#sel ryder

[trulycertain]

I guess I just really liked Ryder’s jacket and Andromeda’s space-age aesthetic and had some new brushes to try out. *shrug*

[trulycertain]

Fur

The first time, Sel pauses because Liam says from behind her, “Nice one. Did you go to that place that just opened up on the Nexus? I was kinda nervous after he asked me what a ‘typical human haircut’ was, but, hey...”

She hears half his shrug in the silence, and turns around fast enough to see the other half. She blinks, and then she touches her head. “Oh. Huh. No, I didn’t get it cut. It’s just slicked back. It gets in my eyes on missions, sometimes, then I go crazy.” She pauses. “It’s really not that long.”

He shrugs again. “Yeah, but I knew something had to be different. Pretty sure it never used to be blue.”

"Tinting tech. There are perks to Initiative research.” She grins, and he grins back. She can’t help thinking that after the po-faced Initiative staff, it’s kind of nice to have someone around who smiles easily. She thought it before, back on the Hyperion, but there wasn’t much time to get to know each other before they all got put on ice.

“Like it, though. Fierce.” He gives her finger-guns as he walks past. “Like you’re going full Space Commando.”

“Like I’m even half Space Commando,” she calls over her shoulder.

“Yeah, right. First it’s all, ‘Look at me, I’m all about the science and peace,’ next it’s 'Enkindle this, bastards!’“

OK, maybe that one hits a little close to home. But she laughs anyway. Maybe it’s funnier because it’s true.

“Ouch,” he says, when they walk onto Voeld.

Sel’s teeth are chattering. “...Yeah. Definitely glad about the helmet’s internal systems. Of all the damn times...”

“What’s wrong with now?” Jaal says.

Liam just laughs, the jerk. “You’ve never seen hair gel freeze, have you?”

The second time, Vetra says, “Looking good, Ryder.”

“Huh - ?” And then Sel realises, and touches her bright lilac hair.

Vetra’s lounging against the back of her chair - as much as a turian can lounge, which Sel’s found is a whole lot, when you’re Vetra Nyx - disassembling an assault rifle they found on a Nomad run, in an abandoned lab. Her mandibles twitch in what’s obviously a grin. “Being easier to pick out in a crowd has its downsides, but I guess people like a Pathfinder with a mind of her own. Unless that’s in the Initiative handbook.”

Sel shrugs. “The Initiative’s non-military. No regs.”

Vetra examines the rifle barrel. “I know. Makes things easier for people like me.”

“You’ve changed your... hair.” The pause is slight, but it’s there, and angaran faces are pretty easy to read, once you’ve known one a few months and shared a kitchen. Jaal tilts his head, still seeming a little fascinated. “Again.”

She grins at Jaal. “You were totally going to say fur, weren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But the wryness is there. “I was going to say” - he lapses into Selesh, and she’ll have to ask him to say it again later. "But... it’s different. We do not change our markings. And we don’t do... that.” He makes a vague gesture.

“Uh-huh.” She frowns at him.

“That,” he tries again, and when she just raises her eyebrows in a desperate Enlighten me face, he reaches out a hand. “May I?”

“Sure.”

He touches her hair, very gently, and then tucks some of it behind her ear, before taking the rest of and smoothing it back.

She blinks up at him, and realises she’s smiling.

“It’s softer than I expected. As are you.” But before she can ask him to clarify that, he lets it fall again. “Thank you... Sel.” There’s still that hint of uncertainty.

She nods. “Anytime. Guess you guys are less flippy than us.”

“...Flippy. Yes. But you did it after Havarl, and after Voeld. And, too, after Kadara. What are you commemorating, exactly?”

She thinks it over, and tries to explain. “Just... still being alive. And it makes Tan’s eye twitch.”

His low laughter makes her feel better.

She kind of wonders how they got from Your mum was a scientist, wasn’t she? to this, but maybe things get slow in the cockpit when you’re not analysing minerals or pulling your crewmates out of certain death.

She looks out at the starfields, tries not to stare at the Scourge that keeps feeling like an omen. “Dad never got it. He always said it’d drive him nuts, being in his face all the time. Mom... She told me I didn’t have to hide behind it.”

