Yeahhh but I'd still like ME:A 2 and broRyder could smooch Avitus (Ryder is standing on a chair. He likes to be tall)

Epic Ark Vanishing Prank! He Cried Lmfao (NO CLICKBAIT!!)

world building wednesday

Finlay Ryder

B A S I C S

full name: Finlay Jacob Ryder

gender: Male

sexuality: Bisexual

pronouns: he/him

O T H E R S

family: Alec Ryder (father), Ellen Ryder (mother), Esther Ryder (twin sister)

birthplace: The Citadel

job: Biotic, Former Alliance Soldier, The Andromeda Initiative, Human Pathfinder

phobias: none

guilty pleasures: motorcycles, photography, playing guitar, cooking

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: Neutral Good

sins - lust/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/envy/wrath

virtues - chastity/charity/diligence/humility/kindness/patience/justice

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert: Finlay was raised to intermingle with society, especially politicians and military. He knows much about that and in the end, it’s made him very talkative. He has a charismatic and friendly demeanor that makes others reveal a lot about themselves.

organized/disorganized: This is something he’s always been bad at and after he’s made Pathfinder, he actively tries to make it a priority. But he just isn’t the type of person who is built to be organized.

close minded/open-minded: He tends to be open minded more than not. 

calm/anxious: Being thrust into the role of Pathfinder has made him more anxious, losing his ability to be calm under pressure. 

disagreeable/agreeable: Finlay is agreeable during most times. He knows that most people can be reasoned with or an agreement can be made with the right chips on the table. 

cautious/reckless: He’s more on the reckless side. He likes to jump off of cliffs for fun. A lot of that type of stuff has to be tucked away because of his Pathfinder role, but he enjoys doing crazy things, especially as a biotic.

patient/impatient: Can be both, but patience tends to win out more often. Part of his soldier training.

outspoken/reserved: Very outspoken, sometimes to a fault.

leader/follower: His training as an Alliance soldier has helped him take the Pathfinder role, but it wasn’t his first choice. Surprisingly, he ends up being a good leader.

empathetic/unemphatic: Empathy was one of the things he’s had a lot of experience with, especially because of his mother. She was the most empathetic person he knows.

optimistic/pessimistic: Despite all of the loss he experienced on the path into Andromeda, he’s kept his optimism and determination. 

traditional/modern: He’s always looking towards the future. Tradition, he believes, keeps you stuck in the past.

hard-working/lazy: He’s always been lazy, except when it comes to his job. When he puts his heart into something, he’s as hard working as they come.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: Finlay x Gil Brodie

ot3: none

brotp: Finlay & Peebee, Finlay & Jaal, Finlay & Cora, Finlay & Suvi, Finlay & Kandros

notp: Finlay x Vetra

Good news on the Mass Effect Andromeda front: I am finally Figuring Stuff Out™ (Fast travel, learning how to toggle the objectives and realizing THERE’S A MAP have made things soooooo much more fun) and am vibing with the game at last!

One thing that was kinda stressing me out? Every time the game reminds me THE CHOICES YOU MAKE WILL EFFECT LATER OUTCOMES!!!!!! which triggers this anxiety in me that I’m Doing Things Wrong© and often results in me freezing and not wanting to make any choice because I don’t want to make The Wrong One and not be able to correct it later. 😬

But once I realized I can just play the game again and make different choices, it felt less ominous and universe destroying to potentially make choices I don’t end up liking later in this run. I wish there was a faster way to play through the game, though, but I’m going to definitely replay it on the story/narrative mode where the fighting is minimal. Anyway, I want to play again as Scott and explore some of his options (okay, so I’m probably going to date Cora if she’ll have BroRyder!me, lol) but I’m still weighing my current romantic options as Sara.

I did a bit of research (*points to my anxiety about Doing Things Wrong® which definitely outweighs any Not Wanting To Be Spoiled* 🤷‍♀️😉) to see which optional romance characters I haven’t met yet and that seems to be Jaal and Reyes. Now, I have to say that Jaal seems to be firmly in my character preference wheelhouse (his voice and style of speech reminds me a bit of Vincent from 1987 Beauty and the Beast who I still to this day ADORE with my entire fangirl soul, what can I say? 😍💗), so he’s probably going to be a big contender for Sara’s heart on this playthrough.

