#wish mordin could have been there for this

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, Horizon:

-Once again, the main plot is wonky.

Mordin has not yet developed a countermeasure to the Collector swarms.

We find out later, however, that TIM set Horizon up to be targeted next by the Collectors. His justification is that way we knew which colony would be targeted.

However, he did so before there was a countermeasure to the swarms. So it was pure luck that Mordin had developed one and Shepard and co could safely avoid the swarms as they explored Horizon.

If Mordin had not, Shepard and co would most likely have been grabbed by the Collectors. And TIM’s efforts over the last several years reviving Shepard would have been a waste.

And the entire risk could have been avoided by just waiting until Mordin had definitely developed a countermeasure to set up a colony to be targeted.

Knowing TIM is indoctrinated, this isn’t outrageous; he’s not thinking straight.

But that’s not explained in game, so it comes off as the writers not thinking this through.

-Speaking of, as others have noted it sure is convenient that Mordin found a collector swarm bug he could use for testing offscreen. It would have been a shame if Shepard themselfhad been involved in progressing that part of the plot.

Would it have killed a Bioware to include an email or cutscene where Cerberus provided the bug, if they couldn’t fit it into a mission?

-I continue to bang my head against the wall working out what is going on with the Terminus Systems in ME2.

Horizon is a Terminus System colony. It’s clear by now that there are several such human colonies. (Why? They cannot possibly have colonized every viable world in the Attican Traverse. But I’m not sure it’s even been mentioned in ME2.)

Kaidan is an Alliance soldier. He’s on Horizon to improve relations between it and the Alliance.

So are the Terminus System colonies official Alliance colonies or not?

And if not, then why is everyone getting worked up that A) the Alliance isn’t defending them and B) the Council isn’t committing their resources to defend them?

If the colonies aren’t part of the Alliance, then the Alliance has no responsibilities to them. The Council definitely does not.

And if they are Alliance, why is it surprising that Kaidan would be there?

Bioware, this is not complex world building. Decide the status of the colonies and stick to it.

-I’m not going to mark each instance, but there are a few bits of autodialogue throughout this mission. Nothing of major note.

-The Collector swarms aren’t very efficient. It took them way top long to knock out the humans they were unleashed upon.

-The vorcha and collectors are both new to ME2, and I get the impression that Bioware designed them to be ugly.

If that’s true, I’m not impressed. We should be past the bad = ugly stage.

And either way, they look pretty similar. The way the muscle is on the surface, at least. I wish they were a bit more distinct.

-Harbringer says “Prepare these humans for ascension.”

Quite a difference from Sovereign’s casual indifference to organics in ME1. Sovereign was just down to kill all organics and then take another nap.

I suspect this is a retcon – for ME2 they decided organics were used to build new Reapers – but it’s amusing to consider it might be examples of the Reapers having different personalities. Sovereign isn’t interested in making babies. Harbringer has baby fever.

-And shock of shocks, Horizon is another alien world that looks like Earth.

Is it that hard to make the grass display as pink or something? Change the skybox up a little?

-Considering that there are swarms of bugs flying around paralyzing people and the countermeasure hasn’t been tested yet, you’d think Shepard and co would be wearing helmets. Nope. Guess they’re just that confident in Mordin.

-They assume the Collectors are working for the Reapers because they brought husks with them.

However, from ME1 we know that Cerberus experimented with creating husks. (Shepard, now would be a great time to ask Miranda about Chasca. Remember, that colony that became husks after a Cerberus visitor passed through?) Dr. Saleon also managed to create some by doing who knows what.

So, you know, if creating husks means you’re working with the Reapers Shepard should really be scrutinizing Cerberus more closely…

-I’m finally getting the hang vanguard in ME2. Still dying a lot, but at least I’m charging.

-The Collector swarms putting the colonists in a stasis field is just cruel. Just knock them unconscious so they don’t know what’s being done with them.

-And on that note, the colonists nearby where fights break out must be terrified. They don’t know who the Collectors are, who Shepard or co are, and there are bullets and powers whizzing by them and they can’t do anything.

-Delan also repeatedly states that this is not Alliance space.

Again: Are these Alliance colonies or not?

-The fight with the praetorian isn’t hard, but it sure is tedious.

-Kaidan’s actually pretty reasonable in this conversation.

A) Yeah, Shepard was unconscious for two years but could have sent him an email after waking up.

Making decisions for someone else – in this, not contacting them to keep them from being hurt – is pretty shitty. Send him an email and let him decide whether to reply or not.

Although, I have to ask: Why didn’t Kaidan email Shepard? Everyone else seems to have their email address. Hell, ask Aria nicely and maybe she’ll give it to you.

B) If you go paragon and say that Shepard is with Cerebus because the Alliance isn’t doing anything, Shepard is lucky Kaidan doesn’t punch them. He’s here on the Alliance’s behalf to set up defense towers. You know, the towers you just used to drive the Collectors off?

C} Kaidan’s also here to investigate a rumor that Cerberus is working with the Collectors. As you learn next when you speak to TIM, TIM intentionally set up Horizon to get taken. So even if TIM isn’t directly selling out the colonies, he is indirectly coordinating the attacks.

D) Kaidan says Cerberus could be using the Reaper threat to manipulate you. And he’s right!

TIM’s long game is get the technology from the Collector base. The colonist attacks provide a convenient excuse to send Shepard after them. So TIM is using the Reaper threat to get Shepard to obtain the base for him.

Interestingly, this is reminiscent of the Council in ME1 saying that Saren was using Shepard’s belief in the Reapers to manipulate Shepard.

However, Saren had no interest in Shepard until Shepard made themself impossible to ignore on Virmire. TIM spent two years putting Shepard back together and is now carefully weaving a narrative to get Shepard to work for him.

Both are absolutely indoctrinated as hell, though.

-If you go paragon, Shepard asks Kaidan to join him. It’ll be just like old times.

Since I recruited Garrus last, this stands out – Garrus frequently says lines such as “just like old times” through ME2 and ME3.

Kaidan declines, though. Man’s Alliance and is having nothing to do with Cerberus.

-Both TIM and Shepard reference the Collector homeworld being behind the Omega-4 relay. They’re both wrong – the Collector base is there.

Their homeworld is the Prothean homeworld, whatever that was. Of course, neither realize yet that the Collectors used to be Protheans.

[my-home-is-within-the-stars]

Practice Makes Perfect

Pairing: (Genderless) Shepard x Garrus Vakarian

Word count: 1508

Warnings: just the tiniest bit of dirty thoughts. Also cursing.

Summary: After your first kiss with Garrus, you become busy with the demands. Husks and Cerberus keeping your attention. Then you're off to bed. Rinse and repeat. There's finally a break in the system when everyone can catch their breath. Garrus comes to you during this time.

Author notes: I guess this could be a part two of the First Contact. I'm just writing from these prompts I found. For Garrus, Yautja, and Khonshu.

Ao3

It had been days since your first kiss with Garrus. A soft smile gracing your lips at the thought of it again. That twinkle in his blue eyes as he stared down at you. So much loved filled the orbs when he did. Fuck, you loved him. A lot.

Battles and fights had interrupted any quiet time between the two of you. Fighting husks and the bunch made you exhausted down to the bone. By the end of the day, it was an uphill struggle to keep your eyes open long enough to get back to your room. Mordin was starting to worry about you. Well, everyone was.

Today though, was the first day in over a week that you finally can rest. Half of the day had been taken over by you passed out in your somewhat comfortable bed. Now with twenty hours of sleep under your belt, you pulled yourself up by the bootstraps and entered the kitchen. A couple crew members lumbered about, doing rounds.

On the other hand, for you, you stopped in front of the refrigerator and peered in. There was leftovers from yesterday. But, your stomach wasn’t calling for that. No, it seemed feverish for something sweet but not very sugary. However that works.

Red cubs of what looked to be watermelon caught your attention. Perfect. Either that or grapes. Speak of the devil. You also snatched the oversized bowl of grapes as well. Not unhealthy so Mordin won’t scold you but it also would quell that hunger inside of you.

The fruits were placed into a small bowl; the rest returned back to the fridge. Your lower back rested against the counter as you gazed blankly at the Normandy’s floor.

People passed by, none of them would say anything. Not that you were paying attention is they were. Your mind far away in a different galaxy. There wasn’t a thought between your eyes though. Just you and the quietness inside.

When your hand didn’t scoop any fruit up three times, you snapped out of your thoughts and found the bowl empty. Oh. Your stomach felt mildly full, enough that it wouldn’t bother you for the rest of the day. Most likely. That’s when you placed the bowl in the dishwasher and lumbered your way back to your room.

The two doors slid back to reveal an empty cabin. With a deep sigh, you sat down on the big bed, elbows supported by your thighs. The blanket wrinkled below you.

Without meaning to, your gaze shifted over to a spot less than five feet away from you. An all too familiar face appeared inside of your brain. His scared face something you could never forget. Even after death takes you far from this world. He’ll always be there. The little twitches of mandibles; his wonderful voice; being the second-best sniper on this ship.

Your lips tingle as a reminder. They lifted up. One of your fingers soothed over the soft tissue like Garrus was kissing you again. You’ve gotten a small taste and wanted to devour him. The way he warned you. What would’ve he done if you continued? Pin you to the wall and fuck you, hard and deep?

Strangely enough, you couldn’t truly see him full out rough with you. He does have a fuck boy aura to him after Omega but when it came to you, you just couldn’t see it. There was a softness left in him you wished to hold and nourish the hell out of him.

Nevertheless… how would it all work out. There’s very, very few interspecies coupling known let alone researched about. You didn’t want to flail about without a clue on how to couple with him. You wanted your first moment to be special, with little mistakes as possible. Soon, you’ll have to do research about the situation.

Fuck, you wanted him but you had to take it slow or you would scare him off.

Later on, you propped your feet up on the bed, back flat on the ground. This position seemed to be the only one that helped you with back pain. Like mentioned earlier, this bed wasn’t all that comfortable. It did its job okay.

As the pain faded away, almost on the edge of falling asleep, there was a quiet knock at the door. With your eyes closed, you called for that person to enter. Your position was the last thing on your mind at that moment.

Soft footsteps entered after the door opened and grew closer. “Shepard?” an all too familiar voice questioned. Garrus. You hummed without moving, finally feeling relaxed and content. “Are you alright?” So sweet of him.

“Yeah. My back was hurting,” you explained and stretched your arms up towards the ceiling. Garrus moved closer and held one of your hands. “What are you up to?” It wasn’t unusual for him to visit, but you felt the need to ask him. Your cabin was entirely on a different floor than everyone else’s. It’s not like he was in the neighborhood.

Garrus made a noise of empathy then laid his hardened lips on your fingers. “I can try my best at a back massage,” he offered and pulled back. You smile gently up at him, eyes still closed but knew he was staring at you.

“Please, anything would help,” you begged; your free hand rested on top of his. There was a chance you could get up easily, you were just afraid it might hurt a lot. Plus, he was strong and you liked to see him work.

“Of course.” He released your hands and stepped back but stopped at your high-pitched whine. “What’s wrong?”

The partial reason you wanted his help was how lazy you were being right now. “Help me up, please,” you pleaded with the alien, finally opening your eyes.

