#Mordin does it because it feels like his responsibility

[innepttia]

@spookyvalentine has this wonderful “50 questions about Shepard” list. They posted about it in our discord and the chat BLEW UP. So here we are with the most information ever about:

Maeve Shepard

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse

(Art by Twitter: Maitimo and tumblr: @point-maitimo )

1. Why did Shepard enlist? Any regrets?

OH YEAH - so many regrets. She enlisted because her parents were in the Alliance, but if she could have sat on a beach or in a remote cottage in the middle of a forest and listen to nature she would have been happier. But seeing as she has a spacer history, she’s not actually entirely sure how true that is. She’s never been to any of those places if it wasn’t for a mission.

2. How does your Shepard feel about having a yeoman assigned to them in 2? And in 3?

No thoughts. She accepts it, as she accepts the entirety of the crew she doesn’t get to pick.

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson?

I think everyone is going to hate me when I say this but… he’s just her coworker/boss. They’re a little friendlier than a regular colleague, but until he gives her his old apartment, she didn’t think they were good friends outside of work.

4. Is your Shepard any good at poker?

She’s not actually good at poker, but she is good at reading people, which makes up 90% of the game.

5. How well does Shepard know their crew? Not just the companions, but the folks making up the Normandy

She thinks she knows them well (I’m writing my Mass Effect Lower Decks (MELD) fic with Maeve as the Shepard). I mean she’s absolutely convinced she knows every single person, but at the beginning of ME2, hell no. At the end of ME2 (and at the end of my MELD fic), yes.

6. Initial reaction to EDI? Does it change?

Oh, she absolutely loves EDI. She’s engineer class, so AIs are quite a passion project for her, and now her ship has one? Fucking dope.

7. Does their love interest move into their quarters?

No, but he sure as fuck spends most of his time there.

8. What is their reaction to the Alchera mission? And after?

Before she goes down, she thinks it’s pandering. She thinks that the Alliance is trying to pacify her for something and she’s not entirely sure what, but she’s suspicious.

Afterwards, she’s a crying mess with a handful of dog tags and her old helmet and wants to be left alone in her cabin.

9. What type of fighter is your shepard? Do they fight with honor, or do they fight dirty

She will fight so dirty, like she will throw pocket sand in your face if she could.

10. Does Shepard keep any pets? The hamster, fish, something else?

No pets and if I could resist the hamster and fish in game, Shepard wouldn’t have any pets at all. She’s very aware she’s off to go fight in a suicide mission/war, so she doesn’t necessarily want to have more responsibility than she already has.

11. What order does Shepard pick up companions in me2?

Oh my god what a question lmao.

Zaeed and Kasumi (easiest ones), Garrus, Mordin, Jack, Grunt, Thane, Samara, Tali, Legion

12. Does Shepard have any nicknames? What do they think of em?

The aliens that can’t pronounce her name (excuse me, an a and an e RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER?!) call her M. She thinks it’s cool because of James Bond.

13. How does your Shep react to teasing/ribbing?

Teases them right back. She’s got a sharp tongue, but she knows when to stop so she doesn’t hurt anyones feelings.

14. Any good at flirting?

Middle ground on this one, I think. She’s good at picking people up at a bar, but once the flirting has to continue more than a couple minutes, she loses steam.

15. What colors does Shepard prefer for their armor?

The typical N7 colors: red, white and black.

After the war (and mentioned in my indoctrination fic), she changes her colors to match Thane 🥺: emerald and black.

16. Is Shepard a drinker? History of other substances? Do they struggle with sobriety

Oh boy. Yeah she’s a drinker. It was mostly social in ME1 and before, but after she died in the beginning of ME2, she hit the bottle hard. I have a little of Maeve written into my nameless Shepard in my Lungs fic, so if that tells you anything… She ends up swapping her drinking for a much more fun substance to abuse (drell venom).

Then she gets put in the brig for six months, is forced to sober up, and in the beginning of ME3 she’s clean. Haven’t quite decided what happens after that though.

17. How does Shepard react to attention? Do they enjoy it?

Maeve is used to it. She doesn't really think about it anymore.

18. Who’s the dream team? Which companions does Shepard fight best with and why?

I’m a fuckin simpleton and the dream team is Thane and Garrus. Maeve likes to be up close and personal so if she had a couple of long range snipers at her back… 🤌🏼

19. Are there any companions your Shepard just absolutely cannot vibe with or relate to

In ME2, she’s not a big fan of talking to Miranda and Jacob (whoops that’s mostly my fault because I am always so hype for ALL THE SQUAD) but she pretty much vibes with everyone. Get a couple drinks in her and it doesn't matter who she’s talking to.

20. Does Shepard enjoy looking for resources and upgrading gear, or do they see it as a chore?

She enjoys it! It’s the only thing in ME2 that makes her sleepy. 😂

21. Do you have any AUs for your shepard?

YAAAAHHHHHHHHH. Working on one now - an indoctrination fic. Although, is that really an AU? But I just got comfortable including her in my fics (usually used default Jane Shepard to be on the safe side) so hopefully more to come!

22. What’s the last thing Shepard ate before the final reaper showdown?

Holy shit I’ve never thought about this question. I saved this one for last and… honestly I think the last meal she ate would have been before killing Kai Leng, so it would be whatever is on the ship… probably some packet ramen? Just a quick wham bam meal. She was too focused on wrapping up her life at the end.

24. Who does Shepard turn to for advice? For comfort? Who do they like to gossip with

These are all different answers.

Advice: Samara (bruh she has a thousand years of morally grey choices to advise upon)

Comfort: Thane (he’s ALSO her best friend on top of being her LI)

Gossip: Kasumi (hands down the best choice)

25. How emotionally articulate is your Shepard? Do they emote well?

She’s funny, a lot of dry humor, but she’s emotionally constipated.

ME1, she was more liberal with her emotions, she smiled actual genuine smiles.

ME2, she’s more of a shark. Her smiles aren’t as real, mostly forced from a life that she previously knew. Maeve keeps her emotions real close to her chest.

ME3, uhhh honestly she’s just an entire mess. She’s sober for the first time in what feels like forever and it is actually not liberating for her. She’s constantly second guessing herself, she’s got the blood of millions on her hands, and she’s once more responsible for her crew’s safety on another suicide mission.

26. Does your Shepard have a romance? Who are they, and what drew Shep to them?

*shouts from the rooftops like Christian in Moulin Rouge* THANE! She falls hard for that little assassin dude. He glares at her during his recruitment mission and she’s like, oh my god am I in love?

He’s dark, mysterious, strangely polite, and also on the same course she seems to be. Both are barreling towards their deaths at an alarming speed.

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

Neither her nor I have put any thought to this. I can’t even think of any of my own pet peeves now that this question has been asked 😂

28. What about hyperfixations? What’s the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place

Oh man, I feel like my Shepard is just so depressing…

Since ME2 she doesn’t have any hyperfixations. No time to enjoy anything but the people around her.

Prior to ME2, she used to be up on all the most recent video games. She would game online under the username “rogue_protocol” because her favorite book series is the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (lmao I’m dragging real life books into this now).

29. How active is Shepard? Are they hitting the gym, playing sports, or do they prefer quieter downtime?

She does go to the gym quite a bit, but she also prefers to read… uhh, when she’s not drinking, that is. 👀

30. What will always make them laugh?

EDI or Legion asking ridiculous questions about “why are organics like this”.

31. Who can always make them laugh?

Joker. There’s a lot of confusing feelings between them, oscillating at all times between wildly inappropriate and platonic. They’re kinda a mess, but neither of them have ever tried to sort out their feelings so in the long run, they’re besties.

32. What do they do when they have hit their limit angry, just incandescent with rage

It doesn’t happen much, or at all yet, but Maeve just goes feral. Verbal or physical, it doesn't matter. She loses it.

33. What skills do they have that are a surprise to the people around them?

Not sure if it’s a surprise she can do this, but more of a surprise that she does do this… she likes to tinker around and repair circuits and panels. She was building a new computer from scratch in ME2 whenever her thoughts got too loud and liquor didn’t quiet them, but it never got finished because, well, she got arrested. (Very Anakin-Skywalker-fixing-droids-esque.)

34. Got any tattoos?

I WISH! I wrote one fic with a Shep with tattoos and was constantly forgetting about them lol so it’s easier for my tiny brain if she doesn’t. And this is coming from a person with like… a lot of tattoos lmao

35. Which companions have they lost? How do they cope with it?

Maeve has only lost their companion on Virmire (don’t @ me, I still, to this day, can’t decide who officially lives) and Mordin and Thane in their forced death in ME3. She loses no one in ME2 (I can’t stomach losing anyone that I spent all game getting close to) but the people she does lose, it hits her hard. She does not cope well. Especially with Thane. The loss of Thane is what really triggers her in my Indoctrination AU fic.

36. Do they like to style their hair, wear makeup and jewelry? How do they feel about getting dressed up?

She would prefer to go natural with her hair, no makeup and no jewelry. UNLESS she’s dressing up, which she does enjoy doing. Her parents used to bring her to the Alliance military balls every year, so she’s pretty used to it.

But she would prefer to have her wavy hair down or clipped back out of her eyes. She never got quite comfortable wearing sweats around her crew until ME2. Then she said fuck it and wore whatever the fuck she wanted.

37. Got any bad habits?

No - lol actually probably but both her and I are biased towards her and think she’s perfect (if you don’t count the drinking, but honestly that’s a big one 😂)

38. Does Shepard do any activities with the companions and crew during downtime?

Maeve likes to enforce mandatory shore leave. She can be found either stuffing her face full of delicious food, trying to convince Thane to take his shirt off and sunbathe (if it’s a sunny planet) with her, or at a bar.

39. Do they keep around any sentimental items?

After ME2, no.

After the Citadel DLC, only a single artificial white flower in her cabin to remember Thane by.

40. Does your Shepard actually like to collect model ships? If not, what do they display?

Yes!! She loves it, but she’d just as easily not have them. They don’t mean much to her other than they’re fun to look at.

41. How is Shepard with a gun? What about hand to hand?

She prefers hand to hand combat. Maeve is fine with a gun, but prefers lighter guns so she has quicker access to her abilities. She likes to make things explode so if she can set it on fire and then overload it, it’ll no doubt make her laugh.

42. Favorite weapon?

Omni-blade. She loves that little sneaky shit. Oh, and her combat drone. It’s so cute and makes chirping noises and has a flamethrower.

43. Which version of the Normandy do they like best?

Normandy SR-2.

Hates the stupid window above her bed, but loves the freedom she had on this ship.

44. Do they like to rotate out companions for quests? Who do they bring the most?

No because her and I are dumb and fall into a habit of bringing only the sniper squad. In ME3, though, she’s a little more lax, a little more flippant, basically just says, “who wants to come” and the first two that say “me” are the ones she brings (mostly Garrus and Liara).

45. Do they approve of curing the genophage?

Yeah, bro, fuck that noise.

46. Does Shepard allow the rachni to live in me1?

Yes. It wouldn’t rest easy on her conscience if she killed the last living being of a species.

Both Maeve and I: *nervously looking at the Arrival DLC*

47. Does Shepard practice any kind of self-care?

Sometimes she puts moisturizer on her face… but she thinks, why’s self-care matter when you aren’t going to make it to 35 years old?

She’s a little pessimistic.

48. What abilities do they rely on the most in a fight?

Combat drone.

If she’s in battle and her drone is about to be destroyed, she’d rather save up her recharge to bring it back than use any other ability.

After that, it’s overload because there are 8000000 geth at all times.

49. What is Shepard’s happy ending? What’s the dream that keeps em going

Meeting Thane across the sea. I am not even kidding. This depressing shit is her happy ending. I have spent so long building up this story in my head that she didn’t want to be brought back, she didn’t want to be used in another war, she just wanted to be at peace. So, she’s going to do her damned job and save this ungrateful galaxy and hopefully be able to rest with Thane in whatever afterlife Kalahira has for them.

50. Is your Shepard indoctrinated

*HEAVY BREATHING*

(+1: what does Shepard smell like?)

Standard issued soap, grease from digging around in the ship’s engine room or AI core, and lavender because she uses lavender chapstick. Someone once told her that would help calm her thoughts and while it didn’t actually help, she keeps trying.

