Reyes Vidal - No longer A Mystery (Official Thread)

Yeah, looks like they were left out in the open in an uncharacteristically sloppy manner. But I guess it’s not like Reyes is trying to hide the fact that the Collective even exist, so it might not be such a big deal for him if old satellites are found. Although they must still be worth some money... Does the Tempest leave them in place, or does Ryder just “rightfully repossess Initiative property”? I guess clicking on the satellites gives some crap loot like “Turian calibration coils”, so that's all a loss for the Collective, ha.

I think they optimize the lightning for default Ryder twins’ fair complexion. Everyone else is out of luck. Still, the glare wouldn’t really need be so bad. Softer light would look nicer all around. Honestly, I don’t even see what supposedly is so great about Frostbite. MEA's graphics are very underwhelming compared to other new games I've played (not many admittedly).

Alternatively he’s just wearing too many layers. Playing strip poker with Reyes would be the worst idea, he has like a million individual pieces to his outfit. Like he has gloves, but then he has those things on top of the gloves! Maybe he compensates by going commando.

Not much point impressing people that are going to be dead in a few minutes, is there? But then again, Reyes did the entire big set-up to own Sloane, so I guess it’s how he satisfies his desire to make an impression, while keeping in line with his stronger “no spotlight for me!” characteristic. It’s a fun characterization for him, in any case, having him have these two sort of conflicting personality traits.

Yes, that would’ve been a cool little thing that we could’ve been alluded to in some terminal mail. I would've liked to see more about how Reyes felt about the relationship with Ryder and how his feelings developed. It's another place where having better reference to passage of time would’ve been great, too.

That’s an excellent point. They really ought to have sabotaged the shuttle. LOL that reminded me, after doing the Kett mission for Kaetus, I rammed his and Sloane’s shuttle with the Nomad and it slid away down the slope. I actually was trying to turn it over, but that wasn’t possible. I like to imagine Sloane and Kaetus coming out only to see the shuttle crashed in the distance and having to walk to it. Anyway, this is one of those instances where Reyes doing all that he really could would render the player choice meaningless (alike to why the supposedly cunning Caesar buys the Courier’s claim that those robots sure are dead now!).

Yeah, I can’t see Reyes or even Sloane leaving a subordinate to gruesomely die as a punishment, like some supervillain from a shlocky cartoon might do. Maybe Mr. Sniper Guy has cloaking tech and can just ghost away without anybody noticing. Still, he should at least have tried to shoot at Sloane again – it’s like the game forgot he existed at that moment.

Oh, it was all in the reference to the most dangerous game. Hmm, the Kett are incredibly underdeveloped one-note as a species compared to Batarians or even Vorcha, but I suppose they still count as people. :/ Still, your Ryder’s bloodthirst probably passes unnoticed considering the circumstances and there being nobody to invoke war crimes on her. As for Reyes, I think he’s ruthless as hell, but I don’t get the feeling that he actually enjoys killing. That’s more Sloane’s style, she obviously exults in the spectacle of severed heads on spikes and all. Reyes seems to find that distasteful at best. Nothing wrong with a Ryder that lusts for death tho. Like I've said, player chars that slowly veer badly off the course are my favorites.

Hmm, yeah, the people might actually even come to the conclusion that there's nothing to worry about since the Collective watches ditches like these and is so obvious about it. Buuut... how does anybody actually know those satellites belong to them in the first place? Do they have "The property of the Collective" written on them in big red letters? How does anything get "registered" for an outlaw organization? Ivd kinda understand if they appeared post- High noon, but they hang in those places long before that

Hehe, I think the Tempest totally does repossess. Why not, after all? They are worth money, are AI property and for a long time nobody knows who they are taking them from... Guess tearing all turian calibration coils means the end of the satellite, too... Wonder if they set up new ones afterwards. Hiding the existence of the Collective would be a bit counter-productive, wouldn't it? They need to be.. semi-visible.


The Ryders have the advantage of not glowing, but it's not stellar either... and in some places even they glow terribly. The glare is simply weird.

I think that depends on how good Reyes actually is at poker... maybe he wears those layers as a safeguard when losing? But if so, there's the possibility that he has more individual pieces of underwear too, just in case (_{In reality, I'm still convinced he goes commando because there's a shortage of underwear on Kadara})


Especially since there are already e-mails of the two of them. That would've been real easy to implement and easily ignored in case someone just couldn't handle it. That's actually interesting.. we never get to see any of that. He just checks Ryder out and looks determined to get them But there must've been something leading up to the rooftop scene... but I'm not really sure how that could be shown in the game, sadly, it's hard to do with NPCs... and it's a bit rude to go through all of their diaries and personal correspodence


Well, definitely. It's quite a feat to put them both into a single head and make it not look like schizophrenia. Maybe he really just has a need to be impressive, but doesn't need witnesses to confirm it. Reyes plays his games for his own entertainment, he knows his impressiveness best, he doesn't need to get impressive where everyone can see him, that's just unnecessary  


Well, they're not this (or any, really) kind of super villains, which is pretty great about them. But his made me think... how much would Reyes benefit from some cloaking tech at the moment? Agreed, Mr. Sniper Guy just gets shamefully forgotten. Unless Reyes got careless planning the whole thing and put him in a position from which he couldn't cover some parts of the cave, such as Reyes' escape route... That would've been pretty dumb, but Reyes seems a bit overconfident in there... At least being forgotten allows him to leave alive, I guess.

