Yeah, its unfortunate, but the story reminds me too much of my late uncle whom I was very close to. I wrote the story as a coping mechanism.

 

With that said, I don't mind telling you the ending I had planned.

 

I had a spin on the Leviathan DLC where Katelyn offers to become their willing Agent if they help him against the Reapers. At the same time, John has been indoctrinated by the Reapers and essentially replaces Kai Leng's role in ME3.

 

The final chapter was a throw down between the twins before the final run. And even then, I was going to leave it intentionally vague as to who won and what ending took place.

 

As for the shipping aspects, the twins broke off with their respective partners for differing reasons.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I'm not continuing Duet Effect anymore. Too many bad memories are attached to it. And going back feels like picking at old wounds.

 

However, I have written down the major plot decisions for the first game's arc in the group's blog. You can find it here.

 

http://forum.bioware...ner/?p=19716312

 

PM with plot questions if you wanna know more.

 

Thank you.

The story of ME1 for Duet Effect.

 

Duet Effect Plot points

Normandy: John CO, Kat XO (officially), Co-Commanding officers (reality).

Therum: John - Takes Kaidan and Wrex. Rescues Liara. Upon returning to ship, Kat has her put under guard until she is satisfied Liara is not a threat. John concurs with the statement. In a private discussion, Liara accesses John's memories of the Beacon, and uncovers hints about Project Janus (will discuss later).

Pinnacle Station: In the interim, the Normandy is resupplied at Pinnacle where John and Katelyn meet up with Roxanne Pierce. A fellow N7 who tied John for second place in their N7 graduate rankings and instructor for recruits at Pinnacle. Ahern challenges the three top N7s to his special simulation and we have more light shed on their past. John used to no-nonsense and without humour, while Kat used to be quiet and notoriously grim. They beat the simulation with flying colours and spend the rest of the night reminiscing and poking fun at their younger days.

Feros: Kat and John handle initial colony mission. Ashley and Garrus go with John across the highway, Kat stays behind to support colonists. They turn on her and tries to forcibly enthral her to the Thorian. She uses her biotics and barely makes it back to the Normandy. John finishes off the Thorian and Katelyn is in quarantine for a week.

Interim: Liara having now linked with John again, gets the second round of information and even more glimpses of Project Janus. She asks him about it privately, John threatens to kill her if she mentions it again.

Noveria: Kat and John tag along for this one. Liara is the third. Benezia is killed and John opts to kill the Rachni Queen. Kat opts to kill it too, but backs out at the last possible second, justifying that she'd hunt the Queen down herself if it caused any more trouble.

Result: A massive falling out between Kat and John professionally. John calls her out for making stupid decisions against his orders and Kat defends her decision.

Spinning wheels: With no more leads to go on, Normandy is adrift and neither Shepard is willing to spend two minutes in the room with the other. Then Bring Down The Sky happens. Kat and John opt to do this mission, Garrus acting as their third. They save the colony over arresting Balak and after the mission, John compares Kat's decision to join them to the Torfan offensive, Kat denies this. The discussion devolves into sibling banter and the two reconcile.

Virmire: Wrex is talked down from attacking John. Ashley is sent with Salarians, John and Kat take as much heat off them as possible. At the vital decision, the twins split up. Kat takes off to support Ashley and the Salarians, while John saves Kaidan. Using Saren's confrontation as distraction, Kat saves the Salarians and escorts them back.

When they escape, a Geth head-shots Katelyn. Her helmet absorbed most of the blow but she's critically wounded and her left eye, its socket are destroyed, her arm is also severed. Post briefing, John and Liara have a private discussion, where he apologises for his earlier behaviour but requests she forget about Project Janus.

Ilos: John hunts down Saren, but his feelings are no longer of duty but vengeance. Meeting with Vigil, John takes Garrus and Kaidan on the final mission. Saren is dared to out-will the Reapers and Anderson is put in the Council.

Post Ilos: Kat is revived after the battle, and spends 3 months in hospital+rehab. John is killed one month prior to her release. Kat does not attend the funeral.

(note - this WAS gonna be brought up in the Citadel DLC, not before) Project Janus: After his death, some disturbing things come to light about John Shepard - namely, before 2172, no such person existed. Project Janus - named after the two faced god - was a program designed to rehabilitate hardened criminals and convicts into soldiers of the Alliance. Part of it included going so far as memory wipes. John and Katelyn Shepard's real names are Mark and Jennifer Aldrin, notorious mass murdering siblings from the slums of Ottawa.

