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dragonflight203 · 4 months ago

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Mass Effect 3 replay, Horizon:

-Sadly, Horizon probably has been safe from the Reapers until now.

TIM is indoctrinated. They could safely assume he would only act in their interests, so they had no reason to target Horizon. It could wait until the rest of the galaxy was subdued.

It probably would have remained ignored if the breakthrough in overriding Reaper indoctrination hadn’t occurred.

-It sure is convenient that the Reapers attacked Shepard right after Traynor identified it as where Kai Leng fled to.

Neither Cerberus nor the Reapers should have known Shepard was coming, so this is a coincidence.

I think I would have preferred if Sanctuary was still operating per normal. How would Shepard investigate? Would the refugees turn on them? It could have been similar to Noveria.

But ME3 is primarily about shooting, so that was not on the table.

-Of course the Sanctuary broadcasts aren’t subtitled. Why am I even disappointed at this point?

-Miranda knows communications are being blocked. Why did she leave behind a message that Sanctuary is a Cerberus base inside Sanctuary? Who did she expect to find it?

And more pertinently, why didn’t she inform anyone before she went to Sanctuary? The Alliance, or at least Shepard?

Even if she wasn’t certain until she was at Sanctuary, just a heads up that something was fishy about it would have been good to know.

I suppose she was concerned about Oriana, but she could have told Shepard something along the lines that she was checking out Sanctuary and if she doesn’t report back in 24 hours to go after her.

Miranda’s too damn smart for this.

-What about the water draining system looks like Reaper technology? I’m not seeing it.

I suppose there are hoses, but the point is to drain water. The lights aren’t even blue.

-Liara: This looks more like a factory than a refugee camp.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Liara, that’s going to hurt in a few minutes.

-Javik when you switch on the console power and first learn what Cerberus has been using Horizon for: Yes... this process is known to me. They do not kill what can be useful. I’m sorry, Commander.

Shit. He saw this in his cycle, didn’t he?

He probably suspected from the moment they arrived.

-Cerberus isn’t using Dragon’s Teeth to create the husks.

I suppose pods are preferable because they contain the husk once its been created.

-Henry Lawson’s logs says the purpose of the husk experiments were too learn how Reapers communicate.

Did he mean with each other? Or with their troops?

-Javik: This is what happens when you allow machines to think for you. You become slaves.

Javik, how is the log of Henry Lawson describing that adrenaline is better than red sand to break will allowing machines to think for us?

-Javik is not nearly outraged enough about the refugees being used as test subjects. He seems more resigned than anything.

Javik, I assumed you had seen this type of facility before when you investigated to shut it down. Did the Protheans run them?

-Miranda’s log says that the point of the search was to learn how indoctrination works.

-A later console says they learned how to control Reaper troops, and planned to expand it to learning how to control the Reapers.

Yeah, not surprising the Reapers attacked.

What is surprising is that TIM was able to think clearly enough to pursue this plan. You’d think the indoctrination would have stopped him.

I’m half-wondering if the Reapers were confident that whatever TIM learned wouldn’t work; maybe they have multiple means to control troops and only let TIM learn one of them.

-And once again, I bitch about the timeline: Saren spent how long investigating indoctrination and made no progress?

Yet TIM’s learned how to override the indoctrination of Reaper troops in what, less than six months?

I’ll assume TIM got a hold of Saren’s research and has been building upon it. He also has had more subjects for testing, so that must help.

-Why is there a gun in a pod???

-Even at the end, Henry Lawson is obsessed with Oriana. He didn’t even raise this one.

And he’s surprised she tried to shoot him? How delusional is he?

-Let’s pour one out for Oriana. Torn from her family, probably trapped at Sanctuary since the start of the war, held captive by a man she doesn’t know who’s obsessed with her. Poor girl must be deeply traumatized by this point.

-If you go neutral with Henry Lawson and don’t take the renegade interrupt, Miranda dies.

This is very similar to the final confrontation with TIM, so kudos to Bioware on the mirroring.

-Shepard: We need to end Cerberus and focus on the Reapers.

I’ve been in favor of that since Mars, but good to see Shepard is finally catching up.

-I wish whether Miranda lives or dies made more of a difference. Either way, you still find Cerberus HQ.

It’d be a nice touch if it impacted the narrative at all. Even something as small as whether or not TIM expected you to come.

Normandy

-I’m still pissed at Bioware for killing Kal’Reegar off in an email. He deserved better than that.

He could easily have made an appearance in the Rannoch arc.

-Joker, Cerberus has already turned a colony into husks. They fed Alliance marines to thresher maws and experimented on the survivor. How can Horizon shock you?

It’s like ME2 and ME3 really, really want to pretend that nothing you learned about Cerberus in ME1 occurred.

-Edi’s confused about behavior of prisoners at a Reaper containment camp. They did not place their survival above all else; some protected each other and worked against the Reapers.

I’m baffled how an AI with access to the internet who has been flying Shepard around two games is confused by the concept altruism. She took them through the Omega-4 relay on a suicide mission to protect human colonies! After she was unshackled!

And how many books, movies, plays, etc. are based around these behaviors?

This feels out of place and frankly like an insult to Edi’s character up to this point.

-If you go renegade, Edi says indoctrination should have prevented the prisoners from rebelling. Shepard says they may have understood how indoctrination works and made a decision.

I don’t. The point of indoctrination is that it’s nigh impossible to resist. Saren and Fai Dan put bullets in their skulls to stop themselves. TIM will shortly have the opportunity to join them. Benezia locked part of herself away and was still overcome.

Unless Shepard meant to imply that prisoners that felt themselves being indoctrinated killed themselves?

If so, dark as hell. And good.

-Depending on your decisions, this can be the second time you tell Edi welcome to the crew.

Does the scene play differently if you welcomed her earlier?

-If you go paragon, you ask Edi if submission is preferable to extinction.

Shepard quotes Saren. Nice touch.

-Shepard, if you go paragon It sounds like you’ve found a little humanity, Edi. Is it worth defending?

Nitpicky on part, but in a galaxy full of multiple sapient species I wish Shepard had picked a different word than humanity.

-And Kaidan is craving TIM’s blood.

Understandable, but highly unusual. Kaidan is not normally the type to celebrate violence.

-Javik and the memory shard is so damn painful.

Paragon Shepard makes a mistake when they have Javik touch it: It reopens old wounds that had healed. It’s no wonder Javik becomes suicidal afterwards.

Every player should see the scene at least once; it’s critical to understanding Javik. But he’s not touching it again on one of my playthroughs.

-Javik’s story about his old crew is awful.

If Shepard had to do the same, I’m not sure they’d handle it better than Javik has. Shepard’s strength has always been their crew – who are they without them?

-Javik: War is an atrocity committed in the name of survival.

Good line.

-If you go renegade, Shepard doesn’t push Javik for more information about hid old crew.

Surprising amount of emotional sensitivity for renegade. They recognize it’s a sensitive subject and leave it be.

-The memory shard does explain why Javik speaks like he has first hand experience about so many subjects that he probably does not.

He may have seen them in the shard and so it feels like he has the experience.

-Javik: Subjugating the Reapers will not bring victory. Only their extinction will.

And Bioware is surprised that so many players reject Control as a valid ending?

The entire game argues against it!

-Tali, I don’t see the “emergency induction port” you’re referencing…

Bioware didn’t animate the straw.

