I loooove your interpretation of the shakarian romance circa ME1....pet peeve of mine is when people portray them as romantically attracted to each other on the SR-1. I think Garrus' literal Hierarchical military background makes it so he is a bit taken aback at first by Shepard and the entire experience of being on a human vessel. Since he's lived and worked on the Citadel, he's probably more familiar with humans then the rest of the crew is with turians, but he still doesn't particularly understand the human modes of operation or What Shepard's Deal Is until he realizes that somewhere along the way she's shifted his whole perspective on things. I personally felt like C-Sec, though not exclusively turian, was still mostly a turian shop, and thus Garrus the "bad turian" has felt distinctly out of place for most of career. He recognizes that he's atypical, and while he's not necessarily ashamed of it, the emphasis Hierarchy society places on duty, sacrifice, and the importance of falling in line still makes it so Garrus has internalized a bit of guilt and frustration that he can't just be a "good turian." I think he carries that with him for a long time, and it's really not until he serves on the SR-1 and meets Shepard that he begins to see that he may not necessarily be "faulty" for not fitting the role of the model turian...but he still begins to see some of his perspectives--the black and white thinking, the drive to get results without regard to the cost or harm to others--may still be flawed. It's not that she takes the opposite approach as him, but that she encourages him to rethink the entire black vs white structure he operates under. And I think the openness of a superior officer--and a human, no less--takes Garrus by surprise, and he's even more surprised to find that Shepard's viewpoint changes his.
And I don't think any of it is romantic. Honestly, I think it kind of deeply confuses the both of them, for a bit. A completely unexpected rapport with an "alien" that was simply never contemplated by either party. And then Shepard dies, and the two must undergo another cataclysmic shift in their understanding of one another, and of themselves.
Sorry for the lenghthy meta. Your discussion of their early relationship just really resonated with me lol
(anon is referring to this post)
YES. i love this ask. I think ME1 is essential to their dynamic, and what that means is that they needed that time to even just acclimate to the concept of each other and start becoming the people they needed to be to enter a relationship.
it evolved into romantic love down the line, but with shepard and garrus, it’s the journey they had together that really matters. it’s the foundation of their romantic relationship. in order to get to that point they needed that time to be in each other’s company as coworkers, mentor and mentee, comrades in battle, striving towards a common goal. to build trust and understanding.
garrus says himself that he’s never met anyone like her (and i agree that c-sec is at its core a turian outfit and it’s likely organized in a turian manner even with aliens in its ranks) and it’s very clear that he admires her and has found in her the kind of superior he’s always longed for, namely someone that actually listens to his concerns rather than dismiss him out of hand. someone who explains to him why they choose what they choose. someone who respects him enough to give him that. it’s the only kind of person garrus would have ever accepted in that role, and that’s why he lets her change his mind. there is so much going on in their dynamic in ME1, all of it a prerequisite for falling love, but not yet romantic in nature.
and i take his line where he says he’s never considered cross-species intercourse seriously. some people pretend he never said it, or they prefer to interpret it as a lie. i don’t think so. he’s never consciously considered it (subconsciously is another matter!) and i think in order for him to get to a point where he’s even open to the thought they need a different kind of relationship that they had on the SR-1. there needs to be history and established trust, a good rapport and respect not just on a professional but on a personal level. both of them fighting demons, helping each other, being each other’s rocks. there needed to be an “us” first. that’s not what they had in the first game, but the first game still needed to happen as the first step in the evolution of their relationship.
fundamentally, they’re best friends who fall in love—and the best friend step is not one you can skip without me having to try extra hard to suspend my disbelief.
i’ve read fics that handled an ME1 romance well, but to me they’re AUs beyond the obvious. i have to pretend they’re different people than they are.
they’re both capable of loving the other. a well-crafted AU can make it work! but they need to first become those people, one way or another, before that capacity is fully unlocked. there’s things they need to get out of the way first.
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