#also love liara though :')

[awesomechocolatesauce]

The thing I don't like about "Mass Effect: Genesis" is how it recalls some of the events of the first game.

I chose not to romance anyone, and Shepard's narration explained it along the lines of "Despite how I may have felt for Kaidan or Liara, I had to put the mission first over the matters of the heart."

Um...what? No. That isn't what happened AT ALL. I didn't romance either of them simply because I had no desire to. (One of the reasons being I'm not a fan of how the romances are written in the first game, where if you're not straight up mean to them, then you MUST be interested.) Genesis didn't register that. It assumed I was prioritizing the mission over everything else.

Sorry, Garrus. I can't romance you this time. THE MISSION COMES FIRST! (Just kidding. I'm definitely coming for some calibrations. 💕)

The other thing is it registers as Shepard killing Saren by fighting him. That...is also not what happened. Saren offed himself. No fighting occured before Sovereign took over.

The art style for it is really good, but I never use it because those inaccurate retellings breaks the immersion for me a little bit.

[ninashiki]

ok i desperately need to know. whats the song for the video game poll. i love it dearly and would like to know where its from and a week is a long time.

hi anon ^_^ it's from mass effect 3, and it only plays during the garrus vakarian romance route on his date with shepard while they're dancing at a bar. the track is called "shepard's tango". the rest of the soundtrack is very different!

[edenprime]

genuinely couldnt see what the femsheppers liked so much about garrus, so im replaying and paying attention and ok, i suppose the first time she appears genuinely happy in me2 is when she finds out he's archangel. and the second time is when he's ok after getting his face fixed.

[azimuth-only-one-ill-follow]

[mrabubu]

How do you think the turtles from ROTMNT would deal with their feelings if they were in love with someone (be it human, mutant, Yokai, etc.)?

Oh man... Hmmm...

I really hope that wouldn't be a problem if I mostly ramble about Leo (I'M SORRY GUYS THE BLUE TURTLE LIVES IN MY MIND RENT FREE), and maybe a couple of words about the rest. I'll also be talking about both young and adult Leos, so, here we go.

I'll give short opinions on other turtles before Leo:

Donnie: Would be neglecting his feelings and emotions at first. Even though, in my opinion, he was established as the one prone to romance, I think when he'd actually feel anything towards anyone, he'd be really conflicted, because it's one thing to see this stuff on the TV and all, and another when it's in real life. But once he'll deal with all this mess in his head, he's a real gentleman.

With Raph and Mikey I'm going to refer to @souperwrites words, I hope they don't mind xd

"Mikey is confident and lovey dovey." And I totally agree with it. I feel like he would be the one who'd have the least problems with his feelings.

"Raph is shy but very genuine in his affection but also super nervous because of his size and the potential harm he could cause without meaning to." But honestly, I think my friend @daysofmoron could also give their opinion, since they love the red turtle. xd OKAY, NOW MY BOY LEO.

If start with young Leo, in the show he was always all "EWW!" whenever any sign of romantic love is shown, be it Big Mama and Splinter or Warren and Hypno (at least I remember them being all cuddly, and Leo's was just barfing at them on the background), but I imagine once his own heart goes "doki-doki" for Y/N (let it be Y/N or "you" for now), he's a total mess at first. Remember that episode when they met Jupiter Jim actor, and Leo couldn't even put the syllables together? Yeah, that's him at the start, especially if Y/N doesn't know about his feelings towards them. He'll be trying to impress Y/N but since his emotions are all over the place, he messes up more than usual, maybe even ending up hurting himself (like, he'd try to impress you with his skateboarding skills, but ends up eating concrete because he's too distracted).

And here I'm going to add a bit of my own ideas, because I've been thinking of some scenarios, like, if taking that previous idea with skateboarding, or, more easily, let's take the episode "The Longest Fight" when he fell, I imagine if on the contrary from others you'd actually show any genuine concern about if he's hurt, he'd be like "Oh..." and blushing, because usually his brothers would make fun if him, and here comes in you who doesn't laugh at his failure and worries if he needs help. I think after a moment like this he could begin to feel something.

And with Future Leo HO OHO I have an entire game reference on how I imagine him handling a romance.

First of all, I think as an adult he would be more confident with his feelings if he ever feels anything towards anyone, because, well, he's an adult now, and because when you at war you kinda already went through a lot to be all this blushing mess over feeling butterflies in your stomach.

So, as a reference, whenever I thought of him in a relationship, I though of a romance with Garrus from Mass Effect. I imagine Leo being kinda awkward, trying to make jokes at first that are much more sloppy than usual. Especially if talking about Garrus, I always think of that scene from Mass Effect 2, when he comes into Shepard's room before the final mission, trying to lighten up the mood, flirt and all, but ends up just being an awkward (but adorable) mess, and saying: "I've seen so many things have gone wrong... I want something to go right. Just once. Just..."

And it's just really easy for me to imagine Leo say that. And instead of touching scars you touch his prosthetic.

And also that dialogue with Liara after "The Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC, when she asks if you fight for giving Garrus some peace, and you say that he's been hurt and deserves something better.

But once Leo's over all the awkwardness and let himself relax, he's just enjoying this new experience with you, having fun.

This scene with Garrus and Shepard trying the "first date" thing which ends up them dancing tango together. With all the teasing and all, I can easily imagine Leo would do something like that.

Honestly, I think that's it? There are more scenes in Mass Effect with Garrus and Shepard where I could easily imagine Leo would do something like that, but it's a lot. If you know, you know, If don't, well, I hope I was able to gave you an idea.

[brekkie-e]

I think the reason that the lack of multi-dimensional relationships within the party, and for Tav, is eating away at me so much recently is because it’s significantly affecting BG3’s replayableness for me. It’s a huge game, and I’m ever guilty of taking a completionist approach. Now, there are many branching narratives in BG3 which means there’s endless new content to explore by taking different approaches. Personally though, that’s not quite enough of a reason for me to want to keep revisiting a story. I don’t feel compelled to replay hundreds of hours worth of content just to see what happens to Sazza if you rescue her in Act 1 instead of leaving her in the cage. But if I’m invested in a story and the characters in it- I will replay a game 10,000 times just to rewatch my oc become ride or die besties and trauma bond with their companion. Thinking of Liara’s relationship with an unromanced Sheperd in ME3. Tali declaring herself Tali’zorah vas Normandy?? Gut wrenching. Garrus taking you out on a friend date and making fun of your go to catch phrase in the process? Iconic. Varric writing Cassandra a book to bury the hatchet between them? Unforgettable. Solas and Varric co-parenting a kid together? Can’t get enough of it. Those are the interactions that keep me coming back to replay a game over and over again. Seeing the effect my character has on the lives of their friends, and the effect their friends has on them. Absolutely, I adore the romance aspects of these kinds of rpg’s. It is also a reason I will replay a game. But I don’t want to replay a game as massive as BG3 if the only real significant connection my character develops during it is with their love interest. There’s too many hours that have to be invested to just be playing for a couple of scenes with their boo.

