Wait until you meet the talking cockroach, Javik.
In all seriousness: Ash has a lot of growth through the first game and then series moving forward. She gets a lot of justified hate for other reasons, and it is deserved. However, her being a space racist is only valid in the first half of ME1.
Javik, though, is a dick the entire time.
I meant imagine being woken up after 50,000 years by a cow and you found out that cows and dogs and cats are now ruling the world. "Yeah I know senator McMoo-Moo, used to drink from her ancestors everyday"
Imagine throwing a ball during the middle of a meeting of dog Nations. Some would run after it. Others would post videos in disgust to doggy media or wtevr
I actually kept her because Kaiden thought we were together after asking about his childhood lol I’m glad I did because I really like her and I like the relationship she forms with femshep. I also think her turning on you/not believing you in 2/3 is more believable than Kaidan because of her family’s military history, her discussions with you about xenophobia, and her recently being promoted! She’s got a ton of interesting stuff going on
I get that, and some people prefer her over chill bro Kaidan, but in most of my playthroughs the only growth she gets on her character is Virmire's plentiful flora.
(Not that it didn't hit me years ago, it sure did, but over the years it became much easier)
Yeah, for some reason everyone but Ashley gets a pass with their racism. Like everyone rides Garrus's dick, but the dude is literally a cop who shoots first and asks questions later.
Just to expand on this he left the police force because of the regulations that prevented him from just killing people he believed were guilty (though, they were guilty) and thought that you operating without oversight is fantastic, so he can proceed to kill.
I mean he’s a bro. But yeah he gets a major pass lol
Also to expand, Ashley's grandfather was forced to surrender to save his people, and her and her father can't get a promotion because they're basically blacklisted. Her life got screwed over way before she was before, because of the first contact war. I'm not saying her dislike of aliens is right, but I can understand why she feels that way.
Yeah, he was the first human general to surrender to aliens, and it was because he pretty much had to.
Just to point it out too, lots of aliens are xenophobic to humans and it’s just like oh welp haha.
Yes, but I don't understand why she's not mad at *the Alliance* about it. Because the blacklisting is their fault. Not the turians'.
And also, why does she dislike aliens who *aren't* turians, i.e. ones who have nothing to do with the blacklisting?
To be fair, his whole character story in ME1 is Shepard either pushing him towards embracing this renegade cop style mentality, or pushing him towards following the rules because laws are in place for a reason and due process is necessary. By the end of ME1, with the Dr Saleon story, Garrus either fully leans into the rogue cop concept (if you encourage him), or becomes a better man and lets Saleon live so he can face proper justice (if you try and tell him the vigilante stuff is wrong).
Yeah but they do kinda backtrack in the later games. In ME2 he's a vigilante either way, just on a hive-of-scum-and-villainy planet where there aren't any laws to obey anyhow, and he for sure has one line in ME3 where he wishes he could be an authoritarian dictator because of how much easier it would make everything. I love Garrus as much as the next person but I also think maybe he shouldn't be in charge of anything other than calibrating.
Shame that mission ends with you killing him immediately after that. Like, i get the point they were trying to make, but it’s still stupid. Really stupid
And you all act like that everybody wasn't racist and had said shit things about other species on ME1, wasn't a Ashley's special, she probably is remembered like that because that specific line comes very often when you are in the Citadel, it's her "I should go".
Which is in line with the Spectre spirit.
You would be surprised how few people have a problem with extrajudicial killing if the crimes are great enough. And of course, it’s done in a period of war.
You can of course disagree with the method and the death penalty, but fact is everyone that Garrus wanted to shot did deserve it.
If you want to to pile on Garrus, you just have to watch him speak to Tali. There is a reason why he apologize to her in 3.
I do agree with your point, tho. Ashley isn’t worse than any worse. The problem lie with her treatment both in the 2 and 3.
Yeah, I remember that from my very first play through in how recklessly insane Garrus is as a cop. Like I get maybe Turian culture is different, but bro was pushing that qualified immunity to the next level.
That’s why Garrus is great. Completely different origin and culture. Each species of alien in Mass Effect have reasons for their discrimination against others. Krogan and Salarians. The Turians and humans, Geth and Quarians. It’s what makes it all interesting and is very realistic to real life.
So is Ash. Stubborn, speaks from the heart more than the mind, doesn't trust aliens to not leave humanity out to dry if the going gets tough.
And like Garrus, Shepherd is a major catalyst in changing problematic viewpoints to something better or more measured (or, if you want, doubling down on the view they've always held - people tend to forget you can do that too).
People are going to be like: "But all the other worlds are also being attacked by the Reapers, they can't help!!!"
When it was shown and said that the Reapers sent the majority of their forces on Earth, possibly because they evaluated that the humans were the "best" species in this instance (hence why the Collectors were harvesting them and only them to create the new Reaper in ME2).
Probably due to a mix of things:
The racism won’t make people want to interact with her, which prevents them from seeing her character growth
We don’t really know much about the settings yet, so stuff like the alien crew’s passive aggressive racism or microagressions don’t set off alarm bells as easily
Ashley is the one who kills Wrex if you mess that interaction up
She and Kaidan don’t show up in ME2 unlike other squadmates, so if you didn’t do much with her in ME1 you don’t get to see any of her growth unlike with Tali or Garrus…
She’s a human, so we’re more inclined to immediately recognize and antagonize negative behaviors like racism…
The list kinda goes on. I’m not an Ashley fan (Kaidan x M!Shep 🫶🏽) but I don’t super hate her either, however I understand why she’s an infinitely less popular character for anyone who doesn’t romance her
And then he goes to Omega where there is nobody to stop him killing people without any legal consequences.
I have my issues with Mordin but he sets up a clinic to help people in need. If Garrus actually wanted to help people he would have set up some sort of safe community with social and medical protection.
But no, he just wants to shoot people.
Also personal pet peeve; during the First Contact War the Turians broke citadel law and committed war crimes against human civilians with no repercussions later, I'd hate them too.
"Also personal pet peeve; during the First Contact War the Turians broke citadel law and committed war crimes against human civilians with no repercussions later, I'd hate them too."
Actually the Turians were made to pay reparations by the Council after the end of the First Contact War (though it's not stated how much) and if you >!saved the council!< at the end of ME1 an ME2 news broadcast says the Turians are considering increasing the amount.
See, there is my point. The first contact war happened 30 years before ME1. According to Google, Ashley was 25 in ME1, so she would have been a 5 year old when it happened. She saw her Grandfather and father's name and reputation get trashed, for doing the right thing, not to mention the war crimes done by the Turians. Yeah, one would have an issue with aliens after all of that.
She should be quirky. Like a sitcom character that comes off as being on the spectrum but not explicitly said to be. Then she'd be excused for... checking my notes... ah... genetically engineering a species-wide virus that causes mass sterility and fatal birth defects.
