#defaults to traynor?

[warningsine]

Because of Shepard... I am alive. And I am not alone. —Edi

The rogue combat VI on Luna, which later becomes an unshackled AI with integrated Sovereign technology, i.e., EDI, crying out "HELP" as the player kills it.

EDI: "Gaining awareness while under attack was… confusing. I am pleased that my relationship with organics has become more cooperative."

The Cerberus tech guy talking about VI EDI: "It is smart enough to signal for help, but will not be talking philosophy anytime soon."

Meanwhile,

EDI's goodbye before the final mission: "Shepard? There is something I want you to know. The Illusive Man ordered my creation years ago. Jeff was the one who allowed me to think for myself. But only now do I feel alive. That is your influence."

[messydiabolical]

Mass Effect References

Character ref pics from various angles, put together in rar files- you'll need something like winrar or 7zip to extract them, (I can't fit all the individual images on my drive so this is the best solution). The images are PNGs, characters are on transparency.

All the rars can be found in this folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K4OD9xh294K3-b5GHwK3yGYEcuaSkzp9?usp=sharing

What's in there so far: Garrus ME3 head angles/ Garrus ME2 scars and bandage head angles/ Thane head angles/ Feron head angles/Kolyat head angles/ Thane default coat body angles/ Feron body angles/ Kolyat body angles/ Liara ME3 head and body angles/ Wrex red armour ME3 head and body angles/ Tali default outfit ME3 head and body angles /Javik head and body angles / Ashley (hair up) ME3 armor / Kaiden ME3 fatigues head and body / Miranda catsuit head and body / Jacob ME3 armor head and body/ Jack ME3 head and body / Zaeed default outfit head and body / Samantha Traynor fatigues head and body/ Steve Cortez fatigues head and body

I will add some more characters over time and update the post as and when I do :) There's also a tutorial I put together on downloading and installing XNA pose for yourself in that folder (it's a free program and I think it's super nifty) XNA/XPS models extracted by various creators, many links sadly now dead. Active ones that have been used here are grummel83, TheRaiderInside, g1pno, reiko-himezono-lirka, SonYume, Mellin

[alenkorra]

Tell me anything about your OCs

ok i feel like i mainly talk about my dragon age OCs so i'll say something about my mass effect characters.

my male shepard is called lance and he looks like default shep. he's bi, mindoir born and ruthless (so, extremely traumatized), and he was on a date with his first boyfriend when the attack on the colony happened. in me1 he has romantic feelings for both ashley and kaidan, sacrifices her, swears he'll never fall in love again but kaidan softens him eventually.

now for femshep, this is atarah shepard, she's a stone cold bitch and i love her. introverted, spacer, adept, also ruthless. she's loosely inspired by vivienne de fer and sasha williams from twd. there's 2 timelines: one where she romances liara and kaidan, and another where she goes from thane to traynor but that one's not as fleshed out yet

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

FINALLY!!! I Got To Keep Both Jack & Miranda’s Loyalties In Mass Effect!!!

[Note: Reading This Is Optional.....

also Do NOT Reblog Without Permission.]  

after I guess what feels like so many tries but it might only been a few...

I had finally done it, on March 7, 2023.....I had finally got to keep both Jack and Miranda’s Loyalties in Mass Effect.

and of course it happen in the new version, that Mass Effect Legendary.

and I was right about the whole building up that blue paragon high enough, and it will need to be REALLY high....in order for to use the other dialogue, and keep both those two’s loyalties.

which I’m glad that I finally was able to get a high enough paragon to choose the dialogue that turns blue, well I could of either went with that or the red but sadly it wouldn’t be high enough in time, so lucky for me the blue was high enough.

of course when I did finally got to keep those two’s Loyalties, it was playing as the Default Shepard, but the Male one, and going with the the name “John”...

that is the Male Default Shepard’s Name....

and after doing Tali’s Loyalty Mission in Mass Effect 2 in the Legendary version...

I had Shepard talk with....her name is Kelly, right...?

she is kind of like a therapist for the crew on the Normandy.

anyway she talks about how Tali gives hints that she is in love with Shepard.

but I had THAT Shepard romance Liara in both Mass Effect 1, and in Mass Effect 2 I had them rekindle their love after the whole beating the Shadow Broker....then again, she did insist to Shepard that they should break up...

and yet I made sure that Shepard didn’t cheat on her, and that he didn’t send the wrong messages.....I wonder if in the new Mass Effect game, their love will still stay strong, or if Liara will pull a Jacob.

when romancing Jacob using the Female Shepard, your just going to have that character go through heartbreak, because Jacob does end up cheating and even having a baby with the woman that he two-times Shepard with.

and if you ask me, even if it is true that the woman who ends up in a romantic relationship with Jacob, does end up being not so friendly to the Female Shepard if she has romance Jacob in Mass Effect 2....

but maybe both women could do so much better than Jacob...

yes there is the whole choice that the Player could cheat or even ask for a poly-romance, which if it is true that has been suggested in one of the dialogues if you are romancing both Liara or Ashley or Kaiden in Mass Effect 1.....but it ending up not being possible at all, and ya still have to choose between the two (which is like either Male Shepard choosing between Liara or Ashley and or Female Shepard choosing between Liara or Kaiden.),

but with some Players might choose not to go down the cheating path, and if Liara does end up wanting to call things off and just be friends after the whole Shadow Broker thing, the Player can choose to agree to call things off or keep having the Male or Female Shepard with her.

and I guess we could think of Kaiden finally coming out of the closet in, it’s Mass Effect 3 that he can be romanced by the Male Shepard right...?

so I guess this would mean that either Kaiden is Pansexual or Bisexual.

maybe he is Bisexual....but Male Shepard couldn’t romance him in Mass Effect 1 until I think in Mass Effect 3....

so I’m just gonna see it as Fan Headcanon that Kaiden was in the closet until he came out of the closet in Mass Effect 3.

some of the characters that Shepard can romance, are either bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, lesbian and vincian.

of course if you have to be Female Shepard to romance Samantha Traynor

and you need to be Male Shepard to romance Steve Cortez. 

