#she romances jaal btw

[vhenad4hl]

you know i luv her so much that i had to commission pathfinder sara ryder from my bestie @deeplord

[bloghiddeninthesand]

Hollie Bennett (UK head of communication at CDPR, she's featured in the night city wire episodes) is doing the lord's work and told the lead quest designer at CDPR to give us a Takemura romance.

Below are my personal thoughts about this and it's pretty long, so feel free to scroll past. I would add a "read more" if I knew how but can't find anything helpful for mobile.

Edit: I do think this is in the realm of possibility. Of course it wouldn't happen for quite some time considering the circumstances. But it is something that has been somewhat accomplished in the past.

What comes to mind for me is Jaal from Mass Effect: Andromeda. Yes, he was already a romance option at the game's launch, but it was initially for female Ryder only. Though with enough demand, BioWare eventually released a patch where he could be romanced by male Ryder as well. Obviously BioWare was able to do this more easily considering they were able to just reuse animations and didn't have to rely on a lot of motion capture, which is more expensive.

Entire new scenes would have to be crafted if Takemura got his own romance. There are events where they could cut the cost on that, however, by taking advantage of moments where the groundwork is already somewhat laid. Adding optional romance dialogue during Gimme Danger would be a clear opportunity for instance. That mission is where I personally felt the strongest connection to his character and think many others would agree.

And honestly? I think Takemura's performance actor would be very happy to do more work on a romance since the man has absolutely seen and actively likes and retweets people's thirst tweets.

I know I'm not an expert on game design/development and this all most likely means nothing (feel free to correct me on some of the statements I've made btw, I want to be sure I'm not throwing out false information) but damnit is it ever interesting to think about.

So I guess the takeaway here is to please continue being horny on main...

[omegastation]

It's not that we don't know what the remake/remaster difference is, it's that the content was already there and more or less good to go with some minor changes (as seen in romance mods). I have to believe that the work they put into the Mako would have been far more difficult than this. & Also I feel like people would have less to say about it if we hadn't been getting more recent commentary like the article about Jack (1/? sorry I have no idea how long this will be aha)

(2/?) The article about Jack where her writer (iirc) went on about how she was conceptualized as wlw and that it's something he wanted to see for her (once again iirc, I don't have it in front of me but I believe that's what the gist of it was). Or in Tali's case, where they had her completed voicelines for the entire trilogy. They can't say that they didn't use this existing content because Fox News was breathing down their necks for this release, nor do I really think (con'd)

nor do I think that budget makes sense either, given that, yknow, it's already there. I also find it hard to believe that at least one or two people on the dev team don't know how their fanbase feels about this, particularly because of what happened with Jaal & his M!Ryder content. I'm happy we're getting ME content period and I don't want people to assume otherwise, like I genuinely adore this game! And it's also been implied that they're willing to (3/? sorry for rambling ffdgfhfhg)

willing to work with modders as far as what it means for existing mods goes, so I can only hope that modding MELE isn't going to be the same nightmare process that trying to mod the OT was. But I'm just really struggling to understand and wrap my head around why they wouldn't restore content that they know we know exists in a 90% completed state & they also know we would like to see in game without having to mod it. To me, I don't think (4/? :') sorry again)

I don't think that's asking them to necessarily add anything, especially when you consider the fact that the core story of the game isn't all that affected by Shepard's relationship to the point you can experience Mass Effect with zero romance whatsoever. & It is kind of upsetting for people to see that complaint & become condescending about it & assume I don't know what remaster means. Bioware acknowledging the existing-yet-unseen (5/?)

existing-yet-unseen "canonically" queer content feels like they're looking for some sort of praise without doing anything to actually deserve it. & you can't even say that the modding community fixes everything, because it leaves console players with whatever they're given from Bioware in the 'final' version and nothing else, and I don't really think that's fair. Personally, I think I'll probably still end up purchasing it at some point (I've lost count of my asks i am SO sorry)

at some point, though it's not high on my list of priority games at the moment (for a variety of reasons, not just this). It just kind of leaves me feeling sort of dejected because I felt like prior to this, Bioware was implying that they would seriously consider adding this back in, and there's also a significant portion of the online community that thinks we're just complaining for the sake of complaining & want to ruin the mood for everyone else, which is definitely not the case at all.

I am SO sorry for so many messages in your inbox btw fdgfhgj I'm long-winded by nature & trying my best. I just wish I could jump on the hype train like everyone else & not have it ruined because of my own disappointment with this, you know? & The irony is, my 'canon' is F!Shrios--my main Shepard wouldn't even be affected lmao, it just makes me sad & I wish more people could see where we're coming from.

You really don't have to apologize at all, your messages are nice and comprehensive! I also think you did your best to explain exactly where you're coming from.

Accusing others of ruining the mood is just a way for them to say they can't handle other people disagreeing with them or feeling differently. Truthfully, it's not that hard to understand, empathize and/or ignore if it's too much. And two things can coexist at the same time. Nuances > Extremes.

[pestopascal]

what do you think with the romances in mass effect overall? i was kind of happy with andromeda in the end bu t i did miss some of the other ones

sidenote i actually got completely sidetracked with your question so let me preface with that despite a lot of grievances i do enjoy the romances and the characters, obviously, or i wouldnt still be here. yes even liara, to some degree.  not a lot but to some degree shes not the worst character ive met in a game. lots of things i would improve on or yknow. change but hey. we’re here now. rest under cut skjfdh

overall? hm. i mean................. there’s no denying that femshep got screwed over massively in the OT. i mean they were like ‘oh my god we dont have any hot aliens for femshep bc we never figured we’d get this far. lets throw a fish and a bird together and see what happens. oh but then give him terminal cancer and a son he doesnt speak to, and have him mention how much he loved his wife while you proposition him for sex’ and presented it with a lil bow on top. no wonder there were and still are soooooo many fics and art and comics out there rewriting the entire romance lmao. oh and jacob? cheats on you, knocks up another woman, names the baby after you. they wrote the black man doing that? like i know bioware is tone deaf but thats too much. and if you do decide to pursue vega? yeah. we all know what happens there. oh AND if you do decide to romance someone else in me2, after romancing kaidan in me1, he says you cheat on him. you cant call him out on it. however if you play mshep and romanced ashley then someone else, you can shut her entire conversation down. their justification btw was that, same with how kaidan doesnt use his biotics half the time anywhere like when eva core smacks him around the beginning, that it was too time consuming/expensive to rig an entirely new set of lines/interactions/everything, so it’s basically just. ashley’s stuff.

