#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

[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

[eye-of-the-queen]

If you’re one of my friends (or someone else who found me through the tumblr algorithm) who is upset about the latest veilguard news turn away now because you’re most likely not going to like what I’m about to say

Rant under the cut

People are being so dramatic for no reason I’m sorry

“This was all a waste of time” when they literally say in the article that the events of the games STILL happen, it’s not like they’re retconning them. And most likely world state decisions from the previous games will still be asked in the games going forward AS they become important, they literally said they chose the world state choices based on what would be relevant to the story of the new game

It’s a new area of thedas and literal DECADES after the events of the previous games, I’m sorry it just seems silly to expect the events of the past games to still have the same relevance that they did in inquisition, which is only 2 years after da2 and 10 years after origins and also took place in the same area of the continent as them

I do agree that not including the well of sorrows decision is certainly a choice, but we also don’t know the complete story of veilguard literally at all. What we do know is solas has the aspect of mythal that was in flemeth, we also know that for at least some portion of the game he’s trapped in the fade and rook is kind of his mouth piece. Maybe the reason it won’t come up is because with him being trapped he can’t actually do anything with his powers, that’s been my theory for a while at least

I genuinely do not know how y’all got “The inquisitor either hated solas or romanced him” from what they said. The leap in logic is crazy to me because they literally said that your relationship regardless of whether you romanced him or not is going to be important

“How are they going to write around these world state decisions with them not being choosable?” Well considering the game is fully written and is coming out next month it seems they found a way

The way y’all were all hyping up this game as the next best thing and then ONE thing that you don’t like is revealed and y’all all turned on it is crazy

Also to tie this up, we literally know that veilguard has gone through at least 2 rewrites because in the same article where they revealed the world state stuff they literally said there was an iteration of da4 that just did not have that much solas involvement. Have yall considered that maybe the rewrites were due to them getting stuck on all of the choices that could be made in past games and so they decided to just pick the ones that were going to be the most relevant to the story to start with and then go from there in subsequent games

I’m sorry, coming from someone who’s literal favorite game franchise is dragon age and has replayed origins multiple times, this all just seems like such a non issue to me

[stormikins]

[eviesqueezie]

curly slides himself into the booth, wrapping an arm around his buddy polo’s shoulders before taking a sip of the milkshake that sits in the middle of them all.

“happy birthday man!” the group chorus, punching him lightly along his arms. curly grins and pushes the milkshake back into the centre of the table before retracting his arm from the boy next to him.

“look what ol’ timmy got me,” he pauses, un clipping the brand new switchblade from his belt loop and slamming it down on the table for the group to see. there’s a collective ‘ooh’ and a few ‘nice!’ which makes curly smile wider. he clips it back onto his jeans and leans back. “so, what’re we gettin’ up to today?” he raises an eyebrow, a habit that two-bit had passed around the curtis gang that had eventually reached him, through ponyboy.

a few mumbles pass around the group and curly groans, standing himself up.

“y’all get on with that nothing, i’m gonna go meet some buddies and i’ll be back.”

the group ignore him, having gone back to their mindless chatter of what to get up to as they all lean in to smother their loud voices.

curly walks out, letting the door slam behind him. he looks around before lighting a cigarette with the lighter he’d snatched from the corner store a few minutes ago. the streets are mainly empty so, he starts to walk away. breaking into a jog , then a run.

he understood, distantly, why ponyboy might have done track. it gave him a different kind of thrill, similar to escaping a crime scene he had caused and watching from afar.

the november wind blows past him destined to mess up his hair, which wasn’t a problem due to his recently shaved head, but he smiles nevertheless.

he lets the cigarette fall from his mouth as he turns the corner, almost bumping into the slowly moving person infront of him who spins around as soon as they hear the footsteps.

“pony! gon’ wish me a happy birthday?” he smirks, pushing his hands into his pockets to hide the sweat that had began to form.

“hey curls, get anythin’ good this year?”

curly shrugs, nudging his head towards the switchblade, proudly. ponyboy whistles then looks around before pulling curly into the alleyway a few steps infront of them. the road is empty, and so is the alley, apart from a stray cat carrying a dead mouse between its canines.

pony looks around one last time before grabbing onto curly’s wrist.

“i didn’t get you a present..-“ his voice trails off as curly interrupts.

