I've been re-playing all of Mass Effect for the first time in many years, and i'm not gonna lie, Batarians hit different this time around. I blame Bray, Aria's second in the Omega DLC.

Also some random bic pen doodles of random characters (except the Shepard on the right, she is my main Shepard)

My batarian OC Rarvan Cerassi, from my Mass Effect fic, The Road Less Travelled.

Gonna upload all the characters from the fic in this style! (:

yeah really the more time goes on and the more I'm like, Aria T'loak is genuinely one of the most evil characters in the Mass Effect universe, and it's pretty wild the games don't ever really reckon with that in any meaningful way

like when you encounter almost any batarian (except the one who thinks you're cool for very superficial reasons) it's fair game to gouge their four eyes out of their skulls and bomb them to oblivion and back, but Aria T'loak doesn't even get a light tap on the wrist for hosting and profiting from the biggest slave trade hub outside of batarian space, not to mention owning slaves herself (sorry Omega DLC: indentured workers 🙄 because that changes everything) (my conspiracy theory is that "indentured workers" line comes from a rewrite that realized just harsh it would sound if she was just ousted out as a slave owner given Shepard's general hard stance on the matter, and so it was "softened" instead to maker her more approachable and "gray" instead of straight up the actual worst)

Like. I know she's hot and cool, psychologically fascinating (if you ignore all of the non-canon material) and says very interesting things about being an asari and all of the ways power is barred from you (in spite of your species supposedly being the leaders of the galaxy even if there are basically very little proofs this is actually the case culturally and politically speaking beyond what the Codex says) and how to take it anyway, and she is all of these things, but she also easily finds herself among the worst this universe has to offer by a long mile. She takes the boundless abuse and profit that comes with preying on systematically-enforced poverty and disempowerment, and then mixes it up with the acceptability of integrating Omega in the global economy (covertly but still, it's undeniable the connexions are there) and tightening relationships with the proper little politicians of the Citadel who are supposedly against everything she represents. Everyone is to blame in this arrangement of course, but she is the one maintaining it for her own benefit. And then she goes on to say "this is just how things work, I'm just a rebel following my own path, having to maintain a tight ship in a cruel cruel world I'm the only one shrewd enough to come on top of". And we believe her for some reason!!!! And I wish the games (especially in Mass Effect 3 + Omega DLC) would see that manipulative little charade for what it is!!!!

my headcanon for what different species call our galaxy:

asari: athame‘s fields, silver stream.

quarians: tides of light, path of light.

turians: silver road, seam of spirits.

salarians: way of souls, wheel of silver.

krogan: road of warriors, firestream.

elcor: silver meadow.

drell: tides of silver., silver ocean.

batarians: silver flames, river of light.

hanar: reflected path, way of the enkindlers.

reiterating that this is an elaborative effort to add visual to many of my headcanons.

i spent days on this for shits and giggles, i whittled down so many Headcanons from my notes mostly to focus on visuals.

N7 Month 2022 - Day 15: Cannibal

Cannibals are front-line Reaper units created from corrupted batarians. The nickname refers to their propensity to devour the bodies of fallen comrades.

This triggers a biochemical process through which the cannibals spontaneously heal themselves and grow new chitinous armor.

Why not? Lol

Some days I'm like

Other days I'm all

You think that cross caste love stories would be popular with young batarians? Because it seems like that would be a nice "fuck you" to the hegemony that they could create and share on underground extranet sites with other like minds

I can't believe one of the mass effect 4 companions already got leaked! 🤯

Do you guys think he'll be romancable 🤔

Yes, here comes the third piece properly introducing the core characters of my upcoming Mass Effect fanfiction Halfway Home! Have a Khocress Kam'Gestar.

The story will be officially out on Ao3 the 17th of November, and new chapters will be uploaded every Thursday (CET / UTC+01:00)!

This drawing has conceptually been living in my head since forever, and I always hesitated to actually draw it. I'm glad I did!

This is Khocress Kam'Gestar, a batarian trying to turn hell into home. As a gang leader on Omega, he's deeply embedded within the politics of the station and suffers through a tense partnership with the Queen Herself, Aria T'loak. Not above brutality; not above second guesses either.

Halfway Home's Presentation Post

Full Trigger Warning List

My Ao3 account

Mass Effect lore collection from the books

Camala + Batarian lore (Source: Mass Effect Revelation)

Read if you wish to know more canon info about batarians and their colony Camala.

