What did you do today in ME?

Illium, Eclipse Hideout:
I am glowing. Biotically. This red fog must be the Minagen X the Volus told us about. I wonder if I could ever learn to actually use biotics. I know I have an implant and the potential. Maybe someday I could pick up on that. But there's no time to think about this now. I signal my team to hurry up, we can't stay inside this shit for too long.

Tuchanka, Rite Grounds:
The ground shakes and rips open shortly after. I can't believe my eyes. A fucking Thresher Maw. We have to fight this thing... On foot. You've got to be kidding me. I try keeping an obstacle between its acidic spit and me at all times. At least it seems dumb enough to think it can still hit me with this tactic.

Tuchanka, Maelon's Lab:
I look from the krogan body to where Maelon lies. I'm not entirely sure he deserved death, but this was between Mordin and him.
I hope I made the right choice in keeping this damn data. I trust Mordin to decide what's right. Either help them someday, or get rid of it entirely. It's out of my hands now...

Normandy, CIC:
I argue to get the IFF right away. After the Collector ship we know we need it. But Miranda speaks up, in favour of building our team. I hate that she's right. I am eager. I want to defeat the Collectors. I want the colonies safe. And I want to break away from Cerberus and their fucking lying asshole boss. But she is right. We are not ready, too many issues still lingering.
I tell them we keep building the team. And gathering more resources can't hurt either.

Omega, Afterlife VIP Area:
I watch Morinth leave to get drinks for us. It's only a moment later that I realise. She's gone. I couldn't get to her. I... failed. I angrily smash my fist on the table next to me.
I fucking failed. And now I have to tell Samara. While Morinth goes on to kill people. I bite my lower lip and storm out of the club. Fuck.

Normandy, Engineering:
Crap, looks like Kelly was right. Tali has a thing for me, damn it. Maybe it's because I recently helped her, defended her vigorously, maybe because we've grown so close. I like her so much. I imagine her to be the closest thing to the sibling I never had, but right... she doesn't know that I...
I guess I need to tell her someday. That I don't swing for her team. But not today. Today, I let her down gently.

Illium, Eternity Bar:
Tali seems preoccupied with the red bowl, the nuts for quarians and turians. I order a shot for me from the nice matriarch behind the counter. And a glass of wine for Miranda. I think she can use a drink after killing her friend, and the whole thing with her sister. I wouldn't have thought to ever see her cry. Is that what it's like to have... family? Being so invested in something? Looks nice. I finish off my drink while distracting myself with the kiosk. Mystery drink, eh. Sure, let's have that, too.

Illium, Liara's Office:
I yell at Liara that it's all her fault. That I am with Cerberus. I am furious she gave my body to them. She tells me if she hadn't, I'd still be dead, her eyes sincere and pleading. I calm down. I know that she's right. If I'd be dead, more colonists would die. I wouldn't have been able to see her, Tali and Garrus again. Kaidan.
Fine, I'm fine. I tell Liara we'll go get the Shadow Broker now. This asshole would have sold me to the Collectors? Just you wait...


Pics


I hadn't planned on failing with Morinth. I actually finished the mission already with Samara killing her, but then thought about setting up something for ME3 where Samara isn't present, and so I went back It was also really cool to see more options I've never explored during chatting with Morinth.
I am now planning the Suicide Mission and who I leave behind this time. I still love switching things up to keep it interesting

Wishing everyone of you a good start into 2024!

Derelict Reaper, Dragon's Teeth Site:
Spikes. But they are not what's really on my mind. I wonder about the sniper for now. If whoever this is has seen us already. And took down the husks to help, or was it in defense? What is going on in this fucking weird thing? And why is a geth ship here in the first place?
We reach the impaled scientists and my quarian friend pulls me back into reality.

Normandy, AI Core:
I apologise to Legion. It is not necessarily true that I am afraid of it, but fully trusting it might be an issue. And yet, it obeyed all my orders. Even standing down from sending Tali's omni-tool data to the geth.
I am willing to give this a try, and Legion accepts my apology. Even referred to a joke. Interesting times for sure.

