#emigre by indignantlemur

[indignantlemur]

My dear Indi, I need your expertise !

Do you have any ideas or headcanons for Andorian outfits, from lighter to warmer? What would they look like in general, what texture is most appreciated or considered fashionable ?

Thanks ! 💙

Hello Zier! Let's see what I can do for you! Fair warning, this one is going to be image-heavy.

For the most part, Andorian fashion in my headcanons isn't unified. Different folks prefer to wear different things, same as Humans, but there are broader elements that are quite common.

Firstly, we know from ENT and subsequent appearances in the modern Treks that Andorians tend to wear a lot of leather, often embossed or tooled to have a particular sort of feel. The samples below from Discovery give me powerful 2009-2013 Gareth Pugh vibes.

Beyond that, the only other time we see Andorians is when they're in Imperial Guard or Starfleet uniforms, which mostly just gives an overall impression of leather, suede, and future-kevlar.

The Andorian ambassador in "Terra Prime" had a very different feel from these, of course, and that shiny outer robe ultimately inspired Thoris' official get-up.

By contrast, some super early screen tests and comic book depictions for everyday Andorians look rather different, however. We've got draping fabrics, robes, tunics, some thigh high boots, and what looks like bits of armoured studding and chainmail. That's quite the departure from the other depictions!

And then, of course, we have Shran's post-Imperial Guard coat. This one gets its own mention, because that coat is fabulous.

Honestly, this isn't a lot to work with. It's better than nothing, of course, but the different depictions feel very disjointed and all over the place. There's no sense of unity in the designs across the board.

So, from there I looked to real-world fashion to help me build a better idea of what I wanted my Andorians to actually look like outside of a uniform. As much as their depictions would lead us to believe that Andorians have an oddly prevalent leather kink, that's really not practical. Leather is a useful material, and certainly a heavily carnivorous population would end up with quite a lot of it, but surely that can't be everything they wear. So, I started looking around for things that felt like they fit the vague aesthetic we were given to work with.

Below are some samples from the ungodly huge pinterest board I keep for ideas and references for Andorian fashion. I think these mostly hit all the key notes for my headcanons.

A lot of these images are very bland in terms of colour, particularly by Andorian standards, but I think you should be able to see what I've drawn inspiration from.

What I ended up with was a combination of future-fashion elements, and influences from places like Japan and India - with a heavy slant towards using leather, silk, velvet and occasionally soft, drapey fabrics. Heavy ornamentation, such as embroidery, is very common but lacework on clothing is actually quite unusual. Andorians tend to find it catches on their chitin and tears too often to be worth the fuss.

In particular, I really like the idea of layers, off-set or asymmetrical necklines, and elements of structural/architectural fashion for Andorians. Tooled leather is very popular, as well.

Another detail about Andorian fashion that I've mentioned a few times in other posts is that they like to show off their chitin patterns. Often this is done using leather as the medium, but embroidery is also a perfectly acceptable option. Often times, these articles of clothing (usually outerwear but not always) will have a Clan sigil somewhere on it as well, but it's not at all a requirement. These practices accomplish a couple of different things:

Firstly, it offers prospective playmates a tantalising 'preview' of what's underneath. Andorians are not shy about these things, nor do they understand why aliens think they should be. Some Andorians find particular types of chitin patterns very attractive, while some are averse to partners with what they perceive to be too much or too little chitin - or worse, chitin patterns that are far too similar to their own, which would suggest a shared lineage somewhere.

Secondly, it shows off Clan affiliations, especially for Clan members who were not born with their Clan's 'typical' chitin pattern. (Married individuals will often wear things that show their affiliation to both their birth Clan and their marriage Clan, as well, though these are usually ornamental items such as jewellery or hair pieces.)

Thirdly, wearing one's Clan affiliations stamped on their sleeves can sometimes serve as a conflict deterrent. Some Clans are just not worth picking a fight with, and knowing who's who ahead of time instead of after someone says something spectacularly stupid tends to save lives. Since the Unification, the need for these sorts of deterrents has dropped substantially, but it's never entirely gone from Andorian society.

This is not to say that I imagine that all Andorians wear the same things. Being able to express individual preferences is very important, especially in a society where most other individualistic pursuits are seen as counter-productive to the harmony and unity of a community.

Shral, for example, deviates from the norm by preferring dark colours and minimal ornamentation. To other Andorians, his sartorial choices are almost conspicuously bland. On the other end of the spectrum, Thelen adores vivid colours - neon oranges, shocking yellows, acid greens - and fully embraces the bombastic colour palettes his people are known for. Thoris is doomed to be trapped in billowing robes he'd much rather burn in a steel drum behind the embassy under cover of darkness, but he prefers layered tunics, boots, and breeches that don't inhibit his movement. Vrath is in the middle of the road, favouring bold colours and practical clothing but never quite able to resist bits of ornamentation that give her wealthy Tha'an Clan allegiance away. Miraal, on the other hand, adore soft, draping fabrics and wears very little leather, or any other similarly heavy materials, and she prefers to wear minimal ornamentation so as not to distract from her wares.

In terms of seasonal clothing, Andorians can tolerate very broad rangers of temperatures, and they have thermal regulators built into much of their clothing. They can get away with quite a lot, in terms of weather, but a heavily cultivated sense of caution generally prevents them from wandering out into surface conditions wearing anything less than full winter gear - though, naturally, their idea of full winter gear is rather lighter than what a Human would go in for. In extreme heat, Andorians have no problem wearing as little as possible - often to the consternation of other species who do not share their total lack of nudity taboos.

Regarding colours, I headcanon that much like how Vulcans view green as a traditional mating colour owing to the hue of their blood, and Humans view red much the same way, so too do Andorians with the colour blue. Just wearing blue alone isn't an invitation for anything, but it is very noticeable and considered a very attractive colour. Wearing a particularly fetching shade of blue while lurking in a bar and being very noticeably single, however...

