I think a lot about Shepard's fish tank wipeout in the Citadel DLC.
The entire DLC is this lighthearted love letter to Mass Effect, and it's beautiful. But then there's THIS moment. When Shepard falls through a fish tank.
The entire way down, they desperately try to arrest their fall. They have no shields. No combat armor. There is no one to catch them. It feels like this is one of the few times there is ever fear. And they don't land gently. And the cut scene lingers on it. There is no levity in this moment. Shepard is on the ground, groaning in pain, slow to get up, clutching their ribs. First instinct before they try to get to their feet? Reach for the gun. Have that first. Then see if you can stand.
And I think the only reason we can have this moment, where Shepard is vulnerable, injured, and in trouble, is because there is no one there to see. The moment Brooks gets on the comm, they crack a joke. "Yup. Feeling good." While unable to stand up straight.
We get this at the end of the game, too, but that's when the stakes are at their highest. That's when it's supposed to be hard. It's no less magnificent then, but now, in this moment? When everything was happy and fun and silly? MAN.
And afterward, everyone jokes about it. Every single member of your squad makes a crack about the sushi place. And Shepard plays along. Haha, yeah, fell right through it, while trying to change the subject.
No one knows what that fall was like. No one saw Shepard lying on the ground in the bowls of the Silversun Strip, water dripping off them, struggling to get to their feet.
And no one asks, because it's Shepard.