Under the cut.

One of the most important planets in the Skyllian Verge is Camala, a primarily batarian world and desert planet known for having some of the largest deposits of eezo in the Verge under its surface.

The planet also features two large metropolian areas of over a million people each, the capital Ujon and the city Hatre, location of the world’s primary spacesports.

As the colony world has a wealthy economy, it draws in a lot of visitors and immigrants of different species.

Of all the batarian worlds, Camala is easily the wealthiest one.

Among Batarians, social standing is extremely important and insulting a batarian’s social class is considered a very grave insult.

As social class is of such high importance among batarians, batarians place high value on dressing as well as they can afford.

Batarians tend to wear robes, even males.

Some of the most popular liquors on Camala are made by the hanar.

It seems like common knowledge says that the Blue Suns were founded by batarians and recently started taking on humans, when the reverse is true. It is possible that few people know the truth about the story behind the Blue Suns.

Batarians tilt their heads to the left to show admiration and respect. A tilt to the right is a greeting directed towards someone a batarian believes to be inferior.

Batarians tend to have relatively lean builds, compared to humans. Their necks tend to be longer and narrower than human necks, and their lips thinner.

The ridges of cartilage on top of a batarian’s head extend to their neck.

Batarian faces are covered with fine, thin hair that grows longer and thicker around the mouth, making them the second known species in the galaxy with hair.

Batarian names in the books: Groto Ib-ba, Jella, Helanda, Sh’n’ya, Edan Had’dah

It appears as if female batarians tend to have old Germanic sounding names (Jella, Helanda). Their names also tend to end in a though that could just be due to a Western-centric and anthropocentric approach from the writer.. (no offense to Drew I love him). Or it’s just the translator.

Surnames of batarians tend to have apostrophes in the middles or they are some sort of double name

Batarians are on the cutting edge of medical science

Most people don’t know into which pair of eyes to look in batarians, which gives them an edge in negotations as people will avoid eye contact with the race altogether, resulting in other people not being able to read batarians well

Why are humans and batarian the only species in the mass effect universe with hair and external ear structures?

Consequences of Alpha Relay Destruction Fic - Shakarian

    “Garrus can’t know.”  There was a buzzing in her head, the last words of Hacketts proposal still ringing in her ears. There was a slight crease between Hacketts brow as he watched her. He’d been patient. She appreciated that. She’d sat there for...ages once he laid it all out: every damned, brilliant, horrible detail.  Given her time.“Garrus Vakarian? The turian you recruited?”“Yes.”Hackett still looked puzzled. “Why are we…”  But this time she just looked at him and after a moment it clicked. “Ah…” Hackett said quietly. Sitting back in his chair, growing concern in his expression. “That is...that’s...shit.” He rested his head in a hand, rubbing at his forehead.Shepard scowled at him. “What? Gonna toss some bullshit breach of regulations at me before you let a bunch of batarians cut my head off?”Shepard stared straight ahead, eyes unseeing. Her mind, her body, her heart locked away, tangled around warm hide,  talons in her hair, and a rumbling voice against her ear.  She close her eyes, seeing his crystalline blue gaze in her mind...and folded it all away deep inside her with the other things she had lost forever.She slowly raised her head. “You have to let me...make arrangements.”Hackett nodded. “You can handle it?”She pressed back the memory of his lips on her neck. “Yeah. I can handle him.”      "ATTENTIONSomething that has been VERY long in coming:       Moria Shepard does the right thing. In the wake of destroying the Alpha Relay Shepard returns to Sol to face the judgement of the Alliance and the rest of the galaxy. But doing so could have consequences far graver than she ever anticipated. When her crew, and the turian who shares her bed refuse to accept the verdict of the Alliance and Council they leap into a race against time to protect not just Shepard, but perhaps any chance of them stopping the Reapers. 

FREINDS this is soooo long in coming.

Something that has been VERY long in coming:       Moria Shepard does the right thing. In the wake of destroying the Alpha Relay Shepard returns to Sol to face the judgement of the Alliance and the rest of the galaxy. But doing so could have consequences far graver than she ever anticipated. When her crew, and the turian who shares her bed refuse to accept the verdict of the Alliance and Council they leap into a race against time to protect not just Shepard, but perhaps any chance of them stopping the Reapers.    

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40597401/chapters/101714250

Well, Shepard sure got based............

y’all played mass effect?