Apr 5, 2020
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I hope you are feeling better!
I was looking back through the various headcanons and re-read the one about aquariums. Would it be too much to ask for a short scene of Thoris and his aids going through an aquarium? (I imagine it was Archer's fault, somehow)
"And this is a... citrus shark?" The Andorian ambassador's face was as still and unmoving as carved stone. His dark eyes tracked the creature in its watery enclosure, the hue of his skin deepened in the shifting blue light that filtered through the viewport as light reflected and bounced off around the darkly lit hall. The silver threads of his robes of office glittered and shone with the reflective caustics. The ever-changing patterns of light and shadow gave the space an eerie, surreal quality; the air held the faint salt-spice of marine waters that pervaded the entire building.
The beast was three Standard meters long, with flat, unblinking eyes that shone like coins in the light. A pale underbelly offered the illusion of soft vulnerability, while yellow-brown scales shaped like tiny teeth covered it's many fins and back. Slits along the sides of its head - gills - flexed and fluttered in the water. A mouth full of razor-sharp teeth gaped open and shut.
A small sign next to the viewport into the enclosure detailed it's carnivorous diet. Humanoids were not listed.
Thoris eyed the rows of teeth on display dubiously.
It was late in the evening on this part of the planet, the tour arranged thus to better ensure the security of both ambassadors during this... venture. Naught but Starfleet and Imperial Guard security personnel moved through the halls alongside their party.
Here and there, Human personnel spoke quietly to their Guardsman counterparts, explaining several of the exhibits... usually to reassure the Guardsmen that the viewports were heavily reinforced and quite safe. The explanations were concise and simple - an exchange of relevant information, rather than distraction from duty.
A guide had been procured early on for the tour - currently attending to a cephalopod escapee, for the moment. Left to their own devices, Archer had quickly moved them on to the more interesting exhibits.
Dagmar murmured a quiet correction at his elbow, "Lemon, sir." "Lemon shark," the Andorian ambassador to Earth and Tellar conceded to the soft correction, his antennae finally breaking from their carefully, rigidly neutral posture to flick once and settle again. The creature turned in the water, smooth as silk as powerful muscles flexed.
How were they hunted, the Andorian man wondered. With what tools and by what devices? Nets, surely, or perhaps harpoons, from a atop a platform, or perhaps a vessel suited for shallow waters. Something that could withstand the thrashing of such a creature's death throes.
Were they edible? Were they a rare luxury, a delicacy, as the flesh of such a beast would have been considered on Andoria - or were they considered more common fare? Did the salt of the sea bring fire to its flavour, or was it bland? Oily, perhaps? Thoris could only speculate, antennae beginning to sway in thought.
Carnivores, in his experience, rarely tasted toothsome, but there were always exception... and Earth was a strange planet. "It is!" Archer smiled broadly, the skin around his eyes crinkling. He might have been less pleased, had he been aware of the Andorian's musings. "So named for the yellow pigments of their scales. Typically, we find them in tropical waters in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but they thrive in mangrove ecosystems. They're friendly guys - quite social, I'm told, and not very aggressive towards Humans at all."
The Human man laughed, then, and added ruefully, "Though I'm not sure they'd know what to make of an Andorian!"
At his elbow, the interpreter piped up again, "They like that we pet them and help them with fishhooks and things that get caught around their fins. I once saw a lemon shark fight off a bull shark to protect a Human it liked." - and then, before Thoris could inquire after clarification, she added meaningfully - "Bull sharks are mean."
A smaller specimen - slow moving and slender, its pale body spotted heavily, sporting a rounded, blunted nose and a long caudal fin - eased past the viewport. The lemon shark seemed unperturbed by the company.
"The bull sharks are in a separate tank," Archer supplied helpfully, gesturing further down the dimly lit hall they had been traversing for the better part of an hour.
"You've seen such a thing? Personally?" The ambassador's gaze still did not leave the form of the creature swimming with the easy, unhurried manner of a predator in it's comfort zone on the other side of the reinforced glass, but he did tilt his head enough to indicate his interest in her answer. "Exactly once on vacation down in Florida with my family, when I was sixteen," Dagmar revealed. "...and then I never went free diving ever again."
"Diving with saltwater predators was your family's idea of quality time?" the ambassador asked incredulously. On the man's other side, Archer grinned.
"It's not for everyone," the Terran ambassador offered with the air of one offering consolations. "Personally, I'm more of a dog person."
Dagmar shrugged. "I like the manatees."
"Well, sure," Archer nodded agreed affably. "Everyone likes the manatees."
"Did you know we saved them by accident?" the interpreter offered brightly, smiling up at her employer. "With nuclear waste water runoff!"
