#I think the asari would love them.

[redorbcentral]

So, has anyone made a post about how the various races would react to cats yet? Is yes, can somebody link me?

[crqstalite]

also thinkin abt writing a post-mea fic where i get to write everyone at a nexus gala. i think itd be funny lol

[sol-consort]

pt.1 - pt.2 - pt.3

Between all of the available options, the one person I think Commander Shepard would fall in love with the most—time after time after time, no matter if renegade or paragon—is the player.

In a self-aware kind of sense. Shepard knows you're there, felt your presence fade in the aftermath of the last battle in ME1, a part of themselves evaporating into thin air, an inexplicable feeling of losing something they can't being to describe. Like an invisible limb amputated in plain sight.

Everyone can see that, the way Shepard acts differently, lacking that defined edge that having your guidance during the game offered.

Only for your presence to re-materialise at the intro of ME2. Shepard felt your soul breathing life into their body again, but circumstances didn't allow the time to dwell on it nor question this rejuvenating limb they thought was long gone. They had to act fast and get everyone out of the ship. Even if it spelt their own demise, suffocating in the vacuum of space, they'd die peacefully knowing they're never truly alone, that they're whole again with you swimming through their veins.

Three years in a coma, on a deathbed, reconstructed from the atom up. Three years of having you by their side, a comforting presence that anchored Shepard and pieced together their sanity whilst the doctors pieced their physical mind. Three years passed in the blink of an eye for the player, but felt like an eternity for the commander you're puppeting around.

And just how attached Shepard would be to you, to the faint voice urging them towards certain dialogue options, the subtle nudges to move in certain directions, the twitch of their finger as if your hand is brushing against theirs to select a specific planet you had in mind on the galactic map.

They trudged through this journey filled with both unfamiliar faces and changed-beyond-recognition once familiar ones. Endured the hardships, the deception, the belittling, and dismissal attitude of the council. No matter how many people had gotten close to them, caressed their body, and shared their warmth, none of them could truly reach within Shepard's heart.

At first, they thought they were crazy. Maybe a screw or two were loose after the reconstruction surgery. Maybe the doctors did put them back wrong after all. For how could someone fall in love with themselves? And not even themselves but a very specific part of them, a vague presence constantly hovering around.

Shepard came to the revelation that you weren't part of them, not natively, at least. You were an outside influence, something—someone that held the potential to become part of them at given instances, only to depart just as suddenly, leaving them feeling hollow as their world becomes a little bit more cold and grey.

That realisation only served to further their infatuation, to resonate within their mind how justified their feelings are. It's not something they could explain. Where would they even begin? Who would believe them? They attempted to open their mind and allow Liara to peer through their consciousnesses countless times, and yet not once could the asari sense your presence. Nothing seemed out of place.

Miranda is not an option. The least Shepard needs, right now, is an overly concerned scientist coercing them into more experiments, brain scans, and psychological evaluations.

Leaving the more spiritual crew memebers as their only option... If only Ashley was here. Thane will have to do for now. As Shepard told him of their strife, the drell was surprisingly more accepting of their eccentric tale of love than they expected.

He confessed not to fully understanding what Shepard's going through. However, he does sincerely believe in the existence of outsider influence. souls which weave themselves into your own during times of need, in order to help guide and direct you towards the righteous path—guardian angels is what he described them as, described you, the player, as. Wisps that come and go as they please.

Not that you'd be aware of a single word said during this conversation, of course not. Much like the instances of Shepard showering, training, and getting a full night's rest, this conversation between them and the drell only occurred during the quiet hours of the universe. The ones when your game is turned off, leaving you oblivious to all the rather mundane aspects of this world.

Although, he did discourage his commander from perusing anything more than admiration with this said spirit, it's a one-sided relationship, as he explained best he could. You'll only see what the universe wants you to see, Shepard's growing infatuation is not one of them. Angels came and went, that is their nature.

Leaving Shepard back to where they started at square one, frustrated and indecisive on how to approach this, how to approach you. And now they're questioning if you'd even perceive their approach. Are you aware of their existence? Or are they presented to you by the universe as an empty canvas, devoid of personality and preferences.

For a first step, they needed to make sure you knew of their consciousness... easier said than done. They could hear your voice sometimes, never clear words, but more akin to background white noise. A distant humming while they slept, the faint sound of an airy laugh during a conversation with one of their crewmembers.

Do you hear them, too? Or do you only hear the words you make them say during important conversations? Phrases that suddenly pop into their mind out of nowhere, that seemed a little too perfect of a thoughtful response for them to having come up with it on the spot.

Shepard decided that there is no better way for them to prove their free will to you than to purposely go against your benevolent guidance. Not out of ungratefulness or annoyance, but just as a way to catch your attention, remind you that whilst you can give orders, at the end of the day, they're the actual person steering this ship around.

It's small things at first, wrong dialogue choices getting selected that have you questioning if you misclicked or something. Shepard selecting a different elevator floor from the one you initially picked. Your built-up romance with a specific character going down the drain as Shepard decides to reject them and end everything during the lock-in conversation, and no matter how many times you reload a savefile and carefully click on the correct dialogue choices, the words coming out of their mouth are always the same.

A bug, is the logical conclusion you first reached, what else would it be? Video game characters coming to life? Don't be absurd.

A fresh reinstall would do the trick.

Except... it persists.

The internet hasn't been helpful. No evidence of such a bug ever existing came up.

[thefloatingstone]

You know what you're right. How could I have been so blind?

Although gonna say it's not Batarians as a whole, just their bitch-ass government who then forces this opinion down the ranks as propaganda so it just becomes a sort of "common knowledge" among Batarians. And then one day Bray just casually says to Shepard "Actually I kinda liked Predator" out of nowwere and she has no idea wtf this is supposed to mean.

Do you suppose the Citadel species look at old earth movies about aliens and are like, "Really? That explains a *lot*."

Honestly I think they'd get a kick out of them in many ways. Especially since for the most part none of the aliens in our movies represent any real Citadel species. And greys are different enough from Salarians to not feel insulting, although I'm sure there will be a small group of salarians who will call "outdated stereotype!" to greys but in the same way the hanar scream about their religion and insulting representation to anyone who will listen.

Because Mass Effect understood that an alien species is not a mono-opinion and every species is made up of countless individuals and groups and factions and some of them can be just as stupid about things as humans are.

