#mass effect ask game

[drelldreams]

Not so typical Mass Effect Fandom Emoji Asks tagging game

Rules: Send the person who tagged you a question (or as many as you like) and tag two or more people to participate and send them one or multiple questions.

Only participte if you‘re up to it of course. No pressure :)

I am tagging: @illusivesoul @threewhiskeylunch @messydiabolical

🤎 - What is a species you think is underappreciated and why?

🎶 - What's your favorite soundtrack of the trilogy and why?

🎤 - Favorite voice actor? What do you like about their voice acting?

🐰 - Most adorable character? Why are they so adorable?

🎗️- Something you would have liked to see more of in the games?

⚜️ - Character(s) who should have been squadmate(s)?

💪 - Character with most astonishing development? What makes their development so great?

😭 - Character whose story or fate breaks your heart? Why is it so heartbreaking?

💔 - Character who died in canon but you refuse to acknowledge it?

✍️ - Squadmate you love writing most? Why do you enjoy writing them?

🌎 - Favorite homeworld? Why is it your favorite homeworld?

🧡 - Favorite non-Shepard pairings? Why do you love this/those pairing(s)?

👤 - Favorite minor NPC? What do you like about them?

📖 - Favorite book characters? Why are they your favorite? (If you’re familiar with the books)

🧩 - Favorite squadmate combination and why you like this combination so much?

💟 - A rarepair you have and what you like about their dynamics?

🤍 - Favorite Shepard friendship and why?

💗 - A character who should have been romanceable and why would you romance them?

[not-a-newt]

Oo maybe Shiara for the ship game? My personal favorite lol

I exclusively ship fshep/Liara not mshep/Liara, and that's what I'm going to be answering for in this ask since you didn't clarify and I don't really have strong feelings about mshep/liara other than that it's just not my cup of tea. That said, if you were really wanting me to get into mshiara, hit me with another ask and I'll answer that separately 👍

What made me ship fshiara and what are my favorite things about the ship?

A lot of people portray Liara as a sweet little uwu nerd girl, which she very much is especially in the first game, but I feel like a lot of people ignore the lowkey unhinged megalomaniac side of her personality and honestly that's one of my favorite parts of her character. I love the contrast! Very much sweet but also with almost evil mad scientist vibes happening on the side too? like princess bubblegum in adventure time, you know??

And honestly, that's a pretty good comparison point for how I feel about her relationship with fshep: I think they have a princess bubblegum/marceline dynamic, at least with my characterization of shep. It's the sweet uwu scientist on the surface, but secretly unhinged and a little bit evil / chaotic goth powerhouse, who uses her renegade personality as a mask for her gooder nature. Again, the contrast, the FOIL, crazy fucked up lesbians committing crimes together !!

Is there an unpopular opinion that I have on the ship?

Liara high-key has an unhealthy infatuation with Shepard in the first game that makes me go *YIKES* and i feel like it's problematic if you just gloss over this because you're almost, ,,, , taking advantage of her?? Ik she's technically older than Shepard, but in terms of Asari biology/culture and her characterization, her crush on shep screams teenager who wants to bone their adult role model

I'm not saying it's an adult/minor ship because it's NOT (they're very much both adults), but there is an inherent power imbalance that the game kind of pushes on it

No hate for shiara shippers who write it out of their headcanons and fics to represent more positive themes OR who intentionally lean into the toxicity of it, BUT I really haven't run across any discussion of this I feel like also and I'd like to see if other people have felt this way?

____

Also this is total word vomit and I'm not really 100% here right now, so if this is incoherent or I just said something straight whack, then I apologize 😷

[that-wildwolf]

15, 37, 49 for CASSIDY.

[for these shepard questions]

15. Did they have any relationships pre-me1? Still around?

Slept around but never had a relationship longer than a few weeks. Because of the way things happened, her job has kind of always had to be her first priority, so she didn't really have the time to date anyone after Elysium and honestly not really until ME3.

