#I wish I could just write and not work but hey ho capitalism be a hoe

[propaganda-works-actually]

ok, so, I did not anticipate how much work would fuck me up the last two weeks before we break up for christmas, I've had no time to write and I'm nackered, so I'm on a brief pause until I can recover and get back to it when I'm off. I really wanna write but gods know I don't have the energy at the moment

[forged-through-trials]

The Imperial City was pretty quiet after that. With the guard-corruption squashed, and the grave-robbing halted, the city settled into something approaching peaceful. Which left nothing for me to really do besides hang out in my room at the Merchant’s Inn, and just drink the days away. Ruin insisted we get out from time to time. Yes, we did end up trying out the Tiber Septim Hotel for a dinner together. Ow, my poor coin-purse. Food was pretty tight, though.

Finally a whole week had passed. Seven days of me nearly going stir-crazy in my room, like I was on lock-down with the Peryite Flu. It was at last time to head back to the Arcane University to check on Boderi Farano and her progress. Boderi: “Some--” She teleported into the room, and stepped off the pad. “--BODY once asked “Me to translate books real fast “They had to get more evidence for their case “I said ‘yep, gimmie a week’ “’I’ll have all the answers that you seek’ “Now you can get back to the chase!” Trials: “...” Deadpan. “If you don’t stop singing, I will punch you.” Boderi: She frowned and reeled back a pace. “By Azura, you’re a grumpy one.” Ruin: “I assume you’ve made progress with the books we gave you?” Boderi: “Well, good news and bad news on that front. The bad news is that we can’t give them back to you. They contain forbidden knowledge comparable to necromancy and as such, we can’t let them out of the Arcane University. “The good news, however, is that we’ve copied an excerpt of the journal with all the important entries related to your case.” Ruin: “Was there anything in the other books related to our case?” Boderi: “Indeed there was. The Spell and Alchemy book contained various shamanic spells, most we’d already seen ogres use, but there were a few surprises to be had. “The other one was a gross cookbook, with recipes involving human meat and goblin brains.” Trials: “Eww.” Boderi: “All these books form the proof that the person you know as ‘Lord Baldor Varian’ is, in fact, an ogre who consumed the real Lord Varian’s flesh to take his form, and his brain to absorb his memories.” Trials: “Ugh, startin’ to wish I’d skipped breakfast, today.” Boderi: “Along with the journal entries, I’ve included an official letter bearing the seals of the Mages Guild and Arcane University to the authorities of Skingrad. It should be sufficient to have the guards arrest Lord Varian.” Trials: “Nice! Here’s hopin’ we don’t need two witnesses to the sun shining out of a dog’s arse to get the Skingrad City Guard to get their butts in gear.” Ruin: “You’re really not going to let that go, are you?” Trials: “It’s just so infuriatingly dumb!”

I took a look at the notes Boderi provided. They were exactly what Boderi described; excerpts from an ogre’s journal, and an official-sounding letter for the Skingrad City Watch. The journal described the slow progression of the ogre mage. How he’d discovered the recipe to steal memories from cooking and eating the brains of his victims, and similarly learned the recipe for stealing the form of a victim from consuming their flesh. A gross, grim tome, as the ogre mage progressed from experimenting on rats and imps, to goblins, and finally to people. It was when the mage started hitting people that he vastly increased his knowledge and ingenuity. After a few victims, he was able to perfect the recipes through experimentation, growing his intellect and increasing the duration of the effects. Eventually, he schemed to enter the “human city,” presumably Skingrad, to have a steady supply of human flesh. By luck, he happened to capture the real Baldor Varian, and proceeded to kill, cook, and eat him, obtaining his form and memories. He then proceeded to take Baldor’s place as a nobleman of Skingrad, and one by one, consume Baldor’s servants. Eventually, he had to travel to another province to finalized his arranged marriage with Lucy, and take her back to Skingrad. That’s where the abuse began, just as Lucy described, and it seemed that the ogre’s need to keep up appearances was the only thing that saved Lucy from being eaten. Shortly after getting her back to Skingrad, Lucy fell ill. This is likely where Baron von Zarov got involved. The fake Baldor called Doctor Helsong, again, trying to keep up appearances, but Lucy ‘died’ of her illness shortly there after. The fake Baldor then left the cave to his brother--I guess that was the ogre Ruin and I found in Grayrock Cave--and that was the end of the journal. With these in hand, it was time to return to Skingrad. While this isn’t quite bringing Baron von Zarov to justice, this is the next best thing. The Ogre-Varian needed to be stopped before he killed again.

