#i love talking about mass effect and my series for it and my shepard she's so fun

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: THE CITADEL (PART 2)

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Lt. James Vega, EDI, and Maj. Kaidan Alenko With: Councilor Donnel Udina, Councilor Tevos, Councilor Laiel Sparatus, Cmdr. Armando-Owen Bailey, and Kai Leng And a Special Guest Appearance by: The Illusive Man But sometimes the way a thing goes down does matter, Sophie. Later- when you have to live with yourself. Knowing that you acted with integrity- then it matters. Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

[stormikins]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

tagged by @nowandthane thank you!! Warning I ramble a bit in this lol

I am a fan since: 2017, I got it for Christmas in 2016 so I always just say '17

Favorite Game of the series: By virtue of simply replaying it the most, three. I really love the combat in it so I've played it near thirty times? But all time fave would have to 1 because of the aesthetic, tone, and story. There's something about first discovering a world which is what me1 is about.

MShep or Femshep? Gotta go with Femshep. I have played both, its just hard to capture the male shepard image I have in my head in the character creator so Femshep it is.

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer: earthborn! My main Shepard Jenn is earthborn so that's what I'm going with. Though, I have numerous Shepard's are various background combinations. I have feelings about each background trust me

Biotics or tech: Both! Though I really do love biotics, you can do some cool stuff with them, setting up and detonating both biotic and tech explosions.

Paragon or Renegade: I have to repeat what nowandthane said, paragon choices, renegade dialogue.

Favorite Class: Sentinel. I love the versatility of the class, but I do have an affection for Infiltrator because that's what got me through me2 on insanity.

Favorite Companion: Tali. By story value, Javik. He's like one of the most important characters

Least Favorite Companion: Javik, throw your attitude out the airlock. IM JOKING! (he has every reason to be like he is. I love him very much) Liara is my answer though only because I don't like some of the story choices the devs did with her. (ex: why does she have Shepard's armor in a display case when i didn't even romance her??? I can't mention this at all??)

My squad selection: For Jenn's playthrough: Wrex/Tali in me1. Garrus/Mordin/Miranda generally in me2. Thane and Miranda/Samara for the collector base. Kaidan/Javik/James in me3. Of course, I mix it up based on story aspects and the difficulty settings. But me3 is pretty fixed bc I always play on insanity.

Favorite in-game Romance: Tali and Garrus. I'm a sucker for awkward, wet cat of a man like Garrus is. But Tali's romance man.... her parting line to Shepard during the beam run "I have a home" makes me insane actually

Other pairings I like: Obligatory Nihlus/Shepard/Kal (and the duos within in this throuple) mention here. Other than that, Joker/Miranda and Joker/James, Ashley/Garrus, and Shepard/Wrex, I could list a whole lot so I'll keep it to those ships lol

Favorite NPC: Nihlus and Kal'Reegar for sure. Victus and of course Niftu Cal our favorite biotic god.

Favorite Antagonist: Saren. He's the best one that we get in all three games (Harby could have been number one if they did anything with him in three but that's a rant for another time lmao)

Favorite Mission: Haestrom/Tali's Loyalty mission because that's when I get to see Kal <3 and blow up a colossus with the Cain. Also, the Collector Ship mission I have to mention because it's frankly the only mission besides the two previously stated where I've loaded up the save to play it on insanity when I'm bored. It's fun. Of course, this is with the Infiltrator.

Favorite Loyalty Mission: Tali for numerous reasons. Kal mention here. But I love the insight into Quarian culture we get. Also we see that fire in her when she's talking to the Board which I always appreciate. Along with her dialogue at the end, "I got better, Shepard. I got you." and then on the ship afterwards, "I don't think life is about what we deserve." I love her so much.

Favorite DLC: Leviathan. Only because of the horror aspect.

Control, Sythesis, or Destroy? Destroy. I have so many issues with the ending and that's the least worst option in my opinion so. (I too ignore that it wipes out the Geth and Edi fuck that)

Favorite Weapon: The M-90 Cain or the M-99 Saber aka the "Big Iron". Lancer in three was my favorite weapon before I found the Saber. Special mention to my bud the Mattock, I have been convinced of its glory. I do not think the Harrier is better anymore lol which my brother would be happy to hear

Favorite Place: me1 Citadel my BELOVED.

A quote I like Quotes I Like: The ENTIRETY of Sovereign's dialogue on Virmire GOD ITS SO GOOD!!!! / "Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." / "Does this unit have a soul?" / "Just followed your example, Shepard. Yell loud enough and eventually someone will come over to see what all the fuss is about." / "I won't let fear compromise who I am." / "I MADE A MISTAKE!" / "Help me out here, Shepard. The line between friend and foe is getting a little blurry from where I stand." / There are so many great quotes in these games I could go on and on but I'll stop myself

No pressure tags: @spacebunshep @jtownnn

[pinkyjulien]

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT Actually I'm going to share my fresh, sleep-deprived thoughts that I wrote yesterday- or more like, this morning gfhhgf bear with me cause I was loosing it :>

⚠ Heavy spoilers under read more!

As a heads up as to why the formating is all weird, this was sent to a friendo who worked on PL :3 Did a list of things that stuck to me in those 4-5 first hours right before falling asleep! I stoped at the little hideout with Myers, didn't met Reed or Kurt or MrHands or Anybody elses yet really 👁👄👁✋ taking my sweet time with it!

The start : I LOVED the glitchy holocall with songbird, it set the tone immediately

God walking up to the gate and seeing all those cars and npcs waiting to enter- THE BIT with the cops who cant go in ?? omg loved it, again its such a tiny thing that set the tone right up

Songbird introduction oh my goddddddd…. HGJG I love HER SHE'S SO COOL… When she was like "were going to crash so I woobled into your relic" I was???? Ok so How and What and What and What UH… Also I can see why people won't like her, already just cause she mute Johnny and isnt a Samurai fan fhdjbqg BUT I PERSONALLY REALLY LIKE IT

Dogtown itself???? Holyshit. Like, I remember dev saying that Night City itself was a character, the main character even, and they nailed it hardcore with Dogtown too- all of the civilians are fucking so memorable too??? how good the random crowd npcs look as well!! Its a glowup from vanilla and it shows (special kudos to the netrunner kid vendor, and the flame thrower elbow guy and his little dance ghdjs)

I wheezed when trying the AR googles HGKHQ

The crash : God. Even tho I knew what was going to happen, the amount of chills I had during that scene!! It reminded me of one of my favorite DLC from Mass Effect 3, Citadel, there is a scene where Shepard eat shit and fall through a big aquarium / building and is truly alone, hurt and all- gave me the same vibes of "the world is too big, too Much and I'm just one Guy" ??? It got me so hookt, god. ALSO THE TITLE POPING??? UUUGGGHHH. GOD.

Rush to the crash, the sneaking to the ship and getting Myers got me Alert and excited

Escorting Myers feels nice cause she's not useless, she knows how to handle herself (DUH!) but I mean her A.I as a NPC, I like that she also sneak attack on ennemies when you do, like Jackie did

Part I had struggle with was the Driving Myers to the Garage bits, was getting frustrated- I love driving in FPP but with this car, in those streets and in this stressful situation YUOOOCK it wasnt IT FHFJJG switched to TPP and managed after a few tries UwU

OK GOD. The museum- amazing visuals and lore crumbs ofc BUT THE CHIMERA???? HELLO???????? THEY FUCKING POPPED OFF. I havent felt this stressed on a boss battle in FOREVER! Funny enough it reminded me of my first time against Nefarious from Ratchet and clank 3, and its positive HKGJ I was a wee kid back then and its my favorite game from the ratchet serie (which is my favorite console serie tbh) and it made me so nostalgic of that time??? REALLY Comf, really challenging, I shat myself.