His handsome face greeted you, mandibles twitching as your gazes’ locked onto one another. Garrus wore a causal shirt and pants, not showing much of his skin. Not as much as you wanted to explore. But that was for another time.

Garrus chuckled, stood above, and grabbed your hands. You moved so your feet were back on the ground, between his legs. Unfortunately, your back sprouted with pain with the movement. “Ready?” Truly, you weren’t but here goes nothing. You nodded and braced for him to yank you up.

Instead, the turian pulled you up gentle, but enough for you to be a little unsteady on your feet. You accidentally bump into his chest but stayed there, eyes gazing up at him. The blue that made up his orbs seemed to sparkle in the low light. You hesitantly reached out a hand and placed it on the not scared side of his face. From what you’ve heard, it still hurts to this day. Maybe he shouldn’t catch rockets with his face.

Your other hand curled around the front lip of his carapace. It was strong and sturdy underneath your grasp. Unlike last time, you take the first dive and pulled him to you.

Soft against hard lips pressed against one another. Garrus was the one to lick at yours first and gained entrance to your mouth. Both of yours played with one another. Your eyes drifted closed at you melted into the feeling he caused to rush through your veins.

When the call for oxygen grew too great to ignore, you pulled away and rested your forehead against his. The biggest of smiles appeared on your face as his own mandibles lifted in the same style. “I’ve missed you,” you spoke softly, eye opening to find him with his closed. That only made you fall further for him.

He carefully nuzzled your forehead with his. Your eyes shutting once more. “Me too. I’m glad we have a moment to ourselves.” You hummed in agreement and enjoyed the serene moment between you two.

After an unknown amount of time, Garrus chuckled softly to himself. You made a puzzled noise. “I remember practicing how to ask you out in the mirror. But here we are,” he explained. You laughed as well at his words. But then a blush overtook your cheeks. He’s been wanting to ask you out. You knew he loved you back. That new knowledge solidifies everything.

“If nothing comes up for the next two days, we can have some shore leave back on the Citadel? You can ask me out then,” you offered and stroke his cheek. He nuzzled up to your hand with a minute purr, barely heard over the ship’s engine.

“That would be perfect.” It was a done deal then. The two of you have unofficially made date plans. Only thing, you prayed no one would mess that up for you. If someone did, you would happily fight them then hide their body.

You kissed his cheek again, loving his reaction. This turian was going to be the death of you, you could tell this already. “Now about that back massage…” Like you were going to forget about that!

[perfectmisslawson]

how bioware should’ve fixed the female alien problem:

- adding turian female background npc’s. not just female turian c-sec officers, or guards, but also female turian mercenaries.

- adding a female turian npc that you can interact with. i recall the books mentioning that the turian ambassador was female; it would be cool if we had a side mission where you could meet her.

- adding a female turian merchant on the citadel, or on illium

- adding female salarians in the background. dalatrasses who are on the citadel for political reasons.

- i always assumed that salarian that wants you to use his device in the casino so he can cheat was female. it would’ve been pretty awesome if that were a female salarian. maybe she was visiting the citadel in hope to make some big money

- add a female krogan to me2, which you can interact with during grunt’s or mordin’s mission.

- add an ambient conversation somewhere in the background, with a volus that is referred to using she/her pronouns

- adding female batarian npc’s to omega in me2. making some of the batarian refugees in me3 female

- adding a female batarian npc that you can interact with in me2 on omega

- female batarian mercenaries!!

additional things i’d have wished for:

- female turian/asari lesbian couple as background npc’s

- turian/human couple

- lesbian, gay and straight turian couples in the background; we see plenty of human couples and human-asari but never turian ones

[irikahkrios]

i was tagged in this mass effect questions meme by @imakemywings and, although i do like answering posts like this, i'm pretty sure this was the same one that was going around to try to silence any criticism of the demaster before its release. with that in mind, i couldn't resist taking the opportunity to put in a few more critical questions to balance out the positive ones. EDIT: apparently i'm wrong and this is a new meme, and just has similar wording/questions to that other one. but i've kept my extra questions because why not lmao

I've been a fan since: christmas day 2017, when i bought andromeda on sale. i wasn't planning on playing the trilogy because of the lack of gay romances, but then i saw thane and, well. y'know.

Favorite game of the series: me2 or andromeda

Favorite gender for Shepard?: mshep my beloved <3 love being able to play a male video game protag (in a Shooty Sci-fi Game no less) as soft and loving and respectful of everyone around him. paragon mshep and his respectful caring friendships with his crew just make me very happy

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: spacer

Paragon or Renegade?: paragon, i can't make myself choose evil options in video games

Biotics or Tech?: biotics

Favorite class: vanguard

Favorite companions: irikah and thane

Least favorite companions: liara

My squad selection: me1 is garrus + tali, me2 and me3 is any combination of irikah + thane + garrus, andromeda is liam + jaal

Favorite in-game romance: thane/irikah/shepard forever. like, the themes? these two people who have been so thoroughly broken down by their experiences and their trauma, who have been clinging to each other and trying to ensure a future for their son without really thinking about themselves beyond "when we go out, we'll go out together," meeting this person who makes them both realize that there can be a future for them too?? who makes them see the beauty and possibilities in the galaxy again, makes them remember why they fell in love in the first place and makes them dream of a future (however brief it may be, due to thane's illness) for themselves and this wonderful person? like. fuck. they're my everything

Least favorite romance: thane/shepard without irikah.

Other pairings I like: obviously thane/irikah is my lifeblood and my reason for getting up in the morning. their love is the most important thing in the world and in these silly space games

Favorite NPCs: kolyat, anderson, and conrad verner

Favorite antagonist: i think kai leng had lots of potential and deserved better development. i wish he'd been introduced in me2, it would have helped with a lot of his writing problems in me3 if he was an established character in the games instead of seemingly coming out of nowhere unless you happened to have read the books.

i also think shepard's clone was a really interesting character concept and i wish they hadn't died. my shepard's clone has a whole-ass character arc postcanon

Least favorite antagonist: the geth. bioware did a great job of making them super creepy and soulless, every time i see one of those things i just wanna grab the shotgun

Favorite mission: priority tuchanka. literally the perfect mission, the absolute peak of good writing in this series. you finally get to cure the genophage, mordin gets maybe the best-written character death in the series, wrex calls my shepard his brother, and there's a giant fucking thresher maw that fucks up a reaper. what more could you possibly ask for

Least favorite mission: priority thessia.

Favorite loyalty mission: tali or jack. also mordin's makes me cry every time. so does miranda's, mostly just because of Same Trauma™

Least favorite loyalty mission: jacob i'm so sorry they did that to you, what the FUCK

Favorite DLC: i know almost everybody probably chooses citadel for this and despite a few problems with it i do really love it, but in the name of choosing a more interesting/less predictable answer i will say that i also have a soft spot for leviathan. surprisingly effective horror, can't describe the feeling of sheer stomach-churning dread i had playing it for the first time when my shepard was going down in that diving mech.

Least favorite DLC: overlord is just. so much. bioware certainly made some Choices when they made that one and i could write an entire essay on it

also i haven't played arrival and never will, like i totally understand that the Point is that it's the trolley problem on a massive scale. but i really don't want my shepard to be the one diverting that particular trolley. if you find it compelling and consider it part of your shepard's canon that's totally cool and valid!! but i'm just not really comfortable having it in my shepard's story.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: destroy. bioware there's no way i'm letting you kill my shepard. like sorry edi, i love you and i wish you didn't have to die, but i mean. come on.

Favorite weapon: m-22 eviscerator my beloved

Favorite place: gotta be boring and say the citadel wards. i am not immune to beautiful idyllic centers of galactic civilization having shady neon-lit underbellies. same reason my favorite star wars planet is coruscant

A quote I like: gotta go for comedy on this one, it's technically cut content and can only be accessed in-game if you use the save editor, but thane's "my bones are aching..." makes me lose my mind every time i hear it or think about it. it's so weird and out of nowhere

i'm not tagging anybody but if you wanna do it, feel free to say i tagged you!!

[inflammatoryfandomblog]

just because today is a lazy day, another post.. about mass effect 2, which i just finished, yay for vacations.

the main cerebus/collector story is garbage and there are waaay too many moments where your character is handed the idiot ball to make certain plot points work. honestly infuriating compared to the main plot of mass effect 1. if i can’t blow up the illusive man’s stupid head next game i’m gonna lose it. also........ what the hell is going on with the reapers. the galaxy is doomed right. 

you can kind of tell they don’t have a plan for the reapers and are leaving all kinds of things open. a few examples: the premature supernova thing to go with the classic “these guys are trying to prevent entropy!!”, but also the fact that during scans, the only planets with a lot of element zero (if bioware were smarter they would have integrated refueling stations with planets and allowed scanning planets to imply more lore in this vein, it would redeem the mechanic somewhat) are “garden worlds,” which establishes a link between life and eezo, and may also provide yet another explanation for why reapers reap: organisms provide element zero somehow.

but the loyalty recruitment missions are very good... which saves this game because they are the majority of your active playtime. here is a review of all of them, in no particular order. since it’s long i’ll stick it under a readmore, and let whoever is interested (nobody) read more. 

legion: honestly good recruitment quest, very understated introduction and the repear indoctrination thing is really well set-up. too bad it’s connected to cerberus being braindead and starts a timer. i wish your character could have told EDI to hold off on trying to integrate it but alas. 

his loyalty quest is also great, gives some depth to the geth and also hits you hard with a pretty tough moral choice. i love how the geth function in ways similar to the quarians (their consensus-seeking thing for example is very similar to how quarians function) and how peaceful they actually are. legion is great as an AI character because he’s suitably alien, and i love the N7 thing suggesting that maybe he’s a fan of shepard lmao. a nice lil bit of humanity

also one of the few quests that tie back into the reaper main plot. legion correctly points out that the geth don’t want to work with the reapers because they want to forge their own destiny; it would have been really cool in some other timeline where you could take this advice from him re: reliance on the mass effect relays and such.

tali: recruitment quest is... eh, especially since we already meet her on horizon in a similarish situation, but it’s passable with npcs and such. her loyalty mission is a lot better and you finally get to see the inside of a quarian flotilla. the politics is nice and convos with tally really hammer in how oddly isolated they all are, and why they’d be so desperate to return to their homeworld

her conflict with her dad and the various views on the geth  are  just... really good. all the competing factions make sense (the “assume control” lady, the “let’s go to war’ guy, the “geth peace” guy, etc.)

mordin: recruitment quest great, having a doctor who is also willing to kill to protect is the perfect introduction to this character. it establishes him as being kind but also extremely pragmatic and ruthless, which fits in with his background. 

his loyalty mission is also great, showing him the effects of the genophage on krogan culture. i like how he doesn’t change his opinion here, it’s very realistic, and maelon is also a good counterpart to him. it also reveals a lot more dimensions to mordin himself, like his spirituality (which you wouldn’t expect from an intelligence agent/doctor.)

but mordin kicks ass as a character and is one of the greatest character in gaming. i don’t think there’s any more observations i can add here.

samara: recruitment quest is average in terms of mission structure but samara’s introduction is great, really gives a look into this vestige of asari culture and how this paladinesque character would act.

the loyalty mission... well the first part is good, the second part proves that bioware writers are shut-in nerds who don’t know how people actually talk in nightclubs because i was rolling my eyes the whole time. nice that you can choose to be a complete dick and fail this mission though.