-Tali: When do we get to stop reacting to our parents and start living for ourselves?

Tali, that’s a choice you have to make for yourself. But I’d say you’re overdue for it. Your father never deserved that devotion in the first place.

-Cortez: With you to the end, Shepard.

While I’m grateful for it, that came out of nowhere. No lines before or after. Is everything okay, Cortez?

Silversun

-Miranda, just refeI haven’t killed any fish this playthrough! The clone had no basis to blow up the sushi place!

-Miranda, did you just refer to the clone as it?

That’s just rude.

-Why do I need to return to the Normandy to trigger Miranda’s second meetup?

I can receive messages at my apartment. Let me get it there and save me some loading screens.

-Miranda and Shepard having a night out on the town is surprisingly cute. Space divas, indeed.

#mass effect #mass effect 3 #mass effect 3 replay

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o-wyrmlight · 2 years ago

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Hello. Me again.

I wanna do a bunch of comics as I replay the games so I won't answer everything XD but to answer a basic question;

You can play as a male or female Shepard, but Bioware intended the main character to be female. But because video games they were afraid dudebros wouldn't want to play a female lead so they just gave you a choice. Both are called "Shepard" because it's the last name. (Femshep's first name is Jane).

There is also character creation. So you can create a Shepard OC. but Shepard is one of the weirdest main characters I've ever seen, because as the years have gone on... instead of people leaning more into the self insert style of mass Effect, default Jane Shepard has become more and more popular. So these days most art and fanfic will write her as a default instead of a player/reader insert. it's fucking wild!

Also I am still in ME1 so she's still in uniform, but uh... that doesn't last.

........also yes I own the hoodie....

As for everything else... I selfishly don't want to spoil?? Even tho you can literally google it?? 😂 Because I wanna draw it because who boy.... do my babies have a storm coming....

I see! That is super cool, though--I like that female Shepard was intended to be the more canonical between the selectable characters. I wasn't 100% sure about it because I do remember seeing a mention or two about an option between male and female, but I've really only ever seen concept of female Shepard.

And I also think that it's super neat that Shepard's default is so popular! It's sort of a double-reverse of what you'd expect, and people are so baller for that, to be honest.

It sort of reminds me of how--when I play a Legend of Zelda game--I'll usually default to the names I can chose as being the canonical names. Link as Link, Epona as Epona, etc... same with the Pokemon games.

I think part of the reason for that might also be due to consistency. It seems like Mass Effect is a chronological series that takes place over the course of a period of time that features the same characters, so it'd make sense for the main character to remain the same over time.

You look at game series like Fallout, customization is much easier to get a hold of because each game (if I'm correct) features a new main character. It allows for more customization of the experience to fit around the character, but since Mass Effect is in that chronological story that follows the same or a similar cast, it's easier to have an agreed-upon default than it is to have a thousand or so different Shepherds, especially since they all end up sharing the same name (which takes away a part of that customization process).

It could also be that, as Shepard is the name given to the character, it feels ingenuine to a lot of people to have them deviate from their default--as if it's changing their identity. Already having the name implies that the character doesn't exist in a vacuum--they already existed before in the context of the game.

I! Am! Rambling! But I do find it super interesting to think about this!

#also if i do end up getting spoiled it'll either be likely by your hand #or my curiosity getting the better of me and spurring me to watch a playthrough of it on youtube lol #i hope my rambling about default shepherd and names made sense :D #it really is fascinating how games like pokemon with limited customization inspire people to self-insert themselves so much #while a game like mass effect that allows for character customization but solidifies the name keeps the default character #as the most popular interpretation #depending on the story of mass effect it could also be argued that it's similar to link #wherein the story is so intrinsically tied into the character itself that making the character someone else just feels odd #which also wouldn't be helped much by the inability to change their name :V #ALSO did i JUST realize that the name is spelt 'shepard' and not 'shepherd'? yes. did i just edit this post to reflect that? also yes #i am very smart indeed yes and very humble in admitting my mistakes that is true

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ageless-aislynn · 1 year ago

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I was planning on finishing my Romancing Everybody™ playthroughs of Mass Effect: Andromeda before NaNo starts Nov 1 but... I'm pausing with just 2 romances left to go because I HAVE to do a vid for a particular couple. And to my immense surprise, this will actually be my first Andromeda vid that does NOT include one Mr. Reyes Vidal, lol! (Other vids collected here with Tumblr links, if, you know, you're into that sort of thing. 😉)

This romance actually has leapt up to tie Scott/Cora for my fav for Scott. 😉 And yes, that means it's actually beating out* Scott/Reyes, and y'all KNOW how much I love Reyes, so that's saying something, lol! 😍😉

*I keep reading that as beaching off *gigglesnorts* 😶😂

Anyway, this is going to be about a minute-ish long and I've already got the song diced into bits that are hopefully flowing nicely back into themselves. 🤞😣🤞 I realized I missed recording a couple of scenes but am going to see if I can make do without them. Otherwise, I'll have to do a few hours of playthrough again to get them to trigger and I'd really rather just make the vid. Frustratingly, I have several of these scenes recorded but with Sara instead. Guess that's why I forgot to record them for Scott, oops. 😐🤷‍♀️

Wow, Scott looks annoyed at my little oversight, doesn't he? 👀 It happens, okay, man? Andromeda is a lot harder to record specific scenes than, say, any of the Halo games, where you can more easily find what mission you need to replay and don't have to advance a main mission in order to get certain scenes to trigger.

See? I want to record this tender moment between Chief and Cortana? I don't have to start from the beginning of Halo 4 and play for a while to get this scene. I just go right to the mission it's in and play just that. It's a different beastie, Scott!

*random!GIF is random because I haven't made very many GIFs with Scott in them, oops*

Geesh, I'm workin' on it, my dude, give a girl a break! 😜

Eh, he'll be fine. I'm making him a super-sweet romance vid. He'll love it! He'll be dancing with happiness, you'll see! 😇😉

Yep, there he goes... 😜😉

Anyway, just had to share my fangirly happiness with y'all, frens! It's nice to feel excited about making something. 🤗💖

#mass effect: andromeda #mass effect andromeda #scott ryder #ais is vidding #i really love scott #i keep intending to do a more renegade - if you will 😉 - playthrough with him #and instead i keep making him a lovable doofus #he's MY lovable doofus though 🤷‍♀️#ageless aislynn

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pavindu-mga2022mi5016 · 1 year ago

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Storytelling in videos games

When it comes to videos games I believe there is something very different, when compared with other mediums of entertainment. Video games are able to tell stories in a ways that movies or books are not able to do, and is also able to bring a different level of immersion to the consumer.

When games where first created it was never really about the story, it was more over about the gameplay of a game and the enjoyability of its gameplay mechanics and design, that is what it was more over about, it was never really about creating a good story for a game, but even if it were to have been the case the technology at the time was very limited. Then again some cases the story of a game would just be in the games manuals, or it would just be something simple that can be told in the game it self. Such as donkey Kong, nothing really complex.

But as time when on and as technology got better so could story telling in video games

And what game creators would realize is no matter what medium good story telling sells, not only does it sell but it’s a good way to keep the play motivated to keep playing the game.

And as newer consoles came out, with better technology the games were created got better and lesser limitation did the game creators have in terms of gameplay and in terms of storytelling.