Same goes for trying different romances! If I want to try out the game taking a different approach, and exploring a different character’s romance- I’m dedicating a significant amount of time just to get a handful of scenes over the course of the entire game that focus on an emotional connection for my character. If replaying the game with a different oc meant that I could explore their friend dynamics differently as well? Heck yeah. But as it stands, it just feels like you pick your romance option and then have to stand awkwardly while you’re surrounded by acquaintances who want to bang you.

[callmearcturus]

redoing this ask because fuck that poll lmaoooo i have a persona question, IMO persona's romance system can sometimes fail when its clear the devs wanted one character to be the "canon" love interest for the overall story, but added in side romances to please fans (p2 with [spoiler redacted], p3 with aigis, and p4 with rise based on how much time is focused on their dynamic and bond) but i feel like P5 *intended* for Makoto to be the go-to romance option (especially with how she was handled in the anime) but Royal switched it to Akechi. Do you think that Persona should just stick with one romance option, have a small number of options that they develop, or have it be "every npc is an option" type deal. personally i think it depends on the game? but i feel as if P5 would have benefited from only having 5 romance options (Haru, Makoto, Akechi, Hifumi, and maybe Yusuke?)

Hmmmmm.

It's hard to consider this without also thinking about the other dating sim RPGs, i.e. Bioware. What's interesting there is that some of the romances felt intended (Liara in Mass Effect especially) but there were multiple really good options.

What I find interesting is how Persona and Bioware games handle the shared authorship of the characters. There's an entire Game Maker's Toolkit video about how the narrative designers had to design on a tightrope, keeping the cinematic nature of the story rolling but also making the player feel like they had a handle on the direction (even when the latter was mostly imagined).

Okay, here's two weird thoughts:

The wide array of Persona romances are pretty shallow and would benefit from a shift to much fewer romances that are far more fleshed out.

Akechi is so shocking and compelling because the comparative shallowness of the other romances, because he is a subversion of them.

To me, what makes Akechi the far-and-away best 'romance' of Persona 5 Royal is that he's not a romance 'option.' The player has very little agency over how Joker feels about Akechi. If you hit a couple of flags, then Joker is fucked up and in love with Akechi. That's just it. Maruki gives everyone what they want, and what Joker wants is Akechi.

The fact that Joker is a partially player-directed character that autonomously decides to be in love with Akechi is the secret sauce, imo. Ergo, if you improve the romances overall, you lose some of the specialness inherent in Akechi.

I had a LOT of problems with P5R's writing and especially its structure. I would remove Makoto entirely but for pacing issues, not for the strength of her writing. I'd cut a lot of cruft from the game.

I don't know if I would take away the gutpunch of Akechi though. Not for P5R. For other Persona games, 100% yes, I would. Narrow the scope of romances, maybe even stick just to party members so its easier to build a coherent, meaningful narrative with the love interest.

i hope some of that makes sense, i'm a bit sick and meandering today

[notebooks-and-laptops]

If you're so inclined, you should say more about Casseiopeia! She's so pretty, I always love hearing about people's Shepards ♡ she's spacer/survivor, right? what class? who's your favorite squadmate so far? welcome to mass effect!! (Don't forget, you're here forever 😈)

Hello!!! Thank you for asking I LOVE getting asks like these about my ocs and characters ❤️❤️❤️ people have been very welcoming into this fandom space too which fills me with such joy!

This is Cassiopeia Shepard; shes a soldier, spacer and survivor. I'm about halfway through the game so Im not fully caught up in everything, so plez bare in mind certain lore gaps I may have.

Cassi grew up travelling from space ship to space ship with her military parents; she's adapted to be likable, pleasant, fine to be around; but nobody is CLOSE to her, you know? She's a popular kid, but she doesn't have any friends, because what's the point in making close connections when everyone leaves anyway?

She didn't think much about whether to join the military; it's just what you do right? Her parents did it, she was gonna do it too. If nothing else it would mean she'd get to stay out in the stars. Cassi wasn't born in space, but she might as well have been. Real gravity feels more artificial to her than the artificial stuff. She loves the stars. She just wants to be out with them. It's where she feels the least lonely, the happiest.

When she joined up with the alliance, she worked a bit harder to become a bit closer with some of her squad mates; the first time she ever had been. But then...Akuse. they all died. And so she learnt; well. The first time she tried to get close to people properly she lost them. She always looses people: they die or they go away so there's no point trying to hold on tight.

This uhhhh has kinda messed up her concept of relationships. she's got Hella commitment issues. She thought Liara was hot but she came on too strong and so Cassi cut and run. As for Kaiden...well. their flirtings pretty subtle given the difference in rank. She's excited to sleep with him! They're good friends. She might cut and bolt the moment it gets too serious though, which WILL be hard because shes not aware how far she's fallen down that hole.

Her bestie on board is Ashley, because she gets it. She had military parents too, and she might have grown up on world but she's still on Cassis wavelength even if Cassi is deeply jealous can't relate to the whole huge family loads of siblings thing. Ashley is chill; they drink together and play cards and if Ashley ever asked Cassi would try her damnest to get over her commitment issues because she's maybe a bit in love but maybe that's just because Ashley is unattainable or maybe it's because she's hot and Cassi would like to [Redacted]

I'm so excited to keep going with her and learn more about her and her personality!!! I'm sure I'll share with as we go but thanks for asking about her!! Always happy to answer questions about Cassi (or any of my ocs tbf)

(also thanks to @oh-no-who-took-my-sushi for being a soundboard for literally all my ideas but especially my Cassi ones and listening to me ramble about her as she forms in my head)

[msunitedstatesjames]

Ranking the RPG style games I played in 2024:

Just a note, I'm ranking based mostly on my enjoyment, and this ranking is not meant to be an actual statement of their respective quality. I enjoyed every single one of these games regardless of their ranking, and I played through their complete stories and most or all side quests. Also, as you'll see, this was just a stellar year of RPG gaming for me, so really the worst I can say about any of these games is that they're just good.

9. Greedfall

I made the big mistake of playing this right after finishing Baldur's Gate 3. No RPG was going to compare well to that. Greedfall certainly had an interesting world and story, and I liked the diplomatic aspects of it. Greedfall does attempt to have an interesting companion system by letting you grow your relationship with companions and choose one to romance, though it's really quite a shallow relationship you have even compared to other games from around the same time or earlier. The thing that really bothered me most about the game is the repetition. Environments are almost identical everywhere you go, and the combat gets repetitive after a while too. However, if I remember, this game was made by a fairly small studio with limited resources, so it's actually an impressive achievement in that sense.

8. Mass Effect 1

Don't kill me, internet, but ME1 didn't impress me all that much. I think the best thing about it is the thing that really held the series together from game to game: the characters. The companions are mostly great, even in ME1. It introduces some of the most iconic characters of the series like Garrus (my beloved), Wrex, and Liara. The romances always felt a little lacking and awkward to me in this game, but maybe I was just bitter that you couldn't romance Garrus yet. The combat and leveling up system were still not perfected, and exploring the planets often felt kind of clunky and grindy. But overall, it introduced us to one of the most iconic video game protagonists of modern gaming, and it set the base for the rest of the series, so I can't complain too much.

