#me:a

Ah what a lovely way to end this week's event, hosted by @omegastation.

Andromeda may have it's faults which i will try not to go into, but i love this game in a way that i never did with the original first two games (i dont talk about the third, it still hurts.)

I love Ryder SO much. (i will refer to Ryder as she/her here as that is only what i have ever played her as - same with Shepard before then too lol) She to me is the underdog. Shepard was already the hero at the start of her game, but Ryder is the scout member of the Pathfinder team, thrown into a leadership role we as the player help her develop as she rises to the occasion to become the Pathfinder her father would be proud of.

I've played 'Sara' Ryder in so many iterations now and i never get tired of her. From my current Ryder; Aeryn, to my latest girl Sianna, i love seeing her grow into the leader she is and choosing different options that could have long term implications we don't know about yet. (Though i always romance Reyes Vidal, the shady smuggler of my Ryders hearts. More on him below.)

Her canon backstory is so emotional too. Arriving with such hope in a new galaxy only to first see her brother forced into a coma to save him, then actually die for a over 20 seconds and her father sacrifice himself to save her, giving her SAM who in turn fuses to her very being to save her meaning she is codependent on a symbiotic relationship with the AI for the rest of her life. All of that happens within a few hours of waking up from stasis! Then she dies twice more and still pushes through, shaking it off with that stubborn determination and impulsivity. She also finds out her mother isn't dead like she thought but put in stasis by her father in hopes that a cure for her condition can be found in Heleus and she can come out and live again with her children. The weight and responsibility of being Pathfinder and finding out all the secrets her father had learnt, like the Reapers attacking the Milky Way and the Benefactor killing Jien Garson. She has to keep all that under wraps and i think realises why her father was as distant as he was.

Her character arc is just so bloody good and Fryda Wolff is just so amazing at giving that charming but determined personality to Ryder . Why i am always happy to replay it again and again and i pray we see Ryder in the future game.

I got to admit i do love Scott Ryder too and Tom Taylorson has a fantastic voice!

Onto other aspects i love -

The Tempest, my god what a gorgeous ship. I love the various Normandy's, but seeing the Tempest arrive i instantly fell in love with her. She is an explorer's ship through and through and that Pathfinder's quarters? wow. All it needs is it's own private bathroom though 😂 (that's what fanfic fixes) I do hope when we see The Tempest again though, she has been retro fitted with some sort of armaments, so she is more protected. Now they know the situation they are in, it makes sense and even explorer's ships need defences. I even like the Nomad. It handles really well compared to the Mako and i love upgrading it to go zoom! Especially on Voeld's ice fields and the asteroid's low gravity!

The story itself is compelling and has SO much more potential if it had just been let to cook. A new galaxy, an engineered native species, a vanished super intelligent race of beings that terraformed and created every living being in Heleus, the Scourge and what it could mean for potential instant travel with mass effect fields, that plot with the Benefactor and the missing quarian ark and of course the freaky as fuck kett and what is coming with them.

Their species's method of 'procreation' of taking other species and turning them into kett versions is creepy as fuck and i think far more sinister than what the Reapers were doing. To be turned into something else and then fight against your loved ones. Makes me think of the Borg and how terrifying they became.

The combat is so satisfying, especially being able to switch profiles and go from classic soldier to biotic on a whim. I always played Shepard as a soldier as that what to me felt right for her, but with Ryder you have so much more freedom to try anything and see what feels right. Also the jumpjet is so much fun to use and the combat itself feels far more fluid and well designed.

Yes there are only a few planets to explore properly, but in terms of golden worlds in reality that is actually more than there actually would be. I hope we get to revisit them in the new game and see how they have developed. I loved the variety of planets and their inherent dangers we needed to fix.

But my heart in particular goes to Kadara. It took my breath away the first time i saw it and i still love seeing it each time. It's glowing skies, unreal blue water and hazy vistas with the sheer mountains is just breathtakingly beautiful.

The port itself is stunning with the mountain backdrop, opalescent clouds and neon lit buildings that give it a gorgeous alien vibe i love. Its a dangerous, but exciting town that i wish we could explore more of, like the civilian district!