An example of a game would be chrono trigger coming up with creative ways of telling a story in videos games which would inspire games to come , and this would be achieved by giving the game multiple ending and creating replay ability. And another way replay ability was achieved in games was by adding side quests.

And then later on when technology got more advanced 3d games were starting to be created, creating lesser limitations. An game being Bioshock not only does it have a really ambitious story but it also has and amazing sound track that immerses the player into the game.

Anyways lets come to the present moment and talk about the state of videos game story telling , Video games as a whole has advanced tremendously compared to where it started.

Game in the present moment can be said to rival movies itself in terms of story and in term of visuals Games such as god of war and god of war Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West to name a few, which have stunning visuals and exceptional stories.

So far I have been talking about how story telling has been in videos games in the past and how far story telling has gotten in the present moment, now I would like to talk more about how story telling in videos games can differ massively from other mediums of entertainment.

For one yes it is true that stories can be told in the same way movies are told, but I believe that stories could be told in more unique ways due to interaction and more immersion factor in video games. And I would like to talk about it.

First being something I already talked about cinematic games, games like god of war and Horizon Forbidden West which are more over like movies but with interaction in it, I am in no means devaluing these games, as these games have a really good narrative and are really fun, but they are more over in the traditional route in telling stories.

Second, player choice, giving players different choices to make can make the player more engaged to a game as it will give more dialog option when talking to NPC, so the player would have to think before they make a choice as it might have a significant impact in the whole games narrative, making the player more over emotionally invested to the game and its world and characters, the more time a player spends in a game the more invested they are and the more immersed they will feel, which is something games have an edge in when compared to movie, where a movie might be 1 hour to 3 hours, where as depending on the game and the replay ability a game could be played for around 30 to maybe even an 100 hours.

Examples for Player choice can be : Mass Effect, Chrono Trigger and Witcher.

3rd story telling through environment, this is another way games can tell a story through environment and props, it is true that this can be also achieved in movies, but the thing is when it comes to movies you aren’t really able to observer everything in fine detail, where as in an game it is possible look at every small detail, and can really immerse the player into the game, not only can a story be told through the environment but it also can be done through items in the game.

Such as dark souls not only does the game tell a story though the environment of the game, but it also does so through items. When it come to dark souls the story is there and the game tells the story to you but not in the traditional sense, when it comes to dark souls you as the player must fit the pieces to gather through reading item descriptions to figure it all out, or you could just watch a 1 hour lore video of the game on YouTube, but the fascinating thing about it is the way it tells the story, sure it does so through NPC dialog but if you wanted to dive deeper into the lore you can also do so by reading items, or weapon descriptions.

Then there are also games that cover topics like mental illnesses, games like

Hellblade – that cover psychosis

Celeste – that covers anxiety and depression.

To the moon – that covers autism.

The point I’m trying to make is through the interactive and story telling features of games we can bring awareness to mental illnesses, and create a true form of empathy. And I feel that the way to achieve this is by having a good idea. I feel that this was achieved in a game called Omori that I play some time ago.

Well at the end I believe that there is still so much untapped potential in terms of story telling in video games. And I hope that we can also use this as a way to bring awareness to certain topics and issues that we might be facing and bring it to light. Through storytelling in video games.

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consumedkings-archive · 4 years ago

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CASSANDRA P. RYDER ✤ the pathfinder, child of the cosmos & troublemaker

"I was born a minute ahead of Scott. I never let him forget it."

#ch: cassandra ryder #my ocs #mass effect: andromeda #me:a #vg #YES this is not far cry content #YES i am replaying mass effect again #PLEASE do not drag me #thank u #<3 #my edits

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fuzzy-melonlord · 3 years ago

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When Joker said "I don’t trust anyone who makes more than I do." I felt that

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #mass effect joker #am i replaying the trilogy again? yes i an #*am

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kueble · 4 years ago

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Jaskier is an internet sensation who plays video games and Geralt is his horny boyfriend

Thanks for this fun prompt, anon! This is by far the most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written. I hope you’re as amused by it as I am. For fic purposes, we’re pretending this is set sometime in “Spring 2021″ and the Mass Effect remaster is out.

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“Hey guys!” Jaskier chirps as he opens up his stream for the night. “I’m sure you’re all well aware of how excited I am for tonight, but if you missed last time, we’re going to recruit my space boyfriend! Seeing as my actual boyfriend is standing in the doorway pouting like a grumpy little thing, I won’t gush too much about Garrus Vakarian. Just know that I can’t wait to seduce him in all of his remastered glory.”

Jaskier starts the mission, rambling about how much he loves the idea of the Citadel but hates the politics fueling everything. His viewer count increases steadily, and he thinks it’ll be a good stream today. Apparently people love watching him shoot while babbling about his favorite game. He’d thought about playing this for himself, not bothering to stream it, but he’s glad Geralt changed his mind. He remembers the conversation fondly. You’re not annoying. People love your enthusiasm. Who cares if it’s just a remaster? Go kick some Reaper ass.

“C-sec officer with a heart of gold and deadly aim? My heart is all aflutter,” Jaskier giggles, winking at the camera. The chat explodes with a bunch of kissy faces and he rolls his eyes lovingly. He has a good deal of regulars and adores them all.

His team is stuck in the longest elevator ride ever, so Jaskier looks up and searches for Geralt. His boyfriend normally watches him stream from the couch in their gaming room, but he’s not there. He hears footsteps in the hallway and the tell-tale signs of Geralt rustling around in their closet, but he can’t tell what he’s doing and it’s enough to drive him insane. He pushes that thought out of his head and starts talking again.

“So, anyone else wanna date a Turian?” he asks and the chat blows up again. “Well my my, so many alien lovers out there. Who would have thought?” he feigns surprise but offers up another wink. He launches into a rant on what he would have done during the first contact wars but it quickly unravels into a pro-alien fucking endorsement instead. He can’t help it. His space boyfriend is just the best.

“I love that you’re all on my level here. No need to pretend to be classy when I’m leering at my boy. I can’t wait to romance him,” Jaskier admits. He leans in and eyes the chat, rolling his eyes again. “Yes, Bellatrix71. I am aware that Bioware was entirely too short-sighted to include a gay romance for my main man. However, mentally I am getting some sweet Turian ass, ok? Male Shepard deserves to get it, too. Or maybe I’ll switch it up and play female Shepard for the third game. Who knows?”

Then a battle breaks out and he swears before focusing again. Maybe he should have lowered his level, since he’s trying things out as an Adept for the first time. He prefers Vanguard, but there’s only so many times you can replay a game on the same settings. Fuck, he hates the aiming schematics on pistols. He transitions into a rant about them, laughing when half the chat agrees with him and the other half is outraged.

There’s a quick cough from the doorway and Jaskier looks over the top of his screen to find his boyfriend standing there, chewing on his lower lip and giving him an evil grin. He tries to keep his attention on the game, but Geralt lifts his arms and runs his fingers through his hair, letting his eyes fall closed as he gathers up the long strands. He winks and brings his left wrist to his mouth, chuckling softly as he bites the hair tie around it and works it up to his fingers. It shouldn’t be sexy, it’s ridiculous, but Jaskier has a weird Pavlovian response as he watches the man secure a messy bun on top of his head.

A huge explosion on screen catches his attention, and he tears his gaze away from his gorgeous distraction of a boyfriend, who is now cackling at him from the doorway. Jaskier grumbles under his breath and quickly takes out the enemy squadron. He eyes the chat again and laughs at the familiar teasing.

