#citidal dlc

[sol-consort]

Hello commander, I return with the ask for some crumbs of Thane in citadel dlc ideas/headcannons if he'd been there (he would've been perfect. Wouldn't he have just been perfect to join in the citadel dlc mission? I think he would've been perfect) Admiral anon out 🫡

Thane deserved to see that party and deserved the spotlights when it came to saving Shepard's ass. Who is better than a literal assassin to track you down from the shadows and swoop in all badass to make sure his siha is safe and sound. He would've been adorable at the casino, all shy and unsure under the spotlights. I love you Anon. I will name my firstborn after you.

[Fluff, romance, established relationships, Citidal DLC mission/party]

[Reader is Shepard, Gender neutral - NB!reader]

Citadel Wards: Ambush

"Siha, I came as soon as I could. Are you alright?"

Breaking out of his hospital stay mid checkup wasn't hard at all, especially after he caught hint of the fact you might be in danger. All alone with only a pistol against hundreds of enemies.

Thane was on a mission as he headed your way, heart racing, praying for the gods to protect you.

He knows you're more than capable, but he really wishes you didn't have to suffer through failed assassination attempts.

And a rather clumsy one at that too. Thane almost feels insulted.

But you're safe and he's not leaving your side anytime soon. He already left a message for Kolyat not to worry him while driving the shuttle he hijacked to your location.

It almost feels good to have a chance to pull all of his tricks again after such a long stay in the hospital with nothing to do.

In the scene where you meet him, his features visibly soften up when he looks at you. For a second, you could see the worry in his eyes. Contempt at his condition for not allowing him to be more of help to you.

"I've only a few loves left, and you are my last. Let me do what I can for you."

His hands lift up for a second before he reluctantly lets them down, clearly going for a hug hesitating and changing his mind.

You get a paragon interrupt to hug him, feel him melt against you. How long has it been since your last visit to him? Busy with preparing for the war and all, he was very understandable and content with the little time you offered him.

But now, oh you're finally here in his arms.

"I've missed you more, more than words could convey."

The hug is bittersweet, full of longing and untold fears.

You lost yourself in the war and the preparation for it, you almost forgot who you were fighting for in the first place.

The person who lost himself in you.

Thane always imagined his end to come first, for his story to end while your legend is still being written.

And he accepted it long ago, bitterly like any other pill he had to swallow.

It was just a fact of life.

All he could do was make sure he didn't leave any regrets behind.

But the idea of your life ending before him? Of the angel who guided him through a suicide mission and ensured everyone's survival to simply fall prey to some no-name assassins?

It filled him with burning rage for your enemies. Emotions he thought had died down since he gave up his previous job.

The same fire which consumed him back when he saw Kai Leng pointing a gun at you—overwhelmed his senses, twice as intense.

It's one thing for you to face soldiers nearly your equal on the battlefield.

It's another for some assassin to come and think they can best you while your guard is down during shore leave.

You were always fair in war. Assassins never are, he should know.

Gaining leverage no matter the cost.

Using every trick in the book to avoid a fight and get the upper hand before you realise they were there.

He memorised all the steps; a lifetime to perfect this song and dance of death.

Thane swore to himself not to let a single one of them reach you as long as he could still lift a gun.

Or simply weild a knife. Both were just as deadly in his grasp.

And now, standing with his arms wrapped around you so tightly, he almost feels ashamed for failing you. For not protecting you like you've always watched over him.

He doesn't voice those feelings; he never wants to worry you.

The mere soothing touch of your fingers against his face is enough to put all of the voices in his head to rest.

But you can see it in his sad eyes. You can sense the guilt in the desperate hold against your waist.

You get a renegade interrupt to kiss him, hush all of his worries away.

Everything else can wait. You'd damn the whole world if it meant you got to comfort your beloved just a moment more no matter what dangers lurked close by.

Ever since the time you kissed him during your initial hospital visit, you've been dying for the chance to do it again.

Eventually, it has to come to an end as Brooks voice sounds from your omni-tool, asking if you're still there. Warning you about the enemies heading your way.

Thane clears his throat with a smile curling in the corners of his lips. Apologising for getting distracted.

He follows after you as you investigate the car shop, a newfound determination to his steps. Knowing he will follow your lead to the end of the galaxy if you asked.

Reaching the closed gates, your attention turns to the closed shut office where they trigger to unlock them must be.

Telling Thane to step back, you raise your gun without hesitation as you aim the glass windows.

"Siha, there is another way."

His hand covers your own, gently coaxing you into lowering the gun.

Kneeling down to be on the same level as the volus hiding behind the desk, Thane asks them if they could open the gates.

He's patient as the shaking volus considers his request before clicking the button to lift the gates.

When you meet his eyes, he doesn't look smug at all, instead he seems very thankful to you for granting him this mercy of not carrying the guilt of endangering an innocent life.

Especially after all the time he has spent repenting for his past mistakes. All the innocents he has ever put in danger.

You realise how much the man in front of you has changed in the past months. The times he spent praying for forgiveness for each life he has taken, turning his own life around to be a good model for his son.

You can't help but voice your thoughts, not so subtly praising him for following his wishes for a stable, honest life with action.

The determination it must have taken, all the effort and hard work.

He brightens at your words.

"I even started paying taxes for my investments."

Now those words, he does look smug about.

☆

Citadel: Identity Theft I

Back at the safety of your apartment, Thane can be found next to the piano. One hand behind his back, another resting atop the piano cover.

Staring out the wall windows, the ones adjacent to the main entrance.

He's doing a breathing exercise when you approach him, slowly inhaling, then exhaling, in and out, in, out.

If you express worry, he reassures you that he's fairing well.

"It's you who just escaped danger. I should be asking you that instead."

He mentions how beautiful the view outside is, how it's nothing compared to his own apartment in the citadel that's more on the modest side.

Maybe he can take you there to show you after this is done, over a dinner? Kolyat is a surprisingly excellent cook, and sharing a meal with the two of you would make Thane very happy.

When it's time to discuss the next step with Liara and the group, Thane can't be picked for the vents' mission because it's hard to breathe in such a tight space.

You remember how the first time you met him was when he crawled down out of a vent.

The grim realisation of how much his health has deteriorated since sinks on you like cold water.

He makes a remark on how this mission almost takes him back down memory lane.

Infiltrating casinos to look for a target is his bread and butter–well the drell equivalent to that.

☆

Silver Coast Casino: Infiltration

"I never thought I'd actually get the chance to dress up and walk you down an aisle during this lifetime...it's always been a wishful fantasy. You look wonderful, siha."

He's wearing a very stylish suit, light breathable material.

It has a deep-ocean like shimmer when the light hits the black fabric just at the correct angle.

A thin shirt underneath, pearly white and unbuttoned down his chest.

He said it's necessary to compensate for the lack of cutouts in the suit so his skin may breath better.

Yet your eyes can't help but wander to his cleavage, even more noticeable now than his usual clothes ever showed.

If Thane had noticed your gaze, he never made a comment about it.