That being said, pretty sure every single alien species in all of Mass Effect would agree "The Thing" is one of the greatest sci fi horrors of all time.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Bigots and Failed Promises of Mass Effect games

(I had this thing in my drafts for almost a month, and it would have stayed there if not for the wonderful post by @androidtrashfire, because I saw it, and I was like: "Fuck it, I have to rant about these games." I love Mass Effect, and I really think we should critique it. We should criticize things we love because silence = compliance.)

So I was talking to @liss-art recently about the bigoted fans in the Mass Effect fandom, and I think I need to make a post about it because it's something that really, truly bothers me, and it needs to be addressed.

Canon

Mass Effect is a story about deeply flawed people with a lot of problems, and through them it touches on issues like xenophobia, sexism, corruption, elitism, morality, identity. That's why we like it, right? But why are there so many bigots in the fandom? My theory is that it happens because Mass Effect, for all its supposed complexity, only touches on these issues without giving any meaningful commentary on them.

Here are a few obvious examples:

The Quarians are a distasteful allegory of the Roma people (right down to their accents). They are persecuted and ostracized for creating Geth, but the game never gives us any socio-political reasons why the Quarians did that. They just developed real AI because they were naive and stupid? Or because they were the only ones smart enough to do it? Did they do it in secret? Why did other races not make the same mistake?

Same with the Batarians. Yes, the game mentions tensions between humans and Batarians because humans try to claim territories that Batarians think are theirs, but that's about it. Batarians are all racist slave traders and they're bad, don't think about it, here's some memes about 300,000 of them dying, good job. And yes, I know you can read more about their history in the Codex (why is it an Asari who writes about Batarian history,btw?), but it's basically the same thing as saying D*mbledore is gay (I really am sorry for this reference). If no one ever mentions this rich Batarian history, then it doesn't exist.

And please don't get me started on Hanar. They "mercifully" saved the Drell by inviting them to their planet, immediately assimilated them into their own faith and also put them in conditions where they have to train as assassins from the ripe old age of 6 and eventually die of sci-fi lung cancer. But don't worry about it, Drell actually love to serve the Hanar, they do it willingly and consider their servitude an honor. Do you really want to criticize some stupid jellyfish who talk funny? Do you really want to talk about why the so-called Council races do nothing about it? LOL

Another thing the trilogy does is present entire races, including humans, as amorphous blobs. Do all Asari believe in the same "goddess"? Do all Turians obey the same Primarch? Well, what's important is that all humans in this bright future speak English.

But what about the genophage? That's a profound story, right? Well, not really, and it raises more questions than it answers. We hear a lot about how brutal, aggressive, and short-tempered Krogans are, but every single Krogan we meet is extremely well-mannered, and they only resort to violence against other races in dire circumstances. So why not save them? Does the game really present you with this moral dilemma or not?

And can anyone tell me why Salarians are allowed to abduct and experiment on sentient beings, and why Turians are allowed to wage wars? Why does no one talk about Asari in this context?

I really want to say that at least the characters are well written, but I can't because they're not.

Kaidan is a good example of this. We are told about his implant, we are told that he has chronic pain, but do we see him suffer from it? Do we see him in those moments of weakness and vulnerability?

The scene where he gets annoyed with Jenkins acting like he's a circus monkey who has to do a trick and biotically throws a cup at him was cut from the game. We occasionally hear him mention some of the side effects of his migraines ("Too many lights, too much noise"), but that's about it. What has happened to "show, don't tell"? And no, I'm not saying that the writers should feed me the story or walk me through it. What I am saying is that if you gloss over your characters' mistakes, flaws, and circumstances, you're getting people to ignore them. Do people who call Kaidan "boring" and insult him think about how his chronic pain, his trauma from Brain Camp, and the loss of Jenkins and Ashley affect who he is? Hell no.

Thane is another great example. What Mass Effect is telling us as a story is that you can completely abandon your family and your child and be forgiven if your reason for doing it is good and heroic enough. Like avenging your dead wife, because of course there has to be a dead woman thrown somewhere.

Everyone's favorite Garrus (mine too) is a cop whose character arc basically consists of deciding that he is above the law (since the law forbids him from killing people he thinks should die) and then involving his squadmate/friend/partner (depending on your playthrough) in the public assassination of his former squadmate, whom he never even bothered to confront first. Are there any consequences for Garrus for his actions? No. Again, it's all glossed over, and that's unfortunate because it removes the conflict and therefore the character development and depth.

And if you're going to tell me that ME is just a space opera, and that I should just enjoy the spectacle and the romance, then I'm going to tell you that I know that, and that I think it's a wonderful spectacle, and that some of the romance subplots are absolutely amazing story-wise, but the superficial commentary (or lack thereof) on the most important issues that ME covers actually harms the audience.

Fandom

On the one hand, we have people making mods that remove all the clothes from all the female characters (or remove all of femShep's organs and replace them with giant tits). We have people reposting that horrible, horrible art of Miranda and Jack fighting, tearing each other's hair and clothes, and maleShep smirking and saying "I should stay". We have people who say ME2 is the best game in the series because "there are no f*gs". On the other hand, we have people saying things like "there are two Commander Shepards - female and the wrong one". We have people who say "only weird people play as dudebro in 2024". We have people who think that simply playing as a female character is some kind of feminist statement, and that it makes them better and smarter than everyone else (the same people who use the term "dude gamer" as an insult). And all of those things are kind of the trilogy's fault.

Both maleShep and femShep have the same story. The only differences are the romance options, sexist remarks directed only at femShep, and flirtations from various NPCs directed only at femShep. What this tells you is that sexism exists in the Mass Effect universe, and only women suffer from it. It also tells you that only women are worth flirting with.

Another thing this game does (and modern games like Cyberpunk do the same thing) is equate the female experience to the male experience by giving both femShep and maleShep the same lines.

So there are some mixed signals here. Sexism exists and doesn't exist in this universe, Shepard is both genderless and very gendered, romances with underdeveloped characters are all over the place, and bigots thrive in this kind of environment.

The lack of commentary, the lack of perspective, the disastrous worldbuilding allows you to freely choose your sexist, racist adventure and not be punished by the story in any way.

Mirrors

There's a passage from Solaris that I absolutely adore and think about often.

"We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos. […] We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is."

I think that perfectly describes what Mass Effect is as a universe. And in a way, it's a reason why it's so compelling. It's just empty enough for us to invest in it, to fill in the blanks of that narrative with the stories of our own. And it's also a reason why this fandom is a fucking hellscape.

[omegastation]

For Mass Effect Andromeda Appreciation Week, I want to talk about Cora. 

