un-vibed

[starseternelle]

“ is… is it mine? ” // @meaercies

__________🏹    THE       STAB       OF       HURT       THAT       COURSES       THROUGH       HER       TO       BE       QUESTIONED       CAUSES       HER       TO    TAKE    A    SMALL       STEP       BACK.       she   levels   her   gaze,       refusing   to   hide   the   storm   raging   behind   her   grey   blue   eyes.     whether    in    anger    or    grief,       she    could    not    truly    say     (       truth   be   told,       she   had   been   nervous    &&    frightened    for   what   this   pregnancy   could   possibly   mean,       but   amongst   it   all     there    had    been    a    kernel    of    hope    in    her    chest    too       )       she   wanted   this,       she   realized,     but    that    hope    is    dashed    with    just    one    question    from    him.     ❛    of    course    it's    yours.    ❜       she   forces   a   breath   through   her   nose,       out   through   her   mouth.       her   very   foundation   is   being   ripped   from   beneath   her.     hadn't    he    promised    to    always    be    a    safe    space    for    her    ??     ❛    do   you   think   so    lowly    of   me   that   you   could   think   otherwise    ??    ❜

[ircnwrought]

KISS & TELL

a kiss between two people in a fake relationship // @manupropria (rhys) to feyre !!

__________🏹      HER MORTAL SKIN IS PAINTED. every inch swirling in dark ink disappearing under barely there gauze. the dais sits blissfully empty, but amarantha's creatures fill the hall, the drumbeat of the music hitting a new frenzy as she lets rhys guide her against the walls. it only takes a moment, with unsipped faerie wine tight in hand, for the attor's attention to land on them both, eyes narrowing in suspicion && glee to see as she shrinks from its attention.

🏹__________ SHE UNDERSTANDS THE ROLE SHE PLAYS. though she doesn't understand rhys' endgame, she knows the farce of this ... relationship, of being the latest plaything of the fae is what masks his help from amarantha && brings her one step closer to freeing tamlin. the attor would be all to eager to expose the lie to amarantha in a bid to gain favor. with fear icing her blood, her voice is barely above a whisper as she turns to her companion. ❛   kiss me.   ❜

__________🏹 SHE DOESN'T STOP TO SEE IF HE'S NOTED THE THREAT SHE HAS, huntress' mind reeling to turn from prey to predator. instead, lips find his && strong hands steady her, marring the ink in telltale sign of physical embrace. she doesn't meet his gaze as she steps away && notices the attor has grown bored with their activities. it does not ease the vice grip on her chest. without another word, she tilts her goblet to the sky && drains it to its dregs. she wants to forget it all. she wants to forget rhys' touch, wants to forget the horrors of this place. most of all she wants to forget how she leaned into him in the final second of that kiss, drawn into him against her best efforts. what would tamlin think

[varnaedhar-a]

@unlockthestars​ asked: “ i still find pieces of you in me. ” (from Tai)

misc quotes meme // accepting !!

"Only because you're looking for them."

Inside the house, Raven can hear the faint sounds of children playing on the second floor, a loud, childish game of 'Huntresses,' with Taiyang's poor mutt as the ill-fated Grimm. If she watches the windows closely enough, she can occasionally see a bright flash of sunlight colored hair, wild and untamed as her own. Raven draws her gaze away from the windows and back to Tai, whose confession seemed to come as unprompted as this visit.

The truth was, she found pieces of him inside of her as well -- marks that her team had left on her soul, whether she was wanted them to or not. They had not made her kind. They had not changed her from being cold, and cruel, and solitary... but she did stop when she saw a wild sunflower. Stole a rose from any garden she passed. Still felt his touch on her bare skin when she so dared to allow her mind to venture to those places.

It wouldn't do any good to linger. "Any piece of me that is in you... is nothing you should hold onto, Tai. You and I both know you never learned anything good from me."

[seekerseekingsomething]

WIP Meme from the depths of the dungeons

Well, I have been called out. @bunnimew lifted up my rock and turned on the light so here I am.   Time to find all the 1/2 finished semi-abandoned projects I have laying around.  I have kind of lost my will to write due to changing life circumstances, but I still think about it frequently and want to reclaim it as it is something I really enjoyed.  But oh well, the meme goes on. Well. I suppose we start at the top.... if something interests you I’ll mark the ones that have been at least in part posted with a * for AO3 and a ** for FF.Net *** for both. Final Fantasy 8 -  Echoing Through Eternity*** - my flagship, unfinished, no end in sight. Post-Game AU about the absolutely awful state of the world post FF8, as the gang try to do something about it.  Squall/Fujin.  The entire concept of the story is a rewrite of an older fic Promises are all I have** That I wrote about 15 years ago.   The only cure [...] *- Shameless pornography Featuring a rather conservative Rinoa trapped in the orbit of some pretty gleefully promiscuous SeeD that gets worked on extremely sporadically.  contains some kink, and a fairly large dish of WLW Divine Apatite 2 *- Wherein Ultimecia gets kicked out of reality and decides that the best thing to do with her eternity is boink people and have deep philosophic musings.  Me having fun writing porn starring Ultimecia, kinky.  Fully commits to Ultimecia’s Awful accent. Dead By Daylight - How to Displease [...]*** - Another chapter in slow roll, updated whenever something funny occurs to me in universe, just a mess of goofy ideas like The Shape learning to moonwalk, or The Huntress learning a new song.