It took a few hours, but we hiked it quickly from the Arcane University directly to Skingrad. Once there, I found the nearest guard, and presented them with the Arcane University’s writ. Trials: “I have proof that Lord Varian--” Private Janora: “Stop right there, criminal scum! I mean, citizen! If it concerns the nobility, this is way above my pay-grade. Captain Dion is the one you want to see about this.” Trials: “Why can’t you just take the writ to him? Do I look like a courier to you?” Private Janora: “Yes! I’ve seen you delivering packages around town.” Trials: Deadpan. “...well, very astute of you.” So our next stop was to seek out Captain Dion. We found him near the chapel. Trials: “Ho, Captain. Remember me?” Captain Dion: “Yes, I do; you riled up the town-eccentric into a murderous frenzy until I had to put him down.” Trials: I tugged at my collar awkwardly. “Ooph, yeah, those were crazy times... two months ago... “Anyway, today I come to you with proof that Lord Baldor Varian is an impostor!” I passed him the writ from the Arcane University, and he took a few moments to read it. Captain Dion: “These are serious charges. Your evidence is in order, but concerning a noble of Skingrad, I cannot act without approval of the Count. I’ll need you to go to the castle and seek his confirmation right away.” Trials: I rolled my eyes. “Oh for Hist’s Sake, am I just going to get bounced around all day? Next, I’ll go to see the Count and he’ll be like; ‘Oh, sorry, I can’t help you. Go run your tail back to the Imperial City and get word from the Emperor.’ “And then I do it, and the Emperor will say: ‘Sorry, can’t help you. Instead, I’m going to refer you to Talos.’ “And then I meet Tiber-gods-damned-Septim, and even he tells me; ‘I’ll help, but first, you gotta get permission from my friend, Todd’.” Captain Dion: “...who the hell is ‘Todd’?” Well, there was nothing else for it. Ruin and I schlepped it over to Skingrad Castle, and spoke with the steward, Mercator Hosidus. Hey, I wonder if he knows Mercator Saccus from A Fighting Chance in the Imperial City? Mercator Hosidus: “The Count will not see you now. Not now, not ever. He sees no one. I’m Mercator Hosidus, his steward. I believe that’s all you need to know.” Trials: “...” I rolled my eyes. “Tell him a ‘No Soliciting’ sign would be both cheaper, and just as effective. “Anyway, we have evidence that Lord Baldor Varian is an impostor. So tell the Count to get his shoes on and get down here to see it.” Mercator Hosidus: “These are serious charges. May I see your evidence?” Trials: I presented him with the Arcane University’s writ. “Right here! Signed and sealed by the Council of Mages.” Mercator Hosidus: He examined the writ, and gave a solemn nod. “Ah, excellent work. Accusing a Lord of Skingrad without any backup evidence would have led you nowhere. Thanks for taking the precautions of making this all official. The Count will be pleased that you handled this like you did.” Trials: Deadpan. “...gee, thanks. How fortunate for me that I did ninety-percent of the work for you.” Mercator Hosidus: “Stow the sass, lizard. I’ll talk to the Count as soon as possible, and I expect there’ll be an arrest tomorrow morning. You’re welcome to watch it but you mustn’t intervene. This is a matter for the guards.” Trials: I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t you rather I finish up that last ten percent for you?” Mercator Hosidus: He grit his teeth and sneered. “Look, I don’t need your cheek. I’m already busy ghost-writing the Count’s book where he teaches children to count bats. I’ve got to figure out a way to transliterate his ‘Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.’ laugh by this afternoon!” Trials: “He’s writing a children’s book? Aww, that’s sweet of him. Does he need anyone to write the forward for it?” Mercator Hosidus: “Nah, it’s already presented by the letter ‘þ’.” Trials: Confused. “...the hell is that?? The bastard-child of a ‘b’ and ‘p’? Mercator Hosidus: “I think it looks like a pregnant ‘I’.”

