#Julian is also being very good with Jake

[youngpettyqueen]

I love how much the events of ...Nor the Battle to the Strong are still affecting Jake in this novel. he cant let go of the guilt. he's terrified of acting cowardly again, and he's terrified of failing the group. since the show itself never really did anything with that episode after it happened, its nice to see it acknowledged somewhere

[walkingstackofbooks]

Doctor Bashir I Presume AU where Julian transitioned during the Academy but never told his parents: (This totally got out of hand I'm sorryyyy 😅)

"What did you do to your lovely hair?" - Amsha's first reaction to seeing him in Sisko's office (He always wore a wig to visit them. This is exactly why.)

"You must be very proud of your son." "Our... son?"

Richard and Amsha trying to hide how unimpressed they are because they know it's socially unacceptable to be transphobic

(Not that they'd call themselves transphobic, of course. They have trans friends! But with Jules, well, it's different, isn't it? With all that they spent on her enhancements, there's no way her DNA would have been left with any... imperfections. And when it comes down to it, their her parents - they know her better than she knows herself.)

Amsha complaining at dinner how Julian hadn't prepared them for the shock of seeing him. "How could you do this to us? We were so embarrassed in front of your Captain."

(As if it wasn't them in the first place who had showed up totally unannounced 🙃🙄)

Richard saying that if Julian had told them he'd been having these feelings from the beginning, they might have been able to get help for him before he ruined his body.

Richard (angrily): "You've got some nerve, asking us to be careful with this Zimmerman chap! With the sort of risks you've been taking? Don't you realise how easily you could have been found out, all for some unnecessary surgery?" Julian (painfully restrained): "I don't expect you to understand, father, but it was necessary for me." Amsha (sadly): "Your father's just looking out for you, Jules. Try to understand that."

Misunderstandings abound when talking to Miles*, but eventually it's cleared up that Julian's parents are shit.

Cue a lot of anger (and a lot more anger than Julian thought anyone would feel. Because, you know, when you grow up knowing that your parents aren't the most accepting people, you figure that's just what some parents are like, rather than assuming yours are among the most outliers of outliers...)

Miles tells Julian he should talk to Sisko and get his parents kicked off the station. Julian's like, "That's a nice idea, but the captain can't just do that unless he's got a good reason" and Miles is like "You do know that persistently misgendering someone is literally a Federation hate crime, right?"

The Bashirs of course deny any wrongdoing. Richard gets angry, claiming "it's a family matter". Amsha starts crying about how unfair it all is.

"You have to understand, Captain -- she's been our daughter for over thirty years. We know Jules is angry with us but please, she knows that we love her really. If you could just let us talk to her--"

Sisko is fuming. "I might believe you cared if you had made any attempt to get Julian's gender right." "You don't know what it's like!" Amsha protests. "This is all so sudden!" "I know exactly what it's like!" Ben snaps back. "And I'll tell you, I didn't for a second consider telling Jake that I didn't believe him, or that he must be mistaken, or that he needed to be patient with my mistakes. In fact, I made sure as hell that I didn't make mistakes. There's no case here, as far as I'm concerned. You're both confined to quarters until the next shuttle arrives."

So I guess in the aftermath of all that, Julian's enhancements never get revealed. Even if the Bashirs were to make an apology, Miles would shut the hologram down, now he knows what Julian's parents are like.

But I think they probably feel too betrayed to try and make an apology, even a bad one.

So yeah, they're forced off the station and Julina actually gets, like, support and stuff from his friends!

Also, for like, a month afterwards, all of Molly and Yoshi's bedtime stories have trans main characters because Miles is low-key anxious about them ever starting to feel like Julian had about it not being okay.

(Keiko catches onto this and just happens to invite Julian around one night when it's storytime. Molly gets Julian to read her book. It's cute.)

(Afterwards, he enthuses about how he wishes he'd had books like that when he was a kid. And that's... sad.)

About two months later, when enough time has passed that Jadzia can pretend this isn't about Julian (although it totally is), Jadzia gets Quark and Jake involved in digging up some Earth history and holding a stationwide Pride celebration. (Julian appreciates both the gesture and the pretense.)

Garak makes some huffy comment to Julian about how "of course the Federation would have a whole festival devoted to degeneracy". Julian rolls his eyes and is about to take the bait, when he suddenly realises, "Wait, didn't Dukat once accuse you of being a degenerate?" "Wholly unsubstantiated claims, my dear Doctor." "Of course," Julian agrees sagely. "Although," he adds, a grin dancing across his lips, "if you ever find yourself wanting to substantiate them, Mister Garak..."

*The Misunderstandings:

"No offense, Julian, but you look wrecked. Is everything okay?"

Not meeting Miles' eyes, Julian takes a breath, as if to compose himself. "Let's just say that my parents are not exactly taking the news that I'm trans well."

In the moment, Miles chooses the wrong part of the sentence to focus on. "Wait, you're trans?"

Julian shrugs unhappily, a flash of anxiety passing over his face. "That doesn't... change how you feel about me, does it?" he asks hesitantly.

"'Course not!" replies Miles. "It's a bit of a surprise, I'll give you that, but-- No, sorry, I mean: what pronouns do you want me to use? Do you want to go by a different name?"

Before Julian can respond, Miles has another thought. "And what do you mean, your parents aren't taking this well? You're their son! -- Sorry, daughter-- offspring-- their child, I mean--"

"Hold up, Chief," Julian says, shaking his head in bemusement. "I'm still Julian. I'm very much a man. My parents just didn't know that until... yesterday."

"You never told them?"

"No."

"For how long?"

"Twelve years, if you're counting from when I first came out. More like twenty if you go from when I first knew."

"Jesus." Miles runs a hand through his hair. "Well, at least that explains why they're mad. That's an awfully big thing to hide from your own parents, Julian."

Julian grimaces. "I know," he replies, looking down. "It wasn't exactly brave, I guess but... I don't know. It was easier to cope with being misgendered because they didn't know, than being misgendered on purpose, you know?"

Being misgendered on purpose? This is such a bizarre statement, so at odds with what Miles knows of the world, that it takes him a minute to try and wrap his head around it.

"I'm lost, I'm afraid," he says eventually. "I can't, um-- Julian, what happened when you told your parents?"

[missadmyre]

Secret Trio + Detentionaire Physique HCs

Randy Cunningham

-he gains scars/wounds due to the suit not always being able to sense an attack quickly, thus not being able to register enough magic shield(?) to protect him (it ain't a robot y'all)

- because of his scars, he mostly skips getting dressed at the boy's locker room during Gym class

- he dresses at the bathroom stalls, though there are times when either Bucky or Julian had caught him shirtless in the bathrooms, they quickly learn to shut their mouths once they realize that "oh shit, this guy has lots of scars, might beat us up if we say anything"

- most of his scars are caused either because of incisions, scratch marks (Tengu!Howard's claws) or those black and blue bruises/blunt trauma because he keeps getting flung onto the walls

- there are burn marks scattered on his torso due to the  incident; one time, Jake lost control of himself and turned into a feral dragon because of some drug he inhaled, wasn't a very good time for both parties.

- there's two large scratch marks on both side of his hips because of Danny, who wasn't able to control obsessive urges as a ghost, thanks a lot Vlad, you traumatized them both

- he doesn't have the broadest shoulders but he has pretty damn good legs

- is very flexible

- he does gymnastics and acrobatics on a daily basis

- broke the school record of having the highest jump - his legs are far more muscular due to him always kicking at his opponents

- man has thighs for days

- he has excellent grip strength

- he managed to crush a watermelon using his thighs, go figure

- on a side note, the reason why his chest (specifically, where his heart is) is bare of any scars is because that is his sensitive spot

- the skin on his chest is very thin, so he tries his best to dodge an attack or at least lead the scar somewhere not near his heart

- there are times where his scarf is used against him (ie. choking, to swing him around) so he has faint marks of strangulation around his neck

- very docile than the others

- which is why has longer legs

- he excels more at meelee combat, his weakest is ranged combat

- the Nomicon taught him martial arts; karate, judo etc., which very much amplified his leg power

- you see those heightened senses he has? Yeah let's abuse that.

- he's not that sensitive (he can still enjoy loud parties and crap) but there's a limit to it.

Danny Fenton

- he can only gain wounds/scars when he is on his human form, though there are times when villains had been able to slip through that slit of a moment and managed to damage him while transforming in/out as the Phantom

- his scars mostly consist of large burn marks, chemical burns (from handling ectoplasm as a human), incisions and blunt trauma

- is the only one that have chemical burns

- the large gash on the right side of his torso is from the time when a yokai was able to slash him when he was transforming into the Phantom

- it was also the first wound that Randy was able to heal using the Art of Healing (feelings ensue~)

- he earned some scratch marks from Tengu!Howard, who clearly doesn't like him (he still doesn't know why that roasted chicken hates him, but damn well he does he enjoy teasing the guy)

- has the broadest shoulders

- bro doesn't pull his punches, LITERALLY!

- he has way bigger hands than Randy and Jake

- he punches more than he kicks, thus earning him a pretty heavy fists

- I feel bad for the human that would be unfortunately in the way of Danny's punch

- his biggest achievement is being able to knock down Biffy with his punches in just 10 seconds

- Biffy still hasn't forgiven him for that

- is trying to not get scars on his face due to the fact that his parents had once suspected him of being a gangster when they saw the little scar on the left side of his chin

- thankfully Jazz is able to cover up for him (I mean, getting that scar from shaving? Please)

- his weak spot are definitely his face and legs

- his legs are not the most steady due to him getting way too used to flying, kick him hard on the ankles and he'll fall immediately

- most chemical burns are seen on his hands, he got them from when ectoplasm would sometimes leak out of some Fenton weaponry (most notably, the Ecto Foamer) and he wasn't able to notice it as a human

- the strangling scar on his right wrist came from the long hours of getting cuffed in Ghost Prison, it was so bad the scar stayed even on his human form (he managed to escape but it still hurt y'know)

- his skin color is somewhat pale-ish tan

- since he's half dead, his wounds either don't heal or just heal very slowly, that's why he's careful not to get hit

- on the occasion that he did get a wound but his body wasn't able to heal it, he'll ask Randy for his Art of Healing

- he excels on both hand-to-hand and ranged combat, he has far more experience with guns/laser guns but he still takes lessons of gun handling from Lee

Jake Long

- most of his scars are found on his chest

- his scars include burn marks, scratch marks (Howard! Really?!), strangulation marks on both wrists and neck, a cauterized wound and incisions

- has the most burn marks than anyone on the trio

- the scratch marks from his arms came from his habit of scratching himself when trying to hold his anger

- my man still keeps getting picked on because of his height

- because of his recent molting, there are still dead skin flaking off of him, especially on his back

- the cauterized scar he has is something he both has good and bad memories to; when Jake lost control of himself as a dragon, he literally had to be put down in order to have Lee just treat his wounds, sadly the bandages weren't enough so they had to cauterize the wound using his OWN flame, at least Randy was comforting him through all that

- y'know kung fu, yeah he mastered that

- is very flexible in using both his hands and feet to fight AS a human

- in Dragon form (s1 design bc wtf is that shit from s2), he's a bit more feral as animalistic urges kick in

- it's because of that kind of behavior that he sometimes run straight into danger, earning him all kinds of wounds

- he has stitches all over his back because he got whipped one too many times at the auction incident (he still gets the chills everytime he thinks about it)

- it's also because of that incident that he gained strangulation marks on his neck and wrists because they treated him like an animal, cuffing him and all that

- to get those muscles, he went through a training arc

- you think Howard hating Danny is bad, well check out these two

- Howard and Jake are like, two pets that are fighting for their owner's love (or attention, Howard isn't going to touch that garbage fire called the Ectoham x Longham relationship)

- the moment Randy turns around, they are fighting all over the place, thus having the most scratch marks

- his weakness is his height, surprise surprise!

- when he's on his human form, it's hard to land a hit on an enemy who's clearly way taller than you

- when he's on his dragon form, his big height often causes him to trample or not be aware of unnoticeable traps

- he also can't balance himself when in dragon form, especially when he flies since his wings aren't the type to be able to easily dodge obstacles (it's just hard to make an adjustment when it's a sudden decision and you're up in the air)

- because he breathes literal fire, he always has a hot temperature, those who knew him just let's it be  it but when other people touch him, they would question if he has a fever

- his appetite is very big because... energy, the problem is that he has very high metabolism, so while he looks malnourished, he's actually taken what, like 2 boxes of pizza a minute ago (and about to take another one right now, dammit Spud, you're wasting too much money)

- have the sharpest nails there is, mostly likely because of his dragon form has it that it also integrated to his human form

- despite not being able to balance himself AS a dragon, he actually does quite well AS a human, being able to stand on poles/tightropes and shit

- those meditation lessons from his Gramps really did help huh

- he excels at hand-to-hand combat

Lee Ping

- he doesn't get that many scars since he doesn't fight opponents as much as the Secret Trio

- but when he does get a wound, it's mostly just blisters, on some cases, he would have burn marks or incisions

- since he always crawls through vents or tight spaces, he always has blisters skidded all around his arms and legs

- the burn marks came from when he would accidentally get hit from those robot's laser guns on Detentionaire (do they even have a name? But seriously, they hurt like hell, believe him)

- the large stitch across his torso is a very painful memory to look back on (he got captured by Cassandra and was about to get experimented on since he has the power to nullify any and all mind control, he was cut open and was about to be dissected when Biffy, Cam and Holger had caught up to him and set him free from there operating table, the other surgeons got killed while Cassandra got away)

- there are faint scratch marks on his shoulders BUT that is due to the tazelwurm sometimes sheathing it's claws on him accidentally (thank you Howard! Wtf did this guy do to you?)

- by far the most slimmest out of everyone in the group

- which is good because he's got to fit into those tight spaces to do "Lee Ping Spywork"

- can do basic gymnastics

- he's learned some basic and advanced self defense from the Serpent/Li, since he thought it would be useful if his younger brother can beat the shit out people when necessary

- the tallest (not including Biffy) out of the group

- has a scar caused by a stab wound somewhere in his right leg caused by Kimmy when she got transformed into some vicious tazelwurm hybrid, she got killed by Holger but he didn't know it was her (those who knew aren't planning on telling him that he just killed a person or he'll freak the fuck out)

- Biffy doesn't know she got killed, Lee isn't telling that information unless he wants a Biffy going nuts all over the place

- only him and Brandy know about Kimmy's death

- he can fence, he picked it up again when he saw the Secret Trio trying to train with long bladed weaponry so he tried to get some experience in being able to wield a weapon

- handles guns way better than the Secret Trio

- has the weakest punch, they all make fun of him for that

- he is the group's healer, he knew first aid very well and he isn't afraid stitch and treat a wound that is way too tender for the Secret Trio to heal

- he only knew how to stitch wounds because he experiments on his body (would it close if I do this kind of stitch? How about here, is it thin enough?)

- because of his experiments, he isn't able to register pain anymore, his poking and prodding at his skin nullified any jolt of pain

- wears gloves on his left hand because there is a lichtenberg scar on it that is colored toxic turquoise green, he ain't letting Barrage see that and be reminded of the pyramid incident

- which glows when the pyramid subconsciously gives him a power boost or something (heightened strength and senses)

- at first he tried to cover it with bandage but since it glows, it didn't work so they settled on the black glove

- excels in ranged combat

HEIGHT COMPARISON [FULL PICTURE]

[incorrectgarashir]

DS9 Christmas Traditions

Sisko: He goes all-out and spends all day in the kitchen. The Prophets help anyone who gets in his way while he's cooking up the Christmas feast of all Christmas feasts.

Jake: Peels all the veg because when he was little Ben told him he was the best at it. Still hasn't figured out this was a ruse. Takes a sneaky swig of something alcoholic when he thinks his dad isn't looking.

Kira: Initially feels awkward participating in a religious event that's not from her own religion (especially since interfaith events simply don't exist on Bajor). Eventually she really begins to enjoy Christmas, especially the mulled wine. She always puts her stuffing on to Jadzia's plate while Sisko isn't looking.

Julian: Brings Christmas cards and a box of mince pies that no-one asked for. Also brings mistletoe that no-one asked for. Steals the sprouts off everyone's plates because he unironically loves them.

Jadzia: Starts the day with mimosas and by midday is drunk and has eaten every sweet in the local vicinity (including all of Julian's mince pies). Half an hour before dinner Julian brings her round with a raktajino.

Worf: Is surprisingly good company at the Siskos' Christmas bash, but takes every opportunity to remind everyone that Christmas should be celebrated on the 7th of January, and that his parents would always make 12 different dishes. And that Minsk has the best Christmas market on Earth.

Miles: Having grown up with his mother's beautiful, unreplicated homemade Christmas dinners, he's now kind of numb with shock every year as he has to endure Keiko's "homemade" replicated knock-off KFC Christmas.... He usually turns up at Sisko's later on when the kids are tucked up sleeping to poach a plate of real food from his boss (who always cooks for the 5,000),

Keiko: She usually turns up later on to retrieve Miles but ends up staying to watch whatever Christmas movie the Siskos have put on. She also finishes off the mulled wine and steals Julian's sprig of mistletoe that everyone else avoided.

Odo: He takes a couple years to actually show up after first being invited and sits and scoffs about solids and their love of gluttony... The one Christmas he could actually enjoy the meal, he ate himself stupid, made himself very sick and had to go to the infirmary.

Nog: Points out every little thing that Sisko does 'wrong' according to his Earth guidebook's description of a typical American Christmas. Gets highly stressed whenever Sisko serves British Pigs in Blankets at Julian's request instead of American Pigs in a Blanket. Always points out that eggnog sounds like his name.

Quark: Doesn't get an invite, but turns up at Sisko's anyway because he'll score really good free food. He can't figure out why some of the hewmons have little ornaments of a bunch of people, a baby and some farm animals, so he instead tries to sell ornaments featuring Wall Street, cos surely the stupid hewmons should worship it instead?!

[jaegermonstrous]

Had a bad brain day, so it's time for chicken nuggies and DS9.

S3E7 "Civil Defense"

I'm already giggling and kicking my heels. I love this ep so much.

ATTENTION BAJORAN WORKERS [Side note, you could make a very effective drinking game out of this - has anyone done that?]

This is like when you rent a new place and accidentally trip the security alarm.

Hah! Quark feels safest with Odo.

I know we've all talked about this, but seriously how long do you think it took Dukat to record all these?

Also I love Sisko's bits with Jake in this ep. He checks in when Jake bumps his head, he talks him through opening the hatch. He's such a good dad.

Heck yeah Action Kira! Shooting doors and taking names.

ATTENTION BAJORAN WORKERS

Garak! Yay! I love that he's in this episode, but also that he's almost useless. Poor guy is used to being the hypercompetent superspy, and he can't fix the station or even do anything.

Gosh I love they let Kira shoot up the place.

MY FELLOW CARDASSIANS

How many contingency plans you think Dukat recorded for?

Woo self-destruct sequence!

How many times has Quark brought up Gaila's moon? Think it's something he does whenever he's feeling a bit down?

Heeheehee Odo trying to make Quark feel better. And of course Quark immediately trying to get the phaser back lol

Oh hey it's the cutest scene! Yeah, Julian. You're all gonna die, so flirt with the Cardassian spy.

Whoops that guy got shot. Good thing we've never seen him before.

Dukat! He's here and he's awful!

Though you gotta admit, getting a distress call from yourself would be weird. I like the headcanon that Starfleet are the ones who get all the really weird shenanigans because Humans are batshit neophiles, so they would definitely have a protocol for "what to do if you receive a message from yourself." Besides, the Cardassians seem like the type of military where even if shenanigans happened on the reg, they wouldn't Tell People.

Heeheehee Dukat asking about Sisko's welfare under the guise of making a jab. Suuuure Dukat.

Hah! Say what you will about Dukat [he's a monster], I do love the bitchy-ass power move of ordering a tea from the replicator trying to kill everyone.

I also love that Dukat and Garak's beef is so epic they take time to snipe at each other while the station is headed for destruction.

Heeheehee I love Dukat's slow realization that he's trapped. And Garak and Kira's reaction shots. It's just. Chef's kiss.

And now. Garak just absolutely murdering Dukat. I cackle every time.

I love they get contact with Sisko and Co like ten minutes before the station is set to blow. Very star trek.

It's such a small moment, but I love that Sisko lets Jake come along to try to save the station. It's such a sweet moment of recognition of Jake's agency.

Think they make Starfleet uniforms with tear points? If you've ever tried to rip fabric like that, it's really hard unless the fabric is basically gauze or unless there are seams meant to give way. Hashtag sewist thoughts.

And I love the solution to the self-destruct sequence. Though just for plot reasons I wish they'd had some lasting damage.

Also love that Quark and Odo flirting wildly as they walk away is the last shot of the episode.

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time. monday we watched ds9's "in purgatory's shadow" (ohio edition), "by inferno's light" (ohio edition), and "doctor bashir, i presume" (ohio edition), which did blow my tits clean off, and then last night we watched voy's "unity" and "darkling" (south carolina editions, sadly).

in purgatory's shadow (ds9) (ohio edition):

kira and odo's little moment at the beginning of this episode 🥺 he was soooo embarrassed to be caught attempting to try and learn how to snag a spouse but she didn't judge even a little. girl, break up with your stupid ass boyfriend. odo is right here

i really loved bashir pointing the phaser at garak when he figured garak was lying. i was like oh damn he knows him so well and i love when this twink has had enough and becomes a little evil BUT THEN IT LITERALLY WASN'T HIM! what an incredible plot twist. we literally had to pause the episode and work out the timelines to see how long we had been living with changeling bashir. it was sooo good and i wasn't expecting it at all. mwah

jadzia and worf are so good. her personality being settled into like, comic relief makes for such a good match to his whole straight man aura. obviously she taunts him with his klingon operas. please.

also lol "at the first sign of betrayal i will kill him" <3

i do NOT like whatever they are doing with garak and ziyal. first of all, he's gay. secondly, she is like at LEAST 20 years younger than him. i want to trust them but after jake dating all those older women i am so suspicious

the backpedaling they're doing on fun and friendly former facist dukat is insane. not to say i'm not enjoying it. also, i like when he threatened kira and she was like "pffft whatever" like what a blow to his fucking ego. get his ass

VERY cool to see martok again - totally unexpected

our last wonderful surprise of this ep was tain being garak's DAD- it makes so much sense and puts so much into perspective, and, hi, JULIAN WAS IN THE ROOM DURING THIS. garak could have asked him to leave and he would have. garak could have told tain he was there. but he didn't, because he wanted the moral support, and because he wanted julian to know something true about him. AUUUGHGHGH

like, we haven't had NEARLY enough garashir since s2, but this was SUCH a good moment, even though it feels like they're trying to backpedal on that too. what a series of plot twists for this ep 10/10

by inferno's light (ds9) (ohio edition):

dukat's betrayal here i like vaguely saw coming, but jesus christ lol. he is back to FULL villain status...such a change from his little fireworks show for sisko and jake

garak's claustrophobia <3 absolutely loooved this especially since julian had to go in and get him. bangs tankard on table MORE GARASHIR! there literally has NOT been enough. i would love to know more about tzenketh but i know they will never ever tell us but wow <3

i am SO tired of seeing worf lose fights this episode was fucking great. not only did he not lose any fights except under an extremely unfair circumstances he totally kicked ass even while injured. FINALLY. even that jem'hadar guy was like i can kill him but i can't defeat him so i give up. SOOOO true finally let's respect my boy worf. why don't you bitches call him a pussy NOW

anyway, the little moment worf and garak had at the end of this episode...mwah. put them on the fuck chart

extremely excited to see gowran in this episode. he and his freaky eyes are so special to me

"this station was built by cardassia" "that's funny i thought it was built by bajoran slave labor" I LOVE WHEN SISKO IS FUN AND FERAL.

also i know the circumstances were extenuating but i cannot BELIEVE julian just fucking murdered that jem'hadar <3

watching little fake julian run around was so distressing...i kept yelling when he came on screen because nobody KNEWWWW he even fooled US! what a cool twist, again

overall these two episodes were incredibly good even though the strong action-y episodes are usually not ds9's forte. absolutely baller content for everyone except ziyal. i will at least take comfort in the fact that garak looked very uncomfortable to be hugged

doctor bashir, i presume (ds9) (ohio edition):

AGAIN. THIS ONE BLEW MY TITS CLEAN OFF

i'm mad garak wasn't in it. AUGHGHGH

okay, my main beef with this one was pacing...i thought they resolved the problem extremely quickly after the cat was out of the bag, and it's because they spent so much time on the doctor and leeta and rom. which would have been a GREAT b-plot for any other episode, i LOVE leeta and rom and i was cheering for him the whole time, but even though the EMH (sorta) cameo was very welcome, i do not welcome it at the expense of time taken from one of the most pivotal episodes for julian bashir probably in this whole series, especially when i have the sneaking suspicion that it won't be brought up again

and i did LIKE the resolution of this episode, his parents paying for what they'd done, but it didn't feel like he got to sit with it for long enough, and it certainly felt like we skipped over a few pivotal moments - the scene where he found out his best friend knows could have been EXTREMELY meaty. is he afraid of judgement? is he angry? is he worried miles will be angry? etc. but we just kind of breezed right on by it. like, i loved the way miles sat and let him get it out of his system in a fun inverse of julian talking him down from suicide but we could have had SOOO much more

anyway side from that i love. I LOVE. holy shit

like, i can't even talk about the episode itself, just this entire concept. like, they did essentially kill their kid. they made him the way he is, a new kid, and then hated him for the way he is. SPOCK CORE. and then to find that out as a teenager...

like, you know he had to google "does being genetically enhanced make me a bad person" and then of course what google spits out is "did you know about khan noonien singh and would you like to?" and he was like Oh No

like, he went into MEDICINE. and i know he had other reasons and all but he went into MEDICINE because that's the most harmless you can possibly be. he's using all his ill-gotten brainpower to HEAL PEOPLE because his first reaction was to not want to be khan...2! you can enhance genetics but just like o'brien said that can't grow compassion, which is what makes julian who he is

I WISH GARAK HAD BEEN THERE.

anyway, i will continue to think about dr bashir for a very long time and he definitely just rose a couple of notches in my character ranking

unity (voy):

i actually liked this one a lot. i love borg eps and i'm fascinated by a post-borg life lived by these people

that said, this lady gave off SUCH evil vibes that even after the truth was revealed and she and chakotay fucked i kept waiting for her to stab him in the back. which only kind of happened i guess

also, :( that chakotay is out here running around on janeway. SAD

i did love the borg meld scene though. it was incredibly scary. and i was TWIRLING MY HAIR when he got possessed or whatever the fuck

it was also so fun that he spent half of this episode dazed and stumbling around because of his little head injury. excellent material overall

oh yeah and i KNEW that corpse was gonna wake back up. i think it's so terrifying that when you're borg, even if you die, you aren't done. you can be revived because nothing kills you, not even the vacuum of space. that is easily the most horrifying part of it all

i also really liked chakotay and janeway's moment at the end. like, she was distrustful the entire time and he was too trusting, as he tends to sometimes be, and then at the end she was like aw but they weren't so bad and he was like [thousand yard stare of guy who has fucked 2! women who later betrayed him and has now been radicalized against the borg]

like i'm not saying it wasn't 99% consensual with riley or seska but i AM saying that he was hopped up on the borg meld when he fucked riley and later riley was willing to use chakotay's body for her own means when push came to shove and i'm saying that seska knew full well the whole time it was happening that it was under completely false pretenses and she stole his dna without his consent to make a baby he also didn't consent to, even if it turned out she fucked up and got that kaxon baby instead. like, chakotay better be careful or he's gonna start fitting into captain kirk's niche

darkling (voy):

this one fucking sucked so bad

like, sure, yes, emh evil now. does he have to keep creepy-touching all the women

also, WHAT? we get ONE LINE about kes and neelix breaking up and he's not even IN this episode? why did they even break them up??? just because they wrre planning on having her leave soon????? absolutely baffling

i don't think evil emh was very compelling...i am glad he got to act or whatever, but i didn't even get the usual "battle of the selves" that we often wind up with when we do these kind of tropes. it was just...a malfunction, and eventually it was corrected

also, what a BAFFLING b-plot. if you measure each of kes's years (except the first, i suppose) as a decade in human beings, we can assume she's in her thirties now, so she just...breaks up with her boyfriend to smooch the hot alien guy she met a few days ago and then maybe wants to run off with him? in her THIRTIES?

i DID like the EMH quoting the oath at the end, but without any sort of battle of the selves or real emotional investment in what he did when he was evil, it feels kind of wasted on this episode. it's a fine concept, but the execution falls soooo flat

NEXT TIME: voy's "rise" and "favorite son."

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

For the star trek ask game:

DS9: Most likely to win a trivia game.

Voyager: Most likely to publish an autobiography.

Lower Decks: Most likely to play a practical joke that goes disastrously wrong.

from this ask game!

ooh these are all good ones to think about. putting a cut in because it got long!

DS9:

(i'm imagining like a pub quiz trivia night type vibe for this)

Jadzia Dax: Jadzia is a pretty obvious number one on the list. in this lifetime alone she's an accomplished scientist + 7 other lifetimes of random knowledge, trivia, etc and strikes me as someone who would like to pick up random facts to share. i don't think she would be that competitive about it but she could easily sweep pretty much anyone else if she wanted to.

Julian Bashir: Bashir doesn't have 8 lifetimes of knowledge to fall back on, but he does have his augmented intelligence (and probably eidetic memory). Bashir also deeply seems like the sort of person who as a teenager would memorize a bunch of trivia facts to share with people to try to make friends (coincidentally this is also what i did in middle school...).

Quark: while Quark isn't a scientist or anything, i think people underestimate how genuinely smart he is. plus as a bartender, it's kind of his job to learn random facts to make conversation and earn profit.

Ezri Dax: in time Ezri can definitely match Jadzia as far as trivia talent goes but as it is in s7, Ezri is still working on getting a handle on her past lives and i think would be too indecisive when playing trivia and might short circuit if she realizes two of her hosts had conflicting knowledge about a topic.

Benjamin Sisko: i think Sisko would be pretty good at trivia. he's a well rounded & well traveled guy who's had a lot of experience in a bunch of fields & hobbies. and more importantly, i think he'd have fun at trivia night.

Miles O'Brien: O'Brien is probably average at trivia. he would be great at any engineering and probably quite a few Earth history questions but might struggle with other topics.

Jake Sisko: Jake definitely has the disadvantage of being a good bit younger than the other characters but he is smart and tries to pick up a lot of random details to use in his writing.

Odo: while unlike other characters, Odo hasn't exactly seen the galaxy, he's a very observant & curious person. he would be great at any sort of deduction based puzzle but might not have the breadth of experience to be good at traditional trivia.

Worf: i don't think Worf would be bad at trivia but i think he would realize that trivia is not his strong suit and then claim to not care about some silly game anyways.

Kira Nerys: Kira definitely has the least breadth of knowledge & experience among the adult characters of ds9 due to not having a formal education and would probably see learning supposedly pointless things for fun as a complete waste of time. so she's not into trivia night unless it's specifically about Bajoran history.

Voyager:

(well this made me realize that "likelihood to write an autobiography" is maybe the easiest way to sort the Voyager crew into two categories.)

EMH: there's quite literally an episode where he writes a "fictional" work about his life as a hologram. i'd say it takes approximately one week after Voyager lands for him to publish the first of many volumes of his autobiography (the veracity is debatable but at least he let the crew read this one first).

Kathryn Janeway: i mean in beta canon she does have an autobiography and i find it totally believable that she would write one given how famous she is once Voyager gets back home. that said, i don't think Janeway is super eager to write it given that it means looking back on her mistakes and she definitely skips a few things she would Rather Not Talk About.

Tom Paris: given that Paris already has a thing for writing holonovels, i would totally buy him writing an autobiography. plus with him going on a tour of the fleet in Lower Decks, it would make sense for Starfleet to want to capitalize on his story of ex-Maquis/felon to heroic officer and commission Paris to write one of those cheery inspirational books geared towards disillusioned teens.

Harry Kim: i don't think Harry is guaranteed to write an autobiography or anything, he doesn't strike me as a big writer, but he feels like someone who long after Voyager would really yearn for those years and would start writing to try and capture the past (and reminisce on all the times he died of course).

Chakotay: similar to Harry, i don't think Chakotay is biting at the bit to write an autobiography but i could see him writing something in retirement just for himself and if more people want to read then sure why not.

Kes: a bit complicated here because since Kes became a being of pure energy (we're ignoring whatever happened in Fury), she physically wouldn't be able to write an autobiography post-Voyager but she strikes me as the sort of person to journal a lot and enjoy writing about her experiences to self-reflect and if she was ever in a position to write an autobiography, i think she would. especially as a means to demonstrate to other Ocampa how great the galaxy outside of their small city can be.

Neelix: i could see Neelix writing an autobiography (it would be one of those novelty autobiographies that's in the format of a cookbook) because as we see in the show, he likes telling stories about himself & his experiences. but also as we see, he really struggles confronting parts of his past & his guilt about the war that killed his family so i think it would be a very abbreviated autobiography that would circumvent anything that doesn't have a happy ending.

Tuvok: see i don't think Tuvok would ever write an autobiography of his own accord and i don't think he would find it that fulfilling but i do think if it was reframed as "writing about his personal experiences so others can learn from his example" then yes, i could see that. but it would be very factual and instructive and skip anything that gets too personal (i mean this is the guy who hid his birthday so well that it took his best friend years to figure it out).

B'Elanna: B'Elanna would absolutely not write an autobiography. she faced a lot of trauma in her life and her way of dealing with it so far has been to ignore it until she can't, have a huge life crisis about it, and then pretend everything is fine. and that's just about confronting her own issues, not even to get into publicly talking about her trauma. nope she'll keep repressing that.

Seven: the idea of her ever writing an autobiography is laughable. much like B'Elanna, she would not want to willingly do that much self-reflection or publicly confront her issues like that. but also i can't imagine Seven ever writing anything non-informative full stop. she is not a creative person.

Lower Decks:

(not quite sure who counts as a main character here so i'm just going with the warp core 5)

Beckett Mariner: i feel like this is self explanatory. even if her likelihood to prank someone dramatically decreases in later seasons, she's still definitely at the top of the list.

Brad Boimler: Boimler isn't this far up because he's a big prankster, but based on his luck and terrible sense of timing i'm sure the one time he decides to play a lighthearted prank things go disastrously bad.

T'Lyn: see T'Lyn naturally would not be one for pranks but i think she's conscious of trying to fit in on the Cerritos and would try her hand at a prank to build camaraderie but would probably misinterpret what people think is funny vs what would genuinely scare someone.

Samanthan Rutherford: Rutherford is too nice to ever really prank someone but he is great at having things go disastrously wrong so he's one for two.

D'Vana Tendi: Tendi is at the bottom of the list because 1) she's far too nice to try to even lightheartedly prank someone and 2) if she did decide to prank someone, i think she's too competent (at least by later seasons) for it to go that badly.

[butterflyslinky]

Okay so @station18908 said "Deep Space 911" and I was intrigued but don't have time, so I'm going to toss my thoughts out there and see if someone else will bite.

-The crew of the USS Los Angeles is docked at Deep Space 9 for a while because Dominion War.

-Their captain is, of course, Bobby Nash, traumatized widower. He puts up with Kirk-level shenanigans, so Star Fleet Command figures he can handle being on the station. He bonds with Benjamin Sisko over cooking.

-His wife is Athena Grant, who is also his Chief of Security. She is Very Tired. She and Odo become good friends without ever speaking to each other except about business. She is extremely suspicious of Garak the tailor but can't do anything about him.

-Ensign Buckley is their navigator. He is still Buck. He becomes very fast friends-with-benefits with Julian Bashir, bonding over shitty parents and bisexual disasterhood. He hits on Dax regularly, and it occasionally works, but they end up info-dumping to each other more than actually doing anything. He tries it on with Kira exactly once and gets his ass kicked.

-First Officer Howard Han doesn't know what to do on the station, but ends up bonding with Chief O'Brien over how the universe hates them. He's also the best person to take into the Gamma Quadrant because he handles a crisis very well.

-Chief Medical Officer Henrietta Wilson enjoys her time on the station, even though she finds Bashir absolutely insufferable. Her beautiful wife Karen is the Chief Engineer. She and O'Brien are work friends, but otherwise avoid talking to each other. They both end up hanging out with Kira more often than not.

-Lieutenant Eddie Diaz is the Chief Pilot. He finds Sisko to be a good mentor as both a Starfleet officer and a dad. He also enjoys hanging out with Worf and beating the shit out of each other. (Dax invites him to join her and Worf outside the holosuites sometimes--he maybe takes her up on it)

-Josh and Maddie are both Communications Officers. Josh spends his time on DS9 sleeping around with literally anyone. Maddie spends her time in the holosuites with Dax and a reluctant Kira, learning more self-defense and fighting moves.

-All the kids join Jake and Nog's little pack. Jake and May go on two dates and decide they're better off as friends. Christopher feels right at home with other boys raised by single fathers. Jee-Yun, Mara and Molly quickly learn they are the cutest things on the station and can wander through the station and everyone will give them treats.

-Ravi has no idea what's happening. He parks himself at Quark's and goes with the flow. He almost gets left behind when the Los Angeles deploys again.

That's all I've got so far. As said it's open to anyone to add on/take over!

[tamsinbeybey-she-no-porcupine]

Imagine a Librarians / Ghosts crossover.

-Robin announcing that he went through a Magic door like in the impro and played chess with Excalibur the flying sword

-the Lits then appearing at Button House because of the high concentration of Ghosts (maybe due to a broken ley line?) And posing as guests but they all can see the Ghosts and find out that it really isn't that kind of haunted house.

-Flynn and Jake playing chess against Robin and Julian

-Kitty and Cassie being the sweetest , bubbliest together

-Cassie bonding with Fanny because they are both science girls especially maths girls

-Baird and Allison bonding over their mom-friend roles

-Ezekiel getting into arguments about stealing with Pat and talking about the universe and Aliens with Robin

-Coronel Baird and the Captain bonding over their military history and their whole way to approach missions and problems because they were both soldiers

-Jake and Humphrey talking about History and Art and Art History and architecture for hours and tracking down humphrey's body so Humphrey can give Jake a house tour.

-Jake and Thomas fighting about Byron and poetry in general. It gets nasty Thomas goes into the lake before Jake helps him with his own poetry by talking about the true meaning and beauty of poetry

-Jake trying to learn as much as possible from Robin.

-Cassie making an impression on Julian when she uses mathemagics to help him with his online golf

-Mike and Baird just hanging out with each other being the most normal ones, adoring their very special significant others

-Robin being fascinated by Cassie's powers

-Julian getting a talking to from Baird and being super impressed afterwards because she means business

-Pat recruiting Ezekiel to food Club

-Ezekiel and Julian bonding over being tricksters/the Art of spin

-Jenkins showing up and impressing all of the Ghosts and they all swap stories from their times. Like when he remembers that he once was a guest at Button House. Or the Ghosts ask him what he did during their respective lifeteime etc.

-Jenkins bonding with Pat over their caretaker roles

-the Captain and Jenkins bonding over Stories about ancient battles

-Humphrey and Jenkins sharing a similar humour also the years of being alone also Humphrey is keen on Arthurian legend (my HC) and Jenkins is Galahad so.

-Jenkins impressing Fanny because he uses the proper etiquette from her time and is a true gentleman

-Cassie (aka a "Cassandra, a remarkable young woman") bonding with the Captain over the limpet mine project because she hast questions and he tells her about some difficult calculations and she solves them in a few heartbeats and he tells her how they could have used someone with her gifts back then but that his Lieutenant was very bright and he was glad to have him there and because her gaydar pings and she tells him about her Vampire (ex-) girlfriend.

-Ezekiel hanging out with Jemima ,playing dolls, because she reminds him of the time when he was a lost kid and because that's exactly whom he swore to help

-Flynn just being utterly enarmoured by the Plague Ghosts and spending a lot of time with them.

-ezekiel arguing with Fanny over her views on Australia. When Jake points out that he was indeed a thief he exclaims that that's besides the point

-also I feel like the salt of the earth, worked on an oil rig, cowboy with the 190 iq, love for travel, art , poetry etc., with the gentle smile and warm brown eyes and strong arms because of the martial arts would probably be worth a "Good Lord" upon first sight. (Flynn also looks like he fits the bill but I feel his energy is too manic in comparison. Jake is closer in demeanour to Havers, Adam and the Chap with the arms). Also I just really love Jake)

[fancy-a-dance-brigadier]

BEN SISKO PLS

Benjamin Sisko? More like Beloved Sisko 😌

One aspect about them I love: I love the capital P Presence he brings to every scene. He’s such a force of nature! Of course there are the obvious examples like ‘In the Pale Moonlight’ and ‘Far Beyond the Stars’, where his presence is literally jaw dropping, but I think he brings such a monumental force to even the softer scenes. Force might be the wrong word, but I’m thinking about all his quiet moments with Jake, his tender moments with Kasidy, his grief when he’s in New Orleans after Jadzia’s death. You can feel every inch of what he’s feeling, all the love and passion and rage. This is more of a comment on Avery Brooks than Sisko I suppose, but he’s easily the actor that impresses me the most in any Star Trek show. He’s such a privilege to watch.

One aspect I wish more people understood about them: That he likes to have fun! I often see him cast in fandom as the stern father figure to his crew (which is a whole other kettle of fish) or people exclusively highlighting his actions in the Dominion War. But Ben is capable of goofing off just as much as anyone else! His delightful love of baseball is the obvious example, but there’s also the episode where he built the Bajoran lightship and flew it with Jake, or all the crazy stories of his youth with Curzon, or when we see him interacting with Jennifer for the first time. And while he opposed the Vic Fontaine holosuite (for very valid reasons), I got the impression that he did end up enjoying himself a teensy bit during that casino heist.

One or more headcanons I have about this character: His favourite musician is Nat King Cole. Joseph would always have his music playing while cooking, so Ben has a lot of fond memories growing up and listening to those songs. And he probably started learning to play the piano by trying to play them by ear.

One character I love seeing them interact with: This is so hard to choose! His interactions with pretty much everyone on the show are so rich, but I think I’ll have to say Kira for this one. The captain and first officer dynamic is always an interesting one (unless it’s TNG sorry not sorry), but the fact of Sisko being the Emissary adds so many layers. Of course there are the jokes about Kira’s boss being space Jesus, but I really do think they have one of the best relationships in the show. Two scenes in particular come to mind - in the episode ‘Starship Down’ when Ben’s injured and Kira’s trying to see him through it, and I can’t remember the episode, but the scene where Ben invites her to a baseball game. Very different scenes, but I think they do a lot to convey how much they care for each other no matter the situation. But then they’re also trying to work through the complex web of worship and every day interactions and station hierarchy and friendship and ugh it’s just so good!! It’s so good.

One character I wish they would interact with more: Jennifer Sisko. I don’t mean interact as in bringing her back from the dead, or having mirror!Jennifer play a bigger role (which would be kinda cool honestly), but rather I wish we’d got to hear more stories about their past interactions. Ben’s grief over her death is literally what kicks off the entire show, and I feel like we should really know more about her since she had such a strong connection to the main character of the show. I find it very difficult to believe that Ben wouldn’t talk about her more to keep her memory alive. I want to know what kind of dates she and Ben would go on, the little idiosyncrasies Ben loved most about her, the things she’d do that would annoy and charm him all at once, and the moments where he was most proud to love her.

One or more headcanons I have that involve them and one other character: He’s in love with Julian Bashir ❤️💙 I’m sorry, I can’t help it - Siskoshir is just too powerful of a ship to go without at least mentioning. I saw that one scene in ‘Past Tense’ when Ben brings Julian breakfast and that was it, no thoughts only Siskoshir. I think I find that ship so compelling because, even though they appear outwardly quite different, on the inside they’re birds of a feather. They’re both so passionate about the people around them, they’re both dedicated to their careers, and they’re both strong enough to survive immense the trauma that’s impacted them throughout their lives. But then there’s also what they can give to each other - Julian can help bring Ben out of his grief with his relentless brightness and optimism, and Ben can offer Julian the warmth of familial love that he felt like he’d lost once he discovered his augments. Basically, they’re the best I think they should kiss 😌

[youngpettyqueen]

finished Warchild today!! thoughts below the cut

tldr: loved this book a LOT

this book was GREAT for Julian character exploration. he's my favourite little guy, lets get that out of the way first- Julian is amazing in this book, and I love love LOOOOOOVE Esther Friesner's take on him and how she wrote him. this book is set between s1 and s2, so this is Julian in the early days of his character development, still so young and desperate to prove himself, overflowing with emotion and passion, and UGH its all so fucking good. he's grappling with self-doubt and insecurity, while at the same time also doing some of his best work as a doctor, fuelled by desperation and the need to do whatever he can to help. he works himself to the bone until he literally faints. he gets so angry on behalf of the suffering children and he doesnt give a flying fuck who he's talking to when he unleashes about it. he cries over losing a child he had a bond with, Belem, actually CRIES- something I dont think we ever see from him in the series. the raw emotional vulnerability from Julian in this book is just. so good. god. I could write an essay. his brief romance with Jalika is bittersweet, and while it is a bit shoehorned in, imo, it does showcase how Julian falls hard and fast and with reckless abandon. fantastic depiction of the character, fantastic exploration of him as a doctor, seriously I cant praise this book enough for so wonderfully capturing Julian's character in every single way

also of note. this book was written prior to Doctor Bashir, I Presume? even airing, coming out in 1994, and yet we still get some fantastic implications about Julian's family. his internal narration of his family is derisive and he avoids thinking about them, and he thinks a bit about how he was raised in higher society among politicians. also also, there's a specific bit where he mentions how his parents boasted about him only enjoying "the finest dining" as a child, and it was a cover for him just being a picky eater. considering what would be revealed later, about Julian being neurodivergent and/or disabled, I found that to be an interesting note

Julian rambling out of the way, my absolute favourite thing about this book is its depiction of Bajor. this book truly doesnt hold back in depicting just how dire the situation is on Bajor. we're still in the early days of Bajor being liberated, and it isnt a pretty picture. Friesner strikes a beautiful balance between the unflinching, raw depictions of the refugee camps, the desolation, the dying children, and the brutal, honest depiction of the government and its failings. this book follows DS9's example of depicting characters who did what they had to do in sympathetic lights wonderfully, and you find yourself sympathizing with people who do terrible things because they've been driven to such a breaking point. the failures of Bajor's provisional government are truly highlighted, garnering more sympathy for the people in these camps, the people who aren't getting the help they so desperately need. it makes no attempts to sugarcoat or soften anything, forcing every non-Bajoran character's eyes wide open at the same time it does the readers. its a POWERFUL book in that regard, and I found it deeply compelling and difficult to put down

another highlight for me is the Kira and Sisko dynamic. this is still early days for them, and they butt heads constantly. the trust they come to develop isnt quite there yet, and Kira isnt afraid to let Sisko know exactly what she thinks, and she isnt afraid to do so as bluntly as she sees fit. in the same vein, I love the dynamic between Sisko and Bajor here. its strained, uncomfortable, Sisko cant seem to ever do anything right because every choice he makes makes somebody angry. Sisko really just cant catch a break in this one. he's either dealing with Bajoran representatives who are never pleased, or he's trying to track down Julian who's gone AWOL, or he's dealing with Quark. he truly cannot win

Kira's scenes in this novel are FASCINATING also, as they explore her faith and where it clashes with her duty. we see so many facets of her character- the hotheaded rebel fighter, the major, the soft and gentle motherly figure, the proud warrior. I love that shes fully in support of Julian going AWOL and backs him up. I love that later shes conflicted about it because she believes so wholly in the prophecy and the Nekor that she wants him back to be able to cure her. I wish we got more of her in the novel, I especially wish we got more from her POV, I think it would've really benefitted the story and the furthering of character relationships. still, im satisfied with what we got

Jadzia gets some great time to shine as a scientist in this one. I love the teamwork between her and Julian, and the emphasis placed on what a great team they make. theres a very cute scene where he makes a big breakthrough and grabs her and dances around with her and its like, one of my favourite things ive ever read. but she seriously gets to shine so much in her work in this one, there would've been no vaccine without her, and she does everything she can to further her research and her work. shes working herself to the bone as well, even if shes better at dealing with it, and her lifetimes of experience really get to take centre stage. wish we had some more of her, like I do with Kira, but also like with Kira, im satisfied with what we got

the original characters in this novel are great. Belem was devastating, the various Vedeks and representatives made me grind my teeth, and Cedara and Dejana were just. so fucking good. Cedara and Dejana felt so REAL, they were so interesting to read, heartbreaking and hilarious all at once, and so so charming. I saw the reveal with Cedara coming, and I loved it. I could read a whole series about her, a wild child with far too much placed on her shoulders, desperate to protect her little sister and her home. I like to think her and Julian keep in touch, and they visit each other, and he helps her out on her path to becoming a healer. then theres Jalika, who I did enjoy, but definitely felt the weakest of the introduced characters. I wish we got more time with her, and I wish there was more exploration of her beyond being the kind and gentle healer. we get a brief glimpse of her being quite capable of being deadly, and fierce, but only the brief glimpse. still, she was compelling, and her and Julian's brief romance had an ending that packed a surprising punch considering how short it was. really felt for both of them with that one

overall, this book was a solid read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting more content about Bajor, and anybody who wants a really good Julian-centric story that pushes him to points we dont get to see him pushed to in the series. its a devastating read at times, but also hilarious- seriously, theres a scene with a hologram of Dukat dancing ballet in a pink tutu. what more can I say

[aspiring-creative-person]

A little into season 2 of DS9 and I’m obsessed. I haven’t yet met a main character I didn’t like. And there’s so many great ships and friendships and rivalries??

(Long post just me rambling about each main character)

Ok first we have Quark. I hated the Ferengi until this show, and now I love them so much. He is a little menace, but he has really smart moments and he’s just such a fun character?!?

Odo! He is so sad and such a little squishy, he needs friends. I immediately shipped him and Quark, because they’re just?? So shippable?? Enemies to lovers anyone?? Of course they do actually like each other deep down 😄

Julian Bashir, British, Doctor, and playboy. In that respect he is the new Kirk, the new Riker. He’s got an ego but a charming grin and just?? Lol so silly. And he has his moments where he takes charge and it’s like 😳

People ship him with Garak, I’ve only seen like 2 episodes with him so far but he is a delight. He’s so goofy. No he won’t tell you his theories and plans. You gotta think for yourself. What does that smirk mean?? Just a humble tailor, plain simple Garak my a—

Jadzia Dax???? Love her. So adorable. Just smiling to herself when she thinks of her past. Telling stories. Has 7? 8? Lifetimes to think about and draw from. Finds simple delights in the world. Makes friends with everyone. Just such a sweet person.