Andorian silk is a luxury item, and one in high demand. Made from cocoons harvested from a domesticated relative of the infamous Andorian ice borers, it's ten times stronger than Terran silk, rendering it resistant to slashing and piercing damage. It can be woven into heavy brocades or crafted into a diaphanous, organza-like material, or blended with other fibres. It almost always has a slight iridescent or even metallic shine to it, a highly coveted property, and it is ludicrously expensive.

Hope this helps! <3

[nichestartrekkie0-0]

A gift for @indignantlemur

Thank you so much for everything! (The art, the fics, sharing our ideas etc) So glad to have found u!!

This is their character Shral from Emigre- a fic that they wrote! (And is on their page!)

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Part 4: A Symbol of Love

Pairing: Tysess x Ophelia (OFC) Fandom: Star Trek Prodigy Words: 5.3K Summary: Ophelia has to learn something more about the culture of her significant other as well... A/N: Huge credit for this Part goes to @indignantlemur who is the creator of the "ruuphviik neek" ( andorian courtship rings) that are featured in their magnificant fanfiction "Emigre" ( which you all should totally read, because they put a lot of work into creating not only the story and the characters but also a whole culture with traditions for Andorians). Thank you again for allowing me to use this, I really hope that this part does not dissapoint your expectations.

Body Language Masterlist

Hectically, Ophelia threw on her beige coat, tucked the phone under her ear, and glancing at the clock, uttered a Klingon curse taught to her by a Klingon on a space station, which instantly earned her a scolding from her mother, who was on the other end of the line. "Ophelia Celeste Zubira. Don't put words like that in your mouth. Your father and I raised you better than that." Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Mum, you don't even know what I said. You speak English and Spanish. Not Klingon." All at once she noticed that the bags, which she wanted to take with her, were no longer beside the door. Panicked, she snapped her eyes open.

"I speak Bengalis too." Sheyla Zuberi sounded offended, however Ophelia didn't have time to worry about that right now as her evening, if she didn't find the bags, would be ruined. "Don't take offence, Mum, but your Bengalis isn't what it used to be either." Ophelia was too busy searching behind the giant potted plant Noum had once given her as a joke and loved to pay much attention to her mother's snapping. "Listen, Mum, I love you, but my boyfriend and I were going to cook together today and I think I've lost the ingredients and I have to be there in fifteen minutes.

Silence reigned for a moment and Ophelia paused in her search. Her mother was never quiet. Never. "Mum? Are you still there?" "You have a boyfriend? Un novio?" Rolling her eyes she continued her search. Of course that was the only part that mattered. "Yes, Mum, as unbelievable as it is I have a boyfriend."

This statement was enough to bombard her with questions, however Ophelia stopped her half way, inwardly wincing at the disrespect shown to her mother. " His name is Tysess, he is the first officer of the ship I serve on, he is sweet, lovable, confident and yes he loves me, I know that. We have been together for almost five months and I am really late. I'll call you when I arrive in Barranquilla, love you." Without letting her get a word in edgewise, knowing full well that she would regret it when she returned home, she hung up and threw the phone on the sofa before hurrying to the kitchen.

A load fell from her mind and she breathed a sigh of relief when she found the two bags on the small kitchen counter of her borrowed quarters. Hastily, she hurried over and took one last look inside to make sure everything was there before dashing for the door and making her way away from the Starfleet compound, making it to the Andorian neighbourhood.

Over the years, many large cities had formed small neighbourhoods that were home to more non-humans than humans, and San Francisco, with Starfleet's headquarters at its heart, had the most neighbourhoods in all of America, especially in terms of Founder species.

Which did not mean that members of that species lived there exclusively, no. It was merely the case that mostly the inhabitants of other worlds, especially at the beginning, had come in batches and in groups and had accordingly settled together in one neighbourhood. Thus, over the centuries, several generations of non-humans had been born on Earth, who had rarely if ever seen their "home planet". In fact, Ophelia was good friends with a Denobulan family who had been living on Earth for almost two hundred years and that consisted of six generations now.

Tysess had settled in the Andorian district. He had explained to her that it was not because he wanted to live only among his own, but simply because there were shops and places there that had typical Andorian things like food that were otherwise hard to get and he just liked having everything close by. Moreover, the Andorian district was the closest to Starfleet headquarters, which allowed him to be there quickly in case of an emergency.

Ophelia personally did not live in San Francisco. She herself associated this city too much with work and study to live here in peace. Instead, she had bought a small flat in Seattle, which was her pride and joy.

However, since she had been newly promoted and was now partly responsible for the repairs of the USS Dauntless, she had expected so much work that it would have been too much trouble to always drive from Seattle to San Francisco, so she accepted Starfleet's offer of small quarters where she only ate and slept.

Tysess had offered her to stay with him, but he had seemed hesitant, which she could understand. They had only been together for five months and moving in together and living together was a step they had agreed on that was still too big. But that wouldn't stop them from having a date night.

When they had decided to give this relationship a try, they had promised each other that they would do their best to understand each other's culture and Tysess had done this, like everything else in his career and life, with excellence. While they had not had much time together due to the Protostar and its chaos, they had done their best.

Then, a few days ago, Tysess had gently taken her aside and asked her to spend an evening together. Ophelia would leave tomorrow and return to Colombia to visit her family. She had filled out the necessary forms regarding the Dauntless and now the repairs were in the hands of Starfleet engineers, so she wanted to give herself a few weeks rest. Tysess had to stay longer to work, otherwise she would have asked him to come along to introduce him to her family, so they had agreed to devote tonight to just each other.

In addition, Tysess had asked her to teach her something about her culture. Ophelia had been sceptical at first. Her parents were each from two different cultures, making her and her siblings children of four cultures, but in the end she had agreed to teach him about the culture that had been most prominent in her life: Colombia. Ophelia had sat down to pick out simple, yet typically Colombian, dishes from her childhood, which she now wanted to make and share with Tysess.

But as she flipped through her abuela's cookbooks, she had suddenly realised how little she actually knew about Andorian culture. However, she had to admit immediately afterwards that she had never really asked.

Many species felt that sharing their cultures was something very private. Tysess himself could be quite withdrawn and introverted from time to time. Which was not to say that he didn't trust her, no. In fact, Tysess had already confided so many private things to Ophelia that she probably knew more about him than anyone else.

