Racial Stereotypes: Origin and Accuracy

War has been an exception??? So I'm to believe that the Rachni Wars, Krogan Rebellions and batarian incursions were just one off incidents, nice try Arina. And being at peace is no excuse for lack of preparedness, that rationale just reeks of wishful thinking. And that's a luxury we don't have anymore. If we truly desired peace, we'd be geared up for the worst case scenario, not fighting holding actions until the turians or krogan arrive to do the heavy lifting. I'd think most maidens would be pissed about our performance during the war and our inability to sustain a fight, but apparently we need another century or two to process that lesson.

I'm hoping that a similar sentiment makes it way among my people, but since Sur'kesh and most of our worlds were spared by sheer luck I'm not holding out much hope about it happening any time soon. I've been advocating a stronger Union frontline military for years, but since I'm just a frog who shoots things for a living, they think I'm biased on matters way out of my paygrade.

I can't argue with spending money on R&D because we certainly need that, but we need ships and soldiers too if we're going to put those shiny new toys to good use. And I can't argue with an emphasis on intelligence gathering and tactical strikes, since it's always served us well in the past. But you still need fleets and armies to take proper advantage of the battlefield opportunities those things bring if you hope to last in a war that lasts for any significant period of time, against a foe with significant forces. We can't always count on the Turians or anyone else to fill that role for us. Maybe they could be there in the past, but they took a shrelling beating and it will be decades at the least before they are back up to something approaching their former strength.

And our population levels have always been artificially controlled, which means if we really need bodies, we can get them in a hurry. Not quite as fast as the krogan, but still pretty quick. Course the Dalatrasses don't like that idea very much for obvious reasons, my niece just glared at me when I suggested it last time.

I quickly calculate this on my omnitool.
Citadel Era: 2778 years
Rachni Wars: 250 years (real warfare, I don't count the cleaning up)
Krogan Rebellion: 100 years
Reaper War: 1 year

That makes... 13% of the time. Yes, that is an exception.

Batarian incursions, since you mention them, are not on the same level by a long shot. The measures taken were sufficient to protect asari space and in fact prevented larger scale warfare.

Those numbers are nice and all, but 'exception' or not, the fact remains; I don't think a single Asari can go from cradle to grave without some war breaking out. And, big surprise here, whoring don't do much to prepare you, either individually or as a nation, to defend yourself when it DOES happen.

Thinking everything will be fine from here on out, that conflict is an 'exception', is idiotic.

That wasn't even the question, Hammerhead.
It's the difference of being prepared for conflicts or being prepared for (or striving to be prepared for) Reaper sized mega doom conflict. Let's talk again in a century or so and see how this turned out.

Zeele, why would the salarians of all people want to gear up a mass army? Because the humans say so? Does anyone here think further than gunpoint?

Does it work?

If the answer is yes, then great.

As the human phrase goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

All elcor are boring.

All volus are greedy.

All hanar are stubborn.

All salarians look down at the rest of us as 'less intelligent'.

All vorcha are vermin.


Just some of the stereotypes colleagues would shoot up during my stint on the Citadel.

The thing is... a stereotype is always based on some degree of truth. That's how they come into existence in the first place. No one would suggest that all asari were sex driven if it wasn't for the way asari reproduce, and the way all the other races are so enthralled by them sexually.

Stereotypes are sweeping generalisations. They exemplify the common traits, but they obviously do not represent every member of that species.

But I'm glad they exist. After all, how many of you have struck up a conversation in a bar with a turian by saying "Did your superiors give you permission to be here, or were you raised on Thessia?"

Most of the time they'll laugh. It is just a way that we quickly judge ourselves against each other, and it is completely natural.

Vorcha vermin. Vorcha everywhere, vorcha survive. Can't get rid of vorcha. Vorcha strong, vorcha strive. Vermin not bad thing. Vermin what people all like, if doing right. Vermin not bad thing.

Why pick on being a dancer/whore? There are a million jobs that aren't that essential in the middle of a war, and many of them you know, make life nice. Ergh. I don't even pretend to get it, wouldn't the decisions about military preparedness be made by the older elites? Please explain: why does the discussion about Asari military preparedness always sound like DAMN THOSE SLUTTY YOUNG PEOPLE?

Very very few people even tried to prepare for Reapers anyway.

Because the galaxy is not a nice place.

