#and that might work with the cardassians

[unidentifiedprimate]

Deep Space 9 - A Call to Arms

part 2

#minefield conversation #part 2 #i love this conversation because weyoun is actually visibly pissed off at first #this stupid space station has been SO ANNOYING #he is under pressure from the founders to keep dominion takeover moving smoothly #he has to deal with gul dukat on the regular #and now mines? MINES? #rude. #so he lets his facade drop just a little #lets himself be harsh and direct. #and that might work with the cardassians #but it doesn't work with sisko #so he puts his mask back on and plays the diplomacy game again. #weyoun #sisko #deep space 9

[t-saan]

Update- Since this was so well recieved, there is a part 2 of this on my blog now.

I really like the idea that Gul Dukat spent a lot of his time just...recording messages for any possible circumstance that might occur on the station? And they still pop up at random moments?

Life on DS9 must be interesting in general, because of what the Cardassians left behind.

Imagine:

You are a humble Starfleet ensign, maybe a shuttle engineer, maybe a record keeper, stationed there just because. You know really little about the whole deal with Cardassians, Bajorans, occupation, Dominion and all that.

On your first day of work, you see that your console is in Cardassian. You try to change it and it doesn't work. You ask your supervisor. They tell you that all consoles are in Cardassian.

You are trying to replicate a bowl of soup in the middle of the night. No big deal. You try to add more salt to the recipe. Suddenly, you have the gleaming visage of Gul Dukat in your face, loudly announcing which recipes in the replimat are best and most patriotic in his opinion. You can't turn it off, or turn it down. He goes on for twenty minutes.

Every time you try to get your replicator to make hair spray, it gives you a jar of Cardassian issued military-grade tinted hair pomade.

Gul Dukat is no longer in command of DS9. It is a Bajoran station with Starfleet presence. Gul Dukat is on the station every other week. You've heard Commander Sisko comm him to ask how to change the AC settings in his office.

There are five different surveillance devices in your quarters. Sometimes you talk to them when you get lonely. Sometimes they talk back.

You go to a holodeck one time, on your off day. The system crashes and pulls up a Cardassian repetitive epic program. You live through five lifetimes of dutifull Cardassian life before someone manages to unseal the door. By the time it ends, you are surprised every time you touch your face, missing its ridges. You also miss your eighty Cardassian children.

You want to have a pair of trousers tailored. The tailor begins talking about the changes in fashion since the end of the occupation. In the middle of his monologue, you realize he had been talking in Cardassian the entire time. Your Universal Translator was off.

#star trek deep space nine #star trek #cardassia #cardassians #ds9 #deep space 9 #terok nor gothic

[isagrimorie]

Sometimes there really are interesting things on Reddit, found this one particular passage on r/DaystromInstitute talking about Starfleet and the Cardassian war, in particular, Miles O'Brien and Kathryn Janeway's experiences in a ground war:

Ground combat was much different. O'Brian's reactions to the Cardassians in 'The Wounded' are clear that ground combat wasn't as clean for the Federation as it was in space. Same with Captain Maxwell. Even Captain Janeway was in ground combat in the Federation/Cardassian war (I think it was the episode 'Prey' where Janeway told Seven of a time during the war when she was only Lt. Janeway). O'Brian carrying anger against the Cardassians for making him into a killer. Maxwell so used to destroying Cardassian ships that a year after the treaty is signed he's still in the habit of blowing up Cardassian ships. Janeway, it's entirely possible that until the war ended she spent her entire Starfleet career in combat, earning battlefield promotions, flying up the chain of command to Commander and with the impossible situation that Voyager was in after her promotion to Captain and first command being Voyager, she found herself trying to balance Starfleet ideologies with her own history of being willing to use violence, or in her case, too willing in a few episodes.

This is an interesting thought, I remember being surprised knowing Janeway actually was in actual ground combat. As we learned from DS9, and Strange New Worlds, ground combat is a lot different from ship-to-ship battle.

Ships can also be dangerous but Starfleet shines with ship battles. Ground combats are harder, and bloodier, and leave long-lasting marks on the soldiers who find themselves in them.

I wonder if Janeway distinguishing herself in the Cardassian war is the reason why Voyager got the assignment to go after the Maquis. But also, Janeway might have wanted to distance herself from the war more and focus on science.

But the Delta Quadrant kept pushing her into that place again.

Like, now I wish Janeway interacted with O'Brien at least, two Cardassian war vets.

ETA:

Another good r/DaystromInstitute post on Janeway:

Janeway is intentionally written as a character who intellectually believes in the ideals of the Federation, but whose actions are not always in line with her stated beliefs. I think this is very human and understandable. Very few real humans are as moral as Picard. This is why Quark's quote:

"Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes."

rings so true. Janeway is trying hard to not be the type of human Quark describes, but she is failing. She still tries, though, which I think is important.

All this just makes me love Janeway more, also Starfleet is terrible with mental health.

#thinky thoughts #federation cardassian war #kathryn janeway #miles o'brien #star trek #star trek voyager

[bahrmp3]

[ID: 13 gifs from season 2, episode 8 “necessary evil” from the tv series “star trek: deep space nine”, the gifs show kira nerys and odo inside odo's office. odo is behind his desk, while kira is standing in front of the desk.

1st gif: "i misjudged you, major. you were a better liar than i gave you credit for." odo tells kira.

