Odyssey - in the end I think Odyssey won because of the feel of AC - assassin, the vast explorations, the many quests, and ofc yelling in DMs over lost love. Not to forget - clop, clop, clop, the fake minotaur quest.

8. Jedi: Fallen Order

Look, I don't like platformers or difficult combat, but story mode hit the spot, and the story was SO good. Cal Kestis is my son in my heart, the story and his character touched me.

9. World of Warcraft

well, the sheer amount of time and investment I put into this game count for something. At some point it seemed like half the world played it, for good reason. I don't think I can go back, but WoW was the first MMO I truly enjoyed, and I love the art style so much. and I got to turn into a demon for massive damage, and endlessly frustrate my healer. Infinite mana, baby, just heal me

10. Master of Orion II

another old 4x game, this just hit the spot somehow.

other contenders: Geometry War Retro Evolved, Tetris, the MasterMind game my dad coded himself and we had a vicious family competition for the leaderboard, Settlers III, Heros of Might and Magic (but I don't recall which version I loved the most), and Warlords (the original DOS game)

#about me #tag game #I love getting tagged! #long post #video games #and yes kids those are 5 3/4 inch floppy disks that actually flop

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Phineas and Ferb as Sci Fi

If you thought I'd leave it at acknowledging the shows genre you were wrong.

Okay, so generally speaking, genre's are wide categories that overlap and are just... foundations for understanding works. They aren't boxes, and works can fit into many genre's. So A LOT of things are sci-fi while not necessarily being sci-fi.

So... Sci-Fi has it's own set of archetypes, and I think generally the thing that differentiates SCI-FI from sci-fi (that is being part of larger sci-fi discourse, and rather than just having a sci-fi elements, see Spy thrillers, which may have sci-fi elements, but isn't really the subject of this discussion) is the use of themes. Or more specifically Sci-Fi is often commentary on the world's current state of affairs and/or currently developing technologies and extrapolating it to its (sometimes logical sometimes exaggerated) conclusion.

Now, generally speaking, this isn't Phineas and Ferb or Milo, their focus is on comedy, and the ridiculous situations that arise. Their main conflicts aren't necessarily sci-fi. After all the show translates itself into other settings rather easily. (Historical, fantasy, adventure). The main conflict is an exaggerated sibling conflict, and a secret agent plot. Themes of family and battling a villain taking over the world aren't inherently sci-fi.

But I do think Phineas and Ferb makes use of a particular sci-fi theme. As in the common theme of the potential for future technologies to have potential to have both positive and negative effects on the world.

Phineas and Ferb represent positive change in the world. The benefits that come from technological developments. This is something Candace constantly fights against, Candace has many reasons for her wanting to bust her brothers, but one of them is the dangers that the technologies her brothers develop could (and often do) pose. And when things happen, she is often its victim. (Even if sometime she's also to blame herself).

Think Phineas and Ferb get busted. When they built the "Flying Car of the Future Today". Literally invoking the Sci-Fi concept of futuristic technologies that change how we live. They're careless with this technology and it crushes their house.

Granted, this is Candace's dream inside Perry's dream, but Candace and Perry are parallels here, where they are both agents attempting to stop the development of futuristic technologies. Perry, despite his use of "high tech" ultimately, for the most part, utilizes technologies that currently exist, as well as physical prowess. Same with Candace. But, ultimately, unlike Candace who is (unsuccessfully) stifling her brothers, who do create for the sake of helping people, Perry is fighting against someone who seeks to abuse developing technologies for the sake of hurting others.

Doofensmirtz, (in PnF) represents the negative. He creates technologies to take over the tri-state area. Enslave humans, cause pain and suffering them, not only to benefit himself, but simply because he wants others to hurt.

We get a variety of future's that are depended on Doof's path in life. The 2D, quantum boogaloo, AYA, and the time-travel future in MML, all highlight a potential future. In Quantum Boogaloo, the fear of progress (also more pertinently the stifling of children's freedoms but that's another discussion), leaves the tri-state area vulnerable to Doofensmirtz's abuse and leaves the community suffering under his forced changes.

In MML, Doof goes good. He actually has a positive influence on the future. He invents time travel, and is famous because of it. Doof, turns himself around and uses technologies, the same technologies, often times that he used for evil. (See him using the Chicken-Replacinator in CATU for good). These technologies are tools, able to be used for good and evil depending on the user.

Granted, bringing time travel to the masses may have brought more harm than good, as it allowed the Pistachions a chance to take over, but it also allowed Dakota to save Cavendish (or maybe it's why Cavendish died so often, either way). And Doof throughout MML uses his creations recklessly. They are intended for good, despite functionally being no different from those intended for evil, but despite intentions still cause harm when Doof isn't careful with them. It is the intersection of the positive and negative influence Doof and PnF had in PnF, harm coming from good intentions. Even good intentions aren't enough to keep developing technologies safe from misuse.

While I highly doubt any of this was a conscious decision, it's only natural when you are developing something to reiterate the themes and motifs of the wider cultural . The use of sci-fi elements immediately invokes the dangers and benefits of the progression of technology and society, and so it's natural that Phineas and Ferb would in it's own way cover it too.

