#volus culture

[not-a-newt]

Excerpt from Mass Effect Initiation on other species' perceptions of volus gender

[strixludica]

Hear me out:

[c-rowlesdraws]

Does Siwa have a personalized or customized suit in any way? I've always felt like the Volus suits (and to a lesser extend the quarian suits) that we see in game are a bit too 'one size fits all' to really represent all the options that would be available.

I wanted her to look similar to the other volus NPCs, like she could blend in with a crowd, so her suit isn't customized beyond some painted details, but she does accessorize! Her quarian friend Kesh'Vataar once gave her a Fleet-made belt made of woven cloth, the same kind of cloth quarians wear wrapped around their exosuits, as a present. It's an extremely meaningful gift and Siwa never leaves the airlock without it.

I think individual fashion choices in Mass Effect across species are for sure more complicated "in real life" than we saw in-game, where factors like budget and time and design priorities keep things like NPC fashion diversity low. I can imagine volus' approach to exosuit style being like how humans are with cars: most people choose from amongst affordable but fairly standard and unremarkable-looking models, some people drop heaps of credits on luxury designs and custom paintjobs for a more flashy and extravagant life-support experience, and some people get full-body wraps of anime characters.

For quarians, though, I can see them taking a different approach to decoration, because the context for their own exosuit usage is very different: the highly-industrialized volus, master navigators of the great currents of galactic commercial culture, mass-produce shiny new exosuits all the time (alongside a thriving secondhand market), but the quarians are a nomadic, isolated community with extremely limited material resources-- an exosuit that's completely newly-made, with no re-used parts at all, must be incredibly rare to nonexistent. In addition, a volus suit is a luxury purchase that the majority of the population never has a reason to go for, while each and every quarian must wear a suit for almost their entire life. I can imagine quarian suit style being all about combining used-and-reused components with newer ones in aesthetically-pleasing ways. Tarnished metal is polished mirror-bright around permanent dents and scratches, skillful stitching and artfully-draped wraps hide awkward seams.

Additionally, the quarians are (understandably) obsessed with holding onto their shattered history, and I can see their fashion reflecting that, too. Small family heirlooms made of gold and precious metals survive to be passed down because their cultural and personal value is greater than their material worth would be to the Fleet, were they melted down for use in electronics. Traditional patterns woven into cloth portray stylized forms of Rannochian ecology and natural features no living quarian has ever seen. I bet they're big on embroidery, too. But yeah, anyway, yes, I can see both the volus and the quarians having more diverse exosuit designs than shown in canon, but i think volus and quarian design sensibilities would also be distinct from each other in significant ways.

[kyliafanfiction]

I'm always baffled by people who critize Mass Effect, of all things, as being like, super stereotyping about the various species, because...

That's the exact opposite of the experience I got? Like, with the possible exception of Mordin Solus (and even he is more nuanced), every alien crewmate you get in the Trilogy - and I'm pretty sure in Andromeda, though I never got around to finishing that and I really should one of these days - to one extent or another does not represent the stereotypes of their species. Usually the exact opposite.

Which, given the limited amount of space and time the game actually has to show us all this, is a pretty clear indication by them that 'the stereotypes are just that' - i.e. stereotypes, not categorically accurate.

Wrex and Grunt certainly have some conventionally seen Krogan traits, but neither of them are simple thuggy brutes who kill for the sake of it or anything close. They're both complicated, nuanced people who are capable of being farsighted, who run the exact opposite as Krogan are seen as by many non-Krogan.

Liara is a Doctor when most Asari her age are 'supposed' to be running around dancing and mercing and having wild sex. She's shy, and if not a virgin in ME1, damn close. She's a huge intorvert in a species that's stereotyped the exact opposite.

Likewise, Samara is a tightly controlled, zealous warrior with no real sense of diplomacy, against a species that is usually cast as loose, lax, sometimes flippant and irreverent (the Goddess is not actually that commonly worshipped by Asari anymore) and certainly more interested in subtlety and going along to get along (remember that Cop who had the issue with Samara and was like 'this isn't Asari space and she's a wrecking ball' or whatever).

Garrus explicitly says he's 'a bad Turian', and he repeatedly shows that he runs counter to those typical 'Turians are all militaristic and hiercharcical and follow orders and like rules and systems'

Tali is the first Quarian in 300 years to make friends with a Geth and she seems to be actively xenophilic (I don't mean in a sexual sense, though that too, but more in a 'she likes outside culture stuff a lot' which appears to run a bit counter to the insularity of Quarian culture).

And these are just the big picture examples - we see in other ways, at smaller times, Krogan and Asari and Turians and Quarians and Volus and even Salarians (though I do think they get a bit of a short end here) that don't match up to the stereotypes we're given in the codexes.

Batarians - yeah, there's not much there. They got shafted on this front all around, I'll admit.

Far from being some horribly racist, stereotyping game, I'd argue that one of the great things about Mass Effect is that it spends just about as much time undermining the stereotypes as it does establishing them, overall - it's not perfect, not by any stretch, but still.

Some people just want to be angry about shit, I swear.

[ferusaurelius]

Turian Culture Meta - Ferus Style

Yeah so -- ready to descend into crazyland? 

We’re gonna dive into some meta thoughts I have about what sort of cultural educational and military system would produce the interesting client-state relationship between the turian Hierarchy and the Vol Protectorate.

Disclaimer: The opinions of the author (me) are naturally my own and are not intended to argue for or against anyone else’s ideas. This is not even intended to be an interpretation of canon, in point of fact. Canon doesn’t have much to say about things that actually interest me. -shrug-

This is my ‘plausible’ version of conceptual options and social structures that canon either glosses over or fumbles entirely. Because it’s just not interested in these ideas, really ... BUT I AM. :D

If you find any of these concepts compelling? Fantastic, please liberate them! Go and use them in any or all transformative work with or without attribution.

I really Do Not Want to be the only one writing this stuff, so... be welcome!

Full post (long) underneath the cut.

The Situation

The turian Hierarchy makes first contact with the Citadel some 1000 years after the volus have drawn up the Unified Banking Act (300 B.C.E.) and have a thriving economic network of colonies after discovering FTL travel. The volus in point of fact have more than a millennia of advanced experience in working with multi-species ventures and are a pillar of the galactic economy long before the turians finish off their brutal Unification Wars.

If you took just the game’s on-screen hints as fact, none of this is evident in the galaxy by the time Shepard encounters volus on the Citadel. They’re treated as a sort of minor curiosity in comparison to the turian characters -- whether because of the mask, or just because economics is “less interesting” in a AAA-shooter. OH WELL.

Another interesting element is that the volus are “accepted” as a protectorate of the Hierarchy around 700 C.E., shortly after the Krogan rebellions.

To my mind, this is translation for: the Hierarchy’s war economy in the aftermath of the Krogan rebellions would have collapsed without the intervention of volus administrators, economists, logicians, and other bureaucratic types. What the Hierarchy DOES have of a peacetime bureaucracy was likely or nearly entirely trained and reformed by the Vol Protectorate’s extremely professional civil service. Fight a series of wars and warlords in the colonies for around 1000 years while someone else is running the galactic banking system ... and you’re probably woefully behind the curve in that area, just saying.

