#peebee rambles

[fandomsoda]

Ok question- what do we call the “weird toy” fandom/side of tumblr? Like Furby’s, worms on a string, ItemLabel stuff, that kind of funky things? Is there a common/regularly used community name for that stuff? Just curious.

[nellasbookplanet]

Now... to resist the urge to also replay andromeda...

[ageless-aislynn]

Oooo, you play mass effect, it finally clicked in my head. Who do you romance in Andromeda?

Also, I really did enjoy the game regardless of the amount of hate it got

ZOMG, you must've missed me at my most Andromeda obsessed, lol! I haven't actually been able to play it since last November, when my previous computer gave out and then this one has been super lousy. However, as soon as I can hopefully get my Vegas back on and thus be able to GIF (and vid) again, I'm planning on going back to Andromeda to finally finish the big Ryder twins romance GIF project I had going, lol!

In short, I've romanced every single option available except Scott/Peebee and Scott/Jaal. Scott/Peebee was in progress when I got derailed. But here are some posts I've made about various things, if you'd like to see them!

Sara's romances with Jaal, Reyes, Peebee and Vetra

Scott/Cora and the shocking, unexpected Scott/Harry romance 😂😜

I was working on the Scott/Gil vid here

I've vidded Sara/Reyes, Scott/Cora, Scott/Gil and my final vid ever was about Scott and his dad, Alec

Mass Effect: Andromeda incorrect quotes

Me at the bottom talking about doing an Insanity run and showing my Sara in her Mjolnir-like tanky armor plus the name of my crafted weapons 😂

I absolutely adore this game and I've honestly missed playing it so much! Also, did you know that Kate Kennedy aka Kai from Halo is the voice of one of the Angara?

I romanced Avela as Scott JUST for that fact alone, lol!

Anyway, like I said, I never did get the chance to finish making GIFs for all of my romances and I still hope to finish those last two for Scott. As for which are my favs...

Sara: Reyes. I'm a sucker for that scoundrel, what can I say? 😍😇 But Vetra is a close second. I have to physically restrain myself from flirting with her if I'm planning on romancing somebody else because there's no way I'd hurt my best Turian girl like that! 😱😉

Scott: Gil surprisingly became my favorite "I have to make SURE not to click the flirt options if I'm romancing somebody else" romance. I also, no surprise, loved his romance with Reyes. Cora also was great!

I honestly really enjoyed all of the romance options, except for Keri's (the reporter) and not for any fault of hers but I disliked how she looks kinda uncomfortable with either Ryder flirting with her while she's just trying to do her job. I felt like a real creep, I have to say! 😩Then at the end, after I've annoyed this poor Asari at her workplace this entire time, the "payoff" was we went from a table at the Vortex to Ryder's just suddenly outside of her room? Not even a kiss? 🫤(I legit have headcanoned that Keri never actually let Ryder into her room, just went in herself, closed the door, and left them out in the hall, lol! "That's for continuing to come on to me and never taking the hint while I'm clearly just doing my job, you creep!" 😖😂😉)

If I could've romanced Evfra *points up at his pic above* I totally would have because I'm a sucker for a good "enemies to lovers" trope, lol! And I think Evfra would haaaaate himself for falling for the human Pathfinder. 😍😍😍

I clearly have put a lot of silly thoughts into Andromeda, lol! Anyway, thanks so much for letting me ramble about this! Who did you romance? Have you played as both twins or do you prefer just the one? Default or custom? Do you mod? My computer was coming off the rails at the time so I've only stuck to what's available in-game but I've seen some beautiful Ryder twins and some awesome clothing options with mods. 😉💖💖💖

[serabellyms]

" are... are these good tears? or bad tears? "     ⤷ @sailingtempest ✧ jaal ama darav.