2nd gif: the camera cuts to a close up of kira, "you were working for the cardassians." she leans forwards.

3rd gif: the camera returns to odo, "i haven't been for more than a year. you've had all that time to tell me the truth." he stresses his point by leaning forwards as well.

4th 5th, 6th gif: kira replies, "i tried to tell you the truth a hundred times." she straightens up before continuing, "what you think of me… matters a lot." she looks downwards, "i was afraid…"

7th gif: "that it might affect our friendship?" odo inquires.

8th gif: kira nods, she is still looking down towards the ground.

9th gif: "maybe it doesn't have to." odo is not looking at kira while saying this.

10th gif: kira looks up and at odo, "will you ever be able to trust me the same way again?"

11th gif: odo slowly lifts his head up and looks at kira. he doesn't say anything.

12th gif: kira looks straight ahead.

13th gif: the camera shows both kira and odo standing from the side. the silence echoes between them. kira is still looking straight ahead at odo, while odo averts his gaze and looks down. /end ID]

#startrekedit #ds9edit #deep space nine #deep space 9 #trekedit #kira nerys #ds9 odo #startrekladies #my stuff #ds9 #ds9* #long post #** #tv* #one of my favs that episode!!! the heavy silence! the maybe it doesnt have to] when they were just speaking how odo is uncompromising #in his ideals ! what to do when your best friend is a collaborator and just by refusing to choose a side he in fact had chosen a side? #ah i wish they dug deeper about this like i know i know its a great moment but doesnt have any bearing so far (im still in 4x07) #its the same with miles and julian when miles sabotaged julian's efforts to aid the jimhadar ! perfect moment and wont have any effect

[thethirdromana]

Kira's hairstyles throughout Deep Space Nine, rated

All screengrabs from Trekcore, all opinions from me.

As seen in season 1, episode 1: The Emissary.

A poor start with what I think might be the worst haircut on the list? Nana Visitor is all of 36 years old in this photo and she has the haircut of a granny. It also makes her face look very square, which it is not. 0/10.

As seen in season 2, episode 2: The Circle.

This is the first of the definitive Kira hairstyles and it definitely gets points for that, and many more for its butch energy. This is practical, this is kickass, this is a woman who can fight off a Cardassian invasion then put up some shelves without breaking a sweat. 7/10.

Also as seen in season 2, episode 2: The Circle.

I know this is basic of me but I really love the pixie cut. And I love the way that Kira is relaxing in a monastery at this point, in beautiful surroundings, and her whole look from her hair to her clothes has softened in response. 10/10.

As seen in season 2, episode 8: Necessary Evil.

I'm so conflicted about this one. On the one hand, I really like how it's been styled, especially in comparison to Dax's version of the same hairstyle, which looks uncomfortably stiff. On the other hand, Kira with long hair just doesn't seem right. 5/10.

As seen in season 3, episode 15: Destiny.

Another definitive Kira hairstyle, and probably the one that's most overtly masculine; this is a classic 1950s man's hairstyle, though somehow the overall effect is more femme than the brushed-back version. Mostly this is a hairstyle that doesn't take attention away from her face. 8/10.

As seen in season 4, episode 4: Indiscretion.

I'm not sure this is Kira's most flattering haircut, but I like the way that as she gradually becomes less angry and abrasive, and I suppose starts to work through some of her trauma from the Occupation, her hairstyles also become softer to match. 7/10 for character development.

As seen in season 7, episode 4: Take Me Out to the Holosuite.

This is my FAVOURITE of the longer-term Kira haircuts. Not just because it's pretty, but because the asymmetrical shape means that the whole effect is to draw your attention to her Bajoran earring. Her confidence and her pride shine through. 9/10.

As seen in season 7, episode 25: What You Leave Behind.

A serious hairstyle for a serious time. We've lost the fun full asymmetry of season 6 and early season 7 (which were also quite serious times, but never mind that). This is a surprisingly shapeless hairstyle for Kira. 4/10.

Because I was sad to end on a disappointing hairstyle, here's a bonus Nana Visitor:

This is the very cool hairstyle Kira went for post-canon, and you can't persuade me otherwise.

#star trek #deep space nine #ds9 #kira nerys #long post #this took ages so if you disagree please be nice about it

[comic-sans-chan]

one of my favorite garashir seasonings is their mutual savior-complex-induced penchant for sacrificing themselves for the greater good and how that manifests in both hilariously fucked up and weirdly wholesome ways.

like julian meeting up with the former head of the obsidian order and one of the most dangerous men alive all by himself so that he can ask for some cardassian brain schematics and figure out what the fuck is wrong with garak's brain (too many things). or garak having a round-the-clock panic attack in the walls of the prison camp to save their asses while two klingons culturally conditioned to venerate suffering and death nod on in approval and julian swoons and bites his nails and swoons some more. or julian in the holosuite like "we might die, sure, but what's a little death among friends?" and garak being like “pretty sure suicide in a ferengi escape room with cum-stains that aren’t my own would cancel out every cool spy thing i’ve ever done with my life actually," and julian with his gun is like "bet" and garak just "you're sexy and that means you're right. let's go die the stupidest deaths ever." or garak trying to blow up the founder's planet and himself and julian in the process and julian with his fucked up statistical probability brain not even batting an eye when he hears about it. "yeah that was a reasonable line of thought. anyway, this coffee is good." insanity.