#pnf #phineas and ferb #dwampyverse #I almost feel like I need to make a disclaimer #I'm just some person on the internet #Also I feel it's important to note that sci-fi and fantasy are two genre's that blend together easily #So while there are definitely fantasy elements here #it's more sci-fi to me #are superheros and aliens sci-fi #once again I feel like i am giving the impression that I think doof is a horrible person and I do not like his character #heinz doofenshmirtz #candace flynn #phineas flynn #ferb fletcher #perry the platypus

[megarungoblinrun]

Idk more mass effect.... Gwen Ryder finally reached the vault on Aya

#mass effect andromeda #me: andromeda #sarah ryder #my art

[crackinglamb]

OC Name Meanings

Tagged by @pikapeppa, thank you! 🥰

Tagging @ir0n-angel, @lilbittymonster, @bogunicorn and @espressocomfort. No pressure!

Rules: Search and post the meaning of your OC's name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

Right, so...I have a lot of OC's. Holy crap, did this get long. I'll go by fandom to keep them organized, and listed here are just the main player types, not background characters. And if you want to know more about any of them, they can all be found here.

Fallout 4

Nora Howard (Junkyard 'Verse series): My first SoSu. Nora is the default name and I struggled for a long time to come up with a last name for her. At the time, I thought it would be funny for her to share a name with Todd Howard, and then it stuck.

Valara Thorsgaard (Set to Repeat, Subject to Change): Lamb the Younger gave me the first name and I liked it. Val, for short. The Scandinavian last name was just...I dunno, it felt right?

Honoria Wilcox (No One Knows): 'Honoria' is a version of Nora. Her maiden name was Beaufort, because it was slightly pretentious and so was Honoria's mother. Wilcox was her late husband's name and she was glad to take it.

Eleanor (Nights series): Another Nora variant, no last name.

Joan Whitfield (The Bargain): I wanted something different for this OC since she ends up with Kellogg. (All my Nora variants end up with Hancock.) The first name comes from my extended family, and the last name sounds lawyerish. 😆

Tien Xu (Unexpected): Ahh, the SoSu from my first real AU. She's a Chinese prisoner of war who ended up in the Vault. No real reason for her given name, but 'Tien' was my favorite chemistry professor's last name back when I was in college.

Alice Monroe (Amends to the Dead): My most recent SoSu. From the get go I wanted her to be a badass, because let's face it, you get pretty OP'd with some of those skills in-game. 'Alice' is a nod to Resident Evil. 'Monroe' is just because it sounded good.

Mass Effect Trilogy

Jayne Shepard (Soldier, Spectre, Savior series): It's the default FemShep name, but I changed the spelling. That's really it.

Jehanne Shepard (Some Kind of Resolution): Henna, for short. Jehanne is a phonetic variant of Jane.

The Wayhaven Chronicles

Aya Batra (Little Things): Batra is one of the surnames you can choose when making your Detective, but Aya was my own invention. It's a variation of an old D&D character (Aeo, who in turn is a variation on Io). Someday I want to write more for her.

Dragon Age

(oh boy, here we go)

Da'Fen Carlisle Mayers Lavellan (Until It Squeaks series): Carly, to her friends. My first MGIT. When I created her I wanted her to be a 'just some person' kind of character, so she needed a name that didn't stand out much. Tbh, I don't even like it. I think I was halfway through writing Twist when I decided it was short for Carlisle, which eased my meh a little. Then as time went on in the story, she earned the rest. Abelas was the first to call her 'Da'Fen' because she was the Consort of Fen'Harel, and she was formally adopted into Clan Lavellan after the events of the main game.

Imogen McLean (Wicked Things series): My ex wouldn't let me name Lamb the Younger Imogen when she was born, so I decided I would save it for a character someday. And so I did. 'McLean' because she's of Irish descent, and I knew a girl by that family name when I was a kid.

Eliana Hawke (Wicked Things series): I tend to give my F!Hawkes unique names, I guess. But this one was for the purpose of Imogen getting to call her Elly and Elly getting to call her Genny. It was a deliberate 'the names you use denote intimacy level' kind of thing.

Terisin Mahariel (Wicked Things series): It means 'Flint-like'. I wanted something hefty for the HoF, something that would give the impression of gravity and determination. And then everyone in the fic shortens it to 'Ter'. 🤣

Mira Foret (Driftwood series): This is actually a nickname, her full name is Almira. Her family name on Earth was 'Wood', and upon being transported to Thedas, she changed it to 'Foret', which is the Orlesian version of the word. There is actually a reason she has these names in particular, but that gets into level 40 IRL stuff, so I shan't say.

Carmilla Hawke (Maker Damned Fools): Cara, for short, and only if you have her permission. Back when I first wrote MDF, I had a notion that Leandra wanted to give all her children names beginning with the same letter. "How'd Bethany happen?" Varric asked. Because they didn't know they were having twins and had to come up with a name on the fly and Malcolm had a twisted sense of humor. It makes more sense in the fic. Anyway, she hates the name, and thus goes mostly by Hawke.

Hera Trevelyan (No More My Heart Beats Without You): I just liked it. Didn't even know it was the default name of F!Adaar. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ellisora Lavellan (Flowers For Fen'Harel series): Everyone uses Ellana. It's the default. I don't like defaults (usually) and will twist them around any which way until I find something I do like.

Sa'vir Lavellan (No Strings): It means 'the First Path' or, more precisely for her character, 'the Only Way'. It was both to give some backstory to her and was a nod to her being inspired by The Unending Wake's Vir.