Of course the most special aspect of Kadara for me is the love interest there. Initially designed as a fling like Keri and Avela, he was so beloved by the fans that they turned him into a full romance (though forgot to give him a proper love scene and proper end scene..again that's what fanfic and art is for) Though he does have a unique romance music, so there is that!

Nicholas Boulton does such a great job of voicing a shady but delightfully charming and passionate smuggler with a secret.

That first line he utters when you are waiting for 'Shena' has me every time and those few moments he shows his vulnerability to a romanced Ryder - from his hope of being someone to where his fear of being rejected by her for who is he are chef's kiss!

also his line delivery of 'that can be arranged' and ' you have bad taste in men' still gives me shivers to this day.

Gods i seriously hope we see him again and see what was planned for his character as it think he has a very important part in the story!

So yeah..could say i love Mass Effect Andromeda.

What i would love to see (which i know is a pipe dream) is a remaster with updated graphics and added scenes and the dlc as intended. It could be so good to see it done before ME5 to rekindle interest for the game and show the connection that it looks like ME5 is bringing.

sigh, A girl can dream.

For day 6's prompt hosted by @omegastation, I am want to talk about the Benefactor, but have to be very careful as i have a very specific headcanon plot idea for my story The Hidden King Upon his Mountain, which i dont want to spoil. But that involves the Citadel, The Nexus and The Collective.

But...what i can say is that i believe the Benefactor is one of the 'heads' of Cerberus.

The symbolism is too good. Cerberus guarded the entrance to the Underworld, but he was famous for having three heads that could look in all directions, so he saw all. So i think there are three leaders of Cerberus, all tasked with different aspects to make humanity superior. One unknown leader who we know nothing about that may oversee it all. (the centre head?) The Illusive Man, who wanted to make humanity the dominant force in the Milky Way through technology and research. (The left side looking inward) The Benefactor saw the opportunity to make humanity the dominant species in a new galaxy, because they also saw of the threat of the Reapers, who T.I.M saw as an opportunity. (the right side looking outward)

What we do know about them -

The Benefactor fully funded the Initiative when Jien Garson ran out of her own billions in funds. Because they wanted humanity to have a leading edge and saw the Initiative as that opportunity to take. But of course couldn't show their hand of wanting human dominance and had to fund all of it. Though the trajectories of the arks all being so different and the outcomes of them certainly lends credence to a foresight kept from Garson. They also financed Alec Ryder's development of the advanced AI - SAM (possibly were also involved in trying to steal SAM's prototype too for their own means, which could have led to the development of EVA and EDI - Which also might lead into one of the theories about ME5's protagonist being an fully sentient AI in a synthetic body, not a human) It's also heavily hinted at they were involved in the sabotage of the final ark carrying the non council alien races- quarian, drell, eclor, volus and batarians. Which Cerberus would consider easier races to prevent coming to a new galaxy considering all their different biological needs on the ark to sustain them could so easily malfunction if given the right push.

The Benefactor has an agent on board the Nexus that killed Jien Garson and is unknown and possibly still at large and Jien's actual cause of death has been covered up by at least Tann. What is not known but i feel is very much the case -

The Benefactor is also on board the Nexus, somewhere in stasis waiting to come out and take over but something has prevented them so far. The future game plot idea i'd see could be Ryder would investigate and find evidence of this and the search would be on to find them before they woke up and cause havoc as they have codes in various systems that could decimate what has been created, especially SAM themselves.

That would probably have tied into to the DLC where the quarian ark was saved - the evidence of the Benefactor's intentions would be found by SAM.

Putting my little lore cap on for day 5's prompt of the ME:A event hosted by @omegastation and focusing on the choice between Outcast and Collective for Kadara.

