#MShep Clone

[ferindencadash]

@spectre-requisitions-exchange is officially over for 2024! Not gonna lie, I'm a little sad. It was so much fun!!

BUT! Authors have been revealed, which means I can start hyping all the incredible people who took part this year! (And my own stories, but that will be a separate post.)

My gifts this year were PHENOMENAL. And I swear I am not just saying that to be nice. I got SPOILED ROTTEN this year. Like holy shit. 🥰

First up is my official gift! Mimicry by @keriweird featuring Kaidan and MShep's Clone.

First of all, I almost lost my mind when I saw the length. 25k?? That someone would write that much for a gift blew me away. Impossibly generous. Then I started reading and GODDAMN. This is, legitimately, one of the best Mass Effect fanfics I have ever read. Easily in my top ten now. They took my prompt and ran with it in the most creative and mind bending ways.

The DETAILS in this story. Holy crap. Talk about world building. And the way they turn a phrase?? 🥲Beautiful. I cried. A few times. And also laughed out loud. There is some top notch humour in here. GO READ THIS STORY!

On top of the masterpiece that I got for a gift, I got a treat!! (Seriously. Spoiled.) And I nearly peed myself (sorry) when I saw which prompt they had picked!

We have: Mother****ing Dragons!! By @thedaselcor featuring FemShep and The Iron Bull!!!

I didn't think anyone would jump on board with my crack fic pairing but I really hoped they would. You KNOW Shep and Bull would hit it off!! Come on! And holy shit did they ever deliver!!

This has got to be the most FUN I have ever had reading a fic. I was literally BOUNCING while I read this!! Giggling like an idiot the whole time. It is everything I could have possibly hoped for when I dreamt this up, and then some.

You have to go check this out! You will not regret it. What an absolute blast!

Honestly. I am so beside myself with joy. The biggest thank you possible to both my authors. I utterly adore you both. ❤️❤️

[mtreebeardiles]

Stardew Effect, Summer Year 1, pt 16

Full chapter over on AO3!

Kaidan leaned against the edge of Everett's desk, watching with interest as the other man carefully settled the injured bird into her temporary home. A makeshift nest to keep her comfortable, two shallow dishes filled with seed and water, and Evvy didn't bother closing the cage any when he straightened back up. Hadn't wanted to use a cage at all, Kaidan knew, but had ultimately decided the risk of the bird falling off his desk wasn't worth it. 

"So even the vet didn't know what breed she is?" he asked, cocking his head as he looked the bird over. He was hardly an expert himself, could barely tell the difference between a raven and a crow, but it still struck him as odd that a professional wouldn't have any clues, either. 

Though I guess a veterinarian isn't required to be a ornithologist, too. 

"She thinks she might be one of those rare birds you see sometimes down on the Fern Islands," Everett replied with a shrug. "Some of those come in this same shade of blue, though they tend to be a lot bigger…"

"Think she's a baby, then?"

"So to speak." Another shrug and Evvy offered him a wry grin. "Injured's injured, and I can only hope she'll be able to find her way once she's all healed up." He gestured for Kaidan to follow him back into the hall, and Kaidan waited for him there as the other man stepped into the bathroom to wash his hands. 

"Thanks, by the way, for coming over here instead," Evvy went on. "I'm pretty sure we'll have the place to ourselves -- Shawn and his boyfriend are meeting up with an old army friend of ours."

"Yeah, of course," Kaidan replied, falling into step behind him as Everett led the way to the living room towards the front of the house. He'd officially met Leigh the other day, their interaction brief but enough for him to get a good sense of the guy. Patient, with the sort of smile that reached his eyes, and Kaidan had liked him almost immediately. "I don't mind."

He murmured his thanks when Everett offered him some lemonade and settled on the couch, leaning down to scratch behind Nutmeg's ears while Evvy moved into the kitchen for drinks and snacks. 

"So you think that bird was in the mines?" he found himself asking once he came back and plopped onto the couch beside him. Everett frowned in thought, fingers tapping idly against the side of his glass. 

"I don't know," he admitted. "Seems like a weird place for her to be, but if she wasn’t then…"

"Then why would the bats have been chasing after her," Kaidan finished for him. He glanced towards the hall leading back to the bedrooms, unable to shake the feeling that something was off. Hadn't necessarily gotten any bad vibes, just… 

Oddness.

[flame2ashes]

Fun fact about this:

So obviously I used a save editor so that only one squadmate shows up during the clone battle, but it had the unexpected side effect of borking the animation in the cutscene (the parts where Shepard gets pulled off the edge by their squadmates). If you only have one squadmate, they will appear dead and unmoving on the ground in certain key shots

I basically worked around that for the gif by recording two different versions of the scene and then splicing them at the camera cuts. The power of editing. I do it for the sake of my OCs

[diaphanouso]

✨Spec Reqs 2024 - Gifts & Recs!✨

This was my third year participating in the Spectre Requisitions Rare Pair Exchange (@spectre-requisitions-exchange) and let me tell you, the creators COOKED 🔥 These fanworks have been sustaining me all week. Do yourself a solid and check out this year's full collection of amazing fics and fanart here, and don't forget to show these works some well-deserved love with some kudos/comments!