Without being too spoilery about the book Initiation, there's a moment (at the beginning, chapter 4) where Cora is in danger and she tells SAM-E (who is introduced as a VI):

“I’m, uh, glad you’re here with me. So I’m… you know. Not alone.” 

It felt foolish to say. Embarrassing. But it was the truth. 

“I haven’t had a lot of people in  my life that I could… well. Just wanted to say that.” And SAM-E ends up telling her, "very softly": “I am honored to accompany you, Lieutenant. Please rest well.”

Outside of the fact that I urge you all to discover the beauty that is Cora/SAM-E and even Cora/SAM, I think the quote says something about Cora and how alone she must have felt for so long.

I could talk about her and the asari but this post from @venatohru, to me, explains it so well. I think Cora's friends and mentors matter very much to her. Losing them is really hard, especially when she perceives a kind of rejection that has always followed her.

And speaking of rejection, I don't think Cora brags about her biotics in a way some people think she does. I think she was very young, didn't really know how to contain her powers at first and had no idea how to be liked despite of/because of her powers. She learned a harsh lesson about the world. And that lesson scared her and stayed with her.

But truly, the perceived rejection is often linked to questions that have no answers and maybe I'm projecting, but I do think she's a lot like me and other people who don't look for external reasons when something happens. Instead we look inward, we think it's our fault. And Cora is dealing with a lot of self-blame. I believe Alec didn't do her any favors by leaving her with more questions than ever at the beginning of MEA. I don't think he intended to hurt her like this, but he did hurt her. It wasn't entirely fair, and it's truly a credit to her that she is able to put her worries and ego aside very quickly (quicker that I would have!) and become someone Ryder can rely on. She's a good friend.

And finally, the image here with this quote also says something I really love about her: Cora doesn't just want to be welcomed as she is, she wants everyone who feels different - alone - to be welcomed too. 

I love her a lot, can you tell? :)

[naiitiel]

I was just thinking about Morinth.

i would loved if we were able to explore more about morinth's psichology if you chosed her over samara.

maybe samara is not a bad person and was not a bad mother to falere and rila, but maybe she was not as good to morinth, since she was the firstborn and she was a new mother fighting to a really stigmatized illness in asari culture. maybe she tried her best to protect morinth, but sometimes that's not good enough. maybe morinth felt trapped and controlled, maybe she had to learn how to value herself without thinking about that curse, since her needs were always put aside for the safety of others. maybe she blamed her mother for making her that way but then rejecting how she was, a thing that she had no say in. at some point, she had to accept she would never be loved, cause loving her meant to die, and few would be able to sacrifice that much, and even if they did it would never save them and they would break her heart anyway. maybe she runned away, tired and accepting her lonely fate and just did what a life of stigma made her to, be selfish.

I would loved to know her more as a person, really.

[carnalapples]

as someone who recently played through Mass Effect for the first time, I'd love to hear more about "exposure therapy"!

YES I would love to know what you thought about the games!!

exposure therapy is a Shepard/Kaidan fic: I love the idea that Shepard has a lingering fear of open space after what happens in the beginning of ME2; Kaidan is always in the observation lounge in ME3, and the thought of what Shep loves and fears in one convenient location led to this... a snippet:

“There you are,” he hears, and he’s pulled away from his stargazing to see her in the entry, a dark, full presence cushioned by the dimmed lights of the hallway.

Kaidan, in the room full of windows, can't help but reach out for her. Just a faint thing, instinctive, and then he curls his hand back into his side. She keeps one hand flat against the wall as she enters, tracing it as she takes a circuitous path to him. 

“You like this place a lot, huh?”

“It’s calming.” He glances back out the window, afraid to look at her. “Nice to remember why we’re all out here.” She's quiet, and when he looks back to her, she casts her gaze to the floor.

“Yeah,” she says quickly. “Everyone has a reason.” She clears her throat. “I am glad that you came back. I know I didn’t really, uh—well, I wanted to make that clear.”

“It’s clear,” he says. “Don’t worry.” She nods.

“The Asari who we met today… She used to stay here. I never spoke to her as much as I should have.” She raps her knuckles against the window. “God, that place was freaky, wasn’t it?”

“So freaky. Never seen a place so empty.”

“Nearly pissed myself when you knocked that can over,” she mutters, smiling at the memory. “Felt a little like old times, don’t you think?”

And Kaidan knows Shepard, knows what she’s getting at. She never really liked these sorts of games, but she played them anyway. “Yeah,” he says. “It really did.” And she smiles, so he does too.

“She used to meditate,” she says suddenly. “All the time. She’d invite me, and I didn’t want to be rude, but—it used to kill me, sitting here with her,” she laughs. Her fingers curl against the wall. “Even with all that waiting around they make us do. You can’t teach patience, I guess.”

"We could try again," he says. Suggests it before he really knows what he means, and Kaidan is fairly sure he doesn't mean sitting on the floor, looking inward. Shepard looks at him, something softening in her.

"I guess we could," she says.

(from my wip list)

[what-the-fic-khr]

Hiiiii! Recently discovered your page and am currently enjoying scrolling through. Just saw your tea prompts and just wanted to request for Giotto with milk tea and/or pomegranate tea(your choice hehe) anyways, hope you have a nice day!

ahhhh I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog, thank you for checking my stuff out!! I chose to do both prompts but a little different; I had a really clear plan and story so I turned the two answers into a longer, more cohesive story combined instead of two separate scenarios. I hope that’s alright, and that you like it!! my first time doing so but I really wanted to write this out and the two prompts really fit well so,,, (side note, he’s so pretty in the manga…… adore him omg)

character/s: giotto, g, ugestu asari, reader-insert (gender-neutral)

word count: —

warnings: discussions of being chased and beating some dude up (a little bit), very minor injuries

prompt: tea prompts (milk tea, pomegranate tea)

milk tea; what are their kisses like?

I think his kisses are very gentle. soft. he’s always very soft; he’s never had a reason to be otherwise with his partner. he’s such a gentleman… so romantic. unless, of course…

His Guardians had been split up, and while he worried, he didn’t have to worry too much. They all knew how to fight, how to protect themselves.

You did not, however. You weren’t a fighter. So the fact you were not by his side…

Giotto and G straightened when some bushes to their left rustled, tense as they waited to see who would come out.

“Ahh, Giotto, G…! I finally found someone…!”