Lol, the shuttle actually did something? I’d think it would be immovable. Yeah, maybe it should have been a little more like the Kimball assassination attempt, since we’re already with NV. Reyes should be actually more clever than the legion pricks. Strange he wouldn’t have a backup plan. (Ceasar is just a very tusting man, yep. A stranger who has spent last several months very publicly sabotaging his every effort told him those nasty robots underground are dead. What the hell is not to believe? )



Hehe. Who would care about that when the kett are trying to kettify the whole cluster? Surely the Pathfinder can have a little fun with them while saving everyone else's ass. But really, this is just product of a bit brash nature taking a grudge against something... she has quite a lot of dislike for the "vultures" right from the habitat 7 and that sort of grows into a full blown burning hatred thing... I kinda like that feat about her. Guess if some Legion stunt happened in MEA2 still featuring Ryder, I'd have to space the kett, no mercy. I think that Sloane enjoys making loud violent statements with those heads, nothing to do with killing, though. As for Ryder, the bony, arrogant mass produced fuckers simply aren't present in her ideal vision of future of the Heleus cluster, it's a bit like doing a very enthusiastic spring cleaning

Other people could just get the location out of someone... or some classified files. Doesn't really help. The planet is question is a bit barren, though, maybe that makes it easier. Unless the person has dug in or something, that might be a problem.

Hmm, Mr. Sniper Guy, destined to live in the dark. he must be a hell of a shot. Thanks for those screenshots, I laughed so hard. But the Sloane one's just worrying. Did the guy "clean" the cave by stuffing Sloane under his shirt? Is what we're watching her soul taking over his body? Is he trying to consume Sloane's essence? Huuh

Rant alert
It's kinda taking forever since I can't get around to playing so much and now with whole fucking week away from home it's gonna get worse. I needed to space it to get the favorable outcome for the cave scene and have it make any sense, so I waited till about 2/3 of the game. I've already done the party and a screenarching run of the cave scene (I always headcanon the High noon to happen the day after the party, impact and all ).
Heh, just so you know, the scene is still a nightmare to RP through, no matter the side picked. Since I couldn't go ooc for Ryder, none of the issues magically disappear. Ok, she can very well stand by and let Reyes play his game in order not to harm him, she doesn't even care about Sloane or the Outcasts, really, but the sniper trick is still dirty, unnecessary and generally hard to comprehend to someone with her mindset in the heat of the moment. She still gets her hand forced (or maybe rather forcefully stayed) and the sudden feeling of getting outplayed gets the worse for the fact that it's done by someone she came to care about despite her best common sense. As a result, the character sorta.. bogs down on me for good several minutes, after maybe giving Reyes a vicious murder stare when he says "bang". I'd say she may benefit from some sulking time, but she's not the kind to run, she can't really scold Reyes because Reyes will be Reyes and there's actually nothing to scold him for, and there's no one else to cool her temper on. Poor girl, all she needs is a bottle of booze, some chocolate and maybe a little oxygen transfusion and she's supposed to make decisions about her future, or anything, in this state? Well, I have the rest of the week to ponder it.

By the way, I've looked dinto the matter of the shuttle pilot. Not only is he invisible, the whole cockpit it kinda invisible. As in there's nothing inside where a cockpit should be. Weird af.

That's brilliant. For some reason, that sounds so like the Collective it should be sprayed there as well. It also speaks louder than a logo, which isn't known to everyone. I don't know how much they really care about some dummy satellites, though. Hmm, but maybe they even have something on them to keep track of every upstart stupid enough to ignore the warning. They are the cautious ones, after all. If it's Ryder stealing them, it actually gets quite hilarious. The Pathfinder is a mischievous tease alright, stealing the satellites like that. Maybe they will try to trade them back when the strip poker game's odds get a little too much in Reyes's favor?