Discounting ancient mechanical death machines that turn your brain into mush, there are still a lot of unsavory elements out there that have to be defended against, and some we don't even know about yet. The threat of another Rachni may be significantly diminished with most of the relays down, but that doesn't mean there isn't some nasty surprise in one of the uncharted but accessible by FTL systems. (and while nobody seems to want to think about it, I don't think there is any guarantee that the Reapers will not turn into a threat again at some later date)

Now having a standing army as large as the Turians may not be necessary, but we certainly have the ability to have reserve forces trained on a just-in-case basis. They can continue doing whatever else it is they do in the meantime, but if an emergency arises we would at least have trained, if not experienced, forces to call upon.

And with the Turians reduced manpower and fleet assets, we're going to have to at least step up our own defense net enough to put additional patrols and presence around our colonies. As relays come back online this gets even trickier. Some of the isolated colonies had fleet assets when they they fell off the grid, other had barely anything. And they have to be included in the defense net once they're back in contact. Hopefully the colonies in question will provide additional manpower for this, but few of them have the ability to build ships of any significant size.

because krogan you idiot

Quite.

Ideally I find that, given their mobility, natural hardiness, and high endurance, vorcha are most fearsome as light skirmishers, employed on the fringes of main troop bodies rather than raw bodies to throw at the enemy.

But to each their own.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised honestly. Granted you'd do well to shotgun the most aggressive now and again but once adequately socialized they tend to do well enough.

Medic? Probably not honestly. But you would be very much surprised at some of the things a trained vorcha is capable of. I, for example, once ate at a restaurant in which they served as the chefs.

It was...an experience.

A largely positive experience mind, and one I certainly wouldn't mind repeating, but it was definitely...unusual.

Correct in the broad strokes but, sadly, the devil is in the details. Relatively few of the individuals who join the military or the sex trade go on to hold significant political office or positions of power outside their field later in life, largely by virtue of the fact that said positions are dependent upon things like access and opportunity. Two things that the people in question didn't exactly have in abundance to begin with, which is generally why they joined up with the military/turned to prostitution in the first place.

Hardly. A great many of our politicians and civilian officials started preparing for their profession relatively young (Ambassador Osoba, for example, is not exactly an elder statesman) and progressively built themselves up from there. Few came into political prominence by virtue of simple age.

More commenting on the irony of you claiming that Maidens are not encouraged to indulge in...personal interests in one post then extolling the virtues of taking your clothes off for a living in the next.

Showing something approximating interest and investment in how your political system works. So basically what you're not doing right now.

Have you tried thinking for yourself? Just...out of pure curiosity? I mean I can understand the appeal of subordinating all your ideas to an elder, it does relieve a great deal of the pressure on your no doubt sadly overworked grey matter, but I personally think that it can be rather rewarding to have your own thoughts on issues.
Now that's just ageist. Now that's just stupid.
And again, just because something is old does not mean it's good. For example leaving children to die via exposure used to be a time honored tradition of many cultures. Now it just gets you arrested. Bravo. No, really, bravo. Reducing thousands of years of human growth and development to "not as good as asari". Says more about you than I ever could.

Absolutely brilliant except for the fact that a system predicated around people voting on only what directly effects them with no centralized government to handle the rest of policy related matters means that either people are making completely uninformed decisions when confronted topics they know nothing about based on "what feels right" or the Matriarchs just go "meh, this works" a la the Beacon. Except it very much doesn't because the asari are decentralized to the point of having almost no overarching political organization at all. Which is a bit of an issue when you actually have to make a decision within a reasonable span of time.

Kindly remove your head from your ass and remember that there are other people besides the asari who watched as their homeworlds and colonies got turned into so many cinders.

With regards to what the citizenry perceives rather than what is anyway. And, again, decentralization is all well and good until you actually have to act as a whole.

Because every time a galactic scale conflict has rolled around (these typically being the most important of conflicts you understand) the Republics has been less effective than their allies?
It didn't and they really actually are respectively.

Succinct, articulate, well reasoned, and internally consistent. See people? It's not that hard.

A somewhat unappetizing yet rather fascinating idea. Everyone seems to forget that, out of all current Citadel races, salarians more or less have the largest population.

Because being able to protect your society is somewhat critical to being able to have a society.

...hahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAH

I

oh my god woman

I can't

I think I'm crying

The fallout and damage inflicted by a war does not scale proportionately to the duration of the conflict you moron. Each of those conflicts that "only" took up thirteen-ish percent of recent history also claimed hundreds of millions and, in a few instances, billions of lives. These were the conflicts that mattered. This was about as "large scale" as you can get.

Hardly. The primary issue is that those profession, in the Republics anyway, tend to serve as an excuse and a justification for Maidens to be uninvolved in politics and for Matriarchs to keep them uninvolved. Which I, personally, find somewhat obnoxious, particularly when coupled with the whole "holier than thou" thing going on at the moment.

Because their special forces wear leather catsuits. If you can actually picture that without laughing, you're entitled to a medal.

I like you.

'Nother batarian stereotype. 'Batarians are vengeful.'

Yes. We are.

What an interesting discussion to return to. I apologize, I may be a couple pages too late for this, however, I’d like to offer perhaps a different, though mostly concurring, perspective:


The caste system is very cut-throat. It’s not uncommon, particularly in certain areas, that violence be the only way to not only move up, but to gain Respect. Thievery, honour deaths, bribery - these are not thought of in the same way most other races would think of them. There is certainly a point when it slips into Corruption, when one uses Pride and Strength to topple all other Pillars, and thus, it becomes unacceptable and unforgivable, but these things, for the most part, are considered acceptable within the culture of Batarians, and have been for as long as the caste system has existed. Criminal is a term we only reserve for the worst of cases, yet many council races apply the word to activities any batarian would deem normal.


This is a major source for the stereotype, as I’ve argued in the past. Exile is used more often than execution for crimes, particularly when our species was young, but still extremely common in modern times.


To be fair, there are some pre-Hegemony relics out there. They managed to oppress most things, but not all was erased.

As children, we are often taught that harm is a part of life - this exists in all races, though on most levels, many do not wish to accept it. We have, over many thousands of years, recognized this, and have learned to accept that nothing can be done to rid our lives of it, so we harness it. Bullying is a socially acceptable way of showing Strength over Weakness, heartbreak teaches us caution, Wisdom, and the value of Trust, and even caste initiations are meant to weed out the weak and glorify the strong - certain initiations and exercises are specifically meant to kill you in the some of the most imaginative ways
possible. There is always, always a limit to how far it goes (suffering should be quick, but it should be that your soul is reminded even in the afterlife. Drawn out torture is reserved only for the very worst of crimes, and one of the reasons we favor exile over execution) but once more - what batarians deem acceptable is not often the same in another race’s law.

Pain is not an enemy, merely a tool that allows us to survive. Fourth tenet of the Name of Strength.


This I disagree with. Slavery is an integral part of our culture, and has existed since before the Hegemony, at least from within Khaljah, and from my understanding, most of Khar’Shan- and this comes from someone whose caste was only recently elevated from the near bottom to the top of the Ascendancy.

It’s been a vital part of Order, which believes that every person is born to have a place in the universe. Insinuating that slavery is a cultural basis for oppression is very much like insisting that the asari only meld to conquer their partner’s free will. It’s a belief based in ignorance of the context and tradition surrounding it, and it’s a narrow-minded attempt to foster that ignorance in others.

I will not pretend that there are not slaves who feel oppressed, and I do find the thought of enslaving another race utterly disgusting, but for the most part, it is just how things are for many of them. They are offered all the benefits of a healthy life, and entitled to complain and enact legal action if necessary. Those that show the Honour and Courage and have the skills to move beyond their caste are encouraged to, and their children will reap the benefits of such. Are they entitled to the same privileges as those of higher castes? No. Does the ideal always reflect the actuality? No, it doesn’t, and I will be the first to freely admit that the People are not all Honourable. But in general, members of the slave castes are not treated as casteless dirt, and if they are, it’s a failing and a Shame on those that do, and recompense is usually gladly offered by members of the perpetrator’s own caste

Slave revolts are not a common occurrence specifically because the slaves see no reason to revolt - abuse is as rare as snow in Tihk’shu.

Maybe I'm just missing the joke. Am I supposed to be amused that you'd ironically compare a perfectly legitimate nano-fiber composite suit to something so pliant? Or are you legitimately under the impression they're made of leather, and find the prospect of your fellow asari dying in animal skins funny?

You've brought it up more than once, so there must be something you find endearing about it.

Subset-specific stereotype: Geth are in a perpetual state of establishing themselves for a future conflict.

Speculated origin: Geth military/industrial capacity exceeds that of all currently extant organic sovereign states. Consensus based coordination provides for a near instantaneous reallocation of assets and materiel and military coordination on the micro/macro scale.

Counterpoint: Organics frequently must choose to prioritize non-military industry over military industry/military industry over non-military industry. A gross majority of geth infantry/armour/naval assets are capable of serving in either capacity with minor modifications.

Geth do not have to choose.

Described organic apparel: asari huntress uniforms prioritize range of motion over protection versus environmental hazards natural/artificially generated [ie extreme heat/cold/electric discharge/vacuum]; utilization of bladed weapon with sufficient strength; small arms fire; heavy weapon fire; fire from atmospheric/armoured assets.

It is inefficient.

Ah, so she's using geth humour, then?

Doctor, their humor is just inefficient.

stereotype: geth have inefficient humor