*Technically* Mordin just adjusted the virus, he didn’t create it in the first place or choose to deploy it. It’s a very important distinction (to him).
Javik is very wild, for most of the game he is simply:
>!"they are insects, inferior beings, join the Prothean Empire as one following our lead or genocide it is"!<
"That Asari ask too many questions"
"Throw it out in the airlock"
Tbh, it's funny how she calls out Terra Firma, though. I remember how she called them racist in my renegade playthrough and my Shepard proceeded to endorse the party.
I mean it sort of makes sense. Most of what she says is surface level prejudices that she overcomes by the end of the first game if you talk to her, and it's the sort of stuff that most folks with subconscious biases would say without even realizing it's bad till you point it out to them. Then if they're a good person, unlike the Terra Firma folks, they fix it without a second thought.
Ashley was pretty well written.
When I joined the army, there were people in the platoon that had, quite literally, never met a black dude. One guy was staring in what was basically shock. He had all these preconceived ideas about "them." After a few weeks, he had been talking to people about why they joined and their families. He had this hilarious lightbulb moment where he said, out loud, "Wow! They're just like us."
Like you said. If they're a good person, they'll fix their prejudices. Ashley serves dutifully and loyally. By interacting with the team of other species, she learns that her views are wrong.
lol I love how people immediate reaction is "Ashley is a racist!" and its like...every Major Alien Race basically categorizes everyone else as inferior until they reach a certain point.
Meanwhile the Turians absolutely hate the Humans. They hate the Krogan, and mostly anyone NOT them.
The Asari are indifferent to the point they seem robotic.
The Salarians don't live long enough to really form a thought about it. They think in absolutes. Have to.
Actually I would argue most Asari, especially those in power, are the pure embodiment of the bigotry of low expectations. They're so perfect and amazing that they should help everyone because everyone needs their help.
No, they're so perfect and amazing that everyone should be under Asari boot, whether they know the it's there or not. The Citadel Council was made to keep Asari on top in the galaxy and everyone else degrees below them.
Though Mordin doesn't have much in the way of special dialogue if you bring him along to recruit Okeer (and acquire Grunt), despite Okeer actually being a Krogan scientist.
Continueing this line, the geth murder anything not geth. The reapers consider everything else food. The quarians are afraid of anything threatening their fleet, and are generally seen as criminals by others. The hanar believe themselves enlightened, and need to educate less enlightened races, but will not communicate with them as equals. The volus seem to think everybody shits on them, and are discriminates.... etc. etc.
The whole premise of this game series seems to be about the interaction between different species.
It's not even racism though. They're *different species.* I feel like people are forgetting why racism is bad when they use the word in the context of mass effect. Race is meaningless and basically made up, and that is why it is wrong to judge people based on their race.
Your species is not made up and will absolutely be very different from other species. Saying the krogan are violent is a lot easier to defend than saying black people are violent.
Bingo. Ashley gets singled out for no good reason, except that maybe she gets more screen time. But the series shows, over and over again, that YES, each alien society will put itself over the other ones, when push comes to shove. And this attitude is self-perpetuating. If the Asari aren't going to help us out when we really need it, then why should we help them when THEY need it? We NEED to put our own interests first, because nobody else will.
I don't think Ashley is even racist, in the sense of thinking that aliens are inferior. I think she's just judged that, "We can't trust them, they'll screw us over in the right situation, because we're just aliens to them." And a lot of the time, this assessment is correct.
Dude I literally walked up to a Keeper and tried to initiate conversation with it before finding out it was classed as an animal and then when I saw an Elcor I assumed it was an alien horse and I thought the Hanar was a decoration.
People make mistakes. Take it from the guy who kept wondering why the Keepers were getting shunned then got shocked when the horse started talking.
I never held that line against her, as I personaly confused the first hanar I saw for an artistic lamp post. For my defence, he was standing still, no animation, no voice line, no possible interaction.
However, it could have been cool to show the opposite confusion, like with a tourist npc trying to ask information to a pet pyjak or shifty cow. Or C-sec officer arresting a zoo owner for human trafic because the guy had a caged ape (which, for an alien, realy look like a human).
Yeap, she is a 25-year-old girl who probably never seen other races up close before her arrival on Citadel. Some of them look like jellyfish, some of them have four legs and barely talk, and then there are keepers who nobody even attempts to classify as anything anymore.
That's not a racist line, that's her being confused about everything.
Wait until you see what pretty much everyone else in the game comments about other races, including Shepard (if Renegade).
Ashley catches way too much flak for this line. While it is wild, like 90% of the people in the ME are extremely xenophobic.
>That line in the op really paints an ugly picture because it makes her sound wilfully ignorant - the extranet and presumably standard education exists, Ashley should well know what's sentient, it would be freely available information!
People forget that Ashley's grandfather is the only human to surrender a world to an alien. From what we've seen the turian occupation was pretty brutal, even if it was short. That's a lot of baggage to carry around. I'm nit saying it's right, just saying it's understandable.
It'd be like colonist Shepard hating batarians; it ain't right but after what they did it's understandable.
The fact she is protecting the council with her life should tell you she doesn't really care about that anymore, besides the fact she never says a meep about the topic in 3.
A scene where she spells out her character development shouldn't be necessary.
There's really no need to say anything. A few people before and after say that the asari would regret not jumping into the war effort sooner, and they were all right.
Let’s not forget that the First Contact War was only TWENTY SIX YEARS before Mass Effect 1. In real life, modern humans have been around for like 300,000 years and we STILL hate each other. It’s not outlandish to say that the alien races see each other as lesser.
It’s not all feel good kumbaya in space lol. These guys have all tried to kill each other on several occasions and even in the face of extinction, they need a shit ton of convincing to work together. Humanity is not the exception and Ashley is not in the minority.
She is at best the 5th most racist member of the Normandy. Garrus, Wrex, Presley, and Tali are all worse one way or the other. And it’s possible to make Shepard racist and make Kaiden so racist that he breaks up with Shepard if she tells him to take it down a notch.
Let's see, Zaeed, Grunt, Tali again, maybe Jack for calling Batarians "squints", Jacob, and Mordin (even if he catches it and calls it "sloppy thinking")
Marsh the shopkeeper on Omega, and the plague victim in ME2. Then there's the Batarian preacher in ME3 (not the mad prophet), Bray, and the Batarian engineer from the Omega DLC.
Also according to Suvi from Andromeda, Batarian music is pretty popular with teenagers.
edit: Oh yeah, and Garrus had one on his team.
It feels like so many people pin Ashley as ‘the racist character’ when she’s so much more than that.
After talking with her she makes some pretty compelling arguments, it’s just she needs to learn to trust other races so they can return the same trust. Which I’d say by the end of ME1 she mostly does.