Makes me wonder how much the Collective actually relies on distraction as a strategy. It's the best for them to mislead any potential enemy, maybe the satellites and making out in the storage room are just the beginning

Hmm, the armor thing even seems to be happening, but imagine if someone came right before he manages to undress, that would ba a fucking awkward way to get caught. I don't know if it's worth the risk

But where do you think he got them? From Keema the actual cthulhu, it was a part of the deal so that Keema didn't have to get personally involved in these affairs

(But now really, Mr. Sniper Guy will still have a hard time dumping Sloane if his soul eating powers happen to glitch out and the toxic water is  already fixed )

Yeah, it's nice to see both sides equally into it. But that just sounded like they're both desperate  I think Reyes has it a bit better in the dating pool regard, though (doubtless he has more options, at least), well, till some of his exes try to kill him and all.

If the terminal at least weren't right in Reyes's field of view. It just looks like he's completely ok with Ryder reading his mail _{Baah, who cares about coworkers? They are not even working anyway, their energy bars are Jensen's energy bars } Maybe he wouldn't... but then again maybe he wouldn't really do it unless he had a reason? He's pretty careful in his relationship with Ryder, after all, and if something like this got out there might be a shitstorm he wouldn't want to deal with. But then again, curiosity or maybe feeling entitled after see ryder reading his mail in his full view... who knows

Hmm, actually if everyone knew who the Charlatan was the point of it would be mostly gone, so the spotlight is uncalled for. Otherwise he doesn't seem to be fond of parties, he's mostly professional with everyone, we don't really know if he ever socializes with someone other than Kian in Tartarus.. Seems like in most cases where he enjoys attention, the audience is limited and save for Ryder during High noon, invited... and yep he has to be in control, at least a little. Now I'm somehow not sure this is really about getting attention...

Lol. Ryder steals his satellites and rams his shuttle, but Reyes still loves them. It's probably time to get a less rusty shuttle anyway.

Yeah, exactly, the RP would demand it. I can't imagine Ryder suddenly changing her mind. Plus, it would be an interesting thing to do for once. I mostly never manage to make myself lose content like this. I don't find them necessarily badly designed, we just see too little of them. There are some interesting bits and pieces that might make for good lore, but nothing's ever really shown. Generally, all we know about the Kett is that the Archon is a nutjob. (The angara are boring, yeah. The Jardaan surely weren't creative folks, weird as it is). I don't find the Batarians that interesting either... lots of eyes and talk and then they die. I'd have gone for at least one non-humanoid alien.



Spoiler edit:

Some party pics for starters, (_{just a few, because I’m not satisfied this time, but maybe it’s just that this time of night I’m not usually satisfied with anything}) I’ll go through the cave ones later





Oh, I’m not saying it isn’t. I actually like it the way it is, both options. Debatable stuff like this is the most interesting, and having Reyes is almost a good outcome for a shit situation like that. The real nightmare is to stuff the RP into a scene that constrained. Seriously if there’s one place in MEA that would benefit from offering a number of attitudes to take... It doesn’t even need to be tied to the romance since every one takes a different line of reasoning. With all the possible reasons for the choice a single passive aggressive comment just isn’t enough. Plus, I don’t know how it is with Scott, but the female VA sounding like she’s going to cry makes it super annoying. Closest I can get to that is Ryder snapping something along the lines of "You happy now?" when she regains her faculty of speech, sneeringly voicing her mostly directionless displeasure about the shit that went down, not getting all broken about something she allowed to happen.

Maybe he stole them from the Outcasts, though. He could at least always claim that to make the matter more problematic Lol, but would the Nexus really approve of this treatment? Reyes steals the satellites, the Pathfinder stumbles upon them and victoriously turns them to scrap, guess they served the forced of evil too long and need to be destroyed or something. Which actually makes the issue of back an forth stealing rather troubling since the satellite circulation cycle is broken, so soon there will be no satellites to steal. Again, hope the Collective has some good technicians.

Ah, those Those are fun. I thought they were forgotten but then there's something like that in FO4, but I never really tried.

Hee heee. Must be fun to stuff your boss’ dead rival into some random hole in the stone, especially is she has that pissed off expression from the screenshot all the time. And the air drop  The Charlatan’s good at fear tactics after all. I’m not sure how productive that would be, though. Aren’t they trying to present themselves as those who are free from the Outcast bloodthirsty bullshit? (I can’t really see any big fighting when the Collective takes out the Outcasts, just people in key positions suddenly disappearing and being replaced) Plus you never know what you hit, what if the corpse happened to squash Keema or someone equally important?

The bar tab could can be overlooked since it’s still Ryder who wants information from Reyes... it would be worse if he did it again during the Zia quest (although that one is rather open-ended, isn’t it?). I guess it wouldn’t be unlike him to take a look... especially if Ryder did the same and he knows. Regarding the dumb stuff, though, it would be interesting to see if it stays like this when he and Ryder are in a relationship, or whether he’ll watch it.