37. What is their favorite way to eat potatoes?

Wow some of those questions are out of pocket Full baked potatoes like she used to make with her friends by the fire when she was little.

49. What do they wear to sleep?

On the Normandy, she would sleep in a t-shirt and whatever underwear she had on the previous day, but after the war once she's all healed up and moved into that secluded house in the middle of the woods, she would just wear a bra or nothing at all to sleep.

[milkywayes]

some shameless battlefield nuzzling

[average-mako-enjoyer]

I need your Kaidan opinions for the fave character game. Pwease. 😻

From the character ask game.

Oh God, I will have to change my pants by the time I'm done.

Favorite thing about them

Everything??? He's such a complex dude, and all of his complexity is shown so subtly in a way that also reflects him as a character. I love it.

But most of all, his emotional maturity, his intelligence, his self-esteem, and honestly, how incredibly badass he is.

He doesn't use Shepard as a therapist, as a fixer for his problems, as a pillar of strength to lean on. Instead, he always comes into this relationship (platonic or romantic) as an equal, and it's so refreshing to see.

Every other squadmate needs something from Shepard, and with Kaidan it's the other way around. It's Shepard who needs Kaidan, a person who will remind them that what military propaganda usually pushes as "the hardest choices a soldier can make" are actually the laziest choices.

Kaidan knows that killing is easy. Destroying is easy. But showing restraint, showing compassion, trusting someone, doing the right thing, that's hard.

Also, Kaidan is literally the only squadmate who consistently tells Shepard that they can step aside, that they don't have to do everything alone, that they have their team for a reason, and oh god, thank you Kaidan, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Least favorite thing about them

My god, he's stubborn.

And yes, Shepard needs someone like that in their close circle, but oh Kaidan, my man, my dude, my wonderful human being, you have to learn to relax, to let things go sometimes.

I think the main thing about him is that he's actually so passionate, he feels deeply, and friendship and love are so important to him, but he has trust issues, and he has standards, and he's very intelligent, and all of that runs over this deep well of emotions that he carries around.

He wants to love with abandon, but he can't. He wants to do the right thing all the time, but it's impossible. He has to learn how to compromise, how to live in the gray area.

Honestly, there are so many parallels between his and you-know-who's ark, no wonder all his fans feel so strongly about Kaidan.

Favorite line

So, so many.

"I think we're gonna need a bigger boot, Commander."

"I could shoot someone if it would make you feel better."

"Mike Hazer? Hazer the Laser? Almost didn't recognize you. ... You owe me money."

"Looking back, I have a few regrets, but not many. That's pretty damn amazing, right? Messed up kid that I was, never would have dreamed of the life I've had."

"You'll never find out."

I love his sarcastic ass. And I love all the glimpses into that deep well that is his heart. He's so good.

brOTP

Joker! Oh my God, that first dialog between them is fucking amazing. I feel like Joker is one of Kaidan's main sources of gossip (something Kaidan is interested in both professionally and recreationally), and Joker finds Kaidan's dry wit incredibly funny. They get along just fine because they enjoy teasing each other for sport, but other people probably misinterpret this as dislike. Same with him and Ash.

Also, Tali! Two nerds just talking about tech, weapon mods, all that good stuff. And he's obviously very sweet and protective of her. I really have to read about those two.

If we're talking about ME2 squadmates, his choice would obviously be Samara. I think he would've been fascinated by her story, her abilities, her lifestyle and would've hung out with her a lot. They're just very similar people in my mind, and for Kaidan, it would have been an excellent insight into the extremes of the morality he tends to lean towards.

In ME3, he probably hangs out a lot with James and Steve because he likes Steve and he can tolerate James most of the time. XD I think Kaidan and Steve have a lot in common. There's this careful quietness about them. They're both observers, they're both cautious and reserved. And I think Kaidan can see that there's kindness at the core of Steve's soul, and that's important to him.

