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Description
The reunion of FemShep and Miranda from ME3, I mean...and perhaps a better version of that moment!

Okay, ME lovers, what you're looking at could have and one can argue *should* have happened in MASS EFFECT 3. In fact, I'll argue why it should have happened in a moment! Anyway, a lot of fans feel that Miranda Lawson should have been blonde...actually, Bioware first thought of giving her that hair color, mostly since Yvonne Strahovski -- the actress the character was modeled after -- was blonde, too. But since Bioware doesn't like blondes -- there was only one blonde character otherwise in the ME verse! -- they made Miranda brunette in ME2.
Many of you Miranda fans might disagree with my view, but Miranda should have been blonde, at least in ME3. I say that not just because she looks amazing that way. Think about this as I detail: in the third game...

[Just in case, SPOILERS start here if you haven't played the games!]

...Miranda was on the run from Cerberus and the Illusive Man because she betrayed and quit them to support Commander Shepard (if you played as a Paragon) and their choice to destroy the Collector Base in the second game. Okay, so it's established that terrorists are hunting for Miranda and she needs to stay low-profile. But when Shepard is reunited with Miranda on the Citadel for the first time in ME3, *SHE HASN'T CHANGED THE WAY SHE LOOKS ONE DAMN BIT!*

Now, the Bioware writers did quite a few things that can be called, ahem, brainfarts in all three games. But this was definitely something that made no sense! Miranda as a character was cool and methodical to a fault. She would be more careful if Cerberus was looking for her, and that means she'd at least do something to disguise herself just in case she's spotted by a Cerberus agent! Sydney Bristow of ALIAS did that all the darned time, but Bioware wanted to be super-lazy and keep Miranda looking the same.

Thusly, I present this XPS art (finally, because I should have done this a long time ago) as a show of what perhaps should have been...heck, I'm calling it headcanon, so there!

There's even some story below to show how different this reunion could have been...you *will* see it again in the future in my ME fanfic, Paramour!

***

Mary Shepard received a high-priority message meant only for her...when she saw who it was from, she had to follow its instructions and meet the sender in Docking Bay D24.

When she got there, dressed in casual fatigues, Mary didn't see the one she was looking for. Not at first. But then a voice surprised her from behind...the voice was instantly familiar because of its clinical coolness, its thick Australian accent: "Mary! It's been too long!"

Mary turned immediately and her eyes widened with shock. Unsure at first, she said, "Miranda...?!" The longer she looked, the paragon realized that yes, it was Miranda Lawson. But she looked very different from how Mary remembered her...she might have still been wearing her black and white catsuit, but the woman had changed her hair from brunette to blonde! Mary had also been so thrown by the makeup the perfect woman wore, as well. Mary approached her former Executive Officer and said, "My god, I almost didn't recognize you!"

Miranda Lawson's perfect smile brightened as Mary approached. "That's a very good thing, thank you! It was a necessity after I ah, tendered my resignation with the Illusive Man."

Mary's beautiful face expressed how crestfallen she was. "Goddamn it. I was as afraid as you were that Cerberus would take your leaving them personally."

Miranda nodded...her lovely smile became more sour. "And we were right. The Illusive Man doesn't take rejection well. Cerberus has never stopped hunting for me since after I last saw you. Changing back to my natural hair color might have been a simple bit of tradecraft, but it's actually helped greatly."

Mary asked, "Wait, you were born blonde? You never told me that!"

Miranda laughed as she responded, "Ha-ha, you never asked! Actually, both Oriana and I were born this way. After I took Ori from our father and I joined Cerberus, I arranged to have the hair color for us both changed long ago. It just took a harmless modification of the both of us by a Salarian genegineer."

Mary shook her head softly in gentle astonishment. "You look amazing. Your makeup is striking, too..."

Miranda informed the paragon, "It's not makeup, Mary."

"Huh?"

Miranda lifted a hand to caress one of her cheeks as a show. "This is actually the work of a wonderful Asari artist I know...it's similar to tattooing, and it's just as permanent."

"You haven't changed the way you dress, though. I've got to wonder how you can't draw attention in that suit...!"

Miranda's smile developed a knowing curve. "A lot of females in the galaxy dress this way. The suit is based on a classic Asari design, in case you didn't know!"

Mary laughed then. "That doesn't surprise me one bit. But you ought to know I've never cared about being fashionable, so I wouldn't know about things like that!"

"That doesn't surprise me at all, Mary."

Mary's eyes expressed concern as she spoke: "I can imagine how careful you still have to be, Miranda. I wish it didn't have to be this way." Not just because Cerberus was hunting for Miranda; the perfect woman was still wanted by the Council Worlds and the Alliance Navy because she had once been a terrorist.

For a moment, Miranda's expression reflected how alone she was...yet she smiled again as she offered her hand. "So do I, Mary. It's been too long since we last saw one another. You have no idea how good it feels to see you."

Mary Shepard quickly, warmly took Miranda's hand in hers. "It feels wonderful to see you too, Miranda," she purred gently. "I missed you." The perfect woman gave the paragon a second chance at life. They had both been through the fire of an extraordinary mission no one else could have survived to stop the Collectors months ago. The bond they shared was as unique as it was powerful.

***

Giving credit where it's due, always!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek
XPS created by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Mary Shepard Alliance Casual 'Ripley Outfit' by Padme4000
ME3 Blonde Miranda Lawson by DorianPavus

Background screenshot (this is a first for me) thanks to GFSLEGION!

