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ideas-on-paper · 10 hours ago

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The Geth

My favorite race from Mass Effect by far are the Geth (although I think this should be obvious from the huge amount of lore analyses I wrote about the Geth in general and Legion specifically ^^') - as many people already said, they are extremely interesting because of how unique they are, not only among the other Mass Effect races, but among robots in sci-fi in general.

However, my own love for the Geth goes down to a much deeper level - strange as that may sound, they resonate so much with me because I personally identify with them. Strive for understanding, valuing perspectives, and acceptance of differences are principles that are extremely important to me; at the same time, while I want to communicate with other people, what often hampers my desire to is 1) uncertainty of how to go about it (because autism) and 2) fear of being betrayed, rejected, or disappointed (because of past experiences).

I can see so much of myself in Legion and the Geth - my wishes, my dreams, everything I've ever longed for, but also my flaws and shortcomings.

The Geth's relationship to the Quarians is also very interesting. It may not be very overt, but there's definitely a lot more to it than you would expect from "logical thinking" machines. I'm not sure if I would go so far as to call it "emotions", but the Geth definitely have their own desires that grew from their personal development. (I did want to do an extra analysis about this too, at some point.)

On that note, the Heretics are extremely interesting - they may seem like your standard "all organics must die" robots at the first glance, but after taking a closer look at them, they seem more like realists that got disillusioned because their ideals of peace proved to be impossible.

Idk if this is a bit of a stretch, but I cannot shake the feeling that the Geth's story is, in essence, centered around the notion of being abandoned by god. The Quarians, their "gods", literally told them "we do not love you, and you're nothing more than a tool to us", and being confronted with this reality, they're desperately trying to move on from them and find their own way. Still, they cannot fully sever the attachment that they have to the Quarians - the Heretics may have even taken to revering Sovereign as a gesture to abjure their own "loveless gods". (The irony being, of course, that Sovereign doesn't hold any more love to them; actually, it's interesting how many "loveless gods" Mass Effect has, since you can not only apply this to the Geth -> Quarians and the Heretics -> Sovereign, but also to the other galactic races -> the Protheans.) I can relate very well to this situation of being "left alone", too, as well as how hard it is to find your own path.

Legion's individuality is a difficult topic; I will say that there are some hints that the devs planned for Legion to develop individuality early on, although whether this was Chris L'Etoile's idea or someone else's is difficult to say.

I personally prefer using they/them pronouns for Legion out of respect for their gestalt nature, but I'm totally fine with people calling Legion he/him, too. (As for Legion themselves, I feel like they'd probably be pretty neutral about it.)

That being said, on a personal level, whether Legion is an individual or not doesn't matter all that much too me - I fully accept them as a collective consciousness, but if they're developing individuality, who am I to forbid them? I don't "need" Legion to be either for me, and I'll love them all the same.

The Morning War

Naturally, since the Geth are my "special interest", I have always been curious about the Morning War - the thing is, while we know how it started and what the result of it was, the overall course of it is very hazy. (Unfortunately, this has led some people to very biased conclusions about it, to say the least.)

Although it may not have started in the most... pleasant way (essentially, I wanted to prove that it's possible to interpret the war in a way that doesn't absolve the Geth of killing 99% of the Quarian population and still keeps the plot about Quarian rebels fighting alongside the Geth as canon), the Morning War is a puzzle that I've started to really enjoy figuring out, so much so that I developed an entire fanfiction concept around it, complete with OCs. xD

In any fandom, I always tend to be intrigued most by the parts of the lore that are there, but that I can't see, and I love filling these gaps with my own imagination. Plus, I kinda have a thing for morally complex war dramas. xD

Pre-Morning War Quarian culture

This sort of happened as a "side effect" of my interest in the Morning War, but everything related to Pre-Morning War Quarian society and culture absolutely fascinates me. How does it differ from Migrant Fleet-era culture? What traces of it remain? How did it evolve with the Quarians' exile and them exclusively living in spaceships? (I'm super interested in how real-life cultures evolve and change with different influences, so this largely comes from my general passion for history. ^^)

Given the Geth and their ancestor VI databanks, the Quarians must've had impressive technology, so what was that like? The introduction of the Geth must've had a huge impact on Quarian economy and society, so what did daily life look like for them? Were there people who were disadvantaged due to these technological advancements? What were the philosophical takes on the Geth and the ancestor VIs? Were the Quarians really trying to secretly (and illegally) create true AIs of their ancestors, as it's implied by the Codex? They couldn't have kept this a secret from the Citadel Council forever, so how were they planning to deal with the consequences? What were the Quarians' relationships and interactions with other species like? And was their "utopia" really just a golden veneer, with lots of ugliness behind it?