7. Octopath Traveler II

So, I went into this one with no knowledge of the first one. Now, I fully intend to go back and play it. This game had a lot going for it. You get to know the characters so well through their stories, and somehow the huge variety of tones from story to story made it more engaging instead of jarring. Going from really dark and depressing tales to lighthearted and hopeful ones was actually a lot of fun. I loved the way you got to see where each character was on the map and pick which order to meet them in. The art and visuals were gorgeous, the bosses were awesome, the storytelling was effective, and the different abilities of the characters were fun to use. My only real complaint is that the combat did start to feel repetitive after so many hours of gameplay, often fighting similar enemies. Overall, it was one of my favorite games this year, even if it didn't make it to the top of my RPG list.

6. Sea of Stars

I would die for Garl, that's all that needs to be said, right? I technically played over half of this one in 2023. I put it on pause when BG3 came out and only came back to it months later. I'm glad I did. This was really just a beautiful game. The scenery was beautiful, the attacks and ultimates were beautiful, the character models were beautiful. The story was fun in a classic JRPG style. There were certainly dark moments, but it was overall a hopeful game, which I personally appreciate, and there were several times the humor really knocked it out of the park. The characters certainly could have had more depth, but in this style game I didn't genuinely feel like that was a problem. Like many games in this genre, the combat did become repetitive at times. But this game made me do one thing almost no game does. After finishing the main quest it motivated me to get back in there and finish up the few dangling loose ends that I left behind. And boy was it worth it.

5. Mass Effect 3

Even though I didn't play Mass Effect until this year, I've been a gamer all my life, and I remember the outrage around ME3 when it came out. And some of that I understand. The ending left something to be desired, there were plot holes, many things just felt too convienient, and, of course, Kai Leng. Still, in my opinion, this series has always been built on the back of it's characters, and few if any games have let you build such long lasting and meaningful relationships with the companions. I guess I might have been angry if I romanced someone other than Garrus, but getting to build on that relationship (and the friendships) from game to game was amazing. And I can't discount the fact that ME3 contains perhaps the greatest piece of DLC of all time, The Citadel DLC. So in the end, maybe it all balances out.

4. Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I don't care what anybody says, I loved this game. I genuinely liked all the companions, which (unpopular opinion) is more than I can say for some of the previous Dragon Age games. I found the combat really fun, but I always think playing as a mage is a good time. The Spellblade specialization was a great time, and I liked that mages in this game have the option to get up close and personal, which combats one of the biggest issues with mage gameplay in many RPG games. I didn't think the villains were anything to write home about, but the same could be said for Inquisition. I thought the game made interesting additions to the lore of the world as well. I've seen some complaints about voice acting which is just baffling to me because I thought the acting was stellar. And of course, my beloved Emmrich is going right up there with my favorite Dragon Age companions. He was such a well acted, animated, and written character, and he was a great, fresh take on necromancers. It was interesting playing this in the same year as the ME games because honestly it often played like it was an ME game, but I love them, so no complaints about that here.

3. Mass Effect 2

Most people in the RPG community seem to agree that this is an iconic game. I loved the character focused missions, though at first it took some adjusting. I had to realize that the characters WERE much of the plot. This was perhaps the first game I've played where you get to keep more than just 1 or 2 characters from game to game, and it was probably the only game I'd played where you got to carry over a romantic interest from game to game. Playing the ME games right in a row really allowed me to properly experience the improvements in everything from combat to traversal to character arcs. In any other year, this probably could have been my top game.

2. Disco Elysium

I slept on this game for far too long. I'd heard how weird it was, and while I like a little weird I thought it might be too much for me. But it was on sale and I was still in the post BG3 funk. When I started it, I still didn't think I would like it. But I quickly got invested in the mystery and in the fabulous characters of Harry and Kim, and it was over all too soon. I absolutely loved the attribute/skills system in this game. It genuinely felt like some of the best I've seen, and not only was it a cool and story relevant system, but it legitimately affected the way you played the game and reacted to different situations. The voice acting was equally amazing. The art style worked perfectly with the tone and the setting. It was uncanny and absurd, it was timely and serious, it was heartwarming, it was tense, it was devastating, it did everything so well. Even the music was perfect. My only complaint is that I stupidly played this on Switch, and crashing was a huge issue for me throughout the game. Don't repeat my mistake unless you have no other option.

1.Baldur's Gate 3

Little needs to be said about what makes BG3 great. Sometimes less is more. The character interactions and relationships are among the best I've ever experienced, the acting and animations were top notch, the sheer variety of role playing choices and endings were absolutely the best I've experienced, and this is the rare game that I plan on playing more than once.

Honorable Mentions (Games that are only sort of RPGs)

Stray Gods

If you look at the official title of this game, it has "Roleplaying" right in there. Still, I would say this is RPG-lite. You do make decisions that affect your ending, you do interact with characters, and there are even romance options. On the other hand, you don't really have choices in regards to customization or building your protagonist, there's no skill/level up system that I remember, and there really isn't any fredom of exploration or side quests, so in many ways it didn't feel like a full RPG. More than anything it feels like a visual novel (which is not a complaint). It was a great game. I loved the protagonist. The songs were fun, and getting to change the tone and content of the music was an awesome concept.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

I loved this game. I don't know why I hear so little about it. Much like the other Witcher games, it forces you to make really difficult choices over and over again, often with no real right answer. Meve was a fantastic protagonist, and most of her companions were memorable and interesting. Your choices do ultimately affect the ending and often have basic resource related consequences, but while the actual combat always felt life and death it pretty much never had real consequences. You're often told, "don't fight these guys, we don't have the troops," but you always win and rarely lose troops anyway. Still, it was a great game, and I played for over 60 hours. This one doesn't fully fit into the RPG category for me just because it's primarily a deck builder, but it does have a lot of other RPG traits. It has world exploration, fun companions, and you can level up your army through building your deck. If you haven't played it and you're a Witcher fan, take this as your cue to remedy that.

[dearophelia]

best of sara's fic, according to her

Because I’m feeling some kind of way about my cancer lately and wanted to put together a Sara’s Greatest Fic Hits while I’m still around to do it (which is a morbid thing to type, but see the intro: been feeling some kind of way lately).

These range from my most popular fics, to the ones lost to weird posting hours, and everything in between. If I counted correctly, there are 14 fandoms on this list: from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, to Grey’s Anatomy and Stargate SG-1, to The West Wing and Calvin & Hobbes.

I’d appreciate reblogs on this (I am not ashamed to pull the stage iv cancer card here) so it can reach as many people as possible.

I have been writing fic for over 15 years; this is not a short list.

All are rated T or lower unless otherwise indicated. All stories are at or under the 3k mark unless otherwise indicated.

