#Kotan Pa'Dar

[funnywormz]

just watched ds9 s2ep5 "cardassians" and honestly rugal's story makes me so fucking sad 😭 he should've been allowed to stay on bajor.......... his adopted parents obviously loved and cared for him very much despite everything and he loved them too, and he didn't deserve to be used as a political pawn by gul dukat like......... he is a real person with real feelings................

also ik kotan pa'dar wasn't entirely in the wrong in this specific situation and i can understand his pain at losing his child, but at the same time rugal wasn't wrong abt him being complicit (and probably actively participating in) the slaughter of millions of bajorans........... kotan was part of the occupation on bajor and i think rugal is completely in the right to be mistrustful of him (and frankly most adult cardassians) for the role he played in it. all of the stuff he's been taught abt cardassians by the bajorans is true and i think it's perfectly understandable for him to hate other cardassians. sure it sucks that that's spilled across into self-hatred but i don't think his bajoran parents intended for him to hate himself, they just told him the truth abt what the cardassians did

it just sucks to think abt him being ripped away from the ppl he's come to know as his family to being stuck with a man he doesn't know and kinda hates. when proka migdal was in the hearing and rugal said his first memory was him teaching him how to swim, he looked so proud and happy and rugal seemed so happy to remember it too............ it feels like nobody rlly acknowledged rugal's feelings or needs in this situation and it sucks. like commander sisko ily but that was a shitty decision to have him go back to cardassia. if it was me i would've based my decision on what rugal wanted y’know...........

also while browsing the tags here i saw that there's a book abt rugal's time on cardassia and now i rlly wanna read it!!!! i need to know what happens to him

[catboyelimgarak]

💙💜💕 for the asks

I forgot I reblogged this. Im such a sucker for being asked things and told things :3c

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think?

I'm gonna be real, I think the whole main cast, and all of the women characters, are hot af. Now when it comes to any one-off character who is a white man, I really don't give a shit for them. Especially if they're blonde and blue eyed (not you Andy, you are one of the few exceptions). Thats just Wonder Bread, besties — A slice in a loaf that needs condiments to make tasty!

💜: Which character is way hotter than everyone else seems to think?

Kai Opaka, she is so hot I just needed her to be there longer and be best friends with Sisko and be petty to Kai Winn. And any old man Cardassian like Tekeny Ghemor and Kotan Pa'Dar (you see, Im a sucker for nice sad dads).

💕: What is an unpopular ship that you like?

Garak/Kelas I believe is not liked often, and honestly I love Bashir being in there too, because thats such a power thrupple and Garak would just die happy.

Mila/Tain, it'd be really fucked up in a way that they're using one another but also in love that can't be ever said or indulged in healthily (at least for long if ever). Mila didn't live to be beside Tain without being his equal if not more manipulative than he is, and looking hot af while doing it.

I put two because I've found a few other Garak/Kelas/Bashir shippers come to be and feel like I haven't seen a lot of hate as of late (I think people just really don't like what Kelas has become and question how in Beta-Cannon it can be with so little said on the fact that Garak was Kelas' downfall).

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller Cardassians [s2ep5]

[johannestevans]

New Interpersonal Studies!

Kotan Pa'Dar arrives on Deep Space Nine and is reunited with his son; Bashir's ability to assimilate with Cardassian culture is put to the test.

“Councillor Pa’Dar. My name is Doctor Bashir – I honour you, and mark your presence.”

“Good tidings, Bashir,” said Pa’Dar. “I honour you, and mark your welcome.”

“For Cardassia,” Pa’Dar appended the natural ending to their exchanged greeting, and Bashir’s pride stumbled. Garak almost wanted to laugh, but didn’t, at the way Bashir slightly stiffened and showed his uncertainty. Some of Pa’Dar’s people laughed – Prang’s nephew, Provor, snickered, but it was cut short, presumably as Prang pinched the young man’s waist and bid him quiet.

Bashir faltered slightly as he replied, “For…” and glanced back to Garak, glanced to Sisko and Kira… and then raised his head, and offered Pa’Dar as dazzling a smile as the one Pa’Dar was giving him. “For our children, sir.”

Oh, but if this were theatre, Garak might have clapped.

Read on Ao3

[jimintomystery]

DS9: "Cardassians"

Proka Migdal, a Bajoran man visiting Deep Space Nine, is accused of abusing his Cardassian son Rugal. Gul Dukat insists that the boy must be repatriated and reunited with Kotan Pa'Dar, his biological father. But with help from Garak, Doctor Bashir begins to suspect Dukat is up to something.

