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suthnmeh — An end, once and for all - 5 (spoilers)
Published: 2012-04-16 15:01:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 69687; Favourites: 1621; Downloads: 0
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EVEN MORE EDIT 2021 WHAT: Turns out the original video is gone and I don't know why, but someone managed to find it here! disk.yandex.ru/i/JzEzvsIPCnmX8…MORE EDIT: So this was done before the Extended Cut came out, so at least the issue with the flashbacks was resolved. Handsome Garrus is finally in my Shepard's thoughts *sob*
Edit: Holy shitkabobs on a dinner table! I can't believe the support and love I've been recieving for this comic! I wasn't expecting it and it's had me on a big fluffy cloud for a couple of days now! Thank you all so much!
And to top it all, nicholasfunstuff went ahead and made a video of it with the music and sound effects!! Go watch it here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tJ1LY…
HEY HEY! LISTEN TO THIS WHILE READING! Recommend having tissues around. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JvbD…
1-suthnmeh.deviantart.com/art/An… 2-suthnmeh.deviantart.com/art/An… 3-suthnmeh.deviantart.com/art/An… 4-suthnmeh.deviantart.com/art/An… 5-suthnmeh.deviantart.com/art/An…
I have spent too much time on this...
This was a result of a need to get the Mass Effect ending from my system. Funny thing is it took so long to make, I was pretty much over it half-way through XD Even funnier is I just cried a little right now
One of the jillion things that bothered me about this ending was that the characters most dear to me didn't even seem to be on Lara Shepard's mind. As explosions were going off, images of Joker, Anderson and... Liara? seem to flash before her eyes. I was kind of outraged. I absolutely love Joker and Anderson, but... Liara? She's great and all, but... No chance of Garrus's face to pop in her mind instead? They ARE in a relationship after all! HE VENTURED INTO THE IDEA OF HAVING KIDS, FOR F**K'S SAKE!
It's funny that everything else about that ending would pretty much make sense if we have in mind the popular Indoctrination Theory (which I'm all on board with), but this... this, haha, really bothered me
Somehow it's like Liara's friendship is forced down my throat a lot of times. No ofense to Liara fans, she's actually a great character, just not one I'm specially fond of. And I really just wanted to see Tali, and Garrus... and Mordin... and Legion and Wrex... one last time... *tear flood* So all this just added to the feeling that the ending could've been rushed and put together as quickly as possible.Hence this.
A huge thank you to for her enthusiasm and beta reading!
Resources:
aukerai.deviantart.com/art/Len…
leostarkoneru.deviantart.com/a…
rabieshund.deviantart.com/art/… brushes)
For Tali's pattern I used something I found on the Bioware forums. If anyone knows who made it, I'll add the link.
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Comments: 1366
Very well done! You got the expression on Shepards face perfect! It's how my face was when I completed the game for the first time. (Except I had a hint of disappointment) Plus I'm quite glad it didn't show images of my romantic interest (Garrus) at the end or I would have been a blubbering wreck.
This really captures the emotion of the situation, and I did shed a couple of tears. 5/5 from me.
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That is the face of true pain.
And my gods, Garrus... What we did get was already devastating enough.
Thank you so so much! ^^
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During the little ending cinematic I was saying to myself "Please don't show Garrus, pleeaaaaase don't show Garrus or I'll jump out the window! D;". It was almost as bad as Thane's death. "*Already teared up*" "His last wish was for you." "Waaaaahhhhh!!! T_T"
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Ffffffffff SADNESS OVERLOAD!
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Interesting that you chose the ending that results in Shepard potentially surviving the in the end.
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Haha that certainly is a perk
Though I choose Destroy because I can never bring myself to choose any of the other two
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Assimilation made the most sense to me. It may have been what TIM wanted, but he was always right for the wrong reasons. To me, Destruction meant annihilating the geth, and with them, the quarian's hope for redemption, as well as nullifying Legion's sacrifice, not to mention losing EDI. And Synthesis was just doing what the Reapers did in another way--forcing life into a new stage of evolution prematurely and without their consent. Plus the resulting 'perfect world' was just WAY to creepy. With Assimilation, I could cease destruction and end the war without sacrificing any life or forcing change on anyone--and I could still manipulate the Reapers to help the people of the galaxy to rebuild. But when I found out that the path of Destruction leads you to the only ending where it's possible for Shepard to have survived, I was very sad. My Shepard would never have picked that choice. Well, not under those circumstances. I'm actually writing a fic about it. Should be fun--at least a little cathartic.
