#but more importantly he wants GARAK to follow in that

[youngpettyqueen]

I love this argument that Julian and Garak are having about Earth vs Cardassia political styles and I especially love that Garak is like. shocked at how impassioned he is about this topic

[kiranxrys]

Alone Together Episode 1 Transcript - Alexander Siddig & Andrew Robinson

I hadn’t seen a transcript for this episode going around on Tumblr yet and I thought I would quickly make one to share with anyone who would prefer to read or wants to read along/revisit the first episode in text form (and the YouTube subtitles are mostly useless, annoyingly). Please let me know if you think I’ve made an error anywhere and I’ll amend it!

watch: one | two | three | four

read: two | three | four

ANNOUNCER (ON-SCREEN): ‘Alone Together’ - a DS9 companion, Episode 1 - ‘These Days’. It has been about 25 years since the Dominion War ended. The Federation isn’t quite the same. Starfleet is much more consistently militarized these days. Earth may be paradise, but humanity is less ideologically empathetic. Since the recent Romulan attempts to extinguish synthetic life by infiltrating Starfleet Command, benevolence is taking a backseat to security these days. 

Elim Garak has been Castellan of the Cardassian Assembly since the new order was established following the Dominion War. Garak, of course, also has direct control over a newly resurrected Obsidian Order, though not by title. 

Julian Bashir is still a doctor on Deep Space 9 but is also coordinating the activities of Section 31. What we’ve learned is that upon sharing a consciousness with Luther Sloane using stolen Romulan technology, his genetically enhanced brain committed much of what he learned to his eidetic memory. That information had to be contained but could be put to good use. He was given little choice in the matter. Maintaining his cover as a Chief Medical Officer in the Bajoran sector met his needs, and he saw no reason to change.

[fade to black]

JULIAN BASHIR (VOICE ONLY): Mission log, stardate 737114. I’m approaching Cardassia Prime in response to a rather enigmatic request for medical aid from Castellan Garak, the leader of the Cardassian government. Though it’s hardly surprising that Garak might be withholding information, it seems that a reunion of sorts will be forthcoming. I’ve left the Infirmary in the capable hands of Doctor Jabara while I’m off the station. I must admit, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. 

JULIAN (ON-SCREEN): Bashir to Central Command, I’ve just entered orbit of Cardassia Prime, requesting approval to transport to Cardassia.

ELIM GARAK (VOICE ONLY): Stand by, Doctor. Don’t be in such a hurry.

JULIAN: Garak. I didn’t expect you to be at the Central Command, it’s good to hear your voice.

GARAK: My dear doctor, are we starting the lies already?

JULIAN (LAUGHING): It’s true, Garak. It’s good to hear your voice! That’s not a- Look, more importantly, if you’ll grant approval I can beam to your current location.

GARAK: Doctor, I’m not at Central Command. I’ve merely intercepted your subspace communications link. Unfortunately, Doctor, the Federation will not be setting foot on Cardassia today, and, to be quite honest, you don’t want to be here.

JULIAN: Garak, your message suggested some urgency in my arrival. Quite frankly, what the hell am I doing here if I can’t beam down?

GARAK: Would you uh- [laughs] believe pure, unadulterated nostalgia?

JULIAN: Would you?

GARAK (ON-SCREEN): [laughs] I missed you too Doctor. So, how is life on the station?

JULIAN: Well, Bajoran fashions just aren’t the same since you left.

GARAK: I’m sure.

JULIAN: But much of life has returned to what it once was, as much as it ever could, I suppose. Now-

GARAK: I was sorry to hear about Dax.

JULIAN: Thank you. I um… I miss Ezri every day. Ten years. I, well, that is- we, Dax and I, we tried to make it work. I- I was so happy Dax made it back to Trill on time. Cairn and I, we were very different people. He’s a botanist – can you imagine? Dax as a botanist. I suppose it’s why Keiko didn’t seem to mind my business as much. She and Dax had so much to talk about but, well, once the Symbiosis Commission discovered our continued relationship, well, we just uh- we couldn’t-

GARAK: Doctor, there’s no need to explain.

JULIAN: No. Dax always encouraged me to talk about my feelings, though there’s not much else to say, really. I had never really considered being in love with another man, but it was Dax. Ezri, Jadzia, even Cairn, it was Dax, is Dax. But we- we just couldn’t- I didn’t-

GARAK: It is difficult to find a good counselor to sort out our deepest sorrows these days.

JULIAN: I suppose it is.

GARAK: You’re an honourable man, Doctor. You loved Dax, you could do nothing less than your heart demanded. I know the pain of love all too well, especially a love that has everything working against it.

JULIAN: Ziyal.

GARAK: Ziyal, yes. Yes, even exiles have hearts, Doctor. Even [laughs] Elim Garak. When it comes right down to it, he has a heart as well. In fact, my heart is partially the reason why I’m here.

JULIAN: So, this is a house call? Damn it, Garak, why didn’t you tell me on subspace? What- what are your symptoms? Why don’t you want me to beam down?

GARAK: Well, so many questions, one hardly knows which to answer first.

JULIAN: Your symptoms, Garak. What is wrong with your heart?

GARAK: Well, it’s not just my heart, Doctor. Actually the most concerning symptom seems to be a degenerative condition that causes the ill to be especially susceptible to suggestion. Luckily my infection is relatively new, and rather unexplained as my exposure to the public tends to be limited to state functions and the like, you know, the life of a politician.

JULIAN: The ill? Garak, what are you saying?

GARAK: A virus, Doctor. Cardassia appears to be facing a- a minor health issue. We’re trying to contain the infection to one region, but we may have moved… far too late.

JULIAN: A minor health issue? You are a champion of understatement! ‘The ill’ suggests that this isn’t just about you but your ability to hide the facts seems to have been tainted over the years.

GARAK: Doctor?

JULIAN: Since your speech at the Lakarian City memorial, the ridges on your neck have grown paler and your breathing rate has increased.

GARAK: You liked my speech?

JULIAN: Damn it, Garak, you contacted me! How is this the first time that I’m hearing about this? Why is the planet not being quarantined? Your message said ‘medical aid’ – I assumed that I was just coming here as a preliminary consultation having something to do with one of your colonies. Now it sounds like an outbreak that needs to be contained.

GARAK: Doctor, quarantine means announcing the problem to the galaxy. This is an internal matter. You obviously don’t appreciate the severity of this virus, but you needn’t worry – no one is allowed to leave Cardassia, no one is currently being permitted to enter the atmosphere.

JULIAN: I cannot imagine you can contain the population without a reason. Just how bad is it?

GARAK: Oh, I’ve given them a reason, Doctor, but you shouldn’t worry about that. There are more important things requiring your focus right now.

JULIAN: Of course. How much- how many are infected?

GARAK: At last count, the virus had been contained to three continents. Nearly 68% of the population in those regions has been infected.

JULIAN: And you call it a ‘minor issue’ Garak?! That’s a pandemic!

GARAK: Doctor, when I say that the ill have developed a degenerative condition, I speak specifically of their thought processes. It is true that we have determined that it is a virus – a biological contaminant of sorts – but the Central Command is hardly a healthcare organization and while the degeneration is affecting the cardiopulmonary system as well, all of the symptoms seem to be driven by misfiring neurons, and therein lies the problem.

JULIAN: A virus that affects the brain is no small problem. The fact that early infections are showing in terms of dysfunction relatively mild systems doesn’t mean people won’t start to die.

GARAK: Yes, Doctor. And I haven’t.

JULIAN: My God, Garak. You’re infected.

GARAK: Why do you think I contacted you? I want the best.

JULIAN: And hoping that my genetic enhancements will allow me to diagnose your symptoms without scanning equipment?  

GARAK: I really have missed your mistrust, Doctor. The physicians here have the tendency to avoid the necessary dispassion for harder truths. You, however, have a refreshingly forthright bedside manner.

JULIAN: Wow, a compliment. You must be neurologically compromised. Well of course, of course I’ll do everything that I can. Do you know anything more about the virus? How is it passed on? How does it proliferate in the body? Have your doctors attempted any therapies that show any promise?

GARAK: Well, it seems to take several days to propagate in the carrier. During that time, sufferers develop a rather serious cough... [inaudible] …the dispatcher reaches the brain so our assumption it that it is spread through the air. Most hospitals have been closed to all but the infected to try and control the outbreak. As a result, our doctors are learning from their patients as they are treating them. As it stands now, they can only treat symptoms. Medical staff is reporting to external bodies to ensure that anyone studying the infection isn’t also battling a neurological disease. Progress is limited and all too slow.