Lahalaan Lavellan (My Blood On Your Hands, Your Teeth In My Skin): Ahh, my poor Laani. She kicked around as an OC for a long time before I finally was able to write something for her. She was always meant to have a longfic, but it never happened. It means 'Like the Foxes', and it suits her as a redhead and a rogue class.

La'Vise Lavellan (Just Like Fire): The title of the fic is the definition of the name. She is my one canon story. I am utterly unsurprised at myself for not finishing it.

Lark Cadash (All the Earth and Air series): Again, default is bleh. Malika > Lika > Lark. Then I leaned into the bird symbolism.

Shae Cadash (Destiny Is Just In the Timing): This is apparently a popular name for a Cadash, lol. In order to set her apart (both in fandom and in my head), it's actually a nickname. Her full name is Shaelgat, meaning 'Unto Shale', and it has Lore(tm). A daughter of every generation is named this, and will be until they find the golem they're named after.

Banal'ras Nydha, the Twice-Born (Hope Is a Fragile Thing): She's actually a MGIT, who was given the name 'the Shadow of Night' by Solas in the Fade before she became corporeal in Thedas. She has a shtick that goes with it, the ability to use Fade cloak even though she isn't a mage otherwise. Ya know, like Cole. Her story and name are part and parcel with each other and mostly because I wanted to make an OC who was Deeply Mysterious(tm) without ever explaining it. The legend-mark comes from the Avvar, among whom she lives at the start of her fic.

(we're almost done)

Virlas Lavellan (I'll tell you my sins (and you can sharpen your knife)): Default, bleh. Symbolically fitting name, yay. It means 'the Way That is Given' or something like that. This was a giftfic turned treat for the Solavellan Hell Exchange, and I didn't think too hard about the name other than something that would fit for a post-canon Lavellan.

Rinna Cadash (What Lies Beneath): Another giftfic OC. Dwarven names tend towards being short and this one just felt right.

Eshali'nan Lavellan (A Wolf Named Vengeance): This fic is a modern AU collab with my beloved Angel, and someday we'll finish it, lol. Esha, for short, was another OC that kicked around for a long time like Laani. She has quite a backstory that will likely never get told because frankly, I'm tired of writing DA retellings. Originally she was a Sentinel in Arlathan, who spent most of the intervening years in uthenera like Solas, but woke a generation ago. She lived with the Lavellan clan and was chosen to go to the Conclave. The name means 'Daughter of Vengeance' and was chosen for her at her elevation to Sentinel status.

Great googly moogly, I have too many OC's...

#tagged #oc name meanings #there are...many #enter at your own risk

[inquartata30]

Tessellation: Chapter 37

tessellated art by @rackofages

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

The Tempest, 2820.

“Rotate it in the opposite direction. Now there should be a square notch on the edge,” Skaelv said over the vidcon.

“Yes, I think I see it,” Jaal said.

The constant chatter from Ryder, SAM, Jaal, and Gil had extended from the afternoon through most of the evening, floating down to the research table a half-deck below for the entire time. The group in the meeting room were still tinkering with the kett transponder they’d dug up on Kadara in an attempt to back-trace its signal to the Archon’s flagship, the Verakan. Without success, from what Thaia could tell. They’d even called in help from Aya in the form of the Resistance’s top kett hacker, Skaelv, along with the Moshae, uniquely knowledgeable in kett technology. Evfra was also in the Moshae’s office, offering the occasional idea given in grumbles.

“You think?” Evfra asked, snapping yet again. “Jaal, do you or do you not see it?”

Jaal growled and then said, “I have it.”

“I am ready to initiate the signal trace,” SAM said, as he’d pointed out eleven times over the past few hours. Thaia had kept count.

Read the rest of Chapter 37 on AO3

#mass effect #fanfic #lexi t'perro #thaia kallistrate #tessellation #tessera #kallipyro

[shadowrun-effect]

Wow, I did it. New chapter ahead. ^^ Samuel, ordered to do so by his shaday Thantos, enjoys a day off in the nature of Aya, then prepares to meet Garuhna and her family.

#Mass Effect #Mass Effect Andromeda #Mass Effect Andromeda Aya #planet Aya #angara #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #ao3 upd #new chapter #shadowrun #shadowrun effect #mass effect x shadowrun #crossover #crossover fanfic #beauty of nature #nature of Aya #scenic descriptions

[crqstalite]

[2] love from the other side -

This city always hangs a little bit lonely on me Loose, like a kid playing pretend in his father's suit I'd never go, I just want to be invited, oh Got to give up Get the feeling, get the feeling Don't fight it, fight it

chapter summary: no one said raising a galaxy would be easy, not with thousands of people relying on one organization and their pathfinders. and yet talis is still in this meeting, pretending like it is.

[set post-mass effect andromeda.] [female ryder/jaal ama darav, male ryder/cora harper] prev chapter > next chapter

chapter specific warnings: none

-

October 2nd, 2820 [1 year and 7 months since arrival to Andromeda] - Nexus Operations

Logs: Talis Meissa Ryder-Lucero

“We need the space, Ryder. People are waking up almost everyday, they need places to live and cultivate their lives. We can’t be dealing with restrictions and outright bans from worlds we already have rudimentary outposts on.”