(also i definitely feel like recruiting her daughter is a stupid enough decision that you should just randomly lose members of your crew if you do it)

jack: recruitment mission is meh, loyalty mission is decent. perhaps too on the noise (the guy is very explicit with “so many bad things happened here it must be worth it!” which... okay, could have been more subtle with that.) it reveals jack’s pretty messed up beackstory but also that her “the strong survive” and the “xyz made me strong” attitude comes from the same place of “this experience *had* to be worth something!” mentality, which is one way of dealing with it, and i definitely felt like the mission helped her find a sort of closure.

(this mission involves cerberus but i refuse to give the organization respect by mentioning how collosally stupid the whole thing is. WHY would they recommend to recruit jack? whatever.)

jacob: pretty meh loyalty mission that could have been an exploration mission instead

miranda: sort of contrived final conflict in her loyalty mission, but i appreciate that there’s more to her than just I’M GENETICALLY SUPERIOR and that she on some level feels she’s coasting along on good genes and maybe has something undeserved about it. definitely humanizes her a bit beyond her smug snake personality generally.

thane: good recruitment quest; nothing to say except it establishes him as an assassin quite well as well as the more spiritual side of him. also the drell and hanar history is really fasincating and i love that he’s just like a reminder of mortality. in a world of badasses where you can make everything go your way, it’s nice that the game doesn’t give you an easy out/cure with this.

 loyalty mission is unique in that *he’s* the failed parental figure, not someone being failed by a parental figure (same with samara, but with samara the asari condition feels contrived while thane i feel is a Reality Ensues situation for his character archetype.) i liked it well enough and appreciate how realistic it is that his son doesn’t immediately change. i also like that it’s pretty unique gameplay-wise; in no other section of the game is there a tailing type scenario. like samara’s quest you can actually fail this one.

garrus: the recruitment mission is probably one of the best-designed recruitment missions in the game, there’s a lot of stuff to do, and the reveal that our space batman was garrus was totally expected, but i like it and it’s a nice contintuation from ME1. 

the loyalty mission is very straightforward and offers an interesting choice with a few outcomes--you can kill the guy and be “HELL YEAH” about it, kill him and be somber about it, like a mercy kill, or you can let him go. garrus isn’t a particularly complicated character but he is a Bro, so it’s nice to help him out.

grunt: recruitment mission had a good twist in that he’s not the one you came here for, and he’s an interesting concept in that he’s a krogan who’s disconnected from his species and doesn’t know why he would care.

loyalty mission isn’t great, just fighting waves of monsters, but it’s a good look inside krogan culture, and i like the idea of him finding a place despite being tank born, even if it is ultimately sort of simplistic and doesn’t say much in terms of character-work.

(i know there are two dlc companions and some dlc stuff, but i played the original game on xbox 360 sans dlc)

[mass-effect-anonymous]

CONFESSION:

I wish they'd added Kolyat as Thane's counterpart in the Armax Arena, Kirrahe or Wiks could have been Mordin's, and, well, a Geth if you brokered peace or saved the Geth would have worked for Legion.

[mlm-writer]

In Case You Don’t Live Forever (Shepard x Wrex)

Pairing: Urdnot Wrex x Gender Neutral Shepard Rating: General Audiences Words: 1187 POV: Third Summary: In the wake of Mordin’s death, Wrex is confronted with just how easily people can die. He makes sure to not make the same mistake twice.  Notes: Almost 3am, tomorrow exam, wrote this. Based on this song.  Tags: angst, fluff, love confessions, first kiss, song fic, finally a fic I don’t need to tag with anal sex or something, grief and spoilers for ME3. 

The dust clung to their armour like long hairs in the shower. Shepard could not tear their eyes away from what was left of the Shroud. It was more than what was left of their friend. It was more than what was left of their hope of love. From their peripheral vision, they could see Wrex celebrating the salvation of his species. Next to him, Eve. They were the future of the Krogan. They were going to lead the species back to greatness. Wrex was like any great human leader in history, a figure, a man who needed a Krogan to appear acceptable in the eyes of the general public. There was no room for a human lover. There was no room for Shepard in the life of the one they loved. 

Shepard tied up the loose ends and tried to get off this nuclear waste-world as fast as possible. There was a war to win, feelings to repress to ensure victory, to achieve survival. Eve, now Urdnot Bakara, vividly told them about the future plans. They were great. For them, but not for Shepard. The façade held up, until they reached the Normandy. Shepard nearly cursed out Joker for wanting to run repairs on Tuchanka before take-off. They nearly jumped out and attempted to lift the Normandy off the ground themself, just to get away from it all. Get away from where they lost another friend. Get away from where they had to bury their feelings, just to be what the entire galaxy needed them to be. 

Shepard was just out of the shower and still brooding in their towel when EDI’s voice echoed through their cabin. “Urdnot Wrex wishes to enter, commander.” Shepard nearly jumped out of their skin as they yelled to keep him outside, while they were fishing for clothes. With their cargo pants askew and hoodie still hanging half off their shoulder, they told EDI to let Wrex in, before the Krogan was going to break down the door himself. It was odd to see Wrex in their cabin. In all those years they knew one another, he had never been here. 

“Shepard.”

“Wrex.”

There was an awkward stretch of silence, before Shepard gestured to the couch and they sat down together, Shepard’s last bottle of strong alcohol opened. There was a little of silent drinking, until Wrex started talking. “Never thought I would ever like a Salarian, but Mordin was all right.” 

Their throat tightened, but Shepard raised their glass anyway and spoke solidly. “I’ll drink to that.” Wrex nodded and emptied his glass. 

More silence, until Wrex spoke again. “Thank you. My species has hope thanks to Mordin, but also thanks to you. You could have kept the sabotage a secret.” 

Shepard let out a bitter laugh as they thought of that haughty Dalatrass. “Are you kidding? I would have fought a Thresher Maw with my bare fists just to piss off that snobby Dalatrass. Saving your species is just a bonus.” Wrex let out a laugh and refilled both their glasses. 

“And there we have what I drink to.” After another gulp of liquor, Wrex stared down his half-full glass. “Krogan have long life spans, but even by that standard, I’m old, Shepard, never had children. With the genophage cured and my position, I could father an entire generation.” Shepard glanced at him, unsure of how to respond to that. Fortunately, Wrex was not done speaking yet. “I’ve known you for hardly a fraction of my life, but there is something I think I have waited too long to tell you.” 

Shepard sat up straighter, watching Wrex with concern as the Krogan sat there with his head hanging. It was odd to see Wrex like this. Alarm bells rung through Shepard’s head like 12pm in a religious Earth village. “It is hard to imagine you ever kicking the dust, but in case you do, I need you to know that everything I am today is because of you.” 

Shepard cracked a smile and suppressed the little voice in their head that told them that Wrex might feel the same way as they did. “I would have never seen the Krogan the way I do today without you. I think we’re even.” Wrex shook his head with an angry frown and grabbed Shepard by the arm. 

Wrex pulled at the limb, so their faces came closer to one another. “You’re not hearing me, Shepard,” he growled. With wide eyes, Shepard pulled at their arm and Wrex freed the human from his grip as if the soft skin burned him. “Killing a Krogan is tough, but if you do not listen to me, you might just pull it off today.” Wrex sounded distressed. He stood up and started pacing. “You… I mean… I… No, you…  urgh, words!” He kicked the bed, the frame denting a little from the force. 

Shepard stood up with arms crossed. “You’re not a talker, Wrex, just say what is eating you up or show me. Whatever it is, I’ll find time to deal with it.” They let their arms fall as Wrex stomped up to them. He looked angry, grief-stricken and purposeful. If it wasn’t Wrex, but any other Krogan, Shepard would have taken on a defensive pose. 

Wrex grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them in, smashing their lips together in a bruising kiss that was all lips and teeth and mismatching anatomy. When they parted, Wrex nodded and took a step back. “Shepard.” 

Shepard blinked at him, not sure what was happening. “Wrex,” they replied as if it was an inquiry. There was no answer. “The uh… Normandy will depart soon. I have a galaxy to save and uh… I would invite you along, but uh… you have a species to guide back to glory.” 

Wrex agreed, but did not walk to the exit. He put a gentle hand on Shepard’s arm and bent his head down far enough for their foreheads to touch. “Yes, but just in case you… You don’t have a redundant nervous system, so… I love you… more than you could understand. 

Shepard raised their head to place a kiss on the frontal plate, before resting their forehead against it once more. “I love you too and… in case your stubborn old ass bites the dust, you should know that every piece of me, is a piece of you.” Joker broke off the moment with a poorly timed announcement that the Normandy was ready to depart from Tuchanka. 

After Shepard told Joker to wait five more minutes, they made eye-contact with Wrex. “Wrex.” Said Krogan smiled and stepped back. Their arms slid along one another as they separated, lingering on the touch. They both knew, now was not the time, but perhaps, there was a future. Wrex walked to the door of Shepard’s cabin, his steps lighter than they were when he entered. The doors opened before him and he turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the future saviour of the galaxy. A smile appeared on his face as he said one last thing before leaving. 

“Shepard.”

[dalekofchaos]

What would you say are the biggest mistakes Mass Effect 3 made?

Okay this is going to be a long one, but these would be the biggest mistakes ME3 ever made in my opinion

