#classy post

[7classyantiquestores]

Okay so not the one I expected, but my kid sis had a real hard time rolling with Liara's character changes now that she's met her. Like with Garrus and Tali, they've changed, but you can see the roots of their character still there. But with Liara, "it's like she's not there anymore." Like the passion for history and science, especially. Except of course, I had to remind her. Shepard saved her life, gave her a window into the Protheans she cared so much about, helped her through the betrayal and death of her mother, and gave her a place of belonging on the crew. It's like everything in Liara's life got wrapped up in Shepard in ME1. And then Shepard died.

We talked about how one of the things about the Normandy that's really important is how it handled people. For the people who were soft, it let them stay soft. People who were hard, it gave them space they could still feel soft at times, feel vulnerable. It was a home, a place of fellowship and security, belonging and purpose. And then it was gone. The Normandy, Shepard, everything. People that had been protected weren't anymore. People that were soft had to face the world alone and were hardened as a result. Liara was perhaps the biggest example, but you see it in Tali as well. Those that were hard handled it in various ways, some growing forward from their time with Shepard (like Wrex), but others, without that safe space to remember that there's still good in the world, bottomed out. Garrus, in particular.

It's sad in a lot ways, but it makes it so important and heartening that Shepard comes back. She collects all her followers back to her side, puts them back on their feet, back on track for the growth that had begun when they walked with her before. It wasn't that who they were on the SR1 was lost forever. Just that they fell for a time, wandering in darkness until that time when someone would love them enough to come back with a torch lit saying, "I won't leave you here alone."

[classycoffeecat]

HAPPY FIVE YEARS BABES!! 🎉✨️💙💚

[7classyantiquestores]

(Miranda:) "I don't have what you have. That fire that makes people want to follow you into hell." (My kid sis:) "The autism?" Guys, I'm rolling.

My kid sis is chatting with Miranda about her genetic modification, and after the info dump, sis goes, "Miranda, I know it's kinda crazy, but I'm gonna need you to talk to the little guy we've got in the hold."

Joking aside, after that she did go on to muse about how the whole conversation could frame Miranda's questline as a subtle exploration on proof of a human soul. Because if there is no soul, what is it that makes Miranda unique? She talks about how every part of her was designed, planned out, and engineered for perfection. And that bothers her, because she thinks if someone planned for her to be that way, she hasn't accomplished anything, that she isn't special. But Miranda isn't a robot. That's inseparable from her background, that she made decisions. She chose to stand up and protect herself. Not just herself, but also her sister, even when she knew it presented risk to her freedom. She chooses to follow Shepard, and ultimately, chooses to abandon even the safety of Cerberus and the Illusive Man to do what she believes is right. And that means something. She is still what she was designed to be. Her purpose is part of who she is, it's an identity integral to her. But there's a spirit in her that interacts with that, a meeting of identity and variation, order and potential. Heaven and Earth joining in flesh -- soul. And she's beautiful.

[7classyantiquestores]

Okay not to spam you guys but obviously my kid sis had some good commentary during that legendary rugpull at the start of ME2.

(From Shepard's intro scene) "You know how I mentioned Ashley could be a butch lesbian? She's not beating the allegations in this scene. Like she is reaally determined to stay with Shepard. And honestly, I appreciate it. Thank you Ashley, I love you too."

(Passively watching the Normandy split in half) "What the frick was that? Rude."

(Going through the wake-up scene/tutorial) "Imma be honest, I don't know how I feel about this. o_o"

(In character fake crying through combat, running around like a chicken with a head off trying to find ammo that she continually forgets she needs now) "I don't know where I am. I don't know where my friends are. I don't have a family. These people are my only family. My guy [she means Joker], I don't know where he is. He's been living with survivors guilt for like two years. I don't want to be here. I don't like this. I'm just gonna shoot things."

(Doing post session review) "I hate it here. Mom come Joker come pick me up."

And so the rollercoaster continues. XD

[7classyantiquestores]

Calling all Mass Effect supernerds. I have a distinct memory of there being an option where you can tell the Illusive Man to F off, like in those words exactly. I went so far as to promise this to my kid sister, only for it not to occur where I thought it would. However, I confess, my brain no longer functions as well as it did when I first started playing the series. Does anyone know, is this a false memory, or is there a line of dialogue somewhere in the series where Shep gets to F-bomb TIM (or someone else)??

[7classyantiquestores]

Oop okay unexpectedly we jumped into Priority: Horizon. Don't mind me, strapping on my safety belt.

For context, for anyone who hasn't caught the first part of the series, Ashley was by and far my kid sis's favorite companion from the first game. "Mi Esposa" she called her, affectionately. So I've been a bit dreading this mission ngl. My chances of losing her on the narrative at this point felt very real. Although I vaguely explained that some of the old crew would rejoin, but some would not, sis immediately, automatically assumed Ash would be one of the rejoins. So you can see my concern haha. It went -- well, it went like this.

Mission opens with my kid sis getting the tiniest whiff that Ashley is at Horizon, and this ceased to be a collector investigation mission, and immediately became an Ashley recovery mission.

"We have to go rescue my wife. Unofficial, of course. I'm married to a lot of people. In different ways." She elaborates later, "Like, Garrus is my emotional spouse. Ashley is my battlefield wife. Like in the sense of battle buddies, you know. But wife. And then there's Liara. But we don't talk about that." (Still not over the whole "Asari mind-meld kind of being sex but not really" thing from the first game thing I see XD)

Enter the battlefield, begin to encounter some new Collector enemy types. "Ashley, I'm coming for you!!" Is basically her battle cry at this point.