For me it's a no brainer to choose the Collective. (and obviously below are spoilers for anyone whose not played the game yet)

Whilst in game the enemies that you face out in the badlands are a combination of Outcast, Collective and random 'outlaw', in terms of narrative. It makes no sense once you've picked a side that the supporting faction wouldn't stop attacking you (especially Collective). It's obvious the enemies are just randomised with their names and serve no narrative function. They are so random you could easily face one set of named enemies in a spot, reload and a different named set would attack the second time. Only a few missions specifically have set factions to deal with.

SO i mostly ignore the general combat side and focus on the actual story elements to determine who is the better faction. The Outcasts

The Outcasts are led by Sloane Kelly and Kaetus - a human woman, the former head of Nexus security and a turian who survived his ark being destroyed, who its obvious she is having a relationship with and is possibly the one person she truly cares about. Her backstory is interesting as it's shown she has a temper even before getting the job, but somehow Garson does offer her the job anyway. In the novel Nexus Uprising it almost seems as if she has decency, seeing the way Tann totally mishandles the uprising but to me i read it as her being self serving in the chaos.

Once exiled, to me her true nature comes out and we the Pathfinder see what she has done to Kadara, which was run by angarans until she swooped in the 'save' them. In turn making them second class citizens in their own home. The archetype coloniser.

She forces high protection fees, uses brutal tactics including beatings and mutilation to enforce her law of those fees being paid, and subjects anyone who cant pay to a slow death in the badlands. Only those who can pay are allowed to live in the Port and if you are struggling you are forced into the slums just to pay the fees and not be thrown out.

The Outcasts are thugs to anyone who isn't one of them. you can read terminal entries where many show they deserved the exile. Though you will also come across some who joined in order to survive and not be thrown out themselves into the badlands. A frying pan or fire situation. Seeing as the Collective Representative in Kralla's Song is watched at all times then anyone he speaks to is probably watched too, which could be dangerous for anyone wanting to join them instead. Sloane agreed to and promotes a potentially life saving drug being turned into a dangerous narcotic to keep the populace under her control. Kaetus her second was the one who came up with the idea it seems, showing what kind of person he is.

She pretends she has eliminated the kett from Kadara but knows there are angaran and others going missing and suspects the kett are still on the planet somewhere. But does nothing about it, until Kaetus steps in asking the Pathfinder for help. Then covers it up after to maintain her narrative.

She HATES the Initiative and was secretly planning to attack them, before Ryder shows up. She states very plainly she will kill any Initiative who try to settle on Kadara with an outpost, only changing her tune when her leadership is threatened and she needs Ryder's support. But if you do side with her, she will exploit the outpost and wont lend any protection to it.

When Kaetus is taken by the Collective, it's shown she doesn't trust her own people not to stab her in the back, asking the Pathfinder to help her meet with the Charlatan. This shows the lack of trust and loyalty amongst her gang compared to the Collective. She will join you at the end battle, but again i personally see that as self serving as the Archon and kett are a threat to everyone including her control of Kadara. Her comments at the end echo that.

The Collective.

A secretive counter gang/group/organisation on Kadara, led by a mysterious figure known as The Charlatan. This figure uses Representatives to do their will, who carry out their orders with total loyalty. (One Rep - Octans, caught and tortured by the Outcasts kills himself before he can be executed and other Reps show clearly they are fine with not knowing who leads them as they are looked after well.)

No one knows who this Charlatan is bar a few trusted people, and that itself is obviously concerning to anyone first coming to Kadara. But it becomes clear that it is done to protect that leading figure as knowing who they are, they need that cover to remain safe.

The Charlatan who is in fact Reyes Vidal, can go about as a smuggler without anyone suspecting who he really is, allowing him to observe and interact in a way that a known rival leader never would be able to do. His flirty, everyman personality means people either like him instantly or don't see him as a threat. The perfect cover.

The Collective itself is shady, no doubt, but as one Representative says. - survival is an ugly business. They are pirates, information brokers, spies and smugglers. But there is an obvious sense that those within it are far better treated and vetted than those accepted into the Outcasts. With one exception, a traitor soon dealt with that seems to be annoyed with her job. The Collective seems far more organised too and better equipped. In High Noon, Reyes isn't abandoned by his team, he is supported and helped to escape if you do side with Sloane, who had to come alone as she didn't trust anyone in her own gang.