Stargate SG-1:

waves are universal (the heaven in hiding remix) (Sam/Jack; I’m very Normal about this fic; time travel and alternate realities, a host of OCs (and some familiar faces from Norafic if you look closely), oh and the Sam/Jack kid from the alternate reality! Only she’s an adult and working on a way to save the world! This has it all, folks: humor, romance, angst, action! I told you I’m Normal about it; 40k)

strange is the night where black stars rise (Sam; horror! A low creeping sense of doom! The King in Yellow! No, seriously, fuck that planet; 10k)

#sg1wedding (Sam/Jack; their wedding turned into An Event against their will; bets are going down about who would win in a fight: Bra’tac or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; also Jack loses his socks; twitterfic from 2012 and technology has definitely Marched On, just read it like an unhinged group chat fic)

phoenix (Sam/Daniel/Teal’c, Sam/Jack, Sam/Jack/Daniel/Teal’c; apocalypse (that I consulted a real live geologist on!); rebuilding in the wake of said apocalypse; team family feelings, kids, and some really shitty neighbors; 38k)

Dragon Age:

joy cometh in the morning (Ariadne; rated M; a host of OCs; mind the warnings; friendship; worldbuilding galore; friendships and mentors and first loves; did I mention friendship and worldbuilding?; 56k)

through the rude wind’s wild lament, and the bitter weather (Ari+Cullen; quiet magic, kind magic, good magic is still new to Cullen)

as the sun kissed the horizon (Ari/Josephine; a relationship in ten moments)

‘til we meet again (Ari+Cullen; platonic sleeping together!)

so hold my hand, consign me not to darkness (Ari; her faith is the core of who she is and, for the first time, Andraste isn’t there; post-Trespasser)

raise your fists up to the sky (Kylie/Krem; it’s Krem’s first day with the Chargers and there’s a naked elf in the middle of camp)

every demon wants his pound of flesh (Krem+Bull; Krem was in the Fade with the Inquisitor and the fear demon had some Things To Say To Him)

black dove (Anaya) & strange little girl (Anaya+Dagna) & dissolving clouds (Anaya+Cullen) (because neurodivergent Inquisitor, friendship, blossoming romance, and three very different takes on blood magic)

skeletons (Zahara+Bull; she is saarebas, he is Ben-Hassrath, and language is important)

children shouldn’t play with dead things (Juliette Amell; she’s always had an easier time with the dead than the living; cw for bugs)

a sorta fairytale (Josephine/Cassandra; flower shop & tattoo parlor AU; 8k)

Mass Effect Trilogy:

gonna set your flag on fire (Nora Vakarian, Liv/Garrus, James/Liara, Liv+Liara, Livfam; action! Humor! Angst! Worldbuilding! OCs!; I am Super Normal about this fic too; I promise everything’s okay in the end, promise, even though it isn’t written yet; Nora is an N3 and has an inactive control chip in her head. She and her team are ordered to investigate a Cerberus facility. It goes, shall we say, awry; 40k)

anthem (Liv/Garrus, Hannah/Zaeed, Liv+Liara; eight months is a long time without each other; angst with a happy ending (I promise); post-Destroy; 13k)

holy ground & dress (Liv/Garrus; ficlets from the night he gets sworn in as Councilor)

brightly shone the moon at night (Liv, Liv+Liara, Liv/Garrus, Livfam; five Christmases in Olivia Shepard’s life; 5k)

the pieces of gold, they light up your eyes & now we’re alone, now we’re alive (Liv/Garrus; the evolution of a relationship)

fighting is said to have reached palaven (Liv/Garrus; please, please let him be alive)

and some things you just can’t speak about (Quentus+Nico; the war)

‘cause i know that it’s delicate (Liv/Garrus; pre-wedding!)

nosce te ipsum (Nico; he likes boys and fanfiction and he didn’t think he’d get his little italicized oh moment)

i will write you love letters if you tell me to (Liv/Garrus; Hannah gives him one of Liv’s notebooks before he goes off to Omega; Garrus does the only thing he can think of with it)

i really need you (Liv/Garrus; James POV during the reunion scene in Priority: Palaven)

you look really tired (Liv/Garrus, Liv+Liara; post-Thessia, Olivia’s not doing well)

hey, so, ground rules (Liv+Zaeed; it’s a lot weird now that he’s dating her mom)

and all the scars you bear are from a previous war (Liv+Quentus; Mom!Liv)

you can hear it in the silence (Liv/Garrus; just a moment, post-war)

this all started because of a bad day (Liv/Garrus; from first meetings to matching rings)

combat, i’m ready for combat & turn on your favorite nightlight (Hannah; she’s a civilian and her daughter isn’t, and she’s bound and determined to know what Liv goes through when her boots hit the ground; Hannah, Zaeed, Liv, and Garrus hit up Armax)

four quarians who never made it back to the fleet (and one who did) (kinda what it says on the tin, honestly. Oh, Tali’s in this!)

everyone’s lost, the battle is won (Evangeline; somewhat predictably, my experiment in getting as many of my team killed as possible resulted in Feelings About It)

across the sky (Susan/Liara; how to make the Control ending feel good)

and yours is in red underlined (Vanessa; The Illusive Man has pissed her off for the last time)

i’m headed straight for the castle (Vanessa; renegade control ending; kneel before your queen)

Mass Effect Andromeda:

for saviours (Tori; ten scenes from a pre-Andromeda life; 10k)

ringing joyful and triumphant (Tori/Liam/Jaal; just some morning fluff)

the thing with the baby angara (Tori/Liam/Jaal; thinking about the future)

the undone and the divine (Tori/Liam/Jaal; the lone single solitary explicit fic on here, give it props for that alone; Liam gets absolutely railed by his partners. That’s it. That’s the fic.)

you’re like the thing that makes the universe explode (Sara Ryder/Suvi, Drack; kid, the only people who don’t know that you like Suvi are people who haven’t met you and Suvi)

this one’s for the torn down, the experts at the fall (Tori+Garrus; one night in the intersection of Victoria Ryder and Archangel; maybe they’re better friends than they both thought)

The West Wing:

a great revelation sigh (CJ; she’s Chief of Staff; ten steps to the apocalypse; the apocalypse source probably didn’t age well, heads up)

it’s in my blood and i won’t give up ‘cause it’s running through my veins (Amy+Andi; it’s Election Day in the future and Amy has nothing to do)

Grey’s Anatomy:

dropsonde (the singers in a lower choir remix) (Addison/Alex, Derek/Meredith, Addison+Derek, Addison+Mark, Mark+Derek; the one that kicked off all the remixes; absolutely off the rails from canon somewhere in S3; budding romances and kidfic and my theory about people being storms and lighthouses; 40k)

scarlet city (Mark/Addison, Burke/Cristina; film noir gangster and detective AU; Addison’s the gangster, Burke’s the detective; literally everyone I could fit into this fic shows up; also Denny is comic relief; 18k)

Misc:

access records (Star Trek Voyager; Naomi Wildman’s holodeck access for the past week; worldbuilding!)

in this twilight our choices seal our fate (the song in the house of night remix) (SVU; Olivia/Elliot; rated M; on the rise and fall of partnership; probably a little too much religious imagery but what the hell else am I gonna do with a minor in religious studies?; 4k)

the end of days job (Leverage; Parker+Eliot+Hardison; the apocalypse job, basically; this one ages well!)

let the only sound be the overflow (D&D; Calia/Kelpie/Edal, aka ot3: fathoms below; the ocean is big and they are not)

we are golden stars above silver seas (we hear echoes from another galaxy) (Calvin & Hobbes; Calvin+Susie; throughout all those years, she never gave up on him; this one went viral on tumblr [LINK] and I cleaned it up for the AO3 version)

lift her, pull her, from the orchids (Grace and Frankie; Grace/Frankie; the one where I invoke the spelling bee)

rocket queens (Babylon 5/Pacific Rim; Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters; look, they’re jaeger pilots, I really don’t know what else to tell you)

the great gig in the sky (Battlestar Galactica; Six; rebirth is painful, she forgets this sometimes)

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

25, 26, 27 and 28 from the fifty shep questions if you’re taking em!

