#Mira Shepard

[thexgrayxlady]

In which Joker and the crew have a movie night.

[tropicalfreckles]

Reuploading this because I think the slight different in editing the lighting looks nicer. I was finding a drawing to pick for something on twitter, reopened the old file for this and realized OH shit I messed up the order of the layers fort he lighting. Don't know why I never noticed that!

Anyways, reupload of one of my Shepard siblings, Mira, and Garrus. :)

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

Sophie Shepard & Dominik Shepard (ME2)

Ft. Cmdr. Kaidan Alenko & Zaeed Massani MIRA'S MORE CANON ME2 "We both did the best we could do underneath the same moon- in different galaxies..." AKA: The aftermath of Lair of the Shadow Broker. Recruiting the Not-Dossier: Apollo. Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition (2021) + Bonus :)

[mewkwota]

“Something tells me we’ll get along just fine.”

Someone made the connection before and I think it's the most incredible thing: two spacey leaders whose job is to recover people who are lost on a distant planet. I needed to see them together. :D

[crispysnake]

does this mean if keyleth died then she's Still dead and just Gone

[clericofshadows]

hope you don't mind this ask. but what are your favorite pc mods to use for the Mass Effect games?

oh man, there's so many... all my mods for sure ;)

and here's a link to the Mass Effect Modding discord!

but in all seriousness, here's a list. this isn't an install order nor does it list all requirements for mods, but it does have all the mods I can't live without or have used before and enjoy. read mod descriptions closely, watch for compatibility sections, and you'll be fine. I won't really mention cosmetics beyond listing some devs (including myself, to be transparent) who focus on that kind of thing, because this list will get even longer and cosmetics tend to be more on a case-by-case basis. I also won't list texture mods because I don't use them.

this is also not exhaustive and I will definitely forget some lol. browse nexus, there's definitely lots of things I probably looked over/missed.

also, do not use synth's guide, period. it's now unsupported and I'm tired of troubleshooting it on the main modding server.

LE1

LE1 Community Patch - Necessary for any playthrough.

Same-Gender Romances for LE1 - Makes Kaidan and Ashley available for same gendered Sheps, also functions as an optional flirting mod of sorts.

MELLO - Restores dynamic lighting for LE, makes the game closer to how it looks to OT.

Alliance Uniform Consistency - If you're like me and prefer ME3's Alliance uniform style, this mod backports them to LE1.

Skip Minigames (LE1) - Self explanatory.

Charted Worlds (LE1) - Marks more items of interest on UNC maps

Black Market License (LE1) - Gives more vanilla loot from "hidden" manufacturers, so weapons and an armor set that was previously inaccessible without console commands.

Private Message Terminal (LE1) - Adds a message terminal to the Normandy.

A Little Help From My Friends (LE1) - Requires Private message terminals, adds emails and collection assignment support from different characters.

Eclectic Emails (LE1) - Requires private message terminals, adds various emails to LE1 to flesh out the story and characters.

Galaxy Map Trackers (LE1) - Tracks discovered and undiscovered missions on the galaxy map

Pinnacle Station DLC - Brings the Pinnacle Station DLC back to LE.

Kaidan Alenko Overhaul (LE1) - Gives Kaidan a higher poly face and new hair

Casual Hubs for LE1 - Shepard and squadmates will wear casual outfits in some situations

LE1 Diversification Project - Overhauls ME1 with lots of asset diversity, cut content, and mission changes. Read the Article page for more details! (This mod has some hard requirements, read the description)

Advanced Weapon Models for LE1 - Backports ME3 weapon models to LE1.

Normandy Rapid Transit (LE1) - Adds the Normandy to the rapid transit fast travel points.

Mira Puzzle Be Gone - Tired of the Towers puzzle in Noveria? Me too.

Children of Rannoch - A Quarian Overhaul (LE1) - My personal favorite "visible Tali/visible quarian" face mod

Elements of Comparative Weaponry (LE1) - Gives better description information on weapons

No Skill Check Required for Loot (LE1) _ Take whoever you want without worrying about skillchecks.