Maybe something that would really be too much to handle, though I have no ideas right now (save for his continuous stealing the repossessed satellites back from the Nexus ) Or getting caught taking some egregious advantage of Ryder, that might not be looked upon kindly no matter what, I suppose. (If either goes with the enemy thing... yeah, it would be better if they stayed away from that. I’d like to try romancing the -hopefully intriguing and well written- enemy in a game, but that’s not saying I’d like it to be Reyes. He belongs in his shady zone. Plus he’d be a strange villain material unless he goes mad and wants to take over Andromeda or some such)

_{Yeah, stealing from the only one who ever manages to show up in his damn office. Fair and just. xP}

Yeah, that's so like him. He's been hiding it well Hmm, but really, we could also just call it karma. He's hardly innocent himself...

That's quite likely. Kian, Zia, anyone, really (but yep, Kian's very conveniently located. So are those random dancers, though, if they wren't just for decoration). If you think about it, that's also something he might easily have in common with Ryder, since not even they are completely sure about whatever they might be doing. They're both mostly just making it up as they go, the only differ in what they're trying to build.

Nah, Shepard isn't Ryder. Too stoical to waste time holding grudges, especially against machines that got under control of other machines.

I suppose, but I found most of them little more than annoying. Not saying that means they were poorly designed, though. I think the kett would benefit if it was at least made clear how much personality they possess individually. If they really have none, there's still something to do about that. It might be impossible to sympathize with them like that, and they'd probably end as the monolithic Bad guys, but they're supposed to be the aliens anyway. Nothing forces them to be understandable to human perception.
The non-humanoids were a bit too much on the funny side, yep, but that was mostly how the individuals were presented. Surely in the whole races there were non comical interesting specimens somewhere (aka remember Thane talk about the hanar? not much comedy there...)

I'd hope the jardaan were interesting at least. No, no etheral angara that would be just... nope. Doesn't fit them at all Hopefully the angara were just some beta prototypes they managed to release before their efforts were ended by whoever ended them (probably the cthulhu who thought their work was uninspired )

Cool, thanks for posting.  Lol Reyes is so preoccupied with the kiss that the bottle’s gonna fall right now and hit somebody on the head. The atmosphere in the first pic is really good, and I love how you've captured Reyes’ expression. I tried lightening it a little bit for a better look at him except now his face looks red and raw like he’s been out in -30 degrees for too long , I hope you don’t mind (only linking it here for you):
Oh MEA has a million places where more dialogue branching would be needed, but that’s an inherent problem with the entire dialogue wheel bullshit. (For me the direst part is the squadmate interactions.)

M!Ryder sounds good in the scene, as elsewhere. The "Guess you got everything blah blah" sounds mostly like a flat statement (the slightest bit reproachful?), which is fine due to the implication in the words. The question about Reyes not trusting him sounds like Scott's more curious about Reyes' reasoning process than anything else, sort of surprised tone. Definitely not like he might cry. The "nothing's changed" follows naturally, so while the overall tone might be a bit too casual for some Ryders, it makes the whole continued romance scene flow gracefully.

Hmm, good point. Sloane herself might be an exception, though, in the old "tyrants hanging from lampposts" tradition, but it's true that it fits the Collective's modus operandi that her corpse is just quietly disposed off. Although that might give rise to rumors of her escaping...

I think there was actual fighting, though. The rank and file of both gangs were really antagonistic to each other, and I can’t see the random Outcast guards just going “welp okay” even if their commanding officers were murdered. It’s a pity Ryder never got to hear an account of what happened. In fact, it would make the most sense if whoever won would advise Ryder to leave immediately in the Tempest and come back after a few days at the earliest – but that would be yet another irritancy on Kadara, where we already have those fucking doors and the slum elevator bullshit. Only, Ryder just riding back to the Port immediately after High Noon and going to chat up Reyes and Keema adds to the “time scale has broken” problem that plagues the game.

I think Reyes is gonna Reyes, and once the magic dissipates a bit, Ryder may try to rein him in a little, though I wouldn’t expect much of a change. But I don’t think Reyes would be totally immune to a serious talk, if it wasn’t Ryder demanding him to change his core characteristics. "Don't leave me with the bill every time" is something that Ryder might manage to get through to him.

The biggest issue in any case is going to be the entire crime boss thing. Makes me think, for perspective, how it might go down if they were still in the Milky Way. Ryder in the Alliance and Reyes leading a similar outfit as the Collective. In Andromeda everything seems to exist in more of a vacuum, so it’s harder to speculate on how their relationship is going to impact everything else.

I only do it, because I love him.

Yeah, abusing Ryder’s Pathfinder position might be it. It would raise the suspicion that he’s with Ryder only because they’re the Pathfinder. That would definitely cause my Ryder seriously question everything.

People keep suggesting Reyes is going to be an enemy, because of his plot armor, but it could just as well go to him being forced as an ally (reluctant or not) no matter what. Maybe eventually Reyes’ author can open a bit what she thought could happen, in case they already had some future plans. After the OT, I wouldn’t be surprised if they at least made some plans or constraints to the writing to make potential sequel easier to create.

