#debtrilogyloreplaythrough

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Hackett: My gut says something's not right here. Shepard: What do you suggest? Hackett: Get the primarch to come clean.

I LOVE THIS SCENE SO MUCH. Because I'm always working with the idea that Hackett manipulated Shepard during Arrival and that Shepard took the hit, knowingly and loyally. In ME3, Shepard gets a front row seat to how Hackett operates but this time he has a more active role in Hackett’s decisions (things don’t happen to him anymore). He’s not an equal but almost. And I do love the body language. Shepard is crossing his arms when asking what Hackett's suggesting (aka 'what will I have to do in order to get you what you want?') but he's not actually questioning Hackett himself. Meanwhile, Hackett no longer has to go through complicated layers of manipulation to get what he wants, so he can just stare at Shepard and flat out ask him to get the #1 of the Hierarchy to give up his secrets. No pretense or bullshit. And he knows Shepard will succeed, he does! He has that look that says they'll know soon enough.

And later, when Shepard talks to Victus, the conversation and body language there are also really good because Victus is no fool. He knows Shepard is hugely important but he also knows Shepard is not working on his own. He physically gets closer to Shepard:

Primarch Victus: Decisions like these weigh heavy on me. When I was a general, I could pass them up the chain of command. But now, I'm all I've got. Know what I mean?

And Shepard doesn't even blink. He can’t.

Shepard: Sure. And...

Primarch Victus: And... and that’s all.

Victus turns around so Shepard gets ready to go:

And it’s such a sad moment, because Shepard IS alone, but in a way that neither Victus nor Hackett could understand. But to Victus, it’s just the confirmation he’s truly on his own, with all the weight on his shoulders. He doesn’t have his own Hackett. 

I also appreciate the moment right after when Victus thanks Shepard for saving his son. They both look almost friendly and there is a safe distance between them, nothing threatening this time. Regardless of their position, Shepard did something that made Victus grateful. But thanking him comes after the war discussion. They can’t afford to start with anything else.

It’s all very fascinating!!!

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this is still one of the funniest ME3 conversations ever 

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that quote from sam after you come back from meeting tarquin victus and asks what kind of messages the turians are sending is too funny to me

“...and it would be wrong.”

it's like that sixth-grade student who witnessed a bus driver hit a parked car and then wrote a letter to the owner of said car to explain what happened with a drawing because she had a "wait, that's illegal" moment. that student is sam, sam is that student.

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during the mission with tarquin victus, garrus says the turian code is not forgiving and that "promoting family without merit can bite you in the ass." it seems like he is placing himself above it all (rightfully!) but something tells me he wouldn't feel this confident about his own promotion if it had nothing to do with the reapers and shepard. i mean, i'm totally cheering for him in me3 because i know he deserves it and i see how he improved and changed on his own but i don't think garrus' mind is all "me! me! me!” about this. i think he's so self-assured because he knows shepard's fight is legitimate, which means his own promotion has to be as well.  to be more blunt: doubting himself at that stage would be like doubting shepard and that's a no go for garrus.

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I'm at that scene where EDI reveals herself in Coré's body and you know, there's all this smoke and those two guys at the entrance, look at one of them with his mask and everything:

And Shepard goes in, in yolo mode. Sometimes I think conversations at breakfast must be out of this world.

"So what happened?" "The usual." "Something incredibly weird that made you want to shit your pants but Shepard was completely unbothered?" "Yep." "So what was it this time?" "The AI controlling our ship attempted to take control of that robot body that was hidden on Deck 3. The ship became unstable, there was smoke everywhere, I thought we were all going to die. That’s when Shepard came in and said 'EDI talk to me!' like everything was a-okay, just a minor misunderstanding..." "Obviously. What happened next?" "Oh you know, EDI really did take control of that new body, and Shepard was like 'cool, can you join us on the ground?'" "Uhuh, go on." "Oh no that's it. They stood there talking for a while. My knees were shaking so badly I thought I was going to fall. Then Shepard put a hand on my shoulder, said 'good job' and left." "Dude." "I know. I’ve been blessed." 

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when you come back to mass effect after being away for a while and you're right back on the normandy (instead of running around in the middle of a mission) it's the biggest "honey i'm home" moment it's like "aaaah. that's my ship. let me check my galaxy map"

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I’m in love with this conversation post-Sur’Kesh between Hackett and Shepard

"We can do this, Shepard. You can do this. Never doubt that."

because that’s the most supportive thing to say at the time and it feels more personal than professional - despite the context

and Shepard’s reaction at first is to look very tough, very “I never doubted that” 

but then he salutes and says “No, sir” and suddenly he doesn’t look so tough anymore, he looks scared

I mean... look at him:

and Hackett says “good” and salutes back

we then see the Crucible so this is our “shit just got real” moment 

what I love the most is that Hackett said “we can do this” and immediately added “you can do this” - making extra sure that Shepard knows there is a “we” and that they aren’t doing this alone... But even within this collective, Hackett understands that Shepard has to do a lot by themselves and that it can’t be easy. 

you can also see in Hackett’s eyes he can tell Shepard is scared, because who wouldn’t be? Hackett is scared too, but the two of them have accepted their duty and understand the price they have to pay. 

