#Legion and Wrex from mass effect

[madamedramatics]

We all have our favorite love interests but can you name a Mass Effect character that you will never see as romance material no matter how much the fandom tries to sell it to you?

I'll go first.

Don't shoot me but...Definitely Wrex. That's big bro to me. Love him to to bits though❤️

[bimboficationblues]

inspired by @dorothylarouge, Mass Effect squadmate tier list. I was more interested in talking about squadmates than the other crew members so I just ranked those. I haven't played Andromeda.

S-Tier

Wrex is awesome, a font of pithy one-liners, righteous indignation, bitter hurt, generally likable but with a (justified) mean streak, an excellent tank. His story can end in a lot of narratively interesting, tragic or uplifting, directions if you let it. The "Renegade" conclusion of his story (or the krogan's story more broadly) in ME3 is horrifying, the "Paragon" conclusion is fantastic pulp sci-fi. He's honestly the main reason I bother to replay ME1 at all.

Legion offers a perspective totally unlike any other character in the game and transforms the geth from a totally alien, hostile, and largely flat entity into one of the most interesting and dynamic elements in the Mass Effect setting. As far as AI characters go I think Legion manages to come across really well-rounded. His deadpan humor is funny and he's got a cute-cool design. He's like if WALL-E would shoot your jaw clean off with a sniper rifle!

Thane's placement might be the result of a repressed and since eliminated bisexual streak bubbling up, but like as far as offering a "straight female romantic fantasy" goes he's basically ripped from the page of a cheesy sci-fi romance. "My Amphibian Alien Assassin Lover is a Widower!" But nevertheless I find him an extremely engaging character, although truthfully you get the most out of him as a romance (unlike some other characters). He has an interesting philosophy of life, an intriguing backstory, and a good supporting role in the overall narrative.

Again, possibly me thinking with my heart, but I love what Jack brings to the table. Jack's abrasively bad attitude and explosive biotic power, exquisitely acted by Courtenay Taylor, makes her stand out even amongst the underdog and outlaw cast of ME2. Her backstory is an unbelievably insane A Little Life-esque trauma conga line but Taylor performs it with a lot of pathos to make the character feel grounded in both sincere anger and sincere pain that also does a nice job of hammering home Cerberus's malevolence. Also one of my favorite squadmates mechanically, a glass cannon who sets up devastating combos.

Okay, so Mordin is technically an evil eugenicist mad scientist, which is quite bad. However, he is very fun to watch, and I think ultimately his shift in worldview is convincingly told and well-informed by the hegemonic perspectives of his culture as well as how he conflicts with them. The deepest cut is that only if you are an asshole and try to keep the krogan sterilized, do you get one of the best dramatic readings in the whole series: "I made a mistake."

Tali is very charming, her potential romance is cute, her evolution across the three games from naive pilgrim to bold explorer to somewhat reluctant and conflicted diplomat is probably one of the best supporting character arcs in the game. The quarian/geth conflict ends up being a microcosm for the main overarching conflict of the series so her presence in it as a well-meaning anti-geth type, and seeing that run up against reality, is really engaging. Being a character that only shows up around the halfway points of ME2 and ME3 does make me a little less fond of her, though.

A-Tier

Javik is similar to Legion for me. A man out of time both literally and in personality, he's alien even compared to some of the other cast members, gives a unique (imperially Social-Darwinist) perspective on the main conflict, and is unlikable in an interesting way that Shepard can challenge or reaffirm. He even manages to wring some interesting personality out of Liara through his civilizational condescension.

Grunt is a lot of fun, a krogan without a sense of cultural identity (or a sense of cultural identity that is "artificial"). He's not particularly deep, but he's likably hotheaded and gruff, makes for great comic relief, is well-performed by Dee Bradley Baker, and he fucks up an enemy squad like nobody's business.

Garrus, cop on the edge, is fun and gives good banter, but I think ultimately his status as a fan-favorite limited his narrative potential. The Garrus we meet in ME1 is a renegade cop trying to decide between whether to be more "by-the-book" like his father and society demand of him, or more of a rule-breaking Dirty Harry type. However, Garrus's ultimate character direction across the series isn't really shaped by Shepard in the same way that other characters are. In the third game he professes to "not being a very good turian" because he doesn't follow bad orders, but this isn't actually true. He's got some good stories, and I'm never going to pass up recruiting him, but he's less active in the overall story than I would like.

While I absolutely *despise* the romantic subplot between EDI and Joker that swallows up both characters in the third game, and equally despise the ridiculous big-titted metal chassis that she occupies in that game, EDI is funny, interesting, and provides another distinct synthetic perspective within the series for the characters to bounce off.

B-Tier

Zaeed and Kasumi rate about the same for me: I like them, they are good squadmates, they have interesting backstories and loyalty missions, but their status as DLC characters means they never really get explored as much as everyone else.

Samara's inflexible devotion to justice mixed with her personal demons is interesting, and she's well-written and very distinct from many of the other asari characters in the games. But she's a little cold for my liking and there's never really an opportunity to challenge her code, just one singular opportunity in ME3 to challenge her interpretation of it.

C-Tier

Liara is boring and carried by being the only remotely tolerable love interest in the first game. Sorry! I do like her Shadow Broker storyline but it could have been a lot more in a less-rushed finale.

Of all the tedious "I'm just a reg'lar human soldier...with a chip on my shoulder" characters introduced across the games, Jacob is probably my favorite because he's just a well-meaning dumb guy with Sad About Dad Syndrome. However, everything surrounding his romance plot is terrible and bizarrely racist.

Morinth is practically a non-character but she is at least conceptually interesting, a natural-born hunter of people. Could have done a lot more with her if she was actually allowed to be the "Token Evil Teammate" in a more direct way.

D-Tier

There's a lot to dislike about Miranda (racist, arrogant, cynically cruel, weirdly ogled by the camera, British) but what I really dislike about her is that her edges get sanded off and replaced with nothing. The boldest and best decision the writers could have done was make her a supporting antagonist in Mass Effect 3 (or make that a possible outcome) instead of making up a Definitely Super Cool Cyber-Ninja (OC Do Not Steal) character that has no role but to be annoying and make plot happen. Imagine having to hunt down your indoctrinated former comrade! Or having to talk down your indoctrinated former lover! My favorite Mass Effect characters feel like you can actually influence them to be different; Miranda flips her whole worldview to be on your side, no matter how much of a dick to her you are.

I have nothing to say about Kaidan.

On top of how grating I find having yet another Alliance soldier in the crew - one who is seemingly here to pander to a Call-of-Duty playerset - James is just obnoxious. He really hits on his commanding officer on like his first day. Hate.

Ashley is racist, but also boring and stupid.