They were given the choice of execution or enlistment when they were caught, which lead to the 'creation/birth' of Kat and John Shepard.

 

 

That's the basic points of Duet Effect's first arc. Sadly, not working on it anymore.

How do you get the mounts in Haven? I've just got my first horse, but I can't get my collector's mounts (yes, the cod's redeemed). I tried going back to the house where I got my Dragon armour and Weapons, but no prompts appeared? Do I have to wait until later to get them?

Hello fellow writers,

 

I'm not fully aware of your method of announcing, but recently I've gotten back into writing for the Mass Effect Series and resumed my original piece 'Duet Effect'. It was my first experiment as a writer for Mass Effect and I'd like some help in making this work the absolutely best it can be.

 

You can find the thread dedicated to it in the forums and I would very much appreciate any and all assistance you can grant me in making this piece, and my writing the absolutely best it can be.

 

Regards,

 

Aurora313.

AS OF NOW: 

 

RESUMED.

Duet Effect is back, folks. Got some minor Ash-Kat bonding in it.

 

www.fanfiction.net/s/8213233/9/Duet-Effect

My two cents: 

 

As Alliance soldiers of the command rank, neither would be allowed to serve in the same command. 

 

As SpecTRes, they can give the rules a big middle finger and ignore that particular policy. 

 

In terms of emotions:

During a war, things get very high-strung. They relationship is based on grief, mourning, mutual respect, interest and passion. After the war, they need to figure out what exactly kind of relations they want outside of constant combat and violence. While I do believe they can and eventually will be very happy together. However, they need adventure in their relationship as well to keep it strong. Whether that's because of their fierce natures, or simply from their lives as soldiers or some combination of both is up to the person holding the pen.

 

After the war is over, yes, they will have difficulty initially with their relationship. Perhaps it'll break apparent entirely, and they need to rebuild it from scratch, but I don't see two souls who have been through so much hell together breaking apart so easily. Perhaps they're find happiness, or perhaps they're never be happy without one another. As I said earlier, its really up to the person holding the pen. 

 

That being said, in my own personal verse: Shepard goes independent anyway after he recovers. He leaves the Alliance with the post-recognition rank of 'Commander' and fully dedicates himself to Spectres. So, the whole fraternisation thing doesn't really apply. Secondly, his relationship with Ashley does suffer due to issues with PTSD, conflicting interests, goals and mopping up the war's aftermath. Eventually however, it does smooth out and they are married in basically everything but name. Its not particularly healthy, in fact, its pretty pathetically co-dependant on Shepard's part... then again, I tend to pile n the mental agony for my characters, so who knows. 

 

 

Summing this all up: Its really up to the individual writer about whether the relationship is maintained or becomes a train wreak... I prefer them together even if its not particularly happy. 

Oh.......

 

Some reason I thought it was April not May....

Ash's B-day next week...

 

Just FYI.

Ashley: Say what you will, my personal opinion is that muscle and physical prowess trumpets biotics in a pinch. Biotics wear the user down something awful, and the side effects of the implants? Yeah. No thanks.

James: Speaking from personal experience, Ash?

Miranda: Quite a thinly veiled inquiry into your XOs personal life, isn't it?

James: I-I didn't mean. Ah, shiiiiiiit....

Ashley: I get what you mean Vega, its just that I've seen some other biotics get nosebleeds, and massive debilitating migraines from their implants. Powerful as hell, just doesn't seem worth the pain.

Liara: Yes, Kaidan did have severe issues with his.

Ashley: Yeah. In any case. I'd rather run up to an enemy to punch them in the face then pull 'em over with my mind. Just seems easier.

 

Shepard: Oh - You have to run to your enemy? How quaint.

Ashley: And the peanut gallery can ****** right off.

Shepard: *whispers* Quaint.

Ashley: I can hurt you.  F***in' vanguards....

More or less, Yeah. You have the armour customisation and ability to place camo schemes on your armour, so it makes sense in verse that marines can change colour scheme to fit the terrain, but ME was never really a 'classic' military shooter anyway. Come ME2, all the 'military' rules fly out the window and Shepard is basically a gun-for-hire, not an alliance member, hence the way more lax attitude towards protocol, combat, crew and so on. Not to mention Shepard was always implied to be an unconventional thinker and tactician, so waving protocol or enforcing it is basically up to him as ship commander.