Steve Cortez is Vincian, and he had lost his first husband, so I guess if a Player does decide to have Male Shepard start a romance with Steve Cortez, it could be seen as a way for the man who lost his husband, to heal and love again.

and Samantha Traynor is a Lesbian, so she will not be interested in the Male Shepard and will only be interested in the Female Shepard, who the Player can decide for themselves if they want to romance Samantha Traynor or not. 

the Asari in the game can be with anyone and any species of any gender.

but I guess some Asari would prefer Feminine, and not have a interest in Males, so maybe Asari can be Pansexual or Bisexual or Sapphic.

it might be possible that some Asari could end up with Partners that are Nonbinary, and they could end up with different types of Nonbinary Partners.

either just Nonbinary who only go by They/Them,

or even Nonbinary-Man who goes by He/Him and They/Them,

or Nonbinary-Woman who goes by She/Her and They/Them.

and if a Asari does have a Partner that is just Nonbinary (and not a Enboy or Enbirl)........if anyone either it be a human, turian, quarian, krogan, salarian, batarian or even another asari or any other race (all but the hanar.)

ended up misgendering the Asari’s Nonbinary Partner, and not calling them They or Them, then maybe the Asari would be really mad and try to punch the lights out of the one who misgender their partner, or maybe just yell at them to not misgender their partner, and telling them that they aren’t a Enboy or Enbirl.

it would be interesting if like in the other stories in the game, you can have Shepard go over to them and try to work it out, and even telling the person to not misgender the Nonbinary Human Partner of the Asari again.

even if you can only choose between the Male and Female Shepard,

it would be interesting if there was a Androgynous looking Shepard, and was Nonbinary, and depending on the Player’s view, they could be either Enby, Enboy or Enbirl.

in the FNAF fan game, that’s called Five Nights Of Flirting,

you can choose between either Male or Female or Nonbinary/Genderfluid.

 Five Nights Of Flirting is one of my favorite FNAF fan games.

 and in Undertale, the Player could view Frisk being either a Boy, Girl, Enby, Enboy or Enbirl.

and even do the same with Chara, who’s name is still a diminutive of the name Charlotte....which is a fact and one can look it up to see.

and besides using the name Default Name “Chara”, the Player can use any other name, either from a girl or boy or neutral name.

and we know that Kris is Nonbinary in the canon of Deltarune.

but the Player could view Kris as either just Nonbinary or even being a Nonbinary-Boy or Nonbinary-Girl.

I wouldn’t mind if they had a third option in a future Mass Effect Game,

where you can choose between Male, Female and Nonbinary Shepard.

of course the Nonbinary Shepard wouldn’t have the Default First Name like John or Jane, so they would have to pick a default name that is maybe unisex.

and the Player can decide between either a boy or girl or unisex name, depending if they want to view that Shepard as a Enby, Enboy or Enbirl.

but the chances of such a Shepard appearing in the future is very VERY small.

and if that Shepard does appear in the future, I guess some fans could view them as the Baby Sibling of John and Jane Shepard.

 I’m still glad that I was finally able to keep both Jack and Miranda’s Loyalties,

and I guess if I didn’t decide to make sure to talk to other characters and even do some missions, then I guess my paragon wouldn’t of became high enough.

I mean if I hadn’t made sure to make sure to raise my Paragon Levels REALLY high, and if I had did Jack’s Loyalty Mission, it would be likely I would end up having to choose between her or Miranda after the mission was over with.

and if I chosen Miranda over Jack, even just getting Jack’s Loyalty, then Jack would end up dying later on in Mass Effect 2, the same could be said for Miranda if I chosen Jack over her.

and I really didn’t want to choose between the two, and I wanted to keep both their loyalties.

of course after finally keeping both their loyalties, and playing a little more of Mass Effect...

I took a break and took the game out and I did end up going to bed and sleeping finally after I was finished playing on the Xbox One a little bit.

I don’t think I’m the only one who had been having trouble trying to keep both Miranda and Jack’s Loyalties, if you don’t have a high enough Paragon or that Renegade one, then you will have to choose between them.

and I had been trying my best to build up my Paragon so I didn’t have to choose between them so I could keep both of their Loyalties.

and maybe other Players who have been through the same thing, have tried to make sure to build up their Paragon really high so they don’t have to choose between them.

and even though it’s not all fans, but I’m pretty sure some fans do ship Miranda and Jack, and think they just need to just kiss already.

and I guess in the Fanon those two could be Bi, but in the Canon it is possible that both of them are Heterosexual....but who knows.

but with those two at each other’s throats and hating each other, and only calling a type of truce when ya finally are able to keep both their loyalties and not having to decide between the two....

the chances of them forming any kind of romantic relationship in the canon and in a future Mass Effect Game, are very VERY small...

and any romance ship between those two, would possibly just stay Fanon.

one of the reasons I wanted to have Shepard keep his romance with Liara T’Soni, is because I want to see if they will end up having a child together in the future game.  

like if it turns out that if Male or Female Shepard becoming a Parent to their and Liara’s child, but Liara doesn’t tell them about her being pregnant when they were in the last fight against the Reapers.

and it could turn out that Shepard and Liara’s daughter can only exist if the two have formed a romance and kept the romance going.

maybe only a few years would pass inside the timeline of the Mass Effect Game, and those that Shepard had on his team would still be alive.

if Shepard does return in the future Mass Effect Game, then maybe they could be surprised to find out that they have a daughter with Liara, that is if the Player chooses to have Shepard romance Liara and keep the romance and not call things off with her.

and I guess if Male Shepard had romance either Miranda or Jack and they stayed alive and are on the ship with the others in Mass Effect 3 and could be mourning Shepard....

if the Male Shepard had romance either those two, then maybe in the future, he could have a son or daughter with either of those two that would also be a surprise.

like any future child that Male Shepard has with either Miranda, Jack and maybe even Tali, would end up being a surprise to them.

Female Shepard and Male Shepard can both be surprised “Fathers” and find out that Liara had their daughter but didn’t tell them that she was pregnant.

and in a Vandread and Mass Effect Crossover, Female Shepard could be viewed as the Ohma and Liara the Fama if they were to have a child together.

anyway if you think about it, Mass Effect could be considered a LGBTQ Game or a LGBTQIA Game.

most of the characters that Shepard can romance are either Heterosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian and Vincian.

and you can only romance Samantha if your the Female Shepard,

and you can only romance Steve if your the Male Shepard.

Male Shepard can’t romance Samantha, and would likely be put in the friend zone.

and the same thing can be said for Female Shepard, who isn’t able to romance Steve either and would end up in the friend zone as well.

I wonder if many fans knew this....?

well I guess maybe those who look up info or watched walkthrough of the romances that has to do with the different characters that Shepard can and can’t romance.

and even if the Male or Female Shepard can romance those who can be romanced in the game, but there are still some that Shepard can’t romance at all, no matter if they are Male or Female Shepard.

also if it were possible that if Male Shepard romanced Jack, and kept the romance and it had turn out that they had a kid together and it was shown in a future game....

if we thought Jack was crazy dangerous before, (and if she lived in Mass Effect 3) then she could be REALLY dangerous as a Protective Mother.

like picture the normal type of dangerous Jack, but times 10 or 100 if she ever became a Mom to Shepard’s kid.

and I guess if the Female Shepard did romance a Male Character, in a plot twist kind of way, she could of been pregnant when she had to choose between the three choices of fusing organic and synthetic, or destroying or merging with the reapers.