Choosing Cerberus over The Reapers. The thing that annoyed me most about ME3 is the fact that Harbinger is not the main threat. The Illusive Man is. Harbinger has been built up as the big bad since ME2. "YOU HAVE FAILED. WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY." He says as he discards the Collectors. Then his speech to Shepard as the base blows up. "Human, you've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We return, and you will rise. We are the harbinger of your perfection. We will bring your species into harmony with our own. Your species will be raised to a new existence. We are the beginning, you will be the end. Prepare for our domination. Prepare for our coming." Then in Arrival, he came pretty damn close to unleashing quick subjugation and harvest upon an unprepared galaxy. Upon Shepard foiling his plans. "Shepard. You have become an annoyance. You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us. Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival." The perfect final villain right? Unfortunately, Cerberus was more focused on than The Reapers. My problem with Cerberus and no Harbinger is Too many Cerberus, too few Reaper forces in plot. We fight Cerberus more often than the reapers. Hardly any boss fight and the one with Reaper Destroyer on Rannoch was more an interactive movie than fight. During the Horizon mission in Mass Effect 2, Harbinger was solidified as the Big Bad. It was menacing and ominous, with just the right amount of annoying. It taunted us throughout the game, telling us how insignificant we were, and how our actions were pointless. It was willing to posses drones through the Collector General to fight us personally, and when we killed the host, it tossed them aside. Harbinger even gave the typical “You haven’t seen the last of me!” villain rant. It made any fire fight frustrating, and that made me want to kill it even more; I hated Harbinger. Many games fail to do that. Harbinger was an enemy which I looked forward to defeating. I had the desire to annihilate. In Mass Effect 3, I got a codex entry and a cameo. Harbinger just swoops in at the last second and blows my friends and I to hell(and lets the Normandy save them), then flies off. Personally, I would have loved to hear Harbinger’s menacing monologue, it drove me on. I would have felt a deeper motivation to take the fight back to Earth if it told me how much destruction the Reapers were causing, how many lives were lost. I felt cheated when I got to the final mission, only to suddenly realize it was largely absent from the game. Harbinger has been replaced. Replaced by the Illusive Man and Kai Leng. The former is an old acquaintance, albeit one now controlled by the Reapers. The latter is a space ninja from a terrible book. What would've been amazing is if Harbinger IS the Catalyst. Harbinger taunts and haunts Shepard throughout the game He uses the memory of that child to haunt Shepard as a symbol of humanity lost. After Shepard activates the Crucible. Harbinger appears. He explains to why and how The Reapers were made. the AI Leviathan created to solve the equation is Harbinger all along, Harbinger manipulated The Leviathan into giving it Reaper form and birth at first it did what it commanded and what they asked of it was to look at the dark energy building up which back then was only an anomaly that Leviathan was concerned with but then the first harvest began and Harbinger and The Reapers were born. Funny enough, Leviathan reminds me so much of FMA:Brotherhood. The Intelligence tricked Leviathan to create the Reaper is very similar to how the Dwarf in the flask became Father. So what I think should have happened is it would've been revealed that Harbinger is the AI that convinced the Leviathan that harvest was the only way to survive and justifies the harvests not because organics and synthetics can't coexist, but because of the dark matter crisis. Throughout the game we would have more confrontations with Harbinger. Have him "ASSUME CONTROL" during fights. Give us a voiced confrontation between Shepard and Harbinger. Make it clear that Harbinger chose The Illusive Man and convinced him of together they could uplift and empower humanity over the lesser races. The Illusive Man is to Harbinger, as what Saren was for Soverign. Then the Crucible will grant us the choice to Destroy or Control The Reapers or Harvest this cycle to survive the Dark Matter crisis. You could either. Destroy Harbinger and The Reapers, while the united races would discover a way to stop the dark matter problem. Give in to Harbinger to harvest humanity to save the galaxy. Control The Reapers to stop the harvesting and to work together to stop the dark matter crisis.

Choosing to have a smaller crew than ME2 and focusing solely on the ME1 characters and screwing over or ignoring the ME2 crew, especially romancing Jack, Miranda and Thane. If it were up to me, this is what my ideal ME3 line up would be Ashley/Kaidan EDI Garrus Liara Tali Javik Jack Miranda Thane(EA forgot about him and simply chose to kill him off, I think Thane could’ve rejoined the crew and even had a mission where we find a cure for Thane and Kolyat) Grunt Mordin(you'll see how later) Legion(You'll see later) Balak or any Batarian Squadmember. Ideally it would be someone who survived the Bahak system or even a Batarian freedom fighter who puts his people’s survival over the pride and prejudices of the Hegemony. His sole goal is to liberate Khar'shan and save his people. But for a more memorable person, Balak would be the squad member. I would make killing Balak not an option. The last high ranking officer in the Hegemony. Instead of causing deaths on the Citadel, he seeks Shepard out. It’s an enemy of my enemy is my friend. Over time, Balak would show remorse for his past actions as a terrorist and for the Hegemony’s past. Shepard and Balak learns to overcome their differences and see each other as friend and works together to destroy the Reapers. We would get a Priority Khar’shan where we could liberate the planet and the Batarians would be in a fighting force.

Keeping James alive. I like James, but he added absolutely nothing to the game. We already had an Alliance character. Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko. James should have been the Jenkins/Wilson of the game. He should have died in the crash to take out Eva and Ashley/Kaidan should have been with us from beginning to end. James is a character we barely know. We’ve waited a long ass time to see Ashley/Kaidan and it was downright disappointing that neither Ashley nor Kaidan did not get to interact with Garrus on Priority Palaven and Wrex during Priority S’Urkesh.

Mirandafying Ashley Williams. Mirandafying Ashley Williams for Mass Effect 3 was shallow and unnecessary. Wearing loose and long hair and skimpy clothing? Ashley Williams is a by the books soldier. She would not look like this. She would not grow her hair or let it down like this. I mean, it’s not that they changed her face so much, but they just tried too hard with the makeup, hair and outfit. Ashley didn’t need to be model-sexy and run around in heels and showing cleavage. She was already sexy as hell in her own way. All they needed to do was give her the Alliance Crewmen outfit as her casual look and the Phoenix Armor and the current Alliance type armor she was given in ME3, as well as a unique Spectre armor. It's not just the shallow Mirandafying. It's the fact that Ashley has little to no interactions. Ashley barely has any interactions in the game. Compared to Kaidan, Ashley is not interactable. I don't like that Ashley barely has any interactions and just feels...hollow. Ashley should have crew moments with Joker, Adams, Ashley at the monument mourning those who died with the original Normandy, Liara, Tali and Garrus. Was it so much to ask for simple interactions? And really, Ashley in the first game had a personality, Ashley in ME3 feels hollow.

Choosing Diana Allers over Emily Wong and Khalisah al-Jilani. Emily and Khalisah are two reporters we actually know and respect. They earned their place on the Normandy. Emily reported on crime and traffic controllers. Khalisah gave us hard hitting questions and actually cared about reporting on what the fuck was going on in the galaxy. They earned their place on the Normandy as far as I'm concerned. Compare that to Diana Allers. What has Diana Allers done to deserve a spot on the Normandy? Nothing. They created the Battlespace to make her seem like a hip and cool Alliance News Correspondent. Allers looked, weird and she just comes off as annoying and she's a waste of space on the Normandy when we could've had a whole new or returning squad member. God, I WISH Javik could throw her out the fucking airlock. You had TWO perfectly great reporter characters and you did jackshit for any of them. Just so you could have an excuse to hire Jessica Chobot.

Not letting us see Tali's face on Rannoch. Legendary Edition fixed the mistake by finally showing us Tali's face, but it's still exclusive to Shali romancers. What should have happened was we see Tali's face when she unmasks on Rannoch. If we don't romance her, she unmasks and gives us a smile. If we romance her we see her face and kiss her. Something simple like that. It would've been great to see

Not having the ME2 squad members join in on the Citadel DLC. I mean for fuck's sake, it's like they want us to know "fuck you, ME1 squadmembers only" Again, why? Why wasn’t Jack, Miranda, Grunt, Samara, Jacob, Zaeed and Kasumi not added? If we romanced Jack or Miranda, why didn't they come to save us when we were being hunted? Why not REALLY making it feel like Team Hammerhead by actually adding the ME2 Squad members to the Citadel DLC before the party? There was no reason why you couldn't include the ME2 squad members in the Citadel DLC

Making Cerberus the villains instead of uneasy allies, when The Batarians were the perfect allies for The Reapers. This might just be me but I think Cerberus should have been on our side in ME3 and The Batarians should have been fighting for The Reapers. Makes sense Cerberus has just been a rouge organization doing what the job no matter what the cost(even if the cost is atrocities) and instead of indoctrinating themselves they could of studied it to make themselves immune to indoctrination and The Illusive Man's goal was to use any means necessary in order to destroy The Reapers. I also like the idea that you know you can't trust him, but he does get results. The Council and The Alliance are desperate, so they accept a partnership with Cerberus. The Batarians have always held a grudge against The Alliance, The Council and would have wanted revenge for Bahak/ Viper Nebula. The fact that there are no consequences for what we had to do in Arrival from The Batarians just doesn't make any sense and you'd think this would give The Batarians the motive to turn to The Reapers. Hell in the Terra Nova DLC in Mass Effect 1 it seemed to me that Balak was already indoctrinated and Balak’s revelation of the “Batarian rebellion” makes it seem like they would be the perfect tools for The Reapers. Balak will be the new Saren figure. If you killed Balak, then The Reapers would just bring him back. The first act of war for the Batarians was the destruction of the Viper Nebula, so their retaliation was killing Udina. Prior to the Reaper invasion of Earth, Udina would go to Omega to make peace talks with Aria. The Batarians attack and gain control of Omega, Aria is ousted(but saved by General Petrovsky) and Udina is executed live for the galaxy to see. Because of Udina's execution and Anderson leading the resistance on Earth. The Illusive Man is now the Human Councilor. Miranda and Kai Leng would be squad members. Depending on if you gave TIM the Collector Base or destroyed it, he will either keep you in the dark or help you at every turn. Just think of the Cerberus War Assets Cerberus Scientists General Oleg Petrovsky Collector Base Cerberus Fighters Cerberus Phantoms Cerberus Engineers Project Phoenix We would get a big mission to deal with the Batarians, Priority:Khar'shan. If you do not deal with the Batarians, there will be major casualties. However half of the Batarian forces are not indoctrinated and just want to end the mistakes of their government and live. Balak wants to kill the rebellion of his people. Ironic. Somehow Balak has placed enough bombs on the planet to destroy everyone who is resisting Reaper indoctrination. We can either. Talk Balak out of it. Telling him to resist and fight for your people(which WOULD gain Balak as an ally) or talk Balak into killing himself. Or the true Renegade option is to kill Balak and order a strike that wipes out the Batarian forces, but sacrificing the Batarian Rebellion. By the time we get to Priority Earth everyone is on the same page and united against the true threat, The Reapers. And it is Harbinger who is the final boss

Not having Maelon be there with Mordin in ME3. This isn't really a problem, but I had a thought. If we spared Maelon and kept Maelon's data for the cure. Maelon should have been on board to help Mordin with the cure. If we warn Mordin and Maelon about the sabotage, then Maelon would choose to sacrifice himself to save Mordin. And after that, Mordin would choose to join Shepard's crew.

Legion's "death" is pointless. He....is software. He could easily copy and paste The Reaper code without sacrificing himself in the same manner when he was broadcasting the Reaper signal to all Geth. Or he could've disseminated himself after he made a copy and transfer that copy over to his platform. I just get the feeling that they didn't want to keep Mordin, Thane or Legion alive....for reasons.

[angstyastro]

Widower Update

Chapter 4: Shepard POV

[AO3]

We has updated fic ;’)

Shepard sat in silence with Tali and Jack for what felt like hours, but in reality, it couldn’t have been longer than 20 minutes before the doors to Medbay opened and Thane walked out. The datapad in his hands was being held tightly and he stopped as he took in everyone who was there waiting. 

Mordin quickly walked up to him and looked him over, likely due to Thane having left his oxygen treatment. After a few seconds of prodding from the salarian, he looked pleased.

“I-I apologize for startling everyone. I am feeling much better. Thank you, professor…I will come back and discuss…your offer at a later time if that is alright.” 

Shepard almost missed how happy that seemed to make Mordin as he replied with a curt nod.

Jack stood up and quickly began to make her way towards the elevator, “Well since you’re back up, don’t do that again. I’m going back to my place.” 

At first, Shepard had been surprised to see Jack had even been around when Thane fainted but apparently she had seen the whole event happen when she had gone back to the mess to get leftovers. 

Tali quickly made her way towards Thane and gave him a half-hug before she also turned and made her way towards the lift. 

Thane watched as Tali’s figure disappeared from view before his entire body deflated in relief. 

Shepard would have chuckled if she wasn’t worried. Thane never did like being so relaxed and unguarded unless he was with her or Garrus. 