But he straightened his posture more, chin lifted a tad bit higher as he walked by your side ever soelegantly

Maybe he did reveal in your attention to his body.

His arm was around your waist, holding you protectively as he brought you closer to him.

You tired to tell him to just leave his hand in his pocket and let you "cling" onto it instead.

That's how humans usually do it to show statues, appear dominate, all the necessary facade to fit in with the usually casino crowd.

But he was greatly displeased with the idea of having you holding him without him returning the gesture.

He doesn't want to wear you like an accessory.

He never understood the human concept of playing things cool or acting hard to get.

Why deny his feelings and pretend he isn't over the moon at the idea of being with you in here? Why pretend you're not the most beautiful angel he has ever seen?

You could do anything to him on that red carpet, and he wouldn't protest nor shy away.

Lifting his chin between your fingers.

Be it cupping his cheek tenderly.

Giving him a sensual kiss.

He would've even kissed your hand if you wordlessly extended it to him.

The cheering crowd made him feel a bit uneasy, he isn't used to being in the spotlights or under so much attention.

Sure he infiltrated casinos, but by blending in with the background or disguising himself as one of the staff.

You'd be surprised by how easily drell are dismissed by the other species, assuming he must be the gaurd of some prideful hanar nearby.

Yet the way you held yourself so confidently, smiling and waving like it was your birthright to be under so many sparkling lights. It made Thane admire your strength even more.

Finally getting inside the casino, Brooks made a comment on how it's a good thing you brought Thane since drell-human couples are practically unheard of.

This means people will focus on the two of you rather than any suspicious activities on her end.

All of his uneasiness and hesitation fizzled out the second the mission began. Taking his role seriously and doing the job that must be done.

As you went around mingling with the crowd, he seamlessly blended in the shadows and background.

Always keeping an eye on you and staying within earshot. He made it look so easy how much he evaded attention and acted natural in such a new environment.

That's professional assassins for you.

It did amuse him a lot when you ordered the weeping heart cocktail from the bartender.

Whenever you needed him to distract a gaurd, he'd approach them and say one of the followings

"Excuse me, but would it be possible to find a quiet room for me to pray in?"

"I accidentally dipped my fingers in someone's drink, and now they're stripping to swim in the fountain."

"I'm here on behalf of the Hanar entertainment association, and I need to file a complaint on the lack of proper hydrating nourishments for my employers."

"Someone bumped into me and dropped this wallet. Can you help me return it to them?" *after searching for a while. "Oh, my mistake, I just remembered it's my own wallet, I must have had too much to drink"

"I hope you don't find this weird, human, but how can you possibly manage with just two eyelids? Don't your eyes get very dry?"

"Are you from earth? I've been there recently. It's a very beautiful planet, I'm very sorry about the recent news. Did you have any family on earth? I see..would you like to tell me about them?"

"Do you have any children? Ah good. I have a son but he doesn't have any significant other yet, I was wondering if you have any advice regarding this subject and how i may subtly push him towards finding someone?"

He thought about faking a coughing attack to try and distract the gaurd, but he decided against it for the low chance you might get worried or panic.

Also he had terrible luck in every machine he tried.

He'd just end up losing time after time so he decided against it not to drain your money.

Part of him died inside when you kept insisting on touching the fountain.

He just stood by and didn't have the heart to tell you what's it actually used for.

If you inquire about his past missions that took place in a casino, he tells you that he usually blended in with the servants and not the guests.

Find a secluded spot then quietly take security down one after one and ensure they get swept up in the chaos not to notice him slip by them.

Finally reach his target and go for the neck. The quicker the better. He wasn't looking for a fight or a confrontation, swifly making them meet their end was ideal.

It was contractual work, he always put his emotions aside during these times.

alongside his morals.

That's why this mission feels so...different in comparison to the past.

He is here because he wants to he here, rather than out of any obligation.

And dare he say, he is enjoying being your pretend date while playing dress up a bit too much.

Is it even pretend when the two of you are already together? You argue.

he can't deny that, but he'd rather take you to a proper date one day.

The two of you had never been on one, after all. despite everything you went through together, even risking death by each other's side.

Life happened too much, and too fast.

There simply wasn't time to catch up with Thane in a cafe.

Mundane things were akin to a luxury in your respective lives.

Thane found himself genuinely enjoying the art hanged around the place, the lights and decorations.

But his absolute favourite was the dancing.

Seeing you let loose and freely move even for a little while made him focus on the moment, on the few lighthearted memories he got to make today.

No matter how awful you were at it.

Memories he will surly treasure, replay whenever his mind got too muddy and clouded by the inevitable.

He was thankful for the gods to allow him this small extension on his life.

This small kindness of having just a little more time with you.

The opportunity to witness this, experience it by your side.

To get and walk you down the aisle while you looked the most beautiful he has ever seen you.

Even if it was just play-pretend on a mission.

...and a red carpet rather than an actual wedding chapel.

For the way he held you and felt about you couldn't be more true.

After the two of you enter the office only to find your target already dead, Thane can't help but have this gut feeling that something feels off here.

When you check the computer for whatever files the assassin must have forgotten to erease, he realises how clumsy this assassination attempt is.

An amateur work at best... too rushed.

How unusual. The office was guarded the whole time, what possibly could've made them leave in a hurry?

Thane looked around, there weren't any escape routes. No nearby vents, no possible second exists.

He almost voices his thoughts to you, but Brooks steps in first and talks about how this is a dead end.

Something about her feels familiar.

Yet even with a perfect memory, Thane is sure he never heard of this name or seen her face before.

Which just puzzles him even more.

The bullet wound in the corpse's chest is still fresh.

This wasn't the work of an experienced assassin who wanted to leave no trace behind, but the work of soldier in a hurry.

☆

Citadel: Identity Theft II

Back at your apartment, Thane can be found in the same spot.

Talking to him lets you know that he informed Kolyat not to wait for him during dinner tonight, wishing him a goodnight and reassuring him that he's managing fine.

Clear endearment in his voice at how much the relationship between him and his son developed, how it feels nice to have someone waiting for you home at the end of the day.

The information revealed by EDI only makes Thane feel more uneasy.

He keeps searching his memory for anything he might have missed, any small detail that could've slipped him by.

Your comment about bringing everyone along with you on the mission makes him smile.

Your determination never fails to impress him as equally as it amuses him.

☆

Citadel Archives: Escape

If you didn't pick him up for your team, then he ends up joining team Mako instead of Hammerhead.

Mostly to balance things since a sniper is already in the other team.

He enjoys listening to the bickering but doesn't participate much.

Until Tali brings Thane up to dig at Garrus for being the inferior sniper.

This really gets under Garrus's skin...plates?

He tries to get Thane into a sniper competition to see who takes out the most targets the quickest.

Thane, of course, politely declines and immediately conceads, handing him the win on a silver plate.

This just pisses off Garrus even more.

The turian starts talking about how assassins aren't even that cool, and Thane clearly doesn't have a cool face scar like him. Therefore, Garrus is the better sniper.

