259: Who is Shepard's TRUE Romance?

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Commander Shepherd, and this is my favorite lorecast on the Citadel. [SPEAKER_05]: Welcome to the Mass Effect lorecast. [SPEAKER_05]: I'm in seven the legend. [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm Genesis, join us. [SPEAKER_05]: As we explore along tides of light, and through sholes of dust, to see where this lore began.

[SPEAKER_03]: And consider where it may go. [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, yeah. [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, if you can count it as Chinese food, it was pandas, press. [SPEAKER_03]: Mm-hmm. [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, fried rice and orange chicken, because I'm a basic batch. [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, that's so fun. [SPEAKER_03]: Okay. [SPEAKER_05]: Why is that saying that?

[SPEAKER_03]: Hey guys in chat can you all right fuck it. [SPEAKER_05]: We're doing it live. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, yep, that is we're we are gonna do a life In fact, we're gonna hold we're just gonna restart Let's just fuck it. [SPEAKER_05]: This is this is the joys of live broadcasting. [SPEAKER_05]: Here we go [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite lorecast on the Citadel.

[SPEAKER_05]: Welcome to the Mass Effect lorecast. [SPEAKER_05]: I'm in seven the legend. [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm Genesis, join us. [SPEAKER_05]: As we explore along tides of light and through the shoals of dust to see where this lore began. [SPEAKER_03]: And consider where it may go. [SPEAKER_05]: Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Mass Effect Lorcast.

[SPEAKER_05]: I am your host in seven legend and joining me as always is the newly filled with Chinese food genesis. [SPEAKER_05]: The genesis, how was your panda expressed? [SPEAKER_03]: Panda was as standard as it always is. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, yeah, let's go, mediocre dinner, okay. [SPEAKER_05]: Here we are with our patrons this week, and we're gonna be talking about some over the pants action.

[SPEAKER_05]: No, I'm kidding. [SPEAKER_05]: We're going to be talking about the one true pairing, the other OTP that we care about a lot. [SPEAKER_05]: And that is the one true romance you could say for your shepherd. [SPEAKER_05]: And it doesn't have to be your favorite just the one that you consider to be canon.

[SPEAKER_05]: And joining us this week is Magistrate Vita, Magister, how are you? [SPEAKER_06]: Good little little serp, little exhausted from some, weekend birthday celebrations, [SPEAKER_06]: Definitely making it today. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, happy belated birthday. [SPEAKER_05]: All right. [SPEAKER_05]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_05]: Well, I hope it was fun for you. [SPEAKER_05]: And Mitch aka psych. [SPEAKER_05]: How's it going? [SPEAKER_07]: It's going really well. [SPEAKER_05]: Awesome. [SPEAKER_05]: We're at your bot. [SPEAKER_05]: Thanks for joining us as well. [SPEAKER_05]: How are you doing? [SPEAKER_05]: I know it was storming where you were a little earlier, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it was a little bit. [SPEAKER_04]: I'm glad to see that you got power. [SPEAKER_05]: All right, well, it's going to be us as a gang talking about who we think our Shepherd belongs with. [SPEAKER_05]: I think that's probably the best way to put it. [SPEAKER_05]: I'm going to save mine for the end, although it's not going to be any great surprise to anyone who's listened to the show for longer than two episodes.

[SPEAKER_05]: So let's go ahead and start this off with the person who's suggestion this was with Magister. [SPEAKER_05]: Magister kind of walk me through who you're one true pairing for a shepherd is and whether [SPEAKER_05]: how you play Shepherd as Paragonal Renegade. [SPEAKER_06]: Sure, so in my opinion, for it's actually like it's different for both brochure and FEMCHET and Paragonal Renegade, I feel like a more [SPEAKER_06]: I think that the whole Paragon aspect, the whole rescuing romance back and forth, going for each other, leaves more towards that.

[SPEAKER_06]: In my own head, for Paragon Fellowship, I'm leaning more towards Tally. [SPEAKER_06]: Later on, I think he starts with Ashley, but then those toward Tally themselves, more of a unity [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like we are a little bit difficult to be lingering around, but I think he would build more of a tonic with her.

[SPEAKER_06]: And then for Renegade Renegade, I'm leaving more towards Garrison, I feel like they can help add to each other's fire and get in the job done for better or for worse. [SPEAKER_06]: Miranda. [SPEAKER_05]: I had a feeling you were going to say Miranda. [SPEAKER_05]: So if you were going to pick, you know, Renegade Paragon, brochure, Fimshep, who is your cannon ship?

[SPEAKER_06]: My cannon ship is Paragon Fimshep. [SPEAKER_05]: Okay, so your cannon romance, it might take that, that cannon romance for you would be Fimsh and Aliyara. [SPEAKER_05]: Yep. [SPEAKER_05]: Now, is this because the writers have essentially made Aliyara indispensable? [SPEAKER_05]: You know, kind of walk me through some of the justification here, because you know, in the seven episodes, you're said that we did Aliyara, like, it does become evident that Aliyara has probably the most developed [SPEAKER_05]: character out of all the potential romances?

[SPEAKER_06]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_06]: I feel with Paragon Fellowship, we open this between the two, would add not necessarily for a best spec one, but I think we are definitely having the [SPEAKER_06]: gumption or maturity yet for that romance, but then you get to mess with you, home girl literally went out of her way to make sure that shepherd is brought back.