and that mass effect couldnt work out just what it wanted to be, even in the beginning, with being a new cool fancy space opera, but wait we still gotta be like. super manly. no one is gay in space. (like why bother recording the mshenko romance from me1, the mshrios one in me2, and then debating including mshakarian like hello. NEVERMIND tali, miranda, jack alone in me2 for femshep). and mshep can still pick up other romances in me3, however he can inadvertently kill his me2 love interest if he dumps them.

i love shrios. hate what happened with it. i played me2 first on ps3 (as obv me1 hadnt been ported and u didnt even get the genesis comics u got a longer questionaire with miranda and jacob), and so like if you play femshep, and say u saved kaidan.......... the game automatically looped in a romance. and i had NO idea who this bloke was, but his photo was in my cabin, and it ended up being face down lmao. i did go back to me1 eventually on the xbox, and played through with the romances but yknow. that will always be the funniest experience to me. like i love kaidan dont get me wrong but like. i had no idea who tf he was.

i think andromeda tried, but never should have promised. i mean like gil pre patch? his romance was terrible (the forced “oh i have to have a child with my straight female friend bc she guilt trips me into it and i cant imagine not having kids” or w/e it was entirely idk i just know that it was. yuck). and jaal shouldve been an option for both from the beginning bc yknow. entire species hinges on forming deep emotional relationships far removed from appearance and sexuality? but hey i mean, at least they arent a complete race of sexy blue babes so. i mean i love jaal i just 🤦‍♀️ @ bioware yknow. and i did romance reyes, but im still soooooo mad that his romance hinges on killing a black woman in a place of power who is doing the right thing by her people, whose story is in the prequel novel, and you dont even get to interact with to form an opinion, and is also hinted to be suffering from the effects of being in longterm cryo and just wants HELP. just basically a “if you wanna bang this dude? kill her” like. hello.

vetra though? what a fucking QUEEN i lvoe her. my sister actually romanced her on her first playthrough and then jaal and like. cried. over turning down vetra. it was adorable. also i love liams romance? so many ppl had problems with it but it was FUN and it was different and he was funny and seriously i love him with all my heart but its a crime that they were like “actually he has to be the token straight guy” like. SURE JAN.

[cousinslavellan-archive]

What’s the most angsty idea you’ve ever had? And the opposite, what’s the most fluffy idea you’ve ever had? Also, what’s the most funny thing you think any of your characters would ever do? Btw I feel ya on the whole “not feeling great” thing. Dealing with a nasty flu myself. Hope you feel better soon!

OKAY HI THIS TOOK A WHILE.

I’ve pretty much written the most angsty idea I ever had - that would be Willow Shepard being terminal while helping Arisa take down the Collectors, romancing Thane, and then both of them dying from their respective illness’ in the end. I was a ball of tears writing the last couple chapters of that fic (The Other Shepard)

FLUFFY…. I mean. I get fluff ideas all the time. And I definitely write them! So anything that’s the LI being sweet and family times happening would count as this??? Jaal doting like crazy on Aria while she was pregnant? Garrus purposely staying in bed long after he’s awake to watch over Arisa, make sure she’s sleeping peacefully? Rainer seeking out the most interesting flowers he can to bring to Rose as presents? Braham wrapping Terra up in his Wolf’s cloak when she’s cold, picking her up and carrying her places so she doesn’t need to walk in the snow?

…yeah. Fluff is my game haha. Most FUNNY thing? Um… not sure tbh! Maybe Malee drawing on Rainer’s face plates when he’s sleeping sometime? (I owe a follower for that idea! ) Hmmm.

The weather needs to get better before my migraines will fully go away unfortunately, but thank you! I hope you’re feeling better as well!

Thank you so much again for the ask, I’m so sorry this took so long! ♥ ♥

[avaquet]

Jaal HC Discussion Pt. 2

Is Jaal a virgin? (I’d love to hear your thoughts, too!)

I believe so, yes. I got some reasons-

So I guess, lets start with angara cultures and stuffs. Angara feel deeply, their emotions can be quite intense and are open about everything. From the things they like to the things they dislike. Jaal is more emotional than some other angara, it is quite noticeable, he also seems to feel deeper... 

(Warning: kinda longish post ahead)

 Another thing is, they seem to take relationships slow. Angara wouldn't be the type to do a week long relationship. Jaal had one lover that he talks about. He says he was very young- I'm guessing about early teen years. He never says how long the relationship lasted but it was obvious he was deeply in love with her. (Remember human culture/society is a bit different from Angara) I'd say the love lasted about two years, gives Allia time to fall in love with Jaal's brother. She probably doesn't leave him for another six months to a year. (Probably making sure she was actually falling for his brother.) So, now in his late teens, Jaal's heart is broken. 

He says in game; "I suffered a broken heart for many years." Many- is a vague word, I will admit. But his heartbreak most likely lasted into his early twenties. He was most likely not looking for anyone else at this time. Allia and Jaal's brother got caught by the Kett and killed. So now- the grieving process. Everyone is different but in my sights, Jaal would not seem ready for a relationship for a while. /Jaal feels quite deeply. So the grieving process might've lasted another year or so. 

Keep in mind, in game Jaal says he is 27. (banter between Jaal and Liam)

 At this time he probably occupied himself with other tasks. He does tinker and tries to keep himself busy to keep from thinking about things. He's in the Resistance and focusing on the fight. We do hear that he does try to flirt with Avela- I suspect one of two reasons that she didn't really respond to him- number one, she noticed he missed the intimacy. He wants the intimate touch, not necessarily her. Number two, she just wasn't interested. Since Angara are so open with their feelings, this probably happened over a span of a couple of weeks to a month. So, Jaal moved on. Incomes Ryder. /btw I think the smile he gives Ryder is that of a sympathetic one- especially the way he keeps Ryder at a distance at the very beginning. 

Now- "She kissed me, and I was seduced." Seduced doesn't necessarily mean that they had sex, but I will admit, it doesn't mean that it doesn't. But! Angara are very open about their sexual relations as per Liam and Jaal talking about erogenous zones on the Nomad and Sahuna sending emails. That's one of the major reasons that I don't think that's what he meant, he probably meant more or less that he fell deeper in love with her. Or realized he was deep in love. Another thing is my HC that Angara take things quite slow. And also, Jaal doesn't hold anything back. He isn't ashamed of his relationships. 

