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[Malastare986]

First off, I would like to thank Bioware and all of the talented people who have worked so hard for years on the story, lore, art and animation, programming, promotion, and everything else.  They have created a compelling and immersive world that no one who has played the games will every forget.  The universe created is up there with legends like Star Wars and J.R.R. Tolkein's Middle Earth in terms of spanse and depth. 

That said, for all the effort put into the game Mass Effect 3, the gripping final installment's ending that the developers hoped for is more an implosion of any and all hopes the player had for their character.  I went into the game expecting deaths of beloved characters, including Commander Shepherd in most, in not all, the possible endings.  What I was not expecting was an ending where I had to choose one of three equally apocholyptic ways to destroy all civilization in the known galaxy.  I always saw Shepherd as a hero (or anti-hero depending on how you play).  Instead I blew up all advanced life in Citadel Space and beyond if the ending Mac Walters and Bioware gave us adheres to its own Mass Effect lore laid out in previous material (ME2's Arrival DLC).  I don't mind feeling sad about an awesome death if it is meaningful.  What I feel today a week after beating ME3 is numbness.  And not a bittersweet kind, if that even exists.

Here's what I think might be changed to provide a better ending than we got.  Not all was bad, just hopelessly incomplete (hopeless being the key word).  I'm not saying this is the ending(s) I want, just endings that might bring closure, resolution, and perhaps the thought-provocation Mac Walters and Chris Hudson wanted all along.  It doesn't even have to scratch all their ideas, merely tweak where they come and what they might signify.

First:  Reaper Blast Before Beam to Citadel Knocks Shepherd Out

• Enter dream sequence/out-of-body experience
• Keep slow motion trudge to the beam up
• Keep trek to Catalyst/Citadel control activator
• Take out Illusive Man bits of dialogue and images
• Have that entire last conversation with Anderson, including the original stuff taken out.  This is reminiscent of Harry Potter talking to Dumbledore at the end of The Deathly Hallows.  Since for our purposes Anderson actually does die, just because his end with Anderson is in his head doesn't make it not "real".
• Fade out as Anderson falls asleep/dies
• Fade in with squad member shaking Shepherd awake to get to the Crucible and end the war with the Reapers

Second:  Crucible Fighting and Final Confrontation with Illusive Man/Harbinger

• Enter Crucible with squad and remaining army that survived to the beam. Army size (or at least implied size) will be dependent on Effective Military Strength.  I have ideas about EMS and how that affects the end, but it will take too long here.  Likely will post on other or linked thread.
• Fight Reaper forces up to central chamber/heart of the citadel/crucible.  I'm not sure where this would be, but I'm sure it could be made.
• Run in to the Illusive Man as seen in the regular ending and have same conversation with your squad/army being put in stasis like Anderson was. 
• Possible fight with Illusive Man in one of two incarnations (if you like big ending boss fights).  If you talk him down and he kills himself he gets taken over by Harbinger with the Yellow Eyes, voice, etc.  If you don't talk him down, the Illusive Man fights you because he's indoctrinated.  He can even erupt into a massive Reaper Abomination-like thing if you want a giant boss to kill. 
• Even without fight, body gets taken over for last ditch suicide bomb (stupid, yes, but I'm trying to work within the framework given).  The explosion will result in certain consequences depending on choices and EMS.
• After the explosion, Shepherd activates Crusible and goes up the "Elevator to Heaven" like in the regular ending

Third:  The Choice

• Have the original conversation with the Star Child.  Add elements that allow Shepherd to say "I'm a human, we make our own way/F--- you" statements.  I know that's what I wanted in the ending as is but didn't get.
• Star Child lays out your options with the color coding being indications of he sees the choices (Control/Synthesis = Blue/Green, Destroy Reapers = Red)
• You pick your option which leads to the Crusible firing as already seen up to the point where the mass relay explodes.  Depending on several factors, what happens to the relays is up to you based on choice and EMS.  The "Choice" will also affect ultimate galatic consequences.  (These can be dished out after credits with the "Your Sheperd's a Legend, Now buy our stuff" message)

Fourth:  Epilogue

• Have ending cinematic as already made up to the relay exploding.  Cut out Joker running like a coward and crashlanding only God knows where.
• Squad flashbacks of all past and present.  Make them be them laughing/smiling/fist-bumping/etc.  Make it happy or bittersweet.  If Shepherd dies (most of the time) they can all be black-and-white.  If Shepherd miraculously survives the Choice, only the dead are seen in black-and-white.  Living squad can be seen in flash forwards (in color) depending on final mission outcome.
• Panoramic views of rebuilding on other worlds, specifically Tuchanka, Sur'Kesh, Palaven, Thessia, and Earth (again, dependent on final choice and EMS)
• IF Shepherd lived, a sort of reunion celebration similar to end of Star Wars' Return of the Jedi
• Ending credits and "Stargazer" (Stargazer only if non-sythesize choice as described shortly)
• "Play Again screen that includes far-reaching consequences of the Choice.  If Control, Reaper threat merely postponed.  This being Star Child's Blue/Paragon choice that showed indoctrinated Illusive Man, it makes sense that he'd want to maintain the status quo of saving life and technology from destroying each other by sending the Reapers to kill all advanced life in an orderly fashion but letting primitive life go about its business.  Reapers return 50,000 years later and cycle moves forward.  The Synthesize choice is basically a way to mass harvest and "Reaperize" all life everywhere in one shot.  Neutral because it makes all life "the pinnacle of evolution" like the Reapers but removes Life from the galaxy.  Synthesize may take months or years to fully develop all life into the "transhuman" state of existence.  This will eliminate need for the orderly cycle with stagnant existence.  The Destroy choice is basically Shepherd breaking free of the Star Child's manipulation.  The black tentacles at the edge of screen originally can represent beginnings of indoctrination in Shepherd's thoughts.  Shepherd kills all the Reapers.  Cycle Broken Forever.  Enough said.

Effective Military Strength
I'm sure you're getting bored if you're still reading, but below is my breakdown of how EMS will affect your ending.  I have no ideas what the ranges are for each level, but whatever they are as they stand can be a guideline.

• Very Low -- Crucible firing fizzles and the Reapers win
• Low -- Shepherd Dies, All Squad with you dies, All army with you dies, Citadel destroyed, Earth destroyed, energy surges through relays (Earth relay destroyed, others are damaged or thrown off kilter which lines up lore wise with what happened to the Mu relay in ME1)
• Low-Mid -- Shepherd dies, all of squad dies, army on citadel dies, citadel blows up, Earth survives blast, Earth relay thrown off kilter or disabled after transmitting signal
• Mid -- Shepherd dies, part of squad dies, some of army on citadel lives, Citadel survives, Earth survives, no relay/other solar system damage
• Mid-High -- Shepherd dies (as a result of the Choice choice effects), whole squad lives, most of army on citadel lives, no solar/planetary damage
• High -- Shepherd injured in "Destroy" explosion (Destroy Choice only way possible to get Shepherd to survive), dies surrounded by squad/friends on Earth or Citadel
• Very High (Maxxed or close to it, requires some multiplayer, multiplayer being a blast on its own anyway) -- no Shepherd "Choice" injury (bunny and rainbow ending)

Hope you found this interesting.  For me the idea was a little cathartic, but I would still like to see a real ending show up in the game.  I love most of the game but replaying will be difficult to completely enjoy with the ending as it stands.  I would like to point out to Bioware that they can still get their "ending" as a possible outcome with my EMS breaking.  Thank you again for all you attention, and please keep this ending discussion civil.  Vitriole will only hurt our chances of getting any possible change or addendum.