berrynes

[berrynes]

headcanon that a ferengi tradition is putting your new baby up for sale at a ridiculous price to show how valuable they are to you (everyone has to be polite and not actually buy them or hands will be thrown, people will be sued, etc etc)

[berrynes]

Trying to figure out animation

[berrynes]

I’ve reached the point in ds9 where Kira and Odo are officially a couple and I have some thoughts.

I think the reason I don’t fully hate it is because they already had such a good friendship so it’s not like they don’t have chemistry but the reason I kind of hate it is also because they already had such a good friendship. Their relationship isn’t any less loving or good if they’re just friends. Plus, it was one sided for most of the show so it seems kind of weird that Kira is suddenly fully on board with dating Odo (especially considering his actions earlier in the season). Had the execution been better I might feel more positively about it but to me the way it happened doesn’t make much sense for either of them.

I also don’t really think the way Odo feels about Kira is necessarily romantic. I think she’s the person he’s closest to and he loves her so very, very much platonically but from what he’s observed and been told he’s kind of just assumed that if he’s (choosing to present himself as) a guy and she’s a girl and he loves her then that must mean he’s attracted to her. I know a ton of people interpret their relationship as queer and I’m inclined to do the same but no matter how I look at it I still think the execution is weird.

So I guess my biggest issue with it is the way it was handled and not the relationship itself, if that makes sense?

I also have a whole thing about how it seems like the writers are trying to fix Odo/ prove Odo’s personhood or that he has feelings by making him have sex or date when we already know Odo has feelings (Lwaxana, anyone?) and sex doesn’t make someone…humanoid, in this case but that’s a rant for another time.

[berrynes]

Julian getting a little too enthusiastic in the gym after everybody finds out he's an augment.

He's never been able to actually push himself while working out in public before, he's always had to hold back to avoid attracting too much attention. So, horrific and traumatic as it was to have his secret revealed like that, to hold on to his career and his life and everything he cares about by the skin of his teeth, there are things he's looking forward to now, things he just couldn't do before.

All of which adds up to Julian in the gym at 0500, figuring out his absolute max deadlift, dropping it down to his 90% and doing set after set until he simply can't lift it anymore. It takes fucking ages, he's even stronger than he expected, and he's having such a good time...

Until about two hours later, right at the start of his shift, when he feels himself start to stiffen up. He tries to push through it, tries to just keep moving and get rid of all the lactic acid that's building up in his glutes, but there's only so much you can do when you've put your body through that and by lunch time, he's locked in a chair in his office and he doesn't think he can stand up anymore, actually.

Which, of course, is when Garak shows up to ask if he still wants to have lunch. And Julian would really like to say yes, but if he can't even stand up then walking to the Replimat is right out, so he just tells Garak that he's got to catch up on some research, actually, and can they take a rain cheque? And he adds his most charming smile for good measure, but now Garak is just *looking* at him, one of those inscrutable looks, with his eyes squinted and his head tilted to the side.

"My dear doctor, are you quite alright?"

And Julian could just tell him! He could just say 'no, actually, I worked out far too hard and now I can't actually stand up to go and get the muscle regenerator I would need to fix it, let alone to join you for lunch!' But that would require *admitting* that he'd overdone it, which of course is exactly what Garak warned him about that morning as he was leaving their quarters at 0430. 'Don't push yourself too hard, my dear, genetically engineered or not, human spines are simply structurally inadequate in some respects..."

And of course he was right, and of course Julian can't let him *know* he was right, and so they're at a stalemate. And Garak just keeps *looking* at him, and then he walks into the room and around the desk and he just stands there, looking down at Julian until Julian is just like "...yes?" And Garak's like, "oh, I just thought I would give you a kiss, since you can't join me. Because of your research." And Julian's like "...okay?" And Garak's just like "so why don't you stand up so I can kiss you properly?" And Julian knows he's fucked but of course he can't admit it so he just stares at Garak until Garak starts smiling and says "you can't, can you?"

And that's how Garak ends up carrying Julian out of the infirmary in the middle of the day to drop him in an Epsom salt bath while he lectures him on the importance of *moderation*, my dear, you really must learn *moderation*

[berrynes]

Oh my God, in the DS9 novel "Station Rage", there's a scary invasion situation coming to the station, and Garak tries desperately to trick Bashir into going down to Bajor, to get him out of danger???

The station has been largely evacuated but the department heads have to stay, and Julian insists that anyway he has to stay (and wants to stay) to treat any casualties.

