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n7cloacadestroyer · 2 months

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Very true. I also have doubts that the thorian that Shepard fights on Feros is well and truly dead. Shiala and ExoGeni's recovery team are the only sources we have that confirm its apparent demise. ExoGeni has a vested interest (as well as a demonstrated willingness) to lie. They were willing to purge the colony to protect their secrets and probably would have if Shepard hadn't intervened. So we know that we can't trust them.

Shiala, on the other hand, seems trustworthy at first. She's vital to the plot of ME1, as the prothean cipher would be lost to Shepard after the thorian's supposed death had she not intervened. She wishes to stay with the colonists to atone for their suffering which she feels responsible for. Even if you take the renegade option to kill her, it still reflects well on her character.

But something we often overlook is that she was definitely indoctrinated by Sovereign, following Matriarch Benezia to join Saren. A reminder that Matriarch Benezia was so far gone that she couldn't stop herself from trying to murder her own daughter. Sovereign probably couldn't have exerted any more control over her without turning her brain into pudding.

Indoctrination is stated to be a degenerative condition by multiple characters throughout the series, but we hear about it first from Rana Thanoptis, who was studying the phenomenon at Saren's base on Virmire. We learn that Sovereign (and later, all reapers) emit a kind of energy field undetectable by contemporary technology that subtly alters brain waves and thought patterns, making organic minds more susceptible to suggestion by slowly removing the capacity for independent thought.

If we take the narrative at face value, Shiala remains the only character in the entirety of the Mass Effect series that has experienced any degree of remission in their level of reaper indoctrination. This isn't extremely suspicious on its own within the context of Mass Effect 1, but given what we learn about it going forward? Gigantic red flag.

It's also worth noting that Saren offers Shiala to the thorian in exchange for the cipher, a fate she willingly accepts as an indoctrinated slave. Saren then betrays the thorian, as he has a reputation for. No surprise there. What is surprising is his apparent lack of target priority.

If Saren/Sovereign wanted to breach the colony to destroy the main thorian node beneath it, why didn't they just bombard it from orbit? Instead, they send the geth to attack the humans in the colony and the nearby ExoGeni building. "Killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle," as the thorian says.

There is another creature within the Mass Effect continuity that reproduces via spores--the Thresher Maw. That's the reason we find them on so many different worlds in-game. Their microscopic spores are hardy enough to survive dormant within the vacuum of deep space and atmospheric reentry, so they are unwittingly spread by space travelers, both past and contemporary.

What if Saren was cutting off the thorian's vectors of propagation without directly attacking it? Because large-scale disturbances like bombardment risk throwing its spores into the atmosphere or worse--into orbit where it could cling to passing vessels along with other bits of magnetized space dust.

I also suspect that the geth platforms on Feros were so entrenched because they were never intended to leave. If the thorian's influence can indeed overpower reaper indoctrination, as it seems to be doing with Shiala, the machines have a very good reason to be concerned and act accordingly. They seemingly intend to starve it out/quarantine it--a smart move, all things considered. Especially if my suspicions are correct.

We meet Shiala again on Illium in Mass Effect 2. Her skin has turned green, and she seems fatigued, to put it mildly. We learn that the colonists continue to experience strange side effects and rudimentary linked nerve signals, even sharing sensations like heat and pain when near one another. In addition, they experience headaches and muscle spasms similar to when they were under thorian control seemingly at random. She also notes that her biotics have become 'unstable'.

The colonists contacted a Baria Frontiers survey group to perform some medical scans to diagnose and resolve their chronic issues and were offered a contract to get them for next to nothing. The problem was that they had unknowingly agreed to "invasive follow-up procedures" at the company's behest. With enough charm or intimidate points, Shepard can help Shiala by convincing the Baria Frontiers rep to revise the contract.

Now we're led to believe that these procedures are being forced on the colonists simply because an uncharacteristically racist asari just wants to see them suffer… but what if the initial scans showed some kind of anomaly? If there are parasitic spores within their bodies controlling (or at least influencing) their minds, discovery of this fact would certainly spell doom for the parasite in question. So would it not be in the parasite's best interest to avoid anyone looking at the colonists too closely?