Naruto - 

Hot Blood, Cold Sweat, Bitter Tears **- BIG Naruto rewrite, aiming to rewrite the whole series, got so frustrated with it that I wrote a whole ass other giant project when I got stuck, thus Echoing happened.  Total Rewrite of the series with a slightly darker world and a lot of people being played smart and the power creep virtually turned Off.  Very Very slow progress on this one. Now into the Obscure stuff.... None of these are even partially posted anywhere

Legend of Zelda/For Honor Crossover -  For the Honor of Hyrule - Unposted anywhere crossover.  Wherein the world of Hyrule (BOTW) is in much rougher shape and is essentially in a state of all-out free-for-all war.  After the battle failed 100 years ago, The Hero got locked away to regenerate, however the Gorons blamed the Hylians and Rito, the Rito blamed the Zora and the Gorons, the Zora got furious, Fighting deepened and 100 years later, nobody has even tried to get peace actually happening in longer than many’s memory.  Not to mention Ganon’s minions enjoying their functional immortality to constantly break everything.  A darker world where fighting would be a lot more central. Sidelined until a workable outline exists. 

Teen Titans - 

In Need of Change Untitled Rewrite - A whole ass AU where Beast Boy (now Changeling) fucks off to do his own thing in the wake of calamity forming a new superhero team with a whole lot of headcanon and a liberal dose of “There’s no real reason why this Couldn’t be the case...”  Jinx thinks this seems like a good idea and tags along, BB/Jinx. To Include OCs for interest and flavor and because I don’t like DC that much, lol.  Quarantined due to too many active projects.  Titans Inc - a Cyberpunk reimagining of TT crossing firmly toward Cyberpunk 2020.  A bad future in many ways.  Basically in the planning stages in the docs...  Will probably never go anywhere.  And that’s all of them that are actually being worked on or thought about.  Look me up on AO3 and FF.net as LastHarlequin. I’d tag more people but I literally don’t know anyone as I’m an anti-social rock-dweller.  This Meme branch dies with me >:V

[thorcat]

LF-RP - Lyara Hagane

ᛃ THE BASICS ––– –– –

Occupation: Bow/Arrowmaker | Huntress

Hobbies: Reading, Cooking, People/Animal Watching, Drawing

Race: Au ra | Mixed (Raen/Xaela)

Sexuality: Straight

Relationship Status: Single

Languages: Common, Hingan, Xaelic

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Color-Wheel: Red - Orange - Black

ᛃ PERSONAL ––– –– –

Residence: Lavender Beds

Place of Work: Mostly in the shrouds, but also accepting missions further away from it

Birthplace: Othard

Fears: Violent Tribes aka. Buduga/Dotharl, Crowded places

ᛃ APPEARANCE ––– –– –

Height: 4′9ft.

Build: Curvy

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Skin tone: Tanned

Eye color: Deep red (left) , Soft pink (Right)

Hair color: Jet Black with Stained Copper Streaks

Distinguishing Marks: Black scales growing along her white ones at arm, leg and tail area

Common Accessories: A Bow, handful self made arrows, dagger, some snacks like dried meat

ᛃ BODY LANGUAGE ––– –– –

Walk: Slow, clumsy, unsure | Stable, fast and steady during fights/Hunts

Voice: Soft, gentle, stuttering | Clear, Sharp and loud in fight/hunting

Tics or Mannerisms: She tends to grab her own tail alot to gentle knead it while having conversation. Holding onto anything gives her some sort of safety. When a chat gets embarrassing for her, she will avoid eye contact and try to distract with random objects

Smell: Fresh craved wood, Tea, sometimes ink

Posture: Tensed, rarely relaxed

Disabilities: None

ᛃ PERSONALITY TRAITS ––– –– –

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Addictive / In Between / Nonaddictive

ᛃ RP HOOKS ––– –– –

Hunting Partners: As shy as she is, she always seeks out a partner to go together on a job. It makes everything easier and she gladly shares the prey

Drawing: She is drawing ICly alot. Animals/People/Scales..she tends to seek out people with special sort of fur pattern or scales to draw them down and find some sort of connection like a wannabe detective

Cooking: One of the things she loves to do. Since she rarely left her apartment in the past, she learned a wide variation of meals and tea to prepare them for people.

Tribal Xaela: Since she is half one, it’s interesting to learn more about them. She never fully understood her own tribe and tries to simply write down everything while, again, drawing scales

ᛃ About the Woman ––– –– –

Lyara was born in the dotharl tribe out in the steppes. Her mother was a raen and the reason why the woman was allowed near that rather heavy religious type is unknown. At some point, said woman had some more deeper interactions and the mixed girl was soon born. The girl got taught the xaelic and hingan language and left the, for her, strange place, to find a home in the shrouds. Rumors said that she was not font of the the way her scales grew. That the colors made her feel out of place and she rather have interactions with some who didn’t had scales at all then her own -tribe-. Thankfully some of the wildwood elezen took the woman to their place and taught her a more professional handling of bow and arrow. She still takes jobs from the Archer’s guild to keep the shrouds save. Today she own a small little place in a teashop and makes bows and arrows on request. Of course any sort of hunting job is welcome, as long as she can keep some parts of fur, claws and/or fangs.

ᛃ LOOKING FOR ––– –– –

Hunting RP/Partners: Hunting alone is dangerous and boring. Why not asking to join and share. Or even better..bring a mission and she will follow to simply help out.

Clients: She gladly will make your own personal bow or ammunition to make your hunting go smooth

Conflict: Poachers are interesting with stepping up and trying to yank away the prey she got.

People with different weapons: As much as she loves the traditional way of going out and seeking out her target, she is extremely curious in nature. She is always willed to give a try in different weapons or even magic.

ᛃ ABOUT THE MUN ––– –– –

Who I am: A Transparent Gecko, to licks microphones and eats coffee beans (34 years old mun, who shitposts alot and makes memes, to try making some ppl smile :p)

Server: Balmung, Crystal Datacenter

Time Zone: CEST European time Zone (Germany)

Availability: When i am online, since i work in shifts | Discord

Writing Style: Varies. I am trying to adapt to people and overwhelm them with too much text

Platforms: In Game and In Discord. On tumblr it’s more -what if- situations

ᛃ Restrictions ––– –– –

Generally not up to gore/maiming/killing (people), especially so when not brought up beforehand.