Here are my recs so far—I'll add to this list as I progress through the collection! Creators are still anonymous until Tuesday, April 9, at which point I'll update this post with the creators' Ao3 handles.

Works listed below are fics unless otherwise noted. And lastly: as always, mind the tags!

❤️ My Gifts ❤️

This year I was blessed with two amazing gift fics:

A Gaping Wound to the Heart | Castis Vakarian/Adrien Victus | Mature | by @teamdilf

Castis and Adrien finding comfort in each other lights up my soul, and this fic DELIVERS. The angst 🤌 The care 🔥 PERFECTION. chef's kiss

a still, small voice | Fshep/Wrex | Explicit | by calypsid

An absolute gem with hot as fuck smut, incredible prose, and a Shepard grappling with the unsettling experience of inhabiting her new body 🤌 Wrex is there to help (and does he ever) 🥵

🔥 My Recs 🔥

Byte Me | Fshep/Legion | Explicit | by @kalliesa

Reach and Fucking Flexibility | James/Garrus | Explicit | by @ginbiscuit

God is a Verb | Mshep/Jack, Mshep/Kaidan, Implied Jack/Kaidan | Mature | by @krahka

A Deal is a Deal | Fshep/Shadow Broker | Explicit (cw: dubcon) | by @vorchagirl

Be Gentle (Artwork) | Thane/NBShep | Explicit by @finchmarie

comm chats and more | Diana Allers/Samantha Traynor | Gen | by @hazelestelle

Mourning what we could be | Fshep & Fshep Clone | Gen | by @depressed-sock

[depressed-sock]

Stuff I did for Spec Reqs 2024! :D

(I'll also be doing individual posts for these but here's just a comprehensive list! )

It's Colder in Hell (Wishing you were there!) (2,649 words) part 1/2 | Zaeed/Nb Shepard

Dangerous Together (Art) Miranda/ Liara

Hanging Around (375 words and Art) Zaeed/Chakwas

Mourning what we could be (911 words) FShep & Clone Shep

Beach day! (Art) Jacob/MShep

Make me a Home even as I Wander (4,345 words) Jack/Nb Shepard

Out on the town (Art) Miranda/ Liara

[dandenbo]

[updated for 2024] exchange letter

Hey, dear creator, I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Here are some general likes and DNWs:

General likes:

canon divergence and messing with timelines; pre-canon, side missions, and intervals between the games; AUs within the same setting (eg. space pirates, assassins, etc)

queer characters (nb, trans, gnc characters welcome, whether it’s Shep or your take on a canon character; no preference for presentation, anatomy, terminology as long as it’s respectful; no gender swaps please)

body diversity

angst, horror, bit of violence (fine with major character deaths, happy endings not necessary)

nontraditional relationships (queerplatonic, friends with benefits, situationships, non-monogamy)

forced proximity tropes (eg. oh no we’re trapped, only one bed, cuddle for warmth, etc)

OCs and worldbuilding, add as much as you’d like!

vampires (gimme a vampire AU I’m so so serious)

General DNW:

mundane AUs (eg. coffee shop, college, etc), any cop or detective AU

Andromeda, crossovers in general

first or second person, chat fic (some epistolary is fine)

pregnancy, marriage, underage characters, focus on familial relationships (canonical backstories and passing mentions are fine ofc)

making older characters into surrogate parental figures, found family literalism (eg. mother hen Chakwas, little sister Tali, “adopting” Grunt)

character hate and unchallenged negativity directed at entire species

suicide (mention, ideation, or attempts; exception for death in battle, heroic sacrifice, the clone’s canon)

whitewashing characters of colour, changing canonical queer identities

for trans Shepard or clone, Cerberus helping them with their transition

Shep: 

If Shep is involved, I don’t mind if you use default Shep, or put your own spin on them. Any combo of background/profile/class/ending is fine and I prefer that Shep is not extremely renegade. You’re welcome to write or draw my Sheps if you’d like, search my tags “ashford shepard” (mshep) and “otto shepard” (nbshep) to learn more about them.

Prompts are only suggestions, I’m happy to see whatever you come up with! Any and all treats welcome!

And for the smut. I love smut (art or fic), and would be happy to receive it for any romantic pairing, unless specified in the request.

Smut likes:

teasing, edging, “don’t get caught”, knives, biting, breath play, grinding, frotting, blindfolds, armpits, over the clothes stuff, getting messy (cum, sweat, spit, and blood), rough and desperate sex, improvised restraints. Love BDSM and kink, anything not in the DNW is fair game.