i like to imagine that after the war when the intensity has dialed down a few hundred notches, this tendency of theirs still manifests in these needlessly batshit moments where julian is like "ok but i feel like working around the clock to cure this disease all by myself makes sense even though it's killing me" and garak's like "maybe not, tbh. you're not the only smarty pants, you can have help maybe? and i know this is sudden but i think i love you" and julian responds "we've been married twelve years. it is a little fast, but i love you, too. i guess i can live then or w/e. for love." and at some other point garak is like "ok but i feel like flinging myself into this forty-foot pit to retrieve seven crying orphans and a regnar is a good idea because i was abused as a child" and julian with his huge brain is like "actually i think throwing a ladder down would be better, especially since i'm not a necrophiliac" and garak responds "oh you might be right. so no head at my funeral? cruel." and on it goes until the therapy finally kicks in

#my posts #garashir

[vaguely-concerned]

Garashir ficlet, PG, context is that Garak is about to go do… Something on his own (specifics very much ????? but probably something foolhardy and secretive and doomed ala Improbable Cause) and Julian is Not Having It this time. Probably fits into some of the later seasons vibes-wise. 

Julian said tightly: “My Kardasi might still need some work, but — ”

“Oh, no at all, considering how recently you started your studies your efforts are downright impressive, if, ah — charmingly archaic at times. If that’s to be laid at anyone’s feet it should be mine, probably, remind me to recommend you something written within the last few centuries sometime soon.” 

Giving this attempt at diversion exactly as much consideration as it deserved, Julian completely ignored him and finished his own line of thought: “ — but at this point I have a veritable doctorate in Garakese. There’s something you’re not telling me.” 

“Many things, I’m sure. If I’d known you had any interest in the optimal soil composition in which to grow Lovalan roses, I would have gladly shared my insight. All you had to do is ask, my dear. In the spirit of cross-cultural knowledge exchange, I always stand ready to chip in and do my par — ”

“Elim.” 

That made Garak blink, just that split second too long, even as his face remained perfectly still and smiling around it. It was subtle enough that an unaugmented eye might not have caught it, but Julian’s did.

No longer bothering to hide his own desperation, Julian pressed on: “Elim, please. You’ve got me worried with this. I want to help in any way I can, and — and I don’t like to think about what might happen if I can’t.”

There was a moment of silence between them in which Julian could hear his own quickened breathing too loudly in his ears. 

“That’s… characteristically kind of you, Doctor,” Garak said eventually, voice slightly hushed, like someone trying not to wake a sleeping child in another room. “But there is nothing to worry about. Really.” 

“Brush me off if you really feel like you have to, but please, at least do me the courtesy of not going out of your way to insult my intelligence while you’re at it,” Julian snapped. “How stupid do you think I am? How do you expect me to just close my eyes and sit back like nothing’s wrong while you — ”

Garak sighed. “You’re right, that was unworthy of me. Please, put it down to old habit, not a lack of respect. Very well, then let me rephrase what I was trying to say slightly, in order to be more precise — whatever might or might not be going on, there’s absolutely nothing you can do, and I really would rather you stayed out of it. Knowing you to be safely out of the line of fire would provide me with infinitely more comfort and utility than anything you could actively do to help. Which, again, is nothing.”

“But — ”

“Julian. Please.” 

Julian would have been thrown less off-balance if Garak had punched him square in the jaw. “Oh, that’s a dirty trick,” he said, unsteadily. 

“And here I thought ‘turnabout is fair play’ was a guiding Human principle,” Garak said, and his tone was light but his eyes were soft and very sad. “I see I have been misinformed.”    

The idea that Julian’s initial exposure to the Cardassian language leaves him speaking it like the equivalent of a Regency era novel or something to contemporary Cardassian ears in the beginning is a headcanon that is so dear to me  

#garashir #star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #julian bashir #elim garak #my writing #god. I just started a new fic this evening. I've got 5 proper wips on the go now not just this style of fragment nonsense. help

[youngpettyqueen]

Since you are asking for DS9 short fic requests, could you please do #6 “You can’t die. Please don’t die.” of the writing prompt list with some Julian Bashir whump? (But no character death please!) ❤️

you got it anon! and worry not, writing character death fics isnt really my thing, so no chance of me killing anybody <3

also since you didnt specify anybody else in the scene I decided to have Miles be there! hope that's ok I just have them on the brain

Miles wonders if this is how Julian feels every time a mission leaves him half-dead.

He can't stop pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, he's going to pace a ditch right through the cave floor at the rate he's going. He tried sitting and holding still, but that just made him feel like he was itchy under his skin, twitchy with nerves. So, pacing it is. Pacing and cursing how quiet it is.

Any other day he'd be grateful for the quiet. Today, though, he hates it. Because Julian isn't quiet, he isn't capable of being quiet, and right now he's dead silent.

Miles glances over. Julian is just as unconscious as he was last time he looked over, which was all of two minutes ago if he's being generous. Still and quiet, so goddamn quiet. He finds himself moving closer, just so he can make sure that Julian's chest is, in fact, still rising and falling.

And then he's kneeling down. He's checking the dressing over Julian's stomach. Again. He's not a doctor, he doesn't know what he would even be looking for here, but he's checking anyways. He can't help it. It makes him feel better.

The dressing is still clean. Miles is sure that's a good thing- that means he hasn't bled through it yet. Considering all he's had to work with is a dermal regenerator on the fritz and some bandages, he'd say that's pretty good. Sure, Julian might be able to save the entire station with less than that, but, well... Julian's the one who needs saving this time.