…unless, of course, he was really worried about your safety. if he could get you back in his arms, reassured you’re safe… I think that’s one of the very rare times he’d be anything but soft; he’d be firm and insistent, overwhelmed with his relief that you’re okay

“My dear!” Giotto took long strides to reach you and you preened when he took your cheeks into his gloved hands, lifting your face up gently. You let out a short, muffled noise when he kissed you, strong and firm. You made sure to relay your feelings in return, head tilting.

“You’re alright…” He spoke quietly, lips brushing yours as he did. You wrapped your arms up and around his torso, underneath his cloak so you could grip at his vest tightly. “And you’re hurt… I’m sorry.”

You shook your head, resting your chin on his chest gently so you could look up at him. “I’m okay… Just a few scrapes here and there. Ahh, I was being chased and it was scary…!”

You pulled back to show him the palms of your hands and G finally joined after giving you two a moment, eyeing over the scratches on your hands.

“I can’t fight, but… I broke off a branch and just.” You huffed softly and G had to stifle a snort. “Just… beat him over the head until I could run away again.”

Giotto released a soft breath, head tilting. “Good job, my love. You did well on your own, all things considered.” He took your hands gently, turning them over to bring your knuckles to his lips. “Still, I have to apologise for letting you out of my sight… I won’t let it happen again. I’ll be there to protect you next time, I promise.”

“Ehh?” You shuffled on the spot, cheeks warming. “Oh, it’s not your fault at all, Giotto…! I’m okay!”

pomegranate tea; at what point did they know they loved their s/o?

very familial with him. you doing something very close with his Guardians. if his Guardians can truly learn to accept you, become close with you at the same time as he falls for you… he’s sure that’d be the best outcome. his whole relationship he gauges his Guardians reactions, too. so if you can all be just as close, like family, I think he’d happily fall in love with ease after that point

“Primo.” G nodded down at you two once before nodding in the direction you came from. “It’ll be no good letting them run around. I’ll go find the one they ran from. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, you’re going?” You had reached out to grab one of G’s sleeves, eyes wide. “Ah, I know you can fight… Be careful, okay? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, especially if I upset him further…”

G hummed lowly, reaching up to pet your hand gently twice before squeezing in reassurance and then returning your hand to Giotto’s. “Appreciated, but I’ll definitely be fine, so there’s no need to worry. One of the others should be back soon - they better be, anyways.”

“Right, of course.”

You watched G wander off before jumping when he stopped short of the bushes to point across the clearing. “Hey! Get over there and help them out; they’re injured!”

“Pardon? Of course!”

You turned quickly to look over your shoulder at Asari, smiling crookedly and holding up your hands along with Giotto’s. “Just a few scrapes, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yes, they made it out on their own.” Giotto sounded a bit proud as he said this, turning you gently to face Asari. “After beating him themselves.”

Asari blinked in surprise at this before smiling, watching you hold up your hands, palms facing him. “Oh my. Did you? Excellent work. I’m glad you’re alright. Let me see them.”

“Yes! I’m not strong by any means, but…! They don’t hurt much, so if you need to we can wait until we return to the estate.”

“That won’t do. We should treat them here while we have the time. Is that okay?”

You could feel Giotto squeeze your shoulders, encouragingly, reassuringly, and you acquiesced.

There was something about watching you get tended to by one of his Guardians; one nagging thought that this may only be the first time… and not the last that this will happen. But a greater thought that you truly were cherished by the Vongola, and for now he chose to focus on that one instead.

[i-am-worm]

(This is an old idea I had for Quarians here, I just think Tali looks adorable in this old pic, lol).

Today's inktober word is 'Nomadic' and this made me think about Quarians in the game Mass Effect. And to my self-imposed horror, I realized I never bothered uploading my ideas for what they looked like back in the day. I went through a phase like that. I did lots of stuff back in 2010 and never really uploaded it...Possibly for the best, as it looks pretty rough in places now, but I did want to share some of my ideas before I upload my more current version from today.

I did at least upload my concepts for the Volus and the Raloi though (two other unseen races in game, one is coved up, and the latter just mentioned in other media). You can see them here:

Quarians are masked aliens in game and back in the day, I had to have my graphic settings turned WAY down in order to play mass effect. Have my low graphic crunchy Shepard

Because of that, I never saw the two glowing eyes or slightly human nose bridge reflection you can see in a normal setting. So I had in mind an alien species that somewhat resembled the Geth - a race of AI the Quarians themselves made:

So I was picturing something with one eye, armour and maybe even mandibles? So here is my first go:

BUT later on, when I played Mass Effect 2 on a better pc, I was disappointed that you could see a bit of a human face. No matter- I could still work with this.

MORE BELOW so I don't clog up your feed with ancient quarian debates I should have posted a decade ago, lol.

So I got to playing around with ideas, using my old ones. I mean- Quarians are mentioned to be attractive to Turians and later Javik mentions that ancient Quarins looked attractive. And they look like this:

So definitely not very human....right?

One thing I also noticed was that male Quarians have a flat nose compared to females, almost like a muzzle. (screenshots are mine, the model I downloaded back in the day and can no longer find a source sadly)

And that made me think about the sci-fi trope of cat people.

Seriously, these are just some of the books on my bookshelf that contain sci-fi cat people, and that's the ones I could find off the top of my head:

It makes sense; Mass Effect is a bit of an amalgamation of sci-fi tropes into new ideas. You have the insect race (Turains), Warring tank race (Krogun), the classic 'Grays' (Salarians), Animal-like with tentacles (Hanar), The 'sexy human female but a colour' (Asari). etc. etc. yadda yadda.

So I sat down and tried to design something that sort of encompassed all these ideas, Geth-like, attractive to Turians, Javik and maybe even humans...and a little bit of space cat thrown in.

So this was my first idea that I meant to upload back in 2012.

I think I wasn't happy with the body and I had meant to come back to it. I had over the next few years dabble din other sketches, even going back to the drawing board on the face.

I think what stopped me was the things we learned from Mass Effect 3. If you romance the Quarian Tali, you can see a photo of her face!...

...they were purple humans.

LAME.

But recently, The legendary edition took the critique on board and revamped the picture to the one on the right. Now they look ...even MORE human.

EVEN MORE LAAAAME.

Utter disappointment. Now I always knew that if Bioware revealed the Quarian face they would disappoint some people, but this was such a missed opportunity to design something unique. Bioware did they that they were worried if it was too alien, it would be hard for cosplayers to dress up? But come on, cosplayers love a challenge and will overcome anything. We knew they had two eyes and a nose bridge, it didn't have to be too alien, just alien enough.