#sare shouts into the void #OC: maeve shepard #mass effect stuff #commander shepard #mass effect

[stupid-sloot-headcanons]

You don't have to like her but I find it annoying as fuck when people exaggerate Ashley's xenophobia when they're oh-so-eager to ignore characters like Garrus when he's said multiple out of pocket things. Like he tells Tali that he hopes her people are properly contrite about creating the Geth, and when she shoots back to ask if that's how the Turians feel about the genophage, he just replies that it's different because the genophage was the right thing to do. Even fucking Mordin, the man largely responsible for the continuation of that genophage, acknowledges it was a mistake and he did horrific damage to a people that didn't deserve it.

When he remarks that Tali is attracting dirty looks in public and she explains that it's because Quarians are stereotyped as criminals because they're nomadic, he responds that it wouldn't be an issue if they just settled down on a colony and basically blames Tali's race for their own stereotyping and discrimination.

(This is also why I don't really like the Tali/Garrus ship, since Garrus never really seems to change his views on Quarians and he only apologizes for it in ME3 which...okay ig. He's one of the only characters who does so that's nice. Personally I wouldn't fuck w/ anyone romantically that made comments like that, but I'm def not Tali.)

Tbh every squadmate in Mass Effect shows some level of xenophobia, even if it's light or casual. Ashley also becomes less xenophobic and in ME1 is pretty reasonable: "Hey maybe we shouldn't let these aliens have free reign of the most advanced ship in our military", "Hey maybe humans should be as independent as possible since the Council by its nature of serving multiple nations can't ever have us as their top priority", etc. I think a lot of Ashley hate stems from the fact she dares to question and disagree strongly with Shepard often and...you know...women who loudly disagree with the protagonist in media tend to get a weird unhealthy disproportionate level of hatred. Weird. Wonder why.

#javik is WAY more racist and he gets barely a fraction of the hate ive seen towards Ash #and i love Garrus but im not gonna overlook his flaws and the shit hes said just bc it came from his sexy mouth #.mass effect #sloot bitches about things

[stxsis]

COMMANDER SHEPARD’S SQUAD RELATIONSHIPS RANKED #11-20/20

11. JAVIK. He's so chaotic and he can be such a dick, but Shepard finds him to be hilarious and generally enjoys being around him and fighting with him in the field.

12. ZAEED MASSANI. Although initially suspicious of Zaeed's contract with Cerberus, Shepard has found him to be quite loyal for a mercenary. He has some interesting tricks of the trade, and his work as a bounty hunter is something Shepard finds to be admirable and honorable work. She finds Zaeed enjoyable to be around.

13. URDNOT WREX. Wrex can be a bit much for Shepard at times simply because of culture shock, but overall she trusts him and thinks well of him as a man. She might not want to hang out with him all that often, but she admires his efforts to unite the various krogan clans and respects him as a warrior and a leader.

14. MORDIN SOLUS. Mordin was a good man, if a rather annoying one. Although his manner didn't endear Shepard to him much personally, she found him to be a fairly affable man and she admired his desire to right the wrongs of his youth. --------------- Note: Shepard does nothing to prevent Mordin from killing Maelon on Tuchanka, but encourages him to keep Maelon's data. Shepard doesn't agree to sabotage the genophage cure for the dalatrass, and allows Mordin to disperse the cure without interruption. I'm unclear on whether there were ways to keep Mordin alive on this mission if Wrex is also alive, but he didn't make it on my playthrough.

15. LEGION. Legion became a really core part of Shepard's crew before their death, and did a lot to change both Shepard and Tali's views on the geth as a people. In a lot of ways, Shepard's interactions with Legion and her choices regarding them were some of the most difficult moral and ethical dilemmas she ever faced. Everything Shepard does is predicated on the sanctity of life, and every death she causes is justified only by that end. The opportunity to help a new race achieve life is something Shepard didn't feel she could refuse, that it was something holy that she had to do, but she feared to do it because of the obvious risks. Ultimately, she was glad that she was able to broker peace between the quarians and the geth, but it was a very difficult decision for Shepard, whereas other moral choices in her storyline were very clear and immediately obvious to her.

16. URDNOT GRUNT. Grunt isn't very personable, but Shepard still likes him and takes responsibility for him. Hell, she fought a thresher maw for him, so there's that.

17. KASUMI GOTO. Kasumi isn't a bad ally to have, and actually Shepard finds her to be quite amusing when she isn't being just a little bit creepy or intrusive. Shepard enjoys their brief chats on the Normandy, but I'm not sure she would consider Kasumi to be a very close friend. --------------- Note: Shepard encouraged Kasumi to keep Keiji's greybox.

18. MIRANDA LAWSON. Shepard does not like Miranda. Not only does she represent the interests of an organization that Shepard despises, but Miranda is also personally responsible for bringing Shepard back from the dead. This is a problem for Shepard for a number of reasons. Firstly, she didn't ask anyone to bring her back from the dead and she would have preferred to stay dead, thank you. Secondly, returning from the dead does a lot to fuck with Shepard's head. She has no recollection of an afterlife, which causes a lot of doubts about her faith and the loyalty she holds towards a God that may not exist or that may have abandoned her, and if she is abandoned, did bringing her back from the dead jeopardize her immortal soul? There is so much about Miranda and what she represents to Shepard that Shepard outright hates, and it's very clear that she really only barely tolerates Miranda's presence. --------------- Note: Shepard did complete Miranda's loyalty mission because it isn't Oriana's fault her sister is who she is, and the only reason she encouraged Miranda to reach out to her was because of Shepard's own issues with her family being dead. I honestly can't remember if Shepard or Miranda is the one to kill her father, but he's for sure dead and both Miranda and Oriana are safe.

19. JACOB TAYLOR. Shepard dislikes Jacob largely for the same reasons she dislikes Miranda, but with the added issue that he abandoned the Alliance to join Cerberus, which is like... really just taking a piss in Shepard's breakfast cereal. --------------- Note: Shepard offered to shoot Ronald for Jacob, but he chose to leave his father a half charged pistol with which to kill himself instead.

20. KAIDAN ALENKO. Kaidan died on Virmire. It was sad, but Shepard didn't really know him very well. If things had happened differently, perhaps he would rank higher on this list.

#HC / only mostly dead

[youeggbastard]

How does Thea get along with her crewmembers? So who is she closest too, who does she have issues with, etc? Ik you mentioned her fighting with Miranda. Also feel free to ramble abt her and Kaidan if you wanna answer!!

I have no control so I'm putting it all under the cut

Thea is honestly a really approachable person, so much so that most people are surprised to find out she's The Commander Shepard, the literal war criminal but most of that surprise is probably due to her only being 5'4. She definitely gives off the vibe of someone who you can talk to and trust, hence literally everyone in the galaxy coming to her with their problems. But anyways, she goes out of her way to connect with all of her crew, so she gets along with all of them, and for most of them would consider them more like family than crew.

The only exception would be during the events of me2 when she was straight up not having a good time and everywhere she looked she was surrounded by Cerberus personnel. Although known of them were responsible for what happened on Akuze they were still part of the organization that was and that was enough for Thea in her mental state. She warmed to most of the crew by the end but it was rough at first. Especially in regard to Miranda and Jacob, Miranda more so. The most she did with Jacob was pull a gun on him when he came clean about Cerberus and tell her she didn't trust him, but otherwise she avoided him (she avoided him in gameplay too since pretty much every dialogue ended up being flirty so I legit talked to the guy once to get his loyalty missions ahjfgajkgj). But Miranda was a little harder to avoid and from the very start they were at each others throats. Miranda was loyal to Cerberus, Thea hated everything about the organization and Miranda was a good outlet for her anger so unfortunately she took the brunt of it. However, by the end of Me2 Miranda ended up being one of Thea's best friends. It just took a bit before Thea realized Miranda was just another tool of Cerberus and then she disobeyed TIM and then Thea and her were the best of friends.

She warmed up to Thane pretty quickly, since the two of them have a lot in common, both two people who are trapped in their past and their memories and have been way too lonely for too long so they became good friends and his death hit her hard but I'm not going to go into that.

Thea and Jack can't be more different but Thea grew to like Jack pretty quickly, largely in part because Jack hated Cerberus and in a den of lions Thea felt having someone who hated the lions was a good ally to have. So, she was willing to let the remarks of her being "too nice" and a pussy slide.

But out of all her crew members Thea is closest to the orginal Normandy crew. Garrus remains her best friend and one of the people she trusts more than anything. With all that being said she did not let him win their shooting contest, her reputation as a sniper was on the line after all and she has a bit of a competitive streak. Tali is like a sister to her and she is as protective of her as she was of her own sisters. She and Liara were close friends from the get go, but they did have a bit of strained relationship during me2 when Thea found out it was Liara who gave her body to Cerberus. Thea said a lot of unkind things along them being that she (thea) was better off dead and she wished she was. Thankfully, by the end of the Shadow Broker quest they had reconciled but it would be a long time before Thea didn't secretly wish she had never been brought to life.

Another honorable mention is Mordin, at first he and Thea didn't get along so well. She was very vocal about her disapproval of the Genophage and Mordin is... Mordin. But she grew to like him and when Mordin mentions that she keeps coming by because she is romantically interested in him (an actual scene in me2) it's probably the first time since her death she has actually laughed. His death also hit really hard.

I've rambled enough I think so I'll try to keep my ramblings about her and Kaiden short. In short, I love them. The universe has given Thea a lot of pain, served on a silver platter and Kaidan is probably the only good thing that came from it. It was tough at first for Thea, it was incredibly easy to talk to him, and that was kind of what was tough about it because its easy to ignore how lonely you are when you don't know what you're missing and suddenly she started developing feelings and wanting to be closer which is incredibly scary for her after she's lost so much. Facing down reapers and geth and whatever are easy for her, letting herself be vulnerable with someone? That's a lot harder. Me2 was hard for a variety of different reasons but one of the biggest one was that she didn't have Kaiden, and then after Horizon.... let's just say she had to adopt a lot of fish and a hamster to cope.

#I just love them a lot #Kaidan is so sweet and she was not at prepared for that #He wa spart of the reason she stopped y'know wanting to die #She actually started wanting a future with him and for herself #But with the reapers and everything in me3 #there was a certain point Thea realized she probably wasn't going to survive it #and for the first time in years she wanted to live #asks #thank you for letting me ramble ily #oc: thea

[revasnaslan]

1, 5, 9, 12?

anyway i can't figure out how to do a readmore on mobile so you get the whole post in all its glory. i apologize in advance i wrote a lot 😭😭

1. Which plotline or mission in the series do you feel had the most wasted potential?

anything having to do with cerberus is the first that comes to mind tbh. like making the protagonist join them in 2 was a very interesting choice, and i think the game tries to humanize them because of this, and i think in certain aspects it does this well... but then when 3 rolls around they made them cackling bad guys with absolutely zero nuance who seem to actively be working against everybody else because?? reasons i guess??

and i think that this had potential because i do think there is a way to make them being secondary antagonists in 3 work... like there could have been an implication or an outright statement that the alliance has fractured because of the reapers and the war and a lot of soldiers were going over to cerberus because they seemed like the best option. it would explain how cerberus (which was a spliter cell iirc) suddenly has all this manpower despite only six months passing between 2 and 3.

5. What's a scene you would have liked to see in the series?

i would have liked to see shepard actually acknowledge that their autonomy was taken from them when they were forcibly brought back from the dead in 2, and i just do not understand how people gloss over it a lot of the time. now granted i don't think the devs really thought about it hard but like shepard was stone cold dead, the comic implies their body was so mangled you wouldn't even be able to recognize them, and yet they were brought back because only they could do the job or something??

it's very weak justification for a) keeping shepard as the protagonist and b) having a reason for shepard to be aligned with cerberus despite everything cerberus has done in the past possibly including being the reason they're the sole survivor of their unit on akuze. and i'm not saying it isn't an interesting choice to be forced into that position because they're the only ones who seem to realize what's going on, but i do wish it had been in anyway acknowledged by the text.

i think that's why i'm so fixated on the idea mr illusive is shepard's father, and why i used it as the backstory for my sheps. because he is definitely the type of asshole who would disregard his child's autonomy for the greater good or to keep the humanity saving in the family, as it were.