And as much as she wanted to know more about Andorian culture, she would not press Tysess. She would be patient and wait until he was ready to talk to her about it. And until then, the only thing she could do was to introduce him to her cultures and customs and make him feel trusted and loved.

Five minutes later than agreed, she rang the doorbell, a little out of breath. The downstairs front door had already been open and Ophelia, already late, had seized the opportunity and slipped into the building, where she now stood in front of his flat door. Her gaze slid to her reflection, which was reflected in the window.

The black and loose blouse fit reasonably acceptably and the light-coloured trousers didn't look particularly dirty either. Ophelia had tied her loose hair back with a blue scarf. Tomorrow morning, before returning back home, she had an appointment with her hairdresser, who would braid her hair. Today she still had to cope with open hair, even though it didn't really bother her. Braids were just usually the easiest to work with.

The door opened and Ophelia's gaze was instantly focused on Tysess. He was wearing a grey jumper with wide puff sleeves and collar and some kind of black yoga pants, which he had explained to her were a typical piece of clothing on Andoria. He smiled slightly and stepped aside to let her in. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

Ophelia shook her head in amusement and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she passed before setting the bags down on the floor. "Forgive me, mi amor. My mother had called and I didn't want to cut her off right away. But come on, it was only five minutes. I've been much later before." Tysess stepped behind her and took her coat from her, hanging it on the coat rack. "Besides, I might have misplaced the bags of ingredients for today for a moment and panicked."

Tysess chuckled softly and lifted the bags easily, handing her a pair of slipper-like shoes. "Here, so you don't get cold feet." Ophelia had to smile in the face of his thoughtfulness and hurriedly exchanged the boots for the slippers before following him into the kitchen. His flat was pretty. It was kept simple and mostly painted in neutral tones, yet he had somehow managed to demand a touch of personality to it with little. However, Ophelia would not judge his style of decorating. She already considered it an honour that Tysess felt so comfortable around her that he let her invade her privacy so far. Admittedly, she had already been in his quarters on the Dauntless, but it had not felt so intimate.

In the kitchen, Tysess was already unpacking the bags and accordingly stood with his back to her and for a moment she simply allowed herself to look at him from behind. After all, she was his girlfriend, so she was allowed to do that. Besides, it was absolutely not her fault if Tysess' jumper had to stretch so impossibly over his shoulders, was it?

"I assume your family is fine," Tysess asked over his shoulder, and Ophelia reluctantly disengaged her gaze from his shoulder blades. "Everything's fine at home. My siblings are there too, though Julio had to leave his boyfriend, I still don't know his name, at home. Apparently he caught the Klingon flu. Don't ask me how though, I have no idea."

She heard Tysess laugh softly and a warm feeling spread through her. Of course, Ophelia didn't mind that Tysess was a little more controlled in things like showing emotion, and heavens she would never complain about him being in "first officer mode" (her term for when Tysess was in command and giving orders, looking very handsome), but those moments when he allowed himself to really laugh and relax made her heart swell. Metaphorically speaking.

"Don't laugh at me," she protested, playfully offended, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He turned, shook his head in amusement and stepped towards her to place his fingers under her chin and lift it slightly. "Would never do that, beloved."

Ophelia's knees went weak at the use of the nickname and then when he pressed his forehead against hers, it was over and she felt the blood rush to her face. "Stop being so damn charming," she grumbled, but wrapped her arms around him. "Stupid Andorian." " Adorable human." With that, Tysess let go of her and went back to the bags, where he immediately brought an opaque cake bell to light and turned to her with a questioning look on his face. "That's our dessert." Ophelia stepped towards him, took the cake bell from him and, at an approving nod from Tysess, placed it in the latter's fridge.

Said Andorian leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I thought we were going to cook together today." His expression looked serious, but she could hear the teasing in his voice, so she grinned cheekily at him. " That's quite all right, though the starter and main course will take up enough time as it is. Besides, I didn't want to bring several glasses of fruit soaked in rum and wine for the Torta Negra Colombiana as well." She patted his arm. "Don't worry, Tysess. You'll get to cooking." A smile spread across her face and she reached into the bag and pulled out two aprons. One yellow for herself and one purple for Tysess, who raised an eyebrow at the sight of it.

"Don't look like that," Ophelia scolded gently and put the apron on him, careful not to touch his antennae. " That's what it's for, to make sure you don't get dirty. Besides, purple suits you." With that, she grabbed the, now empty, bags and, promising to put them away later, hauled them to the floor before putting her hands on her hips and smiling happily at him. "So, are you ready to learn some of the Colombian cuisine?" He saluted in jest. "Yes, ma'am."

Tysess stood next to her and looked at the ingredients as if trying to figure out what they would make. "So," Ophelia brushed a strand of hair behind her ears. "I thought it would be good if we started with relatively simple things for now. I don't know how good a cook you are, or how often you've made human food, so I wanted to start with the most classic dishes of my childhood."

She looked up at him. Tysess didn't seem offended that she was suggesting he might not be able to cook, but actually looked curious. His antennae were pointing forward and swaying back and forth a little, which Ophelia believed was a good sign.

"For starters we have pandebonos. These are sort of little Colombian cheese buns. We're going to mix this cheese," she pointed to the mozzarella and feta cheese," into the dough so that the dough becomes very fluffy and you can pull it apart like cheese strings. We do the classic version. Sometimes people fill it up with other things, but that's how I've always eaten it at home. We'll make a simple salad to go with it. It might not be typically Colombian, but it tastes really good." When no questions came from Tysess, she continued.

"For the main course, I chose my favourite childhood dish, which I had every year for my birthday and which my mother always made when I was unwell. Arroz con Pollo." Tysess tilted his head and Ophelia knew his translator was working. "Rice with chicken?" She nodded with a smile. "Exactly. It's actually pretty simple too. You cook chicken with vegetables and lots of spices and serve it together with rice. Quite basic actually, and maybe not completely typical Colombian, but incredibly tasty."

A little unsure if he agreed, she looked over at him, but he just smiled gently down at her and she smiled back in relief. "That does sound like a plan." Tysess rolled up his sleeves and looked at her expectantly. "What do we start with?"

