Anarchos Credit

but i do think bioware has this unfortunate habit and i'm thinking this is more a them issue (like fshep with jacob, mshep with jack) than a purely james issue. but that sure is damn annoying

me, an elder fandom veteran, suddenly having anne rice flashbacks:

no.

NO.

starting to rock back and fourth.

you do not understand.

you were born into an age of peace. i was there Gandalf. i was there three thousand years ago. i remember the cease and desists. i remember authors hunting fanfic writers for sport. i remember when every fic opened with a disclaimer because we genuinely thought it might protect us.

we do not charge money for the copyrighted gay wizard stories.

do not tempt fate youngling.

step away from the paywall.

that is how you summon the ancient evils.

- linking to or referencing the use of a commercial platform or the monetization features of a non-commercial platform

- providing a "tip jar", bank information, or other method for people to give you money

- offering paid commissions or other content in exchange for money, gift cards, or similar

- stating that a fanwork was created as a result of a donation or paid commission (I see so many 'commissioned by' authors notes!)

- encouraging donations to a person or cause

- listing potential benefits of a paid membership or subscription

- posting free previews for paywalled content

- advertising a paid service or product (linking to an item's product page, suggesting that others purchase an item, etc.)

- selling merchandise, even if the merchandise is fannish in nature

- discussing the sale of the creator's other works, even if that paid content is not itself hosted on AO3

One of the few recurring themes in the art pieces found in Mass Effect are krogan statues. One only such statue is seen on public display and that is in the one of the safest parts of the Galaxy, the citadel's presidium. Donavan Hock stores his sizable collection along side his most valuable art (David, the Head of Liberty and the Quarian stone writing). Which clearly indicates they must be very valuable. Morinth ownership of one also suggests their might be a subversive element to statues as well. It doesn't take much to work out why. It is likely that after the Rachni Wars many Krogan statues where built (Krogan's are the only race to earn a statue in the Presidium), but following the Krogan Rebellions I am pretty sure the Turians when out of there way to destroy of get rid of as many of statues as possible. This would make krogan statues from that era rare and valuable and add and element of subversiveness to owning one.

I personally believe that Dr Chakwas was an Alliance/ Hackett plant in Cerberus. I think this is hinted at in ME2 as the Dr doesn't wear the Cerberus logo, but that could just be the model they used. Much stronger evidence comes from ME3. When you meet Dr Chakwas in the Citadel you discover that unlike many of the Normandy Cerberus crew, such as Kenneth Donnelly, Gabriella Daniels and Joker Dr Chakwas was court marshalled or thrown out of the Alliance but given a post secret research post under Admiral Hackett. The sort of post only a very trusted member of the Alliance would get and not one given to ex-Cerberus, unless of course they were never truly Cerberus after all. It is clear that the crew of the Normandy was hand picked by the Illusive man to make Shepard feel comfortable and build trust. The crew is full of ex-alliance personal and those with close ties to the colonies under risk. Other than Miranda all the crew has "cleans hands" so speak, as that none of them have been involved in the nastier parts of Cerberus. Even in Miranda's case she believes (probably incorrectly) that worse parts of Cerberus don't present what Cerberus truly is.

Samantha Traynor and Kelly Chambers occupied the same location, just at different times and fulfil many of the same function. Reminding you that you have unread messages and that a crew member might need some moral support. Narratively and in the ME world, they fulfil very different roles. But before we get into that, lets look at the differences in the desks between ME 2 & ME3. Most people any familiarly with the games shouldn't have a problem telling whose desk was whose from the above images. While the space might be the same shape, there a differences in colours and style that make it obvious which is which. In the top image you can see the Ceberus yellow colour used a highlight on the Normandy. In the bottom image the floor has been retextured to a give a more rugged and military feel. There are problem a hundred other differences like that let the player know ownership of the Normandy has changed.

So back to the point. What do the desks tell us about Kelly and Samantha. Firstly Kelly space was given to her with some thought, whereas Samantha had to find a place after being one of the random crew on the Normandy when if fled earth. Yes, Samantha's placing makes more sense than Kelly's. Samantha's role is to analysis data and feed information to the captain and crew. It makes sense for her to be near the command operations and other technical officers. Sharing info and insights is central to her role.