[most-datable-undatable]

Your Match-Ups!

Because I am a complete mess of a person, I forgot to put a few on my original list, so good news for the person who suggested Wizard from Stardew Valley a bit late: Because of my stupidity, he is now on the bracket!

We have a total of 104 contestants! This will be a standard single-elimination tournament. Match-ups were completely randomized, although for the first round I did not allow match-ups between two characters from the same franchise.

Voting will begin tomorrow morning at 9am PST. I will post one poll every ten or so minutes. I will do 26 tomorrow and 26 on Tuesday. Be sure to follow so you don't miss out on a vote for your favorite!

Without further ado: Your Most Datable Undatable Character Round 1 Match-Ups!

Day One

Kai (Harvest Moon: Back to Nature)/Hytham (AC: Valhalla)

Aphrodite (Stray Gods)/Robin (Stardew Valley)

Cole (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Dame Aylin (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Sten (Dragon Age: Origins)/Helena Blake (Mass Effect)

Kent Connolly (Fallout 4)/Asterius (Hades)

Serana (Skyrim)/Bo Calloway (Scarlet Hollow)

Perry (Harvest Moon: Animal Parade)/Cliff Holden (Our Life: Beginning & Always)

EDI (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Soma Jarlskona (Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla)

Kasumi Goto (Mass Effect 2)/Shandra Jerro (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Mel (Fallout 4)/Neeshka (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Vivienne de Fer (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Pasqal Haneumann (Rogue Trader)

Carlos (Rune Factory 4)/Hypnos (Hades)

Scout Lace Harding (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Bishop (Neverwinter Nights 2)

Deacon (Fallout 4)/Theseus (Hades)

Virgil (Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura)/Avitus Rix (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Nathaniel Howe (Dragon Age: Awakening/Dragon Age 2)/Wynert (Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate)

Quinn (Dream Daddy)/Karliah (Skyrim)

Nick Valentine (Fallout 4)/Nakmor Drack (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Dagna (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Terry (Rune Factory 5)

Rolan (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Talos Drellik (Star Wars: The Old Republic)

Shiala (Mass Effect)/Jodi (Stardew Valley)

Tiran Kandros (Mass Effect: Andromeda)/Trickster (Hooked on You)

Arthur Maxson (Fallout 4)/Brassidas (Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey)

Brynjolf (Skyrim)/Briala (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Mary Christiansen (Dream Daddy)/Chaos (Hades)

Olgierd von Everestu (The Witcher 3)/Wizard (Stardew Valley)

Day Two

Frea (Skyrim)/Rose of Sharon Cassidy (Fallout: New Vegas)

Legion (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Yuthura Ban (Knights of the Old Republic)

Qyzen Fess (Knights of the Old Republic)/Dammon (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Isobel Thorm (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Athena (Stray Gods)

Sandy (Stardew Valley)/Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII)

Kaelyn the Dove (Neverwinter Nights 2)/Medusa (Stray Gods)

Bao Dur (Knights of the Old Republic)/Evfra (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Arcade Gannon (Fallout: New Vegas)/Jeremus (Mount and Blade: Warband)

Nyreen Kandros (Mass Effect)/Shale (Dragon Age: Origins)

Urdnot Wrex (Mass Effect Series)/Marnie (Stardew Valley)

Talvas Fathryon (Skyrim)/Nihlus Kryik (Mass Effect)

Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi (Dragon Age: Inquisition)/Gatekeeper (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Keldorn (Baldur’s Gate 2)/Lin Fa (Rune Factory 4)

Johnny Silverhand (Cyberpunk 2077)/Veronica Santangelo (Fallout: New Vegas)

Tarquin Victus (Mass Effect 3)/Aveline (Dragon Age 2)

Judith (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)/Varric Tethras (Dragon Age 2/Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Evelyn (Rune Factory 3)/Sagacious Zu (Jade Empire)

Jarun Tann (Mass Effect: Andromeda)/J’Zargo (Skyrim)

Joker (Mass Effect Series)/Vault Tec Rep (Fallout 4)

Eder (Pillars of Eternity 2)/Iorveth (The Witcher 2)

Atris (Knights of the Old Republic 2)/Vernon Roche (The Witcher 2)

Kharjo (Skyrim)/Lambert (The Witcher 3)

Mordin Solus (Mass Effect 2 and 3)/Eskiel (The Witcher 3)

Raphael (Baldur’s Gate 3)/Takemura (Cyberpunk 2077)

Craig Boone (Fallout: New Vegas)/Canderous Ordo (Knights of the Old Republic)

Mira (Knights of the Old Republic 2)/Wistful Deviless (Sunless Sea)

[katthekatt]

Some more of my Mass Effect headcannons, Drinking edition:

> in ME2 when Shepard gets poisoned in lower Afterlife its because of their cyber parts after being resurrected that they survive the poison, Miranda more or less made Shepard even harder to kill.

> speaking of drinking in ME2, Shepard has an episode of alcoholism during the events prior to the Suicide Mission, which is why we can drink at every location. During this, the new companions don't really see it as something that bad. They just think Shepard is just an alcoholic by habit and don't mess with their life. However, our Garrus and Tali know better, and by the time of the Suicide Mission, presuade Shepard to give up drinking for a while. Mordin, too, had called out Shepard on their drinking but with little success in actually preventing them from doing it.

> Earthborn Shepard has a history of drinking from an early age because of being in a gang, due to this, they have a higher tolerance towards it. And abuse this when companions challenge them, in particular James, Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt. If Kaidan or Ashley try to do it, Shepard passes on the offer.

> Earthborn Shepard, again, I think wouldn't mind if Grunt wanted to drink. Although I don't see Grunt doing it offen he does it to show dominance in bars. Colonist Shepard wouldn't encourage it like Earthborn Shep, but still would think it's not that bad and that it grows character if you are exposed to it young. Meanwhile, Spacer Shepard would definitely disapprove become of their strict upbringing.

> Zaeed and Jack share drinks once in a while and talk. Jack doesn't trust Zaeed much at first and thinks of him as just someone she can have a drink with that isn't Cerberus and knows how hard life is. With time, they grow a friendship, and Jack looks up to Zaeed, calling him a badass.

> While EDI and Legion are AI and can't get tipsy or drunk, the conventional way by the time of ME3 EDI has created a virus that works in the same way with its effects that takes about an hour to fight off. She hasn't used it and doesn't plan on doing so because it's counterproductive considering she is the Normandy. The virus was created only for the sole purpose of throwing it in Joker's face after he insisted EDI couldn't do it.

> Wrex and Garrus both don't drink much at all. Garrus drinks only for dates, and Wrex thinks that drinking is for people without courage and need to get it some other way. He has whoever shared a drink with Shepard after they had insisted on commemorating the Genophage cure.