Does he ever stop talking? Talis wonders, squeezing her eyes shut as she she rubs at her temples. Tann had called a meeting in the newly constructed council chambers specifically to discuss more immigration efforts from the Nexus with the Council and Pathfinders. That was fine, she doesn't think that the nine of them in leadership had ever had a meeting together after Hyperion's crash on Meridian. It was nice almost, to not have to play telephone with every leader and send out emails to the other Pathfinders — or receive them. But two hours deep and the only thing they haven’t circled argued about is exploring other uninhabitable planets with plans to terraform. Fine by her, it’d take some decades even with the research they continued to fine tune, and it was just up her alley, but the Council’s lack of consideration about already existing Angaran ownership over the cluster was about to cause her yet another migraine.

It happened in her mother’s and father’s respective home countries, and she’d be damned if she let it happen here, under her watch.

At the very least, the chairs were comfy, as she sits smack dab in the middle of the other Pathfinders, with the Moshae at one end of the table and Tann at the other. The coffee could be better (if she were really working as well as they said, she could get some of the good stuff soon right?), and the new uniforms could arguably be better. They look like Nexus cheerleaders, long pullover turtlenecks and slacks colored in white and blue with the Initiative insignia over the chest. And not the cute kind.

Raeka’s pin glints off the light in the room, causing her to look away from the Salarian. In her brief moment of distraction, she carefully avoids the critical glance he gives her that Addison mirrors directly across from her. Her mind tended to wander in these discussions, mostly because she had plenty to offer and few willing ears.

That’d changed at least, since Moshae Sjefa had accompanied her, considering Talis had appointed her as the Heleus ambassador a few months ago. To the disappointment of most of the council — Tann in particular because it put the Moshae a step beneath him in terms of power — but Talis was nothing if not a regular disappointment these days. The older Angara was a comforting and reasonable presence, almost a friend, but she's sure the meeting is already taking more of a toll on her than either of them had bargained for. Tann, of course, was trying to run the show like it was his, and Addison wasn’t far behind — though their interests diverged, their tactics at the table didn’t. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Moshae, surrounded by people who wanted her land that barely helped her take her own back. It didn’t help that, much like Talis herself, she was a scientist. One respected by her people, but at her core she was a woman who enjoyed the confines of her lab, not the boardroom.

She'd make sure to send a fruit basket to her office when she returned to Aya. And maybe some Angaran liquor.

"We do not have the resources to support your exponential growth onto your 'habitats'," The Moshae says to her right, the picture of calm but her tense mannerisms speak a different story, lips pressed together in a thin line, "With the Kett gone, we are just now able to reclaim the worlds they took from us. We appreciate all the Pathfinder and Initiative have done for us, but not only do these worlds need time to heal, we also need the time to find our footing again in our home."

"Meridian has pushed the time table forward, Moshae," Addison responds to her left, folding her hands in front of her. She’s a little less wound up these days, not quite relaxed — Talis thinks this would cause her to implode — but with outposts running and people moving in, she’s at least more reasonable. Less cold. Less likely to yell at her in the middle of Operations at least. Talis prefers her like this, hair growing into a comfortable auburn bob around her ears, but the way she seems so confident about her next steps is bordering on stubborn, "With it effectively terraforming Heleus' vault planets faster than traditionally, we're already seeing the effects of it on Elaaden, Voeld, even Kadara and Eos are almost mimicking desert regions on Earth. Our scientists are amazed, these worlds could hold the population of Earth twice over.”

"We have the people ready to build and ready to live on these planets. While we support the Angara's efforts to rebuild their own civilization, understand that we need the space to be able to survive as well." Tann adds, standing at the end of the long table. If Talis wasn't well-acquainted with him, she would say he was intimidating. After all, he was still the sole leader of the Initiative by far, and if he really wanted, he could continue making her life a living hell should she step too far out of bounds. But considering that she is, he's not. Regardless of if he stands some feet above her, she’s long shed the internal fear of a man who could barely see past his own interests. He was too cold, too analytical for her tastes. He valued himself above others, and that grinded against her gears.

She carefully began testing the waters of working indirectly against him in the last few months. Less afraid to speak up to him, or go over his metaphorical head someone more sympathetic to get access or permission somewhere.

Her father would call it using her resources.

He doesn’t like this new fact about Talis, considering how many flickering glances he directs towards her, likely unhappy with how she leans back into her chair, arms crossed over her chest.

But what was he going to do about it? Scold her like a child?

(He'd tried this, and quickly discovered using her father or her age as an insult was unlikely to get him anywhere. She'd already beat herself up over both of those topics, it was unlikely he could do anymore damage that she hadn't done already.)

The Salarian was smart at least, she would give him that. Calculating and talented in his own right. And while he was usually bargaining for his own gain, he rarely forgot about the rest of the Initiative. Leadership could be worse, it’s one of the few things she tells herself at night so she can sleep a little easier.

The Moshae muses on this, pursing her lips, "Director, forgetting even that planets like Voeld are our homeworlds, these worlds are still incredibly fragile. Voeld itself is speeding through an ice age, causing irreversible damage to existing flora that can not reasonably keep up with development. Harvesting them for further resources in the way you say you need could cause more damage that the Jardaans' Vaults can not repair."

“We’ll never know if we don’t try, and we can’t afford to be playing it safe when projected numbers say the Nexus will reach critical capacity within the next decade. We don’t have the same space as the Citadel does, even with the construction efforts.” Tann rebuffs.

“Then that,” The Moshae stands herself, on equal footing with Tann. Her eyes narrow at him, hands planted on the conference table, “Is poor planning on your part.”