I doubt Reyes would bother the dancers, since they’re just working there. I don’t think they’re available as prostitutes. I think? They’re just wearing armor or whatever, so it’s a bit odd. One thing about the entire Kadara is that there’s no prostitution at all. Neither with the Outcasts nor the Collective, or independent actors like Kian. Feels a bit unlikely, but it’s probably some decision that BioWare made this time around.

The making it up as they go seems to apply to literally everyone in the cluster.

Lmao the black hole cthulhus acting as galactic monitors, stepping in when the Jardaan begin to mass produce an utterly failed species.

Ryder personally rips the calibration coils and other junk out of the satellite’s mechanical guts, much like they tear apart random guns and armor from looted corpses, as well as doing field dressing animals for pelts. It’s all in the pioneering spirit.

Ah, so a performance artist. He needs to get in the zone, be one with the nature. With all that mental prepping, he really ought to be correct his aim despite Ryder ruining everything.

I don’t think the transaction is shown and this time Ryder leaves before Reyes does. Unless that means that Umi mentally puts the drinks under Ryder’s tab and assumes they pay when they pay, now that she recognizes Ryder.

Oh! The thread got so quiet I was sure I had administered a killing blow on it with my last post.

You guys keep talking about spraying instead of spray painting and all I can picture is a giant, flying space-cat using satellites as its territory markers.

I GUESS the radio transmission makes more sense, but in ME2 the gangs had their logos everywhere and it’s a traditional video game shorthand. So why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Reyes is probably proud of his doodle of a logo, since he went to the trouble of designing one despite the Collective being all so covert and secretive – when they’re not engaged in open gang war.

I was thinking hauling them into the cargo bay first, but I guess Ryder could EVA as well. What a pity there was no space walk sections. The entire space adventure sense for the game was nonexistent.

The shuttle gets there and flies away with Reyes in the hold, though. It would be a really bad idea not to have a designated pilot. Though I guess a lot of people would have at least some sort of rudimentary shuttle flying skills, at least enough to hit the autopilot on with some standard flightpaths programmed in. There might also be a VI autopilot for rote routes, with the pilot themselves taking reins only when it’s time for some fancy wanky flight show stuff.

I didn’t see a shuttle for Sloane anywhere. Was there one? I imagine her grimly walking over all the way, too mad and mistrustful to even ask for a lift. Maybe she had somebody drop her off close by, but walked the rest of the way alone out of suspicion. Also the Charlatan’s requirement of them meeting alone might mean that Sloane didn’t want to involve her people in even such a small manner (never mind Ryder tagging along, I guess).

Well, when Reyes tells Umi that Ryder’s “good for it”, Ryder can either be like “fine” or argue against, in which case nothing concrete is agreed upon, and Umi really ought to ask again who exactly is going to pay – I got the impression that Reyes is paying, and on top of that, he’s offering some old bottle of whatever to make up for the previous time too. Maybe they can fight about it later, unless Ryder just folds over immediately as is their wont.

The growing saga of Mr. Sniper Guy is amazing, in its own way. He could be a silent recurring character in future Andromeda games, seen in the background in various Reyes scenes at the Collective HQ or whatever – present, but not specifically involved. Bit like Morn in DS9.

I think he must be a natural, no outside forces at play. There must be a reason Reyes chose him and him alone over everybody else to accompany him.

Wait wait, what’s that about Reyes having to hide on an asteroid, you’ve not done it again, have you? Must I post that endearing screenshot of Reyes again to remind you not to save ol’ Sloany?

What an ignoble end to the highly cherished and respected bottle of whisky, maybe the last one that made it from Earth. Rest in peace, Mt. Milgrom.

Soo are the rest of the pictures coming up soon?

Yeah, the voiced dialogue, true enough it’s the biggest culprit. I wish we’ll be yet lucky enough to see a large RPG the size of New Vegas that doesn’t do voiced protagonist.

You should take m!Ryder for a spin, maybe you’d like him more. He’s not perfect, but he’s never grating. It could be different enough not to mess with your canon Sara. (But I think I’ve said this before.)

I dunno, did anybody complain over Mussolini’s gas station gibbet?

Well, we know that Mr. Sniper Guy immediately told the tale freely. I assume the fake duel suits the Charlatan narrative (clever and ruthless) perfectly, and the Collective won’t be creating any make-overs of their boss as some honorable type anyway. The populace will embrace it as a fitting end for Sloane and a show of the Charlatan’s cunning, while those that are his enemies or just afraid will be even more scared than before, but that’s already part and parcel of the Collective’s tactics.