When you’ve “elevated” one warlike species (the Krogan) and then been surprised that they’ve gone on to aggressively contest the rest of Citadel space, it even seems likely/possible that this was a grand strategic bargain on the part of the Citadel species to avoid the turians becoming a “second” Krogan incident.

A values-driven and rules-based collectivist civil society that managed to transition to a peacetime footing without an accompanying economic collapse would be a much more stable galactic force ... plus you get the opportunity to fill in C-Sec ranks, develop a galactic security fleet (employing turian Dreadnoughts), and use those related tasks and duties to bring turians (an otherwise very militaristic society with a historical doctrine of total war) into better compliance as galactic citizens. In essence: the Vol Protectorate gives the Hierarchy something to protect rather than conquer.

Naturally, turian cultural perspectives on the purpose of the Hierarchy and the relative values of the culture probably run the gamut from the more imperialistic Unification and pre-Unification end of the spectrum to the more socially/galatically communitarian version of the Hierarchy, itself, as a participant in creating civil society within the Milky Way.

When in doubt? I prefer to view individuals on a spectrum or continuum of different possible viewpoints -- and to prefer that a full spectrum of interpretations be available to my characters. So that’s the type of environment I’d use as backdrop for, say, a fic.

Education (Given: The Situation)

Which takes us back to the Hierarchy’s mandatory service culture and boot camp at age 15, with mandatory service from age 15-30.

“Public service” as opposed to private industry is more a matter of organization and aims than it is a limitation of ‘choices.’ Take, for instance, the example of ‘national’ industries owned by a state. Any state-owned enterprise might conceivably count toward ‘public service’ citizen credit. These enterprises could include everything from arts museums and public art projects (ala the Works Projects Administration of Roosevelt Depression-era US policy) to industrial fabricators, dockyards, and other collectively owned and operated institutions.

Note that I also don’t equate state-owned industry to CENTRALLY-PLANNED industry! You might, in a turian society that prizes both individual accountability AND public service, have for instance a federated system of local control within a centrally-organized public works or other department.

Fair warning: this is my professional bureaucrat side talking. There are MANY aspects of infrastructure, particularly public works infrastructure, that are site- and context-dependent. Central planning of these features quite literally doesn’t work outside of administration and funding (which you WANT organized in larger packages if possible, to secure the best possible loan terms). 

I also imagine that a public service-oriented society would work on incorporating the economic fates of its outer colonies into the trading lanes and patterns of the central Hierarchy (in order to secure greater loyalty and collective bargaining power, alongside the Vol Protectorate’s economic management engine).

So what would education in a “man-of-action”/”public service” society look like? I’d think more a system of apprenticeships and practical qualification or on-the-job (OJT) training and certification where available! 

A boot camp experience is usually important both for training in values and standard procedures, so it’s less likely to vary appreciably between any one place and another beyond basics related to climate and environment. I’d expect boot camp training to be purposely standardized -- individual accountability doesn’t necessarily lead me to conclude that turians would be keen to judge themselves on anything other than “demonstrated merit” (and testing would be ONE part, but probably not the most significant -- outside of genuine performance on practical tasks, and the ability to produce measurable results!).

Pre-boot-camp education would likely be designed to expose juveniles to as many professions as possible -- there’s a bit in the codex about the turian respect for “knowing one’s place” and finding a comfortable place where the individual best serves the community (rather than individual prestige or economic gain). This would also track with turians being ‘poor’ entrepreneurs (i.e. less inclined to start their own businesses for profit, or with less opportunity when they’re in State-mandated service) ... and account for some of the distrust of ‘merc-born’ turians who chose to opt out of the traditional Hierarchy structure.

I’d also expect a classical turian education to include emphasis on health, community values, and being able to communicate in a general way with their volus partners/collaborators in areas that are less often viewed as strengths of turian culture (aka: economics and business, anyone?).

If turian culture is truly militaristic and communitarian, both, and formed around a sort of military hierarchy, that society will also be shaped by what doctrine views as effective deployment of force and possible missions and required capabilities In military terms, this would be defined both by a theoretical ‘ideal’ force structure and various desired concepts of operations.

Military Doctrine (Given: The Situation)

So, what capabilities would be valuable for the turian Hierarchy to provide to the galaxy? What are its internal needs? What are the needs of its closest allies and partners?

We already know (or suspect) that Dreadnoughts are one sign of military status. These immense warships are required to secure and hold space stations and other important remote outposts, alongside the smaller cruisers, frigate wolfpacks, and other space Navy-type forces.

We can also consider C-Sec (civil and criminal investigation on the Citadel, security for ports, anti-smuggling operations, etc.) as a separate civil branch and outgrowth of skills are learned and taught within the Hierarchy and something of a stereotypical (and desirable!) turian job outside of Hierarchy space.

Other valuable services provided by the Hierarchy include staffing and operating a force (32 fleets!) large enough to secure not just Hierarchy space but also to protect the Citadel. Turians canonically value combined arms and disciplined maneuver warfare, decentralized command-and-control, and are also the primary military arm and security force for the rest of the galaxy.

In summary: the turians are so good at staffing and maintaining fleets that the rest of the Council species seem to prefer handing these civil functions over to the turians in proportion to their relative expertise and cultural strengths.

All of the above implies that turian culture would need to be an extraordinarily flexible (structurally) society, if individually somewhat set and rigid in expectations and values for fulfilling assigned duties.

I’d believe that assignments, once given, were equivalent to anyone else’s ultimatum! I’d also imagine that turians would find it VERY personally important to seek out roles where they could fulfill all potential assignments to the best of their individual abilities, and that ‘finding’ that place/role in society would be akin to a life path.

Amateurs Study Tactics

A short aside that warfighting ability, alone, at least on an individual level, is a minor strength in comparison to building an effective collaborative combined arms force. The organization required at an individual level? Not much! Just personal training and supply.

Problems mount as soon as the force expands in size, complexity, and desired mission capabilities. I could see volus economists and logicians, as well as military scholars, being the preeminent organizers and administrators of turian force structures. I could see the volus economic influence being a quite effective force multiplier for the turian Hierarchy, in terms of creatively organizing fleets and their sub-units into autonomous mission-capable interchangeable “parts” which all know how to work together and communicate to achieve complex adaptability and integration of vastly different forces, hardware, and weapons systems at a variety of scales (from galactic, to orbital, to low-orbit, to planetside ground).

Which leads us to ...

Professionals Study Logistics

This is just the study of the application of “effective force.” What makes a force effective? It needs to be supplied with personnel and materiel such that it can accomplish its assigned mission -- preserve the capability of the force through the supply of the necessary tools at the right time, alongside the ability to maintain, repair, replace, or rotate those tools as needed.

A force that has been improperly positioned (is too far forward of supply lines, or too far in the rear to be applied at the right time) is by definition an ineffective force. It is unavailable to accomplish the mission.

There’s a long, rich tradition of economists studying the choice behaviors of nations seeking war, the application of deterrence, and the conditions of victory and defeat on a multitude of different battlefields in different historical and cultural contexts. We get just about NONE of this (barring some high-level generalizations) in Mass Effect, proper!

