just finished gravity. a good story. takes all the elements of the game story and weaves a good tale with the hero of ferelden mixed in - damn near flawlessly. good writing style too, with very little in the way of spelling, grammatical and punctuation mistakes. the only reason i can't give this a 10/10 is because it's not an original story - regardless of how your take on this is, it's still two original stories from other people mixed together. i greatly enjoyed this and am going right to the sequel, so ... 9/10, but only because a technicality prevented a 10. cheers.

OH MY GAWD! I LOVE THIS FANFIC SI MUCH, I COULD ACTUALLY DIE HAPPY!

I just died~! Awwww~! I think i just got a nosebleed. . .

FUCK YOU! WHY DID IT HAVE TO END?! WHY?! IT WAS JUST STARTING TO GET EXCITING!

There's actually a Legion x Tali? Huh, didn't noticed. . .

OH. MY. GOD! INTENSE MAKE-OUT SESSION! GAWD THAT WAS HOT!

Big Garrus is jelly~! X3

Aw~! Garrus is jelly~! Kyaaah~! I'm literally squealing right now! XD

Man, i might actually mistake this fanfic as a Shepard x Elaine~! 3

I'm loving this too much. . .

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a huge stigma in Turian culture about using claws in a fight, that it's a sign that you're no more than an animal? That seems like a bit of an oversight

Boy, these last few chapters of 'Gravity' were intense, and quite the rollercoaster, first in terms of action with the Suicide Mission, then in terms of drama with that twist in the last chapter! :O :O :O

The moment Shepard turned to Elaine to lead one of the fire-teams and everyone looked at her supportively was pretty powerful - I could honestl picture a panning shot of everyone mentioned looking at her when they gave her their approval. :) :) I think I was put on edge, like it were the calm before the storm, when Elaine couldn't sense the Collectors' false-Taint and the ship was deserted, expecting an ambush and fearing that the Collectors would be onto her Taint-sense this time. :o :o I think I giggled with glee when Harbinger assumed control in the Collector fight, hoping to see him and Elaine interact again after Horizon. :) :) When Harbinger blasted at the team, I suspected at least one of them was going to die - and you created quite the suspense in regards to that without disrupting the quick pace of the action. I seriously thought for a moment Kasumi was probably going to die, and could've been wringing my hands anxiously before Elaine got her back up and pushed her on. :) :) Overall, with the buildup to the Suicide Mission you created, I was anxiously expecting an ME character or two to die at this story's climax. :o :o

The Taint-song building at the back of Elaine's head, and the way she didn't afford to outwardly worry about it in the middle of the mission, seriously had my nerves building - I was expecting her to probably encounter the Archdemon or something related to it sooner or later. :o :o Also, I loved reading Elaine's team working so well together, falling in formation and acting together with her as leader; not least Jacob after what happened at the bar on Omega, and Zaeed after what happened at the end of his loyalty mission. :) I LOVE how the arc with Elaine's relationship with guns and pistols has come to a head, with her using her pistol against the Collectors. :) :) When Miranda told Shepard he needed to see something, I was expecting them to come face-to-face with the human-Reaper larva, not least because I'd been rather anxious to see Elaine's reaction to that thing. :) With the way you described the processing chamber from Elaine's perspective, you really conveyed the true horror of the harvesting process - made me feel queasy, and with the vast number of victims and the horror of the processing, and the overall industrial environment of it all, it really gave me vibes that made me compare it to the Nazi Holocaust. :o :o I imagined from that point, Elaine would see nothing but pure evil in the Reapers' cycle and their justification for it. I was surprised to see Lilith again so long after Horizon, and you communicated a sense of helplessness pretty well when she was being processed in front of Elaine before she could break open the pod. :) :)

