#three (i think) female romance options with multiple endings both bad and good

[lycorid]

Wow I love being introduced to a new game with a lesbian protagonist only for the video creator to hit me with “queer” every time he refers to her.

[somethinwickedthiswayrides]

If this is something you’d enjoy writing, maybe something where Sean, Charles, and Kieran all like the same person and they have something like a handshake and agree to all have a cordial agreement that whoever wins, there will be no hard feelings. Then it’s a war of asking for dances, dates, trying to get their attention

I’m not going to lie, when I first read this ask I had literally just woken up, rolled over to check my phone, hadn’t even put on my glasses yet, and I thought you were asking for them to have a giant dance battle for the readers affection. Made me laugh, then I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and put on my glasses and reread the thing and went, ‘oh, that makes so much more sense’

Sorry this took so long, literally about two and a half days of me slowly working on this. Due to that, this is a LONG one, over 1700 words. So please fasten your seatbelts cause we are going for a ride!

Reader is implied female, but no pronouns (I think), so gender neutral?

(I know John and Abigail aren’t in his but this gif is just too cute!)

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Sean would be the first to notice that he has feelings for you.

He falls fast, but not really hard.

At least not at first.

He'd be the most obvious about it too, constant flirting, trying to get you to laugh.

Maybe cheekily asking for kisses.

But there would be times where the two of you would be swapping stories about your pasts, or about family, or anything in particular.

The longer he hangs around you the more he wants you on his arm, to show you off to the world.

The more he truly wants you to be his.

Charles would be the next to realize, though not too far behind Sean.

He's a bit slower to fall, but falls at a moderate pace.

Wouldn't be too obvious in his flirting, small compliments and maybe some pretty feathers he would braid into your hair.

Your kind and gentle nature when he first met you draws him in, and over time his feelings became more obvious to him.

That's when he saw your fire, you could handle yourself, but you weren't prideful about it.

You didn't loudly boast your accomplishments, but you didn't let others slack off.

You were a good mix of sugar and spice.

And he found himself wanting a taste.

Kieran would be the last to figure out that he was falling for your charm.

A slow faller, but when he does, he falls HARD.

Your sweet nature and willingness to include him has his heart doing leaps.

Would be the least obvious in anything that could be flirtatious.

Small flowers and kind words mostly.

Would pay extra special attention to you horse, always making sure they were clean and well fed, ready for whenever you needed them.

Cause the quickest way to a person's heart is through their horse?

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Charles would be the first to notice that he had competition for your heart, not just Sean, but Kieran too.

Kieran would be next, seeing just how sweet and doting Charles is and just how hard Sean is trying to get you to laugh.

Sean... Lets face it, Sean isn't the sharpest plunger in the breadbox. It'd take him ages to figure out that he had competition.

Once he did though Sean pulled the two aside for some somewhat heated words.

"Tha two o' you need ta back off Y/n, they're mine!"

"Y/n is their own person, they can decide for themselves."

Words like these were exchanged between the three men.

Eventually they came to an agreement, it was your choice and no matter whoever you chose, there would be no hard feelings.

Until then however, it was a no-holds brawl.

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Sean's flirtatious behavior was suddenly cranked up to a fifteen.

Constant passes, asking for dances, asking for dates, ect.

Whatever he could think of to get the point across that he was interested in making you his partner.

On several occasions someone from camp decided to distract Sean for you to make a get-away, if they pick up on any discomfort.

Typically this was Arthur or Javier, and this was usually more cause they were sick of hearing him.

Would try showing off his strength or skill in shooting, but usually that just wound up with him embarrassing himself.

Charles will continue bringing you in little things he finds while out hunting, pretty feathers, shiny rocks, colorful shells, ect.

If you're the crafty type, he'll also gift you with animal claws/teeth/horns to turn into jewelry or maybe a couple really nice pelts to make into a blanket or clothing.

Will always ask you if you'd like to join him on a hunting trip.

If you don't know how to hunt, or use a bow, he'd be DELIGHTED to teach you.

Would drop little hints that he was interested.

Would mostly use his strength or hunting skills to show off. Mostly both by bringing in a big animal for Pearson.

Kieran would try and be a bit more bold with you, not really having much of a choice, being that he was rather scared of getting too far away from camp and being found by any O'Driscoll's.

He would more often try and initiate conversation, ask them about their day, if they were alright.

Gift's wouldn't be as varied as they would with Charles, still wild flowers, and the occasional pretty thing he found at the fishing spot.

Though once he did find a ring that some poor fish had got caught in it's throat. After he cleaned it off he gave it to you, turned out to be way too big, but it was the thought that counts.

Expect to be asked if you want to go fishing with him every time he heads out.

If you don't know how he'll gladly teach you.

On occasion Hosea or Javier will ask to join you, and you two will let them.

Kieran's a little bummed that his time alone with you now has a third wheel.