The Collective allows angarans into it's ranks, which the Outcasts does not, often taking in those forced out of their own homes by the Outcasts, when they cant pay the exorbitant port fees. The Collective under Reyes, runs a soup kitchen in the slums and also financially supports Dr Ray Nakamoto who has a clinic there. Now this could be seen as manipulation, but handing out free food and healthcare is still a decent thing and a resource drain he doesn't need to do. Reyes assists in dealing with the Roekaar on the planet, knowing they are as much a threat as the kett are to stability on Kadara. Yes they are also a threat to his gang but the bigger picture is clear too.

There doesn't seem to be any Collective trading in the Oblivion drug, though they are cultivating a poisonous fungi to possibly use as a poison. Though it's never confirmed and no poison is ever found.

The Pathfinder can find a building in the badlands where a Collective member has been torturing Outcasts. His recordings relate to the missing Representative Octans who he is trying to find. This can seem troubling but once i realised the connection, didn't see it so harshly as this was rival gang on gang action and not civilians being tortured - unlike the Outcasts with those who cant pay their fees.

The prisoners the Collective have at their base are being beaten by a guard, but the rules the Pathfinder finds state they are not meant to be harmed until their fate is decided by the Charlatan. You find out the prisoners were Outcast who were going to bomb the water tanks in the slums and blame the Collective. Which if planned before the vault activation could have caused countless painful deaths. if after, could cause long term suffering due to lack of safe drinking water. So possibly understanding, why the angaran beating them is doing that.

Reyes's background is mostly unknown as his records were nearly all destroyed in the uprising, where he wasn't exiled, exiling himself instead when he saw how bad Tann was running things. All we know about his past is that he was an Alliance pilot and is originally from Chile. Other than that he doesn't talk about his past, but his actions suggest someone far more skilled than just a pilot - he sabotages the Roekaar hideout without being spotted, is a crack-shot sharp shooter and is very good at persuasion. This i think connects to what was planned with him in a future storyline. This can be conflicting to the Pathfinder that he keeps his secret from them, but to me it makes sense he would. He is an exile whose survived a year on a harsh planet running the rival gang to the Outcasts who run Kadara. The Initiative might well turn on him being an exile, he cant trust them and by the time he does he's too far into his plan to turn back. But he sounds utterly sincere in that he wants an alliance between Kadara and the Initiative as he knows they need each other and cant survive on their own. These aren't just false claims as he does indeed throw his full support to them.

Reyes is allied and friends with the angaran leader on Kadara and if you side with him, he co leads with Keema. Angaran's return to the port in much higher numbers and the Initiative outpost is protected not just by Initiative, but by Collective, including angaran.

He joins in the end battle and celebrates with everyone at the end, still offering his support to the Pathfinder.

day 4's prompt for the ME:A event hosted by @omegastation, i want to share some of the shots i've taken of the gorgeous planets of Heleus.

Habitat 7/ Ryder 1 - An insane planet to welcome the people of the Milky way, with it's floating rocks and inhospitable climate due to a malfunctioning vault. This planet, eventually renamed Ryder1 in honour of Alec Ryder who died after he shut down the vault's faulty signal there was not what the Hyperion needed but eventually the planet would hopefully become a garden world it was meant to be .

Eos - Striking natural formations stand out against the desert vistas. With it's hidden water sources; the planet once terraformed by the vault, could become a land of verdant pastures.

Aya- A tropical paradise of the angaran people, sitting amongst a volcanic landscape. It is a strange paradox of a city that it remains safe, even when surrounded by active lava fields.

Havarl - a sacred and mystical planet of the angaran. A twilight vista where a gas giant and huge manta like creatures loom in the sky. It's bioluminescent life and numerous glowing Jardaan structures make it other-wordly and unsettling.

Voeld- Cold and inhospitable to most life except the most hardy. But there is a stark beauty to it and once the vault is activated, it's precious water could one day help everyone survive.

