ME2 - Amusing Oddities 1

It has been a while since I did one of these, since there really was not a great deal odd about Mass Effect despite the prolific nature of convenient boxes for cover-based shooting.  Now that I am more familiar with Shepard's world though, there are a number of Amusing Oddities that have already reared their collective head in Mass Effect 2.  Below are a number of things in the game that were rather befuddling or simply made me laugh.

Eternal Makeup

You have to admire Miranda's attention to detail.  The Illusive Man told her to make sure Shepard emerged from the Lazarus Project the same as she was before death.  He wanted her personality to be intact, he memories intact, and her appearance intact.  Apparently he also wanted her makeup to be intact.  In Meriel's case this is actually rather appropriate, since she wore red lipstick for a very specific reason.  It is unlikely that Miranda could have known that though.  I wonder how many times the resurrected Shepard's lipstick was repeatedly, freshly applied during the two years she spent on the laboratory table.  Was it Miranda's job to apply the lipstick, or did she simply tattoo it (in a realistic manner) on Meriel's face?  I suppose the world will never know.

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Missing Scar

While we are on the subject, what happened to Shepard's scar? In Mass Effect, Meriel had a facial scar which began above her right eyebrow and crossed diagonally across her face, ending halfway down her left cheek.  Like the red lipstick, Meriel had proudly wore this scar (choosing not to have it medically removed) for a very specific reason.  As such, I was very sad to see it missing post-Lazarus Project.  Granted, Meriel now has those glowing facial scars working in her favor, but they are not quite the same.  The scar from ME1 was a testament to her past with the Tenth Street Reds.  During her time in the slums, had been in a vicious knife fight (in a world ruled by biotics and guns), and managed to emerge the proud victor.  By retaining the scar, Meriel was warning everyone she met that she was not someone you should mess with.  Again, it is possible that Miranda did not know this, but the Illusive Man knows so much about Meriel that you think he would have known this as well.  Why would he have taken such pains to have her brought back "as is" (right down to her makeup) and yet not have Miranda replicate facial scarring?

Bathrooms!

I would like to take this moment to rejoice.  The new Normandy not only has one bathroom, but it has three! There is a common men's room, a common women's room, and a private bathroom in Shepard's quarters (seen above).  If femShep walks into the men's room, she even hears an audio message telling her where to find the women's shared bathroom.  Brilliant.  These restrooms not only have showers and sinks, but you can even flush the toilets! This seriously makes me all kinds of happy.  It does beg the question though, of where crew on the first Normandy used the restroom.  Did they simply hold it in between planetary missions? Come to think of it ... I do not believe there were any bathrooms on the planets they visited either.  It is nice to see that the galaxy wised up during the two years that Meriel lay dead/unconscious on a table.