Tysm for the ask!!!! My Shepard's name is Raien, he's colonist/sole survivor for added context. Here's a pic of him with his two besties doing the Noveria Smirk(tm):

25. How emotionally articulate is your Shepard? Do they emote well?

This varies. In the first game, he starts out trying to be aloof, keep distance between him and the crew, but quickly gets very attached to the Normandy crew. Especially after Anderson hands command over to him. He's very comfortable with them and generally is just himself when not in the field. In the second game, he never fully warms up to the SR-2 and the new crew, mainly because of Cerberus. He gets pretty sleep deprived and pissed off and spends most of the mission guarded and recedes into himself. In the third game, he spends a lot of his time stressed out and still sleep deprived, but overall much more comfortable once back with the alliance. So in short, when he's not too freaked out or stressed, he tends to be fairly easy to read emotionally, though after dying and coming back he becomes a lot harder to read unless you know him very well.

26. Does your Shepard have a romance? Who are they, and what drew Shepard to them?

Kaidan!! He loves Kaidan. They've always had a pretty good rapport, and worked well together in the field. Kaidan's the one he started this whole mess with, and he becomes determined to come out of it with him, too. He feels safe with Kaidan, which is a rare feeling for a soldier like Shepard. It takes him... a long time to understand his feelings though. Or at least longer than it does for Kaidan. He really only realizes right before the suicide mission in me2 (like minutes before going through the alpha relay from which he doesn't expect to return), days after an enlightening conversation with Liara. Then, after returning to the alliance, he resigns himself to believing they'll probably never work together again. And then the reapers and mars happens. They are bffs to it's really complicated to lovers.

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

He doesn't like people touching his Mako. Unless it's Garrus. It takes a little while before he trusts Garrus with it though. Also doesn't like other people messing with his gear. He is very particular about the specs on his sniper rifle and omnitool, and is convinced other people would fuck them up just by touching them. Ashley learns this the hard way. Raien also generally dislikes people reading over his shoulder, for many reasons- it stresses him out.

28. What about hyperfixations? What's the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place?

He loves ships. Growing up on Mindoir, he spent a lot of time at the small space port there, helping the engineers with repairs and such. It's where he learned most of what he knows about engineering. He always wants to talk about the latest models (the kind that fly and the mini kind he can build, both) and what he likes or hates about them. But he really prefers going hands-on and working on them, tuning them and making small adjustments. He also just generally enjoys vehicles, too. Hence his protective nature when it comes to the Mako. He also really likes asking other engineers about ships, too, sometimes pretending he has no idea what they're talking about just to fuck with them. (That's how I explain the in-game dialogue choices you get at least lol.) He talks with Tali and Adams for hours upon hours. In me2, he spends a lot of time in the uncharted depths of the SR-2; in maintenance shafts, in-between floor and wall paneling, etc. Which isn't very safe while they're flying in space and he knows it, but it's the only place he can be fairly certain Cerberus isn't watching and listening. In fact, he spends so much time there, that half the Cerberus crew are convinced he knows how to teleport, since he often cannot be found anywhere on the ship, and will appear/disappear seemingly out of thin air.

Thanks again for the ask! I love Raien so much :') Have another pic of him smiling, he doesn't smile often enough:

[timptoe]

Finally started playing ME Andromeda, I’m about thirty hours in (so no spoilers!), and…it’s kind of lovely? I get the sense from the fanbase that it’s pretty hated but I’m kind of liking it. First impressions:

It’s very much like if Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Inquisition had an adorable baby. Is that why people don’t like it? Because it’s so much less hoo-rah military?

I also heard no one likes the Frostbite graphics but they don’t bother me? The asari are a little cutesy, but everything else is gorgeous.

I do miss Shepard and the crew, tbh. Love the Liara cameos. Will always want more of Kaidan and Joker and Tali and Vega and everyone.

Do like the new crew, especially their interactions with each other. Hardcore shipping Drack/Lexi. And the Drack-Vetra friendship is really sweet.

I just met Reyes and hooooooo boy. Scott’s been flirting with Gil but he’s suddenly falling hard for Reyes—sorry Gil, don’t hate me forever.

Also Gil just go kiss Kallo already, ugh.

Also also (because Reyes’ voice actor is also male Hawke’s voice actor) my new Dragon Age II headcanon is: after Hawke meets Zevran and does his quest, he will only speak to Isabela in Zevran’s accent for the next six months. She hates it but finds it weirdly sexy. (Much how I am reacting to Reyes’ voice.)

Jaal++

Did the Nexus really not carry a QEC to talk to the Citadel? They traveled to a different galaxy and didn’t think, hey, we have tech that’ll let us say “yo descendants we just woke up!”?

Exaltation is a sufficiently creepy plot point, right up there with indoctrination and Reaper liquidation.

I miss quarians.

I do not miss missions. The open world style is my jam, I love the viability/colonization aspect, love the way this game does side quests.

I find the concept of the exiles to be weird. You sign up for the Initiative, are deemed worthy of being sent ahead on the Nexus instead of an ark (so you’re presumably all in), and you flake out in less than a year because…it didn’t all go to plan? That part of the narrative’s kinda weak.

Though I just got the first part of the Jien Garson whodunit and I’m super invested already.

Really intrigued by the Remnant.

Andromeda does feel less high-stakes than the original trilogy, which is too bad. Sure you’re not dealing with galaxy-wide apocalypse, but survival in Heleus should feel a lot less Laura Ingalls Wilder and a lot more Oregon Trail.

Overall, I’m liking it. Less than halfway through so still plenty of time for it to go sour, but I’m intrigued.

[housederiva]

Hi there! I was looking for some insight as someone who feels as though they've only scratched the surface level of the Dragon Age Lore. Inquisition was my first game, and the only one I've fully played through (3 times), and I've made it my mission to play through the other games as well, but I feel stuck when it comes to Alistair. If you wouldn't mind sharing, what do you find to be the best outcome for him? I've basically had to stop myself from falling in love with him, as it seems his a romance with him is kinda doomed unless you're a noble. And how do you handle the Dark Ritual?