>Thane and Samara don't drink, period, each with their own reasons.

>Miranda, for all her talk of being made perfect, actually has a low tolerance to alcohol. After Shepard learns that they don't leave her alone about it when she brings up being created flawless. Or in reverse, Miranda can't get drunk at all and is a neat party trick she prides herself on.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3 replay, Citadel post coup:

-Notably, the C-Sec officers on the human embassy level are all turian.

On the presidium, the C-Sec officers are human.

Was this intentional of Bioware? Maybe the idea is to minimize potential conflict of interest on the investigation into Udina by assigning non-human officers to it and assigning the human officers to public spaces?

-Why do the C-Sec officers forbid Solik from filming the refugees on the docks?

They claim it’s because he’d be “disruptive”.

I suspect they’re actually trying to avoid a potential PR disaster if people see the conditions on the docks.

-Cerberus specifically looked for Kelly.

A bit flattering, in a sense – she’s more important to them than she thought!

Also a bit terrifying. TIM is really pissed at everyone who left Cerberus and is determined to clean up loose ends. There’s no other reason to go after Kelly; she’s no threat to Cerberus.

-Conrad is one of the best parts of ME3. All that busywork in ME1 finally pays off!

I know he’s supposed to be a joke about all the side quests, but I wish more or ME3 relied on past decisions like Conrad’s.

Maybe not to the extent that you lose content if you did not do so something, but so outcomes were at least influenced by them.

There are parts of ME3 influenced by past games – is Wrex alive? Kirrahe? Legion? Etc. – but there are a lot of past decisions that make no difference at all, like the turian insignia or if you got Lorik to testify against Anoleis.

Even if they just added flavor, I’d appreciate their inclusion.

-If you go renegade with Jack, you learn that her students helped get civilians off Palaven.

Interesting – turians usually don’t regard adult turians as civilians, since everyone has military training. The term is normally reserved for children or client races. So is Jack using the term in the human sense of non-combatants or the turian sense?

I’m probably thinking about this more than Bioware did.

-If you flirt with Joker, he just about panics. He does not think of Shepard that way.

-Joker won’t consider Shepard because they’re both in uniform and there are regulations against that.

There are no regulations against dating the ship AI, however, so that’s okay.

That’s cutting it awfully thin, Joker. I’m sure if the Alliance had ever considered the possibility of a ship having an AI they’d have regulations against it.

-Paragon or renegade, the fact Edi’s body is made of metal and Joker has brittle bones is brought up.

To go completely off script: Is this really relevant? They don’t have to have sex. Or they could get very creative. This is not what I would consider a deal breaker.

-If you go renegade with Edi, she brings up the lifespan difference between her and Joker.

Apparently she spoke to Liara about it and Liara was no help at all.

Interesting – Liara’s the obvious choice, since she’s an asari. However, her own relationship experience is very lacking so it’s logical she would have little to offer Edi. Very much a case of the blind leading the blind.

-As Thane dies, if you go paragon the last prayer is for you.

If you go renegade, the last prayer is for Thane.

-Shepard to Thane after he passes: Goodbye, Thane. You won’t be along for long.

Yeah, Shepard does not expect to make it through the Reaper war.

-The volus bank teller is skeptical of Sanctuary. How can it promise more safety than the Citadel? Second time a NPC’s called bullshit on Sanctuary and it’s another volus. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked that the merchant race recognizes a scam when they see one.

Now we just need to set them up with an official broadcast so they can inform everyone else instead of one person at a time.

-Captain Sommers wants to kill a C-Sec officer who assisted Cerberus during the coup. He killed other officers and is now bargaining for a better deal by offering intel. He’s former Alliance and Sommers feels that the Alliance should deal with him.

Paragon, you tell Sommers to stand down because the intel may save lives. Renegade, you use spectre authority to let Sommers kill him legally.

It’s a nice touch to have another sidequest where paragon/renegade feels very different.*

In most of ME3 it feels like renegade has had the teeth removed; it just feels “softer” than in ME1 and ME2. This is a good instance of the two differing more.

*In main missions they differ more, although there the renegade dialogue still “feels” softer.

-Ghorek is the only time Shepard has to really deal with the consequences of destroying a colony in Arrival, and it’s disappointing.

He’s a terrorist, so you’re already predisposed to dislike him. You only exchange a few lines, and there’s no opportunity for investigate or a real back and forth.

I’m glad Bioware included it, but it feels very surface level with little depth. I wish there was more to it to really show the harm Shepard did and how they’re dealing (or possibly not dealing) with it.

Also, there should be choices between letting him die and calling over the nurse. Is there a reason I can’t call over the nurse AND inform C-Sec he’s a terrorist?

-Officer Noles is an excellent reminder on the importance of CyberSecurity. Balak’s using codes from when the batarians had an embassy on the Citadel.

That was what, 20 years ago? Those codes should have been decommissioned as soon as the embassy closed.

But they were not, and there are dead humans for it.

This is why it’s important to have standard operating procedures and regular asset reviews, people.

(How did Balak even get the codes?)

-Balak continues to be compelling.

He’s an evil bastard that’s been killing humans out of misplaced revenge, but paragon or renegade you can appeal to his desire to save his people and he’ll give you his support. You can see how much it costs him to do so, but he’ll set aside his personal desires to serve the batarian people.

In another timeline, Balak could easily have been hero. He has more than enough courage, intelligence, and drive.

In this one, however, he’ll just have to settle for being the lesser evil.

(Also, Balak can see that working with Shepard is the batarians’ best bet, but you expect me to believe that Udina thought Cerberus was a better option?)

-Also, nice of the C-Sec officer standing right there to ignore Balak holding a gun to head. Great job, sir.

-The callback to the Levaithan of Dis first mentioned in ME1 is also well done. The reveal it was a Reaper corpse, that the batarians who studied it all became indoctrinated and that’s why the Hegemony fell so easily – harsh and completely in line with lore.

-Kaidan: Knowing that you acted with integrity – then it matters.

Ah, Kaidan. Paragon of paragons, integrity carved into your bones. Regardless of who took the shot, you handle Udina’s betrayal poorly.

It wasn’t your fault.

-If you refuse to let Kaidan on board, he handles it very well. He doesn’t argue; just takes the polite rejection well and leaves.

Normandy

-When you speak with Traynor to receive the mission about the Cerberus scientists that have quit, Shepard mentions that many who worked for Cerberus believed they were doing the right thing. Shepard did.

And of course the game doubles down that Shepard did do the right thing by working for Cerberus in ME2 and that the Cerberus was working to stop the Collectors while the Alliance did nothing.