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Assimilation? You mean control?
To me, neither of these choices mean anything just yet. As far as I know, it's all just a trick (starbrat lied about shepard dieing, maybe the geth and EDI didn't die either), and going for control or synthesis (basically what the reapers always wanted) might mean they've broken me in my resolve to destroy them. Among these last choices, at least control made just a teensy bit more sense. Synthesis is just a barrel of crazy. But control is so utopian it's hard to think it's real (and it's got that creepy music playing in the background, it's just not trustworthy XD). And it never worked for TIM or anyone else, so why would it for shepard? TIM seemed just as certain it would work... Even if it did, Renegade Shepard would be a hell of a scary overlord, and you know what they say: "absolute power corrupts absolutely." Who's to say she wouldn't turn into another "catalyst", coming up with the same conclusions and restoring the cycle anyway?
To sum it all up, it's all very fishy, and control and synthesis just go against everything that Mass Effect has been telling us all along throughout all of the games. If I'm going for one of those three stupid choices, I am going to destroy the motherf*** that have been bringing such horror to the galaxy for so long.
And the fact that bioware made the destroy ending specifically the only one where shepard survives just tells me I'm in the right path...
So there's MY reasons for choosing destroy
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I definitely saw the possibility for the 'absolute power' to corrupt Shepard in time, and even return to the old kill-em-to-save-em Reaper philosophy in time. Truthfully, if it hadn't been for the fact that you destroy ALL synthetic life, I certainly would have gone for Destruction as well. It's true--the ultimate destruction of the Reapers is what Shepard had always worked towards. But another goal of my Shepard, every step of the way, was to get the galactic races to see past their differences and to make peace with one another--the threat of the Reapers provided a pretty fine motivator, and my Shepard used that opportunity to its fullest. It's why I couldn't pick Destruction--it would mean eliminating an entire race she'd helped to make peace with their creators. I can't understand how that would be the 'right' answer that gets you the ending it does.
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It's a possibility, especially considering they actually managed to make shep view control, the one thing everybody's been laughing at the entire game, as a good choice 
I just cannot trust anything that that kid is telling me. And all the creepy confusing dreams where he appears burning with a happy face don't help his cause either. How more symbolic can it get? Go with the kid and you will BURN XD
I know I might still be wrong, but seriously...
So you see, for all we know, neither of the choices do what the catalyst says. Maybe the decision chamber doesn't even exist. Have you played Leviathan? Anything look familiar?
I tell you, it's very fascinating to be putting hints together.
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Oh, gods, I can see why you've had such an upsurge of support and appreciation for this comic. Throwing that music along with this, remembering how alone she was in the end--I have to admit, I teared up reading this. Shepard deserved so much more than what Bioware gave her. Thanks for helping us fill that hole.
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You're more than welcome. The crew at Bioware did a great thing creating this world and these characters for us, but I think they stumbled a bit at the finish line. I honestly think that there will be no satisfying resolution to this issue--not with all the press and consumer feedback they've got rolling in. But those of us who grew to love Shepard and the crew of the Normandy will always have a special place for them in our hearts.
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That's what strikes me as inconceivable: Bioware has created this great, ginormous thing called Mass Effect, which has been a ride from beginning to... almost end? And then they just... vomitted this ending? It makes me think they have something up their sleeve. It might be naïve, and I might be putting too much faith in them, but... can you blame me? I'm still waiting to make up my mind whether to be angry or hyped, and when it's all finally clear, they better have something amazing for us or it's just going to backfire SO hard.
It's my idea that they were planning something all along but never expected it to blow up in their face like this. Then again I have many ideas and none are confirmed XD And of course they will never be able to please everybody.