“Yes, the boy-toy is here now,” Jaskier confirms with a huff. “I’m sorry, but he’s doing his best to ruin my run through here. Oh yeah, MyChildGrunt87, he’s most definitely jealous. All this talk about the space boyfriend has me all hot and bothered.” He fans himself with one hand - playing it up for the camera - before sticking his tongue out at Geralt.

He’s able to concentrate for a little bit longer, tossing out some running jokes with his regular viewers. He’s halfway through a ramble about his favorite shops on the Citadel when Geralt clears his throat, begging for attention again. Geralt toys with the zipper at his neckline, and it takes way too long for Jaskier to realize that he’s wearing his N7 hoodie. He’s about to tell him exactly how rude that is, but Geralt blows him a kiss and starts slowly working the zipper down.

It’s really unfair how hot he is.

Jaskier keeps rambling, half-heartedly shooting as he watches Geralt unzip the black hoodie, revealing his bare chest beneath it. There’s so much tanned skin, and Jaskier chews at his lower lip, fingers eager to touch the man currently taunting him. Once the hoodie is completely unzipped, Geralt lets it hang there, framing his body as he trails a hand down his muscles. It’s nothing Jaskier hasn’t seen before, but every time is as good as the first, has him bursting at the seams and desperate for it.

Jaskier is entranced, eyes wide as Geralt traces his Adonis belt teasingly, pausing briefly before dipping his fingers past his waistband and licking his lips. He lets out a whimper before catching himself and turning his attention back to his game. The chat is full of accusations, and he doesn’t have time to refute them all. His followers know he’s kind of a slut, so this shouldn’t surprise anyone. He offers a quick wave goodbye and shrugs in apology.

“Well, looks like our time is up! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go blow my boyfriend. Catch you later!” he blurts out as he stops the stream and jumps out of his chair. He can deal with his sponsors later, but right now he has needs. Geralt is laughing as he drags him over to the couch and shoves him down onto it, dropping to his knees.

Maybe Garrus is overrated after all.

---

Tags list: @halerune @honeysuckletook @eya-trying-to-function

Let me know if you'd like to be removed or added from tags please. And I will try to remember to tag you 🤦‍♀️

#geraskier #my fic #geralt x jaskier #modern au #gamer jaskier #I just wanted Geralt in an N7 hoodie ok?#and Jaskier obviously loves my space boyfriend #geralt #jaskier #the witcher

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that-wildwolf · 3 years ago

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Mass Effect Trilogy tag game

Tagged by @whiskynorocks

I am a fan since… 2020. When the quarantine hit, I decided to finally play all the video games I’ve heard about but haven’t played before: Gears of War, Mass Effect, Fable, Borderlands... Okay, I didn’t get into all of them, but some were good.

Favorite game of the series: [CONTROVERSIAL] 3. When you take away the ending, it’s a solid game with a lot of cute and funny moments between the crew. There’s no more weird randos like in ME2, just a slightly modified crew of my best friends from 1. Everyone is friends and I finally have the romance I want.

MaleShep or FemShep? Femshep. My first playthrough was as M!Shep, but then I googled Garrus and the second I read about the romance I yeeted myself to replay everything as Femshep... Hadn’t expected to fall in love with her so much. Jennifer Hale really gave a 11/10 performance there.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer? Spacer.

Paragon or Renegade? Paragon

Biotics or Tech? Tech all the way!

Favorite class: Infiltrator. I always play as a sniper, in every game with class choices. (Why yes, I am an archer is Skyrim, how did you know?)

Favorite companion: Garrus, but that’s kind of obvious. I also have a strong love for Ashley, Tali, Legion, and Grunt. And Wrex. And Jack. Okay, I love everyone. All of them. Even the ones I love the least I still love.

Least favorite companion: Kaidan, because I literally not once had a playthrough where he survives. I have literally 0 emotional attachment to him. If I had to choose from characters I do know, I guess maybe Vega. You know, new guy.

My squad selection: Garrus+Ashley for ME1, Garrus+whoever’s loyalty mission it is for 2, Legion+Grunt for Collector Base, Garrus+Ashley for ME3 because bless ME3 for giving me back my OG dream team

Favorite in-game romance: Have you seen my blog?

Other pairings I like: Tali/Reegar, Liara/Javik, Nihlus/Saren. Yes I copied this from @whiskynorocks but they got it 100% right.

Favorite NPC: Lorik Qui’in, by a loooooong shot. Anderson, Nihlus, Victus.

Favorite antagonist: Saren! Fuck, I love Saren so much, he was genuinely one of the coolest villains ever

Favorite mission: Hey what the fuck, I don’t even remember which

Favorite loyalty mission: Uhhhhh I have no clue, they’re all so good. Probably Tali’s, I get to play detective. Samara’s is also great. For the same reason.

Favorite DLC: Citadel, obviously. Garrus dragging Shepard to the danceflor by force is worth any price.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy? Lmao none, I pick Refuse every damn time. Breaks my heart, but then again so do all of those ridiculous choices and all of them are bad so in the end does it matter if we all know that the true ending was the Reapers all exploded and Shepard survived and the geth and the mass relays were not destroyed and everyone got married and retired and had a happy life right?????????

Favorite weapon: The Black Widow. Obviously.

Favorite place: I love the Citadel, especially in ME1. Like, that’s my home.

A quote I like: “I won’t let fear compromise who I am.” on par with “It's so easy to see the world in black and white. Gray? I don't know what to do with gray.”

I’m tagging: @evvi and @biasedsteam9 my beloved

#tag game #mass effect

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ghostgirlvii · 3 years ago

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Am I being an horny bitch for Turians all over again because the ME1 remaster delivers? Yes. Yes I am.

Or just in general every times I replay Mass Effect, I'll just be horny for turians.

#ghosty gaming adventure #mass effect #mass effect legendary edition #turian #like damn I'm drooling at all the turians showing because texture wise they are much better and ooof!

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pathofcomets · 3 years ago

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soldier, keep on marching on (19)

fandom: mass effect andromeda (AO3)

pairing: jaal/ryder

summary: Sara Ryder will replay that moment before she died for the first time many times afterwards.

playlist: spotify

“You’re unfit to bear your family’s name,” Akksul’s voice echoes in the room.

Sara closes her eyes, trying to calm herself in the face of the murder she’d like to commit. She knows how much it hurts, for one to berate your place inside the group of people you love, and she’s scared to look at Jaal, afraid she won’t know how to comfort him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make my enemies yours,” she says, avoiding his gaze.

If she weren’t here, maybe Jaal wouldn’t need to fight against one of the people he has known the longest. His hand is tender around her elbow, his voice full of disinterest when he speaks.

“He said similar things before. We’ve never gotten along.”

So there’s nothing to apologize for, is what he doesn’t say out loud, what remains in-between his words. She nods, patting his hand with hers, feeling the tickle of his bioelectricity over her skin, because he is not wearing any gloves. He lets go, slowly, frowning at Akksul’s hologram, wondering what his next move will be, knowing this is a mere warning. Sara is frowning too, for a different reason. She can’t believe they live in the year that they do, and they still haven’t managed to invent teleportation, or a way for her to choke Akksul through video.