I love thinking about this stuff, and it's very much going to feature in the fanfic that I'm developing as well. ;-)

The AIs

One thing I think is really interesting about the AIs in general - which goes for both EDI and the Geth - is that you can clearly tell how much they take after their creator species: EDI relies a lot on Shepard's guidance throughout ME3 and very actively inquires about human behavior, eventually adopting human ideals - such as humanity and individuality - as her own. As for the Geth, I did an analysis before where I talked about how many similarities they share with the Quarians, if you look closely.

Ironically though, this difference also limits Legion and EDI's understanding of each other. While they are very supportive of each other (both of them are AIs, after all), you can tell that Legion has trouble understanding EDI's perspective and her decisions. Similarly, there are instances of EDI severely misunderstanding the Geth in ME3, saying that consensus is "enforced" among the Geth, which is just... factually not true. (The very essence of the consensus is that the Geth won't make a decision unless every program agrees to it.) At one point, she even postulates that the Geth turned on the Quarians because "they didn't make them enough like them", since AIs with individuality develop stronger preferences/attachments to their creator species. (First off, for reasons cited above, I think this claim is wrong, and second, wouldn't "stronger preferences" potentially result in AIs being racist against species other than their creators?)

While I don't agree with EDI's assessment, all of this wonderfully shows how every sentient AI will not only inherit the morals and values of its creator species, but also their flaws and biases. EDI is an AI made by humans, so of course she would place greater value on individuality - naturally, this standpoint also influences her judgments.

My personal takeaway from this is that you have to be mindful of what you teach your AIs (which very much goes for real-life AIs as well) - if you teach an AI to lie and cheat, you can be sure that no good things will come of it if it ever gains sentience.

The Reapers

Seeing the reblogs, I also want to join @average-mako-enjoyer in saying that I'm actually quite fascinated by the Reapers' way of thinking/their worldview.

I have my own headcanons on them that slightly verge on AU territory, but I like to imagine that their role is to keep the galaxy, as a system, from clogging. In that, their function is similar to that of a virus in biological systems: Viruses sort of work like nature's "population control" when a species grows too much in numbers, and as such, they actually restore balance to the ecosystem.

However, in advanced civilizations, these "natural regulations" basically get deactivated - as a rule, nature is not too fond of monocultures (which is why they are so prone to diseases), and if you look at history, all great empires have a tendency to eventually fall. If you take this concept and apply it on a galactic level - that the dominance of singular advanced species will eventually result in a catastrophic system collapse - the Reapers might actually act as the "housekeepers" of the galaxy, restoring balance to the system as a whole by taking advanced races "out of the game" and giving others a chance to grow (or at least they see themselves that way).

In contrast to a normal virus, however, the harvested species technically remain alive - they just get "elevated" to a different level, so the Reapers' strategy is essentially "lossless" (which the Reapers are probably pretty proud of, I reckon).

I always wanted to write a more in-depth post about this (since it also plays into my concept of an "extended Refuse ending"), but haven't gotten around to it so far. ^^'

Lore topics I enjoy thinking about for Mass Effect Trilogy Week:

Biotics: I remember countless conversations about biotics that made me look at the wiki to check my information, replay parts of the game and in general pay attention to how it all works out. I still think there are many things about them that I don't understand right now, and that's why I love it. It makes you think! Each species will deal with it in a different way too, they have their own history with their biotics and how they use them. For humans, L2 biotics like Kaidan are always a source of wonder to me. Sure, you can picture a badass biotic like Aria and 100% she showed extreme power during the Omega DLC so that's really fascinating to me as well, but to have those implants and to be able to master Reave?! I also think the lore is not... as solid as it could be regarding how each species treats their biotics. It sometimes feels like a bit of a X-Men situation (they're different, others fear them, possible medical issues...) but it's like the writers don't want to deal with the full implications. And I really wish we could have seen a bit more artistic/cultural displays of biotics. Btw, my biotic sports headcanons are here

Lifespan: I love that each species has a different lifespan and that it really shows in how they live their lives. An asari will not look at their youth like a salarian. Honestly, I'm mad at myself because someone wrote about this in the tag and made a good commentary on it and I can't find the post again. It was about how salarians process thoughts and feelings compared to other species. I hope I can find it soon, and if so I'll reblog it. It's always a fascinating topic!

