Dedicated to enmity7

I finally got together with some friends for some Mass Effect 3 multiplayer action. I've MPed before and it was a lot of fun, but it could only be more so with friends. Our fourth member was AWOL so we dared open our private match to the public. We figured whoever was unlucky enough to join, would either ragequit after a few minutes of our insanity and noobery, or fall madly in love with us.

We were fortunate enough to get the mighty enmity7. First of all, he showed up with his krogran, which earns instant respect. Despite all the giggling from the girls and the claims from Deacon that he was just supporting us special kids to make us feel good about ourselves, we didn't do all that badly and I guess it was enough to keep enmity around. Then he proved just how awesome he was when the three of us went down and he took on alllll of Cerberus for a good 10 minutes with us cheering him on in spectator mode.

He actually stayed with us for another round, but did not come as his krogan this time, which was clearly a mistake -- though, by now, he had earned so much of our love that he had automatic life insurance.We would all drop everything to raise him whenever he died. Fuck the mission! Save enmity7!

I'm not sure what enmity7 thought of us in the end. He was silent for most of the time, only ordering us to his support once, and confirming his dudeness when we expressed uncertainty. And then he was gone, like the wind. I am currently working on my shrine in his honour.

Anyway, as far as MP experiences go, that was ridiculous good times. Mass Effect 3 multiplayer isn't really anything unique. The objectives are pretty straight forward: kill all the things, and occasionally click on things. The great part is the opportunity to try out new classes. In single player, I've been an Infiltrator, Soldier, Sentinel and Engineer, with the latter being my favourite. I'm normally a sit back and snipe kinda girl, but Sentinel had me getting up close and personal a bit more.

Vanguard though. OMG Vanguard. I understand now. I UNDERSTAND! And I plan to redo my Sentinel as this today to help me love her more. Because. Charge.

I hear that some people don't like when Vanguards are charging all over the place. I suppose it can be annoying when you're trying to line up the perfect sniper shot and you suddenly have someone else's head in your way, sniping your snipe. But isn't this a team effort that's all about winning by killing everything? Not my fault you take so damn long to pull the trigger, son.

Vanguard means I can Charge, Nova, melee everything. Even the Banshees. I know I'm not supposed to, but fuck that! It's happening! Brutes fear me! And Phantoms and Nemesis? Suck it, ladies. You are on my hit list.

Yes I plan for our next MP to be allll Vanguards allll the time. And eventually, we'll be all krogans, so we can add headbutting to the party favours.

I'm down with OTP

Since exiting denial and coming out as a fangirl two years ago, I have slowly come to embrace who I am. Long discussions with fannish friends help. As does Tumblr. A lot of Tumblr. And so, courtesy of Tumblr, I bring you this:

Storm and Emma Frost by ginmau

A - Your current OTP 
EDI/Legion (when Joker passes on) (Mass Effect)

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind 
Storm/Emma Frost (X-Men), Wolverine/Domino (X-Force).

C - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will 
Gambit and Storm. They are friends. Just friends. And I absolutely love them that way. Same goes for Starbuck and Apollo (BSG). And Buffy and Angel (Buffy). Their pairing is so bad, it ruins the universe. Make it stop.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t 
Scott and Jean (X-Men). For reasons.

E - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what 
One night, this happened... (Mass Effect)

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom 
Star Wars. Since birth.

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it 
Han and Leia (Star Wars): This is where my wonderful world of shipping started so long ago. I loved them. I loved them so damn much. And when I couldn’t sleep and/or had nightmares, I would replay this scene in my head over and over until I fell asleep.

“No you’re not your — mrphl…”

H - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series 
Movies, TV, video games, comics, anime....

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why 
Livejournal originally had me hating people in the Buffy fandom, but I'm over it.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr 
Hmmm... Dragon Age.

K - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom 

L - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for 
The next phase of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Still waiting, Simon!

Oenomaus, by Simon Field

M - Your favorite fanart or fanartist
Simon

N - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor 
Beccatoria and Simon.

O - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of `
The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game: Batman/Catwoman

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas) 
Rogue and Magneto never left the Savageland

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why 
Laura Roslin/William Adama. They were fantastic together. With the pornstache and the weed. But then season 4 happened. Where did our Laura go? (BSG)

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships 
LOL this is fandom. On the internet. It is unpossible that someone does not ship even the most obscure.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon 
Here (Mass Effect 3).