Furthermore, it's strange that the symptoms result in biotic instability for Shiala, an asari commando who has been training her biotic abilities for at least a few hundred years. Unless the thorian spores have begun to sprout and grow throughout her central and periphery nervous systems, thereby disrupting/altering the path that nerve signals must take to reach the eezo nodules in her nerves?

In Mass Effect 3, we meet her on the Citadel presidium after the evacuation of Zhu's Hope. She confirms that she is indeed indoctrinated, but says that her connection to the colonists through the residual thorian spores "is louder" than the tell-tale whispers. She and the colonists have seemingly adapted to the presence of the thorian spores and can now "feel" one another, and "act with one mind" as they fight against the reapers, "ignoring pain when the need arises." They can share some degree of learned experience as well, as Shiala further elaborates, "with one mind, the untrained fight with the skill of veteran commandos."

She's also, notably, still green. So it seems like the colonists just abandoned the whole "let's get medical care" idea and just learned to live with their new hivemind? Yeah, that's extremely suspicious given everything we know about the thorian.

Conclusion: Shiala and the colonists are simply an extension of the thorian, and this is how the creature propagates itself. Feros was not the Thorian's home world, and it was likely carried there by the protheans or a space-faring civilization that predated them as spores within their bodies. When they die, their bodies will be consumed by the spores within them and begin a new "cycle" for the thorian. (got to thinking about this reply from @dragonflight203, but it got a little too big for the reply box.)

#mass effect #mass effect spoilers #mass effect trilogy #feros #thorian #commander shepard #mass effect lore #shiala #saren #reapers getting skill diffed in mind control by a fungus from the stone age #text

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dragonflight203 · 3 months

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Edit: Fixed a few word choices, added a few missing words.

Mass Effect 1 replay. Feros, part two. This is a long mission:

Refugee Camp

-The refugee camp is supposed to be hidden, but there's a lamp conveniently lighting up the ramp.

-When introducing Shepard to Jeong, the Alliance option is neutral and the words are the same the paragon choice.

-Jeong is very firm about not wanting his band to join the Zhu’s hope. Someone doesn’t want to join the Thorian thralls.

-Jeong is such a company man that’s it’s hilarious. Under attack by geth, and the priority is still to protect the company. Keep firing to a minimum! ExoGeni is not responsible if you sustain injuries on their priority! He gave me an ad read when I asked about the company.

-The security is very suspicious. They talk like evil mooks out of a kids show. What do they mean the colonists won’t remember the planet exists in a few weeks? Is that line left over from a scrapped plot point?

-These refugees are not as hard core as Zhu’s hope. They’re very willing to go back to Earth

-No red herrings about artifacts. They’re blunt that there aren’t any and are clueless about why the geth are here.

-What exactly is the chatter on the second skyway? Sounds like there were looters and the geth caught them. Presumably those are the two human corpses found under the bridge.

-Why is there a geth armature sleeping behind the door that needs to be decrypted? It doesn’t respond until it’s attacked.

-Lizbeth is the first to mention the Thorian, and even suggests the geth are after it. Nothing about why at this point, though – it’s just a plant

-Renegade Shepard is laser focused on the geth in every conversation. Very little interest in anything else.

-Ah, more varren. So they show up at least twice in ME1

-There are yellow tarps(?) all over this planet. What are they, exactly? Prothean ruins or ExoGeni rehabilitation?

-The bit between the Krogan Commander and the VI is very well done. Humorous, natural, and a good lead into learning more about the Thorian

-Shepard outright calls the colonists slaves. ExoGeni prefers the politer “thralls”

-Hmm. ExoGeni doesn’t know if the Thorian is intelligent or not. How did Saren learn about it?

-So the Thorian covers much of surface of lower Feros. It’s been around since before the Protheans. Is that why the surface is covered in debris, and the towers are so tall? To avoid the Thorian? But the colony is in a skyscraper… Well, plants will grow anywhere if the conditions are appropriate

-Do we actually kill the Thorian, or just a part of it? Or just one member of the species? It’s a diffused creature with multiple nerve bundles. It’s rare (unheard of?) for there to be just one of a species. Could that be related to why the colonists continue to experience side effects in ME2 and ME3?

-Interesting that enthralling is done as a defense measure, not aggression. If the geth hadn’t come after it, would the Thorian have left the colonists alone?

-ExoGeni let the infection spread for about a month. When did the merchant land? If he landed during that month, that feels like the potential for a diplomatic incident – you deliberately infected a member of the Salarian Union with a parasite(?)

