#dukat was literally obsessed with him

[garaks-padded-bra]

So obsessed with Corat ‘no friends’ Damar. How he slowly gets excluded from the weyoun dukat damar triangle. How he tells quark all his secrets with little to no prompting bc literally nobody else talks to him. How weyoun replaces him with a breen in 2 seconds. Incredible guy

#ds9 #star trek #corat damar #damar ds9 #weyoun #gul dukat

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 2, Poll 7

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Anna Tromedlov-Hench

Qualifications:

She's bi! She has an injured femur and uses a cane and has cybernetics in her optic nerve implanted after having that injured as well!

Propaganda:

She's smart! She is kind of an awful person in the best way!

Anything Else?:

everyone should read this book unless they aren't into thinky, fun sci-fi or body horror

Elim Garak-Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Qualifications:

He has PTSD due to child abuse, as well as a painkiller addiction due to a brain implant. He is also extremely gay. Like literally everybody who watches DS9 immediately understands this about him. He was explicitly played by his actor, Andy Robinson, as attracted to Julian Bashir, and his only heterosexual romance is truly painful to witness. Andrew Robinson has also said that he has had a one-night stand with Dukat, one of the main villains of DS9 and noted lizard nazi. Do with that what you will. His closest relationship onscreen by far is with Julian.

Propaganda:

This man. There is a reason so many people are obsessed with him. Former spy, current tailor, forever an incurable bitch. Guilty of many war crimes, including onscreen attempted genocide. Once intentionally blew up his own tailor shop (with him in it) because he didn't want to ask for help with something. In his very first scene on the show, he wears an shirt that strongly resembles a watermelon, propositions Julian Bashir, and leaves while canonically high on painkillers. He has PTSD due to child abuse at the hands of the head of the space lizard KGB, who is also his dad, and a painkiller addiction due to a brain implant he has to help him withstand torture. He tortures a main character in one episode, and then a few episodes later they start having regular breakfasts together. Once got high on Space Weed and started systematically murdering people while making ominous announcements about chess over the PA system. The Most Character Ever.

Anything Else?:

He once told Julian to eat his rod. It was about a futuristic USB stick (datarod) but he still very much said it.

Submitted by @convenient-plot-device

#polls #poll #disabled characters #lgbtq characters #disability #lgbtq #lgbtq dcs round 1 #lgbtq dcs wave 2 #anna tromedlov #hench #elim garak #ds9 garak #deep space nine #star trek ds9 #star trek

[leolaroot]

idk i feel like dukat fans give him too much credit. he is an idiot . he is demonstrably a brainless fucking moron. he fucks up over and over again. he's a selfish coward who is unable to achieve his own goals.

we see it in civil defence (you have lost control of terok nor, disgracing yourself and cardassia. your attempt to escape is no doubt a final act of cowardice) . we see it in sacrifice of angels (victory was within our grasp!). we see it in waltz (I've always known it! I should've killed all of them!).

his own anger is his undoing. he had literally achieved his dream of subjugating bajorans again and placing himself in a position of authority he had what he wanted. but his own sick obsession with sexual control destroyed even that.

even in the finale, his arrogance gets in the way of logic, resulting in his final defeat. what a clown. complete shit for brains.

[ofhouseadama]

Obsessed with the “Kira knows what a Cardassian man who is interested acts like” and the hospital staff watching the situation unfold like “yes okay he’s saying all his lines when will the hero swoop in” 😂😂

we get so many strong examples of Hallmark Cardassian Possessiveness in DS9, both good and bad. we see Natima Lang and her fierce loyalty and devotion to her students, we see the way that Tekeny Ghemor is so full of love for his daughter even after so many years separated from her, that he can't stop from it brimming and spilling over into paternal love for Kira. we get Dukat and his possessiveness and deep creepy emotions for... well, almost every woman he comes into contact with, and his children. we see it manifest in Tain in the way he treats Garak and Mila, and the rest of the Obsidian Order to a lesser degree, as things that he quite literally owns and possesses.

as for Garak himself... I've always associated the Frankenstein quote -- "I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. if I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other" -- with him very strongly. Garak has never been allowed to satisfy the amount of love within him, or even truly explore his capacity for love. his entire existence has been shaped by Tain, and the necessity to be loyal and subservient and unquestioningly obedient to Tain. he's only ever gotten to indulge the rage. sentiment is a weakness. there's something that happens within you when your father looks you in the eye and tells you that he could never love you, that love is the greatest weakness a man can have. Garak's spent his entire life denying his nature and stunting himself in order to survive Tain.

this is a very long way of saying that Garak has an immense capacity for love and loyalty and devotion and protection and after Tain and Mila die, has nowhere to put it. and yes, yes he will point it at rebuilding Cardassia and joining whatever efforts are put forth in the creation of a progressive party and creating a new form of government, but the State can't love you back. Garak, at the end of DS9, is a Cardassian without a family. he is a Cardassian alone. more so than he ever has been -- his association with the Obsidian Order and with Tain has isolated him his entire life, and the stain follows him in this Brand New Cardassia. he has to decide who and what he is going to be. Garak has never before been afforded this luxury. I don't think he knows how

enter: Julian Bashir, Federation Disaster Relief Aid Worker

the only person who has ever truly chosen Garak. I think once Garak gets over the fear and the anxiety and lifelong training to avoid emotional entanglements and sentiment in a real way (not just by occasionally acting through impulse like letting Julian stay in the room for Tain's shri-tal and death among other things

like there's no going back, right? this is it. either he figures this out, figures out how to be in this relationship in a real, figures out that it's not fair for either of them for Julian to love him but never really know him, that this won't bury him, won't drown him, won't suffocate him in his sleep or slip poison in his tea, leave him open for attack -- Garak would be really, really good at the Husband Shit (TM)

like, Garak is the guy who's always going to come for you. those that would harm you will die screaming. he will follow you into hell and unlike Orpheus, he's never gonna look back.

and I think there's a moment when he gets the call from the hospital's chief of medicine that he hears Tain's voice in his head -- that this is it, this is Garak's one true weakness. his desire to be the hero for someone, to lovingly and willingly put his head on the chopping block for all to see. to declare openly that the way to get him to act, is to threaten this human. as if Tain hadn't made it abundantly clear that before Julian, the way to get to Garak and to get him to willingly put himself in mortal danger was to threaten Tain. as if it wasn't Tain himself, willingly dragging his son into that very mortal danger

but here's the thing, and when you get it, you finally get it

when someone loves you back, when someone really loves you in a way that is good and whole and true and the way that you love them

it makes you stronger

and so you have Garak, the fourth ranking member of the Cardassian Unionist Party and Minister of State and Senior Counselor to the Castellan, a man who is feared and whispered about and rumored to be soulless and cold and maybe guilty, but not remorseful for his actions in the old regime, the Son of Tain

walking into the Corat Damar Memorial Hospital with a dozen members of his military guard, armed to the teeth, and if he cannot satisfy the love inside him he will indulge the rage and he doesn't care who knows it. he will make sure that the Federation and Starfleet and Section 31 and whoever in the Admiralty thinks Julian is an asset and a weapon to be deployed or hurt lockered knows that

because he's been the thing that goes bump in the night. he's been the thing that has disappeared men and women and boyfriends and girlfriends and handed them over to the deep dark hole that they never crawled out of. this is not a ghost story or tale told to frighten children for him. he knows what happens after men like him get their hands on someone. he knows what comes next

it's bluster and it's not and it's a gambit and it's not when he tells the agent in charge that they have no jurisdiction here, arresting a Federation citizen on Cardassian soil without permission from the provisional Cardassian government -- and that very soon, in minutes actually, they will be committing an act of war if they try to remove Julian Bashir from these premises. it feels a bit like he's looking into a mirror when he says it, or through some kind of distortion. he's been on the other side. he knows the agent sees himself as a hero. he knows these agents see Julian as a threat to be contained for the safety of the Federation and its citizens, that it's only a matter of time before he commits a crime. that perhaps his association with Cardassia and Garak himself is evidence enough

Garak knows how this story goes, from the other point of view

and the Federation agent probably makes the mistake of thinking that this is a negotiation. to which Garak responds, "The only reason you're alive now is Dr. Bashir was untouched when we arrived. But if I am correct, that is more due the competency of the administration of this hospital than it does the way you wished to conduct this mission. Here's how this is going to go."

and anyway, yes, every member of the hospital staff within earshot and some outside of it are being very very quiet trying to make sure they don't miss anything. because they know that the moment that the people doing the disappearing get their hands on the person they're disappearing, that's it. game over. everyone go home. you're never seeing that person again.

but this shit? right out of a romance novel.

Garak's gonna have the (second, maybe third) worst adrenaline crash in his life afterwards, though

#ask #anonymous #otp: there's hope for you yet #emily watches ds9

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

(for ds9) 9, 14, 22, 23?

9: My least favorite character is Kai Winn. She adds a lot to the show, but she is literally my self righteous, religously abusive mother. I don't like the argument that she's worse than Dukat because she isn't. I just can't like her.

14: People need to stop just watching Deep Space Nine. It might be the best Star Trek show, but there is more out there. People would form a lot better opinions if they just watched a different Star Trek show.

22: I don't really hate any popular characters. The entire main cast of characters is quite excellent, all things considered. Odo is a cop though, as much as I love the character, that does ruin things.

23: Dr. Giger from In the Cards. Hes only in one episode so most people forget he exists but, I'm low-key obsessed with him. I'm a sucker for mad scientists.

[petitefaguette]

watching ds9 is asking “is there a heterosexual explanation for this?” at least once per episode

#garak showed up finally and instantly I understood why people are obsessed with him #he literally understood the political plot right away but instead of telling anyone he was like #‘I’m gonna manipulate this fruity little doctor into revealing the scheme for me’ #smirking maniacally in the background while julian reveals gul dukat’s scheme #also implied in the final scene that his motivation for exposing gul dukat is that they’re bitter exes #like ?? this was his FIRST EPISODE. it was so over the top gay I am beyond thrilled I get more of him #(compared to voyager which I’ve been watching lately. not nearly gay enough) #what a great character intro btw just going ‘yeah this guy has always lived here we’ve just never mentioned him before now’ #star trek ds9 #when they said garak always makes the trouser legs too long do you think. do you think that’s space slang for. no I shan’t say it

[gar-trek]

ds99999 ask game

Must… finish this… before I sleep

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Odo or Quark 🙈🤭

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): kira but I’d say she’s more really pretty then cute 😁. WAIT you know who’s literally a baby tho….. NOG!!!!!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): you know what I feel like everyone likes miles but they more like the meme on him,, I genuinely really like the guy and think that as a family man he brings an interesting perspective to the show 😁

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): this is like soooooooo random and I’m sure I’ll find someone to be more obsessed with as the series go on (you know me I love one off character) but anyway I’m like…. Interested in vedik bareil. Like what’s that guy got going on? Kinda hot but in that distinctly monk way you know

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): Quark of course

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Julian…. I literally love to hate him

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): probably like Dukat literally most cardassian of all time

[unrestedjade]

I don't want to reblog it and risk exposing OP to Some Nonsense but just so any recent follows know where I stand:

Dukat is a genocidal war criminal and it's very sexy of him.