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I admire your optimism. If I thought that would get me a better ending, I'd be right there with you. Instead, I'm just satisfying myself with some fanfiction, playing with theories, tweaking the storyline a little in the process. I'd love it if Bioware fixed the ending for us (I wish they hadn't let go the original writer in the first place), but I sincerely doubt it's going to happen.
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Welp. All we can do is wait and see.
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This comic is so beautiful. The extended cut should've been something like this.
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I have so much love for this right now!!!!!
So touching!
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All of the love!! 
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I just read this while listening to the soundtrack and I teared up a little and that's a big deal for me.
So thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this.
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Hurray^^ And thank YOU so much for reading and for the comment!
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Well this is just amazing! Clearly you had a completely different Mass Effect experience to me (I had paragon male Shep and Liara as my love interest) and yet I'm still overwhelmed by the emotion in this comic, I feel it as if it had been my own ME journey. The emotions you've caught in the characters faces are so vivid, especially that last frame with Garrus nuzzling into Lara's* head - the love there, the dynamic of their relationship as you experienced it is so powerfully captured, I am genuinely blown away by it. The mass of comments you've received about people being moved to tears doesn't surprise me in the least!
I find it fascinating the way different people had such different experiences of the game, yet ultimately what was occurring in the story was bigger than the actions of one person or indeed a whole lot of people, that no matter how you played it through you'd inevitably reach the same point. A lot of people probably didn't like that, but I think it's part of what made the game such a powerful experience.
Personally I loved my ending, running straight down the middle is exactly what my Shepherd would do, and with the extended cut I'm completely happy with how things turned out after he made the ultimate sacrifice for the people he loved. Nevertheless, I'd dearly love something like this for the ending I had! It's in my head at least, I can picture my own personal version of this in my mind - Liara and Garrus propping him up as he stumbles towards the light, Joker and EDI holding hands and watching with love and gratitude in their eyes - so thankyou for enhancing my experience of the game!
I feel sorry for people who felt let down by the ending, I guess I'm lucky to have liked it, and I sure hope creating this art has given you what you needed.
*Great name BTW!
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Oh my! A juicy text wall! *cracks knucles*
Wow, thank you so much for that. I felt SO MUCH for these characters... That ending felt so incomplete at best. When this came to mind I couldn't get it out of my head, and cried more than once while making it XD I was incredibly thankful at all of the wonderful support by my fellow fans.
Well I could never support synthesis XD But I'm very glad this worked just as well for you! And even though I didn't like the ending viewed from a literal point of view, I consider myself lucky, actually, to be amongst the people who can enjoy the experience of the Indoctrination Theory
Thank you so much once again for this wonderful text wall!
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*Sniff* THIS HURTS USSSSSSSSSS
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Omg i managed to make the reapers sad O__O
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If this is the ending the mass effect 3 it makes me happy.
I am really feeling bad that she don't go back for Garrus. I like him too. And he is sad now...I hate the endings, but this is a very nice piece. I love you for this! This is the best comic i ever see in DA in this category.
And i really hate the boy, i don't know why sorry.
My heart broken that she don't come back alive *sniff*.
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I'm glad you found it happier^^ I am betting at least my Lara Shepard does come back alive to Garrus and friends.
Thanks so much! And don't worry, everybody hates the kid XD
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Did as instructed and listened to the music while going through the pics....
The tears won't stop coming....
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This ending gave me chills. Well, one chill. But still, it was really good. Those last two sentences were just amazing. And I like how you explored the whole *all in your head* theory with everyone appearing to support her. Anyway just great job!
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THIS IS ACTUALLY MAKING ME CRY TEARS NOO GARRUS BABY PLEASE NOO SHIT I WANT TO COME BACK TO YOUUUUUU *crying mess on the floor*
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Ffffffff GARRUUUUUS!! I WILL COME BACK ALIVE!
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ALL THE GARRUSXFEMSHIP FEELS I CAN'T STOP THEM. It's the only ship that's made me cry ACTUAL TEARS of sadness
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Yus I can't believe how much I love them.
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OMG!!! YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
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