But, hey, Hosea's not bad company, he just hopes that Javier isn't also vying for you.

Would drop tiny little hints that he liked you, at least he thinks their tiny, he's usually sporting a massive blush.

Would try and show off with his knowledge about horses and fishing. It's about the only things he's confident in.

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As always, there's a betting pool going on. Literally everyone else in camp knows about the competition.

Charles and Kieran may be subtle, but Sean most certainly isn't.

He ended up asking Mary-Beth for a few idea's on how to romance you, letting it slip about having to duke it out with the other two men, and the poor girl, after filling his head with her romances, told everyone except you.

Some members of the camp don't care, but it's fun gossip.

Some are just hoping you don't end up with the loud mouth.

You on the other hand, well, you aren't stupid.

You picked up on the whole thing.

Sean lacks subtlety to the point where a blind, deaf, and stupid person could pick up on it.

If it wasn't for Kieran's blushing you might've thought he was just being nice.

Charles' gifts and compliments clued you into his intentions.

Of course, you do have multiple options, but which to take?

Any which way, hearts will be broken.

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If you end up picking Sean.

You tell him to meet you a little ways from camp, and that you have something important to tell him.

He picks up on your more serious tone, and automatically assumes the worst.

'Did a family member die?' 'Are you being threatened?' 'Are you going to tell him to take his flirting and go jump in a lake?'

These thoughts will take him by storm as he anxiously awaits you at the designated spot.

When you arrive and tell him that you know about the competition, he visibly swallows the lump forming in his throat, and is already preparing a thousand apologies.

When you tell him it's him you choose he brightens right back up.

Rushes to hold you in his arms like he's been dying to.

Will plant a bunch of little kisses on your cheeks before kissing you deeply.

If you pick Charles.

You'll tell him you know on your next hunting trip.

You're both resting in the shade of a tree when you tell him you know about the competition.

He'll freeze up and glance at you.

Internally he's panicking, externally he's still calm.

Lean over and give him a peck on the cheek and he'll slowly start grinning.

Wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you in for a gentle kiss.

If you pick Kieran.

You'll tell him on your next fishing trip.

You're both waiting for a bite on your rods when you tell him you know about the competition.

He flinches and flushes a bright red.

Starts stammering out an apology, just lean into him and smile up at him and he'll stop and stare at you.

When you tell him it's him you've chosen he'll grin like he just won the lottery.

Guide him in for a small kiss and he'll just melt.

On the other hand if you're crushing on one of the other camp members.

They're all understandably hurt, Sean the most, but will understand.

They're support your decision even though it hurts them.

Cause it's your decision.

Though Sean will say that if the person you've fallen for hurts you in any way, he'll make sure they can't walk.

However if this little competition has you feeling more like a prize to be won rather than a person.

You'll just explode.

You'll pull all three of them to the edge of camp and just blow up at them.

Venting all your frustrations about it before storming off back into camp, red faced and maybe a little teary eyed.

They are HEARTBROKEN, like this would hurt worse than rejection.

They had no idea that they were making you feel this way.

Kieran would be the first to apologize.

Coming to you after a couple hours.

He'll apologize for all three of them, telling you about how much they all adore you.

He'll explain how he fell for you, and what he likes about you, and that he never thought this would hurt you.

Charles would be the next to apologize.

He would wait til the next day, giving you ample time to calm down before approaching you.

He'll apologize for making you feel like you were something to be placed on a shelf.

Pretty to look at but not to be touched.

He'll explain how you make him feel, and what he likes.

He would also stress that even though they were competing for your heart, it was always your choice to make.

Sean would take the longest, waiting a full week before even coming near you again.

His chatter has next to ceased and everyone is wondering if he's sick.

When he finally does come up to apologize he's piss drunk.

Slurring out apology's and damn near crying.

Tell you how he never meant to make you feel worthless, and how much he adores you.

Hell, he could pinpoint the exact moment he fell for you, and will tell you as such.

At this point you are back to square one, who do you choose?

[directlywithlizzie]

Director’s Notebook: Miss Bennet - Christmas at Pemberley

Our patron saint of rom-coms, Jane Austen, depicted in an 1810 portrait by her sister, Cassandra.

Pride, Prejudice, and Christmas I was approached by Craig Willis about directing Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley sometime in early 2018 with the question: “Are you interested in directing a sequel to Pride and Prejudice by Lauren Gunderson for our holiday show? Jeanette will do the costumes.” Lauren Gunderson? Jane Austen? Holiday show? Jeanette? Check! Check! Check! Check! My response was an immediate and enthusiastic: “Hell yeah!”