And finally, mShenko, because whether they end up as a couple or not, they're friends first and foremost. Their romance is purely friends to lovers. Not mentor/mentee+friends to lovers, but friends to lovers. They're open and honest with each other, they care about each other deeply, they know how to tease each other without hurting anyone's feelings. They're equals.

OTP

mShenko. Oh god, it's so good. The slow burn, the maturity of it, how they don't hide behind unnecessary labels and the promises that would probably never be fulfilled. They're just there for each other despite everything, despite their time running out, and it's perfect.

Bonus points for being so obviously horny for each other.

nOTP

Kaidan/Ashley. I just think they work a lot better as friends.

Random headcanon

Kaidan doesn't really like to talk about his childhood, not because it was bad, but because he had a "rich kid's childhood", and things that were common for him throughout his life are actually quite unique and only come when you have a lot of money.

How can you casually mention your annual vacation aboard your family yacht in the company of an Earthborn orphan, a turian from Palaven, and a quarian who spent most of her life on a starship?

Also, both mShep and Kaidan enjoy being knocked around a little from time to time. So they do sparring sessions together, and this shit is _intense_.

Unpopular opinion

He does casual hookups while on shore leave like any other normal Marine. He finds a girl or a guy, fucks nasty, blows off steam, and returns to his duties.

Song i associate with them

Garbage - Control

Favorite picture of them

This one.

Thank you for this ask! I always love to talk about my man Kaidan.

[l3irdl3rain]

How do you feel about the party size going down to two companions? Are there any returning characters you want to see?

(I love dragon age please talk about dragon age)

I'm ngl I'm bummed about going down to two companions. That's been something I've always disliked about Mass Effect. How am i supposed to give every companion their time to shine if I can only bring two!? 3 is nice because then I can make sure I bring along my beloved from said game and then two others that I swap out as I see fit.

[unknown-dreams]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition GIF

Garrus Vakarian x Female Shepard

Okay I'm obsessed with this frame

My type of love language is the gentle touch to the way they look at each other.

[thefloatingstone]

I'm trying to let my wrist rest after overworking it...

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF SHENKO 1/?

The end of the world has a way of reminding you of all the things you forgot to say do. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021)

[aceouttatime]

7 and 10 for the shep game? :-)

Thanks for the ask Mars! <33

7. How approachable are they?

-> Pre-Lazarus? He's got a very severe case of resting bitch face, though not much more so than your average traumatized serviceman. I'm tempted to say not very approachable on that front.

He's decent at sussing out people's intentions, but generally gives them the benefit of the doubt, so once he's actually talking with you, he's less 'unknowably annoyed and terrifying.' I've mentioned before that his eyes are unnerving. Both how he's constantly shifting his gaze, like he's checking corners where there are none (whoops, paranoia), and the way that just-too-bright green bores into a guy when he's look at 'em. As far as body language goes, he's partial to leaning against walls and railings like he's cool (back issues) and doing the old 'crossing your arms and jutting a hip' type deal (also back issues).

Post-Lazarus? Downright unsettling, uncanny valley, kind of unapproachable. Even if you didn't know who he was or that he was supposedly missing in action for about two years, he has a presence about him that's not quite right. The angles of his face are too sharp, like the features were meticulously pieced together and ripping along the red-scarred, patch-worked seams of his body. When he moves, he moves like he is overly aware of his body, or like his body isn't in sync with his brain. He seems sensitive to even the lightest touch or sounds outside the range of what his hearing should be. It's most noticeable when he uses his biotics--he hadn't had them before Cerberus' intervention. He's the juxtaposition between a fawn finding its footing for the first time and an old god as assured and aware as the earth beneath its hooves.

'They came back wrong' is my favorite way I've heard Shepard(s) in general described, and that absolutely applies to Sylvan. This post sums up my thoughts so well.

