A TBE-prompt for Rae.

Hey Rae. I have this idea for a Mass Effect TBE-verse story I hope you will find compelling enough to bring to life, and I share it here.

(I would have do so via Tumblr but this ran long and Tumblr will apparently allow anything as long as doesn't require paragraphs, and I do. =P)

Samara visits Liara and Shepard to state that she is beginning to die and asks them to accomodate her wishes.

The situation isn't that Samara's biological death has come but that the last phase of a Matriarch's life, one of reflection and surrender, that proceeds death has arrived. Samara's formidable will is finally giving out; she has surrendered the titles and duties of the Justicar and wishes to live among her loved ones -to "bathe in life" a last time.

This prompt aims to provide both fuel for both smut and feels.

The feels are Samara's last chance to see Athena, Diana, Benezia and the rest of the brood (including Lycoris) she has been Matriarching somewhat vicariously (through Liara and possibly Aethyta, with an interest in Lycoris rationalized as concern in if she'll become as much trouble as her father) from a distance. In this version of things Samara is much closer to Shepard and Liara's children as they are both still maturing -a situation a former mother of 3 understands very well- and are afforded more leniency under the Justicar's Code.

Of her surviving daughter Falere her life is well past needing Samara's meddling; they are reconciled (perhaps AY syndrome is finally treatable) and that is enough as they have nothing left to say except goodbye. Perhap it is a lingering sorrow of Samara's that she left Falere alone for so long and did so little for her and though that wound is closed the scar remains.

So the time has come for Samara to count her days before her end begins and she would treasure the chance to do so among the best of her generation and their hopes for the next.

And now the smut.

The other meaning of "bathing in life" is to give and accept pleasure and to wallow in the affection of the Matriarch's community, bringing together Liara and Shepard, Jack and Miranda, Aria and Tevos.

(In my headcanon after Jack and Miranda have their row in Miranda's office Commander Shepard assigns them both to Samara's tutelage -with a suggestion to Samara under the clauses of her Oath to Shepard not to take any of Jack's possible criminal boastings seriously- to teach Jack control while teaching Miranda greater stores of power. This arrangement also begins a defrosting between the two of them while they also gain the presence of a surrogate mother figure -someone they both are missing- of an entirely reliable, dignified nature and thus an anchor to resocialize themselves as they are molded by Shepard.)

First of course is Liara and Jane. These Samara loves as equals, as heroes, as the truest rewards of the path of the Justicar. They are her friends, the parents of her foster grandchildren, and the means by which her redemption was won.

Second is Jack and Miranda. They are her wards and her quiet triumphs, proof of a life lived hard but well, and two people she wishes to make love with them as thanks for letting her know the pride of seeing two such strong but damaged women come together...and maybe because she started shipping them as they started to accept each other, and she has a few more _exotic_ biotic tricks she'd like to share while she can. Perhaps Samara imagines the joys of enjoying them one at a time -making Miranda utterly melt before she and Samara ravish Jack- before all of them engaging together.

Finally is Aria and Tevos. Samara has encountered them before and this last meeting, though driven somewhat by her interest in Lycoris at least as Athena's lover, is a last taste of delicious wickedness. She and Aria had good cause to stay distant while Samara wore the diadem of the justicar; without it comes a chance to see who _really_ can put the Power in "Power Top."

Aria is of course Aria: warlord, survivor, biotic powerhouse, and ruler of Omega, but Samara has reserves of command, dignity, and discipline almost without equal.

It's a contest of legendary wills with Tevos as the playing field, the assmebled lovers as the jury, and Samara is confident whoever proves the victor everybody wins.

And that's the pitch! I hope it's inspiring.

Best wishes,

T.