He does go down on Ryder. Now, I also believe that he is quite insecure- he constantly says he doesn't feel adequate, that his family is prestigious but his place is not what he would like it to be, that he is unhappy with his life. He makes gifts for the crew I think out of a kind heart and to keep his mind from running but also because he wants to appeal to people. He does go to Liam and Lexi for talks, and he does talk about Ryder, he tells Lexi about their time together and asks Liam about the zones. My theory is, he asked not only for advice, but medical diagrams, vids, pictures, everything, because he doesn't want to feel inadequate to Ryder. Also of course, he does things out of his heart, but deeper meaning here. He wants to show Ryder that he loves them with everything he has. He wants to appeal, deep inside he wants Ryder to return the love, and of course Ryder does (if they romance him). But he's probably constantly afraid that Ryder might leave him. Like Allia did. Of course, he will let Ryder go if Ryder so chooses to leave. 

As per one night stands. I don't think it's common amongst Angara, just looking at their culture. They might perceive sex as a very intimate and extremely close thing. Maybe not the most intimate thing, but huge. "Angara feel deeply." Of course humans sometimes feel this as well, but one night stands are quite common with humanity. And with Angara tightly family bound and the feels, I don't think it would be common. Also, the ladies in Aya say that Jaal is impervious to flirtation. He was either actually oblivious, or not interested at all.

Anyways, these are my reasons that I believe that Jaal is a virgin and Ryder would be his first. Not that it matters, if Ryder romances him, it seems to be what actually matters. The love between them.

[isuspectyouhavefantheories]

Sara Sneezes, Romance Companions React

Saying it now so as not to disappoint anyone, I only play as females in games, and so only do the romances to that gender. M/F and F/F. I’m not against M/M in anyway what-so-ever, but I just like writing about the romance characters I connect with more or have a personal attraction to myself. So without further interruption, here’s my first piece of writing on the ME A Romance characters for female Ryder (I refer to her as Sara btw)

Liam

They were moving the old dusty couch around Liam’s hide away near the Nomad station. All had been going well, but after Sara flopped down on the ancient sofa, a small dust cloud wafted up into her face, causing her to sneeze uncontrollably.

Liam watched as she squeaked out tiny, cute little sneezes, face contorting into an adorable mess, arms flailing around trying to dispel the dust around her.

“That was bloody cute.” Liam laughed, causing Sara to glare through her coughing and sneezing.

Liam wrapped and arm around her waist, still chuckling, resting his head atop hers.

Vetra

Sara and Vetra were doing some work on the Nomad, clearing off some of the dust left on the axles from Eos, with the radiation gone and nothing to worry about, they simply got buckets of water and some cloths to sweep it away.

After dislodging a stubborn clump that broke apart and flew up into the air, Sara went into a fit of squeaks. Vetra watched in mild confusion and amusement as her little human was reduced to a helpless state. Once the sneezing had stopped Vetra threw her arms around the squishy human and lightly nuzzled her cheeks with her mandible.

“I don’t know what that was but that was ADORABLE.”

Suvi

Sara was examining some sediment samples with Suvi when some dust samples got out of the pietry dish and made their way up Ryder’s nose. The adorable sneezes that ensued cause Suvi to giggle.

Once the sneezing had stopped Suvi smiled at Sara, caressing her face and without thinking she let slip a dreamlike “I love you.”, Sara quickly went into awkward mode, scrambling for words, causing Suvi to smile at Sara’s crimson cheeks.

Jaal

They were sitting together in silence, Jaal liked to talk but Sara seemed content reading her fathers paper bound books, leaning her head against his arm, humming softly. Jaal would often close his eyes and just enjoy being near her. His eyes snapped open when Sara was suddenly almost doubled over, seemingly convulsing.

“Sara-?!?!”

Looking at her face it was contorted in an what he could only describe as an uncomfortable expression, nose crinkled. before he could ask if she was alright, Sara let out, in Jaal’s opinion, to most adorable, unbelievable foreign and cute sound he had ever heard in his life. She continued to squeak until it subsided.

“Sorry some of there books are old and dusty. Severe allergies so I sometimes sneeze like craz-” Before she could finish Jaal’s mouth was on hers, his tongue diving into her already open mouth while his arms captured her in a steel embrace. Once he pulled away, she was breathless, panting slightly.

“I apologize, the noises were... pleasing to hear.” Jaal breathed.

Sara could only gape at him.

“What in the-! Me sneezing turns you on?”

Jaal held her tighter, and began nuzzling into her neck kissing the soft flesh there.

“Among other things.”

“Why are we still sitting here then?”

[sugarbubbleslove]

@bisexualryder - I’ve noticed that too and the graphic is making me want to play it too. She looks gorgeous so I think I will end up booting it up at the weekend (plus I got the walkthrough at the same time I got the game so lol)

BTW

Does anyone know of the pairing names when it comes to Mass Effect Andromeda?

I know one - Rydam (Duh) but it’s the others.

Bold means it’s a tag system already.

Normal are suggestions. Will turn bold when a choice had been made

Italics means they are tentative tagging system - not yet taken so may not continue. 

Ryder and Tempest Crew Romances

Liam/Ryder - Rydam

Jaal/Ryder - Rydaal*

Cora/Ryder?  Ryda** (LOL), Hyder, Ryper, Cryder or Coryder (This will probably take off, sounds more like them)***

Suvi/Ryder? (important!) (Syder? Ruvi?)

Gil/Ryder? (Gilder?)

Vetra/Ryder - Vetryder*

Ryder and Other Romances

Reyes/Ryder - Reyder****

Other Character Romances

Peebee/Jaal - PB&J^ (tentative pairing choice at moment) 

Curious so I know when it comes to the tagging system - especially with Suvi and Vetra being next on the list of my romance.

*Thank you to @nadyasfire

**Thank You to  @vir-tanadahl

***Thank You to  @dawn-dellion

****Thank You to @SPOONIEFULOFSUGAR

^Thank you to @anidragon

(I suck at naming things and we need a better name system when it comes to Mass Effect - seriously)

I’m willing to add in outside Tempest Romances shipping name up here too! (Not 100% sure of who you can romance outside the Tempest Crew so don’t be shy!)