No Armor Skill Required - Equip armor without worrying about skills

XP Rescale (LE1) - Increases XP rewards

ME3 Alliance Armor for LE1 - Backports the ME3 marine armor for marines to wear in LE1

Mako Squadmate Banter - Adds the elevator banter to the Mako (Please note this mod has a hard requirement)

Mako Infinite Boost - Self explanatory

No Sexual Harassment (LE1 and LE2) - Removes a variety of things, such as sexist dialogue and the weird Sha'ira touching. I personally just remove the Sha'ira stuff.

Virmire Savior Mod (LE1) - Lets you save both Kaidan and Ashley on Virmire (note, do disable Kaidan Alenko Overhaul if using this mod)

Hot Labs Restored (LE1) - Massive cut content restoration for Noveria

Caleston Restored (LE1 - ALPHA) - Restores the cut planet Caleston that used to be the place for Liara's recruitment mission.

Punch Charles Saracino - Why punch a reporter when you can punch Terra firma?

New Outfit for Matriarch Benezia - GIves Benezia some more practical outfits for her appearance.

LE2

Unofficial LE2 Patch - Necessary

LE2 Prologue Framework - Necessary for many mods

Early Recruitment (LE2) - Early recruitment of Tali, Samara, Thane, Legion, and access to Illium and Tuchanka pre -Horizon

EGM Weapons in Cutscenes (LE2) - Weapons you hold will properly appear in cutscenes.

Trigger Buttons (LE2) - Trigger story mission with a button press rather than forced into them

Cerberus and Alliance Uniform Consistency (LE2) - If you're like me and prefer the ME3 fatigues/uniforms

Anderson and Hackett Consistency Mod (ME2LE) - Anderson and Hackett wear their ME3 dress blues.

Risky Suicide Mission (LE2) - Makes the suicide mission in LE2 feel more like a suicide mission. Best used for a brand new playthrough

Cerberus Weapons (LE2) -Gives the game more Cerberus weapons, backported from 3

Modern Weapon Pack - Backports weapons from 3

Casual Hubs for LE2 - Shepard and squadmates will wear casuals on and off the normandy in some scenarios

Expanded Shepard Armory (ME2LE) - Large armor and casual mod, also allows you to select armor right before a mission

Virmire Savior Mod (LE2) - Continuation of Virmire Savior 1, allows one Virmire Survivor to confront you on Horizon while the other is a temp squadmate

One Probe All Resources - Use one probe to gather everything

No N7 Armor in Liaras Apartment - Removes the creepy armor in Liara's apartment.

F.I.S.H. Mod (LE2) - Kelly will feed your fish without flirting with her

Renegade Scars for All - LE2 - LE3 - If you're like me and love renegade scars and want them on always

Nos Astra Mineral Exchange - Adds a trading market to LE2 for resources and currency.

Same-Gender Romances for LE2 - Continues the same sex Kaidan and Ash romances from 1, adds Tali and Thane for same gender sheps. LE3 mod isn't out yet.

Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin (ME2LE) - Oriana's face is changed to Miranda's

Easy Armor Stats (LE2) - Armor stats are moved above descriptions

Skip Minigames for LE2 - As the title says

Bonus Bonus Powers For LE2 - Freely add or remove powers from Shep's loadout

Combat Evade Maneuvers - Adds a biotic dash for roll evade

Recovered Powers - Gives Shep 4 new powers

HD Romance Photos - Adds a larger photo for ME1 romances

Optional Flirting Mod (LE2) - Makes flirting options more clear and some actions optional via interrupts

Zaeed's Wholesome Revenge (LE2) - Save the workers AND kill Vido on Zaeed's loyalty mission if completed fast enough

Geth Pulse Rifle on Lower Difficulties - Don't want to play harder difficulties but want this gun? This mod is for you

Full Weapon Recovery - Recover all special weapons on the Collector ship

Skip Mass Effect 2 Prologue - Skips straight to character creator when starting a new game

Truly Unrestricted Weapons LE2 - Shepard and squad can equip all weapon types

Children of Rannoch - A Quarian Overhaul (LE2) - The LE2 version of the LE1 mod. Also has an optional addon for even more armors.

Extended Romance Scenes - Ports LE3 romance scenes for LE2 romances

No Shared Power Cooldowns - Removes the shared power cooldowns.