A pause for side commentary after Jack made a very Jack quip in a cutscene, "No team to ever save the universe was ever normal, okay? Are they able to exist in normal society, NO. Can they shoot real good? Yeah." True that.

Then it's finally time for the final boss battle, kid sis's first Praetorian. (With the old lady voice) "Ooh, isn't he lovely. What a handsome young man."

One unfortunate death to a glitch that caused her guns to stop shooting, then it was all over, and with great rejoicing, Ashley resurfaced. Alas, not all was as it was to be hoped. Oh boy, guys, what a messy breakup it was. I don't think she actually got that Ashley wasn't coming back until the moment she walked away. "Noo." Just quiet like.

The camera starts panning out to the mission end screen and then it starts hitting. "No. Nooo. You're so mean to meee. [She means me, of course, not Ash haha.] I want her baaack. ToT"

Around the debrief with the Illusive Man, my sis is going through all the five stages of grief. "I'm so disappointed. She was always my girl. I guess I can't fault her for being loyal, but at least be loyal to me!"

The post-session chat, however, to my great relief, cycled around to the acceptance stage. Here's the gist of what she said:

"She's not wrong about the way she feels about me. She thought I was alive this whole time and didn't tell her, and she's been hearing rumors about me working with Cerberus for months, so she's totally justified in how she feels. I do really like Ashley, but this is super in character for her. Like of course she's gonna be loyal to the Alliance, it's her whole life. I've done the same thing that everyone else around her has done, I've died. And she's just lost another colony. And of course she also really likes Shepard, so she's got this frustration, that Shepard was out there and she didn't know about it, and even though she's shown back up, she's working for the enemy. So her loyalties are torn, and between Shepard and the Alliance, of course she's gonna be loyal to the latter. It's her whole life. And like, even if she came with me and everything was as Shepard says, and they saved the galaxy, who gets the credit for that? It's Shepard. Ashley would probably be court-marshalled for treason, and even if she wasn't, her career would be over. Shepard is the face, she gets that protection. But the others don't."

So yeah! I was super worried about her being one of those Virmire survivor superfans that can't get over Horizon at all, but apparently for her, it worked just fine. And, just to attempt to make up for letting her hold onto her false hope for this long, I did tell her Ash would be rejoining in ME3.

With determination she closed out the call with, "Mi Esposa…next game."

[7classyantiquestores]

Hopped on for another session tonight. First thing out the gate, kid sis declared "Okay, we're pausing everything else, and we're going to get Tali."

Unfortunately, the crew had other plans, as it's been a million years since she's actually gone through and talked with everyone, and they were not going to let her forget it.

First she tripped into a 20min backstory dump from Jack. Halfway through comments, "Ohh, so you're like the Beta Miranda." She then refers to Jack's F-bombs, going, "Oooh, big girl words." Politely informs Jack that she unfortunately has to go recruit her bestie first, then as she's jogging off calls, "Garrus, don't take offense, I have six best friends."

Watched Grunt crack a window, and sighs, "Man…that's like a thousand dollars."

In the elevator she's talking me through another meme idea she has, declares, "I'm bringing Gen Z to a Millenial game." And ya know, she sure is.

Heads over to Zaeed. "Back for another lesson?" Strolls past, "Nope." Goes to fire two or three trash cubes into space. Leaves without comment.

Has a little chat about the latest gossip with Kasumi, we discuss how she's the perfect girlfriend (like in terms of girl friend you do nails with over a good glass of wine kind of girlfriend). Sis quips, "Unfortunately, she's still my sidepiece. My wife is still Ashley. Whenever she comes back to meee. T_T"

"Is anyone gonna be mad at me if I skip talking to Jacob? XD" You guys are gonna have to let me know on that one haha. I guess you can't really win 'em all lol.

Naturally, of everyone kid sis takes the time to check in on, Garrus has nothing to say. Saltily, my sis goes, "Your calibrations, is that what we're calling her?" Shepard, who not five minutes ago was explaining how she had not only a wife, but a sidepiece and six friends. The meta dynamics of friends, girl/boyfriends, and spouses that my sis has going on is starting to rival soap opera levels, and it is a trend I predict will continue steadily upward. Let's be honest, Mass Effect doesn't get its reputation as a space romance simulator for nothing.

[7classyantiquestores]

One conversation with Mordin about the genophage and sis is just totally enamored. "The camera work is really telling," she explains, "trying to follow him around as he paces around so quickly. Like the more Shepard pushes, the more insistent he becomes. Like he's trying to convince himself." And then, get this, she says, "He had to do this, there was no other way."

But there was. We know it from our meta perspective, and somewhere deep inside, Mordin knows it too.

This rolled out into a very interesting discussion about how regret is a core feature of most of the character plots in this game. Mordin with the genophage, Garrus with his team, Joker with the SR-1, Jack and Miranda with the lost potential of their childhoods, and so on. It's not universal, of course, but it's enough of a repeating theme that sis has been picking up on it. She also talked about it being notable that Shepard doesn't really have as much regret. Shepard knows she did everything she could. And that she'll continue to do it now that she's been granted a second life. All the way to the end, no matter what. And maybe that's what draws them to her. Purity of purpose, proof that sometimes you can fight and win, that there are forces of justice that actually triumph over evil and corruption, and, most importantly, that there's redemption and future beyond regret.

And yeah. I'm gonna be thinking about that for awhile.