-For once, Tali and Liara agree!

Tali: Geth are thorough. They’ll have killed everyone

Liara: This is a place of learning and knowledge. It shouldn’t be a slaughterhouse

-And here are the Reaper claws, with the orb and the geth worshiping it. Still want an explanation for this.

Is the orb related to the orbs the Leviathans use to brainwash people? If so, is it influencing the geth somehow?

-Tali: Geth blur the line between organic and synthetic life. It’s natural to assume they seek understanding from a higher power.

I don’t quite see how that’s a natural assumption, but it’s certainly thought provoking. Tali considers geth being religious natural… A common interpretation I see is that AI wouldn’t be religious, because it would know its creators. Geth do know their creators, and have a troubled relationship with them, but desire a better one. Someone could probably write a thesis on how that relates to religion.

-The standard corpse starts showing up here and will be scattered around the rest of hq.

-Zhu’s hope was infected for about a month, and Cerberus is already salivating at the chance to study Thorian creepers. How did they even find out about them so fast?

-In one of the entries about Cerberus, a doctor mentions that they’re working on an antidote. To what? The Thorian spores, I presume. Again, that seems fast.

-Sovereign has a claw cut off by a shuttle bay door. How embarrassing is that? An eon old creature that has genocided multiple species, and it loses a claw to a door that closes really fast. No wonder he’s so aloof on Virmire – must be struggling to regain a bit of pride.

-And that claw is just abandoned… You just know someone grabbed it to study it. And since that’s A REAPER, someone – likely multiple someones – got indoctrinated.

This is what makes Reapers so damn frustrating: Even when they’re dead, they’re still dangerous.

Edit: I've been corrected, the claw was from a regular geth ship. I maintain it's still embarrassing though.

-And Lizbeth tells us that the colonists covered the way to the Thorian with the freighter. Yep, that’s the “heart of the colony” they kept saying needed to be protected.

-How did Lizbeth get out of the one way drop your companions warn you about? Did she take the long way out and risk meeting geth or perform the climb that eluded Shepard?

Refugee Camp Part 2

-Jeong was hoping the geth would kill Shepard. Love you too, buddy.

-Even the basic paragon option is to kill Jeong. Someone on the dev team was working through a lot of frustration and using Jeong to vent.

-If you go blue paragon, you appeal to him as a corporate man. That will never not be funny. Appeal to his better nature? No! All hail to ExoGeni!

And he still wants to kill the colonists because they’ll make the company look bad. This man.

-If you pick an option on the right, you’re given the Thorian grenades. If you go blue paragon, you have to follow up with Juliana to get the grenades. Why is it like that?

-Renegade Shepard is funny. They are determined to kill the colonists. Even if you’re outright handed the Thorian grenades, you can still insist on killing them.

-On both Feros and Noveria, security are very willing to kill innocent civilians that they’re supposedly there to protect.

I’ve heard it said that ME2 takes a grittier look at the galaxy than ME1, but I think that ignores much of ME1’s implicit criticisms. ME1 isn’t as in your face as ME2, but it comes down harshly on various institutions and especially corporations. There’s corruption everywhere, no institution is composed solely of noble people, and a lot of innocent people get hurt for no good reason.

-The refugees are all very chill that Jeong wanted to kill them minutes ago. At least security acknowledges that shit almost went down.

Zhu’s Hope

-Why do thralls look human, but have only four fingers? Are they based on a species in one of the former cycles?

-Also: Yet another mini cutscene intro for a new enemy. Feros is full of them.

-Renegade Shepard is still hilarious. We’re killing the colonists. Doesn’t matter that we have options, we’re killing them.

And Liara is… totally chill. Shame, but if Shepard says they need to die then so be it

-Nice of the game to make knocked out colonists disappear so they can’t get caught in crossfire

-Fai Dan’s scene is very well done and moving. It also lays the ground work for Saren breaking free of indoctrination at the Citadel, if Shepard plays their card right.

Take note, ME3 – THIS is how you make the ending of a game feel natural, rather than like it comes out of nowhere. You have to build up to it!

