#ME3 spoilers I guess

[wingsy-keeper-of-songs]

I have finished the Mass Effect Trilogy.

I am varying levels of Not Fine and I have drowned myself in Shakarian fic to fix the amount of Ow My Heart I am currently feeling. Goddamn, what a game series.

Oh, and the Catalyst can go to AI hell forever. That little Darwinist Walmart-brand Alexa motherfucker. Try to make me think you're the pinnacle of evolution and shit. Don't even try it with me, you little shit. I had Harbinger bitching at me for over 40 hours I am not even in the vicinity of letting you or your death machines live.

[princessshikky]

DAO: Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the good of the many. Your Warden might leave Redcliffe to be ravaged by the undead, let Branca have the Anvil of the Void, convince the werewolves to massacre a Dalish clan, side with the man who committed fratricide for the throne and plans to usurp the power, recruit a man who started a civil war in his own country and sold its citizens to slavery - all in the name of stopping the Blight.

DA2: Sometimes there is no good choice. Shit happens because of things that are outside of Hawke's control, and the best thing Hawke can do is try to manage the outcome.

ME2: Shepard literally has to genocide the batarians in order to delay the Reapers' arrival and buy some time for the galaxy to prepare for a war.

ME3: Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the good of the many. Shepard might lie to the crogan about curing the genophage in order to get the salarians' help, sacrifice either the geth or the quarians (or potentially both) and forcibly alter the bodies and minds of every living being in the galaxy.

DAI: Sometimes the best outcome is the one where you let that Orlesian empress be killed and help that elven rebel blackmail the new emperor into submission. Also, you may convince the future Divine that killing people is the easiest and fastest way to victory.

...

DATV: Oh no! Solas, an army general fighting in a rebellion against slavers and tyrants, had to *gasp* sacrifice some people in order to obtain a weapon that could bring them victory! How could he!.. What an irredeemable monster, right?

Just. How? How did we get from genuine grey morality to this? I just... ugh.

[awaylaughing]

Am finally playing MELE after picking it up at launch and once again falling head over heels for my various Shepards and I CANNOT stop thinking about one silly ass HC for my Vanguard, Ieva Shepard so here it goes.

After Ieva cures the genophage a bunch of krogan start suggesting that salarians might be on to One Thing, namely this reincarnation thing because look at the Facts:

female battlemaster

cuts a wide swathe through the galaxy leaving tears in her wake

good public speaker

Wrex says she's smart

has given many children to the krogan, albeit in a non-traditional way

charges enemies and hits them like a damn Tomkah when she does it

Conclusion: she’s Shiagur reborn and since the salarians say each life you learn something new this is the one where she learns how to not just be a crafty battlemaster but one who kicks ass in the traditional way too.

Some who say this are, of course, joking, many are very earnest though. When Grunt tells Ieva about it she asks which side he's on and he shrugs and says Shepard is Shepard, which Ieva is strangely touched by. When she asks Wrex he just smirks at her and lets her sweat about it lol

[thissugarcane]

christ, and I FORGOT ABOUT KAL'REEGAR giving his life to hold a turian comm relay, so, here's another little nothing moment in this fucking game that made me FUCKING CRY

also, typing out the tag "ANN Alert" reminded me of Emily Wong's last stand, which probably no one remembers because it happened on twitter right before game launch; she live-tweeted the fall of earth and it was heartbreaking

So, here's the thing about mass effect 3. if you're a bioware-ian, or whatever, you've gotta have wrex. you've met legion. so obviously we all cry at mordin's "it has to be me." obviously we all cry at legion's "I know, Tali. keelah se'lai." and I don't think anyone has a dry eye at the "high c over middle g" original theme song showing up at all the final moments that... that complete mass effect 1? (I'm hearing it right now as the genophage is cured and I can't stop the tears, hearing wrex talk about his family, remembering finding his family armour, and just--)

and I'm going to guess we all die at the end of the citadel DLC.

but what's the moment that is as gut wrenching that isn't the common one?

for me, I always, always weep at David Archer's "I've been counting... the number of days you lengthened my life". the Overlord DLC was clunky in places, but I always found the end excruciating. So to see him again in ME3 is just.

Anyway. There's a hundred little callbacks to 1 and 2 in this game, and I honestly don't believe we'll ever get another trilogy written this well. Oh, we'll get better games. But we'll never get this game again, because mechanics are becoming more and more important over story. and that's a real shame.

[madslasher88]

Not spoilers, because I know nothing. Simply speculation. Simply putting it out there.

So, the big question for the state of Thedas at the end of Veilguard is likely to be whether or not the Veil remains, correct? Given that, and given how many people still talk about how ME3 ended and the problem that popped up that resulted in Andromeda going to another galaxy...

I don't think they'll do that again. I don't think people will get to choose whether or not the Veil remains. I think it'll be a set, scripted event, that'll happen the same for everyone. Why? Practical reasons. One of the big reasons they chose to move Mass Effect Andromeda to another galaxy was because the choice at the end of ME3 meant that, theoretically, there should be 3 wildly different world states for a sequel to be happening in. And not a simple, this character survived or didn't, here's a stand in character instead, but on a massive scale. It would have been stupidly expensive to basically create 3 different games, depending on the starting point.

It's the same with Veilguard. Theoretically, with the way it's been put to us up until now, whether or not the Veil still exists will have big consequences, and could potentially change a lot of things about the state of the world. So, I think it'll happen the same in game (possibly with small variations based on player actions) for everyone. Because otherwise, their choices for a sequel are 1. Spend the resources to make 2 fundamentally different worlds (EA would never) 2. Make it so that, oh, nevermind, it really wasn't a big deal, and things are mostly the same (Doubt it, it's a cop out, and one fans wouldn't like) or 3. Pick one as Canon and only make a sequel based on that state (Again, doubt it, because fans would be pissed).