Smut DNW:

scat, piss, vomit; non-con; breeding; losing virginity; high protocol or 24/7 BDSM; omegaverse; race play or fetishisation; misgendering; age play (mature age gaps are great though); pet play; incest; the term “pegging” (prefer it’s just called what it is, fucking)

[theoriginalladya]

For anyone interested, here's Aubrey's playlist. And a few more pictures...

I may be having way too much fun creating this character...

[pibbiscus]

Clone Shepard: im going to fucking end you

Garrus: Shepard!! why is your clone a woman????

My Shepard[who is trans]: we'll. Talk about this later. *sweating intensely*

[irikahkrios]

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

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

Favorite game of the series: me2 or andromeda

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

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: spacer

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

Biotics or Tech?: biotics

Favorite class: vanguard

Favorite companions: irikah and thane

Least favorite companions: liara

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

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

Least favorite romance: thane/shepard without irikah.

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

Favorite NPCs: kolyat, anderson, and conrad verner

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

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

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

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

Least favorite mission: priority thessia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Favorite weapon: m-22 eviscerator my beloved

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

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

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

[mtreebeardiles]

The Odd Trio, pt 1

Also over on AO3!

In the end, he blamed the boxes. 

Little changes here and there over the course of months had been easy enough for Shawn to ignore, to see without seeing, to hear without listening, clinging to the idea that if he just refused to acknowledge the problem, the problem would go away. Illogical and he knew it, but admitting he knew it went against the rules of the game he'd made up inside his head, so he ignored that, too. Turned a blind eye to all of it really, from the slow emptying of shelves, to less and less groceries being bought, to longer interludes where Evvy and Kaidan spent more time on the planet down below. 

It started with the announcement that they were house-hunting. Shawn ignored this. Then came house-buying. Shawn ignored this, too. Then came a date set, a time to go with the place, circled in red marker on the calendar that glared at him every morning when he made his coffee.

He pretended he didn't know what it was for. 

But the boxes had the audacity of blocking the front staircase. Neatly stacked, clearly labeled, undoubtedly a nod to Kaidan's far superior organization skills, and it hit Shawn like a shuttle to chest. He stood there, frozen on the steps, fingers tight around his mostly-empty cup of coffee, all thoughts of what he intended to do once he got down to the first floor of their apartment flying from his head and replaced with a sense of dread so intense he wondered if maybe he'd throw up. 

This isn't happening. 

The boxes continued to block his path. 

They're not really leaving me here all by myself.

And technically… they weren't. Shawn knew that. Knew he wasn't the only one Evvy was leaving the apartment, knew their more recent roommates were staying put just as surely as Shawn was. 

But Joker and EDI weren't Evvy and Kaidan; it just wasn't the same. 

Shawn turned on his heel and marched back up the stairs, head buzzing with so much white noise that didn't start to clear until he'd pushed his way into the master bedroom, and only then so that feeling of dread could take center stage again. All the things he'd been ignoring were hitting him one after the other -- the walk-in closet, empty of most of its clothes; more boxes in the bathroom, tops still open to hold whatever odds and ends had been left for these final days. New bedding, crisp and stiff and it made Shawn's skin crawl as he plopped down atop it, right across from a very startled Everett. 

"Uh, Shawn? You…okay?"

"You're actually leaving?"

Evvy blinked at him, frowning. 

"…yes?"

"Like…actually, though?"

The frown deepened. 

"Shawn, we've talked about this -- we showed you the pictures of the house. It's on the calendar."

"Yeah, but…"

His brother watched him, bafflement at war with a growing concern. Shawn didn't like that; he didn’t like to see Evvy worried, or in pain, or broken down. 

And that's all this place ever does to him. 

That, at least, Shawn hadn't been able to ignore. 

It had started slow, but once it began it showed now signs of stopping. Everett's recovery had been long, painful, and arguably ongoing even to this day. But he was up and about, had some of his old energy back, ventured out more and more. He was visible again, noticed and noted, and he'd maybe had a handful of peaceful weeks before the bullshit started to come out in waves. 

A hero's welcome wherever he went, slowly easing into questions he knew Everett had answers for as surely as he knew he didn't want to give them. Was he returning to active duty? Surely the Savior of the Galaxy had earned enough accolades for several promotions, to assume command on a bigger, broader stage. And if not that, then perhaps he'd find his niche in the Council -- surely he'd be an overwhelming favorite should it come down to an actual vote this time. Other suggestions, other speculations less common, but all had the same underlying message: what was Everett Shepard going to give to them this time? What part of his heart, his soul, his body, and his mind was next for them to consume, what role would he find himself in to let them take, and take, and take some more? 

Because taking more from Everett Shepard had always been a given -- and no one had expected him to finally say no.

"He's retiring? He's not even thirty-five!"

"Nah, I don't buy it. He'll be back out there before you know it, setting records straight and making sure humanity gets its due after all this bullshit."

"He can't just give it all up -- what a fucking waste that would be! What's he gonna do, stay home and sit on his ass all day, watching TV? Work some regular ass job? Please."