So Garak lies that Sisko had passed a message through Garak that they need Bashir down on Bajor to figure out the source of a medical emergency.

And then, and then Julian figures out it's a lie, because, after passing on this supposed message... Garak lingers too long. Because he's concerned. And that tips Julian off.

OH MY GOD?

'His natural clairvoyance' - aka goddammit he knows me too freaking well.

As echoed immediately by:

Julian can read him, dammit.

AND, a point I think is true and huge: Julian is the only person to have approached and treated Garak like Garak is an individual. He absolutely knows that Garak is a scary spy dude, but he treats that as a facet of Garak, not the sole definition of Garak. Julian has always treated him entirely differently than anyone else has.

Then Garak tries to be all armoured and sharp to hide his anxiety and his deep, personal concern, but he's completely transparent to Julian who is just like, "Yes yes, you adore me, I adore you too, duh, but back to the whole tricking me off the station thing?".

So Garak is just like 'ah crap none of my sneaky attempts to get him to safety worked, not even my attempt to hide my feelings worked!' and just gives up trying to hide his emotions, and is openly like 'I neeeeeeed to get you off the station and out of danger'

?????!!!!!!!???????!!!!!!!!!

[berrynes]

[berrynes]

New Philosophy Tube Episodes Are Coming!

Just wrapped on the next TWO episodes of Philosophy Tube! We filmed a double episode today about Friedrich Nietzsche and Donald Trump

Sign up to my Patreon if you want to see more pictures from the set and learn about the inspiration behind this double episode!

[berrynes]

From my sketchbook. I love this quote and Worf goes hard.

[berrynes]

oh my god...

so the first screenshot is trying to look this up on tiktok normally, "donald trump rigged election" and it says that search violates community guidelines.

the second screenshot is looking up the same exact thing, but with a (australian) vpn on. canadian vpn didn't fix it fyi.

THIS is exactly the type of censorship to be looking out for on tiktok. this actually is crazy.

[berrynes]

+ bonus

[berrynes]

Julian Bashir meeting an alternate universe version of himself who still goes by Jules. Jules doesn't fake eye contact as well as Julian. When he speaks, it's mostly in short direct sentences, as few words and as to the point as possible. He can still ramble for an hour on a topic he's passionate about though.

Julian realising in slow horror that Jules is also a doctor. Jules also works for Starfleet. Jules is also stationed on DS9. Jules is friends with his own Garak, who thinks he is delightful and intelligent and interesting. Jules is still friends with a Miles O'Brien who thinks he is a little weird and off putting but will fist fight anyone who talks bad about him. They still play darts and racquetball, though Jules isn't quite as good, he and Miles still treat each other as friendly rivals.

Jules, who is still a diligent and dedicated professional, who takes pride in his work as a doctor, and whose parents were arrested and charged before he ever set foot on Adigeon Prime. Jules, who mended Kukalaka and continued to stitch him up for years to come just like Julian.

The slowly dawning horror Julian has at realising that this is who he might have been, and that Jules is, in fact, fine. He wasn't top of his class, but he's still a damn good doctor. He can't work for three days straight without sleeping, but he's no less dedicated. He's not as physically adept, but he's doing fine. He's loved. He's fulfilled. He's happy.

Julian Bashir isn't sure how any of that is making him feel about himself at all, nor does he know why he finds himself crying himself to sleep that night.

[berrynes]

They're the same.

You're welcome.

[berrynes]

[berrynes]

Possibly controversial opinion: Captain Kirk (the TOS version) is not a playboy or a skirt chaser - he is a male femme fatale

[berrynes]

a few days ago i woke up thinking: snails are cute, but what if they had legs?

so i made this, and i was like "aww yeahhh such a funny animal"

and then a second image popped up in my head

what if they acted like dogs?

YEAAAAHHHHH HAPPY PUPPY SNAIL

[berrynes]

remembering when the something awful forums made a word filter that changed the word "females" so it was surrounded by Ferengi emoji (we called em 'smilies' not emoji back in the day) so it looked like this:

because someone was sick of incels using the word to refer to women

[berrynes]

if I was scotty and I had 20 seconds to fix the transporter so we could transport the captain off of an about-to-explode-ship and I had mr spock in my ear over comms going "mr scott... mr scott. 15 seconds." i would be in that jeffries tube elbow deep in wires screaming my scottish head off in terror the whole time