So, my guess for the game is that we're not actually going to be able to choose whether or not the Veil remains. Because that choice would put Bioware in a bad spot for the sequel, and I think they know that.

Hopefully, people won't be too mad, if that does end up being the case. Because from a storytelling/ game making perspective, I think it would be the best choice, even if I think there is likely to be a chunk of fans that don't like it.

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

(Not a plot spoiler, but skip this if you're unaware of what everyone is recently complaining about)

I've almost reached acceptance stage with the whole choices thing (I guess I'll just treat Veilguard like something akin to Absolution - a story focused on a particular party where everything else is glossed over and cameos conveniently don't have time to mention anything).

I am, however, boggled by the fact that people are comparing it to ME3 in terms of your choices not mattering. Like, hello?

Sure, ME3 fucked up with the endings with a similar sentiment, only thing that really mattered in any capacity was how much power you've amassed (some endings don't get unlocked on low power levels), while everything else just mattered in your heart. I'll say, I don't have too much beef with that one, but it is a complaint many had. It also obviously doesn't follow up if Shepard died in ME2 and has some fuckery with the Council returning to status quo.

As far as "references and cameos" go tho? Put some damn respect on her name!!! They've followed through with so much stuff you chose in the last games, starting with mentions (i.e. dialogue changes depending on if you played Arrival), small cameos like Kirrahe if he survived aaall the way back in ME1, BIG cameos of basically every single one of your old squadmates showing up and having at least one related questline. And they did it following up on two games where A LOT of those people could've died. Didn't stop them. Put in replacements for every single important one (see: Wrex's brother leading the Tuchanka mission if Wrex was killed in ME1) so that they had a place reserved in the story IF they happened to be alive. Instead of, y'know, shelving everyone who could've been dead at some point or weirdly 'resurrecting' them. Your episodic romances like Kelly made an appearance. A terrorist guy you let go (if you did) in ME1 showed up to try and kill you again.

The genophage quest acknowledged if you destroyed the cure research in ME2. The fate of Rannoch could suffer depending on how you've handled Tali's and Legion's quests in the previous game.

There was SO MUCH. What sorta fumbled your choices was the ending, not the continuity with the previous installments. I WISH that continuity work was what we got with DAtV.

Like, we have a right to be upset (I am still upset. I'm just very tired and opt to focus on the positives for my own well-being), but get your facts right 😤 It's not a 'ME3 problem', it's like a direct opposite - new choices (allegedly) matter, old ones ditched.

[artsyneurotic]

They're like cockroaches, they never really go away...

It's crazy to think that it's been like a literal decade since Mass Effect 3 and the end of the ME Trilogy...

I've been streaming revisiting the trilogy and it's been overall a pretty great experience thanks to some awesome viewers/chatters adding to the experience, but there was one thing I guess I unfortunately couldn't shake.

... The inevitable Kaidan-hater troll. Silly me, thinking that so much time has passed that maybe people would actually have grown up by now and, y'know, be adults and respect the romances other players like. But of course some moron comes into my stream and their first message when I'm in the Citadel DLC talking to Kaidan is "GROSS KAIDEN" and then a fucking small paragraph about how they used to save him but now don't (for some reason) because he's a "complete dishrag" which... I have no idea what that fuck that even means.

If someone hates him that much, why the fuck would you go into a stream that has someone actively interested in him, has a fucking tag on the stream with "Kaidan," and is even wearing a fucking Kaidan hoodie while she's streaming the game???

There's so many other ME streams to watch! Go somewhere else! I think next time I'll just straight up ban someone like that, it's just so mind-boggling to me. Do they think they're being cute or something? Spoiler: they aren't.

... but anyway. For anyone who enjoys Kaidan and the romance, I'll be streaming the ME3 ending(s) and doing like a whole little react/retrospective afterwards with the indoctrination theory and tier lists and some other fun things.

All this will be tomorrow night, Monday 10/30, at 8pm PST! If that sounds cool to you, please check out my Twitch!

[ideas-on-paper]

Theories about Legion's "mini headlamps" (N7 special)

A very happy N7 Day to all of you Mass Effect fans!

Although I still haven't finished Mass Effect 3 (I just haven't been able to pick it up again after the Rannoch arc), I nevertheless wanted to do something special for this occasion, and I thought to myself that I might as well devote a quick study to a subject that's been on my mind for quite a long time: the purpose of Legion's three additional "mini headlamps".

You see, aside from the big, obvious flashlight in the middle, Legion also possesses three smaller lights at the side of their head. Ever since discovering these, I've been wondering what exactly those are for. I've observed that they glow red when Legion is under "stress" (an effect which is unfortunately not present in the Legendary Edition) - or rather, in situations that require a lot of processing power - but as far as their practical function goes, I could only guess. However, going through the ME3 dialogues again, I noticed a small detail which could potentially explain what exactly those small lights are - and in addition, give us a little insight into how Geth perceive the world visually.

Disclaimer: Before going into this, I should mention that I have no technical education in robotics, laser scanning, or any related areas of engineering. I based my conclusions solely on what information I could find on the internet, as well as my own reasoning and observations.

[Potential spoilers for ME3]

LADAR/LiDAR scanning and three-dimensional perception

To start off, what basically led me on this track was this comment by Tali in ME3:

Their AI lets them use extremely detailed ladar pings. Xen's countermeasure overwhelmed them with garbage data.