“Will Meridian be available for colonization efforts any time soon?” The pair of leaders go quiet at Vedaria’s question, and she seems almost sheepish when all eyes land on her. The few months of being one of the other Pathfinders has done her some good, at least she’s beginning to contribute to discussions now, usually with her people’s interests in mind. Though she has centuries on Talis, she still doesn’t have the same experience yet as a Pathfinder, clear through her nervous picking at her clothing. She’s not a public speaker, far more a follower than a leader, but she was eager to do her best at the job. Her commando training at least came in handy in firefights. Talis motions for her to sit up, the universal moniker to be more confident in oneself. The Asari sighs before continuing, smoothing out her uniform top and sitting straighter, “If we only have certain places to go on Eos and restricted areas on Kadara, then shouldn’t we turn to expanding the Port? Meridian is basically our next Omega, it’s for everyone.”

Ding, Talis winces at the analogy, but she gets the point. Common space with a decently high crime record, but she wasn’t wrong that population spread indicated plenty of different species took refuge there. Omega itself was also a massive space station.

“Meridian is still an unknown, there are mainly concerns about it being safe past the perimeter we’ve set up. Minor encounters with the wildlife are common, but they seem docile. Still, venturing further into the jungles isn’t wise, especially considering that we do have concerns about setting up proper interstellar travel for new Human colonists,” Kandros answers, and Talis inwardly cringes when she sees Vedaria’s shoulders fall. The asari folds in on herself while the military director continues, “Not forgetting that we have yet to scout it. We haven’t had a Pathfinder team on planet yet.”

“Do we really need a Pathfinder to clear the way? We have APEX teams for that, especially knowing that Meridian is a Gaea world anyway. All of your Human specialists and scientists, whatnot, they can keep themselves entertained for years there. We just need to venture out from the Port, set up our first real cities and—“

“And yet, do you really know anything about the Jardaan, Director? Or the Remnant?” Talis finally asks, leaning back in her own chair when she cuts the man off. His eyes narrow at her, and she takes that as an offer to continue, “It’s not like you were the one chasing down Remnant leads all this time or anything but hey, what do I know?”

“Now isn’t the time to be chasing after our new Protheans, Ryder. We can ask those questions later, when we actually have labs that aren’t glorified closets in Nexus operations.”

“If you’re planning on settling Meridian, we’re going to need to know a lot more about it before we start putting down skyscrapers.” Talis had already had her reservations about settling Meridian, mostly for the sole reason that she still had years worth of things to discover on planet. Even Peebee was still incredulous over the wealth of data left behind in the vault, and not all of it pointed towards things being as easy as they’d hoped.

This was also ignoring that the Tempest crew was just now getting back to real work, months after Meridian had been fought over, enough time for retrofits and time to heal. The way the bruise under her new, admittedly soft turtleneck, rubs against the fabric still makes her wince as she leans her elbows against the table, “My team and I are still sifting through just what was inside the main vault. We haven’t even begun to touch what ecology was affected by us traipsing there while we were chasing the Archon, and I can’t imagine the kind of disruption we might have caused to the local flora and fauna. Who’s to say we won’t cause that as well if we start building before we understand what’s going on?”

“Then what plan do you have, Ryder? I’ve accepted humanity taking Meridian for themselves, and Ryder-1 when that is suitable for life. But the people coming off the Arks still need homes. Not everyone coming out of stasis, regardless of species, wants to live on the Nexus or play in an endless lottery to live in a shoebox in one of the outposts.” The Salarian paces at the end of the table, his tone just edging on frustration enough to know that he’d probably send a long email after this meeting just so Talis knew how angry with her he was. She’d make a mental note to have SAM archive it as soon as it came in.

She doesn’t think he’s entirely wrong. The Nexus had only really been functional for a year and some months, with construction stopping and starting for various reasons. They’re likely still at only maybe fifty percent capacity, and that was still an optimistic guess. While she could be incredibly proud of her work to get outposts set up as well, if she tried to say that most of them besides Prodromos weren’t glorified towns with ready-made cardboard boxes for buildings…

She’d be one hell of a liar.

"I'm not advising for it to be forever, the plan was to give it another year just to see what we were sitting on," Talis says, holding up her hands in the universal 'back off' sign, "We still barely understand the Remnant to begin with. We don't know what extent the vaults terraform to, I mean, hell, they could swing us pretty wildly the other direction. The Moshae’s right — Voeld’s speeding ice age is already upsetting most of its natural functions. Who knows, that might kill off just about all of the natural flora and fauna on planet. Do we really need to be desettling that too?"

"I've seen our projected data from our scientists. Myself and Ryder have collaborated with them -- it is not unlike work I took on in the Milky Way to restore biodiversity on my homeworld. But this...this is on such a large scale and is incredibly delicate," Raeka nods to her left, resting her chin on her propped up hands, sweeping those present with a raised brow. That was one thing Talis was still semi-surprised about, but nonetheless grateful for. Raeka’s background in biology, "Still, I am not a woman without reason. Stalling out wave three is our best bet considering we're somehow in the middle of another one. Finishing wave two and supporting our already bloated population is better than continuing on our crash course.”

Talis agrees, shrugging her uninjured shoulder noncommittally, "Leusinia is still working on waking back up leadership properly, and Natanus is still finding people across the cluster. I say give them the resources to house their wave ones, let them start up their respective initiatives. Then we really need to cut off anymore development."

