So, I just completed my second playthrough of the Mass Effect Trilogy, and even though I made many of the same decisions as last time, it was a blast to find out what happens if you choose to save the council, free the Rachni Queen, and play ME2 in a way that guarantees all of your squad mates actually survive the suicide mission and make it ME3!
But I have a confession: It wasn't the sci-fi shenanigans, the tough moral choices, or the epic roster of characters that led me to the Mass Effect series in the first place. It was the idea that you could play in almost an infinite number of ways, including influencing who you want Commander Shepard to fall in love with. Essentially, I learned that the game included possibilities for LGBTQIA+ relationships, and I had just never seen that happen in a video game before.
The series could've done a little bit better with this... my Shepard is a dude, and he only has 2 or 3 options for romance in the first game (all women.) So I flirted with Liara and Ashley, who made me choose between them because things got awkward. I chose Ashley, but she did not survive the bombing on Virmire.
In the second game, my Shepard was a lonely dude, I suppose processing Ashley's death and vowing never to start getting attached to anyone...
Except he did! Because Mass Effect 3 lets Male Shepard choose between a variety of women... and two men! And this is where my second playthrough didn't go any differently, because Shepard fell in love with Kaiden Alenko again.
And while the series could've done better, in my eyes this option was such a win for LGBTQIA+ gamers. Kaiden is one of the few options available for both a Male and Female Shepard, making him canonically bisexual. (Win! There's so little bisexual male representation in media.) The relationship is actually very sweet to see unfold, and I felt relieved that the dialogue and scenes between Male Shepard and Kaiden didn't feel like a "cut and paste" option from recordings that were obviously meant for Female Shepard. They seemed intentional, and for the most part, the scenes between the guys felt natural. Even better: it's normalized. In these games, Male Shepard and Kaiden just are what they are. There's no sexual moratorium or labeling, no "but you used to like Ashley!" or questioning from the squad mates. They just find each other, click, and that's how it goes. If only this were a little more normalized in the real world. :)
I do wonder if the trilogy would be even better if Kaiden and Male Shepard could have been an option from the first game onward, but I also found something really beautiful about the idea of them being squadmates-turned-lovers, realizing that after all they've been through, fighting for each other gives them deeper meaning in the war against the Reapers.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my Galactic Ted Talk! Here's a drawing I did of this bisexual icon, this time playing around a little more with skin brushes for the first time. Let me know how I did!
And of course the faceless, minimalist version:
Are you a Mass Effect fan, and if so, did you save Kaiden in the first game? :)