Dragoblade007 - DragoBlade007 - Tumblr Blog

I am in AWE of the confidence on display here.

my dash did a funny

No he couldn’t

I really love the detail of garrus always being that one step behind shepard... and not in the literal "got your back" sense (though of course I love that too), but in the figurative "just short of crossing the finish line" sense. like ME1: when you meet garrus, he's already been on this saren case, he's just been unable to get anyone to take it seriously. in walks shepard, and shepard is able to do all these things garrus couldn't quite do: becomes spectre, is taken (somewhat) seriously, goes on galaxy-wide chase to take down saren. wins. garrus has always been trying to do "right" in a way that makes sense, and here's this human that just already knows how and DOES IT.

then ME2, garrus is still on this quest to do right. he manages to put together a team, but ultimately, this enterprise is a failure too. he just can't quite make it. but that's when shepard arrives, picks garrus up, and in one day defeats the gang leaders that garrus has been after for MONTHS. also important to note without getting into the whole religious symbolism of it: his team is 11 people, with garrus himself being the 12th. by the end of ME2, shepard successfully accomplishes their goal with a team of 12 total. 12 followers. 12 disciples. I'm not getting into it. but. just look at those numbers. you know what I'm trying to say.

by ME3, garrus DOES make it over this finish line. he DOES get his promotion and people respecting him. but it sucks. after years of striving to get to the finish line, to cross that mountain, he gets there and it's so much pressure. but the wonderful thing is, now instead of being a step behind, he's shoulder-to-shoulder with shepard, which allows for the open communication and support that the two of them get to have because he GETS IT. he was watching the whole time from behind. he's seen all the highs, and the lows, and now in the low low, he knows what it's LIKE. it's like this wonderful full circle moment where he's able to support the person he's looked up to for so long.

The best part about coming back to the source material after a looooong time is you sorta get a fresh look at canon in comparison to whatever the dominant strains of fanon have become. Or, in fact, whatever your own dominant strains of headcanon have become.

I mean, yes, Garrus “I’m not a good turian” Vakarian gets infinitely cooler (and more competent!) by pretty much every metric as the storyline progresses. He does. But fresh out of ME1 and into ME2 through his recruitment, I find myself genuinely amused by how thin the veneer of badass is over a pretty dominant core of straight-up nerd sprinkled with idealism mixed with self-doubt.

When you have Garrus in the squad all the time (and thus get all his ambient dialogue and remarks), you really pick up on the number of times he calls out bad behavior, unethical actions, cruelty, and rule-breaking, especially in ME1.

He’s not actually a hothead who can’t abide rules of any kind. In fact, most of the time he’s pretty pro-law-and-order, and he gets amusingly hall-monitorish when people are breaking rules he considers important and worth following.

Fundamentally, Garrus chafes when his sense of what is just is at odds with what the authorities do about that injustice (or what they stop him from doing). And I would hazard a guess that the reason his actions seem so intense or harsh or "of course we should have shot down that ship in the middle of the Citadel" is indicative not of his impatience but of the degree to which he thinks the authorities have failed to uphold that justice. We know he can be patient. He's a sniper. His whole modus operandi on Omega is precision kills without civilian casualty. But when that long fuse finally burns down, he goes from zero to shooting down ships in the middle of the Citadel in what looks (from the outside) like a heartbeat.

And yes, injured pride hastens the burning of that fuse; he doesn’t like losing. Or admitting defeat. Or failing.

Having just replayed his recruitment mission, a few things really stood out to me this time.

The merc bands really hate him--and they also reluctantly admire him (he's described as smart, resourceful, dangerous, idealistic, brave, slippery; they all agree they only way they managed to get this far is by isolating him and employing dirty tactics). I mean, there's literally a station-wide announcement that Omega can return to "business as usual" once Archangel is out of the picture because he was disrupting things so completely.

The way Garrus blames himself for the deaths of his squad is so freaking turian. Failure reflects on the leader who places his people in danger they can't handle, not the individual who fails. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Yes, Sidonis betrayed him, but the person Garrus blames the most? Is himself. For trusting Sidonis in the first place. For raising Sidonis to a position where he had the means and opportunity to harm others--and the weakness of character to turn coat, to save his own hide, instead of dying to protect the others.