JULIAN: Garak, I’m not sure how I can help you if I can’t examine you or access your data.

GARAK: Doctor, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to put yourself at risk. After all, I’m counting on you to save us all. And I believe that an outside perspective may be exactly what we need.

JULIAN: So no pressure?

GARAK: You’re a bright man, Doctor – put that genetically-enhanced brain of yours to work.

JULIAN: Well, I can’t examine you from orbit. My shuttlecraft sensors may be able to me that you’re alive, they can isolate you for transport, but they can hardly determine more than the most modest of life signs, and while I can see outward symptoms, Garak, I can’t for the life of me figure out how to see through your skull. I suppose I could transport a tricorder down there for a preliminary scan.

GARAK: I’m afraid I can’t allow that, Doctor.

JULIAN: Oh, of course you can’t. Can you send me your most recent medical scans?

GARAK: Unfortunately, no.

JULIAN: And why not?

GARAK: All of my genuine medical records are routinely deleted and replaced with falsified data. All data rods in which those records once existed have been destroyed, all computers in which the data rods were placed have been vaporized. My dear doctor, I’m the leader of the Cardassian people! Especially now, I can’t afford to broadcast my weaknesses to all, to anyone who feels they could exploit them.

JULIAN: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

GARAK: Meaning?

JULIAN: A presumption of godliness, most certainly a great paranoia. You haven’t managed to find yourself a staff that you trust to protect your life. To be quite honest, I’m surprised your staff doesn’t have implants that allow you to control them.

GARAK: Oh, Doctor, your assumptions hurt me deeply! Of course they do. If news of this infection gets out, and I can’t be clearer than this, Cardassia will be devastated. And we won’t be the only world that will fall.

JULIAN: Garak, you seem to believe that I can cure this virus from orbit, without any information.

GARAK: Well, Doctor, this virus doesn’t only infect the average citizen. Everyone is at risk. Everyone – the government, the military. Imagine if only a few of their people were infected. They find it difficult to concentrate. They’re finding themselves susceptible to suggestion. And what if intelligence agents of foreign governments found their way to Cardassia during this crisis?

JULIAN: It could destroy the Cardassia you’ve been rebuilding for over two decades.

GARAK: Yes.

JULIAN: But quarantine would keep foreign nationals off-planet and keep the rest of us safe from infection, assuming it can even infect off-worlders.

GARAK: Again, Doctor, it would announce the problem before we have a solution.

JULIAN: But it could help produce the solution you so desperately need!

GARAK: The risk is too great, Doctor.

JULIAN: Garak! Lives are at stake!

GARAK: Hundreds, perhaps thousands, to save billions. Doctor – will. You. Help. Me?

JULIAN: First and foremost, I’m a doctor, Garak. And I’m your friend.

GARAK: Yes. One more thing we should keep to ourselves.

JULIAN: You know Garak… you are being more paranoid than usual. You remind me of the exiled tailor I met so many years ago.

GARAK: Ah, but as you said yourself Doctor, the more things change-

JULIAN: The more they stay the same. But Garak, so much has changed. You’re the leader of your people.

GARAK: Julian… let’s drop the pretensions, shall we?

JULIAN: Whatever do you mean?

GARAK: You know that I have rebuilt the Obsidian Order, and the reason that I know that you know is because I know that you are working for Starfleet Intelligence. Your posting at Deep Space 9 is merely your cover. Why would a religious sanctuary like Deep Space 9 need a doctor of your capability, with such a limited Starfleet presence? I must admit, you have done an excellent job of obscuring your intelligence role.

JULIAN: Dear, dear Garak. Have you been keeping tabs on me? I suppose of all people you would be the only person I might be able to trust with such information. Assuming any of your conclusions are true. But Starfleet still has a presence and Deep Space 9 is still a major way station for commerce and diplomacy in the Bajoran sector.

GARAK: Of course you can trust me with sensitive information Julian-

JULIAN: [chuckles]

GARAK: -at least until there’s a reason you can’t. Oh, but let’s hope it never comes to that. I do like you; I did from the very beginning. You may be my only true friend. Since Mila’s passing, our all too infrequent exchanges have been my only respite from a world without trust. The political world on Cardassia deplores a vacuum and the old ways are clung to, even after the war. It took me years to bring Cardassians around to another way of thinking. The arts are celebrated, the people are fed. Life is no longer a struggle, but… paranoia is rampant once more.

JULIAN: Then I suppose you’ve been the ideal leader.

GARAK: Well, I do appear to have the appropriate skill set and experience, yes.

JULIAN: You could always go back to being a plain, simple tailor.

GARAK (LAUGHING): You would be surprised by how many of my old vocations I still dabble in. I’ve even taken up taxidermy! Yes, it’s true! But stuffing a tribble isn’t as challenging as perhaps a six-legged [uncertain] marsupial, but it passes the time. And so many wonderful things fit inside an animal that need only trill to appear alive.

JULIAN: [laughs]

GARAK: But as you said Julian, you are my friend, and one of the things I learned from working in the Obsidian Order under Enabran Tain, was that friends are a liability. Enemies are easy. Friends… friends are the challenge. When I was his protégé I had a job to do, relationships were tools to achieve my objectives. I don’t have time for friends, I don’t have room for emotional attachments.

JULIAN: And then you were exiled.

GARAK: And then… I was exiled.

JULIAN: I had no idea.

GARAK: About what?

JULIAN: Am I your only friend?

GARAK: Well… the only one living.

JULIAN: You said that your cardiopulmonary system seems to be demonstrating symptoms consistent with this neurolytic virus.

GARAK: Mm-hmm.

JULIAN: I need to at least access the database being used by the off-site researchers working on a cure.

GARAK: I’m sorry to disappoint you, Doctor – I’ve never been an ideal patient, as you well know. But while I trust you, I cannot risk any access that Starfleet Intelligence might have built into your shuttle.

JULIAN: Garak, you’re tying my hands. Do you have access to a medical scanner? Can you scan yourself?

GARAK: I’ve been a tailor, a gardener, a spy, who’s to say I’m not a doctor as well?

JULIAN: I suppose stranger things have happened.

GARAK: Oh, a shapeshifter saved the galaxy by going for a swim, a Starfleet captain turned out to be a god, a Cardassian legate turned out to be the devil, you were married to a woman three centuries your senior – stranger things, my dear doctor, happen all the time.

JULIAN: You may have a point. Although to be fair, Dax is three hundred years older, not Ezri. Ezri was several years younger than me.

GARAK: Semantics, Doctor.

JULIAN: Ah, here we are.

GARAK: I’m sorry?

JULIAN: I’ve created an encrypted backdoor to your central database.

GARAK: Ooh, of course you did. Yes, but it won’t help you. Our researches are working in a closed system, it is impossible to access their research through the central network.

JULIAN: Damn it, Garak, I’m trying to help you! I encrypted the access, there was no danger to you or you people! I used a fractal regression to develop access points at either end.

GARAK: And I sincerely appreciate your efforts, Julian. That’s why you’re here. And of course that is why I am convinced no one else will be able to save us.

JULIAN: I cannot do this without any information about the pathogen. And even the smartest person in the galaxy would be hard-pressed to develop a cure to an unknown virus quickly enough to prevent its spread or knowledge of its existence to the outside world.

GARAK: I have faith in you, Doctor. And to put your mind at ease, you should know that very few citizens on Cardassia are even aware that they are infected. And I’ve committed the Order to a substantial misinformation campaign to keep it that way.

JULIAN: How long do you expect that to last? The longer the infected believe that they’re free to live their normal lives or even to travel to and from health centers for treatment for whatever malady they believe they have, the faster the real virus will spread.

GARAK: Well, it seems its symptoms vary in their intensity. The cough can be persistent or periodic. And when that initial symptom passes, the neurological symptoms cause sufferers to present a variety of ailments. It is only those doctors who discovered the virus and were subsequently visited by some associates that are aware of the larger problem. And they are the very physicians currently researching the virus on my behalf.

JULIAN: If you are able to contact them then there’s no reason that I can’t access their data!

GARAK: Doctor, we’ve been through this.

JULIAN: Garak, we’ve been through a lot of things!

GARAK (LAUGHING): Yes.

JULIAN: You didn’t call me here to explain Cardassia’s post-war isolationist bureaucracy!