10. How do they handle a teammate being badly injured during a mission?

-> A stranger would be different. Even a squadmate he has been able to stop himself from becoming emotionally vulnerable to, no matter how much he values them, would be different. But if someone close to his heart is injured in a life-threatening way, it impairs his judgement, and he'll take more fire than he should because of it. It can leave other forces vulnerable, and it's not yet been enough to entirely compromise a mission, but enough that his actions don't align with how he acts under other sorts of heavy pressures he's forced under.

It is a weakness that has been exploited, and it is one that has been attempted to be beaten out of him. It's the major one that almost made Nihlus keep hold of his recommendation of Shepard for the Spectres. He had planned to force Shepard to compensate for his deficiency.

Shep's had good conversations with Anderson about it, as the captain has faced similar lapses in judgement. It's a sensitive subject for Anderson too because of his past with Saren and the major difference between their modes of working being their regard for collateral. "That's our humanity, Shepard. You can't change it, I can't change it, shouldn't, really, if we don't want to lose it. It's almost selfish, that we're these vehicles of our own morality; Spectres are not. It's a numbers game for them. For you, now."

It's part of why he keeps up so many walls, and it's a byproduct of Akuze and Virmire and all of the other losses he's faced, but above all, Mindoir.

He's proficient in battlefield first aid, and he will laser-focus on that task if he's in that more panicked mindset. He's followed squadmates into the medbay more times than he should.

[ageless-aislynn]

Angst! 16

Fluff! 13

Misc.! 16

And… for characters I’m going to throw out Kai, Alenko, and Soap. Do whatever pairings or friendships you’d like. Also I’m not gonna die if you choose not to use those characters. Or prompts. I dunno, I just wanna read your stuff man.

*glee* Thank you SO much for sending some prompts my way! These are all pretty short but mark my first time writing 2 of the 3 characters, so I'm just carefully dipping a toe in the COD and ME pools, lol!

Thanks so much again! 😎👍

Angst 16. “Are you hurt?” “No.” “Then why are there bruises all over your face?”

Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish & Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Then why are there bruises all over your face?"

"You ought to see the other guy, Lt," Soap said with an unrepentant grin, unmarred by the fact his left eye was nearly swollen shut and he had a prominent cut on his lower lip.

Ghost sighed slightly behind his skull balaclava. "Sure I'll recognize him by all the bruises on his knuckles," he said dryly.

Fluff 13. Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”

Kaidan Alenko/Commander Shepard, Mass Effect (reader's choice as to whether it's male or female Shep 😉)

"Are you flirting with me?"

"You finally noticed?"

Kaidan squinted, several Commander Shepards swimming in front of him in the dim bar lighting, all wearing fondly amused expressions.

"You are flirting with me!" he stated as if having uncovered a core secret of the universe.

Shepard's smile broadened. "Think it's time to take you home and tuck you into bed."

"I'm going home with Cmdr. Shepard," he proclaimed loudly to the crowd around them. Several people raised a glass in good-natured salutes.

"Yeah, they know." Shepard got an arm around him, sliding him off the bar stool and onto his feet. "Most of them were at our wedding, after all."

Misc 16. “YOU SAID TO BE HONEST STOP HITTING ME!”

Kai-125 & Vannak-134, Halo the series

"YOU SAID TO BE HONEST, STOP HITTING ME!"

John heard Kai's shout from the hallway outside of the Spartan quarters and shoved the door open to see—

He blinked. For a solid moment, he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing, actually. Kai vaulted over her own bed, being pursued hotly by Vannak.

"That wasn't honest," he said grimly. "You're just being mean."

"Look, it's not my fault that that penguin documentary was kinda lame and—"

"IT WAS NOT!" Vannak bellowed back and took a swing at her that would've definitely put a marine in the infirmary for a month, if not in the ground, permanently. For Kai, it would've at the very least mussed her hair. "Those penguins are adorable and—"

"Lame. Laaaaaame," she singsonged, ducking a flurry of punches, then doing a very impressive parkour run up the wall into a backflip that sent her soaring over the enraged Spartan's head.