If we did, we might have seen a bit more nuance in illustrating the Vol Protectorate as not just the economic backbone of Citadel space, but also the preeminent experts in military grand strategy and supply. They’re likely the most closely associated Citadel species and have the most experience collaborating with turian systems of organization! The volus would be just as good at turian military history as turians are, if not BETTER observers and critics on the logistics/economics side, in terms of patterns of thinking and history!

At some point I’m going to have to write the “lessons learned” memo on the First Contact War from the point of view of an eminent volus logistician and economist (ala Thomas Schelling).

Because I’m a nerd, and if the FCW was a failure due to logistics and supply errors? You can just BET the volus were kept out of the First Contact loop as a some sort of power play on the part of less-qualified frontline personnel... no, they’re not salty about that, why do you ask?

-

HATE ME YET? Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about this stuff, either ... and now you know why my fanfiction is the way it is. :D

[hellafluff]

Cant sleep bc im thinking about Mass Effect Species Gender Headcanons

Asari, while "monogender" are established in Andromeda to sometimes prefer gendered or nonbinary pronouns (she, he, they, etc). I think the Asari languages make it very easy to slot pronouns from other languages into it, on top of having many pronouns to choose from. Many Asari are fluid in what pronouns they use, but in their writing, pronouns are chosen rather deliberately to establish mood, tone, or how a character is supposed to be viewed, which is often lost in translation. (I'm thinking like how Japanese has Boku vs Ore for boys)

Quarian culture has 4 genders, Male, Female, Bigender (both,) and None. The way one styles their suit cloth can give you an idea as to what their gender is, but pronouns are usually exchanged with names regardless. Quarian genders aren't put on record till after they return from Pilgrimage.

Turian society being so focused on military standing makes gender roles kind of irrelevant, but they do view male and female as distinct. They don't really have gendered facilities like bathrooms, however. Being trans is NBD since everything is co-ed anyway. Being intersex is rare but it tends to happen visibly, like bilateral gynandromorph birds. Their fringes will be much shorter on one side, with a longer mandible like a female turian, while the other has a longer fringe and shorter mandible. Coloration may also be visibly different.

Salarians don't really care about gender but also care about it A LOT, mostly because of how they reproduce. Salarians can pick any gender or lack of gender they want, but their birth sex is really all that matters in the end for them, because of reproduction contracts and the like 10 male to 1 female birthrates.

Sex and gender matters a lot for Krogan, and they don't really have a sense of nonbinary genders. Maybe before the genophage their philosophers might have argued that soldier, warlord, shaman, and mother, and other titles were all different genders, but it doesn't really matter now, post genophage.

Volus have a few genders but that tends to be very personal information and isnt shared outside of close relationships. They don't particularly care about the pronouns other Clans use for them either.

Hanar are a hermaphroditic species and tend to not care about pronouns.

Elcor gender is largely body language based.

Vorcha are also a monogendered race but no one likes to talk about it.

[dragonflight203]

More on the ME1 replay, catching up on the Codex and first return to the Citadel:

-The Asari are centrists. Natural enough conclusion, I suppose. Once you get comfortable, you become leery of change. Change might mean things getting worse. And the Asari have a long time to get comfortable

-Why did the Salarian Union betray the League of One? It can't be just to make a good show to the Asari. Those were their secret agents. And how could it possibly be a surprise that their top secret agents would retaliate by murdering the inner cabinet?

Interesting to note that the STG already existed.

-The fact that Turians - well, presumably good hierarchy Turians - will own up to their failures, including murder, if directly questioned will never not make me laugh. I maintain that the Council's trial of Saren by asking him politely if he had committed treason in a public venue was the culturally sensitive way to try a hierarchy Turian.

-I suspect that the Volus might consider themselves to have the better bargain their hierachy-client relationship with the Turians. The Volus have no interest in combat and are excellent merchants. The Turians are horrible with money but excellent at hitting things. It's a classic thug-geek relationship.

And just how much influence do the Volus have on the Turians? The Turians know they're dependant on the Volus to manage the economy. Even if that's not critical within the hierarchy, it certainly is with maintaining relationships outside it. I suspect the Volus have quite a bit of sway on high levels.

That's probably one of the major reasons why the Asari and the Salarians don't want to have a Volus Council member - it essentially would give the Turians/Volus two votes.

(Why the Volus didn't have a seat long before the Turians showed up is an entirely different story.)

-Why did Garrus, the quintessential Turian, leave his military service early? Most stay in the service until the their 30. Garrus isn't 30 but has been with C-Sec for years, and to all appearances is in good standing with the Hierarchy. And no one would accuse Garrus of not being loyal.

You could argue the Turians consider C-Sec service. The Hierarchy military basically is their government, and they founded C-Sec so it wouldn't be a stretch that serving in C-Sec is considered part of one's voluntary service until they're 30. But confirmation would be nice.

And none of that changes that Garrus left C-Sec to run around with a spectre before he's 30.

-Turians recruit from "conquered or absorbed minor races". I would love to see these races in the future. Just want relationship do they have with the Hierarchy? The Volus and the Hierarchy are on good terms, but the Volus voluntarily became a client race. What about one of the races the Hierarchy conquered?

And when was the last time the Turians conquered a race? Before or after joining the Council? Do the Asari and Salarians have to regularly step in to prevent species from being absorbed to prevent the Turians from growing too strong? Is hitting the Turians on the nose with a newspaper to prevent them from absorbing another race just something done every century or so?

-Just in general, I love how the Turians are low key being an empire in the background.

Humanity is very willfully denying how close they came to being absorbed while quietly having severe PTSD about it and building up their military so they'll be on more equal terms if it comes up again.

The Asari and Salarians are just chilling as long as they're on good terms with the Turians and taking steps to prevent them from becoming too powerful. You bet the Salarians have a long list of countermeasures if the Turians start making eyes at them.

And everyone else is just ignoring the elephant in the room, because what can they do about it?

Meanwhile in the game it really only comes up in the codex, because Garrus is your BFF/love interest and loyal to hell and back. You're not going to discuss Turian expansionism while Humanity's brawling with the Batarians in the Atticus Traverse over hospitable worlds and Reapers are coming for everyone.

-Humanity created the first stable AI in 2172. That was way after first contact. AIs are banned in Citadel Space. What is the story here?

-The Armeni entry states that Council law holds grave sites as sacrosanct. How did that happen? Which race? I'm leaning Turian - fits their belief in spirits. Salarians are too practical. Could be Asari; they revere their elders.

-Shepard, to Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: They still serve the Alliance as a spectre, because they can advance Alliance interests as a spectre. I'm sure the Council is thrilled to hear that report.

-I suspect Mikhailovich was testing Shepard in that discussion. The anger at the loss of the ship was genuine, but not all the criticisms he threw out. Those were to see how Shepard would respond. I'm half wondering if Hackett put him up to this.

-Mikhailovich brings up the same criticisms as Ashley about giving Aliens access to sensitive information. Again, that's not an inherently wrong argument. Nor is Shepard's response that at this time collaboration is worth the risk.

-Me, speaking to Liara and Tali on the docks (paraphrased):

Tali: The first time I came C-Sec questioned me for three hours. They think all Quarians are thieves and beggars.