It keeps escalating with Tali adding fuel to the fire.

Eventually, Thane is pressured into accepting the sniper competition as both teams have already started betting credits on it.

You can affect the outcome if you take out the targets before the other person can get to them.

Garrus targets have a blue sniper dot show up on them while Thane's is green.

It is clearly cheating, and the losing team calls you out for helping, but you pull rank and remind them this is a mission; you're just doing your job.

You can either help Thane win, Garrus or leave them be.

If you leave them be, they end in a tie.

If you help Garrus win, Thane takes it in stride and admist he might be getting a bit rusty.

Garrus is full on boosting however.

If you help Thane win, he's actually surprised and very amused. He tries to remain polite and downplay his delight when Garrus loses.

"Thank you, Siha, for watching over me."

If you take Thane on your team, the competition only happens if you bring Tali or Javik with you who challenge Garrus on behalf of Thane.

Otherwise there is no one to pressure Thane into joining after he conceads.

If you bring Garrus and Thane with you, then Garrus is the one boosting about Thane to the other teams.

Saying how with two snipers, this team is overpowered and the other two teams have no chance.

If you use a sniper rifle, Garrus changes it to three.

His enthusiasm slowly infects Thane.

For a single mission, they suddenly lifelong bestfriends.

The two of them complimenting each other skills and equipment, Garrus impressed with Thane's zero hesitation methods and immense stealth. Precise and quick.

Thane in awe of Garrus endurance and how the sniper rifle feels like an extension of him rather than a seperate weapon.

The competition doesn't happen, or a very low stakes version of it happens where team mako and hammerhead suddenly unite for a second and Tali challenges Garrus.

Thane and Garrus easily sweep the competition, you can't lose or help the other team cheat because any kill you steal is counted towards your team.

Citadel: Party Aftermath

In the morning, as you stretch out in bed expecting to feel the body of your beloved next to you, you're greeted by the empty spot on the bed.

In fact, there is no sign of Thane around the house amidst all the scattered groups of your crew going about their mourning routine, nursing their hangovere, or a mix of both.

The front door to your apartment is ajar.

You step outside and see two figures standing at the far end of the hallway.

Thane and Kolyat staring out the hallway windows, enjoying the relative peacefulness of the early morning atmosphere.

A clear contrast to the chaotic mess of hangover and headaches inside your apartment.

Or, more precisely, it was just Thane enjoying the peacefulness while Kolyat scolded his father for leaving the hospital so suddenly and causing the asari doctor to freak out when she saw him break out of a window and land on top of a moving car.

Clear worry was barely masked underneath Kolyat's angry speech.

Maybe that's why Thane was in such a good mood, a rare smile gracing his lips as he gave his son his full attention, listening to his words and apologising for making him worry.

You're reminded of the first time you've seen Kolyat.

Of the first meeting between him and his father during your time at Cerberus.

They've really grown closer.

Somehow, they managed to overcome all the obstacles and difficult past they had.

Kolyat forgave his father, and Thane was grateful for being offered a second chance after everything he put his family through.

And yet, he risked it for you, his life.

A second time.

The life he just rebuilt, remade from the ground up.

You notice a plastic bag in Kolyat's hold, several pill sheets could be seen inside.

The open water bottle in Thane's hand.

His son must have came here first thing in the morning, just to deliver his father's medicine.

You give them their space, not wanting to interrupt Kolyat's lecture.

The last thing you see before going back inside is Thane pulling his son into a hug. Reassuring him that everything will be alright, his dad is right here.

Going to check with the rest of your crew and passing the hangover medd around. You gather them for breakfast.

Thane enters shortly after, you stand up from the table and go to meet him at the door.

Offering him to bring Kolyat inside, to join you and the rest for breakfast.

You've saved them a seat next to your own.

Much to the complaints and objections of other crew members who the seat next to the commander.

"Siha...I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense Thane, you're a part of this team as much everyone else here."

You step closer to the man whose extended lifespan feels nothing short of a miracle, the man you've come to love with all of your soul. If it wasn't for the war, you would spend every second you could spare with him until his last breath.

His hands feel cold against yours, his touch so familiar and full of longing.

Your eyes are full of promises when you meet his deep green ones, surrounded by abyssal darkness like the deep ocean. Promises to fight this war, to make the world a better place.

For Kolyat. You'll make sure his son gets to grow up in a safe world. That even when Thane is gone, he can entrust you to be a guardian to his son and look out for him after the fight is won.

But for now, you ask nothing more of this life than this one chance to share a meal with the two of them. Sit around a breakfast table, have a glimpse of what a normal life with Thane must have looked like in a different world.

A world where you took this for granted, calling him your husband, eating at the same table with his son everyday.

With a nod, Thane accepts.

At first Kolyat is shy and unsure at sitting next to so many people, most of them legends...and hungover.

It's endearing how much this scene reminds you of how Thane first acted at the start of the casino mission, like father like son.

But after some time, Kolyat starts opening up to others and answering their curious questions. Surprisingly, it's Grunt who is the most interested in him, continuesly asking him about sharks, and if he has seen any.

Kolyat answers that he has swam with many.

Just like that, with one simple sentence, Grunt is hooked.

The young krogan eagrly pushes James out of the seat next to Kolyat so he may claim it for his own.

The two of them clicking immediately. By the end of it, they have exchanged contact information with Grunt promising to share his secret stash of shark videos with Kolyat who turned out to be very knowledgeable about marine biology.

Thane whispers to you that his son used to have a marine life encyclopedia as a kid. It was laminated and waterproof, much like all the books produced by the hanar usually are. His son cried so much after accidentally losing during a beach visit once, so much so that a passing hanar offered to go swim down and retrieve it.

[simowis]

Related inferences from the Prothean

*use DeepL to translate

*Only inferences that can be drawn from direct or indirect evidence found in the game are listed here.

* Most of the speculation is based on the fact that Javik never lied to Shepard (but could have hidden it), so anyone who thinks Javik has been trolling since the beginning doesn't need to read it

*I’m open mind, welcome to discuss below

*I now have too much head canons, so  no more updating for this page

——————update—7.29—————

Javik has a lot of brand new sides within the citidal DLC party, and if you don't dismiss what he says as just trolling, you'll find that he reveals a lot of interesting prothean hints:

*this part has more head canon, sometimes I can't quite separate it from speculation