The Nexus might disapprove, but for the most part, I doubt any of them loses any sleep of Sloane the traitor’s shameful end – to them it’s just pirates dealing with each other the pirate way. And the Pathfinder’s involvement is certainly a good look for the Collective, even if it’s just an insubstantial rumour. And would Ryder go and directly deny it? They might not like the sniper telling about it, but it is the truth so whatcha gonna do.

Ryder not assisting in the takeover is a good thing, IMO. The Kadaran factions are their own thing, and it’s best that the Pathfinder not get too involved. It’s not like Reyes needs Ryder’s help, he got it all figured out and Ryder better get their pretty butt out of the action’s way anyway.

I don’t remember seeing any Outcasts ever after pro-Reyes High Noon… Zitrus ? U still here? Confirm/deny? Someone said that if you choose Sloane, the Collective pirates are always hostile afterwards, but they had presence on Elaaden before already. I got the assumption that Outcasts end up imprisoned (maybe killed if they won’t bend), but maybe small time gang members get off with just a warning. After all, Reyes was all about preserving lives by preventing war – it would make little sense to go and slaughter the losers afterwards in such a scenario.

True that, but I’d also hate them to whitewash the unpleasantness related to crime. If they went and said that, say, the torture shack was purely arranged by some unruly minions and that Reyes only cares about staging soup kitchens and making just ever so little profit by some undefined cartoon like piracy, it would almost be worse. It could be something that would weigh down on the dating aspect by association, and not because Reyes being a bad significant other just because he’s the Charlatan. And Ryder could just close their eyes from it, concentrating on what a lovely boyfriend Reyes is, or deal with it by various ways (getting in on it, trying to minimize the unsavory effects on the AI or the entire cluster, and so on).

I can see Reyes going the same route as Zaeed and founding his own outfit. If he was careful about not treading on the Shadow Broker’s toes, he might succeed. If Ryder got promoted any higher than a nobody, the Alliance wouldn’t like such associations.

Oh, I don’t think Reyes would do it. But the question was, what would be required for Ryder to dump him (assuming High Noon and him being the Charlatan can be weathered). For me, that would be it. Well, and then there’s falling out of love naturally. That would be a more amicable, if a sad, break-up.

Even if nobody organized it, I’d imagine some of the citizens would resort to prostitution to meet the extortion fees, considering that the exile is basically death sentence to anyone not specialized in combat. I wonder if the devs considered excluding prostitutes this time a matter of principle. It always felt ridiculous how in ME1 they had the art budget to meticulously design hooker costumes for the strippers, but couldn't afford or bother with a pre-reaperization look for Saren, so that he wouldn’t look all husked up before Sovereign implanted him... Not to mention the pandering and utterly terrible super whore on the Citadel whose name I can’t remember. Yet doing the exact opposite feels weird too.

That would probably be more interesting reasoning behind their mass exodus than whatever the devs have planned. Everything about the Jardaan feel so dull, so it would be cool if they went wild with it, like a hyper-advance Andromedan society where the higher species continuously create new client species, under strict restrictions, that the Jardaan just so happened to violate (“Rule n:o 1: No uninspiring and ungainly species”).

He's not shooting naked. So the armour is akin to Power Armour and gives him advantages like +2 perception and steady hands. However, it's too heavy to transport on his own or to make an escape in so he has to leave it behind.


The argue option is really the only one where Ryder might not have to pay. If Ryder agrees they say "Put it on my tab" to Umi.


Well, spraying also means spraying with a can, not only marking something as animals do (which I didn't think of at all) lol. Maybe he does both, an electronic and visual warning.


Even if everyone can fly, they would still need a cockpit which you have to imagine because the designers thought this would suffice^^. Maybe it's on autopilot and you can call it that way or the pilot is the one remaining person she trusts.


Yes, I'm still here, was just a bit busy.

The group you didn't side with will still be in the badlands. Keema/Sloane tell you they've been scattered and many blame Ryder for what happened to their faction. You see them occasionally and they'll fight you. Of course some could live in the city or be imprisoned and we just don't get to see them. There are also the outlaws/raiders in red who are on Elaaden as well. They are always hostile. The Collective if sided with will be friendly on Kadara and Elaaden. Before the decision however, everyone will be hostile.
Which door? If you meet them before High Noon it's normal they're flagged as enemies.

So, I've gone through the screens. I'll yet need to go through the scene a few more times to get something remotely insteresting out of it... the shifting camera angles are my enemy. Why does this shit even happen with flycam on? And don't even get me started on the pre-duel dark.



And the gang. Any guesses as to the floating hair? Another Collective member suffering from the cockpit illness? The krogan infiltrator's wig left uncloaked?