[SPEAKER_06]: Not necessarily in the main game, but when you get to the DLC was a shadow broker, I feel the connection between those two, especially with the pair of gun and a robes that were occurring throughout that particular DLC added to the elements of that relationship going and becoming more. [SPEAKER_06]: And then you get the rest of a three and you have the literal shadow broker making her way back to come and help with the [SPEAKER_06]: and Shepard being right there.

[SPEAKER_06]: I feel like Shepard is very, allows themselves to be vulnerable with a few people, Garrison, Leara's, at the top of the list of that. [SPEAKER_05]: So I feel like Leara is, Leara's romance as you described it, is potentially the healthiest iteration of, I can't quit you as a trope. [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, I'm sure you have particular thoughts on that trope.

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, that I can't quit you. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it definitely can be seen as very negative and very toxic, but in a way that they shape it through the lens of Lyra, it's not necessarily I can't quit you, but it's I'm not going to give up on you, and that feels a lot healthier. [SPEAKER_03]: I agree that Lyra is a great romance.

[SPEAKER_03]: She definitely has a lot of character development. [SPEAKER_03]: I also agreed with the being to immature to young to Pearl Clutchie in Mass Effect 1 for me to really appreciate her, but once she gets into 2 into 3 and she's developed herself as a full [SPEAKER_03]: It makes it a lot easier to accept her romance, but I can definitely see that as a Paragon Fellowship, we are a being the canon romance.

[SPEAKER_05]: Which is so interesting to me because Lyra goes like so renegade in Mass Effect 2, right? [SPEAKER_05]: And she kind of has to bring Shepard's corpse anyway back. [SPEAKER_05]: to complete that mission and then exact revenge on the Shadow Broker. [SPEAKER_05]: So I want to open up the floor here to Retrobot and Mitch, you know, what do you guys think about the true romance pairing for Paragon and Fimshep being Lyra and feel free either [SPEAKER_04]: I think it makes sense just from the story perspective just because of how much they use the aura is like oh she's there she's always there supporting you so it moves the story along like I can actually see them for the next Mass Effect game that they decide just to kind of roll out every time we are choices from previous games I could totally see them being like oh

[SPEAKER_04]: They might melded so many times with they are us now. [SPEAKER_04]: We are a has a kid and it's like Shepard's kid or something on. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I think we've talked about that before, Genesis, right? [SPEAKER_05]: Like the idea of potentially that it is canon, that Lyara has shepherds kid no matter what, because they did mine melt so many times, and the lines seem to be a bit blurry in terms of when the mind melding becomes romantic and when it's not.

[SPEAKER_05]: because when they're finally that final mind-meld right well definitely and I'm talking specifically about when a sorry do it with species who are not a sorry right because they choose the a sorry is the one who chooses whether or not to basically accept a DNA pairing right yeah yeah so it's a it's a one-sided consent thing for having a child [SPEAKER_03]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_03]: I'm gonna take your DNA and you might not even know it. [SPEAKER_05]: And you imagine the child support arguments? [SPEAKER_05]: How do you litigate that? [SPEAKER_05]: We're gonna hit up a fair lawyer friend of coal cushions. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, I have no idea on that one. [SPEAKER_03]: I have no idea.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Anyway, so yeah, I know I see where I go into that retro button. [SPEAKER_05]: There is definitely the argument to me that they mind-melded so many times and especially the final one in Mass Effect three being so intimate, even if you're not romantically, Lyra, that [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I can see the plausibility of that, Mitch, what do you think about Fimshep, Pyrgon Fimshep's Ken Romance being Lyra?

[SPEAKER_07]: I can agree with that one, though I feel like to meet personally on a Pyrgon Fimshep. [SPEAKER_07]: really garrison, but you take garrison, you temper his moral sense of morality, his justice, and all that, you shape him into a better person. [SPEAKER_07]: So I can agree with you, we are, but I like the idea of garrison better.

[SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, I know that you have very, very strong thoughts about canon romances for Paragon Fimship. [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I mean, when I am playing my Paragon Fimship, it is Caden Garros Garros, and that's who it is for me. [SPEAKER_03]: But I can see the merits of Lyra, even if it's not the one for me, I agree with [SPEAKER_03]: with like that it should be yours, you know, for especially because a renegade femme ship is going to push garrison down a darker path and I don't I don't like that path for him.

[SPEAKER_03]: He gets a little bit more vindictive and more angry and I don't like that for him. [SPEAKER_03]: But then again, a Lyra that follows a renegade shepherd [SPEAKER_03]: is also traveling down that same path. [SPEAKER_03]: So that's why for Magister, it makes total sense for it to be Lyara that he wants to help temper her anger.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, a renegade film ship with garrison like garrison when you meet him is more of like a Lincoln park listener right and then like a renegade Fim ship would send him into like bring me the horizon Bring me the event horizon. [SPEAKER_03]: There you go New band name. [SPEAKER_03]: Let's go [SPEAKER_05]: or maybe like I am ghost.

[SPEAKER_05]: These are some really obscure like Screamo references now that I'm pulling in and then props to you if you're listening to this and you've got that one. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I feel like the renegade well the renegade honestly shepherd has a pretty negative effect on like so many different squadmates.

[SPEAKER_05]: All right, so [SPEAKER_05]: I like the idea of the param ship with Lyra because, you know, like we mentioned, Lyra is just so dedicated to Shepard and bringing Shepard back, and, you know, I won't quit you. [SPEAKER_05]: I won't give up on you. [SPEAKER_05]: And the param on Shepard reciprocates that dedication, right?