“He’s jealous of you,” she says with conviction, nails painfully digging in the flesh of her palm. It is clear she’s trying to remain calm, something that becomes more and more difficult the more time she spends as the only Pathfinder. Jaal has noticed – the cutting tone in her voice when dealing with people who displease her, the desperate pleading when she’s attempting to solve things without bloodshed. He cannot even start guessing at what she’s carrying – heck, the relation between their races exists simply because of her and the weight of her actions. Many angara wouldn’t even look at her people if it weren’t for her.

“You’re the better man.” It’s the most direct compliment she has given him, conviction heavy in her tone.

He almost flushes, instead turning it into an awkward chuckle. She smiles at him, warmly – all tension in her body dissolved.

“Well, I am the better looking.”

It is an attempt at hiding his embarrassment with humour, but Sara checks out Akksul again, noticing the different twist of his cheekbone, the shape of his eyes, the curve of his lips, the different colouring of his skin. Then she meets Jaal’s eyes.

“Yes.”

***

She blinks at Jaal’s message, the first one awaiting her in her inbox – and it seems like it hasn’t taken Akksul any time at all to make his move, after all. She ignores any words from anyone else, and instead she turns on her heels and she makes her way towards his room. The door is cracked open, but Jaal is occupied, talking with – what she assumes – family members, the translator slow in conveying meaning to her ears, the Havarl dialect heavier on its processing. The door hissing shut behind her is the only sound that may alert him to her presence; otherwise, she is silent, waiting in a corner like an unwanted guest.

“Are you okay?” she asks, once he ends the call with a heavy sigh.

He raises his gaze to hers, locking her on the spot and like this it feels like there’s no translation needed between them, because the sadness in his eyes hit her like a punch to the gut, rendering her helpless and hopeless.

“Three of my siblings have joined the Roekaar.”

He’s pacing the room like an angry feline, and she tries to resist the instinct to reach for him, steady him in one spot. She doesn’t know how she’d act in his place, knowing that on one side of history, there’s Jaal; on the other, those he grew with, those he shared blood and culture and mothers and a past with. He stops eventually, close enough that she can feel his heat, their chests almost brushing. The spot at the back of her neck hurts when she looks up at him, but she also cannot look away.

“Ryder,” and his voice cracks around her name. “He has my family, but I don’t think I can do this alone.”

She does reach for him then, her palm steady and heavy against his shoulder. His eyes glisten: first at her face, open and certain and determined, then at where she is touching him.

“You don’t have to. Just tell me the time and place.”

“No hesitation. That is what I love about you,” and for just a mere second, his voice and his expression both go soft, looking at this tiny, fragile human on whom he is now leaning.

He has always known: that she is strong and dependable, but still… he has always wished he’d never have to test her loyalty by himself. Then, as if he hasn’t dropped the word love in the midst of the tech-lab, rendering Sara utterly speechless, staring up at him with an open mouth and wide, bright eyes, he continues to drill facts and tasks, easier done than looking at her any longer.

She nods, agreeing with him with no hesitation, again. She hurries so fast out of the room that it’s closer to running, Kallo’s name screamed loud enough that he can hear it, Suvi’s laughter the reply. The change of course is immediate; all she needs is just a request.

Jaal sits in the tech-lab all the way to Havarl, staring at the place where his mothers’ holograms gave him news the magnitude of which broke his heart. Then he stares at where Sara stood, all her emotions fleeting across her fave, so obvious in her hurt for him, the magnitude of which unsettled something in him.

***

The Forge: the birthplace of the angara. As it stands now, the place is utterly deserted, clearly the Roekaar’s rule over it having either scared everyone away or into submission. They look for signs and clues, painfully tense and tight-lipped, not enough making sense.

It takes Jaal three targets into their first round of combat to realize Sara is shooting only to disarm, guns dropping to the ground, the rest left to him or Drack. Not once does her weapon draw any angaran blood, and he is overwhelmed by that kindness, because he has asked her to refrain.

Through the coms, Akksul’s voice rings.

“Alien. Kill it.”

Sara has been raised on the Citadel her entire life, running in-between asari and krogan and turian legs since the day she learnt how to do it, speaking their languages, to different levels of fluency, finding nothing strange in the obvious differences between their species. She knows now, what a privilege it has been to know what can be found in the stars, to share the sky with a dozen others.

“I don’t appreciate being called it,” she mutters, as they continue pushing forward.

It’s a finesse of the language that Jaal wouldn’t have understood before seeing first-hand the hate that the Roekaar hold for anyone else. He knows now, that by constantly referring to aliens in such impersonal, unlived terms, Akksul and his people are slowly turning them into casualties that do not matter. He feels his blood raging inside his body, his electricity crackling in the air, just as the bridge to the Forge gets blown out.

Sara’s arms dart out: his instinctually wrap around them, and they both steady each other on their feet as they feel the after currents of that collapse. Drack swears, essentially almost not having felt it. In the aftermath, she looks at the wide stretch of the sky, stuck in a perpetual dawn, pinks and yellows and oranges seeping between clouds. On the ground, it is so easily missable, but like this, she is overwhelmed with the beauty of this place.

Jaal follows her gaze, and he squeezes her arms, once, before letting her go.

“I always hoped to bring you here… just under different circumstances.”

She blushes, her face not unlike that of the sunset spreading behind her, but she is now looking at him instead. Steady, proud, but shy and uncertain – afraid most of all. She doesn’t need him to take his gloves off, she doesn’t need biotics to be able to translate his currents: she has learnt the pattern of shadows passing his expression.

She lifts a hand, her finger slowly trailing his cheek, down towards his chin. She startles when Drack grumbles, clearly not over having one of his granddaughters in love, not willing to allow another one get hitched so soon after.

“On day,” she promises, though it’s not her place to make that promise, but Jaal closes his eyes, happy for now.

And then they start moving again, more and more uphill, following structures so ancient that they’re older than the oldest person she knows, so majestic that the way they were built has been lost in time. She recognizes the yearning for understanding it, as the reason why she took her studies so seriously, and in another life, she knows she would have loved being under the Moshae’s guidance, building meaning out of antiquity.

She shakes her head, unwilling to get stuck in her own head when there’s something so much more important waiting ahead. There’s the distant sound of a shout, followed by guns firing – and they barely have time to hide behind a boulder, before the bullets rain on them.

Recognition blooms on Jaal’s face, and he’s up and standing, calling out unfamiliar names, before she has time to say anything. Her fingertips just barely graze the hem of his rofjinn, her mouth open in a silent call to him. But the firing does stop, and the angara do recognize him.

Jaal hugs his brother, the low pleasurable rumble of his voice attuned to the relief in his bioelectricity. Baranji is sweet; not welcoming, but not outright hostile. Sara tries to maintain a distance, knowing what she is, what she seems for those convinced enough to walk by Akksul’s side, but that doesn’t stop Teviint from attempting to rile her up.

“Jaal, you didn’t tell me your sister was such a badass,” she tries to jest.

Teviint towers high above her, the markings on her face making her colour pop brighter, her scowl fiercer. She steps closer in Ryder’s personal space, clearly not impressed.

“Your people are a joke.”

There’s only the low growl of Drack filling the silence that follows, but it’s enough for the angara to step back and away from the human. Enough, for now. Jaal is desperate in trying to talk reason into his siblings, but even as he pulls at her elbow, so distracted that it hurts her, it is too little, too late.