"prothean's gathering was nothing like this. we concede the future, and respected the dead." "May go touch yourself?" "That does not happened until the end of this party." This reveals the prothean form of gathering, at least in Javik's time. Javik appears to be very 'touchful' when drunk and expresses a desire to touch Jack and Cortez. Perhaps during this phase of their party, the prothean teammates touched each other, passing on and exchanging their memories. Within the memory of Javik's shelter, he opened a closed stasis chamber and closed his eyes and touched the body inside for more than three seconds. This should be considered as a rough stage of respecting the dead, and touching the dead can also be used to gain information; and in his memory, Javik pulls his companion, who has been shot, back into the protective wall. It is possible that this is to prevent the "companion from being transformed, and it is also possible that it is best to remember the dead with a corpse. Part of the gathering would have been to touch the dead, to experience their memories of dying, to learn a lesson. In the last stage, contemplating the future, when all have absorbed all the memories of each other and of the dead, the next course of action and response is proposed. If that's all there is to it, a prothean party can seem very serious. At the end of the party, each prothean would find a quiet, clean place to meditate. Javik, even though he was drunk, found a similar place by Shepard's bathtub. During the meditation phase they would touch themselves and integrate the information they received. From the next day in a quiet party situation, (or even after spending the night with a female shep) Javik would ask Shepard to leave him in the bathroom. prothean would touch themselves after a night's sleep, and it is possible that the mental injuries they suffered during the war were slowly self-digesting and detoxifying at this time. This leads to: -Prothean gatherings consisted of sharing memories (of the living and the dead), discussing thinking about the future, and meditating. It is also possible that this was only a special form of gathering during the end times in which Javik lived, and that he did not have the opportunity to experience other forms of gathering that might have existed for the prothean. -prothean integrating information by touching themselves and meditating

———————————————

I've always wondered why Javik, who never seems to drink alcohol, would be at the party and 'discover' that the drink makes you feel good and have a hangover the next day. Alcohol can be produced naturally in over-ripe fruit, and it's quite unnatural that the prothean has never been exposed to it. So it wasn't that the prothean hadn't been exposed to it, but rather that consuming it revealed that it would lead to more negative effects than positive ones thus avoiding it. the prothean's ability to sense naturally led the team to share their current feelings with each other, and if one person became intoxicated thus affecting the others then it would be a big problem. Javik didn't know what smoking was, he thought it was armour smoking. So it's Javik who doesn't have the concept, hallucinogens and addictives that are bad for your body should be completely out of vogue in the society of the prothean, and maybe only used in very rare cases where the normal person doesn't even know about it. Firstly as mentioned below, prothean are naturally able to separate reason from emotion, feelings don't easily influence behaviour, and things that are bad for the body and good for the emotions they will stay away from with reason. When it comes to needing these things to numb themselves, the prothean should have their own way of detoxing. Not only does my head canon think so, but most fanfic on this involves the ability of the prothean to sense. In Javik's case, it's the lack of his clanmates around him, and NEVER feeling good, and the situation not being such that he'd be out on a mission right away, that makes Javik drink, I think, and he drinks pretty heavily, and doesn't choose to stop when he feels like he's not right. This leads to: -prothean does not promote means of self-imposed mental paralysis that rely on external objects -The use of mental paralysing, stimulating items is completely unpopular in prothean society, and the average prothean has no idea that these things even exist. ———————————————

Running through the relevant passages of Javik's perhaps 'cheating' - Vega's dialogue with Jarvik, in which Jarvik states that he has now made up a 'joke' to make Vega the joke itself. There are two possibilities in this case: -・Javik really made it up and used Vega's reaction as a joke. Then Javik didn't lie. -・Javik's joke was really a joke from his time, only no one can understand it anymore, so he changed his mind and said it was made up. In this case, Javik did lie a little bit. -Javik states at the party card table that the 'game' of prothean is harsher, “the winners were honored, while those that lost... ” Vega asks: ...... You guys didn't sacrifice your losers, did you? Javik asks back: your cycle allows them to live? This dialogue also indicates two possibilities, as he doesn't directly answer vega's question, it's Vega's own assumption that he's leading with his rhetorical question, and Javik is really good at this kind of obfuscation： -・The loser really will die. After all, this type of 'game' is also a 'game of chance' for Javik. And as Javik had once said at the casino, games of chance were a death sentence in his cycle. But this type of 'game' shouldn't exist at the end of the harvest where Javik is, because it wastes precious lives. -・The loser doesn't die, the loser might be severely punished. Though I prefer this possibility because of my own personal selfishness and wishing that the prothean society would not treat the lives of their own people so contemptuously. However, no evidence has been found to prove this. -Javik said at the party that Liana believed every word he said, including that the prothean invented electricity. -・ It is absolutely, positively a lie to Liana , this bugman has learnt well. It shows that he adapts and accepts the cycle. --

In conclusion, facing a crew other than the Commander does not preclude Javik from being honest all the time when facing others. Considering the conditions he's in, and the lies that abound in this cycle, he should realise that the cycle's attitude towards lies is very different from his own. His experiences have made it so that his truthfulness often represents hurt and despair, whereas well-intentioned lies can have a positive effect on lifting the mood of others, as can be seen in the above examples of his several attempts to moderate the embarrassment he has caused. Javik once said that lies can be easily detected. When the prothean dominate the cycle, the gift of sensory touch becomes the basis of their superiority. Javik had said it was called  a cosmic imperative? In their semi-transparent society, cheating is obvious and insulting to them, and if they stay in that frame of mind, they won't be able to develop the ability to cheat. The head canon part of me is: { When they face races that have no sense of touch and are accustomed to lying to each other, they are likely to use lying as a symbol of those races' inferiority. prothean diplomatic envoys should have honed their attitudes towards lying when faced with other races. Javik, as the leader of the original plan to lead the cycle against the Reapers, must have been well trained in this.} Javik commented at the poker table that "it is foolish to reveal secrets to the enemy", and he often hid information in Normandy. Javik's performance also shows that he is good at steering the conversation in the wrong direction, implicitly affirming others' wrong opinions, and providing the necessary intimidation, which is arguably the closest you can get to deception with telling the truth. Javik states that there are 'cunning' Avatars amongst the people of the prothean, and he has also praised the race of Garrus for being 'cunning', proving that it is a merit trait in their society. My head canon suggests that:｛this may be their conclusion after the war with the Metacon. Machines are non-organic, undetectable, without emotions. Air combat in space is more strategic. Warfare is a collection of strategies and tactics. Against organic opponents, relying on detection means to collect the biomass emanating from the leadership of the opponent to obtain comprehensive information about the opponent is very advantageous to the prothean, and perhaps they are invincible as a result. Perhaps facing the Metacon was the first time the Protheans were unable to fight a hard battle through the trick of detecting their opponent's tactics. Enemies that could not be exterminated at the root, could not read minds. It spawned change, it spawned talent, it spawned the need for cunning. So on the battlefield, deception gained ground, and the prothean empire was changing with the war with Metacon, a battle that may have lasted 20,000 years, a very long empire cycle, enough for human empires to live and die for hundreds of rounds, but the prothean empire still thrived, not corrupted and destroyed with the domination of the galaxy and the enjoyment of its own successes. Javik says "No change, no struggle, no growth"; and Shepard sums up Javik's theory, "Conflict is a way of life." If there were no Reapers. With a good opponent as Metacon, the Prothean Empire would have continued to evolve.} ignoring most of the head canon part above. This leads to: -Javik learns to lie in this cycle, he doesn't remain honest with the rest of the crew. -Javik is good at hiding information and manipulating people with the truth. -In a prothean society, lying between people is shameful and pointless. -In prothean society, tactical 'cunning' is encouraged. ———————————————————— I'd also like to talk more about the case for what Javik said at the card game, and this paragraph is almost entirely my HEAD CANON: " Three teams met in an arena. Their strengh, agility, loyalty, all will be tested. the winners were honoured, while those that lost..." {In conjunction with the above, I deduce that this 'game' could only have been played during a time when the prothean were thriving. Firstly TEAM. given their ability to sense touch, the individual boundaries of the prothean are translucent. It would become natural to have a team as the basic unit. They're supposed to be very team orientated, with people in teams being like brothers and sisters, more cohesive than ours because they sense each other, share memories, and don't lie. Having to handily kill his own crew should be more painful for Javik than Shepard handily kill Normandy's crew, which is why he decided to join them after the war. Then there's the game of Risk, which being guilty of breaking the law will result in the death penalty for players and organisers. And this 'game' strikes Javik as a risky game similar to playing cards. with war being the biggest risky game of all, what does the prothean make of this contradiction? Deceit is not permitted to their own people; it is permitted to their enemies. The seriousness of this 'game' is supposed to be so strong that the other side must be seen as the enemy. Perhaps the loser ends up being killed by the 'enemy' in the middle of a fight. Testing the physical limits of each team while also testing their teamwork and perhaps some of their 'cunning'. This is supposed to be a test of the highest honour, perhaps as a selection for a possible royal prothean? Possibly used as a selection for their Avatar? Perhaps this could be the prothean's way of selecting their own race, leaving behind the better genes, their civilisation's way of selecting the best and the worst? Faced with a prothean 'game' of selecting superior warriors like this, Shepard's crew would certainly lose badly.} For head canon I can't do a summary