~**~

Over the next two hours, the two of them worked around in Tysess' kitchen. Ophelia didn't even want to think about the quantities of vegetables and meat they had cut. Well, much more Tysess. After she had shown him how to properly cut each vegetable, Tysess had taken it upon himself to process the mountain of vegetables and meat. Ophelia suspected he didn't want her near knives for fear she might hurt herself. Under other circumstances, this would have hurt Ophelia. After all, she was an adult and skilled enough to cut simple food, otherwise she would never have made it this far in engineering, however, she cut him some slack.

The events concerning the living construct and, yes you could call it that, Starfleet's massacre, all weighed heavily on them. Ophelia had woken up screaming and crying several times in the past weeks as well, Maira's corpse more than visible in her mind's eye.

However, next to the Admiral, it seemed to weigh most heavily on Tysess. He had thrown himself into his work over the last few weeks, as if it would give it some value of unnecessary redemption, which he didn't have to do. Because she knew, even though she had told him it wasn't his fault, that he still blamed himself and would probably continue to do just that for a long time to come.

Most of all, she knew, he was afraid of losing her and even the smallest possibility of hurting herself, for example with a kitchen knife, made him feel uneasy. Ophelia knew it couldn't go on forever, but she wanted to indulge him once more tonight. Besides, she really wasn't complaining, as she had made sure that everything was well seasoned, perfectly put together and it had been her job to taste it all.

Now they were sitting together at Tysess' dining table, which he had set with devotion. He had fetched a bouquet of flowers for her, which was in a beautiful vase of Andorian craftsmanship, as he had told her. Since it was dark, he had lit candles which gave it a slightly romantic ambience and he had actually taken the trouble to fold the napkins.

When Ophelia had first seen the table, she had fallen around his neck and covered his face with dozens of kisses, thanking him and telling him that he was just sweet. Tysess had acknowledged this with a roll of the eyes, but his antennae had betrayed him, swaying gently back and forth in love.

Ophelia watched Tysess gulp down his last pandebono. "And?" He nodded in agreement and smiled gently. "They were excellent, Ophelia. Thank you." He looked thoughtfully at his plate. "They probably would have even pleased my sister, who is usually quite a fussy eater." Ophelia almost dropped her glass of wine at the casual mention.

(Tysess had provided it, as it was the best alcoholic drink, next to the classic Andorian ale, on Andoria, according to him. The wine was made from the tuber of a plant whose name Ophelia couldn't remember, but which meant something along the lines of "frost poison". At first the name had put her off a bit, but she had dared to try a sip after Tysess had explained that the poison part only referred to the rest of the plant and only if it was raw and unprocessed. And indeed, this wine was one of the best she had ever drunk).

Tysess had never spoken of his family before and that comment had, admittedly, thrown her off. "You have a sister?" Tysess looked up in confusion before his expression turned a little sheepish. "I guess I didn't talk much about my family, did I?" And before Ophelia could answer him, he launched into a narrative about his family, interrupted only when they dished up the main course.

He told about his parents, both his "birth parents" and his "additional parents", Ophelia had almost forgotten that Andorians usually married in fours, which he hadn't seen in a long time. He told about his younger sister, who was a biologist, and his younger brother, who had graduated top of his grade at the Andorian Academy of Arts and Crafts. In fact, the vase on the table in front of them was his.

Ophelia listened to him spellbound, rarely interrupting him for questions and otherwise simply enjoying the sound of his calm, deep voice, which wrapped her up like a blanket but did not make her sleepy. She was learning more about Tysess than she had hoped to for the evening, so how could she think of sleeping.

Ophelia, however, did not realise he had finished until he stared silently at his, now empty, plate. "Forgive me, I've talked a lot. I didn't mean to bore you." Ophelia's chest tightened at the sight of him, antennae drooping, gaze down and avoiding her, and gently, yet lovingly at the same time, she placed her hand on his.

"Tysess. Don't apologise for talking to me. I love listening to you, especially when it comes to such things as family." She smiled gently. "I know Andorians don't like to open up to people they're not close with, which is why it's nothing but an honour for me when you confide in me about such topics. Please don't apologise for such a thing."

Tysess looked up a little embarrassed, but turned his hand so that her palm was in his and squeezed it gently. "I really haven't told you much about myself, let alone my culture, have I?" Her mind raced, searching for an answer that would make him not feel bad, before she paused. She had learnt early on that Andorians valued truth above all else and couldn't stand hypocritical posturing.

Ophelia sighed resignedly. "No, you haven't. And I confess that it has made some situations a little more complicated to understand, but I respect your boundaries and I'm not complaining. I know you'll tell me more as time goes on, once you feel comfortable enough, and I'm more than fine with that. And no-" she interrupted him as he started to speak, "-I will not accept criticism. You respect my boundaries, you always have, which is why I will respect and accept yours. Because that is the only way a relationship works, with respect and acceptance.

She stood up and picked up her plate and his. "I'll get the dessert and please, mi armor, don't worry too much about it." Lightly she leaned down and pressed her forehead against his. "I love you."

Ophelia initially feared that the mood would now be heavy on them and Tysess would retreat back into himself, but it seemed as if he was as confident as she knew him to be and they made light conversation over the course of the meal, in which Tysess praised the cake more than once, causing a swell of pride in her. After the meal they cleared up together and since Tysess, for whatever reason, didn't seem to own a dishwasher, they decided to wash it by hand. However, he turned out to be something of a child, as he more than enjoyed occasionally splashing Ophelia with drops of water or depositing little clouds of foam on the tip of her nose, until she finally threw him out of the kitchen and told him to go ahead and wipe the table.

As it was still quite early in the evening, they decided to end the evening with a glass of Frost Poison wine in his living room ( she didn't know if she would ever get used to that name). Ophelia had put her legs up and pressed her back against his front, telling him about the events of the last few days. Tysess was silent, occasionally humming his agreement, only to lapse back into silence. Ophelia let him remain silent, after all he had been talking a lot too, and only stopped when he quietly interrupted her with the whisper of her name. She turned her head slightly to look at him over her shoulder. "Yes?" She heard him swallow and felt him slowly sit up, which also caused her to sit up and put her feet on the floor.