T - If you mostly have homoships, do you have any heteroships 
n/a

U - If you mostly have heteroships, do you have any homoships 
Batman/Superman (DC Comics), Storm/Emma Frost (X-Men), Laura Roslin/Admiral Cain (BSG)

V - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping 
No... but I'm tempted....

W - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms 
Duncan (Dragon Age: Origins), Mara Jade (Star Wars), Crixus (Spartacus), The Illusive Man (Mass Effect) and Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

X - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms 
Admiral Hackett/Hannah Shepard (Mass Effect), Imperial Agent/Aristocra Saganu (SWTOR), Jon Snow/Dany Targaryen (Game of Thrones)

Y - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from
Spartacus. Does it count that I just think everyone should sleep with everyone?

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go
Busy now. Have to go play Dragon Age: Origins.

Because I'm a woman?

Um. No. Moving on.

We know that a large number of female characters in video games are depicted in an overly sexified manner, possibly in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I’m not the lowest common denominator, however, I do appreciate the eye candy to an extent. It upsets me when my mage or warrior isn’t showing enough unprotected flesh. My school of thought on sexism in this matter belongs to The White Queen, so don’t bother arguing with me on that point. Not interested. Because. Breasts.

What has been niggling at me lately, though, is this need for my characters to prove themselves as females in the three games I’ve been playing: SWTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. These are all Bioware games, so this may be common to them only, but I’ll venture to assume that it is not so. It’s not a prominent point of stress for me. The notion only comes up in dialogue briefly and usually towards the beginning of game play. But it keeps happening enough to garner my bloggy attention.

1. In SWTOR, my Trooper enters her early mission area and is greeted by a young private who stammers his message in surprise at meeting her for the first time. The dialogue options include defensively asking if he’s never seen a woman in the military before. 
2.  In Dragon Age, there are a few moments during the Grey Warden introduction and initiations where being a female is specifically questioned in surprise. 
3.  In Mass Effect, FemShep has a similar conversation with someone. I don’t remember where or when this occurred, but having dealt with the other examples, it reminded me that FemShep did have such a moment and it irked me then, too. 

 In these minor cases, the NPC would back down immediately, not meaning to cause offense and the moment passes. I’m not sure what dialogue options occur for a male character because male characters are poopy and I don't play them, but I suspect a male character does not deal with such prejudice. There’s likely no dialogue option requiring a male character to feel they have to prove themselves because the male character starts on equal footing.

What is the reasoning behind including this dialogue? Who is it for? I know some guys play female characters, but I'd wager a lot of women choose female characters, so I can only assume those moments of GRRL POWAH! are for me.

These stories take place in fantastic new worlds, not entirely related to our own, but women are still considered the lesser of the species. There is an opportunity to move past the prejudices of our current times, but we don’t. We’ve managed to excise human vs. human racism by transferring it onto aliens and fae creatures. But sexism? That’s gotta stay true!

Now we all know George Lucas is a sexist bastard and that the Star Wars universe he made doesn’t have room for too many ladies, but I would hope that, under someone else’s reigns, that attitude wouldn’t need to persist. Yet one major NPC specifically disguises herself as a male because she (believes) she wouldn’t have been taken seriously in her role otherwise.

At least in Mass Effect 3, which takes place in our potential future. Eve addresses the issue directly, in a thought-provoking manner, commenting on how Shepard is treated with respect and equality in comparison to her species. Eve is a rarely seen krogan female. She is dressed and treated in much the same manner as a Muslim woman (though she’s allowed to speak her mind freely and can shotgun the shit out of whatever she wants.) I would like to think that resolving this particular mission also serves to return the krogan females to their rightful place as equals to the males, rather than as coveted prizes. Mass Effect takes place not far into our potential future, so, fprtunately, other than that one comment earlier on in the series, it was pleasing to see that the writers did not make Shepard’s gender a major issue. Shepard is a strong character, no matter what her gender.

 Gaming companies are finally realizing that women play and have always played video games. And now they are learning how to lure in more of us. Hint: We know we belong here. We don’t require reaffirming moments in video games to remind us of this. We know. Because. Breasts.