He turned to Shepard and gave her a soft, forced smile. Similar to the ones he often gave her when they had first met. He was exhausted and it showed in every labored breath he gave.

He walked towards her and held out his hand. She instinctively grabbed hold of it and stood up to follow him.

He led her towards life support and as they made their way there they intertwined their fingers together in that comfortable manner that was simply theirs. 

Shepard wished she could say the short walk to his quarters was peaceful but she didn’t miss how tense Thane was. His shoulders were stiff and his brow ridges fixed into a frown. He was very much holding himself together until they were alone. 

Once they both made their way into his room, he turned around and activated the lock to the door. Shepard knew this talk was coming but suddenly she felt nervous. She sighed as she made her way to her usual seat. Thane quickly removed his coat and placed the small datapad he had against the makeshift nightstand next to his cot. 

Shepard wondered if she should ask what Garrus had said. 

“You saw him off?” Thane asked, finally breaking the silence they both had been in.

Shepard nodded and looked down at her hands. Her goodbye with Garrus wasn’t terrible but it was incredibly awkward and she would admit she hated that they couldn’t even have a normal friendly goodbye. 

“H-how was he?” 

Shepard glanced up at Thane and could see his features show how worried he was. She sympathized with Thane. She knew he was probably the most upset that he had missed Garrus’s departure in general. 

“He was…fine, awkward of course. We were all worried about you when you blacked out so a lot of our conversation was about you and making sure we let Kolyat know about it.” 

Thane’s frown seemed to deepen and Shepard felt worse. That’s probably not what he wanted to hear. 

“He really wanted to stay and make sure you woke up before he left but Hackett is really pressuring Joker to drop everyone off and wouldn’t allow us to stay in orbit of Palaven for very long.” 

Thane crossed his arms across his chest and sighed as he closed his eyes. He spent a few moments taking in deep breaths. 

Shepard knew that this was probably going to end even worse for them given that her plan to get Thane ready to say goodbye to her was almost a breakup in itself. 

Garrus might have stormed off that night in her cabin but he was right about Thane’s stubbornness of refusing any treatment for his Keprals. Shepard hated to admit it but if he kept going this way, it was very possible that Thane could be gone sometime soon and she may never get to see him again. 

She may also die before he does depending on whether they feed her to the wolves once she handed herself over to the alliance. 

“So Admiral Hackett is now in charge of the Normandy,” Thane finally said after a few moments. 

Shepard’s train of thought paused. 

“Admiral Hackett is just here to see my surrender once everyone is off the ship.” She replied. 

Thane huffed out a small humorless laugh, “No, Garrus was right. You’ve turned yourself in the moment you came back from the relay…and I am running to my death.” 

Shepard felt the words on the tip of her tongue evaporate. She didn’t know what to say to that. She was going to deny the statement that Hackett was in control but in reality, she knew she didn’t have much of a say when he had pressured her to speed up her goodbye with Garrus. 

“Thane…” she started. Unsure of how to go about the whole situation. It was ironic. There never seemed to be a barrier between them but then again Thane had always been good at having something to talk about. 

Thane shook his head, cutting her off, “Forgive me, I don’t want to have an argument and I don’t want our last days together to be filled with regret.” 

Shepard sat in silence and Thane stood with his arms crossed across his chest as he glanced at the guns he had on display. Shepard knew that Garrus and Thane had enjoyed spending hours going over different models. It was one of their many bonding activities.

She brought her hands up to her face as she sighed. There was no way around it. The problems that Garrus had pointed out were glaring them in the face and there was no real way to solve them. 

Not at that moment anyway. 

“Do you know what Jack told me the night you told all of us of your surrender to the alliance?” Thane asked quietly as he turned to look at her. 

Shepard glanced up to look at him and shook her head. 

“She told me that if I wanted, she would help me and Garrus take over the Normandy and send Admiral Hackett out the airlock.” He said with a small chuckle. 

Shepard couldn’t help the snort that escaped her. 

Oh, Jack. 

“Did she give you the same pirate queen plan she told me when she first came on board?” She asked, falling into a fit of giggles. As ridiculous as the topic was, Shepard couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image of Jack trying to get Thane and Garrus in on her hijack plans. 

Thane's lips had curled into a soft smile but his eyes held a distant look and his pupils were darting. He was reliving the memory but Shepard noticed he had decided not to share it. 

He blinked and returned to the present after a few seconds of silence. The smile was still on his lips as his attention drew back to her. 

She couldn’t help herself as she stood and reached out to cup his face. The need to touch Thane after seeing him unconscious was almost overwhelming. 

He leaned into her touch and Shepard felt his frills flutter underneath her fingers. A soft vibration buzzed through her hand and knew he was humming his subvocals. 

Thane brought one of his hands to hold the one she had against his cheek as he placed a soft kiss against her palm. 

He held her hand against his lips for a few moments and Shepard felt glued in place at the intensity of his stare. 

His dark eyes were locked on hers and she was reminded how she often couldn’t look away when he looked at her with that fierce intensity. 

“Would you be angry with me if I told you I would help Jack take over the Normandy and rid you of the Admiral?” He said finally. His expression was hard as he searched her face for her reaction almost like a dare to actually be angry. 

Shepard felt her heart speed up at that. The thought of Thane staging a coup with Jack to prevent her surrender sounded like something out of a romance vid. 

Before she could respond though, Thane reached out for her other free hand and started to tug at her towards him as he started walking backward. 

She was momentarily confused until she felt his arms snake around her waist and pull her down with him onto his cot. 

Shepard didn’t have much time to react or adjust their landing position as most of her weight landed on his hips and chest. They laid awkwardly and she tried to pull back to not put pressure on his abused lungs but Thane’s hold on her waist tightened. 

He had her locked in place and she was about to protest. 

“Please let me enjoy your warmth and presence before it is taken away from me as well.” He said so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him. 

She glanced up at him and saw his expression mirror the same pain she felt about the entire situation. 

After a few moments of silence, she nodded and slowly adjusted herself against him in a more comfortable manner. She laid her head against his chest and she could hear his breathing and heartbeat. 

They were both strong and she realized that the oxygen treatment must have greatly helped for the time he had been receiving it while he had been unconscious. 

She felt Thane’s fingers rake through her short hair soothingly. A habit he had learned from either Tali or Liara about the many things she liked. Who had given him that information? She never knew and Thane never shared. Garrus, who had also learned the habit, never told her either. 

But Shepard knew that only three people knew of her preference of having someone run their fingers through her hair and the suspects were Tali, Liara, and Kaidan. Thane and Garrus had to have learned from one of them and with how things ended between her and Kaidan, it was unlikely he was the one to let that secret out. 

Nonetheless, Shepard thanked whichever one of the ladies it was since Thane and Garrus always did this little act of intimacy when she was stressed. It was their way of helping her and Shepard guessed it also helped them relax to an extent. 

Shepard cuddled more into Thane’s embrace and closed her eyes. She took in his unique scent. She couldn’t put an exact name to it but it brought her immense comfort every time she was in his arms. Immediately Shepard suddenly felt small, useless, and downright terrified about what the next couple of days were going to be like. 

An unusual feeling for her. 

She had been so focused on the details about her surrender to the alliance that she actually hadn’t stopped to think about what that would mean in the long run. 

Sure Hackett had promised her that he and Anderson would fight for her innocence and freedom but that was only the fight of two men. The entirety of the Batarian government and other races angry with her choices would be against her. 

Garrus’s words began to really sting as she remembered what he had told her. That she was constantly running to meet her end faster than it was intended. 

She was terrified about how correctly he had read her. 

Shepard knew that planning ahead for every outcome had to be a part of every plan. Hell, it was her whole plan of action during her fight with Saren. 

But she wouldn’t lie, ever since she had been on the suicide mission placed on her by the illusive man she had pretty much decided that planning for the future was unnecessary if it meant that she wouldn’t live past it. 

And yet here she was and her impulsive actions with the mass relay were what now had her facing the consequences of not planning her missions out besides point and shoot. 

Garrus’s words about how she and Thane had no problem leaving him behind tore through her heart as she realized that had Garrus not called her and Thane out it was very likely he would be right. 

She would have left him behind again. The first time that happened was two years ago and then it would have happened again if she had died during the explosion of the mass relay. Eventually, Thane’s Kepral’s would also take him from Garrus and he would be exactly what he had said. A widower. 

Tears threatened to escape and Shepard bit her lip to prevent it. She didn’t cry. She wasn’t allowed to cry. She was Commander Shepard damn it.

She briefly considered if maybe Jack’s plan to hijack the Normandy might actually be the best thing to do in this situation.

That train of thought came to a halt when she felt Thane’s hands cup her face and lift it to face him. In her struggle to fight away tears she had started sniffling. Great, now she was going to look weak in front of him. 

Later Shepard would know that Thane would never see her as weak but she couldn’t help but feel that way at the moment.

He was the one who was struggling with his breathing and rightfully upset about not being able to see Garrus off and here she was only thinking about how Garrus’s words had been accurate about her. 

Just as she was going to apologize for getting emotional, Thane leaned down and kissed away a tear that had actually escaped and then softly pressed his lips against hers. 

“It is alright to cry Siha.” He whispered against her lips. 

Shepard felt her barriers crumble almost immediately as she finally let the rest of her emotions burst. She pushed herself up and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he let her sob onto him. 

She both felt and heard a strong subvocal purr from him and immediately recognized it as the one that he used frequently with her, Garrus, and Kolyat when they all had any sort of stressful emotions expressed. It had always comforted all of them as well which was the intended result. 

She pressed herself against him even more in an attempt to let the subvocal roll through her whole body which later she would realize might’ve been too much pressure against his chest but she couldn’t think rationally at the moment and Thane wasn’t objecting. 

After a few long moments of muffled crying, she finally got a hold of herself and pulled away slowly as she rubbed at her eyes and nose. The feeling of being disoriented was unnatural but thankfully she was in Thane’s cot and not standing. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand properly if she had been on her feet. 

Unfortunately, she probably looked a mess but Thane sat up with her and pulled out a soft white handkerchief he usually carried in his pockets. 

A very gentlemanly habit he had which she had playfully teased him about when she had first been talking with him and long before they had entered any romantic relationship. He had mentioned it was a human custom he found to be useful. 

He was right.

He gently wiped her eyes and nose with it and then handed it to her so she could blow into it if she needed to. His strong purr continued to vibrate enough for her to hear and she smiled weakly at him. 

“I’m sorry-“ she started but he cut her off as he leaned his forehead against hers. A very turian action he had learned from Garrus. Shepard felt her chest ache with the absence of the turian they both missed. 

Thane nuzzled against her and took in a deep breath. She was able to hear the soft wheeze escape him as he released it, “I know that we have been avoiding every issue that Garrus brought up and I also understand now that we will not be able to fix them. It is…too late and it is too much to really try to resolve without him here,” 

He grabbed hold of her hands and squeezed them gently before continuing, “and I am aware that you had probably planned to come in here with me to also…end our relationship due to the future being so uncertain for both of us and I will not begrudge you your choice Siha. I just wish to spend the last of our time together with no malice between us or with Garrus.” 

Shepard sucked in a breath. How was she so easy to read? 