"There is something I would like to talk to you about." He looked nervous to her, kneading his hands in his lap while his antennae twitched in different directions. "I ... have been thinking about mentioning the subject to you for some time now, however, the appropriate situation has never presented itself. After our conversation today regarding borders and Andorian culture, however, it seems fitting."

Ophelia put her hand on his and she looked at him seriously but lovingly at the same time. "It would be my pleasure. But only if you are comfortable with it, Tysess. I just don't want to force or pressure you into anything." Tysess shook her head and looked at her. "You don't, beloved. You don't."

He took another breath, Ophelia slowly beginning to worry, before he sat up straight and turned to her, looking deep into her eyes, brown meeting purple-grey. "There is a tradition on Andoria when courting. It's called the ruuphviik neek." Ophelia frowned. "I think the UT has a bit of trouble with the term, unless it's called... dating circles?" Despite his visible nervousness, Tysess chuckled softly. "Not quite. A suitable translation would be..." he hesitated briefly. " -Courting rings."

He gave Ophelia a brief moment to get the meaning of it. Even if it wasn't necessarily what she had expected, it did make sense. She had heard of many cultures wearing a sign of a relationship. Even on Earth, similar symbols were used in many cultures, though if more for engagements and marriages. Ophelia nodded slightly, inviting him to continue. Tysess exhaled audibly. "I don't know about your culture, but on Andoria, Andorians wear a ring at the base of their antennae to show they are in a relationship. Usually one ring is worn for each partner."

Ophelia hummed softly and nodded. "There are similar traditions in my culture, however these are engagement and wedding rings and meant for much later in the relationship." Tysess frowned. "Engagement?" "Oh." Ophelia had assumed he was already familiar with the term. "When a human couple decides to get married, one proposes to the other with an engagement ring. If the latter accepts, the two are engaged, wear the engagement rings and are in a state of engagement until the wedding, when they exchange wedding rings." She considered for a moment. "Otherwise, I don't really know of any such symbols to show that one is in a relationship."

Her eyes fell on Tysess, who looked a little embarrassed, at least judging from his dark cheeks. "These courting rings are not so ... binding. They merely signal that one is currently in a relationship. Neither marriage nor ... engagement, are part of it." His antennae swung back and forth a little. "Of course, these rings, are replaced upon marriage, however, the ruuphvik neek are not nearly as binding." Ophelia gave him an encouraging nod as his gaze fluttered briefly to his lap.

"They are a sign that a couple is ready to take a step from the still fresh, sometimes uncertain, stage of the relationship, the beginning stage you could well say, into a more solid relationship." Ophelia's heart pounded in her ears and all of a sudden the flat, which was otherwise very cool, seemed surprisingly warm. Tysess gently brushed a strand behind her ear and smiled that calf-eyed smile that melted her heart. "I don't know about you, Ophelia, but I'd be willing to take that step." Ophelia didn't know exactly what to say, which is why she let her impulsive thoughts control her, fell around his neck and kissed him.

It wasn't the response Tysess had probably imagined, however Ophelia was pretty sure it got her answer across sufficiently. For a moment he seemed surprised, but she could feel the tension fall from him as she felt his shoulder relax under her hands. Gently he placed his hands, on her hips and when they separated, he rested his forehead against hers. "I guess that was a yes." Ophelia laughed softly. "Otherwise it would have been a very strange 'no', don't you think?" Tysess pulled back looking amused and regarded her. "Thank you." "Not for that. I'm afraid I can't wear it around my antennae, though."

Tysess just smiled. "I think we could find another solution for you." Ophelia nodded and leaned forward to kiss him again as her hair fell forward. An idea occurred to her. "How about my hair?" His antennae curled in confusion and she hurried to explain. "I was going to the hairdresser tomorrow anyway to have new braids braided. I could have the ring braided into my braid then, couldn't I? It's not unheard of to have such things braided into your braids and would be a lot more practical than a ring or bracelet that would interfere with work. If that could be done?"

Tysess considered for a moment and gently ran his hand over a strand of her hair before smiling. "As long as it doesn't bother you?" She shook her head. "Of course not, I'd probably barely notice it is there. I've always wanted to do something like this and now it even has a wonderful meaning." Ophelia leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his again. "Now explain to me where we're going to get these rings."

In the end it was a lot easier than she had thought, Ophelia had expected that they would have to get the jewellery in some special Andorian shops, but she had forgotten that there were such things as replicators in their time. About half an hour later, which they had spent flicking through or scrolling through magazines, there were two rings in the palm of her hand, one larger than the other. They were made of an Andorian metal that appeared greyish-silver but gave off a slight blue-violet glow when held up to the light.

Gingerly she took the larger of the two rings, Tysess's ring, and held it up. "May I?" Tysess hesitated for a moment, understandable since the antennae was one of the most sensitive parts of the Andorians, but then nodded in agreement and sat down so Ophelia could even reach his head. "Which side?"

"Doesn't matter." Ophelia nodded and decided on the right. Very carefully, one hand as steady as if she had to disarm a torpedo, she pulled the ring over the tip of the antennae, along the shaft until she reached the base. Slowly she pulled her hand away and looked at her handiwork with illogical pride. "You look wonderful." She pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Tysess rose slowly, wiggling his antennae to get used to the feeling, then went into the hall to look at himself in the mirror. Ophelia followed him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "The colour compliments your eyes." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "You were actually right about the colour choice." As he turned, she pressed her ring into his hand. "Keep it for me, will you? Though I'm afraid you won't be able to braid it yourself, you can come if you like. But be warned, it may take a very long time."

~**~

Ophelia was right. The whole process took a little over seven hours, but Tysess had not left her side for a moment, which had even impressed her hairdresser, a Klingon, a little, even if she did not want to admit it. The end product, however, was something to behold. Ophelia had had the ring on the right side woven into the braid that framed her face, about ten centimetres from the parting. In addition, she had chosen fifteen small cylindrical golden metal beads, which were woven into her hair at irregular intervals. Thus, the ring did not look lonely, but it stood out as special.

