Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
making clothes for people is garak’s love language i think
100%. I think whenever he can’t find the words to express something, he’d rather make clothes for the person… perhaps as an apology, as a gift, whatever the situation merits
Anonymous:
Hi I really like your head cannons about cardassians and ferengi! Do you have any other thoughts about other species, like the Vorta?
thank you, I’m glad you like my headcanon! Shamefully, I haven’t thought a ton about the Vorta, but let’s see…
I think it would be fun if they were evolved from nocturnal tree-dwelling creatures that relied more on other senses like hearing and smell, and feeling for vibrations along branches and vines, than on their eyesight. So even though they have those big ol’ eyes for night vision, their eyesight still isn’t especially good at any time of day.
The purple color of a Vorta’s eyes is also due to a trait that evolved for a nocturnal life. Pigmentation blocks light, so their eyes don’t have much at all, making the color of the eye’s interior visible through the translucent iris. Their eyes are very delicate, and while Weyoun can tolerate the low light on DS9, strong natural sunlight would be blinding and painful.
Vorta also have very limited color vision, which is another reason the Founders have to pick out all of their clothes for them. Although the Founders’ sense of fashion is still extremely dubious.
Pretty much straight out of the egg these babies can start scrambling around on all fours. Within a few weeks to a month they begin to take their first awkward steps, partly relying on their tail as a counter balance.
By 1 year the neck ridges and scales begin to resemble that of an adult Cardassian.
I feel like DS9 did a great job of world building overall, but I’ve gotta say, there were always a couple of things they would just drop in without any follow-through that always kinda made me scratch my head. Take the Cardassians, cuz there’s a couple of things here:
They flirt by arguing. Now, fandom has definitely expanded on this concept in some fun ways, but in the show we get a single mention of it to be funny to Miles (hot Cardassian chick thinks he’s into her since they keep insulting each other! Whoops!), then another brief reference about how Dukat’s perceptions of Kira are filtered through this lense, and that’s - kinda it! What an interesting premise! How does this look in concept with a couple, both in the initial stages and long-term?? Is there a platonic version of this type of affection?? How do Cardassians typically differentiate between flirtatious arguing and non-flirty arguing? What does a cardassian outsider see when they see two people fighting? We never find out! It’s a bit egregious since we see a bunch of Cardassian characters in belligerent relationships - Damar, Garak & Dukat all have explicitly contentious relationships with a variety of people, both cardassian and non-cardassian (Damar in particular spends easily 90% of his screentime bickering with Weyoun, and ofc Garak and Bashir are constantly debating and arguing for all of their lunch dates), but we never really get any development on how this is/isn’t similar to their flirting. And in a culture that equates bickering/debating with flirting… you’d think it would come up!
There’s also, ofc, the rigid gendered breakdown in their society of men/women for specific jobs. STEM type professions are female-dominated, and men are seen as inferior for these roles, and military/political assignments are male-dominated. The one field that seems to have an even split is spy stuff, as the Obsidian Order has both male and female agents. But again! Aside from one or two *brief* references, this isn’t ever discussed even when it should have organically come up. @icykalisartblog has discussed this before, but Damar displays engineering aptitude that would be very “feminine” by Cardassian standards. DS9 does not mention or discuss this at all. And aside from the O’Brien episode where a Cardassian scientist is sexist towards him, we never see any culture clashes when Cardassians encounter female soldiers/commanders in Starfleet or men in medical/engineering jobs (although again, the Miles episode would seem to demonstrate that Cardassians are Not Completely Chill with different gender roles, even for aliens)
Just interesting to reflect on this! Sort of wish DS9 had dealt with this stuff more in canon. There were a few other alien cultures that had the ball similarly dropped for world-building, but these stand out to me the most. Curious if anyone else feels the same!
Here’s an addition to the Cardassian courtship notes I wrote up a while ago, to explain how I think Cardassian courtship differs from other arguments! Once again, contains lots of headcanons but also applies them to moments from the show:
A running theme in all my DS9 fic has been explorations and interpretations of Cardassian courtship. I’ve spent a lot of time devising a system that I think makes a lot of sense and that I reference in all of my fanwork. At the request of @evenmyhivemindisempty I decided to share it! In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are my headcanons, featuring canon and non-canon ships alike! Also on AO3.
Baby Cardassians have mottled markings that would have allowed their ancestors to stay well hidden. As they age the patterns fade until they are nearly invisible.
Their tails are extra chubby, giving them a store calories. The first few months sees the most rapid growth rate in young Cardassians and they need the those fat stores to power through them.
star trek: deep space nine where everything is the same except that bashir’s sport is ballet instead of tennis
No but this isn’t a shitpost this is GOOD actually he’s already built perfectly for it he’s got that good good ballet posture and Endless Legs, it somehow fits his vibes, this is genius and I will die on this hill
oh i am very much serious! the vibes! it’s perfect! his physique, his perfectionism, his ambition… maybe he wanted to test just how far he can push his genetically engineered body? maybe he can rehearse longer and harder than the others… his physical and mental abilities were made to be as perfect as possible so maybe he can create something perfect too… the headcanons write themselves!
Ok, so I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I just gotta let this out. You know how Cardassians are more susceptible to the cold then other “humanoids”, so they’d defiantly wanna conserve what warmth they do have. Then I started thinking about the “cuddle-for-warmth trope” and how cute it would be to see some Cardassians cuddling on a particularly chilly day. Then it hit me like a vision from the Prophets themselves; what if that’s a normal thing they did? Before easy artificial heating they’d only really get heat from the sun or a fire, so wouldn’t it make sense for them to lay with each other while they’re sleeping or just trying to get warm? I feel like it would also turn into a whole dang social gathering for close friends and family. So I thought, “this would become part of their culture.” I was also thinking there would even be a room dedicated to this in Cardassian homes. A nice cozy, warm room with a big bed where children, parents, siblings or close family-friends can all sleep together. There would be nice heated blankets and everyone would be all snug. As for “guest rooms” it depends on the household. One family might not get many guest or not even allow others to stay over so they don’t see the need for one. Another family may have one because they often have “acquaintances” over. Either way Cardassians that are neither CLOSE family friends nor part of the family would not sleep in the “family bedroom”.
Do tell me your thoughts on this or just any small addtions to this.
THIS IS SO CUTE I LOVE IT
I would imagine too that they wouldn’t use the same kinds of beds that other humanoids do, since “regular” beds are designed more for laying flat with your head on a pillow, and they would probably sleep curled up in a pile together!! my idea for that is that their beds would be kinda round, and have raised edges so that they wouldn’t roll off
okok hear me out: bed pit
I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CONCEPT OF A LIZARD (cardassian) SNUGGLE PIT OH MY GOD
my best garashir headcanon rn (which seems to be supported by canon) is that anytime julian is rightfully angry with someone or Taking Charge of a situation or just being Badass in any way, shape or form garak is like 😳😳😳 now there’s a man who can(😳)Get Shit Done(😳) 😳😳😳 i’m so proud of you, doctor
I wonder if Garak packed a small bag when he left DS9 with Kira for the last time, because he knew he was never coming back. Or if he just decided he didn’t need *anything* to remind him of exile.
I think he packs a few small things to remind him of Julian and Ziyal. He is a highly sentimental lizard even tho he denies it.