"If it's purely a numbers game, I say we keep developing the outposts. They're already functioning like Ports, we might as well give them the support to act as such." Avitus says, distant to her right., "A lot of them are either dealing with Exiles or pockets of Kett, if we're quick and organized, we could have proper towns within the year. It might get a little tight for a while on supplies until we can right supply routes, but it'd be for the best. Wake enough people to man the stations. After that, we put a pin in this and come back when the Angara are ready for more of us."

“The Krogan have already found a foothold on Elaaden, and whether we like it or not, they’re expanding. We’re expanding. As long as we don’t step on any Angaran toes, slow and steady is best.” Kesh steps in for Talis this time, gesturing gently at the Moshae, who nods to her in agreement, “I agree with the Pathfinders. We can’t be waking people in droves like we’ve been doing, it’s unsustainable. Once we finish waking wave two, we’re going to need to wait until we can start with the non-essentials.”

“Even if we slow down off projected numbers, which we have already, we can’t wait forever, a lot of humans are already coming off the procreation blockers, whether through medservices or naturally. We’ve been getting news of newborns just about every other day. Asari are following rather closely, we’ve got doctors here on the Nexus studying effects on human and Asari pregnancy here in the Heleus Cluster. I’d argue that the Turians and Salarians aren’t far behind, those families need places to go. Need places to thrive.” Addison rebukes, tapping the table with a finger. Talis makes another mental note to see how Dr. Kennedy was doing these days. Likely that was exactly who she had on her mind, and it likely didn’t help Kesh much to know her own clutch was growing up in a cluster with barely enough for anyone, “It may not be ideal, but we need these towns and cities faster than a decade from now. More than just outposts, more than just one on every habitable planet we've come across. Moshae, certainly with the Kett gone, your people are considering similar family-building moves? There shouldn’t be anything saying we can’t build alongside you.”

“Alongside is not a problem, Director Addison. The problem I have is that your Initiative outnumbers my people perhaps 3 to 1. For every settlement we build as we begin to right ourselves again from years under the Kett, you will have two more.” The Moshae answers, furrowing her brow, “I am not someone who wants to see a child of any race starve, but keeping the Cluster healthy and free of any unnecessary climate-triggering pollution is a priority of mine."

"The Initiative isn't in the business of unnecessary pollution, Moshae." That much Talis agrees with Addison on, considering the entire endeavor worked rather tirelessly in the Milky Way to keep their carbon emissions under a certain level. It meant at least they wouldn't be dragging the footprint of massive corporations with them to their new home, "We aren't asking for a lot. Not in the grand scheme of things -- if you allow us to colonize portions of Eos and Kadara, and keep our outposts as outreach communities that could grow into Ports over time, you would have little reason to worry. Our trade will benefit you just as much as it will our people."

"There is not much you could be trading that we do not already have ourselves. And there still lingers the problem of your outcasts -- who you've allied with for the time being? You can blame them for our supplies becoming more of an issue." Talis actually does shrink under the Moshae's concerned gaze when she speaks again. While Reyes has more unorthodox methods than his predecessor, it would still be remiss not to mention the damage the exiles had already done by effectively pushing the Angara back off another planet, regardless of their criminal status. That was one of the few things she was just unable to do much about herself, especially with so many facts missing when she'd landed.

Though this is one of the first times that Talis is hearing the Exiles may be directly interfering with the Angara’s supplies outside of Kadara. She scribbles down a note for herself on her datapad. Something told her that Reyes might know more than he was letting on.

"Not officially, but the exiles that have accepted help from us again shouldn't continue to be a problem on Kadara -- we have a presence there now," Kandros responds. His subvocals drop deeper, "Those causing you problems are no allies of ours."

"You bring these unknowns, and with no offense to our Pathfinder Ryder, who has done the best with what she has, your Initiative has yet to bring anything but turmoil. Uncertainty. We thank you for your efforts and the hope Ryder's team brought us as a cluster, but we implore you to step back for long enough that the Angara can thrive again -- on our own terms.” The entire conference table silences at this, the elder Angara's words punctuated with an air of finality. Addison leans back in her chair, hands folded in front of her while Tann finally takes a seat. The Moshae seems some semblance of satisfied, and collects her datapad under an arm, "If that is all, I will be on my way."

"Of course, Moshae. We appreciate the time you took to meet us here," Kesh responds in kind, tone softening some. The Moshae appreciates it, evident in the small smile that crosses her features. If there was anything Talis could depend on here, it was that Kesh was willing to do her best to make sure the Angara felt welcome. Even if that went directly against her better interests as superintendent.

The others could learn a lesson or two from her.

"And Ryder?" Talis lifts her head to look over her shoulder at the retreating woman, "I'd like to speak to you about an issue after your meeting. Find me in my office later."

"Will do." Talis nods, and the door slides closed behind her. She's itching to leave and follow her right at this very second, anything to get out of the stuffy conference room and get back to work, but the way Tann is looking at her says she's nowhere near getting to leave early. She doesn't need to be here for the rehashing and debrief of a meeting she was already in. And if he really had an issue, he could go to any of the other three pathfinders currently present to take care of it.

She sighs, crossing her legs underneath her and flickering her datapad off. Talis sharply turns to Tann, setting her jaw, "You know better than anyone we have to cut back on how many people we're waking, Tann. Are you really about to drive off our own allies out here because you can't stop building for two seconds?"