However, up until now, I’ve been trying out the flirt options with any character it’s been offered for and, so far, Suvi and Peebee are currently in the running for the title of 💖Love of Sara’s Life💖 However, I was unexpectedly charmed by Vetra’s reaction where she got all tongue-tied and was practically stammering when I asked if she had anybody special in her life. I admit... I found that adorable, considering she’s this big alien warrior woman who looks like she could break me into itty-bitty pieces and then I swear she was blushing at me asking her one simple little question.

Anyway, here’s Vetra, if you don’t know her.

Also... Peebee!

Annnnnd Suvi!

Here, I’ll round out my other potential love interests for Sara...

Jaal

annnnd Reyes! (I don’t know much about Reyes yet but he’s giving me some scoundrel vibes and I’m always here for that. 😎)

I mean, honestly? I’d kinda love to playthrough with each of them but that’s a HUGE commitment of time so we’ll have to see how that goes. I definitely want to replay as Sara at least one more time, though, with whoever ends up coming in second place this time around. 😉

Here’s my girl Sara for reference once more. 😉

I still suck at driving the NOMAD but I feel infinitely better since I’ve had several people tell me that it’s not just me. Also, at least I haven’t caused us to get burned up by radiation or gotten stuck on a big rock in the middle of enemies until we get shot to death again, so... IMPROVEMENT!

Anyway, for any of my Mass Effect Andromeda peeps out there... who do you typically play as and who do you choose to romance, if you choose anybody? I’d love to hear about your experiences, see how you’ve customized your character, all that fun stuff, if you’d like to share! 😎

That’s it for now. Love you, frens! 🤗🤗🤗

finally accepted that my broryder’s hair isn’t gonna be available any time soon and started up my playthrough, one day he’ll get his curls back... one day...

anyway here’s Vetra

New playthrough of Mass Effect: Andromeda. SisRyder is lookin' good!

BroRyder is.. he looks fine

Daddy Ryder, erm.. Alec.. looks a bit like Clancy Brown (I'm good with this)

A really good shot of Sara and Cora

Anyway. I do a thing where sis and bro have matching tattoos (but reversed) in each playthrough. For this one, she has one down the left side of her neck and him down the right. Will update if I get a good shot of it later.

No idea who I'll be falling in love with (other than Evfra, who isn't a romance option - the cowards!). Will just try to not anger Drack. I love that cranky old bastard ❤️

I am still so bothered by the decision to lock Ryder's background based on gender - I WANT to play a BroRyder who did prothean research, screw "guarding a Mass Relay."

Like it's just so reductively sexist - man do gun thing, woman do research. And, more charitably, it plays into this narrative I don't feel the game should support of BroRyder trying to win the affections of his distant father, a storyline that doesn't seem to exist for SisRyder (which, y'know, goes back to BioWare's well established tendencies to write for the straight male protagonist first and foremost...).

Meanwhile, I, as a player, am over here all "nah fuck him" on the subject of Alec Ryder and want to just play a Ryder who says the same of his father.

Like... I don't necessarily want to assume the home and personal life of any of these writers, but it very much seems like at the least, the core of the writing was written from the perspective of someone who has a positive relationship with the majority of their family and thinks that blood relations are a core factor in determining what makes someone "family," that if you are blood relations to someone, it means that you do what you can to find some form of affection for them.

Meanwhile, I, the player, am firmly against that belief, knowing that (and yes, my Supernatural is showing here) family doesn't end in blood, and it doesn't begin there, either.

And this is something spills across the game. Y'know, it's what I bring up with Gil often, that I don't feel like his writer actually had a clue of what life is for someone with an absent father, because I can't imagine anyone who grew up without a father, like I did, excusing that with "maybe they give us the foundation to go from," as if it's okay that this person who is supposedly meant to be family, to be a part of your life, to be someone who is there for you WASN'T.

So much of this game's attitude towards family feels so conflicted - where it SAYS family is important and meaningful and says it in a way that makes it clear it means family in the blood relation sense, so much of what it DOES, the things we see in action, emphasize the importance of FOUND family. Like I don't necessarily think that these are things that are inherently opposing factors, but at the same time, the game never really gives enough attention and recognition of found family over blood.

Like if I could have Andromeda to do over again, if I could go back in time, boot Mac Walters out of the driver's seat (oh don't I wish...), and claim leadership of the Decpticons er, of the game's writing... Okay, yes, I'd have a laundry list of things and Gil's handling is certainly number one on that list, but number two would be to actually COHERE this attempt at a story about family.