Did I hallucinate the Virmire Survivor on Horizon during all my playthroughs? And has the game forgotten that spectres have leave way to choose their own missions – so Shepard could have pursued the Collectors as an agent of the Council rather than a terrorist?

-If you let Traynor take a shower but don’t join her, Shepard comes off as the most oblivious lady in the world. It’s actually rather funny. Traynor left the door open and Shepard registers nothing.

-James’ meeting is very touching. He opens up and is vulnerable – last time he was in command he lost everyone. He’s afraid it will happen again.

For all the bravado he puts on, there’s a lot going on behind that facade. He’d probably make a great officer and N7.

-There was a Cerberus spy working with the Collectors. How much you want to bet he was sanctioned by TIM?

Yet the game still insists Shepard was right to work with Cerberus in ME2.

Ugh.

-The game keeps talking up Kai Leng, especially Andeson, but when he doesn’t have plot armor he’s a wimp.

He’d have died in the attack on the salarian Councilor if a single character in that scene had had any sense.

Citadel

-And once again Cerberus leaned on the “we saved colonies from the Collectors” angle to get an in with someone, this time the Din Korlack.

Apparently it can even excuse fighting with the Alliance.

And surprise, surprise the terrorist organization turns around uses the aide you provided them to blackmail you. It’s almost like they always had their own reasons for what they did.

-Din, it’s bad enough you helped Cerberus at all. Refusing to turn over the name of the colony you sold out unless Shepard is charismatic enough? Be better.

-The game’s refusal to explain Zaeed’s beef with Cerberus pisses me off to this day.

Once again, a Codex entry would easily have solved this problem. Or a few more lines from Zaeed. But no, keep guessing.

-James, stop shrugging while you’re getting a tattoo!

And getting a N7 tattoo before you’ve completed the program is a terrible idea.

-James panics even more than Joker when Shepard makes a pass. Lol, Kaidan’s the only human man that can keep up with femShep. The rest all run away.

-Kelly: I heard about the terrible things Cerberus did during the coup. That’s not the organization I joined.

Yes, Kelly, it is. Here’s a list of terrible things Cerberus did during ME1. Ask Jack if you want some more items that predate it.

Cerberus has always been terrible. The apparently just have the best PR department in the galaxy since everyone is shocked every time some new terrible thing they did comes to light.

-Liara still won’t speak to me on the Citadel, although everyone else will.

Well, except Garrus but that’s because he’s not there. Liara’s the only one both hanging around and not initiating a dialogue.

-Kaidan also takes it well if you reject him on the Presidium, although his hurt shows through more.

He does stick you with the bill, however.

[ageless-aislynn]

You know how my plan was to next head back to ME1 as FemShep and romance Garrus?

[mans1ay3r]

I realized that meant that I'd end my Mass(ively Lorge and) Effect(ive) Legendary Edition Playthroughs™️with my Very Cursed Playthrough. So...

First off, my apologies on making it sound like it's cursed because I saved Ashley instead of Kaidan. It's cursed because I let Wrex die on Virmire 😱😭since none of the ME2 loyalty missions can be done, so Maelon's data was never saved and the Krogan Genophage can't be cured, but I can save Mordin, at least. None of the DLCs even exist, so there's no Zaeed or Kasumi at all. 😞

Now, I didn't realize that the Legendary Edition gives you the Interactive comic like ME2 does and let's you make a couple of choices, so that was both cool and horrifying. I'd already decided that I wanted to explore a lot of things that I didn't want to do in a full playthrough, so made opposite choices where applicable to the ones I usually do. Hence killing Wrex (oh my heart, that hurt!), letting the Council die and starting a romance with Ashley in ME1. In ME2, it asked if I want to romance Tali, which I was surprised at.

But, nope, that's not what I'm here for. 😉

Then dannnnng, after the Collectors kidnapped the crew, it asked if I wanted to keep preparing the Normandy or to save the crew, which was an unfair way to go about it, IMO. I picked the crew because I love Dr. Chakwas and Kelly and didn't want to condemn them or the rest of my peeps to being turned into Human Reaper paste (I now think Dr. Chakwas might survive anyway but I wasn't sure in the moment). But then that meant that only Garrus, Tali, Mordin, Miranda and Jacob survived the suicide mission. 😭 RIP to Jack, Thane and Samara, ZOMG! Grunt was never mentioned, nor was Legion, so I'm presuming that means we'll get Legion's VI replacement in 3. Which is good because Tali was exiled so that means that I'm not going to be able to resolve the war with the Quarians and Geth and will have to pick a side, instead.

I love Legion and the friendly Geth but, c'mon, since Legion isn't even here? Super easy choice.

Tali's mah girl! 🤗

Also, I'm going to go with the Synthesis ending so I can record footage for that in case I want it for a vid experience that. And also since that's the ending where EDI gets to be truly happy and I want to see that for her!

EDI is also mah girl! 🤗

Now, also given that Thane is dead AND so is Major Kirrahe, that means that I'm going to have to be able to pass a big reputation check with Ashley later on to keep her alive. 😱 I've already been treating her well even though she doesn't trust me at this point and we've now passed the Mars mission where she was injured.

You can see Kaidan's feet between Shep's elbow and waist where his model loads in, as seen in Prettz Zell's "Ghost of Ashley" video (first cap is from my game, second is from Prettz Zell's behind the scenes view). So that means that Kaidan was still with me and Shep in spirit! 😇😉

I figured she'd have a gift you could buy her in the hospital like you can buy Kaidan the whiskey but dannnng, you can buy her roses, candy and about 5 different poetry books? I bought them all, lol, but my research shows it's only the Tennyson book that matters and the rest don't ever go to her. Boo, I should at least be able to give her the roses and candy! Or put them in my quarters to brighten up the place. 😜🤷‍♀️

And why can't you buy Kaidan roses and candy? I'm sure my bb would've liked that, too!

Anyway, I also decided that I might as well go all-in for making this a different playthrough, so I'm playing Renegade. Well, Renegon. I'm not going to be a massive

to my squadmates. I have standards, y'all. 😜 (Only exception was my first brief talk with James when he complained about not wanting to leave Earth. I gave him the Renegade response because that felt appropriate since James was essentially disrespecting his commanding officer. Shep felt in the right to sit him down a bit harder over that. But after that, we'll be buddies, I don't doubt!)

However, non-squadmates are getting Shepard Having A Really Bad Day. Which, in ME3, can often mean sounding like an absolute psychopath. 😑 Like I usually RP that even when Shep has had enough, he/she will still know they have to play the game to get people to do what they need them to.