District itself is FUCKING INSANE. Of course, it looks amazing, the sound design, the VIBES- I thought everything was already done in night city, how much different nuance of CyberPunk can you do when you already have such a big city with such different districts?? but dogtown is so different and yet fit perfectly

I LOVE. THE. NOMAD DIALOGUE OPTIONS… One of my big "fear" was being left out of the fun cause yeah Nomads really just have the badlands kinda hfjdjg but!!! I already been fed from the few choices I had, especially the one when cutting out the tracker from Myers neck, mentioning the uhh ritual thing, I was !!!!!!! AAAAAH FOOD FOR THOUGHTS AND ROTS I LOVE IT

talking about Nomads I LOVE THE DIVERSITY in the new garments!! Had a lot of corpo and barghest armor loot at the start, so I didnt expected to see some cool denim harnesses, practical jeans and worker gears OwO Excited to see more cause AZHHHGFH

[fanstuffrantings]

Rewatching the mass effect: Paragon Lost movie and once again reminded of the mixed feelings I have on it. It's been a while since I watched it but I got my hands on a new copy of the movie and I have such a jumbled bag of feelings about it.

I like that they decided to give us a movie about Vega and show us just how much of his ideals and actions revolved around his hero worship for Shepard, it really helps put into perspective a clear picture of their dynamic from his view and in a way I think it aligns him more with the player's opinion. Mass effect players also tend to idolize Shepard and speak about them very similarly to Vega.

I like that we see him in a leadership role making a tough decision that explained incredibly well why the N7 program wanted him and also why he wouldn't really be eager to take on the role given what choice he had to make. The ending of the movie not having some clean happy tie up in his romance with Treeya since yes he saved her and in doing so saved data that would help in the war, but he had to actively ignore hundreds of civilians dying in the process and it's an action that he would always remember when she was around. The Liara cameo was also fun.

That said, there wasn't enough content with the other members of his team for me to really care when they were dying and I think in a movie where Vega loses almost everyone, caring about the people he loses is important. I had a large amount of distaste for Essex because it wasn't just him flirting without taking a no, he actively sexually harassed Camille and touched her completely violating her consent.

In general, this movie didn't have great writing for the female characters. Part of that has to do with run time, part of it was the writers just putting in creepy men where they didn't have to. I think Treeya was the best written woman in the movie which makes sense since she got the most screen time, and I could even fully understand and sympathize with her hatred of the military.

I originally thought in the beginning she had a romance with Christine based on their interaction/dialogue and I do think pursuing that idea and having her and Vega just become friends who understand each other would've been a solid angle. This also could've led to Treeya actually wanting Vega to save the colonists because her wife/girlfriend was on board and hating him for saving her but also understanding why he did when the data was on the line.

I think a longer run time or it being a series would've allowed for more development between her and Vega romantically if they were planning to go this route. I just felt like her change towards him happened a bit too fast for my liking.

We get a jump cut to Vega being with the colony and integrating into it after 2 years which I would've loved to see happening so we can more easily care about all the people. I honestly think this could've been a mini series with us seeing what the Normandy companions were up to during the 2 years. I know they tell us but it could've been cool to get glimpses of their lives while still having a heavy focus on Vega since he's the on were building up.

I wish they'd actually taken the opportunity to have Treeya show up in ME3 for a quest where we get some interaction between her and Vega. I don't need it to set up a romance or anything but them being able to talk and catch up would've been a nice Easter egg.

I also felt like the military heavy hand was a lot stronger in this movie than it is in the rest of mass effect. I'm aware mass effect is military propaganda but this movie felt like it was going to at some point turn to me and ask me to join with dialogue we got.

Not a terrible movie, but definitely could've been far better. I do wish it was a mini series. I think if you're a mass effect fan and haven't seen it you should check it out and decide if it's for you on your own.

[sol-consort]

Man FUCK that bitch ass fucking assassin motherfucker I hope he rots. Sorry he pissed me off to no end.

Also yeah FemShep’s VA is considered the better VA of the Shepards which makes sense MaleShep is voiced by Mark Meer who hadn’t done much voice work before, his biggest role being Cyric in Baldur’s Gate II, and FemShep was voiced by Jennifer Hale who had been at it for almost 20 years at the time. It wasn’t just Jennifer Hale either, Anderson being Keith David and Joker being Seth Green who had both been doing it over 20 years. I liked MaleShep’s voice though and never had a problem with it because it’s very main heroy and recognizable like I’d instantly know that it was Shepard if I heard it.

I knew that the series wouldn’t be exactly up with the times because it was 2007-2012 but Jesus I had no idea that FemShep gets harassed so much.

I didn’t get a reconcile scene on the Citadel since I didn’t romance anyone in ME1 I went into the series with Tali on my mind as my definitive romance.

I don’t think Thane praying for you instead himself is unique to his romance? Or at least I remember something similar happening maybe it was his son.

You can’t hit on EDI as MaleShep I’m pretty sure don’t remember that being an option however you can still hit on Joker as MaleShep I remember seeing that option and going “why would I say that?” Also I’m surprised you never mentioned the Joker segment of Mass Effect 2 where you sneak around the ship as Joker that section surprised the shit out of me.

Oh yeah a fun little fact, remember the show Once Upon a Time I’ve mentioned a couple times when talking about fairy tales? The actor who plays Kaiden was in that show and played the show’s version of Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio. I don’t remember what happened to Cricket in the show though. He may have just stopped being relevant so they never brought him up again since the show just fucking loved doing that.

Is the hot assassin guy supposed to be unlikeable? I liked him so far, like ngl, plus he's pretty cool. Evil living weapons of destructions, my beloveds.

And yeah, i really like femshep, but it is pretty cool of them to give maleshep VA a chance for such a big character. Sure, it could've been better, but he probably did the best he could with the skills he had at the time, and it did appeal to some people!

And man I'm just lucky I actually enjoy these things ingames, like I am down to being a whore and flirting with everyone so it doesn't bother me when the npcs forcefully flirt with you bc you picked a woman. What bothers me is that the fact it's only bc you picked a woman, and just because I wanted it doesn't mean other people do and it might make them very uncomfortable. There are several mods to remove the sexual harassments femshep gets, I wish there was one to remove it for EDI tho.

We should all have a choice, is what I'm saying. It feels like femshep was made to appeal to straight guys who might play her as an outsider observer. Same with some lesbian characters, too, ngl- not all of them, but the game has its moments where it makes me realise oh this was put here for a straight dude to gawk at. Meanwhile, maleshep feels the proper self insert badass at times. Really hate that.

That's why I like picking NB options whenever they're present, you're free from expectations and the devs aren't sure what to make of you so they don't try to appeal to a certian demographic and just write your character as a character.

You did Tali romance? Hell yeah she is an amazing character and her relationship with Shepard feels phenomenal. Like a scientist princess and her knight in shining armour, amazing. Plus she is all adorable when she talks about engines and how we get to help her so many times.

Apparently her and Garrus end up together if you don't romance her, but I haven't seen it yet. She always felt close to Shepard, especially in the second game where she is the first friendly face you see.

I haven't met her yet in ME3, still doing side errands. I am very very broke and everything is very very expensive and I miss sugar daddy illusive man pls take me back, the alliance became more stingy than I remember or inflation is hitting hard.

Fuck I hat like 999999 something credits in the first game, why couldn't it tranfer over??

And Thane!! My heart! He even prays for you when he's not romanced??? That's it, he is legit the most precious character and no one else comapres. I would die for Thane, I would kill everyone on the Normady for Thane.

But I know Thane would forgive me If I picked Grunt over him bc my son which just makes Thane the most amazing man ever, DRELL ARE SUPERIOR I TELL YOU.

Also so far Drell worship Hanar (kinda) and Hanar worship protheons (kinda) and Javik likes humans(he is all current protheon population)

So by association! Drell and Humans are conncted, and no, I will not give up my tank of copium. Go buy your own. Idk what overdosing is, I have insomnia I forgot.

And aww we can't hit on EDI :( i would've treated her better than Joker.