First off, we need to clarify what exactly ladar is. LADAR, more commonly known as LiDAR, stands for "Light amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation detection and ranging" - or, in case of LiDAR, "Light detection and ranging/Light imaging, detection and ranging. It's a method for measuring the distance, speed, and surface structure of objects by the means of laser scanning, usually with beams in the infrared spectrum (there are different wavelengths of light in use, however). Essentially, LiDAR is based on the same principle as the echolocation of bats, the only difference being the use of light instead of sound. Every LiDAR system consists of three integral components: a transmitter, a receiver, and a timer. The transmitter will send out a laser beam, which will be reflected by the object it hits; afterwards, the reflection will be registered by the receiver. Because the speed of light is a known constant, the distance of the object can be deduced by the timer, which will determine the delay between the light impulse being send out and the reflection being captured, also known as "time of flight".

However, because each laser beam only represents the coordinates of a single point, multiple laser beams are necessary to create a detailed 3D map of the environment. Some LiDAR lasers, like those used in automated vehicles, pinwheel to collect data in a 360° radius, generating a 3D image of all objects in the vicinity, including cars, pedestrians, and other obstacles. This results in multiple "points" forming a "point cloud" together, digitally depicting the surroundings on a 3D level. Because each laser emits hundreds of impulses per second, this technology enables you to take highly precise measurements in a very short period of time. LiDAR technology is not only utilized in autonomous driving, but also all kinds of other areas too, like archaeology, topographical mapping, and monitoring of vegetation growth.

Now, with this in mind, my theory is that Legion's small headlamps are the transmitter and receiver components of the LiDAR system - more specifically, I think the transmitters are located on the right, while the singular light on the left is the receiver. However, since we know that normal scanning LiDAR requires multiple laser beams for a detailed 3D image, the question is why Legion would only have two of them implemented. Personally, my suspicion is that the Geth might be using a flash LiDAR: Flash LiDAR is a different type of LiDar emitting a single wide, diverging beam, similar in shape to the beam of a flashlight. By projecting the reflected light onto a sensor array, a flash LiDAR can create a complete 3D environment without the use of multiple impulses. In addition to being very compact, flash LiDAR sensors have no moveable parts, making them extremely resistant to any kind of vibration - an undeniable advantage in all situations that require quick movement, such as combat.

Analysis of atmospheric composition with LiDAR

Still, that doesn't explain why Legion would have an additional transmitter on the right side of their head. We do know, however, that the laser scans with LiDAR are precise enough to not only measure the exact distance between objects, but also analyze the density of particles in the air: Because the molecules in the air cause the light from the laser beam to backscatter, LiDAR is also utilized in monitoring air quality and detecting fine dust, being able to determine traces of atmospheric gases such as ozone, nitrous gases, carbon dioxide, and methane. Depending on the wavelength of light used, the LiDAR system might be more or less precise in measuring molecular backscattering. For that reason, LiDAR systems using multiple wavelengths of light are most efficient in determining the exact size distribution of particles in the air.

With this in mind, let's take a look at Legion's opening line in ME2 upon entering the Heretic station:

Alert. This facility has little air or gravity. Geth require neither.

Going by what I explained above, the reason why Legion was able to tell there is no oxygen in the atmosphere isn't because they have some built-in chemical sensors to analyze the air's components - it's because they can literally "see" the particles in the air.

Thus, I think the second transmitter on the right side of Legion's head might use a different kind of wavelength specifically intended for the detection of atmospheric particles, perhaps in the UV-spectrum (the general rule is that the shorter the wavelength, the higher the resolution of the 3D image is, and since UV has a shorter wavelength than infrared, I imagine it might be used for this purpose). Meanwhile, the big flashlight in the middle might be a photoreceptor, being able to detect "normal" light visible to humans. In addition, the Geth are probably able to see UV-light (since the Quarians are able to see it, it would be logical to assume the Geth are as well), and maybe even infrared and other wavelengths. To summarize the function of all of Legion's headlights, I imagine it works roughly like this:

The two lights on the right side of Legion's head (marked with a red and magenta line) might be LiDAR transmitters, using infrared and UV-light, respectively; the single small light on the left (circled with green) might be the LiDAR sensor/receiver, while the big light in the middle (circled with blue) might be a photoreceptor (Source)

The effect of Xen's countermeasure (and potential means to bypass it)

It might be difficult to imagine from a human point of view, but judging from the information that the Geth use LiDAR as their main method of depth perception, Tali describing Xen's invention as a "flash bang grenade" actually makes a lot of sense: If you're normally able to observe your surroundings down to a molecular level, it would probably feel very disorienting if you're suddenly not, not mention being unable to tell whether an object is far away or close by (which would be absolutely devastating if you suddenly come under attack).

Still, that doesn't mean there are no potential alternatives: Radar, which has been in use longer than LiDAR, is another method to determine the range, angle, and velocity of objects. Due to radar using long-waved micro- and radio waves, the measurements are generally a lot less precise than those with LiDAR; despite this, radar still has its use during inclement weather, when LiDAR systems are very prone to disturbances by dust, mist, and rainfall. Furthermore, LiDAR can only provide measurements up to 200 meters, while radar is more efficient at greater distances. In fact, most modern autonomous driving vehicles work both with LiDAR and radar, in addition to a conventional camera (the only vehicles that don't use LiDAR are those from Tesla, which have a reputation of being unsafe). So, it's only reasonable to assume that the Geth don't rely on LiDAR alone, but use various technologies in combination with it to compensate for each one's weaknesses.

Interestingly, a type of 4D radar is currently in development, intended to be used in autonomous driving. It provides 3D images with a similar resolution as LiDAR, at a potentially much cheaper cost. Still, whether LiDAR or 4D radar is the better choice for autonomous driving is still a heatedly debated question, and only time will tell which of both systems comes out on top. Nevertheless, assuming Xen's "flash bang grenade" only targets the Geth's LiDAR sensors, I wonder if they could've potentially found a way to adapt and bypass it, given enough time.

