Some Speculations on Cardassian Anatomy
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| Title: | Some Speculations on Cardassian Anatomy (title used on Fanlore, as the fan does not title his post) |
| Creator: | Mrs260 |
| Date(s): | May 23, 2001 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: DS9 |
| Topic: | Alien Kink |
| External Links: | alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In 2001, a fan posted his headcanon regarding Cardassian anatomy. Cardassians are a lizard-like humanoid alien species in TNG-era Star Trek.
The essay was in response to another fan's request for some recs for popular fics that portrayed Cardassian genitalia. It illustrates world-building and a lot of creative speculation!
For a similar topic, see Vulcan Genitalia and Troll Genitalia.
The Post
Each writer is indeed a bit different. (Some authors are different in different stories.) "Popular" implies that there's some agreement, which there really isn't. We all have different ideas about Cardassian sexual organs. Sometimes those differences are slight, sometimes quite profound. The only version that could be termed "popular" is, "He is recognisably male, and Julian doesn't scream and run away, or throw up, or burst out laughing." As a group, G/B stories just aren't graphic enough to know exactly what the author is thinking in terms of sex organs. (Julian's are just as vague as Garak's.) As Anita says, we're pretty live-and-let-live about these things -- all we ask is that it's explained believably, and that it's physically possible for Garak to fit your version of his equipment under his clothing. There are few arguments about fanon Garak genitals. :0)Some variations, in those stories that mention such things:
Garak is almost invariably hairless, besides the hair on his head.
He is indeed grey all over. Usually his genitals are darker grey. Or dark reddish grey, when erect, if the author assumes his blood is dark red.
Sometimes it's large. Sometimes it's human average.
Sometimes it has scales. Sometimes it's smooth.
Sometimes it has ridges, sometimes not.
Sometimes it's stored internally when not in use. Sometimes it hangs outside all the time like a human's.
Sometimes the penis is not internal, but the testicles are.
Sometimes it's self-lubricating. Actually, it's *often* self-lubricating if Garak is topping. :0)
Sometimes Garak's penis looks alien to Julian in some way besides the usual grey colour. Sometimes the story doesn't say one way or the other.
Sometimes Cardassians have a double penis, or actually two penises. (I think this is quite popular with the Dukat writers, particularly the het stories. But this is just an impression. I don't find it that often in G/B.)
In a couple of Arcady's stories, Garak's sexual organs are so alien that I can't really figure out what they look like, or what is going on during the sex scenes. The sex act is as alien as Garak's sex organs. Garak is fairly mystified with Julian's sex organs, too. But they muddle through, and it's actually extremely sexy to read.
In one of BGM's stories Garak and Bashir are rather squicked by each other's naked bodies and foreplay. Garak's privates resemble a human woman's more than a human man's.
In a pair of stories that I beta read, Garak's organ opened like a blooming flower. (Julian compared it mentally to a feather duster when it was fully 'erect', and he thought it tasted rather like cotton candy, IIRC.)
To explain my version, I have to go into general Cardassian anatomy, but just a bit. Some of the Cardassian ridges are skin over bone, and some are erectile, and extremely erogenous. The ridges on the face are bone, because we saw a glimpse of a Cardie skull in Empok Nor, and it had bone ridges on the face. The ridges on the neck are erectile, as evidenced by Natima Lang's reaction when Quark stroked her neck ridges. (Similar to his reaction when she stroked his ears.)
My version of Cardassian behaviour includes the fact that stroking the facial ridges is a form of affection that is not socially acceptable in public. Not lewd enough to get you arrested or anything, but intimate enough to make other Cardassians very uncomfortable. The sexuality of the gesture is purely symbolic -- the person being touched can barely feel it.
It's not really sexual at all -- just a form of affection that is *purely* between committed lovers. I can't think of a very good analogy here -- making out in public, in terms of how such a gesture would be received in public, though the touch itself is like a tender, loving kiss to the inside of the wrist. Cardassians are just so private that displaying one's dearest heart like a trophy would be considered unspeakably crude and low -- humiliating to the beloved, for one thing.
In my stories, Garak will sometimes touch Julian's forehead. Sometimes I'll mention that he's tracing a teardrop pattern there, like the Cardassian spoon shape. Julian realises that it's a gesture of affection, but I doubt he realises it's such an intimate gesture. He may return the gesture in public one of these days and make Garak blush profusely in front of a crowd of totally oblivious people. :0)
Now, as for Garak's genitals... I don't specify how big it is, and that's deliberate. I also don't specify how human-looking it is. I want to leave as much to the imagination as possible. (And frequently I do -- most of my stories are G or PG. <g>) Let's start with a relatively human-looking penis and testicles. First, and most obviously, it's grey. There's no hair -- where a human's pubic hair would be, there's a patch of dark scales that get darker as the blood flows to them. There's three small erectile ridges wrapping around the scrotum, and the skin of the scrotum is a touch thicker than on a human, and feels like kid leather.
There are also three small erectile ridges on the penis, equidistant from each other, and running along the length of the shaft. They extend beyond the shaft to curl over the head, sort of like a foreskin. These ridges are as sensitive as the head, but tougher. When the penis gets erect, the ridges do too.
As far as self-lubing cocks go, my version doesn't have one -- not much more than a human, anyway. There's some pre-ejaculatory fluid that lubricates the head, like in a human, but my Garak would still need to use lube when fucking Julian.
In my snippet for The Small Screen a few years ago, I had the blood flow through Garak's neck ridges cause a purring sound, but I abandoned that. It's kinda neat, but kinda silly. :0)