Elaaden - The krogan see a planet far more hospitable to them than Tuchanka had become but were smart to build into the caves to protect them from the planets never ending heat and sun. The planet's constant sunlight means the only shelter is under cover and even with the vault activated it is unsure how this planet will terraform into something more livable. But it is beautiful in it's harshness and ancient angaran ruins suggest the planet was once quite different so could be again.

Kadara - (my Ryder's personal favourite) Once the vault is activated, the beautiful yet deadly planet of Kadara could be the most garden world of all the possible garden worlds in Heleus. With it's abundant minerals, water and a temperate climate, it only needs social stability to become a planet people could happily thrive on.

or,

Akksul knows how to trace patterns, follow their groves in the universe. By all rights the Pathfinder should just be a frakiin, a butcher, another vesagara to rid Helios of. And yet...

gosavar, 10k, explicit, akksul/male ryder, made for the 2026 spectre requisitions, on ao3

Day 3 prompt for Mass Effect Andromeda Appreciation week expands a little on day 2. Tempest -

Aeryn get on so well with the other members of the Tempest. SAM - SAM is like a wingman to her, she knows they saved her life and have helped temper her more impulsive decisions, but also allows her to be more than she could ever be before. Lexi - She gets on well with the ship doctor, to a point. It takes her some time to fully trust them due to past experiences with medical professionals (bar Dr Carlyle)

Gil - she finds him charming and hilarious, but did take his inflated ego down a notch by using SAM to beat him at poker.

Kallo - She sympathised with the salarian, but sided with Gil regarding their argument, taking Kallo aside and explaining the salarian will never lose his memories but they are in a new universe with new challenges and have to adapt. That includes changing the ship. Otherwise she loves Kallo's tales and gossip and finds him one of the most skilled pilots she's ever met.

Suvi - they clashed initially as Aeryn is very much a scientific minded atheist, so was confused by Suvi's continued belief in a deity. But they agreed to disagree and bonded instead of a love of tea.

On the Nexus -

Dr Carlyle - She is closest to Harry, being that he was their family's physician for a while and joined the Pathfinder team on her father's request. She is able to confide in him and he trusts her to help him when the TH-314 virus is let loose.

Tann - OH MY GOD does she loathe Tann. She finds him a pathetic paper pushing idiot, swimming in undeserved power and drowning in incompetence.

Addison - Aeryn finds Addison to also be incompetence and bristles hard at her earlier insults and derision. But she finds it's worse when Addison suddenly becomes her most ardent supporter.

Kandros - She respects Kandros stepping up to run the militia and security and sees him as the neutral voice in the leadership. She gets on pretty well with him though and appreciates his support for her actions.

Day 2's prompt for mass Effect Andromeda appreciation week, hosted by @omegastation Going to continue this from the perspective of my main Ryder, Aeryn.

Friends - Aeryn is friendly and amicable with everyone on the Tempest, but she definitely is closer to some.

Vetra - She considers Vetra Nyx her best friend. It was one of those instant bonding moments when they met and Vetra has had Aeryn's back since the start. Cora - She's grown closer to Cora after an initial hesitation in her second's reserved by the books nature. But Cora eventually comes round to Aeryn's way of thinking and is loyal to a fault now. Drack - He practically adopted Aeryn when he found out she lost both her parents and she adores the cranky old Krogan. Peebee - She has fun with the asari sometimes, but often considers her too unreliable at times. Liam - Oh boy Liam she really wonders how such an erratic, emotionally fraught man ever became a cop or crisis response expert. She doesn't dislike him, But they have clashed a number of times where she has had to show her authority as Pathfinder, even threatening him with leaving the team if he didn't sort himself out. Jaal - She deeply respects what Jaal has had to deal with and who he is, but there is a distance between them. Possibly because of his prejudice to Kadara. But even so he had her back when she had her breakdown and assisted Reyes in giving him her favourite non alcoholic drink from Aya.