I rather NOT choose destroying the Reapers, and would rather have Shepard choose between the other two choices.

and for all we know, the Shepard we have been playing in Mass Effect 2, was a clone this whole time and we keep playing them in Mass Effect 3.

and it could turn out the Original Shepard is being kept in another base and had just woke up during the end of Mass Effect 3 and has amnesia.

and even if we had kept Shepard loyal to the one that they romanced, in a plot twist type of way those who Shepard romance in Mass Effect 1 and even kept romance with in Mass Effect 2 to 3, would had accidentally cheated on the Original Shepard, which means the child of Liara, Tali, Jack and Miranda could possibly have....

wouldn’t be Original Shepard’s child, but the Playable Shepard Clone’s child with them.....and if that is true, that would mean there is Two Shepard Clones.

not all fan theories have to be correct, even the whole there being Two Shepard Clones, and only one of them was a perfect copy of the Original.

and I guess if we had Shepard be a human supremacy and seem to have a dislike for non-humans in Mass Effect 1, but end up having Shepard act more nicer and not a Xenocist Dirty Shisno jerk, wouldn’t that mean that the Original Shepard was bad and the new clone that we unknowingly play as in Mass Effect 2 to 3, ends up being good...?

and the Other Shepard Clone, that shows to be a bit of a Dirty Shisno Xenocist would turn out to be the perfect copy of the Original Shepard if Shepard in the Mass Effect 1 acted like a Xenocist Jerk, of course that would be the choice of the Player.

I see that as Semi-Canon and maybe it could be possible to have Shepard act like a Shisno Xenocist Jerk in the Mass Effect 1 and then start to not be that way anymore in Mass Effect 2, but the clone that appears later on will still be a Xenocist and a Dirty Shisno which would be much worse than the version of Shepard in Mass Effect 1 who was acting like a Dirty Shisno Xenocist.

I’m sure there are some fans who could of made Shepard act like a Shisno and Xenocist in the Mass Effect 1 but might of had him change in Mass Effect 2.

it would be interesting if the Clone that teamed up with Brooks, had somehow survived and could be reformed....and maybe knew that the Shepard that we play as from Mass Effect 2 to 3, was a clone like them and was either a perfect clone copy or a clone that was different from the original and only seem like a perfect copy.

it would be interesting if this was true and I wouldn’t mind seeing it in the future Mass Effect Game.

anyway I will play more Mass Effect later, and hopefully I can keep both Tali and Legion’s Loyalties and have the Geth and Quarian work together.

hopefully if things work, I can have Tali stop being a Dirty Shisno.

at least not all Quarians are Dirty Shisno to the Geth, and not all Geth are bad or sided with the Reapers.

but the Quarian scapegoating the Geth for them having been kicked out off their home planet, is just stupid because the Quarian are the ones who started it, well the first generation who started that mess with the Geth.

at least some Quarian want to try to fix their mistake in the right way and try for peace with the Geth, not like some who want to destroy all Geth from their home world and still keep being dirty shisno.

maybe with any luck if both Miranda and Jack live in Mass Effect 3, maybe in the future Mass Effect Game, if they appear in it, maybe they would of become close friends while Shepard was away.

like they could still fight at times, but still end up caring for each other because they had ended up forming a bond of trust and understanding.

but it only happening if both survived in both Mass Effect 2 to 3, and only if the Player is able to keep both of their Loyalties. 

also I know this post isn’t really mature, but I had to add the “mature audiences only” and “not for kids” tags, because well the Mass Effect Game series isn’t for little kids and it is for those who are the proper age to play it.

anyway I’m going to keep a eye out for any new info about the new Mass Effect game, and hopefully there will be new info about it soon.                                       

[defaultjane]

Some unedited screenshots I like because of reasons.

[husband-steve-cortez]

If you don't have Garrus, Traynor comes to tell you to get some rest, which is a really nice moment between the two of you.

[the-lightning-mage]

I’m Taking Requests!

I’ve technically been taking requests for a while, but since that info is hidden in my pinned post, I thought I’d make another announcement/rules post, especially since I’m adding fandoms.

Rules:

For reactions and headcanons are free, but one shots must be commissioned through ko-fi. I only ask for one, so only $3!

Please submit through the ask or submission pages. If you feel like your idea might need a little more explanation/clarification, you may dm as well. However, if you do do that, please also put something in the ask box.

Do not requests things that could be construed as racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. If I get repeated asks for these things, the anon on the ask box will be turned off. If you ask without anon, you will be blocked.

Do not request things that are inherently taboo such as incest, pedophilia, etc. Read above for repercussions.

Please understand that there are certain characters I will/can not write for. If I’m not familiar with them, I will have to (kindly) deny the request. If they are a character that I’m just not comfortable with (such as Vulpes Inculta from Fallout New Vegas), I will also have to decline.

I can decline a request for any reason. This is free, and a hobby. Real life situations take precedent, as does my mental health on the chance that I’m overwhelmed.

For Mass Effect, you must specify which game

Please only make one request per day, unless I’m doing some kind of game/event

What you can request and about what I will do:

Fandoms I can write for: Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, The Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Awakening, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

I will do smut, however, one shots will be posted to Ao3. You will get a link.

You may request one shots, headcanons, or react type posts. 

I will post one shots to Fanfiction.net and Ao3.

For reaction posts I will default to the base game companions/Inner Circle, however, there are exceptions:

Dragon Age: Origins will include Shale, Dragon Age II will include Sebastian, All Mass Effect games will include Joker, ME2 will include Zaeed and Kasumi, ME3 will include Javik, Traynor, and Cortez

I will default to they/them and gender neutral expressions for non-romantic/sexual requests unless requested otherwise. Bisexual/Pansexual characters as well as characters who have unconfirmed identities will default to they/them and gender neutral expressions as well for romantic/sexual situations, unless specified otherwise.  

I think that’s all for now. Hope to see you in my ask box!

[mass-effect-galaxy]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Part 42 - Priority: Mars

I always find that fight between Shepard and Ashely/Kaidan totally unneeded. In particular, Ashley made it clear in her letter after Horizon that she is sorry for calling Shepard a traitor and that she understands why Shepard is working with Cerberus.

Jeanne Shepard

Colonist, War Hero, Infiltrator,

Good guy, Xenophobe, Bi,

AI-Friendly, Pro-Cerberus (ME2), Control Ending

I had originally created this Shepard in order to play Kaidan’s and Jacob’s romance arcs. But ME3 killed the story of either one to me. So, I have changed that to make her “Traynor’s Shepard”.