Yeah I had the same reaction to the flirting with Joker line but just went for it because what's the worst that can happen? He says no and we laught it off.

Imagine if the worst was him retiring from being your pilot and you get soma rando driving the Normady around who now runs at half the speed and takes twice as much gas plus occasionally breaks down and you have to pay 100k credits for repairs.

Oh also then there is this one thing I am sure is exclusive to femshep.

You can sleep with Javik. The protheon. Yes.

But it's not a full romance :"(

He has four eyes I wonder if he has four-

I heard about once upon a time, the show. But never watched it.

I did however watch a random person talk about it in a video essay because I prefer that over watching shows.

This one.

It was fun, I'm not big on fairytales but I enjoyed hearing about it.

The Joker sneak section in ME2 didn't resonate with me much for some reason. It was nice but I didn't feel the pressure at all and with EDI constantly talking it got annoying and I just wanted it to be over.

His jokes were nice but the moment of trusting EDI didn't hit the same way it should've. It didn't feel endearing or earnest.

The sudden flip in their relationship afterwards was too jarring.

I prefer ME3 EDI and Joker dynamic over ME2. However I hate how EDI is becoming a "born sexy yesterday" character by the game when her core as a character is so profound and genuine. She wants to know her purpose, what it means to be alive and all the other characters mention about her is her body which is bleh.

Even some of her dialogues with Joker is just overplayed sex jokes. It's all of her amazing writing vanishes the moment it's not just her and Shepard in a conversation.

Kaidan's voice actor is great! He even stood out to me in the first game. You notice how much more convicnising and immersive his delivery was over the other characters, almost outshined ME1 femshep even.

It's like the dialogue and the way he delievers it fit perfectly. If I just read it, then I get a completely different impression.

The game doesn't have bad voice actors it just has very bad delivery from some characters. It's when someone keeps a constant tone and doesn't portray any emotions or adds any personalisation into the dialogue. It feels tone deaf a lot when what the character is speaking about is something intimiate, yet it sounds the same as asking about the weather.

Still, it is nostalgic in a way, this was extremely common in older games.

[nicoolios]

Romantic

Happy holidays @biotickaidan! Here’s your Holiday Harbinger present. My apologies for real life getting in the way and keeping me from posting this on time. You mentioned loving Mass Effect for the moments throughout the series that make it what it is, as well as the character storytelling and a love of both Kaidan and Ashley (which I wholeheartedly share!) I hope you enjoy! A big thank you as well to @masseffectholidaycheer for organizing this thing every year and pulling it off.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45047258

fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14198412/1/Romantic

Amelia Shepard was a lot of things, but she would never call herself a romantic. Romantics tended not to last long in the Alliance, and their numbers amongst N7s were even more dismal. It was hard to romanticize the worst-case scenarios, everything she was trained for, and being expected to choose who would die so more could live beat her down to the point where even finding little things to look forward to was getting harder. That's why turning to fraternization surprised her so. And when fraternization turned to an actual, genuine, using the l- word relationship? Why, that was about as romantic as she’d gotten in years.

She loved Kaidan and Ashley. The talks they shared in the middle of the night about Earth years ago, the way they immediately clicked as a ground squad, the hours spent exploring the Citadel together, even the aforementioned little things like making each other try shitty alien beer in Chora’s Den or taking notes on the most authentic Earth food spots in the Wards. They had a bond the rest of the crew didn’t understand. Commander Shepard didn’t treat them any differently from the crew when it came to missions, but Amelia definitely preferred their company and came to love life aboard the Normandy. Eventually that love spread to one man in particular, born of those late-night chats and impromptu food dates. Private walks on the Citadel. Huddled together in a bunk watching a vid on a small omni-tool screen. Amelia already up hours before her shift, figuring if she couldn’t sleep she might as well get some paperwork done, and finding herself with company. The soldier became the romantic.

Which was how Amelia found herself smooshed into Kaidan’s bunk on the lower level, fingers entwined in his shirt, enjoying the few moments alone before Ashley came looking for some pre-mission destressing. She had already almost gotten her head bitten off by Wrex trying to simply talk to him about the mission. He had to understand why krogan clones weren’t going to help cure the genophage, especially when created by an indoctrinated madman like Saren. He had to understand why going to Virmire was necessary, why destroying the factory was even more so. Emotions ran too hot, especially once Ashley got involved. To avoid anyone getting shot Amelia ordered him into confinement until they reached planet side. Aside from worrying about the general wellbeing of her ground squad, which was a full-time job by itself, all that was left was trying to relax so her friends wouldn’t yell at her for going into a mission already wired. She lived her life wired, finding it near impossible to relax, but saving herself the fight with her crew was worth it. Saving herself her friendships was worth it.

She laid with her head on his chest, one hand on his shoulder and the other playing with his shirt, legs splayed out, hair falling out of its messy ponytail to tickle his face. His arm was curled around her waist, his free hand playing with those fallen strands. Both were in rumpled fatigues ready to be swapped for armor. Both had circles under their eyes, Amelia’s forever more pronounced since she inherited leadership. Both were covered in bruises and healing wounds and scars. Both had no greater concerns than staying in that moment in time forever.

“You think everyone will be able to handle it?” Amelia asked. She caught herself from saying tomorrow, since she’d come to accept that by the same time tomorrow she might be dead.

Kaidan smiled into her hair. “You have a good crew, Amelia. They can handle it. And Wrex will come around. He respects you too much. So does Ash. She'll keep an eye on him. It'll be okay. You'll be okay.”

Amelia had more doubts to voice, more insecurities in her newfound leadership to sort through. Kaidan was the only person she trusted completely to say those thoughts without fear of them leaking to the entire Normandy crew. She had to share them now before the mission, before they could affect her ability to command a ground team. Just as she was about to open her mouth, still smooshed into Kaidan’s chest, the door to the bunk room swooshed open and a storm rolled in.

“What vid are we watching?” Ashley blew in, her personal vid collection on her omni tool already connecting to a tablet in her free hand.

Amelia and Kaidan tried to detach themselves from each other before Ashley noticed, resulting in the both of them ending up on the floor in a mess of limbs and military issue blanket. Their limbs were still partially entwined, Kaidan’s head propped up on the metal supports, Amelia’s wrapped up in her arms in an awkward angle under Kaidan’s shoulder.

Ashley froze mid-step. From the beginning she suspected there was something more going on with the two of them. She just didn’t think it would take Virmire to culminate things. Still. Good for them. “What’s going on here, Skipper?”

“Oh, um, nothing. Nothing's going on, Ash. Just, uh...”

Kaidan never bothered attempting to offer an explanation. He gave a valiant effort to detangle himself and perched on the edge of the bunk, lending Amelia a hand so she could pull herself to her feet.

“Riiiiiight.” Ashley put one arm around Amelia’s shoulders and pulled her towards the door. Amelia reached behind her for Kaidan’s arm. He took it, forming a chain. “I’m assuming neither of you put any thought into this, so I went ahead and picked one out. You two procure the snacks. I'll pull up the vid.”

They were alone again as Ashley detoured into the common area, most likely for the last time in days, leaving them near the kitchens. As Kaidan moved towards the drawers Amelia stuck to his side. Ashley would be a few minutes yet. After all, Amelia was a romantic now. She had to act the part. And by this point, she had to admit, it wasn’t an act anymore. Amelia loved her best friends, the first she’d ever truly had, and beyond that she had Kaidan. She had family.

[theviridianbunny]

Top 5 video games!