Tysess and Ophelia stood at the shuttle landing site and said goodbye. He carefully stroked the ring in her braid before pushing it behind her ear. “You look beautiful. ” Ophelia blushed a little, but grinned broadly and quite in love. “You don’t look bad either. ” A sound made them look up and realize that the shuttle was landing. Hurriedly she pressed one last kiss on his lips.

“Don’t overwork yourself. And wish me luck, mi amor. I slipped out on the phone that I have a boyfriend and my mother probably won’t leave me alone. ” “I hope you’re not going to say anything bad. ” Ophelia grinned and released her hand from his. “Only the truth. ”

The boarding didn't take long, she had secured a window seat, and before she knew it, they were in the air, flying towards Colombia. Ophelia glanced back at Tysess, but the only thing she could see from him was a blue patch of color in the distance and a bright sparkle in the sunlight above it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@bigblissandlove1 @akamitrani @indignantlemur

[deepspacedukat]

Thoughts on Tholos (Shran’s second in command)? That’s one minor side character that just glued himself onto my brain. Istg. Also, I’m assuming you’re familiar with the Ao3 fic Emigre by IndignantLemur? The Andorian world building she did is unreal.

OOOOH, THOLOS. *ahem* I mean...yeah, he's okay I guess...

In case it's not obvious, I love him. He's such an interesting little side character, and tbh I'd love to write for him at some point.

Actually, I am not familiar with that particular fic, but I'm going to put it into my bookmarks so that I can savor it! For anyone who's curious, I'll link it here.

Thank you for the recommendation, friend!! I love your url and icon, btw! Makes me smile every time I see you in my notifications! 💙

[indignantlemur]

Larger image (STRONGLY recommended): HERE The resolution on this is painful, so I'm including detail shots below the cut.

This meeting room was furnished many centuries ago by a renowned artisan who could carve stone and shells in stunning detail, and could shape and colour glass in a way that was never seen before and has never been replicated since. He took the secrets of his techniques to the grave, dying at an unexpectedly young age in a duel with a public safety official over the seizure of a rare and extremely toxic pigment imported from a Clan to the far south. His name was Kelenthor, and he was the only Clanless to ever attain such a high level of renown and fortune purely on his artistic talent. He lived during what would eventually be called the Post-Unification Andorian Renaissance. While this artisan was alive, he had a somewhat adversarial relationship with various officials and was known to use his art as a medium to mock and criticize his social betters. He was beloved by the general populace for exclusively taking on students from the lower social classes - almost as much as he was resented by the upper classes for his habit of hiding subversive messages in his commissioned works. Regardless of where one stood with Kelenthor, none could deny his talents. If you wanted the best of the best, Kelenthor was the one to commission. As such, he was eventually commissioned to design and create furnishings for a number of rooms and even entire buildings which are now used exclusively by government officials today or otherwise preserved as precious cultural works.

This particular room is widely regarded as his best work: the walls are conspicuously and almost insultingly plain, barely carved at all. At the centre of the room lies a heavy and imposing table of solid marbled stone - also barely ornamented, save some bevelling along the edges. The surface was treated with a substance which renders the stone almost entirely impervious to damage. No matter how one might rain blows upon it, barely a scratch remains to remember them by - much like many of the politicians who have sat at this table since its creation, which many believe was the subversive message behind the thing in the first place.

The focal points are the throne-like seats arrayed around the blunt instrument of a marble table, intricately carved and inlaid with precious shell and glasswork, iridescent and shining under even the faintest rays of light. Each scatters prisms randomly around the room, illuminating the shadows and often causing quite a few headaches when meetings stretch too long. More importantly, every single one of them was deliberately carved to be as uncomfortable as possible. No one in a position of power, Kelenthor once said, should be comfortable there.

First up, courting and wedding bands! Shral and Dagmar are only courting, so they have simple rings with minimal ornamentation, with Dagmar's being modified to fit as a cuff earring.

Thoris is married, so he has two bands on each antennae. Quite often marriage bands are more decorative and ostentatious than his, but Thoris isn't one for baubles and it's bad enough he has to wear these ridiculous robes. Frankly, if he could get away with just wearing his old Guardsman uniform to these meetings, he'd vastly prefer to. As such, his wedding bands are almost incongruously plain for his rank and status.

Next up, the lady and gentleman in the foreground! These two are Ministers, and high-ranking Andorians besides, so they ornament themselves rather loudly in comparison to our main cast's more sedate preferences. The lady on the left is Minister Zaathi, who we will be meeting in-fic very soon, and she's very fond of gemstones and carved hair beads - and not afraid of losing any, if she sheer number she's wearing are any indications. It's a weighted fashion statement, if nothing else, from a woman whose home province is small and relatively modest otherwise.

By comparison, Minister Bhael - on the right - is much more conservative in his ornamentation, but his robes are heavily embroidered and that is quite a lot of Andorian silk to be toting around. A closer look will reveal that his sleeves are embroidered with an ocean wave pattern, which is particularly interesting given the relationship Andorians have with the sea. Is it some kind of political statement, or just an odd choice of attire?

If those two are making statements with their sartorial choices, then Thoris has them all beat for layered meanings.

The silvery outer robes of office are closer to a cloak than a robe, with an inner layer that is belted around the waist and a loose outer layer that is joined to the inner layer at the shoulders and seams along the upper arms. This permits the maximum range of movement for the wearer. Being made of Andorian silk, which is several times stronger than Terran silk, it is an excellent means of protection against slashing and stabbing weapons. Despite their merits, however, Thoris loathes them. They're lightweight, sure, but they're still long and ostentatious and entirely too liable to get caught on something in a real fight. Sadly, they're also mandatory, or he'd have binned them ages ago.

The vibrant blue mid-layer is a heavy material, durable Andorian silk woven through with tiny filaments of something very similar to a carbon fibre composite, providing a measure of protection against many forms of projectiles, though less so against phase weapons. The innermost tunic is more obviously armoured than the other two layers, with panels mimicking an extensive chitin pattern along the length of the torso and forearms. The sleeves in particular draw attention to a very vibrant yellow flash - much like the chitin of the predatory veeg he is known for hunting in the past.