Brunt is an obsessive, bullying creep and it's very sexy of him.

The Founder is a fascist with a literal god complex and it's very sexy of her.

They're not real so they definitionally cannot and have not harmed anyone. Don't try to mind read real people and why they like fake things.

#off topic #the disk horse #back to my happy little darkfic corner i go #ds9

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

It's complex because on some level it is satisfying that Gul Dukat, the man who is obsessed with painting himself as the hero of whatever situation he's in, winds up going down as the most infamous traitor of Cardassia and the literal devil of Bajor. However what I really think would have been the best ending for Dukat is a shallow grave. I would have loved for him to have the most anti-climactic meaningless death of the series. I want him to be forgotten by almost everyone but the academics of Bajor. What he needs much more than to be liked is to be important, his ego is his defining trait and I would have loved to have seen it taken away from him.

#deep space nine #ds9 #gul dukat

[firelord-frowny]

on this episode of my dad being Hilariously Stupid For Someone Who Thinks He’s Smart Enough To Have The Right To Condescend To Literally Everyone Who Isn’t Him, 

i was talking to him about star trek and he said something about how much ~better~ the ferengi were than humans blah blah and how their culture was soooo much Less Bad than human culture ever was and so like 

i was just musing about how i always find it so interesting in any sci fi universe that we’re only ever actually able to see such a tiny representation of alien cultures, and we always assume that those representations are indicative of everyone in those cultures, but are they really? Like, we see all this stuff about how ferengi treat their women like shit and how they’re all obsessed with profit, but are they REALLY all like that? 

and so my dad was lie ~of course they are~

and i’m like, but how do we know? we only know Quark and a handful of other ferengi, most of whom are in some way connected to quark or otherwise in his circle. We only visit the ferengi homeworld a few times, and we don’t visit every single continent or city or jurisdiction. 

and he’s like ~there are episodes that show ferengi culture~ 

and i’m like!!! but it’s not ALL of them, though! If I go visit a town in Brazil, do I now know what every single Brazilian town is like? Or do I only know this one particular town? If an alien species visits Earth and they spend a week with an Amish household, do they now know what our household is like here as a black family in suburbia? If they visit North Korea, do they know what Alaskans are like? If they visit the Church of Wells (which is a literal cult), do they know what Jewish synagogues are like? If they visit our house, do they know what life with the Obamas is like?? Any sci fi universe with aliens can only ever show us a TINY PERCENTAGE of those aliens, so it doesn’t make sense to insist that all cardassians are like Gul Dukat or that all betazoids are like Deanna Troi or that the all humans are like Picard. 

and then he just starts rolling his eyes and saying all dismissively ~okay whatever~

and im like

what you MEANT to say was “oh, good point, i didn’t think of it that way.” 

[wellntruly]

Star Trek: DS9 Notes - S7, Vol. 3

There are technically six episode’s worth of reacts in here, but really four. You will see. And this set includes a few eps with lukewarm recommendations, but hey I still had a pretty great time here! It’s a good show, guys.

7x09 ‘Covenant’ - are they all gonna sit around and come up with what religion Odo should join, oh my god. Julian’s pitch for Klingon faith is literally: “He’d get to eat the hearts of his enemies.” compelling. - Kira: “When I contacted the university they said you were on a spiritual retreat?”   literally this Vedek: “Oh you know me, always searching for answers.” I am lol. - wait, Brother Vedek what the fuck did you just give her! you knew it was going to do that!!! - you know, it is rather a shame that Dukat ended up becoming this. there were moments of true brilliance with this character, along the way. - it weirds me out that the station is tilted in this reality - oh wait it’s EMPOK NOR, that’s the abandoned one that O’Brien led that salvage mission to where Garak touched the Alien goo and went space mad. OMG SO THIS IS REAL. oh fuck. - I mean he did become a vessel for a Pah Wraith that one time, this is true - Dukat is always claiming other people are truly responsible for shit he did, so it figures that eventually he would blame THE ACTUAL BAJORAN PROPHETS for his Bajoran Occupation - ugh

this is a good look

- Dukat wants Nerys to grow used to this as her home, holy what - Dukat gives people permission to have children, are you—???

- Vedek Brainwashed: “That was some time ago. Before [Dukat] felt the kiss of the Path Wraith.”   Kira: “That was some kiss.” - it does always come back to Dukat wanting the Bajorans to appreciate him, Nerys is spot on - oh I just figured out why their earrings feel so weird: it’s not that they’re red, it’s that they wear them on the left

OMFG THE BABY IS DUKAT’S. GROOOOSSSSSS. CUUUUUUUULLLTYYYYYY.

this was an inadvertent pause but like, #mood

- you monster - oh so it’s just straight up a suicide cult now. I think…yeah every cult box has been ticked? - the Obsidian Order would develop this pretty, clear suicide pill for their operatives that kills you instantly and turns your body to dust, they are totally Extra like that. - this absolute JERK. go AWAY.

7x10 ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’ - Rom assuring Leeta that she is “real family” is so sweet

sometimes I’m just STRUCK by the character & narrative development of this show. I would never have predicted I’d be here having emotions while watching Nog, a Starfleet officer, limping back onto the station after losing a leg in a battle, and that it would feel so organic.

- THEY ARE THE CUTEST CREW EVER - Ezri, en media res catching Nog up: “…and Julian and Miles have become even more obsessed with their Alamo program, if you can believe.” I can. good god I can. - listen I love that Ezri has actually become a real good counselor - oh Nog, are you listening to the old Vic covers that Julian brought to the siege? :( - Vic knows 15 different arrangements of ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’. which is your favorite? mine’s Billie Holiday’s - so he’s basically got a phantom limb overlay on his new artificial one, yeah? he needs to release that stored remembered tension, that trick with the mirror. only he won’t even need a mirror, he can just tense up his new leg and then releeaaase - that’s good of you to let him stay, Vic. I still find you extraneous, dull, and at worst the unfun sexist sort of retro, but this is good of you. - Quark: “How could hiding in one of Julian’s adolescent programs be a good sign?”   literally Julian: “Hey.”   god I love that, that never actually happens in the shows - oh sweet jesus the dragging continues:   Jake: “It could be worse, he could be hiding in the Alamo program.”   Leeta: “Or that ridiculous secret agent program.”   Julian: “Hey…!”   Rom: “Or that stupid Viking program.”   Julian: “Hey.”   Sisko: “ALL right.”   I am dead.

Casual-Wear Vic

- how can Vic REACH HER if he runs into problems!! tell me he doesn’t have access to the coms?? why is there not the horror episode in which the sentient holoprogram takes over the station

look at this little old man

- who’s Jake’s date! - Keisha seems sweet. though that’s not a very Bajoran name.. - oh my god. Vic just started fretting about his books again — with a Ferengi in the room. oh you’re clever, Fontaine. - Rom got a promotion! NICE GOING, BUDDY - holy fuck, Vic WAS going to let Nog live out the rest of his life in a holosuite. godDAMNit he’s such a perfect villain just waiting in the wings!! - Vic: “Since you’ve been here…I’ve had a life. And let me tell you, it’s a precious thing. I had no idea how much it means to just — live. And now I’m gonna return the favor, and give you your life back.” siiiigh. alright that was good too. - Vic can end his own program, what the fuck - yes thank you for underlining that he can do this Miles, because What The Fuck - Nog: “You mean he has free will?”   Miles: “Hey I’m an engineer, not a philosopher.” WTF - HE CAN APPEAR OUTSIDE HIS PROGRAM, COMMENTING ABOUT HOW SMART HE IS. seriously this is the most villain potential I have ever seen. - !!!!!! holy shit Nog’s speech is affecting, I just had a stab of panic at “and then suddenly, Dr. Bashir is telling me he has to cut my leg off.” - yeah, letting the sentient hologram run continuously and actually have enough uninterrupted time to carry out personal projects isn’t a terribly dangerous idea at all

7x11 ‘Prodigal Daughter’ - I’m trying to avoid the bad Ezri episodes because I like her and would like to keep liking her, and while this description IS fantastic

I am perfectly happy just imagining my own episode around it, thank you, I got this.

7x12 ‘The Emperor’s New Cloak’ - listen I make no attempt to hide that I get a full kick out of Mirror ‘Verse episodes, and I hear that in this one people COMMENT on how none of this makes any sense, so I’m like extra Here For It

okay so amiright or amiright that these two are gonna get pair-the-spares’d

- Quark: “Look at his hands! His gestures, they’re obscene.”   Julian:

- Quark: “Doesn’t he realize she loves me.”   Odo, with ironic sincerity: “I don’t think he does.” - so at this point I’m willing to bet I missed something in 7x11, or else they just decided to go for the Ezri/Julian relaysh all at once? I mean it’s not like it’s out of the blue, really. I called this what, 10 episodes ago?

hot dang Mirror Ezri! hahahaha

- Mirror Ezri: “You’re a very confused man, aren’t you?”   Quark: [agrees] - sue me but the Nagus always makes me laugh. I totally enjoy this Ferengi Miracle Max - this episode is just LEANING IN to the hokeyness and that is Good and Right - Quark tells Rom to act normal and he just strikes some bizarre pose against this wall, oh hun - “My idiot brother is right — we’re coming with you.” god I love the Ferengi, how did this happen - Rom is so thrilled by the bizarreness of being dead in this universe that he’s jumping up and down. oh and in other news, even in the Mirror ‘Verse I can’t escape FUCKING VIC

---holy shit it’s my dream. I take EVERYTHING BACK, EVER.