It'd been a long few days. She'd rushed back to the Hyperion when a message about her brother came through, immediately needing to know. He was awake, at least; still recovering, but recovering was much better than still in a coma. After losing their father, Scott was all she had left; she couldn't lose him too, not with how things were going. She needed something. But even after learning that, it was a lot to take in. There was so much she needed to tell him, so much she owed him, and well... That was even harder to comprehend. She'd hoped for a little bit of alone time on the Tempest, at the very least; everyone else should have been out for their shore leave on the Nexus.

“Huh?” Oh, hell. She’d been caught? And by Jaal, of all people. The last person she could probably mask from. He’d talked about how the angara were more… open, and honest with their feelings. It was something Gabby wished she’d grown up with. Sure, her mom was like that, but not her dad. He’d been all work, work, work—something she’d had to adopt even in the military. But the news about Scott just meant she couldn’t hide it any more.

“I, uh… hah—I don’t really know, if I’m being honest,” Gabby admitted, idly pulling her braid over her shoulder. She’d had to braid it herself the last few months; it was one of the few things Scott always insisted he’d do for her when he could. Even as they’d grown older, it was their little bonding ritual. The one thing they shared any time they could. “There’s just… on one hand, relief. Scott’s—awake, and… I’m happy about that. I’ve been so worried about him. But…” But there was one tidbit she’d left out while he was out. One small thing she hadn’t been able to tell him, not until he was awake and okay.

“I never… told him. About Dad. About how—how he made a choice, and… that choice meant he decided between me or him. I know it was wrong to not yell him, that it was wrong to lie, but—the only way we could communicate was through our SAM implants. How could I tell him that when he wasn’t awake? I couldn’t risk telling him and having that affect his recovery. Because if I lost him…” She didn’t even want to voice that thought. If she lost Scott, she’d lose the only family she had left. Sure, she had friends and comrades, but that was different. Very different.

Realizing how much she’d rambled, Gabby snapped up straight, cursing at herself. “Oh, god. I’m sorry. I just—ugh, good job Gabber,” she muttered to herself. “I think Peebee’s motor-mouthing is rubbing off on me.” Scott would have told her she’d gone “full Gabber”, but she wasn’t about to give anyone that ammunition.

[dragonknightofsummerset]

I’m Only Human

Okay, so I've been trying, ever since I finished my first (& only lol) playthrough of Andromeda, to write a fic about Reyes and Ryder, but I cannot for the life of me be satisfied with what I write (except for like the 1 scene I wanted to base the whole thing around lol).

I thought I would instead try to explain what I like about Reyes & the romance with him, which was supposed to be a key factor into the whole fic that will never see the light of day (rip). I'll put it all below a cut, cause 1. I don't want to be perceived & 2. It's just going to be more of my rambling & opinions & it's long :3

*Small note: Sometimes I write, “we”, “you”, and It’s because I’m referring to myself, & any readers, as the players, and I tried to distinguish between Ryder and the players in that regard, so sorry for any confusion.

We know that Ryder's father, Alec, gave his life for them during the events of Habitat 7. When he did this, he also linked SAM (pretty much bound SAM) to Ryder's brain which technically killed Ryder (SAM says they were clinically dead for 22 seconds), & there is no way of removing SAM without risk to Ryder's life. I don't want to go on a rant on this, cause that's a whole other bag of emotions that didn't start setting in until a few days prior to starting this, when I realized I never processed this while playing the game (& it ties into what the Ryder twins find out about their mom later in the game which is just...a mess.) Anyway, here are a few images for proof about the SAM thing:

Anyway, Ryder is then told that they're the new Pathfinder, and from then on, Ryder just doesn't catch a break. They meet the ones in charge of the Initiative, after arriving at a dark & outdated, Nexus station, further showing how nothing is going according to plan for the Initiative; and Ryder is heavily scrutinized by Addison, as well as having to carry the burden of having everyone else's hopes that the Initiative will work out still, on them. Addison claims it isn’t personal, but the way she interacts with Ryder is just very...no.

