#shepard critical

[omegastation]

(if you don't want to read something critical avoid this post because something bothers me a bit)

one of Shepard's first conversations in the Citadel in ME1 is with Din Korlack, who is so grumpy that we think, aaaaw, he's just mad the volus don't get a seat on the Council, but he talks about how some species are not seen as equal, and when you get to Avina in the embassies and you ask her about the volus and Council seats, she ends her little speach with "The embassies allow lesser species to have a voice on the Citadel." she was 100% programmed to tell visitors that, with those words.

fastforward in me3 and you can tell the writers don't know how to deal with the batarians and the sheer level of atrocity that has been commited in me2 yes yes, the reapers would have done worse in arrival and shepard had no choice, and yes, the batarians have done terrible things but it's so big, as in "every remaining batarian knows shepard's face because of what they're done" big that the writers can't deal with what truly happened and what it should do to a human being

so we get a sort of simplistic story in me3 to make the guilt seems less than it should be (the remaining batarian leader, Balak, is bad and wants revenge). after a talk with him, batarians with their ships become war assets. it goes okay?

but when Officer Noles asks Shepard if they want Balak arrested and Shepard replies "I want you to put a bullet in his head… but we're all making some sacrifices today", I'm thinking that's a very questionable default line right there and that's not how I see Shepard. because yes Balak is not exactly someone innocent in this story but the use of the word 'sacrifices' is really annoying me considering arrival and the near extinction of the batarian race.

Balak just told Shepard he feels he can't save his people. and if you read the war assets, batarians are described as "enraged survivors". he even implies that the remaining batarians are basically cut from war info, he knows the location of Reaper forces because he's listening to Council transmissions. so he's basically their only hope at this point, and it's clear he doesn't know what to do. the level of despair there is just really high

"No collection of vessels is more eager to engage the Reapers than Khar'shans last warships."

so... it's not like i want shepard to be a full on batarians fan but there was a better way to express themselves after talking to Balak

[mass-effect-anonymous]

CONFESSION:

I don't like Kaidan's hangout scene in Citadel. In a DLC full of cool character tidbits, this is one of the weak points. Shepard gets very mean-spirited about Kaidan's cooking for no good reason.

Kaidan Cooking (Renegade)

Kaidan Cooking (Paragon)

[stormcallart]

Beach day and date night 💙❤️

[bargu]

Discreet mission failure. And they say she can't dance x'D The mission was to mingle subtly in some kind of fancy party, but good old Shepard couldn't help herself. Wanted to draw ME-version of one of my favourite vines. Art & Selene © me Mass Effect by Bioware, do not copy

[stormikins]

[illusivesoul]

Bioware tries to make Shepard's death and resurrection a significant and impactful event in the narrative of the trilogy challenge (Gone Wrong) (Only managed to do "I got better" jokes)

[major-alenko]

there’s nothing wrong plot-wise with the horizon conversation actually. y’all are just babies who don’t understand kaidan’s character or the purpose of conflict in a story lol

[girafficparka]

How’s the fanfic going?

Fine…fine. Just my brain shorting out on me.

How many is too many times to describe a sexy turian in hot outfits?

This fic is essentially becoming ‘Garrus as a Barbie Doll’ but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[favoriteblogonthecitadel]

Thinking today about how Shepard's conversation with Charles Saracino in ME1 is yet another example of Ashley disapproving of racism/xenophobia and parties like Terra Firma (samples below!). Still boggles my mind how people call her a space racist tbh

• If you ask him why the party commemorates Armistice Day (the day Shanxi was liberated from the turians) by protesting, the conversation goes like this:

Shepard: You're marking the end of the First Contact War with a protest? Saracino: As we have every year for the last 26 years. The war taught humanity a lesson that some would forget. If we don't stand up for ourselves, no one else will. Shepard (Paragon): I thought the lesson of the First Contact War was that there's other life in the galaxy, and they have opinions too. Saracino: Perhaps so, Commander. But if aliens feel free to express their "opinions" at gunpoint, why shouldn't we? Ashley: We should. But you're just looking for a reason. Saracino: I disagree. We have a backlog of grievances the aliens have ignored. Starting with Shanxi. Ashley: Were you at Shanxi? If not, shut your piehole. OR Shepard (Renegade): Every day I stand up for humanity. Often in the face of bullets. What have you done lately? You really think speeches help? Saracino: We all serve in our own way, Commander. I'm not a soldier, but I can tell the public why they should support your efforts. Ashley: Wearing a lapel on your uniform makes you a hero, huh? You wanna help humanity? Get out of your office and pitch in.