As much as i love writing smut, i want to know the muse a little more, before engaging in any nsfw content

No Erotic or Romantic themes if you or your character are under-age or just SEEM immature.

Even less Erotic themes if you are a lalafell. It’s a no.

Contact: Direct Messages on Tumblr or discord Thorcatte#6253

@mooglemeet , @ffxiv-crystal-rp​ , @crystalxivrp​

[huntersouled]

[ MARK ] your muse purposefully marking mine up with bruises, hickies, ect.

reaction meme. -- @grcxefallcn. (  add  ❝  reverse  ❞   if  you’d  like  to  see  how  my  muse  would  preform  the  action  !  ) [ mark ] - your muse purposefully marking mine up with bruises, hickies, ect.

            fingers slipped into Castiel’s hair as the angel’s lips trailed a path along the side of her neck, her back arching as teeth nipped and teased at her skin with enough force to leave the skin tingling. she was certain there were going to be a few marks left behind but that only made it all the more enjoyable, earning a small sound from the huntress,

            while one hand remained with fingers tangled in his hair, Skye’s other hand trailed down the back of Castiel’s shirt, curling into the fabric and gripping loosely. 『 ❝ is this payback for being away for a while? ❞ 』 the huntress mused, amusement in her tone of voice.             the familiar warmth of the other’s lips had certainly been missed. she really ought to make it up to him for being so busy lately. she was sure she’d find a way to do so, however.

[nozomijoestar]

1-10 for an oc of yr choice (since i don't know any of yrs (yet))

meme here

I’ll use my FFXIV OCs bc I’m finicky abt sharing anything on my manuscript OCs in public

Vaste/U’ralhana Odh:

1. What is/are your OC’s nickname(s) and how did it come about?

Her name situation is a little messy but theres a reason behind each one both canon and non-canon! The game by default gives the WoL many titles across the game to reflect your progress to NPCs like eikon-slayer, Azure Dragoon, khagan etc. all tied to feats or positions earned in the MSQ. 

For non canon titles and nicknames I’ve given her Desert Dragon due to her origin of birth from a desert tribe and their guardian animal being Drakes (as well as the fact that she’s a Dragoon and DRGs are traditionally a class associated heavy with dragons), Nine Lives because of the Echo preventing her from true death which also fits with her being a cat race etc. For more personal nicknames one of her younger brothers calls her Rala after her Sun Seeker name being U’ralhana Odh, dearest is also the most common pet name Yugiri has for her, aside from having the privilege of calling her only by her first name for her Sun Seeker side

Her formal naming convention gives her three viable names,

U’ralhana Odh - name the Sun Seekers gave her when she was born to them, the U designates tribe affiliation, followed by her given name, the surname is her father’s first name indicating he sired her (official FFXIV Sun Seeker naming convention) together the name means Ralhana of the Drakes, daughter of Odh

Osha Tayuun - this is the name her mother gave her before she left to rejoin the Moon Keepers in The Black Shroud, she never learned it was hers until the day they finally met well into her adulthood as the WoL, because Moon Keepers are matriarchal unlike Sun Seekers, the last name is also her mother’s while the given name is a normal girls name (i also made it start with O and try to sound similar to her mother’s first name, Oghii)

Vaste Valescoere - she gave herself this name after once being taught a few ancient Garlean (irl Classical Roman Latin) words by a traveling scholar from what little outside contact the tribe saw, once she made the decision to leave to be an adventurer forever she was banished for forsaking tradition, thus she felt she died and needed a new name - this was the first name i gave her because when i first started playing FFXIV i didnt know the races had naming conventions so i just wanted something that sounded like a fantasy name ( i literally just looked two words up in my latin-english dictionary fddjfd)

2. What is the color of your OC’s eyes/hair/skin?

Blue hair with natural black highlights, green eyes, light skin but not pale- all generally Moon Keeper traits but when i was starting out i knew none of that and did what i wanted, her bizarre appearance once i decided she was from the U tribe influenced her being half Sun Seeker and Moon Keeper 

3. How tall is your OC?

5′2 but only because i thought the CC slider meant 5′6 (cuz it lists height in inches and i didnt bother to check ujhghugj shes sometimes embarrassed by her height especially standing next to much taller people, shes still taller than Yugiri though so she enjoys the slight height advantage

4. What is a noticeable physical attribute of your OC?

Her hair, then her eyes

5. What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

She’s usually in her armor with her current spear glamoured to appear weaker than it actually is because the simple style reminds her of what she used as a teen before leaving home:

^^ necklace and earrings are different but the second necklace is more typical

im weak for the one arm/shoulder armored while the other isnt or not as much aesthetic

For more special/formal occasions w/o armor she likes wearing this:

6. What is one word you would use to describe your OC’s appearances?

Every time she shows up there’s something dramatic (but not always over the top) happening

7. Does your OC have any markings, such as a birthmark or a scar?

She has the usual pinkish red stripes on her cheeks all Sun Seeker women are born with, in addition to a scar across her nose bridge she got during her huntress rite of passage when a sundrake struck her face (this rite is also how she got the black marks under her eyes afterwards, originally i just liked how they looked and made a backstory for them because the game lists them as tribal tattoos in CC)

The scar i gave her in CC as a ref to Guts from Berserk cuz his is similar (she obtained hers very young like he did as well):

8. How does your OC talk/what does your OC’s voice sound like?

i chose the CC voice 2 option for female miqo’te (you can kinda hear what it sounds like here and here @2:10 since i cant find a video with just vc2 range) and im happy with it (to me it kinda sounds like Rie Tanaka? as far as i know the CC voice VAs have never been revealed so i cant say for certain, i know shes done voicing for FFXIV as Kan E Senna and Sadu and plays it as a huge fan tho) as far as how she talks all Miqo’te are said to have their own racial language unique to them that no other race can accurately pronounce or understand due to all the hissing, purring, and spitting of certain sounds (bc theyre cat ppl lol) so she’ll roll/purr her Rs, hiss her Hs etc.

