#trying to figure out her design balancing 'needs to be at least somewhat less impractical for the type of traveling + fighting she'll be

[musicat9]

continuing with my octopath ocs, may i introduce the lady Tiphania Rosenholm, a young noblewoman who's definitely legitimately interested in furthering her studies as a budding apothecary and not just using that as an excuse to avoid and delay her arranged marriage

[maskydoolovesmasseffect]

Mass Effect Tag

Wellio, I’ve been tagged by @berryshiara. Passing this on to @grummel83

Gunna answer my questions now. Y’all feel free to tell me what you think of these answers. ​

I’m a fan since: 2008. I was just out of high school and still not over KoTOR. I was fresh in the army and got to talking to some other dude fresh to the army about video games. He asked me if I played Mass Effect. I said no. By the next day I just about totally forgot about him, then he suddenly appeared out of nowhere sat in front of me in the chow hall and pulled a copy of ME1 for Xbox 360 out his pocket like he was a magician doing a magic trick (ACU pockets are huge.)

Anyway turns out that guy was a romance option and I must have picked the right dialogue options. I’m still with him, too.

Favorite game of the series:

Mass Effect 2. It seemed like that’s the one where choices mattered most and you really got to know your squaddies. Also MAJOR gameplay improvements over the first game. And that game gave me the most freedom to do basically whatever I wanted and wasnt afraid to give me consequences for it.

MShep or FShep:

FShep. Nothing against MShep, but for me the real Shep is FShep. Can’t beat Jennifer Hale’s voice. 

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer:

Colonist. I like having the background of knowing just how dangerous the galaxy can be and how the Alliance can’t be everywhere at once so sometimes you need to manage your best on your own.

Biotics or Tech:

Both.

Paragon or Renegade:

Paragon, mostly. I tried being renegade but some of the actions are just so pointlessly dickish, or even outright unhinged in a way that would make it impossible to believe the Alliance would ever promote Shepard as an officer or even keep her in the Alliance at all, especially in the first game.

That said, there are times where a renegade action is more expedient and practical than a paragon one, like in 2 when you stab a dude in the back to prevent him from repairing an enemy gunship, so even with a paragon playthrough, my Shepard will have no issues taking that opportunity. She’s already seconds away from betraying all those guys anyway.  

Paragon in treatment of others, renegade in combat pragmatism.

Favorite Class:

I play as infiltrator and vanguard.

Infiltrator is great for using a sniping and opening loot, and then for going invisible, and if I remember right AI hacking too. That’s cool and I wish there were more genuine opportunities for stealth.

Nowadays I play as Vanguard in my playthroughs mainly just so my Shepard can be canonically biotic for story reasons. From 2 on when looting no longer needs a special skill and I get to charge around the map. I don’t really care much about using biotics (that’s what the squadies are for) but the movement is super useful (when Shepard actually does the thing instead of just standing out in the open soaking up bullets until the ability decides to actually work.)

Favorite Companion:

Garrus. I like to set him up in sniper positions. When he actually STAYS where I put him instead of running straight up to enemies to try to snipe them at point blank, he’s great.

Also his quips in 2 on are pretty entertaining.

Least Favorite Companion:

Garrus, Oh my god. Go back to the sniper position where I put you. Leave tanking to krogan; you do not have the HP for this.

Also Kaidan in ME1. He can not shoot to save his life - literally.  

My Squad Selection:

For all ME1 playthroughs after my first one, Ashley and Kaidan, just of their comments and because... well... I only have so much time with them.

Apart from that I mainly just pick my team based on who’s likely to have the most interesting commentary on whatever the mission happens to be, squad balance be damned. 

Favorite In-Game Romance:

Garrus X Shepard is my favorite love story. They are just so adorable together and always supportive even when they disagree.

But my cannon romance is Kaidan X Shepard for the drama and angst.

Favorite NPC:

In ME1 there’s this random Turian on Noveria who randomly has like a New York accent and I absolutely adore him. He plays basically no part in the story other than some minor information but he’s just so pleasant to speak to.

“If you need anything, I’ll be here.”

Favorite Antagonist:

Morinth, the Ardat-Yakshi daughter of Samara. Yes, she’s a murderous vampire who will absolutely kill you given the chance... but like, it’s a medical condition. And I really can’t help but feel for ardat-yakshi in general when their only options are to spend their whole lives on the run from justicars out to execute them, or waste their entire 1000 year lifespan imprisoned in a monetary unable to experience the world at all. Yeah, Morinth is evil, but Ardat-Yakshi don’t exactly have a good deal.

Favorite Loyalty Mission:

Grunt’s loyalty mission is the best. I get to help my baby boy, reunite with Wrex, enjoy krogan society being fleshed out, have a kickass battle against a thresher maw, and get a breeding request. It’s nice to have a quest that isn’t about family drama and genuinely gets a happy end.