Miss Bennet is my third Gunderson piece at OCT, having had the good fortune to direct Silent Sky and Revolutionists! in past seasons. I have nothing but positive feelings about both experiences. I truly enjoy Gunderson’s work, which in my experience is witty and thoughtful and melds well with my own comic sensibilities. I always enjoy directing for its various challenges regardless of the piece (I said “yes” to taking on Miss Bennet while in the dystopian throes of 1984). But there is a certain pleasure I get from working on something that I know will give people warm, fuzzy feelings and laughter. This is exactly what people (audiences, the cast, the production team) need in a time of year where it gets dark by 5:00 pm and we’re all slightly on edge with the various stresses of the upcoming holidays. Thus far, rehearsals have been a pleasure . . . getting to spend my evenings with a talented group of fun and charming people? Awesome! And just imagine how lovely that will be when they’re all decked out in gorgeous Regency attire!

Jane Austen: Her Blessed Lady of the Rom Com Miss Bennet is a rom-com in every sense of the word. While generally speaking, I don’t love this genre, there are good and bad examples of it and I have certainly directed my share of rom-coms. Miss Bennet happens to be a very good example of a modern rom-com. Here, Gunderson and her collaborator Margot Melcon have created story that satisfies the mechanics of the genre while capturing Jane Austen’s wit and style and offering a sensitive and nuanced exploration of friendship, family dynamics, and forgiveness. Yes, of course the lovers smooch in the end, but there is so much more to the story.

While rom-coms in their contemporary manifestation have a long history stretching back to the days of Classical Roman Comedy (or as I describe them to my Theatre History students: “A story of a dumb young girl and a dumb young boy who are too dumb to figure out how to get together without the intervention of their smarter and more interesting servants”) we owe a debt to Jane Austen and her keen eye for observing human foibles and revealing the humor in our struggles to understand each other.

The author of six full-length novels (two published posthumously), Austen was one of the first female authors to make a living as a writer. Her works have been cherished by generations of readers. In spite of her successes, the details of her biography are clouded with mystery and by an attempt on her family’s part to control her image after her death at the age of 41. For example, Jane had written over 3,000 letters to her sister Cassandra, but for some reason most of the letters were destroyed in 1843. What was Cassandra trying to hide? What scandal could be so offensive? We may never know. And much like with Shakespeare, we are left to speculate based on the works she left behind.

Austen, the daughter of an Anglican rector, lived between the worlds of the elite society of the English gentry and the lower classes. She was educated and afforded opportunities to express herself creatively to friends an family. But, her precarious financial situation limited the choice in suitors for herself and Cassandra. Neither sister married while both suffered bad luck in love. Cassandra’s fiance, Thomas Fowle, died of Yellow Fever and little is known about Jane’s relationship with Tom LeFroy other than it ended rather abruptly, likely upon the intervention of his family.

Given the rather disappointing romantic biographies of Jane and Cassandra, it seems logical she might retreat into her imagination and create unconventionally witty protagonists who, like the Austen sisters, possess little fortune, but unlike them, the Bennet and Dashwood sisters secure happy endings with loving (and often fabulously wealthy) husbands.

The 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice directed by Joe Wright.

Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1813, is likely Austen’s most enduring and beloved novel having inspired multiple film, television, and theatrical adaptations. The story centers around Lizzy Bennet, the smart and lively second eldest sister in a family with five daughters, and her rocky road towards love and marriage to the enigmatic and wealthy Mr. Darcy. The world of Longbourn and Pemberley are populated with a vivid cast of characters including the insufferably tedious Mr. Collins, the long-suffering anxious Mrs. Bennet, and the beautiful snobbish Caroline Bingley. As Lizzy and Darcy navigate the complications of love and courtship in the rigidly-structured British aristocracy, Austen exposes the challenges young women face to lead happy and fulfilling lives when so few options are available.

Miss Bennet is set two years after the end of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy and Mr. Darcy are happily married as are elder sister Jane and her beloved Charles Bingley. Considered unsuitable misfits by Caroline Bingley and the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the original story, Jane and Lizzy have triumphed over pomposity and become wives rich and handsome men. While Lizzy and Jane didn’t come to their happy endings easily, most of the objections to them were due to perceptions of their family. Mr. Bennet raised his daughters to have their own minds and do as they pleased without caring for what reputation such an unconventional upbringing might inspire among their peers. With little money to provide dowries for his daughters and their estate to be left to their male cousin, the Bennet sisters have little to bring to a marriage other than whatever charm they might possess. In the end, this is all well and good for Jane (considered the most beautiful and kind young woman in their community) and the confident and self-possessed Lizzy. But what of the three younger Bennet sisters?

As chronicled in the novel and further explored in Miss Bennet, Lydia’s flirtatious behavior sparks a scandal that may very well have destroyed what little good reputation the Bennet family had were it not for the secret intervention of Mr. Darcy. The other two sisters, Kitty and Mary, are among the least developed in the novel.