When Elaine cut her palm, I was wondering with Shepard what she was doing when she cut her palm before she explained to him; thinking she were going to try performing a blood spell, which would probably also provide further evidence of Thedas magic's existence alongside the Desire Demon and Elaine's runes. You made me seriously anxious that Elaine's blood-camouflage was going to fail for her team against the Seeker Swarms, or that they'd attack the moment Collectors joined the fight. "perhaps she was running too fast for their stingers to catch her skin. Either way, she didn't slow to see which one it was." That had me thinking it terror for a moment that she'd been stung and the Seeker Swarms were now attacking. :O :O I was surprised at how easily she took the Scion down, expecting a slightly more devastating fight. The moment Elaine noticed Tali had lagged behind and was vulnerable, I think my heart leaped into my throat - the moment it looked like Kasumi would die pales in comparison to Tali's moment! :O :O I think I could've held my breath when Tali's feet slipped, and when she fell, I seriously thought Elaine was too late diving to catch her arms. :O :O I was pretty shell-shocked when Elaine was impaled, automatically expecting the injury to be serious, immediately picturing the impalement death in the third Toby McGuire 'Spider-Man' film. :o Seeing the Collector General had intervened, and so quickly after Harbinger had stated his intervention, was highly unexpected. :O :O I loved the moment Elaine saved Tali from getting skewered - I think I was worrying at the moment she ran forward that Elaine saving her would wind up being a deliberate mislead before she got killed by the General. :o :o That cliffhanger was pretty good - I was expecting the crew to presume Elaine dead and therefore not know to go after her, and I was dreading what the Collector General would do with her in spite of her injury. :o :o

Writing the scene where everyone finds out about Elaine's "death" from Garrus' P.O.V., I think was particularly effective (alongside the audience's expectations that she's still alive) to make Garrus' denial-outburst sympathetic rather than at all annoying. And Shepard's promise to go back looking for Elaine's body gave me at least some comforting reassurance that Elaine would have a chance, despite her wound, of getting back to the Normandy before the Collector base was neutralised. :) :) I was curious to see what would happen when the Collector General just left Elaine lying around the control room, up to the point she spoke to Harbinger. I detected the callbacks to Sovereign, and I delighted in seeing Elaine and Harbinger have a face-to-hologram battle of words! :) :) :) Harbinger's intent to use Elaine like the Husks instead of processing her made my insides quiver horribly, and I was shocked and disturbed when Elaine collapsed - being particularly-unsettled to think that the Reapers have actually managed to master the Taint, in such a way as when Harbinger used it on Elaine, instead of just subduing it after the Collectors' visit to Thedas. The Collector General reopening Elaine's wounds made Elaine's struggle seem all the more harrowing and hopeless. :O :O When Elaine saw the tunnel behind the Collector General and started describing its contents, my jaw dropped, remembering her nightmare of the Archdemon chained, and thinking it meant the Reapers' forces had it captive. :O :O :O I was curious to know what Harbinger meant about the Normandy crew's morals crumbling when showing her the video feed, until the cut to the scene where Shepard talked to the Illusive Man. I LOVED Miranda giving her resignation, and Garrus shutting the Illusive Man up the way he did was gold. :) :) I loved Elaine's reason-you-suck-speech to Harbinger, and the hologram's reaction. And the way you wrote her Berserker mode taking on and killing the Collector General was an adrenalised delight to read, rather like Human Smaug slaughtering a bunch of Vathvael guards. :) :) Her spitting at the Harbinger hologram the way she did particularly delighted me. :) :) :) I'm now VERY interested by Elaine's vow to kill Harbinger herself, not least due to knowing the big Reaper chief's fate in 'ME3' was apparently inconclusive - it makes me think I'm probably gonna see her destroy Harbinger personally in 'Relativity' during the Reaper War. :) :) Either that, or she's gonna have her mind set on it but not get the chance, a la Arya Stark's Cersei Lannister vendetta.