On top of this system i imagine the U have their own dialect accent too which i hc sounds closer to Xhosa and Zulu mixed if a cat tried to speak it,so it gets complex! Her native accent however becomes slightly toned down the longer she spends away from the U as the WoL, but its still present and obvious enough

9. What does your OC’s bedroom look like?  His/her living area?

the only description valid for this is an organized mess lmao

10. What does your OC keep in a special drawer?

anything small enough to fit given to her by people from her past or those she cares about that linger on her mind, shes somewhat sentimental sometimes

—-

Gan Arulaq

1. Lizard boi has no nicknames that stick outside of being called Bataar playfully by his parents esp his mother bc he liked playing pretend as a heroic figure when he was little (i was aware when i made him in CC that Xaela use Mongolian names and are based a lot on Mongol culture of the 14th century so he follows this convention)

His first name is Mongolian for Steel, his last name denotes his tribe following the game’s convention, simple

2. he is a tan/reddish brown color for skin with black hair and natural red highlights in a short swept back style (his eyes are also green bc i wanted to see what Vaste’s eye color would look like on a Xaela model, tdlr they glow!)

3. Gan is 7′1! the tallest of my characters period, he sees everything from up there and it creates some hilarious and awkward situations (poor guy and most doors, rip)

4. his eyes and his big curved horns

5. he loves wearing primarily clothes that expose a lot of his chest and skin in general because thats most natural to what he wore on the steppe valley back home (as well as being a little vain about his physical appearance and liking the feel of freedom in less clothes) however he can and will wear regular clothes, though in this case his fashion sense is terrible

6. when he appears you can associate him with change (succession is another word that comes to mind given his role to Vaste)

7. with the exception of minor scars from martial training and small accidents he’s the picture of normal for a Xaela

8. i actually cant remember what CC voice i gave him by number, but he does have a somewhat deep, rough voice fitting for a boisterous young man while also being capable of sentimentality and some wisdom, he has a handsome voice, he speaks bluntly but full of feeling and often truth

9. his room would be very organized and everything is neatly assigned to its place as well as being primarily spartan in layout/decoration, he’s used to practicality and function from his childhood on the steppe, lots of trinkets from nature, weapons and trophies of victory etc.

10. a ring given to him by his mother carved from sheep bone, it was her archery thumb ring

[burnouts3s3]

Mass Effect: Andromeda, a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.)

Just the facts, cause you're in a hurry.

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):  59.99 USD

How much I paid: 69.99 USD (Plus 4.99 for EA Access).

Rated: M for Blood, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Violence

How long I played: 37 Hours (20 for initial playthrough, additional hours for sidequests and exploring alternate romance options).

Microtransactions: Sadly, yes. Since Bioware realized they could milk their multiplayer fans for all the extra cash, there is a plethora of microtransactions throughout the multiplayer. Microtransactions can cost up to 100 USD. Be advised.

What I played on: PC.

Performance Issues:  Hoo, boy. Mass Effect: Andromeda can be beautiful to look at times and just embarrassing the other moments. There are situations where the shadow flickers, the textures pop-in, the various characters and animations clip, the game stops and resumes when you're boosting in the Nomad, pixelated shadows and yes, the facial animations are ATROCIOUS here. There are also instances where the game hasn't finished loading levels and I fall through the floor. Other times, NPCs don't respond correctly and I have to load to a previous save. The framerate is all over the map. While it ran at a (mostly) steady 60 fps when I was in combat, I was getting odd drops to 50 and 40 when I was having conversations with my crew. And this was AFTER the Day 1 patch was installed.

My Personal Biases: Yeah, I've been a dedicated Bioware fan/apologist since 2003. We've had our ups and downs with the franchise, and I the loyal Biodrone (Bioware Drone) that I am, I've kept buying these products again and again and again. Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the Old Republic, you name it, I've been there.

My Verdict: Mass Effect: Andromeda feels like a game that needed one more pass to get right. There are moments of absolute gorgeous beauty here while other times there are massive technical issues that need to be addressed. But, even more so, the main quest line just never seems to pick up. Even if the characters have amusing banter (they're okay, the best one is Drack), it just never builds up the momentum the previous Mass Effect titles did. Hold off until the inevitable patches/fan fixes come through.

Mass Effect: Andromeda, a review

Bioware wants to ask one question: Is the Mass Effect IP still valuable after one of the most controversial endings of their series divided fans, critics and everyone else apart and rages on to this day?

Set 600 Years into the future and lightyears away from the events of the original Mass Effect trilogy, you are part of the Pathfinder Initiative. Led by your father, Alec Ryder. But when one of the Golden Worlds, planets marked for settlement, turns out to be hazardous and costs Alec his life, he passes on the role of Pathfinder to you. You are tasked with finding new worlds, settling them and ensuring whatever threat remains is dealt with as you are now the Pathfinder.

Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda on the PC brought several glaring bugs and glitches to my attention. From companions floating in mid air, to unresponsive NPCs to constant pop in textures every which way, this has got to be one of the most poorly optimized games on launch. Granted, other Bioware titles have had their share of glitches at launch, but the bugs found in Andromeda are so prevalent and numerous, I have to ask what happened in Quality Assurance.

Mass Effect: Andromeda looks like a joke compared to polished games such as the Witcher 3, but even compared to Bioware's other works, it's clear something has gone horribly wrong within the production. Even Dragon Age: Inquisition (which I remind you came out in 2014, 2 and a half years ago) with it's Lego hair and stiff faces did not look nearly as bad or as shoddy as Mass Effect: Andromeda. It'd be one thing if the game were going for a different aesthetic, by way of Dragon Age 2 or even The Old Republic MMO, but the game insists on using the Frostbite engine to the point where the contrast is to amazingly jarring.

