This has been in my ask box for months because I didn’t know how I wanted to draw it. Ended up with something really simple.
(Again, this is from my personal au where Thistle’s desires didn’t fully get consumed)
After the grand celebration to crown the new king of Melini, Thistle struggled with what he was going to do next with his life after having spent over 1000 years dedicating his life to Delgal and the kingdom. While everyone was busy eating Terra approached him and told him about her plans moving forward, and that it would be a waste to leave such a beautiful country that he helped build. So she gave him the option of building a new tavern with her, for all the new people who would eventually come. For the first time he was given a choice and he happily accepted.
Coming in with my second oldest OC per date of facial and loose vibe creation (2013 baby! But she's also not changed much from her og 2011 self 👏👏👏)!
Edit: accidentally posted it instead of daving to my drafts, so... it might take a while for my to find the quotes 🤣🤣
Edit Edit: added the quotes and a read more!
6. What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are theor other reasons they look the way they do?
😅😅😅 Truth be told, my brother revamped her face from the OG nack when she and I haf the sane name (i wish her OG code existed so i had kess ro do for Minerva 😭😭😭😭 she had CHEEKBONES FOR DAYS and a red lipbthat is borderline impossible to find in mele 😭😭😭 and of course they warned the warn tones so she's not a golden blonde in game anymore le sigh. Anyway), but snce MELE got rid of the golden copper (*gives the stink eye*) in game she's now red-haired. Not the bright default femshep red, but one of the deeper ones!
The copper/red is because Phoenix Birdies are fiery, and her Middle name is Andraste, the britonic/anglo-celtic (i don't know if she was in Wales or Celtic territory across the board, but every celtic nation had a variant of Andraste) of War, Glory, and Victory and she was... well! She wasn't too kind to her enemies. Aside frm that she has a very average face.
^ couldn't find her og scar (it does exist, but the lighting in my brother's room catching the telly doesn't like bioware character creators, though veilguard wasn't bad honestly!) so her's is under eyer left (our right) eye. Also means her scar's now longer when I draw her, and I still keep her golden-copper haired. Honestly, because they swapped dark and light skins to other sides of the bar (i do not know why when everything ekse is the same order? 🤷🏼♀️) i had to guess what her colour was (I believe it was number 3 in the OG version), and I was so scared she ended up woth a cool undertone instead of her warm one. Sheis so paleit is genuinely hard to tell in ME3'd most neutral lighting, but I think I chose right (ME2 everything's warm toned 😭😭)
^ Girlypop would be seen dead a secind time before she wears Cerberus uniform (me2 derp face my love)
^ Kestrel chestpiece and arm sheathing, Ordnance Pack legs, and Kuwashii Visor and more neutral lighting.
^ And then ME3 - she keeps her hoodie but I donxt have a screenie of that. Better armour look, too! All Hahne-Kedar except the Kuwashii Visor 💕💕
This is how I draw her from ME1 (she does have longer hair at the stair of ME3, like... bottom of the soukder blade? Maybe centre back? Her hair grows Fast when hiven half a chance, and she cuts it after the Citadel visit after Menae):
10. What is their main character arc in their syory? Wnere do they start off and how do they end? Do they get a happy or tragic ending?
I do not think I can give a succint answer to this, but here is my bsst attempt!
So in ME1, she's clearly been around. She isn't green. She's a Staff-Commander (because I said so 🤣🤣) and has been since 2179 when she graduated an N7. She's seen stuff! The raid on Mindoir in 2170, the Elsium Blitz on Shore Leave at Elysium like two days after being promoted to Lieutenant-Commander (she always feels this was to make up numbers because she never believes she's actually that great 😭😭 Hackett will eat his hat the days she actually says she's great at her job lmao), did a bunch of solo ops where she requested Joker to be her pilot (her mother held all the records before Joker snatched them up) and those were high-key chaotic (also when she found out about brittle bone disease still being a thing! Absolutely an accident where her seatbelt wasn't working during a combat zone. He did a sharp turn thinking it wasn't thst bad... three broken rins later, he realised whe shesaid broken she really meant sabotabed not like... can be fixed with superglue 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣), got poisoned with neurotoxin in 2179 on her second mission post graduation (first with Kaidan!), you know.
She's been around! It shows!
But oh my god compared to me3 she IS green! Fresh!
ME2 she's hype vigilant. Trusts no ones. Never talks about herself ever. She's closed off. Very clearly she's deeply uncomfortable, forever on edge, and it takes bera long time to trust Joker (i know this is weird because it isn't that she doesn't trust him.. but he did join Cerberus off his own back, whilst Chakwas is liken"they told me about you. I said hell yeah" vibed, because Phoenix is a very good friend but also like... proabbly her favourote honorary daughter 🤣🤣🤣 she's been Phoenix's doctor since ore blitz, I mean... c'mon). Garrus jound way too willingly, too. The only person she trusts steiaght away is Tali, because Tali actually put thought into it for longer than two minutes.