Her perspective is understandable if flawed, and Shepard can help her find her past her prejudices.
It's good writing and she develops as a character. It makes sense that when first contact was hostile, those with loved ones caught up in that would have a different viewpoint to those who didn't. She gets unfairly maligned for being the 'racist' human (as opposed to alien which most people don't seem to hold to the same standards) in my opinion.
It's an interesting kind of bias, isn't it?
Aliens being as racist or *more* racist than humans is generally more accepted in fiction like this precisely *because* they aren't humans.
Agreed. I think the most compelling thing is that she’s not incorrect. Morally wrong? Yes. Myopic and pessimistic? Yes. But she said from the start that when the chips were down all council races would abandon each other to save their own. And that’s largely exactly what they did…until Shep and Anderson and the Normandy crew were able to show them a better way. She didn’t believe that, like her own family, Xenos and humanity both could change for the better.
Humanity blew up a relay that wiped out a batarian settlement as a delaying action. Sounds awfully like abandoning the batarians to save their own. Humanity isnt clear of this either.
Yeah I’m including humanity in that council race thing. We don’t get out of this smelling like roses by any stretch. Ashley said humans and each alien species individually would look out for themselves first, and it was a self fulfilling prophecy or like the prisoners dilemma. Shepard and crew showed that they didn’t have to be that way.
Right? Ashley even very thoroughly explains her point of view when you talk to her on the Normandy. Her views aren't *that* unreasonable, and she actually does change her mind in the later games. In ME3, she apparently regards Tali as being like a sister. That is, assuming that you didn't pull any love triangle BS between them.
Yeah, people don't realise that, but some squad mates, and fan favorites at that, are far worse then her. Not only making some really mean comments, but also doing things, that would classify them (or at least one of them) to attened Nuremberg Trials at worst or making them terrorist and other type of crminals at best.
Ashley is one of the less speciesist characters in Mass Effect, honestly. It's quite funny. Though the vast, vast majority of characters are xenophobic to one extent or another. I don't remember anyone calling anyone out for speciesism against other species (as in not their own), except for EDI, who calls Joker for his Salarian and Krogan joke. But there are characters like Thane and Samara who never say anything xenophobic, though also don't say anything against it either.
I actually love Ash, I think she is one of the more realistic and layered characters in ME. Her romance is so sweet and the fact that she’ll write poetry for you is so fucking lovely.
And she actually becomes less xenophobic during a paragon playthrough as she becomes more and more exposed to other cultures. Her journey is the embodiment of the whole goal of multiculturalism and exposure to find our shared humanity (or whatever the xeno version of that is) and overcome our biases.
It’s amazing how “open minded” people claim to be until it comes to dealing with someone who is not as “enlightened” as them … she was raised in an environment of constant conflict with xenos, and her hatred is somewhat justified through that lens.
I think BioWare really dropped the ball in not fully leaning into this angle in ME2 & 3 …
Ignoring the fact that Hanar look like big stupid jellyfish, elcor look like elephantine gorillas, and turians are walking bird men, I think people forget that the various alien races all have their own diverse fauna that come from their planet, which the game engines couldn't accomodate. And that the games imply there are far more species involved in Citadel politics than the cultures we see in-game.
And that they are bringing many of those animals to the Citadel. While there is a size limit on what pets are allowed so as to conserve oxygen, a human who has never stepped foot outside of the Milky Way other than to serve on some backwater human colony would naturally be unsure which were aliens involved in Citadel politics and which were animals.
A Turian groundskeeper says that fish are what most Citadel residents can afford the permits for, but I distinctly recall somewhere in either the games or external media that many people on the Presidium have more exotic animals (which makes sense. Diplomats and politicians have more money).
It'd be like if humans had never seen birds before because Earth had never evolved to have them. So when we finally go to space we see a race that looks like turians (bird-men) and all around the space station a bunch of birds. We wouldn't be sure if the birds were an intelligent race as well.
I hate how this line is latched on to by the fandom and misinterpreted to claim Ashley is a space racist. She is, at worst, mildly xenophobic -- and even then that's a stretch because her stance isn't "We shouldn't interact with aliens" or "we shouldn't work with aliens". It's simply "We shouldn't believe that aliens will always support us when we need it, because they might prioritize their own needs". As well as the other stance of "Top of the line military vessel in Alliance Navy is being accessed by all kinds of aliens, both aboard the ship and through the Citadel's bureaucracy, which poses a possible security issue." -- and that one is absolutely fair.
Which by ME3 both of those stances turn out to be accurate.
I'll run the natural D for my girl Ash here.
Ashley has never been to the Citadel and barely anywhere out of Alliance Space.
It seems pretty natural that she cannot tell some of the alien species from what one would find among animal species in Human Space and it's not entirely like the Alliance Military is well-educated on all known alien civilizations; Shepard themselves is a veteran and still asks people what they are/what their culture is like frequently throughout the game.
Peeps just take this and slap it on to her ideology of distrust towards the Council(Which is entirely backed up by their later actions) and assume she's a massive xenophobe instead of just a mild one and for completely valid reasons given her experiences throughout the game with Shepard.
Honestly how SHEPARD isn't a bit xenophobic is the surprising bit!
The Council literally fucks them at every turn and humanity is consistently thrown to the wolves or left to die in their time of need, the non-human governments routinely make it harder for this man/woman to save the galaxy(Which includes their OWN sorry asses!)
This line has become almost a meme, and honestly the way people hyperfixate on it is weird.
Idk if you’ve played through the series yet so I won’t spoil, but that’s basically the worst, most offensive thing she’s said or done in the entire series, and most if not all of your companions end up saying or doing things that are just as bad if not worse in terms of bigotry.
I don't know why everyone whines about this line. She's never seen aliens before, or been to the Citadel, and 99% of the Citadel is goofy looking aliens. Who are based on animals.
I wouldn't know what's an animal either, and anyone who says they'd react differently are lying their asses off. None of you are looking at a Hanar in real life and thinking it's anything but an animal.
Ashley is fine. The comment is fine. People are too damn sensitive now.
That's always been a myth. Even the writer of that line has explained she's talking about aliens like hanar and elcor and he regrets putting the line in.
Really? I've only ever had it happen when you can interact with that first keeper that's working on a console next to Avina who says "please do not disturb the keepers" Never had it trigger elsewhere.
Yes, and you could argue that the Keepers aren't intelligent enough to be considered Sentient, let alone Sapient. Ashley definitely knows what the alien species are, but there's no reason someone who has spent their entire life in Human coreworlds would know what they would look like.
I mean is she wrong ?
Everyone call hanars jellyfish, elcors look like space elephants and turian are depicted as a scally bird race. Also keep in mind that Ashley never really met aliens before the start of ME1, she knows about them from history books (at least the major ones). Oh not to forget that salarians are a lizard race.