[SPEAKER_05]: And you can do that over the course of three games, which is nice. [SPEAKER_05]: So all right. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, Magister, thank you so much for that. [SPEAKER_05]: Let's go to Retrobot Retrobot for your one true pairing for Shepherd. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, first tell me if it's a paragon brochip, renegade brochip or paragon renegade.

[SPEAKER_05]: Firm ship and which romance it is. [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, so I would do all four, but I unfortunately am not played friendship at [SPEAKER_04]: I just say Paragon, Tally, with you day and Ashley in the first game that she dies on Burmire, then you continue on with Tally, then for Renegade, I just say Jack.

[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, so I like the whole tragic love thing that you're talking about, like you're dating Ashley, she dies on Burmire, and then, but in this scenario, do you think that like Tally would feel like she can never live up to the memory of the ghost? [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, because I'm trying to remember exactly how long time-wise Mass Effect takes, Mass Effect 1 takes place, because I mean, it's just a few months, yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: So you're comparing yourself to someone who only dated the person you're with now for like two months, compared to, oh, I've known Shepherd for years. [SPEAKER_04]: I've been like Dana since Massive Act 2 and there's been this whole war and everything that we've been through together. [SPEAKER_05]: Well that's true, yeah, but when people have people that they love or care about and that person dies, for better or for worse, those who are still living tend to put the memory of that person on the pedestal.

[SPEAKER_05]: And we tend to forget their flaws and amplify their positive characteristics. [SPEAKER_05]: So, I wonder if that would be the case for Shepard because Shepard does bring up how they miss Caden or Ashley, you know, later in the game and I cannot imagine Tally, Tally is innocent, but she's also a little bit insecure.

[SPEAKER_05]: And I cannot imagine Tally that not bothering her. [SPEAKER_05]: That makes sense. [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, what do you think? [SPEAKER_03]: I definitely agree that you will always think about the partner who died and hold a special place for them, and it's hard to live up to that memory, but the fact that [SPEAKER_03]: Ashley and Tally knew each other, or, you know, I think that it would have also been okay, it would have made it better, especially because we know that Ashley and Tally end up becoming friends.

[SPEAKER_03]: So even if Ashley doesn't die on vermire, she still ends up being okay if you end up with Tally in the end, calls her her little sister. [SPEAKER_03]: So I think that that would all work out. [SPEAKER_03]: I [SPEAKER_03]: for a brochure, especially on the Paragon side of things, I think that Tally is a very good option, a very good choice.

[SPEAKER_03]: I kind of agree with that one, it's a very solid choice. [SPEAKER_05]: Redrabot in this brochure Tally pairing, how do you handle the admiralty board when they're trying to expel her for treason? [SPEAKER_05]: Do you, do you fork over the evidence or do you cover her ass? [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's always a hard one, because like you can't be a true pair of gun and cover up what her father did.

[SPEAKER_05]: Which is so weird, right? [SPEAKER_05]: And I completely agree with you, and yet the game's morality system doesn't. [SPEAKER_05]: Isn't that weird? [SPEAKER_05]: Like the game's morality system believes that it's a renegade choice to hand over the evidence, which I always disagreed with.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it's always weird like you feel like if you're true paragon, you try to be this upstanding member of the Alliance military, so you can be like, oh, I'm really into rules and regulations so I'd have to. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, they're lawful good 100%. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_05]: So yeah, it is a really difficult when I think there's the argument to be made either way, you know, when you love someone you don't want to see them hurt or you could say that Cheper just ceased through that entire trial as a as a sham anyway that that Tally's really just being used as a political pawn either way, so you might as well spare her [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, and then of course, there's a guy getting to me, they'd well, the Korean people deserve the truth.

[SPEAKER_05]: So yeah, all right, that's really interesting. [SPEAKER_05]: I want to open this up to Mitch and Magister, either one of you wants to chime in. [SPEAKER_05]: What do you think about, you know, Tally being with Paragon, Brochip, and Magister, I believe you made the same pairing? [SPEAKER_06]: That I did, I think that, [SPEAKER_06]: canonically that is a good pairing, especially if shepherd does cover for tally and then you have this war hero, well if you're going to like pair going round war hero shepherd with our mochi board tally and it's just like this power pair that's going to get the the gas or the reapers and so on the outside it looks good but also on the inside just the [SPEAKER_06]: culture and vulnerability that they share with each other and linking of the suits and all that.

[SPEAKER_06]: I think it. [SPEAKER_06]: really have a nice story, storybook ending. [SPEAKER_05]: It has almost a certain kind of like Disney's Pocahana's feeling to it, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_05]: Where, so Talley's on her pilgrimage, right? [SPEAKER_05]: And she meets a, you know, strapping war hero in Peragon, Brochep.

[SPEAKER_05]: And it's not like all of Talley's people approve of that romance. [SPEAKER_05]: but she eventually in support and like you said they kind of really help each other as leaders. [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, did I see you roll your eyes over there is that what you're doing or are you just thinking?

[SPEAKER_05]: Uh-oh. [SPEAKER_05]: Did we lose Genesis? [SPEAKER_05]: There we go. [SPEAKER_05]: You're back. [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, I'm back. [SPEAKER_05]: So what do you think about the entire, like basically the romance from Tally's perspective that it's actually quite an exciting romance for her. [SPEAKER_05]: She's leaving, she's going on this right of passage, time in her life with the pilgrimage, she gets caught up in a bunch of drama, all very exhilarating and scary, [SPEAKER_03]: It's one of those fairy tale romances.

[SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's very much, I meet, you know, the night in shining armor. [SPEAKER_03]: I meet Prince Charming and Holy Crap, he likes me back. [SPEAKER_03]: All right, let's see where this thing goes. [SPEAKER_05]: I got to shepherd, we'll bang, okay. [SPEAKER_03]: Okay. [SPEAKER_03]: Mm-hmm.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, so, and it is fun over time watching Tally Loosen Up. [SPEAKER_05]: with Shepherd because then you also realize you're like, oh, this is who you've always been. [SPEAKER_05]: I just wasn't seeing it. [SPEAKER_05]: So yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Um, psych, what do you think about Paragon, brocheps, uh, can romance being tally?

[SPEAKER_07]: That. [SPEAKER_07]: When I was younger, I was totally for it, and now as a mid 30s gentleman, it's got a little bit of an extractor to me. [SPEAKER_07]: She's this 18-year-old, cupping adulthood, for whatever core. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I think she's, I think she's in her 20s. [SPEAKER_05]: I'm not sure if that's ever confirmed.

[SPEAKER_05]: I think she's in her 20s, but yeah, she's immature. [SPEAKER_07]: exactly and then you know two years later after you died and she's lost a whole team that you had to go save her from okay now she's a little bit more matured but it's still it's not she was like you saw her as a kid when you first met her exactly yeah and like okay yeah you grew up now you're old enough to drink but is it still okay is it [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_05]: not shepherd but you right because like and I had the same thought when I was like 14 and I first played this game and like I was like oh yeah, Talie is like an exciting romance and I also identified with Talie because I was 14 and now that I'm older I look at Talie and I see a kid so yeah I get where you're coming from with that.

[SPEAKER_03]: agree and to the people who have been like oh we really wish that Talie was a romansible option in Mass Effect 1. [SPEAKER_03]: I'm so glad that she's not because in Korean culture she's not an adult yet in Mass Effect 1 because she hasn't finished her pilgrimage and if you want more thoughts on psyched feelings on Talie romance he was he was the guest on both of the girls Talie episodes back in the day.

[SPEAKER_05]: And, you know, like, it's also, um, yes, like, I'm glad that they didn't make her romance in Mass Effect 1 because there was a huge power dynamic between Shepard and Tally, uh, and that power dynamic gets leveled out a little bit in Mass Effect 2. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_03]: I agree.

[SPEAKER_05]: and it would have veered into abuse of power very easily for a shepherd and not just you know you could say well that goes for every alien aboard the ship not really because like you said tally hasn't completed her pilgrimage yet she's still quite immature i don't know exactly how young she is but she's also a corian and we can't overlook the fact that corians are treated [SPEAKER_05]: So a second class citizen who other crewmates mention, surprise at Shepherd's decision to let Eccorian that close to the drive core.

[SPEAKER_05]: the background context of racism against Koreans, poor treatment against them as second-class citizens. [SPEAKER_05]: She is, for all intents and purposes, an adolescent, you know, growing into adult, but still, growing. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, there's there's a lot of ethical questions there.

[SPEAKER_05]: And by the way, Genesis, I hope you know we have like supremely angered a bunch of tallymancers and they are furious like typing on their keyboards right now leaving us some scathing reviews about how wrong we are. [SPEAKER_03]: bring it on. [SPEAKER_03]: I will never change my stance on Tally should not have been remancipal and massive effect one.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I said what I said. [SPEAKER_05]: That said, Tally and Mass Effect 2 and 3 is and I still haven't done it myself, but I've seen enough clips by now. [SPEAKER_05]: That I think if I play through it and she might become might might become my favorite romance It's gonna be really hard to use syrup Ashley in that regard, but yeah [SPEAKER_05]: All right.

[SPEAKER_05]: Well, with that, let's go to the midbrake. [SPEAKER_05]: We are about halfway through the show. [SPEAKER_05]: And when we come back, psych, I want to hear about yours. [SPEAKER_05]: We'll talk about your one true pairing for Shepherd and then Genesis and I will get into ours as well. [SPEAKER_05]: So, all right, here we go.

[SPEAKER_08]: We have beef, bacon, we have beer, the foods of my people. [SPEAKER_01]: Young man, have funny ideas of what a story are like. [SPEAKER_01]: I blame the extra net, and computer games. [SPEAKER_00]: Rex, Shepherd, Grant, Shepherd, Rex. [SPEAKER_05]: right here we are in the middle of the show and this is the part where we read out your five star reviews and speaking of which I am bringing them up right now to see if we have any new ones.

[SPEAKER_05]: We actually do. [SPEAKER_05]: We have one new review from Lone Spectator on Apple Podcasts who leaves us five stars and says Citadel Council would approve. [SPEAKER_05]: The Mass Effect lorecast is so good, it almost makes the Reapers 50,000 year cycle worth the wait. [SPEAKER_05]: deep dives, sharp humor and zero filler.

[SPEAKER_05]: Pure paragon tier listening. [SPEAKER_05]: Highly recommend if you still get emotional over the Normandy's crew. [SPEAKER_05]: I should go. [SPEAKER_05]: I was an extremely kind review. [SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Loan Spectator, and I'm glad that we are able to talk to you through your earholes.

[SPEAKER_05]: So thank you for the kind message and messages like this really make my day. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't know about you, Genesis. [SPEAKER_03]: I absolutely love it and I had read this and when I read it, I heard I read zero filter and I was like, I think both things apply to us. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I have a little bit of a filter, but that should tell you when it would be like with none.