And I am willing to add any in non-Ryder romances too! Might as well form a major list!

[perseus-huntress]

@thefantasyhasnolimits I'm even more convinced that it needs banter as the trigger. 

I am only saying this because I have gotten to basically end game before (I restarted, don't ask...) and PeeBee and Vetra haven’t so much as said hello to each other, I am romancing Jaal btw. 

On another note, is it just me or PeeBee and Vetra are an even stranger combination that PeeBee and Jaal? 

I mean Jaal clearly has some Commander Shepard in him, in that he is totally open to a good bang. And that makes sense when coupled with PeeBee’s attitude. 

But Vetra? The Pillar of the Tempest, cool, calm collected Vetra? That seems kinda odd to me in the narrative sense. From the flirts I have had with her, she seems to be pretty solidly in the commitment camp, hell she is the only one who is commitment ride or die from the guide. 

Maybe I am thinking too hard about this :) 

[billowsandbreeze]

So, I found out that if you don’t romance either of them, Jaal and Peebee hook up, and I just don’t get it.

I mean, I can see why Peebee would be into Jaal. He’s that “new, exotic, never before experienced thing” (which, gross, btw) that she loves so much. But I just can’t wrap my head around why Jaal would be into Peebee.

If they wanted to have a crew hookup, why couldn’t it have been Jaal and LIAM. Like, fuck, they ADORE each other. They probably have matching bff lockets with each other’s pictures inside. LET THEM BE BI!

[realfinemood]

It is amazing to me that people having been finished with Andromeda for a week now. I haven’t even gone to Kadara yet. 

Spoilers for up to that and a bunch of character stuff, especially Liam’s loyalty mission.

So I lied and didn’t end up doing Cora’s loyalty mission. Well, to be fair I did start it, but the actual main mission part is on hold for a while. I do like that the crew’s missions aren’t just a one and done thing, there’s a lead up, but it did throw my plans a bit. So her’s is on hold, Peebee’s will spring hers on me at some point, and Drack’s waiting for us to actually go to Kadara. Vetra is just holding out on me I guess. So I did Liam’s!

Liam’s loyalty mission was so good y’all! So ridiculous. I loved that everyone was basically “this is not a plan Liam. Did you think this through at all, wtf Liam?” through the entire start, and the payoff of the rescue was nicely done. I loved what a giant manbaby the bad guy was. I totally hung up on him. (Nicely done Star Wars references too.)

Vetra btw super hated every minute of it. I had Ryder ask Liam to hold her, because if she’s gonna die, she’s gonna die like she lived - a sarcastic little shit, and Vetra goes “I’M SAD I CAN’T PUNCH BOTH OF YOU.” It was pretty great.

(Poor little Droney was trying so hard to not get spaced with nothing to hold onto though!)

It’s also the first time Ryder’s face... went weird.

She was just really angry okay?? For. You know. A while. Totally normal. 

Ryder would’ve yelled at Liam at the end, but he... basically did all of that himself, so hey.

I’m also super glad the game automatically saves not only at chapters but at loyalty missions, for easier replay. (And cause my video got really fucked up at this point for some reason.)

Also I am 100% going to be romancing Liam the next time I play Sara. 

No particular reason.

I think he may have actually forgotten how to wear a shirt?? (But no really, the fact that went “awww” over a story about a car...)

But anyways! The romance I’m actually doing!

I have not got super far into Vetra’s romance, just flirting every chance I get. And just like. I may never have gotten Garrus to blush, but I’m pretty sure Vetra does the turian version of it like, 100% of the time. It’s so great. I’m not sure which is my favorite so far, the little smile/mandible twitch thing she did or Ryder saying all the Angara were totally crushing on her and wanted a spiky girlfriend.

I’m also dragging her everywhere, because that’s what LIs are for, which means she’s gotten most of the banter (when it decides to work). Which so far has amounted to her and Liam fighting over Sid, Cora making judgements about her not having done bootcamp, and not being sure she liked Jaal because she wasn’t sure Jaal liked her which. Vetra. Honey. 

Also bitching about my driving, but in my squad’s defense, immediately after one of those I may have driven straight off the edge of a mountain. So. You know. Fair point. 

Jaal has been interesting. I’m not 100% sure what I think of him yet. I get that bringing him on Angara worlds makes sense but... I’ll bring you when I want to hear your reaction to something or when I want you to banter with someone, that’s how the game works kiddo. I’m also super confused by his flirt(??) conversation icon? Is it flirting? I thought at first that maybe it was just a friendship thing that he got earlier than the others because Angara are so emotional or whatever. But both times I tried going with that option it was so ooc emotional on Ryder’s part that I immediately backed out. But if it’s just for flirting I don’t really get why he has a special icon for it?

Also she wasn’t showing off, she was being a giant nerd.

Gil and Kallo had a giant fight and Ryder... picked Kallo’s side. Sorry Gil, I know you apparently think we’re BFFs*, but there’s no reason for you to be a dick about changing things on the ship without telling anyone until Kallo notices it. I get where Kallo was coming from as well, but yeah, mostly the “maybe tell someone you’re changing navigation while we’re in the middle of flying, thanks.” But after a while they kissed and made up bonded over ship repair, so I think it turned out okay.

(*seriously though, Ryder and Gil’s friendship got personal weirdly fast, at least on his part. Not a fan of him shutting down her feelings about her dad, but thought it was pretty hysterical that he asked the girl attempting to date the alien girl who’s dna spins the wrong way whether she’s thinking of having babies. Sure man, top of my priorities. Also she totally cheated in poker and didn’t tell, because what else is the point of having an AI in your brain?) 

The little extra weight side mission was also really unexpectedly sweet. I’m sad that hugging Kallo wasn’t an option ever, even if he probably wouldn’t have appreciated it.

I may have gotten so lost at one point that I ran into the literal edge of the map. I don’t care if it’s handholding for filthy casuals, what I wouldn’t give for a damn minimap instead of the compass... 

Also a fun minigame, other than space sudoku, is “will this dude run after me or stand perfectly still while I kill it?” It’s that one time he decides to actually move that’s super fun as you quickly try to run away so he doesn’t eat you.

I’m not sure which was worse - the one on Eos, or going through this mission thinking “it’s another fucking Architect, isn’t it” and then seeing this down the road. The one thing I think Shepard wouldn’t have handled as well as Ryder are these giant metal flying thresher maws. 2 for 2 on killing the bastards though! 

