Female Sangheili (Elites) of Halo - (Pt 5)

Make sure that you catch yourself up and read these other submissions! ^^
Part One: Reptile or Mammal? - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Two: Reproduction and Tails - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Three: Physical Attributes and Training - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Four: Societal Standings and Ranks - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/F…
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Well, here we are, at, technically, the last discussion and topics that I would like to go over. -Sniff.- So emotional. D':

As usual, we will go over with a quick recap of the last discussion. If you don't want to recap and go straight to the next one, by all means, skip down to the next dotted line. I see how you are. Skippin' stuff... >.> My words just... aren't that important to you.... <.<

Part 4! Thank you, those of you who responded and sent me messages. I really enjoy reading them. In the last discussion, we went over societal standings and ranks... you know, in case you didn't read it at the top. ;3 I didn't really read any opposing sides, but I did get to see a lot of fillers. Several people mentioned the Homeguard, a rank that I haven't read about any where except in fan fictions. But they're supposedly what the females are called back on the planet.

:iconRichTheWolf27: brought up a really good point,

"So, The females defend the planet, but aren't alowed to go to war? I like it! Do you know what that means?

Allow me to go a little into Sangheili History. If memory serves, After the Prophet of Regret was assassinated, The Prophet of Truth not only banished the Sangheili from the Covenant and replaced them with the Jiralhanae, but even went so far as to order their extermination.

At that time, our theortical SPDF (Sangheili Planetary Defense Force) was the only thing standing in the way of extinction untill the UNSC stepped in.

Those females would hve had to have been some fearsome fighters, or else it would already have been too late."

I'm sure that there were still males there to command them, but the majority of the military population would've had to have been females. Because the other majority were, as we can see, were males at war. ;3

Another very good point was brought up - would the females be repressed? I'm sure a bit. I'll explain why in this next part.

Nobody disagreed that the females couldn't have military ranks- I have yet to see or meet anybody who believes so.

Alright guys. Here we go.
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Before we begin, I'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who have read and responded to these discussions. You've all been very co-operative, even when I first started typing these discussions... and to be honest, I was scared to death, for... whatever reason. Thanks guys.

OH THE DRAMA.

Okay. Serious face guys. >.>

This may be the longest discussion written ever. I don't know. When I wrote this, it only took about 8 pages. -Shrug.-

I would like to go over sangheili fashion and culture.

"GAAAAASP, OH NO SHE DIDN'T."

...Oops?

Let's go over clothing and fashion first.

I'd like to first point out this;

If they are so far into the future - we're talking about 550 years ahead of our time here - why would they be wearing simple cloths and leather? Where's the fancy futuristic clothing?

I got it, I got it- "Hello? Alien race? We don't know what it would be like."

Well, that's what this discussion is for.

So to start off, we've first got to consider the conditions on their planet. Sangheilios is a very hot planet- to humans, anyway. The sangheili must have adapted to it, with their fancy reptile-like selves.

I can't help but feel that the sangheili would have something more than just robes and dresses, like I see in so many drawings. They're very interesting and pretty, don't get me wrong, but to me, they just seem a bit... awkward.

Yes, yes. Origins has them wearing robes and dresses, but!

A) Just by looking at their leg structures, it's obvious to me how uncomfortable a robe or dress would be for them.
B) It's Origins. Thousands of years in the past... time of the first Arbiter... etc.

The next time that you play Halo, watch the elites. Any of them. Look at how wide their gait and stride is. Even if they had on a long, flowy robe/dress, the clothing would automatically scrunch up against their knees and show some undies. AND, even if the dress was long enough for them NOT to scrunch up, they would be tripping over it all the time...

Maybe that explains their flat noses... .__.

Maybe if the sangheili were some sort of selected "royalty", like a priestess or a holy figure of some sort, and they were taught to walk straighter/taller, sure, a dress could work. It would still be a pain in the ass to walk around in. There would have to be a hole for their tails.

I've also noticed in a lot of drawings that people dress up their sangheili like the old gypsies, with all of that silk draped over their arms, or the circlets with beads/gems dangling all over their bodies.

I can certainly understand why we would depict them as so -

A) There's Origins again, and they did the same thing with Han.
B) Their whole honor system and "olden ways"
C) They have a belief in gods

and all three of these reasons allow us to relate easily to our humanly history.

Completely understandable. But we've got to think outside the box here, guys. These are an alien species. And I cannot stress enough that there are no rules here and we are free to do as we please. But I would like to ask that we don't waste this chance and fill it with something that has already been made up and designed.

Let's take this chance to create something new and interesting. One of the many reasons why Halo was so interesting was because it was something new and allowed us to kick ass. Not because they replaced it with something that was already created. They went out on a risky limb - Now why can't we?

SO - how can we come up with something new? Now, it is highly unlikely that we can come up with something that has never been thought out before. But we can try.

I'd like to start a contest, but I have no prizes to give. I gave all of my points away during Christmas. I'll think of something on Part 6 and announce it while I'm closing everything up. You don't have to be an artist - all you need it a creative mind. Comment, even, if that's all you want. I'll provide more information in the next part.