Talis thinks she sees his eye twitch, "We didn't come out here to be told that we have to bend to someone else. We've tried being diplomatic, and as time passes, we're denied at every turn it seems. We need the resources, we're just getting on our own two feet out here."

"Those resources belong to the Angara. Your plans are outdated. This isn't the Milky Way."

"That's the exact reason we need to continue on course. We've been relying on stores from the Milky Way since the Nexus uprising." Addison answers, her response cold, "The colonies are just now able to begin producing useful and valuable materials, but we have no economy. The Angara do, but trade agreements are slow to come in. Credits are good on the Nexus and not for much else other than whatever it is that the Vortex sells. People need a sense of normalcy, and normalcy isn't going to come if we have to wait longer and longer on our cities."

"We're not going to get normalcy, we're in a completely new galaxy, Director," Talis bites back, frustrated. Normalcy would’ve been her father being here instead of her, normalcy likely would’ve been settling Habitat 7, normalcy would’ve likely been them not having to have dealt with the Kett or Angara at all. And yet here they were, "We're guests here right now. If we weren't prepared to not be the first ones here, if we weren't prepared to run into roadblocks, run into problems with supply chains, even have problems with settling completely new ecosystems, then what was it all for, Addison?"

The woman across from her presses her lips into a thin line, not meeting her eyes. She knew Addison still had some lingering guilt over the Nexus uprising, still had problems trying to rationalize all of her choices away and coming to terms with the ones she had already made. Talis gestures across the table, "What did we lose so many of our Krogan citizens for, huh? Every one of us at this table risked our lives to get here to Andromeda, and every one of us risked everything to beat out the Archon. And we didn't just do that for ourselves -- we did it for the cluster. And that cluster includes the Angara, whether you all like it or not."

"Those plans are drenched in blood," Raeka adds, "As soon as every Ark and the Nexus hit the Scourge, we weren't working on six hundred year old plans anymore."

"We aren't coming from a place of malice, Ryder," Kesh's softer tone acts as a counterbalance to the rest of leadership, "I understand better than anyone what it feels like to have someone else come in on your home uninvited. That's why I would be willing to slow production, slow waking waves until the Angara are ready for us. But --"

"There will always be people depending on us to feed and home them. Not just our people on the Nexus, but everyone you opened up homes to across the cluster. Whether it harms relations for now or not, we can't leave those settlers out to dry. We cannot have another uprising on the Nexus, or add to the Exiles numbers because we have unsatisfied citizens," Tann's expression hardens, and Kesh visibly winces at this when he interrupts her, "We'll continue forward with a modified plan that will hopefully meet the Moshae's request for it to be less resource-intensive, but we will have to shoulder the outward facing consequences until she allows us into more of the cluster."

Consequences. Talis relaxes marginally, that she could deal with. They didn't need to be fighting a battle on multiple fronts anymore. Dealing with angry citizens wasn't exactly in her job description, but what was anymore? Earning the Angara's trust and respect was priority number one for now. If that meant dealing out rations to every settlement for a few months, then so be it. They had enough to make it happen — and they really needed to make it happen.

"Sounds like that's a meeting adjourned then. Rix, I need you in APEX operations later this afternoon. Raeka, same with you, we need to discuss your Pathfinder team assignments." Kandros is already standing from his seat, making a beeline for the door. She could always rely on the Turian to usually have good interests in mind, and also keep himself out of most arguments the best he could. She'd have to check in with him later as well, see what they could do about getting scout teams out into the undiscovered regions of Meridian.

The other leaders file out of the room as quietly and disgruntled as they'd come in earlier. Kesh briefly puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing as she walks by. She appreciates the vote of confidence almost, knowing the Krogan was doing her best to support the Initiative and keep from making waves. She'd have to speak with the superintendent as well about supply chain issues to Voeld and Kadara soon. She hadn't thought it was so dire until she'd actually looked over reports from herself and Addison. She hadn't exactly turned a blind eye, but she wouldn't lie and say it hadn't slipped her mind in between getting out of the medbay and working on smaller projects.

Rations indeed.

With the room empty, every pathfinder next to her settles back into their chairs. Leadership seemed to always activate the professional in all of them, but outside of official meetings, it was significantly more casual. Various expressions of relaxing or stretching spread across them as Vederia gets up to lean her forearms on the top of her chair. She turns to Talis, scrunching her face up into an expression of distaste, worry flowing underneath it, "Do you really think it's such a good idea to work against leadership so much, Ryder? They don't exactly seem happy with you right now."

"They're less mad at me, and more mad at the fact they're not getting what they want right now. I’m just happening to stand in the way, because a lot of the little things matter, and I don’t want them bulldozing over the Angara either," She answers, flickering her datapad on to search in her documents from this quarter's report. She sucks her teeth, almost all in the red. Not that it deviated much from last quarter, but still not great news, "I'm not sure which is worse for me."

"Still...a lot of people are counting on us to do -- something. They're not wrong that waiting much longer will probably cause us more unrest. We're supposed to be pathfinding, and right now we're not doing anything useful," Vedaria remarks, "We came off the arks and then now we're still waiting. They don’t really have crops or food yet, everything is flash-frozen from the Milky Way. Nothing’s stable yet. I mean, what about you, Raeka? A lot of your people are still in stasis, and so are mine. The people that are out are getting restless about their families."