Eventually I need to move on to the actual next part of the story. But in the meantime, I am enjoying how the million sidequests actually seem to be part of the story and mostly make sense for Ryder to be doing them. (Maybe not the “scan some rocks” ones but still.)

[cccrystalclear]

Both Ryder's are so cute!! I am curious to see who your f!ryder is gonna romance (if you've decided) since we've seen m!ryder and jaal! (Very cute btw) also while I'm at it, who did you shep romance? I don't think I've ever heard!

Thank you!! I truly wish that Jaal will be romanceable with m!ryder, but if he isn’t I will go for him in my first playthrough of the game as f!ryder since my first playthrough is more or less a self insert and is mostly unrelated to what I take as canon for my characters. But (and it’s a big but), if Vetra is romanceable with female Ryder my f!ryder will officially romance her. SO, in other words, if both jaal and vetra are same sex romance options, my m!ryder will romance Jaal, and my f!ryder will romance Vetra. :)

As for my Shepard, she romanced Kaidan in the first game, then Garrus in me2 and me3.

[sleepymarmot]

MEA liveblog #6

Spoilers!

Kadara

Alright, let's hope this virus sample is as harmless as SAM said... Why doesn't this scene have an interrupt? Why does Andromeda have so few?

Oh, right, there's still a quest with Reyes and Drack's story about Spender

I think I should also try the monolith again. Regardless of politics, activating the vaults for Ryder is like closing rifts for the Inquisitor.

Thank you internet for telling me how to activate the southernmost monolith! There's a cave entrance at the base of the mountain, on the road to the east of the monolith and north-east of the forward station.

Ugh, navigating this vault and trying not to die took a long time...

Why do I get flirt options with Reyes in 90% of dialogue wheels?

Okay, I finally crafted something. Chest and legs for armor. Iitiative V. Together they give +11% XP instead of +15 I had on the pre-order set, but I could put lots of bonuses onto them. Used "25% shields on kill" as enhancement and "+50% recharge speed, -30% weapon damage" as a mod.

Yikes! It looks so ugly! Here I thought Deep Space looked mediocre compared to Scavenger, but this...

My adept profile is now rank 4!

Zia's voice sounds terribly familiar.

I literally met murderers disposing of a body, why can't I interact with them?

Two Hydras, more like "run around the entire time". Ugh, why are biotics in this game so weak against armor? And where's the fall damage? The entire point of biotics is killing enemies with physics! Why does a combo, on normal difficulty, not kill a mook, but throw him somewhere I can't see him with a sliver of health so he continues to shoot at me? This is ridiculous!

Me: Ugh I don't wanna do Kadara Also me: *does every single sidequest in the Badlands, raises viability to 70%*

Tempest

Peebee: idk why I wanted to write to you -- Aww :D

Yay, finally I can make my inventory bigger!

"I like it when you flirt" is still an option smh. Clicked it because I think someone mentioned that the zero-g scene is repeatable, but nope.

Alright, time to finally move on to the loyalty missions!

Cora's LM

Convenient when you can reuse an entire map huh :D

TBH most of the things people are saying are flying right past me. I'm just following the quest markers. So, is the arc pretty much empty now? 

Asari sword V!!! Something I wanted to craft or find a long time ago. 

This ascendant wasn't even dangerous. Just a boring bullet sponge. I need to get more weight capacity so I could always carry a sniper rifle just for those guys...

I'm a biotic too!!! I walked through this entire mission as an adept! Why am I not helping with the shield?

Revealed the truth, then said Sarissa should stay as the Pathfinder. Not a difficult decision.

Tempest

"Outcast HQ" sounds ridiculous...

Meanwhile, my Bronze/Silver strike team has five positive traits and no negatives...

Nexus

Good thing I went here before moving on to Vetra's mission! There's a follow-up scene. And apparently, there were a lot of asari still in cryo?

Is this the guy who already sent me a grateful email? This game really fails at continuity sometimes.

Fuck! Jien Garson "died alone"?! All this time I was suspicious about her absence, but people talked about her death so confidently I was sure there were witnesses!

lmao a burned body in an unexpected place. suuuuure

Oh, so she is dead :(

Okay, this is simpler than I thought. The Initiative was about escaping the Reapers. And I thought they were looking for something in Andromeda...

If there's really nothing more to it -- I'd actually be disappointed. The game just continues to subvert its own most ridiculous statements. Pretty much everyone assumed that building something called Arcs and moving to another galaxy right before the Reaper invasion is an attempt to preserve people and culture. The game insisted that wasn't the case, except of course it is. There were only two new races, suspiciously alike -- are they related? Nobody even mentioned the possibility in the game until it was confirmed. On the one hand, it's a relief that the game doesn't believe its own bullshit. On the other, I'd like not to be treated like an idiot. I'd like a story with a premise that makes sense by itself, and with reveals that are genuinely surprising. What's next on the list of predictable "plot twists"? Is Alec alive? Is Reyes the Charlatan?

Tempest

What, I got a bunch of AVP just for promising to do Drack's mission?

Fuck yeah vanadium

H-047c

When you land, the subtitles just disappear...

I almost fell off a cliff and Liam shouted "Ryder!!" in a very startled voice

Whoa, a Reegar!

Took the interrupt, of course.

After Liam's mission, the other two seemed bland...

Havarl

Thanks to the internet, finally found the Fusion Mod of Adrenaline. How can anyone find that by themselves?!

Archon's ship

I'm tired of messing around, let's get on with the plot

Let me guess, I'll have to choose between the map to the Meridian and the salarian arc's survival?

This Pathfinder actually sounds like a Salarian!

A new carfalon, nice

this fight didn't go well lmao

Oh great, now we wiped everything but the ascendant and then he killed me

Ughh, on the third try...

Poor Ryder

Yeah, yeah, we've already heard all that from Harbinger...

Archon's chamber, health and ammo packs... Annoying boss battle, here we go

oh great, it's the Krogett

ah, so it's a mix of Virmire and Priority: Tuchanka

Ouch, I wish I didn't take Drack on this mission...

Well thanks I feel like a monster now

And of course, the autosave is after the choice. I've long suspected that the lack of saving in priority mission is designed to make us live with our decisions...

