o hai
I love Garrus. I love turians. I love weird people. I love alcohol. I love this thread. I figured it’s about time I delurked.
I was recently discussing Garrus with a friend who’s relatively new to ME, and is starting a second Shep just for our favorite turian. It got me thinking about how the character has evolved not only in my Sheps’ eyes, but my own as well. After playing ME1, I thought Garrus was awesomesauce and definitely one of my favorite squaddies. But I was still surprised to find out that many people were disappointed that he wasn’t a romance option. Not only was he my Shep’s buddy, but he was so alien (I know, I know!), I just couldn’t see it. I never thought the idea was repulsive, mind you, it was just more a case of “would that even…work?”
When I played ME2, I was completely spoiler-free, so I didn’t know Archangel’s identity until he removed his helmet. My reaction pretty much mirrored Shepard’s (squeee Garrus!). Like most people, I loved his progression from the hot-headed, pole retaining, student in ME1 to the BAMF he is now. I’m also one of those people who think he was totally flirting (even subconsciously) with FemShep during that scene, regardless of him saying the same lines to DudeShep. My reaction (as well as my Shep’s) was, “Wait. Did Garrus just…flirt with me? Cute.” I figured -that- was going to be the extent of the so-called fan service, so I didn’t think too much about it.
I had somewhat of a derpy moment during the reach and flexibility convo and clicked the wrong prompt, so it wasn’t until I reloaded a save prior that I realized you could romance him this time around. I’ll admit that it was total curiosity, at first. But by the end of that first “testing the waters” conversation, I was starting to see him in a different light, right along with Shep. As things moved along, it was apparent to me that this wasn’t simply a FWB situation. These are two individuals who, through mutual respect, suddenly realize that there are deeper feelings than either have admitted to (to themselves, as well as each other). The final romance scene just confirmed this for me. Garrus is so adorkably awkward and even though I wish we could’ve heard and seen more, I thought the head bump was rather touching. And I get the feeling that the gesture means a lot in turian culture.
So yeah, ME2 converted me from a Garrus fan to a Garrus fangirl. And what adds to their romance for me is that my own evolution of feelings about Garrus parallel my Shep’s in so many ways, and I didn’t realize it until recently.
Oh, I love wall o’ texts, too.