The penultimate chapter really had an overall we-did-it-and-we're-going-home,-my-brothers-in-arms feel for it, which was amazingly shattered into heart-tearing, anxious despair by that cliffhanger. :) :) I was surprised at how soon after the chapter's beginning Shepard and Garrus found Elaine. The group all leaping one-at-a-time into the airlock reminded me of the gravity-less leap that caused Shepard's breakdown not long ago. :) :) Elaine's new vision at that point quite amazed me, and think could've had me gasping. That vision has me thinking that the Archdemon the Reapers possess - and probably also the one Elaine has been hearing and seeing - isn't Urthemiel but is the Archdemon that caused the Sixth Blight, removed from Thedas after it was destroyed. :O :O And looking back at how Elaine's vision played out after she saw the cyborg-ified Archdemon, it looks to me - with the description of Darkspawn covering worlds, worlds turning dark (which seemingly contradicts the Reaper cycle's life-preserving purpose), titans rising from the oceans, and the mecha-Archdemon getting a throne of bones - like the Reapers are going to lose control of the Taint during the cycle, like any manmade bioweapon or A.I.. :o :o I initially thought the titans rising from the oceans were Tainted Reapers who'd been brought down by their own modified Taint, but now I'm wondering if it actually refers to the Leviathan survivor. :o :o I'm also wondering if I'll find out more about the Taint's origin in this universe. I'm now wondering, in spite of the Taint's apparently-omnicidal nature, if it's originally native to Thedas (especially considering how Taint-free dragon-ruled Thedas in Elaine's vision was), or if the Protheans brought it there the same way they brought humans. And I'm wondering if the Taint was created by the Protheans or another past-harvested civilisation - either as a weapon against the Reapers, or as a petty if-we-can't-live-then-nobody-can way to halt the Reapers' cycle by killing everything in the galaxy. :O :O

Shepard's jabs at the Illusive Man after destroying the Collector base, and him calling the Illusive Man out on his human-supremacy, were pretty satisfying to read, and I loved the way he told Joker to lose the Illusive Man's channel. :) :) I loved how friendly and brotherly Shepard's first post-Suicide Mission interactions with Elaine were, highlighting how far they've come from those first few chapters when Shepard had Elaine under house arrest. :) :) It was rather upsetting to see Elaine try to coldly break up with Garrus the way she did, for the reasons she did - it seems based on her reasoning that she still hasn't learned yet that the lone saviour dies but the pack survives. I LOVED Garrus' angry response about meds when he was about to walk out, and I was relieved at how quickly Elaine's and then Garrus' anger deflated, and she came out to him with the truth. :) I was glad to see Elaine's Grey Warden lifespan come between her and Garrus this way, and to see Garrus insist he wanted to be with her until that end came anyway. :) :) That closing, with Shepard thinking of Liana and then getting Admiral Hackett's call, made the upbeat-ending mood turn on the ball of its heel, tearing open to reveal an ambiguous abyss f uncertain dread. :) :) Personally, I'm pretty proud of myself for successfully guessing that this was likely about the murdered-admiral subplot and Elaine being a suspect. :)

I was surprised and LOVED the way Garrus and Elaine during their port-leave just spent a few whole days locked in their hotel room and screwing! :D :'D I particularly-loved them having sex under the still-running shower. :) :) Also, looking back, I think Elaine's head-in-the-clouds lovey-doveyness, and her coming out with the three words in the over-energised way she did, unsettled me. Because it reminded me of Catelyn Stark's anecdote to Robb about youthful-versus-strong-love, and Robb's fatal mistake in that arena. I was wondering when Garrus and Elaine would get to the point of meeting Garrus' parents and sister. And I look forward to seeing that in 'Relativity'! :) :) Currently, I imagine it looking somewhat like Samwell Tarly introducing HIS girlfriend, not least with Garrus' father. Right now, I imagine Garrus' father, from what I already know about him, would openly disapprove because he couldn't have any biological grandchildren (and probably also out of being over-traditional), and I can see Elaine striking up a friendship with Garrus' sister. :) :) The casino Kasumi talked to Garrus and Elaine at getting robbed, as mentioned in the narrative, made me laugh! :D :'D I was also rather-delighted at the Batarian system mission, with Shepard and Harbinger's conversation, coming into the narrative - I had been wondering about that quite a bit. :) :) When Hackett told Shepard of his and Elaine's fate, I shared in Shepard's broiling fury. After the journey I've been on with these characters, seeing what they've gone through, the politicians' actions towards the Normandy crew are giving me a healthy desire to see them get a slightly-readjusted version of Tyrion Lannister's trial speech! (They've certainly earned it.) I'm hoping to see the Alliance, for this, either reduced to ruin by the Reaper War in 'Relativity' or reduced to... (Well, Cersei Lannister losing all her haughtiness when King's Landing burned.) Also, I really loved the way you wrote Admiral Hackett from Shepard's P.O.V., making him a military figure who really makes one respect and admire him. :) :)

