What did you do today in ME?

I grabbed Jack, using the Jacob/Zaeed party. I did take the Paragon option to convince the guard to stop the torture of the prisoner. I also took the Paragon options with Jack. In Alex's eyes, being rude to her would like poking a wounded and cornered tiger. Not a great idea.

I found it a little more challenging as a biotic over a solider, but I'm enjoying it. The music that starts up after Jack breaks out is one of my favorites in the game. It has a sense of urgency and danger that I really enjoy, combined with a fast beat.

I decided to stop by the Citadel to take care of shopping and to recruit Kasumi. I made sure to trigger her annoyed line. "Seriously, how many times can you walk by without stopping?" It gives me a chuckle every time. I think I'm easily amused.

I also took a different path with Khalisah. While I didn't punch her and I never wanted to, I did have Shep yell at her for disrespecting the dead. I found myself cheering at the screen. As much as Paragon Shep can say things similar to me, some Renegade options also sound like things I've said.

After playing the game for a few hours, I've concluded that I think Mark's performance as Sheploo is every bit as a good as Jennifer's for FemShep. They have different styles, but I've seen this in games before. Jennifer tends to be more emotive, whereas Mark is more dry.

I noticed this in Saints Row the 3rd and 4th, two games I absolutely adore. Troy Baker as Male Voice #1 (yep, same guy from ME3) as the Boss is more dry and stoic overall. Lauren Bailey as Female Voice #1 is more expressive and bluntly smartassed. I enjoy both quite a bit, although Nolan North in 4th> all.

Brief OT: I wonder why so many VA directors do this. The women are more expressive and the men are more dry. It would be nice to see more of the reverse every once in awhile. /offtopic

Yeah, it reminds me of early techno in a way. There's one track from ME1 almost like it too.

straykat I'm a fan of older techno as well. I like the occasional Paul Oakenfold and I've seen Lords of Acid in concert.

Another night of alternating between playing ME2, doing laundry and playing with my dogs. I'm getting to ready to release Grunt. I also know the game is going to tell me 'But Thou Must' go to Horizon. I'm going to take Garrus and Jacob with me. Garrus is going to override any dialogue that Jacob might have when talking to Ash. I like having Garrus there, since he actually knows Ashley. The voice acting is pretty damned good on his part too.

I took Jack and Zaeed with me to recruit Garrus. As a group, it was a great idea. It worked well and we were doing a fine job. Then, when the groups separate, I made the mistake of taking Jack. I needed a heavy hitter and at lower levels we didn't quite have the biotic power to make it smooth. That was a few game overs. Oh well, lesson learned.

Then I figured it was time to go pick up the Boy in the Tank. I took Jacob and Jack with me for that one. Holy. Crap. Between the three of us, it was the quickest I've ever gotten through that mission. I was giggling like a maniacal schoolgirl while tearing things apart. I also took the Renegade option for scaring the wounded merc. Jacob griped, but I chuckled.

I've got a quarter of a bar higher in Paragon than in Renegade. I really hope I can keep that up as the game goes on.

I tend to play a lot of ME2 when it's Laundry Night. Plowing right through that and the game itself.

--Just did Horizon. Sadly, I was wrong. Jacob overrode Garrus, something that's never happened before. Maybe it's because I've been dragging Jacob around more? I don't know. In any case, the scene was a little sad as usual. The way that Sheploo's voice broke when he said, "I've had enough of this colony," was surprisingly poignant. Then he sounded like the most miserable bastard in the Milky Way. Ouch.

--I've been making sure to talk to Kelly constantly this run. Not only do I want him to get his fish back in ME3, but he's the type that could use a platonic dinner with a pretty gal. He's also comfortable with therapists, since I imagine he had one assigned to him after Akuze. So huzzah for therapy and huzzah for pretty girls. He did admit that he missed Ash quite a bit.

--Shep's got drunk with the Doc. She needed company and he needed to get drunk for a bit.

--I'm off to go get Tali now. I'm going to take Miranda and Garrus for this one. For this Shep, Tali was his best friend, far more so than Garrus to be honest. As soon as the quest popped up, I knew that the character would rush off to go get her. I'm RP'ing it to where Alex doesn't want to date Tali but he adores her nevertheless.

Alex's thoughts about the crew so far.