Kaidan and Ashley LE3 Armors for Horizon (MELE2) - As the name says, gives Kaidan and Ashley their ME3 armors in Horizon. Softly incompatible with Virmire Savior (the squadmate who is in your squad won't have the updated appearance)

More Gay Romances - Jack and MIranda can be romanced by Femshep

New Squadmate Casuals (LE2) - Casual outfits for various squadmates. (Note that a lot of the Squadmate armor mods have their own casuals, so choose options accordingly if you want a specific one to show up, as this mod will override most)

Platonic Post Horizon Emails - Get a new email from Kaidan/Ashley if not romanced post Horizon.

LE3

LE3 Community Patch - Necessary

Expanded Galaxy Mod (LE) - A massive overhaul of the galactic war system, Normandy, additional squadmates on some missions, and many QOL features that can be modified via settings.

Miranda Mod (LE) - Puts Miranda on the Normandy post Horizon and can bring her on missions. (Note: Some conversations do use AI voice cloning)

N7 - A Spectre's Gift - A new mission added to the game with some Andromeda references

Spectre Expansion Mod - I don't currently use it, but in the past I have. Requires EGM's Galactic War option, and provides a lot of new choices and mini missions and text based opportunities to influence war assets. Also has a small non-combat mission.

Skip Geth Consensus - As the title says.

Project Variety (LE3) - My personal preferred content overhaul for ME3, includes countless options, restore cut content, new areas to explore. Definitely a mod page to read very closely, it is a HEAVY mod.*

Virmire Savior Mod (LE3) - Continuation of Virmire Savior from previous games. One VS is chosen on Mars to be part of the story, and the other joins you post coup

Audemus' Happy Ending Mod - THE Happy end mod for ME

Kaidan Alenko's Hospital Stay - Gives Kaidan a shirt to wear while in the hospital + a new face texture.

Ashley Williams' Hospital Stay - Gives Ashley a shirt to wear while in the hospital + a new face texture.

Omega Hub - Beta - Adds Omega as a hub

Take Earth Back - Massively overhauls Priority: Earth

No Shared Power Cooldowns - Removes the shared power cooldowns

Dreams Remade - Overhauls the dream cutscenes

Kaidan Alenko Overhaul (LE3) - Gives Kaidan a higher res face and new hair, plus new armors and outfits (Also available for 2, but isn't compatible with the Prologue Framework currently.)

Padme's Cabin Additions and Memorials (LE3) - Adds some new decoration to the cabin

Apartment Additions (LE3) - Allows you to invite your LI to the Citadel Apartment

Thane Can Live (LE3) - Thane can live post coup

Optional Flirting Mod (LE3) - I don't currently use it since it's incompatible with Virmire Savior, but makes flirting options clearer

Citadel Epilogue Mod (LE3) - Play the Citadel DLC post-ending

Pinnacle Station Apartment (LE3) - Ports the Pinnacle Station apartment to LE3 and you can invite your LI.

Shut Up Leng - Removes Kai Leng as much as possible from ME3

BETA Bonus Bonus Powers for LE3 - Customize Shepard's and squadmate power loadouts

Ashley Consistency Project (MELE3) - Ports Ashley's LE1 hair and head to ME3, adds new armors and a zipped up version of her outfit.

More Gay Romances - Jack and Miranda can be romanced by Femshep

*Note that PV has a lot of mods built into it, so there's lots of mods I've likely left out because I use PV.

Cosmetics authors for various games. This includes outfits/hair for Shepard. SEARCH THE APPAREL CATEGORY ON LE NEXUS FOR BEST RESULTS. This list also isn't exhaustive, but I tried to include authors who I've used their outfit/armor/hair mods, and made notes if they also have stuff in the squadmate armor category.

If you want Squadmate Armor mods, both the APPAREL and CHARACTER category will give you results.

clericofshadows: I primarily do male shepard casuals and armors, with a handful of exceptions for femshep (Guardian Armors for Shepard, my port of the Destiny 2 x ME collab), as well as squadmate armors

MorningAngel: Both male and female shepard, does causals and hair, and I mean lots of casuals and hair. Squadmate armors as well

Munchyfly: Squadmate armors and various casual/armors for shepard

Bejeweledhanban - Squadmate armors

spiderbabes: Hair and clothing for femshep

Rngdshep: Primarily armor, casuals for femshep, some mshep mixed in the femshep mods

Beckaboo: Some causals, some armors, and squadmate armors.

zebbros: Male and femshep casuals, some squadmate armors

MentalHygiene: male and femshep casuals

Padme4000: Male and femshep casuals and armors, some hair

Poucinette: Hair mods

Horography: Casuals for both male and femshep

Marcus22Khaar: Some hair, some squadmate armor mods

mithran56 and nanuke: both authors have some armors and casuals, some squadmate armors (often collaborate on each other's projects)

Kinkojiro: Armors for both male and femshep

Mistyvail: Armors for both male and femshep

Dsetzu: Armors for both male and femshep

jasonntodd: Armors and casuals for femshep, and some for squadmates

I think that covers most things? There's a lot I most definitely left out, so browse Nexus!