Favorite Mission:

Despite Citadel DLC requiring everyone to have a deathgrip on an idiot ball, and also basically gloss over some really dark stuff, the whole clone storyline with the whole crew is an absolute ride all the way though, with lots of interesting and unique scenarios, a ton of replay-value, and funny party banter that feels like it came straight out of a Marvel movie.

Favorite DLC:

Again, Citadel DLC. Not only did it come with the story above, it also had all those interactions with past and present crewmates, including a memorial for Thane (finally!), a cool apartment to hang out in, a party, an arcade, and an awesome battle arena. It really added a TON. Also, it’s nice to see Bioware figure out that DLC needs characters - I’m remembering back in the DLC to ME 1 the party never had a single thing to say, no matter what was going on. The fun and wacky Citadel DLC is a far cry from the serious and somewhat dark space opera Mass Effect started as, but as the final DLC capping off the end of the series, it gets to do a silly victory lap (and get the taste of the ending out of our mouths.)

Control, Synthesis, Or Destroy:

No.

Favorite Weapon:

Sniper rifles, whatever I have that’s fast and has high damage output. Also that one pistol that shoots tiny energy grenades. Pew pew.

Yeah I wasn’t really big into the weapons so much. I’m here to get my story on. 

Favorite Place:

The presidium on the Citadel. It bothered me a lot when I couldn’t explore it in the second game. I know it would have been terribly impractical, but as the presidium is just a huge ring, it would have been cool to be able to explore the whole thing, going past all the little park areas, shops, monuments and so on until you loop aaaaall the way back around to where you started. Like, how cool would it be if the ring had a running track? Maybe C-sec  academy trainees would be spotted jogging together along it in formation. And can you imagine grabbing a coffee (I was going to make up a space-related name for Starbucks but it’s already STARbucks...) and taking a nice stroll along the water before finding a nice bench to alien-watch from? Other locations in the game are like great places to explore and do gameplay stuff, but the presidium seems like a nice place to just be.

Favorite Quote:

"Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." - Javik.

This is such a fucking raw damn line. It makes me think a lot about Cerberus. When ME3 wasn’t out yet, I thought maybe the plan was Shepard would at some point choose a side, Alliance for paragons and Cerberus for renegades. It would have been so cool to have morality not merely be good vs evil, but idealism vs that ruthless calculus Garrus mentioned. How fucking raw would it be if Cerberus wasn’t just generically evil for no reason and suddenly indoctrinated but really were embodying that ruthless calculus, determined to defeat the reapers at any and all cost. Maybe Cerberus actions’ were more likely to do terrible things for the sake of ultimate victory, doing whatever it took, whereas the Alliance would be less willing to make the terrible choices and ultimately be less likely to succeed.

Now obviously, that’s not what happened, as it would have required Bioware to basically make two entirely separate games. But that line from Javik makes me think of that concept, and a universe where like Dragon Age party members can approve or disapprove of actions not merely as good or evil but along the lines of their personal values. I think Javik would sit at victory at all cost.

Also that one mission in 2 where some random NPC catches Shepard sneaking around and is all like ‘what are you doing here?’ and Shepard is like ‘What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Get out here before it blows!’ and the guy’s freaking out like WTF and she says ‘RUN!’ then laughs to herself as he flees from an imaginary bomb. Shep you troll. 

The thing I like the least about the entire franchise:

The misogyny and objectification that crept its way in, epically from the second game on. Really didn’t like those ass-shot camera angles, or female characters being slut-shamed in-universe for the clothes the designers made them wear. Yikes. 

But the biggest yikes for me in that regard is actually the reveal in 3 that the prothians guided asari development. That was fine and all, but the part that bothered me was the characters commenting “ooooh, so that’s why asari are so advanced,” as it was ever any kind of mystery before that exact moment. For one thing, asari aren’t really shown as being more advanced than anyone else, apart from having discovered the citadel first, and for second, why wouldn’t asari be advanced? All the way from ME1 it’s established that 1: Asari live for a really long time, and 2: can instant transmit information directly from brain to brain. That means they have long lifetime in which to accumulate knowledge and experience, and also can easily spread and preserve that knowledge without even the need for books. That ALONE should put them ahead. And even with all that, they only barely beat the salarians to discovering the Citadel first. But no one asks for an explanation for why salarians, who live only a few decades and can’t do mental data-transfer, are so advanced. No, only the success of the all-women race needs explaining. It was just one moment but it still bugs me. 

