A Human Day

[redknightalex]

That was an amazing strip. Rendered me speechless for hours as I tried to come up with something to say. It wasn'y my Shepard but I didn't give a damn because, in the end, they are all Shepards of various universes. They just happen to have the same ending.

As for fanfiction in general, I've never seen it as a place to disrespect the source material but more as a homage, a fine example of "imitation is the greatest form of flattery." Doesn't mean that the writers are better, or worse, than those who original created the material, only that they want to create something more and show their own love for it through creative writing/drawing. Not to mention that fanfiction is hardly a new concept; we have tropes for a reason.

 

[Varrdy]

Considering I fell out with Critical Miss long ago and also that Mass Effect fanfiction has to be done very well to tickle the stick I have up my arse about it, it's no small thing when I say that I found this comic to be excellent! It explores the humanity of Shepard very well; showing her vulnerability and maybe even a whimsical side to her personality without it being out of place.

The intimate moment was touching and showed enough without getting smutty. I have no issue with porn but this is not porn and so works better without any overly-explicit content.

In short - I liked this a lot!

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I liked it. Also, I think the Thane Romance thread over at Bioware Forums will probably go insane for it - so you might just want to consider giving them a link. I might later, but I am notoriously bad about remembering tiny Internet intentions, which is why I bring it up in suggestion form rather than pledging to go jump to doing that this very instant myself.

I romanced Thane on occasion. People seemed upset about it's brevity, but I found it beautiful and meaningful despite the small slights here and there (not being a "romance" trophy for ME3? so very petty a thing, both for Bioware to withhold and for the fans to go rabid over). What especially pleased me about Thane's Romance was that it could be said to be one-sided / unrequited love if Shep doesn't follow that line in ME2, but still wins Thane completely over so that he does what he does in ME3 and still makes her (or him, I play only F.Shep myself though) the subject of his final thoughts. Very touching and when I compare it to the reaction of Kaiden or anyone else when you "go another way" from them, a true representation of unconditional love.

 

[Merklyn236]

Very, very well done. My highest compliments to all involved. Please continue to explore this!

 

[Shjade]

I advise not to do these comics with Shepherd as a central piece. There was literally nothing in this where I could say, "Yep, that's my Shep."

Me either, mostly since I only played the first game. But that's okay: everyone's Shep is different, and this one wasn't mine. That hardly means I can't enjoy the comic anyway.

Though I'll admit not being familiar with the series had me wondering about some things in the comic that felt like I was supposed to be getting more about it than was on the page, this was excellent for its context. This right here? This is the kind of thing "romance" subplots in video games are missing: the romance. The intimacy that isn't the nakedtimes kind. Or, if it's not a romantic relationship, just the time spent developing toward that "goal" (because let's face it, in video games it's generally treated as a goal, a destination, rather than a relationship milestone) to make it actually meaningful when you arrive.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

I advise not to do these comics with Shepherd as a central piece. There was literally nothing in this where I could say, "Yep, that's my Shep."

Counterpoint, this was exactly my Shep. I could absolutely see this going down, though, admittedly, she was a little bit more red in the face than the one here. I like how it even captures the idea of her not being the interminable, unstoppable badass in her private moments. Business and pleasure treated differently, and drawn softer and welcoming brings her to a kind of peace. Laying aside the turmoil she's facing for a day and enjoying herself. But at the end, when it's time to start again, it's so apparent how heavy her burden is.

How many died because she made the hard choices? A few close friends and teammates--some taken, some who gave themselves, but gone nonetheless. Hostages on an asteroid that were killed when she went after the terrorists trying to destroy a colony. Three hundred thousand Batarians caught in the wake of an exploding relay. Does she blame herself for those lost during the Soverign attack? The Horizon colonists? Sure, it's easier to justify the ones who are threats, but there are plenty of other instances where Shepard winning didn't mean people living.