The game's facial animations have already become memes in their own rights. Eyes constantly dart around while the middle of the face stands still and the mouths flap out. When looking at the environments, backgrounds or a Turian, a Krogan, the Angara, or Salarians, your jaw drops in amazement only to have that amazement be replaced by repulsion when looking at a human or Asari. No Hanar, volus, drell, quarians or geth appear. (Which is odd. You'd think for a game that had trouble rendering human faces would get the races that DIDN'T require faces first and foremost).

But, if the flaws were purely technical, if the flaws were just in the animation department, that wouldn't bother me. One of my favorite games is Fallout: New Vegas, which had several immersion breaking bugs. Those flaws can be patched (or modded by a really over eager fan. Bioware seems to be taking way too many notes from Bethesda). But, the one thing patches or mods can't fix is the game's story never really reaching its heights.

Even at Bioware's weakest story telling moments (and believe me, there's plenty to choose from), they've always excelled in emphasizing the characters, the relationships and the companions first and foremost. So, it breaks my heart to say these are the weakest group of companions to date, in terms of character interaction.

Say what you will about Bioware's objectively worst game, Dragon Age 2, at least those companions 'had' distinct characterizations and personalities (even if they bordered on the unlikable and wholly inconsistent from the previous game). A good portion of the companions here are easily my least favorite coming from Bioware (and this includes of roster of Carver Hawke, a whiny penulant child, Skadge, an cold blooded serial killer, Javik, an on-disc DLC character locked away through a paywall and Carth Onasi, a paranoid pilot who really needs a therapy session when it comes to his dead wife and missing son). Andromeda's character's are not even unlikable, but painfully generic, as though a focus group gave various notes on undesirable personality traits and told the writing staff which parts to remove.

Drack is easily the best of the companions. On paper, he's no more distinctive from any other Krogan, but he makes up for it with a strong personality and a spectacular voice performance by Stanley Townsend. There's so many times that Drack takes an ordinary line but adds so much his spin on it that it more than makes up for the writing flaws. His arc concerns what it means for a Krogan to get old and trying to help his granddaughter. He, of all the companion characters, feels the most complete and the most polished.

Vetra Nyx is the first female Turian companion to join you. Instantly, Vetra is extremely likable. We see how she's willing to bend the rules to get tasks done, but also how she's willing to help a lot of people. Her character never goes beyond a smuggler with a heart of gold, but the easy personality goes along with it. Her arc concerns making sure her sister, Sid, is safe and wants nothing more than for Sid not to get herself involved in the trouble Vetra's in. It's too bad then the game doesn't know what to do with Vetra and she's made utterly peripheral to the events of Andromeda.

Peebee is most often the 'face' of Andromeda. (Ha ha ha). She takes the place of the Asari archeologist Liara was in the original trilogy. Often willing to leap first and think later, she's an archeologist wanting to find out more about the Remnant. Even so much so, she's willing to take extreme risks and put you and the crew in danger to do so. She might be the most annoying of the companions (and the one most likely to get knocked out in a fight), but outside her arc, there's just not much to her.

Jaal feels the most like a missed opportunity. He is part of the Angara, the new race introduced to Mass Effect. We're told that the Angara are this overly emotional race. What we're shown is someone who reacts normally to otherwise jarring situation. Nothing really ever prompts an emotional outburst as all the emotional outbursts feel justified. Also, Jaal slips too easily into casual slang. First, he seems to think Humans are strange, setting him up to be another Javik or even Sten from Dragon Age, but the next, he's using slang and idioms as easily as Cora or Liam. While the voice actor does a great job voicing him, the lack of oppurtunities for him to have emotional moments really hampers his character.

Liam Kosta is an optimist, one of the few characters to leap in head first to the Initiative. He's constantly impatient and wants to get things done, even if his rashness might cause more problems than fix them. But, his characterizations never match and as a result, he just feels like a mess of a character. They Keep giving Liam "funny" dialogue and "funny" situations, but the lack of finesse on the writing and the voice actor never really gel.

Cora's a bit of a problem as well. Your second in command, Cora likes to keep things in order and while she grouses how she would've made a better Pathfinder than you, she accepts what has happened. On missions, she can't help but come off as painfully generic. Her voice performer doesn't really have any distinctions in her voice, and nothing Cora ever says is anything beyond the obvious. Even her Loyalty Mission only barely gives her any sort of dimension. Cora was trained to be an Asari Huntress because she apparently is so good at biotics. When the Asari ark is missing, Cora asks you to help find it. When it turns out her superior that she looked up to did something horrible, Cora must find a way to resolve it. Also, she likes plants. That's apparently important somehow, but I can't for the life of me figure out why.

I know Human squadmates tend to rank low on the general favorability scale (I personally think Jack is one of my favorite companions, but that's just me), but Cora and Liam just do not stack up. Contrast that with Ashley William's controversial faith and racism, Miranda Lawson's ice queen attitude, Jack's psychosis and James Vega's masculinity. Liam and Cora make Jacob Taylor and Kaidan Alenko seem exciting.

In addition to party members, your ship, the Tempest, also has several NPCs that do not join you but stay on the ship.

Gil Brode is the ship's engineer and is only romancable to Male Ryders. His main arc concerns his friend, Jill, who really wants Gil to procreate. Since this is the future and artificial insemination exists, the game comes up with a very contrived reason for Gil to want to become a father while not just becoming a donor. (Bit on the nose there, Bioware? The only homosexual male in the crew and his arc concerns reproduction?) Gil also likes Poker. Because this is apparently as important as Cora's love for plants.