The custody battle between Proka and Pa'Dar is extremely reminiscent of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Suddenly Human." In that one the boy raised by an enemy race is allowed to remain with the only family and culture he knows, as is his preference. In this one, Rugal is sent off with Pa'Dar, clearly against his wishes. It's almost like the showrunners wanted to portray both outcomes just to be fair, and yet in both stories the monumental decision feels simplistic and incomplete. The writers want to present a story that can't be conveniently solved in one TV episode, but since the story only gets one episode the result is unsatisfying.

It's never really explained what business brought Proka to the station in the first place, or why Rugal came along. In their first scene they're accompanied by an alien, who later makes the abuse allegations and is never seen again. This seems like a plot oversight until Commander Sisko suggests he is unable to locate the accuser. I get the distinct impression that this guy was a patsy for Dukat. Once he contrived to bring Proka and Rugal to DS9, and stirred the pot a little, his usefulness was at an end, so he probably turned up dead somewhere.

Unfortunately for Rugal, his story arc (along with the issue of Cardassian children abandoned on Bajor) is overshadowed by Dukat's political machinations against Pa'Dar. Fortunately for us, Dukat's scheme reveals a lot about the tension between Cardassia's civilian leaders and the military. We also get a better handle on Garak (in his second appearance), although in 1993 I couldn't make heads or tails of his agenda. In retrospect, however, his unspoken support for civilian control of the Cardassian military is remarkably consistent with later developments...

[ichayalovesyou]

Personnel File Rugal Proka-Pa'Dar

Position: Helmsman, *Researcher (See Special Notes) Rank: Ensign Species: Cardassian Gender: Male Date of Birth: 2358 Age: 22 Place of Birth: Bajor Height: 1.81 meters Weight: 62 kilograms Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Black Family: Kotan Pa'Dar (Father), Proka Migdal (Foster Father), Proka Nali (Foster Mother) Education: Starfleet Academy (Class of 2379)

Service Record: U.S.S. Tubman (Present)

Background Story: Raised for the first twelve years of his childhood on Bajor by Bajorans. Relocated to biological family on Cardassia by legal procedure via Captain Benjamin Sisko, known by religious Bajorans as "The Emissary", now a part of the collective of Wormhole Aliens near Deep Space Nine. Officer relocated from Cardassia immediately after reaching legal Cardassian adulthood, accepted to Starfleet Academy discreetly due to volatile political nature of Officer's heritage. Assigned to U.S.S. Tubman for his Cadet Cruise and chose to stay, continuing aspects of Starfleet education long-distance.

Personality Profile: A highly proficient, if socially withdrawn young officer. Partially ascribed to the unfortunately solitary nature of his Academy training. Considers his Starfleet career as part of a "pilgrimage" in order to reconcile his diametrically opposed heritages between biological and foster families. Still practices the Bajoran faith of his foster parents, has a peculiar relationship with the memory of Captain Sisko. Believes walking the path of "The Emissary" will enlighten him to the nature of Sisko's actions regarding his parental custody, and his personal belief system as well.

Physical Profile: Unusually narrow build for a Cardassian, wears his hair tail length and wears his Proka family earring on his right ear, a keepsake of his foster family.

Special Notes: One of the only Cardassians in all of Starfleet, and the son of a former Cardassian political figure, handle with caution. Ensign Migdal-Pa'dar is completing his Starfleet Academy degree in Xenoanthropology, specializing in Religious Studies by researching and writing his final thesis on the religious practices and attitudes of displaced refugees. Requested commission aboard an Amnesty Class ship, Starfleet granted his request.

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

I have to admit, the whole business with Rugal is a real DC Villian moment for Dukat and one of the more zany things he ever did. What did the planning for this even look like? Once the Pa'Dar household was bombed he would have had to have acted very quickly for his people to search the remains and find Rugal before regular rescuers did. Did he have a plant in that resistance cell and did he let the bombing happen anyway so he could steal Rugal? If so how did he know Rugal would have survived? Or was it that he decided he was going to try this out with any one of his political opponents and had people waiting to spring into action on the next attack. That's a lot of planning around something that hinged on complete chance (i.e. there being a bombing which Rugal luckily survived while everyone else who loved him was either dead or away from him to the point where he could be stolen away). And then I can only assume Dukat's plans were completely derailed when Rugal got adopted. I guess the original plan was for Dukat to be a champion of these orphans and visit the orphanage Rugal was at and be like "oh my god look! It's Kotan's son!" I guess when he stole Rugal he didn't realize that Cardassians would one day simply not be allowed on Bajor. Bc like. He went to all the trouble of stealing Rugal to later cause problems for Kotan's career, right? But when it came down to it, Rugal being identified as Rugal Pa'Dar and causing problems for Kotan's career had absolutely nothing to do with Dukat's machinations. It was all a complete coincidence that Rugal came to DS9 in the first place. Upon reflection Dukat's whole scheme is the most convoluted, stupid plan I've ever heard in my life and it is a minor miracle that it even almost worked out for him.