Of course, this is par for the course for main characters in many games, but I feel like Ryder is never given time to process their father's death (no matter how estranged they are), or to have a proper freak out about being Pathfinder other than when they're first told, and with a few moments when talking to Cora, where she offers her support.

But then there's like the whole thing where the game didn't seem to take itself seriously. The problem with this was, as funny as the meetings could play out, no one on the crew seemed to respect or take Ryder's role seriously because...I'm not sure why tbh. Was it because they didn't present themselves in the same way Alec did? Was it because they were young & had no training for the role of Pathfinder? Like I literally don't know, talking with the crew you don't get the idea that they don't respect Ryder; some of them don't trust Ryder yet or aren't ready to talk about themselves but that's separate from what I'm referring to (& also okay cause it takes time to open up to someone, if they even want to). It just seemed to contradict the bit of conversation we can overhear between Peebee & Liam, where she points out that Liam stays close to Ryder when they go out on missions together, and Liam explains that it's because Ryder is the Pathfinder (someone important who needs to be protected because without them they're essentially screwed). And as much as I love this bit of information, it just doesn't make sense with the way the crew acts at the end of meetings when they know, & have said, how important Ryder is to the Initiative; especially for Liam & Cora to behave the same way when they know what happened on Habitat 7, & they know how Ryder feels about being forced into the role of Pathfinder, because they get to hear their response. (Also, I need to clarify, I know Ryder's crew does care about Ryder, beyond their Pathfinder role, but I feel like it's important to point out how they bring up Ryder's importance and tie it to their Pathfinder role, while also not taking their leadership role seriously outside of 1 on 1 conversations.) And don't even get me started on how little acknowledgement there is for the 2 times that Ryder dies; I feel like it should have been questioned more when it happened the second time...but I digress. I wanted to bring up these things Ryder goes through, and how it ties into the fact that Reyes is so good for them (for my Ryder btw, I understand this isn't universal).

Reyes is a bastard, but I love him & there is more depth to him than some people care to admit. Unfortunately, his romance is tied to Kadara; he isn't a crewmate, so Ryder's interactions with him are limited to Kadara's main missions, emails, and a very short conversation at the end of the game. (I guess if you want to count the wink after the final fight but like, the game could've done better.)

Upon meeting him, Ryder deduces he's a smuggler, and we can pretty much guess he doesn't like Sloane & doesn't want her to be in charge anymore based on his comments about her & how she runs things, in follow up conversations with him. Reyes then offers to help Ryder, granted this is if you decide to work with Reyes instead of Sloane, and tells them that they can come to him for anything they may need while on Kadara.

Key things I really loved, or that made me love Ryder's and Reyes' relationship more:

Reyes laying it on thick with the charm but somehow turning it up when Ryder flirted with him

the fact that his heart eyes at Ryder seem to start once we uncover who's behind the murders (with consistent flirting btw) I mean, hello?? "Careful, I might start thinking you like me" "would that be so bad" "depends..." like damn okay

The mission where Ryder helps him out & there's a chance to say, "Reyes is a better man than you think" & Reyes being genuinely thankful that Ryder said that about him

His emails, I shall link the post with them <3

"Night on the Town" quest, peak perfection of a quest that serves to further the romance, if you choose it. Hear me out:

Reyes invites Ryder to a party, he is ok with whatever Ryder decides it'll be (a date or strictly professional), we meet Keema who tells us, "you're all he talks about lately", then we get ditched by Reyes and when we find him later we learn he was using Ryder to be able to look through Sloane's things & we have the option to call him out on his empty promises, what follows is a, "quick we need a distraction" kiss (again if you've been consistently flirting), before running out of the party together, holding hands, once Reyes manages to nab a bottle of whiskey, then at the end of the quest, 2 things: we find out why Reyes came to Andromeda, and Reyes & Ryder kiss for real.

Reyes' reason, "to be someone" & Ryder's response, "you're someone to me" are so, so good.

