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That's us, together.

While we're looking up at the Artemis II astronauts journeying to the Moon, they're looking back home at us. 

In this image, Earth peeks through the capsule window, reminding us that a view like this relies on the ingenuity and hard work of countless people back home.

In the second image, we see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere.

I always wonder how people imagine themselves in games

What I'd do in Mass Effect? Probably what I'm doing rn, watering my plants while scrolling through headphone reviews before deciding my busted up Razer Kraken is worth keeping after all, all whilst dreading my upcoming dentist appointment this afternoon.

Most likely my whole life will be spent on Earth from the cradle to the grave. I don't even go out on weekends why would I ever consider leaving the planet?

But no I'm being deliberately obtuse to fuck with you. Of course I get what you're asking.

Okay. Imagine with me! A knight in space!

That's me. That's who I want to be! I want to fight with a cybersword and a plasma shield. I want heavy crusader-like armour that's actually extremely technologically advanced. Or maybe I'll go with a light weight fencer theme instead? Use a rapier and do the whole dance-like fighting movesets. Man I just wanna have fun and I really really love swords and knights.

Like yeah, yeah, guns are cool I get it. But I want to be That Bitch that still uses egregiously outdated weapons despite all their inconveniences. Purely for the love of the game!

I'd be introduced in the second game as temporary ally in one or two special missions then I'm on my way

Send a couple emails for flavour to update Shepard on the aftermath of whatever the plot of the mission was

I actually exist in the first game but don't make an appearance. It's a conversation between Tali and Garrus where he questions her about her browsing history showing frequent visits to a human writing website? It's Sun... something? Sol concrete? Tali is immediately flustered and completely denies it. The said writing blog has been getting some requests for turian/quarian stories for a while

The connection between my knight mercenary persona and writer persona isn't revealed until the end. For the whole 2 missions the player thinks I'm just some rando new character. Only in the aftermath emails am I like "Man that fight was rough huh? Who knew geth could take so much. At least I got new materials for my fics lol. Check out my blog when you can it's @sol-consort"

I do actually take the knight larping in those missions seriously, but hold an endearing amount of self-awareness. I'm mostly a tank/frontliner with mid damage and zero biotics ability.

If you take Grunt on my missions he comments on how samurais are cooler and I hold a grudge for life against him.

If you take Tali on my missions she doesn't recognise me until the end in which she completely freaks out and I do too because oh my god you like my stories!!! wtf you read my shit??? come here gimme a hug!

I have cheesy lines where I qoute poems in battle

The shield that my combat AI uses to protect the player with is what stands out the most in my fighting style, besides the mele sword. Squishy players love me, tank players roll their eyes.

I don't show up much in the third game because I'm more of a comic relief character than a serious one. Maybe I make an appearance in the Citadel party?

I definitely hit on Anderson and Hackett when the opportunity presents itself.

If Shepard picks a flirty option I just laugh it off, and tell them to meet me in a decade or two, I like my wine aged.

I gift you a book (One Hundred Years of Solitude) and a plant (Peace Lilly) as collectables for your cabin

Morality wise, I think Cerberus are a necessary evil, I don't hold it against Shepard for working with them. My ethics are left ambiguous overall.

There's a drastic difference between my fighting armour and civilian clothes. The switch from terrifying towering shiny armour, full-coverage intimidating helmet, and gaint steel sword, to the pastel colours, crop tops, mini skirts, flowery accessories and overall feminine appearance gives the player whiplash.

In fact when first introduced as the intimidating knight, Shepard and the crew assume I'm a guy and I never correct them, then when the "reveal" happens I'm like "eh what difference does it make?" slightly hinting to the whole non-binary all pronouns identity, but not explicitly stating it so Fox News doesn't nuke the game again

Many years after the trilogy ends, a dev reveals I was actually autistic, aro, and nb. Some parts of the fandom accept me with open arms, other unpleasant parts of the fandom cry that their manic pixie dream waifu was ruined by WOKE and refuse to refer to me as anything but a woman—those same people also happen to completely nerf my knight armour in fanart and whittle it down into a skintight spandex suit and armour bikin instead, sadly.

I usually make an appearance in fanfics as a background character in Tali/Garrus fics

There are easter eggs about me in Andromeda, the sword I used, some snippets of my writing, and a floral spray paint for the Nomad

The Hackett flirting is what I end up being the most memorable for and oftend memed about in the fandom, other than that I'm gracefully swept to the side for the main cast.

If I were a Mass Effect character lucky enough to be given screen time and more than the standard background NPC treatment?

I'd probably not be too different from what I am now, trained archivist, just working on the Citadel or somewhere major. Just with crazy biotic potential that, should I be graced with personal quests for the player to complete, could be refined even further and noted to being connected to me being on the Autism Spectrum.

Probably first showing up in the first game as somewhere between Conrad Verner and Anderson in terms of interaction importance: Shepard needs some intel I can get from the archives due to special access privileges and ends up coming across me in the cafe by the embassies. Still a side quest but if done, my personal quest dialogue gets triggered, all "Hey, you got a sec? I'm kinda dealing with a bit of a problem with my L4 implant? Still experimental-ish and I could use some help."

But end up fully joining the crew during 2 because of Udina and Anderson wanting a back-channel to Shepard and Shepard potentially needing intel from the archives at some point or another.

Turns out, I could be a decent combat asset, due to aforementioned biotics ("Turns out, moving things around for storage gave me some good practice in throwing guys around in a fight."), though with some weirdass Capoeira-inspired fighting and swinging a heavily modified polearm around.

I'd probably have a pistol and shotgun slot, mechanically speaking, the latter filled with something that had decent reload and stopping power while the former was more quickdraw and shooting speed.