GARAK: [laughs]

JULIAN: I came because a friend in need asked me!

GARAK: You didn’t know why I called you, Doctor. So please, don’t offer me your selfless pretense.

JULIAN: Pretense?! You think after all this time your lives and deceptions would keep me from helping you? I can tell when you’re lying Garak, and you know when I’m telling the truth. I promise you that no one will ever know about your role in the cover-up of the virus, at least not from me.

GARAK: I… I want you to set course for the southern polar region of Cardassia Prime. The magnetic interference will make it more difficult for prying eyes to access your subspace signal. You’ll find that my alleged paranoia has a purpose. 

JULIAN: Computer, set course 118 mark 72.

COMPUTER: [chimes] Acknowledged.

JULIAN: Engage at one-quarter impulse.

COMPUTER: Course laid in. [chimes]

JULIAN: My signal was encrypted from the very beginning. I assume the same is true of the signal you used to isolate and redirect my subspace carrier wave. Isn’t it a little bit late to begin worrying now, Garak?

GARAK: Our signal may be secure between one another, but any system can be breached given enough time and expertise. And what I have to tell you…

JULIAN: Just tell me, Garak. I’m over the polar region as you asked.

GARAK: Yes, so you are, so you are. Now, good, wait- wait… Good. Now that we’re comfortably alone, let me ask you this: do viruses normally pop up undetected in a population with little to no prior warning? And how many unknown pathogens exist in a planetary ecosystem with our level of technological development?

JULIAN: Well, to be quite honest, pathogens can unexpectedly adapt or cross species barriers. Centuries ago on Earth, industrial pollution led to a climate change which in turn caused previously isolated microorganisms to be released into the biosphere.

GARAK: Yes, you truly have an answer for everything.

JULIAN: It comes in handy. But I suspect you’re going somewhere with this so please, continue.

GARAK: Our research has found some… peculiarities in the viral RNA, and admittedly I don’t understand all of the specifics, but, to put it bluntly, the virus has been engineered. I’m sending you two images of the viral RNA we’ve discovered. The images are all that I can risk sending you now. If you can find the source, you may find a cure. Alternatively, if a cure was not developed… you can avenge my death.

JULIAN: Not currently one of my skill sets, Garak. But why the pretense? You could’ve told me this immediately- actually, don’t answer that. I’ll need some time to do an analysis of this to determine what might work to counteract the viral infection. Annoyingly, there is no systemic treatment that I can even begin to research without knowing the underlying cause. But over the last twenty-five years, you must’ve made all sorts of new enemies. According to the latest intelligence, the only dangerous political intrigue is coming out of the Romulan Empire these days.

GARAK: Yes, well, leading a government comes with its own risks, to be sure, Doctor. But why do they have to be new enemies? Of course the Romulans have never been great fans of mine – I mean I left their embassy’s grounds-keeping staff so many years ago. Oh, those poor orchids, they’ll never be the same. And there’s always Kai.

JULIAN: The Kai.

GARAK: Ah, Kira- Kira, dear Kira’s never been a fan of mine.

JULIAN: We both know that Nerys would have never worked this slowly if she wanted to kill you.

GARAK: [laughs]

JULIAN: And she would only kill you. But Nerys is hardly the same person since she left the militia to join the Vedek Assembly, and now that she’s the Kai, this level of genetic manipulation would have to accomplished by someone with intimate knowledge of the Cardassian physiology as well as the capacity to evade security of your medical system.

GARAK: Yes, although like I said, it is an internal Cardassian matter. I’m sure there are plenty of elder Cardassians who would enjoy watching my life come to an end from torture. Dukat’s father- I mean, uh… [laughs] to one kanar-induced tryst with the man himself, to finally becoming involved with Ziyal, and whatever else-

JULIAN: Wait- wait, wait, wait you- hang on, you- you and Dukat?

GARAK: Ooh, yes. Surprising, isn’t it? Yes, two nights, maybe, before my exile, I’d been feeling quite powerful. I wouldn’t have normally lowered my guard even among my fellow Cardassians. Dukat was enjoying his second bottle of kanar, was looking for someone to blame for his most recent failures to overcome the Bajoran resistance, and there I was. He promised my death from across Quark’s bar. Later that evening he found his way back to my table to apologize – uncharacteristic, absolutely, to be sure. But kanar can do that to a man. We stole away to a quiet corner on the second level to talk, and then we found our way to an unoccupied holosuite.

JULIAN: I don’t know what to say.

GARAK: Well, I don’t need to tell you, Doctor – it was an unplanned direction for my evening to take. And suffice to say it didn’t soften Dukat’s general opinion of me. [laughs] He did keep his distance for a long time afterward.

JULIAN: So, that story had a happy ending, if you’ll pardon the pun.

GARAK: Pun?

JULIAN: Uh, it- it’d be funny on Earth. Though tragic, too – sort of like a sad clown, really. Miles will love it.

GARAK: Doctor, could we perhaps find out what is slowly eating away at me before revealing my darkest secrets to Professor O’Brien over an ale.

JULIAN: Of course, of course. I think the first step is to cross-reference known immunogenic agents that could have been introduced into your system. Even if the virus is a new pathogen, its mode of infection could be a million different things. You should review your schedule and try and determine an environment over which your control was limited, a place where the food and drink could’ve been tampered with or perhaps a place where you could have been unexpectedly exposed to an air assault. But… about this dalliance with Dukat-

GARAK: Oh Doctor, please. Provincial human attitudes aside-

JULIAN: Of course.

GARAK: -your species didn’t always have synthehol, and every species seems to go through a period of poor choices. Believe it or not, Cardassians are a passionate people, a people who yearn to find joy wherever it may lie. And remember, that we were in the midst of a Bajoran occupation and there wasn’t much joy to be had for those of us assigned to Terok Nor. Decades later, my reforms are helping to shape a modern Cardassia.

JULIAN: Understood. Though I take exception to the word ‘provincial’.

GARAK: Oh, of course you do. Now, let me take a look at my agenda… According to my doctors, I could have been exposed more than a month ago.

JULIAN: A month? Well, you certainly waited long enough to contact me.

GARAK: Well, well we do have doctors on Cardassia, and I wouldn’t be much of a leader if I didn’t look to my own people before seeking outside assistance. However, I’m not naïve enough to trust them completely. And what kind of leader would I be if I did?

JULIAN: Fair enough. I need to get some biometric information, please, from you if I’m even to begin researching cures. Can you transport yourself to a hospital with proper scanning equipment that I can access?

GARAK: Oh dear, I- I- I can do better than that, Doctor. I can do better than that. My residence is equipped with some of the best holographic technology in the quadrant – what type of equipment do we need?

JULIAN: I didn’t realize Cardassia had made such strides in holography.

GARAK: Oh, the technology is Federation, actually. Cardassian engineers build wonderful ships, but their work with artificial intelligence isn’t what it should be. Political life has its perks – I even have an EMH.

JULIAN: Well can I talk to him?

GARAK: Doctor, he’s obviously offline during this crisis. We’re wasting time better spent on the issue at hand! Now shall we begin?

JULIAN: Alright. Well the first thing we’ll need is a standard biobed with-

GARAK: Doctor, doctor, wait- I’m detecting a coherent signal directed at your shuttle. Yes, the magnetic currents over the poles should’ve obscured your presence. We may have a problem.

JULIAN: Hang on, it looks like an encrypted subspace signal… but I can’t determine the origin. Stand by, I’m trying- it’s… it’s from Earth. Well, I think I’ve got it. One moment… Jake?

[fade to black]

[CREDITS]

[constablegoo]

@astralglam​​​​ filed a report .

mint: does your muse view themself as virtuous & moral? what do these words mean to them?