——————previous——————

- The prothean's touch-sensing ability. From the few times Javik touches in the game, this touch can pass information to each other, but it can also be input singularly - the protagonist only sees Javik's memories for the first time, and Javik doesn't look like he would pass them on when he touches asari, hana. So it is possible to get the prothean to turn off the touch memory output function. And conversely, although Shepard possessed the Prothean cipher, his physical body and nervous system were still human, and his ability to see Javik's memories proved that the prothean possessed the ability to imbue other creatures with memories, even when Javik was in shock - perhaps precisely because he was defenseless at that point. his sensory channels were open, Shepard was able to see so many memories. So, 'as natural as breathing', for the early prothean touch means that communication is natural, and that closing oneself off from sharing memories with the other is something that needs to be controlled. So does the prothean have the ability to close off its own memories? Although it is not indicated within the game, Javik states that he read Shepard to learn English by reading the other person's physical, nervous system through touch. That physical closure of one's own physiology and nervous system is unlikely for an organic being. Is it then possible to fool the reader through deception, self-hypnotic input of falsified memories? That involves whether the memories stored in the body and those in the brain are incongruent, and that would be the brain part, so maybe it is possible, maybe not.

So does the prothean have a function to turn off the input? If the prothean can't turn off touch sensing, then the prothean of the primitive era would be disturbed by a lot of noise. A rough analogy would be if running through the jungle without clothes, or finding your way in bright light when you can't close your eyes. And the armour that Javik wears does not cover his whole body, but his fingers and knees are bare, and he washes his hands constantly. It is inferred that the prothean has some control over not sensing objects that shrink to the touch, but if the noise is too great it can still be disturbed, just as it can be heard if you wear earplugs but the noise is loud. Javik says that Normandy leaves too much pheromone behind, so his own prothean ships must be very clean (perhaps they are very well ventilated and sterilised, perhaps sterile), which suggests to some extent that primitives leave too much pheromone behind compared to protheans, probably like domestic pets with a strong smell. The prothean is probably the body that doesn't tend to leave pheromones behind.

This leads to: -prothean's natural state is touch-as-you-gather information -prothean have the ability to turn their memory output off -prothean can imbue other races with memories, even unintentionally. -prothean has a limited ability to turn off the touch sensitive function. -prothean is less prone to pheromone residue compared to primitive -protheans have very clean ships

However, it is not certain that: -Does prothean have the ability to close its own memories? -Does prothean have the ability to indoctrinate specific thoughts (aka brainwash) ———————————————

-prothean eat the liver of salarians raw, Javik comments: fear is the spice. As a hunting race, touching dying prey in the wild is inevitable, and the ability to separate emotion from action is crucial if one is forced to see the other's dying memory every time. prothean can enjoy the fear of their prey, which is natural in prothean society. Part of the reason for this is the theory of the weak and the strong - probably a theory that evolved because they often sense the pain of their prey. Such a manifestation would lead them to appear insensitive and without empathy. So do Ploceans really have no empathy? Look at our only living case of the Javik. He can pick up on the emotions of his crew and comfort people, sometimes needing nudging, sometimes spontaneously. So the prothean has empathy, in some fanfic it is said that the prothean is cold-blooded and heartless, it is very obvious that the Prothean possesses emotions. Javik gives the example of the betrayer being buried in the sand and having his limbs cut off or starved to death, obviously done to make the others feel fearful and not consider betrayal. Javik also says "now you bite" to Lira, approving of her anger. So in Javik's case, not only does he possess emotions, but he is fully capable of regulating the emotions of others. He just doesn't understand people of this cycle, who are sentimental, dominated by emotions in adverse situations, or overly concerned with the opinions of other races. They could completely separate emotion from reason and use reason to guide action. If emotion is conducive to action, then open to emotion. If it is detrimental, then it will probably be digested. (How it is digested is brain content.) So the prothean scientists of the ilos can accept the extinction of their own people while rationally analysing what else can be done to stop the next wave of reaping. With the prothean already almost extinct, this behaviour is completely altruistic, even when a 'painful and long' death awaits them.Another case in point is when Javik describes how they dealt with the indoctrinated child, something that would have been difficult to do if they were not rationally dominated, and they would have carried out a verification that the indoctrinated person could not be reversed back and then quickly spread the experience through induction, after which they killed the indoctrinated person. They should also be less likely to be emotionally dominated when sharing memories. Whether it's touch or memory shard, their purpose when viewing the memories of others should tend to be learning from the experiences of others. Like Javik says in the citidal DLC, prothean gatherings are about sharing experiences and mourning the dead. For them, 'learning a lesson' should be something that is done throughout from childhood to adulthood, where mistakes made by other people, decisions made, can be used as part of their own experience. This leads to: -prothean is emotionally numb to the prey and will enjoy the prey's pain. -The prothean is a creature dominated by reason(logical). -prothean possess emotions and they will rationally discern when they need to use them -prothean learn from experience by sharing memories, which is a general way for them to do so.