- Quark: “I can’t believe it. Julian just shot Vic Fontaine.” this episode is shaping up to be one for the books, personally. - the best part about the alternate universe is that Miles is inexplicably in charge - the other best part about the alternate universe is that he and Julian are still very ~involved~ with each other. despite eeeeverything else being different, this is evidently a Universal Constant. :’) bless. - Zek: “You have such nimble fingers, my dear.”   Mirror Kira, laughing gently: “How many times have I heard that.”   GOD I missed Bi Kira - Rom has realized something about this supposedly “alternate” universe, which is that in fact the true Universal Constant is Miles O’Brien: Always Miles O’Brien. fucking beautiful. - well at least BRUNT is alternate! - “Let’s just say that when it comes to men she’s…very particular.” omg. could we just say that she’s…gay?? as would fit the Mirror ‘Verse pattern TBQH - oh hot damn I’d forgotten that Klingon King Worf keeps Garak as his court jester - Andy Robinson plays these episodes like he’s in some sort of high school theatre production, it’s fucking brilliant

FUCK YEEESSSSSS. I AM THRILLED BOTH AS A CASSANDRA AND AS A VIEWER

- Rom: [back to trying to figure out the nature of the ~Alternate~ Universe]   Quark: “Oh don’t start with that again.” - this episode is a lol a minute honestly - the reason why I love Mirror ‘Verse episodes is every actor was clearly told “just go nuts” - I’m at least 85% certain Mirror Kira is trying to get Terok Nor in exchange for her pegging Worf - they’re goading this Garak into behaving more like our Garak, oh fantastic. try to find out our seeeecrets, come ooonnn

I seriously can’t

- Mirror Garak: “I don’t understand. Is this Garak of yours an assassin or a tailor?”   All together: “An assassin. A tailor. Both!”   bless - nice sabotage Rom!!!!!! - I was about to make a joke about how given the way this world goes, this O’Brien & Bashir are clearly sleeping together, but honestly they aren’t really behaving much differently than OUR O’Brien & Bashir, so take whatever joke out of that you wish - hey, I liked that ending for alt Ezri and Kira! that was surprisingly nuanced and ~feeling~ for this universe - hah Leeta! - seriously every woman in the Mirror ‘Verse is queer af, what a treat

7x13 ‘Field of Fire’ ok I didn’t actually watch this one, I’m still keeping on the Good Ezri Eps Only — but it automatically started playing and Julian was making a grand toast to some young fighter pilot and I figured nothing that disappointing could possibly happen in the cold open right? and instead something WHOLLY SO MUCH happened with my RIDORKULOUS SPACE HUSBANDS and now I just need to relay a bunch of verbatim dialogue to you, please help:

Julian: “If there’s anything you want, anything at all, just ask!” Pilot: “Well, there is one thing.” Miles: “Name it!” Pilot: “Next time you two go to the holosuite, I’d like to come along.” Miles & Julian:

Miles: “Sorry.” Julian: “Can’t be done.” Miles: “No it’s out of the question.” Julian: “It’s impossible.” Kira: “Don’t take it personally. They’re very serious about their leisure activities.” Julian: “It’s a good way to relieve stress.” Miles: “Yeah, I highly recommend it.” Julian: “Just not with us.” Miles: “Yeah. Y’know when you have a holosuite visit it’s sort of a—”

Miles: “—personal experience.” Julian: “He’s very particular about anybody seeing him in his coonskin cap. You understand?” Pilot: “I suppose.” Quark: “Gentlemen, your holosuite is ready.” Julian: “Terrific! Now, if there’s anything else you need—” Miles: “Just let us know!” Miles: [steers Julian off with a hand at his back] Pilot, turning to the others: “Have you ever gone to the holosuite with them?” Kira: “Me? Never.” Ezri: “I know when I’m not wanted!”

CAN U EVEN BELIEVE. anyway nothing can top THAT so, next up:

7x14 ‘Chimera’ - Odo just sitting here quietly pleased with his “knick-knack”, this is so sweet and pure - !! yo is that the first time Odo has called him Miles? I really feel like it is! he’s always been Chief or Chief O’Brien to him! wow we truly are in the last season - so what sort of conference were these two at anyway

what the flip is this undulating space fish!!!! I LOVE THIS

aaahhhh

- Miles: “You think it’s friendly?” this is, holy shit, a personal fave of a plot I am AMAZED to realize doesn’t happen often on DS9, but is a total TOS thing: Strange(ly) Beautiful Space Beastie Suddenly Encounters Starfleet Ship, Crew Mystified And Intrigued - dear new Changeling please tell me everything about the space fish you just were, I have a Noted Interest in astral aquatic creatures - the Deep Space Nine theme song makes my heart feel like it’s trying to hug my voice box - “metamorph”, that’s fun - he’s another of the Hundred! neat - wow, the Hundred were not all sent out at once! he is something like 200 years older than Odo - or conversely, Odo was floating for 200 years before gaining a concept of time/himself. whoa. - well Odo Link-banged Laas pretty quickly - Laas thinks Odo would be a Founder fighting this war, if it weren’t for Kira. heavy if true. - WOW he is awkward. even the Quartet of Charm that is Nerys, Ezri, Miles, and Julian is running against a wall here

that feeling when you introduce someone to your friends and then he immediately starts being elitist and controversial

- Ezri: “You’ve seen through our evil plan.”   Julian: “Oop, foiled again.”   [share a commiserating “good jokes & Holy Shit” glance] - ohhh, the Hundred can form a new Link, a new Changeling order. [‘Age of Aquarius’ starts playing] - I don’t like that Nerys feels she need to apologize for not being able to Link with Odo :( - HE CAN BE A FLOATING FIREBALL - “Once we’re away from here, I’ll teach you to become things you’ve never even dreamed of.” wow, forward.

fog on the Promenade, ohhhhh I love it, what a surreal vibe

- Odo: “It’s not fog, it’s Laas.”   Miles: “Laas?”   Julian: “What’s he doing?”   Odo: “Being fog, what’s it look like.”   lol - Laas, there’s a difference between being yourself and being a nuisance. humanoids, for the most part, try to be conscientious of each other. you do not. - oh he straight up killed that Klingon - I think the Klingons are right that since Laas knew he couldn’t be harmed with a knife, responding with deadly force was not self-defense but murder. however, I also think that the Klingons were the ones to start this, because they threatened him if he were to ever change in their presence in again. - huh, I really thought we were going to find out that was Laas pretending to be Quark and using him to voice all the things he thinks humanoids think. - I like Nerys’ point that what we are is what we choose to be, much like how I’ve always liked the whole “Good is a choice” idea - she’s gonna let him go isn’t she - boyaah - Odo looking down at his hands like “this is what I’m looking for” - “Love conquers all, is that it?” TAGLINE - “Perhaps the fact that it’s not easy, is what makes it worthwhile.” ALSO TAGLINE

….this is the first time Kira/Odo has made sense, and it’s a lot of it

MORE 2 COME

[Tarra Treks]  [Captain’s Logs]

#Tarra Treks #Captain's Logs #Star Trek DS9 #Star Trek

[heroesandvillainsofmbti]

INFP: Benjamin Sisko, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

INFP – the Healer, the Dreamer, the Clarifier

The revelation that Sisko is an INFP hit me one day like a ton of latinum bricks. I was trying to explain his moody attitude in the first episode compared to his later boldness. Cycling through a half-dozen or more different types and cognitive functions, I suddenly recognized the Fi-Si loop. I’ve been in one many a time, and now that I know we share the same type, I wish I had more of the positive aspects of Sisko’s personality in common with him. But Star Trek is about nothing so much as aspiration, so I hope all the shy INFPs out there can look to this commanding example of the INFP as a figure of power and passion.

Dominant Function: (Fi) Introverted Feeling, “The Deep Well”

Once Sisko believes in something, his intensity can be scary, even to the family and crew who know him well. Witness his fury for fighting the Dominion, hunting down Eddington, or saving Bajor.

When he first takes the DS9 assignment, this intensity is in danger of trickling away. Sisko is stuck deep in an Fi-Si loop in the wake of his wife Jennifer’s death at the hands of the Borg, and he’s become withdrawn, directionless, and moody. Meeting the wormhole aliens grants him the emotional catharsis he needs to properly grieve Jennifer’s loss, and he returns to his mission with renewed energy.

Over the years, the assignment takes on greater personal meaning for Ben—he is “of Bajor,” and he calls DS9 the place where he belongs.

For all his passion, Ben usually keeps a reserved, somewhat brooding composure. His bond with his son Jake appears through warmth, physical affection, and shared meals. He and his eventual new wife Kasidy strike sparks together instantly, but he has trouble voicing his feelings at certain awkward points in their relationship. For a long time, he won’t join the DS9 crew at Vic’s, until Kasidy drags out of him that he morally objects to joining a re-creation of a time and place where brown people like themselves weren’t allowed.

Even when healthy, Sisko’s Fi smolders—he rarely reacts in the moment unless called for. Given time, he erupts, embarking on a bold course of action, or delivering a stirring moral rant. All Star Trek captains excel at speechifying, but Sisko’s brand of righteous fury is particularly invigorating to behold. He dresses down recalcitrant officers, calls out stubborn Starfleet leadership, and takes devious villains to task.

Ben trusts his own judgment, in spite of entreaties or orders to the contrary. He leads a mission to rescue Odo and Garak from the massacre at the Omarion Nebula, despite Starfleet’s orders and the risks involved. He never believes that smooth-talking villains like Dukat, Winn, or Weyoun are up to anything other than no good. He shows faith in Kira and Odo from the beginning despite their prickliness and initial conflict. He takes it really hard, and really personally, when Eddington betrays him, because he didn’t see it coming while the man served right beside him.

Sisko’s Fi works through his decisions carefully, and in the morally gray environment of DS9, it has to work overtime. He constantly has to settle disputes and arguments in a politically tricky environment. He preaches about how it’s easy for Starfleet Command to overlook the plight of the Maquis because Earth is a Paradise. He believes bringing the Romulans into the war is the right thing to do, but in the aftermath, he needs to privately process the shady things he did to make it happen. He comes to a place where he’s okay with what he’s done, makes his peace with himself, and then deletes the log entry.

Auxiliary Function: (Ne) Extraverted Intuition, “The Hiking Trails”

Sisko explains to the Prophets in their first encounter that life is like baseball. With each new pitch, each new swing, a thousand potential outcomes arise which cannot be predicted. This, he preaches, is the joy of linear existence—while the Wormhole Aliens see all of time all at once, humans have to experience time moment by moment, never quite knowing what will happen next.

By explaining it out loud to the Prophets, Sisko realizes he has not been living this way. He’s been stuck in an Fi-Si loop since the death of his wife, unable to move forward. Sisko engages his auxiliary function and looks to the future—in his vision, he leaves his wife’s body and turns to his young son.

Ben is bright and accomplished, with expertise in engineering and military strategy—and baseball. He excelled and achieved at the Academy, and had a diverse career before taking the DS9 assignment. He’s possessed of an obsessive curiosity, and once he gets started on a project or pursuit, he can’t stop. Building the Bajoran lightship, exploring the ruins of B’Hala, beating the Vulcans at baseball, even tricking the Romulans into the war, are all paths he took from which he couldn’t retreat.

He even performs the part of the villain when chasing down Eddington, playing into the man’s martyrdom complex and going to shocking lengths to make him surrender.