TALI RAGE.

BUT the best answer is to REJECT CANNON.

And in a moment I'll upload my more updated Quarian idea.

[chocochipbiscuit]

Hello hello! How about 10, 11, and 27?

10) Is there a character or ship you’d love to write for, but haven’t yet?

I have so many!!! I am a multishipping fiend and there are so many I think would be fun to write for!

An incomplete list, by fandom:

Dragon Age: Sigrun/Velanna, how can I love this ship so much and yet not written a single thing for it? Also Sigrun/Nathaniel/Velanna is closely tied for OT3 of my heart. And take this with a very large grain of salt because yes it's unhealthy as fuck but also it would be so interesting, I think Leliana/Marjolaine is a ship with real teeth!

Mass Effect: Lexi/Drack!!!! Also Jack/Zaeed (not so much as a 'deep undying romance' sort of ship and more as 'hey let's blow off steam' and getting prickly-tender with it), Liara/Karin Chakwas (LOOK I think there's something to be said about how Liara is relatively young for her species and Karin is older and the vastly different perspectives they would give one another!), and uhhhh this is gonna be kind of a weird one but I still have a soft spot for the asari florist/vorcha assistant from this fic I wrote way back and even though it's an OC / OC ship I still have strong feelings about them.

Fallout: Nisha/Mags, problematic raider wives! Also Preston Garvey/Madison Li, Madison Li/Virgil, Preston/Madison/Virgil (look I think Dr. Madison Li deserves a very nice time bossing around men who adore her), Piper/Strong (Piper is very adventurous! Strong is down to clown! they could catch feelings!)

Horizon Zero Dawn: Petra/Vanasha, Vanasha made a big deal about how no one ever made anything for her before the little child-emperor and Petra would happily make lots of things for a pretty lady! Also just. MMF. They're both incredibly gorgeous and my heart goes wibble for them.

I originally started writing on a kink meme so I'm usually pretty good at taking a random ship idea and building something around it, but these are ships that rotate in the back of my mind!

11) What makes a fic ‘successful’ in your opinion?

If I liked it! :P

Legitimately, I'm used to writing niche fics, often with niche kinks, for smaller or less active fandoms. (I have literally written the first fic in a fandom for two different fandoms in the past year.) I don't really go in expecting kudos/hits, etc (and actually have them disabled so I can't see those stats) but having a nice comment or being able to yell about it with a friend makes it all worth it. <3

27) Are any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Entire stories? Not really. Aspects of a single story? Yes.

I write a lot about food, sex, and the way intimacy intersects with violence. I write characters of color, often Chinese-American, often queer and attracted to women. That's my background, the lens through which I see the world and also a context for the kinds of things I want to see more of in fiction.

More specifically, I was a Chinese-American essential worker during 2020 and I don't write a lot about COVID-19 in fanfic because a) most canons don't deal with 'real world events' anyway and b) I need a level of escapism. But that fear/longing for touch translated into The Poison Girl of Vault 101 even though I wrote the first draft in 2019 and it felt too raw to post until the end of 2023. The unnamed protagonist of Monster Girls Like You also shares that fear/longing for intimacy and some of the messy feelings of being considered 'essential' but also endangered during that time.

Some of the ways that food and culture are spread or appropriated, which cuisines are considered 'elevated' or humble, are also in A Most Edible Thistle. I was specifically thinking about the ways that certain cuisines were seen as 'cheap' or 'unrefined,' like food court cuisine and the way that translates to cultural cachet, or the circumstances around waves of immigration to the US. About the luxury of what gets called 'fusion cuisine' vs 'inauthentic' recreations of a perceived 'ethnic' dish, and how food may change across a diaspora or the availability of ingredients.

(All of which is rather heavy to put into a very silly romcom fic about artichokes, but there was definitely intent in talking about how Orlais takes ingredients from across the empire and uses them in dishes that are deemed pleasing to the Orlesian palate.)

OH SHIT THIS GOT HEAVY UHHH ALSO Those Who Hunt Monsters was inspired by visiting Lake Tahoe with my family, lots of great hiking and outdoorsy things that Cassandra also loves in this fic! And Anything Worth Doing was fun to write because it's a divorce fic! And yes it's also a getting together fic for the main ship but it's also a divorce fic which fandom doesn't really engage with a lot I think and as someone who is also divorced myself I wanted to write about some of those messy feelings and the fact that the end of one relationship doesn't mean the death of all possible future relationships!

And On the Edge of Forever was in part because I wanted an excuse for characters to put cute glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, just like I had when I was a kid. :)

Thank you for asking, I had fun answering!

(Questions are from this fanfic/author ask game!)

[omniblades-and-stars]

The loss hurt, no, worse than hurt. It ate up every little bit of light that was in his life. It was a clawing, desperate monster that sat heavy in the pit of his stomach. It squeezed his lungs, made him choke on food before it even made it to his throat, and made him sluggish and angry. He lost his ship, and that was bad enough. One of the true joys of his life, blown apart in space by the kind of spooky legends that everyone swore didn't exist, right up until they were being blasted into pieces by them.

But that wasn't the loss he was really mourning. It was only a small part. You see, there was this woman. Not just any woman, either. She was powerful, wicked smart, a little cheesy, stupid hot, a certified hero and now, she was super dead. And it was his fucking fault.

His stupid fault for being so attached to his ship that he was fully planning to go down with it when she went and did the heroic thing and pulled his ass out of the cockpit by force and crammed him into the last escape pod. She wasn't able to get inside of it herself, and he wasn't capable of pulling her in. He watched with stone cold terror as Commander Shepard was ripped away from the Normandy by an explosion with only enough time to launch his sorry butt away from the wreckage.

It should have been him. She should have gotten in the pod and left him to suffocate and burn up on atmospheric entry. She was too brave for her own good. And he was a coward.

Couldn't even tell her that he had feelings for her. Not that he was ready to admit it until she was already gone. You don't know what you've got till it's gone, blah, blah, blah.

Besides, she was out of his league by about three star systems. She was Commander Shepard, Alliance legend, total badass, and the very peak of physical performance. And he was Jeff, the totally average looking guy with creaky, fragile bones and crutches.

He couldn't imagine that Shepard could think of him like that. And he'd never know for sure now anyways. Thinking about it was a pointless exercise in making himself feel like shit, there were only losers inside his head right now.