Jane Austen provides little information about middle sister, Mary, the romantic heroine of Miss Bennet. Unlike Lizzy and Jane who are both attractive in looks and personality, she is awkward and coarse. She is portrayed as bookish and dour, lacking in the social graces her older sisters possess. Younger sisters Lydia and Kitty are pretty and confident while Mary flounders in the middle, seemingly destined for the life of a spinster.

Gunderson and Melcon devise the plot for Miss Bennet based on a single line from Pride and Prejudice in which Lizzy writes home to her family: “Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me. You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas.” The stage is set, as it were, revisiting seven characters from the original novel including the happily wed Lizzy and Darcy, the soon-to-be parents Charles and Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Lady Catherine’s sickly and awkward daughter Anne de Bourgh. A new character, Arthur de Bourgh, distant cousin to Darcy, joins the family for Christmas after recently inheriting the de Bourgh estate of Rosings. Will this newcomer and Mary find love and happiness or will their romance be thwarted before it has a chance to bloom? I think we all know the answer to that question. What makes Miss Bennet such a delightful piece of theatre is not the inevitable rom-com happy ending, but the further development of the quirky characters and nuanced relationships we are familiar with and the more contemporary lens through which they are viewed.

I will explore the themes and characterizations in the next post! For now . . . I need to get ready for rehearsal!

[pregnantcornbread]

Mass Effect: Andromeda - Choices, romance, further questions.

So, I preordered Mass Effect: Andromeda to be delivered to me via courier on release day. Why? I absolutely loved Dragon Age: Inquisition, and loved BioWare’s style. The hard choices you have to make actually make a difference in the story, as do your personality and influence (not like TellTale’s Walking Dead series, who promote that your choices matter, when actually, they really don’t, the story continues regardless). In DA: I, I was a female hunter Lavellan, with not-so pointy ears (which made a difference how the other elves interacted with me), and a Ghilan'nain vallaslin (which endeared me to the halla herders). I originally romanced Blackwall, but when he left, I went full Cullen, a satisfying relationship filled with awkward coughs, innuendo, and drug withdrawal – and frequent visits to the ramparts for ‘alone time.’ I spent over 300 hours completing every side quest, relishing in new environments, killing everything bad in sight, trying not to whine when all the important choices somehow fell to me (including what is to be done with a man who is flinging goats at my stronghold) and taking down all the dragons. I never felt tired playing that game, the ‘fetch’ quests were fun due to the party banter (hint: if you have your romantic interest in your party, things get hilarious!), and the lovability of your party, well developed characters who don’t just rehash the same lines all the time (except in fight mode: “Solas needs help” is still ringing in my ears, after all this time). The DLC was quite well crafted as well (although The Descent is possibly my least favourite – why am I collecting mugs in the deep roads again? Trespasser had a great ending, and gave you another change to mix it up with your crew). So my expectations were quite high with ME: Andromeda.

After spending a quick five minutes deciding on a male or female Ryder, I chose the obvious. After having to play countless RPG’s as a man (Far Cry, Shadow of Mordor, Sleeping Dogs, GTA:V, Witcher), I chose a woman, because yeah, I am one. I spent an hour fixing my Sara to look like a human rather than whatever the preset was. My Sara, in the design part, sort of looked like a young Mary Steenburgen. Satisfied with my choice, I got on my merry way with the game. Upon waking up out of cryo, I saw everything that was wrong with my Sara’s face, the shading was shitty, the skin was terrible, her nose was way bigger, her eyes looked purple in some lights (instead of deep blue) and what was up with her goddamn eyebrows? But in some scenes, she actually looked like the Sara I had designed. Rather than spend another hour redesigning her face, I decided to roll with it and keep her. It was a good choice, because she looked like present day Mary Steenburgen with worse skin and a neck tattoo, and looked like she had seen some shit and could handle her shit, rather than some prim and proper pathfinder’s daughter who was only on the ark because her dad said so.

End game spoilers ensue, so please read at your own peril:

The following is split up into three parts: My choices in the game, romance, and post-game questions.

My game is at 111 hours and 98% completion. There were two quests that I did not finish before completing the game (excluding the medicine quest after Herbal Entrepeneurs, because it was bugged) – ‘Path of Hero’ and ‘Aid Apex’ (because I killed all the architects before I got the mission, and so had no option to scan them). Post game, these quests are no longer available to me.

My Choices:

Sometimes I would leave the game running for hours while deliberating on a choice. My first choice was whether or not to have a scientific outpost or a military outpost on the first world, Eos. As your advisors tell you, what you choose will reflect on how the initiative is seen in the eyes of possible intelligent life in the system, and will set the standard of what you intend to do in the system. I chose a scientific outpost – less “we’re coming to invade you”, more “we’re just here to live and learn.”

First murderer: I chose to release Nilken, because intent is not a crime, but I also didn’t speak to his wife outside the jail, so his secret was not exposed.

Vehn Terev: I gave him to the resistance, because interfering with Angaran justice wasn’t the right play.