It was supposed to be a simple away mission. It's always supposed to be a simple away mission, really. They were delivering medical supplies to a Federation colony, helping them deal with a nasty outbreak of some sort of flu that Miles can't remember the name of. They were well on their way, spending the time arguing over who actually won their last game of darts, casual as can be.

And then they got shot down.

Miles didn't see who it was. Could've been Cardassians, could've been Maquis, could've been literally anybody this side of the Quadrant. All he knows is one second things were great, and the next his console was exploding and throwing him across the cockpit, and Julian was wrestling with the controls to aim them at the closest planet. He threw himself back into his seat and did his best to help, but there was no saving their landing. They crashed. Violently.

Miles woke up on the floor, bruised all over but still breathing. And Julian was hunched over the console, unmoving just like he is now. But there, he was awake. He was all-too awake, and he wasn't moving, because he'd been flung into the splintered console, and it was embedded deep in his gut.

He's never going to forget the sounds Julian let out as he pulled him off the console. It was a mercy he'd passed out right after, going limp and lifeless in Miles' arms the second he was free. Gave him a bloody heart attack, thinking for a brief second he'd just up and died, but it at least made it easy to gather Julian up in his arms and carry him out of the wreckage.

It's not a good situation. Their medical supplies was destroyed in the crash, and the medkit and all its contents were either damaged or broken beyond use. The dermal regenerator barely managed anything before it sparked out and nearly exploded in his hand. They've got a transmitter, at least, but it was damaged in the crash and he has to check it every few minutes to make sure it's still working.

And Julian won't wake up.

Miles' gaze travels up to Julian's face. Perfectly still, damn near peaceful, except there's a thin sheen across his forehead and he's pale under his skin. A pinch to his brows betrays the pain he's still in, even unconscious. The kit had one working hypo that he could find, and he'd given it to Julian without hesitation. He's not in the best shape himself, battered and bruised as he is, but that's all small potatoes compared to Julian.

It's probably a mercy that he's staying unconscious. Miles doesn't envy the pain he'd be in if he were awake. Still, there's a big, selfish part of him that wishes Julian was awake. Because then, at least, it wouldn't be quiet. He's never hated quiet before today. He'd be happy to never have to deal with complete silence ever again.

"I don't know if you can hear me," He says, mainly just to fill the space, "And I really hope you can't, because I'd never say this to you if you were awake, but... you're the best friend I've got, Julian. And I'm really not ready to let that end here," He admits, his voice quiet even though there's nobody else around, "Cause, y'know, we've got that holosuite reservation next week, and Quark won't consider your death grounds for a refund. And... I'd miss you, so there's that," God, this is hard. Julian's fucking unconscious and this is still so hard, "I'd... I'd really miss you, Julian, so... I guess what I'm saying is... you're not allowed to die," He reaches, like he's going to take Julian's hand, but comes up short, "You can't die. So, please don't. Die, that is." He ends up patting Julian's arm. It feels awkward and stiff, but anything else feels too much like he's saying goodbye, and he's really not trying to say goodbye right now.

"Is that..." Miles' head snaps up, and he finds himself meeting Julian's half-open eyes, "Is that... an order, Chief...?" He asks weakly, managing an obnoxious smile, even now.

"Oh, you bastard," Miles breathes, because yeah, of course Julian woke up in time to listen to that, "You right bastard. How much of that did you hear?" He asks.

Julian grins, blood painting his teeth. "Enough," He replies, like an asshole, "You'd... miss me?" He questions, looking far too smug for a man halfway to death.

"Absolutely not," Miles informs him, sniping purely out of habit and with no real heat behind his words, "But Keiko would miss you, and I hate to see Keiko upset, so I guess I need you to stay alive." He continues.

"How's it feel... knowing your wife would miss me?" Julian asks, still grinning like a smug clown.

"Don't push your luck, Julian," Miles tells him, with undeniable fondness, "It'd be far too easy to make it look like the crash killed you."

Julian croaks a laugh. And maybe this is the moment where Miles should say something heartfelt. Like how he actually would miss Julian, a whole hell of a lot. Or how glad he is that he's alive. Or how relieved he is to hear the sound of his voice. But Julian already knows those things, and spilling his heart out while Julian bleeds his guts out would feel way too much like they're having their final conversation. This banter, though, is familiar. It's them. And it lets him say we're going to get through this without actually saying it.

So, he doesn't say anything nice. Instead, he gets back into arguing about darts. Because then Julian is talking, and it isn't quiet anymore, and he can hide in the familiarity of their arguing and convince himself that everything's going to be ok.

(And it is. Miles has to kick the transmitter a few more times, but a rescue comes. Julian is fine, he won't even have a scar. And if Miles relents and begrudgingly admits, at last, that maybe Julian won their game, well... maybe that's his way of saying he's glad Julian's alright.)

#star trek: ds9 #fic bitching #miles o'brien #julian bashir #first time writing Miles! hoping I did a good job #I feel like I got him #but im not as confident in it as I was in Jadzia and Julian #figuring out how his internal dialogue sounds was tricky #but I had fun with it! #I hope you enjoy anon <3

[writergeekrhw]

I know it's a long shot, especially with all the terrible-ness from the studios right now, but what're the odds (in your opinion) that we ever get to see Avery Brooks reprise his role? Or any of the cast for that matter? I got excited to see Quark and Kira in Lower Decks but... I need my Space Dad back yo :(

Also, thanks for what you worked to make. I didn't grow up watching DS9 as a kid, but I found it as an adult and that 'Cardassian eye sore' on the edge of the galaxy has gotten me through some real low points in life. Best to you!