“I love you Thane, I can admit that now and it will never change. I also know that…I may not see you again after you all are dropped off on Omega but if by some chance I do, I hope you don’t mind me trying to win you over again. Well…the both of you because Garrus isn’t getting away that easily. I ain’t a punk.” 

Thane’s lips turned up into a small smile at her last comment, “I was upset about my denial of treatment being a reason that Garrus chose to end our relations but I understand what he meant. I cannot promise anything to either of you and only Kolyat will be able to help me in deciding what to do going forward. But if there really is nothing that I can do then…I will await you both across the sea.” 

Shepard nodded before she closed the distance between them and drew him into a deep kiss. If this was the last she was going to see of him, she was going to make sure that their last moments together were good memories.

—

Garrus dropped his bags against the floor as he walked into his old home. It was so strange being back on Palaven and even stranger still standing in the main hallway of where most of his childhood was spent. 

“Garrus?!” he heard and before he knew it, his sister had rounded on him a lot faster than he had expected. 

“Sol-oof-” The impact of her hug almost knocked him down as she rammed herself into him. 

The smaller woman glanced up at him as she held him tightly. Her mandibles flared into a large smile and he could hear her subvocals vibrating in intense excitement. It was actually an unexpected response given that she had been more than a little unhappy about his absence when their mother was sick and his stunt in Omega. 

“Oh, I am so happy that you’re back home! I knew Commander Shepard would make sure you came back safe. Father was doubtful but I knew she would, you’ll have to send her my thanks.” She said as she ran her eyes across his face. Taking in every detail that had changed since the last time they had seen each other. 

“I thanked her for us Sol.” Garrus’s father said as he passed them and brought in some more of Garrus’s belongings. Garrus smiled and leaned to press his forehead against his sister’s. He had missed her dearly even if their last conversation had been a heated one. 

Before he could really respond to her though he felt his omnitool signal an important notification. 

He glanced down and saw the screen light up with Thane’s icon. He had sent him a message. 

His heart decided to speed up at that. He was finally awake and therefore, healthy again. Well as healthy as he could be given his condition, however, that also meant that Thane had read the letter that Garrus had left behind by now and suddenly he was very nervous. 

He knew he shouldn’t be since Thane was never a man who really held strong grudges or lashed out the way others did but he also knew that if the man ever felt strongly enough about something, he would share those feelings with the utmost bluntness that left nothing to argue about. 

“I…ah, give me a moment. I have an important message I have to read from the crew.” He said as he pulled away from his father and sister and started to make his way towards his old room. 

“I’ll have dinner ready in a bit so take your time and even take a nap if you need to.” He heard his sister say before he nodded his thanks towards her. 

Once he closed the door to his old room behind him-he didn’t even pay attention to how it had stayed remarkably unchanged since he last was there- he pulled up his omnitool again and stared at the small icon of Thane’s face next to his message for a few seconds before he finally opened it. It was short message in general: 

To: archangelgv

From: tkrios

Subject: Thank you

Garrus,

I thank you, Tali, and Jack for helping me during my attack. This was definitely something that none of us expected and I apologize for causing all of your stress because of it. Mordin has been tending to my care and will continue to do so for a while while we are stationed on Omega. 

I have read your message and I am only regretful that I was unable to see you off with Shepard. Know that you are in my heart and that I will treasure the time we spent together for as long as I draw breath. I have said my goodbyes to everyone in case I cannot in the future and I hope that perhaps I may be able to properly do so with you as well if there is some way we can meet again. 

If not then I only hope this letter may suffice. 

Shepard woke me from my battle sleep after years of living in solitude and you reminded me of what it meant to live and enjoy the moments I never considered to be important. I believed that I would never find another love in my life after my beloved Irikah’s passing but the Gods saw me worthy of not finding only one but two more. I will always thank them for it. 

Fate is often a beautiful thing when it comes to finding those who mean the most to us and it can also be cruel in how easily it can take it away. I will be honest, I have never had any romantic relationship I’ve been in end by the choice of my own or any partner that I have ever been with so your choice to end our…relations is something that I will have to come to terms with over time. Forgive me if I am not responsive to some of your messages if that is the case. 

Tali tells me that it may be best to not have too much communication with you if you wish to spend time to yourself after all this, which I will respect. I only wish to offer you the same friendship you have given me and Shepard during our time together. 

If you ever need a friend or someone to stand by you again, I am always at your side. 

Respectfully, 

Thane

Garrus swallowed hard as he reread the message. He didn’t know why it felt like this was it. This was Thane’s full acceptance of the breakup. 

A part of him wanted to chew Tali out about telling Thane to give him space but in reality, she was right. If Thane sent him constant messages trying to have that talk that he had wanted to in the mess then Garrus wasn’t sure if he’d be able to fully let his choice to break up with them stay in place.

Hell, he had almost folded and stayed on board while he was awkwardly saying his goodbyes with Shepard when they docked on Palaven. 

He sighed as he closed his omnitool. His heart was heavy as he realized that it was possible that he wouldn’t see Thane again if he didn’t at least once visit him after he was moved somewhere else after Omega. The thought of that sent a keen through him. 

Why was loving someone so painful sometimes?

[commander-krios]

18. "I don't want you to die for me, I want you to live for me." - for Iris and Ashley

Thank you for this. Sorry for the wait. Life has been crazy, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing again. Enjoy!

Dr. Solus had invited her onto the Normandy to help with the cure for the genophage. Iris wasn’t a geneticist, but her work on krogan immune systems had caught the attention of the salarian. He had issued a strange, but insistent invitation that couldn’t possibly be ignored. Now she was sitting in the med bay on the Normandy SR-2, staring at a tissue sample, her eyes crossed as she tried to jot down the changes from the last sample.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there on that stool, staring into the microscope lens, but she was starting to feel weary. The war against the Reapers had begun full-force and here she was trying to save the krogan race from extinction. It was a worthy cause, of course, but she couldn’t help but think it was premature considering they all might be dead in a month’s time anyway.

Sighing, Iris blew some of her bangs out of her eyes, adjusted her eyeglasses, and then glanced into the microscope again. She didn’t see any changes, but then again, maybe she’d been looking at it too long.

Iris was so focused on the tissue sample that she hadn’t noticed that she was no longer alone in the med bay. It was only when a soft kiss touched her cheek that she turned, blue eyes meeting the dark ones of her girlfriend.

“Ash!” Iris gasped, hand to her chest in shock. “I didn’t see you there.”

Leaning against the counter where Iris was working intently, the Spectre smirked, arms crossed over her chest. “Clearly.” With a wave toward the microscope, she continued. “Any progress on the cure?”

Iris shook her head, a frown on her face. “Not yet. Mordin thinks we will get it soon, but I’m worried about the war. I’m worried about everyone fighting.” She glanced at the ground as she finished speaking her thoughts. “I’m worried about you.”

Ashley pulled Iris to her feet, taking her hands in her own. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m not going to let the Reapers get to you. I would die before I let that happen.”

Her frown only deepened at those words. “That’s not what I want. I don’t want you to die for me.” Iris pulled away from Ashley, taking her glasses off so she could rub the spot between her eyes. “Don’t you get it? I want you to live for me.”

Ashley was quiet, watching Iris work through her frustration.

After a moment, Iris took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ashley. I know you’re trying to protect me. And I love you for that. I only wish you didn’t have to.”

Ashley wrapped her arms around Iris, pulling her close. She brushed a light kiss along the soft hair on her head. There was no feeling like that of the woman she loved in her arms. She would give anything to stay in this moment forever. Unfortunately, there was a war to fight. “I can’t promise you that this war is going to end the way we want it to.”

“I know.”

Ashley stepped back and met Iris’ gaze, not wavering a bit as she continued. “But no matter what happens, I will always love you. I will never stop loving you.”

Iris would’ve cried, but over the last few months, she had cried all of the tears she could. Instead, she pressed a kiss to Ashley’s lips, enjoying the taste of strawberry lip gloss that Ash was so fond of. The future was uncertain, but this moment with Ashley was the most important thing in the galaxy to her.

But there was still a galaxy to save and soon, Ashley would be on the frontlines again, fighting for it.

[theoriginalladya]

WIP Wednesday - the Day Late Edition

So, I woke up this morning to Becca Shepard screaming at me about Horizon... and the characters have now taken the wheel and I'm just along for the ride...