I LOVED the Normandy crew's shared outrage at what was happening. :) :) Elaine's confidence she'd be out in no time, in light of Shepard's perspective and what Garrus had to say, had me worried at her apparent naivete right up to the point she admitted to Garrus she feared falling apart. I LOVED the moment Kasumi tried to cloak Elaine and slip her away. :) :) And Tali actually calling Elaine not just her friend, but the two-letter phrase that begins with a B, actually tugged at a heartstring for me slightly. :) I also loved that Tali and Legion are one of the pairs that are leaving together. :) :) My blood boiled at the Alliance men invading the Normandy and stealing Joker's seat. }:( I think Elaine being cuffed renewed my disgust at how the Alliance are treating the Normandy crew. I didn't think much at all of the ship Elaine was on and the details she started to notice - not until she saw the Cerberus tattoo. :O :O I LOVED reading her lashing out, and giving the Cerberus goons the nasty injuries she did, not least the bottom-off ear and the throat attack. :) :) And I actually had hope she'd manage to cause enough damage to make the ship crash on a planet, until she got pinned down and pricked with the needle. :o :o Also, I don't think I've seen enough of him yet to decide how much I like or hate Kei Leng, but I think it's probably gonna be the latter - in which case, I wouldn't mind seeing Elaine, when she breaks free of Cerberus' clutches, remove his lips, teeth and gum-bones from his mouth while he's still alive and kicking. }:) }:) I LOVED Shepard's panicked and outraged reaction when he realised Cerberus had gotten Elaine, his regret for prodding the Illusive Man and his vow to get Elaine back. :)

My, oh my, that final chapter was amazingly bittersweet; making me constantly feel after Hackett's scene like there was a black worm or a painless, vertical black slit in my heart throughout all the goodbyes. :) :) The hint Mordin would've had results on his cure for the Taint to surprise Elaine with only makes Elaine's capture by Cerberus even more harrowing. :o And dear God, that dark cliffhanger with Elaine left me really feeling like going straight to reading 'Relativity' - but there's some other reading I want to do first. :) Though I will definitely get straight onto 'Relativity' soon. :) :) I'm really dreading what Cerberus has in store for Elaine in spite of having read Jack's backstory with them on ME Wiki. :o :o (Hopefully it won't be TOO SEVERE before she escapes, since it's only six months rather than six years between this and Shepard escaping Earth's Reaper invasion.) I'm wondering now if Cerberus are going to experiment on Elaine trying to weaponise the Taint, probably also using fresh samples they've taken from Thedas after Elaine's return there. :O :O Once again, I wonder whose side Flemeth is on - Elaine's vision makes me wonder if Flemeth is plotting to try restoring un-Tainted life to Thedas at the price of dooming the rest of the galaxy. :O :O I can imagine now, if Elaine's treatment by Cerberus between 'Gravity' and 'Relativity' is as bad as Jack's, she'll probably escape from their clutches a much more hard-bitten woman than she was before, leading to her switching roles with Garrus and Shepard (in that they must now help her over the newest of her demons where she helped them over their worst demons in 'Gravity'). In regards to the whole Robb Stark comparability of Garrus and Elaine's young-love thing, I suppose in that respect Elaine being changed by being tortured by Cerberus could be beneficial to her and Garrus' relationship, in the same way Theon Greyjoy's castration ultimately turned him into a much better man. And I'm wondering if there'll be a direct impact on the final Crucible choice as a result of Elaine and the Taint's involvement in the Reaper War - if it'll lead to a new option being taken which involves turning the Taint into a beneficial rather than all-destroying pathogen.