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 replay, part two of Noveria:

-When you get to the garage, you fight several geth. Tali immediately suggests the geth were packed in Benezia’s luggage.

I know this is this the conclusion no matter the squad combo, but I can’t help but wonder – is this something the Quarians used to do? Pack the geth up like luggage when traveling? Is that where the idea to sneak them in like this came from?

-Tali to Matsuo if you go renegade referencing what the geth are up to: The same thing that happens to all species, Captain. Evolution.

Interesting to see Tali acknowledge there that the geth have been developing over the last hundred years, just like any other species would.

-In Aleutsk Valley, there are numerous flipped over vehicles. Some of them have crates and/or near bodies nearby.

Did the geth kill them? Is this why travel is considered so dangerous – because the geth are killing everything that moves?

-There continue to be intro enemy cutscenes, just like on Feros. Baffled why a Geth Colossus got one, though – I have killed so many of those guys by this point.

-Neither Tali nor Liara have a clue what the rachni are. I can’t remember – does Wrex hint at recognizing them?

-The Administration area is mostly tables. Where are the chairs to these tables?

-Amusingly, the menu for the Mira core mini game defaults to using omni-gel. Bioware knew people would want to skip it.

The decryption mini game for other objects defaults to playing the mini game.

-When introducing Shepard to Mira, paragon is spectre and renegade is Alliance.

Spectres are entitled to secure access by default. Alliance only has it because of the emergency.

Neutral is to ask for more info, learn about the types of security access, then pick. Neutral again defaults to spectre.

Again, I feel the game was going somewhere with Spectre = paragon and Alliance = renegade, and I really want to know what it was. Shepard being forced to pick between the Council and the Alliance?

-And in the memory core, we learn Benezia has moved on yet again. Your princess is in another castle.

-Binary Helix should pay Shepard a consulting fee for everyone they fix for them.

-If you ask Mira for a damage report after fixing the tram and the reactor, she says there are over a million issues in non critical systems. Kudos to Bioware for taking the easy route of reporting no errors.

-The salarian gate guard, I presume, killed himself because the rachni were loose… Oof. Dark, and fitting for the atmosphere Bioware wanted for Noveria. Bad things are going down.

[springagainafter]

Running around Peak 15 and fiddling with dialogue and I did not realize Shepard could just order Mira to unlock the door (that is trapping multiple rachni) that leads to the tram.

What a terrible idea. *reloads*

[anghraine]

@rain-sleet-snow tagged me in the "last lines of your WIP" meme! Thank you very much :D

It was a little challenging to determine because I do minor adjustments that alter the "last revision" metadata, but it looks like the last WIP I worked on was either my mainly unposted GW2 fic or my P&P/Mass Effect fusion fic. I went with the fusion for this because it's more likely to be relevant to at least someone's interests.

[Context for non-ME people: Udina is a canon ME character, an ambitious human ambassador to the interplanetary Council. Nihlus is also canon, an alien & elite agent of the Council offering humanity the chance for a single human—Commander Shepard in canon, Elizabeth Bennet in the AU—to join his organization, which humanity has been aspiring to for years. The fic's Admiral Hackett is a fusion of Mr Bennet and ME's Admiral Hackett; Captain Mira Gardiner is a fusion of Mrs Gardiner and Shepard's canonical mentor, Captain Anderson.]

“That seems reasonable,” said Udina. “I’m sure the Alliance appreciates the Council’s—ah—re-consideration of this matter, as do we all.” Nihlus ignored him. Hackett gave a brisk nod. “Of course. I’ll have Commander Bennet transferred to your ship, Gardiner. Tell her nothing of this until you’re approaching Eden Prime.” “Yes, sir,” Gardiner replied. With that, the admirals dismissed the meeting. Nihlus, to Gardiner’s relief, didn’t stick around, but left ahead of Udina, while Hackett caught her shoulder as she turned to leave. “You did well in there, Gardiner,” he said. “Good luck.” “She’ll need it,” said Captain Gardiner.