9. Which NPCs would you have most liked to have as squadmates?

i have multiple answers for this one actually, but the context for them are very different!!

so i adore kolyat, anybody who has spoken to me for more than five seconds know that he's my boy, i'm Very Attached To Him. that being said, i can acknowledge that he probably shouldn't be an actual squadmate in 3 considering he's a whole eighteen-to-nineteen year old who really shouldn't be running around in the middle of a goddamn war. however i do think it would have been very fun to have him as one of the squadmates you could take in that arcade shooter minigame from the citadel dlc!!

there's also feron!! i'm really intrigued by him as a drell who is seemingly not connected to the compact at all and as an information broker with a very firm code of ethics he adheres to. he has a lot of potential to be an interesting character but both the writers and the fandom totally sleep on him. i think he gets all of three mentions in 3 despite being a major supporting character in lair of the shadow broker (who is kind of the reason that dlc happens at all), and the wealth of potential he has was completely overlooked. i would have even taken him being a guest squadmate in the same way as aria and nyreen in the omega dlc.

a very self indulgent answer is probably irikah. like if she had lived i could see it being so interesting to explore drell culture through someone else besides thane, and she is implied to have a very strong code of ethics she holds to that seem to run counter to a typical character in an action rpg. her reactions to events during the games would have been fascinating to see imo. i do have an au where she's alive but i haven't worked out how she fits into the squad dynamic yet or if she is even a squadmate in 2, but her being a squadmate in 3 could be an interesting direction to take it.

..... to the surprise of no one, all my choices are drell 😔😔

12. How happy are you with your ME3 ending of choice? What would you change about it, if anything?

personally, i don't really care for any of the endings and have been kind of poking at writing one of my own entirely from scratch that completely reworks the catalyst and the goddamn starchild sequence because i think it would have been a lot more poignant if the people who had died along your journey were the ones talking to you (i.e., default it switches between like thane, mordin, and ashley/kaidan) because the entire point of the starchild was to be invoking a form shepard would be comfortable with?? okay so lean into that manipulation of that, have the catalyst take the form of people shepard "failed" and invoke a guilt response.

now that being said, i usually take the destroy ending because i loathe the implications of synthesis and the non-consensual body modification therein, but i also kind of hate control because their own narrative shows how futile it is through mr illusive?? destroy has the least amount of holes in it imo.

but the narrative decision to make the destroy ending affect all synthetic life is beyond stupid because a whole theme in these games is whether or not synthetics are sentient people or not. and we know they are, because we see it in legion and edi throughout the games. which is why it's uh... kind of uncomfortable because what the game is having shepard do, with the knowledge that synthetic life are people, is committing mass genocide on an intergalactic scale?? and like that could be interesting, if there was some acknowledgement within the text that what shepard did was essentially doing to synthetics what the reapers have been doing to them... but frankly i wouldn't trust the devs to write that considering they wrote the whole arrival dlc with about as much delicacy as a 2x4 to the face so 🙃🙃

#rev's rambling again

[felassan]

Do you think there’s a chance the new mass effect game will have Shepard or BioWare ended the Shepard arc already?:(

Hi Nonnie, this answer became a bit long so it’s under a cut.

Oooh, I think that the next game is so far away, with so little known about it, so much likelihood of things changing during development as they discuss and try out different concepts, so many different hopes from people for what form they want it to take, and so many options for what it could possibly be that at this point it’s completely up in the air, anyone’s guess and extremely difficult to say. They could do:

Mass Effect: Andromeda 2 (Ryder’s story continues)

new PC in the Andromeda galaxy

new PC in a new galaxy

a prequel to the MET

MET sidequel

a Post-Reaper War story

something involving Shepard

new PC in the Milky Way

some combination of the above

???

when I think about it I feel a lil dizzy and I have no idea at all which thing I’d personally prefer. 

I will say that Shepard’s arc really does ‘feel’ like it reached a natural and conclusive end, with the storybeats there hitting notes of finality. Shepard themselves can also be alive, dead or physically disintegrated and now a weird Sheaper-AI... Those are wildly different existence states to try and reconcile if they were opting to somehow continue Shepard’s story from the ME3 endpoint, and that’s without touching on the wildly divergent states the Milky Way galaxy can be in final-choice-depending (do they canonize a particular ending? Do they minimize the impacts of the final choice to make it less divergent? Do they set it so far in the future that it becomes functionally meaningless?). That last part is a whole other topic in and of itself - and due to the way that went down and audience response to it at the time, whatever they do with that issue, however they try to resolve it (in our hypothetical ‘Shepard’s story continues’ scenario) it’s going to be like, A Thing. What the endings meant for the Milky Way as a setting is a big part of the reason why the next ME game had to take place in a whole new galaxy far away after all, so it ties back to why they took us to Andromeda in the first place. Then there’s the worry that doing anything further with Shepard risks doing Shep a disservice if they eff it up, and in that way kinda damaging Shepard’s legacy. After an entire trilogy spanning dozens of worlds, involving dozens of characters and saving the galaxy in an all-out-war, where do you go from there? How do you do Shepard justice? There are also the folks who just want to let Shepard rest, and those who are really dissatisfied with the plot threads that got left hanging for Ryder and co, and the lack of DLC there, after what happened with MEA.

There’s a critter in the concept art that we’ve seen that looks like a furry pyjak, but the Initiative brought pyjaks to Andromeda. There’s a Normandy-like ship in two of the images, but the Normandy is frigate, which is a type of ship of which there are many. In the 2020 image at the bottom, the two figures on the right are actually the silhouettes of Thane and Mordin from the ME2 squad selection screen, but given the nature of concept art (it’s supposed to help devs get an early feel for the mood and feel of the game in question in a time when loads of things change, and we shouldn’t get too hung up on specifics) I find it difficult to see that fact and conclude “Looks like the next game is going to have Thane and Mordin and therefore possibly Shepard” in it. Nor do I think we should. The images shown could have been thrown out as ideas since, or when mocking them up the artist was making use of existing assets to save time or just since it’s meant to evoke a feel it doesn’t really matter which tiny lil silhouette they use, the point being to ‘say’ “Varied crewmates are exploring this planet” with the image. Not to say that I don’t enjoy and actively take part in super-overanalyzing and wildly speculating from such images, because I do lol. :D

It was lovely how in the N7 Day cast and crew reunion panel basically all of the cast were essentially like “MET was amaaazing, we loved it sooo much, we’re here if you ever want to do more with that BioWare wink wink plzzz” lol. JHale says that she never calls the end of the MET “the end” but instead “the end of ME3″, because she’s always like “I’M HERE BIOWARE LOL”. Raphael Sbarge at one point during it asked the BioWare team if there’s ever been a point where they thought about doing more MET DLC content or some kind of revival of it and the response was: “We’re legally obligated not to say, sorry, we’re going through a tunnel right now, oh nooo bad reception!!” NB I don’t think we should read too far into that comment there from the team, it’s one part fun banter and one part they wouldn’t be able to confirm one way or the other in regards to that question. Like I imagine their NDAs/contracts don’t allow them to say “We’re never going back to Shepard and crew” anymore than they’d allow them to say “[MET stuff hint]”, if that makes sense.

Pros of the possibility: Shepard is beloved, nostalgia, seeing what became of the Milky Way in the aftermath of the Reaper War, MEA wasn’t nearly as popular

tl;dr extremely hard to say and who knows. I’d guess at it not being a continuation of Shepard’s arc though: lots of variables, the ending incident, and Shep feels complete. If it hypothetically was I guess I’d short-circuit and then hope they do it right/well. I don’t know what I want and I’d be down for anything, because Mass Effect. I do miss the Milky Way as a setting a lot in a general sense.

#bioware #Mass Effect #mj replies #anonymous #video games #mass effect: andromeda #next mass effect

[athelari]

3. snowflakes in the desert

Day 3/7 of the Mass Effect Trilogy Week: Plot. 2k words; canon divergence (Priority: Tuchanka because I just want catharsis, blast it); Shepard+Mordin; no content warnings.

No. No, not like this. Her teeth grind together, bile rising in her throat. If you go up there—and you will, I know you and I know there's no stopping you once you've set your mind on something—

He bows his head. “No. No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely to be problematic.”

He starts walking to the elevator.

“Mordin, no!” She darts forward. “Wait!”

This, at least, got him to face her. “Shepard, please. Need to do this.” He meets her gaze, black eyes glossy, glimmering back at her, and shakes his head fractionally. “My project, my work. My cure, my responsibility.”

“No.”

He startles at her answer, short and decisive and immediate. She marches forward, never looking away, never breaking eye contact. Something falls to the floor behind her, but she no longer cares.

She keeps her voice low and steady; a voice she only uses for the most serious of situations. “If you're going up there, then so am I.”

His shoulders drop, ever so slightly. “Shepard—”

“I helped you track down Maelon,” she presses on. “I told you to save his data. I introduced you to Wrex, brought you to Tuchanka, helped you gather your tissue samples! I even convinced Victus to greenlight the cure! So this may be your project, but the way I see it I'm at least your damned lab tech here, and I'm coming with you.”

“Shepard,” his tone is urgent, almost pleading, “might not make it out in time.”

“So both of us come back, or neither of us do. Either way, we're wasting time out here. Come on!”

She runs ahead of him towards the elevator. Mordin catches up merely a second later, immediately closing the cracked glass doors behind them. The cramped space hums with tension thick enough to carve like a turkey dinner. The fact that he'd recognised her unwillingness to back down doesn't clear the air at all; if anything, it seems to only make him more nervous. She hears him singing to himself under his breath, fast and quiet, his verbal equivalent of a bouncing knee.

She decides to turn her attention elsewhere. “Normandy, this is Shepard, do you copy?”

A crackle, followed by Joker's voice in her earpiece. “This is Normandy, come in.”

“Mordin and I are going up the Shroud tower. Fifty-second floor. I need a shuttle on standby for evac, ASAP.”

“The Shroud tower? What the—aye aye, Commander.”

If EDI's synthesised voice is capable of sounding alarmed, this is what it sounds like. “Shepard, the tower you are ascending has endured significant damage from the Reaper attack. Structural integrity is estimated at sixty-four percent, and there are live fires on the floor you and Dr Solus are headed to.”

“Thanks, EDI, good to know. You and Garrus made it out in time?”

“Yes. Radio chatter also suggests Eve has regrouped with a handful of krogan warriors. She is being escorted back to Urdnot territory.”

Joker has the Normandy. Eve is as safe as can be given the circumstances. She'd filed the official request to make Garrus her XO. Thane's awaiting his lung transplant, with Kolyat keeping him company. All that's left to do is make sure the cure is properly dispersed, then the krogan and turians will fully provide aid for Earth, along with Kirrahe and however many STGs he convinced to go backdoor for them, and with Liara giving extra intel they should be able to keep going without—

“Would have liked to run tests on seashells,” Mordin says suddenly.

She looks at him, a faint smile on his weary face, and makes a paltry half-laugh. “Plenty of good beaches on Earth. We should go after all this is done.”

Assuming Earth is still around by then.

Assuming you and I will still be around.

“Heard of Earth species capable of shooting venomous darts at prey. Fascinating.”

Beat. She blinks. “We still talking about shells here? Or—”

But then the doors reopen, revealing a lab-slash-control-room covered in debris and flames. Without a moment's hesitation, Mordin darts ahead, making a beeline for the farthest console. A bursting pipe temporarily derails him, but she catches his elbow, and together they cross the room.

She realises, now, how foreign the equipment—and their interfaces—are. Whatever her bluster about being his lab tech earlier, she's clearly way out of her depth, even with her visor scrambling to translate the salarian glyphs on the screens. An automated voice is echoing in the chamber, repeating something about the temperature, but that doesn't tell her how to help.

A thought comes to mind. “Mordin, tell me if you need something, all right?” He nods wordlessly—not silently, however, he's humming again and she knows that song like the back of her hand by now—while she runs to the nearest pile of debris and starts analysing the damage.

If she can't make this go any faster, then at least she'll buy him some time.

Fallen column broke unidentified equipment #1, some flammable—or inflammable?—liquid under it catching fire, runs all the way to unidentified equipment #2 on the far right. Left console is dead, roof cave-in opened a pipe. Doesn't seem to be water. Coolant? Electrical short by the corner—it's awfully close to those pressurised canisters. That can't be good.