As soon as they have a name to latch on, Baranji and Teviint both press closer, both spewing learned lines on the uselessness of her Milky Way people, aggressive words that are worse than physical wounds, because she can see the fear that drives them, the hate as well – and it’s so unlike anything she learnt about angara, about Jaal, that her brain doesn’t want to listen no longer.

Lathoul pushes forward, his hand around Jaal’s shoulder, around Sara’s too: warm, needy, urgent. The stolen bombs seem like the next step, since Akksul couldn’t properly attack Podromos, he plans to destroy one of his people’s historical landmarks just to have a reason to start war with hers. This makes no sense, this makes too much sense: war has been waged on way less, and she herself know that their peace negotiations are fresh and slow-going, still too little understanding between their cultures. If Akksul succeeds, it’ll be the end of it all.

Lathoul falls, and in the aftermath of it, Jaal wonders why he can’t hear anything. He looks at his sister, who not only held a gun against her brother, but actually shot him, for trying to save his own, and the echo of that gunshot overwhelms him as a storm. Sara is kind, helping him switch Lathoul to a more comfortable position, even if that means his other siblings get away.

She has a younger sibling too, he remembers. She must recognise, the weight of what he has to do, even as all he wants is to simply soothe Lathoul’s pain away.

They find the bombs, easily enough. Trying to disarm them is an entirely different manner, SAM announces, because they only have mere minutes, and the brunt of the Roekaar’s force is shooting at them. Sara swears, but she does not pick up her pistols. Instead, her shields being shattered with each blow, she makes her way from bomb to bomb, impatiently working on disarming each and every one of them. Because he requested it, she’s still not shooting; it leaves more work for him and Drack, but even in the midst of it, he can’t help but feel grateful, for the fact that he’s still her first priority.

The last soldier drops, for now; he’s sure there will be reinforcements on the day. As SAM declares all bombs disarmed, Teviint joins them, begging to be taken back home, tired of everything, remorseful and scared. Sara looks at her, and recognises nothing but a child, much younger than even the oldest Ryder. She feels so much older than she actually is, watching all of this, being in the midst of it.

“Let her go,” Akksul appears, and there’s venom dripping from his every word. I only want soldiers who are commited to our cause.”

He’s backed by his fighters, so much more than they fought so far. All her shields have gotten blown apart, and she’s certain the ammo left between the three of them will not last them another battle. It doesn’t stop the fire starting at the pit of her stomach, the indignation burning through her veins.

She steps closer to him, unafraid, unwavering. Jaal watches, and sees only the strongest person he has ever known.

“You recruit kids and make them fight against family. It’s sick! And so are you.”

She looks at Teviint, head hung low in shame, at Jaal – and she wonders how old they were, the first time they held a weapon, had to fight to save their lives, to protect their own. All that sacrifice, all that loss, and Akksul would rather point his gun at the very few people who dream of one day stopping this.

“I speak for our people. And I say you’re done in Heleus.”

He raises his hand in the air, but Sara’s fighter, her pistol drawn, pointing at Akksul. He only laughs, pleased beyond belief at how fast she is to retaliate through violence. If he dies here, his cause will soar – and he not only knows it, but he is willing to let it happen, for his sick version of the truth. Sara’s hand trembles, holding the gun in the air, but Jaal knows if she were to pull the trigger, this close, she won’t miss.

“I made a promise to my friend that you’re making real hard to keep,” she hisses between her teeth, all snarl and despair; enemies can smell her fear on her, it’s always been so.

Because whereas Akksul looked a bit worried, he now turns around, addressing the mass of angara around them, rather than the opinionated alien amidst them. He speaks of strength and weakness, of foreignness and thievery. Jaal speaks up too – for the first time, someone defends her, sees her wins, allow her struggles to be perceived as honest attempts at trying to make things better. Akksul speaks, and Jaal counters each and every one of his words. The chatter – the doubt – grows around them.

“Stop defending them!” Akksul shouts, and his gun is pulled, but instead of pointing at the alien he claims to hate so deeply, it is drawn at Jaal, a person he has known for over a decade, an angara like himself.

Sara pulls the safety, the only sound splitting the silence.

“Ryder…” Jaal starts, and then his voice softens, catching her panicked eyes. “Sara, please.”

“You call it by name?” Akksul asks, disgusted and emboldened by the fact that there’s no more threat directed at him. “You’ve fallen so far, Ama Darav.”

The sound of a shot. For a moment, Jaal cannot comprehend who actually fired, the world in slow motions, sounds as if he is trapped inside a bell jar. Then the pain blinds his left side, burning through his skin – superficial enough that he could ignore it. No one dares to move, or speak.

Sara’s pistol drops to the ground. He looks at her: her mouth open and twisted, eyes wild, her entire body shaking. She looks at him like he’s already a ghost. Jaal tries to smile at her, but it makes her frown deepen even more, her fingers clutch at the material of her pants. He shakes her head, thinking it so desperately that he’s sure she might have heard it, Stay strong, because she nods back at him.

“The alien are not the monster,” he says, tired, and a murmur of voices raises in agreement to his proclamation.

Baranji steps close to him, a clutch that he doesn’t actually need, but he swims in the feel of his bioelectricity, currents of relief and love healing him. Teviint is entirely closed off to him, and yet, when he tells them, in Shelesh, that it’s time for them to go home, she nods, joining him on his other side, hugging him close.

Sara accepts her pistol from Drack, holstering it back in its place with still trembling hands. The krogan sighs, but that’s all he has to say on the subject. He has had enough people considering family turn their weapons on him: it’s a story as old as time. It doesn’t fail to be one, terrible thing, regardless.

***

The ride back from the Roekkar base, Sara sits silent, her gloves over her thigh, her nails digging painfully in the skin of her palm, counting up to one hundred, starting over once she gets there. She does her best to avoid Jaal’s worried and pained gaze, and for the most part succeeds, despite the smallness of the ship. Baranji is busy bandaging Lathoul’s wounds, and despite the stiffness in her movements, Teviint is doing the same for Jaal.

Sara is useless, just the rage bubbling under her skin, ready to erupt if even one word would be delivered in her direction. But either her face shows how tired she is, or Drack, hovering and towering over everyone else, his arms crossed over his chest, is doing a great job at intimidating Jaal’s family enough not to bring up the entire incident. They, alien to the angara, have walked knowingly into a trap, trying to save the people who have Jaal’s heart, only to be shot at by the exact same people. And Sara has promised him before they embarked on the mission that she won’t shoot at any angara, so as not to further create problems.

And she has done exactly that. She had stood, still, watching almost in slow motion, frozen in her spot, as Akksul raised a gun at Jaal – and hit the trigger. And throughout all, she has kept her promise because she valued Jaal enough to do so. Fuck the Resistance and fuck Akksul and his Roekkar – because in that moment when she hesitated and allowed that bullet to fly close enough to scrape at Jaal’s face, she thought no promise was worth the freezing dread growing in her chest.

And now she hates herself for making it in the first place.

Before joining his family to recover and check on his siblings, Jaal shoots Drack a look, and gently catches Sara’s elbow to make her turn to him. She does so, though she still pushes his hand away, crossing her arms over her chest in a very defensive posture. The hurt is immediately visible on Jaal’s face, and she feels like she has to explain exactly why she is so angry. Frustrated, she pushes the hair out of her face.

“He shot at you!”

Not the most eloquent, and her voice cracks with worry, amplified by her panic. The blood dried on his face, though the wound is still open and big enough that it will scar for sure. Jaal huffs.