Garrus mentions more than once that he was trying to emulate Shepard. And his tone always implies that he knows he failed because Shepard would never have let a Sidonis into the fold. Again, he's blaming himself. Like a good turian. Yes, he wanted to avoid the red tape and bureaucracy of C-Sec, but his code--Archangel's code--certainly aligns with Paragon Shepard's morality (with a Garrus Vakarian twist).

And since it wouldn't be meta without adding a Tara's Headcanon Twist ... I've always wondered why "Archangel" when it's such a ... human concept. But this time, when I noticed how he spoke about Shepard's influence, and how quickly he brushes aside the name when she asks him about it, I wondered if it wasn't actually his way of honoring the mythology of the dead woman whose example he was trying to follow. Not that Shepard is a God he's worshiping, but ... there is something about the way he talks about her. Garrus doesn't make himself over in the image of a God, though; he's the soldier, the right hand, the avenging angel responsible for carrying out divine punishments suited and proportional to the crimes committed, the rules broken, the selfishness or cruelty of the perpetrator.

God I love “We’re enemies, but we’ve been enemies for a long time, which is sort of like being friends.” Great trope.

A collection of Kay Vess x ND-5 from Star Wars Outlaw~ I need moooore~ Got any inspiration ideas? :D

Had to gif, because I just love this little but so meaningful interaction in the cut scene after ND-5 saved Kay again.

I love how awkward and coy they both act, and how ND does that little headshake over his lack of articulation, and how Kay follows him with her eyes.

@s-kinnaly on twitter

ND-5 In Star Wars: Outlaws (2024)

Noticed the side eye and dark look Jaylen gives ND-5 here when ND asks for Kay's opinion instead of relying entirely on Jaylen's orders and expertise.

This is definitely the moment he notices that there's something going on between them that he never took into account because it never happened on previous missions, that they would grow so close and attached to each other while working together that his droid's loyalty would be swayed by the rookie scoundrel.

This is the moment he realizes he's losing ND and has to double down on using the restraining bolt to keep his control over him.

Garrus may not have a human fetish but I fear I may have a Turian one

i love characters who are doomed from the start (/lying my shepard is still alive in my head)

Man forever thinking about garrus saying “we’re in this till the end”

Like he had fully accepted that he and Shepard would die taking down the reapers and was prepared for it. But didn’t want her to go down alone.

In the moment he’s not mad that Shepard is walking into certain death, but is angry that he won’t be there with them.

everyone talks about “that’s what love does” and “never do that again” in leviathan-those moments are great- but i love the little details too, like shepard and garrus grabbing each other’s hands when the shuttle gets rocked by a harvester

it’s the casual expression of love and concern that says so much 🤌🤌

ugh I am just constantly thinking about the transformation of shepard and garrus’s relationship in ME3. like garrus is a self-described pessimist, he hates having a lack of control, he’s impatient and anxious, and right at the start in ME1 when shepard meets him, especially if you’re more paragon in your interactions with him and the crew, shep is constantly reassuring him that “don’t worry, we’ll get them. we’ll win. trust me.”

then you get to ME3 and shepard is just getting broken down over and over again. winning seems almost impossible. but you know who’s trying to be positive? you know who’s there doing the reassuring, saying “don’t worry, we’ll get them”? it’s garrus. the pessimist. all his “you were born for this,” and “you’ve done it before. you’ll do it again,” and it’s not even really a switch because he’s still being a REALIST about things. he KNOWS things are grave. he just also knows it’s his turn to step in and support shepard this time. if shepard won’t believe in themself, garrus will, and he does a good job because he learned straight from one of the best

garrus lives rent free in my mind. garrus can do no wrong. he may be conflicted with his sense of justice but lest you forget that this man dropped everything multiple times to join his lady in saving the galaxy. he recognized her as soon as he saw her on Omega. he never questioned if she was really shepard after being brought back by cerberus. he said to hell with turian standards AND GRABBED HER HAND ON MENAE. he is simply unmatched.