“it’s alright, but i’m expectin’ summin’ for christmas.” he grins, faltering slightly and blushing when ponyboy nods, smiling.

pony wraps his hand around the back of curly’s neck, leaning in to press their lips together. curly’s are slightly chapped from the harsh autumn air and pony’s are bitten with the minty aftertaste of freshly applied chapstick.

who needs an inanimate object labelled as a present when it’s just him and ponyboy, orange and red leaves painting the ground and the streetlights flickering on and off again in a pitiful excuse for light; compared to the bright greeny-grey eyes of the boy facing him.

to curly, it’s a pretty good present in itself.

[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.

[agirlking]

"What happened to everyone you know and love in the games? Who really died? Who had kids with whom? What does a baby volus sound like? What about all the galaxies? The endings! What the heck is going on with our asari scientist-turned-Shadowbroker? What about S— nevermind...you get the idea. And of course, to those questions, there are answers"

I still cannot believe this is a real quote. No, I don't want to know who "really" died and who "really had kids with whom" and what ending is "really canon." What the hell is the point of an RPG if you're just going to tell me what did or did not happen? What is Mike Gamble on?

[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)

[wparker6804]

[fadetouchedsilk]

I think something else that kind of puts me off the neve/lucanis thing is the fact that this appears to be the one NPC romance that re-uses the same lock in scene we get as the player?

To the best of my knowledge this isn’t the case with Taash or Harding’s romance scenes, Emmerich & Strife happens mostly off screen so that’s exempt too. But for some reason with Lucanis it’s basically the same scene with Rook model-swapped for Neve.

Like, some of the vitriol towards this ship can definitely just be marked down as garden variety biphobia & the occasional side of character related possessiveness (no judgement we’re all mentally ill I’ve been there lmao) but I’m also just seeing this overwhelming sense of… idk how to explain it exactly, it’s almost like an energy of depressively resigned rejection across platforms? Was the decision to not have this be a unique scene for the player a budget issue/cut content? You can argue him remembering what your favourite dessert is makes it unique but honestly that’s just a few dialogue flags of difference.

It still comes across as a shortcut for the player’s story. Realism in relationships aside, I actually don’t think it’s a bad look for us as consumers to assume we’re going to get a certain level of indulgence here for that reason. I don’t think everyone needs to be falling over themselves to kiss Rook’s feet, but I think it’s okay for our chosen li to be a bit more of a fantasy, yknow?

If it was a given from the start that the npcs were going to pair off, I think it would have been better if this only happened after your romance of choice was locked in, or at least past the point in the game where you would get a lock in scene (correct me if I’m wrong, but those all seem to trigger around the same time for everyone). Because of how the game is paced, we’d get to avoid spending the first 40 hours listening to ambient flirting when we’re exploring, which imo would also help npcs being received. There’s a distinct lack of interpersonal reactivity Veilguard whenever it comes to Rook (genuinely, why is this such a lonely protagonist?) but the relationships between companions seem to chug along nicely. Seems like a bit of a design flaw to have pre-romance flags active but to still be hearing how much your chosen li is apparently into this other person?

I don’t see the same amount of pushback towards the other NPC romances as I do Neve/Lucanis, which honestly looks like it comes down to how his romance specifically was executed & how the narrative likes to prioritize relationships between other people vs. ones with Rook. I don’t expect writers to not have favourites because that’d be hypocritical of me lmao, but I do expect a professional studio to be more adept at either covering it up better or giving your players enough attention to offset it. I haven’t seen anyone reflecting on how comparatively empty Neve’s romance felt to other companions the way I have with Lucanis, so I have to assume it isn’t. But with his route, it just feels extra :/ that one of maybe three scenes we get is just recycled content for his other possible partner.

(Obligatory disclaimer: I see the vision behind the ship and I don’t hate it nor am I jealous, I just feel like with those two characters in particular it should have unfolded much slower than one game would have allowed & also I expect a certain degree of wish fulfillment when it comes to these games, not feeling like the player character is the writers’ afterthought. Hating Neve for this is a bit much because 1. She’s not real and 2. She’s also not responsible for writing decisions so I think taking jabs at the female character involved is kind of a waste of energy [once again I get the jealousy thing, but still.])

[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)_/¯

[halliserres]

i still can’t believe they took one of the worst missions in mass effect 3 (gameplay wise) and decided to make it a major gameplay mechanic in veilguard. who allowed this

[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✨