Anyway, that's the material for a different kind of analysis - for now, I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive into the science behind the Geth. Thank you all for reading and have a nice N7 Day! :-)

[crossleft]

**VEILGUARD SPOILERS**

Finished the game last night and had some thoughts. Overall I really enjoyed it! Would definitely recommend playing it but it's also fun to nitpick lol.

Did my standard first run where I go in as blind as possible playing a dwarven warrior. Went with the Warden background because duh and it was really solid, seems like they referenced it a lot throughout so interested to see how other origins will go. Don't think I missed too too much but I know for sure I accidentally missed at least one mission when I saved Treviso too early...anyways:

As usual dwarves got the short end of the stick (hah punny). 18 codex entries to the 43 elven ones and roughly half were just letters and stuff from Lace to her mom, hell one of them was just about the basics of the fucking chantry! Seriously?? I romanced Lace so I don't mind the letters much but damn yall couldn't do more with the deep roads or with Kal-Sharok? Entire chunks of lore breezed over like nothing, and having the thaig and the titan only being one off missions where you can't even go back to the area was the cherry on top. Disappointed but unsurprised.

Liked the companions, overall no big complaints. Up until the end where you find out he's dead the whole Varric always being in bed and not super upset about Bianca being destroyed thing definitely threw me off so that was a big surprise.

Taash was fun think I'll romance them next play through but acting like Qunari are weird about gender after very specifically having Bull say it's no big deal was a bizarre writing choice.

I liked it but Laces romance felt a little underwhelming, curious to how it'll stack up to the others.

Davrin/Assan and Lucanis/Spite were perfect no notes on them, keep up the good work lol.

Bellara felt kinda like they were trying to redo Merrill, which like...ok...then why not just bring back Merrill at that point? And the stuff with her brother felt very paint by numbers. She felt underwritten I guess idk.

Emmerich was a fun surprise since I went in blind I was expecting a standard evil/gloomy necromancer but he ended up being one of my favorite characters. Went the Lich route out of curiosity but haaaate that Fred got killed, for sure keeping him around next time.

Neve grew on me a little by the end but she was overall my least favorite. Felt like someone's OC getting shoehorned in with a bunch of cannon characters. Like the entire first half of the game she and other companions will allude to cases and interesting sounding stories but never expound on them. Every time Rook talks to her she's like "oh it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you some day 😏" then proceeds to never tell it lmao. Maybe it's alluding to comics or something I haven't seen but again, coming in blind it just made her a very boring 2D character outside of the eventual romance with Lucanis which I liked a lot.

Gameplay reminded me a lot of ME3 but with swords. Pretty low bar but as far as a dragon age game goes I'd argue it was easily the best combat in the series.

Leveling system was fine, nothing inspiring. Not the biggest fan of the companion leveling but being able to respec easily with no cost balanced it out.

Inventory was great, massive improvement over all the prior games. I really liked how stuff levels itself up and being able to change appearances easily and early was awesome. Wish you could do a little more with companion armor but that's not really a big deal and they all had decently broad options.

Was worried about only having 2 party members but it worked pretty well I thought. Between that and the bond system it does a good job encouraging swapping them out more. Felt like a lot more ambient dialog too which was a good touch.

Crows retconning into basically a mob family was...a choice. I kind of get it though and imo you can headcannon them being so different as chalked up to Zev having come in and made big changes over the years. Is what it is.

Was initially kinda pissed about the loss of prior choices but having played it now I think they did ok. Bringing the inquisitor in and getting their letters still made it feel like those choices mattered. And like in game it's been years and it all happened in other countries, it makes sense for a lot of that to be old news that most people don't discuss especially given the drama of their own current events. Would have still been nice to get a few codex entries at least.

Bringing Morrigan back felt like a bad choice to me. She's my cannon origins romance and they changed her up a bit too much post inquisition. Like where is Kieren? Where is the HoF? She doesn't mention them and nobody asks?? Just weird. Hot take but her taking Mythal's knowledge made perfect sense for her character, she always sought knowledge like that and her main objection with Flemmeth was that she would be taken over. So now she gets the knowledge and also keeps her mind, classic Morrigan work around imo.

Didn't like the direction they went with the Antaam. Had potential but making them all faceless with super deep voices felt overly dehumanizing. And them going in with elven gods made zero sense at all, like their leadership doing it secretly sure but there at the end why the hell would those footsoldiers follow them like that when they are so distrustful of magic?

Loooooved the Wardens but what's with the changes to the blight? My headcannon is the gods have made it more directed so that's why it's not infecting people so indiscriminately. But based on prior knowledge literally every non Warden character and most npc should be dead or darkspawn waaay before the end of the game. Doesn't feel like they explained it very well. Digging the new darkspawn look though, best appearance change since Origins.

Dorian, Isabella, and Solas felt very in character, no big notes on them.

Hawke not being mentioned unfortunately makes sense to me. They were pretty important 20 years ago in one city on the other side of the continent. Think of it like this, without looking it up who was the mayor of the next city over from you in 2004? They were important but why would you bring them up now decades later to people who have no way of knowing them, even if you were buds with them back then. Varric is the only one who might but he's kinda dead the entire game so again makes sense you don't hear about Hawke

Gifts are back! :) wish there was more than 1 per companion I'm trying to redecorate yalls rooms lol.

