It makes me very happy to see such an active thread, dedicated to praising and sharing the love of FemShep and the actress who brings her to life. Some of the concerns brought up in the original post, such as the wish for female-specific animations for FemShep, I cannot agree with, however. In my mind, and in my game, my Shepard is anything but a lady; she is a hardened soldier first and foremost, and would therefore give little thought to whether or not her legs are neatly closed together when she's
sitting there in the shuttle, waiting to kick some ass. She goes for comfort and practicality, not worrying about what 'looks proper for a lady.' Basically, I think it definitely suits her character (as I play it, at least) to have these animations. It feels very gender neutral, and I love that. Related to this, my Shepard does not care for expensive surgery to get rid of a couple of scars. There are more important things you can spend your resources and money on. It only makes sense that a badass fighter like her has a few scars, and to me it
adds character.
(Also, the
Umbra Visor looks
awesome on FemShep!)
My Shepard is really hard, and has little time to waste on criminals' or other antagonists' solid waste excretions, and she will not hesitate to headbutt a krogan, or shove an uncooperative merc out the window of a skyscraper. This does not mean she's an unfeeling, emotionally disabled despot. On the contrary, her feelings towards her friends, and the innocent who suffer in the galaxy, are very profound and meaningful. She does not always display them as such, of course, but they're there, and she does what is right whenever possible. One such example is when she is asked to
help a survivor from Mindoir. As uncomfortable she is in this role, and as unprepared as she feels, she is deeply moved by the plea, and genuinly heart-broken when she sees what has become of this poor girl.
On top of that, she has a very meaningful relationship with
Liara; one that has had to be put in the second room for a long time, during which they have both had different priorities to worry about. Even so, she has felt secure in it still being there, even though meeting each other again was anything but easy.
It takes a very strong mind to go through the traumas Shepard has gone through. I even chose the Colonist background, describing how her entire family was slaughtered, which acted as a catalyst for her future ruthless behaviour during her early service with the Alliance. While she is much more grounded once Mass Effect is underway, her attitude still shines through. Over time, her crew and the meaningful relationships she creates with them, manages to ground her somewhat, and she realizes there's more to her life than 'results at all costs.' How she after that goes through dying and being resurrected, and then being unwillingly forced into the employ of the heinous group Ceberus, and still coming out with her head straight is anyone's guess. Needless to say, Shepard is made of sterner stuff than we had expected. Truth is, these events still
takes a toll on her, but she somehow manages to remain focused on the mission and the new crew she quickly starts considering
being her friends.
One big reason - the most important one by far - that I'm allowed to play a character I enjoy and can believe in, to such an extent, is of course the unbelieavably talented voice acting by Jennifer Hale. Without her, no amount of scars or gender-neutral animations would create a character that convinces me so. No matter the situation or emotional mood of the scene, Hale's range injects it with so much life, that my main concern about the lack of recognition for FemShep is not the character itself, but that such an amazing talent such as hers is left undiscovered, under-represented, or generally under-paid. I cannot think of any other voice actor or actress that has me so entranced and enchanted by their performance, and she deserves so much more in terms of fame and appreciation from the companies who hire her. Every emotion she is told to convey, she does perfectly, but something I'm especially surprised about, is how she actually intimidates or scares
me as the player when she starts yelling at someone. That's how utterly convincing she is in her role, and I simply had to capture what she says to the
Admiralty Board at the end of Tali's loyalty mission.
I definitely want FemShep to start being considered an equal to MaleShep in advertising and marketing. They hired a specific model to shape the face of the male version, so why not do the same for the female one? Heck, it's probably too late now anyway; I'm way to used to the default appearance to be able to change it around, but I'll always feel a bit angry at Bioware for not doing this in the first place. It seems they're doing the same thing with Dragon Age 2, as the male version of Hawke is the one portrayed in all the trailers and what not. Why? Why not have both, and alternate? Anyway, I love Female Shepard to bits, and I'll never be able to play Male Shepard seriously, no matter how much I want to experience the beautifully written romances with Jack and Tali. As amazing as they seem, from what I've read and seen in clips, it will always feel wrong to see Shepard as a man. Shepard is a woman, and always will be.
Modifié par Kindo, 04 décembre 2010 - 10:09 .
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Horizon didn't bother Cecily all that much; she understood why Ashely was angry with her and left it at that.
Briannna is great! 
She looks very kind and friendly and at the same time... dangerous...
I am aware that more males play this game but for them to give players the ability to play as a woman as the lead character, you would think that lead character would have more time spent on them. 