Liara: Did you know C-Sec is the largest multi-species law enforcement agency in Council space?

The irony. Garrus isn't the only one that needed a bit more worldly experience in ME1. Liara isn't wrong, but the lived difference between the culturally dominant Asari and the minority Quarian...

-The I Remember Me quest is brutal. This is some quality writing. With very little Bioware demonstrates just how awful Batarian slavery is.

Interesting that Talitha suicides if you take all the upper right or lower right choices. She lives if you take the upper left or all neutral choices. Rare for netural to do better than paragon/renegade.

I took the Space background last run through, and combined with Old, Unhappy, Far-Off things these two quests provide crucial background to understanding the Alliance's relationship with Batarians. I remember being surprised at how enlightening that quest was.

Meanwhile, the Earth background Old Friends quest is an entirely different beast. That was my first run through and a long time ago, but I don't recall it tying into Batarians or slavery at all.

[drelldreams]

Some elcor biology & culture headcanons

While not as long lived as asari and krogan elcor are among the longer lived races. Elcor live between 430-510 years.

Elcor take even longer than asari to reach maturity, being fully mature at 150 years.

Elcor have terrific memory when it comes to scent. An elcor will often remember the scent of a person for decades; centuries even. Which is why elcor can make some mad detectives. They are able to tell that a certain suspect they have only met once many years ago must have been at a place just by the lingering scent in a place of said suspect.

Thus, it’s also near impossible to fool an elcor by using technology to alter your appearance. Chances are high an elcor will still recognize you by smell despite the disguise. (Amused: Human, I can smell the bullshit is an infamous movie line of a fictional elcor detective.)

On the other hand elcor have awful facial recognition and are practically face blind. It isn’t uncommon to have difficulty taking alien faces apart, but elcor even have trouble telling the faces of their own race apart. Elcor rely on smell much more to identify other individuals.

It is not the elcor females but their males that get pregnant. Females lay eggs, which elcor fathers will carry in their belly pouch until they hatch.

Romantic relationships among elcor generally last a life time. A romantic relationship is a very serious commitment in elcor society.

Polygamy is not uncommon, but most bondings take part between two elcor. Male-male and female-female pairings are pretty common. Elcor have never discriminated against same sex couples. Elcor do not make a big deal out of sexual orientation labels.

Romantic attraction is often felt independently from sexual attraction. Romantic attraction for many elcor occurs after forming deep bonds. Asari-elcor relationships are quite heard of, despite the differences in anatomy of the species. Due to asari being more patient than most races towards elcor and having the ability to meld minds, many elcor will form deep bonds with asari.

Elcor unfortunately rarely make alien friends other than asari, as few aliens have the patience to deal with their slow speech. This is a very sad fact. Typically other more discriminated or overlooked species such as the quarians, hanar and volus form friendships with elcor.

Sexual attraction for elcor is pheronome-based. It mostly occurs between opposite sex but may occur between same sex. Asexual relationships are common. Elcor may not have the right ‘chemistry’ to be sexually attracted to each other, yet feel a romantic pull.

Elcor children typically live with their parents during their entire adult life.

[mass-effect-anonymous]

CONFESSION:

I'm kinda sad you can't explore all planets and star systems in the series to its entirety. C'mon, there's more systems in the Milky Way than just a few. also why do every major races ahve to be humanoid? I like the elcor, volus and hanar because they were different from the typical alien representation in sci-fi. Lifeforms in space might look far beyond our tiny human comprehension. This is also why I hate the asari the most. They're just blue reskinned human females. The culture and everything is very interesting but the design choice is bad which goes for also the turians and other humanoid races. Why do intelligent races ALWAYS have to be humanoid. Those are my only gripes in the series.

[wafflesrock16]

N7 Day Ficlet!

Just a little something to celebrate N7 Day. Below a cut because longish. Featuring two NPCs I always found entertaining . . .

Canus was having a bad day. He’d overslept, then tripped when leaving the shower and banged his left leg spur on the vanity. Hard. 

On his way to the shuttle terminal, he’d spilled boiling hot kava all over his favorite tunic when a flustered looking asari had shouldered past him. He’d tried to staunch the kava with a few flimsy napkins from a cafe table, but the result was a brownish stain down his front. To top it off, he’d arrived at the shuttle station just as his shuttle had pulled out into Citadel traffic.

Growling in frustration, he stalked over to the information terminal. Great, just great. His entire family was probably already waiting for him and here he was, the grandson entrusted to bring his grandmother’s ceremonial military dagger to the memorial, and he was going to be late. 

Uncle Aulus is never going to let me hear the end of this, he fumed. It didn’t take much to set the old man off these days and Canus’ tardiness promised to produce an epic conniption.

“When’s the next shuttle?” he demanded from the human working the terminal.

“In ten minutes,” she responded without glancing up. 

“I can’t wait that long!”

Tired looking hazel eyes met his before zeroing in on the dagger sheathed at his waist. 

“Sir, I can’t let you bring that on board the shuttle.”

“What?” Canus gawked, momentarily too stunned to think. “But this is a ceremonial item of my people!”

“Sir, it’s a fifteen centimeter serrated blade.”

“It’s ceremonial and I need it!” Canus couldn’t show up at the memorial without the dagger. Was this human insane? You had to have a khopash blade for a Digeris memorial!

Not insane, he considered darkly as the human closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She just hates turians. Yeah, that had to be it.

“Sir—“

“You humans are all racist!” he exploded. “I need this! You don’t know what it’s for! It’s not a weapon, it’s a khopash blade that needs to be incinerated to honor the spirit of my grandmother per her final wishes!” 

The human stared at him. She was similar enough to an asari for Canus to understand her expression was unimpressed. Well, he was unimpressed with her. And now that he was examining her, her brown hair looked messy and unkempt. Her uniform was rumpled, too. Probably just back from a roll in the sheets with her boyfriend, he decided. Doesn’t take anything seriously, her job or the cultural needs of others—me, in this case.

“Sir, you’re going to have to go through security. They can decide whether or not you can take that . . . ceremonial dagger on the shuttle.”

Canus sputtered in outrage. “I can’t be late,” he growled under his breath. “Do you have any idea how much trouble I’m already in?”

“I’m sorry, Sir. But if I don’t send you through security, I’ll be the one in huge trouble.” She let out a long sigh, entire body sagging with the action.

“This!” he seethed, even as another turian and an asari security guard came to stand on either side of him, “this is racism! Racism!”

He didn’t imagine the pair of volus shaking their heads or the salarian rolling his eyes at him as he was escorted away. 

“Step this way please,” the asari security guard intoned. 

Canus was then subjected to the sort of pat-down and full body scan he’d previously thought only reserved for suspected mercs. He was livid by the time he returned to the terminal—just in time to see his shuttle disappearing into a stream of traffic. Again.

“You made me miss my shuttle!” he shrieked at the human who was still manning the terminal.

“You were trying to bring a fifteen centimeter serrated blade onto the shuttle,” she snapped, professionalism gone. “I notice that security took it and it’s probably being held in the transport locker to be shipped to wherever you’re going, so Calm. Down. Sir.”