*Side note: I saw some wack theories about Reyes being connected to cerberus and I was like huh??? Yawn, moving on- I love the idea of Reyes having been a nobody back in the milky way; someone who had a simple job, seemingly unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and whether or not he had family, or other relationships, he just was left feeling like he could be doing more, that he could be more. Which is why he decided to be a part of the Initiative. There's a chance that if the uprising on the Nexus didn't happen, he could still have been a nobody, just in a new galaxy; but because of the uprising, he was able to become someone, The Charlatan, even if most people don't know that they’re the same person.

AND THIS IS WHY RYDER'S RESPONSE OF, "YOU'RE SOMEONE TO ME." IS SO GOOD!!!!

Reyes is someone, but hardly anyone knows it, and like he tells Ryder during the dance scene, his survival has depended on secrets ever since he left the Nexus. At most, he is at least known to be a good smuggler, enough so that other smugglers want to kill him, but a name bigger than "Shena", his smuggler codename, is the Charlatan's; and even though they're the same person, only a handful, if that, of people know, so is he really someone?

I'd also like to point out that when Reyes introduces himself to Ryder, he tells them that they can call him "Reyes" because he hates codenames. This is way more of a personal headcanon, but it makes me think that Reyes wants to be known as Reyes, not as these other codenames, but because of what he does, it's easier to operate with these codenames, and with hardly anyone knowing who he actually is.

Looking at his face when he admits to Ryder why he came to Andromeda, it looks solemn, like he's either remembering his life before the initiative, or he still feels like a nobody because as far as everyone knows, the Charlatan and Reyes are 2 different people.

But then there's Ryder, they don't know Reyes' secret yet, there is a lot they don't know about him, even so, Ryder seems to relieve Reyes of whatever thoughts plagued him in that moment with their genuine response of Reyes being someone to them, not the Charlatan, not "Shena", just him, Reyes.

And then the kiss, it's so cute & soft & of course Reyes would tease Ryder before doing it, but his face!!!! He is smiling so genuinely as he goes in for the kiss, he might have been pleasantly surprised by the distraction kiss earlier, but with the real kiss he is smiling!!! It's like a part of him wants this to work out, he wants Ryder, he doesn't want to disappoint them. During the kiss, it's just Reyes and Ryder. No Pathfinder, no Charlatan. (*I'd also like to link this song that I associate with them, specifically cause of this scene. Song. English Lyrics.)

Which brings me to the duel, I will refrain from commenting on the wack takes I've seen about this scene & skip ahead to Ryder's hurt surprise in finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and Reyes attempting to reassure Ryder during the confrontation with Sloane, that they know the real him, that although he lied about who he is, he didn't lie about the feelings he showed Ryder. I believe that Reyes is terrified of what will happen after the duel, between him and Ryder. He has been lying to them after all, and to him, there's a chance that whatever real moments they shared, wouldn't matter anymore. Which brings me to the part where Ryder can potentially break up with Reyes. (Reminder that this scene only comes up if you DON'T save Sloane.) I am so upset that we couldn't have a longer conversation about finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and what it means for their relationship. What we do get before the cave make out scene, is good though, especially if you think back to what Zia said about Reyes. In the cave, after the duel, Reyes admits that he liked the way Ryder looked at HIM, he didn't want that to change.

       ~ Ahhhhhh, I need a second, I am going feral over this. ~

Okay, so when we meet Zia a few missions before, she calls Reyes selfish and says it's why he doesn't have friends, Ryder then says, what I'm sure turned the tables on their relationship with Reyes, that "Reyes is a better man than [Zia] thinks", when she threatens Ryder, Reyes threatens Zia to leave them out of it & even Zia notes that Reyes must "really like [Ryder]". And this is so important for their relationship, like idk if I can put it into words but I'll try:

At this point in the game, Ryder knows Reyes is shady, but even still they see something in him that makes Ryder want to defend him, because they believe that at his core, Reyes is better than what he lets people see. Another personal headcanon, is that there was potential for Reyes to lose the good he had and to turn out no better than Sloane and the other exiles wreaking havoc; what changed was having someone believing he was good. And he liked that Ryder saw him like that. Despite the little Ryder knew about him, and what they did know was morally questionable, they still looked at him like he was a good person or trying to be one at the very least. Which is why when he admits to Ryder that he didn't want that to change, it hurts 😭

I'd also like to point out that Reyes neither confirms, nor denies, his trust in Ryder, which makes me believe further that it wasn't about trust but instead, it was exactly about what he said, that he liked how Ryder looked at him. I mean, we find out later, if we talk to Keema again, that he DID WANT to tell Ryder about how he's the Charlatan, he was agonizing over it, (she found it adorable).

Then there's the follow up scene after the whole cave scene, Reyes admits to neglecting Ryder on their first date and offers to dance with them in that moment, as a way to make it up to them. If you accept, Ryder comments on how they "didn't know [Reyes] had a romantic streak", which Reyes responds to with, "there's a lot you don't know about me."

Reyes continues the conversation by saying that his survival, after leaving the Nexus, has depended on secrecy; but he doesn't want any more secrets between them. What follows are 2 good responses from Ryder & unfortunately we can only choose 1.

We can have Ryder remark that Reyes is the encrypted one, which earns such an endearing chuckle from Reyes before he responds with the cheesiest line, "Consider me hacked." *cough* my blog title *cough* Although it's cheesy, and Ryder proceeds to make out with him to get him to stop talking, I love that it suggests that Ryder has full access to Reyes, he would tell them anything if they asked.

Almost equally, I love the other response where Ryder answers a bit more seriously, saying that Reyes is someone who will always have secrets because it's who he is as a person, and for him to just not lie about the big stuff. Reyes proceeds to thank Ryder for accepting him as he is. And you guys 🥺 it's just so sweet knowing these are the 2 responses, like I need a moment every time I think about them & I wish we could choose both cause guhhhh

Anyway, now that I've essentially covered things about Ryder, Reyes, and their relationship, let me get down to the core of the fic I had wanted to write. So this part is all headcanon, not something brought up in the game (T.T)

Ryder needs a break, as important as outposts are, they go through so much with little time to recover or process certain events. Reyes comes accross as someone who will make sure his partner isn't overworking themselves and is taking proper rest. He becomes a place of peace for Ryder, somewhere for them to just be & not feel the weight of the Initiative on their shoulders. Ryder is able to sleep more when visiting Reyes due to his comforting presence. Sometimes he'll find them asleep in his room and he makes sure they're not disturbed, allowing them to sleep, while he works silently next to them. And on rare occasions, Reyes will fall asleep while resting his head on Ryder's lap. And both of these scenarios lead to a lot of picture taking of each other lol.

Meanwhile, Ryder is someone who keeps Reyes grounded. They have a way of bringing out different sides to him, that he doesn't show anyone else; for example, protectiveness, fond/genuine playfulness, a romantic side, vulnerability, and so on.

Both of them are busy people and I like to think that they make sure to make time for each other & make sure they don't get bothered when they are together. Considering Reyes is mostly on Kadara, and since Ryder is out and about all over Andromeda, they have a lot to talk about and catch up on whenever they meet up.

Anyway, this is pretty much what I have to say. I'm not sure how to end this, but again I'd like to state that these are my opinions; and although I referred to Ryder as they/them, I wrote this with my Pathfinder, Alma Ryder, in mind, so I understand these feelings are not universal. Also, as I mentioned before, some of what I wrote, are headcanons and just how I interpreted Reyes' character and his relationship to (my) Ryder.

[nerdylilpeebee]

This will just be some rambling I’m writing down cuz I don’t currently have anyone (who’s currently available) I’m comfortable talking to this about, feel free to ignore.