--Jack. Yeah. Batshit crazy and more than a little broken. He wants to help her, but is very leery of her. On a meta-level, I've been avoiding her after the first conversation to dodge the romance. On a RP level, she reminds Shep of Talitha, only pissed off, more lucid (not entirely sane,) and bloodthirsty. So he doesn't go down to her area much.

--Garrus. The kid finally grew up, the hard and brutal way. Alex felt a little bad, but Garrus had big dreams of being a vigilante hero. He needed to learn the lesson. Shep is going to get along with Garrus more in this game. He's like my Shep's little brother.

--Mordin. Seems like a good person. Maybe too clinical in his assessment of Krogan. Shep finds him brilliant and kind. Talks too much though. Salarians have so much to say. He's useful, but might not get used much. Shame that. Might find him a place in a mission or two.

Oh, that's something I am now really looking forward to in my second play-through!

:: Memories of Cornelius / Part ____ ::

Another day another fight, or another day another flight into the depths of babysitting the galaxy...

In attempts to alleviate the boredom of the past days caused by my execution of legacy crew members, genocide and violation of inter-organic rights in the 21st degree, I said CHESS!

But something didn't seem to be catching on.
You know there is a problem aboard when even Traynor is not interested in chess. (reminder to self : If need to terminate arises, slam with chessboard across face, proceed to shout CHECKMATE)

So instead I have decided to hang out with my second best-friend, Aria !

About one drinking competition later...
And one 'resting session' during which I assumed "Rule 1" of her territories...
It still felt a bit quieted out.

Thankfully the quietness broke when in the middle of my post-coitus smoke break the Asari Councilor called, of course I expected her to pay up for not forgetting her birthday but the first words out of her sushi-face were OFFICE.
And as per expectations, in the OFFICE there has been a series of tears shed over Thessia.

Thessi this Thessi that TheShiat did you expect ?!

I've been telling you as a councilor to do something about having more strippers than soldiers, but you shrugged off the question because my face had the slightly extreme smell of 20 jello shots !

I told you again that I am getting more honey requests on my exmail than recruitment reports, but you weren't picking up and I don't even wonder why... (reminder : Check Councilor and Aria's history for physical interactions, decide which to date and which to strangle with a piano wire)

Fairly I wish she'd have joined me on my past tour to the Monastery, I could have pointed at those naked Banshee monstrosities and said "THIS IS WHY YOU DRESS UP FOR EVERY OCCASION, EVEN REAPIFICATION!"

None the less Admiral Brackett Fackett of Hacketville is telling me to go there, but because he didn't say the magic word I think in the meantime there will be a few shore leaves on garden planets so I can hunt down more rare animals for my wardrobe...

Maybe I'll go square down at a hotel and buy the most expensive room for myself, then just wait until the Reapers blow up the planet and walk out without having to pay !

Well... Off to the land of milk and honies !

Jeff Shepard:

Followed Traynor's suggestion and went looking for some ex-Cerberus scientists who were on the run. This facility was led by Dr. Brynn Cole. There were also a lot of researchers and their families. Crazy stuff here. Had to put the AA guns online and reactivate the satellite array before we could evacuate. Got everyone out alive and gained some more brains for the Crucible project. For scientists, they were damn handy with the guns.

You know what's not fun? Hardcore insomnia. You know what is fun? ME2!

--I grabbed Tali, using Jacob and Garrus. Jacob has got squad ammo going now and Garrus has 3 out of 4 points into Overload. Kal is going to live, because he always will with my Shep's. He's too badass to go down like that.

Anyway, with this Shep I've noticed that Jacob and Alex get along surprisingly well. I think it's because, as a player, I can relax more and not have to worry about picking the wrong option when I'm trying to be nice. I also don't have to hear that kinda breathy tone when speaking to him that FemShep has.

--Went to Illum and did some much needed shopping. I talked to Shiala. While I enjoy helping out Zhu's Hope again, I still can't stand her touching Shep's face. I mean, she's green and one of the last times Alex saw her, she got spit out of a pod on a dying mindcontrolling plant. He's not really the touchy-feely type, especially not from someone who had the face of evil clones trying to kill him. Where's a renegade interrupt when you need one?

--Talked to Parasini as well. I still get a chuckle out of that quest, mainly due to Parasini's comments about the Asari as a whole. It was a nice callback to Noveria, especially since the codex for the planet states that Illum is the asari version of Noveria.