She runs to the canisters first, grabbing one in each hand and hefting them to the nearest wall, away from the short. Then it's to the unidentified equipment and the burning liquid. Where's the fire extinguisher? A lab like this has to have several.

“—studied species turian, asari, and batarian—”

There, beneath a pile of rubble. She skids across the room again, narrowly maintaining her footing as a piece of flooring crunches under her weight, and starts digging into the debris. The tank is dented, but its nozzle seems undamaged. She grabs it and starts spraying its contents onto the fire. Kalahira, please let this work.

“—xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am—”

“The very model of a scientist salarian!” she drops the extinguisher on the floor. It caps off the song with a hollow clang. “How much longer?”

And Mordin throws up his hands, taking a step back from the console. “Done!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Go! Go!”

She beckons him to run into the elevator, determined not to budge until he does. But apparently she'd made her point earlier, as he doesn't waste another moment. They scramble for the only exit, jumping in and slamming onto the controls like starved varren seeing fresh meat.

When the elevator judders back to life, taking them down the vertiginously high tower again, she finally lets out a sharp, bright laugh. “You stubborn old man,” she manages between shaky breaths. “I knew you could do it.”

She looks at Mordin's smile, relieved and open, and it strikes her how much younger he suddenly looks, like he'd just shed off ten years' worth of weight from his brow. “Had to be me,” he half-whispers.

“Someone else might've gotten it wrong,” she nods, still grinning.

He bows his head for a second. Then he looks back at her, straightening himself again. “Thank you, Shepard.”

“For what? All I did was—”

A deafening boom.

The elevator staggers, throwing them back. She loses her footing and sprawls on the floor. Mordin, lighter and less sturdy, is knocked against the external doors.

There's a sickening sound of glass breaking, and then he falls backward, plunging into the emptiness without.

“Mordin!”

How she manages to dart forward and grab his arm on that very second, she doesn't even know. But now she's on her stomach, her grip on his wrist the only thing keeping him from plunging down to the concrete floor far below. His mouth is moving, but her ears are still buzzing and she can't make out a word he says. The only thing she hears is a rushing, swirling sound, like waves crashing on the shore.

The elevator's still moving, she realises. The explosion dislodged them and broke both the inward- and outward-facing doors completely, but the mechanism is still intact. They're still going down, and if she can't pull him up in time then momentum will still get him one way or another.

“Mordin! Take my hand!” She reaches down with her other hand, the one on his wrist gripping with more force than she'd normally consider using.

He swings, sways, and finally manages it, fingers just barely brushing hers. She latches onto them anyway and pulls, hard. It's not enough to get him fully back on the elevator, but he manages to get a knee up and pushes back, glass shards crackling under his weight as he climbs back on.

“You okay?” she sits up, kicking aside a few broken shards in an attempt to provide some clear space.

“…bruises, strains. No serious injuries,” his breathless reply is barely audible over the rushing sea in her ears.

“Good.” Her throat suddenly feels very dry. She leans back against the metallic wall, her head thudding against the surface, and wipes the sweat running down her brow. Except something about it is oddly sticky, and her hairline unaccountably damp. She looks at the back of her gauntlet. Oh. She lets her hand drop again to her side.

“Saved my life, Shepard,” Mordin covers her hand with his, causing her to look up at him. “Twice in an hour.”

“And you just saved countless more,” she shoots back.

They stay low until the elevator nearly reaches the ground floor, and then she jumps back to her feet, pulling Mordin up with her. They spill out onto the lab, walking fast and wary of any further surprise explosions.

She hears Mordin emit a soft gasp, just at the edge of hearing, and turns to look at him.

And then, she sees it.

Pale, yellowish particles, falling gently like snowflakes on the harsh Tuchanka desert, carried by the lazy breeze. She looks up and sees many, many more, drifting in every possible direction. And at the centre of it all, the Shroud tower, shooting the flakes into the sky like a steady, benevolent volcano.

She feels shivers climb her spine. “Mordin, is that—?”

“Shroud mechanism operating to specifications. Cure dispersing evenly. Weather should carry particles to—” he pauses, inhales sharply; blinks once, then twice, then releases a shaky breath, “—completion.”

Completion.

That's what this feels like, she realises. The culmination of a lifetime's work, a crescendo built upon sleepless nights and grinding regrets. Whatever else happens, whether or not they survive the war, this is their legacy now.

A shuttle homes in, cutting a straight line atop what was very recently the site of a Reaper bloodbath. Then its door swings open, and out jumps Garrus, rifle in hand in a true example of turian military readiness. She spots EDI and Liara already inside the shuttle, which likely means Javik is as well.

“You should be halfway to the Normandy by now,” she chides as soon as they seem close enough. “I asked for one shuttle, not all of you.”

“Oh, I'm just here because Wrex'll kill me if he finds out I left you behind,” Garrus replies glibly. He looks at Mordin and his expression sobers. “So it's done then? You've cured the genophage for good?”

She turns, too, to face Mordin. She sees the faint tremor of his lip; the way his cheeks twitch and tug and finally break into a small, genuine smile. “Yes.”

A simple, blunt reply. Garrus flexes his mandibles, momentarily silenced. After what feels like a breathless eternity, he nods. “Then let's get out of here. Bet the krogan are itching to throw their new hero a celebration.”

#mass effect #trilogyweek #commander shepard #mordin solus #garrus vakarian #just a bit but he's there #mikaela shepard #it's mika #athelari writes #topic: canonical plot #my tired brain: no die?? no die this time?? where happy???

[barbariccia]

i’ve always thought omega had a really cool design. it’s a gritty place, in keeping with its name - omega ( Ω or ω ), as the last letter of the greek alphabet, tends to symbolize the end of something (typically in a line or list of things that have come previously), especially in christian camps, contrasting alpha ( Α or α ) which refers to the beginning. the alpha and the omega are a title of christ and apt enough, meaning that christ is the beginning and the end of all things.

suitable, then, that omega is in terminus space - the end of civilization - and frequently left abandoned, in the corse of an asteroid.

as you land, you’re approached by a salarian, and then a batarian, who tells the salarian to make himself scarce after a brief meeting. the batarian turns to us.

Moklan: Blasted scavengers. Welcome to Omega... Shepard.

turns out we’re not exactly on the down-low, and they’ve had their eyes on us since the second we stepped into omega space, with the so-called leader aria wanting to know why a dead spectre is in her area. we’re told in no uncertain terms to go make ourselves known to her, and, well, we don’t exactly know where we’re meant to be going to find our scientist yet, so we might as well.

aria t’loak resides in the afterlife club, because just because you’re at the end of all things doesn’t mean there’s nowhere else to go. it’s big and gaudy and in high demand; a vid of three asari strippers dancing plays directly above the entrance, and a line of people is waiting impatiently to get by the elcor bouncer, who’s got no time for these people who aren’t on the list. and boy, it’s gaudy on the inside, too, with the hallway leading to the club proper playing images of flickering fire. oh, and the lighting in here is atrocious, truly suitable for a nightclub.

there’s a little pack of batarians who think you’re looking at them wrong, and you get to tell them to pound dirt before you enter afterlife... which is a wholeass spectacle.

it’s dark and dingy and there’s asari dancing above the bar, where you can order as many drinks as you like from, courtesy of a well-dressed turian barkeep. after a little dutch courage, you can go up to the next level, to the private lounge where aria keeps her eye on the rest of the club, and as you ascend the stairs, she speaks.

it’s a whole mexican standoff of sorts, guns pointed in every direction, and me just wanting a nice chat with a new friend. :( her batarian bodyguard scans us with his omnitool - and even if you object, you’ve no choice but to suffer through this.

Shepard: I was told you’re the person to talk to if I have questions.

Aria: Depends on the questions.

Shepard: You run Omega?

aria might just be my favourite asari in the franchise; she still suffers from “skin on display even while dressed” disease, but she feels fully autonomous and doesn’t put up with bullshit. sure, the idea of a Tough Woman is a whole trope in and of itself, but in a series where belonging to this particular race throws you firmly into one of three feminine ideals while considering them a magical space-elf race that everyone’s attracted to by rote, it’s real nice to see an example that doesn’t do the same thing as everyone else. hell, even benezia is blown out of the water by aria, who doesn’t come across as evil so much as self-serving, and tough to keep her iron rule going.

Shepard: One scan and we’re straight to business? People are usually more concerned about who I am.

Aria: Your death was downplayed, but hardly what I call a secret. I had to make sure it was really you. You could have been anyone. Anything.

Shepard: Tell me how you got set up here.

Aria: That’s as privileged as information gets. I have many friends and enemies I keep at varying distances. I don’t count you among either. We’ll see how useful you prove. Short answer: mind your own damn business.

Shepard: You must know what’s on Omega.

Aria: Everything that’s worth knowing. I don’t usually give it out freely. Information is power. Mundane things, you can find yourself. Take a walk in a back alley, or buy one of the mercs a drink. Better yet, talk to the entertainers. They give great tours.

there are two dossiers to fulfill on omega, and you can ask aria about both of them.

Archangel is a mercenary commander whose operations are noted for their technical expertise and strategic brilliance. He is responsible for high-profile attacks on gang leaders on Omega and can likely be found there.

Dr. Mordin Solus is a salarian biological weapons expert whose technology may hold the key to countering Collector attacks. He is currently operating a medical clinic in the slums of Omega.

Shepard: I’m trying to track down Archangel.

Aria: You and half of Omega. You want him dead, too?

Shepard: Why’s everyone after him?

Aria: He thinks he’s fighting on the side of good. There is no good side to Omega. Everythign he does pisses someone off. It’s catching up to him.

Shepard: Just the kind of guy I’m looking for.

Aria: Really? Well, aren’t you interesting. You’re going to make some enemies teaming up with Archangel. That’s assuming you can get to him. He’s in a bit of trouble right now. The local merc groups have joined forces to take him down. They have him cornered, but it sounds like they’re having trouble finishing him off, and started hiring anybody with a gun to help them.

Shepard: What can you tell me about him?

Aria: Not as much as I’d like. He showed up here several months ago and started causing all sorts of problems. If you make your own laws -- which everyone her does -- he makes life difficult. He’s reckless and idealistic. But he seems to know enough to stay clear of me.

she tells us that every major merc group is after archangel right now, which is incredible in itself, because they’re never seen together unless they’re warring. archangel has done the impossible.

Shepard: Know where I can find Mordin Solus?

Aria: The salarian doctor? Last I heard he was trying to help plague victimes in the quarantine zone. I always liked Mordin. He’s as likely to heal you as he is to shoot you.

Shepard: What can you tell me about him?

Aria: Used to be part of the Salarian Special Tasks Group. He’s brilliant and dangerous. Just don’t get him talking. He never shuts up. If you really need to find him, take a shuttle to the quarantine zone. No guarantee they’ll let you in, of course.

that’s all aria has to say; we take a trip downstairs to sign up with the blue suns to hunt down and flush out archangel. but not before some sexism!!

you DO NOT GET THIS LINE or any equivalent if you’re playing as a male shepard. all the recruiter says is “you three look like you could do some damage. looking for a good fight?” and BOY FUCKING HOWDY why would you include this. why would you include this line at all. why would anyone think this was a good idea. why would you not include an equivalent for mshep if you were going to do this. i hate this line and i lose my fucking temper every time i think about it because wow, guess fucking what, we never see any batarian females! we never see any salarian females! we never see any god damn turian female characters! we don’t know SHIT about the women of this universe and oh, it’s so gratifying to know that even in the future, even across the galaxy, even non-humans don’t value women as equal to men. where’s your culture differences? where’s your fucking worldbuilding? you cannot mean to tell me the entire galaxy works on the same sexist paradigm of “man good women weak hurrhurr” because that’s so fucking lazy and weak and i despise it.

you get a choice (renegade, obvs), to pull a pistol on the guy, and then the lines carry on as usual. you buy into the blue suns, making a note to kill every one of the bastards when you’re done picking up archangel, and leave the club to find a transport just outside, where we’ll be carried away to the fight against archangel. as you leave, there’s a human kid that walks in and wants to join the fight as well - you can ask him just how old he is, and do a paragon interrupt to stop him from joining a fight that’s already taken out countless teams trying to get to this merc, but i was angry enough that i let it slide. teach the kid a lesson about trying to be fucking macho and the consequences.

grumbles loudly.

