My friends, money can buy you love. Or it can over at the BioWare store(opens in new tab), anyway, where you can currently pick up a framed version of that picture of Tali from the end of Mass Effect 3 (spotted by Kotaku(opens in new tab)), the one she only gives you if you chose to romance her. For the low, low cost of $30, you can possess a portrait for your mantelpiece that will raise the eyebrows of visitors for years to come.
Here's the problem for me, though: It's the wrong one. The Tali portrait in the BioWare store uses the picture from Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, an original artwork that replaced the lightly edited, controversy-generating stock photo(opens in new tab) from the original ME3: "attractive woman in field smiling with sunset(opens in new tab)".
While you'll never catch me yucking anyone's yum in these hallowed pages, I have to confess that buying a framed portrait of my videogame girlfriend holds no appeal for me (but if you fancy it, hey, live your truth). But the notion of BioWare selling a fully dolled-up version of that stock photo everyone hated is very funny to me—certainly funny enough to buy as a surprise gift for my Tali-romancing friends—and I'm sad it's not an option.
But alas, it's not to be. Perhaps I can console myself with the little morsel of lore in the photo's description. You can find a letter from Tali to Shepard on the BioWare store page, the full text of which reads:
"Dear Shepard,
As you may remember, I presented this picture frame to you as a gift on the Normandy. It was my way of expressing my admiration for you and our bond as comrades-in-arms. On the back of the metal frame, I've emblazoned a promise that will never fade — 'Shepard, wherever you go, I'm with you.'
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