Thoris' gaze fell away from the viewport for the first time since they'd arrived at it, some ten minutes ago, closing with a somewhat pained expression stealing across his features. He lifted a blunt, calloused hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose.
"Of course you did," he sighed. "I am utterly unsurprised. What manner of creature is this manatee? Yet another carnivorous beast that enjoys being stroked?"
"Oh no," Jonathan chuckled. "They're sea cows!"
An image of a heavy, spotted bovine creature flitted across the Andorian's mind. He tried to imagine one swimming. It made no sense.
Thoris paused, lifting his head to stare at the man. "...What."
<3
Emigre/Hoarfrost Announcement
Not quite a chapter update, but a general storyline update for Emigre.
I've done a lot of thinking about how Hoarfrost will fit into the Emigre timeline, and I've concluded that it's actually best used as part of the main story, rather than a side thing that's only loosely attached to Emigre.
The reasoning for this is that there is so much character development that goes on in Hoarfrost, particularly for Thoris. I know we all love the guy as is, but he needs that growth, and it needs to exist as a real part of the proper story going forward from that point. Further, Dagmar comes a little more into her own over the course of Hoarfrost too, and it would be a shame to let that go to waste as well.
So, and I hope you all can forgive me for this, Hoarfrost will be delayed until we reach the point in Emigre where it slots into the plotline.
Thank you all so much for you patience, your enthusiasm, and your continued support - I promise Hoarfrost will be worth the wait!
Your work really inspires me to write more. I’m wondering what the cast of Emigré would think of 22nd century NYC, especially since there would likely be a regional Andorian Consolate General there under Thoris’s direction if Embassies in Star Trek work the way they do now.
Hope you’re well!
Aww, thank you! That's lovely to hear! <3
That is an excellent question, not least of which because New York had a nuclear warhead dropped on it (alongside Washington and Paris, amongst other major cities across the globe) in WWIII and had to be entirely rebuilt sometime in the intervening 200 years between then and now. You know, in addition to handling the radioactive fallout, etc.
We therefore cannot guarantee in any way that the NYC of Star Trek's future resembles what we know in any way, shape, or form. I don't think it would have been rebuilt exactly as it was, even if there was any intention of recapturing the soul of the city with a rebuild. There's too much that could be better optimized, organized, or otherwise improved for the betterment of the residents. Further, rebuilding would likely have occurred slowly in the aftermath of WWIII, where resources, people, and organization were somewhat... sparse, for crispy fried reasons.
So, to really even begin to try to answer your question I have to consider what would be preserved, rather than what wouldn't. This is something that is a little complicated by the fact that I have never been to New York, city or state, and have to purely work off of vibes here. I've had to replace experience with research from afar.
What I've largely been able to conclude are the big things that make NYC what it is today comes from its many differing cultures coming together, its robust theatre and art communities, its powerhouses of finance and business, and its many and varied cuisines.
But, again, we run up against the nuclear warhead issue. They kinda have a tendency to completely level things, and what they don't level honestly isn't much better off. The NYC of Star Trek's 22nd century is likely completely unrecognizable compared to the one we have today because of that. At best, we're going to have a Nagasaki/Hiroshima-type rebuild where some things are able to be preserved, but far from all of it.
Now, when the Vulcans eventually arrive and uplift humanity, that resource scarcity will be largely solved. Presumably, the Vulcans also bring with them the technology to deal with the lingering radiation and all the other issues that come with nuclear fallout, so we can handwavium all of that for the purposes of this discussion. But where does that leave us?
Taking in hypothetical losses and hypothetical rebuilding practices, wherein what can be rebuilt is but what can't is built up from scratch - likely with improvements where possible/feasible, or shortcuts where resources cannot meet demand, and so on - it's hard to say what a new NYC would actually look like. Would it have the same skyline? The same towering buildings? The bridges and streets and nooks and crannies? Would the subways survive? Would Broadway still be where it was? Would the Metropolitan Museum?
It's genuinely difficult to say. More difficult, then, is how to begin to guess what the intervening years would do to a city recovering from nuclear fire and in the process of rebuilding, with a much reduced population to inhabit it. Would the different quarters of the city remain intact, each culture keeping to their own to preserve what is left? Would they instead blend together and choose the melting pot?
I suppose the plainest answer I can give you is: I don't know. I have no idea what a rebuilt New York City would even look like, much less how it would function or how the culture within it would present. So much depends on so many variables. Are the surviving population largely of X culture, or Y? Are the people who take charge more concerned from rebuilding from a place of reclaiming what was lost, or from a place of progress and newness to separate themselves from the past? Is religion a factor at all, and if so, how?