Raeka hums as a response, opening her omni-tool to type away on her forearm. Her dark eyes give little away when she turns to the Asari, "That's part of being a pathfinder, Damali. Part of being part of any leadership. You were a commando once, sometimes you have to make the hard decisions to stop from causing more little fires everywhere else. We wake more people, we set fires. We wait, we’re able to work on putting out a few through trade contracts with the Angara."

"Not like life out here is much better. Besides the glitz and glamour of being in Andromeda, we don’t exactly have a lot to offer right now for people waking up," Avitus's mandibles flare gently at the comment, flexing his fingers out in front of him, "We can't solve one problem without creating more. But leadership think it's worth creating more problems to get rid of the main one right now. Addison's right, more people means a better functioning economy for everyone."

“The economy means nothing if we can’t build anywhere for them to live.” Raeka says.

"And the Moshae's in our way right now," Vedaria gestures with her hands. Her expression dulls before she raises a brow, "Why doesn't she want us on Voeld anyway? Seems like it being as freezing as it is, they'd want to be anywhere but."

"Well, most if not all the worlds originally belonged to the Angara. It's why we're not settling Havarl or Aya -- those are their homeworlds. Voeld was a massive colony before the scourge hit it. They're still finding artifacts there from centuries ago," Talis stands from her own chair, groaning as she rolls her shoulder. It cracks audibly, "So was Kadara, but that and Elaaden were settled before we woke up. The Moshae already doesn't want us on Kadara but she's giving us special privilege there because they need help clearing out the Exiles."

Vedaria considers this, "So we have what, three worlds and the asteroid field to colonize freely? In theory it's not so bad, but the fact those worlds only really have small areas where the vaults have cleared up their respective problems..."

"It's probably closer to one world. Eos is the only world a lot of us can survive on, and we only really have so much built out there already. Whenever we adapt to whatever the Krogan have going on, we earn another planet," The sarcastic tone of the Turian at least makes her chuckle while he fiddles with the collar of his uniform. His smile is dim but genuine, knocking Vedaria on the shoulder gently, "Still, we can't moan and whine like everyone else is. Best thing we can do is handle the problems the Moshae mentioned. Clearing out the more violent exiles might earn us some more land."

"I'm assembling a smaller pathfinder team myself, I'm planning to head out and see what I can do about them. I would like your help, Ryder," Raeka nods to her, pushing herself away from the conference table and standing. She collects her things methodically, swinging her back over her shoulder, "You seem to know a good deal about the Charlatan. If you can get him talking, it might help us map the movements of the Exiles not allied with him."

Talis nods, "Mayor Tate's probably going to need help on that front. Ditaeon could use the support, I'll see about his monthly report soon."

"That'd be best," Raeka looks past Talis, "Rix, has Kandros said anything on what the timeline of getting APEX teams out onto Meridian is looking like?"

"All I've heard is soon. Think a lot of teams have been assigned out to Elaaden or helping with the Roekaar...or still dealing with pockets of Kett everywhere. We're just too thin to spare anyone right now." He answers, making similar moves to pack up his own materials, "With Ryder's team already out and completing operations, it wasn't exactly priority number one to get my Pathfinder team up and operational. Especially with my ark scattered out into spirits knows where."

"Then you and Damali should see about your respective arks waking your teams, or creating new ones. Surely you both can get a foothold on discovering what Meridian has in store for us," Her towering figure is commanding enough that all Talis can do is nod in response, "I'll let you know when I have something to go on Ryder."

"Same here."

And with that, the conference room is left empty. Vedaria shuffles out last, the door sliding closed behind her before Talis checks her omni-tools messaging system, taking a sip from her cold coffee. Bitter.

Three from her brother, asking after her for their lunch appointment tomorrow. She’d almost forgotten, having to see if Harry would finally clear him for active duty with the Pathfinder team before the Tempest took off again. Updates from Gil and Kallo on the Tempest retrofits. It seems neither of them were happy to be having others in the ships engines -- she's glad they can relate on something. A few from Vetra on procuring supplies for the crew, at that she shoots back a message to see if she could find any Piattos with some of the new defrosted shipments. Peebee has forwarded quite a few new documents on findings from Meridian. She saves those into her personal drive to read later in the evening. The few paragraphs she skims over look terribly interesting, something she’ll probably stay up later than is healthy poring over.

A few from Jaal, one correcting himself once he remembered she was in a meeting for the afternoon. She smiles at the soft greetings. It wasn’t enough to completely balm over her struggles from her earlier conversations, but it was nice to remember someone was in her corner.

Turning towards the massive bay window displaying the galaxy beyond her, Talis sighs. Distant stars twinkle back at her, and the long unfinished arms of the Nexus great her like a cold hello. With all the work she had done, it still felt like she was taking her first bumbling steps into Andromeda. And yet, they were more than a year and a half in. One problem had been fixed, but more were on the horizon. These were the ones she wasn’t trained for. She wasn’t trained to fix supply issues that couldn’t be ended with an operation out to a distant station. She wasn’t trained to play diplomat, and certainly wasn’t trained to deal with the politics of situations either. But now she had to, and she’s waffling over them.

Talis hesitates, wondering what her father would’ve done. Then, wondering what her brilliant mother would have done. She comes up empty. Unsure. All she knows is that they would’ve done a better job than her.

Turning over her shoulder, she runs a hand through her hair as she leaves the council chambers. They still had a long way to go.

#oc: talis ryder #oc #original character #verse: so much (for) stardust #mass effect andromeda #my writing #HOLY #this is a tank at 6k words #good night everybody lmao