#Crewman Rolston

[anarchic-miscellany]

I appreciate the writing of "Mass Effect 2". Human supremacists bring you into the fold and hold over you the fact that they brought you back from death, flatter you and tell you you're the special person they need. And also they're the only ones who believe you and are doing something about the mass kidnappings of humans across the Galaxy. But you, the player, and (hopefully) an anti-Nazi human being go: "Yeah dog, these guys are still evil as fuck." But, you know, gritted teeth "working together against a common evil" is a great writing tool, and incredibly fun. So you go along with it. All the while the quite likable, well acted crew on your ship seem like reasonable, ordinary guys (with a couple of exceptions), like those 2 crew members Rolston and Patel just chatting about the former's daughter; you've got Hawthorne and Goldstein complaining about the quality of the food in the canteen; you've got Hadley and Matthews chatting about one of them going to visit "The Consort" on land; you've got your delightful double act of Engineers Donnelly and Daniels who just want to serve with you, and saw this as an opportunity to fight back against evil aliens. It's all very human, very ordinary enough stuff, little snippets here and there to give faces and personality to what was once a faceless selection of evil goons in the last game. That's not even getting into the excellent character of Miranda Lawson and the very much "exists" Jacob. And their silky voiced Martin Sheen leader "The Illusive Man" (an INCREDIBLE performance, like you hire Mr Sheen, you GET Mr Sheen) tells you that it's not racism or supremacy, it's just that every single race is out for itself, it's a dog eat dog world, so why can't they have an organisation after their interests? It's insidious and interesting and sinister in how it's nuanced and gets you involved and invested in their ideals, their goals and their politics. And the hammer blow comes when you're given one of the "good guys" and it's a Salarian (alien) doctor who engineered and modified a genocidal bio weapon against another alien race because his species and the others they work with play god. You start to think that these "Cerberus" guys may have a point... Pity they never made a 3rd game.

[mako-designated-driver]

Mass Effect will break your heart in so many ways if you let it.

The asari in the embassy called in a few favors, lost a few nights of sleep and managed to get that kid to Thessia? Well, that's great! Until Thessia falls to the reapers in a few weeks or months.

Crewman Rolston got his baby girl and his wife to San Francisco before the collectors hit New Canton! She got a first birthday! Then the reapers hit Earth, starting by the major centers... We will never know if she ever got the chance to have a second one.

Private Talavi doesn't want to fight Cerberus because it might means fighting her little brother? Well, she shouldn't be so worried: there isn't much of him left since he was "integrated", no matter what she does (Suicide on capture orders confirmed. Cerberus is my friend. Obey. Protect humanity at any cost.)

The ME3 turian engineer (who I suspect that was the same ME2 turian engineer skirting away from the "lifespan talk") telling his family to be safe and go to Sanctuary? We all know what kind of sanctuary was offered there. Even if he was the guy who didn't want to have the lifespan talk, it doesn't matter anymore... he might have outlived his whole family.

Strange thing to do for fun, playing that game...

[gatecrashing-corneas]

[gatecrashing-corneas]

[gatecrashing-corneas]