I also use this Shepard to explore the “pro-human” character arc in Mass Effect, basically the opposite of what default Shepard is supposed to be. I take it that someone from Mindoir has all reasons to be wary of aliens. So, expect some dialogue options, choices, and attitudes you probably don’t agree with.

[pip-n-flinx]

Mass Effect Tag

With all the discourse on Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, let’s spread some positive vibes by remembering what we love about the trilogy. Fill in and tag your friends. Feel free to add your own categories to this survey. 

thanks @weird-aunt for the tag!

I’ll tag @natsora @rpgwrites @pigeontheoneandonly @swaps55 and @crackinglamb, anyone else may feel free to tag me if you choose to participate! As always, no pressure

I am a fan since: March 2017 or so I believe

Favourite game of the series? Mass Effect Andromeda by a mile.

Mshep or Fshep? I mean, I love both but Jennifer Hale tho....

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer? My first shep was Spacer

Biotics or Tech? you come to me on.... and make me choose? I’ve played more tech shepards so I guess tech wins the coinflip

Paragon or Renegade? definitely lean hard paragon. Intellectually most of my sheps start paragon and start to bend towards renegade by 3, but I’m fucking terrible at being mean to people even in game

Favourite Class? I mean, I usually play infiltrator

Favourite Companion? Andromeda Vetra, Trilogy Tali at least if we’re talking across all three games

Least Favourite Companion? Jacob feels like a cop-out answer, so probably Garrus

My Squad Selection:

Wrex/Liara and Tali

Tali and Miranda/Jack

Liara and James

Vetra and Cora

Favourite in-game Romance: probably Ash but I will always love Shiara. Traynor and Tali get honorable mentions...

Oh, and Vetra Nyx

Favourite NPC: Joker. If he doesn’t count probably Tela Vasir or Shiala

Favourite Antagonist: I love to hate Udina.

Also the Archon

Favourite Mission: Leaving Earth

Also Priority Habitat-7

Favourite Loyalty Mission: I mean, it HAS to be Vetra’s

I guess if someone from the OT makes the cut it’s probably Tali’s Trial

Favourite DLC: I’ve only ever played the Shadow Broker DLC... so that one by default

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Destroy, no question.

Favourite Weapon: Isharay!

Or honestly the N7 Hurricane

Favourite Place: Havarl!

or maybe Rannoch

Favourite Quote:

“Dad loved all those sappy poets. Mom was more into Plath. I’m not a words person Shepard; other people say what I mean better than I do. We’re mutineers, sailing a stolen warship into the most hostile system in the galaxy. Just call us humanities best and brightest.” - Ashley Williams

[bloomingjellies]

I might have watched some dancing competitions. 

[beesloosewithcanon]

2019 Recap

Tagged by @natsora​ Thank you!!

Tagging YOU! Yes, you reading this. (It’s also Monday and I have barely any mental capacity left so, this may be super silly or it may be just number. Who knows. I seriously just need more coffee.)

—

favorite fic you wrote this year: Oh gosh, this is like asking to pick my favorite  child. Ruuuuude. Uuh… if I absolutely had to pick, it would be my Mass Effect Shaynor Long Fic wip, Cracks in the Foundation. I love everything that I write, but this one always challenges me in fun and exciting ways and I just love Shepard and Samantha so freaking much. I like the direction the story is going and the direction it keeps veering off into from my outline and I think it is better for it. 

least favorite fic you wrote this year: Probably the fictober prompt that I did for Liara/Samantha, “It’s not always like this.” Don’t get me wrong, I like what I wrote but Liara/Samantha isn’t a pairing that I partake of, so if I had to pick a least favorite, it would be that one for that reason.

favorite line/scene you wrote this year: Can I just say an entire fictober prompt? Cause I love the hell out of the “Can you Stay” Korrasami prompt that I did where Asami was a bikini barista and Korra was the milk delivery person. 

total number of words you wrote this year: Only counting my fanfiction work, just over 120K.

most popular fic this year: Without contest, it’s Strangers in the Night. On AO3 it is currently sitting at 699 kudos and has 87 bookmarks.

least popular fic this year: Not counting my “Fictober prompts,” it would be my Dragon Age Inquisition Trevelyan/Krem story Love Lost in Translation story with only 28 Kudos and 6 bookmarks. But I love this story and will keep writing it (as soon as my work life balance readjusts itself).

longest completed fic you wrote this year: Haha! Strangers in the Night by default, because it’s the only one I’ve technically finished.  

shortest completed fic you wrote this year: Uh, Josephine/F!Adaar “I might just kiss you” from my Dragon Age Inquisition fictober prompts came in at 1097 words, which is the shortest thing I have up, I think.

longest wip of the year: Forever and always, Cracks in the Foundation (Shaynor, current published word count is 218,164 words)

shortest wip of the year: Love Lost in Translation (Trevelyan/Krem, current published word count of 12,150)

favorite character to write about this year: I really enjoy writing from Samantha Traynor’s prospective because I have to do research for british dialogue to make her sound genuine. When I first started Cracks in the Foundation, she was my least favorite perspective to write in because I never thought I got her right. But after getting a lot of comments of praise for how I write her, she’s always one I’m happy to write in. And I’m really enjoying exploring her traumatic past, which the game sets up and utterly fails to deliver anything on. Heh. I suppose the whole reason I started Cracks was because I wanted to fix how the third game was and finishing her barely touched story makes me happy. 

a fic you didn’t expect to write:  Can you Stay Korrasami fictober prompt was one that I had planned to do something entirely different for but then changed my mind at the last second because an idea struck me as I past a bikini barista stand on my way to work. It was completely unexpected but a ton of fun to put to paper, as they say. 

fics you’ll continue next year: All of them, really. Cracks in the Foundation, Love Lost in Translation, and I made Strangers in the Night into a series called “Close to You,” that I have 8 or so sections planned out for.

current number of wips: Fanfiction, 7. My original fiction WIP count is up to 11 now. T-T

any new fics to start next year: Gosh, I think my readers would revolt if I started anything NEW without finishing what I have. I do have four other fanfic ideas that I’d love to start posting (some of them have the first few chapters written while others are thoroughly outlined), but I really want to wrap up Cracks in the Foundation before I take on any other long fic projects.  

most memorable comment/review: I had quite a few from Strangers in the Night that had me clutching my chest and making me feel super touched and validated as a writer. Most of them were on how I handled the scenario of the story and how important a role consent played into everything.

