Headcanon Wednesday (But On A Thursday) : Salarian Markings
This post is dedicated to @theivorytowercrumbles for their long-ago headcanons and continuing coolness, and especially to @lyricsaboutcats and @assorted-things for their extensive efforts over the years to find out more about what is perhaps one of the most overlooked species in Mass Effect. It is also dedicated to my buddy @rawliverandcigarettes who I deeply admire and who likes salarians (though I'm sure my headcanons won't fit with theirs XD).
Much is known about turian face markings, how they signify colony affiliation, and how the absence of it is associated with the well-known trustworthiness of politicians everywhere (a holdover of the aftermath of the Unification War, when the Hierarchy first dictated that the prefects and governors rotating in the colonies should strip themselves of their markings and their past affiliations to signify the impartiality they should embody).
Less common knowledge is the significance of the asari tattoos, though extensive and easily accessible academic summaries have been compiled over the years by researchers. This continuing ignorance is generally considered yet another example of other species' unfortunate disinterest in trying to understand asari.
But absolutely no one understands the myriad markings in seemingly infinite variations that salarians apply on their skin.
At first glance, salarian clan crests seem to be entirely like turian face markings, as they identify in-group affiliation, with only a few, seemingly inconsequential differences :
the crests are not tattooed but are a form of waterproof make-up applied on the skin, as salarians believe that repeated commitment is more significant than a pledge done once
the crests do not necessarily signify one's own clan, but can reflect affiliation to the clan one's clan is directly vassal to (the liege clan) or more generally the clan at the top of one's clan's particular hierarchy of vassalage (the suzerain clan)
there is no stigma to going "bareface" among salarians who are not in public-facing positions ; in particular, salarians in the Terminus Systems never "show their face", to use a salarian expression, as most salarians who find themselves in the Terminus are either clanless or have been alienated from their own clans ; the dalatrasses, for their part, are perfectly happy with possibly disreputable members of the family not displaying clan affiliation — so when a notorious Terminus Systems criminal like Jaroth boasts of his clan affiliation by showing his face, it's a way to antagonize their clan at a distance and is indicative that there is more than just estrangement between the salarian and his clan : there is deep, burning hatred.
(Alt text is my best friend.)
But in fact, those characteristics are far from inconsequential, as they can convey political meanings. For instance, it is common for every clan to wear in solidarity the clan crests of a particular clan who fell victim to a tragedy. During elections for the position of the Dalatrass of the Union, metaphorically flying the colors of a candidate serves as a silent endorsement (with observer effects similar to those created by polls : seeing a rival clan support the same candidate you are supporting may cause your clan to reconsider their support ; there are even historical examples of deception operations when a clan pretended they endorsed a candidate so as to put off their rivals).
There also more subtle messages. When an entire clan has been wearing the crest of their suzerain clan for years and overnight they start showing their own crest again, it's a message communicating that their dalatrass is dissatisfied with the way the suzerain clan has been treating them and that their clan should start looking out for itself again, perhaps even heralding a change of allegiances. Likewise, the suzerain clan can choose to show their vassal's clan as a response to suggest (sincerely or not) that they do care about their vassals (meaning you can be in a situation when the vassal is sporting their own clan crest and the suzerain is showing the crest of their vassal). More often, however, such changes do not occur in situations when political actors communicate frankly : a vassal clan may suddenly show the markings of a great clan rival to their suzerain clan and claim they do so in sympathy for a particular past or present event ; but this plausible denial may in fact conceal an overture for the rival clan or a sign of discontent toward the suzerain clan, and the dalatrasses of the suzerain clan will spend a lot of time trying to understand the true meaning of the change — which usually is what the vassal clan wants.
Making matters worse, each clan crest has its own small variations in color or pattern, none of which have the same meaning from clan to clan. White, for instance, is the color most present in clan crests and is usually used for the basic or neutral form of the clan crest ; but in those clans where salarians usually have or used to have very pale skin, a white clan crest may in fact be a variation suggesting waning commitment. All salarians know the meanings associated with this facial heraldry, as it is taught to them once when they are young and their unerring memory ensures that knowledge is never lost.
We should also note that there is an important gender difference : those games of faces expressing or suggesting subtly shifting changes in loyalties are extremely important for salarian women, and it would be unthinkable for any one of them not to follow to the very serif the directives outlined by their dalatrasses… but many men don't bother because they think they have better things to do. Those men wear the same neutral face of their clan every day, or apply make-up hastily and shoddily, or even forego any crest whatsoever — when they shouldn't be doing any of these things at all (and in fact, a widespread refusal to obey a dalatrass' dictates in that regard can be an effective way to measure widespread dissatisfaction among the clan's male population). When salarians like Ledra or Doctor Palon don't show their faces, it's not because they want to conceal where they come from, like most salarians in the Terminus Systems (Ledra belts out his full name after all) : it's because they don't want to and they think they can get away with it.
This invites a question : what are salarians supposed to show in situations where they have some public standing and impartiality is expected ?
It depends. Salarians in prestigious positions are expected to keep showing their clan crests, partly as a point of pride for their clan, partly for the sake of transparency : as Citadel Councillors, Valern or Esheel show their faces because salarians believe this holds them to a higher degree of accountability. Lower-ranked administrators have to weigh the pros and the cons of showing their faces : going bareface suggests a commitment to impartiality but means that when they do something other salarians don't like, they'll be accused of having a concealed agenda, while showing their faces suggests a commitment to transparency but means they'll be accused of making partisan decisions by those who don't like them — a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.
But where it gets really interesting is the salarian military.
After the formation of the Salarian Union, the various feudal armies of the clans were eventually abolished, open war between clans was prohibited*, and a single salarian military was established. One of the immediate priorities was to ensure that all soldiers, who from birth are taught to prioritize first-circle loyalty over everything else and that one's loyalty to their clan must be absolute, were in fact loyal to each other and the government and the institutions of the Salarian Union and would respect the chain of command regardless of who gave the orders. As it happens, one of the ways this was mitigated was to trade faces : a salarian soldier must show a randomly assigned clan crest entirely unrelated to their own for the duration of their tour of duty. This even extends to Special Tasks Group operatives : on Virmire, all of Kirrahe's men's clan crests are amply visible, but their identities remain hidden because those are not their clan crests. Three years later, Kirrahe's markings have changed because he's been assigned different markings since 2183.
* : Anything short of overt warfare, however, is tolerated as long as you can't prove anything.
You can find more about CANON salarian markings over here, in @assorted-things 's amazing series of posts on the topic !
I'm probably going to string out Headcanon Wednesdays A LOT more in the next few months, because a new job just boinked me over the head unexpectedly and it's got ME strung out.