Setting: Horizon, Mass Effect 2, Becca Shepard (not first human Spectre, but takes over in ME2), Garrus Vakarian, Mordin Solus, Grunt

~~~

The shuttle bay was quiet save for the hum of engines and the muted clunk of armored boots on metal decking as they headed towards the shuttle. Becca took a deep breath as she followed Garrus, Mordin, and Grunt on board. Horizon. This would be the biggest test so far.

I hope you’re ready for this…

The hatch opened to eerie silence on the ground, and she had to shake herself to get moving. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine a peaceful, quiet colony, no threats or dangers lurking in the shadows.

Then again, that hinted at dangers, too, if you knew what to look for.

The quiet didn’t last; they were met by Collector forces at a vehicle depot within minutes of arrival. The fight was… interesting. This was their first head-to-head confrontation with Collector troops; Becca found herself wishing she’d brought Jack before the end of the first battle. Garrus and Grunt were great – sniping or charging, range or melee; even Mordin had a trick or two up his sleeve in between collecting data they might be able to use to their advantage – but by the end, she was really wishing she’d brought another biotic. As trained as she was, even Becca had her limits as to what she could do. By the time they reached the garage, she was shoving a second energy bar down her throat for a boost to deal with whatever still lay ahead of them.

Speaking with Delan turned out to be a lesson in frustration. His preference for open condescension of the Alliance did nothing but confuse the issue rather than offer intel that would help. Her irritation was clear as they parted ways and the door locked behind them.

A bony taloned hand at her shoulder stopped her from moving forward. “Shepard, wait.”

Becca tried to push past him, but Grunt moved up behind him and Mordin to her left to stop her; clearly, this was a well-thought out and organized intervention. “What?” she all but growled, glaring up at the turian. He’d been keeping his distance from her since Omega leaving her to wonder what his relationship with Anna had been. This was only the second time she’d brought him on a ground mission since he joined the team.

His mandibles fluttered and he blinked. Becca couldn’t say she ‘knew’ turians well, though she’d worked with Vidnos and a handful of others for years, but this expression was screaming ‘patience’. “We can’t go off like this… what’s that human expression? Half-cocked? I know we need to get to those guns and stop the Collector ship, but we are on an active battlefield.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Her left hand jerked at the stripes trailing down her right arm. “These aren’t a freebie, Vakarian. I had to work my *ass* off to get them and I earned every single one!”

“Garrus right, Shepard,” Mordin interjected with a sage nod. “Too focused, too… determined. Mission objective, yes, but missing vital context along the way.” He shook his head and tsked softly several times. “Not behavior of a soldier, something more... personal.”

Her glare shifted to the salarian. “What?”

She liked him, truly she did. In fact, she preferred nothing more than sitting around his lab – talking or not – with a hot cup of tea when she was off duty because she could learn so much about him and the salarians in general. But there were times when he cottoned on to something far too quickly for her liking, and this time it sent unease shooting through her faster and wilder than a rabid varren.

“Irritation understandable. Acceptable. Your loyalty to Alliance even commendable. However, objective to stop Collectors, not find one person.”

Shit! He knows!

“Shepard.”

Becca closed her eyes and ran a hand over her face before moving her attention to the krogan. She knew next to nothing about the krogan and was learning on the fly with Grunt. Probably not the best way to be doing things, especially since he was tank bred and still learning himself, but it was all she had to go with right now.

“You are my battlemaster and I will fight where you order me to fight, but Garrus and the salarian are right. You are distracted, and going into battle distracted is dangerous.”

Her eyes closed, slowly, purposefully, in a move not unlike how she would reach for dark energy to launch at an enemy. This time, however, she actively sought balance. Calm. Peace.

“You’re thinking too hard, Alenko,” Becca murmured as she sat next to him in the cafeteria. “It’s harder to control when you have to put that kind of effort into it.”

His hand paused halfway to his mouth, the pasta on it forgotten as he glanced over at her. A spark of indignation flared up behind his eyes, but it was quickly smothered by curiosity. “How do you do it?”

Swallowing tightly, she drew in a long, deep, steadying breath. Releasing it a moment later, she forced the stress and worry along with it. I will find you, Kaidan. I know you are here. You have to be here. Somewhere. I will find you… I promise!

[bearpillowmonster]

Mass Effect Characters (Part 2)

Miranda - She doesn't look like I remember, now I just kind of wait for Dolly Parton to start playing. And I complained about Ashley, but Miranda's about as hardass as you get. Great for introductions. I suppose it starts to make sense the more you get to know her though because her dad was apparently too good for natural means and decided to genetically clone a daughter…that explains a lot but that's 'father' than I ever expected. Hahaha. In the end she's not that bad though, I actually used her for the final boss in ME2 and I was compelled by her missions for her sister.

Jacob - Illusive Man said it right, "he's honest about it". He'll give you the up and up and give it to you straight. I said I liked how Kaidan just kind of levels with you but Jacob gives off a whole different vibe and picks up where I think Kaidan left off with some real character. He's not a fan of IM (Illusive Man), he was even once a member of the Alliance but then works for Cerberus and then I would actually say he works for himself, keeps his head. He kind of evens out the moral compass with Miranda being cold blooded and him being warm hearted, I like that. Jack actually explains him quite well "He doesn't know who he is yet." essentially walking the walk and talking the talk but not knowing whether it's the right thing. You definitely see it when he explores what happens to his father and then becomes better because of it. With a lot of these characters, I think Shepard essentially planted the seed for them to try and find their own crew when he's gone, trying to emulate the one he himself created but I think Jacob might've been the most successful with it. He doesn't have the best lines though, he's very much a soldier through and through.

Zaeed - You just kind of run into him, making him one of the easiest characters to get. He's got a cool enough design and he's older but he's morally…elsewhere. Imagine being on team with Deathstroke. His side mission causes him to blow up a refinery and he doesn't even feel sorry about it, he's so blinded by revenge that he can't see he not only destroyed a good refinery but put innocents in danger and that doesn't fly so I put him in his place real quick, that wasn't the only way it could've went though. He lives in the garbage chute of the ship, what does that tell you?

Mordin - I see that they wanted a varied character so he talks fast and deducts reasoning but I don't care much for him. Apparently the krogans were getting over the Genophage and he decided to make a more powerful one which is pretty heartless, but they could've given him reason to do so rather than just "krogans are dangerous" like did something happen? So are all the characters in your quarantine on Omega. Instead there's just a tiny insight in his report on Illium about a female krogan. Listen to me using fancy terms, I'm a licensed Mass Effect nerd now.

Kelly - She's the secretary I was talking about. She's not actually a combat partner (though I wish) but I'll make an exception for her anyway. I like that she's kind of the team's psychologist/information/organizer but I feel like you could argue others fulfill that. I saw her as the character Sheperd has a little thing for until he sees Liara again and decides maybe Cerberus isn't what he thought, I mean after all this time, Shep still has a picture of Liara on his desk. But anyway, I looked forward to her insights on missions, just felt like she could've had more.

Jack - They hype Jack up to be this super hateful killer that needed to be frozen just to remain in prison, you even have to chase her down (yes, "her") through the prison after releasing her and escaping. It's a prison break level for you too because the warden wants to sell you. Apparently the same happened with Jack and is why you're even picking her up in the first place, which makes me more inclined to let her go but that wasn't an option so I never forced her to get those biotic implants, seemed too "slave like". She's also inclined to dislike Cerberus for experimenting on her as a child (and I guess the slave thing I mentioned) so she's got more reason than most. I also had to try and find a cropped image so it wouldn't get flagged...but she blossoms into a character that isn't too unlike her original self but is free enough to seek the good in the world, I really like where she went.

Next Part ->

[felassan]

The rest of this post (quotes from the article) is under a cut due to length. [source]

(There are discussions of colonialism under the cut / in the article.)

After speaking to various devs who worked on MEA I’ve learned quite a bit about what happened here. First of all, there were several more species designed for this galaxy. One writer lists having proposed “five or six” new alien types, while another states that the ones BioWare opted for in the end were specifically chosen for being in “cosplay-safe” territory. Another dev mentions that an entire system was constructed just to facilitate communication between species who were indigenous to Andromeda and those who had arrived from the Milky Way. The “species who were indigenous to Andromeda” part is important, given that there were also different ideas for how to handle first contact - making the Pathfinder a violent colonist who shoots first and asks questions later wasn’t something that was set in stone from the get-go.

“I think it was a project that couldn't have possibly lived up to expectations,” Neil Pollner tells me. Pollner was a senior writer on Mass Effect 3 before going on to write parts of Andromeda. “Not just the high bar of the original trilogy, but the logical expectations anyone would have of Mass Effect going to a whole new galaxy. Because the scope of [the first] Mass Effect was so incredibly massive, there was an inherent promise that you'd be getting a massive new experience with a ton of new things in [what was supposed to be the first] Mass Effect Andromeda - new species, new lore, an entire new galaxy at your fingertips, etc.

“But we were only given the budget for two new species, plus the Remnant. Not to mention that we couldn't even include all the Milky Way species. And we weren't going to be able to let you travel throughout the galaxy. This meant that we had to develop the story around some pretty glaring inorganic limitations. So, not only did you get something that felt (and was) much smaller than what you got before, almost everyone playing the game probably had something that they really liked about Mass Effect that just wasn't there.”

Pollner goes on to explain something I mentioned above - that there’s an inherent disconnect between making your character an explorer in a game where the vast majority of gameplay involves killing. “Ryder the explorer should have a challenging and dynamic first contact experience,” he explains. “Instead, you're almost immediately killing kett. So, some very basic pillars just weren't lining up.”

When I ask about the fact that several species had apparently been cut from the game - something I had already learned in previous interviews - Pollner assures me that I had “no idea” of what was dropped in the early days of Andromeda. He also lamented the iconic narrative and branching complexity of earlier BioWare games, stating that he wishes the team had been able to maintain the same level of variation, options, and consequences as the revered RPGs the studio was known for.

“The other BioWare Montreal writers and I were dreaming up and developing things for Andromeda months ahead of Edmonton officially starting the project - i.e. before the budget and scope had been decided/communicated,” Pollner says. “We just knew that we were going to Andromeda, with almost nothing else established, including even when in the timeline it would happen. And we set out to brainstorm and grow ideas that could organically serve that general premise. “That first contact expectation I mentioned? We'd developed ideas for how the player would navigate that. We were working on a process for the Milky Way species to learn how to even communicate with the new alien species. We were developing several additional species for the new galaxy, as well as several different storylines for why the expedition had been undertaken. Most of that pre-development work ended up not being used.”

“I proposed five or six new alien species when Andromeda was in its infancy, and I still think they had a ton of potential,” Hepler says. “[Ex-BioWare writer] Jo Berry came up with a few, too, they were awesome.

“However, I'm pretty sure those ideas are still property of BioWare, so even though I'm 100% certain they won't be used, I can't talk about them without getting some kind of permission.”

Given that Pollner had his own ideas for new species, and that Hepler had “five or six” on top of a “few” more from Berry, it’s reasonable to conclude that concepting was done for up to ten additional species that never made it into Andromeda.

“I remember some early concepts that were pretty out there,” Dorian Kieken tells me. Kieken was a design director at BioWare Montreal for Mass Effect 2 and 3 before being promoted to franchise design director at the beginning of Andromeda’s development. “One of the strengths of the original Mass Effect trilogy is that you can actually cosplay most of the alien characters - except the Hanar, although I wouldn't underestimate the creativity of some cosplayers. The intention in Mass Effect Andromeda was to introduce new races that would still be in the realm of cosplay, which is probably why more crazy concepts were abandoned.”

I was surprised that this was even a consideration, so I followed up. Kieken assures me that after Andromeda’s two new races had been decided on, their evolution of their design gradually went into more “cosplay-safe territory,” with the team consciously steering away from “jellyfish” types of aliens. “In the early development of the game, we explored a lot of new species. I'm not sure why we settled on the specific number that were in the final game, but my guess would be a mix of production reasons and having a reasonable amount of races to deal with knowing we were already bringing quite a few from the Milky Way as well.”

