good: garrus trusts shepard so much that he didn’t even question it when she showed up in the middle of a firefight despite being dead and just handed her his rifle because as long as she was there he knew everything would be okay better: when garrus saw shepard, he thought he had died, but he was okay with that because if the afterlife had shepard in it how bad could it possibly be?
– Garrus actually being worried about his father: I lovelovelove the arc of Garrus’s relationship with his father. The man we hear about in ME3 is very different from the oppressing and stuck up person Garrus talks about in ME1. But I’d wager that it’s really not Papa Vakarian who has changed so much. Instead it shows how much Garrus has grown up and come to see his father in a new light, which in turn has transformed their relationship from exasperated parent / obstinate teenager into two people who apparently respect and trust each other to a significant degree.
I also love the fact that Garrus actually gets to resolve his daddy issues in a positive way, unlike so many other characters in the game (especially looking at you, Miranda and Jacob). And it’s not through something his father does, but through his own growth and his willingness to admit that he might actually be wrong about things sometimes (honestly, I could write a whole post just on their relationship, because it’s really such a great and interesting piece of character development).
– Garrus subtly calling out Shepard’s bullshit: He would never ever have uttered the line about platitudes in ME1, and probably not even in ME2. Of course Garrus trusts and respects Shepard, but by this point she also trusts and respects him – and he knows it. He feels comfortable calling her out, and Shepard just accepts it, because that’s what friends and partners do. (And seriously, our Lady of the Inspiring Pep-Talks could have come up with something better than “I’m sure they’re okay”, don’t you think?)
– Garrus asking about Shepard’s family: Does anyone else do this? The only one I remember is Hackett telling her that her mom is now working on the Crucible, but other than that I don’t remember a single person asking about Shepard’s family (though I might be wrong; please correct me if I’m forgetting someone). So while Shepard spends the three games asking and caring about everyone’s lives and concerns, no one really asks about hers. Except Garrus, who not only cares, but by now also feels close enough to her to ask.
– Shepard being worried about her mom: Look at that panel and tell me you don’t feel the urge to give poor Shep a big hug, I dare you. She looks so sad and worried, and it shows that her mom is apparently really important to her. Which I love, because so often mother-daughter relationships are used as a cheap source of conflict. But here it looks like our heroine actually has a close and positive relationship with her mother, who, from what little we know, also appears to be a pretty cool and admirable person in her own right. So strong and competent female character having a good relationship with her strong and competent mother = Very Good Thing.
But what really gets me about this moment is this:
That is the angle of the shot if you’re not using flycam during the conversation. So Shepard has this very personal moment of sadness and vulnerability and we are not supposed to see it. All you can see in the normal view is a hint of her shaking her head, and that’s it. So who is supposed to see it?
Garrus, that’s who. Because she trusts him so much, she can let down her guard and let him see her as a human being, and she knows that he won’t stop respecting or believing in her. Since we as the player are basically Shepard herself, you could even argue that she is willing to show Garrus a side of her that she herself doesn’t really want to face.
And finally:
– The adorable uncomfortable awkward handwringing: LOOK AT THE ADORABLE AWKWARD UNCOMFORTABLE HANDWRINGING JUST LOOK AT IT *melts into helpless puddle of Garrus-love*
And that is why my heart always and forever belongs to Spacer!Shep ❤
can we just talk about garrus and shepard’s relationship though
yes let’s because it is one of my favorite topics.
i mean the wonderful thing about the way the crew builds throughout the three games is that every last member is so different from each other and from shepard, yet they’re all so much a part of shepard’s life. they’re individuals who act as forces and they create a commander who is, essentially, trying to show the rest of the galaxy that this is the way to build hope on a grander scale. finding all these different races and understanding how to work together with them. to understand them. to love them as family and know when to call them out as family. friendship, basically. friendship.
so everybody brings something different to the table. and shepard brings something different to them. it’s a give and take.
but garrus… garrus. kaidan might beg shepard not to leave him again; liara might share eternity’s embrace with shepard; james’s face might crumple like a little boy’s when he thinks he’s looking at shepard for the last time. miranda and shepard have a rapport like no other and shepard changes jack’s life without necessarily changing her; joker loves shepard as much as he looks up to shepard, that much is clear, and legion and shepard teach each other so much about hearts and souls, while the respect between thane and shepard is a stunning, beautiful, delicate thing. shepard learns redemption, determination, sacrifice from mordin. shepard shares with edi these questions of humanity—and shepard shares the same answers with edi, too. and grunt is grunt. when shepard took grunt out of that big krogan test tube it’s like shepard gave birth to the big lug himself. anderson, the father shepard never had. the family you make out of a galaxy to which you have that responsibility. to learn and share and love and protect. but mostly to learn, because the love comes with the learning.
and then there’s garrus. in the middle of all the love and the loss, like walking straight through a line of heavy fire, garrus is there to know shepard like nobody else. to take point and take aim and pull the trigger without hesitation.
garrus, who knows there’s no shepard without vakarian. who doesn’t put anything extra on shepard’s shoulders. whose turian heart is big and clumsy and full of maybe too much understanding. who idolizes shepard about as much as shepard idolizes him, only it’s not through a rose-colored visor. they see each other. they know.
garrus, who doesn’t say there’s no vakarian without shepard, either, even though it’s true. who says ‘give them hell’ and ‘meet me at the bar’ rather than don’t go, even if that’s what he’s feeling. all that hard armor. that hard turian exterior. all that time together. his scars, which are pretty much all named after shepard, made with shepard, because of shepard.
so that’s friendship.
the galaxy’s impossibly big, but they keep finding each other. and that’s how garrus keeps the faith. they know exactly when to cut each other slack and exactly when they can’t. also, they have the same sense of humor. always important when it comes to your best friend.
but you never quite know what happens when shepard leaves garrus in london after their final talk, what might just be their last goodbye. whether he’s so good at giving what he gets that his face doesn’t shift an inch, that his posture stays the same as ever, that he pats the nearest weapon and practices exactly what he preaches.
or if he turns to a crumbling wall, pressing his palm against it, taking a deep breath. there’s no crying in invasions, vakarian, he thinks to himself. and he doesn’t. he wouldn’t. maybe he can’t. but the foundations are shifting, and if there’s no shepard, there’s no vakarian.
what the hell is he supposed to do without you, shepard?
just moving along like everyone else 