Overall, I'm very glad to have read this story. :) :) Your work has three-dimensional and well-written characters as always, and I love how you've exploited the room made by 'Mass Effect'''s story mode to create your own wholly-fleshed out Commander Shepard. :) Elaine's reaction to discovering Thedas' fate stands out to me as particularly-strong. :) :) :) On top of the whole save-the-galaxy mission, I genuinely enjoyed reading all of Elaine's exquisitely-detailed reactions to her new future-sci-fi-world and her gradual adaptation to it. :) :) This story earns extra merit for the 'Game of Thrones'-evocative bittersweet twist you pulled in the last two chapters, after misleading me for a whole chapter into thinking it was a case of tour-of-duty 'We're going home, lads!'. :) :) :) You've got quite a few story arcs with Flemeth, the Reapers and the Archdemon, Elaine and Garrus' relationship, and Cerberus' plans with the Taint to bring full circle before this series is over. :) Now onto the constructive criticism: it seemed to me like Garrus and Elaine's relationship had a very-gradual buildup for the first two-thirds of the story, and then everything started developing at a fast-forward pace.

Great story which I'm VERY glad to have read, and if I had more time and didn't want to prioritise reading a few more things, I'd be hopping from this review straight onto starting 'Relativity'! :) :)

Ofcourse it couldn't be that easy. I wonder how the others will react once they learn about it.

These last several chapters were a delight to read, with Legion's arrival on the Normandy, Garrus and Elaine taking their relationship to that particular stage, and the suicide mission finally being upon the team! :) :)

I've been slightly looking forward to seeing what Elaine's reaction would be when she first encountered a Reaper in person. After her reaction to seeing the "dead" Reaper, I look forward to seeing what'll happen if and when she sees a live Reaper. When Elaine stopped to play the crew recording with the god speech, I felt uneasy - I think I was hoping she'd shrug it off and switch the video off, and the fact she listened to it all the way through gave me an uneasy sense that she'd gotten a subtle taste of indoctrination. :o :o I'm still worried now that because she listened all the way through, she might be vulnerable to indoctrination the next time she gets close to a Reaper - though on the other hand, I wondered whether or not her Warden-Taint would give her extra resistance, before considering whether or not the Reapers incorporated the Taint into themselves like they did the Collectors. :o :o I was surprised but immediately-pleased when Legion appeared and I recognised him from his dialogue and a YouTube clip (speak of the devil with my last review!), because it looked up until then to me like the saga was only going to incorporate the Quarians' side of the Quarian-Geth conflict. :) :) I loved the way Shepard's memories of his death in space came to a head, with his reaction after he nearly got lost to space when fleeing the Reaper - seeing him paralysed on the floor in front of the crew was one thing, the way he flinched in terror was another. :o :o An uneasy coolness settled over my insides when Elaine went down to Deck One afterwards - based on how-clearly she'd been warned not to go down there, I thought I honestly didn't want her to suffer the consequences if her intent didn't go wholly according to plan (I think I was probably also influenced by the fact I wasn't the rule-breaking type at all as a kid at all.) The unease over my insides increased when Elaine entered Shepard's quarters - I think I felt I really didn't want to see his reaction to that if he'd gotten it together. I was further shocked and unsettled when Elaine found Shepard in the state that she did, curled up in a ball. At the way Shepard repeatedly hissed and reacted to her, I thought her efforts wouldn't work - I even feared when she kept getting closer so non-cautiously that he'd even violently shove her out. :o :o So, I think I felt a pang of relief when he started breaking down to her and she comforted him. Also, I love how Elaine has repaid Shepard for helping her through her post-Thedas episode. :) :)

I was surprised at how personal Elaine and Shepard's first interactions at the next chapter's start was, and I thought someone needed to point out to Elaine that Shepard had to keep up the Commander demeanour around the others to keep up morale rather than be socially-awkward. Having seen a large chunk of Shepard and Legion's post-Reaper conversation on YouTube, I was rather eager to see how Elaine would affect it. :) :) Based on Elaine's unsettled reaction to first seeing Legion aboard the Reaper, I think I was rather-surprised (and pleasantly so) at her reactions during the conversation with him, with her seeing Legion's organic-like qualities. Between Legion and EDI, I'm just now noticing that Elaine seems to have a strong perception of the ghost in the machine and a soft spot for AIs. :) :) I was also a little unsettled by how quickly she took to Legion, in spite of her recent arguments with Tali, and Tali and Legion's initial friction described on the Wiki - it looked to me like she'd swung a bit quicker than was healthy, like Shepard said, towards sympathising with the Geth viewpoint of the conflict, and it could lead to a bad place if and when she tried to talk to Tali about it. :o When Elaine's memories of Thedas were invoked, I pictured flashes of the planet like the SR1 wreckage flashbacks in the game. I'm wondering if Legion's argument about home as a concept to Elaine will have a future influence on the story. I'm also noticing that like the fantasy-world-rebirth, what home is seems to be a recurring theme in your stories; between Elaine's struggle with Thedas' demise, the Lonely Mountain's role in both your 'Hobbit' AUs, and the Predacons leaving for Earth in 'The Predacon's Prisoner'. :) :) I was pretty pleased to see Tali come in so I could see how things would go with her, Elaine and Legion straight away. I honestly felt anxious when Elaine said the wrong sentence, with Tali's reaction and her walking out, and Shepard's reassurance to Elaine put me SLIGHTLY at ease. I think I genuinely feared Elaine and Tali's friendship could be permanently-fractured after that, or at least that the next time they interacted there'd be a VERY BIG chasm between them before they crossed that bridge and mended their friendship. :o :o