Sisko is extremely patient with his angry, diverse, misfit crew as they learn to work together. He’s able to understand and appreciate the ideas and perspectives of other cultures, whether it’s the religion of the Bajorans or the greed of the Ferengi (though Quark has to school him a couple times). Although he’s uncomfortable with the implications at first, Sisko can hold on to the apparently contradictory concepts that the creators of the wormhole are both Wormhole Aliens (a scientific description) and the Prophets to the Bajoran people (a faith-based proposition). He eventually accepts that he is both a Starfleet officer with a job, and the Emissary of the Prophets with a calling.

This does not make either Starfleet Command or the Bajoran religious establishment entirely happy, but Sisko thrives in the paradox between these two ideas.

As Benny, his persona in his vision of the 1950s, Sisko is even more obviously an INFP. Benny writes short stories at a science fiction magazine, imagining a better future where anything is possible—like a black man commanding a space station. Later, when Benjamin returns to his life on DS9, he wonders if his whole existence here, and the life of everyone on board, might not be entirely in Benny’s head. And again, just like the dichotomy of the Aliens and the Prophets, Sisko is okay with this ambiguity.

Tertiary Function: (Si) Introverted Sensing, “The Study”

Sisko describes to the Prophets how each moment that a human experiences prepares them for the next—but no past experience prepared him for the day Jennifer died. He sees her “every time I close my eyes.” In the time-warp limbo of the Wormhole Aliens’ space, Sisko literally lives in that moment, continuously.

Sisko loops again, though not as severely, after the death of Jadzia, heading back home to Earth to peel potatoes at his father’s restaurant while he clears his head.

In fact, home is a familiar retreat for Ben. In his first few weeks at the Academy, he spent all his transporter credits beaming home for dinner every night. Years later, Sisko and Jake have lived on DS9 for over two years before he finally unpacks their stuff from Earth. Ben confesses to Jake that he’s finally begun “to think of this Cardassian monstrosity as home.”

Ben enjoys having the crew over to his quarters for dinner, which he cooks himself with real ingredients, carrying on the culinary legacy of the Sisko family. He also treasures the near-extinct Earth sport of baseball, keeping the tradition alive with his son Jake, and teaching the crew to play. At the end of the series, Ben decides that Bajor will be his home when he retires, and nabs a parcel of land to start building a house.

Jadzia tells him he’s a builder, the kind of man who needs to stay in a place and get the job done, rather than administrate from a distance (which is proven true the couple of times he’s given desk jobs). This healthy Si keeps Sisko grounded and focused while tackling the daily surprises that the job on DS9 brings.

Inferior Function: (Te) Extraverted Thinking, “The Workshop”

Sisko’s comfortable enough with his Te that he makes an effective and even intimidating commander. He rarely has trouble telling his crew what he wants or confronting them on their mistakes, though it’s typically low-key or one-on-one. When faced with orders or situations he dislikes or disapproves of, he’ll speak out or even yell out one of his epic moral rants, but often this is only after he’s kept his temper bottled up for a while.

Normally patient in his leadership style, Ben can become controlling and heavy-handed under extreme stress. He pushes the Federation President to declare martial law on Earth when he suspects Changeling infiltrators are afoot. Starfleet security officers march the streets, and ordinary citizens are ordered to give blood tests. It takes a lecture from his father to cool him off and set him back on the right track.

Ben gets aggressive as the coach of the DS9 baseball team, determined not to let the team of smug Vulcans beat them. He takes the competition too personally—the Vulcan team captain has been taunting Ben about human inferiority since their Academy days—and bullies the crew to be better. He embarrasses Rom and kicks him off the team, and then gets kicked out of the game himself for laying hands on the umpire (ISTJ Odo, sticking to the rules).

The team loses, but not before Sisko reinstates Rom, who scores a run. The Niners celebrate afterward, because scoring against Vulcans at all after only a few days of practice is a victory of its own. It is not logical, as the Vulcan points out, but Sisko has stopped caring what his rational adversary thinks of him. He revels in the happiness of the moment, because more than being a Starfleet Captain, more than being an Emissary, Ben Sisko is a human.

#MBTI #Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #Ben Sisko #Avery Brooks #INFP #cognitive functions #Fi-dom #Fi #Introverted Feeling #Ne-aux #Ne #Extraverted Intuition #Si #Introverted Sensing #Te #Extraverted Thinking

[sleepymarmot]

DS9 season 6

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

Here I get angrier and discourse-y

A Time to Stand

The Garak/Bashir scene (finally)... and Bashir looking like this... I feel blessed

when he talks about his “boyish smile” but cannot smile at all. that hit hard

aw Worf/Jadzia!

the Terok Nor dynamics are fascinating. I'm very impressed by Kira's willpower...

jesus fucking christ the Dukat/Kira scene :O D: 😨

why is Bashir doing mental calculations now, he's not Data

Rocks and Shoals

Kira's storyline about being self-conscious about collaborationism is great. In the previous episode we saw her trapped and vulnerable, especially in the viscerally horrifying scene with Dukat, and now we realize along with Kira herself that all of that is having it good.

Sons and Daughters

how did Sisko send a signal that Martok heard but the Jem'Hadar didn't?

Alexander lived on the Enterprise because Worf's parents were incapable of raising him anymore... I guess that was so inconvenient for the DS9 writers they decided to just ignore it instead of at least trying to invent an excuse.

"But the last time you defied him, he left you here to die!" "We talked about that. He admits he overreacted" bwahaha

Oh Alexander, so much secondhand embarrassment...

god, he gave her a dress, eww

oh my god, and he immediately re-gifts it to his own daughter, what a jerk

accepting Worf into the house of Martok involved much less ceremony...

why doesn't this episode address Alexander's age? did the writers assume, again, we didn't watch TNG? they could have said something about his grandparents protesting because he's about ten years old. something about Klingon children growing up very fast, and humans disapproving of child soldiers.

I don't understand how Ziyal can be so naive. Sure, she's kept unaware of the creepy sexual aspect of Dukat's advances (though I was waiting for Kira to snap and finally say "Your father keeps hitting on me, please don't force me to be in the same room with him"), but surely she must see why Kira finds his company uncomfortable and inappropriate! I do like that Ziyal is on his side again. And I enjoy seeing the continuation of Kira's storyline where she has to walk the line between keeping a polite facade and staying true to herself, gets too used to engaging Dukat&co on their own terms and has to take a step back to reassert herself.

Behind the Lines

Wait, if the Romulans have signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion, why do they still allow Starfleet to use their cloaking device against it?

I've already been concerned about their open discussions of resistance activities, but a Founder's presence on the station makes it even worse! Sure, discuss your plans over a bar table that might well be a changeling...

Odo, for fuck's sake, she's going to learn all about the resistance from you...

"She didn't find out about the resistance, if that's why you're worried" in the same scene: "If she had some hidden motive, I would have sensed it"

Odo!.. >:(

Captain Dax!

Do the Cardassians still have the truth serum? If no, it's a giant plot hole; if yes, things are looking really bad...

Favor the Bold

oh god ewwwwww

why is Leeta making that noise

haha you go Kira

"We are way, way past sorry" good. unforgiving Kira is the best Kira

Odo's longing for his kind works so much better when the Founders are not on screen -- the things they actually say are so boring, one-dimensional and unconvincing... Though I find interesting that Odo's storyline mirrors Kira's in this arc: the female changeling manages to seduce him while Dukat fails to do the same to Kira.

Sacrifice of Angels

"DAMAR: I doubt he was working alone when he tried to sabotage the station. He must've had help. His wife Leeta, Jake Sisko, Major Kira. DUKAT: What are you proposing? DAMAR: That we arrest them. Keep them in custody, at least until the wormhole is reopened." Finally someone wakes up! I was expecting them to do this an episode ago...

"War is such thirsty work. Don't you agree?" "Perhaps if you didn't talk so much, your throat wouldn't get so dry."

Oh look! He's actually pretty shocked by the suggestion to "eradicate [an entire planet's] population"! Even this guy has standards.

"A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness" classic Dukat. this is his ideology in a nutshell

"Then you kill them?" I'm loving the discussion of the differences between the Cardassian and Dominion approach

"Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor?" how is it possible to be so deluded?! fucking incredible

"Link with me, Odo. Embrace the clarity" EMBRACE ETERNITY

Where's the Enterprise during all these battles?

haha Quark & Ziyal make a great team

"The only reason they haven't killed me yet is that I'm part of their victory celebration. Seven o'clock, Dukat makes a speech. Eight thirty, cake and raktajino. Eight forty five, execute the Ferengi"

holy crap, they actually detonated the minefield! I didn't expect that

LITERALLY DEUS EX MACHINA

(I'm beginning to think this is a predestination paradox and the wormhole aliens started taking care of the Bajorans throughout history because Sisko told them to...)

Shit, I thought Dukat was about to snap and kill her, but it's even worse

I didn't expect to feel sympathy for Dukat ever again after those scenes with Kira, but this show played me again. I guess he'll completely lose it now?

Did you really had to remind us that the trainwreck that was Garak/Ziyal existed?

Wait, please tell me this isn't Dukat's last appearance and he's not about to spend the last 1,5 seasons in an asylum?

You are Cordially Invited

Why does this Klingon woman have human teeth?

Ah yes, Jadzia is too proud and independent and should follow her fiance's totally reasonable suggestion to humiliate herself to fit better in his culture. fuck you

Resurrection

am I supposed to recognize this guy?

oh no it's a Mirror episode

I... don't... care...

ugh, her again

I wish I just fast-forwarded this episode

Statistical Probabilities

How did I know from the title that this is a Bashir episode...

lol my dude when Bashir gets his look on his face you know you're fucked

I can't believe Miles pretended to have work just so he could be in the same room as Julian... romance is not dead

Don't know what to think about this episode. There are some good conversations about ableism and intelligence, but that set of stereotypes and assumptions... It's like the final Sherlock episode. And it was implausible when they could read Damar so well in the first place. And the long-term predictions are a million times worse! Do they include variables like "wormhole aliens destroy the entire enemy fleet because Sisko asked nicely"?

Plus I don't like how this season portrays Bashir's enhanced intelligence... I thought he was just made smarter than average, not make mental calculations at the same speed as Data... Where did that come from. Why.

The Magnificent Ferengi

"May I help you, gentlemen?" lmao

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap."

"By the time the Dominion is done with you, all you'll want is a quick death." I love his serene tone haha

This was hilarious :D I really like this show's ventures into black comedy! Also Keevan looks exactly like Orlando Bloom and it cracks me up.

Waltz

Dukat's career has been through a lot of ups and downs over the seasons, and this is the lowest point ever that brings a new dynamic: Dukat so powerless that Sisko can afford to feel pity for him. I'm glad Dukat seems sane.

"A bottle of kanar and an Orion slave girl would be nice" ew

oh, so he has hallucinations. oh well.