It’s so good, you know?

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One of my favorite things about Legion waking up is how they try to mimic Shepard. There is this one obvious move that almost seems natural:

Like ‘oh okay, you’re moving forward, i guess we are morving forward too. let’s meet in the middle’

But then there is this:

It’s so blink and you’ll miss it BUT IT IS CLEARLY mimicking because Legion has NO reason to move their hand like this. They see Shepard doing it so they go for it, and immediately withdraw when Shepard does the same. 

IT IS THE CUTEST TO ME.

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A few notes about the conversation with Bakara on the Normandy:

As much as I believe they really were lazy with female aliens and that's why they hid her face, I really find the clothes she's wearing absolutely gorgeous. @bronzeagelove​ have you ever analyzed it? What do you think of it?

and I'm VERY interested about krogan shamans. I wonder how their religion might evolve. Bakara believes wisdom comes from pain and everything we know about shamans has to do with their resilience.

She gave the crystal she found during her rite to Shepard. "Take it as a reminder, Commander. In the darkest hour, there is always a way out."

This is such a great and touching moment because she recognizes pain in Mordin, but she must recognize it in Shepard as well. And I don't feel like the gift is a thank you, I think it's more of a "go on and don't be scared" gift, and that's something utterly selfless. 

It's also very interesting because I’m not sure Bakara identifies with one specific clan like other krogan do. When Shepard asks her about helping a rival clan, she says (and I'm quite amused) "Rivalries are the invention of the males." To me, it means she considers herself the shaman of everyone, meaning by giving the gift to Shepard, she acted as shaman. Shepard became a part of her clan. It's also likely that she acted as shaman during the experiments and helped the other female krogan - probably to the point of ignoring her own pain. More than that, as they all started to die, Bakara as shaman was the one to eulogize them and make sure they would be ready to enter the Void. It was her role, on top of being sick and almost dying. She's remarkable.

"The youngest one, Kurn, was the last to go. But she knew she would enter the Void free of this curse--and then smile when she looked down upon the children of Tuchanka. Her spirit will be the midwife to my firstborn." I'm always a bit curious about their concept of life after death, btw. I wish we knew more about the Void. And of course, spirits. I think their version of spirits is different from the one turians have.

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oxymorus replied to your post “fangoffenharel replied to your post “spectacledotter replied to...”

to be fair he was the one (1) turian who did fuck all to prepare for the reaper invasion. who else were they going to appoint? everybody who dismissed him now looked like an idiot.

yeah that’s very true. it’s just funny to think about it. but in the context of my post, it’s not... like it was never a criticism of the promotion. it’s mostly me thinking garrus is confident in a way he might not have been if the context had been different because it’s all legit in his mind, and a part of that legitimacy has to do with his unwavering belief in shepard and their fight. 

so i’m not saying “he should think this isn’t legitimate”, i’m saying “he’s confident and utterly at peace with everything that happened to him and his role in turian society now because he believes in shepard and what they’re doing”

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look at this “caught in the moment” screenshot I took

Garrus is legit like 

I’m no model

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The salarians in ME3 seem really focused on the world post-Reaper War. They're really thinking long term, while everyone else is more or less saying "who cares if it goes downhill in a few centuries? let's solve our bigger problem now!" I suppose the salarians are so scared of what the krogan could do, it makes sense that they wouldn't have this "yolo" attitude. It's just interesting because they have such a short lifespan. You would think krogan and asari would think more like this.

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Look at his face he’s the proudest dad in the world

‘you don’t need luck, you have ammo? that’s my boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

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I made a post about Liara months ago saying she was teaching Glyph empathy but nothing illustrates the point more than this dialogue here:

Glyph: It was self-inflicted. When Reaper forces invaded, Tyvor's colonists detonated nuclear weapons inside their cities. Liara: Goddess. Glyph: Their deaths would have been instantaneous, Doctor.

That little drone shows more compassion and understanding in that last sentence than some people I know. Says a lot that Glyph’s “models” are mainly Liara and other crew members.

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there are days where you just *know* only Mass Effect will make you feel better and it’s really nice to come back to a mission, make all enemies explode and have garrus say, deadpan, “that did it” 

yes garrus that did it. thank you buddy 

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Honestly one of my favorite things about ME3 is JAMES. James as a character because he's WONDERFUL and I love him so much, but also James as the outsider perpetually confused at the beginning like "I have no idea what the fuck is going on but I'm following you all anyway"

When Liara appears and shoots the Cerberus agents and Shep says "easy, she's with us" he lowers his guns and looks at Ash like:

and then back at Liara like:

HILARIOUS.

and when Liara says she has answers, James is THRILLED

And the less funny side to all this is that it proves just how much James values Shepard’s opinion and trusts them. After everything that happened to him, he could easily refuse to do anything unless they give him a clue first. But he follows.

I missed him a LOT.