Honored that you're picking my pee sized brain (affectionate) about this uwu

Alistair was the first video game character I had ever romanced (i was like 10 when i first played origins oh my god that shouldn't have been allowed also technically he might be the second because of miss liara t'soni but i can't remember which game i played first) so he has a very special place in my heart. When I was a kid, i made him the king along side Anora. But my 'canon' world state kept him as a grey warden. In my head, he's the same ranking as my warden commander Amell and Anora rules alone. I won't harden him and I wont put a crown on his head that he doesn't want. To me, Alistair staying a warden feels right and (now that im in my mid 20's) i don't romance him and no longer have that sort of attraction to his character. Amell and him are each other's only family and when the Calling comes for them, they'll go together

I really do wish the Dark Ritual was played out a different way as I have Alistair become Kieran's father, I don't like that it feels like I'm forcing him to sleep with my wife, Morrigan (if i remember right, in development a female warden could have been a part of it but that was scrapped early on) I've never done a play through where a warden sacrificed themselves. I always do the ritual becuase I trust and love Morri, I will not lose Alistair, and my Amell has lost enough. she gets to be selfish now that she's making the calls. She doesn't believe in 'In death sacrifice' and never will. She didn't choose to be a warden, but the other option was being made tranquil. My Amell will always put her Wardens and everyone she loves above a 'greater good' she doesn't think exists. Also I adore Kieran and love how he changes Morri and how much she loves him. I really hope we see him grown up in Veilguard

I'm opening this up to the peanut gallery if anyone else wants to weigh in!

[edenprime]

if u haven't read it a lot of liara's more action-oriented shift was told in the comics. the shadow broker DLC didn't quite capture how much effort she went thru to secure shep's body and how big feron's role. i personally welcome the change and while i like archeologist liara i think her ME1 characterization is so superficial. she's mostly just a fan girl. the shift is abrupt but it's nice that in ME2 she has her own thing going on outside shepard cos i believe the writers wrote her as the canon love interest in mind so her character often suffers from the fangirl disease. i think a lot of people in the fandom dislike how the game shove her to us so much. which is funny since another famous shepard ship is garrus, who's equally as pushed as liara and is just as much of a shep fan. it's just that he's a guy so he doesn't suffer sexist hate.

I haven't read/seen anything outside the games, no! I've been thinking of getting into that, but first I'd like to sort out all of my feelings wrt the main event - the games. I feel like if I got into the "peripheric" media, it could maybe influence how I view the games and i want to analyze those by themselves (i'm thinking i'll finish this playthrough + another one in which i might or might not play as mshep) and then see about everything else. Thank you for the rec, though! I knew there was extra stuff about tali and garrus but this is the first i'm hearing about liara <3

And well... let's be real, most of the squad is part of the Shepard fan club, even those that can't be romanced, like Grunt and Wrex. The fact that Shepard gets a breeding request in Tuchanka after completing grunt's loyalty mission is like the most Mary Sue thing ever (and I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way). The asari, sex symbols of the galaxy, are throwing themselves at them left and right (Liara, Shiala, arguably Sha'ira, Morinth...). Shepard is the main character, everyone wants a piece of them. It's one of the entertaining parts of the games (or at least I have a lot of fun with it, if maybe a little bit ironically).

I suppose people might single out Liara because she's the one whose actions are the most extreme, and thus it crosses the line from "cute" to "creepy", but she's not the only one. Legion literally wears the armor off their dead body. As I said in my post, maybe her actions and/or attitude aren't 100% justifiable, but they are understandable.

I'm not sure about the game pushing Garrus as a love interest (I think the game itself is skeptical of the player making this choice, like when Shepard says she "can't believe she finds comfort in the arms of a turian" or something like that), but I do think he's definitely meant to be one of the characters that's most influenced by Shepard, regardless of gender.

Personally, I think him being so popular a choice (at least on Tumblr, which has a mostly female userbase compared to other social media) is due to him being a man, yes, but not necessarily because of sexism (or not always), but because het ships are farrrr more popular than femslash. Also, it's very clear how much he respects Shepard in basically every aspect, and it's incredibly fucking rare to see a het relationship in such equal ground, especially with a """bad guy""" lmao. (though ME in general does quite good in that regard I think, the romances in general are not toxic™️ or unequal) (mostly... ignoring that Shepard is basically everyone's boss... lol).

I completely agree that there's a double standard in how female characters are expected to behave vs male ones, and from what i've seen Liara is 100% a victim of this (I had the very bad idea of reading some threads on reddit...yikes). I don't know the fandom enough to know how it compares in relation to Garrus in particular, though, or if there's a correlation between Shakarian fans and Liara haters.

[bluecladone]

Beat Veilguard last night, here’s some of my thoughts (SPOILERS BELOW):

First, some positives: Holy shit this game is a visual gem. The art direction and set pieces really blew me away in some places. That mountain with the titan corpse? Treviso? The lyrium chamber with the Oracle? I can’t wait for the art book lol. Also the animations and hair physics are *chef’s kiss*. I was really worried about the animations as Bioware has repeatedly gone on record saying how difficult the Frostbite engine is to work with (and I’m still a bit scarred from Mass Effect Andromeda lol) but they seem to have finally mastered it here. I was surprised at how expressive Rook was and loved how nuanced the dialogue choices were. Somehow, no matter which dialogue option I chose, I felt that the delivery was exactly what I wanted or better. There were times where I wanted Rook to be angrier or meaner though lol. Also, the worlds weren’t nearly as linear as I feared they might be. I thought it was a good balance between open-world and linear level design.

Now for some things that irked me:

There were a lot of bad line reads, especially at the beginning. Bellara springs to mind, though when she wasn’t trying to sound quirky she actually sounded alright lol. Looking up her actress, it doesn’t look like she’s done a lot of voice work, so it could just be rookie mistakes. Then again, Ali Hillis—Harding’s actress (and Liara T’soni and Aloy)—also had some clunky line reads. My guess is that they probably weren’t directed very well. Considering most of the clunky dialogue is in the beginning of the game, it’s not too egregious. I think they both found their footing with their characters as they went along. There were also some things that were worded or represented weirdly but I don’t know if it was on purpose or not? The two instances I’m thinking of are when Bellara tells Rook about her brother, and when Caterina was killed. My problem is the refusal to really say “killed.” Bellara says something like “wherever [her brother] is” and the implication is that he’s dead, of course. But the dialogue choices were either offering condolences or asking intrusively what happened so I wasn’t given a hard confirmation of his supposed death until a later conversation. The same happens during Lucanis’s recruitment mission where, after returning to Crow headquarters, Illario tells us that Caterina was “taken” by Venatori. I automatically assumed she was kidnapped, (which turns out to be the case, but I digress) since we just sprung her grandson from mage jail. That is, until Lucanis later swears that her death will be avenged, and I was like “Oh. Well maybe I missed something, even though I don’t think I did?” For hours afterward I was really confused by the coded language used and wondered why no one would just say dead or killed lol. But then it turns out that both characters are alive after all, so maybe it was on purpose? I guess? It was a clunky set up, if so.

