An abject failure of story-telling, in every possible way. Jaimie makes bad puns and does a mean Kasumi impression. Chris rants about the horrible, no good, very bad ethics on display here. Both of them rant about the bad writing and the putting-the-characters-on-rails decisions the story team made. …but hey, at least there's a Hackett appearance? …

Thor-Collector bug time! (This is a really weird crossover…) In which we meet and fight Collectors, argue with a guy in a shed, and argue with Kaidan. Also, Chris cannot talk to save his life in this episode, and Jaimie is reveling in it. Show Notes The Incomparable Episode I: The Phantom Menace Part 1: We Waited 16 Years For This? Part 2: Go Wash …

Recruiting “The Convict”—or, Jaimie is sleepy and this mission was not well-written. Grunt Show Notes The Expanse books TV series Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Recruiting “The Convict”—or, as Jaimie summarized it: If you talk to people enough and steal their credits… everyone will love you. Show Notes Monologuing (TV Tropes) I’m always angry “SMH”: “shaking my head” LBD (yes, again!) headcanon XKCD "headcannon" Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com…

We talk about how Kasumi is bad at parties but is creepily good at knowing Shepard's measurements, and also about a gunfight and the problems with hoods. Show Notes Newton's First Law the referenced sequence in the game LBD (yes, again!) Andromeda Strain by Michael Crighton headcanon XKCD "headcannon" Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaff…

We talk about the Normandy 2's crew, Omega and Aria, and recruiting Mordin and Garrus. Show Notes “male gaze” Jayne Cobb's chain of command Hero of Canton Taylor Swift “Shake It Off” Trinity in The Matrix “Space opera” Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

A ghost town with wolf noises, meeting Tali again, talking to TIM, and PLOT!!! reasons. Show Notes Hamilton bionic: "having normal biological capability or performance enhanced by or as if by electronic or electromechanical devices" New Rustacean, Chris' other podcast blog post about moving to Colorado Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaf…

Cerberus between games, the prologue, and the opening. Show Notes "retcon" -- "retroactive continuity" "new money" Chuck "little black dress" Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Show Notes Shamus Young's Mass Effect Retrospective -- "A Chat With Vigil" Marauder Shields Faunts: "M4, Part II", from M4 Bonus "Screenshot"

Show Notes Moronic Mako Driving "Thanoptis" and "Thanopsis": Jaimie was thinking of "Thanatopsis", by William Cullen Bryant. TVTropes on monologuing Speeches and Monologues (the overview page for all the kinds of monologuing) Evil gloating -- also a master list of specific kinds of evil gloating You Have No Chance To Survive -- Sovereign's specific…

Bad corporations and plant-based… body horror? Show Notes Paragon and Renegade earrings Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Show Notes Shamus Young's retrospective ME2 trailer: "We will fight for the lost…" :beat: \ Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Show Notes Towers of Hanoi Ender series Ender's Game – notably, itself originally a short story Speaker for the Dead "Named character" and Alestia: see Nominal Importance at TV Tropes "Lampshade" from "hang a lampshade on it" (see TV Tropes) Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Finding our favorite delightfully awkward and nerdy blue alien woman. Show Notes Chris kept saying "spaceography" because he couldn't remember the word astrography. Exoplanets Halo Cutscene Incompetence (TVTropes) Jaimie described meeting Rear Admiral Mikhailovich as "a little spice in the tasty stew that is Mass Effect"; she was referencing a post…

The Council, meeting almost all the rest of our crew, and space fashion! Show Notes Knights of the Old Republic Character alignment – as described on TVTropes.com, and originating in Dungeons and Dragons. Fair warning: if you click into TVTropes, you're apt to get sucked in for a while. Chaotic good Lawful good On villains monologuing: Evil Gloatin…

An introduction to the podcast, and the mission on Eden Prime! Show Notes Media OS: our name (probably picked up from somewhere, but we don't know where) for the operating systems you see on television and in movies---which are nothing like real operating systems. Opening music Voice actors Seth Green (Joker) Raphael Sbarge (Kaidan) Jennifer Hale (…