I haven't kept track of everyone who has done it, so feel free to ignore if you have and to do it if I don't tag you! But I'm tagging: @veliseraptor, @child-of-hurin, @heckofabecca, @incognitajones, @kareenvorbarra, @ladytharen, @ncfan-1, @steinbecks

[thexgrayxlady]

I wish I had written that bit of an AU in which Mira never joined the Alliance, but gets hired to steal the Prothean Beacon and kicks off the plot anyway.

[tropicalfreckles]

remembering I still gotta finish this some day. It's the background and body armor that is taking me forever to commit to lol

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

Sophie Shepard & Kaidan Alenko (ME2) 1/?

MIRA'S MORE CANON ME2 "The wrong place at the right time..." AKA: The aftermath of Stealing Memory. Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition (2021)

[sonyclasica]

BANDA SONORA

BANDA SONORA DEL MUSICAL DE BROADWAY MERRILY WE GOLL ALONG

Sony Masterworks Broadway, junto con los productores Sonia Friedman, David Babani y Patrick Catullo lanzan la versión digital de la nueva grabación del reparto de Broadway de MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG  de Stephen Sondheim y George Furth. El CD saldrá a la venta el 12 de enero de 2024.

Mira el videoclip oficial AQUÍ

Consíguelo AQUÍ

Producido por David Caddick, David Lai, Joel FramyMaria Friedman,el álbum fue grabado y mezclado por Ian Kagey en Berklee en PowerStationNYC y Renaissance Recording NY. La nueva grabación del reparto de Broadway incluye comentarios de la directora y productora del álbum, Maria Friedman, así como del antiguo crítico teatral jefe del New York Times, Ben Brantley. 

"La breve temporada inicial de Merrily We Roll Along podría no haber sido más que una nota a pie de página en la ilustre carrera de Stephen Sondheim si no se hubiera conservado su asombrosa partitura en la Grabación Original del Reparto de Broadway", afirma Scott Farthing, vicepresidente de Sony Masterworks U.S. "Es increíble que más de 40 años después, Masterworks Broadway haya tenido la oportunidad de conmemorar la célebre nueva reposición del musical para que conviva con el icónico álbum original".

Protagonizada por Daniel Radcliffe como Charley Kringas, Jonathan Groff como Franklin Shepard, y Lindsay Mendez como Mary Flynn, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG también cuenta con Krystal Joy Brown como Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke como Beth Shepard, y Reg Rogers como Joe Josephson. La compañía incluye a Calvin James Davis, Max Rackenberg, Brady Wagner, Sherz Aletaha, Maya Boyd, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Ken Krugman, Corey Mach, Talia Simone Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen y Jacob Keith Watson.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG está dirigida por la ganadora de varios Premios Olivier® Maria Friedman, con música y letra de Stephen Sondheim, libro de George Furth y basada en la obra original de George S. Kaufman y Moss Hart. MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG se estrenó oficialmente el martes 10 de octubre y estará en cartelera de forma estrictamente limitada hasta el 24 de marzo de 2024 en el Hudson Theatre (141 W 44th Street).

A lo largo de tres décadas en el mundo del espectáculo, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG traza la turbulenta relación entre el compositor Franklin Shepard y sus dos amigos de toda la vida: la escritora Mary y el letrista y dramaturgo Charley. Un original clásico de culto adelantado a su tiempo, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG cuenta con algunas de las canciones más célebres y personales de Stephen Sondheim.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (NEW BROADWAY CAST RECORDING)

TRACKLIST:

Overture

Merrily We Roll Along

That Frank

First Transition

Old Friends -- Like It Was

Franklin Shepard, Inc.

Second Transition

Old Friends

Growing Up

Third Transition

Not a Day Goes By (Intro)

Not a Day Goes By

Now You Know

Gussie's Opening Number

It's a Hit!