Normandy, Captain's Cabin:
I tell Liara everything. I just wanted to say Goodbye. Instead... Guess I needed someone to talk to. To vent about how frustrated I am, about the Council, the Alliance. Tired of Cerberus and what their boss pulled on Horizon. How one of my closest friends...
It doesn't really matter now. It's time to move and get our crew back.
Either way, it felt good to get it off my chest.

Collector Base, Human Reaper Construction Site:
I think about it for a moment. I still don't trust the Illusive Man, but I guess the saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" applies. I can't beat the Reapers alone. The Council doesn't do shit, and I have no clue how much weight Anderson has with both them and the Alliance. My guess is... not enough. At least the Illusive Man proved that he gets things done.
Okay. We're using this base... it might give us an edge when the inevitable comes.

Alchera, Normandy Crash Site:
I swore to myself I'd finally do this if I survive. I did, and here I am.
I pushed it away for a long time. I place the monument in honour of the crew that served with me, and in honour of her sacrifice. Dealing with it.
Goodbye, Williams. I hope it was not in vain and that we'll make you proud.

Aite, Hermes Station:
Tali and I look over the coffins in silence. All these people, dying again for some horrible experiment gone wrong. How stupid can you be to think this was a good idea?
I want to say they got what they deserved, but not all in Cerberus are bad. Or stupid. Overly ambitious for sure. Still, I don't like it, and it makes me reconsider my choice to leave the Collector base intact.
I see Garrus approach us in the distance. I turn away towards our vehicle.
"You ready, Tali?"
"Always, Shepard."

Project Base, Med Bay:
I punch the guards unconscious, the adrenaline pumping through me, giving me an edge after having just woken up. But I'm trapped.
Fuck. If I don't get out of here and do something, we're all doomed. I look around the room, considering my options. A research log. A terminal. Mechs behind the glass. I could use those...

Pics


I was quite surprised I couldn't take the Renegade option to break off Tali's and Legion's fight. I was thinking of respeccing to get the 100% Paragon/Renegade score, but I actually liked the option to apologise to Legion a lot after playing the scene through once. I never did that before either, so that was another argument to use it this time
Suicide Mission went according to plan and now Jack and Samara are dead
Sent Legion into the vents, Miranda led the Fireteam, Jacob escorted the crew, Miranda created the bubble with Samara as backup (whoops, but she got taken!!!), Garrus led the Fireteam. Final team was Garrus and Tali again.
Soldier with Mattock was great fun so far, also OP as hell! I rarely died, which in itself is a miracle

Tuchanka, Hollows:
Eve thanks me for everything I've done for her people and gives me her real name. My heart pounds in my chest, but I force myself to look her in the eyes. I appear calm, but inside, a storm is raging. The burden of what I did almost crushing me. I'm not sad for Wreav, he's a menace and the reason for all this. But the females... they don't deserve this. Mordin didn't deserve this.
But it is too late. I need to get away from this place...

Normandy, Captain's Cabin:
I wake up sweating, my whole body in turmoil. I get up, when I feel like the floor is being pulled from underneath my feet. I stumble into the bathroom and throw up. I refresh myself and look in the mirror.
Sending students to the front lines? Betraying allies? Shooting a friend?
This war costs me. The question is... how much more?
I once told Hackett that any sacrifice to stop the Reapers is worth the price, but I start to wonder. What if that price is your own soul?
Fuck. I need to stop beating myself up over this. I need to do this. This is my burden to bear, my responsibility. My duty, while I still draw breath. We have to win this.
And I might not be proud of who I am when this is over, but at least I am out here fighting for the future of those who'll still stand at the end.
I hear the chime of the door, and for once, I'm glad Liara comes by to talk, disrupting my thoughts.