Why are there random Wardens telling everyone about the joining????? Just casually too like what the hell yall this is supposed to be secret and you're saying "wow this shitty ale reminds me of the joining where I drank darkspawn blood magically enhanced with archdemon blood" BRO??? SHUT UP this shit is top secret what the fuck???

Liked the redesign on spirits with the sole caviat that I liked rage demons as sentient lava...them having legs feels weird

Super minor gripe but why is the special dwarf armor just like form fitting stone abs now??? The bad ass blocky tank look was so cool! The elven armor having form fitting feet and stuff fits the culture why would dwarves do that? Wouldn't know since there's barely any lore on Kal-Sharok 🙃

Kal-Sharok being set up as this mysterious, secluded, hyper competent thaig where they likely formed their own society of impromptu Wardens cut off from Thedas for hundreds of years was fascinating. They expounded on this precisely not at all....bro why. EVERY thaig gone but them and traditional Orzammar and they only survived because they changed! Seemingly still in touch with Titans, was this only since Valta connected or sooner?? Such a cool story and they didn't do shit with it? After 10 years!? Losing my mind dude they just refuse to do anything with this lore and it's so fucking frustrating.

Aaaaanywho starting a second playthrough. Going with a rouge elf shadow dragon, gonna romance Taash. Probably do a qunari mage next playthrough but we'll see. Curious to see anyone else's thoughts but mostly this is to vent mine.

[queen-scribbles]

I saw the post about the big Bioware sale and figured you're a good person to ask since I've seen you posting about Mass Effect/Dragon Age a lot. The games look fun, and I'm a sucker for complex stories with customizable protagonists, but I am a complete weenie about the more, uh, mature stuff when it comes to romance and the 'M' rating keeps scaring me off.

Like I'm over 18 and I'm fine with the violence/drinking/most of the swearing listed with the M rating, but I just get deeply uncomfortable with the other stuff. I'm just weird like that, I guess.

Is it really a lot? Or is there like a skip option, or some kinda setting that'll just have it be a fade-to-black sitch like SWTOR? I won't be too disappointed if there isn't, I kind of expect that really, but I figured it was worth an ask while the sale is on/to keep in mind for the next sale.

I have major social anxiety and am kinda embarrassed about all this, so sorry about the anon-asking. :P

No, no, you're fine, I understand completely. (I can take or leave a lot of the sexier stuff myself) Now I will try to remember romance scenes bc I haven't played some of these games in 4-5 years, and some of the romances I haven't gotten to yet. 😅 (if you don't mind spoilers you can always look up the romance on yt to check for yourself if it goes past your preferences. but if you do wanna avoid spoilers I will do my best) P much all the romances there's only even potentially anything that might be a problem in the Culmination Scene.

(If I got anything wrong anyone please feel free to correct me)

I know in ME1 the romance scene(with Kaidan for f!Shep, Ashley for m!Shep, Liara for either) there's sideview but shadowed nudity for f!Shep/Ashely/Liara(with Arm Strategically Placed to block boobs so all you really see is a little bit of butt) and Kaidan/mShep is shirtless.

ME2.... I think there's 0 nudity and ftb for Garrus, Thane, Tali, and Jack(ftb on tenderness, comes back in to fully-clothed snuggles in bed), Jacob's shirtless, and Miranda you half-unzip her catsuit uniform so you can see her bra. Oh, and there's a mini-romance-y thing with Kelly and she wears something really skimpy if you do that.

ME3... I need to caveat I've only actually gotten through ME3 with my Kaidanmancers + the Jackmancer, but I watched p much all the others on yt to hurt myself. Also it's been a while. I don't thiiiiink there's any full nudity, when it gets to the big sex scene toward the end, the furthest it goes is cuddling/foreplay with underwear still on, then cuts to waking up still just in underwear, and not all the romances get that. Some of them, ah. end prematurely for different reasons, or the romance isn't an actual companion in this game, so there's less content(Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus, Liara, and Tali get the most, since they join the team + have been established longer). There are new m/m and f/f exclusive option in ME3, but it's been long enough I don't rememberrrrrr if there's anything risque for them. I don't think so.

Andromeda I've only done Liam's romance and I don't think there was much in there(you can get him to stop wearing a shirt on the ship about halfway through and there's a makeout session on the couch that ftb). I think Cora's and Jaal's involve male and female shirtlessness, but I'm straight up blanking for the rest of them.

FOR DRAGON AGE

In Origins, the "big scene" for the romances does involve "sexy" movements, but the characters still have on underwear, so no nudity, and tbh with game engine/graphics advances that have been made a lot of people find those scenes cringey/silly more than sexy now. I think you can skip those, maybe, but if you can't there's dialogue after so you can just look away til you hear your chosen sweetie start talking and the conversation takes place fully clothed.

DA2 they did ftb for the four vanilla game romances. Love interest shows up, there's cutscene kissing fully clothed, ftb, wake up in underwear at worst. (Sebastian MY BELOVED is romanceable with a f!Hawke, but since he's a) chaste and b) a DLC companion, there's absolutely no sex scenes with him, you can get chaste married on his friend path and he'll talk about the two of you getting married to reclaim his homeland on his rival path).

DAI is... simultaneously best and worst in this regard lol Josephine and Solas there's nothing. Sera and Cassandra you see boobs and enough leg to hint at full nudity without actually showing it(Sera's might get a little more explicit, it's been longer for her so I don't 100% remember). Dorian's has... full rear nudity, but I think that's it. Blackwall's I don't remember, Cullen and Iron Bull both have scenes where you can tell they're naked, but the Inquisitor or an object is strategically in the way of the naughty bits.

OH AND not romance related, but possibly an issue, there are demons in the DRagon Age canon known as Desire Demons, who look like practically naked purple ladies(they have, like, an even skimpier version of the SWtOR Slave Girl outfit and are fond of caressing themselves seductively). They aren't in DAI, but do show up in the first two games for a few quests.