Lexi (who's voiced by Natalie Dormer who plays Margaery Tyrell, which would be more impressive if I bothered to keep up with Game of Thrones) is the ship's doctor and a young Asari who constantly checks up on you and the crew. She's characterized as this dower person who takes things too seriously and doesn't know how to have fun, (Peebee constantly teases her about it), but it never really becomes an issue. It's a quirk. Even when you meet her outside the ship and she's uncomfortable about relaxing, it never becomes a problem.

Suvi Anwar (voiced by Katy Townsend, who Fallout 4 fans may recognize as Cait), is a member of the Nexus' science team and is often at the bridge with Kallo. She is, I kid you not, a believer in God and Intelligent design, insisting that her love of science somehow doesn't contradict with the idea of an all knowing God (No, really!). Throughout the game, she comments on how those two connect and having good spirited debates about such things. But her spirituality is told to us, rather than shown to us and there's never really an opportunity to explore that. She's only solely romancable to Female Ryders.  

Kallo Jeth is the new Pilot, a Salarian who wants to find where the Salarian ark went. While he's on the bridge making banter with Suvi, he also argues on the intercom with Gil with what changes need to be made on the ship. Since Kallo was there when the Tempest was made, he expresses concern with the adjustments Gil makes.  I actually liked Kallo quite a bit.

When Kallo remarks on how Salarians photogenic memory contrasts with human memory, as though his lost friends are right there with him,  I thought that was a particularly striking character moment as well as a world building nod that was missing throughout the game. Sadly, it resolves too quickly with Kallo and Gil getting along with little input from the player (binary decisions that I disliked), but it did give me a glimmer of hope.

And the Ryder family members don't add much either. Look, again, rip Dragon Age 2 apart all you want, but at least that game's family members were interesting. At least Leandra, Uncle Gamlen, Bethany and Carver had characterizations and distinct personalities (even if those distinct personalities were those of complete twats). Mass Effect: Andromeda expects me to care about a father who's a compete and literal mystery and a twin sibling who's comatose for a majority of the game.

But the biggest casualty in the game is the main character of Ryder. There's always been debate on the quality of Bioware's writing and how much agency the player truly has, but the one thing they excelled at was giving the otherwise blank slate a distinct personality and background. Whether or not the game was good or crap, I could at least tell you who my Spirit Monk, my Shepard, my Warden, my Hawke or my Inquisitor was and what their background, their choices and their relationships told you about the character. Ryder is simply everything. Ryder can be all things and do no wrong. Ryder's background is the same throughout all the playthroughs and their interactions have little to no effect. I probably made a total of 3 (5 if you count gender and romance) distinct choices in the game that felt like they had any significant impact whatsoever). Even if something from a modern Bioware title, Dragon Age: Inquisition, had few story choices, gave them the weight of impact so the illusion of your choices mattering remained. There is no such weight in Andromeda.

Bioware has somehow taken their trademark Bioware Blank Slate and made them even blanker.

The Kett themselves are pretty boring villains. Visually, there's nothing really unique about them and once their grand plan is revealed, it's just so blase and generic, you're surprised none of them twirled their mustaches.

Even the loyalty missions don't do much. I know there's dispute on Mass Effect 2's otherwise paper thin plot and whether or not the Collectors were anything but filler villains, but at least they were a threat. Doing a loyalty mission was literally a battle between life or death. Here, it's more of a suggestion as all it does is allow you to unlock the final tier for squadmates powers and lets you continue having conversations with squadmates. I didn't do a single loyalty  mission on my 2nd playthrough, only for my mates to come out a ok. Conrad Verner would be more of a threat than the Kett.

The Paragon/Renegade system might have been old hat, but at least it gave my Shepard a voice. The new dialogue system doesn't give Ryder any sort of distinction in terms of roleplaying at all. There's nothing I could do to alienate any of the characters in Andromeda because Ryder doesn't say anything controversial. There were points where I was envying Dragon Age 2's dialogue system!

And since all the skills are made available to me from the beginning, there's no point in rerolling a new character, unless I desire to change what my Ryder looks like.  (And in a world of save editors and DLC releases that change character creator, even that desire is non existent) . Cards on the table, I think it was a HUGE mistake to give Ryder access to all skills and profiles. It makes replayability almost none and makes save scrubbing all too viable. The character creator itself is painfully limited. There are so few options that my Ryders began to look like one another.

Since you can only map 3 skills per profile, there's really no point in putting them anywhere else, unless you feel like experimenting. You can assign 3 powers to profiles, classes you unlock throughout the game and profiles give you benefits to certain skills, such as improved Biotics or lower cooldown on tech skills. But since switching between the 4 profiles also means putting said activated skills on cooldown, even if those skills were unused, there's little to no point.

Also gone is the power wheel, in which players could pause the game and direct companions what to do and what powers to use. Instead, Ryder is at the mercy of the various enemies while your companions do whatever the hell they want with the points assigned to them. I would use a power, only to have Liam constantly leap in and smash the ground or Drack use Incinerate when I think it would be needed against a heavily armored enemy.

(Or, Lord Help Us) Bioware put more emphasis on the multiplayer scenarios. What's weird is that of all the elements, the Multiplayer feels like the most polished out of all the gametypes. It's almost as if (and this is pure speculation on my part) the mode and it's many microtransactions were geared to keep the player base strong.

Strike teams can either be deployed in the game or through a companion app. When I'm away from  my computer, I can use my phone to deploy strike teams and manage them. You can get rewards in single player from strike team missions.

The game's vastness and scope is one of the game's selling points, but an attempt to emphasize said scope, Bioware has decided to take odd design choices. From traveling from planet to planet, the game zooms out from your location and takes an unskippable 20 second transition to zoom into another planet. Scanning through the window uses Mass Effect 2's scanning tool and makes it even slower to scan.

