Mass Eff Fan Blag @massfanix - Tumblr Blog

Posts

minamoreh

happy n7!

gregemann

oh shepardcommander we tripped and fell there is no other reason we are sitting like this

catsharky

The Joker comic I talked about is finally here!

I can't lie, I was pretty disappointed with how the reunion with Joker went in ME2. Out of all the characters, his should have been the most emotionally impactful (he saw Shepard die!!) yet all we got was "Sup?" as though Joker wouldn't have spent the 2 years dealing with insane survivor's guilt. Well to that I say pthhbt. My Shepard would have been beside herself seeing him again for the first time, so he's getting hugged whether he likes it or not.

Also while this is technically part of my ongoing Shakarian comic, please feel free to interpret this as romantic as well as platonic.

Part 1 • Previous Part • Interim Comic 2

sky-scribbles

Shepard holds a funeral for her clone.

The paperwork is almost harder than the ceremony. Turns out it’s tricky to register the death of someone whose birth - creation? Decanting-from-vat? - was never recorded to begin with. Then there’s some kind of question about whether the clone needs to be retroactively registered as a Council space citizen to have her death put on the official record, and if so, whether she counts as a member of the Systems Alliance or as an ‘undocumented alien’. Which is pretty fucking ironic, considering how utterly she’d have loathed having the word alien attached to her.

And once Shepard’s ground her teeth through a dozen calls and bludgeoned through the first layer of formwork - a death certificate still needs a name.

‘I have to put something,’ she says. She’s aware that her voice is ragged, and that Kaidan is watching her as he brews her fourth coffee of the evening with concern heavy on his face. She must look barely alive, up near midnight in a kitchen that was Anderson’s and still feels nothing like hers, hair falling forward, eyes shadowed grey. Datapads and empty mugs strewn around her. Fine. She’s felt barely alive ever since she woke up in a Cerberus lab.

‘You could choose one for her,’ Kaidan says gently. A lot of people speak to her gently, these days.

‘She’d hate that. A name makes you individual. She didn’t want to be an individual; she wanted to be me.’

pinnithin

been playing a lot of mass effect recently and constantly amazed at shepard’s ability to keep her bearing. these guys just say whatever and she just has to stand there.

anyway i saw this post tagged as mass effect elevator dialogue and had to draw it

#dear lord

zeroslashsix

The “Shepard Effect” has gotten so much funnier to me as I replay Mass Effect. The thing where all Shep’s squadmates end up flying the nest and becoming big important players in their own spheres? Like the random mercenary Shep brought along to hunt Saren ended up leading his entire species, that random Quarian kiddo on her Pilgrimage ends up as her species ambassador, the Virmire survivor becomes the next human Specter, etc. It’s the effect Shepard just has on the people around them that launches their careers/destinies… except it doesn’t apply to Shepard themself. I get the marketing plan of “Commander Shepard” being the only title so they’re more recognizeable to a gamer audience, but from a military perspective it is so fucking funny that Commander Shepard doesn’t get promoted once. Like not even posthumously, not even after saving the Citadel and killing Reapers left and right, all the while their squadmates are jumping from lieutenant to major, kid to ambassador, professor to Shadow Broker. Garrus isn’t even attached to any government body, and he still goes from C-Sec officer to Omega vigilante to Reaper expert(?) in the turian Hierarchy. It’s unclear what his official position is in the third game, but we know he gets a salute from a Hierarchy general.

And here’s Shepard cruising through, still a Commander because obviously they haven’t done a single thing worthy of promotion since the first game. No, it’s fine, they’ll fix everything for you and keep killing Reapers left and right. Died in the line of duty? Just a normal tuesday for Commander Shepard, nothing noteworthy here. Yes they will be the commanding officer of a major, there is nothing strange about this rank structure.

camalyng

There was a good convo on this a few years back (though the point about Shepard getting promoted from Lt Commander is incorrect). Key paras:

promotion in the military isn’t “hey, you’re doing a good job, here’s a shiny new insignia.” it takes months of training, testing, and paperwork. promotion actually slows down once you’re an officer, because they don’t want just anybody who’s good at testing running things; you have to be evaluated heavily in order for them to decide whether or not you’re really ready for the extra responsibility. in all actuality, kaidan and ashley shouldn’t have been promoted as much as they were by game three. ash jumps from a gunnery chief to lieutenant-commander, going at least five ranks in three years (”at least” because we don’t know where bioware puts gunnery chief in the rank lineup), and kaidan jumps two or three ranks, from lieutenant to major (which is a rank that doesn’t actually exist in the navy, but that’s not the point here).