Suvi looks at her, with the hint of a smile. “So you stopped?”

Sel shrugs. It’s an answer. “Maybe someday I’ll take her advice.”

“Hey, Selwyn.”

Sel winces and makes a U-turn. “You’re only doing that because your full name takes two minutes to say.”

Peebee grins. “Two-and-a-half. Trust me. But” - she nods - “natural’s a good look on you.”

Sel stares down at her newly black hair. “Oh. This... this isn’t natural.”

Cora just sighs. “The others don’t know, do they?”

“Nope,” Sel says, keeping it airy. “They’ve got enough to deal with. Don’t worry about it. Liam knows. He said something this morning. Scott... I think Scott knows. I talked to him for a while, but without SAM... It’s not the same.”

They sit, listening to the hum of the biotech, and Cora sighs, “Happy birthday, Alec.”

It’s only later, when she ends up on the couch with half a beer left in the bottle, that she sighs. “You know how... there are some HUSTL stories you don’t tell?”

Liam frowns, and sits up a little. “Sure.” He pauses. “This is about the hair, right? I thought you usually went for brights.” He spreads his hands and puts on an Andromeda-infomercial voice. “A beacon for the Initiative, lighting the way... in neon.”

She tries to smile. “Yeah. It’s about the hair.” She takes a mouthful of beer, swallows, thinks it over. “You know, back when I was Peacekeeping, we had some... issues. And we’d planned for everything, except...” She waves a hand. “Except something. Long story. But... my hair stopped growing out black, afterwards.”

“...Shit.”

“Yeah. So, black’s not my natural colour. Hasn’t been for a long time.”

He catches her eye. “You know, I kind of like the white. It makes you look like you’ve got a halo.”

She can’t help laughing. “Like the Archon?”

He freezes. “No, not like...” He puts his head in his hands. “Starting over! No, like the Chosen one in some... fantasy vid. Big damn hero, all that.”

“And the rest of you aren’t?” she says, raising an eyebrow.

He does it back. “We’re not the Pathfinder. Like I said, a beacon.” He pauses, and snaps his fingers. “Angel with a shotgun! You know, that old classical piece...”

“I will hurt you, Kosta.”

“Red! I’m thinking red!” Peebee calls across the cargo bay.

Sel just grins. “Sure. Might clash with the uniform, though.”

“Hey, the Alliance need a laugh or two.”

[trulycertain]

Apparently I drew this yesterday after playing way too much MEA? Sel in “angry biotic” rather than “space dork” mode.

[trulycertain]

“You are interesting. And special. And... strange.”

The Adventures of Sel’s Hair - *cough* I mean, Pathfinder Selwyn Ryder. The only other changes I made were making her mouth slightly wider so she could be more expressive (only by one increment on the slider, not exactly a big change), and making her scar a bit more visible; it was always meant to be but I underset the intensity when I first made her.

[trulycertain]

Character boards - Sel Ryder (so far)

[trulycertain]

So, a few people have asked how my ME:A playthrough is going...

I originally doodled these for a letter (sorry, @fanfoolishness, but you’ll still get the originals) before realising they were the closest thing to a playthrough log I had at the moment.

Sel = snarky idealist who wants to focus on science and discovery but has a military past and is too aware of this. Film nerd (much to Liam’s continued amusement.)

Sel is currently doing a lot of very confused flirting with both Liam and Vetra. Vetra went all tongue-tied and oh good god I’m a bit in love. But I mean, purple clan markings. Of course I approve.

Sel is fast becoming tech-nerd buddies with Jaal, Gil and Liam. It’s kind of hilarious. “Can I hang out in your workshop” happens a lot.

[trulycertain]

So... this is Sel. She looks pretty excited here. (Me too, Sel. Me too.)

[trulycertain]

The family album. Sel, Scott, Alec. 

(I was going to go with “scary space marine” the way I did with Eva Shepard, but no matter what you do, Ryder just ends up so... fresh-faced. Sel does have scars, though they’re faded and less obvious in that lighting. This may be why I made her so, “Wait, no, don’t hurt them, principles of First Contact - Oh shit they’re trying to kill us aren’t they.”)