Path of a Hero: I spoke to Kerri, but declined her offer, as I was just new to this pathfinding business, and didn’t feel that I could offer any nuggets of wisdom. Then I forgot about it and it failed the quest. Meh.

Reyes Vs Kelly: Both are terrible choices for leaders, but at the time, I wanted to see where a romance with Vidal would go, I played it out, and was disappointed, but in my do-over, I still let Kelly die, because she was quite evil. Even though Reyes was a tosser for cheating, he still seemed the better hand.

Angaran AI: I gave the Angaran the AI, because I didn’t feel right about keeping it for myself – and potentially angering the Angara.

Secret Water reservoir: I let the Angara merchant keep the water in reparations for the outcasts killing her brother, and to prevent the Nexus from becoming a thoroughly colonising body in Elaaden.

Drive Core: This one was a bit fuzzy for me, because I was also doing the quest with the AI saboteurs, and they were talking about Overload (I think), a program about a weaponised AI, and Drack was sending me emails about Overload Morda, so I thought that Morda was a weaponised AI. I ended up scanning Knight’s hideout a little too thoroughly, which made her people hostile to me, and she ended up being sniped on the Nexus. Alain vows revenge, which is unfortunate, because SAM made him walk again. After finishing a few more quests, I came back to Elaaden and I ended up trusting Morda with the drive core, because pissing off all the Krogan was not my idea of ‘peace among worlds.’ Also, after all the shit the Krogan have been through, the Krogan need a voice at the table – they didn’t even get their own pathfinder!

Avitus Rex: Rex became a pathfinder, because he was out finding Turians when the Turians weren’t.

Sarissa’s Fate: I couldn’t let Sarissa keep her position after all that dickery that got her Pathfinder killed. It may not have been the smart move, but although she was the best person for the job, a huntress without her squad’s support will not go far. Also, I don’t think I could have looked at Cora if I agreed to lie to everyone about it. If Tann (number eight in line) can be the director, why can’t Valderia?

Salarian doctor: Ehh, what a moral dropkick. He got jail.

Exaltation facility: I let it stand, for further help in the final mission.

Salarian Pathfinder: This one was heartbreaking. A female Salarian who is an actual trained pathfinder (would have been the only one in my crew), who is captured trying to rescue her people despite my commands to get the f out of there vs Drack’s dime a dozen Krogan scouts. I had planned on saving the Krogan scouts beforehand, and had Drack in my party, but while I was doing this mission, I was really torn. If I choose the Salarian, the Krogan won’t trust or respect me, but if I chose the scouts, I would get further support from the Krogan, with no real consequences on the Salarian side. Whatever I chose, I would be taking a side, with consequences down the line. I went with ‘Krogan lives matter,’ despite sacrificing the most badass Salarian, ever. I mean, every Salarian would want to mate with her just for the prestige!

Kill code: While it may come to bite me in DLC or sequels, I used it, just to get it out of the way. I don’t trust Primus to honour his deal in the future.

Ambassador: I loved Morda for the choice (just to spite Tann), and Bradley would have been a good second, but I ended up conceding power to the Moshae, I believe she was the smart choice. Although I had enough of a presence to unite the Angara and the Initiative, the Moshae would not be swayed by outside or inside influence. If I chose Hayjer, the Krogan would hate me, as much as “Krogan lives matter,” Morda would only act in favour of the Krogan and Clan Nackmor, and possibly make a heated attack against the Salarians/Turians in retaliation for the genophage, and Bradley, well, I could be accused of being specist.    

  Romance:

This is where I think the game could use improvements. It is pretty disappointing if you are FemRyder or a MaleRyder who doesn’t romance Cora (the extreme effort put in this relationship compared to the minimal effort of the others is quite disappointing – they actually kiss properly and there’s thrusting!).

Look at those two humanoids realistically kissing!

The lack of dialogue choices means that relationships become boring and quickly. While in DA:I, the cut away sex scenes did hold a little to imagination, that fact that you could go and talk to your interest during long, arduous missions and sneak away for a little kiss cut scene helped keep your interest in them, and having them in your party was always a hilarious time (“Keep your eyes off the Inquistor’s behind!”). While playing the game, you get a sense of your SO and your squadmates, their endearing and not-so endearing traits, it almost felt like they’re almost real people. DA:I is a well-fleshed out, well-written RPG, and the relationships are defining trait of this game – I’m sure that if all there was to do was going around killing things, I probably wouldn’t care. Instead, you help Cullen get off his lyrium addiction, let Iron Bull teach you your umm… limits, hunt around trying to find the perfect gift for Sera (much to the utter dismay of your compatriots), read terrible poetry to Cassandra, strong-arm a fop for Dorian’s pendant, save a spirit with Solas, challenge Josephine’s fiancée to a duel, save Leliana from spy assassins, and want to give Blackwall the coward another chance.  