Grunt would probably find me a little badass with the way I throw myself into some of the fights and kick Collector heads in, yet annoying with some of my more human/Autistic habits. Garrus would probably bitch and moan about having drag "the new guy" out of melee range but respect it in his weird Turian way, but also appreciate my keeping things orderly. And helping with calibrations.

Tali would probably like having another nerd around and I'd be able to help with sterilization and HVAC stuff and keeping a good environment to make it easier for her suit. Jack would not like having me around and the feeling would be mutual due to her response to her lifetime of trauma versus me having 'had it easy' in comparison and my Autistic ass not liking intra-crew confrontation.

Miranda would obviously try to keep me out of the Cerberus stuff in so far as possible but report on my ass to the Illusive Man. By contrast, me and Jacob would kinda like each other since he's honest and gets the whole "feeling out of place, even when you tried to fit in." schtick. Plus, "I'm not big on forcing these personal talks, Shepard." Jacob would get the whole "I'll talk when I want to." attitude.

I could easily see getting on well with Mordin, spend a few nights debating morals and philosophy. Also, entertaining the crew with musical numbers. Similar with Kasumi, talking about the things she's stolen and where they were from, what the previous owners did with them and stored them, etc. "Where'd you get this guy, Shep? He's kinda cute with his passion for art and organizing things." "Ask him about his sword collection back on the Citadel, sometime." sort of dialogue. And she'd definitely spill the beans on my fanfics and being the hugest geek she's seen in a long time ("Who spends that much on old comics? The digital versions are much easier to consult. Also, who writes about a crackship like that one?" "Him, apparently.").

I'd definitely prefer wearing loose-fitting garb if I could since I'm not part of the Cerberus or Alliance military hierarchy and thereby, if I want to look like I just rolled out of a grunge rock concert, so long as I can hold my own in a fight and clean up my own stuff, doubt anyone'd get on my back that bad. So those big denim pants that're frayed at the edges, crazy belt buckles, pop-culture T-shirts and Hawaiian print shirts, a decent pair of boots, and my love of dusters and greatcoats? Yeah, at least I keep myself much better attired than some. ("I heard that!" "Fuck you too, Jack!" "Not interested!").

Me and Thane would be somewhat understanding of each other's situations but in a more intense way, due to Drell memory and sensory perceptions being stronger. Also joins in on me and Mordin's debates and philosophy discourses, as noted by a few emails to Shepard. "Debate circle going well." [several attached vid files] being one example.

Players would probably be amused by my being "Asari-lover coded" due to my having ambient dialogue on Illium about there being a lot of beautiful Asari there. "Beautiful and dangerous. Not unlike the best things in life." When, really, it was more of an appreciation that was mostly "lesser known lore tidbits" and poetry in the background.

My Loyalty Mission in 2 would probably involve an extension of the biotic improvement stuff but also getting to be a mix of Indiana Jones and repatriating stuff back to the original owners with a memorable Nazi-face-punching moment.

My Loyalty Unlock enhances my Sentinel abilities with the ultimate move is basically a version of Singularity, called Dying Star. And yes, it does fire damage too.

Much like other Autistics, my morals would be bleeding-edge specific on specific things [see aforementioned Nazi face punching; "It's always ethically okay to beat up a Nazi."] but more vibe-based on others. Probably with a "We ARE gonna be taking the Normandy and defecting back to the Alliance, right?" convo or two with Shepard due to the conflict with Cerberus's "Humans first" tendency and how easily I could see it being taken to a bunch of extremes.

The player would probably get one of my old "totally not a Gundam" models for their quarters. "Assembling them is a good stimulation and hand manipulation exercise."

I'd definitely show up in the third game, just a lot more nervous and worn than in the second because the fate of the galaxy's at stake and I'm not taking the pressure well. And the Reaper's noises really screwing with my ears. "I DID NOT ASK FOR THEM TO BE THAT LOUD!" But on the upside, modded Crusader shotgun and stronger biotics (modded Sentinel build that players don't quite get). And outright flirting amidst some poetic and philosophical quotations if Liara or Tali aren't romanced. And noted moments of me and Jack being more okay with each other. Just more in a "Fuck you." "Fuck you first." "Still not interested." *insert snickering* way.

I'd take Thane's death the hardest and be the most ready to kill Kai Leng. No question.

Developers would probably note I was programmed as a backup love interest for Liara, Tali, and Samara in the event of a player not romancing them and Garrus dying. And noting that "seasonal allergies would have forced Tali's immune system to develop a lot faster, in the event of Quarian-Geth peace." But probably still implement allusions, such as my sitting with Samara in the Citadel apartment the morning after, quietly eating some of the eggs Vega made ("Cowboy over there asked if I needed any help with breakfast. When I said I had it handled, just asked if he could get some scrambled eggs and sausage and sat by Samara like we wouldn't notice.").

I'd probably be memed about by the fans as very "ERM, AKSHUALLY!", stereotypical nerd glasses, being a Japan-obsessed weeaboo version of McCree from Overwatch, and poor flirting with Liara, Samara, or any other plot-relevant Asari. The more tasteful writers would probably just have me in the background as writing things down or as a convenient way to info-dump about stuff they can't quite otherwise fit in.

There'd probably be some references to me in Andromeda, such as Liam mentioning knowing a guy on the Citadel who helped him set up shot-putting his car towards Andromeda, SAM noting Alec having help getting specific information from personal contacts ("Paid that weird kid in the Citadel Archives another visit with his usual "fee." Still don't know how he knew about my having this old stuff. But if it means I can trust these people signing up."), and a note at the cultural center about methods I advocated for being used. And a wearable coat available in several colors for the ship/Nexus, as well as an armored version for combat in the craftables.