So, for example, me telling off the Turian Councilor when he comes to tell me about going to find Primarch Fedorian to get him on our side feels kinda unwise. However, the game's going to send you to Palavan with the mission to find Fedorian anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

I felt like a jerk, though. 😞😉

But I'm committing to playing through this way, no matter what! *fist thump* This is the perfect time to do things I never generally do and embrace my Inner Renegade Shep, right? 😈

I'm having fun with seeing how differently dialogue and scenes play out!

Anyway, hope you're having a great week, friends! Love you! 🤗💖

[tempestuous-tempest]

So, I starting playing Mass Effect a bit ago as it was my father's favorite video game(s), and went into it with the memory of 5 year old me. Which barely had much details. Regardless, the only character besides Shepard that I did remember was Garrus so I was set on romancing him.

...Slight Spoilers...

Summarizing it all:

I let Ash die because she was rude and didnt like my crew and I wasnt gonna stand for it

I didnt kill Wrex because I wouldn't gain anything from it.

Didnt know how to use the grenades properly and so I ended up not really able to save the colony.

I spared the Rachni queen

Saved the hostages and let balak go

Sacrificed the council

Was pressured into a relationship with Kaiden

Like most people I know, thought I was going to romance Garrus second game and ran into Thane. Sorry Garrus, wish I could have both but I wouldnt take back my choice.

Got everyone's loyalty up, then Miranda's went down to normal because I sided with Jack during their little argument and I decided not to fix it knowing the consequences.

Kept Maelon's data

Made sure Tali and Legion were tolerable of each other.

Rescued the crew

Destroyed the Collector base

And I'm still playing 3, just finished a mission with Aria. And because of my not minding getting spoilers, was already told of Thane's fate. Which made me cry a lot.

Man I love these games.

[craftylittlenerd]

Mass Effect Questionaire fun

I was tagged by @withercat22

1: Favorite Squad Mates for ME 1) Garrus, Tali, and Wrex 2: Favorite Squad Mates for ME 2) Garrus, Tali, Grunt, Legion and Mordin 3: Favorite Squad Mates from ME 3) Garrus, Ashley, Tali, and Legion 4: Favorite Weapon from ME 2) Toss Between the M-97 Viper and the M-98 Widow 5: Favorite Weapon from ME 3) N7 Valiant, but the Viper and Widow do come in handy in a pinch. 6: Favorite class) For ME 1 and ME 3, it's Engineer, and for ME 2, it's Soldier. I have this head cannon that, with Shep being gone for 2 years, they needed to update their credentials and relearn a lot of techniques. 7: Favorite Planet) The one where FemShep and Garrus get to retire to, and it's warm and tropical. But no Virmire. 8: Favorite Mission ME 1) Ilos: Find the Conduit; the music for Vigil is what sold me on that. 9: Favorite Mission ME 2) Dossier: Archangel. What? I get to find my space, hubby, don't judge, lol. 10: Favorite Mission ME 3) Priority Tuchanka, give the Krogans hope for the future, say good-bye to Mordin, watch Wrex get all mushy over Eve, what's not to cry over... uh, I mean love about this one.

11: Favorite Romance) I am proud Shakarian trash - Garrus and FemShep forever! 12: Romance I wish was in-game) Joker, that would have been a cute one to see. 13: Mako or Hammerhead) Hands down, the Mako. 14: Most Overrated character) That's a tough one, but I would probably say Udina. 15: Most Underrated character) Javick, he had so much potential and it was botched to where he was just some DLC, yet his story was supposed to be so much more than that. 16 and 17 do not apply, as I never got into the multiplayer aspect of ME 3. I am more of a story-driven gamer than anything else. 18: SR-1 or SR-2)

19: Destroy, Control, or Synthesis) Destroy, hands down, every time. I didn't max out all my resources for nothing. 20: Paragon or Renagade) Paragrade leaning more towards Paragon. Tagging @luciferbecons @thefloatingstone and @westernlarch hope you three have fun with this.

[jakesocdump]

Jake Shepard was born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When he was sixteen, batarian slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering his family and friends. He was saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and he enlisted with the military a few years later. Early in his military career, he found himself facing an overwhelming enemy force. He risked his own life to save his fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. His bravery and heroism earned him medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet. He almost single-handedly repelled an attack by batarian slavers on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz, earning the Star of Terra, the Alliance's highest honour.

Shepard had the personality of a Paragon

Shepard's class was a Vanguard, specialising in guns and biotics

Mass Effect

Shepard romanced Liara T'Soni

Shepard saved the Zhu's Hope colonists from the influence of the Thorian

Shepard saved the Rachni Queen on Noveria

Shepard talked Wrex down, and left Ashley to die on Virmire

Shepard persuaded Saren to kill himself

Shepard saved the Citadel Council, and asked Captain Anderson to represent humanity on the Council.

Mass Effect 2

Shepard romanced Miranda Lawson

All of Shepard's crew survived the Suicide Mission

Samara killed Morinth

Mordin spared Maelon

Shepard completed Grunt's rite

Shepard helped Legion reprogram the heretics

Shepard destroyed Keiji's greybox

Shepard helped exonerate Tali'Zorah

Shepard helped the factory workers, leading to Vido Santiago's escape

Shepard shut down Project Overlord

Shepard chose to warn the batarians in the Aratoht System

Mass Effect 3

Shepard romanced Kaidan Alenko

Mordin sacrificed himself, but the rest of Shepard's crew survived.

Shepard encouraged the relationship between EDI and Joker

The Genophage was cured, and Eve lived alongside Wrex

The Quarians reunited with the Geth

Shepard and his crew had a relaxed party

Shepard merged organic and synthetic life

[ferniliciousness]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

Was tagged by @nowandthane Thank you :) You tagged me over a week ago, but I saw someone else do it and just remembered 😅 Covid brain.

I am a fan since: July 2023

Favourite game of the series?: Dont hate me for this, but its Mass Effect 1. The others have better mechanics, but the storyline and just pure variety and choice you have in one, not to mention THE MAKO! just makes me love it so much. And I'm saying this as someone who has yet to even romance anyone in 1.

MShep or FShep?: FShep hands down. Have never even contemplated playing MShep lol.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Ive been Earthborn 2 or 3 times but I also enjoy Spacer.

Biotics or Tech: Tech. I am a tech girlie through and through. Ive only played a biotic class once. It was fun but I still prefer tech.

Paragon or Renegade: Paragon hands down lol. Sometimes a pit of Paragade but I'm too nice to be mean to people.

Favourite Class: Engineer or Soldier. I love the tech powers of Engineer but I also love my assault rifles lol

Favourite Companion: Tali, hands down.

Least favourite Companion: Jacob.... do i need to say more.