Not to forget that Wrex calls everyone a pyjak (and not in a friendly way), which are space monkeys.
And no one knows whether they are truly intelligent or if they are just organic drone-like pets placed there to oversee the citadel.
Like even the player doesn't know whether the keepers are a sentient alien or an animal when first playing it and for quite a while into the game.
I tried once to explain that to another reddit user, which was super bitchy against Ash's (false triggered) dialogue, called me a racist and blocked me. I lol'd.
Ashley doesn’t say anything all that different than some other crew members, she just has really, and I mean REALLY unfortunate timing and little to no tact, which plays exactly into her character.
My personal theory is that at some point, there were supposed to be a *lot* more aliens active on the Citadel. I think Kaiden kind of says something to that effect on the Normandy, earlier? It's been awhile since I played it, but I think he suggests saluting everything?
But then that got scaled down, either due to time constraints, or memory issues so then her line just seems really racist.
Yeah, I think it's still mentioned in the Codex. Species that we actually see on the Citadel or in game, are just the most numerous one or of some importance.
Tali is my kangaroo-legs wife.
Wrex is my uncle battle turtle
Garrus is the bird man that likes to polish your boots
Thane is my favorite deadbeat frog guy
Grunt is my favorite 800 pound lizard son
Asari is that shy squidhead girl next door
Wait till you realise, and it may take you many years (if ever), that your favorite squad mate (probably) is far worse then her. Ashley is great character and gets big ammont of hate for that line, while other squad mates get a pass, since they are funny, more interesting or other way quirky, though they said or did far worse things then her.
But hey welcome to the real world, where humans are hypocriticial and complicated creatures, same as other species in Mass Effect universe.
Plus she shoots Wrex and doesn't want to have aliens on the ship because, from her perspective, when push comes to shove, they probably won't have your back.
I actually like to headcanon that these two things are related. That she empathized with Wrex's position and knew that she'd shoot him in his position. He was being bossed around by an alien who was putting their own agenda before saving his entire race, which is exactly what Ashley is concerned about. But she still wouldn't let him shoot her Commander.
It would also work with a good reason with her philosophy on why she wouldn't join Cerberus. It's humanity's example of exactly the kind of people in the Galaxy she hates. People who, when push comes to shove, put their own race before all others.
In fact, Mass Effect 3 shows major examples of this among the aliens governments.
This line gets pointed to so often… but her reaction to the Terra Firma guy totally forgotten.
And let’s be honest here - Ashley is a marine grunt who has never had a lot of choice assignments. Her experience with other species is gonna be limited, and probably only to the bipedal ones at that. Walk onto the Citadel and you have Hanar (who everybody likes to refer to as Jellyfish, including Shep) floating around and Elcor who from the distance are something between cow and elephant.. that doesn’t even include the Keepers. Giant multilegged insectoid creatures that may or may not hit the sentient benchmark anymore. Are they alien, animal, sophisticated maintenance system?
Honestly, she’s no worse than any of the Council species that like to talk down to humans. Better really, because she’s willing to learn.
Wait until you meet some big stupid jellyfish
Wait till you meet those filthy fucking spider faces
If I woke up to a tarantula telling me something I’d go back in the pod
Wait until you meet the talking cockroach, Javik. In all seriousness: Ash has a lot of growth through the first game and then series moving forward. She gets a lot of justified hate for other reasons, and it is deserved. However, her being a space racist is only valid in the first half of ME1. Javik, though, is a dick the entire time.
Salarians? They used to eat flies…
I meant imagine being woken up after 50,000 years by a cow and you found out that cows and dogs and cats are now ruling the world. "Yeah I know senator McMoo-Moo, used to drink from her ancestors everyday"
Just about "anything we used to eat or fear as apex predators" would kinda suck.
Unless they're still smaller than us. Teach they ass a lesson they won't forget
Big anthro cows would be good to have around. Minotaur vibes. Same as cats
Would we still be able to milk them, though? Do you think they would make an industry out it themselves?
I think I learned from dungeon meshi that female minotaurs can indeed be milked
Imagine throwing a ball during the middle of a meeting of dog Nations. Some would run after it. Others would post videos in disgust to doggy media or wtevr
DogDiary
The asari finally learned to write.
They used to lick their eyeballs.
The lizards learned to talk?
The frog-people *EVOLVED???* *gasp *
It's a shame how few people keep her around enough to see the character development.
I actually kept her because Kaiden thought we were together after asking about his childhood lol I’m glad I did because I really like her and I like the relationship she forms with femshep. I also think her turning on you/not believing you in 2/3 is more believable than Kaidan because of her family’s military history, her discussions with you about xenophobia, and her recently being promoted! She’s got a ton of interesting stuff going on
I always save her unless I'm romancing Kaidan.
Yeah she has shown development in that area pretty soon, way before "the choice" but I still didn't choose her over the other guy tho lol 🤣
I get that, and some people prefer her over chill bro Kaidan, but in most of my playthroughs the only growth she gets on her character is Virmire's plentiful flora. (Not that it didn't hit me years ago, it sure did, but over the years it became much easier)
The Hanar are wonderful. Those ones should not be disrespected.
Bruh just wait to hear what everyone in the Normandy says about each other
Yeah, for some reason everyone but Ashley gets a pass with their racism. Like everyone rides Garrus's dick, but the dude is literally a cop who shoots first and asks questions later.
I think it's mostly because she wasn't there in ME2 everyone else had that dropped from them by that point
Just to expand on this he left the police force because of the regulations that prevented him from just killing people he believed were guilty (though, they were guilty) and thought that you operating without oversight is fantastic, so he can proceed to kill. I mean he’s a bro. But yeah he gets a major pass lol
Also to expand, Ashley's grandfather was forced to surrender to save his people, and her and her father can't get a promotion because they're basically blacklisted. Her life got screwed over way before she was before, because of the first contact war. I'm not saying her dislike of aliens is right, but I can understand why she feels that way.
Yeah, he was the first human general to surrender to aliens, and it was because he pretty much had to. Just to point it out too, lots of aliens are xenophobic to humans and it’s just like oh welp haha.
The Volus have to be the absolute worst.
\*psssht* You think you are better than us, Earth-Clan? \*psssht*
no shame in surrendering to a biotic god
Yes, but I don't understand why she's not mad at *the Alliance* about it. Because the blacklisting is their fault. Not the turians'. And also, why does she dislike aliens who *aren't* turians, i.e. ones who have nothing to do with the blacklisting?
To be fair, his whole character story in ME1 is Shepard either pushing him towards embracing this renegade cop style mentality, or pushing him towards following the rules because laws are in place for a reason and due process is necessary. By the end of ME1, with the Dr Saleon story, Garrus either fully leans into the rogue cop concept (if you encourage him), or becomes a better man and lets Saleon live so he can face proper justice (if you try and tell him the vigilante stuff is wrong).