[apolesen]

Some examples of Cardassian civilian clothing from the It’s A Wrap! auction archive. I decided to only include the costumes of one-off characters and extras that it can be hard to find good pictures of. Although these photos are quite bright, they capture the cuts and fabrics fairly well. I have included the lot numbers to make it possible to look up the corresponding entries on the website. 

[aprindea]

FACTS I loved  Kotan Pa'Dar on DS9 (the Cardassian politician who comes to pick up his son Rugal who had been raised by Bajorans) because he was not jolly, he was subtle and also angry/frustrated with himself, but also well dressed. 

we need fat aliens on star trek

[gplusbfics]

The Writings of Natima Lang

From The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack. The book follows the life of Rugal Pa'Dar, the young Cardassian, raised by Bajorans, who appears on the DS9 episode "Cardassians." In this excerpt, Rugal is at the home of his father’s friends when he happens upon very special book. If you’ve ever read a book or heard a speech or seen a movie that shook you to the core, made you feel like you’re not alone, made you feel passionate, you’ll really identify with this.

That night, too energized to be able to sleep, Rugal got up and explored the house. He found the library, a large basement room where the temperature was kept at a moderate level for the sake of the books. The collection was a lot more heavy-going than Kotan’s; the volume is had titles like: Between Liberty and Security; Retooling Political Discourse; Common Failures in Rhetorical Performance. Rugal was thinking of going back to bed when his eyes felll on a series of books written by Natima Lang. Tekeny had said he would like her. Rugal ran his finger along the line of books, choosing the narrowest. Its title was: The Ending of “The Never-Ending Sacrifice.”

That would do. With any luck, it would tell him what happened and he would never have to wrestle with Corac’s deadly prose ever again. He took the book with him to one of the armchairs, palmed on the reading lamp and read: "’For Cardassia!’ So begins what many would call our greatest novel. In truth it is our greatest lie." 

It was very late when Rugal finished reading, by which time his whole world has changed. Natima Lang saw what he saw when he looked at Cardassia. She too had diagnosed it sickness, but more than that she had described a cure. Lang argued that for generations Cardassians had taught themselves that they had to take from others in order to live. Cardassia devoured everything, but not only was it blind these tendencies, and even glamorized them. This was the lie Lang saw at the heart of The Never-Ending Sacrifice: Cardassians told themselves that their history was one of glory, when in fact it was an uninterrupted pattern of murder and destruction, passed down the generations, and masquerading as a romantic ideal of duty to secure the survival of the state. 

In the second half of the book, Lang set out her political program. The drive for expansion had taken on its own momentum and that had to be stopped. She argued for military retrenchment, for power-sharing across the whole of Cardassian society, for greater cooperation and openness with Cardassia’s neighbors. Cardassians had to learn to curb themselves if they wanted to survive. The book ended on a warning. Bajor was the symbol of the old order, the old way, And Cardassia had been utterly defeated there. If Cardassia could not control his appetites, but could now no longer so casually take for others, then it would eventually start to consume it self. That was the inevitable end of the never-ending sacrifice. What that the future that Cardassians wanted? Was it the best they could imagine? 

Lang’s was the first truthful voice Rugal had heard since coming here. She had reflected his thoughts back to him, almost as if she had access to them, and then she had taken them further than he ever thought possible. He had never had such an experience with the book before; he had not known such a thing could happen. Rugal got up from the chair and walked around the room, his body processing all that his mind had just encountered. What amazed him the most was that Lang was -- undeniably, absolutely -- Cardassian. In no way could she be call Bajoran. For the first time since his arrival, Rugal felt that it really was possible for him to have sprung for the soil of this barren and unpromising world. Were there others like Lang on Cardassia? Others who spoke this kind of language? Where could he find them? He checked the back of the book. She was professor of ethics at the Institute of State Policy. If he worked hard and got accepted into the institute, could he study with her?

[ds9au]

Cardassians (S02E05)

[temporalmechanics101]

"For a man with a military dictatorship to run, Dukat, you have a lot of time available for face-to-face gloating."