Honestly when I was making a choice it seemed simply whether a bunch of krogan or salarians are saved from exaltation, the krogan are connected to your friend but the salarians have a Pathfinder. But then the game seems to present it as "many krogans, your friend's friends, vs one Pathfinder"?

So, where to now? After the Nexus.

I have 3 loyalty missions in progress, Peebee, Jaal and Drack, and the last one seems pretty urgent. 

I need to go to Elaaden, especially because after this I need to restore my relationship with the krogan.

I need to activate the vault on Voeld, people in my outpost and my angaran allies has been freezing their limbs of for a long time.

Kadara is the only place where nothing important is happening, but I need to get it to 90% asap to unlock the fusion mod perk.

Tempest

Poured some more points into combat to decrease the weight of sniper rifles, and crafted a Vintage Isharay V. Now I can carry it along with the Hornet and a shotgun of my choice. Some power user I am... :D

No, Gil, I don't really want to meet your friend. Though on second thought, maybe if the Pathfinder tells her we're not here just to breed, maybe she'd believe...

"My mother created the implant in my head, and my father created the AI that uses it. I haven't lost them either" ;_;

Suvi organized a comparative religion seminar, and Jaal and Kallo signed up!

Got myself a bald space mouse

"Okay, I'll learn a new party trick" :D

"You are daring. I had to up my game" It's just a casual option, but sure sounds like flirting... :D

"Just don't get yourself exalted" -> "Just don't relax too much" The translation is getting worse and worse... There's some nonsense in almost every conversation.

Aw, Vetra!

Nexus

Thanks, Tann! Now I have time to do sidequests and loyalty missions without guilt!

No thanks to other Pathfinders, seems like I have to rush the main plot after all :(

Scott!!!

Why is Ryder asking him about things she must know just as well?

Honestly, this game design is super stupid! Kadara opens up a lot of new quests, but also the rushes the main plot like hell! Am I supposed to do the loyalty missions and shit after the end of the story??

Wait, how exactly did Keri scare people? Why was she arrested? I don't understand.

Tempest

Aw, Liam is worried about how I'm coping with my clinical death! *Shepard sighs with envy from another galaxy*

Kadara

Why does the game shower me with shippy Reyes material even when I'm not trying to romance him?

Finally another interrupt lol

"Try to settle here, and I'll consider it an act of war" If I took the story seriously and roleplayed honestly, this would be the point I'd abandon this planet forever, even if I didn't do it far earlier. There's no reason for Ryder to plan for an outpost here -- and I only do because of the queat description. Ughh, the writing in this game is killing me.

How do you take a recipe anyway? How do you make sure there isn't a copy left on the person's computer? Anyway, took it from the asari because I assumed I could destroy the info instead of giving it to the doctor, but had to give it back anyway.

Whoa, the date with Vetra is incredibly romantic

Was it really necessary for two freaking eirochs to greet us as we exit the cave?!

People who lit Sloane from behind so that every time there's a closeup on her, the camera adjusts to that bright light and her face becomes a pitch black blob: please don't ever stage anything again

Travel from the Badlands to the Port, meet Sloane, immediately travel back to almost the same place in the Badlands. Is the game intentionally trying to waste as much of our time as possible?

I think my game ran out of save slots... Without any warning. When you try to write in a new slot everything seems normal but the save just doesn't appear.

Whoa! Ryder WASN'T surprised that Reyes is the Charlatan! I didn't expect her to figure that out...

I'm not sure how Reyes's actions were supposed to weaken Sloane but whatever

First I shot him because I use interrupts instinctively, then replayed and didn't. I don't give enough fucks about this petty war.

100%! Now I can finally leave this snake pit.

BTW, re: the choice: Sloane is almost as bad as Aria at this point, the only redeeming quality is her backstory. And she's proven herself a bad leader, while Reyes could turn out to be better. But deciding to let her die within a split second -- that's not something I or my idealistic character could do. And now Reyes has a potential for a cool comeback story, and Sloane -- for a redemption arc. We have both characters alive and active, while the other option kills one off. (Which, I realize, is a reason that we might never see an interesting follow-up.)

Tempest

Reyes bothered to send a letter! I hope we'll see his dramatic return in a sequel or a DLC. Imagine if you romance him and then save Sloane -- that's a good story! Also, glad I didn't shoot, because the internet says the letter is very bitter and ominous in that case.

Aaand what some people on the internet were saying is true. Fusion Mod Support, which was the sole reason I went to complete Kadara, is broken and deprives you of all buffs. Well, whatever.

Drack doesn't tell me to fuck off anymore. Does this mean I don't need to "give him space" anymore and can plausibly do his loyalty mission? It's weird that the game just ignores all that's happened -- it's not like he tells me he forgave or anything. Consequences my ass. Just lazy writing.

And Lexi just repeats her first description of Drack -- that he's "always good". Ugh. No, he's not!

NOW you want to talk about my death, Cora! Not when I approached you after that mission!

Elaaden

The krogan have a nice flag!

Logical: "Don't make me headbutt you. I absolutely will" Ha! The emotional option was some shit about friendship... 

The worm? That thing from the promo pictures, right? Is it the same thing as the Architects people on the internet are mentioning?

Aww, is this a letter from multiplayer's krogan engineer?

A krogan LARP!

The krogan are literally the only people whom I can understand and support in a decision to jump galaxies

Drack's LM

I don't understand how Vorn got here...

For once I'm not the one with a dilemma lol

"There's only one thing getting destroyed today (...) So there are a lot of things getting destroyed today, actually"

Drack please don't talk during fights, I don't hear a single word, too busy charging people and slashing them with my sword

I still don't understand what all of this has to do with Spender, and don't remember Drack ever mentioning before that the botanist is so important and irreplaceable.

I love being a vanguard on normal because even with an incomplete build you can tank two hydras. To be fair I was standing right on top of a health box...

That's all?? So short...

At least Drack hasn't forgotten my choice...

Ah, so the botanist who sent us on this mission and the botanist we rescued are two different people? Okay, one question answered.

Elaaden

Hmm, this puzzle seems more difficult...

The second monolith has a console puzzle instead of sudoku. I spent a pretty long time on it before realizing there were three consoles, not two...

WHy am I breaking into this base and slaughtering everyone inside??

Couldn't solve the console puzzle in the vault, looked it up, didn't understand the explanation, clicked some more and activated it by accident.

Shit, is this the same puzzle but on pillars?