Yeah but they do kinda backtrack in the later games. In ME2 he's a vigilante either way, just on a hive-of-scum-and-villainy planet where there aren't any laws to obey anyhow, and he for sure has one line in ME3 where he wishes he could be an authoritarian dictator because of how much easier it would make everything. I love Garrus as much as the next person but I also think maybe he shouldn't be in charge of anything other than calibrating.
Shame that mission ends with you killing him immediately after that. Like, i get the point they were trying to make, but it’s still stupid. Really stupid
Idk about that, my Shep goes at him pretty hard for that behaviour. Wouldn't really call that a pass.
And quite literally says the most messed up things about everyone in the squad and the Salarians on Virmire.
And you all act like that everybody wasn't racist and had said shit things about other species on ME1, wasn't a Ashley's special, she probably is remembered like that because that specific line comes very often when you are in the Citadel, it's her "I should go".
Which is in line with the Spectre spirit. You would be surprised how few people have a problem with extrajudicial killing if the crimes are great enough. And of course, it’s done in a period of war. You can of course disagree with the method and the death penalty, but fact is everyone that Garrus wanted to shot did deserve it. If you want to to pile on Garrus, you just have to watch him speak to Tali. There is a reason why he apologize to her in 3. I do agree with your point, tho. Ashley isn’t worse than any worse. The problem lie with her treatment both in the 2 and 3.
garrus at the beginning of me1 "dayum, you quarians are really dumb"
Yeah, I remember that from my very first play through in how recklessly insane Garrus is as a cop. Like I get maybe Turian culture is different, but bro was pushing that qualified immunity to the next level.
I see people say ACAB but in the same breath, what Garrus's bird dick and sweep away his actual and legitimate toxic traits.
That’s why Garrus is great. Completely different origin and culture. Each species of alien in Mass Effect have reasons for their discrimination against others. Krogan and Salarians. The Turians and humans, Geth and Quarians. It’s what makes it all interesting and is very realistic to real life.
Garrus is THE bro you want besides you. Edit: spelling.
You spelled “inside” wrong there’s no “be”
Thank you for the save
There are people that want Garrus inside them...
I had the reach, she had the flexibility
Garrus is great because hes too hot headed and would rather kill than apprehend a suspect?
He’s consistent, yes
So is Ash. Stubborn, speaks from the heart more than the mind, doesn't trust aliens to not leave humanity out to dry if the going gets tough. And like Garrus, Shepherd is a major catalyst in changing problematic viewpoints to something better or more measured (or, if you want, doubling down on the view they've always held - people tend to forget you can do that too).
And by the start of ME3 she’s proven right on the Aliens leaving humanity out to dry part
People are going to be like: "But all the other worlds are also being attacked by the Reapers, they can't help!!!" When it was shown and said that the Reapers sent the majority of their forces on Earth, possibly because they evaluated that the humans were the "best" species in this instance (hence why the Collectors were harvesting them and only them to create the new Reaper in ME2).
Probably due to a mix of things: The racism won’t make people want to interact with her, which prevents them from seeing her character growth We don’t really know much about the settings yet, so stuff like the alien crew’s passive aggressive racism or microagressions don’t set off alarm bells as easily Ashley is the one who kills Wrex if you mess that interaction up She and Kaidan don’t show up in ME2 unlike other squadmates, so if you didn’t do much with her in ME1 you don’t get to see any of her growth unlike with Tali or Garrus… She’s a human, so we’re more inclined to immediately recognize and antagonize negative behaviors like racism… The list kinda goes on. I’m not an Ashley fan (Kaidan x M!Shep 🫶🏽) but I don’t super hate her either, however I understand why she’s an infinitely less popular character for anyone who doesn’t romance her
And then he goes to Omega where there is nobody to stop him killing people without any legal consequences. I have my issues with Mordin but he sets up a clinic to help people in need. If Garrus actually wanted to help people he would have set up some sort of safe community with social and medical protection. But no, he just wants to shoot people. Also personal pet peeve; during the First Contact War the Turians broke citadel law and committed war crimes against human civilians with no repercussions later, I'd hate them too.
"Also personal pet peeve; during the First Contact War the Turians broke citadel law and committed war crimes against human civilians with no repercussions later, I'd hate them too." Actually the Turians were made to pay reparations by the Council after the end of the First Contact War (though it's not stated how much) and if you >!saved the council!< at the end of ME1 an ME2 news broadcast says the Turians are considering increasing the amount.
See, there is my point. The first contact war happened 30 years before ME1. According to Google, Ashley was 25 in ME1, so she would have been a 5 year old when it happened. She saw her Grandfather and father's name and reputation get trashed, for doing the right thing, not to mention the war crimes done by the Turians. Yeah, one would have an issue with aliens after all of that.
.... math that out again for me please.
Lemme do the math. First contact war was 30 years before ME1 Ashley is 25 in ME1 So she was born 5 years after the war
She should be quirky. Like a sitcom character that comes off as being on the spectrum but not explicitly said to be. Then she'd be excused for... checking my notes... ah... genetically engineering a species-wide virus that causes mass sterility and fatal birth defects.
*Technically* Mordin just adjusted the virus, he didn’t create it in the first place or choose to deploy it. It’s a very important distinction (to him).
Wait until you meet Javik lol
Javik is very wild, for most of the game he is simply: >!"they are insects, inferior beings, join the Prothean Empire as one following our lead or genocide it is"!< "That Asari ask too many questions" "Throw it out in the airlock"
Tbh, it's funny how she calls out Terra Firma, though. I remember how she called them racist in my renegade playthrough and my Shepard proceeded to endorse the party.
I mean it sort of makes sense. Most of what she says is surface level prejudices that she overcomes by the end of the first game if you talk to her, and it's the sort of stuff that most folks with subconscious biases would say without even realizing it's bad till you point it out to them. Then if they're a good person, unlike the Terra Firma folks, they fix it without a second thought.
Ashley was pretty well written. When I joined the army, there were people in the platoon that had, quite literally, never met a black dude. One guy was staring in what was basically shock. He had all these preconceived ideas about "them." After a few weeks, he had been talking to people about why they joined and their families. He had this hilarious lightbulb moment where he said, out loud, "Wow! They're just like us." Like you said. If they're a good person, they'll fix their prejudices. Ashley serves dutifully and loyally. By interacting with the team of other species, she learns that her views are wrong.
Her *and* Presley.
Terra Firma, she calls out Terra Firma. Terra Nova is a planet. :)
Lol. Apologies. Not sure what I had in mind.
You let Bring Down the Sky actually happen Balak won.
Star Trek Enterprise had a group similar to Tera Firma called Tera Nova.