“You’re a horrible racist with hideous hair,” he snarled. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he stormed over to a nearby bench and sat down with a huff, golden eyes fixed on his human tormentor. 

She ignored his glowering, face glued to her terminal screen. 

At long last the shuttle arrived and Canus boarded, already dreading the criticism and snide remarks he knew awaited him at the memorial. Stupid racist human, making me late. 

Uncle Aulus was just as irritable as he’d presumed. There were comments and scornful vocals directed at him. Nobody cared that his tardiness wasn’t his fault, the point was that he was late and it was disrespectful to the memory of his grandmother. 

When the ceremony mercifully ended, Canus fled to the nearest bar. He needed a stiff drink—maybe three. 

“Another,” he called to the turian bartender. The other man clicked his mandibles, subvocals whirring with judgment as he removed the empty glass he’d barely set down a moment before.

Canus let out a growling sigh, running a hand down his face. Fuck today, he thought wearily.

“Vodka tonic, heavy on the booze.” The flat human voice was familiar.

Canus turned his head, mandibles flaring in shock as the racist human collapsed onto the bar stool next him. She buried her face in her hands, posture radiating defeat.

Shit. Should he leave? Should he call her out again for his shoddy treatment?

Before he could make up his mind, she lifted her head and caught his eye.

“You!” she hissed, brows pinching and lips curling up in a sneer. 

“You yourself!” Canus spat back, subvocals vibrating with annoyance. She had no right to be mad at him—he was the victim here! He was the one who’d had the shitty morning and ended up late to the memorial which only gave his relatives something else to criticize. “I’ve had a miserable day that you made worse!”

“You intergalactic asshole! You have no right, no right to act self righteous after how you treated me!” A slender finger was jabbed at Canus’ nose as she continued “having a bad day doesn’t give you license to treat people just doing their jobs like garbage. And you want to hear something mind-blowing? I had a shitty day too—before you even entered the picture!”

“Vodka tonic,” the bartender intoned, setting down a tall glass. “Horisk, straight up,” he said to Canus, sliding the drink over. 

The bartender’s gaze flickered between Canus and the human. “Trouble in paradise? Drinking won’t fix that, but it’ll make the make-up sex more enjoyable.” He turned away to attend to a group of asari before Canus could respond.

“Like I’d ever be caught dead with a racist,” the human muttered before seizing her drink and throwing back half of it. 

Canus’ jaw dropped. He was the racist? “I’m the racist?” 

“Let’s rethink the day,” the human said, fixing him with an angry glare. “You yelled at me, you singled me out based on my species, yeah, you’re the racist.”

“No I’m not!” he defended. Though, she had a point. Had she mentioned him being a turian or his behavior being based on his species? Crap.

“Could have fooled me and the rest of the people at the terminal.” The human snorted. “The irony is, my last boyfriend was a turian. I’m not a racist, and not all humans are either.”

“You dated a turian?” He wasn’t sure why he was so intrigued. Probably all the alcohol in his system.

“For two years. He was a great guy.” She took another swig of her drink but with less enthusiasm than before.

“Recent break-up?” Canus offered. That’d explain her bad day.

“Not that recent,” she replied, shaking her head.

Her hair reflected the ambient colored lights in varying shades of mahogany and chestnut. Pretty.

Canus wondered why her day had been terrible. He found himself feeling guilty over making it worse. She was only doing her job. 

“Look, about the stuff I said this morning,” he started, struggling to find the right words. “You’re right. I was an asshole. I took my frustrations out on you and that wasn’t fair.” He sighed, swallowing his pride. “I’m sorry.”

She regarded him quietly before nodding her head. “All right.”

“Can I buy you a drink?” Canus asked. “As an apology?”

The human finished her beverage and gave him another nod.

Canus signaled the bartender. “Another horisk for me and a, um . . .” He glanced at his companion.

“Sex on the beach,” she supplied. 

Canus turned fully toward her. “My name’s Canus,” he introduced. He dipped his head, an interested purr slipping into his vocals. “What’s your name?”

“Elise,” she replied, extending a hand. 

Canus gave it a shake, like he’d seen other humans do in greeting. “A pleasure.” She gave him a dazzling, gorgeous smile. His heart lurched against his ribs. Oh.

Somewhere along the way, his evening had taken a turn. He now sensed, with almost near certainty, that for how terrible his day had been, his night was about to be spectacular. 

[sparatus]

WBW HOEASS (affectionate)

You write the mariners union yes? Yes. I know they have a few swears that could make a pirate blush — so, what are some rude sayings, names, gestures, etc in Tiirtias (and elsewhere)

HIIII pretend it's not saturday--

so!! tiirtis are pretty famously grouchy and isolationist, so they have. kind of a lot of rude things to say about everyone, especially tourists and cipritinians, lol. there's also an old rift between the seafarers and the landbound, which stems from pre-republic times and has gotten better with time (and a common enemy in the mainlanders, thanks to the war) but still winks at you from language remnants now and again.

one of the most important distinctions for non-natives to know is the difference between zadeū and zadeuuzūt: the former means "foreigner" and is a generally neutral word, while the latter means "invader" and is very, very negative. your buddy from basic visiting for the holidays because he can't make it home himself is zadeū and will be greeted warmly and given the benefit of the doubt. a tourist wandering around being obnoxious and treating the place like a quaint little backwoods time capsule is zadeuuzūt and will be shunned, cursed at, and potentially chased off at gunpoint if they act stupid in the wrong district. the distinction came about after the great war, when cipritinians started arriving on tiirti shores to establish trade routes within the new empire and sort out how governance would work. the native, freshly-conquered tiirtis weren't impressed with the smug attitudes some of them had, and stuck with referring to all mainlanders zadeuuzūt despite the war being over, since it obviously still felt like they were being invaded and insult added to injury. over time, as a balance was struck and understanding reached, "good" mainlanders who were respectful of tiirti traditions and culture were allowed to be referred to as zadeū instead, to mark to other native speakers that this one was okay to work with and wouldn't be rude. zadeuuzūt, on the other hand, remains a highly charged word, as it tells other native speakers pretty clearly that that non-native isn't to be trusted and doesn't respect them as a unique culture.

beyond that, we also have xän, which refers to a boarlike animal native to the mainland and considered an invasive species in tiirtias. they were introduced to the island with good intentions during the republic era, hoping to bring in a new source of meat via a very hardy species that can survive just about any conditions - unfortunately, it backfired, as the xäni became infamous for destroying any area they touch. while some farms do still raise them for meat to take some of the burden off the dazduus herds, if found in the wild they are mercilessly culled and the carcasses sold to butcher shops in the city. the meat is good, but they became associated with their seemingly unending hunger and destruction, and as such became a derogatory symbol of capitalism when turians made first contact with aliens and the volus introduced them to the system. seeing only grief in a system many turians on the whole (not just the tiirtis) viewed as not in their community-driven society's best interest, the tiirtis likened those who followed the foreign system to their hated invasive pests, and it stuck. (capitalism also being a "hated invasive pest" also contributed to the new meaning of the word, of course.)

some other fun terms that have less uhhh need for explanation?

gamosmaze or gamo, just means "fuck." the shortened form is for quick grumbling, the long one for when you're really pissed. when conjugating into adjectives or nouns, gamo is used, because tiirtiak really likes its suffixes and words can get really long, so abbreviations are pretty common, lol.

dide, meaning "shit", can be used as both a noun and a verb

pretty much any word can be given a much more negative connotation and turned into a curse with the suffix "-ze," with either an "a" or a glottal stop between it and the end of the word if it ends in a consonant. alliance translators incorrectly equivocated "ze" to "hell," but that concept doesn't exist in tiiri spirituality. it's just the derogatory suffix! dazduusaze (dazduus being a shithead), bevenaze (stupid fucking half-rotted boat), you can even add it onto existing cuss words to emphasize how really pissed off you are like gamosmaze'ze or dideze!

tveux and sarnuux, said with derogatory subvocals, are a little funny because they're effectively just "waterlogged" and "filthy" but said like cuss words. tveux is old derogatory slang for the seafaring clans, sarnuux for the landbound herder clans, and they're mostly used lightly in the modern day but they do sometimes show up in heated fights between the mariners' union and the ranchers' guild over whose problems need government help first.

saying somebody's boat has holes or they've "hit the Wall" (meaning the great wall that surrounds the city, including a retractable section through the bay) a few too many times implies they're too rock-stupid to be trusted. these are fightin' words.

"shatha bait" is self-explanatory. you're so dumb you'll just fucking sit out in the open for a shatha to eat you.

"rock-claw" is slang for the gaevig to the south, their nearest neighbors. the gaevig evolved to climb trees and sheer rock faces, including the sea-cliffs along the coast closest to tiirtias, so that was early tiirti sailors' first impression of them. "rock-claw" is fairly friendly, but the alternative "zixu'äxu" ("broken tooth," implying they ate the rocks) is decidedly not.

okay i'm sure there's more i'm forgetting about but those are the fun and important ones!! sorry for the text wall oops

[darthkvznblogs]

Could you tell me what role the races have in Mass Effect and what differences they have with the games?

They're very similar, overall.

-The Asari are very diplomatic and culturally involved. Their lengthy lifespans give them incredible perspective on galactic history and you can feel their influence in the general "live and let live" demeanor of the Nova Empire.

-The Turians are militaristic and hyper-pragmatic. There are many Turians in the Nova Corps, as it matches their cultural sense of duty and service well. While not aggressive, they are always ready for a fight - and it rubs them the wrong way that a fight is always the Corps' last recourse.

-The Salarians drive scientific progress and have all but taken over the Corps' intelligence gathering and spy operations - there may be no Spectres in the Kverse, but the STG is very much a thing. There's an extra component to them that I can't talk about yet.

-The Batarians are a client race of the Kree Empire, conquered centuries ago. They are allowed to enslave their own people in accordance with their "traditions", but any Batarian attempting to enslave a Kree citizen will be summarily executed. They're...a lot smaller and sadder than their canon counterparts.

-The Krogan are kinda thriving without the Salarian uplift, tbh. They almost nuked themselves to death, but they survived and rebuilt, and the post-apocalyptic environment naturally curbed their reproduction rate. They're still kind of aggressive and dangerous, but they don't feel the need to take it out on the nearest species.

-The Quarian-Geth sitch is pretty much identical to canon. There's a tad more of a choice element to their nomadic ways - it keeps them relatively safe from Thanos and the Black Order.

-The Vorcha, Volus, and Elcor are also pretty much the same. The only difference is that the Nova Empire doesn't allow client race relationships so the Volus are independent from the Turians, though still good allies.

-The Hanar are kind of in hot water politically because some species argue that their rescue and subsequent relationship with the Drell could be argued to be a form of servitude, while others argue that there's so few Drell left that they might not even constitute a sovereign state anymore and it should be up to each individual Drell to decide if the Compact is valid for them. The Hanar are already kinda disliked anyway for worshipping the Protheans, who were very publicly taken down by a coalition of oppressed species 50,000 years ago, so they don't care that much.

-The Rachni were never corrupted by the Reapers, so they're still around. They're kinda territorial and their hive mind creeps most people out, but they're just another member of the Nova Empire - albeit a pretty advanced and powerful one.

[writer59january13]

After drenching biblical rainfall...

verdant green acres covered the planet of the apes like a petticoat junction donning barrel of skinny dipping monkeys. Once drought stricken vast landscape far as the eye could see suddenly flush with promise of budding new shoots and ladders for vine companions harkened prelapsarian Edenic prominence, when mother nature resplendent videre licet morning glory of primeval Earth pregnant with multitudinous color pallette regaled bipedal forerunners

of humankind with panoramic pristine kingdom, where legendary tropical verdure availed countless plant and animal species teeming with flora and fauna offering veritable Smörgåsbord to plethora of herbivores and omnivores, where expansive webbed wide world subtly hinted, negotiated and suggested horn and hardart of good and plenty. Lush vegetation adrip with downpour aftermath tempted all creatures great and small all things wise and wonderful to emerge from their respective hideaway courtesy the palpable pulsation of Gaia exuding potential power to proliferate gifting superlatives linkedin to survival of the fittest blessing natural advantageous propensities to buzzfeed capital one reproductive traits redeeming symbiotic qualities with generations of beneficial mutations at evolutionarily optimal junctures though devoid of thinking beings to witness or record phenomenal events. Nasty short beasts proliferated refining technique to do the wild thing stir (fried) crazy as concupiscent bison teen in estrus while shuffling off to Buffalo, (or where that city in the United State of America would take shape) hashtagging where x marks the spot made within man/woman caves

that did be hoof anthropologists even nearly a bajillion years later.

Imagine dragons galumphing during flintstone age culture club wielding proto humans impossible mission their mental acuity to gauge

of Homo neanderthalensis

very intelligent and accomplished humans, Whereby current evidence from both fossils and DNA suggests that Neanderthal and modern human lineages separated at least 500,000 years ago. Some genetic calibrations place their divergence at about 650,000 years ago,

nevertheless amongst the scattered clans there probably lurked an anonymous sage smart enough to induce quantum leap did jump/kick start scattered population with wits about them to sustain their existence.

Appearance of super duper wiseacre invariably punctuated Homo sapiens progenitors as an unknown mover and shaker,

who helped fledgling forebears of contemporary people to discover trappings to weasel out from being between a rock and a hard place and squirrel away linens and things for anticipated future creature comfort or necessity.

Imponderable and inscrutable poetic philosophical meanderings of mine (expounded upon while I nourished myself on a snicky snack prepared by the missus – graham cracker with Almond butter plus Rhubarb jam) found me most unexpectedly tangentially linkedin with the invaluable scientific knowledged bequeathed to civilization courtesy the greatest thinker for Grecian formula(s).

Noah (way) did Archimedes

(born c. 287 BCE, Syracuse, Sicily

[Italy]—died 212/211 BCE, Syracuse)

discover flood insurance nor prevention, but hands down he ranked as the most famous mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece. He is especially important for his discovery of the relation between the surface and volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is known for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle (known as Archimedes’ principle) and a device for raising water, still used, known as the Archimedes screw. There are nine extant treatises by Archimedes in Greek.The principal results in On the Sphere and Cylinder (in two books) are that the surface area of any sphere of radius r is four times that of its greatest circle (in modern notation, S = 4πr2) and that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds that of the cylinder in which it is inscribed (leading immediately to the formula for the volume, V = 4/3πr3). Archimedes was proud enough of the latter discovery to leave instructions for his tomb to be marked with a sphere inscribed in a cylinder.

Measurement of the Circle is a fragment of a longer work in which π (pi), the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, is shown to lie between the limits of 3 10/71 and 3 1/7. Archimedes’ approach to determining π, which consists of inscribing and circumscribing regular polygons with a large number of sides, was followed by everyone until the development of infinite series expansions in India during the 15th century and in Europe during the 17th century.

[c-rowlesdraws]

if you could have made changes to how ME showed the volus (and if you have any other ideas for other species) what would you have added/changed/taken away?

honestly, I CRAVE more of the "weird" aliens, all of them, not just the volus. All of Shepard's bestest friends in the series were fairly humanoid aliens-- and from a gameplay/technical perspective, that makes sense, since it's much more convenient to build every character who has to hold various weapons and run around and do all these different animations all with the same rig. But as a consequence, the characters who we got to know the best as people, and who could give us the most well-rounded perspectives on their own cultures, were all humanoid. And as the series went on, the non-humanoid species (and the batarians, humanoid but minor) got kind of treated increasingly like curiosities, running jokes, and/or cannon fodder (#JusticeForTheVorcha), rather than having their cultures elaborated on in the same way.

Closer relationships with other, weirder aliens like the elcor, hanar, and volus would have helped the player experience Shepard's journey as a person that much more strongly, moving with Shep from a position of relative ignorance about the galaxy to having a real sense of community and deeper understanding. The climax of ME3, with the entire galaxy overcoming their differences and conflicts to collaborate together and unite against a great common threat, would have felt so much cooler if we'd already gone through that process on a personal level: getting to know and befriend more members of alien species that at first seemed too funny or strange or unsettling to see as people as easily as more humanoid aliens.

They wouldn't even have to be selectable mission companions or whatever; even just a few really good recurring NPCs would do. Each "species representative" character having a distinctive individual personality, conforming to some known stereotypes about their species and defying others, putting a face to their people (even people without conventional faces, like the hanar)-- that's what I would have liked to see.

[stellevatum]

I like to think the culture/rank determines how Kar is referred to?

Milky Way Mandos and some Bendu Mandos call her Mand'alor (even if she’s not their Mandalore, she is still a Mandalore). And as it's a life time title and one of the first to "Abdicate" rather than die/was killed, they opted to treat it to how former Presidents are still called President.

Primarch Victus, and Admirals Hackett and Anderson also refer to her as such– to call her otherwise in their minds disrespects and minimizes the Mandalorian contributions in the fight. Likewise do the elcor– her people openly welcomed their refugees and supported them post-war.

The Council on the whole, asari, salarians, and volus call her Ambassador Alor'ade instead.

In general, after 2185-early 2186 Kar is Doctor Alor'ade. That is an acceptable way to address her if you’re not high up in the military/politics, or aware of Mandalorian culture.

Quarians use Ambassador or Captain Alor'ade, as it is a sign of great respect to their culture.

Krogan are an interesting one. Outside of Urdnot she’s Mandalore or Chief Kar of Clan Alor'ade, inside Urdnot she is Shaman or sister/auntie.

To the Rebellion and Resistance, she’s General Alor'ade (occasionally Doctor). To Bail, and some of the other Rebel cells she’s just Kar.

Post 9 BBY to those who learn in the Tanalorr School/Temple, she’s Master Kar/Master Alor'ade. Occasionally Doctor.

To the Andromeda Initiative she’s Doctor Alor'ade, and occasionally Master Alor'ade among the cultural exchange circles. The angara prefer Master over Doctor, oddly enough, which Kar is fine with. And honestly? It’s probably the one time she feels like one outside of Tanalorr.

Obviously on Helios she’s Doctor, and among the Crimson Raiders it’s Doc or General. (Even though it means she technically outranks Roland, she was a general and it felt wrong to demote her). Very, very rarely is she regarded as Master in this galaxy.

[ferusaurelius]

Merc-born Turian Culture Meta

I (slowly) write a lot of mass effect fanfiction where the differences between mainstream Hierarchy space culture and merc-born turian culture differ, and you’ll see these themes pop up quite a bit in my work. While I’ve done some narrative-type explorations, I haven’t outlined the basis of my reasoning.

My narrative merc-born turian fic is a sort of background for Nihlus Kryik: 

‘The husbandry of victory is blood’ comes with companion annotations.

Actual merc-born turian meta is underneath the cut. ;)

In the past I might have used the term ‘headcanon,’ but these days I’m finding that ‘meta’ works better for the overall structure and consistency of my thoughts about these topics -- all of which are intended to be used as background or basis for certain perspectives in writing fanfiction. Without further ado, let’s get rolling!

What Does Merc-Born Mean?

Not gonna lie, when I first read that Nihlus was merc-born in the ME1 codex, I was intrigued! This aspect of his character is one of the things I most enjoy in writing fanfiction from his point of view or including him in stories. However, since there’s very little canon information on what cultural structures might differ from the coreworld and colony-born turians and the merc-born, naturally I had to start figuring out what those distinctions might look like in practice.

If the wiki timeline is to be believed, the batarians made first contact with the Citadel sometime after the volus and were granted an embassy a century later -- which still gives them an approximately 1000-year head start over the turians on integrating into galactic society and trade. This is where I feel like the BioWare writers did this entire culture dirty by essentially skipping over any possible contributions to mapping, exploration, and colonizing the Terminus Systems!

The Terminus and the edges of the Attican Traverse aren’t going to become a haven for pirates and mercenaries without a lot of work and commercial activity, let’s be real. So! I give batarians the benefit of the doubt in being among the most savvy of space-explorers and surveyors, willing to risk their lives in exchange for better economic opportunities (mining claims, potential new colonies, faster trading routes, setting up space depots, etc.).

It’s here that the turian Unification Wars give us an opportunity to link anti-Hierarchy groups to the batarians who have already set up independent refuge in the Terminus Systems. If you’re a turian who feels burned by the Hierarchy, where do you go? Well, you might decide to take up with some similarly anti-government independent-minded spacefaring batarian groups who have been resisting the control of the Hegemony for the last 1000 years.

My point is that merc-born turians would likely align culturally more with batarians than, say, the banking-savvy and market-connected Vol Protectorate. To my mind, therefore, a merc-born turian who lives outside Hierarchy space is also raised alongside the batarian values of independence and strength.

Terminus Batarian Culture vs. the Hegemony

Something the BioWare writers could have done (and if you squint, it’s even implied!) is riff a bit on the batarian perspective between being opportunistic, independent, and expedition-minded vs. the propagandistic and authoritarian bent of the Hegemony. Any government like the Hegemony that seeks to isolate and control its citizens also fundamentally limits their options to influence interspecies trade and politics.

Plus it seemed to me that any culture with a text called the Pillars of Strength might also conceivably differ in their possible interpretations of that text.

And since that artifact is an older religious text, it might also be used to precipitate a practical, religious, and ideological schism between those who believe that strength is defined as “power over” others rather than “power alongside” them. I let the anti-Hegemony batarian groups withdraw to marginal space in part as a test of their own strength and ability to survive, but also to establish independent support structures that enhanced the survival of these fringe groups, and who might even see “deference to the Hegemony” as a betrayal of their religious and cultural principles.

This viewpoint also gave me an opportunity to make distinctions between batarian groups who might cynically profit off of slave-trading and the mercenary (probably a pejorative bestowed by those who failed to conquer them) groups who might find such enterprises too morally compromising to engage in.

Again, the aim of considering the other options here was to give my batarian and merc-born turians a full spectrum of opinions and philosophies to access. Rather than painting them all with an oppressive slavery/piracy brush (... NOPE, none of those lifestyles are sustainable, actually, and they seem counterproductive In Particular if you are trying to survive in marginal territory, much less wanted any kind of stability in an already unstable environment).

Merc-Born Turians Join the Terminus Batarian Groups

Considering the above, and the canon that turians culturally prize individual accountability, I could see a world in which those who didn’t want to be governed by the strict role structure of the Hierarchy decided to align themselves with batarian groups who had already made a similar choice to resist the Hegemony.

Or was I the only one to see the naming similarities and have a lightbulb moment? xD Anyway.

My thought here was that culturally-aligned batarians and turians would form a syncretic society that valued individual accountability, personal strength, resisted larger government authority, and also had to band together to survive against predatory attacks by roving bands of pirates and slavers. In this case the “mercenary” groups remain somewhat independent, but are also used to hiring out to fulfill particular missions and skills while still surviving as more durable organizations and social groups than a typical ‘gang.’

Durable groups implies some kind of shared culture, rituals, customs, and methods of distinguishing in-group individuals with similar values from out-group threats who might otherwise look superficially similar.

In this case, I decided that it was likely turian converts to these groups would come from existing disaffected factions of Hierarchy-resistors. These new recruits would be valuable in their knowledge of turian military tactics, discipline, cultural honesty and accountability, and their potential to contribute new recruits and skills to expand the reach of the existing culturally batarian mercenary outposts. Any turians would probably bring along familiar customs (like old colony markings) and then incorporate batarian cultural symbols into their personal identities.

So, in my somewhat detailed Nihlus Kryik background fic, I went into some detail about Nihlus wearing a Taetran colony pattern with ‘mercenary sickles’ incorporated into the traditional colony shapes. Altering colony markings in this way would likely be seen as taboo in Hierarchy space, since it’s also a clear divider between mercenary and mainstream affiliations.

The other immediate impact I could see was a language divergence between these Terminus groups and Hierarchy and Hegemony space -- to the point where there’s not an updated codex for these languages, and the inhabitants like it just fine that way. xD

Since we also know that batarians place a strong emphasis on body language, I figured that a somewhat diverse mercenary group would also have found turian-specific ways of communicating the same approximate batarian gestures, to the point where a mixed-culture language would have developed for the convenience of the participants over the last 2000-or-so years.

Differences Between Merc-Born and Hierarchy Turians

As a consequence of some of the ideas outlined above, I thought the most readily-apparent distinctions between merc-born and Hierarchy-born turians would be cultural practices, language (word-choice and physical), and overall viewpoint on legitimate sources of power and preferences for governance structures.

Merc-born turians who haven’t been raised in the Hierarchy probably don’t have as clear a grasp of citizenship as practiced by their counterparts, nor of “public service” as service to the state, rather than just to one’s group. While they may share common beliefs about individual accountability and knowing one’s place, the merc-born turians likely look at this on a more individual and family-related level instead of a larger-group (colony and above) structure. The merc-born likely have little or no experience with the bureaucracy that a Hierarchy-born turian might take for granted.

While, on an individual level, the merc-born might be more inclined to adapt forms of address to respected elders or fail to see bureaucratic authority as legitimate, as opposed to bonds of agreed personally-based respect and trust.

While both the Hierarchy-born and the merc-born might view their word as their bond, the merc-born would see this as more a personal than a societal imperative, with a tendency to trust family and kin-ties rather than strictly the requirements of duty inside a formal role.

Hierarchy-born turians would therefore generally mistrust merc-born turians as “faithless” in terms of duty and “backward” in their reliance on kin, family, and affiliation.

To my mind, this is one of those general misunderstandings that would occur when merc-born turians (used to fulfilling multiple roles in whatever capacity is needed in their community), and Hierarch-born turians (used to fulfilling a specific role as required by the state or larger stable group) would just be speaking past each other, because they’re coming from fundamentally different lived experiences.

Merc-born turians have never placed their trust in any state-level institution, by definition, while most Hierarchy-born turians have at least a larger colony world as a point of reference.

Merc-Born Turians: Nihlus Kryik, A Case Study

I’m still so, so sad that we didn’t have a chance to get to know him better as a character, outside of a VERY FEW dialogue lines!

We know from the codex that Nihlus was ‘forced’ into the Hierarchy military at age 16 and never really fit in with his squads, having instead a more independent streak and disobeying orders on his own initiative. While his tactics were seen as reckless by his more traditional (Hierarchy-born) superiors, his ability to find and exploit weaknesses eventually lead Saren Arterius to recruit him into the Spectres. Nihlus also has no species-driven grudge against humanity and only cares that Shepard can get the job done.

Where do I go with this?

I lean hard into the merc-born background that might have instilled such an attitude in Nihlus at a young age, by playing both with his pre-service background, his family history (both colony-born turian, kin-affiliated mercenary group, and adopted batarian), and his attitude toward his own identity and values as a merc-born turian.

I give Nihlus different opinions on everything from colony markings (and some of my specific thoughts on what embellishments might identify a turian as merc-born and what those means), to authority, to practical approaches, to independence, to familiarity with language and food, to just a different overall cultural viewpoint that is uniquely critical of what other Hierarchy-born turians might take for granted as the cultural majority. In short? 

I write him as an outsider who has chosen to participate in the Hierarchy despite what he’s seen of the flaws.

Whenever I write Nihlus, it’s important to me to consider his individual rationale for his choices. I don’t see him as the type to rejoin the Hierarchy and do so uncritically, for instance -- but I also tend to write him as “seeking his place” in a way that aligns with his unique values as a merc-born turian with very different personal experiences of what life is like in the galaxy. 

Someone who is sympathetic to those who want to be left alone to live separate lives apart from larger government structures, for instance, and who is capable of navigating multiple worlds and perspectives in his everyday job without looking down on anyone who isn’t participating in the mainstream cultural choices.

Whenever I’m writing a character like this, it’s important to me to consider what might be the driving goals and values in their lives. For Nihlus (in my view), that’s applying his individual ability to ensuring that predatory groups (pirates and slavers, destabilizing no matter where you are in the galaxy) are opposed and dismantled wherever they occur -- and he doesn’t particularly see the problem with adding a bit of stability to the Terminus, either.

I also write Nihlus with a more live-and-let-live attitude driven by his experiences in the Terminus, who has a bit more of a nuanced perspective on batarians and batarian culture, since he was raised in close proximity to it. ;)