I fell into the water and the game respawned me into the same fall -- but in the Nomad.

Jumped around and activated the bridge somehow, but the door behind it is still closed

How am I supposed not to fall from the pillars? It's impossible to know if you're jumping not far enough, too far, or not high enough.

Oh, here's that difficult sudoku. I spent like 15 minutes on it and still can't solve it...

Holy crap, I solved it! Took me about 25 minutes...

The purification field was already in the room when I closed the door on it...

Lmao apparently the main krogan on this planet is right in the starting zone... I searched the entire colony for him! And now, with the planet at 83% viability, I finally meet the guy I came here for :D

I clearly was meant to do all of this right in the beginning lmao. But I was in a rush to do Drack's mission...

Pressuring women into childbirth is bad enough in normal circumstances, but when children have about 1% chance of surviving? Back the fuck off.

Messages on the terminal are interesting. I don't like the confirmation of too-earthlike misogyny on Tuchanka, but at least things are getting better here. And I'm still impressed by the letters from the krogan engineer -- do other multiplayer character have presence in the main game too?

And here's the deal with the Remnant ship! I was waiting for the reason to visit it...

I like Morda. I hope I won't have to fight or depose her.

(Btw she's Norda in translation because "morda" means "face, mug")

It'd be much more fun to fight fiends if they weren't sync-killers. I can't even use a shotgun -- the entire fight consists of running away, throwing powers at them when at safe distance, turning around to run again, and if I'm very lucky, finding a moment for a sniper rifle shot a couple of times.

Btw this entire time I thought fiends were exalted eirochs -- but they're just a normal local species? What?

Lmao the viability is at 99% now

The Remnant Ship is a lovechild of the Collector ship/Derelict Reaper and all those veilfire dungeons from DAI

The Nomad looks bad in this planet's lighting... Or is it because I raised texture quality? On Eos and Voeld the entire hull looked the same, now I can see the difference between two areas.

Oh. Is this why I was supposed to break into the scavenger base lol

Well, this was a good planet to bring Drack and Peebee with you everywhere! Sorry Peebs, but even you didn't feel joy when we finally found that drive core after all the bloodshed; plus it's your own philisophy to look into the future instead of the past; plus we might find other Remnant ships but this diplomatic opportunity is huge and unique. It's a laughably small price to pay for so many good things -- not just the outpost, but paying our debts and renewing friendship with a good ally led by an admirable woman. This makes me feel really good, unlike Kadara. New Tuchanka in generally is a feel-good place. The krogan look more real with their occupations and interests, their reason for being here makes perfect sense unlike the rest of the Initiative, and they're happier than in the Milky Way (at least until the end of ME3. Yeah, they have the genophage here, but also the Reapers aren't killing and harvesting them, so I'll call it a draw).

Oh my god, the translators misread "fiends" as "friends"! "Even if it means taking out three friends at once"! L M A O

"We're all a little krogan in here" That sounds pretty racist, Ryder

Nexus

Wait, how is exile harsher sentence for Spender than jail? In exile he'd just be free to continue his racist criminal activities.

"It is the will to continue living" Ugh, don't give me that Padme bullshit

Eos

That's all? This short rude conversation is why Gil called me to meet his shitty friend?

Aw, Cora started a garden! Right on a nest of poison-spitting bugs, but still cute. 

Just as I switch from Flamethrower to Annihilation, I get attacked by two fiends -_- Where's my biotic armor damage, Bioware?!

Btw the Nomad now looks plastic on Eos too :(

And here's the Architect! I avoided looking up videos because I wanted to find out how this fight goes by myself.

And of course, when I died the autosave was glitched and froze my entire game -_-

And it happened again -_- The cutscene doesn't start and I can't do anything

For fuck's sake, on its leg WHERE?

Managed to shot down a leg, got killed trying to shoot its head

Whoa, I won! Ate like 20 shield boosters, though. What a bullet sponge, I felt like I was doing no damage at all. And in the final section of the fight it spent like 5 minutes just shooting and throwing grenades at me without ever exposing the vulnerable spot, I thought that maybe the game just forgot to indicate it. I used Vanguard, Charge/melee/Lance for adds, gun/Lance/Charge for the Architect itself. For some reason it didn't occur to me to switch to Infiltrator or Soldier or even Explorer for sniping lol

Now that I finally leveled up Lance today, I tried a lot of setups... Flamethrower/Energy Drain/Lance (Sentinel), Annihilation/Energy Drain/Lance (Sentinel), Annihilation/Charge/Lance (Vanguard), Pull/Charge/Lance (Vanguard). Next time I'll try Singularity as the first primer. I don't have the final evolution of Annihilation yet, so it's not at full synergy. I really don't know what I like better -- ED/Sentinel or Charge/Vanguard. The latter is novaguard reborn, basically, but I already have one Vanguard profile, which is melee/tank oriented, and I don't want to remove Backlash, especially to replace it with a power that slows down Charge. Four favorites are not enough, Bioware! At least seven -- one for each profile. I still don't have a build for Remnant VI and I really want to use it! Btw, my final blow to the Architect was with Lance -- ending the testing session with style!

I can craft N7 armor X already! Wow. Why no level requirement? I'll replace my chestpiece -- massive buffs to biotics >> 4% XP. Don't know if I should disassemble my old armor or just buy more enhancements...

I just (re-)realized that Charge/Lance/asari sword is basically N7 Slayer... I definitely need that N7 armor!

I'm watching other people's Architect fights -- and turns out, Backlash can deflect its attacks! That's what I should have used as the third skill.

Not related at all, but I hate how people put spoilers in thread titles on Reddit :/ I guess the most obvious ones get filtered out, but indirect spoilers stay. "What are your theories about [thing]?" -- thanks a lot for telling me it won't be explained in the game, dude!! >:[

[avaquet]

Ten Things that make me Happy

I was tagged by @incredibly-violent thank yooou!!

Writing- I may not be the best writer or one of the well known ones, but writing fanfiction can just make my heart soar, express my daydreams and emotions into a form of art. Man, I just love it.

Discussions- I like to think and my thoughts challenged. Sometimes while walking around the house or in the shower I can do an entire discussion with myself and play the devils advocate just to challenge myself further. It also leads me to betterment of my writing and headcanons so I appreciate it.