[SPEAKER_05]: I have a little bit of one, a little bit. [SPEAKER_05]: All right, well, thank you so much for the kind of review loan spectator if you listened to the show and you would like to have your review read out on the podcast. [SPEAKER_05]: Go ahead and leave the review on Apple Podcasts or you can leave a comment on our most recent Spotify episodes.

[SPEAKER_05]: That being said, I want to reiterate my apologies for the delay in getting episodes up. [SPEAKER_05]: on Spotify and all the other platforms, I am still like adjusting to this new schedule of, you know, waking up in the middle of the night and then I don't get to go to bed until my sun goes to bed.

[SPEAKER_05]: So yeah, still adjusting to that and also my dog is being a real big pain in the ass lately. [SPEAKER_05]: He is a puppy through and through and he's a 75 pound puppy. [SPEAKER_05]: So, yeah, we are looking for new dog walkers if that tells you guys anything. [SPEAKER_05]: And we just got him neutered like three weeks ago.

[SPEAKER_05]: I'm desperately waiting for him to calm down from that. [SPEAKER_05]: So, all this to say that that's also why I haven't streamed on my insane legend account in a long time. [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, do you know if we have any new patrons to shout out? [SPEAKER_03]: We do not have any new patrons to shout out, but I'll go ahead and read out the tier that are our favorite lovely patrons.

[SPEAKER_03]: William Superfly 440 Retro Bot. [SPEAKER_03]: Lieutenant to, you know, Kira C, Ed Boy and Knight Star Raider. [SPEAKER_03]: Very much appreciated. [SPEAKER_05]: Yes, thank you all for your continued support of the show. [SPEAKER_05]: And with that, no further ado, let's get back to it. [SPEAKER_02]: After time adrift among open stars, a long tide of light and through shows of dust, I will return to where I began.

[SPEAKER_09]: Celery and reproduction different, very little sex drive. [SPEAKER_09]: If intended to try human, would try you. [UNKNOWN]: Oh, my Patreys! [SPEAKER_05]: Alright, here we are in the second half of the show, and Sike, you have a one-true romance for Shepard that I can't wait to hear about, and so I guess clarify for me is it Paragon or Renegade Broship, and who is the one-true romance?

[SPEAKER_07]: It's going to be a Paragon and Broship, and I'm going to steal your thunder, it's going to be Ash. [SPEAKER_05]: No! [SPEAKER_05]: Okay, no, I'm all about it. [SPEAKER_05]: So, why is it Ash? [SPEAKER_07]: I... [SPEAKER_07]: I feel like her background matches very, very well with Shepard, you know, both alliance, both with that serve mentality that so there's already a commonality between them that works.

[SPEAKER_07]: We can get into the problems of officers dating. [SPEAKER_05]: You know, down the line, but we can now, but the fraternalization just gives it a little bit of spice. [SPEAKER_07]: Right, there's nothing quite like core martial offenses to really bring something to the relationship. [SPEAKER_05]: Just to speed up the breathing, yes.

[SPEAKER_07]: Um, but, um, she also, like, [SPEAKER_07]: There's what you can, you know, how you can change her mindset. [SPEAKER_07]: You know, she comes from a very ignorant place, and a very stigmatized mindset of what aliens are, what the universe is like. [SPEAKER_07]: And so a paradigm brochure can really, I feel like opens her, her mind and goes, you know, it's not, [SPEAKER_07]: all bad out here.

[SPEAKER_07]: And yes, see your family, particularly got kind of screwed, but it was screwed by us, not the aliens. [SPEAKER_07]: So, you know, 100%. [SPEAKER_05]: And I also think that it's one of the few romances for brochure that is, um, [SPEAKER_05]: a little bit more nuanced, if they make sense.

[SPEAKER_05]: Like it's not just sheer love at first sight. [SPEAKER_05]: That kind of deal. [SPEAKER_05]: It's not, there's no swimming. [SPEAKER_05]: Ashley doesn't swim. [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, and I think that makes it feel a little real. [SPEAKER_05]: Of course, the other thing that makes it feel real is that she's a human being.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it's easier to relate on that level, but at least for me, too, and maybe this is completely different for you. [SPEAKER_05]: But for me, [SPEAKER_05]: I think the other thing that makes it really interesting is that Ash is one of the very few if only Romanceable characters that brings up spirituality with Shepard, reconciling the idea of God in a godless space.

[SPEAKER_05]: That's right. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, but Fain has this like kind of abstract alien religion that we don't quite get fleshed out enough to understand. [SPEAKER_05]: We understand their polytheistic, but you know what I'm saying. [SPEAKER_05]: It's a little too alien. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, no, I get it.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Psych, what do you think about ashes? [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, I guess connection and vulnerability with Shepherd on the note of religion and spirituality. [SPEAKER_07]: I find it, oddly refreshing even as an atheist that that you can have that conversation. [SPEAKER_07]: Uh, and I typically do take an atheistic route with my Shepherds.

[SPEAKER_07]: Um, because we don't do that very often, I am trying to go through my head [SPEAKER_07]: any other games that would even try to broach that subject right just fantasy fantasy not sci-fi it's not too common in sci-fi games in sci-fi or just you know a game set in the modern era you know just a slice of life kind of thing or like a we shy away from that discussion so to have that any game made in 2007 is actually still kind of ahead of the curve [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis is spirituality, religion brought up in any of the romances in cyberpunk?