"From this day forward, Bajor is dead. All of Bajor" Ouch. Sisko, I think you made it worse... I might have used the same rhetoric in Sisko's place, but damn, his final statement about Dukat's evilness rings pretty hollow since it was him who dragged "kill all Bajorans" out of Dukat's subconsciousness into the light. Like, I understand, when you're injured and trapped with an armed crazy fascist who tries to force you to praise him, you'd want at least the final satisfaction of telling what you think about him to his face, in no way I blame you for it... But if someone is mentally unstable and obsessed with proving to you he's a good person, and you reject it and instead goad him into exposing and accepting his darker motivations -- then don't say he is irredeemably evil? I can see how Sisko's rhetoric could have worked as reverse psychology -- his opponent would have started the speech about killing everyone, heard himself, stopped in horror and realized the error of his ways -- but Dukat didn't have enough self-awareness for that even in better times, and certainly not now. This was just giving your enemy ideas. Nice job breaking it, hero! When Dukat sabotaged his own redemption arc by joining the Dominion, it was beautiful, but when someone else does it to him... Idk, I usually like the Batman/Joker dynamic where the bad guy is obsessed with the protagonist and defines himself in opposition to him, but I'm not sure how well it works here... On the other hand, it has been a part of Dukat's character that he has an almost fourth wall breaking awareness of his role in the story as a likeable complex antagonist, so there is some poetic sense that he turns to straight-up villainy when someone convinces him that is the better role for him and he decides to live up to it. 

The sad thing is, except that strange last scene, I was absolutely with Sisko the entire episode. And contrary to his words at the end, I found it an excellent example of grey morality. I've talked about it a couple of seasons ago -- allowing the antagonist to plead his case and then explaining why he's still wrong -- and this episode dedicates a lot of time to this. We've basically already heard Dukat's self-justifications, but learning what exactly was his role during the occupation and what he has done differently that made him think he was so much better than the other Cardassians -- that's something I've wanted since the beginning of the show. Cardassians are my favourite part of the show because of their messed up ideology, and Dukat is the one character who keeps talking about it, which is why he's so interesting for me. (Initially, heavy focus on ideology was what I expected from Garak and his character arc, which is one of the reasons I was disappointed in them.) It's great how he gives a lengthy speech that does make him sound pretty reasonable and sympathetic for a minute, and then with a single line Sisko breaks the spell and makes him reveal the ugly racism under it all, the reason why Dukat is deeply wrong despite any good intentions: "From the moment we arrived on Bajor, it was clear that we were the superior race. But they couldn't accept that. They wanted to be treated as equals when they most certainly were not". But, honestly, this isn't exactly news. Dukat's always been a racist, a victim-blamer, an egomaniac, an opportunist, and this episode doesn't even touch the issue of Bajoran women. So in this episode, he says pretty much the same things as when he played a "morally grey" role, but now that suddenly means he's "not morally grey"? Because of some bat-swinging during a psychotic episode, and a final villainous speech based on an idea fed to him by Sisko? He's responsible for a genocide, that's bad enough -- you don't need to start blaming him for things he's not fully responsible for! One of my favourite things about Dukat is that his crimes mostly happened offscreen, before the events of the show, so his presence on screen was sort of a test of integrity for both other character and viewers -- can you still tell right from wrong without a visceral reaction to violence and suffering happening right now before your very eyes? The characters have always passed that test; but now, regrettably, the writers decided that the viewers cannot. At the beginning of the episode he's a war criminal half-mad from loss, and Sisko feels sorry for him; at the end of the episode he's a war criminal completely mad from loss, and Sisko thinks he's evil. I guess, this might be interpreted just as Sisko's version of Kira's stories at the beginning of the season, where she briefly forgets how much she hates Dukat, and by the end of the episode he gives her a reason to hate him even more. I guess it comes down to the first line in this liveblog that I wrote during the first minutes of the episode: when the enemy is neutralised, we can afford to feel sympathy for them, but as soon as they start posing real danger, compassion goes out of the window and our first priority is to stop them. Except, of course, that works for any enemy, they don't have to be "truly evil"... So my complaint about that line still stands. Besides, it really deflated the drama; five minutes ago we had Dukat delivering his mad king's speech with the Shakespearean levels of gravitas, and now Sisko almost looks in the camera and summarizes his experience with the dramatic equivalent of "That's as many of four tens. And that's terrible."

Alright, let's try to stop raging about the dumb final scene and say something about the actual episode... I wish this was a real courtroom episode without the madness -- but the imaginary Weyoun, Damar and Kira's arguments were very well done. Their opinions sounded authentic while the delivery was distorted by Dukat's point of view. Just look at the imaginary Kira draping herself sensually over everything... :D

Dukat has a special talent for making me feel terribly guilty. You know the parts from his final monologue about Bajoran "superstitions", how they "clustered in their temples and prayed for deliverance"? Well, as I dislike the episodes about Bajoran religion I kinda see where he's coming from, and now I feel like a Nazi...

Idk how I'd fix this episode. 

I'd like to throw out the mental illness altogether but then half of the episode stops working. 

If I couldn't invent a completely different ending, I'd throw out the final scene, letting Dukat's actions speak for themselves. 

Or there would be a final scene, but similar in tone to "The Ship", where Sisko'd be like "Whoops..." and also traumatised by the experience. 

Or, if it were absolutely necessary to state the moral of the story and remind the viewers that Dukat is Bad(tm), maybe he'd say something like "Yes, I gave him the idea, but everyone is responsible for his own actions, and blaming everyone but himself is what he wants and does, so I'm not going to". 

Maybe I'd end the episode with Sisko killing Dukat and the final scene being like "Generally I value life but you know what? No regrets". (Of course the best outcome would be if Kira killed Dukat but I've already been informed it won't happen.) 

tl;dr: There are some impressive scenes, lines and acting, but the episode is deeply compromised by its general intent, mental illness excuse and the final scene.

Who Mourns for Morn

Not the best Quark episode... Gags about Morn don't work for me because the prosthetic is so bulky the actor can barely move in it, let alone make facial expressions, and it's impossible to believe that guy becomes talkative, charming and athletic as soon as the cameras stop pointing at him.

Far Beyond the Stars

Finally, a classic episode that lives up to its reputation -- and an AU that's good enough that it does not require an explanation. (The Prophets... made an elaborate simulation of 20th century Earth... to inspire Sisko to fight on? Okay.) I feel that somehow this is the best story about Sisko as the Emissary so far, even though -- or maybe because -- it was only discussed indirectly. It works as a history episode, as an AU episode, as an issue episode, as a meta episode about Star Trek itself...

I'm a bit confused by not-Bashir's role as one of the white writers who just don't get it -- just another reminder of how little I understand the concept of race... I've never thought of him as white -- would he be, by 1950's standards? I get that the episode is specifically about antiblackness, but they did mention sexism against not-Kira, so why not him?

I tried hard and failed to recognize the artist -- turns out, it was Martok! I'd never guess...

I'm darkly amused at Odo as conservative, contemptible half-antagonist again (similar to the roles he played during both occupations and in Mirror universe). His conflict with not-Quark is still recognizable, not just superficially imitated without any of the substance (remember when Quark called Odo a fascist?).

Similarly, I almost laughed when Dukat and Weyoun showed up as racist cops -- just in case you somehow still aren't drawing parallels to the current events, the show does it for you... How sad it is though: a show filmed in 1990s about the 24th century remembering the 1950s looks like an immediate reaction to the news reports of today...  

It was a pleasure to see Kasidy in both worlds! I've missed her. She's such a likeable person, and has effortless chemistry with Sisko (and Benny).

Joseph was great, a beautiful variation on his role in Homefront/Paradise Lost.

I was impressed to learn afterwards that the writers all had real prototypes. So they’re based on a group of real people and group of fictional character at the same time, and both sets of influences are recognizable. That’s incredible. 

One Little Ship

"I love it. Let's go"

more enjoyable than I expected

Honor Among Thieves

ooh nice scenery

this is the kind of story I find hard to watch both because it's painful to wait for something terrible to happen, and because it's not very captivating

Change of Heart

ah yes, Bashir learned all the rules from half a second glance *eyeroll*

this is season freaking 6!!! you told us two seasons ago that Julian's crush on Jadzia is dead! what the fuck?

moral of the story: don't send married couples on dangerous missions toge -- wait, as I was typing, Sisko said the exact same thing lol

why are all Jadzia/Worf episodes so bad. why are all Jadzia episodes so bad. is this a conspiracy?! why is her every episode about almost dying? you know, at this point I'm kinda looking forward to it happening for real.

Wrongs Darker than Death or Night

What, you can easily travel back in time? Just like that?

I didn't expect this show to actually use the term "comfort women"!

Kira looks like she needs a bucket to vomit in... I may need one too...

*Dukat kisses Meru* *mine and Kira's vomiting intensifies*

let me guess, the episode will end with Kira realizing that "my mother deserves death for having Stockholm syndrome" was a bit too harsh

"Kira and collaborationism" is one of my favourite themes in this show istg

"Believe me, there's a part of me that wishes that I hadn't. But the fact is, no matter what she did, she was still my mother" I actually wanted to Kira to go through with the assassination! But then it'd create a different timeline and the episode wasn't about that. 

ok, I spoiled myself about Dukat/Meru so it lost the shock value, and I can see that it's incredibly contrived, but on the other hand it somehow managed to make Dukat's harassment towards Kira even more gross and creepy which is impressive

I have so many technical questions though. If Bajor has a freaking time machine why is no one using it in the war? Why is the Dominion not trying to get its hands on it? Why does it work differently than in "Tribbles"? Is it a closed time loop or alternate timeline? -- at the start of the episode, have Meru and Dukat met the time-travelling Kira or not? Dukat said he was the Prefect only for ten years but in this episode young Nerys looks about four and she certainly isn't a teenager at the end of the occupation -- how does all of that add up? Wait, if Ziyal was 13 by the end of the occupation, it would make more sense if Dukat was in charge for about 20 years and, roughly speaking, spent seven of them with Meru (as said in this episode) and thirteen with Naprem, and the line in "Waltz" is a continuity error -- but putting it this way sounds more wholesome than he deserves, since from the words of that one dude in this episode and a scene in "Things Past" I got the impression that those unfortunate Bajoran women passed through his quarters at a much faster rate...

btw remember when I was hoping that Dukat's mentions of his children to Sisko were intentional manipulation? now I'm pretty sure they were.

wow, TvTropes: "The episode itself... which is rather a letdown. With such a name, you'd expect some sort of horrible atrocity to be happening" -- you mean, MASS SEX SLAVERY, long-term psychological manipulation, prostituting oneself to a tyrant and learning to like it, and planning the murder of one's own mother -- these things are not horrible enough??? who tf wrote that entry

(btw, kudos to this episode for handling these heavy topics without going the exploitative shock value route like "Violations" that actually showed rape scenes on screen.)

also someone mentioned that Terok Nor is very brightly lit and now I can't get it out of my mind... why, set designers, why...