“I’m glad he did – it exposed how far he’d fallen.”

Sara starts pacing the docking platform, wringing her fingers together. Jaal catches the crescent marks where her skin is visible, her gloves tied to her belt, and waits. This is punishment in itself: humans never manage to properly or fully communicate their feelings, and this situation is new and uncomfortable for him as he waits for her feelings to become words. He hasn’t had someone worry over him like this in years – when one’s a son of war, this is expected, not mourned.

“This is not about Akksul, and you know it,” she says, her eyes burning into his, though no, he did not know. “I was really worried.”

Understanding blooms in his chest: she was worried about him. Sara was worried about Jaal, and not the Pathfinder worried about an angaran Resistance fighter. He almost rumbles in pleasure, bioelectricity tingling at his skin, though he knows she won’t be able to pick it up.

“It will heal,” he says, softer than she expected considering he’s dealing with the ticking explosive bomb that her emotions are, and he closes the gap between their bodies to rest his forehead against her. “All scars do.”

He closes his eyes, taking in the smell of her: the salty tinge of her sweat, the dust stuck to her skin, the perfume of her hair. She has become so familiar in her unfamiliarity, and he keeps her close until her breathing calms down a bit, until her hands are not shaking with her rage anymore. His own heartbeat is slower than humans, and it lulls hers to match it, lulls her into a calm not unlike his own.

His family are calling out his name, and reluctantly, Sara pulls away. She nods at him, allowing him to get away from the conversation, though considering how her eyebrows are furrowed together, her cheeks still burning, it’s a conversation that is still not over.

Drack joins her not even five seconds later.

“You’ve heard everything?” she asks, sighing, bringing her hand up to her head, to press against the space where Jaal’s has been.

“What can I say, I’m a meddling old man. Wanna do something to take your mind off things?”

So Drack takes her on an expedition to hunt mutants. When she’s blown back by an echor, she gets up laughing, and that’s when the krogan knows she’ll be okay eventually. It’s never easy to see the people you care about on the verge of dying, but they’re all okay, and that’s all that matters.

If he can keep her believing that for long enough to get her on the Tempest, that’s all that matters.

***

The door to the tech bay opens with a hiss, and Jaal startles in his chair, turning around with wide, surprised eyes. Sara immediately catches the expression, the way he has stilled in the spot, as if caught doing something wrong.

“Is this a bad time?” she asks.

Jaal notices that she is still wearing her pristine uniform, even though it’s been hours since she had to relay the situation to both her bosses on the Nexus, and then to Evfra himself. He had let her do everything on her own as Lexi ushered him in the medbay, and although he had burnt with the need to reach out for Sara instead, he has diligently followed the asari. And now, hours later, she sought him out instead.

“No, not… necessarily,” he finishes lamely, and her expression softens as she nears him.

She leans her body against his table, and he cannot help but wonder how in the cramped space of this room, she can still look so tiny and fragile. He knows it’s not true, he’s seen her in combat enough times now to know how utterly deadly she can be, but in the midst of his things, in this space he calls his home away from home, the contrast between their species seems all the more obvious. Sara raises a hand in the air, her thumb hovering a mere centimetre under where he’s gotten his new wound, blue and open and throbbing in pain.

Jaal closes his eyes, one of his hand finding hers, grasping her fingers in-between his, as he brings her palm to rest somewhere around his chin; close enough that he knows she is still staring at his scarring wound, but far enough that there is no added discomfort to his body.

“Then?” she asks, her voice airy, almost strangled.

He opens his eyes to find her blushing. He lets go of her hand immediately afterwards.

“My muscles are… sore. I was looking at relieving some of the pain.”

That’s when her gaze drops to the vials in his other hand, dainty little bottle with amber liquid, understanding blooming over her face. Then, with the tilt of her head, and a quick look at the large expanse of his back, she says:

“May I?”

Jaal sputters, spinning around in his chair to turn fully towards her, almost dropping his glass vials in the process.

“You want to give me a massage?”

“Jaal,” her voice is stern. “You have been shot at literally yesterday. May I?”

He nods, turning again in his chair, his back now to her. He is so open; an openness that did not exist months ago. She adores this friendship, this trust that now exists between them, which is why she doesn’t want to blunder it.

“Tell me…” she starts, having to stop to wet her lips, her throat suddenly gone dry. “where I shouldn’t touch you.”

Jaal turns his head, enough to catch her expression from over his shoulder, uncertain as her fingers hover above his shoulder. He wants to tell her that all of him is for her to do with as she pleases, that the type of trust she places in him every single day deserves nothing less but the exact trust extended from him to her as well, that he had dreamt the moment when her skin would be against his – in any way, really – so many times before. But he just nods, coughing to clear his throat.

“The waist is kind of sensitive,” he says, and he can feel his bioelectricity humming to life, a new tune, in accordance to a slight flush across his neck, almost unnoticeable against the shade of his skin, thank the stars. “Chest too.”

Sara nods, taking the oils from his hand, tugging at his shirt with her free one. He gets the hint, and in one smooth movement, he cups the material at his back, and drags it over his head, leaving him naked from waist up.

She has seen him like this before, and angara feel no shame in such displays. But compared to last time, Sara is no more a fumbling mess, though her face is starting to redden, still. She spills a few drops of oil between her fingers, rubbing her palms together, warming both the lotion and her finger before she just… goes for it.

Stars, she was not supposed to be that transfixed by this simple task. She is grateful that Jaal shifted back in the chair, his gaze decidedly fixed ahead of him, and she doesn’t have to school any of her expressions. Because the awe at the situation, at the softness of Jaal’s skin, the hardness of his muscles – all beneath her fingertips, would be an impossible thing to cover. His oils smell faintly familiar, a hint of vanilla and spices, so enticing that were she someone else, braver, more honest, she would have taken a bite out of him already.

She feels a bit ashamed, having her calloused hands over this man that looks and feels like he is unreal in his beauty. But Jaal says nothing, definitely not complaining, so she shifts a bit in the spot, leaning more of her weight in the pressure of her fingers against his back muscles.

Jaal’s arms fly to hold on to the seat of his chair, his digits whitening with the force of his grip. He bites into his lip, hard, but although she waits, her thumb rubbing a calming circle across his back, he does not complain about her approach. So she does it again, suddenly transfixed by his reaction: so new to what she is normally used to from Jaal. This time around, when her fingers dig into a particularly sore spot at one of his shoulders, he cannot quite hide the sound escaping his mouth, not in the silence of this room. The moan is low, throaty, kept behind tight lips, but she does hear it.

Sara’s hands immediately go up in the air, breaking the skin contact, her eyes going wide. There is a long pause, where none of them say anything, the awkwardness so heavy that she wishes they would hit a black hole.

“Did it… hurt?” she asks, tentative, and her fingers return to his back, delicate feathery touches against the muscles she has spent the last half an hour soothing.

“Stars, Sara,” Jaal says, and he sounds a bit dazed, unsure – and the way he says her name could be a new addiction all in itself. “You know it felt good.”

His confession turns her dizzy, and in a surge of bravery, she repeats the movement, same amount of pressure in a place where she felt a particular tight, uncomfortable knot. Jaal’s entire body bends, so he can bite into his forearm, stifle the sounds escaping him. Her breathing quickens, coming out harsher, matching his. She’s tethering dangerously close to a border that she doesn’t know if she has it in her to cross. So Sara chooses the coward’s path, and decides to run.