[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, you can pray and meditate with Carrier Dine on individual dates with him. [SPEAKER_03]: And then there is a heavy religious aspect in cyberpunk in the centerman quest line, but that's not romance specific. [SPEAKER_03]: That's just the gap with Carrier Dine you pray with him. [SPEAKER_05]: interesting and does it like is it kind of a non-denominational religion or like kind of a combination of eastern and western religions?

[SPEAKER_03]: It's definitely it's a combination because Carrie will talk about his that he has a spiritual coach he goes on retreats back to the Philippines to re-center and like to be with his gurus and we'll [SPEAKER_03]: No, no, he's a rocker boy. [SPEAKER_05]: You did a replaced carry with Mark Zuckerberg's name and I wouldn't have doubted you at all.

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, no, not this sucks. [SPEAKER_03]: Don't replace my care bear with sucks. [SPEAKER_03]: Well, when the shoe fits, nobody carry grew up in the Philippines. [SPEAKER_03]: Like that was where he came from. [SPEAKER_05]: All right, so it's not going to another country to exploit it. [SPEAKER_03]: No, he's going back home to be back in his land.

[SPEAKER_03]: So that makes it feel a little bit better. [SPEAKER_03]: But I was as soon as psych said about like running religion and coinciding with romances, the I did start thinking of a couple other video games that do that Sebastian and Dragon Age 2 came out to mind. [SPEAKER_03]: But I'll keep thinking on that.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I see it a lot in fantasy games, right? [SPEAKER_05]: Because gods are always brought up in fantasy games, like almost always. [SPEAKER_05]: But not too much sci-fi. [SPEAKER_05]: And like the harder sci-fi it is, the more of yours into like, everyone's atheist, by default, you know, like, and for me, that gets a little draw, you know, like a little boring and also funny how boring it is.

[SPEAKER_05]: Um, because it's cliche like human beings are always going to be human beings, you know, and it doesn't matter if we're on a different planet or not, I'm sure some people will find way to believe. [SPEAKER_05]: Um, and of course in Mass Effect lore, like there's several religions that we have established are do are still in existence from earth in 2185, at least.

[SPEAKER_05]: Um, so, all right, so other than that, with Ash being the one true pairing for your, for your Paragon Bro ship, uh, and there's a last thing that I'll, I'll say before I open up the floor, um, do you feel like, and I, I, I, I, I, I tend to think that Ash fits with Paragon Bro ship because I was Paragon Bro ship, and ash [SPEAKER_07]: Oh, all right, just like baseball back to the chest there.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, basically. [SPEAKER_07]: I mean, it's not to put a fight now that final point on it, but it is the [SPEAKER_07]: the super hero special operatives falling in love with the special badass female companion. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, falling in love with the IGN. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_07]: So, oh, yeah, yeah, that's that's very true. [SPEAKER_07]: Damn. [SPEAKER_05]: Allen Richardson and Demi Moore. [SPEAKER_05]: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[SPEAKER_04]: Like that whole, when she talks to you about her religion was about like that was the first time Mass Effect really blew my mind. [SPEAKER_04]: Like when I realized the Mass Effect was like different from other games I've played But I just don't feel like How it stands out for the games is like set up in a good way for her to be you're like one true Partner or whatever because you get Mass Effect ones off on but then you get to Mass Effect too [SPEAKER_04]: And you just don't get the opportunity to explain anything to actually like you just have a confrontation and she's just a whole time We'll not listen to you.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's just like how do you be a serverist? [SPEAKER_04]: They're bad guys. [SPEAKER_04]: Where are you doing? [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. [SPEAKER_04]: Good bye. [SPEAKER_04]: You like don't see her for the rest of the game [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I tend to come out of nowhere, right? [SPEAKER_05]: And at least that's the way it feels.

[SPEAKER_05]: Until I took Ashley with me and ran into Charles Sarasino from the Terraforma party. [SPEAKER_05]: And when you hear Ashley's remarks about Terraforma and other human supremacists, you get this idea like that she's actually incredibly nuanced, while she doesn't trust aliens, she really hates those fuckers.

[SPEAKER_05]: she really does. [SPEAKER_05]: So when she sees someone that she used to love with human supremacists and a terrorist organization that she herself fought with Shepherd in Mass Effect 1, it starts to make sense like she is deeply hurt on a personal level and offended on a [SPEAKER_05]: So her reaction does make sense, but yes, I agree with you that we should have been able to explain.

[SPEAKER_05]: And then Mass Effect 3, right? [SPEAKER_05]: Totally drop the ball with with developing ashes, romance, and cadence. [SPEAKER_03]: I disagree on that one. [SPEAKER_05]: You disagree with the cadence one. [SPEAKER_05]: I feel like ashes romance suffered the same way his did in Mass Effect 3, where there just wasn't a lot of opportunity for dialogue.

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh no, I agree that like all of the romances in Mass Effect 3 feel still did, but I believe that Caden's got a better treatment than Ashley's did. [SPEAKER_05]: Oh yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, a little bit. [SPEAKER_05]: Magister, what do you think about pairing pro-ship with Ashley and why is it not the best decision?

[SPEAKER_06]: Quick sidebar, one of the few things that one of you, one of the things that [SPEAKER_06]: Starfield had did really cool was have romance with some faith in it with Andreja so just went to throw that out there as well. [SPEAKER_06]: I'm sorry can can you repeat that and catch that romance with some what with it was Andreja that's like the quarterstone of that is her faith.