OHOHO. hey hi ily. this is, of course, one of odo’s deepest ongoing battles, and the moment he stops questioning it is the moment he becomes a founder.

the founders grant themselves god status.  GOD!  status. they just reach out and pluck it. Within their range of power, the founders become unquestionably Just and Virtuous and Moral, their Word becomes Law, it becomes “the way things are” and “fact” and they create their own reality stemming from thousands of years of intense xenophobia. they’re above it all. gods don’t make mistakes, right? sure, maybe changelings were hunted and feared ages ago but they still fear it, and that drive for Order and Control over the galaxy is now encoded into their genes and they place a companion structure into the genes of every other species they control, subjugating them to the founders’ own cozy position as Gods, or-- ‘gods’. the founder (i rly don’t like saying “female” founder so she’s THE Founder. she speaks for the link.) makes it quite clear on many occasions that the founders are not here to negotiate. they fully intend to control EVERYTHING at any cost. it is absolutely  chilling  when she cuts garak down with: “they’re dead. you’re dead. cardassia is dead.” and draws the line between the dominion and everyone else miles deep into the sand.

that same genetic coding is one of the first semi-concrete things odo comes to understand about himself and, horribly, he’s landed into conditions under the occupation that very easily could have taken advantage of a less meticulous or stubborn changeling. no, odo says initially (and incorrectly), i am not bajoran** and i am not cardassian and i stand apart from either side of this conflict and so i am bound to PURE Virtue and Morality because of it. he can’t be bribed or bought or won over, and he won’t allow for anything less than a kind of incorruptibility. this effectively wins him allies (and enemies) on both sides, however -- that’s just not how the universe works. the truth of it is that no matter how much he tells himself he is not a part of their regime, his working with the cardassians makes him a collaborator in that he has then recognized their authority and ultimately upheld their legitimacy, even if he never agreed with the cause, even if he was also on some level a casualty of it. at some point when he moves past ‘contract’ investigation and begins to work permanently, he falls into the trap of thinking Order is the same thing as Justice... huge yikes. in that moment he becomes a true and apathetic villain, but he’s subsequently haunted by the resulting execution of innocents. it shakes something up in him. years pass and he still wonders, what other mistakes has he made? what other less direct consequences of his ‘neutral’ arbitration exist? he (and everyone around him) has to live without really knowing, and it’s a constant reminder to him of the power he holds and it informs his understanding of what Real (and imperfect) Justice Means.

**sidenote but later in s7 he introduces himself as ‘from bajor’ and AAAAAA. its good. very good. yeah, you’re bajoran, odo. he gets it now.

Mirror odo is really the ultimate example of an odo having taken those instincts to extremes in an environment that rewarded him for them -- there is no guilt there, and even a sadistic kind of pleasure in it. i’d argue that gaia!odo is another, less extreme example of an odo who’s been alone too long and lost sight of things when he single-mindedly (and against kira’s wishes) chooses her (one person) over 8000. like holy shit? NOT ok? uhhuhhhhfff. anyway. very fortunately, neither of these are OUR odo, but act as great foils to reflect on the worst (bastard cop) qualities or potential qualities of our goo pushed to highly visible extremes, which star trek just loves to do all the time.

but regular/prime odo isnt exactly a rule-follower, either. throughout his life, he frequently takes things into his own hands, uses his abilities to his advantage, spies, wiretaps, eavesdrops, and yes, harasses [quark] sometimes -- he develops his own set of values and personal rules and follows them; even starfleet comes in wary of him and how he operates and hes on thin ice. but because of possibly his most redeeming quality, odo is able to adapt those self-ordained values toward something increasingly honest: for how rigid he can be in personality, he is HIGHLY influenced by the world around him,  listens hard  to what his friends and allies have to say and adapts that feedback; this allows him to evolve and grow and take important matters to heart. he becomes more flexible and better able to hold onto what’s really most important after locking into a decision, because above all else, he is passionately committed to doing the Right Thing. he PLEADS with himself in things past, “your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.” by his tendency to push back against what is laid down as ‘law’ (something he becomes more and more aware of and effective at doing) as not always being good or right, or necessarily even creating Order (the thing he’s driven genetically to want), he prepares himself to challenge the most deadly voice of authority -- that of his own people.

so... yes and no. odo’s role and persona as ‘your average security chief’ might dictate that he be virtuous and moral, but he so obviously can’t fit the same exact mold as others in his position -- he has these insane abilities and this mind-consuming nature and it requires he tread with extra care, but he also has a potential for more adaptive, more nuanced morality. he has to build up his own definitions to the words, constantly examine and tease and test them, or else he risks straying too far from what he really wants to achieve -- harmony, honest justice. he has to accept that he’s a part of the system he operates in (not, in fact, alone or isolated! something he actually wants), and know that he is not exempt from making the wrong choice, just like anybody else.

carnation: what is your muse’s relationship with their gender? how do they express or not express this relationship?

ODO AND GENDER!!! i love odo and gender. let’s take this one step at a time. he starts out as an amorphous glob -- he has no gender. there’s no basis for assignment, no culture of difference, and all the goos are goo. odo takes on the shape of the first living thing he sees / the thing he sees most frequently: dr mora. he adopts an image of masculinity from mora and he adopts the hair. that’s about it, and it’s pretty much arbitrary. (maybe the hair is simple enough for his skills, too?) the next people odo meets are also these very masculine, military, cardassian leaders, so again -- this is all he knows! this is neutrality. i imagine it takes him some time to work out what the differences in gender are, and sex, and orientation, romantic vs sexual stuff, all of that. it’s all got cultural baggage he knows nothing about and does not experience, and he’s also dealing with multiple, clashing cultures to boot. since he doesnt have any strong inherent leaning, he simply opts out. he/him becomes his default because thats where he started, thats what he’s been able to successfully present and how people know him, and, terrifyingly, under cardassian rule, it probably offered a bit of safety, too, which was obviously something he needed at the time.

way way way way way down the line in season seven, odo asks kira to (paraphrasing) look at me. what do you see? [i see you.] but this is NOT me, this is only a shape ive assumed in order to fit in. she says, yes, i know that. but this is who you have chosen to be. “a man. a good and honest man.” (i knowww shes not really talking abt gender here BUT) its hard as a trans person not to read the metaphor. he’s chosen to express SOMETHING. he’s chosen something other than what he was given (neutrality) and although he doesnt personally buy into what ‘masculinity’ “should be” (ie the ferengi, smh) / would certainly not argue he doesnt feel non-binary, this is how he has presented all his life, its how hes been treated, and it is what he has chosen to adhere to. there’s a choice in that, kira’s right, and now it reflects something about him.

parallel this, i’ll mention the “female” founder again bc of course there is no discernable reason for her to have a gender -- other than to appeal (im not talking sexually here although there’s,, obviously weird shit happening with the link... yike) to odo in the sense that until that point odo has lived with “gendered” individuals and, i think importantly, kira is with them when they first meet. i think its safe to say the founder saw her, figured she was a friend/ally to odo or at least familiar to him, and took her general representation to appeal as a friend/ally.

otherwise... why, honestly? the founder’s got NO love of humanoids lmao why would she bother.

anyway i’d like to see odo experiment a bit. because when hes safe, he can!! aside from his own doubts and insecurities about shapeshifting, at some point he really has no reason not to, at least a little bit. really, it should just be another thing to practice, much like becoming a convincing rock or a leaf, its just that there are other significances in the cultures around him. i’d just like to see him loosen up a little. have fun. grow ur hair out a bit, odo, why are u still looking like ur terrible dad.

[sigynpenniman]

The Protective Energy of Dr. Julian Bashir: An Analysis of Exactly Why I Love This Space Doctor So Much

Note: I said I was gonna fuck around and write an essay and then I kinda did. I tend to end up writing essays when I get into stuff. I actually have a longform writing blog but all the Bashir fans are following me here so this seemed like the better place to post this. This was completely inevitable. 3,500 words. Enjoy, y’all.

I have very severe fear of doctors. It’s what the medical field calls White Coat Hypertension, on a slightly higher scale. It’s not debilitating – I’m able to receive medical care when necessary. But it is quite intense, and it’s been a bear to live with. Every interaction with medicine – every physical, every dental cleaning, every trip to the ER (and yes, there has been one in there) has been accompanied by overwhelming, nauseating anxiety. It’s severe enough to affect me even when I am not the patient – even walking into doctor’s offices in support of other people lights a certain fire of anxiety in my stomach. While I have never been walked across the gallows to face my own execution, I can’t help but imagine the way I feel walking into a doctor’s office has to be a similar emotion. I explain this because while this is a semi-analytical piece, it’s also a personal one; I’m writing this to not only talk about the technical features of this character that make me love him so much but to also talk about exactly what he means to me, and in order to really understand the weight of that, you need to understand the context. I do not like Doctors. Never in my life have Doctors been a source of comfort, of safety, of any positive feeling other than vague gratitude when they prescribe me the antibiotics I so often badly need. I understand that there’s a big difference between fiction and reality, but trust me when I say, the distance of fiction is not enough to take the edge off this particular phobia – as much as I want to get into watching House (it’s exactly the kind of show I tend to get into), the medical scenes always make me feel a little woozy. So just know – when I stand up and say that I really, really love this Doctor – that is something of note.