———————————————

How fast does the prothean touch the other person to exchange information? Firstly, it must be faster than the speed of speech, so he would have found it a waste of time to communicate only verbally when he was pressed for time. From Javik's touching of Jack, he only gets a superficial message from Jack, 'If you want to know something, just ask me', which suggests that a mere touch can only convey a very short message. (Maybe the two protheans were talking to each other back to back when they fought.) So could it be that Jack's will power or psychic powers were strong enough to defend him from Javik's touch? This is a brainstorm, not a proof. A slightly longer touch, like about 5s in the game, would allow Javik to learn about hana's race, asari's physical condition and opinion on the current mission, the full contents of the beacon in Shepard's head, whether or not Shepard is lying, etc. That's at least the equivalent of watching a 10 minute video or a 1000 word article? That's quite an impressive rate of information transfer.

Javik resented having to type to disseminate information in a way that was too primitive; in their loop, with beacons allowing real-time communication between galaxies with big data, their communication methods must be very advanced. Would they also need to float before being injected with information like Shepard or Saren? And if so isn't that too inconvenient for a channel that spreads information super fast? In Eden, the protagonist sees the image through a snowflake screen, and while there are messy cut sections, the bulk of it is clear and intact. (Perhaps that part is cut because Shepard only has two eyes and can't see the video like a prothean can.) This might be highly compressed surveillance video. Since the snowflake screen can be translated into video, it would be more likely that smaller vehicles such as voice and text would be able to do so. prothean's inductive touch requires sensing the other person's biomass to do so, so there must be a technology that converts biomass into a signal. Perhaps the omni tools of the prothean era, which were used to transmit information one-to-one, would have had this kind of transliteration and counter-transliteration function - converting one's output into a signal through touch, allowing the other person to view it through their eyes and implement the memory of the experience. This leads to: -The prothean is a very advanced way of transmitting information. -The beacon transmits a large amount of information instantly in the prothean's loop. -Snowflake screens are the means by which prothean transmits signals to vision -Their omni tools should have inter-translation of inductive touch and snowflake screens

-prothean's quickly touch each other unintentionally to transmit very short messages. prothean touch each other for more than 5s to learn a very large amount of current information, and perhaps memory extraction.

However, it is not certain that: -Does the beacon need to be floated in the prothean loop as well? Or does it only need to be touched, or even visually? -Can the prothean learn a specific skill by touching the other person? And how long would that touch take? What kind of prerequisite preparation is needed for each other? —————update—6.29—————

"You bonded...with your <romance character>？ I'm not guessing, your pheromones are telling me that." -Memories for the Prothean are chemical signals emanating from creatures, which Javik sums up in his introduction to his powers as touch, but scents also linger in the air, and never forget that the Prothean has six nostrils (eight counting the top of his mouth). In the case of grabbing Shepard's or Asari's sense memory, when what he wants to know points to a single person and the amount of information required, he behaves: he leans his head very close to the subject, closes his eyes, (seemingly opening the breathing holes above his lips wide), grabs the clothing/armour of the other person's arms with both hands, and the sense is complete when he opens his eyes. It is true that the surface area of the hands covering the arms is a little larger, and the armour leaves some chemical signal, but it is the air exhaled by the opponent when close and the natural scent emanating from the body that makes it easier to get a real time chemical signal. The most obvious evidence of this is that every time sherpard appears behind Javik, he says "Commander" first, which has become an essential part of many fanfics. Javik clearly hides this early on, steering the conversation as if he can only sense it by touch. It's not until later in the game that he actively tells Shepard that he can sense it, presumably one of the signs that he appreciates Shepard. -An environment where many people are gathered and biomass is mixed together is not very easy to distinguish, like distinguishing subtle speech in a noisy place, I guess. So when he first met in Normandy, he would have to grab Shepard straight away to get information, and he would have wandered around and named Jack, Thane and Miranda accurately. Often places occupied by one person with relatively pure residual chemicals, he would be able to extract more information. It is worth pointing out that what he mentions is the race, characteristics, and state of the other person at the time, not a specific event or memory. So relying on the biomass left on the surface of ordinary environments to be discovered by a later prothean is not a good way to go, and few environments can preserve biomass left 50,000 years ago, I think. That's why the prothean needed to invent memory shards to preserve memories. Grunt was on board at least six months ago, and Javik was able to spot the liquid that had been left on the floor at that time. The cargo hold must have been cleaned after Grunt's birth, so a certain amount of cleaning would not have prevented the prothean's ability to extract information. They should have needed very little residual material to extract the contents

This leads to: -prothean's sensing abilities are not limited to touch. Their nostrils also have a receptive role and other parts of their body may also have receptive abilities. -Complex multiplayer environments make it more difficult for protheans to extract information. -Touching the target object in the past as sensed by the environment is probably like getting a cursory medical report?

However, it is not known whether:

-Does the completeness of the information extracted by prothean decrease? For example in very mixed situations, or where there are few residues. -Does the red muscle part of prothean's neck sense chemicals in the air? -If something has just happened, can it be fully understood by prothean through inductive touch? -How far back can prothean extract information? ——————————————— Some biological observations: -The four eyes of the prothean grow on either side of the head, their frontal sides at a triangular angle of roughly sixty degrees, with the two main front eyes falling on the same flat face plate as humans, that is, directly in front, and each side also having a pair of eyes each. As long as there are two eyes in the same plane, stereoscopic vision can be formed, allowing a more accurate perception of the exact position of the target, a feature that is essential for carnivores. A human pair of eyes has a binocular visual area of approximately 120 degrees and a monocular visual area of 40 degrees on either side of the grid. By analogy, the four eyes of the prothean bulge out to form three pairs of planes, giving a three-dimensional visual area of about 240 degrees, and even a three-eye visual area of about 60 degrees on each side. And the total view area that can be covered is about 320 degrees, so the prothean has only a 40 degree blind spot in its field of vision. No wonder Javik complains that this loop of two eyes is so strange; a 160-degree blind spot of vision for every two-eyed intelligent creature would create a huge tactical disadvantage.And two three-eyes visual area are certainly benefits to Garrus.

Javik mentions that he can see the presence of "kasumi", who rely at least on a tactical cloak for their invisibility, which is known in Mass Effect: Andromeda to be based on light bending, which is effective in the visible range, and if the prothean eyes can see a wider range of the spectrum than humans can, then it makes sense that they would be able to see through the invisibility. it would make perfect sense for them to be able to see through cloaking. It is possible that their eight pupils have a very wide variety of optic cone cells that can sense the ultraviolet to infrared spectrum or beyond (like Mantis shrimp) -The prothean has small, closely spaced incisors, with two cusps on each side of the upper jaw. The incisors of the lower jaw are wider and thinner than those of the upper jaw. From an earthbound perspective, the incisors on the front of the mouth are unique to the dental classification of heterodont mammals. Although Protheans have evolved differently from Earth, the incisors are mainly used to cut off food or remain unchanged, or to pry open the shells of hard fruits. If they were predominantly carnivorous creatures, then most carnivores on Earth would have had fewer incisors, while canines would have evolved to be large and coarse, and they would not even have used their fangs much but canines to cut up food. Behind the cusps appear to be molars, which are not very visible, suggesting that at least they would not have been very large molars. Molars are necessary for herbivores to grind hard fibres, whereas in the case of staple plant eaters, the molars are usually wider, so they may have evolved from carnivorous creatures to omnivores. Primitive Prothean people probably ate mostly meat and to a lesser extent plants and fruit. They may have had only sharp teeth in their upper jaws, which may have been inconvenient for carrying prey, and perhaps their sharp teeth had other purposes. （Head canon part ) With so many teeth they had the ability to chop up their food and chew it very finely before swallowing and digesting it, which was a sign of being a successful species as a better use of food. The differentiation of the teeth was also necessary to taste the food, and the prothean cycle would have been quite rich in ingredients.