[SPEAKER_06]: Where I say romance in you, so that's right with a little bring that up as well for a sci-fi her fate being extremely exclusive. [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, yeah, absolutely Bring it back to Ashley Yeah, I agree with Rachel, but you have your romance which was also it being the slightly inappropriate with Offs the ranks and all those hunting aspects in aspect one, but you still go through is it [SPEAKER_06]: That's cool.

[SPEAKER_06]: They get the message too. [SPEAKER_06]: And yes, I can understand, like, I mean, if I saw someone with a supremacist group, and I'm just like, oh, hold on, what I'm here. [SPEAKER_06]: But at the same time, Shepherd literally just came back from the dead. [SPEAKER_06]: You can at least give him some type of leeway as to at least have a talk.

[SPEAKER_06]: But the fact that she shuts you out all together in that second game was out was only just a letter at the end, which, beautiful job when the, the one actress decided to read that out very, very well done. [SPEAKER_06]: But at the same time, it just feels like a total disconnect into and then half of three is also a disconnect where it can get to the point where you can literally have [SPEAKER_06]: So it just doesn't feel like there is enough there from all three games to justify her being the one-true pair over literally everyone else in the game, even theme like having theme as a one-true pairing if for a femme ship a purpose to to correlate.

[SPEAKER_06]: So has that deep syncing like [SPEAKER_06]: I'm praying for you and my prayer is not for you. [SPEAKER_06]: It's where it just like that heart-wrenching moment and I just don't feel actually justifies that. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I can see that certainly, but on the note of Faina, at least Fane got a little bit of a more fair treatment with the Citadel DLC.

[SPEAKER_05]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_05]: Like, fain's gone by then, right? [SPEAKER_05]: But the video messages that you can play from fain are absolutely gut-wrenching and still do more to flesh out the romance. [SPEAKER_05]: Like, for example, I honestly cannot even remember the Ashley citadel date in the citadel DLC.

[SPEAKER_05]: I think you get a drink, maybe? [SPEAKER_03]: It's a Star Wars parody, where it's a Han Solo, a Han and Luke fight scene. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: You can only do my friend, doesn't like you either. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_05]: That felt like lazy to me. [SPEAKER_05]: It was like, oh, well, we got to make, we got to make a Citadel DLC for Ashley. [SPEAKER_05]: Wow. [SPEAKER_06]: compared to the music rendition that you get with Cali of her legitimately like opening out into song. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, yeah, the aliens were certainly the bigger focus.

[SPEAKER_05]: All right, well, Genesis, you know, I've already now shared a lot of my thoughts of what I was already going to say about pro-ship and Ashley being the canon romance for me as well as it is for psych. [SPEAKER_05]: For you, who is your one true pairing [SPEAKER_03]: I think I've made it pretty clear and obvious that Garus is my Femshep, regardless, either Paragon or Renegade, and for my Paragon brochep specifically in Mass Effect 2, I love Jack.

[SPEAKER_03]: Jack is [SPEAKER_03]: Jack can be healed in so many different ways by a man who can show compassion and empathy and that you don't have to [SPEAKER_03]: Safety and security is what Jack needs and you can get that with a Femshep, but there's just more that you can get with a brochure. [SPEAKER_05]: And there's no quid pro quo, which is so what Jack was used to in her life up until that point.

[SPEAKER_05]: That's why, you know, at one point in the engineering bay where she sleeps, she says, what the fuck do you want from me, Shepherd? [SPEAKER_05]: Because, you know, you keep going by to check on her and she's like, she cannot fathom the idea that someone doesn't want anything from her that they just care about her.

[SPEAKER_03]: and that's why by the end of Mass Effect 2 where you've sat in Jack's room having all of these conversations with her, letting her speak and letting her vent and showing all of this that shepherd is willing to just sit there and listen. [SPEAKER_03]: The fact that at the end of the game, it's Jack going up to Shepherd's room for comfort and contact and attention is just like that such a huge emotional growth step.

[SPEAKER_05]: She's literally stepping out of her comfort zone. [SPEAKER_03]: Mm-hmm. [SPEAKER_03]: To go get comfort from somebody that she's like, that's something that she's never done before. [SPEAKER_03]: And, uh, absolutely love the romance with Jack as a brochure. [SPEAKER_05]: I would love it more.

[SPEAKER_05]: Had they not done it a complete disservice in Mass Effect 3? [SPEAKER_03]: I fully agree with you on that one. [SPEAKER_05]: It's like you go back to square one and all of that emotional vulnerability and all of that development doesn't matter and no one remembers it. [SPEAKER_05]: Let's make out on the shuttle.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yep. [SPEAKER_03]: That's what you get. [SPEAKER_03]: And then we get to dance. [SPEAKER_03]: I will say there's citadel data's hot, but that's about it. [SPEAKER_05]: The tattoo one. [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, I'm at the R max arsenal arena. [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: What you have, sorry, what?

[SPEAKER_03]: Uh-huh. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so every combat arena is filmed and televised. [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, right, yeah. [SPEAKER_03]: And then they go and fight, and then they go another thing. [SPEAKER_05]: And then they boomed. [SPEAKER_03]: And then they boomed. [SPEAKER_05]: All right. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, we are running at a time here.

[SPEAKER_05]: We are toward the end. [SPEAKER_05]: So let's go and wrap it up But I want to go ahead and go around the horn here and like we always do Let people know how they can go to hold you, but I also want to know what you're playing at the moment and what else you got going on So Magistra will start with you.