Oh goodie, more waiting! Well, we had a few hours to kill before Hosidus had everything in order and we could arrest Varian, so I hit the shops. It was in “Hammer And Tongs” that I spoke with Agnete The Pickled. Agnete: “I’m PICKLED AGNETE!” Trials: “...” I burst into laughter, huffing and wheezing. “...by the gods, funny stuff!” Ruin: “...I don’t get it.” Trials: “But Ruin, she’s Agnete the Pickled! It’s the funniest name I’ve ever heard!” Ruin: “I still don’t get it.” Agnete: “Welcome to Hammer and Tongs. What can I do ya for?” Trials: “Browsing, mostly. Oh, also, before I forget, I’m representing a ‘Thalonias, late of Balmora,’ currently residing in Weye. He’s looking for someone to supply his shop, and I’d like to ask if you’d be willing to cut a deal?” Agnete: “This sounds like a very good deal -- I could expand all over Cyrodiil like this! I’d just need a little capital to cover the first shipment. Say, two-hundred and fifty Septims.” Trials: “Ow, that’s like a whole dinner at the Tiber Septim Hotel!” I groaned and slumped. “Fiiiiine! But only because you made me laugh with that ‘Pickled Agnete’ bit. I sure hope Thalonias appreciates the sacrifices I’m making for him.”

With that done, Ruin and I retired to the Fighters Guild to rest up for the following morning. We rose with the sun, and eagerly raced down the street to Baldor’s estate, spying a battle-mage accompanying two members of the Skingrad City Watch. The battle-mage approached Ruin and I, and spoke to us. Albeci Calleius: “So, you’re the one who gathered the evidence, is this right? Well, this is a job for the local city guards now, so you stay out of the way, alright?” Trials: “Sure I can’t just pop in and finish what I’d started? I’ve been on this case for a month.” Albeci Calleius: “Commendable, but I can’t allow that. Only city guards and legion soldiers are authorized to make arrests.” He directed his men to move in, and the two guards slipped into the manor. I could hear shouting from within the building, then crashing, as the obvious noises of struggle could be heard coming from within the manor. A guard exited after a moment, and spoke up to the battle-mage in command. Skingrad Guard: “Sir, he’s changed into an ogre, and he’s using magic! I don’t think we can handle this on our own.” Albeci Calleius: He gave a firm nod to his subordinate, then turned to Ruin and I. “It seems we have the final piece of evidence to back up your accusations. My men need assistance. I’d better go in so my magic can support them. Unless...” Trials: “...” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Oh, here we go.” Albeci Calleius: “Do you still want to help?” Trials: I shrugged. “Last ten percent it is, then!” Albeci Calleius: “Alright, in you go! I had wanted to take this imposter alive, but it seems that is no longer an option.” Ruin: “We’ll try to leave him as intact as possible.” Trials: “Oooh, someone is confident today!”

We rushed into the manor, and spied “Baldor” on the second floor. He came rushing down the stairs at us, but I came prepared. I’d been carrying Poisons of Silence to deal with Vampire Mages, and thought this an opportune time to pour one out over Light of Dawn. That took care of his spell-casting, and from there, the ogre only had his fists to rely on against us. The last time I fought an ogre head on, I was pummeled to a pulp and barely survived, and all I had to show for that instance was a few broken ribs and a basket of bread! This time, I was stronger, faster, and smarter than before. I dodged those huge, meaty fists like a pro, and moved in, even as the Ogre leaped up, looking to axe-handle slam me from above. I pointed Light of Dawn up, and the ogre came down onto the blade, his own weight forcing the blade through his tough hide, impaling him on the sword. The ogre roared, flailing those huge limbs, as I quickly drew Light of Dawn out of his gut, and with a quick slash, took out his throat, finally putting an end to the false Balor once and for all. Once we’d dealt with the ogre, Ruin and I exited, and met with Albeci Calleius once more. Albeci Calleius: “I take it you were victorious, then? A pity we couldn’t arrest the ogre mage, but you did what you had to do.” Ruin: “Congratulations, Trials. You can finally close the book on this case.” Trials: I paused, contemplatively. “Well... almost... not quite...” Albeci Calleius: “Well, my part is done, here. The castle steward may offer you a reward for your part. You should come up there and see them when you’re able to.”

We retreated back over to Castle Skingrad, but the whole walk there, I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Sure, we’d stop the Fake Baldor, but Baron von Zarov was still at large. Once we arrived back at Castle Skingrad, we were met by Steward Hosidus. Mercator Hosidus: “Word of your deeds have proceeded you. Congratulations! It is my great honor to give you this reward for all your efforts in this dramatic case.” He passed me a large purse of gold coins. “It is especially the way you handled the situation that you are to be commended for. You went to great lengths to gather evidence to prove the case, and stopped a monster from preying upon the people of Skingrad. For that, you have the gratitude of the whole city.” Trials: I sighed, unable to appreciate the gratitude. “Well, thank you, but... but this case isn’t quite ‘closed’ yet. There’s another wrinkle to iron out.” Mercator Hosidus: “Oh? And what ‘wrinkle’ is that?” Trials: “It’s about Baron von Zarov. I have reason to believe that is a vampire.” Mercator Hosidus: He gave pause for a moment, then broke into laughter. “Ah hah hah! That’s funny! Lord Varian is an ogre, and Baron von Zarov is a vampire? I guess the other lords are werewolves and the ladies are liches! Ah hah hah hah hah!” Trials: I grit my teeth, wilting under his mocking laughter. “But it’s true! I’ve been working this case for a month, ever since the body of Lucy Varian disappeared! He’s a vampire!” Mercator Hosidus: “This isn’t funny anymore, kiddo. I know you’ve done a service to the city, but I can’t just act on your word alone. Especially not after we were duped by the last ‘Vampire Hunter’ to come waltzing into town. You’ll need proof.” Trials: I flailed my arms in frustration. “Then let me get the proof you need. You know I can do it. I just need the key to Zarov’s manor.” Mercator Hosidus: “Fine.” He took a moment to search through his keychain, before producing the key to Zarov’s manor. “Here’s the key. You’re free to enter the Baron’s house for the time being. You mustn’t steal anything, but only take the poof of his culpability. And report to me directly.” Trials: I offered him a salute. “Righto. I’ll be back in two shakes of my tail!” We rushed back into town. You know, Gentle Reader, it is such a shame that the Fake Baldor took the evidence I’d found the last time I broke into lawfully entered the Baron’s manor. Who knows what the ogre likely did with them? But there’s bound to be more evidence to be found at Zarov’s manor. Ruin and I entered, and began the search. I immediately rushed to the second floor, where I tugged upon the candelabra... only to find it wouldn’t budge. I tried again, and again, but the damn thing was stuck fast. Trials: “Th-the secret door won’t open!” Ruin: “It seems it is no longer possible to prove there was a secret entrance from the Baron’s house into the sewers.” Trials: “Nnngh!” I fumed, but calmed myself and wiped the sweat from my brow. “It’s okay. We can still salvage this situation. We just need to get into the city sewers.” Ruin: “What about that skull on the shelf? Is that not evidence?” Trials: “Nah, that’s only proof that he shares a crap-sense of interior decoration with most of Cyrodiil.” Ruin: “If grave-robbing carries the death-penalty, why is it legal to just display a skull on one’s bookshelf?” Trials: “Because Cyrodiil is a clown-province full of lazy guards and nonsense-laws.”

We rushed back through town, heading to the south tip, where an old abandoned house lie. A month ago, when I scrambled, screaming and damp with sweat--and other fluids--from the city sewers, I popped up in this run down hovel, so I knew there was an entrance back into the sewers from here. We just needed to get in, and get down there. We were down there once more, and the stench of those sewers was a familiar, if unwelcome, hit. The odor was enough to sting the eyes and nose, and I groaned as I struggled through the sewers, pacing ever forward. Eventually, I led Ruin through the sewers. With a combination of memory, and the knowledge that the Baron’s home was vaguely north of the abandoned house, I found the tunnel that led under the Baron’s manor, and we strode forward. I crossed the bridge over the pit, and found the wrack that once contained the Baron’s bottles of spare blood. ...and was currently empty. Dammit! I turned back toward the pit, and climbed down into it... only to find it, too was empty. Unlike the vampires of Fort Carmala, the Baron didn’t believe in leaving rotting corpses lying around as decoration. Trials: “Dammit! The evidence is gone!” Ruin: “Zarov was one step ahead of us.” Trials: I grit my teeth, and shook. “It’s... it’s okay! We can still salvage this!” Ruin: “...how?” Trials: “I... Miaren Girendas! Over at Magh-Gra’s Tack and Supplies. She could at least confirm that the Baron left here with Lucy Varian.”

We rushed out of the sewers, and darted as quickly as we could over toward Magh-Gra’s, whereupon we found the Dark Elf in the corner of the shop, tending to her duties. Miaren: “Good day to you. Can I help with something?” She sniffed the air around us, and then covered her nose. “Ugh, perhaps by pointing you to the nearest bath?” Trials: “Yeah, sorry, we just got out of the sewers. Anyway, we need to talk about Baron von Zarov.” Miaren: “...what? What is it you’re saying?” Trials: “...” I grew increasingly irate. “Baron. Von. Zarov!” Miaren: “Never heard that name before. Who is he? Your master? Does he have an order in our shop?” Trials: “...” The hope audibly drained out of my voice. “You... really don’t remember, do you?” Miaren: “Sorry, remember what?” Trials: Defeated. “You don’t remember at all.” Miaren: “Let me check for his name in our ledgers. I’m sure that if we have an impending order it will be in the books.” Trials: Defeated. “It won’t.” Miaren: “Oh really?” Trials: Defeated. “Do you... not remember me, at all?” Miaren: “Not at all. Should I? When did we meet?” Trials: Defeated. “...never mind.” Ruin and I stepped out of the shop, and I hung my head, dejected. Ruin: “All of the evidence has vanished. The Baron must’ve known you were onto him and cleared everything. Even Miaren very memories!” Trials: I slammed a fist into the near wall. “It’s... we can still salvage this! I just need to find a way to time-travel back to two-months ago and--” Ruin: “My friend, let it go. The Baron outwitted us, this time.” Trials: Defeated. “Ugh... you’re right.” We carried back over to Skingrad Castle to report in. Hosidus was about as helpful as you might imagine; with no proof, he could not take action against Zarov, so we were effectively stonewalled. The Baron won this one, it seems. Well, at least I nicked his rare wine bottles!

[zenosanalytic]

DS9: Tribunal to Prophet Motive

Overall S2 wasn’t really that much better than S1, though it did have a handful of eps that were genuinely “good” television. S3’s also spotty but slightly better. One S3 trend I don’t like is the SUPER heavy-handed selling of Kira/Odo from basically the first ep on, and how it comes entirely out of nowhere. Also, Keiko is royally and consistently shafted and ignored, which is frustrating as hell. They FINALLY give her something to do, and not only is it presented as a “gift” from her husband(which, Ick! Like she’s not following the going’s on in her own damn profession???), they use it to effectively write her off the show! Ridiculous >:(

Tribunal: Bad. What’s the point of doing a courtroom ep that isn’t a courtroom ep? Sure, I can understand the theoretical appeal of the irony of a trial episode about a show trial, but you really need to embrace the absurdity of the concept for it to work and they didn’t. Also, the Cardassians are one-note(like all the non-human species in ST), and their one-note is “Order”, so Cardassian law, even if entirely show-trials in practice, really ought to be procedurally meticulous. An ep about Odo, skilled in these procedures from his time as a Cardassian security chief, out bureaucrating a culture of military bureaucrats to stall for time while the DS9 crew finds dirt to blackmail the Cardassians with would have been great and probably darkly funny; this was just dull. Also, there’s no way the Fed would stand for a Starfleet officer being snatched out of a Fed shuttle in Fed space like that, smuggling weapons or no, or believe for one second the Cardassian claim weapons were on the shuttle in the first place, given their past experiences. This would have caused a major diplomatic incident, and the Fed embassy corps on Cardassia Prime would have been all over O’Brien like ants on a summer picnic.

The Jem’Hadar: Fun and Good. Trying to do something simple and succeeds. Quark’s rant to Sisko about Ferengi history is obvsl convenient writing rather than fact -in TNG they’re aggressive, needlessly violent cruel pirates who, I’m pretty sure, are explicitly slavers as well- but it SHOULD be right. They’d be more interesting as a culture built around a capitalism that never saw any profit in compulsion. Historically, while slavery pre-dated capitalism in Earthican societies, slavery as we think about it -dehumanization, brutality, murderous forced labor- has nigh-universally been associated with capitalism, and quite frequently with commerce(Greek, Roman, and American slavery were all basically built around ag production for commercial markets[though slave-artisans based in cities was a significant part of the Greek and Roman systems as well]). That internal contradiction, attached to a larger ethical distaste for direct, personal violence(and valorization of tattling that’d go along with the instinctive distress-cry DS9 gives to Ferengi), while still being the profit-driven thieves and schemers they are, would have been Compelling.

The Search is… OK. I mean, as television it’s fine. The plot doesn’t make any damn sense though. The Dominion makes it clear they don’t want the Fed entering their territory and the Fed’s response is… to infiltrate deep into their territory to find the Homeworld of their leaders and confront them with the only warship in the Fed fleet? This move is basically designed to start a war. Also, they seem to forget that they’ve had Odo come to the Gamma Quadrant before, so his whole “I feel drawn to this nebula” deal seems out of left-field. Also Also, they should have used The Defiant to add the Romulan liaison as a regular cast member, instead of bringing on Eddington and doing nothing with him. Having Sisko, who has had an excellent relationship with Odo until now, suddenly giving this speech about how he doesn’t like that Odo isn’t “a team player” is pretty ridiculous as well(and out of character. Sisko’s not a team player. His WHOLE CREW is made up of square pegs just like himself). Also Also Also, a Romulan security officer who spends a season or two building up relationships with the maincast, sashaying around being arrogant and cynical in Romulan kimonos during her off-time, gradually developing Maquis sympathies, becomes Sisko’s evil!Valjean and remains so until nearly the end of the series would have been a genuinely surprising character-arc requiring consistently good writing to sell, and kind of explain why, in later eps, the Romulans wouldn’t require one of their own to protect and operate the cloak. Or hey! Maybe her becoming a Maquis could begin as a plot to foment rebellion in the Fed, that’d be neat.

Equilibrium: Meh

Second Skin: Good in some parts, but that the journals would be what starts cracking Kira up isn’t believable and it just isn’t mindfucky enough. Also, Kira’s warmth towards her fake dad at the end of the ep didn’t feel earned. Maybe if they’d had her bond with him over having lost family in the Occupation.

The Abandoned: pretty offensively essentialist, really. Especially given the plotline later in the series(iirc) about a Jem’Hadar trying to break his people’s addiction to ketracel-White, which kinda undermines this eps whole “the Jem’Hadar have no will of their own and are genetically programmed soldiers that it’s useless to reason with” line.