I was slightly-surprised in the next scene by Elaine's interventionist approach to fixing the wedge over Legion's presence before Garrus advised her to step back. :) Also, Elaine and Garrus' miscommunication about their separate talks to Mordin makes me chuckle, looking back - I think it made me laugh out loud, the first time! :D :'D Elaine's hickey that she hadn't noticed certainly made me laugh! :D Regarding the details of Turian mating customs, I love the way you make sure your stories with non-human leads have some cultural mythos developed and explored somewhere. And The temperature in the room started to rise slightly when Garrus and Elaine started going for it before Joker interrupted them - Elaine finally donned the contemporary upper-underwear that Kasumi horrified her with I see. :'D I was surprised at Tali and Legion's 'argument' occurring so soon after the initial Legion-recruitment scene. :o I was anxious to see how the argument would play out - if one of their loyalties would be lost, or if Legion and Tali would exchange info (I was strongly rooting for the latter). I was wondering if Shepard would side with one of the two over the other, but Elaine would balance things out to reach the Cooperation conclusion, like how she affected Mordin's decision about the genophage data. :)

I was super-glad at Tali and Garrus' talk about Legion in the next chapter, and loved Tali's sombre feelings abut her and Elaine's recent difficulties. :) Garrus' recalibration of the word Bosh-tet makes me snort through my nostrils with laughter, as does Tali being unable to smack him upside the head because of his height! :) :D I was surprised at Garrus' reaction to Tali bringing up his and Elaine's relationship - I thought based on Elaine and Tali's post-Shepard-heartbreak argument that the rest of Shepard's main team knew - and I laugh at Tali educating Garrus on what a hickey is! :'D I think I could've giggled at the narrative mention of Tali's fantasies - it wasn't just childlike-innocent-attraction to Shepard at the time then. :'D I loved Garrus' internal conflict about pleasing Elaine due to her noble roots, and was surprised to see him resolve it in the same scene when he noted the Elaine he knew was more of a fellow soldier than a noblewoman. Mordin's enthusiasm as described from Garrus' P.O.V. when referring to cross-species sex was again, really funny. :') :')

"Feel free to come back if you need advice! Would be happy to give tutorials!" :'D ;'D I just look back at that scene, and that moment makes me I toss back my head and laugh out loud, even now! :'D :''D :''D Garrus getting Mordin's Omnitool message in front of Shepard was also a delightful aftertaste! :'D I was as surprised as Garrus when Shepard pulled his leg, genuinely thinking Shepard was in a stern mood - and I'm liking Shepard's character development arc over the story's course, with how he's gradually opening up and becoming a person again. :) :) I also noticed in that scene that a mating mark near the shoulder is something Garrus and Smaug have in common with each-other. :) :) I actually felt anxious like Elaine when she was going to the mess hall, seriously wondering how her attempt to get to Tali and apologise would go after her talk with Garrus and Garrus' talk with Tali. I was relieved and delighted to see them make up. :) :) I was pleasantly surprised at Legion's arrival, wondering if he'd interact with the rest of the crew outside the AI core at all. :) I giggled at Elaine's view of Legion - the more I think about it, the more he seems like a non-narcissistic Sheldon Cooper with his matter-of-fact attempts at being nice. :) :) When Legion called Tali beautiful, I chuckled with humour in the first second, then did a tire-screech and backtracked calmly to see if it was something serious. :) :) Even if there's not going to be literal Tali/Legion romance in this story, I now really look forward to seeing their relationship develop. :) :) I think I immediately felt uneasy when the chapter's last scene with the Reaper tech came in, knowing what Reapers can be like with tech, smarts and indoctrination. :o :o And it looked in the next chapter like my concerns were well-founded.