Kotan Pa'dar dropping truth bombs in Una McCormack's The Never-Ending Sacrifice

[v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e]

Your being my son has brought me nothing but joy. Even now, when you’re standing there hating me, all I can think is: I’m glad he’s here to hate me, because it means he’s still alive. It means he didn’t die." He smiled. “Oh, I’m sure that if I tried I could find a way to communicate with Bajor for you. But I won’t do it, because I want you to stay alive. I’m sorry if that makes you hate me even more. But I’m glad that you’re here to love and hate as you choose.

Kotan to Rugal - DS9 novel “The Never-Ending Sacrifice", by Una McCormack

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

Kotan Pa'Dar really was like "mmm I'm going to forcibly remove my son from living not in a police state so he can come live with me in a police state"

[gplusbfics]

Resistance

From The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack. The book follows the life of Rugal Pa'Dar, the young Cardassian, raised by Bajorans, who appears on the DS9 episode "Cardassians." In this episode, Rugal meets Tekeny Ghemor, the Cardassian dissident in “Second Skin” who later has to flee the planet into exile. Rugal’s been brought by his father out to a house in the country and is petting a Cardassian riding hound.

Rugal leaned down to rub the rough hair behind the hound’s ears. It gave him that heart-stopping look of pure love. "Beautiful beast,” he told it, and then he heard a quiet laugh behind him. He turned to see Tekeny Ghemor leaning on the garden gate, watching him and smiling. "You like hounds?" he said. 

"Yes, although I've never owned one."

"Perhaps your father could be persuaded," Ghemor said. Rugal was certain that Kotan could, but he wouldn't ask. "May I join you? " 

Rugal shifted along the bench. "Please do." 

Ghemor sat down beside him and studied Rugal openly and curiously. "So. What do you think of our little group? "  

"Do you want my honest answer?" 

"By all means." 

"There are hardly the Bajoran Resistance, are they?" 

Ghemor laughed out loud. "Kotan said you were distressingly frank. Not a quality much valued on Cardassia, I'm afraid. Obfuscation is more the order of the day." 

"Perhaps that's part of the problem." 

"Perhaps you're right."

[gplusbfics]

After the Fire: Unbearable

From The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack. The book follows the life of Rugal Pa'Dar, the young Cardassian, raised by Bajorans, who appears on the DS9 episode "Cardassians."

This passage is from towards the end of the book, after the Dominion has struck Cardassia. Rugal wasn’t there, but finally starts seeing the reports. Someone commented on one of my posts about this book that McCormack draws too many parallels between the destruction of Cardassia and post-war Germany. I agree she does draw the parallel (also in Enigma Tales), although I don’t think it’s overstating it. Anyway, this is a good example of the sort of parallel -- think Dresden. I visited a couple of months ago and its history is horrifying. 

The first images that Rugal saw from Cardassia Prime he simply didn't believe. He  thought they had to be Dominion propaganda, intended to whip their unruly Cardassian underlings back into line. A threat, not a fact. It took him a few days to accept that everything he was seeing was true. And why should you doubt it? They had killed everyone in Lakarian City; they had killed everyone a Keralek. They had got shot everyone in sight and the rest they had tried to gas. What made him think that they would hold back from murdering every single Cardassian on Prime? 

At first, it was easier to think about buildings rather than people. The scale of that destruction alone shocked him. It was as if it hadn't been enough for the Dominion simply to wipe out his species. All their works had to be obliterated too. An attic in Torr were here live for two years. The whole tenement below. A hospital where he had spendt most of his waking hours. The burnished dome of the Assembly Hall. Fifty ramshackle homes in the township of Metella in Anaret. A gallery containing a holomosaic by Lima Prekeny of disputed beauty but undoubted courage. Only after he had grieve for these places and things that he had known could he begin to contemplate the people. Arric, Serna, Tela. Nelita, who made his life a misery and had turned out to know exactly what she was doing. Meleta, who would never entirely approved of him. Kotan... 

All that he could not bear pig. People were good at surviving, he told himself; they were good at finding places to hide and coming through. What about the boy on Ogyas -– what was his name? -– Lok, that was it. Martis Lok. He had found a hole to hide and while the slaughter had been happening, and he had stayed alive. Perhaps people would help a young couple and their little girl. Perhaps Kotan had hidden the cellar and been missed. Sixty years had not eradicated the people of Bajor. A few days could not possibly have destroyed the people of Cardassia. Above all, they were survivors. But Rugal knew he was deluding himself. If the people he loves in the capital had not died in the fire on that final day, they would be dying in the aftermath, from hunger, thirst, disease. It made no difference that he wanted them to be alive. He had wanted Tret to stay alive too.