Miles O’Brian. Workaholic. Pride in his work, likes to feel useful. Has a family, protective over them and would do anything for them. I haven’t actually gotten to know him super well so I don’t have a lot to say.

Keiko O’Brian, also wants to feel useful. She notices what needs to be done and steps up to do it. Not only is this a functional thing that makes sense in the world and context, but it gives her as a character and as a person, purpose.

(Also their marriage in general is very sweet.)

Miles and Julien’s rivalry, and from what I can tell eventual really close friendship but I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I can tell I will be obsessed with it later though.

Kira!! Traumatized, angry, and deeply caring. She wants to help as many people as she can, and she wants to protect people. She grows so much as a person even in the first season and a half?? Yes combative but she has good reasons, and she really does grow to respect people even when they have more authority and disagree.

Kira and Jadzia Dax are such cute friends?? They just gossip and chatter as they do their lighter work, and it’s just so cute?? But also Jadzia isn’t afraid to call out Kira when she needs it. They are literally best friends and also very shippable. I love them.

Kira and Odo is a fun friendship I didn’t expect right away?? They respect the hell out of each other and care about each other very much and it’s just?? So sweet?? And Odo being very uptight and Kira being combative and for her people but also through systems, they have fairly compatible world views? It actually makes sense lol.

Sisko of course!! The commander? Not Captain.. forgot what his title is lol. Anyway, just a dude who loves baseball. And his son. Does his best to be a father. You can tell how much he cares about his son. Respects people who disagree with him. Just wants the best for Bajor and the federation. Does a lot of delicate work.

Sisko and Dax being old-time friends, and him calling Jadzia an old man will never get old to me. So silly haha. Endless potential here.

Jake is Sisko’s son, and he’s just your average teenage boy. Wants to make his father proud, likes pretty girls, has a troublemaker friend…

And Nog, of course, child Ferengi and Human forming an unlikely friendship. A very fun duo.

That’s all I can think of for now, I think all the main characters and most of the pair combos.

I feel like Quark and Garak would get along. Tailor and someone in touch with their fashion? Yes.

Also spoilers for the beginning of season 2…

When Kira was gonna leave and then people just kept walking in to say goodbye or comfort her or try to get her to stay… just 🥲🥲 literally so sweet. Especially Odo!! I didn’t realize how close those two were until that moment, and they do explode that later as well. Just!!!!

I love this series. I think it is my favorite Star Trek show so far (I’m watching them in release order).

I feel like a lot of people like TNG more than DS9? But honestly there are so many iconic duos in DS9 and there kind of aren’t in TNG (except for Data and Geordi, and Picard and Q).

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x02 The Visitor thoughts (I'm re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!)

(20/06/2023)

Ohhh I thought this was the Jake-gets-psychically-nommed-on-by -an-alien-one. Alright, let's get buckled in for dead fathers and time-travel shenanigans! 😅

It's very weird to turn up to an old man's house and demand they tell you their life story, simply because you admire their writing??

Sisko is the best dad. "Now, what do you say you come up to the bridge with me and we'll watch the wormhole do its thing, and then I'll read what you've got and we'll talk about it. Deal?"

Quark being too kind, that's when you know it's bad - "You know, Nog, things seem to be slowing down a bit. I'll get someone else to bring up those kegs." Careful, Quark, you're showing that well-hidden generosity!

"Please don't make me leave." Oh. Jake.

"Jake, they'll have me fixed up in no time. How are you doing?" The way Jake just crumbles when his dad asks him that. Oh, my heart! 💔💔

"I'm here now. That's what matters." *fades away* your timing is really not great there, Sisko...

Julian's face of regret as he pushes Jake away

This alternate timeline of what happens if Sisko died is so strange!

I love future Nog and future Jake and his wife. This is such a cute little scene!

The Dominion never invaded? Why? How? Is the Klingon DS9 too strong for them?

Sisko's "Do I have any grandchildren?". I love the guy, but he's so old-fashioned sometimes

This scene, Sisko catching up on his son's life, is making me tear up more than anything...

Korena is the best. "You might wanna see these."

"I'm sorry for giving up." JAKE

An old Jadzia? My heart??? That doesn't happen in the actual timeline

Also I love the new uniforms. Well, I don't really like them tbh but I like the attention to detail in how they've changed

I love how fondly Sisko still looks at Jake, even when he's an old man

The fact Sisko is the one left with fragmented memories of another universe is so messed up and is very weird to think of

Amazing how that story has literally no effect on anything, was a complete au - but it's still so good

I guess something we can take from it is that Jake will take some time, but he will actually find an way to move on after Sisko's disappearance in the finale. And I like that such a sad episode can give us that hope.

[realmofthefirebird]

I LOOOOOVE UR F&C DS9 AU SO MUCH OH MY GOSH.PLS TELL ME MORE ABT IT..

OH GLADLY!!!

Ok so here's the cast:

- Prismo is Quark (And yes, the bar is called Prismo's)

- Scarab is Odo

- Orbo is Sisko (for obvious reasons)

- Gary is Julian and Marshall is Garak

- Fionna and Cake are security ensigns, and I think story-wise they'd fill the niche of Jake and Nog. Cake is definitely a Caitian.

- Simon is Miles and Betty is Keiko, need I say more? I think little Marcy would be cute as Hana

- I couldn't think of anyone to be Jadzia or Kira 😭 I thought maybe Bonnie and Marcy, but itd be weird to have both them and Gary/Marshall in the same universe (ignore the fact that little marcy is there) or maybe it isnt that weird idk

- OH, and I think Cosmic Owl would be good as Rom. He obviously wouldn't be Prismo's brother, but like his best friend and right hand man.

I didn't make Prismo a Ferengi because I thought it wouldn't fit well with his character, so I'm leaving him as an immortal humanoid with the psychic ability to project himself as he sleeps (so basically the same as he is in canon) I also didn't make Scarab a changeling for similar reasons.

Marshall, however, I did convert into a Cardassian, because the central premise/plots of DS9 wouldn't make much sense if he wasn't (i.e. Scarab can still have Odo's 'what am i where did i come from' conflict as a bug man but Marshall can't have his character arc if he isn't a Cardassian) Also, being a Cardassian fits with his character very well (gray skin, aversion to sunlight, shitty dad).

Orbo being Sisko is a much more loose connection of him being bald and an authority figure. I don't actually think he's anything like Sisko LOL

Its not much and there's a LOT of holes, which is probably why I'm not gonna go much further with it, but yeah. That's what I've got! Thank you for asking :) ❤️❤️

[thegeminisage]

UGGGHHH ok its star trek update time, Special Deep Space Nine Finale Edition

did not love the finale. mostly this comes down to two things 1. pacing bad 2. everybody's ending sucked

pacing problem: the pah wraiths came in at the last second, AFTER the big space battle was all done. it really feels like they should have been directly involved with the battle somehow, like that time sisko vaporized all those spaceships. also, speaking of that, wasn't not getting to rest on bajor his trade for making that happen? yet it didn't get brought up at ALL. ok. more on that later. anyway, the pah wraith thing seemed like a fucking afterthought, which was crazy considering we had winn and dukat scheming and plotting for all those episodes. one would expect the pah wraiths to be like. actually let out. to Do Something. to be scary. we have been building up to this! and yet. nothing happened. a lot of other plots were also wrapped up way too quickly - ezri's romance with julian, miles leaving, etc - but that's more a problem with the endings being bad - they did not have time to build up to what they decided on, or maybe they did and just chose not to utilize it wisely

endings - going thru this character by character

SISKO: this is of course is the very worst offender. avery brooks spent 7 years putting blood sweat and tears into a positive portrayal of a black father only to be contractually obligated to act out a deadbeat dad plot in the 11th hour? man, no wonder he was pissed. there was also no explanation of WHY he had to live in the wormhole, it was just more mysterious wormhole alien stuff. if it's punishment or a trade for what he did before, why not remind us? and i definitely get why avery brooks wanted them to do this rather than him just not ever coming back at all, but it's such a copout to be like "and then he has more adventures" when we can't conceptualize of what those adventures might be, and doubly so when there was no sure bet of having a ds9 movie later, bc they didn't get to have one!!! overall the entire wormhole alien plot in s7 got REALLY weird to me, with a tone shift + lack of explanations about literally anything, and wrapping up sisko's fate in their lore fell short because of that reason too. preferred ending for sisko would have been for him to die during the big battle, then come back right as everyone got overrun by pah-wraiths to save them. if he HAD to go into the wormhole, could his family had come with him? if he had to sacrifice something to win the battle, could it have been a future on bajor specifically, or connection with the prophets? idk, amnesia or something? his sight, like dukat? it was just a bad ending.