[drelldreams]

Right back atcha: 💔 - Character who died in canon but you refuse to acknowledge it? 👤 - Favorite minor NPC? What do you like about them? 🧩 - Favorite squadmate combination and why you like this combination so much?

Thank you for the questions! 😊

👤 - Favorite minor NPC? What do you like about them?

I guess I love Shiala most. She‘s just badass and beautiful and mysterious and the first asari to meld with you.. And she is low key resistant to indoctrination. She had lots of potential.

I also loved Rila. She‘s so brave. And also so fucking beautiful, can you tell I love asari.

Victus was quite charming too. And Kelly is also a sweetheart and very underrated.

🧩 - Favorite squadmate combination and why do you like this combination so much?

Ashley & Wrex for ME1. Because they have best friends potential, I swear. I love their elevator conversations in ME1. There‘s one where he compliments Ash‘s combat skills and says something about loving to fight with women because it gives the fight a different flavor. Love that one.

Aside from that, for ME2 I love bringing characters who are very polar opposites to each other. Like Samara & Mordin or Miranda & Zaeed.

💔 - Character who died in canon but you refuse to acknowledge it?

SPOILER ALERT for books and games!

TOO FUCKING MANY CHARACTERS.

Mordin‘s death is so horrible and it will haunt me forever. The fact that he isn‘t there at the Citadel DLC party.. Can you imagine what the party would have been with Mordin around? Dancing Mordin? Mordin/Joker banter? Mordin meeting the SR1 crew? Drunk Mordin? I get it his death makes a lovely plot device (Adding more drama), but man.. It hurt. He is one of my favorites.

Legion‘s death was also pretty damn sad. Tali should‘ve made a copy of him and uploaded it into another geth body. :(

Then, Liselle from the books. How dare you BioWare. You introduce Aria T‘loaks daughter, and then take her away, in the most ridiculous way! No way Kai Leng managed to kill Aria‘s daughter. I don‘t give a fuck she was ambushed, Aria‘s daughter is way too skilled to be killed off by some Cerberus jackass.

And Gillian Grayson. She is the most powerful biotic in existence and you wanna convince me Kai Leng can kill her with a toothbrush. Excuse me. At least the book was declared non canon though, so that means Gillian is alive and well in canon, probably. 😊

I didn‘t like Grayson‘s death in the books either because.. all that redemption arc only to end like this? Thanks to Kai Leng too.

Who also took Thane. Damn I just noticed 3/5 of the mentioned characters were killed by Kai Leng. It‘s 4 if you add Miranda who can die by his hands in ME3.

All of those characters are alive to me.

[orphankin]

Mass effect is a stupid bullshit series spoilers I guess if you care

It turns out I HAVE to genocide one or the other race between quarians and geth. Why? Because I decided to NOT GENOCIDE a group of geth in the last game. "Oh but don't you want a game where your choices matter?!?!1" NOT IF THEY'RE INCOHERENT!!! INCONSISTENT!!!

Possible solutions to this fucking idiot ass thing

1) you can't solve this in a renegade way if you did tali's and legions quest lines in a paragon way and vice versa

2) making it so all you have to do is do both their quest lines, regardless of how you handled them, so that you have the background information about the war and why you get to influence it. If you don't do tali's questline, the quarian leaders don't listen to you and same for the geth not trusting you without legion being familiar with you

I'm sorry I'm not taking this bullshit well, it just doesn't make any sense. I didn't renegade the heretics and GENOCIDE THEM and therefore Shepard just decides not to tell admiral gell to stand down??? That's the thing that happens btw if you do get to paragon is that Shepard says "I'm Micheal Jordon. Stop it." And the quarians listen. So what the fuck does that have to do with me not killing the heretics??????????????????????????????????? If the game was like "oh you rewrote the heretics and therefore they had more forces and therefore they already finished off all the quarians before you fight the reaper on rannoch" that would be one thing. But no, it's just straight up "Shepard decides not to tell gell to shut the fuck up"

On the flip side, why would it matter if tali was exiled. You already fucking made it so that it didn't matter, right like if she was exiled she's not like a refugee on the citadel or anything, she's STILL FUCKING WORKING WITH THE QUARIANS. ON THEIR SHIPS. NOT EXILED. I can see it mattering again if she was exiled and therefore just not there to back you up against gell and you tried to paragon but couldn't because no one is supporting you telling gell to stop, but no she'd be there and Shepard would just NOT SAY ANYTHING. this is so much idiotic fucking bullshit that I would have to REPLAY both the second and the third game to change this one fucking thing towards the end, especially coming from the game that was like "oh did you kill the rachni queen? Well we're gonna humpty Dumpty her back together because FUCK YOU"

Again, I'm okay with it if they were like "hey you were renegade in me2 so it'll be harder for you to paragon in me3" but the renegade paragon distinction doesn't make a difference in this game!!!! It just tells you how sassy Shepard is gonna be while executing the more competent action!!! Like I could be 100% paragon but every time a decision comes up, I can still complete a task with renegade in me3

Fuck it you know what maybe I don't want to play games where my decisions matter. Maybe I want to play Kotor where at the very last second, even though I was light side the entire game I can at the end see the opportunity to be evil space lesbians with bastila and instead of having to replay THE ENTIRE GAME as dark side picking weird uncomfortable actions (like that one time I accidentally abandoned a child into slavery), I can just reload and decide to see the end where I'm an evil space lesbian, not having to wait another 30 fucking hours

[rawliverandcigarettes]

❤️, 🏷, 🦋 for the writer asks!