Civil Defense: good. It remains unbelievable to me, though, that Starfleet wouldn’t have done a complete refit of the whole station the minute the Cardassians left, especially given the Star Trek obsession with hard-wired, analog computing.

Meridian: a noxious pile of garbage all round. The subplot is skeezy, but at least it’s in-character, well-written, and believable which the main plot certainly is not. I kinda wish that, if they were going to include such a scummy sub-plot in the ep, they’d at least made it a bit interesting by subverting expectations. At the end, have Tiron be at first taken aback, and then surprisingly pleased with Kira’s modifications to the program. He walks out, “deeply satisfied” with the program and pays 20% extra for it, compliments Quark on his “creativity” as a holodesigner with a slightly amorous look, Quark is clueless and confused yet pleased, Kira and Odo are absolutely mortified. Then maybe leave it around as a Chekov’s Gun; Quark makes a secret copy(of course), offering it to only his best customers, it leads to a small but noticeable increase in custom, then someday in a later season he checks it out and is Horrified to find he’s unknowingly made himself one of the most popular porn-performers in the sector :|

Defiant: fine as it is, except there should have been a bit about HOW the Maquis found out about the Defiant and knew about its cloak. This would be a good time to introduce the long-arc of the Romulan officer’s Maquis sympathies/attempts to use her position on DS9 to co-opt the Maquis and undermine the Federation.

Fascination: dumb and really Skeezy, Ferrell’s is the only entertaining performance in the ep, but, again, the smooch-directing of this series is uncommonly good. Also: Miles is not just a bad dad, but also a bad husband. Also Also: Bajor’s only 3 hours away in a runabout or shuttle for Frak’s sake? You can’t be bothered to go visit her?? People in Texas regularly make three hour drives every DAY.

Past Tense: One of my favorite eps of the series; heavily Nostalgic for me. Having now read To Say Nothing of the Dog, however, I do wish ST writers treated Time and Causality as more robust and stubborn than they tend to.

Life Support: The inevitable killing off of a past love-interest to free Kira up for Kirdo. Bareil was bland and boring anyway, even if his performances in S3 were much improved. Why the heck is the Kai negotiating treaties??? That the Kai and Vedeks plays a direct, institutional role in Bajoran politics needed to be established before jumping into a plotline about the Kai negotiating a secret peace pact with Cardassia. The subplot with Jake and Nog, which reduces the question of female personhood to a “cultural issue” in the context of Nog’s misogyny ruining Jake’s chances with a girl who never appears again(iirc), is repulsive in about a half-dozen ways.

Heart of Stone: Ho-hum. The Nog in Starfleet storyline is good, but they should have built up to it in previous eps. Wesley spends pretty much all his time before acceptance doing science experiments and apprenticing in various departments on Enterprise to build up his resume just to qualify to take the exams; having Nog accomplish the same task with a letter of rec is kinda |:T Also: wouldn’t Sisko have pointed out that, in the Fed and Starfleet, Nog’s “gift” would be interpreted as an attempted bribe and get him immediately arrested? Seems like an important cultural rule to point out to a Ferengi |:T |:T

Destiny: Good. Ulani and Gilora are obviously lesbians and I won’t hear another word on the matter u_u

Prophet Motive: Fun and Good, though the “evolved” talk re: social constructs and cultural modes was annoying.

Why are S3′s subplots so much better done than it’s main ones? I imagine the discipline of having limited time to complete them in has something to do with it. Some other observations:

A-plot B-plot structure is entirely standard in S2 and S3, probably because it’s an obvious way to include such a large cast, but then all the plots revolve around the same handful of characters, so the opportunity is wasted.

It’d have been nice if every species was given the same variety of clothing the Ferengi get to have. Having Caradassians wear mil uniforms IN THEIR OWN HOMES, and when they are scientists, is absurd.

DS9 continues the Trek tradition of having a real nebulous and unexplained relationship with money.

DS9 really needed more women writers and head-writers on staff. Why are male writers so bad at this???

I really need to get in the habit of taking notes while I watch so I can give more detailed reactions later -__-