It's nice to see someone letting Shep have this moment to feel it all, and nicer still for it to come with some ameliorating sparkly alien bums.

 

[COMaestro]

Excellent comic. It was well written, the art was wonderful, and it was very emotional. I have never played any Mass Effect game, but I know enough about the story to understand it and see why it is so poignant. Well done!

 

[tzimize]

Not one of my favorite Shep pairings, but this one hit me right in the feels.

Ditto.

Great comic. The movie scene was hilarious.

 

[Smokescreen]

I could get used to these kinds of excursions. You exercise the story muscles pretty well.

 

[Storm Dragon]

The afternote pretty much summed up my issue with Mass Effect 3's character writing. So much of what they did with Shepard completely went against what I imagined her to be like. It's kind of funny that they did it to try and make Shepard more "realistic" but in doing so made the character feel jarring for me to play as.

Yeah, this was something that bugged me too. In ME1 you got to choose each line of dialogue Shepard spoke, her (or his) personality was entirely up to you. ME2 gave her some automatic lines that she said every time regardless of player input, but the majority of these were minor expository comments that would fit with any version of Shepard. In ME3, Shepard speaks eight whole lines of dialogue before you get the first opportunity to make your own choice. I counted. The writers chose Shepard's personality in the third game, regardless of how you played her in the previous entries.

And another thing that's bugged me throughout the series: WHY THE FUCK DOES SHEPARD NEVER USE HER BIOTICS IN CUTSCENES? Seriously, in gameplay, my Shepard is a telekinetic juggernaut that flies around the battlefield Falcon-Pawnching three-meter-tall robots into scrap and throwing enemy soldiers around like ragdolls, but she loses all of these amazing superpowers the instant a cutscene starts. Yeah, I know a bunch of really boring people picked Soldier as their class, leaving them without any cool powers whatsoever, but that doesn't mean that those of us who made the right decision to have superpowers should have to put up with this. I tackled that robot chick five times during that chase on Mars, the scene should have ended in three second after the first Biotic Charge connected.

Sorry, I got really off track. Nice comic.

 

[Candidus]

I liked it, something different from our usual fare, although re: page 7 in particular shows why I'm somewhat dubious about the claims this site is meant to be PG13. Nonetheless, an interesting take on the Mass Effect world.

13+ is old enough to see a woman straddling a man. Most 13 year old men have been sexually aware for a long time (since well before they were 10); they already know what their fetishes are and they already have a porn folder hidden somewhere on the family's computer. I can't speak for the ladies, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear much the same.

I hate fanfiction.

More specifically, I hate this concept of "fanfiction", as a separate, inherently less respectable form of creativity than the other stories that happen to be approved by a copyright monopoly.

In art, there are no "original stories", and "stealing", only stories that are ALL derviatively based on one another, yet all adding something new.

This is just a great post. Almost everything I wanted to say in this thread.

All I would add is that, as well as dismissing the idea that the absence of corporate copyright approval brings a derivative work into automatic doubt, we ought to abandon the idea that its presence is some sort of qualitative guarantee.

I've read a lot of fanfiction and most of it has been mildly embarrassing (not including this comic, which is excellent); but the really memorable stinkers - the kind that remind me of my fourteen year old self's writing - have always been the narratives of professionally produced videogames.

For example, Dragon Age 2 in its entirety.

 

[Souplex]

Do Drell even have reproductive organs like humans do?

Because if they're like the rest of their bodies, it may... hurt quite a bit.

Mordin does warn about "Chafing issues" if you romance Thane or Garrus in 2. Also apparently you can get high by licking Drell.
Also as reptiles I find it funny they're not familiar with social etiquette regarding breasts.
Biology!

 

[PirateRose]

Why do people put so much emphasis on it? It's like everyone has completely forgotten the true meat of the game, which this comic captures wonderfully.

What was in this comic, was not in the game.