My squad selection: ME1- Garrus and Tali or Wrex, ME2 Garrus and Tali or Mordin, ME3 Garrus and Liara

Favourite In-game romance: In case you couldnt tell from above, cough, its Garrus lmao

Other pairings I like: Garrus is the only romance I like for the first two games for femshep, but Traynor <3, the amount of times I have almost broken up with Garrus for her is insane.

Favourite NPC: Kal'Reegar

Favourite Antagonist: TIM

Favourite Mission: Priority Palaven. As a Garrus romance it has one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Tali's, I love the ship and the drama if you bring Legion

Favourite DLC: Citadel

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Destroy, everytime

Favourite Weapon: M-96 Mattock, best part of being a soldier

Favourite Place: The migrant fleet from Tali's loyalty mission.

A quote I like:  "Your best has my mandible on the floor. Damn."

[menacingmetal]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

tagging my pookies @nowandthane @xoshepard :3

I am a fan since: I guess since early highschool era so 2013? i had played a bit before then tho

Favourite game of the series?: ahhh i rly like all of them, i guess me2 bc i like the vibe and updates to the game, but i do rly appreciate me1!!

MShep or FShep?: I love both of em but i've played femshep more.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Colonist baybee. love that added trauma

Biotics or Tech: biotics are so fun but i play tech more?

Paragon or Renegade: Renegade voice lines can be extremely hilarious and badass, but I cannot be mean to video game characters so paragon ^^;

Favourite Class: i've been playing engineer recently and thats fun, but I do like vanguard and sentinel

Favourite Companion: you know its Legion

Least favourite Companion: Don't really have any bc I love them all, might have to say Jacob just bc of how bioware wrote him, and hes mean to tali, garrus and thane... and the fact he can cheat on you??? But its not fair, its not his fault they made his character like that. He deserved better. :/ (and also Liara SORRY just mainly bc of how much she is shoved into everything)

My squad selection: I have a soft spot of garrus & tali since you can have them in every game! but otherwise I mostly pick whoever would be good on the mission...

Favourite In-game romance: Garrus is what got me into Mass Effect but I dunno, I enjoy a lot of them. Jack and Thane's are very sweet, i'm a bit partial to Miranda bc she's my fav girl. Oh of course how can I forget Samantha, i love hers a lot!! Probably between her and Garrus!

Other pairings I like: Oh geez we will be here forever if i list them. But also I like almost everyone together lol. some top picks are Joker x Edi, Miranda x Jack, Shepard x Wrex, and Shepard x Legion of course lol

Favourite NPC: Kirrahe, Aethyta, Shiala, that smoking salarian lol

Favourite Antagonist: hmm... Bioware really got em right out of the park with Saren and Sovereign

Favourite Mission: I dunno they can be fun but then some parts can be annoying, i was literally gonna say the below answers but they're loyalty specific lol

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Kasumi, Thane and Samara, I love undercover mystery spy stuff. Legion bc well I like to spend more time with them even though the result in that is painful

Favourite DLC: Citadel obviously lol, lair of the shadow broker is also pretty good

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: you're not bioware you can't make me choose. (I do like synthesis personally only bc I wish I were a robot.)

Favourite Weapon: assault rifles, kassa locust and carnifex my beloveds

Favourite Place: wahhh everywhere, I wish I could actually go and live on the Citadel DESPERATELY, Illium is pretty, Ilos is gorgeous and I love the atmosphere

A quote I like: "Show me yours tough guy, I bet mine's bigger" Hot and badass femshep line. Of course anything from Legion, especially "Do these units have a soul" (not does this unit have a soul.)

[kb1301]

The Blorbos Board

This is the Blorbos Board where I just list down all the blorbos I have! They're my favorite characters from any franchise or fandom. There will definitely be lots of them so I may not be able to list all of them. Anything in bold and red means they're my favorite of favorites.

#kb blorbos (general tag for all things blorbo)

Destiny 2

Lord Shaxx

Saint-14

Cayde-6

Osiris

Ikora Rey

Crow

Lord Felwinter

Failsafe

Andal Brask

Eido

Shiro-4

Misraaks / Mithrax

Baldur's Gate 3

Gale

Shadowheart

Karlach

Wyll

Lae'zel

Astarion

Halsin

Minthara

Jaheira

Minsc

Gortash

Default Durge

Call of Duty

König

Ghost (Original and Reboot)

Horangi

Soap (Original and Reboot)

Roach

Gaz

Price

Alejandro

Rodolfo / Rudy

Keegan P Russ

Logan Walker

Nikto

Sebastian Krueger

Barrage (it’s literally a fucking skin for the default operators but wtaf)

Rainbow Six Siege

Thermite (This is my attack main in the game)

Pulse (This is my defense main in the game)

Ace (He's just here being pretty)

Hibana

Mozzie

Flores

Jäger

Fuze

Kapkan

Glaz

Stardew Valley

Alex

Haley

Harvey

Shane

Penny

Mass Effect

Garrus Vakarian

Tali'Zorah

Liara T'Soni

Urdnot Wrex

Commander Shepard

EDI

Joker

Kasumi Goto

Kaidan Alenko

Legion

Mordin Solus

Miranda

Jack

Dragon Age

Alistair Theirin

Leliana

Morrigan

Zevran

Anders

Hawke (Garrett or Marian or Custom)

Fenris

Isabela

Merrill

Varric Tethras

Cassandra Pentaghast

Cullen Rutherford

Josephine Montilyet

Blackwall / Thom Rainier

Transformers (Any Continuity)

Optimus Prime

Megatron

Bumblebee

Ratchet

Soundwave

Shockwave

Dimension 20

The Bad Kids

The Dream Team

The Taste Buds

The Gunner Channel / The Wurst Crew

Pack of Pixies

Oisin Hakinvar

Elder Scrolls

Sharp-as-Night

Razum-dar

Teldryn Sero

Serana

Zeritha-var

Inigo the Brave

Lucien Flavius

Fallout

Craig Boone

ED-E

Rex

Veronica Santangelo

Arcade Gannon

Rose of Sharon Cassidy

The Ghoul / Cooper Howard

Lucy MacLean

Norm MacLean

Maximus

Thaddeus

Darkest Dungeon

Crusader (Reynauld)

Highwayman (Dismas)

Vestal (Junia)

Plague Doctor (Paracelsus)

Bounty Hunter (Tardif)

Leper (Baldwin)

Flagellant (Damian)

Others

Deadpool / Wade Wilson (Marvel)

Wolverine / Logan Hewlett (Marvel)

Captain (Risk of Rain 2)

Bandit (Risk of Rain 2) <- My main

Commando (Risk of Rain 2)

Ramattra (Overwatch)

Moira (Overwatch)

Gabriel (Ultrakill)