-I will point out, however, that I have remaining grenades. Fai Dan’s death was not necessary

Thorian

-Tali’s commentary is if the Thorian is a plant or animal or in between them. This is very similar to what she said earlier about the geth blurring the line between organic and synthetic life

-What is with Asari and being mind controlled in ME1? Shiala on Feros by the Thorian, dying commando on Noveria by the Rachni queen, and of course Benezia is indoctrinated.

ME1 keeps telling us that Asari are wise and powerful, but then continually shows that everyone mind controls them. This is an issue with show vs. tell.

-If you go renegade, you lose all the background information and go straight to killing the Thorian

-So we learn later that the Thorian traded the cipher to Saren for Shiala. However, here it states that “cold ones” (geth) started to kill flesh “fairly given” – the colonists? - and that’s why it won’t trust Shepard.

It certainly sounds like part of the bargain (or one of the bargains – the Thorian said trades, plural, were made) was the colonists to the Thorians.

-Also, “the flesh” will tend the next cycle. Certainly seems to imply that the Thorian reproduces

-How long is the Thorian’s Long Cycle? Is it the same as the Reaper’s cycles?

-The structure around the Thorian is built, not natural. An old Prothean structure the Thorian was born into or moved into? A structure it had thralls build for it a long time ago?

Shiala

-Shiala doesn’t seem aware that Sovereign is alive. She knows that it’s the ship that indoctrinates people, but she blames Saren for the indoctrination. She seems to believe that Saren controls Sovereign

-Again, we hear about how matriarchs are some of the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy, while discussing a matriarch that has been brainwashed.

The game really needed an established asari that wasn’t brainwashed to sell the asari better. Liara’s well loved, but she’s very young and impressionable in this game and that does not help counter how malleable asari are in ME1.

-Shiala says she’s free of Saren and the Thorian. Seems to believe she’s free of indoctrination… side effect of Thorian?

In ME3 she says she’s still indoctrinated, but can resist it. She credits it to her bond with the colony, but the cynist in me is more inclined to believe it’s a side effect of the Thorian spores. No one else can resist indoctrination for a prolonged period, no matter how emotionally attached they are to others.

-If you go renegade with Shiala, you outright execute her. ME1 renegade can be very dark.

-Sovereign’s defenses are virtually impenetrable… except to automatic doors, apparently. He must be so embarrassed.

Edit: Still not the victim of the door. I'd like to give it a shot, though.

-You’d think Liara would have something to say when Shiala discusses Benezia, but no.

-If you end the dialogue neutrally, Shepard just leaves and Shiala stays with the colonists. Paragon or Renegade, you choose to kill her or not.

Zhu’s Hope

-Hana wants to go back to Earth. Given the side effects of the Thorian, what happens with her in ME2 and ME3?

-Slavery is an odd theme in ME1. Standard slavery, the Thorian, indoctrination… The game keeps touching on it and the impact it has on people, but it doesn’t actually dig into it very deep. It’s odd that it keeps bringing it up in so many different contexts but only engages with it lightly.

#mass effect #mass effect 1 #mass effect 1 replay

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bagog · 6 months

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N7 Month, 2023 - Day 22: Grenade

A silly little ME1 drabble about anti-thorian gas.

The drive across the skyway from the Exogeni building had been tense. Not only were the geth out in force to try to stop them, but Shepard was preoccupied thinking about what the Exogeni had allowed to happen to these colonists.

Now they stood at the door to the garage for the colony. Kaidan and Garrus stood on hand, looking nervous. Shepard didn’t show it, but has was nervous, too. Dr. Baynum had given him the anti-thorian gas compound that would knock out infected colonists, but there were about five grenades worth and plenty of colonists. And… well. Shepard tried not to worry about that.

��Alright, no hurting the colonists, even if the Thorian makes them fire on us. That’s what the gas grenades are for.”

“On your order, Commander,” Alenko replied, raising his rifle. Shepard opened the door and at once heavy fire rained down on them from above. Three colonists in a defended position up above. On the ground, a half dozen thorian monsters rose up from their strange huddled posture, sounding like air was being breathed into them as they rose.

“Open fire!” Shepard shouted. The creepers ran at the fire team, black ichor fountaining out of the bullet holes being pumped into them, until there wasn’t enough vegetal matter to support the creature anymore, and it collapsed lifeless. This is what could happen to the colonists, this or something worse, Shepard frowned.

The colonists were still firing from above, and the fire team was pinned down behind the Mako.