The last major RPG I played that had multiple romance options was Fallout 4, and I romanced MacCready, Cait, Piper (just to shut her up – every time I’d talk to her, she’d want something more - ehhhhgghh), Danse and Curie (to also shut her up). Having one romance option in FO4 became too tedious, the only thing that changes is their scripted dialogue when they wake up next to you, so I romanced others to see what they said – because I honestly didn’t care about romance in that game because it was so flat.

Here’s who I romanced in ME:A (usually by flirting with everyone and then seeing what happens):

Liam – I started off flirting with Liam because he seemed interesting, until he quickly didn’t. His dialogue doesn’t change. You can’t really flirt with him in between missions after you’ve had a one night stand, and he’s so boring, I’d rather eject myself out of an escape pod than deal with him. If you go the whole game with Liam, he makes you a jump pack, but is it really worth it for being bored to death?

Vidal – I quite liked having someone off the ship to avoid a HR nightmare, but it turns out that after you become exclusive and dance with Reyes, that’s it – that’s your big romantic scene. Reyes becomes a chatterbox of nothing after that.

Jaal – Jaal is interesting, and unknown, and kind of reminds you of a perfect, dreamy boyfriend who is too in touch with their feelings, and you stay with them because you don’t want to deal with the fallout if you break up with them, because they’ll probably kill themself. Rocking a sexy, deep voice, I was almost convinced to be in a relationship with him, if not for Jaal’s confusing switch between Vulcan logic and hopeless romantic during the course of a conversation. Jaal is a warm space Mufasa, and will tell you what you want to hear, but his sex scene kinda sucked. Although the post coitus (?) debrief with Lexi is quite hilarious.

Vetra – I’m not sure if I didn’t flirt enough with Vetra, or if she didn’t want to be with me because I told Sid off – a lot, but perhaps it was never meant to be. My codex reads that Vetra hopes that we can be friends, so perhaps admonishing Sid worked against me.

Suvi – I didn’t flirt with her at the beginning, and I decided against a relationship with Suvi because her sex scene was awkward/awful.

Which leads to my commitment for the game:

Peebee is the one with the purple jacket… not young Sarah Paulson rocking the undercut…

Peebee – Peebee is a thorn in your arse from the moment she joins your crew. Rem-tech this, remnant structures that. Tight-lipped, evasive, and a motor-mouth, she’s a bit like Sera from DA:I, but a bit more grown up. She has limited long-range fighting skills, so bringing her to anything bigger than a small raider camp firefight is pointless. She insults Vetra, Liam, and Cora, but has some quite funny conversations with Jaal (interspecies breeding) and Drack (about their age). Liam and Cora, even during the final stages of the game, relentlessly question her loyalty. I chose Peebee because her storyline was the most interesting, as opposed to other potentials (Liam – “Hey, I’m a boring human too.” Jaal – “I’m an alien, meet my mothers, I moisturise my neck flaps.” Vidal – bad boy Han Solo). I turned down Peebee’s offer of casual sex, because at the time I didn’t want anything to do with her, so I told her that I’d want more to get her to leave me alone, and I didn’t want a Liam thing – where you have a one night stand once and then all of a sudden they want you to commit. But I kept flirting with her, regardless, recycling the “I like it when you flirt” dialogue whenever I got on the ship. I couldn’t do that with Liam, Jaal, or Reyes. Turns out, the more I learned about Peebee, through doing her loyalty missions, the more endeared I became towards her. From being tight-lipped and evasive to slowly trickling out interesting snippets – like her relationship with Kalinda, and her rem-tech project, she started to grow on me as I realised that she was not like the others, who give you all the information up front and you spend the rest of the game cycling through dialogue that you first heard 70 hours ago, with minor changes mirroring your progression in the story. You have to prove to her that you’re trustworthy. If you do commit to a relationship with her, and reciprocate her trust - it leads to a pretty explicit sex scene – complete with Asari melding. While the mechanics of the scene are quite awkward with FemRyder’s weird facial features – she looks like she’s super confused and not enjoying it all – trusting Peebee enough not to leave you brain dead during the first time she has melded with someone, and having Peebee trust you enough to meld with you makes the relationship all that more worthwhile. While I’m all for space boinking, Peebee’s relationship was less about the physicality of the act of boinking, and more about the trust and emotional connection inherent in the relationship, which I felt was satisfying. Post-meld Peebee has some killer dialogue aboard the Nomad, inviting Cora over for a pyjama sleepover, faking extreme horniness to get Jaal to admit that he was faking being asleep, and at the end, when you ask her ‘what am I going to do with you?’ she offers to make you a list. But the relationship and closeness doesn’t really go anywhere near the level of a relationship that DA:I does, due to the stunted dialogue choices. Although, I hope I didn’t get Peebee pregnant.