Mass Effect- Man, this took over my entire life. It’s my addiction and obsession and confidence booster and so many more things. Jaal has become my virtual boyfriend I swear XD. Screwing hot aliens aside, there are many quotes from the series I find myself saying or living by.

Music- I have soundtrack to video games on my phone that I listen to, I play the alto sax, and dabble in violin and piano. I feel like it expresses so much, I believe that art is the emotion of the universe and math the language.

My version of Chicken Pasta Salad- No joke, everytime I make and eat this dish my happiness level spikes through the roof I just love it.

The color Cobalt Blue- Like the chicken pasta salad, just I don’t eat colors and seeing the blue (Which I associate with concert Gb which is my favorite note) just makes me really freaking happy.

Jaal Ama Darav- Enough said my dudes XD. This man stole my heart, I played through over ten times, full playthroughs, just to keep romancing him with my Sara. I literally don’t change like anything each PT, I just love Jaal and Andromeda. Thank you, BioWare for this man.

My cat- raised my baby girl since she was itty bitty. She is my emotional support animal and I hers. She follows me everywhere and I swear she pulls kitty pranks on me. But I love her so much! Her name is Villette btw, and she’s about 8 years old and still acts like a kitten :3

Drawing- Well, it’s the actual act of it that I like. I usually hate my drawings and am embarrassed to even show their existence after I am done with it. But drawing for me is a good stress reliever.

Chocolate milk (Hot or cold)- stg this is the drink of the universe, I especially love it with almond milk, oh man almond milk is also a favorite. Dude, I’d drink that stuff 24/7 if I could.

I tag: @lin-desu @angrykittybarbarian @abbybabbles (if you all want) And any other of my mutuals that want to :3

[avaquet]

My first shepard? Well I had no idea what I was doing but I ended up with Kaidan and never getting back with him in the later games. Tbh I wasn’t really interested in anyone until I accidentally romanced Garrus in later Shepard’s

My Ryder? Lol oh f-

I, the player, had planned to romance Peebee because it seemed like everyone was hating on her and loving on Jaal. And I just kinda rolled my eyes at that, like I wasn’t attracted to Jaal at all (though mostly because I didn’t know his character)

That plan to romance Peebee faultered when she got mean to Lexi, cause I liked and respected Lexi (I still adore Peebee but I’m just not that into her)

So I’m like crap... now what? I didn’t know that I had been flirting with Jaal beforehand btw. And he was next on the list but I was like so sure that he hated me (I blew up the base and let that chick keep killing the creatures on Voeld, my first play throughs are usually full of messy dicisions and such, I never died either one again) so I just kinda gave up on that

Liam didn’t seem interested... neither did Vetra and I couldn’t get her to talk... so I literally sat there like “whelp I’m not romancing anyone this PL...”

Then I get back from Aya from returning the Moshae and I get that lovely email from Jaal and I’m just like ???? He fucking LIKES me????? And then I got all excited like holy shit- and romanced him and just fell for him. And literally all the times I’ve played Andromeda it’s been with that main character and romancing Jaal. Ive watched the other romances because I literally just can’t romance anyone else.

I’m that representation of that cards against humanity card that says “falls in actual love with a fictional character”

Healthy? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but fuck it man t makes me so damn happy. And if I’m being honest, if I pretend he’s here, I start taking better care of myself and my home. So bleh if I get judged for it because if it wasn’t for that fictional character I’d probably be sleeping my life away right now in my own filth and self pity.

Mass Effect Question Time!

Who were your first Mass Effect trilogy & Andromeda romances? If anyone!

Sooooo … I was originally a shakarian shipper! My first femShep (Jennah) romanced Kaidan in ME 1, then Garrus in ME 2&3.

My first Andromeda playthrough was with Sirius Ryder, who romanced Reyes Vidal - though she had flings with Liam & Peebee before settling down with Reyes.

So… who did you romance?

[girlforbid]

Mass Effect Andromeda Appreciation WEEK

Rules: Answer the questions and tag 10 people. ( Optional: post any MEA screenshot you’d like to share! )

Tag your posts #meapartyweek

Got tagged by: @fornaxextra​ (rly love ur url, btw) Tagging: @vetrasgf​, @lesbianx​, @sheqards​ and whoever else wants to do it tbh (and if u don’t wanna do it that’s fine too ayy) 

i think this goes without saying but uh: spoilers up ahead!!

What is your favorite scene in ME:A?

that memory — i think it was the fourth one? — it’s ellen ryder’s last day and i remember tearing up on my first playthrough highkey i was a soft mess and honestly i didn’t even expect to feel anything because of how artificial everything felt to me. and yet. i needed a break after that memory played. solid i just straight up lied down for a while to be alone with my thoughts. i was very Shaken

What is your favorite quest?

definitely not resetting the vaults. hmm. wow ok i spent thirty minutes on this question, but cora’s loyalty mission is my favorite. something something about disillusionment something character depth, but really. the whole mission made me love her a whole lot more and i didn’t even know that was possible?? i liv for character progression n development

What is your favorite weapon?

the scorpion pistol!! with the right augmentations u would be unstoppable

What is your favorite armor?

the hyperguardian bc i can see my ryder’s face through the helmet hehe 1/2jk i also love the remnant reborn armor bc aesthetic

What is your favorite power ability?

annihilation + charge yea that’s right two bc it makes my job a hell of a lot easier

What is your favorite planet?

voeld!! especially when u listen to the yevara sing in the frozen lake near techiix

What is your favorite addition to MEA that wasn’t in the original trilogy?

#fuq the class system  #respec more like respecT 

Who is your favorite non-romanced (one you didn’t romance but could be) character? (can be NPC or squadmate)

Evfra de Tershaav because i have a type and he falls right in

Favorite squad/party combo?

vetra bc she never ever stops shooting and i love her; cora bc she always boosts team shields and has crowd control abilities like nova plus i also love her

Favorite non-bipedal animal on Andromeda?

the challyrion bc natural, biological cloaking abilities blow the fuq outta my mind. also the yevara i love the yevara even though we never actually get to see them :^(

What surprised you most when you first played ME:A?

i mean, i know they told us that your character would react accordingly to the environment ‘n stuff like gravity and other things but wow. like. damn. my space hoe ass is living when you actually die if u step foot in dangerous acid ponds

What is your favorite quote?

[Jaal]: Though the universe is beyond your understanding, it doesn't need your understanding to function.

like i swear to god i caught on fire after hearing this