I guessed from the next chapter's title what the basis of Garrus' surprise for Elaine was, and I caught on to more of the details when Garrus rented the ship. :) What followed between them was certainly steamy, with all the ruby-pink details - I'd say approximately on par with when Littlefinger told his brothel-workers about duelling Brandon Stark, for me personally. :) Call me a fellow xenophile, but your depiction of Turian man-parts with Garrus and Elaine a human-bodied woman being WITH that, for me actually made the scene that much more steam-inducing with an exotic flavour for me. :) :) (Do just tell me if I'm going into too much detail with that last sentence.) When Garrus' Omnitool beeped right before the foreplay could officially close, I was genuinely urging Elaine and Garrus to ignore it and to find out about the Collector attack afterwards - I think I genuinely got a sense of their frustration at getting blocked in that respect. :) :) (I think I've also just noticed a running gag building, with this and with Elaine's hickey. :) :))

I loved Tali and Elaine's sweet scene with each-other in the mess hall after the Collector attack, and Tali being happy for Elaine and Garrus. BUT, it's also gotten me fearing that Tali's gonna die fighting the Collectors at this book's end, not least with the amount of foreshadowing with the characters' expressed anxieties that they'll die on the suicide run. :o :o On the other hand, Elaine's vow to lose no-one else has got me wondering - will she be bitterly crushed during the fight, or is it a sign that someone close to her (or her herself) will be badly injured and the squad will barely manage to save them? I was surprised at how quickly Elaine and Garrus got to finish what they started when stargazing, expecting them to not get a second shot until later. I delighted in the highly-steamy scene again, not least because they actually got to get to the post-foreplay point. :) :) At the last scene's opening, I immediately suspected it was the Fade in Elaine's dreams again. I was surprised at Urthemiel's reappearance - and based on the description of his mind and him calling out to all Tainted creatures, I'm guessing he's not cured of the Taint after all. The way that dream was written, it honestly looked to me like it was from his P.O.V., which made me wonder if Elaine was seeing it at all or if he was the only witness. I'm wondering now if Flemeth bound him this way after she got his soul, perhaps due to finding Urthemiel's soul was still Tainted. When Elaine woke up, I was wondering if this new dream would kill the mood or cause a rift with her and Garrus' new relationship, until Garrus returned and comforted Elaine. :) :)

Onto speculation: I've been wondering since before catching up, especially after these sex scenes, if Elaine and Garrus' sex will lead to Elaine's Grey Warden Taint infecting Garrus - which would in turn make Mordin's search for a cure all the more urgent. :O :O I've also been wondering as-of-very-recently, if Elaine being cured of the Taint does make her body fertile again, if she and Garrus will be able to have an otherwise-impossible hybrid child thanks to Flemeth's or Thedas' magic power. :o :o I find myself again wondering what Flemeth's endgame is - which side is she aiding in the Reaper War, and is she helping or against the chained Urthemiel? :o I'm wondering if her goal is to restore Thedas' magic on a galactic scale. :O :O And I still dread the consequences of the Illusive Man not keeping Cerberus away from Thedas in spite of the Taint's threat! :O :O

Overall, these last several chapters have been a really great read! I delight in Legion and Tali's improving interactions, and to see Legion actually come into the narrative! :) :) And as I said, Elaine and Garrus' sex scenes were steamy. :) It seems to me like some plot threads are getting a bit rushed now compared to before, though otherwise, I can practically FEEL the building storm approaching. :) :) I ook forward to seeing the end of this book! :) :)

Liking the story so far!

I'm a little hesitant about Renegade Shepard... but right now, he seems more tired and grumpy than ruthless. Hope he improves if he's paired with who I think it is ;)