Fame came with a lot of expectation, Shawn discovered, and Evvy's had always been soaked in blood. 

But time marched on; Evvy didn't re-enlist. Showed zero interest in the Council. Hero worship slipped so easily into open contempt, and as the galaxy began to piece itself together its politics turned as toxic as ever. Some blamed him for the war; others blamed him for Earth being hit first. Some were convinced the danger wasn't past, and insisted he do something about it. Insisted, really, that he owed them all something: owed them for their own pain, their own losses, their own shredded sense of normalcy. Receipts gathered only to be thrown in his face, what-about-isms running rampant, criticisms for the choices he'd been forced to make throughout the war. After all he'd done, all he'd orchestrated in the name of giving them all a chance, and it wasn't enough. 

It would never be enough. 

You can't take this from him, too. 

Even if the idea of not having him around so much made his chest hurt and his eyes smart. 

"Shawn?"

"Could've given me more warning, you know."

Evvy's frown inched from concern to outright disbelieving. "…Shawn, we talked about this months ago."

"Yeah! Well! That's hardly enough time for someone to consider life-altering events!"

"'Life-altering --' what? You're still living here!"

"Without you and Kay! With Joker and EDI! What if we don't get along!"

"They've been living here for nearly a year!"

"With us, and now it's gonna be just me! What if they try to change things --"

"--like what?"

"I don't know! What if Joker decides to sit on the right side of the couch? That's my side!"

"The apartment has like five couches, Shawn."

"And the right side of each is mine."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"And I like the cupboards arranged a certain way! And the shelves! What if he decides on a whim that Kaidan's method is out and his own dumb system is better!"

"I don't think anyone would accuse Joker of being particularly 'whimsical.'"

"He better not be," Shawn muttered darkly. "I don't have the patience for that shit."

Evvy's lips twitched, curving ever so slightly upwards and he shook his head. 

"You're allowed to say you'll miss us, Shawn. It's okay."

"Pssh, yeah, right, this isn't about missing you it's about Joker's terrible taste in movies…"

"Shawn."

He bit at the inside of his lip, but forced himself to meet Evvy's eyes. His brother scooted closer, resting his hands on both of Shawn's shoulders and giving a little squeeze. 

"You're going to be okay," he said. "And it's not like you can't come visit, yeah?"

Shawn stared at him a moment, that awful feeling of dread twisting him up inside. 

He pushed it back down again.

"…yeah." He dropped his gaze, swiping impatiently at his eyes. Everett sighed, giving his shoulders another squeeze.

"C'mere."

He gave a tug and Shawn didn't resist, letting his brother pull him into a hug. 

"You're gonna be okay, Shawn," Everett murmured again, holding him tight. "Trust me."

And Shawn didn't answer, his throat too tight and the words too hard for him to find, so he just held him right back. 

Held him tight, and hoped that he was right. 

[swaps55]

Mass Effect Tag

I was tagged by @pip-n-flinx and @ghostxofxartemis. Thank you!!!

I have seen several people do this, and don’t know who’s been tagged and who hasn’t. Uh... @tackals, @mai-nonsense, @pyritea, @joking611, @th3morrigan, if you have not and would like, no obligation!

I am a fan since: November 2007. I still have my receipt for the purchase of Mass Effect 1.

Favourite game of the series: Mass Effect 1. It is my happy place. My comfort food. It has a sense of wonder and discovery to it the other games don’t have. It’s where the world felt the most real and had the most depth, with endless possibilities.   

Mshep or Fshep?: I imprinted on mShep, something I constantly feel guilty about, because I feel like a traitor to my gender. Femshep is such an important, iconic, and groundbreaking character for women in gaming, and yet…mShep just has my whole heart.

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer? Spacer. Because thinking about all the normal things you experience on a planet that would be really fucking weird to a person who has lived their whole life in space is one of my favorite things.

Biotics or Tech? Biotics. All the biotics. I live for biotics.

Paragon or Renegade? I’m a helpless filthy paragon, no matter how hard I try to be a renegade. I can’t be a dick to pixels, apparently.

Favourite class: Adept & Vanguard. The only thing better than space magic is smashing your face into the enemy with space magic.

Favourite companion: Kaidan, Mordin, Miranda, Liara, Garrus, Wrex, Tali… 

Least favourite companion: Jacob and Thane. Not their fault. I just didn’t connect with them. Jacob’s struggles as a character are well known, and it’s such a shame. 

My squad selection: I change it up a lot across all three games. In ME1 I tend to cycle through everyone but Ashley, not because I have anything against Ashley, but I micromanage everyone’s power usage and I don’t find her skillset interesting to play with. In ME2 it’s primarily a mix of Mordin/Samara/Miranda/Garrus because it can be kind of hard to find a ME2 squad with abilities that can handle anything over Normal difficulty. In ME3, Kaidan, Garrus, and Liara get the most playtime.

