Tell me about why you love Anderson so much!!!
boy howdy, thank you for this opportunity, and here we go
That has been the million-dollar question for several months. I will go ahead and say that most of it is based on my personal interpretation of his character, which could be wildly off-base! But it’s what I see and what I love about him
1) Starting us off with an objective fact: Anderson gave the Normandy over to Shepard and never once complained about it, at least to Shepard. So, why does that matter to me? Because Anderson earned the Normandy. He’s already been screwed over by Saren and had his shot at being the first human Spectre pulled out from under him. He earned his spot as the Captain of the Normandy, and it should have been his for so much longer. But the moment it became clear the galaxy was better off if he passed it over? He did so, no fuss. And then. Fuck, I’m literally getting emotional just sitting here typing it. Traynor tells us in ME3 that Anderson was planning to use the Normandy as his mobile command center. I could go on for ages about what I think could be going on in his head during that time and why he makes that decision, but forget the “whys,” I’m sure some part of him had to be excited about it. At least a little bit. We get to hear in his notes in the Citadel DLC how much he loved the Normandy, can you imagine not being at least a little bit excited about getting to go back to the ship you had to pass off after commanding it for, what, weeks? But then the Reapers hit, and Anderson’s very first response is to find Shepard, put them on the Normandy, and send it the hell off Earth.
He gave it over again. Because the galaxy was better off.
So, I guess to summarize point 1: Anderson had a lot of what he earned taken away from him, and gave away even more. He put the needs of the galaxy over anything he personally wanted, and did so repeatedly, with such grace and humility. The selflessness he exhibits (let’s just not even go near him opting to stay on Earth, I need to be able to breathe) is something I deeply admire and honestly want to emulate
2) This one strays even further from the objective, but regardless point 2 is: I see Anderson as someone who is very good at reading people, and who very much understands the affect he has on people. There’s a lot of semi-related threads that tie into this, but I'll focus on two. One is the Citadel DLC, because that entire conversation fucks me up. Like, it is so abundantly clear that Anderson expects he's not going to live long enough to ever see that apartment again. I mean, "loose ends?" But he puts the emphasis on wanting to stay on Earth, because giving off too much of a "I'm definitely going to die here" vibe during that conversation would totally defeat the purpose of getting Shepard to feel relaxed and comfortable in his old apartment. (((ALSO, SIDE NOTE, HE GAVE HIS APARTMENT TO SHEPARD. JUST. FUCK))) I just feel like there's so much awareness of what Shepard needs and how to convince them in that scene.
But fuck. Fuck, there’s this one single moment in ME3 that I’m probably blowing WAAAAAYYY out of proportion, but to me it encapsulates the very essence of who I see Anderson as and everything I love about him, and it’s this line:
I assume by now you’ve wiped the galaxy clean of Reapers, and we can all come up for air?
First off, props to Keith David; as is usually the case with animated characters, I probably would not love Anderson half as much without the performance he gives. And particularly what he does with this line. Obviously, there’s the joke, trying to make light of the situation. Makes sense that he would use obviously overblown confidence to try and boost Shepard’s mood. But in his voice, there’s that crack. That little slip of exhaustion and desperation, and it shows just how much Anderson is keeping a lid on. It shows how much he understands people and how much he understands the effect he has. Because seeing him break would break so many people, including Shepard, and fuck I have a whole little thing around it in my wip draft because I just cannot get over it no matter how hard I try.
So tl;dr on point 2: Anderson can recognize how he impacts people and measures his actions and words very carefully to make sure he's building the people under him up at every opportunity.
3) He’s just a total fucking badass. Facts. He’s the first N7, was lined up to be the first human Spectre, was the first Captain of the Normandy, and led the Resistance on earth during the goddamn Reaper war. All of that is enough to make me love him as it is, but there’s also the fact that he’s older. Somewhere there’s a number on how long humans live during the events of ME; I don’t remember what it is and it goes against everything I stand for to go look it up. I do know Anderson is around 50. I'm sure that, based on medical improvements, the implication is supposed to be that human bodies are "younger" longer and don't break down as quickly. But I feel like there are a lot of moments consistently through the trilogy that intentionally paint him as an “older” man, someone who is definitely past their physical prime. I freely admit that at this point I’m probably projecting, because I’m not quite 30 and have so much chronic pain, but still. Even with medi-gel and all the advancements, I can't imagine someone who's been in the field for 20 years doesn't have some kind of injury or pain. But you never once see Anderson hesitate to throw himself into the fight.
((can we. I'm sorry I wasn't gonna talk about this. because I'm a MESS over it. but can we talk about how Anderson was also beat to hell, on the ground in front of the London beam, and saw Shepard go up, and pulled himself up and followed as well?? That moment kills me with Shepard, and it kills me even more to know ANDERSON DID IT TOO. he REFUSED to let the weight of the universe sit on Shepard alone RIGHT UP UNTIL THE MOMENT HE DIED. WHO ELSE. it's also in my wip draft because I CAN'T))
4) This spun out of point 3, but I think it's its own thing. You never see him content to step back and lead from afar. He spends a couple years on the Citadel as either a Councilor or advisor, but when you talk to him about it, it's clear he doesn't enjoy it. He understands the importance, but he wants to be out there doing. When the Reapers hit, he could have hopped on the Normandy with Shepard and done the distant Admiral thing, where he leads but spends minimal time in the direct line of fire. But he doesn't. I honestly don't think the possibility that he could not stay on earth even entered his head. He leads from the front, by example, looking out for the people under him, and I fucking love that.
So, in sum: Anderson is a selfless, perceptive badass who makes an incredible leader because he'd throw himself on the grenade faster than just about anyone, and because he spends all his energy trying to make things right and build people up. Literally, what is not to love about any of that
thanks for coming to my TED Talk