AAH WASH HIIII!! thank you for the ask!!

ok these are in no particual order! not sure how coherently I can word but I will try my best!! this will be a long post- so you can find it under the cut!!! I have a lot to say about my fave viddy games (and i am not sorry~) but I am sorry for spelling errors- my brain can not keep up with my thoughts and i want to get everything down and everything goes to mush :////

METAL GEAR SOLID 2 (2001)

long before cp2077 was the main source of brainrot- metal gear solid was the main source. I picked up mgs as a series when I was at university in my second year and then would not stop talking about it to my friends (one of which played the games when they came out!!).

the art of yoji shinkawa (see his work below) becoming a source of inspo to my drawing / painting practice (it may not look like it at times -but- it's there- a lot of my old worl had very paintily lines- using a ink brush in procreate ect! maybe i will post some old art one day )

(...there was also a point where I was doing weird perfomance art where I just stuck a cardboard box on my head and called it a day- hrrng.,.. just a box?!) oh.. how i miss being a student <3

BUT ANYWAY!!! MGS2 is my fave in the series- this is due to the character design- the character design altered my brain chemisty in the best way-- the art design- colours/mood- the greens the blues- also the soundtrack- ugh it's so good. (i also had/still have the biggest crush on solid snake- husband time... also olga gurlukovich.. my dear wife ugh she she her)

OH MY GOD WAIT- WAIT- another thing about mgs 2 and it's character design- THEY GAVE OLGA BODY HAIR- yes, i know thats quite a random thing to say, but, I feel like for the time the game being released- it was progressive(?) like- in games even today- most women are like - super models ? idk how to word but- it was so empowering to see Olga like that- she is an icon and i feel empowered when i see her! <3

2. MASS EFFECT 3 (2012)

The mass effect trilogy is a series thats so close to my heart- I picked the games up during the tranistion period between covid lockdowns and coming out of lockdown.graduating from uni- finding a job- screaming to the void- yknow- adulting- no more being a art student-UGH !!

a friend of mine from uni gave me the og ps3 box set at christmas 2020 (because i only had a ps3 at the time)... for me to play over christmas between term one and term two of my final year of uni... gaming got me thru a lot of hard times then-... actually skipped me1 because it was clunky and made me want to cry- went straight to me2 (after reading all the lore of me1) and then went into me3 blind.. god i was not ready - cried my heart out so much

Mass effect 3 is my fave in the trilogy because of the characters! also like with mgs 2- the soudtrack! also also! being able to create shepard to look how I wanted her to look- YES VERY GOOD-VERY NICE! I loved playing the whole trilogy- but ME3 has a place in my heart for real. - the build up to it- the feeling of impending doom - trying to get all your squad to trust shep- the citadel dlc!!! aaAHHHHH LOVE <33

EDI is my best girl- my best girl indeed!!! I see a lot of myself in her. How she grows and evolves over time0 how she learns and understands her worth. She brings me a lot of endless joy.

I got to play the full trilogy when it came out as a remastered bundle. The trilogy got me through a rough few months- I had got me first "real job" and it was a hard few months- but coming home and playing mass effect brought me joy ! I do need to do a re run of the trilogy for the purposes of vp and gif making- I do miss my beloved Zachary Shepard! (some screenshots of her below! on the left- me1 vs me3!! she grows- evolves- cuts her hair and gets ready to kick reaper ass!!)

fun fact: I have two mass effect art books! one of the books being a book that was only released with a game guide which came out in 2007.. the other being a big chunky book with SOOOO MUCH STUFF IN IT EE... both of which i paid for with money from my first "real job" (which i only lasted three months in- but dhdhdd it's ok-)

3. DRAGON AGE INQUISITION (2014)

DAI was THE GAME that got me into gaming/ made me realise I was a gamer. I picked up the game around the same time I picked up the mass effect trilogy- maybe a bit later.. was playing on the ps3 (and it ran like it was running on a toaster or a pottato) it froze every 20 mins and none of the character models looked any good... but i loved it still- yes I couldn't play any of the dlc at the time but it did not matter- i was having the time of my life.

In 2021 I got a pc built so I could finish parts of my degree from home (bc covid and having to stay home for my health)... my pc was powerful enough to run DAI so... yknow- I got it on pc and MY GOD- I COULD RUN IT PROPERLY AND PLAY THE DLCS !!!!! the joy of running the desent for the first time, jaws of hakkon and then big boi trespasser UGH MY HEART EXPLODED !! oh my god- playing the decent for the first time and hearing david hayters voice- i YELLED SO LOUDLY- (it was like my beloved snake was back fejhdhjdhjd) playing that dlc for the first time also felt so right- so natural- my canon inquisitor, wren having connections to dwarven heritage through her father

DAI was my first adult fandom- im not actively a part of the fandom anymore- but I met some really lovely people through it (psst @virginiabackroads and @elfishtales i am looking at you <3 ) I recently got back into Dragon age by making an AU for my best girl, Viridian (... in this au she is called Viri lavellan.. or just viri!) (psst @fereldanwench im still foreveer greatful you pointed me in the right direction for modding the game!!)

4. FALLOUT 4 (2015)

now.. this is a game I have yet to finish- but- I am having SO much fun !! The post nucelar setting is interesting- i'm still trying to learn the game mechanics- but it's exciting and cosy (even if i do scream when a feral ghoul comes out of nowhere and bites me!)

100% loving nick valentine- ugh I wish he were romancable... he has so much charm, like an actor in the golden age of cinema <3 I don't have a lot more to say about fallout 4, but this game is bringing me a lot of joy!! looking forward to more adventures and more modding soon!

5. CYBERPUNK 2077 (2020)

y'all knew this was coming >:) cp2077 my beloved!!!!!! yes, the game may still be broken and glitchy and there are so many things the game could do better in areas- BUT STILL- the joy this game has given me- the friends i've made though posting about the game-- everyone is so lovely!!

the oc's ive created (...viridian and rasmus- i am looking at you both) Viridian brings me confidence- (...rammbled about that here).. THE BLORBOS I'VE GOTTEN (JACKIE WELLES MY BABEEEEEEEEEEEE) - !!

ugh buying cp2077 was one of the best things I did in 2022! also being brave and choosing to posting cp2077 vp on here last october/november was another best choice I did in 2022.

the words are going but- oh goodness this game and the world building- the soudtrack- the level of detail!!! cp2077 as a game changed my brain chemisty in ways- but in the good way. opening my eyes to the world of virtual photography- video game modding. it got me back into writing as well <3 Thank you all for all the love and support within the fandom space- I feel like im home <3

[annamarabella-grumble]

mass effect replay thoughts, episode 3

episode 1 / episode 2 / episode 4 / episode 5 / episode 6 / episode 7 / episode 8 / episode 9

the Normandy is made of glass and I have so many stones to throw

no-one on that writing team had any business writing allegorical subplots about slavery and forced sterilisation of enslaved and/or indigenous populations — it’s one thing to use it as allegory, it’s another to present it as an issue with a moral grey area, as chat very rightly pointed out during the stream

Tali presenting “ we created slaves and we knew they’d turn on us immediately upon becoming self-aware” as a foregone conclusion with no other outcome — crucially, with no responsibility for de-escalation lying with the quarians…

again, i know the point is that these characters will grow past this and that it’s specifically on the player to nudge them in the right direction, but it’s still incredibly frustrating. because you WILL have players earnestly agreeing with Tali, or with the genophage. there are people, politicians, community leaders, to whom these are reasonable positions to hold.

and they’re not. THEY’RE NOT.

the framing is such centrist bullshit. there’s a straight line from this to Detroit Become Human’s “the public have to love you for you to succeed, so you can’t be angry in your protests, ever” constraints; on top of the blatant butchering of the civil rights movement metaphor. and do not get me started on the bad ending variations.

the geth were given no other choice than defend themselves — the quarians made themselves their oppressors. they could have so easily given the geth rights of personhood and helped them find somewhere to live. instead, they attempted to wipe them out. expecting the geth to revolt violently says more about the quarians than the geth — it says plenty about in whose image they created them.

the quarians in charge of the geth “labour force” were called overseers. hello, plantation vibes.

at least with Wrex there’s a character present who offers the perspective of a culture impacted by disastrous choices like the genophage, including schooling Shepard on her ignorance. but it's cold comfort.