Favourite in-game romance: Kaidan. After all this time puts me on the floor every single time. 

Favourite NPC: Every single salarian. Every single one. In the original trilogy, there is not a single salarian I do not love.

Favourite Antagonist: Shepard’s clone. The clone storyline is hokey and gleefully hilarious, and that boss fight is the most fun I’ve ever had in single player.  

Favourite loyalty mission: Mordin’s.

Favourite mission: Virmire. It is such a perfect microcosm of all the things that make Mass Effect great: player choice, consequences, world building, epic storytelling, character depth. All right there in one mission. But if I were to look at each game in the trilogy, it would be:

ME1: Virmire

ME2: Suicide mission

ME3: Priority: Tuchanka

Favourite DLC: Citadel DLC, and it’s not even close. The runner up, also by a daylight margin, is Lair of the Shadowbroker.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Fuck the endings. I end with the Citadel DLC.

Favourite weapon: As a biotic I often forget I have a gun, but in single player my babies are the Hurricane, the Carnifex/Paladin, and the Piranha. In Multiplayer, add the Valiant.

Favourite place: The Citadel in ME1, Virmire (it’s so pretty!!!). Eletania. Many, many of the planets you can explore in ME1.  

Favourite Quote: “Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

[omegastation]

well. the reunion is here so we can rewatch it. 

(i need to rewatch the moment meer talked about mshep vs fshep clone and fshep vs mshep clone because damn, such a cool idea.)

but really, the whole thing was wonderful, from beginning to end. 

also, did Jennifer Hale legit finish this by saying “go forth and heal"?!

[maskydoolovesmasseffect]

Mass Effect Tag

Wellio, I’ve been tagged by @berryshiara. Passing this on to @grummel83

Gunna answer my questions now. Y’all feel free to tell me what you think of these answers. ​

I’m a fan since: 2008. I was just out of high school and still not over KoTOR. I was fresh in the army and got to talking to some other dude fresh to the army about video games. He asked me if I played Mass Effect. I said no. By the next day I just about totally forgot about him, then he suddenly appeared out of nowhere sat in front of me in the chow hall and pulled a copy of ME1 for Xbox 360 out his pocket like he was a magician doing a magic trick (ACU pockets are huge.)

Anyway turns out that guy was a romance option and I must have picked the right dialogue options. I’m still with him, too.

Favorite game of the series:

Mass Effect 2. It seemed like that’s the one where choices mattered most and you really got to know your squaddies. Also MAJOR gameplay improvements over the first game. And that game gave me the most freedom to do basically whatever I wanted and wasnt afraid to give me consequences for it.

MShep or FShep:

FShep. Nothing against MShep, but for me the real Shep is FShep. Can’t beat Jennifer Hale’s voice. 

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer:

Colonist. I like having the background of knowing just how dangerous the galaxy can be and how the Alliance can’t be everywhere at once so sometimes you need to manage your best on your own.

Biotics or Tech:

Both.

Paragon or Renegade:

Paragon, mostly. I tried being renegade but some of the actions are just so pointlessly dickish, or even outright unhinged in a way that would make it impossible to believe the Alliance would ever promote Shepard as an officer or even keep her in the Alliance at all, especially in the first game.

That said, there are times where a renegade action is more expedient and practical than a paragon one, like in 2 when you stab a dude in the back to prevent him from repairing an enemy gunship, so even with a paragon playthrough, my Shepard will have no issues taking that opportunity. She’s already seconds away from betraying all those guys anyway.  

Paragon in treatment of others, renegade in combat pragmatism.

Favorite Class:

I play as infiltrator and vanguard.

Infiltrator is great for using a sniping and opening loot, and then for going invisible, and if I remember right AI hacking too. That’s cool and I wish there were more genuine opportunities for stealth.

Nowadays I play as Vanguard in my playthroughs mainly just so my Shepard can be canonically biotic for story reasons. From 2 on when looting no longer needs a special skill and I get to charge around the map. I don’t really care much about using biotics (that’s what the squadies are for) but the movement is super useful (when Shepard actually does the thing instead of just standing out in the open soaking up bullets until the ability decides to actually work.)

Favorite Companion:

Garrus. I like to set him up in sniper positions. When he actually STAYS where I put him instead of running straight up to enemies to try to snipe them at point blank, he’s great.

Also his quips in 2 on are pretty entertaining.

Least Favorite Companion:

Garrus, Oh my god. Go back to the sniper position where I put you. Leave tanking to krogan; you do not have the HP for this.

Also Kaidan in ME1. He can not shoot to save his life - literally.  

My Squad Selection:

For all ME1 playthroughs after my first one, Ashley and Kaidan, just of their comments and because... well... I only have so much time with them.

Apart from that I mainly just pick my team based on who’s likely to have the most interesting commentary on whatever the mission happens to be, squad balance be damned. 

Favorite In-Game Romance:

Garrus X Shepard is my favorite love story. They are just so adorable together and always supportive even when they disagree.