“Cover me!” Shepard lurched out from behind his cover, opening fire in a wide spread that wouldn’t hurt the colonists. He stormed forward, a dead sprint through the empty garage and up the slope to put him on a level with the colonists. His shields absorbed shot after shot, nearly breaking, but Garrus and Kaidan managed to keep the colonists pinned. Shepard reached for a grenade, took aim, hurled the grenade. It whizzed like a frisbee the 25 meters to the colonists position.

And exploded harmlessly in the air above their heads.

“Goddammit,” Shepard growled. The colonists returned fire and Shepard stormed forward again, muttering obscenities under his breath. He hurled another grenade.

It went wide, a small green puff down below when it finally exploded. Teeth grit as he ran, Shepard’s shield broke just as he vaulted over the crates the colonists were using as cover. The butt-stroke he delivered to one colonist’s head was harder than he meant it, but it did the trick and the man slumped to the ground unconscious. He turned on the other two, who looked crazed. Two more strokes and the colonists were down.

“Come on,” Shepard called down to Garrus and Kaidan, running up to meet him. Garrus stared at the unconscious colonists, then gave Shepard a quizzical look. “We’re not talking about it,” Shepard ground out.

They passed through the door and were immediately assaulted by two more colonists. Shepard chucked a grenade around the corner, it pinged off a wall and rolled away where it exploded causing a momentary green smoke-screen, but no affect on the colonists. Shepard cursed.

He dove out. Stroke. Stroke.

“That’s two more colonists,” Shepard grimaced.

“I don’t understand,” Kaidan said, checking his rifle. “The anti-thorian gas doesn’t seem to be affecting the colonists…”

“It’s… it’s not that…” Shepard groaned.

“We haven’t actually see a grenade get anywhere close to the colonists, yet,” Garrus said, amused.

“I can’t throw. Not a football, not a baseball, not a grenade. There’s a good reason I never use them.” Shepard couldn’t make eye contact with Kaidan, but could practically feel Garrus beginning to smile next to him.

“Do… you want me to?” Kaidan began, but the next moment, creepers ran up the stairs for them and the team was nearly over-run.

There were more colonists firing on them when they got to the downed ship: they had the place well defended. Nothing a couple well-placed grenades couldn’t have handled.

Shepard didn’t bother. Screaming like a demon, he stormed at the covered position, wildly swinging the butt of his rifle like a bat, the colonists not even having time to look shocked before they were careening to the ground with the imprint of Shepard’s rifle butt in their foreheads.

May O’Connell? Butt stroke.

Arcelia Martinez? Butt stroke.

Fai Dan. Butt stroke.

Shepard stood panting and unopposed at the center of the colony, the littered corpses of creepers strewn about and already rotting, and the unconscious colonists.

“Come on,” Shepard urged as Kaidan and Garrus caught up with him. His armor was pocked with bullet marks. “I am going to fucking kill this Thorian.”

Kaidan and Garrus shared a smile and followed on.

#n7month #n7 month #mass effect #fanfic #thorian #zhu's hope #i thought this was silly

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kaceypink · 1 year

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The First Mass Effect is VERY Anti-Corpo

Think about it there is only five or so main missions in the first mass effect and two of those revolve around the destruction and death caused by unregulated space capitalism. I want to do some junk food analysis of it real quick. Not to mention a buncha side content too.

Noveria - Port Hanshan

The ancap unregulated hellscape of Noveria lays out in multiple vignettes of corporate corruption. Involving using State actors above the law to smuggle, corporate cops always leading to corruption, and the ways in which total corpo control can not only kill but stop aide.

Noveria - Peak 15 (Binary Helix)

Peak 15 might be the height of the destructive force at the intersection science and capitalism. Hot labs filled with the long dead Rachni, arguably a poor reveal given they weren’t set up very much before hand, and a bioweapon test lab. Both of which had catastrophic containment breaches. After which the labs were shutdown and out of fear of loosing exclusivity the workers in the lab and the outbreaks were expected to just sort themselves out. Not to mention a stockholder, Benezia, ordered the guards to kill the rest of the workers after a certain point in the story, leaving no one behind.

Feros - Zhu’s Hope (ExoGeni)

Feros could be broken down into multiple parts, but the most stand out section is Zhu’s Hope and the Thorian. Basically the corporate masters perform secret tests on the colonists of Zhu’s Hope. Stealing their lives and free will from they thanks to the powerful mental control of an ancient alien.