Out of the 6 (so far) series of Star Trek, the most unique, and almost definitely the least well known, is Deep Space Nine. The Original Series and The Next Generation are legendary, most devoted Trekkies have a soft spot in their hearts for Voyager, people are aware of Enterprise (even if it is just to hate it), and Discovery is a current pop culture phenomenon. But while Deep Space Nine shares the genre and aesthetic of other Trek shows in its time period, it’s a creature all its own. DS9 can sometimes be “the forgotten trek” – it never aired alone (TNG started before DS9 and Voyager ended after it – there was never a time when DS9 was the only Trek show on) and it’s more known to devoted and establish Trek and sci-fi fans than to casual viewers. Among Trekkies, however, DS9 is one of the most beloved series: many would call it their favorite. Certain elements of the show – the multi episode arcs, discussions of grey morality, overall heavier subject matter, and the way the crew treat each other like a family (to a greater extent even than other Trek crews) endear the show to Trek fans and other sci-fi fans alike. Another unique feature of DS9 is the broad diversity of its cast – while most Star Trek series’ casts tend to consist of mostly humans with one or two aliens, the DS9 cast is mostly aliens with only a few humans. There is not one character in DS9 who makes you groan when they appear, and to be completely honest, I could write essays about just about every single one of these characters. But we are here for one of these characters in particular: Doctor Julian Bashir.

Julian Bashir is Deep Space Nine’s Chief Medical Officer, fresh out of Starfleet academy when the show begins. He’s book smart but young and naïve, and could probably stand to work on his social skills – he’s got that endearing (or wildly annoying, depending on who you ask) tendency to talk far too much for far too long, he thinks he knows absolutely everything, and he’s all smiles and idealism. Many people find him annoying in these early seasons. Personally, I have to disagree – I find him absolutely adorable. He’s got a bit of the character of a puppy in human form, but whether season 1 Bashir is annoying or adorable is certainly a matter of opinion. As the show progresses, he matures quite a bit; he learns when to shut up and certainly some other hard lessons about the nature of life. But these are characteristics which anyone who has watched the entire series would comment on, these are the general character high points anyone analyzing DS9 would hit. I’m less concerned about those. I’m much more concerned with the other features of the character, the things he does that are easily missed because the show generally doesn’t linger on them. And more primarily, I’m concerned with understanding exactly why I love him so much. I’m here to take a dive into my own mind.

The first thing to know about Bashir is that he’s portrayed with an incredible softness. He’s reassuring and gentle, and tends to spend as much time comforting his patients as actually working on them. He exits so many scenes by reassuring people that “If they need him, he’ll be right outside” that an entire supercut could be made of just him saying that line. Towards the beginning of the series, his caring nature is about the only thing we know about him. He’s clearly a doctor who became a doctor because he really, truly cares about saving people, and has devoted his life to that cause. This is common among Star Trek doctors – every Trek series has a doctor, and being genuinely caring and good is a definitive character element for the role. But Dr. Bashir has got the best bedside manner of any them, not just in his words but his whole bearing. He’s just got a kind of comforting aura about him. This is a major part of what makes the character so loveable – now let’s talk about the rest.

Let’s start with episode 1x13, “Battle Lines”.

“Battle Lines” is one of the first major dangerous situations the main cast gets themselves into. Plenty has gone wrong in the series so far, yes, but this is the first time we’ve seen the main cast up a creek without a paddle on a distant planet (or moon, as the case may be). Sisko, Kira and Bashir are shipwrecked on an unexplored moon in the gamma quadrant without any easy way to get home or contact the station. Unbeknownst to them, they’re stumbled into a many-hundred-year war between the “Ennis” and the “Nol-Ennis”. It’s pretty much the Sneeches on the Beaches here, but a little more deadly. Kira is shot in the shoulder almost as soon as they arrive, and deals with the injury for most of the episode. This exchange is what follows (scripts from TrekCore):

KIRA I'm all right

BASHIR The hell you are.

Bashir approaches Shel-la.  Nima's gun is instantly on him.  Despite Nima's threat, Bashir points to the medical kit next to Shel-la's throne.  He is well aware of the danger he's courting.

BASHIR She needs treatment.  I’d like my medical case (beat )If you don’t mind.

After a beat... Shel-la nods to Nima who picks up the kit, looks through it briefly, then tosses it to Bashir.  Bashir hurries over to Kira.  He scans her with his tricorder and administers a hypospray.

Here’s a relevant note: the scripts differ slightly from what actually occurs in the show. Nima doesn’t toss the kit to Bashir – he grabs it from her, losing patience with the way the Ennis are treating them. The thing that sticks out in this exchange is the extent to which Bashir prioritizes the safety of his patients and colleagues above his own. This is the first time we really get to see him in action or in real danger – and he’s got a gun to his throat, and he doesn’t care. His single minded concern is taking care of Kira. The fact that there’s a person holding a gun on him is completely irrelevant.

Let’s talk about another phenomenal Bashir episode (and one which stars our favorite Lizard, Garak): 2x22, “The Wire”. Everyone jokes about this episode being a fanfiction come to life but to be honest that’s exactly what it is. More importantly for my purposes, it contains another fantastic “Bashir doesn’t care about anything except his patients” moment:

ODO Doctor, I was hoping to ask Garak some questions.

Bashir intercepts Odo by the door.

BASHIR (glances at Garak) He's asleep.  He has been ever since I turned off his implant. (a beat) Come on.  We can talk outside.

ODO Doctor, I need to talk to him as soon as possible.  I have four homicide cases left in my files that I'm almost certain were committed by the Obsidian Order.  If Garak was a member... he may be able to shed some light on them.

BASHIR I'm afraid your questions will have to wait.

ODO (not happy) How long?

BASHIR I don't know yet.

Bashir sees that Odo is about to object and beats him to the punch.

BASHIR Constable, Garak's body has undergone a severe shock.  I don't know when he'll recover.  I'm not even sure if he'll recover.

ODO In that case, I want to talk to him now.  Wake him up.

BASHIR I'll do no such thing.

ODO Doctor, these are murder cases.  And he could be a suspect.

BASHIR Maybe so, but he's also my patient.   And I won't have him disturbed. So until further notice, his quarters are off limits to everyone but emergency medical personnel.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to.

Odo nods, not really happy, but right now Bashir could care less.  He returns to Garak's room, leaving Odo outside in the corridor.

Odo’s interested in solving his murder cases. Bashir is…unbothered. His sole and only concern is the health and safety of his patient. And this carries on...

BASHIR What happened?

WEBB He got beaten up by some ghosts.

Bashir kneels down next to the boy.  Danny's shirt is cut up and bloody.

WEBB (continuing) My wife went to get help, but there's only one doctor on duty at the Processing Center.

BASHIR Why don't you let me take a look?  I know a bit about medicine.

SISKO Julian...

Bashir takes Sisko aside so they can talk in private.

BASHIR It can't hurt just to look.

A beat, then Sisko nods his consent.

Bashir returns to Danny's side.  He carefully unbuttons and pulls aside the boy's blood-soaked shirt, then examines the wounds.

BASHIR Looks like you were lucky.  No broken ribs and these cuts are mostly   superficial.  You're going to be okay. (to Webb) You're going to need some clean rags and something to disinfect the wounds. Alcohol should do.

What’s at stake here? The timeline. This episode takes place a couple hundred years in the past (transporter accident, of course), and everything Sisko and Bashir do risks messing up the future. That’s what Sisko’s concerned about here, but Bashir is, still, unbothered by anything other than worry for this injured person.

And on…

(6x02, Rocks and Shoals)

KEEVAN Captain Sisko, my name is Keevan. We have a lot to talk about.

BASHIR Not for a while, you don't. (to Sisko) He needs immediate surgery.

SISKO Now?

BASHIR I don't think I have any choice.

The Jem'Hadar suddenly start gathering around Keevan. Bashir looks up in concern.

BASHIR I'm a doctor. I won't harm him.

KEEVAN (cynical smile) They're not here to protect me. They've just never seen what the inside of a Vorta looks like.

The Jem'Hadar crowd around for a better look as Bashir takes out his surgical instruments. Sisko decides he doesn't want a better look and grabs a seat on the floor as Bashir prepares to operate in front of an audience.