Presidium, Elevator:
The time to talk is over. Neither of us budges. I move forward, pointing the gun at Kaidan. I stare down the barrel of his gun. I find his eyes. Brown. Warm. Familiar. It almost seems like this is some kind of cruel test.
I feel weak, but my hands tighten around my pistol to keep my aim steady, finger on the trigger in case it comes to... But I feel... I still feel... something between us. This is not over. We are not.
He lowers his gun. Trusts me. I got him back.

Presidium, Apartments:
As I walk down the steps my eyes catch the big blue letters of Apollo's, realising I haven't eaten in a while now. Too busy with too many things.
I spy Kaidan sitting in the café, and contemplate whether I should approach him. I give in.

Normandy, Port Cargo:
"But how far are you willing to go to achieve that goal?"
The Prothean watches me intently. Yeah, you look at someone who has more innocent blood on his hands than he ever thought possible. Not always by choice, but necessity. And I swore to myself I will do what I must. I can't falter, can't crush under the weight.
He believes me.

Pre-Omega fluff headcanon...
I frantically work on rerouting the power from the reactor, Petrovsky trying to worm his way into my head. Distract me. What distracts me more is the pressure of trying to keep both my allies and all these residents safe. If this doesn't work...
I focus. I can do it.
And when I find Petrovsky he'll be breathing through a new hole...

Pics:


The Tuchanka arc and shooting Mordin gets me every time. Still so emotionally beautiful done. It makes me feel so sad for my Shepards who do this.
At the end of the coup Kaidan took the shot, been some time since I did that, and I like the interaction there between Shepard and him a lot.
Some time ago I also had the idea to maybe let Kassim dance with Steve in Purgatory, but take the friend route this time. I did Steve's romance once and of course used the lock-in there, so I wanted to see if I could go for a new dialogue option this time. It was really cool and I thought it fit nicely, so I did it. It's great you can tell Steve there you trust him with Shepard's and the squad's lives, so sweet.
And theeeen I discovered a new dialogue from Kaidan, which I had to use in the end! Thwarted my plan to not lock in with him immediately and build up some more, but it was way too good to pass it up I usually try some different dialogue timing routes to see what happens and if I discover something new by accident (I'd think the passion for these games seizes after some time, but apparently, not for me ).
This time I skipped the few more clicks after his initial conversation in the Starboard Observatory (I still triggered the line about bumping into EDI in the end though). If you don't do a complete mission afterwards, you can go to Apollo's to lock his romance in, then return to the Normandy.
Kaidan will tell Shepard that he did not bring a lot to unpack, and unromanced, Kaidan says "I kinda like it. Living lean."
If you romance him already, he says: "Hey, Shepard? I'm very happy to be here. Very."
Adorable! Video for those interested is here.
Omega also went as I had hoped. Used a good amount of Renegade options, but also Paragon when it fit, so Aria handed over Petrovsky, just for me to shoot him

Damn, I rambled looooads today, sorry guys!

Gellix, Cerberus Base:
"I remember him being an idealist. How come I couldn't see the evil?"
I try to reassure Jacob that no one could've anticipated what the Illusive Man is doing right now. And yet... I also still feel the guilt for being stupid enough to think he'd use the tech from the Collector base to help in this war. All he's doing is trying to stop us, committing more atrocities, paired with some crazy scheme in his head that he can control the Reapers. I really hope this is just a fantasy, but seeing what I have seen so far with Cerberus, I have to be ready for anything.

Normandy, Crew Quarters:
"What if there are more like them trapped inside Cerberus, struggling to get out?"
I ask him what he thinks, but Kaidan is indecisive. For me, the answer comes easy. If we have time, we help. But we have to focus on the war. There's people dying everywhere right now, and the best thing to do is just finish it as soon as we can to save as many as possible.
Kaidan asks me if the Illusive Man was ever a good person. I can't really say, but I can tell Kaidan that at least back then he cared about humanity.
But it's clear he is someone, or something, entirely different by now. A monster that needs to be stopped.