That’s two of the big five missions explicitly talking about/focusing on the ineptitude and over all corruption of corporatations.

Nodacrux - ExoGeni Facility (ExoGeni)

One other standout event in the side content is a mission where you discover that Exogeni has been using the creatures made by the Thorian as laborers. However, the creatures have suddenly turned hostile and were released onto the surface of the planet. You can find the creatures across the planet possibly causing who knows what kind of climate destruction. But ExoGeni dropped even these scientists like a hot rock.

#mass effect #video games #anticapitalism #easy analysis #popcorn type shit not thinking just sharing general thoughts and stuff

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mass-effect-anonymous · 2 years

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Full Confession Under the cut due to length

CONFESSION

I'm realizing Feros' quest makes no sense. ExoGeni only knew about the Thorian for a little over a month before the start of ME1. Saren somehow knows of the Thorian's existence, somehow knows it has a connection to the Protheans, knows EXACTLY where it is, invades Zhu's Hope with a small army of Geth that none of the colonists sees, gets the Cipher, leaves, and THEN decides the Thorian needs to die and sends an army of Geth to the colony, but has the majority of the force in the ExoGeni HQ for no reason and not at the colony itself.

Somehow, despite smaller contingencies of Geth flanking the colony from either side, the Thorian manages to control unequipped farmers and very minimal security detail to fend off the Geth long enough until Shepard gets there, despite the fact the Geth have managed to completely wipe out an entire squad of trained soldiers multiple times.

If Saren got his information on it from Sovereign, that's even more headscratching. If they knew the Thorian was older than and had close ties to the Protheans and was extremely powerful, how come the Reapers didn't harvest it alongside the Protheans? It's all so contrived.

How did the Thorian even know Shepard learned of its existence? The main force of the Geth threat was in ExoGeni HQ. Shepard's entire goal was eliminating the Geth and only learned about the Thorian thanks to a Krogan speaking to a VI on a random staircase landing. The Thorian had no thralls in ExoGeni HQ, thus it had no reason to believe Shepard even knew of its existence unless they started asking colonists questions about it, which obviously never happens.

And then, on top of it all, the worst offender of this entire rant (/s), Lizbeth's mom learns about the Thorian and is confused about what it is until 0.00002 seconds later when she suddenly knows EXACTLY what it is and just happens to conveniently have an anti-Thorian gas grenade to non-lethally KO the colonists? The same colonists we haven't seen actually attack the player yet, and are just under the assumption that they'll shoot on sight because Joker said they're slapping the Normandy a little bit with their grimy little hands? It's... bad.

#Mass Effect Anonymous #Mass Effect Confession #Mass Effect #Feros #Thorian #long confession

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swaps55 · 1 year

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for sam: 2, 3, and 24 :D

Thank you!

Edgy OC Ask Meme

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

That the Butcher of Torfan has on occasion been known to laugh so hard at his own fucking puns he cries.

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

I talked about how fucking stubborn he is here, but hand in hand with that is what a bulldozer he is. He will go through anyone, including the people he loves, who get in his way. Especially if they are trying to help him or save him from himself. One of the reasons Kaidan is so good for him is that he’s one of the few people who can actually stand in his way and not give any ground when Sam refuses to swerve. One of my favorite lines in Fugue is this one:

On the ‘Yang, Alenko had always been so quiet and unassuming and kind it was easy to overlook what he really was: a mountain with roots so deep that even the raging gale that had been Sam Shepard broke upon the rocks.

I am really looking forward to exploring what happens to Sam when Kaidan isn’t there to take that blow in Mezzo. Because no one else on the SR-2 has ever had to do it, and they’re about to learn how hard it is.

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Ha, this question is what spawned the idea for Cadenza, the maybe/eventual multiverse story I poke at occasionally in which Sam Shepard either did not join or did not stay with the Alliance.

But the Alliance is so inevitable for him, to the point he tells Kara Pendergrass in Cantata, “All roads lead to the Alliance for me,” that the only one way I could fathom this happening is that Sam’s parents stayed together, and his mother was present during his childhood. Not the perfect mother, but someone who tried. Take away the primary seismic forces that created Commander Shepard and you’re left with just Sam.

