Comment by Flies by Handles on April 28, 2012 at 11:45am

Uh Oh! Is the fact that Shepard is in the foreground, dominating the image, represent Shepard's dominance in the relationship? :P I like this screen shot and your explanation behind it.

Comment by Gilsa on April 28, 2012 at 6:08pm

Heh, it does look that way, does it? In the first game, Shepard did come across the dominant one since he was playing it as safe considering regs on fraternization and all. (One of my favorite ME1 quotes: "Alenko, if you have one failure, it's an inability to speak directly.") He really knocked my socks off in ME2. When he told her off and stood his ground, I was impressed with how much more assertive he got and how he wasn't about to compromise his principles for the woman he loved (and he obviously loved her). ME3 felt like they redefined the relationship on equal terms. He did have better things to do than wait around to rejoin the Normandy. He earned his ranks without Shepard's influence, etc. I liked how I was able to pick renegade lines with Kaidan in ME3 without coming across as a jerk (renegade interrupt to use his anger against reapers, to fight back harder, to tease him about being a distraction during the bed scene, to tell him reapers should be afraid of her in the farewell scene and that amused look on his face).

tl;dr: The relationship felt a lot more balanced from ME2 onwards. =p

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