Also the general loss of realism after the second game. First game everyone gets armor, including full-face helmets automatically on in environments that need it. After that, people can apparently just wander the battlefield half-naked and even somehow survive in a total vacuum if they just put a plastic cup (that isn’t even connected to anything) over their mouth and nose. In the first game they at least made up some reasonable-sounding science fiction explanation for things, but after that it’s like F-it everything is just space magic now. 

Oh, and those repetitive unlocking stuff minigames. I use a mod to just skip those. 

[fleur-de-leap]

Too Old For This

Summary: Double date time! FlashFlood (Oleda x Flash) and ArcticBat ( @duchess-winter‘s oc Anya x Batman) going to a club to get some info. This is longer than I’m used to, and could have been a LOT longer, but I was working on it in spurts over a few days and got kinda tired of it so...yeah

Also, outfits were inspired by this cool shop on Etsy, CoquetryClothing!

“I have...so many regrets right now.” Bruce grumbled, following his fellow League Members into the loud building they’d likely spend at least a few hours within. He did not want to be here at all, wanted nothing to do with this… but they’re trying to get information on a suspect who is known to frequent this location, and instead of using his typical tactics, he was…. Convinced, to try and blend in a little more. 

Which is how he found himself in a club full of people younger than himself, in admittedly less clothing, let alone armor, than felt comfortable. Adjusting the borderline mesh shirt he was wearing, the only saving graces being that it was long sleeve, black, and he had been allowed to wear a blank tank top underneath that was designed with a hood, as strange as the design choice was. Taking a small step to the side to let the others in as he took in his surroundings, trying to adjust to the volume and flashing lights, he kept his head down some with the hood up in attempts to hide his face. While they weren’t in Gotham anymore, he was still recognizable and was trying to blend in somewhat. 

Anya came in after him, a small giggle coming from her that Bruce still picked up on despite everything else, feeling some of the tension leave his muscles. “It’s not that bad. Might even do you some good, to do some recon amongst the people instead of from the shadows.” She retorted to his earlier complaint, gently resting a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him. 

At the very least, she succeeded in distracting him. She looked absolutely wonderful tonight, even if it wasn’t her typical clothing. A black crop top with a small window and silver trim, and a silver high-low skirt that had so much glitter that it caught every small shift… Bruce wasn’t oblivious to the fact she had worn black as an homage to him and his Batsuit. It was flattering. 

However, his admiration of how gorgeous she was was interrupted by Wally and Daniella following in behind them, Wally having the guts to put an arm around Bruce’s neck and giving him a dazzling grin that could rival his own when he is posing for pictures. “Relaaax, it’ll be fine! Might help you loosen up some too.” He teased, but was quick to let go in favor of spreading his arms out and upward, clearly ‘at home’ here. The music was fast paced, and seemed just his style. Speaking of his style, apparently it doesn’t include ‘subtlety’, based on the fact he’s wearing a black shirt with blue and yellow lightning streaking across it that practically glowed under the club’s lights. Pairing that with a pair of black jeans and red sneakers, anyone with a lick of sense would be able to figure out who he was. 

Daniella rolled her eyes but beamed happily as she followed Wally, seeming just as in her element as him. “Oh, be nice Wally.” She scolded playfully, even lightly slapping his arm. She didn’t really seem to understand subtlety either, however she seemed to get the memo about color coordinating to some degree. She had on a red cropped hoodie with a shimmery gold interior, an obvious homage to Wally’s Flash costume. She had on dark red shorts but with a skirt that matched Wally’s shirt, black with blue and yellow lightning. And heels that could probably kill a man with one good kick, but other than that they seemed impractical. She seemed to know what she was doing, though. 

“While it’s great that we get to check out someplace we can actually enjoy, we’re still on a mission. Keep an eye out for our thief, or any information on him we can get.” She reminded, glancing around the room but already swaying to the music. She was absolutely used to this. 

“I call checking the dance floor!” Wally shouted over the music, already rushing off towards it as quickly as he could without his superspeed. While he may not be the most mature member of the League, he was thankfully good about not using his powers when not in his suit. 

“I’m not letting you have all the fun!” Daniella called after recovering from her surprise, laughing and chasing after him with surprising ease. Batman had to admire women and their ability to maintain their balance on the tips of their toes like that…

Anya was still by his side though, clearly amused by the younger heroes’ antics. “Well Bruce, where do you want to start? Trying to sneak your way to VIP?” She suggested, mimicking him in his survey of the room while avoiding having anyone bump into them by keeping against a wall for now. 

“Honestly, I might go check the bar first. Bartenders pick up more information than you might expect with how busy they are… And I can already tell I’m going to need a drink to survive the night.” He grumbled, giving her hand a small squeeze before letting go and heading that way. Anya was free to do as she pleased, of course, as he had no intention of dragging her around with him. 