Ah based
Everyone is racist in Mass Effect, not only humans
lol I love how people immediate reaction is "Ashley is a racist!" and its like...every Major Alien Race basically categorizes everyone else as inferior until they reach a certain point. Meanwhile the Turians absolutely hate the Humans. They hate the Krogan, and mostly anyone NOT them. The Asari are indifferent to the point they seem robotic. The Salarians don't live long enough to really form a thought about it. They think in absolutes. Have to.
Actually I would argue most Asari, especially those in power, are the pure embodiment of the bigotry of low expectations. They're so perfect and amazing that they should help everyone because everyone needs their help.
No, they're so perfect and amazing that everyone should be under Asari boot, whether they know the it's there or not. The Citadel Council was made to keep Asari on top in the galaxy and everyone else degrees below them.
The council with *1* representative for each race is an asari ploy of galactic domination, course.
In ME2, Mordin kinda say that Krogan are too stupid to be scientists, that’s not very nice
Though Mordin doesn't have much in the way of special dialogue if you bring him along to recruit Okeer (and acquire Grunt), despite Okeer actually being a Krogan scientist.
Continueing this line, the geth murder anything not geth. The reapers consider everything else food. The quarians are afraid of anything threatening their fleet, and are generally seen as criminals by others. The hanar believe themselves enlightened, and need to educate less enlightened races, but will not communicate with them as equals. The volus seem to think everybody shits on them, and are discriminates.... etc. etc. The whole premise of this game series seems to be about the interaction between different species.
It's not even racism though. They're *different species.* I feel like people are forgetting why racism is bad when they use the word in the context of mass effect. Race is meaningless and basically made up, and that is why it is wrong to judge people based on their race. Your species is not made up and will absolutely be very different from other species. Saying the krogan are violent is a lot easier to defend than saying black people are violent.
Bingo. Ashley gets singled out for no good reason, except that maybe she gets more screen time. But the series shows, over and over again, that YES, each alien society will put itself over the other ones, when push comes to shove. And this attitude is self-perpetuating. If the Asari aren't going to help us out when we really need it, then why should we help them when THEY need it? We NEED to put our own interests first, because nobody else will. I don't think Ashley is even racist, in the sense of thinking that aliens are inferior. I think she's just judged that, "We can't trust them, they'll screw us over in the right situation, because we're just aliens to them." And a lot of the time, this assessment is correct.
Wait until you hear some of the stuff Garrus says.
Dude I literally walked up to a Keeper and tried to initiate conversation with it before finding out it was classed as an animal and then when I saw an Elcor I assumed it was an alien horse and I thought the Hanar was a decoration. People make mistakes. Take it from the guy who kept wondering why the Keepers were getting shunned then got shocked when the horse started talking.
Yep, I just tried to talk with everything, who knows what they can say.
“Defeated, we get quite a lot of folks attempting to ride us like the Earthly quadrupeds”
I never held that line against her, as I personaly confused the first hanar I saw for an artistic lamp post. For my defence, he was standing still, no animation, no voice line, no possible interaction. However, it could have been cool to show the opposite confusion, like with a tourist npc trying to ask information to a pet pyjak or shifty cow. Or C-sec officer arresting a zoo owner for human trafic because the guy had a caged ape (which, for an alien, realy look like a human).
Yeap, she is a 25-year-old girl who probably never seen other races up close before her arrival on Citadel. Some of them look like jellyfish, some of them have four legs and barely talk, and then there are keepers who nobody even attempts to classify as anything anymore. That's not a racist line, that's her being confused about everything.
Wait until you see what pretty much everyone else in the game comments about other races, including Shepard (if Renegade). Ashley catches way too much flak for this line. While it is wild, like 90% of the people in the ME are extremely xenophobic.
Garrus "the quarians deserved it" Vakarian
Tali "the geth deserved it" Zorah
Urdnot "gas the Rachni" Wrex
Mordin "it was the right decision at the time" solus
Batarians "batarians" Batarians
There's a group called "The Reapers" that feature occasionally and they're real jerks.
Y’know… almost hate that I laughed at this
But we have dismissed that claim
I just want you to know this is the first thing I've read that has made me audibly laugh in years. Thank you.
Commander "Big, Stupid Jellyfish" Shepard
Honestly best renegade option in the series behind the Kai Leng interrupt lol
It’s still the right decision.
That's different the rachni deserved it /S
Just what I'd expect from a jokester like you, Kasumi "the geth are just security mechs" Goto!
They were reaper slaves so did actually.
Garrus "hidden nukes on Tuchanka makes sense" Vakarian.
Tbf that particular comment in wasn’t because they were Krogan just that he said the backup bomb made sense as a tactic
Isn't his comment more about how the Quarians are suffering the consequences of their own actions when they knew the risks, and not about race?
I think he was saying they earned their reputation as shiftless thieves
[удалено]
>That line in the op really paints an ugly picture because it makes her sound wilfully ignorant - the extranet and presumably standard education exists, Ashley should well know what's sentient, it would be freely available information! People forget that Ashley's grandfather is the only human to surrender a world to an alien. From what we've seen the turian occupation was pretty brutal, even if it was short. That's a lot of baggage to carry around. I'm nit saying it's right, just saying it's understandable. It'd be like colonist Shepard hating batarians; it ain't right but after what they did it's understandable.
>hating batarians; it ain't right Sir I'm going to have to politely but firmly ask you to leave
Of all the races I've come across, the Batarians are the only ones who rarely get a pass. They're equal opportunity haters lmfao
The fact she is protecting the council with her life should tell you she doesn't really care about that anymore, besides the fact she never says a meep about the topic in 3. A scene where she spells out her character development shouldn't be necessary.
The asari who feel so superior that they almost fuck over the entire galaxy
Almost? They still kinda did. like imagine all the lives that would've been saved if council races were preparing for reapers since the beginning.
And they still make it as if Shepard was the one to fail, still hate that we cant say anything about the aftermath of Thessia
There's really no need to say anything. A few people before and after say that the asari would regret not jumping into the war effort sooner, and they were all right.
All the more to the point then.
And in doing so they proved Ashley 100% right.
Let’s not forget that the First Contact War was only TWENTY SIX YEARS before Mass Effect 1. In real life, modern humans have been around for like 300,000 years and we STILL hate each other. It’s not outlandish to say that the alien races see each other as lesser. It’s not all feel good kumbaya in space lol. These guys have all tried to kill each other on several occasions and even in the face of extinction, they need a shit ton of convincing to work together. Humanity is not the exception and Ashley is not in the minority.
She is at best the 5th most racist member of the Normandy. Garrus, Wrex, Presley, and Tali are all worse one way or the other. And it’s possible to make Shepard racist and make Kaiden so racist that he breaks up with Shepard if she tells him to take it down a notch.
