Here I’ll be uploading all my galra headcanons so they don’t get lost in my main feed!!!

i often see people claiming the galra could out drink anyone, but that simply wouldn’t be true. alcohol is made from fermented fruit, and many species did not evolve to consume such things. the tolerance of alcohol is a genetic mutation that allows our body to handle toxins within fermented fruits.

At first glance, galra have a similar gender structure to humans. However, there is one fundamental difference between what makes a galra a "man" or a "woman" than what that means to humans:

Humans, while much of it is societal, have their perception of gender and the roles assigned to them based on two extremes of binary sexes, being male and female. Exceptions are considered outside of the "norm". Galra, however, are a cosexual species. Each individual galra is capable of both siring and carrying children. Their gender roles are entirely social constructs, based mostly on what earlier galra understood about the gender of other species they met.

This has led to a system both more complicated and rather simple— a quad-axis chart. Four extremes, a neutrality, and a wide range of identity and perception between.

One axis (usually the X or horizontal axis) represents femininity vs masculinity. This is where we humans would perceive galra as "man" or "woman". The left side of the axis, toms, present themselves as more traditionally masculine (once again, based on galra perception of outside species' gender). The right, or mollies, present more traditionally feminine. This may or may not correlate with the y (or vertical) axis—

Sire vs dam. This axis represents the other side of gender roles as galra have perceived them; who carries the children. The top part of the axis, or queens, are galra who wish to take on the role of damming, carrying children. The bottom part, studs, are galra who wish to take on the role of siring. In traditional galra culture, this wouldn't mean much, as all galra are responsible for the whelps in their community. During the Age of Zarkon, however, it is much more likely for queens to stay on colonies or whelping hubs, where they are able to raise their whelp themself.

It is more common for a galra who be a tom or molly while being neutral on the y axis than the opposite, but there are galra who fall all over the chart.

Terms:

Tom: a galra who presents masculine. They are likely to use the equivalent of he/him pronouns

Molly: a galra who presents feminine. They are likely to use the equivalent of she/her pronouns

Queen: marzsavri; a galra who wishes to dam, or carry whelps. If they are neutral on the x axis, their most likely pronouns would translate to she/her, but do not have a true equivalent

Stud: marzsakon; a galra who wishes to sire whelps. If neutral on x axis, their most likely pronouns would translate to he/him, but do not have a true equivalent

Neutral: a galra who has no preference. They do not wish to be perceived as more feminine or masculine, and have no preference (or desire, in some cases) for whether they dam or sire whelps. They are likely to use the equivalent of they/them

My DoMAYstic fic today features some traditional galran courting rituals, so I'm doing a post that goes into further detail on them! Note that these come from galran society on Daibazaal, and modern galra don't typically* have the same societal formations that Daibazaal galra had.

Galra are a pack species (or a "pride" species) and they hunt in pairs or small groups. Most members of the pride take turns hunting, even whelps once they reach a certain age (usually in early kithood), though they're almost always an addition to the hunting group, rather than being counted as a number. 

They eat communally and share meals, but what makes the gifting of meat in courtship special is that the courting galra will hunt solo, something that was rather dangerous on Daibazaal. They will typically hunt smaller prey than a pair or party would and bring it to their courting partner, where they share a small intimate meal just between the two of them. This shows the capability of a mate should they wish to break off and start a pride of their own, or if numbers dwindled and they didn't have enough people for hunting groups. 

To show acceptance of courtship, the galra on the receiving end may hunt for prey as well, or gift another item that shows their talents and ability to provide in other ways. They may build a nest or even dig out a new den**, for example. 

For galra, choosing a single mate is considered a pretty big deal. Their pride system is similar to a feral cat colony, where they raise whelps together no matter the dam (mother) or sire (father)***. However, unlike cats, nearby prides may come together to form a larger community. Still separated by prides, but helping each other when needed. And because of this set-up, galra don't tend to lean towards monogamy. It's not unheard of, nor is it frowned upon, but it's not very common. 

This makes courting and mating a big deal! It also made mating traditions pretty varied. Some galra would make their status as mates official and known with a mating bite. Harsh conditions on Daibazaal had them forming the ability to heal themselves and each other with saliva, so displaying a scar showed a commitment and willingness to risk harm for their loved one. Others may then redo the courting rituals, now together, to symbolize their union.

Courting and mating rituals are exceptionally rare in modern times, the Age of Zarkon, but they haven't died out completely. Even if modern galra aren't quite as good at them lol.

*Modern galra are heavily militarized in a way Daibazaalan galra could not have conceptualized. But a species can't survive only on battleships, so they've formed colonies and hubs for civilian galra. The galra are still the galra at heart, and civilian galra tend to live closer to how their ancestors did.

**Yes, galra used to dig out their dens on Daibazaal! Less common on colonies or hubs in modern times, but on Daibazaal it was the norm. On one half of the planet, going underground was the only way to get out of the sun. Ever. On the other half, huddling together in small dens was the only way to keep warm!

However, I am a masochist, and decided to make ALL of my OCs fighters. I just made a galra. He’s huge.

I also don’t know how to write.