#mol plays me2

[twitchesandstitches]

twitchy mass effect squad thoughts: 2

Kasumi Goto: It’s hard to get a read on her, but she’s a ton of fun; I genuinely like her a fair amount, and she definitely sticks out of the cast. Not the least because as she admits in the third game, she’s out of place in a squad of commandos. I can honestly see her as a support member, in all honesty.

Grunt: This giant super soldier is Shepard’s son. She has a family, it’s Garrus and her adopted krogan son. Grunt is fascinating to me for his very understated character arc of going from a bloody-minded berserker, to... well, a berserker, but one who wants a REASON to fight, a purpose to live for. Being born in a tank and educated in visions, he has no real attachment to anything and he feels lost; Shepard gives him a purpose and its really good watching him grow.

Thane Krios: I just, I love this guy so much. He gives me big Nightcrawler vibes; A religiously devout and sincerely compassionate man. Him being an assassin doesn’t take it away for me, as the hanar don’t seem particularly cruel about employing him. (The hanar are chill.) HE’s genuinely got some of the most badass moments in the game, for how understated they are, and he evokes some of the biggest teary moments for me; dying from sickness, working to make the universe brighter in his last days. he was my first romance in mass effect, and I’m still brough to emotional compromise by the letter he wrote to Shepard as a last testimony. “I will wait for you by the sea.”

Jack: remember when I said ‘most of the humans in this game are kinda boring’? Jack is one of the big, BIG exceptions to that, though I have a hard time befriending her because I can’t be mean in this game. She’s a loud, rough, tough and fundamentally broken woman who is the biggest example of how horrifically evil Cerberus really is, having been kidnapped as a baby and experimented on her entire life; her turnaround into a protective teacher and reformed figure in 3 is genuinely an amazing change for her, given her life of violence.

Miranda Lawson: I will be straight forward; for the most part, I really DON’T like Miranda, and I don’t care for how popular she is in the fandom. She is the 2nd in command of Cerberus, and endorses it wholeheartedly for most of the 2nd game, and this makes her a human supremacist by default, so I automatically have a great loathing of that. Her constant excuses for the worst of Cerberus’ horrors is grating, though I like her more in the 3rd game, when she becomes a lot more responsible and less ‘humanity first’. (I also think her fanservice-y ness is really weird and at odds with her character, though i attribute it to Cerberus having weird uniforms.)

Legion: MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SERIES, AND I AM NOT KIDDING AT ALL. Legion is absolutely the entire reason I got into this series at all; I am not even kidding. I prefer to call this robot buddy ‘they’, since they are literally a plurality of many small minds in unison; I’m not very happy with the 3rd game treating Legion becoming an individuality as personhood because they were already a person; different does not mean lesser, yknow. I love Legion for being one of the most moral and ethical people, in their own strange way, and reading between the lines, it paints the image of someone who greatly regrets the deaths of the war with the geth’s makers, while at the same time resenting the quarians a lot for what they did. I totally interpret Legion as an abused child at the hands of the quarians, hating their makers but at the same time longing to understand WHAT they did to make their creators stop loving them.

Zaeed Masani: He’s entertaining, for sure, though his moral ambiguity makes him... questionable, to say the least! His thoughts on revenge, hate and retribution really do speak to me, but he’s not in my list of favs. It says a lot that him being against torture is honestly surprising.

Samara: why isn’t SHE the fanservice icon of the series. But seriously, I love Samara lot; if I had a proper list of favorite characters in the series, she’d be at the top five, most likely. She’s a paladin-archetype, absolutely devoted to her code of honor while being willing to look beyond the letter, and willing to do what must be done; her story is deeply tragic, and she’s one of my favorite characters. Also, she’s an actual MILF; im surprised she’s not more popular.

Morinth: I’ve never actually played with her, because you have to murder Samara to get her, and FUCK THAT. But I do have some opinions on her as a character, and these are them: she’s a terrible person, and her reasons for being a mass murderer are insufficient. Let’s not beat around the bush here; she’s a sadistic serial killer, a sexual predator. and she relishes in the kill. Yeah, she’s like that because she is an ardat-yakshi, but its one thing for her to flee the monatstaries; its another for her to have such an astronmically high body count. she didn’t NEED to kill anyone, she just wanted to do it to make herself feel good, and I insist she absolutely deserved getting her head squashed like a melon.

Mordin: Mordin reminds me of me; I am not even kidding at all, I genuinely talk like he does. (I have the speed and lack of focus of Mordin, and the detached, straightforward speaking fashion of Rogal Dorn from Text To Speech.) He’s a really interesting look into the salarians, and similar to Wrex and Garrus, he’s largely critical of their broader practices. He’s also notable in having participated in updating the genophage, keeping the krogan trapped in their slow rot, and his character development from someone who fully endorses it, to someone willing to die to atone for his sins, is a really striking thing. His loyalty mission is deeply affecting, with the quiet moment in the hospital and the corpses of dead women who let themselves be experimented on just for the hope of curing what he did to them, fanatical krogan driven to madness by despair... because of what he allowed to keep happening. Mordin’s soft words hinting at his remorse and doubt genuinely get me teary eyed.

Jacob: I’m one of the few people to have actually said this, I think... but I actually LIKE Jacob. Specifically, I like him for a lot of reasons that other people don’t; he’s straightforward, honest, doesn’t let his feelings get in the way of his duties, stays on track and does his job. I like him more than Miranda as it’s made clear that he is NOT a supporter of it’s motives, and is largely making use of its resources to do things with expedience, and seems to be working as an internal affairs, chipping away at its corruption. (He loses points for being mean to Legion and Thane, though.)

#queued #twitchy!mass effect

[aion-rsa]

Mass Effect: 10 Toughest Choices in the Trilogy

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BioWare knew from the start that they wanted Mass Effect to be a franchise about tough choices. Unlike Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic where your decisions often came down to whether or not you wanted to be “good” or “bad,” BioWare wanted Mass Effect to be the kind of game where you were rarely sure what the right decision was (if one even exists).

Granted, the Mass Effect franchise sometimes struggled to achieve that lofty goal, but many of the best moments in Mass Effect history come down to a tough choice that leaves you staring at the screen wondering what to do. In many cases, there is indeed no “right” decision. The trouble comes when you try to look far enough ahead to see all the possible angles and decide which decision is the right one for you.

While our look back at Mass Effect‘s toughest choices accounts for the consequences of those choices and how they impact the game’s dynamic story, it’s important to also remember how those choices felt in the moment they were presented and the ways they made us question how we were ever going to force ourselves to make a decision that could very well hang over our head for the rest of the game and beyond.

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10. The Ending- Mass Effect 3

Many words have been written about Mass Effect 3’s controversial ending, and many more words will likely be written about it now that we have the chance to revisit that ending via the trilogy’s Legendary Edition release. However, it’s hard to deny that the final choice presented during that ending is a tough one to make, even if it’s only because none of the options really speak to you.

There is a lot to be said about the decision to effectively whittle Mass Effect’s story down to three choices, but the feeling of having to make that choice at that moment after everything you’ve been through is hard to replicate. That choice is made all the more difficult by the fact that the consequences of each decision can play out differently enough based on your previous actions to make you wonder whether the choice you make at that moment is also the one that will honor what you’ve done before.

9. Destroy or Rewrite the Heretic Geth – Mass Effect 2

The decision to either destroy the Geth in Mass Effect 2 that have been aiding the Reapers or to rewrite them and convince them to rejoin the hivemind is sometimes criticized for being a decision that has a “right” answer in terms of the payoff.

That’s actually part of what makes this choice so fascinating, though. Many members of your squad think the right decision is to destroy the Geth (for various reasons), and it’s only through investigation and soul searching that you start to see the value and ethics of the other option. Of course, destroying the Geth may still be what you simply prefer to do as part of your roleplaying experience, which happens to be the kind of emotional conflict that makes these games so great. 

8. Save or Destroy The Council -Mass Effect

If you’ve never played Mass Effect, the decision to save the Citadel Council at the end of the game probably seems like an easy one. Who wouldn’t want to save the “good guys?” However, actually playing the game will likely make you wonder if the council is more of an annoyance than an asset and if it’s worth sacrificing so many lives and resources to save them. 

The thing that makes a Mass Effect decision so tough is weighing the value of your instincts against the consequences of your actions and your emotional investment in the outcome. So far as that goes, this is still one of the best examples of an “obvious” choice that isn’t nearly as obvious as it may seem.

7. Who to Romance – Mass Effect Trilogy

We’ve seen other games treat the ability to romance other characters as little more than a gimmick, but there are two things that separate the Mass Effect series from those other games: the quality of most of the characters you can romance and the ways that romancing characters allow you to better understand them.

It’s technically possible to romance multiple characters across the Mass Effect trilogy, but most of the more impactful and memorable relationships require you to commit to one partner over the others. It’s hard enough to make that decision, but the really tough part is not dwelling on what could have been. 

6. Destroy or Save Maelon’s Data – Mass Effect 2

If you complete Mordin’s loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2 (which you should), you’ll eventually confront one of Mordin’s students (Maelon) who has been performing unspeakable experiments in search of a cure for the Genophage. You’ll have to decide whether to keep the data related to his research or destroy it. 

Aside from the ethical dilemmas associated with the research methods that data comes from, the thing that makes this decision so hard is the fact that the game offers little indication of what this is really all about and how far the consequences will go. Is there something in that data that will lead to more deaths? Can you really trust Mordin given his past? Your decision may come down to what you think the Shepard character you’ve built so far would do, but trying to guess what will happen is certainly part of the fun.

Read more

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5. Give the Illusive Man the Collector Base or Destroy it – Mass Effect 2

You’re on your way to destroy the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2 when you receive a transmission from the Illusive Man. He asks you to utilize a radiation pulse that will kill the Collectors but preserve the base. With their technology, he believes he can help find a way to destroy the Reapers. 

This is something of a companion to the “Council” decision from the first game in that your feelings about the Illusive Man will likely impact your choice. Is your animosity towards the Illusive Man blinding you, or are you right to suspect that his seemingly generous offer isn’t what it appears to be? The long-term payoff of this one is a little underwhelming but, it’s a fantastic dilemma delivered at the right time. 

4. Free or Kill the Rachni Queen -Mass Effect

Not too long into your Mass Effect adventure, you confront the Rachni Queen: the apparent sole survivor of a species once partially responsible for a long and violent war. The queen asks for you to spare her life so that she has a chance to rebuild her species, but given the historic actions of that species, you may decide to kill her instead. 

While this is another one of those instances where the payoff of your decision doesn’t quite justify the feeling of the moment you have to make it, this was certainly one of the first Mass Effect decisions that really made you stop and think. It may be little more than a test of your moral compass, but it’s certainly a fascinating one. 

3. Save the Geth or the Quarians? – Mass Effect 3

One of Mass Effect 3’s best moments see the Geth and Quarians engage in a massive battle. Geth companion Legion asks you to give the Geth the Reaper code so that they can perhaps aid you in future battles. Quarian companion Tali says that doing so will likely lead to the Geth killing the Quarians and that it’s better to simply be rid of the Geth altogether.

It’s entirely possible to broker peace between the Geth and Quarian, but if you haven’t made the right moves along the way, then you’ll ultimately need to pick one side over the other. Not only does your choice have galactic ramifications but it will lead to the death of one of your companions. Aside from the diplomatic option and the “out” it provides, this is arguably the ultimate example of a tough Mass Effect choice. 

2. Save Ashley Or Kaidan – Mass Effect

While trying to destroy Saren’s base on Virmire, a series of circumstances put Ashley and Kaidan’s lives in jeopardy. It becomes clear you can only help one of them, but which one do you save? 

The set-up is simple, but the fact that you’re forced to choose between two of the companions who have been with you the whole time is more than enough to make this one of the hardest decisions in the Mass Effect trilogy. Granted, these aren’t the most beloved characters in the game, but in a strange way, that almost makes the decision more difficult as it robs you of an “obvious” choice.