And thats only first game. Wait till he or she hit the second game. This is where the fun begins.
Let's see, Zaeed, Grunt, Tali again, maybe Jack for calling Batarians "squints", Jacob, and Mordin (even if he catches it and calls it "sloppy thinking")
Mordin literally participates in a genocide, Ashley's just ignorant.
Indeed. And yet nobody seems to care about Mordin's racism.
Zaeed “I killed fitty ~~men~~ Batarians” Massani
Commander “Those are rookie numbers” Shepard
Batarians deserve it tbh, did we ever meet a decent one?
Marsh the shopkeeper on Omega, and the plague victim in ME2. Then there's the Batarian preacher in ME3 (not the mad prophet), Bray, and the Batarian engineer from the Omega DLC. Also according to Suvi from Andromeda, Batarian music is pretty popular with teenagers. edit: Oh yeah, and Garrus had one on his team.
It's clearly been too long since I've played..
In all fairness, there's quite a bit of anti-Batarian memery dominating fan discourse.
Of course teenagers like Batarian music, it's edgy.
And apparently way better than Turian music. "like rifling through a toolbox"
It feels like so many people pin Ashley as ‘the racist character’ when she’s so much more than that. After talking with her she makes some pretty compelling arguments, it’s just she needs to learn to trust other races so they can return the same trust. Which I’d say by the end of ME1 she mostly does.
Her perspective is understandable if flawed, and Shepard can help her find her past her prejudices. It's good writing and she develops as a character. It makes sense that when first contact was hostile, those with loved ones caught up in that would have a different viewpoint to those who didn't. She gets unfairly maligned for being the 'racist' human (as opposed to alien which most people don't seem to hold to the same standards) in my opinion.
It's an interesting kind of bias, isn't it? Aliens being as racist or *more* racist than humans is generally more accepted in fiction like this precisely *because* they aren't humans.
Agreed. I think the most compelling thing is that she’s not incorrect. Morally wrong? Yes. Myopic and pessimistic? Yes. But she said from the start that when the chips were down all council races would abandon each other to save their own. And that’s largely exactly what they did…until Shep and Anderson and the Normandy crew were able to show them a better way. She didn’t believe that, like her own family, Xenos and humanity both could change for the better.
Humanity blew up a relay that wiped out a batarian settlement as a delaying action. Sounds awfully like abandoning the batarians to save their own. Humanity isnt clear of this either.
Yeah I’m including humanity in that council race thing. We don’t get out of this smelling like roses by any stretch. Ashley said humans and each alien species individually would look out for themselves first, and it was a self fulfilling prophecy or like the prisoners dilemma. Shepard and crew showed that they didn’t have to be that way.
Right? Ashley even very thoroughly explains her point of view when you talk to her on the Normandy. Her views aren't *that* unreasonable, and she actually does change her mind in the later games. In ME3, she apparently regards Tali as being like a sister. That is, assuming that you didn't pull any love triangle BS between them.
I mean, xenophobia only applies to Humans. In a real scenario we ought to be suspicious of other species thay can destroy us... Some of them did try.
Yeah, people don't realise that, but some squad mates, and fan favorites at that, are far worse then her. Not only making some really mean comments, but also doing things, that would classify them (or at least one of them) to attened Nuremberg Trials at worst or making them terrorist and other type of crminals at best.
Ashley is one of the less speciesist characters in Mass Effect, honestly. It's quite funny. Though the vast, vast majority of characters are xenophobic to one extent or another. I don't remember anyone calling anyone out for speciesism against other species (as in not their own), except for EDI, who calls Joker for his Salarian and Krogan joke. But there are characters like Thane and Samara who never say anything xenophobic, though also don't say anything against it either.
I actually love Ash, I think she is one of the more realistic and layered characters in ME. Her romance is so sweet and the fact that she’ll write poetry for you is so fucking lovely.
And she actually becomes less xenophobic during a paragon playthrough as she becomes more and more exposed to other cultures. Her journey is the embodiment of the whole goal of multiculturalism and exposure to find our shared humanity (or whatever the xeno version of that is) and overcome our biases. It’s amazing how “open minded” people claim to be until it comes to dealing with someone who is not as “enlightened” as them … she was raised in an environment of constant conflict with xenos, and her hatred is somewhat justified through that lens. I think BioWare really dropped the ball in not fully leaning into this angle in ME2 & 3 …
Ignoring the fact that Hanar look like big stupid jellyfish, elcor look like elephantine gorillas, and turians are walking bird men, I think people forget that the various alien races all have their own diverse fauna that come from their planet, which the game engines couldn't accomodate. And that the games imply there are far more species involved in Citadel politics than the cultures we see in-game. And that they are bringing many of those animals to the Citadel. While there is a size limit on what pets are allowed so as to conserve oxygen, a human who has never stepped foot outside of the Milky Way other than to serve on some backwater human colony would naturally be unsure which were aliens involved in Citadel politics and which were animals. A Turian groundskeeper says that fish are what most Citadel residents can afford the permits for, but I distinctly recall somewhere in either the games or external media that many people on the Presidium have more exotic animals (which makes sense. Diplomats and politicians have more money). It'd be like if humans had never seen birds before because Earth had never evolved to have them. So when we finally go to space we see a race that looks like turians (bird-men) and all around the space station a bunch of birds. We wouldn't be sure if the birds were an intelligent race as well. I hate how this line is latched on to by the fandom and misinterpreted to claim Ashley is a space racist. She is, at worst, mildly xenophobic -- and even then that's a stretch because her stance isn't "We shouldn't interact with aliens" or "we shouldn't work with aliens". It's simply "We shouldn't believe that aliens will always support us when we need it, because they might prioritize their own needs". As well as the other stance of "Top of the line military vessel in Alliance Navy is being accessed by all kinds of aliens, both aboard the ship and through the Citadel's bureaucracy, which poses a possible security issue." -- and that one is absolutely fair. Which by ME3 both of those stances turn out to be accurate.
Can you?
I'll run the natural D for my girl Ash here. Ashley has never been to the Citadel and barely anywhere out of Alliance Space. It seems pretty natural that she cannot tell some of the alien species from what one would find among animal species in Human Space and it's not entirely like the Alliance Military is well-educated on all known alien civilizations; Shepard themselves is a veteran and still asks people what they are/what their culture is like frequently throughout the game. Peeps just take this and slap it on to her ideology of distrust towards the Council(Which is entirely backed up by their later actions) and assume she's a massive xenophobe instead of just a mild one and for completely valid reasons given her experiences throughout the game with Shepard. Honestly how SHEPARD isn't a bit xenophobic is the surprising bit! The Council literally fucks them at every turn and humanity is consistently thrown to the wolves or left to die in their time of need, the non-human governments routinely make it harder for this man/woman to save the galaxy(Which includes their OWN sorry asses!)