Who is that? Well, so far, he’s a scientist who followed his love of the stars into a career studying the relays for ExoGeni. And because his restless, impatient, kinetic self still needs an energy sink no matter what choices he made in life, he accidentally winds up starting a Leverage-style gang that operates on the Citadel. :D

#swaps replies #clericofshadows #mememe #meme replies #'shoot it again sam' shepard

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sasskarian · 2 years

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2, 6, 19, 24 and 30 from fifty (more) 👀 I loved reading about Io!!!

2. Your Shepard is making a sandwich. What’s going in it?

Io has dined in some of the finest places in the known galaxy—including a very unfortunate sushi place on the Citadel, as if anyone will let her live that down—and run down diners alike. But her favorite sandwich is made in her father Kahele’s kitchen, with crispy fried spam and a slice of tamagoyaki.

If ever another apocalypse falls to them and there's no spam in the house, leftover huli huli chicken with fried ginger crisps would probably make an appearance. And unless the Reapers personally hated her and burned down her favorite shops, malasadas would make an appearance somewhere.

(But probably not in the sammich.)

(...probably)

6. What would they be doing, if Shepard never joined the alliance?

Io’s bloodline, on her father’s side, can be traced by to wayfinders. Her family’s inn is named after the Hokule’a, a canoe that voyages from Hawaii to Tahiti using the traditional methods of star navigation. She’s always wanted to pay tribute to that, grew up loving the stars and all the spaces between them. If she hadn’t joined the Alliance, Io would probably be working on the frontier, exploring space navigation, establishing routes, etc. But she enlisted first, and then Elysium happened a few years later, and she became Commander Shepard instead of just Iolana.

Spending most of her childhood, island summers aside, on Alliance ships left Shepard with a deep love of stars and all the secrets of space. That Shepard, that long ago, lost child, had found it full of promise, mysteries waiting to be solved. She’d wanted to see things no human eyes had ever seen, go where no human had gone, voyaging out into the unknown like her wayfaring ancestors had sailed the seas.

[S&S ask]

19. What was Shepard’s first interaction with an alien?

Hm. I haven’t thought this one out that much. I feel like she’s seen at least a few, those who can brave visiting Earth. She's probably made out with at least one or two during her younger years; shore leave can get pretty wild at times. I don’t think she worked with many before Elysium, and she tries so hard and sometimes fails to not let that haunt her, so aside from a few seen on shore leave, her first real working relationship with them might have… actually been Nihilus. (Who she completely did not have any crush on whatsoever.)

I’d have to think about that one more. And consult my timeline notes lmao

24. How does Shepard handle house arrest? How do they fill their time?

She hates it. There’s a part of her that wishes, however unlikely, that Garrus would come up with some obscure married law that would let her go free—maybe there’s some old treaty that would allow a shipboard hasty marriage to give her some political asylum or something. But that’s unlikely, and she knows it.

Still. For an explorer’s heart and a soldier’s restlessness, house arrest is awful but she tries to stay busy— the nightmares of Aratoht aside, she keeps her mind sharp, her manners intact, and works out the night sweats and restlessness as much as she’s allowed to.

30. What did Shepard think of the thorian? How did they feel about killing it? What did they decide for Shiala?

Io found the Thorian equal parts horrifying and fascinating. She regretted killing it; it’s age, the last known of its species, the sheer knowledge it must have had. But keeping it out of the hands of ExoGeni and freeing the dozens of people it had enslaved took precedence.

Shepard spared Shiala, and they’ve kept in semi-regular contact since. (Shepard, like her mother and her father both, have a habit of adopting any stray person in need of family or home)

By the time the Reapers invade the Sol system, Shiala and the colonists are fighting as an elite unit against them, and find themselves in the side battles around London, assisting Operation Hammer as backup.

#i did the thing #iolana shepard #shakarios #sher does mass effect #my fic

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urzfanclub · 2 years

Note

ExoGeni Corp. is still denying reports that one of their survey teams has gone missing in the Hades Gamma cluster. When asked why communication with the survey team was suddenly cut off last week, company officials refused to comment.

ive heard nothing but good about exogeni... i think they should be trusted with any & all ancient life forms they may or may not have encountered and im sure they would never risk peoples lives for corporate profit #notsponsored

#dream ask to receive thank you for the anonymous codex lmao #ive been saving this for weeks <3

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freedombeginsathome · 10 months

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Mass Effect The "Series" S01 | Ep.17 Feros: ExoGeni

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As Shepard, Liara, and Tali ventured deeper into ExoGeni Headquarters on Feros, the sense of unease grew stronger. The presence of the geth was overwhelming, and it was clear that something was seriously wrong with the colony and its inhabitants. Nevertheless, Shepard remained focused on the task at hand – eliminating the immediate threat of the geth.