[SPEAKER_05]: How can people get a hold of you? [SPEAKER_05]: What games are you playing right now? [SPEAKER_05]: And what are you got going on? [SPEAKER_06]: I'm not sure to read them because I'm in the discord there at this time and what I'm currently playing is blend with the Don Walker really enjoying the time mechanic and the choices narrative that is going to go on on there and do recommend.

[SPEAKER_06]: And then what's in the going on currently in the process of moving and I will be moving into a new location across the state of Pennsylvania on next Thursday. [SPEAKER_06]: but be a new location next next Patreon chat. [SPEAKER_05]: Nice, that's awesome, exciting. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, as much as I hate moving, I hope this goes extremely smoothly for you and I'm excited for you to get to your new place.

[SPEAKER_05]: Alright, RetroBunt, well, what do you got going on, how can people get to hold you and what games are you playing? [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, don't have a whole lot going on. [SPEAKER_04]: I'm just retrobought on the discord and I've just been replaying the Batman Arkham trilogy for like a million times.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's better. [SPEAKER_05]: I have not yet played the Arkham games. [SPEAKER_05]: The last Batman game I played was Batman begins on Xbox. [SPEAKER_05]: I'm dating myself here a little bit, but man, I love that game. [SPEAKER_05]: It's just, I tend to remember though, how silly it is animation was going up and down the ladders.

[SPEAKER_05]: This is a really obscure reference, but if you play the game, you know exactly what I'm talking about. [SPEAKER_05]: All right, that's awesome, and Mitch, what do you got going on? [SPEAKER_05]: How can people get ahold of you and what games are you playing? [SPEAKER_07]: All right, I'm Mitch, and that should be the name that shows up here on this discord server.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm still working very, very hard on my audio drama Avengers, The Audio Drama, can turn on Spotify and Apple. [SPEAKER_07]: I am the voice of Bruce Banner and the Hulk and main writer [SPEAKER_07]: which just as you guys ever get around to this iteration, Logan and Gene Gray relationship on two girls I'd love to guess on that because I have thoughts and opinions.

[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, okay, I didn't even know there was a romance in the Wolverine game. [SPEAKER_05]: So, in fact, I didn't even know it was officially out. [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, I can't show. [SPEAKER_07]: We can have to. [SPEAKER_05]: Okay, so it's still pretty new. [SPEAKER_05]: Nice. [SPEAKER_05]: Genesis, what do you got going on?

[SPEAKER_05]: And how can people get a hold of you? [SPEAKER_05]: And what games are you playing? [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm currently adding the Wolverine to the list of games I will play in the list of games that we will talk about because I love me some Logan. [SPEAKER_03]: I also wanted to throw in that Suvi in Endromeda has a religious aspect to her and her romance.

[SPEAKER_05]: Is that I was going to say I've never romance Suvi so that makes sense why that's news to me? [SPEAKER_03]: I just, I really had to sit there and start thinking about all the sci-fi games that I have played. [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm not, I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate 3, but I really should be finishing my current cyberpunk run.

[SPEAKER_03]: I've been working on that one for almost two years now, and it's really getting annoying that I haven't taken the time just to go through and freaking finish it. [SPEAKER_03]: but I also do have my other two shows that I'm still running. [SPEAKER_03]: The two girls one ship podcast where we analyze right and review all that the world of video game romances has to offer if we've been going for almost five years so we've probably covered one of your favorite romance video games.

[SPEAKER_03]: And my other show, the cyberpunk lore cast, where we explore the foundations of the past, the state of Night City today and the news of the future for all things cyberpunk, is currently going through its Edrunner season 1 rewatch in gear up for the Edrunner's season 2, which comes out in just under a month.

[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, yes. [SPEAKER_05]: I am so excited for that when it comes out. [SPEAKER_05]: I love season one. [SPEAKER_05]: All right. [SPEAKER_05]: Um, well, people going to get to hold me with any of my contact info in the show notes. [SPEAKER_05]: I don't have much going on outside of this show and work and dad life and being a dog dad as well.

[SPEAKER_05]: Um, so I am up to my ears and alligators. [SPEAKER_05]: uh... but yet and i am playing pretty much just one game at the moment and that's kingdom come deliverance to i am so deep into that game it's such a fun game i i i didn't really have expectations for it at all uh... and it is like the most immersive rpg i've played since i played more when i think [SPEAKER_05]: So yeah, that should tell you something like I didn't know about or care about Czech history at all.

[SPEAKER_05]: Or like Bohemian history at all. [SPEAKER_05]: And this game has literally made me start listening to history podcasts about 15th century Czech history. [SPEAKER_05]: That's how much I'm into this right now. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I can tell you all about Winsus lost the fourth. [SPEAKER_03]: kind of feel like that's my Mass Effect story.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, kind of. [SPEAKER_05]: Kind of. [SPEAKER_05]: All right. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, that's all we got for this week. [SPEAKER_05]: And we will be back next week with the finale of Garus. [SPEAKER_05]: Episode eight. [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_05]: All right. [SPEAKER_05]: Well, until then, we should go.

[SPEAKER_05]: Take care of Spectre's. [SPEAKER_05]: Thanks for listening to the Mass Effect War Test. [SPEAKER_05]: Reach out to us on BlueSky, Twitter, Discord, Patreon, or email us at Mass EffectLoreCast at gmail.com. [SPEAKER_03]: Join us next week for more lore, same space, same time. [SPEAKER_03]: Or check out our live streams at twitch.tv slash Mass Effect WarCast.

259: Who is Shepard's TRUE Romance?

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin