NOT. ONE. MORE.

Those are the words Commander Sheppard speaks, just before begining the last phase of his suicide mission against the Collectors. Having been through hell, and death, he stands ready to lose it all in the effort of taking the collectors and the reapers to task. And his crew, made up of life from every corner of known existance, stands before him, ready to protect the very thing they now stand to lose: Life.

There have been far too many loses at the hands of the collectors. Entire collonies, wiped out, so that the reapers could build their newest weapon. The Human Reaper. And this crew and I, a rag-tag bunch of rebels and skells, each flawed anti-heroes in their own right, were going to make sure that there would not be a single more loss of life at the hands of these ancient villians and their insidious plans.

But there was one more. There was always one more.

I've tried very hard to protect my crew from the certain death awaiting for them beyond the Omega 4 relay and inside the collector base. But each time I've played through, someone has been one more. The first time, it was 3 more. Mordin, Legion, and Zaeed. Legion, I didn't mind as he was just one piece of a very large, symbiotic race. Surely he could be replaced by another member with little adjustment needed. But Zaeed was an amazing squadmate. Both in personality, as well as over all combat. And Mordin...Well, if you've played...you know.

So I began again. This time, I did everything. I searched every planet, and found every mineral needed to make sure that every upgrade was funded and completed. I also did every loyalty mission. I made sure that every single one of my crew had only the mission at hand to worry about. And that they knew their commander was the one man who they could trust completely. Except for one.

Jack.

I had just finished her loyalty mission when the cinema starts about her fight with lawson. I sat back, ready to use my paragon option to settle their argument and get back to the business at hand. But...it didn't happen. It was as blacked out as a redacted document. I didn't understand, what was it that I did wrong? What did I have to do differently? Maybe it wouldn't matter, I thought. Maybe, at the end, I'll keep her by my side, and she'll survive. This had to work, right? Wrong.

I sent Legion through the tubes, and like a Geth Boss, he came out the other side unharmed. As did Jacob, both times leading the distraction team. The Justicar kept us safe, and sound as Garrus, Grunt, and I walked through the seeker swarms slowly, methodically, and successfully. And as we reached the final moment, I took Garrus, and I took Jack. In the hopes that we, the best the universe had seen, could keep this poor girl alive.

But alas, she was not meant to live. She fell to her death along side me. She escorted the crew back to the Normandy, but died just before reaching it. She helped the others distract the collectors, but her distraction included a lethal shot to the chest. And one time that I changed up her actions, the actions of another suffered as well. During her escort mission to the Normandy, Thane took a bullet to the chest and left us for whatever after life he believed in. I watched in horror as it became cleaar to me. I had to start over.

ALL OVER.

I flushed the memories of this failed attempt, and sat back in my chair. The first of many cups of coffee this game would surely cause me to drink to my side, and determination throughout my entire form. I will search the universe. I will mine every planet. I will upgrade every piece of equipment. I will make every. single. squad member. loyal. Again.

I will keep them all alive. Not a seeker swarm, or a Collector bullet, shall keep my crew from surviving.

I lost Alenko.

Not one more.

Despite the fact that I have been looking forward to Arkham City since the moment I finished the last(and worst)boss fight of Arkham Asylum, I still find myself looking past the grimaced face and sharpened ears of Batman's cowl, and looking to the horned helmet of the fast approaching, but yet still not approaching fast enough, Skyrim. It's gotten so bad that when I type S-K into my phone, auto correct does not give me SKY, or SKI, but SKYRIM. Because I do not text people about the sky, and I do not ski, but I do send a great amount of texts regarding what choices I am going to make at the start of the character creation screen. Should I go Orc and utilize the berserker rage that fueled my last Orc character? Or should I give in to the urge to make the biggest, baddest Viking Nord since 13th warrior's Buliwyf? Do I make an argonian and watch as anyone who swims after me suffers at their inability to breath under water, or do I put all of my talents into a Khajit warrior, with sharpened claws at the ready for any and all attackers? Is ancestors wrath(the ability to surround yourself in fire)enough of a reason to pick a dark elf, or is the voice of the emperor enough of a reason to traverse the landscape of skyrim as an Imperial? The answers to these questions, is yes. As there is not a single reason why I should pick any of these races over any of these races. But there is a single reason as to why I will make, and play, a character of every single race....Because I want to. I want to see how the towns people treat me as an orc, and an imperial. I want to know if a wood elf, a dark elf, and a high elf are really that much different from one another(they are). I want to feel the might of a Nord, and I want to laugh as my Breton absorbs magics. I want one. I Want ALL. And so does my wife...Which means while I want a copy of Skyrim...I'm going to NEED two. Which, presents another problem. When I played Oblivion, I did so by myself. Yes, I was in a relationship at the time, and that relationship, but she wasn't into video games. In fact, she hated oblivion. I can remember more than once, She'd text me, or call me, that she'd be by to pick me up to go do something not anywhere near as interesting as oblivion. And I'd say sure. Sure. Sure I'll try to be ready by then...BUT THESE GUARDS JUST KILLED MY HORSE! No. Seriously. She told me she'd be by my house at 10. It was 8. I decided to turn the xbox on, and take my shower, so that I could play when I got out. But my hot water took a minute to warm up, so I figured I'd just let it heat up while I go through my inventory.... TWO HOURS LATER...I'm still in my underwear, the hot water has run out, and my girlfriend is incredibly pissed because I'm more upset about a video game horse being dead than I am at her being mad at me. Truth be told, I still miss that horse. But now...NOW...My wife is playing Oblivion right behind me, if only to get back into the swing for Skyrim. We have full on conversations about race choices, and who will get the bigger Tv first. She talks about making her mage from WoW, and I contemplate if I can construct a decent looking Skaar out of an Orc. And while all of these conversations and ideas are all well and good, there is one problem. When I played Skyrim by myself, there was no one around to tell me about things I had yet found. I discovered the world, and all in it. Now, now I have to try and not look at her map while she's playing, So I can obtain whatever it is that she has obtained, only faster because I know where it is now. I can almost hear the arguments over the Skyrim Guide, and who gets to have it in front of them. I can smell the dinner burning as we both forget about food, and wonder about dragon shouts. I can see the future, and there isn't much in the way Slyrimless activities...And I wouldn't have it any other way. Although this time, I hope I shower more...