 

But pretty much as DWH said, its something of a 'cartoon' universe, also how many times do you see a guy come back to life from clinical brain death... I mean really... -.-

I actually do agree that would have been stylistically better to have the Alliance remain as Red and White colours (especially given that bioware is a canadian company). The Turian hierarchy was already heavily associated with black and blue (possibly red accented too), the Krogan were read and the Salarians were green.

 

I like however that they did highlight Shepard as being special forces by giving him the red and white stripe indicator. For those who don't know, the red of the N7 is meant to symbolise the blood shed to gain the rank, and the blood that will continue to be shed to continue to shed to maintain that rank. However, I wish they left the rest of the squad wearing the default alliance blue. That being said, the Normandy itself was originally under the SF's jurisdiction (At least, that's what I take having not one, but two N7s in executive positions to mean. ), in addition to Kaidan being a rare biotic - so technically a 'special' soldier himself hence the black armour. Its possible the ground-side troops wear the white-and-red armour promoed in the concept art and fleet soldiers have the blue armour while special units get black armour...

 

That or the Alliance says 'Long as it matches these pretty high-end specs and you can afford it outta pocket - wear what the hell you want'....

 

Still wish there was a white and red various of Ash's current armour, but the colour contrast is still pretty good with default steps, so... yeah...

 

Prefer a darker-skinned, short-haired Ash....

 

Also, question, is she hispanic or could there be some Ethiopian in her?

I really wish I could forget everything I've done/written/drawn/thought and play mass effect all over again... I really do. 

 

Anyway, I've just been skimming and I hear say of a cameo or possible squad mates of the previous cast in a new mass effect game. How factual is this? Is it a rumour? Is it confirmed?

 

If so, how much of an impact will it have? Will it remain just a brief cameo like Dragon Age 2 with potential of the lesser known squad mates becoming fleshed out party members? Will they pay attention to previous romances? Will Shepard be dead/alive in context of these squad mates' appearances? What place in the timeline will the cameos be set? During or Post ME? Will the romances reverence/show a logical/satisfying conclusion?(Possibly a child for female paramours, a tribute for the male paramours or a tragic keep-sake for both genders to make it more even?)

 

 

 

... Dunno why, I just have Shepley and Shenko parental feels... been playing around with the idea of Shep having a kid pre-enlistment again... and maybe Ash and the crew start to take it upon themselves to care for said kid while Shepard's having his death spat.

 

As far as I'm concerned, this is my new Shepley theme. Particularly towards the climax.

Sup, folks.

I made an Eldar Scrolls Online avatar that looked like default fem!Shep and saved Lyris Titanborne (also voiced by Jennifer Hale) who sacrificed herself to save someone from captivity. Felt like I was saving my own Shepard from a fate worse than death.

Pretty much the title. If there's a game where EVERYONE is giving stellar reviews, I'm almost instinctively put off by it. Its my experience that if the general consensus about something is overwhelmingly positive, then the game itself is ****. Or at least, I'm left with too high an expectation and I get disappointed.

AS OF NOW:

DISCONTINUED.

For me, the depression is more Meta that inverse.

Its such a good series and its just disheartened that Mass Effect 3 had to end on such a sour note. Minor plot threads were left hanging or with less than satisfying conclusions, and the whole ending debacle is insane. One of the biggest outcries in history if not THE biggest. Now - on its own, ME3 is a wonderfully fun game, but its somewhat lacking. Playing it as a stand alone, you meet all these characters and you're compelled to wonder why you're supposed to care about them?

Frankly, I hate endings. And I hate goodbyes. That's the sadest part of ME3 for me. Its one long-winded goodbye.

Frankly, Shepard is not a good person. I have never seen them as a good person, I never will see them as a good person. But what I do see them is someone who can get results through honourable or contemptible means. Despite how the writing pans out, Shepard had a code of honour which he will never break. He does not brook cowards, traitors or anyone who goes after his crew. Shepard also doesn't take taunts lying down. He inspires their loyalty despite how he conducts business and whether or not he betrays that loyalty is entirely up to the player.