Planetside isn't much better. You'll land planetside only find the Golden Worlds nonviable for settlements and have to do various tasks to increase that viability. This can be done by setting up Forward stations (fast travel points), doing side quests and restoring the environment by accessing Remnant vaults and solving puzzles. Sudoku puzzles. Which somehow exist after 600 years into the future and lightyears away from the milkyway. (Don't worry; all of the puzzles have been solved online already.) If you increase said viability enough, you can set up an outpost, and earn even more AVP points (Viability points) so that you can unfreeze certain segment populations to grant you benefits such as increased inventory space, more weapon slots, credits or materials at intervals.

Also new is the scanning tool, in which Ryder deploys a screen to help him/her locate potential quest trails and know where to advance. It's been stated that Bioware wants to imitate the Witcher 3's sidequests, and I have no doubt they were genuine when they said that. What they meant was using a specific scanner to follow a trail. It's too bad that the scanner is painfully limited, slow and annoying to use. Scanning various items can unlock research points used to unlock and develop weapons. Developing weapons requires materials found in either scanning materials planetside, through the ship or through multiplayer.

But, the exploration aspect never feels genuine. It feels mandatory. It's busywork to unlock new perks and said perks or gear aren't needed when I can just farm Strike Teams and they can send a plethora of credits, gear or materials to Ryder. And since there's no level requirements, there's really nothing stopping me from blitzing through the story.

Conclusion: I enjoyed Mass Effect: Andromeda, but I can also see that there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed. If someone asked me if I regretted purchasing this game or paying 60 USD for it, I would say no. However, I can also look past my own biases and realize there's a lot gone wrong here. For a game requiring not only 60 dollars to play in addition to having a current generation console or a gaming PC that requires a Nvidia GTX 660 and a i5 3570 intel processor (these are not cheap, by the way), for a game to look this unpolished cannot cut it. And to claim that all the criticism laid against the game is a product of racism, sexism or homophobia is dishonest. There are genuine problems with the game.

But you can patch the technical issues. What you can't patch is the story momentum not going anywhere, companion characters that never grab you and a climax that never reaches its heights. At least Dragon Age: Inquisition had a point of no return. At least Dragon Age 2 had the potential to see companion characters lost or dead. At least SWTOR had specific classes asking you to reroll to unlock other traits. There's just no teeth with Andromeda.

I really wanted to love Mass Effect: Andromeda. I really did. But, it never just did it for me.  

Verdict: Sale or Rental.

[starseternelle]

"please don't leave me alone." // @aigonakru (nyx) !!

__________🏹           HER       ENTIRE       CHEST       SEEMS       TO       CAVE       AT       HER       SON'S       REQUEST.       it   does   not   matter   how   old   he   becomes   or   where   this   life   will   take   him,       he   will   still   be   the   child   she   longed   for    &&    would   cherish   with   every   fiber   of   her   being     (       though   she   didn't   have   a   mother   of   her   own   to   set   an   example,       she   has   taken   what   she    wished    she   had   to   try   to   rise   to   the   occasion   for   her   own   child.     nyx    deserved    nothing    less       )     ❛    oh   my   heart,    ❜       she   moves   to   him   quickly,       her   arms   coming   to   wrap   around   him   as   she   places   a   kiss   to   his   temple.     if    she    could    fight    the    world    on    his    behalf,       she    would,       but    in    the    absence    of    that,       she    would    always    be    there    when    he    calls.     ❛    i   will   stay   as   long   as   you   want   me   to.       whatever   has   found   itself   on   your   mind    ??    ❜

[starseternelle]

SEND  👀  FOR  A  DIRTY  THOUGHT  AND / OR  FANTASY  MY  MUSE  HAS  HAD  ABOUT  YOURS ! // @ofanswereddreams

she has definitely thought about using the daemati powers to create situations. like, a darkened corner in hewn city where anyone could find them, but it's really just an elaborate illusion they've created together in their room so they don't have to actually worry about the possible ramifications of something like that. it's a bit of a thrill and there is also something incredibly !!! to her about making something in the process

[starseternelle]

a kiss on the inside of the wrist. ( modern!au bike ride vibes ) // @nightstriumph

__________🏹      CAREFULLY,        SHE     COMES     TO     STRADDLE        THE     BIKE     BEHIND     HIM.        his   smile,     thrown   casually   over   his   shoulder,     is   still   enough   to   leave   her   as   breathless   as   the   first   night   she   met   him.        she    could    have    never    known    then    just    what    he'd    come    to    mean.     once   she's   satisified   she's   balanced,     she   feels   him   reach   back   to   gently   grab   her   arm    &&    place   a   kiss   against   her   inner   wrist.     right    over    where    her    archer's    arrow    tattoo    lies    inked    into    her    skin     (     he's   joked   it's   pierced   him   straight   through   the   heart.     a   wound   he'd   gladly   take     again    &&    again        )     she's   lost   to   him   for   a   moment,     even   as   he   reminds   her   to   put   her   helmet   on   &&    with   one   final   look   back,     violet   eyes   reflecting   underneath   his   visor,     remember    to    hold    on    this    time.     she   instinctively   reaches   out   to   tap   his   own   helmet in protest,        but   he   takes   off   too   fast.      she    leans    forward,     arms    wrapping    around    his    middle    to    keep    from    falling    off.        though   it's   lost   to   the   wind,        she   can   almost   swear   she   hears   his   laughter   echoing   through   his   chest   as   they   leave   the   city   behind   them.