From what I understand, Avery is fully retired and not working anymore, so I don't think him appearing as Sisko is likely. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I doubt I will be.

As to other actors, I'm not looped into the behind-the-scenes on the current Star Trek shows, and that'd be their decision. I have no idea what they might or might not be planning. It was great seeing Kira and Quark on LOWER DECKS though.

#ask me anything #tv writing #ask me stuff #ds9 #star trek ds9 #star trek #deep space nine #star trek deep space nine #deep space 9 #star trek deep space 9

[tanadrin]

Londo Mollari is very much like an anti-Garak. Both are more than they appear to be; but whereas Garak is someone who, just prior to the opening of the series, is firmly embedded within the circles of power of his empire-fallen-on-hard-times, and who is initially something of an exile who yearns to be reinstated within that hierarchy, he grows disillusioned with Cardassian politics and the Cardassian state as it's then constructed; he eventually becomes a rebel, fighting to oust the corrupt and imperialistic element represented by Dukat and his successors, even allying with the Federation to do so.

Mollari, like Garak, comes off as initially affable, but while he and Garak share ambition, Mollari is seeking entry to the circles of power for the first time. And despite his apparent reservations, he becomes only more willing to make moral compromises to get ahead as time goes on, to the point of working with factions inside the Centauri government to wrench the Centauri state away from the path of reflection and reform it might have been on (represented by the dying emperor who wants, but is ultimately unable, to bury the hatchet with the Narn). So where Garak is sort of a hero despite himself, Mollari feels very much like a figure of Greek tragedy.

Garak is compelling as an individual figure; but Londo feels very much like a Type--like the man said, even if you dumped him out an airlock for being a Grade A asshole, it's not like there'd be any shortage of people to take his place.

#babylon 5 #ds9

[a-stitch-in-time-and-space]

My friend has been ranting (affectionate) for the past 10 minutes about how his biggest gripe with star trek is the lack of armor and general protection in dangerous environments

choice quotes (paraphrased):

“that Bajoran got stabbed with a pitchfork!”

“Do you know how much protective gear an electrician has to wear??? (he’s an electrician) and people working in engineering just assume everything is fine bEcAusE iT’s ThE FuTUre”

“I’m not saying Warhammer, I’m just saying those pyjamas don’t protect against a bat-leth!”

“Is it reinforced pyjama???”

“They’re working in dangerous environments, not even protective goggles???”

“Helmets?”

“No helmets. Why go into battle without a helmet?”

“If you’re somewhere sparks might fly, you wear goggles, that’s 1-0-1 guys!”

“That guy in that episode with Jake and Bashir, he was wearing armor and that’s why he didn’t die immediately... he did die of course...”

“The Cardassians aren’t right about a lot... but their armor is also kinda shit.”

#star trek

[ectogeo-art]

Got real inspired by a prompt from my friends, and wrote a fic about The Wire in which Garak dies before Julian can get back to the station, and Julian has to bring him back to life, mad scientist style! <3 Definitely some horror vibes, but it's got a happy ending, don't worry! <3

Excerpt (TW: temporary character death, body horror, medical experimentation):

Even though he knew what he would find when he pulled back the privacy curtain that had been set up, Garak’s lifeless body was still a shock to see. He looked unsettlingly pale, and the complete stillness of his chest hurt Julian much more than he was expecting it to. Until he saw him like this, he hadn’t quite believed he was dead. He’d lost patients before and it was always painful, but Garak wasn’t just any patient or even just any friend. Garak was… Well, it didn’t matter what else he might be, not unless this worked.  He’d whipped up this treatment in a frenzy, not stopping to care about the way that the chroniton particles he’d spilled kept causing a patch of metal on the workbench to repeatedly shine like new and then rust quickly and then cycle through those processes again, or the way that the cocktail of Cardassian enzymes and adrenaline made the biomimetic gel glow a frightening sort of radioactive green. As soon as it was prepared, he’d loaded it into a classical syringe (the hypo wouldn’t work with this mixture) and rushed to Garak. He’d deal with the clean-up from his experiments later. But now he stood poised to inject his friend with something that might bring him back to life, but more likely could just mangle and disfigure his corpse. Cardassians culturally didn’t even like outsiders to see their dead, let alone inject them with hastily brewed unstable chemicals that may or may not dissolve a body from the inside out if Julian had made even the slightest error in his calculations or titrations or scientific assumptions.

#julian bashir #garashir #elim garak #garak #ds9 #deep space nine #star trek ds9 #my fic

[walkingstackofbooks]

Inquisition, but with added angst...

What if Sloan's objective in Inquisition wasn't to recruit Julian, but to break him so he'd sign away his rights and let himself be incarcerated. For the protection of the Federation of course.

And what could break our doctor more than believing he's responsible for killing one of his friends...?

--

Julian woke up in a cell so small that even sitting up, he didn’t quite fit on the bench. The Defiant’s brig. They must have rescued him from Weyoun… and then put him here? He struggled to put his last few flashes of memory together; the Vorta had tried to convince him he was a spy, which had made him realised that it was Sloan who was the real traitor. Then Jadzia, Kira and Worf had beamed in, and he’d gone to grab the Cardassian’s weapon and then… nothing. Until waking up here. He guessed he must have hit his head, or been shot, or something – but there was no lingering pain anywhere, no indication of what might have caused his unconsciousness.

It didn’t really matter. The important thing was to tell Captain Sisko as soon as possible about what had happened – that Sloan could not be trusted. Julian was well aware of how this must have looked to his captain, but Sisko was fair; he knew he would be heard out.

Someone was standing on guard, but had placed themselves just to the side of the forcefield, so it impossible for Julian to make out anything more about them than their presence. “Can you tell Captain Sisko I’m awake? Please. I need to speak to him,” he asked whoever it was.

They didn’t respond. Automatically, Julian rapped on the forcefield with his fists – and then pulled them away quickly with a stifled cry, rubbing them where they’d been stung. The forcefield shimmered and stuttered for a few seconds, but the guard either had not noticed, or did not care.

“Hello? Please, it’s really important that Captain Sisko hears this,” Julian tried again, loud and demanding. He needed to relay what he had learnt, and he allowed his righteous anger to seep into his words. “I am still his Chief Medical Officer, you have no right—”

He stopped, hearing the crewman activate their combadge. “Kira to Sisko,” she said. “He’s woken up.”

In the brief silence that followed, Julian’s mind raced. It was Kira? And she was just ignoring him? He really had thought that his friends, at least, would know he’d never betray them, even if Sisko had to weigh up all the options as captain. Did his situation look that suspicious?

Sisko’s voice filtered back through the badge. “I’ll speak to him after,” the captain said. Julian could hear the frown in his voice, and shivered at the coldness of it. “I’m needed here. Tell him whatever you think is necessary. Sisko out.”

“Nerys, you need to listen to me—” Julian stopped as she swung round to meet his gaze. Kira was smiling, but there was no warmth to it. Her eyes were alight with anger, and Julian stepped back in alarm.

“I need to listen to you?” Kira said, lips curling in disdain. “Doctor, I’m really not sure that I’d believe anything you’d say right now, so don’t waste your breath.”

Julian looked at her in astonishment. “Kira, I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m innocent!” he exclaimed. “You can’t just– I’ve been framed, Sloan’s the traitor, he’s working with them…”

Some sort of half-laugh broke out of Kira, and she spat on the ground in front of his cell. “Was it Sloan who shot Jadzia, Julian? Do remind me.”

Julian faltered for a moment, struggling to comprehend what Kira had said. “Jadzia was shot?” he replied, heart pounding, stumbling over his words. “Is she alright? I should be in the Medbay, with her – why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because youshot her, Doctor!” Kira said incredulously, as though it was a fact, and not some insane accusation. “Stop pretending you don’t know that you’re the reason she’s probably going to—” She broke off, punching the wall next to her in frustration. “Dammit, Nerys,” she whispered, low enough that Julian was sure he wasn’t meant to hear. “Don’t cry yet.” Turning away from him, she returned to where she’d previously been stood, out of Julian’s sight.

Terror flooded him. “Kira,” he said urgently, moving as close as he could to the forcefield. “Kira, please. Tell me Jadzia’s alright.”

“You shot her in the stomach, Julian,” came the quiet response. “A perfect shot, you got Dax, too. No, she’s not “alright”. You made sure of that.”

Julian couldn’t breathe. He stumbled back, legs bumping into the bench behind him, causing him to fall onto it. This was a nightmare, Jadzia couldn’t be dying, this couldn’t be happening.

Except it was.

“I-- I didn’t do it, Kira,” he said, desperately. “I don’t know what you saw, but I didn’t—you know I’d never hurt her—I didn’t shoot her, Nerys, I couldn’t, I didn’t.” Surely, surely, even if part of him was working for the Dominion, that was still true. He was a doctor, he was Jadzia’s friend, he didn’t go around murdering people.

Kira had snatched up a PADD from the monitoring station, and released the forcefield for a few seconds to shove it into Julian’s hands. It was displaying the security feed for the Medbay, and Julian could see Jadzia lying on a biobed: Worf was holding her hands on one side, Sisko stood rigid on the other.

“I wish I could believe you,” Kira said. “But I saw you tackle that Cardassian for his phaser; I saw you aim at Jadzia and I watched as you fired. Then Worf launched himself at you, tackled you to the ground, and we got out of there. There’s no uncertainty here, Julian. The person we put behind that forcefield is the same person who shot Jadzia.”

“Me,” whispered Julian. It still didn’t make sense, he still couldn’t remember anything; it was impossible to believe that he’d been broken, that he was suffering from “engrammatic dissociation”, that any of this was real. He’d been so certain that Sloan and Weyoun had been working together in some grand scheme against him.

But maybe the simpler explanation was true. He was a traitor.

His hands were shaking – no, his whole body was shaking – and his breaths were coming in short, sharp pants, faster and faster. “I-- I don’t remember,” he said, aching to be believed in this, at least. “I really don’t remember. Please, Major. I didn’t know. I didn’t, I—I swear…” He was clutching at the PADD as though it was a lifeline, although he could barely make out the figures on the screen, no matter how many tears he blinked away.

“I can’t do this,” he heard Kira say, followed by the tap of her combadge again. “Kira to Security. I need someone – no, two people – down at the brig.”

He didn’t bother trying to speak to her again as they waited for security to relieve her. What would be the point? Instead, he let the cell around him grow blurry and floaty and distant, trying to get as far away from his own thoughts as he could. But it didn’t take long for his new guards to arrive, and the sound of footsteps and voices brought him back to himself.

He had expected Kira to leave without another word to him, but as she neared the door, she turned back, looking at him fiercely.

“I should have listened when Starfleet told us you were dangerous,” she said bitterly. “If you’d been locked away a year ago…” Leaving the thought hanging there, she shook her head, and made her exit.

Julian could fill in the blanks. If I’d been locked away a year ago, Jadzia wouldn’t be dying. If I hadn’t fought so hard against Sloan, I wouldn’t have shot her. If I hadn’t been so arrogant, thinking I was the exception, a “good” augment, thinking that I could never be turned—

A faint, deep yell came through the corridors, and Julian’s eyes snapped to the PADD. Sisko was now holding Jadzia’s hand, his head bent low, whereas Worf was standing up, head thrown back as he bellowed to the heavens. The PADD dropped from Julian’s hands as he fell to his knees on the floor. His head knocked against the forcefield as he went down, but he didn’t care. No physical discomfort could ever compete with the hollow emptiness that consumed him in that instant, and he was lost to despair.

--

(Having said I wouldn't start working on anything that wasn't my Miles-keeps-dying fic [and yes, okay, I do love making Julian watch his friends die, shhh], I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since chatting with @fuzzyhairedfreak the other day - it's not quite what I had in mind then, but I blame your post for setting the brainworms in motion :P it's been very fun to write though, so thanks!)

#Julian Bashir #Julian Bashir needs a hug #DS9: Inquisition #Sloan hasn't turned up yet but he sure will if I continue this #Oh gosh am I really going to write all this? #genetically enhanced julian bashir #Also I was really trying to get my Kira characterisation right and fretting a little over it #and then 3/4 way through realised she's a hologram #It's not actually /her/ #Which is a shame because I love her #I look forward to her being real again #Dax too #Oh gosh I am actually going to write this aren't I? #WSB

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Dal/Gwyn, Janeway/Chakotay parallels

I've been mulling this over for a while so I just wanna put all of these down. I really have been enjoying the parallels between these four, and there's a bunch. Will add to this as I think of more.

Dal and Janeway:

They're both on a quest to find home. Janeway back to Earth. Dal back to his family.

Both captain a nontraditional crew and bring them under the Starfleet banner. Dal captains his crew of escaped prisoners from Tars Lamora and Janeway the combined members of her original crew and the Maquis in each case this is born of expediency. They need the crew numbers to get the ship running. And for both part of their journey becomes learning to be a better captain to their unique crews.

Both explore and grapple with their relationship to starfleet ideals. In Dal's case learning Starfleet ideals and laws from scratch and putting them into practice. In Janeway's having her existing ideals tested by an environment where they are difficult to hold to. She and Dal both experience obstacles that test their commitment to these ideals and face consequences of straying from them.

Stars: Dal's window of dreams. Janeway's love of nebulas. The stars mean different things to these two: freedom to Dal and discovery to Janeway but both are seen to have a particular affinity for them.

Learning to lean on their crew: Both in one way or another return to themes of accepting help rather than depending only on themselves. For Dal, this comes from a past of self-preservation and survival. For Janeway, from guilt-driven instinct to put her crew before herself. Both see some of their greatest successes and moments of growth when they set aside those tendencies and accept help from their crew.

Gwyn and Chakotay

Both leave their home for Starfleet, and later return to it when it is in trouble. Chakotay leaves Dorvan/Trebus at 15 against the wishes of his father in order to pursue Starfleet Academy. and only returns when it attacked by the Cardassians. Gwyn idealizes Starfleet her whole life on Tars Lamora only to decide to try to save Solum rather than join her friends as warrant officers.

Both have complicated relationships with their dead fathers. Both of their fathers disagreed with their pursuit of Starfleet, and wanted them to embrace a future that more directly benefited their homeworld. Both were in conflict with them before their deaths and Both of their fathers were killed violently, spurring a shift in their thinking.

Both love exploring other cultures. Gwyn has a love of languages. Chakotay of archeology/anthropology. Both enjoy learning about new people and places and making connections.

Both of their homeworlds are abandoned by the Federation for political reasons - a treaty with the Cardassians in one case and a commitment to non-interference in the other. In Chakotay's case this leads him to turn against starfleet for a time, feeling that it had abandoned its ideals. I'm curious if Gwyn's mission to Solum will lead her down a similar path.

Both act the first officer to an equal. Chakotay was a captain of his own ship before agreeing to be Janeway's second in command. Gwyn has more technical expertise about the Protostar's systems than Dal, and more familiarity with the Federation.

Dal/Gwyn &. Chakotay/Janeway

Both pairs begin their relationship at odds in similar ways. Janeway is seeking to arrest Chakotay. Dal is first Gwyn's prisoner and then takes her as a captive.

The Moral Star/Coda parallels. I just enjoy a good "You might be dying in my arms and I never told you how I felt moment" okay. I am a sucker for it.