I can write about San Francisco in the 22nd century because we have the lore for it in terms of what is written about it and what is depicted across the franchise. I can use that, to a degree, to extrapolate what other places might have going on, but even that is largely guesswork. By comparison, NYC gets a lot of mentions but very little depiction, and that doesn't give me a lot to work with.
But, I recognize that that's not a very satisfying answer, so I will add this addendum:
Working under the assumption that the city of New York, during it's rebuild and revitalization after WWIII, recovers much of it's culture and that many things that make it unique...
I think Dagmar would find it fascinating, but somewhat overwhelming in terms of the density of population, the noise and clamour, and the general rich atmosphere. She's not big on loud and bustling places except in short doses.
Thelen would adore his free time there, particularly the party scene, but in all likelihood would probably not visit often. Not out of any dislike or anything - he'd just rather keep exploring new options in new places rather than revisit old ones.
Thoris would probably find the city a little busy but not entirely unpleasant. Reminiscent of the larger cities on Andoria, in a fashion, but even so still not his preferred environs.
Meanwhile, Shral would hate every second spent within city limits, and would have a countdown in his head while he waited for the very first moment he could leave. He would rather be anywhere else, possibly including an actual active warzone.
Ok. I'm dying during finals so silly ask. Does Thoris cuddle? Are andorians surprisingly cuddly? Like it kinda sounds like they are butbalso I think it would be hilarious if Thoris is a secret cuddle bug with his spouses?
Save me from the hell that is finals. Have mercy
Oh no! Stay strong - finals can't last forever! To help fortify you for the trials ahead:
While many Andorians are very free with physical affection, including cuddling, there's a lot of individual variation. Some Andorians have no limitations on cuddling whatsoever, while others are much more selective.
For Thoris, he enjoys cuddling... but only to a point. He's got a timer - and in fairness to him it's a decently long timer - but after it's run out, he's done. He'll make exceptions for his quad and his children, of course, and he's never not down to cuddle one of his grandchildren, but there are times where he's simply too busy to linger or otherwise just not in the mood.
On more than on occasion, his quad have conspired to pile small children on Thoris to prevent him from overworking himself. There's something really quite entertaining about watching the man try to murder them with his mind and escape while desperately trying not to disturb multiple infants/toddlers mid-nap. He usually gives up and accepts his fate after the first half hour.
Usually.
Now I'm going to be really annoying and ask what Thoris' family and spouses thought of his apparent dive into the deep end.
I love your story and eagerly wait any and all titbits, news, and more.
Hey hey! Nah, you're not annoying - you're very enthusiastic and it's great!
Honestly, Thoris' spouses were right there in the deep end with him. They lost children, all four of them did, and to make it even worse they lost their sons to an enemy they were forbidden from making war upon in revenge.
Show me a parent who would not grieve, who would not hate, who would not take desperate measures to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. Find me a soul who has the grace to forgive something of that magnitude, and I will show you someone who is not and will never be Andorian.
Do you remember that opening scene from The Hobbit, with the prologue narrated by Bilbo? Remember that one scene where we see Thorin Oakenshield working a forge in a city of Men, with the line: And he never forgave. And he never forgot.
Take that and apply it to an entire quad, plus living offspring, of four very powerful and well-connected people. Thoris was the most overt and egregious in his behaviour, but the rest of the quad weren't saints either. I promise you there was not a single member of Thoris' quad who came away from that loss unscathed, or any of their surviving children for that matter.
Cheers! And thank you! <3
Full size: HERE
Detail shots - and a secret, seasonal fourth panel - below:
Eeeeeeeeeee you're doing writerly asks! 13 - I know you make story playlists, but - apart from Dagmar - do you have any character playlists? And also 27 please! 😁
13. Have you ever made a playlist for a fic? (Share?)
I have SO. MANY. PLAYLISTS.
So many.
While most of my playlists centre around Dagmar and the different facets of her personality and history, I also create playlists for the different pairings as well and one or two of the characters - or even just aspects of each relationship, if I feel I have a bunch of songs that work for writing particular scenes.
I even have a playlist for Hoarfrost, which I'm very proud of! It turned out wonderfully thematic.
For non-Emigre writing, I have playlists for The Stars Keep Watch and for a bunch of non-Trek fics as well. Making playlists to write to/think about writing to has become a pretty big part of my writing process nowadays.
Probably my favourite Emigre playlist is my Thoris playlist:
I don't usually share every playlist I make, mostly because I didn't really think folks would be interested, but that can change if people actually want to know more. 😅
27. What is a question that you never get asked about your fics that you really want to answer?
Hmmm. You know, I really want to answer questions about the Vulcan fellow, Kov, who shows up early in Emigre - but I can't! Too many spoilers! 😈