Because as it is, it really is saying one thing and showing another.

i missed it so im replaying andromeda >///<

blushy boy

There’s something incredibly sexy about the boys having no face-holes or eye-holes in their helmets (Peebee is here to supervise them and make sure they don’t do anything too crazy)

procrastinated getting up today morning and made my ryder twins in this picrew instead

Twins

Casey Ryder

character aesthetics - sirius ryder, pathfinder

you land badly, but you crash standing you land badly, but you crash

- dessa

Man, at this point, N7 Day just manages to DAMPEN my enthusiasm for Mass Effect...

Like in addition to my reblogged rants on the violent exclusion I've felt as a queer man in this fandom (from BioWare AND the "fans"), I've said since the damn ME5 trailer, including more Liara just makes my excitement drop like a stone.

I mean, I honestly didn't mind her voice cameos in Andromeda - they actually made sense there, Liara was a researcher of the protheans and put forward unconventional ideas, which would certainly draw Alec Ryder's attention - the man built an illegal AI, and then linked it into his own brain, he seems the type who'd reach out to the researchers whose ideas are off the accepted beaten path like her claims of the extinction cycle Liara admits them to be. Plus connective tissue to the trilogy. I was fine with that.

But between the trailer and now this audio clip... In giving all this attention to a character from the trilogy - and so I mean this BEYOND my own personal issues with Liara as a character - is just saying that the franchise cannot and will not evolve from the trilogy.

And that's going to choke this franchise more than anything else. We have already seen a lot of people saying that Andromeda was misjudged at release, but unfortunately, BioWare ALWAYS seems to base their next game on the initial criticisms, not the ones that have metastasized and grown beyond "this isn't what I was expecting so I DON'T LIKE IT."

To say nothing of, as mentioned in my aforementioned rants, the way that BioWare and the fans tend to just make me feel unwelcome as a queer man - y'know, there's the absence of M/M romances in ME1 and ME2, the fact that Kaidan's romance with Male Shepard is a beat-for-beat copy of the new Kaidan/Female Shepard romance, which, normally I'd be fine with, BUT, in this scenario, it means that male Shepard literally COULDN'T, because of the game not allowing, romance Kaidan in ME1, rather than it being an intentional choice, and that's something that deserves acknowledgement (to say nothing of the cut during the romance scene that removed any "I love you" until the Extended Cut came along). There's the mishap of Andromeda, where the game released with M/M romance being shorted compared to everyone else, where, until patch 1.08 was released, to ping the romance achievement, M/M players would have to play a sexuality not their own, because there weren't three M/M romances available, while every other variation had three options. And even in getting that patch, that still leaves the extensive issues with the two original romances, where one has a dance scene that has BroRyder and Reyes leaving plenty of room for Jesus, while SisRyder's practically up on him, and the other has a massive mess of a homophobic storyline that reduces the character in question to a turkey baster and thinks that reaching an endpoint of "gay dads" is all that is needed to win brownie points with the gay audience. All this followed up by the cherry on the shit sundae that was Mac Walters, the guy in charge of the franchise, laughing off the very idea of patching the Male Shepard/Kaidan romance into the Legendary Edition and changing the subject over to the model of Liara and how it changed over the series, as if that had ANYTHING to do with the topic. On top of the absolute REFUSAL to acknowledge Male Shepard/Kaidan as a romance in the marketing for the Legendary Edition, which I can only see as a desperate attempt to avoid being called out for the fact that Kaidan's romance with Male Shepard in ME1 does not exist, that the Legendary Edition carried forward the homophobia of 2007 without question. Or the fact that, when it comes to the official accounts celebrating the franchise, it's funny how I can't recall ANY occasions of M/M fan content being promoted. Plenty of M/F and F/F, but not the M/M stuff.

And we'd be here all day if I started talking about the homophobia in the fandom. I don't even mean the overt stuff where people brush off us "uppity queers" who dare ask BioWare to live up to its claims of wanting to be inclusive and supportive by actually making us part of the world they make, I mean the people who told us that we were making too big a deal out of the failure to include the M!Shepard/Kaidan romance, or that we're "unreasonable" for wanting more romance options than we're given, when M/M romances are consistently the ones with the fewest options, or that we're greedy when we acknowledge the disparity, since we're "just" a minority.

Yeah, Mass Effect is a franchise I love. But it's adamantly IN SPITE of the way it treats me as a queer man. And frankly, at this point, it's even odds if I even expect to add ME5 into my collection at all.