But my cannon romance is Kaidan X Shepard for the drama and angst.

Favorite NPC:

In ME1 there’s this random Turian on Noveria who randomly has like a New York accent and I absolutely adore him. He plays basically no part in the story other than some minor information but he’s just so pleasant to speak to.

“If you need anything, I’ll be here.”

Favorite Antagonist:

Morinth, the Ardat-Yakshi daughter of Samara. Yes, she’s a murderous vampire who will absolutely kill you given the chance... but like, it’s a medical condition. And I really can’t help but feel for ardat-yakshi in general when their only options are to spend their whole lives on the run from justicars out to execute them, or waste their entire 1000 year lifespan imprisoned in a monetary unable to experience the world at all. Yeah, Morinth is evil, but Ardat-Yakshi don’t exactly have a good deal.

Favorite Loyalty Mission:

Grunt’s loyalty mission is the best. I get to help my baby boy, reunite with Wrex, enjoy krogan society being fleshed out, have a kickass battle against a thresher maw, and get a breeding request. It’s nice to have a quest that isn’t about family drama and genuinely gets a happy end.

Favorite Mission:

Despite Citadel DLC requiring everyone to have a deathgrip on an idiot ball, and also basically gloss over some really dark stuff, the whole clone storyline with the whole crew is an absolute ride all the way though, with lots of interesting and unique scenarios, a ton of replay-value, and funny party banter that feels like it came straight out of a Marvel movie.

Favorite DLC:

Again, Citadel DLC. Not only did it come with the story above, it also had all those interactions with past and present crewmates, including a memorial for Thane (finally!), a cool apartment to hang out in, a party, an arcade, and an awesome battle arena. It really added a TON. Also, it’s nice to see Bioware figure out that DLC needs characters - I’m remembering back in the DLC to ME 1 the party never had a single thing to say, no matter what was going on. The fun and wacky Citadel DLC is a far cry from the serious and somewhat dark space opera Mass Effect started as, but as the final DLC capping off the end of the series, it gets to do a silly victory lap (and get the taste of the ending out of our mouths.)

Control, Synthesis, Or Destroy:

No.

Favorite Weapon:

Sniper rifles, whatever I have that’s fast and has high damage output. Also that one pistol that shoots tiny energy grenades. Pew pew.

Yeah I wasn’t really big into the weapons so much. I’m here to get my story on. 

Favorite Place:

The presidium on the Citadel. It bothered me a lot when I couldn’t explore it in the second game. I know it would have been terribly impractical, but as the presidium is just a huge ring, it would have been cool to be able to explore the whole thing, going past all the little park areas, shops, monuments and so on until you loop aaaaall the way back around to where you started. Like, how cool would it be if the ring had a running track? Maybe C-sec  academy trainees would be spotted jogging together along it in formation. And can you imagine grabbing a coffee (I was going to make up a space-related name for Starbucks but it’s already STARbucks...) and taking a nice stroll along the water before finding a nice bench to alien-watch from? Other locations in the game are like great places to explore and do gameplay stuff, but the presidium seems like a nice place to just be.

Favorite Quote:

"Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." - Javik.

This is such a fucking raw damn line. It makes me think a lot about Cerberus. When ME3 wasn’t out yet, I thought maybe the plan was Shepard would at some point choose a side, Alliance for paragons and Cerberus for renegades. It would have been so cool to have morality not merely be good vs evil, but idealism vs that ruthless calculus Garrus mentioned. How fucking raw would it be if Cerberus wasn’t just generically evil for no reason and suddenly indoctrinated but really were embodying that ruthless calculus, determined to defeat the reapers at any and all cost. Maybe Cerberus actions’ were more likely to do terrible things for the sake of ultimate victory, doing whatever it took, whereas the Alliance would be less willing to make the terrible choices and ultimately be less likely to succeed.

Now obviously, that’s not what happened, as it would have required Bioware to basically make two entirely separate games. But that line from Javik makes me think of that concept, and a universe where like Dragon Age party members can approve or disapprove of actions not merely as good or evil but along the lines of their personal values. I think Javik would sit at victory at all cost.

Also that one mission in 2 where some random NPC catches Shepard sneaking around and is all like ‘what are you doing here?’ and Shepard is like ‘What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Get out here before it blows!’ and the guy’s freaking out like WTF and she says ‘RUN!’ then laughs to herself as he flees from an imaginary bomb. Shep you troll. 

The thing I like the least about the entire franchise:

The misogyny and objectification that crept its way in, epically from the second game on. Really didn’t like those ass-shot camera angles, or female characters being slut-shamed in-universe for the clothes the designers made them wear. Yikes. 