(later in the same episode)

KEEVAN (groggy) I... am... alive.

BASHIR No self-diagnoses, please. I'm the doctor here.

Bashir checks him out with the tricorder and his own observations as Sisko and Remata'Klan come over.

BASHIR (off tricorder) Internal hemorrhaging has stopped...your free collagen levels are dropping... tissue growth factors have stabilized... and there's a fifty percent rise in cell oxygenation. (beat) You're alive.

Keevan shifts a little, tries to get more comfortable, but an unwary move sends a jolt of pain throughout his body.

BASHIR Careful. Most of your insides are being held together with cellular micro-sutures and a lot of hope.

Another note the script doesn’t show: The banter between the Vorta Keevan and Bashir in these scenes is kind, comedic, almost affectionate. Bashir’s choice to operate on the injured Vorta was something he pretty much had to do, to save everyone’s lives – but he certainly doesn’t have to be nice to him on the way. But he is – just because.

And on, and on, at length. These are the first type of “Bashir Moral” episodes – the repeated scenes where Bashir prioritizes his patients over criminal investigations, over war alliances, over his own safety, over everything. There’s a second type of “Bashir Moral” episode– the ones where he gets very, very angry. He doesn’t get angry much. He’s not an angry character or a character with a temper. But every now and then, we see him truly furious. The most notable examples being

(4x04, “Hippocratic Oath)

O'BRIEN You can bring me up on charges, you know.

BASHIR That's not really my style.

O'Brien nods.

O'BRIEN I... wish things could've been different, Julian.

BASHIR So do I.

O'BRIEN And I'm sorry I had to destroy your work

BASHIR (quiet) You didn't have to, Chief. You had a choice. And you chose to disobey orders, override my judgment, and condemn those men to death.  

O'BRIEN Yes, I did. (beat) Because I thought it was the only way to save your life. Whatever else you make think of me and what I did -- at least understand why I did it.

Bashir has been attempted to synthesize a cure for the Jem’Hadar’s Ketracel White addiction, but O’Brien is forced to destroy this almost-cure in what O’Brien believed was the only right choice. This episode is morally fascinating – the episode ends making a clear point that there’s two sides to be on here, either siding with Bashir or O’Brien, and most people who watch WILL fall on one side or the other of the episode’s moral conflict. While it’s hard to represent with script alone, another fantastic episode in the series of “Bashir being angry about injustice” is 4x24 “The Quickening”, in which he does everything he can to rescue a planet affected by an apparently incurable, artificially created illness. He does everything he can, but is unable to find a true cure. But what he is is angry – quietly, yes, but angry just the same. And then there is, of course, possibly my favorite episode: 7x23, “Extreme Measures”. Bashir and O’Brien capture Luther Sloan, leader of arguably evil Starfleet Underground division Section 31, in hopes of securing a cure for a disease that’s killing Odo and which they have reason to believe Section 31 was involved in. They get their cure – and they kill Luther Sloan in the process (technically Sloan commits suicide, but it would be hard to argue Bashir and O’Brien’s innocence in a court of law). I adore this episode. It’s the clearest we ever get to see Bashir’s character and moral choices – risking his life and safety in search of a cure for Odo, furious about Section 31’s very existence. And…somewhat unbothered about Sloan’s death. Certainly not remorseful.

And that’s the thing. That’s what differentiates Dr. Julian Bashir as a character; what makes him so incredibly special. His softness is not endless. His kindness bears an edge. Julian Bashir is man with puppy-saving kindness and spy-murdering ruthlessness in the same body. Combined with his genetically engineered superintelligence, he’s almost got a superhero bent about him, a sort of “with great power comes great responsibility”. He’s kind, he’s soft, he’s capable, he’s ruthless, and he’s ready to fight for his patients and his friends if the situation calls for it. And the situation does – several times. The whole energy of the character is best summed up in a single word: protective.

It’s that protective energy that makes him so completely endearing, at least to me. But it’s not just in the lines – it’s in the way he’s played. It’s impossible to discuss Bashir with giving due credit to Alexander Siddig. Bashir could have been really any kind of character off the back of the scripts alone. It’s the subtler choices the actor makes, the way he speaks, the tones and emphasis he chooses, his body language and the way he carries himself that turn Julian Bashir into something truly great. As played by Siddig, Bashir is a doctor you almost can’t help but trust. If you watch DS9 for any length of time, it’s almost impossible not to think at some point that you’d probably be perfectly happy leaving your life in Dr. Julian Bashir’s capable hands. He’d go to ends of human knowledge to save your life, and be more than happy to defend you against untold alien hoards on the way.

I cannot express how much I love this character. I find him endearing and adorable and protective and comforting and loveable. I started watching DS9 to begin with because I was introduced the character of Bashir and had to know more about him. I loved him from episode 1, and continued to love him for every minute of the following 175 episodes. This is certainly a matter of personal opinion – lots of people don’t feel this way at all, and it’s down to my personality that this particular character happens to fit in exactly with what I love in a character. But that’s how it always is with fictional characters we adore. Sometimes, we get lucky, and stumble upon characters that feel as if they were created just for us. This is just the kind of lucky I happened to get, and I’m so grateful for it.

I’ve established at the opening of this essay that I have a few issues with doctors, as a concept. I find them inherently terrifying. I have the exact opposite response to Dr. Bashir. Fictional, yes, but this is a doctor I want to run towards, not away from. I always joke that if I was in this universe, on DS9, you’d find me in the infirmary pretending to be injured or ill. I can’t express how significant this is. I have an ambient audio track from the wonderful Ambient Mixer that I assembled for myself (and also shared on tumblr) which consists of the background noises of Dr. Bashir’s infirmary – the low rumble of space station power, the distant beeping so ever present in Star Trek scenes, a few footsteps in the background. This audio mix is something I get a lot of use and listening out of. It’s a tool of calming and I often fall asleep to it. If you had walked up to me six months ago and told me that I would find comforting escapism in pretending to be in what’s effectively a hospital, I would have laughed in your face. Julian Bashir is the first positive association for doctors I’ve ever had. It’s kind of a weird thing to say as an adult, but so be it. I love this character so much, and it’s had real, positive effects on my real life. I’ve been sick for the last several days, which eventually involved me having to drag myself to the doctor. And I’ll be damned if I wasn’t…okay with that? Sure, it’s not somewhere I was thrilled about being, but I didn’t feel like throwing up, and I was able to get my heart rate down low enough that the doctor didn’t feel the need to comment on it. And the credit for this, funny as it may be, as much as some people would laugh at this, lies with one Dr. Julian Bashir. This character means so incredibly much to me, not just because he’s a fictional character I adore, but because he’s helped me to take a step towards overcoming something that affects my real life. 

What more incredible can fictional characters do for us than that?

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1908.18: Missions Reviewed, “The Muse,” “For the Cause,” and “To the Death.”

“The Muse” begins with Jake Sisko watching the people boarding the station and creating backgrounds for them as possible fodder for writing (ah, that’s where I learned that).  He sees a mysterious woman, who even seems to make eye contact with him, and later she finds him in the replimat. She says her name is Onaya, and she has always liked artists, even mentioning some recent greats whom she says she helped. 

She offers to help Jake if he comes by her quarters later.  Meanwhile Odo is faced with a pregnant Lwaxana Troi who is on the run from her Baby Daddy. Apparently that race practices strict gender separation for children, and though her husband told her he would not, because the baby is a boy he will take the child from Lwaxana at birth. She and Odo concoct a plan to marry to get rid of the guy, who sure enough shows up on the station. The plan works and he leaves mother and child alone. 

 Onaya and Jake meanwhile are hanging out in her groovy quarters, and she gets him to start working on his novel. As he writes, it becomes ever easier for him, but Onaya is feeding off his creative energies, draining him, and landing him in the infirmary.  Onaya appears there and sneaks him out, hiding Jake in a storeroom as he writes and she vampires him. Sisko finds them and phasers Onaya, who turns to energy and escapes. Meanwhile, Jake has completed the first draft of the novel “Anslem,” the book that the episode “The Visitor” told us would be his classic work.