Fourth Transition

The Blob - Part I

Growing Up (Reprise)

Good Thing Going

The Blob - Part II

Fifth Transition

Bobby and Jackie and Jack

Not a Day Goes By (Reprise)

Sixth Transition

Opening Doors

Seventh Transition

Our Time

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG cuenta con un equipo creativo y de diseño formado por Tim Jackson (coreografía), Jonathan Tunick (orquestación), ganador de un premio Tony, Soutra Gilmour (diseño escénico y de vestuario), Amith Chandrashaker (diseño de iluminación), Kai Harada (diseño de sonido), Cookie Jordan (diseño de peluquería y pelucas), Jim Carnahan, CSA (reparto), Joel Fram (dirección musical y arreglos vocales adicionales), Catherine Jayes (supervisión musical), Alvin Hough Jr. (supervisión musical asociada), Kristy Norter (coordinación musical).

La obra de Broadway MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG está producida por Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, Jeff Romley, Debbie Bisno, Lang Entertainment Group, OHenry Productions, Winkler & Smalberg, Stephanie P. McClelland,

Timothy Bloom, Creative Partners Productions, Eastern Standard Time, Fakston Productions, Marc David Levine, Ted & Mary Jo Shen, Gilad Rogowsky, Playing Field, Key To The City Productions, Richard Batchelder / Trunfio Ryan, FineWomen Productions / Henry R. Muñoz III, Thomas Swayne / Lamar Richardson, Abrams Corr / Mary Maggio, Osh Ashruf / Brenner-Ivey, Craig Balsam / PBL Productions, deRoy DiMauro Productions / Medley Houlihan, Andrew Diamond / Katler-Solomon Productions, Dodge Hall Productions / Carl Moellenberg, Friedman Simpson / Vernon Stuckelman, William Frisbie / J. J. Powell, Robert Greenblatt / Jonathan Littman, Cleveland O'Neal III / Tom Tuft, Roth-Manella Productions / Seaview y New York Theatre Workshop.

Esta producción de MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG se realizó originalmente en la Menier Chocolate Factory (Director Artístico: David Babani) y posteriormente se trasladó al Harold Pinter Theatre, donde cosechó el mayor número de críticas de cinco estrellas de la historia del West End antes de ganar el Premio Olivier a la mejor reposición musical.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG fue dirigida originalmente en Broadway por Harold Prince y producida originalmente en Broadway por Lord Grade, Martin Starger, Robert Fryer y Harold Prince en asociación con Ruth Mitchell y Howard Haines.

Las entradas están disponibles en MerrilyOnBroadway.com desde 87 dólares. Habrá un número limitado de entradas de 39 dólares disponibles para las representaciones de MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG mediante lotería digital. La lotería se abrirá para inscripciones en la aplicación TodayTix cada domingo a las 12:01 a.m. para las representaciones de la semana siguiente y se cerrará al mediodía del día anterior a cada representación. Los ganadores recibirán una notificación push y un correo electrónico entre las 13.00 y las 16.00 horas del día anterior al espectáculo seleccionado, y dispondrán de 30 minutos para comprar sus entradas en la aplicación. Los participantes pueden solicitar 1 o 2 entradas, y la participación es gratuita y abierta a todos. Haz clic aquí para descargar la aplicación TodayTix.

CONECTA CON MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

WEB | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE

[master-gatherer]

That last reblog:

Darrow bought that shirt for Shepard, and now she wears it on laundry day

Ryan is the one handing her cigs

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 replay, part three of Noveria:

-Is Noveria really the longest main mission in ME1, or am I just particularly slow playing it?

-I genuinely like Captain Ventralis, right up until he decides to kill all the civilians.

I know he’s a mercenary, but that’s still cold. He’s been protecting them for a week, and then kills them all because Benezia says to?

The civilians emphasize that that the guards aren’t getting enough sleep and twitchy. I’d like to put killing them down to a poor decision due to sleep deprivation, but that still feels like a stretch.

-When introducing Shepard to Ventralis, paragon is spectre and neutral is Alliance

-Hmm. Here, Ventralis (and later others) says that Benezia was sent by the board to clean up the situation. In the port, Benezia claimed to be there as Saren’s assistant.

A reasonable conclusion would be that that Benezia was sent by the board, and in the port claimed to be there as Saren’s assistant to continue the charade that nothing was wrong at Rift Station.

Still should have set off red flags, though.