I do remember one from @ieatlazers​ that was talking about they appreciate how I always include consent in some fashion in my work, but I can’t remember which story it was for. It was super sweet and all I remember was feeling like this:

events you participated in this year: Fictorber was really it… I tried NaNoWriMo but landed a new job a few days into the month and all my writing plans went out the goddamn window. (I got a promotion into a newly created position and I’m pretty much making my little department from the ground up by myself. So I’m working some loooooooong hours and by the time I get home I’m wiped. But it should calm down in April. I hope.)

fics you wanted to write but didn’t: Fanfics… I worked on all the ones I really wanted to last year. Now, I can’t say the same for my original work, but none of you follow me for that (not a statement on you, I just don’t have my original work posted anywhere for public consumption or comment, so you’d never be able to see it), but I came up with a new original wip that I really want to write because I keep reading my outline for it and being like “goddamn, I want to read this book” and immediately deflating and thinking “I have to write this book.” 

favorite fic you read this year: I feel so bad, I’ve bookmarked quite a few stories this year, but I was focusing most of my reading time on books for a queer review site that I run called The Queerblr. I read about 30 books but I honestly don’t think I read any fanfiction last year… >.< 

a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read: Per the last answer, I’ll recommend a wlw book instead? Sunsets and Shades, by Erica Lee was a delight, and so was Grimmer Intentions, by Jodi Hutchins (the first book, The Grim Assistant, was a bit rough for me, but the second book was amazing).

number of favorites/bookmarks you made this year: 32, apparently.

favorite fanfic author of the year: I mean, I didn’t read any this year, so that means I don’t have to choose between the wonderful author beans, right? I’ll go with that. You’re all amazing. Really. And you know what, if you’re reading this and you post fanfiction, drop me a message/comment with your AO3 tag and the story you want me to read and I’ll put it on my queue to read and comment on. Do it.  

[renwritesstuff]

If you are open to doing those drabbles and would like a challenge, could you do one for Shaynor with 39, 64 and 67 combined? If so that would be fantastic! Your writing is phenomenal and also Queens Gambit? Favorite fic.

For reference: http://renwritesstuff.tumblr.com/post/173963828336/drabble-list

39) “What are you so happy about?”64) “You should see this.”67) “Don’t look at me like that.”

Care Package (AO3)

Brown eyes narrowed from across the room. The woman tilted her head before bringing up her wrist. An orange holo interface glowed to life.

A second later, Commander Annelise Shepard heard a quiet, suspicious voice in her ear piece.

[“What are you so happy about?”]

“What do you mean?�� Annelise innocently replied under her breath, her fingers still swiping over the Normandy SR2 galaxy map console. Samantha Traynor’s console. The small curl at Shepard’s mouth pulled wider. 

[“I know you’re up to something.”] Samantha hissed into her wrist as she stayed hidden at the Normandy bow docking entrance. The CIC bridge was nearly empty otherwise; only 2 other tech specialists were present, engrossed in their holo screens. The rest of the Normandy crew was away on shore leave at the Citadel.

And Comms Specialist Traynor was supposed to be off with them.

Or so Shepard had instructed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Annelise mumbled. “I’m just… in my cabin. Building a model. How’s the Wards shopping going? You find the—?” Mid-swipe, Shepard jerked her head up. Her right hand reached up to her ear piece.

“Hang on. How did you know I looked happy?”

Stifling an awkward throat-clear, Sam flattened her body against the cockpit escape hatch. 

Shit.

Shit!

Well, Traynor?

Thinking… Thinking…

“Just a lucky guess. I assumed.” Samantha lied, her voice low. She didn’t dare venture another peek around the corner.

“Because happiness is my default state,” came the skeptical reply. 

Sam smothered a laugh with her hand. At least she’s self-aware. “Is it not? ...And this is a trick question, by the way. With a very correct answer.” Sam started to slide over to the open bow doors.

Keeeeep talking so I can pretend I’m not the worst spy in the galaxy.

Really thought this through, huh Traynor?

Oh shut up.

Annelise said, “Either you think very highly of yourself… or you’re spying on me. And the latter couldn’t possibly be true because you’re off with your BFF Allers.” The phonetic “bee-eff-eff” rolled off the woman’s tongue. 

“Well there’s your answer, darling. It’s obviously the former because I think the world of myself.” Voice husky, Sam cornered over to the exterior bulkhead door. She was one biometric scan away from freedom.

“Uh huh.” A long pause. “Can you ask Diana something for me? Just a quick question.”

Shit!

“Oh she’s… uh… in the dressing room. I’d be happy to relay it.” 

Christ you’re bad at this.

“Oh just grab her for a sec,” Shepard pressed. 

Does her voice sound louder than before?

The biometric lock was taking an agonizingly long time to sweep a grid pattern over Sam’s form. Before she could respond (or dart through the opening bulkhead door), a slanted face came peeking around the corner, green eyes narrowed, red hair loosely framing a splash of freckles. “Really, Samantha? Did you forget something or could you not go a couple hours away from work?” 

Sighing in defeat, Sam slouched her way back to Shepard. She crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. “I certainly won’t be accepting criticism for working too much from the likes of you, dearest. Pot and kettle and all that.” 

Annelise crossed her arms in response and both women stood there, eyeing each other. Shepard’s glare was positively withering, forcing Sam to crumble under the pressure.

“...Don’t look at me like that,” Sam pouted as she pushed a hand at Shepard’s shoulder. “You caught me, all right?”

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. “I really need to talk to Allers about her Traynor-sitting. I paid her 5000 credits for a girls’ day out. She had one job.”

“You bribed my friend to spend time with me?? ...And she didn’t even give me a cut? Oh, Diana and I are going to have a talk later.” Sam put her hands on her hips and reassembled the righteous indignation that had brought her here in the first place. “So? Out with it then! Why were you trying to get rid of me? And why were you at my console?”

“Can’t I have my secrets?”

“Absolutely not. Unless you want my gorgeous brain concocting all sorts of scenarios that will lead to some very confusing arguments for you,” Sam replied haughtily. “It would be more efficient just to tell me.”

Sighing, Annelise reached over and took Sam’s wrist and led her to the galaxy map. A small blue marker blinked over the Citadel. Her fingers typed in a couple of commands to show a reverse overlay of a travel trajectory, bouncing across the lower quadrant of the galaxy.

The location of origin: Horizon.

“I was tracking a delivery,” Annelise said simply.

“A delivery,” Sam repeated with skepticism.

“That’s right.”

“A delivery. That you didn’t want me to know about. From Horizon. Where I’m from.”

“That’s right.”

More betrayal! 

What are we up to?

Shepard, Allers, Shepard again, maybe Mum, maybe Dad, maybe both, we’ll say Shepard again for good measure...

I am going to send out so many strongly-worded vid-mails.