This is an episode that doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to do for either of these stories so it can’t work out which is the A story and which is the B.  They seem to get even time, and neither of them are especially compelling.  Not for lack of trying however.  Odo does get some character development as he works out his feelings with Lwaxana, and the mention of “Anslem” does recall the best episode of the series. The guest stars are top notch with 80s SF icon Meg Foster appearing as Onaya, and Michael Ansara—formerly Kang the Klingon—as Lwaxana’s angry husband.  The episode never quite gets anywhere for me, though it certainly isn’t “bad.” One more quick aside: the nurse caring for Jake is played by Patricia Tallman, whom I have mentioned before. She was Nana Visitor’s stunt double, and of course the character of Lyta Alexander on that other space station, “Babylon 5.”

“For the Cause” has Odo and Eddington come to Sisko to tell him they think there’s a Maquis smuggler on board; they think it’s the Captain’s lady friend Kassidy Yates. This is in the midst of security tightening as the Federation is about to provide some industrial food replicators to Cardassia to help them with all the Klingon-caused shortages.

 Sisko is initially resistant to the idea Kassidy could be involved, but has the Defiant trail her next mission. Sure enough, her ship goes off course, and potentially meets with a Maquis vessel. Meanwhile, Garak keeps running into Tora Ziyal and is curious as to whether Gul Dukat’s daughter wants him dead. When Kira threatens Garak telling her to stay away from the girl, he takes that as a sign Ziyal is legitimately seeking company, and Kira would have no problem seeing Garak dead.

 Sisko becomes determined to stop Kassidy Yates personally and captains the Defiant in pursuit. Eddington doesn’t want to be in on arresting the Captain’s girlfriend and asks to stay behind.  Kassidy’s ship enters the Badlands like before, but this time seems to just keep circling in a holding pattern. After several hours Sisko has enough, decloaks and boards the Xhosha (Kassidy’s ship). She is caught red handed, but doesn’t know why her Maquis contact hasn’t shown up. Sisko realizes distracting him is the target. The return to DS9 leaving the Xhosha behind, to find that Eddington is in fact Maquis, and has stolen the replicators intended for Cardassia. He says he has joined the Maquis because the Federation has become as insidious as the Borg, now punishing planets for the one unforgivable sin: “wanting to leave paradise.” Kassidy returns to DS9 after dropping off her crew, and turns herself in, knowing she’s on her way to a Federation penal colony. She promises Ben she will be back, because she loves him.

A perfect example of the type of character work that makes DS9 great. The Kassidy Yates relationship has been building for a couple of years now, so when Odo and Eddington accuse her, we think “no way.” Well, “way” and what’s brilliant is her support of the Maquis doesn’t really make her a villain. She sympathizes with their plight, which is indeed a sympathetic cause.  She though is set up by the Maquis who IS a villain, and that’s our Commander Eddington, who has played both Kassidy and Sisko. Often just one of those “extra” Starfleet guys, he’s now made himself important, and that’s something that plays well here.  Later on he will really try to set himself up as Sisko’s nemesis, but he’s just a guy who betrayed his oath, and Sisko won’t let him forget that.  Well executed episode that moves along the Maquis storyline well and sets us up for some future tales.

“To the Death” starts with the Defiant returning to DS9 to find the station has suffered a devastating hit from the Jem’Hadar. 

Sisko tracks the ship back into the Gamma quadrant where they find a damaged Jen’Hadar ship that isn’t the one they seek. Beaming over survivors they get a squad of the Dominion’s soldiers and a Vorta named Weyoun. The Jem’Hadar who attacked DS9 have actually gone rogue, and this crew was hunting them down. Weyoun reveals to Sisko that the Company of soldiers they seek have broken off because they have found an Iconian Gateway- a portal that would allow them to transport to any planet in the Galaxy instantaneously, and they plan to use it to free themselves of the Dominion and conquer all they can.  Sisko grudgingly teams up with Weyoun and company, knowing they can’t be allowed to have access to the Gateways.

 When one of the Jem’Hadar stops following orders and perhaps begins to sympathize with the deserters, the Jem’Hadar “first” Omet’iklan kills him on the spot, and questions why Sisko doesn’t maintain order through lethal punishment. Weyoun wonders if Omet’iklan plans to rebel too. They attack the stronghold and manage to destroy the Gateway. There is a tense moment when it seems the allies will turn on one another when Omet’iklan kills Weyoun and decides to stay with his troops on the planet, hunting down the rest of the traitors. When asked why he killed the Vorta, it was for “questioning my loyalty.”

Some good call outs here back to the second season of TNG with the Iconians, and Worf mentions he was on the mission that found their homeworld (The TNG episode “Contagion”). We get a good look at the inner workings of the Jem’Hadar, finding out they are all test-tube babies, there are no females, and they are lethal within 3 days of birth.  Those who live past age 20 are considered “honored elders.” 

There is definitely a concerted effort NOT to make the Jem’Hadar sympathetic here. And of course, most importantly, we get Weyoun! Jeffrey Combs returns as the Smarmiest Vorta. According to the Memory Alpha website, Weyoun was intended to be a one-off, and Combs brought so much to it, the writers invented the idea of Vortas being clones just so they could bring him back.  Also of note, the Jem’Hadar killed for his insolence is played by Brian Thompson, himself a multi-guest star having played six different characters across several Trek series, including sharing another episode during “Enterprise” with Jeffrey Combs. In that outing Thompson is Romulan Admiral Valdore (for whom the Warbird in Star Trek: Nemesis is named) and Combs as the Andorian Shran, whom I still want to see have his own series.

NEXT VOYAGE: Julian Bashir gets another chance to play frontier doctor while visiting a planet suffering from “The Quickening.”

[autisticandroids]

DS9 for the fandom ask

The first character I first fell in love with:

okay so storytime: i actually watched ds9 out of order, because when i’m at home i mostly watch trek with my parents. we were running out of good tng, and mum and dad were like “hey, everyone likes ds9 even though we hated it back when it aired, let’s watch it” and i was like “nooooooo, dataaaaaa” and they were like “we’re watching it.”

so we watched emissary and they were like “this sucks” and i was like “but i heard worf is there in later seasons let’s jump” and so i picked a random middle season and that’s how i started ds9 with season five.

anyway, the first character i really fell in love with was odo, oddly enough. or rather, not oddly at all because he is superficially smack dab in the middle of my Ideal Character Type, but i later got quite disillusioned with him because of the show’s uncritical attitude towards his Police-ness, the way he is set up as a Protagonist of the show instead of the lovable quirky side-boy, and his conspicuous lack of gender complexity (he is the most comfortably masculine of the spocks, and it’s a symptom of ds9′s uncritical valorization of masculinity, degradation of femininity, and specifically villification of male femininity)

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: 

okay so there are three answers to this that each deserve equal space.

first, ben. ben ben ben ben ben. my love, whom i adore, and care very much about. it took me so long to understand him.

i spent the first maybe..... two months? of watching ds9 ranting at my mother for three hours a day about how benjamin sisko had the possibility to be such a good character with so much potential if he wasn’t so INCONSISTENTLY WRITTEN. i really couldn’t understand him. i wanted to love him but i couldn’t get inside his head. i spent all of my time wishing that he’d been better written so i could have the character i wanted him to be

this has a lot to do with the fact that i need to understand a character’s ethical system, why they follow it, and what efects it has on them to really understand a character, especially in a series as driven by ethical dilemmas as star trek. most characters i get get a read on it fairly quickly. to use the other two characters i’m about to list here, julian bashir is an idealist, in a way that’s rooted in a combination of naivete and his raging god/hero complex. elim garak has no morality, just a system of loyalties that he will follow to the death, and a sense of propriety based on rather conservative cardassian ideals; this has a lot to do with his tendency to dehumanize other people, and to not see himself as a person with agency but rather as a tool, as well as his rather uncritical patriotism.

anyway, i just could not figure out captain sisko. i couldn’t do it. and then i read hollow men, and it all slid into place.

the funniest running gag/plot point in hollow men (which takes place directly after in the pale moonlight, an episode which i fumed about for WEEKS after watching it) is ben sisko going around to approximately every member of starfleet who outranks him and begging them to yell at and punish him. and none of them will do it, because he did, you know, actually do the right thing.