-Ventralis repeatedly emphasizes that the Hot :abs are extremely dangerous. I got the impression he wasn’t sure Benezia was in the Hot Labs.

I almost feel like he’s going through the motions here – he’ll tell you Benezia’s in the Hot Labs, but he’s reluctant to send you there to die. Why else would he let you continue to the civilian area?

-Ventralis: All I can do is hold out here and protect civilians.

Buddy, how I wish that was true.

-If you bail when the rachni attack and then speak to Ventralis, he strongly suggests that you go to the hot labs. Dude wants you dead for that. Understandable.

-The turian ERCS Guard has different dialogue before and after the attack. How many people see both sets of dialogue?

He also advises against going to the Hot Labs.

I’d say that he doesn’t know Benezia wants you to go there to be killed by the rachni, but later Cohen mentions that the guards have been jumpier since you came – like someone warned them you would show up. So seems likely he knows Benezia wants you dead.

Toss up on continuity error or him wanting you to have a chance.

-The inability to walk over the grates the rachni come out of is irritating, and will continue to be so.

Hot Labs

-This is not my final save, I just did a run through to see what would happen if you did the Hot Labs first

-When you ask Mira if an asari is present and she indicates Liara, Liara says: How you tolerate literal-minded VIs is beyond me.

Considering she has to deal with Glyph later…

Noveria actually has several moments like this which could have laid the foundation for her later changes in ME2. The problem is that these are A) missable if you don’t take Liara with you as a companion and B) never referenced. A callback to her frustration with the Mira AI when dealing with Glyph would have helped tie her characterization together across games.

-Mira, if you try to fake the code to set off the neutron bomb: Please report to security for arrest and interrogation.

In game, who programmed this??? They must have known that the user wouldn’t follow the directions. Was this just CYA, or to amuse the programmer?

-When speaking to Yaroslev, he only gives his title if you pick the neutral option.

You only mention you’re a spectre if you haven’t spoken to Mira and go neutral.

-If you go renegade and say you’ll kill the rachni queen, Yaroslev defends her by saying the rachni are intelligent and not just animals. The soldiers only need to be killed because they were raised away from the queen.

So stealing children from their parents and raising them as weapons to be sold to the highest bidder is an acceptable way to treat sapient beings…?

-If you go paragon and ask Yaroslev “You let these these out?”, he says “Eh. I am only following the orders”.

What does that mean? I had always assumed that the rachni broke out of containment. Is Yaroslev saying he was ordered to let them out? By who? Why?

-Yaroslev has not seen Benezia. I imagine she never went to the Hot Labs, but went straight to the off limit back room labs

-The Rachni are terrifying enemies because they reproduce so quickly. The Krogan are terrifying enemies because they reproduce so quickly. Mass Effect found a methodology that worked and stuck to it.

-Why didn’t Yaroslev set off the neturon purge earlier?

Ventralis said the first attack was a week ago. As a security measure, Yarosleve (and Shepard) can’t leave the Hot Lab until the neutron bomb is set off. He’s out in the open when you enter the lab. So the dude has just been chilling in the Hot Lab for the last week?

When you speak to him, he asks if you’ve been sent to contain the situation, like he was expecting you. But if the neutron bomb is required to contain the situation and he has the codes for it, why did he wait until you showed up?

-How does Shepard get the neutron purge codes from Yaroslev after the rachni kills him?

-After you purge the Hot Labs and go back to the civilian area, the spot for the merchant is still marked despite the merchant being dead.

The Mira dialogue wheel hasn’t changed either, despite all the folks in the med bay also being dead.

-So, it turns out if you clear the guards in the back rooms you don’t get the scene with Han Olar in the lower labs. Time to replay the Hot Labs again.

-Han Olar says the company wanted the civilians killed as a cover up for the rachni getting loose. Cold of Binary Helix, cold of the mercenaries.

This is very similar to Exo-Geni wanting the colonists killed to cover up the Thorian. I think it’s safe to say that the Mass Effect 1 writers were not fans of corporate culture.

-Time to reload and keep as many people alive as possible

Civilian Sidequests

-One of the scientists says that they tried to warn Benezia about the Hot Labs, and Benezia pressed down on her brain.

Is that a thing? The asari can perform mind contact with you even when not in a mind meld?

-Petozi, the elcor merchant, is sharing supplies with Ventralis for free. Shepard ain’t paid to protect them, so Shepard has to pay up.