Lovers -

Before leaving the Milky Way, Aeryn had a fling with a 112 year old lavender skinned Asari, Ke'sala when she was eighteen, who was a research assistant on a prothean dig Aeryn was peacekeeping. That asari taught her many things. She then also had a brief fling with a male drell, Selyat when she did bodyguard work after her father's exile forced her to take what work she could. He helped her forget some of the anger she had for what had happened to her father. Neither of these compared to when she met Reyes.

She found a kindred spirit, someone she could just be herself around with. She realises quite quickly he is hiding something but at first considers it part of the fact he is a smuggler on a planet of exiles but soon figures out his secret and tells him it. She isn't angry with him for hiding it though, knowing she too carries secrets that she cant openly share..yet. With Reyes though she feels alive and he is the one person who she felt comfortable enough to confide in about her anxiety and fear when she had her breakdown over dying - repeatedly.

Enemies -

Apart from the obvious in the The Archon and the Kett - She took an instant dislike to Sloane, wondering how on earth a woman like that became head of security for the Initiative and swore to herself she would find a way to get her out of power to help Kadara. The Benefactor, who ever that is. There is something deeply troubling about Jien's death, who caused it and if they are still around. Family -

She had a strained relationship with her father Alec who was always kind to her, but distant due to what he was secretly working on. But she knew he loved her deeply, especially sacrificing himself for her and has developed a deeper understanding of him through the memories he left her and work she does as a Pathfinder. She got on much better with her mother, so ‘losing’ her was a hard blow that took a long time to get over. Finding out her mother was alive and in stasis is something she is still coming to terms with.

Only found out about this event today right at the end, but the week isn't over yet! Hosted by @omegastation!!

So going to celebrate my absolute love for this game by answering them all today, and Day 1's prompt is Ryder (background) Aeryn Ryder. This is my main Ryder, in my main story The Hidden King Upon His Mountain, as well as any shorts so far in Tales from Kadara.

💫A Biotic specialist using offensive abilities. She prefers the Vanguard, Infiltrator and Adept Profiles. She uses a Black Widow sniper rifle, Mattock assault rifle and up close, a Hurrican SMG. She's impulsive, empathetic but also becoming a realist as her realisation on what her role as Pathfinder means 💫She follows the canon backstory of 'Sara' except for one minor detail - She technically died on the operating table when her biotic implant was replaced with SAM's. She was under anesthetic but she thinks she may have come to on the table as she has nightmares about the operation that come back after she dies again when she arrives in Heleus and again to escape the Archon's ship. 💫She hides her trauma of this, and being the Pathfinder and the anxiety of living up to her father's legacy, behind a sense of humour and stubborn determination. 💫She adores SAM, knowing without them she wouldn't be alive and likes that they are always there to temper her more impulsive ideas and emotions. 💫She romances Reyes as she found someone she could be herself with, even if she realised quite quickly he was hiding something from her. It didn't bother her considering what she was hiding from him. Eventually they both share their secrets with each other because they realise they can rely on each other.

💫That operation I mentioned, left her with a scar down her spine which she has covered with large tattoo of Ma'at, a protective Egyptian goddess of justice. (that's Reyes with her, i wanted to get an idea of what their tattoos looked like and found this photo, which i edited onto. I may draw this properly at some point.)

💫She loves to dance and Tartarus is her second home (previous being Purgatory on the Citadel). She would love nothing more than to settle down on Kadara, but doesn't think that is possible with her permanent connection to SAM. And she wouldn't want to lose that connection, feeling they are part of her like her own heart.

💫As much as she is happy to find Meridian for everyone in stasis, she finds the dyson sphere very unsettling to live in. She loves exploring it but seeing the 'ground' curve above her like the sky, upsets her equilibrium and she only goes there when she has to and stays in her quarters on the Hyperion, rather than the home given to her on the surface. 💫She mostly wears her armoured leather jacket with a casual fitted top and favourite pants/jeans, as well as her favourite scarf her mother owned. Under that is often hidden an Alexandrite pendant her mother also gave her on her 18th birthday. Casual wear she tends to lounge in - an oversize sweatshirt and leggings with a sports bra (see my artwork above)