Patternmaster

Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After Clay’s Ark, I had no idea what to expect with The Patternmaster. What I did not expect was that the Clayark evolution would basically turn those people into animals – albeit really smart human-like animals – and that they would have no real purpose to their existence save to be obstacles for the protagonists. Their humanity was almost completely stripped away, despite them fighting so hard to maintain what they could of it in Clay’s Ark.

This book focused otherwise entirely on the Patternists. Two brothers, in particular. All of the Patternists of the past books are gone, including Mary, who created the Pattern and there is little spoken of them beyond what purpose they served in history. Not even their names are mentioned. I did appreciate the intricacies detailing how the Pattern and the Patternist society worked and the descriptions of the mental processes and battles.

Other than the Patternists and Clayarks, there are still humans about. “Mutes,” to the Patternists, who consider them little more than smart animals that can be easily manipulated to serve any purpose, from domestic, to brutal, to sexual. The evolution of slavery, where those who have not evolved, can serve no other purpose.

A few interesting themes show up. One being that society has reverted to a sub-technological level. Apparently, the Clay’s Ark spaceship was the pinnacle of human technology, and, also served as the downfall of the species. No real reason is given as to why the Patternists no longer have use for technology. Certainly communications isn’t necessary. But … air conditioning? Cars? Netflix?

The most interesting thing about this book as the conclusion to the Seed to Harvest series, is that it is rather anti-climactic. With all the build up regarding the Clayarks and the Patternists, I assumed there would be more to it, but as I read on, I kept looking at the number of pages left and realized that the book would remain focused on a small pocket of the greater world. These books aren’t to be viewed as an epic series, connected through characters and adventures. Instead, it is four different stages in the human evolution Butler has imagined. Apparently, no matter how far the human race evolves, men will always compete against men and women will always be treated as inferior. I had hoped for greater juxtaposition with the Clayarks regarding this, but ultimately, this story was simply about two men and their battle for succession.

I don’t want to say that the final book, or the series itself, was disappointing. It simply wasn’t what I expected – and that’s not a bad thing. Butler is proving to me that she is a master of telling a story so far outside the box. Science fiction and fantasy so often follow the same tropes, with a few twists here and there, but Butler completely ignores it all and forces you to think on so many different angles, all while forcing you to question the rules and morals that society sets upon us.

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On my telly

Suburgatory
We saw the advertisements for this and decided to try it out. It didn’t disappoint. It’s got the typical satire, mocking the wealthy and unrealistic by offering the point of view of a single dad and his teenage daughter from the big city who have moved to the ‘burbs. The satirical humour never goes too far over the top and the snark is just right to balance it. The characters are all reasonably unique and endearing and even the seemingly shallowest ones reveal a surprising level of depth from time to time.

Bones 
This is a guilty pleasure watch. The mysteries remain pretty predictable, but the characters are like old friends now. Bones and Booth recently had their baby, which means a new opportunity for character growth to avoid them becoming stagnant. I appreciate that they did finally get them together but haven’t made a big squishy deal about it. Side note: My husband enjoyed the episode of Bones that featured the character that would spawn the new show The Finder. He’s been watching it, but I’m not quite as into it. I just find the main character dull.

Ringer 

I’m severely behind on this, but intend to watch. The last half of the first episode greatly impressed me with all the twists and turns and I love all the ways Siobahn manages to lie her way out of everything she’s caught in. Sometimes it seems like too much, but then there’s something else to distract. Not sure about the Wild Things plotline, but we’ll see what happens with that. Fortunately, the deception hasn’t been dragged out too long. Each episode adds to the progress without ever feeling like filler (you hear that, Dollhouse?) Last I saw, Bridget had finally figured out that something was up.. and then the shit really started to hit the fan. How ever will Siobahn lie her way out of it all this time?!

Once Upon A Time
I’m woefully behind on this, since my last post, but I have full intention of catching up. And not just because it feeds into my Mass Effect addiction by featuring Kaidan’s voice actor...

Lost Girl
This is the season of the significant others, with everyone either getting or losing lovers (except poor Hale .. I’m here for you Hale... it’s okay honey). Fortunately, there is still a lot more to the plot than just who’s making kissy face with whom. The new Ash has tricks up his sleeve, as we’ve always known, but there is more to his machinations against Bo than mere antagonism. He still can’t be trusted, of course! Meanwhile, we keep getting glimpses at why Bo is so pivotal to the fate of Light and Dark Fae.