V1 (Ultrakill)

Minos Prime (Ultrakill)

[details-and-space-paraphernalia]

Mass Effect Tag Game

I stole this from @onedismay and anyone can now proceed to steal it from me

I am a fan since: The release of Legendary Edition, which came out on my birthday. And--1500+ hours of playtime later--It's the gift that keeps on giving lol

Favourite game of the series?: Mass Effect 2 is definitely my favourite because there just feels like there's so much more at stake and all the new characters introduced are great

MShep or FShep?: Most of my Sheps are women but I do have a few men even though I technically haven't played all of them yet

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: I know a lot of people probably consider this the boring option, but I do prefer Earthborn because, for whatever reason, I have a thing about my OCs never knowing their parents

Biotics or Tech: 100% tech, I don't fuck with biotics

Paragon or Renegade: My main Shep is renegade with a touch of paragon

Favourite Class: Infiltrator is my go-to class, but I'll admit that I don't have a lot of experience with any of the other classes

Favourite Companion: Uhm all the techies are essentially my faves lol so Garrus, Tali, EDI, Legion, Kasumi, and Mordin. I also adore Joker, who I feel like gets accidentally excluded a lot because he's not someone who can tag along on missions. Then I have a bit of a soft spot for Vega. Oh, and Aria is pretty much the only asari character I enjoy lol

Least favourite Companion: I might get hate for this, but Liara. I hate how forced she is on you in the first game, and the fact that that does change for the rest of the series makes me so uncomfortable. I literally don't even both talking to her. Ever. I forget she's there half the time. If it weren't for the couple missions in ME3 where you're forced to take her, she would never leave the ship

My squad selection: Garrus is almost always there. I've forced myself to broaden my selection in recent playthroughs and utilise (almost) everyone, but Garrus is still definitely a top pick. Tali is up there, as well. Frankly, this answer is essentially the same as my fave companion(s) plus Wrex

Favourite In-game romance: Garrus. The only romance I honestly give a shit about

Other pairings I like: Joker and EDI, 100%. I'm also into the Jack/Miranda pairing, and I enjoy the thought of Ash and James ending up together

Favourite NPC: This is probably the proper place to mention Joker and Aria, but I'm not going back to edit my other answer including them lol

Favourite Antagonist: I'm not sure I really have one. Saren had potential and it would've been neat if he had stuck around for at least another game, but obviously that didn't happen. The Illusive Man was kinda lame and just overall a nuance soooo idk Udina? lmao

Favourite Mission: I'm not entirely sure... I don't think I necessarily have a favourite because they're all mandatory, for the most part. Even if they're not mandatory story-wise, they are to level up so it's ike...idk none of them really stick out to me and I dread something about each of them, to be honest lol

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Obligatory Garrus answer, but then I also enjoy Tali's mission, uhm... Kasumi's is fun, Mordin's is good, aaaand that's probably it

Favourite DLC: Citadel, hands down. Just the absolutely campiness and insanity of it. I mean, it was a good way to lighten the mood of what the rest of ME3 is, so the ridiculousness of it was honestly much appreciated. A close second would probably be between Omega and Leviathan

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: I prefer Synthesis. I don't give a shit what people say about it, I'm not going through all that bullshit of ending a 300-year long war between the Quarians and Geth just to fucking destroy the Geth in the end. It's pointless. Plus, I could never do that to EDI

Favourite Weapon: While I usually am the Infiltrator class, I always choose assault rifles as my specialisation (or just use them in general when I can), so in ME2 my go-to is the Mattock while in ME3 it's the Valkyrie or Chakram Launcher. As for sniper rifles, in ME2 it's the Viper and in ME3 it's the Valiant

Favourite Place: I enjoy Omega and Illium the most. I wish we could've explored them more because I feel like there was so much lost potential there.

A quote I like: "I won't let fear compromise who I am." ~Shepard. I would honestly get that tattooed on my body lol Garrus has a lot of good/funny quotes, too, especially in ME3 but that Shepard one is always the first to come to mind

[fyeahmeddy]

so i was thinking about the Mass Effect series and how I don't feel much of anything for a good portion of the human characters, especially the early game ones, but the aliens and a few of the human characters from later games are some of the best characters and most compelling stories I've seen in ANYTHING, and i think a lot of it boils down to a writing problem I think of as 'you're supposed to care'. It's similar to movies where a lot of the character or feelings feel a bit vapid or vague, and I think its because you're supposed to do the work yourself, of conflating their love interest (which is often a shallow dynamic) with your own loves, or the ones you fantasize about; you're intended to project onto them, so they don't do the work of making you care. This is a common thing with characters and concepts where it feels like the appeal is built in, and they tend to feel shallow to me. Conversely, take the aliens of the setting. By default they HAVE to do work to explain who they are, the differences of their cultures, and as a result they come off as far more realized characters, even if nothing they do is super relatable on a superficial level. Whether it is Urdnot Wrex lamenting the ferocity of his people contributing to their collective doom spiral, the robotic hive mind Legion having a mental breakdown when they realize their treacherous kin are SPYING on their people and cannot comprehend why they can no longer understand each other's motivations, or a fair number of other characters that have a LOT going on (Samara the MILF but played for tragedy, as an example). So as a result, they all feel a lot more interesting in a way that default squad mates Kaiden and Ashley (whom discus their backgrounds and relationships if you ask, but almost show up in a more tangible way) feel a bit by the numbers. Heck in my experience, those two mostly are significant by how they annoy me, rather than anything I really remember in their stories. So there might be something to consider here; when doing character stuff, always assume the audience has no reason to particularly care, so you put the work in to make sure they do, which generally will at least get some notice.

I've never played Mass Effect tbh, but the phrase "Samara the MILF" has put it in my radar now.

I get what you mean!! Sometimes we are thrown characters that, only because they are the protagonist, we are demanded to care/relate to them, and it's not rare that many times people end up caring more about secondary characters because those usually have better stories than the protagonists which main goal is achieving something (a dream, a power level, a treasure, love, social recognition...).

And there are times when the story actually shows how shallow the motivations of the main character are and and re-shape them, give them a new goal.... but we end up with the same plot and attitudes.

Meanwhile, the secondary characters have a lot of lore going up with them! We are fed their stories little by little because they are not the protagonist and they don't get the spotlight so much, but that's precisely their forte! By unraveling the character's layers we find they are actually deep and complicated. We understand them in a deep level, we can see many dimensions of themselves, they are just way more interesting! Even when they are not RelatableTM, they are interesting!

And in a setting of humans and/vs aliens, the difference shows up a lot more. Because the human characters are like us, we are supposed to identify with them and care about them from the start. But aliens are a different thing, they are not human, so the writing has to make the effort to explain what they are and what they want. They are given actual characterization.