Description
The reunion of FemShep and Miranda from ME3, I mean...and perhaps a better version of that moment!

Okay, ME lovers, what you're looking at could have and one can argue *should* have happened in MASS EFFECT 3. In fact, I'll argue why it should have happened in a moment! Anyway, a lot of fans feel that Miranda Lawson should have been blonde...actually, Bioware first thought of giving her that hair color, mostly since Yvonne Strahovski -- the actress the character was modeled after -- was blonde, too. But since Bioware doesn't like blondes -- there was only one blonde character otherwise in the ME verse! -- they made Miranda brunette in ME2.
Many of you Miranda fans might disagree with my view, but Miranda should have been blonde, at least in ME3. I say that not just because she looks amazing that way. Think about this as I detail: in the third game...

[Just in case, SPOILERS start here if you haven't played the games!]

...Miranda was on the run from Cerberus and the Illusive Man because she betrayed and quit them to support Commander Shepard (if you played as a Paragon) and their choice to destroy the Collector Base in the second game. Okay, so it's established that terrorists are hunting for Miranda and she needs to stay low-profile. But when Shepard is reunited with Miranda on the Citadel for the first time in ME3, *SHE HASN'T CHANGED THE WAY SHE LOOKS ONE DAMN BIT!*

Now, the Bioware writers did quite a few things that can be called, ahem, brainfarts in all three games. But this was definitely something that made no sense! Miranda as a character was cool and methodical to a fault. She would be more careful if Cerberus was looking for her, and that means she'd at least do something to disguise herself just in case she's spotted by a Cerberus agent! Sydney Bristow of ALIAS did that all the darned time, but Bioware wanted to be super-lazy and keep Miranda looking the same.

Thusly, I present this XPS art (finally, because I should have done this a long time ago) as a show of what perhaps should have been...heck, I'm calling it headcanon, so there!

There's even some story below to show how different this reunion could have been...you *will* see it again in the future in my ME fanfic, Paramour!

***

Mary Shepard received a high-priority message meant only for her...when she saw who it was from, she had to follow its instructions and meet the sender in Docking Bay D24.

When she got there, dressed in casual fatigues, Mary didn't see the one she was looking for. Not at first. But then a voice surprised her from behind...the voice was instantly familiar because of its clinical coolness, its thick Australian accent: "Mary! It's been too long!"

Mary turned immediately and her eyes widened with shock. Unsure at first, she said, "Miranda...?!" The longer she looked, the paragon realized that yes, it was Miranda Lawson. But she looked very different from how Mary remembered her...she might have still been wearing her black and white catsuit, but the woman had changed her hair from brunette to blonde! Mary had also been so thrown by the makeup the perfect woman wore, as well. Mary approached her former Executive Officer and said, "My god, I almost didn't recognize you!"

Miranda Lawson's perfect smile brightened as Mary approached. "That's a very good thing, thank you! It was a necessity after I ah, tendered my resignation with the Illusive Man."

Mary's beautiful face expressed how crestfallen she was. "Goddamn it. I was as afraid as you were that Cerberus would take your leaving them personally."

Miranda nodded...her lovely smile became more sour. "And we were right. The Illusive Man doesn't take rejection well. Cerberus has never stopped hunting for me since after I last saw you. Changing back to my natural hair color might have been a simple bit of tradecraft, but it's actually helped greatly."

Mary asked, "Wait, you were born blonde? You never told me that!"

Miranda laughed as she responded, "Ha-ha, you never asked! Actually, both Oriana and I were born this way. After I took Ori from our father and I joined Cerberus, I arranged to have the hair color for us both changed long ago. It just took a harmless modification of the both of us by a Salarian genegineer."

Mary shook her head softly in gentle astonishment. "You look amazing. Your makeup is striking, too..."

Miranda informed the paragon, "It's not makeup, Mary."

"Huh?"

Miranda lifted a hand to caress one of her cheeks as a show. "This is actually the work of a wonderful Asari artist I know...it's similar to tattooing, and it's just as permanent."

"You haven't changed the way you dress, though. I've got to wonder how you can't draw attention in that suit...!"

Miranda's smile developed a knowing curve. "A lot of females in the galaxy dress this way. The suit is based on a classic Asari design, in case you didn't know!"

Mary laughed then. "That doesn't surprise me one bit. But you ought to know I've never cared about being fashionable, so I wouldn't know about things like that!"

"That doesn't surprise me at all, Mary."

Mary's eyes expressed concern as she spoke: "I can imagine how careful you still have to be, Miranda. I wish it didn't have to be this way." Not just because Cerberus was hunting for Miranda; the perfect woman was still wanted by the Council Worlds and the Alliance Navy because she had once been a terrorist.

For a moment, Miranda's expression reflected how alone she was...yet she smiled again as she offered her hand. "So do I, Mary. It's been too long since we last saw one another. You have no idea how good it feels to see you."

Mary Shepard quickly, warmly took Miranda's hand in hers. "It feels wonderful to see you too, Miranda," she purred gently. "I missed you." The perfect woman gave the paragon a second chance at life. They had both been through the fire of an extraordinary mission no one else could have survived to stop the Collectors months ago. The bond they shared was as unique as it was powerful.

***

Giving credit where it's due, always!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek
XPS created by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Mary Shepard Alliance Casual 'Ripley Outfit' by Padme4000
ME3 Blonde Miranda Lawson by DorianPavus

Background screenshot (this is a first for me) thanks to GFSLEGION!