1. Picking Your Squad for the Suicide Mission – Mass Effect 2

The final mission in Mass Effect 2 makes little effort to hide how dangerous it will be. As you prepare to infiltrate the Citadel, you’re forced to decide which of your crew members will assist you in what is clearly described as a suicide mission. Make the right decisions, and you all might just make it through alive. Make the wrong decisions, and the consequences could be devastating.  

The thing that makes this choice so tough and so memorable is the fact that it’s both sudden and very much based on the little choices that you’ve made so far up until this point. Making the “right” decision requires you to make a series of right decisions along the way that allow you to clearly see the best path forward. Overall, this is one of the best examples of a Mass Effect choice that’s tough at the moment, tough based on your previous actions, and tough based on what you suspect the consequences of your decision may be.

  The post Mass Effect: 10 Toughest Choices in the Trilogy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[kestrelsansjesses]

No power, snowed in for Shakarian

[[Sorry this took forever. :D I hope you like though!]] 

Vacations had never been a feature in Shepard’s life. Before the Reapers there had never been time, and afterward there had been so much recovery. It seemed unbelievable that she was out of the hospital now, that she even had limited mobility, with Garrus by her side. That her friends had been there was another bonus, opening up their arms and homes for when she was ready. She wasn’t though, not yet, but she was ready for a break.

“Somewhere warm and tropical. That’s all I ask.” It was not without a sense of mischief that Shepard clicked ‘buy’ on shuttle tickets to Iceland, though her reasons ran far deeper than just giving Garrus grief.  There was something about the phrase ‘swimsuit weather’ that made her cringe. The world wasn’t prepared for the scars that marred her otherwise pale skin, still so ugly and raw. Truth be told, she wasn’t ready for anyone to see them either, except for Garrus, and even that was with reluctance.

Because nothing could ever be simple for Shepard, there was yet another undercurrent to it. There would be no Mordin gathering shells on their vacation. She could cross every shore, sail every sea, and Thane would not be somewhere just beyond the horizon. No, she wasn’t ready for the beach just yet.

Thus they found themselves on a swift shuttle to a remote spot bound in by snow, daylight just cresting the horizon as they arrived. “Don’t get used to it,” their pilot warned. “Big storm expected tonight, but you may still see the aurora. Say, aren’t you Commander-” With that, Shepard shut the door firmly, Garrus wheeling her out across the icy stone path down to their cabin.

While Shepard stoked a fire, relieved to get out of her chair and stretch her legs in an environment where no one would see her fall, Garrus prepared the food. It was all premade, of course- she trusted his cooking skills only a small amount over her own, which was to say not at all. Luckily, he could just about manage putting something in to be re-heated, though she heard him cursing as his talons hit the wrong buttons again and again, all of them too small for turian hands.

Over the sound of Garrus’ increasingly creative curses, Shepard shouted out, “Garrus, it’s starting to snow. Come look!” There was already a light dusting on the ground, but now the sky was grey and heavy, the limited sunlight swiftly vanishing. There was something magical about the way the flakes fell down, the world becoming that much more silent, the tracks of her wheelchair and Garrus’ footprints vanishing swiftly as the snow began to fall in earnest.

“Brr,” was Garrus’ response as he moved to turn up the heat by a few degrees, taking it from comfortably cool to warm, even toasty.

“Turians have no stamina,” she scoffed in response, lighting a match carefully and watching the fire go up with a certain pride. She had made it by herself, with no help. Making things… That was something she could do with her ‘retirement.’ Yeah. Right.

When her back was turned, Garrus swooped behind Shepard, pulling her neatly over her shoulder and carrying her to the couch. “I’m cold,” was the only explanation he offered, putting her down with considerable delicacy and settling in next to her. The power chose then to flicker, setting Garrus to pulling the heaviest down comforter he could find. “You know Shepard, this reminds me of that time on Noveria…”

****

There were loose ends. There were always loose ends. Noveria wanted Shepard to collect some of the geth corpses for examination. It was simply work, almost insultingly so, but they had a valid point- if any data could be gathered, it could help prevent future attacks. It wasn’t as if there was any further danger. One crew member was really all she needed to bring with her.

“Vakarian, get in the Mako.”

“Why me? It’s a little bit nippy.”

“Because you whine the most.” The smile that spread across her face was positively wicked.

Bundled into the Mako, they headed out into a frozen world, one still littered with robotic bits and pieces. The workers would return eventually, but the roads were still blown out and blocked,  making navigation treacherous for all but the most hardy vehicles. Coupled with conditions that were labelled ‘bad’ (scarcely worth thinking about on this planet), Shepard was nervous setting out, and Garrus was silent, checking his weapons again and again, shivering dramatically now and then to prove a point.

A sudden gust of wind buffeted the vehicle, sending it rocking for a second, systems faltering and flashing red. “It’s okay. We’re rated to withstand harsher conditions-” and with that, the Mako died completely, everything going out, the only noise the howl of wind and ice hitting the windscreen. “I’ll radio in for assistance.”

“Does it feel colder already, or is that just me?” A blue scarf lay prominently on Garrus’ carapace, and he pulled it tighter around himself.

“Shut for a minute and let me try and get the radio working.” She was good with tech; if Shepard could operate a drone, she could get a radio to work, right?

Wrong.

There were contingencies, of course, but in their case it was sending up a few flares and waiting for rescue. An hour or two tops. Maybe three. Not enough to die. Probably.

But the cold descended rapidly, filling first Garrus’ bones and then her own. They shivered, sitting discretely apart and not talking, Garrus making it plenty clear what he thought about the whole situation. Shepard couldn’t entirely disagree with his assessment. The degrees of bullshit were too damn high.

After fifteen minutes of pathetic solo shivering, she spoke up. “Look, we can share body heat. That’s it.” He shot her a look, but scooched closer so that they were almost, but not quite touching. It seemed like Shepard’s cheeks grew heated immediately, but she tried to think of anything but his proximity or the way they had been covertly looking at each other over the past few weeks.

“No one on the Normandy has to hear about this,” Garrus reasoned, and suddenly they were touching, even if it was through layers of armor. Oh yes, they were definitely feeling quite a bit warmer.

Another few minutes of silence. “So…” Shepard ventured, “You come here often?” Garrus’ laugh was a burst of welcome noise, breaking down some barrier that existed between them. When he slung his arm around her shoulders, she was able to convince herself that it was purely for warmth.

Still the cold crept in, and it wasn’t long before both their eyes grew heavy. “We’re not going to freeze to death waiting for help.” Whether Shepard was trying to reassure Garrus or herself was very much up in the air. “A nap won’t hurt.”

“I’ll stand watch. I’ve got your back, Shepard.” More warmth spread through her, and slowly her head leaned down to rest against his armor. It was as cold as anything else within the Mako, but she could still feel him radiating heat outward. As she drifted off, it seemed only natural that their bare fingers would entwine- what was one more source of contact if not another source of heat?

They didn’t have to tell a soul.

#Shakarian #Garrus Vakarian #Garrus #FemShep #Shepard #Mass Effect fanfiction #Mass Effect #Mass Effect fan fiction #Noveria #foenixphire

[bioware-reacts]

Would you please have the mass effect crew react to shepard throwing them a little birthday party and a well meaning gift? (its sad no one ever has one in the game, just a bit) thank you!

I love the idea of Shepard throwing the crew birthday parties! - Mod Jade

Liara: Asari don’t really celebrate every birthday they have since they live for so long, they only celebrate the milestones, so Shepard throwing a party for her was unexpected. She finds it extremely sweet, even if she doesn’t completely understand the human birthday traditions. When Shepard presents her with the gift she cries. No one has ever been so thoughtful before. 

Garrus: honestly the surprise party scared him when Shepard burst out of a container yelling “surprise!”, like he nearly shot them before he realized what the hell was going on. Garrus appreciates the party and takes full advantage of being the centre of attention as the birthday boy. He gives Shepard an awkward one-armed hug when they give him his present, and promises to find one just as meaningful for them in return. 

Tali: she’s very excited at the party and keeps hugging Shepard and saying thank you because honestly someone remember her birthday and throwing her a party is so sweet? she gets very drunk at the party, and drunkenly sobs as how perfect Shepard’s present is, she keeps going on and on about how much she appreciates Shepard and the gift

Kaidan: he almost forgot his birthday to be honest until Shepard brought up having a little party on the Normandy. He politely refuses, says it’s not necessary, and is happily surprised when Shepard does it anyway. He unwinds at the party with a few beers and thanks Shepard enthusiastically when he gets his present from them. 

Ashley: she’d been a bit gloomy that day, being away from her sisters on her birthday was always kind of crummy, but she didn’t mention it to anyone since she was a professional and they had other things to do. When Shepard threw her a surprise party that evening she nearly cried, hugging every single crew member in thanks. When Shepard gave her a present she heartily thanked them and declared them the best CO she’s ever had 

Wrex: birthdays are more or less a big deal for krogans since its one more year they’ve beaten the genophage by being born and living, having said that thought the korgan aren’t a very touchy-feely race so Wrex never expected anything for his birthday, let alone a party. He takes it as an opportunity to get drunk and challenge everyone to a wrestling match. He’d never tell anyone but he was secretly touched by Shepard’s gift, outwardly he gruffly says they shouldn’t have bothered, but he takes good care of the gift

Miranda: she was never actually “born” technically so she’s never celebrated her birthday, so she was rather shocked when Shepard suggested a birthday party. She appreciates the thought, she’s not really a party sort of person but she does relax and have fun at the party. She genuinely thanks Shepard for her present, it’s the first time anyone’s ever given her something because they liked her and wanted her to be happy.

Jack: she’s got better things to do really. but she can be persuaded to turn her birthday party into a day out killing rogue Cerberus agents then going to Omega and getting smashed at Omega. That’s a good time in her book. And she won’t tell anyone but Shepard in private, but she really appreciates the thought. Also the gift is wicked, even if she expected Shepard to ask for something in return at first, no one’s ever given her something before, and she likes it more than she wants to admit.

Grunt: he doesn’t really have a birthday, but he’ll take the opportunity to be spoiled by his space dad/mum. A day running amok and getting away with it because he’s the birthday boy is always a good day for him. also he doesn’t let anyone touch his present, this was from Shepard and no one can have it but me! don’t even look at it! he guards his present like a dragon guarding its gold

Mordin: a birthday party? for him? no no he’s simply too busy with analysis and business with Collector’s can’t be delayed and is that cake? for him? ... he can take a break for a moment. he’s genuinely touched at the present Shepard gives him, been a while since he had friends who cared. 

Zaeed: what is he twelve? a birthday party, really Shepard? only if it involves explosions and copious amounts of alcohol. Zaeed won’t admit it to anyone but being a lone merc for so long, Shepard’s party and thoughtful gift actually make him pretty happy

Legion: he understands the notion of a birthday party, but deems it unnecessary for him since Legion doesn’t necessarily have a birth day, but he has a day where his unit specifically was built, so he allows Shepard to celebrate that if they wish. what he doesn’t understand is the gift Shepard gives him. he’s being given an item because Shepard-Commander cares about him? thinks of him as part of the crew? he thanks Shepard for their kindness, but when asked what he thinks about it, “information not available”is the response. 