Anya took advantage of this freedom by going to do as she had suggested, trying to see if she could flirt some information out of the VIP section about their target. While she may not be happy to be somewhere so… busy, she knew that it was necessary, and thus was able to find the energy to power through. Figuratively, of course. 

After making sure she was at least decently covered, she went up to the guards of the VIP section, batting her eyelashes and trying to play the ‘innocent’ card. 

“Excuse me… I’m trying to find someone, and I was hoping you could help me…” She started, not intimidated in the slightest by the men. Without giving them time to respond, she continued to describe their target. “About yay tall, blonde, brown eyes?” She tried, giving them a hopeful look. 

However, the guards shook their head and asked her to please leave, or present a VIP pass. Well… that was a bust, for now at least. She can try again a bit later, and keep an eye on the area. For now she wandered around some, keeping nearby. She spotted a flash of Wally’s red hair, making her snicker softly. Who knew he could dance?

Wally and Dani had worked their way towards the center of the dance floor, moving with ease amongst the sea of bodies, blending in with the crowd if you weren’t looking specifically for them. Their dancing styles were different, Wally’s focusing on foot work while Dani’s used her whole body, but they worked so well together. It made sense why they gravitated towards each other. Thankfully, they were still on task despite having the time of their lives. Wally was peeking over the top of the crowd and occasionally bent down near someone to ask if they had seen his friend, claiming to have lost track of him, using the same description that Anya had. Dani had to rely more on the asking aspect, smoothly working her way through the crowd as she searched for her ‘friend’, but the two of them were never more than a few people apart. Always within sight of each other. Good. They could keep each other out of trouble. 

So Anya took to looking for Bruce, hoping he was making better progress than they were. He was sitting at the bar already, drink in hand but just… staring at it. That’s not a good sign… Time to see why Bruce was brooding this time. 

Weaving her way through the people of various levels of intoxication, she took a seat on the empty stool next to Bruce, successfully snapping him out of his train of thought. 

“Are you alright?” She asked him softly, leaning closer to make sure he heard nonetheless. Getting a nod in response, she furrowed her eyebrows skeptically before mimicking the famous “Bruce Brood.” Or at least… that’s what she calls it in her head. The expression he makes when he’s thinking really hard about something that’s bothering him, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. Furrowed brows and a deep frown that bordered on a pout, hunched shoulders and arms crossed on the table. 

Feeling his shoulders shaking slightly before even realizing he was chuckling, Bruce shook his head in amusement with a small smirk. “I’m fine, honest. Just wondering how it seems like no one here recognizes our thief… it’s frustrating.” He admitted, his calmer expression replaced by the Bruce Brood again. 

Anya let her own expression relax to her natural thoughtful expression. “Perhaps the lighting makes it harder… or they don’t pay attention to appearances, and focus on names or actions?” She suggested, looking to him to see if he thought it was possible or not. 

“Maybe… but in this kind of place, you’d think people would pay attention to appearances. And he frequents here… Our best option might be to try and wait for him to show up tonight, since he should… but I was hoping to get more information about him like this. Gossip, background, hobbies, interests, anything…” 

“Bruce, please… relax. We’re doing everything we can, but we always manage in the end. It’ll turn out ok. I don’t want you to go stressing yourself grey tonight.” 

The teasing earned her a snort of amusement and another head shake before Bruce took a big sip of whatever drink he had, looking at the glass for a moment before turning his attention to her. “Do you want anything?” 

Anya hummed in thought before nodding. A drink sounds good right about now, and then he won’t be drinking alone. When they flagged down the bartender, she ordered her drink just barely over the volume of the music. He seemed to get it however, nodding and set to putting it together for her. 

“Any idea if Wally and Daniella are having better luck than us?” Bruce asked after a moment, quirking an eyebrow as he focused on her again, taking another sip of his drink. He plans on making it last the entire night, because he doesn’t need to go getting himself drunk while on a mission. 

“Can’t tell. They’re having fun for sure, absolutely surrounded. I’m pretty sure they’re still on task, just enjoying it a little more than we have been.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Relax, Bruce. Let them have their fun. We’re still at the stage of the mission where it’s ok for them, and you know as well as I do that they can step up when they have to. They’re in their element, we can’t expect them to be completely serious. Plus that would just draw attention to them.”

“I know, I know…”

Anya laughed softly in amusement, leaning into his side for a moment. It was a small, brief sign of affection. But it was plenty enough for them right now, since they were out in public. 

After a moment of consideration, Anya got an idea that just might make tonight a little more bearable for the two of them. 

“How about a little deal?”

“A deal…?”

“Once we get done with this mission, we both go back to your place, and have our version of this. Our music, our pace.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow, but just the thought of it released some tension from his muscles. Giving her an affectionate smile reserved just for her and finishing his drink much sooner than anticipated, he gave a definitive nod. 

“Deal.”