But the biggest yikes for me in that regard is actually the reveal in 3 that the prothians guided asari development. That was fine and all, but the part that bothered me was the characters commenting “ooooh, so that’s why asari are so advanced,” as it was ever any kind of mystery before that exact moment. For one thing, asari aren’t really shown as being more advanced than anyone else, apart from having discovered the citadel first, and for second, why wouldn’t asari be advanced? All the way from ME1 it’s established that 1: Asari live for a really long time, and 2: can instant transmit information directly from brain to brain. That means they have long lifetime in which to accumulate knowledge and experience, and also can easily spread and preserve that knowledge without even the need for books. That ALONE should put them ahead. And even with all that, they only barely beat the salarians to discovering the Citadel first. But no one asks for an explanation for why salarians, who live only a few decades and can’t do mental data-transfer, are so advanced. No, only the success of the all-women race needs explaining. It was just one moment but it still bugs me. 

Also the general loss of realism after the second game. First game everyone gets armor, including full-face helmets automatically on in environments that need it. After that, people can apparently just wander the battlefield half-naked and even somehow survive in a total vacuum if they just put a plastic cup (that isn’t even connected to anything) over their mouth and nose. In the first game they at least made up some reasonable-sounding science fiction explanation for things, but after that it’s like F-it everything is just space magic now. 

Oh, and those repetitive unlocking stuff minigames. I use a mod to just skip those. 

[deannastrois]

mass effect tag meme

Tagged by @rannochs, thanks~

Tagging: @girlonthelasttrain, @twilightacespect, @nightsistersmerrin, @vulpixelates, @butchdollyparton, @wlwkiranerys, @organasoloskywalker, @punklesbiancherry, @gracewyckoff, @vokulin, and anyone else who wants to

I am a fan since: I had to do some mental math here and remember my first year of college, 2010! my friend had shoved a game controller in my hand at her place and made me start playing it and I went out and bought an xbox solely for this game series and was hooked.

Favourite game of the series: ME1, everyone can disagree with me all they want on the gameplay but by far it has the strongest story. Also Wrex as a squadmate so like...it wins by default. I’m not biased.

Mshep or Fshep? Femshep

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer? Spacer!

Biotics or Tech? Tech

Paragon or Renegade? Paragon, I can’t be mean to fictional characters are you kidding me

Favourite class: Engineer

Favourite companion: toss up between Wrex and Tali

Least favourite companion: it’s Garrus. what started as mild dislike and fully blossomed into me absolutely unable to stand him now.

My squad selection: ME1 - either I take Wrex and Tali everywhere or I’m in a wilenko mood and take Kaidan and Ash everywhere until Virmire and then end with Wrex and Tali because then I’m sad. ME2 - Kasumi and Jack, I think they have the most fun fighting style. ME3 - EDI and whoever I think fits the mission, this one varies the most. 

Favourite in-game romance: tie between Tali and Kaidan

Favourite NPC: hm, not counting squadmates... Emily Wong who was robbed of being in ME3

Favourite Antagonist: the ME1 version of the reapers. idk what the fuck they were doing in ME2 since that wasn’t really about them and ME3 well. we all know how the ending went.

Favourite loyalty mission: hmm, if we were counting ME:A this would be such an easy choice for me but uh, I’m gonna go with Miranda’s. I love the siblings and the whole clone thing and her backstory with it.  

Favourite mission: Priority Rannoch, especially with romanced Tali, it holds the most weight for me. But it’s closely tied to Priority Tuchanka because Wrex calls you his sister and I cry.

Favourite DLC: hands down Citadel DLC, they really knocked that out of the park and it’s what a DLC should be. and then after that probably Shadowbroker.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Synthesis just cause I can’t destory EDI and the Geth or I’ll feel absolutely awful and Control just feels like a bad option to me.

Favourite weapon: I don’t really have one. I pick whichever one it gives me and do not care.

Favourite place: the Citadel in ME3, I really like how they fleshed it out there

Favourite Quote: I actually talked about it a few weeks ago but “It’s not tomorrow yet.” when Shep is talking to someone and they say how hopeless everything feels that they’ll even make it to tomorrow and that line just sticks out to me. 

[theoriginalladya]

I could drag you from the ocean I could pull you from the fire When you're standing in the shadows I could open up the sky

And I could give you my devotion Until the end of time And you will never be forgotten With me by your side

And I don't need this life I just need...

I've got nothing left to live for Got no reason yet to die But when I'm standing in the gallows I'll be staring at the sky

Because no matter where they take me In death I will survive And I will never be forgotten With you by my side

Cause I don't need this life I just need...

Somebody to die for Somebody to cry for When I'm lonely

When I'm standing in the fire I will look him in the eye And I will let the devil know That I was brave enough to die

And there's no Hell that he can show me That's deeper than my pride Cause I will never be forgotten Forever I'll fight

And I don't need this life I just need...

Somebody to die for Somebody to cry for When I'm lonely

And I don't need this life I just need...

Somebody to die for Somebody to cry for When I'm lonely

Don't go gentle into that good night Rage on against the dying light

Song snuck up on me while I was out running errands today and oh man, it's another Aubrey song. At least most of the lyrics fit, I think.