This leads to:

-prothean has a 240-degree stereoscopic visual area and 2 60-degree trinocular visual areas; there is only a 40-degree visual blind spot.

-prothean would have been able to see a wider range of the spectrum than humans.

-prothean are omnivorous creatures, evolving from carnivores, whose tightly packed teeth can chew very finely.

How ever, I’ve some strange questions:

-Wouldn't the fact that their eyes are constantly covered in the shadow of their head's armour make their eyes a little more sensitive to light?

-what if prothean’s teeth is used to suck blood? Is that possible that protheans are vimpire???

-The ringed markings on the back of Javik head always remind me of a blue ringed octopus or a snake,  are the teeth of a prothean poisonous? Especially considering that their bright red neck colour can be used as a warning colour

____________________

If anyone is interested in the original article, here is a link to the Chinese version 

https://mosku.lofter.com/post/1f207732_2b94fe784

[sol-consort]

I always wonder while playing ME. Do Hanar hug you with two tentacles or all tentacles like some facehugger

I've put too much time into researching this and this is what I found so far.

Firstly, I assumed that mass effect wouldn't have addressed the hanar hugging habits at all so I straight up jumped to their real life counterpart, the jellyfish.

And let me tell you how surprised I was to find that no one has raised the question of "can you hug a jellyfish?"

Like we have had heated discussions about how a horse would wear pants, are you telling me that the 21st century humans never imagined hugging the one immortal animal without a brain or bones? Shame on all of us.

But, however, I was delighted to find that people did in fact raise the question of "can you kiss a jellyfish?"

And you can! You might die but I say the price is worth it.

Jellyfish don't seem that friendly to humans either so I question the hanar willingness to hug us.

After finding out that the first page results of two different search engines were completely off topic, I went to the other source of information where people were chronically online enough to ask these questions seriously, tiktok.

I did end up with fruitful results. I found this video and this other one of jellyfish kinda of hugging each other underwater? And as you can see they do use all of their tentacles. I also found a bunch of cute other videos about jellyfish and got distracted for an hour, 10/10 experience.

Now the scales were leaning in the favour of hanar using all of their tentacles to hug you. Finding the barrel jellyfish to be the closest to hanar, here is an image with a human for scale to how the hug might be.

But that raised the question of whether they would fall or float? Which lead to the need to figure out how they even moved because their tentacles looked too fragile to act as legs.

I knew tiktok was too unreliable and search engines too professional so I migrated to the one place where source material is treated like a holy grail, reddit.

Scouring the deserted mass effect subreddit while half lucid on pain killers, I did find some information on how the hanar conducted their day to day surface odyssies.

Based on this one hanar "blasto" from the citidal dlc, hanar do in fact walk on their tentacles as legs. But it's less of walking and more of scuttering around like a tiny crab in a tiny shell. The wiki adds more explanation, they use a mass field effect on their tentacles to carry them since they are in fact fragile and unable to lift up their big bodies.

After reading the wiki that I realised I should've gone to from the start, I found out the hanar have a skull, which means they have a brain to protect inside the said skull. So they are in fact not as squishy as earth jellyfish :(

Then I finished the wiki and still found no information on their hugging habit. At which point I was close to giving up.

Going back to reddit since I had nothing else to do, I suddenly found an oasis amidst the dry desert of hanar informations.

This picture of a hanar hugging an asari! From the "Mass Effect: Blasto: Eternity is Forever"

I was flabbergasted! The exact thing I was looking for, just straight up offered to me on a silver platter! The fates smiled my way.

So the definitive answer is that they seem to hug you with 4 of their 6 tentacles, leaving the remaining 2 in the far back to carry their weight and balance on.

There is however an argument I found that mentiond how blasto is actually considered a bad representation of hanar in the mass effect universe. Blasto seems to deliberately exaggerate and preform un-hanar like behaviour to appeal to the bipedal viewers. One example is carrying guns that hanars are know to be unable to actually effectively use for the lack of fingers.

Which raises doubts about the authenticity of the Blasto hug. Is it how hanar really hug or is this one attempting to appeal to the human-like viewers? Do hanars hug with all of their tentacles underwater and only do a 4 tentacle hug on dry lands? Can you kiss a hanar? Where can I get a copy of that asari hanar tentacle porn game?

I'm afraid to admit that I know that I know nothing.

Here is another cute video of jellyfish.

[sol-consort]

Do you hope the next mass effect will have the original Normandy crew or do you want a new protag and new companions?

(Also wanted to let u know, there's a game in the works by old bioware veterans called exodus: become the Traveler. Appreantly its gonna be a lot like mass effect with a big focus on companions and choices, and the original writer Drew who wrotr mass effect is also involved I think and many other bioware veterans from the golden days of bioware. I realy hope exodus and mass effect 4 wont dissapoint.)

I'm hoping for a new crew. I love the OG gang but ME3 showed me that almost all of them are used to this by now, they've become jaded and they each have their own spot in the galaxy to fullfill that we're stealing them from.

I'd love for them to do their own thing as we get occasional updates, and maybe they join as an extra companion in a mission or two, like how Wrex was in the citadel dlc.

I'd love to see Liara command a group of assassins as the shadowbroker that come to our aid. Garrus with his own special unit and ship that has a special room just for calibrations. Ashley and Kaidan preforming their individual spectre duties and having this friendly competition with Shepard.

All except Joker. Because Joker and Shepard feel like a package deal. There is no Shepard without Joker and no Joker without Shepard. Would love for EDI to be there but again, she deserves to actually go out and explore the universe and what it means to have a soul, not just stay glued under Joker's wings all her life.

Because there is so much potential for new companions! Maybe we get a reaper one? Maybe an asari matriarch? A female krogan? Humans who are the best of the best with their own individual quirks and personalities that were given to join the crew of the commander Shepard.

Hell, even a hanar! Maybe a volus, too. I still can't forget Thane's description of how deadly hanar are in water. Maybe a new species joins, and humanity isn't the new kid anymore. Maybe we even get to show off as this new species looks up to us for guidance bc we speedran getting a seat at the council. I'd love a batarian crew memeber.

I'd love to see more conflict. An asari civil war. A turian and salarian disagreement about who should be held accountable for the genophage that turns deadly quickly. For once I want it not to be the humans who are fucking shit up and have to call others for help.