Everything fucking sucked after she died. He got to fly the most advanced starship in the Alliance Navy, with the best crew, and the galaxy's savior for such a short time, and now the Alliance had him reassigned. If he couldn't have Shepard back - and he couldn't because she was very, very, super fucking dead - he wanted to at least fly.

Still, it wasn't the same. There was no goofy Commander making bad jokes, no shy asari scientist stumbling on accidental innuendo, not a single hardass turian, or terrifying krogan making sure no one ate a bullet planetside. Not even one sweet quarian engineer helping Adams keep the drive core balanced so Joker could pull insane maneuvers. No more interspecies cooperation. No more saving the galaxy either. It was all bullshit.

It didn't help that the Council and Alliance brass were both sticking their fingers in their ear holes and shouting, "La-la-la, I can't hear you!" over Shepard's warnings that Sovereign wasn't the only Reaper. Now that she had bitten the dust, it was even more disrespectful.

Perhaps it was a grief-addled mind that led him to jump at the opportunity, even if she would have hated it, but when he was approached by Cerberus, of all organizations, to join as a pilot in their Lazarus Cell, he went for it. They wanted to stop the Collectors, and they rebuilt the Normandy. Not just rebuilt, they made her bigger, more powerful, more beautiful. More ship to love. They even made the pilot's chair comfortable. Real leather seats, baby!

But he was lying to himself and everyone else if he told them it was just for the ship. You see, they were trying to rebuild Commander Shepard too, and that Lawson woman was certain it was going to work. Joker avoided Lawson as much as possible, she was all business, and he was sure she wouldn't hesitate to smear his carcass on the wall if he cracked any jokes about a zombie Shepard, but if she said they could bring the Commander back, he fucking believed her. And he was pretty sure it wasn't just blind optimism and desperation that made him believe her.

Mostly.

He knew he'd made the right decision when Dr. Chakwas joined on. Of course, the first thing she did was chide him for not taking his medication enough. Karin claimed that she only joined because he needed someone to make sure he was taking care of himself and managing his disease appropriately or whatever. They both knew that was a lie. They were there for one reason, and one reason only, Commander Shepard.

The new starship was just a really, really expensive bonus. Just the best bonus a guy could ever dream of getting.

Now, if he'd had his way, Joker would have thrown a resurrection day party for Shepard, complete with zombie themed cupcakes, and those little poppers that sent confetti flying everywhere. And booze. A lot of booze.

And strippers.

But something happened at the Lazarus Project labs, and God only knew what because trying to get information from Cerberus insiders was like trying to get blood from a particularly dry rock, and he didn't get the chance to set it up. She wasn't supposed to be awake yet. She was already back.

He didn't really care for drama, at least, not the kind of drama that The Illusive Man seemed to thrive on. So when he walked - or limped - into the QEC conference room on the station they were headquartered at to find Shepard finishing up her call with the big man himself (The Illusive Man, not God), he felt kind of like an asshole. Well, a worse kind of asshole than the one he already was. Sneaking up on a woman who had only been alive again for like a day and a half seemed like the worst kind of practical joke.

Her back was turned on him, but he would know that fiery red hair anywhere. He heard good ol' "Timmy" say something about someone from her old crew, and then disconnect the call. When she turned to see him a cascade of thoughts crashed into his head, and he was glad for once that he managed to keep his stupid mouth shut.

Holy shit! - It's her! - Why is her face glowing? - Do other parts of her glow? - Focus, damn it. - Quick, tell her a joke!

His brain was too busy processing all of the input and raw joy he felt knowing that she was alive to open up with a witty one-liner. It didn't matter anyways because in a split second, Shepard was crushing him in an iron grip hug. The plates of her armor dug into his skin through his uniform. It was bone breaking.

Like literally bone breaking.

"Jeff, you're alive!" She sobbed into his neck as she squeezed him mercilessly.

"Yeah, not for long if you keep squeezing me like that! The bones, remember?" He managed to gasp out as he awkwardly tried to hug her back from within the crushing weight of her grasp. Shit, he forgot how strong she was.

Shepard pulled away abruptly but kept her hands on his shoulders, "Shit, I'm so sorry. It's just … the last thing I remember is the escape pod and these assholes didn't tell me if you'd made it." She met his eyes and she was definitely crying, red-eyed, sniffling, snot, the whole shebang. He'd be embarrassed for her if he wasn't so affected by it.

And damn it, she was actually literally glowing. There were cracks in her skin, like if he got too close he might see the gooey bits underneath. And from the cracks came a strange, amber glow, similar to the light from an omni-tool. Shit, now she really looked like a superhero. Somebody needed to pinch him, because superhero Shepard was the topic of no fewer than four of his nerdiest fantasies. Some other types of fantasies too.

Shepard took her hands back and wiped her eyes with gauntleted hands. "You asshole, why'd you join Cerberus?" If she was trying to sound mad, she was doing a bad job at it. Her sobs turned to relieved laughter as he led her out of the conference room.

"Nobody else was doing anything about the Collectors threatening the colonies," he started to explain. "Besides, they brought you back, so they can't be all bad."

"Joker …" Shepard groaned.

He panicked and struggled to find words to fill the air. He settled on redirecting the conversation, and exclaimed, "They also rebuilt my baby! You're gonna love her!" Stupid. Of course she would be upset that he buddied up with Cerberus. He led her to a darkened observation window, the one that looked out over the Normandy's docking bay. He hit the window controls.

The awed gasp that she made would live rent free in his head until the day he died.

"Oh my God!" Shepard bounced up on her toes. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and just like that, her reservations were forgotten, for now at least. Just outside the new Normandy waited for her Commander. And fuck was she gorgeous. Almost twice as big as the original, she was a powerhouse of a stealth frigate. "She's beautiful! And this is my ship?"

"Hey, now, this is my baby. You can have her on weekends and every other holiday."

"The drive core must be insane! Oh, I can't wait to get in her guts and see what she can do."

This was definitely the Commander he missed - smart, funny, and into spaceships. And little too into disassembling expensive tech so she could find out what made it tick. Borderline serial killer behavior if her victims had been living beings and not guns, cleaning bots, the Mako, and at least one of her omni-tools. "Gonna have to veto that, Commander. You never put it back right."

[sol-consort]

Do you think there is human/krogan porn and human/krogan relationships? (Feel free to expand that into having a Krogan roommate, I love your alien roommate drabbles)

if a romance drama film about a krogan and a human falling in love/overcoming their different cultures got widespread in the milky way enough for the Andromeda initiative to pack it up amidst the other media records, then not only is there porn for this category but an over abundance of it.