Thane: he sincerely enjoys the party Shepard throws him, its nice to remember hes not alone.he claims to not need worldly possessions, but he really likes the present Shepard gives him, its one of the only things he genuinely owns for himself, and that it was given to him by Shepard makes it even more special. he keeps it with him everywhere he goes

Jacob: hell he was surprised Shepard even remembered his birthday, but he’s not complaining about getting a party that’s for sure. Cerberus isn’t as strict as the Alliance but he missed the comradeship aboard an Alliance vessel. he appreciates the gift Shepard gives him, and promises himself to get Shepard an even better birthday present to trump this gift\

Kasumi: she thinks it’s sweet that Shepard remembered her birthday, she only told them once as an off-hand comment she didn’t think they’d throw her a party. she has a lot of fun at the party, she loves spending time with the crew and especially Shepard. She hugs Shepard for the present and honestly squeals like a little girl when she’s in private and opens it. it’s perfect and just what she wanted, she’ll treasure it forever  

Samara: she doesn’t need nor particularly want a party, but she appreciates the thought. the party reminds her of happier times and that makes her happy but also a bit sad, still she enjoys being in the presence of her new comrades. she adores the present Shepard gives her, even though as a justicar she gave up all worldly possessions she treasures the gift for years to come

James: honestly having your CO throw you a birthday party is the best feeling ever, especially when drinks are on them. he has a blast, or what he can remember of the night anyway. he thinks his present is just the best and he can be found telling any soldiers at Purgatory about how awesome Shepard is and showing them his present to brag about his CO

EDI: now EDI doesn’t have a birthday, and she doesn’t quite understand the concept of celebrating someone’s birth, even more so in her case since she was never really born. She tells Shepard this, only to receive an exasperated eye-rolling and explanation that it’s the thought that counts. she asks to record Shepard’s brain wavelengths to save the thought, and that;s where Shepard stops trying to explain birthday parties. still, they have the party, and EDI does enjoy herself. she kind of gets the idea of being with your friends, but she lacks material wants being an AI, so she isn’t sure what to expect when Shepard gives her a present. she tells Shepard that she likes it, receiving a gift from someone close to her is actually exciting. she begins contemplating what to get Shepard for their birthday to show her affection in return

Javik: this is just. primitiave bullshit. what is this stupid cone hat he has to wear? why are they chanting at him and lighting confectionery on fire? No I don’t want your stupid primitive gift Shepard, hey wait no give it back it’s mine you gave it to me!

I’ll add Samantha, Steve and Joker if anyone wants me to as a bonus!  

- Mod Jade

#Anonymous #mod jade #bioware-reacts #mass effect #reaction #mass effect react

[inoshatrynn]

Honestly, one of the hardest death scenes in the Mass Effect games for me is Sloane Kelly. Even before I read Nexus Uprising, I felt her to be misguided in her evil and relatably bitter.

Despite all her bluster, she seemed to be someone that enjoys ego posturing and isn't so tough once you get passed the facade. She also knows Tann and what he's capable of. Regardless of her actions, she doesn't lie. Even when confronted about the drug lab she doesn't lie, and she seems to back down when Ryder puts her foot down. Tann is a bigger sort of Evil than even she is, and I think she also understands that once Ryder has completed her mission, that will reduce the amount of influence she has over the Exiles on Kadara. One wonders if there is some sort of relief on her part because she makes comments that the person she is is not the person she wants to be.

The people she is Exiled with are sent off with little food and water and no real idea of where to go since the scouting parties returned duds as far as the golden worlds go. Then, they ran into the Kett. Desperation is a powerful enemy.

Furthermore, the Collective appear to be very well funded and supplied even when stealing from the Outcasts. It’s left ambiguous on who is really supporting Reyes. Then there is the whole matter of Tann going out of his way to sully her reputation to newcomers by using Ryder and Keri T'Vessa. Furthermore, he uses APEX to hunt her.

She has done all the work of a Pathfinder without the AI and being able to unlock the vaults. She’s also done it with next to nothing.

[**Uprising Spoilers below**]

After reading Nexus Uprising, her story gets far more tragic. Jien Garson picked her staff, including Sloane, because she saw the good in them. Sloane admits that she came to Andromeda for a fresh start, to be a voice of reason and order while being more of an explorer than a grunt.

However, she behaves like an NCO that is freshly out of the service: She neither understands civilian life nor understands having large-scale responsibilities. She later admits some of this to herself.

Whatever mess the Nexus leaders were mixed up in, she had no part in. She met Jien Garson and Director Addison once before launch.

Sloane admits her failings as a leader to herself, to Addison, and to Calix. She also blames herself for the Uprising. There is more internal dialogue about her assuming a role she didn't want, and becoming a person she doesn't want to be. She also admits she has no idea what she is doing, has doubts about her skills as a leader, and secretly looks to others for guidance.

It's stated that she understands desperation from events in her past and uses those memories as a means to keep everyone alive. Part of me wonders here if she might have been Earthborn with a past similar to Shepard's.

It feels as though there was a concerted effort from Tann, in particular, to muscle her out because her personality is offensive to him: She’s outspoken, colorful, stubborn. Instead of trying to work with her, he tries to manipulate her and when she won’t cooperate to his liking, he uses his favorite, Spender, and Addison’s idle hands to stab her in the back. Literally.

In the game, Sloane is joking when she makes the statement that she never agreed with Addison on anything. She does on several occasion, and they actually work incredibly well together. 

Tl;dr:

Sloane's life in Andromeda has been being the victim of Milky Way drama through overt actions and through a series of micro-aggressions. It's so bad that it's to the point where the Initiative kills her soul and then kills her body. No attempt at reconciliation.

Her resulting death is what Tann wants. On top of that Ryder lies to her just like everyone else in the Initiative that she has tried to trust, and she gets shot in the back.

It makes me think of loved ones in my life who have been preyed upon by others that didn’t like them for some petty reason, went out of their way to try and ruin them, and then got upset/violent when their victim got mad and/or demonized them when they resorted to a way of life viewed as unsavory as a means to get by.

Since I started writing Melody of Fools, I can’t get the image out of my head of Addison locking herself in a room so no one can watch her lose it. She talks a good game, but she is surprisingly softhearted. She took the deaths of her compatriots on the Nexus really hard with having no time to grieve, and I think Sloane’s death would be the death knell for whatever spirit she has left.

Fanfiction aside, Sloane’s death scene evokes a lot more emotion than others in the series including Thane and even Mordin. It makes me want to cry, and there is no way in hell I could ever.

[saintcheesus]

So @galpalaven and I had a very pleasant and heartbreaking conversation about the one and only turian bad-boy Garrus Vakarian, and through this I was finally able to muster enough courage to write this thing. I hope you enjoy!! 

----

“Is there something wrong with Garrus?” Liara approached Leona in the mess hall and interrupted her afternoon coffee break. Leona sighed and put the mug down. She was the third person to ask that today. First it was James, then it was Tali, and now her. Truth be told she hadn’t seen him at all that day, and while it was unusual, she simply chalked it up to him being busy with calibrations or keeping Palaven safe.

God. Palaven. She could never erase his face when he looked up at the burning planet. Fear, anger, sadness. Of course, she had been the same when Earth was attacked, but she didn’t have family there.

“I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I saw him a while ago. He was sitting at the table and he looked…I’m not sure what to call it, Leona, but he was distant and while I am no psychologist I fear he might have been disassociating.”

That worried her. She loves Garrus more than she ever thought she could. She tells him every night just before they settle for bed that she wants him to know that if he ever needed to talk, if he ever needed company, anything, she was there for him and each time he would at her and smile and say that he knows. She knows that Garrus has a hard time with accepting the fact that he isn’t a burden, and that he can afford to be selfish with his emotions. He always tells her the same thing, she only wished he could believe it himself.

“He hasn’t come out of the main battery since?”

Liara shook his head.

“I’ve come out to see if maybe he left, but his door has been closed.”

For a moment, Leona thought about getting EDI to pull up the feed from inside of the battery, but thought against it. Garrus didn’t deserve to have his privacy breeched like that. Not again, at least. She took another sip of her coffee and told Liara that she would handle it. Liara gave her a small smile and returned to her room. Leona, on the other hand, took careful steps towards the battery’s door, almost hesitant to open it. She knocked first, and there was no answer but there was also no one telling her to go away either. She opened the door and walked in to find him sitting on one of the crates, staring at the floor, as still as the air in the battery. He didn’t even react to her coming in.

“Garrus?”

Still nothing. She made her way over and took a seat next to him.

“Hey,” She nudged him slightly. He jumped in response and she watched as he slowly came to remember where he was.

“Oh, Leona.”

Her brows furrowed at the way he whispered her name. It didn’t sound like him, she didn’t like it.

“You okay there big guy?”

He took a while to answer her and as she suspected, he nodded and moved to get up. “Yes, yeah, I was…just taking a break.”

“By locking yourself in here all day? You know the rest of crew is worried about you right?”

His back was to her now, his face turned slightly to show that he was still listening, but he didn’t respond. She stood too and leaned on the wall.

“Garrus what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Leo…I’m fine.”

He sounded so tired and…sad and she wished that he would confide in her like she does with him. She just stared and watched him type away on the control panel in front of him, he wasn’t doing any work on the gun, she knew better. She shook her head and pushed herself off the cold metal wall. She moved to the entrance of the room and said, “You know sometimes I wish you would understand there’s nothing wrong with not being okay, Garrus. You aren’t being selfish, and you most certainly are not burdening me with your problems.”

He stopped typing and his hands dropped to his sides like they were too heavy to lift. His shoulders sagged and he looked down. She turned to leave the room when she heard his voice, almost too soft for ears to pick up.

“I’m tired, Leona.”

And in that moment her heart broke. She spun on her heel and grabbed his hand, ushering him to the elevator so that they could talk privately in their room. He sank down to the bed and Leona sat beside him, rubbing her fingers on his hand.

“What’s wrong Garrus?” She was trying to speak as softly as possible because he wasn’t one to share his emotions and she hated that he suffered in silence.

“A few weeks before you came to Menae…my mom…she uh…she….”

God. Was all she could think. He didn’t even need to hear the last word to know what he was going to say. How long had he been keeping this to himself?

“It’s okay Garrus, you don’t have to finish the sentence.” She never heard such raw pain in his voice and she wasn’t sure if turians could cry, she didn’t want to find out.

“I wasn’t sure if I could, to be honest.” He let out a dry laugh and she winced. It sounded like it hurt to even do that.

“What was she like?” It was the only thing she could think to ask. The only way she could comment and comfort him without giving away that she knew all along.

She remembers the Shadow Broker dossiers, and the first one she tapped on was his. She debated for a long time if she wanted to read it, but there was so much she didn’t know about him, and so much she missed out on while she was dead. She read about his mother and how Garrus donated all his money to helping her, how he convinced Mordin to send Collector tissue to the facility without her, and possibly the Illusive Man knowing. He claimed that the wine was all he could afford on a vigilante’s salary, but she knew the real reason and could only smile in response to his joke. She was half tempted to send her own contribution, but she didn’t want Garrus to feel violated and betrayed that she knew. She knew about his sister and his father and wondered just how lonely Garrus felt. She only wants him to be happy and her want became too much for her to think about and so she told Liara when she visited the ship.

His mandible flickered, if he didn’t want to talk then she wouldn’t press him, but she sat and waited.

“She was beautiful, and I know that’s the first thing everyone says about their mother but she really was. Unlike my dad, she never pushed me, never got mad at me for not being the ideal son. She just let me be and I was so grateful for her. She was kind, and strong, and so full of life, Leona. I used to be so happy to just be with her and have her near me. She would always tell me she loved me and I always felt so safe around her.”

Leona felt tears pricked her eyes at the way he spoke about her. This was a side of Garrus she wanted to see more, so unabashedly full of love and kindness, the real Garrus.

“She let me cry, she let me smile and she let me laugh. Before you, Leo, she was the best woman in my life. Solana was okay too, I guess.” They both chuckled at that.

“She would’ve loved you.” He whispered. Leona stroked the side of his face, feeling the scar underneath her touch.

“I know you want to know what happened, and I’ll tell you as much as I can but you’ll forgive me for not lingering on it. She got sick, Corpalis Syndrome is what it’s called. It’s a rare neurological degenerative disease for turians. I’m not too sure about human diseases but it means that she had trouble remembering things, or sometimes it was as if she was never sick. It’s terminal, and there really isn’t much known about it, or really any treatment that works to halt it or cure it entirely.”

Leona was telling herself that she would find a cure for it one day. She helped cure the genophage why couldn’t she cure this? She could donate money, and name the donation after his mother. She certainly doesn’t have a shortage of credits, and she wants to make him happy.

“Dad…I know he’s trying to keep a brave face for us, but I know he’s hurting. She was the love of his life, anyone could see that, and turians bond for life. I’m glad Sol was still there with him, I don’t think he would have wanted to be alone. He spent a lot of credits trying to keep her alive, and I know a large portion of it came from the retirement fund he’s been saving for years. See that’s the thing about my father, he acts unshakeable but he’s not. He spent a lot of time on the Citadel during our childhood, but when he came back home, he always looked so ecstatic to see her. They would touch face plates a lot and whisper things to each other, but the way his subharmonics reacted whenever he saw her…you’d have to hear it to believe it. I only got to see her a little before she…but it never failed that I would see him curled up on the chair next to her bed, fast asleep, holding her hand. I hope he’s okay…”

She kept stroking his face, staring at him even though he wasn’t facing her. In this short time, she learned so much about him, about his family and it motivated her even more to stop the Reapers once and for all. So that Garrus’ question would be answered.