Something I liked: in the opening scene Dukat says: "Captain Sisko gave me the clarity to see beyond the lies, the self-deceptions that were controlling my life. He helped me see to the truth about myself. And now I'm going to do the same for you." And that's what happens indeed, even if not exactly in the way he might have intended. Sisko made him acknowledge the violence under the pretty words and justifications, and now we get to see the ugly true face of what Dukat calls -- and genuinely believes to be -- "love".

Inquisition

"Why would the Dominion leave your runabout orbiting the camp" well I'm glad the writers are aware of their plotholes... :D

"Captain, if Doctor Bashir had been involved in one or two questionable incidents, I could understand how you might be able to dismiss it, but the sheer number of incidents form a pattern of behaviour that can't be ignored" you could say that about literally any of the main characters lmao... every episode of any Star Trek series contains a questionable incident plot twist?? let me guess, it's set up by Sloan to make him confess

Second Skin 2

"And because you didn't want billions of Federation citizens to lose their lives needlessly, you agreed to provide us with information that would help us end this war quickly" heh, nice use of Statistical Probabilities

oh wow, Weyoun and his ship are actually real! I didn't expect that

the DS9 crew are all acting so strange, I guess they're part of the simulation too

"I admit it takes exceptional people to do what we do. People who can sublimate their own ambitions to the best interests of the Federation" heh, is this the final test?

wait, they kidnapped him THAT early? Bashir really should stop going to medical conferences...

this episode was pretty predictable after so many similar stories, but I do like these types of episodes, and this one utilised well the long-running themes of Bashir and secret service, and Bashir's idealism. And he got to join the club with Data, Riker, Picard, Dax, O'Brien, Worf -- am I forgetting anyone? Oh, right, Wesley -- that was one of my favourite episodes, actually... Oh, and I just rewatched the scene is the beginning where Bashir wakes up tired in the simulation for the first time, and remembered that episode of TNG where Riker kept losing sleep because aliens kidnapped him every night.

In the Pale Moonlight

Garak saves the day! I'm glad to see him live up to his reputation.

Actually, I don't think the plan was THAT immoral. Especially how it turned out in the end. The worst part was the danger to the Federation in case the forgery was discovered, but Garak took care of that. So ultimately, my only regret would be the use of that biomimetic gel in the clearly wrong hands. Call me cynical, but I fully agree with Garak that the price they paid was very small. Sure, for a Starfleet officer all of that must feel very dishonorable, but I'm sure the secret services of all major powers in the galaxy pull this kind of crap and worse on a fairly regular basis.* Hell, I think what Sisko himself did to apprehend Eddington was worse by my standards! And how is bribing Quark worse than blackmailing him, which Sisko has been doing literally since the pilot?! I think his guilt would have worked better for me if the plan failed and all of that were for nothing. 

* Actually, why WAS Sisko the one doing this? And not someone like the just-introduced Section 31?

On a less serious note, I love that Sisko isn't satisfied with the recording until someone talks shit about Dukat :D then he's like "mmm perfect"

I feel obligated to mention the quality of writing and directing! And the wonderful ambiguity of the final "I can live with it" -- I love things like this.

His Way

let me get this straight, Julian got rejected three times by the same woman but she started dating him after he asked a hologram for advice?? wtf. Miles is surprised by the latter part but I'm more concerned about "Bashir is repeatedly rejected and refuses to stop pursuing a woman" (what is this, season 1???! between that and the mention of his crush on Dax several episodes ago, certainly feels like that, and not in a good way) and also about "Bashir dates a woman offscreen because the relationship is so shallow it's apparently not worth showing but we need to remind the viewers he's Straight"

"Is that the best you can do?" "I'd like to see someone do better." "So would I."

"You're not exactly the most lovable person in the galaxy. You're not even the most lovable person in this sector, or on the station. Or even in this room"

how many of those dumbass songs must I endure?

I'm really bored...

ughhh this is embarrassing

and THIS is creepy

(at least Odo is better than Barclay and backs off...)

he can just go to any other holosuite and interrupt whatever people are doing in there? D:

oh god, he can also use the station's com line?! SOMEONE DELETE THIS PROGRAM IT'S GETTING REALLY SCARY

kill me. or kill this episode with fire

ughhhh it's finally over bye. the scene with Quark was very good, but the rest... how come Kira and Odo by themselves are probably the most interesting characters but their romance is this utter dreck?

The Reckoning

why doesn't the universal translator work here?

how did the wormhole animals get here, anyway?

(I’m keeping this typo lmao)

for once, Winn is absolutely right!!

did he actually break it?.. this is not a dream?.. Winn won't be pleased

it's episodes like this when I miss TNG, and Picard's total refusal to treat Q like a god

this is getting stupider and stupider...

take a shot every time Sisko claims to know something 

you know your story is bad when Winn is the most, and probably only sympathetic character in it (and Kira spends the entire final scene talking how bad Winn is? what?) Winn is being rational and ends up saving lives while Sisko keeps justifying his shitty actions with weak babbling about how "The Prophets want this, they work in mysterious ways" -- have they switched bodies while I wasn't looking?!

Valiant

Jake has a nice stylish outfit

That's strange... Why didn't they return to the Federation space after the war began? Will that be the point of the episode -- that they continued the mission on their own out of sheer hubris?

so this poor girl and the others spend months trapped on a tiny ship inside enemy territory because that guy wants to feel adult and important and likes to play captain?

so, they finally found one specific battleship they had been looking for for 8 months? and it happened the next day after Jake and Nog come on board? is that just because Nog adjusted the warp drive?

dude! your job was to gather info! if that battleship kills you, you fail!

The First Duty 2

...but a lot more bloody D:

this episode was better than I expected

Profit and Lace

aaaalright, here we go, let's see if this really is the Worst Episode Ever

why is Ishka wearing clothes that accentuate her breasts? the clothes in the previous episodes were so baggy I assumed that Ferengi women don't have boobs

"...brilliant Ferengi female. Do you know any?" I suppose Pel wouldn't be able to get here fast enough?

okay, Quark reluctantly doing his best to advocate for female rights is actually pretty awesome

are u telling me all Quark needed to be a better person was a little estrogen?

I actually... didn't find this bad for a Ferengi episode? and it was more interesting to watch than some other episodes in this season -- I was genuinely unsure what would happen and was rooting for everything to turn out well! 

Of course I'd prefer if Ishka made the case for Ferengi feminism herself -- but, at least, the narrative is on its side this time, unlike at least one previous episode. And this time she has more agency than in her previous appearances (Zek's lover/hidden mastermind and damsel in distress) -- she's using her position of power to implement a whole new progressive law, and it even seems like she made it to Zek's side for that purpose and domestic bliss was a nice side effect. 

Quark as a woman is an objectively transphobic gag, of course (and yes I know that it’s my privilege that allows me not to be viscerally upset by it enough to immediately ruin the episode forever). But I didn't actually find it as nasty as the same joke in "Facets", where the narrative and other characters used it to made fun of him, and the shot of his head on Kira's body in "Meridian"; here it's for greater good, and being in a woman's shoes (literally) gives him some perspective, plus nobody seems to think sex reassignment surgery is a big deal. Other characters criticise Quark’s performance of femininity in the same tone as Worf criticised others’ performance of Klingon-ness. Like, I see that this is fundamentally Bad, but I was preparing myself to be outraged much more so it doesn’t feel that bad.

And it's gross that Quark sexually exploits his workers and the narrative doesn't punish him, but that happened before in season 1... 

Unlike, say, The Reckoning, it doesn't affect the show's overall plot or lore in a negative way -- I'd even say it's the opposite because of the big win for women's rights on Ferenginar. (It shows a frustrating lack of progress in Quark's character arc, but a lot of episodes share this problem...) So, even though this episode is unfunny and largely offensive, I don't feel it's exceptionally terrible -- just another example of the problems this show has always had. I have more problems with stories that break the entire show, than isolated episodes like this which can be easily skipped and ignored.

Time's Orphan

what about the Orb of Time, wouldn't it help?

Keiko, that's a terrible decision

I guess the episode will end with both Worf and the O'Briens realizing this parenting problem is too difficult for them, and they'll do what they should have done from the start and re-rescue Molly

No, Miles, your plan is horrible. If it works I'll never forgive this episode.

I'm glad it ended well. But feral!Molly was obviously a lost cause from the beginning...

The Sound of Her Voice

Odo, are you being shitty on purpose?

I was worried when Bashir didn't want to talk at the beginning, but this is almost scary!

I suspected something like this...

Julian no...

“I really care about all of you, even if sometimes it would appear that I care more about my work” says the guy who spent two seasons running after everybody like “PLEASE BE MY FRIEND!!!11!”

This entire thing looks like Julian and Miles are about to make a public proposal to each other...

"Someday we're going to wake up and we're going to find that someone is missing from this circle" *looks directly at Jadzia*

Tears of the Prophets

*sigh* Okay, I'm emotionally prepared, here we go

*sees Jadzia on screen* no I'm not prepared

ughh why are Bashir and Quark being so gross

where has he been all this time?

"I don't hold you responsible for Ziyal's death. You may have fired the phaser, but it was Benjamin Sisko who forced your hand" ????? dude. this is a stretch even by your standards.

"You've gone from being a self important egotist to a self deluded madman" Weyoun is not wrong

(but you know acknowledging within the story that your writing is shitty doesn’t fix the problem)

Klingons and Romulans!

why must I listen to this stupid song and look at Bashir and Quark being shitty and badly written

Oh great, the wormhole aliens can somehow contact him whenever and wherever they want, no orbs or travels to the wormhole necessary. WTF?

I like how Weyoun and Damar roll their eyes at Dukat's nonsense. same

"I've immersed myself in the study of the Bajoran ancient texts, and I've come to realize that the wormhole is much more than the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant. It's the Temple of the Prophets" o rly??? truly an astonishing discovery

congrats on finally getting the Renegade eyes, Dukat

what is Garak doing here?

ugh. 

Dukat went from the embodiment of the best storyline on the show to the embodiment of the worst storyline on the show

At least Weyoun and Damar keep reacting to his every word as "That's nonsense" so at least someone inside the story doesn't like this plot as well. I think Dukat has passed them the torch of being the fourth wall breaking meta character...

...but, you know, if the wormhole would really close forever I'd be glad. of course they'll find a way to reconnect with their "Prophets" somehow

I interrupt the ugly crying to ask: how the hell would Sisko's presence on the station have saved Jadzia's life?!

"for the first time in my life I've failed in my duty as a Starfleet officer" uh, how?! 

this is the worst season finale in DS9

Ohhh man... The season started so strong I was overjoyed. I've always wanted more stories set on Terok Nor during the occupation, and didn't expect the show to deliver in this way! The change of status quo was exciting -- it really felt like Shit Got Real and a serious war was on and things would not be the same again! And Kira's little storyline about normalization of oppression and fighting it, first of all inside one's own heart, was great. But then it just went downhill...

Odo's betrayal made me lose all sympathy and trust towards him forever, and even without that, his character arc was greatly weakened by the presence of the Female Changeling, who is the worst combination of uninteresting and unlikeable. When the Founders are somewhere out there, Odo's longing for them is poignant, but when you see them on screen being bland and annoying, the magic just evaporates. 

An underused female character fridged to make a male character's arc less interesting: he loses his Morality Chain, his mind, and complexity as an antagonist. It's just so lazy. His main redeeming quality is the love for his daughter, and we're tired of writing bad people who still have some sympathetic motivations, that's too difficult, so let's take the object of that love away from him to make him Purely Evil(tm). And since the plot requires this rationalist character to do something OOC in the finale, we need to make him crazy or it couldn't happen. He's evil because of mental illness, he's evil because he gets himself possessed by a demon, he's evil because he has red eyes -- that leaves the viewer with the impression that his previous crimes weren't bad enough, that the writers think overseeing colonisation/genocide for years is tolerable but five minutes of hate speech & one minute of glowing red -- that's the real moral event horizon! Mental illness made him evil, huh? Take that trope and throw it in the trash along with Intendant Kira's Depraved Bisexual trope. Hey, remember when this show was about dealing with the effects of war and oppression, and Dukat embodied the different ways that oppression manifests? well now he's a comicbook villain with glowing satan eyes who shoots death rays 

The wormhole aliens are now suddenly Good Gods hijacking bodies and using them for Voldemort-Harry ray battles

The best-forgotten stupid tropes about hyper-intelligence are dragged from TNG and pasted onto Julian

The writers pulled out of their asses Bashir and Quark's unrequited love for Jadzia?? Bashir's crush was cute in season 1, but he got over it long ago, and Quark has always been just friends with her. Bashir had such a nice friendship with her, and now he's wishing that her marriage would fail so he'd get a shot, even though she was never interested in him in the first place? Fucking disgusting. Way to compromise his character.

And, of course, as the final insult, they fucking killed Jadzia for nothing.

So, let me count: Jadzia literally dead. Dukat's character almost completely assassinated, Bashir’s comes pretty close. Odo's character weakened. Lore and plot of the entire series fucked up. God. I have no words anymore. How do you ruin something so quickly?!

#star trek #ds9 #blah blah blah #my friend finished s6 which finally prompted me to post this #i spent two weeks hoping to make my long unbroken paragraphs a bit more coherent #it didn't work

[wellntruly]

Star Trek: DS9 Notes - S5, Vol. 2

ICYMI, I very much did not skip ‘Trials and Tribble-ations’

And now we’re back in it with the live reacts! Though first up:

5x07 ‘Let He Who Is Without Sin…’

@memory-for-trifles​: “I am including this to warn you that this [episode] is deeply and truly skippable. Google around to find a picture of Julian in his crazy Risa outfit and then get the hell out of there.”

@sherlocks-freebitch​: “when you are googling Julian make you sure you google Jadzia as well. FOR REALS.”

Thank You

5x08 ‘Things Past’ - UGH GARAK’S BACK, I JUST NEED TO BASK FOR A MO’ - “Elim Garak / Former Cardassian Oppressor” incredible - also apparently it’s common knowledge by now that his first name is Elim - aLSO this is lit-er-ally the same debate that goes on these days over blocking certain speakers from events/campuses. DEEP SPACE NINE.

- Dax: “What was it the moderator said? That you may have worked for the Cardassians, but your only master was Justice.”   Sisko: “~And A Legend Is Born~”   Odo: “pls do not” - oh, ooo hey. is this the story where to avoid suspicion, Garak takes on the role of Cardassian Oppressor toward his fellow DS9-dwellers, and it’s all the fun of RUSES plus all the fun of IS THIS A RUSE?? because let me tell ya I have thought about that one - just collectively referring to his injured crew mates as “our people” — oh Julian, dearheart - “Lets assume that’s a ‘no’ for the moment.” hah, Cap’s got quips - ah, ok so it’s not that plot. well no matter, just means we’re saving that RICH VEIN to be delved into at a later date. if the writers want ideas for this they are free to contact me here in the future. - Odo is not doing well! - oh great. Dukat.

what opera did this grey sepulchral Bajoran drift out of!!

- holy shit he’s Odo’s Ghost of Terok Nor Past, that’s beautiful - the fact that Garak knows how Cardassians think has never been more useful. oh my god his little :)-blink-blink - ….or not so useful - !!!!!!! just flipping out VERY vocally and with great joy that that punch Garak received has materialized on his face here in Bashir’s infirmary. YAY THIS IS RIDICULOUS AND HORRIFYING I’M OBSESSED WITH IT. - twisted psychosomatics, yeesss give me more - Odo: “I see I’m going to have to add ‘pickpocket’ to your resumé.”   Garak, light, bored: “It’s only a hobby.” - it is SO HARDCORE when they remind us that Quark straight-up collaborated with the Cardassians and ran his bar on Terok Nor seemingly with no moral quandaries about using abused and underpaid Bajoran labor. - ahh “Leeta”! - so this “Bajoran girl” is to be Dukat’s emotional labor slave. wow. - Garak you racist ass - hoooly god, that sure was a dramatic blood-on-his-hands image - I mean I’d suspected that we were gonna revisit a situation where Odo was decidedly NOT the hero who only served Justice, but yeah that’s sure happening - Jadzia over here trying to subtly figure out how a man like Dukat thinks, nice - this episode is really underscoring how the Cardassians saw the Bajorans as inherently inferior to them. suited for servile positions Garak said, like his children Dukat says. - Dukat monologuing to a window about how kind and forgiving he is and Dax just knocks him out from behind mid-speech — amazing

THATS. MY. GIRL. aahahaha

- seriously Dax always has to rescue the others, c.f. the entirety of ‘Past Tense’. eventually there will be an episode where she just swings in Errol Flynn style with a knife between her teeth. - it shouldn’t be able to so deeply surprise me each time, but A CHANGELING REVEAL STILL KNOCKS ME ON MY BUTT - why though have we not swung back to the infirmary to find Worf and Bashir looking grim & worried on Jadzia as bruises and cuts bloom across her face and hands - sooo, this world is just designed to get them funneled into wrongful execution, it’ll literally blip you back on course. eerie. - Thrax: “The question is, what are you going to do…”   me: “say Odo.”   Thrax: “…Odo.”

[HITCHCOCK ZOOM] me: \o/

- omg a lot is going on - oh Odo…

Julian are you honestly perched on Odo’s desk right now? like that’s a thing that’s okay with Odo? but apparently is?

- ah yup he has his whole leg tucked up on there, as if he does this all the time. well par for the course for this dynamic I guess, which has consistently been an infrequent but charming curiosity. - anyway in other, medical news, Odo still has rando Changeling enzyme bits (he’s gonna change baa-aaaack I feeeel it), and this whole unsettling experience was connected to THE GREAT LINK, wildly. - oh Nerys! oh no - Nerys: “I guess the truth is, anyone who lived through the Occupation had to get a little dirty.” aw dang. war is hell.

5x09 ‘The Ascent’ - well that sounds exactly like the title of a non-fiction novel about Mount Everest - omg Jake’s moving out! well he’s 18 that’s about right. also he’s still gonna be on the station. wait but when is Jake going to college? I want him around in stories but also I want my space son to get an education, this is a pickle - “Go ahead Jake, make jokes.” BEN. - wait why is NOG here, shouldn’t he be on Earth at the Academy? - Quark brought Nog’s favorite: root beer (#Drink Space Nine) - did Quark just suggest he and Odo play fizzbin, THE CARD GAME KIRK INVENTED ON THE MOBSTER PLANET?? - “I’m still not playing cards with you.” lol - IS THIS A PIRATE NOVEL - IS THIS A PIRATE ROMANCE NOVEL - ODOOOO - he’s reading it for the insights into what drives people to homicidal madness. that would be fabulous if true. as stands, well it’s still fabulous. - “field study.” alright that does sound credible. it’s like a Starfleet internship. - Nerys is SO PREGNANT - aaalright Nog - in retrospect I should have expected Quark would succumb to cabin fever with a quickness - Odo: “Bzzzzz!”   Odo: “[smacksmacksmack]   Odo: “[chuckles] - what the hell who put a bomb in the runabout! - haha yikes, I jumped - Class L — close to Class M, so “barely habitable.” noted. in the notes.

Blanket Cape Jake

- wait a min…wasn’t there an episode called ‘Past Prologue’….. holy shit yes that’s the S1 ep where Garak first appears! IS THIS ACTUALLY THE SORT OF SHOW WHERE JAKE WILL BE REVEALED TO HAVE WRITTEN THE WHOLE THING??!!!! oh my god I can’t, I didn’t. - so who’s gonna threaten to eat who first

we haven’t talked yet about the raccoon rings around Quark’s eyes --- what’s up with that. Rom and Nog don’t have anything so dramatic.

- ok that nose move was something else

I meant to just capture these survival #looks but instead I caught Odo and Quark about to take some fools down a rap battle

- I appreciate that Jake is already a messy bachelor writer, embrace the stereotype kiddo - Quark: “A few hours? You mean like three?”   Odo: “Uh, more like six.”   Quark: “I could do six. Seven, might be pushing it. But six I could do.”   I don’t know how to categorize what’s happening with the dialogue this season but it’s hilarious and I adore it. it’s getting…punchier maybe? - you both are the failures, because you’ve failed to embrace FRIENDSHIP - Ben and Rom just had a shared “….?” light bulb moment, hah, yes. lbr I am all about this Dads Collab. - oh now it hits me, what the shared sensibility is between Odo and Bashir: the smug superiority - oh shit - Odo: “Quark, there’s no way you’re gonna be able to drag me up that mountain.”   Quark: “Juust watch me.”   I love this shooowww - finally, the cannibalism. it’s Quark promising to eat Odo, for anyone betting. - aw, Odo using Sisko, Worf, and Dax as inspiration, people who never give up <3 - Ben just pulled both rank and fatherhood in one sentence — a delight

[bleak laughter] how are you not dead

- “As for myself… Cremate me. Stick my ashes in my bucket and shoot me through the wormhole. I might as well end up where I began.” ODO, I am?? honey. - listen I have no idea how the fuck they got there so quickly, but I’m sure glad it’s our own Dr. Bashir taking care of Odo, because I imagine his current physiology would bewilder most medics, and we need some PROMPT CARE up in here - Quark: “You remember back there, when I told you I hated you, and you told me you hated me.”   Odo: “Vividly.”   Quark: “I just wanted you to know….I meant every word of it.”   Odo: “So did I.”   [both chuckle]   what is this The Hour shit