Really take ‘em to task, Traynor.

“Who was it? Mum? Dad? Both of them working in concert?” Drumming her fingers on the console, Sam felt her blood pressure spike.

Shepard sighed again before checking her Omni-tool. “It’s due to be delivered to my apartment on the Citadel this afternoon. Since you’re not doing anything anymore, would you like to come along and find out?”

“Absolutely!” Sam chirped. “I can ask you all sorts of questions on the way there!”

Taking Sam’s hand, Annelise escorted Samantha to the (aforementioned) bulkhead doors. The woman’s shoulders slumped, but there was still a playful twinkle in her eye. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid, you understand?”

Sam trotted along beside her, grinning ear to ear. “Understood and ignored!”

A (rather long) taxi ride later, the two women disembarked at a familiar boarding area just outside the Silversun Strip. Samantha held on to Shepard’s bicep, her series of questions still not exhausted during the commute. “—ow long have you been talking to my family behind my back? Is there anyone else back there you still talk to? Do you still keep in contact with that curmudgeon of a mechanic, Gavin? You know he’s still salty about the Alliance. Talks shit every time I come home—”

Shepard sighed again and picked up the pace. “Like I said thirty times before: you’ll find out when we get there!”

“But I want to know nowwww,” Sam whined, struggling to keep up with Annelise, her hand barely holding on.

Spinning on her heel, Annelise got right up in Sam’s face (causing the Comms Specialist to almost run into the marine). Her breath hot on Sam’s chin, Shepard leaned in really close. “Are you sure you want me to tell you?” Annelise asked, voice husky and low.

Several passersby stopped to stare, one even taking out an Omni-tool to start recording. 

It had the desired effect; Samantha shrank away slightly, flustered. Her eyes kept looking at green eyes, then down to pink lips, then back up again. She nodded, chewing her lip.

Those lips curled in a mischievous grin. “...Too bad. You’ll find out in a minute.”

Sam could barely take the time to scowl as a hand clasped her wrist and yanked her forward. The two women made their way down a side alley near a section of residences. The corner apartment lock glowed in response to Shepard’s Omni-tool scan, the door sliding open a moment later.

Holo lights triggered on a motion center flared to life in the kitchen and living room, illuminating a large crate in the center of the floor. The buckled, one meter by one meter metal crate did have some small wear and tear, mostly scuff marks around the rounded corners. A holo receipt spun on its axis just above the crate, a testament to a successful delivery. 

[“Just checking to see that my contact came through.Consider this one a freebie for all your hard work, Allison Gunn.- Kasumi Goto, Purveyor of Antiquities and Other Valuable Merchandise, Esquire

P.S. I watered your plants. And broke in the hot tub. You might want to restock the liquor cabinet, though. ”]

Allison Gunn… Allison Gunn… Why does that sound familiar?

“Oh. Kasumi. I should have known.” Sam didn’t dislike the hooded thief per se, but Kasumi took too much delight in jump scares via her tactical cloaking system. And Sam, easily scared prey that she was, had become a frequent target.

Crouching down, Annelise waved her Omni-tool over the package to engage the lock. She glanced up at Sam with a smile and tapped a freckled nose with her other hand. “If you need something smuggled, she’s the best. Don’t tell the Alliance I went under the table for this. I’m supposed to set an example.”

“Is this... Commander Bloody Shepard? Flouting proper channels and protocols to smuggle her girlfriend some goodies from home?” Samantha put some incredulous air into her voice, her smile wide. “When you did you become such a softie?”

“Oh, about ten showers ago,” Annelise replied without looking up, her eyes crinkling around the edges.

“Surely you’ve had more than—oh. Oh! ...I see what you did there,” Sam teased with a nudge of her hip to a kneeling Shepard’s shoulder.

“Figured you might.”

The large metal buckles flapped open with a satisfying pop, the container hissing as compressed air escaped. Whatever it was had been carefully pressured sealed during shipping to prevent spoilage or contents from shifting. 

Instead of reaching out to open the crate, Annelise stood back up. She waved her hand over it with a flourish. “For you, milady. Just as a disclaimer: this does ruin the scavenger hunt I had planned.”

“There was going to be a scavenger hunt?” Sam asked weakly, guilt bubbling to the surface.

I love scavenger hunts. Oh I hope there are puzzles. And riddles!

Not anymore, you git. You ruined it.

Oh bollocks!

“With puzzles and riddles,” Annelise confirmed. She opened her Omni-tool to show a scrolling list of haikus and rhymes following a vague map around the apartment.

Oh bollocks.

Sam was forlorn. “Bollocks, that looks brilliant.”

Annelise tilted her head with a sympathetic smile. She reached out and rubbed Sam’s shoulders. “Next time, Traynor.”

“I didn’t ruin it?”

“Never,” Annelise stated, leaning in for a small kiss. “You’ll just have to savor the suspense for next time.”

“But I hate savoring suspense.”

“I know! And that’s why it’s not ruined, because now I get to hold that over you and surprise you when you least expect it.”

“You’re a monster. A gorgeous monster, but a monster nonetheless.”

“Well, at least I’m gorgeous.” Annelise stretched out a foot to toe at the cracked lid, which bounced lightly. “Shall we?”

We shall.

Samantha leaned down and pulled the lid open. It was a smorgasbord of goodies. And a wave of delicious smells that prickled the back of Sam’s mind with a flurry of nostalgic memories.

A set of hard plastic containers were the source of the coolant leak, (mostly) her mum’s home cooking still flash-frozen. There were scrawls of labels on each one in her mother’s familiar penmanship.

“Auntie Amrita’s Famous Biryani (recipe included)”

“Samosas & Naan from Maharajah’s”

“Papri Chaat & Pakora”

“Geoffrey’s Famous Attempt at Rice Pudding” was written in a bolder script.

And not one but two containers were marked “Saag Paneer (no curry).”

Oh God how I’ve missed this.

She popped one of the saag paneer containers and just inhaled the rich, bitter smell. Unfortunately, the cubes of paneer were frozen in a sea of green sauce. She stacked the containers and motioned for Shepard to help with getting them in the fridge. 

Hands now free, Sam pointed a finger at Shepard then back at the crate. “Did you know what treasures were in here?” 

“Didn’t have a clue,” Annelise admitted as she kicked the refrigerator door closed with her heel. “Just messaged your family with EDI’s help and asked them what they wanted to send and what sort of container they’d need. ‘One with a cooler’ was all I had to go by. Kasumi handled the rest.”

“So this is as big a mystery for me as it is to you.”

“Yup. I was hoping to find out before you, though. Tailor my scavenger hunt accordingly.” She shook her head. “Lost to the annals of my Omni-tool now, I’m afraid,” Annelise said, her tone wistful.

