You guys, in A Stitch In Time, what is the name of that constellation thing in the sky that, like, blinks or moves or similar? Garak talks about it seeming to send him a message…? I can’t think of it!
![teroknortailor:
“Garak’s clock.
[and yes there are 13 of those on there because they have 26 hour days on the Station]
”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a17c7ce4d4c53f126fbf494459ac8018/tumblr_mljhivv9tr1rndo89o1_1280.png)
Garak’s clock.
[and yes there are 13 of those on there because they have 26 hour days on the Station]
Elim Garak has one of the more hard to describe skintones of any Cardassian on DS9. It’s highly subject to look much different depending on the lighting of the room he is in.
His father, Enabran Tain, hails from the northern provinces of Cardassia as indicated by his grayer skintone and more ovoid eye ridges that let in more light from the periphery of his vision. Damar hails from this region as well.
His mother, Mila Garak hails from the poorer central provinces along the equator and has the more beige-y skintone to blend in with the sand and the more circular eye ridges to shade from the harsh desert light. Dukat also comes from this region.
These two phenotypes mix to produce a rather seafoam-y skintone seen on Garak. Tain’s blue undertones and Mila’s underlying yellow combine to form a more pure grey-green. Garak was lucky enough to inherit his mother’s eye ridge shape rather than his father’s.
Cardassian blood is a much darker red and thicker than that of humans (see ‘Our Man Bashir’ and ‘Way of the Warrior’) but their flesh is lighter in color - almost white in some places. the darker red combined with the lighter flesh makes for a pinkish flush around the lips and eyes where the skin is thinnest.
The blue seen in his chufa ridge during a few of the episodes is an opaque creme makeup that is more commonly used by females. Garak doesn’t have much of it, and therefore only uses the smallest amount for a subtle blue flush which he thinks is classier than just filling in the whole area with pigment. In a sense, he’s being cheeky about it - using just enough to make a visible difference, yet blending it out so one questions whether it’s there at all.
Anonymous asked:
It toooootally does, and it’s toooootally a makeup thing, and everybody toooootally fanwanks it anyway.
Hmm. Or do they? We’ve fanwanked the occasional blue chufa (spoon) colouration into either a hormonal shift or Garak using a little bit of pasht that day, because he’s super fabulous…
Hmmmm, I wonder! What do you think? Was he short on UV? Cardassian’s sun is not the same as Bajor’s sun. Maybe he’d been falling short on his UV treatments, and that’s why he’d shifted from his lovely shade of grey to that slightly icky shade of brown? Maybe that’s the Cardassian equivalent of being unattractively pasty? Probably quite common in the Cardassians who serve on spaceships and rarely make planetfall…
Peeeeeeeople, help me with this one!
So let’s talk about how Cardassians have hair.
Because they do have some really awesome hair.
Well, interesting enough, this hair started out as feathers.
Sexy.
Very primitive Cardassians looked a lot like a mix between a theropod dinosaur and a human, with cartilaginous ridges to protect against attacks from predators. They had dark feathered crests to aid in nocturnal stealth camouflage that started at their heads and tapered down their backs, terminating at the tip of their vestigial tails with a fan of black plumes.
Some of this feathering could also be found on the arms, but was more downy than anything else.
Slowly over time, these feathers began to be less prominent on areas other than the head. They lost their feathery projections so that just the keratinous shaft was left behind. With each generation born, this shaft got smaller and smaller in diameter until it became of a hair-like consistency.
Today, Cardassian hair is known for its’ thick, strong, shiny texture that is often enhanced by the application of slug oil and other moisturizing, perfumed substances. The oil is necessary because during the evolutionary process, the oil glands used to lubricate and moisturize the feathers shrunk, forcing Cardassians to rely on their natural skin oils instead. That isn’t quite enough to keep their hair from taking on brittle properties and a matte finish.
L’Oreal Perfumed Slug Oil
Because you’re worth it!
Before the Occupation and in ancient times, the Bajoran style of piercing was much more elaborate. People would often have many parts of their body pierced with intricate jewelry connected together with chains. The Bajorans believed that certain metals could channel their Pagh along naturally occurring pathways of the body. However, the left ear was mostly free of piercing for religious purposes.
A full ancient Bajoran piercing could consist of ear, nose, brow, lip, nipple, surface, and navel piercings (as well as some in ~other~ places) and more all interconnected with fine chains. Each piercing corresponded to a certain milestone in a Bajoran’s life, with specific ones being added according to profession and the various Pagh ‘pathways’ involved.
Specifically in ancient times, these piercings were shown off via sheer, draped, revealing styles that were rejected as immodest as the modern Bajoran religion emerged.
When the Occupation happened, however, Bajor was stripped of a majority of its’ precious metal resources and the people had to give up a large part of their piercings in favor for just the single ear. Even then, they had trouble finding good metal, and often had to scavenge it off of damaged industrial components.
So we all know that the forehead ridge is called a chufa, right? Well, that chufa is rather like a chakra, holding a Cardassian’s intellectual energy.
The similarly shaped chest ridge, notably seen on Natima Lang, is called a chula and is the center of a Cardassian’s emotional energy. Most Cardassians, especially males, keep this area covered to avoid looking vulnerable and sensitive.
The third ridge like this is the chuva, located right above a Cardassian’s pelvic opening (both male and female, as everything is internal), and is the center of sexual energy, obviously.
All three of these ridges contain nerve clusters with the least sensitive being the chufa and the most sensitive being the chuva.
Stimulation of these three areas is integral to mating and courtship rituals, with a chufa touch being like a kiss, a chula touch being comparable to a heavy makeout sesh, and a chuva touch meaning things are getting pretty ~serious~ (if you know what I mean…).
Faithless
I doodled this version of Kira in math class today, basing her partly off Laurelhatch’s Bajoran redesigns (found here). I took the longer muscled neck, hair on the chest, expanded nose, and ear fluffies from her designs and worked them into a portrait of a much different Major.
This is not the Kira we know and love. This is the Kira who has rejected her faith and given up on the Bajor she used to know. Her pagh was drained when a Cardassian interrogator tore off most of her left ear. She doesn’t fight for the Bajoran people. She fights because her bitter vendetta against the Cardassians is the only thing left to fuel her fire.
leeta
what are you wearing
you are wearing an actual slipcover
with green tights
I can say with absolute certainty that her outfit was designed by Garak.
The neckline is clearly Cardassian in aesthetic, but the print and colors are definitely influenced by the Ferengi tradition. The silhouette is playfully Bajoran and sexy without being tawdry.
Hmm. Okay, I can see that. But she’s got no neck ridges, no Theniaz, no chest spoon! And the great tracts of land she does have are completely invisible, and not in a flattering way!
I think I have to assume that she fell in love with this on the rack - she does love mad fashion, also see terrible Risa episode - and that Garak tried incredibly hard to dissuade her from purchasing it, but in the end, the customer is always right.
chequerootlurks
I’m an apprentice tattoo artist. An artist who owns a few shops invited me to their team.
I’ve got a long way to go. I’m still learning basic shading techniques. Working with a tattoo pen adds depth to the traditional flat plane I’m used to working on.
One is never too old to learn a new skill.
At times I feel like a complete newb.
So, here is a meme that I love. I’m sharing it for everyone who is learning something new.