Inside the headquarters, they uncovered a shocking truth. ExoGeni Corporation had been conducting appalling experiments on the colonists, attempting to control an ancient Thorian creature that had the power to manipulate minds. This explained the strange behavior of the colonists, who were unwittingly being used as pawns in the corporation's twisted plans.

Confronting the head of ExoGeni, Shepard managed to strike a precarious deal. Instead of allowing the corporation to continue its ruthless experimentation, Shepard convinced them to use their resources to help the colonists prosper and recover from the geth attacks, as a way to showcase their corporate benevolence.

During their efforts to free the colonists from the Thorian's control, Shepard met Juliana, an employee of ExoGeni who offered a nerve gas grenade. This grenade would temporarily incapacitate the Thorian-controlled colonists, allowing Shepard's team to confront the creature directly and break its hold over the innocent lives.

The battle against the Thorian was fierce and challenging. But with their unwavering determination and trust in each other, Shepard, Tali, and Liara managed to save all the colonists, except for their leader, who chose to sacrifice himself in a final act of defiance against the Thorian's control.

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shanzhaisunbaby · 1 year

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Exogeny, 2023

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dragonflight203 · 3 months

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Mass Effect 1 replay, Maroon Sea:

Caspian

Farnuri – Once it had an oxygenated amtosphere. Now it does not. Given the youth of the star and the gravity of the planet, that’s unusual. Game suggests could be caused by cataclysmic event – Reapers?

-MSV Cornucopia – The Dragon’s Teeth that created the husks are in the side rooms.

-What alien artifact drove them to drive the ship into the Perseus Veil? Reaper related?

-This is another question Legion really should have been asked. Based on ME2, only heretics were husking people. So if this ship went into the Perseus Veil and got husked, what went down? That’s where the true geth were.

-Another thread never picked up in later games.

Vostok

-Nordacrux – Yet another planet almost perfect for colonization, but not quite because of an issue with it’s atmosphere. In this case pollen. For some reason, that’s treated as more difficult to work around then Elatania’s issue with symbiotic creatures in the air.

-Interesting that the Thorian creepers nearby what looks like a crashed ship and research trailer are unmarked. Presumably the “test samples” mentioned in the transmission found on Feros did indeed become hostile.

-This is easily the best prefab structure in the game so far. It actually looks unique! There’s a bar, the first room has seating like a waiting room, there’s one of those thorian sacks on the wall… Well done, whoever designed this.

-Back room on the right is also designed well. The pods look like they’re the Normandy sleep pods and I think the hanging structures are from the med bay, but the way it’s set up this looks like a lab.

-Also, bodies. Presumably researchers.

-It’s been about a month since Feros was infected. How the hell has ExoGeni already captured Thorian Creepers and figured out how to make them docile and obedient?

I think Bioware’s so used to working on crunch time they’ve forgotten what a realistic time frame looks like. Someone let these devs sleep.

-So, paragon and renegade ends in researchers dead. Go neutral, you take a bribe.

Matano

-Supay – Bioware’s grasp of human nature shines through again air. Ships land, gather water, and are charged automatically for it by satellites. These satellites keep being “accidentally” destroyed. This will absolutely happen in the future.

-Chasca – The alien art with the ring sounds amazing.

-Finally, a Prothean pyramid that is actively being researched. Hope they don’t mind that Shepard looted them.

-And back to husks. They’re easier to kill than Thorian Creepers, at least.

-There are Dragon’s Teeth everywhere. Supposedly, this was caused by a Cerberus visitor that came through the colony. So where did all the Dragon’s Teeth come from? Did the dude just drop some around each building while whistling? Did whatever cause the husking make the colony create Dragon’s Teeth?

-The Feros communication about this colony mentioned samples, and the doctor’s concern about sending them before there is an antidote. What samples? And an antidote to husking? None of this makes sense.

#mass effect #mass effect 1 #mass effect 1 replay

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