Which leads me to my next gripe: during the mission to help with Caterina’s funeral, Lucanis tries to ask Illario about the details of the murder, (where did it happen, how was she killed, etc.) and doesn’t get a straight answer. Then Illario is weird about picking up “Caterina’s” ashes, which not only immediately made it obvious that he was a traitor, but also baffles me that the Crows somehow fell for the body double ruse twice in a row?? Not a lot of discerning people in a faction where the correct body should be tantamount to their success, no? Then, when it is glaringly obvious to the cast that Illario is the traitor, they just...kind of sit on that info and do nothing about it?? No warning to Teia and Viago, or anything? Honestly, everything about the Crows bothered me a lot lol. I didn’t like that they were portrayed as this plucky, lily-white faction of underground freedom fighters when we know that’s not how they operate. Not saying that they can’t be a terrible organization and patriotic, but the game does nothing to portray them as the neutrally evil entity they’ve always come off as. According to Zevran, they buy children from brothels and if they fail training, they’re killed. If they survive, they’re tortured to build their resistance to pain. Not to mention how Caterina used to beat Lucanis with a cane to correct him as a child, yet they still act weirdly warm toward one another. I get family is complicated, but geez. Maybe the Crows of Treviso are a softer touch, but I doubt they’d last long if that were so. I just wish the writers had tried to make them more morally gray than what we’re shown. I honestly forgot they were supposed to be scary assassins most of the time lol.

Some other little things before I move on to the big ones (besides the Crows lol):

While I loved Taash and loved getting to help them discover themselves, I was a little sucked out of the narrative by the ham-fisted lesson on gender identity lol. I get that they probably wanted to give a rundown for people who aren’t familiar with the topic, but I don’t think anyone who’s made it this far in the series isn’t at least somewhat familiar with the concept or are trans/non-binary/genderfluid. The Dragon Age fandom is very colorful that way lol. I could tell it came from a good place, at least. It was just funny to see the characters all but face the camera and say, “Hey kids, here’s a primer on gender identities for the uninitiated.” I didn’t really understand why Shathann was so hung up about Taash’s identity when Iron Bull flat-out tells us in Inquisition that the Qun has words and beliefs for people who identify that way and that they’re pretty chill about it. Not to say that EVERYONE in the Qun is likely to be chill about it, but still. Shathann even gives the same explanation before being interrupted, so it had me scratching my head a bit.

Then there was Bellara’s little “follow your heart” speech which made me roll my eyes a bit. Just a bit too corny and stereotypical for me personally. There are plenty of anecdotes about staying true to oneself without having to explicitly rely on the words “follow your heart.”

I got locked out of Lucanis’s romance without realizing until it was way too late lol. I don’t expect the game to be like “WARNING: CHOOSING MINRATHOUS OVER TREVISO MEANS YOU CAN’T FUCK THE HOT ITALIAN” but I feel like locking the romance entirely is kinda mean, especially after I looked it up and saw you could still romance Neve if you choose Treviso instead. As far as I know, Lucanis is the only romance option that gets locked because of a choice you made. I didn’t realize why I wasn’t getting flirt options until several hours later when I looked it up, after completing a shit ton of sidequests lol. Didn’t help that Lucanis is absent from the team for a good chunk of time afterward, and I’m a stickler for getting as many sidequests done as I can before moving on with story missions. I knew I could flirt with any of the other companions but it felt a bit late in the game to start at that point, and I was worried it might effect the pacing of the romance, so I just went without. Romance is kind of a big part of the appeal of these games to me, but it’s not everything. I thought about reloading an old (very old, by that point) save, but I didn’t want to deal with the frustration. Besides, I thought, if the game still holds up despite missing out on this one thing I was kind of looking forward to, then that speaks to its merits. I still had a good time overall, and am already starting a second campaign to explore some other choices and finally make that manlet mine lol. Still, it is quite annoying when choosing to save Minrathous is clearly the right call in my opinion. The game itself doesn’t make much ado about the consequences of leaving Treviso to fend for itself besides the civilian casualties. But it definitely makes leaving Minrathous sound more alarming. (You’ll basically be handing over the most powerful city in the North over to the Venatori and Evanuris. Treviso doesn’t have a giant floating castle with magic weapons that can pick a single target out of a crowd of people lol. Also the game acts like there wouldn’t also be a high civilian toll for some reason.)

While I feel that reading the tie-in books and comics isn’t required to get an understanding of certain characters and whatnot, I feel like it adds important context and makes you actually somewhat care for the fate of a lot of the characters in the game. It’s frustrating to track all that stuff down and read it, though most of it is covered in Tevinter Nights, however I might feel about some of the writing in that one lol. I suppose it could be argued that none of the Dragon Age games have ever been guaranteed sequels since its inception, so this was the next best thing to offer closure and/or extra worldbuilding just in case. In fact, the ending to Veilguard kinda feels like they’re trying to keep it open for a sequel since there are some minor loose threads, (And an end screen that basically says the Veilguard stands prepared lol) but who knows if we’ll see one. EA has never seen Dragon Age as a priority IP, since it’s an RPG and those can be hard to make into bestsellers. They’d rather focus on something more like Mass Effect— a traditional third-person shooter with some RPG elements—which we’re almost certainly getting another of. Hopefully. If there ever is another Dragon Age, I really struggle to imagine what in the world it would even be about.

Another gripe is the fact that Morrigan is not at all as prominent in the game as we maybe expected. (At least, I did lol) It’s not that big of a deal to me, but it does make me wonder why they even put her in the game. I guess to give the player an explanation about Mythal and her relationship to Solas, and to give over the aspect thingy if you do all the sidequests in the Crossroads. It didn’t really warrant Morrigan’s presence, though. Then again, I’m sure the fans would have rioted if she hadn’t been there. I guess I wish they would have utilized her more, and better lol.

The same can be said of the Inquisitor, but at least they had the excuse of keeping the South together while Rook did their thing. (Which would be a great idea for a dlc/expansion; playing as the Inquisitor and maybe seeing more about the choices made in the last game since we didn’t get to see many in Rook’s journey.) Though I do have a big problem with an Inquisitor who still wants to redeem Solas after everything he did, which I’ll get into more detail later. An Inquisitor who romanced him and still wants to get back together with him is doubly icky, but once again, I’ll come back to it lol.

Now the big things:

Varric. Oh, my poor, poor Varric. I made a post a while back about how I thought I might not enjoy the game as much if it turned out he died right at the beginning, and well...I was half right. His death was a twist I really didn’t see coming, and I’m honestly not sure how to feel about it right now. I admire the bait and switch for how clever it is, but am a bit frosty about how cruel it is, too. It feels a bit dumb to say for a fictional person, but I truly think I’m in mourning for Varric. I remember how I lamented in my old post about how it would have been so unsatisfying for him to die among strangers who barely knew him, away from the people that loved him best. This was softened somewhat by his relationship with Rook. Clearly, Rook cared about Varric a lot as a mentor, and possibly even as a father figure. (It helped that I headcanoned my Rook as someone who was separated from her parents at a young age and therefore craved that connection.) It’s still upsetting that I was half right with my prediction, and my heart breaks when I think about the Kirkwall gang not being there when he died, especially Hawke. Once again, I’m unsure of how I’m feeling about all this. I’m upset, but also aware that he couldn’t last forever, despite my wishes lol. Would it have been better to hear about him dying offscreen in a supposed sequel or tie-in book/comic? I’m upset Solas killed him, but I can’t decide if it’s out of character for him to have done so. I was surprised he stabbed Varric when it happened, but it’s not like he didn’t give Varric a warning when he broke Bianca. And he did kill Mythal, who he was closer to than anyone, despite how complicated their relationship got. I still need to reflect on all of it, and maybe my opinion will change when I have a clearer head. What I took the most exception to was the Inquisitor’s reaction to it as one who both romanced Solas and wanted to redeem him. Looking back on how you get to choose whether she gets back together with Solas or not leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At this point, the Inquisitor is obviously aware Varric is dead and that it’s Solas’s fault. I feel like even the most besotted, kindhearted Inquisitors would have trouble reconciling that, regardless of how close they might or might not have been to Varric. He was part of the inner circle, integral to stopping Corypheus. I feel like that should warrant some kind of reconsideration on her part. I’d be fine if she still wanted to redeem Solas, but pursuing a romantic relationship with him despite everything he’s done not only to Varric, but the world...it’s just gross to me. Maybe the Inquisitor sees Rook’s encouragement to get back together as some kind of forgiveness towards Solas on Rook’s part? I don’t know...it takes quite a bit of mental gymnastics on my part lol. But maybe others feel differently. I’d love to hear someone else’s opinion on the matter. As it is, the kiss before Solas and the Inquisitor disappear was soured for me. I might go back and try some of the other ending choices to see how I like those, but for now I’m focusing on another playthrough with an Inquisitor who did not romance Solas and swore to stop him. We’ll see which I like better lol.