before this, i had assumed that his ethical beliefs had been carelessly and inconsistently written. after, i realized that he was actually a hypocrite, of a very particular type. specifically, three things are true about his worldview/psychology and they’re totally incompatible. first, he truly, genuinely believes that a Good Starfleet Officer is a Moral Paragon of Perfect Idealistic Purity. second, he is a pragmatist who will always, in the end, do what needs doing. but third, most importantly: he needs to believe that he is a Good Starfleet Officer. this is why he is always so surprised at himself when he must Do Something Bad, and yet always so willing to do it. why it always throws him into a crisis. he has to lie to himself about things in order to function. he’s also incapable of maintaining a healthy level of detachment from affairs at hand, even though in the end he will generally make the right decision. he gets very emotionally involved in things, in all sorts of way: he holds a personal grudge against eddington. he gets angry at garak at the end of in the pale moonlight. hell, he gets caught up by dukat’s friendly and charming demeanor and happily banters with him despite knowing he’s a monster. ben is very bad at taking a step back. and that was the piece i was missing.

next: julian. here’s the story on julian: whether i like a character depends very much on how they’re framed. and i fucking hated the framing he got from both the show and the fandom. i’m not interested in julian as the audience avatar the way he is framed in the show, nor am i interested in him as the naive baby/perfect caretaker/sidekick boyfriend/garak’s pet twink that he is in the fandom. i don’t care for it.

now, i thought i hated julian bashir in an uncomplicated way for a long time. but about four months into my watching of ds9, three things happened at once: first, i began bingeing season seven seven with my parents. you know, the season where julian goes off the rails to the point where the show can’t lie to itself anymore. second, i hit a string of julian/miles episodes on my own personal runthrough of the earlier seasons. and third, i realized that i talked more about julian bashir than almost any character except mr garak, and that....... normally doesn’t happen with characters i straight up hate.

julian is a perfect, beautiful nastyboy antihero who thinks he’s hot shit and the savior of the galaxy. and i love him for it. but i couldn’t love him for it when i thought that i was supposed to love him for being a different character. which he wasn’t. 

third, and this is the one that’s gonna shock EVERYBODY: i didn’t like garak at first. and the thing is, garak is like odo: he’s my type, to a t. mr queercoded (ex-)villain, wildly gnc, utterly fucked up, no healthy coping mechanisms we die like men and yet still dangerous through all of it.

but see, i started with season five. and his first episode of season five involves him 1) being a racist asshole and 2) not doing anything else of note. so i was like ???????????? why don’t i love this guy like everyone says i should. sooooooo i went back and watched past prologue. and i didn’t care for it. past prologue is a VERY badly written episode, on a number of levels. first of all, garak doesn’t make any attempts to not be obviously suspicious. second of all, he CREEPS ON JULIAN IN THAT FIRST SCENE IN A WAY THAT MAKES MY SKIN ABSOLUTELY CRAWL JESUS CHRIST. third, it just isn’t a very good episode. imo.

AAAAANYWAY so instead of giving up like a sensible person i kept skipping through garak episodes one after the other. i enjoyed cardassians (although the resolution was, imo, Bad), and i absolutely LOVED profit and loss, (although that was as much for the quodo as for garak), and then i got to the wire. here’s the thing about the wire: it is a LOT of emotional turmoil for a character who we’ve only seen in three episodes. it helped me reconcile my biggest issue with garak (that he seems like a spy when he should be able to seem innocuous since he has spy training; he acts suspicious bc he was high and also as a form of self-sabotage) and it also made me more attached to both him and julian, but also...... after watching it, i felt like i should have been more invested going in. i felt like i didn’t Feel enough, because i didn’t know him (or julian, really) well enough.

so i kept going on my garakbinge. the first time i felt maybe a touch of the emotions i feel for him now was in second skin. it was when he vaporized that obsidian order agent after bantering with him and quipped “a shame, i rather liked him”. and then the other charcters turned and looked at him in absolute horror. deep in my gut i felt a little bell go off. a bell that said damn that is a good piece of writing. because like, action hero style quips right? actually kind of a brutal and terrifying concept. no one ever points that out. and like..... god damn is he quick with the quips.

and then.... then........

civil defense. civil defense helped me to truly understand what kind of monster garak is. what makes him tick. and it’s all in the scene where he insults dukat for hitting on kira. what he focuses on in his insults? the fact that dukat is married, and calling dukat unattractive. he focuses on dukat’s failings according to Propriety (that he’s slipping around on his wife) and as a man (that he’s an incompetent seducer/unnatractive). he doesn’t comment on the fantastic rapey-ness of the situation, doesn’t comment on the fact that what dukat wants is one last validation that his role in colonialism was justified/is forgiven. it showed me that garak dehumanizes everyone, yes, and thinks of himself as above everyone (except, as i was to learn later, the Objects of his Loyalty), but that he had two categories. non-cardassians couldn’t know any better. they were sub-cardassian by nature. they could never be held to the same standard. whereas cardassian should know better. they should be better. the fact that they’re not is their own personal failing. this racist principle controls garak’s entire way of relating to other people, and i didn’t understand him until i understood it.

and then........

improbable cause/the die is cast. never has a piece of television quite so effectively Totally Destroyed My Ass.

improbable cause is a smart little piece of comedy that brilliantly develops a relationship that has a ton of potential: garak&odo. they’re both brilliant on their own, but together they reach new levels, and the writing is glorious.

the die is cast is a harrowing walk through elim garak’s daddy issue riddled psyche and i don’t know if i could not-love any character after watching them go through that shit. 

the mood whiplash between the two episodes is ingenious, the writing is tight, and the emotions? very real. i was so invested. i decided i was ready to die for elim garak at about exactly the moment odo punched him in the face.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: 

jadzia dax. she’s the only in the credits-main character who i truly cannot muster up some love for, somewhere. the only time i ever enjoyed an episode focused on her was rejoined (yeah, shocking, i know). jadzia dax is a sex object who is defended from accusations of being a sex object by doing two things: 1) giving her a superficial list of traits (sass, scientific knowhow, some fighting skills) associated with Strong Female Characters, and 2) making her a Mighty Whitey with the klingons.

but she isn’t actually a complex person. she responds to workplace sexual harassment and even stalking (lookin at u juli) by laughing and flirting back, and her sexual libertinism mostly serves to make her supremely available to all nearby men. if you are a young straight man in the audience, she is your wise mentor (but without any kind of power over you), your fuckbuddy (with no strings attached), your best friend and drinking (but without any of those nasty feminine interests and habits girls tend to have) and your girlfriend (but with no difficult Womanfeelings). ds9 has some really terrible gender bullshit and essentialism that we can blame for this. miles o’brien’s line about wishing keiko was more like a man in that one episode is a good example. it sounds gay, and it is, but it’s also underpinned by this terrible gender essentialist, heteronormative assumption that women are inherently alien to men and inherently difficult, (and also that men don’t have feelings/shouldn’t have feminine traits/yadda yadda). jadzia dax is the perfect woman for a man who follows this philosophy. she is a sexy woman who has none of the traits that make women difficult, won’t ever so no, and will always make things more fun without being a person in her own right.

the only time she ever gets to be a person on screen is when her gender is overridden by her performing the role of white audience avatar among the scary, barbaric, non-white-coded klingons. she is a textbook mighty whitey, an audience avatar who is instantly loved and respected by all klingons she meets, and can out-klingon most klingons as a party trick. it’s really absolutely disgusting and plays into ds9′s really bad racial politics and especially bad racial politics regarding klingons. like, she just waltzes into their culture and they shower her with adoration, and also she’s used to highlight the barbarism ds9 likes to portray klingons as having.

i’m gonna work myself up into a snit about ds9, klingons, and worf so i’m just gonna stop here, but, god DAMMIT,.

The character I love that everyone else hates: 

there aren’t a ton of universally hated characters in the fandom? but ben sisko doesn’t get the three dimensional appreciation he deserves and i cringe every time i see him reduced to “baseball dad”

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

odo and jadzia, but just so i can round this out with another character, i’ve gotta say quark sort of too. i still love him, and actually i still love odo too, but i no longer get excited when i see a quark episode because they’re so repetitive. as the series went on, quark got more and more shunted off into his own corner of the narrative and stopped being allowed to interact with others in meaningful ways, and that just made him less interesting to me? because without outside influence, quark is totally cyclical. he can’t develop. he’s trapped in his own trap and all his plots are the same. i love him but i need him to do something else for once. please.

The character I would totally smooch: 

kira :3c

The character I’d want to be like: 

i don’t normally take fictional characters as role models, because i tend to be more interested in them for their flaws than their virtues, but if i had to pick i would say ben.

The character I’d slap: 

julian. deserves slapping but doesn’t deserve anything worse.

A pairing that I love:

:3c y’all know

A pairing that I despise:

all the het especially the canon het, garashir