Game of Thrones
There are a few intriguing changes from book to series that I am each to see played out. I still see no point in the existence of the redheaded whore, save for as a sounding board for Littlefinger, but that card has already been played too many times for it to be interesting anymore. I am very pleased with the small changes to Cersei. The series has served to humanize her a bit more and emphasize how important her children are to her, but she is not quite so blind to Joffrey’s evil ways or to the power she herself wields. Renly Baratheon was my greatest concern with the series, since they changed him so much from the book. They emphasized his homosexuality, but this was apparently at the sacrifice of his bold and charming ways. I’m not sure why Renly couldn’t have been overtly gay and confident, but , having now witnessed Maergery Tyrell’s increased role, I suspect this is why Renly was diminished.

Big Bang Theory
I assume it’s still a funny show, but this is only on my DVR list because I keep forgetting to remove it. I got tired of all the episodes featuring Penny’s raging alcoholism as a source of humour. Her character has become more and more pathetic with her lack of funds, lack of credible job, shopaholic and sleep with everyone tendencies. Even more disturbing is the fact that none of her friends seemed to do anything but encourage her. Delete.

Cougar Town
If you think this show is just Friends for older people, then you'd be wrong, unless you also added Scrubs into that mix. But that's okay! Because it's still a hilarious show.


Modern Family
I initially avoided this show because it looked like it would go too over the top to try to show how family values and the atomic family have changed over the years. I was wrong. My husband and I have shared as many thought-provoking parenting moments as we have laughs. Well, more laughs, but still a significant number of parenting moments that make me want to save the particular episodes for reference when we have to deal with these particular situations with our own kids.

Spartacus: Vengeance 
I feel guilty for not feeling the new Spartacus. He’s good, but .. he’s just not Andy Whitfield. I think the show creators recognized this might be an issue and have made the show focus more on the other characters and their relationships. Well, no, that’s not true. The show has always been like that. It has always richly defined the supporting cast. As with most things, the main character is usually the least interesting, but Andy Whitfield had a spark that Liam McIntyre just seems to be lacking. Still worth the watch, though.

Being Human
I'm woefully behind on the American version of this show, too, and I still need to get my Netflix on and watch the UK version. But I will get to it! Have to see what ridiculous temptations the threesome have gotten into this time!

Taking a Bioware break

I finished my ME2 run through with Jax Shepard and decided to put my obsession on hold for a short while, replacing it with other video games featuring epic story, morality, important choices, intriguing characters and familiar voice actors. And made by Bioware.

SWTOR has been whining for my return, but I haven't been back since March 6... for some reason... This weekend, SWTOR practically begged me to come back, offering me 30 free days. Wellll I have been talking about at least finishing my Commando, Jemadya. So I updated in absentia and logging in.

I checked in on Illumin Dust, first, to see about the changes. I didn't test the results, but the first change was that I had to completely respec. I checked out the companion affection incentive stuffs and was pleased to see the results of my labours. All but one of my companions is at 10,000. And finally, I checked out the impatiently awaited Legacy System. I'm already at Legacy Level 13, so a few things were unlocked, but nothing of particular interest. I see that I could have finally gotten my wish to have a Twi'lek Agent, but by now, it's too late. No interest in playing Agent again, having already finished the story and fallen in love with my original character, who is now happily dressed in almost full Columni gear after only a short time.

After sorting out family trees, I worked on finishing up Nar Shaddaa with Jemadya. It took foreeeeever. I was reminded of all the things I hate about MMOs. Nothing like killing 27 mobs trying to get a single drop, competing with others for the same and lag. Blessed lag. It's a good thing the Trooper story is interesting, or I would have given up, reiterating my conclusion that SWTOR is my last MMO. (I don't say that with bitterness. I'm just ... over it.)

Then it was on to Dragon Age: Origins. I created a mage named Caleya with the understanding from my friend that mages gain their powers from sleeping with all the things! So far, Cullen has run away from my suggestions, and Duncan did not offer me an option to share that giant bed with him. I'm sure he will in the future. My one major disappointment (aside from no Duncan sex yet) is that there is no actual voice acting for my character (other than the in battle dialogue where she says inappropriate things while being mauled by giant spiders). I've been spoiled having playable characters that speak. S'okay. I've started speaking my lines out loud myself, much to my husband's amusement. Wait till the romances really start!