Another big issue is, while I totally expected Solas to betray Rook at some point, the way it was handled was not very good in my opinion. Why, of all times, would Solas turn on us after killing Ghilan’nain? I know it’s likely a pride thing, or possibly he’s lost faith in Rook’s efficiency after they get one of their people killed. (Or more, depending on your choices for the assault, but I looked up the optimal choices after getting Harding killed so I didn’t traumatize myself further lol. Sorry Davrin and Assan :’(.) In fact, I was so confused by Solas’s timing that I thought it was actually Elgar’nan fucking with Rook’s head as revenge lol. Anyway, deaths in the line of duty didn’t seem to phase Solas in the past, though we do see that memory in one of his regrets. It just seemed hasty for him to immediately banish Rook to the Fade prison when they’re the one who’s done all the heavy lifting so far. And somehow, Solas seems surprised shit doesn’t work out like he planned later, but once again, I guess that’s his pride at work. This is also a complicated one for me that I think I need more time to puzzle out. I just have a hard time reconciling how someone so smart could be so dumb. Even when he was at his most powerful, he still had help from Felassan and other rebels. And yes, while Solas does take charge of Rook’s faction after trapping them, I highly doubt they compare to ancient elves with powerful magic and spirits. Credit where it’s due though, I was concerned when Solas had that line in the beginning about “abhorring blood magic” when he says the opposite in Inquisition. I can see now that it was clearly a lie meant to put Rook more at ease. Or at least, that’s how I saw it.

Overall, I did enjoy the game, despite my many problems with it. That being said, I think the mass layoffs at Bioware really made the game suffer in the writing side of things. Hopefully the new staff finds their footing after this, and I wish them the best of luck.

R.I.P. Varric Tethras, a self-admitted liar who could be honest to a fault, whose charm captured me from the moment I met him. He’s the charismatic character all writers strive to create.

[sol-consort]

I actually would like the concept of being the only human in a crew for a Mass Effect game (maybe a smaller standalone game instead a full on main story one) but that may just be because I always preferred the alien characters over the humans in Mass Effect. No clue what the plot would be but for smaller game maybe hostile creature on board like Alien but I’m just thinking that because I’ve binged the Alien movies

But outside plots what would be your top three alien species in Mass Effect you’d want to be stuck with on a ship? I think Quarian, Asari, and Krogan would be mine

Dude, that's an absolute nightmare combo—for the quarian, at least. They're 100% getting sick every other day.

Krogans have heat and ruts, so....there is that. Oh, and the asari is 100% boning them, like you and the qaurian are going to be thirdwheeling 90% of the time.

It's going to like one of those drama reality tv shows, not one of those people gets along.

I mean, I do like humans a lot. Half the human kink stuff is stuff I genuinely find attractive in other humans. I am my own main source of filth, I would absolutely hate being the only human in a ship.

But if I had no other choice...hmm. My brain is just turning this into a list of aliens I want to bone rather than thinking about the logistics.

Well, I don't want to be charged with involuntary manslaughter, so turians and qaurians are off the table. The knowledge I could accidentally poison one of them by my mere existence is too haunting + I'm a curious creature with grubby fingers and will touch all of their stuff and food.

I would actually enjoy being stuck with a hanar on a ship. Toning out people trying to convert you into their religion comes naturally to me. Not to mention how refreshingly polite and well-behaved they are! Hanar forbid animal fighting sports in their entire planet because it lowers empathy! I love the hanar so much, aaa. I wanna get close enough to one to learn their soul name. They're so pretty and pink and jellyfish, my beloveds <33

A drell, though? No. I don't want them to feel subservient to the hanar, but also, I don't want to get drugged each time I used a spoon they haven't washed properly. It's a shame, I adore their raspy voice, but even touching one will give you a rash, so yeah.

I've always wanted to kiss frogs since I was a little human, not in search of princes but because I found frogs pretty and felt bad that people would only kiss them in hopes of them turning into something else rather than kiss them for them, so i swore to kiss any frog I saw. Now I'm older and realise the health complications and risks—that what living with a drell would be like, kissing a frog every day.

Elcor absolutely yes! They're big majestic elephants and I love elephants and I love their clear way of speech and I find them so adorable and I wanna be friends <33

I'm still not over the asari being an eldritch abomination that alters your perception of reality, so absolutely not. Plus, most of them aren't as nice or humble as liara. Instead, they're snotty and often look down on humans for being the youngest, newest species. I'm not bunking with one! They freak me out.

Salarians? Absolutely not. They only require one hour of sleep and have a perfect memory. They can't be gaslight into thinking it's their turn on the chores. They will be up ALL NIGHT every single day. They will wake me up at 3am. to continue an argument from 2 weeks ago. Plus they really dislike the eclor and I don't want them being mean to my favourite guys :( or else I'll slap a bitch.

Korgans? Fuck no. Anything with any heat cycle is not stepping foot in my world. Go deal with your rut elsewhere! I don't even wanna think about it. otherwise they'd be so chill and nice...albet too strong. Krogans need to go I'm sorry.

Angara? No, because I'd feel too bad separating them from their family. BPD and other emotional constipation things make me the worst person to deal with to an angara bc I would legit rather die than acknowledge any feeling ever. They're too emotionally intelligent and open for me, It will be frustrating for us both bc I will look for hidden bad meanings in their sincere worda and kind actions, and they'll take all my impulsive words and actions to heart. Also, I'm very touch repulsed, hug me, and I'll claw your eye out.

Now, you'd think, okay, there are no species left??

AND YOU'D BE WRONG.

The best roomates! The geth!

They're built helpers! they take care of the chores, they stay in a dark room like a hermit connected to the web, you barely hear a beep from them.

Besides the risk of shattering my skull if I accidentally bump into them in the middle of the night in a dark hallway, everything else is very dandy.

So here you have it:

Hanar

Elcor

Geth

That's the realistic version.

Now if we're talking about my fantasy ideal alien foursome roommates dating sim:

Turian

Drell

Angara