Next we come to Shral, who is obscured partially by shadow at Ambassador Thoris' right hand - and ready to draw his ushaan-tor at a moment's notice.

This is not standard armour for an Andorian, but rather something one might wear while sparring or training in their personal time. The armour takes the form of layered, almost beetle-shell like layers, layered over a long, cowl-necked tunic. The cowl is an unusual choice for sparring attire, as it provides a potential hand-hold for an opponent - only a very arrogant or a very skilled duelist would wear such a thing while sparring.

In contrast, Dagmar stands in the light on Thoris' left. Her working attire is lightly embroidered, and features large, pearly buttons - but otherwise she's almost conspicuously plainly dressed. Hyper aware of how shockingly pink she is in comparison to everyone else in the room, Dagmar wears muted and neutral colours to try to off-set how glaringly alien she is - which, ironically, only serves to highlight her differences even further.

@the-lady-general  @starrynightgardens  @emilie786  @horta-in-charge  @emochook  @velvet-luvie  @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions @auroramagpie

[indignantlemur]

Larger size HERE

Why yes, I have been very productive today - why do you ask?

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[indignantlemur]

More in-progress pics!

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[indignantlemur]

Click HERE for a larger image with more detail!

She's all done! Vrath of Clan Tha'an, looking especially pretty! <3

Coming from a wealthy Clan, Vrath isn't afraid of a little ornamentation. She doesn't go in for crazy amounts of jewelry, but now and then on her days off she dresses up for the fun of it.

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[indignantlemur]

Another in-progress pic of Miraal! Still have a lot to do - mostly dealing with the shading and highlights for the fabric and touching up a few places where I'm not quite happy with the lighting, but so far so good! Miraal has much more subtle chitin than Thelen or Shral, partly because she's female but also partly because Andorians from her Clan tend not to have lots of chitin even amongst the males. Also, her hair is fun and I loved drawing it.

(Also, fuck hands. Drawing hands is torturous. Why couldn't I just stick with doing headshots, I ask myself every time? I didn't have to make extra work for myself, but I did and it was awful and I will never learn from this. Okay, all done. Rant over.)

[indignantlemur]

Larger size HERE

A quick drawing of Kelenthor, a revolutionary and cheerfully subversive artisan during the Andorian renaissance several hundred years ago. He is best known for his larger commissions, which include several government buildings still in use today - all of which include subtle and none-too-subtle subversive messages to mock his higher-ranking patrons. A Clanless Andorian of little means and less reputation, Kelenthor's rise to fame was down to pure talent and sheer, bloody-minded stubbornness - the latter of which was ultimately responsible for his untimely death. 

While a remarkable artist, craftsman, and entrepreneur, Kelenthor's talents did not extend to the martial arts, and most certainly not to duelling. He was slain in a ushaan duel with a customs officer who had tried to prevent the artist from importing a rare and extremely toxic pigment from the far south of the continent. The artisan was survived by twelve apprentices, none of whom had managed to learn any of his deeply coveted techniques and trade secrets.

(Facial piercings are no longer popular on Andoria - partly because having metal embedded in your skin in sub-zero temperatures can get a wee bit uncomfortable - but they did enjoy very short-lived burst of popularity during the renaissance period in which Kelenthor lived. In fact, Kelenthor is thought to have started the trend.)

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[indignantlemur]

Just in time for the first of the month, the finished project! I'm gonna try to do at least two more drawings for this month featuring my silly little guys, but December is also a bit of a crazy month so don't hold me to that deadline!

Larger size for details: HERE

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[indignantlemur]

Click HERE for larger image!

Thelen's all done! Since Thelen is noted in Emigre as having much more chitin than average for an Andorian, his chitin map is more overt than Shral's, both in terms of how extensive his chitin is and how pronounced it is.

While Thelen's level of chitin expression is above average, it is actually the norm for Andorians belonging to Clan Sannev. Pre-Unification, they were something between a paramilitary force and peacekeepers, and largely imposed what passed for peace in those days by any means necessary in their territory. Sannev also cultivated protected trade routes throughout the continent, and as a result were a little more widely spread than the average Pre-Unification Clan. During those days, the leaders of Clan Sannev gave very unusual orders to their clan-members to selectively seek out spouses born to Clans which possessed inheritable traits like their own overly developed chitin. This had several effects, not least of which was ensuring that Clan Sannev actually had a very broad gene pool in comparison to other contemporary Clans of the time - though that benefit paled in comparison to the natural heavy armour gained through generations of careful trait selection. Sannev men and women are easily recognizable in modern times for their pronounced chitin and their more solid, heavily muscled forms - or rather, heavily when compared to other Andorians.

At some point I'm going to draw up a reference sheet for body types and chitin maps for the various characters so you guys can get a better idea of the kind of variety I'm trying to describe. It's on my to-do list. I'm actually really proud of some of the new things I learned and implemented for this pic, not gonna lie, so I included detail shots! Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!

[indignantlemur]

Hi!

Before I start I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely love your works, 'Emigre' as well as 'The Stars keep watch' and I am really grateful for you giving us all such amazing and detailed views of the andorian culture.

I've read almost all of them, so I'm pretty sure that you didn't answer this question before, but in case you did, just ignore this ask :)

How excactly do andorian names work in your opinion. I get the whole clan thing etc. but is there an aspect that is present in all names e.g. that it starts with certain letters? Or is there a certain way a name is supposed to sound like to be andorian?

After all there is a vast difference between the names "Kevin" and "Vilashral 'Shral' of Clan Hrisvalar".

If there's not an answer to the question, it's fine too. I'm just curious if there's like a rule when you create your names? If you understand what I mean?

Hi there! And my goodness, thank you! I'm always so happy to meet new readers!

So my Andorian name process usually starts by checking over canon names. When naming a new character, I want to follow the hallmarks of canon Andorian names without copying them exactly.