Finally, we ended the day by watching Cowboys & Aliens. Not a bad movie. Presumably anyone who watches it would have already put on their suspension of disbelief hat on for what ought to be obvious reasons and kept it firmly in place at the end when even I was having trouble. But hey, it was a fun romp and I won't ever complain about watching Daniel Craig. Actually, it was Harrison Ford I really payed attention to, though. I've always loved him, but he tends to have only a few notes in his arsenal. They are great notes, but they get old, as does he. Here he embraced the old and got to play a basic crotchety old bastard - with a heart. I liked it.

Extinction Seed

I stumbled across Extinction Seed #0 by GG Studio a few months ago and instantly fell in love with the art. Reading the book, it wasn't long before the characters intrigued me as well. I wasn't sure what was actually going on in the book - it was only a preview after all - but how can you deny your curiousity when you read this blurb:

The swingin' so-called '60's. Hipsters dance to the sound of the Beatles while the guns of assassination and Vietnam provide a backbeat. And the seed of death grows, unknown and undisturbed. Caroline, a young student; Cynthia, a photographer with a talent for theft; and Cathryn, trusted assistant to one of the government's most important officials, will discover the terrifying truth: The countdown to extinction has begun!

I've now read the first issue and am thoroughly confused, starting with the lost in translation (from the Italian, I assume) blurb that is filled with grammatical and spelling errors. Something about neo-Nazis, Mayan unvirgin sacrifices, crystal skulls, secret agencies, murder plots, special armour.... I just don't know!

But dammit, I'm going to find out.

Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I should have read this a long time ago, but I’ve always had issue with DC comics. Their heroes have always been untouchable gods. Sure they have their flaws, but even Batman seemed to be above humanity thanks to his money and abilities. In comparison, X-Men, my biased favourites, were far more human, even with their more elaborate powers. They were character you could imagine yourself being, if something happened to mutate your genes.

Kingdom Come acknowledges the god-status of DC’s heroes, and then brings them down several notches because of it. X-Men choose to defend mutant kind and humanity, but anyone who wishes not to be a part of the men in tights brigade is free to try to live a normal life. Kingdom Come infers that it is the absolute obligation of superhuman beings to use their powers to this purpose. Furthermore, it is their responsibility to inspire us regular folk to do better.

And so, it begins with none of this happening because Superman has selfishly abandoned humanity after another superbeing, Magog, took justice into his own hands, killing the Joker, and being acquitted of it.

I’ve never liked Superman. Just too boyscout for my liking. But this series acknowledges that and calls him out on it. In fact, his own peers, particularly Wonder Woman, forces him to see the reality of his actions – and more importantly, the reality of his inaction.

Meanwhile, humans, some led by Lex Luthor and some our own world leaders, seek to take matters into their own hands, with plans to take back the world from superbeings. I have some issue with the fact that even the world leaders were willing to go to such major steps to stop the superbeings, but this was the only flaw in the story and it was not even enough to drop my opinion of the story.

Towards the end, there was a moment that surprised me. Surprised me because I actually cared about, or at least felt sorry for Superman in that moment - something I never thought I'd be able to say.

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Mass Effect 3: The Journey

I'm finally finished Mass Effect 3. There were tears. Oh there were tears. And there was anger. Oh there was anger. When I got to the end, the tears were quickly usurped by a look my husband described as what he'd expect if he ever cheated on me. I am not happy with the execution of the controversial ending, but I am by no means unhappy with it. That ending and the infamous Choices and everything leading up to them have inspired so much thought. How much thought? Well let's consult my 23 page Mass Effect 3 Journal. Actually, as of 2am this morning, it was only 19 pages long, but then I went through the 20 page email discussions between Digital Tempest and Beccatoria and I added a few things when I was finally able to join their conversation. Am I happy with the ending? No. I'm not. Because there are logistic and plot issues that prove to me that there was a rush to the finish line. Do I love the endings anyway? Yes. Because Bioware took a risk to give me a realistic, emotional, painful story that - even with all its flaws - went above and beyond the standard fare we are used to. So thank you, Bioware. While I understand the anger (because there are issues), I still love you. Make mine Shepard.

read more: MASS EFFECT: THE JOURNEY