As usual my brain is being mean. I got to thinking about my value of things like my first kiss and stuff, and then that lead to me thinking about partners, and that, as usual, lead me down a shitty line of thinking.

So, I know that I’m 100% at fault for my not having a partner in 11 years. I’ve never made the effort to get one, or even to make myself a bit more attractive so someone might think I’m worth flirting with. Now, I’m not disgusting or anything. I shower, I wear deodorant when I have it, and I take care of my teeth and brush my hair. But I’ve never gone further than that, towards actually trying, ya know? Like, I’ve never made sure my hair looks nice before leaving the house. I just brush it, put it in a ponytail and call it good. I don’t try to wear nice clothing or wear cologne, or well, really put any effort into my appearance. I just wear what’s comfortable, and make it so I don’t look like I just climbed out of some basement. XD Not to mention because of my social anxiety, I’ve never talked to more people than is necessary and certainly have never flirted with anyone. My being single is 100% my fault, and I’m not angry about that. Not even really all that upset about it, I mean, to me it just feels like it wouldn’t be worth it cuz why should I waste time making myself look nice? Even if I did, it’s not like I’m physically attractive, but regardless, I’ve had the mindset for the longest time that if I need to put the same effort I’d put into my appearance if I were going to a nice event, or going out on a date or something, in order for someone to decide I’m worth the time to get to know, then I don’t want any of the people I’d attract that way. And that’s because I honestly don’t care about that in a partner. I actually find it pretty cute when a girl doesn’t act like she’s going to a fancy dinner every time she goes out, and wouldn’t even really expect her to dress nice if we were going on a date, so looking nice every time I leave the house is just a not a standard I want applied to me since I won’t apply it to anyone else. Hell, I of all people know bodies tend to be gross sometimes, so to me I don’t even really care if sometimes someone smells. To me, yeah, I want folk to shower cuz they’re cleaner that way, but you don’t have to smell like fucking roses or anything. It’s always felt silly that we demand that of people.

But anyway, as to how my brain was being mean, I started down a line of thinking that it would be better to just never try at all even when I meet someone I like. That I only have one chance to choose who I give my first kiss, virginity, etc too, so it would just be better to never have to choose. Can’t make the choice if I have no partner, and if I never get a partner, I’ll never have to decide. And most importantly, I’ll never have to deal with making the wrong choice. I’ll never have to deal with having given one or more of these things to someone and then having it be over. I know reality isn’t kind enough to make it so my first choice will be the right one. That’s not how relationships work. That’s not how the world works. So better to just never choose, right? My brain seems to think so. And part of me feels it’s right, especially given that when it happens, when I make the wrong choice, not only will my brain find some way to convince me the break-up was my fault even if it wasn’t, I’ll end up torturing myself for making the wrong choice. For being stupid enough to think I found the right one. I know for a fact that’s stupid and maybe even childish, but I know it’s what’ll happen. And I know that when it does any shells I had come out of I’ll retreat back in to. That’s just how I work.

Childishness, really. That’s what this is. Immaturity and self-deprecation. Stupid. Pointless. Not something I should be allowing myself to think, and not something I should be sharing on tumblr of all places. XD I just know one of these times I’m gonna get into some discourse and someone’s gonna drudge this shit up and call me an incel or some shit. I might delete this later with that in mind. Or maybe I won’t. Who knows? I guess we’ll find out later.

[imakemywings]

Oh it’s so hard not to flirt with Vetra

[redoqs]

You know, now that I’m talking about it: Mass Effect Andromeda was awesome, it was a very fun game with very cool characters that were, in my opinion, much more relatable than a lot of the people in the original trilogy and yeah it has its issues but I love it, it’s my favorite ME game🥰

[critter-of-habit]

have you played mass effect andromeda yet or are you going in order? (asking bc i’m playing andromeda rn)

I played it back when it first came out, but haven't replayed it since. I'll definitely play it again when I've finished the trilogy.

