Why there should have been a Garrus or Tali romance option in Mass Effect
This entry is for all my fellow Mass Effect fangirls out there who were not satisfied with the Kaiden romance option in Mass Effect. As well, I think a Tali romance would have been interesting.
For a review, and for those who have not played ME, the game gives the player the option to romance three characters: Ashley for the male Shepard, Kaiden for the female Shepard, and the monosexed asari Liara for either. I detested the character of Ashley, who seemed so close-minded, needlessly violent and bigoted (I laughed meniacally when I chose her to die). Kaiden was nice, but not very interesting. He was mostly just nice to look at. But the human characters were either not very likeable or just plain boring, and that is why there should have been more romance options. I think the reason that many people chose Liara as their romance option was for this reason -- because the humans were not interesting. However, I didn't care much for Liara either, because no matter what she said, I still continued to see her as female. In that case, it seemed like Bioware was catering more to the male fans (I know, there are more of you) giving two female romance options and a potential lesbian option. I did not find Liara interesting, and something about how the asari look give me the creeps. But I understand why there is a male fanbase for her.
Now, I am not saying that I would want Shepard to have in-game sex with the characters. I really don't. I realize that in the cases of Garrus and Tali, these acts would be near impossible. Although I don't know how Turians reproduce, I can imagine it is nothing like how humans create offspring -- I suspect that they reproduce either asexually (as there seem to be only males) or via eggs, considering their reptilian or avian appearance (in that case, there may be females but we do not see them in the games. An idea for ME2 perhaps?), so something resembling sex between these two species would be near impossible. While Quarians and humans are very similiar, their immunes systems are defunct. In this case, it would be difficult to have any sort of encounter with a Quarian because there would be the risk of killing them with even the most harmless disease.
But it isn't about sex -- it's about romance. Forbidden romance, specifically. And I mean true, forbidden love, not this wishy-washy Romeo and Juliet/Twilight crap, but real, life-or-death love that transcends both societal or biological norms.
I personally found the characters of Garrus and Tali to be far more interesting than either of the human options. Their alienness is what makes them more interesting, not only in appearance, but in history, culture, creed, personality, etc.
This is how I imagine a romance storyline with Tali: Shepard and Tali slowly get to know one another and develop feelings. However, they can never touch, never kiss, can never have contact. Still, they are deeply in love with one another. They would have to express their love in other ways, or find some way to be together. Surely, the Quarians with their advanced technology, have found a way. Besides, I don't care who you are: that gypsy accent is just sexy.
Although Garrus had less character development then Kaiden, I still found Garrus more interesting. But as one person on the ME forums said, Garrus was everything Kaiden should have been: honorable and masculine but not without his flaws. And it may just be the strange girl in me speaking, but something about Garrus' character (and Turians in general) was very attractive. Still, I think Bioware really neglected Garrus -- a romance option would have let us learn more about him. (I was surprised to see how large the female fanbase is for Garrus, surprised even more to find that there are others who want a Shepard/Garrus romance (same for the male fanbase for Tali). Thank you, DeviantART, for making me feel not so alone!)
For a review, and for those who have not played ME, the game gives the player the option to romance three characters: Ashley for the male Shepard, Kaiden for the female Shepard, and the monosexed asari Liara for either. I detested the character of Ashley, who seemed so close-minded, needlessly violent and bigoted (I laughed meniacally when I chose her to die). Kaiden was nice, but not very interesting. He was mostly just nice to look at. But the human characters were either not very likeable or just plain boring, and that is why there should have been more romance options. I think the reason that many people chose Liara as their romance option was for this reason -- because the humans were not interesting. However, I didn't care much for Liara either, because no matter what she said, I still continued to see her as female. In that case, it seemed like Bioware was catering more to the male fans (I know, there are more of you) giving two female romance options and a potential lesbian option. I did not find Liara interesting, and something about how the asari look give me the creeps. But I understand why there is a male fanbase for her.
Now, I am not saying that I would want Shepard to have in-game sex with the characters. I really don't. I realize that in the cases of Garrus and Tali, these acts would be near impossible. Although I don't know how Turians reproduce, I can imagine it is nothing like how humans create offspring -- I suspect that they reproduce either asexually (as there seem to be only males) or via eggs, considering their reptilian or avian appearance (in that case, there may be females but we do not see them in the games. An idea for ME2 perhaps?), so something resembling sex between these two species would be near impossible. While Quarians and humans are very similiar, their immunes systems are defunct. In this case, it would be difficult to have any sort of encounter with a Quarian because there would be the risk of killing them with even the most harmless disease.
But it isn't about sex -- it's about romance. Forbidden romance, specifically. And I mean true, forbidden love, not this wishy-washy Romeo and Juliet/Twilight crap, but real, life-or-death love that transcends both societal or biological norms.
I personally found the characters of Garrus and Tali to be far more interesting than either of the human options. Their alienness is what makes them more interesting, not only in appearance, but in history, culture, creed, personality, etc.
This is how I imagine a romance storyline with Tali: Shepard and Tali slowly get to know one another and develop feelings. However, they can never touch, never kiss, can never have contact. Still, they are deeply in love with one another. They would have to express their love in other ways, or find some way to be together. Surely, the Quarians with their advanced technology, have found a way. Besides, I don't care who you are: that gypsy accent is just sexy.
Although Garrus had less character development then Kaiden, I still found Garrus more interesting. But as one person on the ME forums said, Garrus was everything Kaiden should have been: honorable and masculine but not without his flaws. And it may just be the strange girl in me speaking, but something about Garrus' character (and Turians in general) was very attractive. Still, I think Bioware really neglected Garrus -- a romance option would have let us learn more about him. (I was surprised to see how large the female fanbase is for Garrus, surprised even more to find that there are others who want a Shepard/Garrus romance (same for the male fanbase for Tali). Thank you, DeviantART, for making me feel not so alone!)