Hee hee. A non-bulky power armor which however maintains all the advantages. Neat. But does that mean there's a Mr. Sniper Guy Support Guy always on the ready, transporting the armor to and fro? You can't leave such a piece behind, especially when it's in a risk of falling into the hands of the Outcasts

Well, if not for the flycam it would suffice Autopilot isn't a bad thougt at all, though. Makes sense... unless Sloane is so out of her mind she thinks even the autopilot wants to kill her. But then again, the shuttle might want to kill her too in that case and she obviously flies it.

I actally met them post High noon (I never go to Elaaden till the very end). It's pretty obvious why they were hostile, I was just wondering whether they are scripted to spawn, are replaced by the Outcasts or the like. It's in one of the corners of the map, locked, looks like it was buil into the dune. Maybe it's the access path to the well where the angara gets the water but I'm not sure by that. I'll try to dig up a screen but there's quite a chance I won't find any.

Whoa, they do? Cute, though the whole flophouse thing is mighty weird. (Where did that fucking horde of people come from?) Are they actually useful or just run about for show?


Auto dialogue? No, I remember there were four answers in that scene and I've never seen the game play a gmick like that during my endless screenhooting sessions... you sure you didn't hit any keys by accident? I sometimes let it crash... but not before making sure this is the moment and camera placement I need, which gets a bit too tricky. Turian military guy needs probably needs some spotight. Poor unnoticed background thing saw his chance to shine

Oo, nice art. So nice I'll not take to much time thinking about whether Reyes really looks like this when he removes his shirt

Oh sure. (_{if by then it isn't clear you've had just about enough of my rants, that is. Same for you should the last post be mine, anyway.})


Well, he's always wanted one for Christmas but Santa just wouldn't deliver so he went and made it real on his own But he kinda must play it cool and maybe just grin a little for hmself when the Charlatan gets mentioned... can't risk giving hints he might know somehing about him. (Makes me wonder what will happen of his alleged neutrality after the coup. No rumore he's been working with the Charlatan?) I don't now if the high noon really counts as a rare occasion.. or a chance to show off his true identity, of which there can't be many.  A minor difference, but still... taken like this he'd be boasting every chance he gets. Somehow it seems to fit him. But yeah, if he only ever shows up to play his master moves, why not.

Ah, sky cars. I just may have forgotten about those. But as for vega, we've only seen him crashing the thing. Who know what he had originally planned do ti with it 

Sloane and her new faith in people, good one. Still could be but they're there waiting for her the moment she catches up with Ryder after Reyes' escape. That would have to be one hell of a quick call... not to mention a change of heart. The core problems remain, sure, but with the Charlatan exposed the Collective is weaker for the time being, at least till Reyes manages to think of some way to get out of it (it would actually be intriguin to know what he does post unfavorable High noon... run, hide, try to save what he can and plann to strike back? How would the less core Collective even react to the Charlatan being exposed? Does Keema actually cause any troble save for forcing people in her throne room to become passive smokers?

Depends on the situation, I guess... is it the "popped up with lots of villainous bs" cthulhu or the "superior creation critic" cthulhu? Is Keema a cthulhu directly or has it just assumed control? Well, anyway, should the most interesting think come to pass (aka criticthulhu vs Sloane) it would be one of these time I just sit back with some popcorn and watch (but really, how much of a fight would you actually expect itto be?)

Aaand.. problem solved. Yep. Reyes and Ryder get to enjoy themselves, the bill goes to Tann. Pathfinding expenses. (Or is it diplomacy? If Liam can get away with it... and it even is diplomacy) Hmmm... I have a hard time imagining Reyes being completely calm... but it must be wrong, he will have to be calm owning that absolutely-not-clandestine pet shop...

If only what? They don't look related to me but I guess that could change should Mr. Sniper Guy get more involved in the story, which might come with an overhul. It would even fit, given how almost everyone in MEA rants about family in one way or another... where is Reyes'? Hiding around in power armor shooting people?

That's four people and one of them hypothetical. Could be a lot, could be relatively few, who knows. We don't get to know anything about the size of the Collective, but maybe thses guys plus Reyes himself woud be sufficient. It's Kadara, must be quite a feat to get that many dependable agents. He'd surely need some of his trusted people in key positions for the takeover too, though, so there should be more. No sense in stuffing them all in a cave.

Thanks for the pic. Still cute

That would be awesome. And the amount of hilarity that could be gotten out of this is endless. Sure, nobody noticed the pathfinder is hiding a wanted crime lord under heir bed (till the space hamster rats him out, you know, leading to a scene where the nemesis shouts across the communicaton channels for Ryder to give the Charlatan up, they know he's there ). Hell, this needs to happen if there is a sequel (there could even be a choice tied to this... does Reyes get hidden in a cargo hold, inside one of these devices in hydroponics or under the bed in Pathfinder cabin? )

Or they could just do the next Fallout and be done with it I'm only somewhat sure... guessing from the voiced protagonist being seen a a kind of an advancement... Yeah, the shut up mods tell their own story, but the voice is not a bad thing in itself, it just shouldn't have any impact on RP possibilities.

