Tyranniac wrote...
Han Shot First wrote...
Some of the lore of the Asari seems to be based on ancient Greece, particularly the way the way that Thessia (and presumably, their colony worlds) are organized into city-states. The three stages of an Asari woman's life also seem to be based on the three stages of an woman's life, as the ancient Greeks saw it. With that in mind if the writers ever expanded upon the marriage customs of the Asari, perhaps their customs should be loosely based on ancient Greece as well?
In ancient Greece brides would be ritually bathed & dressed by their maids, and typically wore brightly colored veils of yellow or red rather than white. There would be a wedding feast & dancing involving both families, after which the bride would be led at night in a procession to the husband's home, accompanied by torch bearers, musicians, minstrels & singers. The bride would carry ivy, which symbolized eternal love. At the home there would be a brief ceremony, where IIRC they were considered married when she crossed the threshold of the door.
I don't really think this would work very well because this is heavily based on gender roles. Good point about customs being inspired by Ancient Greece though.
If ancient Greek wedding customs were used as inspiration for Asari wedding customs, it would only be loosely based on ancient Greek custom and the paternalistic aspects of ancient Greek culture dropped.
This is how I'd envision an Asari wedding:
The Asari to be wed would be clad in the Thessian equivalent of brighltly colored silks of red, gold, or orange, and her fringe adorned with elaborate jewelry studded with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, or emeralds similar to how Indian brides adorn their faces. (the richer the family the more elaborate, with poor families renting) The wedding feast woud take place first, with professional dancers, musicians and minstrels providing the entertainment. After the feast the two families gathered would exchange gifts with each other afterwards in a symbolic 'bartering,' harkening back to the Asari Bronze Age, when the bonding ceremonies between daughters cemented alliances amongst clans, villages, towns, or city-states. The senior matriarch for each family (or a revered mentor, if one of the families was alien) would give speeches, and recite a traditional blessing wishing the couple both happiness and fertility.
With night having fallen, the party would march in a procession to either the local Temple of Athame, a Siari Shrine, or the town forum if the couple preferred a civil ceremony. Torchbearers would march both in front and behind, with the couple being born to their destination in either a litter or chariot. The entire procession would be accompanied by the singers and musicians, with passersby often joining in to shout blessings or wishes for good luck to the passing couple.
Since the Asari believe that inherited genetic traits must advance the species, directly in front of the chariot or litter would march young maidens, dressed in costumes of honored matriarch ancestors of the family (or families, if both are Asari) of millenia past. These costumed & masked maidens would advertise to all the civic, scientific, martial, or cultural achievements of the family, and the traits that family's daughter would bring into a union. They'd also bear items symbolizing the achievements of those honored ancestors. A maiden representing an ancestor reknowed for her skill in battle or tactical ingenuity, might bear a shield emblazed with the heraldry of her city-state, or a ceremonial bow or spear. An ancestor that was a respected poet, might be represented by a richly decorated scroll bearing some surviving work of hers.
Once arrving at the temple, shrine, or forum, the couple would disembark and a short ceremony would be presided over by either an elder priestess of city magistrate. After the priestess or magistate said a few words the couple would face each other and grasp each other's hands, while the senior matriarch(s) or mentor (for aliens) would bind the couple's hands together with ribbon. The couple would then join into a mind meld, reciting to each other an ancient poetic vow they had memorized, emphasizing that they were no longer two persons, or even partners in the human concept of marriage, but now joined into a single soul. As the vows are entirely mental and cannot be heard by the guests, the vows would be recited by the senior matriarch(s) and mentor present, acting as avatars of the couple. While this act of melding would not be sexual in any way, it would serve the same function for the Asari as consummation does for human partners. The act of melding makes the bonding official and legally binding.
EDIT: Ugh...sorry for the wall of text. In the spirit of Asari democracy I propose a motion for my fellow citizens: In the future all walls of text *MUST* be accompanied by a picture of Liara.
The artist's page:
http://pineappletree.deviantart.com/
Modifié par Han Shot First, 26 mai 2012 - 10:37 .
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