For example, these are a mix of female and male canon names:

Ghee P'trell

Jennifer Sh'reyan

Keval

Krotus

Talah

Talas

Talla

Telev

Thy'lek Shran

Tholos

Thon

Thoris

Tysess

Ryn

Shras Endilev

Shukar

Va'Al Trask

Va'Kel Shon

Val Shon

Umarin

There are more, of course, but even with a small sample we can see a few things. Names beginning with the letter T are very popular, but the given names also tend to be two-to-three syllable long names. Beyond that, there's a mix of different types of vowels (short and long) and most of the consonants tend to be softer ones, though not exclusively.

For my headcanons and naming purposes, I have a couple of considerations to look at from this point. The first headcanon is that Andorians do not generally give non-Andorians their full names, because Andorii is a very sibilant language with a lot of soft sounds and drawn out vowels in rapid succession. Outsiders generally don't get their names right, so it's easier to go by shortened by-name than have to cringe every time your commanding officer calls you a salad by mistake.

The second headcanon builds on the first, in that full given names are broken into fragments. There are the face-name fragments that you give to strangers and off-worlders, and then there's the full name. Some individuals make use of a third fragment, which is a name used by close friends and loved ones, but it's less common. Not everyone abides by these rules, as there are always exceptions to every rule, but it's generally a good rule of thumb - especially with a culture where it's entirely too easy to find yourself in a duel to the death.

Taking all of that into account, I actually find name generators (I like this one, personally) for Andorian names to be a great starting point for creating a new name. A lot of the generated suggestions are meh, but if I can get a starting point, then I can fiddle with it until I have a name that feels right.

So, for example, I just generated ten female names:

Sevo Zh'viahliq Villen Sh'tiveq Ethrivia Zh'shrihres Esilaa Sh'vhiathrarh Aseraa Sh'kitrit Jhalli Sh'okialrarh Ipythosh Zh'rhethit Shryssa Zh'rolrirh Threra Zh'rhikress Vamaa Zh'ataakross

These are all kind of same-samey and a bit... jumbled, to look at. I want a name that a reader can look at without their eyes glazing over. So, what happens now is I take the likeliest lads (ladies in this case) of the lot and workshop them.

Let's say I want to do something with Shryssa Zh'rolrirh, Aseraa Sh'kitrit, and Vamaa Zh'ktaakross.

Shryssa Zh'rolrirh - a good starting foundation, but I already have a character called Shryss and they've reversed the capitalization of the rank and Clan name. In this case, I'll cannibalize one of the other names. The Clan name doesn't quite feel right to me, so I'll grab one of the other pre-generated ones and modify it.

Aseraa Sh'kitrit - I'm generally happy with this name, though I think the Clan name is a little meh, but it feels like I took "Sarah", dropped the H, added a vowel, and called it done. So, let's see if we can't make it sound more properly alien and maybe swap the Clan name for something else.

Vamaa Zh'ktaakross - this is the one I want to change the least, actually, but Vamaa still seems more like a face-name than a full name, so we'll adapt it a little.

Therefore, we get:

Shryssa Zh'rolrirh -> Jhalleshryssa "Shryssa" zh'Tiivekh -> Shryssa

Aseraa Sh'kitrit -> Ipseseraa "Seraa" sh'Shras -> Seraa

Vamaa Zh'ktaakross -> Ulavamaal "Vamaa" zh'Kraakross -> Vamaa

It's not a perfect system, and sometimes names just come to me on the spot rather than requiring help from a generator or other sources.

So let's look at Ambassador Thoris. Thoris is his face-name, but his full name is Anlenthoris th'Kor. In official documents, he is referred to by his full name, Clan, and rank, but in his day-to-day working life he is Thoris. In his personal life, his spouses call him Anlen. Under no circumstances would it ever be appropriate for someone like Dagmar or Shral to call him Anlen - the inference of having an intimate relationship with a married man of his rank and position would be considered a duelling offense.

Thanks for the ask! Hopefully I've managed to answer your questions, but I always welcome more if I haven't!

[indignantlemur]

Hey! I've been a bit quiet lately, so I though I'd share what I've been working on between tapping away at the new chapter! Inspired by this post about Andorians and silly drinks - a bar scene, on Earth, featuring Thoris (drinking Andorian port), Thelen (with a salt-rimmed margarita), Shral (enjoying a cosmo), and Dagmar (drinking traditional akvavit)!

Remember how I said I'd never do complicated background or lots of glass ever again? Well, turns out I lied. Spectacularly.

Thoris remains unchanged, but Thelen has undergone a bit of a redesign - I've been refining his chitin pattern a little, and after playing around a bit I decided to ditch the 'traditional' Andorian hairstyle for Thelen as well as for Shral.

Meanwhile, Shral and Dagmar are largely the same, and unabashedly texting each other while less than ten feet away from each other. Thoris is exasperated and - begrudgingly - entertained. Shral remains baffled but endeared by Dagmar's relentless use of emojis.

I haven't quite figured out how I want to do the fluid/glass distortions just yet, and there's some tweaking to be done here and there, but overall it's a fun piece! I'm tempted to experiment with flat colours in some areas and shading elsewhere, maybe play with more dynamic lighting, but I haven't quite decided yet.

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[indignantlemur]

Say hello to Vrath! Vrath was created by @the-lady-general as part of a gift fic, and has since been adopted into the story properly!

I'm experimenting with grayscale shading and gradients this time, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing how she turns out!

Vrath's chitin map is a bit different from some of the others we've seen, owing to her Tha'an heritage. Andorians from Clan Tha'an tend to be lighter on chitin patterns overall, but what they do have is distinctive and readily identifiable at a glance. In particular, the chitin that forms around the eye is unusual in its expression, drawn more to points beneath the skin than the rolling, rounded edges seen in Sannev and Hrisvalar Clan members. Some folks have speculated that an ancient Tha'an took an Aenar woman to wife hundreds of years ago, but this is largely considered a malicious rumour rather than fact.

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[indignantlemur]

In case folks have been wondering what I'm up to, I've started drawing again! We have a mostly done Shral, a half-way done Miraal, and a very in-progress Thelen so far! I plan to also do Vrath and Thoris, and eventually Dagmar.