fictionalred asked:
I AM NOT A COWARD. FROM WHAT AGE TO WHAT AGE DO YOU HAVE A STORY READY FOR ZATARA? AT WHAT AGE/TIME IS IT THE MOST INTENSE/FORMATIVE? DO YOU HAVE OLD ZATARA STORIES? WHAT'S HER INFLUENCE ON CARDASSIAN SOCIETY? TELL ME
AHHHHHH! I HAVE SO MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT ZATARA!
So, I haven’t actually sat down and written her stories out because I figured no one would really be interested, BUT I have everything pretty much mapped out from before her mother gave birth to her to her late life.
Long story short, her parents don’t want her because of the shame associated with her genetic defects, so they abandon her when she is a small child. Those years are probably some of the most formative because the streets of Cardassia City are a brutal training ground - but it lays the important groundwork for skills that come in very handy with the Obsidian Order, and it’s the very reason she comes to Tain’s attention in the first place.
I DO have old concepts for Zatara, including her initial biography/character sheet, which is really interesting to go back to now because I initially conceived of her as a companion for Garak. I was thinking of writing a Garak/Bashir fic where they had a child and they needed someone to function as their living incubator. So, a very special relationship was required: enter Zatara. However, the more I got to know her and the more I worked with her as a character, the more she took on a life of her own and her story changed. I certainly never planned for her to fall in love with Damar, but damn if that isn’t what happened!
Her influence on Cardassian society is twofold: early on she certainly influenced things, though unknowningly to the Cardassian public, as she was the principal scientist responsible for the development of several neurotoxins and chemicals that were used by the Obsidian Order. Her influence later in life is a little more direct. When Damar - a very public figure - marries her a few years after the war, he forces the Cardassian people to face their prejudices… And she certainly whispers in his ear about policy once he is made Castellan.
I could go on and on. She’s amazing. And devious.