Ashley. Pressly. shut the fuck up, you xenophobes.

the way that you literally CANNOT turn Kaidan down once you’ve just asked him some damn questions about his history. like, yes, i want to know about brain camp and biotics! it’s part of the worldbuilding! Kaidan is my window into that! but because i’m playing femshep there is literally no dialogue option, not a single one, that lets me tell him i’m not interested-interested. there’s only super flirty, flirty, and backhanded-flirty.

like, even the “mean” dialogue option has him be like “oh i need some time to write in my diary about this, commander” because what shepard SAYS is “i talk to everyone but i don’t enjoy it all the time.”

contrast this with Joker, whom you’re asking HORRIBLY INSENSITIVE questions about his disability, but at least he doesn’t think you’re flirting with him

I see you, Garrus “it’s ok if I break the rules and don’t answer to anyone” Vakarian

the way that Garrus sees Shep’s Spectre rank and assumes she wants the same above-the-law life he’s craving

it’s incredibly apparent in how he argues that his father wouldn’t like Shepard very much — there’s so much to unpack there.

that Shepard ever even wanted to be a Spectre in the first place, for one. yes, she accepted the Council’s offer, but she was on that job interview without any idea what was going on.

for another, to Garrus, Shepard’s Spectre status eclipses her opinions and rules (he doesn’t know her yet, of course). but he doesn’t consider that Shep, despite her rank and making use of the resources it affords her for good, might have personal opinions and professional ethics that his dad very much would approve of

i know this is a lot of griping. i know that the series does get smarter about some of this and it’s often written ambiguously to afford the player space to form their own opinion. i appreciate (as in, acknowledge) that this includes playing a Shepard who believes the geth should be wiped out and the genophage was the best solution.

it’s not that i don’t think these plotlines should exist, or that the NPCs shouldn’t be flawed in these ways. i simply think that it needed writers who know how to handle this with a lot more grace and care. crucially, as something that's real. not as a thought experiment.

the issue with Kaidan is a mechanic/agency issue; forcing you into a het relationship that you super may not want without signalling that this leads you down the romance path just by asking some questions out of professional curiosity/curtesy, resulting in all hell breaking loose when you go for Liara’s romance arc

finally, a happy thought: if your head engineer isn’t horny for the warp core, why the fuck did you even hire them?

[valiantvillain]

Tell me anything about your OCs

Still in the process of properly caffeinating so apologies if this is a bit scatterbrained but here goes. Now as far as OCs for videogames goes: Kate Shepard (Mass Effect) -is a Star Trek fan like her parents were and was actually named after Captain Kathryn Janeway -in that same vein, has a lot of old earth sci-fi novels, some actual physical books when she could get her hands on them -back on Mindoir her parents worked in hydroponics and has wanted to get some plants into her cabin on the Normandy but has never had the time to actually plan that

Skye Ryder (Mass Effect Andromeda) -had a nail polish collection in the Milky Way and has been trying to somehow rebuild it in Andromeda -in contrast to Scott has always been the socially awkward twin -in not so typical hero form, is very fond of pastel color palettes -always gave me the vibe she studied anthropology and thus gets along very well with Avela and talking ancient culture with her

Katla Cousland (Dragon Age: Origins) -after becoming Queen of Fereldan insisted on wearing blue and silver almost constantly so no one forgets that no matter what she is a Grey Warden and she is the Hero of Fereldan -despite being charming and charismatic is also very cutthroat so long as she believes that the throats she's cutting belong to bad people, aka "I'm willing to resolve this peacefully so long as you are willing to play ball and if not then you better hope I don't find any dirt on you or you will be dead" -initially hoped the Joining would kill Nathaniel due to residual desire for vengeance after killing Arl Howe only for him to become one of her closest friends and comrades Wendolyn [(Baldur's Gate 3) and my current brain bunny] - Seldarine drow bard -since venturing from the Underdark to the surface finds she likes to sleep with the windows open bc she loves the night air -changed her name upon reaching the surface world -makes her own costumes and fixes the party's clothes...also firmly believes the Mindflayers took her favorite pincushion as opposed to just losing it because she refuses to believe she would have allowed herself to just drop it, though why they would take that and not her violin and weapons is anyone's guess -her mother is a cleric of Eilistraee -her dream is to open a theater and cultivate new artistic talent I also have had this one fantasy idea bopping around in my head for years and I don't discuss her much but I really should, so here are some little tidbits about the protagonist for what I hope will one day be a high fantasy series called The Memoriam Chronicles. Serinda Belwyn -memoriam abilities (which is basically the ability to absorb people's memories through touch) usually manifest around puberty, however, hers developed at the young age of six, and her mentor essentially became her adoptive father -specializes in animal memories -is initially very prickly, aloof, and guarded toward most people but is clearly a passionate scholar and pretty fearless despite not being a fighter -a major theme of her story is the realization of how history will attempt to whitewash and tone down her history and identity in order to make her and her heroic deeds more palatable to future generations, aka keep mum about her marginalized identity so no one has to question why people like her were/are treated differently -wears glasses -is asexual

That's just some information about my various OCs. Not all of them just the ones I find myself thinking about most.

[skittidyne]

fifty questions for commander shepard

og post by @spookyvalentine​! (i also could’ve sworn i’ve done this before but i cannot find it bc i don’t tag things so now i am officially making a tag for my shepard i guess)

these are all about my canon shepard, aka the star of my mass effect fic series. her name is elyse shepard! :’3

1. Why did Shepard enlist? Any regrets?

she enlisted immediately at 16 out of a desire to show her gratitude to the alliance & anderson for saving her on mindoir, and out of some survivor’s guilt (she has to make herself useful). she regrets that cerberus pulled at her & anderson’s relationship, but she doesn’t regret joining the alliance, nor leaving it.

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

super awkward at first! she’d never been “important” enough to have someone to delegate to, though of course she’d complained about wanting one on the SR1. but kelly was friendly (and pushy) enough that shepard relaxed into having a kind of assistant, and now she’s very grateful.

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson?

DAD. it’s a mix of hero worship and father figure, but he views her as a daughter figure, though they’re both a little too emotionally stunted to acknowledge it.

4. Is your Shepard any good at poker?

nope! she has a decent poker face, but she also has tells. she also has strangely bad luck with cards, too.

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

very well! she makes a point to get to know everyone on her ship, especially after it became her ship in me2. these people are hers.

6. Initial reaction to EDI? Does it change? 

leery, thinking she was a cerberus spy or spyware, but not too bothered about the AI thing. immediately thought it was funny how offended joker was by EDI, however, and how they bickered, so that actually helped soften shepard’s feelings toward her before she got unshackled and started to become herself. plus, AI are super convenient for doing all sorts of small tasks that shepard can’t be assed to think about!

7. Does their love interest move into their quarters?

pretty much! she has a big bed, after all. :3c

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

She Doesn’t Want To Talk About It. afterward was a lot of drinking. after a certain point of drunkenness, she allowed others to come drink with her, at least.

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

elyse is a paradoxical mix of goody-two-shoes alliance girl scout and “i will kick you in the quads, throw dirt in your eyes, and spit on your grave”. a lot of her tactics and moves are very textbook (but she’s very good at them), but then she’ll do stuff like “let’s all focus on blowing up that one leg off that colossus just to watch it skitter around”. she doesn’t mind collateral damage and absolutely does not mind gore.

it’s probably for the best that her sniper rifle is so strong it usually kills in one shot. you wouldn’t want to catch her in a mood where she wants to play with her kills, after all.

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

she does keep fish, albeit not with a 100% living rate. she adores her hamster and fully adopted urz, too!

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

miranda & jacob, kasumi, zaeed, mordin, garrus, jack, grunt, thane, tali, samara, legion

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

she staunchly refuses nicknames or shortened forms of her first name. she’ll accept “shep” from kasumi/squadmates who are close to her.