JAKE & KASIDY: putting them together because what the hell lol. the final shot of jake looking out the window while kira comforted him might as well have been ripped from the visitor...genuinely it's disappointing they enver found anything cool to do with jake, because i feel like there are a lot of good stories you could wring out of "journalist who covers the war and comes of age at the same time." i could almost see him teaming up with bashir to root out section 31 or something like that. as for kasidy, i've said this before, but it's so unfair to both her and sisko that she was basically invented to be his perfect woman and never got a personality of her own, and DOUBLY unfair to knock her up in the penultimate episode just to drag cheap tearjerker shit out of sisko's ending, which was bad. it's the same thing as having jadzia discuss a baby right before they kill HER. what is wrong with these guys??? plus, we didn't even a discussion of what they'll do now. wait for sisko on ds9? go to earth and live with grandpa sisko? remain together so jake can help with his new sibling? jake didn't even get to say goodbye to his dad. we got a scene with KASIDY, who, love and light, has even less personality/stuff going on than jake did.

O'BRIEN: this was the only ending (besides worf's) i actually liked/understood, though i feel like it didn't get nearly enough screentime. war's over, o'brien has served long enough, it's time for him to go back to the safety of utopia with his family. i like his plot about not being able to tell julian goodbye, it reminded me of the mash movie, but i wish they hadn't wrapped it up in the MIDDLE of a battle scene. like, what??

JULIAN & EZRI: i absolutely HATE that ezri became julian's replacement miles. i almost understand why they got together because when i tried to conceptualize my ideal ending for ezri it was ??? because i don't know enough about her passions and desires. where does ezri dax believe she can do the most good? where does she want to spend her life? with whom? obviously i'm into ezri/quark and ezri/worf, and i would have been fine with her staying with either of them, but with julian? and he just...stays on ds9? i was so sure julian was gonna dedicate himself to taking down section 31 or fighting for the rights of genetically enhanced people. him fighting section 31 would have been a great ending because he could have said something like "i'll ring you up for advice as often as i can" to garak or something. just...hanging out on ds9 is boring if everybody else is gonna leave.

WORF: also mostly acceptable, though i still think he should have been chancellor. i guess then he can't just randomly show up in tng movies lol.

GARAK & DAMAR: it's such a fucking copout to kill damar. that speech garak gave, where he talked about the rich history of cardassia being reduced to ashes? where he talked about how some people would say cardassia deserved it for what they did to bajor and other worlds just like it? that should have been damar's speech. kira's "yeah damar what kind of people give those orders" was setting him up as someone who goes through what the bajoran people did and learn empathy from it. dukat could have never done it because he cares about himself first, but damar actually has principles. furthermore, giving garak the speech doesn't make any sense because for all the crimes garak has committed, they were ON CARDASSIA. he wasn't out doing the colonizing. he's done crimes but not those crimes. it makes no sense for him to have to live with them. GARAK'S moment was when he realized mila was dead and his house was about to be leveled and you can never actually go home. THAT was his moment, and it was incredible. he didn't need that double beat. i think a better idea for garak is to have him decide he doesn't want to be on cardassia anymore (kind of like klinger deciding he's not going back to america after all) and joining bashir in taking down section 31. not even just for shippy reasons, though there's that too, but i think he'd insist julian would need someone like him around, and he would be right. meanwhile damar leads cardassia, and he and kira being kinda-friends now means that they leave bajor alone and become allies in the future

KIRA AND ODO: what the fuck girl...ok, you know who needed the "i'll be back" ending? odo. "maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, but i'll be back" should have been odo's ending. i get him leaving. i even agree with him leaving. he's got to cure his people or he wouldn't be odo. and he deserves to spend a little time in the great link like he's always wanted to do. but part of what makes odo so compelling is that even though he loves his people, he condemns what they do, and he has come to love his found family more. if odo rejoins his people permanently to keep them on a leash then he's just another changeling. odo who every day chooses to be with and love people who are so fundamentally different from him is what's compelling. it's what makes his and kira's relationship so beautiful. as for kira, nothing could be lamer than her quiet no-rage acceptance of odo breaking her heart and giving her no goals or ambitions outside of that. i think she should have tried to work towards bajor joining the federation in sisko's absence, since that was his goal in the pilot. like maybe not NOW, but something to work for in the future.

DUKAT & WINN: so i was really hoping winn would push dukat into the fire, and it's very sad that she did not do that. i also have mixed feelings about her mini-redemption, since it was ultimately useless. if anything, winn should have thrown herself in with dukat to spare the emissary, like IF you were gonna redeem her. let's fuck the devil but for like ever. in hell. on the other hand, i would have preferred if she unceremoniously had dukat killed and then got possessed and became the final boss. i think an unceremonious death for dukat is kind of fitting because he wants to be important. if not unceremonious, at least something where he fucked around and FINALLY found out, you know?

NOG: he didn't? get?? an ending?? i think that final vic's scene should have been with nog instead of quark, because they were such good friends. they could worry about...

QUARK: while his goodbye to odo was PERFECT, i kind of wish there had been some emphasis on him being one of the few people to stay behind. in an ideal world, it's just him and nog and kira, and vic too i guess. even his brother is going back to ferenginar! he has no one to take care of or snipe at! i liked his final scene with kira, but i would have liked to lean a little more into it. if quark/ezri, he wouldn't mind being left behind because she'd be there with him, but if not, his talk about making everyone happy but himself includes creating a space for them to come back to. and since he can't have this chat with vic, he could have it with...

MORN: come on. ONE line of dialogue! it would have been so funny.

overall it still wasn't the worst thing i've ever watched. there were some positives. it was well acted. i was very fond of everyone. even though "the way you look tonight" went on a little long for me it did give me an emotion. i liked the flashbacks even though i missed jadzia (o'brien's and julian's was really gay). but jesus christ, what a mess!!

[kits-ships]

🙊 🎲 🦮 🔦 for any s/i of your choice!!

IM A FEW MONTH LATE TO RESPONDING TO THIS BUT SHHH (doing it for soleil which means this is her first ask game!!)

🙊 - what is something that never fails to make them laugh? do they have things they say often? what are some things your s/i has said that they regret?

1.) soleil loves funny animal videos; especially ones with parrots saying silly stuff!

2.) i imagine she makes the same "ay bepepepepepep!" noise that julian would do in jenna marbles' videos (echolalia win)

3.) i cant think of anything that she regrets saying, but i do know that sol feels awful that she didnt get to tell peter about his identity being compromised sooner!! her special interest revolves around heroes/vigilantes/villians so she has tons of notebooks with information she's discovered about EVERYONE!! and, if she finds out that someone's real identity can be easily compromised, she'll hunt them down and tell them. autistic queen

🎲 - name a weird skill your s/i has that you don’t.

well, she can shoot webs from her wrists for one thing. i unfortunately cannot do the same (shes also a contortionist!)

🦮 - does your s/i have accessibility needs? does your s/i take care of anyone? what accommodations in their life have they made for other’s?

sol has a psychiatric service dog named ranger! he does dpt, will assess a room to assure her that her hallucination(s) arent real, and he's very good at grounding her as well! ranger can also retrieve items like meds, water, etc.

as for someone else, soleil has probably read every book her local library has regarding did + osdd. she originally read a few to understand whoever 'moon knight' was, but she read the rest when she met marc and steven (and jake!) she also goes through reddit and tumblr posts to understand their experiences better

she makes sure to help them set up strict boundaries so she doesnt accidentally trigger them, gets to know each alter to the best of her ability, and often gets on her knees to bEG THEM TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. BABY GIRL.. PLEASE GO TO BED. DO A FACE MASK OR SOMETHING JUST BE NICE TO URSELVES!!

🔦 - how curious is your s/i ? have they ever gone exploring where they shouldn’t? are they the type to hold steady or cling to someone’s side?

soleil is extremely curious and extremely stubborn. she's the type of person to end up eating pizza in a money laundering front just because she wants to sit there and listen to people talk. as for going places shes not meant to be, that's a good chunk of her job as a spider-person! she doesn't tell anyone whats she's doing, either; partly because she doesnt think its a big deal and partly because she doesnt want others to worry. :3c