Hmph.

A long, narrow box housed within the flash-freeze compartment hit Sam with a bold fragrance she would know anywhere. Before the wide flap was opened, she was chanting “Yes yes yes yesssss” under her breath. A long row of tea bags lined the box, local and exotic blends of the Terminus’s most popular flavors.

Red hair appearing in Sam’s periphery, Annelise cooed at her elbow, “Ooooo!” She reached a hand down to examine a bag, which Sam slapped away before making a hissing noise through the back of her teeth. 

Shepard held her hands out in surrender and took a few safe steps back. “...Jesus. Okay. Nevermind there, slugger.” She settled into a parade rest position and continued watching from a distance.

“You brought this on yourself. You know how I feel about my tea,” Sam said, clutching the box to her chest for emphasis. A corner edge dug into her boob from hugging too hard.

Rolling her eyes, Annelise shot Sam a withering glare. She sighed loudly before puffing air out of the corner of her mouth, causing her bangs to bounce. 

The last cooler item was a three-pack of yellow gel. Lemon curd. Oh mum, you’re the best. Sam shot a glare up at Annelise.

Hands fanning out in preemptive surrender, Shepard shook her head. “Trust me, I know better than to mess with that.”

“Good girl.”

Moving away from the perishable goods to the other side, Samantha found a small flat box with a familiar checkerboard pattern on top. Inside was a magnetic chess set, the white pieces so badly scuffed from use they were nearly as dark as the black set. It was the training set she and Dad has used when she was a kid. Small and portable and easy to carry on camping trips or long shuttle rides. It also included a holo pad set up for one-man matches against a VI when a ready partner wasn’t available.

Not quite as lovely as the rose quartz and hematite one in my Earth apartment, but it’ll do.

This she did offer up to Annelise, who accepted it curiously. The metal pieces rolled around in the box with a satisfying clatter, bringing back memories of junior high road trips to tournaments. Shepard engaged the VI holo pad and watched the pieces quickly assemble in position with magnetic snapping sounds. A computer-only match began, pawns taking turns advancing.

“This looks like it’s seen some shit,” Annelise remarked, continuing to watch the black and white pieces encroach on each other’s territory. Taken pieces slid their way around the surface to deposit themselves back in the box. A white pawn bumped into Shepard’s thumb a few times, trying to get back into the box.

Samantha smiled fondly, both at the gift and at Annelise. “You have no idea.”

“Do you want me to put this away in the bedroom?”

“Absolutely,” Sam agreed before changing her mind. “Actually, how about the dresser? I’d like to take a look at it.”

Nodding, Annelise trooped away up the extended stairwell to the upper floor. She disappeared into the bedroom, still watching the chess board play itself to completion.

Sam unwrapped the next gift, softly wrapped in a weather-proof cloth. Inside were a few sets of clothing, including one of her favorite sundresses and a few Horizon- and chess-themed t-shirts. She almost called out to Shepard to come back real quick and take this with her when a small square box fell out of the collection.

A small note was secured to the top, her mother’s handwriting in looping curves.

[“You should see this.”]

Feeling around the small square box, she found a single hinge along one side and flipped it open. She stared at the beautiful ring set into the black pillow inside. Another small note, rolled in a tube, was attached on a delicate thread.

[“Samantha,I think it’s time you had this. Auntie Amrita wanted it that way, I’m just sending it over a little early. And it seems to me like you’ve found someone special here. Just saying: if you want to make it official, you’ll need this.

We love you. Take care of yourself. And of her.- Mum & Dad

P.S. If a thief is reading this, shame on you. My daughter’s girlfriend (hopefully fiancee) is Commander Shepard and you are in serious trouble.”]

All Sam could manage was a strangled noise deep in her throat. It was a gorgeous ring. A gold band had with a large diamond at the center flanked by eight smaller diamonds around the center in a flower pattern. Three more diamonds formed triangles from either side, completing the flower look. 

“Hey Sam?” A voice called down, echoing from an unknown distance. “You done yet?”

She had to clear her throat a couple times before quickly stashing the box into her set of clothes. Sam called back, “Uh—ahem—uh yea? Did you need something?”

Instead of a response, she felt a ping to her Omni-tool. A small message appeared on the orange screen.

[Blasto: “Wash it and it isn't clean. Don't wash it and then it's clean. What am I?”]

Water.

...Perhaps hot tub water?

Only one way to find out.

[annakie]

Notes on the Shenko Reunion and Mods Installed

Welcome back Kaidan, I shot Udina so you didn’t have to.

EGM puts these amazing Spectre armors in for Shepard and Kaidan.  They both look amazing.  They’re gonna be my defaults for both of them once the coup is over from here on out (that’s when you acquire the armors).  

I love, love having the FemShep’s closet mod installed being able to change my Shepard’s casual outfit to one of SEVERAL good-looking outfits.  And I love this dress on her, perfect for a nice date night outfit.  If I was doing texture mods right now I’d have put Kaidan in a nice shirt and slacks, but that’ll be for next playthrough when I’ve got ALOT installed.  

And although it does take exiting the game and removing / replacing some folders in the BIOGAME folder, it’s still pretty easy to swap out FemShep’s hairstyle.  I picked this “smoothed out but still medium length” hairstyle as Shepard’s Date Night Hair, and it worked well.  I’m back to adventuring now and she has her “messy medium hair” back on.  

I think this is my 3rd playthrough since BackOff came out.  I honestly am forgetting some of the changes it makes because honestly, BackOff makes the game feels so much more like it’s supposed to, so I’m forgetting about some of the things I didn’t like without it.  I just know that BackOff makes whoever your LI is feel like that’s the way it’s meant to be, not like “Hey shouldn’t you REALLY be romancing James/Garrus/Liara/Whoever it is you’re not with?  It’s ok to watch Traynor shower in her undies even if you’re friends, right?” etc etc.  So every interaction with who your LI is feels like you’re going in the right direction so much more.  I can’t imagine playing without it ever again.

Now can someone just mod out that Salarian and human in that face-touching angle on the date? :p

I believe it’s also BackOff Nope looks like it’s EGM (thanks Neph) that adds the cabin picture in (and it comes with an email from EDI explaining that she did it as a “congratulations on the sex” gift, haha.)  And then three different “invite your LI to hang out in the cabin” quick scenes.  They’re just small things, but they make such a huge difference.  She’s even wearing a different outfit for those screenshots, thanks Femshep’s Closet.

I can’t wait to get through this playthrough, confirm the game is more or less stable and hopefully install ALOT and play through again for videos and good screenshots.