Hey, thank you so much for the ask!! You sure made me Think A Lot, but it was real fun!!

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

Oh noooo this is so hard. Ok. So every single one I can think of is a spoiler of some kind? The least egregious of them (still a spoiler, skip if that's a problem!) will have to be:

"How many years will you have left when you'll bury me in the garden?"

I didn't expect its brutality; it completely took me by surprise even as I was writing it. I think it was the first sign of Shlee becoming the kind of character who bulldozes through difficult situations using a combination of spite and recklessness, and being incapable of *not* opening his mouth and precipitating tense moments to their breaking point.

🏷 Is there a tag you like to search for when looking for fanfics to read?

I think I'm more the kind to look for characters rather than tropes? If the story is insightful and takes the character to interesting places, I'll read about that character in pretty much any situation! So I guess I obviously lurk around salarian characters, Aria and batarians characters too, but I branch out on occasion! I think I'm generally more interested in OCs than Trilogy characters (unless they're very minor characters, or the moment that is explored in major canon characters is very peculiar and a turning point in that character's life --for example, everyone post Normandy SR1 exploding, the 6 months before ME3 starts...), but I'm super not above fun romps with the usual gang if I'm in need of a laugh or some feel good material!

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

Hmmm.... So honestly? I think I really love writing my version of Aria. She's very..... questionnable, but she's always so entertaining to me.

When it comes to OCs, I think Nagatha takes the cake, especially since I started writing her in The Empire of Preys. Rhanda also really surprised me in this one; she has a bluntness that's really different from my usual style, and it's quite refreshing (and she's also proving to be a much, MUCH more complex character than I initially anticipated, and I love nothing more than to discovery-write characters when the process is going well)

Thank you so much for the asks! 😄

[chipped-chimera]

You haven't finished Cyberpunk yet?! I thought you had! ... You know what? Keep up the good work. I hadn't been that upset at an ending since Mass Effect 3. (And from what I've heard (also haven't finished yet) BG3's ending is at least Mostly Happy.)

LOL YEAH I HAVEN'T. It's a talent. The worst kind. Like I could only describe this as my weird toxic (probably neurodivergent) gamer trait but:

If I am really enjoying a game, like 'oh this is going to change me fundamentally and become one of my long-term hyperfixations in rotation' my brain is just 'I don't want this to end'. And then I just ... suddenly stop. I don't know how it works (but I'm guessing it aligns with my fun audhd combo where I will exhaust something of its dopemine output then go latch onto something else) but it's like my brain is 'saving it for later'. Usually by distracting me with something else. It's rarely intentional but I am definitely forcing myself to finish BG3 because I have Phantom Liberty coming up (and I want to actually finish a game this time).

The other thing I tend to do is if I'm playing a game with multiple endings, when I hit the 'point of no return' I usually look up the endings in the vaugest broad strokes terms, so I can make sure the end I'm gunning for 'makes sense' to me and my playstyle thus far. I exclusively blame the game Catherine for this - I don't think I've ever been so aggressively angry at an ending in my life (I can't remember the specifics but I think I was, idk, 1-2 points or decisions? off the ending which I felt made MORE sense to me - so basically I learned, while the game thinks it knows what ending makes sense it might not always make sense TO ME when it comes down to it).

I could probably could have an extensive 'I studied game design you know' yell about how multi-ending pathways are laid out, but I'll tl;dr that and just say - sometimes I'll straight up miss an ending pathway because I thought the game wanted me to go in a specific direction or the option wasn't obvious.

So I'm not 100% anti spoilers ever but I am a 'I know the ending-ish but not how you get there' - that's what I avoid.

ANYWAY

Glad to hear BG3's ending is not going to clock me over the head. Thankfully I got the 'good' (good-ish?) ending in ME3, but only thanks to a. playing way past when it was relevant so I could b. know the endings in advance and prepare.

Yeah I guess I am a really weird gamer. >.>

[theunsinkablesappho]

Cut for Discussions of the "Vibe" of the Game and My Expectations

So I exposed myself to a tiny little blip of a... I guess you'd call it like an "intent" spoiler. I read a comment by a DEV about what their intentions were with DA4

And while that comment fucking haunts me, it has also lead me to the assumption that this game is not going to have a DAI or DAO style "happy" ending where the good guys triumph. It probably won't even have a DA2 style "this all sucks but at least we're together" ending.

I'm kind of expecting ME3 levels of emotional devastation - NOT in the sense that I expect an atrociously "yank the rug out from under you" underdeveloped joke of an ending but in the sense that.. I don't think we're gonna win this one.

I suppose we shall see, won't we?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Thoughts

Not super far in but I've decided to start cataloguing my thoughts here from here on out. SPOILERS PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED

[lady-byleth]

Sooooo, Shepard had a clone right? Knowing how much Cerberus likes to go above and beyond, there's a high chance that there's more than one. And the one we meet was comatose until needed, which she never was...so what if there's a whole bunch of clones in various stages of growth that just got frozen after Shepard went rogue

And after the war Miranda decides to see if she can find the rest and uncovers a whole storage of clones. Most of them are dead, either due to complications during development or because of cryo getting interrupted during the war

But one is still alive and asleep, so Miranda tells Shepard, who has only recently been released from the hospital, and takes her there so she can decide what to do with the clone herself.

Of course Garrus is there too cuz he's not letting Shepard out of sight until he's 100% sure she's not gonna get herself blown up again

Tali, Liara, Joker and EDI obviously can't be dissuade from joining either - EDI makes a compelling argument about having to test her new body that is actually complete bullshit, she's just curious - and James and Cortez just tag along because everyone else is going and it's about clones and the have Experience.