If it was his star moment, why have Ryder in it, though... unless he actually wanted the focus on them, so that the Charlatan could just indistinctly blend into the background? Seems familiar. It also maybe give ssome message, like working with poeple and getting supported in turn, to whoever might be the recipient. (I'm not sure about the rumors, though, while they're good for the morale and fun altogether, would they seem as much fun with no identifiable source?)

Just one of the irrelevant seminars I sometimes sign up for, this time attemtping to fill up the holes in my knowledge of sci-fi classics.. really till I got into ME my knowledge of the genre ended somewhere around the Red Dwarf. I might check that thing out anyway, thanks for the tip.

Who, me? Aw, why not. It's a matter of time before Reyes takes over the galaxy anyway. Ryder being stupid about it is just the norm (Does that mean he'll get rid of Tann? Hmmm )

The problem there is the lifespan of the two. Years of planning are all nice and good but you know how it is Anyway, it would not even have to be about Reyes osting the SB but merely resist getting ousted by them right in the beginning. After that... the ME1 Liara would almost surely lose, the other Liaras maybe? But he'd probably find some way to get to her. (_{at worst he could always drop a tiny little H-bomb on Thessia}) Might be interesting what he'd do with the yahg as well... or the shadow broker before him (considering it wasn't him )

Yeah, sure. In this case it's understandable, too. If I were a Shepard I'd die of boredom after the first flirt from either of these

The question is, how many would Ryder really get to meet with all that flying around? The options would still be pretty constrained no matter how many people get thawed, unless Ryder got new team or some such. Till then, Reyes is is.

Those are the special people... not meant for any Garrett's personal plasure at all. Why would Francine give you all that "treat the workers nicely" sermon if there were no workers to begin with? The regular, non-special invisible workers that bring money to the house, I mean? Fisto the ultimate sexy sexbot* and Beatrix might be passable, but do you think the regular clientele would go for.. errr...Santiago?

Omega was just fine... could've been harder but what we got looked sufficient. Kadara isn't all that clean either if you g by the hints, it's just the sanitization is done in quite a strange way... as in there's tons of shit somewhere behind the scenes, with mostly no impact even when they appear (aka the occasional corpse or two, with maybe the exception of the cannibals). How that "clean" feeling is achieved is a little beyond me, really.

*(_{fuck, I've just remembered that the game has shit like that and got the NV blues again} )

Come on, they weren't even properly on scene, and what we know of them is from the times when the broke rule no 1 I like their architecture. Maybe the advancement has gotten so huge it will be harder for the primitives to spot... ?

Or we'd be waiting for one, speculating all the way, at least. (I'll never understand what was so overwhelmingly wrong with this game. It was a bit unimaginative, and could have used a few more RP options, but still fun.)  Something strange and maybe slightly out of character, I suppose (Going wild with this stuff, I'd love to see Drack doing something totally childish like sliding and Jaal on to something akin to this 

As for Reyes, I've recently been quite taken by the idea of him hiding in the Pathfinder's quarters (edit: credit to orchid for this one. where are my goddamn manners) (or aleternaively being secretly stowed away somewehere around the Tempest) because he pissed off some larger than life enemy. Or he could invite Ryder to his main HQ to look at all the interesting Heleus footage. Or he could get drunk, start acting unprofessional and set off some chain of absurd events, or on the other hand he could plan something sweet with no catch to it at all like watching stars, going on a ride in a shuttle, drinking in some poetic lonely places... _{or a hanar poetry reading} (now, that would be unexpected!!! ). _{Seriouly, though, coming up with these, there was one thought that just woudn't disappear, which was Reyes running clandestinely about in a Zorro costume, doing some flashy Zorresque shit. Don't mind me. Don't mind me at all}.

Hee hee I can totally imagine him winning it, no matter whether it would happen by revealing his hidden talent or because nobody dares to declare another winner. I was thinking about what he could sing for a while and then suddenly wandered into these rarely visited parts of youtube.  I took it as as sign and this is my tip now. I don't fucking know how it would sound but the thought is somehow funny


Zaeed already has that one covered, though, Jaal would have a hard competition.

Also: Gil reciting something horrible at a poetry reading. Suvi getting attacked by some harmless looking Anromeda critters. The overacting turian making a live appearance.

A lot to make up for? What exactly? Also, can anyone be used to more trouble than Ryder? Ah, this should be good. Care to share some plans?

Like a lot of kissing and making up for not telling Ryder everything about him being the Charlatan. Reyes would (in my mind) really try to make up for not telling Ryder everything by doing surprise dinners, nights in with Ryder's favorite vids, basically being his version of the golden boy. 

The fic is an AU. One I think Reyes deserves. I want to talk about it so badly, but I want it to be a surprise.