“Better?” she asks, and pats her palm against his back two times, signalling the end of her massage.

Jaal breathes, a large inhale that seems to stabilize him at once, though when he turns to look at her, there’s some lingering embarrassment and – anger. Oh, she shouldn’t find this much delight in having gotten a rise out of the angara that doesn’t seem unfazed by anything, ever, at least when it comes to her.

“Yes,” he manages, his voice shaky.

She misses the sight of him almost immediately. Jaal turns now, to face her properly, and although she wanted to make a quick run to her own room, she finds herself trapped between his body, occupying the chair, and his desk, his legs sprawled on either side of her. His hand finds hers, and slowly, she brings hers to his lips, where he kisses each of her knuckles, one by one, maddeningly slow.

Sara’s not sure she knows how to breath anymore.

“Thank you,” he says, all softness and awe.

“My pleasure,” she replies, and the particular choice of words is deliberate, and not lost on him.

When he lets go, rolling around to allow her the space, she almost trips in her haste to get away. Jaal takes it personal, but in the best way possible. But then, as if changing her mind mid-step, she swirls around to look at him, calling out his name. He’s still topless, fidgeting with the material of his shirt between his fingers, but he can recognize the change in the air, Sara having grown too serious. It’s the heaviness that speaks of her personal feelings, not her Pathfinder missteps.

“Do not ever make me promise something like that.”

She looks up, catching his eyes, and he can recognize the burning desperation in hers. It hits him fully, settling in the depths of his heart, and with it comes a painful, uncomfortable truthful realization.

Sara Ryder loves him.

He stumbles, having to hold on to his desk to stop himself from collapsing fully on the floor, and she hovers, moving her weight from one leg to another, ready to sprint up and offer her support at his next swaying. For the first time since meeting this human, he cannot stand sharing the tiny space of his room with her, her presence suddenly too overwhelming. The image of her changes in his mind, a puzzle finally finding its last piece, everything falling into place. He is not sure he likes the final picture.

“Sara,” he tries saying, her name coming out muffled, as he chokes on his own words.

She raises an eyebrow at him, clearly confused by his behaviour when she is entirely serious, taking it as a bratty offense.

“I mean it, Jaal. I trust you with my life, but if you will ever again ask me to do nothing as someone points a gun to your face, the day will end with multiple casualties.”

“Akksul was always a terrible shot,” he jokes, but there’s no fire behind it, barely above a whisper.

She looks pained, as if she is the one who got a bullet to her face. He watches the expressions flitting across her face, and his heart fills with tenderness, with how attuned he has become to her entire being, how he can translate her now, with no fumbling, no confusion. It’s his life’s biggest honour and no one else would be able to understand it. On her right cheek, as if in a mirror of his own wound, she has her own scar; fainter though, healed years before he even got to meet her. But like this, staring at each other, they match.

“I mean it,” she says, turning her back to him; and so much vulnerability, so much openness – he feels unworthy of it, every day. “If you dare die on me, I will drag my soul to your next life and make it a living hell.”

Jaal doesn’t want to tell her he doesn’t know what a hell is. Her threat is strong, he knows she fully means it, but he can only remember the moment when Akksul pulled the trigger, and the sound of the shot was overwhelmed by the animalistic shout that she let out, a shriek so strong that he almost thought, feeling the flesh of his cheek opening up, bleeding all over his face, that her throat must be as raw, as wounded as this.

#me: andromeda #mass effect andromeda #jaal ama darav #sara ryder #jaal romance #jaal/ryder #jaal x ryder #mass effect #soldier keep on marching on #writing

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dragonflight203 · 8 months ago

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Mass Effect 1 replay, the Citadel final battle:

-I know most people say the suicide mission is the best finale, but I much prefer Illos + the climb up the Citadel tower. Much more atmospheric and interesting in my opinion.

-The Dragon’s Teeth almost feel quaint at this point. It’s been a long time since I last saw them.

-Avina – Shepard asks about the Council, Anderson, Udina, and Saren.

Interesting they ask about Udina. Do they actually care about them? Or does Shepard just ask because Udina is humanity’s representative?

-Avina must be the only entity in the galaxy besides the Council, Anderson, Udina, and Shepard’s crew to know that Saren is a former spectre. And there’s apparently a warrant out for his arrest.

Is there some reason Noveria was never informed about this?

-Saren (or Sovereign acting through him?) shooting Keepers is pretty funny. He is so sick of their bullshit. If they just did their job he wouldn’t have to put in so many extra hours!

-The Citadel is huge. Even Sovereign looks small compared to it.

-Why does Sovereign keep tapping the tower? Yes, it’s an impressive animation, but what’s the point?

-So Saren does know the Citadel is a relay. Or at least it’s strongly implied, he doesn’t actually say the relay is the Citadel.

-The angle changes when Saren talks about considering Shepard’s words on him being indoctrinated and Sovereign implanting him to remove doubts.

His game model was definitely supposed to be only his end game model. These angle changes were supposed to show the full extent of his implants.

-Saren: I understand that that the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you, too.

Buddy, you are so indoctrinated. I don’t think Reapers give a damn about organics.

Oh look, there’s a dialogue option for that.

-Saren: The relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither.

I am a vision of the future, Shepard. The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth.

Hilariously, this is the closes ME1 comes to foreshadowing Synthesis. Building upon this, Synthesis is final victory of Reapers – and it doesn’t help that the star-child blatantly pushes is as the best option.

I definitely don’t think that was intentional on Bioware’s part, but it’s the logical conclusion based on the story they told if the trilogy is taken as a whole.

If they wanted Saren’s speech to not be linked to synthesis, they needed to differentiate the two at some point – maybe explain that Saren’s indoctrination meant he could never experience true synthesis. Still incredibly weak, but that’s how they justified that TIM’s attempts to control the Reapers are totally different than Shepard choosing Control...

Again: To form a cohesive narrative, you need to consider the whole story. You can’t just tack on an ending and expect it to make sense.

-When Saren dies, you get a good look at his mouth. Turians don’t have front teeth.

Admittedly, Saren may not be the example of turian biology at this point but I haven’t seen front teeth in any other turian’s mouth either.

-Shepard orders their companions to make sure Saren is dead.

And yet they don’t do the same with Kai Leng in ME3. Considering Saren wasn’t dead, you’d think they’d be putting multiple bullets in everyone to make sure they stay down.

-I took the neutral option when asked who should be councilor. It’ll be interesting to see how ME2 handles this, since the Legendary Edition does remember who you pick to be councilor in ME1.

I think it’ll be Anderson – he gave the final speech.

-And finally, my first insanity run of ME1 is done!

Honestly, that wasn’t bad at all. The start was a bit rough, but by about mid game it wasn’t that hard.

By all accounts, however, ME2 insanity is brutal. So this should be interesting. I’m not found of ME2 combat as it is – too much of a cover shooter, which I have zero interest in – so not looking forward to fights taking even longer since enemies have more health.

I am playing as a vanguard, so it’s more likely to take longer due to the numerous game overs. I suppose I can play it as a cover shooter if I absolutely must, but I’d rather not.

Edit: Fixed words and spelling.

#mass effect #mass effect 1 #mass effect 1 replay

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maskydoolovesmasseffect · 4 years ago

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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.

#mass effect #tag

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