Lesuss, Ardat-Yakshi Monastery:
I step inside the big open area when we hear the scream from above. Tali and Kaidan duck into cover, and we finally see the perversion the shrieks we heard earlier belong to. We take the thing down and press on. If that is what the Reapers do to Ardat-Yakshi, I can't leave this place standing. Or any survivors we may still find...

Cyone, Fuel Reactors:
I tell Captain Riley I'll send someone from my team. I just know Kaidan would want to help. He always does.
I tell him to go back them up. One look in his eyes tells me I was right.
You better not get yourself into trouble.

More fluff
Mahavid, Med Bay:
The glass of Garneau's room shatters and there's a high-pitched sound that travels deep into my brain. He's trying to get away. I push through the pain and we go after him. We need him. He's somehow controlled by Leviathan itself and I want to know how it does that. The artifact seems to be playing a role...
We arrive at the door to the Transit Station, but he locked it. I start by-passing it, the few seconds it takes feeling longer than they should.

Namakli, Dig Site:
We hurry out of cover to reach the next wall when one of the Harvesters shoots at us, hitting the edge of the structure in front of us. I raise my arm to shield myself from the blast and realise this is going to be challenging. We have to be extremely careful.
I've never seen so many things in the sky at once, not even birds. It's a massive amount. And they're out to get us...

Despoina, Ocean:
I keep talking in hope they can still hear me, hear that I'm okay. Or maybe I'm talking to calm myself down. I've gone down a long way. But if there's one thing that distracts me from the question if I can make it back, it's how beautiful and mesmerising the ocean is. Wishing Kaidan and Tali could see this.
But I still have something big to chase. A hint of excitement mixed with anxiety flows through me. Excited to see what I find, anxious that it was all for nothing. But I'm hoping for the best. No way back anyway.

Pics:

Heading to Thessia next now and I'm actually still thinking about whether I give Miranda her resources. My last MShep didn't, but I'm not sure it feels so right to not give them to her in this run. Guess I'll see when I get there

Long-ass post incoming! And lots of Citadel DLC meet-up fluff and stuff in spoilers, sorryyyy!

Cronos Station, The Illusive Man's room:
The door opens and I walk in, standing where he used to be. It's pretty crazy. All the times he talked to me from here. And now I am here, with clenched fists, finishing what we set out to do. The red supergiant in the background burns bright. At least the view's nice, but this asshole will never enjoy it again. If he actually did enjoy anything in his life at all, other than wasting people in his little experiments.

Normandy, Main Battery:
"I'm really happy for you. Both of you."
"Thanks, Shepard."
"Appreciate it. Guess it helps to have something to come back to."
I smile at Garrus. Yes. It definitely does. I leave the two of them to it and head for the starboard observation. My very own something to come back to waiting for me there.

London, Destroyed Apartment:
Kaidan comes to a halt in front of the bed. I stop right next to him. A corpse. Stripped down to the bone. Fuck. It's awful.
I look over to Kaidan, staring at the corpse with a blank face. The only movement comes from his jaw, like he's grinding his teeth. I see him swallow.
I touch his shoulder and my gentle voice breaks our silence.
"Come on. Let's go finish them."
"Right behind you."
He turns his head to look at me. I've never seen him so angry.

Citadel, Control Room:
I'm under his control. I try to break it, but it's so strong. I... I can't... NO! A shot echoes through the room and Anderson flops down to the floor.
A ferocity erupts from deep within and I fight my opponent's grasp with everything my body has left to give. I feel my finger slightly move. Just a bit more... Within a few split-seconds, I push through and pull the trigger.
Fuck you. You will kill no one anymore.
I pant, the adrenaline and my pulse through the roof. Yet a tiredness sets in. I head for the console and open the Citadel arms, while the Illusive Man dies on the floor next to me.
I drag my feet backwards, sinking down next to Anderson. I'm exhausted. I'm so tired. I look at the hand I pressed on my stomach. There's so much blood. So much.
Please, I don't want to die...