She hides it all well enough under usual Cmmander Shepard guise (which her family dub "Andraste Shepard" when she's extremely reserved, because it's thst protective guise to protect Phoenix, you know? And in ME2 Phoenix is very busy grieving and she's hurting a great deal), but it's an exhausting act that she doubles down on after Horizon, and when only four of the entire crew sees it? She'snopen enough to be like "yeah it sucks" but is still very reserved and "i'll be okay after sone sleep" to limit the worry. Downside is, she has two siblings with her (James and Minerva - Minerva's there specifically because Hackett and Anderson were like "yeah Phoenix is really not okay we need someone to make sure she's okay", and James os there because he's not gonna let her die again 😭😭). She never really... drops it? Like, she does a little bit but not enough.
Then ME3? She's more like Phoenix than Andraste, because she's awa from Cerberus andis around people she trusts, but a full hear plus of notntrusting anyone? Being sonreserved? She's already drained by the time the Reapers invade. She's tiredm she's drained. she's stressed. She's in pure survival mode. She's a bit of a lost puppy. And she absolutely goes ham with an omni blade to Eva's Mech after having a 'mindoir' moment of emptying her entire pistol clip (EDI-s tjerelike "Shepard, your oxygen, cortisol, and adrenaline levels suggest you are having a panic atrack" at the sane time is.... WELL!
She did not take Kaidan getting injured well at all.
But it's deemed a blip. She doesn't act like that again. Ever. And when Kaidan's back, oh my god she's a different person. He had been such amassive part of her Commander Career, and is such a massive grounding force to her, that the Andraste mode is effectively dropped. Also helps thst Kaidan's looser than in 2183, too, so he's actually getting her to relax instead of the other way around 🤣
As for her ending? She gets a haopy one in the sense she survives, but the Caveat is her desr brother James sacrifices himself (at this point he's more cybernetic than Phoenix) because "i'm a lousy fsther. A liusy commander. Hell, I can't even be a brother right. But I made an oath to myself I would bot let you di againm i coukdn't save you when the sSR1 went down, but can save you now!" Very Samwise Gamgee vibes. He chooses the control (paragon) path.
14. Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story or from another source that fits?
I found a handful in my wips!
"However 'indignificant' we may bay, we fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That's what humans do."
"Humanity has enough history of genocidal maiacs, Councillor, and my name won't ever be added to that list." [Post Noveria after saving the rachni queen]
"You know summat, Vega? Every race is getting Reaper-fied. I'm not going to stop saving them." And "Joker, I love you and all, but you do realise that Reaper indoctrination yellows our notes, too, right?" (Again, after saving the Rachni Queen)
"Think like that and you'll destriy the best damn pilot in the galaxy." And "i'm not a lionesslickinf hwr woundslike Ibwas after Horizon; I'm a friend doinf what friends do when they're uurting, and you're uurting more than me." (Both after the collectors take the crew)
"Sir, I know you've akways valued my optimism, but the last time I had any in our capability to destriy a mass extinction fkeet was before I got spaced" (beginning of ME3 on the way to the defense committee - she's so tired)
"Careful. You'll make me jealous of your respirator." [This is on the Geth Dreadnought 🤣🤣 like Kaidan's obvs like "you okay, Phoenix?" And that whole exchange, but i added to it because I was like "whoopsie daisy" a lot on the walkway, so she is to, and it endsup being this little exchange that isn't inherently flirty, but they both have that tone, and Tali's already so tired of it 😂😂😂😂 )
"No one fucks with me!" (End of Mars... only time she cusses flashes)
"I'm rustier than a Roman cog [at flirting]."
"They both [her parents] died so that we [the children] could live, but here I am, wasting away, wishing it wasme thst died instead of them." [Post Mindoir]
"Survivor searching, not cleanup. It's gonna need a bigger dustpan and brush than a regular cleanup." [After the crash where rowan and Kass get Eezoed, to her Aunt who saw heron the news ]
["Sometimes it's important to not step on too many toes — we're uniting all of humanity and that means having to play nice with the hundreds of cultures, religions, ideals.... but I don't see why we can't just kick our problems in the face with a boot."] "Might break the boot."
"Sir, the real heroes are those that died. I was just lucky."
16. Are there any memes/jokes associated with the character both in and out of universe?
Mindoir and Elysium are the HUBS of memes down right - no meanness, so insults, just pure affection. There's this friendly rivalry between the two planets about her, and they will do like mene wars that's badically an officual annual tournament held by Aetius and Amaya (classic bestie behaviour) that's based on whoever has the funniest memes win.
Footage gets out from mission, or bideos she's done with family and friends that go viral. But the ones that get the most joy areones where she's with her family pets (couple dogs, couple cats, and of course her hamster), the Ewan McGregor Attack of the Clones Meme that's like him doing ahappy dance and it's nor ally overkaying aomething stressful vibed ones, silly faces from paused vids (usually her looking terrified for her life), basically silly things.
The ones that get the most public vites get renacted by Phoenix herself 🤣🤣🤣🤣 She can be full of whimsy outside of suvival mode haha!