[waterinathermostat]

Hhhh hate wanting to play video games but as soon as I look through my stuff literally all of them seem boring wtf

[lichbutch]

Okay, aside from the Signature Bioware Animation Janky-ness, Mass Effect Andromeda is pretty good so far

[xaykwolf]

I said I wouldn’t finish ME:A today (cuz it’s technically still today at 4:21 am...), but I had fewer side quests to do than I thought, and it turns out that perfectionism really helps the leveling up/powering-up-weapons process or something...so I started another playthrough. I only had a few side quests remaining, and it felt so...empty, so I had to start all over again.

Ahh...the ~Mass Effect life~...

[dgcatanisiri]

Liam makes a pillow fort. Cora points out that this is a non-standard use of the Tempest's limited resources, we shouldn't even have this many pillows. Vetra whistles nonchalantly. Peebee tosses a pillow at Cora. Cora is huffy... and then nails Peebee with a biotically thrown pillow from behind. Drack watches the ensuing chaos with a chuckle. Jaal remarks on how tame the resultant pillow fight is by angara standards, which makes Peebee and Vetra team up and whack him. Gil sighs as he realizes that he's not going to get his nap, and he'll be cleaning goose feathers out of the engine room vents for months. Ryder asks why no one invited them. Suvi somehow manages to win the pillow fight despite not seeming to be involved at all. Kallo reminds everyone that someone has to fly the ship, can't they do this when the ship's docked so he can actually join in?

[ageless-aislynn]

Since the ever-awesome @empresskadia 🤗 gave me an excuse to ramble on liek woah talk about Mass Effect: Andromeda annnnnnd since I finished up the achievements I wanted to do in Dead Rising, that means I'm in-between games now and so that means...

Let's hope that Georgette will be agreeable to running the game! 🤞😣🤞 I really want to go back and finish my Scott/Peebee romance (and then do the very last romance that I haven't done, which is Scott/Jaal; appropriate since I started Andromeda with Sara/Jaal, right? 😎👍).

Anyway, wish me luck, frens!

~💖~

[generalmajorlieutenant]

Lets be real fucking in zero-g would be awkward u forget and let go for a second and someone is floating away.

[ramblingcj]

Wrote something in response to a comment saying that there were a lack of references in MEA and that's why people had a problem with it. And it got me thinking. I think many people forget that people were hating on the game before it was even released. And after it was released? Yikes.

But back to the references in MEA. There are a few scattered throughout Andromeda. Most were fine, but some of them could've been tweaked somewhat. I’m gonna split these up in, what I think is, the good and/or the bad. Disclaimer: There’s more good than bad. The bad are just longer because I ramble. 

The good: 

The message from Liara and even Liara's inclusion in the game? Good. It even makes sense. Alec had contact with Liara because she was a well known researcher and she did have some controversial ideas (which were later proven right because Reapers). Given what we learn about Alec, someone who isn’t afraid to shy away from crazy ideas is definitely someone he would talk to.

The Benefactor talking about the Reapers and how Shepard made the threat real? Simple, but effective. It makes sense that someone with money and power would know about the Reapers. Or suspect that something was coming at least.

The Cultural Center in Andromeda. Actually a nice way of referencing some of the lore, even if it is in that annoying “tourist” way. 

The codex that talks about Suvi being headhunted "by a black-ops organization for a classified biomedical project“, but that Suvi had declined. Implying that Suvi was almost recruited to work on Project Lazarus, but she decided not to. Lucky, since she would’ve gotten killed. 

The hacker questline. Knight talks about Project Overlord and how she got her son out of there when she realized what was going on. It’s subtle and it makes sense. We know that David was the last resort for the project. Archer was struggling and the project was in danger of being shut down. So it makes sense that there were other test subjects that either failed or, in Knight’s case, realized what was going on and got the hell out of there. 

Kandros mentioning his cousin Nyreen. It’s simple and he does it in passing. Definitely one of those “if you know, you know” references. 