As Pollner mentioned earlier, the team only had the budget for two new species plus the Remnant. On top of that, they weren’t able to bring all of the Milky Way species, which corroborates Kieken’s recollection of why so many species were cut.

Given the context of these conversations - species being cut from Andromeda, first contact being muddled with militance, and even cosplay potential governing alien design - I also ask why, in the devs’ eyes, Andromeda was poorly received in relation to the original trilogy.

“I think it’s more story-related than setting-related,” Kieken says. “Andromeda has strong core gameplay that improved a lot over the trilogy, but the story didn't feel as strong. I didn't connect with the new character cast as much as I did with the original trilogy.

“It's also not a fair comparison as the trilogy is three games, so you have a lot more exposition and time to bond with the characters. That being said, I seem to recall a stronger rollercoaster of emotions in the original trilogy, which I think led to more memorable moments. From the tension of almost blowing up Wrex with your shotgun or gathering everyone on a suicide run, to the lightness of listening to Mordin sing ‘I'm the very model of a scientist Salarian’ or shooting cans with Garrus in the Presidium.”

Pollner also explains why Andromeda was perceived so differently from the original trilogy, citing differences in the amount of time the team were given to make the game, but also noting that the core issue was more systemic in nature.

“I think the thesis statement for why is that the Mass Effect trilogy was an incredibly demanding endeavor,” Pollner says. “The checks that were written for it, the complexity of the experience was insanely massive. The team worked their asses off non-stop for so many years, on back-to-back-to-back games. The prospect of doing the same thing again was not only exhausting to imagine, but totally impractical. Some of the ‘lessons’ learned from the original trilogy are ones that are important for game development but result in the player experience being less. When you're talking about triple-A development, the original trilogy is actually the anomaly, not Andromeda.

“Because I moved on from BioWare after my work on Andromeda was complete, I have no idea what, if any, future plans there might be. At the time of my departure, there were none.”

It’s worth noting that Pollner is clear about Andromeda being better than a lot of people give it credit for. While some of the concerns people had have now been verified by people who worked on the project - that there could have been more species and that the core premise of Ryder the explorer becoming Ryder the killer is inherently flawed - the team still worked hard on delivering an ambitious game within the constraints of what they were given.

“I find the game to actually be pretty darn fun, and once the technical flaws were ironed out, and the initial reactive disappointment faded, the game does stand on its own,” Pollner says. “There's some really good stuff in there.”

[source]

[scint]

Problematic

“Mordin! Is the cure ready?” Shepard sprinted into view. Turned to face him. Face crackling with volatile cybernetics. Unsettling as always.

“Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. But Eve dead.”

“What happened?”

“Stress sampling too intense. Too much trauma. Wanted to stop. She refused. Her decision.” Tried to explain. Didn’t care. Doesn’t matter. Wishes he wasn’t so intelligent, wishes the responsibility didn’t fall to him. But he is. And it does.

“A lot of people died today, Mordin. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Female was stabilizing force for the krogan. Implications of Wrex as lone krogan leader... problematic.”

Blazing metal shards fall from the structure. Shepard screams. A close call. He has to hurry. “Control room at top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up.”

“You’re going up there?”

“Yes. Readings at lab suggest temperature malfunction. Could affect cure viability. Need to adjust settings manually.”

“It’s not a malfunction. It’s sabotague. Your people did it years ago.”

“Of course. Shroud necessary for distribution. STG would have backup plan, contingency to stop cure.” Clever. Devious. Would never have known distinction if not for... “And you knew.”

“The dalatrass offered me a deal: her full support for the Crucible Project.”

“Difficult moral circumstance,” Mordin nodded. “Salarian assistance reluctant, minimal. Need their loyalty for intel, assistance with Crucible.” He turned to face Shepard. Disappointing. “Understandable, but not acceptable. Will not sacrifice krogan for political gain.” Time to do what needed to be done. Facing forward, the only way, Mordin trudged up to the Shroud’s entrance.

“Haven’t we already have this conversation? Every time we’ve talked about this before, you’ve defended the genophage! When we found Maleon’s data and you said we should destroy it. I listened to you. How can you change your mind now?”

“I made a mistake!” Mordin exploded. They both stopped. Mordin took a step back, surprised at himself. “I made a mistake... focused on big picture. Big picture made up of little pictures. Too many variables. Maelon’s data might’ve saved Eve, made cure less... painful to obtain. Will never know. Can’t stop now. Come too far. Eve dead. Krogan deserve a cure.”

“I agree, Mordin... but not now.”

“If not now, when?”

“Someday. But when we stop the Reapers, this whole galaxy will need time to recover. Wreav won’t give us that time. He’ll attack while the rest of us are weak.”

Shepard’s words rang true. He’d leaned in as he spoke, face close to his own to emphasize his point. Both unpleasant. “Eve would have stopped him.”

“Eve isn’t here.”

My fault. All my fault. Mordin hung his head, grief momentarily overcoming him. He pushed it away, closed his bulging eyes and took a deep breath. “No.” Shepard was... right. All the hope and potential he’d seen in the krogan lie in Eve acting as their leader, their guiding force. With Eve gone... outcome problematic. “Suggest we let krogan believe dispersal was a success. Ensure alliance. Will need to disappear to keep story accurate. Wreav will think I died at tower. Curing genophage.”

“Doing what had to be done.”

Necessary evils. “Will also inform the dalatrass of the deception.”

“Good.” Shepard’s omnitool flared as he sent a transmission. “Here are the coordinates for the Crucible project. We can use your help building it.”

“Thank you, Shepard.” Mordin shook the commander’s hand in gratitude. “Too eager to atone. Would have compounded error. Glad you were here.”

“Someone else might’ve gotten it wrong.”

As a wise man once said. Mordin hit the command for the elevator to send it to the lab floor. Keep the ruse accurate least Wreav get suspicious. Speaking of which...

Shaking his head disdainfully, the salarian turned to exit apart from Shepard. The human would ride back Wreav, declare victory in the name of the krogan, lie his way into an uneasy alliance with both the krogan and the salarians. One were brutes, the other unscrupulous, both dangerous. He wish there’d been another way.

#Fictober Day 6: Didn’t we already have this conversation?

P.S. I have a few RP blogs I just started, Mordin being one of them. Please shoot me a message if you’re interested!

[sugarbubbleslove]

Mass Effect and Death

I swear I really do love Mass Effect Andromeda.

I'm playing this again (and romancing Liam because, yes!)

And I decided to look a little closer at the mechanics.

Under the cut cause it's a little long.

PS - Sara is my canon pathfinder

Peebee calls out on Liam sticking close to the Pathfinder and Liam admits to it, even saying he doesn't do it for anyone else.

It's TRUE!! He actually does stick close to Sara (at least in this one because I'm romancing him so he's in my party all the time). I turn around, there he is.

And it dawns on me.

It's because he's already seen Sara die once, he's not letting it happen on his watch.

If you take Cora with you to the second site on Eos and you unleash the Fiend, Cora calls the Tempest down for an immediate evacuation for Sara.

At first - that confused me because hello, Sara is the Pathfinder, she's kind of needed on the ground and she can fight then it dawned on me Cora was still reeling from Alec's death, Sara's death, and the blow of the golden worlds.

Of course, her immediate reaction to a clear threat is to get Sara OUT of it. She's already seen Sara die, Alec gave up his life to protect his daughter so yeah, Cora is going to prioritise Sara over everything else.

Then of course Kallo says sorry, Kett is inbound which results in Sara cursing. Poor sweetheart

And it just makes the death scene on the Archon ship hit even harder. That's TWICE now that Sara has died in front of Liam/Cora (if they come) or they heard her die over the radio (like Suvi says). No wonder Cora says 'not again' because she doesn't want to see it again.

It was bad enough the first time round that it makes you wonder just how bad it was. We know Sara was having fits because she couldn't handle the connection, the bloodshot around the screen when Sara does open her eyes a couple of times (indicating low health) and the fact that Liam is pacing in the background while Cora is hovering over Sara as Harry demands the Hyperion to prep the med-bay.

It would have hit even harder because this time, they need to rely on SAM to bring Sara back. They can't break free of the restraints so they can't help SAM. It must have been frustrating and desperate at teh same time.

Then add in the fact that she dies again near the end when the Archon servers SAM and Sara's connection. This time - they're even more helpless.

SAM can't bring her back, they can't bring her back. They have no medical equipment, no doctor on the ground (whereas in ME - Kaidan could pass as Medical Support in ME1, Miranda and Mordin are doctors (considering Miranda is the one who was heading the project to bring Shepard back), which makes it even more obvious in ME3 when Kaidan was hurt and they had no one with any medical abilities on the team/ship.)

They are locked in a room neither one can open so when Sara does wake up...damn, it just sends shivers down my spine thinking how close the Nexus was to losing Sara and her team.

I love the little details we get with that but at the same time, I really wish Bioware would put a bit more effort into the aftermath of a death.

Look at Shepard - she basically wakes up and discovers years have passed and just tells everyone she got better. We only got any indication she has issues with it in 3 when you meet her clone - she shuts down any conversation regarding her clone pretty hard - and when you see the video on Cerberus regarding her death.

You don't get anyone else's reactions, just disbelief that she is alive and that's it. Nothing else.

Kaidan asks her if she remembers anything then...nothing?

Same here. Sara gets to die 3 times.

Yet each time is brushed off?

(Still think Shepard wins the award since she was actually dead for 2 years but Sara still has a chance).

Then again, that is what's Fanfiction is for, I guess.

[brother-genitivi]

headcanons for Deniz (and his son) because I have brainrot:

-He's gay and transgender. He takes a lot of pride in his own culture. He has a small nazar attached to his dogtags. Deniz also refers to his loved ones with Turkish words of endearment (canım, aşkım, güzelim).

-Deniz started crushing on Kaidan during their hunt for Saren. He kept his feelings to himself until they met again on Horizon, two years later. It's not until the Cerberus coup do they actually get together.

-He has a biotic son, Roşan, who's 9 by the time ME3 rolls around.

-It's very clear that he and Roş are a package deal. You can't have one without the other. However, Deniz struggles with this as he wants to keep Roş away from the dangers that come with saving the galaxy.

-Kaidan is well aware of Deniz and his son's strong bond. He sent Roşan and his uncle photos and stories about Deniz after the SR1 was destroyed. Kaidan is fully prepared to accept the responsibility of taking Roş in as his own.

-Roşan had been staying with Deniz's older brother and his brother's wife while he was under house arrest. Deniz doesn't discover his son and brother are even alive until after the Cerberus coup. His sister-in-law didn't make it that far.

-Around this time, he also finds out that Roşan's biological father died on Earth. They were still on good terms despite not being together anymore. Telling Roşan almost brings Deniz to tears.

-Deniz struggles to communicate his feelings well. He very rarely cries and wishes he could be more open with his emotions.

-He's a biotic renegade, but he's not unreasonable. He is always kind to his friends and family.

-After the war, Deniz finally grows his hair out. He's kept it short ever since he started transitioning, but decides to grow it as a "fuck you" to his dysphoria.

-He also takes a lot of pride in the scars on his chest. Deniz was thankful to Miranda who kept them while he was being reconstructed.

-Kaidan helps with the dysphoria, sometimes without even meaning to. He wears Deniz's hoodies from time to time, and Deniz finds comfort in his familiar scent.

-Deniz and Kaidan have a very open, communicative relationship. Though emotionally constipated, Deniz is receptive to the emotions of others. He takes accountability for being with Cerberus and apologises. He makes sure Kaidan knows his feelings towards Cerberus are completely valid.

-They get married after the war. The legal stuff is kept short and sweet, but the party is spectacular. There's dancing, Turkish food and music, and they have all their friends and family with them.

-All of Deniz's friends absolutely dote on Roşan. Liara teaches him how to improve his biotics all while lifting him into the air. Garrus looks after him and they go about the Citadel, exploring the shops. Auntie Tali gifts Roş his first drone. He often has playdates with Wrex's first son, Mordin.

-Jack takes him for a round in the Armax Arsenal Arena, then promises to give him a tattoo at some point. No one thought Zaeed would return from his retirement, but he shows up to Roşan's 13th with a present in hand. Samara tells him stories about her time as an asari maiden. Jacob takes Roş to the arcade and wins him every prize in the damn place. Kasumi gifts him artwork. It's probably not stolen. Grunt and Roşan bond over their love of dinosaurs. Miranda volunteers to look after him some days.

-James regularly gives him piggybacks or uses him as a weight whilst working out. Javik and Roşan star in an episode of Blasto. Samantha teaches him chess and is pleasantly surprised when she is beaten. Steve takes him for a ride in the Kodiak across the Silversun Strip. EDI quizzes Roş on his favourite stones and commissions a bracelet made of them. Uncle Joker lets him co-pilot the Normandy.

-Mordin would have loved to sing to Roşan. 'Scientist Salarian' is a classic, but Roş would also enjoy 'Krogan Queen'. Legion would play Galaxy of Fantasy with him. They'd both be banned for a few days due to 'unsportsmanlike behaviour'. Thane would teach him how to 'dance crazy'. Ashley would have loved to teach him self defense. Or poetry. Or both. Anderson would have shown Roşan how to bake and told him stories of his father.