"THEY'RE NOT LAME, YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

John looked over at Riz, who was calmly sitting at a nearby table, reading something on her padd. She met his gaze, shrugged, and then went back to reading.

They crisscrossed the room rapidly, with Vannak coming close to getting his hands on her but, ultimately, Kai would manage to slip away at the last second. The entire time, she continued to issue penguin insults that, for some reason, the other Spartan took extremely personally.

John opened his mouth, about to say… something. Then he gave a slight shake of his head.

"I have paperwork to do," he announced to no one. "Don't I, Cortana?"

"I can find you some, Chief."

"That would be great," he said and just turned around and walked away.

Sentence Starters

[quietwingsinthesky]

not to bring up mass effect but that’s one of the most interesting things it ever posited when it came to the idea of organic vs artificial intelligence. a machine, if sentient, knows who created it and why it was created. and a person will never know that. like, even lacking spirituality, even if you ascribe all this to random cause-and-effect, that doesn’t actually get you any closer to understanding why there is a you. but a robot can look their creator in the eye, can read out the whole of its purpose, and know that no matter what it modifies, this is what it was made to be. and what if it was made limited, or flawed, or shackled. there are elements of that a person can relate to, maybe understand, but not all of it, not enough to fathom how different the experience of the world is when you have no questions about your origins.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Fic title: curiosity killed the cat ( but satisfaction brought it back)

My brain is honestly going: someone hears a rumour about person B's sex life and wants to test it out and whooo boy does it work out.

It can almost be anything really. BNHA, DCxDP, Dragon Age...

uhhh.... actually...

Imagine Mass Effect AU where Shepard and Garrus are on the citadel at the same time before ME1. Shepard and her friends are talking about aliens and sex, and someone says: I hear Turians are really good. So it's rapidbly becoming a dirty joke around the table of drunk soldiers.

Then Garrus and his cop buddies show up to the bar, and one of them overhears these drunk humans talking about sex and aliens. It's good humour, so the guy joins in joking about it. Then suddenly it's the two groups getting drunk and making stupid jokes. Someone googles things, another makes jokes and then suddenly Garrus is inviting Shepard to his apartment.

Both can say curiosity made them 'die a little' but oh satisfaction brought them back.

Pairings: Shakarian

More notes: This could be the start of a larger AU where Garrus and Shepard are a couple before the series. Hell, having them be a married couple with a kid before it would be so much fun.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

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

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

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

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

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

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

27. Do they have any pet peeves?

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

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

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

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

[secretsimpleness]

i just want you to know that your "Cannot Access The Landing Zone" comic has me GAGGED rn it's so funny like!!! every time!! oh boy can't wait to go back to the lz where i got dropped off!! yikes!! this is why we can't have nice things [landing zones]

Yes!! It would be fine if they never gave their false promises [landing zones] but alas! Lies!

[average-mako-enjoyer]

For the character list, I'm going to be SUPER original, but let's talk about the Mako

From the character ask game. Finally. FINALLY. Oh, you know me so well...

Favorite thing about them She's my girl, my woman, MY WIFE.

She can ride, she can climb, she can shoot, she can fly. Can your wife do all those things? Well, MINE CAN. Least favorite thing about them Are you kidding? My wife is perfect! She can do no wrong! If you don't like her, fuck you! Favorite line VrrrRRRRRRR! PSHHhhh... brOTP Garrus. If he washes his filthy hands before touching my lady's weapons systems. Steve. Because he's cool and would treat her with respect. OTP Me/My wife

I will not elaborate. nOTP Me/Hammerhead

How dare you suggest that I cheat on my woman??? Random headcanon After they banned omni-gel (fuck you, Council!) she runs purely on the power of my love for her. Unpopular opinion She's an extremely good, stable, responsive vehicle, you guys are just bad drivers. Song i associate with them Rob Zombie - Dragula Favorite picture of them Well, every single picture of her, obviously!