Lexi mentioning that she grew up on Omega. Or Jaal asking Peebee about Afterlife. 

Bradley getting annoyed with Ryder if they wear the N7 armor. Small, but I kinda like it since becoming an N7 was a big deal and Ryder barely served in the Alliance. 

The whole Reaper reveal with the distress call is actually well-done, even if it’s odd as hell that Ryder barely reacts to it. 

Suvi explaining the names for some of the locations on the galaxy map. May not be references to events we know from the trilogy, but its lore and I liked it. 

The bad:

SAM referring to Shepard as "a Spectre Operative". That makes it sound like Shepard was just one of many instead of being the first Human Spectre. Hell, the only human Spectre until ME3. This was a big deal and made Shepard pretty damn famous. At least among humans. Just have SAM say “Commander Shepard, first human Spectre, started an investigation into the Reapers” or something like that. 

Alec Ryder knowing Garrus dad? Neat little Easter egg until you think of the implications. Which are that Garrus dad knew about the Reapers for months, if not years, and he didn't do a damn thing about it. It also takes away from Garrus. Instead of him bringing this news to his father and his father listening to him and believing him, its now revealed that he knew all along. And did nothing until Garrus came to him. 

The Cerberus scientists Ryder meets on Kadara. Was a fairly decent reference until they started ranting about "Project Lazarus” and here’s why:  Cerberus was a highly secretive organisation, even internally. One cell didn't know anything about what another cell was doing. And yet those two clowns are ranting about it like it was public knowledge. Spoiler: It wasn’t. Unless they were a part of Project Lazarus, they wouldn’t know a damn thing about it. And if those two were a part of Project Lazarus, then they would be dead since Jacob and Miranda were the only ones to leave that project alive (besides Shepard obviously). 

Liam talking about a “scarred up Turian vigilante” that he “tussled with”. Nope, never happened. Garrus wasn’t scarred when he was a  vigilante. And by the time he was, he was on the Normandy with Shepard. Also, Garrus only attacked the gangs on Omega. Why the fck would he have “a tussle” with some random cop? 

Ryder saying “those killer robots from the Milky Way”. Listen, the arks left sometime between ME2 and ME3. Meaning that the attack on the Citadel happened two years ago as far as Ryder remembers from the Milky Way. Why are they acting as if that didn’t happen? 

Continuing that thought: Avitus defending Saren and calling his actions “rumors”. Rumors? He attacked the Citadel! It’s public knowledge at that point! That line would make sense if the arks left some time during ME1, but they didn’t. Avitus knows damn well that Saren did attack the Citadel. 

Kennedy naming her baby “David” after “an old friend”. Not a bad reference on its own, but since Kennedy is such a fcking idiot and that quest is so frustrating it gets put here. 

Here’s some that’s more in the gray area:

The display of the Normandy SR-2. How the hell did they even get that? It was a top secret project since it was built by Cerberus, but here it's displayed as if it’s public knowledge. 

This one is unfortunately glitched out of the game, but basically you can try a leaf which ends up getting both Ryder and SAM high as fck. Causing SAM to sing a few lines that might sound familiar. 

Cora going on and on and on about being an asari huntress. They could’ve expanded more on how human biotics are treated. For instance, we know that L1 biotics were treated like shit. Not to mention the research Ryder’s mother did with element zero and how that affected her. 

Kinda a follow-up to Alec talking to Garrus dad. Not a reference necessarily. Knowing that there were people who knew something was up, like the Initiative or even the Shadow Broker, but none of them extended a hand to Shepard really adds another layer to the shit that Shepard had to go through. Shepard had to deal with being called crazy, the news report in ME3 even calls them disgraced and we learn that there were influential people who did believe in the Reapers. But left Shepard on their own.

Overall I don’t think they did a bad job with referencing the Milky Way. It’s just a few that could be tweaked somewhat because they make no damn sense.