Post-Game Mysteries:

The ending scenes kind of set up the unfinished issues for the DLC/sequels – Primus wanting to kettify everyone, exploring Meridian, understanding the Jaardan, finding all the other lost arks, how many more useless solar systems are around, etc. Some questions remain, though. Say if I find a way to fix Ellen Ryder, what could she add to the story, other than my mother being there? She may be able to assist with new gadgets for players who chose a biotic route, or will she just serve as a ‘bringing your romantic attachment home to mum’ trope? Should we care about Jian Garson’s death and the mysterious benefactor? You learn during the game that the Milky Way has been fucked over by the Reapers, but we can’t save them, should we care?

After finding out why Alec Ryder made Sara the Pathfinder, all I wanted to do was talk to Cora about it – she wasn’t “looked over” and the promotion was to protect Alec’s secrets (i.e. Ellen on board, Milky Way gone to shit). I felt like my number two deserved an explanation, rather than sullenly assisting the other untrained Pathfinders on the Nexus (who did nothing, by the way – go out and bloody Pathfind – it’s not that hard!). I noticed that after ‘Journey to Meridian,’ Cora seemed cold, and would barely speak to me. Perhaps she was disappointed in me choosing Peebee, or perhaps SAM leaked what I found out to Cora. Will I ever get the chance to tell Cora about it?  

During the pre-prologue descision making process, you get to choose if you want a Male Shepard, or a FemShep (your ME:3 save has no bearing over this game). I went with a FemShep, like my ME:3 counterpart. Did I hear Jennifer Hale during the game? No. Does it even make a difference? Unknown.

After leaving Meridan and coming back to talk to everyone, some questions remain. During the epilogue, you meet the new crew responsible for Meridian. After you come back, the Australian implores you to go and find the sprog (a baby). Every time I see Addison, I ask about the baby that was born on a spaceship flying away from the Kett, who I suggested the family settle on Eos (no way was I going to get that lady on the Nexus – she’d have hated it!), but when I’m in Prodromos, I can’t find the baby. If that baby has been stolen by the Kett, I swear – I will hurt Bradley!

Further questions: Will Lexi and Drack ever get together? Will Vetra find love? Will Peebee take Jaal’s offer to try Asari-Angaran reproduction? Will the Nomad ever get some tunes? Will Drack live to see great-grandfatherhood? Will Cora hook up with Scott? If I agreed to sign up for Jill’s insemination program, and Peebee was carrying my child, could I raise them as siblings? How would my FemRyder deal with being a father?

What would happen if the Jaardan came back to Meridian to check on their experiments? What happens if the scourge takes over Meridian? Have I screwed over all of humanity by settling them there?    

[elusianknight]

Can you recommend any good tv series, movies, games, books (anything) that has happy lesbians with happy endings? :>