Petozi, the guards kill you in an alternate timeline. Cut me some slack here, I’m trying to get everyone out alive. Yes I’m at max money again after selling off all my unneeded equipment, but it’s the principal of the matter.

-Everyone really wants Shepard to know that the guards are twitch and sleep deprived.

What are they expecting Shepard to do, exactly? I don’t get the impression that most of them are warning Shepard that the guards are dangerous, so much as they’re asking Shepard for help.

-When you speak to Alestia (scientist that is one of Benezia’s disciples), you can ask her about Benezia. She asks you why you haven’t asked your friend – in this case, Liara. This can be taken as her recognizing Liara as Benezia’s daughter.

Liara claims she knows nothing about Benezia.

I have a feeling she means that, and wasn’t just saying it to hide her identity.

-When speaking to Dr. Zev Cohen, if you go netural you go directly into the sidequest about the quarantine lab.

Paragon or renegade, you get the dialogue wheel and an option to ask about the sick scientists.

-Dr. Zev Cohen: I’d like to think the company finds our lives more valuable than their secrets.

Uh. I’ll do my best to make sure you’re not disappointed.

-In the medbay, what’s up with the dialogue wheel for Mira?

You can ask her to run equipment. Why? That does nothing.

The investigate options just briefly summarize what Cohen tells you.

It feels like Mira’s presence is a left over from something that was cut. Maybe Cohen was added after Mira, so in the original sidequest for the sick scientists Mira was the point of contact.

-Something that’s bugged me through Noveria: All the mercenaries have the same face paint. Turian face paint is based on their place of origin, so all these mercenaries are from the same place?

And now there’s a scientist with the same face paint as the mercenaries.

How did so many turians from the same location wind up on a human world? This colony has been here for 15 years – there’s no way they were born here.

Lorik and Lilihierax have different face paint, so it’s not an oversight with Noveria over all.

It was probably just model reuse to save resources, but in-universe it raises a lot of questions.

-When speaking to the Quarantine guard, paragon is spectre and Alliance is neutral.

He has funny lines for both.

Alliance: Great. Another human wandering around where they’re not wanted.

Buddy, this is a human planet!

Spectre: There aren’t any human spectres.

Microaggression much? And when was the last time you checked the news? The first human spectre must have made some headlines, even if it was just to bitch about humanity being uppity again.

-When Han Olar tells you about the rachni, the nearby scientists protest. Even with the rachni actively attacking, they’re worried that telling someone about the rachni will result in the company killing them.

Well, they’re not wrong.

-When you ask Ventralis for permission to go to the Quarantine Lab, if you go renegade you ask him how much insurance the company has on the scientists.

Good to know that even in the future, insurance companies decide who lives and who dies.

-Who/what was the toxin being tested on?

In the quarantine lab, there are several small rooms with doors that can presumably be locked. Two contain beds, one a table and chairs.

If I’m being generous, these were areas where scientists that were accidentally exposed can isolate themselves.

If I’m not, these were test chambers.

-Renegade Shepard does have some good lines. When Alestia attacks you: She’s surrounded by geth and pointing a gun at us. Kill her!

-Han Olar is done with everything. He doesn’t hesitate to tell you where the geth came from and where you can get a pass to maintenance.

-Ventralis claims he did not know Alestia was working for Benezia or about the geth. I’m inclined to believe him.

It’s not enough to make him disobey Benezia, unfortunately. On my first play through I did the Hot Labs after this quest, and came back to find everyone dead.

It would have been nice if Alestia killing one of his people had made him decide “Screw Benezia”, and from this point out the civilians were safe.

-When you speak to Cohen again, he warns you that the guards seem to have been expecting you and have been twitchier since you showed up.

-If you go paragon, Cohen also mentions that Alestia showed up a month ago. Saren got her in.

ME1 is very ambiguous on its timeline, so I can’t say if this occurred before or after Eden Prime.

So why did Saren want her on Rift Station? Just in case?

When she attacks you, she says she was told told to kill Shepard – were those her orders after Shepard showed up, or her orders since was assigned to the station?

[calibratemehard]

this was an exercise in frustration, which is why I had to walk away from it for a while. I've got to find a better inking / line art brush that works with vectors but also doesn't look like straight up line art. Anywho.