But I see it being considered taboo and controversial amidst krogans to be with a human. The only reason we're even considered "datable" is through the process of elimination.

A Korgan would either eat their own quads than smooch a salarian. They'd rather cave their own skull in than ever sleep with a turian. The asari are sexy to them, but they're also partially responsible for wronging them in the past. Plus, most asari avoid krogans because they fear commitment and long-lasting relationships with their equal lifespans. Quarians are chill, but there are very few of them to go around, and many many krogans.

Leaving...the humans. The soft squishes. Only winning first place courtesy of all other contestants shitting the bed. Congratulations to humanity.

Yeah, we're not exactly a tasty cut from the sexual appeal pie to them. We're too soft, too fragile, and we have too few organs. Traits that turians find hot in us would turn the krogans off instead.

They like us for what we're not rather than what we are. Humans are not as ugly as turians, humans are not as annoying as salarians, humans are not as condescending as asari, humans are not.

They do, however, enjoy our art, find it endearing that we still attempt to drink krogan liquor despite it possibly putting us in an early grave. Humans party hard and keep up with krogans. The rest of the galactic species are too uptight. And despite our inflated egos, sometimes our bite lives up to our bark.

The problem is, would a human survive sexual Intercourse with a krogan? What's uh the situation down there? What are we dealing with in the trenches? I doubt whatever we have to offer is enough to satisfy them.

Sexually and attractiveness wise, humans are a 4/10 at best to krogans. Romantically, however? You've seen them follow in humanity's footsteps when it comes to courting rituals. The flower bouquets, the poems, the slow dancing. They're awkwardly mimicking us.

A krogan roommate wouldn't care the least bit about you being half naked lounging on his lap, but he'd have to resist melting into a puddle whenever you cup his face, call him honey, sweetheart, beloved, darling, any of your silly human petnames that hold a vice grip on each of his hearts for some reason.

He would think about it for centuries if you ever tuck a flower into his armour. Dream about it every night that one time you came drunk home and insisted on dancing with him to slow music in the kitchen, teaching his the steps, swaying together with melodic music playing in the background.

A hug, the simplest show of affection of all, coming from a human, is enough to send a krogan to their knees.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, recruiting Jack:

Osun

-Erinie has element zero. Quite a bit of it. Why does a garden world in its last stages with a small salarian colony have so much?

I suppose if it was colonized in the last cycle, the element zero may be from various crashes at that time.

-Purgatory is run by the Blue Suns. So this is yet another Blue Sun mission. Why are they central to so many?

-The Blue Suns were started by humans or a batarian, depending on the story you go by. Yet they sure seem dominated by turians. Warden Kuril runs this place.

-When Warden Kuril gives that little intro speech he sure sounds like he’s selling Purgatory to Shepard. You can tell how proud he is of it.

I suppose it could be viewed that he’s warning Shepard how secure it is, so they don’t try to escape later.

-Kuril and Garrus are actually very similar. They’re both from Palaven, both former law enforcement, and both chose different career paths because they thought governments weren’t strict enough. They hate letting criminals get away.

In a different universe, I could easily see Garrus running Purgatory – although to his credit, I don’t think he’d sell criminals.

(Yes, I know Garrus has special dialogue for this mission.)

-I think Kuril generally does believe he’s doing the right thing. Or at least he’s convinced himself of it.

He’s also just very greedy, and thinks he can perform a public service and line his pockets.

And since criminals aren’t “real people”, it’s okay to beat them up and sell them off.

-Why are all the prisoners we directly encounter human?

The one being beaten, 780 whom we speak to, 403 who’s hearing things, Jack…

Bioware, c’mon. How hard would it have been to make one of them a salarian or an asari?

-Shepard has some autodialogue when Jack is released.

-Jack’s outfit is so bad. I don’t know why she’s even bothering with any kind of top. What was Bioware thinking?

(Between Jack and Miranda, I’m not sure the character designers were thinking.)

-Kuril’s threat to blow out all the airlocks if the prisoners don’t stand down is empty; that might cost him money.

-I think I’m slowly getting the hang of charge, but I am dying so many times. Charge was not designed with insanity in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Shepard can’t dodge and is so, so slow. If I could run to cover this wouldn’t be so bad.

-The Kuril battle is much easier than the battles before it. One of the easiest fights so far in the game.

-If you ask Jack why it’s a problem that you’re with Cerberus, Miranda says she’s destroyed Cerberus people and property. I don’t think she knows that Jack was raised by Cerberus.

Jack says Miranda will die first. Lovely to see them get off on the right foot.

-Miranda also says Shepard is not authorized to give Jack full access to the databases. This is the first time Jack calls her a cheerleader.

It was hate on first sight.

Normandy

-Crew: I’ve never worked with so many aliens so far.

Strange line. I’ve recruited two so far – Mordin and Grunt. Last one I picked up with Jack. This should have played later in the game.

-Jack tends to respond better to neutral or renegade lines. Paragon tends to make her defensive or think you’re weak.

-The image of Jack’s silhouette in the shadows holding a gun is very well done.

-One of the biggest mysteries is why Jack doesn't bail at the first opportunity. She knows how dangerous Ceberus is. She doesn't give a damn about the Collectors. Why does she stick around?

-Grunt says humans, salarians, and asari are soft. Quarians are not – why?

Tell me more about Qurarian biology, Bioware!

-Okeer wanted Grunt to hate aliens. Why? I didn’t get that vibe when we spoke to him.

-More of Grunt’s complex is starting to come out. He’s strong, but he didn’t earn it. He just is.

The dead may have been weak, but at least they tried. He never had to.

-You don’t get this line if you go renegade and tell Grunt you need him to be strong. He tells you he’ll be strong enough to kill your enemies, and that’s all you need.

Grunt may respect you if you go renegade, but he doesn’t necessarily trust you.

-The amount Grunt thinks is itself telling. Krogan intellect is often mocked – they have no scientists. They just exist to kill.

But Grunt is the perfect krogan, and he spends a lot of time thinking. About what he was told, about what he believes, about who he wants to be.

That’s the antithesis of the view most people hold of krogan, even other krogans.

But they are capable of it. Grunt is proof. Violence is baked into krogan culture, but that’s not all they have to be. They’re capable of much more – they just have to break the cycles they’re trapped in.

It doesn’t even necessarily mean leaving violence behind; Grunt loves violence. But it can be productive violence, for the betterment of their people and the galaxy as a whole.