Particularly, when you consider Shepard's relatively young age compared to the rank he possesses, and the lingers physiological effects the pre-selected histories and service records may or may not imply - one could even go so far as to say 'Shepard' as we perceive him isn't entirely a stable or healthy human being. One could argue we do not even know who Shepard really is under that professional mask. ME3 gives us a glimpse at a tired, frustrated individual whose ready to snap and lash out at a moment's notice, but this is after several years of fighting a war partically by himself so that must be taken into account. If one takes the renegade route in ME3, Shepard appears to be simply pyscotic and has indeed snapped from the strain of war. Frankly, I don't believe a Paragon Shepard is that far away from that unstable state - instead, a Paragon is simply better at hiding it.

At the very least, he's had to bury his fair share of corpses. There's also the additional factor of his 'N7' designation. People are EXPECTED to die when they are selected for that special training. If my memory serves only about 20% of candidates survive to become proficiency level 7, and Shepard graduated at the top. While this has happened in the past, the First game sets off with Shepard being lined up for Spectreship.

So, already in ME1, his standards are set unnaturally high for a human and as a 'shiny example' of humanity, he would naturally have to be on his best behaviour. Come ME2 however, he's now working with Cerberus, an assumed terrorist organisation. The Council and Alliance have basically disavowed him and he's working as a long wolf essentially.

Now, one could argue that ME2 is where we see the REAL Shepard. As a paragon he's far more willing to make compromises. In ME2, we see that Shepard's far more willing to strike fast-and-loose bargains with his enemies, gun folks down and basically do his own thing for the benefit of the galaxy, albeit slightly more politely than a Renegade would. With the two organisations he had to represent no longer watching his actions as closely, and severing their ties with Shepard, the Commander is now free to behave in a more relaxed, less acted manner. Since Cerberus isn't too picky with how you do things, Shepard essentially has free reign over his own ship and mission. Sure, he has a sense of morality, but since its no longer tempered by the idea of being Humanity's 'golden boy', he's open to far more darker means to accomplish his goals.

A Paragon Shepard is arguably WORSE than a Renegade. If a Renegade get wronged by a random guy - for the sake of this argument a politician (Easy pickings, I know.), a Renegade would just shot 'em stone dead. A Paragon however will do something that would utterly destroy the Politician's credibility, reliability, sensibility and leave the poor bastard's pride in some many pieces that it would take a lifetime to even begin to recover it. Basically destroying the poor bastard's life's work. Lets look at the comparison:

Renegade - Outright kills offender.
Paragon - Lets offender suffer social, professional and personal humiliation. Destroys entire livelihood.

At least the Renegade is merciful enough to just shoot the guy and not make him suffer.

Personally, I play an Paragon... ish... Earthborn Warhero Shepard. My view on his character is that he is not 'good' by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he's very much a sociopath who delights in warfare, loves a good battle and suffers fools and time-wasters poorly. I cannot in good conscience make a 'good' Shepard.

Paragon Shepard? I can play just fine, but a 'good' Shepard? Pfft. Forget it.

A dialogue is a battle in its own way. I'd love to see it.

Liara
Jacob
Thane
Morinth
Liara. Yes - I mentioned her twice. Particularly the fact that she descrated and plays god with Shepard's corpse. What gets on my nerves is Shepard can't call her out on it at all and is totally fine with it. What especially pisses me off is being shoehorned into her being my best friend while none of my renegade options from game one seem to have the desired effect. Frankly, on a meta level, its frustrating, on an in-verse level, Liara must have something deeply wrong with her if a pathological jerkass treats her like **** and she still trails after him anyway.

I didn't mind the faster paced actions in the second game, but in the first game - particularly the rogues, every sword move for example had a different and unique animation. I kind of missed that.
There's also the fact that as cool as the combat animations were in 2, after the intial battle I quickly got very bored with them.

Triforce Hermit wrote...

Arcian wrote...

Synthesis is nonsense, and no story could ever be built on nonsense.

Most well put answer to this.

Look. I'm ****ing sick and tired of seeing 'OOOO Synthesis is nonsense' 'Oooh! It came out of no where'..

Yes. We get and understand that. But it doesn't change the fact that its included in the games, its a possible canon and some people maybe even like that ending in particular. The world doesn't just magically alter itself to catter to your egos. Get. The. FCUK over it.