Gwyn and Dal ending Season 1 in a similar place to where Janeway and Chakotay were at the start of it. Chakotay winds up trapped on Alt!Future Solum after accepting a mission to complete some of the unfinished work/fix some of the mistakes Voyager had when it first traversed the Delta Quadrant. Gwyn ends Season one going to fix some of the mistakes made between Solum and Starfleet in the alternate future. Janeway and Dal, meanwhile, are at HQ with their own Starfleet-focused duties.

Speculations:

All of the above have me wondering if both couples are in a similar place romantically. Dal and Gwyn are just beginning a romantic relationship when they separate. Is that where Janeway and Chakotay are as well?

And will this mean that Gwyn will also need a rescue? Will her mission go sideways like Chakotay's did?

#gwyndala #dal r'el #kathryn janeway #chakotay #janeway x chakotay #gwyn x dal #janeway/chakotay #gwyn/dal #star trek voyager #star trek prodigy

[princessofswordsart]

I might be working on a 2nd Cardassian porno sketchbook zine...

#cardassian #cardassians #gul dukat #deep space nine #DS9

[starfleetisapromise]

Some thoughts on Picard Season 2 and why it's unpopular.

So I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday. I'm rewatching Picard Season 2 in preparation for a discussion about it with a colleague next week and I was constantly reminded that a lot of fans are very visceral in their dislike of this season.

To be honest, there are parts of it that I don't like. I think the whole Soong/Kore story was a totally unnecessary distraction and was only done, once again to shoehorn in Brent Spiner and the Picard/Data relationship - which I never found compelling in the first place. But that's just me.

However, I realized that Picard Season 2 does something that no other season (or show) of Star Trek does, it centers the entire narrative on humanity. By making the protagonists AND the antagonists humans, there is no subtle (or not so subtle) use of alienation to map contemporary adversaries or conflicts onto the Federation's adversaries. This is important, because, as I have argued in a multitude of research papers, Star Trek is very, very guilty of framing future conflicts through the lens of contemporary adversaries. This was done very explicitly in TOS - both Roddenberry and Coon overtly asked for the Klingons to be modeled on an "Asiatic Communist" trope. Communism was again the enemy in TNG, through the medium of the Borg and "assimilation" and loss of individuality. DS9 has its Cardassian "Nazis"; Voyager and Enterprise the chaotic post-Cold War existential threat of non-state actors and by the time we get to Discovery, the Klingons have been recast as Jihadist extremists.

The fundamental problem with this is that no matter how much Star Trek might talk about the Federation being a "future better us"; by casting recognizable real world adversaries as the Federation's foes, it automatically casts the contemporary US as the Federation (that's just how TV works, especially through the manichean lens of US culture).

So, if you don't want to think too hard about the ways in which the US interacts with the world. If you don't want to think too hard about American exceptionalism and Neo-imperialism and the misuse of force (and capital) without and within the US. If you cloak it all in the surface progressiveness of visible diversity - and I'm not claiming that diversity and representation isn't important, of course it is, but diversity does not equal progressive politics - then you can happily watch Star Trek without ever having to grapple with the uglier parts of the American experience. If we are the Federation, and clearly we must be because the Federation's foes are recognizably our foes, then we are already the galaxy's "good guys"; the Federation is just a future extension of the American now.

Season 2 of Picard blows that all apart. The bad guys are the Confederation and, by going back to the 21st century and exposing the roots of the Confederation in all the ugly, racist, greedy, unequal, venal, corrupt layers of 21st century America, the Confederation is a direct consequence of that present (our present) being allowed to play out into the future. We are the enemy in the 21st century and we become the enemy in the 24th century.

And the show pulls absolutely no punches. We get ICE brutalizing detainees and explicit discussions of people being disappeared because they are dehumanized as "non-people". Homeless encampments and immigrant clinics amid glittering towers and sumptuous parties. We get quips about the ridiculousness of pledging allegiance to a flag (thank you Ríos) and monologues about exchanging white hoods for suits (thank you Guinan). Some of the despair is directed to the behaviors of everyone on the planet - climate change - but the vast majority of the political commentary is explicitly about the contemporary US.

Not only that but it's done by a diverse cast that speaks Spanish, and is brown and queer and female and empowered (thank you Queen Agnes) and where the only white men are aging and feeble.

It is (the wandering Soong/Kore storyline notwithstanding) fucking brilliant television and it's the first time that Star Trek is ever explicitly - textually AND subtextually - progressive. There is no ability for the audience to elide the message by hiding in the fiction that we are the Federation and THEY are the bad guys (the Klingons, the Borg, the Romulans, the Breen, the Cardassians).

So no, let's get rid of the bullshit that people don't like Picard Season 2 because of "the writing", the writers room for Seasons 2 and 3 is almost identical (Matalas, Appel, Monfette, Maggs and Okomura) and the writing for both seasons was taking place almost at the same time.

Whether it's subconscious or not, the disproportionate degree of hate leveled at Season 2 (often by the same fans that love season 3 for it's "great writing" and overt nostalgia) exists because the storytelling in Season 2 leaves fans no place to hide. Because for the first time Star Trek really dives into the core of science fiction, which, as many, many sci-fi writers have explained (Margaret Atwood most recently), is not to predict the future but to critique the present.

I may come back and edit or extend this later, but right now I'm going to leave it as is and post.

Edited to clarify that you can hate Season 2 for any reason you want to, personal taste is just that, personal - but the (for the first time) explicit social commentary cannot be divorced from the unusual levels of vitriol hurled at this season by a substantial group of very vocal fans.

#picard s2 #picard meta #star trek meta