5x10 ‘Rapture’ - I’m a little sleepy and drinking wine and somehow that feels like the prime time to watch a Bajoran spiritualism episode

JUMPSUITS DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT JUMPSUITS

- oh I’m gonna have to get used to this - anyway Jadzia is still in tealy-blue as she always has been except for ‘Trials and Tribble-ations’, so that remains somewhat of a Mystery - Dax: “No pressure.”   Sisko: “…Bhaha!”   Brooks what - ok there are like, a lot of pieces to these new uniforms. is there a separate jacket on top...? - Quark is so perpetually smh over the innocent pure-grade nerdery the crew gets up to in his holosuites - OHMYGOSH, it’s a vest. it’s a color coded turtleneck and a gray vest and a gray…over-jacket, thing. oh but not on Julian…. oh hold on Julian is offering us a fashion show/in-dialogue costuming acknowledgement, here we go:

pivot for us sugar

- Sisko: “~I can see sounds~”   Bashir: “perfectly normal, no worries. call me if you get vertigo otherwise enjoy the high.”   you are a fun doctor - Kasidy’s coming back!!! - right now I think Ben “has something” with these mango slices - woo, Bajor’s part of the Federation now, mazel tov - ok so just Sisko gets the jacket I think. I promise I’ll stop - 90% of the offhand space species references rhyme. Alvanian beehive. Algorian mammoth. Andorian shingles. - I SURE hope Sisko and Kira go find Bajoran Atlantis together - “I don’t know what I had, but it felt…w o n d e r f u l.” Ben. - “Tell her…[waves hand] make something up.” BEN. - haha, Kai Winn is so terrible - yowza - Ben: “What are you doing for the next two hours?”   Kasidy:

- I love space high Sisko, he’s such a dreamy manic - I mean realistically Nerys wasn’t going to go because she’s SO PREGNANT, but Kasidy is a very fine replacement - actually Captain, Julian said to call him if you got headaches, not that they were just a side effect - damn, you found it - ohhh, Worf would be my buddy in obsessing over rank nuances, ob vi ous ly - Worf: “It is naval tradition.” THANKS 4 THAT. - holy shit Winn!! - Sisko’s going deep on this - the Admiral wants this Prophecy situation cleared up and Julian’s just over here like “I’m a doctor, not a vedek.” - locusts. old school. - aw hell, Julian found out you were hiding your headaches. he’s unhappy. - noooo I can’t handle it when Jake cries!

Winn just striding in like cadmium Darth Vadar

- Jake has a point, trusting Kai Winn is definitely not a GREAT indicator of your decision-making abilities right now, Emissary - Kira: “The Captain is not going to die. He is the Emissary. The Prophets will take care of him.”   O’Brien: “With all due respect Major, I’d rather see Julian take care of him.”   we know, Miles. - what an intriguing little faith divide here in Ops! Kira + Worf on the side of Belief and Dax + O’Brien on the side of Medicine - I mean eventually he’s probably gonna pass out and then Julian can operate with next-of-kin go-ahead, yeah? - GASP, is Kai Winn pushing this hoping he’ll die and Bajor’s admittance into the Federation will get derailed!!? - no but what the hell though, locusts don’t pass you by just because you aren’t in the Federation… UNless we’re talking those swarming little alien ships from Star Trek: Beyond???

what did I say about Jake Sisko crying? I believe it was NO

- “Do what you have to do.” oh fuck though, that’s such a QUALITY LINE. oh I gotta add that to my list of Fave Clichés right away... - understood WHAT all though

maybe the all is family

5x11 ‘The Darkness and the Light’ - THE BABY BRYAN EPISODE, aw yeah let’s go. fyi if he doesn’t stir that Darkness and Light together then I don’t know my Fuller.

honest to god I did not expect this to be so recognizable in this way

- aannnd someone has already been murdered - alright exterior DS9 establishing shot, quick let’s guess who we’re going to! I’ve rolled my Fuller Likes die and it’s come up “someone being charmingly bossy” so let’s say Bashir doctoring at someone, probably Kira so she can react to the death of this vedek

BAHAHAHAHAA

- “That’s one.” yikes. and nicely Agatha Christie! I really like counting. chilly horrifying counting. - oh thumbs up for the color-coded bands on the new uniform cuffs, I’d missed those until Miles’ ~mustard accents~ - “I’m a Major in the Bajoran militia, I should be down there trying to protect them!” KIRA <3 - also, more things Bryan likes: protective lady knights - mm mystery - Jadzia: “You’ve been smirking ever since we left the star-base!”   Worf: “I do not smirk.”   Worf: “But if I did—“   I am lol - HAHA Jadzia’s wide-eyed turn as Worf starts quoting a Rule of Acquisition - Worf: “I’m a graduate of Starfleet Academy. I know many things.” I want this on a shirt immediately. - hOLY SHIT, what a terrifying transporter death!!!! - what was this lady’s involvement with the Resistance cell! were you dating - “That’s two. That’s two.” AAH

fuck ‘em up, babe

- incidentally, I enjoy Odo’s The Matrix backdrop behind his desk - TENSION. CREEPSIES. - trust Fuller to bring us Horror Movie In Space. and also literal darkness. - these guys!! they were fun, glad to have them back - awww, Resistance buddies

these are bay leaves

- well Miles is gonna love this - oop, he already does! hahaha. poor O’Brien. - yesss, use your lobes Nog - oh cripes, the voice is hers isn’t it - nooo not Lupaza and Furel!

dang what a shot. Fuller was already building cinematic visuals into his storytelling I’ll bet, because this episode has been noticeably more graphic and dramatic than is usual for DS9′s camerawork.

- Nerys joined the Resistance at 13, holy crap - I just got goosebumps - small gasp! backstory to her earring! noo :(  also WOOF, wearing an ornament wrought from the metal from the first ship she shot up as a teenager? badass - oh Odo *would* know his chair had been turned, that lovable persnickety bastard - “Dis-missed!” s n a p, SISKO. - well this sure looks like a lair - “A creature born within the comforting anonymity of darkness awakens in the harsh truth of daylight. It squirms in the glare, afraid of the light that pins it to the chair like a needle through its heart. Its heart beats faster.” W H A T? - sooo, this bro is just creepily narrating everything aloud with alarming metaphor. cool. - I mean they weren’t exactly innocent, Nerys - OMG THIS IS SO INTENSE - it was a WAR. no one comes out clean. “deserved death” is so so complicated a notion!! - he’s going to remove her baby??! BRYAN WHAT THE HELL IS THIS A THEME WITH YOU? - please tell me Nerys has taken enough makara herbs to “interact” with this sedative like she was talking to Julian about at the beginning, because that is the sort of TIDY STORYTELLING I want to be proud of young fucked up Fuller for - she did, it is! - but you can’t separate darkness from light, because that’s not how humanity works! - Nerys: “But he didn’t realize — the light only shines in the dark. And sometimes innocence is just an excuse for the guilty.” oh that’s a much prettier way to phrase it

5x12 ‘The Begotten’ - well Odo if you’re as old as René Auberjonois, yeah you’re gonna be throwing out your back now dear! - “Alvanian spine mites” - Bashir: “O-do. You have a pinched nerrrve. It comes from bad posture.”   Odo: “Me? Ridiculous. You’ve never seen anyone sit so straight.”   all of this is gold - WORF’S MORNING EXERCISE CLASS. tell me we see it. tell me Worf wears sweatbands. - at this point I’m pretty sure Quark tries to peddle porn in 80% of his scenes

everyone’s Space Dad has A NEW BABY TO COO OVER

- Sisko: “You were this small??” too cute - if this show were made today they would be referring to the Changeling baby as ‘they’ not ‘it’ - ohhhh, a test of a species’ mercy. see if they care for a tiny strange infant. - yaaayy babies everywhere! Julian’s just a one-man maternity ward tonight - “You see, I was once like you.” I am already making little warble sounds - “He never talked to me.” [WARBLING] - oh hell yeah the Bajoran birthing rituals are definitely gonna be ALL OUT

this kid’s easy incorporation of Bajoran belief and tradition into his medical practice though

- Miles trying to time his little gong triangle notes to whatever Keiko’s doing, ohh this is real good for a giggle - oh good, Resistance Farmer First Minister Hugs is here. man, Nerys’ absentee boyfriends is one of the funniest side-plots on this show. like, I skipped ONE episode with Shakaar and this is literally only the second time I’ve seen him, and first time while they’ve been dating. - MILES’ PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE BONG I am losing it - Odo put his baby in a fucking mug while he explains his space station home. this is going in the thesis. - Worf: “Constable, why are you talking to your beverage?” oh my god. I’m so happy.

HOLY HELL ODO DID USE THAT BAJORAN DOCTOR AS HIS BLUEPRINT

- I think I want to chase this Dr. Mora away from Odo aggressively - I hate him - Bajoran doula to Shakaar: “You. Be punctual next time or don’t come at all.” now her I like. - I could watch an entire Bob Ross-style gentle geometry class where Odo teaches you shapes - oKAY, Changeling baby I’m gonna need you to prove Odo’s kindness approach is better, FOR REALS - I am frowning - how do you KNOW though Mora, how do you know there ISN’T another way - aah!

AND HIS LITTLE WHUFFLING HAPPY SOUNDS

this is an image

- you never spoke to him. shut UP with your baseless moral high ground here!!

TOO PRECIOUS, NO, HELP. NOSIES.

- hell yeah it’s a compliment, Odo was good and correct on this - I do admit though, fully, that this history/situation is complex. because Odo really wouldn’t be here without Dr. Mora, and Dr. Mora was genuinely invested in his growth. he was just also unnecessarily harsh in his teaching approach and gave Odo a lot of complexes in the process, so. IT’S TOUGH. - honestly the best part about Nerys kicking the guys out is Keiko 500% behind her, just, instant vanguard - Odo: “I’m happy Quark, can’t you just accept that!”   Quark, bland: “No. It doesn’t fit.” - omgod, raising his Changeling baby letting Odo experience Changelinghood again, ahh - oh no oh no - it’s amazing that the Bajoran birthing experience is just a blissed out relax-fest - haha, this Shakespearean comedy, A+ - lil O’Brien baby! - ohhhh, the life/death balance. the Changeling didn’t make it :( - “I was going to teach you how to be a Tarkalean hawk, remember?” noo - oh what! what? - GASP GASPGASP IS THIS HOW IT HAPPENS - AAAFKEDJALFJLFJSF

[HAWK-SHRIEKS WITH FEELINGS]

- Nerys: “Wanna take a walk?   Odo: “[affirmative harrumph]   so sad so tender oh this strange heartfelt bittersweet parent plot! - so much has happened here

To be continued...

[Tarra Treks]  [Captain’s Logs]

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