Ooooh okay!I don't watch many movies, but one that comes to mind is Carol ( (2015) dir. Todd Haynes lmao). It has a happy ending, no one dies, it's Very Gay and honestly #aesthetic. Books: like, anything by Malinda Lo, she's a lesbian Asian YA author who writes great books! Ash is my favorite, it's like a lesbian retelling of Cinderella but I hesitate to reduce it to such simple terms. Huntress is a prequel to that in the same world but centuries before. She has another series called Adaptation but I haven't read it, but I'm sure it's good. Bi protag with a lady love interest I think?Wildthorn by Jane Eagland is also very good! Again I think it qualifies as YA but honestly it has rather dark themes. Takes place in Victorian England where our dear protag is wrongly thrown in an insane asylum. It is very gay, and ends very happily, much more so than you'd expect from such a dramatic, dark premise!Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon was fun to read, too. I'm a sucker for medieval fantasy of any kind so if it had lesbians, I'm frickin there. MC is a butch lady who masquerades as a dude and ends up as a princess's bodyguard. They fall in love and there is drama. But an ultimately happy end! Not YA, by the way. Also, the writing and world building is not the best, but even a writing snob like me really enjoyed it. The Thousand Names is another amazing book! It is the first book of the Shadow Campaigns series, and of the two protags, one of them is a (freaking delightful) lesbian named Winter Ihernglass (what a cool name, right?). It's an incredibly well-written fantasy setting with rich worldbuilding, magic, and also guns... It's amazing. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, through fierce battles as well as politics. The other main character is also very likable. Also, though the series hasn't ended yet, Winter has had like 783 Prime Death Opportunities™ and yet she's still alive and well, so like, yay for (dare I say it?) plot armor. Lesbians don't get that very often lol.Games: Dragon Age is what first comes to mind here. Fun little story: I bought DA2 when I was like 13 or so and my baby gay self was absolutely in love with the adorable bi elf Merrill, but yanno... I was still Totally Straight™. Anyway, don't start with the second game in the series, because nothing will make any goddamn sense. Start with...Dragon Age: Origins- the first of the Dragon Age games, and personally my favorite. In all three games, you make your own player character however you like, and there are multiple romance options. In DAO, your female romance option as a lady is Leliana, a charming bisexual bard who is just A+ and my favorite character of the whole damn series. The game itself is great and while you CAN net yourself a tragic ending, you have to do very specific things to get there--as in, a happy ending is VERY achievable. I have only ever gotten some ultra gay happily ever afters. Dragon Age 2 has two awesome bi ladies to romance (the aforementioned Merrill and the amazing pirate queen Isabela). People rag on the game a lot but like, don't worry, it's not as bad as anyone says it is. It has its flaws, but it tells a good story with great characters. Dragon Age Inquisition is the latest installment of the series and has, as your available female romance options as a female main character, a brilliant bi lady named Josephine who is your amazingly skilled chief diplomat, and a delightful lesbian named Sera who I love with all my little gay heart tbh. This game has a LOT to do in it, and as for the endings, some Drama™ happens but as for your relationship, they will remain happily together. The lady main character and Sera even get... gasp... MARRIED. Yup, that's right, you get a Big Lesbian Wedding. It's fucking awesome. Also, Sera ends up with a cute girlfriend if you're not in a relationship with her so like... The lesbians are always happy. And Josephine's romance is really cute! I know I mentioned Sera more bc I've romanced her more, but seriously Josie is like a Disney princess. You literally participate in a duel to win her affections until she stops you mid duel because she's afraid of her love getting hurt. It's so fluffy and cute omg.If you've been following me tho, all that dragon age stuff is probably old news lmao. So here are some more games!Mass Effect: another Bioware game, your main character can be gay! Though there is a lot of Dramu and World Shattering Stuff and the ending is not exactly happy, so I can't really add it to the list. But you can be gay and happy throughout the series. It's just hard to get a good ending, and even the happiest ending is ambiguous. Dragon's Dogma: this is one of my favorite games ever. It's so much fun, another medieval ish fantasy RPG, but the gameplay is amazing. There's a romance system that isn't very in depth, but still relevant to the story, and there are no restrictions based on gender, so you can be a gallant lady knight and rescue the damsel in distress and also smooch her if you're so inclined. The whole game has about 0 differences based on gender do honestly that's pretty cool. As for endings, you can get a happy ending with your character and their love interest. You can also get some not-so-happy endings but it's all based on player choice.Life is Strange is another game whose ending isn't all that happy, but the two main characters, based on player choice, can be in a relationship (implied enough that it IS canon) and both live. There is a shit ton of drama and trigger warnings tho. But really it is an amazing game.In the same vein of Dragon's Dogma, there's Skyrim, where like you can kinda do whatever you want in the game, and one of those things is that you can marry characters regardless of gender. There are some characters who you can't marry because of plot or whatever (in Dragon's Dogma there are only... 3 characters you can't romance iirc whereas there are more in Skyrim) but yeah, you can still be a big ol lesbian. I have never finished Skyrim bc like, again, you kinda just do whatever you want, but the ending is kinda inconsequential in that you can keep doing whatever you want after the main plot is over. So yeah, never ending lesbians. Sweet.I should honestly be able to think of more examples but for the moment I'm having trouble D: @soothinghymn @orlesianwardens what gay games am I forgetting hereTV Shows: I'm not a big TV show watcher here, but there are some good shows w lesbians. Steven Universe comes to mind. Yes it's a kids show, but it is a damn good one. There's drama but it's also very feel-good, and one of the characters is literally a lesbian mad up of two smaller lesbians who are madly in love with each other. Like, shit, that's just awesome.I'm a dork so I'll also give you anime recs, so in that regard I'd recommend Shuumatsu no Izetta/Izetta the Last Witch. It's kind of a spoiler that they get a happy ending, but hey, whatever, they do. The main couple doesn't kiss or anything but it is HEAVILY IMPLIED and there are no other love interests for the characters and they share an amazing bond and just love each other so much, it's great. The show is sliiiightly violent and takes place in like an AU of WW2 which is weird (one of the characters, Izetta, is a witch, so it's like an ~alternate history~ situation where a witch is involved in the war) but the show is still very enjoyable, great soundtrack too.Madoka Magica is kinda iffy, bc while it's my favorite anime of all freakin time, the show has a bittersweet ending. It is relatively happy? And kinda sad? The show is filled with tragedy, but I guess that's kinda the point. And then the follow-up movie is more despair, so... yeah, probably doesn't count as happy.A notable mention is Yuri On Ice, also. It doesn't involve lesbians, but the main couple is gay and they ultimately have a happy ending. There's some inevitable drama but the show is about ice-skating, so while it may seem like the world is sometimes ending, everything turns out okay in the end and no one, like, dies or anything.Anyway, I can't think of much else at the moment, but feel free to ask for more! Maybe I'll be able to come up with more examples later lol.