Artificial intelligence: Geth, EDI and other AIs like SAM are what I mean here. I really do think the topic of designing your own platform should come out more in this universe. I've said it a billion times before but I really want EDI to design her own platform. And I really have no answer, but I have found that all the meta about Legion was always thought-provoking. Was does individuality mean? Does Legion need individuality? Does he need to say "I" or was he better as a collective, as something "other" that was just fine as it was, but we humans just find more meaning in him becoming an individual? Even the words I use here, I'm fully aware I use "he" all the time when refering to Legion, and sometimes I wonder if that's good or not. I don't know.

Justice system: I've made one big post about it (9 years ago haha), but I really find the Spectres fascinating, as well as each species' version of judges/soldiers/spies/agents/workers etc. And prisons.

The trade language: EVERYWHERE in the game and we have so little information compared to the Quarian's language???

And my favorite lore: everything related to the krogan. I really think it ties to what Bakara says about being her Shaman's initiation being a brutal one "But an illuminating one. You learn to appreciate the light by living in the dark." I love that their species not because they're perfect but because they're imperfect in a way that speaks to me. They understand despair, the deepest kind. They understand anger. And they're constantly underestimated. But I find a lot of beauty, joy and humor in them. I also love that they're rarely lying or playing games, they will tell you the honest truth and you either take it or leave it.

Will be happy to know your favorite parts of the lore!!!

#mass effect #trilogyweek2025 #(yeah I'm late I know)#(and of course I got all philosophical again xD)#mass effect lore #geth #mass effect legion #quarians #artificial intelligence #EDI #mass effect reapers #EDI designing her own platform is a VERY COOL concept though 👍

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hum-tittle · 1 year ago

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Here's the order, I think the squadmates would be found if they played hide and seek.

Mordin- He doesn’t hide. He says he wants to study how we all hide and react in a non dangerous but stress inducing situation. But he is actually running several bets against everyone and is keeping track of that data.

Javik- He refuses to hide, he says something about how hiding is weak and he will not practice weakness

Tali- She giggles when playing hide and seek

Grunt- he thought he was hidden well behind the counter but the top of his head is visible

Legion- He definitely would have been higher if his face wasn’t a literal flashlight

It has now been about five minutes.

Jack and Miranda- They both hid in the same closet. They start to argue about who should leave “their” hiding place. They then started throwing things and were quite loud.

James- He self eliminates. He was bored and just wanted to do better than Jack.

Ashley- She also self eliminates to flirt with James

It has now been about 10 minutes since they started

Liara- James sends Gliph to get Liara revealing her location.

Jacob- He was hidden decently it was just where Shepard happened to look

Joker- EDI helped him find a good safe spot before she hid

They’re 20 minutes into the game

Kaiden- He climbed somewhere to hide and Shepard found him while doing that stretch thing they always do.

Zaeed- He fell asleep while hiding and his snoring gave him away.

45 minutes have passed since the beginning

Samara- She felt it would be unfair to use her biotics against non-biotics.

We are now at the hour mark of the game. Javik is getting annoyed and is now determined to help Shepard find the last few.

Garrus- Javick found him. Once Javik started helping, so did everyone else.

Wrex- Is found by Tali in a small compartment. After the genophage cure, he has developed amazing hiding skills. Everyone is still confused how he was able to fit in there.

It has now been an hour and a half with three players not found. They split into teams to find them.

Thane- he is “found” by Grunt and Jack. He heard them talk about their lack of childhood and how they wish they got to experience things like this. He lets them find him.

It has been 2 hours since the start. Shepard suggests giving up and letting EDI and Kasumi win. Javik is enraged he can’t find them. And refuses to give up.

Edi and Kasumi- Javik finally found them after 30 minutes of searching. They were hiding in the same closet Jack and Miranda were in earlier. EDI and Kasumi were working together and knew after the mess Jack and Miranda made no one would think they would be hiding in there. Javik was so annoyed he wanted to play again but with his rules, and he wanted to be the seeker.

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