Pics:

Sappy aftermath:

In my headcanon, after the dust has settled, Kassim and Kaidan both quit the Alliance and live together in Vancouver, close to Kaidan's mom. Kaidan becomes a teacher for biotic kids and Kassim joins a program to help get juveniles off the street and into a stable life. He likes being able to help and is pretty good at using his own experience as a means to get the youngsters to talk and open up to him, to build up trust.

Sooo, another Insanity run finished! That was an intense adventure during London this time. No real tech or biotic explosions against Banshees and Brutes are at times pretty mean! And grenades are gone in the blink of an eye
The best part was when Kaidan got grabbed by the SAME Banshee 3 times! I ordered him and Tali always somewhere, and yet he didn't want to listen! Pffft
The ending got me again this time, such an emotional ride. Kassim grew veeeery dear to me and it's definitely in my Top 5 favourite trilogy runs, even Top 3!
The corpse in the apartment in London in my last run was the trigger of the idea to do these more random write-ups this time, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Now contemplating whether next I start my canon FemShep run (which I wanted to record actually), or do the last of the major romance that I'm still missing (Miranda). Decisions, decisions! Either way there might be a tiny break to play some other games maybe.

Nice plan t odo m yfirs trun o fthe year onc eI finis hZero Dawn. Though I ma yd oon eo fm yFifa experiments firs tbefoer I start an dsee how that goes but m yp;lan i st opla yboth just not suer in what order yet though I ma yeven alternate between them. But th etrilogy an dFifa aer going to be my main focus until Forbidden West drops.

It was my favorite biotic power as well. Even when I played a Soldier I always gave Shepard Lift as a bonus power.

Lift wasn't bad, but I like singularity better when playng as a biotic. 

Today in Mass Effect I finished my YouTube playthrough of the Trilogy for Legendary Edition. I started April 2, 2022 and have published 278 videos. That sounds like a lot, but I have enjoyed every minute of playing, editing, and sharing these videos. I have gained an insight into Mass Effect that I've never had with any other video game I have ever played. I went everywhere, did everything, amassed over 8100 points in war assets for the assault on Earth. So, why should YOU watch MY playthrough? First, I went out of my way to make it not MY playthrough. I chose to play as default female Shepard to make it as little about what I like as I could. I still make the choices of course, but what I don't do is have favorite squadmates. I don't use Garrus and Tali for every mission, and I don't abandon Ashley after the aliens from animals comment. I don't take Garrus on the biotic terrorist mission because I think Kaiden is boring, but I don't leave him out of mission he should go on either. In other words, you may find something in my playthrough that you don't normally find in other YouTube playthroughs. I found every Asari writing, every Salarian medal, every Turian insignia, I scanned every star system, collected over half a million pounds of minerals, and 100,000 pounds of Element Zero in mass Effect 2. I did every N7 Mission, and found every collectable. How does any of this benefit you? Whether you want to see the whole playthrough as a continuous story of are looking for a specific moment in the game it is edited and posted in a way to make it easy for you. There are no 5 hour videos of raw game footage. There is no scrolling through menus, no failed missions, no commentary. There are 278 videos because every video is a separate mission. Priority Earth is well over two hours, but other videos are as short as two minutes, and they are all labeled to make whatever you are looking for easily searchable. You don't have to watch them all, or fast forward to get to what you want to see, but If you want to enjoy the entire story from Eden Prime to Priority Earth they are playlisted to allow you to just press play. In conclusion, I'm not trying to sell anyone anything. I don't make any money off YouTube. I only have 16 subscribers. I'm not trying to spam anyone. This is the only way for me to let anyone know this exists, and I know no one knows it exists because I've been posting these videos for two years, and the most successful one has 111 views. Even if you don't like the way I play or the character class or character I chose there can still be value in not having to play through Mass Effect 1. Thanks in advance to anyone who does choose to watch.Mass Effect Full Playthrough