“I hope so too Garrus. I hope so too…”

----

I’ll also tag @shakarian-calibrations @ao3feed-shakarian @emmavakarian-theirin

#shakarian #garrus vakarian

[eloarei]

Some Mass Effect LE thoughts

So basically, Mass Effect is, if not my favorite series ever, easily in my top 5, and I’m really happy to be playing it again! I’m about 1/4 through ME3 right now and here are some thoughts about LE and my general Mass Effect history:  --I haven’t played the series for about 5 years, so it’s nice to come back to it!  --Like most PS3 players, I started with ME2 and only went back to play ME1 years later. I’d only played it once before this, so I hardly remembered it.  --The absolute unnecessity of loot in that game! Boy.  --But then you get to 2 and it’s like ‘hey Illusive Man, where my mods?!’  --The ME1 armor? It’s... it... it looks like pyjamas? I didn’t really think about it until ME2 rolled around and finally Shep looked like she could take a hit.  --Oh yeah, let’s talk about that ME1 standard femShep. I hate to be cruel, but am I the only one who hates her? The thing is, I loved her design for ME3 originally. The box art especially? Gorgeous. Then I booted up ME1LE and she looks like she had plastic surgery. Am I crazy? Am I misremembering? I had to start over the game and make a new Shep because 10 minutes in I just couldn’t stand looking at her mouth. I glanced at her when I started up ME3LE and I think she looked a little more natural? But still not... quite right, I feel.  --I ended up modeling my Shep after my OC (like always) so she’s a little goofy looking, but I love her.  --Because I NEED the trophies, I was sure to romance someone in ME1. However, I forgot the order of things and kinda thought the romance happened before Virmire (dummy; why would I think that?). So I was like “yeah cool, romance Kaidan, then get him killed, and I can then romance Garrus with no guilt. Oh, oops, wait. Can’t do that.” So I had to sacrifice Ashley. Sad. And guilty too.  --Initially (probably due to playing ME2 first) I didn’t much care for Ash or Kaidan, but talking to them in ME1, I actually like them both a lot. (Husband insists they’re meant to be together. I can’t strictly disagree.) I think they’re both more complex than they seem at first, and I think they deserve growth.  --ME2. Romanced Garrus. I mean, obviously. Gosh I forgot how short his romance scene was though haha.  --ME2 is just my comfort zone, tbh, I’ve played it so much. Few surprises there, except a few things you don’t see if you didn’t play ME1, which I usually hadn’t.  --EXCEPT. I forgot some of the things about the ending, liiiike... how your companions’ survival depends on INVISIBLE MATH. I was doing great. I’d done all the side quests, loyalty missions, and upgrades. Then just as the trophy dings after the final battle: Tali’s dead on the floor.  --AND THEN THE GAME CRASHES.  --I’m raging, but I have to redo the whole damn thing either way. So I start over from the start of the Collector Base. I realized my mistake was sending Zaeed to escort the crew. Gotta send Kasumi instead. But this time I mix up the other roles a little, for funsies. Have Zaeed lead the second fireteam instead of Jacob. Looks like it’s all going well, and then... oh, oops, Zaeed dies. Shiiiitttt. So I start over and go with the standard options again. Samara does the barrier, Jacob leads the fireteam, Kasumi takes the crew. I blast through it all for the third time, and finally nobody dies (and I get to save Garrus from falling off a cliff; the time before it’d been Mordin). (Mordin and Garrus are my ME2 dream team; I’m the biotic.)  --ME3. A sigh of relief for the smoother combat, the smoother conversations, the more natural and cinematic animations. The gun mods. The level-up system. It’s clear that they combined elements of both 1 and 2, and it’s a lot nicer overall, imo.  --I think I accidentally flirted with Kaidan when I was just trying to be nice, uggghhh. How am I gonna break it off with him? Later he’s like “so was there something between you and Garrus?” and I choose “I’m sorry”, which is like... WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Like, I AM sorry, but I don’t apologize! Kaidan, you and me? we’re through!! Where’s the We’re Just Friends Okay option??? Yes, I know we had a steamy night once three years ago but it was just for the trophy, I’m sorry. Garrus is my real space husband; I’m sorry for leading you on.  smh  --And that’s about where I’m at.  --Oh but of course I’m loving every interaction with EDI and/or Joker. Just love that Enemies to Lovers 100k. ‘She saved my life now we’re besties’? Perfect. And Joker’s response when you ask if he knew she was gonna get a body. “Do you think I could’ve kept that to myself?!  *gazes lovingly at EDI* I woulda baked a cake.” I love them. --BUT ALSO  --Lordy this game crashes a lot (on PS4). In fact, it crashed while autosaving during Zaeed’s loyalty mission (which is hard enough already), and it CORRUPTED THE SAVE DATA. I’ve never had that happen, in 12 years of ‘next gen’ gaming! Thank god I had a few redundant saves, so I only had to redo that mission and not hours of the game, but yikes.  --I miss the multiplayer.  --Other than that, I’m happy. =] 

#elo talks #long post #Mass Effect #Mass Effect Legendary Edition

[ameliasnormandy]

Shepard’s Crew in Andromeda

OK. No one has asked for this, or at least I don’t think anyone has asked for this. I haven’t been on Tumblr since I tried the new thing, and by new thing I mean actually posting my ideas on Tumblr, and that might be a thing I do every now and then. If I feel like it. That is how it is most of the time. If I feel like it. There really isn’t anything else to that. No one cares about my ramblings, so I can do what I want with this, when I want to. If people start taking an interest I may take it more seriously, though I doubt it. I don’t take anything too seriously. Life can get kind of boring if you do that. So, I’m just going to let it slide.

On to the real topic of the day. The real topic is the team that I would see going with Shepard to Andromeda, because I don’t see everyone going with them.

I just want to take off for a moment about the dead ones. The ones that basically no matter what happens they die. I guess there is only one of those. Thane. No matter what happens he dies. Which is very sad, because I liked him as a character. Now the others can live in certain circumstances. I want to point out one thing I have been having issues with, I don’t have the DLC for Mass Effect 2, so I can’t talk about the two people that you get in that game. I will come back to that game and those characters when I can get them, and spend time playing though that game.

So, let’s start with Urdnot Wrex. He is pretty easy for this decision. He wouldn’t go, because he has too much to lose. If he survived of course. He might not have even survived. There are so many ways to kill him, but if you went through everything and found a way to save him than he deserves the chance to live with his people, and he would make that choice. He would decide to stay with his people. They need him, more than Shepard does. So, for that reason Urdnot Wrex would be staying in the Milky Way system.

Next? Mordin. He should be the next one we talk about. I am talking about him next because of the death thing, though I guess all the characters could have death things. He is one of the major ones though. It takes a lot not to kill him. I have never been able to do it. Something you should probably know about me now is that I am a paragon player through and through. I have never been anything else, and I don’t know why I try to argue with people when they tell me that is what I am. So, I personally, have never had the heart to let Mordin live, not that that gives me much heart, because it hurts watching him die every time. The point is there is a tiny chance that he lives. The question is would he leave with Shepard. The answer to that question is no. He would feel like he has to fix the Genophage. It had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong. I think that is what he would still think. He has a strong moral compass, and one that he refuses to leave behind him.

Jack next. No. I don’t think that she would go with Shepard. No, matter if Shepard is in a relationship with her or not. I don’t think she would go. She found home. She found what she loves, helping Biotic kids learn, and leaving them forever would be impossible for her. She would never forgive herself if she wasn’t there to help those kids rebuild.

I have debated about Miranda. Some part of me wants to say no. She wouldn’t leave her sister. She loves her sister too much to leave her. Another part of me wants to say yes. She has done it all. She has worked with everyone, but she finds that she works best with Shepard. For this reason, I could believe that she would go with Shepard. I think she is one that we would have to debate for a while about whether she would go or not.

Jacob wouldn’t, unless something terrible would happen to his family. It would be interesting to see that part of the world built. What happened to Jacob’s family that he turned cold again? What happened to his kid? His wife? All questions that would have interesting answers and more questions to come. But the truth is that the only way that it makes sense is if something happened to the family, because Jacob wouldn’t leave his family behind like his father did to him.

The next one is Kaidan. Kaidan is a probably. I think that Kaidan would go with Shepard. He has a lot to prove. He has done a lot of things that he isn’t proud of, and I think this would be a good way for him to prove himself. To prove that he can handle himself. Find where he truly belongs. Yes, I could see that some of you think of him like Jack, but I don’t think that he had the connection to his people that Jack has to hers. I think that he would be more willing to go, and I think it would be a chance for him to start over.

Now, I have to be honest, I never saved Ash. I always thought about it. I just think it’s a catch 22 for me. I am not a huge fan of Ashley, not that I am the biggest fan of Kaidan either. Neither of them are just in my top ten favorite characters, but actually giving a top ten for characters is something that might never happen, and even if it does it will take a lot longer for me to get the energy to write that. For now stick to this. I am going to have to say that if Kaidan went Ash would have to go instead of him. You know because the choice changes who is there, and if Kaidan is dead, but would have gone, then Ashley has to be the one to replace him. Even though I don’t know if she would have gotten because of her family.

We are doing Grunt next. I think that Grunt should be the next one up. His answer is yes. I know in the third game he was fitting in with the Krogan well, but I think it would be interesting to see Grunt interact with the other Krogans, the ones that made it to Andromeda. That is really my only reason for seeing Grunt go.

Let’s do Vega next. James Vega. I think he would go with Shepard. He became an N7 while Shepard was getting repaired, but then didn’t know what to do with it. When Shepard came back he had purpose again. So he, would go to keep his purpose.

Now, on to Garrius. He is another easy one. He would go. He would clearly go. Shepard helped him find his true purpose and without them he is lost. That is stated, so I think the best thing to do is take Garrius with Shepard.

Tali is a bit more complicated. I want to say that she would go, but I think her people would come first. She would have to have a Quarian reason to go there, to go with Shepard. I know Tali has connected with Shepard and there are times that I think she would go, there is also the probability that she would feel too much responsibility to her people. So, honestly I think Tali would be a tossup. It could go either way for her.

Samara wouldn’t go. She had spent so much time not seeing her daughter and then to have to kill one of her daughters and the other to die because of the reapers, keeping in touch with this last daughter would be too important for her to leave behind. She is staying in the Milky Way one of the few characters that I can be completely sure of.

Liara T’soni next. I think that she should be next. It makes sense for her to be next. I think, and sense I am the one writing this I get to decide that fact. Liara is one of the ones I am not sure about. She could get a chance to go out explore something unseen, to put her anthropology skills to the test. She would want to learn about a whole new world. Talk to the man that she consulted with. So, I could see her going with Shepard. Also, she is great friends with Shepard. At the same time there are a lot of reasons that she might not want to leave her new position. She might not want to. I think in a way she likes it. She likes her new position. She likes being the shadow broker. She likes being able to help people because she is the shadow broker, so I think the game could go either way for her.

Javik. I think he would go. You know if he didn’t kill himself. I think that that a new galaxy would be a great way for him to help his people, make sure that what happened to his people never happens again. I could see him going with Shepard. I could really see him going with Shepard if Liara went too. That would be more impressive to see.

EDI I think is the last of the squad characters that I need to talk about. If she is alive, then there is no Shepard. I think that I will talk about what happens if there is no Shepard in another writing, but it is as simple as that. I just want to point out that EDI would go with the other person though, because Joker would.

I think that the next person that should be talked about is… Joker. Joker would go in a heartbeat. The best and most important thing that Joker feels that he has done with his life was be part of Shepard’s crew so he would go, even if he is just remembering them.

I think that Doctor Chakwas would she has been part of every crew and she is one of the only people that completely understands Shepard.

I don’t think that Traynor would. I think she would work on developing a communication system that would be able to communicate with the people that went in the future for others to talk to them, but I don’t think that she would personally go with them.

I think that is all the important people. If there is someone that I am missing I am sure that someone will tell me. I am entering a very dangerous place and I know that if this ever gets traction all my errors will be shone and shunned.

 Amelia, Signing off.