• If you ask him about Terra Firma, the conversation goes like this:

Shepard: I don't know Terra Firma's platform. What do you stand for? Saracino: Our core value is that Earth must "stand firm" against alien influences. Politically, culturally, and --in the worst case-- militarily. Ashley: It's a noble goal. Too bad so many of your supporters are just racists.

She disapproves of Terra Firma looking for ways to justify deliberate conflict with alien species, and gets worked up when Saracino uses Shanxi as a talking point in his own benefit. She, whose family was personally impacted by Shanxi for at least three generations, still refuses to fall for the easy trick of treating it as an excuse for xenophobia. Renegade dialogue options also show that she hates Saracino's guts for being all talk and putting no real effort into supporting humanity. I just love her.

[catalinemorosetheblog]

Started Playing Mass Effect 1 a little while ago and...

Me (playing relatively blind): So I know there's romance in this game, but I doubt there's gay romance since it's from 2007, so who should I date. Garrius seems cool (did not know he was unromancable in this game), and Kaiden has some interesting backstory going for him.

Liara T'Soni: *exists*

Me:

Me: ✨WOMEN✨

[greypetrel]

Live Max Reaction

Going on with Mass Effect 2, I would have a couple of things to say about the romances, but I'll let Max "Disagio" Shepard do the talking.

(Hi new followers, welcome! In case you were wondering, my superpower is entering romances in Bioware games without knowing it. It happened with Alistair and Anders in Dragon Age. Oops, I did it again: It happened now with Jack. Which I'm told shouldn't be romanceable by a female Shepard, but I don't know what to say, I succeeded. Max decided to be genderfluid. And a bro. Liara waits for news about her as one waits for the next episode of a tv show full of cliffhangers.)

(I love Garrus, btw, it was just so much of a TMI that I laughed hard, and had to draw a live Max reaction.)(thane is a great character, but that romance option was a little out of place? I laughed too)

[seithr]

something about fem characters getting masc titles does something insane to me. emperor and sir and my lord and master. ough flavour

[mass-effect-anonymous]

CONFESSION:

I've always disliked the idea of Shepard being dead - and then a hate group bringing them back. Whats worse, Liara, who Shep can be romatically involved with, cooperated with the group to get their remains to the Lazarus Research Station. It just seems such a strange solution for 'we need time to pass between the titles and need a good reason for Shep to be away from all their friends and not know what happened to any of them or what is going on'

And its not like the project is really explored either. Like there are so few implications drawn from it. Shep is asked about some things from the last game (To confirm some game choices) and then thats that. Sure I know the whole thing comes back in the DLC - but then its treated as a one off as well. I mean imagine if Shep was plagued by the doubts of them being a clone as well - or not knowing if they came back right.

You are told Shep is full of implants now - but you literally have the choice to erase the scars forever and never worry about it again! I just wish this was explored more. Like, it kind of reminds me of the body horror of Aliens: Resurrection where Ripley (the galaxy's savior) comes back wrong. How about reaper tec being used in bringing Shep back? Or discovering a cloning facility at the Colleactors ship? There's just so much that could have been done aside of just 'They died and came back like jesus'...

It's such a shame BioWare didnt really choose to explore this further.

[wparker6804]

[azrealini]

'ACAB applies to Garrus' is so funny to me because he's literally so anti-cop both in portrayal and practice. He spends his entire introduction to the series criticizing the police for refusing to act, letting serial killers get away to avoid bad publicity, and taking bribes to look in the other direction. The character with the strongest sense of justice, and he openly talks about how much he hates law enforcement on the citadel. The game goes out of its way to tell you C-Sec is awful with moments like:

Garrus quits C-sec because they're shitty (also daddy issues) and goes to Omega to kill pirates and slavers because no one else is doing anything else about them. Is his logic massively flawed in thinking vigilante justice would have a lasting effect? Yeah. Were they ever going to be brought to justice, though? Probably not.

If we want to talk about applying ACAB to any character in the Mass Effect franchise, the character with qualified immunity on steroids is probably the one to point at.

[leadershiplooksgoodonyou]

Commander Shepard is the Character ever