If Wrex is the Urdnot clan leader in ME3, he touches on this. With him, Bakara, and Grunt I think they do have a chance to rewrite the future of the krogan people.

[silurisanguine]

OC Questionnaire Tag (bookish-karina questions answered)

Thanks to the lovely open tag by @bookish-karina I have more questions to answer as my OCs! I am loving doing these so if i haven't answered any you guys posted, send them my way!! As usual I'll be answering as Seren Jones, Aeryn Ryder, Zofie Orel and Kiara Black under the cut! Tagging @vorchagirl @despicablediet and @bearlytolerant @staticpallour @fangbangerghoul

@atonalginger @eridanidreams @toxiclizardwrites @therealgchu @aro-pancake @a-cosmic-elf and open tag to anyone who like to answer these questions three as their OC- 1- If you could time travel without consequence what moment in the past would you visit? 2 - Do you have a favourite food and drink? 3 - What do you think about the supernatural and magic?

Now to answer the questions given me - 1-have you ever wanted to stab someone? 2-what's your worst memory? 3 -what are you hoping to avoid? First up Seren Jones ( My Starfield Coemancer Starborn)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Wanted to? I have, multiple times, with my beloved Va'ruun painblade 'viper's fang' - Spacers, Crimson Fleet, Fanatics and other Starborn. Damn I sound bloodthirsty don't I? Just the Settled Systems are the frontier, It ain't safe for an explorer and especially a Starborn one. You got to know how to defend yourself. But In truth, the only one I've ever really wanted to drive my blade into would be The Hunter for who he is, what he represents...what he did and could do again." What's your worst memory? "...Oh void, I hate talking about this, but... seeing Sam dead in front of me on the floor of the station. The Hunter had killed him, but I blamed myself for not being fast enough, for choosing to protect the people in the Lodge and not run to the Eye. It took me a long time to accept it wasn't my fault. But it hurts, especially when I see another Sam. I'm learning to live in the moment now, jumping through universes, taking a little happiness where I can until I find the right one. But that wound is still there on my heart and not sure if it will ever heal." What are you hoping to avoid? "Becoming like the Hunter in the amount of times I jump universes. Losing my humanity and compassion like he has to become this empty, cold and bitter creature. I... also really want to avoid dying before I find a universe to finally stop and settle down in again, like Aquilus has managed to do. Much as I don't subscribe to his faith, I admire what he's done." ✨ Next Aeryn Ryder ( My Mass Effect Andromeda Pathfinder )

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Yeah! That son of a bitch Archon would get the pointy end of my asari blade if I could get close enough to him. The rest, I don't want to do it, I just have to as they are trying to kill me!...well maybe if I ever find out who the Benefactor is, they might get to meet my blade too for what they did to Jien." What's your worst memory? "Dad told me that mom never wanted a funeral, that she didn't want people standing around her body crying, so we had a memorial service to celebrate her life and I remember just feeling so empty that she wasn't around anymore. That all I had were memories of her. That stayed with me. Close second would be waking up to find my dad had sacrificed his life to save mine after I'd...died. I didn't get to say goodbye or anything and then becoming Pathfinder, I haven't even really had chance to mourn or process the fact that I...died." What are you hoping to avoid? "Oh god, failure. Failure to live up to my dad's standard as Pathfinder. Failure to secure a viable home for everyone in Heleus. Failure to stop the Archon and the kett. Also really like to not die again." ✨ Next Zofie Orel ( My Deus Ex/ Assassin's Creed OC)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "I am an Assassin in the Coterie of Assassins. It's my job, so yes I have stabbed someone...many someones. Whether I wanted to, was very much up to learning what they'd done to warrant such an action. Sometimes it wasn't so much a want as a need. They were doing bad things, even if they thought they were doing good and couldn't be convinced otherwise. I took no pleasure in stopping them." What's your worst memory? "I could say it was the attack that caused me to be augmented, but truth be told, I don't remember it well. Being hit hard in the head has a tendency to do that. I think the worst, was waking up in the LIMB clinic and finding out Sarah, a fellow Assassin I was...close to, had died saving me, and my goshhawk Ghost had been killed too. That devastated me for quite some time. But I channeled that into my recovery, swearing vengeance for them both." What are you hoping to avoid? "Having to prevent Jensen from interfering with my mission. I'd prefer he was on board with what I have to do. So far the signs are good and I think once he finds out the full story he wont want to miss working with me." ✨ Lastly Kiara Black (My Dishonored/ Thief OC)

Have you ever wanted to stab someone? "Wanted to? No...maybe? Sometimes I saw an Overseer in Dunwall abusing his power, scaring someone, threatening them and I wanted to hurt them for it. But I don't really know how to fight. Garrett's shown me how to avoid fights and how to take someone down without them seeing you, but it's always no lethal. But there is a part of me that wants to see those who hurt people- be stopped for good. I have a feeling Garrett did that once, but he wont talk about." What's your worst memory? "...Finding out I might have caused my best friend's death. I was fourteen and Dylan was my only real friend. I thought I could trust him with a secret but he must have talked about it and it caused the Abbey to come to his family and try and take him...there was a fight, he and his family were killed by the Abbey and my family and I had to flee Caulkenny to Dunwall. I hated him for blabbing about what I told him, but I never wanted anything like that to happen to him or his family. That still haunts me." What are you hoping to avoid? "Getting caught. Either by the Abbey back in the Isles or by the City Watch here in the Eternal City. Both are as corrupt as they come, though if I had to choose, I'd take the Watch. least I know I could probably escape them. What the Abbey do to 'Heretics'... I think I'd rather die than be caught by them."

[omegastation]

MEA thoughts:

I kinda agree that finding new species, space faring ones, in the Milky Way might have proven to be a challenge, but I don't believe that everything has been explored, that it was all "been there, done that" as if the galaxy had nothing new to offer. Even for someone like Peebee. I know the "unknown" is exciting and obviously Andromeda would be full of discoveries but the grass is always greener on the other side mindset plays a huge part here.

I don't think they have really explored the psychological impact of everyone not waking up at the same time, especially when linked to loved ones/families. If you spend months or years working and helping the Nexus as essential personnel in Andromeda while your wife/husband/partner is still in cryo, those are still months or years you get to live and do things without the one you love. It's time taken out of your lifespan, and time you won't get back with them, but it's also time you fill with other people and feelings. I don't know, I find the idea extremely scary.

Patterns and basically history repeating itself. Many ways we can see that in Andromeda. I think Avina - the face of an asari as the welcoming VI in the galaxy - says a lot really.