[starseternelle]

my affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. ( did I already send this ? have it either way. ) // @nightstriumph

__________🏹           RAIN       RUNS       OVER       HER       CHEEKBONES,       HER    LIPS,       YET       SHE       DOES       NOT       FIND       THAT       THE       CHILL       BOTHERS    HER.       instead,       her   body   heats   at   his   words    &&    she   has   to   pause   a   moment   to   remember   to   breathe.        the    sounds    of    the    party    languish    in    the    distance,       but    she    couldn't    care    less    as    she    measures    the    weight    of    his    words.       he   stands   here,     heart    out    in    his    hands    for    her,     &&    she   takes   a   step   closer.     to    damnation    or    salvation,       only    time    will    tell     (       perhaps   the   truth   of   the   matter   is   that   it   is    both    )     ❛    tell   me   plainly,    do    you    love    me    ??     ❜     her   eyes   search   his   face,       but   there   is   nothing   but   earnesty   reflected   back   at   him.     she    wonders    if    she    has    imagined    any    of    this    or    if    perhaps    there    is    hope       …

[starseternelle]

Behave yourself, out here, we are wed and what you do, reflects on me. ( i'm laughing ) // @nightstriumph

__________🏹           IF       LOOKS       COULD       KILL       …       she   sends   him   a   withering   look   across   their   breakfast   table   as   her   silverware   comes   clattering   down   against   her   plate.       she   is   already   pushing   herself   back,       throwing   her   napkin   down   to   storm   out   of   the   room    &&    embrace   the    petulant    title   he   has   given   her,     but    she    cannot    stop    herself    from    planting    her    palms    on    the    table    &&    baring    her    teeth    at    him.     bait    taken,       challenge    accepted.     smug    bastard.     ❛    what    i    do    ??    ❜     she   seethes     (       is   this   to   be   the   rest   of   her   married   life    ??       needled    &&    judged   in   the   one   place   meant   to   give   her   comfort    ??       if   she   cannot   have    breakfast    without   incurring   a   headache,       she   will   have   a   rather   miserable   existance   indeed     )     ❛    i   am    not    the   one   with    your    reputation.       do    not    ever   tell   me   what   to   do.    ❜       her   palm   itches   to   reach   for   her   shoe,       but   she   cannot   give   him   the   satisfaction.

[starseternelle]

may i have the next dance? // @nightstriumph

__________🏹           HE       BOWS       AT       THE       WAIST,       YET       KEEPS       HIS       GAZE       LOCKED    ON       HER.     for    a    moment,       she    is    transfixed    by    that    violet    stare    of    his    &&    she    can    practically    swear    the    room    is    merely    an    echo    around    them     (       they   have   been   married   now   for   several   weeks;       theoretically   he   does   not   need   to   ask   her   to   clear   her   card   for   him,       but   she   smirks   all   the   same     )       her   gloved   hand   slips   into   his   grasp    &&    the   planes   of   her   face   soften   with   a   barely   contained   adoration.     anyone    who    could    look    upon    them    now    would    have    no    doubt    the    lord    &&    lady    are    very    much    smitten    with    one    another.     ❛    you   may   have   this   dance    &&    all   that  follow,    ❜     she   teases,       giving   his   hand   a   small   squeeze.     every    night    is    his    if    he    wants    it;       for    him,       her    wolf-heart    sings.

[starseternelle]

Ever since I met you, no one else has been worth thinking about. // @nightstriumph

__________🏹           WHATEVER       THIS       BUDDING       RELATIONSHIP       IS       BETWEEN       THEM,        SHE       CANNOT       HELP       BUT       SMILE        IN       WONDER       UP       AT       HIM.       her   arms   have   come   to   rest   around   his   neck   in   the   living   room   of   his   home,     away    from    the    cameras    &&    the    gossip    columns,       away    from    those    that    would    seek    to    uproot    this    precious    spark    between    them    before    it    had    a    chance    to    bloom.     they    have    agreed    to    the    secret    for    now,     but   as   she   watches   the   light   dance   in   his   eyes    &&    measures   the   sincerity   behind   his   words,     she    is    certain    he    will    ruin    her    for    everyone    else     (       they   have   not   spoken   aloud   what   this   may   be,       she   certainly   hasn't   admitted   how   he   makes   her   heart   falter,       but   the   signs   are   there   in   the   gentle   way   he   kisses   her   cheek   when   he   passes,       in   the   good   morning   texts,       in   the   way   he   way   his   hand   hovers   over   the   small   of   her   back   when   he   passes     )     ❛    if   i   remember   correctly,       you   threatened   to   push   me   off   of   tarquin's   yacht   the   first   time   you   met   me,    ❜     she   teases,       her   nose   scrunching   playfully   thinking   back   to   the   trip   she   had   been   convinced   to   go   on   to   forget   her   recent   breakup,        only    for    that    very    trip    to    set    the    foundation    for    something    all    the    more    solid.

[starseternelle]

you must know … surely, you must know it was all for you. // @nightstriumph

__________🏹           SHE       CUTS       A       LONELY       FIGURE,       KNEELING       AMONGST       THE       SHEETS       OF       THEIR       SHARED       BED,       STARING       AT       HIM       ACROSS       THE       ROOM       WITH       SUCH       ACCUSATION.     the    devastation    written    so    plainly    across    his    face    mirrors    her    own,       only   her   hands   have   gone   to   her   head   to   try   to   contain   the   throbbing   of   the   headache   now   spreading   down   her   neck.     magic    cleaves    her    mind    in    two,       trying   to   take   advantage   of   her   just   wakened   state   to   steal   what   few   memories   she   has   been   able   to   claw   back   from   hybern's   oblivion.     ❛    spring,       your   notes,     your    visits       …    ❜     her   breathing   hitches    &&    panic   sets   in     (       part   of   her   remembers       …     love       underlying   his   actions    &&    another,       a   primal   voice   whispers   that   it   has   been   a   lie,       a   game   played   for   his   own   gain     )       the   voice   is   hers,       begging   her   to   unclench   the   recollections   she   desperately   clings   to.        ❛    i       …       can't   remember.       i    can't       …    ❜        the   room   is   beginning   to   spin,       her   lungs   burn    &&    beg   her   to   gulp   air.        she    is    drowning    &&    cannot    pull    herself    out    of    this    spiral.        ❛    make   it   stop    !!       please    !!    i   can't   remember,       i   can't     !!    ❜