Javik comes too, cuz he's bored and Liara made vague comments about there maybe being Cerberus agents to fight, and Kaidan has a Bad Feeling about all these knuckleheads being in one room together so he comes along to keep the peace. That's a lie actually, he's just happy to be here.

Samara somehow shows up too, though no one actually contacted her cuz no one knew how. She just heard "Shepard" and "Cerberus" and decided "that could be trouble" and here she is

Grunt would have loved to go but Wrex tells him if he can't go then Grunt can't either cuz that would be unfair.

Jack has the kids to take care of and Jacob has his kid to take care of, so they're not able to come but promise help should there be some Cerberus agents that need blowing up.

Zaeed just sends a photo of himself at the pool titled "I'm fucking retired".

So Miranda ends up having to fly a huge group of people to that lab she found, which she grumbles about but she's not fooling anyone anymore.

As it turns out the facility is completely abandoned and powered down, except for the emergency power in the lab that's supposed to keep the clones alive. They check the whole place before they descend into the basement, looking for the one pod still active that Miranda found

They move past a bunch of pods with clones ranging from young girls to women the same age as Shepard and it's both fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

Shepard for her part seems to take it pretty well though she does stick close to Garrus who slings an arm around her shoulders to steady her. Tali links arms with her and Shepard gives her a small smile.

The active pod is in the far back and, at first glance, looks empty. Liara immediately grabs the data pad sitting beside it and flips through the many charts and notes on it, frowning in thought.

She mumbles something about "no growth hormones administered", gasps a small "oh" and holds the pad out a little so Miranda can read along with her as EDI starts typing on the console attached to the pod itself

"Oh!" she says after a moment, as if to echo Liara. Joker steps up next to her, trying to make sense of what she's looking at.

"What? How evil is it gonna be?"

EDI doesn't answer but turns to Shepard, a strange sparkle in her eyes that wasn't there when she first got a body. She looks both delighted and amazed. "Shall I open it?"

Shepard looks at the pod, worries her lower lip for a moment. Garrus squeezes her gently, Tali hugs her arm closer. The rest of their group closes rank around her, steadying her with their presence.

They're all here for her, no matter what. So she nods.

"Do it."

There's a low hissing sound and a blast of cold air, fog rolls out of the pod as the lid slides open slowly. For some reason Miranda and Liara look almost giddy, though Liara has to keep pushing Javik's hand down because he keeps trying to aim his gun.

James is standing on his tip toes to see into the pod before its even fully open and almost falls over when a very unexpected sound suddenly echoes through the room.

It's a crying voice. A baby's crying voice.

Samara immediately bolts forward, the instincts of a mother taking over, and she bends down into the pod and emerges with what's indeed a baby.

"Holy shit!" James looks flabbergasted.

"Holy shit..." Cortez doesn't look any better.

"Holy shit, indeed!" Somehow Kasumi is here too.

Samara rocks the little girl in her arms, scrutinizes her closely and smiles.

"Yes, I feel a strong resemblance to you," she says, gracefully moving to a completely stunned Shepard.

If you've never seen a galactic hero speechless, suddenly confront them with a baby clone of themself and that should do the trick.

The baby of course doesn't know that, she's just screaming, probably cold and scared and disoriented. She's squirming in Samara's arms, oblivious to Liara, Miranda, Tali, Kaidan and - surprisingly - EDI who are crowding around Samara to catch a glimpse, cooing already

Samara doesn't even try calming the little girl down, she has other ideas. Before Shepard can refuse Samara deposits the baby into her arms, adjusts her grip and then steps back, an almost mischievous tilt to her serene smile.

The baby calms immediately, big eyes the same color as Shepard's blinking up at a face that will he hers one day.

Shepard is motionless, looking like someone just slapped her with a frying pan...until the baby suddenly starts squealing in delight.

The unease melts from Shepard's face, a slightly confused but warm smile replacing it, and she gently shifts the baby closer to her chest, speaking to her quietly.

Little feet kick with delight, small hands reach out to grab at her face, and careful, scarred fingers brush plump baby cheeks and Samara watches with obvious satisfaction as her friends crowd around Shepard to continue cooing at the little girl now laughing happily

Shepard doesn't see it, focused on the baby as she is, but James just bursts into tears at the adorable picture while Cortez tries to console him without looking away. .

Joker is sniffing a little bit too but instead of staying in the background he loudly says "brittle bones coming through" and pushes to the front of the group. The baby immediately steals his cap. He is delighted. EDI is delighted that he is delighted.

Javik pretends very hard not to be mesmerized by the first human baby he's ever seen. He's failing miserably, much to Kaidan's amusement.

Garrus sticks to the sidelines, arms crossed over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face. He remembers London, the half joking half serious conversation about adopting kids after the war is finished.

He'd shelved the thought in favor of focusing on recuperating, fixing what the war had destroyed, and building up Shepard who had to wrestle with severe injuries, PTSD and survivor's guilt without the distraction of a galactic war to keep her from realizing how much she was suffering.

But...it had been months, life was slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy - as much as was possible after the heavy losses - and Shepard was getting better. Therapy was going well. She would never be fully free of what she'd been through, but she was determined to get better and Hackett had arranged for the best help in the galaxy.

She was getting better. And restless. She had started spending more time with the orphans, playing with them, teaching them.

She'd always loved children. And Garrus had been very serious about starting a family with her, not so much about the cross species babies that biologically wouldn't happen.

But here was a baby that Shepard already had a connection with, a baby that she obviously already adored. He hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Yes. This could be good.

He feels Samara sidle up beside him, smiling knowingly. "You should suggest it," she says.

Garrus nods, shoots her a smile. "Yeah, I think I will."