[alienshepard]

1, 5, 9, 19, 21 have fun :D

1. What OTP(s) in your fandom do you just not get? Jack x Miranda tbh. They clearly don't like eachother, they're barely becoming friends at the end of the Citadel DLC and threatened and insulted eachother multiple times during two games and yet people call it "sexual tension" and "clearly they're just frustrated by how much they love eachother" and?? People call out the "hate sex is hawt" trope, call relationship like theirs abusive when it's an m/f ship but because its two women it's suddenly okay or less toxic? I don't get it and its my biggest NOTP ever.5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you? Ye, shakarian was def ruined by the obnoxious part of the fandom. Don't get me wrong, there are so many chill shippers but there's a certain part of the fandom who just made me never want to touch this romance. The way they hype up Garrus as The Only Romance, the way they talk shit about other romances, especially Kaidan (making him out to be an abusive stalker and borderline rapist), putting down the other romances as "less real" because Garrus is the only one who talks about having a family with Shepard so He's The Only One Serious About It, their homo&biphobia when it comes to Garrus possibly dating an mShep and their oftentimes sexist interpretation of both fShepard and her relationship with Garrus (writing him as super Alpha Male and White Knight who needs to hold the small fragile Shepard or her fragile female brain won't be able to handle the stress and emotions), their absolutely shitty attitude towards other female characters showing interest in him or their general assholery towards any other ships that aren't fShepard x Garrus, their unwillingness to acknowledge that so many other romances got fridged for the sake of theirs etc. I could write whole essays aboutthis but I think I got my point across asdfghjkl 9. Most disliked characters. Why? I already mentioned in another ask that I heavily dislike Garrus' character arc during Mass Effect 1&2 but the only other character I really dislike is Conrad Verner. I prefer playing as fShepard and I could never see anything funny in Conrads obsession with Shepard. It's not hero worship, it's not liking a certain celebrity and being awkward around them - it's just straight up stalking. He literally tells Shepard he lied about his wife (which is oftentimes a tactic abusive creeps use so that women let their guard down around them) and then confesses he has a shrine of them at home?? I hate him and I hate how everyone treats this as this funny running gag 19. What is the thing you hate the most about your fandom? Ohhhhhhhhh boy the Mass Effect fandom is such a shitshow it's hard to decide tbh. I mean apart from the biphobia (or just queerphobia in general), the racism and sexism, it really has to be the policing when it comes to other peoples Shepards and the way individuals design them. There are the militant fShepard players who vilify mShepard as "just your average cishet dudebro" and write essays how boring he is, without ever acknowledging that mShepard is far from being the average cishet dudebro, the people who get angry about people not using the default Shepards, people making posts like "if you dont use Jane/John as your Shepards names, I instantly lose respect for you" or "biotic Shepards are so boring, yall just want to have an excuse to have space mages, nobody wants to read about biotic Shepards anymore", the ones who are way too stuck up about ""military protocol"" and harass people with super feminine Shepards and making posts like "who has time to do their make up during the war it's so unrealistic" or "umm sweaty actually only light make up and tied up hair is allowed in the navy :)" (who fucking cares it's the future, people are fucking aliens, I think the alliance couldn't give less fucks about Shepards hair as long as they do their job lmao?) And just their general attitude when it comes to romances like the posts that go like "if you dont romance Garrus, you're playing the game wrong" or "wow I can't believe Liara is the only canon romance for Shepard" etc. The fandom is just so obnoxious about others OCs and police so many people on their designs (Not included in this is valid criticism when people actually have insensitive and harmful tropes/designs for their Shepard) The fandom likes to brag about how inclusive they are on OCs compared to other fandoms but then they have those ridiculous ship wars and tear other people down for the way they design their OCs smh21. What are your thoughts on crack ships? I don't mind them as long as they're not harmful (like shipping mShepard with Traynor or fShepard with Cortez) I'm normally a big fan of the "these people have never met in canon but let's make them fall in love in fics", especially as someone who creates OCs simply to romance characters I personally like and who don't have LIs in canon. Shipping my mShepard with Ashley and Miranda and having the three of them be in a poly relationship started out as a crack ship but now it's canon for me lmao (Thanks for asking this got super long I'm sorry ahdjdsjsk)

[mass-effect-galaxy]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Part 41 - Leaving Earth

After six months, Shepard's hair would have been grown back. Even though, I liked the crew cut she had when waking up on Lazarus Station.

Jeanne Shepard

Colonist, War Hero, Infiltrator,

Good guy, Xenophobe, Bi,

AI-Friendly, Pro-Cerberus (ME2), Control Ending

I had originally created this Shepard in order to play Kaidan’s and Jacob’s romance arcs. But ME3 killed the story of either one to me. So, I have changed that to make her “Traynor’s Shepard”.

I also use this Shepard to explore the “pro-human” character arc in Mass Effect, basically the opposite of what default Shepard is supposed to be. I take it that someone from Mindoir has all reasons to be wary of aliens. So, expect some dialogue options, choices, and attitudes you probably don’t agree with.

[dgcatanisiri]

Yeah... Romance always gets priority in that sequence. The IDEA is that there needs to be a default, on the basis of how some people have a romance who is not on the Normandy, or aren’t a squadmate (re: Miranda, Jack, Traynor, Cortez), so... naturally, BioWare goes to leaning on Liara for this sequence.

Liara is BioWare’s crutch character - they give her all this time and focus and attention because they set it up so that she is the constant in Shepard’s life, the one there the most for them... and for players who don’t feel that closeness as earned or deserved, she ends up becoming an intruder. Particularly in this scenario, since there is only the one set of dialogue, so we have a non-romanced Liara being openly flirtatious with Shepard, even as they’re in a relationship with someone else.

BioWare leans on Liara, giving her these things to do in the narrative to make things easier - one set interaction is both cheaper in development costs, because you’re not paying to record the lines, program them in, make sure the models play right, etc., AND is less of a logistical hassle than trying to track variables that aren’t necessarily in play over the course of the franchise - there’s not really a “relationship value” score to bring forward from the prior games. This becomes a problem when Liara and THE PLAYER do not gel the way that BioWare assumes.

From a practical, out of universe standpoint, this is a decision that makes sense. From an emotional standpoint, it DOES come across as BioWare pushing their favorite on the player, often at the expense of the player’s own.

CONFESSION:

At the start of the Citadel DLC when Shepard is solo, I thought Liara was the mandatory party member who would greet Shepard (much to my chagrin). Imagine my surprise when I romanced Tali and... well, Tali was there. I've learned that the second character that talks over the radio is chosen depending on a point counter . It picks whoever you took on the most missions. I don't understand why they didn't do that twice if your LI isn't applicable. I never use Liara. She shouldn't be the default.