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

she can usually give as good as she gets! however, she has a very pale complexion, and humans blush quite brilliantly. she hates that part.

14. Any good at flirting?

better than Certain Squadmates, but ultimately about average. she’s never had much interest in doing it; there’s always bigger things to do.

she’s better if it’s banter-y, though. she likes banter.

15. What colors does Shepard prefer for their armor?

she uses the iconic black with the white and red stripe! she worked hard to earn that n7 designation, damn it, and at this point, she’s known for it. she wears it like a flag to warn her enemies.

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

she’s definitely a drinker! her cerberus-remade body can handle it faster than she can usually down booze, though, so she technically does not struggle with sobriety. she knows how to get drunk by this point, but can’t stay drunk for very long. she drinks more than she should.

she tried smoking in basic because she thought it looked cool. she was the kid who choked and almost died the first time.

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

depends on the type of attention - if it’s the hero-worship-y type that random people (especially alliance grunts) have for her, she’ll roll her eyes and try to avoid. but she adores attention from anyone she actually likes. giving and receiving attention are her #1 love language.

(she especially loves it from the gruffer teammates, like jack or zaeed, because it means they’re really trying to friendship.)

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

those are two VERY different answers!

shepard loves taking Team Sexy Sniper (garrus & thane) out, and they’re all skilled enough to complete a mission, but... she’s an infiltrator, so you’re looking at three snipers. this is not very strategically sound.

she works best with someone tank-y (grunt, usually) to let her actually be a sniper instead of trying to shoot people at close range with her black widow. she also works spectacularly well with liara, because when you’ve shared brainwaves with someone, you speedrun learning how to fight as a team.

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

she tries her damnedest! (and her success at friendshipping with jack may have lent her too much hubris on the subject.) but she struggles to get along with javik - which is strange, because if they’re only talking shop/tactics, they get along really well. but then one of them will say something that’s apparently “wrong” for the other, and then they’re back to growling at each other.

she respects that he’s a soldier, through and through, and she definitely understands grieving. but he’s arrogant and prickly and unsociable past that, and that’s what she fights with.

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

elyse shepard is a HOARDER and she will leave NO STONE UNTURNED. everyone else sees it as a chore to let her pick through everything possible.

21. Do you have any AUs for your shepard?

i wrote an entire thing here! it’s currently in a me3 rewrite/fix-it because bioware be tempting me to write better than them.

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

i don’t think she could’ve eaten anything. garrus might’ve forced a protein bar down her, but she definitely sat in her quarters and drank.

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

liara is the only one who fits all three of those!

for advice: depending on the subject, shepard will seek out samara or thane, and sometimes (grudgingly) kelly if it’s something emotional. she doesn’t seek it out from him, but mordin gives her a lot of unprompted advice. usually on her sex life.

for comfort: she’s close enough to her crew that she could probably go to most of them (or whoever’s closest at the time, if it’s bad), but she especially prioritizes those who were on the SR1 with her and have served with her the longest. joker is absolutely included in this, to his sometimes embarrassment. (extra funny if you imagine her calling up wrex on tuchanka and he’s like “wtf do i do with an upset human”)

gossip: TALI AND KASUMI. also chakwas, shockingly enough.

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

she’s good with happiness and anger and professionalism. she’s technically good at grieving, but her grieving process also involves hiding from others, so i’m not sure it counts as “emoting well”. but she knows how to get through it.

she flusters easily if caught off guard by flirting/affection/romance, though, and she is very awkward around serious injuries or dying. death, she can handle. blood and wounds, she can handle. the process in getting better? not so much.

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

romancing both thane & garrus! :3c

garrus - she immediately went “that’s gonna be my friend” when meeting him, and they rapidly fell in like with each other on the SR1, though both were oblivious to it outside of “gee i sure do trust and admire this person, i love spending time with them, this is a normal best friendship”. thankfully, especially for tali and liara’s sanity, on the SR2, they realized their feelings were best friendship AND romantic.

thane - elyse was IMMEDIATELY like “oh boy /eye emoji” when thane dropped out of that vent. she did not, however, know what to do with instant attraction, nor did she know what to do with thane “i read poetry for fun and am soft and sentimental and religious and also i will give you a very meaningful and borderline worshipful pet name” krios after she got to know him. thankfully, he was equally enamored with her, because if left to her own devices, she would’ve just gone “i will sit here consumed with lust” and never actually act on it. (she was kind of intimidated by her own immediate attraction.)

also, she has a voice kink. she’s a happy camper with those two.

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

others not cleaning their weapons, having to talk to politicians, having those politicians pretend she is somehow a politician, and everything to do with conrad verner.

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

she’s a long-time and semi-secret fan of horror vids, specifically old human genres. but she’s very :O about learning about alien subgenres, too.

also SNIPER RIFLES.

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

to miranda’s undying irritation, shepard has gotten very lax after becoming accustomed to her new body. she still spars (though more for the adrenaline and bragging rights) and does basic workout routines, but she’s now aware of what her new muscles can do - and hey, synthetic weave doesn’t atrophy. she doesn’t have to try anymore, so she doesn’t. (she has, however, lost a lot of flexibility that miranda gave her; that much can fade without maintenance.)

she’s the type of person who gives you a blank look and goes “uh, reading?” when asked what her non-fighting hobbies are. she’s lying. she doesn’t read. she doesn’t have hobbies outside of saving the galaxy, though she probably should.

30. What will always make them laugh?

anything to do with irritating or dragging the council. she probably has a very specific old in-joke with joker that will always make her clutch her sides and almost die, too, and both of them refuse to explain it.

31. Who can always make them laugh?

garrus, joker, and EDI - the latter because her humor protocols are so bad it’s usually a laugh of surprise. but still counts.

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

physically lashes out. usually she’ll drag someone into the sparring ring, but heaven help you if it’s in the middle of a battle, because she is not above ripping things apart with her hands. (she does not have biotics. this is sheer rage and cybernetically enhanced muscle.)

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

she really is good with other people. a lot of her detractors would assume that a lot of her team/supporters have been intimidated by her, or are just going with who’s powerful, but nah. she’s friends.

she’s also got a good memory for wartime tactics. she wrote a thesis on napoleon bonaparte in n7 school.

34. Got any tattoos?

nope!

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

virmire was bad - she lost kaidan and nearly lost wrex. time has dampened it, and elyse is very good at grief by this point in her life. she soldiers on.

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

she usually wears her hair in a short braid, and used to do buns for the alliance (before she got important enough she didn’t have to care about regs). she also wears eyeliner. (gave her SR1 alien crew a heart attack the first time she sweated it off so it looked like she was crying black.)

the only jewelry she wears are her old dogtags, and that sort of depends on her mood. not so much anymore.

37. Got any bad habits?

thinking too many alien creatures are cute and trying to adopt them. while also forgetting to feed her fish. she also likes to strip out of her armor and drop the hardsuit pieces like a trail leading to her bed after particularly long missions. (she’ll clean it up after she wakes, but others have also picked up after her.)

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

she does drink socially with them, and can usually be cajoled into playing various card games, but only if she thinks she has time for the latter. she enjoys eating together with others, though.

and she LOVES sparring with others. EDI keeps score of wins and losses for the normandy crew.

39. Do they keep around any sentimental items?

her main gun is a comfort item by this point. she’s lost everything too many times in the past to have many other things.

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

she does like model ships!

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

she’s a beast with her sniper rifle, both for its heavily modded power and her skill at range. but despite being an infiltrator, she’s good at hand to hand, too; n7 training demands nothing less. (those new to her crew usually have heart attacks the first time they see her charge into battle rather than pick a sniping perch. it’s a rite of passage for others to get used to her doing that.)

42. Favorite weapon?

HER BLACK WIDOW. and her widow, before that. she loves her sniper rifle.

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

the SR2 is bigger and feels more like hers, rather than something she took from anderson.