Maybe even dealing with a blackhole problem. Like how that one sun Tali was investigating began aging quickly. A disease or something spreads that makes stars every wear age at an alarmingly rate and the whole of the milky way is threaten to be swallowed by blackholes from these sun and we have to defy physics and stop it somehow.

Or just a normal adventure without a galaxy wide threat yk? Something lowkey where you can take it easy at times and indulge in luxury or comfort rather than tighten your belt for the upcoming war in ME3. Discovering new planets, saving people and doing side fun side quests. Let us explore the world we saved goddammit! I want to see more of Thessia and we didn't even get to land on palavan!

Beach party at hanar homeworld let's go!! Using water guns against your crew and having a friendly match.

Also Shepard shines more when surrounded by new people who are impressed by you. Think of Brooks before the reveal, wasn't she endearing and made you feel special? Wasn't that how meeting Cornard in ME1 made you feel? Same with the interviewer?

Like imagine a bunch of side quests where you have to deal with your fame and the problems it causes. Because especially after the Citidal dlc, Shepard became a famous gamer with a record only you held. Now you're not just popular with military people but most of the common people.

Having to disguise yourself while shopping for groceries. Being asked for autographs at very inappropriate times. The hanar harassing you about Javik. It should be lighthearted and only happen during these side quests so it doesn't become annoying.

I want to see Shepard relax and be appreciated dammit! I'm tired of war. If one happens, it shouldn't be human related so that we don't feel necessary to go intervene.

Tho I think they should let you keep your romance around. Would love to get to import ME3 save. And ME4 starts with you recovering in a hospital. They did say that Shepard was already part synthetic right? So it makes sense to be able to repair them no matter how bad the damage even without Cerberus.

And it was Miranda who led the project last time, so maybe she could do it again since she got on good terms with the alliance or she gave her information to Liara in case she died.

What I would absolutely hate is a drastic time skip where Liara wakes you up and is like "Shepard, it's been 100 years" or some bullshit like NO. FUCK YOU.

Another fucking time skip? Where everyone thinks I'm dead again??? And all my loved ones died?? NO. BAD LIARA BAD.

If you want some feature timeskip nonsense then let the WHOLE crew join me. Maybe Joker accidentally steers the ship into a wormhole and we end up in the future. As long as everyone Is inside the Normandy when it happens then I'm fine with it. At least this time around we would get some catharsis while proving we're not dead again in front of the same companions who were mad at us for being dead.

Also I'd like more character creation options that influences lore and isn't just cosmetic? Like the background one or the psychology one.

It'd be cool if we got to pick one during each game to determine what Shepard has been up to while we weren't here. In ME4 maybe we get to decide if we setteled down and tried to have a family or if we kept exploring and fighting during the character creation before the game begins.

I don't want it to effect much besides stray dialogue and callbacks, maybe a special quest or two.

The biggest problem tho is the ending. I don't know how they're going to make ME4 without establishing one canon ending for ME3. In which case it sucks and makes the whole endgame choice feel pointless if it was predetermined from the beginning.

And if it wasn't predetermined but imported, then I don't see how it won't drastically change the game. They'd have to make 3 seperate whole games. One where we're hugging and kissing reapers, another where they don't exist.

But like ME2 having an ending where Shepard dies. Probably the only way to import your ME3 save is if you picked the red ending where it's the only one where Shepard lives.

That'd be disappointing but I get it. From a dev perspective I see why it would save them so many headaches.

There is also the possibility to play as another companion or a whole different person? Maybe we try to resurrect our space jesus Shepard? Maybe we're Liara as a Matriarch? Who knows.

Gonna keep it real. I don't wanna play as an asari. Literally okay with any other race. Because I saw how disgusting and weird other npcs get around asari and I don't want to be subjected to that sexual harassment again. The constant flirting gets very old quickly.

Otherwise asari seem really cool and it's a shame they aren't explored much besides "hot alien race"

I talked a lot man, I have to go to my doctor's appointment. Ah I hate doctors.

Anyway I did check the game you mentioned!

WE ARE AN ENGINEERED CHILD? FUCK YEAH!!! WE ARE SPECIAL WOO.

so much trauma potential! Just like Miranda.

It also follows a similar plot to Andromeda from what I've seen? We were in cryosleep for so long while travelling to another place and exploring?

There is also the rot thing, and apparently, we are the only cure. Makes me think if we're gonna play more of a healer saviour role rather than a war hero.

The mech suits look so fucking good, I hope we get the option to pilot one constantly like that one revealed companion.

I do like that we have established parents, please do not kill off my dad this time around :( please. But it leaves less room for customization and background ah. I'd hate it if we couldn't even design our own character and had to use premade ones.

It seems cool so far! Imma keep tracking its progress. The last update was 7 days ago and the devs are open about answering questions. It's a new title so they'll have to make new aliens and such, I hope they end up good.

I mean in a space game, it is the aliens that make or break the game. You either end up with high on life aliens or mass effect aliens.

I don't like the idea of having to re-explore parts about earth history because the player already knows all of that. I don't want to spend an entire quest just to dig up a gameboy or something and have these characters gawk and make bad guesses at what it is. It feels cheap to piggyback off of nostalgia and misunderstanding humour. Every character turning into Ariel and brushing their hair with a fork.

Or are we talking ice age, pyramids and such? It'd be more tolerable then but...also the players are familiar with these things in other games who milked the concepts.

I don't want humans reacting to past human inventions, I want aliens doing it at at least or just give me a whole new world to explore. Why are we so stuck in the past?

But maybe this is special to this one recently revealed character, in which case that's fair. It's a character and their quest is probably optional, plus that will definitely appeal to some people.

My hope is that they realise no one wants to do these massive collection quests in these planets with a massive map and please skip the fluff and stuffing. I'd rather the effort goes into handmade quests like in BG3 rather than "scan 50 plants because fuck you"

Yes I am irritated with Andromeda, am I a pathfinder or a fetch dog? I also hate the resources and crafting our own equipment system.

Like this is clearly somone else's job! what are you people even doing if I'm the one collecting material for my stuff and crafting them? Shouldn't this be your job while I just gave you the credits? Why would I even care about the arks and nexus if I'm fully self sufficient! At least in mass effect you were forced to go there to shop and get your stuff. It made the world feel not so useless.

Like I get it. You want us to feel like we're explorers who make the best of the world around us. We're tight for materials so we have to scavenge and survive! That would've worked if we were stranded in space and not doing fetch quests for the said scientists who can't even give me some uranium to craft my fucking grear and no one is selling it to me either! I hate it here.

I hope Exudes goes away from that direction. And the hacking games one too. I'm tired of soduko, it haunts me in my dreams. Mass effect had this problem too.

Games can be very fun without the fluff and stuffing in between actually interesting quests.

[sol-consort]

The experience of following this blog is you getting excited about a character and me being cursed with knowledge about that character

You know what's funnier? I Has a post ready to go about brooks in ME3 citidal dlc. Where I was gushing about her and how I want her to join the normady forever.

How she is the most adorable person I've met and I'll protect her with my life.

Yeah.