I really should start finding some Kaidan songs for this 'verse...

[kiutotakulady]

Hello! How are you able to port over old Mass Effect 3 hair mods into ME1LE?

Hi there anon!! I actually learn the process from this link which extracts the MELE PCC files to edit the mashes but due to my slow brain process, it actually took me a day or two to understand....😅 I kinda self learn the process to extract from the old ME3 & hopefully you don't mind my long tutorial here~

**(Just a little disclaimer, the mod assets I'm using for the example are not mine. I'm porting them mostly for personal use. If anyone wants to share their ported mod publicly then I suggest asking the original mod author for permission~)**

**edit for ME1LE**

oh shoot! You were actually asking about ME1LE but I end up putting in the tutorial for ME3LE! 😳 Since it's a whole long ass tutorial am just gonna leave it here.... T-T

Buttt if it's ME1LE hair mod then the EXTRACTING THE OLD ME3 HAIR MODS still apply for femShep only. mShep uses the 1 bone hair skeleton so I not yet figure out how to port the hair mesh. For the DLC mod, I kinda cheat a bit?? I used the hair mod already available for femShep in ME1LE. (I think there is only one hairmod in Nexus)

All I did was Import mods into ME3Tweaks Mod Manager

In ME3Tweaks Mod Manager go to Tools > Legendary Explorer (Nightly) > click PACKAGE EDITOR(PKG) > Click File > Open > search existing hair mod in ME3TweaksModManager\mods\LE1 folder

Chose the hair package you wish to change & rename it to the hair mod you wanted to replace. (or you can skip renaming cause that process took a bit of time)

Follow Figure 13 & Figure 16 from this tutorial & save.

Apply Mod in ME3Tweaks Mod Manager & you're basically done!

**end edit**

EXTRACTING THE OLD ME3 HAIR MODS

(If you already have the hair mod which contains the UDK meshes & DDS Texture files then you can skip to FIgure 3)

First, go to ME3Tweaks Mod Manager > Go to Tools > Legendary Explorer (Nightly) > click PACKAGE EDITOR(PKG)

Click File > Open > search PCC file which contains the mod you want to port (e.g. Zombrex hair mod - BIOG_HMM_HIR_PRO_R_HAIRMOD.pcc)

Before going to the next part, it's important to note that different hair mods will change/include a different hair package so make sure you read the mod author tutorial/notes on which headmorph they advise to replace.

The Zombrex hair mod follows the tutorial below so you can see its Hair_PROCustomCute Hair mesh for femShep & Hair_FormalSpikes Hair mesh for mShep.

For HAIR_Diff it's Hair_Short02 for femShep & luckily the HAIR_Diff for mShep is also under Hair_FormalSpikes.

As per the tutorial above, I'll open the Hair_FormalSpikes Package on the left-hand side > Righ-click on the [M] mesh file (HMM_HIR_Fsk_MDL) > click Open in Mesh Explorer

Right-click HMM_HIR_Fsk_MDL > Export Mesh to UDK > create file name for the extracted hair mesh & save to different folder (e.g. ME3LE hair mod folder)

Close the Mesh Explorer & return to the Hair_FormalSpikes Package in Package Editor > click on HMM_HIR_Fsk_Diff > once the texture details appear on the right-hand pane, choose the Texture tab > click Export to File > Save as type: DDS files (I prefer DDS file) > Save to the folder containing the extracted hair meshes

The extraction process is done!! If you wish to know how to create DLC mods for the extracted old ME3 mods then I will humbly suggest following this tutorial cause I am not the right person to ask that...since I'm facing ongoing trial & error with it too. 😅

The tutorial help to create hair mod that can also appear in the character creation so it could turn complicated. But if you wanted the easy way out like me then my advice on the tutorial is to:

Figure 3:

ONLY copy

BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.pcc (if you are editing Female Shepard’s hair)

BIOG_HMM_HIR_PRO.pcc (if you are editing Male Shepard’s hair)

Figure 5:

If you follow the edited tutorial in Figure 3 then the process can be changed to > under BIOG_HMM_HIR_PRO.pcc Right-click Hair_FormalSpikes > Clone Tree

For femShep right-click Hair_PROEva Package (with 42 bones which are used by most femShep hair mods. I'm still trying to figure how to port hair mod with 110 bones...)

For mShep right-click Hair_FormalSpikes Package (with 9 bones which are used by most mShep hair mods)

The duplicate hair folder will show up at the bottom of BIOG_HMM_HIR_PRO.pcc’s hair package which is highlighted in yellow:

After this, you can basically continue from Figure 8 - Figure 13

**Please skip Figure 14 - Figure 15 to avoid any gaddamn confusion**

Continue from Figure 16 to Figure 17 & then just click File > save.

The whole process gives me a lot of headaches but I hope it can make your modding journey easier with this tutorial. Happy modding!! 😄