For me, ME3 as a whole lacked any real emotion and personality, it was all very superficial and shallow. "Commander Shepard, so and so wants to speak to you." You go to person and this is like only the first or second time you've talked to the person. You experiences extremely emotional scene, there are tears or maybe blood, dramatic camera angles, strong music. Then you're immediately thrown back into the game like nothing happened.

Then you know, you walk down the hallway of the Citadel, you hear extreme shock value scenes between npcs, chemical burns on children faces, murdering a girl because she wouldn't stop crying. Then you go buy some fish or booze in a shop.

Would have been more funny if they brought that porn magazine back. Oh here's a letter from your husband who died on the battlefield. Oh that's really sad and all but um do you have the latest issue of Fornax? Yeah, the one with the really hot hanar and asari stuff? Yes. That's it. Thank you and sorry again about your husband. That was really tragic. Bye. That there sums up how ME3 feels to me.

 

[PunkRex]

Did, uhh... did I just enjoy romance-related video game fan fiction? In comic form? On the internet?

Good lord, what will become of me?

DAMMIT GREY, YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL TO A FUTURE OF SLOPPY, CHEESY DIALOUGE AND ASS SHOTS!!!

OT: This was nice.

Tis only gentlemenly to compliment such an 'elastic' rack.

Personally if I was Sheperd, and a girl, i'd have gone for Garrus but this was really sweet. The art's pretty baller too, love dem facial expressions.

Also, page 5 is glorious.

 

[Headsprouter]

I just read the one before this. Sad stuff. This one's pretty droopy, too, but it was definitely had more light-heartedness.

And weirdly I always feel more the less human something is, and the less humans are involved. Yet I must stress that I don't consider myself a misanthrope.

I don't even play Mass Effect, but I really enjoyed this.

 

[Tono Makt]

Easily equal to the Blue Rose of Illium, though I can certainly see where this one might not have the same impact. For people who didn't romance Thane, this comic is going to be less of an impact than the Blue Rose of Illium. But as someone who considers Shepard to be Female, and one who really rather enjoyed the romance with Thane, BRAVO!

NO! BAD ALEK! BAD! *thwaps with rolled up newspaper* You will not get me riled up and go completely off topic in this thread BAD ALEK! BAD! *thwaps* and yes i agree with you 100%, darn it all

 

[Random berk]

Do Drell even have reproductive organs like humans do?

Because if they're like the rest of their bodies, it may... hurt quite a bit.

I imagine they probably have reptilian reproductive organs like snakes and lizards. Which means they aren't covered in scales and are instead concealed inside the body, extending from a slit when erect. And if Drell organs are more like snakes than lizards, then they might have two.

You are most welcome for the mental image.

Good strip overall, but Shepard seemed not only unlike my Shepard, but I suspect she was unlike anyone else's Shepard either. Between her reaction to Blasto 6 and in the restaurant, she seemed childlike- no, more than that. She just seemed idiotic. I know the idea was that she was supposed to just be unwinding on her rare time off, but I didn't really get that impression from looking at it.

 

[Tono Makt]

I'm trying to figure out where this story fits in to the main storyline. I'm guessing it takes place on the citadel but they encounter a ruined diner during their date. Now, this can't be taking place after the second citadel attack, since...

Spoiler: Obligatory spoiler tag

Thane gets killed in that attack

So I'm left to guess that this is damage left from the first attack, from the ending of the first game, but Anderson tells you that the Citadel is nearly restored, when you first meet him in ME2.

It could be any day between when you first meet him in Huerta Memorial and when get to the spoiler tag time. It could be the first time you click the "Want to go do really squishy things somewhere in private right now?" and Thane replies "Boy do I, Siha, but Kep-SPLURCH I NEED TO BREATHE SIH-SPLURCH-well maybe not that much."

 

[tofulove]

This story only needs one word to describe it, beautiful.

 

[LittleBlackDragon]

I was just thinking about Mass Effect the other day. Anyway, this was a very well-written comic and I easily imagined Thane's voice narrating.