When you are offered a plain ass chicken breast with normal water vs chicken breast with vegetables, rice, ranch or salsa and bubbly mineral lemonade.... they choice is easy!

Story reading and creation shouldn't be about being relatable, but being interesting.

[katthekatt]

Some of my Mass Effect headcannon:

> After defeating Saren, Shepard took his headband as a memorial for his sacrifice in a paragon run, and as a trophy in a renegate run.

In the ME2, Shepard would find it in the original Normandy's wreckage, and it's placed next to Shepard's helmet in their private quarters.

> When Shepard first drives the mako the companions are forever traumatized and if they are partnered with one who has been with Shepard before and one that hasn't, the one that has been in the mako before puts a second seat belt on the other companion with the words, "Hold tight and pray in whatever you believe in."

> In ME1, when Shepard gave Wrex the Phoenix armor, he shoots at them and vows to pay them back.

> Thane plays chess with Dr. Chakwas during and after ME2, in ME3 Dr. Chakwas and Shepard play in his memory on the board from Aria from the Omega DLC

> After reading about Grunt's search history and his interest in dinosaurs Shepard takes him to Earth for a night in a museum. Grunt may or may not be responsible for the fall of one of the bigger displays.

> Shepard tries to game with Legion but keeps losing, after coming to a consensus that Shepard-Comander's feeling are getting hurt, Legion let's them win. Shepard knows that Legion lost on purpose, and it says so. However, Shepard doesn't let it forget it still lost, que in Legion never letting Shepard-Comander win again, with a tally system it so happens to update loudly after every win.

> Zaeed would be regularly "bothered" by Grunt for battle stories, the mercenary may have a sweet spot for Grunt

> Tali and Kasumi share fashion style and go shopping together on the Citadel, Kasumi would offer Tali for them to take everything for free, but she knows the stigma around quarians and out of respect never voices the offer and simply steals what Tali has said she can't afford on a later date. Even after the Suicide Mission she would still send Tali gifts.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 replay, wrapping up Armstrong Nebula:

Gagarin

-Junthor - It has the remains of the colony of an ancient space faring race. Another victim of the Reapers?

-Antirumgun - Interesting description. Pirates come to "trade slaves and stories". That's some jovial alliteration for dark scene setting.

-Some also drill through the ice crust to recover the world's natural alcohol. That's some of the most realistic world building Mass Effect has provided yet.

-Pressha - So Turians do have admirals. I think this might be the only time they're mentioned. Does the Alliance have Generals hidden away somewhere?

-Rayingri - Two planets orbiting each other will result in their mutual destruction in a few hundred years. The Asari are already selling tickets. Good way to highlight how different the Asari lifespan is from humanity's.

Also, whoever wrote the descriptions for this cluster was having fun.

-This is the second planet in the Armstrong Nebula where Geth have killed people who were nearby. Given how huge the galaxy is, how did there just happen to be people in the vicinity of the Geth twice on these four random worlds?

-Well, this is a change of pace. There's an actual base and its surrounded by Dragon's Teeth. Empty - where did the husks go?

(The base, obviously. But how did they get in? Why drag them out, kill them on the Teeth, then put them back inside?)

-Bit foreboding that there are so many weapons and storage lockers, and all but two are presumably empty (since you can only open two)

-Aaaand there are the husks.

-And Geth on the way out. Where were you earlier?

-The Geth outside were the easiest to take out... Thank you, Mako.

Grissom

-Grissom Cluster, Grissom Academy... I'm noticing a pattern here.

-Notanban - So the bioluminescent life that developed forever flees the sun. Until I started writing these notes I did not realize just how much of Mass Effect world building is depressing.

-Solcrum - But there's beauty, too. The sun is gorgeous from this moon. The constant swirling is mesmerizing.

-The Geth coding language isn't known to the Citadel races. So they've developed their own since the Morning War. Why? Deliberately so the Citadel races couldn't monitor them, or was their original language just insufficient as they became more advanced?

-This is the first time I've heard strange noises on Solcrum. According to Google, others have as well. The wiki doesn't mention them, oddly enough.

What are they? The Geth?

-Why do I have to get close to survey Uranium? I feel this violates safety regulations, even if the suit is space proof.

-Descriptions keep labeling ancient artifacts as worthless. Liara is right there. Are you seriously telling me this archeologist isn't carefully recording all these old artifacts we come across?

-Those sounds have to be related the Geth. I also heard them when I entered the base.

-How does Liara keep dying when she has decent armor and barrier? Tali has neither and survives just fine.

- Tali is the one that decrypted the console with the Geth data and makes no comment about it.

It's odd she doesn't. Both Wrex and Garrus have extra dialogue for their loyalty missions.

-It would have been interesting if taking Tali with you on this option means she always makes a copy of the data for herself. Whether you freely offer it or not to her later only would only have impacted your relationship with her.

-Is the Quarian music related to the sounds somehow? Is that what Quarian music sounds like?

-I still want to know more about that Quarian song that plays when the last Geth fall. Why did the heretics use that for their communication, of all things? We've already established they have their own language that the Citadel races don't know.

-On that note, is the Geth language mentioned here the same for the Geth and the heretics? Would have added some flavor if the heretics had created their own.

It sure would have been nice if we could have asked Legion about any of this.

Squad

-Tali's loyalty mission is so odd. It's five parts long, it's not recorded in the journal as for her until you find the Geth Data in the fifth part, and it's very easily missable if you go to the world map instead of talking to Tali immediately. Again, why is this so different from Garrus's and Wrex's?

-Also, after all this work it should have made an actual difference in ME2 and ME3.

-If you go renegade, Tali comes across as very weary. She fully expects the Alliance to refuse to help the Migrant fleet, and recognizes this is just Shepard placing humanity first. She just wishes it wasn't at the Quarian's expense.

Considering she later supports the Quarians going to war with the Geth because she won't not help her own people... At least she's consistent.

Tali and Ashley are both similar in that regard: They expect people to always prioritize their own species and don't hold it against them on a personal level. They just keep it in mind when planning. Tali just has much better tact.

Also, she still sticks around to help stop Saren, so points to Tali for seeing the big picture.

-This is another example of where Shepard's loyalty being to the Alliance is considered renegade. I do think this is intentional; it occurs too frequently not to be. I'm very curious what the original plans for this theme were.

-The neutral option is to give Tali the data.

-Hmm. If you go paragon when discussing giving Tali the data, you say she needs it to destroy the enemy. If you go neutral, you tell her its encrypted. Interesting dichotomy there.

Is the paragon option supposed to be some kind of criticism? It doesn't come off as such.