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

she does rotate out! elyse is very particular about taking those best suited for it - but she does have a couple of defaults if she deems the mission too easy or not specific enough to require certain crew. she does like using garrus and thane a lot, mostly because they compete for best sniper shot on each mission.

45. Do they approve of curing the genophage?

yes, as a personal opinion. she doesn’t like that others ask her about it, though; she doesn’t think she should have any official opinion, given that she’s human (newcomer to the galaxy) and not part of any of the fraught history.

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

she absolutely does! it is not a popular choice.

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

shooting things and drinking are her self-care.

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

she uses her tactical cloak if needed - getting in close or navigating a tricky spot - but adores incinerate if she’s close enough. no one should have let her set things on fire.

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

she doesn’t think she has one - she fully believes she’s going to fight against the reapers until she’s dead, but hopefully it’s at the end by that point, because she doesn’t like the thought of others having to clean up after her.

BUT. a HAPPY ending for her would involve a lot of complicated, opposite things that she doesn’t care to rationalize, because dreams don’t have to make sense! elyse would want a permanent home on a planet, on dirt, some place with a lot of open space and sky. somewhere where people wouldn’t call her “commander”. but she’s also super accustomed to starships and like hell she would ever give up the normandy.

50. Is your Shepard indoctrinated

nope! the rachni queen even checked for her.

(+1: what does Shepard smell like?)

gun oil and sweat. clean laundry if she actually bothered to change her clothes.

(humans smell sweet, according to most aliens, though.)

[theoriginalladya]

I posted 3,524 times in 2022

412 posts created (12%)

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

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@theoriginalladya

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I tagged 3,487 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#mass effect - 1,022 posts

#kaidan alenko - 709 posts

#nature - 615 posts

#landscape - 561 posts

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Longest Tag: 134 characters

#once in a very blue moon i will get my first name spelled right and then it usually shocks me so badly i need to sit for a minute! lol

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

(commissioned art of Caleb Shepard by the fabulous @dr-vauclair-art)

In an effort to try and stir the muses awake in Caleb's ME/WWII crossover world, I've been combing through some prompt lists to see what provokes them. From the 100 Ways to Say I Love You list:

Series: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Work: Keep To the West

Chapter 7: It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway." (Read in full on AO3)

Snippet:

The glass-paned windows rattled sharply as the wind whipped against them startling Kaidan from restless slumber.  Blinking through the dark, the threads of sleep reluctant to release him to the waking world, he yawned.  Something stirred in his mind – part memory, part dream, yet a reminder of something that was – and he rolled to his other side, content to slip back into unconsciousness.  As tired as he was from the last mission, it was easy to give in, and he nearly had until his arm met emptiness instead of the warmth of the body he expected. 

He's gone…isn’t he?  Lost over the side of –

Bolting upright, a surge of adrenaline raced through him, seeking and finding the weak spots within.  Panic, icy and unrelenting, chilled him to the bone and all thoughts of sleep fled.  The bedding fell in a tangled pool around his waist, restraining him, and his heart thumped wildly in his chest.  It took long moments for calm to return, for memories to sort, for reality to stake its claim once more.

Shepard…alive, returned, safe…

A soft whimper broke free of his chest and escaped his lips.  So much had happened, it was difficult to discern truth and reality from the nightmares that had haunted him for months.

It wasn’t just a dream…was it?  Shepard is alive…?

Read in full on AO3 here

40 notes - Posted May 30, 2022

#4

Had the Humblebi pattern come across my dash recently and I decided to make a gift for a friend's daughter who likes bees. Fiddled with gauge and yarn (worsted weight (Red Heart Gold) and size 9 needles) to make it a bit bigger, but it knit up like a dream. I've never done a bottom-up knit before, and aside from the struggle of counting out to make sure I had enough stitches at the beginning, it was fun! Might have to make one for myself now! :)

41 notes - Posted May 21, 2022

#3

and...voila! One Starry Night cake of yarn. The darker color bled a bit during the wash and the lighter colors aren't so bright now, but it still looks really good! Can't wait to have a chance to knit this up!

42 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

#2

(top picture: Serafina MacKinnon and Alistair Theirin)

(bottom picture: Serafina and her twin, Sean)

Was thinking about my girl earlier today, and decided to stare at the lovely art that @xla-hainex did for me for a while.

Really hoping this means she's prepared to start talking to me again so I can get back to her story over in Dragon Age. She and her twin, Sean, have a LOT to share, and if I can finally get that done, then I might be able to get back to the two of them over in Mass Effect.

45 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Happy Birthday, Commander Shepard!

See the full post

105 notes - Posted April 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[boo-moved]

Here goes nothing:

The Dalish likely are going to expand off of Thedas, even if they reclaim the Dales, as it would give them much more free reign to keep their people safe.

The Templars split off from the Chantry when Leliana becomes Divine Victoria, and are essentially the Sisters of Battle and Black Templars from Warhammer 40K. Fleet-based religious zealots who declare themselves on an endless crusade, believing the galaxy is theirs to conquer. They basically go planet-to-planet trying to convert the populace to pre-Leliana Andrastianism, and if they find any mages, capture them. Even alien mages.

They can't make them Tranquil anymore however, the Veil no longer exists. And even if it did, it only affected Thedas. Instead, they keep them locked up on prison ships like the one Jack was on.

Tevinter is in a similar boat, wanting to expand their empire beyond the borders of their planet. They also work with Batarian Hegemony quite frequently as both heavily use slaves.

The Qunari I'm not entirely sure about, as while they too have the goal of expansion, I don't know how'd they go about it.

The reputation of the Templars and Tevinter garner humans an even worse reputation in this AU, and understandably so.

I'm likely going to make Shepard a Dalish elf from a colony, though how she ends up becoming an elite soldier is something I'm still trying to figure out. Obviously, there isn't going to be a Thedasian Councilor as it's not even remotely a united planet. Though there potentially could be separate embassies for each faction.

I do want to expand beyond just known Thedas. Maybe have it that there are factions of the Qunari species (maybe they really are called Kossith) who have no ties to the Qun. Human, elven, and dwarven societies that are based on other real non-Western cultures.

This AU does include a third series in the crossover, which is Transformers. Though luckily with Transformers, it's essentially a sandbox where I can do whatever I really want since the franchise tends to reboot itself every few years during the nearly 40 years its been around.

I want to have that first contact with Thedas is established through the Cybertronians, and are the ones who give Thedas space flight. They eventually encounter the Turians down the line when they are messing around with the Mass Relays

What makes them game changers for the events of Mass Effect is how advanced Cybertron is. Their species can live for millions of years, and their level of technology is something that had been developed over the course of generations.

My version of them sort of mirror the Reapers. They are made of a living metal that contains genetic material and blurs the line between organic and synthetic. Both are millions of years old and are extremely advanced technologically.

Their arrival to the Milky Way was a product of chance basically. The dwarves discovered a Cybertronian Titan that had crashlanded on the planet millions of years prior and accidentally reactivated part of it, causing it to send out a locator beacon.

Obviously, this means a team is sent to investigate it. Using a space bridge to travel to a completely different galaxy in a short span of time. I do want to have it where the Autobots are quite selective of who they grant their technology to, with the more malevolent factions getting their gear through traders and smugglers.

Sorry if this is too long XD

I LOVE ALL THIS OMGGGGGG

if you ever wanna talk about it more pleaseeeeee dump it in my inbox, I wanna hear all your thoughts it’s so good

[words-writ-in-starlight]

So WHO has written me the fic I need of Joker being dragged out of his escape pod, bruised and broken, and immediately grabbing the first person he sees and demanding to know where Shepard is, because he needs to talk to her and curse her out for trying to be a hero (again) and nearly getting fucking killed saving her crew (again) and also for scaring the life out of him (again)--

And then he stops in the middle of his sentence as he watches the shockwave go through the survivors as they realize that she didn’t make it.

I’m gonna need that fic stat.

[kittlesandbugs]

Fic author self rec

When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love.