(…)

mads already said most of what i have in mind, but i feel the need to reiterate: shepard is not a good representative of the human race. they’re disrespectful to authority, shoot and explode their way through every given situation, and just don’t give a damn about consequences of their actions. you can literally assault a superior officer, and many do (the renegade interrupt to punch gerrel; i know several hardcore paragon players who still punch gerrel every time), when he would have been well within his rights to beat the shit out of you for insubordination, and likely would have given his hair-trigger temper in me3 had bioware taken ten seconds to think about what rank actually means. there’s also this, the post mads mentioned about why killing the ascension is fifty kinds of illegal. factor in everything else you can do over the course of the three games, including that big one in me2, what was it again, oh yeah, working with a known and hated terrorist organization, and things really aren’t looking too good for sheppy shep. forget court martialing, we’re looking at a firing squad.

promoting shepard is really, really not a good plan for the alliance, as that would look like they condone some severely illegal actions and troublesome attitudes. when you put on that uniform, you are representing not only yourself, but your military, your nation, and in this instance, your entire species. and shepard, plain and simple, makes the alliance look bad, bad, bad.

#snort giggle #meta

swaps55

I think a lot about Shepard's fish tank wipeout in the Citadel DLC.

The entire DLC is this lighthearted love letter to Mass Effect, and it's beautiful. But then there's THIS moment. When Shepard falls through a fish tank.

The entire way down, they desperately try to arrest their fall. They have no shields. No combat armor. There is no one to catch them. It feels like this is one of the few times there is ever fear. And they don't land gently. And the cut scene lingers on it. There is no levity in this moment. Shepard is on the ground, groaning in pain, slow to get up, clutching their ribs. First instinct before they try to get to their feet? Reach for the gun. Have that first. Then see if you can stand.

And I think the only reason we can have this moment, where Shepard is vulnerable, injured, and in trouble, is because there is no one there to see. The moment Brooks gets on the comm, they crack a joke. "Yup. Feeling good." While unable to stand up straight.

We get this at the end of the game, too, but that's when the stakes are at their highest. That's when it's supposed to be hard. It's no less magnificent then, but now, in this moment? When everything was happy and fun and silly? MAN.

And afterward, everyone jokes about it. Every single member of your squad makes a crack about the sushi place. And Shepard plays along. Haha, yeah, fell right through it, while trying to change the subject.

No one knows what that fall was like. No one saw Shepard lying on the ground in the bowls of the Silversun Strip, water dripping off them, struggling to get to their feet.

And no one asks, because it's Shepard.

swaps55

I see we are all Very Normal about Commander Shepard in the Chilis tonight.

luckyspacerabbit

The reason they didn't have quarians in Andromeda was that they simply would have been too powerful. We're stuck on a spacecraft with limited resources? Oh no, what a disaster. /s

legionofpotatoes

oh I am so back on my bullshit, you have no idea

inkiedraws

Thane: ryangoslingdisdain.gif

hoivess

love this guy...the durian

helilart

hi I am back on my bullshit

#mass effect #joker moreau #jack #kasumi goto #edi

cardo-de-comer

💐

spacethefinalfucktier

Listen. I wouldn’t just fuck an alien. I’d take an alien out on a date, to their favorite restaurant. I’d marathon an aliens favorite show with them. I’d spoon an alien every night. I’d bring an alien little random tokens and gifts to remind them of my affection. I’d help an alien work through their emotional issues and family baggage. I’d adopt a shelter pet with an alien and raise him as our very own son. I’d grow old with an alien, every blissful year of our union reminding us of how much we cherish each other. I’d make love to an alien.