Back to the clothes/fashions. Okay, so we've got a super hot planet, no drapey dresses/robes, and I've yet to go over their technology.

We are all Halo Fans. (I think. If you're not, that's okay too. -Patpat.-) We all know that the elites we encounter now are in full battle armor that can withstand bullets, energy shields that can protect them from explosions, plasma weapons, and other such things that defy our laws of gravity.

Now when these mean not-so-green fighting machines come home and see their wives all dressed in this stuff, we'll probably get something like...

"By the rings, woman! This isn't dress up! Get your clothes on!"

Or something of the like.

I can't help but feel that there must be something more to them than just pink dresses and other such customs.

Now that I have kind of set up a foundation, I'll go straight to the facts. (Apologies for the drawl.)

¤ Sangheilios. Their planet. Super hot temperatures ranging in the 23°F - 132°F. Even if they have adapted to the temperatures, I doubt that they would be wearing heavy clothing. They definitely wouldn't mind showing some skin.

¤ They're exothermic, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2. All the more reason that they wouldn't need clothes for temperature reasons.

So, jeez, are they just walking around naked?

Highly doubt it, but possible. xD

I'm pretty sure that, like humans, the sangheili have a conscience about clothing.

The military ranks would probably be the only ones permitted to walk around in armor. As for the civilians, I can imagine that they would at least cover the "no-no" parts of their bodies.

Since most of us have agreed that females wouldn't have breasts, we can assume that the "lower classes" wouldn't have to worry about wrapping their chests. They could walk around like the males could. No biggie.

As for the "higher" classes, they would probably be required to dress up more adequately.

But with what? Here's where we can get creative. They could get the material from their alien animals on their planet. We must invent...

A NEW TEXTURE. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!!

Sort of. Some sort of alien skins could be used by the lower classes. As for the higher classes... I had some ideas, but they're hard to explain. Here's my failish attempt at a "new texture", and an example of a "lower class" elite:



Details are over there. ^-^ I'll make a "higher class" one later.

I would like to hear and see some of your ideas too, of course. ^~^

Now, let's go into their culture. This is going to be a pretty touchy subject, not only because we don't have much information about it, but it could affect and impact their ways of life very much.

And to be honest, I haven't been able to get much info on it, much less, get a hold of any books (yet >.>).

I think that this is where we are on our own for a bit. This is one of the topics that I'm in the dark. From all of the fan fictions that I have read, this is where authors and artists get the most creative, and these are where the stories are most unique.  In Part 6, you may expect a contest on this as well.

Here's what we do know:

¤ The Forerunners -
The Sangheili have always looked up to the forerunners as their gods, because they created them. The sangheili look up to their technology, blah, blah blah...

¤ Zealots -
Most of us know that these guys are sent on missions to collect relics. They're completely obsessed with these holy relics of the forerunners. The sangheili have, no doubt, a sort of "school" that teaches these things, OR, the knowledge is passed down through family tradition.

¤ No Hospitals -
The sangheili find doctors and surgeons disgraceful. They believe that a warrior should die by his own means. To have someone help them when they are injured is dishonorable. They believe that when you time as come, you will face it alone. This speaks a lot about how they think about things. It expresses how the sangheili are used to being alone in most things.

But their previous connection to the Covenant proves them to be favorable and loyal allies. After Halo 3, the humans and sangheili create a sort of alliance, but go their separate ways.

I feel like I'm still missing something. By all means, correct me if I'm wrong. That's all this discussion is about.

kindly brought this to my attention, and brought up a very good point that really helps to connect all of this together.

"As far as female training goes, it relates a lot back to Samurai society, which I think we can all agree Elite are heavily inspired from. Samurai women were trained and excepted to fight just as well as the men. But they were never allowed to fight on the battle field, it was their job to defend their home. For should their husband lose a battle, it was their job to protect their children and home at all cost. So I always use that in relation to how Elite females are treated. Taught to fight, and have the same high levels of honor, but they must stay home and take care of all those little Elite brats XD"

When I started to think about it, I had to agree. Even their fighting styles are the same. Just with, you know, bigger swords, wider feet, and a couple more teeth.

Could we, then, also tie this back to the fashions and they way they view life? I don't see why not.

Now that we have some sort of clue as to what they might look like, how they might function, etc., I would very much like to see and hear your observations and ideas. I'm hoping to come up with some sort of prize for the contest to be explained in the next journal.

I promise you, I'm not trying to "steal" ideas. I'll make sure to post mine up before I release the contest, if that will make you feel any better. I'm very interested to see what you guys can come up with.

Thoughts? Comments?
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Part One: Reptile or Mammal? - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Two: Reproduction and Tails - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Three: Physical Attributes and Training - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/O…
Part Four: Societal Standings and Ranks - zmori.deviantart.com/journal/F…
Part Five: Culture and Fashion - YOU ARE HERE
Part Six: Recap and End - Coming Soon!