Tagged by @amlovelies ty! 💜  For my tag list purposes, I am changing this to CONTENT CREATOR SELF REC because artists should pimp themselves too. 😘 So whether you’re an artist/writer/hybrid content creating wizard on this list, plz share your five favorite works, no matter the medium! @gingerbreton, @sidestepping, @mihqorio, @punkranger, @ardellian, @eydika, @achilleanwizard, @impossible-rat-babies

Time doesn’t heal - FHR - Chargestep - Four people reminisce about Sidestep on the 3rd Heartbreak anniversary, one person knows she isn’t dead (I am just super duper proud of this one lol it came out so good.)

Too close - FHR - Chargestep - Sidestep needs to deal her wounds after the fight with Psychopathor, and the fact that Ortega kissed her. (This is the longest thing I ever wrote!!!  Yes I know 3.6k is not that impressive but it is for a one-shot pony like me lol.)

Nighttime scars - FHR - Chargestep - Sidestep comforts Ortega after he wakes up from a nightmare (Sometimes Ortega needs to be taken care of too!!!!  Anyway I just really like this one and how Riley dances around what he wants to talk about because she doesn’t but it’s still v somft.)

One last tribute - Mass Effect - Thane Krios/F!Shepard, hinted Aria/F!Shepard - A series of mini interviews with the crew that worked with Shepard on the anniversary of the Reaper War (I am just now realizing may I have a thing for reminiscing about dead heroes... but anyway.  It’s a little older but I was v proud of it lol.)

Bottles of Thedas - Dragon Age Inquisition - F!Lavellan/Solas - 20 little ficlets inspired by the Bottles of Thedas collection codex (This was my first real fanfic project and I actually finished it and this is like five years old now and IDC, I had so much fun when when I was writing it, it’s mostly very silly.)

[truetgirl]

Hm... What ship to talk about for my little pride series today... Ah, of course!

I could not possibly do this series without talking about my girls! So today it’s Korrasami!

Chances are good you already know, to some extent if not entirely, who Korra and Asami are. Chances are also fairly decent you’ve heard plenty of people talk about what they like about them or how good they are. Honestly I don’t think I’m exactly gonna be breaking any ground here, but I wanna put down some thoughts anyway.

Allow me to paint you a picture. Imagine a 17 year old baby queer, only just starting her journey of self discovery. She hasn’t even fully realized yet that she’s a girl, at least not fully. Said baby queer is sitting in the school library and really ought to be doing homework with this free period. She is instead quietly watching the last episodes of The Legend of Korra on nick’s website (bc they got relegated to the fucking website near the end) with her best friend.

The entire finale has been a series of one freakout to the next, absolutely basking in how great this show was and how bittersweet it was to see it end. Then comes the very end. Korra and Asami, in the last minute or so, are the last characters left on screen. A shared look between the viewers, a silent moment of “no, no way, they aren’t actually...” The rest of the scene plays out, many more such looks are exchanged, each time increasing in both joy and disbelief. The very last thing we see is Korra and Asami walking into the spirit portal, hands clasped and eyes only for each other. The kids in the library lean back, taking out their earbuds and looking once more at each other as they start laughing, exchanging high fives, and then they switch to quiet “oh my fucking god they really did it” and similar phrases when the librarian gives them a warning about being quiet.

The young queer girl, who’s just recently come to terms with the fact she’s queer but is still just beginning to figure out what that means to her, feels a warmth she’s never felt before. A show she loves just ended with a gay ship being the endgame canon. She and her friends haven’t been reading too much into the setup in the last two seasons, it was real. Even having picked up on the foreshadowing, this is a total surprise. A completely unthinkable outcome. Queer shit does not happen in cartoons. Not ever. Not as far as anyone she’s ever talked to knows, at least. Yet there it is. And even though she doesn’t yet have her own labels fully sorted out, she feels seen.

My story is very far from the only one. Every queer person who saw this when it aired that I have ever talked to has a gushing, happy story about how it made them feel so seen, so validated. Korrasami is my ground zero for truly understanding the phrase “representation matters” in a way that meant something to me beyond the theoretical. It was the first time I’d seen something like it since I started exploring my queer identity. It was a story and set of characters I had cared deeply about for a fairly long time already.  Karolina from Runaways, Alysia Yeoh from Batgirl, and Commander Shepard from Mass Effect are the characters I broadly credit with trans-ing my gender, but Korra and Asami were different. They’re the first time I really felt good about my queerness. So here’s to them, and their sheer personal and historic significance.

[imakemywings]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

Let’s spread some positive vibes by remembering what we love about the trilogy. Fill in and tag your friends. Feel free to add your own categories to this survey.

Tagged by @illusivesoul

I've been a fan since: Summer 2019

Favorite game of the series: 2

MaleShep or FemShep?: Femshep all the way

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Spacer

Paragon or Renegade? Renegade

Biotics or Tech? Ooh that’s hard! I think they’re both cool.

Favorite class: Vanguard

Favorite companions: Thane, Tali, Samara

Least favorite companions: Vega, Zaeed

My squad selection: I really try to change it up so I feel like they’re all getting enough exercise

Favorite in-game romance: Shrios TT_TT It breaks my heart but I love it anyway. I love later-in-life romances which is the feel I always get from this one, especially with Thane having already had a long-term partner that he lost. Also, I feel like he asks some important moral questions for Shepard.

Other pairings I like: Second place goes to Shiara just because they really do have an epic 3-game romance after Liara arguably falls for Shepard very early in the first game. I would love to do Tali or Ashley’s romances but tragically I’d have to play as mShep which I don’t want to do. I do have Samantha queued up for my paragon run though!

Favorite NPC: Can I pick the biotic god volus? No? Aria then! She’s terrible but she’s interesting. Urdnot Bakara is also a really neat character, love getting to talk with her.

Favorite antagonist: Sovereign. Meeting Sovereign is when it really hits home how serious this whole situation is and I feel like they bring an excellent sense of foreboding in that even when Sovereign is dead, you can’t shake the fear of something worse coming. Also, I feel like Sovereign does a better job of being neutral about the mission which is how the reapers really should operate--Harbinger crosses into malice at times which seems to counter the notion that the reapers are just carrying out protocol to the best of their ability and don’t understand why what they’re doing is wrong.

Favorite mission: Oh man, I know I’m going to forget a bunch. Tali’s loyalty mission in 2 was really well done though and there’s a great blend of both the terror/horror of what you’re seeing combined with your pain for Tali.

“Acquire the Reaper IFF” in 2 is also a great one; the defunct reaper is so creepy and the hints along the way of the previous workers going insane from being inside it is great. I wish they’d played a bit harder on the unsettling factor vs. getting swarmed by husks, but subtlety is not really ME’s forte XD

Favorite loyalty mission: See above. Jack also has a great loyalty mission.

Favorite DLC: Lair of the Shadow Broker was pretty well done, although I knock points because if you didn’t get it you have no idea how Liara ended up becoming the Shadow Broker in 3 and I don’t think that kind of key information should be relegated to a DLC.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy? Fun fact: the first time I completed the game I chose “none of these” because I thought there would be some like, secret 4th option (and I thought Shepard might be resentful about getting this far only to be presented with 3 questionable options)...there isn’t. The galaxy was destroyed by reapers. Good thing Liara made that history USB.

That said, synthesis or destroy, for sure. I’ll still do a control run just to see how it turns out but honestly I don’t think anyone should have the kind of power Shepard would have in that position.

Favorite weapon: I’m counting biotic charge as a weapon. Also, that salarian gun you can get in 3 that shoots gel bullets or wtv at people that one’s cool

Favorite place: I love Omega

A quote I like: “I’d rather gargle acid after chewing on a razor blade “ -- Femshep after a dude in Flux asks her to have a drink with him.

Tagging: @sad-mage-central @irikahkrios @clarevoience anyone else who follows me and is into ME I forget who is