--Also chatted with Conrad. On the PC version, it shows on Gibbed that both the Renegade check from ME1 (pointing a gun at him,) and the Paragon check are ticked off on the plot flags. I guess the devs like the badass type? I hadn't seen it before until I played the PS3 version. I find it a lot funnier with that reaction.

Of course, I had to stop by and see my favorite asari in the series. "Can you get this idiot out of here before I slap his ass with a Singularity?"

--Recruited Samara, took Zaeed and Garrus with me. They are my preferred combo, since it's harder to set off the biotic toxic with Concussive Shot and Overload. I barely used any power other than Geth Shielding and timed my shots carefully. Only one canister broke near my location and that was from Cutscene Damage at the beginning of the boss fight. I somehow missed the evidence to bust Pitney For, but I'm not going to stress it.

Zaeed has the best reaction to the "Biotic God" if you go Paragon: "Sleep well, you deluded jackass."

--I realized something about Samara and the style of her armor. The general design does remind me of something very old fashioned, like a knight. I think the reason for the extreme neckline has some basis in actual Asari lore.

Matriarchs are revered for their wisdom and grace. When they hit that stage in their lives, their bodies change. Since they don't have really any serious hangups about sex and clothing, they see it as a point of pride. Samara shows off so much of her body as a sign of her power to the other Asari. She has the body of the a matriarch, and the code of a Justicar. It's like the beautiful colors that can be seen on some of the most poisonous creatures in the wild. It's a warning to those that might cross her.

It doesn't change that I find the armor ridiculous from a design standpoint. However, that's more linked to the exposed flesh and breather masks that many of the squadmates can somehow survive and use out in space. At least there is a decent lore reason for the Samara's armor design that I can see.

--Thinking about Jacob, I've concluded that Jacob is a pretty decent character. For folks that were missing the more structured and (fairly) good hearted Alliance, he's a nice fill-in. He's not the issue. The issue is that his story is dull as bricks.

He was a Corsair, which you can't even have Shep ask for details other than the bare basics.  Gotta check the Codex for full details. He never mentions his mother, and his father was very absent. He doesn't really mention where he came from, his childhood or his biotic training. Nor does he go into further details about how Miranda and him saved the Citadel from the batarians. He's just...there, with a very shallow story.

Kaidan, even in the first game, talks about where he's from, what it was like being in Jump Zero, ect. I think he has a pretty solid connection to the lore, considering he was one of the first generations of successful and trained biotics. Hell, his L2 implants and how they affect him also tie into the lore. Right there it says a lot about the learning curve that humanity had gone through prior to 2183.

Conrad is a ditz. He's a genius ditz, but he's still a little off. So just RP like that.

Oh, come on! They would have the smartest, most airheaded, naive kids in the galaxy.

Conrad would also be the kind of creep to name all of his kids after Shepard. Sheppy, Shepard Jr, Shepard the 3rd.

and i'm going to have to do all this again because I forgot Jenna - bah humbug

I was not planning on playing any Mass Effect at all until later this weekend, but then decided to pick it up last night for no real reason whatsoever.

Shawna Shepard:
1. (ME2) Reset her skill points back on the Normandy. (Import into ME3).

2. Got called into a meeting with the defense committee, just in time for the Reaper Invasion. Managed to escape Earth on the Normandy, but Anderson chose to stay behind.

3. Ordered to go to Mars by Admiral Hackett. Found Cerberus had taken over the Mars archives. Met Liara who immediately re-joined the crew. Made it to the archives.

4. Had a quick chat with The Illusive Man over holo, then chased down a Cerberus mole who stole some data. James crashed a shuttle preventing her escape. The mole turned out to be a robot. The robot beat up Ashley. Shot the robot.

5. Brought Ashley to the Citadel for surgery. Met the council, but they refused to help, but they also explained how to get help. First order of business: recruit the Turian Primarch.

6. Had a bad dream. Talked to crew aboard the Normandy, picked up the space hamster and model ships lying around.

7. Scoured the galaxy for credits and resources. Landed on Manae, Palaven's moon. Shot some husks. Picked up the Viper.

8. Talked to a Turian general. Got communications working again. Located the Primarch. Garrus joined the crew. Rescued the Primarch. He wants to the Krogan to join a war summit.