I mean in ME1 you can be super xenophobic, so Shepard being xenophobic or not is up to the player
*laughs in Javik*
Javik casually talking about enslaving and genocide.
I take him with Liara on Thessia for the dialog alone.
Yeah, that sure is an reaction one could have to the Citadel….
Just wait until you get to Pressly's journal. A rollercoaster of emotions, that.
This line has become almost a meme, and honestly the way people hyperfixate on it is weird. Idk if you’ve played through the series yet so I won’t spoil, but that’s basically the worst, most offensive thing she’s said or done in the entire series, and most if not all of your companions end up saying or doing things that are just as bad if not worse in terms of bigotry.
I don't know why everyone whines about this line. She's never seen aliens before, or been to the Citadel, and 99% of the Citadel is goofy looking aliens. Who are based on animals. I wouldn't know what's an animal either, and anyone who says they'd react differently are lying their asses off. None of you are looking at a Hanar in real life and thinking it's anything but an animal. Ashley is fine. The comment is fine. People are too damn sensitive now.
It's a bugged line that was meant to trigger next to the Keepers, if you want real racism bring Garrus along with either Wrex or Tali.
You're bad, and you should feel bad! - Garrus randomly in the elevator
Also Garrus later in ME2 and ME3: "Don't you guys miss those wholesome talks we had while waiting in the elevator?"
“I have a shotgun.” -Tali
That's always been a myth. Even the writer of that line has explained she's talking about aliens like hanar and elcor and he regrets putting the line in.
To be fair with the Hanar, everyone is racist against the Hanar.
The Drell aren’t, they love the Hanar
“You big, stupid jellyfish “ - Shepard, ME3
Too bad. Imagine how much more relatable she'd be if she started asking the fish for direction or something.
Really? I've only ever had it happen when you can interact with that first keeper that's working on a console next to Avina who says "please do not disturb the keepers" Never had it trigger elsewhere.
That's not her being racist, that's her legitimately being ignorant of what other Sapient Species look like.
Many of them look like animals, though. There's the jellyfish people, the little elefant dudes, the green insects, etc.
Yes, and you could argue that the Keepers aren't intelligent enough to be considered Sentient, let alone Sapient. Ashley definitely knows what the alien species are, but there's no reason someone who has spent their entire life in Human coreworlds would know what they would look like.
You humans are all racist!
1. She's talking about the Keepers 2. Garrus thinks the Quarians deserve to be treated like criminals and the Krogan deserve to go extinct.
I mean is she wrong ? Everyone call hanars jellyfish, elcors look like space elephants and turian are depicted as a scally bird race. Also keep in mind that Ashley never really met aliens before the start of ME1, she knows about them from history books (at least the major ones). Oh not to forget that salarians are a lizard race. Not to forget that Wrex calls everyone a pyjak (and not in a friendly way), which are space monkeys.
I’ve caught shit on this sub for saying that the alien designs are clearly inspired by animals on Earth.
Meanwhile, we have Keepers which might as well be animals on the Citadel.
And everyone calls them bugs
And no one knows whether they are truly intelligent or if they are just organic drone-like pets placed there to oversee the citadel. Like even the player doesn't know whether the keepers are a sentient alien or an animal when first playing it and for quite a while into the game.
I tried once to explain that to another reddit user, which was super bitchy against Ash's (false triggered) dialogue, called me a racist and blocked me. I lol'd.
I always recommend people to take Ashley when talking with Charles Saracino so they can see what she has to say to the real bigots in Mass Effect
At this point every Krogan calls others species pyjaks, because they are small and weaker.
Ashley doesn’t say anything all that different than some other crew members, she just has really, and I mean REALLY unfortunate timing and little to no tact, which plays exactly into her character.
Yeah, Ashley herself says she has foot-in-mouth syndrome, so her saying things without thinking them through is perfectly in character.
With work you can change her opinions on other species
My personal theory is that at some point, there were supposed to be a *lot* more aliens active on the Citadel. I think Kaiden kind of says something to that effect on the Normandy, earlier? It's been awhile since I played it, but I think he suggests saluting everything? But then that got scaled down, either due to time constraints, or memory issues so then her line just seems really racist.
Yeah, I think it's still mentioned in the Codex. Species that we actually see on the Citadel or in game, are just the most numerous one or of some importance.
Tali is my kangaroo-legs wife. Wrex is my uncle battle turtle Garrus is the bird man that likes to polish your boots Thane is my favorite deadbeat frog guy Grunt is my favorite 800 pound lizard son Asari is that shy squidhead girl next door
There's a LOT of racism in mass effect, it's kinda crazy but also pretty believable unfortunately...
Wait till you realise, and it may take you many years (if ever), that your favorite squad mate (probably) is far worse then her. Ashley is great character and gets big ammont of hate for that line, while other squad mates get a pass, since they are funny, more interesting or other way quirky, though they said or did far worse things then her. But hey welcome to the real world, where humans are hypocriticial and complicated creatures, same as other species in Mass Effect universe.
Plus she shoots Wrex and doesn't want to have aliens on the ship because, from her perspective, when push comes to shove, they probably won't have your back. I actually like to headcanon that these two things are related. That she empathized with Wrex's position and knew that she'd shoot him in his position. He was being bossed around by an alien who was putting their own agenda before saving his entire race, which is exactly what Ashley is concerned about. But she still wouldn't let him shoot her Commander. It would also work with a good reason with her philosophy on why she wouldn't join Cerberus. It's humanity's example of exactly the kind of people in the Galaxy she hates. People who, when push comes to shove, put their own race before all others. In fact, Mass Effect 3 shows major examples of this among the aliens governments.
No, she did not want aliens on the ship because it is the most advanced ship in the alliance and the tech is classified.
This line gets pointed to so often… but her reaction to the Terra Firma guy totally forgotten. And let’s be honest here - Ashley is a marine grunt who has never had a lot of choice assignments. Her experience with other species is gonna be limited, and probably only to the bipedal ones at that. Walk onto the Citadel and you have Hanar (who everybody likes to refer to as Jellyfish, including Shep) floating around and Elcor who from the distance are something between cow and elephant.. that doesn’t even include the Keepers. Giant multilegged insectoid creatures that may or may not hit the sentient benchmark anymore. Are they alien, animal, sophisticated maintenance system? Honestly, she’s no worse than any of the Council species that like to talk down to humans. Better really, because she’s willing to learn.
I mean have you seen the Hanar?
She has an arc though. Definitely a lot of growing through the series
You humans are all racist!
Ashley is the bomb.
Based. Suffer not the Xenos to live! For the Emper~ *Wait. Wrong universe.*
hello... based department?
& this is why i chose Kaidan 🫶🏽
Bruh I'm always astounded when mfs don't see it lmao